Company boards and executives may soon face even tougher requirements from the regulator over million-dollar bonuses being dished out in the banking and financial services industry, the regulator has warned.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's head of governance, culture and remuneration, Fahmi Hosain, hinted this may be the case following a recent investigation into remuneration structures.

Fahmi Hosain, Head of Governance, Culture and Remuneration for APRA, says Australian executives are complacent. Credit:Jessica Hromas

He said the regulator had looked into a sample of banks, insurance companies and superannuation funds, examining senior executive contracts and pay structures over the past three years, and assessing whether bonuses were in line with what the executive had actually achieved.

"What did they get, how were they assessed and what was dollar value that they got - what was that representing?," Mr Hosain told the Governance, Risk and Compliance Institute national conference in Melbourne on Thursday.
The Australian hotel sector will see a major shift in its landscape after the Mantra Group accepted an offer from French-based global giant operator Accor, valued at about $1.2 billion.

In less than a week, Mantra's management agreed to the Accor offer of $3.96 per share, including a potential special dividend, which will give the overseas group an exposure to Australia's capital cities and regional areas.

View overlooking Mantra on Salt beach accommodation and pool area with beach in background. Credit:Tourism NSW

It is the local hotel sector's biggest deal and will create a wider range of hotel options for tourists, analysts say.

Mantra chairman Peter Bush said the sale was an attractive outcome for shareholders.
When Qantas entered into its first partnership with Emirates five years ago, the Flying Kangaroo was a very different beast to the one it is today. The international business was losing hundreds of millions of dollars, fuel was expensive, the cost base was too high and the airline was trying to ditch loss-making routes.

It's fair to conclude that when that marriage was thrashed out, the Middle Eastern partner was in a far stronger negotiating position. There was plenty of commentary written that Qantas didn't benefit to the same degree as Emirates.

This may have been so, but the reality is that regardless of which airline posted the biggest gain, the deal did ultimately play a part in the revival of Qantas' fortunes. It provided access to Qantas customers with greater frequency and a far wider network of European destinations without the need and the cost of using its own planes.

Fast forward five years and Qantas and Emirates are back at the negotiating table and so much has changed.
When Dove asked Lola Ogunyemi to be in a new soap campaign, she viewed it as an opportunity to represent her "dark-skinned sisters" and "remind the world that we are here, we are beautiful, and more importantly, we are valued," she wrote in a commentary for the Guardian.

She was shocked to wake up one recent morning to find she had become the "unwitting poster child for racist advertising."

The Dove ad that has people up in arms.

"If you Google 'racist ad' right now, a picture of my face is the first result," Ogunyemi said in the commentary published Tuesday.

The recently released Dove body wash ad drew widespread outrage for showing a black woman - Ogunyemi - removing her shirt to reveal a white woman. To scores of consumers, the images invoked a message that dark skin is dirty and in need of cleansing, a racist stereotype historically seen in soap ads, as The Washington Post's Cleve R. Wootson Jr. reported.
The past few months have seen various Australian designers collaborating with charity initiatives, and we are all for it. Not-for-profit charity, Project Futures, which focuses on education around eliminating human trafficking and slavery issues, have enlisted couture favourite Steven Khalil to launch its first charity tee. The aim is to start conversations around the crimes that deprive women and children of their freedom and dignity in Australia and beyond, with over 45.8 million people currently enslaved.

Lifestyle brand Citizen Wolf who focuses on sustainable and ethical clothing, have also teamed up to create the shirts made from organically grown cotton from India, and locally-made with water-based inks in Australia. With 100 per cent off the profits going directly to the cause the $99 floral accent white tee will help end modern slavery and cover a range of services from medical treatment to psychological services.

Steven Khalil, with initiative ambassador Zoe Marshall.

"Partnering up with Project Futures to design a tee that would raise awareness for such an important issue was an opportunity I couldn't turn down," says Steven Khalil. "This issue affects not only Australians but women and children all over the world and it's great to be part of something that's dedicated to helping them."

Clare Pearson, CEO of Project Futures, added that as well as raising funds, she hopes the initiative will boost awareness of the ways we can create "a better life for women and children."
Marymead Horticulturalist Jeff Vivian who is upset after theives targeted the mulch program site in Narrabundah, taking money and computers. Credit:Rohan Thomson

For the past five years, the site has been used to run a social enterprise where young people with disabilities grow and sell their own organic vegetables. But on Wednesday morning, staff discovered the building had been ransacked; equipment was strewn on the floor and the computers, along with profits from last week's market sales, taken.

Thieves have trashed the Narrabundah office of Canberra charity Marymead and stolen up to $5000 in computer equipment.

For the 30 or so participants in the 'Mulch Program', who are all aged between 17 and 30 and all have high needs, it was particularly distressing. The program is the only one of its kind in Canberra, Ms Rowland said.

"Some of these young people have been coming since here we started it, this is their workplace, this is their social life," she said.

"They get to see everything grow from the seedlings right through to the sales, it runs every day of the week."

"It's not just the things that were stolen but that they felt the need to trash it as well...fortunately [we] got there first and our clients didn't have to see the mess."

An ACT Policing spokeswoman confirmed officers had attended the scene of the burglary and were now investigating.
Motorists doing the wrong thing in Brisbanes school zones are now twice as likely to cop a fine as Brisbane City Council more than doubles its enforcement officers.

Anyone caught double parking or staying too long should expect a $94 fine, while if a council officer busts someone stopping on a yellow line or in a "no stopping" zone a $126 fine can be issued.

Council officers will be monitoring 60 Brisbane schools for dangerous parking

Warnings can also be dished out.

BCC infrastructure chairman Amanda Cooper said the council would be targeting 60 Brisbane schools in its bid to curb dangerous parking in school zones.
The Queensland government will review the suspended sentence handed to a man who walked free from a Brisbane court smiling and laughing after he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his four-year-old stepson on Wednesday.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk condemned the actions of Matthew Scown as he walked free after having spent two years and eight months in custody over the death of his stepson Tyrell Cobb.

How insensitive is that for the man to be laughing after the death of his stepson. Absolutely, absolutely unacceptable," Ms Palaszczuk told the Nine Network on Thursday.

I think everybody is feeling that today.
Drums of 1,4-Butanediol seized by Victoria Police. Credit:Victoria Police While figures vary, local police estimate around 80 per cent of their crimes are drug-related, which include offences committed to pay for drugs and violence committed by offenders under the influence of illicit substances. There are some who think the "Big Fish" tactic is doomed to fail and police need to rethink. Here we turn to former US police chief Patrick Harnett, a man indirectly responsible for solving thousands of crimes in Victoria, even though he has never worked here  but more of that later. Former New York police chief Patrick Harnett is indirectly responsible for solving thousands of crimes in Victoria, even though he has never worked here. In the 1990s, Harnett was put in charge of the New York Police Department Narcotics Division at a time when the city was pockmarked with no-go zone ghettos effectively controlled by local drug gangs.

Police could seize tonnes of drugs at the top end and arrest hundreds of street dealers at the bottom without impacting on the trade. Harnett oversaw a change of tactics, which meant that instead of looking at drug detection as a national or global war, it was dealt with at a local level  virtually street by street. "I felt that productivity was wrongly being measured  it was based on arrests and the seizure of product," Harnett says. He recalls how police seized 1600 kilograms of cocaine, laying it out with cash and drugs for the media, "but it had very little impact and was only one third of the shipment". He refers to it as "chasing the Kilo Fairy", as if big busts can somehow shift the drug dynamic. Police would launch 90-day blitzes on drug hotspots, only for the dealers and users to return on day 91.

NYPD was based on policing 78 precincts, each with a population of 100,000 and each with its own crime problems. Harnett took the fight to the local crime gangs that controlled the drug distribution on the street level. He assigned teams of narcotics police to specific trouble spots in what is described as a "turf-based" strategy - challenging his teams to take ownership of the problem. They would not worry about street dealers but target gang leaders, the leaders who provided the drugs for sale and organised many of the local crimes - shootings, burglaries, robberies and assaults. "The leaders of these little crews were responsible for committing a disproportionate amount of crime. It was not about arresting more people but arresting the right people," he says. Not that he was short of resources. His Narcotics Division doubled from 1600 to over 3200 in just two years. Our Drug Taskforce is around 35 (in fairness, there are a truckload of taskforces and other groups working on drug dealers at any one time). The result of the turf approach in New York? Over 900 drug gangs were dismantled, the overall crime rates dropped and areas controlled by criminals were given back to the local community.

"We can win the drug war by shifting the ground on which we fight from entire boroughs or a whole city to individual neighbourhoods and even individual streets. People who had lived as virtual hostages in their own homes felt free of the terror and tyranny of the drug gangs. Where gunshots and shootings were once common, children now played ball and rode bicycles," he wrote. Police here have successfully (if belatedly) used this tactic here on the Apex Gang. By arresting and jailing the leaders, the gang responsible for a spate of carjackings, home invasions, assaults and low-level drug dealers has effectively been destroyed. Police here have successfully (if belatedly) used Harnett's approach here on the Apex Gang. Perhaps the Harnett method could be used on the Richmond heroin trade - users arriving in the area to buy would be moved on and the suppliers to the street dealers identified and arrested. Why not try it, not for months but for years? Harnett spoke to Naked City just a few days before jumping on a Melbourne-bound plane and while he will meet local senior police to discuss turf-based strategies, his main reason for coming here is to celebrate the 30th anniversary of a crime detection innovation he helped establish in Victoria.

Back in 1985, Harnett was rolling out a new concept in New York called Crime Stoppers - a plan to encourage people with information on crimes to phone in with the guarantee of anonymity and the promise of a possible reward. Geoff Wilkinson in his Victoria Police days. Credit:Facebook Victoria Police media director Geoff Wilkinson, who was on a Churchill Fellowship at the time, met Harnett and was sold on the project, bringing it back to Melbourne, where it was enthusiastically backed by then chief commissioner Mick Miller. "I could see it could be a goer in Australia and we were able to take advantage of the research Pat had already done," says Wilkinson. And so in 1987 Crime Stoppers was born, soon spreading around Australia (There are now more than 1000 Crime Stoppers across the globe, responsible for solving more than 100 crimes a day).

At first many police were sceptical, complaining they would have to run around checking out anonymous tips left by dobbers trying to claim cash rewards. Victoria Police chief commissioner Mick Miller in 1987, the year the force introduced the Crime Stoppers program. Credit:James Boddington But it took off. The figures are remarkable and speak for themselves. Police now say Crime Stoppers generates about 44 per cent of all intelligence held by Victoria Police. In 30 years Crime Stoppers is responsible for more than 21,000 arrests, 85,000 charges, 930,000 calls and contacts and more than $226 million in cash, drugs and property seized. And we are not talking about people kicking over rubbish bins. Crime Stoppers has provided leads in over 100 murder investigations. Just last year a fresh tip on the 2008 murder of James Russouw came through a call to the agency after a schoolfriend recognised the offender from grainy CCTV. The tip led to Christopher John Lavery, who last month was convicted of the homicide. Without that call to Crime Stoppers, the murder would almost certainly still be unsolved.

Another remarkable fact is that when it comes to callers, the greed factor is virtually non-existent. Of the thousands of calls made in the last financial year, only six claimed a reward. Many ring out of a sense of community duty and are attracted to the guarantee that investigators will not be given their names. The reports are written so even the gender of the informer is concealed. 'I could see it could be a goer in Australia': former Victoria Police media director Geoff Wilkinson, 30 years on. Credit:Eddie Jim And there is another factor. People frustrated with crime just want to help. Passing on information, even if it does not lead to arrests, is a way of fighting back and not hiding under the doona. Crime Stoppers is also a valuable triage tool in major crimes with multiple witnesses. In this year's Bourke Street attack that left six people dead and more than 30 injured, many of those in the area later contacted police through the Crime Stoppers phone line. Yet there remains a mystery. We know the public trust Crime Stoppers, we know it helps solve serious crime and we know police see it as a pivotal investigative tool, and yet it still battles for funds. This is particularly stupid as Crime Stoppers avoids thousands of police hours in legwork that saves more than $20 million in wages.
A Nationals MP has lashed out at his colleague, former Turnbull government minister Matt Canavan, over his call for gay and lesbian Australians to "grow a spine" in the face of homophobia.

Trevor Khan, a member of the NSW upper house, also condemned Senator Canavan's assertion that same-sex marriage advocates were using suicide statistics as "blackmail" to bully people into voting "yes".

In a pointed late-night speech on Wednesday, Mr Khan accused his federal colleague of ignorance and cruelty, and said he needed to be reminded of the facts regarding LGBTI people's mental health.

"It is a fact that 24 per cent of gay, lesbian and bisexual Australians meet the criteria for experiencing a major depressive episode," he said.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has launched a stinging attack on former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, saying he should explain his sudden change of heart on climate change.

Mr Abbott flew to London this week to address a climate sceptic group, the Global Warming Policy foundation, which was set up by the Thatcher-era Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson in the lead up to the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009.

In his speech, he said that, even if climate change is real, it could be good because more people die in cold snaps. He said that, after looking at photographs of Manly beach, which is in his electorate of Warringah on Sydney's northern beaches, he could see no evidence of climate change.

Speaking to the ABC's 7.30 program from Seoul, Ms Bishop says Mr Abbott's London speech, which Labor has derided as "loopy", was in stark contrast to what he said and did as prime minister when he supported the Paris Climate Agreement, set national emissions targets and established the Renewable Energy Target.
Australia should "name and shame" countries behind state-sponsored hacking to build up international pressure against the practice, a cyber-security expert has said in the wake of the major breach of a defence subcontractor.

And the Turnbull government may soon start doing exactly that, Australia's cyber affairs ambassador Toby Feakin has told Fairfax Media, citing greater political awareness and technical clarity over how cyber attacks originated.

Fergus Hanson, the head of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's international cyber policy centre, said that Australia has been "a bit gun shy" in calling out state-sponsored hacking.

He was speaking after revelations that 30 gigabytes of unclassified but commercially-sensitive data were stolen by hackers who accessed the systems of a Department of Defence subcontractor with lacklustre security protocols. The data covered information about the $14 billion Joint Strike Fighter program, Australia's next fleet of spy planes and several of its naval warships.
A Queensland inquiry will examine sentences handed out to offenders involved in the death of a child.

Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said there was growing concern from the public about whether sentencing for criminal offences following the death of a child were meeting the community's expectations.

Ms D'Ath referred an inquiry to the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council, which would relate to the "sentencing arising from offences resulting in the death of a child".

The referral follows the case of Matthew Scown, who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his four-year-old stepson Tyrell Cobb, and received a suspended sentence after having spent two years and eight months in custody.
Labor MP Jo-Ann Miller has criticised the time it took her own government to respond to black lung recommendations, describing it as a "stain".

The black lung committee's deputy chair, LNP MP Lawrence Springborg, suggested a "cosy" relationship between the major players meant "playing for time" in relation to a proposed mining reform bill while the government said some "complex" recommendations needed more analysis.

Member for Bundamba Jo-Ann Miller described slow action on a black lung report as a stain on the government. Credit:Darren England/AAP

Black lung, or coal workers' pneumoconiosis, was thought to be eradicated in the 1980s, but cases have been detected again since 2015.

The Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis Select Committee, chaired by Ms Miller, delivered its report - Black Lung White Lies - on May 29, revealing "catastrophic failure" at almost every level of the regulatory system designed to protect the health and safety of workers.
The building at 488 La Trobe Street has stood since 1882, and has been deemed worth keeping a couple of times by heritage assessors for Melbourne City Council.

But now, only Planning Minister Richard Wynne stands between it and the wrecking ball.

The 135-year-old La Trobe Street building that Whelan the Wrecker will knock down. Credit:Eddie Jim

Despite its 135-year-old pedigree, Mr Wynne is unlikely to save the West Melbourne building.

Whelan the Wrecker, which has demolished hundreds of other central Melbourne buildings, will within days begin dismantling this one.
The Liberal member for Chisholm, Julia Banks, had witnessed plenty of unconscious bias in her corporate career before politics. So, during her preselection, she knew exactly what was happening when a female party member asked her who would look after her children if she made it to Canberra.

These analyses aside, if you talk to other female MPs, Bishop's cabinet experience was not a high-profile one-off. Unconscious bias is alive and well at every stage of parliamentary life.

So where do you suppose the debate on this went next? To a reflection on the fact that many of the men in that Abbott cabinet are now senior members of the Turnbull government, including Turnbull himself? Or did commentators like 3AW's Neil Mitchell get cranky about Bishop and Co.'s "totally illogical" pact to agree with each other, while Andrew Bolt decried Bishop's "sexism" against men?

There is an insidious double standard in politics. And just because you're one of the most senior members of the government (Bishop was a minister under John Howard), that doesn't mean your less-qualified male colleagues are going to listen to what you have to say.

Labor MP Clare O'Neil (right), with colleague Terri Butler in question time. She says she has been ignored by men in parliamentary meetings. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

This is not a question that is typically asked of male MPs - or men in general. And the media is also to blame on this front. While there have been countless recent stories (some by this reporter) about women in Parliament with young kids, there haven't been similar stories about how male MPs are sacrificing and juggling. Even though there has been an influx of male MPs welcoming babies, from ministers Christian Porter and Alan Tudge, to Labor frontbencher Jim Chalmers and Greens MP Adam Bandt.

The bias can also be revealed in the expectations around how women seeking leadership should behave. When then backbencher Kelly O'Dwyer called then frontbencher Kevin Andrews to lobby for a promotion after the 2013 election, she was reportedly told she was viewed as "pushy", while her male colleagues were just "ambitious". WA Liberal Melissa Price recently told the Australian Financial Review of female MPs' caution when contributing to party room discussions: "if you speak too often, people stop listening to you".

Labor's Clare O'Neil says the culture is very different in her party, where quotas since the mid-1990s now mean 44 per cent of federal ALP parliamentarians are women, compared to 21 per cent of Liberals and 14 per cent of Nationals. She was promoted to the frontbench last year when she was eight months' pregnant. When O'Neil asked a senior male whether this was going to pose any problems, they assured her, "no one is going to raise this because it's not relevant".

But Labor's justice spokesperson does not argue Labor is perfect. And when she has to interact with the rest of the Parliament, in multi-party committee meetings, she has had issues similar to Bishop's: "I've said things that should change the course of the discussion, but the meeting just moves on."

Unconscious bias is not the on the same level as say, barring women from running for Parliament. Or publicly denouncing them as idiots. But the little, hidden perceptions that mean women need to jump through additional hoops to succeed in politics are there. And they add up.
Banyuwangi, East Java: An anti-gold mine protester has become the latest person to be tried under draconian anti-communist laws in Indonesia.

The case comes as the spectre of a resurgent red peril has once again inflamed the country more than 50 years after the leftist movement was brutally crushed.

Indonesian Muslims shout slogans during a rally against communism outside the Parliament in Jakarta on September 29. Credit:AP

In circumstances that local media have described as reminiscent of Suharto's authoritarian New Order regime, Heri Budiawan could face up to 12 years in jail for spreading communism.

Prosecutor Budhi Cahyono said banners made by protesters against a gold mine in Banyuwangi in East Java on April 4 contained a hammer and sickle drawing in red spray paint like that used by the defunct Indonesian Communist Party, the PKI.
Washington: The sound is a high-pitched, electronic squeaking noise. Almost like nails scratching on a chalkboard.

The Associated Press obtained what it said on Thursday was an audio recording of the sound that has sickened nearly two dozen American diplomats and some tourists in Cuba, creating a diplomatic row between Havana and Washington.

At least 22 US diplomatic personnel have reported having health issues after being subjected to the apparent attacks.

They have suffered hearing loss, dizziness, fatigue, cognitive problems and other health issues.
A lack of proficiency in digital skills is a major concern for Irish and European employees, with 33% worrying they will soon be out of a job.



This is according to a Ricoh survey which was carried out by Censuswide among 3,600 employees from across Europe, including 250 in Ireland. It found that while workers want to use more innovative digital technology, 40% admit that they lack the skills to make it effective.

In addition, 67% want employers to put more emphasis on digital skills training so they can do the best job possible with the new tools and services being introduced.



Most workers surveyed are positive about the potential of new technology to empower them to work in smarter ways. This includes more immediate access to data (44%), the ability to work from home more frequently (42%) and the reduction of repetitive tasks (41%).



The survey finds that 72% of those surveyed believe that senior management will only introduce new technology if it helps to cut costs, rather than empower employees. Yet there are drastic perceived risks of underinvestment, as 36% of employees think that their business will fail within five years if the right investments in technology arent made. Whats more, almost half (46%) feel that their competitors already have a technological edge.



Almost two-thirds (65%) of the workers surveyed say automation technology will enable them to be more productive, while 52% believe that artificial intelligence will have a positive impact on their role.



Commenting on the survey results, Director at Ricoh Ireland and UK, Chas Moloney said, "Despite the headlines about robots taking over the workplace, most employees see the benefits of automated technologies, particularly where it frees them up to do more interesting work. Digital empowerment through new technologies has the ability to greatly improve productivity and employee engagement, as menial tasks can be automated and streamlined."

He added, "However, no amount of infrastructure spending will help a business that isnt encouraging and enabling its staff to develop the right skills. To ensure long term success, staff retention and ongoing competitiveness, business leaders must listen to and embrace the needs of employees from every generation in the workplace."

Source: www.businessworld.ie




Enactus has today announced a new partnership with Citi Ireland worth over 85,000, as part of the Foundations global initiative - Pathways to Progress. The partnership will provide students with the resources to empower people between the ages of 16 - 24 from disadvantaged urban areas around Ireland, through a new social entrepreneurship development programme.



Enactus students will develop an idea and apply to take part in the programme. Once accepted, students will be challenged at a two-day project development event in Citi in November. Throughout the year they will develop and refine their ideas, before presenting final projects to a panel of Citi judges and invited Enactus guests at a showcase event in April.



Successful projects will receive seed funding, intensive training, mentoring, and guidance from Citi volunteers and Enactus Ireland staff. The champions will receive further funding and support to successfully scale their project, maximising the positive impact in disadvantaged urban communities.



Projects entering into this programme must adhere to the Enactus criteria of empowering people to improve their livelihoods in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable way, pivoted towards working with young people (aged 16 - 24 years). Projects are also eligible to be presented at the annual Enactus Ireland National Competition.



Speaking today, Chairperson of Enactus Ireland, Terence ORourke said, "Every year, each student team involved shows tremendous understanding of how their entrepreneurial skills and talents can be used to bring about real change in their communities. We are very excited to partner with Citi to see this impact grow and scale."

Citis Chief Administrative Officer for Europe and Senior Sponsor of the programme, Cecilia Ronan added, "Its vital that businesses in Ireland continue to collaborate with organisations like Enactus to drive social change. We are looking forward to working with the students to support the development of skills to think innovatively and address the pertinent business challenges facing Ireland today."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Brexit talks are deadlocked over money, the EU's Michel Barnier said on Thursday as he ruled out discussions on future trade being launched by EU leaders next week but spoke of possible progress by December.

Barnier and his British counterpart, Brexit Secretary David Davis, told reporters there had been some progress this week on the other two issues around Britain's March 2019 withdrawal from the bloc on which the EU demands "sufficient progress" before it will agree to discuss a transition and future relationship.

Davis renewed his call for EU leaders to give a green light to those talks when they meet Prime Minister Theresa May at an EU summit in Brussels next Thursday.

Barnier made clear, however, that despite new momentum from concessions given by May in a speech at Florence lsat month 22, British proposals on expatriate citizens' rights and the Irish border still failed the EU test, while London's refusal to spell out a detailed cash offer was "very worrying" for business.

May said Britain would ensure the other 27 countries did not lose out financially from Brexit in the current EU budget period to 2020 and would honor commitments -- but Barnier said London was failing to spell out just what it was ready to pay.

"Regarding that question, we are at an impasse, which is very worrying for thousands of projects everywhere in Europe and also worrying for those who contribute," he said.

Nonetheless, he offered hope: "I am still convinced that, with political will, decisive progress is within reach in the coming two months. With David Davis, we will organize several negotiating meetings between now and the end of the year."

With signs that nerves are fraying on both sides and some hardline Brexit supporters demanding that May just walk out of talks, both negotiators repeated that they were ready for any eventuality including a collapse. But, Barnier warned, "no deal would be a very bad deal."

Davis announced a "streamlined" new system for the 3 million EU citizens in Britain to claim residence rights, answering EU concerns, and said he expected good further progress on other issues. Barnier repeated that Brussels stills wants them to have recourse to EU judges to safeguard their rights and said there were still differences on rights for future family members.

A British demand for its million or so citizens on the continent to have lifetime rights to move to any of the bloc's 27 countries after Brexit is held up by doubts among the member states. Barnier said those are rights to do with post-Brexit decisions and should be dealt with in the next phase of talks.

"I make no secret of the fact that to provide certainty we must talk about the future," Davis said, stressing his demand for trade talks. "I hope the leaders of the 27 will provide Michel with the means to explore ways forward with us on that."

"As we look to the October Council next week, I hope the member states will recognize the progress we've made and take a step forward in the spirit of the prime minister's Florence speech."

Barnier was pressed to say in public whether he would ask EU leaders' permission to make some preliminary exploration of what a transition after March 2019 would look like. EU officials and diplomats say he has raised that issue with governments.

However, he told the news conference that he would follow a mandate ruling out any discussion of the future before issues arising from Britain's past membership are settled and said it was important to respect the "sequencing."

With the talks poised at a delicate stage, EU officials say it is unclear what leaders will tell May next week. They all rule out a clear move to trade talks but many expect "positive language" to try to defuse British accusations of Brussels intransigence and to help May stand up to her own party critics.

Officials see the early part of next year as a virtual deadline for agreeing to move on to discuss the future relationship. Failure to do so would raise the risk of there being no smooth transition and even of no deal at all. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
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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
Department of Higher Education, MHRD, Government of India is calling out for applications from students to apply for its scholarship program, "the Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship." This is for college and university students 2017-18.

Scholarship objective

The main objective of the scholarship is to provide financial assistance to the meritorious students, by providing them with their day-to-day expenses while pursuing higher studies.

Scholarship Award

INR 10000 to INR 20000 per annum

Eligibility

The recipient of the scholarship should be:

Be pursuing a regular engineering or medical course.

Be above 80th percentile of successful candidates in a relevant stream in class 12 for a particular Examination Board.

Have annual family income not more than INR 6 Lacs per annum from all sources.

Not be receiving any other scholarship.

Also Read: Adobe Research Women-in-Technology Scholarship 2018

How to apply for the central government scholarship?

In order to apply for the government of India scholarship, candidates must follow the steps given below:

Log on to the National Scholarship Portal

Go to the form that reads 'Login for fresh application'

Click on the link that reads, 'New User?Register here'

A new application form will appear. Enter the requisite details

Click to submit

Complete the registration process

Deadline

The last date to apply for the scholarship is 31 October 2017

Government of India Scholarship for Girl Students: Apply Now!
This op-ed by Jimmy Carter was published in The Washington Post.

As the world knows, we face the strong possibility of another Korean war, with potentially devastating consequences to the Korean Peninsula, Japan, our outlying territories in the Pacific and perhaps the mainland of the United States. This is the most serious existing threat to world peace, and it is imperative that Pyongyang and Washington find some way to ease the escalating tension and reach a lasting, peaceful agreement.

Over more than 20 years, I have spent many hours in discussions with top North Korean officials and private citizens during visits to Pyongyang and to the countryside. I found Kim Il Sung (their Great Leader), Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, and other leaders to be both completely rational and dedicated to the preservation of their regime.

What the officials have always demanded is direct talks with the United States, leading to a permanent peace treaty to replace the still-prevailing 1953 cease-fire that has failed to end the Korean conflict. They want an end to sanctions, a guarantee that there will be no military attack on a peaceful North Korea, and eventual normal relations between their country and the international community.

I have visited with people who were starving. Still today, millions suffer from famine and food insecurity and seem to be completely loyal to their top leader. They are probably the most isolated people on Earth and almost unanimously believe that their greatest threat is from a preemptory military attack by the United States.

The top priority of North Korea's leaders is to preserve their regime and keep it as free as possible from outside control. They are largely immune from influence or pressure from outside. During the time of the current leader, Kim Jong Un, this immunity has also applied to China, whose leaders want to avoid a regime collapse in North Korea or having to contemplate a nuclear-armed Japan or South Korea.

Until now, severe economic sanctions have not prevented North Korea from developing a formidable and dedicated military force, including long-range nuclear missiles, utilizing a surprising level of scientific and technological capability. There is no remaining chance that it will agree to a total denuclearization, as it has seen what happened in a denuclearized Libya and assessed the doubtful status of U.S. adherence to the Iran nuclear agreement.

There have been a number of suggestions for resolving this crisis, including military strikes on North Korea's nuclear facilities, more severe economic punishment, the forging of a protective nuclear agreement between China and North Korea similar to those between the United States and South Korea and Japan, a real enforcement of the Non- Proliferation Treaty by all nuclear weapons states not to expand their arsenals, and ending annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises.

All of these options are intended to dissuade or deter the leadership of a nation with long-range nuclear weapons and that believes its existence is threatened from taking steps to defend itself. None of them offer an immediate way to end the present crisis, because the Pyongyang government believes its survival is at stake. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's statement last week that we have lines of communications to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation is a good first step to defusing tensions.

The next step should be for the United States to offer to send a high-level delegation to Pyongyang for peace talks or to support an international conference including North and South Korea, the United States and China, at a mutually acceptable site.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Soyia Ellison, soyia.ellison@cartercenter.org

MONROVIA, LIBERIA  In a preliminary statement issued today, The Carter Center commended Liberians for the calm and peaceful atmosphere of their nations Oct. 10 election.

No matter the outcome of this election, it will result in a transfer of power from one democratically elected government to another for the first time in the lives of many Liberians. This moment marks an important turning point for the nations democracy, and the Liberian people have shown a clear desire for a peaceful and smooth transfer of power.

The Carter Center was honored to observe the entire pre-election process and commends the Liberian people for their clear enthusiasm and determination to peacefully express their will at the ballot box. The pre-election period was characterized by a peaceful campaign, transparent preparations, and logistical challenges.

The Centers observers, who were deployed across all 15 of Liberias counties on election day, report that the opening, polling, closing, and counting processes were generally conducted according to procedure in the approximately 145 polling places they visited. In most of these locations, materials were delivered on time, and polls opened on time. However, observers across most counties reported difficulty in locating voters on the Final Registration Roll in some polling places. In what appeared to be a related problem, observers reported that ineffective queue management, mainly in large precincts, affected the orderly flow of the polling, creating confusion among voters and long lines throughout the day.

It is important to note, however, that Liberias election process is still ongoing and that The Carter Center cannot issue an overall assessment until several important steps  including any dispute resolution  are concluded. This statement is one of five that the Center has made about the process, and it only covers observations to date. Further reports addressing the tabulation process, the resolution of election disputes, and the post-election environment will follow.

In the spirit of respect and support, The Carter Center offers the National Election Commission the following short-term recommendations:

The NEC has acknowledged difficulties with long lines and queue management at polling precincts. Given this, if there is a runoff, we recommend the NEC offer precinct staff enhanced instructions on these issues before a second round. It is crucial that voters be able to easily identify their polling station. We suggest giving this information at the entrance to the polling precinct in a manner that is clear to all voters before a voter begins to stand in line for a particular polling place.

Observers noted that NEC officials were proactive in visiting polling stations to resolve problems on election day, and we encourage the NEC to continue to react promptly as issues arise throughout the tabulation process.

Transparency is crucial in an election, and the Center urge the NEC to continue its efforts to ensure that the tabulation process is transparent at all levels and that the public is provided the information it needs to fully understand the process.

The prompt release of results is an effective means of building confidence among the electorate and preventing confusion and tension. To this end, the Center urges the NEC to release provisional results, including at the polling place level. Provisional results should be released as soon as they are ready and include a clear indication of the counties and percentage of precincts reporting.

Political parties should uphold their responsibility to ensure that their supporters maintain the peace throughout the electoral process and through the transition that will follow.

Read the full statement (PDF) >

Background:

The Centers mission is led by former President of the Central African Republic H.E. Catherine Samba-Panza; Chairman of The Carter Center Board of Trustees Jason Carter; and Vice President of Peace Programs for The Carter Center Jordan Ryan. The Carter Center deployed international observers for Liberias October 2017 national election at the invitation of Liberian authorities and political stakeholders. The Carter Centers election observation work began with pre-election assessment teams that visited Liberia beginning in 2016, including one that observed the voter registration process in February and March of 2017. A core team of electoral experts and six long-term observers from five countries assessed election preparations throughout the country in the two months leading up to election day. On Oct. 10, 50 observers from 17 countries visited approximately 145 polling stations in all 15 counties to observe voting and counting. On Oct. 11, they began observation of the tabulation process across the 15 counties. The Carter Centers long-term observers continue to monitor the ongoing tabulation process and finalization of official results, and the Center will remain in Liberia to observe the resolution of any post-election disputes. The Carter Center assesses elections against international standards for democratic elections contained in the host countrys international obligations and commitments and its national legal framework. The Center conducts its election observation missions in accordance with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, which was endorsed in 2005.

###

"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.
Dominican Republic cement production tops 2.6Mt in 1H17

12 October 2017

In the first half of 2017 cement production in the Dominican Republic reached 2,612,099t, according to data released by the Dominican Central Bank.



From January to June of this year, domestic sales volumes increased by 5.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2016 while cement exports accounted for nearly 18 per cent of production, exceeding US$654.8m, more than US$58.6m, in the 1H16.



Sales of cement exported to Haiti amounted to US$543,108m from January to July 2017.



In 2015 the Dominican Republic produced 5.2Mt of cement (+ 3.2 per cent compared to 2014), while 30 per cent of this production was exported. Dominican Republic currently has seven cement plants and an installed capacity of approximately 6.5Mta, says Haiti Libre.

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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
Algerian Christian on hunger strike after being jailed for blasphemy

An Algerian Christian has gone on hunger strike in prison after being accused of blasphemy.

Slimane Bouhafs was sentenced to five years in prison last August for a post on Facebook that was considered insulting to Islam and the Prophet Mohammad. Due to rapidly declining health his family applied for parole but a court rejected the appeal last Monday, prompting Bouhafs to go on hunger strike, according to Middle East Concern.

He is demanding transfer to a prison in Bejia, his home region, after contracting gout and suffering abuse from fellow prisoners because of his faith. Despite support from medical documents proving the seriousness of his condition plus a record of good conduct, the court denied his plea for parole as it was 'without justification', according to the watchdog.

Bouhafs says he is in danger in prison because of his Christian faith, according to another persecution monitoring site, World Watch Monitor, after he converted from Islam in 1997.

It comes after he wrote on social media about the 'lie' of Islam and its prophet as well as sharing pictures of a terrorist executing a civilian. His five-year sentence, later reduced to three, is 'severe in view of a rather minor offence' according to World Watch Monitor with similar comments common on social media in Algeria without triggering the wrath of the authorities.

But his arrest may also be linked to his political activism because he belongs to a separatist group known as MAK, which is calling for the self-determination of the Kabylie region.

Support for Bouhafs remains strong with Said Salhi, vice-president of Algerian League for Human Rights (LADDH), calling his sentence 'part of an escalation' against opponents of the government. He accused the regime of being responsible for 'repeated violations of human rights and freedoms' and demanded 'the release of all detainees of political or religious opinions'.
Archbishop of Sydney defends million-dollar donation to campaign against same-sex marriage

The Archbishop of Sydney, Glenn Davies, has written a letter to churches defending his diocese's decision to donate $1 million to fund the campaign against same-sex marriage in Australia.

It was confirmed on Monday that his heavily conservative diocese, the largest in the country, had backed the 'no' campaign in Australia's forthcoming postal survey on same-sex marriage that has sparked division within the Australian church.

Davies set out to 'correct some misrepresentations' about his diocese's involvement in the campaign, rejecting accusations of homophobia.

Peter Catt, the dean of St John's Anglican cathedral in Brisbane, highlighted the wide variations in opinions on same-sex marriage within the church, arguing that the money would have been better spent on a less divisive issue.

Similarly, minister Mike Paget of St Barnabas Anglican Church in Sydney took to Facebook to state that despite his 'classical view of marriage' he strongly disagrees with the decision. He regards the donation as 'poor financial stewardship' that is utterly 'out of proportion with our commitments to other causes'.

He added: 'The church is pretty well in lockstep about the need to deal with domestic violence, homelessness, refugee rights. If you have a million dollars why not spend it on something you know can make a material difference?'

Davies responded to criticism that the money would have been better spent tackling social justice initiatives, saying: 'The reality is, however, that our participation in the Coalition for Marriage is not at the expense of our commitment to social justice, but because of it. We believe that the best way for Anglicare and other Christian agencies to serve the social good is for them to be able to operate on the basis of a Christian ethos, and to recruit Christian staff and volunteers.'

Davies hinted that a 'Yes' vote could in fact impede the Church's charitable efforts. He wrote: 'Overseas experience indicates that same-sex marriage leads to government funding and recognition of charitable status being increasingly tied to "equality compliance". Christian agencies overseas have been required by law to hire staff who do not support the Christian ethos of the organisation.'

Minister Andrew Sempell of St James' Church maintained that the donation is not indicative of all Sydney Anglicans' views. He described the 'questionable' decision as an irresponsible use of charitable funds.

Sempell went on to express concerns about the donation's potential repercussions such as further alienating the Church from society, particularly young people.

He concluded: 'As Australians, we are not imposing our views on others, rather we are expressing our views as citizens of the country. As Christians, we are to follow our Lord's instruction to be salt and light in the world. We should not be ashamed to stand up for our convictions, whatever the cost.'
Justin Welby: I've felt 'hopeless' with the 'black dog' of depression

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has opened up about his own mental health struggles, describing bouts of depression and feeling 'hopeless'.

Welby admitted to encounters with the 'black dog' of depression in an interview with Alastair Campbell for GQ.

Asked if he ever got depressed, he replied: 'I think if you had asked me a year ago I'd have said no, and ten years ago I would have said absolutely not. But what was that phrase Churchill used? "Black dog".

'There is an element of that. I think as I am getting older I am realising it does come from time to time. I have those moments - you would know this - when objectively everything is fine, but you think you are, beyond description, hopeless.'

Campbell, who has been an increasingly vocal advocate on mental health awareness, said: 'I've had all this hopeless stuff. My sister says if I had God it wouldn't happen.'

The Archbishop responded: 'Read Psalm 88. I bet you will find someone in there going through genuine chronic depression. When I get like that, I may feel without hope, I may feel all kinds of things, but I also talk to God.'

Welby said that he has not seen anyone for his depression, though he might have felt the need. He said that at present it 'seems to pass'.

Welby's daughter Katharine Welby-Roberts has become known for her honesty about her own struggle with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Welby-Roberts has written for Christian Today about the need to reduce the stigma, particularly in the church, around mental health.

An excerpt of Welby's GQ interview can be read here.
'Madam Secretary' season 4 spoilers: Elizabeth to face new crisis while trying to end civil war in Libya

After a strong opening episode that tackled one of the timeliest issues today, "Madam Secretary" is set to give the audience a glimpse of a different side of Elizabeth McCord (Tea Leoni) as she faces a crisis in Libya in the upcoming second episode.

The episode, titled "Off the Record," will show McCord working in Libya to help negotiate an end to its civil war. However, her work to save the world will take a backseat to a more immediate crisis that she will face, a car accident.

The secretary's car will be involved in a tragic accident, and a local girl who gets wounded will need her help to get urgent medical attention.

As a contrast to her globally consequential line of work, the show's protagonist will now need to focus on a single person in an attempt to save her life. There is no doubt that McCord will do her best in this situation, but it would be interesting to see if this change of scenery will catch her off guard and reveal the more nurturing side of her.

Additionally, the vehicular accident may bring memories of the car accident that took the lives of her parents. Only time will tell how the protagonist will hold up during this event, and how she will affect the wounded girl that she has to help.

Earlier this week, the series premiered its fourth season with an episode that tackled a very concerning issue in the real world today, fake news. McCord became the victim of a nasty fake report that accused her of being a murderer.

While the news sounded very crackpot, it was inevitable that many people still believed it, and McCord found out the hard way. The accusation was even broadcasted during her appearance at a talk show, and it was also revealed that 12 percent of Americans believed that the secretary was a murderer.

"Madam Secretary" airs Sundays at 10 p.m. EDT on CBS.
Prisoners use lunch with Pope Francis as a chance to escape

Two prisoners who were invited to meet Pope Francis for lunch on his visit to Bologna earlier this month took advantage of the occasion to escape, according to AFP which cited local media reports.

The two men, who were being held in a rehabilitation facility for drug addicts and prisoners near Modena, were reportedly among 20 prisoners who were due to meet the Pope on October 1.

They reportedly disappeared just before the lunch of lasagne was served and have not been seen since, according to the reports. Local authorities have neither confirmed nor denied the reports.

Pope Francis has frequently spoken about the need for mercy towards prisoners since his papacy began in 2013. He has regularly visited prisons and last Easter washed the feet of prisoners at a facility outside Rome.

According to one report yesterday in the Bologna-based newspaper Il Resto del Carlino, the event from which the inmates escaped was at the Basilica of San Petronio.

Volunteers reportedly alerted the police immediately. The two fugitives were identified as Neapolitans.

Castelfranco Emilia, the social reintegration facility that formerly housed the escapees, houses drug addicts and people who require supervision for being a danger to public safety. It is unclear which group the two inmates were part of.
Pro-life Christians kicked out of Seattle coffee shop by gay owner who makes expletive-laden comments about Jesus

A gay coffee shop owner in Seattle, Washington, evicted a group of Christians from his cafe after he came to know that they had evangelized on the streets prior to coming to his shop for a coffee break. The owner also went on a vulgar rant against Jesus, which was caught on video.

The Christians, who were affiliated with the pro-life group Abolish Human Abortion, had been distributing gospel pamphlets and anti-abortion material in the city and decided to visit Bedlam Coffee for drinks. Sometime during their break, owner Ben Borgman confronted the group and shouted, "You have to leave," The Liberator reported.

"We had nothing on us, we weren't distributing anything," one of the Christians, Caytie Davis, was quoted as saying about the incident last week. "We bought coffee and went upstairs."

Borgman continued to demand that they leave and showed them a pamphlet he had found. "None of us had dropped anything in the store," Davis said. "This offends me," Borgman was quoted as saying to the Christians.

"So you're not willing to tolerate our presence?" another Christian, Jonathan Sutherland, asked.

"Will you tolerate my presence?" Borgman responded. Sutherland told him they would. The owner then said, "If I go get my boyfriend and (expletive) him in the (expletive) right here you're going to tolerate that?"

"Well, we don't want to watch that," said another Christian, Caleb Head. "Well then I don't have to (expletive) tolerate this! Leave! All of you. Tell all your (expletive) friends, don't (expletive) come here," Borgman said.

While leaving, Davis told him, "Just know that Christ can save you from that lifestyle." Borgman replied, "I'm not going to be saved by anything. I'd (expletive) Christ in the (expletive). OK? He's hot."

The Christians said they do not wish any harm to come to the coffee shop owners.

Last month, Colorado baker Jack Phillips and Washington florist Barronelle Stutzman joined other Christian business owners at a religious liberty panel organized by The Heritage Foundation, and revealed their major concerns, including death threats and potential loss of their life's work, as they battle against lawsuits from same-sex couples.

Gay couples have "every right to live the way they believe," said Stutzman during the discussion, adding that Christian business owners are also asking for the same freedom.

Stutzman, who lost a court case earlier this year after she declined to provide flowers for a gay couple's wedding and has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, revealed that she stands in danger of losing her entire life savings if she loses her battle against Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed, who sued her in 2013. She had been friends with the men and provided flower arrangements for them on other occasions, but didn't want to participate in their same-sex wedding ceremony.

Phillips recalled, "Somebody called one day to say that he was on his way and he was going to come shoot me in the head." He lost a court case after he turned down a request for a wedding cake from a same-sex couple in 2012.

Phillips said that his great concern was for his daughter and her 4-year-old child, whom he called, urging them to stay locked indoors until police took care of the situation.

This article was originally published in The Christian Post.
US pulls out of UNESCO, citing 'anti-Israel' bias

The US is pulling out of the UN's cultural and educational organisation UNESCO, accusing it of 'anti-Israel' bias.

Anonymous officials at the US state department said the country would establish an observer mission at the Paris-based organisation to replace its representation.

UNESCO responded by saying that the withdrawal was a loss to the 'UN family' and to multi-lateralism. 'After receiving official notification by the United States Secretary of State, Mr Rex Tillerson, as UNESCO Director-General, I wish to express profound regret at the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO,' said UNESCO director general Irina Bokova in a statement.

The agency is best known for designating world heritage sites such as Syria's Palmyra and the US Grand Canyon.

The US withdrawal from UNESCO will reportedly be effective from December 31.

The state department said in a statement: 'This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at Unesco.'

The department added that the US would seek to 'remain engaged ... as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise'.

The US previously pulled out of UNESCO in the 1980s because Washington viewed it as mismanaged and used for political reasons, before rejoining it in 2003.

The agency also works to improve education for girls in poor countries, promoting, for example, better understanding of the Holocaust.

The US stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011. However, the state department has maintained a UNESCO office at its Paris headquarters, seeking to influence policies behind the scenes.
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Al Franken must be the first United States senator to have made a living as a comedy writer or humorist, most notably in the early years of Saturday Night Live. One of his SNL bits involved his mock-serious declaration of the 1980s as the Al Franken Decade. Assuming that he was ever funny, he hasnt been so since that decade passed on.

Franken had already abandoned humor for politics of the talk-radio kind when he returned to Minnesota in 2007 to run for the Senate. This year, however, he reverted to the facetious tone that permeated his comedy work, with the publication of his best-selling memoir, Giant of the Senate. Franken promoted the book via predictably friendly media outletsbut I was not expecting him to turn up as a guest disc jockey on SiriusXMs Grateful Dead Channel. During his May 30 stint there, Franken treated listeners to some of his favorite Grateful Dead shows; hosted an interview segment with former Dead members Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart; recalled shows that he had attended at the Winterland Ballroom; and played his favorite version of Althea.

In the Senate, though, Franken has not only abandoned humor; he may also have become the bodys unfunniest senator. Consider his approach to opposing two of President Trumps choices for the federal appellate courts. Trump has nominated Notre Dame University Law School professor Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. At the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Barretts nomination, Senators Dick Durbin and Dianne Feinstein conducted a mini-inquisition of Barretts religious views. Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic? Durbin asked. Feinstein concluded her questioning by telling Barrett that the [Catholic] dogma lives loudly within you, and thats of concern. They all but asked Barrett whether she is now or ever has been a member of the Catholic Church.

Their performance distracted attention from Frankens own McCarthy-like performance. Also a member of the committee, the Minnesota senator questioned Barrett about a speech that she had given to an extreme right group. Barrett acknowledged that she had been paid by the Alliance Defending Freedom to give a speech on constitutional interpretation to Christian law students in the ADFs Blackstone Legal Fellowship program. The ADF is a prominent Christian legal-rights organization that litigates freedom-of-religion claims on behalf of parties such as Masterpiece Cakeshopa case pending before the Supreme Court this term. Noting that the ADF has recently been designated an anti-LGBT hate groupby the discredited and delusional Southern Poverty Law Center, that isFranken attacked Barrett as unworthy of confirmation. Now I question your judgment, Franken told her. The root word of judgment is judge, he helpfully added.

Franken drew on the same technique to oppose Trumps nomination of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras to the Eighth Circuit. Stras taught at the University of Minnesota Law School from 2004 to 2010, where he was a popular and respected professor, and has served on the Minnesota Supreme Court since 2010. More than three months after Stras had been nominated, a Franken spokesman told the Associated Press that the senator was still studying Strass lengthy record. Finally, in early September, Franken announced that he would oppose Strass nomination. He cited nothing in Strass scholarly or judicial record; instead, he pronounced Stras guilty of having served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, of speaking favorably of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and of associating himself with the (nonpartisan) Federalist Society.

I have grown concerned that, if confirmed to the federal bench, Justice Stras would be a deeply conservative jurist in the mold of Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, justices who the nominee himself has identified as role models, Franken wrote. He went on: Justice Strass professional background and record strongly suggest that, if confirmed, he would embrace the legacy of his role models and reliably rule in favor of powerful corporate interests over working people, and that he would place a high bar before plaintiffs seeking justice at work, at school, and at the ballot box.

Frankens formulations suggest McCarthyite guilt by associationthough, in this case, the associations are to be admired. There is a reason that Franken filed no specific objections to Strass work. Nothing in the judges record suggests that he is anything but his own man.

Frankens left-wing McCarthyism is hard to take seriously, but that doesnt make it funny. The senator hasnt been funny for a generation.

Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM
For 10 days in May, nobodys commute was safe. News out of Washington, which seemed to break just when people on the East Coast were heading for their cars or descending into the subway, brought one monster scoop after another. Much of the cloud that continues to hang over the Trump presidency formed during the period between Sally Yatess testimony before Congress and Rod Rosensteins appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. In between, reporters from The New York Times and The Washington Post engaged in a back-and-forth battle for scoops that launched what Vanity Fair called the last great newspaper war. Some key moments follow.

May 8

Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates testifies

She warns the Trump administration that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn may have been compromised by Russian agents, and says she cant explain why it took 18 days for him to be fired.

May 9

Trump fires FBI Director James Comey

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He cites Comeys handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation as his reason for dismissing the man leading a probe into whether Trumps associates colluded with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign.

ICYMI: Trump might be in serious trouble for his NBC tweets

May 10

Trump meets in Oval Office with Russian diplomats

No American press is allowed, but a photographer from Russian state media is.

The New York Times

Matthew Rosenberg and Matt Apuzzo report that days before he was fired, Comey asked for more prosecutors and other personnel to accelerate the bureaus investigation into Russias interference in the presidential election.

May 11

NBC News

Trump sits down with NBC Newss Lester Holt, telling the anchor that Comey is a showboat, hes [a] grandstander. Trump also contradicts his vice president and spokeswoman by admitting that he was thinking about the Russia investigation when he decided to fire the FBI director.

May 12

Trump tweets

James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017

Trump tries to quiet things

He releases a letter saying he had no business interests with Russia with a few exceptions.

May 13-14

Quiet Mothers Day weekend

May 15

The Washington Post

Greg Miller and Greg Jaffe report President Trump revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting last week.

RELATED: A hidden message in memo justifying Comeys firing

May 16

The New York Times

Adam Goldman, Eric Schmitt, and Peter Baker report that the classified information that Trump shared with Russian officials was provided by Israel.



Michael S. Schmidt reports that James Comey wrote memos after his meetings with Trump, and that the president asked him to end the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

May 17

The Washington Post

Adam Entous reports that in the summer of 2016, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told colleagues he thought Trump was paid by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The New York Times

Matthew Rosenberg and Mark Mazzetti report that the Trump administration knew Michael Flynn was under investigation when he was hired.

Robert Mueller is appointed Special Counsel

He is still leading the investigation into the Trump campaign and administrations ties to Russia.

ICYMI: Two dozen freelance journalists told CJR the best outlets to pitch

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.
MedRisk Promotes Ryan to CEO

Mike Ryan has been promoted to chief executive officer and president of MedRisk, a managed care company specializing in physical rehabilitation within workers compensation. Founder Shelley Boyce is maintaining an active role as executive chairman.

As CEO and President, Ryan is responsible for MedRisks performance, overseeing strategic business initiatives and providing organization-wide leadership. Boyce is focusing on the ongoing evolution of the companys product offerings and broader business partnerships.

Ryan has over 19 years experience in the insurance industry, having worked with major workers compensation carriers and third party administrators. He joined MedRisk in 2011 to develop and implement company-wide growth initiatives and became President in 2013.

Starr Companies Appoints Fitzgerald Global Chief Claims Officer

Starr Companies appointed Dave Fitzgerald global chief claims officer.

Fitzgerald has more than 27 years of experience in increasingly progressive claims leadership roles.

AIG Names Fry Head of Reinsurance, Operations and Transformation, General Insurance

American International Group, Inc. announced that Charles Fry will join the company as Head of Reinsurance, Operations and Transformation, General Insurance, effective immediately. Fry will oversee AIGs Global Reinsurance, Shared Services, Transformation and Administration functions. He will report to Peter Zaffino, chief executive officer, General Insurance and be part of the General Insurance Executive Leadership Team.

Fry has over 20 years experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry. He previously served as group chief financial officer at Novae Group plc. Prior to Novae, he served as chief operating officer, at Guy Carpenter. In addition, Fry previously worked with Apax Partners on its investment in Travelex Group, where he was the executive responsible for the groups global reorganization. From 1999 to 2006, he served on the senior management team of Benfield Group, as chief financial officer of the principal operating subsidiary, Benfield Limited. He began his professional career at PwC.

Arch Capital Group Announces Worldwide Reinsurance Group Senior Management Changes

Arch Capital Group Ltd. announced a number of senior management changes in its Worldwide Reinsurance Group. Jerome Halgan, currently the president and chief executive officer of Arch Reinsurance Company in the U.S., has been promoted to the role of chief executive officer of Arch Reinsurance Ltd. in Bermuda. Matt Dragonetti, currently head of Property at Arch Reinsurance Ltd., will take on the additional role of president. In another change at Arch Reinsurance Ltd., Michelle Seymour-Smith will assume the role of chief operating officer while maintaining her responsibilities as chief financial officer.

In the U.S., Ken Vivian has been promoted to the newly created role of chief executive officer of Arch Re North America. In this capacity, Vivian will maintain his current role as chief executive officer of Arch Re Facultative Underwriters Inc., but also assume the chief executive officer role with Arch Reinsurance Company. Peder Moller returns to Arch Reinsurance Company to serve as chief underwriting officer.

Finally, Pierre Jal, currently the chief underwriting officer of Arch Reinsurance Europe Underwriting dac, our European reinsurance operations, will relocate to Bermuda to join Arch Reinsurance Ltd. as the global chief underwriting officer. The proposed changes are subject to all necessary regulatory approvals.
Most employers have effective programs for accommodating workers with disabilities, but they often overlook recruiting and training practices that could expand employment opportunities, according to a national survey released Tuesday.

Two-thirds of respondents to the poll of supervising employees said their organizations have policies and procedures to provide requested accommodations to workers with disabilities, and nearly all of them rated those processes as effective. But when it came to specific practices, several that were rated as highly effective were far and few between.

For example, only 13 percent of supervisors said their organizations offer job sharing, yet more than 90 percent of those who allow it said such policies were effective for both people with disabilities and workers overall. And only 27 percent have partnered with a disability organization to recruit workers, even though most supervisors viewed the idea as feasible.

Many times employers dont know where to go to find qualified candidates, said John ONeill, director of Disability and Employment Research at the Kessler Foundation and the studys co-investigator. Thats a practice thats really underutilized, but when it is utilized its considered to be very effective.

The University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability conducted the survey for the Kessler Foundation, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that funds research and initiatives aimed at improving the lives of people with neurological disabilities. It questioned 3,085 supervisors in organizations with 25 or more employees about hiring, training and retention practices, and whether or not those practices were effective both for employees in general and those with disabilities.

People with disabilities make up 3.2 percent of U.S. workers ages 16-64, according to previous UNH research and federal labor statistics. Those 4.6 million workers amount to about 30 percent of the total working age population of people with disabilities, meaning the vast majority of people with disabilities arent employed.

One problem is inconsistent support for helping employees with disabilities learn their jobs, ONeill said. The survey found that while supervisors felt that they and upper management were equally committed to hiring people with disabilities, supervisors view upper management as less committed to training and accommodations.

Supervisors are right at the ground level, and management is often times at a distance, said Kessler Foundation President Rodger DeRose said. So supervisors have to push the communications upward and say, This is what we really need.

While two-thirds of those surveyed said it is very important to provide requested accommodations to workers with disabilities, only 28 percent of organizations have disability hiring goals, compared to nearly 60 percent that have goals for other types of diversity.

DeRose said disability remains the silent minority.

This whole area of employing people with disabilities has been real struggle before signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, and here we are 27 years later, and its still a challenge, he said.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
As residents and businesses continue to recover after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, focus is beginning to turn to mitigation. In Florida, where experts say better buildings codes resulted from Hurricane Andrew 25 years ago, analysis will include how improved codes helped buildings fare during the storm. In Texas, where there is no statewide code adoption mandate, discussion will focus on what can be done to improve building codes.

During a recent Verisk Monday Web Seminar Series, Christopher Miller, technical coordinator for BCEGS, Commercial Underwriting at ISO, explained the Building Code Effectiveness Grading Scheduled (BCEGS) and its development.

Due to high loss events in the early 1990s, namely Hurricane Andrew in 1992 followed by the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, BCEGS was developed and modeled after ISOs Public Protection Classification program  a program, in place for more than 100 years, that evaluates community fire protection.

The program is considered a cooperative effort between the government and the insurance industry, he explained. Insurers were asked to point out what mattered in terms of resilience of buildings, as well as what mattered from a loss standpoint and actuarial risk from the insurance industry.

Explained simply, Miller said there were building codes on the books in many jurisdictions, but just as many were not enforced. For example, building codes might require hurricane straps and clips but, upon inspection, they were found to be missing or fastened incorrectly.

The program reviews the codes adopted and measures the resources and support available for enforcement of the code. It drills down to individual code enforcement personnel, their experience, education and hours spent inspecting buildings. The data, Miller emphasized, is field verified  it isnt just mined off the internet or obtained through a phone conversation. Today, there are close to 1300 data points.

The objective of BCEGS is to improve the enforcement of building codes which, according to Miller, will lead to better catastrophe-resistant buildings and reduced insurance losses. He explained that insurers also get a better idea of the risks they are undertaking in the policies they choose to write. To date, the program has collected more than 43 million individual data elements. Its classification covers 87 percent of the U.S. population, Miller said.

The minimum criteria for inclusion requires that a permanent building department be in place for the community with an adopted building code or standard with regularly scheduled training, structural plan review and field inspections. It is assigned a rating of 1-10 and the rating is typically updated every five years. Personal and commercial/industrial lines are rated separately. Miller explained there are three major areas of review based on a 100-point scale: administrating of codes (54 percent), preview of building plans (23 percent), and field inspection to make sure construction follows the building plans (23 percent). The score begins at zero and builds up from there, he added.

Miller explained that while the program is voluntary, there are some consequences for not participating in it. For example, the state of Florida charges communities a 1 percent premium surcharge that opt out of participating in the program.

The results are used as data in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reports and the program is written into two of three hazard mitigation programs.

According to Miller, academic studies established a correlation that better ratings translated into lower losses. In one by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, windstorm losses were reduced by as much as 72 percent as a result of the implementation of statewide codes in Florida.

Community Ratings 1-10 Explained

Classes 1-3  Comprises 21 percent of participating communities nationwide. Those that score within this class have an unamended, adopted model code that is within five years of its publication date; exceptional staffing levels based on workloads with high level certification and education.

Classes 4-6  Comprises 58 percent of participating communities nationwide. Those that score within this class have an adopted model code, but have strained staffing levels and minimal levels of staff education and certification.

Classes 7-10  Comprises 21 percent of participating communities nationwide. Scoring within this class range means a community has an adopted model code, but it has been amended to weaken it and/or has older codes, in addition to inadequate staffing levels, education and certification.

In light of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Miller discussed Texas and Floridas BCEGS ratings based on 2015 statistics.

Texas  Its BCEGS state average is 58 commercial (out of a score of 100) with a class 5 and 54 residential with a class 6. (Figures dont include communities that dont have a department).

Florida  Its BCEGS state average is 78 commercial with a class 3 and 72 residential with a class 4.

Comparing state mandates, Miller said that while both have building codes, Texas allows amendments which can weaken codes while Florida does not. In Florida, building inspector certification is mandated and must be updated every two years with a required amount of training. Texas doesnt require building inspector certification. Building contractor licensing (includes training and exam requirements) and registration is also mandated in Florida, but not in Texas. Lastly, in Texas, where there is no statewide code adoption mandate, communities can decide to adopt and enforce building codes.

While Miller couldnt speak to how losses from Harvey and Irma could impact building code change, Julie Rochman, president and CEO of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), said that early indication is the areas that did have enforced codes sustained in less damage.

I dont think theres anybody  including homebuilders or public policymakers, given they may not be huge fans of codes  who were saying that codes didnt matter in these storms. I also have not heard anybody say that houses that werent built to code did better. I hope it is one of those moments that crystallizes for consumers the need to be more involved and to ask for, to agitate for, to advocate for strong, well-enforced building codes. Its a really important topic for community continuity, Rochman said.

After Harvey, IBHS sent a team of engineers to the coastal areas in Texas to examine damage patterns.

In 2015, IBHS issued a report rating residential building codes in hurricane-prone states. Not surprisingly, the findings mirror BCEGS findings  Florida building codes are substantially better than Texas. Florida scored 94 out of 100, while Texas scored 36.

While the report, Rating the States, will be updated next year, Rochman said Texas isnt likely to gain a much higher score. The Texas legislature convenes every other year and wont be in session in 2018, making it less likely building codes will remain top of mind for public policymakers, she added.

There is sort of like a time and space element to disasters and what people learned and follow through on, said Rochman. The farther away in time you get from a disaster, the less likely people are to do anything to actually enact the lessons that are learned.

For example, she said it took Louisiana two years to adopt building codes after Katrina.

That was a defining event for New Orleans and Louisiana in a way that Harvey was not a defining event for coastal Texas, Rochman said.

Thats because, for the most part, Harvey was mainly a flood event. She expects, in Houston especially, that discussion will center on codes related to building elevation and land use.

In Texas, theyve been building in places they shouldnt have been building, from a flood perspective, and they have just created so much impermeable surface and there is just nowhere for the water to go, Rochman said.
'Icons of Modern Art: The Shchukin Collection' is being hailed as a once-in-a-lifetime event. For the first time in 70 years, the collection of Russian art aficionado Sergei Shchukin has been brought together at the Louis Vuitton Foundation located in Bois de Boulogne.

Bernard Arnault, the CEO and Chairman of LVMH , has played a key role in getting this exhibition up and running.

Speaking to the "CNBC Conversation", the chief executive of the luxury brand tells CNBC's Tania Bryer how happy he was to organize the exhibition, and that he believed the Russian President would want to come and see the exhibition, after negotiations were made with the country to make it happen.

Aside from hosting the Shchukin collection, Arnault is the chief of one of the most renowned luxury brands out there: LVMH.

During the conversation, the CEO talks about facing critics as a business, and how the brand stays afloat despite current global macroeconomic headwinds, such as China and geopolitical tensions.

Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks on proposed changes to the U.S. tax code at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, September 27, 2017.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to confirm he had North Korea in mind last week when he described a gathering of military leaders as "the calm before the storm."

In an interview with U.S. network Fox News, Trump was asked what he meant with the cryptic phrase, which had fueled concerns the United States and North Korea were closer to war.

"We can't let this to go on. We just can't," Trump said in response to the question, adding that China has been very helpful in the situation. "They cut off banking to North Korea."

Trump made the "calm before the storm" comment during an Oct. 5 photo opportunity before having dinner with U.S. military leaders and their wives. The dinner followed a meeting in which Trump and the military leaders discussed Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan and the fight against Islamic State.

On Wednesday, Trump also characterized a diplomatic deal with North Korea brokered under former President Bill Clinton as a failure.

"Before ... the ink was dry on the contract, they were already starting again with the missiles, and with the nuclear, frankly," Trump said.

"We cannot allow this to happen. This should have been taken care of long ago." he said.
Tourists from China visit Ephesus, an ancient Greek city located near present-day Selcuk, Izmir Province, in Turkey, on Aug. 27, 2017. Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images

Last week 6 million Chinese tourists traveled abroad during a national holiday, and that likely meant big paydays for traditional tourist destinations, such as London or Paris. But, increasingly, China's travelers are taking their families  and their money  to less conventional locales. All told, more than 700 million in China traveled during the semi-annual Golden Week holiday from Oct. 1 to Oct. 8, according to the government. And while the couple million tourists who took the week to go abroad mostly visited longtime Asia favorites, there're indications that new countries are catching their attentions. That is, four of the five most popular international destinations among Chinese tourists during the eight-day holiday were located in Asia, according to travel bookings platform Trivago . Those locations included Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka and Bangkok, with Paris the lone European city in the top five.

'Hot new locations'

Besides those mainstays, mainland tourists bitten by the travel bug are also increasingly adventurous. Some are looking farther afield for their next vacation and others eschewing the traditional package tours in favor of self-planned trips. These were the "hot new locations" that saw greater than 50 percent growth in the number of tourist bookings this year, according to Ctrip , one of the largest travel services providers in China. Expedia-owned Trivago also mentioned similar trends: Morocco

Turkey

The United Arab Emirates

The Czech Republic

Finland

Austria

Germany

Vietnam

Cambodia

Italy Accompanying the growing desire to visit those destinations is the increased demand for more personalized holiday experiences, market research shows. Tailor-made travel services are fast becoming customary among wealthy travelers looking to escape cookie-cutter vacation packages. According to Ctrip, factors that more Chinese tourists are seeking out from their holidays include "avoiding big crowds," "no shopping" and private travel guides. When travelers visit places others haven't, they can derive "social cachet," and that's become a trend among the middle class, according to Ben Cavender, a principal at consultancy China Market Research Group. "Increasingly, we are seeing well-heeled Chinese travel to hard-to-reach destinations for the bragging rights and WeChat pictures [to] show they've been somewhere exotic," he said.

The big picture

Still, overall travel patterns for the year show that major Asian countries continue to make up most of the top destinations visited by mainland travelers. Both Trivago and Ctrip said Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan were among the most in-demand locations for Chinese tourists traveling overseas. More than 70 percent of Chinese tourists traveling abroad will visit other Asian countries this year, according to Ctrip. Of those Asia-bound travelers, 45 percent will head to countries in Southeast Asia, with Thailand proving the most popular destination in that region, a Ctrip spokesman told CNBC. Meanwhile, those tourists are also willing to spend more  and not just on shopping.

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"We see that Chinese travelers are spending more and more," Trivago CEO Rolf Schromgens told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday. Chinese tourist expenditure on hotel rooms has increased 23 percent compared to the year before, he added. Contrary to the "stereotype of Chinese tourists," an increasing number of mainland travelers are now more willing to spend on experiences, with luxury hotels and unique travel services starting to form a larger expenditure item for many, according to Ctrip.

Staying local

Still, for most Chinese travelers, domestic destinations took the crown, especially during Golden Week. About 59 percent of searches on Trivago were for domestic travel during the period, a spokeswoman said. Destinations that Chinese tourists were most interested in visiting for the holiday included Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing and Shanghai, according to Trivago. Those results fit in the wider trend of a pick-up in domestic travel: Domestic trips made by Chinese tourists increased 13.5 percent in the first half  exceeding the 5.1 percent rise in overseas travel recorded in the same period, Reuters said.

Tourists view the Qiantang River Tide at Haining during the National Day holiday on Oct. 7, 2017 in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China. Domestic travel destinations were popular among Chinese tourists during the Golden Week holiday this year. VCG | Getty Images
A pump jack and pipes at an oil field near Bakersfield, California. Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

Oil prices pared losses on Thursday after the Energy Department reported a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. inventories and a falloff in weekly production. The market was still under pressure, though, from a bearish outlook by the International Energy Agency, which lowered its forecast for oil demand for 2018. Oil has strengthened in recent weeks due to a sharp drawdown in distillates, feeding expectations for renewed demand, but it is unclear whether U.S. crude prices will regain the high of nearly $53 a barrel reached in late September. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures ended Thursday's session down 70 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $50.60 per barrel. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were down 62 cents, or 1.1 percent, at $56.32 by 2:24 p.m. Both contracts have rallied in the last three sessions following last week's sharp losses.

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U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels to 462.2 million barrels in the week through Oct. 6, the Energy Information Administration reported. The American Petroleum Institute had reported on Wednesday that stocks rose by 3.1 million barrels. Gasoline stocks rose by 2.5 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 480,000-barrel drop. Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.5 million barrels, versus expectations for a 2.2 million-barrel decline, the EIA data showed. The International Energy Agency said on Thursday demand for OPEC oil would be 32.5 million bpd next year  around 150,000 bpd lower than the group pumped last month. Carsten Fritsch, commodities analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, said the tone of the IEA report was bearish because it suggested that demand for OPEC crude next year would not be sufficient to absorb all the available supplies. "This means OPEC must deepen its production cuts to finish its job of bringing oil stocks back to the five-year average," Fritsch said. U.S. crude inventories are still 13 percent above five-year averages headed into the busy winter season, despite efforts by OPEC to cut production. The OPEC-led deal helped lift oil from below $30 a barrel early last year. But traders say supplies remain ample and OPEC is widely expected to extend its cuts beyond the current expiry date of end-March 2018.

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Toyota Motor Corp. is planning to halve the number of cars it sells in Japan to about 30 by 2025 to focus on more popular models in a shrinking market, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Thursday.



The automaker currently offers about 62 car models in Japan, including the Prius gasoline hybrid and the Aqua compact hatchback, along with less popular ones including the Premio sedan.



Auto sales in Japan have been falling as the population rapidly ages, while young people are losing interest in car ownership.



The plans will allow Toyota to make better use of its resources, the person said, who was not authorised to comment on the matter and declined to be identified.



Toyota spokeswoman Akiko Kita said the company was pursuing a number of strategies to maintain sales at least 1.5 million vehicles annually in a shrinking market. It currently sells around 1.6 million a year.



Toyota and other global carmakers are concentrating their efforts on developing lower emissions vehicles, including electric cars while also focusing on expanding market share in emerging markets.
President Donald Trump's decision on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal could come on Friday, and experts say the "writing is on the wall" that the administration won't recertify the landmark agreement and he likely will turn his attention to getting European support on fixing it.

NBC News reported the White House briefed lawmakers Wednesday on the pending decision and those who left were convinced the Obama-era nuclear deal would get decertified. It also reported the announcement would probably be Friday and that the administration doesn't want to scrap the deal entirely and proposed a legislative remedy.

Even so, some experts told CNBC that decertification will undermine the international deal and encourage hardliners in Tehran to push for nuclear weapons. Also, they said nixing certification of the Iran deal and trying to renegotiate it will discourage North Korea from ever considering a denuclearization accord.

"What Trump is doing is opening a very unnecessary 'Pandora's box' of troubles at a time when he is unable to competently handle the crisis with North Korea's nuclear program," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, which supports the Iran deal.

Trump, who has been sharply critical of Iran and accused Tehran of working with North Korea on lethal weapons, faces an Oct. 15 deadline on whether to certify to Congress that Iran is compliance with the terms of the nuclear agreement.

"I expect President Trump will not certify it," said Elizabeth Rosenberg, an Iran expert at the Center for a New American Security, a progressive think tank. "He's been quite clear for a long time that it's not his plan to certify it."

If Trump does decertify the accord as expected, it would put him at odds with Defense Secretary James Mattis, who last week said Tehran was "fundamentally" in compliance with the agreement and that the U.S. should stick with the pact.

Rosenberg said decertification would effectively open a 60-day window for Congress to consider sanctions on Iran. However, some members of Congress have expressed a willingness to hold off on sanctions to give Trump time to negotiate a strategy with the Europeans to alter the deal.

Several European allies have urged Trump not to nix the agreement, but instead to build on it, possibly addressing "sunset" provisions (by 2026, key nuclear restrictions lift on the accord).

"The decertification is an essential first step to persuading the Europeans that the alternatives to fixing the deal could be President Trump's decision to abandon the deal," said Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a nonpartisan policy institute.

Yet Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency reported Wednesday that the country's foreign minister said Tehran "will never" renegotiate the deal.

On the other hand, some argue decertification and the possibility of U.S. sanctions on Iran might win support from the Europeans. Besides, Tehran might see things differently with the threat of sanctions.
President Donald Trump's "America First" stance is making the U.S. more isolated on the world stage, with the country quickly losing soft power to China, a former U.S. Treasury official told CNBC Thursday.

That shift is readily apparent at this week's annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, according to Scott Morris, who oversaw U.S. global development policy and worked with the World Bank while in the Treasury Department during the Obama administration.

"You have a China that is looking to showcase its multi-trillion dollar 'Belt-Road' initiative with very high-profile events and then you have American officials who want to say no to everything: No to ambition at the World Bank, no to trade agreements," Morris told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

"That's a message that is a hard sell to the rest of the international community," he added.

The meetings of the IMF and the World Bank  two multilateral institutions that support global financial stability and offer development assistance, respectively  come as Trump indicated again Wednesday he might exit the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Morris, who is currently a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, a think tank, said the administration's varying messages on international relationships were "troubling" and he expressed concern about how it could impact U.S. influence, particularly through the World Bank and IMF.

"The stark departure here is a message from this White House saying you should stop lending to a wide swathe of countries and really begin to wind things down," Morris said. "I think that's just not where the rest of the world is and, as a result, the U.S. is increasingly isolated."

His comments followed a Wednesday report by AidData that China could overtake the U.S. as the world's primary donor of foreign aid to most of the developing world. Trump has called for significant reductions in aid, prompting international concern and intense criticism from former White House officials and business executives.
Airbnb is introducing its first branded apartment complex in Florida, a state where strict regulations threaten its growth and restrict its supply of available rooms. The partnership with Miami-based Newgard Development Group marks the first step by Airbnb to design accommodations from the ground up for home-sharing, further challenging the traditional hotel industry.

Under the brand "Niido Powered by Airbnb," the first complex in this project is a 324-unit building in Kissimmee, Florida. The apartments there will feature amenities like keyless entry systems, which make it easy for a tenant to check short-term guests in and out of their homes, remotely.

According to a joint statement from Newgard and Airbnb, tenants will sign annual leases be able to rent rooms or units for up to 180 nights per year, and will share revenues with the landlords who own the unit.

Jaja Jackson is Airbnb's director of global multifamily partnerships, and is taking the lead on this project. He told CNBC that if it works, "we hope that we'd roll this out across the US and internationally."

Newgard is paying to build and will own the buildings. But Airbnb helped design the units, buildings and services provided there.

The apartments in the complex will be connected to an Airbnb app that lets tenants order up services like an apartment cleaning, or a fresh set of linens for their guests. These services will be provided on premises by a MasterHost.

CEO of Newguard Development, Harvey Hernandez, says the partnership brings home sharing to the "mainstream." He told CNBC, "we're bringing the opportunity for all our tenants to monetize the asset they rent from us."

Hernandez says Newguard decided to approach Airbnb with this idea after it looked at the multifamily space and realized that tenants were struggling to afford home in the places they really wanted to live.

"How about if we create a homesharing based community that we can scale and be in every market in the US?" he asked himself. "Airbnb was the perfect partner for us so we pitched the idea and they loved it."

Both Jackson and Hernandez insist that "Niido Powered by Airbnb" is not a hotel. Hernandez says the project elevates his development and if anything, "we're complimentary."

Jackson says, "this is not a hotel format because the experience is individual. The host creates a personalized experience for each guest." He adds, "We're able to put Niido locations in cities and locations that aren't typically associated with tourism."

The idea is to empower Airbnb hosts to deliver a luxury travel experience to their guests, and for tenants and landlords to come to a clear agreement over short-term rentals.

The project expands Airbnb's "Friendly Buildings Program" which shares revenue generated from home sharing between hosts and landlords.

Jackson says the program has been a victory for cities, owners and hosts alike. And as regulations threaten to slow its growth, Jackson says it will help increase the number of hosts across the platform at large.

"The program has proven to, in most cases where it's rolled out, increase hosting by approximately 100 percent. And that means hosting that's now done in a legitimate way, with knowledge of the landlord, the property manager and the cities involved," he said.

Municipal and state laws vary significantly across the U.S. In some areas, local governments prohibit tenants from using the homes they've rented on a long-term basis as alternative lodgings.

Towns like Miami Beach, New York and San Francisco have steeply fined home owners when their long-term tenants have turned their properties into something resembling a youth hostel using Airbnb to book guests for short-term stays.
Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma believes that if there's a change coming, it's best to prepare early.

That philosophy served Alibaba, now a Chinese e-commerce behemoth, well in its early days fending off competition on its home turf from online marketplace eBay.

"When we see something is coming, we have to prepare now," Ma told CNBC. "My belief is [that] you have to repair the roof while it is still [sunny]."

When internet commerce in China was still in its nascent stages, eBay became one of the early entrants into the market. It ran a consumer-to-consumer online platform called EachNet that charged users a fee for each transaction.

Alibaba, at that time, was still focused on helping small- and medium-sized companies in China go online to do business.

Ma had "realized that eBay, sooner or later, as it grew in China, would start coming after Alibaba's customers," Porter Erisman, a former Alibaba vice president, told CNBC's "The Brave Ones."

To combat that potential threat from eBay, Ma assembled a small group of Alibaba employees and sent them to work on a secret project: an online marketplace that could directly compete with what eBay was offering. That was how Alibaba built its famous Taobao marketplace that currently handles huge volumes of transactions each day.

Taobao, Erisman said, started free for the first three years and it put pressure on eBay's pay-per-transaction model. EBay's reaction was "to put out a press release and say free is not a business model." But as more buyers and sellers began to move onto Taobao, Erisman said, Alibaba knew that ultimately it could make money.

In nearly two decades since Ma co-founded the company from his apartment in Hangzhou, Alibaba has become a mainstay in the tech world. It has a market capitalization of about $473 billion.

Early in his career, Ma faced a string of rejections, which he said helped to build his mettle as an entrepreneur. "As an entrepreneur, one of the quality I have is that when I'm rejected by people, I get used to them," Ma said.

The transition from a fledgling business to one of China's most valuable companies came with its share of ups and downs. In fact, Alibaba initially struggled to raise venture capital funding. One venture investor recently told CNBC that he had turned down an early investment into Alibaba because he was not convinced by their initial business-to-business model.

Ma has previously said that Alibaba was rejected by about 30 venture capitalists before it found a major backer in another tech visionary  SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.

Then came the dotcom bust and Ma was forced to lay-off staff around the world.

"Alibaba went from this sort of optimistic expansion phase to this somewhat depressing phase of cutting back," Erisman said. "That was the only time I ever saw him doubt himself, when he was laying off people, and I think for just a moment in time, he even wondered if the company would survive."

It was then that Ma learned that being a CEO was vastly different from being an English teacher, according to Erisman. "Being a CEO means making the tough decisions and sometimes cutting back in order to allow the company to survive," he said.

Ma is already thinking about what the future will entail for Alibaba as new technologies and ways of doing business are discovered.

"Next 30 years," he said, "the technology is going to challenge a lot of job opportunities. People already are unhappy because a lot of machine learning, artificial intelligence are killing a lot of jobs."

The trade-off, according to Ma, is the improvement in people's lives as a result of new technologies.

To prepare for that inevitable change, when technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning become a mainstay, Alibaba earlier this week said it will investment more than $15 billion over the next three years into technological research and development.

"What Alibaba wants to do in the next 10-20 years is to enable the innovation of traditional business," Ma said.
Apple CEO Tim Cook says it is more important to learn how to code than it is to learn English as a second language.

The tech executive made the remarks to French outlet Konbini while in the country for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, who has called for tech companies to pay higher taxes in Europe.

"If I were a French student and I were 10 years old, I think it would be more important for me to learn coding than English. I'm not telling people not to learn English in some form  but I think you understand what I am saying is that this is a language that you can [use to] express yourself to 7 billion people in the world," Cook tells Konbini.

"I think that coding should be required in every public school in the world."
Baxter International said Thursday that it expects to see an impact from Hurricane Maria on its fourth-quarter revenue.

The company said, however, that it expects strong performance elsewhere in the business to help mitigate the storm's effect.

Baxter said three of its manufacturing sites in Puerto Rico sustained minimal structural damage and that limited production resumed within one week.
Some disruptive business ideas are ahead of their time, but with a little luck and perseverance, they can ignite and become a big hit. Take Bluemercury, a luxury cosmetic store and spa chain founded by husband-and-wife team Marla and Barry Beck. While many brick-and-mortar retail chains are struggling in the United States, this business is one of the fastest growing in the industry.

The company purchased by Macy's in 2015 for $210 million has 150 stores, and another 10 are expected to open by year-end. The latest: a high-tech flagship store at the NY Hilton Midtown that's getting a lot of buzz because of its artificial intelligence mirror that allows instant information on products and 30-minute delivery on purchases to any location in the city.

In addition, Bluemercury has a prestige line of natural cosmetics called M-61 that can be viewed as an extension of the store's beauty expertise. The line contains Retin-A, glycolic salicylic acid, as well as natural ingredients, like tamarind and aloe.

The company's success can be attributed to the fact that the Becks realized that both urban and suburban consumers yearned for a neighborhood alternative to the department store and mall beauty-buying experience, when they founded the business in 1999. Back then, it wasn't easy to convince brands and investors that the emerging trend would grow  spurred on by demographic shifts.

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Their 'aha moment' came when they noticed a small store selling Kiehl's and Nars products in their neighborhood in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. "It was then that we got the idea for a national beauty chain," CEO Marla Beck recalls. So they bought the store and launched Bluemercury, a name that's a combination of Marla's favorite color and ancient Roman messenger god Mercury.

"Oddly enough, our first business plan was to launch an online luxury cosmetics business after I was inspired by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, who spoke about the future of e-commerce while I was at Harvard Business School working on my MBA," Marla recalls. "But the idea fizzled out. It was 1997, and VCs and brands didn't see the potential of online retail."

So Marla and Barry quickly pivoted and set their sights on Main Street. They purchased that local store and launched their business.

To build their brand, they opened stores and embedded themselves in the lives of the communities they operated in. By offering expert services to busy suburban supermoms and urban power women, they grew a cadre of loyalists who loved the services and social experience at the stores  from spa services like facials and rock massages to makeup applications.

Demographic shifts and the rise of social media have fueled the company's growth as more and more millennials have become conscious with their appearance. "We live in an Instagram world," says Barry Beck, Bluemecury's COO. "More and more people are concerned about their image and how they look, and it's driving sales in many product categories."
European leaders were set to give the greenlight to start trade talks with the U.K. next week but now this might not happen until December, officials and analysts have told CNBC. A lack of progress in the negotiations is increasing the uncertainty for businesses and citizens, who both need to cement their post Brexit-plans as soon as possible. "I fear all this is too little for Michel Barnier (the European negotiator) to ask the EU leaders to give him a green light to open up negotiations about the future," Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, told CNBC via email. "He is a serious statesman  he will not make any recommendations concerning sufficient progress until he is perfectly certain that he has found common ground with the U.K," she added.

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Negotiators have repeatedly failed to agree on the terms of the Brexit bill, citizens' rights and the Irish border. The EU has ruled out discussing trade with the U.K. unless these points are satisfied. "With every week that goes by without real progress  for instance, on a transition period  anxiety among businesses and markets will increase," Rem Korteweg, head of the Europe in the World unit at Clingendael Institute in the Netherlands, told CNBC. "This will raise pressure on the U.K. government to compromise on, for instance, the Brexit bill. This could offer the breakthrough needed to move the talks to 'phase 2' (trade) by December. But there is little certainty this will indeed happen," he said.

December is the next big hope

JUSTIN TALLIS | AFP | Getty Images

European Council President Donald Tusk said Tuesday that he hopes trade talks will begin before the end of the year; if not, both negotiating teams will have to change their approach to negotiations. "We are negotiating in good faith, and we still hope that the so-called 'sufficient progress' will be possible by December. However, if it turns out that the talks continue at a slow pace, and that sufficient progress hasn't been reached, then  together with our U.K. friends  we will have to think about where we are heading," Tusk said. Some analysts predict that a breakthrough will be made on the three key issues by the end of the year. But doubts remain whether that will be enough to conclude Brexit talks in time for approval at the European Parliament before March 29, 2019  the date the U.K. is set to leave the European Union.

If it turns out that the talks continue at a slow pace, and that sufficient progress hasn't been reached...we will have to think about where we are heading. Donald Tusk president of the European Council

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said that both sides will have to agree an additional transition deal to ensure that businesses and citizens won't be faced with an abrupt change on March 29, but that also requires time. "There will be no real change in negotiations until December at the earliest, which makes timing increasingly tight for any exit agreement or transitional arrangements to be settled," Andrew Hood, former legal advisor to David Cameron and senior director of Dechert LLP, told CNBC. Media reports suggest that the U.K. government is making precautionary plans in case it doesn't reach any agreements with the EU. Tusk said Tuesday the EU isn't working on such a scenario. "We hear from London that the U.K. government is preparing for a "no deal" scenario," he said. "I would like to say very clearly that the EU is not working on such a scenario."

Come back

Meanwhile, recruiters are using Brexit to attract highly-skilled and young professionals back to their home countries.

Brexit is a moment at which many are thinking of returning Ivan Jimenez managing director of Bizkaia Talent

"Brexit is a moment at which many are thinking of returning, so we want to encourage them to return home," Ivan Jimenez, the managing director of Bizkaia Talent, a non-profit organization that supports people interested in being relocated to the Basque country in northern Spain, told CNBC via email. The autonomous region lost many highly-educated people during the last financial crisis and currently faces a shortage of talent, including in engineering, academia and the financial services. However, it's also a question of demographics given the Basque country has one of the oldest populations in Europe.

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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy speaks at the Spanish Parliament following the Catalonian independence vote on October 11, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. Mr Rajoy has asked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont to confirm whether or not he has declared independence. Pablo Blazquez Dominguez | Getty Images

Madrid's eight-day deadline for Catalonia to drop its independence bid could prove to be fruitless, according to political analysts, who believe that pro-separatist Catalan President Carles Puigdemont will not back down. Speaking in the Spanish capital on Wednesday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy warned that if the Catalan government refused, he would suspend the region's autonomy and rule it directly. Antonio Barroso, deputy director of research at risk consultancy Teneo Intelligence, said that "it is unlikely that Puigdemont will alter his position." "(Puigdemont's) first reaction has been to insist on establishing a 'bilateral dialogue' with Spain with 'no prior conditions'; backpedalling on independence would only lead to an even bigger disappointment within the secessionist camp," he said in a note Wednesday. "Given that Rajoy cannot accept a bilateral discussion without Puigdemont backtracking first on independence, the most likely scenario is that the prime minister activates the next steps of Article 155 (the so-called 'nuclear option'), which will probably happen within the next 48 hours.

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An alternative, less likely scenario is that Puigdemont's ambiguity further angers the more radical elements of the secessionist movement, leading to its implosion and early regional elections in Catalonia." Rajoy said Wednesday that Catalonia needed to clarify whether it had declared independence or not, following an ambiguous address by the Catalan leader on Tuesday in which he seemed to declare independence and then suspend it, calling for dialogue with Madrid. Later on Wednesday, Rajoy told Spain's parliament that the Catalan government had until Monday, October 16 at 9:00 a.m. London time to answer the demand, according to Reuters. If Puigdemont was to confirm he did declare independence, he would be given an additional three days to rectify it, until Thursday, October 19 at 9:00 a.m. London time.

'Article 155' on the horizon

In a televised address, Rajoy said that that if Catalonia had declared independence, he was ready to invoke the much-vaunted "Article 155" of the Constitution to seize powers back from Catalonia, sacking the regional government and calling fresh elections. Article 155 has never been invoked before but as tensions have grown between Spain and Catalonia a constitutional crisis has become more of a possibility. If Puigdemont refuses to reply to Spain's demands, Rajoy is expected to submit a list of actions that the government will take under Article 155 to the Spanish Senate. "The list must then be debated and approved by a specific committee, after which it will be sent to the plenary for discussion and a final vote," Barroso explained. "As Article 155 has never been implemented before, its timeframe is unclear. However, some estimates consider that the whole procedure could be wrapped up in five days," he added.

Ultimatum

The Spanish government's ultimatum to Catalonia puts more pressure on the regional government which is now stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, Puigdemont is being pressured by more radical elements within Catalonia's political establishment  such as the far-left Popular Unity Candidacy party (CUP)  to push ahead with independence. He cannot forget too that 90 percent of around 2.26 million Catalans voted for independence in a symbolic referendum his government held on October 1. On the other hand, an independent Catalonia would find itself isolated politically and economically, outside the European Union and un-recognized by other European countries. Already several businesses have said they would relocate outside of the region. Politicians, meanwhile, are divided. Xavier Domenech, a high-profile figure in En Comu Podem in Catalonia (a coalition formed by left-wing party Podemos and several other similar parties and led by Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau), told CNBC on Thursday that he was disappointed by Rajoy's lack of appetite for dialogue with Catalonia. "I know that the Spanish Prime Minister, Rajoy, had the opportunity yesterday to trigger article 155 and he didn't. However, he did have an opportunity to commence dialogue and instead chose to recite the law again," he told CNBC, adding: " Dialogue doesn't start by constantly belittling the person who you are supposed to be negotiating with." "To play, irritate and add to the tension by looking for conflict within the Catalan parliament - is to play with fire. And it isn't in line with the times we live in," Domenech warned. "What is in line with the times we live in is that they sit down and talk." However, Puigdemont faces pressure from Spanish politicians who say he has to go. Albert Rivera, president of Ciudadanos, an opponent of Catalan independence and ally of Spain's ruling People's Party (led by Rajoy), told CNBC Wednesday that new elections were needed in the region, saying "we need a president that will decide to come back to democracy, to come back to the constitution."
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Despite all the hype around initial coin offerings this year, U.S. regulators have yet to offer specific rules on what's legal and what isn't. So a growing number of crypto start-ups are taking compliance into their own hands. Since early August, at least nine companies have filed token sales with the SEC to raise a total of more than $350 million, according to data compiled by CNBC. The latest was Unikrn, an e-sports betting company backed by celebrity investors including Mark Cuban and Ashton Kutcher. On Tuesday, Unirkn filed to raise $20 million through sales of its digital currency called Unikoingold. ICOs, which hardly existed before this year, offer a new way for blockchain companies to raise cash without tapping traditional venture investors or the capital markets. Many projects have solicited funds directly from their website even though it may be years before they bring a product to market. In late July, the SEC issued its first public warning on ICOs, indicating that securities laws may apply to the sale of new digital coins. The SEC later issued another warning about ICO scams and last month charged two companies for ICO fraud. Even without a clear set of laws, companies are getting the hint.

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"The idea is to be proactive and engage regulators to foster goodwill," said Meltem Demirors, director at the Digital Currency Group in New York. When registering token sales with the SEC, companies are using short Form D filings, the same type of document that start-ups use to disclose private venture rounds. They only provide basic information, like the name and contact information for principals and the industry group. In a section that asks what type of security is being offered, where a typical start-up would select "equity," these companies are checking the "other" box and writing in something that includes the word token. ICO filings with the SEC account for a small fraction of the more than $2.7 billion that's been raised through token sales this year. There's so much chaos in the global crypto market that the Chinese government banned all ICOs in September, classifying them as illegal ways to raise money. On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Russian authorities plan to regulate the market and will determine how by the end of the year. Most of the projects going the SEC route are using a framework called the Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT), which was created by crypto start-up Protocol Labs and used for the first time in August. The agreement lays out how the tokens can eventually be used and provides for certain investor protections in case the project dissolves. Unlike many ICOs, SAFTs are limited to accredited investors for people in the U.S., meaning ordinary retail investors can't participate. "The view people are starting to settle on is that a pre-sale of a tokenized service needs to be done as a sale of a security," said Lowell Ness, a partner at law firm Perkins Coie and an expert in securities law. "They use the proceeds from that sale to go build the network. Once the network has been built and the token is fully functional and could be immediately used, then it's OK to deliver the token to the world." For example, Kik Interactive's new blockchain-based network was not yet up and running when the online chat company raised $50 million in August, so it sold SAFT securities to accredited investors and filed with the SEC.

The following month, once the service launched, Kik raised another $49 million without registering with the SEC. At that point, the digital tokens could be used as a utility on its service and no longer represented an investment, a company spokesman said. Kik users will be able to use Kin tokens for digital commerce on the network Protocol Labs, the creator of SAFT, accounts for more than half of the money that's been raised, pulling in over $200 million in August. The cash from the ICO is being used to build technology for a blockchain-based storage network called Filecoin. There's no guarantee that SAFT filings will be enough to satisfy the SEC in the future. But Digital Currency Group's Demirors said they're at least an indication that companies want better regulatory guidelines. "These projects are attempting to demonstrate a desire to solicit input from regulators," she said. Engaging with the SEC won't solve every concern around ICOs. The technology is still nascent and the business models are untested. AngelList CEO Naval Ravikant, who's been investing heavily in cryptocurrencies and helped come up with the idea for SAFT securities, expects to see plenty of highs and lows before the market settles. Here's one of his tweets from last month:
Delta Air Lines Inc. signage is displayed as a traveler uses self check-in kiosk in Delta Air Lines Inc.

Checking in for a flight is going the way of the paper airplane ticket.

An updated version of Delta Air Lines ' iOS mobile app now checks travelers in for their flights automatically, a recent change the airline said was in response to customer demand.

Travelers now just have to click on the app and tap to acknowledge federal restrictions on banned items in luggage and a boarding pass will automatically generate, according to Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group. Harteveldt told CNBC he tried the feature on a flight to New York on Thursday.

Checking in for a flight is "a waste of the traveler's time," he said, adding that Delta is the only U.S. carrier to offer such a feature, though others may adopt the streamlined process.

It wasn't yet clear how travelers will be able to tell the airline whether they planned on checking a bag, however.

Delta isn't alone in testing out new processes to cut down on traveler, and airline, time. KLM earlier this year tested facial-scanning technology that could replace boarding passes, while JetBlue is experimenting with biometric scans for travelers boarding flights from Boston to Aruba.
Sandberg, who supported Hillary Clinton in the election and is a former Treasury Department staffer , is expected to meet with members of Congress on Thursday, according to Recode . She has already met with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi , according to previous reports.

"Things happened on our platform in this election that shouldn't have happened, especially  and very troubling  foreign interference in a democratic election," Sandberg told Axios . "And we know that we have a responsibility to do everything we can to prevent this kind of abuse on our platform."

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said Thursday she supports the public release of Russian-linked political ads that ran on Facebook and have been shared with Congress.

The meetings come as Congress is investigating the role of Russian actors in the 2016 U.S. election, including thousands of advertisements that ran on Facebook. Sandberg said she supports publicly releasing the advertisements, as well as the pages they were linked to.

Leaders of a House Intelligence Committee panel said they plan to release the ads, likely after a Nov. 1 hearing, according to NBC News.

Sandberg said the targeting of those ads will also be released.

"We don't want this kind of foreign interference," Sandberg said. "These ads are divisive, and they are down, and the pages are down, because they are from fake accounts ... a lot of them, if they were run by legitimate people, we would let them run."

But Sandberg also called for other platforms, as well as the government, to rise to a similar standard of transparency. She noted that ads that promote violence and hate were part of the problem that Facebook had already been working to address.

Sandberg said that in the early days of monitoring on Facebook, preventing the hacking of private accounts was a primary goal.

"And then we started to hear the rumors  and this was around the election itself  of a different kind of attack," Sandberg said. "It was a more subtle [attack], even though just as important, which is posting in an inauthentic way to try to be deceptive and divisive."

She said that at this point, Facebook believes it has done a "thorough" job of identifying the Russian actor in question, thanks in part to the use of rubles to purchase the ads and the presence of fake accounts.

"We are following up aggressively on every lead we have," Sandberg said. "What we really owe the American people is determination. We are determined."
Sheryl Sandberg speaks about overcoming grief and resilience at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg denounced sexual harassment at the third annual Wall Street Journal Women in the Workplace dinner on Monday evening. "We can't tolerate Harvey Weinstein-like behavior," she told the crowd, alluding to recent allegations of sexual misconduct by former employees against the film studio exec. Last week, a New York Times investigation chronicled over two decades of sexual harassment claims against the producer along with his many settlements. Days later, The New Yorker released a harrowing expose in which three of Weinstein's accusers shared personal accounts of sexual assault and harassment.

Harvey Weinstein Alberto E. Rodriguez l Getty Images
Pharmaceutical companies aren't often associated with technology prowess, but a select few are trying to change that.

CNBC has learned that GlaxoSmithKline , Johnson & Johnson and other pharma companies are actively recruiting technologists from companies like Google and Microsoft 's LinkedIn.

The goal is to hire engineers to help modernize the processes that big pharma uses to discover and develop new drugs.

GSK alone has more than a dozen former employees from the largest tech companies working under its chief data officer Mark Ramsey, who was himself recruited from Samsung. Ramsey is looking to hire "dozens more," from the tech sector according to a GSK spokesperson.

"The pharma industry has been lagging when it comes to tech," said GSK's Ramsey in an interview with CNBC.

Ramsey sees ample opportunities for tech workers to build machine learning tools that analyze health information. One example of that is an ongoing project, depending on a green-light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to use previously-collected clinical trial data as an alternative to a control arm in a study.

That could potentially reduce the cost of clinical trials, and provide a better experience for patients.

Another big area is clinical trial recruitment: Researchers are finding that it's easier, cheaper and reliable enough to find candidates via mobile technologies, versus the alternatives, which involve broad targeting with radio or paper-based ads.

"Digital devices are interesting to us, as they can capture really granular data," he said. "Typically a patient has to go to a clinic and get lab tests, which happens on an infrequent basis."

The big challenge for pharma is to build awareness in the tech community. Ramsey says it's part of his job to educate talented engineers and product managers about "all the cool things that are happening in pharma," and not to be intimidated if they don't have a health background.

Now, he said, about 80 percent of his team has no life sciences experience at all.

J&J's global health of health technology Marc Leibowitz, who previously worked at Google and Dropbox, is also building out a team in San Francisco, New York and other tech hubs.

According to LinkedIn, some of his most senior colleagues include Oliver Hsiang, a former vice president at Lyft who previously worked at Google and LinkedIn, and Jill Applebaum, also formerly of Google.
Luxury fashion brand Gucci will stop using animal fur in its clothing next year, beginning with its spring-summer collection.

Marco Bizzarri, the Italian firm's president and CEO, announced the fur-free policy Wednesday during the 2017 Kering Talk at the London College of Fashion.

"Being socially responsible is one of Gucci's core values, and we will continue to strive to do better for the environment and animals," he said.

Bizzarri said the decision to end the use of fur in Gucci clothing was in part thanks to the firm's current creative director, Alessandro Michele.

"In selecting a new creative director, I wanted to find someone who shared a belief in the importance of the same values. I sensed that immediately on meeting Alessandro for the first time," Bizzarri said.
Chinese fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui on Tuesday posted photographs on Twitter of himself meeting former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon twice in less than a week.



In the post, the billionaire businessman, who is wanted in China on corruption charges, said he first met Bannon for lunch in Washington on Thursday after attending an event at the National Press Club. The second meeting came on Tuesday, when Bannon and his team visited Guo's home in New York for a 3-hour dinner.



The post was accompanied by four photographs of the two men. It did not say what they talked about, but said Bannon had agreed for the images to be posted on the social media site.



Neither Guo nor Bannon's spokesperson immediately responded to requests for comment from the South China Morning Post.



Tweet 1



The Twitter post came after Bannon was reported to have met Wang Qishan, head of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, which has spearheaded the Communist Party's anti-graft campaign, in Beijing last month.



Wang is at the centre of the unsubstantiated corruption allegations made by the exiled businessman against senior members of the party in the run-up to the 19th national congress, which starts next week.

More from the South China Morning Post:

How China's biggest debtors may struggle to pay off their loans

China's richest 2,130 people control combined wealth of US$2.6 trillion: Hurun Report

US government quiet as Chinese agents cripple spy operations in Beijing



According to unnamed sources cited by the Financial Times last month, Wang and Bannon met for about 90 minutes at the party's headquarters in Zhongnanhai. The report said Wang asked Bannon, who left U.S. President Donald Trump's administration in mid-August, about economic nationalism and populist movements  the subject of Bannon's speech at an investor conference in Hong Kong in mid-September.



The Chinese government has made various attempts to discredit Guo, who is wanted in connection with several alleged crimes including bribery, fraud and rape. He is also the subject of an Interpol red notice that Beijing requested in April.



While speaking at the National Press Club event on Thursday, Guo said China had sent dozens of spies to the U.S., but his claims were later dismissed by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.



As well as visiting China, Bannon last month travelled to the United Arab Emirates, where he met the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, The New York Times reported.



Chinese financial magazine Caixin reported in July that Guo had been introduced to bin Zayed in 2013, and that the prince had helped him to raise $3 billion for a fund jointly held by Guo and Abu Dhabi authorities.
Thousands of people showing their patriotism jam into the area around Canada Place waterfront convention centre to celebrate Canada Day on July 1, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Life on the other side of the border could look much different for an American in Canada, particularly when it comes to good-paying jobs. As for high-paying careers, the U.S.'s northern neighbor actually has a higher average take-home wage, making it the ninth-best in the world. To compare, the U.S. came in 11th place. If you're considering whether to stay or go, here are the highest paying jobs in these bordering countries. Thinking about moving to Canada, eh? More from GOBankingRates:

30 coolest job perks from Google and other top companies

Here's how much a new home cost the year you were born

The lowest gas price in every state The U.S. dollar stretches a bit further up north, but there are more taxes, which actually pays for the country's healthcare system that so many Americans believe to be entirely free. In fact, a recent study with data used from Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information showed that a Canadian family of four will pay $12,057 for healthcare in 2017. That number isn't static, however  what a Canadian pays in taxes varies by the person or family's circumstances. Here's a breakdown of the top-paying jobs in Canada and what people in these roles could earn in American dollars.

1. Economic development director

Salary: $114,400 CAD ($92,716 USD) If you're after the highest paying jobs north of the U.S. border, an economic development director is one of the best jobs in terms of pay. An economic development director is a government managerial position. These individuals evaluate, plan and implement a variety of economic and community plans or services. Their work can involve collecting data on the region they work for as it pertains to taxation, labor markets, transportation, agriculture or business growth. A bachelor's degree in economics, business administration, commerce or public administration is typically required  as well as several years of experience. A job applicant could gain a competitive edge with a master's in economics, as well.

2. Utilities manager

Salary: $112,320 CAD ($91,030 USD) Also known as a public works director, a utilities manager oversees the operations and maintenance of the systems responsible for water, electrical power and natural gas within a community. This role is among the highest paying careers in Canada. A bachelor's degree is commonly required in a related area, such as electrical engineering  experience as a supervisor is required to move up, though. Generally, utility workers are at a higher risk of injury and illness than other professions in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

3. Public administration director

Salary: $106,662 CAD ($86,445 USD) There are the people that make law and the people who enforce the law. In between, however, are public administrators that handle other work, such as running elections or maintaining relations between various levels of government. Public administrators might also develop government policies and programs or serve on or organize committees for projects.

A bachelor's degree is required to pursue this profession. A graduate degree in public policy or law is an added bonus, however. Don't expect to work with top bureaucrats from the start, though. Initially, you'll have to work your way to the top, which might require years of experience.

4. Real estate and financial manager

Salary: $103,376 CAD ($83,781 USD) Forget driving all over for showings that a real estate sales agent might handle  real estate and financial managers are in charge of the daily operations of the firms, which includes overseeing the business operations and evaluating its needs. Some might also be involved in brokering mortgages, commodities trading or insurance, as well. In order to work as a real estate and financial manager, a bachelor's degree in business administration, finance or a similar degree is recommended. In addition to having the right degree, a job candidate must also have experience and a license.

5. Pharmacist

Salary: $102,398 CAD ($82,989 USD) A pharmacist dispenses pills and advises patients and health professionals about proper dosage, side effects and pill interactions. The career is growing, with high demand in hospitals and community pharmacies due to senior population growth, according to Business Canada. In order to pursue a pharmacy career in Canada, you must hold a bachelor's degree in pharmacy, work under a pharmacist for additional training and obtain a license.

6. Mining & forestry manager

Salary: $100,006 CAD ($81,050 USD) These professionals work in Canada's Department of Natural Resources. They are responsible for managing facilities such as fisheries, lumber mills and mines. Mining and forestry managers also hire and train new personnel and make sure work sites are properly equipped.

A degree in earth sciences, geology, petroleum engineering or mining engineering is required for this managerial role as well as years of experience. With a growing demand for wood products, there should be increased opportunities for these professionals.

7. Pipefitting supervisor

Salary: $89,398 CAD ($72,453 USD) This individual supervises workers who manufacture and assemble piping systems in homes and commercial or industrial facilities, including heat, oil and water systems. Their responsibilities can include selecting and testing materials and making sure everything is operating smoothly and employees are safe. To obtain this supervisory position, a person needs at least a college degree coupled with an apprenticeship and certification.

8. Lawyer

Salary: $88,524 CAD ($71,745 USD) Lawyers help clients with a broad range of legal matters. They can represent clients in court cases, incorporate companies, or simply advise and counsel. Just like in the U.S., Canadian law practice requires a number of years in school. First, you'll need to complete a bachelor's degree, then pass the LSAT and attend law school. Then, you must tackle the Canadian bar exam in the province in which you wish to practice.

9. Telecommunications manager

Salary: $86,528 CAD ($70,127 USD) Telecommunications managers oversee telecommunications companies, including the operation and maintenance of facilities. Such work can involve network installation and checking for regulation compliance. A college degree in a related field, such as science or electrical engineering, is required to enter the profession. Years of experience, particularly in a supervisory role, are also a general requirement.

According to Canada Business, most of these individuals are employed in Quebec and Ontario and obtain their positions through promotions. Although the information communications technology field is growing as a whole, demand is lower for these professionals.

10. Nurse practitioner
The feud between President Donald Trump and Sen. Bob Corker took an interesting turn Thursday when a top administration official praised the Tennessee Republican.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin actually lauded Corker during a CNBC interview regarding tax reform.

Asked about how the legislative process has been going as the administration seeks to get its tax reform package pushed through Congress, Mnuchin said the process is moving along and has been helped by several prominent Republicans.

"I have talked with them. In particular I would single out Sen. Corker, who's been enormously helpful in this process," he said. "Him (sic) and (Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat) Toomey were helpful in negotiating the agreement to get this out of the Senate committee and get it down to the floor."

That marked a notable change in tenor for the White House toward Corker. Over the weekend, as Corker announced he would not seek re-election in 2018, Trump taunted the senator online.

Senator Bob Corker "begged" me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said "NO" and he dropped out (said he could not win without...

Trump followed up that tweet with two others, one blaming Corker for the nuclear deal with Iran that the president has opposed and another saying Corker "didn't have the guts to run."

Corker then retaliated.

It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.

He followed that with a New York Times interview where he said Trump was leading the country on a path to "World War III."

All of that animus, however, seemed to be gone during Mnuchin's interview Thursday.

"We've been having discussions with all of them, the president is having discussions with them," he said of Congress. "We're confident this is going to get done."

CNBC has reached out to Corker and the White House for comment.
As more countries pledge to eventually phase out internal combustion cars, or impose tougher requirements for fuel efficiency standards, electric vehicles are becoming a popular alternative.

The price of an electric vehicle depends largely on the cost of the batteries that power them, and those expenses are set to rapidly decline in the near future, according to a top Japanese business executive.

"The cost of battery is now dropping very rapidly, so in the near future, the cost of the electric vehicle will be comparable to the conventional cars," Masaki Sakuyama, president and CEO at Mitsubishi Electric , told CNBC.

Some day, he added, electric vehicle batteries may become cheaper to produce than combustion engines in traditional cars.

Mitsubishi Motors , which is part-owned by Nissan and part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, currently produces a hatchback electric car called the i-MiEV that runs on 330 volts, 16 kilowatt hour lithium-ion battery.

Elon Musk's Tesla still remains a leading player in the electric vehicle industry, but the space is becoming increasingly competitive. Major automakers like General Motors , Ford and Volkswagen are releasing electric models, and some are making massive investments.

Mitsubishi's major domestic competitors, Toyota and Nissan , both have battery-powered cars in their product lineups. Indeed, Nissan recently introduced a fully electric car with autonomous features and an improved driving range that is $5,000 cheaper than the Tesla Model 3.

Market watchers have said that stricter fuel efficiency requirements imposed on gasoline cars make them more expensive to make. By contrast, fuel savings and government incentives make electric cars cheaper. Technological advancements and increasing acceptance by customers and automakers are also contributing to rapid developments in the electric vehicle market.

But some limitations remain, including still-developing charging infrastructure and the relatively long time needed to charge a vehicle.

 CNBC's Robert Ferris contributed to this report.

Correction: This article was changed to reflect that Mitsubishi Motors is no longer the sister company of Mitsubishi Electric.
Elon Musk, CEO for SpaceX, speaks during the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Sept. 27, 2016.

Elon Musk is making rocket launches mundane and that could be worth tens of billions of dollars.

SpaceX could become a $50 billion juggernaut through its launch of a satellite broadband network, a team of Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a report Thursday.

The private space company on Wednesday launched its 15th rocket this year, and the second this week. More importantly, the Falcon 9 rocket launch was the third time SpaceX reused the first stage booster, and with each of these so-called "flight-proven" launches, it should be easier to attract new customers.

Morgan Stanley says SpaceX developing reusable rockets is "an elevator to low Earth orbit."

"When Elisha Otis demonstrated the safety elevator in 1854, the public may have struggled to comprehend the impact on architecture and city design. Roughly 20 years later, every multistory building in New York, Boston, and Chicago was constructed around a central elevator shaft," Morgan Stanley said. "It all comes down to SpaceX."

Reducing the cost to launch a satellite to about $60 million, from the $200 million that United Launch Alliance charged through most of the last decade, was a monumental breakthrough. SpaceX is trying to reduce its cost to $5 million per mission, and Morgan Stanley says the launch business "generates limited operating income."

The cash cow, to Morgan Stanley, is the SpaceX plan to launch a satellite broadband network in two years and send humans to Mars in seven.

"The goal of the satellite internet business is to generate enough cash to be able to go to Mars" the research firm said, adding that it believes Musk is serious about his goal of planetary expansion.

SpaceX has denied that it is preparing an initial public offering, but Morgan Stanley says the prospect should not be counted out. Upcoming projects will require significant amounts of money. "It seems reasonable to us to consider whether the company could look to access capital in the public markets," the analysts said.

With "substantial room to increase the investment in space," Morgan Stanley says that "public investors will start to pay more attention to space when or if SpaceX decides to IPO."
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Obamacare advocates Thursday accused President Donald Trump of trying to further "sabotage" the Affordable Care Act with a new executive order on health care, while several major business groups praised that directive. "President Trump's executive order is a disaster for America's health care which is exactly why he is doing it," said Brad Woodhouse, director of the Protect Our Care Campaign. "Angry that Congress wouldn't repeal the health care Americans depend on, President Trump is purposely trying to sabotage the law by creating garbage insurance which will undermine the market, raise premiums, reduce coverage and expose millions of Americans again to discrimination based on pre-existing conditions," Woodhouse said.



Protect Our Care late Thursday posted a link on Medium that collected statements from the slew of groups that object to the order. Woodhouse was echoed by Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "This is a last-ditch effort by President Trump to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, despite desperate pleas from Americans for Republicans to join with Democrats to improve health care in this country," Crowley said. "This executive order is not a solution, it's just another way for President Trump to sabotage Americans' health care," he said.

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The scathing comments come on the heels of Trump signing an order that directs federal agencies to explore relaxing rules to make it easier for small businesses to jointly purchase health coverage for their workers, and to increase the length of time people can be enrolled in short-term health plans. Obamacare advocates fret that those potential changes could lead to an exodus of younger, healthier customers from Obamacare individual plans, leaving behind an older, sicker pool of customers whose medical costs will leave insurers with spiraling financial losses. In a paper published Thursday, the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said "Trump's executive order could destabilize health insurance markets where millions of individuals and small businesses get their coverage and undermine protections for people with pre-existing health conditions." Advocates already were deeply worried that Trump's failure to guarantee continuation of billions of dollars of federal reimbursements to insurers, defunding of Obamacare outreach efforts and other actions will lead to higher insurance prices and lower enrollment on individual health plan markets next year. The American Academy of Actuaries, whose members help set proposed rates for insurance plans, said Trump's executive order "could present significant risks and have unintended consequences for consumers and health insurance markets." "Creating exemptions from the Affordable Care Act insurance market rules can have far-reaching and unintended effects," said Academy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello in a statement. "These effects could include tilting the market in favor of entities with weaker benefits or solvency standards and weakening the protections for consumers with pre-existing health conditions," Uccello said. But Ron Williams, former CEO of the giant health insurer Aetna , said on CNBC's "Closing Bell," "I would probably back off and avoid a rush to judgment on what we're actually going to see." Williams noted that any changes that could result from the order would have to first be reviewed by a number of federal agencies and be subject to a public comment period.

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"I don't think we're going to see changes that would do away with fundamental access to health care," Williams said. America's Health Insurance Plans, a lobbying group for the industry, issued a pointedly neutral statement on the order, saying "health plans remain committed" to making sure all Americans "have access to affordable coverage and care, including those with pre-existing conditions." "We will follow these principles  competition, choice, patient protections and market stability  as we evaluate the potential impact of this executive order and the rules that will follow," said Kristine Grow, AHIP's spokeswoman. But Ceci Connolly, CEO of another group representing health insurers, the Alliance of Community Health Plans, said the order "would not take the steps necessary to ensure much-needed certainty" in the insurance market. "Instead, it would draw younger and healthier people away from the [Obamacare] exchanges and drive additional plans out of the market," Connolly said. "In turn, premiums would continue to increase, threatening the security of affordable coverage for millions of working families." However, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest federation of businesses, praised the order for seeking to provide relief to the small group insurance market, which "remains volatile" and has "few choices and increasing premiums." "Businesses  especially small businesses  continue to struggle to provide health care coverage that their employees value and can afford," said Randy Johnson, a senior vice president at the Chamber of Commerce. "We appreciate the administration's efforts to expand access to more coverage options, lower premiums, and offer greater benefit flexibility." The National Retail Federation, which was represented at the order signing by one of its members, said Trump's idea of relaxing rules for association health plans "can bring necessary competition to underserved insurance markets." Dave Ratner, the NRF member who attended the signing, said the order "will help level the health insurance playing field for small businesses across the country." "Large companies with thousands of employees have their own plans but a small business like mine can't possibly negotiate rates close to what they can get," said Ratner, owner of Dave's Soda and Pet City, a small, Massachusetts-based chain of beverage and pet supply stores. "By letting associations negotiate for their members, small businesses will finally be able to take advantage of better rates their employees can afford and provide better coverage in the process." And the industry group Associated Builders and Contractors called the order "a critical first step towards providing more affordable health care options and flexibility to small employers and their employees throughout the country."

WATCH: Pence weighs in on Obamacare
The maker of Siggi's Icelandic yogurt is working with investment bank JPMorgan on a possible sale of the company, according to people familiar with the matter.

Siggi's value was not immediately clear.

Owner The Icelandic Milk and Skyr Corporation is one of the first yogurt brands to focus solely on low-sugar flavors. It expects to generate sales of $200 million next year and is growing at a rate of 50 percent a year, the sources said. The brand's sparse white packaging, tart taste and high protein has earned it a loyal following among the health-conscious set.

The sources asked not to be named because the process is confidential. Siggi's did not immediately respond to requests for comment. JP Morgan declined to comment.

The company was founded in 2004 by Siggi Hilmarsson, who had moved from Iceland to the U.S. to attend Columbia Business School.

It sells in retailers like Kroger , Whole Foods Market and Starbucks . A sale to a larger company like Dean Foods , General Mills or Pepsi could give the yogurt brand an opportunity to more quickly scale up. It is not certain whether any of these companies will choose to bid for the company.

The $7.6 billion yogurt category has been a growing segment of the food industry for the past several years, as consumers increasingly look to high-protein alternatives to their morning cereal.

Still, some of the industry's explosive growth has tapered. Yogurt sales dropped 2.5 percent this year over last, according to Nielsen. Sales of Greek yogurt  once the dairy darling  dropped 4.8 percent over last year.

Packaged food giant General Mills recorded a double-digit drop for its yogurt sales this past quarter, as demand for Yoplait Greek and Yoplait Light products remained weak.

Still, much smaller specialty Icelandic and Australian yogurt variations grew 73 percent and 16 percent, respectively.

Siggi's is not the first yogurt brand to tap the interest of corporate acquirers this year. Danone sold its organic Stonyfield yogurt to family-owned French dairy company Lactalis for $875 million, in an auction that also drew the interest of Chinese dairy company Yili, Grupo Lala and Dean Foods .

It is also not the first snack brand to test large food companies' interest, as sales growth of their brands slow and consumers increasingly prefer their food on-the-go. Conagra acquired Boomchickapop popcorn's parent company Angie's Artisan Treats, and Kellogg acquired RX Bar for $600 million.
The list of delegates attending China's upcoming 19th Party Congress offers tell-tale signs of which way political winds are blowing in the world's second-largest economy. Attendees from the military are particularly notable. Out of the 300 People's Liberation Army delegates expected to appear at the milestone event, which decides the future of Chinese leadership, a whopping 90 percent will be first-time attendees, Cheng Li, director of the John L. Thornton China Center and a senior fellow in the foreign policy program at Brookings, said in a note this week.

A military parade in China Damir Sagolj | Reuters

"This would constitute the largest-ever turnover of military elite in the history of the People's Republic of China," he said. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping's watch, the world's largest military has undergone drastic reforms such as the introduction of a Western-style joint command system and high-profile purges of top generals. The dismissal of several military elites in recent months was conducted under the umbrella of Xi's anti-corruption crackdown, but many see it as a means for the president, who is set to be confirmed for a second five-year term at the Congress, to strengthen control. "The degree of military reshuffling offers a clue to broader leadership changes, particularly the likelihood of Mr. Xi further consolidating power," said Li. The new military leadership will likely consist of Xi's longtime friends General Zhang Youxia, General Li Zuocheng, and Admiral Miao Hua, who are known for their perceived loyalty to the president, Li explained. Among the defense brass recently booted from senior positions is General Fang Fenghui, the army's former chief of the joint staff department and a former leading contender for the vice chairmanship of the Central Military Commission (CMC), a body supervising administration of the armed forces. He was replaced in August and questioned on suspicion of graft, Reuters reported last month.

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Ed Gillespie, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Kate Patterson | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Look to Virginia

Republican agita about their base is truly mystifying on some level  primarily the establishment's mystification itself is kind of mystifying. Gillespie  a former RNC chair, Bush administration official, and K Street lobbyist  won his primary campaign against an anti-establishment racist conspiracy theorist named Corey Stewart. But now Gillespie is running against Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam with a campaign based entirely on unhinged conspiracy theories and race baiting. And nobody in Washington (which, on the Republican side at least, is largely composed of people who commute in from Virginia anyway) is bothered by it at all. Virginia was a red state until recently, but a combination of demographic change inside the state and the shifting demographic compositions of the two parties has given it a distinctly bluish hue. Hillary Clinton beat Trump there last November by a larger margin than Barack Obama won in 2012, despite running considerably weaker on a nationwide basis.

But polls in Virginia have been surprisingly close, and the key campaign theme for Gillespie has been an unhinged allegation that electing Northam governor will lead to Virginia's citizens being terrorized by the Salvadoran gang MS-13. It sounds too stupid to be true, but the brutal reality is that, per the Washington Post, "Virginia Republican Ed Gillespie has released four ads"  four, not one  "that try to tie his Democratic rival for governor, Ralph Northam, to MS-13 gang violence."

Gillespie's MS-13 ads make no sense

The way the ads work is to dwell at length on the evils of MS-13 (which are quite real) and then say Northam's name a bunch, thus attempting to create a link between a brutal criminal organization and an Army doctor turned pediatric neurosurgeon. It reaches a climax with boldface type screaming "RALPH NORTHAM: WEAK ON MS-13," without raising any specific respect in which Northam is allegedly weak on MS-13. There's no "soft on crime" furlough program in this round of Willie Horton tactics. Instead, the "policy issue" (if one wants to call it that) at the fulcrum of the ads is that Northam is against legislation that would have barred Virginia municipalities from designating themselves as "sanctuary cities," where local law enforcement commits to not reporting on residents' immigration status. Whatever one thinks of that legislation, the fact is that there are no sanctuary cities in Virginia, which makes it pretty cut-and-dried that sanctuary cities are not behind the rise of MS-13 activity in the state. Beyond logic, the Gillespie/Trump stance on the linkage between their preferred immigration policy and crime control is ridiculous. Law enforcement organizations are profoundly skeptical of efforts to drag local cops into immigration enforcement precisely because it can make it harder to face down violent criminals like MS-13. After all, nobody is going to come forward as a witness or informant if they think it could lead to getting a spouse or a sibling deported. On a federal level, in its waning years, the Obama administration tried to force immigration enforcement officials to narrowly target their resources on apprehending gang members and violent criminals. Trump, in alignment with the desires of rank-and-file Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, has shifted back to broad-brush enforcement that aims to instill fear in as many immigrants as possible. The point, however, is that Gillespie and his campaign feel that a hysterical racialized scare campaign about gang rape with zero grounding in policy reality will sell better than some kind of tedious seminar about immigration's impact on wages.

Grassroots Republicans learned it from watching you

Establishment Republicans mystified by the party's grassroots activists and rank-and-file members, in short, should consider taking a look at their own campaigns and policy rhetoric. Jeb Bush ran for president on the theory that tax cuts would generate 4 percent economic growth. Marco Rubio argued that Barack Obama was deliberately trying to damage the United States. Ed Gillespie claims that sanctuary cities that don't even exist are responsible for the rise of a violent international criminal organization. The same congressional Republicans who swore for years that growing debt was the biggest threat to the country are lining up behind a budget that will authorize more than $1 trillion in new borrowing to finance tax cuts for the rich. The difference between these guys and the new crop of kooks  between a respected colleague like Bob Corker and a feared soon-to-be-colleague like Marsha Blackburn  as I understand it, is that the establishment politicians are aware that they are lying. Nobody at Republican Governors Association headquarters, in other words, actually thinks that Gillespie believes a crackdown on Virginia sanctuary cities (which, again, don't exist) will reduce the risk of MS-13 violence. He's not an ignorant maniac, in other words; he's just working with ad guys and conservative media to promote ignorance and mania in the general population. The problem is the marks grow up.

Republicans are reaping the whirlwind
Richard Branson's Virgin Group is investing in Hyperloop One, a company developing the super-fast transport system originally dreamed up by Elon Musk.

Hypleroop One is rebranding itself as Virgin Hyperloop One, and Branson is joining the board, the billionaire British investor and entrepreneur announced Thursday on CNBC from London.

Virgin Hyperloop One will focus on a passenger and mixed-use cargo service.

Last month, Hypleroop One raised $85 million in new funding, and that includes the investment from Virgin. Branson refused to provide numbers.

Breaking ground on a commercial hyperloop in two to four years is possible if "governments move quickly," Branson said in a "Squawk Box" interview. So far, no government has approved a plan for a hyperloop system. The Virgin founder also said that building a hyperloop tube above or below ground is "cheaper" and "faster" than a traditional rail network.

The idea of the transport system  conceived in 2013 by Musk, the head of both electric automaker Tesla and SpaceX  works by propelling pods through tubes using magnets reaching speeds akin to those of airplanes.

"As a train owner, " Branson said, "I felt this is something that I want to be able to operate. At the moment our trains are limited to 125 miles an hour." His sprawling Virgin Group empire includes a train network in the U.K., as well as airlines and a business to take tourists into space.

"There are consumers, for instance, that would love to go from London to Edinburgh in roughly 45 minutes. And that will be possible" with a hyperloop, he said. "You can have a pod outside your office that you and your colleagues can jump into. The pod can self-drive to the top of the tunnel. It then goes down the tunnel. It connects up and off you go at 600, 700 miles an hour up to your destination, going faster than an airline."
Governments around the world are right to step up regulatory pressure on initial coin offerings (ICOs), the CEO of blockchain firm Ripple has told CNBC.

Brad Garlinghouse, whose company is the owner of the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, XRP, questioned whether new digital currencies were "solving real problems."

"There's plenty examples of these recent ICOs that I don't think are good for the industry because they are not demonstrating or solving a real problem and you are seeing examples of fraud," he told CNBC in an interview Monday.

"And so I think it's good that you have regulators intervening and stepping in, in countries around the world."

ICOs are a means for start-ups to raise funds selling new virtual currencies in exchange for bitcoin or ethereum. But they have caused a stir internationally in recent weeks, with a number of regulators either clamping down or banning them outright.

Garlinghouse said Ripple, by contrast, is focused on solving a "trillion dollar problem" with its distributed ledger platform, which connects banks with payment providers and cryptocurrency exchanges.
After exploring a potential bid for Amazon's HQ2, the City of San Antonio says it's no longer going to submit a proposal.

The city conducted a "robust review," but has "determined that as aspirational as we are about our community's potential, we simply wouldn't be highly competitive from a real estate and incentives perspective," according to a city spokesperson.

A city spokesperson added that the door is open to Amazon "should they choose to visit, but the types of incentive packages being entertained by other cities are not something our community is willing to entertain at this time."

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff also wrote an open letter to Jeff Bezos explaing their decision, saying, "it's hard to imagine that a forward-thinking company like Amazon hasn't already selected its preferred location," and "the public process is creating a bidding war among states and cities."

"Blindly giving away the farm isn't our style," the letter states.

Responses to Amazon's request for proposals for their HQ2 location are due Oct. 19. The new campus is expected to employ as many as 50,000 people and cost over $5 billion to build and run.

Amazon has stated a few preferences for the bids they are considering. The company is looking at metropolitan areas with more than one million people, with a stable and business friendly environment, urban or suburban locations that can attract talent and communities that think "big and creatively" about real estate options."

The letter from Nirenberg and Judge Wolff also states that no metropolitan area meets all of Amazon's requirements. "That's why so many states and cities are attempting to lure Amazon largely using incentives. It won't surprise anyone if the winning incentive package exceeds the $3 billion that Wisconsin gave Foxconn last month."
Companies in South Africa are increasingly making their own calls on who to do business with, according to the governor of the South African Reserve Bank, following the scandal in the country surrounding the controversial Gupta family.

"This is a free society. It's a free society, and various players in society are absolutely within their rights to take a posture that says that 'I will not be able to do business with you, with that person,' because these are private arrangements," Lesetja Kganyago told CNBC on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington on Wednesday.

"I think what you're seeing now is South African business, instead of complaining about corruption and maleficence, they're actually taking a stance," he added.

Global audit firm KPMG has been one firm embroiled in the Gupta scandal in South Africa. The billionaire Guptas have been accused by a public watchdog of improperly influencing government contracts, and an internal investigation at KMPG found that some of its executives ignored red flags regarding the family. KPMG dismissed its South African leadership team after the internal investigation.
Now we know where Southwest Airlines wants to take its brand-new Boeing planes: Hawaii.

Southwest Airlines, the U.S. carrier known for its lack of seating assignments, short routes and no-frills service has announced plans to start selling tickets for service to Hawaii next year, answering a lingering question from investors and loyal customers alike.

The airline's decision to offer service to the Aloha State could make Hawaiian vacations cheaper. In what's been dubbed the "Southwest Effect," in markets where the airline has nonstop service fares are $45 lower than in cities without those routes, a University of Virginia study found.

Hawaii has been a popular tourist destination for decades but demand continues to climb. The state last year had a record 8.9 million visitors  a number that got a boost from some tourists who avoided the Caribbean and Florida due to the Zika virus outbreak. Hawaii logged a 5 percent increase in visitors in the first eight months of the year.

Southwest didn't say exactly when service to Hawaii would begin. It first needs to apply for Federal Aviation Administration authorization to operate the long-distance flight.

The Hawaii routes will most likely be serviced by the airline's new planes and fly to and from the West Coast.

The airline took delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in August. The planes are more fuel efficient and can fly longer distances than older models.

Southwest is not the only no-frills U.S. carrier that's considering longer routes. JetBlue has been considering adding routes to Europe on similar planes made by Boeing's competitor Airbus .

Another low-fare airline across the Pacific beat Southwest to Hawaii, but the two might be complementary.

Low-cost Malaysian airline AirAsia X launched its first flights from Kuala Lumpur and Osaka, Japan, to Honolulu in June. Southwest's Hawaii services could provide a link to the mainland U.S. for tourists visiting the U.S. from Asia.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket takes off on its mission to deliver the EchoStar 105/SES-11 satellite to space.

SpaceX has successfully landed another reused rocket, as billionaire Elon Musk's firm pushes forward to make space flight cheaper and more frequent.

Late on Wednesday, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched the EchoStar 105/SES-11 satellite, before returning back to earth and landing on the droneship station in the Atlantic. The rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

The Falcon 9 that was used for the launch was previously involved in a resupply mission to the International Space Station in February.

Tuesday's launch marked SpaceX's 15th launch of 2017, and was the second one this week. The portion of the rocket that lands on the droneship is called the booster. It's the third time that SpaceX has used one of its landed boosters for another flight.

This will give a lift to the company which is on a mission to make journeys to space cheaper and more frequent by reusing rockets.

Earlier this year, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told Reuters in an interview that the company was aiming to launch missions every two-to-three weeks.

But Musk and SpaceX also have bigger ambitions to take people to Mars. The tech entrepreneur has previously laid out a vision to build a self-sustaining human colony on Mars. Last year, Musk laid out his plan to build a 42-engine rocket capable of holding around 100 people.

He said that Interplanetary Transport System will launch people to and from Mars. The booster system was referred to as the BFR.

- Uptin Saiidi contributed to this report.
Former Microsoft exec Steven Sinofsky knows what Facebook is going through.

He was at the giant when it was the undisputed leader of the tech industry, and when sentiment turned against the company and everybody  from federal regulators to competitors to the press  was attacking it.

Now Facebook is going through a similar phase. A couple years ago, Mark Zuckerberg was viewed as a wonder-kid genius who had built a tech company worth hundreds of billions in less than a decade, and was making a well-studied turn into philanthropy.

Then came the 2016 presidential election. Facebook users watched as their feeds were filled with polarizing political posts, including fake news and ads, including some that the company later admitted were bought by Russians in an attempt to influence the election.

Now, the company is being forced to testify before various committees on Capitol Hill about the Russian ads, and Zuckerberg is getting for tone-deaf moves like showing flood-stricken Puerto Rico to demonstrate its virtual reality platform. All the while, commentators slam it for being too powerful and insufficiently apologetic, calling it one of the "Four Horsemen" or "Frightful Five."
Yin Yang | Getty Images

Company benefits and perks are an essential and much appreciated part of compensation, but staying on top of changes every fall can be a chore. "Most people don't look at their complete packages every year," said Eric Roberge, certified financial planner and founder of Beyond Your Hammock. "They just do [the minimum]  what they have to do." Here are the areas that warrant special attention, along with the questions financial advisors suggest you ask before choosing your company benefits.

Retirement funds/401(k) plans

Roberge asks his clients to answer these questions: Do you have a matching contribution?

Are you taking full advantage of it?

Have the investment options (especially mutual funds) changed?

Are you allocated correctly?

Should you rebalance? It's important to pay attention to how you save, advisors said. "One thing that I've found is commonly overlooked is the proper 401(k) contribution," said Clark Randall, CFP, owner of Financial Enlightenment. "The overly ambitious think they are fully funding it, but they are actually funding their plan too quickly and missing out on the allowed company match." Robert Wander, CFP and owner of Wander Financial Services, warns clients to check their retirement account default allocations. If the company match comes in the form of company stock, beware of becoming overexposed. More from Smart Investing:

Bitcoin too risky for "serious" investing, say advisors

Millennials lack confidence to invest: Bank executive

What investors should do before market gets gored Brett Anderson, CFP and president of St. Croix Advisors, advises his clients to increase their 401(k) savings each year by 1 percent, because it is easy and they won't miss the money. He also asks clients to determine whether they have too much money in pretax retirement accounts. "When you retire, will all of your income be taxable?" Anderson said. "Funding a Roth IRA account is a great option for tax-free income in those years. "Most clients like a blend, balancing out their tax rate today and in their retirement years."

Health insurance

Health insurance is a very big topic for the 30-something clientele Roberge at Beyond Your Hammock serves. The questions he asks include: Have the premiums or coverage changed?

Should you switch to a high-deductible plan?

If you use a health savings account, does the company contribute to it, too? Roberge finds that clients often don't understand the value of using a high-deductible plan with a health savings account option. Financial advice benefits According to a 2017 study from the Society for Human Resource Management, 49 percent of employers surveyed offered some kind of financial advice. Breaking it down further, 36 percent offered this advice via an online setting; 34 percent one on one; and 28 percent in a group setting. "The premium gets significantly lower, but they tend to be afraid of the high deductible," he said. "They assume they'll have to pay the whole deductible, but in reality  with the built-in savings from premium alone and if the employer contributes to the HSA  even if they paid more out of pocket, they'd pay the same amount as the higher-premium/lower-deductible plan." In addition, HSAs offer tax-advantaged ways to pay out-of-pocket health-care expenses now and in the future, said Levi Brandriss, CFP with Ameriprise Financial, adding that money set aside in an HSA can be carried forward indefinitely to meet out-of-pocket expenses down the road. "If you foresee a major health-care expense next year that is not covered by your insurance, such as braces for a child, consider electing an option with a flexible spending account," he said. "Money deferred in this account is deducted from your paycheck before taxes and must be used before the end of the year, unless your employer plan allows money to be carried over year-to-year."

Disability and life insurance

Many people don't understand their group insurance coverage, especially disability, said Roberge. "They don't understand that there's a better chance of being disabled than dying, and they have no idea exactly how their disability coverage works," he said. "For example, you know it provides 60 percent coverage, but what is the elimination period? Will it be taxed?" Regarding the taxability aspect, Wander of Wander Financial Services noted that, although companies usually pay for the disability policy, employees have the option to pay it themselves via payroll deduction. By doing so, the benefit will be tax-free when used. This can make a noticeable difference in income when one is receiving only 60 percent of one's regular salary. "As your life changes, so will your needs [so] keep up to date," said Anderson of St. Croix Advisors. "Life insurance, for example  having the proper amount is an overlooked benefit until it's too late."

Other benefits and considerations
Target shoppers nationwide will now be able to make purchases on Google Express, after a successful test on the platform in California and New York, the company announced Thursday.

The big-box retailer is among several that are deepening their relationships with 's voice-activated shopping platform in a battle for market share against Amazon 's Alexa-enabled devices.

Target announced that by 2018, the retailer's credit card holders will be able to link their cards and save 5 percent when shopping Target via Google Express. Shoppers will also have an option in 2018 to link their Target.com accounts to Google for a more personalized experience, similar to what Wal-Mart announced earlier this year.

For example, a shopper might say to the Google Assistant on Google Home: "Google, order me shampoo." If that shopper has accounts linked both to Target.com and Walmart.com, but he or she orders shampoo more frequently from Target, Google will pull results from Target's website.

Target's product assortment on Google Express will include anything in a typical Target store, which will serve as fulfillment centers. In 2018, shoppers will be able to pick up their Target purchases made via Google Express at Target stores, should they want to forgo waiting on a shipment.

"Target and Google teams are working on the next chapter, building experiences that digitally replicate the joy of shopping a Target store to discover stylish and affordable products," said Target's chief information and digital officer, Mike McNamara.

In tandem with Target's roll-out on Thursday, Google has also unveiled plans to grow the number of ways customers can use the Google Assistant.

Until now, the voice platform has been available on the Google Home and on Android TVs. Soon, it will launch on iPhones and Android phones, so customers can order items, using voice, while mobile.

"At Google, we are focused on continued innovation and making Google Express a platform to help retailers like Target offer consumers a high quality seamless, end-to-end shopping experience," said Daniel Alegre, Google's president of retail and shopping.

Other retailers on the Google Express platform include Wal-Mart, Costco , Kohl's and Ulta , according to Google's website.

Earlier this month, Wal-Mart announced that shoppers could browse more than 2 million of the big-box retailer's items via Google Express. Wal-Mart was also giving shoppers coupons if they bought a Google Home or Google Home Mini, and linked their Walmart.com accounts to Google Express.

Bulking up against internet giant Amazon, more and more retailers have been touting their partnerships with Google and encouraging shoppers to buy Google devices. To be sure, the penetration of Google Home devices in American households is still less than that of Amazon's Echo devices.

Companies, like Wal-Mart and Target are still finding ways to grow with Google, promising more to come.

"Next year, we will also leverage our 4,700 U.S. stores and our fulfillment network to create customer experiences that don't currently exist within voice shopping anywhere else," Marc Lore, head of Wal-Mart's U.S. e-commerce business, said in a blog post.

This will include using voice command to pick up orders in store and using voice shopping to purchase fresh groceries, he said.

Target likewise initially won't offer fresh groceries via Google Express, a representative told CNBC. But it has plans to grow in other areas with voice-enabled shopping, like apparel, home and beauty, the company said.

Today, for example, shopping for dry goods like coffee and paper towels through voice-enabled devices is more easily accomplished than picking out an outfit, where there are many more factors involved. But Target is aiming to perfect the response to shoppers telling the Google Assistant, "Google, find me a red dress."

Google and Amazon are pledging more voice-shopping opportunities.
The Black Swan in Oldstead, North Yorkshire, fended off rival restaurants owned by celebrity TV chefs in Britain like Heston Blumenthal and Raymond Blanc. TripAdvisor awarded the prize to the British country pub after collecting millions of reviews and opinions from customers over the past year.

A family-owned pub in the north east of England has been named the "best restaurant in the world" based on an international poll of customer reviews.

The Black Swan, which has a Michelin star, is run by Head Chef Tommy Banks and his brother James. Four years ago, Tommy Banks became the U.K.'s youngest ever winner of a Michelin star at the age of 24.

"It is a huge honor to win this award, but what makes it really special is that it's been awarded because of feedback from our customers," Tommy Banks said in a statement.

TripAdvisor said the way in which it ranked restaurants was unique because it was based on the feedback from guests rather than a small judging panel.

The travel website describes Oldstead's The Black Swan as: "A tantalizing trip for the taste buds. This restaurant is truly a box of delights. The flavors, combinations of ingredients and skill in putting together the menu are joyous."

A tasting menu at The Black Swan costs 95 ($125) per person.

TripAdvisor's top 10 restaurants:
Billionaire philanthropist and investor Tom Steyer has a message for President Donald Trump and Congress: raise my taxes.

Instead, the current Republican plan is a tax cut for the rich, the president and founder of the nonprofit NextGen America told CNBC on Thursday.

"What we've seen is that the upper-income people in the United States have done disproportionately well at the expense of working families for 35 years," Steyer said in an interview with "Power Lunch."

"We need to make sure that we're not in a society that is unbalanced and unfair and where the richest Americans are taking advantage of everybody else."

President Donald Trump and his administration have billed the tax overhaul as a break for low-income and middle-income households. Last month, National Economic Council director Gary Cohn told ABC's "Good Morning America" program that "Wealthy Americans are not getting a tax cut."

However, a recent analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found that half of the tax benefits in the plan's first year would go to the top 1 percent of earners, based on what's been released so far.

In a recent op-ed in the Los Angeles Times titled "I'm a billionaire. Please raise my taxes," Steyer argued that "tax cuts for the rich defund the critical public programs on which American families depend."

That includes things like education and job training, he told CNBC.

"We have stopped investing in the American people. The American people know it," he told "Power Lunch."

"What makes a successful country is when you invest in the people of the country, whether it's education, health care, job training and you rebuild a clean America to provide the kind of infrastructure that will be sustainable and let us grow," he added.

Steyer, who is a big donor to Democratic candidates, is also reportedly demanding that liberal lawmakers and candidates support removing Trump from office.

According to The New York Times, he wrote a letter to his party that cited a range of acts that justify impeachment. The paper also reported Steyer is considering a run for Senate, perhaps against fellow Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.

 CNBC's Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.
The global outlook for oil markets in 2018 could put a dampener on hopes for higher prices, according to the latest monthly report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Global stock builds, rising non-OPEC production and sluggish growth in demand could weigh on the oil price, the IEA said in its closely-watched report published Thursday.

Looking into oil supply and demand balances in 2018, the IEA said that it saw that "three quarters out of four will be roughly balanced  again using an assumption of unchanged OPEC production, and based on normal weather conditions."

"However, our current numbers for the first quarter of 2018 imply a stock build of up to 0.8 million barrels a day (mb/d). Taking 2018 as a whole, oil demand and non-OPEC production will grow by roughly the same volume and it is this current outlook that might act as the ceiling for aspirations of higher oil prices," it added.

"Leading oil producers will have looked at their market balances and probably drawn the same conclusion," it added.

The latest monthly report from the IEA comes amid optimistic comments from the major oil producer group OPEC that the global oil market is rebalancing following several years of low prices on the back of a glut in supply.

OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers, including Russia, agreed a historic deal last November to curb global oil output in a bid to support prices that have fallen from a lofty height of $114 a barrel in June 2014.

Neil Atkinson, head of the oil industry and markets division at the IEA, told CNBC on Thursday that this rebalancing was happening, slowly.

"But the main point is that it (the rebalancing) is happening more slowly than most of the producers who signed up to output cuts perhaps expected when they signed the agreement," he told CNBC Thursday.

"But it is happening, slowly and gradually. The surplus of oil stocks over a five-year average in the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries) is gradually coming down so the trend is moving in the right direction from the producers' point of view."

He noted that 2018 could perhaps be "a little more challenging for them than they might have thought but the tendency in 2018 will be for a balanced market."

The deal is currently due to last until March 2018 although it is widely expected that OPEC and Russia will extend the deal with OPEC potentially announcing such a move when it meets at the end of November.

The IEA agreed, saying that "the next few weeks ahead of the producers' meeting in Vienna on November 30 will be crucial in shaping their decision on output. A lot has been achieved towards stabilizing the market, but to build on this success in 2018 will require continued discipline."
Investigators discovered that imported organic shipments often did not have the proper certification, and that NOP officials were "unable to provide reasonable assurance that imported products labeled as organic were from certified organic foreign farms and businesses that produce and sell organic products." This is at the core of the potential fraud: "There is no definitive test to identify whether a product is organic or not," Jayson Lusk, head of Purdue University's agricultural-economics department, told me. "Organic is primarily a certification of processes. To the extent consumers value these processes, trust in the certification system is key to the integrity of organic."

Organic imports have exploded over the past decade to keep pace with consumer demand. The U.S. is a net importer of organic goods, from coffee to feed grains such as corn and soybeans. At the same time, organic brands are rolling in the dough, misleading consumers to believe their products are "local" and healthier than non-organic options. None of it is true. Furthermore, the inspector general's report warns that "U.S. consumers of organic products have reduced assurance that foreign agricultural products maintain their organic integrity from farm to table," which should outrage anyone who is a regular buyer of organic food.

Several lawmakers just introduced a bill that would nearly triple the budget for the USDA's National Organic Program (NOP), the federal agency in charge of overseeing the U.S. organic market. But before we hand over more tax dollars to this feckless bureaucracy, Congress should demand hearings about NOP's complicity in what might be the biggest consumer scam in decades: the sale of phony organic food. Last month, the USDA's inspector general released a shocking report detailing widespread fraud throughout the global organic-food supply chain and noting the failure of federal officials to ensure the integrity of the organic market in the U.S. The report is proof that millions of consumers have been  and are still being  duped, buying pricier "organic" products that do not meet federal organic standards. It is very likely that organic companies (and the advocacy groups they support) ignored this fraud so they could continue charging higher prices for food labeled organic. Many organic executives are Democratic donors and fundraisers, so consumers also have a right to know whether the Obama administration overlooked this systemwide consumer fraud to protect its pals in the organic industry.

Investigators also found that imported organic produce was fumigated with prohibited pesticides, an egregious violation of federal policy: "This practice results in the exposure of organic agricultural products to NOP-prohibited substances."



The USDA report was released shortly after a Washington Post expose found that millions of pounds of fraudulently labeled corn and soybeans had entered the organic supply chain. These grains were mostly used as livestock feed; federal rules require that animals be given only organic feed if their meat, eggs, or milk will be labeled organic. The reason why "organic" grain imports are at an all-time high is that nearly all the commodity crops grown here are genetically modified and thus not allowed in organic production. (How stupid is it for the world's largest grower of these crops  the U.S.  to now import allegedly organic versions?)



Imagine for a moment this was any other industry. Suppose the pharmaceutical industry had been caught using shady ingredients from dubious exporters, mislabeling their drugs, and selling them to consumers at a premium. Capitol Hill and the media would be in full pitchfork mode.



So, have consumers been scammed? It's obvious that many, possibly most, imported "organic" foods  especially fruits and vegetables  do not meet U.S. organic standards. If they were sprayed with non-organic pesticides, they are not organic. If cows were fed non-organic grains, the milk they produce is not organic. If NOP officials did not conduct on-site inspections of international exporters, and only relied on the word of the exporting country, there is no way to have confidence the crops or goods shipped here are really organic. This means many of our organic dairy products, from milk to yogurt to ice cream, probably do not meet organic labeling requirements. Same goes for other animals; any meat, such as chicken breasts or ground beef, sold as organic, likely is not.



Lots of people have lots of explaining to do. This includes folks at the Organic Trade Association, the industry's largest lobbying group. The OTA prepares trade reports and has been well aware of the huge spike in organic imports, especially corn and soybeans from countries such as Turkey and Romania. This should have raised major red flags about the authenticity of these grains. Congress should ask OTA executives if they were aware of this widespread fraud and what, if anything, they did to make sure the organic companies they represent on Capitol Hill were not misleading consumers.

Congress should summon Miles McEvoy, the former head of the National Organic Program, to testify. McEvoy led the NOP during the Obama administration and quietly stepped down after the inspector general's report was issued. He should explain how this happened under his watch, and whether industry leaders and higher-ups in the administration were cognizant of this scam.



Another person of interest in this scandal is Gary Hirshberg, founder and chairman of Stonyfield Yogurt. Hirshberg is the main funder of many organic front groups and sits on the board of several organic companies. He had close ties to the Obama administration; Obama appointed him to an advisory committee on trade policy. Hirshberg was also a fundraiser for Obama, Hillary Clinton, and many other Democratic politicians. He spent lots of time on Capitol Hill, lobbying on behalf of the organic industry and pushing a GMO-labeling bill that will greatly benefit organic companies. It's nearly impossible to believe he was not aware of what was happening within the industry; consumers have a right to know what part, if any, he played in perpetuating this widespread consumer fraud.



Until consumers get answers and people in charge are held accountable, Congress should not allocate one more dime in tax money to help fund the organic con job.

Commentary by Julie Kelly, an Illinois-based writer, for National Review. Follow her on Twitter @julie_kelly2.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.

2017 National Review. Used with permission.
President Donald Trump's should not immediately impact the oil market, but it could create an atmosphere of uncertainty that could go on for months.

The president is expected to disavow the agreement between Iran and the U.S. and five other nations, which was engineered by previous President Barack Obama. Trump has a scheduled announcement for midday Friday, at which he is expected to say the deal is not in the national interest and potentially propose new conditions for the U.S. to continue its participation.

That action would not re-impose the financial sanctions on Iran or ban its oil sales. But it does now put the onus on Congress, and what it will do is not clear.

"[Congress] can vote to re-impose sanctions that are currently waived, and then the president would have to sign itBut I think what's going to happen instead is there's lower-hanging fruit they're going to go to. They're going to push on non-nuclear sanctions," said Scott Modell, managing director at Rapidan Group.

Modell said that could include a crackdown on Iranian ballistic missile testing, or could be a push to punish Iran for its financial support of Hezbollah and its destabilizing actions in Syria and elsewhere. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp., a branch of the armed forces of Iran, could even be called out as a terror group, he said.

"There's always a push to add new names to the list. There's no real appetite even among Iran hawks to unravel the deal. They don't want to re-impose sanctions that would blow up the deal," said Modell.

Just ahead of Trump's announcement, CIA Director Mike Pompeo Thursday called Iran a "thuggish police state" and a "despotic theocracy," comparing its ambitions to ISIS.

Helima Croft, RBC global head of commodities research, said it is unclear whether the Iran deal stays together in long run. Another key date is mid-January, when Trump would have to again waive the oil and financial sanctions. "If he does not waive the sanctions in January, we're out of the deal. We're out of the deal, and the deal dies," she said.

Croft said some of the possible new penalties that could be imposed on Iran could be deal-breakers, such as one that could stop Iran from acquiring aircraft and parts.

"Iran can drop out. If we ban aircraft, they will go through the dispute resolution process," Croft said. "This is such a three-ring circus. I'm not sure people understand how complicated this is. The Iranians are not going to allow this to be reopened. It's going to come to an impasse if you don't give them the aircraft they want."

Iran has said it would remain the in the deal even if the U.S. leaves, so long as the other participants remain.

Croft said she expects the White House and Congress to move ahead with efforts to amend the agreement, possibly including new requirements for nuclear inspections but also imposing new penalties for non-nuclear transgressions.

"Such efforts could be a catalyst for the deal falling apart at a later date," she said.

For the oil market, the situation does not mean any lost barrels for now, but it does create an air of uncertainty.

"There's nothing that's going to happen for a good, long time. The bad expectation in the market would be a re-imposing of those sanctions which force the U.S. to try to get allies to reduce a significant amount of the oil imported from Iran," said Edward Morse, global head of commodities research at Citigroup.

"China would probably ignore it and add more from Iran if the U.S. goes ahead with something along those lines," he said. "We suspect both Japan and Korea will be cooperative, potentially reducing their imports from Iran by 500,000 barrels a day."

European countries may be split. "It' s not like there's a lot of sympathy for doing anything that would result in lower imports because the Europeans think this is kind of a unilateral decision by the U.S. government, which has reneged on an official government policy  which has nothing to do with Iran violations of the conditions of the JCPOA," Morse said.

Source: Citigroup

Trump's advisors have said there is no evidence that Iran violated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the deal that suspended sanctions on Iran and is seen as a way to keep the country from building a nuclear bomb.

Morse said it is possible the Senate could introduce legislation that would create tougher red lines for Iran, but then also eliminate the need for the president to continue the 90-day certification process, which is required by Congress under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.

"It could be the nuclear agreement, per se, but there is a clamoring to do what Obama didn't want to do, which would be to bring in complaints about Iran on the use of cash in the neighborhood," Morse said, noting the concerns about Iran's aid to Hezbollah.

He said a toughened nuclear specific deal would "go over better with our allies and it might get better in terms of Iran's own reaction to it  and then if they put in the missile stuff that will be a problem."

of Trump's anticipated announcement. U.S. West Texas Intermediate oil futures fell 1.4 percent on news of higher U.S. inventories.

"If he doesn't surprise us with more than just de-certification it shouldn't move prices. But he is talking about a new strategy, so I don't know if there's something more there than just de-certification," said John Kilduff of Again Capital.
President Donald Trump finds himself under immense pressure as he considers de-certifying the international nuclear deal with Iran, a move that would ignore warnings from inside and outside his administration that to do so would risk undermining U.S. credibility.

Trump is expected to unveil a broad strategy on confronting Iran this week, likely on Friday. There was always the chance he could still have a last-minute change of heart and certify Iran's compliance with the 2015 accord, which he has called an "embarrassment" and the "worst deal ever negotiated."

Senior U.S. officials, European allies, and prominent U.S. lawmakers have told Trump that refusing to certify the deal would leave the U.S. isolated, concede the diplomatic high ground to Tehran, and ultimately risk the unraveling of the agreement.

Signed by the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, the European Union and Iran, the deal relieved sanctions on Tehran in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons program.

After Trump made clear three months ago he would not certify Iran's compliance, his advisers moved to give him options to consider, a senior administration official said.

"They came up with a plan that protects the things they are concerned about but doesn't recertify, which the president made clear he was not going to do. That ship has sailed," according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said Trump has been telling foreign leaders and U.S. lawmakers that his refusal to certify the Iran deal would not blow it up.

"He's not walking away from it. The chances of him walking away from it go down if they work with him on making it better," the official said.

White House officials said Trump is expected to announce a broad, more confrontational policy toward Iran directed at curbing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and financial and military support for Hezbollah and other extremist groups.

Trump has said he believes the nuclear deal is too generous toward Iran and would not stop it from trying to develop a nuclear weapon.

He has criticized the agreement's "sunset clauses," under which some restrictions on Iran's nuclear program would expire over time. He also wants to toughen language on ballistic missiles and inspections. The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran is complying with the agreement.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was open to bilateral trade pacts with either Canada or Mexico if a three-way deal cannot be reached to substantially revise the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Asked by a reporter if he could envision maintaining free trade with Canada if NAFTA talks sour with Mexico, Trump said: "Oh sure, absolutely. It's possible we won't be able to reach a deal with one or the other, but in the meantime we'll make a deal with one."

Trump added that a "very creative" deal was still possible to benefit all three countries.

Trump's comments came at a White House meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was in Washington to promote NAFTA's benefits as a new round of renegotiations began near Washington.

Asked about Trump's comments at a news conference later, Trudeau said he was still optimistic about the chances of modernizing the 1994 trade pact.

"I continue to believe in NAFTA ... so saying, we are ready for anything, and we will continue to work diligently to protect Canadian interests," Trudeau said.

Trudeau added that Canada was "very much aware of and very braced for" Trump's unpredictability, but his government would work in a "thoughtful, meaningful way towards getting a good deal."

Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, speaking on Mexican radio, praised Trump's comments as "very balanced" to include the possibility of a deal with either country and hold out hope for a creative solution.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday accused Trump's administration of trying to sabotage the talks with "poison pill proposals," including demands for more favorable treatment for the U.S. side on car production, and a "sunset clause" to force regular negotiations.

In his appearance with Trudeau, Trump said: "We'll see what happens" when asked whether NAFTA was doomed.

"It's possible we won't be able to make a deal, and it's possible that we will," he said. "We'll see if we can do the kind of changes that we need. We have to protect our workers, and in all fairness, the prime minister wants to protect Canada and his people also."

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, one of Trump's top trade advisers, downplayed the chances that a NAFTA termination would become necessary.

"We don't hope it will, we don't desire that it will, we don't believe that it will, but it is at least a conceptual possibility as we go forward," Ross said.

But U.S. and Mexican corporate chief executives gathered in Mexico City said they would be better off with no NAFTA than be saddled with a "bad agreement."
President Trump has moved his push for tax reform to a new phase: He's trying to convince blue collar and lower middle class America that tax cuts for big corporations will put more money in their pockets too.

It's a tall order.

It began Wednesday night at a rally in Pennsylvania where he made a bold claim about how his plan for major corporate tax relief would help middle class families:

We will totally eliminate the penalty on returning future earnings back to the United States and we will impose a one-time low tax on money currently parked overseas so it can be brought back home to America, where it belongs and where it can do its job. My counsel of economic advisers estimates that this change, along with a lower tax rate, would likely give the typical American household a $4,000 pay raise.

Raise your hand if you thought the title of "Billionaire populist barnstorming campaigner for trickle down economics" wasn't possible before now.

But that's what President Trump has essentially become. For the first time since the Reagan era, a president is furiously pushing the idea that giving tax breaks to super rich corporations is the key to unleashing economic gains for everyone else down the economic ladder.

Sure, "trickle down" and "voodoo economics" were terms President Reagan's critics created to denigrate his ideas. But President Kennedy made similar arguments beginning in 1962 pushing for his tax cut plan that President Johnson eventually got enacted in 1964.

Trump is going even further than Reagan or Kennedy to press for tax cuts, barnstorming the country with recent stops in North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri, and now Pennsylvania.

The truth is, the plan needs this kind of extraordinary campaign-style effort. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll released just as President Trump was on his way to Pennsylvania shows that most Americans are more focused on getting the rich to pay more in taxes. The survey found 53 percent of adults "strongly agree" and 23 percent "somewhat agree" that the wealthiest Americans should pay higher tax rates.

Trump needs to convince a good segment of those people and their representatives of at least two things. First, that corporations are not the same as "the rich." And second, that cutting corporate taxes is a good way to get the middle class an economic boost.

It won't be easy.

There is evidence some parts of the Trump plan would specifically help middle class taxpayers. The proposal to double the standard deduction for the nearly 80 percent of filers who don't itemize their taxes is the best example of that. But more should be done. Most importantly, the president must restore all the tax deductions for the middle class eliminated in the plan that dilute the positive effects of the doubling of the standard deduction. Keeping state and local tax deductions would be a good place to start.

Doing these things might work as well as speeches to convince wary Republicans and maybe even some Democrats to support the bill.

President Trump is clearly more invigorated and personally invested in tax reform than he was with health care, which may have undermined that cause. It isn't just the speeches across the country, but the deft moves of gathering truckers Wednesday night's rally and making sure Democrats like Senators Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Donnelly showed up at his tax reform speeches in North Dakota and Indiana, respectively.

But it's going to take added strategies to overcome an American public that is clearly wary of anything that could help the rich. And the fact is, meaningfully cutting taxes will almost always benefit the rich the most. There will likely continue to be daily news reports and studies showing how the rich will gain significantly from the Trump plan. In this environment, it's obvious why so many of the president's Republican predecessors and GOP members of Congress avoided taking on this challenge. But apparently, this is more attractive to the ever-combative President Trump.

This tax fight will surely test just how effective he really is. But beyond repeating his current message in more cities, Trump is going to need to change the headlines by doing more to help ordinary working people.

The job of doing that has just begun.

Commentary by Jake Novak, CNBC.com senior columnist. Follow him on Twitter @jakejakeny.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.
President Ronald Reagan holding up an ax emblazoned with "The Official TAX AX!" at a speech in 1986.

Tax reform is never easy, which is why it hasn't happened since 1986. But it's harder in 2017 for two fundamental reasons.

The political foundation for the current GOP effort is weaker than it was three decades ago. And so is the economic foundation.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan governed with an approval rating of at least 60 percent, a Republican Senate and a Democratic House. He needed bipartisan support and got it, because proponents such as Democratic Sen. Bill Bradley and Republican Rep. Jack Kemp had paved the way with years of advocacy.

They produced genuine tax reform, designed to raise the same amount of money without widening budget deficits. It reflected broad consensus among economists that lower tax rates, applied to a broader tax base, would make the economy grow more efficiently.

The law they enacted also had guaranteed crowdpleasers for American voters. It cut taxes on individuals, while raising them an equivalent amount on corporations. It taxed laborers at lower rates than shareholders.

Today's push by the Trump White House and GOP-controlled Congress enjoys none of those advantages. That helps explain why Goldman Sachs analysts put the chances that it will collapse at 1 in 3, "and recent developments lean slightly further in that direction."

President Donald Trump suffers from sub-40 percent approval ratings. GOP leaders seek to pass their plan with only Republican votes, even as the party wages fierce internal battles. They don't seek compromise with Democrats.

As Trump repeatedly proclaims, the GOP tax framework so far resembles a straightforward tax cut more than tax reform. It would slash government revenues just as millions of baby boomers enroll in Social Security and Medicare, which Trump vows not to cut, pointing to the need for more revenue.

A Tax Policy Center analysis shows it would actually raise taxes on individuals overall, while cutting them dramatically on businesses and the wealthiest Americans. It would tax individuals at a far higher top rate (35 percent) than corporations (20 percent).

That defies public opinion. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows solid majorities favoring higher taxes on corporations and the rich.

Republicans enjoy more public support for arguments about growth. In the NBC/WSJ poll, 54 percent say tax cuts would encourage corporations to expand and create jobs.

Yet the administration's optimistic projections  on growth, deficits, and business investment  draw nothing close to consensus support among economists.

Top Trump advisor Kevin Hassett argues the plan would sustain a boost to economic growth of "much more than 1 percent." That matches claims by Trump that he can produce annual growth of 3 percent or more, up from current 2 percent projections.

Other forecasters find that improbably rosy. Goldman Sachs, the former employer of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, projects a growth boost of no more than 0.2 percent in the next two years, and less after that.

The Penn-Wharton forecasting model, directed by former George W. Bush administration economist Kent Smetters, projected that an earlier outline of the GOP plan would actually reduce long-term growth. That's because of adverse effects from the higher deficits it would create.

Mnuchin insists tax cuts would stimulate sufficient growth to more than replace potential revenue losses  shrinking deficits rather than increasing them. That level of "dynamic scoring" conflicts with mainstream economists in both parties.

Columbia's Glenn Hubbard and Harvard's Greg Mankiw, both of whom advised the younger Bush, say growth can recoup 25 percent to 30 percent of individual rate cuts and 50 percent of corporate rate cuts. The Republican-led Senate's planned budget resolution contemplates a tax cut that could increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

The Tax Policy Center calculates that the top 1 percent of earners would receive 80 percent of all benefits from the GOP plan through provisions reducing the top rate, ending the alternative minimum tax and abolishing the estate tax, among others.

Cohn maintains that the wealthy won't benefit at all.

That's partly because the administration contends lower corporate taxes benefit workers most of all. Some Republican economists, such as Hubbard and Mankiw, agree that corporate taxes cost workers more in lost wages and jobs than corporate shareholders in lost profits.

But other economists dispute that view. Jane Gravelle of the Congressional Research Service recently concluded workers bear 40 percent or less of the corporate tax burden.

In 2012, career Treasury economists calculated that workers bear about a fifth of the burden. The Trump administration recently removed that analysis, which undercuts its argument, from the Treasury website.

Hassett contends provisions for repatriating corporate profits held overseas will benefit American workers by increasing domestic investment and wages. His argument is vulnerable on two counts.

One is current conditions. Companies already have plenty of domestically held cash and access to low-interest-rate borrowing. That casts doubt on whether sluggish corporate investment now has much to do with profits "stranded" overseas.

The other is recent history. A 2004 repatriation "holiday" increased payouts to shareholders rather than investment. At least one Bush administration veteran expects the same this time.

"In the short run, it would likely be more about accounting and profit-taking," Smetters predicted.



He believes a well-designed repatriation plan could have big long-run benefits. But the current GOP proposal, he added, "does not create a real long-term plan."

Economists ultimately concluded the 1986 tax reform made the economy more efficient, but had little effect on overall growth. Lawrence Summers, Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, says loopholes it closed helped subsequent 1991 and 1993 tax increases reduce budget deficits.

When Clinton sought the 1993 tax increase, Republicans warned it would kill jobs and tip the economy into recession. That did not happen.

Correction: This story was updated to reflect that Glenn Hubbard and Greg Mankiw advised George W. Bush.
President Donald Trump on Thursday partly blamed Puerto Rico's devastation on the island itself, saying the federal government cannot keep emergency responders in the U.S. territory "forever."

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello later tweeted that "U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico are requesting the support that any of our fellow citizens would receive." San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, a frequent Trump critic, wrote that the president was "incapable of fulfilling the moral imperative" to help Puerto Ricans, adding, "Shame on you!"

She said Trump's comments seem to be coming from "a Hater in Chief."

@POTUS your comments about Puerto Rico are unbecoming of a Commander in Chief they seem more to come from a "Hater in Chief".

Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, causing widespread destruction. Three weeks later, more than 80 percent of the island remains without power, and many residents still lack access to clean drinking water. At least 45 people in the territory have died.

In a series of tweets Thursday morning, Trump pinned some of those problems on Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico "survived the hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making," he wrote, quoting Sharyl Attkisson, a host for right-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group.

"A total lack of accountability say [sic] the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was a disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend," Trump continued. "We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!"

Trump 1: "Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making." says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of.....

Trump 2: ...accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend....

Trump 3: ...We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!

Trump's comments follow Vice President Mike Pence's pledges of support to the people of Puerto Rico last week.

Touring the island on Friday, Pence said the Trump administration would be "here for the long haul," according to The Associated Press. He told the island's residents that he had "faith in President Trump's leadership, his determination to stand by Puerto Rico in this challenging time."

In response to Trump's comment, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeted: "There is still devastation, Americans are still dying. FEMA needs to stay until the job is done." He accused Trump of treating Puerto Ricans "differently than other Americans when it comes to natural disasters."

Schumer: Why do you continue to treat Puerto Ricans differently than other Americans when it comes to natural disasters?

The House could vote as early as Thursday on a $36.5 billion bill to provide relief funding for recent hurricanes and wildfires raging in California.

Asked about Trump's tweets on Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan said the federal personnel in Puerto Rico right now are "necessary" amid a "humanitarian crisis." He added that the federal government needs to make sure the island can "rebuild its economy and be self-sufficient."

Trump has faced criticism for an apparent lack of empathy for Puerto Rico amid the disaster response. In previous tweets, he urged Puerto Ricans to do more to help the recovery and called those criticizing the federal response "politically motivated ingrates."

Over the weekend, he tweeted that "nobody could have done what I've done" for Puerto Rico "with so little appreciation."

During a trip to the island last week, Trump said the hurricane destruction had thrown his administration's budget "a little out of whack." Later that day, he tossed packages of paper towels to hurricane victims.

On top of the humanitarian crisis, the federal government has to figure out how to handle Puerto Rico's more than $70 billion in debt. Trump previously suggested he could wipe out the obligations, though the White House has walked back that statement.
Sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) observe as an MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter drops pallets of supplies onto the flight deck during a replenishment-at-sea with the fast combat support ship USNS Supply (T-AOE 6) for relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico on September 28, 2017.

President Donald Trump gives himself high marks for his response to the devastation in Puerto Rico.

Most voters disagree.

A full 55 percent of American voters say the Trump administration has not done enough to help the U.S. territory after Hurricane Maria battered it, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Thursday. Only 36 percent responded that the reaction has been adequate.

Conversely, 57 percent of voters said the Trump administration has done enough to help Texas after Hurricane Harvey. The same number think the response to Hurricane Irma in Florida was adequate.

In addition, most voters  by a margin of 52 percent to 43 percent  said Trump does not care about the problems facing Puerto Rico, according to the poll.

Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, causing widespread destruction. Three weeks later, more than 80 percent of the island remains without power, and many residents still lack access to clean drinking water. At least 45 people on the island have died.

Trump has repeatedly described the administration's response to recent hurricanes as "incredible" or "great." In a tweet earlier this month, he said, "We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico," suggesting critics of his response were "Fake News or politically motivated ingrates."

Over the weekend, he tweeted that "nobody could have done what I've done" for Puerto Rico "with so little appreciation."

Trump took more heat for his response on Thursday when he partly blamed the island for the devastation and said federal emergency responders cannot stay there "forever."

In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended the administration's response.

"Our job in any disaster affected location is to help the community respond and recover from that disaster. We continue to do so with the full force of the US government and its resources in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and other affected areas," she said.

"Successful recoveries do not last forever; they should be as swift as possible to help people resume their normal lives. We are committed to helping Puerto Rico. Our Administration is working with Governor Rossello and Congress to identify the best fiscally responsible path forward," Sanders added.

The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,482 voters and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
[The stream is slated to start at 1:30 p.m., ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.]

Press secretary Sarah Sanders is scheduled to provide press with the White House briefing on camera Thursday.

Questions will likely focus on President Donald Trump's executive order on health care, his tweets about the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico and the expectation the president will decertify the nuclear deal with Iran on Friday.
JavaScript is not the same thing as Java. That's not how it works. There are plenty of sites where you can pay someone to do your work for you. This is not one of them.





"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."

- Homer









"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

- Benjamin Disraeli







Send me your credit card and I'll happily send you the code.

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.



There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.





he is not aware of the forum



suggest me to how to code the calculation of working hours in Week excluding Weekends(saturday and sunday) in JavaScript or jquery using Moment.js



I'm fiddling around setTimeOut javascript function. I've 5 function calls with different time delay. What I want is to execute only those functions which have a 500ms delay difference between each functions. I've created a fiddle (https://jsfiddle.net/vt7sanav/). Can someone suggest what should i do to check the delay between two functions is 500ms then execute the function else ignore the function.



Example: Packet1 comes in, should be sent(printed) straight away, Wait 500ms and within 500ms, ignore new msgs(function calls). Print only messages which have a delay of 500ms in between.



function postMessage(msg) { $( " #msgBox" ).append( "

" + msg + " time:" + new Date().getSeconds() + " :" + new Date().getMilliseconds()); } function makeRequest(msg) { postMessage(msg); } function makeRequestThrottled(msg) { postMessage(msg); } function sendMessage(msg, delay) { setTimeout(() => makeRequestThrottled(msg), delay); } sendMessage( " Packet1" , 200 ); sendMessage( " Packet2" , 600 ); sendMessage( " Packet3" , 1800 ); sendMessage( " Packet4" , 2400 ); sendMessage( " Packet5" , 2600 );







function sendMessage(name, delay) { console.log(name, delay); } var packetInfo = [{ name: ' Packet1' , delay: 200 }, { name: ' Packet2' , delay: 600 }, { name: ' Packet3' , delay: 1800 }, { name: ' Packet4' , delay: 2400 }, { name: ' Packet5' , delay: 2600 }]; var prev = undefined; for ( var i = 0 ; i < packetInfo.length; i++) { var item = packetInfo[i]; if (i == 0 ) sendMessage(item.name, item.delay); else { if ( item.delay - prev.delay > 500 ) sendMessage(item.name, item.delay); } prev = item; }



I need to parse a JSON in javascript.

This works fine if the JSON is like:

JavaScript { " test" :[{ " data" :{ " ... where I can access the data like (if arg was "receiveddata" in the callback function)

recieveddata.test[index].data ...



but know I'm in the case where I have this: JavaScript { " 1" :[{ " data" :{ " date_of //notice the " 1 " as key There is no way I can access the data like above as receiveddata.1[index].data ...



How can I access the data? (or should I ask the source to update their key names)



(I'm using the jQuery getJSON function, which works fine on other JSON's where there are normal keys.)



thanks.

V. (MQOTD rules and previous solutions)



{ "1" : [ { "field": "value"... You can access properties in the JavaScript through index notation as well, this is one of the funniest things in JavaScript. This makes it possible to have properties, and attributes in a way that is impossible in other languages directly. JavaScript supports, object.property , object["property"] and much more ways to access the properties, and attach the properties. Thus, when you have a property called (for instance), " object.1 ", or " object.something-else ", then you can access them through index notation and that would be valid JavaScript.



So I am unsure as to what your JSON is like but if the JSON schema is like the following  which indeed is like yours, var str = "{ \"1\": [{\"field\": \"attr\"}]}"; Then you can execute the following JavaScript and do what you intent to, JavaScript var obj = JSON.parse(str); alert(obj[ " 1" ][ 0 ].field); Try this, and you will see how strange sometimes JavaScript can be. Try the code online here, [Edit fiddle - JSFiddle](https://jsfiddle.net/afzaal_ahmad_zeeshan/mvbtztpL/)

The sh*t I complain about

It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem

~! Firewall !~





Do you believe it, I was actually thinking about this solution and I dismissed it!

(I was not able to get it through normal index, so I dismissed a key index, because usually if key index is possible, so is normal indexing)



anyway got it up and running, thanks for pointing it out

V. (MQOTD rules and previous solutions)



Hi I want to know how to hide developer tool option from setting in chrome, f 12 button , and right click inspect element option .i will be grateful if i will get a reply asap.



Guys, what do you think about Google Policy with Angular releases? Just half of a year - and we ' ll got Angular 6 version. Is it too fast or it' s ok?





"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

- Benjamin Disraeli





Jeremy Falcon



var home = function() { var count = 0 ; var morningwork = function() { console.log( " Morning work" ); count++; }; var eveningwork = function() { console.log( " Evening work" ); count++; }; var caller = function() { return { job1: morningwork, job2: eveningwork }; }; return { caller: caller, count: count }; }; var home = home(); home.caller().job1(); home.caller().job2(); home.caller().job1(); console.log(home.count);



return statement at the end of the home function creates a copy of the value of the count variable at the point where the method returns. There is no connection between that copy and the local variable, so when the "work" functions update the local variable, that change is not reflected in the returned object.



Imagine how difficult it would be to write code in a language where that was not the case!

JavaScript var x = 42 ; var y = x; x = 0 ;

You'll need to change the returned object so that count is a function that returns the current value of the local variable:

JavaScript var home = function () { ... return { caller: caller, count: function (){ return count; } }; }; var h = home(); h.caller().job1(); h.caller().job2(); h.caller().job1(); console .log(h.count());





"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."

- Homer







There is a bug somewhere in this function and I can't find where. Please advise.



JavaScript function verifyCrops() { try { for ( var i = 0 ; i < 7 ; i++) { if (cropsFieldset.getElementsByTagName( " input" )[i]. checked) { cropsComplete = true ; messageElement.innerHTML = " " ; testFormCompleteness(); i = 8 ; } } if (i === 7 ) { throw " Please select at least one crop." } } catch (message) { cropsComplete = false ; messageHeadElement.innerHTML = " " messageElement.innerHTML = message; } }



modified 3-Oct-17 23:26pm.



Jason Lemon wrote: There is a bug somewhere in this function How do you know?



debugger and execute line by line and see in which line the error is being thrown


Oliver Letwin has written a book which will be read as long as Conservatives wonder what their party is for.

But this interview, conducted on Tuesday of this week, opens with the more immediate question of how to make a success of Brexit. And here Letwin wants every minister to get ready for the talks to fail.

For while there are a lot of people still naively assuming therell inevitably be an agreement, in Letwins view this outcome is not in the slightest bit inevitable:

I think at the moment our best hope is that there is enough preparation put into how we deal with a situation in which there is no agreement, so that if necessary we can carry forward without an agreement, which I think may well be what happens.

This statement is all the more striking because Letwin is known, rightly, as one of the most optimistic people in politics, who was David Camerons policy chief from 2005 to 2016, and at the heart of government for the last six years of that period.

In his new book, Hearts and Minds: The Battle for the Conservative Party from Thatcher to the Present, Letwin describes his failure to persuade either Boris Johnson or Michael Gove to join the Remain side in the EU referendum campaign as one of the biggest failures of my political life.

During this interview he adds that the major failing of the Remain campaign in the referendum was to resort to hyperbole even worse than that used by the Leavers, so making no appeal to voters in search of balanced argument.

Letwin detests tribalism in politics, believes strongly in the power of argument, and is candid about the way his own views have changed since the 1980s, when he worked for Margaret Thatcher. He now advocates liberal social markets as the cause the Conservative Party must espouse, and says the mistake of the Thatcherites, including himself, was to refuse to see the need for the social element in this.

ConHome: What now has to be done to make a success of Brexit? Obviously you were very distressed by the referendum result, and as you recount in the first chapter of your book, you actually tried to persuade David Cameron to stay on. You thought he was obviously just the kind of prime minister that was wanted. But Leave won  does that also have invigorating effects?

Letwin: Well I certainly think that if we get things right, there will be all sorts of advantages that we can take advantage of. What we have to do is try to find ways of doing exactly that.

ConHome: And how difficult will it be to keep the Conservative Party together through that process?

Letwin: I dont think therell be any difficulty in keeping the Conservative Party together. There is now a huge consensus among those who wanted to leave and those who wanted to remain alike, that we now have to carry through the exit in accordance with the democratic mandate.

The problems now are not internal, theyre external. How do we negotiate with the EU anything which is in Britains interests?

Its all very well for us to talk about what we would like to see, or for the Prime Minister to describe what she would like to see. I dont at the moment see any particular sign that we are in fact going to be able to negotiate that. That I think is a much bigger issue.

I think at the moment our best hope is that there is enough preparation put into how we deal with a situation in which there is no agreement, so that if necessary we can carry forward without an agreement, which I think may well be what happens.

If there is an agreement I think its much more likely to come about if the others know that we really could happily continue without an agreement. So I think from every point of view that is now the most important focus.

And I am absolutely convinced that if there is going to be an agreement at all it will come at the very, very end. Possibly after the end.

I suspect its only when we are all staring at an exit without any agreement at all that actually people will sit down with one another, and I suspect that really means Mr Macron, Mrs Merkel and Mrs May, and come to some agreement that can actually be written down on two pages about roughly speaking how to handle the whole thing, that can then be worked out over the next couple of years.

Whether that happens or not is in the lap of the Gods. I think its a perfectly reasonable possibility that there will be no agreement at all.

ConHome: Some people say there should be a minister preparing for that.

Letwin: Well I think whats needed is for every minister to prepare for that. Theres a lot of work to do yet. I think there are a lot of people still naively assuming therell inevitably be an agreement. I dont think theres anything inevitable about it at all.

ConHome: If there is a deal, do you think it will involve our paying a lot of money?

Letwin: Probably, yesI think the idea that were going to end up with large financial savings is probably going to be illusory.

ConHome: Boris Johnson likes the idea of spending more money on the health service  a cause which appeals to the left as well as to the right.

Letwin: Well I think that we have to spend more money on the health service and on social care, and therefore Ive been advocating raising taxes a bit to do that.

ConHome: Which taxes would you raise?

Letwin: Thats a good question to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

ConHome: Do you think there has been a decline in the standard of the civil service?

Letwin: At its best, its absolutely as good as it ever was, and at its worst I doubt its any worse than it ever was. I think what has happened since the 1980s is that an unfortunate amount of management jargon and management speak has got into it, and this has distracted people into management rather than leadership.

ConHome: At an early point in your book you describe Sir Keith Joseph trying to get education vouchers through, and say, officials will generally do what their political masters ask if these political masters are sufficiently masterly, and not otherwise.

Your book is going to be read by a lot of people hoping to get into government, or who perhaps already are in government, and want to learn how to get the things they want done.

Letwin: Yes. Almost universally the civil service will ultimately do what it is that a minister wants done if the minister is really clear about it and really determined to get it. But it does require both clarity and persistence on the part of the minister.

And theres no substitute for actually getting down and doing the work. If ministers are lazy thats just as bad as being unclear, because then they dont sufficiently understand the detail of what theyre decidingYou cant just sort of wave your hands.

ConHome: You explain in the book how you were an early Eurosceptic, but then didnt make the journey so many Conservative MPs actually did towards deciding to leave the EU.

Letwin: I was amazed, as I describe in the book, by the extent to which it became clear in the referendum how many of my colleagues had progressed beyond the point that I was at in outright rejection of the EU, and indeed one of the things I try to do in the book is to chart the journey they had been on, which I hadnt paid enough attention to in advance.

Clearly a lot of people had come to the conclusion there never was going to be any change, and had therefore concluded they were ready to take the significant risks of leaving. Itll be very interesting to see what view people take five or ten years from now.

ConHome: How grave are the risks now?

Letwin: I think there are significant risks. There are also significant potential advantages, and for me it was always a balanced judgment.

Ive more or less given up worrying about the risks at the moment, because I think what those of us in Parliament now need to do is focus on how to seize as many of the advantages as we can, and prevent as many as possible of the risks from materialising, given that weve had a referendum and that bits been decided.

ConHome: What were your chances, in retrospect, of persuading Boris Johnson and Michael Gove to come on the Remain side of the argument? In the book you say, I rank my failure to persuade either of them to join the Remain camp as one of the biggest failures of my political life.

Letwin: Yes. I dont know what my chances ever were.

ConHome: You felt you had some chances, or you wouldnt have tried.

Letwin: I, er, yes, I very much hoped it would be possible to persuade Boris, yes. But whether this was a naive hope, or whether there was some chance, I will never know.

ConHome: I thought one of the convincing things about him was he could see there were strong arguments on both sides. One of the very, very annoying things about the referendum was that neither side was inclined to be at all generous about the other sides arguments.

Letwin: Well that in fact I think was our major failing on the Remain side of the referendum campaign. My view is that the campaign was exactly incorrectly focused.

I think it was a campaign which in retrospect was designed to persuade those who were already persuaded to vote Remain, and failed entirely to engage with people in the middle for whom as for me this was a balanced matter.

I think its very bizarre that amidst the hyperbole on both sides of the argument the hyperbole on the Remain side was if anything even more exaggerated than that on the Leave side. I dont think the Remain side benefited at all from hyperbole and would have benefited hugely from a very calm rational assessment of the balance of advantage and disadvantage.

ConHome: Why was it decided to do it this way?

Letwin: I dont know. I wasnt involved in running the campaign.

ConHome: Another problem with the Remain argument as presented is that it said both This is a leap in the dark and You will lose precisely this amount of money. It couldnt be both.

Letwin: Well I think thats absolutely right, and I think the attempt on both sides of the argument to quantify it was part of the hyperbole Im talking about. If ever there was something non-quantifiable this was it. Were a lot closer to the actual event now and nobody has the foggiest clue [about the sums of money which will be gained or lost].

ConHome: Have you become a Christian Democrat? Because youre now in favour of the social market economy, which is what Ludwig Erhard was talking about in Germany in about 1950.

Letwin: Well Im not a Christian, and not being a Christian I dont think I can be a Christian Democrat. And Im certainly not in favour of a politics which is closely allied to a particular denomination.

But the social market is not the property of the Christian Democrats. Its the common property of all liberal free-market politicians around the world who also care about social justice.

ConHome: Your mother, the scholar Shirley Letwin, didnt like the word social. She said you had justice.

Letwin: That was one of the things she was wrong about.

ConHome [amid laughter]: I thought she was often right about it. Often the word social was an evasive term, meant to convey a generalised benevolence, while detracting from whatever word it was meant to qualify.

Letwin: That was part of the problem. The application of the ruthless intellectual logic failed the test of emotional intelligence.

And although I dont, in the book, locate her as the main source of this problem, I do think she was one of many thinkers, whom I do describe in some detail in the book, and many involved in politics who failed to understand the point Keith Joseph was trying to make, about what actually needs to go alongside the free market in order for it to function in a way that makes it attractive and beneficial to society as a whole, because of its outcomes

Free markets dont work for the public interest unless theyre accompanied by a certain social apparatus.

If they are, I believe they hugely work in the public interest, which is the main argument in the book, and I think is peculiarly timely now, because I think we have to make all over again against the Corbynistas the argument that socialism does not deliver the Elysium they imagine, and that free markets are not the danger to the great bulk of the population that they represent them as being.

ConHome: You say in the book that politics is mostly an argument about means, not ends. One of Corbyns ends would be much greater equality, I suppose.

Letwin: Yes I actually think  obviously at the extremes, if youre talking about a bloodthirsty tyrant either of the right or the left, then the ends may be entirely malign, and wholly different from those of democratic politicians of any reasonable kind. But once youre inside the framework of the kinds of debate that go on between politicians in Britain, I think on the whole everyone pretty much agrees what it would be nice to see.

ConHome: Would you like to say a word or two about what the ends are?

Letwin: I think pretty much everyone would like to see a society thats very free, but at the same time where nobody is in distress, and where income results are sufficiently equally distributed so that society can be both homogeneous and prosperous enough for real equality of opportunity for children and real security in retirement for the old, and a society thats broadly capable of sustaining both our heritage and the beauty of our natural environment, and a culture which goes therefore beyond just economics  I think these are things which people very often say are motherhood and apple pie, because actually everybody shares them.

Its quite important to remind ourselves of the motherhood and apple pie that we do actually share, rather than thinking we disagree about everything because we disagree about how to get to these things.

ConHome: A few High Tories might feel a twinge or two of pain at your account.

Letwin: I dont think there are very many people on any part of the political spectrum who would actually disagree with very much that Im describing as the desirable end. I really think it is almost entirely a discussion about means.

Which is one of the reasons why Ive always thought politics ought not to be conducted as a ya boo sucks matter. Opponents are not evil, theyre either right or wrong about this or that.

ConHome: So obviously that applies to Corbyn and co as well  theyre not evil.

Letwin: Exactly. Im absolutely persuaded that hes an entirely well-intentioned man. Hes completely wrong about the results of his own policies, which I think will lead, as they have done in Venezuela, to the exact opposite of what he hopes.

ConHome: I remember years ago you were on friendly terms with both Diane Abbott and Glenda Jackson [who defeated Letwin in the general elections of 1987 and 1992].

Letwin: Ive always tried never to mix politics with personal antagonism. Why turn the whole thing into a personal vendetta? It doesnt need to be. Its a lot pleasanter if it isnt but also its a lot more productive.

One of the things which I try to bring out in the book is that if you dont conduct it that way, you can actually recognise the amazing fact that we do agree about a lot of things.

ConHome: Well you mustnt completely undermine the adversarial basis of our politics.

Letwin: I dont really see much joy in the adversarial basis of politics. Theres quite enough people genuinely disagree about not to need to disagree about tribal questions. Tribalism in my view is an unmitigated mistake.

ConHome: I think it helps provide the necessary sense of community.

Letwin: I dont. I think the community exclusively should be the country, the county, the village, ones friends, not the parties. I think on the whole in the 18th century they were right to regard factionalism as a very dangerous thing.

Youve got, unfortunately, in a modern highly sophisticated representative democracy to have parties, but its incredibly important not to have tribes.

ConHome: David Hume was very against faction, wasnt he?

Letwin: Yes, and he was right.

ConHome: Youre a rather radical figure, arent you. Why did you join the Conservatives?

Letwin: All parties are coalitions. You choose a party that more overlaps with your own views than any other.
The case for Universal Credit is a strong one.

More importantly, the old rules too often penalised people for taking what work they could  be it part-time, or casual work  by stopping their payments outright as a result. That was effectively a punishment for doing the right thing, which created the benefits trap  by which the welfare system itself compelled people to stay unemployed, rather than reduce their income by choosing to work. The point of Universal Credit is that it removes that cruel and perverse incentive by allowing recipients to work as many hours as they wish, tapering rather than scrapping their payments as their income rises.

Furthermore, this is a simplifying reform. The welfare system has become a costly and confusing thicket of competing and clashing benefits, categories, bands, exemptions, credits and discounts, and simplifying at least some of that is a good thing to do for recipients, for the taxpayer, and for those administering it all.

For both of these reasons, the objective of Universal Credit is correct: killing off the benefits trap, encouraging and aiding people back into work, improving lives and saving money in the long run.

And yet the practicalities of its introduction have proved to be troubled  so much so that plans to extend the number of areas in which Universal Credit is used are currently under threat from a rebellion of backbench Conservative MPs.

At the heart of the problem is the fact that applicants must wait six weeks from putting in for Universal Credit to receiving a penny. By definition, many of those applying have very little or nothing at all; a presumption that they can make do for a month and a half without any income risks plunging some into hunger, deprivation or even homelessness. It is this which is driving concern among MPs about the impact of the scheme  a fundamentally positive reform, undermined by an unwise decision in its implementation.

An advance is available to tide recipients over, subsequently recouped by reducing later payments for a time, but that suffers from two problems.

First, some people are evidently falling through the gaps, either not applying for the advance or not receiving it in time to avert financial crisis. That could be due to bad advice from DWP and Jobcentre officials, or to the inescapable fact that not every applicant is necessarily equipped to further navigate officialdom to receive an advance payment  whatever the cause, the fact it is happening at all demonstrates that the process is not fit for purpose.

Second, the route to securing an advance  phoning the Universal Credit helpline  involves a cost for the applicant. According to Citizens Advice, the number costs up to 9p a minute on a landline or up to 40p a minute on a mobile. Elsewhere, its been reported that mobile costs can be up to 55p a minute.

Nowadays, many people dont have a landline at all, and those with very low incomes often rely on pay-as-you-go mobile tariffs. The average call to the helpline (covering all queries) is said to last seven and a half minutes, but a call requesting an advance payment can last for up to 40 minutes, which would mean a 22 bill in the worst case scenario. It is patently ridiculous to apply such costs to people who by definition are only calling in the first place because they fear they do not have enough money on which to live. The visible failure of ministers to provide a satisfactory defence of the charges suggests that they know it, too.

Small wonder that MPs are threatening to rebel. Its important to note that they do not seek to destroy the reform, but to fix these flaws in its application. When Heidi Allen, a chief would-be rebel on the topic, was called at PMQs yesterday, she chose to defend the merits of Universal Credit before putting her question:

the difference between Government Members and Opposition Members is that we believe in universal credits transformative properties and want it to work. And work it will, but we have to get it right. I thank the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for promising on Monday to advertise more widely that advances are available to claimants, but many of us on the Government Benches feel that more people taking up those advances must surely mean that the in-built six-week wait just does not work.

That critique is far harder for the Government to reject than the blanket opposition to any change which is Labours refrain. The Prime Minister agreed yesterday to meet with Allen and her colleagues  she would do well to listen to them and then swiftly address the issue, enabling the roll-out to continue as soon as possible while assuaging the concerns about the payment gap. The future of a good reform is at stake unless a poor decision on its implementation is corrected. If it is allowed to fail, a huge opportunity to transform peoples lives for the better will have been lost.
The Japanese market was set to be the next big thing in the 1990s as a wealthy country was poised to start a serious outbound travel trend.

Japans travel industry labeled 1989 as the initial year of the cruise. That was the year when various Japanese companies, including some outside of the shipping and travel industry, began to expand their initiatives in the cruise industry.

These activities included the chartering of ships for promotion to the Japanese market, the construction of cruise ships in Japanese yards, investments in cruise lines that were targeting various market segments both in Japan and internationally, and the promotion of various American cruise products by several different tour operators.

Now, nearly 30 years later, with three local one-ship cruise lines and minimal additional capacity from Costa and Princess, the domestic source market in Japan is estimated to be around 250,000 annual cruise passengers, up from 100,000 in 1994.

There are three local, Japanese cruise lines.

Asuka, Mitsui and Venus all offer their Japanese passenger a premium, up-market product experience.

Carnival Corporation is the only other significant player in the domestic market, with seasonal homeporting operations from Costa and Princess.

---

For insight and in-depth analysis of the Asia-Pacific and Japanese cruise market, download the 2018 China Market Report.

About the 2018 China Market Report

The 2018 China Market Report by Cruise Industry News is the only resource covering the future trajectory of the Chinese and Asia-Pacific cruise industry, presenting the past, present and future in a concise 95-plus page PDF download.

It is the only forward looking and independently-researched data available on the Chinese cruise market.

Cruise Industry News profiles all the major cruise lines operating in Asia, from Carnival Corporation to Royal Caribbean and local operators.

In addition, there are discussions with leading Chinese travel agents about the charter model and pricing trends, port news and updates from across the region, and a look at the fleet of ships in Asia through 2027.

There is also exclusive analysis and statistics of the Asia-Pacific market going back to 1998 and supply projections through 2027, in addition to a break-down of Asia-Pacific and China by operator and market capacity. Click here to learn more.
When one of the worlds largest food services companies needed a better way to connect its vast distributed network of operations, it turned to Microsoft Azure and Fortinet to "move the entire organization to Azure on a single weekend morning: no issues, no downtime, no fuss!

The company is a top 5 global food services company that provides food and beverage services for schools, hospitals, and major public venues in dozens of countries. They turned to Fortinets suite of virtualized security solutions, including FortiGate, after replacing the hosted VPN service they had been using to securely connect their many sites.

That hosted VPN service did exactly what we needed it to do, but it just cost far too much, said a long-time network architect for the company.

The company then began to consider the Microsoft Azure cloud service as an alternative. But Microsoft Azure has limitations on the number of VPN tunnels it allows, which can be a show-stopper for a large company operating across the globe. It appeared to be a great fit for our requirements, right up to the point when I realized we couldnt connect all the countries!, the network architect said.

The food services company already had experience with Fortinet because it had deployed a series of FortiGate appliances to supplement the security measures used by the original VPN service. The company was impressed with the capabilities of Fortinets security solutions, and their IT team soon realized that Fortinet was the perfect answer to our issue with Azure tunnel restrictions, the network architect continued.

Even the smallest FortiGate appliance can support hundreds of tunnels, with larger models supporting thousands. This flexibility allowed the food services provider to configure a dedicated tunnel into the appliances deployed in each country where it operates. The combined traffic was then routed into a single connection with Azure and linked to the virtualized Fortinet security services.

The FortiGate gave us a very simple, yet elegant solution and had the benefit of enabling us to continue leveraging all the security features and functionality that we previously utilized in the hosted-service environment, the network architect said.

In addition to the security benefits, the Fortinet family of physical and virtual solutions are fully integrated through a common operating system, allowing the company to expand into the cloud, while its cross-compatibility actually simplified its IT infrastructure. The companys business model encourages country-level autonomy to optimize operations for local conditions. That autonomy allows operations in each country to make their own IT purchasing decisions, including the security products they use. Fortunately, Fortinet solutions were able to make these deployments work as an integrated security system.

We seemed to have firewalls from every vendor imaginable, including some very obscure brands, the architect explained. The great thing is that the FortiGate can talk to anything; even firewalls that most people have never even heard of! Ive yet to come across a single box that I cant get the FortiGate to connect with.

Fortinets Security Fabric is designed to share intelligence with diverse devices across the companys widespread environment, enabling control and easy management of cybersecurity services across the company. They also help the food services company manage its Microsoft Azure service. While Azure offers a wide set of tools to monitor and manage their deployments, additional tweaks are sometimes needed to fully optimize the service.

I really depend on the information provided by my FortiGate devices, the network architect said. They give me the granularity I need to see and drill down in order to debug anything I need to. Its a very efficient way to manage the whole infrastructure.

He also praised the FortiGate interface, calling it exceptionally intuitive. Its functions are so well integrated that Im comfortable using the command line interface to make modifications from anywhere in the world, he added.

Ive seen so many other devices where even after lengthy examination of the configurations, its really hard to unravel whats actually going on. Many give the impression that theyre made from two or three separate boxes  like an ISP router and firewall slapped together with a bit of UTM functionality thrown on top  all randomly bolted together. That approach is rarely if ever good enough.

Fortinet is the veteran network architects first choice for enterprise protection. And now, the pairing of Azure and the Fortinet Security Fabric has eased the companys transition to a cloud environment.

Azure is definitely the right platform for us, but the size and complexity of our operations nearly made it a nonstarter, he concluded. By adding Fortinets easily integrated physical and virtualized solutions, weve been able to provide each entity with a dedicated tunnel, enhance security, and dramatically improve visibility and control across the whole infrastructure.
The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing next Tuesday on consumer data security at the credit bureaus in further follow-up to the Equifax data breach, which affected potentially more than 145 million Americans. NAFCU continues to advocate for a strong national data security standard.

The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern Tuesday.

During the Oct. 17 hearing, Andrew Smith, a partner at Covington & Burling LLP, will testify on behalf of the Consumer Data Industry Association, which has the mission of educating the public, legislators and regulators about responsible use of consumer data. Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, is also set to testify on the importance of upholding consumers right to privacy.

In addition to obtaining personal information  including Social Security numbers  of 145.5 million Americans, Equifax recently announced hackers gained access to drivers license information of almost 11 million U.S. consumers. Reports indicate this will likely lead to more fraudulent activity, as drivers license information is often used to verify a persons identity when disputing credit-report information.
Parts one and two of my Finovate Fall recaps focused on ideas intent on upending conventional fintech wisdom, monetizing and digitizing the mortgage process, and helping millennials with investments.

Another key focus at the New York convention was on using tools to increase engagement with members in the digital space.

Digital activation

Digital Onboardings companys name is self-explanatory, although its mission might better be described as digital activation.

The Boston startup aims to create active engagement within 60 days of account opening. If there isnt active engagement within that timeframe, Digital Onboarding claims theres a high likelihood the account will be unprofitable permanently.
Can you tell the difference between hashtags that are good for your brand and hashtags that clutter up the conversation? Good, strategic use of hashtags increase viewers, likes and attention for your brand. On the other hand, using them wrong can turn your audience away.

In the financial world, there is so much to be shared, and theres nothing worse than feeling like youre talking to an empty room. Trying to prevent this, many companies turn to hashtags on social media. After all, thats what millennials are doing, right?

The problem with this outlook is that many times hashtags get left out of overall strategy. Your whole board has discussed and agreed upon launching a new website, and your marketing team has strategized how best to share it. Then when it comes down to posting on social media, that job gets pushed aside until someone has a free momentand in that moment they decide to add a few (or way too many) hashtags to increase viewers.

So how can you improve hashtag use for your credit union? Here are a few ideas:

1.) THINK ABOUT THEM EARLY

This is not to say that the board or CEO has to approve every hashtag before use, but if you keep the idea back of mind something good might come out early on. Even if specific hashtags arent decided on at the first steps, they should definitely be thought about by the entire marketing team.

2.) PERSONALIZE SPARINGLY

One of the biggest problems with hashtag use is when companies try to incorporate too many long, personalized or off-topic tags to one posts. Its important to remember hashtags allow your members to join the conversation. One or two hashtags unique to your credit union allow members to remember and share with ease. An additional single hashtag for specific initiatives can work similarly. Use brand hashtags often to allow recognition.

3.)DONT OVERUSE

By now pretty much everyone has seen brands that overuse hashtags. While its important to add enough to reach out to your audience, its equally as important to only use hashtags that make the most sense for what youre posting.

4.) PAY ATTENTION TO OTHERS

Although hashtags are a big topic currently, they still arent for everyone or every social platform. Knowing whats best for your credit union involves paying attention to other conversations, from members and competition. For example, hashtags are great on Twitter and Instagram, but some data has shown they dont work well on Facebook. Also, places like LinkedIn dont support hashtags at all.

Social media, hashtags, and pretty much all forms of marketing lately are always changing. Its important to stay on top of whats happening by listening as much as you speak. Using hashtags incorrectly can be a red flag to consumers your credit union is out of touch or behind with technology in other areas. Dont miss out on an opportunity to connect with current and future members.
A Bowie, Md. woman is spending the next six years of her life in prison after she used an elaborate ID fraud scheme that primarily targeted credit unions and led to financial losses.

Tonia Latrice Lewis was sentenced to serve a 70-month prison sentence last month in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. Federal Judge Claude Hilton was also ordered Lewis to pay restitution of nearly $250,000. Federal prosecutors said Lewis sought more than $600,000 in loans and financing. Lewis was convicted for bank fraud, mail fraud and aggravated identify theft.

According to court documents and evidence presented at her trial, Lewis, 47, obtained the identities of dozens of victims and used them to open credit union accounts and apply for loans and lines of credit in the names of the victims, without their knowledge or consent.
Russias Digital Weapons Refined Against Ukraine

The Petya virus, targeting Microsoft Windows-based systems, spread like wildfire across Europe and, to a lesser extent, America, affecting hundreds of large and small firms in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Britain.

While many Europeans saw the June cyber attack as just another wild disruption caused by anonymous hackers, it was identified quickly by experts, like Victor Zhora CEO of Infosafe, as another targeted assault on Ukraine. Most likely launched by Russia, it was timed to infect the countrys networks on the eve of Ukraines Constitution Day.

The cyberattack started through a software update for an accounting program that businesses use when working with Ukrainian government agencies, according to the head of Ukraines cyber-police, Sergey Demedyuk. In an interview with VOA in his office in the western suburbs of Kyiv, Demedyuk said, every year cyberattacks are growing in number.

Sometimes when targeting a particular government agency or official, they mount complex attacks, first using some disguising action, like a denial-of-service attack, and only then launch their main attack aiming, for example, at capturing data, he said.

Ukraines 360-member cyber police department was formed in 2015. The department is stretched, having not only to investigate cybercrime by non-state actors but also, along with a counterpart unit in the state security agency, defend the country from cyberattacks by state actors. Demedyuk admits it is a cat-and-mouse game searching for viruses and Trojan horses that might have been planted months ago.

Eye of the digital storm

Since the 2014 ouster of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine has been in the eye of a sustained and systematic digital storm of big and small cyberattacks with practically every sector of the country impacted, including media, finance, transportation, military, politics and energy. Sometimes, the intrusions are highly tailored; other times, more indiscriminate attacks like Petya are launched at Ukraine.

Russian officials deny they are waging cyber warfare against Ukraine. Zhora, like many cybersecurity experts, acknowledges it is difficult, if not impossible most times, to trace cyberattacks back to their source.

Attribution is the most difficult thing. When you are dealing with professional hackers it is hard to track and to find real evidence of where it has come from, he said. But we know only one country is the likely culprit. We only really have one enemy that wants to destroy Ukrainian democracy and independence, he added.

Ukraines president, Petro Poroshenko, has been less restrained in pointing the finger of blame. Last December, he said there had been 6,500 cyberattacks on 36 Ukrainian targets in the previous two months alone. Investigations, he said, point to the direct or indirect involvement of [the] secret services of Russia, which have unleashed a cyberwar against our country.

Ukraines cyber-police head agrees. Demedyuk says his officers have been able to track attacks, especially denial-of-service intrusions, back to Russian special services, tracking them to their own facilities and their own IP addresses. But the original source of more complex intrusions, he said, are much harder to identify, with the hackers disguising themselves by using servers around the world, including in Asia and China.

Digital weapons refined

Digital intrusions have seen data deleted and networks crippled with real life consequences. And digital weapons are being refined often with the knowledge gained from each intrusion.

Zhora cites as an example of this evolution the difference between two large cyberattacks on the countrys electricity grid, the first in December 2015 and the second at the end of last year, which cut off energy to hundreds of thousands of people for several hours.

With the first attack the hackers used malware to gain access to the networks and then shut the system down manually.

They sent an email and when someone opened it, the payload was downloaded and later it spread across the network and they used the path created for the hackers to get to the administrators work station and then in a live session switched off the subsystems overseeing electricity distribution, he said.

But with the 2016 attack no live session was necessary.

They used a malware which opened the doors automatically by decoding specific protocols and there was no human interaction. I think they got a lot of information in the first attack about the utility companies networks and they used the knowledge to write the malware for the second intrusion, he said.

Digital threats to US

In his speech midweek in Washington, Coats specifically cited possible digital threats to Americas critical infrastructure, including electrical grids and other utilities, saying it is of rising concern.

It doesnt take much effort to imagine the consequences of an attack that knocks out power in Boston in February or power in Phoenix in July, he said.

After the second cyberattack on Ukraines electrical grid, a group of American government and private sector energy officials was dispatched to Kyiv, where they spent a month exploring what happened, according to Ukrainian officials.

One lesson the visitors drew was that it would be much harder in the US to switch the grid back on after an intrusion. The Ukrainians were able to get the electricity moving again by visiting each substation and turning the system on again manually, an option apparently more challenging in the US, where grid systems are even more automated.

Virtual attacks are every bit as dangerous as military ones, we are living on a battlefield, Zhora said.

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Suncor Energy Inc. operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; Refining and Marketing; and Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Oil Sands segment recovers bitumen from mining and in situ operations, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, or blends the bitumen with diluent for direct sale to market. The Exploration and Production segment is involved in offshore operations off the east coast of Canada and in the North Sea; and operating onshore assets in Libya and Syria. The Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil and intermediate feedstock into various petroleum and petrochemical products; and markets refined petroleum products to retail, commercial, and industrial customers through its other retail sellers. The Corporate and Eliminations segment operates four wind farms in Ontario and Western Canada. The company also markets and trades in crude oil, natural gas, byproducts, refined products, and power. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
Everest Re Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, and internationally. The company operates through Reinsurance Operations and Insurance Operations segments. The Reinsurance Operations segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Insurance Operations segment writes property and casualty insurance directly, as well as through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents in Bermuda, Canada, Europe, South America, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The company also provides treaty and facultative reinsurance products; admitted and non-admitted insurance products; and property and casualty reinsurance and insurance coverages, including marine, aviation, surety, errors and omissions liability, directors' and officers' liability, medical malpractice, mortgage reinsurance, other specialty lines, accident and health, and workers' compensation products. In addition, it offers commercial property and casualty insurance products through wholesale and retail brokers, surplus lines brokers, and program administrators. Everest Re Group, Ltd. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare. The company offers pharmaceutical products comprising medicines in the therapeutic areas, such as respiratory, HIV, immuno-inflammation, oncology, anti-viral, central nervous system, cardiovascular and urogenital, metabolic, anti-bacterial, and dermatology. It also provides consumer healthcare products in wellness, oral health, nutrition, and skin health categories. The company offers its consumer healthcare products in the form of nasal sprays, tablets, syrups, lozenges, gum and trans-dermal patches, caplets, infant syrup drops, liquid filled suspension, wipes, gels, effervescents, toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, denture adhesives and cleansers, topical creams and non-medicated patches, lip balm, gummies, and soft chews. It has collaboration agreements with 23andMe; Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.; Novartis; Sanofi SA; Surface Oncology; Progentec Diagnostics, Inc.; Alector, Inc.; and CureVac AG., as well as strategic partnership with IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. The company was formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline plc and changed its name to GSK plc in May 2022. GSK plc was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Brentford, the United Kingdom.
Citigroup Inc. is one of the worlds largest financial institutions. It is the 13th largest bank globally by assets and 8th by market cap with operations in consumer and institutional banking. In the US, Citigroup is the 3rd largest bank by assets and one of the Big Four deemed systemically important and too big to fail.

Citigroup Inc. was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York. The bank was run by Samuel Osgood who led the company with success for many years, even throughout the War of 1812. The bank was later renamed the National City Bank of New York in 1865 and by 1895 is the largest bank in the US. In 1913 it was the first contributor to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a few years later it began to expand into overseas territories.

The bank became the First National City Bank of New York after another merger in 1955 and then later, the New York part was dropped off as part of the 150th-anniversary celebration. By 1974 the company is known as Citicorp which is still the operational branch of the business and a global banking powerhouse. A merger with Travelers insurance group in 1998 resulted in the name Citigroup but the joint venture did not last. By 2002 Travelers was publicly traded once again but Citigroup retained the new name.

Today, the company is headquartered in New York, New York but boasts more than 200 million customer accounts in 160 countries worldwide. As of mid-2022, it operated 2,649 branches in the United States, Mexico, and Asia. The company reports nearly 725 branches in the US and 1499 in Mexico with the rest scattered throughout its territory. Total annual revenue topped $75 billion in 2022.

Citigroup is a diversified financial services holding company that owns Citicorp among other assets. The companys mission is to serve as a trusted partner providing responsible financial solutions to its clients. Citigroup provides financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions. The company operates in two segments, Global Consumer Banking (GCB) and Institutional Clients Group (ICG).

The GCB segment offers traditional banking services including deposit and saving accounts, credit cards, personal loans, home loans, and investment services. This segment operates through local branches and digital means. The ICG segment offers wholesale banking products and services to corporate, institutional, public sector, and high-net-worth clients.
The following companies are subsidiares of MetLife: 10700 WILSHIRE LLC, 1201 TAB MANAGER LLC, 1350 EYE STREET MANAGER LLC, 1350 EYE STREET OWNER LLC, 150 NORTH RIVERSIDE PE MEMBER LLC, 1925 WJC OWNER LLC, 23RD STREET INVESTMENTS INC., 500 GRANT STREET ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, 500 GRANT STREET GP LLC, 6104 HOLLYWOOD LLC, AFP GENESIS ADMINISTRADORA DE FONDOS Y FIDECOMISOS S.A., AGENVITA S.R.L., ALICO HELLAS SINGLE MEMBER LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, ALICO OPERATIONS LLC, American Life Insurance Company, BEST MARKET S.A., BLOCK VISION HOLDINGS CORPORATION, BLOCK VISION OF TEXAS INC., BORDERLAND INVESTMENTS LIMITED, BOULEVARD RESIDENTIAL LLC, BUFORD LOGISTICS CENTER LLC, CC HOLDCO MANAGER LLC, CHESTNUT FLATS WIND LLC, CLOSED JOINT-STOCK COMPANY MASTER-D, COMPANIA INVERSORA METLIFE S.A., CORPORATE REAL ESTATE HOLDINGS LLC, COVA LIFE MANAGEMENT COMPANY, DAVIS VISION INC., DAVISVISION IPA INC., DELAWARE AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, EURO CL INVESTMENTS LLC, EXCELENCIA OPERATIVA Y TECNOLOGICA S.A de C.V., FORTISSIMO CO. LTD, FUNDACION METLIFE MEXICO A.C., GLOBAL PROPERTIES INC., General American Life Insurance Company, Grand Bank N.A., HASKELL EAST VILLAGE LLC, HOUSING FUND MANAGER LLC, INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL AND ADVISORY SERVICES LIMITED, INVERSIONES METLIFE HOLDCO DOS LIMITADA, INVERSIONES METLIFE HOLDCO TRES LIMITADA, LHC HOLDINGS LLC, LHCW HOLDINGS LLC, LHCW HOTEL HOLDING 2002 LLC, LHCW HOTEL HOLDING LLC, LHCW HOTEL OPERATING COMPANY 2002 LLC, LUMENLAB MALAYSIA SDN. BHD., Logan Circle Partners, MARKETPLACE RESIDENCES LLC, MC PORTFOLIO JV MEMBER LLC, MCJV LLC, MCPP OWNERS LLC, MCRE BLOCK 40 LP, MEC HEALTH CARE INC., MET 1065 HOTEL LLC, MET CANADA SOLAR ULC, METLIFE 1007 STEWART LLC, METLIFE 1201 TAB MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 425 MKT MANAGER LLC, METLIFE 425 MKT MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 555 12TH MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 8280 MEMBER LLC, METLIFE ACOMA OWNER LLC, METLIFE ADMINISTRADORA DE FUNDOS MULTIPATROCINADOS LTDA., METLIFE ALTERNATIVES GP LLC, METLIFE ASHTON AUSTIN OWNER LLC, METLIFE ASIA HOLDING COMPANY PTE. LTD., METLIFE ASIA LIMITED, METLIFE ASIA SERVICES SDN. BHD, METLIFE ASSET MANAGEMENT CORP., METLIFE ASSIGNMENT COMPANY INC., METLIFE BORO STATION MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAMINO RAMON MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAMPUS AT SGV MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAPITAL CREDIT L.P., METLIFE CAPITAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, METLIFE CAPITAL TRUST IV, METLIFE CB W/A LLC, METLIFE CC MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CHILE ADMINISTRADORA DE MUTUOS HIPOTECARIOS S.A., METLIFE CHILE INVERSIONES LIMITADA, METLIFE CHILE SEGUROS DE VIDA S.A., METLIFE CHILE SEGUROS GENERALES S.A., METLIFE CHINO MEMBER LLC, METLIFE COLOMBIA SEGUROS de VIDA S.A., METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE INCOME FUND GP LLC, METLIFE CONSQUARE MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CONSUMER SERVICES INC., METLIFE CORE PROPERTY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE CREDIT CORP., METLIFE DIGITAL VENTURES INC., METLIFE ENHANCED CORE PROPERTY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE EU HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, METLIFE EUROPE INSURANCE d.a.c., METLIFE EUROPE SERVICES LIMITED, METLIFE EUROPE d.a.c., METLIFE EUROPEAN HOLDINGS LLC., METLIFE FINANCIAL SERVICES CO. LTD, METLIFE FM HOTEL MEMBER LLC, METLIFE FUNDING INC., METLIFE GENERAL INSURANCE LIMITED, METLIFE GLOBAL BENEFITS LTD., METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDING COMPANY I GMBH, METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDING COMPANY II GMBH, METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDINGS CORPORATION S.A. De C.V., METLIFE GLOBAL INC., METLIFE GLOBAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT CENTER PRIVATE LIMITED, METLIFE GROUP INC., METLIFE HCMJV 1 GP LLC, METLIFE HCMJV 1 LP LLC, METLIFE HEALTH PLANS INC., METLIFE HOLDINGS INC., METLIFE HOME LOANS LLC, METLIFE INNOVATION CENTRE LIMITED, METLIFE INNOVATION CENTRE PTE. LTD., METLIFE INSURANCE AND INVESTMENT TRUST, METLIFE INSURANCE BROKERAGE INC., METLIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF KOREA LTD., METLIFE INSURANCE K.K., METLIFE INSURANCE LIMITED, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL HF PARTNERS LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED LLC, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND I LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND II LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND III LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND IV LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND V LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND VI LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND VII LP, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT EUROPE LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLC, METLIFE INVESTMENTS ASIA LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS PTY LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS SECURITIES LLC, METLIFE INVESTORS DISTRIBUTION COMPANY, METLIFE INVESTORS GROUP LLC, METLIFE IRELAND TREASURY D.A.C., METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY FUND LP, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY OWNERS BLOCKER LLC, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY OWNERS LLC, METLIFE LATIN AMERICA ASESORIAS E INVERSIONES LIMITADA, METLIFE LEGAL PLANS INC., METLIFE LEGAL PLANS OF FLORIDA INC., METLIFE LHH MEMBER LLC, METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE S.A., METLIFE LOAN ASSET MANAGEMENT LLC, METLIFE LONG SHORT CREDIT FUND LP, METLIFE LONG SHORT CREDIT MASTER FUND LP, METLIFE LONG SHORT CREDIT PARALLEL FUND LP, METLIFE MAS S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MEXICO HOLDINGS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., METLIFE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MEXICO SERVICIOS S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT FUND II LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT GP II LLC, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT GP LLC, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT II RATED FUND LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT PARALLEL FUND LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT PARALLEL GP LLC, METLIFE MMPD II SPECIAL LLC, METLIFE MULTI-FAMILY PARTNERS III LLC, METLIFE OBS MEMBER LLC, METLIFE OFC MEMBER LLC, METLIFE ONTARIO STREET MEMBR LLC, METLIFE PARK TOWER MEMBER LLC, METLIFE PENSION TRUSTEES LIMITED, METLIFE PENSIONES MEXICO S.A., METLIFE PET INSURANCE SOLUTIONS LLC, METLIFE PLANOS ODONTOLOGICOS LTDA., METLIFE POWSZECHNE TOWARTZYSTWO EMERYTALNE S.A., METLIFE PRIVATE EQUITY HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE PROPERTIES VENTURES LLC, METLIFE RC SF MEMBER LLC, METLIFE REAL ESTATE LENDING LLC, METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF BERMUDA LTD., METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF CHARLESTON, METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF VERMONT, METLIFE RETIREMENT SERVICES LLC, METLIFE SECURITIZATION DEPOSITOR LLC, METLIFE SEGUROS S.A., METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING FINCO LLC, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING FUND LP, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING GP LLC, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING HOLDINGS LP, METLIFE SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS LLC, METLIFE SERVICES CYPRUS LTD., METLIFE SERVICES EAST PRIVATE LIMITED, METLIFE SERVICES EEIG, METLIFE SERVICES EOOD, METLIFE SERVICES SOCIEDAD LIMITADA, METLIFE SERVICES SP Z.O.O, METLIFE SERVICIOS S.A., METLIFE SINGLE FAMILY RENTAL FUND GP LLC, METLIFE SINGLE FAMILY RENTAL FUND LP, METLIFE SOLUTIONS PTE. LTD., METLIFE SOLUTIONS S.A.S., METLIFE SP HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE STRATEGIC HOTEL DEBT FUND GP LLC, METLIFE SYNDICATED BANK LOAN LUX GP S.A.R.L., METLIFE THR INVESTOR LLC, METLIFE TOWARZYSTWO FUNDUSZY INWESTYCYJNYCH S.A., METLIFE TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEN NA ZYCIE I REASEKURACJI S.A., METLIFE TOWER RESOURCES GROUP INC., METLIFE TREAT TOWERS MEMBER LLC, METLIFE WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS LLC, METROPOLITAN GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC, METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN LIFE SEGUROS E PREVIDENCIA PRIVADA S.A., METROPOLITAN LIFE SOCIETATE de ADMINISTRARE a UNUI FOND de PENSII ADMINISTRAT PRIVAT S.A., METROPOLITAN TOWER LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN TOWER REALTY COMPANY INC., MEX DF PROPERTIES LLC, MFA FINANCING VEHICLE CTR1 LLC, MIDTOWN HEIGHTS LLC, MIM CAMPUS AT SGV MANAGER LLC, MIM CLAL GENERAL PARTNER LLC, MIM CM SYNDICATOR LLC, MIM EMD GP LLC, MIM I LLC, MIM LS GP LLC, MIM METWEST INTERNATIONAL MANAGER LLC, MIM ML-AI VENTURE 5 MANAGER LLC, MIM OMD MANAGER LLC, MIM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC, MIM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT OF GEORGIA 1 LLC, MIM SPOKANE INDUSTRIAL MANAGER LLC, MIM THIRD ARMY INDUSTRIAL MANAGER LLC, MISSOURI REINSURANCE INC., ML 300 THIRD MEMBER LLC, ML ARMATURE MEMBER LLC, ML BELLEVUE MANAGER LLC, ML BELLEVUE MEMBER LLC, ML CAPACITACION COMERCIAL S.A. DE C.V., ML CERRITOS TC MEMBER LLC, ML CLAL MEMBER LLC, ML CORNER 63 MEMBER LLC, ML DOLPHIN GP LLC, ML DOLPHIN MEZZ LLC, ML HUDSON MEMBER LLC, ML MATSON MILLS MEMBER LLC, ML MILILANI MEMBER LLC, ML OMD MEMBER LLC, ML ONE BEDMINSTER LLC, ML PORT CHESTER SC MEMBER LLC, ML SENTINEL SQUARE MEMBER LLC, ML SLOANS LAKE MEMEBR LLC, ML SOUTHLANDS MEMBER LLC, ML SOUTHMORE LLC, ML SPOKANE INDUSTRIAL MEMBER LLC, ML SWAN GP LLC, ML SWAN MEZZ LLC, ML TERRACES LLC, ML THIRD ARMY INDUSTRIAL MEMBER LLC, ML VENTURE 1 MANAGER S. DE R. L. DE C.V., ML VENTURE 1 SERVICER LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 1 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 2 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 3 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 4 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 5 LLC, ML-URS PORT CHESTER SC MANAGER LLC, MLIA MANAGER I LLC, MLIA PARK TOWER MANAGER LLC, MLIA SBAF COLONY MANAGER LLC, MLIA SBAF MANAGER LLC, MLIC ASSET HOLDINGS II LLC, MLIC ASSET HOLDINGS LLC, MLIC CB HOLDINGS LLC, MLJ US FEEDER LLC, MM GLOBAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT CENTER S.A. DE C.V., MMP CEDAR STREET OWNER LLC, MMP CEDAR STREET REIT LLC, MMP HOLDINGS III LLC, MMP OLIVIAN OWNER LLC, MMP OLIVIAN REIT LLC, MMP OWNERS III LLC, MMP OWNERS LLC, MMP SOUTH PARK OWNER LLC, MMP SOUTH PARK REIT LLC, MNQM TRUST 2020, MREF 425 MKT LLC, MSHDF HOLDCO I LLC, MSV IRVINE PROPERTY LLC, MTL LEASING LLC, MTU HOTEL OWNER LLC, NATILOPORTEM HOLDINGS LLC, NEWBURY INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, OCONEE GOLF COMPANY LLC, OCONEE HOTEL COMPANY LLC, OCONEE LAND COMPANY LLC, OCONEE LAND DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LLC, OCONEE MARINA COMPANY LLC, OMI MLIC INVESTMENTS LIMITED, PACIFIC LOGISTICS INDUSTRIAL NORTH LLC, PACIFIC LOGISTICS INDUSTRIAL SOUTH LLC, PARK TOWER JV MEMBER LLC, PARK TOWER REIT INC., PJSC METLIFE, PLAZA DRIVE PROPERTIES LLC, PREFCO FOURTEEN LLC, PREFCO XIV HOLDINGS LLC, PROVIDA INTERNACIONAL S.A., SAFEGUARD HEALTH ENTERPRISES INC., SAFEGUARD HEALTH PLANS INC., SAFEHEALTH LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, SOUTHCREEK INDUSTRIAL HOLDINGS LLC, ST. JAMES FLEET INVESTMENTS TWO LIMITED, SUPERIOR PROCUREMENT INC., SUPERIOR VISION BENEFIT MANAGEMENT INC., SUPERIOR VISION HOLDINGS INC., SUPERIOR VISION INSURANCE INC., SUPERIOR VISION INSURANCE PLAN OF WISCONSIN INC., SUPERIOR VISION OF NEW JERSEY INC., SUPERIOR VISION SERVICES INC., Safeguard Health Enterprises, Security First Group Inc., THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH AVENUE MEZZANINE LLC, THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH RETAIL HOLDING LLC, THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH RETAIL OWNER, THE DIRECT CALL CENTRE PTY LIMITED, TRANSMOUNTAIN LAND & LIVESTOCK COMPANY, UVC INDEPENDENT PRACTICE ASSOCIATION INC., VERSANT HEALTH CONSOLIDATIONS CORP., VERSANT HEALTH HOLDCO INC., VERSANT HEALTH INC., VERSANT HEALTH LAB LLC, VIRIDIAN MIRACLE MILE LLC, VISION 21 MANAGED EYE CARE OF TAMPA BAY INC., VISION 21 PHYSICIAN PRACTICE MANAGEMENT COMPANY, VISION TWENTY-ONE MANAGED EYE CARE IPA INC., Versant Health, WDV ACQUISITION CORP., WFP 1000 HOLDING COMPANY GP LLC, WHITE OAK ROYALTY COMPANY, WHITE TRACT II LLC, and Willing.

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Weatherford International plc, an oilfield service company, provides equipment and services for the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil and natural gas wells worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Western Hemisphere and Eastern Hemisphere. It offers artificial lift systems, including reciprocating rod, progressing cavity pumping, gas, hydraulic, plunger, and hybrid lift systems, as well as related automation and control systems; pressure pumping and reservoir stimulation services, such as acidizing, fracturing and fluid systems, cementing, and coiled-tubing intervention; and drill stem test tools, and surface well testing and multiphase flow measurement services. The company also provides safety, downhole reservoir monitoring, flow control, and multistage fracturing systems, as well as sand-control technologies, and production and isolation packers; liner hangers to suspend a casing string in high-temperature and high-pressure wells; cementing products, including plugs, float and stage equipment, and torque-and-drag reduction technology for zonal isolation; and pre-job planning and installation services. In addition, it offers directional drilling services, and logging and measurement services while drilling; services related to rotary-steerable systems, high-temperature and high-pressure sensors, drilling reamers, and circulation subs; managed pressure drilling, conventional mud-logging, drilling instrumentation, gas analysis, wellsite consultancy, and open hole and cased-hole logging services; reservoir solutions and software products; and intervention and remediation services. Further, the company provides equipment and drilling tools; tubular handling, management, and connection services; equipment rental services; and onshore contract drilling and related services through a fleet of land drilling and workover rigs. Weatherford International plc was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland.
Derwent London plc owns 83 buildings in a commercial real estate portfolio predominantly in central London valued at 5.4 billion (including joint ventures) as at 30 June 2020, making it the largest London-focused real estate investment trust (REIT). Our experienced team has a long track record of creating value throughout the property cycle by regenerating our buildings via development or refurbishment, effective asset management and capital recycling. We typically acquire central London properties off-market with low capital values and modest rents in improving locations, most of which are either in the West End or the Tech Belt. We capitalise on the unique qualities of each of our properties - taking a fresh approach to the regeneration of every building with a focus on anticipating tenant requirements and an emphasis on design. Reflecting and supporting our long-term success, the business has a strong balance sheet with modest leverage, a robust income stream and flexible financing. As part of our commitment to lead the industry in mitigating climate change, in October 2019, Derwent London became the first UK REIT to sign a Green Revolving Credit Facility. At the same time, we also launched our Green Finance Framework and signed the Better Buildings Partnership's climate change commitment. The Group is a member of the 'RE100' which recognises Derwent London as an influential company, committed to 100% renewable power by purchasing renewable energy, a key step in becoming a net zero carbon business. Derwent London is one of only a few property companies worldwide to have science-based carbon targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Landmark schemes in our 5.6 million sq ft portfolio include 80 Charlotte Street W1, Brunel Building W2, White Collar Factory EC1, Angel Building EC1, 1-2 Stephen Street W1, Horseferry House SW1 and Tea Building E1. In 2019, the Group won several awards including EG Offices Company of the Year, the CoStar West End Deal of the Year for Brunel Building, Westminster Business Council's Best Achievement in Sustainability award and topped the real estate sector and was placed ninth overall in the Management Today 2019 awards for 'Britain's Most Admired Companies'. In 2013 the Company launched a voluntary Community Fund and has to date supported over 100 community projects in the West End and the Tech Belt. The Company is a public limited company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and incorporated and domiciled in the UK. The address of its registered office is 25 Savile Row, London,
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. operates bookstores for college and university campuses, and K-12 institutions in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Digital Student Solutions. The company sells and rents new and used print textbooks, digital textbooks, and publisher hosted digital courseware through physical and virtual bookstores, as well as directly to students through Textbooks.com. It also offers First Day and First Day Complete access programs; BNC OER+, a turnkey solution for colleges and universities, that offers digital content, such as videos, activities, and auto-graded practice assessments; and general merchandise, including collegiate and athletic apparel, school spirit products, lifestyle products, technology products, supplies, graduation products, and convenience items. In addition, the company sources, sells, and distributes new and used textbooks; and sells hardware and a software suite of applications that provides inventory management and point-of-sale solutions to approximately 350 college bookstores. Further, it offers direct-to-student subscription-based writing services; and bartleby, a direct-to-student subscription-based offering that includes textbook solutions, expert questions and answers, and writing and tutoring services. The company operates 805 physical college and university bookstores; 622 virtual bookstores; 8 True Spirit e-commerce websites; pop-up retail locations; 73 customized cafes and 11 stand-alone convenience stores; and a media channel for brands targeting the college demographic. Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
American Water Works Company, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,700 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.4 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems. It also provides water and wastewater services on various military installations; and undertakes contracts with municipal customers, primarily to operate and manage water and wastewater facilities, as well as offers other related services. In addition, the company operates approximately 80 surface water treatment plants; 480 groundwater treatment plants; 160 wastewater treatment plants; 52,500 miles of transmission, distribution, and collection mains and pipes; 1,100 groundwater wells; 1,700 water and wastewater pumping stations; 1,300 treated water storage facilities; and 76 dams. It serves approximately 14 million people with drinking water, wastewater, and other related services in 24 states. American Water Works Company, Inc. was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey.
The following companies are subsidiares of Accenture: 2nd Road, ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Limited, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! Limited, ACN Consulting Co Ltd, AD.Dialeto (Digital Agency acquired by Accenture), AFD.TECH, AGS Business and Technology Services Limited, AIG Shared Services Business Processing Inc, ASM Research Inc., ASM Research LLC, ATAN, Accenture (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (China) Co. Ltd., Accenture (Shenzhen) Technology Co. Ltd., Accenture (South Africa) Pty Ltd, Accenture (UK) Limited, Accenture 2 Business Process Services S.A., Accenture 2 LLC, Accenture A/S, Accenture AB, Accenture AG, Accenture AS, Accenture Africa Pty Ltd, Accenture Agencia Interativa Ltda, Accenture Australia Holding B.V., Accenture Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture B.V., Accenture BPM Operations Support Services S.A., Accenture BPM S.C.R.L., Accenture BPS Services S.p. z o.o., Accenture Branch Holdings B.V., Accenture Bulgaria EOOD, Accenture Business Services for Utilities Inc, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited Partnership, Accenture Business and Technology Services LLC, Accenture C.A., Accenture Canada Holdings Inc, Accenture Capital Designated Activity Company, Accenture Capital Inc, Accenture Central Europe B.V., Accenture Chile Asesorias y Servicios Ltda, Accenture Cloud Services GmbH, Accenture Cloud Software Solutions Limited, Accenture Cloud Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions LLC, Accenture Cloud Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd, Accenture Co. Ltd, Accenture Communications Infrastructure Solutions Ltd, Accenture Company Ltd, Accenture Consulting Pty Ltd, Accenture Consulting Services Ltd Tanzania, Accenture Consultores de Gestao S.A., Accenture Consultoria de Industria e Consumo Ltda, Accenture Consultoria de Recursos Naturais Ltda, Accenture Credit Services LLC, Accenture Customer Services Distribution SASU, Accenture Customer Services Ltd, Accenture Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, Accenture Defined Benefit Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Accenture Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Accenture Delivery Poland S.p. z o.o., Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH, Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH, Accenture East Africa Limited, Accenture Ecuador S.A., Accenture Egypt LLC, Accenture Enterprise Development (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Accenture Federal Services LLC, Accenture Finance II Limited, Accenture Finance Limited, Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services S.p.A., Accenture Finance and Accounting Services S.r.l., Accenture Financial Advanced Solution & Technology S.r.l., Accenture Flex LLC, Accenture GP LLC, Accenture Global Capital Designated Activity Company, Accenture Global Engagements Limited, Accenture Global Holdings Limited, Accenture Global Services Limited, Accenture Global Solutions Limited, Accenture GmbH, Accenture HR Services S.p.A., Accenture Healthcare Processing Inc, Accenture Holding Brasil Ltda, Accenture Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Accenture Holdings (Iberia) S.L., Accenture Holdings B.V., Accenture Holdings France SASU, Accenture Hungary Holdings Kft, Accenture Inc, Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions Kft, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions SA, Accenture Insurance Services B.V., Accenture Insurance Services LLC, Accenture International B.V., Accenture International LLC, Accenture International Limited, Accenture Japan Ltd, Accenture Korea B.V., Accenture LLC, Accenture LLP, Accenture Lanka (Private) Ltd, Accenture Limited, Accenture Lithuania UAB, Accenture Ltd, Accenture Ltda, Accenture Maghreb S.a.r.l., Accenture Managed Services SRL, Accenture Management GmbH, Accenture Marketing Services LLC, Accenture Marketing Services Limited, Accenture Middle East B.V., Accenture Minority I B.V., Accenture Mozambique Limitada, Accenture Mzansi Pty Ltd, Accenture NV/SA, Accenture NZ Limited, Accenture Nova Scotia Unlimited Liability Co., Accenture OOO, Accenture Operations GmbH, Accenture Operations S.p. z o.o., Accenture Operations Services Private Limited, Accenture Operations Services Sdn Bhd, Accenture Outsourcing S.r.l., Accenture Outsourcing Services S.A., Accenture Oy, Accenture Panama Inc, Accenture Participations B.V., Accenture Participations II Limited, Accenture Peru SRL, Accenture Post Trade Processing SASU, Accenture Post-Trade Processing Limited, Accenture Process (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Pte Ltd, Accenture Puerto Rico LLC, Accenture Qiyun Technology (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Accenture S.C., Accenture S.L., Accenture S.R.L., Accenture S.p. z o.o., Accenture S.p.A., Accenture SASU, Accenture SG Services Pte Ltd, Accenture SRL, Accenture Saudi Arabia Limited, Accenture Sdn Bhd, Accenture Service Center SRL, Accenture Services (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Services AB, Accenture Services AG, Accenture Services AS, Accenture Services GmbH, Accenture Services Morocco SA, Accenture Services Oy, Accenture Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Services S.p. z o.o., Accenture Services SRL, Accenture Services and Technology S.r.l., Accenture Services s.r.o., Accenture Single Member S.A. Organization Information Technology & Business Development, Accenture Solutions Co. Ltd, Accenture Solutions Private Limited, Accenture Solutions Pte Ltd, Accenture Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Solutions S.p. z o.o, Accenture Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture State Healthcare Services LLC, Accenture Sub II Inc, Accenture Sub III Inc, Accenture Sub LLC, Accenture Systems Integration Limited, Accenture Sarl, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Accenture Technology Solutions (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (HK) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas S.A., Accenture Technology Solutions GmbH, Accenture Technology Solutions Oy, Accenture Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions S.A. de C.V., Accenture Technology Solutions S.r.l., Accenture Technology Solutions SASU, Accenture Technology Solutions SRL, Accenture Technology Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture Technology Solutions Slovakia s.r.o., Accenture Technology Ventures B.V., Accenture Technology Ventures SPRL, Accenture Tecnologia Consultoria y Outsourcing S.A., Accenture Uruguay SRL, Accenture Vietnam Co. Limited, Accenture Zambia Limited, Accenture do Brasil Ltda, Accenture plc, Accenture s.r.o., Acceria, Acquity Group, Adaptly LLC, Adaptly UK Limited, AddVal Technology, Adqptly, Advantium Inc., Advoco, Agilex Technologies Inc., Alfa Consulting, Allen International, AlphaBeta Advisors, Altevie Technologies S.r.l., Altima, Altima (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Altima Asia Ltd, Altitude, Altitude LLC, Altius Consulting Limited, Altius Data Solutions Private Limited, Analytics 8 LP, Analytics 8 Pty Ltd, Analytics8, Aorui Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Apis, Apis Group Pty Ltd, Appaloosa Technology SASU, AppsPro, AppsPro, Arca, Arca Ingenieros y Consultoria S.L., Arca Telecom S.L., Ariba - BPO, Arismore, Artio People (Payroll) Pty Ltd, Artio People Pty Ltd, Aspiro Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Automation Partners Pty Ltd, Avanade (Guangzhou) Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd., Avanade Asia Pte Ltd, Avanade Australia Pty Ltd, Avanade Belgium SPRL, Avanade Canada Inc, Avanade Consulting Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Denmark A/S, Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Avanade Europe Holdings Limited, Avanade Europe Services Limited, Avanade Finland Oy, Avanade France SASU, Avanade Holdings LLC, Avanade Hong Kong Ltd, Avanade Inc, Avanade International Corporation, Avanade Ireland Limited, Avanade Italy S.r.l., Avanade Japan KK, Avanade Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avanade Middle East Limited, Avanade Netherlands B.V., Avanade Norway AS, Avanade Poland S.p. z o.o., Avanade Schweiz GmbH, Avanade South Africa Pty Ltd, Avanade Spain S.L., Avanade Sweden AB, Avanade UK Limited, Avanade do Brasil Ltda , Avanade Osterreich GmbH, Avenai, Avieco, Axia Ltd., BABCN LLC, BCS Consulting, BCT Solutions, BCT Solutions Pty Ltd, BENEXT, BPO Servicos Administrativos Ltda, BRIDGE Energy Group, BRIDGEi2i, Beacon Consulting Group Inc., Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd., Beijing Zhidao Future Consulting Co. Ltd, Benext, Berico Technologies LLC, Bionic, Bionic Solution LLC, Blue Horseshoe, Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Bow & Arrow, Bow & Arrow Limited, Brand Learning, Brand Learning Group Limited, Brightstep AB, Byte Prophecy, Byte Prophecy Private Limited, CAS, CRMWaypoint, CS Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd, CS Technology (UK) Limited, CS Technology Group LLC, CS Technology LLC, CadenceQuest Inc., Callisto Integration Europe B.V., Callisto Integration Europe Limited, Callisto Integration LLC, Callisto Integration Ltd, Capgemini - North American health practice, Capital Consultancy Services Inc, Certus Solutions Consulting Services Limited, Certus Solutions Ltd, ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd., Chaotic Moon Studios, Chengdu Mensa Advertising Co. Ltd., Cimation, Cirrus Connect Australia Pty Ltd, Cirrus Connect Limited, Cirruseo, Clarity Insights, ClearEdge Partners, Clearhead, Clearhead Group LLC, ClientHouse GmbH, Cloud Sherpas, Cloud Sherpas (GA) LLC, Cloud Sherpas Japan G.K., Cloud Sherpas New Zealand Limited, Cloudeasier SAS, Cloudpoint Limited, Cloudsherpas Inc, Cloudworks, Cloudworks Consulting Services Inc, Cloudworks Technology LLC, Computer Research and Telecommunications LLC, Concrete Desenvolvimento de Sistemas Ltda, Concrete Solutions, Concrete Solutions Ltda, Context Information Security, Context Information Security LLC, Context Information Security Limited, CoreCompete LLC, CoreCompete Limited, CoreCompete Private Limited, Corliant Inc., Creative Drive LLC, Creative Drive US LLC, CreativeDrive, CreativeDrive Digital Content Services (Shenzhen) Co Ltd., CreativeDrive EMEA Limited, CreativeDrive Singapore Pte Ltd, CreativeDrive UK Group Limited, Cutting Edge Solutions Limited, Cygni AB, Cygni Norrsken AB, Cygni Stockholm AB, Cygni Syd AB, Cygni Vast AB, Cygni Ost AB, Cygni Ostersund AB, DAZ Systems Inc, DAZ Systems LLC, DAZSI Systems (India) Pvt. Limited, DI Futures Corporation, Data Essential SARL, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings LLC, Decora Marketplace LLC, Decorado Marketplace Ltda-EPP, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digital Results Group LLC, Double Digit Limitada, Double Digit Pty SA, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Limited, Duck Creek Technologies, ESR Labs, ESR Labs AG, EdenOne Solutions Limited, Edenhouse ERP Holdings Limited, Edenhouse Solutions Limited, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting LP, End to End Analytics LLC, End-to-End Analytics, Endorphin Medici (M) Sdn Bhd, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Limited, EnergyQuote JHA, Enimbos, Enimbos Global Services S.L., Enkitec, Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions LLC, Enterprise System Partners, Enterprise System Partners B.V., Enterprise System Partners Bilisim Danismanlik Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Enterprise System Partners Global Corporation, Enterprise System Partners Limited, Enthusian Pty Ltd, Entropia, Entropia (M) Sdn Bhd, Entropia Holdings Pte Ltd, Entropia Intercraft Sdn Bhd, Epylon, Ergo, Espedia S.r.l., Ethica Consulting Group, Ethica Consulting S.p.A., Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Experity, Exton Consulting, Exton Consulting Spain Strategy&Management S.L., Exton Germany GmbH, Exton International SAS, Exton Italia S.r.l., Exton SAS, FGM LLC, Fairway Technologies Inc, Farah BidCo Limited, Farah MidCo Limited, Farah Topco Limited, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Formicary, Founders Intelligence, Fruendo S.r.l., FusionX, Future State Consulting LLC, FutureMove (Beijing) Automotive Technology Co. Ltd., FutureMove Automotive, FutureMove Automotive Co. Ltd., GRA Supply Chain Pty Ltd, Gagel Group S de R.L. de C.V., Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gevity, Gren utvikling AS, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., HRC Retail Advisory, Hagberg Consulting Group, Hahntel Ltda, Halo Partners LLC, Hamilton Holding Company S.A, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Happen GP Limited, Happen Limited, Headspring, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl A/S, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn Bhd, IBB Consulting, ICM.S S.r.l., IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INSITUM, IQSP Consulting LLC, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Icon Integration (NZ) Limited, Icon Integration Pty Ltd, Imagine Broadband (USA) Limited, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Imaginea Technologies LLC, Industrie IT (Hong Kong) Ltd, Industrie IT (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Industrie IT Group Pty Ltd, Industrie IT Pty Ltd, Industrie&Co, Infinity Works Consulting Limited, Infinity Works Holdings Limited, Infinity Works Management Limited, Infinity Works Midco Limited, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Innotec International EAD, Innotec International S.p. z.o.o., Innotec Marketing GmbH, Innotec Marketing International Ireland Limited, Innotec- Marketing Spain S.L, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., International Biometric Group LLC, International Biometric Group UK Limited, Intrepid, Intrepid Futureworks Sdn Bhd, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. Limited, Intrigo Systems LLC, Inventor Technology Ltd, InvestTech, Investtech Systems Consulting LLC, ItSafer Continuity Services S.L., JKD Consulting LLC, Javelin Group, K Comms Group Limited, KSC Studio LLC, Kaper Communications Limited, Karma Communications Debtco Limited, Karma Communications Group Limited, Karma Communications Holdings Limited, Karmarama, Karmarama Comms Limited, Karmarama Limited, King James Group, Knowledge Rules Inc., Knowledgent, Knowledgent Group LLC, Kogentix, Kogentix LLC, Kogentix Limited, Kogentix Singapore Pte Ltd, Kogentix Technologies Private Limited, Kolle Rebbe, Kolle Rebbe GmbH, Kream Comms Limited, Kunstmaan, Kurt Salmon, Kurt Salmon Canada LTD, Kurt Salmon US LLC, LEXTA, LINKBYNET, LINKBYNET Indian Ocean (L.I.O) Ltd, LabAnswer, Lexta GmbH, Lexta UK Limited, Lien par le reseau Inc, Lien par le reseau infrastructures Inc, Lin Bo (Shanghai) Network Technology Co. Ltd., Link By Net SAS, Link By Net SRL, Link By Net Vietnam Company Limited, Linkbynet East Asia Ltd, Linkbynet Singapore Pte Ltd., Loud & Clear Creative Pty Ltd, Lumenup S.A., MAXIM Systems Inc., MCG US Holdings LLC, Mackevision CG Technology and Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mackevision Japan Co. Ltd., Mackevision Korea Ltd, Mackevision LLC, Mackevision Medien Design, Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Mackevision Singapore Pte Ltd, Mackevision UK Limited, Maglan, Maglan Information Defense Technologies Research Ltd, Maihiro, Matter, Maud Corp Pty Ltd, Maxamine International, Measuretek LLC, Media Audits Ltd., Media Hive, Mediasenz Pty Ltd., Meredith Specialty LLC, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing LLC, Meridian Informed Purchasing Ltd., Mindtribe, Mistral Wind Operations  Servicos Empresariais Unipessoal Lda., MobGen, Mortgage Cadence LLC, Mortgage Cadence an Accenture Company, Most Champion Ltd, Mudano, Mudano Limited, Myrtle Consulting Group LLC, N3, N3 (Dalian) Business Consulting Co. Ltd., N3 Brazil Consultoria em Marketing Ltda, N3 Germany GmbH, N3 LLC, N3 North America LLC, N3 Results Australia Pty Ltd, N3 Results Ireland Limited, N3 Results Japan G.K., N3 Results Limited, N3 Results Malaysia Sdn Bhd, N3 Results Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., N3 Results S.A.S., N3 Results Singapore Pte Ltd, N3 Results Unipessoal Lda, NYTEC, Nanjing Demeng Advertising Co. Ltd., Nashco Consulting, NaviSys Inc., Nell'Armonia Israel Ltd, Nell'Armonia SAS, Nell'Participation SAS, NellArmonia, Neo Metrics Analytics S.L., Neo Metrics Chile S.A., New Content, New Content Editora e Produtora Ltda, New Energy Group, News Imaging LLC, NewsPage, NewsPage (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, NewsPage Pte Ltd, Northstream, Novetta Holdings LLC, Novetta LLC, Novetta Solutions LLC, Novetta Topco LLC, OCTO Technology, OPS Rules Management Consultants, Octagon Research Solutions Inc., Octo Technology Pty Ltd, Octo Technology SA, Odgaard ApS, Olikka, Olikka Pty Ltd, Olympus Systems Corporation, Openmind, Openmind S.r..l., Openminded, Openminded SAS, Operaciones Accenture S.A. de C.V., OpusLine, Orbium, Orbium AG, Orbium Consulting Limited, Orbium Inc., Orbium Ltd, Orbium Pte Ltd, Orbium Pty Ltd, Origin Digital, PCO Innovation, PLM Systems S.r.l, PRION GmbH, PT Accenture, PT Asta Catur Indra, PT Kogentix Teknologi Indonesia, PacificLink Group, Paja Finanssipalvelut Oy, Parker Fitzgerald Inc, Parker Fitzgerald International Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Limited, Parker Fitzgerald PTY Ltd, Parker Fitzgerald Services Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Solutions Limited, Pecaso Ltd., Pegasus Production A/S, Pegasus Production K/S, Phase One Consulting Group, Pillar Technology, Pollux, Pollux Automation Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pollux Canada Inc, Pollux S.A.S., Pollux USA LLC, Pragsis Bidoop, Pragsis Bidoop UK Limited, Pramati Technologies Europe Limited, Pramati Technologies Private Limited, Presence of IT Workforce Management North America LLC, PrimeQ, PrimeQ Australia Pty Ltd, PrimeQ Ltd, PrimeQ NZ Pty Limited, Procurian Inc., Prof. Homburg GmbH, Proquire LLC, PureApps Ltd., Qi Jie Beijing Information Technologies Co. Ltd., RBCP Fund 1-A Vapor Blocker LLC, RBCP Platform Vapor Blocker I LLC, REPL Consulting LLC, REPL Consulting Limited, REPL Digital Limited, REPL Group K.K., REPL Group Pty Ltd, REPL Group Worldwide Limited, REPL Pte Ltd, REPL Software Limited, REPL Technology Limited, Radiant Services LLC, Random Walk Computing Inc., Reactive Media Pty Ltd., Real Protect, Realworld OO Systems Ltd., Redcore, Redcore (New Zealand) Limited, Redcore Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Redcore Pty Ltd, Revolutionary Security, RiskControl, Root LLC, Rothco, Rothco Limited, S3 TV Technology Ltd., SALT Solutions GmbH, SEC Servizi, SOPIA Corp., Sagacious Consultants, Salt Solutions, Sandbox Studio LLC, Sapling Bidco Limited, Sapling Midco Limited, Sapling Topco Limited, Schlumberger Business Consulting, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace (UK) Limited, Seabury Consulting, Seabury Corporate Advisors LLC, Seabury Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Search Technologies BPO Inc, Search Technologies International LLC, Search Technologies LLC, Search Technologies Limited, Securiview SAS, Sentelis, Sentor Managed Secuirty Services AB, Servicios Tecnicos de Programacion Accenture S.C., Seven Seas Business Ventures LLC, Shackleton, Shackleton Chile S.A., Shackleton S.L.U., Shanghai Baiyue Advertising Co. Ltd., Shun Zhe Technology Development Co. Ltd., SigInt Technologies LLC, Silveo, Silveo Consulting India Private Limited, Simian Pty Ltd, SinnerSchrader, SinnerSchrader AG, SinnerSchrader Content GmbH, SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH, SinnerSchrader Praha s.r.o., Sirvart S.A., Sistemes Consulting S.L., Skylink SAS, Soltians Limited, Solutions IQ LLC, SolutionsIQ, SolutionsIQ India Consulting Services Private Limited, Somers Ventures Ireland Limited, Somers Ventures LLC, Spacelink SAS, Storm Digital, Structure Consulting Group LLC, Sutter Mills, Synership LLC, Systor AG, T.A. Cook, TXF LLC, Tambourine, TargetST8, Tech - Avanade Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Tecnilogica Ecosistemas S.A., Tecnilogica, The Brand Learning Partners Limited, The Callisto Integration Corporation, The Monkeys, The Monkeys Pty Ltd, The Myrtle Group, Total Logistics, Tquila, Trivadis, Trivadis AG, Trivadis Austria GmbH, Trivadis Denmark AS, Trivadis Germany GmbH, Trivadis Holding AG, Trivadis Partner AG, Trivadis Services AG, Trivadis Services SRL, Troop Studios Pty Ltd, VanBerlo, Vector Acquisition Company LLC, Vector Topco LLC, Verax Solutions, Vertical Retail Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd, Vertical Retail Consulting Ltd, Vivere Brasil Servicos e Solucoes SA, Vivere Brasil Solucoes De Credito Ltda., Wabion GmbH, WaveStrike LLC, White Cliffs Consulting LLC, Wire Stone, Wire Stone LLC, Wise Partners SAS, Wolox, Wolox Colombia S.A.S, Wolox LLC, Wolox Mexico S.R.L de C.V., Wolox S.A., Wolox SpA, Workforce Insight, Workforce Insight LLC, Yesler, Yesler LLC, Yesler Limited, Yesler Singapore Pte Ltd, Zag, Zag Australia Pty Ltd, Zag Limited, Zag USA LLC, Zebra Worldwide Australia Pty Ltd, Zebra Worldwide Group Limited, Zebra Worldwide Media Pty Ltd, Zenta, Zenta Global Philippines Inc, Zenta Mortgage Services LLC, Zenta Recoveries Inc, Zenta US Holdings Inc, Zestgroup, Zielpuls, Zielpuls (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zielpuls GmbH, avVenta, designaffairs, designaffairs Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., designaffairs GmbH, designaffairs group China Co. Ltd., dgroup, i4C Analytics, iDefense, solid-serVision.com GmbH, and umlaut.

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United Parcel Service, Inc. provides letter and package delivery, transportation, logistics, and related services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States. The International Package segment provides guaranteed day and time-definite international shipping services in Europe, the Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, and Africa. This segment offers guaranteed time-definite express options. The company also provides international air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, distribution and post-sales, and mail and consulting services in approximately 200 countries and territories. In addition, it offers truckload brokerage services; supply chain solutions to the healthcare and life sciences industry; shipping, visibility, and billing technologies; and financial and insurance services. The company operates a fleet of approximately 121,000 package cars, vans, tractors, and motorcycles; and owns 59,000 containers that are used to transport cargo in its aircraft. United Parcel Service, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Vulcan Materials Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and supplies construction aggregates primarily in the United States. It operates through four segments: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete, and Calcium. The Aggregates segment provides crushed stones, sand and gravel, sand, and other aggregates; and related products and services that are applied in construction and maintenance of highways, streets, and other public works, as well as in the construction of housing and commercial, industrial, and other nonresidential facilities. The Asphalt Mix segment offers asphalt mix in Alabama, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Texas, as well as engages in the asphalt construction paving activity in Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas. The Concrete segment provides ready-mixed concrete in California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia, and Washington D.C. The Calcium segment mines, produces, and sells calcium products for the animal feed, plastics, and water treatment industries. The company was formerly known as Virginia Holdco, Inc. and changed its name to Vulcan Materials Company. Vulcan Materials Company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand. The company also provides home decor products under the West Elm brand; kids accessories under the Pottery Barn Kids brand; and an organic bedding to multi-purpose furniture under the Pottery Barn Teen brand. In addition, it offers made-to-order lighting, hardware, furniture, and home decors inspired by history under the Rejuvenation brand; and women's and men's accessories, travel, entertaining and bar, home decor, and seasonal items under the Mark and Graham brand, as well as operates a 3-D imaging and augmented reality platform for the home furnishings and decor industry. The company markets its products through e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs, and retail stores. It operates 544 stores comprising 502 stores in 41states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico; 20 stores in Canada; 19 stores in Australia; 3 stores in the United Kingdom; and 139 franchised stores, as well as e-commerce websites in various countries in the Middle East, the Philippines, Mexico, South Korea, and India. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Carter's, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, sources, and markets branded childrenswear under the Carter's, OshKosh, Skip Hop, Child of Mine, Just One You, Simple Joys, Carter's My First Love, little planet, and other brands in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Retail, U.S. Wholesale, and International. Its Carter's products include babies and young children products, such as bodysuits, pants, dresses, knit sets, blankets, layette essentials, bibs, booties, sleep and play products, rompers, and jumpers; and OshKosh brand products comprise playclothes, such as denim apparel products with multiple wash treatments and coordinating garments, overalls, woven bottoms, knit tops, and bodysuits. The company also provides products for playtime, travel, mealtime, bathtime, and homegear, as well as kid's bags and diaper bags under the Skip Hop brand. In addition, it offers bedding, cribs, diaper bags, footwear, gift sets, hair accessories, jewelry, outerwear, paper goods, socks, shoes, swimwear, and toys. The company operates 18,800 wholesale locations, including department stores, national chain stores, and specialty stores. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 980 retail stores. The company also sells its products through its eCommerce websites, such as carters.com, oshkoshbgosh.com, oshkosh.com, and skiphop.com, as well as other international wholesale accounts and licensees. Carter's, Inc. was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
The following companies are subsidiares of Dominion Energy: 96WI 8me LLC, Align RNG Arizona LLC, Align RNG Arizona-Snowflake LLC, Align RNG California LLC, Align RNG California-Corcoran LLC, Align RNG Grady Road LLC, Align RNG LLC, Align RNG Magnolia LLC, Align RNG North Carolina LLC, Align RNG North Carolina-Bowdens LLC, Align RNG Utah LLC, Align RNG Utah-Milford LLC, Align RNG Utah-Minersville LLC, Align RNG Virginia LLC, Align RNG Virginia-Waverly LLC, Alpaca Holdings LLC, Angus Holdings LLC, Aster Holdings LLC, Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, BOE Holdings Inc., Bantam Holdings LLC, Bellflower Holdings LLC, Birdseye Holdings LLC, Birdseye Projects LLC, Birdseye Renewable Energy LLC, Blackville Solar Farm LLC, Blue Ocean Energy Marine LLC, BrightSuite Home LLC, BrightSuite Home Solar Inc., BrightSuite Inc., BrightSuite Solar CT Inc., BrightSuite Solar Development LLC, BrightSuite Solar SC Inc., BrightSuite Solar VA Inc., Brown Swiss Holdings II LLC, Buckingham Solar I LLC, CEA Americus LLC, CEA CO-Fort Morgan LLC, CEA Clovis LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Colorado LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Georgia LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Idaho LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Kansas LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Nevada LLC, CEA Dairy RNG New Mexico LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Texas LLC, CEA Greely LLC, CEA Mason LLC, CEA TX-Dimmitt LLC, CNG Coal Company, CNG Power Services Corporation, Canola Holdings LLC, Carolina Gas Transmission Corporation, Charolais Holdings LLC, Chester White Holdings LLC, Chicory Holdings LLC, Clean Energy Asset USA LLC, Clean Energy Enterprises Inc., Clipperton Holdings LLC, Collard Holdings LLC, Consolidated Natural Gas Company, Correctional Solar LLC, Cotswold Holdings LLC, Cove Point LNG Limited, Currant Holdings LLC, DE 700 Canal Place LLC, DE Arlington Solar LLC, DE Fluvanna Solar LLC, DE Hanover Solar LLC, DE Henrico Solar LLC, DE King William Solar LLC, DE Louisa Solar LLC, DE Newport News Solar LLC, DE Powhatan Solar LLC, DE Virginia Beach Solar LLC, DECP Holdings Inc., DEO Alternative Fuel LLC, Dairy RNG Holdings LLC, Denmark Solar LLC, Devon Holdings LLC, Dexter Holdings LLC, Dill Holdings LLC, Dillon RE Holdings LLC, Dominion ACP Holding Inc., Dominion Alternative Energy Holdings Inc., Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Dominion Capital Inc., Dominion Cogen WV Inc., Dominion Energy Birdseye Holdings Inc., Dominion Energy Fuel Services Inc., Dominion Energy Gas Distribution LLC, Dominion Energy Generation Marketing Inc., Dominion Energy Inc., Dominion Energy Kewaunee Inc., Dominion Energy Marketplace LLC, Dominion Energy Nuclear Connecticut Inc., Dominion Energy Payroll Company Inc., Dominion Energy Questar Corporation, Dominion Energy RNG Holdings II Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings Inc., Dominion Energy Services Inc., Dominion Energy Solar CA LLC, Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., Dominion Energy Southeast Services Inc., Dominion Energy Technical Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies II Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies Inc., Dominion Energy Terminal Company Inc., Dominion Energy Wexpro Services Company, Dominion Equipment III Inc., Dominion Equipment Inc., Dominion Fairless Hills Inc., Dominion Fowler Ridge Wind LLC, Dominion Gas Projects Company LLC, Dominion Generation Inc., Dominion Greenbrier Inc., Dominion High Voltage Holdings Inc., Dominion High Voltage MidAtlantic Inc., Dominion Investments Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline Holdings Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline LLC, Dominion MLP Holding Company III Inc., Dominion Mt. Storm Wind LLC, Dominion Nuclear Projects Inc., Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration & Production Inc., Dominion Person Inc., Dominion Privatization Florida LLC, Dominion Privatization Georgia LLC, Dominion Privatization Holdings Inc., Dominion Privatization Kentucky LLC, Dominion Privatization Maryland LLC, Dominion Privatization Pennsylvania LLC, Dominion Privatization South Carolina LLC, Dominion Privatization Texas LLC, Dominion Privatization Virginia LLC, Dominion Products and Services Inc., Dominion Projects Services Inc., Dominion Resources Capital Trust III, Dominion Retail Gas Holdings Inc., Dominion Solar Holdings IV LLC, Dominion Solar Projects C Inc., Dominion Solar Projects D Inc., Dominion Solar Projects III Inc., Dominion Solar Projects IV Inc., Dominion Solar Projects V Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VI Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VII Inc., Dominion Solar Services Inc., Dominion State Line LLC, Dominion Utility Privatization LLC, Dominion Voltage Inc., Dominion Wholesale Inc., Dominion Wind Development LLC, Dominion Wind Projects Inc., Dorset Holdings LLC, ESCT-SA-Suffield LLC, Eagle Holdco Solar LLC, Eagle Solar LLC, Eastern Shore Solar LLC, Endive Holdings LLC, Energize Holdings III LLC, Flax Holdings LLC, Fremont Farm LLC, Gideon Solar LLC, Ginger Holdings LLC, Greenbrier Marketing Company LLC, Greenbrier Pipeline Company LLC, Greensville County Solar Project LLC, Guernsey Holdings LLC, Hardin Solar Energy LLC, Hecate Energy Cherrydale LLC, Hecate Energy Clarke County LLC, Hemlock Holdings LLC, Hereford Holdings LLC, Hodges Solar LLC, Hope Gas Inc., Hosta Holdings LLC, Innovative Solar 37 LLC, Joanna Solar LLC, Kale Holdings LLC, Leek Holdings LLC, Leghorn Holdings LLC, Lentil Holdings LLC, Leyland Holdings LLC, Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas, Millet Holdings LLC, Moffett Solar 1 LLC, Moorings Farm 2 LLC, Mustang Solar LLC, Mustard Holdings LLC, Okra Holdings LLC, PSNC Blue Ridge Corporation, PSNC Cardinal Pipeline Company, Phone House, Pikeville Farm LLC, Power Path Holdings I LLC, Power Path Holdings II LLC, Power Path Holdings III LLC, Prairie Fork Wind Farm LLC, Public Service Company of North Carolina Incorporated, Quail Holdings LLC, Questar Corporation, Questar Gas Company, Questar InfoComm Inc., Ridgeland Solar Farm I LLC, Rutabaga Holdings LLC, SCANA, SCANA Corporate Security Services Inc., SCANA Corporation, SRFI LLC, Safflower Holdings LLC, Scott-II Solar LLC, Seabrook Solar LLC, Sedge Holdings LLC, Shallot Holdings LLC, Siler Solar LLC, Silkie Holdings LLC, Simmental Holdings LLC, Sol Madison Solar LLC, Sorghum Holdings LLC, South Carolina Fuel Company Inc., South Carolina Generating Company Inc., Southampton Solar LLC, Strawberry Holdings LLC, Sumac Holdings LLC, Summit Farms Solar LLC, Sussex Drive Solar Project LLC, TWE Myrtle Solar Project LLC, The East Ohio Gas Company, Trask East Solar LLC, Tredegar Solar Fund I LLC, Tredegar Solar LLC, VP Property Inc., Virginia Electric And Power Company, Virginia Power Fuel Corporation, Virginia Power Nuclear Services Company, Virginia Power Services Energy Corp. Inc., Virginia Power Services LLC, Virginia Solar 2017 Projects LLC, Wakefield Solar LLC, Watercress Holdings LLC, Wexpro Company, Wexpro Development Company, Wexpro II Company, Wilkinson Solar LLC, Yemassee Solar LLC, and Yorkshire Holdings LLC.

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OFG Bancorp, a financial holding company, provides a range of banking and financial services. It operates through three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and Treasury. The company offers checking and savings accounts, as well as time deposit products; commercial, consumer, auto, and mortgage lending services; financial planning and insurance services; and corporate and individual trust, and retirement services. It also provides securities brokerage and investment advisory services, including various investment alternatives, such as tax-advantaged fixed income securities, mutual funds, stocks, and bonds to retail and institutional clients; and separately-managed accounts and mutual fund asset allocation programs. In addition, the company engages in the insurance agency and reinsurance businesses; administration and servicing of retirement plans; various treasury-related functions with an investment portfolio consisting of mortgage-backed securities, obligations of U.S. government sponsored agencies, and U.S. Treasury securities and money market instruments; and management and participation in public offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities. Further, it offers money management and investment banking services; and engages in the asset/liability management activities, such as purchases and sales of investment securities, interest rate risk management, derivatives, and borrowings. The company operates through a network of 50 branches in Puerto Rico and 2 branches in USVI. OFG Bancorp was founded in 1964 and is headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The following companies are subsidiares of Illinois Tool Works: A V Co 1 Limited, A V Co 2 Limited, A V Co 3 Limited, ACCU-LUBE Manufacturing GmbH - Schmiermittel und -gerate -, AIP/BI Holdings Inc., Accessories Marketing Holding Corp., Advanced Molding Company Inc., Allen France SAS, Alpine Engineered Products, Alpine Systems Corporation, Anaerobicos S.r.l., AppliChem GmbH, Avery Berkel France, Avery India Limited, Avery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avery Weigh Tronix, Avery Weigh-Tronix Finance Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix International Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Properties Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Suzhou Weighing Technology Co. Ltd., Azon Limited, B.C. Immo, Beijing Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Berkel Ireland Limited, Berrington UK, Brapenta Eletronica Ltda., Brooks Instrument B.V., Brooks Instrument GmbH, Brooks Instrument KFT, Brooks Instrument Korea Ltd., Brooks Instrument LLC, Brooks Instrument Shanghai Co. Ltd, Buell Industries Inc., CCI Realty Company, CFC Europe GmbH, CS Australia Pty Limited, CS Mexico Holding Company S DE RL DE CV, Calvia Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnosci, Capital Ventures Australasia S.a r.l, Capmax Logistica S.A. de C.V., Celeste Industries Corporation, Coeur, Coeur Asia Limited, Coeur Holding Company, Coeur Inc., Coeur Shanghai Medical Appliance Trading Co. Ltd, Compagnie Hobart, Compagnie de Materiel et d'Equipements Techniques-Comet, Constructions Isothermiques Bontami C.I.B., Crane Carrier Company, Denison Mayes Group Limited, Despatch Industries, Diagraph Corporation Sdn. Bhd, Diagraph ITW Mexico S. de R.L. De C.V., Diagraph Mexico S.A. DE C.V., Dongguan Ark-Les Electric Components Co. Ltd., Dongguan CK Branding Co. Ltd., Duo Fast de Espana S.A.U., Duo-Fast Korea Co. Ltd., Duo-Fast LLC, E.C.S. d.o.o., E2M Production B.V.., E2M Technologies B.V.., E2M Technologies Inc.., ECS Cable Protection Sp. Zoo, ELRO Grosskuchen GmbH, ELRO Holding AG, ELRO-WERKE AG, Elro Group, Eltex-Elektrostatik-Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Envases Multipac S.A. de C.V., Eurotec Srl, Exhibit 21, FEG Investments L.L.C., Filtertek De Mexico Holding Inc., Filtertek De Mexico S.A. de C.V., Filtertek SAS, GC Financement SA, Gamko B.V., Gun Hwa Platech Taicang Co. Ltd., HOBART Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Hartness International, Hobart Andina S.A.S., Hobart Belgium B.V., Hobart Brothers International Chile Limitada, Hobart Brothers LLC, Hobart Dayton Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Hobart Food Equipment Co. Ltd., Hobart International Singapore Pte. Ltd., Hobart Japan K.K., Hobart Korea LLC, Hobart LLC, Hobart Nederland B.V., Hobart Sales & Service Inc., Hobart Scandinavia ApS, Hobart Techniek B.V., Horis, ILC Investments Holdings Inc., ITW AEP LLC, ITW AOC LLC, ITW Aircraft Investments Inc., ITW Ampang Industries Philippines Inc., ITW Appliance Components EOOD, ITW Appliance Components S.A. de C.V., ITW Appliance Components S.r.l.a, ITW Appliance Components d.o.o., ITW Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, ITW Australia Property Holdings Pty Ltd., ITW Australia Pty Ltd, ITW Automotive Components Chongqing Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Components Langfang Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Japan K.K., ITW Automotive Korea LLC, ITW Automotive Parts Shanghai Co. Ltd, ITW Automotive Products GmbH, ITW Automotive Products Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Bailly Comte, ITW Befestigungssysteme GmbH, ITW Belgium B.V., ITW Brazilian Nominee L.L.C., ITW Building Components Group Inc., ITW CER, ITW CP Distribution Center Holland BV, ITW CS UK Ltd., ITW Canada Inc., ITW Celeste Inc., ITW Chemical Products Ltda, ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia ApS, ITW China Investment Company Limited, ITW Colombia S.A.S., ITW Construction Products AB, ITW Construction Products AS, ITW Construction Products ApS, ITW Construction Products CZ s.r.o., ITW Construction Products Italy Srl, ITW Construction Products OU, ITW Construction Products OY, ITW Construction Products Shanghai Co. Ltd., ITW Construction Products Singapore Pte. Ltd., ITW Construction Services Manila Inc., ITW Contamination Control B.V., ITW Contamination Control Wujiang Co. Ltd., ITW Covid Security Group Inc., ITW DS Investments Inc., ITW DelFast do Brasil Ltda., ITW Denmark ApS, ITW Deutschland GmbH, ITW Diagraph GmbH, ITW Dynatec, ITW Dynatec Adhesive Equipment Suzhou Co. Ltd., ITW Dynatec GmbH, ITW Dynatec Kabushiki Kaisha, ITW EAE B.V., ITW EAE Mexico S de RL de CV, ITW EF&C France SAS, ITW EF&C Selb GmbH, ITW EU Holdings Ltd., ITW Electronic Business Asia Co. Limited, ITW Electronic Components/Products Shanghai Co. Ltd., ITW Electronics Suzhou Co. Ltd., ITW Epsilon Sarl, ITW Espana S.L., ITW European Finance Co. Ltd., ITW European Finance II Co. Ltd., ITW European Finance III Co. Ltd., ITW FEG Hong Kong Limited, ITW FEG do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW Fastener Products GmbH, ITW Fluids and Hygiene Solutions Ltda., ITW Food Equipment Group LLC, ITW GH LLC, ITW GSE ApS, ITW GSE Inc., ITW Gamma Sarl, ITW German Management LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings Y Compania Sociedad en Comandita por Acciones, ITW Global Investments Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Europe GmbH, ITW Global Tire Repair Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Japan K.K., ITW Graphics Asia Limited, ITW Graphics Thailand Ltd., ITW Great Britain Investment & Licensing Holding Company, ITW Group France Luxembourg S.ar.l., ITW HLP Thailand Co. Ltd., ITW Holding Quimica B.C. S.L. Sole Shareholder Company, ITW Holdings Australia L.P., ITW Holdings I Limited, ITW Holdings II Limited, ITW Holdings III Limited, ITW Holdings IV Limited, ITW Holdings IX Limited, ITW Holdings Inc., ITW Holdings V Limited, ITW Holdings VI Limited, ITW Holdings VII Limited, ITW Holdings VIII Limited, ITW Holdings X Limited, ITW Holdings XI Limited, ITW ILC Holdings I Inc., ITW IPG Investments LLC, ITW Imaden Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW India Private Limited, ITW International Holdings LLC, ITW Invest Holding GmbH, ITW Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, ITW Ireland Unlimited Company, ITW Italy Holding Srl, ITW Japan Ltd., ITW Korea LLC, ITW LLC & Co. KG, ITW Limited, ITW Lys Fusion S.r.l., ITW Materials Technology Shanghai Co. Ltd., ITW Meritex Sdn. Bhd., ITW Metal Fasteners S.L., ITW Mexico Holding Company S. De R.L. de C.V., ITW Mexico Holdings LLC, ITW Morlock GmbH, ITW Mortgage Investments II Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments III Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments IV Inc., ITW Netherlands Administration BV, ITW Netherlands Beta B.V., ITW Netherlands Finance Alpha BV, ITW New Universal LLC, ITW New Zealand, ITW Ningbo Components & Fastenings Systems Co. Ltd., ITW Novadan Sp. Z.o.o., ITW PPF Brasil Adesivos Ltda., ITW Packaging Technology China Co. Ltd., ITW Participations S.a r.l., ITW Pension Funds Trustee Company, ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Japan Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Korea Limited, ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids OOO, ITW Performance Polymers ApS, ITW Performance Polymers Wujiang Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers and Fluids Group FZE, ITW Peru S.A.C., ITW Poly Mex S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Polymers Sealants North America Inc., ITW Pronovia s.r.o., ITW Pte. Ltd., ITW Qufu Automotive Cooling Systems Co. Ltd., ITW Real Estate Germany GmbH, ITW Residuals III L.L.C., ITW Residuals IV L.L.C., ITW Rivex, ITW SMPI, ITW SPG Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Simco-Ion Shenzhen Co. Ltd., ITW Slovakia s.r.o., ITW Spain Holdings S.L., ITW Specialty Film LLC, ITW Specialty Films France, ITW Specialty Materials Suzhou Co. Ltd., ITW Sverige AB, ITW Sweden Holding AB, ITW Test & Measurement Equipment Shanghai Co. Ltd, ITW Test & Measurement GmbH, ITW Test and Measurement Italia Srl, ITW Test and Measurement Services Industry and Trade Ltd., ITW Texwipe Philippines Inc., ITW Thermal Films Shanghai Co. Ltd., ITW UK, ITW UK Finance Beta Limited, ITW UK Finance Delta Limited, ITW UK Finance Gamma Limited, ITW UK Finance Limited, ITW UK Finance Zeta Ltd., ITW UK II Limited, ITW Universal II LLC, ITW Welding, ITW Welding AB, ITW Welding GmbH, ITW Welding Products B.V., ITW Welding Products Group FZE, ITW Welding Products Group S. DE R.L. De C.V., ITW Welding Products Italy Srl, ITW Welding Products Limited Liability Company, ITW Welding Produtos Para Solgdagem Ltda., ITW Welding Singapore Pte. Ltd., ITW de France, ITW do Brasil Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Illinois Tool Works Chile Limitada, Illinois Tool Works ITW Nederland B.V., Illinois Tool Works Inc., Impar Comercio E Representacoes Ltda., Industrie Plastic Elsasser GmbH, Inmobiliaria Cit. S.A. de C.F., Innova Temperlite Servicios S.A. de C.V., Innovacion y Transformacion Automotriz S.A. de C.V., Instron Brasil Equipamentos Cientificos Ltda., Instron Foreign Sales Corp. Limited, Instron France S.A.S., Instron GmbH, Instron Japan Company Ltd., Instron Korea LLC, Instron Shanghai Ltd., Instron Thailand Limited, International Leasing Company LLC, Isolenge - ITW Sistemas de Isolamento Termico Ltda., Itw Spraytec, KCPL Mauritius Holdings, Kester, Kleinmann GmbH, Krafft S.L., Loma Systems, Loma Systems BV, Loma Systems Canada Inc., Loma Systems sro, Lombard Pressings Limited, Lumex Inc., Lys Fusion Poland Sp. z.o.o., M&C Specialties Co., MAGNAFLUX GmbH, MEHB Holdings Limited, MGHG Property LLC, MTS 2 LLC., MTS 3 LLC., MTS China Holdings LLC, MTS Europe Holdings LLC, MTS Holdings France S.a.r.l., MTS Japan Ltd.., MTS Korea Inc.., MTS Systems China Co. Ltd., MTS Systems Corporation, MTS Systems Danmark ApS., MTS Systems Europe B.V., MTS Systems Finance C.V.., MTS Systems Germany GmbH, MTS Systems Holding B.V.., MTS Systems Hong Kong Incorporated, MTS Systems Limited, MTS Systems Norden Aktiebolag, MTS Systems S.r.l, MTS Systems., MTS Systems.., MTS Sytems Do Brazil, MTS Testing Solutions India Private Limited., MTS Testing Systems Canada Ltd., Manufacturing Avancee S.A., Meritex Technology Suzhou Co. Ltd., Meurer Verpackungssysteme GmbH, Miller Electric Mfg. LLC, Miller Insurance Ltd., NDT Holding LLC, NOVADAN APS, North Star Imaging Inc., Nova Chimica S.r.l., Orbitalum Tools GmbH, PENTA-91 OOO, PR. A. I. Srl, PT ITW Construction Products Indonesia, Pacific Concept Industries Limited Enping, Panreac Quimica S.L., Paslode Fasteners Shanghai Co. Ltd., Peerless Machinery Corp., Polyrey, Premark FEG L.L.C., Premark HII Holdings LLC, Premark International, Premark International LLC, Prolex Sociedad Anonima, QSA Global Inc., Quimica Industrial Mediterranea S.L., R&D Engineering A/S., R&D Prague s.r.o., R&D Steel ApS., R&D Test Systems A/S., R&D Tools and Structures A/S., RDGDK Engineering Private Limited, Ramset Fasteners Hong Kong Ltd., Rapid Cook LLC, Refrigeration France, S.E.E. Sistemas Industria E Comercio Ltda., ST Mexico Holdings LLC, Sealant Systems International Inc., Sentinel Asia Yuhan Hoesa, Shanghai ITW Plastic & Metal Co. Ltd, Simco Japan Inc., Simco Nederland B.V., Societe de Prospection et dInventions Techniques  SPIT, Speedline Holdings I Inc., Speedline Holdings I LLC, Speedline Technologies GmbH, Speedline Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Speedline Technologies Mexico Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Stokvis Celix Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Stokvis Danmark ApS, Stokvis Holdings S.A.R.L., Stokvis Promi s.r.o, Stokvis Prostick Tapes Private Limited, Stokvis Tapes B.V., Stokvis Tapes Benelux B.V., Stokvis Tapes Deutschland GmbH, Stokvis Tapes France, Stokvis Tapes Hong Kong Co. Limited, Stokvis Tapes Italia s.r.l., Stokvis Tapes Limited, Stokvis Tapes Limited Liability Company, Stokvis Tapes Norge AS, Stokvis Tapes Oy, Stokvis Tapes Polska Sp Z.O.O., Stokvis Tapes Shanghai Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes Sverige AB, Stokvis Tapes Taiwan Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes Tianjin Co. Ltd., Stolvis Holdings II S.A.R.L., Subsidiaries, Technopack Industria Comercio Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda., Teknek China Limited, Teknek Japan Limited, Teksaleco Ltd., The Miller Group Ltd, Thirode Grandes Cuisines Poligny, Tien Tai Electrode Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode Kunshan Co. Ltd., Unichemicals Industria e Comercio Ltda., VR-Leasing Sarita GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, VS European Holdco BV, Valeron Strength Films B.V., Veneta Decalcogomme S.r.l., Versachem Chile S.A., Vesta, Vesta Global Limited, Vesta Guangzhou Catering Equipment Co. Ltd, Viltronics Soltec, Vitronics Soltec B.V., Wachs Canada Ltd., Wachs Subsea LLC, Weigh-Tronix Canada ULC, Weigh-Tronix UK Limited, Wilsonart International Holdings LLC, Wynn Oil South Africa Pty Ltd., Wynn's Automotive France, Wynn's Belgium BVBA, Wynn's Italia Srl, Wynn's Mekuba India Pvt Ltd, and Zip-Pak International B.V..

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InterXion Holding N.V. provides carrier and cloud-neutral colocation data center services in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The company enables its customers to connect to a range of telecommunications carriers, cloud platforms, Internet service providers, and other customers. Its data centers acts as content, cloud, and connectivity hubs that facilitate the processing, storage, sharing, and distribution of data between its customers. The company offers colocation services, including space and power to deploy IT infrastructure in its data centers; a range of output voltages and currents; connectivity services that enable its customers to connect their IT infrastructure to exchange traffic and access cloud platforms; and systems monitoring, systems management, engineering support, and data backup and storage services, as well as installs and manages physical connections running from its customers' equipment to the equipment of its telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers, Internet exchange customers, and other customers. It provides its services to telecom operators, Internet service providers, and content delivery networks; content and cloud providers; and enterprises through direct sales forces, as well as through tradeshows, networking events, and industry seminars. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 51 carrier and cloud neutral colocation data centers in 13 metropolitan areas in 11 countries. The company is also involved in real estate management/holding businesses. InterXion Holding N.V. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands.
The following companies are subsidiares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.: 2235158 Alberta Limited, A.J. Amer Agency, AHC Digital LLC, AIX Limited, AJG Coal LLC, AJG Financial Services LLC, AJG Meadows LLC, AJG North America ULC, AJG RCF LLC, AJGRMS of Louisiana LLC, ARM RE Ltda., AVIATION INSURANCE SERVICES, AVRECO, Ace IRM Insurance Broking Group, Acumus Holdings Limited, Acumus Interco Limited, Acumus Ltd, Adams & Associates International, Adaptive Marketing LLC, Adco General Corporation, Advanced Benefit Advisors, Aequus Trade Credit, Affinity Marketing Group, Ahrold Fay Rosenberg, Aires Consulting Group, Alesco Risk Management Services Limited, Alize Limited, Allied Claims Administration Inc., Alternative Market Specialists, Altman & Cronin Benefit Consultants, American Freedom Carriers Inc., American Security Services Corp., American Wholesalers Underwriting Ltd, Andrew-Anthony Insurance Agency, Anthony Hodges Consulting Limited, Antrobus Investments Limited, AquaSurance, Argentis, Argentis Financial Group Limited, Argentis Financial Management Limited, Argus Benefits, Armstrong/Robitaille/Riegle, Artex (SAC) Limited, Artex Cedar Hill, Artex Corporate Services (Malta) Limited, Artex Corporate Services Limited, Artex Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Artex Holdings (Malta) Limited, Artex Insurance (Guernsey) PCC Limited, Artex Insurance (Tennessee) PCCIC Inc., Artex Insurance Brokers (Malta) PCC Limited, Artex Insurance ICC Limited, Artex Intermediaries Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Bermuda) Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Cayman) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Gibraltar) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Guernsey) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (International) Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (Malta) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Artex Risk Solutions (UK) Limited, Artex Risk Solutions Inc., Arthur J Gallagher (Norway) Holdings AS, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AUS) Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Bermuda) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Illinois), Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Insurance Brokers of California Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher (Aus) Pty Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (Bermuda) Holding Partnership, Arthur J. Gallagher (Life Solutions) Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Arthur J. Gallagher (U.S.) LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher (UK) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Asesoria S.A.C., Arthur J. Gallagher Australasia Holdings Pty Ltd., Arthur J. Gallagher Brokerage & Risk Management Services LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Broking (NZ) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Financial Services Professionals Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Group Quebec ULC, Arthur J. Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance Brokers Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Latin America LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Management (Bermuda) Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher Real Estate Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services (Hawaii) Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services of Utah Inc., Arthur J. Gallagher School Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Service Company LLC, Arthur J. Gallagher Services (UK) Ltd, Ashmore & Associates Insurance Agency, Atlantic Risk Management Corp., Atrex Insurance (Cayman) SPC Limited, Avantek Pty Ltd, Axe Insurance PCC Limited, BIS Insurance Services, Baker - Tillys employment benefits solutions, Ballard Benefit Works, Bankers Financial Benefits, Barmore Insurance Agency, Behnke & Co. Inc., Bellisle Pty Ltd, Belmont Associates Consultants, Belmont Insurance Holdings Limited, Belmont International, Belmont International Limited, Benefit Development Group, Benefit Management Group, BenefitLink Resource Group, Benefits Planning & Insurance Agency, Benefits Unlimited, Bennett & Shade Co., Bergvall Marine, Bergvall Marine A.S., Besselman & Little Agency, Big Savings Insurance Agency Inc., Blenheim Park Ltd, Blenheim Park Services Limited, Blue Holdings Pty Ltd, Blue Horizon Insurance Services, Blue Water Benefits, BluePeak Advisors, Blueleaf Consulting Pty Ltd., Bluewater Incorporated Cell Insurance Company, Bollinger Inc., Bollinger Insurance Services Inc., Bowen Miclette Britt & Merry of Arkansas Inc., Brendis & Brendis, Brim AB, Broker Benefit Services, Brokerage Professionals, Brown Hobbs & McMurray Insurance, Bultman/Bell Associates Inc., Burkwald & Associates, Burns-Fazzi Brock & Associates, Bushong Insurance Associates, C&B Consulting Group, CGM Gallagher Insruance Brokers (Trinidad & Tobago) Limited, CJM Solutions Inc., CMA Solutions LLC, Cairnstone Financial, California Insurance Center, Capital Bauer Insurance Agency, Capitol Benefits Group, Capsicum CRLA LLP, Capsicum Re Brasil Participacoes Ltda, Capsicum Re Latin America Corretora De Resseguros Ltda, Capsicum Reinsurance Brokers Bermuda Limited, Capsicum Reinsurance Brokers Miami Inc., Carefree Marketing Inc., Carpenter Cammack & Associates, Cashan & Co., Castle Insurance Associates, Centennial Insurance Agency, Charity First Insurance Services Inc., Charles Allen Agency, Charter Lakes Insurance Agency, Chris Schroeder Insurance, Christie-Phoenix, Cintran Claims Canada Limited, Classic Insurance Services, Cleaveland Insurance Group, Cohen & Lord Insurance Brokers, Cohn Financial Group, Coleman Group Holdings Limited, Coleman Holdings Limited, College and University Scholastic Excess Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Commercial Insurance Brokers, Complete Benefit Alliance, Complete Financial Balance, Complete Financial Balance Pty Ltd, Consolidated Casualty Specialties LLC, Construction Risk Solutions, Contego Underwriting Limited, Contego Underwriting Ltd, Continental Excess & Surplus, Convergence Risk Services Ltd, Copper Mountain Assurance Inc., Cornwall & Stevens Co., Corporate Benefit Advisors, Corporate Life Consultants, Countrywide Accident Assistance Limited, Coverdell & Company Inc., Coverdell Canada Corporation, Cowles and Connell, Craig M. Ferguson & Co., Crist Elliott Machette Insurance Services, Crombie Lockwood (NZ) Limited, Davis-Poston & Associates, Denman Consulting Services, Detlefs Johnson & Partners, DiBrina Group, Dickinson & Associates, Discount Development Services L.L.C., Discovery Benefit Solutions, Dodson-Bateman & Co., Donald P. Pipino Co. Ltd., E. S. Susanin Inc., EHE Holdings LLC, EHS Holdings Limited, Elantis Premium Funding (NZ) Limited, Elantis Premium Funding Limited, Elite Benefits Insurance Marketing Services, Employee Benefits Analysis Corp., Employee Benefits of The Carolinas, Encore Insurance & Bonding, Everett James, Evolution Risk Services Limited, Evolution Technology Services Limited, Evolution Underwriting Group, Evolution Underwriting Group Limited, Evolution Underwriting Limited, Excel Insurance Services, FYI Direct Canada Corporation, FYI Direct LLC, Farallone Pacific Insurance Services, Fenchurch Faris Limited, Fidelity Benefits & Insurance Services, Financial Profiles Inc., Finergy Solutions Pty Ltd, First Agency, First Iowa Insurance Agency, First Premium Inc., First Premium Insurance Group, Fish & Schulkamp, Fishermans Insurance Services, Foley Healthcare Limited, Fortress Financial Solutions Pty Ltd, Fortress Insurance LLC, Foundation Strategies, Fox Lawson & Associates, Franklin-Case Agency LLC, Fraser MacAndrew Ryan Limited, Friary Intermediate Limited, Fuller & O'Brien, G.S. Chapman & Associates Insurance Brokers, G.S. Levine Insurance Services, GBS (Australia) Holdings Pty Ltd, GBS Administrators Inc., GBS Insurance and Financial Services Inc., GBS Retirement Services Inc., GBS Specialty Markets LLC, GGB Finance 1 Limited, GGB Finance 2 Limited, GGB Finance 3 Limited, GGB Finance 4 Limited, GPL Assurance, GPL Assurance Inc., Gabor Insurance Services, Gale Smith & Co. Inc., Gallagher (Bermuda) Insurance Solutions Ltd., Gallagher - Grace/Mayer Insurance Agency, Gallagher Bassett Aires Inc., Gallagher Bassett Canada Inc., Gallagher Bassett Insurance Services Ltd., Gallagher Bassett International Ltd., Gallagher Bassett NZ Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Inc. , Gallagher Bassett Services Pty Ltd., Gallagher Bassett Services Workers Compensation Victoria Pty Ltd., Gallagher Benefit Services (Canada) Group Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services (Holdings) Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Inc., Gallagher Benefit Services Management Company Limited, Gallagher Benefit Services Pty Ltd, Gallagher Benefits Consulting Limited, Gallagher Bomford Couch Wilson, Gallagher Burgess, Gallagher Canada Acquisition Corporation, Gallagher Caribbean Group Limited, Gallagher Clean Energy LLC, Gallagher Communications Limited, Gallagher Community Clinic RPG LLC, Gallagher Consulting Ltda, Gallagher Corporate Services LLC, Gallagher Coyle, Gallagher CyberRisk, Gallagher Energy Risk Services Inc., Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC, Gallagher Holdings (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Bermuda Company Limited, Gallagher Holdings Four (UK) Limited, Gallagher Holdings Three (UK) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (Barbados) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Kitts & Nevis) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Lucia) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers (St. Vincent) Limited, Gallagher Insurance Brokers Jamaica Limited, Gallagher International Cash Management s.r.l., Gallagher International Holdings (US) Inc., Gallagher Investment Advisors LLC, Gallagher Inwest Group, Gallagher Koster, Gallagher Lambert Group, Gallagher Madison Risk & Insurance Services, Gallagher Mauritius Holdings, Gallagher Mississippi Brokerage LLC, Gallagher RE Colombia Ltda Corredores de Reaseguros SA, Gallagher Risk & Reward Limited, Gallagher Risk Group LLC, Gallagher Risk Placements Pty Ltd, Gallagher SKS, Gallagher Service Center LLP, Gallagher-Tarantino, Galtney Group, Game Day Insurance Inc., Gardner & White Corp., Gardner Marine Agency, Garza Long Group, Gatehouse Consulting Limited, Gault Armstrong Kemble Pty Ltd, Gault Armstrong SARL, Giles Group, Giles Holdings Limited, Giles Insurance Brokers, Gillis Ellis & Baker Inc., Goodman Insurance Agency, Grandy Pratt Co., Greenseed Alternative Mangaers Platform Ltd, Grossman & Associates, Group Benefits of Arkansas, Group Insurance Associates, Gruppo Marcucci, HLG Holdings Limited, HMG-PCMS Limited, HPF Investments LLC, HR Owen Insurance Services Limited, Hagan Newkirk Financial Services, Hagedorn & Company, Hardman & Howell Benefits, Harlequin Insurance PCC Limited, Hartstein Associates Inc., Healthcare Professionals Purchasing Group LLC, Healthcare Risk Solutions, Heath Lambert Group Ltd., Heath Lambert Limited, Heath Lambert Overseas Limited, Heiser Insurance Agency, Henderson Phillips Fine Arts Insurance, Herbruck Alder & Co., Heritage Insurance Brokers (CI) Limited, Hesse & Partner AG, Hesse Consulting, Hexagon ICC Limited, Hexagon Insurance PCC Limited, Hill Chesson & Woody, Hogan Insurance Services, Home & Travel Limited, Honour Point Limited, Horseshoe Corporate Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services Ltd, Horseshoe Fund Services USA Inc., Horseshoe ILS Services UK Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Advisors US LLC, Horseshoe Insurance Advisory Ltd., Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings Ltd, Horseshoe Insurance Services Holdings US Inc., Horseshoe Management (Gibraltar) Limited, Horseshoe Management (Ireland) Ltd, Horseshoe Management Ltd., Horseshoe PCC Limited, Horseshoe Re Limited, Horseshoe Services (Cayman) Ltd, Horseshoe Services (Pty) Ltd, Horton Insurance Agency, Housing Authorities Services Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Human Resource Management Systems, I-Protect Underwriting Pty Ltd, IBIS Advisors, IBS Reinsurance Singapore Pte Ltd, ILS Fund Services Ltd., ISG International, ITI Solutions, Igloo Insurance PCC Limited, Independent Benefit Services, Independent Fiduciary Services, Ink Underwriting Agencies Limited, InsSync Group Pty Ltd, Inspire Underwriting Limited, Instrat Insurance Brokers, Instrat Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd, Instrat Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Insurance Acquisitions Holdings Limited, Insurance Associates Inc., Insurance Dialogue Limited, Insurance Dialogue Ltd., Insurance Plans Agency, Insurance Plus Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Insurance Point, Insurance Risk Managers of Missouri Inc., Insure My Villa Limited, Insure Pty Ltd, Integrated Healthcare Strategies, InterNational Insurance Group, InterPacific Underwriting Agencies, Intermountain Financial Benefits, Interstate Insurance Underwriters, JPGAC LLC, James F. Reda & Associates, James R. Weir Insurance Agency, Jenkins and Associates, Joe E. Martin Inc., John P. Woods Co. Inc., Jones Brown, Jones Brown Group Inc., Jones Brown Insurance Solutions Inc., Joseph Distel, Joseph James & Associates Insurance Agency, Just Landlords Insurance Services Ltd, KDC Associates, KRW Insurance Agency, Kahl Insurance Services, Kaler Carney Liffler & Co. Inc., Kane Group - Insurance Management Operations, Kelly Financial, Kent Kent & Tingle and RBS, Keyser Benefits Corp., Kingspark Enterprises Pty Ltd, L&R Benefits, LSG Insurance Partners, Learn About Money Limited, Lewis & Associates Insurance Brokers, Leystone Insurance & Financial, Life Plans Unlimited, Lincoln Financial Management, Longfellow Financial, Lucas Fettes Limited, Lucas Fettes and Partners Limited, Lutgert Insurance, MA Underwriting Pty Ltd, MDM Insurance Associates, MG Advanced Coal Technologies-1 LLC, MGA Insurance Services, MRS Holdings Ltd., Madison Scott & Associates, Managed Healthcare Solutions, Mannequin Insurance PCC Limited, Marchetti Robertson & Brickell Insurance, Marine Insurance Service, Martin Gordon & Jones Inc., McDowall Associates Human Resource Consultants, McIntyre Risk Management, McLean Insurance Agency, McNeary, McPherson Benefits Group, McRory & Co., Mecacem Insurance SPC Ltd, MedInsights Inc., Melton Insurance Associates, Memberworks Canada LLC, Merit Insurance, Metcom Excess, Metzler Bros. Insurance, Meyers-Reynolds & Associates, Mid America Group, Midwest Surety Services, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers, Mike Henry Insurance Brokers Limited, Mike Henry Insurance Funding Limited, Miller Buettner & Parrott, Miller-Harrison Insurance Services, Milne Alexander Pty Ltd, Minvielle & Chastanet Insurance Brokers, Monument Insurance (NZ) Limited, Monument Llc, Monument Premium Funding Limited, Mortgage Insurance Agency, Murphy Consultants, Mutual Insurance Services, NationAir Aviation Insurance, National Administration Co., National Ethics Association, National Transportation Adjusters, Nelson/Monarch Insurance Services, Nicoud Insurance Services, NiiS/Apex Group Holdings, Nonprofit Insurance Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Noraxis Capital Corp, Nordic Forsakring & Riskhantering AB, North Alabama Insurance, Nourse Insurance Brokers, O'Gorman & Young, OAMPS (UK) Limited, OAMPS Gault Armstrong Pty Ltd, OAMPS Limited, OAMPS Special Risks Ltd, Offshore Market Placements Limited, Optimum Talent, Orb Financial Services, Orb Financial Services Limited, Osprey Insurance Brokers Limited, Oval Group, Oval Healthcare Limited, Oval Insurance Broking Limited, Oval Limited, Oval Management Services Limited, Oxygen Insurance Managers, P2 Group, PEN Insurance Management Advisors Ltd, PT IBS Insurance Broking Service, Pacific Insurance Agency, Palmer Atlantic Insurance, Palmer Atlantic Insurance Ltd, Palmer Atlantic Risk Services Ltd., Park Row Associates, Parkstar Enterprises Pty Ltd, Parmia Pty Ltd, PartnerSource, Pastel Holding (NZ) Company, Pastel Holdings Pty Limited, Pastel Purchaser (NZ) Limited, Pastel Purchaser Pty Limited, Pavey Group Holdings (UK) Limited, Pavey Group Holdings Limited, Pavey Group Limited, Pearson Dunn Insurance Inc., Pen Underwriting Canada Limited, Pen Underwriting Group Pty. Ltd., Pen Underwriting Limited, Pen Underwriting Pty Ltd, Persing Dyckman & Toynbee Inc., Personal Advice Services Pty Ltd, Petty Burton Associates, Pointer Insurance Agency, Portmore Insurance Brokers (Wilshire) Limited, Portmore Insurance Brokers Limited, Potter-Holden & Co., Powell Insurance Agency, Premier Insurance Services Inc., Premier Risk Services, Premium Finance Corporation, Preston-Patterson, ProSource Financial, Professional Agents Risk Purchasing Group LLC, Professional Claims Managers, Proinova AB, Proinova Agency AB, Pronto California Agency LLC, Pronto California General Agency LLC, Pronto Florida Claims LLC, Pronto Florida General Agency LLC, Pronto Franchise LLC, Pronto General Agency Ltd, Pronto General Agency Management LLC, Pronto Holdco Inc., Pronto Holding California LLC, Pronto Holding Florida LLC, Pronto Insurance Agency of Laredo Inc., Pronto Premium Finance LLC, Property & Commercial Ltd., Property Insurance Initatives Limited, Property and Commercial Limited, Protected Insurance Company, Protection Plan Association Inc., Protek Group Limited, Providium Consulting Group, Ptarmigan Underwriting Agency Limited, Ptarmigan Underwriting UK Limited, Purple Bridge Claims Management Limited, Purple Bridge Finance Limited, Purple Bridge Group Limited, Purple Bridge Investments Limited, Purple Bridge Online Services Limited, Purple Bridge Publishing Limited, Quantum Underwriting Solutions Limited, Quillco 226 Limited, Quillco 227 Limited, R. L. Youngdahl & Associates, R.G. Speno Inc., R.W. Scobie, RA Rossborough (Guernsey) Ltd., RA Rossborough (Insurance Brokers) Ltd, REGENCY Group inc., RGA Referencing Limited, RGA Underwriting Limited, RIL Administrators (Guernsey) Ltd., RJ Dutton Inc., RSM Insurance Services Limited, Reassurance Holdings Inc., Rebholz Insurance Agency, Reid Manson Ltd., Reimbursement Services, Rentguard Limited, Reward Management Limited, Reynolds & Rodar Insurance Group, Riley & Associates, Rio 587 Limited, Rio 588 Limited, Risk & Reward Group, Risk Management Partners Limited, Risk Placement Services Inc., Risk Planners, Risk Services (NW) Limited, Risk Services (NW) Ltd., Risk Solutions Group Limited, Robert A. Schneider Agency, Robert Keith & Associates, Roberts & Roberts Insurance Service, Robinson-Adams Insurance, Rossborough Healthcare International Ltd, Rossborough Insurance (IOM) Ltd., Rossborough Insurance Services Ltd. (Jersey), S. A. Freerks & Associates, SEG Insurance Ltd, SGB-NIA Insurance Brokers, SHILLING Ltd, SKANCO International, SMERI AB, SRS Underwriting Pty Ltd, Secure Enterprises Pty Ltd, Securitas Re, Sellers Group, Sentinel Indemnity LLC, Septagon Insurance PCC Limited, Shuford Insurance Agency, Sigma II Insurance Agency, Sinclair Billard and Weld Limited, Sobieski & Bradley, Solid Benefit Guidance, Spanjers Insurance Agency, Spataro Insurance Agency, Specialised Broking Associates, Specialty Risk, Stackhouse Poland, Stackhouse Poland Bidco Limited, Stackhouse Poland Group Limited, Stackhouse Poland Holdings Limited, Stackhouse Poland Midco Limited, Stackouse Poland Limited, Stanton Group, Stark Johnson & Stinson Inc., Steel Agency, Strata Solicitors Ltd, Strategic Health Plans Corp., Strathearn Insurance Brokers, Strathearn Insurance Brokers (Qld) Trading Trust, Strathern Insurance Group Pty Ltd, Strathern Integration Holdco Pty Ltd, Strathern Unit Trust, Strong Financial Resources, Summit Insurance Group, Sunday and Associates, Sunderland Insurance Services, Super Advice Corporate Services Pty Ltd, Taylor Benefits, Texas Insurance Agency, Texas Insurance Managers, The BeneTex Group, The Buchholz Planning, The Chapman Group, The Commonwealth Consulting Group, The Daniels Group Inc., The EHE Group LLC, The EHE Insurance Agency LLC, The Eagle Insurance Agency LLC, The Eriksen Group, The Forker Company, The Gleason Agency, The Great Lakes Agency, The HR Group, The Hawk Agency, The Human Capital Group, The Lance Group, The Levitt/Kristan Co., The MW Bagnall Company, The Old Greenwich Consulting Group, The Parks Johnson Agency, The Plus Companies Inc., The Presidio Group, The Producers Choice, The Rains Group, The Splinter Group, The Titan Group, The Treiber Group, The Woodsmall Companies Inc., Title & Covenant Brokers Ltd., Title Investments Limited, Tom Sherwin Insurance Agency, Total Reward Group, Total Rewards Group (Holdings) Limited, Towle Agency, Transwestern, Tri-State General Insurance Agency, Triad Insurance Agency, Triad USA, Tribeca Strategic Advisors, Trinder & Norwood, Trip Mate, Trissel Graham & Toole, Tropp & Co., Tudor Risk Services, Tyloma Holdings Limited, Uni-Care Inc., Unison Inc., Universico Group, Unoccupied Direct Limited, V2V Holdings LLC, VEBA Service Group, Vasek Insurance Services Limited, Velo ACU LLC, Velo Holdings Inc., Verbag AG., Vertrue LLC, Victory Insurance Agency, Vincent L. Braband Insurance, Vital Benefits, Voluntary Benefits Solutions, W. E. Kingsley Co. Inc., WM. W. George & Associates, Walker Taylor Agency, Welling Associates, Wesfarmers Insurance - Insurance Brokerage Operations, Western Benefit Solutions, White & Company Insurance, Whitehaven Insurance Group, William Gallagher Associates Insurance Brokers, William H. Connolly & Co., Williams Insurance Agency Inc., Williams-Manny Insurance Group, Winn & Company Insurance Brokers, Wischmeyer Benefit Partners, Woodbrook Underwriting Agencies, Woods & Grooms, WorkCare Northwest, Worksite Communications, Y. S. Liedman & Associates, YOA Capsicum Reinsurance Broker Limited, Zenor Limited, Zuber Insurance Agency, and e3 Financial.

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Morgan Stanley is the 6th largest financial institution in the US. The company is ranked 61st on the Forbes Fortune 500 list and is the 39th largest bank in the world. A financial holding company, Morgan Stanley provides a full range of financial services to clients around the world.

Morgan Stanley was formed in 1935 as a result of the Glass-Steagall Act. Glass-Steagall separated commercial and investment banking in a way that forced the then-largest bank J.P. Morgan & Co to split into two groups. J.P. Morgan & Co. chose to retain the commercial side of the business while partners Henry S. Morga, grandson of J.P., and Harold Stanley took the investment end. In its first year, Morgan Stanley did 24% of the IPO business and maintains a lions share of the market to this day.

The original company existed and grew through acquisitions until 1987 when it merged with Dean Witter Discover & Co. The new Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover & Co existed for 14 years until 2001 when the name was shortened back to Morgan Stanley.

The bank is credited in part with both beginning and ending the financial crisis of 2007/2008. The Process Driven Trading unit lost $300 million in one day due to a short-squeeze that popped the bubble in the housing market. After teetering on the brink of failure Morgan Stanley agreed to become a bank holding company regulated by the Federal Reserve, a key factor in the original decision to split from parent J.P. Morgan & Co. Ironically when given the chance, present-day J.P. Morgan refused to buy Morgan Stanley but that was for the better.

Today, Morgan Stanley operates through three segments via offices in 41 countries and employs more than 75,000 people. Revenue in 2021 topped $49 billion and total assets topped $1.15 trillion.

The operating segments are Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments. The Institutional Securities segment is by far the largest and most profitable. It offers a range of services and products for businesses, institutions, and entities that include capital raising, strategic advisory, underwriting, advice on M&A, restructuring, and real estate. The Wealth Management segment provides brokerage and investment advisory services for individuals and employers. The services include brokerage, financial planning, company stock-plan administration, insurance, mortgage loans, lines of credit, and retirement planning. The Investment Management segment provides investment products to a range of institutions, organizations, corporations, and governments.
The following companies are subsidiares of NOV: APL France SAS, APL Norway AS, APL do Brasil Ltda., ASEP Otomotiv Sanayi Ticaret Ltd., Acker Holdings LLC, Ackerman Holdings C.V., Ackerman Holdings GP LLC, Advanced Production and Loading, Advanced Wirecloth S. de R.L. de C.V., American Pipe and Construction International, Ameron B.V., Ameron International, Ameron International Corporation, Ameron Pole Products LLC, Ameron Polyplaster Industria E Comercio de Tubos Ltda., Ameron Singapore Holding LLC, Andergauge Limited, Andergauge Redback LLC, Arabian Rig Manufacturing Company, Big Red Tubulars Limited, Bondstrand Ltd., Brandt Oilfield Services (M) Sdn. Bhd., C.M.A. Canavera S.R.L., CJSC Fidmash, CJSC Novmash, Chemineer Inc., Coil Services Middle East LLC, Cooperatie Intelliserv Holding U.A., Cooperatie NOV NL U.A., Danco AS, Elmar Far East Pty Ltd, Enerflow Industries, Environmental Procedures LLC, Fiber Glass Systems (Qingdao) Composite Piping Co. Ltd., Fiber Glass Systems L.P., Fiber Glass Systems Oman L.L.C., Fiberspar, Fiberspar Australia Pty. Ltd., Fibra Ingenieria y Construccion S.A., FidService LLC, Fjords Processing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fjords Processing AS, Fjords Processing Australia Pty Ltd, Fjords Processing France SAS, Fjords Processing Korea Co. Ltd., Fjords Processing Limited, Fjords Processing Middle East DMCC, Fjords Processing UK Ltd., Fryma S.a.r.l., GPEX L.P., Grant Prideco (Jiangsu) Drilling Products Co. Ltd, Grant Prideco (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Grant Prideco III C. V., Grant Prideco Inc., Grant Prideco Jersey Limited, Grant Prideco Mauritius Limited, Grant Prideco Netherlands B.V., Grant Prideco PC Composites Holdings LLC, Grant Prideco S. de R.L. de C.V., Grant Prideco de Venezuela S.A., GustoMSC B.V., Hebei Huayouyiji Tuboscope Coating Co. Ltd., Hydralift AmClyde Inc., Hydralift France SAS, Inspecciones y Pruebas No Destructivas S. de R.L. de C.V., IntelliServ Norway AS, Intelliserv GP Holdings LLC, Intelliserv Inc., Intelliserv International Holding Ltd, Intelliserv LLC, JiangYin Tuboscope Tubular Development Co. Ltd, Keystone Tower Systems Inc., MSI Pipe Protection Technologies UK Limited, Merpro Group Limited, Midsund Bruk AS, Mono Group Pension Trustees Limited, Mono Pumps New Zealand Company, Monoflo NOV S.A.I.C., Moyno Inc., NKT Flexibles I/S, NOV (Asia) Inc., NOV (Barbados) Holding SRL, NOV (Barbados) SRL, NOV (Caymans) Ltd., NOV (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., NOV - Oil Services Angola LDA., NOV APL Limited, NOV Africa Pty Ltd, NOV Australia Pty Ltd, NOV Azerbaijan LLC, NOV Brandt Europe France, NOV Brandt Oilfield Services Middle East LLC, NOV CAPS Pte. Ltd., NOV CV1 GP LLC, NOV CV2 GP LLC, NOV Canada ULC, NOV Completion Tools LLC, NOV Completion and Production Solutions Korea Ltd., NOV Denmark Cooperatief U.A., NOV Downhole Argentina LLC, NOV Downhole Bolivia S.R.L., NOV Downhole Colombia LLC, NOV Downhole Comercializacao de Equipamentos para Petroleo Ltda., NOV Downhole Congo LLC, NOV Downhole Eurasia Limited, NOV Downhole Italia S.R.L., NOV Downhole Kazakhstan LLC, NOV Downhole Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., NOV Downhole Pty Ltd, NOV Downhole Thailand LLC, NOV EU Acquisition SNC, NOV Elmar (Middle East) Limited, NOV Eurasia Holding LLC, NOV Expatriate Services Inc., NOV FGS Malaysia Sdn Bhd, NOV FGS Singapore (Pte.) Ltd, NOV Flexibles Equipamentos E Servicos Ltda., NOV Flexibles Holding ApS, NOV Fluid Control B.V., NOV GEO GP LLC, NOV GEO LP1 C.V., NOV GEO LP1 LLC, NOV GEO LP2 C.V., NOV GEO LP2 LLC, NOV Gabon SARL, NOV Germany GmbH, NOV Germany Holding GmbH, NOV Ghana Limited, NOV Grant Prideco Drilling Equipment Manufacturing LLC, NOV Grant Prideco Drilling Products Middle East FZE, NOV Grant Prideco L.L.C., NOV Holding Danmark ApS, NOV Holding Sub UK 1 Limited, NOV Holding UK 1 Limited, NOV Holding UK 2 Limited, NOV Holdings B.V., NOV India Private Limited, NOV Intelliserv UK Limited, NOV International Holdings C.V., NOV International Holdings GP LLC, NOV International Holdings LLC, NOV Intervention & Stimulation Equipment US LLC, NOV Intervention and Stimulation Equipment  Aftermarket Comercio de Equipamentos e Servicos Ltda., NOV Kenya Limited, NOV Kostroma LLC, NOV Kuwait Light & Heavy Equipment Repairing & Maintenance Co., NOV LP (Trading) LLC, NOV MFG India Private Limited, NOV Mexico Holding LLC, NOV Middle East FZCO, NOV Mozambique Limitada, NOV NL Mexico Holding B.V., NOV Oil & Gas Services Egypt (S.A.E), NOV Oil & Gas Services Senegal S.A.R.L., NOV Oil & Gas Services Uganda Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Ghana Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Nigeria Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, NOV Oilfield Services Tanzania Limited, NOV Oilfield Services Vostok LLC, NOV Oilfield Solutions Ltd., NOV Park II B.V., NOV Process & Flow Technologies AS, NOV Process & Flow Technologies Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., NOV Process & Flow Technologies Pte. Ltd., NOV Process & Flow Technologies UK Limited, NOV QFZ LLC, NOV Rig Solutions Pte. Ltd., NOV Romania LLC, NOV Saudi Arabia Co. Ltd., NOV Saudi Arabia Trading Co., NOV Services Ltd., NOV Servicios de Personal Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., NOV Tanajib Kuwait for Services and Maintenance of Oil Rigs Refineries and Petrochemicals W.L.L., NOV Tuboscope Italia S.R.L., NOV Tuboscope Middle East LLC, NOV Tuboscope NL B.V., NOV Tubulars and Connectors Ltd., NOV UK (Angola Acquisitions) Limited, NOV UK Finance Limited, NOV UK Holdings LLC, NOV UK Holdings Limited, NOV UK Korea LP, NOV Wellbore Technologies Norway LLC, NOV Wellbore Technologies do Brasil Equipamentos E Servicos Ltda., NOV Wellsite Services Germany GmbH, NOV Worldwide B.V., NOV-BLM SAS, NOVM Holding LLC, NOW International LLC, NOW Nova Scotia Holdings LLC, NOW Oilfield Services LLC, NQL Holland B.V., National Oilwell (U.K.) Limited, National Oilwell Algerie, National Oilwell Varco (Beijing) Investment Management Co. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco (Thailand) Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Algeria, National Oilwell Varco Almansoori Services, National Oilwell Varco Bahrain WLL, National Oilwell Varco Belgium SA, National Oilwell Varco Denmark I/S, National Oilwell Varco Egypt LLC, National Oilwell Varco Eurasia LLC, National Oilwell Varco Guatemala Limitada, National Oilwell Varco Guyana Inc., National Oilwell Varco Hungary Limited Liability Company, National Oilwell Varco Korea Co. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco L.P., National Oilwell Varco MSW S.A., National Oilwell Varco Mexico S.A. de C.V., National Oilwell Varco Muscat L.L.C., National Oilwell Varco Norway AS, National Oilwell Varco Peru S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco Petroleum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Poland Sp.z.o.o., National Oilwell Varco Pte. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Rig Equipment Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Romania S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco Solutions S.A. de C.V., National Oilwell Varco UK Limited, National Oilwell Varco Ukraine LLC, National Oilwell Varco de Bolivia S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco de Chile - Servicios Limitada, National Oilwell Varco do Brasil Ltda., National Oilwell de Venezuela C.A., National-Oilwell Pte. Ltd., National-Oilwell Pty. Ltd., PT Fjords Processing Indonesia, PT H-Tech Oilfield Equipment, PT NOV Oilfield Services, PT National Oilwell Varco, PT PROFAB INDONESIA, Pesaka Inspection Services SDN.BHD., Pipex Limited, Pipex PX Limited, Pridecomex Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., R&M Energy Systems Australia Pty Ltd, R&M Energy Systems de Argentina S.A., R&M Energy Systems de Venezuela C.A., R&M Singapore Holding LLC, RE.MAC.UT. S.r.l., RHI Holding LLC, ReedHycalog International Holding LLC, ReedHycalog L.P., ReedHycalog LLC, ReedHycalog UK Limited, Robannic Overseas Finance A.V.V., Robbins & Myers B.V., Robbins & Myers Foundation, Robbins & Myers GP LLC, Robbins & Myers Holdings LLC, Robbins & Myers Holdings UK Limited, Robbins & Myers Inc, Robbins & Myers Inc., Robbins & Myers Italia S.R.L., Robbins & Myers N.V., Rodic S.A. de C.V., Romaco S.a.r.l., STAR Sudamtex Tubulares S.A., STSA, Screen Manufacturing Company Unlimited, Slip Clutch Systems Limited, South Seas Inspection, Subseaflex Holding ApS, T-3 Energy Preferred Industries Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., T-3 Energy Services Cayman Holdings Ltd., T-3 Energy Services Cayman Ltd., T-3 Energy Services LLC, T-3 Energy Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., T-3 Investment Corporation IV, T-3 Mexican Holdings Inc., Telluride Insurance Limited, Tianjin Grant TPCO Drilling Tools Company Limited, Tuboscope & Co. LLC, Tuboscope (Holding U.S.) LLC, Tuboscope Brandt de Venezuela S.A., Tuboscope Norge AS, Tuboscope Vetco (France) SAS, Tuboscope Vetco (Osterreich) GmbH, Tuboscope Vetco Capital Limited, Tuboscope Vetco Moscow CJSC, Tuboscope Vetco de Argentina S.A., Tubular Coatings Solutions Ltd., Tucom Composites Polyester Sanayi Ticaret Ltd., Urban WLY LP, Varco BJ B.V., Varco CIS LLC, Varco International de Venezuela C.A., Varco L.P., Varco US Holdings LLC, Vetco Enterprise GmbH, Vetco Saudi Arabia Ltd., Visible Assets Inc., Wilson International, Woolley Inc., XL Systems Antilles N.V., XL Systems Europe B.V., XL Systems International Inc., voestalpine Tubulars Corporation, voestalpine Tubulars GmbH, and voestalpine Tubulars GmbH & Co KG.

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Block, Inc. is the parent company to a host of digital financial solutions including Square. The company was founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey (also founded Twitter) and Jim McKelvey as a solution to a problem faced by McKelvey. Mr. McKelvey was unable to complete a transaction because he was unable to accept credit cards and that provided inspiration for Mr. Dorsey. The firm was founded in St. Louis but now has no official headquarters, instead choosing to do most work remotely or from one of several key hubs. That decision was made in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic when it became clear telecommuting was a solution that worked.

The original Square app provides a multitude of payment and POS solutions that include hardware and software. The hardware includes the iconic Square card mag-stripe reader that can be plugged into any tablet or smartphone as well as many other solutions. The software enables sellers to turn their smart devices into POS on a temporary or permanent/dedicated basis.

The company went public in 2015 when it IPOd on the NASDAQ stock exchange and then later decided to change its name to Block to better represent the business. Today, Block, Inc. operates as a network of businesses that are working together to expand access to the economy. The core brands are Square, CashApp, AfterPay, Weebly, Tidal, Spiral, and TBD.

The Square brand encompasses all the core business including but not limited to hardware and its related software. The CashApp business is a money transfer solution that is working to make money more available and universally acceptable. Afterpay is a buy-now-pay-later service. Weebly is an eCommerce and web hosting service for small and medium-sized businesses. Tidal is a platform for musicians and artists to connect with fans and monetize their brands. Spiral is the firm's cryptocurrency division and TBD is a division focused on crypto, specifically building a crypto platform.

Block, Inc. stunned the market in 2020 when it began to purchase Bitcoin. Then Square, the company purchased Bitcoin in two transactions for a total of $210 million. The holdings amount to 8,027 Bitcoins which were worth $154.75 million in October 2022. The purpose of Spiral is to fund open-sourced applications that encourage and facilitate the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Mr. Dorsey remains the CEO and chairman of Block, Inc. The company employs more than 8,500 individuals across its footprint and netted $17.66 billion in revenue for 2021. Mr. Dorsey is also the companys largest shareholder with about 10% of the shares.
The following companies are subsidiares of PepsiCo: Alimentos Quaker Oats y Compania Limitada, Alimentos del Istmo S.A., Amavale Agricola Ltda., Anderson Hill Insurance Limited, Asia Bottlers Limited, BAESA Capital Corporation Ltd., BFY Brands, BFY Brands LLC, BFY Brands Limited, BUG de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Balmoral Industries LLC, Bare Foods Co., Barrhead LLC, Be & Cheery, Beaman Bottling Company, Bebidas Sudamerica S.A., Beech Limited, Bell Taco Funding Syndicate, Bendler Investments II Ltd, Bendler Investments S.a r.l, Beverage Services Limited, Beverages Foods & Service Industries Inc., Bishkeksut OJSC, Blaue NC S. de R.L. de C.V., Blue Cloud Distribution Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arizona Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arkansas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Colorado Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Florida Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Georgia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Illinois Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Indiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Iowa Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Kentucky Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Louisiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Minnesota Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Mississippi Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Missouri Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nebraska Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nevada Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of North Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Ohio Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Oklahoma Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Pennsylvania Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of South Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Tennessee Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Texas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Virginia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Wisconsin Inc., Blue Ridge Sales LLC, Bluebird Foods Limited, Bluecan Holdings Unlimited Company, Bokomo Zambia Limited, Bolsherechensky Molkombinat JSC, Boquitas Fiestas LLC, Boquitas Fiestas S.R.L., Bottling Group Financing LLC, Bottling Group Holdings LLC, Bottling Group LLC, Bronte Industries Ltd, C & I Leasing Inc., CB Manufacturing Company Inc., CEME Holdings LLC, CMC Investment Company, Caroni Investments LLC, Centro-Mediterranea de Bebidas Carbonicas PepsiCo S.L., Ceres Fruit Juices Pty Ltd, ChampBev Inc., China Concentrate Holdings Hong Kong Limited, Chipsy International for Food Industries S.A.E., Chipsy for Food Industries S.A.E., Chitos Internacional y Cia Ltda, Cipa Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cipa Nordeste Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cocina Autentica Inc., Comercializadora CMC Investment y Compania Limitada, Comercializadora Nacional SAS Ltda., Comercializadora PepsiCo Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., Compania de Bebidas PepsiCo S.L., Concentrate Holding Uruguay Pte. Ltd., Concentrate Manufacturing Singapore Pte. Ltd., Confiteria Alegro S. de R.L. de C.V., Copella Fruit Juices Limited, Copper Beech International LLC, Corina Snacks Limited, Corporativo Internacional Mexicano S. de R.L. de C.V., CytoSport Holdings Inc., CytoSport Inc., Davlyn Realty Corporation, Defosto Holdings Limited, Desarrollo Inmobiliario Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Dilexis S.A., Donon Holdings Limited, Drinkfinity USA Inc., Drinkstation Inc., Drinkstation Innovation Co. Ltd., Drinkstation Limited, Dutch Snacks Holding S.A. de C.V., Duyvis Production B.V., EPIC Enterprises Inc., Echo Bay Holdings Inc., Elaboradora Argentina de Cereales S.R.L., Enter Logistica LLC, Environ at Inverrary Partnership, Environ of Inverrary Inc., Eridanus Investments S.a r.l, Evercrisp Snack Productos de Chile S.A., FL Transportation Inc., FLI Andean LLC, FLI Colombia LLC, FLI Snacks Andean GP LLC, Fabrica PepsiCo Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Fabrica de Productos Alimenticios Rene y Cia S.C.A., Fairlight International SRL, Far East Bottlers Hong Kong Limited, Food Concepts Pioneer Ltd., Forest Akers Nederland B.V., Forty-Six Peaks Holding Inc., Fovarosi Asvanyviz es Uditoipari Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Freshwater International B.V., Frito Lay Gida Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Frito Lay Poland Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay de Guatemala y Compania Limitada, Frito-Lay Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Frito-Lay Dip Company Inc., Frito-Lay Dominicana S.A., Frito-Lay Global Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Inc., Frito-Lay Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Manufacturing LLC, Frito-Lay Netherlands Holding B.V., Frito-Lay North America Inc., Frito-Lay Sales Inc., Frito-Lay Trading Company Europe GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company Poland GmbH, Frito-Lay Trinidad Unlimited, Fruko Mesrubat Sanayi Limited Sirketi, GB Czech LLC, GB International Inc., GB Russia LLC, GB Slovak LLC, GMP Manufacturing Inc., Gambrinus Investments Limited, Gamesa LLC, Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Gas Natural de Merida S. A. de C. V., Gatorade Puerto Rico Company, General Bottlers of Hungary Inc., Golden Grain Company, Goveh S.R.L., Grayhawk Leasing LLC, Green Hemlock International LLC, Grupo Frito Lay y Compania Limitada, Grupo Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Grupo Mabel, Grupo Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Gulkevichskiy Maslozavod JSC, Hangzhou Baicaowei Corporate Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co, Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Tao Dao Technology Co. Ltd., Health Warrior, Health Warrior Inc., Heathland LP, Helioscope Limited, Hillbrook Inc., Hillgrove Inc., Hillwood Bottling LLC, Hogganfield Limited Partnership, Holding Company "Opolie" JSC, Homefinding Company of Texas, Hudson Valley Insurance Company, IC Equities Inc., IZZE Beverage Co., Inmobiliaria Interamericana S.A. De C.V., Integrated Beverage Services Bangladesh Limited, Integrated Foods & Beverages Pvt. Ltd., International Bottlers Management Co. LLC, International KAS Aktiengesellschaft, Inversiones Borneo S.R.L., Inversiones PFI Chile Limitada, Inviting Foods Holdings Inc., Inviting Foods LLC, KAS Anorthosis S.a r.l, KAS S.L., KFC, Kevita Inc., Kinvara LLC, Kungursky Molkombinat JSC, Larragana S.L., Latin American Holdings Ltd., Latin American Snack Foods ApS, Latin Foods International LLC, Lebedyansky, Lebedyansky Holdings LLC, Lebedyansky LLC, Limited Liability Company "Sandora", Linkbay Limited, Lithuanian Snacks UAB, Mabel, Marbo Product d.o.o. Beograd, Marbo d.o.o. Laktasi, Matudis - Comercio de Produtos Alimentares Limitada, Matutano - Sociedade de Produtos Alimentares Lda., Mid-America Improvement Corporation, Mountainview Insurance Company Inc., Muscle Milk, NCJV LLC, New Bern Transport Corporation, New Century Beverage Company LLC, Noble Leasing LLC, Northeast Hot-Fill Co-op Inc., Office at Solyanka LLC, Onbiso Inversiones S.L., One World Enterprises LLC, One World Investors Inc., P-A Barbados Bottling Company LLC, P-A Bottlers Barbados SRL, P-Americas LLC, PAS Luxembourg S.a r.l, PAS Netherlands B.V., PBG Canada Holdings II LLC, PBG Canada Holdings Inc., PBG Cyprus Holdings Limited, PBG Investment Partnership, PBG Midwest Holdings S.a r.l, PBG Soda Can Holdings S.a r.l, PCBL LLC, PCNA Manufacturing Inc., PR Beverages Cyprus Holding Limited, PR Beverages Cyprus Russia Holding Limited, PRB Luxembourg S.a r.l, PRS Inc., PSAS Inversiones LLC, PSE Logistica S.R.L., PT Quaker Indonesia, Papas Chips S.A., Pei N.V., Pep Trade LLC, Pepsi B.V., Pepsi Beverages Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bottling Group Global Finance LLC, Pepsi Bottling Group GmbH, Pepsi Bottling Group Hoosiers B.V., Pepsi Bottling Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bugshan Investments S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Colombia Ltda, Pepsi Cola Egypt S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Panamericana S.R.L., Pepsi Cola Servis Ve Dagitim Limited Sirketi, Pepsi Cola Trading Ireland, Pepsi Logistics Company Inc., Pepsi Northwest Beverages LLC, Pepsi Overseas Investments Partnership, Pepsi Promotions Inc., Pepsi-Cola Advertising and Marketing Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bermuda Limited, Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Holding C.V., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company Of St. Louis Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach LLC, Pepsi-Cola Company, Pepsi-Cola Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Pepsi-Cola Far East Trade Development Co. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Finance LLC, Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers Poland Sp. z o.o., Pepsi-Cola Industrial da Amazonia Ltda., Pepsi-Cola International Cork, Pepsi-Cola International LLC, Pepsi-Cola International Limited, Pepsi-Cola International Limited U.S.A., Pepsi-Cola International Private Limited, Pepsi-Cola Korea Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Management and Administrative Services Inc., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Company Of Uruguay S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing International Limited, Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Mediterranean Limited, Pepsi-Cola Marketing Corp. Of P.R. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mediterranean Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mexicana Holdings LLC, Pepsi-Cola Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Pepsi-Cola National Marketing LLC, Pepsi-Cola Operating Company Of Chesapeake And Indianapolis, Pepsi-Cola Sales and Distribution Inc., Pepsi-Cola Technical Operations Inc., Pepsi-Cola Thai Trading Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola de Honduras S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola of Corvallis Inc., PepsiAmericas Nemzetkozi Szolgaltato Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, PepsiCo ANZ Holdings Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Alimentos Antioquia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Colombia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Ecuador Cia. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Z.F. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos de Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Amacoco Bebidas Do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCo Asia Research & Development Center Company Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Cyprus Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Limited Partnership, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 1 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 2 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Australia Holdings Pty Limited, PepsiCo Australia International, PepsiCo Austria Services GmbH, PepsiCo Azerbaijan Limited Liability Company, PepsiCo BeLux BV, PepsiCo Beverage Sales LLC, PepsiCo Beverage Singapore Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Beverages Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Beverages International Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Italia Societa' A Responsabilita' Limitata, PepsiCo Canada Finance LLC, PepsiCo Canada Holdings ULC, PepsiCo Canada Investment ULC, PepsiCo Canada ULC, PepsiCo Captive Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Caribbean Inc., PepsiCo China Limited, PepsiCo Consulting Polska Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo De Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Del Paraguay S.R.L., PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH, PepsiCo Eesti AS, PepsiCo Euro Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Euro Finance Antilles B.V., PepsiCo Europe Support Center S.L., PepsiCo Finance Americas Company, PepsiCo Finance Antilles A N.V., PepsiCo Finance Antilles B N.V., PepsiCo Finance South Africa Proprietary Limited, PepsiCo Financial Shared Services Inc., PepsiCo Food & Beverage Holdings Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Foods A.I.E., PepsiCo Foods China Company Limited, PepsiCo Foods Group Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Foods Guangdong Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Nigeria Limited, PepsiCo Foods Private Limited, PepsiCo Foods Sichuan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Taiwan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Vietnam Company, PepsiCo France SAS, PepsiCo Global Business Services India LLP, PepsiCo Global Business Services Poland Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Global Holdings Limited, PepsiCo Global Investments B.V., PepsiCo Global Investments S.a r.l, PepsiCo Global Mobility LLC, PepsiCo Global Real Estate Inc., PepsiCo Global Trading Solutions Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Golden Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Group Finance International B.V., PepsiCo Group Holdings International B.V., PepsiCo Group Spotswood Holdings S.a r.l, PepsiCo Gulf International FZE, PepsiCo Hellas Single Member Industrial and Commercial Societe Anonyme, PepsiCo Holding de Espana S.L., PepsiCo Holdings, PepsiCo Holdings LLC, PepsiCo Holdings Toshkent LLC, PepsiCo Hong Kong LLC, PepsiCo Iberia Servicios Centrales S.L., PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited, PepsiCo India Sales Private Limited, PepsiCo Internacional Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., PepsiCo International Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo International Limited, PepsiCo International Pte Ltd., PepsiCo Investments Europe I B.V., PepsiCo Investments Ltd., PepsiCo Ireland Food & Beverages Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Japan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Light B.V., PepsiCo Logistyka Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., PepsiCo Management Services SAS, PepsiCo Manufacturing A.I.E., PepsiCo Max B.V., PepsiCo Mexico Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo Nederland B.V., PepsiCo Nordic Denmark ApS, PepsiCo Nordic Finland Oy, PepsiCo Nordic Norway AS, PepsiCo Nutrition Trading DMCC, PepsiCo One B.V., PepsiCo Overseas Corporation, PepsiCo Overseas Financing Partnership, PepsiCo Panimex Inc, PepsiCo Products B.V., PepsiCo Products FLLC, PepsiCo Puerto Rico Inc., PepsiCo Sales Inc., PepsiCo Sales LLC, PepsiCo Services Asia Ltd., PepsiCo Services CZ s.r.o., PepsiCo Services LLC, PepsiCo Twist B.V., PepsiCo UK Pension Plan Trustee Limited, PepsiCo Ventures B.V., PepsiCo Wave Holdings LLC, PepsiCo World Trading Company Inc., PepsiCo Y LLC, PepsiCo de Argentina S.R.L., PepsiCo de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo do Brasil Industria e Comercio de Alimentos Ltda., PepsiCo do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCola Interamericana de Guatemala S.A., Pet Iberia S.L., Pete & Johnny Limited, Pine International LLC, Pine International Limited, Pinstripe Leasing LLC, Pioneer Food Group Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Groceries Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Group Ltd., Pioneer Foods Holdings Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods UK Ltd, Pioneer Foods Wellingtons Pty Ltd, Pipers Crisps Limited, PlayCo Inc., Pop corners, PopCorners Holdings Inc., Portfolio Concentrate Solutions Unlimited Company, Premier Nutrition Trading L.L.C., Prestwick LLC, Prev PepsiCo Sociedade Previdenciaria, Productos Alimenticios Rene LLC, Productos S.A.S. C.V., Productos SAS Management B.V., Punch N.V., Punica Getranke GmbH, Q O Puerto Rico Inc., QFL OHQ Sdn. Bhd., QTG Development Inc., QTG Services Inc., Quadrant - Amroq Beverages S.R.L., Quaker Development B.V., Quaker European Beverages LLC, Quaker European Investments B.V., Quaker Foods, Quaker Global Investments B.V., Quaker Holdings UK Limited, Quaker Manufacturing LLC, Quaker Oats Asia Inc., Quaker Oats Australia Pty Ltd, Quaker Oats B.V., Quaker Oats Capital Corporation, Quaker Oats Europe Inc., Quaker Oats Europe LLC, Quaker Oats Limited, Quaker Sales & Distribution Inc, Raptas Finance S.a r.l., Rare Fare Foods LLC, Rare Fare Holdings Inc., Reading Industries Ltd, Real Estate Holdings LLC, Rockstar Energy Drink, Rolling Frito-Lay Sales LP, S & T of Mississippi Inc., SIH International LLC, SVC Logistics Inc., SVC Manufacturing Inc., SVE Russia Holdings GmbH, Sabritas LLC, Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Sabritas Snacks America Latina de Nicaragua y Cia Ltda, Sabritas de Costa Rica S. de R.L., Sabritas y Cia. S en C de C.V., Sakata Rice Snacks Australia Pty Ltd, Sandora Holdings B.V., Saudi Snack Foods Company Limited, Sea Eagle International SRL, Seepoint Holdings Ltd., Senselet Food Processing PLC, Senselet Holding B.V., Servicios GBF Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Servicios GFLG y Compania Limitada, Servicios Gamesa Puerto Rico L.L.C., Servicios SYC S. de R.L. de C.V., Seven-Up Asia Inc., Seven-Up Light B.V., Seven-Up Nederland B.V., Shanghai PepsiCo Snack Company Limited, Shanghai YuHo Agricultural Development Co. Ltd, Shoebill LLC, Simba (Proprietary) Limited, Simba Proprietary Limited, Sitka Spruce, Smartfoods Inc., Smiles and Bites Holdings S.de R.L. de C.V., Smiths Crisps Limited, Snack Food Investments GmbH, Snack Food Investments II GmbH, Snack Food Investments Limited, Snack Food-Beverage Asia Products Limited, Snacks America Latina S.R.L., Snacks Guatemala Ltd., So Spark Ltd., Soda-Club CO2 Atlantic GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 Ltd., Soda-Club Switzerland GmbH, Soda-Club Worldwide B.V., SodaStream, SodaStream Australia Pty Ltd, SodaStream CO2 SA, SodaStream Canada Ltd., SodaStream Enterprises N.V., SodaStream France SAS, SodaStream GmbH, SodaStream Iberia S.L., SodaStream Industries Ltd., SodaStream International B.V., SodaStream International Ltd., SodaStream Israel Ltd., SodaStream K.K., SodaStream New Zealand Ltd., SodaStream Nordics AB, SodaStream Poland Sp. z o.o., SodaStream SA Pty Ltd., SodaStream Switzerland GmbH, SodaStream USA Inc., SodaStream Osterreich GmbH, South Beach Beverage Company Inc., South Properties Inc., Spitz International Inc., Sportmex Internacional S.A. de C.V., Springboig Industries Ltd, Spruce Limited, Stacy's Pita Chip Company Incorporated, Star Foods E.M. S.R.L., Stokely-Van Camp Inc., Stratosphere Communications Pty Ltd, Stratosphere Holdings 2018 Limited, Streamfoods Ltd, TFL Holdings LLC, Tasman Finance S.a r.l, The Gatorade Company, The Good Carb Food Company Ltd., The Pepsi Bottling Group Canada ULC, The Quaker Oats Company, The Smith's Snackfood Company Pty Limited, Thomond Group Holdings Limited, Tobago Snack Holdings LLC, Tropicana Alvalle S.L., Tropicana Beverages Limited, Tropicana Europe N.V., Tropicana United Kingdom Limited, Troya-Ultra LLC, United Foods Companies Restaurantes S.A., V-Water, VentureCo Israel Ltd, Veurne Snack Foods BV, Vitamin Brands Ltd., Walkers Crisps Limited, Walkers Group Limited, Walkers Snack Foods Limited, Walkers Snacks Distribution Limited, Walkers Snacks Limited, Whitman Corporation, Whitman Insurance Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Beverages JSC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Brands Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Central Asia-Almaty LLP, Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods LLC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Georgia Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann JSC, and Wimm-Bill-Dann Ukraine PJSC.

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The following companies are subsidiares of Pfizer: AH Robins LLC, AHP Holdings B.V., AHP Manufacturing B.V., Agouron Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alacer, Alpharma Holdings LLC, Alpharma Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alpharma Specialty Pharma LLC, Alpharma USHP LLC, American Food Industries LLC, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., Angiosyn, Array BioPharma, Ayerst-Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, BIND Therapeutics Inc., BINESA 2002 S.L., Bamboo Therapeutics, Bamboo Therapeutics Inc., Baxter International - Marketed Vaccines, BioRexis, Bioren, Bioren LLC, Blue Whale Re Ltd., C.E. Commercial Holdings C.V., C.E. Commercial Investments C.V., C.P. Pharmaceuticals International C.V., CICL Corporation, COC I Corporation, Catapult Genetics, Coley Pharmaceutical GmbH, Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Coley Pharmaceutical Group Inc., Continental Pharma Inc., Covx, Covx Technologies Ireland Limited, Cyanamid Inter-American Corporation, Cyanamid de Argentina S.A., Cyanamid de Colombia S.A., Distribuidora Mercantil Centro Americana S.A., Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Encysive Pharmaceuticals Inc., Esperion LUV Development Inc., Esperion Therapeutics, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals Inc., Farminova Produtos Farmaceuticos de Inovacao Lda., Farmogene Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Ferrosan A/S, Ferrosan International A/S, Ferrosan S.R.L., FoldRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Foldrx Pharmaceuticals, Fort Dodge Manufatura Ltda., G. D. Searle & Co. Limited, G. D. Searle International Capital LLC, G. D. Searle LLC, GI Europe Inc., GI Japan Inc., GenTrac Inc., Genetics Institute LLC, Greenstone LLC, Haptogen Limited, Hospira, Hospira (China) Enterprise Management Co. Ltd., Hospira Adelaide Pty Ltd, Hospira Aseptic Services Limited, Hospira Australia Pty Ltd, Hospira Benelux BVBA, Hospira Chile Limitada, Hospira Deutschland GmbH, Hospira Enterprises B.V., Hospira France SAS, Hospira Healthcare B.V., Hospira Healthcare Corporation, Hospira Healthcare India Private Limited, Hospira Holdings (S.A.) Pty Ltd, Hospira Inc., Hospira Invicta S.A., Hospira Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, Hospira Ireland Sales Limited, Hospira Japan G.K., Hospira Limited, Hospira Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Hospira NZ Limited, Hospira Nordic AB, Hospira Philippines Inc., Hospira Portugal LDA, Hospira Produtos Hospitalares Ltda., Hospira Pte. Ltd., Hospira Pty Limited, Hospira Puerto Rico LLC, Hospira Singapore Pte Ltd, Hospira UK Limited, Hospira Worldwide LLC, Hospira Zagreb d.o.o., ICAgen, Idun Pharmaceuticals, Industrial Santa Agape S.A., InnoPharma, InnoPharma Inc., International Affiliated Corporation LLC, JMI-Daniels Pharmaceuticals Inc., John Wyeth & Brother Limited, Kiinteisto oy Espoon Pellavaniementie 14, King Pharmaceuticals Holdings LLC, King Pharmaceuticals LLC, King Pharmaceuticals Research and Development LLC, Korea Pharma Holding Company Limited, Laboratoires Pfizer S.A., Laboratorios Parke Davis S.L., Laboratorios Pfizer Ltda., Laboratorios Wyeth LLC, Laboratorios Wyeth S.A., Laboratorios Pfizer Lda., MTG Divestitures LLC, Mayne Pharma IP Holdings (Euro) Pty Ltd, Medivation, Medivation Field Solutions LLC, Medivation LLC, Medivation Neurology LLC, Medivation Prostate Therapeutics LLC, Medivation Services LLC, Medivation Technologies LLC, Meridian Medical Technologies Inc., Meridian Medical Technologies Limited, Monarch Pharmaceuticals LLC, Neusentis Limited, NextWave Pharmaceuticals, NextWave Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, P-D Co. LLC, PAH USA IN8 LLC, PF Americas Holding C.V., PF Asia Manufacturing B.V., PF PR Holdings C.V., PF PRISM C.V., PF PRISM Holdings S.a.r.l., PF Prism S.a.r.l., PFE Holdings G.K., PFE PHAC Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Pfizer Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Wyeth Holdings LLC, PFE Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) LLC, PHILCO Holdings S.a r.l., PHIVCO Corp., PHIVCO Holdco S.a r.l., PHIVCO Luxembourg S.a r.l., PN Mexico LLC, PT. Pfizer Parke Davis, Parke Davis & Company LLC, Parke Davis Limited, Parke Davis Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Parke-Davis Manufacturing Corp., Parkedale Pharmaceuticals Inc., Peak Enterprises LLC, Pfizer, Pfizer (China) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Pfizer (Perth) Pty Limited, Pfizer (Thailand) Limited, Pfizer (Wuhan) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer AB, Pfizer AG, Pfizer AS, Pfizer Africa & Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Veterinarian Products & Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer Anti-Infectives AB, Pfizer ApS, Pfizer Asia Manufacturing Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., Pfizer Atlantic Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Australia Holdings B.V., Pfizer Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Pfizer Australia Investments Pty. Ltd., Pfizer Australia Pty Limited, Pfizer B.V., Pfizer BH D.o.o., Pfizer Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer Biofarmaceutica Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Pfizer Biologics (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Pfizer Biologics Ireland Holdings Limited, Pfizer Biotech Corporation, Pfizer Bolivia S.A., Pfizer Canada Inc., Pfizer CentreSource Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Chile S.A., Pfizer Cia. Ltda., Pfizer Colombia Spinco I LLC, Pfizer Commercial Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Commercial Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Commercial TRAE Trading Kft., Pfizer Consumer Healthcare AB, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare GmbH, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Ltd., Pfizer Consumer Manufacturing Italy S.r.l., Pfizer Corporation, Pfizer Corporation Austria Gesellschaft m.b.H., Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited, Pfizer Croatia d.o.o., Pfizer Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Development LP, Pfizer Development Services (UK) Limited, Pfizer Domestic Ventures Limited, Pfizer Dominicana S.R.L, Pfizer ESP Pty Ltd, Pfizer East India B.V., Pfizer Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer Egypt S.A.E., Pfizer Enterprise Holdings B.V., Pfizer Enterprises LLC, Pfizer Enterprises SARL, Pfizer Europe Finance B.V., Pfizer Export B.V., Pfizer Export Company, Pfizer Export Holding Company B.V, Pfizer Finance Share Service (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Financial Services N.V./S.A., Pfizer France International Investments, Pfizer Free Zone Panama S. de R.L., Pfizer GEP S.L., Pfizer Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer Global Supply Japan Inc., Pfizer Global Trading, Pfizer Group Luxembourg Sarl, Pfizer Gulf FZ-LLC, Pfizer H.C.P. Corporation, Pfizer HK Service Company Limited, Pfizer Health AB, Pfizer Health Solutions Inc., Pfizer Healthcare Ireland, Pfizer Hellas A.E., Pfizer Himalaya Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Holding France, Pfizer Holding Ventures, Pfizer Holdings Corporation, Pfizer Holdings Europe Unlimited Company, Pfizer Holdings G.K., Pfizer Holdings International Corporation, Pfizer Holdings International Luxembourg (PHIL) Sarl, Pfizer Holdings North America SARL, Pfizer Hungary Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Inc., Pfizer Innovations AB, Pfizer Innovations LLC, Pfizer Innovative Supply Point International BVBA, Pfizer International LLC, Pfizer International Markets Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer International Operations, Pfizer International S. de R.L., Pfizer International Trading (Shanghai) Limited, Pfizer Investment Capital Unlimited Company, Pfizer Investment Co. Ltd., Pfizer Investment Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Ireland Investments Limited, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 1 LLC, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 2 LLC, Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer Ireland Ventures Unlimited Company, Pfizer Italia S.r.l., Pfizer Italy Group Holding S.r.l., Pfizer Japan Inc., Pfizer LLC, Pfizer Laboratories (Pty) Limited, Pfizer Laboratories Limited, Pfizer Laboratories PFE (Pty) Ltd, Pfizer Leasing Ireland Limited, Pfizer Leasing UK Limited, Pfizer Limitada, Pfizer Limited, Pfizer Luxco Holdings SARL, Pfizer Luxembourg Global Holdings S.a r.l., Pfizer Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer MAP Holding Inc., Pfizer Manufacturing Austria G.m.b.H., Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland Grundbesitz GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizer Manufacturing Holdings LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Manufacturing LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Services, Pfizer Medical Technology Group (Belgium) N.V., Pfizer Medicamentos Genericos e Participacoes Ltda., Pfizer Mexico Luxco SARL, Pfizer Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pfizer Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Animal Health and Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Norge AS, Pfizer North American Holdings Inc., Pfizer OTC B.V., Pfizer Overseas LLC, Pfizer Oy, Pfizer PFE ApS, Pfizer PFE AsiaPac Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Pty Ltd, Pfizer PFE B.V., Pfizer PFE Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Belgium SPRL, Pfizer PFE Brazil Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE CIA. Ltda., Pfizer PFE Chile Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Colombia Holding Corp., Pfizer PFE Colombia S.A.S, Pfizer PFE Commercial Holdings LLC, Pfizer PFE Croatia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer PFE Finland Oy, Pfizer PFE France, Pfizer PFE Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Ireland Pharmaceuticals Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco 2 S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Pfizer PFE Limited, Pfizer PFE Luxembourg S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Mexico Holding 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE Netherlands Holding 1 C.V., Pfizer PFE New Zealand, Pfizer PFE New Zealand Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Norway Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE PILSA Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Peru Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Peru S.R.L., Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer PFE Private Limited, Pfizer PFE S.R.L, Pfizer PFE Service Company Holding Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer PFE Singapore Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Singapore Pte. Ltd., Pfizer PFE Spain B.V., Pfizer PFE Spain Holding S.L., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding 2 S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Switzerland GmbH, Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 2 B.V., Pfizer PFE UK Holding 4 LP, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 1 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 2 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 4 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 5 LLC, Pfizer PFE spol. s r.o., Pfizer PFE Ilaclar Anonim Sirketi, Pfizer Pakistan Limited, Pfizer Parke Davis (Thailand) Ltd., Pfizer Parke Davis Inc., Pfizer Parke Davis Sdn. Bhd., Pfizer Pharm Algerie, Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Pfizer Pharma PFE GmbH, Pfizer Pharmaceutical (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceutical Trading Limited Liability Company (a/k/a Pfizer Kft. or Pfizer LLC), Pfizer Pharmaceuticals B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Global B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea Limited, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals LLC, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Pfizer Pigments Inc., Pfizer Polska Sp. z.o.o., Pfizer Private Limited, Pfizer Production LLC, Pfizer Products Inc., Pfizer Products India Private Limited, Pfizer Research (NC) Inc., Pfizer Romania SRL, Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A. (Belgium), Pfizer S.A. de C.V., Pfizer S.A.S., Pfizer S.G.P.S. Lda., Pfizer S.L., Pfizer S.R.L., Pfizer SRB d.o.o., Pfizer Saidal Manufacturing, Pfizer Sante Familiale, Pfizer Saudi Limited, Pfizer Seiyaku K.K., Pfizer Service Company BVBA, Pfizer Service Company Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Services 1, Pfizer Services LLC, Pfizer Shared Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Shareholdings Intermediate SARL, Pfizer Singapore Holding Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Singapore Trading Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Spain Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Specialties Limited, Pfizer Strategic Investment Holdings LLC, Pfizer Sweden Partnership KB, Pfizer TRAE Holdings Kft., Pfizer Trading Polska sp.z.o.o., Pfizer Transactions Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Transactions LLC, Pfizer Transactions Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer Transport LLC, Pfizer Ukraine LLC, Pfizer Vaccines LLC, Pfizer Venezuela S.A., Pfizer Venture Investments LLC, Pfizer Ventures LLC, Pfizer Worldwide Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Zona Franca S.A., Pfizer spol. s r.o., Pharmacia, Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc., Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn S.A. de C.V., Pharmacia Brasil Ltda., Pharmacia Hepar LLC, Pharmacia Holding AB, Pharmacia Inter-American LLC, Pharmacia International B.V., Pharmacia LLC, Pharmacia Limited, Pharmacia Nostrum S.A., Pharmacia South Africa (Pty) Ltd, PowderJect Research Limited, PowderMed, Purepac Pharmaceutical Holdings LLC, Redvax, Renrall LLC, Rinat Neuroscience, Rinat Neuroscience Corp., Roerig Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Roerig S.A., Sao Cristovao Participacoes Ltda., Searle Laboratorios Lda., Serenex, Servicios P&U S. de R.L. de C.V., Shiley LLC, Sinergis Farma-Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Site Realty Inc., Solinor LLC, Sugen LLC, Tabor LLC, The Pfizer Incubator LLC, Therachon, Thiakis Limited, Treerly Health Co. Ltd, US Oral Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd, Upjohn Laboratorios Lda., Vesteralens Naturprodukter A/S, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AB, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AS, Vesteralens Naturprodukter OY, Vicuron Holdings LLC, Vinci Farma S.A., W-L LLC, Warner Lambert, Warner Lambert Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Warner Lambert del Uruguay S.A., Warner-Lambert (Thailand) Limited, Warner-Lambert Company AG, Warner-Lambert Company LLC, Warner-Lambert Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Warner-Lambert S.A., Whitehall International Inc., Whitehall Laboratories Inc., Wyeth (Thailand) Ltd., Wyeth AB, Wyeth Australia Pty. Limited, Wyeth Ayerst Inc., Wyeth Ayerst S.a r.l., Wyeth Biopharma, Wyeth Canada ULC, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare LLC, Wyeth Europa Limited, Wyeth Farma S.A., Wyeth Holdings LLC, Wyeth Industria Farmaceutica Ltda., Wyeth KFT., Wyeth LLC, Wyeth Lederle S.r.l., Wyeth Lederle Vaccines S.A., Wyeth Pakistan Limited, Wyeth Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Company, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals FZ-LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Limited, Wyeth Puerto Rico Inc., Wyeth S.A.S, Wyeth Subsidiary Illinois Corporation, Wyeth Whitehall Export GmbH, Wyeth Whitehall SARL, Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) Limited, Wyeth-Ayerst International LLC, and Wyeth-Ayerst Promotions Limited.

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Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions. It also offers ProxyEdge, an electronic proxy delivery and voting solution; data-driven solutions and an end-to-end platform for content management, composition, and omni-channel distribution of regulatory, marketing, and transactional information, as well as mutual fund trade processing services; data and analytics solutions; solutions for public corporations and mutual funds; SEC filing and capital markets transaction services; registrar, stock transfer, and record-keeping services; and omni-channel customer communications solutions, as well as operates Broadridge Communications Cloud platform that creates, delivers, and manages communications and customer engagement activities. The company's Global Technology and Operations segment provides solutions that automate the front-to-back transaction lifecycle of equity, mutual fund, fixed income, foreign exchange and exchange-traded derivatives, order capture and execution, trade confirmation, margin, cash management, clearance and settlement, reference data management, reconciliations, securities financing and collateral management, asset servicing, compliance and regulatory reporting, portfolio accounting, and custody-related services. This segment also offers business process outsourcing services; technology solutions, such portfolio management, compliance, fee billing, and operational support solutions; and capital market and wealth management solutions. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Lake Success, New York.
The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc.,      ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics.

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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..

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WellCare Health Plans, Inc. provides government-sponsored managed care services. The company operates in three segments: Medicaid Health Plans, Medicare Health Plans, and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs). The Medicaid Health Plans segment offers plans for beneficiaries of temporary assistance for needy families, supplemental security income, and aged blind and disabled residents; and other state-based programs, such as children's health insurance programs and long-term services and supports programs for qualifying families who are not eligible for Medicaid. The Medicare Health Plans segment provides Medicare, a federal program that provides eligible persons aged 65 and over, as well as some disabled persons with a range of hospital, medical, and prescription drug benefits; Medicare Advantage, a Medicare's managed care alternative to the original Medicare program, which offers individuals standard Medicare benefits directly through Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; and coordinated care plans that are administered through health maintenance organizations and require members to seek health care services and select a primary care physician from a network of health care providers. The Medicare PDPs segment provides Medicare part D PDP plans to Medicare-eligible beneficiaries. Its PDP plans offer national in-network prescription drug coverage, including a preferred pharmacy network. As of December 31, 2018, the company served approximately 5.5 million members in the United States. WellCare Health Plans, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
Taking everything into account, the Lenovo K8 Plus is the best budget smartphone you can get around 10K. It offers decent performance, a good camera, dependable battery life and at is well priced.

Lenovo K8 Plus detailed review

The budget smartphone segment is hands down the most important smartphone category, for both consumers and companies. The reason for that is quite simple; because most buyers are interested in budget phones only. Xiaomi has been leading the charge here lately, but like last year Lenovo has taken it upon itself to battle the Redmi onslaught. Equipped with dual cameras and large batteries, Lenovos latest K-series phones are taking the competition to newer levels. While the K8 Note did not make it to our review table yet, the new K8 Plus seems like a worthy contender. We tested the phone thoroughly and this is what we found out.





Build and Design

If you talk about specifications, the Lenovo K8 Plus is a completely different beast than last year's K6 Power. However, both phones look quite similar on first glance. Like every other phone in this category, the Lenovo K8 Plus also has a metal build, with the top and bottom portions made out plastic to facilitate antenna placement. Its build quality seems good for the price range, but the metal back is quite slippery and it almost slipped out of our hands multiple times during our review period.

On paper, the 5.2-inch display suggests a smaller form-factor. However, with a large 4000mAh at the back and thicker bezels on the side, the phone looks and feels rather chunky. In terms of ergonomics, it can be used in one hand, but unless you have larger hands, you may have to shift your grip to reach the top of the display.

To add some novelty to the category, Lenovo has introduced a new physical button besides the volume rocker and power button. Lenovo calls this the music button, though you can assign it for other tasks as well. In default mode, you press the button for more than a second to initiate the assigned app or play/pause music. It work as intended and from a buyers perspective is a better implementation of the side button, unlike the Bixby button used on the high-end Samsung phones. Besides that, we feel that the two physical keys on the right side should have had better tactile feedback. Overall, for the K8 Plus, Lenovo has chosen functionality over form, which seems like a reasonable compromise.

Display and UI

Like the K6 Power, the K8 Plus also features an IPS LCD display, which is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Though the phone does not have 2.5D curved glass on top, the edges of the display are still smoothened for easy use. The colour fidelity of the display is decent and the same can be said about the sunlight legibility. Since this is an IPS panel, viewing angles are great. There is minor light bleed around the corners, but we dont think it would be a deal breaker. The display is a smooth to touch, and is backed by Lenovos new stock UI.

Borrowed from Motorola, the UI used on the K8 Plus is very simple to understand and use. You get a proper app drawer, and an untouched settings menu. The icons are pretty similar to the ones used by Moto phones. Even the camera app is identical to the one we saw on the Moto G5s a while back. The phone is running on the latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat and like Moto phones, Lenovo has promised at least one update on this device.

The fingerprint scanner on the phone isnt the fastest we have seen in this category. It takes a second more to unlock than any of its competitors, but is accurate.

Performance

The Lenovo K8 Plus is powered by a MediaTek Helio P25 SoC. Here, it is paired with 4GB of RAM, but there is a 3GB variant of the phone as well, which is slightly more affordable. From what we observed, the Helio P25 does a pretty good job here. There is no discernible lag while navigating the UI, browsing the web, watching Amazon Prime Video or just taking a picture. Using the camera does raise the temperature significantly. We got temperature readings of 40 degree celsius on the back, which is not particularly uncomfortable, but still on the higher side. While gaming, the recorded heat reading on the back were 41 degree celsius. Talking about gaming, we played demanding games on the phone like Vainglory and Asphalt 8 and both worked smoothly throughout, without any major hiccups. We did see some minor frame drops, but nothing that would break your gaming sessions. The level load times were also decent and at par with current competition.

The phone features Dolby Atmos certification. Hence, the audio quality via headphones is quite good and music lovers who are looking to buy a budget device should keep the K8 Plus under consideration. The pre-installed app offers various presets and toggles that music enthusiasts will appreciate. While we would have preferred a dedicated DAC to go along with the Atmos support, its perhaps too much to expect at this price.

Battery

The phone runs on a 4000mAh battery, which easily managed a work day even under heavy usage. So, you can easily play games on the phone for half an hour, stream couple of episodes, make a dozen calls, check social media, click pictures and still end up with over 30 percent charge by the end of a normal work day. In our battery test, the phone scored 8 hours and 6 minutes of screen-on time, which further bolsters our findings. Moreover, if you are not into heavy gaming or dont end up watching entire episodes on your phone, you may get at least two days of use on each charge. In addition, the phone supports fast charging, so you can go from 0 to 50 percent in just under an hour. Thats not the fastest charging scenarios, but it works given the impressive battery life.

Camera

While the phone has decent performance and dependable battery life, its best feature is the camera. Lenovo is using a 13MP OmniVision sensor, which is accompanied by a 5MP secondary camera by Samsung, working as the depth sensor. This dual camera setup produces the best images we have seen on a sub-12K smartphone in a very long time. Images taken in ample light conditions have good details, decent colour saturation and dynamic range.

The low light capabilities of the camera are decent when you get the focus right. However, we found that white balance is a tad off in low light. It also takes a little more time to save the image.

The dual camera setup allows the phone to take Portrait images too. Lenovo calls it the depth enabled mode, in which you can change the aperture on the slider from anywhere between f/5.6 to f/0.8. This allows the user to add blur according to their liking. On top of that, Lenovos software does a decent job in keeping the subject in focus. It works better with people as subjects, rather than other objects. The phone also takes a second or two to save that image.

(L-R) Normal mode, Portrait mode

The front facing 8MP camera on the phone is relatively good. The camera captures a decent amount of details, while keeping the colour saturation on the warmer end of the spectrum. It produces soft photos (beauty mode) by default, which reduces dark spots and blemishes on your face. However, you can turn them off or change the intensity via a simple slider. The front facing camera also gets an auto HDR mode and flash, which does not add any extra value to the selfie taking experience.

(l-R) normal light, low light with flash

Bottomline

In short, the Lenovo K8 Plus is the best budget centric device you can buy right now. It has decent performance, dependable battery life and the cameras on both sides are quite good. We could nitpick that the metal back is a little slippery and fast charging isn't the best, but we reckon that it is not a deal breaker here.

How it compares

The Lenovo K8 Plus goes up against the likes of the Xiaomi Redmi phones and the slightly expensive and older Moto G5 Plus. While all phones perform almost at par, the K8 Plus is slightly smoother than the Redmi Note 4 or Redmi 4. Its battery life is quite dependable and in the camera department, the K8 Plus is only bested by Moto G5 Plus.
The offline supermarket chain, Big Bazaar will offer both, the Redmi 4 and Redmi Note 4 at a special price. Xiaomi is betting on Big Bazaars 240+ stores to expand and strengthen its offline presence in India.

After claiming to have shipped about 10 million smartphones in the month of September, Xiaomi is now planning to boost its smartphone sales offline by partnering up with Big Bazaar supermarket stores. Big Bazaar has over 240 retail stores spread across the country and Xiaomi is offering the Xiaomi Redmi 4 and the Redmi Note 4 offline with this partnership.

Manu Kumar Jain, VP of Xiaomi India tweeted the information yesterday and revealed that the company was in talks with Big Bazaar for some time now. He tweeted a picture of him alongside Kishore Biyani, Founder and group CEO of future group that owns Big Bazaar.

Mi Fans can buy @Xiaomi phones at a special prices at @BigBazaar stores, plus No Cost EMI offers, & offers on all @ICICIBank cards. (3/3) pic.twitter.com/zwJO7NWXfe  Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) October 11, 2017

Jain said in his tweet, No other brand has ever sold phones at a supermarket chain! This journey when I first met Mr Kishore Biyani few months ago. He also said that consumers can buy the smartphones at a special price at Big Bazaar stores. However, the special price hasnt been revealed yet. Buyers will also get a no-cost EMI option and special offers on using ICICI bank cards.

The Redmi Note 4 remains Xiaomis best-selling smartphone in India with over 5 million units sold online. The company claims to have sold over 25 million smartphones in India since the launch of Mi 3 in July 2014. Xiaomi claims to have sold over 1 million smartphones during the two day festive sale held on Amazon and Flipkart.
London quoted company Active Energy has announced the submission of all final documents to the Ministry of Fisheries and Land Resources of the Crown Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, for a Crown Timber Licence as well as Forestry Management Agreements on the Forestry Management Districts 17 and 18.

The international forestry management and biomass based renewable energy company said on Thursday it had submitted all the documents through its affilliate, Timberlands International, after five months of co-ordination between Timberlands and the Canadian forestry consultancy company, Zimmfor Management Services.

The submission, the company added, included all requested documentation including the proposed financial term sheets for the prospective Forestry Management Agreements.

Michael Rowan, Active Energy's non-executive chairman described the submission as a "milestone".

"This marks the next milestone for the development of commercial activities for TIL in Newfoundland. TIL and Active Energy are extremely excited about the prospect of revitalising the forestry activities on the Northern Peninsular, facilitating new investment into the Province and continuing to grow positive working relationships between the Province, its relevant ministries and TIL for the benefit of all.

"I look forward to providing shareholders with further updates regarding the applications for the CTL and the FMAs in due course."
French drugmaker Sanofi said it was investing 170m in effort to expand a vaccine manufacturing site in Val de Reuil, located in France, reinforcing the company's position as a global leader in seasonal flu vaccines.

The new facility, according to Sanofi, will be the only site of its kind in France and enable Sanofi Pasteur, its vaccines global business unit, to expand supply of the VaxigripTetra influenza vaccine to up to 70 countries on six continents.

That vaccine would contain two A strains and two B strains of the influenza virus, as per recommendations by the World Health Organisation, to help tackle the virus.

According to the company, the investment was one of "several major" capital expenditures that it has made in recent years to develop and expand vaccine production capacities across France, the United States and Mexico by 2021, subject to approvals by relevant health authorities.

Vaccine production in the new facility was scheduled to commence in 2022.

David Loew, the executive vice president of Sanofi and head of Sanofi Pasteur said the expansion proved the Pasteur's ability to tackle the health challenge.

"Influenza continues be a major public health problem around the world, causing serious complications, hospitalizations and deaths, mostly for certain high-risk individuals."

"As a global leader in flu vaccines, this expansion reinforces Sanofi Pasteur's ability to tackle this underestimated health challenge."

Meanwhile, Philippe Luscan, the executive vice president of Global Industrial Affairs at Sanofi spoke of the project's ability to bring together the expertise of its staff.

"This project brings together the expertise of our people with our leading industrial know-how and illustrates our commitment to manufacturing excellence solutions.

"Our investment underlines Sanofi's intent to strengthen our industrial capacities in France as a major centre of influenza vaccines production for worldwide markets."
Integrated media group Tarsus announced on Thursday that increased trading witnessed in its second half had kept the group in-line with its guidance as key events performed well and buyer levels ticked up 7%.

Tarsus' two largest events, Connect Expo in New Orleans and Labelexpo Europe in Brussels, were held during the period, as well as other major events such as the Dubai Airshow yet to come, the firm promised "another strong year" as like-for-like bookings grew 8%.

Buyers at Labelexpo Europe were up by 6% on the previous edition and re-bookings came in at an impressive 84%.

Douglas Emslie, managing director of Tarsus, said, "Our busier second half of the year has been strong, as expected, with our largest shows continuing to make good progress. We are delighted by the performance of the more recent additions to the Group's portfolio in the key markets of the Americas and China, where we are progressively scaling the business."

Tarsus, which operated more than 100 events and websites across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East, said it would be releasing its trading update for the full year ended 31 December on 12 January 2018.

As of 1130 BST, shares were untraded at 301.00p.
On a related note, analysts at Deutsche Bank raised their recommendation on Spanish stocks from an 'underweight' to an 'overweight' as - in their opinion - the tail risks of a break-up of the country had faded.

Following 6% underperformance for Spanish shares as a group since early August, mostly on the back of Catalonia independence jitters, they said that now "pricing looks attractive".

According to Deutsche's Wolf von Rotberg,"the Catalan governments reservation to immediately declare independence and seek negotiations reduces the tail-risk of a Spanish break-up. As a result, we think Spanish equities are likely to outperform the European market over the coming months."

To back up his case, von Rotberg pointed to Spanish stocks performance vis-a-vis shares of European lenders and Eurozone composite PMI new orders gauges. That hinted at 7% upside he said.

Spain's de-coupling from its usually tight correlation with German bunds meanwhile argued for 5% upside.

In particular, Spanish banks were the "cheapest" from among those of the six major European markets, he said, adding that two of them - CaixaBank and Santander - were in fact Deutsche analysts' 'top picks'.

As well, even if bank stocks were taken out of the equation, the relative price-to-earnings multiple of Spanish shares was one standard deviation below its long-term average.

Indeed, earlier in the same week it had plumbed its lowest reading since 2013.

Furthermore, "Spain now looks attractively valued on our country valuation scorecard."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Donald Trump on Wednesday that he would stop his nation's military from purchasing any further aircraft from Chicago based aerospace giant Boeing if the White House insisted on moving forward with its plans to enforce a 300% import tariff on Bombardier aeroplanes into the US.

The ongoing spat between Bombardier and Boeing threatened to start a trade war between the US, Canada and the UK, after the Labour Party referred to the latter as "the king of corporate welfare" after its "egregious hypocrisy" of pursing illegal-subsidies claims against Bombardier had put thousands of jobs in Northern Ireland at risk as a result.

Trudeau and Trump met at the White House on Wednesday where they discussed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which the UK had been rumoured earlier this week to be looking into joining after leaving the EU in March 2019.

The PM said he "directly" voiced his concern over the public row between the two companies and outlined his opposition to the President's anti-dumping policy.

"I highlighted to the president how we disagree vehemently with Commerce's decision to bring in countervailing and anti-dumping duties against Bombardier, that we feel this is not something that is warranted and quite frankly something that we look very negatively upon," he said.

He added that talks with Trump were "not easy".

After the US Department of Commerce ruled in favour of slapping a 219% import duty on Bombardier's C-Series jets in late September, as a result of a complaint from main rival Boeing that the firm was receiving unfair subsidies from the Canadian and UK governments, Theresa may told Boeing that it was putting future deals with Downing Street at significant risk, including its agreement to supply the Ministry of Defence with 38 Apache helicopters.

Shortly after imposing the tariff, US authorities decided to add a further 80% tax on Bombardier after Boeing claimed that the "absurdly low" price of its aircraft did not do enough to combat the subsidies Bombardier received abroad.

As a result, Trudeau told Trump that he would prevent any and all future Canadian government orders from Boeing.

"I certainly mentioned that this was a block to us making any military procurements from Boeing," he said.
North Korea' foreign minister stoked renewed tensions in northeast Asia, saying the US president had set the region on a course towards war, adding that his country's nuclear weapons programme could never be a subject of negotiation and that Pyongyang was close to achieving a real balance-of-power with America.

Speaking to Russia's TASS state news agency, Ri Yong Ho claimed that North Korea's nuclear programme posed no threat to peace and safety in the surrounding region. Indeed, he believed it guaranteed it.

"With his bellicose and insane statement at the United Nations, Trump, you can say, has lit the wick of a war against us," TASS quoted Mr Ri as saying [...] we need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words".

"We have almost reached the last point on the journey towards our final goal - to achieve a real balance-of-power with the United States."

Last month, Mr Ri had also blamed Trump for declaring war after the 45th president of the United States tweeted that leader Kim Jong-un "won't be around much longer".

Tensions between the two countries had escalated over recent months as the Trump administration ratcheted up efforts, alongside international allies, to curb Kim Jong-un's expanding nuclear and ballistic weapons programme.

On previous occasions, Defence Secretary James Mattis has indicated that his administration was still striving for a peaceful resolution of the standoff, even while asking the US army to be prepared should military action be ordered by its Commander-in-Chief.
European stocks have begun the morning little changed as investors wait on the first quarterly updates from Wall Street's financial heavyweights.

Also on traders' radar is a speech later in the day, Stateside, from European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi and a press conference at quarter past eleven from the UK's chief Brexit negotiator David Davis and his euro area counterpart, Michel Barnier.

Ahead of the conclusion of the fifth round of talks on separating the two blocs, the latter two were expected to announce that very little if any additional progress has been made.

Against that backcloth, as of 1030 BST the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 0.08% or 0.32 points ahead to 390.49, alongside a gain of 0.05% or 5.93 points to 12,976.74 for the German Dax.

In all things Spain, the clock was ticking as markets waited on Catalan president Carles Puigdemont's response to a petition from Madrid for greater clarity on his plans and the stance of the regional government.

Commenting on the situation in markets, David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: "The ball in now in the separatists' court, and given the update from the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont on Monday, it doesnt appear that he is too keen to unilaterally declare independence.

"Mr Puigdemont risks having direct rule being imposed from Madrid, but then again, he may secretly desire that in order to stoke nationalist tensions. The IBEX 35, along with other major European indices is slightly lower on the day."

On a related note, analysts at Deutsche Bank raised their recommendation on Spanish stocks from an 'underweight' to an 'overweight' as - in their opinion - the tail risks of a break-up of the country had faded.

Following 6% underperformance for Spanish shares as a group since early August, mostly on the back of Catalonia independence jitters, they said that "pricing looks attractive".

As an aside, but not wholly unrelated perhaps, Bitcoin prices were hitting fresh record highs in early trading.

Euro area industrial production data for August jumped by 1.4% month-on-month in August (consensus: 0.5%), yet the main reference for markets will be Draghi's speech at 15:15 BST.

Later in the day, investors will be watching out for a speech from Federal Reserve governor Jerome Powell at 15:30 BST, alongside weekly initial jobless claims data at 1330 BST.

Germany's Innogy has purchased Statkraft's 50% stake in an offshore UK wind project.

French airport operator ADP on Wednesday announced a 4.7% rise in passenger traffic for September versus a year ago to reach 9.0m.
FTSE 250 wholesaler Booker , which is currently in the process of being taken over by Tesco, reported a 9% rise in interim pre-tax profit on Thursday as total sales rose but tobacco sales declined.

In the 24 weeks to 8 September, pre-tax profit increased to 88m, with total sales up 2.5% to 2.6bn. Non-tobacco sales were up 7.5% but tobacco sales were down 9% due to changes in legislation.

Meanwhile, like-for-like sales were up 2.7%, with non-tobacco LFL sales up 7.7% and tobacco LFL sales down 8.7%.

Basic earnings per share rose 9% to 4.19p and the company declared an interim dividend of 0.69p per share, up 10%.

In addition, Booker said its non-tobacco revenue in the first four weeks of the current half year is ahead of last year.

Chief executive Charles Wilson said: "Our plans to focus, drive and broaden Booker Group are on track. The competition review of the planned merger with Tesco is progressing. We continue to help our retail, catering and small business customers prosper through improving our choice, prices and service."

Booker said it expects the deal with Tesco, which is currently being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority, to complete early next year, subject to the necessary shareholder approvals.

At 0935 BST, the shares were up 0.3% to 206p.
Just Eat has been given provisional approval by UK competition authorities to complete its acquisition of rival online food ordering website Hungryhouse, deciding that its initial concerns were unfounded.

The Competition and Markets Authority began a deep 'phase 2' probe into the merger after in May saying that its initial investigation found the companies were "close competitors because of the similarity of their service and their broad geographical coverage".

However on Thursday the CMA said its independent adjudicators found that, on balance, the combination of the two businesses "is unlikely to result in competition concerns" such as raising prices or reducing quality for restaurants or customers, though it has called for business and the public to submit their views before giving a final decision.

Hungryhouse was seen to presently provide "limited competition" to Just Eat, with 9k of its 10k restaurants also on the Just Eat platform, and it was felt to be "much smaller in size and offers too few unique restaurants, making it increasingly difficult for Hungryhouse to attract and retain consumers".

Furthermore, the CMA took into account the rapidly evolving online market for digital food ordering platforms, such as Deliveroo, UberEATS and Amazon, which also manage or facilitate delivery services on behalf of restaurants.

"These companies generally present a greater competitive challenge to Just Eat than Hungryhouse, and this is likely to grow as they expand," the CMA panel found, having obtained evidence from all the major industry participants and carried out surveys with the public and restaurants to understand how the merger could impact both types of customers.

Martin Cave, chairman of the inquiry, said: "We found that Hungryhouse was a weak competitor to Just Eat and so competition is unlikely to be substantially reduced by this merger, especially given the entry and rapid expansion of innovative suppliers in this sector."

In reaching its provisional conclusions, the CMA also noted that consumers could order directly from takeaway restaurants, either by telephone, through their websites or by walking in.

Much smaller rival Preoday, which Just Eat has indicated as the only truly similar alternative to its business, warned that in the short term, "thousands of British restaurants and takeaways could suffer" due to Just Eat's dominant national reach: "If it wants to up its prices, there are few alternatives, with the same sway, available."

But Preoday CEO Andrew White said if restaurants find themselves backed into a corner with limited options, they will naturally seek alternatives, which he said would allow companies like Deliveroo and UberEATs to grow faster, and to create space for new market entrants like Oxford Orders and EasyFood.

Just Eat, where former Moneysupermarket boss Peter Plumb was appointed new chief executive in July, naturally said it was pleased with the decision and said it expected the final decision in November.

Analysts at JPMorgan Cazenove have forecast that the acquisition would boost pro forma 2018 earnings per share by around 8%.

With Hungryhouse generating around 28m of revenues and making a loss of close to 12m, Canaccord Genuity estimated Just Eat would make a profit of circa 14m on the same revenues.

Investec's David Amiras calculated the deal is potentially worth 7% to EBITDA in 2018, expecting completion before the end of 2017.

"We are positive on the deal, helping Just Eat to bolster its presence in the UK and potentially drive greater economies of scale," he said, seeing EBITDA forecasts rising from 211m to 226m and implying an EBITDA contribution from Hungryhouse of 15m.

Just Eat reports third quarter trading on 31 October, with Investec expecting momentum to have continued, with easier comparative figures from last year relative to the first half and partial benefit from the TV sponsorship of ITV's X Factor.
Lloyds Banking Group has agreed to buy Zurich Insurance's UK workplace pensions and savings business, which has assets under administration of 19bn, for an undisclosed sum.

The bank said the deal enhances Scottish Widows' current offering and broadens its participation in the financial planning and retirement segment, while delivering a modern, flexible workplace savings platform. Scottish Widows currently manages more than 124bn of funds, of which 35 billion is workplace pensions business.

The acquisition is expected to partially close in the first quarter of next year, with subsequent completion and transfer of assets following the required regulatory and legal approvals.

Antonio Lorenzo, director of insurance & wealth and chief executive of Scottish Widows, said: "Today's announcement is a clear signal of Lloyds Banking Group's commitment to the financial planning and retirement segment. The acquisition of Zurich's UK workplace pensions and savings business complements Scottish Widows' growth to date and provides us with an ideal opportunity to accelerate our goal to become a market leader in this important sector, for advisers and customers."

Analyst Laith Khalaf at Hargreaves Lansdown said the move underlined Lloyds commitment to the pensions market, scotching rumours that have circulated for years that the bank is looking to sell off the Scottish Widows franchise.

"This part of the business adds some diversification to the Lloyds stable without the risks inherent in the investment banking activities practiced by its peers. By comparison the workplace pensions business is sleepy, steady and sticky. The defined contribution market is also growing, thanks to the governments automatic enrolment programme which is forcing employers and employees to pay money into workplace pensions."

He the wider pressure on fund management fees meant there is strength in numbers for the likes of Scottish Widows and Zurich.

"This is compounded by the increasing regulation faced by financial services firms. We have already seen Standard Life and Aberdeen tie up to battle these headwinds together, no doubt that deal raised an eyebrow or two across the Edinburgh streets at Scottish Widows HQ."

At 1130 BST, the shares were up 0.2% to 66.63p.
Branded shower, tap, bathroom accessory, tile and adhesive supplier Norcros updated the market on its trading on Thursday, ahead of the announcement of its interim results for the half year to 30 September, which the board said would occur on 16 November.

The FTSE SmallCap stock said group revenue and underlying operating profit in the first half was expected to be in line with its expectations.

It said group revenue for the first half was expected to be approximately 144.9m, 12.5% higher than the prior year and 7.1% higher on a constant currency basis.

The growth reportedly reflected a robust performance in Norcros UK business and continued growth in its South African operation.

UK revenue for the first half was 8.4% higher than the prior year, which was said to reflect growth in all channels, benefitting in particular from strong positions in the new build sector and in selective export markets.

Its South African business once again delivered revenue growth in the first half of the year - 4.8% higher than the prior year on a constant currency basis - which the board said continued the sustained progress of recent years.

Revenue was 21.0% higher on a reported basis, reflecting a stronger South African rand.

The group said it was continuing to focus on working capital and cash management, and as a result of that closing net debt wais expected to have reduced to around 21m from 27.5m year-on-year.

Against the backdrop of challenging market conditions, our performance demonstrates the strength of our market positions and the resilience of our diversified business portfolio delivering revenue growth in all UK sectors, strong growth in exports and sustained progress in South Africa, the Norcros board said in its statement.

The board remains confident that the group will continue to make progress in line with its expectations for the year to 31 March 2018.
Industrial chain and power transmission supplier Renold issued a period-end trading update on Thursday, covering the six months to 30 September ahead of announcing its interim results on 14 November.

The FTSE SmallCap stock said trading in the period was mixed.

Its torque transmission division performed in-line with expectations, while the chain division delivered organic growth, although its profitability was affected by machine breakdowns at its Einbeck facility and by sustained increases in raw material costs.

As a result, the companys board said it now expected adjusted operating profit for the group for the year to 31 March 2018 to be slightly below the lower end of the current range of analyst forecasts.

Group revenue in the period grew by 8.0%, Renold said, and on an underlying basis by 2.7% compared to the first half of the prior year.

Order intake in the period grew by 9.9% on an underlying basis, or 6.1% excluding the element of the large UK Couplings order which extended beyond the current financial year.

The torque transmission division delivered growth in underlying revenue of 6.3%, the board said, adding that including the major project win for UK Couplings, underlying order intake increased by 27.4%.

The chain division reportedly delivered strong year-on-year underlying revenue growth of 8.2% in the first quarter of the financial year, Renold explained.

However, in the second quarter, major machine breakdowns at our Einbeck, Germany facility reduced availability of key product lines, the board said.

This resulted in increased shipping and maintenance costs to mitigate the impact on key customers in Europe and the US and led to a second quarter revenue decline of 4.5% and underlying revenue growth of 1.8% for the period.

As it noted in the AGM statement in July, the group - particularly the chain division - experienced sustained increases in raw material costs, notably in respect of steel.

Sales price increases had now been implemented to pass on those costs, and were visible in the order book.

Margins in the period were impacted by the lag between raw material increases being incurred and sales price rises working through the order book, Renold said, and as a result of that and the costs of machine breakdowns, adjusted operating margin for the chain division for the first half was expected to be around 8%.

Underlying order intake for the chain division improved to 9.0% in the second quarter, resulting in an overall growth for the period of 5.3%.

Performance in the division was expected to improve in the second half, with the issues at Einbeck now resolved and price increases in the order book feeding into revenues.

Renold said the torque transmission division remained on track to perform in line with the board's expectations.

It has been a frustrating first half for the chain division, said chief executive Robert Purcell.

Organic growth opportunities, particularly in Europe, have been converted but have failed to deliver the expected improvements in profitability due to issues at Einbeck and the rise in raw material prices.

Management actions to address these issues are expected to benefit the second half of the year.

Purcell said the torque transmission division continued to make progress in line with expectations.

The consolidation of our Halifax and Cardiff plants into a single UK Couplings business unit is starting to deliver the planned benefits, with more opportunity for improvement in the future.
Royal Mail has won a High Court injunction to block a 48-hour strike planned by postal workers next week.

A week ago workers from the Communication Workers Union served notice to the FTSE 250 company that staff will strike for 48 hours from noon on 19 October due to a dispute over pensions and pay.

The union's 110,000 members voted 89.1% vote in favour of a strike in the ballot.

Royal Mail said the strike would be "unlawful" if the CWU did not follow dispute resolution procedures.




Amazon Web Services on Monday unveiled a new per-second pricing plan for EC2 instances and EBS volumes, which will take effect Oct. 2.

The new pricing for EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) and EBS (Elastic Block Storage) used with EC2 instances will allow greater flexibility and efficiency for customers wanting to expand their use of cloud computing data, AWS said.

When EC2 launched in 2006, the only way to pay for the service was in one-hour increments, recalled Jeff Barr, chief evangelist at AWS.

The pay as you go model inspired our customers to think about news ways to develop, test and run applications of all types, he said.

Nuts and Bolts

Under the new plan, usage of Linux instances that are launched in On-Demand, Reserved and Spot form will be billed in one-second increments, as will provisioned storage for EBS volumes.

AWS Batch and Amazon EMR also will be subject to per-second billing, Barr said.

Customers add capacity to their EMR clusters to get results more quickly, Barr noted. With per-second billing for the EC2 instances in the clusters, adding nodes will be more cost-effective than ever.

With regard to AWS Batch, many customers complete their batch computing jobs in less than an hour, he pointed out. AWS Batch already launches and terminates Spot Instances, which are purchased through bidding on spare computing capacity, and often are 50 percent to 90 percent cheaper than on-demand pricing.

Many customers can get the most value from EC2 by strategically choosing the most advantageous target instances when managing gaming, ad tech or 3D rendering fleets, Barr pointed out.

More Than Savings

Although saving money is an important part of the AWS billing change, its not the most important, according to Barr.

The change will lead to innovation, as customers will think about compute-bound problems in new ways, he maintained  for example, changing the method of provisioning transient environments for dev and test workloads, or improving support for continuous integration.

The per-second billing will become effective Oct. 2 in all AWS regions for all Linux instances that are newly launched or up and running, said Barr.

Per second billing will not be available running Microsoft Windows or Linux distributions with a separate hourly charge. There will be a minimum one-minute charge per instance.

List prices and Spot Market prices will continue to be listed on a per-hour basis, but billing will be calculated to the second. The same goes for Reserved Instance use.

Competitive Landscape

It is evident that AWS intends to compete aggressively to maintain its market share leadership in an increasingly crowded space for cloud services.

That is not to say it has to have the lowest prices on everything, but at least it has to be there or thereabouts in all of the major service areas, said John Dinsdale, chief analyst at Synergy Research Group.

The main reasons companies have been moving their data to the cloud are to gain speed, flexibility and agility, he told the E-Commerce Times.

Cloud providers dont necessarily want price to be the main criteria for choosing a service platform, but they need to be seen as reasonably competitive with each other.

Customers are becoming increasingly concerned about losing control of the cost of cloud computing services they are acquiring, noted Jeff Kaplan, managing director of ThinkStrategies.

AWS latest pricing enables customers to gain more precise control over their cloud computing and data storage costs, he told the E-Commerce Times.

The new pricing regime will pressure rival services to offer comparable pricing and packaging of services, Kaplan added.

Large clients would prefer this level of pricing to reduce costs and improve accountability, said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

When you spent triple digits or more on an IT resource, he told the E-Commerce Times, minutes or seconds can really add up.
The Cloud Foundry Foundation on Wednesday launched Cloud Foundry Container Runtime, or CFCR, as the default deployment and management platform for containers using Kubernetes and BOSH.

The foundation announced Container Runtime, a project supported by The Linux Foundation, at its annual European user conference.

Cloud Foundry is an open source Platform as a Service offering used for building and managing applications in the cloud or in data centers.

CFCR is an updated release of the Kubo Project with a new name. The new default approach makes deploying and managing containers easier and more flexible, according to Cloud Foundry.

Donated to the foundation in June by Pivotal Software and Google, the project expands options for Cloud Foundrys enterprise user base, according to Devin Davis, vice president of marketing at Cloud Foundry.

Cloud Foundry users now can use Container Runtime to deploy Kubernetes or Application Runtime (previously Elastic Runtime) for a Cloud Application Platform.

In either case, BOSH underpins infrastructure provisioning for both Cloud Foundry runtimes.

Container Runtime also can provide default support for Istio, an open platform to connect, manage and secure microservices. CFCR now provides default support for persistence of Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services and Vsphere.

Application Runtime is the app-centric platform that focuses on simplifying the entire development lifecycle, Cloud Foundrys Davis told LinuxInsider.

Platform Pillars

The new project enables Cloud Foundry to continue expanding choices for users. For example, a Kubernetes user can deploy and manage Kubernetes clusters with BOSH. BOSH is Cloud Foundrys open source tool for deploying and managing distributed services.

The Cloud Foundry cloud application platform  Application Runtime  remains an option.

Container Runtime simply enhances Cloud Foundrys capabilities, said Davis, by using some of its best and most unique components  such as BOSH, which provides a uniform way to instantiate, deploy and manage highly available Kubernetes clusters on any cloud.

Both Cloud Foundry Application Runtime and Container Runtime are built with the developer in mind, he said. They provide the flexibility to run apps in any language or framework on any cloud.

This flexibility extends to services as well, Davis added.

Plenty of Options

The Cloud Foundry project bolsters the relevance of container and Kubernetes overall, suggested Chris Ciborowski, CEO of Nebulaworks. Quite a few organizations would like to deploy a container platform like Kubernetes but are looking for best practices to do so.

To this end, the CFCR (Kubo) is one option for organizations looking for this functionality, Ciborowski told LinuxInsider. For existing users of container platforms  like Google Container Engine, Amazon Elastic Container Service or Mesosphere DC/OS  the announcement is likely of little interest.

Other options exist, he said. There are a number of ways to achieve a production-ready Kubernetes environment that can be deployed across any infrastructure in an idempotent fashion.

For example, to help with this agnostic approach, Nebulaworks leverages a set of tools: Terraform and Packer, along with Kubeadm, which is a tool that is part of the Kubernetes project.

This approach achieves the same level of automated, agnostic deployments while allowing the use of a common set of tools that can do far more than just deploy Kubernetes, said Ciborowski.

Slow Adoption Rate

Despite continued interest in containers, only 25 percent of enterprise companies actually use them in production, based on a recent Cloud Foundry Foundation study. This represents a negligible rise of only 3 percent from 2016.

Enterprises are the colossal cargo ships of the industry. They move slowly, steadily, and with a rigorous navigation system, the Foundrys Devin said.

Enterprises cannot always afford to be as flexible or lithe as a smaller company  it takes time to evaluate new technologies before implementation.

Up until now, there has not been a solution in the market that could scale within the enterprise, Devin pointed out. Kubernetes is the first container option with enterprise-grade scale and functionality, and Cloud Foundry Container Runtime facilitates this enterprise-ready technology, thanks to the power of BOSH.

Key Development

As customers move more of their workloads to container-based systems, management and orchestration of those containers becomes increasingly important, observed Lee Atchison, senior director of strategic architecture at New Relic.

The industry as a whole has recognized the need for better container management and container orchestration tools, and Kubernetes is playing an increasingly important role in this area, he told LinuxInsider.

The Cloud Foundry announcement shows Pivotals leadership by adopting and standardizing on Kubernetes and related technologies. That has helped solve the important container management problems that customers have been experiencing, Atchison said.

Integrated Solution

Container runtime is not a mandatory upgrade or ideal replacement tool for all users, but it is significant for enterprises using containers now, and for those considering using them in the future, noted Davis.

Many enterprises are hesitant to invest in and adopt cutting-edge technologies, including containers. Container Runtime gives huge enterprises the opportunity to run containers at scale and in production. Cloud Foundrys enterprise user base relies on BOSH to run applications at scale  and CFCR enables Kubernetes to take advantage of BOSH, Davis explained.

Still, alternatives do exist. Cloud Foundry adopters can continue to use Cloud Foundry Application Runtime exactly as they have been without moving to CFCR.

Think of Container Runtime as a Lego piece you can snap into Application Runtime when you need it, said Davis. Our end users have wanted to utilize containers to achieve efficiency in their business processes, but until Container Runtime, there was not an enterprise-ready solution in the market that could meet their needs.

For cloud-native 12-factor applications, a cloud application platform likely will be the best deployment method, he said. If users need more flexibility and developer-built containers for apps, or it they are using prepackaged apps delivered in a container, then Container Runtime will add control over application delivery.
A refresh of Googles critically acclaimed Pixel smartphones is expected Wednesday when the company holds its annual product launch event at the SFJAZZ center in San Francisco.

Although their features wont be known officially until Google raises the curtain on the phones at the event, leaks  including photos  have given the public a good idea of whats to come.

These are the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL https://t.co/cXCs560jNH pic.twitter.com/f3P47aeZ2I

 Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 2, 2017

The smaller of the two phones, the Pixel 2, is expected to have a 1080p FHD display with an aspect ratio of 16:9. Its larger brother, the Pixel XL, is believed to have a 6-inch, QHD+ display with an 18:9 ratio. The XL doesnt display as much screen real estate as some of the nearly edge-to-edge phones on the market, but the screen-to-body ratio of 80-85 percent does give the XL a thin bezel look.

The XL reportedly will support a Wide Color Gamut and include a Google Imaging Chip, and the 12-MP cameras in either one or both of the phones will support optical image stabilization.

Although there isnt a lot of flashy technology in either of the units, the XL may include an Active Edge feature on the left side of the phone that will allow you to mute calls and alarms, as well as launch Google Assistant, by squeezing the phone.

Google may be upping the storage ante by bundling unlimited Google Cloud storage with the mobiles.

Ditching Headphone Jack?

The new phones will have dual stereo speakers, based on several reports. That seems likely, especially for the XL, made by HTC  a company known for producing phones with loud, crisp, distortion-free sound.

Like other new smartphones, the new models may come without a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The new units reportedly are built around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset and run Android 8 Oreo.

Other features include an E-SIM card slot, which provides for connection to networks without replacing the phones SIM card; a second-generation Google fingerprint reader; IP67 dust and water resistance; and Gorilla Glass 5.

The Pixel 2 has a 2700 mAh battery, while the XL boasts a 3520 mAh power plant.

Both phones have 4 gigabytes of memory and either 64 or 128 gigabytes of storage. Pricing has been reported at US$649 (64 GB) and $749 (128 GB) for the Pixel 2. The XL will sell for $849 (64 GB) and $949 (128 GB).

The Pixel 2 will start shipping Oct. 19 and the XL Nov. 15.

Taking on Apple and Samsung

With the latest phones from Apple and Samsung already in the market, the new Pixel offerings are getting out of the blocks late. That may not be too much of a disadvantage, though, since the Pixels dont seem to be targeting likely iPhone X and Galaxy Note customers.

They seem to be more of a direct competitor to the Apple 8 and Galaxy S8, as opposed to the X and Note, which represent exceptional offerings, said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research.

Theyre premium products, but theyre not positioned as an absolute top-of-the-market, best-of-the-best, based on the specs out there now, he told TechNewsWorld.

Although features are important, Google has other ways to appeal to consumers shopping for an Android phone.

Where it can differentiate is on the tight integration between hardware, the Android OS and Googles services, no doubt using Android O,' observed David McQueen, research director for consumer devices at ABI research.

Hardware is less important to Google than services, he told TechNewsWorld. They want eyeballs on their services the way Facebook does.

Conventional Design

Hardware design seems to take a backseat to software in the Google universe.

The design of the new phones is fairly conventional, which is probably on purpose, said Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst at Tirias Research.

Google wants to feature the Android operating system above the physical aesthetics of the phone, he told TechNewsWorld. The phone should be functional, but its really the software that counts for user interaction.

That approach may be just right for the person Google is trying to reach with the Pixel.

The buyer of a Google Pixel phone is likely someone who is heavily invested in the Google ecosystem and wants the most pure Android experience and faster updates, Krewell said.

The first generation of Pixel phones, although receiving good critical notices, werent runaway bestsellers. However, that doesnt mean the phones arent doing what Google wants them to do.

Success is always nice, but the new Pixel solutions are part of a larger Google hardware ecosystem that includes Pixel Chromebooks, Home speakers and VR headsets that also leverage the companys growing services ecosystem, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

Neither Apple nor Samsung has anything that approaches those Google capabilities, he told TechNewsWorld.

Tough Sell

Capturing the attention of shoppers isnt a problem just for Google but for all smartphone makers  especially makers of Android phones, noted Bob ODonnell, chief analyst at Technalysis Research.

There some pretty nice Android phones out there, so its going to be tough for Googles phones to stand out, he told TechNewsWorld. Its going to depend on how theyre sold and where theyre sold  other aspects besides the pure tech.

One of Googles advantages is that it can offer a pure form of Android unadulterated by carriers or phone makers.

Yet up to now, theyve have only very modest success with the Pixel, ODonnell said. That suggests to me that Andoid buyers arent as interested in that as a differentiator.
Federal agencies have begun using an emerging information technology tool to manage the huge amount of data the United States government generates and stores. Federal IT managers recently have embraced the concept of convergence, which has been gaining traction in the private sector. Agencies also have indicated that the approach may be useful for other federal IT applications.

Spurred by several rounds of IT reform directives from the U.S. Congress and the White House Office of Management and Budget, agencies have begun seeking innovative methods to improve data storage. These efforts include shedding outdated legacy technologies in favor of more efficient and effective IT upgrades.

Converged systems have moved into the top echelon of these innovative options, according to a recent report from MeriTalk. Just over 70 percent of federal IT managers surveyed believed converged infrastructures would become the central housing mechanism for data center needs.

As agencies hit a crossroads of multiple mandates and legislative initiatives to reduce legacy systems, the conversation on optimization is moving to the next level, said Steve OKeeffe, founder of MeriTalk.

Converged infrastructure is the next step and gives agencies a way to meet the requirements of multiple mandates while saving money and modernizing federal IT systems, he said.

Providers Boost Trend

Vendors serving the federal market that have observed the convergence trend have been encouraging agencies to embrace the concept.

IT convergence requires integrating various components of the data management chain. For the MeriTalk study, we defined converged as a multivendor solution consisting of, at a minimum, servers, storage, networking and management layers managed through a single pane of glass, said Milo Speranzo, director of strategy and compliance at Tech Data.

That definition is consistent with the scope of elements in IDCs description of converged solutions: pre-integrated, vendor-certified systems containing server hardware, disk storage systems, networking equipment, and basic element and systems management software.

In addition to meeting federal IT mandates, agencies recently have become motivated to seek improved data management technologies simply due to the enormity of the task.

Seventy-three percent of survey respondents said that workloads had increased over the last three years, MeriTalk reported. Data volume increased substantially during that time frame, nearly 80 percent of respondents said. Almost 75 percent of respondents reported that user volume also had grown. Almost 60 percent of federal IT managers said their agencies were struggling to keep up with such workloads.

The report, which was based on a survey of 150 federal IT managers, was underwritten by Cisco, NetApp and Tech Data. MeriTalk released it last month.

The indications that federal agencies saw value in converged technologies were relatively strong, considering the frequently conservative posture of agencies toward innovation. For example, 59 percent of respondents said that converged infrastructure solutions were part of their agencys data center strategy, while 23 percent reported they had multiple convergence solutions in place.

Adoption has conformed with the federal Data Center Optimization Initiative issued just a year ago, with 60 percent of respondents reporting that convergence solutions were being used to replace working data centers. Fifty-seven percent said the technology was being used to replace end-of-life data centers, and 35 percent said their agencies were moving to converged solutions to establish new centers.

A Link to the Cloud

IT vendors who see convergence either as a good option or as an essential strategy for government agencies have been positioning themselves to respond to federal interest in the technology. Marketing strategies include making sure agencies are well aware of the convergence option, and developing products geared to federal requirements.

In addition, IT providers have been linking the use of convergence technologies to federal agencies growing demand for cloud technologies.

The data consolidation initiative is driving the majority of the opportunities for converged systems, Tech Datas Speranzo told the E-Commerce Times.

Federal IT managers appeared to struggle soon after a government data consolidation directive was released in 2010, because agencies then did not have access to repeatable and consumable converged solutions, he noted.

That has all changed, with our vendor community focused on filling this need, almost every end user we work with has converged solutions specified in their requirements to reach the goals established by OMB, Speranzo said.

The future of government IT, and the industry in general, will be a multicloud world. While many agencies will leverage the capabilities of the major cloud providers, many workloads are still best suited for private cloud deployments, said Nick Michaelides, vice president of federal sales at Cisco.

Convergence provides a common, scalable and flexible infrastructure platform that can be used as the foundation of a private cloud, or as an extension of a public cloud  such as Microsofts Azure Stack, he told the E-Commerce Times. Ultimately, true customer success will be gained from vendors who can provide both vertical stack integration, as well as horizontal integration across clouds.

Participants in the survey revealed the range of deployment strategies, with 55 percent of respondents reporting they were using convergence solutions with internal data centers; 53 percent were using them with private clouds; 39 percent with hybrid clouds; and 33 percent with public clouds.

Market Emerges but Challenges Remain

As with most innovations, the path to federal agencies adoption of convergence solutions will not be smooth  the situation needs to be addressed by vendors and agencies alike.

Security is one of the challenges the MeriTalk survey revealed. Forty-four percent of respondents were concerned about security. Other potential problems include limited funding, as noted by 39 percent of respondents; interoperability (24 percent); forced updates (23 percent) and vendor lock-in (21 percent).

The road to an integrated IT system should not be a daunting one, said Rob Stein, vice president for the U.S. public sector at NetApp.

Most of todays data centers and related systems cannot keep up with the growing amount of data within federal agencies. Integrating all the pieces of the data center together radically simplifies data management, especially in the new hybrid cloud world, he said.

Other IT vendors are aware of the potential market for converged solutions at the federal level. Merlin International and HyTrust earlier this year joined with NetApp to issue a report on federal agencies use of converged solutions, including a focus on security.

More than 90 percent of respondents to a Dell EMC survey of federal agencies considered mobility and converged infrastructure as key elements for future IT management, the company reported late last year.

That future could provide vendors with significant opportunities.

Respondents to the MeriTalk survey indicated that they saw potential for convergence not only for data storage but also for a variety of other purposes, including big data analytics, workforce productivity, agency-specific applications, business processing and virtual desktop infrastructure.
The Pirate Bay has come under fire for testing a Monero javascript miner as a possible means for generating new revenue to replace its current model of making money through advertising on the site.

It used a cryptocurrency miner from Coinhive, essentially hijacking the processing power of its own users to help generate revenue, TorrentFreak reported last week.

Limited Options

Monero is an open source digital currency, like bitcoin, with one important difference.

Monero is one of the few valuable cryptocurrencies that can be mined with CPU power, which is why it is the choice for many malware miners, said Sherrod DeGrippo, director, emerging threats, at Proofpoint.

Cryptocurrencies usually are mined with CPU power initially, she told LinuxInsider. Users then find ways to speed up the hashing before going to GPU. They build specialized hardware and field programmable gate array (FPGA) chips to carry out the hashing function in order to mine much faster.

Monero uses cryptonight algorithm, which so far as we can tell is fastest on CPU, DeGrippo added.

The miner has caused many users to see a sudden unexplained jump in CPU usage.

While few would quibble with the sites need to find additional revenue streams, some users were angered by the lack of prior notice.

You didnt make an effort to let us know beforehand?? commented user Zhangsun. You seem to lack respect for your users.

In the future, all coining scripts would be blocked, said Zhangsun, who also promised to notify the public the next time The Pirate Bay attempted to use any sneaky tactics on its users.

Par for the Course

That The Pirate Bay would engage in cryptocurrency mining doesnt come as a shock, given the issues it has dealt with over the years in seeking revenue  but in this case, the price of the ticket could be the long-term trust of its users, said Ed Cabrera, chief cybersecurity officer at Trend Micro.

Pirate Bay is a peer-to-peer file sharing service, and their primary income is advertising revenue. However, the revenue tends to be modest by comparison to the explosive growth of cryptocurrency in the last two years, he pointed out.

Ad-sponsored sites basically are user funded, to the extent that users want to endure ads and vendors want to place ads in front of those users, observed Paul Teich, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

The proper, civilized thing to do would be to offer users a range of funding options, such as ads, mining cryptocurrency and perhaps a simple annual donation, he suggested.

But Pirate Bay is, well, Pirate Bay, Teich added. If Pirate Bay elected to pirate some cycles from user computers, would we really not expect that?

Damage Done

The notion that The Pirate Bay effectively would borrow resources from its own users is not the problem, suggested Jessica Groopman, principal analyst at Tractica.

The outrage stems from the way it was done, she told LinuxInsider.

The notion of exploiting underused compute from across the network is one weve seen other businesses and universities consider as a way to leverage computing resources at night time or while students are away for the holidays, so this in and of itself is not far fetched, Groopman said. What raised eyebrows and anger around this was that Pirate Bay did so without informing its users.
If you need an example of digital disruption, you cant do better than the retail banking industry. A byzantine collection of rules and regulations plus the overhang of many legacy systems have conspired to prevent banks from becoming more involved with their customers.

Even innovations like the ATM, which entered the scene several decades ago, only serve to distance banks from their customers. This leaves plenty of opportunity for upstart technology vendors to disrupt the applecart.

Combine this with a generation of potential customers who were raised on digital products and services, and the result is that an important demographic is now up for grabs, setting the stage for disruption.

Making It Easy

Not long ago, Salesforce recognized those dynamics in play and moved to develop vertical applications for selected industries  including banking, where large institutions need to address the requirements of large customer bases. It came up with the Financial Services Cloud for Retail Banking, announced last week.

Some of what Salesforce delivers in its Financial Services Cloud will seem revolutionary to many bankers: things like a rich assortment of applications for all phases of banking, from loan origination to customer management.

However, a good chunk of the benefit comes directly from being a cloud solution with easy onboarding and updates scheduled three times per year.

Partnering Up

Where the Salesforce Financial Services Cloud differs from many banking products is in the way it brings together banking products resident in its AppExchange to deliver concerted solutions.

For example, nCino tells a powerful story of reducing loan origination time by orders of magnitude  not by building a closed system but by integrating other platform products.

Another example is Vlocity, also a partner with strong banking apps based on the cloud platform. It provides intelligent agent and omnichannel services for financial services and insurance.

In these and other relationships, you can see the Salesforce go-to-market approach solidifying. Partners bring expertise, which can be as big as loan origination or as specific as document signature capture. All of it goes into a solution that customers can craft for their specific industry needs.

Adding Specificity

As Ive noted many times before, when companies get to the multibillion-dollar revenue level, they cant expect to sell the same products in the same ways they did when their businesses were much smaller.

To show growth, a business needs help  and that means acquiring other complementary businesses and selling in concert with partners that can add specificity to the core product.

Salesforce has done both, and I look forward to hearing more about vertical strategies at Dreamforce.
The artificial intelligence speaker war is now being waged, and it is escalating. Today you can choose between Amazon Echo and Google Home. Harman Kardons Invoke is coming this fall. By the end of the year, Apples HomePod will be competing in the market, and Samsung has indicated it will join the fray as well. With all these choices, how can you determine which smart speaker is right for you?

Amazons Echo and Googles Home are the first generation of products in this new smart speaker and AI marketplace. They both do a good job at understanding the spoken word, searching the Web and your stored information, and providing what you are looking for  some of the time.

Early Entrants

These first-generation products struggle to understand what you are saying or asking and dont always deliver what you are looking for. The quality of the speakers is fine for the spoken word, but they leave lot to be desired if you are listening to music.

For audio quality, the Apple HomePod should have a competitive advantage when it arrives at the end of the year. Its speaker is much higher quality, making the music you play sound much better. Well have to wait a while longer before we know what else it can do better than the competition.

That better speaker alone will send Amazon and Google back to the drawing board to come up with better audio quality to stay competitive. Thank goodness for the competitive marketplace.

Harman Kardon also has a reputation for high-end audio. We have no idea of the audio quality or other cutting-edge advancements Samsungs product might offer. At this point, all we know is that the company aims to be a player in this space.

Next Generation

The reasons for choosing any of these devices actually are quite personal. They are not identical competitors, even though they all use AI and are considered smart speakers.

Its like comparing cars. Why do you drive the car you do? Personal preference. You actually might like another brand or car better, but you dont realize it because you havent tried it yet.

Customers who choose an Amazon Echo or Google Home typically do so because they like one brand better than the other. Many users really dont understand the differences between similar products. Choosing will only get more complicated when Apple, Samsung and others enter this space.

Which digital attendant do you prefer  Amazons Alexa, Googles Assistant, Microsofts Cortana, Apples Siri or Samsungs Bixby? Do you choose based on the device hardware or the AI software? (Harmon Kardons Invoke speaker is powered by Cortana.)

Many people use Apples iPhone, but though it comes with Siri, they prefer using Googles Assistant. There likely will be some mixing of services and devices with smart speakers as well.

Loss of Privacy

No matter which AI smart speaker you choose, you may want to be careful what you say when its in listening mode. Everything it hears, it likely will save on corporate servers, and that data might be accessible to unknown parties for unanticipated reasons at some future point.

This is an issue for those in their upper 20s and older, but not as much for the younger crowd. Todays youth are growing up in a world without privacy, so its not as much an issue for them. Its the older crowd who understands the loss of privacy and has the biggest problem with it. Its a very real downside to the AI growth wave.

As we get more comfortable being surrounded by listening devices, we will stop thinking about watching what we say. Loss of privacy is an unfortunate side effect of AI.
Conservation organizations announced Wednesday that Trader Joes has declared it will stop buying shrimp from Mexico. The popular grocery store chains decision follows pressure from organizations behind the Boycott Mexican Shrimp campaign, launched earlier this year to save the vaquita, the worlds smallest porpoise, from decades of decline due to entanglement in shrimp fishing gear.

Trader Joes declaration comes as Mexican authorities prepare this week to capture some of the fewer than 30 remaining vaquita in the Upper Gulf of California before all are lost to entanglement. The announcement puts new pressure on companies like Amazon that still sell Mexican shrimp.

International effort begins to capture and protect some of the last vaquita on Earth in a desperate effort to save these small porpoises from extinction. https://t.co/R2ws656XRk  Center for Bio Div (@CenterForBioDiv) October 6, 2017

The boycottsupported by more than 45 organizations, including the Animal Welfare Institute, Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Councilaims to conserve the vaquita by convincing Mexican officials to permanently ban all gillnet fishing, remove illegal nets from the water, and significantly increase enforcement efforts to save the species from extinction.

We are grateful that Trader Joes has listened to the tens of thousands of people who spoke out in support of our campaigns efforts to save the vaquita, said Kate OConnell, marine animal consultant at the Animal Welfare Institute. We hope that the Mexican government will take note of this decision and realize that U.S. consumers want nothing less than a total ban on all vaquita-deadly fishing gear.

For decades vaquita have been killed by entanglement in gillnet fishing gear used in the Upper Gulf of California to catch shrimp to supply the lucrative U.S. market. More recently gillnets have been used to illegally capture critically endangered totoaba, a large fish whose swim bladder is in high demand in Asia. The vaquita population has rapidly collapsed.

Trader Joes knows American shoppers dont support the reckless fishing practices that have nearly wiped out Mexicos beautiful little porpoise, said Tanya Sanerib, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. Other companies like Amazon need to stop selling vaquita-killing shrimp from Mexico. We can still save the last few vaquita, but only if Mexican officials act now to rein in illegal fishing practices.

The government of Mexico announced in June that it was implementing a partial ban on gillnet fishing in the Upper Gulf of California. That ban, however, falls short of what experts have said is needed to save the imperiled porpoise. The ban exempts two fisheriesthereby allowing continued use of gillnetsand fails to ban the possession, sale and manufacture of gillnets in the region. If the government of Mexico does not enact a genuine, permanent ban on the use of all gillnets throughout their entire habitat, the vaquita will be extinct in under three years.

For far too long, Mexico has neglected the one necessary change for the vaquitas survival: a 100 percent gillnet-free habitat, said Zak Smith, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Councils Marine Mammal Protection Project. With fewer than 30 vaquita left in the world, the time for half-hearted measures is over. Everything that can be done to save the vaquita should be done. But lets be clear: Unless the Mexican government can finally ensure a gillnet-free Upper Gulf of Mexico, the extinction of vaquita is guaranteed.

The organizations behind the Boycott Mexican Shrimp campaign have asked other companies to join Trader Joes and Monterey Fish Marketa California-based seafood retail and wholesale company that signed on to the boycott this summerto support the boycott and agree not to sell or source shrimp from Mexico.
By Itai Vardi

A newly appointed federal regulator charged with overseeing pipeline safety personally profits from oil spill responses, a DeSmog investigation has found.

Drue Pearce is the acting administrator for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), an agency in the Department of Transportation responsible for ensuring oil and gas pipeline integrity. However, she is also associated with a company specializing in the sale of oil spill equipment.

Pearce, a Republican from Alaska, was appointed on Aug. 7 by the Trump administration to serve as PHMSAs deputy administrator, a position that does not require U.S. Senate confirmation. However, since at the time the administration had yet to nominate an administrator for the agency, Pearce stepped into the role as acting administrator.

In early September, Trump finally nominated, and last Friday the Senate confirmed rail transport executive Howard Elliot as PHMSA administrator. Once Elliot formally takes the helm at PHMSA, Pearce will serve as his deputy.

Drue Pearce speaks on an April 2015 panel about Arctic economy and energy development. C-SPAN Screenshot

Pearces Oil Spill Business

Business records filed in the state of Alaska and reviewed by DeSmog show that since 2009 Pearce and her husband, Michael F. Williams, have owned Spill Shield Inc., an Anchorage-based company selling equipment for oil spill responses. The companys website offers various products, including booms, baffles, skimmers, absorbents and oil spill response kits.

The company advertises itself as the Arctics preferred partner for environmental compliance products & Oil Spill Response, and says its products are very popular in small northern communities, in mining industrial and construction industries, and fishing and hunting lodges.

From Spill Shield Inc.s February 2017 business filings, showing Pearces and her husband Michael Williams involvement in the company.

Since the couple first became involved in the company in 2009, Pearce was listed as its president and majority owner. On Sept. 14 this year, over a month after she began serving as PHMSAs acting administrator, her name was removed from Spill Shields filings. In her place, Pearces husband has assumed the role of president and majority owner.

Both Pearce and Williams are also registered in Alaska as owning a company by the name of Cloverland LLC, which shares the same Anchorage address as Spill Shield. Company records for Cloverland indicate it is involved in the sale of environmental response equipment. The relationship between Cloverland LLC and Spill Shield is unclear.

According to government spending records, since 2010 Spill Shield was awarded three different federal contracts. In 2010 and 2015, the company provided waste disposal equipment to the Department of Defense. In 2014 it supplied the Department of Commerce with similar equipment.

Ethical Questions

Adding another layer of complexity to this situation is the fact that Pearce also has a background as a Washington, DC and Anchorage lobbyist. Before her appointment to PHMSA, and in addition to owning Spill Shield, she headed public affairs at the law firm Hart & Holland LLP, where she focused on energy, natural resources and manufacturing industries. Prior to that, she worked as a lobbyist and senior policy advisor for the law firm Crowell & Moring LLP.

In addition, Pearce has a history of moving among politics, government and the private sector. A former state representative and president of the Alaska state Senate, she was appointed by the Bush-Cheney administration to serve as federal coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects, an independent federal agency charged with expediting the delivery of natural gas from Alaska to North American markets.

Pearces husband, Michael Williams, is a former oil executive, who worked at BP for many years.

Government ethics rules define a personal financial interest as instances in which a government employees immediate family membersincluding spousesreceive financial gain that may compromise the employees service of the public interest.

Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said that Pearces situation raises serious red flags.

Its important and disturbing to learn that a senior Trump administration official has a significant financial interest in oil spills. The fact that its an appointees spouse who owns a company, rather than the appointee, does not shield them from conflicts of interest scrutiny in either common sense or the law, Hauser told DeSmog.

But troublingly, Hauser added, the law generally allows appointees with particular conflicts of interest to work on issues of broad impact on a given sector even when common sense says that theyre hopelessly conflicted. That hole in the law was problematic under Barack Obama and previous presidents and has become catastrophic under Trump. Concern that the power of the federal government to do good is being subverted by people seeking to enrich themselves corrodes our democracy.

DeSmog has requested copies of Pearces financial disclosure, which executive branch officials must submit to ethics officers upon appointment. On Sept. 26, a representative of the Department of Transportations ethics office told DeSmog that Pearce needed to clarify a couple of items on the report and have the disclosure certified. The official said that the document will be provided to DeSmog ASAP, but at the time of publication it has yet to be supplied.

DeSmog also inquired whether, as acting administrator, Pearce filed an ethics agreement, which would detail which steps she plans to take in order to mitigate any potential conflicts.

In response, a PHMSA spokesperson said that Pearce will recuse herself from involvement in instances that might affect her finances.

In accordance with executive branch ethics laws, Ms. Pearce timely filed a Public Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 278e) that is under review by agency ethics officials, the spokesperson said. Under the ethics laws, Ms. Pearce is recused from participating in any particular matter that would have a direct and predictable effect upon the financial interests of any entity in which she holds a financial interest. Only Presidential appointees who are confirmed by the Senate file Ethics Agreements; here, because Ms. Pearce is not a Senate-confirmed appointee, she does not have an Ethics Agreement.

Reposted with permission from our media associate DeSmogBlog.
President Donald

Trump announced his nomination of Barry Myers, the CEO of private weather company AccuWeather, to lead the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the countrys foremost scientific agency for oceanic and climate research.

The White House praised Myers and his company for its highest grossing years, and its largest global web and mobile audience growth. He is one of the worlds leading authorities on the use of weather information.

But critics worry about the wealthy businessmans potential conflicts of interest, especially his support of a highly criticized bill that would have shifted taxpayer-funded National Weather Service data to for-profit companies. Companies such as AccuWeather and The Weather Channel.

Former NOAA scientist and manager Andrew A. Rosenberg, who is currently the director of the

Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote:

Basically, [AccuWeathers] business model is to take NOAA data and products on weather, developed with taxpayer dollars, and deliver them to the public in a proprietary form that customers want. [Myers] has been a strong

advocate against NOAA having the capability to provide such products directly to the public, hence the rather boring form of NOAA forecasts which is interpreted and commoditized by companies like AccuWeather and many others.

AccuWeather has been active in efforts to undercut the role of NOAA. In 2005, AccuWeather, under the leadership of Myers brother Dr. Joel Myers, worked with Senator Rick Santorum on

a bill to severely restrict the National Weather Services ability to provide weather forecasts to the public. The company donated to Santorums then Senate campaign and has been vocal about their interest in downsizing NOAA in the interest of privatizing weather forecasting.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), who now serves as the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, successfully blocked the bill from consideration.

Weve had ten hurricanes in ten weeks, I want to make absolutely sure any NOAA administrator will put the public first in delivering freely available weather forecasts, Nelson said in a statement provided to EcoWatch. We cant afford to have someone in this position that might be tempted to feather their own nest by privatizing the National Weather Service.

While its true that Myers knows the weather, NOAA has other crucial roles besides issuing daily forecasts. The agency produces important climate change research and manages the nations fisheries.

Opponents say that Myers, who has degrees in business and law, is unlike previous NOAA administrators who have prominent scientific backgrounds. For instance, President Obamas NOAA administrator Kathryn Sullivan is a geologist and former NASA astronaut.

If confirmed, it will be Myers duty to champion all facets of NOAA from the deep sea to outer space,

Ocean Conservancy CEO Janis Searles Jones said in a statement. Myers has had nearly forty years in the private weather industry but the stakes at NOAA are different.

He doesnt know much about climate or oceans, Cliff Mass, a meteorologist at the University of Washington, told Wired. That is going to be a problem. He doesnt have scientific credibility.

Trumps 2018 budget proposal cuts NOAAs budget by 17 percent to $4.8 billion, including cutting $230 million for grant and education programs. According to Wired, Mass and others argue that cutting basic research into the oceans, atmosphere, and climatethe taxpayer-funded research done by NOAA and NWSwill lead to less reliable weather modeling by private firms like AccuWeather as well as federal models like the Global Forecast System.

However, those who support Myers say that his business background is a plus.

Myers will bring that Big Data acumen to NOAA and likely accelerate a process that has slowly been underway: more private-sector collaboration with satellite data, weather models and other information services, Ryan Maue, a weather model product developer for Weather.us, told the

Associated Press.

Ray Ban, co-chair of Weather Coalition, also told the Washington Post, In an Administration that places high value on business acumen, Barry brings a strong track record in growing one of the most successful companies in the weather industry.

If confirmed, Myers at least has a well-respected No. 2 for support. The Senate has already confirmed former Navy oceanographer Rear. Adm. Timothy Gallaudet as assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere. Gallaudet has masters and doctoral degrees in oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California.

The

Consortium for Ocean Leadership and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research have applauded the pick. And as Rosenberg wrote, To be fair, I believe that Admiral Gallaudet, former oceanographer of the Navy is an excellent choice for NOAA, as do others I respect.

Finally, David Titley, a meteorologist at Pennsylvania State University, in State College and a former chief operating officer for NOAA, wondered about Myers role in an administration

hostile towards climate action.

How is he going to reconcile the overwhelming and ever-strengthening evidence of climate change and its direct relationship to man-made emissions, and statements from the White House and cabinet secretaries that ignore that link? Titley noted to

Science.

Myers position on climate change is unclear. We have said to our scientists, if you have special skills in climate, if you want to voice your professional opinion, our platforms are open to you, Myers told the Wall Street Journal in 2014. We do not want people getting involved in the political aspect of this debate.
Freedom, Moon girls poised for PIAA semifinal soccer matchups against familiar foes

The Freedom Bulldogs and Moon Area Tigers girls' soccer teams are poised for PIAA semifinal soccer Tuesday. Here's what to know ahead of the matchups.
Bottom Line: New potential biomarkers and a novel algorithm could help identify patients at increased risk of suffering from severe neurotoxicity after receiving CD19 CAR T-cell therapy. The study extensively characterized common and occasionally fatal side effects of this immunotherapy.

Journal in Which the Study was Published: Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Authors: Cameron J. Turtle, MBBS, PhD, associate member at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, associate professor at the University of Washington, and attending physician on the Immunotherapy Service at Fred Hutch.

Background: On August 30, 2017, the FDA approved the first CD19 CAR T-cell therapy, tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah), for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in certain pediatric and young adult patients. Different CD19 CAR T-cell therapies are being developed and tested, and reports show that a small number of patients who received certain forms of this therapy in clinical trials have died from severe neurotoxicity.

Turtle and colleagues sought to provide a detailed clinical, radiological, and pathological characterization of neurotoxicity arising from CD19 CAR T-cell therapy.

How the Study Was Conducted: The researchers used data from a clinical trial in which 133 adult patients with relapsed and/or refractory CD19 B-cell ALL, non-Hodgkin lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia were treated with lymphodepletion chemotherapy followed by infusion of JCAR014, a type of CD19 CAR T-cell therapy developed at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Within 28 days of treatment, 53 patients (40 percent) developed grade 1 or higher neurologic adverse events and of these 28 (21 percent) had grade 3 or higher neurotoxicity; alterations in neurologic status completely resolved in a majority of cases. Four of the 133 patients (3 percent) developed fatal neurotoxicity.

Results: Turtle and colleagues found that patients with an early onset of CRS were at increased risk of subsequently developing severe neurotoxicity. While tocilizumab (Actemra), an IL-6R antagonist approved by the FDA to treat CRS, was effective in ameliorating CRS-related fever and hypotension in most patients, the team found that its role in preventing or treating neurotoxicity is less clear.

Patients who experienced neurotoxicity were mostly younger and had B-cell ALL, higher tumor burden, and more CD19-positive cells in the bone marrow, compared with those who did not develop this side effect. Data also revealed that those with severe neurotoxicity had endothelial activation, which could contribute to manifestations such as capillary leak, blood coagulation abnormalities, and disruption of the blood-brain barrier that were observed in patients with severe CRS and neurotoxicity.

Turtle and colleagues developed a predictive classification tree algorithm based on the side effects, including fever, and high serum IL-6 and MCP-1, to identify patients, within the first 36 hours after CAR T-cell infusion, who are at increased risk for severe neurotoxicity. Patients at increased risk for this adverse event may benefit from early intervention, Turtle noted; however, he pointed out that additional studies are required.

Authors' Comments: "CD19 CAR T-cell therapy is a highly effective, novel treatment modality that has rapidly expanded in the cancer research and treatment field over the past few years, including recent approval of one form of this therapy by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA]," said Turtle.

"There is understandably anxiety about some of the side effects of CD19 CAR T-cell therapy, but these treatments have been very effective for a subgroup of patients with resistant disease," he said. "It is important to understand the side effects, such as cytokine release syndrome [CRS] and neurological toxicity."

Enormous improvements have been made in the last few years in strategies to minimize the risk of toxicity, Turtle noted. "Because CAR T-cell therapy is so new, we are still learning how to improve the delivery and reduce the side effects," he added.

Limitations: Limitations of the study include that the characterization of side effects was only from patients who received JCAR014 and not other forms of CD19 CAR T-cell therapies, Turtle said.

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Funding & Disclosures: This research was funded by the National Cancer Institute, Juno Therapeutics Inc., Life Science Discovery Fund, the Bezos family, the University of British Columbia Clinical Investigator Program, and institutional funds from Bloodworks Northwest. Turtle receives research funding from Juno Therapeutics, holds patents licensed by Juno, and has pending patent applications that could be licensed by nonprofit institutions and for-profit companies, including Juno.

Fred Hutch, where Turtle and other co-authors are employed, has a financial interest in Juno, and receives licensing and other payments from the company.

To interview Cameron Turtle, contact Julia Gunther at julia.gunther@aacr.org or 215-446-6896.

Follow us: Cancer Research Catalyst http://blog.aacr.org; Twitter @AACR; and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

About the American Association for Cancer Research

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 37,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and patient advocates residing in 108 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 30 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with nearly 19,500 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes eight prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients, and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration, and scientific oversight of team science and individual investigator grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and other policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR, visit http://www.AACR.org.
Five new studies highlight results from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission, an endeavor to map out the world's carbon cycle from space. The data provide valuable insights, particularly in terms of understanding the effects of the El Nino weather pattern, a periodic fluctuation in sea surface temperature and air pressure in the Pacific Ocean that causes climate variability over the course of years or even decades. The first study, by Annmarie Eldering et al., describes the overall mission and its initial results. Launched in July 2014, OCO-2 has been consistently gathering data of carbon patterns around the globe over the course of 16-day cycles, collecting roughly 2 million estimates of carbon levels each month. The aim is to understand how natural land and ocean sinks vary from year-to year, and even season-to-season. The data reveal a striking change in the carbon cycle in the Northern Hemisphere across seasons, where in the spring there's a dramatic uptake of carbon by terrestrial plants. During the winter, however, carbon uptake by plants is minimal while the breakdown or decay of plant material feeds carbon back into the atmosphere. As a result of this cycle, together with the continual emissions from fossil fuel burning (particularly over China, Europe, and the southeast United States), carbon levels reach a seasonal maximum in the Northern Hemisphere during April, just before terrestrial plants begin to soak up more carbon.

A study by Junjie Liu et al. highlights ways in which the 2015 El Nino altered the net flux of carbon from terrestrial vegetation, or net biosphere exchange (NBE), in the tropics. The authors report that the increase of NBE in the tropics resulted in the release of about 2.5 gigatons more carbon into the atmosphere in 2015 than in 2011. Even though the three tropical continents, Asia, Africa and South America, had comparable NBE anomalies in 2015 relative to 2011, different processes drove these changes in each region. The researchers found that increased carbon release from biomass burning in tropical Asia, lower precipitation in South America, and increased temperatures in Africa were key drivers, the latter two of which are hallmarks of El Nino. The authors note that lower precipitation in South America and higher temperatures in Africa are changes that are expected to occur by the end of this century due to climate change. Therefore, they suggest that the role of tropical land as a buffer for fossil fuel emissions may be reduced in the future.

In a different study, Abhishek Chatterjee et al. use OCO-2 data from above the Pacific and Atlantic oceans to pinpoint the magnitude and timing of El Nino in influencing the carbon cycle - a phenomenon that is widely inferred but not directly observed. The authors combined in situ data from buoys and OCO-2 data to detect a near-total shutdown of sea-to-air flux of carbon during the 2015-2016 boreal winter, which was affected by El Nino, relative to the neutral 2014-2015 boreal winter. The authors also detected El Nino-driven fluctuations in carbon associated with terrestrial sources, such as drought and fires.

A study by Florian Maximilian Schwandner et al. demonstrates the ability of the OCO-2 to track carbon emissions from individual cities and volcanoes. As part of an scheme with a set of 233 orbit paths that repeat in 16-day cycles, the path of the OCO-2 regularly goes above Los Angeles, providing scientists the opportunity to directly observe carbon emission from the megacity, revealing variations between the urban and suburban areas, as well as seasonal variations in anthropogenic carbon levels. The researchers also used OCO-2 to track carbon emissions from a volcano, Yasur, in Vanuatu, finding that local emission measurements confirmed the tool's efficacy.

A final study by Ying Sun et al. discusses how a tool onboard the OCO-2 helps better constrain the relationship between a common indicator for photosynthesis and plant biomass production. Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is a technique to quantify photosynthesis. Previous studies have suggested that SIF is correlated with Gross Primary Production (GPP), the amount of biomass created by plants via photosynthesis, yet this relationship has been difficult to prove. The authors compare SIF data with ground-based and airborne observations of terrestrial vegetation at several test locations, finding that the data do a good job at tracking GPP.

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New research suggests that the last common ancestor of apes--including great apes and humans--was much smaller than previously thought, about the size of a gibbon. The findings, published today in the journal Nature Communications, are fundamental to understanding the evolution of the human family tree.

"Body size directly affects how an animal relates to its environment, and no trait has a wider range of biological implications," said lead author Mark Grabowski, a visiting assistant professor at the Eberhard Karls University of Tubingen in Germany who conducted the work while he was a postdoctoral fellow in the American Museum of Natural History's Division of Anthropology. "However, little is known about the size of the last common ancestor of humans and all living apes. This omission is startling because numerous paleobiological hypotheses depend on body size estimates at and prior to the root of our lineage."

Among living primates, humans are most closely related to apes, which include the lesser apes (gibbons) and the great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans). These "hominoids" emerged and diversified during the Miocene, between about 23 million to 5 million years ago. Because fossils are so scarce, researchers do not know what the last common ancestors of living apes and humans looked like or where they originated.

To get a better idea of body mass evolution within this part of the primate family tree, Grabowski and coauthor William Jungers from Stony Brook University compared body size data from modern primates, including humans, to recently published estimates for fossil hominins and a wide sample of fossil primates including Miocene apes from Africa, Europe, and Asia. They found that the common ancestor of apes was likely small, probably weighing about 12 pounds, which goes against previous suggestions of a chimpanzee-sized, chimpanzee-like ancestor.

Among other things, the finding has implications for a behavior that's essential for large, tree-dwelling primates: it implies that "suspensory locomotion," overhand hanging and swinging, arose for other reasons than the animal simply getting too big to walk on top of branches. The researchers suggest that the ancestor was already somewhat suspensory, and larger body size evolved later, with both adaptations occurring at separate points. The development of suspensory locomotion could have been part of an "arms race" with a growing number of monkey species, the researchers said. Branch swinging allows an animal to get to a prized and otherwise inaccessible food--fruit on the edges of foliage--and larger body would let them engage in direct confrontation with monkeys when required.

The new research also reveals that australopiths, a group of early human relatives, were actually on average smaller than their ancestors, and that this smaller size continued until the arrival of Homo erectus.

"There appears to be a decrease in overall body size within our lineage, rather than size simply staying the same or getting bigger with time, which goes against how we generally think about evolution," Grabowski said.

###

Support for this work was provided in part by the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program.

Nature Communications paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00997-4

American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History, founded in 1869, is one of the world's preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. The Museum encompasses 45 permanent exhibition halls, including the Rose Center for Earth and Space and the Hayden Planetarium, as well as galleries for temporary exhibitions. It is home to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial, New York State's official memorial to its 33rd governor and the nation's 26th president, and a tribute to Roosevelt's enduring legacy of conservation. The Museum's five active research divisions and three cross-disciplinary centers support approximately 200 scientists, whose work draws on a world-class permanent collection of more than 34 million specimens and artifacts, as well as specialized collections for frozen tissue and genomic and astrophysical data, and one of the largest natural history libraries in the world. Through its Richard Gilder Graduate School, it is the only American museum authorized to grant the Ph.D. degree and the Master of Arts in Teaching degree. Annual attendance has grown to approximately 5 million, and the Museum's exhibitions and Space Shows can be seen in venues on five continents. The Museum's website and collection of apps for mobile devices extend its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs to millions more beyond its walls. Visit amnh.org for more information.

Follow

Become a fan of the Museum on Facebook at facebook.com/naturalhistory, and follow us on Instagram at @AMNH, Tumblr at amnhnyc, or Twitter at twitter.com/AMNH.
October 12, 2017, Cleveland: Back-to-back discoveries from Cleveland Clinic demonstrate for the first time how a testosterone-related genetic abnormality can help predict individual patient responses to specific prostate cancer therapies.

The studies, published in the October 12 issue of JAMA Oncology, suggest that men who inherit this variant would benefit from a personalized treatment plan that targets specific hormonal pathways.

The research teams, led by Nima Sharifi, M.D., of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, studied the role of the HSD3B1(1245C) genetic variant in two different prostate cancer patient populations, following androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). ADT works by blocking prostate cancer's supply of male hormones in the testes. It is a cornerstone treatment for recurrent prostate cancer, but it often stops working, allowing cancer to progress and spread. In 2013, Dr. Sharifi discovered that prostate cancer cells with the genetic abnormality survive ADT by producing their own androgens.

In the first new study, Dr. Sharifi and colleagues from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Harvard/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center analyzed 213 men whose prostate cancer recurred after radiation therapy and underwent ADT. They found for the first time that following radiation and ADT, prostate cancer was much more likely to spread--and spread rapidly--in men who had the HSD3B1(1245C) variant.

The second study, performed in collaboration with researchers at University of California San Francisco, examined a group of 90 men with metastatic cancer that had become resistant to ADT. These patients were subsequently treated with the drug ketoconazole, which blocks the production of androgens outside of the testes (e.g., those developed by prostate cancer cells that are evading ADT treatment).

Surprisingly, men with the genetic anomaly fared better on ketoconazole than men without the variant. This finding raises the possibility that targeting variant tumors' backup androgen supply (outside of the testes) could be a successful strategy when ADT fails.

"We hypothesized that HSD3B1(1245C) variant tumors become resistant to ADT because they have a backup supply of androgens," said Dr. Sharifi. "However, relying on these extra-gonadal androgens makes them more sensitive to ketoconazole."

These discoveries complement earlier studies and support the use of HSD3B1(1245C) as a predictive biomarker to help guide critical treatment decisions. While the outlook of patients with this gene variant is poor, these studies offer hope for a new treatment strategy for these men, and more studies are needed using next-generation androgen inhibitors, such as abiraterone and enzalutamide.

"We are hopeful that these findings will lead to more personalized and effective treatments for prostate cancer," said Dr. Sharifi. "If men carry a specific testosterone-related genetic abnormality we may be able to personalize their therapy and treat specific patients more aggressively."

Dr. Sharifi is also a member of the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute and Taussig Cancer Institute of Cleveland Clinic. He holds the Kendrick Family Chair for Prostate Cancer Research at Cleveland Clinic and co-directs Cleveland Clinic's Center of Excellence for Prostate Cancer Research. In 2017 he received a Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement award from the Clinical Research Forum for his landmark discovery that men who carry the HSD3B1(1245C) variant are more likely to die from their disease.

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This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Prostate Cancer Foundation, American Cancer Society, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and grants from the National Cancer Institute.

About Cleveland Clinic

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

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

About the Lerner Research Institute

The Lerner Research Institute is home to Cleveland Clinic's laboratory, translational and clinical research. Its mission is to promote human health by investigating in the laboratory and the clinic the causes of disease and discovering novel approaches to prevention and treatments; to train the next generation of biomedical researchers; and to foster productive collaborations with those providing clinical care. Lerner researchers publish more than 1,500 articles in peer-reviewed biomedical journals each year. Lerner's total annual research expenditure was $260 million in 2016 (with $140 million in competitive federal funding, placing Lerner in the top five research institutes in the nation in federal grant funding). Approximately 1,500 people (including approximately 200 principal investigators, 240 research fellows, and about 150 graduate students) in 12 departments work in research programs focusing on heart and vascular, cancer, brain, eye, metabolic, musculoskeletal, inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. The Lerner has more than 700,000 square feet of lab, office and scientific core services space. Lerner faculty oversee the curriculum and teach students enrolled in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (CCLCM) of Case Western Reserve University - training the next generation of physician-scientists. Institute faculty also participate in multiple doctoral programs, including the Molecular Medicine PhD Program, which integrates traditional graduate training with an emphasis on human diseases. The Lerner is a significant source of commercial property, generating 64 invention disclosures, 15 licenses, 121 patents, and one new spinoff company in 2016. Visit us at http://www.lerner.ccf.org. Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/CCLRI.
Retinoblastoma is a tumor of the retina that generally affects children under 5 years of age. If not diagnosed early, retinoblastoma may result in loss of one or both eyes and can be fatal. Unlike most cancers that are diagnosed using a biopsy, retinoblastoma tumors cannot be directly biopsied. Although it is one of the first cancers to have its genetic origin identified, ocular oncologists have not been able to use this information to optimize treatment since they can only access the tumor if the affected eye is removed (called enucleation) in the course of treatment. A recent study by a team of investigators at the Vision Center of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California (USC) Roski Eye Institute, part of Keck Medicine of USC, provides proof of concept for a safe and effective way to derive genetic information from the tumor without removing the eye. Results of the study will be published in JAMA Ophthalmology on October 12, 2017.

Retinoblastoma was one of the first tumors to have its genetic origin identified; the RB1 retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene mutation was discovered by A. Linn Murphree, MD, a co-author on this paper, who established the Retinoblastoma Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. However, ocular oncologists have been limited in their ability to use this genetic information to inform diagnosis and the application of personalized treatments since removing tissue from the tumor in the back of the eye could spread tumor cells outside of the eye or even to the rest of the body, resulting in a far worse prognosis for the patient.

Retinoblastoma is treated using chemotherapy given either intravenously or through the ophthalmic artery. There are limits, however, to the amount of drug that actually reaches the eye. As a result, relapse does occur due to small tumor particles that break off - or seed - from the main tumor. The treatment for these seeds changed dramatically in 2012 when intraocular injections of chemotherapy were shown to be safe and effective. In order to inject chemotherapy directly into the eye, it is first necessary to remove a small amount of fluid, called aqueous humor, from the front of the eye, to decrease the pressure within the eye prior to injection of the medication.

Previously, this fluid was simply dispensed after the procedure. "Just as I was discarding the aqueous humor, I wondered if there was a possibility it contained tumor-derived genetic material we could use to better treat our patients," said Jesse Berry, MD, ocular oncologist at CHLA, assistant professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at the USC Roski Eye Institute and first author on the study. "In fact, we found measurable amounts of tumor DNA - genetic information from the tumor that had previously been completely unavailable from an intact eye."

"Chromosomal changes from DNA found in the aqueous humor corroborates the chromosomal changes found in the retinoblastoma tumor," said James Hicks, PhD, professor of Biologic Sciences at the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience and professor at the Keck School of Medicine at USC. "These findings provide proof of principle that the aqueous humor can be used for a surrogate 'liquid' tumor biopsy."

The study reported on six samples from three eyes affected with retinoblastoma, in children less than 3 years of age. Two of the eyes had been removed primarily for treatment of the disease; the third eye was receiving intraocular injections as therapy but ultimately had to be removed due to disease recurrence. Aqueous humor was taken from all three eyes and allowed investigators to compare tumor DNA in the aqueous humor to DNA found in the retinoblastoma tumor.

"Until now, we could only do genetic analysis - and base therapy on the specific pathologic tumor features - when there was no longer a possibility of saving the eye," said Thomas C. Lee, MD, director of the Vision Center at CHLA and associate professor at the USC Roski Eye Institute. "In the future we hope to have the capability to specifically target therapy to the type of tumor and can anticipate better outcomes for children with retinoblastoma."

The team of investigators plans future studies to compare tumor DNA from eyes that have been saved to those that need to be removed due to tumor recurrence.

"This research has the potential to completely transform how we treat children with retinoblastoma," said Jonathan W. Kim, MD, director of the Retinoblastoma Program at CHLA and also director of the ocular oncology service at USC Roski Eye Institute. "This is one of the most significant findings in retinoblastoma research in the past 20 years."

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Additional contributors to the study include Jonathan W. Kim, director of the Retinoblastoma Program at CHLA, Subramanian Krishnan, Kevin Stachelek, Emily Zolfaghari, and Kathleen McGovern of the Vision Center at Children's Hospital Los Angeles; Liya Xu, Anders Carlsson and Peter Kuhn of the University of Southern California.

This work was funded by Bright Eyes, the Nautica Foundation and the Knights Templar Eye Foundation. Additional support was provided by: Retinoblastoma International, Inc; the Larry and Celia Moh Foundation; the Institute for Families, Inc, Children's Hospital Los Angeles; Research to Prevent Blindness; the Vicky Joseph Research Fund; the Carol Vassiliadis Research Fund; and the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

About Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been ranked the top children's hospital in California and sixth in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. CHLA is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children's Hospital is also one of America's premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932. For more information, visit CHLA.org. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram, and visit our child health blog (CHLA.org/blog) and our research blog (ResearCHLABlog.org).

About the USC Roski Eye Institute

The USC Roski Eye Institute, part of the Keck Medicine of USC university-based medical enterprise, has been a leader in scientific research and innovative clinical treatments for more than 40 years. Ranked No. 2 in National Eye Institute (NEI) research grants for academically-based ophthalmology departments and nationally ranked in U.S. News & World Report's annual "Best Hospitals" issue for more than 24 years, the USC Roski Eye Institute is headquartered in Los Angeles with clinics in Arcadia, Beverly Hills and Pasadena. Faculty physicians are also the exclusive ophthalmic doctors affiliated with L.A. County + USC Medical Center (LAC+USC) and Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). Learn more: usceye.org

About the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience

The USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience brings together a diverse network of premier scientists and engineers from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Keck School of Medicine of USC to solve some of the greatest intractable problems of the 21st century - from cancer, to neurological disease, to cardiovascular disease. The team of world-class scientists representing several disciplines -biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, medicine, nanomedicine, neuroscience, and physics - will be the catalyst that precipitates a sea change in research and development at USC and the world, establishing a model for innovation in precision medicine that quickly translates from the bench to the bedside in the form of new drug therapies, cures, high-tech diagnostics and biomedical devices. With a generous $50 million gift from Gary K. Michelson, a retired orthopedic spinal surgeon, and his wife, Alya Michelson, the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience is an opportunity for USC to transform and influence the course of scientific discovery and biomedicine for generations to come.

Media contacts:

Ellin Kavanagh, kavanagh@chla.usc.edu;

323-361-8505

Sherri Snelling, sherri.snelling@med.usc.edu;

949-887-1903
Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) has long been a source of intrigue and mystery. How did such a small community of people build so many impressively large statues? And what happened to cause that community to collapse? Researchers have also been curious about what kind of contact Rapa Nui's inhabitants, known as Rapanui, might have had with South Americans prior to the arrival of Europeans. Earlier evidence seemed to support early contact between the Rapanui and Native Americans .

But a new study of ancient DNA evidence collected from archaeological samples and reported in Current Biology on October 12th calls those findings back into question. The new study finds no genetic evidence that ancient inhabitants of Rapa Nui intermixed with South Americans. While the findings can't exclude the possibility that cultural contact took place between the two populations, if long-distance treks across the ocean did occur, "they did not leave genetic traces among the individual samples," said Lars Fehren-Schmitz of the University of California, Santa Cruz. "We were surprised that we didn't find any Native American admixture in our ancient Rapanui specimens."

The idea that there had been early Pacific contact with South America, or even that a Southern Pacific migration route contributed to the peopling of the Americas, has been a long-standing debate in the field. In their new study, Fehren-Schmitz and colleagues wanted to find out what DNA from ancient Rapanui samples had to say on the matter.

The researchers sequenced DNA from five individual samples representing Rapanui both before and after European contact. They report that the DNA, including both complete mitochondrial genomes and low-coverage autosomal genomes, indicates that the DNA of the sampled individuals falls within the genetic diversity of present-day and ancient Polynesians.

"We can reject the hypothesis that any of these individuals had substantial Native American ancestry," Fehren-Schmitz said. "Our data thus suggest that the Native American ancestry in contemporary Easter Islanders was not present on the island prior to European contact and may thus be due to events in more recent history."

The new study highlights the value of ancient DNA for testing hypotheses about the past. It's clear from earlier evidence that living Rapanui do have a small proportion of Native American ancestry. But, the researchers in the new study say, "it is especially difficult to disentangle movements of people in the prehistoric period from more recent times." The question remains: How and when did this population exchange happen?

The researchers say they'd now like to generate genome-wide data from additional ancient Oceania and western South American populations. The goal is to develop a more detailed picture of the populations that lived within each of these regions and potential interactions among them.

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This research was funded by a University of California Presidential Research Catalyst Award, with additional support from the Swedish Research Council and the National Science Foundation.

Current Biology, Fehren-Schmitz and Jarman et al.: "Genetic Ancestry of Rapanui before and after European Contact" http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(17)31194-6

Current Biology (@CurrentBiology), published by Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that features papers across all areas of biology. Current Biology strives to foster communication across fields of biology, both by publishing important findings of general interest and through highly accessible front matter for non-specialists. Visit: http://www.cell.com/current-biology. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.
HANOVER, N.H. - Oct. 12, 2017 - Concentration of carbon dioxide during an intense period of global warmth may have been as low as half the level previously suggested by scientists, according to a new Dartmouth College study.

The study found that carbon dioxide may have been less than 1000 parts per million, or ppm, during the Earth's early Eocene period. This runs counter to thinking that concentration levels were as high as 2000 ppm in the same time frame.

By comparison, current levels of carbon dioxide observed at NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory are around 400 ppm.

"This research provides important information about the planet's climate past and adds an important chapter to the Earth's history book," said Ying Cui, Obering Postdoctoral Fellow at Dartmouth College.

Climate researchers focus on the early Eocene, a so-called "super greenhouse" period, to better understand how the Earth historically responds to changes in carbon dioxide levels, and to help make better climate projections. Both the Arctic and Antarctic were ice-free in this time period as temperatures averaged about 10 degrees Celsius warmer than present day.

The early Eocene was also characterized by five periods of extreme warmth -- known as hyperthermals -- that occurred between 52-56 million years ago when the Earth warmed an additional 2 C - 8 C above the already higher temperatures.

Although there were no cars or power plants 56 million years ago, the same carbon rich in the isotope carbon-12 was released into the atmosphere. Up until now, researchers have grappled with where that carbon came from, what triggered its release, and to what extent carbon dioxide accounted for warming relative to other greenhouse gases.

Unable to access information on carbon dioxide from ice cores that only date back approximately 800,000 years, the research team used a new method to reconstruct levels of carbon dioxide associated with the temperature spikes within the early Eocene.

The Dartmouth research result was derived by assessing past carbon dioxide concentrations using sediment samples found in terrestrial and deep-sea drilling sites. The ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-13 isotopes in those samples helped the team determine that the most likely source of the carbon came from thawing permafrost during the period studied.

"This changes our understanding of what the concentration of carbon dioxide should be in relationship to global temperature as well as how we should revisit climate models in order to better project future climate change," Cui said.

While the Dartmouth research, published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, finds that the carbon was most likely released by permafrost thaw, there is still question as to what triggered the warming that caused the release of extra carbon into the atmosphere. Separate research points to the roles of extreme volcanic activity and water vapor during Earth's earlier warming periods.

"The challenge is to reconstruct what the past carbon dioxide concentration is and to utilize these geochemistry proxies the best we can - essentially, how can we best interpret these records using geological archives," said Cui.

Although focusing on a timeframe that is over 50 million years ago, Cui says the research relates directly to efforts to understand the Earth's current warming trend, and to project how human activities and other natural dynamics could impact future warming.

"The geologic past can provide a useful insight into our understanding of current and future environmental change," said Cui. "Policy makers, economists and others who study projections on temperature can utilize this information to see how ecosystems recover after rapid change of climate and use it as lessons for the future."

The research team hopes to use the new technique to broaden understanding of the role of carbon dioxide for a longer stretch of Earth's history.

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"Ozone depletion is a well-known phenomenon and, thanks to the success of the Montreal Protocol, is widely perceived as a problem solved," says University of East Anglia's David Oram. But an international team of researchers, led by Oram, has now found an unexpected, growing danger to the ozone layer from substances not regulated by the treaty. The study is published today in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, a journal of the European Geosciences Union.

Thirty years ago, the Montreal Protocol was agreed to phase-out chemicals destroying the ozone layer, the UV-radiation shield in the Earth's stratosphere. The treaty has helped the layer begin the slow process of healing, lessening the impact to human health from increased exposure to damaging solar radiation. But increasing emissions of ozone-destroying substances that are not regulated by the Montreal Protocol are threatening to affect the recovery of the layer, according to the new research.

The substances in question were not considered damaging before as they were "generally thought to be too short-lived to reach the stratosphere in large quantities," explains Oram, a research fellow of the UK's National Centre for Atmospheric Science. The new Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics study raises the alarm over fast-increasing emissions of some of these very short-lived chemicals in East Asia, and shows how they can be carried up into the stratosphere and deplete the ozone layer.

Emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals in places like China are especially damaging because of cold-air surges in East Asia that can quickly carry industrial pollution into the tropics. "It is here that air is most likely to be uplifted into the stratosphere," says co-author Matt Ashfold, a researcher at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. This means the chemicals can reach the ozone layer before they are degraded and while they can still cause damage.

One of the new threats is dichloromethane, a substance with uses varying from paint stripping to agricultural fumigation and the production of pharmaceuticals. The amount of this substance in the atmosphere decreased in the 1990s and early 2000s, but over the past decade dichloromethane became approximately 60% more abundant. "This was a major surprise to the scientific community and we were keen to discover the cause of this sudden increase," says Oram.

"We expected that the new emissions could be coming from the developing world, where industrialisation has been increasing rapidly," he says. The team set out to measure air pollution in East Asia to figure out where the increase in dichloromethane was coming from and if it could affect the ozone layer.

"Our estimates suggest that China may be responsible for around 50-60% of current global emissions [of dichloromethane], with other Asian countries, including India, likely to be significant emitters as well," says Oram.

The scientists collected air samples on the ground in Malaysia and Taiwan, in the region of the South China Sea, between 2012 and 2014, and shipped them back to the UK for analysis. They routinely monitor around 50 ozone-depleting chemicals in the atmosphere, some of which are now in decline as a direct consequence of the Montreal Protocol.

Dichloromethane was found in large amounts, and so was 1,2-dichloroethane, an ozone-depleting substance used to make PVC. China is the largest producer of PVC, which is used in many construction materials, and its production in the country has increased rapidly in the past couple of decades. But the rise in dichloroethane emissions was unexpected and surprising because the chemical is both a "valuable commodity" and "highly toxic", says Oram. "One would expect that care would be taken not to release [dichloroethane] into the atmosphere."

Data collected from a passenger aircraft that flew over Southeast Asia between December 2012 and January 2014 showed that the substances weren't only present at ground level. "We found that elevated concentrations of these same chemicals were present at altitudes of 12 km over tropical regions, many thousands of kilometres away from their likely source, and in a region where air is known to be transferred into the stratosphere," says Oram.

If the chemicals that were now discovered in unexpectedly large amounts can reach the ozone layer in significant quantities, they can cause damage. "We are highlighting a gap in the Montreal Protocol that may need to be addressed in the future, particularly if atmospheric concentrations continue to rise," Oram concludes.

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Please mention the name of the publication (Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics) if reporting on this story and, if reporting online, include a link to the paper or to the journal website.
FRANKFURT. The immune system monitors the health status of the cells in our bodies by examining a kind of molecular passport. Sometimes cells present the wrong passport, which can lead to autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammation, or cancer. In the new issue of the journal Science (first release), scientists of the Goethe University Frankfurt have now elucidated the mechanism of how the correct molecular passport is selected.

Most cells provide the T cells of the adaptive immune system with information about their condition by presenting selected components of their interior (antigens) on their surface. If these components include fragments of viruses or altered cell components, the affected cell is eliminated by the T cells. The selection of the antigens is crucial in this process. Presenting the wrong antigens leads to either healthy cells being attacked by the immune system - causing autoimmune diseases or chronic inflammation - or to diseased cells not being recognized, allowing cancer cells or virus-infected cells to escape immune surveillance.

Dr. Christoph Thomas and Prof. Robert Tampe from the Institute of Biochemistry at Goethe University have now unraveled on a molecular level how antigens are selected in the cell for presentation on the cell surface. The protein structure they present shows for the first time the kind of quality control antigens undergo to enable a precise and effective immune response.

Our work solves a 30-year-old problem of cellular immunity, in particular how antigens associated with tumors or pathogens are selected through processes of editing and quality control in order to generate a specific immune response explains Prof. Robert Tampe the significance of the publication.

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Publication:

Christoph Thomas, Robert Tampe: Structure of the TAPBPR-MHC I complex defines the mechanism of peptide loading and editing, Science (Oct 12, 2017, First Release)

An image for downloading can be found here: (https://www.dropbox.com/s/t4k1u37h01s0p20/TAPBPR_complex_space_filling.png?dl=0)

Figure legend: Space-filling model of the solved protein complex responsible for the selection of antigens

Contacts:

Prof. Dr. Robert Tampe

49-69-798- 29475

tampe@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Journal Science

Dr. Christoph ThomasInstitute of Biochemistry, Campus RiedbergGoethe University Frankfurt, Germany
In a paper published today in Developmental Cell, the group of Carl-Philipp Heisenberg at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), including first author and PhD student Vanessa Barone, sheds light on how a cell's fate is determined. They for the first time report a positive feedback loop between the duration of cell-cell contacts and the specification of a cell's fate.

In our bodies, cells do not just sit next to each other. Instead, neighbouring cells can form contacts with each other: connections of different size, strength and duration which reach from one cell to another. Heisenberg and his group used the zebrafish, a small fish frequently used to study animal development, to investigate whether signalling between cells and cell-cell contact formation affect each other, and influence how a cell's fate is determined.

The researchers looked at progenitor cells within the forming anterior axial mesendoderm that give rise to either the head mesoderm or endoderm of the developing embryo. In this system, the authors identified a positive feedback loop between cell-cell contact formation and cell fate specification: when mesendoderm progenitor cells form long-lasting cell-cell contacts, the cells become head mesoderm, while in case they only form short-lasting contacts, they will form endoderm. Cell-cell contact formation and cell fate specification promote each other by contact formation triggering high Nodal/TGF-mediated cell-cell signalling, required for head mesoderm cell fate specification and differentiation, and Nodal signalling, in turn, promoting cell-cell contact formation. The authors thereby identify cell-cell contact duration - as opposed to e.g. the number or size of cell-cell contacts - as a key feature in controlling the level of cell-cell signalling determining binary cell fate decisions during embryonic development

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Carl-Philipp Heisenberg, an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) as well as of the Leopoldina - the German National Academy of Sciences - , joined IST Austria in 2010. He and his group study vertebrate morphogenesis using multi-disciplinary approach employing a combination of genetic, cell biological, biochemical and biophysical techniques. Earlier this year, he obtained an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council. First author Vanessa Barone was a student in his group and graduated from IST Austria's PhD program this summer. The interdisciplinary graduate school of IST Austria which she attended offers fully-funded PhD positions in the natural and mathematical sciences: http://phd.ist.ac.at/

IST Austria

The Institute of Science and Technology (IST Austria) is a PhD granting research institution located in Klosterneuburg, 18 km from the center of Vienna, Austria. Inaugurated in 2009, the Institute is dedicated to basic research in the natural and mathematical sciences. IST Austria employs professors on a tenure-track system, postdoctoral fellows, and doctoral students at its international graduate school. While dedicated to the principle of curiosity-driven research, the Institute owns the rights to all scientific discoveries and is committed to promote their use. The first president of IST Austria is Thomas A. Henzinger, a leading computer scientist and former professor at the University of California in Berkeley, USA, and the EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland. http://www.ist.ac.at
WOODS HOLE, Mass.--For the octopus and cuttlefish, instantaneously changing their skin color and pattern to disappear into the environment is just part of their camouflage prowess. These animals can also swiftly and reversibly morph their skin into a textured, 3D surface, giving the animal a ragged outline that mimics seaweed, coral, or other objects it detects and uses for camouflage.

This week, engineers at Cornell University report on their invention of stretchable surfaces with programmable 3D texture morphing, a synthetic "camouflaging skin" inspired by studying and modeling the real thing in octopus and cuttlefish. The engineers, along with collaborator and cephalopod biologist Roger Hanlon of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, report on their controllable soft actuator in the October 13 issue of Science.

Led by James Pikul and Robert Shepherd, the team's pneumatically-activated material takes a cue from the 3D bumps, or papillae, that cephalopods can express in one-fifth of a second for dynamic camouflage, and then retract to swim away without the papillae imposing hydrodynamic drag. (See video of live Octopus rubescens expressing skin papillae; credit Grayson Hanlon.)

"Lots of animals have papillae, but they can't extend and retract them instantaneously as octopus and cuttlefish do," says Hanlon, who is the leading expert on cephalopod dynamic camouflage. "These are soft-bodied molluscs without a shell; their primary defense is their morphing skin."

Papillae are examples of a muscular hydrostat, biological structures that consist of muscle with no skeletal support (such as the human tongue). Hanlon and members of his laboratory, including Justine Allen, now at Brown University, were the first to describe the structure, function, and biomechanics of these morphing 3D papillae in detail.

"The degrees of freedom in the papillae system are really beautiful," Hanlon says. "In the European cuttlefish, there are at least nine sets of papillae that are independently controlled by the brain. And each papilla goes from a flat, 2D surface through a continuum of shapes until it reaches its final shape, which can be conical or like trilobes or one of a dozen possible shapes. It depends on how the muscles in the hydrostat are arranged." The engineers' breakthrough was to develop synthetic tissue groupings that allow programmable, 2D stretchable materials to both extend and retract a range of target 3D shapes.

"Engineers have developed a lot of sophisticated ways to control the shape of soft, stretchable materials, but we wanted to do it in a simple way that was fast, strong, and easy to control," says lead author James Pikul, currently an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania. "We were drawn by how successful cephalopods are at changing their skin texture, so we studied and drew inspiration from the muscles that allow cephalopods to control their texture, and implemented these ideas into a method for controlling the shape of soft, stretchable materials."

"This is a classic example of bio-inspired engineering" with a range of potential applications, Hanlon says. For example, the material could be controllably morphed to reflect light in its 2D spaces and absorb light in its 3D shapes. "That would have applications in any situation where you want to manipulate the temperature of a material," he says.

Octopus and cuttlefish only express papillae for camouflage purposes, Hanlon says, and not for locomotion, sexual signaling, or aggression. "For fast swimming, the animal would benefit from smooth skin. For sexual signaling, it wouldn't want to look like a big old wart; it wants to look attractive, like a cool-looking mate. Or if it wanted to conduct a fight, the papillae would not be a good visual to put into the fight. Signaling, by definition, has to be highly conspicuous, unambiguous signals. The papillae would only make it the opposite!"

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Citation:

J.H. Pikul, S. Li, H. Bai, R.T. Hanlon, I. Cohen and R.F. Shepherd (2017) Stretchable surfaces with programmable 3D texture morphing for synthetic camouflage skins. Science DOI:

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is dedicated to scientific discovery - exploring fundamental biology, understanding marine biodiversity and the environment, and informing the human condition through research and education. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution and an affiliate of the University of Chicago.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - A group of international cancer researchers led by investigators from Mayo Clinic and University of New South Wales Sydney has found that the level of a type of white blood cell, called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, present in the tumors of patients with high-grade ovarian cancer may predict a patient's survival. Results of the study by the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis Consortium were published today in JAMA Oncology.

"We know that a type of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte called cytotoxic CD8 are present in the tumors of patients with high-grade ovarian cancer," says Matthew Block, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic oncologist who co-led the research team with Ellen Goode, Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Genetic Epidemiology and Risk Assessment Program. "However, little was known about the role in fighting high-grade ovarian cancer, compared to other clinical factors."

To help answer this question, researchers studied more than 5,500 patients from nine different countries, including 3,196 with high-grade ovarian cancer. Researchers found that patients with high-grade ovarian cancer showed the most infiltration with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, which were associated with longer overall survival.

"This study shows the higher the level of cytotoxic CD8 tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in a tumor, the better the survival for patients with high-grade ovarian cancer," says Dr. Block. "Developing a better understanding of factors that increase cytotoxic CD8 tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes will be the key to developing treatments to achieve better outcomes in treating patients with high-grade ovarian cancer.

"This is by far the largest study of this type and would not have been possible without scientists from North and South America, Europe and Australia all working together," says Susan Ramus, Ph.D., University of New South Wales Sydney.

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About Mayo Clinic Cancer Center

As a leading institution funded by the National Cancer Institute, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center conducts basic, clinical and population science research, translating discoveries into improved methods for prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. For information on cancer clinical trials, call the Clinical Trial Referral Office at 1-855-776-0015 (toll-free).

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to clinical practice, education and research, providing expert, comprehensive care to everyone who needs healing. For more information, visit mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic or newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.
Late last month, a stratovolcano in Bali named Mount Agung began to smoke. Little earthquakes trembled beneath the mountain. Officials have since evacuated thousands of people to prevent what happened when Agung erupted in 1963, killing more than 1,000 people.

Before volcanoes erupt, there are often warning signs. Tiny earthquakes rarely felt by humans but sensed by seismographs emanate from the volcano. Plumes of water vapor rise from the crater. When the volcano begins to emit gases like carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, eruption may be imminent.

But getting close to the top of a volcano is dangerous work. Using remote sensing to detect rising carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions without endangering people or equipment would greatly increase human understanding of volcanoes. Remote sensing emissions could prevent humanitarian disasters--and false alarms.

Mount Agung hasn't erupted yet (at the time this article was written), but seismic activity remains intense. Balinese officials are beginning to wonder if an eruption truly is imminent; the people who were evacuated from the area want to return to their homes and tourism is down.

Researchers including Michigan Technological University volcanologist Simon Carn have published a collection of papers including "Spaceborne detection of localized carbon dioxide sources" in the journal Science; the article details the first-known measurement of localized anthropogenic and natural carbon dioxide sources from a satellite in low-Earth orbit.

The five papers in the OCO-2 Science Special Collection showcase the abilities of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite; measurements from the satellite's sensors provide insights into how carbon links everything on Earth. The research is supported by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Monitoring CO2 Emissions From Space

The paper Carn co-authored discusses how the research team has taken high-resolution, sensitive spaceborne measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide at the kilometer scale. This data reveals that the satellite's sensors are able to pinpoint localized sources of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere--a difficult task considering the sheer amount of background carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to begin with.

The satellite uses spectrometry; the sensors onboard the satellite measure reflected sunlight--radiation--in high-spectral resolution using wavelengths undetectable to the human eye. When light passes through carbon dioxide, some is absorbed by the gas. The remaining light bounces off the ocean and the Earth. The OCO-2 sensors measure the light that bounces back to quantify what was absorbed by carbon dioxide, allowing scientists to isolate emission sources, whether human or natural.

"The main focus of the article is detecting localized, point-source emissions of carbon dioxide as opposed to measuring the broad-scale concentration in the atmosphere," says Carn, an associate professor in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences. "Volcanoes can be strong, localized sources of carbon dioxide. But on a global basis, all available evidence indicates that human activities are emitting much more carbon dioxide than volcanoes."

The OCO-2 satellite's spatial resolution--2.25 kilometers--is high enough that chemical signals are not diluted. However, while OCO-2's measurements are unprecedented, the satellite cannot be used as a routine volcano monitoring tool because it does not pass over the same place on the Earth frequently enough.

"This is a demonstration that the technique does work, but we need better sensors before it becomes a routine monitoring tool, especially for volcanoes where we expect rapid changes in gas emissions," Carn says. "If we could measure volcanic carbon dioxide from space routinely, it would be a very powerful addition to the techniques we use. That kind of observation would be useful (for Agung) right now."

Carn combed through satellite data to find detectable spaceborne carbon dioxide measurements from three volcanoes in the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. One of these, Mount Yasur, has been erupting since at least the 1700s, and on the day of the OCO-2 measurement was emitting carbon dioxide about 3.4 parts per million above background atmospheric levels, equal to about 42 kilotons of emissions. In comparison, human emissions average 100,000 kilotons a day.

OCO-2's sensors also measured carbon dioxide emissions over the Los Angeles basin, detecting a sort of carbon dioxide "dome". Urban areas account for more than 70 percent of anthropogenic emissions.

"Natural processes on Earth are currently able to absorb about half of human fossil fuel emissions," says Annmarie Eldering, OCO-2 deputy project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and lead author of an overview paper in Science on the state of OCO-2 science. "If those natural processes falter, slowing down the helpful removal of carbon dioxide, greenhouse-gas-induced warming would accelerate and intensify. These data begin to give us a better view of how climate affects the carbon cycle, reducing the huge uncertainty around how both might change in the future."

The OCO-2 measurements across Los Angeles were detailed enough to capture differences in concentrations within the city resulting from localized sources. They also tracked diminishing carbon dioxide concentrations as the spacecraft passed from over the crowded city to the suburbs and out to the sparsely populated desert to the north.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. Oct. 12 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today honored several land-grant university partners during its annual Day of Appreciation ceremony. Those honored were recognized for supporting NIFA's mission to advance agricultural research, education, and extension to solve significant societal challenges.

"NIFA is committed to supporting the research, education, and extension efforts of its land-grant university partners," said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. "We value the contributions of the teams of researchers, educators, and extension professionals whose scientific discoveries and educational efforts positively impact our nation's food and agricultural systems."

The 2017 NIFA Partnership Awards were presented in three different categories to institutions whose work with NIFA support has resulted in exceptional impacts.

The Mission Integration of Research, Education, and Extension award honors teams of individuals who work across all three of NIFA's mission areas to produce positive outcomes in agriculture, the environment, communities, or people. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) cause illness in both humans and cattle, and STEC-related illness and death cost the U.S. more than $400 million each year. The STEC CAP grant executive management team at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln led a team from 18 institutions to develop integrated approaches to prevent STEC contamination and outbreaks throughout the beef production and processing chain.

The Multistate Efforts award recognizes partnership projects that respond to critical needs important to each project leader's state. Field corn (Zea mays) is one of the world's most important cereal grains, and 40 percent of global supply is produced in the United States. Heat stress during the growing season can reduce field corn yield, which may lead to higher prices and food shortages. The Corn Heat Stress Adaptation Team, led by the University of Florida, developed multiple corn lines that produced greater yields under high-temperature conditions.

The Innovative Programs and Projects award acknowledges a project that uses a unique combination of resources and disciplines to enact positive outcomes in response to important regional or national issues. Each year in the U.S., there are approximately 20 million cases of norovirus that result in up to 800 deaths. North Carolina State University leads the NoroCORE Food Virology Collaborative, a group of researchers and stakeholders in basic, food, and environmental virology working to reduce the burden of foodborne disease associated with viruses, particularly noroviruses. In a major breakthrough, the team successfully cultured the human norovirus in intestinal cells, which may lead to new vaccines and treatments.

The agency also inducted four individuals into NIFA's Hall of Fame, established in 2011 to recognize exceptional contributions to NIFA's mission at the local, regional, national, or international level and have made a positive impact on humans.

Michel Desbois served as deputy director of NIFA's Office of Information Technology (OIT) and chief information officer and was responsible for all information technology (IT) resources and applications for the agency. He provided strategic leadership and direction in overall IT, including anticipating future needs and requirements to help NIFA meet its goals and objectives. Desbois holds a Bachelor of Science in agricultural engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a master's degree in information systems from George Mason University.

Dr. John Phillips is executive director of First Americans Land Grant Consortium (FALCON) and the land-grant director at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC). Dr. Phillips also served as the first liaison between 1994 land-grant institutions and the USDA. He has been instrumental in representing the interests of the 1994 land-grant institutions and contributing to the social and economic well-being of their communities. Dr. Phillips earned his doctorate in rural sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, a Master of Science in environmental systems from Humboldt State University, California, and a bachelor's degree in computer science from California State University, Sacramento.

Dr. Catherine Woteki served as USDA undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics and chief scientist where she provided leadership responsibility for advancing scientific knowledge through research, extension, and education and elevated the stature of agricultural science. Woteki also served as the USDA's first undersecretary for Food Safety. An active member of the National Academy of Medicine, she returned as a professor to Iowa State University's Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, where she previously served as dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of the Agriculture Experiment Station. She earned a bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from Mary Washington College and a doctorate in human nutrition from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Michael Young retired this year as the USDA budget officer and director of the Office of Budget and Program Analysis (OBPA). He also served as chief of the Budget Control and Analysis Division of OBPA. Prior to his leadership roles, he was a program analyst for USDA Research, Education and Extension programs and a budget analyst for the Food and Nutrition Service. During his tenure with OBPA, Mr. Young facilitated the advancement of USDA research and the NIFA mission as evidenced by his conscientious review and management of NIFA's program budgets. He holds a bachelor's degree in botany from Colorado State University and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University.

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NIFA's mission is to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and extension to solve societal challenges. NIFA's investments in transformative science directly support the long-term prosperity and global preeminence of U.S. agriculture. To learn more about NIFA's impact on agricultural sciences, visit http://www.nifa.usda.gov/Impacts, sign up for email updates, or follow us on Twitter @USDA_NIFA, #NIFAImpacts.

USDA is an equal opportunity lender, provider, and employer.
SAN FELIPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA - An international team of experts has gathered in San Felipe, Mexico at the request of the Mexican government (SEMARNAT) and has begun a bold, compassionate plan known as VaquitaCPR to save the endangered vaquita porpoise from extinction. The vaquita porpoise, also known as the 'panda of the sea,' is the most endangered marine mammal in the world. Latest estimates by scientists who have been monitoring the vaquita for decades show there are fewer than 30 vaquitas left in the wild. The vaquita only lives in the upper Gulf of California.

The project, which has been recommended by the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA), involves locating, rescuing and then temporarily relocating the vaquitas to an ocean sanctuary off the coast of San Felipe. The explicit goal of CPR is to return the vaquitas to their natural habitat once the primary threat to their survival has been eliminated. Experts from Mexico, the United States, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom are all working together on VaquitaCPR.

"Rescuing these animals and placing them in a temporary sanctuary is necessary to protect them until their natural habitat can be made safe," said Dr. Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, lead vaquita expert and chair of CIRVA. "We realize that capturing even a few vaquitas will be very difficult, but if we don't try the vaquita will disappear from the planet forever."

VaquitaCPR field operations, including efforts to locate and bring vaquitas into temporary sea pens, begin on October 12 and are expected to continue for several weeks.

In an unprecedented move in April of 2015 that demonstrated Mexico's commitment to conservation, President Pena Nieto announced a two-year gillnet ban throughout the vaquitas' range, compensated fishermen and related industries for their loss of income, and enhanced multi-agency enforcement of the ban led by the Mexican Navy. In June of 2017, the ban on gillnet fishing was made permanent. The government also launched an extensive survey of the vaquita population using an approach that included both visual monitoring and advanced techniques that use sound to locate the animals. All told, the Mexican government has committed more than $100 million in an effort to protect the vaquita and support the local fishing community.

"This critical rescue effort is a priority for the Mexican government and we are dedicated to providing the necessary resources in order to give the plan its best chance of success," said Rafael Pacchiano, Mexico's Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources. The plan will be implemented in tandem with ongoing efforts to remove the threat of gillnets in the Upper Gulf of California and eliminate illegal fishing.

A crucial part of CPR is the acoustic monitoring system that will help to locate the remaining vaquitas. This monitoring has been supported since 2012 by WWF and operated by the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change of Mexico (INECC) to help estimate the vaquita's population, and will continue during the CPR operations. WWF will also continue supporting the retrieval of lost or abandoned "ghost" nets, many of them illegal, which drift aimlessly and continue to entangle and kill vaquitas and other marine species. Both the acoustic monitoring and the net retrieval are conducted with the help and experience of local fishermen.

"Although this effort faces a lot of uncertainty and is highly risky, WWF recognizes it as a necessary action to save the vaquita from extinction. WWF supports CPR with the sole aim of returning a healthy vaquita population to the wild, and as such our primary focus will continue to be ensuring a healthy, gillnet-free Upper Gulf of California where both wildlife and local communities can thrive. We remain hopeful that together with all actors, we will see the CPR effort become a success", said Jorge Rickards, CEO of WWF Mexico.

VaquitaCPR is led by Mexico's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). The National Marine Mammal Foundation, Chicago Zoological Society and the Marine Mammal Center are primary partners in this extraordinary conservation effort.

"The international team of experts that have stepped up to save the most endangered marine mammal on the planet is extraordinary and a project like this has never been tried before," said Cynthia Smith, Executive Director of the National Marine Mammal Foundation. "VaquitaCPR is important because if this conservation model works, we may be able to use a similar approach to save other marine mammals that face extinction."

VaquitaCPR operates as a private and public partnership, relying on both private donors and government funds. VaquitaCPR has many key collaborators including the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and groups like the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Baja Aqua Farms, and Museo de la Ballena.

"The rescue project is, quite literally, the last chance to save the vaquita," said Dan Ashe, President and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. "We know and accept that the rescue plan is risky, but if we do nothing, extinction of the vaquita is certain. Zoos and aquariums have a proud history of working to save species from extinction, including black-footed ferrets, the California condor, the Florida manatee and the blue iguana. AZA and its members are proud to stand with the Mexican government and the VaquitaCPR coalition. Together, we will do everything we can to prevent the extinction of the vaquita."

As part of VaquitaCPR, large floating sea pens will be anchored off the coast of San Felipe, where veterinarians and animal care experts will carefully monitor the health of any vaquitas that are successfully rescued. The sea pens have been designed and built by Baja Aqua Farms, a fish farm operation based in Ensenada.

"Baja Aqua Farms believes strongly in the work being done to save the vaquita and we're so glad we are able to help," said Benito Sarmiento, CEO of Baja Aqua Farms. "Our communities all need to work together, not only to protect the wildlife in the Gulf of California, but also to support a sustainable fishing economy in Mexico that can continue into the future.

The Museo de la Ballena's mission is to promote the knowledge, study and conservation of cetaceans. Since the museum initiated a conservation operation last year, its vessel has succeeded in retrieving more than 900,000 linear feet of 'ghost' and illegal fishing nets. The museum is providing key logistical support for the VaquitaCPR team. "The vaquita porpoise is a national treasure in Mexico and we are committed to helping save this species for future generations," said museum Operations Director Diego Ruiz.

In order to make the Gulf safe for the vaquita in the future, experts agree it's important to prevent illegal fishing of the also-endangered totoaba fish and to support alternative economies for the fishing community.

The plight of the vaquita continues to gain increasing international attention after actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim signed an agreement committing Mexico to save the vaquita, identifying specific conservation goals.

VaquitaCPR has been adopted by Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT) on the recommendation of their expert advisory group, the Comite Internacional Para La Recuperacion De La Vaquita (CIRVA).

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VaquitaCPR is an international conservation program led by SEMARNAT in coordination with the National Marine Mammal Foundation, The Marine Mammal Center, and the Chicago Zoological Society. Key collaborators in Mexico include Instituto Nacional de Ecologia and Climate Change (INECC), Asociacion Mexicana de Habitats para la Interaccion y Proteccion de Mamiferos Marinos (AMHMAR), Museo de la Ballena, and Baja Aqua Farms. United States collaborators include Duke University and the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contributing technical support. World Wildlife Fund is contributing with acoustic monitoring and the retrieval of lost or abandoned "ghost" nets from vaquita habitat. European collaborators include Dolfinarium Harderwijk, Aarhus University, and Fjord&Baelt. Additional support and expertise has been offered from Dolphin Quest, SeaWorld, and the Vancouver Aquarium. VaquitaCPR operates as a private and public partnership, relying on both individual donors and government grants. VaquitaCPR has received generous financial support from the Mexican government, Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Global Wildlife Conservation, Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks & Aquariums, Africam, International Marine Animal Trainer's Association, Waitt Foundation, Disney Conservation Fund, YAQU PACHA, and the Firedoll Foundation. For information about the plan, visit http://www.nmmf.org/vaquitacpr-espanol.html

To support the rescue effort, learn more about the vaquita and for information about VaquitaCPR, visit VaquitaCPR.org
The 2017 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to Richard H. Thaler of the University of Chicago "for his contributions to behavioral economics." Thaler's research incorporates findings from psychology into the analysis of economic decision-making. Examples include the examination of extreme sensitivity to losses relative to gains on financial decisions and how perceptions of fairness affect consumers' purchase decisions and limit the ability of firms to change prices.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) supported Thaler for research into investor decisions in retirement planning. This project helped to establish behavioral analysis of financial markets.

NSF Director France Cordova issued the following statement on the announcement:

The groundbreaking work of Richard Thaler has helped launch behavioral economics as a field of basic research. NSF is proud to have supported his work on how individuals rely on short-term horizons in making financial decisions that have long-term consequences for market outcomes. His work has been used by governments and employers around the world to make it easier for people to achieve their goals for health and retirement.

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Heaviest rainfall in Ophelia was found south of the center by the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite as it passed overhead and analyzed the storm with radar from space.

On Monday Oct. 9, 2017 at 11 a.m. EDT/AST (1500 UTC) tropical depression seventeen was upgraded to Tropical Storm Ophelia. Ophelia strengthened into a hurricane on Oct. 11 over the open waters of the eastern Atlantic, southwest of the Azores.

The GPM core observatory satellite had a good view of Ophelia when it was a tropical storm on Oct. 10 at 2:46 p.m. EDT/AST (1846 UTC). GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) revealed that the storm was organized but most of the rainfall in the storm was only of light to moderate intensity. GPM's Ku band radar swath covers 151.9 miles (245 km). GPM's radar (DPR Ku Band) showed that rain was falling at a rate of almost 3.2 inches (81 mm) per hour in the strongest band of showers located on the southern side of the tropical storm.

GPM's radar data (DPR Ku Band) were used in a 3-D view to show the precipitation structure of storm tops within tropical storm Ophelia. Strong convective storms south of the tropical cyclone's center of circulation were reaching heights of almost 7.44 miles (12 km). GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.

Infrared satellite data on Oct. 12 revealed that cloud top temperatures surrounding the stronger Hurricane Ophelia's eye were between minus 50 and minus 70 degrees Centigrade (minus 58 and 94 Fahrenheit). NASA research has shown that storms with cloud tops that cold have the capability to generate heavy rainfall.

Location and Status on Oct. 12

At 11 a.m. EDT/AST (1500 UTC) on Oct. 12 the eye of Hurricane Ophelia was located near 30.5 degrees north latitude and 35.6 degrees west longitude. That's about 715 miles (1,145 km) southwest of the Azores. Ophelia is drifting north-northeastward around 2 mph (4 kph). A slow northeastward motion is expected to begin later today, followed by a faster east-northeastward motion on Friday and Saturday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 90 mph (150 kph) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is forecast during the next 48 hours. Ophelia is a small storm and hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles (35 km) from the center. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 km). The estimated minimum central pressure is 978 millibars.

The NHC said that interests in the eastern Azores should monitor the progress of Ophelia.

Ophelia is expected to move into the northeastern Atlantic and become extra-tropical by Sunday, Oct. 15 as it interacts with a potent mid-latitude trough (elongated area of low pressure) moving eastward across the north Atlantic Ocean.

The NHC forecasts that Ophelia will later affect Ireland and then Scotland early next week.

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For forecast updates on Ophelia, visit: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.
Coral reefs harbor an incredible diversity of life, both sea creatures we can see and microbial life that we cannot. These organisms generate an enormous number of molecules as they eat food, photosynthesize, reproduce and ward off infections. Researchers have identified several coral reef-derived molecules as having medicinal properties, such as secosteroids, which are steroid compounds used to treat inflammatory disorders; or the chemical compound bryostatin 1, derived from an invertebrate coral reef denizen known as bryozoans and being evaluated as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Yet many thousands more coral reef molecules with medicinal potential are unknown to science. A study led by San Diego State University biologists describes a promising new method for screening the molecular output of reef life for important chemical properties, which could make it much easier to identify the next generation of coral reef-derived drugs and better understand the diversity of molecules found in the ocean.

"We know what so few of these molecules are and what they do," said the paper's lead author, Aaron Hartmann, a postdoctoral biologist with a dual appointment at SDSU and the Smithsonian Institution. "That's a pretty big roadblock to developing therapeutic drugs derived from them."

Hartmann led the study alongside SDSU biologist Forest Rohwer and colleagues from the University of California, San Diego; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany; Imperial College London; the CARMABI Foundation Curacao; the University of Amsterdam, and Bangor University in Wales. Rohwer co-leads the SDSU Viral Information Institute, a world leader in viral ecology research.

Molecular fingerprints

Working with chemist Pieter Dorrestein's laboratory at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at UC San Diego, the researchers analyzed tissue samples from corals, algae and fungus collected by Rohwer and others on coral reefs near the remote Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean.They isolated each organism's molecules and sent them through an instrument called a mass spectrometer that measured each molecule's mass. Next, they broke the molecules apart with a laser and measured the masses of those pieces.

Molecules tend to break apart in predictable ways, so by measuring the mass of these chemical pieces, the researchers were able to come up with a set of "molecular fingerprints"--patterns in the chemical profiles that point to the presence of particular molecules.

However, knowing its chemical fingerprint alone can't tell you what a specific molecule does if it hasn't been described before. The database of known molecules represents only a very small fraction of the molecules that exist, Hartmann explained.

To get around that limitation, the researchers next employed an ingenious trick. They used an algorithm created in Dorrestein's lab to screen these molecular fingerprints, and if the chemical makeups of two unknown molecules were similar, they were flagged as related molecules. Hartmann and Daniel Petras, a postdoctoral chemist at UC San Diego, then explored the chemical reactions of these unknown molecules to get a better idea of how they behave.

This analysis helps answer a long-standing mystery in marine biology: Why do coral reefs have such vast molecular diversity? Comparing even very closely related organisms, the researchers discovered each had different molecular fingerprints, suggesting that these organisms can modify the same molecules differently to suit their particular biological niches.

In other words, even closely related organisms might face different health challenges depending on their geographic location, for example, and therefore tweak their molecules just slightly to better defend themselves. The researchers reported their results today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Potential therapeutic value

"Molecular relatedness can tell you about the potential chemical reactions exhibited by these unknown molecules," Hartmann said. "That, in turn, can tell you something about their potential therapeutic value."

So instead of screening each individual molecule one-by-one to see if it has medicinal properties, this technique would allow drug discovery scientists to easily hunt for chemical properties exhibited by known drugs. These newly discovered molecules might have benefits over known drugs--more potent, for example, or with fewer side effects.

"Using this method, we're not held back by the fact that our molecular database is pretty sparse," Hartmann said. "If you know what chemical reactions are important, you can then go looking for molecules with those properties."

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This research was was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the European Union and the German Research Foundation
New York, New York -- A devourer of worlds lurks around 350 light-years away. According to a recent study comparing the chemical composition of a pair of sunlike stars, one of the stars has consumed the rocky equivalent of 15 Earths.

"Even if our sun ate the entire inner solar system, it wouldn't come close to the anomaly we see in this star," says study coauthor David Hogg, group leader for astronomical data at the Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) at the Flatiron Institute.

Dubbed Kronos after the child-eating Titan of Greek mythology, the star is the clearest and most dramatic case yet of a sunlike star consuming its own planets, says Semyeong Oh, an astrophysicist at Princeton University and lead author of the new study. She predicts that future surveys of the gluttonous star's planetary system could provide new insights into how solar systems form and evolve.

Oh and Hogg coauthored the study with CCA director David Spergel, Adrian Price-Whelan of Princeton University, and John Brewer and Justin Myles of Yale University. They posted the study to arXiv.org on September 15.

The research didn't begin as a hunt for a planet-eater. Oh was analyzing a catalog of new star data collected by the European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft for pairs of stars with similar speeds and trajectories. Such duos are typically twin stars that formed close together from the same ingredients.

After presenting her work at a Flatiron Institute meeting, she connected there with Brewer, who was conducting an analysis of the chemical compositions of stars. Comparing their datasets -- hers of information on binary stars and his on stars' chemical composition -- the researchers identified Kronos and Krios, which appeared in both the binary-star and stellar-composition datasets.

The combined data didn't make sense at first, Oh says. Binary stars are typically near-identical twins. Kronos and Krios, however, have vastly different chemical makeups, including the largest difference in metal content of any binary system yet studied.

The team weighed other possible explanations for the chemical discrepancy. Potential explanations include one star being older than the other; the two stars forming from different gas clouds; or the parent gas cloud not being well mixed. Based on properties of the stars such as velocity and composition, the researchers ruled those explanations unlikely. "We started discussing what could make two stars that must have been born together have such different chemistry now," Oh says.

Although the researchers had no direct evidence that planets orbited the stars, the idea of a planet-eating sun made the most sense based on the data. The compositional differences between Kronos and Krios are most pronounced for elements such as iron, silicon, magnesium and lithium -- metals that make up the bulk of rocky planets such as Earth. Because these elements are concentrated in Kronos's outer layers, rather than mixed throughout the star itself, the researchers conclude that the star probably consumed many planets' worth of rocky material a billion years or more after its formation. The added material altered the composition of Kronos's outer layers relative to its sibling star. From the data, the researchers estimate that Kronos has gulped 15 Earth masses; by comparison, our entire inner solar system contains roughly two Earth masses of rocky material.

Previous studies presented similar evidence of planet eating in other types of stars such as white dwarfs and even our own sun, but never to such an extreme.

Oh and colleagues propose that Kronos's changed composition arose after flying close to another star. Gravitational interactions with the passing star stretched the orbits of Kronos's outermost planets so that they ended up passing through the inner solar system. Their gravity in turn sent rocky inner planets on doomsday trajectories into the star. If this explanation is correct, future Gaia data releases may reveal planets with highly elliptical orbits around Kronos, Oh says. Kronos's twin Krios evidently either remained far enough away from other stars so that its planetary system remained unaffected or had fewer rocky planets to consume.

Importantly, the work also reveals a potential window into how solar systems change over time, says study coauthor Price-Whelan. Telescopes typically provide only a snapshot of a star's life, not how it evolved over time. "We assume that once stars are born, their chemistries are fixed," he says. "This is yet more evidence of stars changing."

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ABOUT THE FLATIRON INSTITUTE

The Flatiron Institute is the research division of the Simons Foundation. Its mission is to advance scientific research through computational methods, including data analysis, modeling and simulation. The institute's Center for Computational Astrophysics creates new computational frameworks that allow scientists to analyze big astronomical datasets and to understand complex, multi-scale physics in a cosmological context.
LA JOLLA -- (Oct. 12, 2017) Salk Professor and HHMI Investigator Ronald Evans has been awarded $2.5 million by Stand Up 2 Cancer (SU2C) as part of a multi-institution team to conduct clinical studies to open up a new avenue for immunotherapy in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. While the cancer normally excludes immune T-cells, the Evans lab discovered that modified vitamin D reprograms the cancer environment in a way that may allow the Merck drug Keytruda to invade and destroy the tumor.

The award of $2.5 million over three years is part of the 2016 SU2C Catalyst program, which uses "funding and materials from the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostic and medical devices industries to accelerate research on cancer prevention, detection and treatment," according to the program. The award is jointly sponsored by SU2C, partnered with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and the pharmaceutical company Merck, which is providing funding and the immunotherapy drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for the clinical trial.

"The Evans lab's discovery that vitamin D can make pancreatic tumors more susceptible to drug therapy suggested the added potential to also wake up the patient's own immune system." says Salk President Elizabeth Blackburn. "Combining vitamin D and immuno-oncology gives new hope to tens of thousands of pancreatic cancer patients whose treatment options have been devastatingly limited thus far. This could be a game changer."

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancers, both because it is often diagnosed late and because its unique tumor environment makes it impervious to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Pancreatic tumors co-opt the body's natural wound-healing response, hiding behind a wall of immune cells and inflammatory molecules almost like an armor that drugs can't penetrate. In the meantime, the tumor uses the nutrients that should be supporting the immune cells to nourish itself.

"We have to bring pancreatic cancer treatment into the modern age," says Evans, who is the director of Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory and holder of Salk's March of Dimes Chair in Molecular and Developmental Biology. "This cancer is a particularly strong foe. It has resisted basically everything thrown at it. But we believe that it can be tamed, conquered and hopefully cured. This grant is a big step toward making that happen."

It turns out that the armor surrounding and protecting pancreatic tumors is controlled by a molecular switch that the Evans lab showed can be controlled by a special synthetic form of vitamin D. When Evans and colleagues administered the drug to mice and a small number of humans, it "cooled down" the inflamed environment, allowing chemotherapy to be more effective.

"The Salk team will work with Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in analyzing patient samples to figure out whether our theories about combining vitamin D and immunotherapy are correct or not--and we'll know that pretty rapidly," says Michael Downes, a Salk senior scientist and co-principal investigator of the new grant.

Heading the clinical group in Phoenix, AZ is Daniel Von Hoff, MD, Physician-in-Chief at TGen and the Chief Scientific Officer at HonorHealth, a primary clinical trial site. Salk will also work closely with Andrew Lowy, MD, and the clinical oncology group at the University of California, San Diego Cancer Center.

"We are extremely excited about this trial, because for the first time we're able to get patients into remission--even stage 4 patients--where we see the tumor shrink," says Von Hoff. "The high dose of this vitamin D derivative allows the body's immune system to go from viewing the cancerous cells from something that is normal, to recognizing them for the invaders they are and hopefully attacking them as they would a common infection."

The clinical trial is set to run for 12 to 18 months. Jill Pechacek, MD, is a patient who received a treatment regimen in the prior SU2C study. She is a member of the SU2C pancreatic cancer dream team, serving as a patient advocate for others with the disease.

"I've been on high-dose vitamin D since my diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer and I truly feel that it has played an important role in my response to treatment, and ultimately my quality of life," says Pechacek. As a single mother of three young children, she wants to contribute to a cure so that other patients' families don't have to go through what hers has.

Evans adds, "Our goal is to completely change the landscape of pancreatic cancer therapy in a really short time. In the end, it's all about the patient."

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About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies:

Every cure has a starting point. The Salk Institute embodies Jonas Salk's mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature and fearless in the face of any challenge. Be it cancer or Alzheimer's, aging or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin. Learn more at: salk.edu.
Ask someone to draw a tree and s/he will invariably draw a trunk and branches -- leaving the roots out of the picture. In a unique study of tropical tree roots at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute published in PLOS ONE, roots accounted for almost 30 percent of the total biomass of young trees. The authors hope that future estimates of carbon storage and water-use by tropical forests will include information on root biomass and architecture.

"Studies like the article published by Baccini et al in the Sept. 28 issue of Science use satellite data to measure aboveground carbon density," said Jefferson Hall, director of the Smithsonian's Panama Canal Watershed (Agua Salud) experiment. "It is fairly common practice to calculate forest carbon storage either incorporating root mass via a fudge-factor, or leaving it out altogether. What percentage of a tree is underground? How does this change with climate, soil fertility, and over time? The answers to these questions will refine our ability to understand how forests respond to global change."

"During the rainy season in 2009, our team excavated all roots down to 2 millimeters in diameter from six species of tropical trees," said Katherine Sinacore, doctoral student at the University of New Hampshire. "We chose six to eight-year old trees from reforestation experiments at Sardinilla and in Soberania National Park in the Panama Canal Watershed, with permission from Panama's Ministry of the Environment." Support for this project was provided by Panamas Office of National Science and Technology, SENACYT, Mr. Stanley Motta, Mr. Frank Levinson, the Hoch family, the Agua Salud Foundation and the Panama Canal Authority.

"There were huge differences among species," Sinacore said. "We found that trees have very different architectures. For example, some species invest in a large tap root that descends directly below the trunk while other species send large roots out laterally just below the soil surface. These trees sent smaller roots down from the lateral roots that, when excavated, resembled tentacles of an octopus. The tentacles went just as deep as did the tap roots of other species such that the trees were not trading off structural differences for the ability to seek nutrients and water deep in the soil. In fact, we did not detect a difference between species in the volume of soil reached by roots. We also found roots extending more than 20 meters (60 feet) away from the tree trunk."

The six trees in the experiment, Anacardium excelsum (Espave in Spanish), Cedrela odorata, Dalbergia retusa (Cocobolo), Pachira quinata (Cedro Espino), Tabebuia rosea (Roble) and a (Amarillo), all have high timber value and are commonly used for reforestation in Panama. "Perhaps not surprisingly, we found root systems to be every bit as diverse as the crowns of trees, a morphological diversity that is important to understand as it suggests a more thorough exploitation of belowground resources," said Hall. "Interestingly, we also found that two of the forty trees (5 percent) we excavated (a Terminalia Amazonia and a Pachira quinata) were connected with neighboring species via grafts of coarse roots. Are these trees sharing resources? Would we have found a higher percentage of root grafts if we would have had the ability to look at fine roots? Clearly there is more work to be done."

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Sinacore, K., Hall, J.S., Potvin, C. et al. 2017. Unearthing the hidden world of roots: root biomass and architecture differ among species within the same guild. PLOS ONE http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0185934
WASHINGTON -- The exciting applications of wearable sensors have sparked a tremendous amount of research and business investment in recent years. Sensors attached to the body or integrated into clothing could allow athletes and physical therapists to monitor their progress, provide a more detailed level of motion capture for computer games or animation, help engineers build robots with a lighter touch or form the basis for new types of real-time health monitors.

In Optica, The Optical Society's journal for high impact research, a team led by Changxi Yang of the State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments at Tsinghua University in Beijing offers the first demonstration of optical fibers sturdy enough to sense a wide range of human motion.

The new fiber is sensitive and flexible enough that it can detect joint movements, unlike currently used fiber sensors. "This new technique provides a fiber-optic approach for measuring extremely large deformations," said Yang. "It's wearable, mountable and also possesses intrinsic advantages of optical fibers such as inherent electrical safety and immunity to electromagnetic interference."

Trouble with stretching

Optical fibers have been used for strain sensing on bridges and buildings for years; stretch or bend the fiber a little and light going through it is shifted in a way that can be easily picked up by a monitor. Traditionally optical fibers haven't been the best choice for strain sensing on the human body because they are typically made of plastic or glass, which are stiff and don't bend well. A silica glass fiber, for example, can handle a maximum strain of less than 1 percent, while a bending finger joint would strain it by more than 30 percent.

This barrier has meant that most wearable sensor developments so far have been based on electronic sensors. These sensors detect movement by measuring changes in electrical properties such as resistance as the sensor bends. However, these systems are difficult to miniaturize, can lose their electrical charge and are sensitive to electromagnetic interference from devices such as cars and cell phones. A bendable optical fiber could avoid these problems and potentially create wearable devices that are more stable and sustainable than those based on electronics.

Simple silicone

When the researchers started looking for a fiber that could stand up to the amount of bending and stretching involved in human movements, they first tried fibers made of hydrogel, a soft, jelly-like substance that can hold strains of up to 700 percent. But hydrogel consists mostly of water, and therefore only worked in wet environments. When exposed to air, the fibers quickly dried out and shrank.

In a second attempt, Yang and his students, Jingjing Guo and Mengxuan Niu, developed a fiber made of silicone--specifically a soft polymer called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). They created the fiber by putting the liquid silicone into a tube-shaped mold and heating it to 80 C (176 F) for 40 minutes to get it to thicken, then used water pressure to push a thin fiber out of one end of the mold. They put the resulting fibers through an elaborate series of tests, such as repeatedly stretching them out to double their length. Even after 500 stretches, a fiber still returned to its original length.

"The fabricated PDMS fibers exhibited excellent mechanical flexibility, and could easily be tied and twisted," said Yang. What's more, when the team reduced the diameter of the fibers they produced, from 2 millimeters to 0.5 millimeters, the mechanical strength of the fibers actually increased.

To aid in sensing, the researchers mixed a fluorescent dye called Rhodamine B into the silicone. When light shines through the fiber, some of the light is absorbed by the dye--the more the fiber stretches, the more light the dye absorbs. So simply measuring the transmitted light with a spectroscope provides a measurement of how much the fiber is being stretched or bent, which tells an observer about the movement of any body part it is attached to.

The glove test

The researchers tested that idea by gluing their fiber to a rubber glove with epoxy, and then monitoring it as a wearer flexed and extended his fingers. During that movement, they measured a strain in the fiber of 36 percent, in line with what others had measured using electronic sensors.

"The remarkable flexibility and stretchability of the PDMS fiber makes it especially attractive for sensing of large strains," said Yang, adding that this is the first time researchers have used an optical sensor to capture human motion.

The sensor also performed well in situations involving more subtle strains, such as the minute movements of neck muscles as a person breathes or speaks. "All the results show that the optical strain sensor can be used for monitoring of various human motions and may provide a new approach for exploration of human-machine interfaces," said Yang.

The team tested how well their fibers sensed strain over longer periods of time and in different environments, such as in water, glycerol and air. They learned that the fibers held up well, although the sensing accuracy did change in different environments, suggesting devices using the optical fiber-based sensors would need to be calibrated for the specific environment they'd be used in.

The team illuminated the fiber by attaching it to a halogen lamp, and measured the light passing through it with a spectrometer. To adapt the technology to create a wearable device, Yang said it should be possible to develop a compact light source and spectrometer that can be easily worn on the body.

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Paper: J. Guo, M. Niu, C. Yang, "Highly flexible and stretchable optical strain sensing for human motion detection," Optica, Volume 4, Issue 10, 1285-1288 (2017). DOI: 10.1364/OPTICA.49.001285

About Optica

Optica is an open-access, online-only journal dedicated to the rapid dissemination of high-impact peer-reviewed research across the entire spectrum of optics and photonics. Published monthly by The Optical Society (OSA), Optica provides a forum for pioneering research to be swiftly accessed by the international community, whether that research is theoretical or experimental, fundamental or applied. Optica maintains a distinguished editorial board of more than 50 associate editors from around the world and is overseen by Editor-in-Chief Alex Gaeta, Columbia University, USA. For more information, visit Optica.

About The Optical Society

Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and business leaders who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit osa.org.

Media Contacts:

Rebecca B. Andersen

The Optical Society

randersen@osa.org

+1 202.416.1443

Joshua Miller

The Optical Society

jmiller@osa.org

+1 202.416.1435
UBC researchers are cautioning policy makers not to alter a cannabis distribution system that -- while not legal yet -- works well.

Associate professor Zach Walsh, who teaches psychology at UBC's Okanagan campus, and PhD candidate Rielle Capler, say store-front dispensaries--often under fire by law enforcement and city governments--are a tried and true method of selling cannabis. The pair recently published a study on medicinal cannabis dispensaries and determined customers prefer the independent storefront as opposed to growing their own, or getting it from a dealer.

In Canada, dispensaries are not an authorized source for cannabis, although many operate as 'compassion clubs' selling cannabis for medical -- not recreational -- purposes. Their research suggests that when recreational marijuana use becomes legal in 2018, the current system of dispensaries should remain.

"Dispensaries do serve a role in our society, especially for some people with chronic illnesses who use cannabis for medicinal purposes," says Walsh. "There is a self-regulatory model that already exists and improvements can be made in a legalized environment."

The study is one of the first to specifically look at the experience of dispensary users. It compared their experiences to those who purchase cannabis through other sources including self-production, and illegal sources, such as friends or street dealers.

"Our study shows there are people who have preferences for dispensaries especially compared to other illegal sources," says Capler. "Our study also provides insight into some of the aspects of dispensaries that the government may want to emulate in the legal framework for both medical and recreational use."

Recently, the Ontario government announced that once restrictions come off next year, it will sell marijuana in dedicated stores run by the province's liquor control board.

While operating under the shadows of provincial laws and city bylaws, dispensaries have thrived in neighbourhoods across Canada. Capler calls the current method a 'natural experiment' that's been underway for decades and says law makers should this keep in mind when addressing regulation policies.

"Dispensaries are not new and they provide a proven, valuable service," she says. "While some are thought of as a nuisance, in reality many of these dispensaries are small, independent, long-standing businesses who serve a dedicated clientele."

For their research, more than 440 people who use cannabis for therapeutic purposes were asked to compare different methods of purchasing cannabis on a number of factors such as quality of product, safety, availability, efficiency and feeling respected. Study participants rated dispensaries highly across most categories with the only prominent negative being that the cost of dispensary product is often higher than from a street dealer.

"Clearly dispensaries are already playing a big role in cannabis access in Canada," Capler adds. "The provincial and municipal governments will have to either look at including them in a legal framework--or drawing on what's working in dispensaries as they build a new model. We want to think this paper may, in some way, guide policy to create a system that works."

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Their research, supported by a grant from the UBC Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention, was recently published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.
Researchers have demonstrated the first laser cavity that can confine and propagate light in any shape imaginable, even pathways with sharp bends and angles. The new cavity, called a topological cavity, could enable laser components to be packed more densely on a chip, leading to higher speed optical communication technologies that can be fabricated in an efficient and scalable manner using photonic integration techniques.

This paper will be published online by the journal Science on Thursday, 12 October, 2017.

"Our goal is to overcome the fundamental limitations of optical devices and uncover new physical principles that can enable what was previously thought impossible," said Boubacar Kante, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC San Diego and the study's senior author.

In most conventional lasers, the laser cavity needs to have a regular curved shape, typically a ring, for light waves to propagate and stay in the cavity. If the cavity has a sharp turn, some of that light gets scattered and lost. This is why, for example, optical fibers can't have any kinks or bends.

"When you change the shape of the cavity, you change the way light is confined in that cavity," said Babak Bahari, an electrical engineering Ph.D. student at UC San Diego and the first author of the paper.

Not being able to change the cavity shape also limits how many components can be integrated into a photonic chip. "If we can deform the shape of the cavity, we can easily fit it in any area on a chip without disrupting or moving other components. This would give us more freedom in designing chip components and making denser, more powerful devices," Kante said.

Now, Kante, Bahari and colleagues have introduced a way to make laser cavities of arbitrary shapes without changing their properties.

They created a structure consisting of two photonic crystals, one surrounding the perimeter of the other. The crystal on the inside is grown from the same materials as the crystal surrounding it, but they are what's known as topologically different--they can be described as having different numbers of holes, like a bagel (one hole) versus a pretzel (three holes). The crystals also exhibit a property in which they can both conduct the same wavelength of light on the outside while acting as insulators on the inside. By putting these crystals together, researchers created a cavity in which light waves can propagate at the interface between the crystals.

The researchers call this a topological cavity. It is not a space, but the border where two topologically different materials meet, Kante pointed out. This cavity can be any shape--triangle, square, a loop with jagged edges--and light can circulate within that shape without getting scattered.

To demonstrate the lasing capability of their device, researchers first coupled a waveguide to the cavity. Then they energized the crystals with light from a high power laser and applied a magnetic field. Using an infrared camera, they observed their device emitting a lower frequency laser beam at 1.55 micrometers, a common wavelength for telecommunications.

Another noteworthy feature is that this device has a non-reciprocal lasing mode, meaning the laser beam can only travel one way. This isn't the case with most existing lasers, which need a device called an isolator to be placed in front of the source and prevent the laser beam from coming back in and potentially destroying the cavity. Isolators are usually large devices and the new work may thus eliminate the need for them in the future, Kante said.

"This new feature enables us to make a laser which is self-protected," Bahari said.

Moving forward, the team hopes to create an electrically powered device, which would make it more practical. Kante is also planning to further explore the fundamental physics of topological cavities. He is particularly interested in investigating how densely such cavities can be packed on a chip. These studies could be important for quantum information processing and could overcome fundamental efficiency limits of current systems, he said.

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The team has filed a patent on this technology. Contact Victoria Cajipe in the campus Innovation and Commercialization Office at vcajipe@ucsd.edu or (858) 822-2304 for licensing information.

Paper title: "Non-reciprocal lasing in topological cavities of arbitrary geometries." Authors of the study are Babak Bahari, Abdoulaye Ndao, Felipe Vallini, Abdelkrim El Amili, Yeshaiahu Fainman and Boubacar Kante, all at UC San Diego.

This research was partially supported by the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (N00014-17-1-2671), the National Science Foundation Career Award (ECCS-1554021), the U.S. Department of Energy (EE0007341), the National Science Foundation (ECCS-1405234, ECCS-1507146, CCF-1640227), the Office of Naval Research Multi-University Research Initiative (N00014-13-1-0678), the Army Research Office (W911NF-16-1-0245), the Semiconductor Research Corporation, and startup funds from UC San Diego. This work was performed in part at the San Diego Nanotechnology Infrastructure (SDNI) at UC San Diego, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinate Infrastructure, which is supported by the National Science Foundation (ECCS-1542148).
SANTA CRUZ, CA--Easter Island is a place of mystery that has captured the public imagination. Famous for ancient carved statues and a location so remote it boggles the mind, the island presents a captivating puzzle for researchers eager to understand how and when it became inhabited, and by whom.

New paleogenomic research conducted by an international team led by UC Santa Cruz sheds light on those questions by ruling out the likelihood that inhabitants of Easter Island intermixed with South Americans prior to the arrival of Europeans on the island in 1722.

Lars Fehren-Schmitz, associate professor of anthropology at UC Santa Cruz, presents his findings in a new paper published in the Oct. 12 edition of Current Biology.

The team analyzed bone fragments from the ancient skeletal remains of five individuals that were excavated in the 1980s and became part of the Kon-Tiki Museum's collection in Oslo. Each sample, which had been used in a previous study, yielded less than 200 milligrams of material. Three individuals lived prior to European contact, and two lived after.

"We found no evidence of gene flow between the inhabitants of Easter Island and South America," said Fehren-Schmitz. "We were really surprised we didn't find anything. There's a lot of evidence that seems plausible, so we were convinced we would find direct evidence of pre-European contact with South America, but it wasn't there."

Questions surrounding Pacific islanders' contact with South Americans are hotly debated among anthropologists. An earlier study found genetic traces of early inhabitants of the Americas in present-day indigenous residents of Easter Island. Those researchers posited that the intermixing most likely occurred between 1280 and 1425. Fehren-Schmitz was the first to use paleogenomic analysis to directly test that hypothesis; his findings indicate that contact must have taken place after 1722.

Slavery, whaling, mass deportations, and other activities that followed European contact gave rise to opportunities for intermixing that likely left the genetic imprint seen in islanders today, he said.

"The most likely scenario is that there wasn't a single episode," said Fehren-Schmitz. Acknowledging that his results answer one question but leave many others unanswered, he said, "The story is simply more complicated than we expected."

A member of the UC Santa Cruz Paleogenomics Laboratory, Fehren-Schmitz uses DNA sequences recovered from preserved biological remains to trace molecular evolutionary processes through time. The analysis of DNA from ancient humans sheds light on human evolution, researchers' understanding of how humans diverged and interacted over time, and how the forces of culture and biology have shaped human genetic diversity.

"This study highlights the value of ancient DNA to test hypotheses about past population dynamics," said Fehren-Schmitz. "We know the island's modern populations have some Native American ancestry, and now we know that early inhabitants did not. So the big questions remain: Where and when did these groups interact to change the genetic signature of Easter Islanders?"

One of the mysteries of Easter Island--also called Rapa Nui--is how the island came to be populated. Located nearly 1,300 miles from the nearest inhabited island, it is 2,200 miles from central Chile on the nearest continent of South America. Some archaeologists have suggested that sea travel between Polynesia and the Americas was plausible, leading to the intermingling of those populations and perhaps even the peopling of the Americas. But plausibility isn't proof, noted Fehren-Schmitz.

"We want to do more work to determine more precisely when this gene flow between Native Americans and the people of Rapa Nui occurred, and where in the Americas it originated," he said. "The population dynamics of these regions are fascinating. We need to study the ancient populations of other islands--if remains exist."

This project also demonstrates the value of using recently developed research methods on materials from older museum collections. Tropical conditions make preservation difficult, and rib fragments are generally too soft to be desirable, but recent technological advances opened up new possibilities, said Fehren-Schmitz.

"Our methodologies have evolved so much in the last five years that we might need to re-study samples we gave up on in the past to see if we can get DNA out of them," he added.

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Co-authors on the paper include Catrine Jarman and Kelly Harkins at UC Santa Cruz, Manfred Kayser at University Medical Center Rotterdam, Brian Popp at University of Hawaii, and Pontus Skoglund at Harvard Medical School.
We tend to see people we're biased against as all the same. They are "those people." Instead of thinking of them as specific individuals, we lump them into a group. Now an international team of researchers suggests that one way to reduce racial bias in young children is by teaching them to distinguish among faces of a different race.

The study, published in the journal Child Development, is the first to show a lasting effect - and in kids young enough to not be too set in their ways.

It is co-authored by researchers from the University of California San Diego, the University of Toronto, the University of Delaware, l'Universite Grenoble Alpes in France, and Hangzhou Normal University and Zhejiang Normal University in China.

Two 20-minute sessions with 4- to 6-year-old Chinese children, in which they were trained to identify black male faces as individuals, reduced implicit bias in the children for at least two months.

Key to reducing the bias? The repeat session.

"A single session had minimal immediate effects that dissipated quickly. The lesson didn't stick. But a second session a week later seemed to act like a booster shot, producing measurable differences in implicit bias 60 days later," said Gail Heyman, a professor of psychology in the UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences and a senior co-author on the study.

Kang Lee, of the University of Toronto and also a senior co-author, said, "We know from other research that preferences for your own race develop in early childhood. Our method has the advantage of being suitable for very young children, and it also improves children's ability to recognize faces, which is an important social skill in and of itself."

First author on the study is Miao K. Qian, of Hangzhou Normal University and the University of Toronto.

The researchers are careful to note that racial bias is complicated. For starters, psychologists think there may be at least two different types of bias: implicit bias, or the extent to which we have subconscious negative and positive associations with different races, and explicit bias, or preferences we're more aware of and can (if we're not being guarded) articulate. Implicit bias may have perceptual roots, arising from greater exposure to people of your own race, while explicit bias may be learned socially from adults and peers. Then there's the question of behavior. How implicit or explicit bias translates into biased behavior is a subject yet to be fully explored.

"We think that reducing implicit racial bias in children could be a starting point for addressing a pernicious social problem," Heyman said. "But it is not the complete answer to racial discrimination or to systemic, structural racism."

The researchers worked with 95 children in an eastern city in China. All the kids were Han Chinese and, according to their guardians' reports, none had direct interaction with any non-Asian people prior to the study. As with most longitudinal studies, there was attrition among participants for a number of reasons, with a final sample, at day 70, of 50.

To measure bias, the researchers used their own Implicit Racial Bias Test (or IRBT), which they've validated in a previous paper with subjects in China and Cameroon. The IRBT is a preschool-friendly adaptation of the implicit association test (or IAT). The logic of the two tests is similar: People are quicker to associate positive attributes with members of their own race than with those of another racial category. A difference in response time is taken as a measure of implicit bias. One advantage of the IRBT, the researchers say, is that it uses only pictures instead of words: simple and intuitive smiley and frowny icons that subjects are asked to pair with neutral faces of their own race or a different one.

After measuring the children's levels of pro-Asian/anti-black bias by calculating how quick they were to pair a frowny or smiley icon with a black male vs. an Asian male face, the researchers assigned them randomly to three different training groups. One group saw black male faces, a second group saw white male faces, and a third group saw Asian male faces. These last two groups were controls to see if learning to differentiate among faces of any race, different from one's own or the same, produced results that generalized to a third.

Individuation training consisted of learning to identify five different faces that had been numbered 1 through 5, starting with just two faces and working up to five. Training continued until the child correctly matched all five faces with their numerical "names." This took 20 minutes on average.

There were two training sessions a week apart. A day after each training, children took the implicit racial bias test again. They were tested for bias a final time 60 days after the second training.

The results: Only the training to distinguish among black faces reduced pro-Asian/anti-black bias. Training on white faces or Asian ones didn't make a difference. Reduction in bias was most significant after the second session and it had a longer-lasting effect than had been documented before.

The researchers are now working with a larger, more diverse group of children in Toronto over a longer term. If their intervention to reduce implicit racial bias is effective in that setting as well, they hope to develop a more consumer-friendly version of their training sessions: a fun, gamified app that could be used in schools and at home.

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This research is supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31771227, 31371041, and 31470993), the National Institutes of Health (R01 HD046526), and the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
There is no effective treatment for the cancer form found in the liver called fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, which is mainly found among children and young people. Operation of the tumour is the only treatment available, but after five years less than 40 per cent of the patients are alive. Therefore, it is vital to establish the cause of this form of cancer.

In a study published in the leading scientific journal Gastroenterology researchers from the University of Copenhagen have via tests on mice shown that the coupling of the two genes through a mutation causes a cancer tumour to develop in the liver. The researchers have made sure the genetic composition of the mutation in the mice is identical with the mutation found in human patients. This makes the researchers conclude that the gene mutation also leads to cancer in humans.

'We are now able to document that this mutation is the cause of this form of cancer. We suspected the mutation, but it is the first time it has been documented that it in fact does cause the disease. This makes it an obvious target for future treatment', says the author of the study, Associate Professor Morten Frodin from the Biotech Research & Innovation Centre, BRIC.

The researchers had suspected this mutation to be the cause of cancer, because a young, American student a couple of years ago sequenced the DNA in her own tumour and the tumour of other patients suffering from this fatal form of liver cancer. She discovered that all the patients suffering from the disease had the same mutation in their DNA.

Her results were published in the scientific journal of repute Science, and as a result of her work she met with then president Barack Obama. Her research also inspired the team of Danish researchers to examine whether the mutation in fact was the cause of cancer. To do so they performed tests on mice using a new method.

The researchers have used the revolutionary technology CRISPR/Cas9 that makes it possible to 'edit' our genetic material. They have produced CRISPR/Cas9 reagents, which would provoke precisely the desired fusion of the two genes. The reagents were injected into the mice's tails and then transported via the bloodstream to the liver. In the liver they created a mutation identical with the human mutation previously discovered by the American researcher.

Then the researchers were able to conclude that 12 or the 15 mice developed the expected type of tumour in the liver, while none of the 11 control mice did. According to the researchers, the result contains almost no 'noise', which may otherwise explain the development of cancer.

'The mice we used were "wild mice", in a scientific sense, which in practice means that they were completely normal. In other studies researchers deliberately damage the mice's liver to imitate a liver disease found among human patients or expose them to several different forms of mutations which may cause cancer. This was not necessary here. Because of our genetic design based on CRISPR/Cas9-technology we are certain that the main factor that can explain the cancer is the fusion of the two genes', Assistant Professor from BRIC and co-author of the study Francesco Niola explains.

Now the scene has been set for the development of drugs against the fusion gene as a treatment for this form of cancer. The researchers have a clear strategy for how this may be realised. They have already begun cooperating with a large pharmaceutical company.

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Researchers in the UO lab of Marina Guenza develop a theoretical approach that finds uniformity of movement that could lead to better drug targeting

EUGENE, Ore. -- Oct. 12, 2017 -- Although proteins have very different function functions, or specialties, in living cells, they share the general characteristics -- the same universality -- in their motions, say University of Oregon scientists.

Their motion is much like mountain landslides or wildfires, reports the UO team in a paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

The findings, which relied on theoretical methods developed in the lab of UO chemist Marina Guenza, may help pinpoint where protein binding could occur, and how protein motion is involved in the process.

"Dynamics is often unexplored in the study of protein binding, but it could be a determinant for the way proteins regulate their own biological activity," Guenza said. "Proteins in biological systems are constrained to a maximum size and move within a narrow, temperature-dependent window of time in which they are available to bind with other molecules, so it seems that all proteins should have some universal characteristics guiding their behavior. We sought to find this universal behavior using our theoretical approach."

In that range, where salt concentrations and volume are also important, the researchers found, a critical hydrogen-bonding network delivers random energy fluctuations that make or break a protein's ability to bind to another molecule.

Energy fluctuations and protein motions were investigated by using the Langevin Equation for Protein Dynamics method developed in the Guenza lab.

"Many well-known theoretical methods attempt to study protein dynamics, but they lack important aspects of the physics involved," said Mohammadhasan Dinpajooh, a postdoctoral researcher. "By incorporating the essential physics, we can unravel biological mechanisms, which are still elusive in well-advanced X-ray or nuclear magnetic resonance experiments."

The work was a result of teamwork started by Jeremy Copperman, a former physics doctoral student in the lab, and continued by Dinpajooh and Eric Beyerle, a third-year graduate student.

"We developed a way to accurately describe the specific functional dynamics of a protein on a protein-by-protein basis. In the process, we noticed a trend -- a scaling pattern -- which had no reason to be there," said Copperman, now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "We simulated the protein motion on supercomputers, spent months writing analysis codes and found quantities of this simple scaling pattern."

With that information, Guenza said, the team was able to map the equilibrium of proteins that exists in an ever-fluctuating system that moves randomly and similarly to the front line of a wildfire.

The researchers took starting structural information based on nuclear magnetic resonance or X-ray techniques, and simulated 14 behavioral dynamics in 12 proteins in times ranging from 50 nanoseconds to 1.23 milliseconds. In short, the researchers suggest that the motion of proteins may be described by a simple fluctuation subject to random energetic noises, which is like climbing over a mountain range that is constantly shifting and rearranging randomly.

The study's approach to understand protein dynamics could be useful to the pharmaceutical industry, Guenza said.

"Industry researchers test a lot of organic molecules and can see that a molecule stops the function of a protein, but they don't know how it works," she said. "Our approach could allow them to understand these mechanisms and ultimately to manipulate the structure of their drug so that it finds the binding site and ensures a better fit on the target site of the protein."

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The National Science Foundation supported the research through grants (CHE-1362500 and ACI-1053575) to Guenza's lab.

Sources: Marina Guenza, professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 541-346-2877, mguenza@uoregon.edu; Mohammadhasan Dinpajooh, postdoctoral researcher, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, mdinpajo@uoregon.edu; and Jeremy Copperman, postdoctoral research associate, physics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, copperma@uwm.edu

Note: The UO is equipped with an on-campus television studio with a point-of-origin Vyvx connection, which provides broadcast-quality video to networks worldwide via fiber optic network. There also is video access to satellite uplink and audio access to an ISDN codec for broadcast-quality radio interviews.

Links:

About Marina Guenza: https://chemistry.uoregon.edu/profile/mguenza/

Journal Physical Review Letters DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.158101

Guenza's lab: https://guenzalab.uoregon.edu/ About Jeremy Copperman: https://uwm.edu/physics/people/copperman-jeremy/
Human populations feature a broad palette of skin tones. But until now, few genes have been shown to contribute to normal variation in skin color, and these had primarily been discovered through studies of European populations.

Now, a study of diverse African groups led by University of Pennsylvania geneticists has identified new genetic variants associated with skin pigmentation. The findings help explain the vast range of skin color on the African continent, shed light on human evolution and inform an understanding of the genetic risk factors for conditions such as skin cancer.

We have identified new genetic variants that contribute to the genetic basis of one of the most strikingly variable traits in modern humans, said Sarah Tishkoff, a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor and the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor in Genetics and Biology with appointments in the Perelman School of Medicine and School of Arts and Sciences. When people think of skin color in Africa most would think of darker skin, but we show that within Africa there is a huge amount of variation, ranging from skin as light as some Asians to the darkest skin on a global level and everything in between. We identify genetic variants affecting these traits and show that mutations influencing light and dark skin have been around for a long time, since before the origin of modern humans.

The findings are published in the journal Science. Tishkoff, senior author, collaborated with first author and lab member Nicholas Crawford, a postdoctoral fellow, and a multi-institutional, international team.

Tishkoff has long studied the genetics of African populations, looking at traits such as height, lactose tolerance, bitter-taste sensitivity and high-altitude adaptation. Skin color emerged as a trait of interest from her experience working on the continent and seeing the diversity present across groups.

Skin color is a classic variable trait in humans, and its thought to be adaptive, Tishkoff said. Analysis of the genetic basis of variation in skin color sheds light on how adaptive traits evolve, including those that play a role in disease risk.

Both light and dark skin pigmentations confer benefits: Darker skin, for example, is believed to help prevent some of the negative impacts of ultraviolet light exposure, while lighter skin is better able to promote synthesis of vitamin D in regions with low ultraviolet light exposure.

To objectively capture the range of skin pigmentation in Africa, Tishkoff and colleagues used a color meter to measure the light reflectance of the skin of more than 2,000 Africans from ethnically and genetically diverse populations. They took the measurement from the inner arm, when sun exposure is minimal. The measurements can be used to infer levels of the skin pigment melanin. They obtained a range of measurements; the darkest skin was observed in Nilo-Saharan pastoralist populations in eastern Africa, and the lightest skin was observed in San hunter-gatherer populations in southern Africa.

The researchers obtained genetic information from nearly 1,600 people, examining more than 4 million single nucleotide polymorphisms across the genome, places where the DNA code may differ by one letter. From this dataset the researchers were able to do a genome-wide association study and found four key areas of the genome where variation closely correlated with skin color differences.

The region with the strongest associations was in and around the SLC24A5 gene, one variant of which is known to play a role in light skin color in European and some southern Asian populations and is believed to have arisen more than 30,000 years ago. This variant was common in populations in Ethiopia and Tanzania that were known to have ancestry from southeast Asia and the Middle East, suggesting it was carried into Africa from those regions and, based on its frequency, may have been positively selected.

Another region, which contains the MFSD12 gene, had the second strongest association to skin pigmentation. This gene is expressed at low levels in depigmented skin in individuals with vitiligo, a condition where the skin loses pigment in some areas.

I still rememeber the ah ha! moment when we saw this gene was associated with vitiligo, said Crawford. Thats when we knew wed found something new and exciting.

The team found that mutations in and around this gene that were associated with dark pigmentation were present at high frequencies in populations of Nilo-Saharan ancestry, who tend to have very dark skin, as well as across sub-Saharan populations, except the San, who tend to have lighter skin. They also identified these variants, as well as others associated with dark skin pigmentation, in South Asian Indian and Australo-Melanesian populations, who tend to have the darkest skin coloration outside of Africa.

The origin of traits such as hair texture, skin color and stature, which are shared between some indigenous populations in Melanesia and Australia and some sub-Saharan Africans, has long been a mystery. Tishkoff said. Some have argued its because of convergent evolution, that they independently evolved these mutations, but our study finds that, at genes associated with skin color, they have the identical variants associated with dark skin as Africans.

Our data are consistent with a proposed early migration event of modern humans out of Africa along the southern coast of Asia and into Australo-Melanesia and a secondary migration event into other regions. However, it is also possible that there was a single African source population that contained genetic variants associated with both light and dark skin and that the variants associated with dark pigmentation were maintained only in South Asians and Australo-Melanesians and lost in other Eurasians due to natural selection.

Also of interest was that genetic variants at MFSD12, OCA2, and HERC2 associated with light skin pigmentation were at highest frequency in the African San population, which has the oldest genetic lineages in the world, as well as in Europeans.

MFSD12 is highly expressed in melanocytes, the cells that produce melanin. To verify the genes role in contributing to skin pigmentation, the researchers blocked expression of the gene in cells in culture and found an increase in production of eumelanin, the pigment type responsible for black and brown skin, hair and eye color. Knocking out the gene in zebrafish caused a loss of cells that produce yellow pigment. And in mice, knocking out the gene changed the color of their coat from agouti, caused by hairs with a red and yellow pigment, to a uniform gray by eliminating production of pheomelanin, a type of pigment also found in humans.

Apart from one study showing that MFSD12 was associated with vitiligo lesions, we didnt know much else about it, said Crawford, so these functional assays were really crucial.

We went beyond most genome-wide association studies to do functional assays, Tishkoff said, and found that knocking out MFSD12 dramatically impacted the pigmentation of fish and mice. Its pointing to this being a very conserved trait across species.

We dont know exactly why, but blocking this gene causes a loss of pheomelanin production and an increase in eumelanin production, Tishkoff added. We also showed that Africans have a lower level of MFSD12 expression, which makes sense, as low levels of the gene means more eumelanin production.

A collaborator on the work, Michael Marks, a professor in the departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and of Physiology at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and at Penn Medicine, demonstrated that the MFSD12 gene influences eumelanin pigmentation in a novel manner. Unlike other pigmentation genes, which are expressed mainly in melanosomes, the organelle where melanin is produced, MFSD12 is expressed in lysosomes, a distinct organelle from the melanosomes that produce eumelanin.

Our results suggest there must be some kind of as-yet-uncharacterized form of cross-talk between lysosomes and the melanosomes that make eumelanins, Marks said. Figuring out how this works might provide new ideas for ways to manipulate skin pigmentation for therapeutic means.

In addition, Marks said, the fact that loss of MFSD12 expression had opposite effects on the two types of melanins, increasing eumelanin production while suppressing pheomelanin, suggests that melanosomes that make pheomelanins might be more related to lysosomes than those that make eumelanin."

Additional associations with skin color were found in the OCA2 and HERC2 genes, which have been linked with skin, eye and hair color variation in Europeans, though the mutations identified are novel. Mutations in OCA2 also cause a form of albinism that is more common in Africans than in other populations. The researchers observed genetic variants in a neighboring gene, HERC2, which regulates the expression of OCA2. Within OCA2, they identified a variant common in Europeans and San that is associated with a shorter version of the protein, with an altered function. They observed a signal of balancing selection of OCA2, meaning that two different versions of the gene have been maintained, in this case for more than 600,000 years.

What this tells us, Tishkoff said, is there is likely some selective force maintaining these two alleles. It is likely that this gene is playing a role in other aspects of human physiology which are important.

A final genetic region the researchers found to be associated with skin pigmentation included genes that play a role in ultraviolet light response and melanoma risk. The top candidate gene in the region is DDB1, involved in repairing DNA after exposure to UV light.

Africans dont get melanoma very often, Tishkoff said. The variants near these genes are highest in populations who live in areas of the highest ultraviolet light intensity, so it makes sense that they may be playing a role in UV protection.

The mutations identified by the team play a role in regulating expression of DDB1 and other nearby genes.

Though we dont yet know the mechanism by which DDB1 is impacting pigmentation, it is of interest to note that this gene, which is highly conserved across species, also plays a role in pigmentation in plants such as tomatoes, said Tishkoff.

The team saw evidence that this region of the genome has been a strong target of natural selection outside of Africa; mutations associated with light skin color swept to nearly 100 percent frequency in non-Africans, one of few examples of a selective sweep in all Eurasians; the age of the selective sweep was estimated to be around 60,000 to 80,000 years old, around the time of migration of modern humans out of Africa.

One additional takeaway from this work is a broader picture of the evolution of skin color in humans. Most of the genetic variants associated with light and dark pigmentation from the study appear to have originated more than 300,000 years ago, and some emerged roughly 1 million years ago, well before the emergence of modern humans. The older version of these variants in many cases was the one associated with lighter skin, suggesting that perhaps the ancestral state of humans was moderately pigmented rather than darkly pigmented skin.

If you were to shave a chimp, it has light pigmentation, Tishkoff said, so it makes sense that skin color in the ancestors of modern humans could have been relatively light. It is likely that when we lost the hair covering our bodies and moved from forests to the open savannah, we needed darker skin. Mutations influencing both light and dark skin have continued to evolve in humans, even within the past few thousand years.

Tishkoff noted that the work underscores the diversity of African populations and the lack of support for biological notions of race.

Many of the genes and new genetic variants we identified to be associated with skin color may never have been found outside of Africa, because they are not as highly variable, Tishkoff said. There is so much diversity in Africa thats not often appreciated. Theres no such thing as an African race. We show that skin color is extremely variable on the African continent and that it is still evolving. Further, in most cases the genetic variants associated with light skin arose in Africa.

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In addition to Tishkoff and Crawford, study co-authors included Derek Kelly, Matthew E. B. Hansen, Marcia Holsbach, Shaohua Fan, Alessia Ranciaro, Simon Thompson, Yancy Lo, Michael Campbell, William Beggs, Shanna L. Bowman, Michael Marks and Jake Haut of Penn; Ethan Jewett and Yun S. Song of the University of California, Berkeley; Susanne P. Pfeifer and Jeffrey D. Jensen of Arizona State University; Farhad Hormozdiari, Harriet Rothschild, Leonard Zon and Yi Zhou of Harvard University; Sununguko Wata Mpoloka and George Mokone of the University of Botswana; Thomas Nyambo of Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania; Dawit Wolde Meskel and Gurja Belay of Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia; Michael A. Kovacs, Mai Xu, Tongwu Zhang, Kevin Bishop, Jason Sinclair, Cecilia Rivas, Eugene Elliot, Jiyeon Choi, Shenchao Li, Belynda Hicks, Shawn Burgess, Chrisan Abnet, Dawk E. Watkins-Chow, Kevin M. Brown, Stacie K. Loftus, William J. Pavan, Meredith Yeager and Stephan Chanock of NIH; and Elena Oceana of Brown University. The NISC Comparative Sequencing Program of the National Institutes of Health also participated in the research.

The study was supported primarily by the NIH (grants DK104339, GM113657, AR048155, AR066318, OD017870, DK110805, GM094402 and GM081259) and the National Science Foundation (Grant BCS-1317217).
PHILADELPHIA --The fundamental mechanisms governing how cells form an identity such as becoming a muscle cell or a nerve cell are not fully understood. Multiple diseases, including cancer, have been linked to cells going down the wrong developmental path during maturation. A new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that the ability of a stem cell to differentiate into cardiac muscle (and by extension other cell types) depends on what portions of the genome are available for activation, which is controlled by the location of DNA in a cell's nucleus.

"The basis of this study is understanding the ability of a cell to respond to molecular cues to correctly become one cell type or another," said senior author, Rajan Jain, MD, an assistant professor of Cardiovascular Medicine. "We wanted to know how that is achieved, step by step, because stem cells, capable of becoming any cell type in the body, give rise to cardiac muscle cells." Jain and co-senior author Jonathan A. Epstein, MD, the executive vice dean and chief scientific officer at Penn Medicine, published their findings this week in Cell. The study also suggests that knowing how to control how quickly a cell differentiates as it matures has important implications for regenerative medicine. Some regions of the genome are unavailable to be expressed because they are packaged tightly against the inner membrane of the cell nucleus (the lamina). These sequestered and silenced regions of DNA are called Lamin Associated Domains, or LADs. The Cell study suggests that the specific regions of silenced DNA at the periphery help define a cell's identity. For example, if nerve cell genes are held silent as LADs they cannot be expressed, so the cell does not become a neuron. However, if heart cell genes are released and available to be expressed, as happens during heart development, then those cells become cardiac muscle. Cell biologists have known for many years that some DNA is found near the inner nuclear membrane, but the function of this localization has been unclear. "Our work suggests that a cell defines its identity by storing away in an inaccessible closet the critical genes and programs necessary for it to mature into another cell type," Jain said. "In other words, a cell is 'who' it is because it has silenced 'who' it isn't." The Penn team found that an epigenetic enzyme called histone deacetylase (Hdac3) tethers DNA to the nuclear periphery. "We asked: Does this choreographed control of DNA availability contribute to a cell becoming a certain type?" Jain said. When they removed Hdac3 in stem cells during heart cell differentiation, they untethered regions of DNA containing heart-specific genes, allowing those genes to be activated, which led to precocious, too-fast differentiation.

"The implications of this study are far-reaching," Epstein said. "The ability to control how quickly a cell differentiates to make cardiac tissue or other cell types has important implications for regenerative medicine." In addition, in many diseases, including cancer, cells express genes that they normally would not, which changes their identity.

The study also addresses a classic concept in stem cell and developmental biology called "competence" - the ability of a cell to respond to its environment in specific ways. For example, some lung cells respond to cigarette smoke to become cancerous, while others do not. The investigators surmise that this difference could be due to the availability of regions of the genome to respond to chemicals associated with cigarette smoke, or because the unavailability of those same genes in non-responding cells are locked away in silenced domains at the nuclear periphery.

Jain, Epstein, and others are working to determine if changes in genome domains at the nuclear periphery, or the molecular tethers that keep them there, are responsible for cancer susceptibility. This approach could also be applied to other diseases, such as several forms of muscular dystrophy, heart failure, and premature aging due to inherited, genetic abnormalities of the lamina. "We aim to determine if these mutations lead to abnormal tethering of DNA and changes in gene expression and disease."

In the future, the researchers plan to manipulate the spatial organization of DNA to coax cells to adopt a different identity and ask what role that may play in human diseases linked to a loss of cellular identity, including diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, forms of heart failure, and cancer. The group is also expanding their work to study patients with mutations in components of their nuclear lamina.

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Penn study explains how mistakes in establishing cell identity may play a role in cancer, other diseases: https://youtu.be/t2uOlbohsNo

The team was led by co-first authors Andrey Poleshko, Parisha Shah, and Mudit Gupta, as well as Cheryl Smith. Other Penn investigators included Edward E. Morrisey and Mitchell A. Lazar.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (RO1 HL131611, R01 HL071546, K08 HL119553), the Cotswold Foundation, the Spain Fund for Cardiovascular Research, the WW Smith Foundation, and the Burroughs Welcome Career Award for Medical Scientists.

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

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

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

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2016, Penn Medicine provided $393 million to benefit our community.
Scientists have long searched for the next generation of materials that can catalyze a revolution in renewable energy harvesting and storage.

One candidate appears to be metal-organic frameworks. Scientists have used these very small, flexible, ultra-thin, super-porous crystalline structures to do everything from capturing and converting carbon into fuels to storing hydrogen and other gases. Their biggest drawback has been their lack of conductivity.

Now, according to USC scientists, it turns out that metal-organic frameworks can conduct electricity in the same way metals do.

This opens the door for metal organic-frameworks to one day efficiently store renewable energy at a very large, almost unthinkable scale.

"For the first time ever, we have demonstrated a metal-organic framework that exhibits conductivity like that of a metal. The natural porosity of the metal-organic framework makes it ideal for reducing the mass of material, allowing for lighter, more compact devices" said Brent Melot, assistant professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.

"Metallic conductivity in tandem with other catalytic properties would add to its potential for renewable energy production and storage" said Smaranda Marinescu, assistant professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College.

Their findings were published July 13 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

An emerging catalyst for long-term renewable energy storage

Metal-organic frameworks are so porous that they are well-suited for absorbing and storing gases like hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Their storage is highly concentrated: 1 gram of surface area provides the equivalent of thousands of square feet in storage.

Solar has not yet been maximized as an energy source. The earth receives more energy from one hour of sunlight than is consumed in one year by the entire planet, but there is currently no way to use this energy because there is no way to conserve all of it. This intermittency is intrinsic to nearly all renewable power sources, making it impossible to harvest and store energy unless, say, the sun is shining or the wind is blowing.

If scientists and industries could one day regularly reproduce the capability demonstrated by Marinescu, it would go a long way to reducing intermittency, allowing us to finally make solar energy an enduring and more permanent resource.

Metal or semiconductor: why not both?

Metal-organic frameworks are two-dimensional structures that contain cobalt, sulfur, and carbon atoms. In many ways, they very broadly resemble something like graphene, which is also a very thin layer of two-dimensional, transparent material.

As temperature goes down, metals become more conductive. Conversely, as the temperature goes up, it is semiconductors that become more conductive.

In the experiments run by Marinescu's group, they used a cobalt-based metal-organic framework that mimicked the conductivity of both a metal and semiconductor at different temperatures. The metal-organic framework designed by the scientists demonstrated its greatest conductivity at both very low and very high temperatures.

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Research authors include corresponding authors and USC Dornsife assistant professors of chemistry Smaranda Marinescu and Brent Melot, lead author Andrew Clough, as well as Courtney Downes, Ashley de la Rosa, and Joseph Yoo of the Marinescu Group at the USC Dornsife College. Jonathan Skelton of the University of Bath and Aron Walsh of Imperial College London were also co-authors. This research was funded by the USC Dornsife College and Women in Science and Engineering, and by the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
Keck School of Medicine researchers may have discovered a new way to remove drug-resistant "seed cells" for liver cancer therapy.

A Keck School of Medicine of USC research team has identified how cancer stem cells survive. This finding may one day lead to new therapies for liver cancer, one of the few cancers in the United States with an incidence rate that continues to balloon.

"Liver cancer is difficult to treat, and most patients who are diagnosed with it will die within a five-year period," said Jing-Hsiung James Ou, senior author of a new study and a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School of Medicine. "My team has identified how liver cancer stem cells are maintained. Without these 'seeds of cancer,' liver tumors would shrink and eventually disappear."

New liver cancer cases went up 38 percent from 2003 to 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease's death rate increased by 56 percent to 23,000 deaths between 2012 and 2003.

The study, published in the journal Molecular Cell on Oct. 12, is an example of how Keck School of Medicine researchers are finding biomedical solutions that in the distant future could improve medical treatment for patients. Ou believes the target therapy his team identified could also be used for other types of cancers.

A way to sidestep disease resistance

Liver cancer is resistant to most chemotherapy drugs. Only three drugs have been effective in shrinking liver tumors, but tumors become resistant to the treatment quickly, according to the American Cancer Society.

Ou and his colleagues found that mitophagy, the removal of damaged mitochondria (the cell's energizer batteries), is a potential therapeutic target. Mitophagy can cause tumors to proliferate. That is because a powerful tumor suppressor called p53 attaches itself to mitochondria. Removing mitochondria inadvertently removes the body's natural ability to keep tumors at bay.

If a lot of damaged "batteries" are removed, then the tumor suppressor p53 will also be removed: More cancer stem cells will be created, resulting in more malignant tumors. However, if this cell cleaning process is temporarily halted, then the number of cancer stem cells will diminish. Without these seeds of cancer, tumors will regress until they no longer exist, Ou said.

"Now that we understand the molecular process, we will be able to target this pathway to stop the production of cancer stem cells," Ou said. "If cancer stem cells are gone, cancer is gone."

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Kai Liu, Jiyoung Lee, Ja Yeon Kim, Linya Wang, Yongjun Tian, Stephanie T. Chan, Cecilia Cho and Keigo Machida from the Keck School of Medicine contributed to this study, as did Dexi Chen from Capital Medical University in Beijing.

The study was entirely supported by federal grants from the National Institutes of Health amounting to about $450,000.
A study by an international research team, including OISE's Dr. Kang Lee and PhD candidate Miao K. Qian, shows a reduction in anti-black bias in Chinese children using touch-screen app

TORONTO, ON - Many times, those who hold racially biased views of other people see them as all the same. Instead of thinking of them as specific individuals, they lump them into a group - seeing them as "those people." Now an international team of researchers, including OISE's Dr. Kang Lee and PhD candidate Miao K. Qian, suggests one way to reduce racial bias in kids is by teaching them to identify individual faces of those of other races.

The study, published on Oct. 12, in the journal Child Development is the first to show a lasting effect - and in kids young enough to not be too set in their ways.

Co-authored by researchers from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto and their international colleagues, the study's two 20-minute sessions with 4- to 6-year-old Chinese children, in which they played with a touch-screen app to distinguish individual black faces, significantly reduced their implicit anti-black bias. This bias reduction lasted for at least two months.

Seeing others as individuals

"There are two key findings here," said Dr. Lee. "First, using our app, young children can quickly learn to recognize people from a particular race other than their own, which is an important social skill for children living in the globalized environment. Second and more importantly, an added benefit of learning to identify people from another race as individuals is the reduction of their implicit racial bias against that race."

"For parents and teachers, this means if you introduce children to those of another race frequently, teaching them about who they are as individuals, the implicit bias children hold against the people of that race will decrease," he continued, noting that teaching kids about Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama is one example of how adults can reduce implicit anti-black bias in non-black children.

Gail Heyman, a professor of psychology in the UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences and a senior co-author on the study, echoed Dr. Lee, emphasizing that in the study, the key to reducing the bias was the repeat session.

"A single session had minimal immediate effects that dissipated quickly. The lesson didn't stick. But a second session a week later seemed to act like a booster shot, producing measurable differences in implicit bias 60 days later," she said.

Timing is critical: Intervene before bias is 'entrenched'

First author on the study, Miao K. Qian, a PhD student at OISE at the University of Toronto and an affiliated researcher at Hangzhou Normal University, said that before conducting this study, she was "shocked" to learn that children, even at age 3, already show implicit racial bias against other race people.

"What's encouraging about this research is it shows it's possible to reduce this implicit racial bias quickly in young children with a method as simple as teaching them how to distinguish between other-race individuals," she said.

"Our study points to the effectiveness of intervention in early childhood - before bias has become entrenched," she continued. "As Dr. Lee pointed out, we also suggest that parents and teachers can help reduce bias by teaching children to distinguish other-race individuals by their names and personal attributes, instead of focusing on categorical traits, such as saying, 'the black boy', for example."

Study addresses implicit bias

Researchers say it's important to note the study focused on reducing implicit bias, or the extent to which humans have subconscious negative and positive associations with different races. This type of bias may arise from greater exposure to those of one's own race. Explicit bias, on the other hand, refers to preferences, stereotypes and prejudices we're more aware of, which may be learned socially from adults and peers.

"We think that reducing implicit racial bias in children could be a starting point for addressing a pernicious social problem," Heyman said. "But it is not the complete answer to racial discrimination or to systemic, structural racism."

How it worked...

Researchers worked with 95 Chinese preschool kids in China who had not had any direct interaction with non-Asian people prior to the study. They measured the children's implicit racial biases at the beginning of the study. They found that the kids had strong implicit bias against black people. That is, the children automatically associated black people with negative emotions and Chinese people with positive emotions.

Then, the children were randomly assigned to one of the three training groups:

-In the first group, children saw photos of five black people and were taught to differentiate them individually -In the second group, children were taught to differentiate five white people individually -In the third group, children were taught to differentiate five Chinese people individually

After the training, all children were tested again in terms of their implicit racial bias against black people. One week later, the children who had learned to differentiate black people received the same training for another 20 minutes.

Researchers found that these two sessions of training were enough to significantly reduce racial bias against black people in children for at least another 60 days (the longest time the researchers were able to track the children).

However, for the second group, which was trained to differentiate white people, their anti-black bias was unchanged. The same was true for the third group who were trained to differentiate Chinese people.

These results suggest that to reduce children's implicit racial bias against a particular race group, they must be trained to differentiate individuals from this race.

Researchers are now working with a larger, more diverse group of children in Toronto, Canada over a longer term. If their intervention to reduce implicit racial bias is effective in that setting as well, they hope to develop a more consumer-friendly version of their training: a fun, gamified app that could be used in schools and at home.

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University of Utah scientists gather with their peers in Provo, Utah, next week at the American Astronomical Society's Division of Planetary Sciences annual meeting, Oct. 15-20. Below are summaries of presentations at the meeting, along with the time and date of the presentation and primary contact information. All times are in Mountain Time.

The long-term effects of racial microaggressions on people of color in STEM

Racial microaggressions are the relentless, exclusionary messages that people of color experience in white-dominated spaces. In response to such persistent discrimination, racially marginalized individuals suffer physiological and psychological stress, a condition that William Smith coined as racial battle fatigue. Astronomy and planetary science fields are among the many science, technology, engineering and technology work environments where racial microaggressions negatively impact underrepresented scientists. On Wednesday, Smith will discuss the definition, identification and the long-term effects of racial microaggressions and racial battle fatigue on women, people of color, and other marginalized groups in STEM.

Control ID: 2818411: The long-term effects of racial microaggressions on people of color in STEM

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, 2:50-3:25 p.m., Grand Ballroom C, Provo Convention Center

William Smith, chair, Department of Education, Culture & Society, associate professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, William.Smith@utah.edu

Dynamical shake-up explains low-mass Mars and planet-less asteroids

The solar system's planets formed in a disk of gas and dust particles, left over from the birth of the sun. Current theory of planet formation predicts that the solid material in this disk concentrated bit-by-bit to form the rocky planets, including Earth, and even the cores of the gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn. Yet the theory is unable to explain why Mars only grew to a tenth the size of Earth, and why there are no planets at all in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Ben Bromley of the U, and Scott Kenyan of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, took a new look at the idea that planet formation can be slowed or halted by repeated gravitational nudges by the gas giants, coordinating with the sun's depleting disks of gas. In this way, a "sweeping resonance" with Jupiter can make a low-mass Mars and the planet-less asteroids.

They ran extensive supercomputer simulations of the so-called 'dynamical shake-up' model and found that if the sun's gas disk dissipated a million years after its birth, then Jupiter's orbit would block planets from forming in the asteroid belt, and would severely limit Mars's ability to grow.

Control ID: 2818151: Dynamical shake-up and the low mass of Mars

Friday, Oct. 20, 2017, 2:30-2:40 p.m., Grand Ballroom A, Provo Convention Center

Ben Bromley, professor and chair, Department of Physics & Astronomy, 801-581-8227, bromley@physics.utah.edu

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Determining how many people live in Seattle, perhaps of a certain age, perhaps from a specific country, is the sort of question that finds its answer in the census, a massive data dump for places across the country.

But just how fresh is that data? After all, the census is updated once a decade, and the U.S. Census Bureau's smaller but more detailed American Community Survey, annually. There's also a delay between when data are collected and when they are published. (The release of data for 2016 started gradually in September 2017.)

Enter Facebook, which, with some caveats, can serve as an even more current source of information, especially about migrants. That's the conclusion of a study led by Emilio Zagheni, associate professor of sociology at the University of Washington, published Oct. 11 in Population and Development Review. The study is believed to be the first to demonstrate how present-day migration statistics can be obtained by compiling the same data that advertisers use to target their audience on Facebook, and by combining that source with information from the Census Bureau.

Migration indicates a variety of political and economic trends and is a major driver of population change, Zagheni said. As researchers further explore the increasing number of databases produced for advertisers, Zagheni argues, social scientists could leverage Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter more often to glean information on geography, mobility, behavior and employment. And while there are some limits to the data - each platform is a self-selected, self-reporting segment of the population - the number of migrants according to Facebook could supplement the official numbers logged by the U.S. Census Bureau, Zagheni said.

"Facebook data are freely available and disaggregated at the level of city or ZIP code in the U.S.," Zagheni said. The study focused on Facebook's Ads Manager service, which allows users, in the interest of placing an ad, to input information on a target audience - information about which the platform then generates data. As an example, researchers identified an audience for a hypothetical ad aimed at Italian expatriates living in Washington state; Facebook reported approximately 3,800 monthly active users in that audience. (That data input process is free; taking it a step further to launch an ad carries a cost.)

Scientists studying migration trends - say, where different groups have located in the United States - could turn to the Facebook Ads Manager tool. But it's important to recognize biases in the data and some ambiguity in the way migration is measured, Zagheni said. The American Community Survey, in contrast, is the modern incarnation of the old census "long form," randomly sent to U.S. households annually to collect not only demographic information, but also statistics on housing, jobs and other socioeconomic trends.

In the UW study, Zagheni and his colleagues developed a computer program for extracting data from Facebook Ads Manager about expats from more than 50 countries to every U.S. state, disaggregated by age and sex. The team mined data from a platform of more than 1.8 billion users worldwide, drawing on an innovative statistical model that researchers set up to adjust for the data's typical shortcoming: Facebook users are not representative of the entire underlying population.

As an illustrative example, Zagheni and colleagues compared the numbers of Mexicans living in California and Texas, by age and sex, with the numbers compiled by the American Community Survey. The researchers did the same with the estimates of immigrants from the Philippines to both states.

The team found that, generally speaking, the numbers of Mexican migrants in California and Texas estimated by Facebook were noticeably lower than the numbers reported by the American Community Survey, particularly among older Mexicans. The American Community Survey, for instance, estimates that Mexican-born men ages 40 to 44 represent more than 20 percent of California's population of men in that age range; Facebook puts the proportion at closer to 15 percent. Those discrepancies could reflect biases in the data, Zagheni said, such as lower Facebook usage in that demographic group, or differences across age groups in the amount of information posted on Facebook, such as details about users' hometowns - and thus whether they would be considered an expat.

For immigrants from the Philippines, the differences between Facebook and American Community Survey estimates are narrower, with a potential overestimate of older Filipinos in both states. In Texas, for example, Facebook estimates Filipinos ages 50 to 54 represent 5 percent of the state's male population in that age range, whereas the American Community Survey estimate is closer to 2.5 percent.

Zagheni and colleagues worked on identifying such biases in the Facebook data, and their similarities among groups or across states. They then developed a model that allows researchers to make adjustments by combining information from Facebook and the American Community Survey.

"Is it better to have a large sample that is biased, or a small sample that is nonbiased? The American Community Survey is a small sample that is more representative of the underlying population; Facebook is a very large sample but not representative," Zagheni said. "The idea is that in certain contexts, the sample in the American Community Survey is too small to say something significant. In other circumstances, Facebook samples are too biased. With this project we aim at getting the best of both worlds: By calibrating the Facebook data with the American Community Survey, we can correct for the bias and get better estimates."

The next step, he added, is to test the approach in developing countries, where timely and reliable statistics are important for development.

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Zagheni received support from the Washington Research Foundation, the eScience Institute and the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology at the University of Washington. Co-authors were Ingmar Weber of the Qatar Computing Research Institute in Qatar, and Krishna Gummadi of the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems in Germany.

For more information, contact Zagheni at 206-616-1173 or emilioz@uw.edu.
A new study published in the Journal of Wildlife Management and Wildlife Monographs reveals the devastating effects of lead fishing tackle on loon populations.

Poisoning from lead fishing tackle has been identified as the leading cause of mortality in adult common loons, but the population-level effects of mortality from ingested lead tackle on loons have not previously been determined.

When investigators examined a long-term dataset (1989-2012) on common loon mortality in New Hampshire, 49% of adult loon deaths resulted from lead toxicities from ingested fishing tackle. Jigs accounted for 53% and sinkers for 39% of lead tackle objects removed from loons.

Loons appeared to obtain the majority of lead tackle from current fishing activity rather than from a reservoir of lead tackle on lake bottoms.

The researchers estimated that lead tackle mortality reduced the population growth rate by 1.4% and the statewide population by 43% during the years of the study.

"Our paper quantifies the severity of the effects of lead fishing tackle ingestion not just on individual loons but on loon populations, underscoring the persistent threat to wildlife of lead in the environment," said Tiffany Grade, lead author of the study. "To our knowledge, this is the first study to define and test for a population-level effect of lead tackle or any stressor on loon populations, with implications for similar assessments of stressors on loons and other wildlife."

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A new study published in the Journal of Wildlife Management looks at whether management of livestock grazing may help protect sagebrush and birds that depend on it.

The extent of sagebrush in western North America has declined significantly in recent years, which has resulted in concomitant effects on an array of wildlife, such as nesting greater sage-grouse, a species that is highly sensitive to disturbances and has been at the center of a historic conservation effort. Scientists assessed the effects of rotational grazing management and rest from grazing on daily survival rates of nearly 500 sage-grouse nests monitored over 6 years in central Montana.

Nest success was similar among the different grazing management systems examined and there was no evidence that rest from grazing (?12 months) increased daily survival rates of nesting sage-grouse. Furthermore, rotational grazing systems and rest had negligible effects on vegetation height and cover relative to other grazing strategies used in the study area.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recently ordered a review of current sage grouse management plans, saying he wanted to balance the bird's conservation with local economic growth. The review task force recommended relaxing rules related to grazing management.

The authors noted that the foremost conservation priority should be the prevention of further loss and fragmentation of sagebrush landscapes from land uses and activities that negatively affect sage-grouse populations.

"The biggest take-away from our study was that there's more than one way to manage livestock grazing in a way that's compatible with nesting sage-grouse," said Joe Smith, lead author of the study.

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Patients with a rare bone cancer of the skull and spine - chordoma - could be helped by existing drugs, suggest scientists from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, University College London Cancer Institute and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust. In the largest genomics study of chordoma to date, published today (12th October) in Nature Communications, scientists show that a group of chordoma patients have mutations in genes that are the target of existing drugs, known as PI3K inhibitors.

Researchers suggest a clinical trial of PI3K inhibitors for this particular group of chordoma patients, who could benefit from existing treatments.

Chordoma is a rare form of bone cancer that strikes individuals of all ages and affects 1 in every 800,000 people in the UK*. Chordomas are slow-growing, yet aggressive and life-threatening tumours that form in the vertebral bodies of the spine, the sacrum and base of the skull. The cancerous tumour is considered to develop from persistent embryonic tissue, known as the notochord.

As they involve critical structures such as the brainstem, spinal cord, and important nerves and arteries, chordomas are difficult to treat. Surgery and radiation are currently the only effective forms of treatment .

For the first time, scientists have used whole genome sequencing to gain a better understanding of the biology underlying chordoma. The results reveal promising new treatment options for a cancer with a poor prognosis.

The team studied chordoma tumours from 104 patients and found that 16 per cent of the tumour samples had genetic changes, or mutations, in PI3K signalling genes. These genes are the target of existing drugs, known as PI3K inhibitors, which are being used to treat many cancers, including breast cancer, lung cancer and lymphoma**, but have not yet been considered for chordoma.

The gene brachyury, or T, has been known for some time to play a role in chordoma but for the first time the team used genomic sequencing to demonstrate that only one additional copy of the T gene seems to drive these tumours. The team also discovered a new cancer gene that is specific to chordoma, known as LYST, which has not been found in any other cancer. This finding warrants future research.

Dr Sam Behjati, joint first author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: "By sequencing the tumours' DNA, we get a much clearer view of the genetic changes that drive chordoma. We have shown that a particular group of chordoma patients could be treated with PI3K inhibitors, based on their mutations. This would have been missed had we not done genomic sequencing of their tumours."

Josh Sommer, a survivor of chordoma and Executive Director of the Chordoma Foundation, USA, said: "These findings represent a major step forward in understanding the underlying causes of chordoma, and provide hope that better treatments may soon be available for some patients."

Professor Adrienne Flanagan, joint lead author from the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust and University College London Cancer Institute, said: "This study provides a resource for chordoma research for years to come. In the future we hope to target chordoma from three angles: trialling PI3K inhibitors in chordoma; developing a therapeutic approach to switching off the extra copy of the T gene and studying the function of LYST as a cancer gene and its role in the development of chordoma".

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Notes to Editors:

Sources:

* https://www.bcrt.org.uk/information/information-by-type/chordoma/

** https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4708174/

Publication:

Patrick Tarpey, Sam Behjati et al. (2017) The driver landscape of sporadic chordoma. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01026-0

Selected websites:

Chordoma Foundation

The Chordoma Foundation is an international nonprofit organization working to improve the lives of those affected by chordoma and lead the search for a cure. Founded by patients and family members in 2007, the Foundation proactively invests in research to develop better treatments, supports healthcare providers in improving the standard of care for chordoma patients, and provides a comprehensive suite of services to support patients and caregivers throughout their journey with the disease. http://www.chordoma.org

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust

The RNOH is the largest specialist orthopaedic hospital in the UK, and a recognised world leader in the field of orthopaedics and neuro-musculoskeletal medicine. It treats more than 125,000 patients a year for conditions ranging from acute spinal injuries and bone cancer to prosthetic rehabilitation and chronic back pain. http://www.rnoh.nhs.uk/

About UCL (University College London)

Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. We are among the world's top universities, as reflected by performance in a range of international rankings and tables. UCL currently has over 35,000 students from 150 countries and more than 11,000 staff. Our annual income is more than 1 billion. http://www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow us on Twitter @uclnews | Watch our YouTube channel YouTube.com/UCLTV

UCL Cancer Institute, London, is the hub for cancer research at University College London (UCL), one of the world's leading universities. The UCL Cancer Institute draws together over 300 researchers/clinicians working to translate research discoveries into new strategies to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. Visit http://www.ucl.ac.uk/cancer | Follow us on Twitter @uclcancer

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease. http://www.sanger.ac.uk

Wellcome

Wellcome exists to improve health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive. We're a global charitable foundation, both politically and financially independent. We support scientists and researchers, take on big problems, fuel imaginations and spark debate. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk
Scotiabank highlight the return of Brexit risk to the Pound - Euro rises against listless Pound

The Euro rose slightly against the Pound on Wednesday, hitting 0.8969 by 5 oclock GMT, a gain of 0.3%. There wasnt a lot of economic data to focus on, with Spanish CPI coming in on forecast at 1.8% a fairly encouraging sign that the recovery is on solid ground in Spain.

For the UK, as rate expectations are sidelined ahead of the upcoming UK CPI, the focus is firmly back on politics.

Wednesday is always a heavy day for the UK, as Prime Ministers questions saw a typically lively affair.

Amidst the usual shouting, there was an interesting moment when Theresa May assured the room that Britain was prepared to spend what was necessary on vital services post Brexit but stopped short of actually saying when or what necessary was going to be.

FX analysts at Scotiabank also acknowledged the return of politics to GBP volatility.

But it was not the PMQs that they focused on, instead, it was an interview with May where she was blindsided by a question on a second referendum,

"Focus has swung back to Brexit risks following PM Mays appearance on a radio show yesterday where she refused to say how she would vote in a new referendum on Brexit; May campaigned for the Remain camp and the flubbed response might antagonise already difficult relations with ministers who favour a hard Brexit approach.

Mays moderate approach may be a key support underneath the GBP

More disarray and in-fighting amongst the Conservatives would not be good news for the British Pound. If May (who is now seen as relatively moderate in her approach to Brexit) was replaced with a hardliner such as Michael Gove, the GBP might be forced to increase the risk premium associated with a cliff-edge Brexit.

Talks have already stagnated badly, despite May attempting a couple of times to talk more-kindly about the EU. The EU wants more than words, it wants action; until someone in the UK government figures out a way to appease the divorce fee without having to go back to voters and say they have spent Billions when they promised millions in extra funds for public services, the deadlock will probably continue.
Named for Los Angeles and its history a new imprint is bringing fiction to the fair both crime mystery and science fiction

Author, Clifford B. O'Connell is a new voice emerging on the international literary scene starting this week. His two novels will debut at Frankfurt Book Fair with IPBA.

Working with New Life Options under "Water & Power Press", the 2017 Frankfurt and BEA 2018 is to offer international book rights, translation rights, and look for publishing and distribution to support worldwide readership and promote sales.

Proceeds will be coordinated to support Educational Programs and Animal Rights.

"My life is reflected in my 5 books, two will be released in Frankfurt through the IBPA to promote the work and my favorite causes. Working for human rights and dignity, with books being released dedicated to "the men and women on the planet committed to preserving and not destroying it" or to ""the men and women wrongfully executed in the U.S.", I am using my pen to fight for issues that might otherwise be ignored or glanced over at best. This is a long harbored literary tradition and I'm sticking to it."

So is Reed Expositions and the honored guests:

""Books are the best weapons," President Emmanuel Macron of France said at the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair, addressing the unifying power of literature and language. "Without culture, there is no Europe."

The French leader, who joined Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany at the opening ceremony of the world's oldest book fair Tuesday night, spoke of culture's crucial role in Europe, and of how it can be a unifying force at a time of rising nationalism. France is the guest of honor this year, and more than 7,000 exhibitors from over 100 countries are expected to attend.

"Identity of language lives through the confrontations with other languages," Mr. Macron said."

This year:

"Carried by the mission of two generations of Nathans to the show"you can talk to staff or to Terry Nathan, Executive at the IBPA booth, my hope is I will find my niche and the books will reach their new audiences and new markets."

The Imprints and representation:

New Life Options A/V began at the Buchmesse under Jan Nathan, and the mentoring of fashion photographer and publisher, Ed Lange. It is delighted to represent and promote Clifford O'Connell to generations of new readers. Both books are available in ebook release at this time. Water & Power Press will work with new formats and explore with show sales and or leads how best to proceed. In a changing marketplace, collaboration, co-creation, P&D possibilities continue to drive the marketplace and allow readers format choices.

Book rights, Audio, Television or Film rights available..

Radio tour and social media campaign in planning for 2018 in the U.S.

Mr. O'Connell:

Author is based in Granada Hills, California, presently lecturing on Film History enjoying his personal life and pets. He acts as a board member of an educational nonprofit.

Goal for the tradeshow is to promote rights sales that will benefit parents, children, and teachers.

At Frankfurt, please leave your information with Mr. Nathan or his representatives.

Thank you.

New Education Options and

Water & Power Press

14431 Ventura Blvd. #312

Sherman Oaks, CA 91423-2606

For more information or copies, contact 818-742-5099 after the show at bo_lebo@hotmail.com or by phone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_Book_Fair

http://www.buchmesse.de/en/fbf/

This year:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/arts/frankfurt-book-fair-macron.html

Last year:

http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/ibpa-report-2016-frankfurt-book-fair

Book Expo 2017 video and no plans for next year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3gxLnY-Seo

http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/ibpa-forgo-cooperative-book-display-bookexpo-2018
Thursday, October 12, 2017

Georgetown Universitys School of Continuing Studies (SCS) has added a new Masters in Design Management & Communications to its award-winning portfolio of professional communications programs. This flexible online masters degree will accept its first class of students in Fall 2018.

According to a news release, The Masters in Design Management & Communications program welcomes students from across a broad spectrum of disciplinesfrom graphic designers to analytical problem-solverswith the goal of exploring a holistic approach to design management. Led by faculty who are both industry experts and seasoned academics, the programs rigorous courses will provide students with a rich and relevant learning environment.

Faculty Director Wendy Zajack said, The reality of our industry is that we all come in with different backgrounds, (and) this program is the best place to mix it up. Its a safe place to explore yourself, to push yourself; its a safe place to fail, and to learn from those failures.

Students will graduate from the Design Management & Communications program with not only a well-rounded understanding of the challenges of the design process, but also the confidence to lead a design project from development to marketing and beyond.

The programs focus on design thinking methodology extends beyond the world of graphic or web design and into a comprehensive practice of iteration, brainstorming, and problem-solving that is as applicable at the drafting table as it is in the boardroom.

One great thing about the creative industry, Zajack said, is that people realize that tactics that have worked well in one profession can translate seamlessly into other industries.
Thursday, October 12, 2017

Integrated marketing agency, The Cyphers Agency, has hired Kristin Dyak as digital marketing director to lead the agencys digital marketing team. In this role, Dyak will conceptualize and execute multi-platform strategies to enhance clients digital footprint through sophisticated social media and content marketing practices.

Kristins mastery of the ever-changing digital trends and best practices will be critical to our multifaceted marketing campaigns, said Dave Cyphers, agency owner and president. Were pleased to have her lead our social media team to engage with audiences across all online platforms.

A resident of Annapolis, Dyak received her BA in Communication and Media Arts & Design from James Madison University. She previously worked as a freelance digital marketing consultant for numerous clients that include National Geographic, Cushman & Wakefield, DAO Labs and The Bob & Diane Fund.

At Cyphers, Dyak will work with Grain Foods Foundation, Blue Water Development, Blackwall Hitch Restaurants and others among the agencys diverse roster.

The Cyphers Agency, Inc. is an independent, full-service creative agency offering advertising, public relations and digital services with a focus on marketing strategy and brand development. Headquartered in Annapolis, Md., the agency works to promote regional and national brands in a range of industries including ADP, Seasons Pizza, Strayer University, Grain Foods Foundation, Capital Bank, Kay Apartments and Advance. Visit www.thecyphersagency.com.
The Ohio States Farm Science Review was in London, Ohio, Sept. 19-21, almost 114,000 people attended.

In fact, I got to see quite a few northeast Ohio farmers there. It was nice to visit with so many locals. At the review, I had the opportunity to serve as one of the moderators for the Ask the Expert panel.

Each day, 15 experts were each questioned over a 20 minute period on some of the hottest farm management issues that we are currently facing.

These sessions were eye-opening especially given the financial downturn that we are facing in agriculture.

Today, I would like to share some of the notes I jotted down during these sessions.

2018 budgets

Barry Ward, assistant professor in OSU Extensions Department of Agricultural and Natural Resources, was a panelist and was able to share his budget forecasts for 2018.

Sadly, these numbers do not look too much different from 2017. While most of the input costs for corn, soybeans, and wheat are projected to remain the same, net profit is looking slim at best because of stagnant crop prices.

One good note is that nitrogen prices appear to be more favorable for next year.

Ward reports, that on average, after paying all the variable and fixed costs per acre, there will be only $31 per acre for corn; $106 per acre for soybeans, and $8 per acre for wheat to cover land rent/expense.

This means 2018 will be another tight year. So it is imperative that producers examine their budgets to see where they can trim costs.

Any producer who would like the 2018 budget estimates for corn, soybeans and wheat can access them at OSU Extensions Farm Office website.

Rental rates

Given the low-profit margins, the past few years and similar projections for 2018, both Ward and Michael Langenmeier, Ph.D., from Purdue University indicated that rental rates should continue to drop over the next few years.

I know this is a hard pill for many landowners to swallow given the run-up of our CAUV property tax rates. Something will have to give, as it will be hard for many producers to continue to operate with such low margins.

Food waste

Brian Roe, Ph.D., gave a nice session on the food Americans waste. I was shocked to learn that food waste accounts for almost 22 percent of what is in every landfill.

In fact, Roe shared during his session that we waste about 40 percent of the food we produce or more than 34 million tons of food.

He shared while food waste does occur at restaurants and supermarkets, the largest area for food waste is right in our homes.

Each year, Americans throw out about one-quarter of the food they buy, costing an average family anywhere from $1,365 to $2,275 a year.

Roe and his team are working on an APP which will allow users to determine how much food they are wasting. So, how much food are you wasting? A great question for all of us to ask.

Tax reform

I presented on the tax reform discussions which have permeated in Washington D.C. since the election of President Trump. Turns out this was very timely as President Trumps tax reform plan was released the following week on September 27.

After reviewing the plan which was released, I still have many of the same questions for farmers to consider.

For farmers, the tax plan would allow them to immediately expense the cost of depreciable assets during the next five years. My question, though, is what happens after five years?

There has also been chatter of the elimination or curtailment of Section 1031 tax-deferred exchanges. These like-kind exchanges have been beneficial to many farmers through the years.

Currently, farmers are allowed to exchange their equipment for new farm equipment and usually owe no tax on the exchange.

Also, farmers can sell less productive farmland and roll that gain over into new farmland and defer the tax. There is also concern on whether or not farmers would be able to continue to deduct business income and state and local property taxes.

These are all targets in the planned elimination of many deductions. Congress also wants to repeal the estate tax. I would be careful what you wish for as an elimination of the estate that could mean the end to the step up in basis.

Or it could lead to a creation of a capital gains tax at death similar to the Canadian tax system.

For many operations, this could mean paying more, not less, when the farm passes from one generation to the next. So be careful of jumping on the get rid of the federal estate tax bandwagon as it could cost more money in the long run.

This could jeopardize your ability to pass the farm on to the next generation.

Final thoughts

There was not a lot of good news from the experts with regards to profitability in 2018 for agriculture producers. I cannot stress the need for producers to develop sound budgets for next year and to improve their record keeping systems.

A dollar an acre saved here and a dollar saved there will make a huge difference in 2018.

To close todays column, I would like to share a quote from James H. Douglas Jr. who stated, Our deep respect for the land and its harvest is the legacy of generations of farmers who put food on our tables, preserved our landscape, and inspired us with a powerful work ethic.
The devastation of hurricane season keeps barreling along, one after another.

To lose a home and all earthly possessions is beyond imagining, but for Puerto Rico, the loss in agricultural production goes beyond the here and now.

Farmers

Massive agricultural losses have been reported, with one dairy farmer saying he lost all of his cows. He has no idea where they are.

Another dairy farmer tells of being forced to dump the milk from his small herd every day because no one can get to his farm to haul the milk away.

Farmers all around the world can empathize with Mother Natures ability to land a knock-out punch, no matter the crop.

While the stories of Puerto Rico have centered on horrific daily struggles and slashed tourism revenue, I went in search of how the islands agricultural production has been impacted.

Damage

Numerous sources say that most dairy barns and commercial chicken buildings were lost in the unbelievably high-powered winds and rain of two successive hurricanes.

Electricity has still not been restored to many of these farms, and roads remain blocked in various directions.

Jose Rivera described to The New York Times the loss of his plantain crop, saying that all 14,000 of his trees appear to be destroyed.

(Even if he could afford to attempt to replace all those destroyed, starting a new plantain tree requires roughly 18 months before a crop could be harvested.)

Riveras entire sweet pepper and yam crop is gone, too.

Hunger

Farmers fear the loss of income, but they also fear watching their own families go hungry, even if they survive this current day-to-day nightmare.

In an area where a local crop is often the only crop they can afford, what happens now?

The small import/export trade is ruined, too, as all nearby island agriculture was destroyed by the same one-two hurricane punch.

We trade what we can, but there will be nothing to trade, Rivera explained.

Banana, plantain and coffee crops were hit the hardest, with the force of Hurricane Maria taking not only the crop, but stripping trees of bark, leaving little hope for rejuvenation.

All of this is said before even touching on the massive problem of getting safe drinking water to everyone.

Drinking water

People walk miles in the oppressive heat to stand in line waiting for water, gasoline, and enough food to get through one more day.

Preliminary figures show that Puerto Rico lost $780 million in agriculture yields alone, a significant figure on the struggling island.

In a televised report, an elderly man wiped tears as he pointed out the loss of a coconut tree grove, along with a destroyed nursery filled with saplings. Shards of glass seemed to be everywhere.

The farmer, 80 years old, said he could make about $100 a month off of each tree, and now all are gone.

It takes about 10 years for a coconut tree to become reliably productive, something this man says he will not live to see. Despair and fear on his face was painful to witness.

Even if I could start a grove today, I would not have the water I need. I have no water to drink, so no water to feed a coconut tree.

As I re-filled the stock tanks in the barn and pastures on this hot autumn afternoon, that image came to me with a jolt, a reminder to count water as a blessing. Always.
WASHINGTON  U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, introduced legislation he hopes will help farmers sell their products directly to consumers, and build local and regional food economies.

Brown introduced the bill, which hes calling The Local Food and Regional Market Supply (FARMS) Act, Oct. 4.

U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine; Jeff Fortenberry, R-Nebraska; and Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, are expected to introduce companion legislation in the House.

What it does

The Local FARMS Act funds and modifies three existing grant programs, which help farmers and others connect their products with local consumers:

The Value Added Producer Grant, which provides important resources for farmers to expand into new markets, create new products, and market their existing business.

The Local Food Promotion Program, which invests in farmers working to establish or expand local food businesses.

The Farmers Market Promotion Program, which works to create and grow farmers market programs to help farmers sell their products directly to local consumers.

The bill also expands the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which helps seniors access fresh foods at farmers markets and qualifying organizations.

Under Browns bill, the program could assist low-income military veterans as well.

Daniel Trudel from Anns Raspberry Farm in Fredericktown, Ohio, voiced his support of the legislation. In 2014, Anns Raspberry Farm received a Value-Added Producer Grant, which helped them grow their business and enter into new markets around Ohio.
CANFIELD, Ohio  The Holborn Herb Growers Guild held its annual Tea Sept. 10 at the Western Reserve Village in Canfield.

Members of the guild prepared and served tea, finger foods, gave tours as well as demonstrations.

The featured speaker for the event was Ellen Speicher, a well-known horticulture expert. A highlight of the day was the presentation of a $1,000 college scholarship to Jessica Cvelbar to further her education in the field of horticulture.

The next meeting will be held Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. in Boardman Park at Beard Cabin.

Those interested in becoming a member of the guild are welcome to attend for more information.
SALEM, Ohio  Theres been a slow, but growing, interest in the Wagyu beef breed in Ohio. A premium rate for a high prime product seems to be the draw, but does it have enough of a market?

I think Wagyu will be hitting households within the next 10 years, said Brooke Pidgeon, a cattle producer in Homeworth, Ohio. People will be able to go into the supermarket and buy Wagyu.

Brief history

Wagyu cattle were first brought to America from Japan in the mid-70s, but Japan designated the breed a national treasure in 1997, banning exports of Wagyu cattle to the U.S. In Japan, one strain yields the high-end Kobe beef products.

The American Wagyu Association estimates there are 30,000 Wagyu-influenced cattle being raised domestically, with less than 5,000 of them being full blood.

And, according the American Wagyu Associations member listing, there are currently 10 registered Wagyu breeders in Ohio.

Marbling

Weve done a good bit research over the last several years and the main thing is its a much higher marbling breed, said Francis Fluharty, an animal scientist at the Ohio State Universitys Wooster campus.

A slightly lower melting point gives Wagyu beef a higher monounsaturated fatty acid profile, said Fluharty.

He said there are three cattle breeds in the world that have this lower melting point: Wagyu, Hanwoo (indigenous to Korea and not exported) and the Jersey dairy cattle breed.

A couple Ohio producers have taken note of the Wagyu breed and have started incorporating Wagyu into their own beef cattle operations.

Francis Pang, of Navarre, Ohio, started introducing Wagyu into his herd in 2008, purchasing 20 Wagyu embryos and flushing some of his Angus heifers with them.

Now, Pang is up to 300 head of cattle on his farm, with only 28 full-blood Angus left that serve as surrogate mothers.

Taste

Pang was attracted to the marbling and melt-in-your-mouth taste that attracts many to this type of meat.

The meat quality of (Wagyu) is just phenomenal, said Pang, who markets his beef both directly to consumers and to a few markets in the Cleveland area.

The Japanese Beef Marbling Score (BMS) ranks beef on a scale from one to 12  with 12 being the highest marbling.

Pang explained a four is considered prime and a full-blood Wagyu can produce a score of eight to nine. Crossing Wagyu with Angus can result in a score of four to seven.

Brooke Pidgeon, of Blackstone Performance Farms, was also surprised by Wagyus natural ability to marble.

The marbling goes through the beef rather than around it, said Pidgeon.

Currently Pidgeon has a herd of 40 Angus cattle and 15 full-blood Wagyu cattle. His goal is to build a herd where he can market his genetics.

Slow growers

Wagyu are slow-growing animals, Pang said. Theyre not big and fast like Angus. It takes a bit longer to feed them out, but they dont eat as much, he said.

Wagyu grow around two pounds per day, consuming around 2 percent dry matter, and take around 400-450 days before they are ready for market  around 1,500 pounds, explained Fluharty.

Crossbreeding with Angus cattle helps speed the feeding process a little, but also results in a beef product that has the desired marbling.

This isnt a program that is going for muscle, said Fluharty. This is a complete high-end product, shooting for high prime, he said.

Fluharty said many producers are used to feeding out cattle for longer  finishing around 330 days or more. Feeding for 400 days is only a couple months more.

Easy going

Another appeal to the Wagyu breed is the ease of calving. The birth weight on Wagyu is lower and their birthing efficiency is higher, Pidgeon said, adding calf size is usually around 60 pounds.

Wagyu cattle are generally more docile than Angus and other breeds of beef cattle, and they are adaptable.

Wagyu are not an exotic animal, they are born and raised here, said Pidgeon.

Demand

According to Pang, Wagyu heifers sell anywhere from $4,500 to $6,500 and Wagyu cows, from $6,500 to 8,500. We need to establish a target price as more producers come into the market, said Pang.

Pang can sell a full-blood Wagyu for $6.50 per pound (by hanging weight) to restaurants and can sell a single steak or ribeye direct to consumers for $42 per pound.

Pang kills around 36 Wagyus a year and, at the time of this report, was completely sold out of steaks and ribeyes. I have an order for as many filet I can produce, which is too many, he said.

Other research

Fluharty said research is also being conducted with the American Jersey Cattle Association in crossing Wagyu breeds with Jersey cattle. Jerseys already have a high marbling propensity, so crossing with Wagyu would enhance the chance for a prime product, he added.

We have dairies really looking into this as a marketing opportunity, he said.

The whole essence of this is that Ohio has a lot of really high marbling Angus, said Fluharty. Bottom line, though, it still requires people to buy really good genetics, he said.
A push forward has begun to showcase farming technology and its importance with two high-profile events in the European Parliament.

Contributors at the Future of Farming event, organised by Anthea McIntyre MEP, included Professor Simon Blackmore of Harper Adams University and Edwin Hecker of the Internet of Food and Farm 2020.

They spoke on the benefits of precision agriculture, while further panels and round-tables covered new plant-breeding techniques, societal challenges, and how new technology could improve farming systems.

Aside from this event, a panel took place yesterday (11 October) examining the impact of regulation on agricultural innovation.

Miss McIntyre, Conservative MEP for the West Midlands, said the events highlighted a range of areas where "effective harnessing" of innovation will boost productivity while protecting the environment and biodiversity.

She said: "But I also had to warn that badly thought-out regulation could be the enemy of progress. I stressed the innovation principle - that regulation must always allow research and enterprise to drive innovation by using genuine science-based evidence in evaluating risk and benefit.

"This is where precision farming and information technology come in - improving soil-health and water management, precision livestock farming, precision breeding and even precision entomology."

'Disruptive technologies'

While the use of standard equipment with precision-farming techniques can prove beneficial, it is only with the development of what are called 'disruptive' technologies that real gains can be made, Miss McInyre explained.

"These are developments such as laser weed-killing systems and second-generation drones, capable of undertaking field tasks rather than simply capturing images," she said.

"Farmers are the major stewards of our environment. They need continued access to innovation, new technology and research in order to produce food in a sustainable way and protect the environment for future generations.

"In that, they need help not hindrance from the regulatory framework."

A report released in September explained how the agricultural industry is being "quietly reformed" by new robotics.

Agri-tech

Agri-tech contributes 14.4bn to the UK economy every year, underpinning the UKs food and drink industry.

The government has invested 160 million through the agri-tech strategy to help develop innovative solutions from the laboratory through to the farm.

It comes as news that a report highlighted how 'smart farming' and technological advances can be embraced in order to support the growing human population.

Another separate report explained how agricultural robotics will become a $12bn industry by 2027.

Steve Tones, horticulture strategy director at AHDB, said: Addressing the increasing cost and decreasing availability of labour is one of the top three priorities of our strategy, and a key issue for most growers.

We recently launched a programme to bring lean principles into all sectors of horticulture, which offers immediate improvements in business productivity. The robotics and automation survey will provide us with the information we need to shape our future activity to meet the longer-term needs of the horticulture industry for alternatives to human labour.
A government strategy urging a low-carbon future has called for a bigger forest network in rural areas, a new system of agricultural support and better farm technologies.

The long-awaited Clean Growth Strategy, published on Thursday (12 October) sets out how the government wants to lead the way towards a low carbon future.

It sets out what policies the government aims to use to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 57 per cent over the next 15 years.

The strategy includes funding to enhance the benefits and value of natural resources by establishing a new network of forests in England such as new woodland on farmland, and for larger-scale woodland and forest creation.

The strategy also says that as the UK leaves the EU, designing a new system of future agricultural support to focus on delivering better environmental outcomes, including addressing climate change more directly, is a must.

To support greater productivity of agricultural land, the report states that increasing carbon storage through fertilising crops more effectively is needed.

It also suggests the development of new animal and plant breeding technologies, precision farming technologies on smaller scale farms, and developing robotics and new sensor technologies.

The report applauds the agricultural industry for making a shift in resource efficiency.

It says: "Since 1990 emissions from producing a kilogram of pork have decreased by 30 per cent and by 16 per cent for a litre of milk. Many of our farms are using more efficient agricultural practices, for example improving crop nutrient and crop health management."

'Enormous contribution'

Rural organisation the CLA has welcomed the commitment by the government, in particular the need to plant more forests on farms.

CLA Forestry and Woodlands Adviser Mike Seville: Forestry and woodlands make an enormous contribution to our countryside, helping to clean the air we breathe and prevent flooding.

We welcome the commitment the Government has shown in this strategy to develop a new support system for food, farming and the environment which recognises the value of trees and the public benefits they bring.

The CLA has proposed a Land Management Contract as a way to support any farmer or forester who chooses to manage land in a way that delivers better environmental outcomes, from improvements in soil quality to planting trees, in return for a financial reward based on what they contribute, not the amount of land they own.

We have long advocated unlocking investment in the forestry and woodlands industry. The funding boost to create more on-farm woodland will produce new opportunities such as encouraging the use of timber framed housing in UK construction, Mr Seville said.

The CLA is one of three rural organisations to have joined forces to call for an ambitious uplift in the area of woodland cover in the UK after Brexit.
A group of farmers are the stars of a new NFU recipe book that features the best of British produce.

'Countryside Kitchen: Farm, Food, Fork' includes 77 recipes that use only British seasonal ingredients cultivated by British farmers.

It also highlights the importance of provenance and supporting farming and agriculture in the UK and encourages readers to use seasonal, local ingredients.

Also included are the stories of the farmers and growers behind the raw ingredients with the aim of providing members of the public with the knowledge of where their food comes from and how it is grown or raised.

A foreword by Countryfile presenter and farmer Adam Henson is included. He acknowledges the dedication and hard work of British farmers and urges readers to reconnect with the British seasons.

NFU President, Meurig Raymond, said of the launch: British farmers produce some of the most delicious and diverse food in the world while adhering to Red Tractor standards. This is to ensure the very best in traceability, environmental protection, food safety and hygiene and animal welfare standards.

The British public more than ever want to know the story of where their food comes from; how its grown and raised, where its been.

The NFUs Countryside Kitchen recipe book helps people to reconnect with their food and gives them an insight into the lives of the people who work so hard to put food on our tables.

By cooking with seasonal British produce the public are supporting British farmers who are the backbone of our rural communities and stewards of our beautiful countryside.
"Grossly unfair" farm subsidies should be replaced with a new system which allows all farmers the safety net of a basic income, a land and environment expert has told the government.

Professor Ian Bateman, Director of the University of Exeter's Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute (LEEP) has set out a new vision for a "harmonisation" of environmental and agricultural policy following Brexit.

In a speech to the the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Professor Bateman called for the scrapping of current agricultural policy.

He said the CAP has overseen long-term decline in the natural environment, poor value for money to tax payers and a bad deal for the large majority of farmers.

Arguing that any improvement had to involve a new relationship between farmers and society that was good for both sides, Professor Bateman opened the session by highlighting that subsidies are currently distributed according to farm size.

This has resulted in three quarters of funding going to the biggest one quarter of farms, with billionaire landowners being among the largest recipients of public funding.

Wealthy landowners

Indeed, campaigners have already called for landowners, which includes the the Queen, to lose up to 1 million a year under plans to slash farming subsidies for wealthier farmers after Britain leaves the European Union.

One Labour MP said it was "indefensible" that wealthy land-owning families are given so much money in subsidies, and another campaigner said it was a "no-brainer" to change the system after the UK leaves the EU.

Farm minister George Eustice has also in the past said the distribution of payments was 'unfair'.

Professor Bateman said it supports intensive high-input/high-output farming so that society pays twice for food production, once through taxes and again via the shopping basket.

In contrast, Bateman said that many small and average sized farms receive relatively little public support despite being vital contributors to environmental quality.

He said: Society doesnt benefit from small farmers being pushed into bankruptcy.

So the gross inequality of the present system should be replaced in part with the fairer distribution of a basic income safety net across farms.

This will also retain land for any possible future food security contingencies without wasting money now by subsidising overproduction and damaging the environment.

Public benefits

Beyond this safety net, Professor Bateman urged that public funding should only pay for activities which have public benefits.

These benefits include supporting rural development, maintaining high standards of animal welfare, protecting the biosecurity of the country, protection from flooding and the development and application of low-impact farm technology.

However, Bateman said that the majority of public funding should be targeted towards improving the countrys environment and the natural capital it provides, underpinning the economy and social well-being as well as providing a high-quality environment for all.

New methods of calculating the value of improving natural capital are available to help decision makers target public funding to those areas and uses which will deliver the best for society.

It is now possible to measure the contribution of landowners, farmers and farm managers to the environment, for example by calculating how much they reduce water pollution.
Police ordered a Land Rover Discovery to be crushed after its owner was found guilty of damaging farmland by driving on it.

North Yorkshire Polices Rural Taskforce said that by releasing an image of the crushed Land Rover, it would send a "very clear" message that illegally driving on farmland is unacceptable.

The offender, 33-year-old Mark James Hughes from Horden, near Peterlee, was convicted of criminal damage after driving onto a farmer's field at Topcliffe, near Thirsk, last November.

... it is hoped the images send a clear message that it is unacceptable to drive on farmland

The Land Rover became stuck and buried into the mud to the depth of its axle.

Mr Hughes was ordered to pay 1,000 compensation and disqualified for driving for six months

Mr Hughes was seen nearby, and subsequently interviewed by officers.

The farmland Mr Hughes damaged was due to be replanted, but the damage caused by his car made this impossible due to a risk of contaminants.

At Northallerton Magistrates Court on August 25, Hughes was ordered to pay 1,000 compensation and disqualified for driving for six months.

He also had his vehicle taken off him and now it has been crushed.

PC Arfan Rahouf, of North Yorkshire Polices Rural Taskforce, said: Hughes thoughtless and reckless actions caused substantial inconvenience and financial loss to a farm business.

I hope that the crushing of the vehicle, along with the compensation and driving ban sends a very clear message that this behaviour is absolutely unacceptable to North Yorkshires rural communities, and police will deal with such incidents robustly.
The value of exports of beef and lamb from Scotland has increased to over 80 million in the past year, according to export figures.

Results of the annual exporters survey conducted by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) shows that Scotlands exports of red meat increased in value by 9% (4.3% by volume) in the year ending August 2017.

Scotland's booming food and drink exports show no sign of stopping. Overall food and drink exports increased by over 11 per cent in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2016.

Speaking at Anuga in Cologne, one of the worlds largest food fairs Jim McLaren, Chairman of QMS said the figures should send a "positive signal" to Scottish exporters and those working in the wider red meat industry.

This strengthening of export demand is a very clear indication that, despite the on-going challenges of the global economy and the uncertainty generated by the Brexit negotiation process, overseas demand for Scotch Beef PGI and Scotch Lamb PGI remains strong, Mr McLaren said.

We continue to focus on strengthening our relationships with our much-valued, long-established overseas customers who recognise all that sets our beef and lamb apart - from our quality assurance and animal welfare to our sustainability message. We will also continue to seek out and welcome new export opportunities, added Mr McLaren.

Asian growth

While the greatest volume of sales of beef and lamb from Scotland was the result of trade with other EU countries, the biggest driver for growth was in exports to third countries.

Strong examples of this, said Mr McLaren, were Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore, where four Scottish companies have been exporting during the past year.

Indeed, a recent AHDB Pork report has said that the Asia-Pacific region could offer 'increasing opportunities' for UK meat exporters looking forward to post-Brexit markets.

Within the EU, the biggest markets for beef from Scotland remain France and Italy, according to the QMS figures.

Looking at the countries which pay the greatest premium for beef from Scotland, Belgium leads the way in the EU, with Norway and Switzerland paying the most outwith the EU.

Looking only at beef from Scotland, the value of exports increased by over 12% year-on-year, with the volume increase of 3.4%, a clear indication of the influence of currency.

The biggest increase in export trade of beef from Scotland was to Germany and the Nordics which have increased by 53% and 46% respectively.

Demand

Mr McLaren said it was vital that the Scottish industry continues to meet the demands of overseas markets for high quality produce.

However, he also drew attention to the importance of export markets in terms of optimising returns for the entire carcase.

While there is demand from overseas customers for the very top end of quality products from Scotland there is also encouraging volume demand from overseas markets for fifth quarter and lower value products. This is important in terms of optimising returns for the whole carcase, said Mr McLaren.

QMSs export strategy in recent years has focused on developing opportunities in Germany and the Nordics, along with the existing well-established target markets of France, Italy and the Benelux.

Farming union NFU Scotland has recently called for politicians to "recognise and protect" the economic and environmental contribution of Scottish agriculture in the Brexit negotiations.
US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has arrived in the UK to talk about post-Brexit agricultural trade with Defra Secretary Michael Gove.

It is part of Mr Perdue's European tour, with its overall aim to lift trade barriers with the US and the EU.

On Thursday (12 October), he is expected to meet with Mr Gove as well as with members of the House of Commons' Committee on Environment Food and Rural Affairs.

Mr Perdue is expected to discuss the US trade relationship with the United Kingdom after the UK leaves the EU.

However, trade relationship with the UK and the US has not got off to a good start.

(Twitter)

The US and six other major agricultural producers such as Argentina and New Zealand have already opposed a tariff deal between the UK and EU.

The seven nations have explained that the plans to divide existing quotas will put them at a disadvantage.

'Very protectionist'

Regardless, US President Donald Trump has stated how he wants more access to British markets.

Mr Trump has even criticised the EU's trading relationship with the US on food products.

He said American farmers 'can't deal' with the EU as they are 'very, very protectionist.'

The British red meat industry has welcomed Mr Trump's eagerness. The industry said it is looking forward to 'continued good progress' towards opening up the American market to lamb and beef products.

The American market has been closed to lamb from Britain for many years, but work has been ongoing for a decade to re-establish the trade by Hybu Cig Cymru  Meat Promotion Wales (HCC), working alongside the Welsh and UK governments.

'Stronger trade'

US pork industry leaders have also applauded the Trump administration for seeking closer trade relations with the UK, backed by a plea for talks between the two countries to begin as soon as possible.

We applaud the Trump administration for recognising the importance of free trade agreements to American agriculture and the entire US economy, said National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) president, John Weber, a pork producer himself from Dysart, Iowa.

Were pleased that it will work for a stronger trade relationship with the UK through a mutually beneficial trade agreement.

The danger, however, is that new trade deals with the US and other big pork exporters would be used by the respective meat industries to try and lower both tariff and non-tariff barriers for cheaper exports to the UK.

The latter currently prevent pork imports produced in ways banned in the EU, such as use of ractopamine, a feed additive to promote leanness in meat, antibiotics for growth promotion and sow stalls.

Cautious

Today's meetings will be seen as cautious in their tone after the UK annoyed the US with the proposed UK-EU tariff agreement.

Mr Perdue's trip will conclude in Madrid, where he will meet with Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Forestry Isabel Garcia Tejerina on October 17.

Mr Perdue said about his trip: "The European Union consistently ranks among the United States' top agricultural export markets, and it is the world's largest importer of food and farm products."

"We value our close relationship with our European partners, but there is work to be done to address the numerous trade barriers U.S. exporters face in that market."
UK-Australia trade deal 'gave away far too much', Eustice admits
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It's great to see our favourite movie stars buy groceries at a supermarket like common folks but that doesn't usually happen while they're in India, as being mobbed by fans is a common occurrence. Be if selfies or asking for an autograph, you never know as within the span of seconds the crowd would end up being large.

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Asif Ali has had a good year so far with the actor in him receiving a lot of praises for his performances and choices of movies, as well. The actor gave a rel big hit in the form of Sunday Holiday, directed by Jis Joy and produced under the banner Maqtro Pictures.

Now, Asif Ali is all set to team up with producers of Sunday Holiday once again for an upcoming film, directed by debutant Mridual Nair and produced by Maqtro Pictures

This upcoming Asif Ali starrer has been titled as B.Tech and the shoot of the film is expected to begin in the month of November. Mridul Nair has earlier worked as an associate to VK Prakash and has also acted in films like Kili Poyi, Thank You etc.

Nothing much has been revealed about the rest of the cast of the movie. Further details are exected to be out in the coming days.

B.Tech is the third production venture of Maqtro Pictures after Manju Warrier starrer C/O Saira Banu and Asif Ali's Sunday Holiday.

Meanwhile, Asif Ali's next big release is Kaattu, which will hit the theatres on October 13, 2017
Synopsis

The story of Lavakusha revolves around two jobless youngsters, who plans to open a casting agency of their own. Interestingly, both of them had once aspired to join the police force. Once, they get to meet an undercover police officer named JK and what happens later has been narrated in Lavakusha.

Performances

Neeraj Madhav and Aju Varghese play the title roles in the movie. They have done a good job with their performance. The comedy sequences of these actors have worked out pretty well and they do share a good chemistry. At the same time, they have slightly faltered in certain serious sequences. But still, they have come out successful in serving justice to their characters and do shine in the lead roles.

Biju Menon is the show-stealer as JK and he keeps you entertained throughout the film. He gets some mass scenes and is sure to get claps in the theatres. It isn't a role which he hasn't done in the past and but still he makes his presence felt, right from the very first scene in which he appears.

Lavakusha also features Deepthi Sati, Aditi Ravi, Major Ravi, Vijay Babu etc., in important roles. Most of them done have done a decent job.

Director - Gireesh Mano

Gireesh Mano has come up with a decent job in packing an entertainer which could rightly be tagged as a spy comedy. He has used most of his actors, pretty well. The placement and the execution of the comic sequences are good and they hit the right chords, most of the times.

At the same time, he could have done a better job with the initial portions of the film where the film lacks a firm grip and thus leaving the audiences a bit bored. But, the film-maker in him make it up for that in the remaining portions and takes the audiences for a good ride.

Script  Neeraj Madhav

Neeraj Madhav debuts as a scriptwriter with Lavakusha. The story of Lavakusha has everything in it to churn out a mindless entertainer. Rightly, Neeraj Madhav has etched out sequences that maintain the flow of the film.

At the same time, there are definitely some rooms for improvement. There are some unwanted sequences which could have been avoided. Some of the twists are really predictable and it seemed like the writer in him was in a hurry towards the climax sequences and thus leaving quite a few questions unanswered.

Music & BGM - Gopi Sunder

Gopi Sunder has handled the music department of the movie. The song Ayyappentamma.. is a foot tapping number. BGM of the film is loud at places and could have been better.
Warren Buffett's famous $500,000 bet that an S&P 500 index fund would beat a basket of hedge funds over a 10-year period is about to come to a close. However, Buffett recently said that he is more than willing to repeat the bet if anyone is particularly confident in the hedge fund industry over the coming decade.

Here's why Buffett is so certain that a simple index fund will perform better than a group of professional investment managers.

Buffett's original bet is about to pay him millions

A little over a decade ago, Warren Buffett publicly offered to wager $500,000 that no professional could select a group of at least five hedge funds that would match the performance of a low-cost S&P 500 index fund that simply tracked the market's performance over a period of 10 years.

The only person to accept Buffett's bet was a man named Ted Seides, who chose a basket of five funds-of-funds (funds that invest in multiple hedge funds). These funds are made up of more than 100 different hedge funds, so the funds' results won't be too reliant on any single manager's performance.

Well, the bet is in its last year, and it's not even close. In fact, Seides has already conceded defeat. Buffett's S&P 500 index fund has generated nearly four times the returns of Seides' funds-of-funds portfolio. The original pot of $1 million was invested in Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A -0.52%) (BRK.B -0.26%) stock -- which is worth significantly more now -- and Buffett's winnings will be donated to charity once the 10-year bet is officially over.

Was it a fluke? Buffett doesn't think so

Some hedge fund professionals say that Buffett simply got lucky with the timing. The market has gone up steadily since the bet was made, and many people argue that hedge funds are better equipped to make money in down markets.

Buffett doesn't buy this logic. In fact, he is willing to make the same wager again over the next 10 years, if anyone will take the bet.

In a recent CNBC interview, Buffett said, "The date of the start has nothing to do with it." He also said that passive investing works in any environment, especially against a fund-of-funds.

Buffett is offering to repeat the bet if anyone is willing to put up "a significant percentage of their net worth." So if you believe that hedge funds will outperform the market as a whole over the next decade, here's your chance to try to win some of Warren Buffett's money.

Why does Buffett believe index funds will always beat professionally managed hedge funds?

To be clear, Buffett isn't saying that an S&P 500 index fund will beat every hedge fund over the next decade, or during any other 10-year period for that matter. What he's saying, rather, is that a group of hedge funds is almost guaranteed to lose to the market over long periods of time.

His main reasoning concerns the fees charged by hedge funds. Buffett says that, as a whole, hedge fund managers' investments should roughly match the market's performance. Some managers will pick winners, others will pick losers, and it will all balance out in the aggregate.

The hedge fund industry standard fee structure is known as the "two and 20," which means a 2% annual fee that is paid to managers no matter what, and 20% of profits in years where the fund makes money. So you have an investment product where the underlying holdings can be roughly expected to match the market's performance, and you're deducting massive fees from it.

The same logic can be applied to actively managed mutual funds or any other high-fee investment product. Buffett's logic is that most investors are simply better off buying low-cost index funds that guarantee investors that they'll match the market's performance, with minimal fees deducted from the returns.

Should you invest in index funds?

To be clear, Buffett isn't saying that index funds are necessarily a better investment than individual stocks. Buffett has made his fortune by choosing individual companies to invest in, and if you have the time, knowledge, and desire to research and evaluate individual stocks, we encourage you to do it.

On the other hand, for the majority of Americans who don't have these attributes, Buffett is making the point that fees are the enemy of American investors, and those who simply avoid fees and invest in the market's performance will do just fine over time. Those who invest in high-cost funds will likely only succeed in making the fund managers rich.
Growers lifting sugar beet this autumn could be affected by financial difficulties experienced by a major contractor and haulier of the crop, says the NFU.

Forecasts of a near record crop this season prompted British Sugar to open its four sugar beet processing factories earlier than usual last month.

At its peak, more than 400 lorries are expected to deliver sugar beet daily to the companys Newark factory alone.

NFU Sugar chairman Michael Sly said: NFU Sugar is saddened and disappointed to learn that a significant contractor  a pioneer in self-grown [sugar beet] and the industry harvesting and haulage scheme  has gone into technical administration.

See also: Why UK sugar beet has a bright future

Mr Sly said he was not in a position to name the contractor and haulier in question. But the business was highly regarded by growers for its professionalism and the service it had offered, he told an NFU council meeting at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire.

It is therefore unfortunate that a commercial solution has not been found to date, said Mr Sly. There is a possibility that this may impact on the current campaign, he told the open meeting on Tuesday (10 October).

British Sugar expects to make more than 1.4m tonnes of sugar from this seasons beet crop  close to the record 1.45m tonnes made from the 2014 crop. Mr Sly said. It is going to be a very long campaign. Easter is at the end of March and I fully suspect we will still taking beet into the factories up until then.

Improve efficiency

The industry harvesting and haulage scheme was set up as a joint initiative between British Sugar and the NFU in 2010.

It aims to improve the efficiency of beet deliveries from field to factory by putting British Sugar rather than growers in charge of transportation and contracting it out.

British Sugar managing director Paul Kenward said he did not anticipate any significant delays due to the contractor in question. We have done everything we can to support the business concerned, he said.

Were sorry to hear this news and our thoughts are with everyone impacted. Mr Kenward added:

We have contingency plans in the event the business ceases trading, which will be confined largely to the Newark factory area. We have identified other contractors to step into contracts if required to make sure that beet is lifted and hauled.

Growers concerned they may be affected are being asked to call the British Sugar helpline on 0870 240 2314 or the NFU Sugar helpline on 03700 661 974.
This months tractor test sees the New Holland T5.120 go head-to-head with Fendts 312.

You can find how they performed with a pair of four-furrow Ovlac ploughs by watching the video and reading the full report below.

And if neither of these options are for you or your wallet wont stretch that far, we have picked out three second-hand alternatives with a few hours on the clock that may be better for you.

See also: Tractor buyers guide 2017

A 120hp loader tractor remains a must-have weapon on smaller mixed farms, but prices are sky-rocketing out of the reach of their typical modest-acred buyers.

Thats particularly the case as you climb up the spec list. For the New Holland T5.120, theres a 15,000 void between entry-level models and the top-spec machine we tested.

It makes even worse reading for Fendt fans, where the price of a fully loaded 312 comes at a 30,000 premium compared with the no-frills option.

Its a horsepower sector in which New Holland has traditionally been strong in the UK. The T5 has always been one of its strongest sellers, whereas up until recently Fendt was a very small fish in the sub-150hp pond.

However, the company has reported a surge in sales of its 300 models  up from 12 units in 2012 to 80 machines last year.

Specs: Fendt 312 Vario Engine 4.4-litre Agco Power four-cyl

4.4-litre Agco Power four-cyl Power 123hp

123hp Transmission Vario (CVT)

Vario (CVT) Rear lift capacity 5,960kg

5,960kg Weight 4,970kg

4,970kg Top speed 40kph

40kph Front tyres 480/65 R24

480/65 R24 Rear tyres 540/65 R38

540/65 R38 Hydraulic pump flow 110-litres/min

110-litres/min Fuel tank 210 litres

210 litres Retail price 131,000

Engine

The Fendt has the slightly bigger four-cylinder block of the two, with its Agco 4.4-litre having the edge in both capacity and power over the 3.4-litre FPT in the New Holland.

On tick-over, the Fendt offered up a smooth, refined sound, while its rival was louder, lumpier and more intrusive, meaning the radio had to be put a couple of notches up to hear Steve Wrights Serious Jockin.

That said, it seemed to better put that power to the ground when pulling a four-furrow plough in the field.

The near-identical brace of Ovlac implements  one having slatted boards and the other standard  provided a stiff test through heavier clay patches.

However, the New Holland wilted less often than its rival and often pulled away from the bigger-engined Fendt on longer runs. But when we did hit a sticky patch, the Vario gearbox was quicker to react to trouble.

Comparatively, if the NH dropped into the 1,200-1,400 rev bracket, the train-like pulling power between 1,600-1,900rpm all but vanished, leaving the driver frantically reaching for one of the buttons to drop down a couple of cogs before it conked out.

Specs: New Holland T5.120 Engine 3.4-litre Fiat four-cyl

3.4-litre Fiat four-cyl Power 117hp

117hp Transmission 1616 electro command  four range semi powershift with auto function

1616 electro command  four range semi powershift with auto function Rear lift capacity 5,429kg

5,429kg Weight 4,550kg

4,550kg Top speed 40kph

40kph Front tyres 440/65 R28

440/65 R28 Rear tyres 540/65 R38

540/65 R38 Hydraulic pump flow 84 litres/min

84 litres/min Fuel tank 165 litres

165 litres Price 77,046

Transmission

Probably the biggest difference between the two machines, apart from the alarming price mismatch, is the type of transmission they employ.

Fendt uses its time-proven Vario box in every one of its wheeled machines from 100-500hp, whereas New Holland has stuck with the trusty semi-powershifter, with CVT options available in the T6 range and above.

Pulling a four-furrow plough about 8in deep wasnt an issue for either of the tractors, and clicking up through the gears in the NH via one of the three handily located shifting buttons was smoother than we initially imagined.

In total there are 16 speeds and a high/low splitter, which resides in a different postcode to the drivers seat and means its a real reach to shove it into the high range even for a 6ft driver.

In the green machine, the Vario gearbox was as smooth as you would expect.

After driving both machines for a couple of days, its fair to say the old criticism of Fendt machines being too complicated really has been put to bed, as it was noticeably the simpler of the two to use.

Although it didnt seem to have the top-end power of the NH, the Vario box managed to adapt smoothly and quickly to changing conditions and left the operator plenty of spare time to concentrate on what the plough was doing.

Cab

The quality of the cab layout, fixtures and fittings is noticeably different. The Fendt is light and roomy, with well-laid-out controls and is almost as nice as the 1000-series, which is its superior by 400hp.

However, it was let down by mounting the controls on the side console, rather than the armrest position of the larger models. This means that as you bounce around in the seat, its hard to keep a steady hand on the joystick.

The seat base was also too short for anyone much more than 5ft tall and the open screw heads on show left us feeling like the quality of finish was a fraction short of the bigger machines.

Choosing the top-range Profi-Plus specification offers up guidance capabilities and the 7in touchscreen housing all tractor functions and information.

This makes changing settings far easier than non-Fendt users might think, and its fair to say the brand has built up a slightly unfair reputation for complexity.

In stark contrast, the New Hollands cab was awkward to access via some angled steps and the living space felt smaller than the Fendt, emphasised by the cheaper plastics and six boxy pillars.

New Holland T5.120 Likes Strong pulling power

Armrest-mounted loader joystick

Lots of powershift button options

Smooth shifting under load Gripes Noisy

Gives up easily below 1,400rpm

Small-feeling cab

Winky in-cab computer

It also comes with a rather winky screen mounted in the centre of the dashboard, which stores very basic tractor information.

It also made it far more difficult to adjust any settings and monitor information.

As for passengers, the Germans offer a decent second seat with plenty of space, while drivers and co-pilots will find themselves clashing knees in the New Holland.

Loader

Surprisingly, the New Holland wins in the loader department.

The electric joystick is mounted on the right-hand armrest, which falls into the hand comfortably and has thumb-positioned auxiliary controls along with gear shifters on the rear for finger operation.

While the Fendt also has electronic controls, they are mounted further away from the operator and dont move with the seat. Views from the cabs to the front loader were similar.

Fendt uses a one-piece curved glass that extends the full length of the front window and swoops into the roof, doing away with crossbars that obscure vision even at full height.

Its rival has a slide-back sun visor to reveal the roof window when needed, and so has a narrow bar across the top and means the driver will still have to lean forward to follow the bucket through the lift arc.

Fendt 312 Likes Quiet and comfortable

Transmission reacts quickly to conditions

Easy access, spacious cab

Surprisingly simple to use Gripes Loader controls sit on the side console

Seat base too short

Transmission neutral position hard to find

Verdict

If a majority of your work is loader-related then the New Holland is probably the better choice.

Its a little noisier than the Fendt, but you will most likely be paying the Germans a lot more cash for electronic wizardry that you may never use and, at well over 50,000 difference in list price, thats a lot of money to justify parting with.

There are obvious comparisons to be drawn against the transmissions, but it really comes down to whether youre dead set on having a CVT or not.

If, on the other hand, long days in the field make up a large portion of the machines workload, the Fendt has to be a contender purely for the comfort it brings to the operation.

Features such as headland management also make life pretty easy.

Of course, it will be worth a fair bit more when you come to sell it on, too.

If neither machines are to your taste, we have picked out three alternatives with a few hours on the clock that come in at a fraction of the price of a new model.

If the sky-high list prices are too much to stomach, we have picked out three second-hand options with a few hours on the clock that may tick your box.
Get a free Bluetooth speaker and more on the purchase of Sony Xperia XZ Premium News oi -Chandrika Sony India has just announced an exciting offer on its flagship smartphone.

If you were planning to buy the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, now is the right time. Sony India has just announced an exciting offer on its flagship smartphone.

Under this offer, customers will get a free SRS-XB10 Bluetooth Speaker as well as an SCSG10 Style Cover Stand on purchase of the Xperia XZ Premium. Moreover, both the devices will be delivered to the customer within 90 working days of purchase. Being a limited period offer, it will last until October 31 and can be availed in all Sony Centers and Sony Mobile retail partners like Croma, Reliance, Ezone, etc.

The SRS-XB10 Bluetooth Speaker is worth Rs. 4,990, while the price of SCSG10 Style Cover Stand is Rs. 3,490. So, it appears to be a pretty good deal.

Just to recall, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is priced at Rs. 59,990 in India. It boasts of all the features a flagship should have. The key highlight of the smartphone is its camera department.

The device is equipped with a 19MP Motion Eye camera with a 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS memory stacked sensor and is capable of shooting videos at 960 frames per second. Camera features include predictive hybrid autofocus and predictive capture, a 25mm f/2.0 lens, and 1.22-micron pixel sensor.

Likewise there is also a 13MP 1/3.06-inch Exmor RS sensor that is supported by a 22mm wide-angle f/2.0 lens

Other than that, the Sony Xperia XZ Premium comes with a 5.5-inch 4K (21603840 pixels) HDR Triluminos display, Snapdragon 835 SoC, 4GB RAM, 64GB of expandable internal storage and a 3,230mAh non-removable battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology.

The Sony flagship runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS and will be upgraded to Android Oreo soon. For connectivity, the smartphone offers 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS/ A-GPS, USB Type-C (3.1), and a 3.5mm audio jack.

In the meantime, Sony India has also announced many consumer promotion offers for Diwali. Find out in detail here.

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iVoomi is now offering great discounts on smartphones as part of the Big Diwali Sale on Flipkart News oi -Samden Sherpa iVoomi India has announced that a special discount up to 25 percent will be offered on its smartphones along with free screen replacement on its newly launched flagships.

This festive season, along with many smartphone brands in the market, iVoomi, another Chinese consumer electronics company is now offering several deals to its customers. The offers will be in line with the 'Big Diwali Sale' on numerous smartphones that will be sold via Flipkart. The sale will commence from 14th October and will go on until 17th October 2017.

As iVoomi India is joining the celebrations, the company has announced that a special discount up to 25 percent will be offered on its smartphones along with free screen replacement on its newly launched flagship products like Me3 and Me3S for up to 180 days. As per the company's media release iVoomi Me3 will be available at Rs. 4,499, Me3s at Rs. 5,999, Me1 at Rs. 3,499, Me4 at Rs. 2,999 and Me5 at Rs. 4,499.

Further, customers will get extra Rs. 200 super-cash from MobiKwik on all iVOOMi smartphones. First, in industry, iVoomi is also offering onsite warranty for Tier - 3, 4 cities where the service center is currently not available. The brand is focusing not only on sales but on after sales support as well.

Commenting on the same, Mr. Ashwin Bhandari, CEO, iVoomi, India said, "Diwali is a very important festival in India and we are excited to be a part of the celebrations by offering some great discounts on our smartphones which are available on the Big Diwali Sale at Flipkart." "We are even targeting to sell 1 Lakh units in the month of October and we are expecting to double up the sale of our smartphone during this period."

iVoomi has been strengthening its foothold in the Indian Market since its inception. The brand has recently gained some traction in the Indian market with the success of its eight smartphones in the Indian Market.

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Qualcomm might have to pay a fine of $774 million to Taiwan Fair Trade Commission News oi -Vijeta Fair Trade Commission said that Qualcomm charged higher licensing fees from its customers and the terms drafted for the business partnership with several of its clients highly benefit the chip maker.

Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission has slapped smartphone chipset and modem manufacturer Qualcomm with a fine of $774 million for allegedly taking advantage of its monopoly in the industry. The commission has claimed that Qualcomm charged higher licensing fees from its customers and the terms drafted for the business partnership with several of its clients highly benefit the chip maker.

Taiwan is the third nation after China and South Korea to fine the brand over issues related to licensing terms after China and South Korea. The processor manufacturer is also in a spat with American technology giant Apple over a similar patent dispute.

Qualcomm made it amply clear that it will not merely entertain Taiwan Fair Trade Commission's fine and will indeed find a middle ground in terms of the fine charged on it,"The fine bears no rational relationship to the amount of Qualcomm's revenues or activities in Taiwan, and Qualcomm will appeal the amount of the fine and the method used to calculate it."

The Commission, on the other hand, claims that Qualcomm is abusing its dominance in the CDMA and LTE chips industry and its patent holding for both of these technologies that account for a major turn over in the brand's business.

With Qualcomm facing the heat from almost all the countries serving as home ground for several major brands tough times in near future for the world's largest chipset manufacturer are inevitable. Qualcomm certainly needs a reform in its practices to sustain its business.

Image

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Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4 is now available at Big Bazaar: Partnership announced News oi -Samden Sherpa During this festive period, Xiaomi will be selling it popular smartphones the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4 via Big Bazaar.

Xiaomi has already become a popular smartphone brand in India and as per the company, they have sold millions of units in the world's second-largest market. With recording setting sales, Xiaomi has mainly achieved this feat via its online channel.

However, the company does want to expand and thus is focusing on setting up offline stores as well. Xiaomi has already set up Mi Home stores in several cities across India. On the other hand, the company is also working extensively with other offline retail partners in the market to sell the smartphones.

Against such backdrop, Xiaomi has now partnered with Big Bazaar (a popular supermarket chain from Future Group with over 240 stores in India) to sell Redmi Note 4 (review) and Redmi 4 (review) phones during this festive period.

Commenting on the partnership Manu Kumar Jain Vice President and Managing Director Xiaomi India said, "This journey started a few months ago when I first met Mr. Kishore Biyani to discuss a potential collaboration with the Future group. We agreed to do something together. During one of the brainstorming sessions, we agreed to try out something new - sell phones through Big Bazaar, something that no other brand has tried before! We at Xiaomi India, are always trying out new things."

While Xiaomi has gone on an interesting route, we will have to see and wait how this partnership will work out for both the companies. The advantage though may be in Biz Bazaar's presence in India and Xiaomi does want to make full use of it. A clever strategy we would say. In any case, the Chinese manufacturer is making its smartphones more accessible for the consumers.

Jain has assured that Mi Fans can buy Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4 at special prices at Big Bazaar stores. In addition to this, customers can also grab these smartphones through No-cost EMI offers in association with Bajaj Finserv. Plus there are special discount offers on all ICICI Bank Credit and Debit card users.

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Qualcomm may have already started working on Snapdragon 855 SoC News oi -Chandrika Qualcomm is reportedly developing Linux kernel driver for the upcoming Snapdragon 845 and Snapdragon 855 chipsets.

Snapdragon 835 SoC was Qualcomm's flagship chipset of this year. From Samsung Galaxy S8 to OnePlus 5, almost all the major flagships are powered by it.

As we are drawing closer to the end of 2017, we have started looking forward to the next flagship chipset from Qualcomm, which is Snapdragon 845. It has been appearing in leaks for quite some time now. Reportedly the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus will be the first smartphones to pack the Snapdragon 845. The chipset is said to made on 10nm process.

Interestingly while Qualcomm is yet to release the Snapdragon 845 SoC, reliable leakster Roland Quandt has dropped a piece of information regarding the Snapdragon 855 chipset. According to his Twitter post, Qualcomm has already started working on Snapdragon 855 that will probably power flagship phones releasing in 2019.

What comes after SDM845? Right, SDM855. Mention of Snapdragon 855 on LinkedIn. pic.twitter.com/AzIec72v1T  Roland Quandt (@rquandt) October 9, 2017

Quandt has made the claim based on the LinkedIn profile of a software engineer named George Fang. It seems like Qualcomm is currently developing Linux kernel driver for the upcoming Snapdragon 845 and Snapdragon 855 chipsets.

It has also been revealed that Snapdragon 855 is described "the latest processor (SDM855 series) owned by Qualcomm" and it is codenamed as Hana v1.0. Previous reports had suggested that it will be built on the 7nm process.

However, instead of Samsung, Taiwan-based TSMC will build the Snapdragon 855 chipsets.

Talking about the Snapdragon 845, it is described as "a complex SoC of a latest mobile processor (SDM 845) owned by Qualcomm". This chipset is apparently codenamed as Napali v2.0.

Now, the question is how accurate is this information? Since we can't guarantee, you better take it with a pinch of salt or two.

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Pentagon Blames Islamic State in Deadly Attack on US Forces in Niger

By Carla Babb, Salem Solomon October 11, 2017

The Pentagon said Wednesday that Islamic State fighters were responsible for an attack in southwestern Niger that killed four American soldiers, as new details suggested local villagers might have played a role in the ambush.

Army Lieutenant Colonel Michelle Baldanza, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told VOA that IS militants ambushed U.S. and Nigerien forces during the October 4 firefight that also killed four of Niger's security personnel.

U.S. Army Special Forces, also known as Green Berets, had just completed a meeting with local leaders and were walking back to their vehicles when they were attacked, according to a U.S. official, who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

The soldiers said the meeting ran late, and some suspected that the villagers were intentionally delaying their departure, the official said.

Niger's defense ministry has confirmed the firefight occurred near the village of Tongo Tongo in the Tillaberi region. Eight other Niger troops were wounded in the attack, and two American troops were wounded and airlifted to Germany for medical treatment.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters Wednesday that the patrol had been "hit hard" in an area where enemy forces had not operated and that French planes with bombs attached were overhead within 30 minutes of the ambush.

"I completely reject the idea that that [the response] was slow," Mattis said.

Strategic ally

Niger is a key U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism and is situated in a dangerous region of the Sahel plagued by multiple extremist groups and traffickers, said Lisa Mueller, an assistant professor of political science at Macalester College in Minnesota and an expert on politics in the area.

Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. built drone bases in Niger's capital, Niamey, and in the northern town of Agadez. The U.S. has about 800 service members in Niger to provide support for the U.S. Embassy and counterterrorism training for government forces battling Islamist militant groups.

"The United States has provided support for the military of Niger, especially in the way of training forces to combat multiple terrorist groups that have encroached into Niger from several of the country's borders," Mueller said.

Niger faces threats from Nigeria-based Boko Haram along its southern border and Algeria-based al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb along its porous borders to the west and north. Pockets of Islamic State fighters operate in the west.

"Really, from almost all sides, Niger is facing attacks from armed extremist groups," Mueller said. "And, because the government of Niger has been a strong ally to the counterterrorism efforts, it's been natural for the United States to station its counterterrorism forces in that country."

Caught off guard

Army Colonel Mark Cheadle, U.S. Africa Command spokesman, said in a conference call last week that the military was "resolved and stalwart in our efforts to go after those who attacked us."

The Pentagon also said it was re-evaluating its force protection measures in the region.

"We will look at this and say: Was there something that we have to adapt to now? Should we have been in a better stance?" Mattis said. "We're not complacent. We're going to be better."

Mueller, who has traveled and conducted research in Niger, said radicalism in the country is mostly imported from surrounding countries, but that could change.

"Islam in Niger has, for generations, been very tolerant, been very resistant to radicalization, especially compared with societies elsewhere in the Sahel," she said.

"It's not guaranteed that that won't change, and there are some hints that especially youth in certain regions of Niger are more receptive to radical recruitment. But it's not the overwhelming trend as of now, and so I just want to underline that terrorism in Niger is largely a matter of foreign policy and not of domestic concerns."

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Trump: North Korea a 'Problem That Has to Be Solved'

By Steve Herman October 11, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday characterized North Korea as "a problem that has to be solved."

Trump, asked about his differences with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on how to respond to Pyongyang, replied, "I feel stronger and tougher on that subject than other people, but I listen to everybody."

The president, in the Oval Office alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, added that "ultimately, I will do what's right for the United States and, really, what's right for the world."

Meanwhile, North Korea's foreign minister says Trump "lit a fuse of war" on the Korean peninsula with his threat that the U.S. would "totally destroy" Pyongyang if attacked.

Trump made those remarks in an address to the U.N. General Assembly last month.

"We can say that Trump has lit a fuse of war against us by his militaristic and delusional statement at the U.N.," North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho told Russia's Tass news agency. He said the U.S. "must act reasonably and stop provoking" North Korea.

As Trump pondered possible military strikes against North Korea, his military, along with South Korea and Japan, staged a combined show of force against Pyongyang with missile firing exercises off both the east and west coasts of the Korean peninsula on Tuesday.

Trump, meeting with members of his national security team, discussed "a range of options to respond to any form of North Korean aggression or, if necessary, to prevent North Korea from threatening the United States and its allies with nuclear weapons," according to a statement from White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

"I suppose this must be in reference to pre-empting an imminent North Korean nuclear attack," says regional security analyst Daniel Pinkston with Troy University in Seoul.

The president, in the meeting, received a briefing from Defense Secretary James Mattis and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, according to the White House.

The meeting coincided with pair of aerial firing exercises off the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea by allied strategic bombers and fighter jets.

The drill was the first night combined training among U.S., South Korean and Japanese aircraft, according to the Pentagon. It involved a pair of B-1B Lancers staging a simulated air-to-ground missile firing with two South Korean F-15K jets over the Sea of Japan which then flew across the southern portion of the Korean peninsula.

"Flying and training at night with our allies in a safe, effective manner is an important capability shared between the U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea and hones the tactical prowess of each nations' aviators," says U.S. Air Force Major Patrick Applegate. "This is a clear demonstration of our ability to conduct seamless operations with all of our allies anytime, anywhere."

The U.S. Air Force bombers and the South Korean fighters then conducted a second firing exercise over the Yellow Sea, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"These B-1 sorties reflect South Korea's demand for more extended deterrence assurances," Pinkston tells VOA. "South Korea has requested more frequent rotations for strategic weapons systems around Korea, and this helps fulfill that request."

The F-15 escorts are notable "because combined operations require consent from South Korea, so this does not represent U.S. unilateral action," according to Pinkston.

Meanwhile, the USS Tucson, a nuclear-powered attack submarine of the U.S. Navy, has arrived at the Chinhae base in South Korea, according to the U.S. Pacific Command.

Trump, on Monday, on Twitter said that a quarter century of U.S. policy towards North Korea had been unsuccessful. Two days previous to that comment the president said on the social media platform that Pyongyang had violated agreements "before the ink was dry, making fools of U.S. negotiators. Sorry, but only one thing will work!"

Trump has not clarified what is that one thing.

North Korea has conducted numerous missile and nuclear tests, including launching rockets over Japan.

North Korea's leadership recently told Russian lawmakers that it possesses a ballistic missile with a range of 3,000 kilometers that will be able to reach U.S. territory after modernization, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.

Senior diplomats of the United States, Japan and South Korea are to meet on October 18 in Seoul to discuss North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats, according to the South Korean foreign ministry.

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Some US Officials See Little Downside to Decertifying Iran Nuclear Deal

By Jeff Seldin October 11, 2017

Iran may well make good on some of its threats to lash out at American interests and targets, should U.S. President Donald Trump move forward with decertifying the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday pledged a "tougher" response if Trump decides to find Tehran is not in compliance with the nuclear deal, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. An Iranian military spokesman further promised this week that his country's forces would teach the U.S. "new lessons" if needed.

But current and former U.S. intelligence and military officials say any Iranian action is unlikely to be carried out directly and that such behavior would not be a dramatic departure from Iran's behavior since the nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), went into effect.

"The trajectory that we have seen Hezbollah on has continued pretty much unabated throughout the duration of the conflict in Syria," National Counterterrorism Director Nicholas Rasmussen told reporters Wednesday, as the U.S. announced a new round of actions aimed at countering the Iranian-sponsored terror group.

Rasmussen is only the latest in a long line of U.S. officials to voice concern about Iran's activities since the nuclear agreement went into effect.

'Clearly the top threat'

Just last month, the head of U.S. Central Command called Iran "clearly the top threat" to long-term stability in the Middle East.

"They operate almost entirely in what we refer to as the gray zone, that space between normal international competition and armed conflict," Gen. Joseph Votel said during an appearance in Washington.

And White House officials say Iran has become increasingly aggressive, even as the U.S. continued to certify the regime's compliance with the deal.

"What they're doing now more than ever is accelerating the arming of their proxies," National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told a forum in Washington last month.

The agreement signed by Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, requires Tehran to sharply restrict its nuclear program and allow more access to international inspectors. Iranian leaders also promised not to seek, develop or acquire nuclear weapons.

In return, Iran received relief from crippling economic sanctions, including the release of billions of dollars in frozen overseas assets and re-admittance to the international banking system.

"It is the worst deal," McMaster said. "It didn't address clearly critical capabilities Iran is still free to develop."

And there has long been suspicion that Tehran has been using financial flexibility as a result of funds freed up under the terms of the nuclear deal  estimated $50 billion to $150 billion  to expand the scope and reach of its proxy forces across the Middle East and beyond.

Aggressive approach

With few signs Iran is willing to modify its behavior, officials say the U.S. has no choice but to take a more aggressive approach to weaken Iran's widening influence, even if the results are not immediate.

"The Iranians are concerned about this (decertification)," said Michael Pregent, a former U.S. intelligence officer now with the Hudson Institute. "It calls them out for their behavior. It punishes them for their behavior."

Pregent said the U.S. would also be wise to designate Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), whose commanders often embed with proxy forces, as a terrorist organization.

"Putting sanctions on the IRGC and other entities constrains Iranian actions, constrains other countries from supporting Iran," Pregent said.

Experts who track Iran's proxies say few seem to have felt any constraints until now.

"In September, the [anti-U.S.] rhetoric was upped by Kata'ib Hizballah, one of the IRGC's most loyal creations," said Phillip Smyth, a University of Maryland researcher who follows the online activity of Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq and Syria.

"They were talking about targeting U.S. forces in Iraq," Smyth said, describing it as "the usual rhetoric."

Still, there are those who worry decertifying the nuclear deal and designating the IRGC as a terrorist group, will only make U.S. efforts to contain Iran more difficult while making its proxies more dangerous.

"Decertification will support the Iranian narrative that the U.S. is distrustful and may persuade Iranian militias to target U.S. service members as they did during the Iraq War," said Nicholas Glavin, an independent researcher formerly at the U.S. Naval War College's Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups.

"Iranian militias will continue to exert a significant amount of control in parallel to American troops' attempts to stabilize Iraq and Syria," Glavin said.

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Brutal attacks on Rohingya meant to make their return almost impossible  UN human rights report

UNOHCHR

GENEVA (11 October 2017)  Brutal attacks against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State have been well-organised, coordinated and systematic, with the intent of not only driving the population out of Myanmar but preventing them from returning to their homes, a new UN report based on interviews conducted in Bangladesh has found.

The report by a team from the UN Human Rights Office, who met with the newly arrived Rohingya in Coxs Bazar from 14 to 24 September 2017, states that human rights violations committed against the Rohingya population were carried out by Myanmar security forces often in concert with armed Rakhine Buddhist individuals. The report, released on Wednesday, is based on some 65 interviews with individuals and groups.

It also highlights a strategy to instil deep and widespread fear and trauma  physical, emotional and psychological among the Rohingya population.

More than 500,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar security forces launched an operation in response to alleged attacks by militants on 25 August against 30 police posts and a regimental headquarters. The report states the clearance operations started before 25 August 2017, and as early as the beginning of August.

The UN Human Rights Office is gravely concerned for the safety of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who remain in northern Rakhine State amid reports the violence is still ongoing, and calls on authorities to immediately allow humanitarian and human rights actors unfettered access to the stricken areas.

The report cites testimony from witnesses that security forces scorched dwellings and entire villages, were responsible for extrajudicial and summary executions, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and attacks on places of worship. Eyewitnesses reported numerous killings, saying some victims were deliberately targeted and others were killed through explosions, fire and stray bullets.

A 12-year old girl from Rathedaung township described how the [Myanmar security forces and Rakhine Buddhist individuals] surrounded our house and started to shoot. It was a situation of panic  they shot my sister in front of me, she was only seven years old. She cried and told me to run. I tried to protect her and care for her, but we had no medical assistance on the hillside and she was bleeding so much that after one day she died. I buried her myself.

The report states that in some cases, before and during the attacks, megaphones were used to announce: You do not belong here  go to Bangladesh. If you do not leave, we will torch your houses and kill you.

Credible information indicates that the Myanmar security forces purposely destroyed the property of the Rohingyas, targeting their houses, fields, food-stocks, crops, livestock and even trees, to render the possibility of the Rohingya returning to normal lives and livelihoods in the future in northern Rakhine almost impossible.

UN Human Rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who has described the Government operations in northern Rakhine State as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, has also urged the Government to immediately end its cruel" security operation. By denying the Rohingya population their political, civil, economic and cultural rights, including the right to citizenship, he said, the Governments actions appear to be a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return.

The report indicates that efforts were taken to effectively erase signs of memorable landmarks in the geography of the Rohingya landscape and memory in such a way that a return to their lands would yield nothing but a desolate and unrecognizable terrain.

Information received also indicates that the Myanmar security forces targeted teachers, the cultural and religious leadership, and other people of influence of the Rohingya community in an effort to diminish Rohingya history, culture and knowledge.

ENDS

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Samsung's Galaxy Note8 had four initial launch colors: Midnight Black, Maple Gold, Orchid Grey, and Deep Sea Blue. However, not all of them have been available in all countries, with most territories in fact getting only a selection of two of them.

That's slowly starting to change, it seems. Today the Deep Sea Blue version of the phablet went up for pre-order in Germany through Samsung's online store. Initially, the Note8 was only offered in Midnight Black and Maple Gold in the country.

Now if you have a spare 999 lying around you can pre-order the Deep Sea Blue iteration, which is set to start shipping on October 26. Since this color is headed to Germany, we're pretty sure we might see it in other European countries very soon. On the other hand, if you are on that continent and are holding out for the Orchid Grey hue, here's some bad news: Samsung has already confirmed that this particular variant will never be sold in Europe.

Via 1 (in German) | Via 2
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Despite being featured on millions of devices, Bixby has to be one of Samsungs least popular products. The company has appointed a new leader of the companys AI efforts, Chung Eui-suk, and in a few days Samsung will unveil the next major version of the digital assistant.

The major change in Bixby 2.0 is that it will support third-party services and will expand beyond smartphones. These things are not part of v1.0 since the team ran out of time (even then they missed the launch of the Galaxy S8 in the US).

Anyway, going beyond phones probably includes a smart speaker and Bixby support for Samsung Smart TVs (the competing Google Assistant is already available on Android TV).

The next revision of Bixby will be showcased on October 18 at Samsungs Developer Conference.

Source
A couple of years ago, T-Mobile announced Mobile Without Borders feature, which allows T-Mobile customers to roam to Canada or Mexico with full 4G LTE speeds and without roaming fees. The new feature was part of Magentas Un-Carrier Amped campaign which beat one-upped AT&Ts announcement at the time to make roaming in Mexico free.

Anyway, the feature has had enough time to mature and for T-Mobile to figure out the cost-effectiveness of the feature and what the actual usage has been. According to T-Mobile, less than 1% of those who travel to Mexico and Canada use less than 5GB of roaming data per month.

As a result  starting on November 12, T-Mobile is enforcing a data soft cap to 5GB per month. Once 5GB are reached, the customer will be throttled back to the default internet speeds when traveling abroad in most countries: 2G (128Kbps) speeds, or 3G (256Kbps) speeds if you have T-Mobile ONE Plus.

The change may be disappointing for those data-hungry travelers or those who travel constantly for business, but it is one that T-Mobile is placing in order to prevent usage beyond the intent of the product.

The change applies to all customers, even if you still have a legacy plan. For example, if you are still on the 10GB Simple Choice plan and have used 2GB before entering Mexico or Canada, youll have 5GB of high-speed data to use in Mexico/Canada and the remaining 3GB of data can be used when you get back to the States.

Even though the new data limit is in place, you can still call and text while traveling at no additional charge.

Source | Via
Volleyball playoffs: Hubs, Blazers will play for state titles

North Hagerstown got past Magruder in four sets in the 3A semifinals, and Clear Spring swept Forest Park in the 1A semifinals. Finals are Wednesday.
The House by Elegant Hotels, an adults-only boutique hotel on Barbados" platinum west coast, recently completed an extensive renovation to modernize its current ocean-inspired design, and created a space for the addition of a brand new spa. The 34-room all-suite property, which has been named one of the "Top Hotels in the World" by Travel + Leisure, welcomed its first guests on October 3 following its transformation.

Inspired by Barbados" natural beauty and prime beachfront location, The House features a laid-back beach house aesthetic, creating its signature, home-away-from-home feeling. In an effort to foster a greater sense of arrival, the outdoor space was outfitted with lush landscaping, relaxing water features and a small yoga pavilion to encourage relaxation.

Beyond the courtyard, the open-air oceanfront living room was redesigned with a new layout, updated flooring, modern furniture, contemporary artwork and enhanced light fixtures. As the pulse of the hotel, and the gathering area for breakfast, afternoon canapes and sunset cocktails, the space now features a chic color palette of sophisticated white fabrics, complemented by ocean-inspired blue accents, and pale walnut and teakwood tones.

As part of the re-design, five of the existing one-bedroom ocean-view suites were converted into 10 ocean-view junior suites, the most popular room category at The House. Additionally, all existing rooms were renovated with new furniture, bed runners, throw pillows and area rugs, ensuring the chic tropical feel remains consistent throughout the property.

Hotel website
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the opening of its newest hotel, the dual-branded Homewood Suites by Hilton Los Angeles International Airport and H Hotel Los Angeles, Curio Collection by Hilton. Located less than a mile from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the new hotel brings 290 rooms to the City of Angels, and provides a great new lodging option for the more than 40 million* leisure and business travelers that come through what is considered one of the country's busiest airports**. The property is the first hotel in Los Angeles for both brands, Homewood Suites' fourth in Los Angeles County. The opening also adds to the growing number of multi-brand hotels Hilton currently has open or in the pipeline throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe and the Middle East to better serve both travelers and developers.

Developed and owned by SVI Airport, LLC and managed by Interstate Hotels & Resorts, the property is located at 6151 West Century Blvd, less than a mile from LAX. The hotel offers guests convenient access to Venice Beach, Santa Monica and Los Angeles' main attractions, such as the J. Paul Getty Museum, Hollywood Boulevard and Beverly Hills. The property helps guests get around town by offering a complimentary 24-hour airport shuttle service as well as car rentals from MCar Rental.

Hotel website
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the opening of its newest hotel, the dual-branded Homewood Suites by Hilton Los Angeles International Airport and H Hotel Los Angeles, Curio Collection by Hilton. Located less than a mile from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the new hotel brings 290 rooms to the City of Angels, and provides a great new lodging option for the more than 40 million* leisure and business travelers that come through what is considered one of the country's busiest airports**. The property is the first hotel in Los Angeles for both brands, Homewood Suites' fourth in Los Angeles County. The opening also adds to the growing number of multi-brand hotels Hilton currently has open or in the pipeline throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe and the Middle East to better serve both travelers and developers.

The dual-brand concept creates larger and enhanced communal areas and amenities than what would be standard at a standalone property, benefiting both business and leisure travelers. The hotel has a mix of unique offerings - each catering to the needs of their respective guests - including two distinct 24-hour fitness centers, a shared outdoor pool. The hotel also offers 1,800 square feet of flexible meeting space.

H Hotel Los Angeles will provide high-end accommodations that currently do not exist at LAX Airport. Guests are greeted in the lobby by eight pieces of art that were specifically commissioned for the hotel, as well as guest room amenities not found elsewhere at the airport, including Nespresso machines, Temple Spa bath amenities, and Google Chromecast on every TV.

Hotel website
A young graduate of a life-changing employability programme will be attending AHIF to describe how he went from an orphan with limited life chances to a chef in a top hotel, economically independent and supporting his siblings.

Dalitso Mwanza left school to look for work to help his grandmother provide for her six orphaned grandchildren, but a lack of skills meant he struggled to find employment.

Dalitso was supported by SOS Children's Villages which introduced him to the Youth Career Initiative (YCI) an employability programme which partners with local hotels and gives disadvantaged young people the chance to learn a range of skills throughout a variety of departments.

The programme at Radisson Blu Lusaka, Zambia, supported Dalitso to discover a talent for work in the kitchen. His dedication and enthusiasm throughout the training and mentoring process convinced managers to offer him a role once the programme was completed, giving him a future he could never have envisaged before.

Dalitso said, "I gained so much from the programme. I've heard it said that any tool is put to good use if done so with pride and skill. The skills I learned at the hotel have helped me start to build a career, but also become financially independent so I can support myself and my family."

Now Dalitso is coming to AHIF (Africa Hotel Investment Forum) to showcase his skills at the event hosted by Radisson Blu Kigali, but also to highlight the value the hospitality industry can bring to partnerships with programmes like YCI.

Marius Wolmarans, General Manager, Radisson Blu Lusaka said, "In Zambia, where unemployment is an everyday reality for young people, it is important to remember that for every employment opportunity we create, we can feed multiple mouths. It is easy to donate money, time, equipment; but this is short-lived. If we can provide young people with the skills they need to build a career, we enable them to build better futures for themselves and their communities."

Radisson Blu Hotels and parent company Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group are a global partner of YCI and successfully participate the employability programme in seven countries. YCI is rapidly expanding in the region having already helped over 4,350 young people around the world to develop skills and take the first step in their career. 85% of these young people have gone on to find work or pursue further education.

Hotels like Radisson Blu Kigali are part of the success story as they will begin partnering YCI in 2018, but more hotels are needed and financial support of the charitable programme is essential. Just US$1,000 will enable YCI to support one disadvantaged young person into work and local businesses can help fund the programme here.

One business which is already helping YCI carry out its award-winning work is Bench Events, the organisers of AHIF.

CEO Jonathan Worsley said, "One of the great things about the hospitality industry is that it is possible to build a career by starting at the very bottom and working one's way to the very top. The great thing about YCI is that it is helping thousands of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to put their foot on the first rung of that ladder. I am so looking forward to meeting General Managers whose careers began with a leg up from YCI. I am also very much looking forward to meeting AHIF delegates who have committed to back this vision too."

Inge Huijbrechts, Global VP Responsible Business, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group said, "The Youth Career Initiative is a programme that has an important positive impact on the lives of the graduates and their families, and through its global impact, it also contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 8, Good jobs and economic growth. We are proud to be a key YCI partner and will continue to grow our participation."

About YCI

YCI is the hotel industry's global solution to youth unemployment. The programme enables the hotel sector to support local communities whilst building a pipeline of skilled and motivated talent to recruit from.

For more information about YCI and for success stories of graduates around the world, visit http://www.event.benchevents.com/e/106592/-/2fyg6t/152062062 A full list o f funders and supporters can be found here.

YCI is an initiative of the International Tourism Partnership.

About The Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF)

The Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) is the only annual hotel investment conference that connects business leaders from the international and local markets. The event brings together leaders in the hotel investment community that drive investment into tourism projects, infrastructure and hotel development across Africa.

About Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is one of the world's largest and most dynamic hotel companies and includes 1,440 hotels in operation and under development with more than 230,000 rooms and a footprint spanning 115 countries and territories. The Carlson Rezidor portfolio includes a powerful set of global brands: Quorvus Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM. Guests can benefit from Club CarlsonSM, a program that redefines hotel rewards with a collection of exceptional benefits, services, and privileges at more than 1,000 hotels worldwide. Over 95,000 people are employed in Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group hotel systems and the company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Singapore, and Brussels.

About The Bench

The Benchhas established a legacy for delivering world-leading investment forums and conferences in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The key principle behind these platforms has remained "dealmaking'. Transforming the way business connect, Bench has developed a reputation for creating innovative and high-impact meeting spaces for the industry.

For over two decades - government leaders, tourism ministries, global travel & tourism associations, the world's most influential hospitality brands, hotel owners & investors, renowned restaurant groups, airlines & aviation authorities, destination developers, asset managers, financial groups and consultants  have been participating in The Bench's events for their respective objectives. These include AHIC, AHIF, GRIF, FHS, AHF, IDEEA, AviaDev and RENEW where industry players showcase their brands, position themselves as thought leaders or innovators, and connect with the right opportunities and knowledge.

Learn more on thebench.com

About MEED

Launched on International Women's Day 1957, the Middle East Economic Digest, MEED, is a well-known and trusted brand used by governments and businesses operating in the region.

Encompassing a business intelligence service, digital media, publications and events MEED provides exclusive daily news, data and analysis. We are responsible for keeping our audiences of subscribers, registered users and event attendees informed, helping to facilitate decision making and connections.

Our marketing solutions team provides clients with access to our audiences. We partner with local and international companies who need to reach our high-value communities. In consultation with our clients we utilise tried and tested methods to target and engage decision makers to announce and explain, lead and grow and to contact and convert business leaders into customers.

MEED is wholly owned by data and intelligence company GlobalData Plc which means that our marketing solutions clients are also able to access a network of over 13m digital users per month across 18 different sectors.

Learn more on meed.com

Future Hospitality Summit (FHS)

Date: 19-21 September 2022

Location: Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE

Sponsors

Host Sponsor: Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts

Platinum Sponsors: Accor, Dur Hospitality, Hilton, Marjan, Millennium Hotels & Resorts and Radisson Hotel Group

Emerald Sponsors: Emaar Hospitality Group, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, NEOM, Rotana, Royal Commission for AlUla, SMIT Morocco and Taiba Investments.

Gold Sponsors: Aleph Hospitality, CBRE, Colliers, Compass Project Consulting, Dentons, ELAF Group, ENVI Lodges, GG&Grace International, Hospitality Management Holding, HVS, The Indian Hotels Company, Insignia, Interior360, Ishraq Hospitality, IT Hospitality Group, Knight Frank, Louvre Hotels Group, LXA, Mapal Group, Minor Hotels, OBMI, PwC Middle East, QUO, SSH, STR, Valor Hospitality Partners and Voltere by egis.

Silver Sponsors: Deutsche Hospitality and Katch.

Supporters: The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management, Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA), Sustainable Hospitality Challenge, and Women in Hospitality (WiH).

Jonathan Worsley

The Bench
"The ability to integrate our HRIS with Beekeeper has been instrumental in automating administrative processes that were time-sensitive." Claudia Scherrer Domingos, Head of HR, Domino's Pizza

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- While many workplace tools specialize in peer-to-peer, top-down, or bottom-up communication, it is rare to encounter a workplace app that tackles all three. Running on the belief that an intuitive user interface (UI) and open communication builds cross-organizational trust, Beekeeper's award-winning digital workplace application has been connecting dispersed non-desk teams across a variety of industries since 2012.

Today, the company announced its latest platform expansion, adding the capability for information technology teams to integrate open application program interface (API) operations tools directly into its Beekeeper communications hub. Keeping employees connected to the organization at large, as well as to each other, Beekeeper aims to digitize the 83% of employees worldwide who do not sit behind a desk.

Beekeeper's integrations enable companies to design and implement highly customized digital workplace platforms for their non-desk employees. Organizations can use Beekeeper APIs to merge their existing operational systems like payroll, scheduling, file sharing, task management, and beyond, into the centralized Beekeeper hub that their employees use to communicate throughout the work day. This creates a simplified, secure, and easy-to-use tool where anything a particular worker needs to excel in their daily routine is stored in one convenient location.

"When we talk about how artificial intelligence will impact the future of work, we often think in terms of automation swapping out humans for algorithms," said Flavio Pfaffhauser, Co-Founder and CTO at Beekeeper. "But for industries such as hospitality, construction, and restaurant services, successful workforce digitization means breaking down the friction and barriers between people and operations, allowing transparency and clear communication to build strong workplace culture."

Beekeeper's off-the-shelf integrations are completely user-ready from the get-go, easily accessible within the Beekeeper Marketplace. For organizations with deeper technological resources, the Beekeeper Developer Portal is a gateway to even deeper channels of customization. Expanded APIs and resources available on the Beekeeper Developer Portal open up endless possibilities for IT teams to streamline operations for good.

"The ability to integrate our HRIS [Human Resources Information System] with Beekeeper has been instrumental in automating administrative processes that were time-sensitive," said Claudia Scherrer Domingos, Head of Human Resources for Domino's Pizza. "Now we can directly associate the employee data with the pre-defined groups. This enables us to effectively target all groups, making communication more relevant to the reader. We also don't have to worry about updating employee information in multiple places and additionally can target our internal communications."

With Beekeeper's new custom integrations suite, non-desk workers become instantly linked with the operational tools and people they need to thrive. In creating a sense of belonging and trust, increased engagement and loyalty leads to higher organizational commitment, ultimately translating into high individual and team performance.

ABOUT BEEKEEPER

Beekeeper empowers frontline businesses and their workers with the digital solutions they need to do their best possible work. Founded in 2012, Beekeeper's mobile-first platform was designed and built for deskless employees who  despite representing 80% of the global workforce  have been chronically underserved when it comes to workplace technology. With Beekeeper's Frontline Success System, companies can automate paper-based processes, communicate with employees in real-time from anywhere, and improve the engagement, productivity, and safety of frontline teams.

Website: www.beekeeper.io, Blog: www.beekeeper.io/blog, LinkedIn

Barb Worcester

PRpro for Beekeeper

440-930-5770
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Beekeeper, a workplace communication company focused on connecting non-desk workers and their employers, is announcing internal promotions and adding new talent to further support it swift growth and corporate directional changes. Cristian Grossmann, CEO, has appointed Corey McCarthy, former VP of Marketing North America, to VP of Global Marketing, and Andreas Slotosch, former Vice President of Global Marketing, to Vice President of Growth. In addition, Bobbi Frioli has joined Beekeeper as Vice President of Sales.

Beekeeper is the developer of an award-winning digital workplace platform that digitizes the non-desk workforce by connecting operational systems and communication channels within one secure, intuitive platform. Beekeeper connects colleagues across locations and departments in real time via mobile or desktop devices, and includes an intelligent analytics dashboard to help companies improve internal communication and streamline business processes. Secure, automated, and relevant information is readily distributed, searchable, and measurable in one central hub for an efficient digitized workflow.

"Due to the increasing demand to connect geographically-distributed workforces and non-desk employees with corporate offices and each other, Beekeeper is growing at a rapid rate," Grossman said. "Companies are turning to us to bridge the communications gap by implementing one powerful platform that connects their operational systems with the communication channels their employees are using and accessing most  namely mobile and desktop devices. Our platform is designed for employees who work shifts, don't sit at desks, and do not have corporate email addresses. With Beekeeper, companies can easily reach, connect and engage these employees to create innovative ways of working.

"Andreas and Corey have done a tremendous job in positioning Beekeeper for success, and adding Bobbi to the team will further support our sales efforts," he said. "Each are passionate about connecting people through technology, and together they will continue helping companies increase productivity through improved digital communication and employee engagement."

Hospitality Connection

McCarthy is an entrepreneur, marketer, and speaker. As Beekeeper's head of global marketing, she dances on the fine line between art and science to share Beekeeper's mission to connect the world's two billion non-desk workers, generating leads that will ultimately lead to meeting the company's growth goal. Previously, McCarthy ran the media assets for Lodging Hospitality, part of a $1.56B publishing company.

"Beekeeper has tremendous potential for making fundamental shifts in the way hospitality teams and other industries rely on and communicate with non-desk workers," McCarthy said. "The impact that our company has on the lives of front-line workers is not to be underestimated. Beekeeper is changing people's lives for the better, and that inspires me to work hard each day and bring the same opportunities to others."

Digitizing this workforce niche is happening quickly, and it's a movement that McCarthy said she is excited to champion. Reaching this massive population will take scale, and that effort is shaping the new direction of Beekeeper.

"Short term, we are focusing on the hospitality industry to create the best mix of features and operational integrations to optimize the employee experience at the hotel property and up the chain to senior management," she said. "Long-term, we are looking to keep our product ahead of the curve when it comes to trends to and optimize for Artificial Intelligence and other emerging technology we see coming on the horizon."

Start-Up Savvy

Beekeeper tapped Slotosch four years ago for his start-up expertise; he co-founded numerous web startups and led business development for several international companies, including Oracle. He holds a Master's degree in Business & Economics from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

"At Beekeeper, we care about every single employee  not just within our organization, but those working at businesses around the world," Slotosch said. "By connecting the disconnected within companies, we are having a real impact on the lives of millions of people, making their daily work a lot easier. It gives me and my team members a profound sense of accomplishment, and it's probably the No. 1 reason I love being part of this hive."

Slotosch said this new role will give him the opportunity to combine his technical background with his proven marketing skills. Ultimately, he hopes his skillset will have a strong and continued impact on the future of Beekeeper.

"Not only will I focus on increasing awareness of Beekeeper in a global market, but as VP of Growth, I will spearhead initiatives that bring us closer to the goal of connecting non-connected workers," he said.

High-performing Sales Leader

Frioli is a proven leader in worldwide sales and channel development. She has extensive experience managing global sales teams and has worked for enterprise, security and mobile software companies. Her stellar track record of increasing sales revenue and developing strong sales teams makes her a perfect fit for Beekeeper.

"Beekeeper not only has an impressive founding team, but I was 'wowed' by the caliber of people they hired to form this organization," Frioli said. "As Corey and Andreas focus on global marketing and international growth, I am thrilled to be taking the Beekeeper message to my sales channels in the Americas. Joining an organization with such a cohesive team and message is rewarding, and I am proud to get the buzz started about the need for this exceptional workforce communications tool."

Frioli said that although awareness is growing in select markets for technology that targets non-desk workers, she plans to make some noise and drive awareness in the hospitality and manufacturing industries. Her goal is to direct attention to Beekeeper's value and the operational benefits this single-channel platform brings in communicating with all employees . . . no matter where they may be.

"I'm excited to be at the forefront of a movement to ensure people are heard and engaged within their organizations" she said. "I'm even more happy to join the Beekeeper team."

Join the Buzz

Fortune 500 companies across the globe have adopted Beekeeper to empower employees regardless of role and location. New clients include hospitality giant Mandarin Oriental, retailer Dollar General, and food manufacturer Seaboard Foods, as well as Heathrow Airport, Gate Group and Dnata in the transportation sector.Beekeeper has also increased its user base by more than 500% and currently serves hourly workers in more than 137 countries.

"There are endless opportunities for making operations more simple and efficient, all while keeping your teams more engaged and happy to come to work," Grossman said. "Our global team is intact and ready, willing and able to bring your company into the hive and communicating effectively with all employees."

ABOUT BEEKEEPER

Beekeeper empowers frontline businesses and their workers with the digital solutions they need to do their best possible work. Founded in 2012, Beekeeper's mobile-first platform was designed and built for deskless employees who  despite representing 80% of the global workforce  have been chronically underserved when it comes to workplace technology. With Beekeeper's Frontline Success System, companies can automate paper-based processes, communicate with employees in real-time from anywhere, and improve the engagement, productivity, and safety of frontline teams.

Website: www.beekeeper.io, Blog: www.beekeeper.io/blog, LinkedIn

Barb Worcester

PRpro for Beekeeper

440-930-5770
The project pipelines for some of the sunniest locations in the Western Hemisphere are booming, as Mexico and the Caribbean enjoy a surge of investments in the hospitality industry.

Mexico, which ranks among the ten most popular countries for tourists in the entire world, currently has a grand total of 77 projects in its pipeline, while the Caribbean region has a total of 91, according to numbers from the TOPHOTELPROJECTS database. This includes properties that are currently under construction or in the planning, vision, pre-planning, or pre-opening phases. The grand total of rooms in the pipeline is more than 17,000, which means that the two regions combined are demonstrating a 24.4 percent increase year-to-year, at least based on the number of coming rooms. However, it remains to be seen what effect, if any, the sizeable hurricanes and earthquakes that have recently beset both regions will have on the booming project pipeline.

Source: TOPHOTELPROJECTS

Whatever the effect, it's likely safe to assume that it won't be long before tourists return to the world class beaches found in countries like Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. With that in mind, let's take a look at five projects that will soon be making their debuts in the region.

Pageant Beach Hotel  Cayman Islands

Although the name is not yet decided upon, this special hotel will boast a 10th-floor bar and grill with an outside glass elevator, four swimming pools (including a rooftop infinity pool), five outdoor beachfront and poolside restaurants and bars, a spa and fitness facility, a landscaped boardwalk, children's center and 30,000 square feet of conference facilities. With a slated opening date in early 2020, this hotel will have 450 rooms. [MORE INFO]

Embassy Suites by Hilton St. Kitts  St. Kitts

Embassy Suites by Hilton St. Kitts will be located in Pelican Bay, which is a private cove nestled on seven acres on the Caribbean side of this island. Once completed in early 2018, this 226-room hotel will offer access to main roads, downtown attractions and Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport. The condo-hotel complex will include six towers, 3,847 square feet of meeting space, an infinity pool, a fitness center, spa and kids' club. The new accommodations will also offer the brand's signature features such as the elaborate atrium environment, where guests will have full access to complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast and more. [MORE INFO]

Hideaway at Royalton Punta Cana Resort  Dominican Republic

This 168-room hotel is slated for completion at the end of this year. It's important to note that Hideaway at Royalton Luxury Resorts have become a top choice among adult travelers seeking superior accommodations, premium service and gourmet dining in popular beachfront destinations such as Cancun, Jamaica, St. Lucia and now the Dominican Republic. [MORE INFO]

Westin Monterrey  Mexico

With 180-rooms and an opening date slated for the third quarter of 2018, this hotel will be part of Punto Valle, Monterrey's most exclusive neighborhood, which also features high end offices and upscale restaurants that cater to international and national business travelers as well as the city's most affluent residents. [MORE INFO]

Sandos Caracol Eco Resort

With 639 rooms and an opening set for the second quarter of 2018, the Sandos Caracol Eco Resort will be one of the nicest beach experiences available in beautiful Playa del Carmen. [MORE INFO]

More information on Mexico hotel projects can be found on TOPHOTELPROJECTS, the specialized service provider in the exchange of cutting-edge information of hotel construction in the international hospitality industry.

Jule Grass

Marketing Manager

+49 4261 4140 309

TOPHOTELPROJECTS
In addition to supply growth, STR analysts note that a decline in events in the market compared with September 2016 might have weighed on Dubais performance for the month. For example last year, Dubai hosted the biennial International Congress of the International Society of Blood Transfusion.

STRs preliminary September 2017 data for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, indicates performance declines consistent with significant supply growth.

Based on daily data from September, Dubai reported the following in year-over-year comparisons:

Supply: +5.6%

Demand: +0.6%

Occupancy: -4.7% to 76.6%

Average daily rate (ADR): -10.6% to AED497.67

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -14.8% to AED381.20

In addition to supply growth, STR analysts note that a decline in events in the market compared with September 2016 might have weighed on Dubais performance for the month. For example last year, Dubai hosted the biennial International Congress of the International Society of Blood Transfusion.

Additionally, residents experienced a shorter vacation period this year, as the Eid Al Adha holiday shifted from 11-18 September in 2016 to 31 August to 3 September in 2017.

STR will release full September 2017 results later this month.

STR provides clients from multiple market sectors with premium, global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 10 countries around the world with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and an international headquarters in London, England. For more information, please visit str.com.
This past year, French Montana leveled up in the music industry with his record Unforgettable. French and his collaborator, Swae Lee, went to Uganda to shoot the video and later on revealed that he helped build a hospital for children and women there. While French has maintained humility when discussing his philanthropic work, Diddy has been gushing over it.

Ellen brought French and Diddy through to speak on their relationship, how they met and Frenchs charity work. French says the foundation of their relationship was built after the two met in Vegas and Diddy later invited him on his PJ to head back to New York. However, Diddy intervened to let everyone know that while his work ethic impressed him, its how he got to his position is why he has so much love for him

Check this, my brother started out in Africa. Imagine being in Africa with a dream to be a hip hop star, Diddy continues He came from Morocco, came and moved to New York, kept hustling and bustling and got on my radar. I see him, Im like I have to have him on the team Hes like a hot commodity, hes being humble. He makes great music and thats what we here for and thats what its about Hes a special artist and hes like my best friend so Ima always speak love about him.

Later on French was asked about his charity work in Uganda. While French seemed shy when speaking on the topic, he explained how he ended up building a hospital there.

We went to Uganda, last year before we did Unforgettable. I went there into this little hospital they had there, he says, We went there and there was like two rooms in this one little hospital for 300,000 people and after that I said, you know what, we gotta help people one day at a time.

However, Diddy seen just how humble French was when talking about it so he decided to give a short synopsis.

Let me give yall an abbreviated version. This man is so humble he cant even talk about himself comfortably. He went to Uganda, saw they didnt have a hospital and he went and built a hospital. Theres some people in life who dont like to speak about what they do, and thats this man right here. Diddy said to a crowd full of applause.

The two also hopped on Ellens stage together to do a special medley of Unforgettable and Mo Money, Mo Problems.

Check the interview and performance below.
Long considered one of hip-hops most reclusive figures, Eminem returned to the forefront of the global hip-hop conversation after his blistering cypher at this years BET Hip-Hop Awards. Spitting some incendiary bars, the rapper targeted current President Donald Trump even more intensely than he had with his 2016 track Campaign Speech, taking him to task for some of the most egregious moves hes made as the leader of the United States. He ended the freestyle with a nod to any fans of his who may support Trump, using a literal f**k you at the exclamation point. The bars in question are below.

And any fan of mine whos a supporter of his

Im drawing in the sand a line, youre either for or against

And if you cant decide who you like more and youre split

On who you should stand beside, Ill do it for you with this:

F**k you!





Indeed, Ems performance was so powerful that it even has some Washington policy makers talking. Specifically, Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison was asked by TMZ about this thoughts on Slim Shadys politically-charged cypher and, to his credit, Ellison sees lots of positives. He stated that the Michigan rapper, whose home state has seen a sharp drop in voter turnout this decade, could be hip-hops equivalent to Colin Kaepernick, insofar as a figure that the public can rally around and, together, pursue real and lasting societal change.

Eminem, and many artists, make an important cultural contribution, Ellison said. We need to embed within our culture that voting is an obligation, is a responsibility and that, if you dont vote, thats not a protest. You cant boycott the vote. He goes on to say that, if you boycott the vote, all youre doing is empowering those who have a chance to usher in a political figure that a large percentage of Americans dislike, like stats have shown is the case with Trump. Of course, the issue of ease of access of voters is something that Washington needs to sort out for Ellisons words to really ring true, as well as the gerrymandering problem that plagues many districts. In spirit though, hes not wrong. Voters need to be heard and injustice fought against, and Eminem might be the perfect man to lead the charge for this kind of change in the hip-hop community.

Check out our list of the 7 most scathing bars from his cypher here.

Eminem
We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector
Gondhoraj Momos Take Over West Bengal; Have You Tried Them Yet?
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Burmas treatment of Rohingya Muslims has lead to widespread condemnation from the international community, with the United Nations (UN) calling their treatment textbook ethnic cleansing.

But although over 500,000 have fled violence in the south east Asian nation's Rakhine state to seek refuge in Bangladesh in recent months, inside the country, the government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, appears to maintain widespread support.

In its largest city Yangon, the term Rohingya is reportedly not used and they are instead called Bengali Muslims, a term which is also used by local media.

Recommended Bangladesh vows to support one million Rohingya Muslims fleeing Burma

While the Rohingya have lived as one of the ethnic minorities in the country for generations but are not recognised as Burmese citizens in the Buddhist majority country.

The problem is the political motive behind the term [Rohingya], U Aung Hla Tun, vice chairman of the Myanmar Press Council, told the BBC. I used to have a number of Bengali friends when I was young. They never claimed they were Rohingya. They first coined the term decades ago.

They do not belong to the ethnic minorities [of this country]. This is a fact.

Another university student told the broadcaster that the international community is getting the wrong information about the situation in Rakhine state. They claimed that the violence is an act of terrorism.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees are now living in camps in Bangladesh.

They started to flee after an attack carried out by Rohingya insurgents in August on police posts and security personnel in Rakhine state saw the military retaliate with violence that left thousands of homes burned to the ground and hundreds dead.

The UNs human rights chief, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, has said Burmas actions against the Rohingya people seems a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

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

Ms Suu Kyis first public address on the Rohingya crisis last month saw hundreds of supporters gather in Yangon to hear the speech which saw her claim that more than half of Rohingya villages had not been affected by the violence. She also invited diplomats to visit the areas and see why they are not at each others throats in these particular areas.

Rights group Amnesty International subsequently accused Ms Suu Kyi and her government of burying their heads in the sand and of telling uthruths following the leaders response to the crisis.

But she was nonetheless widely supported by those in the crowd.

One woman in the crowd called May Nyi Oo, who wore stickers depicting Ms Suu Kyis image on her cheeks, told The Guardian that worldwide, a lot of fake news and rumours are spreading.

She also referred to the Rohingya as illegal immigrants who are not our people.

Many people in Burma have appeared reluctant to talk about the Rohingya crisis, but continue to support Ms Suu Kyis decisions about the issue.

Thet Mhoo Ko Ko, who works in his familys business, told Al Jazeera last month that he believes Ms Suu Kyi needs more time and then she will be able to make things much better.

The Rakhine [situation] is a problem and it is very worrying, he added.

A survey carried out in September by the Myanmar Survey Research company also found that 75 per cent of people believed the country is heading in the right direction, Al Jazeera reported.
Screengrab from YouTube

Kolkata, Oct 12 (IBNS): West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday served notice to expelled CPI-M Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee in connection with its ongoing probe into an alleged rape case, officials said.

According to sources, Ritabrata Banerjee has been asked to visit CID headquarters at Bhabani Bhawan in Kolkata on Friday (Oct 13) at 10 am. for interrogation.

"We have summoned Ritabrata Banerjee in connection with an alleged rape case which was registered at Balurghat Police Station (Case no. 422/17 dated 10/10/17) in West Bengal's South Dinajpur district," a senior official of Bengal CID told IBNS.

"A notice was also served to his residence at Ramlal Bazar in Kolkata's Haltu area on Wednesday where he has been asked to appear before the investigators of state CID's Protection of Women & Children (POWC) Cell on Friday for interrogation," the official added.

Earlier on Oct 5, a young techie, Namrata Datta, alleged that expelled CPI-M MP Ritabrata Banerjee had sex with her several times in Banerjee's Delhi residence in 2016 after the young communist leader promised to marry her.

Explaining the entire incident on micro-blogging site Twitter, the software engineer, who is a resident of Balurghat, lodged a complaint at local police station on Tuesday (Oct 10).

After completing preliminary investigation, police converted the complaint into an FIR and have framed a charge under several IPC sections, including 417, 376(2)/(n), 214, 354, 506 and 509.

"Medical tests of the woman were done on Thursday at Balurghat Hospital and she recorded her statements before South Dinajpur District Court's Judicial Magistrate(2nd Court), Aminur Rahaman, under CrPC section 164 on the same day," a senior official of South Dinajpur district police told IBNS.

Ritabrata Banerjee, however, denied all allegations against him and claimed that the entire matter is a conspiracy against him to malign his image.

The expelled CPI-M leader also lodged a complaint against the woman at Garfa Police Station in Kolkata on Monday (Oct 9).

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)

Image: Screengrab from YouTube
Baramati, Oct 12 (IBNS): A local political leader's car allegedly hit three girls in Baramati, Maharashtra, on Thursday, leaving two dead and one injured, according to media reports.

Local reports said that the incident happened early on Thursday when the girls were on their way to school.

The car is said to belong to Shiv Sena's chief of Baramati unit, Pappu Mane but if the leader was at the wheels is yet to be ascertained.

The girls were mowed down by the car on the Baramati-Morgaon Road, media reported.

The local police has launched a probe into the incident.

Police have detained the Sena leader, according to an NDTV report.

Image: ANI
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 12 (IBNS): Senior Congress leader and former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy has filed an RTI following the state government's announcement of a vigilance probe against him in the multi-crore solar panel scam, according to media reports on Thursday.

He has also sought the inquiry panel's report, NDTV reported.

The scam centres on the alleged involvement of a fraudulent company that had collected money from people by leveraging its connections with top government officials, media reported.

The Pinarayi Vijayan government has also announced it will launch criminal investigation against the former home minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan.
Kolkata/New Delhi, Oct 12 (IBNS): The Delhi Police on Thursday summoned expelled CPI-M Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee and woman techie Namrata Datta, who accused Ritabrata of sexual exploitation, in connection with its ongoing probe into an alleged rape case, officials said.

According to reports, Delhi Police served notices to Ritabrata and Namrata in the morning via email where they both have been asked to appear at South Avenue Police Station as soon as possible for interrogation.

"On Wednesday, we received a Zero-FIR, which was registered at Hare Street Police Station in Kolkata (FIR No.: 001 Date: 06.10.17) under sections 417, 376, 354 and 506 of IPC, and seven printed photographs," a senior official of Delhi Police told IBNS.

"Based on the Zero-FIR, we have registered a fresh FIR at South Avenue Police Station in New Delhi (FIR No.: 36/17 Date: 11.10.17) under IPC sections 376, 354 and 506," the official added.

An officer of Delhi police said that the woman software engineer has been asked to visit South Avenue Police Station along with all electronic or documentary evidences.

"As per procedure of law, her statement will be recorded under CrPC section 164 before the concerned Hon'ble court in Delhi," he told IBNS.

Meanwhile, the Protection of Women & Children (POWC) Cell of West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday served a notice to Ritabrata Banerjee, asking him to appear before its investigators at the state probe agency's headquarters at Bhabani Bhawan in Kolkata on Friday (Oct 13) in connection with the same case.

Earlier on Oct 5, techie Namrata Datta, who is a resident of Balurghat in West Bengal's South Dinajpur district, alleged that expelled CPI-M MP Ritabrata Banerjee had sex with her several times in Banerjee's Delhi residence in 2016 after the young communist leader promised to marry her.

Explaining the entire incident on micro-blogging site Twitter, the software engineer lodged a complaint at Balurghat Police Station on Tuesday (Oct 10).

After completing preliminary investigation, police converted the complaint into an FIR and have framed a charge under several IPC sections, including 417, 376(2)/(n), 214, 354, 506 and 509.

"Medical tests of the woman were done on Thursday at Balurghat Hospital and she recorded her statements before South Dinajpur District Court's Judicial Magistrate(2nd Court), Aminur Rahaman, under CrPC section 164 on the same day," a senior official of South Dinajpur district police told IBNS.

Ritabrata Banerjee, however, denied all allegations against him and claimed that the entire matter is a conspiracy against him to malign his image.

The expelled CPI-M leader also lodged a complaint against the woman at Garfa Police Station in Kolkata on Monday (Oct 9).

(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
By Benjamin Jumbe:

The Directorate of Public Prosecutions has expressed concern over the impact of the ongoing sit down strike by state prosecutors.

This comes as the strike enters day three since the prosecutors under the Uganda Association of Prosecutors laid down the tools again citing governments failure to fulfill its commitment to address their pay and welfare concerns.

The prosecutors in July gave government a 90-day grace period to address their concerns which included salary increment, a tax waiver on their salaries and promotions among others.

Now the spokesperson of the DPP Jane Kajuga says prosecutors are key in delivery of Criminal Justice and any day they are absent affects the entire system.

The government has meanwhile remained tight-lipped on the matter.
Guwahati, Oct 12 (IBNS): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday started probe into the multi-crore Louis Berger scam in Assam.

A team of the prime investigating agency headed by an inspector collected information, documents from three petitioners who filed petition before the Gauhati High court to seek a high level probe into the muti-crore rupees scam.



We had provided all the documents accessed from the US company Louis Berger to the investigating agency. We hope the investigation will unearth the entire scam, a petitioner Bhaben Handique said.



The CBI team had also collected information of the scam from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) office.



Earlier, the Gauhati High Court had directed CBI to probe the multi-crore rupees scam.



The court directed CBI to probe the scam after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam police failed to file charge sheet of the scam before the court.



Sources said that, the CBI probe may be invite trouble to some bureaucrats and political leaders, who accepted crore of rupees bribe from the New Jersey based company to award contracts for big water supply project in Guwahati.



(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Patna, Oct 12 (TheBiharPost/IBNS): Criminals have looted Rs 22 lakh (Rs 2.2 million) from a nationalised bank in Bihar at the point of gun ahead of the upcoming Hindu festival of Diwali.

The incident took place in the Katara Chowk-branch of the Indian Bank located in Sheikhpura district on Thursday.

Reports said the arms-wielding criminals entered into the bank once it opened in the morning and looted the cash after holding hostage the bank manager and other officials.

As per reports, the criminals also snatched the mobile phones of some customers before fleeing the scene.

The police are conducting raids to nab the absconding criminals.

This is the second major incident of bank loot in the past one-and-a-half month.

In August, the criminals had looted Rs 45 lakhs (Rs 4.5 million) from the cash van of Allahabad Bank in Dhanarua block in Patna district.

Reports said the cash van carrying the said amount was on way to Patna when the criminals targeted it near Neema village along NH 83 and fled the scene after looting the case.

http://thebiharpost.com
Kolkata, Oct 12 (IBNS): Bollywood actors, Kalki Koechlin and Richa Chadda, flew down to the city on Wednesday to promote their upcoming film Jia aur Jia.

The two actors were accompanied by new comer, Arslan Goni, who is also a part of the film's cast.

The film is centered on two completely different women, both with the same name Jia, who went for a road trip during a budget holiday to Sweden.

While Kalki plays the role of a girl who is completely outgoing, Richa's character is quite stressed out and introvert.

Elaborating her character, one of the lead actors of the film, Kalki said: "My character is outgoing, wild, wants to live moments of life. "

Although films like Dil Chahta Hain, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara centred on road trips, those were mainly male-oriented.

Richa, the other lead actor, said she has researched about Indian films centred on road trips undertaken by girls but unable to find one.

Jia aur Jia is an exception where two girls will be shown undertaking road trips on a budget holiday.

Speaking about the USP of the film, Richa said: "Indian girls taking trips together is the USP of the film. People should know girls in India take trips together, sometimes they go for solo vacations. Sometimes they go in groups because of safety issues."

"So, in this case, these two girls plan budget holidays that is why they have to become partners with each other, so it is really about girls having fun..." she added.

However, Richa said there is no message in the film other than 'live life everyday as if it is the last'.

Arslan, who is making a debut in Bollywood with Jia aur Jia, said it has been a wonderful experience to work with two female co-actors, Kalki and Richa.

Speaking about his own character in the film, Arslan told IBNS: "I am playing a cocktail in the film. My character is half Swedish and half south Indian. He is a sculpture who lives in his own world. When he meets the two women in the film, he starts to see life in a different perspective. "

Jia aur Jia is slated to release on October 27.



(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh, images by Avishek Mitra)
New York, Oct 12(Just Earth News): A new United Nations report has underscored the importance of a arisk-informeda approach to sustainable development and called for integrating global agreements on disaster risk reduction and climate change into national socio-economic planning.





Presenting the reports findings Monday to the General Assemblys main economic and financial body (Second Committee) Robert Glasser the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction said that the failure to include such risks in investments have resulted in rapidly rising disaster-related costs.



In his briefing, Glasser noted that over the past two decades, more than 1.35 million lives and in excess of $2.5 trillion have been lost to disasters.



In the light of this disturbing picture, he said, delivering on the promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will only be possible if we cut greenhouse gases as rapidly as possible in line with the Paris Agreement and reduce climate and disaster risk in accordance with the ambitious global targets agreed [] in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.



The report, Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, also warned that the developing world remains at particular risk from disasters, which have resulted in annual average loss of more than 20 per cent equivalent of social expenditure.



According to the report, by 2050, urban populations exposed to hurricanes will increase from 310 million on Wednesday to 680 million. Urban assets vulnerable to sea level rise and flooding could reach $35 trillion by 2070  10 times more than the current levels.



To overcome the challenges, the report urged, UN Member States to prioritize and resource the development of inclusive national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020, as a key element of efforts to reduce climate risk and disaster risk more broadly.



It also called on them to identify and seize opportunities to coherently incorporate the Sendai Framework and the Paris Agreement into social and economic planning and investments within the context of the 2030 Agenda.



The report comes ahead of the International Day for Disaster Reduction, to be marked this Friday. The 2017 theme of the International Day, Home Safe Home: Reducing Exposure, Reducing Displacement, seeks to raise global awareness about effective actions, policies and practices taken to reduce exposure to disaster risk at the community level, thereby contributing to saving homes and livelihoods.



UN Photo/WFP/Amjad Jamal







Source: www.justearthnews.com












New York, Oct 12(Just Earth News): Artificial intelligence has the potential to accelerate progress on global development goals, but also poses a range of complex challenges, including ethical questions, human rights issues and security risks, speakers told a United Nations event on Wednesday that featured a robot as one of the panellists.

A moment that drew big applause during the day-long event, The future of everything  sustainable development in the age of rapid technological change, came when Sophia, a humanoid robot, had brief interaction with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed.

To Mohammeds question about what the UN can do to help people in many parts of the world who have no access to the Internet or electricity, Sophia said the future is already here. Its just not very evenly distributed [], quoting renowned science fiction writer William Gibson. If we are smarter and focused on win-win type of results, A.I. [artificial intelligence] could help proficiently distribute the worlds existing resources like food and energy.

Sophia is Hanson Robotics latest and most advanced robot. Sophia has also become a media sensation, having given numerous interviews to multiple media outlets, performed in concert, and even graced the cover of one of the top fashion magazines.

In her opening speech, Mohammed warned that despite profound potential for accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), if technological progress is not managed well, it risks exacerbating existing inequalities.

The influence of technology on our societies should be determined by the actions of us, humans, not by machines, she said. Technology is here for us to explore and use for the benefit of all.

The meeting was co-organized by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UN General Assemblys main economic and financial body (Second Committee).

ECOSOC President Marie Chatardova said that the long-term consequences of the deep technological changes underway, for economies and societies at large, are unknown.

We are only starting to see the benefits, but we do need to assess the risks of these technologies, she said.

Sven Jurgenson, of Estonia, Second Committee Chairman, said that AI-based solutions are taking his countrys digital society to the next level.

He said the Government is working on a full legal and cyber-risk management framework for using fully autonomous vehicles in regular road and traffic conditions. And door-to-door robot transport will reshape how goods are shipped and delivered locally.

On Wednesday, Internet access is a social right in Estonia. Every Estonian resident has an electronic ID and nearly all public services are accessible online, including i-Voting in Estonian Parliamentary elections, he said.

The development of e-Estonia has not happened in one day  it took us 17 years to start from changing legislation and creating our first e-solutions, he added.

UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, Oct 12(Just Earth News): The notion that elections would most probably not be held before the end of 2017 has regrettably led to the re-emergence of a climate of political uncertainty and tensions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a United Nations envoy for that country told the Security Council on Wednesday.

As this Council is aware, challenges related to the implementation of the 31 December Agreement have unfortunately persisted in recent months, said Maman Sidikou, UN Secretary-Generals Special Representative for DRC, in a briefing to the 15-member body.

He explained that the broad consensus achieved among key political actors with the signing of the 31 December 2016 Agreement has not been maintained consistently throughout the year, specifically as this relates to a transitional oversight mechanism, implementation of confidence-building measures, and the electoral timelines.

The Agreement envisioned the holding of elections by the end of 2017.

He reported that as of mid-September, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) had registered over 41 million voters, with women representing 48 per cent of them.

In early September, voter registration commenced in the Kasai and Kasai Central provinces, the last remaining provinces to undergo this process. However, uncertainty persists regarding the registration of members of the Diaspora, the mode of voting and the timeline for the adoption of critical legislative enactments.

And regrettably, the financial resources required to ensure sustained progress towards the holding of elections are not yet forthcoming. The CENI remains under-funded, and the multi-partner basket support fund managed by the UN Development Programme remains funded at only six per cent of the estimated $123 million required.

The creation of conditions conducive to the holding of elections rests largely on the implementation of confidence-building measures, the opening of political space, and the full respect of human rights, including the freedoms of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly.

The UN is concerned that journalists, political opponents and civil society activists remain subject to intimidation, harassment and violence, mostly in connection with their activities and expression of their opinions in relation to the political process.

He went on to highlight the deteriorating security situation in several regions of the country, including targeted attacks against the national security forces by the Mai-Mai group in North Kivu.

The impact of the deterioration of the security situation on the lives of civilian populations is clearly visible, Sidikou said, noting that between June and August this year, the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) reported 1,329 cases of violations and abuses of human rights.

Armed groups carried out 533 attacks, while state actors were responsible for 769 violations, of which 27 percent were attributed to the armed forces and 24 percent to the national police.

Turning to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, he said that about 8.5 million people  including 5.5 million children  are currently in need of humanitarian assistance while the number of internally displaced persons reached 3.8 million, and more than 621,000 Congolese sought refuge in the subregion.

In the face of budget cuts, MONUSCO has continuously adjusted its machinery and presence to better adapt its footprint to priorities set out by the Council, Sidikou noted. The mission will soon complete the repatriation of 1,687 military personnel, and is also in the process of introducing a new strategy, particularly in areas affected by the closure of MONUSCO bases, that provides the mission with a flexibility in fulfilling its mandate to protect civilians.

UN Photo/Cia Pak

Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, Oct 12(Just Earth News): The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voiced aprofound regreta on Thursday over the United States' decision to withdraw from the agency.





This is a loss to UNESCO. This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism, said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova in a statement.



Universality is critical to UNESCO's mission to strengthen international peace and security in the face of hatred and violence, to defend human rights and dignity, she added, noting that UNESCO would continue to build a more just, peaceful, equitable 21st century.



Bokova recalled that in 2011, when the US suspended payment of its membership contributions, she was convinced that the UNESCO never mattered as much for the US or vice versa.



This is all the more true on Thursday, she continued when the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security, to counter racism and antisemitism, to fight ignorance and discrimination.



Bokova spelled out her belief that the American people support UNESCO's actions to harness new learning technologies; enhance scientific cooperation, for ocean sustainability; promote freedom of expression, defend journalists' safety; empower girls and women as change-makers and peacebuilders; bolster societies facing emergencies, disasters and conflicts; and advance literacy and quality education.



Despite the withholding of funding, since 2011, we have deepened the partnership between the United States and UNESCO, which has never been so meaningful, she underscored. Together, we have worked to protect humanity's shared cultural heritage in the face of terrorist attacks and to prevent violent extremism through education and media literacy.



The partnership between UNESCO and the US has 'drawn on shared values'



The Director General gave examples of collaborating during that time, such as launching the Global Partnership for Girls' and Women's Education and celebrating World Press Freedom Day in Washington, D.C., with the National Endowment for Democracy.



She also mentioned a long history of joint endeavours, including working together with the late Samuel Pisar, Honorary Ambassador and Special Envoy for Holocaust Education, to promote education for remembrance of the Holocaust across the world to fight antisemitism and genocide on Thursday; cooperating with major US companies Microsoft, Cisco, Procter & Gamble and Intel to keep girls in school and nurture technologies for quality learning; and working with the US Geological Survey, US Army Corps of Engineers, and US professional societies to advance research for the sustainable management of water resources, agriculture.



The partnership between UNESCO and the United States has been deep, because it has drawn on shared values, Bokova stressed.



Citing lines in UNESCO's 1945 Constitution by US Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish  'since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed'  she said this vision has never been more relevant, and added that the US helped inspire the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention.



Calling the agency's work key to strengthen the bonds of humanity's common heritage in the face of forces of hatred and division, she noted the value of World Heritage cites in the US, such as the Statue of Liberty, as being not just as a defining US symbol but that it speaks for people across the world.



UNESCO will continue to work for the universality of this Organization, for the values we share, for the objectives we hold in common, to strengthen a more effective multilateral order and a more peaceful, more just world, Bokova concluded.



Photo: UNESCO







Source: www.justearthnews.com








New York, Oct 12(Just Earth News): New latrines will be constructed in the Rohingya camps and settlements of Bangladeshas Coxas Bazar district to provide sanitation coverage to some 250,000 people, averting a major disease outbreak, the United Nations Childrenas Fund (UNICEF) reported Thursday.

UNICEF and the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief of Bangladesh agreed that the Bangladesh Armed Forces Division will construct 10,000 latrines in Coxs Bazar as quickly as possible at a total cost of $1.5 million.

There are already reports of water-borne diseases from the health centres in the camps, said Edouard Beigbeder, the UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh, who signed a work plan with Joint Secretary Muhammad Habibul Kabir Chowdhury Wednesday at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.

Disease outbreak is a real and present danger for the camp dwellers and host population. We immediately need to step up sanitation coverage there, added Beigbeder.

UNICEF will contribute financial as well as technical support to the ministry in this public health undertaking, including through it water, sanitation and hygiene sector partners, which will provide locations for each set of 5-rings model latrines.

The latrines, at an estimated cost of $147 each, will also be regularly disinfected through spraying chlorine solution so that these do not become sources of contamination.

UNICEF, the Department of Public Health and Engineering, and water and sanitation sector partners are also implementing an accelerated programme of building latrines for the refugees in the camps in two sub-districts of Coxs Bazar district.

In related news, on 10 October, UNICEF and its health sector partners launched a massive oral cholera vaccination campaign for 650,000 people in Ukhiya and Teknaf sub-districts of Coxs Bazar  mobilizing 900,000 doses of cholera vaccines to protect newly arrived Rohingyas and the host community from a cholera outbreak.

Photo: OCHA/Pierre Peron

Source: www.justearthnews.com
Toronto, Oct 12 (IBNS): A restaurant in Toronto is engaged in a bitter battle with animal rights advocates after the latter objected to one of its dishes on the menu, reports said.

The restaurant, Ku-kum Kitchen, which reportedly opened in June this year, announced that it was the only eatery in Toronto to serve seal meat, much to the chagrin of animal rights activists, who fear that this might give rise to a new trend.

Jennifer Matos, who started the e-petition against the facility, wrote: "The restaurant claims they are the only restaurant in Toronto that sells seal meat and we do not want this to become a new trend for restaurants ... we know that the killing of innocent beings is wrong."

However, trashing the campaign against the restaurant, chief chef Joseph Shawana, who hails from the Wikwemikong Unceded Reserve, said that seal meat is part of Inuit's culture and banning it would be going against his culture.

The Wikwemikong region is home to the indigenous people of Canada.

"But it's part of the northern community's culture. So we're trying to pay homage to them, as we do with everything else," Shawana said.

His call has struck a chord with the indigenous people. Toronto artist Aylan Couchie has filed a counter petition to take on the original filed by Matos.

Couchie, who is of the Anishanaabe tribe, wrote: "It's time to stop the cycle of wilfully ignorant Canadians who continue to impose their ill-considered values upon Indigenous practices and people."

In her defence, Matos also suggested that the the meat used by the restaurant is sourced from a commercial hunter, thus questioning its indigenous link.

Petitions from Matos and Couchie have received 3,200 and 2,800 signatures, respectively.

Image: Wallpaper
Ottawa, Islamabad, Oct 12 (IBNS): A Canadian couple, who were kidnapped in 2012 during backpacking through Central Asia, have been released after five years, media reports said.

Joshua Boyle (34) and Caitlan Coleman (31) were kidnapped by the Taliban linked Haqqani network in 2012 as the couple cross into Afganistan.

Coleman was pregnant at a time the couple were kidnapped in Pakistan. Later, she gave birth to three children in the custody, while the third one is just few months old.

Boyle has already informed his father about the news of their rescue from captivity.

Patrik Boyle, in an interview with the Star, said that he had an interaction with his son. "Josh said he was doing pretty well for someone who has spent the last five years in an underground prison."

The Pakistan government issued a statement on Thursday to confirm the news of the rescue of the Canadian family with the help of an operation carried out by the troops and intelligence agencies of the country.

In a youtube video uploaded in 2016, Boyle, as per the instructions given by the kidnappers, urged the Afganistan government that if it did not stop killing the Talibani prisoners then his family will be killed.

Later, Boyle's parents made a video to address the captivators, saying: "Weve done the best an ordinary Canadian family can do. Ive personally written to several of the most senior government officials in Afghanistan, those with great power over the execution of your brothers.

Weve done what youve asked of us, were now respectfully asking you to show mercy to our family members in return. Please" Boyle's father said while addressing the captivators.

Expressing relief over the release of the couple, Canadian foreign affairs minister, Chrystia Freeland said: "Canada has been actively engaged with the governments of the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan and we thank them for their efforts, which have resulted in the release of Joshua, Caitlan and their children."

"Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years. We stand ready to support them as they begin their healing journey, he added.

(Reporting by Suman Das)
Washington, Oct 12 (IBNS): After meeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at the possibility of a bilateral deal between the two countries, media reports said.

Trump even said that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) can be scrapped to make the bilateral deal, leaving out Mexico.

While the reporters have asked Trump about the possibility of a bilateral deal, the US President reacted to say: "Oh sure, absolutely."

"It's possible we won't be able to reach a deal with one or the other. But in the meantime we'll be able to make a deal with one. But I think we have a chance to do something very creative that's good for Canada, Mexico and the United States," Trump told reporters.

However, Trudeau suggested that may be he is still in favour of a continental deal, contradicting once again with his American counterpart.

Trudeau told reporters that he is still optimistic about the NAFTA though Canada needs to be "ready for anything".

"I think Canadians are aware that the American administration and the president makes decisions that surprise people from time to time," Trudeau said, "and that is something that we are very much aware of, and very braced for and conscious of," Trudeau was quoted by CBC News.

Trudeau, who is on his second visit to the US, seemed to be polite about Trump despite Canada's repeated collision with the US due to the NAFTA negotiations.

The Canadian PM, while addressing a gathering at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit recently, with the US president's daughter Ivanka in the crowd listening to him, said his approach towards reaching out to Trump remains the same like any other global leader.

Though they differ on a number of issues, still "look for areas of agreement", Trudeau said.

"I have conversations with the president every few weeks on a number of things," Trudeau said.

Canada is presently negotiating with the US regarding the NAFTA, an agreement which came into force from January 1994 by Canada, Mexico and United States creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.

For last one and a half years, US President Trump criticised the agreement and also hinted to take some serious steps being in the administration or at least send some ultimatums.

Both Canada and the US differ in the climate change.

The US has already announced their withdrawal from the Paris Climate and the process of coming out from it is underway.

On the other hand, Canada wants a new NAFTA with a reference to the global climate issues and make necessary steps to tackle them.

In the negotitations, Canada is working for a better labour and environmental provisions.

Both Canada and the US are in favour of making an environment agreement in the new NAFTA instead of designing a separate deal.

The two nations also want to make certain provisions to prevent NAFTA nations from violating the rules for the sake of drawing investments.

However, in the last month, Premier Kathleen Wynne threatened the US of imposing similar trade barriers if the US continues with their 'Buy American' policy.

The policy is favoured by the US President Donald Trump.

The US is trying to include the 'Buy American' policy in the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement ) also, though the Canadian government said they are resisting the pressure.

(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh)
Oscar winner Ben Affleck has come under the spotlight. Its not for any of his movies but the fact that the Hollywood actor apologised for an incident in 2003 in which he "acted inappropriately" towards actress Hilarie Burton. Burton claimed Affleck, 45, groped her when she was a host of MTV's TRL in 2003.

"I acted inappropriately toward Ms Burton and I sincerely apologise," Affleck tweeted.

I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize  Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) October 11, 2017

The incident on TRL resurfaced after Affleck condemned the sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein saying he was "saddened and angered" by claims of alleged sexual harassment and assault made against the movie mogul by some of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood.



After a fan suggested that Affleck should have "kept quiet," another Twitter user wrote, "He also grabbed Hilarie Burton's breasts on TRL once. Everyone forgot though."

The 35-year-old actress soon responded about the alleged 2003 incident, "I didn't forget."



The One Tree Hill alum then shared a clip of TRL outtakes in which she says, "He comes over and tweaks my left b**b," apparently speaking about Affleck. Later in the video, the actor is shown asking her, "How old are you 19?"

Twitter

"Girls. I'm so impressed with you brave ones," Burton, who is expecting her second child with The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan, wrote in the tweet. "I had to laugh back then so I wouldn't cry. Sending love."

Social media users also compared the incident with another interview of Affleck conducted in 2004 by Montreal TV host Anne-Marie Losique.

In the clip, the actor pulls Losique into sitting on his lap, proposes she take her top off, and compliments her on her "firm breasts." The interaction was filmed while Affleck was dating Jennifer Lopez.

And now more allegations are coming in Affleck's way. After he apologised, Annamarie Tendler has also claimed of Ben groping her and holding her by the butt. Tendler is married to comedian stand-up comic and former Saturday Night Live writer John Mulaney.

I would also love to get an apology from Ben Affleck who grabbed my ass at a Golden Globes party in 2014.  Annamarie Tendler (@amtendler) October 11, 2017
Ali Fazal is a happy man these days as not only he is riding high on success with his film, but also because he has a special someone by his side. Recently, he opened up about his romantic association with actress Richa Chadda. Besides, his Hollywood project Victoria & Abdul has been well-appreciated by critics as well as audiences.

thr.com

After having worked with Judi Dench in the movie, rumours are afloat that he is soon going to sign his next project, which is going to be a biopic. With that, Ali Fazal will become the first Indian actor to sign a biographical film in Hollywood.

cobrapost.com

It will hopefully roll in 2018. I cant elaborate further as I am yet to sign on the dotted line. Filmmakers are experimenting with unique topics and I want to grab these opportunities and not get typecast, Ali Fazal was earlier quoted as saying by Mumbai Mirror about his next international project.

glamsham.com

Now, the grapevine suggests its a biopic. However, it is not known as to whom the film will be based on as details on the project have been kept under wraps.
Bigg Boss 11 contestant Zubair Khan who made an exit from the show after getting humiliated by the host Salman Khan has hit back at him. In an exclusive interview with Indiatimes, Zubair Khan said, "Salman is the Dawood Ibrahim of the film industry." While giving an interview to us, Zubair was on his way to Lonavala to file an FIR against Salman, when he said,

I am going to file an FIR against Salman Khan and the channel; they mentally harassed me to almost commit suicide. He insulted me on national television and even threatened me.

Talking about giving abuses to contestant Arshi Khan, he clarified, They showed the half footage of me abusing Arshi Khan, but didnt show the footage of why I was abusing her. She was making such filthy statements against my religion which left me fuming.

He even revealed that before entering in the house, channel had asked the contestants to abuse and do unnecessary fights for TRP.

Zubair even questioned Salman Khans Being Human image, Who is Salman Khan to tell me to leave the house? He said I abused the girl, while he himself abuses on sets of Bigg Boss every time. He is known for his bad image. He is the founder of Being Human, but he didn't have the courtesy to visit me in the hospital. I was admitted in a private and not government hospital after I had sleeping pills. The reason they admitted me in a private hospital was because they didn't want any FIR to be filed. They werent letting me leave the house so I had to take those sleeping pills. 

Zubair attacked the Sultan star by calling him the Dawood Ibrahim of the industry,  Salman called me a nalla don on national television, but when did I say that I belong to Dawood family? 6 years ago, I gave a clarification that I am not from the underworld family. The media has said that too. There is no proof."

"Salman is the dirtiest person in the industry. I will expose the world how cheap he is. He did his image makeover after the 2002 hit and run accident through his PR. Salman himself has a connection with Dawood, his film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke was financed by the underworld.

He furthered attacked and said, He is one double standard man, every time he says that he does shows for the contestants and channel, its a lie, he is doing the show for the money, for the Rs 11 crore, if he wont do then Shah Rukh Khan will do or someone else will.

ALSO READ: After His Bigg Boss Elimination, Zubair Khan Files A Police Complaint Against Salman Khan

Zubair is deeply hurt how channels maligned his image, I made it very clear that I have no connection with the underworld. I dont belong to Dawood or Haseena Parkars family. Before coming on the show I told the channel that I will come only to clean my image, but it was all reverse. When I was in Lonavla they showed the promo footage of mine, after that my family tried to contact me through channel to inform me that they are maligning my image. In fact they didnt even show me the contract which I had signed.

Also read: After Salman Lashed Out At Zubair Khan, He Consumed Some Pills & Was Rushed To Hospital

Zubair said he will only be back on the show if SK apologises to him, 

Salman Khan gets 11 crore per episode for doing the show, if I will get 22 crore then also I wouldnt go back to the show. I dont mind going back to the show only if Salman apologies to me, he concluded.

Indeed this season is full of drama.
Unless you have a hundred crores lying in your coffers, you must have noticed that buying the worlds most expensive tea or smartphone will cost you an arm and a leg. You may splurge on expensively priced items to fan your pride but there are products in existence that will forever remain beyond your reach.

Lets course through these items that you will never ever buy.

1. Water Bottle

moneycontrol

Drinking water has always been a luxury for those who cant afford it  millions go without a clean drink daily. Which makes the Beverly Hills 9OH2O water bottle almost a crime against humanity. Priced at Rs. 65 lakh for a bottle, each has a diamond encrusted cap to up the bling quotient of the numpty who decided to put out that kind of money to quench his thirst. Meanwhile, us sane people can go about our days drinking normal water.

2. Tea

tea urchin

Da Hong Pao is one of the world's most expensive teas. Its cost is equivalent to 30 times its weight in gold! So, one gram would cost you approximately Rs. 90,000. Its exorbitant price is credited to its aging that takes up to 80 years. For anyone who cant do without their daily dose of cutting chai, this is appalling.

3. Smartphone

Design Limited Edition

If you thought Apple was unreasonable with their price tags, well this may make you reexamine that. Meet Vertu Signature Cobra, a phone that comes with a gob-smacking price tag of Rs. 2.3 crore. The phone features a snake figure wrapped around its edges thats encrusted with 439 rubies.

4. Spice

flickr

Saffron in its purest form can cost you Rs. 3,23,975 per 0.45 kilogram. While the best quality saffron originates in Kashmir (India), the spice is also grown in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Iran. It takes 50,000- 75,000 flowers to harvest one kilogram of saffron. It is used in cooking, medicines, cosmetics, etc. If you come across saffron that is inexpensive, then its not pure saffron.

5. Toilet Paper

Hanebisho

Would you shell out Rs 960 bucks on a roll of toilet paper? Well, this handmade Japanese brand Hanebisho uses the finest wood pulp from Canada and water from Japans cleanest river. It comes in a box thats lined with silver leaf. All that for a roll of paper that will ultimately!

6. Pizza

industry kitchen

The most expensive pizza thats commercially available in the world sells for a whopping Rs. 1,74,678 at USAs Industry Kitchen. Its recorded in Guinness World Records. The ingredients that go into making the pizza include black squid ink dough; white Stilton cheese from the UK; foie gras and truffles from France; Ossetra caviar from the Caspian Sea; Almas caviar; and 24K gold leaves. For the rest of us theres 30-minute delivery!

7. Coffee

representative image/flickr

India  Asias third-largest producer and exporter of coffee  has become home to the worlds most expensive coffee. Currently being produced in Karnatakas Coorg district, the coffee is made from the poop of a civet cat. Its the method of producing civet coffee that renders it the most priced in the world. It is made from the coffee beans digested by the civet cat and then the poop is collected, processed and sold. Civet coffee is exclusively consumed in Europe and Gulf nations where it is sold for Rs. 20,000 to 25,000 per kilogram.

8. Ear Buds

Luxury Life Style

A single pair of Casa Gi earbuds, that sold in Bristol for Rs. 3,39,976, may never serve the purpose they were built for. So, whats so special about this pair? It comes endowed with 59 diamonds  on each bud! - and an 18-carat gold coating. Your ears wont thank you.

9. Soap

soapquest

A bar of soap that costs Rs. 1,81,175 should surely make you sparkle like the gold and diamond powder it comes infused with. The Qatar soap, produced by a family-run business in Lebanon, is a product that should only be enshrined, never unwrapped.

10. Monopoly

youtube

Its only befitting to make a version of a money game with 18-carat gold. Named after its creator, Sidney Mobell, the Sidney Mobell Monopoly set contains 165 rubies and sapphires, luxury cards, and 42 full-cut diamonds and costs Rs. 12.9 crore. The dice itself costs Rs. 6.4 lakh!

11. Toothbrush

Reinast

A 2.5 lakh rupee toothbrush? Believe it or not, billionaires coughed up that much money on a titanium toothbrush. The Reinast Luxury Toothbrush boasts an anti-bacterial coating which makes it this expensive. This isnt your regular toothbrush which you throw away after a few uses. The bristle head can be detached and replaced.

All these price tags make you realise that fools and their money are soon parted and luckily for these manufacturers, as PT Barnum said theres a sucker born every minute.
The biggest perk of graduating from Indias top engineering and management schools is that it guarantees a corner office. IIT or IIM graduates always grab the most lucrative offers, making the rest of us mortals look like duds in comparison.

But not every graduate sticks to the original job offer he was awarded with. They often choose to go off track and opt for careers that are unconventional, but close to their hearts. Their faith in themselves drives them to follow their dreams by bidding goodbye to their cushy corporate jobs forever.

Here are 11 inspiring stories of graduates who didnt think twice before making the switch.

1. Nihar Ranjan

TOI

An IIT-Kharagpur alumnus, with a track record of working with multinationals across India and the US, Nihar Ranjan quit his job to work for the betterment of Odishas villagers. Earlier this year, he filed his nomination for Member of Panchayat Samiti in his native Dumuka gram panchayat. He wants to set up a dairy farm in his village to enable people to buy pure milk at cheaper rates.

2. Swati Kaushal

IndiaToday

The IIM-Kolkata graduate quit her high-paying corporate job to write books. Her passion for writing was so strong that she chose her first book over a lucrative job offer. Kaushal has authored three books since then  A Piece of Cake, A Girl Like Me, and Drop Dead.

3. Shuvajit Payne

Rediff

Armed with a Finance and Marketing degree from IIM-Lucknow, Payne dedicated four years to IBM in London. However, his inner calling brought him back to India to empower people living in remote villages. With the support of State Bank of Indias Youth for India programme, Payne received basic training and was posted in Wardha district of Maharashtra. He worked extensively with NGOs to set up vocational training centres for villagers.

4. Munaf Kapadia

Munaf

An MBA from Mumbai's Narsee Monjee, Munaf Kapadia landed a job at Google. During his time there, he felt quite annoyed with his mother watching boring television sitcoms. A brainwave led Kapadia to get her busy. He then started Bohri Kitchen, a startup to make people taste the delicious meals his mother pampered his family with on the dinner table. The venture, thats two years old now, treats foodies to a seven-course meal and is often frequented by the likes of Rani Mukerji, Ashutosh Gowariker, Farah Khan, and Huma Qureshi.

5. Divakar Sankhla

TOI

An IIM-Lucknow alumnus, Sankhla co-founded Alohomora with Parinita, to empower young minds and make them the owners of their own learning. A Teach for India fellowship led to the setting up of Alohomora that creates project-based programmes to be implemented in government- and NGO-run schools.

6. Abhishek Singhania

Rediff

Singhania graduated from IIT-Madras in 2012 and went on to join PricewaterhouseCoopers in Mumbai. Soon after, he went to Saudi Arabia on a project for six months. But a couple of years later, he quit his job to pursue farming. He travelled across India to visit and work with farmers. He learnt about natural farming and now lives and works in a village near Kolkata.

7. Ankita Kumawat

Express

An IIM-Kolkata post graduate, Kumawat quit her job to become a dairy farmer in Ajmer. She gave up her corporate job to help her father, who took voluntary retirement to open a dairy business. Ankita now looks after Maatratav Dairy and Organic Food Company that provides people with pure and unadulterated food items.

8. Garima Vishal

Rediff

Vishal, an IIM-Lucknow graduate, was working with Infosys when she realised her true calling. Disturbed by the lack of educational opportunities for children around her, she opened Dejawoo School of Innovation in Bihar, with a goal to educate children and give them the freedom of thought. The school employs women who quit working after marriage along with professional teachers.

9. Alok Sagar

Aajtak

After getting an M.Tech in Electrical Engineering, IIT-Delhi alumnus Sagar earned his PhD from Houston University, Texas. He returned to India to work at IIT-Delhi, and even mentored Raghuram Rajan. However, he soon quit his job to work for the people. He settled in Madhya Pradesh and aligned himself with Shramik Adiwasi Sangathan - an organisation that fights for tribal rights.

10. Prasoon Gupta

VCC

Gupta, an IIT-Roorkee graduate quite his five-year-old venture, Tech Buddy Consulting, and set up Sattviko in Delhi  an eatery that catered to the sattvik lifestyles of people. His new venture serves cuisines from India and across the world including Mexican, American, and Italian. All the food is prepared without onion or garlic.

11. Nitin Saluja

Chaayos

Saluja is the brain behind popular chai brand, Chaayos. Saluja, who graduated from IIT-Bombay, quit his job after discovering a passion for tea. The NCR-based cafe was subsequently opened, serving over 25 varieties of tea. Today, Chaayos competes with the most established cafe brands in the region.

Passion is a very strong emotion that can drive people to achieve great purposes in life. If you have a burning desire to do something different, go for it. The world is your oyster!
History has been a testament to the fact that when nothing offers you refuge, words do. Time and again, people have sought comfort in the words of writers and authors. However, with the growing popularity of social media, a lot of voices that were never heard before are now finding audiences.

In the past, several people have taken it to open-mic sessions to express themselves  be it their pain, agony, anger, regression, love or depression; with the help of words, thousands are now telling the world exactly whats on their minds.

Heres a list of people whove produced powerful pieces of art with their words-

1. "She was sold, while still a daughter"

He may not be a conventional poet, but Kapoor maintains an Instagram account that can easily soothe your aching soul. He work recently caught limelight after he gave a powerful performance on something that nobody addresses . His poem makes a strong case for sex workers and women forced into trafficking.

Youtube

(Also Read: Kunal Kapoors Powerful Poem On #SoldBodies Will Force You To Never Look Down Upon Sex Workers)

2. "I have lost 17 of my ownbut I know, ONLY I CAN HIT BACK..."

Amidst the growing tension that encapsulated India after the deadly Uri attack, an anonymous soldier wrote a poem explaining just how the Indian Army was feeling about its loss. At a time when no one could explain or talk about the dreadful situation, this poem comforted several hearts.

BCCL

(Also Read: This Poem By An Anonymous Indian Soldier Is Exactly What The Army Feels After #UriAttack)

3. "I am sorry this poem is offensive to extroverts because, honestly, fuck you."

Life throws random challenges on a daily basis, and one of them is to fight with the conundrums in your mind. Are you an extrovert? Are you an introvert? Are you an ambivert? Rabia Kapoor, who also happens to be Rajat Kapoors daughter, has come up with a fabulous piece of spoken poetry that talks about what goes on in the mind of an introvert.

(Also Read: This Poem Is Everything A Shy Person With A Brilliant Mind Wants To Say To All Extroverts)

4. "You can't touch me, you have no right"

We all remember the mass molestation on New Years evening in Bangalore and how troubling the entire incidence was. To address it, Tharien from Tamil Nadu, decided to take out her anger through a poem. Her verse, which is simple yet brilliant, will pierce right through your heart, and you'll find yourself nodding your head in absolute approbation.

(Also Read: This Woman's Viral Poem Is A Powerful Take On What Happened In Bengaluru On New Year's Eve)

5. "We're girls, women, human, not a burden"

Now a big name on YouTube, Aranyas first viral piece of art was this poem that talked about gender discrimination on a larger scale. Through her poetry she explains a multitude of biases that exist. She explains how men get uncomfortable while discussing 'periods' but are perfectly fine bantering about sex.

youtube

(Also Read: This Girl's Fearless And Bold Poem On Gender Discrimination Carries A Serious Feminist Punch)

6. "Mandir ki chaukhat meri hai, masjid ke qible mere hai, gurudwaare ka darbar mera, yeshu ke girje mere hai."

Islamophobia is increasing daily, and its time voices were raised against hatred. Hussain Haidrys poem talks about the troubles of being an Indian Muslim. He perfectly captures the sentiment that he is as much a part of this society as any other Indian who belongs to a different faith.

Youtube

(Also Read: This Guy's Beautiful Poem Will Tell You Exactly How It Feels To Be A 'Hindustani-Musalmaan'!)

7. " Jub kilkariyan sahem jayein, Jub totli boliyan khamosh ho jayein, Samjho kuch ghalat hai"

The death of 7-year-old Pradyuman Thakur sparked shocked debates and concerns about school safety across the country. People took to the streets, social media and school campuses to express their agony. Amidst this tension, Prasoon Joshi wrote a poignant piece of poem which left many devastated and worried.

Facebook

(Also Read: Prasoon Joshi's Poem On The Gurugram Murder Case Of A 7-YO Kid Will Make You Very Emotional)

8. "Man up they told me, man up, young boy"

Theres a lot of talk around town about feminism, but oppression sees no gender. Simars poem on manning up takes us on a touching ride of who is allowed to feel emotions. He forces us to reminisce about how our fathers, brothers, and sons have been asked to man up because some things are just not for real men.

Youtube

(Also Read: This Hard-Hitting Poem On Equal Rights For Men Just Like Women Is Going Viral & Rightly So!)

9. " I should have been in bed by 10, or planned all life events before 3, because I am on a rape schedule"

Bhavna titled her poem as 'Rape Schedule' and it talks about nothing but how staying unraped is becoming an existential crisis for women around the world. Her poem is a tight slap on the societys regressive attitudes.

Facebook

(Also Read: Delhi Woman's Poem On India's 'Rape Schedule' Reminds Us Of What We Urgently Need Freedom From)

10. "Kitna shukr tha usse is baat ka ki woh agle din kisi random news channel par hone wale debate ki wajah nahi bani"

Unfortunately, we dont the name of the guy who is behind this brilliance but Shukr is a poem on the terror that revolves around rape, harassment and molestation. Its about the fear that a woman gets every time she sees a group of men. The constant fear of getting molested or raped and the final sigh of relief that she will reach home untouched is what this poem Shukr is all about.

Youtube

(Also Read: Poem 'Shukr' Aptly Describes The Horror Girls Feel For Every Second Spent Outside A Safe Space)

11. "But love is never too intellectual to get away with right?"

If you think that the progressive thinker in you is in tune with feminist goals, read on! Dikshas poem is a perfect piece on interpreting the essence of feminism. Most people equate feminism with misandry, and not the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. This poem turns your mindset on its head.

Youtube

(Also Read: This Slam Poem That Packs A Serious Feminist Punch Is About Every Ambitious Woman In Today's Time)
The country has been shocked by the brutal murder of the seven-year-old student of Ryan International School and a five-year-old in Gurgaon. Every day we hear tales of some violence perpetrated against helpless children, and in an environment where they are meant to feel secure.

Parents who trust that the school are now terrified that their children could be next, and are seeking reassurance. To that end, educational institutions need a well-planned strategy that ensures prompt response to an emergency so that no life is harmed or lost. Here are some measures that they could adopt.

(Also Read: CBSE Blames Ryan International School's Lack Of Basic Security For 7-YO Boy's Unfortunate Death)

1. Guarding entry points

Every entry point to a school must be restricted and controlled in such a way that no one goes through without being properly identified. These points should be staffed by trained adults who can determine if the visitors really need access or not.

representative image/bccl

2. Installing alarm systems

Mandatory security measures should include alarms in every school. In case of an emergency, alarms should simultaneously alert the school authorities and the local law enforcement officials.

representative image/bccl

3. Installing telephones

The installation of telephones at strategic locations within the school premises can act as an alternative to the rule that prohibits students from bringing mobile phones to school. Students can access help more easily if they are given the liberty to use these instruments in emergencies.

representative image/bccl

4. Installing CCTVs

CCTVs are not items of luxury, but of necessity. Placing them at strategic locations within the school campus can aid in ensuring that no act of violence or abuse goes unnoticed by authorities. The response to an unfortunate event, therefore, becomes automatically quicker.

representative image/bccl

5. Practicing disaster plans

Students and staff should be given regular practice in the understanding of and executing disaster plans. A catastrophe can strike anytime. Hence, its highly imperative for the entire school to be ready when it does.

(Also Read: Private Schools In Gurgaon Are Now Offering Admissions To The Students Of Ryan International)

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6. Setting up of response units

In case of an emergency, response units can mitigate the effects of a disaster if they are prompted into action. This can be possible only when everyone present at the school adheres to safety protocols.

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7. Building zero tolerance for bullying

Everyone from parents to school staff should create an atmosphere where the child develops zero tolerance for bullying. This can act as the first step toward building a childs resistance to all kinds of abuse.

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8. Setting a community watch

A community watch can be organised in schools that comprise teachers, senior students, and other staff members. Keeping a vigil during school hours can go a long way in preventing a disaster. It is advised, however, that the members report a crime when it occurs instead of intervening themselves.

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9. Building a rapport between school officials and law authorities

This relationship should be established long before a disaster strikes. Response protocols should be addressed and discussed multiple times until both parties agree upon them.

(Also Read: Probe Committee Finds 'Blatant Lapses' On School's Part In Ryan Murder Case)

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10. Creating safe zones

Schools, overall, should be a safe zone, but sometimes a corner can particularly stand out as unsafe. Students should be encouraged to seek help in case they fear venturing into a space that seems unfamiliar to them.

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11. Becoming situationally aware

Teachers and students should be trained in situational awareness, wherein they are encouraged to report anything that seems alarming. For example, if they spot the presence of an unknown person, they should be able to report him or her to the school authorities.

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Any conceivable act of violence can be prevented by adopting these measures. Indian states should offer all the help they can to improve the security of the nations schools and ensure that no child is ever harmed again.
As citizens of this planet, we have failed miserably.

Mountains of toxic garbage, large-scale deforestation, contamination of water, eroding mountains, ravaging the earths core, we have done everything fuelled by greed and the urge for profit. We've tested our planet's limit, produced beyond our capacity and caused irreversible damage.

While climate change has been a problem for decades now, policymakers continue to deny it or relegate it to the back burner, and the countdown to doomsday may have officially begun.

Dont believe us? Here are some scary facts about the world you now live in.

LIBERTATEA.RO

You can thank global warming for waking up ancient viruses and bacteria that have been lying dormant for centuries.

Although we have been around bacteria and viruses for as long as mankind has existed, our body is still susceptible to viruses that existed some 1,000 years ago. With the earths surface warms up and melts the permafrost, these viruses that have been buried for thousands of years are being released in the air.

BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has recently released a video showing a massive crack in the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica. The video confirms perilous effects of global warming on this shaft and how it is breaking into pieces.

Owing to climate change, it snowed in the Sahara Desert for the first time in 38 years.

A little #GlobalWarming fell in the Sahara Desert today. First time in 37 years.

In other news: @AlGore is still chasing #ManBearPig. pic.twitter.com/XPcwseYG2V  Dr. Milton Wolf (@MiltonWolfMD) December 20, 2016

Arguably, the biggest problem in the world right now is climate change. Whether we talk about it or not, it's slowly seeping into our lives and there's no way you can ignore it any further.

AFP

Now you may wonder how can global warming cause farmer deaths. Well, 60,000 farmers have committed suicide since 1980 because of a direct effect on their livelihood. Climate change results in crop failure which led to suicide. Suicide is a heart-breaking indicator of human hardship, and the finding that this phenomenon is affected by a changing climate implies that it is essential to quantify its effect and consider this relationship as we build climate policy for the future.

REUTERS

We recently learnt that ice in Antarctica has shrunk to an unprecedented level as a result of the extreme human activity.

Around February, floating ice in the region does melt to its smallest size for the year before expanding again as the autumn chill sets in. However, this year sea ice extent contracted to 2.287 million square kilometres (883,015 square miles) on February 13, according to daily data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

ADVENTURE NATION

Home to myriad waterfalls, can you imagine people in the mountains running short of water? With a backdrop of the snow-capped Himalayas stretched out across a brilliant blue sky, the world's highest village in Spiti is suffering acute water shortage for the first time.

REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE

Rising temperatures caused by global warming will make it difficult for aircraft to take off in coming decades, according to a new study. During the day, with temperatures soaring, 10-30% of fully loaded planes may have to remove some fuel, cargo or passengers, or else wait for cooler hours to fly, researchers said.

GETTY IMAGES

Southern Spain, the most recent victim of climate change is going through a terrifying transformation. Once thriving with mighty reservoirs and water bodies, the region is now slowly turning into a dry-dotted-landscapes. Water levels are constantly dropping, resulting in a dramatic change.

THEBLACKVAULT

Australia's vast kelp forests are being devastated by heat waves - all thanks to the escalated global warming. Once thriving in that area, the kelp has now been completely wiped out. The situation is getting worse by the day and it has almost come to a point where the disappearance of the natural reserve is not far.

HICOMM

In what looks like irreversible damage, Greenland's climate change has led to a drastic and terrifying effect. The coastal glaciers and ice caps have officially melted past the point of return.

AP

Home to some awe-inspiring locations, the planet is standing at the threat-pedestal of climate change. The list clearly states 15 places that won't be around in the next 10 decades, all due to climate change.

SUNDERBANS

A recent study by scientist revealed that mangrove forest in the Sunderbans in India are depleting at a rapid pace due to climate change. The study also revealed that from 1986 to 2012, more than 124 sq.km of mangrove forest cover has eroded.

REUTERS

Other than accidents, starvation, predictable calamities and natural causes, people will die from global warming. The death toll from weather disasters is expected to increase 50 fold, especially in Europe. Over 150,000 people a year will die by 2100 if steps aren't taken to counter climate change.

REUTERS

With climate change comes rampant over production and changes in crop schedules. A study claims that climate change will drop the production of rice in Punjab but will weirdly increase the production of potatoes.

BCCL

Not only will production plummet, but to be able to keep up with growing demand, India will spend $9-10 billion annually. If farmers do not adapt to the disruptions caused by climate change and alter their practices, there will be huge losses.

BCCL

We have already learnt that climate change has been contributing to the melting of glaciers, and here's one more example to validate that. Antarctica, the white desert, is supposed to the largest ice mass on Earth, and now global warming is the ice melting into lakes. A clear sign of change has been observed in the region, between 2000 to 2013.

Global temperature is likely to rise more than 2 degrees Celsius by 2100, two different studies have revealed. There is only 5% chance that the Earth will not heat, but if it does, we are doomed.

Another study claims that there is a 95% chance that Earth will warm more than 2 degrees at the century's end, and a 1% chance that it would be below 1.5 degrees.
The Right to Information (RTI) Act, came into force about twelve years ago, when India was struggling to curb corruption, particularly in government offices. However, today, it's effectiveness and relevance is being incessantly questioned.

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People are losing faith in RTI because of the inactiveness of activists and distrust in governmental agencies, which either delay the information sought or dont reply at all.

This is perceived as an outcome of the policies adopted by the government, which does not believe in transparency.

In fact, information obtained through the act itself, reveals that the government has cut down the budget for the advertisement of RTI by 80%. Many RTI activists accuse the government of not responding to their queries, and the employees argue that the government has worsened the condition of RTI in past few years despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi talking about encouraging the use of this act. He has many a time, advised the various departments of government to keep in mind the three Ts while responding to the RTI applications - Timeline, Transparency, and Trouble-free. However, the implementation of this principle has been lax in most cases, if not all.

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Recently, the central government issued a memorandum instructing its officers and employees to not leak sensitive information. Whether this is an attempt to actually prevent misuse of such data, or a threat to transparency as far as this act is concerned, is not entirely clear.

RTI has always been a very strong tool in the hands of the fourth pillar of democracy - an independent press. This law not only provides strength to the media, but its birth is also the result of a campaign started by media people before the act was enacted. In 1982, when the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) was not even born, the second Press Commission and Press Parishad advocated for Right to Information. Media continued to be an active part of the mass movement of MKSS that started after 1990.

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The 'Right to Information- Right to Live' slogan was first given by Prabhash Joshi in his newspaper Jansatta. Some of the institutions of media saw RTI as "new journalism" and it was utilizing this right properly. Perhaps this is why journalists who used RTI as a tool to extract information from the government were employed in many newspapers and news channels. Reporters were expected to use RTI for making their reports more comprehensive and factually rich.

TV-9 is the first channel of India which established an RTI and investigation desk, whereas UNI TV is the first news agency of South Asia which did the same. The social networking websites also boosted the dissemination of informations sought under RTIs. Hence, the mainstream media had no choice but to include a sizable amount of this information in their headlines because they could not afford to avoid them.

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Many a time, only filing an RTI to an important department became breaking news. The facts related to Batla House encounter, Shohrabuddin encounter, police torturing the general public in Gani plot area in Godhra, Hashimpura riots, Mumbai attacks, Parliament attack, Delhi Jal Board, robbing of the amount reserved for Child labour welfare in MP, funds of political parties, Bhopal gas tragedy, foreign relations of Indian government with ruling communist party of China and People's Liberation Army, hooliganism of the medicine companies, scam in almost all the health-related schemes for minorities, rent of wakf property and many more serious and interesting, true stories were brought to the public's attention using the Right to Information as a tool.

It is no secret that the amount of significant information delivered through RTI is extremely limited. Most of the activists who used to file RTIs and were instrumental in unravelling the truth in many spheres of public interest have almost become silent. If figures are to be believed, the Central Information Commission has more than 23,879 pending cases of second appeal and complaint.There is an urgent need to change the way things are working (in fact, are rather stagnant) right now; Failing which, it may take over four years (or more) to deal with all the pending applications.

The condition of State Information Commissions is more worrisome. It is important to note here that Article 15 of RTI says that it is mandatory for every state to have an Information Commission. This commission must consist of one Chief Information Executive and more than ten Information Executives (depending upon the requirement). But the matter of concern is that the basic provision of this law has not been met. There are a number of states, where the office of CIE is still empty and no efforts are being made to fill these posts.

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Undoubtedly, the government cannot afford to abolish it completely but RTI seems to be waning slowly. Information is not just being delayed, it's also being denied, which in turn, is discouraging activists to file an RTI.

Even the media has gotten disenchanted with RTI and as a result, is unable to provide comprehensive and coherent news to the citizens. However, there is no denying that if media realises the potential of RTI again and revives it the true sense the whole picture will change. It has the power to push the government to be transparent and respond t RTIs, instead of evading them.
Earlier this week, Arushi Talwar's grandfather BG Chitnis had written a moving open letter making a case for Nupur and Rajesh Talwar. You can read it here

IF THE CBI IS TRANSPARENT, WHY DOESN'T IT SHARE ALL THE DOCUMENTS?

On Oct. 13, 2015, the CBI released court orders related to the Aarushi-Hemraj murders. We welcome this move even though all these documents were already available to the public on the Internet. Unfortunately, if the objective of the CBI was to demonstrate its transparency, it would have been more credible had it released ALL materials in its possession, not just those that malign the Talwars.

These would include, for instance:

-- the 2008 bail order of Rajesh Talwar  states that there is no deception in his scientific tests and forensic evidence does not connect him to the crime.

-- the bail orders of Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal and application of extension of custody for Krishna  state that the scientific tests indicate their involvement in the crime.

-- the scientific tests of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar

-- the scientific tests of Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal

You can see the rest of the reports here

-- the 2008 report by the medical examiners who conducted Aarushi and Hemraj's post-mortems, stating their opinion on the khukri as a weapon of murder.

Naresh Raj, who conducted Hemraj's postmortem, stated in his testimony during the trial, that blunt injuries on both the victims were possible with a 'khukri'. An expert committee from AIIMS (2008) had opined the same.





You can read the rest of the report here
Indian Parliament has gone to great lengths to prove itself to be an embarrassment - furniture has been flung, money has been brandished and cuss words are shouted with more regularities than your bowel movements. And all this when the Parliament manages to function.

This time though, they managed to outdo themselves - the worst part is that this happened at the Rajya Sabha - the house of elders.

Members of the Parliament of Bhutan were attending the Rajya Sabha session today. In his welcome address to them, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha said, "they (Bhutanese delegation) would be able to see and learn more about our parliamentary system," at which the members broke into fits of laughter.

While they might have laughed at the irony of Indian Parliament teaching any other country anything, to do this in front of a visiting delegation is just pure appalling!
A Russian youth who is touring Tamil Nadu was forced to seek alms at a temple in Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu. The 24-year-old man decided to seek alms after he could not withdraw money using his bank ATM card as the pin got locked, said the police.

The tourist, identified by his first name Evangelin, came to Kumarakottam Sri Subramanya Swami temple and sat at the gate with his backpack and sought alms using his cap.

times now

The devotees were surprised to see a foreigner seeking alms and alerted the police, an officer said, adding he was taken to a police station where they checked his travel documents.

The tourist told police that as a last resort he sought alms since he was left with no money. He could not withdraw money using his ATM card since the PIN got locked, he said. Police said they gave him some money and asked him to go to Chennai and contact Russian consulate officials for help.
The Supreme Court has put some searching questions on a plea seeking to reopen the investigation into the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

times content

After a brief hearing, a bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao appointed senior advocate and former additional solicitor general Amrender Sharan as amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter.

times content

During the hearing which lasted about 15 minutes, the apex court was initially of the view that "nothing can be done in law" in the case which has been decided long ago.

However, it later told Sharan that its observation was not binding on him to make an assessment of the matter and posted it for further hearing on October 30.

Why should we reopen something, which happened in 1948-49. Then Kapoor Commission report also came some 40 years ago, the Court asked the petitioner.

It also questioned on what new information did the petitioner had to seek reinvestigation in the case.

The petitioners said there was adequate evidence available in national archives and with other governmental agencies in India and in the US that could form the basis of an investigation even today.

times content

The petition filed by Mumbai-based Dr Pankaj Phadnis, a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat, has sought to reopen of the probe on several grounds, claiming it was one of the biggest cover-ups in history.

Gandhi was shot dead at point-blank range in New Delhi on January 30, 1948, by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a right-wing advocate of Hindu nationalism.
The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to respond to a plea challenging the legal provision that a death row convict would be hanged to death.

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The plea said that Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution also includes the right of a condemned prisoner to have a dignified mode of execution so that death becomes less painful.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud issued notice to the Centre and sought its response in three weeks on the PIL which referred to the 187th Report of the Law Commission against the present mode of execution.

Legislature can think of some other means by which a convict, who under law has to face death sentence, should die in peace and not in pain. It has been said since centuries that nothing can be equated with painless death, Chief Justice Misra observed.

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Lawyer Rishi Malhotra, who filed the PIL in his personal capacity, has also referred to various apex court judgements in which the practice of hanging a death row convict has been assailed.

A provision in the Criminal Procedure Code provides that the mode of execution of death penalty would be hanging by the neck. The plea also challenges the constitutional validity of this provision.

Prima facie we observe the legislature can think of some other mode by which a convict facing the death sentence should die in peace but not in pain, the bench said.

Practiced by some 60 countries, death by hanging is by far the most common method of legal execution. Lethal injections, firing squads and electrocution are some of the other ways used.
It kills me to write this over and over but our security is in the hands of those who care very little about us. Even after seeing cases like Nirbhaya and what happened with Varnika Kundu, the government is just isn't waking up to the demons of those who treat women as their property.

Also read: 30-YO Woman Returning From Clinic Gangraped At Gunpoint In Front Of Husband, Child In UP

It's a fad among young boys to indulge in conversations with unknown women on Facebook, just for the heck of it. They find it humorous and believe that by doing that, they can maybe amuse them as well. Unfortunately, most women find this disturbing.

So when a girl received a comment on her picture by a stranger, she did not take a second to think that it was of no relevance to her and deleted it. However, on the other side of the world, in a place where men find it too hard to take rejections and no for an answer, this guy was offended through and through.

Also read: Man Rapes Teenage Girl To Avenge Love Marriage Of His Sister With Victim's Brother

A guy named Agniswar Chakraborty from Kolkata then sent rape threats to the girl.

Facebook

He did not even know her.

Reports claim that Agniswar posted a smiley on her picture and since she did not know him, she deleted it. This became a reason for his angst and resulted in a rageful comment.

Warning: Explicit language.

Facebook

It boils my blood to see how feeble these threats are deemed to be by those who aren't affected by it. Women, on the other hand often quiver in fear.

1.

What the hell could ever prompt such words??  Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) October 9, 2017

2.

File a police complaint. Please.  Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) October 9, 2017

3.

Please file an FIR with the cyber crime division of police. Get him arrested for such threats. Just reporting him won't help.  Mihir Bijur (@MihirBijur) October 9, 2017

4.

@KolkataPolice please look into this !  Jose Covaco (@HoeZaay) October 8, 2017

5.

I am shaking with rage. pic.twitter.com/C3K0J5ZClh  Karishma (@The_Karishma) October 8, 2017

Following this, online page Shontu - United against Online Harassment has kickstarted a petition to fight people who write such threats.

To fight this evil and completely eradicate it out of our system, every single one of us needs to fight it.

Also read: Karnataka Govt Official Calls Women's Safety Garbage Segregation, Says Rapes Happen In Parties
The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has unveiled a plan to set up a 100-metre tall Lord Ram statue in the banks of River Sarayu in Ayodhya. The grand statue is part of the state tourism department's plan to showcase Navya Ayodhya, which aims to boost religious tourism in UP.

Yogi Adityanath (Source: BCCL/ File photo)

The government has sought the approval of the National Green Tribunal for the construction of the project.

The statue which is likely to be around 100-meters tall is expected to cost around Rs 195.89 crore.

Not just the statue, the Yogi government is also organizing a grand Diwali this time in Ayodhya by illuminating the town and lighting 1.71 lakh earthen diyas.

A deepotsav will be organised on Ram Ki Paidi where 1.71 lakh earthen lamps will be lit, he said while giving a presentation to governor Ram Naik on Monday. Prominent building and ghats will also be illuminated to attract tourists. The objective of the entire programme will be to promote Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama, as a tourist destination.

The statue which is likely to be around 100-meters tall is expected to cost around Rs 195.89 crore. (Source: BCCL)

A heritage walk, a yatra reminiscing return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya, and launch of several schemes by the chief minister and other dignitaries will be part of the programme, the officer said. A grand aarti of River Saryu will also be performed by the chief minister and the governor and a laser show will be held on the banks of the river. During the programme, Ramlila will be staged by artists from Indonesia and Thailand.

The Union tourism ministry has sanctioned Rs133.70 crores for making Ayodhya a tourism hub. The money sanctioned will be utilised in renovating ghats, including Guptar Ghat, where Lord Rama had taken Samadhi, installing CCTV cameras, making police booths, construction of guest houses for tourists and auditorium at Digamgar Akhara.

A deepotsav will be organised on Ram Ki Paidi where 1.71 lakh earthen lamps will be lit, he said while giving a presentation to governor Ram Naik. (Source: BCCL)

On Diwali, a grand programme will be held in Ayodhya in which sadhu-saints will also participate. I will also invite the governor for this, Adityanath had said recently in Gorakhpur.

In its first budget, the Yogi government had a special mention of Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura, earmarking Rs 1,240 crore for the Ramayan, Buddhist and Krishna circuits in these cities.

Earlier in May, the state government had re-started popular Ram Leela in Ayodhya at the Ayodhya Research Centre, after a hiatus of 17 months. The practice of holding Ram Leela in Ayodhya was started by the then chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav in May 2004 but was stopped during Akhilesh Yadavs regime.
Not everyone knows how to treat a kid right, especially when they have more needs. Autism, which is not as rare as it used to be demands people to treat the patient with love and care.

Also read: 7 Unsung Heroes From The Mumbai Rain Catastrophe Who Saved The City From Deep Crisis

CBC

So when this 45-year-old Quebec barber got a 6-year-old autistic client, he knew what to do. Francis Franz Jacob usually assist all his special clients late in the evening, just so that he can give him more time and the much-needed attention.

Also read: 9 Inspirational Acts By Ordinary People Who Acted As Heroes During The Las Vegas Shooting

However, with this boy, Jacob lay on the floor, right next to him, to comfort him. Jacob says Wyatt doesnt usually sit still for haircuts so he bought a pair of wireless clippers in order to follow him around.

imgur

Wyatt Lafrenier's mother said that he is both hypersensitive and hyposensitive, which means that sometimes he just won't feel anything at all but sometimes even a little touch can be unbearable.

He takes care of everything and I dont even get involved. It takes a load off my shoulders, she tells CBC.

Also read: Meet Eight Unsung Heroes Silently Doing Their Bit To Save Nature, Forest And Wildlife

Usually, hairdressers sort of panicked when they saw Wyatt arrive, so it was really exceptional to meet Mr Jacob, she added. To be honest, it's amazing to see that people are willing to go an extra mile to assist these kids/patients, who are already suffering from so much trauma.
Its pretty easy to be mad at ecommerce websites like Amazon and Flipkart when a product isnt up to the mark or arrives late. After all, they should bear some responsibility for what theyre marketing right? But what about when the tables are turned?

Thats what happened a few months ago, when a 21-year-old from Delhi conned Amazon out of lakhs of rupees by claiming fraudulent refunds. Shivam Chopra reportedly bought over 166 expensive smartphones on the ecommerce portal between April and May this year, and then demanded refunds saying he received empty boxes each time.

According to Delhi police, who just arrested Chopra, he made a profit of nearly Rs 50 lakh in that one month before Amazon wised up and notified the authorities. According to media reports, Chopra was unable to keep a string of jobs in the hotel management field, and was unemployed in March when he came up with his scheme. He ordered two phones as an initial test and claimed refunds on them, which he received. Chopra then went on to make hundreds of similar purchases on Amazon, of Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus devices

Aside from getting his money back on the missing devices, Chopra also allegedly sold them as second-hand pieces on OLX as well as Delhis Gaffar market, a local hotspot for mobiles and suspiciously imported goods.

In addition to Chopra, police also arrested 38-year-old Sachin Jain, the owner of a nearby mobile store, responsible for selling the culprit more than 141 pre-activated SIM cards to place the fraudulent orders with different names and contact numbers.

Chopra would input a fake address for his order, which would force the delivery assistant to call on the listed number to locate it. He would then guide them to a spot near his home and take the delivery (thereby keeping his home address away from suspicion) and then claim the box arrived empty to get a refund.

Police eventually tracked Chopra down, and seized 19 smartphones and Rs 12 lakh in cash, among other items, when they arrested him.

Let this be a lesson guys, companies like Flipkart and Amazon have to place the highest value on their customers trust in them if they want to survive. If you do anything to mess with that, theyre going to eventually find out you duped them and it wont end well.
Back in 2015, the Israeli government hacked into the computers of Kaspersky Lab, the Moscow-based cybersecurity firm that develops the antivirus of the same name. What they found was beyond anything expected  they discovered hacking tools that originated from the US National Security Agency.

Reuters

The Israeli government then notified NSA, which began a panicked investigation to find the breach. Not only did they find that the unwitting source was an NSA contractor, but that their stolen tools were in the hands of the Russian government. Things were not looking good for Kaspersky, which was already under the spotlight in the US over suspicions that its antivirus allows Russias intelligence arm to spy on other countries.

Despite occurring two years ago, the incident came to light only last week, when it was reported by The Wall Street Journal. Just last month, the Department of Homeland Security instructed all federal agencies to identify any computers or servers running Kaspersky products and purge them from the systems, citing the risk that the Russian government, whether acting on its own or in collaboration with Kaspersky, could capitalize on access provided by Kaspersky products to compromise federal information. By that point, Kaspersky had just been removed from the approved list of vendors by the General Services Administration (which facilitates the working of all federal agencies), and the senate is now considering banning it across all government departments and services.

The NSA, has so far, declined to comment on the story, though Kaspersky publicly maintains its innocence. As a private company, Kaspersky Lab does not have inappropriate ties to any government, including Russia, and the only conclusion seems to be that Kaspersky Lab is caught in the middle of a geopolitical fight, a company spokesperson said.

In their probe to find the leak source, the NSA reportedly pinpointed an employee in their Tailored Access Operations division, a unit composed of hackers that gather intelligence on foreign targets. The employee was reportedly using Kasperskys antivirus on his home computer. Internal sources told media there wasnt any malice involved, and the leak was unintentional from his end.

Kaspersky has come under scrutiny in the cybersecurity industry over the past few years for two main reasons. One, they use an industry technique called silent signatures, strings of code that operate behind the scenes to detect malware, but can easily be rewritten to search computers for other data. Its a standard industry technique, one that wouldnt be so worrying on its own if not for the other detail. Kaspersky is also the only major antivirus company that routes its data through Russian Internet service providers and service providers, by local law, are subject to Russian surveillance. The company claims all the data provided to the government is encrypted, but experts arent so sure if that makes the data unreadable by Russian intelligence agencies.

So, US government has been steadily attempting to wean even large private sector corporations off Kaspersky products. It believes that, whether or not the cybersecurity firm works directly for Vladimir Putin, any data passed through them is vulnerable.

In short, Israel hacked into Kaspersky, where they found the NSA's hacking tools, which the Russian government likely stole, and now no one wants to use Kaspersky's antivirus. Just your average day in government intelligence.
Indonesia signs deals to accelerate clean energy transition AP - 1 hour ago Indonesia has signed deals with international lenders and major economies that will bring billions of dollars in funding to help the country increase its use of renewable energy $SPX : 3,957.25 (-0.89%) $DOWI : 33,536.70 (-0.63%) $IUXX : 11,700.94 (-0.98%)

Cryptocurrencies try to stabilize; more upside in risk-on enviroment Wavetraders - Tue Nov 15, 3:38AM CST Crypto market found some support after US CPI release last week and looks like there is room for more gains after the recent three-wave (a)-(b)-(c) pullback.

Global stocks higher after US, Chinese presidents meet AP - Tue Nov 15, 2:45AM CST Global stocks are higher after Wall Street gave back some of last weeks huge gains, the American and Chinese presidents met and Chinas consumer spending shrank in a sign of economic weakness $SPX : 3,957.25 (-0.89%) $DOWI : 33,536.70 (-0.63%) $IUXX : 11,700.94 (-0.98%)

Britain's vulnerable await PM's spending plans with anxiety AP - Tue Nov 15, 1:43AM CST Millions are hoping British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak finds money to help them survive a cost-of-living crisis when the government releases its spending plans Thursday $SPX : 3,957.25 (-0.89%) $DOWI : 33,536.70 (-0.63%) $IUXX : 11,700.94 (-0.98%)

S&P500 (ES) Retests Key 4K Level Tradable Patterns - Mon Nov 14, 11:24PM CST The S&P500 (ESZ22) is consolidating for a 3rd straight day after Thursdays massive 5% plus bounce, hesitating as it bumps up against the 61.8% Fib retrace of the August to October slide and the psychologically... ESZ22 : 3,996.50 (+0.77%) SPY : 395.12 (-0.85%) SPXS : 20.63 (+2.53%) SPXU : 15.64 (+2.42%) SPXL : 69.54 (-2.59%)
Asia Thailand Prepares to bid Farewell to the Peoples King

Well-wishers line up to pay respect to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej near the Grand Palace in Bangkok. / Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters

BANGKOK  Thailand is putting the finishing touches this month to a lavish five-day funeral ceremony in a final goodbye to its late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who helped shape the Southeast Asian nation for decades after World War Two.

Many of the hundreds of thousands of black-clad mourners are expected to camp for days near Bangkoks Grand Palace to capture a good view of the ceremonies, which will be guarded by 78,000 police officers and culminate in the cremation on Oct. 26.

October is a sad period, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who announced plans for a national election next year, told reporters in the capital on Tuesday. I ask that politicians and political parties be peaceful and orderly.

Artisans have worked for ten months in Bangkoks ancient quarter to build an elaborate cremation site fashioned after a vision of heaven, where Thais believe dead royals return to live above Mount Meru, a golden mountain in Hindu mythology.

The funeral of King Bhumibol, who died on Oct. 13 last year after seven decades on the throne, is also a time of uncertainty for some Thais, said a Thailand-based analyst, who declined to be identified because of sensitivities around the monarchy.

In many ways the king was Thailand and his death has left a huge vacuum in the Thai psyche, said the analyst, pointing to social and political upheavals in recent decades.

What happens after his funeral? Where will Thailand head next? These are profound questions that must be answered.

Ancient Traditions

The late king was succeeded by his son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, or Rama X, who has overseen sweeping changes to the royal household, including the running of palace finances.

Though steeped in ancient traditions, the funeral of King Bhumibol will permit more public participation than those of previous kings, said Thai monarchy expert Tongthong Chandransu.

A strong bond has been formed between the people and the monarchythe strongest compared to past reigns, Tongthong told Reuters. So we can see more people participation in the royal funeral of this king.

Among the many royal objects restored for the funeral is a golden chariot that will carry the kings body in a giant ornate urn to the cremation site.

The urn will move to the Royal Crematorium before the cremation on the night of Oct. 26, which has been declared a national holiday.

More than 3,000 performers will join in a nightlong final tribute of music and puppet shows to end a year of mourning.

Thais devoted to the memory of the king have folded paper flowers for his cremation, making 10 million in Bangkok alone, city authorities said.

This is our Mandela, or our Princess Diana, moment, said graphic designer and self-proclaimed royalist Apichai Klapiput.

What the world will see is rivers of tears that show how much Thais love King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was the peoples king.
Burma ALP Member Jailed for Defaming Myanmar Army

ALP member Ko Khaing Myo Tun outside the court in Rakhine State. / Min Aung Khaing / The Irrawaddy

SITTWE, Rakhine State  A Rakhine court sentenced a member of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) to 18 months in prison on Thursday for allegedly defaming the Myanmar Army.

My imprisonment is the imprisonment of the NCA [nationwide ceasefire agreement], said Ko Khaing Myo Tun, deputy information officer of the ALP, who was found guilty of two defamation charges under the Article 505(b) and (c) of the Penal Code at Sittwe Township Court.

This broadly defined charge punishes those who spread or make statements that can alarm the public or whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the state. The charge was widely used to crush dissent under the former military regime.

Because the whole country is moving forward to 21st Century Panglong with the NCA. The jailing of a representative like me who is moving forward with the NCA and 21st Century Panglong is like jailing the NCA, added Ko Khaing Myo Tun.

He was prosecuted by the military after the ALPs information department issued a statement on April 24, 2016 covering the clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and the military on April 16 in Rakhine State.

The statement accused the military of torturing Rakhine locals and forcing them in to labor. Tatmadaw troops also killed and ate poultry raised by locals, according to the statement.

General Staff Officer (Grade-1) Lt-Col Tint Naing Tun of Sittwe Regional Operations Command then filed a lawsuit with Sittwe Township Court against Ko Khaing Myo Tun, saying the statement was misleading and damaging to the militarys reputation. He also said the statement was liable of spreading misinformation to cause public panic.

There were more than 40 court hearings for the case. Ko Khaing Myo Tun spent 14 months in detention facing trial. As the detention period is deducted from his jail term, he will be released in four months.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
Burma Funding Cuts Threaten Mae Tao Clinic

Patients pictured at Mae Tao Clinic near the Thailand-Myanmar Border in 2013. / J Paing / The Irrawaddy

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  Mae Tao Clinic (MTC) launched a fundraising campaign to help continue its services to some 250,000 people along the Thailand-Myanmar border who are at risk of losing access to essential healthcare and education because of funding cuts to organizations in the area.

The clinic has been providing free healthcare to the displaced and vulnerable people of Myanmar, including refugees and migrants along the border, for the last three decades since its inception in 1989.

Dr. Cynthia Maung, an ethnic Karen woman and the founder of the clinic, said, Until there is an established health system in Burma, we need to protect and care for our communities, especially women and children. Even today, half of our patients come to Thailand for accessing health and protection services. They rely on us to help them. We cannot let them down.

A drop in funding available in the area came after political changes over the past five years in Myanmar.

Our services programs are not yet completely shut down, but we have been reducing our costs and referring the emergency operations cases as much as we can, said Naw Annie Po Moo, the deputy director for the community operations of MTC.

Due to funding needs, she said, MTCs almost 500 staff salaries would be reduced by 20 percent starting October.

International governments and foundations as well as individual donors have supported the clinic. According to its 2016 annual report, the clinic received support from almost four dozen aid organisations and foundations, including The Global Fund (to fight aids, tuberculosis and malaria), USAID, UKaid, International Rescue Committee and Open Society Foundations.

The fundraising campaign aims to raise funds for its 2018 operational costs, to help continue running their programs: primary healthcare, education to children and child protection and training the medics to help the communities, including those internally displaced people.

The targeted fund is not for all running costs, but it would help to keep some of our services, said Naw Annie Po Moo.

The MTC provide treatment to an average of 420 patients per day and annually they treat more than 110,000 outpatientsa tenth of them inpatientsand deliver more than 2,500 babies.

In addition, MTC provides social support and protection to more than 2,400 children living in its boarding houses. The clinic is raising funds to secure an initial US$300,000 for some of its operational costs.

Visit MTCs website or contact the clinic via its email [email protected] to contribute.
Burma Myanmar Army Chief Denies Military Abuses in Rakhine

US ambassador Scot Marciel and Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing during a meeting on Wednesday. / Senior General Min Aung Hlaing / Facebook

YANGON  The Myanmar Army chief rejected accusations of abuses by his troops during operations in northern Rakhine State in a meeting with the US ambassador on Wednesday, saying no action goes beyond the legal framework.

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing told US ambassador Scot Marciel in Yangon unlawful acts are not allowed in response to the ambassador raising concerns over the exodus of more than 500,000 people to Bangladesh and reports of excessive use of force and genocide by the security forces in Rakhine, according to a briefing posted on the army chiefs Facebook page.

Most of those who have fled since militants attacked police outposts on Aug. 25 are self-identifying Rohingya Muslims. Reports they have brought of killings, rape, and arson by security forces have stoked claims of ethnic cleansing in the international community.

The task of shouldering the duty shall be within the framework of rules, laws and other directives issued by the state. No action goes beyond the legal framework, said the Myanmar Army commander-in-chief.

Despite the armys denial of crimes, the UN human rights office said on Wednesday that Myanmar security forces began its clearance operations before the Aug. 25 militant attacks, brutally driving out self-identifying Rohingya Muslims from the region, torching their homes, crops and villages to prevent them from returning, according to Reuters.

In a report based on 65 interviews with refugees who have arrived in Bangladesh in the past month, the UN human rights office said that the destruction by security forces, often joined by mobs of armed Arakanese Buddhists, of houses, fields, food stocks, crops, and livestock made the possibility of the self-identifying Rohingya returning to normal lives in northern Rakhine almost impossible.

Credible information indicates that the Myanmar security forces purposely destroyed the property of the Rohingyas, scorched their dwellings and entire villages in northern Rakhine State, not only to drive the population out in droves but also to prevent the fleeing Rohingya victims from returning to their homes, the report said.

During the Wednesday meeting, the ambassador said the US wants to make a constructive approach in order to reduce (international) pressure on Myanmar, according to the account of the meeting posted on Thursday.

Local Bengalis were involved in the attacks under the leadership of ARSA [Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army], said Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, using a term for the self-identifying Rohingya to imply they are interlopers from Bangladesh. That is why they might have fled as they feel insecure.

The native place of Bengalis is really Bengal. Therefore, they might have fled to the other country with the same language, race and culture as theirs by assuming that they would be safer there, the army chief said.

On Tuesday, nearly 2,000 self-identifying Rohingya from Buthidaung Township, an area relatively peaceful, gathered at the shores of the Bay of Bengal at A Lel Than Kyaw and Gawdu Thara villages to board ferries for Bangladesh despite the authorities requests for them to return home and assurances for the provision of food and their safety.

The Muslims wanted to leave because of food shortages and the fact they could no longer make a living in the area, according to one of the crowd, Mahmoud Shobi. They were afraid to leave their villages in case of attacks by security forces and Arakanese, he said.

We have been here for eight days. Some have already gone [to Bangladesh]. We cant farm and fish in our area. Thats why we left, he told The Irrawaddy.
Burma Myanmar Rallies to State Counselors Defense Amid Award Stripping

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon in Dec, 2015 after her party won landslide victory in 2015 general election. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

YANGON Myanmars State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi does not find it surprising to be stripped of awards honoring her struggle to achieve democracy in the country over the past decades.

She told the Nikkei Asian Review in a recent interview: Actually, nothing is surprising, because opinions change and world opinions change like any other opinion, considering reactions from western countries on her stance amid the Rakhine crisis.

But the majority of those in Myanmar who supported and believed in herincluding members of parliamentsee the wave of condemnation as humiliating to the leader they elected.

The 72-year-old Myanmars de-facto leader who is barred from running for president under the military-drafted Constitution, is now under strong international censure for failing to criticize the militarys actions against the self-identifying Rohingya and address accusations of ethnic cleansing in the conflict-marred state.

Amid mounting criticism on the issue, Britain has seemed to be the most active among many other countries. One of Britains largest trade unions Unison has suspended an award given to her when she was placed under house arrest, while the London School of Economics students union said it would be stripping her of her honorary presidency.

St Hughs College of Oxford University, where she studied politics, philosophy and economics between 1964 and 1967, removed the painting of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as the college received the gift of a new painting. The portrait had been there since 1999.

Oxford City Council voted unanimously last week to strip her of the Freedom of the City award, as it was no longer appropriate for her to hold it.

A number of other British institutions also say they are reviewing whether to revoke honors bestowed upon her.

British Ambassador to Myanmar Andrew Patrick told The Irrawaddy via email, The UK government is not involved in decisions taken by independent institutions, such as Oxford University and its colleges.

She is our countrys leader and people will feel bad about those acts. As a citizen, I feel bad too. But we need not to focus on that much and instead on what we can do for our democratic transition, Lower House lawmaker Daw Zin Mar Aung said.

She said the international community need to be mindful when making decisions on Myanmar based on wrong and incomplete information because it is not helpful for the countrys fragile democratic transition.

They need to know Myanmar is still in the young democratic transition which they have praised. But what the international governments and experts are forgetting is that they are pressuring Myanmar as if it is an established democratic country.

Yangon regional lawmaker Nay Phone Latt also agreed.

Politically, it is really a difficult situation. The civilian government itself doesnt have full executive power under the current Constitution. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is also severely restricted under the circumstances. For us, we can understand her. But some international organizations seemingly dont really understand the conditions, he said.

If they decide without getting enough information, it is unfair. If that is the case, the colleges image would be harmed [in the future], he added, referring to the removal of Daw Aung San Suu Kyis portrait at St Hughs College of Oxford University.

Many Myanmar citizens changed their Facebook profiles to a picture of the removed portrait and photos of the State Counselor to show their support, writing the pictures of the State Counselor in their heart couldnt be taken down.

In response to international pressure, thousands have gathered in Myanmars major cities to proclaim, We stand with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in recent weeks.

Artist MPP Ye Myint who showcased paintings of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon and Mandalay, saw the acts of stripping the leader of her awards as childish.

I admired her since 1988 when she gave her public speech for the first time near Shwedagon Pagoda. The admiration never changed and kept growing, he said.

Hkun Okker, leading patron of the Pa-O National Liberation Organization, said some countries are stripping her of awards to protect their own interests, worrying about their own business activities with Muslim nations.

It is their decision. Because they took back awards, it doesnt mean the State Counselor is wrong, he said.

Christian leader Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, who is Myanmars first ever cardinal and archbishop of Yangon, said at a mass interfaith event in Yangon on Tuesday the country trusts in the leadership of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who has made many sacrifices for the country and democracy.

It is not that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has begged for the Nobel Prize, but it is only international organizations that followed around Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and gave her awards. They can take all their awards back. And wed rather like to return those awards with an extra refund, the cardinal said.

But, there is something that they cant take awaythe love of citizens toward Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. No one can grab their reliance on her. She has the hopes of millions of people in her handsThere is a need for the international community to understand and help this government. Condemning and blaming is meaningless.

Ethnic Karen Naw Susana Hla Hla Soe, a prominent womens rights activist who is now an Upper House lawmaker, echoed similar sentiments, saying no one asked for the prizes, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself.

They gave their own and have now taken them back. It is too sloppy. But Aunty Suu wont respond to those. She will only be serious for the country, she said.
Burma UN Political Affairs Chief to Visit Myanmar

United Nations political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman at the U.N. Security Council at U.N. Headquarters in New York August 28, 2014. / Reuters

The UNs Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman will make an urgent five-day visit to Myanmar on Friday to address the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State, the UN announced on Wednesday.

Following the Secretary-Generals repeated calls for an end to the military operations and violence in northern Rakhine state; unfettered access for humanitarian support; and the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of refugees to their areas of origin, Mr. Feltman will be undertaking consultations with a view to addressing these urgent issues in close cooperation with Myanmar, said the announcement.

A UN spokesperson told The Irrawaddy that details of his visit and meetings were yet to be announced but it is understood discussions will focus on the cooperation of the Myanmar government.

His visit coincides with the recall of UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Renata Lok-Dessallien to the UN in New York. It was announced on Wednesday that she would end her duties in Myanmar by the end of October.

The Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator will use her remaining time until the end of the month to further the UN systems efforts to promote peace and security, human rights, as well as humanitarian and development assistance for all people in Myanmar, said the announcement.

The news of Lok-Dessalliens possible removal from her role first surfaced in June.

According to a BBC news report, she was being criticized internally and being accused of the suppressing internal discussion on the self-identifying Rohingya issue.

However, the spokesperson of the UN office in Myanmar refused to give comment on her recall.

The Canadian citizen began the job in January 2014 and was the first woman to take up the role. She previously worked as resident and humanitarian coordinator in Bhutan, Bangladesh, and China.
Burma Wirathu to Visit Conflict-Torn Northern Rakhine

Wirathu meets locals in Sittwe on Thursday. / Phoe Thar / Facebook

YANGON  Amid the ongoing self-identifying Rohingya crisis in northern Rakhine State, notorious inflammatory firebrand Buddhist monk Wirathu landed in state capital Sittwe on Wednesday and is scheduled to travel to conflict-riven Maungdaw Township.

Ethnic Arakanese Ko Phoe Thar who is assisting the relief efforts of Alodaw Pyae monastery and and assisting the visit of Wirathu told The Irrawaddy that the monk has already requested permission from local authorities to visit conflict-torn Maungdaw district and is waiting the governments response.

We cant say exactly his schedule. Maybe he will contribute cash to displaced ethnic Arakanese people via Sittwe or maybe he will directly meet with villagers in Maungdaw. Its up to the decision of the authorities, said Ko Phoe Thar.

Sittwe residents posted on Facebook that Wirathu and local monks donated 1.8 million kyats to displaced people from Maungdaw who have sought refuge in some monasteries.

Tin Maung Swe, secretary of Rakhine State government office, said: [Wirathu] went [to Maungdaw] previously and this time we will also allow. What else?

The region has been locked down, with journalists and international aid agencies prohibited from entering the area, since militant attacks on Aug. 25.

The government has conducted a number of guided tours for diplomats, journalists, and UN officials while the UN and NGOs call for unfettered access to deliver life-saving aid to vulnerable communities.

A few Arakanese civil society groups publically criticized the visit of Wirathu, including coordinator of Kyaukphyu Rural Development Association (KRDA) U Tun Kyi, who pointed out that Mandalay Region, where Wirathu is based, has a number of problems with Chinese immigration and investment including the Letpadaung Copper Mine.

Why did he deliberately pick up Rakhine to voice out nationalism, rather than Mandalay? said U Tun Kyi.

He explained that Wirathu has visited Rakhine in the past, but did not improve the situation on the ground in Rakhine State.

U Tun Kyi said he was concerned that the current problem in Rakhine is one of nationality, but it could easily be changed into an issue of race and religion.

Politics and religious should not be mixed. I dont like it indeed, said Tun Kyi.

Meanwhile, ethnic affairs expert U Maung Maung Soe urged the government to establish a coordination team which contains representatives of the Muslim community in Rakhine State in order to control administration works in border towns.

Self-identifying Rohingya Muslim Kyaw Hla Aung told The Irrawaddy over the phone on Thursday that the cabinet members of Rakhine State did not come to meet the Muslim community in Sittwe and they have no idea how to consult for the National League for Democracy (NLD) government regarding the Rohingya crisis in Maungdaw.

We are not even allowed to leave the camp and know nothing about Maungdaw at this moment. So how can we make a suggestion to authorities? said U Kyaw Hla Aung.

The interaction between the NLD-led Rakhine State government and the Muslim community is weak, he said.

Even when they did show up here, we dont know the right person to share our ideas with. I assume they dont actually want to listen to our opinions, said U Kyaw Hla Aung.

U Kyaw Hla Aung remarked that Wirathu is travelling with his own plan to lend a hand for the Buddhist community while the Muslim community is contained in a camp.

According to UN estimations, more than half a million Muslims fled neighboring Bangladesh and are sheltering in makeshift camps. Both Myanmar and Bangladesh authorities have formed joint-committee for repatriation process but have not yet announced a precise timeframe for the implementation.
Guest Column Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement is a Forlorn Hope

Myanmar's President Thein Sein (2nd left) signs the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in Naypyitaw, Myanmar on October 15, 2015. / Reuters

The government plans to hold a ceremony to mark the two-year anniversary of landmark peace accord the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) in Myanmars capital Naypyitaw on Sunday.

Three leadersState Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Army Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, and leader of the Karen National Union (KNU) Gen. Saw Mutu Sae Poewill deliver the opening speeches.

For Khun Okka of the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation (PNLO), the anniversary celebration is an attempt to awaken a stalling and faltering peace process. The NCA has brought no quantifiable results, some like Khun Okka argue, only a complex stalemate. Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) member Sai Kyaw Nyunt has complained that the NCA has become even more complex and convoluted in the two years since groups first signed.

Only eight out of Myanmars 21 ethnic armed groups signed the accord at its inception. We must ask the question: Why has the NCA failed to include all ethnic armed groups and why are they refusing to sign it?

The success of the NCA can be seen to hinge on four groups: The Myanmar Army, the civilian government, NCA-signatory ethnic armed groups, and non NCA-signatory armed groups.

The Myanmar Army (The Tatmadaw)

The Tatmadaw is the major linchpin in the peace process. Peace or conflict depends on how it reacts to the demands of ethnic groups.

The 2008 Constitution is heavily loaded in favor of the Tatmadaw by granting its members 25 percent of seats in the Union and state parliaments and leaving the military in charge of three key ministries.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself admitted she cannot control the Tatmadaw under the military-drafted 2008 Constitution when she met the New Mon State Party (NMSP) in early September.

The National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) is the countrys most powerful body and is comprised of eleven members: From the military, the commander-in-chief, the deputy commander-in-chief, one vice-president, the defense minister, the home minister, the border affairs minister and from the civilian government, the president, the second vice president, the speakers of both houses of the Union parliament, and the foreign minister (Daw Aung San Suu Kyi).

With six members from the military against five from the civilian government, voting power remains with the Tatmadaw.

The Tatmadaws blatant power hangs over Myanmars peace process and unless it is willing to cease conflicts and expedite negotiations, the NCA will go nowhere and bring no benefits.

An example is the case of three armed groupsthe Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Arakan Army (AA), and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA)who are excluded from the peace process by the Tatmadaw.

The Civilian Government

The government acts as negotiator between the Tatmadaw and ethnic armed groups. Under the tenure of U Thein Seins government, numerous negotiations took place but no quantifiable results were seen, except perhaps the, now stalling, NCA.

The process has now been taken over by the new government led by Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who has convened two conferences dubbed the 21st Century Panglong Union Peace Conference. Despite the State Counselors stated conviction to inclusiveness, a number of ethnic armed groups have been excluded from participating in the conferences.

The first session of her 21st Century Panglong peace conference ended with the United Wa State Army walking out on the second day of talks, claiming they had not been given permission to address the conference.

The second session of the conference ended without agreement on the contentious issue of non-secession from the Union, which participants claimed was contrary to the spirit of the 1947 Panglong Agreement and the promises made by Gen. Aung San.

The conference reached agreements on 37 points, 12 of which concerned politics.

The government declared these agreements a historic breakthrough, but there is still no clear timeline to fulfill agreements made at the conference.

NCA Signatories

The culmination of negotiations under former president U Thein Sein saw eight ethnic armed groups signing the NCA on 15 Oct, 2015.

The eight ethnic armed groups that signed the NCA are: the KNU, the PNLO, the Chin National Front (CNF), the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (Peace Council) (KNU/KNLA PC), the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA).

After signing the NCA, these groups were allowed to fully participate in both the first and second sessions of the Panglong conferences. They have attempted to expedite the peace process by active participation in the conferences and other dialogues with the government.

NCA Non-Signatories

Most ethnic armed organizationsincluding powerful outfits the UWSA and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO)refused to sign the NCA. According to Maj-Gen Gun Maw of the KIO, the reasons were threefold:

Firstly, the Tatmadaw set a precondition for three smaller ethnic armed organizationsthe TNLA, the AA, and the MNDAAto disarm before entering the talks. The KIO is alligned particularly with the TNLA and two of KIOs brigadesfour and sixare stationed next to TNLA and MNDAA troops. The groups share territory and conduct joint operations against the Myanmar Army.

Secondly, the UNFC presented a nine-point proposal to the government while meeting at the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre in Yangon on March 3, 2017 which would need to be fulfilled before signing the NCA. The government and the bloc have so far agreed on half of the blocs nine-point proposal, but the Tatmadaw has not agreed on UNFC concerns regarding ceasefire monitoring, a military code of conduct, demarcation, and troop relocation.

Thirdly, some EAOs, including the KIO, have said they expect a certain level of agreement with the government. They proposed a joint committee of the government, political parties, ethnic armed groups, and the military to oversee the peace process framework. The government and military rejected this request.

In an Aug. 24 statement, the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) emphasized adherence to its policy that any political negotiations with the government and the Tatmadaw must involve the FPNCC as a bloc, rather than separate talks with the seven groups. The government Peace Commission is planning to meet the UWSA and NDAA, without the rest of the bloc, soon.

The third session of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference will be held soon, but it is still not clear who will be included.

Hopefully, the anniversary will remind all groups to evaluate the stalled NCA process and move forward. The country needs to stabilize conflicts and expedite the peace process as the image of the country is stained by the Rakhine State crisis.

Thus, these four major actorsthe Tatmadaw, the Government, NCA signatories and Non-NCA signatoriesmust put concerted efforts to accelerate the momentum of the peace process. Absent of such efforts, the success of the NCA seems a forlorn hope and gaining peace in Myanmar will be elusive.

Joe Kumbun is the pseudonym of a Kachin State-based analyst.
Thursday, Oct 12th, 2017 (11:08 am) - Score 748

UK ISP Boundless Networks has successfully deployed a new fixed wireless superfast broadband network to cater for residents of Slippery Ford, which is a tiny rural hamlet and part of the Worth Valley in West Yorkshire that has long campaigned for faster internet connectivity.

Local residents are no strangers to sub-1Mbps broadband speeds (many get closer to 0.25Mbps), which is largely because the community exists too far away from the otherwise reasonably capable Cross Hills (MYCSH) telephone exchange, which serves a total of roughly 6,000 premises across the whole region.

The good news is that Boundless Networks has been busy working with local contractor Pennine Plus to deploy their 100Mbps capable ultrafast broadband wireless network (line-of-sight) into the area, which means that residential properties can now access download speeds of up to 30Mbps (10Mbps upload) and businesses are able to request something even faster.

The new network is also being rolled out across other parts of North Yorkshire and Lancashire over the next 3 years, with various communities including Kilnsey, Conistone, Buckden and Starbotton already live. Boundless claims that its total UK network now covers over 3,500 square miles, with approximately 4,000 wireless links in service and a private national fibre network from its data centre in Manchester.

David Hood, Boundless Networks Chairman, said: We are really proud and pleased to be the provider of superfast broadband to Slippery Ford, bringing real, positive life changes and opportunities, and hope to offer the same services to other parts of the Worth Valley struggling with connectivity. We are investing in providing services that other providers say are not possible and I am proud to be able to deliver these services to local villages and communities.

Alison Porter, Slippery Ford Resident, added: Thanks to Boundless Networks and their wireless broadband solution we now have 30 Mbps wireless broadband and no longer feel so isolated, but rather part of the rest of the world. We are ecstatic; we are tucked out of the way up here and no-one else has ever been able to get superfast broadband to us before  getting emails has been about it. We were told it was not possible by other providers and yet here we are able to access the Internet, download files, films and generally get on with life far better. Its great value too and is not capped, so you have unlimited download capacity. Whats more, we dont need a landline anymore.

According to the ISPs website, customers can take a top download speed of 30Mbps (10Mbps upload) for 29.99 inc. VAT on a 12 month contract, which doesnt include the 150.00 one-off installation charge (this comes with a router). The cheapest package available costs from 19.99 per month and offers symmetric speeds of 10Mbps.

The usage allowance is stated to be unlimited, although they attach a Fair Usage Policy (FUP) to this that vaguely threatens to restrict users who download large amounts at peak times regularly.

NOTE: Ultrafast residential packages are apparently available and start from only 42.99 per month, although these still dont show up on the ISPs website.
The Vocus Group, Australia's fourth largest telecommunications outfit, has successfully connected its high-speed fibre-optic North-West Cable System to the INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG Project and Shells Prelude floating liquefied natural gas facility located off the north-west coast of Australia.

The cable system was built by Vocus along with Shell and Japanese oil company INPEX and runs for a distance of 2100 kilometres, linking Darwin and Port Hedland.

It is capable of speeds up to 40Gbps and is designed to enable high-speed data connections to other key hydrocarbon prospects along its route.

Vocus said construction of the cable system began in late 2014 and was completed in September last year. It is a two-fibre pair, 12TB combined capacity cable and the only combined telecommunications and resource industry cable in the country.

The cable system will connect the Pilbara region which has 44,000 employees and annual exports of more than $47 billion.

Alcatel Submarine Networks cable ship Lodbrog preparing for the INPEX jointing operation.

Vocus chief executive Geoff Horth said: Connection of these services isnt just an important milestone for Vocus, its an improvement to the essential telco services in an often-neglected part of Australia and a fast and secure connection to families and teams for the fly-in-fly-out crew on these platforms."

Ichthys Project managing director Louis Bon said: "INPEX is proud of the close industry collaboration that enabled this cutting-edge communications system to be put in place.

"Not only is this initiative strengthening the safe operations of the INPEX-led Ichthys LNG Projects offshore facilities, it is also delivering immediate benefits to our teams and the Northern Territory and Western Australia communities connected to the cable."

David Bird, vice-president of Shell's Prelude floating liquefied natural gas platform, said: Shell is extremely pleased with the partnership with Vocus and INPEX.

"The NWCS will improve the collaboration of our onshore and offshore teams during the commissioning and operation of Prelude, and importantly, will transform the offshore experience for our offshore teams ensuring they are well connected to home and family."

The Marine Remote Operated Vehicle being lowered from Lodbrog when making the INPEX branch joint.

Photos: courtesy Vocus Group
For a good part of this year, Kaspersky Lab has become the meat in the sandwich as US politicians have ramped up attacks on Russia, following on from the anti-Moscow sentiment which has gathered steam after last year's presidential elections.

The company, well-known for its anti-virus software, has faced accusation after accusation of allowing itself to be used as a spying conduit by the Russian Government.

And in recent days, the big three newspapers in the US  The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post  have hit the company with a series of stories that have made claim after claim, all without naming a single source.

Kaspersky Lab is yet to address the specific claims made by the three papers and other sites. For example, a story in the WSJ on Wednesday, which claims that the A-V software was modified modified into a tool for espionage and used to search for terms like "top secret", leads to the conclusion that Kaspersky shared its source code with the Russian Government.

, in the NYT, surfaced on Tuesday, claiming that Israeli Government hackers had found NSA malware samples in Kaspersky's servers; the Israelis infiltrated Kaspersky's network in 2014.

A third claim was that Kaspersky was given a list of specific questions by the NYT before the story cited above was published but did not respond.

With all the bad publicity and the Russian bogey being exploited to the extent possible  Kaspersky's software has already been banned from use in US government agencies and two big retailers, Office Depot and Best Buy, have taken the software off their shelves  the Russian A-V company may already be toast in the American market.

In 2016, Kaspersky Lab earned about US$633 million in sales, 60% of that coming from the US and Western Europe. But that could drop drastically given that the US can easily influence its allies in Europe to drop the company's products as well. Western Europe is not known for being too independent when it comes to matters like this.

In the face of this, it is vital that Kaspersky, whose A-V software is rated by many infosec professionals as the best in a bloated market, tackle the matter as a geek would  by addressing things directly and address the accusations.

The company is capable of providing clear and concise reports of its various malware finds and other security-related matters. That same approach should be taken and the public should hear the other side of the story, preferably from the flamboyant head of the company, Eugene Kaspersky.

If Eugene sits back and just issues general rebuttals, it will do the company no good. And the matter will not go away; once the mainstream media in the US smell blood, they will not hesitate to put the boot in and attempt to complete the killing.

Eugene needs to go on the front foot and face his accusers. And soon.
Australian credit bureau services provider Experian has announced the promotion of 15-year company veteran Andrew Black to managing director of Australia and New Zealand.

Black replaces Suzanne Steele who is leaving Experian to take up an appointment as Adobe managing director for Australia and New Zealand.

Black will lead Experians credit services, decision analytics, data quality and targeting teams across the companys Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland offices.

He will also remain as the acting managing director of the Experian ANZ Data Quality and Targeting teams in the interim. Poli Konstantinidis continues as managing director, credit services and decision analytics ANZ.

Ben Elliott, chief executive of the Asia Pacific region at Experian, said Black was a clear choice to succeed Steele because of his track record of leading consistently successful teams with high-performing cultures that foster innovation.

Andrews breadth of industry experience, dynamic leadership capabilities and focus on team performance will ensure the continued delivery of our mission to help our customers make sense of data in powerful new ways that create opportunities for consumers, businesses and society as a whole.

When I look at the strength of the team that Andrew has developed and the success of our Data Quality and Targeting business in Australia and New Zealand, I am confident that we are well positioned for strong future growth.

With a combined total of over 15 years of service, Andrew is an outstanding example of career progression at Experian.

Black said his goal was to lead greater integration of Experians data quality, targeting, credit services and decision analytics teams to empower more clients in all sectors to make smarter data-led decisions.

One of Experians unique capabilities is to tackle multiple, large, poor-quality and disparate data sources, pulling them together to enable an accurate, integrated single customer view over multiple platforms that can be utilised to deliver highly targeted cross-channel opportunities and insights. Black said.
Former Internet Australia chief executive and executive director Laurie Patton has taken up a new role as the first full-time chief executive of the Australian Smart Communities Association.

Patton, who was IAs CEO/executive director from 2014 to this year, has been a high-profile critic of the national broadband network, consistently describing it as Australias "inferior broadband network" and calling for the use of fibre-to-the-distribution-point as much as possible for the remainder of the NBN rollout.

He has also repeatedly pressed IAs case that Australia needs a 21st century broadband network but that was not what most people are getting".

Patton takes on the role at ASCA following the past three years as IA CEO/executive director and an extensive career in media, IT and event management.

ASCA vice-president and ASCA nominations committee chair Brook Dixon said the ASCA board was keen to see the organisation increase its contribution to the promotion of smart community concepts across Australia and was committed to working with a wide range of stakeholders.

Australia is well placed to be one of the leaders in emerging global moves to make our communities more liveable, more sustainable and more technologically empowered. We recognise the importance of putting people first  viewing things from a local perspective while also drawing on international experience, Dixon said.

Our board and members hold significant roles in organisations committed to creating smart communities. We are keen to lead the conversation about how best to develop all our communities for the benefit of every Australian.

Smart community interest and action is accelerating across Australia, with great leadership from the Australian Government, through the prime minister and Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation, Angus Taylor MP.

Dixon said ASCA had been working closely with the Australian Government to drive positive smart community outcomes, and looked forward to building this partnership into the future.

He said Pattons immediate priority would be to engage broadly with communities, governments and businesses to ensure ASCA fulfils a central role in stimulating debate and actions designed to help its communities take full advantage of the many exciting opportunities opening up in the 21st century.

Theres never been a more important time for ASCA to make a contribution to the development of smart communities throughout Australia, Patton said.

"I'm really excited to be taking on a new role that will enable me to continue to work for a more connected society and all the benefits that go with this from an economic and social development point of view.

We are fast entering a digitally-enabled world full of new avenues for improving peoples lives by enhancing the places where they live and work.

While many communities are now poised and ready to proceed, and some already on the journey, theres clearly a need for a co-ordinated effort across the country that sees us collaborating and sharing our experiences as we experiment and learn. Im looking forward to working with the ASCA board and members to ensure we make a major contribution to that effort.
Attackers have stolen more than US$40 million from a number of banks in Russia and eastern Europe using a multi-pronged technique, according to the security firm Trustwave.

The company's SpiderLabs unit said mules first opened accounts at a target bank using fake IDs, after which attackers gained access to the bank's network, manipulated the overdraft limits and disabled fraud alerts.

When access to the bank's network was at the desired level, the attackers co-ordinated with the mules who then withdrew money from ATMs on a single day or across multiple days. The mules operated in a number of countries.

Most of the withdrawals were made soon after the overdraft limits were altered, Trustwave said in a detailed report.

From the bank's network, the attackers piggybacked into the network of the third-party processor used by the bank where they compromised the account of the administrator. This gave them access to all areas and enabled them to do what they wanted to.

The bank's IT staff were delayed in finding out about the thievery as the attackers used malware to destroy the master boot record of the PCs they had gained access to, making the machines unbootable.

The report was authored by Trustwave's EMEA managing consultant for incident response Thanassis Diogos and EMEA incident response consultant Sachin Deodhar.

"We believe that the attack described in this report represents a clear and imminent threat to financial institutions in European, North American, Asian and Australian regions within the next year," the pair said.

"Currently the attacks are localised to the eastern European and Russian regions. However, in cyber crime, this area is often the canary in the mineshaft for upcoming threats to other parts of the world."

Diogos and Deodhar said it did not appear that any data had been exfiltrated from the bank, with the hackers' sole purpose in gaining access being to engineer the theft and then disappear.

"When we obtained a copy of the system for analysis we found it was unbootable and the file system was corrupt," the pair said. "However, the Trustwave team was able to reconstruct the partition table and analyse the file system enabling collection and analysis of significant evidence from this key system.

"One of them was called dropper.exe and upon execution its main function was to wipe the Master Boot Record on the hard disk, effectively destroying the system for any future use. This was the last recorded action taken by the attackers before leaving the network. They

appeared to truly care about clearing any remaining tracks of their activity that may have been left behind."

Graphic: courtesy Trustwave SpiderLabs
Ransomware would have cost businesses worldwide US$1 billion this year, according to an estimate by endpoint security provider Carbon Black.

In a report issued on Wednesday at its Cb Connect conference in San Francisco, the company said there were more than 6300 marketplaces on the dark Web where one could buy ransomware, a total of 45,000 product listings.

The data included in the report was gathered in August and September, with 21 of the biggest marketplaces on the dark Web being monitored for virtual offerings related to ransomware.

In finalising the data, the sample from these 21 was extrapolated based on the assumption that 25% of the dark Web is made up of similar marketplaces.

The report found that prices for do-it-yourself ransomware kits ranged from as little as 50 US cents to US$3000 and the median price was US$10.50. Six listings were found which were priced at more than US$1000, all custom-developed with unique code that had not had much exposure in the wild.

The ransomware marketplace on the dark Web had grown from US$249,287 to US$6.3 million, a growth rate of 2502%.

The report said FBI estimates were that the total that was extorted was about US$1 billion in 2017, compared to US$24 million in 2015.

Some ransomware sellers appeared to be doing much better than regular software developers financially, pulling in US$100,000 annually while the latter took home US$69,000. The top ransomware earners were those who sold custom-made malware.

Carbon Black laid the blame for the growth in ransomware and its profitability on bitcoin and the Tor network.

Average earnings by the average software developer in a number of countries compared with annual earnings by the top ransomware authors.

"The most notable innovations contributing to the proliferation and success of the dark Web ransomware economy have been the emergence of bitcoin for ransom payment, and the anonymity network, Tor, to mask illicit activities," the company claimed.

"Bitcoin allows money to be transferred in a way that makes it nearly impossible for law enforcement to 'follow the money'. Bank transfers and credit card transactions traditionally aid in the quick takedown of scams. Bitcoin means theres no bank to identify the account holder."

Carbon Black also blamed the attitude of consumers: 52% of those asked whether they were willing to pay a ransom to get their files decrypted answered in the positive. Twelve percent said they would pay more than US$500 to get their files back, 29% between US$100 and US$500, and 59% less than US$100. The report did not mention how many people had been surveyed.

The report outlined a sophisticated economy and supply chain that had ensured the success of the ransomware market. From creation to distribution, encryption/decryption, payment and command and control servers, the whole setup was well organised.

The report said the only way to put hurdles in the way of market expansion was by decreasing the return on investment for attackers.

Looking ahead, Carbon Black said that ransomware would increasingly target Linux servers in the coming year. " For example, attackers will increasingly look to conduct SQL injections to infect servers and charge a higher ransom price. We have already observed attacks hitting MongoDB earlier this year which provide excellent foreshadowing," the report said.

There was no hint as to the connection between SQL injections which can be effected on any platform, not merely Linux. Further MongoDB is a database that runs both on Linux and Windows.

Carbon Black was in the news in August when a competitor, DirectDefense, claimed that the company was leaking data from several Fortune 1000 companies, a claim that Carbon Black contested.

The report can be downloaded here.

Graphics: courtesy Carbon Black
Luu 19 Awarded National Scholarship

Trang "Heidi" Luu

Oct. 12, 2017

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.Illinois Wesleyan University's Trang Heidi Luu 19 has been selected as an inaugural recipient of the national Jo Anne J. Trow Scholarship.

An accounting and economics double major, Luu was awarded a grant by Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD), the National Honor Society for First-Year Students. Each year, ALD awards 36 Trow scholarships to outstanding sophomore students across the country, in honor of Jo Anne J. Trow, the past National President of ALD.

I felt extremely honored and thrilled to receive this scholarship,  said Luu, who immediately told her parents and professors the news. They were very excited for me.

Selection for the scholarship is based on a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average, along with academic records, a personal statement, campus and community service activities, and participation in ALD activities.

As a current member of the Illinois Wesleyan Economic Societys Executive Board, Luu also served on the executive board of ALD.

I am grateful for the ALD chapter on campus, said Luu, who served as Treasurer. I learned a lot through the experience.

Luu said because of the education, career help and experiences offered at Illinois Wesleyan, she was well-equipped when applying to her first internship at Deloitte Vietnam, a consulting firm in her hometown of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. For 11 weeks, Luu worked as a Financial Advisory Services Intern, and learned a lot through her involvement in market and company research and valuation projects.

Luu said she is especially excited for her upcoming January internship with PwC in Chicago, which is part of the accounting departments winter internship program. The competitive, 10-week paid internship at a public accounting firm or business is offered to students during the spring semester of their junior year.

After graduating from Illinois Wesleyan, Luu said she would like to pursue a career in economic or business consulting.

As I dive deeper into my majors, I become really interested in these two fields. I would really appreciate the opportunity to do economic research, and maybe, go into academia at some point.

By Vi Kakares '20
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By Naimul Haq | (Inter Press Service) |  

COXS BAZAR, Bangladesh (IPS)  Yasmin, 26, holds her 10-day-old baby, who she gave birth to in a crowded refugee camp in Coxs Bazar, a southeastern district bordering Myanmar.

Three weeks ago, when she was still in her home in Hpaung Taw Pyin village in Myanmar, she was raped by a group of soldiers as houses burned, people fled and gunfire shattered the air.

I have been working as a human rights activist for the last 20 years but never heard of such an extreme level of violence. Bimol Chandra Dey Sarker, Chief Executive of the aid organisation Mukti

With sunken eyes, Yasmin told IPS how she was beaten and raped in her ninth month of pregnancy by Myanmar soldiers. Yasmins village was almost empty when she and many of her neighbours were violated. Only a few dozen women and children remained after the men had fled in fear of being tortured or killed.



Women and children who escaped the brutal violence in Myanmar wait for aid at a camp in Bangladesh. Credit: Parvez Ahmad Faysal/IPS

On that dreadful evening an army truck stopped in our neighbourhood, and then came the soldiers raiding homes. I was alone in my home and one of the soldiers entering my thatched house shouted to invite a few others to join him in raping me.

I dare not resist. They had guns pointed at me while they stripped me to take turns one by one. I dont remember how many of them raped me but at one stage I had lost consciousness from my fading screams, she said, visibly exhausted and traumatized by the horrific ordeal.

Yasmins husband was killed by the Myanmar army on September 4 during one of the frequent raids, allegedly by state-sponsored Buddhist mobs against the Muslim minority in their ancestral home in Rakhine state.

Bandarban, a hilly district, and Coxs Bazaar, a coastal district, both some 350 km southeast of Bangladeshs capital Dhaka, are hosting the overcrowded Rohingya camps. The locals here are no strangers to influxes of refugees. Rohingyas have been forced out of Myanmar since 1992, and Bangladesh, as a neighbor, has sheltered many of them on humanitarian grounds.

However, the latest Rohingya exodus, following a massive government crackdown that began last August, has shaken the world. The magnitude of the atrocities carried out by the military junta this time is beyond imagination. Some describe the persecution as genocide, which Myanmars rulers deny.

To add to the communal violence, dubbed ethnic cleansing by Zeid Raad Al Hussein, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, the military junta intensified physical assaults and soldiers have been sexually harassing innocent, unarmed Rohingya women alongside the regular killings of men.

The reasoning is obvious: no one should dare to stay in their homes. Many believe its a pre-planned operation to clear Rakhine state of the Rohingya population, who Myanmar does not recognize as citizens.

One Rohingya man, who managed to reach the Bangladesh border in mid-September, told IPS, They have indeed successfully forced the Rohingya men out while the remaining unprotected women were a headache for the military junta, as killing the unarmed women would expose them to international criticism. So they chose a strategy of frightening the women and children  apply physical assault and sexual abuse, which worked so well.

IPS spoke with many of the agencies, including the United Nations and local NGOs, working on the ground to provide emergency services such as food distribution, erecting shelters, organizing a safe water supply and hygienic latrines and, of course, healthcare.

Everyone who spoke to this correspondent said literally every woman, except the very old and young, has had experiences of either being molested or experiencing an extreme level of abuse like gang rape.

Survivors and witnesses shared brutal stories of women and young girls being raped in front of their family members. They described how cruel the soldiers were. They said the soldiers showed no mercy, not even for the innocent children who watched the killings and burning of their homes.



Newly arrived Rohingya refugees enter Teknaf from Shah Parir Dwip after being ferried from Myanmar across the Naf River. Credit: Farid Ahmed/ IPS

Bimol Chandra Dey Sarker, Chief Executive of Mukti, a local NGO in Coxs Bazaar, told IPS, I have been working as a human rights activist for the last 20 years but never heard of such an extreme level of violence. Many of the women who are now sheltered in camps shared their agonizing tales of sexual abuse. Its like in a movie.

Kaniz Fatema, a focal person for CODEC, a leading NGO in coastal Coxs Bazaar, told IPS, Stories of sexual abuse of Rohingya women keep pouring in. I heard women describing horrific incidents which they say are everyday nightmares. How can such violence occur in this civilized world today?

Although women are shy and traumatized, they speak up. Here (in Bangladesh) they feel safer and so the stories of abuses are being submitted from every corner of the camps, she said.

The chief health officer of Coxs Bazar 500-bed district hospital, where most of the wounded are being treated, told IPS, At the beginning we were providing emergency treatment for many Rohingya refugees with bullet wounds. Now, we are facing a new crisis of treating so many pregnant women. We are registering pregnant women and admitting them almost every day despite shortages of beds. Many of these women complain of being sexually harassed.

An attending nurse at the hospital who regularly treats the sexually abused women, said, Many women still bear marks of wounds during rape encounters. Its amazing that these women are so tough. Even after so many days of suffering, they keep silent about the agonies and dont complain.

The UNFPA is offering emergency reproductive healthcare services in Bandarban and Coxs Bazaar, where aid workers shared similar tales from women who suffered torture and gang rape at gunpoint.

It is so horrifying, said a field worker serving in Ukhia upazila in Bandarban, adding, I heard of a young girl being raped in front of her father, mother and brother. Then the soldiers took the men out in the courtyard and shot them.

Faisal Mahmud, a senior reporter who recently returned to the capital from Rohingya camps, also said he spoke to many victims of rape. Most of them I spoke to were so traumatised they were hardly able to narrate the brutality. I could see the fear in their faces. Although I hardly understand their dialect, a translator helped me to understand the terrifying tales of being stripped naked and gang raped.

Mohammad Jamil Hossain trekked through the deep forests, evading mines and Myanmar border guards who look for men to catch and take back.

The systematic cleansing will not end until every member of Rohingya population is evicted and forced out of the country, he said. The whole world is watching and yet doing nothing to stop the killings.

Shireen Huq, founder member of Naripokkho, Bangladeshs leading NGO fighting for womens rights, told IPS, I was shocked and overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people, mostly women and children, fleeing Myanmar and entering Bangladesh. The media had reported widespread atrocities, mass rape, murder, arson and brutality in the state of Rakhain.

Women arriving at Nayapara through Shah Porir Dwip were in a state of shock and fatigue. Many of them were candid about the julum (a word used to mean both torture and rape) they had undergone, about being raped by several military, she said.

We must ensure appropriate and adequate care for the refugees, especially all those who have suffered sexual violence. They need medical care, psycho-social counseling and abortion services.

Agencies working in the Rohingya refugee camps estimate that 50,000 women are pregnant. Several hundred deliveries have already taken place. Round the clock emergency health services must be made available to deal with the situation, Shireen said.

More than 501,800 Rohingya have fled the Buddhist-majority country and crossed into Bangladesh since August 25. Densely populated refugee settlements have mushroomed around road from Teknaf to Coxs Bazar district that borders Myanmar divided by Naf river. About 2,000 of the refugees are flooding into the camps every day, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

IOM has appealed to the international community for 120 million dollars between now and February 2018 to begin to address the humanitarian crisis.

The refugees who fled Rakhine did so in the belief that they would find safety and protection in Coxs Bazar, said William Lacy Swing, IOMs Director General, in a statement on October 4. It is our responsibility to ensure that the suffering and trauma that they have experienced on the way must end.

Meanwhile, witnesses say there are still thousands of refugees in the forest waiting to cross over the Bangladesh border, which has now been officially opened. Many can be seen from distant hilltops, walking with whatever belongings they could take.

I was really struck by the fear that these people carry with themselves, what they have gone through and seen back in Myanmar, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, told Reuters in a camp recently, where refugees live under thousands of tarpaulins covering the hills and rice paddies.

Parents killed, families divided, wounds inflicted, rapes perpetrated on women. Theres a lot of terrible violence that has occurred and it will take a long time for people to heal their wounds, longer than satisfying their basic needs, Grandi said.

Naimul Haq is a Bangladesh-based journalist with well over a decade of experience. Currently, Naimul is the joint news editor and head of the English news department at Jamuna Television. Formerly, Naimul was a special correspondent for online news agency The-Editor, a senior staff correspondent for Bangladesh News 24 Hours and a senior staff reporter for The Daily Star in addition to other freelancing positions. Naimul is also a consultant with UNICEF Bangladesh and has extensive experience specialising in health and environmental issues with various international organisations, including the World Health Organisation, the Reuters Foundation and the World Bank.

Licensed from Inter Press Service
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By Edna Bonhomme | (The Conversation) |  

As of October 1, 771,945 people in Yemen have been infected with cholera and 2,134 have died from the disease. The epidemic, rare on such a scale in contemporary times, reemerged as a formidable force last year due to Yemens ongoing civil war.

The Saudi Arabia-led war began in March 2015 and has caused a spiralling 7,000 new cholera cases per day. This is an enormous public health crisis  and one that could be solved simply. Treatment only demands providing clean water, oral rehydration salts, and gloves.

These wartime conditions allow us to draw parallels with the historical experience of epidemic  after all, it is the massive displacement and conditions of war that have allowed the disease to reemerge and wreak destruction in Yemen. War has overcome the near eradication of cholera that modern advances in medicine and international public health organisations have allowed. So how did these advances come to pass and what can we learn from the historical experience of cholera?



Wikimedia Commons



Cholera imagined

We first find mention of a disease that is recognisably cholera in the works of Arab-Islamic scholars, where it is known of as heydain. Around 900 CE, the physician Muhammad ibn al-Razi described cholera in the following way:

It begins with nausea and diarrhoea, or one of the two, and when it reaches the stomach it goes on multiplying itself. The pulse fails, and the breathing is attenuated; the face and the nose become thin; the colour of the skin of the face is changed, and the countenance of the dead succeeds.

Despite this long history, cholera was, in particular, a 19th century tragedy. The disease, which travels through water, thrived on the worlds multiplying population and increased mobility. During the first cholera pandemic (1817-1823), the disease travelled across the Persian Gulf from Bahrain along the Indian Ocean and to the Red Sea in Aden. Over the course of the century, multiple outbreaks of the disease quickly spread through burgeoning coastal cities, along rivers, and into commercial ports from Delhi to New York City.



Wikimedia Commons



The Arabian peninsula was particularly badly hit given the amount of trade and number of pilgrims travelling through the area, seeing several cholera epidemics during the mid-19th century. The disease wreaked havoc on the pilgrims who gathered in Mecca and Jeddah in 1828, 1831, 1835, 1865, 1881, and 1882. Of those, the Mecca pilgrimage was said to be the most horrific, with an estimated toll of 30,000 deaths over the course of the 19th century.

Medical and public health practitioners such as physicians and midwives played a major role in reducing transmission in the period. These people and institutions were financed through religious taxes and charity, which provided more resources to directly treat patients.

Public health reforms

But it was the emergence of modern medicine, the improvements on sanitation, and the isolation of Vibrio cholerae in 1854 by Filippo Pacini that worked to drastically ameliorate choleras impact in the latter half of the century.

The repeated outbreaks also arguably led to the creation of the kinds of public health institutions that we take for granted today. The International Sanitary Convention (ISC), which held its first conference in 1851 in Paris, was set up with the aim of ending the cholera pandemic. The ISC was a predecessor to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a body that was mostly represented by European actors along with the Ottoman central authority (based in Istanbul).

Although the cholera epidemic was still rampant on the Arabian peninsula during the early 20th century, with outbreaks in Mecca between 1908-1912, the disease was then nearly totally absent from the peninsula until it spread in Yemen in 1971  following the aftermath of the last Yemeni civil war.

Yemen witnessed cholera outbreaks in the 19th century due to the free movement of people and a very limited understanding of the disease. But the conditions and ways that the disease spread was nowhere near as quick-paced and detrimental as they are in the current outbreak.

Cholera today

The human cost of cholera in Yemen today, as we have seen, is grave and growing. There are predictions that the disease could infect a million people by 2018. The incidence and prevalence of cholera infection far exceeds the numbers from the 19th century and the current crisis in Yemen will set a record number of reported cases in the country.

What makes the current epidemic so pernicious is the way that war has exacerbated the disease despite advances in medicine and public health. The doctors and nurses working in the 19th century were not mired by the catastrophic conditions of modern war: massive military occupation, infrastructure meltdown, and political decimation.

The Yemeni government ceased providing money for the public health department in March 2016, shortly after war began. International organisations have provided the principle support, but the amount they can do is limited by their ability to carry out treatment during military sieges. Less than 50% of hospitals in Yemen are operational, with shortages of staff and supplies due to the ongoing conflict. But austerity and war have fractured the public health system. The 30,000 doctors, nurses, and other health care workers of Yemen have been working for the last ten months without pay.

The treatment for cholera is very simple, yet materials  when available  are obstructed from being distributed due to bombing. The arc of authoritarianism and foreign occupation in Yemen has resulted in the destruction of Yemens infrastructure, leaving 14m people without access to clean water.

History provides a glimpse of the tragic past and demonstrates that it is through policy that we can help to correct the tragedies that continue to face Yemen. Cholera is preventable, but public health reform is nearly impossible under conditions of war. The historical trajectory of cholera shows that interventions lose their effect when the public systems are crippled  something we also need to bear in mind in relation to the increased extreme weather events caused by climate change.

Edna Bonhomme, Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.



Related video added by Juan Cole:

The Foreign Desk: Lawmakers Call for More Scrutiny of U.S. Involvement in Yemen Conflict
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Pacific Metal Corp. (New Pacific or the Company) (TSXV: NUAG) is pleased to announce that it has received necessary permits from the relevant Bolivian government authorities and will immediately commence a 30,000 metres exploration drilling program on its 100% owned Silver Sand Project in the Department of Potosi, Bolivia.

At an elevation of approximately 4,050 metres, the Silver Sand Property, having an area of approximately 3.17 square kilometres, is located in the Potosi Department of Bolivia, approximately twenty five kilometres northeast of the world famous Cerro Rico Silver and Base Metal mineral system. The Silver Sand property is adjacent to historic and current tin mining activity in the area. Access is relatively easy with a road distance of fifty four kilometres to Potosi, of which twenty seven kilometres are paved.

The Property is one of the earliest silver discoveries in the district, having been made prior to the discovery of Cerro Rico in the mid-1500s. Small-scale, historic mining is evident from scattered shafts, pits, adits, declines and dumps. The Property was explored previously by intermittent surface mapping and sampling, underground sampling and surface core drilling between 2012 and 2015. The Company acquired the Property in July 2017 after due diligence and four confirmation core drill holes.

At Silver Sand, the host rocks of the silver mineralization are Cretaceous-aged quartz-rich sandstone, which were strongly silicified and now occur in gentle, open folds, dipping shallowly to the north. The Cretaceous rocks unconformably overlie Ordovician- and Silurian-aged rocks, all of which were intruded by Tertiary-aged porphyritic igneous dikes, plugs and sills. Tin mineralization also occurs on the Property and is generally associated with the sills.

A total of five mineralized Zones (I, II, III, IV and V) were defined by surface geological work. Zone I is the most prominent with a mapped strike length of at least 1,600 metres, a horizontal width of up to 100 metres, and a depth extension of 350 metres and open at depth, based on surface and underground channel samples and diamond drilling of seven core hole intercepts (four confirmation drill holes by New Pacific, see news releases dated April 10th and July 20th, 2017 for historical exploration results).

Zone II has similar mineralization and is parallel, and situated 300 metres northeast of Zone I. Zone II has been traced over 1,400 metres in strike and up to twenty five metres in width, using sporadic outcrops of silicified, veined and oxidized sandstone. No drilling has occurred in Zone II, however channel samples have been collected from a small adit and decline (adit PD19) which yielded a total channel length of 21.4 metres with an average silver grade of 263 g/t.

The 30,000 metre drill program will initially focus on drilling Zone I along its 1,600 m strike distance gridding up to100 metres by 100 metres on sixteen parallel exploration sections which are normal to Zone I. Four to five drill holes (~400 metres/hole) are planned for each of the sixteen exploration sections. Some drill holes are also planned to test the depth of Zone I to 800 metres and to test the nearby Zone II to depth and along its strike extension.

One international and one Bolivian drilling contractor have signed drilling contracts with the Company to carry out the drilling program. One drill rig has already been mobilized to Silver Sand and is ready to drill this week. It is expected that three drill rigs will be on site by the end of the October and a total of five drill rigs will be drilling on site by mid-November. The climate at the Silver Sand project allows year-round drilling and it is expected that the drill program will be completed in six to eight months.

A team of Canadian and Bolivian geologists and supporting staff have been assembled with camp site at an elevation of approximately 3400 metres. A core storage, logging, and cutting facility has also been established.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Drill core will be HQ and NQ in size. Core samples from the all drill holes will be split by diamond saw cutting. Half of the core will be stored in a core storage facility and the remainder of the core will be shipped in security sealed bags to ALS Global in Oruro, Bolivia for preparation, and ALS Global in Lima, Peru for assay.

A standard quality assurance and quality control protocol will be employed to monitor the quality of sample preparation and analysis. Standards of certified reference materials, blanks and duplicates will be inserted in normal core sample sequences prior to shipment to the lab at a ratio of thirty to one, i.e., every thirty samples contain at least one standard sample, one blank sample and one duplicate sample.

Alex Zhang, P. Geo., VP Exploration of the Company and Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release.

About New Pacific

New Pacific Metals Corp. is a Canadian exploration and development company which owns the Silver Sand Project, in the Potosi Department of Bolivia, the Tagish Lake gold project in Yukon, Canada and the RZY Project in Qinghai Province, China. Silvercorp Metals Inc. (TSX:SVM), the largest primary silver producer in China, is a major shareholder.
VANCOUVER, Oct. 12, 2017 /CNW/ - Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the "Company") announced today that the Pebble Limited Partnership ("Pebble Partnership" or "PLP") has filled two senior technical positions to lead engineering design and regulatory permitting for southwest Alaska's Pebble Project.

Senior Vice President of Engineering and Project Director Stephen Hodgson (P. Eng.) will lead Pebble's engineering and project development team, with responsibility for all aspects of project design, engineering and financial studies and regulatory compliance. He will be supported by Vice President of Permitting James Fueg (PMP, CPG), who assumes responsibility for all aspects of the project's regulatory permitting team and process, including management of environmental and socioeconomic studies, liaison with federal and state agencies and active management of Pebble's forthcoming Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") process under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA").

"I couldn't be more pleased with the technical leadership we have assembled to finalize our permit applications and lead Pebble into and through the NEPA and EIS permitting process beginning later this year," said Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier. "In Stephen and James, not only do we gain decades of experience working with the world's leading mining companies on many of the most significant projects around the globe, we benefit from their long-standing experience in Alaska.

"We now have a dedicated leadership team in place in Anchorage that is not only committed to the financial and permitting success of the Pebble Project, but one that shares Alaskans' interests in ensuring our project protects clean water, healthy fisheries and traditional ways of life, while making a profound positive contribution to the people and economies of the region and the state."

Stephen Hodgson is a professional engineer with more than 40 years of experience in consulting, project management, feasibility-level design and implementation, and mine operations at some of the most significant mineral development projects in the world  including the Pine Point zinc mine in northern Canada, the Red Dog zinc mine in Alaska, Antamina in Peru, and the Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia. Hodgson has led the engineering group at Northern Dynasty and Hunter Dickinson Inc. since 2005, has played a central role on the engineering team for Pebble for more than a decade, and was part of the Cominco team that evaluated the Pebble deposit in the early 1990s.

James Fueg is a geologist and a geophysicist with more than 25 years of experience in mineral exploration and resource development, including more than 20 years working in Alaska. He was most recently seconded from Barrick Gold Corporation to serve as Technical Services Manager for the Donlin Gold Project in western Alaska, where he played a leadership role managing the EIS and NEPA permitting process for a project expected to receive a final Record of Decision in 2018.

"We have a great deal of confidence in both the technical capabilities of the project's leadership team and their commitment to the project and to the State of Alaska," NDM President & CEO Ron Thiessen said. "These are major pieces of the first-class team we are assembling to lead this world-class project into permitting."

About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.

Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, Canada. Northern Dynasty's principal asset, owned through its wholly-owned Alaska-based US subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership and other wholly-owned subsidiaries, is a 100% interest in a contiguous block of 2,402 mineral claims in southwest Alaska, including the Pebble deposit. The Pebble Partnership is the proponent of the Pebble Project, an initiative to develop one of the world's most important mineral resources.

For further details on Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Project, please visit the Company's website at www.northerndynasty.com or contact Investor services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114. Review Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at www.sec.gov.
Stuff reports:

New Zealand children are being exposed to alcohol every nearly every time they go to the supermarket, sparking a call from from researchers to have it banned from such stores.

Health researchers want alcohol banned from supermarkets after their study revealed 85 per cent of children were exposed to it in Wellington supermarkets.

The studys lead researcher from Otago Universitys Department of Public Health, Tim Chambers, said the over-exposure of alcohol to children put it on par with everyday products such as bread and milk, causing children to drink it earlier in their lifetime.
There is a very easy way to work out what Winston means, and that is to assume the exact opposite of what he says. We saw this with the Owen Glenn donation when he held up the no sign scores of times, and we then all learnt no meant yes.

So lets look at recent stories in this light. Stuff reports:

Peters says hes not favouring either side when it comes to who will form the next government.

This means Winston has already decided who to go with.

I said Id go into it with a total open mind, and Ive asked my caucus and the board to have the same approach I can honestly tell you I wouldnt take a guess of what anyone is currently thinking.

This means he has already decided and is now working to get everyone else to agree with him. That will not be hard.

In July Peters told Newsroom the public would know about NZ Firsts decision by Writ Day. I make this guarantee that whatever decision New Zealand First arrives at post-election, it will be made public by the day the writs are returned, which is within three weeks from polling day, Peters said.

Which means of course it definitely would not be made public by Writ Day.

Peters said late on Wednesday night that he doubted his caucus would make a final decision by Thursday evening, but he expected they would have an array of options to take to the NZ First board.

This means the caucus will make a decison and the board will ratify it.

Were not going to think about offices and positions until were happy with the policy, he said on Wednesday night.

This means they have done nothing all week except think about offices and positions.

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By Yi Whan-woo





Hyon Song-wol

Hyon Song-wol, the leader of North Korea's all-girl propaganda band Moranbong Band, is among the noteworthy figures joining the North Korean Workers' Party's Central Committee at the party's recent reshuffle.

She now co-serves as an alternate member of the committee's political bureau, its most powerful body.

There have been prior cases of artists joining the party's Central Committee, as either regular or alternate members, according to sources, Wednesday.

But Hyon's rise still surprised many because she was once believed to have been executed by Kim Jong-un after being embroiled in a pornography scandal in 2013.

Moreover, Hyon, 38, also purportedly Kim's ex-girlfriend, is rumored to have an "uncomfortable relationship" with the young dictator's wife, Ri Sol-ju.

"We found Hyon and Ri are rather close to each other," an intelligence source said. "Hyon's promotion indicates Kim fully trusts her to join the North Korean ruling party's inner circle."












Authorities at Incheon International Airport said Thursday they were continuing to look for the owner of five gold bars worth 20 million won and 20 million won in cash found at the airport.

The airport security office said the gold bars and cash were found Oct. 3 in two bags abandoned at a restaurant in the airport's terminal for departing passengers. The police also found Vietnamese currency.

The authorities said the cash and gold bars were unregistered with the customs office, indicating that they were meant to be smuggled out of Korea. Anyone traveling abroad with cash or objects worth more than $10,000 is required to report them to the office.

The incident also raised an alarm for airport security which failed to detect the gold bars during passenger screening.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Variable clouds with snow showers. High 38F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 60%..

Tonight

Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this evening. Low 28F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%.
ANGOLA  A grassroots initiative will reach out to parents in Steuben County through youth-produced videos.

In an hour and a half on Wednesday evening at Carnegie Public Library of Steuben County, a panel led by Extension Educator Megan Peterson brainstormed a strategy to combat bullying.

The public was invited to the meeting, which was a followup to several screenings over the past couple of years of the documentary Reject. Sixteen students, parents, educators, professionals and community activists participated.

Through a series of collaborative question-and-answer sessions, they chose to focus their efforts on youths in schools standing up for themselves, and empowering bystanders to take action.

Theres nothing worse than going to bed and thinking you havent done something, said Metropolitan School District of Steuben County Assistant Superintendent Ann Rice.

There was discussion about offering programs in elementary schools, exposing children to empathy at a young age. Its not just the children being bullied that need help, its the bullies themselves. Several participants expressed that the bully may be dealing with low self esteem or ingrained aggression.

We all have different life experiences, said Laura Leese, whose daughter, Elayna Hasty, an Angola High School sophomore, is Miss South Bends Outstanding Teen.

Hasty was at the meeting and talked about the presentations she has done for young children. One of her demonstrations is to have a child take a piece of paper and crumple it up, throw it on the floor and stomp on it a few times. Then, the child is asked to pick it up, smooth it out and apologize to it. The wrinkles remain, just like the emotional scars from bullying.

I see it with all of our girls on our girls team, said Randy Houser, Angola High Schools cross country coach.

While the schools are a good place to reach children, they are also very structured and the childrens rights are closely protected per state and national laws. Teachers time is constricted and they are pressed to teach their lessons, said Rice.

With that in mind, discussion switched to community. The Indiana Youth Institute, churches, nonprofit groups and others have worked to make Cahoots Coffee Cafe, 218 W. Maumee St., Angola, a safe place where youth can learn values. There was talk about instituting visible programming through parent teacher organization activities like book fairs and community events.

And, while social media has become a way for bullies to badger their victims, it could also be a way to spread a message of compassion. Efforts culminating from Wednesdays meeting will work toward creating positive digital outreach, preferably produced by area youth.

When rolled out, the hope is to get the videos into the hands of parents, who like teachers, have daily input in childrens lives and behavior.

To get involved, contact Peterson at 668-1000, ext. 1400.
Ireland faces criticism for Che Guevara stamp; first printing sells out in less than a week

Oct 13, 2017, 6 AM

Irelands An Post issued a stamp Oct. 5 commemorating Che Guevara on his 50th death anniversary. The stamp shows the iconic portrait of Guevara created by Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick.

By Denise McCarty

A new stamp from Irelands An Post marking the 50th death anniversary of Che Guevara generated controversy and demand. Issued Oct. 5, this 1 stamp was sold out by Oct. 12, and An Post is planning a second printing.

A spokesman for An Post told Linns: The initial print run of our Che Guevara stamp has sold out. It is necessary to now print extra stock to cover our regular stamp customers and makeup of annual collector products, stamp yearbook, etc. It is anticipated that some additional stock will then be available for general sale.

The initial print run from Cartor Security Printing was 122,000. The quantity of the second printing is not known.

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In announcing the stamp, An Post described Guevara as an Argentinian Marxist revolutionary, and also as a doctor, an author, a guerilla, a diplomat and a military theorist.

Born June 14, 1928, in Rosario, Argentina, Guevara was executed by Bolivian armed forces Oct. 9, 1967.

The Biography says of his legacy: Since his death, Guevara has become a legendary political figure. His name is often equated with rebellion, revolution and socialism. Others, however, remember that he could be ruthless and ordered prisoners executed without trial in Cuba.

In the bulletin Irish Stamps, The Collector, Joanne Ferris of An Post pointed out two Irish connections to Guevara: Did you know that Che Guevara was of Irish descent and that his ancestors actually hailed from the Kilkee area of West Clare? Irelands very own Jim Fitzpatrick created the instantly-recognisable black and red image of Che Guevara that you see on t-shirts and in posters on student walls everywhere has since become one of the worlds top 10 most iconic images.

That 1968 image by Fitzpatrick is featured on the new stamp.

Criticism of the commemorative was swift, especially from the Cuban-American community.

On Monday morning, Oct. 9, Ninoska Perez, a Cuban-American journalist and public commentator at Univision Radio, spoke on Irelands RTE national public service broadcaster, saying of the stamp, It doesnt matter that its an image created by an artist, its the image of a murderer.

I really dont know what it is that people find that there is to celebrate about the figure of Che Guevara, Perez said. I would love to see that stamp abolished. What does Ireland think they are doing by putting Che Guevara on a stamp? This is objectionable.

Other news outlets picked up the story with headlines, such as Ireland accused of honouring a mass murder with new 1 stamp of Che Guevara on the online version of The Irish Post, and Some Cubans are outraged with Irelands offensive Che Guevara stamp from the Irish news website TheJournal.ie.

The Irish Post also reported on Irish politicians who had voiced their complaints on social media. For example, Independent politician Paddy Manning tweeted: An Post, the Irish postal service, has issued a stamp of mass murdering Argentinian Marxist, Che Guevara. Ask your local PO not to stock it.

Irelands Che Guevara commemorative had been approved by the government in 2015, according to a spokesperson from the Department of Communications.

Cartor printed the stamp by offset in sheets of 16. The firm Red&Grey designed it, using the poster image by Fitzpatrick. This poster was based on a photograph taken by Cuban photographer Alberto Korda.

On Instagram, Fitzpatrick said that he designed An Posts first-day cover. The FDC includes a quote from Guevaras father, Ernesto Guevara Lynch:   in my sons veins flowed the blood of Irish rebels.

As of Oct. 12, the An Post website showed the stamp, the sheet of 16, and the FDC as being out of stock.

This story, originally published Oct. 12, was updated Oct. 13 with new details about the rapid sell out of the stamp.
Multiple fires in California produce plumes of smoke that are visible to satellites. (Image credit: CIRA)

Plumes of dense, gray smoke rise from deadly wildfires burning across multiple locations in California, in a striking animation of satellite images shared online Tuesday (Oct. 10) by the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA).

CIRA, a research institution at Colorado State University, operates in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to track and analyze weather data collected by satellites.

The sequence, which lasts for just a few seconds, was created with preliminary data captured by a satellite with the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system, known as GOES-16. CIRA processed the data with a visualization tool called GeoColor, which displays satellite data of land and shallow water features in true color. In the animated sequence of wildfire images, GeoColor combined with the natural color of the fires, rendered in the red, blue and green (RGB) color model, accounting for the realistic detail of the wildfires' smoke and flames. [Wildfires Blaze in Northern California (Photos)]

Since Sunday (Oct. 8), fast-moving wildfires have blazed across eight counties in Northern California's wine country, sparked by hot, dry conditions and fueled by gusting winds, which are also impeding the firefighters' progress. The fires claimed the lives of 23 people, destroyed approximately 3,500 buildings and scorched more than 170,000 acres (about 69,000 hectares), leading to the evacuation of over 20,000 people, ABC News reported today (Oct. 12).

And the destructive fires in the Sonoma and Napa valleys are not slowing down, NASA representatives said yesterday (Oct. 11) in a statement.

In neighborhoods left charred and smoking in the wildfires' wake, "acres of standing fireplaces" are the only surviving remnants of the homes that once stood there, and thousands more homes are threatened by the encroaching flames, according to NASA.

In a natural-color image captured by NASA's Terra satellite Tuesday (Oct. 10) using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), so-called "hotspots"  areas where fires are actively burning  are highlighted with red outlines.

Winds continue to fan the flames of wildfires in northern California. (Image credit: Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC.)

"Each hot spot is an area where the thermal detectors on the MODIS instrument recognized temperatures higher than background. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for fire," NASA representatives explained in the statement.

Currently, 17 fires are active in northern California, according to a map generated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). Though wildfires are common in California during the month of October, the size and intensity of this year's fires are unusual, according to NASA.

Original article on Live Science.
SAN DIEGO  Doctors may want to roll up their sleeves before work, literally. A new study suggests that long sleeves on a doctor's white coat may become contaminated with viruses or other pathogens that could then be transmitted to patients.

In the study, the researchers had 34 health care workers wear either long- or short-sleeved white coats while they examined a mannequin that had been contaminated with DNA from the "cauliflower mosaic virus." This virus infects plants and is harmless to humans, but it is transmitted in a way that is similar to that of other, harmful pathogens, such as Clostridium difficile, a bacteria that causes severe diarrhea, said Dr. Amrita John, an infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, who led the study. John presented the research here on Friday (Oct. 6) at an infectious disease conference called IDWeek 2017.

The health care workers wore gloves while they examined the mannequin, then removed the gloves, washed their hands and put on a new pair of gloves before examining a second, clean (non-contaminated) mannequin. After the health care workers had finished examining both mannequins, the researchers swabbed the workers' sleeves, wrists and hands, and tested the samples for DNA from the cauliflower mosaic virus. Each of the 34 participants completed the exam twice (once wearing short sleeves and once wearing long sleeves), for a total of 68 "simulations." [6 Superbugs to Watch Out For]

They found that, when the health care workers wore long-sleeved coats, 25 percent of the simulations resulted in contamination of their sleeves or wrists with the virus DNA marker, compared with none when the health care workers wore short-sleeved coats.

In addition, about 5 percent of health care workers who wore long sleeves contaminated the clean mannequin with the virus DNA marker, while none of the health care workers who work short sleeves contaminated the clean mannequin.

These results provide support for a recommendation "that health care personnel wear short sleeves to reduce the risk for pathogen transmission," John said. [10 Deadly Diseases That Hopped Across Species]

Such a recommendation already exists in the United Kingdom  in 2007, the country's department of health introduced a "bare below the elbow" policy for hospitals, which recommended that health care personnel wear short sleeves. In the United States in 2014, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America said that health care facilities might consider the adoption of a "bare below the elbow" policy.

Some U.S. facilities have subsequently adopted this policy within their institutions, and the new findings suggest that "more people should consider it," said study co-author Dr. Curtis J. Donskey, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Still, the policy has been met with some resistance, with some doctors calling for more evidence showing that long sleeves really do increase the likelihood of transmitting pathogens. The new study provides some evidence, but additional, larger studies are still needed before some hospitals may adopt the policy, John said.

In addition, future research is still needed to show that a short-sleeve policy actually reduces the number of infections spread in a hospital, the researchers said.

But John said the study has changed her personal preference for the way she wears her white coat. "I role up my coat sleeves above my elbow," John said.

The study has yet to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Original article on Live Science.
After Secretary of State Rex Tillerson allegedly called President Donald Trump a moron back in July, the president boasted that he would score higher on an IQ test than Tillerson. But that may not mean as much as the president would like to think.

In a recent interview with Forbes, Trump said of Tillerson's alleged insult, "I think it's fake news, but if he did that, I guess we'll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win." [Creative Genius: The World's Greatest Minds]

But what do IQ tests really measure? Are they a valid metric for intelligence?

For some, the answer is fairly clear. "In my view, 'intelligence' is easy to define: It is that quality measured by performance on a well-standardized intelligence test," Robert Bilder, a psychologist at UCLA who researches cognition and psychopathology, told Live Science.

But intelligence testing, even intelligence as a concept, is the focus of a constant debate that raises more questions than it answers.

The IQ, or the intelligence quotient, is a measure of a person's mental age divided by their actual age, multiplied by 100. So, a person who is exactly as "mentally old" as one might expect for that individual's chronological age would score a perfectly average 100. People who deviate from that score in either direction are considered to be of above- or below-average intelligence. These scores can change with age and can fluctuate from one testing session to another, according to researchers.

But intelligence is a many-faceted beast. While it is colloquially associated with math and reasoning skills, psychologists assert that there are many kinds of intelligence, with Howard Gardner, a developmental psychologist at Harvard University, classifying seven distinct types, including bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial and linguistic.

Given that it's so hard to pin down exactly what intelligence is, the task of measuring it with a standardized test is particularly difficult, experts say. One of the standard IQ tests used today is called the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (used for adults and older teens), which measures verbal and nonverbal cognitive skills, or as the psychologist who developed the test put it, the ability to "adapt and constructively solve problems in the environment."

Trump might not get the clear-cut result he's hoping for, since this test and others like it, including the Stanford-Binet test, don't present some unified quantity of a person's "smartness."

Test results are affected by several confounding variables, such as smoking habits, hours spent playing computer games and various aspects of one's personality, according to past research. IQ scores also change with the test taker's level of self-discipline and personal motivation and grit  all things that can change from testing session to testing session  according to a 2005 study that surveyed the IQ test results of 140 eighth-graders.

"Indeed, IQ tests are influenced by many factors," Cornell University developmental psychologist Stephen Ceci told Live Science. "For example, schooling affects IQ test performance," he added, explaining that for each year that a student falls short of finishing high school, there is a drop of between 1.8 and 4 IQ points compared to peers who did finish high school.

In Vietnam, Ceci explained, people who had a higher risk of being drafted stayed in school longer as a means to defer service compared to those with safer draft numbers. IQ testing revealed that those who stayed in school longer had higher scores  not because they were smarter, but because they had greater exposure to the conditions that would help them answer IQ test questions such as "who wrote Hamlet," Ceci said.

IQ test scores even correlate with birth order among siblings, according to two 2007 studies, as reported by The New York Times.

Therefore, IQ tests measure not just intelligence (however that is defined), but also the environment and context of one's life.

Whether or not a superior IQ test result would actually provide Trump with a satisfying victory over Tillerson, Bilder said he would love to help out.

"I would be delighted personally to test President Trump's hypothesis, and [I] offer to conduct the examinations for free," he said. "I would only request that we also include standardized tests of 'emotional intelligence' and 'response inhibition' that are not as fully examined in standard IQ tests but are very important to our success as a species."

Original article on Live Science.
Local News, National & World News, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: October 12 2017

AGs Argue that Latest Ban Has Not Addressed Discriminatory Purposes Of Previous Bans  And Would Continue To Harm States Families, Institutions, And Economies.

New York, NY - October 12, 2017 - New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman filed a motion for temporary restraining order (TRO) against implementation of President Donald Trumps third travel ban and amended the original lawsuit to include legal challenges to the latest ban, along with fellow Attorneys General from Washington, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Oregon. The challenge was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

The Attorneys General argue that the third travel ban does not remove the discriminatory taint of the first and second bans. The majority of the countries designated for travel restrictions in President Trump's September 24th proclamation are majority Muslim, as was the case in the previous two bans. In a transparent attempt to mask the discriminatory and unlawful nature of the latest incarnation of the travel ban, the administration claims the designated countries were selected pursuant to objective analysis. While the eight countries singled out in the third ban were ostensibly picked because they could not provide certain information, the Trump administrations announcement noted that over 45 countries didnt meet that criteria  making clear this was far from a neutral process.

President Trumps third attempt at a travel ban is still a Muslim Ban by another name  attempting to further the same discriminatory and unconstitutional goals as his first and second bans, said Attorney General Schneiderman. This latest ban even applies to people who pose absolutely no plausible terrorist threat, such as young children and grandparents hoping to visit their relatives in the U.S. Since January, our coalition of Attorneys General have successfully beat back these unconstitutional bans. The Trump administrations continued attempts to discriminate would undermine our states families, institutions, and businesses  and well continue to fight back.

While the Supreme Court had previously scheduled oral argument to hear two challenges to the second travel ban, it canceled those arguments following release of the third travel ban. The court instead asked the parties in one case - IRAP v. Trump - to submit briefs addressing whether the latest ban had rendered their claims moot. On October 10th, the Supreme Court dismissed this case for mootness, without commenting on the merits of the claims or the legality of the third travel ban.

The new filing by the Attorneys General explains how the latest travel ban continues the harms described in previously filed declarations by impacted New Yorkers, universities, businesses, and others, and adds a number of new declarations. Click here to read the declarations

Background on the Third Travel Ban

Multiple lower courts have ruled against aspects of the previous bans that are still reflected in the new ban. The ban still targets Muslims in violation of the Establishment Cause and Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. The ban still functionally bars travel into the U.S. based on nationality even though federal law  the Immigration and Nationality Act  prohibits discrimination based on national origin. It does so even though this Administrations own Department of Homeland Security concluded in an internal report that country of citizenship is unlikely to be a reliable indicator of potential terrorist activity.

Not only does the new travel ban suffer from some of the same legal flaws as previous versions, it is even more damaging because its restrictions have no end date and almost entirely foreclose entry into the United States by nationals of the designated countries.

Travel into the U.S. by nationals of the six majority Muslim countries (Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Chad) is suspended indefinitely. North Korea is also included, though that provision is largely irrelevant because immigration from North Korea to the United States is virtually non-existent and is barred under separate sanctions orders. The order also affects a very small number of Venezuelan government officials and their families, but unlike its impact on Muslim-majority countries, it does not bar travel by anyone else in Venezuela.

The latest ban also exceeds the Presidents authority in multiple ways. The latest executive order is essentially a new immigration law. Additionally, Congress has already enacted comprehensive visa and admissibility rules that conflict with the terms of the latest travel ban.
The Black River Falls Fire Department hosted several activities in conjunction with Fire Prevention Week to educate students and the public about fire safety.

The department visited Black River Child Care to meet with pre-school and 4-K students Tuesday from 9:30-10:30 a.m. and then went to Teddy Bear Family Child Care pre-school afterwards at 11:15 a.m.

On Wednesday, the department went to Forrest Street Elementary to talk about fire prevention with 4-K students throughout the morning and early afternoon.

The department then came back the next day to talk to kindergarten students in the morning and first grade students in the afternoon.

On Friday morning, the department welcomed second graders from Red Creek Elementary to the fire station for tours.

A safety day event will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at Scholze Ace Home Center in Black River Falls.

The department will then be in Wisconsin Rapids Saturday for a final alarm and roll call at 3:33 p.m. at the Wisconsin State Firefighters Memorial Park.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: October 12 2017

18 AGs Argue That Sexual Orientation Discrimination Violates Title VII; Amicus Brief Filed In Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital Seeks Uniform Application Of Title VII.

New York, NY - October 12, 2017 - New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman led an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by 18 Attorneys General, arguing that employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

The Attorneys General argue that their States have strong interests in protecting their citizens against employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The lack of nationwide recognition that Title VII bars such discrimination blocks the full protection of LGBTQ workers  particularly given divisions between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (which takes the position that Title VII protects workers from sexual orientation) and the federal Department of Justice (which has taken the opposite position).

The brief was filed late yesterday, on National Coming Out Day.

Its unacceptable for an employee to be discriminated against based on sexual orientation  and its high time thats clear across the country, said Attorney General Schneiderman. Who a person loves has nothing to do with their ability to do their job. Well continue to make clear that discrimination has no place here or anywhere.

Click here to read the amicus brief , which was led by Attorney General Schneiderman and filed by the Attorneys General of NY, CA, CT, DE, HI, IA, IL, MA, MD, MN, NM, OR, PA, RI, VA, VT, WA, and DC.

Employment discrimination against gay, lesbian, and bisexual workers not only deprives them of important economic opportunitiesit also stigmatizes their most intimate relationships and thus diminish[es] their personhood, the Attorneys General write.

Even in States like New York that have laws barring sexual-orientation discrimination in the workplace, Title VII plays a crucial complementary role by covering individuals not subject to the States lawsfor instance, federal employees or residents who work in another Stateand by making available both the federal courts and a federal enforcer, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), to police invidious discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Local News, National & World News, Community, Charity & Cause, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: October 12 2017

78 Physicians, Physicians Assistances, Nurses, and Nurse Practitioners Depart Today Followed by Additional Medical Personnel On October 26.

Albany, NY - October 12, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the deployment of 78 medical personnel from across New York's health care community to provide Puerto Rico with critically-needed health care assistance across the island. As part of Governor Cuomo's Empire State Relief and Recovery Effort for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the volunteer initiative was made possible by the generous efforts of Greater New York Hospital Association, the Healthcare Association of New York State, Community Health Care Association of New York State, New York State Nurses Association and 1199SEIU. Transportation to Puerto Rico was donated by JetBlue Airlines and all 78 volunteers departed John F. Kennedy International Airport this afternoon en route to San Juan.

"New York continues to provide critical relief to our brothers and sisters on Puerto Rico," Governor Cuomo said. "Many still do not have access to essential medical care and by deploying medical professionals and supplies, we are ensuring that our fellow Americans have access to health care as they continue down the long road to recovery."

At the request of Governor Ricardo Rossello, Governor Cuomo worked closely with GNYHA, HANYS, CHCANYS, NYSNA and 1199SEIU to identify volunteers to deploy to Puerto Rico. The first round of 78 volunteers will act as health response teams, coming from:

Albany Medical Center;

Montefiore Medical Center;

Mt. Sinai Hospital;

Northwell Health;

New York Presbyterian; and

Callen-Lorde Community Health Center.

Health response teams will include physicians, physician assistants, nurses and nurse practitioners and will provide general medical assistance at medical shelters and hospitals. All volunteers have been processed through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a mutual aid agreement between states and territories to share resources during natural and man-made disasters, and New York State will extend workers compensation benefits for those who volunteer.

The team of volunteers will be deployed for 14 days and will serve at either the Federal Medical Center in Manati or will provide support on the critical relief missions that are being carried out by Disaster Medical Assistance Teams across Puerto Rico. At the conclusion of their mission, a similarly sized medical team will deploy on October 26th to serve in similar roles.

In addition to the team of personnel, emergency medical supplies continue to be delivered to Puerto Rico via a partnership with GNYHA, the Afya Foundation, and UJA-Federation of New York. Working together to coordinate all aspects of the missions, including securing private jets and purchasing more than $1 million in supplies, the partnership has delivered more than 30,000 lbs. of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to 16 hospitals and health care organizations and 12 community organizations to help ensure that Puerto Rican residents have access to critical medical care. Shipments have included vital medical supplies including 3,000 vials of insulin, transplant surgery drugs, pediatric oncology drugs, antibiotics and vaccines.

The partnership has also completed the first of several shipments of non-medical supplies such as water, bags, and satellite phones for the 26,000 SEIU members who live and work in Puerto Rico. These shipments will be used to establish six SEIU "help centers" across the island.

"The heartbreaking and devastating situation in Puerto Rico compels us to take action," said Robin Hayes, president and chief executive officer, JetBlue. "Using our strengths as an airline, our partnerships, and our mission of inspiring humanity, we aim to make a positive impact on this island we call home."

Health Department Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said "When Governor Cuomo put out the call for volunteers to assist in the relief efforts in Puerto Rico, I knew that the selfless and dedicated health care professionals from across the state would respond in droves, without hesitation. I am truly touched by the outpouring of support that has come from the health care community and look forward to working with them as we continue to aid in the rebuilding of Puerto Rico."

Ken Raske, President of Greater New York Hospital Association, said, "Being at JFK today to personally thank each and every health care worker as they boarded their flight to Puerto Rico was one of the most rewarding moments of my entire career. These extraordinary individuals, and the world-class institutions they represent, are the true spirit of New York's health care community and a reminder of the nobility of the health care profession. They answered the Governor's call to serve without hesitation, and we thank them."

Bea Grause, President of the Healthcare Association of New York, said, "We are so proud of the physicians, nurses and other health care professionals who are selflessly traveling today to Puerto Rico to help those in need. Through their service, they demonstrate the values the entire New York healthcare community shares of compassionate care to all who need it."

President and CEO of the Community Health Care Association of New York State Rose Duhan said, "New York's community health centers are a vital source of primary care throughout the State, and even more so in an emergency. CHCANYS is honored to participate in the Governor's Empire State Relief and Recovery Effort for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and to work with health care partners statewide to ensure that the residents of Puerto Rico have access to much-needed primary and emergency care. We commend the providers from Callen-Lorde Community Health Center who have volunteered their time and expertise to assist with this effort."

George Gresham, President, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East said, "Our union is proud to work with Governor Cuomo to recruit healthcare workers for these vital missions to provided needed medical aid to the people of Puerto Rico. We stand committed to provide as much immediate relief as we can and join the long-term work of rebuilding the island's healthcare infrastructure so that residents receive the quality care they deserve."

Puerto Rico Relief & Rebuilding Fund

Governor Cuomo has engaged the Partnership for New York City, the city's leading business organization, to establish the Puerto Rico Relief & Rebuilding Fund at New York Community Trust, a public foundation, that will make grants to local charitable organizations in Puerto Rico that are helping with recovery and rebuilding from the devastation of Hurricane Maria, focusing on the most needy households and communities. Funds and in-kind contributions are being solicited from the business community, with a minimum donation of $10,000.

To date, New York has deployed:

132 National Guard Military Police

60 National Guard soldiers

Four Black Hawk helicopters

More than 70 Port Authority personnel

More than 50 State Troopers

20 New York Power Authority experts

Two Department of Environmental Conservation drone pilots

Prior to this weekend's shipment, New York previously sent more than 433,000 bottles of water, 19,000 canned goods, 59,000 packages of baby wipes, 89,000 packages of diapers, 40,000 containers of baby food, 15,000 juice pouches, 8,600 solar lamps, 6,300 pounds of dry food and 10 generators to the island.
Music, Movies & Entertainment, School & Education, Local News, Arts & Culture

By Long Island News & PR Published: October 12 2017

The Quartet will be featured on the Saturday, November 11 edition of Spotlight on Long Island Schools, on Long Island News Radio 103.9 FM.

Mastic Beach, NY - October 12, 2017 - The William Floyd High School String Quartet, under the direction of orchestra teacher Christopher Shaughnessy, will be featured on the Saturday, November 11 edition of Spotlight on Long Island Schools, a weekly program, airing Saturday mornings at 10:30 am on Long Island News Radio 103.9 FM, which focuses on the positive things happening in schools across Long Island. The show, now in its third season, is hosted by Robert Vecchio, who also serves the William Floyd community as president of the Board of Education.

This quartet, featuring Amanda Cain, Jenna Linsalata, Elizabeth Scianno and Kevin Quintanilla, along with their teacher Mr. Shaughnessy, had the opportunity to discuss with Mr. Vecchio what they love about music, being a student-musician at William Floyd, their plans for the future and more. They also performed two songs for the listening audience.

Additionally, this same group of talented students had the opportunity to perform at a recent Board of Education meeting which was attended by dozens of community residents.
CCTV footage has been released after a 22-year-old man from Maidenhead was punched and kicked to the ground by four men during an unprovoked assault in Islington, London.

Callum Wade was with two friends in Charterhouse Street at about 3am on Saturday, April 1 when he was attacked in a sustained assault. His friend was also assaulted but not seriously injured.

After the attack Callum sought help from staff at nearby nightclub Fabric, who provided first aid and called a cab which took him to the hospital.

Callum suffered several facial fractures and permanent damage to his retina.

Detectives have released images and CCTV footage of three men who may have vital information.

Detective Constable Mark Pinder of the Central North Command Unit, who is leading the investigation, said: "This was a violent assault which appears to have been launched with no provocation and has left Callum with injuries that will affect him for the rest of his life.

The level of violence used was shocking and those who carried it out need to be traced before they commit a similar offence. I am appealing to anyone who recognises these men to contact police and help bring these violent thugs to justice."

Anyone with information is asked to contact DC Pinder at the Central North Command Unit on 0208 345 0119 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
In the second leg of his Latin American tour, Alan Woods of the International Marxist Tendency enjoyed a rapturous reception across Brazil as he launched the newly updated edition of Trotsky's final masterpiece: his unfinished biography of Stalin.

"Stalin, an analysis of the man and his influence" is a unique, extraordinary book by a mature Trotsky, which studies the relationship between the individual and his role in history with a depth of historical materialist analysis that is unprecedented in Marxist literature. This is a book that helps us understand the world we live in today.

This biography was being written when Trotsky was assassinated. For more than 70 years, the world has only had access to an adulterated and manipulated edition released by a bourgeois publishing house in the US, which owned the rights, translated by Charles Malamuth. Natalia Sedova, Trotskys comrade and widow, unsuccessfully tried to prevent its publication. That edition was the only one known in Brazil until now. To get an idea of the difference: the deformed edition has about 450 pages and the reorganized version has about 1,000.

In 1980, Trotsky's archives at Harvard University were opened to the public and years later Rob Sewell (editor of the British paper of the IMT, Socialist Appeal) found a vast amount of material for the book that had not been used. After a decade of work by Rob Sewell and Alan Woods, both from the International Marxist Tendency, the text was reassembled, parts of it retranslated from Russian to English, and cleared of the "creations" of the translator of the 1940 edition, while a vast amount of previously unpublished material was added.

This is the only edition that has received the approval of Esteban Volkov, the grandson of the author, who recognizes this as the only valid version of his grandfather's work and therefore signs the preface of the book.

In Brazil, the book was edited by Editora Marxista and Editora Movimento and was released with a video-conference by Volkov, (who also runs the Leon Trotsky Museum in Mexico), in the presence of Alan Woods, who came to the country especially for this launch. Launch meetings have already taken place in Sao Paulo, Florianopolis, Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro.

Watch the video of Esteban Volkov

This extraordinary book, edited by Woods, has already been published in English, Spanish and Italian, and editions are being prepared in French, German, Russian, Danish, Swedish, Greek and Urdu, amongst other languages.

In Sao Paulo: a full and enthusiastic auditorium attends launch of Stalin

Stalin was launched on 4 October in the presence of 300 people on the packed-out third floor of the Catholic University of Sao Paulo (PUC-SP).

Full room at PUC in Sao Paulo / Own Work

The first in a series of book launches in Brazil, this event in Sao Paulo saw the participation of Woods (who coordinated the English edition) and Volkov. Serge Goulart, leader of the Marxist Left, represented Editora Marxista, while Roberto Robaina, leader of the Socialist Left Movement (MES) spoke for Editora Movimento. Also speaking at the event was the translator of the Brazilian edition, Caio Dezorzi, and university lecturer Beatriz Abramides, Bia, from the executive of APROPUC (lecturers' union at PUC/SP).

Bia opened the event by announcing Esteban's participation and giving him the floor. Esteban gave an emotional greeting in which he emphasized the importance of the initiative to publish the true legacy of his grandfather for the Brazilian public and thanked the editors Goulart and Robaina.

According to Goulart, the material being presented had a special significance. "This book is a masterpiece by Trotsky, a key work. It is not any book, it is not a biography of Trotsky's opponent," he stressed. Noting its relevance to the audience, he continued: "It is a fundamental book, that when you finish reading, you will come out understanding a little better, more deeply, the 20th Century and the world we are living in today, one which was forged by the Russian Revolution. This book helps illuminate our struggle for socialism.

Roberto Robaina in the Sao Paulo meeting / Own Work



Drawing a parallel with the relationship between the Bolsheviks and the Commune of Paris, Robaina pointed out: "The book Stalin reclaims this relationship, and at the same time tells how we had an experience, which was the experience of bureaucratization, which was another fundamental point from which to draw conclusions. And the richest part of the book is that it tells just how this process developed."

Woods emphasized how the publication Stalin stands out in this centenary of the Russian Revolution. The leader of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) stressed that if the aim of revolutionaries is the struggle for historical truth, historical truth is contained in the work he held in his hands. It dismantles the lies thrown against the Russian Revolution, against Bolshevism, against Lenin, and against Trotsky.

"Finally I have great pride and great honor to have in my hands this book that like a phoenix has been reborn from the ashes", said Woods, raising and shaking a copy of Stalin. "And in my opinion this is a great book that deserves to be put together with such great books as The Revolution Betrayed, the History of the Russian Revolution, or My Life. A wonderful book that contains many lessons, " he said, also welcoming the launch of the Brazilian edition.

The audience participating in the launch filled all the seats in the auditorium, and also had to stand or sit on the sides of the venue. At the end of the event, the participants applauded cheerfully and then raised their fists and sang The Internationale.

The attendance was a success and there were long queues of buyers who wanted to get the book autographed by Woods.

Emotion and enthusiasm at the launch in Santa Catarina

Singing the Internationale / Own Work

The book launch in Florianopolis, in the auditorium of the Federation of Trade Unions of Santa Catarina (FECESC), on the night of Thursday, 5 Oct, was a success with 136 present. Woods began his presentation of the previously unpublished version of the book Stalin by Leon Trotsky saying that "A Roman writer of antiquity once said 'All books have their own destiny', and in all world literature there is not a single book with a more extraordinary destiny than this."

Serge Goulart / Own Work

Serge Goulart, of the Marxist Left and publisher of the book at the Editora Marxist publishing house, described the book Stalin as a "Weapon of mass destruction against capitalism", an "instrument of political education for revolutionaries" and said that this was a book in which "for the first time in history a theoretical and political giant writes a book about an intellectual dwarf ". Just look at Stalin's legacy compared to Trotsky's, and that is plain to see.

Israel Dutra / Own Work

Israel Dutra, of the Left Socialist Movement [MES], representing Editora Movimento, said that "Trotsky's struggle for truth was decisive and this struggle remains decisive for the revolutionaries of today". For him, "the book Stalin is an inheritance that allows for struggle and compromise. He ended by saying that "We are not afraid to say that we are Communists. We are heirs of the October Revolution."

Trotsky saw all his family, friends and comrades who made the revolution by his side, killed, slandered, and sent to forced labour camps. Still, he died defending the legacy of the Russian Revolution, explaining the problems that developed, and defended the continuity of the world revolution. Even during Stalin's period of greatest persecution against him, he continued to write great books of Marxist theory. "A man against the whole world, a man who had before him the greatest, most brutal, bloodthirsty, murderous apparatus in the history of the world," explained Woods, "who continued to fight until the last moment, until on August 20, 1940, in an action of vile cowardice, an agent of Stalin killed him. "

Alan Woods speaking in San Caterina / Own Work

Towards the end of the meeting, Alan said: "It is very easy to kill a human being, we are very fragile and weak animals, but you can not kill an idea whose time has come."

"This book should never have appeared. When Stalin learned that he had finally killed his number one enemy, he thought it was all settled. However, seven decades later we are here defending the only ideas capable of changing the planet, destroying the nightmare of capitalism, imperialism and creating a new civilization, exclaimed Woods, to a visibly moved audience.

The launch in Florianopolis was initially scheduled to take place at the UFSC university, but due to the suicide of the rector, it had to be moved at the last minute to the Federation of Trade Unions of Santa Catarina (FECESC), 10 kilometers away from the university. Even so, the activity was a success with the presence of 136 people, among them a delegation from Joinville.

The enthusiastic meeting brought together young people, students, workers, trade unionists and social movement activists, who were thrilled and applauded many times. Many comrades were crying when Woods explained the shooting of the Trotskyists in the Vorkuta fields, in Siberia, and that they went to the their certain deaths singing the Internationale and shouting "long live the Revolution, Lenin and Trotsky".

The event was attended by Francisco Alano, president of the Trade Union Federation, who ceded the venue and also acquired his autographed copy by Woods, as did dozens of others present. The enthusiasm was so strong that in the end, after prolonged applause, all stood up and sang the Internationale.

Porto Alegre book launch: a successful political meeting

Serge Goulart speaking in Porto Alegre / Own Work

In Porto Alegre, Stalin was launched on the night of Friday, 6 October, in the City Council auditorium. About 100 participants listened attentively to the speakers and the introduction by Woods. The panel was formed by Robaina as a moderator; Goulart, Luciana Genro (PSOL's national leader) and Woods himself.

Luciana Genro at Porto Alegre meeting / Own Work

Volkov was also present through a live video link from Mexico, greeting the launch of the book and a thanking the Brazilian editors.

The enthusiastic attendees included several PSOL leaders, such as Rio Grande do Sul MP Pedro Ruas and Porto Alegre councillor Fernanda Melchionna, as well as leaders of PSOL currents such as MAIS, Strengthening the PSOL, CST, CEDS, leaders of the municipal workers' strike committee, as well as that of the state teachers, together with dozens of key activists of the university and secondary student youth. An important presence included intellectuals who defend Marxism as well as numerous former militants who in one way or another remain active and have not bowed to reformism or individual advancement.

In addition to the intense agenda in the debate, Woods was interviewed by important media outlets such as the newspaper Sul21 and Jornal do Comercio.

Robaina presented the objectives of the launch of this book and emphasized the effort of the two publishers to make it possible. He then welcomed Genro, who gave a presentation on the need to rescue the fundamental elements of the Russian Revolution and the struggle against bureaucratization, a subject that she deepened in her PhD research.Luciana greeted the speakers and emphasized the importance of the book and the battle for the education of revolutionaries as an inseparable part of our struggle for socialism.

Goulart explained a little of the differences between the old and current editions, and recommended reading the book as a theoretical and political weapon for the new generations.

Finally, Woods, in fluent Spanish, explained the entire 10-year struggle to bring this edition to light, as part of a battle for the truthfulness of Bolshevism's ideas. He explained the combination of the details and psychological and subjective traits of such personalities as Stalin (a man of the party bureaucracy) with the general determinations of the great historical processes. He showed how the rise of the great revolutions brings forth giants and political heroes and how in the epochs of retreat and ebb draw out the mediocrities, the careerists, the political swindlers. Stalin provides a real lesson in the history of humanity, based on the rigor of revolutionary Marxism.

Alan Woods speaking at Porto Alegre / Own Work

In the end, with prolonged and extremely lively applause, the vast majority of the participants discussed enthusiastically as they formed a long line to get their purchased copies of the book autographed by Woods. Many of those present bought more than one copy of the book for comrades of theirs who had not been able to attend, or for friends and family as a gift of great value.

These book launches were extraordinary political successes and also a success in terms of sales, proving there is a thirst for theory and politics among workers and youth. This is the way forward.

Further book launches organised by the Brazilian publishers continue in numerous other cities and the book can still be purchased at a discount (only until November) through the website of Livraria Marxista or from comrades of the Marxist Left and the MES.
Visit www.mellonmedical.com for a 3D animation

Round led by Dutch life sciences investor BioGeneration Partners (BGV); other investors include David Pyott and existing shareholders; Oskar Slotboom (BGV) to join Supervisory Board

Single handed Switch technology allows for high precision suturing of tubular (e.g. arteries) and layered structures (e.g. skin)

Doubling of suturing speed leads to clinical benefits including reduced clamp time for vascular procedures, and to reduction of healthcare costs. For example, increased clamp time in kidney transplant is known to be associated with delayed graft function, dialysis and prolonged hospital stay

Introduction 8cm Switch model, focusing on carotid artery surgery, kidney transplant and peripheral bypass surgery

Annual worldwide sutures and suturing devices market of over $3bn

First focus on completion of CE certification in 2019; market launch (Netherlands Germany) in late 2019/early 2020

Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 2 October 2017  Mellon Medical, a Dutch MedTech developer of a platform technology for suturing with one hand, has raised  6 million to advance its patented ground breaking global innovation in suturing technology. Leading product, the Switch, a single use precision-suturing instrument, enables surgeons to suture tubular and layered structures about twice as fast as the conventional technique. The financing round was led by Dutch life sciences and health investor BioGeneration Partners (BGV). Other investors were former Allergan CEO and private investor David Pyott and existing shareholders Dutch Thuja Capital, Innovatie  en Energiefonds Gelderland managed by Oost NL, and Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (Brabant Development Company, BOM). BGV partner Oskar Slotboom will join Mellons Supervisory Board.

Mellon will introduce its technology in an 8cm Switch model, initially focusing on three vascular indications: carotid artery surgery, kidney transplant and peripheral bypass surgery. Although market introduction is focused on vascular surgery, Mellons platform technology can be used in a broad range of other disciplines, like general surgery, micro surgery, urology, gynecology, coronary artery bypass surgery and neurosurgery.

The annual worldwide sutures and suturing devices market size is estimated at $3 billon by 2020.

The technology is expected to reduce the risk of complications, for instance reduced clamp time for many cardiovascular procedures, resulting in improved patient outcome and a reduction of costs. Mellon expects market introduction of the Switch in late 2019/early 2020, once final development and CE certification process have been completed. Mellon plans for FDA approval within two years after obtaining CE mark.

Mark Vrancken Peeters, vascular surgeon and Mellons founder and Chief Medical Officer, comments on the new financing round: We very much welcome BGV and David Pyott as new investors in our company. The support of these two high class and qualified investors in healthcare innovations, together with our existing shareholders, truly bolsters our confidence in the success of the Switch. By collaborating with medical specialists, industrial designers and ergonomic experts in the development of the Switch, Mellon has been able to reinvent suturing, bringing suturing technology into the 21st century. We believe our innovative platform suturing technology will improve patient outcome and reduce overall healthcare costs.

Oskar Slotboom, partner at BGV and Supervisory Board member of Mellon Medical comments: Mellon has demonstrated a highly innovative suturing concept, which is based on advanced technological insights from vascular surgeons, in an area where little innovation has taken place. It fits well with our funds focus on truly innovative products that have the potential to positively impact patient care.

David Pyott, former CEO of Allergan Inc. and private investor says: The strength of the award winning Switch technology, combined with the scientific and entrepreneurial expertise of the Mellon founding team, caught my attention when considering a participation in this financing round. For my investments, I look for differentiated technology that should improve patient outcomes as well as reducing cost. Mellons health economics story is compelling.

Conventional suturing versus The Switch Classical suturing is a complex process and takes a long time to learn. Focus is on getting control over the needle. Surgeons using conventional suturing techniques need many coordinated motions using both hands in order to place a single suture. On average, 30% of the operation time is spent on suturing. Mellon has managed to reinvent the technique of suturing and has already received several international innovation awards for this new invention, including one from the vascular surgeon community during last years Charing Cross International Symposium for Vascular Surgery in London.

=== ENDS ===

About Mellon Mellon Medical was founded early 2013 by Dutch vascular surgeon Mark Vrancken Peeters, with the objective of developing a new medical device that enables more efficient and effective suturing of tubular and layered structures.

Having long been aware of the complexity of suturing such tissue through his many years of surgical practice, Vrancken Peeters strongly believed that suturing with one hand could improve the procedure and therefore patient outcome. Driven by this belief and his desire to help more than one patient at a time, he traded his career as a surgeon to achieve this mission as CMO of Mellon.

About BioGeneration Ventures (BGV)

BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) is a venture capital company, with a focus on early stage European biotech, medtech, and diagnostics companies. BGV has a strong track record of significant financial returns through investing in innovations in healthcare and providing the expertise to build world-class teams.

The Company manages over 100 million of funds investing in areas where true scientific innovations, the unmet medical need, and the potential to demonstrate a significant proof of concept all come together. BGV strives to work with founding teams to mature science and build companies. The Company uses its experience to guide progress into clinical trials, ultimately leading to successful drug development and value realisation for its investors.

BGV applies its expertise in a rigorous process to select the most compelling opportunities with the best prospects for exit. Historical successful investments include divestment of Dezima Pharma to Amgen for up to USD 1.55 billion in total deal value and in Acerta Pharma for up to USD 7 billion with a guaranteed payment of USD 4 billion. Both companies were co-founded by BGV in 2012 and 2013 respectively. The Acerta Pharma sale was the largest exit ever of a privately held European biotech company. BGV is based in Naarden, The Netherlands, and closely collaborates with Forbion Capital Partners. www.biogenerationventures.com

About David Pyott

Acknowledged as one of the top 100 performing CEOs in the world, Scottish educated Dr. David Pyott was the Chief Executive Officer of Allergan from 1998 until the sale of the company to Actavis in 2015. Dr. Pyott transformed Allergan from a small eye care company into a multi-billion dollar global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company, overseeing $68 billion in market value growth.

Today, Dr. Pyott continues his work in a variety of capacities. Dr. Pyott created the David E.I. Pyott Foundation to educate physicians all over the world to speed improvements in patient outcomes. Mr Pyott also continues his roles in transforming businesses, mentoring others and improving patient outcomes through philanthropic opportunities and through his inclusion on a variety of boards.

For further inquiries, please contact:

Mellon Medical

Jan Benschop, COO Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Mob: +31 (0)6 541 12 534

E-mail: benschop@mellonmedical.com

LifeSpring LifeSciences Communication Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Leon Melens Mob: +31 (0)6 538 16 427

E-mail: lmelens@lifespring.nl
Team Protocentral, an open source hardware firm from Bangalore, India, is raising crowdfunds to release its HeartyPatch device. The HeartyPatch is a single lead ECG patch that can track the heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) when stuck to the chest. Similar devices have been developed and commercialized previously, but the HeartyPatch provides open source access to the software running it, allowing anyone to implement it for unique use cases.

The HeartyPatch features Bluetooth connectivity built into the small device, so data can be easily transferred onto tablets and computers for in-depth analysis. The entire device was made out of low cost components, making it affordable in budget conscious applications.

Its ready to go out of the box, so anyone can use it to track the heart rate and its variability. Not only is this useful for athletes, but cardiac arrhythmias may also be diagnosed with the help of this device.

Here are the four available modes that the devices can operate in:

Continuous ECG streaming mode displays live ECG recording from the chest. This works similar to a heart-rate monitor. Below is a screen capture of the device working in ECG mode.

Beat-to-beat mode can be displayed by flashing the on-board LED or you can stream live, instantaneous heart rate over BLE for immediate detection of changes in inter-beat intervals.

Arrhythmia detection mode runs the arrhythmia algorithm in real-time and detects events of AFIB.

Heart-rate variability mode is available when HeartyPatch is connected to the desktop app, which displays the cardio-tachogram (CTG), Poincare plot (variance), and histogram of inter-beat intervals. Below is a plot of data taken from an ECG simulator that is physically connected to the HeartyPatch.

Heres a short video demonstrating the HeartyPatch:

Crowdfunding campaign: HeartyPatch
What happens to blood within the bodys narrow capillary vessels is not fully understood, but knowing more how blood cells and plasma propagate through all sorts of vessels may help us understand and treat a number of cardiovascular diseases. To help advance knowledge in this field, researchers at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. have developed gold nanoparticles that can be tracked as they travel along with blood through the tiniest arteries and veins.

Previous attempts at using optical methods to track blood flow through capillaries have been limited because some of the components of blood, such as proteins and red blood cells, make things hard to see at such a scale. Red blood cells, for example, can be used as tracking probes by staining them, but because theyre often as wide as the vessels they pass through, they dont provide the wanted optical resolution to get a sense of everything else thats moving through a capillary.

The Birmingham researchers synthesized iridium-coated gold nanoparticles, which are much smaller (less than 100 nanometers) than red blood cells, that luminesce within the visible spectrum and can be spotted using optical techniques. Additionally, the nanoparticles have long lives and therefore can be tracked for extended time periods.

The size of 100 nanometres is ideal for not disturbing the flow, yet still being detectable by high resolution imaging using conventional microscopes, said U of Birminghams Professor Gerard Nash, who was one of the researchers that developed the new nanoparticles. These nanoparticles can be used as trackers for detection in sub-millimeter channels of dimensions similar to many microvessels with higher resolution than fluorescently-stained blood cells.

It is hoped that this research will help improve our understanding of blood clots, vascular inflammation, and improve how we fight tumors.

Heres a quick video showing gold nanoparticles traveling along with blood flow:

Study in journal Nanomedicine: Tailoring iridium luminescence and gold nanoparticle size for imaging of microvascular blood flow

Via: University of Birmingham
Over the last year, Jackson County has implemented the Child Safety Decision-Making Model pilot, which has led to many changes in the Jackson County childrens court judicial process and is helping make sure the right decisions are being made about vulnerable children.

The Child Safety Decision Making Subcommittee was created in 2014 after the Wisconsin Commission on Children, Families and the Courts realized that their social workers, judges, lawyers and other members of the system were not all on the same page when it came to the language used in child welfare cases.

Social workers have their language. They have a lot of items they learn through their safety intervention training as to when they should be removing children. Attorneys have their legalese and we are looking at the code itself to see what is in the code in regards to being able to remove a child. They really werent lining up at all and so we kind of came together to figure out how we can talk the same language so that we are making the best decisions possible for the children with the overall goal being having the right child in the right bed, said Nicole Homer, Ho-Chunk Nation lawyer and member of the subcommittee.

After the completion of a successful pilot in Waukesha County, the subcommittee was looking for a smaller county to complete the pilot. Homer and Dan Williams, Jackson County DHHS children and families division manager, both sit on the subcommittee as representatives of Jackson County, so it was a natural fit to bring the pilot program to the county.

The first step in the pilot program was for the Childrens Court Improvement Program (CCIP) to analyze how Jackson County was doing.

The Childrens Court Improvement Program will come in and do a baseline to determine how well we are doing in temporary physical custody hearings, which is the first hearing that happens when a child is removed from their parental home and placed in out-of-home care, Williams said, adding that temporary physical custody hearings usually happen within 24-48 hours of a child being removed from a home.

During those hearings, the pilot program analyzed whether social workers were describing a child welfare case effectively using five child safety decision-making model measures: present danger, impending danger, child vulnerability, protective parent capacity and safety plan.

A child is considered unsafe if there is a present or impending danger threat to which the child is vulnerable to, and there is a lack of protective capacities to protect the child from that harm. A child is removed if a safety plan in insufficient to protect the child from danger.

The measures are used by social workers to defend why a child is considered unsafe and removed from a home, which all should be discussed at the temporary physical custody hearing.

However, CCIP found that these measures were not discussed at every hearing, instead finding that most of the measures were discussed less than half of the time in Jackson County cases.

Finding a common language

Though measures were not effectively discussed by social workers in Jackson County at the temporary physical custody hearings, members of the legal team like lawyers and judges were also unfamiliar with these terms and how social workers arrived at their decisions.

The number one thing that I learned was actually learning what the standards are that the social workers utilize. I never knew them. I never heard them vocalized in the manner that we are now doing. I didnt know any of that until I got on the subcommittee, Homer said.

This deeper level understanding of the child welfare process by the legal system was one of the bigger goals of the pilot program.

I think one of the goals we were hoping for is not only that everyone can understand and speak the same language about safety, but understanding that there is a process involved and that it is a structured decision-making process, CCIP policy analyst Michelle Zaccard said explaining that ultimately the judge makes the final decision, but the information the social workers can provide help make that decision.

To help solve this issue, CCIP held a training for all Jackson County lawyers and judges that would be involved in child welfare cases to help describe the process.

I never really knew what the social workers were looking at because I was just looking at what their Temporary Physical Custody Removal Form stated and then trying to fit it in with what the grounds are in the law because the law obviously is what I am more familiar with, Homer said explaining that things like safety are not defined in the law, but yet social workers talked about it a lot when at court proceedings.

The lack of understanding between the legal system and child welfare agencies is why the training was necessary.

Child welfare agencies have significant training in child safety and how to make those decisions, but what they recognized is the legal system doesnt always have that same level of knowledge and we werent using a common set of terms to talk about child safety which was leading to confusion and frustration among the system, Williams said.

Zaccard acknowledges that having active participants has helped the process.

I think one of the things we have seen so far in the project in terms of each of the counties is we have had a lot of positive outcomes in terms of judicial leadership taking a big role in the success of the pilot, Zaccard said.

Explaining social worker reasoning

To help increase the conversation about the child safety decision-making model measures, the pilot also required social workers to fill out a new form that was much more in-depth.

So then at court all of the parties are aware of what the child welfare agency has done, why we feel it is contrary for the welfare of the child to remain in the home and provides an ability for us to explain it in the same terms, Williams said.

With the social worker filling out this new form, many other advantages were observed.

The social worker understands that the child is unsafe and has a reason for that, but putting it in writing has allowed them to really clarify the reasons and they are able to do it before they are in the courtroom, Williams said. Having it all spelled out on the supplement form...really helps the judicial system get a clear understanding of everything.

This form even led to advantages for the parents and their legal representation.

It allows the parents attorney to know our answer and not be surprised by information in court, and so they are able to have a conversation prior to court with their clients and be able to discuss what the agency has found and make an informed decision on how to proceed, Williams said.

With this form, the judge is also able to be more informed and is more easily aware when something was not done correctly.

I think it allows for a more fair representation on the parents behalf too because if we dont answer a question on the supplement form, we know the judge is going to ask that question in court, Williams said.

Child vulnerability was one of the measures that Jackson County social workers often missed before using the form. CCIP found that it was mentioned about 10 percent of the time in the temporary physical custody hearing.

We have definitely started talking about that more at hearings where before some of it was assumed and some of it was glossed over, but now we are making an effort to talk about it in every court case because it is important that we talk about how they are vulnerable to that specific danger threat that is identified, Williams said, adding that often social workers felt child vulnerability was obvious in some cases.

He said that even though it may have seemed obvious, the subject is still important to discuss because there are important child vulnerability distinctions when a 15-year-old can take care of themselves better than a 3-year-old.

Improving results

After the training was implemented and the form used on every case, CCIP returned after six months and a year to tabulate the results.

After a year, all five child safety decision-making model measures were discussed in 100 percent of temporary physical custody hearings.

The results were amazing. We literally went to 100 percent on all of the items we were supposed to be doing in those hearings. I believe the pilot was a success based upon what went into it between the forms, everyone getting trained on what to do and everyone speaking the same language within the court hearings, Homer said.

Williams expects that using the child safety decision-making model has and will continue to ensure that the right child is in the right bed in Jackson County.

This is showing to me that the judicial system is really interested in making sure children are safe and everyone is doing their part to make sure we are making good decisions. It is never an easy decision to remove a child from the home, Williams said. I think by increasing the conversation that we are having in court about safety, we are able to make sure we are only removing children when we need to.

Even though the results were promising, CCIP did find some areas of best practice that Jackson County did not discuss all of the time at temporary physical custody hearings including educational stability and cultural and linguistic considerations.

Educational stability comes from a new federal law that was recently passed and is discussed in 80 percent of temporary physical custody hearings in Jackson County.

If we remove a child from home and their school district because a foster placement or relative placement is outside of the school district boundaries, we are basically setting them back educationally, Williams said.

The pilot also found that the county did not discuss cultural and linguistic considerations in 40 percent of cases. Williams expects that percentage mainly follows their cases that involved the Indian Child Welfare Act.

We definitely talk about culture when we have ICWA cases, Indian Child Welfare Act cases, because the law requires us to do things a little different and look at placements, Williams said. I think what this showed is that we should be looking at other cultures as well and making sure that we recognize every familys customs and cultural traditions and making sure the placement is able to support those.

As an attorney representing the Ho-Chunk Nation, ICWA cases are important to Homer, which is one of the reasons she is on the subcommittee.

So we ourselves have our own legal interests to make sure these cases are handled appropriately. So at times we might be in favor of what the county is doing, but however we might not be in favor so we might show up to object to what is going on, Homer said.

The subcommittee and CCIP are conducting a pilot in La Crosse County. Once completed, Zaccard hopes the child safety decision-making model becomes the norm across the state.

What we are doing now is continuing to meet as a subcommittee and certain subcommittee members are beginning to spread the word by giving different presentations at trainings and having people be aware that there are these circuit court forms related to child safety and doing presentations for those that want to do it, Zaccard said. Once we have the word out more, hopefully we can provide these trainings to other counties and get them to also use the same model.
by Sara Guaglione , October 11, 2017

The Boston Globe is partnering with Pfizer on a branded content series called Dear Scientist to highlight the dedicated biopharmaceutical scientists and the patients and families impacted by the diseases they are working to cure.

The goal of Dear Scientist is to put a human face on the often invisible scientists who spend years or even decades driven to solve a seemingly incurable disease, per a statement.

Each of the three installments, which include a mix of articles, photography and video, will spotlight a different disease.

The series, created by The Boston Globes branded content studio, BG BrandLab, documents scientists at Pfizers Kendall Squares research site, located in Cambridge, Mass., and their interactions with families and patients affected by a disease and the progress of research.

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More than 1,000 researchers are headquartered at Pfizers Kendall Square site, working on discovery and clinical programs across a range of diseases.

"Dear Scientist" features a family affected by a disease who write a letter to a biopharmaceutical scientist, which is published on a digital hub for the Dear Scientist series on The Boston Globes site.

A Pfizer scientist reads the letter and is introduced to the family to share an intimate and touching dialogue on their perspectives. The conversation is also produced as a video in a narrative story format.

The first installment of the "Dear Scientist" series was released this week and profiles Nancy Horwood and her mother's 25-year battle with Parkinson's disease.

David Gray, senior director in Pfizer's Neuroscience Research Unit in Kendall Square, who has been pursuing a Parkinson's cure for almost a decade, reads the letter and has an emotional meeting with Horwood.

BG BrandLab officially launched in January. It has worked with clients such as Staples, Vermont Department of Tourism and Cabot Creamery, local bank Rockland Trust, Boston Childrens Hospital and Franciscan Childrens Hospital.

Doug Most, the head of BG BrandLab, was an editor of The Boston Globe for over a decade. He said he came into this new role with an inherent desire for great storytelling, due to his editorial background.

He told Publishers Daily his aim is to produce branded content that rivals what we are trying to do with the newsroom. A good branded studio should operate like a mini newsroom.

"Dear Scientist" is one of the more ambitious partnerships the studio has had, Most said, specifically due to the high-quality video reporting.

Boston is a thriving pharmaceutical hub right now, and Pfizer wanted this series to showcase the scientists who have devoted their careers to finding the cure to one particular disease, Most added.

The scientists arent just holed up in some lab somewhere, but are aware of the human impact their research has on those affected by illness.

In the video for the first installment, Gray tells Horwood: "I personally believe we're going to find a cure. And I don't say that lightly."

The next two installments of Dear Scientist are scheduled for release at the end of October and before Thanksgiving, respectively.
by Ray Schultz , October 11, 2017

250ok, an email analytics and deliverability company, has raised $2.6 million in Series A funding. The round is led by Arthur Ventures.

The Indianapolis-based firm will use the funds to pursue product expansion and hiring.

250ok has doubled its headcount over the past year, and plans to hire at least 53 more employees by 2021, working with the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the firm says.

Founded in 2011, 250ok specializes in email deliverability, analytics and engagement, and serves such clients as Marketo, SendGrid and SparkPost.

With more than 3 billion people projected to use email by the end of 2017, 250oks analytics and deliverability solution sets companies up for profitable and secure email marketing initiatives, states Patrick Meenan, partner at Arthur Ventures.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, October 11, 2017

Rejecting arguments made by the Association of National Advertisers and CTIA-The Wireless Association, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to reconsider its recent decision to uphold a Berkeley ordinance that requires cell phone retailers to warn customers about possible radiation exposure.

The ANA and wireless carriers argued that the 2016 Berkeley law violates free speech principles. The measure requires stores to include the following language in their warnings: "If you carry or use your phone in a pants or shirt pocket or tucked into a bra when the phone is ON and connected to a wireless network, you may exceed the federal guidelines for exposure to RF radiation."

The Federal Communications Commission independently requires cell phone manufacturers to issue a similar warning, according to the appellate court.

CTIA sued in 2016 to block Berkeley's law. A trial judge refused to do so, as did a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit. In May, the wireless carriers asked for a new hearing in front of at least 11 of the circuit's judges; that request was backed by the ANA, which argued that the government "may not require private parties to vilify their own products, and certainly cannot require misleading statements about them."

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The 9th Circuit on Wednesday refused to grant a new hearing in the case. Circuit Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw dissented from that decision, writing that a "proliferation of warnings and disclosures compelled by local municipal authorities" could divert consumers' attention from more important warnings.

"Time which a prospective purchaser must spend puzzling over the City of Berkeleys warning is time not spent acquiring more pertinent product information," Wardlaw wrote.

Wardlaw added that the warnings required by the city are "completely unnecessary in light of the carefully calibrated, FCC-approved disclosures in the users manual accompanying each new cell phone."

Dan Jaffe, ANA executive vice president of government relations, warns that the decision could "explode the potential" for inconsistent regulations in other states and towns.

"It's highly likely we'll start seeing similar things all around the country. There are 30,000 plus cities and counties around the country. are all of them going to have these kinds of disclosures?" he asks.

Jaffe adds that new laws requiring certain disclosures pose a threat to advertisers' free speech rights. "These mandatory disclosure requirements that are starting to pop up in California are major dangers to first amendment rights of advertisers," he says.

Last month, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit blocked a San Francisco law that would have required health warnings for sugary drinks. A three-judge panel ruled that law likely violates free speech principles for several reasons, including that it was misleading.

"By focusing on a single product, the warning conveys the message that sugar-sweetened beverages are less healthy than other sources of added sugars and calories and are more likely to contribute to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay than other foods. This message is deceptive in light of the current state of research on this issue," the court wrote in that case.
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Sperm cells cannot survive for long once they are exposed to the air outside of the body. Precisely how long they can survive depends on the environment that they are released into and how quickly the fluid surrounding the sperm cells dries up. Read on for the answers to some common questions about sperm and sperm survival.

Sperm lifespan inside the female body After ejaculation, sperm can live inside the female body for around 5 days. The fluid in a womans reproductive tract has all of the nutrients that sperm need for their survival during that time. Once inside the female reproductive tract, the sperm cells must swim through the cervix and into the uterus to reach the fallopian tubes and female egg. It is a very long journey for sperm cells to make and very few survive.

Does the withdrawal method work? Share on Pinterest Once outside the body, sperm cells cannot survive for long. The withdrawal method, or when the male pulls out of the female before ejaculation, is notoriously unreliable. Before ejaculation occurs, a small amount of semen, also known as pre-cum, leaves the penis. There is some debate as to whether this fluid contains sperm cells. Until researchers are sure, it is best to assume that pregnancy is possible if this fluid comes into contact with a womans vagina. According to Planned Parenthood, if the withdrawal method is performed correctly 100 percent of the time, it is about 96 percent effective. However, most people are not able to perform it correctly every time, making the actual effectiveness somewhere around 78 percent. This means that each year, 22 out of 100 women using this method will get pregnant, or around 1 in 5. Withdrawal is more effective when combined with other methods of contraception, such as male or female condoms or spermicide. When using this method, it is also essential to make sure that ejaculation occurs away from the vaginal opening. It is still possible for pregnancy to happen if the sperm spills onto the vagina or vulva.

How long do sperm live in a hot tub? In the hot tub, sperm cells do not live for very long at all. The sperm cannot survive for longer than a few seconds after being exposed to the chemicals and hot water. Pregnancy from someone ejaculating into a hot tub would be very rare and likely not even possible. In a warm bath that was not too hot, sperm cells could likely survive for a few minutes. However, it is very unlikely that sperm would be able to find their way through the tub water and into the vagina of a female. Pregnancy occurring in this manner would also be very difficult, if not impossible. However, if a couple were having intercourse in the water, pregnancy would be just as likely because the sperm would enter directly into the female reproductive tract. The outside temperature and physical environment would not have any impact on sperm survival.

How long can sperm survive if frozen? Share on Pinterest Freezing sperm is an option for men with medical conditions that may impact fertility. Scientists believe that sperm cells can survive indefinitely once they are frozen, as long as the temperature remains stable. At such a low temperature (-196C), the sperm cells are in a type of suspended animation, which means that all of their essential functions have completely stopped. Men freeze sperm for a variety of reasons. Many do so because they are undergoing infertility treatment, or have cancer or another medical condition that would potentially impact their fertility. Freezing sperm would allow a man to have children even if he lost his fertility due to cancer or cancer treatment.

Manufacture Typically, millions of sperm cells are produced in the testicles every day. During this time, the cells that make up the sperm divide and change. The sperm cells make their way into the epididymis where they finish developing, which can take several weeks. The sperm eventually develops a head and tail, so that it cells start to resemble a tadpole. The head contains all of the DNA or genetic material, and the sperm uses the tail to help it move.

Sperm health factors Many factors that can affect the sperm formation process. Some of the factors that can cause a decreased sperm count or poor sperm function include: Health and lifestyle factors drug or alcohol use

job or occupation

tobacco use

stress

overheating the testicles

weight Environmental causes exposure to industrial chemicals

heavy metals

radiation or X-rays Medical reasons infection of the testicles

cancer of the testicles

swelling of the veins that drain blood from the testicle

hormone imbalances

physical problems in the tubes that carry sperm through the reproductive system

chromosomal or genetic disorders

certain medications

surgery involving the pelvis, abdomen, or reproductive organs If a couple want to conceive and a man suspects that he has one or more of these risk factors, he may want to consider having a sperm count performed. A doctor may also recommend this procedure if pregnancy does not result after about 6 months. If a man has any of these risk factors, he should try to change them at least 2-3 months before trying to conceive, since that is how long it takes for sperm to fully mature.

Improving sperm health Share on Pinterest Men may boost their fertility by taking vitamins before trying to conceive. Reducing the above risk factors whenever possible helps to keep sperm cells healthy, especially before conception. There are several things that a man can do to improve the health of his sperm: Maintain a healthy weight : Being overweight or obese can directly impact sperm production and the hormones needed to support the process.

: Being overweight or obese can directly impact sperm production and the hormones needed to support the process. Quit smoking : Smoking cigarettes has been associated with a lower sperm count when compared with men who do not smoke.

: Smoking cigarettes has been associated with a lower sperm count when compared with men who do not smoke. Cut back on alcohol use : Alcohol use can impact testosterone levels, which will, in turn, decrease sperm count

: Alcohol use can impact testosterone levels, which will, in turn, decrease sperm count Stop using drugs : Anabolic steroids, marijuana, and cocaine have all been linked with decreased sperm production.

: Anabolic steroids, marijuana, and cocaine have all been linked with decreased sperm production. Take vitamins : Taking vitamins regularly can help to ensure that a man is getting all of the vital nutrients he needs. He should start taking vitamins at least 3 months before trying to conceive. Multivitamins for men are available for purchase online.

: Taking vitamins regularly can help to ensure that a man is getting all of the vital nutrients he needs. He should start taking vitamins at least 3 months before trying to conceive. Multivitamins for men are available for purchase online. Keep the testicles cool: Spending time in saunas or hot tubs, wearing tight underwear or pants, and placing a laptop computer directly on the lap may all increase the temperature of the scrotum and reduce sperm production.
New research, which has been published in the journal Science Advances, explains how giving birth through a cesarean delivery may lead to weight gain in the offspring.

Share on Pinterest As more and more women opt for a cesarean delivery, we may need to develop new ways to restore babies natural mix of bacteria.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that the total number of cesarean deliveries does not exceed 15 percent of live births.

Most cesarean deliveries are required to save the life of either the mother or the baby. However, they may be recommended for other medical reasons , and mothers sometimes opt for an elective surgery.

All in all, recent years have seen an increase of 50 percent in cesarean surgeries worldwide. In the United States, it is estimated that almost a third (or 32.5 percent) of all live births are through a cesarean delivery.

Researchers from the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine in New York City  led by Dr. Maria Dominguez-Bello, a microbiologist at NYUs Sackler Institute  set out to investigate the link between having a cesarean delivery and the weight of the offspring.

The research builds on previous studies that have demonstrated a link between having a cesarean delivery and the risk of obesity in the children. One such recent study reports that children born via cesarean are 15 percent more likely to become obese, and the increased risk is independent of the mothers weight.

But what explains this risk? One theory is that a cesarean delivery interferes with the natural transmission of maternal microbes through the mothers vaginal flora.

Such an early acquaintance with bacteria informs the babys immune and metabolic systems, preparing them for a healthy adulthood.

While most studies have been observational and pointed merely to an association between weight gain and the delivery method, this study points to a causal mechanism that may explain this association.
Right-hander Aaron Nola gave Phillies fans a scare when his season ended due to low-grade damage to the ulnar collateral ligament and the flexor tendon his right elbow and forearm, but his agent, Joe Longo of Paragon Sports, tells Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the promising young righty completed a throwing program and has been declared healthy. Dr. James Andrews recommended a cautious approach to Nolas rehab and didnt consider surgery, per Gelb, and the team and Nola both came away from his October throwing program feeling healthy.

Certainly, thats a sigh of relief for the Phillies, who are banking on the former No. 7 overall pick (2014) to pitch near the front of, if not at the front of their rotation for the foreseeable future. Nola had an encouraging debut in 2015, tossing 77 2/3 innings of 3.59 ERA ball as a rookie. His 2016 season looked to be a significant step forward before a rapid decline in performance that culminated in a season-ending trip to the DL. The LSU product was sporting a 2.65 ERA with 85 strikeouts against 15 walks to go along with a 53.9 percent ground-ball rate through his first 78 innings this season (12 starts). ERA estimators like FIP, xFIP and SIERA all agreed with that bottom-line result, pegging Nola for a sub-3.00 mark.

A healthy Nola would give the Phillies an impressive young trio atop their rotation, as hed join fellow righties Vince Velasquez and Jerad Eickhoff (acquired from the Astros and Rangers, respectively) in the starting mix. All three pitchers have demonstrated the ability to miss bats (Nola and Velasquez more than Eickhoff) with at least average control. Durability remains a question mark for both Nola and Velasquez, but thats a terrific start to a rotation that can be controlled through the 2021 season. Looking elsewhere in the rotation, the final two spots are unsettled, though Philadelphia has myriad options from which to choose. Young right-handers Zach Eflin, Jake Thompson and Alec Asher all pitched in the Majors this season and will all get looks in Spring Training (that is, if Eflin is able to fully recover from surgery on each of his knees by that point). Young righty Ben Lively, too, could find himself in the mix next spring as well.

Additionally, the Phillies have been linked to veteran rotation help this winter, suggesting that theyre perhaps interested in bringing someone in to fill a similar role to the one occupied by Jeremy Hellickson in 2016. While theres an outside chance that Hellickson himself could return to reclaim that role, hes widely expected to reject a qualifying offer (valued at $17.2MM) in search of a more lucrative multi-year deal in free agency this winter.
12.10.2017 LISTEN

Following the massive buzz, their photos sparked online just a week ago, Made Men Music Group & Imo Records reggae-dancehall sensation Ellyman and ex-reality TV star Tboss have sprung yet another avalanche of speculations among thousands of fans online with some newly released photos which were taken at an exquisite location in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

The adorable pictures recently surfaced online and have been making the rounds across social media - with majority describing the photos as an acknowledgment of love between both stars.

Reports reveal the photos were taken in another exotic location in Zanzibar; following their previous photos which the two were seen together canoodling at a popular beach in the city.

It's unclear if the photos were intended for a project or it's really an assertion to the speculations of romance between the stars.

Ellyman, who was signed to Made Men Music Group earlier this year and Imo Records in 2016, has since spurred a considerable amount of buzz for himself with a handful of singles officially released under the labels.

Ellyman & Tboss Again In New Photo4.jpeg
12.10.2017 LISTEN

"I am not a very good speaker of my ibibio language, so when the song (sound) Andinikara came, I knew it was from heaven. I promise every listener something beyond the lyrics, the anointing it carries", declared Minister Sam.

Minister Sam is one of the leading praise/ worship leader in Nigeria, he has two degrees in music.

The Akwa Ibom state born psalmist has a special gift for song writing, he is the man behind songs like Onye, I dey halla yo, Para hallelujah Para, There's nothing too hard, Do am the right way, to mention but a few.

Andikara is a drop-out single from his album he released few years ago titled Influence Reloaded.

He disclosed that he will be dropping some of the songs From the Influence Reloaded album as he hopes to drop a new album come October 2018.

Please enjoy Andikara-Ruler

Download, Listen and Share!

Download link: https://my.notjustok.com/track/279437/minister-sam-andikara-worship
Photo credit - Beige Capital

12.10.2017 LISTEN

I have taken a challenging stand to live a life of an entrepreneur, sacrificing relevance to making essence and difference in others life.

Entrepreneurship is a way of life. It hard to teach someone. It rather teaches you as you journey through it, making you understand life as a journey of highs and lows.

It takes a bold and resolute decision to take this challenging but rewarding journey as an entrepreneur.

Its a journey of emotional and mental battle.

Without sacrifices you can't be a successful entrepreneur.

I have lived it , I have experienced it and I have come to believe that most businesses fail because their owners gave up in times of challenges.

So the big question is this.

What should startup entrepreneurs do to stand and survive the challenging times of their businesses?

Ans: Renew Your Energy

The energy of every startup entrepreneur emerges from inspiration and motivation.

That's why, stories and books of other successful entrepreneurs keeps us alive and renew our strength at all the time.

That's why awards nominations sometimes renew our effort to do more.

Most importantly, If you are not purpose driven, you often struggle to renew your energy in hard times.

You must understand, failure is part of success

Negative minds always fail. Be positive and hold your grounds.

The pains and suffering will surely come your way. Prepare for it and as you overcome them , you shall surely mature into a real entrepreneur ready for success and history.

The mentality of a successful entrepreneur is Possibility & Persistence'

I felt giving up, at my early stage of my startup business, no money, no investors and nobody to motivate me. I had just my faith in God.

My faith kept diminishing as the day goes by.

But I kept pushing , soaking my mind in the stories , books & journeys of successful entrepreneur. This i strongly believe renewed my energy to turn the story around.

Real startup entrepreneurs in Africa go through a lot that will blow your mind if you get to hear them.

The Legacy Train:

Entrepreneurs live and sacrifice their all just for their business and people they serve.

Putting them first ,putting ourselves last.

I don't remember paying myself salaries as a startup since I started my business. We often do this in order to pay our workers, making them our priority to help PUSH the mission and vision of the company.

In my world , there are two categories of entrepreneurs; the Legacy Entrepreneurs and the Lifestyle Entrepreneurs.

The Legacy Entrepreneurs Are driven by hard real purpose and thus enable them to survive in times of failures and challenges. They will sacrifice every good to make their business thrive , grow and expand beyond boundaries.

Lifestyle entrepreneurs are driven by what they will materially buy with the gains of their businesses and often not driven by purpose or real business based vision.

The trials of entrepreneurship are inevitable and entrepreneurs must get prepared for them.

Ghana's employment has come to halt ; Job Creation has converged with the Emergence of graduates from our Schools at a rate far below standard and its alarming. This is same in the entire continent of Africa.

The revolution of job creation that abound in the 19th century of industrialization and service provision Has been overwhelmed by the uncontrollable and inevitable emergence of graduates in the 21st century.

For this narrative to change in Ghana ,Africa and the World, Legacy entrepreneurs must emerge with businesses that have the potential to grow and expand to employ many for another duration of century.

The very reason , the startup businesses like Sikadan MONEY Lending, Srf Loans , WEAR GHANA, Stepklair SHOES, Asabea Ayisi, ASPA Footwear, Nimed Capital, etc must be supported to grow and nurtured into industries and commercial service providers.

I'm a proud legacy entrepreneur ,soaring selflessly to contribute to the change of this narrative and with your support we can make Africa a better world.
After 32 years, George Jaderston gave his last sermon as the pastor of the Melrose Alliance Church Sunday leaving behind a legacy of sacrificial service to its congregation.

Jaderston has been the pastor of the Melrose Alliance Church for most of its existence as a Christian and Ministry Alliance church, except for the first 1  years when a different pastor led the church.

The church had its beginning when John Stetzer came back to Melrose for his mothers funeral nearly 35 years ago.

He was burdened for this area and had an Alliance background. He talked to our district about having special meetings here in Melrose and so he had meetings for a couple of weeks. Out of that a bible study started and it grew to where they called a pastor, Jaderston said.

The pastor the church first called was Paul Howard. Around the same time, Jaderston and his family moved to the Onalaska area to start a church. Soon he started filling in at the Melrose Alliance Church after Howard left.

They were without a pastor here, so we came up and held bible studies and preached on Sunday. Then they asked us to come, and the district appointed us here about six months later and we have been here since. I am the only pastor most of these people have known in this church, Jaderston said.

Jaderston attracted people to the congregation, which initially started with 18 people and met at the Melrose Legion Hall.

We started looking for churches and we went to churches around here and we couldnt find any church that we wanted to plug in with that was really bible-based and went along with our beliefs, Melrose Alliance Church member Sally House said explaining that her children also were not always comfortable at the other churches.

After attending several different churches, House and her family made the trek from West Salem where they lived to Melrose to test out the Melrose Alliance Church.

I do remember saying as we were going up there, We are not going to church up here. I want a church closer, but we couldnt find anything and we kept going back and the kids kept enjoying it and we enjoyed the preaching and the pastor and his family and we just became a part of the congregation, House said.

As the congregation grew, it started to outgrow the Melrose Legion Hall.

When we moved here, being in a Legion Hall was not conducive to building a church. They were good to us. The rates were phenomenal. It was the only place that we could afford to rent that would have facilities that would be sufficient. We had to move in all of our stuff every week and take it out every week, Jaderston said.

As the reality set in that the Melrose Legion Hall could not be the permanent location for the church, Jaderston encouraged the congregation to set goals.

Around 1994-1995, we met with the board and we set a five-year goal. The five-year goal was to pay off the parsonage in two years, and for me to go full-time because I was part-time pastoring, Jaderston said explaining that he worked as a mechanic for nearly 15 years in La Crosse and Melrose.

Jaderston said that miracles happened that allowed the church to complete each goal. The board paid off the parsonage within 18 months after receiving a matching grant for $10,000. The board also voted for Jaderston to go to full-time three years after setting the goal because a family in Minnesota donated $500 per month for two years to pay for a full-time pastor since the church didnt have money for it.

The third goal after the first two goals were met was to begin a building program.

In July 1999, the church bought property in downtown Melrose with plans to build a church. They quickly found out that they couldnt build the church on that location because there were sewer pipes and water lines running through the property.

Then the local car garage came up for sale, and Jaderston suggested the church purchase the garage and convert it into a church.

I can remember going in there and seeing the garage and thinking there was no way I could see that being a church. It was really in rough shape. There was oil on the floor, the roof was leaking at that time, there was stuff all over the place because they had closed the place, but hadnt taken anything out of it, House said.

Some people say Jaderston had a vision, but Jaderston is quick to explain that it wasnt his vision at all.

Nobody really saw it as a church. People always say, What a tremendous vision. It wasnt my vision, it was Gods plan for this place and he made it real to me. It has got to work and it is miracle upon miracle that this place is here, Jaderston said. It ended up a bigger project than any of us thought including me, but it was a doable thing.

Once the church decided to purchase the building, Jaderston said that many miracles fell into place to make it a reality, starting with getting the $100,000 loan to purchase the property and make some of the necessary improvements.

Even during that process of getting the loan, that was a miracle because we were turned down by all of the other banks. The district said, Maybe this isnt what God wants you to do, Jaderston said explaining that most banks wouldnt give them the loan because of liability issues with underground gas tanks being on the property.

The building also had severe roof issues, 2  tons of coal in the basement that the church had to take out by hand using buckets and it required a lot of cleaning.

It was dirty. We spent a week with a skid steer scraping the grease off the floor, Jaderston said.

Even though several things needed to be improved, Jaderston saw what the building had to offer instead of what it was lacking. Jaderston said that every contractor he brought into the building told him that it was constructed well.

If you go down into the basement, there are three rooms we cant use except for storage because there is only one access to it, but its like a bomb shelter. You go down there and you dont hear the trucks rumble by. There is no heat and no air conditioning, but it is the same temperature all year long, Beverly Jaderston said.

Another benefit was that the building only had one supporting wall.

That meant that once we cleaned it up, we could do what we wanted in here and arrange it however we wanted it and not have to worry about moving walls because it was all open, George Jaderston said.

The church was completed in three phases, with the final large project being completed this year with the addition of a retractable wall splitting the sanctuary from the chapel.

Even though remodeling a car garage into a church is a big task, George Jaderston holds how his congregation has come together as his biggest accomplishment.

Probably more than anything is the character or nature of the church body, George Jaderston said. In the Alliance we have a statement of faith, but unlike some other denominations, in areas where the Bible is not really clear, you know there are differences of view, our statement does not state you have to be one or the other, but we get together and our goal is to come to truth. To work to truth. What I teach and what I preach is that we will not agree to disagree, we will agree to work towards truth.

In his time with the Melrose Alliance Church, George Jaderston holds those in the congregation very dear to his heart.

It is our home, it is our family. These are great people. It is a diversity that strives for unity and oneness, George Jaderston said.

George Jaderston plans to continue filling in for churches that need a pastor for a short time like when a pastor is on vacation or when a church is without a pastor.

I dont want to stop preaching, I dont want to stop teaching, Jaderston said.
When a President says he is in a hurry, it means a lot. If you are an appointee of such a President, you better gird up your loins because the battle will be hotter and there will be no time for supper. The very first day President Akufo Addo made the pronouncement that he was in a hurry, I pitied his appointees because I knew they were in for extra hard work. In fact, they will have to work past exhaustions to meet the expectation of the president.

It has been barely nine months since President Akufo Addo took over the reins of power but what we are seeing points to the fact that the man is indeed, in a hurry. The man is flying like a supersonic jet as he honours one promise after the other. He promised in 2012 that when voted into power, he would introduce Free SHS in Ghana but sadly the doomsday prophets were able to convince voters that he could not do so. By the grace of Justice Atuguba and his other four Justices of the Supreme Court, Mr. Mahama was given the baton to continue to misrule the nation.

In 2016, the same candidate, Nana Akufo Addo repeated his earlier promise that if Ghanaians gave him the nod he will surely introduce Free SHS. This time around Ghanaians overwhelmingly gave him the nod and waited to see what he can deliver. He had told Ghanaians during the electioneering campaign that he would introduce the programme in September when he gets the nod and that is just what he has done. Anytime I hear NDC communicators say they saw no reason why the programme did not involve students in form two and three, I wonder whether they do understand how to embark on a national programme like a Free SHS. The late President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah introduced free education in the Northern Region but no other government had ever tried it again apart from President Akufo Addo.

In 2000, then candidate Kufuor told Ghanaians that he was going to do away with the Cash and Carry killer health delivery system but the same doomsday prophets doubted what he told Ghanaians. The late President Atta Mills went to Wa in the Upper East Region to tell the people there that no government could do away with the Cash and Carry system and that Kufuor just wanted votes and that was why he made what he (Mills) called 'an outrageous promise. Candidate Kufuor held his card closely to his chest and when he got the nod, he introduced the National Health Insurance Scheme on pilot basis. By the time the man left office, the NHIS covered everybody in Ghana who had paid premium. Very sadly, the party that took over from Kufuor, the NDC, shamelessly collapsed the scheme until Nana came zooming in.

The truth is that four years ago if Ghanaians had voted for the NPP, the Frees SHS by now could have covered all stages. What is facing the NDC and which they have refused to understand is that by 2020 the form one students who are enjoying the Frees SHS will be in form three. That is when the NDC will realize that it takes fine brains to rule a nation but not blockheaded individuals who do not read between the lines. One interesting thing about this Free SHS thing is that day students will have free hot launch every day. Caterers who will feed the students have already received their contract documents and they are out there making purchases. It stands to reason that farmers who cultivate food crops in this country will have a field day since these caterers will visit them at the farm gates to buy foodstuffs.

Since Ghana attained independence in 1957, teacher trainees and nursing trainees used to get allowances until the NDC under John Mahama came to power to cancel the allowances. Candidate Akufo-Addo told Ghanaians in 2012 and repeated same in 2016 that when he gets the reins of power he will bring back the 'alawa'. Today, barely nine months in power, more than 54,000 trainee nurses have been registered and they have also acquired E-Switch cards where their allowances would be paid into by the end of this very month-October. Arrangement is far ahead to roll out the teacher trainee allowances as soon as possible. NDC communicators have to start acquiring crash helmets because in no time they will have nothing to say except to embark on their usual infantile arguments like we wanted to do same or 'we started to do same'

Four months ago, the government of Nana Akufo Addo started paying the huge NHIS debt left by the NDC. As at the time of writing this piece, more than half of the debt had been paid and service providers have started supplying drugs to hospitals and clinics. What is very fearful and disturbing to those of us who believe in the ability of the Nana Akufo Addo's administration to revamp the NHIS and bring back smiles to the downtrodden who cannot afford the Cash and Carry system is that those who contributed to the collapse of the scheme are still at post. What is the guarantee that these guys will not sabotage the scheme for the NDC to say, 'Ah, you said we have collapsed it, see what you have done?' That is why heads must role at the NHIS in every district. After all, the NHIS is not the only place where these guys can work. Zoomlion is there and we need more hands to collect refuse dumps. They did same to the NHIS staff who were working there when the NPP was in power under Kufuor. What is good for the goose should equally be good for the gander. Abi ino bi so?

During those wish-to-be-forgotten days of 'dumsor,' Ghana's economics whiz-kid, Prophet Dr. Alhaji Bawumia told Ghanaians that the problem was not that we did not have the means to supply electricity but that government's inability to pay for gas acquired from Nigeria Gas (Ngas) was the problem. He revealed to the bewildered citizenry that the John Mahama administration owed Ngas huge sums of money and as such, the Nigerians had shut down the pipeline. Today who is talking of 'dumsor' again? As a medium term measure, President Nana Akufo Addo travelled to Equatorial Guinea recently to confer with the President of that country. By the time the President left that country, the government of Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Equatorial Guinea for the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas to supplement Ghana's energy needs for fifteen years.

When this issue was being discussed on a certain TV station after the President had returned from Equatorial Guinea, there was this panel member who was an NDC communication team member who was visibly ignorant about the process, thereby, misleading the public. He told his equally ignorant host that before the Liquefied Natural Gas could reach Ghana, it could take more than fifteen years to build pipe tracks to transport the LNG to the shores of Ghana. And he is an 'honorable' Member of Parliament! This man did not know that one of the easiest ways of transporting LNG from one country to the other is the use of Floating Liquefied Gas Platform or is it the resounding defeat that has dazed them?

One argument that the NDC communicators make which amuses me is the issue of the one district, one factory flagship programme. They want factories to be seen sprouting throughout the country in a matter of nine months in office. They act as if somebody has given the President a timeline to deliver this campaign promise. NDC communicators sit in Accra and think Ghana is synonymous to Accra. Go to Atebubu in the Brong Ahafo Region and see wonders. Hon. Kennedy Agyapong and some Chinese have collaborated to build a big cassava processing factory at the place. Large acreage of cassava farms have been planted and in a matter of time the factory will kick start production. This factory is not like the John Mahama Sugar Factory at Komenda where no sugar cane was planted but a newly painted old sugar factory built by the CPP was commissioned as a Sugar Factory established by the NDC. If they thought they were throwing dust into the eyes of Ghanaians in the run-up to the 2016 general election, the people of Komenda knew. Who can show me where I can get Made in Komenda Sugar to buy in Ghana?

You see, the reason why this current government and its appointees are performing wonderfully in a short time of being in office is that they know what should be treated as a priority and what should wait for another time. And they are focused despite all the attempts to distract them. President Akufo Addo knows very well that failure to deliver is not an option and he also knows that Ghanaians will never take any excuse for failure. Thankfully, Ghanaians know the mess caused by the defeated NDC and have sworn to support President Akufo-Addo to put things right. If you are a President and you have such a support, you will even put your nose on the grindstone to get things done right.

As for Vice President Bawumia, I wonder if he even gets time to sleep. Suddenly he has become a workaholic and only God knows how his personal doctors are feeling. He has the conviction that Ghana will see glorious days and he is assiduously working to make that happen. The last time I saw the gentleman, I looked straight into his eyes and all that I could see was tiredness. The President and his Vice need our prayers as they trudge along to make Ghana a happy place to live and work. May the Lord God of Israel, He who delivered Jonah from the belly of the whale be with them in every step they take. Guardian Angel Gabriel will be on the lookout for saboteurs and nation wreckers. Still, the battle is the Lord's.

By Eric Bawah
I Thank God for having been in the Ghanaian political arena long enough to witness the good, the bad, and the ugly, I have realise that, Ghanaians should forget about the NDC Party and deal with those who " talk the talk, and walk the walk".

Mr. President, you have proved beyond reasonable doubt that you are a doer and not "Dumsor will be a thing of the past or, I promise not to promise again". Indeed you are a man of your words.

The economic state in which you found this country on January 2017 was so badly deteriorated that, if not by miracle then it is pure competence and higher level of determination to have implemented all these high cost of social intervention programs for 10 months as President of almost economically collapsed Ghana, you've provided to the world that, indeed you are Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, "the messiah" of the ordinary Ghanaian, you deserve praise and admiration.

On behalf of nursing trainees, I say thank you , thank you for making the Ghanaian health system one of your most important priorities and also making our health workers feel encouraged, proud, and eager to serve their motherland.

I remember John Mahama and his team refusing bluntly that " there was no money so they will not pay the nursing trainee allowance" and they did not! But under just a year, you have managed to pay the nursing trainee allowance and Ghanaians are so elated, feeling proud and lucky to have a President with such a big heart, indeed by your own words, you have shown to all of us that " not all politicians are liars ". On behalf of nursing trainees, from the depths of my heart I say thank you for making the Npp a party to vote for come 2020.

Under your leadership, Ghana is working again!

Once again I say, thank you Mr. President!!!

David Kankam Boadu,

Aspiring NPP National Chairman
Kinshasa (AFP) - The election to pick DR Congo's next president will not happen before early 2019, the electoral commission said Wednesday, a delay that raises fresh security worries in the vast African nation.

Polls were due this year under a transitional deal aimed at avoiding fresh political bloodshed after President Joseph Kabila refused to step down when his second mandate ended in December.

But the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) said Wednesday it would need another 504 days to prepare for the vote after the completion of an electoral census, which is far from accomplished in the restive Kasai region.

The delay could be reduced "if we accept to use voting machines and if we change the electoral law," a commission spokesman told AFP.

The polls have been repeatedly pushed back and CENI said in July it would not be possible to hold a nationwide vote this year due to ongoing security issues, particularly in the Kasai area.

Activists in the natural resource-rich nation of some 70 million immediately called for resistance to the delay.

"There can be no more waiting. To the Congolese people... it's now or never," pro-democracy group LUCHA reacted on Twitter.

Following a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on Wednesday, French Ambassador Francois Delattre called on Kinshasa to quickly release a full timetable for what he said must be "credible" elections.

'Transparent and peaceful elections'

"The council expects a speedy publication of the electoral timetable and the implementation of the confidence-building measures. There is a consensus on this very important point," Delattre told reporters.

The Security Council called for elections to be organised this year in the DR Congo, in line with a political agreement struck in December between the government and opposition groups.

Under the deal, Kabila was allowed to remain in office pending the elections, ruling in tandem with a transitional watchdog and a new premier, to be chosen within opposition ranks.

But diplomats privately acknowledged that holding polls in the vast African country in the coming three months would not be possible due to logistical hurdles.

Diplomats said they did not consider the latest statement from the electoral commission as a formal timetable, which they stressed must contain specific dates for the vote.

The head of the UN's peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, Maman Sidikou, said Wednesday that journalists, opposition supporters and activists in the country are the targets of intimidation and violence.

"In this context of political uncertainty, the security situation has gotten worse in several regions," he said.

Kabila was first propelled into office after his father, Laurent-Desire Kabila, was assassinated in January 2001, during the Second Congo War.

The young soldier won a first elected five-year term in 2006 in a poll organised with the help of the large UN mission deployed in the country.

In his address to the United Nations in September, he said he was "most certainly moving towards credible, transparent and peaceful elections" and that a timetable would be announced "soon."=
Hundreds of trainee nurses and midwives in the Central Region have hailed the Nana Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government for restoring the controversial students allowance.

Class FM's regional correspondent, Maxwell Attah, who visited some nursing and midwifery training colleges in the region reported that students were filled with joy after a ceremony was held at Sunyani on Tuesday, October 10 to officially commence payment of the trainee allowance.

Some beneficiaries at the Cape Coast Nursing and Midwifery Training College (CCNMTC) who spoke to Class News expressed gratitude to government for restoring the allowance after it was scrapped by the then John Mahama government in 2014.

The trainee nurses also called on government to streamline the processes to get them immediately employed after they complete their programmes of study.

Others impelled the Ministry of Health to review the rocketing semester fees which has been draining their financial resources.

The restored allowances will see over 58,000 trainee nurses and midwives in various public nursing and midwifery training colleges (NMTC's) and a little over 45,000 teacher trainees in the 41 public colleges of education, receive over GHS400.00 every month from the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) while in school.

Trainee nurses and midwives are also expected to receive an additional two months allowance to enable them buy consumables for use in the hospital and on clinical duties.
12.10.2017 LISTEN

Having been associated with the corridor of power both at the state and federal level in Nigeria, I doubt if the President is such a docile person as to allow his subordinates to manipulate his office the way our media made us to believe. To adjudge an official for corruption, justice demands proof or evidence. Islam enjoins Moslems always to be just. In this regard, I would like to comment on the ongoing discussion on the letter the Minister of state sent to the President complaining of being side-lined by the NNPC GMD, INSUBORDINATION, and contract award without channelling such awards through him as chairman of the NNPC board. My understanding of the issue is that, it is unimaginable to assume such a leak can happen without the knowledge or even consent of the Minister of State or anybody who is the author of such a document.

From the content of the Minister's letter, it contained series of grievances which appeared to have accumulated. It is a common knowledge that the President has been away for over three months, common sense dictates that such accumulated differences should have been conveyed to the Acting President during the absence of the President.

As I have said earlier, I am familiar with the happenings at the highest level of governance, both when I was a member of my state executive council for eight years and at national level as a Special Assistant to the President for four years. I know for sure that critical communications at the higher level are not normally done through a third party to avoid leakage of information. In view of that, Dr. Ibe Kachikwus letter must have been delivered to the President himself thereby eliminating the possibility of a third party knowing the content of such communication.

A leakage in this regard can only come from either Dr. Kachikwu or the President himself. Common sense dictates that the President will not leak such communication to the public particularly as it was carried by almost all the print media immediately after the letter was submitted to the President.

My feeling is that the leakage of the letter is simply made to embarrass the President and create an impression that he is not serious about following due process.

Another point is that some four years ago when I was serving in the Political Thematic group of Vison 202020, I could recall that late Dr. Ibrahim Tahir, raised an issue on the Public Procurement Act of 2007, enacted during the tenure of President Obasanjo, which he felt very strongly about. Ibrahim Tahirs strong feeling rose from alienation of the Ministers and the Board of Federal Government Parastatals in the award of contract. His argument is that under the present system, the President, Governor and the Local Government Chairman are the only people mandated by the electorate to serve as Chief Executive Officers of the tier of government they are heading. The constitution, however, empowered them to delegate some of their powers to their subordinates including Ministers and Board of Parastatals. Dr. Tahir felt that it was odd for the Minister and the Board of parastatals not to have a role in matters pertaining award of contracts. Members of that thematic group can testify how vigorously Dr. Tahir tried to converse support to recommend changes in this regard but without success.

To this extent the question of the NNPC GMD side-lining the Minister of State has no justification having regard to the provision of PPA act of 2006 in PART V  ORGANISATION OF PROCUREMENTS under Accounting officer which states that 

20. (1) The accounting officer of a procuring entity shall be the person charged with line supervision of the conduct of all procurement processes; in the case of ministries the Permanent Secretary and in the case of extra-ministerial departments and corporations the Director-General or officer of co-ordinate responsibility.

(2) The accounting officer of every procuring entity shall have overall responsibility for the planning of, organization of tenders, evaluation of tenders and execution of all procurements and in particular shall be responsible for:

(a) ensuring compliance with the provisions of this Act by his entity and liable in person for the breach or contravention of this Act or any regulation made hereunder whether or not the act or omission was carried out by him personally or any of his subordinates and it shall not be material that he had delegated any function duty or power to any person or group of persons;

22.(1) There is hereby established by this Act in each procuring entity a tenders board (in this Act referred to as the Tenders Board).

(2) Subject to the approval of the Council, the Bureau shall, from time to time, prescribe guidelines for the membership of the Tenders Board.

(3) The Tenders Board shall be responsible for the award of procurements of goods, works and services within the threshold set in the regulations.

In view of the foregoing, it is clear that the PPA of 2007 does not confer any responsibility on the Ministers and Board of Parastatals on matters pertaining to public procurement. I am, however, aware that for some time Ministers and members of Board of Parastatals are grumbling over their exclusion in the process of public procurement and award of contract.

On matters of insubordination, the Minister of States letter did not give sufficient details to enable an informed judgement by anyone on this matter. According to the Public Service Rules, any case of insubordination should be immediately reported for appropriate action. There is no indication where the Minister has reported the insubordination of the GMD of NNPC to the appropriate quarters.

I am getting concerned at the current trend in Nigeria where a whistle blower is automatically regarded as telling the truth without investigation. I saw this in the case of a member who accused Speaker and members of house of representatives of budget padding and the media did not subject his allegation to proper scrutiny.

For Nigerians to get it right, the practice whereby the accused is automatically presumed guilty is not in consonance with the principle of that the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Johannesburg (AFP) - A South African court will rule Thursday on whether the suspicious 1971 death of an apartheid-era activist in custody was suicide, as police officers claimed, or actually a regime killing.

For many, the case -- the culmination of a relentless campaign by the activist's family -- has brought back raw memories of apartheid.

Ahmed Timol, a 29-year-old campaigner against white-minority rule, was arrested in Johannesburg and after five days in detention he died after plummeting from the city's police headquarters.

Officers at the time said he took his own life -- a verdict endorsed by an inquest.

But his family fought the ruling and have campaigned hard to secure the review that finally began in June.

During the review, a Pretoria court has heard from pathologists, former security officers and victims of apartheid brutality.

Their evidence has triggered emotional responses from the public gallery of court 2D -- including from the family who have been present at every hearing, and from struggle-era icons like George Bizos.

A remorseful former officer who served in the feared security branch which held Timol spoke out about his squad's brutal techniques.

The court also confronted the last security branch officer thought to have seen Timol alive.

Joao Rodrigues was challenged by forensic questioning over apparent holes in his testimony.

Rodrigues could face prosecution if the court finds that he played a role in the death, judge Billy Mothle warned him repeatedly.

A long fight for justice

"This entire story of a suicide is a fabrication and it's always difficult to maintain consistency in a fabrication," the Timol family's lawyer said during a hearing in August.

The landmark case has revived memories of the apartheid-era police methods probed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which concluded its work in 1998.

It has also given hope to families who lost loved ones in circumstances similar to the Timol family.

In 1977, 23-year-old Matthews Mabelane, another anti-apartheid activist, plunged to his death from the same floor of the John Vorster police station.

Now a victim support group is championing his case, giving his 95-year-old father hope that he will learn the truth at last.

Between 1963 and 1990, human rights activists say 73 people died in police detention, sometimes in circumstances strikingly similar to Timol and Matthews.

For the families looking for justice, the process has been an uphill struggle.

"The government and the (ruling) African National Congress have not done anything for 20 years," Yasmin Sooka, of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa, which has helped finance the Timol family's campaign, told AFP recently.
Accra (AFP) - Ghana is facing calls to update its laws on wildlife crime after fears the country has become a transit route for the illegal trade in pangolin scales.

More than 31,000 kilograms (68,000 pounds) of scales from the nocturnal mammal have been seized across the world this year, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

In May and June, two major seizures were made in Malaysia, with at least 700 kg found to have been shipped through Ghana.

Massive hauls of the scales have also been made in Uganda, Cameroon and Ivory Coast.

IFAW's Mark Hofberg said most of the scales from Africa were traded to meet demand in Asia, where they are used in traditional medicine.

The docile pangolin, which has a thick armour and is also known as a "scaly anteater", is indigenous to parts of Southeast Asia and Africa.

Two of the eight species of pangolin are classed as "critically endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: two are "endangered" and four "vulnerable".

Hofberg suggested the increase in seizures could be a sign the authorities are taking the issue seriously but he said many countries lacked strong laws to punish traffickers.

The pangolin's brown scales are made of nothing more than keratin -- the same substance as fingernails -- but they are highly prized in Vietnam and China where they are misleadingly touted as bearing medicinal properties

"For the pangolin trade to be significantly reduced, penalties and conviction rates must be appropriate," he told AFP.

Harsher sanctions "would complement customs efforts" that have led to recent major seizures, he added.

Sold at the roadside

The pangolin is a protected animal in Ghana but the head of the Ghana Wildlife Commission, Nana Kofi Adu-Nsiah, said tougher legislation was needed.

Current wildlife protection laws were passed in the 1960s and the commission wants them updated to reflect international standards and the global nature of wildlife crime.

Three people were arrested in Ghana in connection with the June seizure in Malaysia.

Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world with their docile temperament making them easy prey for hunters

Government officials believe new laws would stop Ghana becoming a transit point for trafficked animals but there is also concern over local hunting of the pangolin.

Along main highways in Ghana, people can be seen selling live pangolins, which are usually held upside down, unravelled from the tail.

The animals, which range in size from 30 to 100 centimetres (12 to 39 inches) can sell for about 200 cedi ($45/38 euros). Those responsible are usually impoverished.

Wildlife Commission officers typically arrest anyone selling pangolins but Adu-Nsiah suggested a solution may be to buy the animals live from the sellers and re-home them elsewhere.

Protected species

It is not known how many pangolins survive in the wild in Ghana but their habitat has been hit by deforestation and development.

Their temperament also makes them easy prey and has led to them becoming the most trafficked mammal in the world.

"The nature of the animal makes it prone to attack by human beings. As soon as you touch it, it coils so humans can pick them up," said Adu-Nsiah.

"They are not animals that can run quickly to protect themselves or defend themselves."

When touched, pangolins coil up into a ball so they are very easy to pick up. Pictured is a baby Sunda pangolin from Southeast Asia which is critically endangered

Cape Coast University student Daniel Konzin researches pangolins in the Kakum National Park, a 4.5-hour drive west of the capital, Accra.

His team had been looking at the local use of the pangolin outside the protected areas, and found it used for food and the scales for spices.

The research, sponsored by the Earthwatch Institute discovered people had come to communities to buy live pangolins and scales.

"The species is so vulnerable you can just pick it up it will not attack you," he explained.

"Sometimes when I see them I feel so sorry for them -- they cannot do anything to defend themselves against humans."

Part of Konzin's work is to teach rural communities, whom he said were often surprised that the pangolin was protected.

"The project is trying to educate people about the conservation status of the species we want to affect an attitude change amongst the people so that at least the species won't go extinct in Ghana."
Government has disclosed it is considering to issue its energy bond in batches of two or three.

Citi Business News understands this may be the case as it will attract relatively lower yields and reduce the debt repayment burden.

The decision to avoid a wholesale issuing of the estimated 10 billion cedis or 2.5 billion dollar bond, according to Deputy Energy Minister in charge of Finance, Joseph Cudjoe is to attract the most competitive price as possible.

It is unclear how many batches government is considering for the issuance.

But Citi Business News understands there may be at least two.

The first to be issued to raise 6 or 7 billion cedis and the subsequent one to raise the remaining as the case may be.

We are looking at raising 6 to 7 billion cedis at this stage because sometimes when it comes to raising funds, strategically if you go in with the huge amounts, investors can bargain for a higher yield. But if you control it and make it smaller, then many investors that show interest can accept very competitive rates.

The IMF has impressed on the government the need to issue the bond as a Sovereign one by which it will be deemed as an amount borrowed by the government of Ghana.

This is in contrast with plans by the government to issue the bond on the books of State Owned Power companies with strong financial statements.

Even though discussions have commenced on these positions, a Deputy Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah explains that the deliberations may not be ending at least until the end of this week.

These meetings will be ongoing till about the 15th of October so it is not a matter that we will expect to finish off with soonthe only conversation that has come up is a question of how we will treat the bond once issued; we have a view and there are other persons who have other views. We have started a conversation on how it ought to be treated on the fiscal tables and we hope that we will all be able to come to a common page by the time the entire set of meetings are done, he stated.

Despite the delay in the issuing of the bond, commercial banks on whose books these debts sit have assured of their readiness to meet government halfway in reducing the cost of the debt following appeals by government for them to do so.

Government is seeking to finance the bond with proceeds from the energy sector levy act which is estimated to have accrued a little over 3.29 billion cedis as at the end of 2016.



By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
Tutors of Bolgatanga Nursing Training College in the Upper East Region who locked the office of the schools principal, have backed down on their demands temporarily following an assurance from the Upper East Regional Minister, Rockson Bukari, that the matter will soon be investigated.

The tutors, numbering about 18, took a unilateral decision to lock up the office of the principal, Mr. Bawa Awula, accusing him of violating the Procurement Act in the procurement of goods and services as well as neglecting the plight of both lecturers and students.

They also threatened to boycott lectures as they demanded that the principal steps aside to pave way for investigations into his conduct.

But the tutors reconsidered their stance after Mr. Bukari visited the school in a bid to address their concerns.

Mr. Bukari instructed that the school suspends all financial transactions until Monday 16th October, when the schools governing council will be constituted to commence investigations into the matter.

Let me assure that, for all the concerns you have raised, solutions will be found to them. Meanwhile, open the office of the principal so that due process will be followed to address the concerns, the Minister urged.

The school has also been directed to cease all financial transactions.

Mr. Bukari said he had instructed that, nobody should sign any school cheque for now and that, the acting Regional Director, Dr. Razak Dokurugu, should write a letter to the schools bank to suspend withdrawals until Monday 16th October, when the schools governing council will be inaugurated to investigate the matter.

A senior lecturer and convener for the lecturers, Edward Atiim, lauded the swift intervention of the Minister and opened the office of the principal.



By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The least said about Victor K. Owusu and his lack of knowledge of court proceedings, the better. It doesn't matter which Judge presides over the UEW case, it is still going to be the 1992 Constitution and all other relevant laws in force at the material time, that is going to be applied by the Judge to the facts put before the court by the plaintiff and the accused to enable the court arrive at a 'constitutional' decision.

The embattled officials can even go to Nigeria and hire public relations practitioners to come to Ghana and spew out all the lies in this world to back their hollow stand like one politician did just before the 2016 general elections, the rule of law will still triumph at the end of the day.

Anyone who believes that the UEW legal tussle can be won by spewing out outright fabricated falsehoods in the media about anyone who is in support of the judicial process running its normal course is in for a tough time.

An ex-governing council member of UEW hereinafter referred to as ex-councillor, put out some garbage in the media about 2 days ago.

So, this very worried ex-councillor, is not really worried about the fatal grammatical errors in his submission, but very worried about alleged illegalities he took part in perpetuating? At least, rookie Victor K. Owusu knows that you should have used malfeasance, instead of malfeasant. Mr. worried ex-councillor, please see Victor K. Owusu in that regard. If you even want to know who anyone in this world is in 'bed' with at any given time, apart from Victor K. Owusu and his apparatchiks, talk to him.

No wonder during the period that you were a council member, you participated in approving 'killer' fees for UEW students. For instance, Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) students pay not less Ghc 500 for internship and a similar amount as training fees. These 2 'killer' fees alone, put an extra Ghc 1,000 on the fees of all BBA students.

For the so-called training, a resource person brought in to facilitate the training is paid an insulting Ghc 600, NOT per hour or per day, but for everything.

Each student is also given a bottle of malt and one meat pie. Mr Ex councillor, are you not worried about this daylight robbery of poor Ghanaians by a council you were a member?

Also, with the internship, lecturers at the Business School were stopped from going on internship supervision last academic year (2016/17). Naturally, those students who are now rendering their national service should have been refunded about 80% of their internship fees, but not even a pesewa or a reasonable explanation was offered them by your council.

The mentors at the institutions where the students are accepted for their internship are supposed to be paid Ghc 40 per student accepted for the internship. For well over 3 years now, not a single mentor has been paid this money. The current council is yet to superintend over an internship.

I supervised some students on internship during the 2015/16 academic year, at a medical facility, and was made to feel ashamed of being a staff of UEW. A very old man working at the medical facility told me that, for the past 3 years, as at December 2015, that the Ghc 40 payable by UEW per student mentored, was never paid. He thought I was bringing him the money when he encountered me as a lecturer from UEW coming to conduct internship supervision. Students are charged not less than Ghc 500 for a service, and Ghc 100 can realistically provide that service. Mr Ex councillor, are you not worried about this?

Are you not really worried that a 'vampire' at UEW has taken almost all Ghanaians for a ride, to enrich himself and a few cronies like yourself at the expense of poor Ghanaians? This 'vampire' devises crafty ways of taking money from parents whose wads are studying at UEW, invest these funds, and take his cut of 3% or 5% in the name of honorarium payment on income, claiming to be directly involved in the income generation.

Is it the lecturer who has no office to operate from, and stands in front of an overcrowded classroom to deliver the core mandate of the university, or someone chilling off in an air-conditioned office, together with the fastest Wifi connection who is directly involved in the income generation of UEW? Are you not worried about this?

It is evident from your article that you "can't think far", so I have to digress a little here.

All UEW staff, deserve an honorarium payment for being directly involved in the income generation.

For example, UEW security guards provide security at all campuses of UEW, thus, enabling all and sundry, to go about their daily routines, peacefully. This peaceful existing atmosphere at UEW is then broadcast around the world, and ends up attracting more students to UEW, whose fees are then invested by a 'vampire' who then manipulates other 'greedy bastards' to approve a stinking to high heaven looting conduit pipe, cleverly termed honorarium payment to so-called officials directly involved in the income generated. Where is the fairness in this Mr Ex councillor? Are you not worried about this 'monkey de work baboon de chop' setting? Are the security guards not human beings like you and your fellow 'blood-sucking vampires'?

Mr Ex councillor, so you are not worried that apart from you and your other partners in national funds looting, who got their allowances and other claims paid within the hour, all allowances and claims for the 'nobodies' at UEW took not less than 3 months to be processed during your tenure?

Are you not worried about the fact that national laws provide for 15 working days annual leave, and you participated in perpetuating an 'illegality' by approving over 60 days annual leave for a selected few? If anyone wants over 60 days annual leave, are they not better off resigning from their positions and going on a permanent vacation? If section 20 (1) of the Labour Act 2003, (Act 651) provides for statutory leave of not less than 15 working days in a given year, that doesn't give you and your cohorts 'unfettered powers' to approve over 60 working days annual leave for your cronies. Would you approve 62 working days annual leave for the Directors of a company you happen to be a shareholder?

Are you not worried that you are so daft that you fail to comprehend that a Presidential Directive has no legal authority whatsoever over the 1992 Constitution or any Act of Parliament?

All those contracts which are being disputed by the Akpeteshie seller, regarding procedural irregularities in the award process, would be looked at with a microscopic lens Vis-a-Vis the 1992 Constitution, the Public Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663) (PPA 2003), as amended. Your vain explanations have no legal basis whatsoever! A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), cannot take precedence over an Act of Parliament. If an MoU should have legal precedence over an Act of Parliament, then what will be the reason for government wasting taxpayers money in running a Public Procurement Authority in addition to appointing a Minister of State responsible for that grey area?

It is apparent from your submissions that you are one of those who were basically on the UEW governing council, for the allowances sake, and not for any other reason. Without mincing words, you are counselled freely to start talking to a good lawyer, as that is your only avenue out of a possible time in jail. The naked robbery you lot indulged in at UEW, could only have taken place with semi-literates like you packed on the council. What economic or productive input could you have offered in the formulation of a viable policy, given the fact that malfeasance caused you nightmares?

This is not a case that will be decided by the 'court of public opinion' based on the sponsored, desperate and incoherent explanations you goofed out there. A majority of discerning Ghanaians, have been fleeced to the marrow by you and your co-conspirators, so you should be prepared to face the consequences of your shameful actions or inactions during your councillor-ship tenure at UEW. Your tacit appeal to Ghanaians to rise up against the judiciary, is akin to the failed attempt by a selfish and inward-looking ex UTAG executives, to link a purely legal issue with so-called academic freedom.

I guarantee you, together with your sorrowful and wishful snarls that the unending arms of the 1992 Constitution, the PPA 2003, and other relevant laws of this country, will surely catch up with you.

End of story!

Alhassan Salifu Bawah

(son of a peasant farmer)
Many Jackson County residents can trace their roots back to the farm within a generation or two. While some folks are no longer involved in day-to-day farming operations, many still have a connection to the farm by retaining ownership of the land. The amount of farmland in Wisconsin that is leased has increased, as farmers retire and rent land to others to operate. According to the latest National Census of Agricultural, 20-29 percent of farmland in Jackson County is rented, while approximately 40-49 percent of Wisconsin farmland is rented, over 60 percent is rented to other operators in Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota.

For those farmers and landowners who enter into rental agreements, the value of farmland cannot be understated. Both parties recognize the importance of the resource, however arriving at an equitable value for both can be challenging. Both the landowner and renter legitimately seek to recover their direct and opportunity costs. The success of the lease agreement depends on meeting the needs of all parties.

Determining an equitable value

Determining rental rates is not an exact science. Local demand and supply conditions, anticipated market conditions and even long-standing working relationships can have some bearing on rental rate negotiations. It is in the best interest of both parties to establish and record rental agreements that are equitable.

To determine an equitable rental rate, each party should first budget their ownership and operating expenses. This will determine an owners minimum rate and a renters maximum rate, creating a ballpark range. It is also helpful to begin the conversation with an objective source. The Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service (WASS) conducts annual surveys of cash rental averages by county. For Jackson County, non-irrigated cropland cash rent averaged $108 per acre as of September 2017. In 2016 the average cash rental rate was $99.50 per acre. Remember that this is an average rate, and Jackson Countys rental range is $45 per acre to more than $200. So how can two parties determine if they are above or below the average, and by how much?

Rental rates are driven by three major factors. Soil type or yield potential is the most important factor either parties should consider. If you do not know the lands soil type or yield potential, consider using the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service Web Soil Survey (https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov). The Web Soil Survey tool allows one to look up farmland soil type and yield potential, which could then be compared to the county average. Keep in mind that the yield potentials are a benchmark for what can be expected as a minimum from the particular soil type with average weather.

A second major factor is local demand, which can be determined in a number of ways, including the location of the farmland and competition for farmland in the region. This can often be determined by township, talking with neighbors or advertising.

A third major factor is the number of contiguous acres and ease of farming. A flat 80-acre field with ease of access is more valuable than a cluster of 10-acre fields of odd shape with knolls and swales with springs.

Some other factors affecting rental rates may include enrollment in government programs, which generally have payments tied to those acres from the Farm Bill program. Length of rental contract can also impact rates. A longer-term contract will encourage investment in the property with lime and fertilizer, and perhaps soil conservation practices such as creation of contour strips, grass waterways and low or no-till practices.

Pasture rental rates generally follow a contribution approach; a method to estimate the annual costs to own and operate a pasture enterprise. Once the expenses of both parties is estimated, the next step is for the parties to clearly specify the stocking rate in the lease agreement. It is important to specify the stocking rate by number of head and type (bull, cow, yearling, etc.) and weight to be grazed.

Assuming either party is managing fertilizer levels appropriately, production could range from 2-4 tons of grass per acre. Consider a beginning and end weight per animal to determine an average carrying capacity, and the fact that forage intake is roughly 2.5-3 percent of the animals body weight. For example an animal with an average weight of 500 pound may eat 13 pounds per day or approximately a quarter ton per month. Low quality forage may sell for $40-50 per ton, therefore the value of the pasture could be $10 per head per month for this type of animal.

Lease agreement examples and crop share agreements

Whichever type of rental agreement parties negotiate, it is recommended to document your rental agreement with more than just a handshake. Proper documentation protects your investments and could give you priority over other potential renters.

Extensions Ag Lease 101 (https://aglease101.org) offers a number of resources for rental agreements including various examples of agricultural lease agreements and information about crop-share rental arrangements for your farm.

Crop-share agreements refer to a method of leasing crop land where the production (crop) is shared between the landowner and the operator. Many recent rental agreements were negotiated during times when commodity prices were higher. Crop-share lease agreements may allow for greater flexibility for both parties when significant price shifts occur.

Relationships, the key to successful rental agreements

Open communication is essential for successful rental agreements. Relationships are easy when things are going smooth. When challenges arise, the real tests begin. Talk, and more importantly listen, to find out what is valued by the partner in your agreement. A written contract will help clearly define expectations and avoid misunderstandings.

Renting farm assets workshop

For those interested in learning more about renting farm assets and successful agricultural lease agreements, UW-Extension is offering a workshop for farmland renters and land owners. The program will be held on Monday, Nov. 13 at Riverland Energy Cooperative in Arcadia. The program will be offered from 1-4 p.m. and again from 6-9 p.m. Topics to be discussed include:

Breakdown of land prices around the region/state and what drives farmland rental rates.

How to include conservation practices in rental contracts and impact on rental value.

Projected farm profitability in Wisconsin and the Midwest for 2018.

Review of flexible leases and tools to help landlords and renters decide if a flexible lease contract will work for them.

Legal issues involved with renting farm assets and what makes for a legal contract.

Guest speakers include Bruce Jones, UW Dept. of Agriculture Economics; Bruce Brovold, Kostner, Koslo & Brovold LLC.; and Steve Okonek and Trisha Wagner, UW-Extension agents. For more information contact the Trempealeau or Jackson County UW-Extension office.
Lawra, (U/W), Oct. 5, GNA - President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has hinted that three more districts in the Upper West Region will soon be elevated to the status of Municipal Assemblies to facilitate speedy development.

'The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) will soon announce this after concluding the creation of all the Legislative Instruments (L.I.)', he said.

President Akufo-Addo gave the hint when he paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Lawra Traditional Area, Naa Puowelle Karbo II during his two-day tour of the Upper West Region.

'I can assure you that Lawra is among the three districts that will be elevated to the status of a Municipality'', he told Naa Karbo.

On rural electrification, the President also announced that 106 communities in the Upper West Region would be connected to the National grid to boost economic activity in those communities.

President Akufo-Addo said the intention of his government was to achieve universal electricity coverage across Ghana by the end of the four-year mandate.

Naa Karbo II congratulated the President for the implementation of bold social interventions such as the Free SHS, which according to him had lifted the burden off parents' shoulders.

The Paramount Chief disclosed that the Lawra Nursing Training School had been awarded a Diploma status due to its sterling performance, but the school lacked basic infrastructure which needed urgent attention from government.

He also reminded government about the construction of a bridge across the Dikpe River to boost economic activity between Lawra and their neighbours in Burkina Faso.

Mr Anthony Aba-ifaa Karbo, Member of Parliament for the Lawra Constituency and Deputy Minister for Roads and Highways said the Dikpe Bridge had been captured among other important bridges in the country that would soon be constructed by the government.

Madam Otiko Afisa Djaba, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection directed that the single school that was not benefiting from the School Feeding Programme out of the 45 schools in the Lawra District should be included for the programme to achieve universal coverage in the district.

She said the caterers for the feeding programme were solely reserved for women as a deliberate measure to empower them economically and warned the men who were putting in applications to be recruited caterers to stay away.

Madam Otiko said the programme was also intended to empower farmers by buying foodstuff from them directly and also to promote the consumption of locally produced foodstuff in the country.

She said as a result, the School Feeding programme would be renamed the 'Ghana Home Grown School Feeding', hinting that the new name would be launched very soon.

On the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the Gender Minster said the vision was to transform the programme beyond giving and receiving out handouts to empowerment through skills training in order for beneficiaries to become independent.

Madam Otiko appealed to all to take advantage of the Free SHS policy and bring an end to child marriage, saying 'no one now has an excuse to give your child out for marriage because you do not have money to cater for her education.

GNA

By Prosper K. Kuorsoh, GNA
Tamale, Oct 05, GNA - The government has begun the process to deploy the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) to all the 26 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Northern Region to ensure efficient management of resources.

To this end, a forum was held in Tamale for planners, administrators and budget officers of the MMDAs in the region to discuss the roadmap and major activities to ensure a smooth implementation of the system.

GIFMIS is an integrated computerised financial management system that facilitates budget preparation and execution, accounting and financial reporting, cash management, assets management, human resource and payroll management amongst others.

Implementation of GIFMIS started in 2012 and currently all headquarters of Ministries, Departments and Agencies subsisting on the consolidated fund are using the GIFMIS for processing their financial transactions while 60 MMDAs have also been hooked onto the GIFMIS.

Mr Ken Ofori Atta, the Minister of Finance, in a speech read on his behalf, said the implementation of GIFMIS was in line with government's efforts at creating a more business friendly environment and to harness better opportunities for the people through improved fiscal discipline.

Mr Ofori Atta urged MMDAs to accept the GIFMIS and use it to process their financial transactions including internally generated fund transactions to ensure success.

Mr Eugene Ofosuhene, the Controller and Accountant-General, said similar fora would be held in the middle and southern belts of the country after which the remaining 156 MMDAs would be hooked onto the GIFMIS.

Mr Ofosuhene, therefore, entreated Management of MMDAs to accord the GIFMIS team the needed cooperation to ensure a successful roll-out of the system.

Dr Nana Ato Arthur, Head of Local Government Service, also urged MMDAs to demonstrate commitment to the GIFMIS by providing the necessary information to ensure smooth implementation.

GNA

By Albert Futukpor, GNA
Accra, Oct. 05, GNA - Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, has attributed the high attrition rate of Members of Parliament (MPs) to the increasing monetization of internal party politics.

This he said was proving detrimental to parliamentary work.

He urged political parties to do serious introspection as this practice of opening the gates at the end of every four years was not advancing Ghana's democracy in any way.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu made these remarks in his presentation at the Centre for Social Democracy (CSD) Ghana's Public Forum on 'Parliamentary Oversight and Good Governance' in Accra.

The forum was organised by the CSD in partnership with the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, with support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

On capacity building of MPs, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said: 'Members of Ghana's Parliament must themselves understand the principles of responsibility, equality before the law and urgent need to develop, imbibe and foster a culture of rejection of corruption and impunity.

'Parliament and Parliamentarians understanding their work simply means capacitating Parliament and Parliamentarians. Building the capacity of Parliamentarians is not a one-year or even four-year event. It requires time,' he added.

He said: 'It is not for nothing that any objective assessment of performance of MPs in Ghana would yield the names of Papa Owusu Ankamah, Dr Benjamin Kunbour, W. O Boafo - all former Members, Alban Bagbin, Doe Adjaho (the former Speaker) Dr Anthony Akoto Osei, and need I add my humble self as very knowledgeable and experienced and prolific debaters and law-makers.'

'These people are not instant products, they are men of the days before yesterday,' the Majority Leader stated.

On the structure of Parliamentary Committees, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said it was self-evident that Parliament was as strong as its Committees make it.

He cited that one of the most high profile Committees in Parliament was the Public Accounts Committee.

'A cardinal reason for its strength is that it is chaired by a minority member. By statutes it is only the Public Accounts Committee that is so structured,' he said.

With regards to the fight against corruption, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said it was important that Ghanaians acknowledged that prevention, detection and fight against corruption and healing, reviving and uplifting the instruments for good democratic governance was a responsibility of all stakeholders including groups outside the public sector such as Civil Society Organizations, and Community-Based Organizations.

'Many people recognised the deficit in the oversight responsibility of Parliament. Notwithstanding, correcting the deficiencies in the system should be a collective responsibility even though, admittedly, the role of Parliament is, admittedly very huge,' Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu noted.

'Parliament is capable of elevating its performance since, as we have seen, a lot of the problems are self-inflicted,' he stated.

Mr Antonio Edem Asinyo, Fellow, CSD - Ghana, said the objective of the forum was to critically examine the oversight function of Parliament within the context of promoting good governance and fighting corruption.

GNA

By Iddi Yire/Doris Amenyo, GNA
Cape Coast (C/R), Oct. 5, GNA - Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has presented a 33-seater bus to the Saint Augustine's College, at Cape Coast, in fulfilment of a pledge he made earlier in the year.

The pledge was made following an appeal from the College's authorities, at Speech and Prize-Giving Day and 87th Anniversary Celebration, to the Government to provide them with a vehicle.

Vice President Bawumia, in making the presentation, expressed gratitude to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Ghana Education Trust Fund for making the vehicle available for the School.

He said education was a priority for the Government and it would thus commit resources to ensure its steady progression to enable the country to develop rapidly through quality human resource dividend.

He said the implementation of the Free Senior High School Policy signaled the Government's determination to provide an all inclusive education to build the country's human capital and ensure prosperity for all Ghanaians.

Mr Joseph Connel, the Headmaster of the College, also commended the Vice President for keeping to his promise.

He said the gesture would address the transportation needs of the school and appealed again to the Government to address the logistical constraints of the College.

GNA
12.10.2017 LISTEN

Effiakuma (W/R), Oct. 5, GNA - Mrs Lily-Versta Nyarko, the Executive Secretary of Ghana Alliance for Clean Cookstove and Fuels (GHACCO), has appealed to the government to reduce taxes and import duties placed on clean cook stoves and its components.

This, she said, would increase the production of the stoves, make them affordable as well as save the nation's forest from further depletion.

Mrs Nyarko made the appeal during the Western Regional launch of the 'clean cookstove project' in Takoradi.

The launch, organised by Ghana Alliance for Clean Cookstove in collaboration with DAASGIFT Quality Foundation and sponsored by Strategic Support to Clean Cooking Sector in Ghana (SSCCIG), all non-governmental organisations, was on the theme 'Cooking Must Not Kill.'

The GHACCO Executive Secretary said it was important for the government and other stakeholders to invest in the clean cookstove project to reduce deaths from exposure to household air pollution which occurred during cooking.

Mrs Nyarko said GHACCO recognised the need towards reducing the more than 13,000 deaths which occurred each year as a result of exposure to household air pollution (HAP) from cooking; and the more than 21 million people who were affected by exposure to HAP each year.

She explained that exposure to smoke from traditional cook stoves and open fires contributed to a wide range of illnesses such as pneumonia, bronchitis, cataracts, lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases, low birth weight and burns.

She noted that clean cook stoves reduced fuel use and exposure to harmful cooking smoke; adding that it did not only improve upon cooking but also contributed to job creation in the cooking value chain through research, technology development, promotion and marketing.

Dr Kwaku Afriyie, the Western Regional Minister in a speech read on his behalf, commended GHACCO for conceiving the idea and implementing the project in the Region.

He noted with concern that despite the various inventions by government for people to use improved fuel for cooking, many people especially in the rural areas still used fire wood in cooking which had serious health implications on them and the environment.

'According to the World Health Organisation four million deaths in 2012 were attributed to household air pollution and about 2.6 billion people in the world still relied on firewood, charcoal and coal for cooking.'

He said to address the situation, the government reintroduced the LPG promotion programme, which was intended to increase the use of LPG as a main cooking fuel in households to 50 per cent by 2020.

'As stakeholders, we therefore, need to step up our concerted efforts on activities and actions aimed at ensuring increased usage of clean cooking systems in the country. Apart from saving lives, the use of clean cookstove would also help create jobs for our people,' he added.

Mr Alexis Kwame Donyinah, Project Manager of SSCCIG, said the launch was another landmark for his organisation and was hopeful that the project would yield positive results and inspire all to use improved cooking technology to protect lives and save the environment.

Madam Gifty Baaba Asmah, Executive Director and Regional Coordinator of GHACCO, encouraged all households to use clean cookstoves and save their lives and the environment.

GNA

By Justina Paaga, GNA
Accra, Oct. 05, GNA - Dr Nii Kotei Dzani, the President of Group Ideal, has been named the Overall Best Achiever at the just-ended 40 Under 40 Awards ceremony.

The awards, aims at identifying and honouring a cross-section of the nation's most influential and accomplished young business fellows under the 40 years, who are making significant impact in the industry they operate.

It also to highlight these individuals' impeccable results through their commitment to business growth, professional excellence and community service.

Dr Dzani took home two awards on the night; 'The Best Investor Under 40' and The Overall Best Achiever Under 40.'

Commenting on his feat, Dr Dzani said: 'I am sincerely grateful to the organisers for such an honor. To my team of great minds, who head the various institutions under the Groupe Ideal umbrella, I say thank you for your dedication in bringing our vision to life, I could not have achieved this recognition without your incredible input.'

'This special night brings memories of the toil, the challenges, hard critical decisions that had to be made and also the joy of the many successful milestones the Companies have chalked along the way.

'I believe this award will lead us onto greater things as we continue to give our cherished customers the Ideal Experience. We will continue to do even more and better to serve our mother Ghana.'

Dr Dzani is a distinguished Entrepreneur and Businessman with extensive business experience as an Economist and accomplished Business Owner.

He is also the Greater Accra member of Council of state.

He has considerable years of experience in managing Micro & SME financing operations in Ghana.

His academic credentials include a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana; and an Honorary Doctorate from the Oral Roberts University, Oklahoma, USA.

He also holds an MBA in Corporate Governance & Finance from the University of Hull, United Kingdom. He is currently pursuing a professional Law Degree.

Groupe Ideal's portfolio comprise: Ideal Finance, First Trust Savings and Loans, Ideal Capital partners, Ideal Asset Solutions, Ideal Trade, TV Africa, Ideal Pension Trust, Ideal Insurance brokers, Tsaste Foundation, a CSR wing of the Groupe Ideal Financial Holdings, Force 64 Security and Westfield Offshore Consult.

Groupe Ideal currently operates in the areas of Investment Banking, Business Finance, Trade, Asset Management, Mining and Offshore Consultancy Services, Media and Security Services.

Many Ghanaian youth are earning a living from the operations of these companies.

GNA
Kumasi, Oct 05, GNA - The President of the Christian Service University College, Professor Samuel Afrane, has called for intensification of the anti-corruption fight to protect the national purse.

He said the abuse of public office for private gain could not continue and must stop.

He was addressing a press conference to herald a public lecture on corruption by the University College.

This would be held tomorrow, Friday, under the theme 'Institutional corruption in Ghana, causes and effects'.

It comes on the heels of the 2015 report by Transparency International and Afrobarometer that showed that corruption was on the rise in sub-Saharan Africa.

Globally, bribery is said to chip off two per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries, representing between US$1.5 million and US$2 trillion dollars, annually.

Prof. Afrane identified weak supervision, failure to punish corrupt officials, and disregard for code of ethics as some of the factors, fueling corrupt practices.

The situation needed to radically change, offenders should be made to face punitive sanctions to serve as deterrent to others, he added.

GNA

By Dorothy Frances Ward, GNA
Lawra, Oct. 05, GNA - President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has pledged the Government's commitment to ensuring universal coverage and access to electricity to all parts of Ghana, by the end of his tenure.

Addressing the Lawra Traditional Council, on the second day of his seven-day tour of the three Northern Regions, President Akufo-Addo said he was not happy that 'the Upper West Region, like the two other Northern Regions, are the most disadvantaged when it comes to electricity coverage and access is concerned.'

'This year, 2017, and next year, 2018,' the President told the Council headed by the Lawra Naa, Naa Puowele Karbo, '106 communities in the Upper West are going to be connected to the national grid.'

'The pledge I have given is that by end of my term, there will be universal access to electricity to all parts of Ghana, including the Upper West Region.'

President Akufo-Addo also announced the creation of three new municipalities in Upper West Region, including Lawra.

He told the council that the Free Senior High School policy being implemented by his Administration had resulted in an increase of more than 90,000 admissions this academic year, saying these would otherwise have dropped out at that stage of education.

The President assured that with the restoration of the Teacher Training allowances in September 2017; the Nurses Training Allowance would also be restored by October 10, 2017.

On the revival of the National Health Insurance Scheme, President Akufo-Addo stressed that his government has within nine months cleared GH560 million out of the GH1.2 billion of debt inherited from the previous government.

This, he said, had ensured that the businesses of healthcare providers did not collapse, and had also resulted in the delivery of healthcare to Ghanaians.

President Akufo-Addo appealed for the support of the Chiefs and people of Lawra for the success of his Government, whose sole aim, he said, was to improve the living conditions of Ghanaians to ensure a happy and prosperous citizens.

GNA
12.10.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Oct. 5, GNA - Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, Minister of Works and Housing has stated that government would partner the private sector in the provision of affordable housing units to address the housing deficit in the country.

According to him, the Ministry is implementing the Affordable Housing Programme with the aim of providing adequate, decent and affordable housing, particularly for the low and middle-income groups.

Mr Atta Akyea made this known in Parliament on the occasion of this year's World Habitat Day.

The theme adopted by Ghana for this year's celebration is 'Housing Policies: Affordable Homes'.

The World Habitat Day was first observed in 1985 as an international event to reflect on the state of human settlement and the basic right to adequate shelter for all.

This year's celebrations are quite special as they coincide with the first anniversary of the New Urban Agenda adopted in Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador.

Mr Atta Akyea also noted that, recognising low income levels as a challenge on the demand side of housing in Ghana, government is adopting cost saving technologies and new technologies of construction as well as innovative mortgage financing.

He said one of the major bottlenecks facing housing delivery in Ghana is financing and as such the government is adopting a two-pronged approach to mobilizing funds both domestically and internationally to support the housing sector.

Mr Atta Akyea said government is undertaking a number of policy reforms and initiatives to ensure sustainable development of the construction industry.

'The Draft Ghana Building Code, which was enacted in 1988 has been reviewed by the Ministry and its stakeholders and is ready for adoption. The ministry is also seeking cabinet approval before the final Bill on the Condominium properties as well as waiting for cabinet's approval and the establishment of Real Estate Agency to regulate real estate agency practice including the sale, purchase, rental and leasing of real estate and related fixed assets and to provide for connected purposes.'

He said as part of government's effort to curb the rampant encroachment and illegal acquisition of its landed properties, the Ministry secured a grant from the Japanese government with counterpart funding from the Government of Ghana to create a database with digital images of all government landed properties using Geographic information systems (GIS).

Mr Atta Akyea further announced that the National Housing Policy (NHP) Implementation Plan is at its conclusive stage.

According to him, the document has undergone stakeholder consultative assessment, and contains strategies that would go a long way to solve the myriad of urban housing problems facing the people.

He said the policy, which is a legal housing framework for the housing value chain is intended to help government regulate the housing sector.

He explained that such legislations are meant to streamline the activities of industry players whilst at the same time ensuring professionalism.

Dr Rashid Pelpuo, Member of Parliament (MP) for Wa Central in his contribution to the statement, urged the Minister to back his pronouncement with practical measures on how to resolve the housing deficit in the country.

Mr Frank Annor Dompreh, MP for Nsawam/ Adoajiri on his part called on the Minister to address the issue of affordability since most of the housing projects undertaken by government were beyond the means of most Ghanaians.

He said for government to be able to provide affordable housing to the people it must look at the cost saving technologies and new technologies of construction.

GNA
Accra, Oct. 05, GNA - Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, says government is ready to partner with private investors in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector to turn the current seemingly helpless sanitation situation into viable job creation opportunities for the youth.

He said government would continue to create the needed enabling environment and therefore welcomed private sector investment in sanitation and water supply, especially in the areas of innovative technologies, infrastructure and services.

In a speech read on his behalf at the ongoing 28th Edition of the Mole Conference Series in Accra by Mr Michael Gyato, Deputy Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Dr Bawumia called on all private investors, young university graduates, civil engineers, business-minded people, and academia, to explore business opportunities in the water and sanitation challenge to help solve the problem, while creating jobs.

His statement were contained in a release issued to the GNA by the Resource Centre Network (RCN) Ghana.

H said government, as part of efforts to tackle the dwindling funding for the WASH sector, was working to mop up domestic funds to provide the needed infrastructure for the delivery of quality water and sanitation services in the country, and assured of government's commitment to establishing the Sanitation Fund as captured in the NPP's manifesto.

'To give the new WASH sector a clear sense of focus and direction, the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Mr. Joseph Kofi Adda has announced that an Integrated Strategy for Water and Sanitation with an action plan would soon be rolled out and that out of the strategy, a policy document has been drafted for cabinet's consideration in the establishment of the national Sanitation Authority (NSA), as indicated in the 2017 national budget statement,' the release said.

Delivering an address on the theme: 'Ghana's Lower Middle Income Status: Implications for Sustainable WASH Services Delivery', Professor Christopher Gordon, Director of the Institute of Environment and Sanitation Studies (IESS) of the University of Ghana, described the practice of Open Defecation (OD) as a disgrace to Ghana, adding that every child who died from an avoidable diseases was an indictment on the nation.

He said Ghanaians should take charge and ownership, and accept their responsibility as a people for fixing the problems that existed in sanitation and water, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal 6 targets.

Currently organised by the Coalition of NGOs in Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), the Mole Conference Series has witnessed consistent growth of interest and importance since its inception in 1989 among civil society, policy makers, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, local government, private sector and development partners alike. The conference has evolved from what was primarily an NGO forum into a multi-stakeholder platform within the WASH Sector in Ghana.

GNA
The first segment of a controversial high-voltage power line between La Crosse and Madison is in service, even as the courts consider legal challenges to the project.

Earlier this week, American Transmission Co. announced it had electrified a 20-mile stretch of the 345-kilovolt line known as Badger Coulee between Middleton and the town of Vienna in Dane County. And work continues along the Interstate 90/94 corridor, and crews began clearing right-of-way Thursday in Trempealeau County between Taylor and Blair.

Construction has yet to begin in La Crosse County, where the project faces a challenge by the town of Holland that is now before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

A joint venture of ATC and utilities including La Crosse-based Dairyland Power Cooperative, the 180-mile line will run between the Madison suburbs and a substation in Holmen, where it will connect to another high-voltage line, CapX2020, which brings power from Minnesota.

The owners say the lines will lower electricity costs, improve the reliability and efficiency of the electric grid, and bring low-cost wind energy into Wisconsin. Opponents contend it was unnecessary and will discourage cheaper alternatives like conservation and local renewable energy investments.

Either way, the costs will be shared by electricity customers in 15 Midwestern states and one Canadian province, with Wisconsin residents covering about 15 percent of the cost, according to the PSC.

The town of Holland asked a court to review the Wisconsin Public Service Commissions approval of the $580 million project as well as its decision to route the line along the Hwy. 53 corridor on separate poles across the highway from another high-voltage line. Judge Todd Bjerke denied the towns primary claim but found the PSCs siting decision lacked any rational basis and ordered the commission to reconsider requests to string the line on the same poles as CapX.

The town appealed, arguing the PSCs determination of necessity  the basic requirement for allowing a project to be constructed at ratepayer expense  was based on an incorrect interpretation of state law.

The PSC filed its own appeal, seeking to overturn Bjerkes order that the commission reconsider the routing, calling it wholly unsupported.

Bjerke initially ordered work stopped on the La Crosse County portion of the line but later lifted the injunction after ATC argued that a delay would cost ratepayers an additional $2.5 million.

ATC has yet to begin construction in La Crosse or Trempealeau counties, but company spokeswoman Kaya Freiman said the project remains on schedule to be in service by the end of 2018, which means much  if not all  will be built before the Court of Appeals issues a ruling.

Jablonski worries that completion of the line could effectively nullify a victory by the town, though Bjerke said if the town prevails the burden will be on ATC to remove the line.

They didnt have to put a shovel in the ground until a year after the last appeal was dead, Jablonski said. Theyre the ones who decided to do it this way.

The owners say the lines will lower electricity costs, improve the reliability and efficiency of the electric grid, and bring low-cost wind energy into Wisconsin. Opponents contend it was unnecessary and will discourage cheaper alternatives like conservation and local renewable energy investments.
Donkorkrom (E/R), Oct 5, GNA - Mr Ebenezer Azidoku, the Afram Plains North District Agriculture Director has called on government to provide storage facilities such as Improved Narrow Ventilated Crib, silos and grain dryers to beneficiary farmers of the 'planting for food and jobs' programme.

Making the call through the Ghana News Agency (GNA), he said the provision of those storage facilities would enable farmers produce on a large scale to improve their standards of living.

He mentioned that his outfit at the beginning of the programme registered 302 farmers in the district adding that the number had been encouraging as all of them received the improved maize seedlings and fertilizers on time.

Mr Azidoku said his Department received 131 bags of improved seedlings (Obaatanpa), 5,388 bags of NPK and 2,319 bags of Urea from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) which he said was enough for the farmers who registered for the programme in the district.

Most of the farmers, he noted have planted for both the minor and the major seasons and awaiting harvest before the close of the year.

He said despite the challenges the farmers faced when the issue of the fall army worm came up, the programme was successful as MOFA stood in and supplied the farmers with 408 litres of insecticides and 1,200 sachets of insecticides to control the disease and to increase yield.

He said his Department is still registering farmers for the minor season and therefore entreated all farmers to visit any Agriculture Office for them to be registered.

He therefore pleaded with the government to provide the necessary logistics such as motor bikes, wellington boots and raincoats to Extension Officers to enable them carry out their duty effectively.

GNA

By Eunice Tekie Tei, GNA
12.10.2017 LISTEN

Accra, Oct.05, GNA - Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, on Thursday, said migration and mobility are major human development issues and key features that are increasingly affecting globalisation.

He therefore, urged policy-makers and governments across the globe to make conscious efforts towards finding policy decisions that would ameliorate the socio-economic and cultural challenges posed by migration and mobility.

He said, as a policy-maker, he valued research into such important national and global issues because it provided guidance for policy formulation.

Vice President Bawumia said this at the opening of a two-day International Conference on Migration at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, in Accra.

He urged researchers attending the conference to pay attention to the south-south movement in terms of the number involved so that Ghana would draw experiences and lessons from it.

The Vice President said the objectives of the conference hinged on the key concerns Ghana was grappling with, such as urbanisation, internal migration, internally-displaced persons, irregular migration and migrant smuggling, return, re-admission and re-integration of migrants, as well as border management and asylum seekers.

The conference is jointly organised by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) and Africa Research University Alliance (ARUA) , which brought together policy-makers, researchers and development partners, to discuss migration issues facing the world and find pragmatic solutions towards ameliorating socio-economic challenges associated with the phenomenon.

The event is on the theme: 'Migration and Mobility- New Frontiers for Research and Policy'.

The participants would engage in plenary discussions on some of the prominent topics relating to migration, including;'Conflict, forced migration and international policy', 'Migration within Africa: defining the governance challenges', 'Immigrant integration, transnationalism and societal relations among sub-Saharan African immigrants', 'Impacts of displacement on host communities in Rwanda and Tanzania', among others.

Vice President Bawumia said migration and mobility issues featured prominently on the national, continental and global agenda, saying; 'There is a great deal to learn from such international collaborations and research experiences to ensure equitable development and structural transformation'.

He said the first migration policy in Ghana was released in 2016, which aimed at providing a framework to manage migration for sustainable development and would, therefore, continuously monitor effective policies in that direction.

The Vice President commended UNU-WIDER and ARUA for mobilising resources to promote dialogue, which would ultimately promote sustainable development across the world.

Dr Bawumia alluded to a presentation he delivered at the Cape Coast University, on the topic: 'Building Stronger Economies in Africa- What is the missing link', which highlighted on the factors that affected the production abilities of nations.

He noted that one of the prominent issues that came up during the discussions was the exclusion of people from the production process and thus, advocated the inclusiveness of all the segment of the society in the development process.

He said if people were not allowed to participate in the local economy, there was a likelihood that, they would leave the place for a better life elsewhere.

'People who feel excluded in terms of education, healthcare and infrastructure in particular communities are likely to move either at the south-south or south-north direction,' he noted.

Professor Finn Tarp, the Director of the UNU-WIDER, in his welcome address, said the conference provided a suitable platform to fashion out strategies in dealing with migration and mobility across the globe.

He said international migration was likely to increase in the coming years in view of the continuing conflicts around the world, and cited the Syrian war.

Prof. Tarp said stakeholders around the world should make conscious efforts to strategise towards addressing it, saying; 'There is the need for countries in the African sub-region to mobilise resources and come up with policies to address migration and mobility since no country can be isolated'.

Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, the General-Secretary of the ARUA, on his part, said rural-urban drift had not been properly evaluated and appreciated by the African sub-region and there was the need to gather ideas and resources towards addressing it.

He therefore, called for rigorous research by African countries towards formulating policies to address the challenge.

Prof. Aryeetey said ARUA was ready to support research, academic and intellectual discourse towards ameliorating the socio-economic and cultural challenges posed by migration and mobility.

UNU-WIDER began over three decades ago in Helsinki, Finland, as a research centre, which provides economic analysis and policy advice with the aim of promoting sustainable and equitable development while ARUA was inaugurated in Dakar, Senegal, in 2015, comprising 15 leading universities in the Sub-Saharan Africa, aimed at enhancing the quality of research conducted by researchers and influence policy development. GNA

By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
Ghana's decision to repay its 2007 Eurobond on the maturity date will further deepen its reputation among external investors and increase patronage of future bonds to be issued.

That is the assertion of Economist, Daniel Amarteye Anim.

According to him, the positive signal offered investors is also critical considering the need to devise strategies to retire the country's ballooning debt.

Daniel Amarteye Anim's comments come on the back of government's move to retired the last installment of the 2007 Eurobond.

The decision to ensure that we meet repayment obligation is very key and critical as it will further enhance our credit worthiness especially in the eyes of international investors. However, once we do that what it means is that any inflows that comes in the form of a new issuance of a bond that is supposed to be used to execute pressing developmental projects, a certain percentage of it will be sacrificed for the matured repayment of the bond that was contracted earlier on, he explained.

The bond, which was the first to be issued by any sub Saharan country at the time, matures this year and the repayment is said to have been completed on October 4, 2017.

A Former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper has described the move as necessary considering the impact of falling commodity prices on the economy.

He also alluded to the retiring of the debt with about 200 million dollars from proceeds from oil and previous bonds issued.

Meanwhile Daniel Amarteye Anim has urged that the government commits to utilising money borrowed from international market to be channeled into interest yielding ventures.

In his view, this will provide a more flexible mechanism to reap enough interests and quicken the repayment plan for the government.

I am looking at a time where we could devise a strategy where if we raise money through a bond from the international community it should be invested into sectors that the investment itself can generate sufficient inflows to meet our repayment obligations as and when they arise or mature, he added.

Ghana issued its first Euro bond, a 10-year Eurobond in 2007.

The issue, which raised US$750 million from investors at a coupon of 8.5 percent, made Ghana the first nation in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa to borrow from international capital markets.

In 2013, the country used US$250 million of the 1 billion dollar Eurobond it issued to retire part of the 2007 issue.

Ghana also used US$100 million of the 2014 and US$216 million of the 2016 Bond proceeds to augment the retirement (As at end 2016, Ghana retired approximately US$550 million) of the 2007 Bond, through a liability management or exchange plan for its new and old bonds.



By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
Nairobi (AFP) - Kenya's government on Thursday banned protests in the centres of three major cities, including the capital Nairobi, citing lawlessness following opposition demonstrations against the country's electoral commission.

"Due to the clear, present and imminent danger of breach of peace, the government notifies the public that, for the time being, we will not allow demonstrations within the central business districts of Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu," said Security Minister Fred Matiangi.

"The inspector general of police has been advised accordingly."

The outlawing of city centre protests comes as the opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) had promised to step up its demonstrations demanding reforms before the holding of a presidential poll re-run, due on 26 October.

Matiangi said opposition protests had seen "attacks on police stations, attacks on police officers occasioning grievous bodily harm, serious disruption of normal business, assault on innocent civilians, destruction and looting of property."

He threatened protest organisers with legal action.

"It is the responsibility of the organiser that all participants remain peaceful. The organisers shall be held personally liable for any breach of law during the demonstrations," he said.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga said this week that he is withdrawing from the scheduled re-run.

He said that without fundamental reforms to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the vote would not be free and fair.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan  A commotion in the downstairs unit of a house shared by schoolteachers from Turkey woke the neighbors. A Turkish school official and his family were being taken away in the night.

Mesut Kacmaz, his wife and two daughters were restrained, blindfolded and hustled into unmarked pickup trucks in Lahore last month by more than a dozen plainclothes security agents, according to Fatih Avci, a neighbor and fellow teacher. When he tried to intervene, Avci said, he was also handcuffed and hooded, and transported to a secret facility.

The police officers were pushing and shoving to arrest them, Avci said in a statement after he was held for several days and released. I saw . . . Mr. Mesuts wife lying on the floor and two lady constables pulling her to get on her feet. Their two teenage daughters were weeping loudly.

Pakistani authorities have not acknowledged detaining the group or holding the Kacmaz family members, who have not been seen since Sept. 27. Turkish educators and Pakistani human rights groups have alleged that they were abducted by members of the state intelligence agencies and have filed court petitions seeking their recovery.

On Tuesday, the Lahore High Court ordered the Interior Ministry to seek a reply from those agencies as to whether the family is in their custody. It also ordered the government to provide protection for other Turkish educators and halt their deportations. Police officials told the court they had no information about the family.

The court action came at a moment of escalating diplomatic tension between the United States and the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that has ties to the teacher issue. The Trump administration on Sunday suspended the issuance of non-immigrant visas in Turkey after the arrest of an employee of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul; the Turkish government responded soon after with the same restrictions.

Kacmaz, like Avci and dozens of other Turkish nationals, was an educator at a chain of 28 PakTurk Foundation schools across Pakistan that were shut down last year at the request of the Erdogan government. Since then, the teachers have remained in Pakistan under temporary court orders and U.N. protection. About 11,000 Pakistani students attended the schools, considered among the best in Pakistan.

They are also a project of the Gulenist movement, led by Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. Erdogan, a close ally of Pakistan, accused Gulen and his followers in Turkey of provoking an attempted coup in July 2016. He then carried out a broad crackdown on Gulenists and other dissidents and asked Pakistan to deport the teachers.

Shortly after Erdogan visited Pakistan in November, the government in Islamabad deported some teachers and canceled others visas, but school officials appealed to the courts and sought asylum through the U.N. refugee agency.

The teachers, under U.N. protection while awaiting asylum rulings, assert that if forced to go home, they are likely to face arrest and abuse at government hands.

If we return to Turkey, we will be detained on arrival, said Serdal Arslan, the former principal of a PakTurk school in Peshawar who is now jobless and unwelcome in Turkey and Pakistan. The Turkish government will not renew my childrens travel documents, and Pakistani authorities are asking us to leave. What happened to Mesut can happen to any of us.

Kacmaz had been an outspoken critic of the Erdogan government on social media, people in the Turkish immigrant community said, and is a director with the private Rumi Forum in Pakistan.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, asked during a recent visit to Washington about the alleged abductions and the treatment of the Turkish teachers, said that he had no information about the Kacmaz case but that the teachers would be deported after delays granted by Pakistani courts and U.N. officials expire.

Youd do the same thing in America after someones visa expires. You deport them, he said in a meeting with journalists at the Pakistan Embassy. This is something which is internationally accepted. That is the only reason, Asif added. Otherwise, why would we do . . . such a horrendous thing, the kidnapping of a family?

Arslan said that of about 110 Turkish teacher families, 40 have left Pakistan for other countries and 70 have remained in hopes of obtaining asylum. Most are sharing houses or apartments and rarely go out, he said.

Pakistans alliance with the increasingly repressive Erdogan government has put it at odds with many Western countries, including the United States.

Erdogans suspension of U.S. visitor visas came after an employee of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul was arrested for alleged links to the Gulenist movement. The abrupt action created chaos and confusion in diplomatic, travel and business circles. Turkey has previously welcomed Western visitors and investors, and its economy has relied heavily on foreign tourism.

After the Kacmaz family disappeared, protests and news conferences were held by rights groups in Pakistan denouncing the abductions. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan charged that more than 20 armed people in plain clothes had taken the family, and it asked the government to immediately release them.

Pakistani parents of former students at the PakTurk schools also protested, saying Pakistans mistreatment of the teachers would further isolate Pakistan internationally.

The police are expressing ignorance about the picking up of Mr. Mesut, so who did this? asked Muhammed Zubair, a doctor whose children attended the PakTurk school in Peshawar and who represents the parent-

teacher association. This is a dangerous trend and will send a negative image of Pakistan abroad.

Constable reported from Islamabad. Jennifer Amur in Washington contributed to this report.
12.10.2017 LISTEN

Relative calm is thought to have returned Wassa -Akropong, the Amenfi East District capital in the western region that witnessed murder, burn and loot last week. A Chinese national has emptied his handgun. The sound reverberates and the bullet ricochets.

Where does the ammunition land?

It lands awfully. His victim a Ghanaiana young man aged 30. He falls to the ground. He falls like a tree. Blood gushes out. And the cries hit the sky. A crowd gathers like clouds in the vicinity. The irate crowd would zoom in on the trouble spot. Trouble brews, tension grows and the language of the youth is misunderstood. One of their own has been murdered, murdered by a Chinese national. Cars are torched, stores are looted and Shanghai City in the town is down on her knees.

Pall of smoke is seen bellowing in the sky amid tear drops from the eyes. It seems the love affair or Bromance with the Chinese is crumbling or already crumbled. One mans blow has caused all this. And its tearing apart the cordial relationship thats existed between the two peoples. Im told the Chinese love this gold-rich town. Theyd about nine casinos and a clinic here, I gathered.

So I guess the question is: How did the Chinses end up here in Wassa Akropong (a town thats located in the northwest of the region 152.8 kilometres from Takoradi the regional capital?

The Gold Boom

When gold prices soared around 2012, there was a boom in small-scale mining referring to illegal mining operation also known as Galamsey. Ghana saw nationals from neighbouring Nigeria, Mali, the Ivory Coast, and Guinea including China entering her shores. With passage of time it became abundantly clear that the Chinese had dominated all the foreign nationals.

By 2015-2016 it appeared there were Chinese in every town or village in Ghana. They trekked everywhere gold was reported to be found. And ably facilitated by Ghanaians they soldiered on. They bulldozed and bastardised the countrys lands and water bodies. The Chinese settled in the Eastern, Central, Western and Ashanti regions. From the middle beltBrong Ahafo region to Northern, Upper East& West regions the Chinese roved.

And it took the intervention of the current government to slow down the speeding locomotive.

Because of neglect in enforcing the rules, people have become more emboldened, Kwabena Frimpong Boateng minister of environment science & technology told FT (financial Times when the NPP government took the wheels of power. They are doing this on a very very large scale and with the help of the Chinese.

Following this, a moratorium was issued and a clampdown ensued. Nevertheless, the operation of galamsey in Ghana is still ongoing. The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources John Peter Amewu alluded to that fact recently. He said about 85% of the anti-galamsey work remain unaccomplished.

Respect for the laws

The Chinese have come to stay its a fact we must embrace. In as much as theyre here legally or illegally lets not take the laws into our own hands. There are agencies and institutions that are responsible for that. Lets respect their human rights in all matters that may arise. And this must be a two-way traffic. It must be reciprocal. They [the Chinese] shouldnt take our warm hospitality to be a sign of weakness. They must be law abiding and desist from engaging in activities deemed criminal or illegal.

It must be pointed out that since the anti-galamsey taskforce descended heavily upon galamsey operators some Chinses nationals have ventured into other business activities. They include trading, running restaurants, transportation, taverns and casinos. There are also an insignificant number of Chinese that have become cab drivers.

Court Remands

Meanwhile a Takoradi District Court has remanded into police custody the Chinese national who shot and killed the 30-year-old man. The Chinese known as Jinag Gen Hai shot and killed the Ghanaian Nana Boamah during a misunderstanding between him and some Chinese in the area on Friday 6 October 2017.

Court docket indicates that Boamah was invited as a witness by a plumber during a disagreement between the Chinese native and the plumber. Gen Hai had reportedly paid the plumber GHC50 for a job after theyd earlier agreed on GHC150 as payment.

However, in the wake of the argument Gen Hai ended up shooting Boamah after he pulled out a gun to scare the plumber.

The youth of the town responded with brute force following the killing of Boamah. According to reports they burnt several cars belonging to the Chinese nationals and vandalised other properties. Theyd demanded that all Chinese nationals in the town must be sacked by the traditional authorities.

My checks on Wednesday night 10pm Pacific Time revealed that theres not a single Chinese national currently residing in the town. It took a combined team of the military and police to quell the unrest. Palace spoke person said the Omanhene of Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area, Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim played an outstanding role in abating the pandemonium that gripped the township.

According to the Police, the Chinese national would be charged for murder. The case has since been adjourned to Thursday, 26th of October, 2017.
Pretoria (AFP) - An anti-apartheid activist who died in police custody 46 years ago did not commit suicide but was murdered by officers, a South African court ruled Thursday in a historic ruling for campaigners.

The court called for an officer involved in covering up the circumstances of the 1971 death to be investigated as an accessory to murder.

The packed courtroom in Pretoria burst into applause after the judge delivered his damning ruling.

Ahmed Timol, a 29-year-old campaigner against white-minority rule, was arrested in Johannesburg in October 1971.

After five days in detention, he died after plummeting from the city's police headquarters.

Officers from the feared security branch that held Timol said at the time he took his own life -- a verdict endorsed by an inquest in 1972.

But his family fought the ruling for decades and have campaigned hard to secure the legal review, which finally began in June.

"Timol did not jump out of the window but was pushed out of the window or off the roof," said judge Billy Mothle, reading a summary of his 129-page judgement.

"Members of the security branch... murdered Timol."

The judge called for security branch officer Joao Rodrigues, who admitted helping cover up the murder, to be prosecuted, but he acknowledged that the men actually responsible have since died.

"Most of the main perpetrators have since passed on (but) all security branch officers responsible for guarding and interrogating Timol are collectively responsible for his injuries," said Mothle.

'Viva Ahmed Timol!'

Members of the South African Communist Party present shouted "Viva Ahmed Timol!" as the judge adjourned the hearing and the public gallery burst into applause.

"Judge Billy Mothle delivered a fine -- a superb -- judgement," said Salim Essop who was arrested, detained and tortured alongside Timol in 1971.

"He concluded that the police were responsible for his death... they may not have intended to kill him but they did have the risk of killing him by torturing him and in that respect they were responsible for his murder."

Mothle called for families who lost relatives in circumstances similar to Timol's to be assisted in reopening their cases -- especially when suicide was recorded as the cause of death.

George Bizos, an anti-apartheid icon who was close friends with Nelson Mandela, welcomed the outcome and said that the case had exposed how the era had been previously unaccountable.

The judge also praised Imtiaz Cajee, Timol's nephew, for successfully reopening the case.

"His efforts should be elevated as an example of how citizens should assert their constitutional rights," said Mothle.

For many, the case -- the culmination of a relentless campaign by the activist's family -- has brought back raw memories of apartheid.

During the review, the Pretoria court heard from pathologists, former security officers and victims of apartheid brutality.

Their evidence triggered emotional responses in court 2D -- including from the family who have been present at every hearing.
Presidential candidate of the All People's Congress (APC) Dr. Hassan Ayariga, has rejected claims by many Ghanaians that the new free Senior High School policy introduced by the NPP led government is an achievement.

Hassan Ayariga, on the After Hours show on TV3 argued that what the New Patriotic Party (NPP) term as free SHS should rather be described as, Scholarship for 400,000 first year students.

He told host Mikki Osei Berko: `I dont think [free SHS] is an achievement. This is not the first time government has implemented free SHS. Nkrumah introduced free education for everyone. They are giving scholarships to 400,000 students. They are not implementing free SHS. They are giving scholarships to first year students. The third year students are paying school fees so why call it free SHS. I dont think they [NPP] were ready; they only rushed to implement it just to score some political points.

The former Presidential candidate of the PNC also maintained that President Nana Addo is not a good presidential material insisting that nothing had changed since NPP took over their reins of power in Ghana.

What has changed since Nana Addo became president? Nothing has changed. The only thing that has changed is moving one set of people out and bringing a different category of people in. What I wanted to do was to get the right people within my party, within the NPP, within the NDC and within other political parties and get them at their rightful places- all inclusive government, Ayariga maintained.

Check out the full interview below:


The Cologne Chapter of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in collaboration with the Association of Concerned Ghanaians in Europe (ACGIE) is organizing an International Investment Summit and Dinner Night on 31 October 2017 in Cologne-Germany.

The one-day Summit is aimed at exposing the investment opportunities in Ghana to investors across Europe and beyond with the view to encouraging such investors to take advantage of the business-friendly policies and other incentives that make Ghana the most attractive business destination in Africa.

The Investment Summit which is the first of its kind in Europe also targets Ghanaians resident abroad who want to pull their resources together to invest in their homeland. This is to make it as inclusive as possible and provide an important opportunity for Ghanaians in diaspora to be part of the nation building effort.

To ensure that investors derive maximum benefit from the event, several government officials and technocrats have been invited to lead the discussions, answer questions and provide information on concrete government policy initiatives put in place to create and promote an enabling investment climate in Ghana.

So far government officials who have confirmed their participation include Hon. Awal Mohammed, Minister for Business Development, Hon. Mustapha Hamid, Minister for Information, Dr Nana Atto Arthur Head of Local Government Services, Dr Adu Twum, Deputy Minister for Education. The rest are Hon. Henry Kwabena Kokofu, Former Member of Parliament for Bantama and Officials from the Ghana Embassy in Berlin.

The Summit which takes place at the prestigious Sato Deluxe Koel Kalk, Wipperfuther Strasse 33-35, Cologne, starts at 12 noon and ends at 18.00 pm. This will be followed by a Summit Dinner to enable potential investors to interact and network in an informal setting.

For further inquiries, please call the following persons.

Mr Francis Brenya-Benson : Tel 0049152542101284

Mr Clement Akomeah : Tel 004915210367216

Mrs Rebecca Sarpong : Tel 004915213144658

: Tel 00491725165044

Date: 31 October 2017

Venue: Sato Deluxe, Koeln Kalk

Wipperfurther Strasse 33-35

51103 Cologne

Time: 12 noon

The Communication Team

NPP-Germany
Financial analyst, Ken Thompson is urging calm among depositors despite reported cases of fraud by some employees of banks in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance and Leasing Company Limited said, there is no need to panic since the banks have already taken steps to minimise the occurrence of such incidents.

The total monetary value involved in all reported fraud cases by financial institutions, both successful and attempted, for the year 2016 amounted to approximately GH244.32 million, according to the Finder newspaper.

The amount constitutes 1,001 fraud incidents in 2016 reported to the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the paper reported.

According to the publication, these cases were received from universal banks, NonBank Financial Institutions (NBFIs), and Rural and Community Banks (RCBs).

This is contained in the 2016 annual Payment Systems Oversight report published by the BoG.

The main fraud cases reported were suppression of customer accounts by staff of financial institutions, card fraud, forgery and alteration of documents, manipulation of accounts, and negotiable instruments.

Others included the fraudulent collection of international remittances by persons not named as recipients, transactions involving cloned and stolen cheque, and fraudulent transfers through hacked email accounts, the report added.

Commenting on the issue on Super Morning Show on Joy FM Thursday, Mr. Thompson said: " a lot of work is being done to ensure that the risk is minimised.

The staff of banks reflect the society; if we have a corrupt society [then] were going to get staff who are corrupt, he told Kojo Yankson, host of the programme.

He was positive the 2017 report will see a reduction in the occurrence of such incidents since the rewards for stealing money now are getting lower and lower.

He disclosed that the Bank of Ghana has put in measures which make it very difficult for staff dismissed for committing such offences to find their way back into the banking industry.

Such misconduct, he said, is also reported to the diplomatic community as well as the police for further investigation and prosecution where necessary.

I can assure you next year should be much bettertrust me the last thing you want is for people to take away your money because eventually, you [bank] would have to pay, he promised.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Jerry Tsatro Mordy | Email: [email protected], Twitter: @jerrymordy
The U.S. House passed a federal whistle blower protection bill Thursday named for a former VA psychologist who questioned over-medication of patients at the Tomah VA Medical Center.

The Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick Whistleblower Protection Act is designed to protect federal employees who come forward with allegations of waste, fraud and abuse and to set minimum disciplinary measures for supervisors found guilty of retaliation.

The bill also requires the VA to put together a plan to prevent supervisors from improperly accessing an employees medical files in retaliation.

Kirkpatrick killed himself in 2009 the same day he was fired after questioning over-medication practices at the Tomah VA, which earned the nickname Candy Land because doctors there prescribed such high doses of opiates. Investigations later blamed those prescription practices for the deaths of at least two veterans.

U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, whose district includes the Tomah VA, spoke on the House floor in favor of the bill.

Dr. Kirkpatrick was dedicated to improving the lives (of) and serving our nations veterans, Kind said. The bill before us today will honor the memory of Dr. Kirkpatrick by helping to make sure no one will have to go through what he did.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson, passed the House unanimously and now heads to Presidents desk.

Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, said the passage brings the nation "

one step closer to better protecting federal whistleblowers and providing better health care to the finest among us  our veterans."

VA Secretary David Shulkin has pledged to bring greater accountability to the governments second largest agency, which provides medical care to millions of veterans. In July, Shulkin began posting employee disciplinary actions and announced that he would require approval by a senior official of any settlement with a VA employee over the amount of $5,000, citing unnecessary payments to bad employees. A month later, he ordered a review to expand VA reporting requirements for bad workers.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump described the VA as the most corrupt, promising to protect and promote honest employees at the VA who expose wrongdoing.
Pretoria (AFP) - An anti-apartheid activist who died in police custody 46 years ago did not commit suicide but was murdered by officers, a South African court said Thursday in a historic ruling for campaigners.

The court called for an officer involved in covering up the circumstances of the 1971 death to be investigated as an accessory to murder.

The packed courtroom in Pretoria burst into applause after the judge delivered a damning indictment of how police treated those who opposed white-minority rule.

Ahmed Timol, a 29-year-old campaigner against apartheid, was arrested in Johannesburg in October 1971.

After five days in detention, he died after plummeting from the city's police headquarters.

Officers from the feared security branch that held Timol said at the time he took his own life -- a verdict endorsed by an inquest in 1972.

But his family fought the ruling for decades and campaigned to secure the legal review, which finally began in June.

"Timol did not jump out of the window but was pushed out of the window or off the roof," said judge Billy Mothle, reading a summary of his 129-page judgement.

"Members of the security branch... murdered Timol."

The judge called for security branch officer Joao Rodrigues, who admitted helping cover up the murder, to be prosecuted.

But he acknowledged that the men who were directly responsible have since died.

"Most of the main perpetrators have since passed on (but) all security branch officers responsible for guarding and interrogating Timol are collectively responsible for his injuries," said Mothle.

'Viva Ahmed Timol!'

Members of the South African Communist Party to which Timol belonged who were present in court shouted "Viva Ahmed Timol!" as the judge adjourned the hearing and the public gallery burst into applause.

"Judge Billy Mothle delivered a fine -- a superb -- judgement," said Salim Essop who was arrested, detained and tortured alongside Timol in 1971.

"He concluded that the police were responsible for his death... they did have the risk of killing him by torturing him and in that respect they were responsible for his murder."

Mothle called for families who lost relatives in circumstances similar to Timol's to be assisted in reopening their cases -- especially where suicide was recorded as the cause of death.

Between 1963 and 1990, human rights activists say 73 people died in police detention, sometimes in circumstances strikingly similar to Timol.

Former anti-apartheid activist and Nelson Mandela's lawyer, George Bizos, right, was accompanied to the court by Imtiaz Cajee (left), Ahmed Timol's nephew. Cajee was praised by the court for his campaign for an impartial probe into his uncle's death

George Bizos, an anti-apartheid icon who was close friends with Nelson Mandela, welcomed the outcome and said the case showed that police were still unaccountable for their actions under white rule.

"I hope that what has happened today will happen again in relation to the others (who died suspiciously). Justice has a way of actually reaching the top," said Bizos, 88, who was visibly emotional during the hearing.

The judge also praised Imtiaz Cajee, Timol's nephew, for successfully lobbying for the case to be reopened.

"His efforts should be elevated as an example of how citizens should assert their constitutional rights," said Mothle.

But Cajee expressed frustration that the former security branch officers called to give evidence had not been more open about their conduct.

"They lost the opportunity to help South Africa's greater reconciliation," he said after the ruling.

For many, the case -- the culmination of a relentless campaign by the activist's family -- brought back raw memories of life under apartheid.

During the review, the Pretoria court heard from pathologists, former security officers and victims of state brutality.

Their evidence triggered anger in court 2D -- including from the family who have been present at every hearing.

"The Timol family has been driven not by vengeance but by the pursuit of truth and justice," retired archbishop Desmond Tutu said in a statement read to the courtroom after the hearing.
The Turkish Airlines Sales Festival has presented an opportunity for the general public to enjoy heavily discounted tickets on Turkish Airlines and fly from Accra to over 290 destinations around the world.

The airline's vast network in Africa, from where it connects passengers to destinations in the Americas, Asia, and Europe via Istanbul, makes it the carrier of choice for passengers seeking a great travelling experience at a competitive price.

Under the two-month-long Turkish Airlines Sales Festival, the Istanbul-based airline is currently offering passengers heavily discounted fares from Accra to major destinations such as Washington for US$999; Amsterdam, US$539; Dubai, US$549; London, US$639; and New York, US$999.

Under the promotion, passengers are to book by November 30, 2017 for travel before December 31, 2018.

Families would have the opportunity to purchase their Christmas holiday tickets early and save hundreds of dollar during the Turkish Airlines Sales Festival.

It is also an opportunity for anyone who will travel before December 31, 2018 to book their tickets at a cheap price now.

Ferhat Yerli, Turkish Airlines' General Manager, Ghana, said the Turkish Airlines Sales Festival is to afford the general public the opportunity to see the world at a cheap price.

Families can book their Christmas tickets now and save hundreds of dollars that can be used for other family expenses.

Mr. Yerli added that Turkish Airlines will continue to offer the best of service to our passengers in Ghana.

African Air Expo Support

Istanbul-based Turkish Airlines is also supporting the maiden African Air Expo, scheduled to take place from October 24-26, 2017 in Accra, with an amount of US$15,000 (GH65,000).

The contribution of the airline is to ensure that Ghana successfully holds the well-advertised event.

Ghana's Ministry of Aviation and the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) are the hosts of the event while Dubai-based 4M Events, organisers of the acclaimed Abu Dhabi Air Expo, are the event organisers.

The event is to serve as an ideal medium for the exchange of aviation-related know-how, fostering of closer collaboration between airlines operating in the country and their foreign counterparts, who are expected to be in attendance.

It will also provide the opportunity for service providers to meet potential clients.

Turkish Airlines, which has been operating in Ghana for years, noted that the event would put Ghana on the world aviation map.
GLICO LIFE, a brand of choice and leading name in Ghana's life insurance market, has presented Information Communication Technology (ICT) equipment to the Ghana Police Academy.

The donation of laptops and projectors was in fulfillment of GLICO LIFE's corporate social responsibility in the area of community involvement.

Presenting the laptops and projectors, the Chief Business Development Officer (Group Business) of GLICO LIFE, Stephen Badu, remarked that GLICO LIFE appreciates the dedication and service of the Police Academy to train personnel for law enforcement and security of Ghanaians.

He added that as an indigenous Ghanaian company, the security of GLICO LIFE's policyholders is paramount, the provision of ICT equipment would go a long way to facilitate the training of Police recruits for the benefit of all Ghanaians.

Receiving the items on behalf of the academy, the Commandant of the Ghana Police Academy, ACP Fosu-Ackaah, thanked GLICO LIFE for their kind gesture.

He indicated that GLICOLIFE, as part of its client relationship building exercises, contacted the Academy some time back and enquired how they can support the training school. We realized that the Academy as a matter of urgency needed a projector and a laptop. We are therefore overwhelmed that they have over-delivered.

The presentation ceremony was held at the Police Training Academy in Tesano and was attended by management members of GLICO LIFE in the persons of John Ekar Smart-Chief Business Development Officer (Individual Life) and Christina Alale-Mensah  Business Development Coordinator, Accra Main Office.

Commendably, GLICO LIFE is an insurance company that gives back not only to its customers (policy holders) but to all stakeholders and Ghana in general.

For this reason, it takes appropriate actions to give back to the Ghanaian society through various campaigns, donations and partnerships.

GLICO LIFE is currently the only life insurance company in Ghana rated B by Standards & Poors Rating Agency.

A Business Desk Report




The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has indefinitely postponed the date for the changing of the cryptographic key that helps protect the Domain Name System (DNS) in Ghana and across the world.

The changing or rolling of the key was originally scheduled to occur on 11 October, this year, but it is being delayed because some recently obtained data shows that a significant number of resolvers used by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Network Operators are not yet ready for the Key Rollover, BUSINESS GUIDE gathered.

There may be multiple reasons why operators do not have the new key installed in their systems: some may not have their resolver software properly configured and a recently discovered issue in one widely used resolver programme appears to not be automatically updating the key as it should, for reasons that are still being explored, according to a statement issued by ICANN on Wednesday, October 11, 2017 to announce the postponement.

The security, stability and resiliency of the domain name system is our core mission. We would rather proceed cautiously and reasonably than continue with the roll on the announced date of 11 October, said ICANN CEO Goran Marby, adding that it would be irresponsible to proceed with the roll after we have identified these new issues that could adversely affect a significant number of end users.

Changing the key involves generating a new cryptographic key pair and distributing the new public component to the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)-validating resolvers.

Based on the estimated number of Internet users, who use DNSSEC validating resolvers, an estimated one-in-four global Internet users or 750 million people could be affected by the KSK rollover.

ICANN is reaching out to its community, Regional Internet Registries, Network Operator Groups and others to help explore and resolve the issues.

A new date for the Key Roll has not yet been determined.

ICANN's Office of the Chief Technology Officer says it is tentatively hoping to reschedule the Key Roll for the first quarter of 2018, but it will be dependent on more fully understanding the new information and mitigating as many potential failures as possible.

In the meantime, ICANN remains confident in the security of the current cryptographic key and by extension, the security of the DNS.

By Melvin Tarlue
Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) over the weekend held a thanksgiving service at its Airport City Office as part of activities to climax its 45th Anniversary celebration.

The event, presided by Most Rev. Professor Emmanuel Asante, the immediate past Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, was attended by dignitaries such as Deputy Finance Minister, Abena Osei Asare; First Secretary of the Japanese Embassy in Ghana, Hiroki Yamashita; Nii Kpobi Tettey Tsuru III, La Mantse; Nanahemaa Adjoa Awindor, Development Queenmother of Afigya-Kwabre District and Nana Agyapomaa II, Kontihemaa of Assin Ngresi.

Other guests included customers of UMB, shareholders, UMB board members, UMB Foundation members and UMB staff.

The event was a moving and emotional one, as all in attendance gave thanks to the Lord Almighty for making UMB one of the leading banks in Ghana.

Elizabeth Zormelo, Board Chairperson of UMB welcomed guests, most notably its loyal customers, that have helped the bank to reach the milestone of 45 years of banking excellence.

The CEO John Awuah noted that recent developments in the banking sector rightly demonstrated the daunting challenges that banks in Ghana faced daily.

He said: On this day, we cannot help but express our profound gratitude to God. We give thanks and praise to the Lord for giving us the capacity and the wherewithal to thrive in this competitive industry. Indeed, we continue to succeed due to God's many blessings and thanks to the Lord Almighty we are a strong bank, both spiritually and financially.

Earlier on Friday, officials of the bank paid a courtesy call on the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu as part of the celebrations.

Mr. Awuah said that on the occasion of UMB's 45th anniversary, the visit was to strengthen the bond between UMB and the Muslim community, as well as show appreciation and gratitude for their tremendous support over the years.

The delegation to the National Chief Imam was led by the CEO.

A business desk report
Nairobi, Kenya, 12 October 2017  The Bank Groups Resource Mobilization & Partnerships Department (FIRM) in collaboration with the East Africa Regional Directorate (RDGE), has concluded its first regional Business Opportunities Seminar (BOS) in Nairobi, Kenya.

The three-day event (2-4 October) falls within a series of Bank activities, aimed to step up its partnership with the private sector and highlight their role in implementing the continents transformation agenda, as enshrined in the High 5 strategy of the Bank.

During the event, the Bank showcased its strategic direction, operational priorities and vision, as well as its procurement rules and procedures, and how the Bank Group supports regional integration through decentralization. The speakers touched on key development challenges, and the solutions being implemented by the AfDB and its private sector partners. The discussions also highlighted the financial products and business opportunities available to both public and private sector actors.

The meeting brought together over 200 participants from 25 countries across the globe, including key players in East Africas private sector. Following presentations on the Banks various operational departments, the BOS focused on guidance to the private sector for ensuring cost-effective bids and proposals, among other issues.

The Bank acknowledges the private sector as key to transforming the lives of the African people. In this regard, the BOS not only aimed at increasing the pool of competent providers of goods and services to participate in Bank-financed projects, but also to crowd in private sector financing to scale-up its delivery of transformative projects. In this regard, the event highlighted the Bank Groups work in the area of public-private partnerships (PPPs) and its successes in the provision of credit enhancement instruments such as Partial Risk Guarantees (PRGs).

The Director-General for the East Africa regional hub, Gabriel Negatu said that a number of partnerships and financing opportunities had been identified, through which the Bank could further its support for private investments. He added: we all wish to successfully implement projects and contribute to development impacts on the continent. The value of the Africa market is quite impressive.

The Bank Group is committed to organizing at least two BOSs per year, one at the its headquarters in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire and another in a regional member country, in order to ensure its financing is utilized by the most competent, knowledgeable and rigorous implementation partners from across the continent and the world. The BOS provides a sound understanding of the Banks priority sectors, projects, procurement procedures and possible areas of collaboration, and helpful tips to contractors to allow them to submit responsive bids and proposals.

Participants in the East Africa BOS included individual consultants and consulting firms, major partners for infrastructure development and civil works contractors including Engie and Eiffage, local manufacturers, suppliers and SMEs, commercial attaches of embassies, Export-Import Banks, and peers in the development finance community.

The Resource Mobilization and Partnerships Department is part of the Finance Complex and has the mandate to mobilize Bank-wide resources from bilateral donors, co-financing partners and non-sovereign entities. It develops and maintains corporate-level strategic linkages with partners and collaborators. The AfDB held the first 2017 edition of the BOS on 20-21 June 2017 at the Banks Headquarters in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire.
Research and education think tank Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) has urged diplomats at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, to make recommendations to Ghana to ratify and domesticate international instruments to which it is a signatory when Ghana appears before the United Nations Human Rights Council next month for a review of its human rights record.

ACILA executive director, Mr. William Nyarko, who made the call to the diplomats during a presentation to the UN Permanent Missions on Tuesday, noted that even though Ghana had made commendable progress in implementing some of the recommendations that the diplomats had made in 2012, a lot remains to be done by Ghana to ensure compliance with its obligations under international law.

Mr. Nyarkos call to the diplomats comes barely one month before diplomats on the United Nations Human Rights Council will review Ghanas human rights record in Geneva on November 7, 2017 under the UN Universal Periodic Review mechanism. Under the UPR, the human rights record of all the 193 Member States of the UN is reviewed every five years.

The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights.

Prior to Ghanas impending appearance at the Human Rights Council on November 2017, UPRInfo, a Geneva-based NGO that aims to promote and strengthen the Universal Periodic Review process organized a pre-session for NGOs working in human rights in Ghana to make presentations to the diplomats and share the human rights situation on the ground with them. Ghanas human rights record was reviewed by the Human Rights Council in 2012.

Continuing, Mr. Nyarko explained that at the 2012 UPR cycle, Hungary and Tunisia made a recommendation to Ghana, which Ghana accepted, to domesticate the Rome Statute, which Ghana had ratified as far back as 1999.

In April 2016, Ghana drafted the International Criminal Court Bill but the bill has since not been laid before Parliament for deliberation, passage, and signing into law. This state of affairs is attributable to lack of political will and lack of public demand for responsiveness and accountability from the state, he noted.

He urged the diplomats to recommend to Ghana to pass and sign the International Criminal Court Bill into law before the end of 2018 in order to establish a legal framework to enable Ghanaian courts to try offences committed under the Rome Statute as well as enable the ICC to prosecute cases in Ghana where Ghanaian courts are unable to do so.

Touching on the signing and ratification of instruments, Mr. Nyarko recalled that at the 2012 UPR, about 20 recommendations were made to Ghana to, among other things, ratify before the end of the third UPR cycle those conventions to which Ghana is a signatory (Hungary); ratify OP-CAT (Luxembourg, Australia, Tunisia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain);ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (Australia, Spain, Rwanda, Switzerland, France, Uruguay, Norway).

He said while Ghana had made some progress by ratifying one of the core human rights instruments, that is, the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OP-CAT) on September 23, 2016, majority of the instruments have still not been ratified or remain unsigned.

In the case of signing and ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition

of the death penalty (ICCPR-OP2), he observed that, Ghana, an abolitionist in practice, constituted a Constitutional Review Commission, which recommended in 2012 for the replacement of the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole.

According to Mr. Nyarko, this recommendation was to be put to a national referendum because the death penalty is an entrenched provision in the Constitution; however, the referendum has not been held.

He encouraged the diplomats to recommend to Ghana to ratify the international instruments to which Ghana is a signatory by December 2018 and put the recommendations of the CRC to a referendum by January 2020 to inform Ghanas decision whether to sign and ratify ICCPR-OP2.

In the meantime, Ghana should continue to commute death sentences to life imprisonment, he added.
A development as simple as ensuring direct flights between Benin and Ghana, will be critical to entrenching the bond between the two countries, and strengthening the ECOWAS community, in President Nana Akufo-Addos view.

Speaking on Wednesday when the President of Benin, Patrice Athanase Talon paid a day's working visit to Ghana, President Akufo-Addo said, We should endeavour to establish direct flights between Accra and Cotonou to facilitate the movement of persons and goods. We should further try to establish direct shipping lines, linking Accra to Cotonou, to facilitate trade between us. We need to push for the Sealink Shipping Project, an ECOWAS initiative, to help link our two countries.

With West Africa's population set to reach some 500 million people in 20 years time, there are immense opportunities to bring prosperity to our region with hard work, enterprise and creativity, the President added as an indication of the prospects for the sub-region.

Revitalizing the PJCC

President Akufo-Addo, however bemoaned the fact that only one meeting of the Permanent Joint Commission of Co-operation (PJCC), has been held, despite the good relations that exist between the countries.

A preliminary Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in 2016, after Benin requested assistance in the exploitation and exploration of hydrocarbons, reactivating the Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation.

Other areas of cooperation, per the MoU, include fisheries, security, communication and education, among other sectors.

President Talon

President Nana Akufo-Addo stressed that, there is the need to reconvene another session of the PJCC, and I propose that we hold the next meeting in Cotonou as soon as possible.

Not only will the PJCC serve as a platform for enriching commercial relations between our countries, it will also facilitate the implementation of regional instruments such as the Common External Tariff of ECOWAS, he said.

He also assured that, Ghana will continue to co-operate with Benin within other multilateral frameworks, such as the Volta Basin Authority, to promote and safeguard the equitable sharing of common water resources of the Authority.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Nairobi (AFP) - Kenya's government on Thursday banned protests in main city centres, citing lawlessness during opposition rallies against the electoral commission ahead of a scheduled presidential poll re-run.

The move comes as opposition leader Raila Odinga called for daily protests next week to keep up pressure on election officials to reform, after his refusal to take part in the October 26 vote plunged the country into uncertainty.

"Due to the clear, present and imminent danger of breach of peace, the government notifies the public that, for the time being, we will not allow demonstrations within the central business districts of Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu," said Security Minister Fred Matiangi.

"The inspector general of police has been advised accordingly."

Opposition MPs said they would defy the order and continue the protests which have seen hundreds of opposition supporters march through the streets, sometimes burning tyres and clashing with police who have used tear gas to disperse crowds.

Though relatively small, the protests have caused outsized disruption, forcing shops to close up and deterring some from visiting city centres on demonstration days.

There have also been incidents of pickpocketing and muggings on the edges of the protests.

Matiangi said the protests had resulted in "attacks on police stations, attacks on police officers occasioning grievous bodily harm, serious disruption of normal business, assault on innocent civilians, destruction and looting of property," and threatened legal action.

"It is the responsibility of the organiser that all participants remain peaceful. The organisers shall be held personally liable for any breach of law during the demonstrations," he said.

Stage set for clashes?

Odinga said this week that he was withdrawing from the scheduled re-run, against President Uhuru Kenyatta whose victory in the original August poll was annulled last month by the Supreme Court citing widespread irregularities.

Odinga said that without fundamental reforms to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the vote would not be free and fair.

"All indications are that the election scheduled for 26 October will be worse than the previous one," he said, announcing his withdrawal Tuesday.

The IEBC has dismissed most of Odinga's demands and on Wednesday said that he had not filled in the appropriate form withdrawing from the re-run and therefore was still a candidate alongside Kenyatta.

The commission also agreed to add six candidates who contested the original poll after the High Court ruled they should not be excluded.

In the most recent protests, on Wednesday, several people were injured in the western city of Kisumu, an opposition stronghold, where protesters clashed with police.

The banning of demonstrations sets the stage for more violence if NASA leaders push ahead with their threat to protest, with the next one promised on Friday.

Violence in the days following August's vote left at least 37 dead, according to a rights group, with almost all of the victims killed by police, according to a local human rights group.
President Akufo-Addo has disclosed that a payment of GH560 million has been made as part payment for the total debts of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

This has facilitated the revival of the scheme.

Before the Akufo-Addo administration took over from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) owed GH1.2 billion.

He indicated that his government is committed to paying the balance of the debt within 12 months.

President Akufo-Addo lambasted the NDC for not being able to manage the NHIS implemented by ex-President Kufuor but rather leaving behind debts.

The service providers were no longer prepared to put their service on credit but needed cash and that was the problem, he hinted.

It would be recalled that most hospitals, especially those in the Northern Region, were crying foul about the non-payment of their claims. The president has, however, assured that all such hospitals would have their concerns addressed and claims paid before the end of the year.

Some years after its inception, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) which was started during ex-President Kufuor's regime faced a lot of challenges which almost led to its collapse.

The scheme which was implemented to replace the cash-and-carry system forced suppliers on the scheme from supplying drugs to the various healthcare centres.

Subsequently, the cash-and-carry system slowly made it way in some parts of the country due to the inability of some health facilities to purchase drugs and pay for their supplies.

As part of his campaign promises, the then flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, assured Ghanaians that when given the nod as president of the country, he would revive NHIS and get it working across the country.

Barely a year after assuming office, President Akufo-Addo has paid parts of the debts insured by the scheme which nearly collapsed it.

FROM Eric Kombat, Nalerigu
Striking lecturers at the Accra Technical University have stated that they intend to return to the classrooms once the issues they raised about the poor teaching and learning conditions in the school are addressed.

The lecturers declared a strike on Tuesday over what they say are deplorable conditions at the school, which they claim negatively affects teaching and learning.

The situation appears to have forced the management of the University into action, with assurances from them that the numerous issues that plague the school will be addressed by the end of the week.

Speaking to Citi News, the Chairman of the Local branch of the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG), Jones Ntiamoah, said that once their challenges are addressed, the lecturers would return to the classrooms.

Yesterday [Wednesday], at 4:00pm, the local executives together with the national executives met management and after a long deliberation, we were able to agree that the issues we have raised, numbering about eight, could be addressed by the end of the week, he said

We could then meet on Monday, assess the situation and if it demands that we return to the classroom, we'll do so. We are very hopeful with the assurances given us by the acting Vice Chancellor that come Monday, something positive will come.

He insisted that their strike had the backing of the students who they would contract to assess the work that was being done and report back to them.

The action we've taken has the support of almost everybody on campus including students. They are ready to sacrifice lectures for those basic conditions to be met. I'm even meeting the SRC executives this afternoon. We want them to go round and assess the ongoing works and report accordingly, he said

The issues concern basic classroom amenities; projectors, lecturers' pulpits, sanitation issues, washrooms, water flow, sockets for projectors; basic things you'll find in a typical University class.



By: Edwin Kwakofi/cititfmonline.com/Ghana
On Friday 13 October Mr Kofi Annan, Chair of the Kofi Annan Foundation and the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, will brief UN Member States on the Advisory Commissions main findings and recommendations for Myanmars troubled western state of Rakhine.

In his capacity as Chair of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Mr Annan presented the Commission's report Towards a Peaceful, Fair and Prosperous Future for the People of Rakhine in Yangon in August 2017. The report puts forward recommendations to surmount the political, socioeconomic and humanitarian challenges that have long existed in Rakhine State and have contributed to the current crisis.

The Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, which was disbanded following the completion of its mandate in September 2017, focused on long-term solutions for improving the welfare of all people in Rakhine State. Its final report addresses many of the root causes that underlie the humanitarian crisis.

Towards a Peaceful, Fair and Prosperous Future for the People of Rakhine and the recommendations it contains have been endorsed by the Government of Myanmar and widely welcomed by the international community.

In his briefing to Council Members and other Member States, Mr Annan will present the main recommendations of the report and discuss their implementation in the context of the violence and displacement that has taken place since the Commissions report was published.

Mr Annan will urge stakeholders to use the report as a roadmap to peace and development in Rakhine State.

Mr Annan will stress the need to quickly end security operations, facilitate humanitarian access to affected populations and ensure protection of civilians.

The briefing will begin at 15:00 EST. It will be held under the Arria-formula to allow for participation from all United Nations Member States and accredited non-governmental organisations.

Mr. Annans statement will be made public at the time of the briefing.

About the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State

At the behest of the Ministry of the Office of the State Counsellor of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and in collaboration with the Kofi Annan Foundation , the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State was established in September 2016 as a neutral and impartial body to propose concrete measures for improving the welfare of all people in Rakhine state. It was disbanded following the completion of its mandate in September 2017.

The Commission was composed of six local and three international experts and chaired by Kofi Annan. It released an interim report in March 2017 and its final report in August 2017. The reports considered and provided recommendations on humanitarian and developmental issues, access to basic services, legal questions including citizenship and the assurance of basic rights, security to all people in all communities and other issues central to building lasting peace.
The challenging economy of Ghana is partly as a result of our poor transport system.

60years after independence and freedom revolution , Ghana has rather perform worse in the area of transport than the era of Nkrumah's governance.

Ghana's population has grown and the "business powerhouse" cities has been overcrowded with activities, businesses and human settlement.

Our leaders havd either failed to vision for this day or have failed to implement what were visioned for this day with respect to spatial planning and transit network.

The AYALOLO Transit System and a well designed Railway network system will surely contribute to boosting the economy by 70% in GHANA.

SINGAPORE has one of the most cost-efficient public transport networks in the world, according to a study conducted by London consulting firm Credo.

The study sought to calculate the "economic cost" of inefficient transport to the economies of 35 cities, as well as the economic benefits of investing in transport.

It derived the cost of commuting using factors such as journey time, fares, crowding levels, and ease of using the network.

The study found that in Singapore, the economic cost of transport to an individual commuter is 8.9 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita.

This rating describes the proportion of a person's time that is unproductive due to transport.

In Ghana, can u imagine the value of our time that goes unproductive per capita of GDP due to transport OR in simple terms per day of our income as business men or companies?

In Ghana our transport system are so poor that in crowded cities like Accra and Kumasi, u can averagely run business errands just once and the day comes to an end.

A transit from Madina to Accra that can ideally takes 25minutes or lesser will in all real cases takes more than an hour because of long traffic and poor road network.

Now convert these hours into economic business value of cost and you will be amazed the money we have been throwing away per day.

Let Consider;

For example, SOBOLO Distribution Company Ltd located in Lapaz makes Ghc10, 000 worth product distribution sales within 2 hours of return trip to and from Madina:

Let do the mathematics.

Assuming they open at 8am and close at 5pm, they have 9 good hours to do business. Each trip takes 2hours meaning they can effectively go for 4 trips per day and makes a total of Ghc40,000 sales that day.

Now imagine we have a good transit system that takes just an hour for a return trip from Lapaz to Madina. This will mean SOBOLO Ltd can actually transit 9 trips per day amounting a sales of GHc90,000

What is the cost of the unproductive time due to poor transit system?

Ans

Ghc90,000-Ghc40,000=Ghc50,000

Wow! This is a lot of money more than their actual daily sales of the first condition.

Consequently good transit system augment the economy, cause for more labour hands(employments) and expansion hubs for SOBOLO Ltd.

This is how hugely the Ghana economy will be impacted if we improve on the AYALOLO Bus Transit and developed more better Transit Network system to connect cities and interconnect cities & villages.

Timing Transit Stations that depart on time and arrive on time must be installed.

Citizens will be more time conscious and diligent to work.

Take away the trotros from the roads, absorb those drivers into the Transit System as conductors and Derivers. Pay them well.

Private car owners will always prefer to park their cars home and take State Transit bus or rails to work simply because it is reliable , fast , economical and safe.

Justice Offei Jr

Adjei Onanor Street, Adenta

(0245719992)
Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, 12 October 2017  The connections between international arbitration and economic growth in African was the subject of the recent East Africa International Arbitration Conference (EAIAC), held in Kigali, Rwanda. The 28-29 September conference gathered more than 300 arbitration practitioners, users, and government representatives who engaged in productive discussions on how international arbitration can be deployed to promote growth on the continent. As a strategic partner to the event, African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) staff actively participated in the deliberations.

Amanda Dakoure, Legal Counsel at the ALSF, shared her thoughts with a panel which sought to explore and clarify emerging issues related to the Financing and Negotiation of International Trade and Investment. He was joined by Patson Arinaitwe, Senior Associate at Sebalu & Lule Advocates, and Lawrence Muiruri, Registrar of the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration.

In her presentation, Dakoure described the mandate, activities, and objectives of the Facility: The ALSF provides technical legal assistance to African countries to strengthen their legal expertise and negotiating capacity in matters pertaining to investment agreements. Following an exchange with participants seeking clarity on the ALSFs mission, Dakoure drew the attention of the audience to a number of successful, recently-concluded ALSF projects

The panel discussion explored a broad variety of press subjects, including intra-African trade regimes, investment treaties, and financial investment.

Organized this year on the theme, Linkages between International arbitration and Africas Economy, the 5th East Africa International Arbitration Conference drew attention to the economic implications of international arbitration, while simultaneously promoting training and capacity-building in the field. In addition to the litany of legal practitioners in attendance, the conference benefitted from the participation of the Chief Justice of Rwanda, Sam Rugege, as well as the President of the East African Court of Justice, Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja.

The East Africa International Arbitration Conference is organized on an annual basis, and aims to highlight and strengthen the connection between effective dispute resolution, foreign investments, and economic development in Africa. Its organizers promote arbitration centers, law societies, and law firms in the region.
Greetings distinguished Mentors and Role Models. As I watched the documentary video sharing highlights and a bit of insights on the impact of the group over the space of a decade, I thought to myself that it is important to recognize how such modest contributions by a critical mass of young individuals have impacted so many people.

Samuel Agyeman-Prempeh tells me that himself and a number of colleagues started Role Model Africa whiles he was in second year in Achimota School. Then it was called INVENTS. He explains further that the name originally was an acronym for Investment and Entrepreneurship for Students. And the goal as at then was to encourage himself and fellow Motowners (as you will have it) to Investment their money in various Investment portfolios and use the returns of the investment for various entrepreneurial activities. This took off well coupled with various workshops and conferences.

It was when his team was in the Tertiary that I first interfaced with them, I do not recall clearly but Samuel explains to me how Laine supported a few of their events but unfortunately I could not honor their invitation as they expected. I am glad to know we supported them, although I cant clearly recall and I have kept my promise to make up to the team anytime they call on me.

I have been a part of Role Model Africa in a few ways, I got the opportunity to write the foreword for one of their books tilted Courting Greatness, which shared in a story telling format aspects of the Role Model Africa story and Samuels personal writing and Entrepreneurial endeavors. I was at the launch of this book to join other persons who believe in supporting a worthy course. And of course the Role Model Africa series-The team visited my office to grant me an interview, and hey, Im told that video is still being edited, I look forward to it. I have observed the She Magnate project and I must commend the team for their Investment and belief in women. Worthy of a clap here.

Very importantly today is the fact that one or many of these interventions by Role Model Africa has helped give someone hope, made one or more people start a business, get people to do more introspection of themselves and prayerfully consider the life purpose. For me, if all that Role Model Africa have done over the past 10 years have made a young man or lady say and belief that there is hope and it is possible here in Ghana and Africa at large, I think the team deserve your appreciation. Lets face it, Role Model Africa have not directly placed money in peoples pockets, but they have empowered more people to create wealth. These are young guys who whiles in senior high schools and the universities, thought not of themselves alone but painstakingly denied themselves and continually go out of their ways to help more of their colleagues. The lectures they missed, the assignments they couldnt submit and the deadlines they were unable to meet, all have connected today-I see lives touched, lives impacted and lives transformed.

I must on behalf of the team thank you for joining us for our 10th anniversary. Yes, not only do I feel a part, I am a part. Role Model Africa wants to do more of these in the next 10 years and can only partner with you to make this a reality.

We say Happy Birthday team Role Model Africa, happy 10th Anniversary.

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12.10.2017 LISTEN

Liberia is a unitary sovereign state divided into counties for administrative purposes. The form of government is Republican with three separate coordinate branches: the legislative, the Executive and Judiciary. Consistent with the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances, no person holding office in one of these branches shall hold office in or exercise any of the powers assigned to either of the other two branches except as otherwise provided in this Constitution; and no person holding office in one of the said branches shall serve on any autonomous public agency. Article 3 (1986)

Democracy is a culture like most of the traditional cultures we have in Ghana with their specific principles that makes them unique and well defined. These cultures possess their formula of performing rites. Deviation from performing the desired rite as is ascribes vitiates normalcy of the rite and it could be translated to mean something other than the required rite.

In the absence of consistency with the performing act of a prescribed rite to the extent of its being inconsistent, makes it void and attrition to the rite within the concept of the cultural intake.

Cultural practitioners at various Ghanaian cultural centres flamboyantly perform cultural acts on stages without them belonging to any of the tribes or ethnic society for which tradition they perform its culture and so is the practice of democracy and practitioners of democracy. So if the decision of the people of Ghana is to practice democracy as a system, we must rethink the Constitution 1992 and the democratic principles enshrined under it especially the legitimacy of coalescing the Executive and the Legislative arms under democratic principles of separation of powers.

We the people of Ghana having admitted into practicing democracy under Article 35.1 Ghana shall be a democratic state dedicated to the realization of freedom and justice; we must sit-up to reconnoiter to gaining back essential democratic principle missing in the formulation of our democratic constitution knowing that sovereignty resides in the people of Ghana from whom Government derives all its powers and authority

In the practice of democracy depending on the system chosen, consistency with the principles of separation of powers, checks and balances are very paramount, especially the electoral system towards establishing such powers shall be consistent with the principles of democratic evolution and it shall not be violated.

Coveted words to grant inconsistency in the fundamental concept of separation of powers booked in the fundamental laws of the Republic, to the extent of its inconsistency, violation or perfidiously manipulating the system to invalidate the principles of separation of powers, checks and balances and transparent electoral system towards the powers established under the principles of separation of powers, renders democratic principles booked in the fundamental laws of the land void if it is not consistent with democratic principle of separation of powers.

Political actors of now must recognize the condition under which the 1992 Constitution came into being and get to understanding that, we are near lost to the core principles of separation of power under democratic principles if we get not to think to call for amendment of Article 78.1 where the President shall appoint majority of his ministers from the Single Chamber Parliament of Ghana.

Horrific dazing gaze starring at us in a broad day light contemplating the hands of Single Chamber Parliament tied behind them by the executive under Article 78.1 of the 1992 Constitution and that is serious.

It is mind-boggling to conjecture the horrendous efforts catapulted to electing a member of council of state by a region regardless of its population for only the President on his own discretion to appoint more members than the entire nation to council of state. It is more horrific to think that, under Article 91.3, the advice of the council of state is not binding if it is requested or on its own initiative consider and make recommendations on any matter being considered or dealt with by the Executive or the Parliament. Would there be anything the Executive or the Parliament shall deliberate upon that experienced and conscience thinking old guards of the nation could not prove to have an astounding crouch?

Advocacy for the practice of democratic culture by astute democracies are purposely directed and intended to give meaning to peaceful election of national leadership associated with transparency, fundamental human rights, and equality of persons and annihilating corruption of all traits. These are best found in the culture called Democracy and that therefore are the thrust for which other nations like mother Ghana would forgo all other political systems including systems our forebears had bored to keep us progressive in diversity including the 1960 Constitution of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

We should not forget the several empires in Ghana including the Asante Empire which, strategically was governed with elements of democratic prudence under which most democratic nations of the world have continued to retain in pursuit of electing their heads of state and heads of government.

Democracy as it is has in-built mechanism for eschewing corruption and establishing fundamental rights for all its citizens as equal citizens and a needed diversity towards common goal- prosperity of the people of the nation.

However considering the Parliament of Ghana as it stands today, is half the executive presidency in that the most powerful among them are made prime members of the executive arm of government of Ghana. The essence of executive system of presidency as is known in the democratic circles runs contrary to what is established under the 1992 Constitution. Democratic principles of separation of powers are lost and totally lost to the people of Ghana in the name of a lame hybrid constitution which is far away from the French hybrid Constitution of 1958.

It is in the light of these thoughts that we have observed, the people of Ghana under the 1992 Constitution have been deprived of some of the essential potency of democratic principles and veers away our nation from democracy and instils unto us full fledge oligarchy that may guide us to nepotism and lead our nation into an autocratic bulwark, where only a selected few, shall at all times be the decision makers of our nation and shall divulge laws to suite themselves to pay-off debts accumulated for the expensive electoral laws we have carved for ourselves. They shall continue to divide us as a nation of with us or against us in seeking our votes whilst up there, they shall conceal but their wrongs against the entirety of the nation.

Munir Saani

Safe Democracy Ghana.
Accra: October 9, 2017: For just the first half of 2017, the Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has mobilised almost eight billion Ghana cedis in tax collection through the further deployment of the Total Revenue Integrated Processing System (tripsTM), representing a seventeen per cent increase over the same period in 2016. In 2016, more than eleven billion Ghana cedis was also mobilised through tripsTM compared to the almost nine billion Ghana cedis and three billion Ghana cedis mobilised in 2015 and 2014.

Data shows that more than 154,000 tax returns were processed through tripsTM between January and July in 2017 representing a 43% increase on the same period in 2016. From January to July 2017 over 151,000 new Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) have been issued bring the total since the launch of TRIPS to 890,000.

The Total Revenue Integrated Processing System (TripsTM) is an e-tax solution software for tax administration under the e-Government project by the Ministry of Communication. tripsTM, the first in West Africa, was designed and deployed in 2011 as a business automation process system that seeks to streamline and bring transparency in the business operations of the Ghana Revenue Authority.

The e-tax solution package was developed and deployed for the Ghana Revenue Authority by the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) with a self-service portal that provides online services to taxpayers. The system supports a full range of tax Administration functions including: Registration, Returns Processing, Automated Compliance, Collections, Taxpayer Accounting, Revenue Accounting, Refunds, Risk Management, Case Management, Audit, Objections and Appeals.

GeGov Project Manager at GCNet, Mr. Chris Holden, noted the system exchanges real time data with a number of other Government Systems including: the National Identification Authority, Driver Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA) and the for the online validation of Individuals identity documents; Registrar-Generals Department for the automated creation and sharing of Tax Identification Numbers; Customs for the identification of Importers and Exports; and also share data with the Controller and Accountant Generals Department.

He was confident that with the expanded roll out of tripsTM across all offices of the Domestic Tax Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority nationwide, more individuals and entities will be roped into the tax net to enhance revenue mobilisation efforts to meet national development needs.

Currently, 38 offices of the Domestic Tax Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) nationwide have been migrated onto the use of tripsTM with an additional 21 offices to be on-boarded. The Total Revenue Integrated Processing system is a software which processes the business functions of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the Ghana

Revenue Authority. It forms a component of the eGovernment Project which seeks to promote transparency and accountability in various Government Agencies.

As a business process automation system, TRIPS is designed to integrate various tax modules as well as interface with third party systems. The outcome of this makes is easier for taxpayers to transact business with GRA, thus enhancing compliance and consequently increasing revenue mobilisation in the course of the next 6 weeks. This is expected to expand coverage and access to the citizen and corporate Ghana as part of the moves to improve revenue mobilisation. Training workshops are also ongoing nationwide to sharpen the skills of tax officials who register and migrate taxpayers and process returns through the system to improve customer service and revenue administration.

Promoting the use of trips

In order to promote the use of tripsTM, the Ghana Revenue Authority and their Private Partner GCNet in November 2016, initiated an internal campaign in the form of a competition and awards scheme to motivate staff to use tripsTM for TIN Registration, Tax types Registration, Return Processing and the other modules.

Five tax offices (Large Tax Office, Spintex Medium Tax Office, Teshie Nungua Small Tax Office, Madina Small Tax Office and Adenta Small Tax Office) were recognised as joint winners in the first quarter competition for their continued use of the Total Revenue Integrated Processing Systems (tripsTM) in revenue collection efforts of the Authority.

For the second quarter, another five tax offices (Kasoa Small Tax Office, Spintex Medium Tax Office, Agbogbloshie Small Tax Office, Asokwa Medium Tax Office and Sunyani Tax Office) were recognised as joint winners in the competition.
Ghanas Second Lady, Hajia Samira Bawumia, has donated a large consignment of surgical equipment and medical supplies to the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) worth over $60,000.

These include boxes of canolas, disinfectants, monitors, catheter, boxes of NG tubes, suction device, syringe pump, pulse oximeter and minor surgical and OPD equipment.

The donation was done through her benevolent organization called Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Project.

Hajia Samira Bawumia in a brief speech said the TTH is dear to her heart, hence the donation.

The Second Lady reiterated the commitment of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addos administration to improve the countrys health sector.

The TTH acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO), David Z. Kolbilla, extolled the Second Lady for placing premium on the major health referral facility, serving Northern Ghana and beyond.

Dr. Kolbilla appealed to government to fix the hospitals myriad of challenges including staff accommodation and hostels for patients relatives.

He bemoaned the hospitals broken down oxygen plant leading to the erratic supply of medical oxygen to patients. He also raised concern about infrequent water supply and shortages of basic consumables.

Dr. Z. Kobila exposed some selfish staff who illegally extort monies from patients and called for a stop to such inhumane practice.

The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Sa-eed, on behalf of the chiefs and people thanked the Second Lady for her kind gesture.

He admonished her to do more since she has the hospital at heart. Salifu Sa-eed urged management and staff to improve their cordial relations.

Donations to basic schools in Tamale

Hajia Samira Bawumia earlier donated library books to three selected schools within the Tamale Metropolitan Area.

She symbolically handed the donation over to the school heads at the Zogbeli Block A cluster of schools.

The second Lady impressed upon the pupils to read wide and work hard to attain higher academic laurels.

She cautioned the school heads against diverting the books for their personal gains, and promised to sustain the donation to promote literacy and as well overturn the falling standard of education in the area.

One of the school heads of the beneficiary schools, Madam Henrietta Yaro, on behalf of her colleagues, commended the Second Lady for the support.

They promised to put the books to good use as they are needed to improve pupils reading skills.



By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Once again, Nordic Ghana Investment Services (NorGhis) would make Ghana exceptionally visible at this years Nordic-African Business Summit in Oslo on October 26. This Business Summit is the single largest Nordic Business Conference focusing exclusively on African markets in the Nordic Countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, including Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Aland Islands).

The theme for this years Summit is How to Invest in Africas Transition; and His Excellency Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, is a keynote invitee. Messers Rich Ocloo, Francis Kwamena Acquah and Tete Kobla Agbota have made this invitation possible. They formed NorGhis in 2011 with the goal to make Ghana a visible investment destination for investors and businesses from Norway and other Nordic Countries. According to Tete Kobla Agbota, the CEO of NorGhis, a central strategy to achieve this aim has been to get prominent Ghanaians as keynote invitees to Nordic-African Business Summit.

Besides making it possible for prominent Ghanaians to be keynote invitees to the Business Summit NorGhis relays information on business to authorities to advance the interest of Ghana. For instance, when we had the information that Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries had decided to open an office in West Africa, we alerted President Mahama. We relayed what we have done for the office to be located in Accra. Acting upon this information, he met with the main decision makers when he was in Oslo in 2014. Norways Ambassador to Ghana, Ms. Hege Hertzberg also gave us support in this respect. Eminent Ghanaians that have been to the Nordic Business Summit are His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama, Hon. Fiifi Fiavi Kwettey and last but not the least His Majesty, the Asantehene Otumfuor Osei Tutu II. Mr. Agbota disclosed that it has not been an easy job getting these prominent persons to Oslo; it requires hard work, perseverance, patriotism, dedication and a large portion of voluntary spirit.

We are grateful that Mr. Eivind Fjeldstad, the CEO of Norwegian African Business Association (NABA) agreed to invite His Excellency Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia as the Keynote Speaker for the 2017 Summit. NorGhis would be responsible for organizing the special session for businesses and investors interested in Ghana.

To the question on how NorGhis maintains its contact with the Ghanaian market, Mr. Acquah said they have built a network of reliable individuals and organizations in Ghana, because to be a relevant conduit between investors and projects you need reliable partners in Ghana who can identify investment opportunities. For instance, we have cooperation with INNOHUB Ghana via Mr. Nelson Amo and with Debenture Trust Company Ghana Ltd., via Mr. George Ahiafor and Mr. Kwaku Agbottah.

On what message NorGhis has for the Vice President, Mr. Ocloo underscored the comparative advantage of Norway in Oil and Gas and Aquaculture. He disclosed NorGhis has plans on how these two areas can be harnessed to create wealth, jobs and reduce poverty.
Monrovia (AFP) - Liberian presidential candidates George Weah and Vice-President Joseph Boakai dominated partial tallies released by the country's electoral commission on Thursday, but the results showed the vast majority of votes are yet to be counted.

Political parties have expressed concern over polling-day hitches on Tuesday that have caused significant delays to the results, with one party calling for a halt to the ballot counting.

Weah and Boakai are expected to top the first round of voting, according to analysts, though former Coca-Cola executive Alexander Cummings is considered to have eaten into their support with an innovative campaign strategy.

The only county with more than 30 percent of votes counted -- Bong county -- showed Boakai and Weah neck-and-neck with a slight advantage on Weah's side.

Weah was also leading in Montserrado county, his stronghold, which although just 14.8 percent of ballots have been counted dwarfs Liberia's other counties in representing 778,000 voters.

If no candidate wins over 50 percent of the presidential vote nationwide, a run-off between the top two contenders will be held on November 7 -- an outcome deemed a near certainty.

Jerome Korkoya, NEC Chairman, said the commission was "committed to the release of timely results but this cannot be done at the expense of accuracy," after foreign observers began to apply pressure over the long wait.

"This commission has not declared any winner," Korkoya added, saying the results remained too partial to declare a runoff.

Korkoya also hit out at false reports including a tweet by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger that Weah had already been declared the winner.

"Reports going around that somebody or some people have already been elected, we are not aware of that," the NEC chairman said.

The chairman of the Liberty Party, whose candidate is not expected to make the run-off round, on Thursday urged the "NEC to immediately halt further announcements of election results."

"If NEC does not cooperate with our request, we will take the appropriate legal action," the party's chairman, Ben Sanvee, said.

Turnout for Liberia's first democratic transfer of power in seven decades was exceptionally high, the NEC has suggested.

Given the delays, the European Union observer mission had urged the NEC to be as open as possible about the details of the final results.

"In order for the final result to be credible, the Liberian authorities will have to show the greatest transparency regarding the handling of the result for the polling stations until the validation," the chief observer of the EU's Election Observation Mission, Maria Arena, told journalists in Monrovia.

She also called on the authorities to ensure that "potential complaints are handled with the utmost impartiality" in a tense environment.

The Carter Center, an NGO founded by former US president Jimmy Carter, said "prompt release of results" would help in "building confidence among the electorate and preventing confusion and tension."
So you mean to say that Ethereum is like a conduit, an infrastructure, the pipes of the a new internet? Yes. A-ha, I think I get it now.

This is typical of how a lot of my conversations go these days. I travel a lot, within the UK, across to Europe, the US, Asia and back home to Australia.

Inevitably, wherever I go these days Ill come across a friendly person who just wants to have a chat. Sometimes thats in a pub. Sometimes its in an airport lounge. Sometimes its just friends and family, or friends of friends and family.

The usual pleasantries are exchanged.

Hello, Im [so and so]. Hi Im Sam, nice to meet you. Hi Sam, so what do you do? Im an Editor. Okay so for a newspaper, or magazine? No we publish financial newsletters. Provide advice to subscribers. Stocks, investments. Cryptocurrency. Oh cryptocurrency, yes Ive heard of that. Bitcoin, oooh thats gone up a lot hasnt it?

You get the gist of it.

The price people, and the smart ones

Pretty soon the conversation gets a little more detailed as people cant help but want to know about bitcoin and why its so expensive.

I help to educate them about its origins, why it exists and the problems of relating its price into fiat currency all the time. At first most people dont get it. They just want to know how to buy it and where they can sell it back into dollars (or pounds).

Theres not too much point going into great detail with these people. Theres plenty of info available out there from the mainstream about buying bitcoin and selling it back into fiat money for fiat profits.

But some people, the smart ones, want to know more. They want to know more than its price. They will ask questions like, I dont understand the value behind it? or, Can you explain how you can actually use it?

Theyre deeper questions about not just bitcoin but the entire crypto world. I enjoy speaking with these people because they have a thirst for knowledge. They want to understand the mechanics of it, and the bigger picture ideas.

I help them on that journeyif Ive got time. But typically Ill help them to understand that theres something far bigger than just bitcoin and etherum in play here.

Sure bitcoin and ethereum are the two big boys of crypto. And a lot of people have seen or heard about these before. But I explain that these are just two of an entire new world being built, effectively, from scratch.

How cryptocurrencies are creating an alternative financial system, digital infrastructure, networks to secure identities, data marketplaces, privacy-centric payment systems, messaging and communications platforms, blockchain based digital apps.

I open their eyes to a whole world thats being created, developed and built right under their noses. And none of them really know its happening  yet.

They see the mainstream cover the price of bitcoin. They hear Wall Street big-wigs calling bitcoin a fraud. They hear about China banning it all. They are fearful and scared of getting involved because its all too dangerous for them.

But when they understand this is an exciting, innovative, fast-paced world it is, they do start to see the significance of this creation event.

And its only when you start to explain how a crypto like ethereum works, or why litecoin is like a test-bed for bitcoin that they start to understand. When you explain there are development projects in play to decentralise computer storage and processing power, their eyes light up. When you tell them about payment technology on the blockchain with mobile wallets and payments cards, they go positively bonkers.

Sometimes they get there quickly. Sometimes they take a little longer. But everyone thats genuinely interested in whats really going on always end up with an a-ha! moment.

Its a wonderful thing to see. Their eyes open. They smile. They glance off into the distance. You can see their mind whirring away at a million miles an hour. You can see them trying to piece it all together.

Theres nothing I enjoy more than being in the presence of someone having an a-ha! moment about cryptocurrency.

Very quickly after that moment theyre desperate to know more. They want to understand the different types of projects in the works. They want to know how to get bitcoin, ethereuem, and a whole range of different cryptos.

They want to know what apps they can get their hands on to escape the fiat system. They want to know what are some of the upcoming opportunities to get involved in new cryptos.

The excitement that people get when they truly understand whats happening is palpable.

Time to go

Of course by this stage Ive usually finished my beer (or two). Or its time to catch that flight. Or its just time to leave. And I dont give personal advice or give away my recommendations for free.

Its why we have services like Sam Volkerings Secret Crypto Network. Its for people who are just starting out with cryptocurrency, maybe havent had that a-ha! moment yet, but want to know more. They want to know more than just its price in fiat money. They want to understand.

Secret Crypto Network is a perfect way to get started.

But theres also that crypto user who wants to take things to the next level. They want bigger opportunities in cryptos. They want the highest-risk, potentially highest reward opportunities that come my way. They want to know about ICOs.

Theyve bought bitcoin or ethereum already, or both, and they know how to move it around. They know the risks, and are ready to accept them. They want to supercharge their crypto holdings, and they need help to avoid the scams, the fraud and the worthless coins.

And thats why weve been working on a special project specifically tailored just for this niche area within the crypto world. Its certainly not for everyone. In fact its definitely not for beginners. But its a solely dedicated crypto project, the likes of which weve never done before.

In fact, it may very well be the only service of its kind within the country. And its coming soon. Very soon.

Regards,

Sam Volkering,

Editor, Australian Small-Cap Investigator
For every Uber theres a Didi.

A Tujia for every Airbnb.

And an Alibaba up against every Amazon.

Yes, China has been famous  or should I say infamous  for its strategy of imitation. Especially of innovative foreign companies.

Theres practically a Chinese version of every well-known growth story.

As a game plan, its working for them.

For a brief moment on Tuesday, Alibaba overtook Amazon to become the worlds biggest e-commerce company.Im

And yesterday, Airbnb clone Tujia raised US$300 million to fund a rapid expansion plan. Theyre looking to capitalise on a surge of Chinese families taking overseas holidays.

Imitation is nothing new in China.

Its ingrained in the culture.

When I was in China five years ago, I noticed the glazed rooftop tiles around smaller city landmarks were the same as those found in Beijings Forbidden City.

The distinctive tiles were direct clones.

As I travelled around, there was a lot less regional variation than you get in other parts of the world.

Perhaps thats just due to long term dynastic traditions?

Either way, seven decades of communist ideology  in theory at least  doesnt create melting pots of independent thought.

Until recently

At the world-famous Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in 2017, a slew of Chinese companies exhibited.

700 of the 1,575 Chinese companies were from the Shenzhen area. Chinas own Silicon Valley.

A fresh focus on innovation is increasingly high on the ruling partys agenda.

But it might be too late to ease tensions with the US.

The Trump administration is currently probing Chinas intellectual property (IP) practices.

Its adding more powder to the already volatile political mix.

It could even be the spark that sets off a trade war.

The US argues that Beijing forces US companies into giving away IP as the price for doing business in China. They siphon off the IP, and give it to state-backed companies like Huawei.

In the most obvious cases, Chinese clones of American companies then spring up.

Stealing business ideas is one thing, but its the deeper technology insights the US wants to protect.

Especially in the fields of artificial intelligence, big data and advanced technologies.

Daniel Patrick McGahn, chief executive officer of American Superconductor Corp. wants China to understand that American and Chinese companies all should be subject to the same rules.

A level playing field.

China, for its part, is playing dumb.

We are quite confused and greatly concerned about the investigation, said Chen Zhou of the China Chamber of International Commerce.

Its yet another front in a trade war simmering beneath the surface. Tensions will remain as each seeks to advance their own interests.

Everything from labelling China a currency manipulator to increasing import taxes are up for review under Trump.

No one wins in a trade war

So far, its mostly been words and accusations.

Not actions.

Which is good.

The two biggest economies going toe to toe would be bad for everyone.

Trade wars arent the sort of battle that you win. As the economist Adam Smith showed three centuries ago, trade is a win-win scenario.

You produce what you are best at, I produce what I am best at, and there ends up being more for everyone.

As China starts to grow its economy and wealth, it will need to start accepting a more level playing field.

Research costs are huge burdens on technology companies. Theres only so much free riding they will take.

No doubt China understands this.

But its in their own interest to negotiate every inch. And in the meantime grow Chinas wealth, its companies and its technological know-how.

How Trump reacts to this is the big unknown. As the great deal maker in chief, hes unlikely to fall for such stalling tactics.

He would prefer a straightforward deal.

Perhaps that will come by way of a North Korean solution? Perhaps thats been Chinas bargaining chip all along?

Or perhaps Trump has other cards left to play?

I dont know.

Im not a master of the art of the deal.

But I do hope the two superpowers find a way through this impasse. Because it will be a win for Australia.

In fact, our future economic hopes hinge on it.

Good investing,

Ryan Dinse,

Editor, Money Morning
'The big truck is still on ...
A state bill targeting so-called sanctuary cities and counties would sow fear among Wisconsins immigrant population and impede police cooperation with them, its critics told a legislative panel Thursday.

The Republican sponsor of the bill, which requires local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, said it would help them apprehend dangerous criminals who also are immigrants living in the country illegally.

The bill got its first public airing of the year Thursday inside a packed hearing room at the state Capitol. The chairman of the committee that heard the bill, Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, also is its sponsor.

A Milwaukee group opposing the bill, Voces de la Frontera, said it brought at least 500 opponents of the bill to the Capitol from Green Bay, Manitowoc, Milwaukee and Waukesha.

The bill faces an uncertain future in the Legislature. It is similar to a Texas law that was partially blocked from taking effect by a federal judge earlier this year and is now before a federal appeals court.

An association representing Wisconsin sheriffs has said a provision of the bill, also one of the parts of the Texas law that was blocked, may require county jails to detain people unconstitutionally.

Critics of the measure, including state Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa, D-Milwaukee, said Thursday that the election of President Donald Trump led to an increase in anti-Latino rhetoric that also is driving support for the bill.

The president of Voces de la Frontera, Jose Flores, testified that hes living in the country illegally. Flores told Nass he has four children, all U.S. citizens, and he fears what would happen if he is deported.

We are hard workers, sir, Flores told Nass. We are not criminals.

Nass responded that his bill isnt meant to help law enforcement apprehend law-abiding immigrants, but rather the criminal element.

Earlier in the hearing, Nass testified that these politically correct (sanctuary) policies actually increase the risk to public safety.

Walker doesnt commit on bill

Nass bill would bar local municipalities or counties from enacting or enforcing any ordinance, resolution or policy that prohibits enforcing any law relating to illegal aliens. It also requires municipalities & counties to comply with detainers issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, which ask local authorities to continue to detain people past their release date to give ICE agents more time to decide whether to take the person into federal custody.

If a court found a municipality or county violated the bills requirements, it calls for the state to reduce aid to that municipality or county by between $500 and $5,000, depending on its population, for each day of noncompliance.

Gov. Scott Walker is noncommittal about the bill, with his spokesman only saying Thursday that the governor will review the bill if it gets to his desk.

The state Assembly passed a similar bill last year during the previous legislative session. It died in the state Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, declared it wasnt a priority.

Nass testimony named only one local government as a sanctuary that would see potential impact from the bill: Milwaukee County. In April, President Donald Trumps administration threatened to cut grant money for Milwaukee County over so-called sanctuary policies  though the administration on Thursday said Milwaukee County is complying with immigration law.

Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney told The Capital Times he does not let a detainer prevent inmates from posting bail or leaving once they have completed their sentences, unless he receives a warrant ordering the person to be held.

Mahoneys office and Madison police could not be reached for comment Thursday to say if the bill would affect any of their policies or operations.

Madison was among the cities that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said last year was being targeted by the bill  though Madison officials disputed the term sanctuary city as accurately describing their policies. It typically is applied to cities or counties that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities to enforce immigration law.

Constitutional concerns cited

The Badger State Sheriffs Association, in written testimony to the committee, flagged the provision requiring compliance with ICE detainers. If doing so requires the person to be detained past what is allowed under the charge or charges for which they initially were detained, it cannot be done without violating the persons constitutional rights, the association wrote. National sheriffs groups are working with federal authorities to resolve this issue, the association wrote.

Darryl Morin, a spokesman for the Wisconsin chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, said the bill would send a message of fear and division and have a chilling effect on police-community relations.

Many who came to testify against the bill could not because the buses that brought them to the Capitol departed before the hearing ended.

They included 12-year-old Isabel Martinez of Manitowoc. Martinez said her father was deported to his home country of Mexico in 2012, when she was six, after having lived in the U.S. for 16 years and having four children here.

I dont want other kids just like me to experience what I experienced, Martinez said.

Martinezs mother, Jennifer Estrada, also of Manitowoc, said she agrees with Zamarripa that treatment of Latinos has changed since the election. Estrada said another of her daughters was bullied on her school playground shortly after the election and told by another student to go back to your country.

We think its sad Wisconsin is trying to push the racist agenda coming out of the White House, Estrada said.
Mark Twain Medical Center View Photos

Originally posted at 6 a.m.: San Andreas, CA  Mark Twain Health Care District officials, as they weigh the merits and charms of two suitors, are happily touting the district is in a fortunate position.

Over the past several months  largely behind the scenes  officials and consultants have delved into careful analysis of the districts options and negotiated with long-time partner Dignity Health Care, which co-owns Mark Twain Medical Center assets with the district. MTHCD Executive Director Dr. Randy Smart has been driving the process since taking over the helm over three months ago, as reported here.

It was at the boards most recent meeting Sept. 27 when Smart was able to report that Dignity Healths completed proposal had been submitted and was now on the table. It is a reasonable proposal that offers us choices in the future, Smart maintains, adding that the offer will remain in hold mode while the district negotiates possibilities of working with Adventist Health.

As reported here, among the options before the district regarding its lease agreement with the medical center are signing a new agreement with Dignity; going with another affiliate; running the hospital as an independent operator or through a management services agreement. This last choice is the only one that does not require securing final local approval through a voter measure.

Both Dignity, Adventist Health Very Interested

Since a new lease must be in place by the end of 2019, district officials are feeling the heat to come to a decision before the end of the year so there is time to prepare a measure for the June 2018 ballot. I can tell you that both organizations are very interested in Mark Twain Hospital, Smart confides, describing them both as very professional, very reputable.

Enthusing, he adds, I will tell you what I am telling employees and leadership at Mark Twain: this is the best position that you can imagine to have. Many of these small rural hospitals have nowhere to turn  I mean they have nobody to talk to  they are trying to talk to banks rather than partners. To be in a position where you have this level of competence and financial security willing to talk to you is just incredible  and if anybody out there is worried about [the future of] Mark Twain, they dont need to be.

Smart muses that ahead of its ultimate decision the board will have more to weigh than just numbers. You want to make sure that you are not just a percentage of the booksyou want to know that [affiliate partner leadership/administrators] care about you and they want this to work and understandwhat rural health care is going to be like and respond to these national challenges as we need them to. Along with financial there are cultural aspects to consider as well as which affiliate might best improve upon current abilities to deliver excellent customer service.

On the other side of the equation, Smart notes are fundamental questions for the entire county of Calaveras to consider, including do residents really still want a local hospital? He has been floating that question at business and community events, wryly emphasizing, It will not matter who runs the hospital if you dont use, care about and respect it  it is going to go away.

Public Hearing Dates, Final Decision Coming Soon

Currently, Smart projects having more meaningful details to share about the side to side proposals in a few more weeks. Whether that will be by the boards next meeting on Oct. 25 or in early November depends on the progress of negotiations with Adventist Health. He anticipates that the district will schedule public meetings to hear comments in November, perhaps vote at the Nov. 22 meeting, and then make a presentation of the districts chosen proposal to the county supervisors during a public hearing in December.

With regard to the Dignity Health option, the board received two petitions supportive of continuing the quarter-century-plus partnership at its last meeting from Mark Twain Medical Center staff; one signed by over a hundred personnel members and the other from physicians with over 20 doctors signatures. Speaking for Dignity Health, Mark Twain Medical Center President/CEO Robert Diehl gratefully acknowledged the support.

Now, more than ever, as other rural communities across America are losing their hospitals due to financial pressures, Diehl states that his company is working to put its best foot forward as the district considers its options. If you ask me, I feel strongly that the Mark Twain Health Care District, together with Dignity Health, can look back and take pride in the high quality modern hospital we have, the clinics, the health care services that have been delivered here.

Among beneficial provisions in recent years, he points to expansions in medical staff, new specialties and tele-medicine access as a few of the advancements that have been made. According to recent figures of unique visit statistics, Diehl shares that last year over 21,000 Calaveras residents experienced Mark Twain Medical Center/Dignity Health care in some form; either an in-patient hospitalization, an emergency or clinic visit or a surgery. Subsequently, he says, So that means just over 47 percent of us come here  and to me that means the pressure is on us to continue to make those services available and grow and expand for decades to come.

For their part, Adventist Health officials, since they are still busily in the process of tendering their proposal, are reserving comment for now. Watch this space for more details as they become available.
The former executive director of the state Democratic Party could face a first-degree reckless homicide charge for the drug overdose death last month of a woman at his home in Fitchburg, according to a search warrant filed this week.

The search warrant, filed on Monday but not made available until Tuesday, states that Jason T. Sidener, 42, told Fitchburg police that he took the 30-year-old woman to St. Marys Hospitals emergency room on Sept. 12 after waking up that morning to find her breathing really weird, suspecting that she may have used heroin at his home on Bantry Lane in Fitchburg.

The woman, identified as Monique E. Allen, of Madison, was dead upon arrival at the hospital, according to the warrant. An obituary for Allen says she is survived by three children.

Sidener has not been arrested or charged with any crime. Fitchburg police filed and executed the search w arrant for his home and vehicle last week as part of what is still a death investigation, said Lt. Don Bomkamp. Police have sent evidence to the state crime lab for testing and are also still collecting data evidence from a cellphone.

Wed like to know where the drugs came from, Bomkamp said.

The warrant said the items being sought at Sideners home may constitute evidence of the crime of first-degree reckless homicide.

The warrant doesnt indicate that anyone other than Sidener and the woman were at the house during the time of the incident. Under Wisconsin law, anyone who provides an illegal drug to someone that causes an overdose death may be charged with a felony punishable by up to 40 years of prison and extended supervision.

Bomkamp said Sideners lawyer has instructed police not to ask Sidener any questions. The lawyer, Jonas Bednarek, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday, and Sidener did not respond to a text message.

Sidener was hired in December as executive director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin after serving as political director of AFSCME Council 32. According to an affidavit filed with the search warrant, Sidener was recently fired from the job because of work performance issues.

Democratic Party spokeswoman Melanie Conklin said Wednesday that Sidener took a leave of absence in early August, returned briefly in mid-September and left the job on Sept. 14 citing that it would be the best thing for his health and that the road to full recovery would be longer than expected. 

The party is cooperating fully with police and deferred questions about the investigation to police out of respect for all those involved, Conklin said.

Conklin said news of the investigation has been heartbreaking and that legal obligations keep us from commenting on personnel matters.

According to the search warrant affidavit:

Police were called to St. Marys Hospital about 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 12, about two hours after Sidener brought in Allen, who was dead.

An autopsy did not immediately determine the cause of death, which required additional toxicology tests. Last week, results from the tests showed that Allen had died from an overdose and had multiple drugs in her system, including heroin, fentanyl and a fentanyl analog, and cocaine.

Sidener told police that he had picked up Allen at a Far East Side motel the night of Sept. 11 and brought her to his home. He said they hung out all night, and she spent the night there. He said he and Allen used only marijuana and when he fell asleep between 1 and 2 a.m., Allen was fine.

When he woke up at 5 a.m., Sidener told police, he suspected Allen had possibly used heroin, that she was breathing really weird and her body was like a pile of mush. He told police he watched over her for about an hour, and when she didnt improve he carried her to his car and drove her to St. Marys Hospital.

Police obtained cellphone records for Allens phone and found text messages between Sidener and Allen that started the morning of Sept. 9 and ended the night of Sept. 11. In the messages, Sidener wrote that he is doing the hard stuff and he will bring the hard, meaning heroin or cocaine. Allen wrote that it would be fun to do some with him.

Breianna Hasenzahl-Reeder, compliance and operations director at the state Democratic Party, told police she suspected Sidener was using opiates because of his behavior at work, which included disappearing for long periods during the day, falling asleep or nodding off during meetings and being incoherent at times.

According to an inventory filed with the search warrant, police searching Sideners home and car found drugs including crack cocaine, and drug paraphernalia including pipes, digital scales, baggie corners and needles. Police also seized computers, several cellphones and a notebook and ledger with names and dollar amounts.
Atlas Fire burning in Nappa and Solano counties View Photos

Update at 7 p.m.: The death toll continues to climb in the Northern California blazes marking a tragic new record. The wildfires have now killed 31 people making this the deadliest week of wildfires in state history. Sonoma County officials report tonight that two more people have been confirmed dead. The single deadliest fire was the 1993 Los Angeles Griffith Park fire that claimed 29 lives. (Below are also details of CAL Fires investigation into what sparked the blazes and whether the warning system did its job.)

Update at 4:45 p.m.: The Northern California wildfire death toll has risen to 29. The Yuba County Sheriff has confirmed that four people died in the over 10,000 acre Cascade Fire, which is burning 100 miles north of several blazes in wine country. CAL Fire reports hundreds of people are still missing and loved ones looking for missing relatives are asked to register them on the Red Cross website.

Original post at 1:30 p.m.: CAL Fire is trying to determine what sparked the deadly Northern California blazes and whether the warning system did its job.

The wildfires are already well on their way to becoming the deadliest in California history and show no signs of slowing down. Steady winds with gusts up to 45 mph and humidity plunging near zero are expected to descend on the areas north of San Francisco where the death toll is now 24. As of today, as many as 18 fires are burning in nine counties and an estimated 20,000 people have been evacuated.

CAL Fire investigators are looking into whether downed power lines and other utility equipment failures might have sparked the massive wildfires sweeping through the wine country. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Janet Upton stated that its unclear if downed power lines and live wires resulted from fires or started them.

CAL Fire Chief Ken Pimlot recognizing that there was not much time to warn residents by any means as the flames ripped through whole communities Sunday night wants an assessment on the states alert system, which include text messages, phone calls, emails and tweets. Those methods will be checked to determine whether it was even possible to reach everyone with so little time to react, according to state authorities.

Additionally, the heavy smoke in the skies is creating delays and has even caused some airlines to cancel flights in Northern California including more than 80 Thursday at San Francisco International Airport. The average delay time for flights is 30 to 45 minutes at that airport. However, the Federal Aviation Administration notes that some arriving flights have been delayed more than three hours.
According to reports released by the UN, the population of Nigeria as at 2017 is estimated to be 190.4 million. According to forecasts, this figure will rise to 194 million by 2018. Births are expected to exceed deaths by up to 5.1 million, which denotes a positive increase. However, it is also expected that the population will decrease due to migration; in the previous year, the number of people leaving the country was higher than the number of those visiting. In this article, we will review the latest published data on the population of Nigeria by states.

Nigeria population by state

The latest information on all 36 states in Nigeria was collected in 2006. According to latest Census, the following list shows the figures in millions for each region:

Kano - 9.3 mln people; Lagos - 9 mln people; Kaduna - 6 mln people; Katsina - 5.7 mln people; Oyo - 5.5 mln people; Rivers - 5.1 mln people; Bauchi - 4.6 mln people; Jigawa - 4.3 mln people; Benue - 4.2 mln people; Anambra - 4.1 mln people; Borno - 4.1 mln people; Delta - 4 mln people; Niger - 3.9 mln people; Imo- 3.9 mln people; Akwa ibom - 3.9 mln people; Ogun - 3.7 mln people; Sokoto - 3.6 mln people; Ondo - 3.4 mln people; Osun - 3.4 mln people; Kogi- 3.2 mln people; Zamfara - 3.2 mln people; Enugu- 3.2 mln people; Kebbi- 3.2 mln people; Edo- 3.2 mln people; Plateau - 3.1 mln people; Adamawa - 3.1 mln people; Cross river - 2.8 mln people; Abia- 2.8 mln people; Ekiti - 2.3 mln people; Kwara - 2.3 mln people; Gombe - 2.3 mln people; Yobe - 2.3 mln people; Taraba - 2.3 mln people; Ebonyi - 2.1 mln people; Nasarawa - 1.8 mln people; Bayelsa - 1.7 mln people;

Federal capital territory- 1.4 mln people.

READ ALSO: The most developed state in Nigeria 2017

Top 10 of most populated states in Nigeria

Here is a detailed report on the most populated regions of the country; this information is based on data collected by different sources and not based on an official census. An official census was supposed to take place in 2016, however the exercise was postponed to 2018 due to the crisis in the country.

The most populated state in Nigeria is Lagos. The population of Lagos is 21 million Nigerians. This region has long been the most densely populated in the country, but was second to Kano in 2006. In 2012 the figure was estimated to be 7.68 million people but the state government claimed that the figure had reached 17.5 and called for a review of the report; investigations into the matter revealed that the organizations involved in the calculations were found to be unreliable. Lagos currently has a population of 21.6 million Nigerians and has the title of the largest region in Africa in terms of population. In addition, it is the 2nd fast-growing city on the continent and the 7th in the world.

Kano is the former most populated state in the country; it currently has a population of 14 million. In 2011, this figure was estimated to be 11 million.

Oyo state has a population of 15 million Nigerians this year. In 2007, their population was 6.6 million.

The population of Kaduna state is currently 12 million.

Rivers state has a population of 10.6 million.

Katsina has a population of 10.1 million.

Bauchi has a population of about 9 million.

Anambra is the most populated state in the South East, with a population of 8.3 million Nigerians.

Jigawa has a population of 8.1 million people.

Benue State is last on this list with 7.99 million.

Other useful demographic data

If you want to find out more interesting info about your country, consider this data released by countrymeters.info:

On average, 20.9 thousand Nigerians are born and 6.9 thousand die daily.

The population of the country increases by 13.8 thousand persons per day.

The rate of population growth in comparison with the previous year is 2.67%.

In 2016, births were more than deaths by 4.99 million people.

There are more men in the country (95.9 million) than women (93.5 million). The ratio is 1.026:1. This is quite an atypical situation for global practice. In 2016, the world recorded a ratio of 1.016/1.

An average of 205.2 citizens live on every square kilometer of Nigerian land according to reports in October 2017. This figure was obtained by dividing the total population by the area of Nigeria (923.22 thousand square kilometers according to UN statistics). During calculations, both land and water surface areas related to national boundaries were taken into account.

According to statistics, there are very few elderly people in the country. The percentage of people older than 65 years is 3.1%, while that of people aged 15 to 64 is 55.9%. Also, in Nigeria, 40.9% of the population are children under 15 years old.

As for elderly, women tend to live longer than the men. The ratio of men and women over 65 is 2.8: 3. For the remaining two categories the male gender is more numerous.

A large number of people of working age and children are obvious proof that Nigeria is a developing country. A low life expectancy indicates certain problems that exist in our state like low standard of living and a poorly developed health sector.

The average life expectancy of Nigerian citizens is 47.6 years (46.8 for men and 48.4 for women). This indicator is not impressive, especially since the world average is 71 years according to the UN.

Only 59.6% of citizens over 15 years are able to write and read, the rest are illiterates. Men (69.19%) are more educated than women (49.68%). As for the younger generation of people aged 15-24, 72.8% of them are literate.

We hope that this information was interesting and useful to you. The chances of an increase in population is encouraging, but the state authorities need to work hard to create a safe living environment for the elderly people and deal with medical issues, so that life expectancy can increase.

READ ALSO: North East states in Nigeria

Source: Legit.ng
Nigerians are the largest African group in Ireland. And since the Irish are a fellow English-speaking country, its no wonder that a lot of people want to travel there. If youre one of them, you can find everything you need to know about Ireland visa application in Nigeria below!

Ireland visa requirements

A citizen of Nigeria can travel to numerous countries without a visa, however, sadly for us, Ireland isnt one of them. It doesnt matter if you want to take a trip to Ireland as a student, traveler or to conduct business, you need to get a visa first.

To apply for an Irish visa, you have to go to wither the Ireland embassy in Abuja or the consulate in Lagos, depending on which is closer to your location. However, getting there is one thing, but you also need to know the Ireland visa requirements for Nigerian citizens.

To find out which type of an Ireland visa you have to apply for, youre going to have to figure out the primary purpose of your trip and the duration. Depending on your goal, you may have to obtain a Tourist, Business, or Student visa. If youre planning on staying in Ireland for less than 90 days, a short-term visa will be your choice. However, if you need to be in Ireland for three months or more, youll have to apply for a long-term visa.

Below youll find the visa requirements for all three types, but theres one point that is needed in all cases. To apply for any kind of visa, you need to fill in an online form. Along with the application form you also need to complete a separate questionnaire.

Important: This questionnaire is a mandatory addition to the form! Without it, all other paperwork would be in vain.

Tourist Visa Requirements

To apply for a tourist visa, youll have to prepare a handwritten letter of application with this information:

The reason youre traveling to Ireland;

How long are you planning to stay there;

Contacts of any relatives that may be residing in Ireland or other EU countries;

Valid return ticket to Nigeria;

A written promise that youll leave Ireland before your visa expires.

Business Visa Requirements

READ ALSO: How to write a guarantor letter for visa?

This type of visa is needed when you need to travel to Ireland for work-related meetings. As this is a far more official and responsible reason, there are more requirements involved.

Two passport-sized pictures;

Valid International ID;

Copies of expired International passports;

A hand-written letter with the following;

The reason youre traveling to Ireland;

How long are you planning to stay there;

Information about where youre going to stay for the duration of your trip complete with booking confirmation;

Contacts of any relatives that may be residing in Ireland;

Bank statements for the last six months;

An official invitation from the party expecting you in Ireland;

A copy of your hosts id with all the essential information;

Information about how much youll be paying for the trip and what amount will be paid by third parties;

A written promise that youll leave Ireland before your visa expires

Valid return ticket to Nigeria;

Proof that you are obliged to come back to Nigeria.

Student Visa Requirements

This type of visa demands the least amount of paperwork. However, you can obtain a Students visa only if an Irish educational establishment has already accepted you. If yes, then this is what you need:

An official document confirming your acceptance into the college youre going to;

Evidence that you have the necessary funds to pay for school fees;

Personal medical insurance;

Confirmation of having three thousand Euros for living expenses during your stay in Ireland.

Note: Even if a single document is missing, your application will be declined. Be sure to double-check everything!

Now that you know all the requirements for Nigerian citizens, lets talk about the Irish visa application process.

Ireland visa application in Nigeria

Below youll find a complete, straightforward guide on how to apply for an Ireland visa. Remember that you have to submit the documents three months prior to your trip!

Make four printed copies of your online application form and questionnaire;

After youve collected all the necessary documents and confirmation for your desired visa type, its time to visit the Visa application office;

Submit the documents along with your valid passport and a couple of passport photograph.

Friendly reminder: If the committee that issues visas has any doubts regarding your documents or goal, you may be invited for an interview that will decide your fate.

Buy an A3 envelope so that your documents and passport can be sent back to you;

Pay 13,500 Naira as an application fee;

Pay 9,500 Naira as VAC commission fee;

Pay 400 Naira as a bank commission fee;

After you make all the necessary payments, submit your application;

Get your fingerprints taken.

Thats it!

Tip: To know the current status of your submission, you can visit the official website of the Visa center.

Now you have all the crucial information about the Ireland visa application process. Be sure to share these facts with your friends that want to travel there. We wish you luck in obtaining your visa, and dont forget to bring back souvenirs!

READ ALSO: How to migrate to Australia from Nigeria?

Source: Legit.ng
- The minister of health, Professor Isaac Adewole, has stated that the monkeypox disease which has been reported in various parts of the country, is only a suspicion at the moment

- According to the minister, the disease can only be confirmed after laboratory tests have been conducted

- Samples from patients have been sent to the World Health Organisation center in Senegal and test results are expected within 48 hours

Professor Isaac Adewole, minister of health, has described the monkeypox disease which has been reported in various parts of the country, as only a suspicion at the moment.

According to reports, the minister made his comments in a chat with newsmen at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

READ ALSO: The North is not afraid of restructuring - Tambuwal

Legit.ng gathers that Adewole stated that the disease can only be confirmed after laboratory tests.

He said that samples had been taken for analysis at the World Health Organisation center in Senegal.

He stated: We will know within 48 hours if what we are dealing with is monkeypox.

The minister further disclosed that states did not report the outbreak of the disease on time, but urged Nigerians not to panic.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Dr. Jide Idris, the Lagos state commissioner for health, said that two suspected cases of monkeypox had been recorded in the state.

Idris speaking at a news conference said that the two suspected cases were currently under observation in health facilities in the state.

Monkey Pox has no known cure, Nigerians should be careful - Doctor warns - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng
- The EFCC said it traced N2.114 billion to Patience Jonathan's dead mother's account

- It accused the former first lady of perpetuating fraud through her NGO

- Patience has accused the EFCC of causing her psychological trauma

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has traced N2.114 billion to the bank account of Magel Resort Limited allegedly owned by Mama Charity Oba and her daughter, Patience Jonathan.

The Punch reports that an interim report of the EFCC accused the former first lady of perpetuating fraud through her non-governmental organisations.

According to the EFCC, the total amount of money traced to Mrs. Jonathan is now N17 billion although she has filed a N2 billion fundamental human rights suit against the EFCC accusing it of subjecting her to psychological trauma and unnecessary persecution.

READ ALSO: We are ready for Nigeria's breakup - Ango Abdullahi

According to the report: Another company owned by Mrs Jonathan is Magel Resort Ltd. It was incorporated by Mrs. Jonathans late mother. But Patience Jonathan became the sole signatory to the account of the company by board resolution upon the demise of her mother.

Though registered as a resort agency, sources at the EFCC disclosed that the agency was probing the circumstances in which the firm secured over N200m IT contract from the National Information Technology Development Agency.

The contract was allegedly bankrolled through the National Information Technology Development Fund. Several other persons under investigation for money laundering by the anti-graft agency were discovered to have made payments into the companys account including a hotelier in Central Area, Abuja, who has been invited for questioning.

The total sum allegedly laundered through the account of Magel Resort Limited, owned by Mrs Jonathan and her late mother, is put at N2.114bn.

The EFCC also alleged that an NGO, Ariwabai Aruera Reach Out Foundation, owned by Patience had several account but one particular one received several payments from several government agencies.

A total inflow of N2.4 billion was allegedly recorded in the account between 2009 and 2015 with some of her domestic servants used as directors.

Investigations equally discovered that Mrs. Jonathan maintains a dollar account with Diamond Bank which received huge financial inflow from her domestic aides.

Some of the domestic aides that made payments into the accounts are also trustees of her so-called NGO and director in her companies. The balance in the account was $12,831,173.

Another dollar account of the former First Lady was discovered in Skye Bank. Inflows into the account came through deposits by domestic aides of Mrs. Jonathan. Intelligence reports indicate that most of the purchase of luxury items by the former First Lady was through the Platinum card of the account. The total amount in the account is $7.9m.

Another discovery was the N2.1bn and N1.8bn deposited into the accounts of AM PM Global Network Limited and Pagmat Oil and Gas Limited respectively, between 2009 and 2015. Both companies are linked to the former First Lady.

Another N1.140bn was also allegedly laundered by Mrs. Jonathan through the account of Lawari Furniture and Baths Limited, whose address is given as 100 Akamfa Road, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

The bulk of the money was deposited by Bureau de Change operators, the report stated.

The BDC operators have also been invited for questioning.

Belema Meshack-Hart who is the chief press secretary to Patience denied that she was perpetuating fraud with her NGO and accused the EFCC of engaging in media trial.

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I wont exchange words with them since the matter is in court. The House has invited the EFCC chairman many times but he has refused to honour the invitations. Let him go and tell the National Assembly what he knows.

However, it is not true that Dame Jonathan used her foundations to launder funds. The foundations helped over 700 people with heart diseases, she said.

Meanwhile, the acting chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, was summoned by the Senate over the freezing of seven bank accounts of Patience Jonathan.

The summons was in respect to a petition Patience Jonathan wrote to the lawmakers through her lawyer, Charles Ogboli, alleging that the EFCC and the NDLEA had at differed times subjected her to dehumanizing treatment.

The EFCC stage a walk against corruption on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
- About 86% of displaced people in Borno state are still too scared of Boko Haram to go home

- One of the reasons is that attacks against civilians are on the rise, and communities feel scared

- This was revealed in a new study by the Norwegian Refugee Council on the IDP camps

A whooping 86% of the 1.8 million Internally Displaced Persons in Borno state, have said they are still scared of going back to their communities months after the military liberated them from Boko Haram control.

This was revealed in a new study by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) tagged 'Too Scared to Return'.

Jan Egeland, NRC Secretary General, who is currently visiting Nigeria, said: When 86 per cent of people tell us they arent ready to go home yet, we must listen. This cannot fall on deaf ears.

People must decide to return of their own free will. Coercing communities to move home is a deadly recipe set to worsen the conflict.

The NRC said it sought the opinion of 27,000 people in the research which it said was one of the largest pieces of research carried out on the displaced population.

Egeland explains: 60 per cent of people who are unwilling to return home in the immediate future cite insecurity as the main reason for staying put. Attacks against civilians are on the rise, and communities feel scared.

The Nigerian military recently gained ground in the fight against the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. In response, the armed group has stepped up attacks on soft targets, including markets and sites sheltering displaced people.

On the other hand, many officials of the Nigerian government are keen to see communities move back home.

While the end game is for communities to return home, the unfortunate truth is that pushing people back now will have harmful consequences.

An overwhelming 85 per cent of people living in formal camps tell us they feel safer there than where they were before, despite the deplorable attacks on camps.

Today I met a woman in Monguno town who fled her village two years ago after Boko Haram set it ablaze. Shes eager to bring her six children home, but she told me its too soon, that the armed group are still present, Egeland said.

READ ALSO: UPDATED: Army kills 15 Boko Haram terrorists in Gwoza

Some of the reasons for their fears are explained in the report, which says: Even if the security situation improves, half the displaced people interviewed say their houses were destroyed in the conflict."

About 48 per cent of people interviewed do not have information about the current state of their homes, indicating that this figure could be much higher, added Egeland.

The report recommends measures needed before they can return home safely.

Firstly, the overall security situation must improve so communities feel safe. In addition, resources must be channelled into rebuilding homes and re-establishing livelihoods. It is important that displaced communities are involved in developing these programmes.

People need a roof over their heads and the prospect of making a living, if they are to have any chance of rebuilding their lives.

We are ready to work with the government to help displaced Nigerians return home. But movements must be voluntary, safe and informed, the report stated.

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Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigerian army has given account of how brave soldiers were able to repel an attack carried out by Boko Haram terrorists killing 15 of them.

In a statement by Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman on Wednesday, October 11, the operation took place at Yamteke axis of Gwoza local government, Borno.

Boko Haram abducted my husband and the Gov't forgot about him - on Legit.ng TV.

Source: Legit.ng
- The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Kaduna chapter has slammed Governor Nasir El-Rufai following his statement on teachers of the state

- Adamu Ango, chairman of the state chapter of the NLC, said El-Rufai's statement is just a cheap media propaganda

- He, however, said the governor's claim over the teachers poor exam performances is not true

The Nigerian Labour Congress Kaduna chapter has condemned Governor Nasir El-Rufais recent disclosure of about 21,780 out of 33,000 teachers failing the primary four test in the state.

Premium Times reports that Adamu Ango, chairman of the state chapter of the NLC, said El-Rufai's disclosure about the teachers' performances was not true.

Ango, however, challenged the state government to make public the comprehensive results of the said test alongside the international standard of teachers competency examination criteria.

READ ALSO: Southeast residents insist that armys free medical outreach was a ploy to depopulate region

He said: ''This is the third test conducted on teachers. Where are the rest of the results? What are the criteria, who are the bodies that are supposed to conduct these exams? What is the agreed internationally accepted pass marks and the unconcluded verification exercise?

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''Or can the government organise examinations for medical doctors or lawyers? You cannot just come and set examinations and call it primary four exam when we know it is not for primary four.

''This is just a cheap media propaganda. There is also more of politics in this examination than even the standard they are talking about. They just want to give a dog a bad name to hang it.

''What the government is saying about teachers in the state is not correct. By tomorrow, we, together with the Nigeria Union of Teachers, shall ensure that the correct results are available to the public to judge.''

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the state governor said about 21,780 teachers failed the primary four test administered to test their competence by the state government.

Who should get higher salary - doctors or teachers? - on Legit.ng TV.

Source: Legit.ng
- The NNPC scandal led to Reno Omokri accusing a former United States ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, of working for President Buhari

- Campbell refuted the accusation saying that he is not a consultant to any Nigerian, nor to any Nigerian corporation

- He however maintained his assertion that the influence of Christians was most pronounced in Jonathans government

Reno Omokri in a statement on Sunday, October 8, said that a former US ambassador John Campbell was trying to divert attention from corruption allegations currently rocking the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in order to protect President Muhammadu Buharis public image.

Omokri said: It is most unfortunate that the former US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, who is now a consultant to certain Nigerians and a self-confessed admirer of President Muhammadu Buhari, would again insult Nigerians with his procured opinions meant to divert the public from the monumental $26 billion corruption scam recently uncovered in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation of which President Muhammadu Buhari is the supervising minister.

He was responding to a blog post by Campbell published on the website of Council on Foreign Relations, a public policy think-tank which has its headquarters in New York.

In his article, Campbell criticised the Nigerian House of Representatives for issuing a warrant of arrest for the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu.

He also said the arrest warrant was orchestrated by most Christian Nigerian lawmakers and they were hounding Magu for daring to go after Mrs Patience Jonathan, from whom they benefitted while her husband was in power.

Omokri said Campbell was ignorant of issues in Nigeria, adding that Mrs Jonathan had been a businesswoman.

John Campbell, on Tuesday, October 10, replied Reno Omokri, saying that he mistook his appreciation of Buharis anti-corruption efforts for consultancy services.

READ ALSO: There is no democracy in Nigeria! - Reno Omokri says as Fayose's finance commissioner is arrested

Accoridng to Premium Times, he said: I am not a consultant to any Nigerian, to any Nigerian corporation, to the presidency, nor to any part of the Nigerian government."

"Contrary to what Mr. Omokri seems to imply, I did not maintain that the PDP dominates the House of Representatives.

Rather, I said that the Committee on Public Petitions move to issue a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Magu was led by PDP representatives, as it was. I did not comment one way or another on the justification for the arrest warrant, which is controversial.

Nor did I comment on laudable steps taken by the Jonathan government for the empowerment of women.

I share Mr Omokris concern about corruption within the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation."

The diplomat, however, maintained his assertion that the influence of Christians was most pronounced in Jonathans government, with the exception of some powerful Muslims in the cabinet at the time.

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Legit.ng earlier reported that Reno Omokri made known his intention to democratically remove President Muhammadu Buhari from office.

Omokri, who is a known critic of the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress administration made the statement on Tuesday, October 3, via his twitter handle shortly after an interview with the BBC.

Everybody is the Buhari of his own life! - on Legit.ng TV.

Source: Legit.ng
- A bill which will enforce that an elected president and vice president of Nigeria be inaugurated at the premises of the National Assembly has been passed

- The House of Representatives must agree with the senate on the bill and the Executive will still have to assent it before it becomes a law

- The practice will follow that of advanced democracies like Unites States of America and Britain

The Nigerian senate has on Thursday, October 5, passed a bill which will enforce that an elected president and vice president of Nigeria be inaugurated at the premises of the National Assembly.

The bill was sponsored by Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy senate president after several debates on the report of the senate committee on special duties.

READ ALSO: People sending money to Nnamdi Kanu from abroad did not

If the bill is agreed to by the House of Representatives and assented to by the Executive, then the inauguration of president and vice president will be done within the confines of the parliament.

This will follow that of advanced democracies.

Inauguration of Nigeria presidents and vice presidents, before now, takes place at the Eagles Square in the Federal Capital Territory with the chief justice of the federation administering the oath of office.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that the House of Representatives on Thursday, October 12, considered a motion on review of the national minimum wage in order to avert nationwide strike action.

Nigerian Labour Congress has demanded an upward push from N18,000 to N56,000 as minimum wage.

PAY ATTENTION: Watch more videos on Legit.ng TV

Nigeria's lower chamber resolved to urge President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the minister of labour, Chris Ngige, to commence the process of negotiating an upward review of the current minimum wage rates.

Who should get higher salary - doctors or teachers? - on Legit.ng TV.

Source: Legit.ng
- The minister of defence, Mansur Dan Ali, says IPOB is determined to bring confusion in the country

- He states that the group is supposed to explore constitutional provisions in making their grievances known

- The minister says the Operation Python Dance currently being carried out in the southeast is not targeted at the pro-Biafra group

The federal government has alleged that the double barrel rifles intercepted by the Nigerian Customs Service at the tin can port were imported into the country by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

READ ALSO: Army displays weapons, armoured vehicle recovered from Boko Haram (photos)

The minister of defence, Mansur Dan Ali, made the allegation in an interview on Channels TV published on Thursday, October 12.

Ali said that the group was responsible for the importation of arms from Turkey into the country.

He said this was one of the reasons why the federal government labeled the group as a terrorist organisation.

The minister said intelligence reports had shown that the group was determined to bring confusion in the country.

He said IPOB should have explored constitutional provisions in making their grievances known instead of trying to cause chaos in Nigeria by producing weapons.

The minister also said the military operation tagged Operation Python Dance currently being carried out in the southeast was not targeted at the pro-Biafra group.

PAY ATTENTION: Watch more videos on Legit.ng TV

Meanwhile, commissioner of police in Abia, Anthony Ogbizi, has said lethal weapons, including petrol bombs and one double-barrel gun, were recovered during the October 8 raid on the residence of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

Ogbizi told newsmen on Thursday, October 12, that the items were recovered during a joint operation by security personnel in the state. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he said that the petrol bombs were found in buckets and incriminating documents and letters, concerning IPOBs activities and plans, were also recovered during the raid.

He said that the raid was carried out based on an intelligence report, regarding the continued activities of some members of the group.

Biafra Security Service (BSS) inaugurated by IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng
This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 1428 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our donation page, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Read about why were doing this fundraiser,what weve accomplished in the last year and our current goal, more original reporting.

Yves here. Im of two minds of inviting discussion on such a charged topic, but the commentariat had a go at it a few days ago and comported itself well. Lets see if we can continue this trend.

Some additional factors to consider:

1. IMHO, guns should be licensed. Fees can be made progressive and even waived for people who have guns for sustenance hunting (but let us not forget that hunters are require to buy licenses to hunt during hunting season). We require licensing to operate cars and boats, equipment which is deadly only as a side effect, not its sole purpose.

There is also strong evidence that people who are trained in gun safety before they get a gun have vastly fewer accidents and incidents of misuse (like kids killing themselves or family members because guns were not well secured) than people who get gun training after they get a gun. So there is a generational problem in trying to improve public safety even if you take fairly mild measures (a training requirement) to

2. The article underplays suicides. There are nearly twice as many suicides by gun in the US as homicides, and thats before you get to the fact that some of those homicides were accidents. In 2016 in the US, 10 million people thought seriously about killing themselves, almost three million made a suicide plan, and 1.4 million tried to kill themselves but failed. 42,000 people killed themselves. Suicides by gun in 2014 were over 21,000.

The reason for singling out guns is the high completion rate relative to putting a plan in motion. With other methods of killing oneself, the greater time taken to execute a plan also gives more opportunity to reconsider. And dont tell me people dont reconsider. The fact that some methods of suicide can also result in permanent debilitating damage (as well as high medical bills) if they fail is another deterrent to carrying out plans.

Now you might argue that some people have good reasons to kill themselves, like having a terminal illnesses and a poor quality of life. While true, the suicide rate is lowest in the population where youd anticipate that motive to come up most often, old people.

3. I am bothered by the normalization of the idea that its OK to kill people over property or even mere threats to property, which is the implicit justification for a lot of gun ownership and carrying. I lived in NYC after the fiscal crisis. I had my wallet stolen quite a few times and I had a lot of friends who had their apartments broken into, a few while they were there. No one, and I mean no one then, would have though it reasonable to use a gun in those circumstances. If you were going out at a time of day or to a hood that wasnt very safe, you took mugger money, as in $10 or $20 in a pocket. If someone accosted you and asked you for your cash, you handed them that money, and that was always the end of the matter.

One proof of the importance now placed on protection of property, as opposed to personal safety, came decades later. I took a self defense course, more out of curiosity and the interest in mastering a skill of sorts. Except the philosophy wasnt defensive. The class was designed and taught by the man who had developed the hand to hand combat training program for the Navy Seals and had continued to refine his approach. The course presupposed that you were smaller, slower, and weaker than your assailant. If you were in a situation where someone intends to hurt you, you need to, as the instructors put it, inflict sufficient trauma so as to shut their central nervous system down. That entails hitting two vulnerable points in succession hard enough to do damage.

The class was about 80% male. The instructors devoted a considerable amount of time (including showing CCTV videos) stressing that students should never fight in a social violence situation or a theft. Walk away from verbal fights or a drunk grabs your girlfriends ass. And if a robber wants your cash or your car, let him have them. They described the cost of involved in the criminal justice system, particularly if you killed someone (not hard to do, all it takes is having someones head hit the floor or a sharp object).

We also learned via sparring that a bludgeon is a much better weapon than a gun in close quarters.

By Silvia Merler, an Affiliate Fellow at Bruegel and previously, an Economic Analyst in DG Economic and Financial Affairs of the European Commission. Originally published at Bruegel

On 1 October 2017, 59 people were killed and another 489 injured in what is currently the deadliest mass shooting in US modern history. The author reviews recent contributions on the economic cost of gun violence, as well as the impact of regulation.

The Washington Post makes the math of mass shootings.There is no universally accepted definition of a mass shooting, and different organizations use different criteria. The Post piece uses a narrow definition and looks only at deadliest mass shootings, beginning August 1, 1966. Based on this criteria, they identify 131 events in which four or more people were killed by a lone shooter (or two shooters in three cases). An average of eight people died during each event, taking the total death toll to 948. Its worth checking out the Posts piece for their impressive work in collecting details about each case.

Vox has 17 relevant facts on gun violence in the United States. Looking at the number of firearm homicides per 1 million people, the US, has 29.7, which is about six times as many as Canada (5.1) and nearly 16 times as many as Germany (1.9). While accounting for about 4.4% of the worlds population, US accounts for almost half of the civilian-owned guns around the world. Since Sandy Hook in 2012 (the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, before the one of last week) there have been more than 1000 shootings in which four or more people were shot at all. Under the broader definition of mass shootings, the United States have nearly one mass shooting a day.

Every mass shooting resurfaces a debate about gun control, which revolves around security on one hand and constitutional freedom on the other hand. Opinions diverge widely when it comes to the effect of tighter regulation on guns. A heated academic and policy debate concerns the relation between the strictness of gun laws and gun violence/crime. Vox points out that firearm homicides, like all homicides and crime, have declined over the past two decades (although that may have changed in 2015 and 2016.) Theres still a lot of debate among criminal justice experts about why this crime drop is occurring  some point to mass incarceration, more and better policing, and reduced lead exposure from gasoline. The question of whether right-to-carry (RTC) laws have an important impact on crime has been at the centre of a vast production of literature.

Source: Vox

One theory is that more guns deter crime. In 1997, John Lott and David Mustard argued that RTC laws decreased violent crime (More Guns, Less Crime hypothesis). Using cross-sectional time-series data for US counties from 1977 to 1992, their results suggested that allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent crimes and it appears to produce no increase in accidental deaths.

The theory has been questioned by much contemporaneous as well as more recent research. TheHarvard Injury Control Research Centre has a literature review on the relationship between guns and homicides, supporting opposite conclusions. Ayres and Donohue argued that, estimating on more complete county data, in most states shall-issue laws have been associated with more crime. The apparent stimulus to crime tends to be especially strong for those states that adopted in the last decade.

Donohue, Aneja and Weber replicated very recently some of the previous research and found consistent estimates showing RTC laws increase overall violent crime and/or murder when run on the most complete data. They also use a synthetic control approach to generate state-specific estimates of the impact of RTC laws on crime. Their major finding is that under all four specifications tested, RTC laws are associated with higher aggregate violent crime rates, and the size of the deleterious effects that are associated with the passage of RTC laws climbs over time. Ten years after the adoption of RTC laws, violent crime is estimated to be 13-15% percent higher than it would have been without the RTC law. Using a consensus estimate for the elasticity of crime with respect to incarceration of .15, the average RTC state would have to double its prison population to counteract the RTC-induced increase in violent crime.



State laws on firearms vary considerably across the US. Coates and Pearson-Merkowitzz examine policy spillovers, by looking at how different state gun control policies affect the migration of guns between states with lax regulatory environments for gun purchasing and licensing to states with strict regulatory environments. They use data from 2007 to 2013 from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on presence of criminal guns and from the Brady Campaign on state gun control laws. Results suggest that a large proportion of criminal guns in states with strict gun control laws were originally purchased in states with fewer regulations. There is a direct correlation between where criminal guns were originally purchased, where criminal guns are uncovered, and the strength of state gun laws. The framework of state gun control laws is prone to policy spillovers, to the extent that they shift the market for criminal guns to purchasing locations across state borders where purchasing is easier.

Todd Frankel at the Washington Post argues that one reason why policy positions are so intractable is that no one really knows what works to prevent gun deaths. Frankel argues that gun-control research in the United States essentially came to a standstill in 1996 when the Republican-majority Congress threatened to strip funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The so-called Dickey Amendment  introduced after lobbying by the National Rifle Association  mandated that none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the CDC may be used to advocate or promote gun control. Frankel argues that as a result, the CDC stopped funding gun-control research  which reduced money for almost all public health studies of the issue nationwide. A history of the Federal funding freeze is outlined by Christine Jamieson, on the website of the American Psychological Association. Frankel also highlights that the National Institute of Justice funded 32 gun-related studies from 1993 to 1999, but none from 2009 to 2012, according to Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The institute then resumed funding in 2013, in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting the year before.

Gun violence is terrible and has many unquantifiable effects. Nevertheless, economists have tried to quantify the economic cost of gun violence. It is a daunting task. There is an obvious health cost, but also more indirect economic costs at the national and local level, as well as general social costs. Such an analysis, of course, is never a substitute for the ethical and moral consequences of gun violence.

A recent Johns Hopkins study analysed data on treatment costs resulting from gun violence based on a nationally representative sample of 704,916 patients in the United States who arrived at an emergency room alive for treatment of a firearm injury from 2006 to 2014. The research team found that firearm injuries were ninefold higher among male than female patients and were highest among males 20 to 24 years old. The average emergency department and inpatient charges annually were $5254 and $95887, respectively, resulting in approximately $2.8 billion in annual charges for the group studied. The overall incidence of ED admissions for firearm-related injuries decreased 22.9% from 2009 to 2013. However, emergency department visits generally increased for those older than 30 and increased overall for the entire study population in 2014. The proportion of patients who arrived with a previously diagnosed mental health disorder rose over the study period.

Besides direct health-related costs, gun violence can have other economic effects. Despite broad interest in estimating the economic costs of gun violence at the national and individual levels, we know little about how local economies respond to it. A recent report by the Urban Institute finds that higher levels of neighborhood gun violence can be associated with fewer retail and service establishments, fewer new jobs, lower home values, credit scores, and homeownership rates. The report is based on interviews with local stakeholders (homeowners, renters, business owners, non-profits, etc.) in six cities across the US and provides estimates for the effect of increased gun violence on the growth of business activity, employment and house prices.

Previous research by Cook and Ludwig tried to figure out what sorts of costs gun owners impose on the rest of society. They estimated the effect of household gun prevalence on homicide rates, and inferred the marginal external cost of handgun ownership. The estimates utilized a proxy for gun prevalence, the percentage of suicides committed with a gun, and used county- and state-level panels for 20 years. The estimated elasticity of homicide with respect to gun prevalence was between +0.1 and + 0.3. All of the effect of gun prevalence is on gun homicide rates. Based on Cook and Ludwigs assumptions, the average annual marginal social cost of household gun ownership is in the range $100 to $600.

A report compiled by Mother Jones together with the economist Ted Miller puts the total cost of US gun violence at about $229 billion per year, or about 1.4 percent of GDP. Although gun suicides now outnumber gun homicides, much of the direct costs of gun violence comes from homicides and assaults  mostly reflecting the cost of imprisoning the perpetrators.

Noah Smith argues that the Mother Jones analysis is problematic, because of the assumption it makes in order to estimate two overwhelmingly important indirect costs: death, and loss of quality of life for victims of gun violence. Mother Jones values each human life at $6.2 million dollars, based on the results of lawsuits. It also calculates quality of life by looking at court awards in wrongful injury cases. One cost that the analysis does not look at  Smith argues  is that of wasted resources: when gun violence is high, people try to protect themselves by getting guns of their own; this boosts the size of the firearms industry and provides jobs to people who work in gun factories, but those are resources that would be put to better use if people felt safer. Overall, Smith argues that the question cannot be put in purely economic terms because the economics profession has few reliable tools for putting a dollar figure on these costs. Maybe this is one of those cases where popular sentiment and moral principles should take precedence over the calculation of economists.
This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 1440 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our donation page, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Read about why were doing this fundraiser,what weve accomplished in the last year and our current goal, more original reporting.

Yves here. An important bit of history that cant be repeated too often: when the Clinton Administration decided to move NATO into former Warsaw Pact countries, violating a understanding made as part of the peaceful dissolution, George Kennan said it would prove to be the worst geopolitical mistake the US ever made.

By John Helmer, the longest continuously serving foreign correspondent in Russia, and the only western journalist to direct his own bureau independent of single national or commercial ties. Helmer has also been a professor of political science, and an advisor to government heads in Greece, the United States, and Asia. He is the first and only member of a US presidential administration (Jimmy Carter) to establish himself in Russia. Originally published at Dances with Bears

Joseph Alsop and George Kennan started the kind of Russia-hating in Washington which, today, President Vladimir Putin, like the businessmen around him, think of as a novelty that cannot last for long.

Alsop was a fake news fabricator, and such a narcissist as to give the bow-ties he wore a bad name. Kennan was a psychopath who alternated bouts of aggression to prove himself with bouts of depression over his cowardice. For them, Russia was a suitable target. The Washington Post was the newspaper which gave their lunacy public asylum. This, according to a fresh history by a university professor from California, started in 1947, long before the arrival in Washington of the anti-communist phobia known after the name of Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Russia-hating was an American upper-class phenomenon, cultivated in the offices, cocktail parties, clubs, and mansions of the deep state, as it emerged out of World War II. It needed a new enemy to thrive; it fastened on Russia (aka the Soviet Union) as the enemy.

McCarthyism was an American lower-class phenomenon. It focused on the loyalty or disloyalty of the upper-class deep-staters. That wasnt the same thing as Russia-hating; Wall Street bankers, Boston lawyers, homosexuals, Jews, communists, were all the enemy. As the Senator from Wisconsin characterized it himself in 1952, McCarthyism is Americanism with its sleeves rolled. He implied  without a middle-class tie; certainly not an upper-class bow-tie.

Russia was not an enemy which united the two American lunacies, for they hated each other much more than they hated the Russians. The Soviet Politburo understood this better then than the Kremlin does now.

Gregg Herkens The Georgetown Set, is so named because it records the activities of Alsop, Kennan and several other State Department, Central Intelligence Agency and White House officials who lived as neighbours in the Georgetown district of the capital city, together with Katharine (Kay) and Philip Graham, proprietor managers of the Washington Post. The district  once a chartered city of Maryland and river port, which was absorbed into the federal District of Columbia in 1871  was expensive, relatively speaking then; more so now. The richest of the set, including Alsop, had town houses in Georgetown, and rural retreats in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.

They were a set because because, as Herken said succinctly to an interviewer, they got together every Sunday for supper and, basically, they ran the country from those meetings. As the book elaborates, they thought they were running the world. With a longer time lapse in which to view the evidence, they were also losing it.

Newspapers exposed in the book for collaborating in all the deceits, failures and war crimes of the history have reacted by calling Herkens effort a provincial corner. The New Yorker opined that the Russia-hating and Russia war-making which Herken retells are dead and gone. The guests at the Sunday soirees no doubt felt that they were in the cockpit of history. But the United States is a democracy, not a Wasp Ascendancy There was once an atmosphere of willingness that made a system of bribes and information exchanges seem, to the people involved, simply a way of working together for a common cause in a climate of public opinion that, unfortunately, required secrecy. No one got rich from the arrangement. People just lost track of what was inside their bubble and what was outside, as people tend to do. Vietnam was the reality check. Ive Seen the Best of It was the title Alsop gave to his memoirs. Things hadnt been the same since, he felt. He was right about that, and we should be thankful. In the New York media business these days its possible to publish a selfie of pulling your own leg.

The Washington Post has deflected the indictment against itself by describing Herkens work as a very strange book(A) a rehash of the history of the Cold War as experienced in certain Washington circles and (B) an almost obsessive recapitulation of the life and journalism of Joseph Alsop. Alsop is dismissed as unworthy of a history at all because he was utterly repellent: arrogant, patronizing, imperious, uninterested in anyone except himself.

Thats the truth about Alsop. The truth about the Washington Post is buried in this line by the Posts books editor about the hand that fed him: it must be very hard for people who did not live through the 50s and 60s to understand how obsessed the American people were with the threat from Moscow. That line appeared in print on November 7, 2014. It was already history, thats to say, a misjudgement. How monumentally mistaken is obvious now.

In covering the period from 1946 to 1975, Herkens research does repeat much of the history of the Cold War which has been told elsewhere. It starts on February 22, 1946, the date of the Long Telegram, No. 511  Kennans despatch from the US Embassy in Moscow to the State Department, setting out his strategy of so-called containment and much more besides. Read it in the declassified original. Most of the war-fighting and other war crimes which the telegram set in motion under Kennans 1948 rubrics, organized political warfare and preventive direct action, are reported in Herkens book; so too are Kennans frequent funks, failures of conviction, reversals of judgement, and pleas for help.

The book ends on December 30, 1974, the date of Alsops last column. Alsop concluded with the line: I have never known the American people to be really badly wrong, if only they were correctly and fully informed.

Herken shows how self-deluded and professionally delusional that was  not because of Alsops character but because of his sources. Herken documents that they ran upwards from foot-soldiers (also lubricious sailors) to presidents and cabinet secretaries. Herken doesnt think the same of Kennan, who gets to walk off stage, aged 101, sounding more sceptical of overthrowing Saddam Hussein than he ever was in his prime and in power to direct schemes of what we call state terrorism today.



Left to right: Kennan died in 2005, aged 101; Alsop died in 1989 aged 78; Frank Wisner died in 1965 aged 56. The deeper Herken gets into the private papers, the more he refers to his subjects by their diminutives and nicknames  Joe, Oppie, Beetle, Dickie, the Crocodile, Wig, Jack, Wiz, Soozle, Vangie, et al.

What is fresh about the sources is that Herken has had access to the private notes, letters and diaries of the Alsop family; the Kennan diaries and letters; and the private papers of Frank Wisner, the first director of covert operations against Russia. Wisner went mad and killed himself, as did Graham. Theres no doubt about the suicide outcome of their madness.

In the case of the mad ex-Defence Secretary James Forrestal his fatal jump from the window of the Navy hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, in May 1949 might have been a homicidal push. Herken concludes that Forrestals death was the first senior-ranking American casualty of the Cold War. Herken thinks of their madness as anomalies. The history shows they were normalities.

Missing from this history is any reference to official documents, now declassified; press reporting of the time; or interviews with veterans of the same events but on other sides  Russian and Soviet; British; German; French; Polish; Vietnamese; Chinese. This isnt so much a fatal flaw in Herkens (right) book as the reason why his history is repeating itself today. Call this a variation on Karls Marxs apothegm that history starts as tragedy and repeats itself as farce. Herkens blindness to this is as revealing as the Washington Posts madness, not yet as suicidal as its former proprietors, today.

So mesmerized is Herken by the moneyed backgrounds of his subjects and sources, and by the amount of black cash from the US Government they spent on operations, he forgets to report what they did to fill their own pockets. The claim by the New Yorker that no one got rich from the arrangement  Alsops fake news fabrications  is false, but Herken touches only in passing on how they made (or kept) their money. Alsops column, for example, was sold to 200 newspapers, and at one time claimed a readership of 25 million. His family inheritance is recorded, but not its annual revenue value. Alsops payola included silk shirts from Alfred Kohlberg, a textile importer from China who backed Chiang Kai-shek against Mao Tse-tung, as did Alsop. Alsops patrons included Convair (General Dynamics), the company building the US Air Force Atlas missile for procurement of which Alsop reported fictions about Soviet missile strength.

In the US power which Alsop, Kennan and Wisner believed without hesitation, Herken is not less a believer. Anything could be achieved, Herken quotes a New York Times reporter quoting Wisner. When the US force multiple changed, however, and US allies or agents were outgunned, outspent, outnumbered, or outwitted, they were unable to acknowledge miscalculation, attributing defeat instead to the superior force or guile of their adversaries, especially the Russians.

This is madness, and there is good reason for recognizing the symptoms again. In 1958, when Herken says Wisners paranoid manias were becoming obvious to his friends and colleagues, Frank put forward a theory that the careless comment which had gotten George Kennan kicked out of the Soviet Union was evidence the Soviets had succeeded in an area where the CIAs own scientists had failed: mind control. Some agency hands alleged that Wisner attributed his own increasingly bizarre behaviour to the Kremlins sly manipulation.



A cell from the comic Is This Tomorrow? America Under Communism(1947). Test your mind, read more: https://archive.org/details/IsThisTomorrowAmericaUnderCommunismCatecheticalGuild

From Washington in 1958, fast forward to Washington in 2017; for mind control and sly manipulation, read Russian hacking and cyber warfare. From Wisners and Kennans balloon drops of leaflets and broadcasts by Radio Free Europe, fast forward to Russia Today Television and Russian infiltrations of Twitter, Google, the Democratic National Committee, and the Trump organization.

It stands to reason (ahem!) that if you think what the US Government and its journalists were doing then was mad, you are might conclude that what they is doing now is just as mad  and not very different. When the incumbent president and his Secretary of State publicly call for IQ tests on each other, all reason has failed. The nation, as Alsop had written, had simply taken leave of all sense of proportion. That was in March 1954.

If you fast forward to now, theres one difference. Today the lunatic Russia warfighters dont retire. They also dont fade away. Todays sleek successors to mad Wisner and mad Graham sleep easily in their beds a-nights. For what theyve done and do, they wouldnt dream of taking shotguns to their heads.

Herken retells the story of the campaign Alsop waged against McCarthyism at the State Department, against McCarthy himself, and the vulnerability Alsop himself presented until the Boston lawyer Joseph Welch put an end to McCarthy on June 9, 1954: Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Welch famously said. Have you left no sense of decency? The recurring history reveals why, even if there are plenty of people to say the same thing today to the Washington Post, New York Times, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the madness will continue repeating itself.
This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 1429 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our donation page, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Read about why were doing this fundraiser,what weve accomplished in the last year and our current goal, more original reporting.

The Trump Administration just did the IMF a favor by calling attention to a new report that supported the idea of taxing the wealthy more heavily. And in picking this fight, the Administration also tacitly admitted that its very sketchy tax reform plan is going to favor the rich, despite repeated denials.

Even though the IMF report some attention in the financial and business press, its not the sort of thing that has much impact in the halls of Congress. Admittedly, the report also took a fiscally orthodox line, urging that US tax reform not lead to bigger deficits. But the fiercely hawkish CBO is likely to give the Administration plenty of grief if its tax cuts arent matched by spending cuts or tax increases elsewhere, and the CBO has vastly more sway in Washington than the IMF on budget sausage-making. So getting upset about the IMF report elevated it when it would have been wiser for the Administration to have shrugged it off.

And the Administration was upset. Look at the whinging:

Mick Mulvaney, head of the Office of Management and Budget, told the Financial Times that sceptics of the plan were heavily invested in it not working out.

The Financial Times comment section had fun with that line. For instance:

onomasticator Its terrible how people can become invested in evidence-based policy and rationalism. Maybe you should provide some evidence supporting the premise that such tax cuts generate growth and revenue  as opposed to the mountains of evidence that suggest otherwise.

While the Trump Administrations hostility made for some good headlines, the new IMF paper is significant even though its endorsement of using government policy to reduce inequality is measured. Weve embedded the section on inequality at the end of the post.

Bear in mind that this document is part of the, The Fiscal Monitor, which the IMF publishes periodically. It has more political importance than its typical research pieces and hews more carefully to official positions. By contrast, the research side of the IMF has been putting out articles for years that often buck economic orthodoxy.

If youve been paying attention to economic research, it has become more and more widely accepted that high levels of inequality lead to lower levels of growth. Some economists argue that the impact on demand is a big culprit (rich people dont spend as much as lower income people); others contend that it lowers productivity (cheap workers reduce the incentive to invest in labor-saving equipment and methods). And there are plenty of other theories.

But even if you agree on a diagnosis, what should be the treatment? The IMF argues that using fiscal measures wont hurt growth and will probably help. The agency also says in passing that higher inequality increases political divisiveness, so one could also argue that even if you werent sure about the economic benefits, there are other reasons to pursue more redistributive policies.

Having said that, perhaps due to the undue preoccupation in the US with taxes, a lot of the media accounts say the IMF recommended raising taxes on the rich. Thats not quite right. The IMF paper looks at the taxing and spending side together, which is the only way to look properly at the effect of government action on inequality. It also then looks at tax issues (its notably tentative about taxes on capital), a UBI, and more progressive spending, particularly on health care and education.

Even then, I have no doubt one could argue about methodology. For instance, the paper focuses on income inequality, as opposed to wealth inequality. It points out the two are correlated, which is true, but they are more accurately seen as entwined. But parsing out how policies also favor financial and real economy asset-holders is an even bigger task.

The reason that looking at more than taxes matters is that in the US, our tax system at the Federal level is somewhat progressive, but budget experts tell me the spending is net regressive, so spending undercuts somewhat the impact of taxation.

The IMFs own data show how much an outlier the US is. Look at how little we do in terms of reducing inequality compared to other countries. As an aside, I have doubts about the Greece data point because Greek shipping magnates manage to escape reporting income in Greece by having their ships flagged in the names of other countries so as to evade taxes and liability. A lovely business model.

Notice how this chart also makes clear how important transfers are. And the IMF points out that the impact of tax-based redistribution is probably overstated:

In reality, tax systems may be even less progressive than suggested by these measures, because wealthy individuals often have more access to tax relief and more opportunities to avoid taxes. For instance, since households with high incomes are more likely to be homeowners, they benefit more from deductions for mortgage interest, where applicable. Any allowable deduction is also worth more at higher marginal tax rates. In addition, the wealthier have more resources to dedicate to tax planning, as well as greater incentives to engage in such activities.

Having said that, the IMF does make tax policy a major focus of its analysis:

How has income tax progressivity evolved, and can it be increased without adversely affecting growth? Should marginal income tax rates be increased for high-income individuals or has increased mobility of capital and high-income individuals undermined the case for such policies? Is a wealth tax a good alternative?

It is too bad that the analysis is silent on institutional factors, namely the legal regime and the formal and informal rights conferred to capital and labor. The IMFs focus completely omits ideas like the fact that the US had a policy which President Kennedy threatened to have made law if major companies failed to adhere to it, that the benefits of productivity gains would be shared between the businesses and workers. The abandonment of government backing for that approach is a, if not the, proximate cause of real wage stagnation in the US since the 1970s and the start of the explosive growth in inequality. But the IMF is a diehard believer in labor market reforms, meaning undermining what little in the way of worker protections that still remain. The IMF will never acknowledge that weakened labor rights are a major cause of rising inequality.

Nevertheless, tax policies have clearly changed to favor the rich:

Having said all of this, this is still a very cautious document. But it does show that even strongly neoliberal organizations are telling Davos men that they need to heed the case for having the lower orders get a bigger piece of the pie.
(Natural News) The man behind the recent Las Vegas massacre has something in common with the perpetrators of many other mass shootings in recent years: Psychiatric drug use.

A court deposition in a civil lawsuit filed by Paddock over a slip-and-fall incident against the Cosmopolitan Hotel that was obtained by CNN provides insight into his state of mind, showing he often gambled all night, slept during the day and avoided the sun. According to Paddocks own testimony in the case, he had no criminal record, no history of addiction, and no mental health issues.

Nevertheless, he said that Nevada internist Steven P. Winkler prescribed him Valium for anxiousness. He did not say how often he took the medication, but he guessed that he had around 10 to 15 pills left in a 60-pill bottle that had been prescribed for him a year and a half earlier at the time.

When asked if he had a good relationship with Dr. Winkler, Paddock bragged that he had him on retainer and had good access to him because he paid a yearly fee.

While its not yet known when he last took the drug, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that he had been given another prescription of 50 10-milligram diazepam tablets on June 21 by Dr. Winkler, according to the prescription drug monitoring database of the state of Nevada.

He filled the prescription with insurance the same day it was prescribed at a Reno Walgreens and was supposed to take one pill per day.

Valium can make people more aggressive

Valiums active ingredient, diazepam, causes side effects like aggressiveness, rage and irritability. Diazepam is part of the benzodiazepine class of sedative-hypnotic drugs, and studies have shown they can spur aggressive behavior. Chronic use can even trigger psychotic experiences.

Experts told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that people who have underlying aggression problems can become even more aggressive when you try to sedate them with the drug, and its effects can also be magnified by alcohol use.

A Finnish study published in World Psychiatry in 2015 that examined people convicted of homicide found that their odds of killing were a remarkable 45 percent higher while they were on benzodiazepines.

Psych drugs a common theme among mass shooters

The use of psychiatric drugs is an all-too-common theme among mass shooting perpetrators. Eric Harris of the high-profile Columbine school shooting took Zoloft and Luvox before embarking on a killing spree with fellow student Dylan Klebold  whose medical records have never been made public  before killing 12 students and a teacher, wounding 23 people and killing themselves. Sixteen-year-old Jeff Weise was taking a high dose of Prozac when he shot family members and students at his school in Red Lake, Minnesota, before turning the gun on himself, killing a total of 10 people and wounding 12.

Reno board-certified pain medicine specialist Dr. Denis Patterson believes that Paddock might have taken diazepam to make him more relaxed in order to shoot better; he said that marksmen regularly use it. He even theorizes that he might have invented symptoms in hopes of being prescribed the drug.

His doctor is not allowed to divulge the reason for his prescription under federal privacy laws. No one knows for sure what Paddocks motivation was or whether he had a diagnosed mental illness, but one thing is for certain: He took a psychiatric medication that raises a persons killing behavior by 45 percent and had the doctor who prescribed it to him on retainer.

The loved ones of the 58 people who died and the hundreds more who were injured might be wondering how things could have turned out differently if Paddock had never been given these very dangerous pills.

Sources include:

Edition.CNN.com

ReviewJournal.com

NaturalNews.com

ReviewJournal.com
(Natural News) A petition at Change.org is calling on the Trump administration to free an Amish farmer from Kentucky who was imprisoned for six years after being harassed by the Food and Drug Administration over the mislabeling of an all-natural salve.

According to published reports the farmer, Samuel Girod, and his family have been selling herbal, natural salves out of their home for more than 20 years. But in 2001, an agent from the FDA told him that his product labels were making misleading and unauthorized medical claims regarding certain healing conditions.

At that time, reports the Kentucky Free Press, the labels said that the salves were good for all skin conditions, including skin cancer, cuts, burns, draws, and poison ivy. Girod proceeded to change his labeling and in particular removing any references to skin cancer.

Afterward, Girod did not hear from the federal government for years until someone contacted the FDA in 2012 and reported that a store in Missouri was selling the salves made by Girod and his family and that medical claims were being made about the all-natural mixtures.

But in fact, the so-called medical claims werent real; the anonymous caller to the FDA failed to mention that the claims were, in fact, customer testimonials that were contained in a brochure that accompanies Girods products. The reality is, the testimonials were no different then when someone writes approvingly of a product sold on Amazon or Jet.

However, since Girod reprinted those testimonials in a brochure that accompanied his products, the FDA classified them as medical claims made by the manufacturer, which then, of course, put the salve under FDA regulatory jurisdiction.

And poof  just like that  Sam Girod became a criminal.

In addition to asserting that testimonials amounted to the same thing as a manufacturers medical claims, the agency said it had found a Missouri customer who said theyd been harmed by the Amish farmers bloodroot salve. So, based on that claim of harm and the printed brochures, the FDA filed a complaint against Girod and forced him to appear in federal court.

During the legal action, the FDA sent some of its agents to Girods home and demanded to search it  reportedly without a warrant. But in an effort to appear cooperative, Girod said he would agree to the warrantless search on one condition: That no photographs be taken, since the Amish community in which he lived had religious objections to being photographed. The Kentucky Free Press reported that agents agreed to that condition and began their search.

Soon, however, once engaged some took out cameras and began to take pictures of everything, claiming it was evidence  actions that did not sit well with Girods Amish neighbors.

It gets better. Or worse, depending on your point of view. (Related: Medical police state: Cops arrest NURSE for refusing to break the law and violate medical consent)

As the court case in Missouri proceeded, the Girods discovered that the alleged injured party was never identified. Furthermore, it was revealed that the bloodroot salve that caused the alleged harm in the first place was not a product made by the family  it was someone elses product.

Nevertheless, the judge issued an injunction on Girods products with three stipulations:

 Nothing further could be sold until all medical claims were removed, a reference to the brochure that accompanied the products;

 The bloodroot salve, in particular, could not be sold at all anymore;

 The Girods had to permit the searching and inspection of their property for five years.

Sam Girod complied with conditions 1 and 2, but he stopped short of permitting the searches after the first one. That led to criminal proceedings against Girod for failure to comply with the injunction, and on June 30 of this year, Girod was sentenced to six years in prison and handed a $14,000 finefor nothing.

If this outrages you as much as it did us, please sign the petition here at Change.org.

J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.

Sources include:

KYFreePress.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A new lawsuit that accuses a pharmaceutical company of conduct that is nothing short of evil echoes the sentiment of many people who have suffered or lost loved ones due to the unsavory practices of Big Pharma.

Big Pharmas list of wrongdoings is rather lengthy, but the offense that is at the heart of the lawsuit in question filed by New Jersey officials is its deceptive marketing practices and fraudulent payouts.

Last week, New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino filed the lawsuit against drug maker Insys Therapeutics of Arizona. Insys is the producer of the controversial fentanyl medication known as Subsys, a powerful synthetic opioid painkiller. The suit accuses Insys of flagrant legal violations in its aggressive push to get New Jersey doctors to prescribe it in higher doses for conditions that it has not been approved to treat.

According to Porrino, Insys defrauded insurance firms by giving doctors who overprescribed Subsys payouts in various forms, including as fees for fake speaking events. In addition, the lawsuit pins the death of a 32-year-old New Jersey woman on the company; she overdosed on Subsys that she had been prescribed for fibromyalgia.

Porrino didnt mince words when describing Insyss conduct in a statement. He said: The conduct alleged in our lawsuit is nothing short of evil. We contend that the company used every trick in the book, including sham speaking and consulting fees and other illegal kickbacks, in a callous campaign to boost profits from the sale of its marquee drug Subsys.

Its nice to see someone in such a powerful position calling them out on their horrific practices. Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, has long been trying to spread the word about the pharmaceutical industrys criminal racket, summing up their modus operandi nicely when he writes:

To defend Big Pharma today is to defend a cabal of criminal corporations that have proven they will do anything  absolutely anything  to keep their profits rolling in. It makes no difference who they have to bribe, what studies they have to falsify, or who has to be threatened into silence. They will stop at nothing to expand their profit base, even if it means harming (or killing) countless innocents.

He also made Americans who are drugged out on opioids and other medications the topic of a recent studio news video after a disturbing study in the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that 38 percent of Americans were prescribed these dangerous medications in 2015.

Insys, who has not commented on the New Jersey lawsuit, is also facing litigation in several other states, including allegations that six of its former managers and executives bribed doctors to prescribe Subsys. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey recently reached a settlement with Insys, who did not admit to wrongdoing but paid out $500,000. The medication made up 98 percent of the firms net revenue in 2012.

Big Pharma a big driver of the opioid epidemic

Their behavior is particularly concerning as the nation struggles with an opioid epidemic that is seeing record-setting drug deaths. In fact, drug overdoses have now become the top cause of accidental death for people in the U.S. under the age of 50. According to estimates from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 71,600 people are expected to die from drugs this year, which would make it the second consecutive year in which drug deaths surpass the American casualties of the Vietnam War.

The number of people who have died from fentanyl overdoses doubled in just one year, according to the FDA and the CDC, making it clear that those who push these drugs on the masses need to be held accountable for their actions. Its unconscionable that pharmaceutical companies and even doctors would try so hard to get people to take dangerous drugs they dont need all in the name of profit, and we can only hope that the New Jersey Attorney Generals lawsuit against Insys and others like it will be successful.

Sources include:

DailyCallerNewsFoundation.org

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) When it comes to scientific facts, we are reliant on what we are taught by people that we perceive to be authorities on the subject. And for a while now, the pervasive message about carbon dioxide (CO2) has been that it is a dirty pollutant responsible for man-made global warming. If levels of CO2 do not drop drastically and quickly, experts warn, global warming will do irreversible damage and essentially end life as we know it on our planet. Trustworthy looking people show us graphs and diagrams and shake their heads sadly at the impending doom. And we believe them, because thats what weve been taught to do. In a world where fake news and fake science is pervasive, however, we can no longer trust what intelligent looking people with fantastic science pedigrees tell us. We have to dig deeper and seek the truth for ourselves.

A truly shocking example of this was when Bill Nye, the supposed science guy, insisted that transgenderism is an evolutionary fact, totally ignoring the actual scientific fact that gender is a biological binary trait, rather than a choice each person gets to make. This is the same guy who many of us grew up trusting as a reputable source of scientific information. The reality on the ground is that many scientists are available to the highest bidder and will spout any nonsense they are paid to regurgitate. That includes the catastrophic man-made global warming narrative.

While there are many sincere people out there who genuinely believe in global warming and think were headed down a path to annihilation, there are also people out there who have their own agendas  depopulation being one of them  for wanting us to believe the climate change narrative. Think about it: If all life is dependent on CO2 (and it is), then wont reducing the levels of CO2 benefit those who believe we need to drastically reduce the number of people on this planet?

What we need to do is think about the whole thing logically. The fact is, without CO2 there would be no life on this planet; that is an indisputable fact. We all know that from studying the process of photosynthesis in school, and yet we happily throw that knowledge out the window when we vilify carbon dioxide in our minds. [Related: Read about how a top university stole millions from taxpayers by faking global warming research.]

Many sincere environmentalists are sipping on green smoothies as they urge others to get involved, sell their cars and walk or bike to work. What they need to stop and consider is this: Where did all the nutrients in that green smoothie come from?

As Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, and founder/editor of Natural News explains: Not only is carbon dioxide necessary for all plant respiration via photosynthesis, its also the key ingredient used by plants to synthesize nearly every medicinal molecule thats loved by herbalists, natural medicine practitioners and even medical cannabis advocates.

With 29 states legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana in recent years, it is obvious that people are waking up to the miraculous health benefits of this plant. Where did the cannabinoids and THC in marijuana  which are responsible for many of these health benefits  come from? Carbon dioxide, thats where!

Without CO2 we simply could not survive. All those scientists and members of the mainstream media need to remember that fact when they spout all their doom and gloom stories about the dangers of CO2. This vital molecule is, in fact, the very stuff of life! [Related: Over 30,000 scientists insist that the catastrophic man-made global warming narrative is a lie.]

Sources include:

NaturalNews.com

Breitbart.com
The National Hurricane Center has issued storm surge, hurricane and tropical storm advisories for parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Nate approaches.

A storm surge watch has been issued from Morgan City, La., eastward to the Alabama-Florida border, including the northern and western shores of Lake Pontchartrain.

A hurricane watch is in effect from Morgan City eastward to the Mississippi-Alabama border, including metropolitan New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas. Punta Herrero, Mexico, to Rio Lagartos was also included.

A tropical storm watch has been issued from the Mississippi-Alabama border eastward to Florida's Okaloosa-Walton County Line. A tropical storm watch was also declared west of Morgan City to Intracoastal City.

Tropical Storm Nate was blamed Thursday for at least 22 deaths in Central America as it dumped rain across the region on a path that would carry it toward a potential landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast as a hurricane over the weekend.

Louisiana officials ordered some people to evacuate coastal areas and barrier islands, and evacuations began at some offshore oil platforms in the Gulf.

The NHC said the storm could cause dangerous flooding by dumping as much as 15 inches of rain in western Nicaragua and southern Honduras.

As of 5 a.m. Friday, Nate had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. The storm was about 75 miles east-southeast of Isla Guanaja, Honduras, and was moving northwest at a speed of 12 mph.

It is likely to continue over the Gulf of Honduras Friday and across the Caribbean Sea.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday urged residents in Florida's Panhandle to keep an eye on the storm, and declared a state of emergency for 29 counties in north Florida and the Panhandle.

Scott was in Pensacola on Thursday morning, meeting with city and emergency management officials. He said in a news release that the order helps ensure that federal, state and local governments can work together easily and make sure storm-related resources are provided without delay to local communities.

The western part of the Florida Panhandle remained in Nate's forecast track, along with Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

In Nicaragua, Nate's arrival followed two weeks of near-constant rain that had left the ground saturated and rivers swollen. Authorities placed the whole country on alert and warned of flooding and landslides.

Nicaragua's vice president and spokeswoman, Rosario Murillo, said that at least 15 people had died in that country due to the storm. She didn't give details on all the deaths, but said two women and a man who worked for the Health Ministry were swept away by a flooded canal in the central municipality of Juigalpa.

The government closed schools nationwide.

Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Organization blamed seven deaths in that country on the storm and said 15 people were missing. Flooding drove 5,000 residents into emergency shelters.

In Louisiana, officials ordered the evacuation of part of coastal St. Bernard Parish east of New Orleans ahead of the storm. Earlier Thursday, a voluntary evacuation was called in the barrier island town of Grand Isle south of New Orleans.

New Orleans officials outlined steps to bolster the city's pump and drainage system. Weaknesses in that system were revealed during summer flash floods.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's New Orleans office said in a news release that as of midday Thursday, six production platforms, out of the 737 manned platforms in the Gulf, had been evacuated. No drilling rigs were evacuated, but one moveable rig was taken out of the storm's path.

The agency estimated less than 15 percent of the current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in, which equates to 254,607 barrels of oil per day.

The forecast track showed the storm could brush across the tip of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula late Friday night and then hit the U.S. Gulf Coast as a hurricane by Sunday morning. Forecasters said hurricane conditions were possible in Mexico Friday night.

In the Pacific, former Tropical Storm Ramon dissipated off the southwestern coast of Mexico.
Update: In response to a post on Daring Fireball saying I had incorrectly stated things about the Mac, I have written a reply  Rebuttal to Daring Fireball: FreeBSD, Intel and Microsoft did save the Mac  which includes a correction and clarifications.

----------------------------------

This post is an excerpt from a talk I gave at the Reality Virtually Hackathon that makes a similar comparison between virtual reality and augmented reality and the Mac. It holds true for the Internet of Things (IoT) and every emerging technology.

Many IoT devices makers build on proprietary platforms. Proprietary hardware is an advantage during the emergence of a new platform  until it is not. A proprietary platform protects intellectual property from reverse engineering because the software is tied to the hardware and it can be tuned for performance.

Custom-designed hardware performs better  until it doesnt. For example, when supercomputers, video bridges and CAD simulators were first introduced, all took advantage of custom, proprietary hardware to gain time to market. Now mature products, almost all the supercomputer, video bridge and CAD simulator suppliers use x86 and Nvidia platforms because these they have open ecosystems that add capabilities and value while reducing cost.

How Apple turned to an open ecosystem to revive the Mac

In 2007, the Mac was on life support. Consumers and companies bought Windows XP and Vista machines instead of Macs. The Mac had been very proprietary up until then. The hardware platform was based on the Motorola 6800 family, which came in third behind Intel and AMD and the PowerPC. It ran a proprietary OS with components of FreeBSD Unix, but it was not Unix compliant.

The Mac transitioned that same year. It had been a proprietary device running a proprietary operating system, with a beautiful proprietary user interface (UI) in an elegant ergonomically designed enclosure. Apple pivoted by shifting to the Intel platform and FreeBSD Unix, complying to the Single UNIX Specification (SUS). The Mac today is a PC running an open-source operating system with beautiful proprietary UI in even more elegantly designed enclosures. FreeBSD influenced the evolution of the MacOS. Since the transition, many FreeBSD Unix components were rewritten and many APIs were added.

Also on Network World: How to speed up IoT deployment: Give each device an identity

The Mac gained two advantages from the FreeBSD and Intel ecosystems. Firstly, though, the Mac has always been premium priced compared to PCs. In 2007, it became overpriced because the scale of the proprietary hardware components used to build it was dwarfed by the scale of x86 microprocessors, which were built by Intel. Intel owns many multi-billion-dollar advanced semiconductor fabrication facilities (fabs) optimized to reduce manufacturing cost and ship large volumes of devices.

Secondly, SUS compliance brought with it a robust toolchain for Apples internal and external developers. After the transition, Apple could focus more engineering on its UI, integrate with other Apple devices and make the enclosures even more elegant. Apple eliminated redundant development but maintained a high degree of product differentiation.

IoT needs to grow a robust ecosystem

Right now, proprietary is a good approach for IoT device makers. During this nascent stage of IoT adoption, makers need to optimize low-cost, low-speed and low-power devices. They must also run a minimum OS to spare the lightweight platform and minimize the time to market of new and improved products.

But IoT makers cannot wait for someone else to build the ecosystem. If IoT makers really want to accelerate adoption, they should identify all the non-differentiable and redundant development and apply open source and open innovation to eliminate the redundancy. The lead engineers at these competing companies should form alliances to open the parts of the IoT platforms that do not differentiate their products to the IoT development community to inspire an open ecosystem.

Also on Network World: IoT standards battles could get messy

The device makers should press IoT microprocessor and microcontroller makers such as Intel, TI, Microchip and STM to invest more and iterate this new class of silicon faster. IoT requirements are not the same as embedded systems, often incorrectly included in IoT forecasts, because by definition, IoT devices need processors and controllers that include integrated low-cost and low-power radios that in New Jersey parlance  says easy, does hard.

The best thing that happened to PCs was the x86 architecture, and the best thing that happened to smartphones was the ARM architecture. Discrete components were integrated into single dense systems on a chip (SoC), reducing the design engineering needed by PC and smartphone makers to build new products.

IoT should not follow Apple to the letter

Though I admire Steve Jobs product design and development, Ive never quoted him as a guru because he was mercurial and mean. Others are willing to overlook this, and some even accept that as a necessary element of Apples success. But companies such as Google and Facebook prove that mecurial and mean leadership is not necessary for success.

Apple has not made a big contribution to the ecosystems from which it harvests openly developed technology and the works of other people, though Apples horde of lawyers has protected the company from licensing lawsuits.

Apple hired FreeBSD founder Jordan Hubbard, who stopped contributing to FreeBSD. In 2013, Wireds Klint Finley wrote:

It's telling that during his 12 years at Apple, Hubbard didn't contribute code to the open source project he himself had founded.

Facebook and Microsoft both are represented on the FreeBSD Foundation board of directors because they want to guide development to remain open, meet their needs and contribute to the robustness and evolution of FreeBSD.

Apples taking without contributing is not limited to FreeBSD. Apple should give back. It should pay its taxes to support the community from which it thrives. But it doesnt, except perhaps in proprietary open-source projects like Swift.

Apple Photos blatantly leveraged a decade of open AI research by universities, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and IBM, as well as open source software, to create its Photos app. Further, Mashables Jenni Ryall wrote that Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder of MIT Media Lab and One Laptop Per Child, told the crowd at the World Business Forum in Sydney:

[Apple] has not written one research paper or attended any external research meetings, such as working groups, government-funded workshops, or held their own onsite research meetings with external scientists in the way Google, Microsoft and Facebook often do.

IoT desperately needs to cultivate an open ecosystem. No company in IoT can afford to wait because none has Apples reach. None can afford not to contribute.
Stevia is a natural sweetener obtained from a shrub called Stevia rebaudiana. It is generally found on the continent of South America. It is 200400 times sweeter than sucrose and it is a non-caloric sweetener. Hence, it replaces sugar, corn syrup with high fructose, and other artificial sweeteners.

The sweetness of stevia is due to compounds present in the leaves which are extracted by soaking these leaves in water. The sweet extract contains steviol glycoside, which has two main components: Rebaudioside A and Stevioside. Stevia is rich in flavonoids and terpenes. Steviol glycosides are partially metabolized in the body and digested in the upper gastrointestinal tract, stomach, and small intestines. Stevia finds its use in jams, soft drinks, ice cream, cakes, desserts, dairy products, and alcoholic beverages.

Sugar substitute Stevia plant and extract powder. Image Credit: govindji / Shutterstock

Benefits of Stevia

Stevia has enormous advantages in the field of:

Therapy: The therapeutic effects of stevia include

Anti-hyperglycemicit has the ability to increase the activity of pancreatic cells, insulin sensitivity, and promote insulin production and utilization. It is helpful in the treatment of Type-2 diabetics.

Anti-hypertensivestevioside reduces the blood pressure by preventing calcium ions from entering the blood vessel endothelial cells and thus reducing vasoconstriction in hypertensive patients.

Antioxidantit contains huge amounts of natural antioxidants including opigenin, kaempferol, and quereitrin. These help to prevent damage to DNA strands, angiotensin-induced cell propagation, and endothelin secretion.

Anti-carcinogenicsteviol glycoside consists of four constituents, namely, stevioside, rebaudiosides A, rebaudioside C, and ducloside A, which strongly inhibits the inflammation caused by 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), indicating its anti-carcinogenic activity.

Antimicrobialstevia has the ability to evade the growth and reproduction of harmful bacteria and prevent other infections.

Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatorystevia is also helpful in decreasing inflammation and immuno-modulation. It reduces the synthesis of inflammatory agents in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced THP-1 cells by intervening in the I-Kappa-B kinases (IKK-beta) and Kappa B signaling pathways.

Medicine: The medicinal effects of stevia include:

Cardiovascular activitythe cardiotonic action of stevia helps in enhancing the actions of the circulatory system of human body when it is used for a long period.

Digestive tonic activitystevia helps in improving the digestive system and maintaining appetite.

Dermatological activitystevia is considered to be an effective medicine in the treatment of various skin problems such as acne, seborrhea, dermatitis, eczema, and wounds, helping them to heal without creating a scar. Regular use of stevia also improves the skin texture and prevents sagging skin.

Health Concerns

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The consumption of stevia can induce various side effects in humans, which include bloating, nausea, paining and weakening of muscles, dizziness, and allergic effects.

In addition, it may also interact with drugs used for cancer, microbial infections, calcium channel blockers, and lowering cholesterol levels, and lead to other side effects.

The diuretic action of stevia inhibits the natural mechanism of lithium removal from the body, leading to the accumulation of lithium in the body, causing severe side effects. Various experiments were carried out in rodents based on this factor. The results indicated the occurrence of infertility in rodents due to lithium accumulation.

Stevia has an adverse effect on the blood flow, renal activity, flow of urine, and excretion of sodium in patients with renal disease. It is not recommended for women during pregnancy and lactation.

Safety Aspects

Stevia is considered to be safe and harmless compared to artificial sweeteners. Experimental studies have been carried out for a long time to investigate its health outcomes on humans.

Toxicologists at University of California carried out work to investigate the development of cancer due to genetic mutation caused by the intake of steviosides.

In Japan, artificial sugars are completely banned and they started using stevia as a natural sweetener. Also, they performed several experiments and affirmed that the use of stevia is safe.

The Food and Drug Administration of U.S (FDA) approved the use of Rebaudioside.A (extracted from stevia leaves) as safe for use by humans. However, it has not approved the use of whole stevia as it is found to cause certain health issues.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has approved the use of steviol glycosides for human utilization with an Advised Daily Intake (ADI) of 4 mg/kg. Later in 2010, the European Union confirmed that it is safe to use steviol glycosides as food additives.

The Joint Expert Committee for Food Additives (JECFA) revised the safety of steviol glycosides in 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007, and in 2009 and fixed the safety margin for daily intake level as 4 mg/kg. The research panelists considered the use of steviol glycosides that fulfill the conditions of JEFCA to be non-carcinogenic and non-genotoxic.

Further studies are required for clarifying the role of stevia in humans in weight management and energy reduction.

References

Further Reading
A flexible, biodegradable optical fiber that can deliver light into the body for medical applications is the latest work of a collaboration between electrical engineers and biomaterials engineers in Penn State's Materials Research Institute. The ability to deliver light into the body is important for laser surgery, drug activation, optical imaging, diagnosis of disease, and in optogenetics, the experimental field in which light is used to manipulate the function of neurons in the brain. Yet, delivering light into the body is difficult and typically requires the implantation of an optical fiber made of glass.

"The problem is that visible light can only penetrate to a certain depth, maybe hundreds of microns," said Jian Yang, professor of biomedical engineering, Penn State. "Near infrared light might be able to penetrate a few millimeters to a centimeter, but that is not enough to see what is going on."

Currently, people use glass fiber to get light into biological tissue at depth, but glass is brittle and is not biodegradable. It can break and damage tissue if implanted. Researchers are beginning to look toward flexible polymer fibers as a solution.

Yang previously invented a polymer based on citrate, a naturally occurring key ingredient in metabolism, that he developed as a general platform for biomedical applications, such as biodegradable bone screws for bone fixation, scaffolds for tissue engineering and nanoparticles for delivering time-released therapeutic drugs. Now, he is collaborating with Zhiwen Liu, Penn State professor of electrical engineering, using Yang's citrate-based polymer to create a step-index optical fiber for light delivery inside the body.

A step-index fiber has a core material that transmits light and a cladding that protects the core and keeps the light from escaping. Yang's lab makes and tests the polymer and then takes it to Liu's lab to turn into a fiber. Once the fiber is tested and fine-tuned, Yang's lab implants the fiber in biological tissue for testing.

"The present work demonstrates the first citrate-based flexible biodegradable polymeric step-index fiber," said Dingying Shan, a Ph.D. student in Yang's group.

Shan is co-first author on a recent paper in the journal Biomaterials, which describes their work.

"The use of the citrate-based polymers enables ultrafine tuning of refractive index differences between the core and the cladding layers," added co-first author Chenji Zhang, a recent Ph.D. graduate in Liu's group.

Because the core and cladding have identical mechanical characteristics, the optical fiber can bend and stretch without the layers pulling apart, as can happen with dissimilar materials. The two materials will also biodegrade at similar rates in the body, without harm.

"We believe this new type of biodegradable, biocompatible and low-loss step-index optical fiber can facilitate organ-scale light delivery and collection," Shan said. "And that it will become an enabling tool for diverse biomedical applications where light delivery, imaging or sensing are desired," Shan said.

"This new type of fiber creates a transparent window for peeking into a turbid tissue, and can enable new opportunities for imaging," Liu said.

As a preliminary step, the team first measured light propagation characteristics of the fiber and then used this information to demonstrate image transmission through the fiber.

"Because the material is nontoxic and biodegradable, the citrate-based fiber could be left inside the body for long periods without the need for a second surgery to remove it," Yang said. "In addition to sensing and imaging, we can add therapeutic chemicals, drugs or biological molecules for disease treatment."
A protein known to play a significant role in the development of psoriasis can be prevented from functioning without posing a risk to patients, scientists at King's College London have found.

The study, which was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, confirmed that a group of inflammatory proteins called 'IL-36' play a significant role in the development of psoriasis and can, in theory, be blocked without posing a risk to patients.

Psoriasis, which causes red, flaky, crusty patches of skin covered with silvery scales, affects more than 1.8 million in the UK alone. The findings of this study, although still at an early stage, open up the possibility for the development of new drugs to tackle this often debilitating condition.

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Dr. Francesca Capon, who led the study at King's College London said: "There was already some evidence to suggest that IL-36 played a significant role in psoriasis. Having confirmed this was the case, the question for us was whether we could block this molecule without posing a risk to patients."

To tackle this problem, Dr. Capon and her team contacted the Born in Bradford (BiB) project, a large study led by Prof John Wright at Bradford Royal Infirmary which is tracking the health of over 13,500 local children and their parents.

"We know that genetic mutations are more common in communities where parental relatedness is widespread and we found 12 women in the BiB cohort who carried a defect that naturally blocked IL-36," said Dr. Capon. "After a series of tests carried out by Dr Satveer Mahil at St John's Institute of Dermatology, we determined that the lack of IL-36 activation had not had an adverse effect on their health which suggests it would be safe to block this molecule in patients with psoriasis."

Medical technology which would enable the blocking of IL-36 group of inflammatory proteins in patients with psoriasis is already widely available.

Helen McAteer, Chief Executive of the Psoriasis Association, which part-funded the study, said: "Research into psoriasis is enabling us to not only understand the condition better, but the treatments better".

"Current research is having a positive impact on clinical effectiveness, better understanding is providing better treatment outcomes, ultimately improving the lives of those affected by psoriasis."
Current methods of detecting lung cancer consist of imaging methods and invasive biopsies, which can be stressful and painful for patients. Yuze "Alice" Sun, an assistant professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Arlington, has received a $199,999 grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to develop a non-invasive means to detect early stage lung cancer through biomarkers in a patient's breath instead, saving the patient from needle biopsies and extended waits for a diagnosis.

Sun plans to develop an optofluidic gas-analyzing microsystem to separate and profile chemical compounds in human exhaled breath, then search for those that may indicate lung cancer. The new technology may eventually offer a noninvasive way for doctors to screen patients for lung cancer at an early stage, when the treatment is the most effective.

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"The key component is determining how to process and distinguish the thousands of chemicals in the breath. Some are biomarkers for lung cancer, but they are in very low concentrations and are difficult to detect," Sun said.

"This grant will allow me to develop a sensing technology and prototype a device to look at human exhaled breath and determine with high confidence if there is a correlation between these biomarkers and the presence of lung cancer. If I am successful, the next step would be to collaborate with doctors to fully develop a device that could be used in clinics."

CPRIT grants reward high-risk, high-impact research that can result in major breakthroughs in detecting and treating cancer.

Sun's research is an example of innovative thinking in the area of health and the human condition, a theme in UTA's Strategic Plan 2020: Bold Solutions | Global Impact, said Jonathan Bredow, chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering.

"This grant is exciting because of the potential discoveries that could result from it. Dr. Sun has devoted a lot of time and energy to finding ways to detect cancer earlier, faster and in ways that keep patients comfort at the forefront. Her work is expanding the boundaries of photonics applications in healthcare," Bredow said.
Researchers from NYU School of Medicine studied the effects of Caesarean section on the weights of the offspring in laboratory mice and found that they are more at risk of becoming overweight and obese.

They noted that mice that were born via C section gained 33 percent more weight on an average in 15 weeks after they were weaned compared to mice that were born vaginally. Female offspring were found to gain 70 percent more weight. The study was published online in Science Advances yesterday.

The team of researchers looked at the differences in the gut bacteria or the microbiome that lives within the intestines and provide animals with assistance in immunity, metabolism and digestion. They speculated that there might be alterations in these gut bacteria due to the advent and rise of antibiotic therapy as well as due to C-sections. And they decided to see if this had anything to do with the rising rates of obesity. The World Health Organization estimates that Caesarean sections are needed in around 15 percent of births due to risks posed to the baby and the mother. However actual numbers show that one in two babies are born via C-Section in several countries notably Dominican Republic, Brazil and Iran explain these researchers.

New baby being born during cesarean section. Image Credit: Chattapat / Shutterstock

Human studies in the past have shown connections between C-sections and obesity. The whys and wherefores of this has not been explored and microbiome as the reason for this has also not been explored. This study was an attempt to understand this connection.

The researchers explain that the maternal microbes are transmitted to the babies as they are born vaginally and these microbes help teach the developing immune systems of the baby. Lead researcher and microbiologist Maria Dominguez-Bello, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU School of Medicine, explained that this was the first study that showed that there was a direct association between C-section and increased body weight in mammals. She added that because the number of caesarean sections are on the rise, the effects of these on obesity becomes more and more important.

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For this study the team chose 34 laboratory mice that were delivered by C-section and compared them with 35 mice that were born vaginally. They then checked on the weight gain of these mice and simultaneously used genomic techniques to analyse the DNA of the various gut bacteria that these mice were carrying since their birth up to their adulthood. Earlier studies provided a template of which bacteria normally colonize the guts of mice pups. Now they compared the gut bacteria of the mice born either by C-section or vaginally.

Their study revealed that the mice that were born via C section put on more weight and also had a significantly different gut bacteria. Gender did not play a role in these differences. Mice that were born normally with time had a normally maturing gut bacteria. Among mice born surgically, the microbiome developed rapidly initially but later in life they became relatively immature. Bacterial groups that are found more commonly among babies delivered vaginally include Bacteroides, Ruminococaceae, and Clostridiales. Earlier studies have shown that these bacteria are associated with lean body weight.

Dominguez-Bello is also leading a pilot study that checks for changes in the gut microflora and associates it with weight gain and obesity. That study found that if the babies born surgically could be swabbed with the mothers birth canal fluids, they could get the bacteria that they would have if delivered via the vagina. More research is needed to this end to check if this is really feasible and holds true for large populations.
A new science program for people with intellectual disabilities has found the program has delivered great educational, social and economic benefits to students.

Students begin building working models, creating controlled chemical reactions, and tracking processes in nature such as plant growth. Image: Phil Roeder, Flickr

The program, developed by a PhD scholar at The Australian National University (ANU), uses science to engage students with intellectual disabilities, help them observe what is happening around them, evaluate what it means, and then help them provide a reasoned response.

It has been implemented in three schools over the past 10 years, with around 60 students going through the program in the past two years.

Program developer Vanessa de Kauwe said specialist schools who had implemented the program had reported overwhelmingly positive results.

The results have been overwhelmingly positive. Some students even go on to work, adult education, or both, said Ms de Kauwe from the ANU Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science.

Students begin building working models, creating controlled chemical reactions, and tracking processes in nature such as plant growth.

Some reports show that students who previously did not interact with others started talking at home and school. Others started communicating with notes and drawings.

Participants are always in a situation where they are learning to communicate with others and share ideas, which helps with their daily living skills.

Ms de Kauwe said feedback from schools and parents found students became more independent in daily life.

She said people with disabilities were the greatest experts in their own experience. She said radical changes were needed for educational practices and policies for students with an intellectual disability.

I have spent more than 20 years working in disability and education in Australia and overseas and they are one of the most undervalued groups in society, something I wanted to see change, said Ms de Kauwe.

A number of young adults with intellectual disabilities are now assisting me to explain more empowering teaching techniques to science educators from all around the world, and this is how it should be.
Atomo Diagnostics, a world leader in innovative point-of-care, rapid diagnostic devices, announced today that its Atomo HIV Self Test has been granted CE Marking by a European Union Notified Body.

The Atomo HIV Self Test is the worlds only integrated self-test device, providing greater convenience, ease-of-use, and infield diagnostic performance when compared to other multi-component HIV test kits. Atomo Diagnostics is now actively engaging with commercialization and distribution partners to make the test widely available in European and other global markets during 2018 via retail, e-commerce and public health channels.

Designed as an at-home self-test, the Atomo HIV Self Test is a rapid, lateral flow in vitro qualitative immunoassay for the detection of antibodies to Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 and Type 2 in human whole blood.

The Atomo HIV Self Test needs only a single drop of blood, obtained from the fingertip using the built-in safety lancet. The test device also incorporates a unique blood collection and delivery system to further simplify the test procedure and eliminate user errors common to other test kits. An accurate result is provided in minutes.

When used by untrained users in the field, the Atomo HIV Self Test demonstrated 100% concordance to laboratory results in independent studies, making it the best performing self-test approved to date. Additionally, as a 3rd generation test, the Atomo HIV Self Test can detect HIV antibodies earlier than established 2nd generation competitor tests.

Self-testing is facilitating greater access to HIV testing for previously hard-to-reach and high-burden groups. Studies have also shown that our test has a high degree of acceptance and take-up amongst the young, which could be central to stemming infection rates and increasing access to treatment, said John Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of Atomo Diagnostics. CE Marking means that the Atomo HIV Self Test can now be made available to anyone who wants a safe, convenient, accurate and private way to find out their HIV status in minutes, he added.

HIV self-testing is increasingly seen as vital if the global health community is to achieve the goals of the 90-90-90 initiative of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The aim of the initiative is to ensure that by 2020 90% of those living with HIV will know their status, 90% of those individuals will be on antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 90% of individuals on ART will be virologically suppressed. To achieve even the first 90% is a major undertaking: UNAIDS estimates that, as of July 2017, only 70% of the 36.7 million people living with HIV knew their status.

HIV self-testing has the potential to be a game-changer in achieving the UNAIDS ambitious goal of 90% of all HIV positive people knowing their status by 2020, said Linda-Gail Bekker, President of the International AIDS Society, and a member of Atomos Clinical Advisory Board.

Atomo is proud to be playing its part in helping to achieve the first 90-90-90 milestone, also announcing today that it has obtained CE approval for the 3rd generation version of its established professional use rapid diagnostic test, AtomoRapid HIV (1&2). Approval of this more sensitive 3rd generation test will further support early detection of HIV infections and facilitate more effective interventions.

Source: http://atomodiagnostics.com/press-release-ce-marking-worlds-integrated-hiv-self-test-atomo-diagnostics-gives-access-safe-accurate-reliable-self-testing/
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The nuclear-powered submarine. Ultra-advanced stealth bombers and fighters. These all represent the most lethal, sophisticated and expensive weapons in the US militarys mighty arsenaland they might soon all be close to obsolete.

The aircraft carrier, stealth fighters and submarines will still be useful but they will have new vulnerabilities that will limit operations (especially against well funded militaries like Russia and China). The US will also be able to exploit these against the same weapon systems for China and Russia. It could cause a shift to different more cost effective weapons.

* new technology could allow stealth planes to be detected at longer ranges

* submarines

* Aircraft carriers are very vulnerable to new missiles and pervasive satellite detection

Operating the carrier in the face of increasingly lethal and precise missiles will thus require the United States to expose a multibillion-dollar asset to high levels of risk in the event of a conflict. A saturation attack of missiles against the carrier from a variety of platforms and directions would be difficultif not impossibleto defend against.

Exposing Submarines

The ability of submarines to hide through quieting alone will decrease as each successive decibel of noise reduction becomes more expensive and as new detection methods mature that rely on phenomena other than sounds emanating from a submarine. These techniques include lower frequency active sonar and non-acoustic methods that detect submarine wakes or (at short ranges) bounce laser or light-emitting diode (LED) light off a submarine hull. The physics behind most of these alternative techniques has been known for decades, but was not exploited because computer processors were too slow to run the detailed models needed to see small changes in the environment caused by a quiet submarine. Big Data processing enables advanced navies to run sophisticated oceanographic models in real time to exploit these detection techniques. As they become more prevalent, they could make some coastal areas too hazardous for manned submarines.

New sensors and related improvements to torpedo seekers could enable completely new approaches to finding and attacking submarines. Today short range detection requires difficult and time and resource intensive submarine hunting.

New sensor and seeker capabilities could instead enable a fire and forget approach in which ASW (anti-submarine warfare) forces detect a submarine at long range and apply computer processing to obtain enough precision for an attack using long-range missiles with torpedo warheads. This kind of attack may not sink the submarine, but would likely compel it to at least evade, breaking its initiative and making it more detectable.

Stealth planes detection

National Interest Defense Editor, Dave Majumdar describes the situation.

China appears to be building a new high-frequency radar on an artificial feature in the Spratly Islands that could allow Beijing to track even the stealthiest American warplanes, including the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and even the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit.

HF radars actually operate on low frequencies relative to the VHF, UHF, L, S, C, X and Ku bands, which are more typically used by military radars. These low frequencies have waves that are several meters long and, consequently, most stealth aircraft show up on HF radar. In order to defeat low frequency radar, a stealth aircraft has to eliminate features like fins, which is why the flying-wing shape is the best way available to avoid detection. That is because there is an omnidirectional resonance effect that occurs when a feature on an aircraftsuch as a tail-finis less than eight times the size of a particular frequency wavelength. As a result, there is a step change in radar cross section once that threshold is exceeded. Since every stealth aircraft currently in Americas fleet exceeds that thresholdeven the B-2 is not large enough to avoid most HF radarsevery U.S. aircraft would show up on the Chinese radar. Indeedall stealth aircraft will show up at some frequency.
As a young man David Clyde DC Davis, adamantly denied the possibility of working in ministry.

Yet years later, thats exactly where hes found himself  the youth pastor at Tomahs Lighthouse Assembly of God ... and he loves it.

A native of Hilliard, Florida, Davis got his first inkling that he might end up working as a pastor in 10th grade. He was performing in a Christian talent show at West Nassau High School in Florida doing an imitation of preaching, poking fun at it.

When doing it I just felt in my heart that, hey, you need to stop making fun of this because youre going to be doing it one day, he said.

That thought stayed in the back of his mind even as he was filling out college applications during his senior year, determined to go to college and be a meteorologist.

The voice told him to fill out at least one application to a Bible college. So he did, all the while thinking that even if he got in, he was going to attend another college because he didnt want to be a pastor.

I was an A and B student, I had a 3.5 GPA, I had a scholarship, and then all the colleges I applied for denied me but the Bible school, he said. So I was like, OK, I guess this is where Im going.

After his first year at the Jacksonville Masters Commission in 2008, Davis warmed up to being a pastor.

I felt like this is where Im supposed to be, he said.

Also at this time Davis found his passion for youth ministry.

During the first year at Bible college students were required to work with all the different ministries for about two months each, Davis said. They started with childrens ministry and worked their way up to seniors.

We got a taste for every age group where there are ministries, he said. Then at the end of my first year, we were told that if you come back for your second year, you need to choose which you want to do most prominently.

While Davis eventually chose to work with youth, it was the childrens pastor at the schools church who most influenced his decision.

He was telling me to fill the void  if you see a void, fill it, he said. He was trying to promote me to take childrens ministry, but at the time the middle school was lax  no one wanted to deal with middle school or high school; they thought all the kids were crazy. Actually, these people need the most help. So thats how I got involved with youth ministry. They needed a leader, and I fell in love with it my second year, returned my third year, and it has been youth ministry since.

He graduated from Bible college in 2011.

Davis said what he enjoys about being a youth minister is the chance to help teenagers better their lives.

I think every student needs to feel like someone cares and that someone hears them and to be by their side through the worst things and through the best things in life, he said. It doesnt matter how many friends they have or dont have, some of them feel like no ones there for them. For me personally, its cool just to be there and push them  say you have this and you can make yourself a better life, whether they come to the Lord or not. My personal goal is that they come to know Jesus and get saved, but also that they can become good citizens in this community  help them change their life for the better. For me I think thats the coolest thing.

While a Florida native, Davis comes to Tomah from Rawlins, Wyoming, where he has lived for the past five years with his wife Danielle and two-year-old daughter Nadia, as a youth pastor.

The Davis family is expecting a second child in November.

About a year ago Davis and his wife began searching for a new job, and they found Tomah.

They came to Tomah for an early August visit and wound up moving to Tomah Aug. 28.

It seems like a good fit, Davis said.

Were really liking the community; its really nice, he said. It feels like a small town but filled with city life too. You can go 10 miles out and youre already in the country or you get the city feel.

He also enjoyed being involved with an established childrens church, which his church in Rawlins didnt have.

Pastor Kirk Brown of the Lighthouse Assembly of God said hes happy to have the Davis family involved.

They bring a lot of light and energy, he said. Theyre easy-going people that love God, and we love having them here.

In his first year, Davis hopes to get more youth involved with his group.

Right now we have about 20 students right now, but there are tons more out there that arent being reached or being cared about or feeling important, he said. My goal is to make Frontline Youth (the name of our youth group at Lighthouse Assembly) a known name in the community, as a place parents trust and a place students feel safe and can have fun while at the same time being encouraged to make a difference in their life and community even as a teen.
Westby City Council is still weighing its options in regards to converting the 100 block of East State Street into one-way driving and parking after the proposed change was met with more resistance in regards to how it was handled at its Sept. 19 and Oct. 3 monthly meetings.

During the Sept. 19 meeting, alderman Lyle Lund debated the agenda wording which was very vague and did not clearly specify a vote to convert to one-way parking. Lund, who is not in favor of the change, was also troubled that two council members, Ann Kurth and Mark Hendrickson, were not present to weigh in at that meeting, making it the wrong time to make such a decision.

All council members were present at the Oct. 3 meeting, but the proposed change was then questioned by Joe Devine, a city resident who resides on East State Street.

Devine said the city should have contacted the people on East State Street first before making a decision of that magnitude. He also questioned if they had all their ducks in a row on how the change would affect the direction of emergency vehicle travel and businesses who currently uses the area as an unloading zone for freight.

Devine said he was not opposed to the change, but was opposed to the lack of public input the council sought before hand from residents who utilize the intersection on a daily basis.

The entire issue came to light after Vernon Communications purchased the Corner Mechanics business lot in downtown Westby, in order to create a public downtown green space. Westby Chamber has since been put in charge of developing the area, which in turn opened the door for the city of Westby to restructure parking in front of the area.

Last month the city street committee, (Rick Rognstad, Russell Haakenson, Lyle Lund), voted 2-1 last month in favor of the one-way street conversion.

Lund provided the nay vote and told the council that the people he spoke with were not in favor of the change and he personally felt it would make driving in downtown more confusing.

Mayor Dan Helgerson, argued the change would create less congestion all around at the State Street intersection and help with traffic flow.

Tabling the item again allows the public and downtown businesses more time to weigh in on the idea. The council also agreed to contact all residents residing on East State Street in regards to the proposed change.

If anyone has concerns or thoughts about converting the 100 block of East State Street to one-way parking please plan to attend the Westby City Council meeting at 6 p.m. on Oct. 17. You may also contact Westby City Hall at 634-3214.
MINNEAPOLIS  Xcel Energy has proposed splitting its utility operations in North Dakota and Minnesota, telling regulators that widening policy differences between the two states over clean energy have caused stresses that might best be resolved through a breakup.

But a consultant for the North Dakota Public Service Commission is arguing against the separation, saying there would be no long-term benefits for North Dakota, only a substantial likelihood of higher costs for customers.

Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy has long had a single subsidiary for its electrical and gas businesses in the two states, Northern States Power Company-Minnesota. Xcel says its been a successful arrangement for nearly a century, but the policy priorities of the two states began to diverge almost two decades ago, and the best alternative may be a North Dakota subsidiary that wouldnt be subject to regulatory decisions by other states.

Xcel serves around 93,000 electric and 24,000 gas customers in the Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot areas of North Dakota, making it the largest utility in the state. But Xcel says its North Dakota customers consume only about 5 percent of the total load on its upper Midwest system, compared with 75 percent for Minnesota, 15 percent for Wisconsin, with South Dakota and Michigan making up the rest. Altogether, the five-state system serves over 1.6 million customers.

In response to Minnesotas push for cleaner energy, Xcel is phasing out two older coal-fired generators at its big Sherco power plant in Minnesota and has been investing heavily in wind, solar and biomass power. But that shift away from carbon fuels toward renewables comes with costs that Xcel has sought to pass along to customers, leading to pushback from regulators in North Dakota, a major oil, gas and coal producer.

We believe that this path to a cleaner and more nimble fleet is both in the best interests of our customers and consistent with our business plans, Aakash Chandarana, an Xcel regional vice president, wrote in a filing with the North Dakota PSC this summer. We also recognize that this path is consistent with Minnesotas legal and regulatory priorities. We appreciate, however, that this path may not be embraced in North Dakota.

James Heidell, an outside consultant for the North Dakota PSC, wrote in a filing this month that many projects North Dakota has disputed werent needed to meet energy demand, and that Xcel pursued them at above-market costs to comply with Minnesota mandates.

These legislative requirements of Minnesota are not shared by North Dakota. NSPs requests to recover a share of those costs from North Dakota customers is essentially asking for North Dakota customers to subsidize Minnesotas energy policies, he wrote.

However, Heidell said, a separation isnt necessary. He said North Dakota has several options that could reduce conflict while allowing Xcel to earn a reasonable profit there, such as a pricing mechanism that doesnt pass along costs of other states mandates. Another option could be selling off Xcels North Dakota operations, he said.

Xcel proposes a gradual separation that could be completed around 2020. Xcel has estimated the one-time costs at $8 million to $15 million, half of which would be allocated to the new subsidiary. Chandarana acknowledged the process could get acrimonious.

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Brian Kroshus said the PSC plans to hold a formal hearing in late January and decide later. He declined to predict the outcome but said a top priority during the review process will be whether North Dakota ratepayers benefit.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission decided last month not to take further action unless and until Xcel presents it with a formal proposal, but to monitor North Dakotas proceedings in the meantime.
100% of Americans Support No sales to known or suspected terrorists Expand mental health treatment Stronger sentences for illegal guns Report lost or stolen guns Universal checks for gun buyers Bar sales to all violent criminals Bar sales to convicted stalkers Centralized record of gun sales Require safety training 3-day waiting period Bar sales to mentally ill Require gun safes Universal checks for ammo buyers Require gun licenses Fingerprint gun owners Ban on Bump Stocks Govt. buyback of banned guns Assault weapons ban Honor out-of-state conceal and carry permits Gun purchase limit Guns that microstamp bullets Ammo purchase limit School weapons ban Semiautomatic gun ban EXperts say not effective High-capacity magazine ban Experts Say Effective Workplace weapons ban Demonstrate a need for a gun 0% of Americans Support 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 100% of Americans Support No sales to known or suspected terrorists Expand mental health treatment Report lost or stolen guns Universal checks for gun buyers Stronger sentences for illegal guns Bar sales to all violent criminals Centralized record of gun sales 3-day waiting period Bar sales to mentally ill Require gun safes Require gun licenses Fingerprint gun owners Universal checks for ammo buyers Govt. buyback of banned guns Ban on Bump Stocks Assault weapons ban Honor out-of-state conceal and carry permits Guns that microstamp bullets Ammo purchase limit Gun purchase limit School weapons ban Semiautomatic gun ban High-capacity magazine ban EXperts say not effective Experts Say Effective Workplace weapons ban Demonstrate a need for a gun 0% of Americans Support 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 100% of Americans Support No sales to known or suspected terrorists Universal background checks Expand mental health treatment Bar sales to violent criminals Bar sales to mentally ill Require gun licenses Ban on Bump Stocks Assault weapons ban School weapons ban EXperts say not effective Experts Say Effective Ammo purchase limit Workplace weapons ban Demonstrate a need for a gun 0% of Americans Support 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5

A ban on the bump stock devices that made the Las Vegas attack so deadly would enjoy broad public support, according to a new poll. Yet gun policy experts say a ban would probably have a negligible effect on mass shooting deaths.

In the aftermath of the attack, in which 58 people were killed at a country music festival on Oct. 1, the only gun-related legislation generating any serious political discussion is a ban on bump stocks, devices that enable a semiautomatic weapon to shoot nearly as fast as a machine gun.

A bump stock ban was supported by 72 percent of registered voters in a survey conducted last week for The Upshot by Morning Consult, a polling and media company. The measure even garnered 68 percent support from Republicans; Democrats favored it by 79 percent.

Stephen Paddock, the Las Vegas shooter, had affixed bump stocks to a dozen weapons found in the hotel room where he conducted the shooting, and the pattern of his fire was consistent with their use. His is the first high-profile mass shooting to involve such a device.

But several gun policy experts said it was difficult to assess the safety benefits of making such devices harder to obtain.

Until now, bump stocks have been a non-issue in firearm homicide (mass or not), wrote April Zeoli, an associate professor at the Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice, in an email. But now that the door has been opened for their use, I suspect that future mass shooters may use them.

Ms. Zeoli was one of a panel of experts we surveyed about an array of gun control ideas last year. On average, the experts we were able to recontact thought that banning bump stocks was likely to have a small effect on mass shooting fatalities. They ranked it similarly to requiring gun owners to complete safety training and requiring technology that stamps each bullet with a mark that can trace it to a particular gun.

Our poll last year showed that the public favors many gun control ideas, including some that our experts thought would be more effective than a bump stock ban: Universal background checks and restrictions on guns sales to people with violent misdemeanor convictions were substantially more popular. Last week Politico and Morning Consult conducted a poll on those very same measures, and public opinion about them hasnt shifted much since last year.

The future of a bump stock ban is uncertain. Legislation from Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, has received a warm if not enthusiastic reception from several Republicans in Congress. President Trump said the White House would look into the idea, despite promises to use his presidency to expand gun rights. The National Rifle Association, which is generally opposed to any gun restrictions, did not entirely reject the idea, though it indicated that it hoped for regulatory restrictions and not a legislative ban. But the legislation has not progressed and might not.
The wildfire that raced toward Santa Rosa, Calif., late Sunday night, arrived so quickly that the citys sleeping residents had minutes to escape. At least 1,800 structures were reduced to ash, making the fire one of the most destructive in the states history.

A Fast-Moving Fire

The inferno, officially called the Tubbs fire, started around 9:43 p.m. on Sunday near Calistoga, a small town in Napa County known for its wineries and mud baths.

Approx. extent of fire as of 11:27 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 8 Calistoga Tubbs fire CALIFORNIA Extent of fire four hours later Santa Rosa Pacific Ocean Sonoma Napa Petaluma Area of detail 5 miles Approx. extent of fire as of 11:27 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 8 Calistoga Tubbs fire CALIFORNIA Extent of fire four hours later Santa Rosa Area of detail 5 miles Sonoma 2 mi. Approx. extent of fire as of 11:27 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 8 Tubbs fire Calistoga CALIFORNIA Extent of fire four hours later Santa Rosa Sonoma Source: NASA MODIS

The fire moved quickly, traveling about 12 miles in a little over three hours.

By 1 a.m. Monday, the fire had reached Santa Rosa, a city of about 175,000 people in Sonoma County.

Christine Sims, a resident of Coffey Park, a neighborhood where several hundred homes were burned to the ground, said she could tell the fire was headed their way based on the wind.

When we opened up the front door, the wind was blowing so fiercely, and there was so much smoke, Ms. Sims said.

She fled at about 2 a.m. When she looked back, the neighborhood was glowing orange.

Flames Flow Like Water Rushing Across the Ground

The winds that drove the fire from north of Calistoga to Santa Rosa are common in Northern California in October. At about 4:30 a.m. on Monday, these so-called Diablo winds reached a peak speed of more than 60 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.

The map below shows the wind conditions around this peak time.

Wind speed Wind gusts Faster Slower 20 15 10 5

Calistoga Extent of burned areas as of Oct. 10 Tubbs fire CALIFORNIA Pacific Ocean Santa Rosa Sonoma Petaluma Napa 5 miles Novato Vallejo Calistoga Extent of burned areas as of Oct. 10 Tubbs fire CALIFORNIA Santa Rosa Sonoma Petaluma Napa 5 miles Calistoga Extent of burned areas as of Oct. 10 Tubbs fire Santa Rosa Sonoma Napa 5 mi. Sources: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (wind), Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination (fire perimeters)

Winds in excess of 50 miles per hour will cause flames to sheet across the ground, said Janet Upton, a deputy director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It was literally parallel to the ground, racing across, almost like water rushing across the ground.

Development in Wildlands Worsens Fires

Many of the homes that were incinerated were inside what are called wildland-urban interfaces  areas where homes and businesses are close to or intermingled with otherwise undeveloped wildlands.

Sources: Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination (fire perimeters); SILVIS Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the United States Forest Service (wildland-urban interface)

Development in wildland-urban interfaces increases frequency of fires and contributes to the ferocity of a fire, said Volker Radeloff, a forest and wildlife ecology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

When you have more people in an area, the chances that something will go wrong and a fire will start is higher, Dr. Radeloff said.

Its not only that the fires ignite the houses, he continued, but then the houses kind of fuel the fire.

Burned-down houses in Foxtail Court, Santa Rosa, which lies in the wildland-urban interface. David Mcnew/Getty Images

High-velocity winds in combination with this fires proximity to an urbanized area made it especially dangerous, said Jan Null, a meteorologist and adjunct professor at San Jose University.

A Drought, Record Rain and Another Dry Spell

A six-year drought was declared over in most of California in April, but dry vegetation still litters the state.

Record amounts of rain fell at the end of 2016 and in the beginning of 2017, which triggered new plant growth. Since then, there has been extreme heat and little rainfall, causing much of the new vegetation to become tinder dry by the fall.

Monthly rainfall in Sonoma County since 1999 15 10 5 0 Jan. April July Oct. 2017 15 10 5 0 Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. 2017 Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Conditions were further exacerbated when the relative humidity reached single digits in recent days. Anything below 22 percent relative humidity means that there is a likelihood that something could ignite, said Ms. Upton of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

An aerial picture of Coffey Park taken Wednesday. Josh Haner/The New York Times

The dry conditions made it easy for the fire to spread as winds blew flaming embers onto withered trees, grass and brush.
Rahul promises old pension scheme in Gujarat if voted to power

In J&K, more rot weeded out as administration suspends 5 employees for terror links

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7th Pay Commission: New salary, fitment factor all details for TN govt employees

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

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In a major bonanza for the Government employees of Tamil Nadu, the Cabinet approved the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. This move would benefit more than 10 lakh state government employees.

A cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami approved the pay commission recommendations after a high-level committee headed by finance secretary K Shanmugam submitted its report to the government recently.

Hike in salaries The cabinet gave its nod for the order to be issued. There will be 20% hike in the salaries of government employees and teachers. Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said the hike would cost the exchequer Rs 14,719 crore annually. Detailed Pay Structure table The 5 Members High Level Committee has submitted its report to the Government on 27th Sep, 2017. New Pay matrix, fitment factor, min and max salary Pay Band and Grade Pay: Pay Matrix (32 Levels)

Minimum Pay: 15,700

Maximum Pay: 2,25,000

Fitment Factor: 2.57 (For Pensioners also)

Minimum Pension & Family Pension: 7,850

Maximum Pension & Family Pension: 1,12,500 & 67,500

Gratuity Ceiling: 20 Lakhs

Annual Increment: 3%

House Rent Allowance: 250 to 8300

City Allowance: Double

Dearness Allowance: Same as Central Govt Employees Agitation for 7th Pay Commission Government employees had held a series of agitations in the past few months, seeking an interim relief until the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations. It even led the Madras high court to pass an order staying the protests as they violated service rules. The employees and teachers withdrew their strike after a stern warning from the court.

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 6:50 [IST]
Places of Worship Act: SC gives more time to Centre to file affidavit by Dec 12

Aamby Valley auctioning: SC raises objections over Sahara's letter to cops

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, October 12: The Supreme Court on Thursday objected to the Sahara group writing a letter to the Pune police raising the issue of law and order at its Aamby Valley property, which is undergoing a court-mandated auctioning process.

Taking note of SEBI's allegation in this regard, a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said the group should not have entered into a communication with Pune's Superintendent of the Police (Rural) on the issue since the auction has been ordered by the top court.

The bench, also comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and A K Sikri, directed the Director General of Police, Maharashtra to see that the property is handed over to the official liquidator of the Bombay High Court within 48 hours.

"If any impediment is caused in the auctioning process by anyone, he shall be liable of contempt of this court and sent to jail," the bench said.

The apex court asked the official liquidator to go ahead with the auctioning process under the direct supervision of the company judge.

The bench also said the official liquidator shall take guidance from Justice A S Oka, sitting judge of the Bombay High Court, in the matter.

At the outset, senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for the SEBI, referred to the communication addressed to the SP of police and claimed that due to this, the police has taken over the custody of the property.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Sahara group, countered the submission and said the custody of the property has not been handed over to the poilice and "completly wrong statements are being made to prejudice the court."

The top court was hearing SEBI's plea seeking contempt action against the Sahara group for allegedly obstructing the auctioning process of Aamby Valley. However, the bench clarified that they were not initiating any contempt action at this stage.

PTI
Even after release, Talwar couple to visit Dasna Jail every 15 days

Nupur and Rajesh Talwar walk out of Dasna jail

Aarushi murder case: No appeal from CBI yet against acquittal of Rajesh, Nupur Talwar

SC to hear CBIs appeal against acquittal of Talwars in Aarushi murder case

Timeline of Aarushi Talwar murder case: What happened since 2008

India

oi-Madhuri

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Allahabad High Court is likely to deliver its verdict on a plea filed by Rajesh Talwar & Nupur Talwar, parents of Aarushi Talwar who was found dead in her bedroom on 16 May, 2008.

Aarushi murder case: HC verdict likely today on Talwars appeal

Following is the chronology of events in the case:

2008:

May 16: 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar Aarushi, who was in her teens, was found dead inside her room with her throat slit in Noida's Jal Vayu Vihar. Domestic help Hemraj, a Nepali, suspected of murder.

May 17: Hemraj's body found on the terrace of Talwar's residence.

May 18: Preliminary investigation in the case suggested the murders were conducted with clinical precision and an inside job was suspected.

May 21: The Delhi police joins murder probe.

May 22: Family under suspicion, probe begins on honour killing angle, the police quiz Aarushi's close friend whom she spoke to 688 times in the 45 days preceding her murder.

May 23: Rajesh Talwar arrested for the twin murders.

June 1: The murder case has been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

June 20: Lie detection test of Rajesh Talwar conducted at CFSL, Delhi.

June 25: Second lie detection test conducted on Nupur Talwar. Her first lie detection test was found inconclusive.

June 26: CBI declares the case to be a "blind case".

Rajesh Talwar refused bail by the special magistrate in Ghaziabad.

July 3: The Supreme Court rejects a PIL which challenged the conduct of narco-analysis test on the accused.

July 12: Rajesh Talwar freed on bail from Dasna Jail in Ghaziabad.

2010:

January 5: CBI moves court to conduct narco test on Talwar couple.

December 29: CBI submits closure report. Clean chit to servants but points fingers at parents.

2011:

January 25: Rajesh Talwar attacked in the Ghaziabad court premises.

February 9: Court takes cognisance of CBI report, charges Aarushi's parents with murder and destruction of evidence.

February 21: Couple approaches the Allahabad High Court for quashing trial court summons.

March 18: High Court dismisses their plea to quash summons and orders initiation of proceedings against them.

March 19: The couple approaches the Supreme Court which stays the trial against them.

2012:

January 6: Supreme Court dismisses Talwar's plea and allows the trial to proceed.

May 25: Talwars were charged by Ghaziabad court with murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence.

2013:

May 6: Trial court ordered to record Talwas' statements.

November 26: The CBI court in Ghaziabad announced life imprisonment to the Talwar couple, sent to Dasna jail.

2014:

January 21: Rajesh & Nupur Talwar move to Allahabad High Court against CBI court's life term order.

May 19: Allahabad High Court denies bail to Rajesh & Nupur Talwar.

2017:

January 11, 2017: Allahabad High Court reserves its judgment on an appeal filed by the Talwar's, challenging their conviction by a CBI court in 2013.

September 17, 2017: Allahabad High Court keeps its judgement reserved in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case.

OneIndia News
Anupam Kher says his mother now 'healthy', will be quarantined at home

Anupam Kher owns an impressive resume to head FTII; problematic area is his closeness with BJP

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

New Delhi, Oct 12: The appointment of veteran actor Anupam Kher, known for his power-packed performances in some of India's best films, as the chairperson of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, Maharashtra, should have uplifted the mood of all film lovers, especially after the end of the controversial term of former head of the institute, a little-known actor with equally little contributions to cinema, Gajendra Chauhan, on Wednesday.

However, times are different and so are the reactions. Along with congratulatory notes received by the 62-year-old actor, who made a stellar debut with his magnificent performance in Saaransh in 1984 and followed it up with many such brilliant acting outings both on the silver screen and on the stage, for being appointed as the head of FTII, there were also loud noises of protest from several quarters (including students of the FTII) opposing the latest decision of the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry.

Protest over Kher's appointment as the chief of FTII did not come as a surprise, as many feel that the actor, who has dabbled in all genres of cinema, got the plump position for sharing close ties with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) like his predecessor Chauhan.

While appointment of Chauhan, whose only claim to fame was the role of Yudhishthir he played in BR Chopra's hit Doordarshan series, Mahabharata, and appearances in several B-grade films, was met with stiff opposition by students of the FTII and several well-known names from the film fraternity, including Kher in 2015, this time around noises of protest against Kher's appointment too can't be ignored.

Kher's association with the saffron is not only the fact that his wife and actor-turned-politician Kirron is a BJP member of Parliament (MP) from Chandigarh, but the actor himself is a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.

The Padma Bhushan winner's first big brush with "politics" began when he took out a march against the "Award Wapsi" campaign in the national capital in 2015, stating that the opponents of the BJP and the PM were painting a wrong picture of the country by raising the issue of "rising intolerance".

"India is a very tolerant country. Some people have coined the term 'growing intolerance'. They are very few. Not every Indian thinks like that. We are secular people. We do not believe in pseudo-secularism, selective outrage or selective patriotism," Kher had said then.

"We had a meeting with a lot of writers, artistes, filmmakers and they also believe that there is no intolerance in the country... This march is a symbolic gesture on part of a lot of people over here who say India is one and free of intolerance," he added.

Since then, he has been vocally lambasting critics of the Modi government on social media and his tweets are a testimony to it.

Sample this tweet of Kher in 2015.

"Some more usual suspects who never wanted @narendramodi to become PM in d first place have joined the #AwardWapsi gang. Jai ho.:)."

His support for the saffron party was out again when on February 20, 2016, he tweeted against protest led by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leaders like Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid.

Kher tweeted then: "Gharo'n mein pest control hota hai toh cockroach, keede makaude ityadi baahar nikalte hai'n. Ghar saaf hota hai. Vaise hi aajkal desh ka pest control chal raha hai" (Cockroaches, insects and vermin emerge when a house has pest control. It cleans the house. Similarly, there is pest control going on in the country").

On March 19, the same year, Kher visited the JNU to promote a movie and tweeted, along with pictures of the crowd, "Slogans of #BharatMataKiJai & #VandeMatram today purified #JNU of slogans chanted earlier on 9th Feb.:) #Patriotism".

Once again, on February 28 this year, during a time when a soldier's daughter, Gurmehar Kaur, said it was war and not Pakistan that had killed her father in Kargil, and when demonetisation was a current issue, Kher tweeted: "The Intorant Gang is back. Same faces, different slogans.:) #Intolerance #AwardWapsi #Emergency #DemonitisationDisaster #BharatKeTukde".

Kher is also closely associated with a news television channel known to be run by a BJP MP where the actor does a film-based show.

The actor's soft corner for right wing politics came to the forefront on several occasions as he spoke passionately in favour of the Kashmiri Pandits, who were forced to leave the Valley due to the alleged persecution by the native Muslim population.

In July 2016, he posted controversial pictures of Kashmiri Pandits and tweeted: "Here is pic of butchered bodies of Kashmiri Pandits killed by terrorists. No outrage or concern by Pseudo liberals!"

After being criticised for the pictures, he responded: "Remember brutal killing of innocent people is not supposed to have an expiry date."

He also posted an angry tweet after getting snubbed during the Padma awards back in 2010 when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was in power at the Centre.

However, when he was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 2016 by the present BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government he was full of praises for award ceremonies.

"AWARDS in our country have become a mockery of our system. There is NO authenticity left in any one of them.B it films, National or now PADMA," Kher's tweet in 2010.

"Happy, Humbled & Honoured to share that i have been awarded The PADMA BHUSHAN by the Govt. of India. Greatest news of my life:) #JaiHind," Kher's tweet in 2016.

Along with blaming the Muslim people of the Valley for the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, the actor is also known for his anti-Pakistani stand, which is in sync with the present NDA government.

Earlier, Kher claimed that Pakistan had denied him a visa to attend a literature festival. "Has my visa been denied because I speak about India's rich tradition of tolerance or I am a Kashmiri Pandit who may expose Pak terror nexus?" he tweeted. The Pakistani High Commission responded with a tweet that it had "never" received a visa application from Kher, so the question of "issuing or denying him visa does not arise".

After the news of Kher's appointment as the head of FTII came to light on Wednesday, it already became "political" as the Congress was one of the first few organisations/individuals to question the choice of the I&B ministry.

"The country is seeing what all he has been saying. Less to do with cinema, more to do with politics", the Congress said on the appointment of veteran actor as chairperson of the FTII.

Congress spokesperson RPN Singh told reporters that Kher was a good actor who had given some immense performances on TV as well as on big screen.

"But you and I and the country knows why he has been made the chairman of the FTII...," he said.

Even students of FTII said the government's move to appoint Bollywood actor as its chairperson was "crazy" and "another joke" after Chauhan's appointment triggered 139-day strike in 2015.

"How can Kher head FTII when he is already running a private acting school?" Harishankar Nachimuthu, a student of the FTII, was quoted as asking by Hindustan Times.

Kher runs the institute, Actor Prepares, in Mumbai. Nachimuthu said the students at FTII don't see any difference between Chauhan and Kher, both known supporters of the BJP.

"We had expected this from the government," Nachimuthu told Hindustan Times.

Regarding the "clash of interest" that the FTII job poses since he owns and runs his own acting school in Mumbai, Kher was quoted as saying by The Quint, "Oh them! They have always been around whenever I have been given a governmental position. When I was made the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), they said there would be a clash of interest with my relationship with producers and the film fraternity.

"When I took up stage acting very seriously they said there would be a clash of interest with my film assignments... so if they had not come forward now I'd have missed them. But no, I am not worried about any clash of interest. I prioritise my various commitments in a very systematic way."

As far as the students of the FTII are concerned, Kher told The Quint, "Wait and watch. Let me first catch my breath, interact with you and then let me do my job. Judge me after that."

Kher is right in a way. His critics should give him sometime before judging his efficiency as an administrator to run the country's premier film school. Or, should Kher take all the criticism in his stride to uplift the morale of the students of FTII by bringing much-needed changes in the way India makes movies through a bunch of aspiring filmmakers, technicians and actors?

OneIndia News
Bimal Gurung who is in hiding to depart for Delhi soon

Bimal Gurung pins hopes on negotiation committee to help resolve the Darjeeling impasse

India

oi-Amitava

By Amitava

Darjeeling, October 12: With the Centre failing to meet the self-proclaimed deadline to announce date for talks with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM,) Bimal Gurung is now pinning hopes on a committee which, according to media reports, has been constituted by the Union Government to help resolve the Darjeeling impasse.

According to media reports, the committee, working in tandem with the West Bengal Government will thrash out a permanent solution for the Darjeeling impasse.

Incidentally, on September 26, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had made an appeal to Gurung to lift the bandh. Singh had assured that a meeting between the Union Government and the GJM to work out a permanent solution to the Darjeeling impasse will be held within a fortnight (from 26th September.)

Based on this Minister Singh's assurances, Gurung had ordered the lifting of the bandh from September 27. The bandh had then hit the 104th day mark.

With the "fortnight" deadline for the meeting having expired and the Centre having failed to announce the date for the meeting; Gurung on Wednesday had claimed that Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia is taking care of things in Delhi and would announce the date for the meeting on Thursday.

On Thursday, there were newspaper reports that the Union Home Ministry has formed a negotiation committee to initiate a dialogue with the Mamata Banerjee Government and GJM to work out a permanent solution to the ongoing impasse.

The report claimed that the Union Government will not directly intervene but will help the State Government work out a permanent solution. The report further claimed that date for talks will be fixed in consultation with Mamata Banerjee.

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Gurung reacting to these political developments, over phone from an undisclosed location stated "The Centre has constituted a committee. It is the fruit of the sacrifice made by the people for 104 days. Something great will transpire. However we have to remain patient and without getting worked up emotionally."

When questioned on the Centre's decision to involve bete noire Mamata Banerjee led Government to resolve the impasse, Gurung stated "The State Government has to be involved. We are not demanding a separate country. We are demanding a State to be carved out of West Bengal. The West Bengal Government has to be involved in the process." stated Gurung.

Political pundits however speculate that if the committee constituted by the Union Government approaches Mamata Banerjee for tripartite talks and even if Banerjee agrees, she will definitely negate any scope of dialogue with Gurung.

She will instead press for Binay Tamang and Anit Thapa to represent the GJM in tripartite talks.

There are posts doing the round in social media that Gurung will make a public appearance on October 30 in Darjeeling. When questioned on this Gurung stated "I might come out in public on October 30. People want me to come out. I will come out with thousands of supporters from the Hills, Terai and Dooars."

Incidentally, Gurung charged in numerous cases and also under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA,) is on the run. There are a Lookout notice and an Arrest warrant in his name.

Political commentators feel that Gurung is merely testing ground. The Government has managed to successfully isolate him. There have been a number of raids by the West Bengal police in Sikkim. However, he had managed to slip away.

Meanwhile, the Janmukti Asthahi Karmachari Sanghatan (association of adhoc GTA workers affiliated to the GJM) dissolved the old committee and constituted a new central committee on Thursday in Darjeeling. The new committee with Anil Rai as President has pledged support to the Binay Tamang faction of the GJM.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Friday, October 13, 2017, 0:12 [IST]
Clearing the air about the Supreme Court verdict on sex with 'minor wives'

India

oi-Shreya

By Shreya

The Supreme Court in a landmark judgement on October 11 held that sexual intercourse with 'minor wife' - between 15 and 18 years of age, would be considered rape despite consent.

The Court read down Exception 2 to Section 375 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which allowed the husband of a child between the age of 15 and 18 to have non-consensual sexual intercourse with her. And the husband could not be charged with rape.

Prior to this, as mentioned above, the act of sexual intercourse with a minor wife between the age of 15 and 18, even if non-consensual would not be considered an act of rape, and hence this judgement by the Apex court is being considered historic.

The Court in its landmark judgment observed, "The issue before us is limited but one of considerable public importance - whether sexual intercourse between a man and his wife being a girl between 15 and 18 years of age is rape? Exception 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (the IPC) answers this in the negative, but in our opinion, sexual intercourse with a girl below 18 years of age is rape regardless of whether she is married or not. The exception carved out in the IPC creates an unnecessary and artificial distinction between a married girl child and an unmarried girl child and has no rational nexus with any unclear objective sought to be achieved. The artificial distinction is arbitrary and discriminatory and is definitely not in the best interest of the girl child. The artificial distinction is contrary to the philosophy and ethos of Article 15(3) of the Constitution as well as contrary to Article 21 of the Constitution and our commitments in international conventions. It is also contrary to the philosophy behind some statutes, the bodily integrity of the girl child and her reproductive choice. What is equally dreadful, the artificial distinction turns a blind eye to trafficking of the girl child and surely each one of us must discourage trafficking which is such a horrible social evil."

Politicians, women's rights activists hailed the court's judgment. However, the Top Court made it clear that the judgement has no reference to the ongoing debate on marital rape.

On the issue of marital rape, the court said, "We make it clear that we have refrained from making any observation with regard to the marital rape of a woman who is 18 years of age and above since that issue is not before us at all. Therefore we should not be understood to advert to that issue even collaterally."

The judgment through welcome by all, triggered a question - Is isn't 18 the marriageable age for girls in India? How can the Supreme Court even consider anybody below 18 as a wife?

Here's what you need to know: According to the Court's judgment, it mentioned that "The counter affidavit of the Union of India refers to the National Family Health Survey - 3 (of 2005) in which it is stated that 46% of women in India between the ages of 18 and 29 years were married before the age of 18 years. It is also estimated, interestingly but disturbingly, that there are about 23 million child brides in the country. As far as any remedy available to a child bride is concerned, the counter affidavit draws attention to Section 3 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (the PCMA)."

So, in spite of the marriageable age being 18 for girls in India, there are 23 million child brides in the country.

Here is what the law says:

Under Section 3(1) of the PCMA a child marriage is voidable at the option of any contracting party who was a child at the time of the marriage. The marriage can be declared a nullity in terms of the proviso to Section 3(1) of the PCMA through an appropriate petition filed by the child within two years of attaining majority and by approaching an appropriate court of law. It is also stated that in terms of Section 13(2)(iv) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 a child bride can petition for a divorce on the ground that her marriage (whether consummated or not) was solemnized before she attained the age of 15 years and she has repudiated the marriage after attaining that age but before attaining 18 years of age. In other words, a child marriage is sought to be somehow 'legitimized' by the Union of India and the onus for having it declared voidable or a nullity is placed on the child bride or the child groom.

Let's break it down in simple words and understand how it works. What it means that if a girl is married below the age of 18, the marriage is voidable, but not void. The difference being, in case of voidable, the marriage remains valid until challenged in the court of law. However, if challenged, the marriage will be considered null and void.

A child marriage can be annulled only if challenged in court under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 18:46 [IST]
Commuters, students, women hit the streets in Delhi to protest metro fare hike

India

oi-Shreya

By Shreya

The Delhi Metro Commuters' Association (DMCA), on October 11 along with students from different universities took to the streets to protest the fare hike in the metro for the second time in the year at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and demanded immediate roll back of the fare hike.

The protest was also supported by activists from Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS). DMCA also submitted a memorandum to the Union Minister, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri through his Personal Secretary, Baldeo Purushartha to demand an immediate revocation of fare increase made this year.

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The demands made in the memorandum submitted to the Union Ministry are:

A Review Committee involving all stakeholders including commuters' representatives should be formed to look into prospects of running metro with special concern towards affordability of metro ride. The increased fares of the metro-ride including the increase made in May 2017 should be immediately rolled back till the Review Committee decides on the issue. Special concessional ride-passes should be introduced for students and people from economically weaker and laboring sections.

The DMCA also pointed out that the increase in the fare will cost a loss of ridership as many would not be able to afford the increased fare rates. DMCA had in May protested against the Urban Development Ministry and DMRC for bringing in anti-people step to benefit the Japanese Bank.

The DMCA said, "One of the reasons given for the increase is the urgency of loan repayment to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which had financed the construction of Delhi Metro. Of the amount i.e. Rs 3,770.79 crore paid to the agency till now, interest paid was Rs 2,263.67 crore and principal paid was Rs 1,507.12 crore. A further 26,760.28 crore needs to be paid to JICA in order to clear off the loan. Clearly, such a loan repayment structure seems to benefit the lending agency more, since the interest is more than the original amount loaned. Also, such loans have are highly profitable for the lender as they come with certain provisions such as technology transfer which are made mandatory along with such loans. Moreover, if the loan repayment amount is affixed to the metro fares so as to levy the cost of construction and expansion of metro infrastructure from the commuters themselves, the costs would become prohibitively high for them to use the metro."

Women who took part in the protest also spoke about the problems they are facing due to the increased fare, which forced them to take to buses. They also shared how it has affected their safety and security, as harassment is common in crowded buses during peak hours.

DMCA has resolved to take its campaign further if its demands are not met immediately. It has also decided to intensify its struggle by gheraoing ruling BJP's MPs and MLAs in the coming days.

Not only the DMCA but the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee also launched a week-long campaign against the fare hike against BJP and AAP.

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 6:07 [IST]
CPAT 2017 results declared, how to check

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The CPAT 2017 results have been declared. The results for the Combined Pre Ayush Test is available on the official website.

As per the official notification, CPAT 2017 results were expected to be released on October 12, 2017. However, the results are now available online. Lucknow University has also released important counseling guidelines on the official website. Candidates are advised to go through the same as well. Tentatively, the online registration and choice filling would be conducted from October 13 - October 15. The first college allotment list is epected to release on October 17, 2017. Document Verification and Fee Submission would be done at National Homeopathic Medical College, Viraj Khand, (Near Hanumann Chauraha) Gomti Nagar, Lucknow and Institute of Tourism Studies, New Campus, Lucknow University, Janki Puram, Lucknow. Candidate can go through the counseling guidelines on the official website. The results are available on cpatup2017.in.

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How to check CPAT 2017 Results:

Log on to cpatup2017.in

On the home screen, click on the tab for Result

A new window would open

Enter your roll number and date of birth and click submit

Your result would be displayed on the screen

Take a printout

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 7:14 [IST]
Cross border drug smuggling down despite volatile border with Pakistan

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Indian security agencies who face the heat everyday due to a volatile border have been successful in brining down the number of smuggling incidents along the Indo-Pak border.

Data and comparative statistics available show that cross-border smuggling has dipped since 2015. The BSF seized 344.5 kg of narcotics in 2015, it came down to 222.98 kg in 2016. Till October 10 this year, the BSF has seized 163.52 kg, according to official data.

This is a major achievement considering the fact that cross border hostilities thanks to Pakistan continue to remain. BSF officers deployed along the border said over the past few months, the strength of the border guarding force in Punjab has been busting various cases of drug smuggling.

The BSF has also come up with the idea of installing laser walls to plug riverine gaps where fences cannot be put up, but there are some technical glitches and drawbacks in the system. 64 kilometres of the border in Punjab cannot be fenced, Union Home Ministry statistics reveal.

In addition to the increasing to the border vigil has also come up with a new project called the comprehensive integrated border management. This project would cover the stretch of the Indo-Pak border across four states. This involves a "smart fence" equipped with intruder detector sensors and alarms backed with CCTVs that pinpoint the exact location of the violation. Quick reaction teams would then respond to the threat.

The BSF has also taken up several issues with the Punjab Police, which includes shortage of nakas or police check posts in some sensitive areas and ensuring joint interrogation of smugglers apprehended by the state police, sources say. A joint committee will identify tactical points in areas close to the border where nakas can be set up.

The Intelligence Bureau has however said that being the border forces cannot afford to be complacent at any time. Pakistan relies heavily on drug smuggling to fund terror activities. Pakistan uses the Dawood network to move drugs between Afghanistan and the rest of the world through India.

OneIndia News
Delhi district courts lawyers to protest against misconduct of judges on Oct 13

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, October 12: In protest against the alleged misconduct of some judges, the lawyers of all six district courts in the national capital will go on a day-long strike tomorrow.

"The reasons for calling a complete strike are misconduct of judges with litigants and huge corruption in the judiciary. We have already given the names of erring judges to the High Court but no action has been taken so far," advocate Jaiveer Singh Chauhan, Secretary General of the coordination committee of Delhi bar associations, said.

In a unanimous resolution adopted by the Coordination Committee of all District Court Bar Associations here, it was alleged that some judges were repeatedly misbehaving with the lawyers by treating them as subordinates.

The strike is likely to paralyse work in all six district courts at Patiala House, Rohini, Saket, Tis Hazari, Dwarka and Karkardooma.

Extending the strike to all district courts tomorrow, the coordination committee unanimously "resolved to observe complete strike on October 13 in all the district courts of Delhi to draw the attention of judicial administration to take action against the erring judges so that the judges act in a judicious manner and not treat lawyers as their subordinates."

The lawyers at the Tis Hazari Court had on Wednesday went on a strike to protest against the alleged "rude behaviour" of a magistrate.

PTI
                          -: pic.twitter.com/hOom68LRX9  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) October 12, 2017

Congress questions EC

"It is very clear that Modi government and BJP is putting pressure on the Election commission to delay Gujarat elections. The way Rahul Gandhi and the Congress exposed 22 years of misrule in Gujarat, people want a change there. BJP is scared now and want to lure voters by some schemes. We demand that Elections should be held simultaneously in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. The model code of conduct must be enforced in both states," Surjewala said.

Modi will try to lure voters in Gujarat: Congress

Congress alleged that the "delay" in announcing Gujarat Assembly election schedule was to enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi to act as a "false Santa Claus" to offer sops and use "jumlas" (rhetoric) during his October 16 visit to his home state.

The model code of conduct would have come into immediate effect in Gujarat had the poll schedule been announced, it said.

Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan

Congress secretary incharge for Himachal Pradesh Ranjeet Ranjan also raised questions over the Election Commission delaying the announcement of outcome of the assembly polls in the hill state by over a month till Gujarat elections are held. She claimed that the BJP "fears" that Gujarat may "slip away" from its hands given that the opposition party is "gaining support" there. Welcoming the announcement of Himachal polls, she said her party is in "full campaign mode" and is banking on the performance of the Virbhadhra Singh government.
India's stand on Rohingyas gracious so far but housing them would be risky

The Rohingya influx continues as Tripura police nets seven of them

Experts explain why Rohingyas are not entitled to refugee status in India

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

New Delhi, Oct 12: Amid the ongoing debate in India whether Rohingya Muslims taking shelter in various parts of the country should be allowed to stay or be deported as planned by the Narendra Modi government, a group of experts at a seminar in the national capital on Wednesday discussed whether Rohingyas are "refugees or illegal infiltrators".

The seminar hosted by the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) sought to differentiate between "refugees and illegal infiltrators", with the premise that Rohingya Muslims are "certainly not entitled" to the refugee status.

Noted scholars and foreign policy experts expounded on the topic -- Refugees and Infiltrators: India's policy towards them: A historical perspective and some thoughts on the current scenario -- even as the Indian government has already termed them as illegal immigrants who "will be deported".

Saradindu Mukherji, member of the ICHR, an autonomous body functioning under the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, said the Rohingya crisis was the "main provocation" to organise the event.

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The seminar's concept note released by the ICHR says: "Victims of religio-ethnic cleansing from the neighbouring countries which were part of eternal Bharat since time immemorial but got separated from us in 1947, are entitled to shelter and rehabilitation in India, but illegal infiltrators from outside India are not."

"Rohingyas are certainly not entitled to the refugee status," it adds.

Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal said India is a highly densely populated country and "we don't need more people".

He said Germany's decision to accept refugees was based more on their "huge demographic problems" and hence, that cannot be compared with the Rohingya situation in India.

Sibal claimed that some human rights bodies are raising humanitarian issues about the planned deportation of Rohingyas from India, because they "want to look good in those circles".

"India accepted Tibetan refugees as it acknowledged the occupation of Tibet by China. Besides, there was a humanitarian and cultural basis to what we did. In case of Rohingyas there is no such consideration," he said.

India government has maintained its stand that the "issue of national security is involved with regard to illegal immigration which our country cannot undermine".

The government had on August 9 told Parliament that more than 14,000 Rohingyas, registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, stay in India.

However, aid agencies estimate there are about 40,000 Rohingyas in the country.

Besides, there is a worry that "are there terrorists hiding in that big pool of people", Sibal asked, adding India is not signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, so "we are not obliged to accept them.

"So, there is a very good reason to deal with that issue the manner in which the government is doing. But, I do not see if they would be able to deport them in the foreseeable future," he added.

Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy, who was the chief guest at the day-long seminar, made a reference to the persecution faced by Hindus in Bangladesh in 1971, and the migration the Liberation War had triggered, to emphasise the issue of refugees.

Roy, author of "My People, Uprooted: A Saga of the Hindus of Eastern Bengal" shared the history of the region and the bloodshed it has suffered.

Retired IPS officer RK Ohri alleged that several Rohingyas have slipped into Mizoram and the neighbouring regions, and their presence would affect the demography and peace in the region.

Scholar Jawaharlal Kaul said Rohingya Muslims have a "tendency to get radicalised" and therefore the government is right to take a decision to protect the national security.

"The Indian government must closely liaison with its Myanmarese counterpart on this matter. The Centre should collect state-based data on them and their foreign funding must be probed," he said.

Illegal immigrants cannot claim fundamental rights which are otherwise available even to non-citizens, the Centre had told the Supreme Court early this month in its fresh response to the PIL of two Rohingya refugees challenging their deportation to Myanmar.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had in August issued a notice to the Centre, saying "India has been home to refugees, for centuries" and from the human rights angle, its "intervention is appropriate" in the matter.

However, there are others who strongly support asylum to Rohingyas in India, especially at a time when millions of Rohingyas are fleeing their homeland Myanmar to Bangladesh to avoid violence and persecution at the hands of Myanmarese military.

Noted Supreme Court advocate and founder of Human Rights Law Network, Colin Gonsalves, writing an opinion piece for Hindustan Times, stated that the law is clear that India can't deport Rohingyas.

According to an estimate at least 40,000 Rohingyas are currently staying in various parts of India.

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 6:36 [IST]
From Kanyakumari to Darjeeling- spreading the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita

India

oi-Amitava

By Amitava

Darjeeling, October 12, 2017: Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita have always been a great inspiration for R. Thanga Raja. Armed with the teachings of the Swami, Raja who is differently abled, will be completing 4300 km on a scooter from Kanyakumari to Darjeeling in West Bengal. The journey is to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Sister Nivedita.

Raja will be reaching Darjeeling on October 13, the death anniversary day of Sister Nivedita. He will be arriving as the ambassador of peace in strife torn Darjeeling.

Sister Nivedita, the most prominent disciple of Swami Vivekananda and a social reformer, was born as Margaret Elizabeth Noble on 28 October 1867 in Ireland. She had breathed her last at Roy Villa in Darjeeling on October 13, 1911.

Located on Lebong Cart Road, Roy Villa was owned by Dwarka Nath Roy, the brother-in-law of eminent scientist Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose.

An ailing Sister Nivedita had arrived at Roy Villa in October 1911 to spend the puja vacation. An ailing Nivedita had breathed her last at the Roy Villa on October 13, 1911 at the age of 43. At present the Villa houses the Ramakrishna Mission Nivedita Educational and Cultural Centre (RKMNECC.)

"From a young age I have been inspired by teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita. With the passing of time the Swami's teachings are becoming more and more relevant. Swami's sayings like- Service to mankind is service to God has always motivated me. Spreading such messages I am undertaking this journey. It is also with the prayers of peace for Darjeeling" stated Raja talking to Oneindia over the phone.

37 year old Raja, coming from a humble background, had done his schooling from Vivekananda Kendra, Kannyakumari.

After having completed Diploma in Electronics and Comminication Engineering, he is presently working at the Vivekananda Kendra and Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari.

He had started his journey on September 23. He will be arriving at Roy Villa, Darjeeling, on Friday.

"In the past also I have undertaken such journeys" added Raja. He had completed 1100 km from Kanyakumari to Chennai in 16 days by tricycle on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda in 2013.

The same year Raja again completed 2900 km from Kolkata to Kanyakumari in 54 days by tricycle.

In 2014 he completed 2800km in 16 days by Scooter from Timtala, Maharashtra to Kanyakumari to commemorate 100th birth anniversary of Eknathji Ranade.

Ranade was a social activist and leader. He had compiled a book on Swamiji's teachings and was instrumental in the construction of Vivekananda Centre and Vivekananda Rock Memorial.

"Till the last day of my life I want to spread the teachings of Swamiji. The teachings help youths develop themselves thus contributing to nation building" stated Raja.

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 13:19 [IST]
Hafiz Saeeds political ambitions dashed as ECP rejects application

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

An application by a political party headed by 26/11 mastermind and Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief Hafiz Saeed has been rejected by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Saeed had launched a political front called Milli Muslim League (MML) and filed an application for recognition before the ECP. The decision was taken on basis of a letter that the Pakistan home ministry had sent to ECP last month asking it to avoid registration of MML as a political party for its ties to banned militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the parent organization of JuD.

While hearing MML lawyer's arguments on the matter, chief election commissioner Saradar Muhammad Raza Khan suggested that the party should clear its name with the home ministry before applying for registration.

"Under which law the party should consult the interior ministry when it had fulfilled the set criteria of the ECP for any political party's registration," MML's counsel questioned the Khan-headed five-member panel of ECP.

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 6:18 [IST]
Honeypreet, main handler of cash that triggered violence: Police

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

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Honeypreet Insan headed a crucial meeting ahead of the conviction of Gurmeet Ram Rahim to plot violence at Panchkula, Haryana, the probe by the police has revealed.

An August 17 meeting decided to send scores of people to Panchkula ahead of the verdict by the special CBI court against Ram Rahim in a rape case, the probe has further revealed.

While Honeypreet has denied any wrong doing, the police say that they have ample evidence against her. She was the main handler of the money and have even sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore to trigger the violence, the police say. The testimonies of the other Dera Sacha Sauda members clearly indicates that she was part of the meeting to plan the violence, the police also say.

The police meanwhile continue to look for her laptop and mobile phone which according to them has a mine of information. The police are relying heavily on this evidence ahead of Friday's court hearing when her remand ends.

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 6:32 [IST]
Is Modi only a speaking PM? Mayawati accuses so

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

Lucknow, Oct 12: Those who are thinking that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati is lying low post humiliating defeat at the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections earlier this year, they might be little wrong.

After continuous verbal attacks on the Narendra Modi government by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in the recent past, it is the turn of Mayawati to hit out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre and PM Modi over price rise, rise in unemployment and lack of healthcare facilities for common man on Wednesday.

Along with targetting the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre, Mayawati also hit out the BJP government in her home state, Uttar Pradesh.

Taking a dig at BJP president Amit Shah's recent statement in Amethi, UP, that the party has given a "PM who speaks", Mayawati said "the nation needs a PM who works rather than a merely speaking one".

Accusing the NDA government at the Centre of doing nothing to control price rise, arrest unemployment and improve healthcare facilities, the Dalit leader said the UP government was turning out to be similar to the one at the Centre.

The BSP chief said she was happy that albeit late, the BJP chief had admitted the "bitter truth" that PM Modi was a "speaking PM", as he failed to bring "acche din" to the country as promised during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

She added it was for the first time in the history of free India that there was a PM who gives monologues, does not believe in two-way communication and one who misuses government machinery to further his own personal and party's agenda.

"At a time when every voice is being suppressed, the BJP is patting its back for having given a PM who speaks," she said.

Mayawati, the former Chief Minister of UP, criticised the incumbent CM Yogi Adityanath and said mere reviews of various issues by him was not going to help improve governance and end problems faced by the people.

"The situation in the state is going from bad to worse with every passing day," she said.

Now, we have to wait and watch to see what the BJP is going to say in reply to Mayawati's criticism against the PM and the saffron party.

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 8:37 [IST]
FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K

In J&K, 14,000 dropouts find their way back to schools

One Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir

PMs dream of development in J&K is becoming a reality: Puri

J&K: 1 Jawan, 1 civilian killed in fresh ceasefire violation by Pak

India

oi-PTI

A Jawan and one civilian was killed as Pakistan resorted to ceasefire violation along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the mortar shelling and firing by Pakistan is underway and the Indian Army is retaliating strongly to it.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistani troops fired from small arms at forward areas along the Loc in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

A senior police officer said Pakistani troops opened fire at forward areas in Khadi Karmara along LoC in Poonch sector this morning.

On October 6, Pakistani troops had opened fire in Baba Khori and other areas in Rajouri district.

The year 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

PTI
Another targeted killing: Two non-locals killed in targeted attack in J&K

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J&K: Terrorists loot cash from J&K Bank branch in Anantnag

India

oi-Madhuri

Terrorists on Thursday looted Rs 5,39,000 cash from J&K Bank branch in Marhama Sangam in Anantnag district.

Earlier on July 31, terrorists looted a ban at Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir. The terrorists robbed the bank at gunpoint reports stated.

There have been several successful attempts at robbing banks in the Valley since November 8 when demonetisation was announced, suggesting that the terrorists are facing a cash crunch.

The hawala trade is at standstill even as a series of moves by the Centre have dried up terrorists' financial resources.

OneIndia News
Only those from political families can eye a CMs post in Congress: Amit Shah

Jay Shah row: Congress demands CBI probe

India

oi-PTI

The Congress on Thursday demanded an inquiry by the CBI into a media report alleging that the turnover of a firm of BJP president Amit Shahs son Jay grew manifold after the saffron party came to power in 2014.

The charge has been rejected by the BJP and Jay Shah, who termed the report as "false, derogatory and defamatory".

Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said, "I wonder if the prime minister can explain to us this model of getting Rs 15 crore loan for our businesses. He needs to tell us."

She alleged that agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Income Tax department and Enforcement Directorate were being used to silence the opposition after the BJP-led government assumed office.

"These agencies have become a tool to silence the voices, and, for the CBI to function independently this is an important case," she told a press meet.

Chaturvedi said that the BJP initially had come up with the argument that Jay Shah is an individual businessman and he is carrying out his business and, hence, no one can target him.

"However, we had a Union minister coming in support of Jay Shah and giving him a clean chit," she said.

She alleged that the Narendra Modi government is trying to protect Jay Shah, who is just an individual businessman.

Chaturvedi sought to know if it is not a case of "conflict of interest" that Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is supposed to defend the Union of India, is defending Jay Shah.

"Two days before the report came out, he applied for leave to fight this case," she claimed, and asked, "Isnt this a conflict of interest?"

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 18:16 [IST]
Deprivation point to be brought back for PhD students in JNU

JNU Admissions 2022: PG First merit list to be released today; how to check

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JNU row: HC sets aside disciplinary action against Kanhaiya, 14 others

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, October 12: The Delhi High Court on Thursday set aside the disciplinary action taken by JNU against 15 of its students in connection with a controversial event on February 9 last year in the varsity.

Ex-JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar was one amongst them.

Justice V K Rao remanded the issue back to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to be decided afresh after allowing the students to inspect the records and hearing them.

The court told JNU's appellate authority to pass a reasoned order within six weeks of hearing the students, who also included Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, that the varsity did not give them due opportunity to defend themselves against the charge of indiscipline.

The students in their pleas had also challenged their punishment, which ranges from rustication for a few semesters to withdrawal of hostel facilities.

The appellate authority of the university had rusticated Umar from JNU till December this year, while Bhattacharya was asked to be out of the varsity for five years.

Kanhaiya, Khalid and Bhattacharya were earlier arrested in a sedition case in connection with the February 9 event on the campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

All of them were later granted bail in the case, however, chargesheet has not yet been filed.

PTI
Tell me if view on Savarkar is yours or that of Shiv Sena: Chavan on Rauts comments

Nanded Municipal Corporation Election Results 2017: Congress sends BJP packing

India

oi-Anusha

Congress led by former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan registered a thumping victory in the Nanded-Waghala municipal corporation elections. The Congress has registered a victory in 73 seats leaving the BJP and Shiv Sena far behind.

"This is a tight slap to the BJP politics of splitting other parties and importing leaders from other parties," said Ashok Chavan reacting to his party's victory in the poll. The BJP won six seats while the Shiv Sena managed just one. AIMIM failed to open an account while an independent candidate managed to win a seat.

The high stakes Nanded Municipal Corporation Election was a battle of prestige with the Congress fighting to retain power in its traditional bastion. Given the recent victories that the BJP has been registering in all local body elections, Nanded Municipal corporation election was expected to be a three-way battle pitched between the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Shiv Sena.

Polling for the Nanded Waghala municipal corporation election 2017 was held on Wednesday and the counting of votes took place on Thursday. The voter turnout for the civic body polls stood at 60 per cent. For the first time in a municipal election Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) mechanism was used for Nanded polls on Wednesday

Nanded was a personal battle for Congress leader Ashok Chavan since his father late Shankarrao Chavan nurtured the constituency.

During the last election, the Congress had won 41 seats of the 81 in the corporation. The Shiv Sena stood a distant second with 14 while the BJP won only 2 seats. Sharad Pawar's NCP won 10 seats, AIMIM won 11, one seat was won by an independent candidate and two more by other parties.

OneIndia News
People's movement alone can help achieve New India: PM Modi at Governors' conference

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday addressed the opening session of the Governors' Conference at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

He observed that all Governors can become 'catalytic agents for change in society', while upholding the sanctity of the Constitution.

Mentioning the target of New India by 2022, the Prime Minister emphasised that this can be achieved only by making it a people's movement.

The prime minister encouraged Governors to interact at length with students and teachers in this regard. Giving the example of the recent Hackathon conducted by the Union Government, where students had proposed technology solutions to several problems, he said Universities should be centres of innovation.

In the same vein, he said that youth in every State must focus on one sport. He encouraged Governors to lead by example on the cause of Swachhata or cleanliness.

He said Mahatma Gandhi, whose 150th birth anniversary will be celebrated in 2019, is a source of inspiration, as we work towards an Open Defecation Free India.

The Prime Minister said that festivals and anniversaries can be great motivators and energisers in the quest for change.

Engage MLAs in pushing development agenda: President Kovind

President Ram Nath Kovind who presided over the conference said that "Governors can provide a new dimension to development of their states by communicating with legislators and inviting them to Raj Bhawan to deliberate on subjects related to public well-being."

"The obligation of Governors to preserve and uphold the Constitution and commit themselves to the service and welfare of the people is even more pronounced in the current paradigm of co-operative federalism, " the President said.

President Kovind said that given the magnitude of this task, it is necessary that the entire country works unitedly and is on the same page. "Governors should inspire and connect with all relevant stakeholders in their respective States."

The conference is being attended by 27 governors and three Lieutenant Governors. The administrators of the UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu as well as of Lakshadweep are also participating as special invitees.

OneIndia News
Perverse, says Smriti Irani on Rahuls women in shorts comment

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Reacting to Rahul Gandhi's women in shorts comment, the BJP has said that the Congress vice president has a perverse mind. Rahul Gandhi had recently claimed that he had not seen a single women in an RSS shakha wearing shorts.

Interacting with students in Vadodara as part of his second leg of Navsarjan Yatra on Tuesday, Rahul had said: "Have you seen a single woman in an RSS shakha wearing shorts? I have never seen any. Why aren't women allowed in the RSS?"

Slamming Rahul for the comment, Irani, leading the Gaurav Yatra at Dediapada in Narmada district on Wednesday, said, "The women of Gujarat and the nation will not forgive the Congress leader with perverse mentality for insulting women." "Will Gujarat, and its women, be safe in the hands of Rahul Gandhi," Smriti Irani, the Union Textiles and I&B minister asked. "His mentality is such. The RSS works for the development of nation by keeping everyone together. Is this our culture... Should we support a person who insults women?"

In Rajkot, CM Rupani's wife Anjali joined a protest held by BJP's Mahila Morcha against Rahul's comment and raised slogans. She said: "Rahul probably didn't know that women are active in the RSS since 1936 - well before India won freedom, and well before the Congress vice-president was born." She said Rahul had shown his ignorance on Indian women with his remarks Gujarat BJP Mahila Morcha president Jyoti Pandya also condemned the remarks.

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 6:23 [IST]
Punjab farmers

Stubble burning is the deliberate setting fire of the straw stubble that remains after wheat and other grains have been harvested. The practice was widespread until the 1990s, when governments increasingly restricted its use. Courtesy: ANI news

Smoke billowing out of the field

In an order issued, in late September, the Punjab government has told revenue officials to note violations in red ink in the land record of defying farmers. Restrictions have been imposed on many others. Courtesy: ANI news

Ban on stubble burning causes labour crisis

The farmers are also alleging that the government's decision to ban burning of paddy stubble has resulted in a labour crisis as many farmers are avoiding harvesting with combine harvesters, which spreads paddy straw in fields, following which the manual harvesting cost has increased to Rs 7,000 per acre from Rs 5,500.

Haryana farmers protest against the ban

Challenging ban on stubble burning, farmers in Haryana's Sirsa gathered outside mini-secretariat in protest with a memorandum. Haryana Farmers have demanded Rs 300 per quintal for not burning paddy stubble. Courtesy: ANI news
'Kantara' box office: Even as Bollywood's Akshays and Ajays struggle, this one hits Rs 75-crore mark

Sasikala Natarajan's parole ends, to return to Bengaluru central jail today

India

oi-Madhuri

Deposed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala leaves for Bengaluru's Central prison as her five-day parole ended on Wednesday. She will return to Parappana Agrahara central jail in Bengaluru today.

Sasikala visited her husband M Natarajan, who underwent liver and kidney transplantation at a hospital in Chennai, on all five days of her parole period.

During her five-day parole period, she stayed at the residence of Krishna Priya, daughter of her sister-in-law Ilavarasi.

According to Gleneagles Global Health City, Natarajan, is recovering well following liver and kidney transplantation, adding he is now in the Liver Intensive Care Unit and requires close observation.

Sasikala, who was removed from the party in September by Chief Minister K Palaniswami-led camp, had arrived in Chennai on the night of 6 October to an enthusiastic albeit subdued welcome.

Granted emergency parole from 7-11 October, she was asked to adhere to several conditions, including a gag order on interacting with the media.

Sasikala has been lodged in the Parapana Agrahara central jail since February this year after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction by a special court in a disproportionate assets case.

OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 9:29 [IST]
The persecution of Hindus in Pakistan continues with a Hindu girl forcibly converted and married

Hindus in Britain are very well behaved, smart and rich

SC bans firecrackers during Diwali: Hindus are being targeted, says Ramdev

India

oi-Madhuri

Patanjali founder Ramdev has voiced his opposition to the Supreme Court's order on ban on the sale of firecrackers and said selectively only Hindu festivals are being targeted. He said that the way Hindu festivals are under radar is wrong.

Talking to a television channel, Ramdev said that the government must appeal against the apex court's order. He said that it has become a common habit to approach the court over each issue and this practice must be stopped.

The yoga guru also attacked Shashi Tharoor on the issue and said that 'an intelligent man like Tharoor must not talk like this.'

Earlier, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said,''Sacrificing goats, cows, animals... it also harms everybody, contributes to the pollution level. A wise person like Shashi Tharoor shouldn't talk like this. It takes 100 kgs and huge amount of water of grain to make 1 kg of meat.''

The Supreme Court has brought back its November 2016 order suspending all licences permitting the sale of fireworks, wholesale and retail, within the Delhi-NCR.

OneIndia News
"We are of no use to society": Elderly couple write to President seeking euthanasia

Right to die in dignity: What the laws in India say about euthanasia

Death tourism: Why Noida man wants to go to Switzerland for euthanasia?

SC might recognise execution of 'living will' in cases of passive euthanasia

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, October 12: The Supreme Court of India hinted it might recognise the execution of 'living will' in cases of passive euthanasia, as a right to die peacefully is part of fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The apex court, however, said there should be adequate safeguards and implementation of living will be subject to medical board's certifying that the patient's comatose state is irreversible.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra reserved its verdict on a plea seeking recognition of 'living will' made by a terminally-ill patient for passive euthanasia.

Living will is a written document that allows a patient to give explicit instructions in advance about the medical treatment to be administered when he or she is terminally ill or no longer able to express informed consent.

Passive euthanasia is a condition where there is withdrawal of medical treatment with the deliberate intention to hasten the death of a terminally-ill patient.

The apex court had recognised passive euthanasia in 2011 in Aruna Shanbaug's case by which it had permitted withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from patients not in a position to make an informed decision.

The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, said that Right to Life does not mean right to die but a dignified life would certainly include right to die with dignity, as advance directive would take effect once a medical board affirms that the patient comatose state is irreversible.

"One cannot say that you have a right to die, but you have a right to dignified death. If we recognise the right to dignity in death, then why not dignity in dying," the bench observed, adding that life must be preserved but not prolonged in suffering.

It said that living will may be there as right to die peacefully is part of a fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, provided there are adequate safeguards.

It also said if a medical board certifies that the health of the patient is irreversible and cannot be kept alive without artificial support, then the living will's role may come in.

Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha, appearing for Centre, opposed recognition of 'living will' and said the consent for removal of artificial support system given by a patient may not be an informed one and without being aware of medical advancements.

He cited examples of various countries in disallowing creation of living will by patients.

Narasimha said a draft bill, based on the guidelines framed by the apex court in Aruna Shaunbag's case, is under the government's consideration.

He said the decision whether to remove life support or not, can only be taken by a medical board after examining the condition of a patient.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO 'Common Cause', said safeguards are needed while taking a decision by medical boards to withdraw life support of a patient.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for an intervenor NGO 'Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy', said that the apex court has recognised the distinction between the active termination of life and the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment with the latter firmly recognised as an expression of autonomy, bodily integrity and right to life.

He urged the court to declare that advance directives are an extension of the right to refuse medical treatment and the right to die with dignity and recognition of the legal validity is necessary to give effect to the rights of incompetent patients under Article 21 of Constitution.

Article 21 provides that "no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law."

The bench then observed that it is to be decided whether mercy killing can be declared as a right under article 21 of the Constitution or not and said that the advanced directive was a subject to the medical boards interpretation.

The bench expressed its inclination for constituting medical boards across the country in each district and said it should be obligatory.

Yesterday, the government had opposed granting legal validity to "living will" in cases of passive euthanasia, by telling the apex court that it could be misused and may not be viable as a good public policy.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed in 2005 by the NGO, which said when a medical expert opines that a person afflicted with a terminal disease has reached a point of no return, he should be given the right to refuse life support.

On January, 15, 2016, the Centre had said the 241st report of the Law Commission stated that passive euthanasia should be allowed with certain safeguards and there was also a proposed law --Medical Treatment of Terminally Ill Patient (Protection of Patients and Medical Practitioners) Bill, 2006.

The Centre had said that on specific occasions, the question of withdrawing supporting devices to sustain cardio-pulmonary function even after brain death shall be decided only by a doctors' team and not by the treating physician alone.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 10:33 [IST]
SC pulls up government for legitimising rape

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

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Supreme Court directs having $ex with a Minor wife amounts to rape | Oneindia News

Successive governments have blinked at the incongruity of Section 375 (2) of the Indian Penal Code which absolved a husband of rape charges even if he had sex with his wife who was below the age of 18. The court had on Wednesday held that sex with a minor wife would amount to rape.

Referring to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said POCSO Act provides that if a person related to a child below 18 years of age commits a penetrative sexual assault on that child, then he would be liable for aggravated penetrative sexual assault.

Sex with wife below 18 amounts to rape: Supreme Court

"Therefore, if the husband of a girl child commits penetrative sexual assault on his wife, he actually commits aggravated penetrative sexual assault as defined under Section 5(n) of POCSO Act and is punishable by a term of rigorous imprisonment of not less than 10 years and which may extend to imprisonment of life."

"The duality therefore is that having sexual intercourse with a girl child between 15 and 18 years of age, the husband of the girl child is said to have not committed rape as defined in Section 375 of the IPC but is said to have committed aggravated penetrative sexual assault in terms of Section 5(n) of the POCSO Act."

"The only difference is that the definition of rape is somewhat more elaborate and has two exceptions but the sum and substance of the two definitions is more or less the same and the punishment for being found guilty of committing the offence of rape is also same under IPC and POCSO Act. POCSO Act was legislatively intended to override all other laws."

Articles 1 and 34 of Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges Indian government to undertake all measures to prevent sexual exploitation or sexual abuse of any person below the age of 18 years since such sexual exploitation or sexual abuse is a heinous crime.

"What has the government of India done? It has persuaded Parliament to convert what is otherwise universally accepted as a heinous crime into a legitimate activity for the purpose of Section 375 of the IPC if the exploiter or abuser is the husband of the girl child."

OneIndia News
Separatist leader Asiya Andrabi makes it to J&K achievers' list, Mehbooba orders probe

India

oi-Anusha

Jailed separatist leader Asiya Andrabi has been included in the list of women achievers by the Jammu and Kashmir government's social welfare department. Andrabi's photo features alongside Mother Theresa, Indira Gandhi, Kiran Bedi and Mehbooba Mufti herself on a government poster promoting the "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao", campaign.

The government poster has an image of a burka-clad Asiya Andrabi. She has been credited for her "achievement" as the founding leader of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, an all-woman outfit.

The gaffe did not go unnoticed with the Congress tearing into the BJP-PDP government in Kashmir. AICC spokesperson Randeep S Surjewala took to Twitter to slam Mufti government for treating a separatist as their "mascot".

BJP-PDP Govts latest mascot is Asiya Andrabi who shares stage with Mumbai Terror Attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed!Desh Bachao or Beti Bachao1/ pic.twitter.com/MG7rYzxo2R  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) October 12, 2017

The poster by the social welfare department features 12 women achievers including Kalpana Chawla, Lata Mangeshkar, and Sania Mirza. The same was displayed at an event meant to highlight Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign. The poster was put up on Wednesday in Kashmir's Kokernag town at an event being headed by BJP MLA Sajjad Gani Lone.

Snapshots of the poster went viral and came as a massive embarrassment to the government. Mehbooba Mufti ordered a probe to find how Andrabi's picture made it to the poster. Following the criticism that Mufti government received, child development project officer Shameema Akhter was suspended.

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 15:16 [IST]
Why the arrest, capture or killing of Madvi Hidma would weaken the naxal movement further

NIA charges lady naxal in connection with murder of Araku MLA

Fighting a naxal plague which caused destruction at many levels: NIA

Six PLFI militants arrested in Naxal-affected area in Jharkhand

India

oi-PTI

Khunti (Jharkhand), October 12: Six People's Front of India Limited (PLFI) militants were arrested by police from two different places in the Naxal-affected Khunti district.

Acting on a tip-off that some active PLFI ultras have assembled at Balo under the jurisdiction of Murhu police station, Superintendent of Police Ashwini Kumar Sinha constituted a police team to conduct a raid, the officer said.

The police team reached the spot and arrested three ultras, Superintendent of Police Ashwini Kumar Sinha said.

The ultras were identified as Devendra Gope, Mangra Barjo and Linus Kundalana, he said.

They told police that they had assembled at Balo to hand over the organisation s letterhead and a mobile phone to Bagrai Champia, the area commander.

The letterhead, a mobile phone and a motorcycle without a registration number were also seized, Sinha said.

In another incident, three other PLFI militants were arrested from Sawda village under the jurisdiction of Karra police station of the district.

The ultras were identified as Kisto Kashyap, Anand Munda and Anup Verma, the SP said.

A motorcycle, two mobile phones and six PLFI leaflets were recovered from them, police said.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 8:41 [IST]
Allahabad HC to hear today plea to cancel Union minister Ajay Mishra's bail in 2000 murder case

HC says Arya Samaj certificate not enough to prove marriage

Muslim man can't remarry if he's unable to take care of family: Allahabad HC

SC sets aside Allahabad HC order granting bail to two accused in Owaisi car attack case

Aarushi murder case verdict: We have got justice, says Nupur Talwar

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

The Talwar couples heaved a sigh of relief after the Allahabad High Court absolved them in the murder case of their daughter Aarushi.

"We have got justice," that was Nupur Talwar's first reaction to the court's verdict.

Accused Nupur and Rajesh Talwar were nervous ahead of the judgment.

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Aarushi murder case : Allahabad HC gives relief to Rajesh

Rajesh Talwar broke down after the verdict and hugged jail officials. His wife, Nupur Talwar, was praying when the verdict was announced.

BG Chitnis, Nupur Talwar's father told a TV channel that "We've always known Talwars were not guilty... Thankful for the positive verdict. Don't want to hold anyone responsible at present."

"Have seen them suffering. It has been really testing. I am emotionally drained," he said.

Vandana Talwar, Rajesh Talwar's sister-in-law, said, "Deeply relieved. Had suffered for 10 years. Grateful to High Court for acquitting them."

Grateful to judiciary. Have seen them suffering. It has been really testing. I am emotionally drained: BG Chitnis, Nupur Talwar's father pic.twitter.com/ogwbJk3HJo  ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2017

"Rajesh and Nupur Talwar are happy, and said they have got justice," DR Maurya, jailor, Dasna Jail, reported ANI.

Maurya said the Talwar couple's release is likely on Friday after they receive the court judgment through official channels.

Rajesh & Nupur Talwar are happy, and said that they have got justice: DR Maurya, Jailor, Dasna Jail #AarushiVerdict pic.twitter.com/xZ9mOS3W2t  ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2017

Nupur and Rajesh Talwar have been serving their sentence in Ghaziabad's Dasna jail.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house two days later.

After the Uttar Pradesh Polices' botched-up investigation the then chief minister Mayawati handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

OneIndia News
Aung San Suu Kyi calls for unity, says Myanmar holding talks with Bangladesh

International

pti-PTI

Yangon, Oct 12: Myanmar's embattled leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, called for national unity on Thursday and said she has created a committee that will coordinate all international and local assistance in violence-struck Rakhine state.

More than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from the state to neighbouring Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when security forces responded to attacks by a militant Rohingya group with a broad crackdown on the long-persecuted Muslim minority. Many houses were burned down.

The U.N. has called the violence "textbook ethnic cleansing." Suu Kyi acknowledged in a speech on state-run television that the country is facing widespread criticism over the refugee crisis, and called for unity in tackling the problem. She said her government is holding talks with Bangladesh on the return of "those who are now in Bangladesh."

She gave no details, but officials have suggested they would need to provide residency documents, which few have. Myanmar's Buddhist majority denies that Rohingya Muslims are a separate ethnic group and regards them as having migrated illegally from Bangladesh, although many families have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Suu Kyi did not use the word "Rohingya" in her speech, but referred to several other ethnic minorities by name. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former political prisoner, has been widely criticized outside Myanmar for not speaking out on behalf of the Rohingya. She said in her speech that those who return from Bangladesh would need to be resettled, without providing details, and that development must be brought to Rakhine, one of the country's poorest areas, to achieve a durable peace.

She said she would head the new committee, the "Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine," and that it would coordinate all efforts to create a "peaceful and developed Rakhine state."

The government has tightly restricted access to Rakhine for international aid groups and journalists. Suu Kyi said her government has invited U.N. agencies, financial institutions such as the World Bank, and others to help develop Rakhine. Myanmar officials deny there has been ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar's ambassador to Japan, Thurain Thant Zin, told reporters in Tokyo today that his government was providing humanitarian aid to all affected by the violence and denied reports of human rights abuses by the military. "To say the Myanmar military conducted those illegal acts is untrue and cannot be true," he said. "The Myanmar government protests the use of such terms as ethnic cleansing and genocide."

PTI
North Korea: Missile tests were practice to attack South, US

North Korea denies US claims of supplying arms to Russia

Nuclear weapon is 'sword of justice', says North Korean Foreign Minister

International

pti-PTI

Moscow, October 12: North Korea's foreign minister has described his nation's nuclear weapons as a "sword of justice," reported Russian state news agency Tass.

Tass quoted North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho today accusing US President Donald Trump of "setting a fuse of war" with his September speech at the United Nations.

Trump threatened in the UN speech to "totally destroy" North Korea if forced to defend the US or its allies. Ri told Tass that the North's nuclear weapons represent a deterrent to protect the country from the US.

He said the North's strategic forces have "inexhaustible power that won't leave aggressor state America unpunished."

Ri further said that North Korea's "army and people are persistently demanding to settle the final score with the Americans with a fiery hail, not words."

PTI
With the number of anonymous rogues from Pak rising, here's how BSF is beating down the drones

Takes two to tango says Pak army chief on peace with India

International

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

It takes two to tango, the Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on peaceful ties with India. Speaking at a seminar on 'Interplay of Economy and Security', General Bajwa also said that Pakistan needed a comprehensive effort to pursue the National Action Plan and remove vulnerabilities well before they turn into threats.

"Our external front which continues to remain in a flux. With a belligerent India on our East and an unstable Afghanistan on our West, the region remains captive due to historical baggage and negative competition," Bajwa said.

"But on our part, we are making a deliberate and concerted effort to pacify the western border through a multitude of diplomatic, military and economic initiative, not to mention the phenomenal boost to human security that we have provided in FATA and surrounding areas.

"We have also expressed and demonstrated our genuine desire to have normal and and peaceful relations with India, however, it takes two to tango," Bajwa said.

Bajwa also expressed concerns over the country's "sky high" debts, saying the abysmally low tax to GDP ratio must change if the country has to "break the begging bowl".

"Growth has picked up but the debts are sky high. Infrastructure and energy have improved considerably but the current account balance is not in our favour," he said.

According to figures released by the finance ministry, Pakistan's foreign debt and liabilities are around $58 billion. "In order to secure our future, we have to increase our tax base, bring in fiscal discipline and ensure continuity of economic policies," he said, adding that economy remained one of the highest concerns during National Security Council meetings.

Bajwa also said when enemies of Pakistan wanted to damage it, they targeted financial hub Karachi and tried to destabilise it.

He said the authorities had put peace a top priority in Karachi and want the city to return to its old economic growth.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 6:28 [IST]
UN's efforts at Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar

Anticipating a possible outbreak in the Rohingya refugee camps, UN and partners launched the second biggest mass oral cholera vaccination camps in Bangladesh. The drive began on Tuesday with the first of 9,00,000 doses being delivered to newly arrived and host communities in Cox's Bazar.

Second largest after Haiti in 2016

The drive is aimed at protecting 6,50,000 people from the deadly diarrheal disease. The massive camp is second only to the one organized in Haiti in 2016. 12 makeshift settlements and camps that has been housing more than half a million people who have been arriving since August was UN's first stop.

Yellow flag means 'life'

The spots where the UN and partners teams are administering the vaccine has been marked by a yellow flag. Mobile teams have been administering the vaccination while others have been promoting the vaccine's importance amid ongoing challenges with access to water, sanitation, and hygiene. To help improve hygiene, a bar of soap is handed out after each vaccination.

World organizations come together for Rohingyas

The massive drive is led by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh. Multiple parties including WHO, UNICEF, IOM and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance have partnered to make the campaign a success. The first round is expected to cover 6,50,000 people of all ages.

Round two from October 31

The second round of the drive will commence on October 31. The partners aim to reach out to at least 2,50,000 children between the age of one and five years. This time around, the vaccination will come with an additional dose.
US visa processing time expected to fall by mid-2023, says official

US withdraws from UNESCO, accuses organization of 'anti- Israel bias'

International

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

The United States on Thursday intimated its decision to withdraw from UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural agency. In a press statement, US government spokesperson Heather Nauert stated that US' withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018, until then, it will continue to be a full-time member of the UNESCO.

"On October 12, 2017, the Department of State notified UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova of the US decision to withdraw from the organization and to seek to establish a permanent observer mission to UNESCO," the statement read.

The statement minced no words and claimed that the decision had been arrived at over UNESCO's "continuing anti-Isreal bias".

"The decision was not taken lightly and reflects the US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," the statement added.

The statement added that US desired to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer in order to contribute to views, perspective, and expertise on some important issues undertaken by the organization including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms and promoting scientific collaboration and education," the statement said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Thursday, October 12, 2017, 19:32 [IST]
From Palestine Chronicle



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Some promises are made and kept; others disavowed. But the "promise" made by Arthur James Balfour in what became known as the "Balfour Declaration" to the leaders of the Zionist Jewish community in Britain 100 years ago, was only honored in part: it established a state for the Jews and attempted to destroy the Palestinian nation.

In fact, Balfour, the foreign Secretary of Britain at the time his declaration of 84 words was pronounced on November 2, 1917, was, like many of his peers, anti-Semitic. He cared little about the fate of Jewish communities. His commitment to establishing a Jewish state in a land that was already populated by a thriving and historically-rooted nation was only meant to enlist the support of wealthy Zionist leaders in Britain's massive military buildup during World War I.

Whether Balfour knew it or not, the extent to which his short statement to the leader of the Jewish community in Britain, Walter Rothschild, would uproot a whole nation from their ancestral homes and continue to devastate several generations of Palestinians decades later, is moot. In fact, judging by the strong support his descendants continue to exhibit towards Israel, one would guess that he, too, would have been "proud" of Israel, oblivious to the tragic fate of the Palestinians.

This is what he penned down a century ago:

"His Majesty's government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation."

Speaking recently at New York University, Palestinian professor Rashid Khalidi described the British commitment, then, as an event that "marked the beginning of a century-long colonial war in Palestine, supported by an array of outside powers which continues to this day."

But oftentimes, generalized, academic language and refined political analysis, even if accurate, masks the true extent of tragedies as expressed in the lives of ordinary people.

As Balfour finished writing down his infamous words, he must have been consumed with how effective his political tactic would be in enlisting Zionists to join Britain's military adventures, in exchange for a piece of land that was still under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

Yet, he clearly had no genuine regard for the millions of Palestinian Arabs -- Muslims and Christians alike -- who were to suffer the cruelty of war, ethnic cleansing, racism and humiliation over the course of a century.

The Balfour Declaration was equivalent to a decree calling for the annihilation of the Palestinian people. Not one Palestinian, anywhere, remained completely immune from the harm invited by Balfour and his government.

Tamam Nassar, now 75 years old, was one of millions of Palestinians whose life Balfour scarred forever. She was uprooted from her village of Joulis in southern Palestine, in 1948. She was only five.

Tamam, now lives with her children and grandchildren in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Gaza. Ailing under the weight of harsh years, and weary by a never-ending episode of war, siege and poverty, she holds on to a few hazy memories of a past that can never be redeemed.

Little does she know that a man by the name of Arthur James Balfour had sealed the fate of the Nassar family for many generations, condemning them to a life of perpetual desolation.

I spoke to Tamam, also known as Umm Marwan (mother of Marwan), as part of an attempt to document the Palestinian past through the personal memories of ordinary people.

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Even if the U.S. Constitution were obeyed 100%, it would not prevent some people from becoming enormously rich compared to most others. It would not stop our society from being one in which money is power. It would not prevent a very wealthy upper class from having far more power--over both the private sector and the government--than ordinary people have, despite the fact that ordinary people have "one man one vote" and the rights in the Bill of Rights. It would not, therefore, prevent class inequality. And class inequality is the root of our worst problems.

As is acknowledged by academics who study the question rigorously and even by the business press, the United States presently is an oligarchy (or plutocracy--same idea), not a republic or a democracy. In other words a small number of very rich people make the important government decisions and ordinary people have virtually no say in the matter either directly or even indirectly by means of representatives that truly represent them (as some people say would be the case in a republic).

This is the conclusion of a widely cited academic paper reporting on a study with an enormous data base, online here and also here(Business Insider: "Major Study Finds the US is an Oligarchy") and here (TPM: "Princeton Study: US No Longer an Actual Democracy") and here (BBC: "Study: US Is an Oligarchy, Not a Democracy"). Additional proof is provided here.

Some people say that yes, this is the case today, and it is the source of many of our worst problems, including Orwellian wars of social control based on lies (wars that also enrich the plutocracy) and much suffering by the many for the benefit of the few. In order to make things right, they say, we need to make things be the way the U.S. Constitution, which is unfortunately being ignored, says things should be: a "representative democracy" otherwise known as a republic.

The problem with this "solution" is that it doesn't eliminate the root of the problem, which is class inequality. Class inequality in our present United States takes the form of some people being very rich compared to most people, and our society being one in which money is power. Billionaires thus have the power to shape society by their values (inequality and using divide-and-rule to keep things unequal); regular people do not have the power to shape things by their contrary values. The power of money makes one-man-one-vote a meaningless right. Big Money dominates the decisions the government makes. Elected representatives are influenced by Big Money, not their constituents. This is a fact that is plain to see.

Why is it that the poorest people do the hardest work and enjoy the benefits of socially produced wealth the least, while the richest do the easiest work in great luxury or do no work at all, and enjoy the lion's share of these benefits? It's not because poor people don't have "one man one vote"; it's not because poor people are not "represented" by congressmen and senators the way that the Constitution spells out (for what it's worth, which obviously is not very much!); it's not because poor people lack the rights of free speech and freedom to assemble, etc., in the Bill of Rights. It's because these rights count for diddly-squat in any contest between people with billions of dollars versus people whose net worth (assets minus debts) is close to zero--less than zero for one in five families!

Why is it that when the rich want to wage a war, they do it regardless of the majority of the population opposing it? This was the case with the Vietnam War, which went on until the refusal of GIs to fight it forced Nixon to withdraw in 1975, seven bloody years after a majority of Americans came to oppose that war. The billionaires can do this because when they want to do something, their Big Money gives them the power to do it regardless of the fact that the vast majority who disagree have all of the useless rights in the Constitution.

There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution or the Bill of Rights or the (legally ignorable) Declaration of Independence that prohibits some people from being extremely rich and, thus, having far more actual power (over government decisions as well as private-sector decisions) than other people despite the fact that everybody gets only one vote.

In fact, the Constitution protects the right of the very rich to remain very rich. Here is how it does it, as reported by PBS:

"The Fifth Amendment protects the right to private property in two ways. First, it states that a person may not be deprived of property by the government without 'due process of law,' or fair procedures. In addition, it sets limits on the traditional practice of eminent domain, such as when the government takes private property to build a public road. Under the Fifth Amendment, such takings must be for a 'public use' and require 'just compensation' at market value for the property seized. But in Kelo v. City of New London (2005), the Supreme Court interpreted public use broadly to include a 'public purpose' of economic development that might directly benefit private parties. In response, many state legislatures passed laws limiting the scope of eminent domain for public use."

The reason that the rich can ignore the Constitution when they feel like it is because they are powerful, and nothing in the Constitution prevented them from becoming powerful or prevents them from being MUCH more powerful than regular people. Honoring the Constitution to the letter would be, at most, a nuisance and an inconvenience for the rich. It would not prevent billionaires from running the show; it would simply mean they would have to be more careful and creative about how they used the power of money to get what they wanted. (A wonderfully insightful cartoon shows some corporate managers sitting around a table and one of them says to the other, "These new regulations will fundamentally change the way we get around them.")

The U.S. Constitution HELPS the Rich Dominate the Rest of US

Indeed the U.S. Constitution, far from being an impediment to the power of the rich, makes the U.S. government one that is extremely useful for the rich to dominate the entire American population. How so? It does this by making the government one that is based on the authoritarian principle. The authoritarian principle says that one must obey the highest body of government no matter what. In our republic (which is what the United States Constitution makes the United States) when the members of Congress write a law and the President signs it, everybody in the United States must obey it. Ditto when the members of a state legislature write and the Governor signs a law, everybody in the state must obey it, no matter what.

The authoritarian principle (if the population accepts it as legitimate, which is unfortunately often the case) is a veritable "welcome mat" for rich people to dominate the entire population merely by using the power of their money to control a relatively small number of individuals who constitute the highest body of the government. (The authoritarian principle was also a "welcome mat" for the Bolshevik Party leaders to dominate the entire population of the Soviet Union by controlling--by hook or by crook--the relatively few people at the top of the Soviet government.) Oppressive ruling elites LOVE the authoritarian principle, and the U.S. Constitution is pure authoritarian principle!

Why do people accept the authoritarian principle? (They sometimes don't, as you can read about here.) In the United States a big part of the reason why people accept the authoritarian principle is that people have a misunderstanding about democracy (including representative government, a.k.a. republics). The misunderstanding is the false belief that there can exist today in the United States a democracy (or a republic, if you will, and now I'll just use the word "democracy" if you don't mind, OK?) of ALL the people. By a democracy of all the people I mean a system of government in which all conflicts and disagreements among the entire population of citizens are resolved peaceably by mutual agreements and compromises according to some agreed-upon method of decision-making (such as the principle of a majority vote of elected representatives) without the use of violence or even the credible threat of violence by either side when there is a conflict.

The fact is that there CANNOT exist today in the United States such a democracy of ALL the people, for the reason discussed in the following paragraphs. What purports to be a democracy of ALL the people is in fact a fake democracy that is really an oligarchy. The authoritarian principle derives its legitimacy from the idea that we really have a democracy of ALL the people, in which the laws written by the government reflect peacefully made mutual agreements and compromises among ALL Americans, and should therefore be obeyed.

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From The Nation



Bernie Sanders supporters

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What scares the members of Congress who for decades have collected hefty donations from the insurance and health-care industries and then used their positions of public trust to sustain and protect profiteering by those industries?

The threat of a single-payer "Medicare for All" health-care system.

By replacing the bureaucratic profiteers with an efficient system that would guarantee care for every American -- and fair compensation for doctors and nurses -- single payer would not merely make health care more accessible and more affordable. It would also make politics more honest and responsive to the will of the people.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has, through the campaign committees and political action committees that he guides, collected millions of dollars from Wall Street interests, insurance interests, pharmaceutical interests, private hospital and nursing home interests, and "health products" interests over the course of a political career that has seen him go to the mat, again and again, in defense of Wall Street interests, insurance interests, pharmaceutical interests, private hospital and nursing home interests, and "health products" interests.

So is it any surprise that Ryan keeps trying to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act with measures that benefit his crony-capitalist campaign funders?

Single payer is a bad idea for senators whose political survival is based on banking checks from health-care profiteers. But it is a very good idea for America.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has, through the campaign committees and political-action committees that he guides, collected millions of dollars from Wall Street interests, insurance interests, pharmaceutical interests, private hospital and nursing home interests and "health products" interests over the course of a political career that has seen him go to the mat, again and again, in defense of Wall Street interests, insurance interests, pharmaceutical interests, private hospital and nursing home interests and "health products" interests.

So is it any surprise that McConnell keeps trying to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act with measures that benefit his crony-capitalist campaign funders?

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From Paul Craig Roberts Website



At 0:09 the people start to make their way to the exit on a cue that sounds like an indian battle cry. Even the cameraman is baffled and says WTF is going on?

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Dear Dr. Roberts:

This note is in response to your invitation for medical professionals to comment on the LV shootings with respect to the authenticity of the publicly available videos and whether they prove or disprove that actual victims were injured or killed. I am a retired surgeon with experience in managing patients with massive blood loss in an operating room setting and in other in-hospital cases of marked hemodynamic instability from hemorrhage.

The retired surgeon from Florida made many excellent points already and I will try not to repeat them. Here are some additional problems with the scene as presented in the publicly available videos:

1.) We do not see CPR being conducted on anyone that I am aware of. This would be extremely unusual for a massive shooting. Surely someone would have captured it on their cell phone. Even if it took a while for the EMT's to arrive, it would be reasonable for non-medical personnel in the audience who have taken a basic CPR course to have started it.

2.) Given the alleged number of victims, we should have seen some evidence of arterial bleeding, no doubt at least several instances of massive hemorrhage (arterial bleeding is often associated with blood being ejected from the site of injury, a so-called arterial "pumper"). What is the probability that no one captured an example of it?

3.) If some of the rounds were from a fully automatic high caliber rifle or machine-gun like weapon(s), some of the victims should have had obvious massive and visible trauma to the head, neck and extremities. So far, I have seen no evidence of it.

4.) There is a complete absence of the kind of urgency one would expect from the professionals who allegedly responded on display in the videos available. Where are the EMT's with their stretchers rushing to the victims? We see pictures of people in the audience crouching down, laying down, crawling, walking and running away but no evidence that any of them have sustained a gun shot wound(s).

5.) If hundreds of people were actually injured (not counting those who allegedly died at the scene) and taken to local emergency rooms, someone should have captured evidence on their cell phones of severely injured victims being wheeled into ER trauma rooms and being taken to surgery. I have not seen any videos from emergency rooms in which victims with actual wounds are displayed. Surely some of the local media would have arrived at the local hospital ER's to take pictures and to interview the uninjured persons accompanying their friends/relatives. No interviews have appeared in which surgeons who attended the victims have been carefully questioned for the extent of injuries sustained. Similarly, no pathologists have been interviewed about their necropsy findings.

6.) Where are the death certificates of those who died at the scene? Where are the autopsy reports which would have been mandatory? I have seen pictures of alleged deceased persons but not actual proof of death(s). Moreover, why have there been no news conferences from the hospital(s) reporting on the progress or subsequent deaths of injured patients? Surely, someone with critical injuries must have died by now if the event was not staged. The only videos I have seen depict alleged shooting victims who do not appear to have sustained a GSW.

7.) If hundreds of injuries/deaths occurred, the video evidence should have been overwhelmingly in support of it given that almost everyone has a smart phone with camera capability. Yet, we have clearly been shown videos which do not support it. That is very strange and suggests that better video evidence is lacking, as would be expected if much or all of the scene was staged.

8.) It has been reported that a mass casualty drill was taking place in LV either at or prior to the alleged mass casualty event. Many false flag events have been preceded by a drill that "went live." It has also been reported that citizen researchers who have called the closest local hospitals have been told that they had no record of gunshot victims. These claims need to be substantiated.

9.) The fact that advertisements/requests were placed asking for "Crisis Actors" in the LV area strongly suggests that the event was either partially or totally staged.

These represent only a few of the problems that come to mind at this point.

This reader writes that there was an active shooter drill underway in Las Vegas:

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From Dispatches From The Edge

Ballingarry, Republic of Ireland

This tiny village in the heart of County Limerick, with its narrow streets and multiple churches, seems untouched by time and untroubled by the economic and political cross currents tearing away at the European Union (EU). But Ireland can be a deceptive place, and these days nowhere is immune from what happens in Barcelona, Paris and Berlin.

Ballingarry -- the place my grandfather emigrated from 126 years ago -- was a textile center before the 1845 potato famine starved to death or scattered its residents. Today it houses five pubs, "One for every 100 people" notes my third cousin Caroline, who, along with her husband John, live next to an old Protestant church that has been taken over by a high tech company.

When the American and European economies crashed in 2008, Ireland was especially victimized. Strong-armed into a "bailout" to save its banks and speculators, the Republic is only beginning to emerge from almost a decade of tax hikes, layoffs, and austerity policies that impoverished a significant section of its population. The crisis also re-ignited the island's major export: people, particularly its young. Between 2008 and 2016, an average of 30,000 people, age 15 to 24, left each year.

The Irish economy is growing again, but the country is still burdened by a massive debt, whose repayment drains capital from much needed investments in housing, education and infrastructure. But "debt" can be a deceptive word. It is not the result of a spending spree, but the fallout from a huge real estate bubble pumped up by German, Dutch and French banks in cahoots with local speculators and politicians, who turned the Irish economy into an enormous casino. From 1999 to 2007, Irish real estate prices jumped 500 percent.

People here have reason to be wary of official government press releases and Bank of Ireland predictions. The center-right government of former Prime Minister Enda Kenny crowed that the economy had grown an astounding 26 percent in 2015, but it turned out to be nothing more than a bunch of multinationals moving their intellectual property into Ireland to protect their profits. The forecast has since been labeled "Leprechaun economics."

Former U.S. Speaker of the House, Thomas "Tip" O'Neill -- whose ancestors hailed from County Donegal in Ireland's northwest -- once said, "All politics are local," and that's at least partly true here. The news outlets are full of a scandal about the Irish police, the Garda, cooking breathalyzer tests to arrest motorists, an upcoming abortion referendum, and a change of leadership in the left-wing Sinn Fein Party.

There is also deep concern about the Brexit. Britain is Ireland's number two trading partner -- the U.S. is number one -- and it is not clear how London's exit from the EU will affect that. There is also the worrisome matter of the now open border between the Republic and Northern Ireland, accompanied by fears that Brexit will undermine the Good Friday peace agreement between northern Catholics and Protestants.

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At the end of August (2017) I published a column that focused primarily on the four-way Presidential election of 1860, while presenting it as a forerunner of what may well be seen in the U.S. election of 2020. This was about two weeks after Steve Bannon had been "fired" from the White House staff. I put "fired" in quotes because at the time I saw this as the beginning of a set-up for things to come. (No less a reactionary than Robert Kagan seems to agree with me.) I suggested at the time that as things got tighter and tighter for Trump in the various investigations that, waiting as long as he could, but surely before the trap or traps was/were sprung, after granting pardons far and wide, including to himself, he would resign from the Presidency. (Trump likely has one or more spies within each of the bodies investigating him, and thus has a very good idea of how far along they are.) He would then immediately set up a new Far-Right party, with himself as, let us say, The Leader, and Bannon as his Consigliere AND Underboss.



Trump Breitbart Bannon

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Trump's Party would be to the Right even of the present pretty-far-Right Republican Party, the product of the next stage of the Right-Wing Imperative which has governed Republican politics since the 1960s. As of this date (Oct. 12, 2017 --- interestingly enough, the real Columbus Day), one cannot be certain that this is what will happen. BUT, very briefly here, consider the following. Bannon backed a far-rightist (even in the Repub. sense) in the Alabama Repub. Senate primary, seemingly against Trump's candidate of choice. But in his speeches Bannon was sure to say that "Judge" Moore was really the Trumpite (although Bannon did not use that term) in the race. Trump allowed that Moore would be OK with him too.

And now, separating themselves from the Bannon/Trumpites, the Republican "establishment" in the Senate is beginning to turn against Trump: see Bob Corker and Ben Sasse. (Ironically it happens that Corker was elected to the Senate for the first time in Tennessee very likely because at the last minute he ran an openly racist ad against his Democratic opponent, Harold Ford, Jr. Until that time, Ford had been ahead. The DLC-Democrat Ford declined to challenge Corker's racism, lost the election, and in recent years has spent a lot of time on MSNBC's "Morning Joe.")

Bannon has now declared that he will be running primary opponents (or trying to at least) against every sitting Repub. Senator, other than Ted Cruz. Why not Cruz? Because Bannon (and Kelly Anne Conway) was an integral part of Cruz' staff before he dropped out of the race for the Repub. nomination. When he came over to Trump he brought Cruz' Mercer Money with him. And it is Mercer money which is now at the center of Bannon's new initiative. So what is happening, very quickly? Might not Bannon's prediction that Trump would have only a 30% chance of finishing his term, rather than resigning being removed from office under the provisions of the 25th Amendment, play into all of this, with Trump resigning under pressure first?

In my view, it is the formation of a new Far-Right party, of which Trump would become The Leader, of course after he resigns the Presidency, which must be of great concern. (And of course the premier announcement of the formation of the new party would be made by Trump on the Sean Hannity show.) This Party, while not at the beginning openly fascist, will certainly ride on the wings of authoritarianism. Trump's close affinity for authoritarianism is currently symbolized by his call for an end to freedom of the press. (Historically , in many countries the drive to the establishment of an authoritarian regime began with attacks on the press and the independent judiciary.) Trump will be presenting himself to his hardcore racist, xenophobic, homophobic, Islamophobic, and possibly openly anti-Semitic base as the Leader who can "get things done," once he is rid of all those inconveniences like the Congress and the independent judiciary.

Which brings us (or at least it brings me) to THE Prince of Wales .

There have been many Princes of Wales in British history, because it is the title that for centuries has been given to the (male) heir to the throne. But thePrince of Wales (and I did pick the Encyclopedia Britannica for this reference), who held parts of the world in thrall in the period between World Wars I & II, was special. Because before he could be crowned King after the death of his father George V, he abdicated (that is resigned) his position. Which of course brings us to Donald Trump. Not an exact parallel, but close enough.

Prince Edward was a Rightist. Prince Edward was an open admirer of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler. Prince Edward had an authoritarian streak and flirted at times with ignoring/bypassing the British Constitution, which, although unwritten, and controls by "tradition" and "understandings," has had a powerful impact on British life for centuries. Hitler openly admired the Prince as well. There has been speculation, from the late 1930s onwards, that if Germany had defeated Great Britain and occupied the British Isles, Edward might have been prevailed upon to play some role in Nazi/British government with, of course, Parliament and the British judiciary discarded. And so, on to the story of the Prince of Wales (later the Duke of Windsor), most especially the political aspects of it.

When I was growing up in the 1940's and 50's Edward, the former Prince of Wales and the former Edward VIII (for most of 1936 --- the year I was born --- but never crowned), then holding the honorific title of the Duke of Windsor, although he was quite alive was an almost legendary character. Born in 1894, he was a great grandson of Great Britain's Queen Victoria, a grandson of the also legendary King Edward VII (legendary as himself a one-time Prince of Wales for his exploits with members of the opposite sex before he became king, a role that the Duke would assume some years later when he became Prince of Wales), and son of a very distant father, George V. He became the Prince of Wales when his father became king in 1911. Since his father's reign lasted for over 25 years, this Edward was the Prince of Wales for quite some time.

He became quite famous. In the Army during World War I, although never allowed to get too close to the front lines, he did see some action in France, and certainly made sure that he was seen, in photographs, in his Army uniform. After the war, he was the first British royal to travel widely, both around the Empire/Commonwealth as well as in the United States and South America. And he loved the limelight, getting photographed and getting written up in various newspapers and magazines all over the world, for many years. There were pin-ups, cigarette cards, and men imitated his dress and his tie-knot. As noted, he was also known as a womanizer, although he didn't marry until the time came to do it. But when he announced his intention to do so, to a U.S. divorcee who was still married to her second husband at the time, he rocked the Empire.

But of more interest to this columnist and our readership are the Prince's political views. It is to that subject that we shall turn in Part 2 of this short series.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the history of the "Prince of Wales/Duke of Windsor" era, although I knew some of it from a variety of sources (including some from my childhood when after the War, the "Duke and Duchess," living in exile in France, were a recurring item in the media of the time), I am much indebted to a marvelous book: 17 Carnations by Andrew Morton (Grand Central Publishing/Hachette, 2015, trade paperback edition, 2016). The title of the book refers to the 17 carnations that Nazi Ambassador to Great Britain von Ribbentrop apparently sent regularly to Wallis Simpson to commemorate the number of times they had been to bed together (while she was also beginning her relationship with the Prince of Wales).

(Article changed on October 12, 2017 at 14:29)

(Article changed on October 12, 2017 at 15:50)
The media is scrambling to try to find out what Trump really meant when he made this cryptic statement; "Maybe this is the calm before the storm." When asked to explain, he smiled and said, "You'll see."

What now? What does he mean by this ominous sounding remark?

Well, most likely the answer is that he means that a war with North Korea is getting close because he followed up with, "We have the world's great military in this room." That's in line with his recent tweet in which he hinted at military action against North Korea, saying, "Only one thing will work on the secretive communist state."

We never know what this highly reactionary and very volatile individual is going to do. That statement about a coming storm alarmed the members of the media and, no doubt, many millions of Americans. I guess we will find out if he was, once again, bluffing or if he is determined to launch a military attack that would be disastrous for the entire world.

On the other hand, this comment could have been about Russiagate, the Mueller investigation into Russian meddling in our election process; and possible collusion between Russia, Putin and individuals in the Trump administration, or even Trump himself.

Watching as this investigative scenario plays out one thing stands out. Mr. Trump continues his verbal wars, fighting constantly with almost everyone around him, some of those in his cabinet, and various elements of the media.

But guess which country and leader are never, ever insulted, strongly admonished or subjected to any vicious verbal attack? If you guessed it is Russia and Putin then you are correct in that Trump never says anything derogatory about either.

However, he knows full well that the U.S. and Russia are on opposite sides in the Syrian civil war and that, very recently, they engaged in highly dangerous military confrontations in Eastern Syria. Any other U.S. president would be condemning Russia and Putin, and demanding that they leave Syria.

But not this president who remains completely silent, not saying a peep about any relationship he might with Russia. This is very strange and may be an indication that he has been compromised in some way by Putin; that Putin has some kind of damning evidence that, if leaked out, would destroy Trump's presidency.

It may be that Trump believes that Mueller & Co. have unearthed clear evidence of collusion in which he is involved and he is signaling that he is going to fire Mueller and bring this entire investigation to an abrupt end. If he does Washington will be engulfed in a tremendous firestorm.

What else could this be? This calm may be the period before Trump is ready to initiate yet one more startling firing or forced resignations of someone in high authority in his administration. Now who might his latest target be? How about Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who seems to be at odds with Trump on U.S. foreign policy and who, in a strategy meeting, supposedly called Trump a moron?

Then again Trump's mysterious statement could be nothing more than another diversionary tactic or playing mind games with the media. While the members of the media were tying themselves in knots, trying to figure out exactly what he meant by his cryptic statement, he was probably ecstatic at how he, once again, threw out some red meat and they immediately took the bait.

No one really knows what he meant and, quite possibly, we never will because he was doing what he does best; keeping everyone off balance trying to figure out his next moves. But think about this: it's possible that he may have, unwittingly, described a storm that is growing in strength and gathering momentum just off America's horizon, not yet visible to us; something that may happen, that he could not begin to imagine.

What kind of storm? Well, as we have seen with the frightening hurricanes that have caused great destruction in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico, meteorologists don't really know the exact path hurricanes will take, if and when they hit the mainland of some country. Sometimes they remain on the predicted path and hit populated areas or they suddenly veer in a different direction and go out to sea.

The storm that I'm describing in this analogy is the latent but massive power that the people of America possess, coupled with a great degree of growing anger, frustration and feelings of hopelessness. This could be called a "societal storm" by which Americans have finally arrived at a point where they have totally exhausted their patience and can take no more.

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From Alon Ben-Meir Website



Creating harmony from our differences

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The current efforts to reconcile between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas will be doomed to fail just like several previous attempts, unless both sides agree to resolve three major obstacles -- a united strategy to find a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the fate of Hamas' cache of weapons, and the Palestinians' future government -- that have haunted them since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. Given their mutual animosity and deadly rivalry, the question is, will the Palestinians be able this time around to play their cards right?

First, agreeing on a peaceful solution to their conflict with Israel remains the central issue over which they must reach a consensus. Whereas the PA has long-since recognized Israel on the basis of the June 4, 1967 borders, Hamas -- even though it has stated its willingness to negotiate with Israel on a two-state solution -- continues to call for Israel's ultimate destruction.

If Hamas were to join the PA and the latter assumes the responsibility to negotiate with Israel, neither the current right-wing nor even a future centrist/leftist Israeli government would negotiate with the PA unless Hamas first recognizes Israel and renounces violence, which it is unlikely to do.

Since it is widely assumed, however, that without Hamas no Israeli-Palestinian peace can endure, the question is how to persuade Hamas to accept the two preconditions without losing face. The answer lies with the Arab Peace Initiative (API). Acting as the mediator between Hamas and the PA, Egypt's President Sisi should insist that Hamas embrace the API and join the ranks of the rest of the Arab world. The US and the EU should lend public support to this effort, which will open the door to legitimize Hamas as a partner in negotiations with Israel.

In the main, the API stipulates that recognition of Israel is conditional upon returning territories captured in 1967, a "just solution" for the Palestinian refugees, and East Jerusalem becoming the capital of a newly-established Palestinian state. By Hamas embracing the API, it will strengthen the hands of Israel's center and left parties who will then be in a strong position to present to the Israeli public a credible framework for peace. I maintain that short of achieving that, the PA and Hamas will continue to shuffle the cards, yet neither will score a winning hand.

The second major obstacle is Hamas' possession of thousands of rockets and the determination of its military wing to retain them under any circumstances. PA President Abbas is correct to demand that Hamas must surrender such weapons, insisting that he will not allow Gaza to mirror the situation in Lebanon, where Hezbollah maintains a de facto state within a state with a huge arsenal at its disposal, free to operate as it deems fit.

Moreover, any Israeli government, regardless of its political leaning, will insist that a future Palestinian state be demilitarized and will not negotiate with the Palestinians under any threat. Given the unlikelihood that Hamas will surrender its stockpile of rockets to the PA and its desire to mend its differences with Egypt, President Sisi is in a position to insist that Hamas store its arsenal with Egypt.

In return, Egypt will open the border to Gaza and be in a strong position to coax Israel to gradually lift the blockade to ease the humanitarian crisis of the Palestinians, which Hamas desperately wants to alleviate. This was indeed one of the main motivators behind Hamas' willingness to end its discord with the PA.

Egypt's role as a go-between is indispensable, without which the prospect of a sustained unity agreement between the PA and Hamas is next to impossible. Moreover, the fact that Egypt is at peace with Israel puts it in a perfect position to also help shape the unity agreement between Hamas and the PA and make it ultimately conducive to peace with Israel.

In this regard, it should be noted that Sisi also wants a demilitarized Gaza and Hamas' full cooperation to combat terrorism in northern Sinai. Thus, if Hamas wants to reconcile with the PA, it must work with Egypt to resolve the weapons problem, without which there will be neither a unity agreement with the PA nor a solution to the conflict with Israel. In this connection, the PA must also deploy its security forces into Gaza to take charge of the crossings into Israel to ease Israeli concerns and restrictions.

The third obdurate issue is the political nature of a future Palestinian government. Although both sides must remain committed to a democratic form of government, the Palestinians should agree on deferring general elections for at least five years, which the US and EU ought to support. In the interim, the PA and Hamas will establish a proportionate representative unity government based on the current demographic composition of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Both sides would select representatives to fill all major government posts, with decisions made by consensus rather than a simple majority vote.

Due to the current political environment between the two sides, and given that it has already been established that the unity government will be led by Abbas, the prime minister should be selected from Hamas. General elections will be held once the transitional period passes, allowing new leadership to emerge. Both sides will have to fully abide by the results of the elections; otherwise, they will end up again as bitter rivals.

It should be emphasized that all cabinet members and other top officials must be apolitical figures -- skilled, professional bureaucrats who will focus mainly on social programs, reconstruction, healthcare, education, and economic development both in the West Bank and Gaza.

The transitional period is particularly important not only for the Palestinians to reconcile many of their differences, but also for advancing the peace process with Israel. Indeed, if peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians resume now, they will simply fail like all previous attempts since the 1993-1994 Oslo Accords. Israel and the Palestinians must first engage in a process of reconciliation to build trust, which is totally lacking, and mitigate major security concerns before they can resume negotiations in earnest.

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Baby Care Products Market - Global Industry Insights, Trends, and Forecast 2025

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https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/baby-care-products-market-765

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The Global Baby Care Products Market is drastically increased, owing to increase in infant population and high spending capacity of the people. Baby care products market is anticipated by the positive impact of rising number of women in the workforce, which is accounted to be on an average of 4.1% globally over the last three decades. Moreover, health concerns of consumers and desire to purchase products at premium prices has led to the growth of baby products market globally. The choice of baby care products by consumer depends upon various aspects, such as product sustainability, cost efficiency with value perceived, health benefits, and convenient usage, which is further driving the growth of the baby care products market.Request Sample of Baby Care Products Market:Manufactures are promoting baby hygiene with the help of government and NGOs, in turn is fueling the demand for baby care products during the forecast period.Global Baby Care Products Market TaxonomyOn the basis of product, the baby care products market in segmented in:Baby Skin CareBaby Massage OilBody LotionsCreams/MoisturizersTalcum PowderBaby Hair Care ProductsBaby Shampoo and ConditionerDetanglesBathing ProductsSoapsBubble Bath/Shower gelBaby ToiletriesDiapersBaby WipesBaby Fragrances/PerfumesBaby Food & BeveragesBottled Baby FoodBaby Fruit & Vegetable JuicesPureed Baby FoodBaby Food CerealsBaby Milk ProductBaby Food SoupsOn the basis of distribution channel, the baby care product market is segmented as:HypermarketsSupermarketsSpecialty StoresConvenient StoresOnline MarketsOn the basis of category, the baby care products market is segmented as:Premium ProductsMass ProductsBaby Skin Care products and Toiletries segments holds the highest prominent share in baby care products market, due to the increase in awareness of child safety and increase in the standard of living of the people.Furthermore, in toiletries, baby diapers holds the largest market share in the baby care product market, owing to rise in expenditure of healthcare, increasing awareness in personal hygiene and sanitization, urbanization, and cautions taken by parents. However, baby hair care products hold relatively smaller share in the global baby care products market.Baby food products holds the second largest segment in the global baby care product market, as it provides various nutrients such as protein, vitamin B12, iron, and carbohydrates to the baby. On the other side, baby bathing products is witnessed to have a significant growth in the baby care products market.To Get discount on this Report:Global Baby Care Products Market OutlookThe North America accounts to largest share in the global baby care product market and it is projected to continue dominance over forecast period, due to the high spending rate, advanced technology, and infant safety. According to National Centre for Health Statistics, the birth rate in US is up to 12.4 per 1000 people. Europe, Middle East, and Africa are projected to have the significant growth rate with high share contribution in the baby care products market.Asia Pacific is witnessed to be the fastest growing region in the baby care products market, due to rising birthrate among the emerging economies, such as China and India with increasing demand for infant care items over the forecast period. Additionally, changing lifestyle, rise in disposable incomes, increasing awareness of infant nutrition, hygiene, and safety is driving the growth of baby care products market in Asia Pacific region.In India, key players such as Johnson and Johnson, Nestle, and Danone Inc. are aiming to grow the market up to 15% on account of increase in spending capacity per child. Furthermore, it is projected that the number of babies between the age group of 0-5 is witnessed to increase from 127 million to 135 million over the forecast period. This will further enhance the global baby care products market.The major players are adopting organic and inorganic strategies such as, focusing on increasing their presence through mergers and acquisitions. For instance, in 2016, Dabur South Africa (Pty) Ltd., acquired South Africas CLT group of Companies personal care, hair care, and cream businesses.Check the Trending Report of Baby Care Product market:In July 2016, Johnson and Johnson acquired Vogue International LLC which manufactures and distributes hair care and other personal care products.Global Baby Care Product market is dominated by various companies such as Procter & Gamble Co., Kimberly Clark Corp., Johnson and Johnson, Unilever Plc., Abbott Nutrition, Nestle S.A., BABISIL, Cotton Babies, Inc., Danone S.A., The Himalaya Drug Company, Farlin Infant Products Corporation, Avon Healthcare Limited Company, Bonpoint S.A., Dabur International Limited, Burts Bees Inc., LOreal S.A., etc.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact UsMr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comWebsite:
2017-2022 Hydroxyapatite Report on Global and United States Market, Status and Forecast, by Players, Types and Applications

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This report studies the Hydroxyapatite market status and outlook of global and United States, from angles of players, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global and United States market, and splits the Hydroxyapatite market by product type and applications/end industries.The major players in global and United States Hydroxyapatite market, including FLUIDINOVA, Bio-Rad, BONESUPPORT AB, Sigma Graft, Berkeley Advanced Biomaterials, ALB Technology Limited, SAI.,The On the basis of product, the Hydroxyapatite market is primarily split intoMedical Grade Hydroxyapatite (HAP)Research Grade Hydroxyapatite (HAP)On the basis on the end users/applications, this report coversOrthopaedicDentalOther medical useChromatographyOther applicationsTo Download Sample Report With TOC:Table of Contents2017-2022 Hydroxyapatite Report on Global and United States Market, Status and Forecast, by Players, Types and Applications1 Methodology and Data Source1.1 Methodology/Research Approach1.1.1 Research Programs/Design1.1.2 Market Size Estimation2 Hydroxyapatite Market Overview2.1 Hydroxyapatite Product Overview2.2 Hydroxyapatite Market Segment by Type2.2.1 Medical Grade Hydroxyapatite (HAP)2.2.2 Research Grade Hydroxyapatite (HAP)2.3 Global Hydroxyapatite Product Segment by Type2.3.1 Global Hydroxyapatite Sales (K Metric Tons) and Growth (%) by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)2.3.2 Global Hydroxyapatite Sales (K Metric Tons) and Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact UsBrooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Bio-butanol Market - Global Industry Insight, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis 2017-2025

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Bio-butanol easily blends with gasoline due to its low vapor pressure. It contains as much as energy as gasoline and its non-corrosive nature gives it advantage over bioethanol.Bio-butanol is an alcohol, which is used as a fuel or organic solvent. It is prepared by fermentation of sugar, starch or cellulosic feedstock such as wheat, sugar beet, corn, straw, and wood. The purpose of using bio-butanol is to reduce consumption of crude oil. They have higher octane number, larger flammability limits, higher flash point and higher heat of vaporization. Bio-butanol easily blends with gasoline due to its low vapor pressure. It contains as much as energy as gasoline and its non-corrosive nature gives it advantage over bioethanol.Request Sample of Bio-butanol Market:Bio-butanol is also used as cleaner, adhesives, jet fuel, synthetic rubber, as a solvent in paints, bio-based plastics and fibers. They are also expected to meet 20% of the worlds fuel demands. The requirement for clean energy is the main driver for the use of bio-butanol.Bio-butanol fuel Market TaxonomyOn the basis of raw material, the bio-butanol market is classified into:WheatSugar beetCornStrawWoodOthersOn the basis of application, the bio-butanol market is classified into:AcrylatesAcetatesGlycol ethersSolventsPlasticizersOthersOn the basis of end users, the bio-butanol market is classified into:Petrochemical industryAutomobile industryAviation industryConsumer goodsTextile industryOthersThe raw materials used in process of bio-butanol are wheat, sugar beet, corn, straw and wood. The availability of raw material is a major concern with the bio-butanol preparation process. The properties like polymer chain formation, blending, paint and cleaner makes it applicable for the products such as acrylates, acetates, glycol ethers, solvent and plasticizer. Bio butanol is used as a fuel in internal combustion engines in petrochemical and automotive industry. Bio-butanol has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by 85% compared to gasoline. It is a possible large scale alternative to gasoline.Bio-butanol Market OutlookNorth America is the largest bio-jet fuel market due to the presence of low temperature weather in most of the countries followed by Western Europe which is second largest. Bio-butanol used in automobile sectors are the main reason for these largest market industry. Significant investment in R&D in these regions has resulted in alternatives for petroleum derived fuels.Asia Pacific is estimated to be the fastest growing market in the forecast period due to the population increase and demand for greener paints and coatings. India and China are expected to have the most demand in the bio-jet fuel market in the forecast period due to rise in the aviation and transportation segments.In Europe, demand for bio-butanol is increasing due to the government initiatives and stringent environmental regulations to shift away from petroleum products. These regulations are result of meeting the aims set out in Kyoto Protocol.In Middle East, the crude oil derived fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and kerosene and jet fuel are very cheap due to proximity to the resource. This makes it very difficult for bio-based alternatives to enter the market, as they are easily out priced.Check the Trending Report of Bio-butanol Market:Bio-butanol Market ChallengesThe variation in availability and cost of raw materials is a major problem as it increases the production cost of bio-butanol. Currently, bio-butanol costs more than bio ethanol. Also the government regulations against the use of raw material are the challenges for the bio butanol market.Some of the key companies dominating the market are Biobutanol include Bioenergy International, Butalco GmBH, Cobalt Biofuels and Arbor Biofuels backed by oil manufacturers like TetraVitae Biosciences and Metabolic Explorers.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact UsMr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200 Seattle,WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comWebsite:
Oxygen Concentrator Market To Witness Enhanced Usage For Medical, Water Treatment, Pharmaceutical Production And Glass Manufacture Applications Till 2021 | Million Insights

Million Insights - World's Fastest Growing Market Research Database

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Global oxygen concentrator market is segmented on the basis of product type, application and geography. An oxygen concentrator (also sometimes called oxygen generator) refers to a medical device used in delivering oxygen for patients. Oxygen concentrators are normally acquired via prescription and therefore cannot be purchased over the counter. Technically, oxygen concentrators are induced by plugging in to an electrical outlet or using a battery. Battery powered concentrator are needed to be charged by plugging into an outlet. A compressor, sieve bed filter and circuit boards are some parts that make up a concentrator.An oxygen concentrator possesses a compressing element, and hence it should not be interpreted as compressed oxygen. Instead, a tank has a set amount of oxygen for dispensing. A concentrator filters in air, compress it and release the air constantly.The air supply will never run out hence, the concentrator just needs access to power instead of refilling compressed air.Full Research Report On Global Mobile TV Market Analysis available at:Growth in geriatric population on a global scale induce rise in homecare oxygen treatment. Patients with respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis and emphysema have benefitted greatly with innovations in oxygen concentrator technology. Some of the new and improved versions of the standard large and bulky devices include AirSeps LifeStyle Portable Oxygen Concentrator, Inogen One G3, VBOX Trooper, EverGo, Invacare XPO2 and iGo.On the basis of product type, the oxygen concentrator market is segmented into portable oxygen concentrator, stationary oxygen concentrator and so on. On the basis of application, the oxygen concentrator market is segmented into medical, water treatment, pharmaceutical production, glass manufacture and so on.On the basis of geography, the oxygen concentrator market is segmented into Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Middle East & Africa and Latin America. Asia Pacific Excluding Japan oxygen concentrators market is projected to register a significant CAGR during the forecast period. Improving economic conditions is fuelling the growth of oxygen concentrators market in Asia Pacific.Request for Free Sample Copy:The key players of oxygen concentrator market are Air Liquide, CareFusion, Braun and Company, Chart Industries, Covidien, Dr?ger, DeVilbiss Healthcare, Drive Medical, Fanem, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Bio-Med Devices, Invacare Philips Healthcare, CareFusion, DeVilbiss Healthcare Sequal, Respiration Equipment, Jiangxi Teli Anesthesia, Newport Medical Instruments Inc., Inovo, Impact Instrumentation, Respironics, Providence Global Medical, Percussionaire Corporation, Vortran Medical Technology, Smiths Medical WinterGreen Research Inc., Eget Hi-Tec Co. Ltd., Race Medical & Beauty Equipments and Maquet.Related Reports of this Category available at Million Insights:Million Insights, is a distributor of market research reports, published by premium publishers only. We have a comprehensive market place that will enable you to compare data points, before you make a purchase. Enabling informed buying is our motto and we strive hard to ensure that our clients get to browse through multiple samples, prior to an investment. Service flexibility & the fastest response time are two pillars, on which our business model is founded. Our market research report store, includes in-depth reports, from across various industry verticals, such as healthcare, technology, chemicals, food & beverages, consumer goods, material science & automotive.Office No. 302, 3rd Floor, Manikchand Galleria,Model Colony, Shivaji Nagar, Pune, MH, 411016 IndiaPhone: 91-20-65300184Email: sales@millioninsights.com
Epoxy Curing Market Key Players analysis - Evonik Industries AG, BASF SE, Huntsman International, Cardolite Corporation, Kukdo Chemical Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Chemical

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Synopsis of Epoxy Curing Agent MarketCommenting on this report, an analyst from Market Research Future (MRFR)s team said, Global Epoxy Curing Agent Market size is expected to grow at USD ~ 5099.32 million by 2023. The market witnessed a significant growth over the forecasted period owing to growing applications such as into into adhesive, coatings, composites, electronics, and others (Wind Energy, additives, etc.) across various industries. Global Epoxy Curing Agent market is expected to grow at ~6.8% CAGR during 2016-2023The Global Epoxy Curing Agents Market is observing high growth with increasing demand from the APAC region, particularly from China and India due to the healthy demand for durable, high performance, and the cost-effective nature of epoxy curing agents. These properties are driving growth in the use of epoxy curing agents in various application industries, such as coatings, adhesives, electronics, and compositesMarket Research Future (MRFR) recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global Epoxy Curing Agent market: Evonik Industries AG (Europe), BASF SE (Europe), Huntsman International LLC (US), Cardolite Corporation (US), Kukdo Chemical Co., Ltd. (South Korea), Aditya Birla Chemicals (India), Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Japan), Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. (US), The Dow Chemical Company (US), Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (US), and Others.Request a Sample Copy @APAC region dominated the global epoxy curing agent market in 2016, and is expected to continue the dominance during the forecast period. This region accounted for 48% of the global market share in 2016. Asia-Pacific led the epoxy curing agents market in terms of value and volume both in 2016, due to the rapid industrialization in countries including Indonesia, India, China, and Malaysia. Among all the countries China and India considered as the two major markets due to cheap labor, huge customer base, and flexible norms resulted in various manufacturers starting their firms in this region. In addition, the APAC region is a developing market for various industry including electronics, automotive, construction, and other industries. In this region demand for epoxy curing agents is driven by increasing consumption in composites, coatings, adhesives, and other industrial applications.North America is the strong region which holds second position in global epoxy curing agent market, including countries such as U.S., Mexico and Canada. Growth in this region is credited to the increasing consumption of end user industries such as marine and automotive industry particularly, in U.S. and Canada. Companies are investing in R&D to renovate new products for varied range of applications. In addition, an investment of US$ 1.6 billion through Dow chemical in R&D was used to improve the epoxy technology and offer a huge range of high quality of epoxy curing agent products. Manufacturing companies are launching low emission and waterborne curing agent products including the Huntsman International LLC and The Dow Chemical Company are including environmentally responsible formulations of epoxy curing agent products.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 110 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Epoxy Curing Agent Market Research Report- Forecast to 2023If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Study Objectives of Epoxy Curing Agent Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 7 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Global Epoxy Curing Agent Market To understand the supply and demand dynamics including supply and consumption concentration mapping To provide region level market analysis and future outlook for North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW) and their countries To provide competitor positioning of the market To provide company profiling of major players in the market along with their production and capacity To provide regional trade analysis To evaluate historical market trends, patents and technologies, and current government regulatory requirements that are relevant to the marketContinue..For further information on this report, visit @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Global Container Liners Market Trends, Growth Research Report 2017-2022

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Global Container Liners market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingSINOPACK INDUSTRIES LTDGreif Flexible Products & ServicesBerry PlasticsMondi GroupBemis CompanyPremier Tech ChronosPOWERTEXNorsemanBoxon GroupBulk Handling Australia (BHA)Big Bags International Private LimitedJumbo Bag CorporationUnited BagsIntertape Polymer GroupGet Research Summary Of The Report:Table of ContentsGlobal Container Liners Market Research Report 20171 Container Liners Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Container Liners1.2 Container Liners Segment by Type (Product Category)2 Global Container Liners Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Container Liners Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Container Liners Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Container Liners Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Container Liners Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Container Liners Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact UsBrooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Cadwell Industries, SpecialtyCare, Natus, NuVasive , Medtronic , inomed Medizintechnik GmbH are going to lead the IONM market in North America.

IONM Market in North America Market ANalysis by Arizton Advisory & Intelligence

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https://www.arizton.com/reports/healthcare-lifesciences/surgical-equipment-market-global-outlook-and-forecast-2017-2022

The IONM market in North America will cross $ 2.1 billion by 2022, growing at a impressible CAGR of 8.14% during the forecast period 2016  2022. The US accounted for the largest share of the global IONM market in 2016, and it is expected to rise at a slightly higher growth rate than the North American average during the forecast period.View report: IONM Market in North America - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2017-2022IONM Market in North America: Key Vendor AnalysisIONM equipment manufacturers dominate the marketAlthough the IONM market in North America is dominated by the equipment manufacturers, the number of establishments manufacturing intraoperative neuromonitoring equipment is limited.Major vendors profiled in the report are as following:Cadwell IndustriesSpecialtyCareNatusNuVasiveMedtronicinomed Medizintechnik GmbHOther emerging vendors are Accurate Monitoring, Computational Diagnostics, Bromedicon Neuromonitoring, Clinical Neurodiagnostics, CNS Neuromonitoring, Dr. Langer Medical GmbH, IntraNerve, Medsurant Health, Neuro Alert, Neuromonitoring Technology (NMT), Nihon Kohden Corporation.The report provides the analysis of the key segments of the market by source types, methodology type, application type, key countries, and vendors. It provides a detailed analysis of revenue from various segments:Source TypesIn-sourcedOutsourcedMethodology TypesEvoked Potential (EP)Electromyography (EMG)Electroencephalography (EEG)Application TypesNeurosurgeryOrthopedic surgeryENT surgeryCardiovascular surgeryNeurosurgery segment is going to dominate the market during the forecast periodThe in-sourced market is forecasted to increase at a minimal pace in the foreseeable future as it is being replaced by out-sourced services. The out-sourced intraoperative neuromonitoring services market in North America accounted for 45.10% in 2016. It is anticipated to grow at a rapid CAGR of 14.00% during 20162022. The out-sourced services market will dominate the IONM market in this region by the end of 2022.In terms of modality, the growth rate of these EEG and EMG modality types are anticipated to be almost equal during 20162022. The primary driver for all intraoperative neuromonitoring modalities is increased in their utilization rate across varied surgical interventions. In terms of the growth rate, orthopedic surgeries are likely to grow at a higher CAGR than other surgical types. However, neurosurgery will remain the major revenue contributor during the forecast period in the application segment.View report: IONM Market in North America - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2017-2022Related Report:1) Intraoperative Neuromonitoring (IONM) Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2017 - 20222) Surgical Equipment Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2017-2022About AriztonArizton  Advisory and Intelligence is an innovation and quality-driven firm, which offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients across the world. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services.Arizton has gained a paramount standpoint in the market research arena as it offers top of the line solutions to clients to assess market landscape and to finalize foolproof business strategies. We are committed to provide inclusive market research reports and consulting services to clients from diversified industries including Consumer Goods & Retail Technology, Automotive and Mobility, Smart Tech, Healthcare and Lifesciences, Industrial Machinery, Chemicals and Materials, IT and Media, Logistics and PackagingArizton comprises a team of exuberant and well-experienced analysts who have mastered in generating incisive reports. Our specialist analysts possess exemplary skills in market research. We train our team in advanced research practices, techniques, and ethics to outperform in fabricating impregnable research reports.Arizton Advisory & IntelligenceChicago, Illinois, 60605Mail: enquiry@arizton.comCall: +1-312-465-7864
MEA Color Masterbatch Market Projected To Grow Radiantly at USD 413.2 million by 2027

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Market HighlightsAlthough color masterbatch have a large number of advantages, the most important is their versatility. The increasing need for plastic and packaging across all modern applications is driving the growth of color masterbatch market. This has also resulted in the development of newer and improved application and performance properties; color masterbatch that are fast, easy, and low cost are in demand. Such newly developed color masterbatch include fast curing white, black and standard color masterbatches.Key Findings MEA color masterbatch market is projected to reach USD 413.2 million by 2027 with 6.35% CAGR during review period of 2016-2027 Africa region accounted for largest share due to growing application industries in this region Among types, Black Masterbatch has acquired the market share of 26% in 2015 with the market value of USD 53.1 million in 2015 growing at a CAGR of 7.31% till forecast period. Among applications, packaging industry emerged as the leading application industry in MEA color masterbatch market.Request a Sample Copy @Key Market PlayersThe key players in MEA color masterbatch market report included are A Schulman, TOSAF Compounds, Polyplast Muller, Polyone Corporation, Hubron, Clariant Masterbatches, Cabot Plastics International, Ampacet Corporation, Ferro Corporation Astra Polymers.Market Segmentation AnalysisMEA color masterbatch market has been segmented into type, carrier resin and application. Among types, the market has been divided into Black Masterbatch, Standard Color Masterbatch, White Masterbatch, Additive Masterbatch and Filler Masterbatch. Black masterbatches has accounted the largest market in terms of value and volume. This market was valued at USD 55.0 million in 2015 which is projected to reach USD 119.5 million by 2027 with a CAGR of 7.31%. The major reason behind this exponential growth is due to the increasing number of small and medium scale producers and several key manufacturers focus shifting towards MEA market and increasing demand from plastic and consumer goods industries have propelled the demand.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 110 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Middle East & Africa Color Masterbatch Market - Trends & Forecast, 2016-2027Market SegmentationThe Middle East & Africa Color Masterbatch Market has been segmented into types, carrier resin and application.By Types Black Masterbatch Standard Color Masterbatch White Masterbatch Additive Masterbatch Filler MasterbatchBy Carrier Resin Polyethylene (PE) Polypropylene (PP) Polystyrene (PS)By Application Packaging Automotive Consumer Goods & Retail Textile Agriculture Building & ConstructionFor further information on this report, visit @Table of Content1 Report Prologue2 Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.3 Research Objective2.4 Assumptions & Limitations2.4.1 Assumptions2.4.2 Limitations2.5 Market Segmentation2.5.1 Types2.5.1.1 Introduction2.5.1.2 White Masterbatch2.5.1.3 Standard Color Masterbatch2.5.1.4 Black Color Masterbatch2.5.1.5 Additive Masterbatch2.5.1.6 Filler Masterbatch2.5.2 Carrier Resin2.5.2.1 Introduction2.5.2.2 Polyethylene (PE)2.5.2.3 Polypropylene (PP)2.5.2.4 Polystyrene (PS)2.5.3 Application 222.5.3.1 Introduction 22ContinueAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Air Beds 2017 Global Market Expected to Grow at CAGR of 3.16% and Forecast to 2021

Air Beds Market 2017

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Air Beds Market 2017The Air Beds industry has also suffered a certain impact, but still maintained a relatively optimistic growth, the past four years, Air Beds market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 3.16% from 2150 million $ in 2013 to 2360 million $ in 2016, The analysts believe that in the next few years, Air Beds market size will be further expanded, we expect that by 2021, The market size of the Air Beds will reach 2580 million $.This 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.Request a Sample Report @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.Section 1: FreeDefinitionSection (2 3): 1200 USDManufacturer DetailINTEXJilongBest WayInsta-bedColeman CompanySimmonsFOXSection 4: 900 USDRegion SegmentationNorth America Country (United States, Canada)South AmericaAsia Country (China, Japan, India, Korea)Europe Country (Germany, UK, France, Italy)Other Country (Middle East, Africa, GCC)Section (5 6 7): 500 USDProduct Type Segmentation (PVC, Rubber, , , )Industry Segmentation (In-home, Out-door, , , )Channel (Direct Sales, Distributor) SegmentationSection 8: 400 USDTrend (2017-2021)Section 9: 300 USDProduct Type DetailSection 10: 700 USDDownstream ConsumerSection 11: 200 USDCost StructureSection 12: 500 USDConclusionAny Query, Submit Here @Table of Contents Analysis of Key PointsSection 1 Air Beds Product DefinitionSection 2 Global Air Beds Market Manufacturer Share and Market Overview2.1 Global Manufacturer Air Beds Shipments2.2 Global Manufacturer Air Beds Business Revenue2.3 Global Air Beds Market OverviewSection 3 Manufacturer Air Beds Business Introduction3.1 INTEX Air Beds Business Introduction3.1.1 INTEX Air Beds Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2013-20163.1.2 INTEX Air Beds Business Distribution by Region3.1.3 INTEX Interview Record3.1.4 INTEX Air Beds Business Profile3.1.5 INTEX Air Beds Product Specification3.2 Jilong Air Beds Business Introduction3.2.1 Jilong Air Beds Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2013-20163.2.2 Jilong Air Beds Business Distribution by Region3.2.3 Interview Record3.2.4 Jilong Air Beds Business Overview3.2.5 Jilong Air Beds Product Specification3.3 Best Way Air Beds Business Introduction3.3.1 Best Way Air Beds Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2013-20163.3.2 Best Way Air Beds Business Distribution by Region3.3.3 Interview Record3.3.4 Best Way Air Beds Business Overview3.3.5 Best Way Air Beds Product Specification3.4 Insta-bed Air Beds Business Introduction3.5 Coleman Company Air Beds Business Introduction3.6 Simmons Air Beds Business Introduction....ContinuedWise 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 LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
The Seated Stair Lift Segment to Post a CAGR of 9.7%.during 2016-2022

Stair Lift Market Report by Arizton Advisory & Intelligence

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The global stair lift market is likely to cross US$1.7 billion, growing at a CAGR of 8.4% during the period 20162022. The growth is primarily driven by the inclination of the aging and disabled population toward active and independent living and substantial growth in the second-hand market for stairlift. While seated stair lift constitutes more than 72% of the total market revenue, stair lifts with integrated wheelchair platforms are growing at a faster pace. The market in North America will witness huge growth during the forecast period.View report: Stair Lift Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2017-2022Stair lift Market: Key Vendor AnalysisThe market holds high growth prospects for vendors.The market can be termed as attractive due to the growth prospects it holds. However, the market opportunity can be termed to be small to accommodate many players and large enough for the existing vendors to scale up. The competition among vendors is often termed to be in terms of diversity of functional offerings and market reach rather than price.Major Vendors included in the report are as following:AcornBruno Independent Living AidsStannahHandicareThyssenKrupp AGOther prominent vendors in the market include Platinum Stair Lifts, Harmar, Otolift, MediTek, Savaria, Sugiyasu, DID  Daido, Kumalift, Hiro Lift, and Access BDD.The report includes a detailed study of growth drivers, trends, and restraints and profiles the leading vendors in the market and other key vendors. The report also provides in-depth analysis of the global market and provides the growth forecast for the period 2016-2022The report takes into consideration the sale of stair lift and spares to the first buyers from various end-user segments, including individuals, hospitals, medical centers, and commercial clients. The sale of both straight and curved stair lift was considered across various sales channels, including direct sales  online and offline. The market research report provides the detail of the market size in the following segments:Rail OrientationCurvedStraightUser OrientationSeatedStanding and perchedIntegrated wheelchair platformsInstallation TypeIndoorOutdoorEnd-user TypeResidentialHospitals and clinicsOthersMajor GeographiesAPACEMEALatin AmericaNorth AmericaKey CountriesCanadaChinaJapanUSThe US to remain the largest market in terms of revenueThis report considers four major regions: APAC, Europe, North America, and RoW. It also provides the market size and growth in major countries along with the driving factors, trends, and restraints.The US is the largest market in terms of revenue generated not only for the stair lift market but also for the mobility-assistance and devices market. Rising geriatric population and increasing incidence of disability and obesity in the US are major factors driving the demand for mobility-assisting equipment in the region. Also, the presence of leading manufacturers of mobility-assisting equipment, including wheelchairs, mobility scooters, and chairlifts in the region further contributes to the growth of the market in the region.The UK is the largest market in Europe followed by Germany and the Netherlands; wherein there is a high ownership of mobility-assisting equipment and devices among the disabled and elderly population. Also, APAC is expected to grow at a faster rate driven by continually improving healthcare infrastructure and expanding target audience in key economies of India and China.View report: Stair Lift Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2017-2022Related Reports1) Wheelchair Lift Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2017-20222)Surgical Equipment Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2017-2022About AriztonArizton  Advisory and Intelligence is an innovation and quality-driven firm, which offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients across the world. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services.Arizton has gained a paramount standpoint in the market research arena as it offers top of the line solutions to clients to assess market landscape and to finalize foolproof business strategies. We are committed to provide inclusive market research reports and consulting services to clients from diversified industries including Consumer Goods & Retail Technology, Automotive and Mobility, Smart Tech, Healthcare and Lifesciences, Industrial Machinery, Chemicals and Materials, IT and Media, Logistics and PackagingArizton comprises a team of exuberant and well-experienced analysts who have mastered in generating incisive reports. Our specialist analysts possess exemplary skills in market research. We train our team in advanced research practices, techniques, and ethics to outperform in fabricating impregnable research reports.Arizton Advisory & IntelligenceChicago, Illinois, 60605Mail: enquiry@arizton.comCall: +1-312-465-7864
Syngas and Derivatives Market is Poised to Exhibit A Moderate 9.40% CAGR by 2024

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A new study by Transparency Market Research (TMR) states that the degree of competition between BASF SE, Air Liquide SA, Sasol Ltd., and The Linde Group defines the competitive landscape of the global syngas and derivatives market . Over the coming years, the rivalry between these players is likely to increase substantially due to their rising involvement in mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships.View Full Report:According to the research report, the overall consumption of syngas and derivatives which were 115,000 MWth in 2015, is likely to swell at a healthy CAGR of 9.40% during the period from 2016 and 2024 and reach 256,605 MWth consumption volume by the end of the forecast period. Biomass gasification is the most applied technology for manufacturing of syngas and derivatives across the world and is likely to remain so over the next few years.Global Syngas and Derivatives Market to Remain Dominated by Asia PacificIn this research report, the worldwide market for syngas and derivatives has also been analyzed on the basis of geography. As per the study, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, North America, Europe, and Latin America are considered as the main geographical segments of this market. In 2015, Asia Pacific led the global market with a share of more than 52%. The regional market is anticipated to retain its dominance over the forecast period, thanks to the availability of coal and natural gas reserves in abundance. The rise in urbanization, infrastructural developments, and the continual discoveries in the field of oil and gas are also projected to support the Asia Pacific market for syngas and derivatives over the forthcoming years.Request to view Sample Report:The market for syngas and derivatives in the Middle East and Africa, which stood second in 2015, is anticipated to maintain its position in the near future, owing to the augmenting usage of syngas for the generation of power electricity. On the flip side, the markets in North America, Latin America, and Europe are predicted to witness a sluggish rise over the years to come, notes the market study.Concerns over Limited Number of Fossil Fuel Resources to Prompt Shift towards Syngas and DerivativesThe increasing concerns over the finite number of fossil fuel resources, coupled with the rising level of pollution caused by them in the atmosphere, has fueled the need to reduce the dependency on them. With syngas emerging as a promising alternative to fossil fuel, its demand has swelled substantially, resulting in a significant rise in the global market for syngas and derivatives, says a TMR analyst.Request to download and view full ToC -Apart from this, the rising usage of derivatives in a number of industrial applications is also reflecting positively on this market. Going forward, the growing demand for fuel, electricity, and agricultural products is expected to boost this market considerably in the near future. However, insufficient capital investment and funding may hamper the growth of this market over the next few years, reports the study.Global Syngas and Derivatives Market Report is available at US$ 5795 -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Polymer Grade Segment of the Global Isoprene Market to Touch Robust CAGR of 5.1% throughout the Assessed Period

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Isoprene is basically an industrial chemical which is largely used in manufacturing several products such as pesticide, various automotive parts, synthetic rubber and some other chemical products which are refined like perfume, plant alcohol and so on. In the projection period of 2017-2022, the global isoprene market is likely to perform well with a steady growth across the globe throughout the assessed period. Considering the rising development and progress of this market, Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has decided to add this report in its database with the title, Isoprene Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017-2022, that tracks the performance of the market during the five-years of forecasted period.Request Free Sample Report:Global Isoprene Market- DriversThe report has listed some of the factors which are fuelling the growth of the global market for isoprene. These drivers are as bellowsRising demand of isoprene for the manufacturing of tires. Tires with the usage of Isoprene chemical give qualitative ride to the consumersIncreasing usage of isoprene chemical in footwear and in medical sectorGovernments regulations related to manufacturing of rubbers and variation in the prices of crude oilTires with low rolling resistance and their improved performanceGlobal Isoprene Market- Segmental Analysis and ForecastThe worldwide market of isoprene is segmented into product, end user and application segment. On the basis of product the market is further segmented into chemical grade and polymer grade. The segment of polymer grade grabs the market share of 54.2% and is likely to be valued US$ 1,151.0 Mn in the year 2017. This particular segment is expected to gain US$ 1,477.4 Mn at the end of the projected period, i.e. 2022, expanding at a health CAGR of 5.1%. The segment of polymer grade is likely to increase its revenue share up to 55% in by the end of 2022 and this is the largest share than the revenue share of any other segment of product.The end user segment includes industrial rubber, tires, adhesives and others. Tires keep on constituting the most noticeable chunk of demand for isoprene. Tires that are produced using polyisoprene provide features, for example, durability, sturdiness, wear protection, quality, and versatility. The sale of vehicles are increasing and due to which the demand for tires is also rising which will support the growth of worldwide isoprene market. The application segment consists of speciality chemicals, isobutylene-isoprene, polyisoprene and styrene-isoprene styrene segments.Browse Full Report with TOC:Global Isoprene Market- Regional Analysis and ForecastAlthough Asia Pacific region is estimated for greater growth rate, North America region is the most profitable region in the market of isoprene. With moderate CAGR of 4.5%, North America region is anticipated to be valued US$ 611.5 Mn in the year 2017. This value will be increased and is likely to reach up to US$ 761.5 Mn in the year 2022. Densely populated Asia pacific region include two encouraging economies such as India and China which has have flourishing industry of automotive and a large scale of consumers. Thus this region is expected to expand at a robust CAGR of 5.1 % between 2017 and 2022.Global Isoprene Market- Key VendorsAjinomoto Co. Inc., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Bridgestone Corporation, Nizhnekamskneftekhim, GlycosBio, DuPont, Petroleum Pte Ltd., The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Fortrec Chemicals, SIBUR, Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Group Co. Ltd., and Kuraray Co. Ltd., are some of the competitive landscapes operating in the global market for isoprene.Enquire About this Report:About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:
Motor Control Centers Market - Developments and trends, Potential of the market from 2017-2023

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Market HighlightsThe need for continuous uninterrupted electric supply is growing because of the worldwide rise in population and rapid industrialization.The increasing need of reliable electric supply and subsequent investment in transmission & distribution network, grid expansion, and developing safe electrical infrastructure is expected to drive the growth of the global motor control centers market.The Motor Control Centers Market in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow the fastest during the forecast period. The rapid industrialization, urbanization, and fast economic growth with growing electrical infrastructure in the countries such as India and China, will drive the market for motor control centers.Global Motor Control Centers market is predicted to grow at approximately 5.95% by 2023Request a Sample Copy @Key Players:The key players of global Motor Control Centers market are General Electric (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), ABB, Ltd. (Switzerland), Schneider Electric SE (France), Rockwell Automation (U.S.), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), Hyosung Corporation (South Korea), Larsen & Toubro Limited (India), Technical Control Systems Ltd. (U.K), WEG S.A. (Brazil).Market Research AnalysisIndustrial segment of motor control center is expected to grow at the highest rate in the motor control centers market from 2017-2023.The industrial usage of motor control centers currently holds a large share of total volume of motor control centers and is expected to dominate the market during forecast period. The increase in industrial development across the globe leading to the wide application of small and medium voltage motor control centers in industries for safe operations, will further enhance the industrial motor control centers market during the forecast period.Growing electricity demand coupled with growing concern for safe transmission & distribution of electricity and the increasing grid infrastructure, will boost the global motor control centers market size over the forecast timeline. The motor control centers provides the most appropriate method for grouping electrical motor control, automation, and power distribution in compact and cost-effective package.For further information on this report, visit @Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at the fastest rateRapid urbanization & industrialization in countries such as China, India, Indonesia and Australia demand continuous electric supply for the operations of industries, data centers, emergency services, and commercial & household purposes. Ageing conventional transmission & distribution network often hinders the supply for continuous power. This is creating a lucrative market for motor control centers in this regionTable of Content1 Executive Summary2 Research Methodology2.1 Scope Of The Study2.1.1 Definition2.1.2 Research Objective2.1.3 Assumptions2.1.4 Limitations2.2 Research Process2.2.1 Primary Research2.2.2 Secondary Research2.3 Market Size Estimation2.4 Forecast Model3 Market Dynamics3.1 Market Drivers3.2 Market Inhibitors3.3 Supply/Value Chain Analysis3.4 Porters Five Forces Analysis4 Global Motor Control Centers Market, By Type4.1 Introduction4.2 Conventional Motor Control Centers4.3 Intelligent Motor Control Centers5 Global Motor Control Centers Market, By VoltageContinueAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Gas Meters Market to Register a CAGR Growth of 8.10% between 2016 and 2024

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Most of the companies in the global market for gas meters operate at regional level. Led by Elster Group GmbH, Itron Inc., and Dandong Dongfa Co. Ltd., this market demonstrates a highly competitive nature, states a new study by Transparency Market Research (TMR). In 2015, these three companies collectively accounted for 33.4% of the overall market.View Full Report:These gas meters manufacturers are striving to improve in regional and the global markets and are aggressively focusing on product innovation. Analysts at TMR expect the degree of competition within this market to remain high over the next few years.Request to view Sample Report:According to the research report, the global market for gas meters presented an opportunity worth US$2.3 bn in 2015. Increasing at a CAGR of 8.10% during the period from 2016 to 2024, the market is likely to reach a value of US$4.7 bn by the end of the forecast period. The demand for diaphragm gas meters is higher than other products and is expected to remain so over the years to come, states the market study.Increasing Industrialization to Boost Asia Pacific Gas Meters MarketThe report also presents a regional analysis of the worldwide market for gas meters. As per the report, Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa are the prime regional markets for gas meters across the world. Among these, Asia Pacific has acquired the leading position in the overall market and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period, thanks to the increasing industrialization in this region. China, Japan, Australia, India, and the ASEAN countries have surfaced as the leading domestic markets for gas meters in Asia Pacific. The rising consumption of natural gas in Asia Pacific is projected to propel this regional market substantially in the years to come.Request to download and view full ToC -Europe is also expected to witness healthy growth in the demand for gas meters over the next few years on account of the rising enforcement of stringent regulations regarding the usage of smart meters and the increasing uptake of natural gas as primary fuel. The U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Russia are expected to lead the Europe market for gas meters, states the report.Increasing Enforcement of Favorable Regulations to Propel Global Gas Meters MarketThe growing usage of natural gas as a primary energy source is the key factor behind the growth of the global gas meters market, states the author of this report. With natural gas replacing crude oil in a number of applications, its consumption across the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors has increased tremendously, which is reflecting on the growth of this market greatly.Global Gas Meters Market Report is available at US$ 5795 -On the flip side, the incompetence of gas meters in managing large data volumes generated from smart gas meters, high initial and switching costs, and the rising uptake of hybrid metering systems may restrict the rise of this market to some extent over the forthcoming years. However, the rising enforcement of favorable regulations and laws regarding adoption of smart meters is anticipated to boost this market considerably in the years to come, notes the study.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Smart Meters Hold the Key to Success in Global Narrowband IoT Market

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An oft-heard buzzword in the second decade of the interconnected 21st century globe is IoT or the Internet of Things. Within IoT, there are numerous advantages for opting for narrowband IoT as decreased power consumption and lower costs allow a greater area to be covered by this game-changing technology. Narrowband IoT is a newly developed form of cellular narrowband developed by the 3rd Gen Partnership Project. Narrowband IoT goes a long way in making municipal applications including toll road charges, street light utility metering, and smart parking both effective and efficient. It is possible to deploy narrowband IoT across different frequency bands with a bandwidth of 200 kHz to enable greater indoor coverage when compared to conventional GSM technology. Narrowband IoT is also helped in no small measure by its ten-year battery life, high security levels, low cost per device, and compatibility with present cellular infrastructure. Market Research Reports Search Engine has recently added the Global Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025 report to its repository hub. The narrowband IoT market is anticipated to record an exponential CAGR of 33.12% from 2017 to 2025 and be worth more than US 1 billion by the end of 2022.Request Free Sample Report:Smart Meters Major Application Segment in Narrowband IoT MarketThe narrowband IoT market has been studied in terms of software, hardware, and services. Hardware segment is additionally bifurcated into module and others. Hardware segment comprises a large portion of the revenue in narrowband IoT market largely due to the skyrocketing adoption of narrowband IoT equipment across diverse industry verticals. Nonetheless, the services segment should witness higher growth rates over the duration of the study period. Smart metering has a major share by application in narrowband IoT market because smart meters provide numerous advantages to users. Smart meters can reduce the cost because of manual meter reading and changing of the meter batteries. Smart bins are poised to record higher growth rate during the period while other application areas may hold steady as customers are spending substantial sums on home automation systems because of their safety and security.Browse Full Report with TOC:Europe Leading Region in the Narrowband IoT MarketEurope is one of the largest contributors in narrowband IoT market because the continent has adopted narrowband IoT technology at a quicker rate than other regions. In addition to this, the continent hosts the headquarters of several companies involved in narrowband IoT market. The second largest share in narrowband IoT market is held by the APAC region and this dynamic continent is estimated to record a massive CAGR of 34.28% from 2017 to 2025. The APAC narrowband IoT market growth is primarily on account of smart city projects across the region.Competition Dashboard in the Narrowband IoT MarketThe companies profiled in the narrowband IoT market report are Ericsson Corporation, Huawei Technologies., Quectel Wireless Solutions, Etisalat Corporation, China Unicom, Sierra Wireless, Deutsche Telekom, SEQUANS Communications SA, China Telecom, Qualcomm Technologies Inc., Nokia Corporation, Intel Corporation, ZTWE Corporation, u-blox, and Vodafone Group plc.Enquire About this Report:About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite:
Depth Research of Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) Market forecast from 2017 to 2025 Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a highly non-reactive thermoplastic fluoropolymer. It is chemically inert to most alcohols, acids, aromatic and aliphatic organic compounds, and chlorinated solvents. It offers properties such as low coefficient of friction, excellent intrinsic fire resistance, operability over a wide range of temperatures, good resistance to UV and radiation, capability for thermoforming, and can be easily joined by welding. Polyvinylidene fluoride is processed by various methods such as machining, injection and extrusion. It is widely used in coatings, lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic films.



Polyvinylidene fluoride hoses, pipes and tubes are used in the automobile fuel systems owing to the properties such as impermeable nature and chemical resistivity. In addition to this, PVDF fittings are also used in household and commercial buildings. This has rapidly increased consumption of polyvinylidene fluoride and boosted growth of the PVDF market over the last few years. Polyvinylidene fluoride membranes are highly preferred in various processes, including corrosive chemicals for pumps, manufacturing equipment and transportation containers due to excellent chemical resistance and freedom of operability at elevated temperatures.



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Polyvinylidene Fluoride Market Taxonomy



On the basis of application, the global market is classified into:



Pipes

Fittings

Coatings

Sheets

Tubes

Films

Powder

Membranes

Cables



On the basis of product type, the global market is classified into:



Alpha

Beta

Gamma

Delta



On the basis of end use industry, the global market is segmented into:



Oil & Gas

Chemical processing

New energies

Construction



Polyvinylidene fluoride is used in oil & gas industry due to the enhanced properties such as low permeation, low surface energy, non-sticky and non-flammable nature, excellent chemical resistance, excellent aging, environmental stress crack resistance, consistent mechanical behavior over time and superior ductility /flexibility at low temperatures. Polyvinylidene fluoride coatings provide excellent chemical resistance at elevated temperature range. PVDF films are used for windmills which provide better resistance to tough environmental conditions and lower friction for turbine generators and windmill blades.



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Polyvinylidene Fluoride Market Outlook  Increasing Demand for Durable and Light Weight Materials to Fuel Market Growth



Extensive use of polyvinylidene fluoride in the chemical processing, construction and oil & gas industry has led to rapid increase in the consumption of PVDF. This has amplified the growth of polyvinylidene fluoride market over the last few years. Asia Pacific is projected to be one of the major contributors to the polyvinylidene fluoride market. This is mainly attributed to rapidly growing urbanization coupled with increasing demand for advanced thermo plastic products in the region. In 2015, demand for plastic in China rose by 10% as compared to the previous year. Also, India has a well-established base for raw materials required for the plastic industry. This has attracted many polyvinylidene fluoride manufacturers to establish manufacturing units in the region. This trend is expected to be followed over the forecast period.



Volatile price of polyvinylidene fluoride resin is one of the growth inhibitor for polyvinylidene fluoride market. Expansion in various geographies is one of the key strategies followed by the top players to maintain their position in the extensive use of polyvinylidene fluoride in the chemical processing, construction and oil & gas industries has in turn led to rapid growth of PVDF market over the last few years. Some of the major companies operating in the global polyvinylidene fluoride market are Daikin Industries ltd, Zhuzhou Hongda Polymer Materials Co. Ltd., (Japan), Shanghai 3F New Materials Company Limited, Kureha Corporation, Quadrant Engineering Plastics Products, Solvay S.A., Shanghai Ofluorine Chemical Technology Co. ltd., Dyneon GmbH and Zhejiang Fotech International Co. Ltd.



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North America Oxygen Therapy Devices Market to Witness Comprehensive Growth by 2023

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According to TMRs estimations, the opportunity in the market for oxygen therapy devices in North America, which was US$1.0 bn in 2014, is anticipated to rise at a CAGR of 5.50% during the period from 2015 to 2023 and reach a value of US$1.58 bn by the end of the forecast period.View Report Details@The North America market for oxygen therapy devices reports its presence across the U.S. and Canada. Among the two, the U.S. has captured the lions share in this market and is expected to retain it over the period of the forecast on the grounds of the significant rise in the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) in this economy. Canada, however, is projected to provide more promising opportunities for growth in the near future due to the increasingly expanding base of the geriatric population.The research report considers oxygen source equipment and oxygen delivery devices as the main types of products available in the North America market for oxygen therapy devices. Oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, and liquid oxygen devices are important oxygen source equipment and venturi masks, bag valve masks, simple oxygen masks, nasal cannula, non-rebreather masks, and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) masks are the key oxygen delivery devices used for the treatment of a number of chronic diseases in this region. The oxygen concentrators in the oxygen source equipment segment and venturi masks in the oxygen delivery devices segment are enjoying a much greater than others demand and are projected to remain doing so in the years to come, reports the research study.View and Download TOC of North America Oxygen Therapy Devices Market Research Report@The increasing incidence rate of respiratory diseases, such as asthma, COPD, respiratory distress syndrome, and obstructive sleep apnea has emerged as the prime factor behind the growth of the market for oxygen therapy devices in North America, says a TMR analyst. Apart from this, a surge in the preference for home healthcare and the significant advancements in technologies are also boosting this market remarkably and are expected to continue doing so over the next few years.On the other hand, the augmenting inclination of consumers towards refurbished tools and equipment, high cost incurred in oxygen therapy devices, and the dearth of favorable reimbursement policies may impact overall revenue of this market adversely, states the report.Request and Download Sample Report@The North America oxygen therapy devices market is characterized by the presence of established companies in a large number. Teleflex Inc., Smiths Medical, ResMed, Koninklijke Philips, MAQUET Holding, Invacare Corp., Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, DeVilbiss Healthcare, CareFusion Corp., and Chart Industries are some of the leading vendors of oxygen therapy devices across North America, finds a new study by Transparency Market Research (TMR). These players are constantly striving to innovate and bring in technological advancements to devices in order to gain an edge over the competitors in this market, notes the research study.Buy Full North America Oxygen Therapy Devices Market Report@About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Pyridine market by Regional Analysis, Key Players and Forecast | 2021

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According to a new market report published by Persistence Market Research, titled Global Market Study on Pyridine: Increasing Demand for Synthetic Pyridine to Drive Growth During Forecast Period 2015 -2025 , the global pyridine market is estimated to reach US$ 1,741.4 Mn by 2025 from US$ 786.4 Mn in 2015.View Full Report:Pyridine is a toxic and soluble flammable liquid base with a distinct, strong odor. It is often considered the parent compound of several naturally occurring organic compounds. It is the preferred choice as a precursor to agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. Initially, pyridine was extracted from coal tar or obtained as a by-product of coal gasification. The process was very expensive and inefficient as coal tar constituted only 0.10.2% of pyridine after extraction. Currently, pyridine and its derivatives are produced synthetically. The most commonly used reactions for pyridine synthesis are Chichibabin synthesis, Bonnemann cyclization, and Cobalt-catalyzed alkyne-nitrile cyclotrimerization, etc.Request to view Sample Report:By region, the market in Asia Pacific has been estimated to account for 51.6% volume share of the overall pyridine market by 2015 end, followed by Europe and North America. Due to increase in usage of pyridine and its derivatives in agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals segments in Asia Pacific, the pyridine market in the region is projected to expand at a higher than average CAGR of 9.9% over 20152025 in terms of revenue. The U.S. pyridine market, which has been estimated to account for 89.5% revenue share of the overall market in North America by 2015 end, is expected to be driven by increasing adoption of pyridine and its derivatives in chemicals and pharmaceuticals segments. The pyridine market in the Middle East & Africa is estimated to register increased revenue due to a growth of pharmaceuticals and chemicals segments in the region. Europe market is anticipated to witness lower revenue growth in the coming years as compared to other regions due to the economic downturn in the region.Globally, pyridine N-oxide segment volume is estimated to expand at a lower than average CAGR of 7.4% over 20152025. Demand for 2-Methyl-5-Ethylpyridine (MEP) and gamma-picoline is expected grow significantly due to increasing application of these product types in chemicals segment. Alpha picoline finds wide application as a solvent in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food industries. The segment is projected to exhibit moderate growth over the forecast period. Key growth contributor for alpha picoline segment is 2-vinylpyridine, which is used as a raw material for styrene-butadiene-2-vinylpyridine terpolymer latexes (SBV latexes). Beta picoline is used to produce Vitamin B3. In terms of value, beta picoline segment is projected to experience significant growth rate over the forecast period. This is mainly attributed to rising demand for niacin in developing regions such as APAC and Middle East & Africa.Request to download and view full ToC -Asia Pacific is the most attractive region in terms of CAGR and market share in the global pyridine market. India has been estimated to account for 24.4 % of the total APAC pyridine market by 2015 end due to expected increase in domestic pyridine production by 40%. In terms of value, gamma-picoline segment is expected to experience the highest growth rate during the forecast period in the Asia Pacific market. The Middle East & Africa accounts for the smallest market share. However, it is expected to expand at a CAGR of 9.9% in terms of value over the forecast period. Food segment is expected to expand at the highest CAGR in terms of volume during the forecast period in the Middle East & Africa market. Pyridine manufacturers are strengthening their presence in the regulated markets of Japan, North America and Europe as well as in key emerging markets. They are also focusing on local tie-ups and out-licensing of local companies in order to strengthen their regional presence.Global Pyridine Market Report is available at US$ 5795 -About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Market to Rear Excessive Growth During 2025

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According to the report, small molecule API type segment holds promising investment opportunities for market participants on account of the numerous off-patent events incurred in the last five years coupled with a strong penetration of small scale manufacturers in Asia. On the basis region, APACs API market was valued at US$ 61.4 Bn in 2016 and is projected to witness the highest CAGR of 5.1 % during the forecast period to reach a valuation of US$ 95.6 Bn. This is primarily owing to the leadership of China and India in SMEs as well as their strong distribution network in overseas markets especially in US, South Africa, and Europe. Asian pharmaceuticals CMOs are competing on the basis of cost and timeline for API manufacturing and are attracting U.S.-based pharmaceuticals companies that are willing to outsource manufacturing requirements. Meanwhile, Europe is projected to be the second fastest growing market for API and is expected to reach US$ 42.5 Bn by 2025-end. Manufacturers in Europe are prioritizing high-quality standards, advanced manufacturing installations, and high purity of intermediates (API).View Report Details@An active pharmaceutical ingredient is used in a finished pharmaceutical product (FPP), intended to carry certain pharmacological actions or otherwise have a direct effect in the diagnosis, cure, treatment, mitigation or prevention of various diseases, or in some cases in restoring, correcting or modifying human physiological functions. Sales of pharmaceutical ingredient are on the rise due to a substantial increase in high-potency API (HPAPI) and peptide API manufacturing. A new study conducted by Persistence Market Research reveals that the US$ 151.9 Bn global active pharmaceutical ingredient market will grow to US$ 158.3 Bn by 2017 end, reflecting a Y-o-Y growth rate of 4.2%. This market is estimated to further increase to US$ 225.2 Bn, expanding at a CAGR of 4.5% over the forecast period (2016  2025).View and Download TOC of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Market Research Report@Higher emphases on the development of novel therapeutics that contain high-potency active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs). Ramped-up investments from large-scale API manufacturers and contract manufacturers in production of high potency API. The lower cost of labor cost and abundance of raw materials continue to facilitate the growth of API market in the Asia region.Faster approvals of API based peptide and diabetes management drugs. Over the recent past, a range of peptide drugs has been approved treatment of type 2 Diabetes Mellitus including Albiglutide (GSK), Dulaglutide (Eli Lilly), Exenatide (Amylin Pharmaceuticals) and Glucagon (Xeris Pharmaceuticals).Request and Download Sample Report@Competitive DashboardJohnson Matthey, Siegfried, Almac, PolyPeptide Laboratories, AmbioPharm, Inc., Corden Pharma, Pepscan, BCN peptide, Provence Technologies Groups, SennChemicals AG, Avecia OligoMedicines, Santaris Pharma - acquired by Roche in 2014, ST Pharm Oligo Center, Cepia Sanofi, Biospring, Pfizer CenterSource, Symbiotec Pharma Lab Pvt. Ltd., Gadea Grupo Farmaceutico, STEROID S.p.A., Dolder AG, Dalton Pharma Services, FarmaBios Spa, Dextra Laboratories Limited, GlycoSyn, Inalco Pharma, Sussex Research, Pfanstiehl, Inc., Noramco, Inc., Johnson Matthey, Siegfried, Rhodes Technologies, Ash Stevens, Fermion (public), FARMHISPANIA GROUP, Olon SpA, Lonza Group are some of the leading companies operating in the global active pharmaceutical ingredient market. Currently, many of the pharmaceutical companies are focused on outsourcing of API manufacturing to avoid large capital investments in setting up of API manufacturing facilities. This has accelerated the demand for CMOs in API manufacturing industry, which is dominated by small to medium manufacturers.Buy Full Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Market Report@About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Forchlorfenuron Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type And Application, Forecast To 2022

Forchlorfenuron market

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MarketResearchNest.com adds Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Forchlorfenuron Market 2017 Forecast To 2022new report to its research database. The report spread across in a 124 pages with table and figures in it.This report studies the Forchlorfenuron market, Forchlorfenuron is a new plant growth regulator registered for use on grapes raisins, and kiwifruit. Forchlorfenuron is a phenyl urea compound. Forchloefenuron is a cytokinin, which improves fruit size, fruit set, cluster weight and cold storage in grapes and kiwifruits.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Forchlorfenuron 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.Browse full table of contents and data tables atMarket Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversAlzChem, Anyang Quanfeng Biological, Zhengzhou Zhuoyue, Yinhai Chemical, Zhongke Chemical, Cheng Ming, Yinhe Chemical, Xinglian, Henan Door Chemical, Runtong.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, coversKT-30 99%, KT-30 98%, Others.Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoKiwi, Grapes, Watermelon, Others.Order a Purchase Report Copy atThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Forchlorfenuron market.Chapter 1, to describe Forchlorfenuron Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Forchlorfenuron, with sales, revenue, and price of Forchlorfenuron, 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 Forchlorfenuron, 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, Forchlorfenuron market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Forchlorfenuron sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceRequest a sample copy atAbout Us:MarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on Global industries, organizations, products, and trends.Contact UsMr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070(U.S)+44-20-3290-4151(U.K)Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Urolithiasis Management Devices Market will exhibit a healthy 4.5% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2024

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Despite the presence of a large number of regional players, the global market for urolithiasis management devices is dominated by few large vendors having substantial budgets for research and development of new technologies and innovative products, observes TMR in a recent report. Companies such as Boston Scientific Corporation, C. R. Bard, Inc., and Cook Group command prominent positions in the global market owing to their strong geographic presence, excellent distribution networks, and the financial power to acquire niche device developers across the globe. The degree of competition is high in the maturing market, with frequent changes to the development dynamics owing to rapid advancements in supporting technologies.Request to Download and View Full TOC @Transparency Market Research estimates that the global urolithiasis management devices market will expand at a healthy 4.5% CAGR over the period between 2016 and 2024. The markets worth is estimated to be US$1.26 bn in 2016 and is expected to rise to US$1.78 bn by 2024.urolithiasis-management-devices-marketRequest to View Sample Report @Asia Pacific to Emerge as Most Promising Regional MarketOf the key urolithiasis management device types available in the global market, the segment of shockwave lithotripters is presently the dominant revenue generator, with a valuation of US$789.2 mn in 2015, and is expected to account for a share of 65% in the global market by 2016. Of the key end users of urolithiasis management devices, the segment of clinics led the global market, holding a share of 55% of the markets overall revenues in 2015. Geography-wise, North America led with 36% share in the global market in the same year. Over the period between 2016 and 2024, however, Asia Pacific is projected to emerge as the most promising regional market for urolithiasis management devices owing to the large geriatric population and a rising base of high-income patients.Buy Full Urolithiasis Management Devices Market Report @Technological Advancements to Stimulate Market GrowthThe market for urolithiasis management devices is primarily driven owing to the rising prevalence of kidney stones among the global population. Factors such as obesity, changing lifestyles, and ageing are the chief causes triggering the formation of kidney stones among humans. Studies state that at least 30% of the worlds population is presently obese or overweight. Geriatrics (people with more than 60 years of age) account for more than 900 mn people of the worlds population presently. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs states that this number will increase by 56% between 2015 and 2030 and rise to 1.4 bn by 2030.Browse Full Report @Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market ResearchState Tower90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453
Non-Life Insurance in Uruguay Market | MarketResearchReports.biz

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Latest industry research report on: Non-Life Insurance in Uruguay Market | Industry Size, Share, Research, Reviews, Analysis, Strategies, Demand, Growth, Segmentation, Parameters, ForecastsTimetrics 'Non-Life Insurance in Uruguay, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2021' report provides a detailed outlook by product category for the Uruguayan non-life insurance segment, and a comparison of the Uruguayan insurance industry with its regional counterparts.Complete Report Details @It provides values for key performance indicators such as written premium, incurred loss, loss ratio, commissions and expenses, combined ratio, total assets, total investment income and retentions during the review period (20122016) and forecast period (20162021).The report also analyzes distribution channels operating in the segment, gives a comprehensive overview of the Uruguayan economy and demographics, explains the various types of natural hazard and their impact on the Uruguayan insurance industry, and provides detailed information on the competitive landscape in the country.Request For Sample Report @The report brings together Timetrics research, modeling and analysis expertise, giving insurers access to information on segment dynamics and competitive advantages, and profiles of insurers operating in the country. The report also includes details of insurance regulations, and recent changes in the regulatory structure.SummaryTimetrics 'Non-Life Insurance in Uruguay, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2021' report provides in-depth market analysis, information and insights into the Uruguayan non-life insurance segment, including:The Uruguayan non-life segments detailed outlook by product categoryA comprehensive overview of the Uruguayan economy and demographicsA comparison of the Uruguayan non-life insurance segment with its regional counterpartsThe various distribution channels in the Uruguayan non-life insurance segmentDetailed analysis of natural hazards and their impact on the Uruguayan insurance industryDetails of the competitive landscape in the non-life insurance segment in UruguayDetails of regulatory policy applicable to the Uruguayan insurance industryScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the non-life insurance segment in Uruguay:It provides historical values for the Uruguayan non-life insurance segment for the reports 20122016 review period, and projected figures for the 20162021 forecast period.It offers a detailed analysis of the key categories in the Uruguayan non-life insurance segment, and market forecasts to 2021.It provides a comparison of the Uruguayan non-life insurance segment with its regional counterpartsIt analyzes the various distribution channels for non-life insurance products in Uruguay.It analyzes various natural hazards and their impact on the Uruguayan insurance industryIt profiles the top non-life insurance companies in Uruguay, and outlines the key regulations affecting them.Buy Now @Reasons To BuyMake strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast market data related to the Uruguayan non-life insurance segment, and each category within it.Understand the demand-side dynamics, key market trends and growth opportunities in the Uruguayan non-life insurance segment.Assess the competitive dynamics in the non-life insurance segment.Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key product categories.Gain insights into key regulations governing the Uruguayan insurance industry, and their impact on companies and the industry's future.Key HighlightsThe non-life segment is highly concentrated, with the five leading insurers accounting for 92.7% of the segments gross written premium in 2016.In October 2016, Fairfax Financial Holding Ltd agreed to acquire AIG Inc.s operations in Uruguay and other Latin American countries including Argentina, Columbia, Chile and Venezuela. The deal will strengthen Fairfaxs network in Latin America.Property insurance was the second-largest category, accounting for 31.2% of the non-life direct written premium in 2016.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Contact UsState Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
ESD Bags and Pouch Packaging Market is Projected to Reach US$495.0 by the end of 2022

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Global ESD Bags & Pouch Packaging Market: SnapshotESD (electrostatic discharge) bags and pouch packaging is characterized of providing a partial or complete protective shield from static charges for various ESD-sensitive items, notably electronics and electrical devices and equipment. Commonly made of polymers or metals, the packaging is often resistant to electrostatic discharge and shields the content of the packaging from static charges in different external environments. ESD bags and pouch find substantial demand for storing and in shipping of electronics and they provide the required visibility to identify such sensitive items. ESD packaging has been found to be useful in providing a static safe environment required in a number of end-use industries including electrical and electronics, automobile, manufacturing, aerospace, and healthcare. The use of numerous military equipment world over, such as fire control and navigation systems that are highly sensitive to ESD has intensified the need for such bags and pouches.For more information on this report, fill the form @The ESD bags and pouch packaging market is estimated to be valued at US$358.9 Mn in 2017 and is projected to reach US$495.0 by the end of 2022. The market is projected to register a CAGR of 6.6% from 2017 to 2022.Conductive and Dissipative Polymers form Dominant Material and Additive Type for ESD PackagingBased on material and additive type, the various segments are conductive and dissipative polymers, metal, and additive. Of these, the largest is ESD bags and pouch made of conductive and dissipative polymers. The substantial demand for these materials types is attributed to their versatility of applications in the comprehensive protection of ESD-sensitive components. The segment is worth US$311.2 Mn in 2017, representing a whopping share of 86.7% and is estimated to reach a worth of US$ 433.9 Mn by 2022 end. The annual growth of the segment is pegged at US$ 24.5 Mn from 2017 to 2022, rising at a CAGR of 6.9% during the same forecast timeline. Among all material and additive types, this segment is projected to hold 87.6% share of the market by the end of 2022.Asia Pacific excluding Japan to Hold Major Revenue Share throughout Forecast PeriodThe various regional markets for ESD bags and pouch packaging are Latin America, North America, the Middle East and Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), and Japan. Among these, the APEJ ESD bags & pouch packaging market is predicted to be the most attractive regional market and is anticipated to hold the dominant share throughout the forecast timeline. The regional market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 7.0% during 20172022 and is anticipated to create an opportunity of US$68.3 Mn over this period. The substantial demand for ESD bags and pouch is fueled by a burgeoning electronics and semiconductor sector in the region, thereby propelling the demand for packaging to protect the buildup or rejection of static charges in devices and components.The absolute opportunity contributed by the APEJ market is estimated at US$ 68.3 Mn from 2017 to 2022.Browse Market Research Report @Europe and Japan to Offer Promising OpportunitiesEurope and Japan are prominent regional markets for ESD bags and pouch packaging with the demand driven by the need for ESD shielding for a number of sensitive devices, equipment, and component. Europe ESD bags & pouch packaging market hold a share of 17.2% of the global ESD bags & pouch packaging market vis-a-vis revenue by the end of 2017 end.Meanwhile, the Japan ESD bags & pouch packaging market is estimated at 6.7% share of revenue in the global market by 2017. The regional market is projected to gain a share estimated at 8 basis points (BPS) between 2017 and 2022.Competitive AnalysisKey players profiled in this report are Desco Industries, Inc., Tekins Limited, Elcom (U.K.) Ltd., GWP Group Limited, Botron Company Inc., Conductive Containers, Inc., Conductive Containers, Inc., Electrotek Static Controls Pvt Ltd, and Statclean Technology (S) Pte Ltd. A number of players are focused on launching ESD bags and pouch made of advanced materials with excellent barrier properties, in order to stay ahead of the pack.About TMRTMR is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Orthopedic Splints and Casts Market  Global Industry Insights, Trends, Size, Share, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 20172025

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Splints and casts are orthopedic devices used to protect and support fractured bones and joints. They help the injured limb to keep the bone in place unless it is fully heal. Casts and splints are often made from fiberglass or plaster, generally splints are made of acrylic, polyethylene foam, plaster of Paris, or aluminum, which can be easily molded to the shape of injured arm or leg. Splints are also known as half-casts which are easier and faster to use and they can be easily tighten or loosen as per the injured leg or arm. Readymade splints are available in many different shapes and sizes. In some cases splints are used immediately at the time of operating an injured leg or arm.Request to download and view Sample Report:Generally casts are external devices used for only certain types of fractures normally those that are simple, closed where there is no exposure of the bone through the skin surface and located below the elbow or knee basically casts are made of fiberglass resin. There are many types of splints and casts such as ulnar gutter, radial gutter, thumb spica, posterior knee, off-the-shelf immobilizer long arm posterior, double sugar-tong and single sugar-tong.The increase in fracture rate around the world is another supporting factor for the growth of orthopedic splints and casts market. As per the stats published by International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men suffers from any type of fracture annually which results in pain, loss of quality of life and debilitation. Furthermore, around 33% among all adults who suffer from a hip fracture become physically impaired and physically dependent. Also, as per Osteoporosis Canada, at least 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will suffer from osteoporotic fracture during their lifespan whereas, osteoporosis causes around 70-90% of 30,000 hip fractures yearly in Canada.Orthopedic splints and casts market by taxonomyOrthopedic Splints and Casts Market, by Product Type:CastsPlaster CastsCasting TapesCast CuttersCasting Tools and AccessoriesSplintsFiberglass SplintsPlaster SplintsOther Splints (Polyester, Neoprene, Plastic, Metal, etc.)Orthopedic splints and casts market, by GeographyNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle EastAfricaRequest to download and view full ToC:Rise in aging and obese population expected to support the growth for orthopedic splints and casts marketThe North America is expected to contribute a major share followed by Europe in orthopedic splints and casts market due to rise in obese population among these regions. As per National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), in 2014, 78 million adults and 12 million children were obese in U.S. furthermore, it is expected that this number will increase at high rate in the near future due to unhealthy habits and lack of physical activity. According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), in 20112014, the prevalence of obese was around 36% in adults and17% in youth.Also, the high growth is expected from Asia Pacific region in forecast period supported by increase in number of obese population and number of fractures. World Health Organization (WHO) published stats in 2014, that in China around 6.9% adults were obese and in India 4.9% of adults were obese out of total population. This number is expected to grow at high rate supported by rapid economic development among emerging countries such as India and China.Aging is more liable to bone disorders such as arthritis, back pain and osteoporosis. The same is for the obese, wherein the accumulation of excess fat and cholesterol results the increase in body weight, causing pressure on the joints in the lower extremity. According to World Health Organization (WHO) worldwide obesity in 2014, was more than 1.9 billion in adults and the number will rise in the near future supported by increase in economic development and decline in physical activity among developed regions.Browse Research Report At:Key players in orthopedic splints and casts market includes:BSN medical GmbHDJOLLCOrfit Industries n.v.Ossur hf.Prime Medical, Inc.Spencer Italia S.r.l.Stryker CorporationDeRoyal Industries, Inc.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comVisit Coherent Market Insights Blog @Connect with us on LinkedIn @
Pet Products 2017 Global Market  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies and Forecasts

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Summary"Top Trends in Pet Products 2017: Exploring latest innovation trends in pet food and pet care", explores the latest consumer and innovation trends in pet food and pet care.GET SAMPLE REPORT @Pet ownership globally is on the rise, and this report explores innovation opportunities for brands to capitalize on this growth. Humanization continues to emerge as the overriding theme; as owners' lifestyles, consumption habits and preferences influence the products they choose for their pets.Scope- Two thirds of consumers globally owned a pet in 2016, up from 60% in 2014.- Pet owners are more experimental when choosing new pet food products than pet care products.- Almost half of pet owners globally are highly attentive to the ingredients in products they buy for their pets.Reasons to buy- Explore four key innovation trends in pet products, covering new routes to humanization and premiumization in the category.- Identify how pet product brands can use innovation to address key human trends that are impacting what pet owners want for their pets, including health and sensory perspectives.- Learn what is driving pet owners behavior using latest consumer research to inform marketing and new product development decisions.- Access valuable strategic take-outs to help direct future decision-making and inform new product development in the pet products space.Table of Content: Key Points1. Introduction2. Innovation Trends in Pet ProductsHumanized HabitsFresh Perspectives#CleanPetsPampered Pets3. The Future4. AppendixContinuedACCESS REPORT @Get in touch:LinkedIn:Twitter:Facebook:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Global Laminate Flooring Market projected to expand at a steady CAGR over the forecast period 2022

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Laminate flooring (also called floating wood tile in the United States) is a multi-layer synthetic flooring product fused together with a lamination process. Laminate flooring simulates wood (or sometimes stone) with a photographic applique layer under a clear protective layer. The inner core layer is usually composed of melamine resin and fiber board materials.Get a Sample of Laminate Flooring Market research report from Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Laminate Flooring 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.Major Players Included in Laminate Flooring Market:Mohawk IndustriesShaw IndustriesCLASSEN GroupTarkettPower DekorArmstrongKastamonu EntegreKronoflooringHomeniceFormica GroupNatureAnd Many OthersScope of the Laminate Flooring Industry on the basis of region:North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Browse full Report with table of contents and data tables For Laminate Flooring Market Report @Market Segment by Type, coversThin Laminate FlooringThick Laminate FlooringMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoResidentialCommercialAbout Global Info Reports:GIR Market Research is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. GIR Market Research is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:+1-888-376-9998 (US)Email- sales@globalinforeports.comWeb-Blogs-
Global Dental 3D Printing Market is likely to reach a valuation of US$3,427.1 mn by 2025

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The report on the dental 3D printing market analyzes the current and future scenario of the global market. Increase in prevalence of dental caries and tooth loss, advent of new technology for development of low cost dental 3D printers, and increase in preference for digital dentistry over traditional method by dental technicians and physicians, are the major drivers of the global dental 3D printing market.The dental 3D printing market report comprises an elaborate executive summary, which includes a market snapshot that provides information about various segments of the market. It also provides information and data analysis of the global dental 3D printing market with respect to the segments based on technology, material, application and geography.Click to get sample PDF with TOC:A detailed qualitative analysis of drivers and restraints of the market and opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. In addition, the section comprises porters five forces analysis to understand the competitive landscape in the market. This section of the report also provides market attractiveness analysis, by geography and market share analysis by key players, thus presenting a thorough analysis of the overall competitive scenario in the global dental 3D printing market.Global Dental 3D Printing Market: SegmentationBased on technology, the dental 3D printing market is segmented as vat photopolymerization, fused deposition modeling (FDM), polyJet technology, selective laser sintering (SLS), and others. The vat photopolymerization is further segmented into stereolithography (SLA) and digital light processing (DLP).The technology market segments have been analyzed based on available approved technology and products, cost-effectiveness, and preference for technology by dental physicians. The market size and forecast for each of these segments have been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025, along with their respective CAGRs for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025, considering 2016 as the base year.Based on material, dental 3D printing market is segmented into metal, photopolymer, ceramic and others. Based on application, dental 3D printing market is segmented into dental implants, dentures, crowns & bridges, and others. The market segments have been extensively analyzed based on demand for dental care, available treatment, and geographical coverage. The market size and forecast in terms of US$ Mn for each segment have been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025. The report also provides the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) for each market segment for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025, considering 2016 as the base year.Global Dental 3D Printing Market: Regional OutlookGeographically, the global dental 3D printing market has been categorized into five major regions and the key countries in the respective region: North America (the U.S., Canada), Europe (the U.K., Germany, Russia, France, Spain, Italy, and Rest of Europe), Asia Pacific (Japan, India, China, Australia & New Zealand and Rest of Asia Pacific), Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, and Rest of Latin America) and Middle East & Africa (South Africa, GCC countries and Rest of Middle East & Africa). The market size and forecast for each of these regions and the mentioned countries have been provided for the period from 2015 to 2025, along with their respective CAGRs for the forecast period from 2017 to 2025, considering 2016 as the base year. The research study also covers the competitive scenario in these regions.Enquiry:Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:The report also profiles major players in the global dental 3D printing market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies, and recent developments. Major players profiled in this report include Asiga, Concept Laser GmbH, 3D Systems, Inc., EnvisionTEC, Inc., Formlabs, Inc., Renishaw plc., DWS System, Prodways Group, Stratasys Ltd., SLM Solutions and othersResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-621-2074Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:
User Provisioning Market - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast | 2022

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MarketStudyReport.com Add New Global User Provisioning Market Research Report 2017 to its research database. The report presents a deep study of the market growth factors and drivers. The report spread across 101 pages with 115 table and figures in it.The User Provisioning Market Report offers an inclusive and decision-making overview, including definitions, classifications and its applications. The User Provisioning market is anticipated to reflect a positive growth trend in forthcoming years. The essential driving forces behind the growth and popularity of User Provisioning market is analyzed detailed in this report.This report studies the global User Provisioning market, analyzes and researches the User Provisioning development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, like Oracle, Atos, IBM, Hitachi ID Systems, Dell, OneLogin, SAP.Request a Free sample PDF of this research to evaluate more:Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers United States, EU, Japan, China, India, Southeast AsiaMarket segment by Type, User Provisioning can be split into RoleManagement, Password Management, User Log Management, User Governance and ComplianceMarket segment by Application, User Provisioning can be split into IT, HR, Finance, OthersIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Get Discount on this Report:Table of Content for Global User Provisioning Market Size Research Report:Industry Overview of User Provisioning MarketGlobal User Provisioning Market Size Competition Analysis by PlayersCompany (Top Players) ProfilesGlobal User Provisioning Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)United States User Provisioning Market Development Status and OutlookEU User Provisioning Development Status and OutlookJapan User Provisioning Development Status and OutlookMarket Forecast by Regions and Application (2017-2022)User Provisioning Market Size DynamicsMarket Effect Factors AnalysisResearch Finding/ConclusionAppendixFor More Info on Market Research @Related Reports: -Global Duty-Free Retailing Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022This report studies the Duty-Free Retailing market. Duty-free shops (or stores) are retail outlets that are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country. Which products can be sold duty-free vary by jurisdiction, as well as how they can be sold, and the process of calculating the duty or refunding the duty component.Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Market Study ReportThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:News:
Textile Packaging Market to Witness a Pronounce Growth During 2024

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Packaging textiles comprise all types of textile packing material for industrial, agricultural, and other goods. Textiles are usually preferred as packing materials, where scratch free and safe handling of materials is expected. Textile bags are extensively used for tea packaging. Non-woven textiles offer supreme abrasion resistance, good barrier performance, balanced waterproof properties and air-permeability, excellent tearing and tensile strength, highly uniformed appearance.Soft luggage bags such as totes, duffle, uprights, and sky bags are made out of woven fabrics such as nylon and polyester that are light weight and durable. Woven textiles are tear-resistant, light weight, and offer high tensile strength. Sandbags made from jute are widely used as temporary protection against floods. Woven sacks coated according to applications can be used for packing cement, chemicals, fertilizers, thermo plastic raw material, cattle feed, food grains, sugar, fertilizers, and food grains.Request a sample pdf Copy of report@Textile Packaging Market TaxonomyOn the basis of end use industry, the global market is classified into:AgriculturalFood and beveragesIndustrialConstructionChemicalsOn the basis of product type, the global market is classified into:Polyolefin Woven SacksFlexible Intermediate Bulk ContainersLeno BagsWrapping FabricJute HessianJute SacksSoft luggageNon-woven fabrics are used for packaging beverage packing canisters, breathable bags, confectionary packaging, food pads and flower wrap. Leno bags are widely used for packing & preserving vegetables and fruits. Wrapping fabric is made from HDPE/PP or from cotton canvas. Wrapping fabric weighs from 50 to 200 gms and is available in sizes which vary from 20 to 210 cms. The fabric is generally packed in roll form and can be run on automatic cutting and stitching machines. Jute Hessian also known as Burlap is a jute fabric which is used for shopping bags, wrappers, wall coverings, etc. Sacking bags are used for storing agro based products as they are treated with vegetable oils to remove the ill effects of hydrocarbons. In addition to this textiles are used in industrial packaging for tufted carpets, vinyl flooring and wall to wall carpets. Its highly versatile properties and wide application base are projected to fuel growth of the textile packaging market over the foreseeable future.Ask for Customization @Textile Packaging Market Outlook  Increasing Demand for Eco-friendly and Durable Materials to Sustain Market GrowthIncreasing demand for biodegradable and reusable packages and containers is one of the major factors propelling the growth of textile packaging market. Also, stringent regulations on the use of plastic packaging materials have augmented the growth of the market. The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, passed the Plastic Waste Management Rules in 2016 which includes phasing out the manufacturing and use of non-recyclable multilayered plastic used for packaging and other purposes. Asia Pacific, followed by North America are the major contributors to the global textile packaging market. Rapid growth of textile industries in developing countries such as India and China is one of the factors boosting the growth of textile packaging industry in the region. According to the Working Group on Textiles and Jute Industry, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, the Indian Packtech segment was anticipated to grow at a rate of 22% accounting to US$ 11,782 million by 2016-17. Packtech segment includes flexible packaging materials made from textiles used for packing goods from agricultural, food and beverages, consumer and other industry. This trend is expected to be followed over the forecast period.Innovating new products for a wide array of applications is one of the key strategies adopted by the top players in the textile packaging market. Continuous research and development is going on for developing high performance bio-degradable fibers, known as 'Intelligent Material' or 'Smart Material' which will be capable of altering their characteristics according to outdoor conditions, will give tremendous drive to the application of textile packaging in national defense application. Some of the companies operating in the global textile packaging market are Sonvigo SA, Acme Bag Company, NATco global, DNT NONWOVEN FABRICS, Beaulieu Technical Textiles, Cheviot Co Ltd, Gloster Jute Mills Ltd., Texplast Industries and Nobletex Industries Ltd.Browse full reportAbout Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702
Veterinary Surgical Devices Market Worth will reach USD 1.029 billion by 2021

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According to the report Veterinary Surgical Devices Market By Products (Sutures, Foreceps, Scissors, Electrosurgery Instruments, Cannulas, Staplers And Accessories, Others), By Animals (Canines, Felines, Large Animals), By Application (Soft Tissue, Sterilization, Gynecology, Orthopedic Surgery), And By Region - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, And Forecasts (2016  2021) published by Market Data Forecast, the Global Veterinary Surgical Devices Market was worth USD 748 million in 2016 and estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 6.6%, to reach USD 1.029 billion by 2021. With the increasing companion animal population and growing concern regarding pets the market is growing at a steady pace.Browse 170 Pages of research report on Global Veterinary Surgical Devices Market @A surgical instrument is a specially designed tool or device for performing specific actions of carrying out desired effects during a surgery or operation, such as modifying biological tissue, or to provide access for viewing it. Over time, many different kinds of surgical instruments and tools have been invented. Veterinary surgical instruments help veterinarians to perform these surgical operations on animals.The growth of Veterinary Surgical Devices market is driven by growing companion animal population coupled with pet insurance, increasing individual awareness regarding animal health, rising animal health expenditure. Also increase in number of veterinary practitioners, rise in their income levels in developed regions is going to assist in growth of the market. However, shortage of veterinarians in many developing regions, high pet care costs may hamper the growth of market. Furthermore, increasing awareness among individuals in developing regions regarding animal health provides great future potential for the market.The Global Veterinary Surgical Devices market is segmented based on Product, Animal and Application. Based on Products  Sutures, Foreceps, Scissors, Electrosurgery Instruments, Cannulas, Staplers and accessories and others. Based on Animals  Canines, Felines and Large Animals. Based on Applications  Soft tissue, Sterilization, Gynecology, Orthopedic Surgery.Based on Geographical analysis the market is separated into regions of North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. North America is leading the market while Europe is at second place. Higher adoption rate and favourable reimbursement policies favoured the dominance of North America. Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR due to increasing awareness regarding animal health and increasing livestock population. Product wise Sutures, Staples & accessories are holding major share in the market.For more information about report, Request Sample Market Brochure @Some of the key players dominating this market are: B.Braun Vet Care GmbH Medtronic Plc Ethicon Inc JORGEN KRUSSE A/S Jorgensen Laboratories Smiths Group Plc Neogen Corporation Integra LifeSciences Holding Corporation STERIS Corporation DRE Veterinary GerMedUSA Inc Surgical Holdings Sklar Surgical Instruments World Precision Instruments Inc Surgical DirectEnquire more @About Us:Market Data Forecast is a firm working in the area of market research and business intelligence. With rich experience in research across various business domains, we cater to the needs of both individual and corporate clients. Our analyst team comprises expert professionals in market research, who with their collective knowledge and skillset dedicatedly serve clients from various industries and regions.Media Contact:Abhishek ShuklaSales Manager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626; Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@marketdataforecast.comVisit MarketDataForecast Blog @
Worldwide Benzoquinone market 2017 industry, trends, size, growth, analysis and forecasts 2022

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Benzoquinone MarketSummary:The Global Benzoquinone Market Report 2017 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Benzoquinone industry.This report provides an overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Benzoquinone market examination is provided for the worldwide market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions development status.The report focuses on Worlds major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, applications and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out.This report presents a comprehensive overview of the 1,4-Benzoquinone market in Europe, which shares the history data information from 2012 to 2016, and forecast from 2017 to 2022.This report provides a detailed analysis of the market, including its dynamics, structure, characteristics, main players, growth and demand drivers, etc. As a Detailed Analysis report, it covers all details inside analysis and opinion in 1,4-Benzoquinone industry.Do you wish to check sample of this report? @This report focuses Global and Europe market, including details as following:Key PlayersAladdin(US)Alfa Aesar(US)Xiamen Hisunny Chemical(CN)Haihang Industry(CN)Merck Millipore(DE)Shanghai Jianglai(CN)Sigma-Aldrich(US)Yancheng Fengyang Chemical(CN)Shandong Fine Chemical(CN)Zhonglan Industry(CN)Manus Aktteva Biopharma(IN)Xi'an Ruilian(CN)Shanxi Jinjin Chemical(CN)Xiantao Kanghua Technology(CN)Odyssey(CN)Qidong A&P Chemical Factory(CN)BECKMANN CHEMIKALIEN KG(NL)Key RegionsEuropeGermanyUnited KingdomFranceItalySpainRussiaNetherlandPolandOthersUnited StatesChinaJapanIndiaOthersKey Product Typeby Purity: 99.9%.by Production Process: Aniline Oxidation Method, Phenol Oxidation Method, Others.Key ApplicationsDyeMedicineRubberScientificOthersMake an Enquiry of Benzoquinone market report@Table of ContentsGlobal and Europe 1,4-Benzoquinone Market  Analysis and Outlook to 20221 Market Outline1.1 Research Methodology1.1.1 Methodology/Research ApproachResearch Programs/DesignMarket Size EstimationMarket Breakdown and Data Triangulation1.1.2 Data SourceSecondary SourcesPrimary Sources1.1.3 Disclaimer1.2 Regulatory Factors1.3 End-User Analysis1.4 Strategic Benchmarking1.5 Industry Chain and Supply Chain1.5.1 1,4-Benzoquinone Industry Chain Structure1.5.1.1 R&D1.5.1.2 Raw Materials (Components)1.5.1.3 Manufacturing Plants1.5.1.4 Regional Trading (Import Export and Local Sales)1.5.1.5 Online Sales Channel1.5.1.6 Offline Channel1.5.1.7 End Users1.5.2 1,4-Benzoquinone Manufacturing1.5.2.1 Key Components1.5.2.2 Assembly Manufacturing1.5.3 Consumer Preference1.5.4 Behavioral Habits1.5.5 Marketing Environment1.6 SWOT Analysis1.7 Feasibility Analysis1.8 Development Trend and Research Conclusion1.8.1 Development Trend1.8.2 Research ConclusionContinued...In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Do you wish to check discount for this report? @Contact usJay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite:About usReports Monitor is a platform to meet the market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide. Our process is meticulously planned and executed in order to use maximum resources and explore the market for getting genuine insights.Address: Office C & D - 4th Floor, Siddhi Towers, Above Rupee Bank, Kondhwa Road, Pune 411048, Maharashtra, India
Intra-Oral CR Screen Phosphor Screen Scanner Market by Players, Region and Forecast to 2021

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Publisher's Intra-Oral CR Screen Phosphor Screen Scanner market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability.The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.The report includes the forecasts, Analysis and discussion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry Players.The Players mentioned in our reportFona DentalPlanmecaApixiaDuerr DentalCarestream DentalKavoGendex Dental SystemsSoproSoredexNicalFor More Information About This Report:Global Intra-Oral CR Screen Phosphor Screen Scanner Market: Regional Segment AnalysisUSAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSouth East AsiaRequest Sample Copy At:Table of ContentChapter 1 About the Intra-Oral CR Screen Phosphor Screen Scanner IndustryChapter 2 World Market Competition LandscapeChapter 3 World Intra-Oral CR Screen Phosphor Screen Scanner Market shareChapter 4 Supply Chain AnalysisChapter 5 Company Profiles5.1 Fona Dental5.1.1 Company Details (Foundation Year, Employee Strength and etc)5.1.2 Product Information (Picture, Specifications and Applications)5.1.3 Revenue (M USD) , Price and Operating ProfitsChapter 6 Globalization & TradeChapter 7 Distributors and CustomersChapter 8 Import, Export, Consumption and Consumption Value by Major CountriesChapter 9 World Intra-Oral CR Screen Phosphor Screen Scanner Market Forecast through 2021Chapter 10 Key success factors and Market OverviewInquire For This Report At:Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Global Cyber Security Software Market Progresses on Account of Managed Services

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QYResearchReports.com reports the inclusion of a new report based on the global market of industrial robotics rental. Titled as Global Industrial Robotics Rental Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022, the report is a study of the market status on the basis of determinants, opportunities and restraints, market segmentation and vendor landscape. Industrial robotics rental market involves administrations gave by rental organizations. These organizations dissect the framework needs of end-clients and give an arrangement to sending of robots, alongside help for programming, support, and repair. They help in introducing robots, peripherals, and assembling hardware into a solitary unit to enable the end-clients to perform producing assignments.Get free sample copy of the report at:The report classifies the international industrial robotics rental market on the basis of product type, on the basis of end user or application, and on the basis of geographical demarcation. The product type segment is made up of pneumatic, hydraulic and other types of robots. On the basis of application, the market is segmented into electronics & electrical, chemicals & plastics, metal, automotive and food and beverage. Among these, the automotive segment is predicted to lead the market segment. The execution of co-bots has expanded broadly in the car division because of their various points of interest, for example, bring down weight, impression, and simplicity of programming and incorporation. Moreover, they meet the security gauges in the industrial facility floor space and furthermore guarantee the end of extra costly wellbeing hardware and the need to realign and redesign the production line floor space.Rapid industrialization in developing economies and developed countries has brought about the higher interest for talented work in different vast scale ventures. This has subsequently expanded the selection of use robots to lessen their reliance on human laborers in operations. The capacity of robots to multitask, persistently and precisely screen the operations, and work rapidly and productively has expanded their request in industrial applications.To check available discount on this report, visit at:To build their income shares, the merchants are concentrating on changing their plans of action to guarantee gadget to-organize availability and information models that gather data continuously, react to triggers, and send cautions to benefit faculty through push notices. Furthermore, they are likewise including more online choices that are dependent on the utilization of the web to communicate with clients and investigate the issues they confront.Geographically, the market has been segmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, South America, and Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the swiftest growing market, on account of the change in Internet and remote frameworks innovation, the extension of the assembling division, and expanded interests in the assembling enterprises. Additionally, the statistic changes in nations, for example, Japan, that are confronting significant difficulties in their assembling part because of its maturing populace will likewise build the interest for rental industrial robots in this district.Key companies examined in the report include Atlas Robots, ORIX, CNC Robotics, Fisnar, and Hirebotics.List of Tables and FiguresFigure Industrial Robotics Rental Product ScopeFigure Global Industrial Robotics Rental Market Size (Million USD) (2012-2017)Table Global Industrial Robotics Rental Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Industrial Robotics Rental Market Share by Regions in 2016Figure United States Industrial Robotics Rental Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure EU Industrial Robotics Rental Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Japan Industrial Robotics Rental Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure China Industrial Robotics Rental Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure India Industrial Robotics Rental Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Southeast Asia Industrial Robotics Rental Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Industrial Robotics Rental Market Share by Type in 2016Figure Hydraulic robots Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2017)Figure Pneumatic robots Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2017)Figure Others Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2017)Figure Global Industrial Robotics Rental Market Share by Application in 2016Figure Industrial Robotics Rental Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate in Automotive (2012-2017)...About QYReseachReports.comQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact US:Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Rapid Advancements will Boost the Chlorine Market Size Further

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The global chlorine market is forecasted to garner a strong growth in the near future with the rising demand for chlorine derivatives in a wide scope of applications such as paints and coatings, adhesives, food processing, plastic, cosmetic, pharmaceuticals, and water. The market demand could embrace an escalating boost due to the application of chlorine as a raw material in the manufacture of various chemicals. The mercury cell technology is foreseen to be completely dissolved by 2020 due to the gradual shift toward membrane technology because of strict regulations pertaining to mercury emission.As per the estimations of Transparency Market Research (TMR), the global chlorine market could reach a valuation of US$42.7 bn by 2022 end, progressing from a valuation of US$31.1 bn achieved in 2017. The market is projected to rise at a CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period 20172022.View Full Report atGlobal Chlorine Market: Major InsightsThe global chlorine market is foretold to experience a spur in demand owing to the application of chlorine as a solvent in the pharma sector. As one of the fastest growing consumers of chlorine, polyvinyl chlorine (PVC) could ensure a greater growth in the market while riding on an increasing demand in sectors such as packaging, construction, and automobile. The growth of water treatment plants across the world as a necessity could augur well for the market since most of them use chlorine on a regular basis.The international chlorine market is envisioned to be segregated according to end use, where key segments could be vinyls, organic chemicals, water treatment, and chlorinated intermediates. As per the publication, vinyls are expected to be counted as a market with a higher revenue share growing at a CAGR of 6.2% between 2017 and 2022. In 2017, it accounted for a US$14.4 bn. However, by the end of 2022, it could earn a US$19.5 bn. The percentage share anticipated for this market is 47.9% to be achieved by the concluding forecast year. Its annual growth could be greater than that of other segments by end use.Request to View Sample Report -With respect to geographical classification, the international chlorine market is prognosticated to testify the superiority of Asia Pacific except Japan (APEJ) in view of revenue. This region could expand at a CAGR of 7.2% during the tenure of the forecast period, putting behind developed regions such as North America and Europe. Growing at a 6.4% CAGR, North America could create opportunities as it secured a US$5.4 bn in 2017. Running at a CAGR closer to this one, Japan could be valued at a US$3.9 bn by 2022. Latin America and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) are envisaged to be other regions of the market.Request to download and view full ToC -Global Chlorine Market: Vendor LandscapeThe worldwide chlorine market is predicted to include key industry players such as Ercros S.A, Olin Corporation, BASF SE, PPG Industries, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, FMC Corporation, Hanwha Chemical Corporation, Ineos Group Ltd., Tata Chemicals Ltd., and Tosoh Corporation. Report buyers could take advantage of the clear and meticulous explanation of the markets competitive landscape provided by the analysts.Global Chlorine Market Report is available @ US$ 5795About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:TMR Blog:
Influenza Diagnostics Market : New Research, Future Opportunities, Treads, Analysis, Forecast 2025

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Global Influenza Diagnostics Market: OverviewAs the frequency of outbreaks of influenza increases globally, the global market for influenza diagnostics is likely to soar. Commonly known as flu, influenza is an illness of the respiratory system caused by viruses. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), influenza is responsible for 250,000 to 500,000 deaths worldwide, making it the second leading disease resulting in mortality, after acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).Types of influenza include pandemic, avian, seasonal, and swine (variant) flu. Numerous tests aid in the diagnosis and treatment of influenza. Some of these available diagnostic tests are serology, viral culture, rapid molecular assays, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and immunofluorescence assays.Global Influenza Diagnostics Market: Key TrendsThe increasing incidence of various forms of influenza across the globe, growing investments in research and development, rising pediatric focus, and encouraging policies of the government are driving the global market for influenza diagnostics. As faster and more accurate diagnostic tests are increasingly sought after, a number of market players have undertaken the development of more efficient tests that give quicker results.Conversely, stringent regulatory frameworks, delays in the approval process of new tests, and limited infrastructure (in developing nations in particular), might emerge as the key deterrents of the global market for influenza diagnostics. Nevertheless, technological advancement in the domain of influenza diagnostics can offer extensive opportunities for growth.Request Sample Copy of the Report@Global Influenza Diagnostics Market: Market PotentialAs the virulent spread of influenza across numerous regions of the world has created concern across countries. Considering the spread of influenza governments, pharmaceutical companies, and medical organizations are striving to introduce effective diagnostics and medications. As of March 2017, 16 from North Carolina, 3 in Delaware, 7 in San Diego died of influenza. Almost 4,000 residents of Arizona suffered from influenza during February 2017. Likewise, in Malaysian state Perak around 273 school children were found to suffer from influenza-like illness during the same month.Consequently, in March 2017, GlaxoSmithKline plc, a leading market player, announced its submission of an application to the FDA for obtaining approval to expand its label of an influenza vaccine, Fluarix Quadrivalent, for children aged six months and older. Presently, the vaccine is administered to patients aged three and above. It is an active immunization against type A and type B influenza viruses.Request TOC of the Report @The fifth wave of H7N9 in China resulted in 1,223 cases, with 380 fatalities, according to the WHO. Consequently, growing concerns pertaining to the avian influenza led to the announcement of the development of two novel pandemic vaccines by Protein Sciences Corporation. The announcement was made following a request for the same by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The company boasts owning the single FDA approved technology for fast production of influenza vaccines.Global Influenza Diagnostics Market: Regional OutlookBased on geography, the global market for influenza diagnostics can be segmented into Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. As countries such as Australia, the U.S., Greece, China, Spain, India, and Malaysia have been witnessing outbreaks of influenza, the demand from these regions will mount up to a great degree.The influenza diagnostics market in Asia Pacific is slated for significant growth over the forecast period, propelled by the increasing healthcare spending, favorable government initiatives, greater demand for cutting-edge diagnostics technologies, and expanding disposable incomes of the middle class populace in the region.Get Discount @Global Influenza Diagnostics Market: Competitive AnalysisSome of the major companies operating in the global market for influenza diagnostics are Becton, Dickinson and Company, Luminex Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Alere Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, DiaSorin, Roche Diagnostics, SA Scientific, and Quidel Corporation.Product development is a key business strategy of market players. For instance, Becton, Dickinson and Company recently announced FDA approval for its new digital immunoassay, BD Veritor System Flu A+B, which is able to rapidly detect influenza.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Global Medical Software Market 2017: Roche, Konica Minolta, Medex, GE, FOSUN, Landing-med, LEO, Lianchuang

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The Global Medical Software Market 2016 - 2022 is the cornerstone of the global development aspects and prospects, as the development of specific concept requires various technologically supported ideas, theories, methodologies. The Global Medical Software Market 2016 - 2022 report explains the in-depth summary of current innovations, parameter, specifications, and creation. The Global Medical Software Market 2016 - 2022 also delivers a full abstract of the economic ups and downs in terms of demand rate and fulfillment ratios.Get Sample Copy of Report @:Technology is an output of implementing scientific knowledge in terms of practical applications. Technology can be developed in multiple forms, as the face of the respective technology can be seen only when it is transformed, adopted or introduced in the practical form.The Global Medical Software Market 2016 - 2022 comprise of a large number of reputed organizations, firms, vendors, manufacturer and we deliver an in-detail summary of the overall key players who hold major count in terms of revenue, sales, demand, through their reliable services, products, and post-sale processes. The Global Medical Software Market 2016 - 2022 report provides a thorough analysis of the prominent driving factors that are identified based on the end user demands, variable market changes, restraining elements and regulatory compliance.For more information about this report:Global Medical Software in Global market, especially in United States, China, Europe, Japan, focuses on top players in these regions/countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these regions, coveringRocheKonica MinoltaMedexGEFOSUNLanding-medLEOLianchuangBeionNanjing GreatwallXindaXupengThe Global Medical Software Market 2016 - 2022 research report also provides in-detail forecast predictions based on the current business trends and analytical techniques. Global Medical Software Market 2016 - 2022 are broadly segmented based on the constant updates in the development parameters, quality parameters, reliability parameters, end user demands, and applications.The slight change in the product profile leads to major modification in the product prototype, production methods and development platforms, these overall factors that are related to production are very well explained in the global Global Medical Software Market 2016 - 2022 research report.MRS Research Group [http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/] is the worlds giant collection of the Market research Reports. Where we specialized in global publisher, tailor made reports and specialists consulting. Global Publisher provides in-depth analysis of global and Chinese market. Tailor-made reports represent methodologies deliverable to proper insight of the client. Contact US : 1-855-465-4651 (US-Canada Toll Free) sales@mrsresearchgroup.com3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,
Neurostimulation Devices Market trends research and projections for 2016-2023

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Neurostimulation Devices Market size is set to exceed USD 13 billion by 2023; according to a new research report by Global Market Insights, Inc.Rising incidence of age-related neurological disorders and consumer awareness levels, enhanced clinical outcomes and manufacture of advanced implantable neurostimulator will stimulate global neurostimulation devices market size growth. Significant increase in the number of people suffering from epilepsy, Parkinsons, migraine, and Alzheimers will continue to boost the demand.Request sample copy @Despite the advancement in pharmacologic therapy for epilepsy, nearly 30% of the individuals remain medically intractable and have seizures on medications, in such cases, other treatments are required. Vagus nerve stimulation and deep brain stimulation have evidence of relief in patients with intractable epilepsy.Pain management proved to be highest revenue generated application in 2015 with high prevalence chronic pain related conditions and positive therapeutic effects offered by neurostimulation devices. Deep brain stimulation devices are presently going through experimental stage as they are based on nascent technology. These devices are FDA approved for the treatment of Parkinsons and dystonia, and are awaiting approvals for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), cluster headache and refractory epilepsy treatment.Make Inquiry about this report @Latin America, controlled by Brazil and Mexico neurostimulation devices market will experience significant growth. The region accounted for approximately 4% share of the total industry in 2015. Increased income in middle class population, increasing awareness and changing lifestyle are driving products demand in the region. Brazil will be a profitable market with a significantly large pool of under-served patients, represent the big opportunity for the leading medical devices companies.Technological advancements such as the transdermal neuromodulation technology (Neurowave Medical Technologies) and MRI safety-enabled devices (Medtronic) are expanding the global neurostimulation devices market product trends. Rising geriatric population base with high risk of Alzheimers and Parkinsons, is also promoting the product demand. New applications will help expand the neurostimulation market over the coming years, for treatment of chronic migraine, different forms of blindness, morbid obesity, and sleep apnea, among other indications.Growing number of externally funded clinical programs for development of new products and increased demand and many untapped business opportunities in emerging countries of Latin America and Asia Pacific will boost the regional neurostimulation devices market size.Spinal cord stimulation devices market was the highest revenue generating product segment in 2015. Consumer affordability provided by these devices will increase the demand during the forecast period. The neurostimulation devices for Parkinsons disease may grow at a rapid rate during the forecast years due to growing global geriatric population base and low availability of treatment options. Sacral nerve stimulator devices market is expected to witness notable growth with high prevalence of urinary and fecal incontinence among geriatric population.U.S. neurostimulation devices market was valued over USD 2 billion in 2015 and is forecast to rise during the coming years due to heavy R&D investment by many startups and leading medical device companies. Germany and UK combinedly accounted for nearly 35% of overall regional revenue share in 2015. Healthcare industry development coupled with increase in consumer affordability have positively inclined Europe neurostimulation devices market growth.Asia Pacific neurostimulation devices market share will witness significant gains in pain management applications due to increasing geriatric population base. Technological advancement and increasing application scope in pain management, depression and epilepsy is driving overall regional demand.Companies operating in neurostimulation devices market include Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Cyberonics, Neuronetics, Codman & Shurtleffs, St. Jude Medical and Uroplasty. Entrants in neurostimulation device market may face barriers, mainly due to dominance by few major players.Neurostimulation devices market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of volume in tons & revenue in USD million from 2012 to 2023, for the following segments:Neurostimulation devices market by product Deep Brain Stimulator Gastric Electric Stimulator Spinal Cord Stimulator Sacral Nerve Stimulator Vagus Nerve StimulatorNeurostimulation devices market by application Pain Management Epilepsy Essential Tremor Urinary and Fecal Incontinence Depression Dystonia Gastroparesis Parkinson's Disease Other applicationsThe above information is provided on a regional and country basis for the following: North Americao U.S.o Canada Europeo Germanyo UKo Franceo Spaino Italy Asia Pacifico Chinao Indiao Japan Latin Americao Brazilo Mexicoo Argentina Middle East and Africao South Africao Saudi ArabiaAbout Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:
Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Market is Projected to be Valued at over US$ 7.96 Billion by 2019

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Transparency Market Research (TMR) has announced the release of a new research report, titled Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2019. TMR states that the global pressure sensitive adhesives market will display a 5.2% CAGR from 2013 to 2019. If the figures hold true, the market, which had a valuation of US$5.58 billion in 2012, will reach US$7.96 billion by 2019.According to the study, rapid expansion of the electronics and automotive sectors is one of the major factors propelling demand for pressure sensitive adhesives. Increasing pressure from regulatory agencies for low emission, light weight, and better mileage in vehicles is accentuating the demand of lightweight devices for automotive applications, most of which utilize pressure sensitive adhesives. Furthermore, miniaturization of electronic devices will propel the demand for pressure sensitive adhesives from the electronics sector.View and Download TOC of Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Market Research Report @Additionally, growing demand for labeling and packaging applications, which use pressure sensitive adhesives due to the improvement inventory management and cost-effectiveness of packaging materials they bring about, will support growth of the pressure sensitive adhesives market.However, fluctuating prices of crude oil-based feedstock and regulations in place against volatile organic compounds (VOC), which are synthesized from solvent-based pressure sensitive adhesives, will hinder the markets growth.Products, applications, and key regional markets are the main criteria on which the global pressure sensitive devices market is divided. By product type, the market is segmented into hot melt, radiation cured, water-based, and solvent-based.In 2012, water-based pressure sensitive adhesives accounted for the largest share of the market, followed by solvent-based products. Due to discharge of hazardous volatile organic compounds, these products are heavily regulated and are restricted to be used away from populated areas, and thus will lose their strong market share in the coming years.However, hot melt adhesive products are estimated to gain higher application in the construction industry owing to their ease of application and stronger bond strength, thus reducing processing time, state analysts.Radiation-cured pressure adhesives are used in masking tapes that are suitable for sub-zero or extremely high temperatures.Request and Download Sample Report @The report states that by application, tapes dominated the market and held more than 40% of the market in 2012. Labeling application of pressure sensitive adhesives is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% between 2013 and 2019. This is mainly due to higher adoption of RFID labels for improved inventory management. RFID labels offer process efficiency and hence account for almost a quarter of overall label sales in the market. Retail labeling is expected to be the fastest growing application segment of the pressures sensitive adhesives market. Among the regional markets, Asia Pacific registered a share of more than 40% in the global pressure sensitive adhesives market in 2012. North America and Europe, which have mature chemical industries, will not contribute significantly to the growth of the overall market. Strict regulations in place for the chemical industry to develop eco-friendly products will slow the growth of the pressure sensitive adhesives market in these regions.Buy Full Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Market Report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
A witty response from a loyal TREDS rep prompts TREDS product feature on concreteconstruction.net!

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This is a fun story.Background:TREDS has been working with independent manufacturer groups for over 10 years. Their work in the field has played a large role in launching TREDS into the concrete market!Recently, one of our long standing reps,Bill Lantz(LCA Group) wrote a rebuttal to a story that was published about Boots that Work. The story was based around leather work boots, but our rep wanted to make sure the editor knew about TREDS!This is what our rep, Bill Lantz wrote to the editor:Hi Bill, nice article but if your talking concrete and you want boots that WORK, then theres only ONE!! Now Im talking Concrete so this is an OVERBOOT to protect the boots that protect your feet. Made in the USA and Family owned and from the Heartland of this country, Cincinnati, yes Cincinnati. The attached flyer should tell you the story. We are a Rep Group covering the southwest and selling Treds, The LCA Group, and these have taken the market by storm the last 5 years. Safety directors love them. Yes one pair of the TREDS boots will easily last as long as 8 of those cheap import boots and to your liking they will fit over a EEE width foot AND no right or left for those fuzzy mornings suiting up.Check these out. I have copied the owner on this email and his Sales Manager so if you want to know more, call me or Rob Weber or Katherine Rolley. No they did not pay me to do this but it is a product I really believe in and for safety, every concrete finisher should have these.Thanks for letting me rant in a good way.Bill LantzThe LCA GROUPSO guess what happened next:The editor was so impressed by Bills email that he featured TREDS on their website! This product feature will also be in a monthly newsletter!See article here:Thank you Bill for your enthusiasm and commitment to TREDS! We appreciate it!Our company manufactures a contractor grade over-the-shoe boot used in concrete, mud, water, chemicals.Advantage Products Corp. (TREDS Rubber Footwear)11559 Grooms Rd.Blue Ash, Ohio45242USAPhn no.- 513-489-0363Fax- 513-489-2285Email address- kath@treds.com
Water Soluble Polymers Market will possibly to Surpass a Value of US$ 29.63 Billion by 2019

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Transparency Market Research has launched a research report titled Water Soluble Polymers Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2013 - 2019. The report offers users a clear perspective on the market to help them create the most feasible market strategy.According to the report, the major growth driver of the global water soluble polymers market is its increasing base of applications in water treatment.Click to View Complete Report @Growing concerns over the quality of water have led to greater efforts being taken in terms of water treatment, which is enforced by environmental regulations. The global water soluble polymers market finds use in water treatment for urban as well as industrial water.The global water soluble polymers market was previously worth US$23.38 billion in 2012. Experts say that the market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.9% from 2013 to 2019 to reach a value of US$29.63 billion by the end of 2019. Its 2012 market volume was 5,483.8 kilo tons.View and Download TOC of Water Soluble Polymers Market Research Report @The report divides the raw materials used in the global water soluble polymers market into three segments of natural, synthetic, and semi-synthetic. Further research reveals that the dominant segment of the market was synthetic water soluble polymers, which held nearly 60% share of the global water soluble polymers market.The other 40% of market shares were collectively held by natural and semi-synthetic segments, in terms of volume.The top polymers that are commonly used include polyacrylic acid, gelatin, casein, polyvinyl alcohol, guar gum, and polyacrylamide. Other polymers include quarternary ammonium compounds, polyamines, PEG, PVP, and polysaccharides.Request and Download Sample Report @The report states that the largest product in the global water soluble polymers market in previous periods was polyacrylamide. It is also expected to be the fastest growing segment, marking a 7.4% CAGR from 2013 to 2019.The largest end user for the global water soluble polymers market in 2012 was water treatment. At the time, the segment held 23.7% of the markets share in terms of volume generated. Water soluble polymers are often used to reduce friction in fluids and as a wastewater treatment agent in the petroleum industry.The report explains other growth drivers including increasing extraction processes of petroleum and shale gas around the world.The top companies in the global water soluble polymers market that are discussed in the report include BASF SE, Kuraray, Kemira, Ashland Inc., and SNF. More than 70% of the global market is dominated by the top three contenders.The reports geographic segmentation reveals Asia Pacific to be the dominant region in the global water soluble polymers market, followed by Europe. Nearly 31% of the market share was held collectively by North America and the Rest of the World region. Asia Pacific is expected to maintain its dominant position, growing at the fastest pace in the reports time frame.Buy Full Water Soluble Polymers Market Report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Marine Composites Market is Projected to Represent Incremental Opportunity of US$ 1,549.6 Mn by 2019

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Transparency Market Research has released a new market study on marine composites. The report, titled Marine Composites Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2019, projects the global marine composites market will display an impressive 7.0% CAGR from 2013 to 2019. If the figure holds true, the market will be worth US$1,549.6 mn by 2019, increasing from its market valuation of US$954.6 mn in 2012.Click to View Complete Report @The report states that increasing manufacture of leisure boats, combined with technological advancements, is driving the global marine composites market. In Asia Pacific, in recent years, the development of new boat building industries in China, South Korea, and other Oceanic countries has been a major reason for the substantial demand for marine composites. Despite strong demand for marine composites in Asia Pacific, stringent environmental regulations in Europe pertaining to styrene concentration will impede the global marine composites market.View and Download TOC of Marine Composites Market Research Report @However, increasing demand for bioplastic-based boats and positive expansion scope for the prepegs market will provide significant opportunities for the industry to capitalize on, say TMR analysts.The report divides the global marine composites market on the basis of products, end users, and applications. By products, glass fiber reinforced plastics (GFRPs) registered the highest demand and contributed maximum revenue to the global market in 2012. This is because GFRPs are light in weight and available at an affordable price. These attributes contributed to the increasing demand for GFRPs in the global market. In addition, a steadfast demand for GFRPs from the powerboats and private watercrafts sectors added opportunities for the product segment.Foam core material was registered as the second largest product segment of the global marine composites market in the same year. The product segment is expected to account for a larger market share in the global market for marine composites in the forthcoming years.Other marine composite product segments such as metal composites and out-of-autoclave prepegs will emerge as dominant segments in the global marine composites market in the years to come.Request and Download Sample Report @By geography, in 2012, North America dominated the global market for marine composites. In the same year, Europe stood as the second largest market for marine composites, due to an upswing in demand for personal watercrafts and small boats. Between 2013 and 2019, the Asia Pacific marine composites market is expected to expand considerably. This is mainly due to the development of boat building industries in China and Rest of the World. The Rest of the World region is expected to exhibit unwavering demand for marine composites in the forecast period.The report provides a detailed competitive outlook of the global marine composites market, with market share analysis and company profiles of key players in this market. Cytec Industries Inc., Toray Industries Inc., Hexcel Corporation, Koninklijke Ten Cate nv, Taijin Ltd., E.I. du Pont de Nemours, 3A Composites GmbH, Gurit Holding AG, and Zoltek Companies Inc. are some of the major companies operating in the global marine composites market.Buy Full Marine Composites Market Report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Flexible Display Market Is Expected To Grow At 33.5% CAGR By 2025

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Factors such as the increasing adoption of low power consumption is one of the key factors that is predicted to trigger the demand of flexible display during the forecast period. Advances in the field of display technology have led the manufacturers operating in this field to focus on extensive research and development activities to implement new designs that would overcome the shortcomings that are present in flexible display. These flexible display come with new and improved power efficiency coupled with high durability. Increasing inclination of various display manufacturers towards manufacturing flexible display in order to cope up with the rising demand from smartphone, wearable devices and television is also predicted to accelerate the market growth of flexible display in the coming years. For instance, Moxi Group, a Chinese company, has developed a phone that is so flexible that it can be worn on the wrist also like a watch.Request Free Sample Report :However, complex manufacturing process coupled with high manufacturing cost of flexible display is one of the essential factors that is anticipated to deter the market growth of flexible display in the coming years. A major problem in the manufacture of flexible display is that the display comprises of plastic. Thus, with the growing habit of consumers to experience HD quality in electronic devices, it would be difficult for them to experience the images and videos with limited color palettes. This is primarily due to the fact that the performance of plastic displays cannot be at par with that of glass displays. This in turn, limits various display manufacturers to enter into the market.Global Flexible Display Market: SegmentationThe global flexible display market is segmented on the basis of form factor, technology and application. Based on form factor, the market is segmented curved display, bendable and foldable display and rollable display. Curved display can be produced in different sizes and shapes. This segment accounted for the highest market share in 2016. Based on technology, the flexible display market is segmented into Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), Electronic Paper Display (EPD), Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and others. Based on application, the market is segmented into military equipment, smartphone, computer and peripherals, wearable devices, television and others.Regionally, the global flexible display market has been classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. In 2016, North America held the major share of the market, followed by Europe. Rising demand for flexible display in North America is due to its widespread application in smartphone, wearable devices, television, military equipment among others is expected to intensify the market penetration in the coming years.Global Flexible Display Market: Competitive AnalysisThe leading manufacturers in the global flexible display market have been adopting strategies such as merger and acquisition and product line expansion. The major market participants profiled in this report are Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (South Korea), Universal Display Corporation (The U.S), Atmel Corporation (The U.S), Koninklijke Philips N.V.(Netherlands), Sharp Corporation (Japan), LG Display (South Korea) Panasonic Corporation (Japan), Japan Display Inc. (Japan), Delta Electronics (Taiwan), Sony Corporation (Japan) among others.Browse Full Report With TOC :The segments covered in the flexible display market are as follows:Global Flexible Display Market, by Form FactorCurved DisplayBendable and Foldable DisplayRollable DisplayGlobal Flexible Display Market, by TechnologyOLEDEPDLCDOthersGlobal Flexible Display Market, by ApplicationMilitary EquipmentSmartphoneComputer and PeripheralsWearable DevicesTelevisionOthersGlobal Flexible Display Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaThe U.S.CanadaMexicoEuropeK.GermanyFranceItalyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanRest of APACLatin AmericaBrazilRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East and Africa (MEA)UAESaudi ArabiaRest of Middle East & AfricaEnquire About This Report :Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.State Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comGoogle+:Linked in:
Global Consumption of Sodium Metal will grow at a sluggish CAGR of 3.3% through 2024

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Global consumption of sodium metal will grow at a sluggish CAGR of 3.3% through 2024, according to Persistence Market Researchs report entitled, Sodium Metal Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2016 - 2024. In 2016, over 98,400 MT sodium metal was consumed globally, and it is estimated to surpass 127,400 MT by 2024.Click to View Complete Report @The sluggish demand for sodium metal is attributed to hazardous effects of highly reactive sodium element. Challenges with handling and storage of sodium metal will continue to negatively impact the growth of the market. Further, limited availability of sodium metal on account of fewer players has resulted into introduction and use of alternatives, such as magnesium for use in industrial applications.View and Download TOC of Sodium Metal Market Research Report @Key players in this market are concentrating on expansion of their production capacities and making long-term contacts with end-use industries, especially in near proximity, to incur growth opportunities. Manufacturers are also focusing on introduction to new grades of application-specific sodium metal. Inner Mongolia Lantai Industrial Co. Ltd. held the highest volume market share in 2015. Other leading players in the global sodium metal market include Wanji Holdings Group Limited, Shandong Moris Tech Co. Ltd., and MSSA S.A.S.In terms of volume, chemical synthesis application of sodium metal held 70.4% share of the market in 2016; by 2024, this is expected to reach nearly 72%. Sodium metal is also used in the production of dyes, and it is projected that this application segment will grow at 4.7% CAGR in terms of volume through 2024. The weakness in demand will be offset to a certain extent by applications in chemical synthesis and textile industry.Request and Download Sample Report @APAC is projected to be the most lucrative region for the global sodium metal market followed by North America and Europe. Asia Pacific forms a hub for textile industries owing to the ever-growing population and demand for a wide range of textiles, resulting in steady demand for sodium metal. Over 53,690 MT of sodium metal was consumed in APAC in 2016. The North America sodium metal market was around US$ 60 Mn in 2016, and it is expected to reach around US$ 80 Mn by 2024. Consumption of sodium metal in Europe, pegged at over 19,700 MT in 2016, is expected to surpass 24,200 MT by 2024.Key Market Drivers and TrendsThe demand for denim clothing has witnessed a robust growth in the recent past resulting in higher demand for sodium metal for textiles and apparelsSodium metal forms a key constituent in the manufacturing of indigo dyesSteady growth in global biodiesel production is one of the primary driving factors as sodium methylate is widely used as a catalyst for large-scale biodiesel productionApplication of sodium metal as a reductant in metals manufacturing and refiningGlobal sodium market is characterized by competitive oligopoly, wherein few manufacturers hold major shares in the overall market supplyBuy Full Sodium Metal Market Report @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Eyewear Market Rising demand including key players Indo Internacional, CIBA Vision, CooperVision

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A new research study published by HTF MI with title Global Eyewear Market Professional Survey Report 2017 provides an in-depth strategic assessment of the Eyewear including key market trends, upcoming & innovative technologies, industry drivers, challenges, regulatory policies and issues, future roadmap, value chain, and major players profile and strategies. The research study provides forecasts for Eyewear investments till 2022.Get Access to sample pages @Global Eyewear Market - Vendor Landscape: The analysts authoring the publication explain the nature and future changes in the competitive scenario of the worldwide Eyewear market. Various companies are profiled in the publication guide, including Luxottica Group S.p.A., Formosa Optical, Essilor International, Grand Vision, Carl Zeiss AG, Hoya Corporation, Safilo Group S.p.A., Johnson & Johnson, De Rigo S.p.A., Indo Internacional, CIBA Vision, CooperVision, Bausch & Lomb, Charmant, TEK Optical Canada, GBV, Marchon& Fielmann AG.The Global Eyewear market is prophesied to be cataloged into three important segments, i.e. Prescription Eyewear, Sunglasses& Contact Lenses as per product classification. By application, the market could be classified into Young Adults, Adults, Mature Adults, Seniors& Others.Global Eyewear Sales (Thousands Units) by Application (2016-2022)Market Segment by Application 2012 2016 2022 Market Share (%)2022 CAGR (%)(2016-2022)Young Adults xx xx xx xx% xx%Adults xx xx xx xx% xx%Mature Adults xx xx xx xx% xx%Seniors xx xx xx xx% xx%Others xx xx xx xx% xx%Total xx xx xx 100% xx%Buy this research report @In terms of geography, North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan& India could be the lucrative regions of the market. By the concluding forecast year, North America is envisioned to garner a US$ XX, whereas the China could rise at a XX% CAGR.Market Segment by Regions 2012 2016 2022 Share (%) CAGR (2016-2022)North America xx xx xx xx% xx%China xx xx xx xx% xx%Europe xx xx xx xx% xx%Southeast Asia xx xx xx xx% xx%Japan xx xx xx xx% xx%India xx xx xx xx% xx%Total xx xx xx xx% xx%The bottom-up approach is being utilized to project the global market size of Eyewear based on end-user industry and region, in terms of value. With the data triangulation procedure and validation of data through primary interviews, the exact values of the overall primary market, and individual market share & sizes are determined and confirmed with this study. Various tables and graphs are available in the study also the data will be provided in excel format (if required) along with PDF file.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @There are 15 chapters to deeply display the Global Eyewear market.Chapter 1, to describe Eyewear Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Eyewear , with sales, revenue, and price of Eyewear , 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 Eyewear , 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 / regions North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan& India;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application [ Young Adults, Adults, Mature Adults, Seniors& Others], from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Eyewear market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Eyewear 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
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Organic Fertilizers Market is Projected to Represent Incremental Opportunity of US$ 10.23 Billion by 2025

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Belgium will continue to be the largest exporter of organic fertilizers, with total exports totalling 1.15 million tonnes in 2015. Netherlands and the U.S. will be the other two key exporters. In terms of imports, France continues to be the largest market globally.Global organic fertilizer demand was pegged at 17 million tonnes in 2016. In terms of value, the market was valued at US$ 5.57 billion. Persistence Market Research projects the market to grow at 7% CAGR through 2025 and reach US$ 10.23 billion.View and Download TOC of Organic Fertilizers Market Research Report @Key DriversGovernment initiatives and subsidies promoting the use of organic fertilizers. For instance, in the EU, government is promoting organic sector via conversion subsidies and large subsidies on agricultural inputs.Rising awareness among consumers about organically produced food will continue to provide growth opportunities. From a US$ 15 billion market in 1999, the global organic food and drink market has grown to become a US$ 80 billion market in 2014.Organic fertilizers dont cause the same level of damage to the environment as conventional fertilizers. This is promoting their adoption among end-users.While Persistence Market Research maintains a positive outlook on the global organic fertilizer market, premium prices for organic fertilizers are a key impediment to adoption.Organic Fertilizer Market TrendsIntegrated nutrient supply system (INSS) is being adopted by farm owners, as the lower nutrient content alone is insufficient to supplement the demand for nutrients in plant growth.Considering the fragmented nature of organic fertilizers market, leading players are focusing on strengthening their distribution partnerships in local markets.Manufacturers in Europe are focusing on expanding their customer base in high-growth regions, including Latin America and North America.Non-profit organizations are playing a key role in promoting the use of organic fertilizers.Request and Download Sample Report @According to Persistence Market Researchs analysis, demand for animal-based organic fertilizers is higher than plant-based variants. While 6.84 million tonnes of plant-origin organic fertilizers were sold in 2016, animal-origin organic fertilizer volume was pegged at 10.15 million tonnes.Use of organic fertilizers remains highest in the farming of cereals and crops. This application segment accounted for over 70% revenue share of the market in 2016. By volume, demand from cereals and crops was estimated at 12.53 million tonnes in 2016.Historically, solid organic fertilizers have remained sought-after, and the trend is expected to remain unchanged during the forecast period 2017-2025. While solid organic fertilizers are projected to grow at 6.2% CAGR, liquid organic fertilizers growth rate is estimated to be 5.1%.global organic fertilizer marketEurope & Asia Pacific Collectively Account for over 60% Revenue ShareEurope is the largest market for organic fertilizers, followed by Asia Pacific. While Europe will continue to be the largest market for organic fertilizers, it will lose 2.3% revenue share to APAC during the forecast period. North America, the third largest market for organic fertilizers, is expected to account for 21.8% revenue share of the market by 2025-end.In its report, Persistence has profile key players in the organic fertilizers market, including Italpollina SpA, ILSA S.p.A, BioStar Renewables, Sustane Natural Fertilizer Inc., True Organic Products Inc., California Organic Fertilizers Inc., The Fertell Company, Purely Organics LLC, Pupuk Kaltim, and Qingdao Sonef Chemical Co., Ltd.Buy Full Organic Fertilizers Market Report @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
4 Key Insights on Patient Lateral Transfer Market for Forecast Period 2017 - 2022

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Healthcare workers often perform a physical task, generally transferring a patient from one bed to another, from bed to stretcher, etc., hence while carrying out the transfer the force is put on the back which results in back problem and pain. To avoid all these complications, manufacturers are focusing on providing non-mechanical devices that can help in easy patient lateral transfer without causing any injuries to both the patient and healthcare workers. Meanwhile, increasing number of healthcare institutes and hospitals are also providing training to healthcare workers on properly using various techniques and materials such as transfer belts, using lateral sliding aids such as slid sheet, draw sheet, etc., to easily carry patient transfer process, reducing the number of injuries caused during transfer. Air-assisted lateral transfer mattresses are being used on a large scale to avoid the risk of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) among healthcare workers.Browse Full Report with TOC -According to the report by Fact.MR, the global patient lateral transfer market is expected to witness robust growth. The market is projected to increase to 7.0% CAGR during the forecast period 2017-2022. Owing to the increasing number of injuries among healthcare workers while transferring patient from bed to bed, stretcher to stretcher, and bed to stretcher, patient transfer devices are being used on a large scale to provide safe means of transfer. With technological advancements, manufacturers are also developing devices that can help in better patient transfer without much effort. Following are the insights on how the global patient lateral transfer market will perform in the coming years.4 Forecast Highlights on Global Patient Lateral Transfer MarketNorth America is expected to dominate the global patient lateral transfer market. By the end of 2022, North America is projected to exceed US$ 100 million revenue. Increase in chronic and lifestyle diseases, the rise in Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) among healthcare workers are some of the factors driving the market for patient lateral transfer in North America.Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ) is also expected to witness strong growth during the forecast period. Owing to the significant investment by the government and major market players in healthcare, and research and development infrastructure are some of the factors fueling market growth in APEJ.Air assisted transfer device is expected to be one of the most preferred product for patient lateral transfer. Accounting for more than half of the revenue share by the end of 2017, Air assisted transfer device is projected to surpass US$ 150 million revenue by the end of 2022. Meanwhile, slide sheets are also expected to witness healthy growth during the forecast period.Compared to the single patient use products, reusable devices or products for patient lateral transfer will gain maximum traction in the global patient lateral transfer market. Reusable patient lateral transfer products are expected to account for maximum revenue share by the end of 2017. Between 2017 and 2022, reusable products are projected to create an incremental opportunity of nearly US$ 100 million.For More Details Follow-Market Player-The report also offers a detailed profile of some of the leading players in the global market for patient lateral transfer, which will remain active through 2022. These include companies such as Getinge AB, Airpal, Inc., Stryker Corporation, Sizewise Rentals, LLC, Medline Industries, Inc., EZ Way, Inc., McAuley Medical, Inc., Blue Chip Medical Products, Inc., Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., and Alimed Inc.About Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; thats why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact Fact.MRSuite 9884,27 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandTel: +353-1-6111-593Email: sales@factmr.comWeb:
Global Horticultural LED Lighting 2017-2022 by Segmentation: Based on Product, Application and Region

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Reports on Global Horticultural LED Lighting Market With the valuation from the year 2017 to 2022Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Eye Wash Station in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), The reports was drawn considering the following regions.North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanOthersGET A SAMPLE REPORT @Global Horticultural LED Lighting Market research report as also taken into account the top contenders who had hoowling success in the field.Market Analysis by Players:PhilipsOsramEverlight ElectronicsHubbell LightingCreeGeneral ElectricGavitaKessilMarket Analysis by Types:Low Power (?300W)High Power (?300W)Market Analysis by Applications:Commercial GreenhouseIndoor and Vertical FarmingR&DCHECK DISCOUNT FOR THIS REPORT @Table of Contents1 Horticultural LED Lighting Market Overview1.1 Product Overview of Horticultural LED Lighting1.2 Classification and Application of Horticultural LED Lighting1.3 Global Horticultural LED Lighting Market Regional Analysis1.3.1 USA Market Present Situation Analysis1.3.2 Europe Market Present Situation Analysis1.3.3 Japan Market Present Situation Analysis1.3.4 China Market Present Situation Analysis1.3.5 India Market Present Situation Analysis1.3.6 Southeast Asia Market Present Situation Analysis1.3.7 South America Market Present Situation Analysis1.3.8 South Africa Market Present Situation AnalysisVIEW FULL TABLE OF CONTENTS AND REPORT DESCRIPTION @Reports Monitor (ReportsMonitor.com) is a platform to meet the market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide. Our process is meticulously planned and executed in order to use maximum resources and explore the market for getting genuine insights. Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.Jay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite:
Automotive Glass Market Is Estimated To Grow At A CAGR Of 7.73% By 2023

Automotive Glass Market

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Market Highlights:The global market of automotive glass is growing rapidly. Focus towards improved efficiency, and technological advancement makes automotive glass popular among manufacturers and consumers. Automotive glass accounts for features such as safety, comfort and thus could conveniently be used in industries. Research and development into automotive glass manufacturers so as to introduce innovative features in automotive glass is a trend. With several driving factors such as the growing demand of passenger vehicles, growing urban population, increasing environment concerns, and rising disposable income of middle class population, the global automotive glass market is poised to grow over USD 28,135.7 million by 2023 at an estimated CAGR of 7.73% through the forecast period.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players of Automotive Glass Market: Nippon Sheet Glass Co. Ltd (Japan) Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V. (Mexico) Xinyi Glass Holdings Limited (Hong Kong) Guardian Industries Corp (U.S.) Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co.Ltd (China) Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (Japan) Central Glass Co. Ltd (Tokyo) Saint Global S.A. (Paris) Olimpia Auto Glass Inc.( Turkey) Shatterprufe (South Africa)Market Research Future Analysis:Market Research Future analysis states that the global market of automotive glass market is estimated to grow at USD 28,135.7 million by the end of year 2022. Windscreen consumes the largest area in automotive vehicles. However, the demand of automotive glass for windscreen is much higher as compared to other application. Windscreen segment dominates the global automotive glass market with a share of 38.7 % in 2016, in terms of value. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.01% during the forecast period. Changing life styles, and urbanization are some of the major factors driving the market of automotive glass. Rising preference for gorilla glass for high end premium vehicles replacing the traditional concepts and is more useful, comfortable, faster and more convenient. The Asia-Pacific market is leading the global automotive glass market whereas the market in North America & Europe is expected to grow rapidly due to increased domestic demand for automotive glass.Brief TOC:1 Executive Summary2 Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the Study2.3 Assumptions2.4 Market Structure3 Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation3.5 Forecast Model4 Market Dynamics4.1 Introduction4.2 Market Drivers4.2.1 Increase in Sales of New Vehicles4.2.2 Increasing Focus on R&D for Automotive Glass4.2.3 Accelerating urbanization led to growth of automobile industry4.3 Market Restraints4.3.1 Higher Cost of Smart Glass4.3.2 Strict Government regulation for Certification of Automotive Glass4.4 Market Opportunities4.4.1 Advanced Automotive Industry Technology4.4.2 Rising Preference for Gorilla Glass for High End Premium VehiclesContinueAccess Report Details @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Technologies 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:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Migraine Drugs Market to Register a tepid CAGR of 3.5% from 2017 and 2025

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Currently, savvy companies operating in the global migraine drugs market are expending time and money into research and development of new and more effective drugs. This is because they have sensed an opportunity in the considerable unmet needs of patients in the absence of a complete cure and also because of the growing genericization of drugs. More players are expected to foray into the market to tap into the opportunities.Some of the prominent participants in the global migraine drugs market are AstraZeneca Plc., Allergan Plc., Pfizer, Inc., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Eli Lilly & Co. Novartis AG, Merck & Co., Inc., Valeant Pharmaceutical International, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceutical Company (Johnson & Johnson), Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc., Zosano Pharma Corporation, Alder BioPharmaceuticals Inc., Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Eisai Co., Ltd.Request to Download and View Full TOC @A research study by Transparency Market Research states that the global migraine drugs market was worth US$2.72 bn in 2016. The report forecasts the market to attain a value of US$3.72 bn by 2025 by registering a tepid CAGR of 3.5% from 2017 and 2025.The global market for migraine drugs can be divided based on the types of treatments into abortive treatment and prophylactic treatment. The abortive treatment can be divided further into triptans, ergot alkoids, etc. The prophylactic treatment segment too can be segmented again into botulinum toxin, topiramate, etc. At present, the segment of abortive treatment, powered mainly by triptans, leads the market with a higher share.Request to View Sample Report @Geography-wise, the main segments of the global migraine drugs market are North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa. Among them, North America, at present holds a dominant share in the market because of the higher allocations on healthcare, growing instances of migraine, and availability of specialty migraine drugs. In the years ahead too, North America is predicted to hold on to its leading share. By 2025, it is expected to rake in a revenue of US$2.13 bn.Browse Full Report @Rising Female Population Proves Beneficial to MarketMigraine is a common disease that afflicts almost 14.7% of the world population. As per the World Health Organization, its prevalence is estimated to be 12% among general population. It is found that females are 2 to 3 times more susceptible to the chronic condition. With the rise of the female population and the increase in overall population, particularly in developing nations, the global migraine drugs market will be boosted majorly in the next couple of years.Serving to hinder the market, on the other hand, is the easy availability of generics and over reliance on over the counter (OTC) pain killers and other drugs in emerging and under developed markets. The lead analyst of the TMR report observes, Companies that manufacture and sell migraine drugs that exhibit a high safety and efficacy profile are expected to gain a competitive edge over their peers.Buy Full Migraine Drugs Market Report @ABOUT US:Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.CONTACT:Transparency Market ResearchState Tower90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453
Backhoe Bucket 2017 Global Market Expected to Grow at CAGR 5.95% and Forecast to 2021

Backhoe Bucket Market

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Global Backhoe Bucket MarketDescriptionWiseGuyReports.Com adds Global Backhoe Bucket Market 2017-2021 Research To Its Database.Backhoe buckets are generally used for medium to small-sized operations like light construction work, forestry, landscaping, and demolition work. They are essentially used for almost any job that is too small to be carried out by large excavator buckets. Backhoe buckets are also extensively used in the utility sector and in electrical and plumbing work. Backhoe buckets are of various kinds and are versatile. Each bucket is designed and manufactured keeping in mind the specific job. The versatility of backhoe buckets makes them popular and increases their value in various industries. Thus, the global backhoe bucket market is slowly and steadily growing.The analysts forecast the global backhoe bucket market to grow at a CAGR of 5.95% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global backhoe bucket market for 2017-2021. The report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.Get sample Report @The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas APAC EMEAThe Global Backhoe Bucket Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors Felco Industries Geith International LEMAC Rockland Manufacturing TAG ManufacturingOther prominent vendors Action Construction Equipment Bobcat Company (Doosan) Bull Machine Caterpillar CNH Industrial D&E Manufacturing Deere & Company Empire Bucket ERMOTEC International ESCO Escorts Group Fleco Attachments H&H Manufacturing Hensley Industries HiDROMEK Hill Engineering HSM Huddig Hydrema J C Bamford Excavators KIOTI Kismet Industries Komatsu KUBOTA LeeBoy Liugong Machinery Mahindra Construction Equipment (MCE) Massey Ferguson Mayura Steels Model Infra POWERPLUS GROUP Rakheja Engineers Solesbee's Equipment & Attachments Strickland US Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Terex Vectra VERGA VF VENIERI Werk-Brau XCMG GroupMarket driver Expansion in utility sector For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge Lack of skilled labor For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Launch of hybrid backhoe loaders For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space?Report Details @Table of Contents -Major Key PointsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Research MethodologyPART 04: IntroductionMarket outlinePART 05: Market landscapeMarket overviewMarket size and forecastFive forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by end-userMarket overviewGlobal backhoe bucket market in construction sectorGlobal backhoe bucket market in mining sectorGlobal backhoe bucket market in other sectorsPART 07: Geographical segmentationMarket overviewBackhoe bucket market in APACBackhoe bucket market in AmericasBackhoe bucket market in EMEAPART 08: Decision frameworkPART 09: Drivers and challengesMarket driversMarket challengesPART 10: Market trendsLaunch of hybrid backhoe loadersIntegration of IoTGrowing adoption of backhoe loaders in other end-user industriesPART 11: Vendor landscapeCompetitive landscapeOther prominent vendorsPART 12: Key vendor analysisFelco IndustriesGeith InternationalLEMACRockland ManufacturingTAG Manufacturing..CONTINUEDAbout UsWise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, Industry 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.NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)
Global Fluid Management Systems and Accessories 2017 Market Research Reports - Industry Analysis

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Reports on Global Fluid Management Systems and Accessories Market With the valuation from the year 2017 to 2022Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Eye Wash Station in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), The reports was drawn considering the following regions.North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGET A SAMPLE REPORT @Global Fluid Management Systems and Accessories Market research report as also taken into account the top contenders who had hoowling success in the field.The top contenders are:Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (Germany)Baxter International, Inc. (U.S.)B. Braun Melsungen AG (Germany)Ecolab, Inc. (U.S.)Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. (U.S.)Cardinal Health, Inc. (U.S.)On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoFluid Management SystemFluid Management Disposables and AccessoriesOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Fluid Management Systems and Accessories for each application, includingUrologyGastroenterologyLaparoscopyGynecology/ObstetricsBronchoscopyArthroscopyOtherCHECK DISCOUNT FOR THIS REPORT @Table of Contents1 Fluid Management Systems and Accessories Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Fluid Management Systems and Accessories1.2 Fluid Management Systems and Accessories Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Fluid Management Systems and Accessories Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Fluid Management Systems and Accessories Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Fluid Management System1.2.4 Fluid Management Disposables and AccessoriesVIEW FULL TABLE OF CONTENTS AND REPORT DESCRIPTION @Reports Monitor (ReportsMonitor.com) is a platform to meet the market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide. Our process is meticulously planned and executed in order to use maximum resources and explore the market for getting genuine insights. Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.Jay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite:
Industrial Turbochargers Market : Improve the performance and efficiency of Vehicles

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Industrial Turbochargers Market research report helps to get access to industry data and upcoming trends which will give you avenues to know about the market. This report gives opportunities to go through with industry analysis, share and forecast, Providing brief description about the market size its competitors and product identification.In this report, the global Industrial Turbochargers market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Industrial Turbochargers in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaRequest For Free Sample Of The Report @Global Industrial Turbochargers market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingABBCumminsHoneywellMitsubishi Heavy IndustriesNapier TurbochargersBrogwarnerNiitsuMTUKomatsuBosch Mahle TurboSystemsKBBHS TurbochargersMAN Diesel TurboPrecision Turbo & EngineRotomasterComp Turbo TechnologyLiaoning Rong Li TurbochargeCSICTaiwan JULYOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoGas Wave SuperchargerMechanical SuperchargerTurbochargerOtherOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Industrial Turbochargers for each application, includingAgricultural EquipmentMarineMining and Construction EquipmentOil and GasOtherObtain Report Details @If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.About UsAlltake Market Research is division of the Alltake LLC. that offers premium quality market intelligence, market research, industry analysis reports & forecast data for different domains across the business industry.Alltake Market Research understands the importance of market analysis for any strategy that is implemented in any organization or association. In order to provide the best solution, Alltake Market Research have associated with major organizations within market research and consultancy firm. This portfolio offers market analysis report at one place for different business verticals. Alltake Market Research ensures to offer you with the most reliable and quality market research available.Contact UsAlltake Market Research16192, Coastal Highway Lewes,DE 19958, United StatesUS - 188 8587 9717UK - 4480 0680 0195Email sales@alltakemarketresearch.com
False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Market Demand Analysis 2017

False Lashes Market

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https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/report/global-false-lashes-false-eyelashes-market-research-report-2017

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The Global False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Market Research Report 2017 to 2022 renders deep perception of the key regional market status of the False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Industry on a global level that primarily aims the core regions which comprises of continents like Europe, North America, and Asia and the key countries such as United States, Germany, China and Japan.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Analysis of False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Industry Key Manufacturers:Ardell, ESQIDO, Elf, Kiss, Revlon, Shu uemura, MAC, Makeup Geek, Benefit, NARS, Bio Takara.The potential of this industry segment has been rigorously investigated in conjunction with primary market challenges. The present market condition and future prospects of the segment has also been examined. Moreover, key strategies in the market that includes product developments, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, etc., are discussed. Besides, upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also conducted.Report Includes:-The report cloaks the market analysis and projection of False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Market on a regional as well as global level. The report constitutes qualitative and quantitative valuation by industry analysts, first-hand data, assistance from industry experts along with their most recent verbatim and each industry manufacturers via the market value chain.The research experts have additionally assessed the in general sales and revenue generation of this particular market. In addition, this report also delivers widespread analysis of root market trends, several governing elements and macro-economic indicators, coupled with market improvements as per every segment.Browse Complete Report with TOC @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into:Handmade Eyelash and Mechanical Eyelash.This report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of False Lashes (False Eyelashes) for each application, including:Drugstore, Supermarket, Specialist Retailers and Internet Sales.The report is generically segmented into six parts and every part aims on the overview of the False Lashes (False Eyelashes) industry, present condition of the market, feasibleness of the investment along with several strategies and policies. Apart from the definition and classification, the report also discusses the analysis of import and export and describes a comparison of the market that is focused on the trends and development. Along with entire framework in addition to in-depth details, one can prepare and stay ahead of the competitors across the targeted locations.Every regions market has been studied thoroughly in this report which deals with the precise information pertaining to the Marketing Channels and novel project investments so that the new entrants as well as the established market players conduct intricate research of trends and analysis in these regional markets. Acknowledging the status of the environment and products up gradation, the market report foretells each and every detail.So as to fabricate this report, complete key details, strategies and variables are examined so that entire useful information is amalgamated together for the understanding and studying the key facts pertaining the global False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Industry. The production value and market share in conjunction with the SWOT analysis everything is integrated in this report.Check for Discount @Some points from TOC:-7 Global False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Ardell7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Ardell False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 ESQIDO7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 ESQIDO False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Elf7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Elf False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Kiss7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 False Lashes (False Eyelashes) Product Category, Application and Specification...About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on Global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb-
Brazil - "Ophthalmic Devices" 2016 and Future Outlook (Vision Care, Cataract and Refractive Surgery Devices and Others)

Ophthalmic Devices

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"Ophthalmic Devices Market Outlook in Brazil to 2016 - Vision Care, Cataract and Refractive Surgery Devices and Others" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-Ophthalmic Devices Market Outlook in Brazil to 2016 - Vision Care, Cataract and Refractive Surgery Devices and Others provides key market data on the Brazil ophthalmic devices market. The report provides value (USD million), volume (units) and average price (USD) data for each segment and sub-segment within four market categories - cataract surgery devices, refractive surgery devices, vision care, and ophthalmic diagnostic equipment. Segments include contact and spectacle lenses, intra ocular lens, phacoemulsification equipment, ophthalmic viscoelastic devices (OVD), ophthalmic lasers, microkeratomes, optical coherence tomography and others. The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for each of the aforementioned market categories. The report is supplemented with global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants with information on company financials and pipeline products, wherever available.Get Sample Report With TOC @This report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research and in-house analysis by GlobalDatas team of industry experts.** ScopeMarket size and company share data for ophthalmic devices market categories - cataract surgery devices, refractive surgery devices, vision care, and ophthalmic diagnostic equipment.Annualized market revenues (USD million), volume (units) and average price (USD) data for each of the segments and sub-segments within four market categories. Data from 2002 to 2009, forecast forward for 7 years to 2016. Segments include contact and spectacle lenses, intra ocular lens, phacoemulsification equipment, ophthalmic viscoelastic devices (OVD), ophthalmic lasers, microkeratomes, optical coherence tomography and others.2009 company shares and distribution shares data for each of the four market categories.Global corporate-level profiles of key companies operating within the Brazil ophthalmic devices market.Key players covered include Essilor International, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, HOYA Corporation, Bausch & Lomb, CIBA Vision, Carl Zeiss, Alcon, Cooper Vision, and Abbott Medical Optics (AMO).** Reasons to buyDevelop business strategies by identifying the key market categories and segments poised for strong growth.Explore investment opportunites in the market.Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies.Design competition strategies by identifying who-stands-where in the competitive landscape.Develop capital investment strategies by identifying the key market segments expected to register strong growth in the near future.What are the key distribution channels and whats the most preferred mode of product distribution - Identify, understand and capitalize.Report Enquiry and Other Query @** Table of Contents** 1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 81.2 List of Figures 10** 2 Introduction 122.1 What is This Report About? 12** 3 Opthalmic Devices In Brazil 133.1 Opthalmic Devices, Market Segmentation 133.2 Ophthalmic Devices, Brazil, Overall Revenue ($m), 2002-2016 143.3 Opthalmic Devices Market, Brazil, Revenue Mix ($m), 2009 163.4 Opthalmic Devices Market, Brazil, Category Contribution (%), 2009 173.5 Ophthalmic Devices, Brazil, Category Volume (Units), 2002-2016 243.6 Ophthalmic Devices, Brazil, Company Share (2008-2009) 29** 4 Cataract Surgery Devices In Brazil 314.1 Cataract Surgery, Market Segmentation 314.2 Cataract Surgery Market, Brazil, Revenue Mix ($m), 2009 324.3 Cataract Surgery Market, Brazil, Category Contribution (%), 2009 334.4 Cataract Surgery Devices Overall Revenue (2002-2016) 344.4.1 Intra Ocular Lens (IOL) Revenue (2002-2016) 384.4.2 Ophthalmic Viscoelastic Devices (OVD) Revenue (2002-2016) 424.5 Cataract Surgery Devices Overall Volume (2002-2016) 464.5.1 Intra Ocular Lens (IOL) Volume (2002-2016) 504.5.2 Ophthalmic Viscoelastic Device (OVD) Volume (2002-2016) 534.6 Cataract Surgery Devices Average Price (2002-2016) 574.7 Cataract Surgery Devices Distribution Share (2008-2009) 584.8 Cataract Surgery Devices, Brazil, Company Share (2008-2009) 59** 5 Ophthalmic Diagnostic Equipment In Brazil 615.1 Ophthalmic Diagnostic Equipment, Market Segmentation 615.2 Ophthalmic Diagnostic Equipment Market, Brazil, Revenue Mix ($m), 2009 625.3 Ophthalmic Diagnostic Equipment Market, Brazil, Category Contribution (%), 2009 635.4 Ophthalmic Diagnostic Equipment Overall Revenue (2002-2016) 655.4.1 Retinal Ultrasound Imaging Revenue (2002-2016) 695.4.2 Ophthalmoscopes Revenue (2002-2016) 735.5 Ophthalmic Diagnostic Equipment Overall Volume (2002-2016) 775.5.1 Retinal Ultrasound Imaging Volume (2002-2016) 815.5.2 Ophthalmoscopes Volume (2002-2016) 855.6 Ophthalmic Diagnostic Equipment Average Price (2002-2016) 895.7 Ophthalmic Diagnostic Equipment Distribution Share (2008-2009) 915.8 Ophthalmic Diagnostic Equipment, Brazil, Company Share (2008-2009) 92** 6 Refractive Surgery Devices In Brazil 946.1 Refractive Surgery, Market Segmentation 946.2 Refractive Surgery Market, Brazil, Revenue Mix ($m), 2009 956.3 Refractive Surgery Market, Brazil, Category Contribution (%), 2009 966.4 Refractive Surgery Devices Overall Revenue (2002-2016) 976.4.1 Ophthalmic Lasers Revenue (2002-2016) 1016.5 Refractive Surgery Devices Overall Volume (2002-2016) 1056.5.1 Ophthalmic Lasers Volume (2002-2016) 1086.6 Refractive Surgery Devices Average Price (2002-2016) 1126.7 Refractive Surgery Devices Distribution Share (2008-2009) 1136.8 Refractive Surgery Devices, Brazil, Company Share (2008-2009) 114** 7 Vision Care In Brazil 1167.1 Vision Care, Market Segmentation 1167.2 Vision Care Market, Brazil, Revenue Mix ($m), 2009 1177.3 Vision Care Market, Brazil, Category Contribution (%), 2009 1187.4 Vision Care Overall Revenue (2002-2016) 1197.4.1 Contact Lenses Revenue (2002-2016) 1237.5 Vision Care Overall Volume (2002-2016) 1277.5.1 Contact Lenses Volume (2002-2016) 1317.6 Vision Care Average Price (2002-2016) 1357.7 Vision Care Distribution Share (2008-2009) 1367.8 Vision Care, Brazil, Company Share (2008-2009) 137** 8 Overview of Key Companies in Brazil Opthalmic Devices Market 1398.1 Essilor International 1398.1.1 Company Overview 1398.1.2 Share in the Brazil Opthalmic Devices Market 1398.2 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. 1408.2.1 Company Overview 1408.2.2 Share in the Brazil Opthalmic Devices Market 1408.3 CIBA Vision Corporation 1418.3.1 Company Overview 1418.3.2 Share in the Brazil Opthalmic Devices Market 1418.4 Bausch & Lomb Incorporated 1428.4.1 Company Overview 1428.4.2 Share in the Brazil Opthalmic Devices Market 1428.5 Hoya Corporation 1438.5.1 Company Overview 1438.5.2 Share in the Brazil Opthalmic Devices Market 1438.6 Carl Zeiss AG 1448.6.1 Company Overview 1448.6.2 Share in the Brazil Opthalmic Devices Market 1448.7 Alcon, Inc. 1458.7.1 Company Overview 1458.8 IRIDEX Corporation 1458.8.1 Company Overview 1458.9 STAAR Surgical Company 1468.9.1 Company Overview 1468.10 Abbott Medical Optics, Inc. 1468.10.1 Company Overview 1468.11 Quantel Medical SA 1478.11.1 Company Overview 1478.12 Welch Allyn Inc. 1478.12.1 Company Overview 1478.13 CooperVision, Inc. 147ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074
Logistic Software Global Market Key Players  Digilogistics, Oracle, Hexaware Technologies, JDA Software, Tech Mahindra - Analysis and Forecast to 2022

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SummaryWiseGuyReports.com adds Logistic Software Market 2017 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting to 2022reports to its database.This report studies the global Logistic Software market, analyzes and researches the Logistic Software development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeAdvantech CorporationDigilogisticsUTI Worldwide IncHexaware TechnologiesIBM CorporationJDA SoftwareOracleSamsung Electronics CoSAP AGTech MahindraRequest a Sample Report @Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, Logistic Software can be split intoWarehouse managementLabor managementTransportation managementData managementMarket segment by Application, Logistic Software can be split intoAutomotiveGovernment & DefenseHealthcareTelecommunication and ITIndustrial, Engineering and ManufacturingOil and GasOthersAt any Query @Table of ContentsGlobal Logistic Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Logistic Software1.1 Logistic Software Market Overview1.1.1 Logistic Software Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Logistic Software Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Logistic Software Market by Type1.3.1 Warehouse management1.3.2 Labor management1.3.3 Transportation management1.3.4 Data management1.4 Logistic Software Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Automotive1.4.2 Government & Defense1.4.3 Healthcare1.4.4 Telecommunication and IT1.4.5 Industrial, Engineering and Manufacturing1.4.6 Oil and Gas1.4.7 Others2 Global Logistic Software Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Logistic Software Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Advantech Corporation3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Logistic Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Digilogistics3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Logistic Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 UTI Worldwide Inc3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Logistic Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 Hexaware Technologies3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Logistic Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 IBM Corporation3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Logistic Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 JDA Software3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Logistic Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 Oracle3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Logistic Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 Samsung Electronics Co3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Logistic Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 SAP AG3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Logistic Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 Tech Mahindra3.10.1 Company Profile3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.10.4 Logistic Software Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.10.5 Recent Developments4 Global Logistic Software Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)4.1 Global Logistic Software Market Size by Type (2012-2017)4.2 Global Logistic Software Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.3 Potential Application of Logistic Software in Future4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of Logistic SoftwareBuy 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
Apparel - "Lingerie 2017" Research Current Review of International Company Profiles and Revenue Details

Lingerie

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"Lingerie Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-** OverviewLingerie market has occupied a significant position in the apparel industry in recent years as it not only serves its functional benefits but also is considered as an basic necessity to every woman. The global lingerie market has been bifurcated on the basis of product types into bras, knickers and panties, lounge wear, shape wear and others which includes baby doll, corsets, chemises and chemisoles among others. Bra as an essential necessity and also a fashion accessory to every women and it has captured the largest market share in 2015. Knickers and panties also occupied a significant position in the same year, thus contributing significantly to the overall market size of the lingerie industry. The market is further segmented on the basis of distribution channel into online stores and storefront. Online stores captured the largest market in 2015 due to high penetration of internet services and rapid advancements in the field of technology, thus creating a strong platform for the manufacturers of lingerie Further, the e-commerce giants are engaged in strong promotional activities due to which they provide with continuous discount options and various other offers which attract both consumers and manufacturers to avail this platform.Get Sample Report With TOC @** Global Lingerie Market: Drivers and TrendsFemales in the developing countries are experiencing latest trends towards carrying themselves in public. They are changing their outlook towards accepting innerwear as a casual affair and take time to choose and make a purchase. The outerwear of women has undergone a dramatic change and due to this women prefer selecting inner wear, especially bras that can match with their attire. They try to purchase lingerie depending on the occasion or event, such as there are special sport wear bras for gymnasium purpose. It can be demonstrated from the product differentiation brought by the lingerie manufacturers over online and retail stores. Thus this is a key factor complementing the growth of the global lingerie market. Lingerie has witnessed a rapid acceptance in the fashion industry. Women from all backgrounds want to try out the latest trends in the inner wear segment. Most of the large brands have exclusive stores in shopping malls or independent stores. In developing countries like India and China, brands like Jockey try to reach out to customers through small roadside innerwear shops. Additionally, lingerie is available at stores as well as online. Brands like Victoria Secret have country specific websites for easier transactions and shipment.** Global Lingerie Market: RestraintsHowever, the lingerie wear maintains high cost for advertisement and other marketing promotions. This is due to the cost of celebrities or models that are hired for being featured in the photo shoots. Moreover, the destination or location cost of the photo shoot depends and therefore larger brands do not compromise in keeping high cost for their lingerie wear. Therefore, this factor is majorly hindering the growth of the market and the impact of the same is likely to reduce by the end of the forecast period.** Global Lingerie Market: OpportunitiesMoreover, the global lingerie market is experiencing moderate growth in the apparel segment as nowadays individuals are more inclined towards branded items, most of which are usually priced on the higher end. People from all backgrounds and income group want to avail a comfortable and lasting inner wear that can be fashionable as well as skin-friendly. There are many local brands or companies that manufacture cheap quality products to cater to the wide population in the under developed or developing countries. Mergers and acquisitions are a strategic way of entering the market and understanding the current needs and preferences of the population. Through this, the large companies will benefit in capturing the market and at the same time, will enable the small companies to fight for a better position in the market.** Global Lingerie Market: Regional OutlookMoreover, in this report the study provides different countries included in different regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. North America includes U.S. and Rest of North America. Europe includes U.K., Germany, France, Russia, Italy and Rest of Europe. Asia Pacific includes countries such as India, China, Japan and Rest of Asia Pacific. In addition, Middle East and Africa includes country such as UAE, South Africa and Rest of Middle East and Africa. Latin America comprise of countries such as Brazil and Rest of Latin AmericaAsia Pacific is anticipated to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. Transition in the lifestyle of the consumers which is backed by rapid urbanization and increasing purchasing power is a major factor behind the high growth of this market in Asia Pacific. Further, consumer exposure to the same by way of advertisements through televisions, and print media among others is another key factor responsible for the growth of the Lingerie Market in this region.** Key Players Mentioned in this Report:Some of the major key players operating in the global lingerie market are, Jockey International Inc. (Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.), Hanes (North Carolina U.S.), Groupe Chantelle (Cachan, France), LVMH (Boise U.S.), L Brands Inc. (Columbus, Ohio), MAS Holdings Limited (Colombo, Sri Lanka), Ann Summers (London, U.K.), Marks and Spencer (London U.K.), PV H Corporation (New York, U.S.) among others.The report analyzes the factors that are driving and restraining the growth of the lingerie market. This report will help manufacturers, distributors and suppliers to understand the present and future trends in this market and formulate strategies accordingly.** The global lingerie market can be segmented as follows:-** Global Lingerie Market, by TypeBraKnickers and PantiesLounge wearShape wearOthers** Global Lingerie Market, by Distribution ChannelOnline StoresStore Front** Global Lingerie Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.Rest of North AmericaEuropeU.K.GermanyFranceItalyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East and AfricaUAESouth AfricaReport Enquiry and Other Query @ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074
HVAC and Refrigeration Systems Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast For 2024

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HVAC and Refrigeration (HVACR) Systems Market: SnapshotWith the increasing count of new hotels, restaurants, cafes across the world, thanks to the swift expansion of the worldwide tourism industry, the global market for HVAC and Refrigeration (HVACR) systems is likely to witness a sturdy rise in its valuation over the forthcoming years. Apart from this, the increasing implementation of norms and rules for the regulation of food safety and quality is also expecting to boost the adoptions of HVACR systems in the near future.The opportunity in the global HVACR systems market is likely to increase at a CAGR of 5.50% during the period from 2016 to 2020, rising from US$81.1 bn in 2015 to a value of US$130.7 bn by the end of the forecast period. In terms of volume, the market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 8.0% during the same forecast period, supported by the increasing demand for refrigeration equipment in cold storage and food processing end users, owing to the rising consumption of processed food and beverages.Download Research Brochure For More Information@Evaporators to Remain Leading Product Segment Thanks to Continued DemandCondensing units, package systems, unit coolers, control devices, evaporators, chillers, cabinet counters, fan coils, display cases, compressor racks, walk-in cooling units, and HVAC air handling units are the main type of products available in the global market for HVACR systems. Among these, the evaporators segment has surfaced as the most valued product. In 2015, the segment accounted for a share of nearly 26% in the overall revenue generated in the global market.Researchers predict the demand for evaporators to continue to rise, ensuring the dominance of this segment during the forecast period. However, the segment of display cases is likely to exhibit the most prominent growth rate in the coming years, thanks to the technological advancements in display cases, the cost benefits they offer, and their escalating demand in supermarkets across the world.Asia Pacific to Continue as Leading Regional Market for HVACR SystemsOn the basis of geography, the global market for HVACR systems stretches across North America, South America, the Middle East and Africa, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific, of these, has emerged as the key contributor to the demand for HVACR systems on account of the robust tourism industry. The regional market is also projected to continue its leading steak over the forecast period. India, China, Japan, South Korea, and Australia are anticipated lead the market for HVACR systems in Asia Pacific in the years to come.Browse Report@The global HVACR systems market demonstrates a highly fragmented landscape with only a few companies being able to establish themselves as market leaders. At the forefront of this market are Lennox International Inc., Zero Zone Inc., Epta S.p.A., Hussmann International Inc., Dover Corp., Beverage-Air Corp., GEA Group, Larsen & Toubro, Foster GE, Airtex Compressors, Frank technologies, The Midea Group, Carrier Corp., Haier Electronics Group Co. Ltd., Mitsubishi Corp., and Daikin Industries Ltd.About Us:-Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact Us:-State Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
Ambulatory Surgical Centre Market registering a CAGR of 3.9% over the forecast period 2016-2026

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Global Ambulatory Surgical Centres Market to Grow from US$ 73.8 Bn in 2016 to US$ 108.5 Bn by 2026The worldwide ambulatory surgical centres market is witnessing steady growth due to a rising demand for a quick, high-quality, and cost-effective alternative to inpatient care. In a new report titled Ambulatory Surgical Centre Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 20162026, Future Market Insights provides useful insights on the key drivers and trends impacting the growth of the ambulatory surgical centres market over a 10-year period. The global ambulatory surgical centres market was valued at US$ 71.4 Bn in 2015 and is estimated to be valued at US$ 108.5 Bn by the end of 2026, registering a CAGR of 3.9% over the forecast period. Future Market Insights attributes this growth to a rising spend in healthcare coupled with a growing number of ambulatory surgical centres.Request to Download and View Full TOC @Market projections based on segmentationThe ophthalmology segment accounted for 23.4% market share of the global market in 2015 and is anticipated to account for 23.6% share and 24.0% share of the global market in 2020 and 2026 respectivelyThe global ambulatory surgical centres market was valued at US$ 71.4 Bn in 2015 and is estimated to reach US$ 108.5 Bn by the end of 2026. The North America market was valued at US$ 37.3 Bn in 2015 and is expected to reach US$ 58.9 Bn by 2026, expanding at a CAGR of 4.3% during the forecast period. The APEJ market was valued at US$ 5.7 Bn in 2015 and is expected to reach US$ 8.3 Bn by the end of 2026, expanding at a CAGR of 3.6% during the forecast period. The markets in North America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe collectively hold 82% of the global ambulatory surgical centres market share.Request to View Sample Report @Some key players in the global ambulatory surgical centres market are AmSurg Corp., HCA Holdings Inc., Tenet Healthcare, Surgical Care Affiliates Inc., Surgery Partners, Ambulatory Surgical Centres of America, Medical Facilities Corporation, Healthway Medical Group, Community Health Systems, Inc., and Vision Group Holdings.CentreSingle Specialty CentresMulti-Specialty CentresMarket forecast by CentreThe single specialty centres segment is expected to reach US$ 35.7 Bn by the end of 2026, registering a growth rate of 3.2% during the forecast periodThe multi-specialty centres segment is estimated to reach US$ 72.8 Bn by 2026, registering a growth rate of 4.3% during the forecast period,Modality,Hospital-Based Ambulatory Surgical CentresFreestanding Ambulatory Surgical CentresBrowse Full Report @Market forecast by ModalityThe hospital-based ambulatory surgical centres segment is anticipated to account for 59.9% share and 61.3% share in the global market in 2020 and 2026 respectivelyThe freestanding ambulatory surgical centres segment is anticipated to account for 40.1% and 38.7% revenue share of the overall market in 2020 and 2026 respectivelyServicesDiagnostic ServicesSurgical ServicesMarket Forecast by ServicesBuy Full ABC Report @The diagnostic services segment is expected to expand at a CAGR of 3.6% during the forecast periodThe surgical services segment is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.1% during the forecast periodSpecialty AreaGastroenterologyOphthalmologyOrthopaedicsPain/NeurologyUrologyDermatologyOthersMarket ForecastThe gastroenterology segment accounted for 29.0% market share of the global market in 2015 and is anticipated to account for 29.7% share and 31.3% share of the global market in 2020 and 2026 respectivelyFuture Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Residential Cable Market projected to Research Report Shows Speedy Growth 2022

Residential Cable Market

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https://www.qyresearchgroups.com/report/global-residential-cable-market-research-report-2017

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The Global Residential Cable Market Research Report 2017 to 2022 renders deep perception of the key regional market status of the Residential Cable Industry on a global level that primarily aims the core regions which comprises of continents like Europe, North America, and Asia and the key countries such as United States, Germany, China and Japan.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Analysis of Residential Cable Industry Key Manufacturers:Prysmian Group, Nexans, General Cable Technologies, Belden, NKT group, Polycab, Hengxin Technology, KEI Industries, LS Cable & System, Trigiant Group, Anchor Electricals, V-GUARD INDUSTRIES, W. L. Gore & Associates, Kingsignal Technology, Legrand, Zhuhai Hansen Technology, Amphenol, Havells India, Finolex Cables and Habia Cable.The potential of this industry segment has been rigorously investigated in conjunction with primary market challenges. The present market condition and future prospects of the segment has also been examined. Moreover, key strategies in the market that includes product developments, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, etc., are discussed. Besides, upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also conducted.Report Includes:-The report cloaks the market analysis and projection of Residential Cable Market on a regional as well as global level. The report constitutes qualitative and quantitative valuation by industry analysts, first-hand data, assistance from industry experts along with their most recent verbatim and each industry manufacturers via the market value chain.The research experts have additionally assessed the in general sales and revenue generation of this particular market. In addition, this report also delivers widespread analysis of root market trends, several governing elements and macro-economic indicators, coupled with market improvements as per every segment.Browse Complete Report with TOC @Market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into:Low Voltage Cable and High Voltage Cable.This report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Residential Cable for each application, including:Power Cables and Data Communication.The report is generically segmented into six parts and every part aims on the overview of the Residential Cable industry, present condition of the market, feasibleness of the investment along with several strategies and policies. Apart from the definition and classification, the report also discusses the analysis of import and export and describes a comparison of the market that is focused on the trends and development. Along with entire framework in addition to in-depth details, one can prepare and stay ahead of the competitors across the targeted locations.Every regions market has been studied thoroughly in this report which deals with the precise information pertaining to the Marketing Channels and novel project investments so that the new entrants as well as the established market players conduct intricate research of trends and analysis in these regional markets. Acknowledging the status of the environment and products up gradation, the market report foretells each and every detail.So as to fabricate this report, complete key details, strategies and variables are examined so that entire useful information is amalgamated together for the understanding and studying the key facts pertaining the global Residential Cable Industry. The production value and market share in conjunction with the SWOT analysis everything is integrated in this report.Check for Discount @Some points from TOC:-7 Global Residential Cable Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Prysmian Group7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Residential Cable Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Prysmian Group Residential Cable Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Nexans7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Residential Cable Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Nexans Residential Cable Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 General Cable Technologies7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Residential Cable Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 General Cable Technologies Residential Cable Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Belden7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Residential Cable Product Category, Application and Specification...About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on Global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb-
Alcoholic Beverages Research - "Scotch Whisky" with CAGR Details and Key vendors Status like Bacardi, Beam Suntory, Diageo, Pernod Ricard, William Grant & Sons

Scotch Whisky

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"Global Scotch Whisky Market 2017-2021" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-Scotch whisky is produced in Scotland. It is produced, packaged, and labeled as per SWR 2009. Scotch whisky is produced in five regions in Scotland: Highland, Lowland, Islay, Speyside, and Campbeltown.** Technavios analysts forecast the global scotch whisky market to grow at a CAGR of 2.35% during the period 2017-2021.**Get Sample Report With TOC @** Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global scotch whisky market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the retail selling price as the average selling price for the product.** The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEuropeMEATechnavio's report, Global Scotch Whisky Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.** Key vendorsBacardiBeam SuntoryDiageoPernod RicardWilliam Grant & SonsOther prominent vendorsAceoBen Nevis DistilleryBrown-FormanEdringtonGlenmorangieGeorge Ballantine and SonGordon & MacPhailHarvey's of Edinburgh InternationalInternational BeverageIsle of Arran Distillers** Market driverPremiumizationFor a full, detailed list, view our report** Market challengeIncrease in demand for aged Scotch whisky leads to shortage and price riseFor a full, detailed list, view our report** Market trendIncrease in demand for premium Scotch whiskyFor a full, detailed list, view our report** Key questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Report Enquiry and Other Query @ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074
United States - "Mobility Aids" Outlook 2021 with Historic, Forecast, Revenue, Average Price, Distribution Share and Current Demand

Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment

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The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-GlobalDatas new report, "United States Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market Outlook to 2021", provides key market data on the United States Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, volume (in units) and average price data (in US dollars), within market segments - Patient Lifts, Stretchers and Wheelchairs.Get Sample Report With TOC @The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for the market category, and global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants. Based on the availability of data for the particular category and country, information related to pipeline products, news and deals is available in the report.Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the market size, company share and distribution share data and analysis.** Scope**- Market size for Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment market segments - Patient Lifts, Stretchers and Wheelchairs.- Annualized market revenues (USD million), volume (units) and average selling price ($) data for each of the market categories. Data is provided from 2007 to 2014 and forecast to 2021.- 2014 company shares and distribution shares data for Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment market.- Global corporate-level profiles of key companies operating within the United States Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment market.- Key players covered include Stryker Corporation, Invacare Corporation, Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. and others.** Reasons to buy**- Develop business strategies by identifying the key market segments poised for strong growth in the future.- Develop market-entry and market expansion strategies.- Design competition strategies by identifying who-stands-where in the market.- Develop investment strategies by identifying the key market segments expected to register strong growth in the near future.- What are the key distribution channels and whats the most preferred mode of product distribution - Identify, understand and capitalize.Report Enquiry and Other Query @** 1 Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 21.1 List of Tables 41.2 List of Figures 4** 2 Introduction 52.1 What Is This Report About? 52.2 Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market Segmentation 52.3 Definitions of Markets Covered in the Report 6** 3 Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market, United States 73.1 Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market, United States, Revenue ($m), 2007-2014 73.2 Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market, United States, Revenue ($m), 2014-2021 93.2.1 Stretchers Market, United States, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2007-2014 113.2.2 Wheelchairs Market, United States, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2007-2014 133.2.3 Stretchers Market, United States, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2014-2021 153.2.4 Wheelchairs Market, United States, Revenue ($m), by Segment, 2014-2021 173.3 Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market, United States, Volume (Units), 2007-2014 193.4 Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market, United States, Volume (Units), 2014-2021 213.4.1 Stretchers Market, United States, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2007-2014 233.4.2 Wheelchairs Market, United States, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2007-2014 253.4.3 Stretchers Market, United States, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2014-2021 273.4.4 Wheelchairs Market, United States, Volume (Units), by Segment, 2014-2021 293.5 Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market, United States, Average Price ($), 2007-2021 313.6 Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market, United States, Distribution Share by Revenue ($m), 2013-2014 333.7 Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market, United States, Company Share by Revenue ($m), 2014 34** 4 Overview of Key Companies in United States, Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market 364.1 Stryker Corporation 364.1.1 Company Overview 364.2 Invacare Corporation 364.2.1 Company Overview 364.3 Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc. 364.3.1 Company Overview 364.4 Sunrise Medical (US) LLC 364.4.1 Company Overview 364.5 Getinge AB 374.5.1 Company Overview 374.6 Medline Industries, Inc. 374.6.1 Company Overview 374.7 Permobil AB 374.7.1 Company Overview 37** 5 Mobility Aids and Transportation Equipment Market Pipeline Products 38** 6 Financial Deals Landscape 396.1 Acquisition 396.1.1 Capsa Solutions Acquires Rubbermaid Healthcare 396.2 Partnerships 406.2.1 Cadence Biomedical Enters into Research Agreement with University of Nebraska Omaha 406.3 Venture Financing 416.3.1 Cadence Biomedical Raises USD0.96 Million in Venture Financing 41** 7 Recent Developments 427.1 Corporate Communications 427.1.1 Sep 10, 2015: Lumicell Announces FDA Approval to Launch Feasibility Study in Gastrointestinal Cancers 427.1.2 Sep 09, 2015: EOS imaging Announces Second Installation at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City 437.1.3 Jun 29, 2015: BioBlast Pharma Receives Orphan Drug Designation From the European Commission for Cabaletta for the Treatment of Spinocerebellar Ataxia 437.2 Financial Announcements 457.2.1 Sep 09, 2015: PeriRx Officially Launches SaliMark OSCC Test for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma 457.3 Other Significant Developments 467.3.1 Feb 22, 2016: Sysmex America Signs Distributor Agreement With Medline 467.3.2 Dec 28, 2015: Tennessee Health Management Selects Medline as Exclusive Distribution Partner in $4 Million Prime Vendor Deal 467.3.3 Nov 17, 2015: Medline to Provide Robust Product Portfolio and Strategic Tools to More Than 200 Physician Offices Through New $9 Million Prime Vendor Agreement 477.3.4 Sep 15, 2015: Medline Secures Exclusive Distribution Partnership with OSF HealthCare in $250 Million Prime Vendor Deal 477.3.5 Mar 26, 2015: Medline to Provide American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Members Significant Cost-Savings, Clinical and Quality Assurance Solutions through New Preferred Supplier Agreement 487.4 Strategy And Business Planning 497.4.1 Mar 02, 2016: First patient dosed in iclaprim Phase 3 trials to treat skin infections 49** 8 Appendix 508.1 Research Methodology 518.1.1 Coverage 518.1.2 Secondary Research 518.1.3 Primary Research 518.1.4 Company Share Analysis 528.1.5 Distribution Share Analysis 52ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074
Oil & Gas Market 2017By Identifying the Key Market Segments Poised for Strong Growth in Future

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Pune, India, 12th October 2017: WiseGuyReports announced addition of new report, titled Oil & Gas Global Industry Almanac 2017.SummaryGlobal Oil & Gas industry profile provides top-line qualitative and quantitative summary information including: market size (value and volume 2012-16, and forecast to 2021). The profile also contains descriptions of the leading players including key financial metrics and analysis of competitive pressures within the market.GET SAMPLE REPORT @Key Highlights- The oil and gas market volume is defined as the total consumption (barrels of oil equivalent) of refined petroleum products and natural gas by end-users in each country.- The value of the oil segment reflects the total volume of refined petroleum products, including refinery consumption and losses, multiplied by the hub price of crude oil.- The value of the gas segment is calculated as the total volume of dry natural gas consumed multiplied by the price of natural gas (Henry Hub spot price). The values represent the total revenues available to exploration and production companies from sales of crude oil and natural gas.- Any currency conversions used in this report have been calculated using constant 2016 annual average exchange rates.- The global oil & gas market had total revenues of $1,205.6bn in 2016, representing a compound annual rate of change (CARC) of -19.9% between 2012 and 2016.- Market consumption volume increased with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.3% between 2012 and 2016, to reach a total of 48.7 billion BOE in 2016.- Demand for oil and gas is witnessing deceleration and this is partially intentional as the Chinese government seeks to move the countrys economy away from its focus on manufacturing and instead divert it towards the less energy intensive services sector. More energy efficient technology is also resulting in less volume consumption in this market. Nevertheless the strong growth in other markets around the world should ensure that globally the demand for oil and gas accelerates overall.Scope- Save time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the size, growth, major segments, and leading players in the global oil & gas market- Use the Five Forces analysis to determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of the global oil & gas market- Leading company profiles reveal details of key oil & gas market players global operations and financial performance- Add weight to presentations and pitches by understanding the future growth prospects of the global oil & gas market with five year forecasts by both value and volumeReasons to buy- What was the size of the global oil & gas market by value in 2016?- What will be the size of the global oil & gas market in 2021?- What factors are affecting the strength of competition in the global oil & gas market?- How has the market performed over the last five years?- What are the main segments that make up the global oil & gas market?Table of Content: Key PointsEXECUTIVE SUMMARYMarket valueMarket value forecastMarket volumeMarket volume forecastCategory segmentationGeography segmentationIntroductionWhat is this report about?Who is the target reader?How to use this reportDefinitionsGlobal Oil & GasMarket OverviewMarket DataMarket SegmentationMarket outlookFive forces analysisOil & Gas in Asia-PacificMarket OverviewMarket DataMarket SegmentationMarket outlookFive forces analysisOil & Gas in EuropeMarket OverviewMarket DataMarket SegmentationMarket outlookFive forces analysisOil & Gas in FinlandMarket OverviewMarket DataMarket SegmentationMarket outlookFive forces analysisMacroeconomic indicatorsOil & Gas in FranceMarket OverviewMarket DataMarket SegmentationMarket outlookFive forces analysisMacroeconomic indicatorsOil & Gas in GermanyMarket OverviewMarket DataMarket SegmentationContinuedACCESS REPORT @Get in touch:LinkedIn:Twitter:Facebook:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Paper Power Cable Industry Report in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India: Radiant Insights

Radiant Insights, Inc

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This report studies Paper Power Cable in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, covering Prysmian Aksh Optifiber Nexans Saudi Cable Company Amphenol Finolex Cables W. L. GORE & ASSOCIATES, INC Leviton Fujikura LimitedThe report Global Paper Power Cable Industry 2017 Market Research Report is available now atMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Paper Power Cable in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), like North America Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaRequest a Free Sample Copy of this Report @Split by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into Copper Core Aluminum Core OthersSplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Paper Power Cable in each application, can be divided into Electric Power CommunicationRead more related reports by Radiant Insights: Industrial Potato Fryers Sales MarketIn this report, the global Industrial Potato Fryers market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Industrial Potato Fryers for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), covering United States China Europe Japan Southeast Asia India Industrial Catalytic Converter Sales MarketGlobal Industrial Catalytic Converter market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Industrial Catalytic Converter sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including Bosal Katcon Catalytic Products International Dcl International Inc Standard Teco Teco Limited AP Exhaust Products Ningbo Kesen Exhaust Gas Cleaner Manufacturing Wuxi Weifu Lida Catalytic ConverterAbout Radiant Insights, IncRadiant Insights is a market research and consulting company offering syndicated research studies, customized reports, and consulting services. Market research studies are designed to facilitate strategic decision making, on the basis of extensive and in-depth quantitative information, supported by extensive analysis and industry insights. Using a patented and robust research methodology, we publish exhaustive research reports covering a host of industries such as Technology, Chemicals, Materials, and Energy. Radiant Insights has a strong base of analysts, consultants and domain experts, with global experience help for delivering excellence in all research projects.Media Contact:Michelle Thoras201 Spear Street 1100,Suite 3036,San Francisco,CA 94105, United StatesTel: 1-415-349-0054Toll Free: 1-888-928-9744Mail: sale@radiantinsights.com
Global Orphan Drugs Market is projected to display a healthy 12.1% CAGR from 2017 to 2025

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A new report added to the repository of Market Research Reports Search Engine, Orphan Drugs Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Volume, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025 is a comprehensive repository of information, providing market share, size, and forecast.Request for Sample Report:Orphan diseases can be defined as the medical conditions which impacts a small group of the population and are mostly genetic in nature. For the treatment of these rare diseases pharmaceutical agents are specifically developed which are known as orphan drugs. The market for these orphan drugs is anticipated to grow significantly in the forecast period, owing to the rising prevalence of rare diseases, focus of government and non-government organizations on creating awareness, research and development grants, and fee waivers and tax credits offered, among others.Global Orphan Drugs Market: Research MethodologyThe research is a combination of primary and secondary research, conducted for understanding and arriving at trends, used to forecast the expected revenue of drugs employed in the treatment of rare diseases in the near future. Primary research formed the bulk of our research efforts with information collected from in-depth interviews and discussions with a number of key industry experts and opinion leaders. Secondary research involved study of company websites, annual reports, press releases, investor presentations, analyst presentation and various international and national databases. The report provides estimated market size in terms of US$ Bn for disease type, product type, distribution channel, and geography for the period 2015 to 2025, considering the macro and micro environmental factors. The revenue generated from each disease type, product type, and distribution channel was calculated by considering the prevalence of rare diseases, orphan drug approvals, regulatory procedures, and the awareness of orphan diseases across all the geographies.The market report comprises an elaborated executive summary, which includes market snapshot that provides information about various segments of the market. It also provides information and data analysis of the market with respect to market segments based on disease type, product type, distribution channel, and geography. The market overview section of the report analyzes market dynamics such as drivers, restraints and opportunities that influences the nurse call systems market in the current and future scenario. The report also provides Porters five forces analysis, the acquisitions timeline of orphan drug companies, SWOT analysis of the market, regulatory scenario, comparative analysis of orphan drug policies, rare diseases prevalence, pricing scenario of the orphan drugs, major selling orphan drugs, and drug exclusivity of certain of the orphan drugs, for the market.Market share analysis among the market players is analyzed to signify the contribution of these players in the market in terms of percentage share. All these factors will help the market players to decide about the business strategies and plans to strengthen their positions in the global market. Based on geography, the market has been analyzed for major regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. The study also covers detailed country analysis contributing majorly in the nurse call systems market.Browse Full Report with TOC:The report also profiles the major players in the market and provides various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies, and recent developments. Companies profiled in the nurse call systems market report are Novartis AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Celgene Corporation, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Pfizer, Inc., Sanofi S.A., Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca plc, Eisai Co., Ltd., Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited, Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Merck & Co., Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Biogen, Inc., Shire plc, and Amgen, Inc., among others.The Orphan Drugs Market has been segmented as follows:Orphan Drugs Market, by Disease Type, Revenue (US$ Bn) 2015-2025OncologyGastrointestinalPulmonaryNeurologyHematologyCardio-vascularMetabolic disordersEndocrinologyInfectious diseasesOthersOrphan Drugs Market, by Product Type, Revenue (US$ Bn) 2015-2025BiologicNon-biologicOrphan Drugs Market, by Distribution Channel, Revenue (US$ Bn) 2015-2025Hospital PharmaciesSpeciality PharmaciesRetail pharmaciesOthersOrphan Drugs Market Revenue, by Geography (US$ Bn), 2015-2025North AmericaS.CanadaEuropeK.GermanySpainFranceItalyRest of EuropeRest of the WorldJapanAustraliaChinaBrazilSouth KoreaOthersMake an Enquiry:About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY  12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comFollow Us on LinkedIn-Follow Us On Twitter-
When teachers are gone the need for a substitute teacher arises.

Often the ranks of substitute teachers consists of longtime teachers, now retired, who want to continue to have an impact in the classroom.

Tim Hansen, a longtime substitute teacher in numerous school districts, including Lexington, Cozad, Elwood and Gothenburg, said the need for substitute teachers is constant in area schools.

There is such a huge need for substitute teachers that he has turned down advances from schools, he said. Often, his teaching schedule is booked months in advance without much outreach to schools.

He taught social studies for five years in Aurora and was a high school guidance counselor in Cozad for 30 years.

Although a person can become a substitute teacher without having previously been a teacher, such as if the person obtains state certification, the person would be limited on the number of days and school districts he or she could teach, he said.

Retired teacher Connie Hanna Gengenbach, who substitutes in Gothenburg, said she enjoys working with the children and loves teaching, but prefers not to teach every day.

She has 30-years teaching experience in Nebraska, Florida and California, as a junior high physical education teacher and in rural schools in grades 3 - 8.

Gengenbach said her relationship with Gothenburg Public Schools is so cordial and smooth that she "feels like a regular teacher at Gothenburg."

Hansen also said he has a very great, warm working relationship with administrators and teachers at Cozad and Gothenburg schools, where he feels like another member of the team.

Last year, Hansen substitute taught for 140 out of 180 school days.

Both Hansen and Gengenbach said most of their substitute days are pre-arranged, meaning a teacher has planned ahead to arrange for a substitute for an excused absence.

The friendships and interactions with students make substituting a joy to do, both said.

"Substituting to me is tremendously rewarding," Hansen said.

"Theres not a class where I dont know most students names. They, the students, make you feel important," Gengenbach said.

Contrary to some cynical views of youth being very disrespectful these days, Hansen said the kids he works with are very well-mannered.

While some may be scared off of subbing at the high school level, Gengenbach said youth at the high school level, in her experience "are the nicest."

Teacher packets for substitutes, which include detailed lesson plans, student guidelines and technology help, make a substitutes day smoother, Hansen said.

When he subs for a math teacher at Elwood, Hansen said all the students can go over the days lesson plan on their computers. He goes over it on the computer as well.

Because he is not a math whiz, Hansen said the students he teaches at the middle and high school level are comfortable in helping him with the lesson plan, to help explain things or help other students.

"Youve got to have a sense of humor. You have to be flexible. And thank goodness teachers leave wonderful lesson plans. You go with the flow," Gengenbach said.

Hansen said he wished more members from the community, who are not often exposed to the positive effects of teachers on youth, would visit their local schools.

If more people visited schools, "theyd be amazed at the knowledge being exchanged in classrooms. Its amazing," he said.

In schools where he subs, Hansen said it is common for administrators to check up on substitute teachers, ask them how their day is going and ask if there is anything they need.

One positive habit Hansen likes to do is leave notes of encouragement for the teachers he subs for.

Hansen said one Cozad teacher whom he subbed often for, told him that she had kept all his positive notes and stored them in a scrapbook.

Bonnie Atwood, a retired elementary school, has been a substitute teacher in Lexington at the elementary level for 11 years.

"There is a greater need for subs than when I was teaching," Atwood said.

Atwood said although it isnt always possible, due to scheduling constraints, she feels that it is beneficial for students to have the same substitute teacher as often as possible to provide consistency

A substitute may be contacted personally by a secretary, principal or teacher, but most substitute positions are posted to a website through an automated system, she said.

"I try to follow the teachers plans as much as possible. At the same time, I treat the class as if it were my own. I have expectations of respect and good behavior. I expect them to behave because its the right thing to do," Atwood said.

While maintaining the teacher-student mindset is important, Atwood said she works hard to establish a working relationship with students by sharing personal information about herself and her family. Occasionally shell even share family pictures.

She quoted an insightful saying that applies to teachers gaining the trust of students, "Kids dont care what you know until they know that you care."

Maintaining communication with other teachers and catching up on curriculum changes are other aspects of a substitute teachers life, she said.

Detailed lesson packets, great relationships with administrators and teachers makes Atwood feel, not surprisingly, like another teacher, not just a substitute.

"I feel supported by other teachers and administrators. I enjoy the entire staff when I substitute, including teachers, administrators, paras, cooks and custodians. Those relationships are important to me," Atwood said.

Seth Ryker, the junior/senior high school principal for Gothenburg Public Schools, said substitute teachers are essential staff.

He said it is a difficult job to provide quality, uninterrupted instruction when teachers are gone from the classroom.

"Think about that challenge  in some circumstances you have 25 kids you dont know and curriculum you arent familiar with," Ryker said.

It is great asset to a school when it can get substitutes with years of experience, he said.

"They have strategies for addressing challenging situations. In many cases they have been able to build relationships with kids because they have been in the classroom previously. They might even be familiar with the procedures and expectations within the classroom," Ryker said.

He said his school system was thankful to have good substitutes, like Gengenbach, who are flexible, engaging and enjoy interacting with students.

All of the prior experience in classrooms a substitute might have helps students experience a learning environment they are familiar and comfortable with, he said.

Ryker said he definitely believes area schools have a shortage of substitutes. In Gothenburg Public Schools, he said there are days where "we cant send teachers for professional development workshops because we dont have enough available substitutes."
Soybean Milk Market: Key Driver, Outlook, Application Analysis and Forecasts (2017-2022)

Soybean Milk Market

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The Global Soybean Milk Market Research Report 2017 to 2022 renders deep perception of the key regional market status of the Soybean Milk Industry on a global level that primarily aims the core regions which comprises of continents like Europe, North America, and Asia and the key countries such as United States, Germany, China and Japan.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Analysis of Soybean Milk Industry Key Manufacturers:WhiteWave Foods, Hain Celestial, Eden Foods, Stremicks Heritage Foods, Organic Valley, Pureharvest, American Soy Products, Pacific Natural Foods, Panos Brands, Sanitarium, SunOpta and Vitasoy International Holdings.The potential of this industry segment has been rigorously investigated in conjunction with primary market challenges. The present market condition and future prospects of the segment has also been examined. Moreover, key strategies in the market that includes product developments, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, etc., are discussed. Besides, upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also conducted.Split by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into:Unsweetened Type and Flavored Type.Split by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Soybean Milk in each application, can be divided into:Children and Adult.The report is generically segmented into six parts and every part aims on the overview of the Soybean Milk industry, present condition of the market, feasibleness of the investment along with several strategies and policies. Apart from the definition and classification, the report also discusses the analysis of import and export and describes a comparison of the market that is focused on the trends and development. Along with entire framework in addition to in-depth details, one can prepare and stay ahead of the competitors across the targeted locations.Browse Complete Report with TOC @The fact that this market report renders details about the major market players along with their product development and current trends proves to be very beneficial for fresh entrants to comprehend and recognize the industry in an improved manner. The report also enlightens the productions, sales, supply, market condition, demand, growth, and forecast of the Soybean Milk industry in the global markets.Every regions market has been studied thoroughly in this report which deals with the precise information pertaining to the Marketing Channels and novel project investments so that the new entrants as well as the established market players conduct intricate research of trends and analysis in these regional markets. Acknowledging the status of the environment and products up gradation, the market report foretells each and every detail.So as to fabricate this report, complete key details, strategies and variables are examined so that entire useful information is amalgamated together for the understanding and studying the key facts pertaining the global Soybean Milk Industry. The production value and market share in conjunction with the SWOT analysis everything is integrated in this report.Check for Discount @Some points from TOC:-7 Global Soybean Milk Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 WhiteWave Foods7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.1.2 Soybean Milk Product Type, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Unsweetened Type7.1.2.2 Flavored Type7.1.3 WhiteWave Foods Soybean Milk Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Hain Celestial7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.2.2 Soybean Milk Product Type, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Unsweetened Type7.2.2.2 Flavored Type7.2.3 Hain Celestial Soybean Milk Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Eden Foods7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.3.2 Soybean Milk Product Type, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Unsweetened Type7.3.2.2 Flavored Type7.3.3 Eden Foods Soybean Milk Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Stremicks Heritage Foods7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors7.4.2 Soybean Milk Product Type, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Unsweetened Type7.4.2.2 Flavored TypeAbout Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on Global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb-
Global Customer Journey Analytics Market Trends and Key Players  CircleBack Lending, Lending Club, Peerform, Prosper, Upstart, Borrowers First, Daric, Funding Circle, Pave, SoFi

Customer Journey Analytics Market

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Market Overview on Global Customer Journey Analytics Industry:The research report titled Global Customer Journey Analytics Market offers useful insights into the trends and the factors that propel this Global market. This market study comprehensively discusses the salient features of the Global Customer Journey Analytics market in terms of the market structure and landscape, the challenges, demand factors, and the expected market performance.Download Sample Copy@The report firstly introduced the Customer Journey Analytics Market basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on. Then it analyzed the worlds main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Scope of the ReportFollowing Key players are covered:IBM Corporation (US), Salesforce.com (US), Adobe Systems Incorporated (US), SAP SE (Germany), NICE Ltd (Israel), Verint Systems Inc (US), Pointillist (Luxembourg), ClickFox (US), Quadient (Switzerland), Kitewheel (US), Servion Global Solutions Ltd (India), CallMiner, Inc (US)Market segment by Type, Customer Journey Analytics can be split intoCustomer Segmentation and Targeting, Customer Behavioral Analysis, Campaign ManagementMarket segment by Applications,BFSI, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Manufacturing or Industrial, Consumer Goods and Retail, Information Technology and Telecommunications, Transport and Logistics, Othersadditionally, this report recognizes pin-point investigation of adjusting competition subtleties and keeps you ahead in the competition. It offers a fast looking perception on different variables driving or averting the development of the Customer Journey Analytics market. It helps in understanding the key product areas and their future. It guides in taking knowledgeable business decisions by giving complete constitutions of the market and by enclosing a comprehensive analysis of market subdivisions. To sum up, it equally gives certain graphics and personalized SWOT analysis of premier market sectors.This Study on the Global Customer Journey Analytics Market is an all-inclusive study of the business sectors up-to-date outlines, industry enhancement drivers, and manacles. It provides market projections for the coming years. It contains an analysis of late augmentations in innovation, Porters five force model analysis and progressive profiles of hand-picked industry competitors. The report additionally formulates a survey of minor and full-scale factors charging for the new applicants in the Customer Journey Analytics market and the ones as of now in the market along with a systematic value chain exploration.Make Enquiry for this Report @Table of ContentGlobal Customer Journey Analytics Market Research Report 20171 Customer Journey Analytics Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Customer Journey Analytics1.2 Customer Journey Analytics Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Customer Journey Analytics Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)2 Global Customer Journey Analytics Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Customer Journey Analytics Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global Customer Journey Analytics Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)5 Global Customer Journey Analytics Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Customer Journey Analytics Market Analysis by Application7 Global Customer Journey Analytics Manufacturers Profiles/AnalysisContinuedView Complete Report@About Reports Monitor:Reports Monitor is a platform to meet the market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide. Our process is meticulously planned and executed in order to use maximum resources and explore the market for getting genuine insights. Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.Jay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite:
Worldwide Alarm Clock Market 2017 including Industry Size, Growth Opportunities & Players Sangean, Westclox Clocks, Sonic Alert, Delta Time Pvt Ltd

Alarm Clock

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Global Alarm Clock Market Professional Survey 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, competitive environment, up-to-date industry information is essential to monitor performance & make critical decisions for growth and profitability. It provides information on trends and developments, focuses on markets and materials, capacities, technologies, and on the changing structure of the Global Alarm Clock Market.The Global Alarm Clock 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 Alarm Clock market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includes AcuRite, SDI Technologies, Sangean, Westclox Clocks, Sonic Alert, La Crosse Technology, SONY, Emerson Radio Corporation, Oregon Scientific, Philips Electronics, Electrohome, Gingko Electronics, Lumie, Brookpace Lascelles, Newgate Clocks, The White Company, SeikoClocks, LEXON, Industrial Facility, Howard Miller, The Alarm Clock Company, Nanda Home Inc., Century Clocks, Acctim Limited & Delta Time Pvt LtdGlobal Alarm Clock (Thousands Units) and Revenue (Million USD) Market Split by Product Type such as Electronic, Mechanical, Quartz Analog& OtherMarket Segment by Type 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022Electronic xx xx xx xx xx Xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%Mechanical xx xx xx xx xx Xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%Quartz Analog xx xx xx xx xx Xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%Other 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 Home Use, Special Use& Other with historical and projected market share and compounded annual growth rate.Global Alarm Clock (Thousands Units) by Application (2016-2022)Market Segment by Application 2012 2016 2022 Market Share (%)2022 CAGR (%)(2016-2022)Home Use xx xx xx xx% xx%Special Use xx xx xx xx% xx%Other 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 Alarm Clock in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringMarket Segment by Regions 2012 2016 2022 Share (%) CAGR (2016-2022)North America xx xx xx xx% xx%China xx xx xx xx% xx%Europe xx xx xx xx% xx%Southeast Asia xx xx xx xx% xx%Japan xx xx xx xx% xx%India xx xx xx xx% xx%Total xx xx xx xx% xx%This independent 128 page research with title Global Alarm Clock Market Professional Survey Report 2017 guarantees you will remain better informed than your competition. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions/countries like North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan& India and important players/vendors such as AcuRite, SDI Technologies, Sangean, Westclox Clocks, Sonic Alert, La Crosse Technology, SONY, Emerson Radio Corporation, Oregon Scientific, Philips Electronics, Electrohome, Gingko Electronics, Lumie, Brookpace Lascelles, Newgate Clocks, The White Company, SeikoClocks, LEXON, Industrial Facility, Howard Miller, The Alarm Clock Company, Nanda Home Inc., Century Clocks, Acctim Limited& Delta Time Pvt Ltd. With n-number of tables and figures examining the Alarm Clock , 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 2022Further 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 Alarm Clock 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 Alarm Clock 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 Alarm Clock 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 Alarm Clock market?Who are the key market players and what are their strategies in the Global Alarm Clock market?What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Global Alarm Clock market?What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Global Alarm Clock market?What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Alarm Clock market?Buy this research report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the Global Alarm Clock market.Chapter 1, to describe Alarm Clock Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Alarm Clock , with sales, revenue, and price of Alarm Clock , 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 Alarm Clock , 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 North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan& India;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application [ Home Use, Special Use& Other], from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Alarm Clock market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Alarm Clock 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, NJNew Jersey USA  08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218
Global Yoga Mat Market 2017 - Recent Trends and Demand

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Yoga Mat Consumption Market Trends, Growth Research Report 2017 to its huge collection of research reports.This report on the global Yoga Mat market has been curated by research analysts of the industry, with a chief aim to put forth the current market conditions for the global Yoga Mat. Its objective is to shed light on the prospects of growth of the market and reach out to a wide range of audience such as manufacturers of Yoga Mat, government agencies, and different other consultancy services. The study report provides extensive analysis of the important driving aspects that will have a major impact on the global Yoga Mat market. It also inspects the impeding or restraining factors, latest and upcoming trends in the Yoga Mat market which the key players should make a note of to stay ahead in the race to the top. The potential of lesser factors of the Yoga Mat market can be evaluated by analysing its multiple segments such as products, end users, types, application, services, and others, whichever are applicable. The report also inspects the future scenarios of Yoga Mat market in all the important regions across the world, such as North America, Latin America, Middle East and Africa (MEA), Asia Pacific, and Europe.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report of the global Yoga Mat market gives out the estimation of the market size in terms of its value (USD million). Bottom-up as well as top-down approaches are applied in the report to project and confirm the size of the global Yoga Mat market and of its different other sub-segments. The study report also comprehensively discusses the opportunities that may come up in the market for Yoga Mat by application and type of producing countries, and offers a forecast for the period of 2017-2022.Check Discount @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Market Size (Value) and Growth Rate28Figure Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales Price (USD/K Pcs)28Table Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales and Total Sales (K Pcs)29Table Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales Market Share by Companies29Figure Global 2012 Yoga Mat Sales Market Share by Companies31Figure Global 2016 Yoga Mat Sales Market Share by Companies32Table Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales (K Pcs) by Product Type32Figure Global 2012 Yoga Mat Sales Market Share by Product Type33Figure Global 2016 Yoga Mat Sales Market Share by Product Type34Table Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales (K Pcs) by Applications34Figure Global 2012 Yoga Mat Sales Market Share by Applications35Figure Global 2016 Yoga Mat Sales Market Share by Applications35Table Global 2012-2017 Yoga Mat Sales (K Pcs) by Region36About UsQYResearchReports.com is an unimpeachable source of market research data for clients that comprise acclaimed SMEs, Chinese companies, private equity firms, and MNCs. We provide market research reports on various categories such as Energy, Chemicals, Alternative and Green Energy, Manufacturing, Machinery, Pharmaceuticals and Materials, and Glass.Contact usBrooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Digital Coins Global Market Detailed Study on Size, Status, & Key Players- Ripple, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Dash

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HTF MI recently added a new research study in its database that highlights the in-depth market analysis with future prospects of Digital Coins market. The study covers significant data which makes the research document a handy resource for marketing managers, analysts, industry executives, consultants, sales and product managers, and other key people who are in need of ready-to-access and self analyzed study along with graphs and tables to help understand market trends, drivers and market challenges. Some of the key players mentioned in this research are Bitcoins, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Dash, Factom, MaidSafeCoin, Peercoin, Novacoin& Namecoin.Get Access to sample pages @The research covers the current market size of the Global Digital Coins market and its growth rates based on 5 year history data. It also covers various types of segmentation such as by geography by product, application /end user type, by applications [ Banks, Finance& Other] in overall market. The in-depth information by segments of Digital Coins market helps monitor performance & make critical decisions for growth and profitability. It provides information on trends and developments, focuses on markets and materials, capacities, technologies, CAPEX cycle and the changing structure of the Global Digital Coins Market.The study also contains company profiling, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information of various international, regional, and local vendors of Global Digital Coins Market, some of them are Bitcoins, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Dash, Factom, MaidSafeCoin, Peercoin, Novacoin& Namecoin. The market competition is constantly growing higher with the rise in technological innovation and M&A activities in the industry. 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.The research study is segmented by Application such as Banks, Finance& Other with historical and projected market share and compounded annual growth rate.Global Digital Coins (Thousands Units) by Application (2016-2022)Market Segment by Application 2012 2016 2022 Market Share (%)2022 CAGR (%)(2016-2022)Banks xx xx xx xx% xx%Finance xx xx xx xx% xx%Other 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 Digital Coins in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringGet customization & check discount for report @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 Digital Coins market? Who are the key market players and what are their strategies in the Global Digital Coins market? What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Global Digital Coins market? What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Global Digital Coins market? What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Digital Coins market?Buy this research report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the Global Digital Coins market.Chapter 1, to describe Digital Coins Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Digital Coins , with sales, revenue, and price of Digital Coins , in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the Global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Digital Coins , 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;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application [ Banks, Finance& Other], from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Digital Coins market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Digital Coins sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @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, NJNew Jersey USA  08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218
Luxembourg Macroeconomic Market Analysis 2017 (By Segment, Key Players and Applications) and Forecasts

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Summary"PESTLE Insights: Macroeconomic Outlook Report - Luxembourg", identifies the potentials of Luxembourg as an investment destination by analyzing the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) structure.Canton Luxembourg and Canton Esch generate more than 50% of the GDP; comprise 59.6% of Luxembourgs population. Luxembourgian government ensures various support measures for newly created business enterprises. It takes 16.5 days with five procedures to start a business in Luxembourg.GET SAMPLE REPORT @Scope- Luxembourgs performance in the Country Risk Index 2017, exhibits its potential as a key investment destination for new business as well as expansion of existing business. The countrys score was better macroeconomic parameter, political environment, and demographic and social structure effectiveness as compared to the developed European nations average in GCRI 2017.- Luxembourg plans to diversify its economic activities. At present the financial sector is the major driver of the economy contributing around 35% to the GDP of the nation. The country intends to emphasize more on developing the ICT, bio technology, the space industry, and the logistic sectors.- Luxembourg has the most liberal welfare system in Europe, with per capita social expenditure, even adjusted for the huge number of cross-border workers, ranking the highest among European Union countries.Reasons to buy- Macroeconomic Outlook Report identifies the potentials of the country as an investment destination by analyzing the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental (PESTLE) structure.- PESTLE Insights provides 360 degree view of the economy which can be used as a strategic tool to understand the market dynamics, business potentials and direction of operations- Along with providing the countrys snapshot, the report captures the risk factors pertaining to the macroeconomic risks, political environment, legal environment, demographic and social structure effectiveness, technology & infrastructure and natural and geographic aspects that might impact business.- This report also highlights key clusters/cities which contribute significantly to the country GDP and population along with major companies presence in these areas.Table of Content: Key PointsTable of Contents 02List of Exhibits 03Did you Know? 04Country Highlights 05Country Snapshot 07Countrys Position in GCRIPESTLE Insights 19Political Landscape 20Economic Landscape 21Social Landscape 28Technological Landscape 31Legal Landscape 33Environmental Landscape 34Outlook 36ContinuedACCESS REPORT @Get in touch:LinkedIn:Twitter:Facebook:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
E-commerce Payment Global Market 2017: Key Players  AliPay, MasterCard, PayPal, Visa, Dwolla, WePay

E-commerce Payment Market

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E-commerce Payment Market 2017Wiseguyreports.Com adds E-commerce Payment Market Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2022 To Its Research Database.Report Details:This report provides in depth study of E-commerce Payment Market using SWOT analysis i.e. Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat to the organization. The E-commerce Payment Market report also provides an in-depth survey of key players in the market which is based on the various objectives of an organization such as profiling, the product outline, the quantity of production, required raw material, and the financial health of the organization.This report studies the global E-commerce Payment market, analyzes and researches the E-commerce Payment development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia.This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeAliPayMasterCardPayPalVisaDwollaWePayACH Payments...Request a Sample Report @Market segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, E-commerce Payment can be split intoCardsE-walletsMobileBank TransferDirect DebitsCash on DeliveryMarket segment by Application, E-commerce Payment can be split intoCommercialBanksFinanceOtherIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Make an Enquiry @Major Key Points in Table of Content:Global E-commerce Payment Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of E-commerce Payment1.1 E-commerce Payment Market Overview1.1.1 E-commerce Payment Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global E-commerce Payment Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 E-commerce Payment Market by Type1.3.1 Cards1.3.2 E-wallets1.3.3 Mobile1.3.4 Bank Transfer1.3.5 Direct Debits1.3.6 Cash on Delivery1.4 E-commerce Payment Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Commercial1.4.2 Banks1.4.3 Finance1.4.4 Other2 Global E-commerce Payment Competition Analysis by Players2.1 E-commerce Payment Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 AliPay3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 E-commerce Payment Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 MasterCard3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 E-commerce Payment Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 PayPal3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 E-commerce Payment Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 Visa3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 E-commerce Payment Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 Dwolla3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 E-commerce Payment Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 WePay3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 E-commerce Payment Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 ACH Payments3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 E-commerce Payment Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.7.5 Recent DevelopmentsContinued.Buy now @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Sales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India
Global Advanced Materials Industry : Market Overview, Size, Share and Trends 2017

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Albany, NY, 12th October : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Advanced Materials Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024" globally.Advanced Materials generally have superior properties than conventional materials available. They can outperform conventional materials, in terms of their applications. They are materials that are novel or have undergone modifications in existing materials to gain superior performance with respect to one or more characteristics that are essential for the applications under consideration.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @Global Advanced Materials Market: Drivers and TrendsAs climate change statistics are continuously rising, there's growing pressure from all areas  consumers, businesses, and governments  to search for more eco-friendly manufacturing techniques. This acts as another opportunity for advanced materials market because of always advancing technologies that are used for production of advanced materials. North America and Europe are major regions for the global advanced materials market, with them currently being and projected to remain comparatively mature markets.The market is anticipated to undergo constant changes due to emerging technologies in various segments, as any advancement carried out on existing products results in the inclusion of the modified product in the existing market. Limited number of players operate in the advanced materials market. Their share of R&D expenditure is expected to reflect on the overall investment in R&D for advanced materials.Global Advanced Materials Market: ScopeThe report estimates and forecasts the advanced materials market on the global and regional levels. The study provides forecast between 2016 and 2024 based on volume (million tons / kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Bn / US$ Mn) with 2015 as the base year. The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis for each of the segments. It provides a comprehensive view of the market. Value chain analysis also offers detailed information about value addition at each stage.Global Advanced Materials Market: Research MethodologyThe study includes drivers and restraints for the advanced materials market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The study also provides key market indicators affecting the growth of the market. The report analyzes opportunities in the advanced materials market on the global and regional level. Drivers, restraints, and opportunities mentioned in the report are justified through quantitative and qualitative data. These have been verified through primary and secondary resources. Furthermore, the report analyzes substitute analysis of advanced materials and global average price trend analysis.Make an Enquiry about TOC @The report includes Porters Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the advanced materials market. The report comprises a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein end-users and regions have been analyzed based on attractiveness for each region. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market. The report comprises price trend analysis for advanced materials between 2016 and 2024.Secondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to, company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report.In-depth interviews and discussions with a wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis teams expertise and market understanding.Global Advanced Materials Market: SegmentationThe study provides a comprehensive view of the advanced materials market by dividing it into product, application and geography segments. The products have been segmented into ceramics, glasses, polymers, composites and metals & alloys (M&A). The applications are segmented into medical devices, automotive, aerospace, electricals & electronics (E&E), industrial, power and others. These segments have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends.Regional segmentation includes the current and forecast consumption of advanced materials in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Market segmentation includes demand for consumption in all the regions individually.Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:The report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include 3M Advanced Materials, Morgan Advanced Materials plc, Huntsman Corporation, Hexcel Corporation, Hanwa Group, Materion Corporation and Others. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview (wherever applicable).The global advanced materials market has been segmented as follows:Advanced Materials Market  Product AnalysisCeramicsGlassesPolymersCompositesMetals & AlloysAdvanced Materials Market  Application AnalysisMedical devicesAutomotiveAerospaceElectricals & ElectronicsIndustrialPowerOthersAdvanced Materials Market  Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaEuropeGermanyFranceU.K.SpainItalyRest of EuropeBrowse Report @Asia PacificChinaJapanIndiaASEANRest of Asia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on :
Color Cosmetics Products 2017 Global Key Players  Loreal, P&G, Unilever, Estee Lauder, L'Occitane, Avon Market Analysis And Forecast To 2022

Color Cosmetics Products Market

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Color Cosmetics Products Market 2017Wiseguyreports.Com Adds Color Cosmetics Products-Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Manufacturers, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2022 To Its Research Database.Description:In this report, the global Color Cosmetics Products market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Color Cosmetics Products in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Color Cosmetics Products market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingLorealP&GUnileverEstee LauderL'OccitaneShiseidoAvonLVChannelAmore PacificJahwaBeiersdorfJohnson & JohnsonJialaINOHERBSisleyRevlonJane iredaleHenkelCotyRequest for Sample Report@On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoNail productsLip productsEye Make-upFacial Make-upHair Color ProductsSpecial Effects ProductsOthersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Color Cosmetics Products for each application, includingBeautySkin CareEnquiry before Buying @If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of Contents:Global Color Cosmetics Products Market Research Report 20171 Color Cosmetics Products Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Color Cosmetics Products1.2 Color Cosmetics Products Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Color Cosmetics Products Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Color Cosmetics Products Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Nail products1.2.4 Lip products1.2.5 Eye Make-up1.2.6 Facial Make-up1.2.7 Hair Color Products1.2.8 Special Effects Products1.2.9 Others1.3 Global Color Cosmetics Products Segment by Application1.3.1 Color Cosmetics Products Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Beauty1.3.3 Skin Care1.4 Global Color Cosmetics Products Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Color Cosmetics Products Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Color Cosmetics Products (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Color Cosmetics Products Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Color Cosmetics Products Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022).7 Global Color Cosmetics Products Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 Loreal7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Color Cosmetics Products Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 Loreal Color Cosmetics Products Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 P&G7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Color Cosmetics Products Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 P&G Color Cosmetics Products Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Unilever7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Color Cosmetics Products Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Unilever Color Cosmetics Products Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Estee Lauder7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Color Cosmetics Products Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Estee Lauder Color Cosmetics Products Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 L'Occitane7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Color Cosmetics Products Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 L'Occitane Color Cosmetics Products Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Shiseido7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Color Cosmetics Products Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Shiseido Color Cosmetics Products Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Avon7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Color Cosmetics Products Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Avon Color Cosmetics Products Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 LV7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Color Cosmetics Products Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 LV Color Cosmetics Products Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Channel7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Color Cosmetics Products Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Channel Color Cosmetics Products Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 Amore Pacific7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Color Cosmetics Products Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 Amore Pacific Color Cosmetics Products Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.10.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.11 Jahwa7.12 Beiersdorf7.13 Johnson & Johnson7.14 Jiala7.15 INOHERB7.16 Sisley7.17 Revlon7.18 Jane iredale7.19 Henkel7.20 CotyContinued..Buy now @Contact US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About Us:Wise Guy 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Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres:: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd: Pune  411028: Maharashtra,: Ph: +91 841 198 5042
Trend of Green Cement Market in Global Industry : Market Development, Analysis and Overview 2017

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Albany, NY, 12th October : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Green Cement Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024" globally.Green cement is a cementitious material that can be manufactured by using industrial waste such as power plant wastes, recycled concrete, mining and quarrying wastes, burnt clay, and slag. Green cement is primarily used in residential, non-residential, industrial and infrastructure sector. Green cement can reduce carbon footprint by 40-50%. It also offers superior thermal and fire resistance properties. Further it also provides excellent resistance to alkali attack during climate and weather changes.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @The report estimates and forecasts the green cement market on the global, regional, and country levels. The study provides forecast between 2016 and 2024 based on volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Bn) with 2015 as the base year. The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis for each of the product segments. It provides a comprehensive view of the market. Value chain analysis also offers detailed information about value addition at each stage. The study includes drivers and restraints for the green cement market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The study also provides key market indicators affecting the growth of the market. The report analyzes opportunities in the green cement market on the global and regional level. Drivers, restraints, and opportunities mentioned in the report are justified through quantitative and qualitative data. These have been verified through primary and secondary resources. Furthermore, the report analyzes global average price trend analysis of green cement.Global Green Cement Market: Research MethodologyThe report includes Porters Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the green cement market. The report comprises a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein application and countries have been analyzed based on attractiveness for each region. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market. The report comprises price trend analysis for green cement between 2016 and 2024.Secondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report.Make an Enquiry about TOC @In-depth interviews and discussions with a wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis teams expertise and market understanding.Global Green Cement Market: SegmentationThe study provides a comprehensive view of the green cement market by dividing it into product type, application and geography. The green cement market has been segmented into fly ash, slag, geopolymer and others. Application segments have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends, and the market has been estimated in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Bn) between 2016 and 2024.Global Green Cement Market: Regional OutlookRegional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for activated alumina in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Additionally, the report comprises country-level analysis in terms of volume and revenue for end-user segments. Key countries such as the U.S., Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, India, China, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil have been included in the study. Market segmentation includes demand for individual end-users in all the regions and countries.Companies Mentioned in this Research Report are:The report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., HeidelbergCement AG, LafargeHolcim., Taiheiyo Cement Corporation, Votorantim cimentos S.A., China National Building Material Company Limited (CNBM), Taiwan Cement Corporation, and Ecocem Ireland Ltd. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview (wherever applicable).The global green cement market has been segmented as follows:Green cement Market  Product Type AnalysisFly ash basedSlag basedGeopolymerOthersGreen cement Market  Application Type AnalysisResidentialNon-residentialIndustrialInfrastructureGreen cement Market  Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyFranceU.K.ItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanBrowse Report @ASEANRest of Asia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGCCEgyptSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on :
Ready-To-Use Therapeutic Food Market Estimated to be Valued at US$ 617.4 Mn by 2024; Europe to Dominate the Market Through 2024

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In a new report titled Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, 20162024, Persistence Market Research delivers key insights on the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market and analyzes the key factors and trends impacting market performance over an eight-year forecast period (2016  2024). In 2015, the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market was valued at US$ 249.2 Mn, and this is estimated to increase to US$ 276.0 Mn by 2016 end, reflecting a Y-o-Y growth rate of 10.7%. In terms of value, the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market is expected to register a CAGR of 10.6% during the forecast period.Browse Full Ready-to-use Therapeutic Foods Market at:Market dynamicsIncreasing government as well as NGO focus on the treatment of malnutrition is expected to drive revenue growth of the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market over the forecast period. Also, an increasing demand for drinkable ready-to-use therapeutic foods and rising global emergencies and disasters is expected to further fuel market growth. Demand for semi-solid paste therapeutic food products as a result of easy storage and distribution is fueling the demand for ready-to-use therapeutic food products to manage people suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Demand for ready-to-use drinkable therapeutic food is increasing with the government focusing on increasing the procurement of drinkable ready-to-use foods for small children. Rise in regional government bodies and global manufacturers planning to establish local manufacturing facilities is another major driving factor fueling the growth of the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market. However, increasing consumer/local government shift towards local ingredients and inconsistencies in ready-to-use therapeutic food milk products thereby creating a risk of contamination are factors likely to restrict market growth during the forecast period.Download exclusive Sample of this report:The global ready-to-use therapeutic food market offers great opportunities for market players with UNICEF encouraging the domestic production of ready-to-use therapeutic foods.Market forecastThe global ready-to-use therapeutic food market is segmented on the basis of Product Type into Solid (Powder/Blends, Biscuits/Bar), Semi-solid Paste, and Drinkable Therapeutic Food; and on the basis of Region into North America, Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). The Powder/Blends solid segment is estimated to create incremental $ opportunity of US$ 1.5 Mn between 2016 and 2024, registering a CAGR of 11.2% during the forecast period. The Biscuits/Bar solid segment is estimated to create incremental $ opportunity of US$ 7.8 Mn between 2016 and 2024, witnessing a CAGR of 8.7% during the forecast period. The Semi-solid Paste segment is expected to retain its dominance in the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market throughout the forecast period, with 90.7% value share by 2024.Among regions, Europe is estimated to account for a maximum revenue share of 62.0% of the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market by the end of 2016. The MEA market is expected to account for 19.1% market share of the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market by the end of 2016. The Europe ready-to-use therapeutic food market is estimated to be valued at US$ 171.0 Mn by 2016 end and is expected to increase to US$ 355.7 Mn by 2024 end, registering a CAGR of 9.6% during the forecast period.Vendor highlightsThis report covers detailed profiles of key players operating in the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market  Insta Products (EPZ) Ltd., MANA, Nutrivita Foods Pvt Ltd., Power Foods Industries Ltd., Tabatchnick Fine Foods, HILINA Enriched Food Processing Center P.L.C., GC Rieber Compact AS, Diva Nutritional Products, Edesia, Inc., Nutriset, and InnoFasoSA. Ease of product availability, rising malnutrition population in developing nations, and an easy storage and distribution network are factors encouraging new players to venture into the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market. Established players in the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market are expanding production facilities and are focusing on product innovations, which is creating robust competition in the global ready-to-use therapeutic food market.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA | Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Titanium Powder Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type And Application, Forecast To 2022

Titanium Powder Market

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MarketResearchNest.com adds United States Titanium Powder Market By Manufacturers, States, Type And Application, Forecast To 2022new report to its research database. The report spread across in a 123 pages with table and figures in it.Titanium powder is the result of processing this metal in a variety of ways to produce a fine metal powder. A silvery metal, titanium is highly valued for its great strength and unmatched corrosion resistance. Titanium powder has a variety of specifications with purity range from 95% to 99.98%. It is widely used in aerospace industry, automobile industry, petrochemical industry etc.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Titanium Powder in United States market, to split the market based on manufacturers, states, type and application.Browse full table of contents and data tables atMarket Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversATI, Cristal, OSAKA Titanium, Fengxiang Titanium, ADMA Products, Reading Alloys, MTCO, TLS Technik, Global Titanium,GfE, APandC, Puris, Toho Titanium, Metalysis, Praxair S.T. Tech.Market Segment by States, coveringCalifornia, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois.Market Segment by Type, coversHigh Purity Titanium Powder (CPTP), Alloyed Titanium Powder (ATP).Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoAerospace Industry, Automobile Industry, Petrochemical Industry, Other.Order a Purchase Report Copy atThere are 17 Chapters to deeply display the United States Titanium Powder market.Chapter 1, to describe Titanium Powder Introduction, product type and application, market overview, market analysis by States, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the manufacturers of Titanium Powder, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the United States market by States, covering California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Florida, with sales, price, revenue and market share of Titanium Powder, for each state, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5 and 6, to show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, to analyze the key States by Type and Application, covering California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Florida, with sales, revenue and market share by types and applications;Chapter 12, Titanium Powder market forecast, by States, type and application, with sales, price, revenue and growth rate forecast, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, to analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.Chapter 14, to analyze the industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream end users (buyers);Chapter 15, to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.Chapter 16 and 17, to describe Titanium Powder Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source.Request a sample copy atAbout Us:MarketResearchNest.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 United States industries, organizations, products, and trends.Contact UsMr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070(U.S)+44-20-3290-4151(U.K)Connect with us: Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook
Global Customer Journey Analytics Market Status and Forecast 2022 - Kitewheel, Servion, Callminer

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Customer Journey Analytics Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.The report on the global market for Customer Journey Analytics attempts to help stakeholders in deriving a thorough understanding of the current trends and vulnerabilities of the market. It is comprised of relevant information that provide an in-depth picture of the global market for Customer Journey Analytics. This includes growth drivers and restraints molding the market from 2017 to 2022. The report also factors in the various regulatory policies likely to impact the market in the foreseeable future.The information bundled in the report is a result of thorough primary and secondary research. Data such as financial records of key companies in the market has been procured from the Customer Journey Analytics markets historical statistics. Analysts have also banked upon insights from industry experts and other trusted industry sources to compile the detailed report.Request for the Report Sample:The report uses Porters five forces and SWOT analysis to gather a true picture of the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, and the threat of new entrants, and from close substitutes purveyed in the market. It also helps to fathom the competitive scenario in the global Customer Journey Analytics market.Further, in order to study the global market for Customer Journey Analytics in-depth, the report divides it depending upon different parameters such as product types, applications, and regions. It also helps to uncover the most attractive segments and regions contributing significantly to the growth in the market.The report furnishes an executive-level blueprint of the global Customer Journey Analytics market, consisting of profiles of the key companies operating in it. It studies their strengths and weaknesses and winning strategies as well.This report studies the global Customer Journey Analytics market, analyzes and researches the Customer Journey Analytics development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeSalesforceIBM?Adobe SystemsNice SystemsSAP?Verint SystemsPointillistFor more information on this report, fill the form @Table of ContentsGlobal Customer Journey Analytics Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Customer Journey Analytics1.1 Customer Journey Analytics Market Overview1.1.1 Customer Journey Analytics Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook2 Global Customer Journey Analytics Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Customer Journey Analytics Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in FutureTo Get Discount Of This Report Click here @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Customer Journey Analytics Product ScopeFigure Global Customer Journey Analytics Market Size (Million USD) (2012-2017)Table Global Customer Journey Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Customer Journey Analytics Market Share by Regions in 2016Figure United States Customer Journey Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure EU Customer Journey Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Japan Customer Journey Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure China Customer Journey Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure India Customer Journey Analytics Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Natural Cork Flooring Market SWOT Analytics of Top Key Players Forecast To 2022

Natural Cork Flooring Market

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The Natural Cork Flooring Market Research Report Forecast 2017-2022 is a valuable source of insightful data for business strategists. It provides the Natural Cork Flooring industry overview with growth analysis and historical & futuristic cost, revenue, demand and supply data (as applicable). The research analysts provide an elaborate description of the value chain and its distributor analysis.For this report, the Natural Cork Flooring market value is provided for 2016 in USD millions, an expected CAGR % as well as USD million worth of industry in 2022. Regionally, the globe is segmented into United States, China, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia and India to study their market size and local analysis. End user applications of Natural Cork Flooring market covering Commercial Flooring and Residential Flooring are studied in this research. Share of Natural Cork Flooring market is covered by applications as well supported with potential applications in the future.Buy the complete Natural Cork Flooring report with Comprehensive table of contents @The research methodology used to estimate and forecast the Natural Cork Flooring market involves a primary and a secondary research. A systematic procedure has been used to arrive at the global size of the Natural Cork Flooring market and present revenue of key players in the market. Accurate data has been collected by conducting extensive interviews with people holding key decision making positions in the industry such as CEOs, VPs, directors, and executives.Inquire for discount for this report @Industry chain analysis covering upstream raw materials and equipments of Natural Cork Flooring market, their suppliers' information as well as analysis of downstream major consumers for Natural Cork Flooring is provided to understand the complete industry chain structure. Overall market analyzed in this report is divided by regions, types and manufacturers/companies. The research estimates 2017-2022 Natural Cork Flooring market development trends covering capacity, production and revenue forecasts as well as regional supply consumption forecasts.Towards the end, this report includes a feasibility analysis of New Project Investment covering SWOT analysis of Natural Cork Flooring OR marketing strategy analysis and market effect factor analysis. Overall, the report provides factual insights collected and analyzed with detailed primary and secondary research on Natural Cork Flooring market.The research compiles profiles of small and big Natural Cork Flooring market companies covering their product details as well as important statistics on production, capacity, price and more. These active companies' numbers are supported with information on marketing traders and/or distributors of the Natural Cork Flooring industry along with their contact information. This data gives valuable industry insights and direction to individuals and/or companies that are new entrants, eyeing to enter or grow in the Natural Cork Flooring market. Some of the Key vendors profiled in this research include:AMORINGranorteCorksribasMJO CorkLICOGlobus CorkWE CorkExpankoHome LegendJelinek Cork GroupCapri CorkQu-CorkPremium FloorsJILINKJiangsu Senhaoshi CorkPartial list of Tables and Figures for this report include:Table Manufacturers Natural Cork Flooring Manufacturing Base Distribution and Sales AreaTable Manufacturers Natural Cork Flooring Product TypeFigure Natural Cork Flooring Market Share of Top 3 ManufacturersFigure Natural Cork Flooring Market Share of Top 5 ManufacturersTable Global Natural Cork Flooring Capacity by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Natural Cork Flooring Capacity Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Natural Cork Flooring Capacity Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)Figure 2015 Global Natural Cork Flooring Capacity Market Share by RegionsTable Global Natural Cork Flooring Production by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Natural Cork Flooring Production and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global Natural Cork Flooring Production Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)Figure 2015 Global Natural Cork Flooring Production Market Share by RegionsTable Global Natural Cork Flooring Revenue by Regions (2012-2017)About Us:eMarketOrg.com aims to provide businesses and organizations market intelligence products and services that help in making smart, instant and crucial decisions. 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Global Smart Grid IT Systems Market 2016: Accenture, Capgemini, IBM, Siemens, Infosys, Itron

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Crushing Equipment Market 2017 Global Share, Trend, Segmentation and Forecast to 2021

Crushing Equipment Market

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Global Polyethylene Wax Sales Market Growth Research Report 2017: Honeywell, Westlake Chemical, Baker Hughes

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Torpedo Market Trend Analysis by Application (Naval Vessel-Launched Torpedo, Aerial Platform-Launched Torpedo) & Players Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Saab, Bharat Dynamics Limited

Torpedo

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Global Torpedo Market Research 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, competitive environment, up-to-date industry information is essential to monitor performance & make critical decisions for growth and profitability. It provides information on trends and developments, focuses on markets and materials, capacities, technologies, and on the changing structure of the Global Torpedo Market.The Global Torpedo 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 Torpedo market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includes Atlas Elektronik, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Saab, Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), DCNS, Honeywell International, Leonardo-Finmeccanica& Orbital ATKGlobal Torpedo (Thousands Units) and Revenue (Million USD) Market Split by Product Type such as Electrical Power Torpedo& Thermal Power TorpedoMarket Segment by Type 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022Electrical Power Torpedo xx xx xx xx xx Xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%Thermal Power Torpedo 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 Naval Vessel-Launched Torpedo, Aerial Platform-Launched Torpedo& Other with historical and projected market share and compounded annual growth rate.Global Torpedo (Thousands Units) by Application (2016-2022)Market Segment by Application 2012 2016 2022 Market Share (%)2022 CAGR (%)(2016-2022)Naval Vessel-Launched Torpedo xx xx xx xx% xx%Aerial Platform-Launched Torpedo xx xx xx xx% xx%Other 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 Torpedo in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringMarket Segment by Regions 2012 2016 2022 Share (%) CAGR (2016-2022)North America xx xx xx xx% xx%Europe xx xx xx xx% xx%China xx xx xx xx% xx%Japan xx xx xx xx% xx%Southeast Asia xx xx xx xx% xx%India xx xx xx xx% xx%Total xx xx xx xx% xx%This independent 100 page research with title Global Torpedo Market Research Report 2017 guarantees you will remain better informed than your competition. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions/countries like North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia& India and important players/vendors such as Atlas Elektronik, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Saab, Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), DCNS, Honeywell International, Leonardo-Finmeccanica& Orbital ATK. With n-number of tables and figures examining the Torpedo , 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 2022Further 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 Torpedo 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 Torpedo 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 Torpedo 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 Torpedo market?Who are the key market players and what are their strategies in the Global Torpedo market?What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Global Torpedo market?What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Global Torpedo market?What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Torpedo market?Buy this research report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the Global Torpedo market.Chapter 1, to describe Torpedo Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Torpedo , with sales, revenue, and price of Torpedo , 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 Torpedo , 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 North America, Europe, China, 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 [ Naval Vessel-Launched Torpedo, Aerial Platform-Launched Torpedo& Other], from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Torpedo market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Torpedo 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. 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Electric Scooter Global Market 2017: Key Players  AIMA, Yadea, Lvyuan, Birdie Electric, Lima, Lvneng, Sinski

Electric Scooter Market

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Electric Scooter Market 2017Wiseguyreports.Com adds Electric Scooter Market Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities, Analysis of Top Key Players and Forecast to 2022 To Its Research Database.Report Details:This report provides in depth study of Electric Scooter Market using SWOT analysis i.e. Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat to the organization. The Electric Scooter Market report also provides an in-depth survey of key players in the market which is based on the various objectives of an organization such as profiling, the product outline, the quantity of production, required raw material, and the financial health of the organization.Global Electric Scooter market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer;The top key players including ;AIMAYadeaLvyuanLimaBirdie ElectricLvnengOpaiSinskiAucmaSunraByvinLvjiaXiaodao EbikeGammaBodoTailingSupaqIncalcuSlaneRazorYamahaRequest a Sample Report @Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Electric Scooter in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoElectric Retro ScooterElectric Kick ScooterOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Electric Scooter for each application, including60 yrs Consumer AgeIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Make an Enquiry @Major Key Points in Table of Content:Global Electric Scooter Market Research Report 20171 Electric Scooter Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Electric Scooter1.2 Electric Scooter Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Electric Scooter Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Electric Scooter Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Electric Retro Scooter1.2.4 Electric Kick Scooter1.3 Global Electric Scooter Segment by Application1.3.1 Electric Scooter Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 60 yrs Consumer Age1.4 Global Electric Scooter Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Electric Scooter Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Electric Scooter (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Electric Scooter Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Electric Scooter Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)7 Global Electric Scooter Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 AIMA7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Electric Scooter Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 AIMA Electric Scooter Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Yadea7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Electric Scooter Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Yadea Electric Scooter Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Lvyuan7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Electric Scooter Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Lvyuan Electric Scooter Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Lima7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Electric Scooter Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Lima Electric Scooter Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Birdie Electric7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Electric Scooter Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Birdie Electric Electric Scooter Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Lvneng7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Electric Scooter Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Lvneng Electric Scooter Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Opai7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Electric Scooter Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Opai Electric Scooter Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Sinski7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Electric Scooter Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Sinski Electric Scooter Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Aucma7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Electric Scooter Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Aucma Electric Scooter Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.10 Sunra7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Electric Scooter Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 Sunra Electric Scooter Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.10.4 Main Business/Business OverviewContinued.Buy now @Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Sales@Wiseguyreports.ComPh: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. 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Latin America Capnography Equipment Market to Reach Valuation US$ 30.2 Mn by 2021

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Based on types of capnograph, the sidestream capnograph segment dominated the capnography equipment market in 2014, with a share of around 52.9%. Easy-to-use and capability to monitor the patient in non-intubated condition are the major factors that contributed to the high demand for sidestream capnograph. Additionally, presence of large number of players including local companies offering sidestream capnograph in their portfolio has increased the awareness and demand for sidestream capnograph in Latin America.The microstream capnograph segment has been projected to witness high growth during the forecast period in Latin America as these are cost-effective and offer several advantages in all hospital settings. The device could also be used for monitoring both non-intubated patients and neonates. However, sidestream capnograph cannot be used to monitor neonatal patients and mainstream capnograph lack the capability to monitor non-intubated patients.Browse Full Report @The capnography equipment market is growing rapidly in Latin America majorly due to the recommendations to use capnography in routine hospital settings by esteemed organizations and government bodies. The World Health Organization (WHO), in its 2009 report on safe surgery, recommended the use of capnography monitoring during endotracheal tube placement, hypoventilation, and esophageal intubation for better outcome. The Uruguayan Society of Anesthesiologists and the American Society of Anesthesiologists recommended capnography monitoring in routine-use during procedural sedation and anesthetics.Request to view table of content @These guidelines substantiate the importance of capnography equipment in hospital use. Moreover, high impact of the U.S. health care system on the health care market in Latin America is augmenting the capnography equipment market in this region.Based on countries, Brazil held the largest share of around 31.4% of the capnography equipment market in Latin America in 2014. High demand for plastic surgery, rising medical tourism for various types of dental surgeries, cosmetic surgeries and cardiac procedure, and large proportion of GDP expenditure on health care in Brazil are the major factors propelling the capnography equipment market in the region. Brazil is anticipated to be the fastest growing market for capnography equipment in Latin America during the forecast period.A sample of this report is available upon request @Key players operating in the capnography equipment market in Latin America include Dragerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, Masimo Corporation, Medtronic, Inc., NIHON KOHDEN CORPORATION, Nonin Medical, Inc., Philips Healthcare, Smiths Medical, and Welch Allyn, Inc. Market players are continuously engaged in developing new and advanced capnography equipment along with additional features to strengthen their position in the capnography equipment market.Buy full Latin America Capnography Equipment Market report @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Feed Antibiotics Market Status and Forecast showcasing Progressive CAGR Growth During 2017-2022

Feed Antibiotics Market Forecast

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A new research study published by HTF MI with title Global Feed Antibiotics Market Research Report 2017 provides an in-depth strategic assessment of the Feed Antibiotics including key market trends, upcoming & innovative technologies, industry drivers, challenges, regulatory policies and issues, future roadmap, value chain, and major players profile and strategies. The research study provides forecasts for Feed Antibiotics investments till 2022.Get Access to sample pages @Global Feed Antibiotics Market - Vendor Landscape: The analysts authoring the publication explain the nature and future changes in the competitive scenario of the worldwide Feed Antibiotics market. Various companies are profiled in the publication guide, including Abbott Laboratories, Bayer, Pfizer, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Sanofi, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Novartis, Daiichi Sankyo Company, LG Life Sciences, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cubist Pharmaceuticals& Toyama Chemical.The Global Feed Antibiotics market is prophesied to be cataloged into three important segments, i.e. Tetracyclines, Penicillins, Sulfonamides, Macrolides, Aminoglycosides, Cephalosporins & Others as per product classification. By application, the market could be classified into Ruminant, Poultry, Pig & Aquaculture.Global Feed Antibiotics Sales (Thousands Units) by Application (2016-2022)Market Segment by Application 2012 2016 2022 Market Share (%)2022 CAGR (%)(2016-2022)Ruminant xx xx xx xx% xx%Poultry xx xx xx xx% xx%Pig xx xx xx xx% xx%Aquaculture xx xx xx xx% xx%Total xx xx xx 100% xx%Buy this research report @In terms of geography, North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia& India could be the lucrative regions of the market. By the concluding forecast year, North America is envisioned to garner a US$ XX, whereas the Europe could rise at a XX% CAGR.Market Segment by Regions 2012 2016 2022 Share (%) CAGR (2016-2022)North America xx xx xx xx% xx%Europe xx xx xx xx% xx%China xx xx xx xx% xx%Japan xx xx xx xx% xx%Southeast Asia xx xx xx xx% xx%India xx xx xx xx% xx%Total xx xx xx xx% xx%The bottom-up approach is being utilized to project the global market size of Feed Antibiotics based on end-user industry and region, in terms of value. With the data triangulation procedure and validation of data through primary interviews, the exact values of the overall primary market, and individual market share & sizes are determined and confirmed with this study. Various tables and graphs are available in the study also the data will be provided in excel format (if required) along with PDF file.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @There are 15 chapters to deeply display the Global Feed Antibiotics market.Chapter 1, to describe Feed Antibiotics Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Feed Antibiotics , with sales, revenue, and price of Feed Antibiotics , 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 Feed Antibiotics , 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 / regions North America, Europe, China, 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 [ Ruminant, Poultry, Pig& Aquaculture], from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Feed Antibiotics market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Feed Antibiotics 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 Recombinant Protein Drugs Market Trends, Demands & Analysis - Amgen, Sanofi, Eli Lilly

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Recombinant Protein Drugs Market Trends, Growth Research Report 2017-2022" to its huge collection of research reports.The study in consideration provides detailed viewpoints on the global Recombinant Protein Drugs publicize that illustrates the future and current predictions, with observance of the potent tenacity of the industry. The vital goal of the study is to offer the reader a thorough picture of the market, along with equipping them with the comprehensive outcomes. The study, being ahead of its time, utilizes a plethora of resources, such as factors influencing the industry, the constraint acting upon the market, the relationship between consumers and vendors, and the gauges the global result of the worldwide Recombinant Protein Drugs consequences within the duration of the study. The examination offers an overall analysis of the market, whose predisposition towards reliable progress is composed of the market opportunities and restraints that may arise.To Download Sample Report With TOC:Additionally, the report places the global Recombinant Protein Drugs publicize by thorough examination of the mechanized and technical link of the industry. The study anticipates the development of the market by particular consideration of statistics and data, related to market conduct, transmission strategies, aggregate of purchases, and advantages of the sum total. It also offers approaches that can be followed by participants in the Recombinant Protein Drugs.The report utilizes the comprehensive analysis of the persisting Recombinant Protein Drugs elements, and further amplifies them to realize the ensuing impact of the market factors. This helps the study in incorporating an in-depth assessment of the market which in turn provides the vendors and market neophytes information about possible business strategies. The examination acts as a prototype that can be used to discern market restraints and opportunities. Due to its accruement of pivotal and investigative structure, there is a good chance of captivating Recombinant Protein Drugs predictions in the coming years.This report studies Recombinant Protein Drugs in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringNovo NordiskAmgenSanofiEli LillyMerck SeronoOrtho BiotechRocheKyowa Hakko KirinComplete report with detailed table of content is available at:Table of ContentsGlobal Recombinant Protein Drugs Market Research Report 20171 Recombinant Protein Drugs Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Recombinant Protein Drugs1.2 Recombinant Protein Drugs Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Recombinant Protein Drugs by Type in 20152 Global Recombinant Protein Drugs Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Recombinant Protein Drugs Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Recombinant Protein Drugs Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Recombinant Protein Drugs Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Recombinant Protein Drugs Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Recombinant Protein Drugs Market Competitive Situation and Trends3 Global Recombinant Protein Drugs Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Recombinant Protein Drugs Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Recombinant Protein Drugs Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Recombinant Protein Drugs Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)Enquiry For Discount Visit @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Picture of Recombinant Protein DrugsFigure Global Production Market Share of Recombinant Protein Drugs by Type in 2015Figure Europe Recombinant Protein Drugs Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure China Recombinant Protein Drugs Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Japan Recombinant Protein Drugs Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Southeast Asia Recombinant Protein Drugs Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure India Recombinant Protein Drugs Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Figure Global Recombinant Protein Drugs Revenue (Million UDS) and Growth Rate (2012-2022)About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Digital Currency Market: Leading Manufacturers - Bitcoins, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Dash, Factom, MaidSafeCoin, Peercoin, Novacoin, Namecoin

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Precisemarketreports.com add new report Global Digital Currency Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 it contains global Key players survey, Geographical Research Report and Forecast to 2022.The global Digital Currency market, analyzes and researches the Digital Currency development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market  Bitcoins, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Dash, Factom, MaidSafeCoin, Peercoin, Novacoin, NamecoinMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers - United States, EU, Japan, China, India, Southeast AsiaGet a Sample Report atMarket segment by Application, Digital Currency can be split into  Banks, Finance, OtherIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of ContentsGlobal Digital Currency Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Digital Currency1.1 Digital Currency Market Overview1.1.1 Digital Currency Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Digital Currency Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Digital Currency Market by End Users/Application1.3.1 Banks1.3.2 Finance1.3.3 Other2 Global Digital Currency Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Digital Currency Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in FutureFor more Information at3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Bitcoins3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Digital Currency Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Ethereum3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Digital Currency Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Ripple3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Digital Currency Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 Litecoin3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Digital Currency Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 Dogecoin3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Digital Currency Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 Dash3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Digital Currency Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 Factom3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Digital Currency Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 MaidSafeCoin3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Digital Currency Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 Peercoin3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Digital Currency Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.9.5 Recent Developments3.10 Novacoin3.10.1 Company Profile3.10.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.10.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.10.4 Digital Currency Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.10.5 Recent Developments3.11 Namecoin4 Global Digital Currency Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.1 Global Digital Currency Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.2 Potential Application of Digital Currency in Future4.3 Top Consumer/End Users of Digital Currency5 United States Digital Currency Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Digital Currency Market Size (2012-2017)5.2 United States Digital Currency Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)6 EU Digital Currency Development Status and Outlook6.1 EU Digital Currency Market Size (2012-2017)6.2 EU Digital Currency Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)7 Japan Digital Currency Development Status and Outlook7.1 Japan Digital Currency Market Size (2012-2017)7.2 Japan Digital Currency Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)8 China Digital Currency Development Status and Outlook8.1 China Digital Currency Market Size (2012-2017)8.2 China Digital Currency Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)Access complete report at9 India Digital Currency Development Status and Outlook9.1 India Digital Currency Market Size (2012-2017)9.2 India Digital Currency Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)About us:Precise market reports, a one-stop research platform designed to help key decision makers and dynamic thought leaders across various industry verticals worldwide by making them aware of the past, current and future market scenario.Tier 1's, SME's startups, top management consultants, have clearly visualized their environment using our analysis, thus enabling them to make critical business decisions and in devising a strategic plan.Contact us:Precise Market ReportsOffice No. 48, Akshya Complex, Dhole Patil road,Maharashtra, Pune  411001India.sales@precisemarketreports.com+1 (323) 744 6588
Global Commercial Roofing Materials Market With Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2016 - 2024

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Commercial Roofing Materials Market With Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2016 - 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.The report covers the analysis and forecast of the commercial roofing materials market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with the forecast for the period between 2016 and 2024 based on revenue (US$ Mn) and Volume (Kilo Tons).The study provides a detailed view of the commercial roofing materials market by segmenting it based on building type and materials type. On the basis of building type, the commercial roofing materials market has been further segmented into low sloped roofing and steep sloped roofing. The commercial roofing materials market has been segregated on the basis of materials type into single ply products, modified bitumen materials, spray polyurethane foam, built-up roofing, metals and others types of commercial roofing materials. Single ply roofing has been further segregated into ethylene propylene diene monomer, thermoplastic polyolefin and polyvinyl chloride.Regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America. These have been further sub-segmented into countries and regions with relevance to the market. The segmentation also includes demand for individual product and applications in all regions.The competitive profiling of the key players in the global commercial roofing materials market across five broad geographic regions is included in the study. These include different business strategies adopted by the leading players and their recent developments as in the field of commercial roofing materials.Global Commercial Roofing Materials Market: Scope of the StudyA comprehensive analysis of the market dynamics that is inclusive of market drivers, restraints and opportunities is included in the purview of the report. Additionally, the report includes potential opportunities in the commercial roofing materials market on the global and regional level. Market dynamics are the factors which impact the market growth, thereby helping to understand the ongoing trends of the global market. Therefore, the report provides the forecast of the global market for the period from 2016 to 2024, along with offering an inclusive study of the commercial roofing materials market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report provides the size of the commercial roofing materials market in 2015 and the forecast for the next nine years up to 2024. The size of the global commercial roofing materials market is provided in terms of both volume and revenue. Market revenue and volume is defined in US$ Mn and Kilo Tons respectively. The market size and forecast for each product and application segment are provided in the context of global and regional markets. Numbers provided in this report are derived based on demand generated from different applications and types products. Market dynamics prevalent in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific have been taken into account for estimating the growth of the global market.Global Commercial Roofing Materials Market: Research MethodologiesMarket estimates for this study have been based revenue being derived through regional pricing trends. The price for commonly utilized quality of commercial roofing materials in each application and function has been considered. Demand for commercial roofing materials has been derived by analyzing the global and regional demand for commercial roofing materials in each application for its respective functions. The global commercial roofing materials market has been analyzed based on expected demand. Average selling price of commercial roofing materials products in the major countries has been taken into consideration to estimate regional and global revenue. Forecasts have been based on the expected demand from Commercial Roofing Materials applications. We have used the bottom-up approach to estimate the global revenue of commercial roofing materials market, split into regions. We have initially determined the volume and price in every region for the commercial roofing materials market. Revenue has been determined with the help of volume and price derived from every region. Based on building type and materials type, we have summed up the individual revenues from all the regions to achieve the global revenue for commercial roofing materials. The application split of the market has been derived using a bottom-up approach for each regional market separately, with the global application segment split being an integration of regional estimates.Companies were considered for the market share analysis based on their product portfolio, revenue, and manufacturing capacity. In the absence of specific data related to the sales of commercial roofing materials of several privately held companies, calculated assumptions have been made in view of the companys product portfolio and regional presence along with the demand for products in its portfolio.The report covers a detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and company profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report are GAF, CertainTeed Corporation, TAMKO Building Products, Inc., Firestone Building Products Company, Owens Corning Corporation, Johns Manville Corporation, and IKO Industries Ltd. among others.Global Commercial Roofing Materials Market: By Building TypeLow Sloped RoofingSteep Sloped RoofingGlobal Commercial Roofing Materials Market: By Materials TypeSingle-Ply ProductsModified Bitumen MaterialsSpray Polyurethane Foam (SPF)Built-Up Roofing (BUR)MetalsOthersGlobal Commercial Roofing Materials Market: By GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaMexicoEuropeU.K.GermanyItalyBrowse More Details @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Global Feed Micronutrients Market Report 2017-2022: Dayal Group, Prathista, Solufeed, Zinpro Corporation, QualiTech

Feed Micronutrients Market 2017

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Global Feed Micronutrients Market 2017-2022QY Market Research include new Feed Micronutrients market research report "2016-2022 Report on Global Feed Micronutrients Market Competition, Status and Forecast, Market Size by Players, Regions, Type, Application" to its huge collection of research reports.This report on the global Feed Micronutrients market is highly useful as it covers all the aspects which are important in determining the future of this industry. The Feed Micronutrients report is collated by experienced analysts who have made use of their market intelligence to cover all basic and important data about the global Feed Micronutrients industry.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:The Feed Micronutrients market report makes use of tables, charts, graphs, maps, and statistics to present the data in the easiest to understand way. The Feed Micronutrients market report is a comprehensive analysis of the key factors impacting the global Feed Micronutrients industry. This Feed Micronutrients market report includes both the driving factors as well as the restraining factors that are influencing the market's performance positively and negatively, respectively.Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This Research Report,Aries AgoKeshav FertilizersAgrium Advanced TechnologiesPratik IndustriesGawrihar Bio-ChemArcher Daniels Midland CompanyDayal GroupMahafeed Speciality FertilizersPrathistaSolufeedNovus InternationalGawrihar Bio-ChemZinpro CorporationQualiTechThe current trends shaping the global Feed Micronutrients market and how it will influence the Feed Micronutrients market in the future are also studied. In addition to this, the future opportunities within the Feed Micronutrients market that have the potential to help the market to expand are also given in the Feed Micronutrients report.Enquire Here:The segments within the global Feed Micronutrients industry and their sub-segments are also studied in detail. This ensures that the entire Feed Micronutrients market is covered. The leading segment along with the declining segment and the most promising segment has been given in this Feed Micronutrients report. This helps the readers, investors, new entrants, and established players to decide which segment or sub-segment to invest on so as to reap maximum profits.The Feed Micronutrients market report discusses the degree of competition, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, and a threat of substitutes, both internal and external substitute of Feed Micronutrients market. The threat of new entrants or the barriers faced by new players in entering the global Feed Micronutrients market has been discussed. This gives new players an idea as to whether they can survive in the competitive Feed Micronutrients market.About Us:Business Worldwide is a trusted brand in the research industry with a capability of commissioning complex projects within a short span of time with high level of accuracy. At Business Worldwide, we believe in building long-term relations with our clients. Our services cover a broad spectrum of industries including Energy, Chemicals and Materials, Automotive, Software and Aerospace.Contact Us:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803
Seismic Survey Market, By Type, and Application - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook and Opportunity Analysis, 2017-2025

Seismic Survey Market

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Seismic survey is the method used to investigate geological properties of earth and is majorly used to explore natural gas, petroleum, and mineral deposits. Data acquisition, processing, and interpretation are the three phases of seismic survey. This technique determines the time interval between the initiation of waves at a shot point and the arrival of reflected or refracted waves by the seismic detectors. For the initiation of seismic waves air guns, dynamite blast, seismic vibrator, and various other techniques are used. Weight dropping technique has replaced dynamite blast, owing to its inefficient operation coupled with government regulations. The amplitude and time are recorded on arrival of these waves at the detector. The time taken by wave takes to return to the surface gives several information such as types of rocks, possible fluids, and gases in the formation providing a detailed image of the subsurface and the location of oil and gas reserves. In offshore operations, seismic streamer are used to compressed air for transmitting acoustic energy and hydrophones to capture the sound waves.Seismic survey is not harmful for the locality as well as to marine environment. Transportation of workers, building roads, clearance of vegetation for setting an equipment, and disturbance of habitat are the challenges faced by companies. The noise produced from seismic source may injure or disturb the marine animals.Request a sample copy of this report:Global Seismic Survey Market Taxonomy:On the basis of type, the global seismic survey market is segmented as:2D seismic survey3D seismic survey4D seismic surveyWireless seismic surveyFlip-FlopSlip-SweepOthersOn the basis of application, the global seismic survey market is segmented as:OnshoreOffshore2D high-resolution seismic survey are widely used in mining. 3D seismic survey are also gaining importance in seismic survey market. The 3D seismic survey is estimated to hold the largest share in seismic survey market in oilfield geological activity, as they provide clear and continuous images of the subsurface features. According to Petroleum Geo-Services, the 3D seismic survey demand in 2006 has incremented up to 120% by the fourth-quarter of 2012 calculated by square km.Onshore production facilities are dominating the market as compared to offshore production facilities. Offshore facilities is finding its way in North America, Europe, and Africa.Access Table of Content (TOC) of the report:Global Seismic Survey Market Outlook:North America is projected to be the largest market in seismic survey market. Increase in shale explorations has increased the seismic survey activity in this region. Offshore shallow water, deep water exploration, and production activities especially in Gulf of Mexico have given tremendous pace to seismic survey market in this region. Western GeCo has completed 3D seismic survey of about 2,550 square km in offshore of Guyana for Eco Oil and Gas Ltd. and Tullow Oil Company in Latin America.Asia Pacific and Europe are accounted to have significant growth in the seismic survey market. According to the U.S. geological survey circular, over the past few decades there was 90% of oil and 60% of gas in offshore fields in Europe. 3D seismic surveys are widespread in mining activity in Europe.According to the statistics of petroleum exploration, the offshore fields in Middle East contain one fifth of oil and one third of gas in the region contributing to a large share in the seismic survey market. Africa is one of the leading market in seismic survey, owing to increasing E&P activities especially in the offshore basins. Tomlinson Geophysical Services are extending 3D survey off Angola that covers 4064 km. Seismic survey in mineral exploration have been carried out at a large scale in South Africa.Key players operating the seismic survey market are BTW Company Ltd., Breckenridge Geophysical, Spectrum ASA, Polaris Seismic International, Kuwait Oil Company, MMA Offshore Limited, Terraseis, Dolphin Group ASA, Seismic Surveys, Inc., LoneStar Geophysical Surveys, TerraSond, Petroleum Geo-Services, and SeaBird Exploration Group.View this full report:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr.ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email:sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Trends in Military Trainer Aircraft Market Detailed in New Research Report

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Trainer is a type of aircraft which is designed to provide flight training to the pilots and aircrews. These trainer aircraft are equipped with additional features which include simplified cockpit arrangement, tandem flight controls and forgiving flight characteristics among other safety features. The military trainer aircraft are further equipped with specific features catering to the defense capabilities of the aircraft. The global market for military trainer aircraft is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period.There are certain factors associated with the increasing demand for military trainer aircrafts in defense sectors. The advanced training aircrafts have the capability of carrying and delivering heavy war loads in times of necessity. Furthermore, these aircrafts can also be used during low intensity air combat and can operate as a support for a superior fighter aircraft. In times of high intensity conflicts, the advanced trainer aircrafts can also be used to operate within a framework of other assets.View TOC for this Market Report @As an example, the French Dassault/Dornier and German Alpha Jets are used for light strikes and anti-shipping roles while being protected by other aircrafts using machine guns. In addition, the rising unrest in Middle East region has resulted into countries such as the U.S. and the U.K. focusing on increasing their defense capabilities and upgrading their security measures. Furthermore, the rising military aircraft order is also further expected to surge the demand for trainer aircrafts as the pilots need to be trained in order to be able to use the fighter aircrafts properly.However, there are certain factors which are hindering the growth of military trainer aircrafts to certain extent. The trainer aircrafts are of different types based on the stage of the training required by the pilot and one trainer aircraft is unable to fulfill all the requirements. Hence, the government needs to purchase all the trainer aircraft in order to provide the required training to their pilots. This has been viewed as a luxurious investment in some countries and has reduced the demand for trainer aircrafts considerably.Nevertheless, the market for military trainer aircrafts is expected to grow due to several trends that are expected to push the demand in the market. The rising concept of augmented reality is also being adopted in military training and the same is being integrated with trainer aircrafts to give a better virtual experience to the pilots. Furthermore, the integration of live, virtual and constructive training is also expected to be integrated with these aircrafts which will prepare the pilots for complex missions and give them a realistic combat experience without harming the pilot or damaging the aircraft. These factors are expected to drive the demand for military trainer aircraft in future.The global military trainer aircraft can be segmented by types and geography. By types, the global market can be segregated into fighter jets, navigators, fixed winged aircrafts and helicopters among others. The fighter jets and fixed winged aircrafts are expected to hold a significant market share during the forecast period.In terms of geography, the global market can be bifurcated into five strategic regions which include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America. North America and Europe are expected to be dominant during the forecast period. The region includes developed nations such as the U.S., the U.K., Germany and France among other countries who focus more on investing for military training in order to keep their defense strong owing to the rising terrorist activities globally. However, the countries such as India and China are gradually upgrading their defense capability which is expected to push the demand for military trainer aircrafts in Asia Pacific region.Make an Enquiry @The major players in the market include Northrop Corporation, Irkut Corporation, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., Embracer, Fabrica Militaar De Aviones, Dornier Flugzeugwerke, Dassault Aviation, Grob Aircraft and Bombardier among other manufacturers.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Photomedicine Devices Industrial and Market studies Professional Survey Report 2017

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"Global Photomedicine Devices Market Professional Survey Report 2017" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-This report studies Photomedicine Devices 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, coveringTHOR PhotomedicineColorado Skin & VeinIridexGet Sample Report With TOC @Syneron MedicalAngioDynamicsAbbott LaboratoriesLumenisKoninklijke PhilipsBiolitecOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoLight Emitting DiodesDichroic LampsPolarized Polychromatic LightFluorescent LampsFull Spectrum LightBy Application, the market can be split intoDentalPain ManagementDermatologyOncologyWound HealingOptical DiagnosticsBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaReport Enquiry and Other Query @Table of ContentsGlobal Photomedicine Devices Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Photomedicine Devices1.1 Definition and Specifications of Photomedicine Devices1.1.1 Definition of Photomedicine Devices1.1.2 Specifications of Photomedicine Devices1.2 Classification of Photomedicine Devices1.2.1 Light Emitting Diodes1.2.2 Dichroic Lamps1.2.3 Polarized Polychromatic Light1.2.4 Fluorescent Lamps1.2.5 Full Spectrum Light1.3 Applications of Photomedicine Devices1.3.1 Dental1.3.2 Pain Management1.3.3 Dermatology1.3.4 Oncology1.3.5 Wound Healing1.3.6 Optical Diagnostics1.4 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 Photomedicine Devices2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Photomedicine Devices2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Photomedicine Devices2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Photomedicine Devices3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Photomedicine Devices3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Photomedicine Devices Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Photomedicine Devices Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Photomedicine Devices Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Photomedicine Devices Major Manufacturers in 20164 Global Photomedicine Devices Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Photomedicine Devices Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Photomedicine Devices Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Photomedicine Devices Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 Photomedicine Devices Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global Photomedicine Devices Sales Price4.4.2 2016 Photomedicine Devices Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)5 Photomedicine Devices Regional Market Analysis5.1 North America Photomedicine Devices Market Analysis5.1.1 North America Photomedicine Devices Market Overview5.1.2 North America 2012-2017E Photomedicine Devices Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.1.3 North America 2012-2017E Photomedicine Devices Sales Price Analysis5.1.4 North America 2016 Photomedicine Devices Market Share Analysis5.2 China Photomedicine Devices Market Analysis5.2.1 China Photomedicine Devices Market Overview5.2.2 China 2012-2017E Photomedicine Devices Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.2.3 China 2012-2017E Photomedicine Devices Sales Price Analysis5.2.4 China 2016 Photomedicine Devices Market Share Analysis5.3 Europe Photomedicine Devices Market Analysis5.3.1 Europe Photomedicine Devices Market Overview5.3.2 Europe 2012-2017E Photomedicine Devices Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.3.3 Europe 2012-2017E Photomedicine Devices Sales Price Analysis5.3.4 Europe 2016 Photomedicine Devices Market Share Analysis5.4 Southeast Asia Photomedicine Devices Market Analysis5.4.1 Southeast Asia Photomedicine Devices Market Overview5.4.2 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Photomedicine Devices Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.4.3 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Photomedicine Devices Sales Price Analysis5.4.4 Southeast Asia 2016 Photomedicine Devices Market Share Analysis5.5 Japan Photomedicine Devices Market Analysis5.5.1 Japan Photomedicine Devices Market Overview5.5.2 Japan 2012-2017E Photomedicine Devices Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.5.3 Japan 2012-2017E Photomedicine Devices Sales Price Analysis5.5.4 Japan 2016 Photomedicine Devices Market Share AnalysisResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074
Precious Metal Catalysts Market By Product Type, and End-User - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2017-25

Precious Metal Catalysts Market

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Precious metals such as palladium and platinum are applied to carrier material to get precious metal catalysts. The commonly used carrier materials are aluminum oxide or active carbon. Precious metal catalysts have a wide range of applications such as it is used as a catalytic convertor in automobile industry. Catalytic convertor is used to convert toxic vehicle emissions into less toxic pollutants. Platinum, palladium, and rhodium are the commonly used precious metals in catalytic convertors. In pharmaceutical industries, synthesis of many active pharmaceutical ingredients such as acetaminophen, L-dopa, carbapenam, and tetracycline is done in the presence of precious metal catalysts. These catalysts are used in preparation of bulk chemicals such as ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, phenols, and anilines. They are also used in the synthesis of polymers such as vinyl chloride, methyl methacrylate, and synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyester. Furthermore, they are used in hydrocarbon processing. For instances, platinum on alumina base is used for production of high-octane gasoline while platinum and palladium impregnated on silica-alumina base is used in the process for hydrocracking in refineries. They are used in petrochemical industries in the process of hydro purification. Precious metal catalysts are also used to reduce Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in refineries. The demand for precious metal catalysts is increasing owing to its applications in various industries and strict pollution control regulations.Request a sample copy of this report:The high cost, thermal degradation, and loss of activity due to poisoning are some of the factors hindering the growth of the global precious metal catalyst market.Precious Metal Catalysts -Market TaxonomyOn the basis of product type, the global precious metal catalyst market is segmented into:IridiumPalladiumPlatinumRutheniumRhodiumGoldSilverOthersOn the basis of end user, the global precious metal catalyst market is segmented into:AutomobilesPharmaceuticalsRefineryPetrochemicalsOthersPlatinum catalyst is widely used in automobile sector thereby making it the most commonly used precious metal catalyst owing to the stringent environmental requirements.Access Table of Content (TOC) of the report:Precious Metal Catalysts -Market Outlook:Europe is the largest market for precious metal catalysts, owing to the introduction of stringent emission rules such as Euro 6 and Euro 7 which defines the limits for exhaust emission for new vehicles that are sold in Europe.Precious metal catalyst market is growing rapidly in Asia Pacific, owing to the growth in pharmaceutical and automobile industries. According to India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), trust established by the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India the pharmaceutical industry in India is estimated to grow to US$ 100 billion by 2025. Also, various investment plans by automobile manufacturers such as US$ 1 billion investment by 2020 by General Motors in India, will increase the demand for precious metals. Furthermore, the booming demand for automobile and pharmaceutical industry in China will contribute to the market growth.The global pharmaceutical share of USA is estimated to reach 41% by 2020 as predicted by International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufactures and Associations (IFPMA) which represents pharmaceutical companies and associations of the world. Furthermore, USA has many automobile manufacturing industries which have transmission and engine plants, and conduct testing and research and development activities. Thus, USA has significant demand for precious metal catalyst.The pharmaceutical, automobile, and petrochemical industries are growing in Latin America which, in turn, is increasing the demand for precious metal catalysts.In Middle East, the growing demand for automobiles in UAE and Saudi Arabia is rising the demand for precious metal catalysts.The pharmaceutical industry in Africa is expected to grow, owing to the growing urbanization, increased awareness about health, and supportive government policies which, in turn, will increase the demand for precious metal catalyst.Key Players in the Global Precious Metal Catalyst MarketThe companies are adopting various strategies such as mergers and acquisitions to sustain their market positions. For instance, in March 2015, Monarch Catalysts Pvt. Ltd. acquired Evonik Industries AG. Some of the key players operating in the global precious metal catalyst market include Alfa Aesar,BASF SE, Clariant International Ltd, Evonik Industries AG, Heraeus Group, Johnson Matthey Plc, Umicore SA, and Vineeth Precious Catalysts Pvt. Ltd.View this full report:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr.ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email:sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
New Report Shares Details about the Side Gusset/Quad Seal Bag Market

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A quad seal bag/ side gusset is a bag consisting of three layers - the inner layer, outer layer, and the barrier layer all which can be effortlessly peeled off. Quad seal bags are primarily used for commodities like tea and coffee. These bags comprise two long panels for the purpose of branding and they have become popular among consumers recently. Four sided sealed bags provide several customization options depending on the market requirements. The gusset bags have a certain level of dimensional stability that enables the bag to conform to a stable shape. The packaging bag market is already flooded with numerous bag types but side gusset/quad seal bag market themselves as a versatile, flexible, and superior option for customers. The rising demand have led to the emergence of the quad seal bag/ side gusset market in many regions across the world.View TOC for this Market Report @Dynamics of Quad Seal/Side Gusset Bag Market-:The main characteristic of quad seal bag/ side gusset is the added capacity and depth provided by the bag as it creates a blocked bottom when any merchandise is loaded. The bag has greater strength on account of the four sided seal, permitting even heavier merchandise to be stored. With the lack of a back seal, the side gusset bag has a greater flexibility in label applications and valve placement. Gusset bags consist of a barrier that avoids the UV light, oxygen, moisture diffusion and thus also retains the product aroma, particularly in the case of tea and coffee packaging.Manufacturers prefer gusset bags as they have sufficient space for brand signature and product description. Self- standing quad seal / side gusset bags have widespread customer appeal as they are quite shelf friendly. Quad seal/ side gusset bag have an added benefit of higher barrier lamination films that give products the necessary protection and an elongated shelf life. The biggest barriers to the growth of the quad seal/ side gusset market is the high bag production cost. A notable trend in the quad seal / side gusset bag market is the wide number of accessories available to customers.Market Segmentation of Quad Seal Bag / Side Gusset Market-Quad seal/ side gusset bag market is classified into application, accessory, and material type. By material type, quad seal bag /side gusset market is classified into aluminum and plastic films. Quad seal / side gusset bag have diverse size options that are customized as per customer requirements. Based on application, the quad seal bag / side gusset market is divided into tea and coffee, nuts and dry fruits, fertilizers, chocolates, protein powder, and others. Commodities are typically packaged with these bags because of their numerous advantages. With respect to accessory option, the quad seal/ side gusset market is sub-segmented into euro slots, oval windows, hanging holes, re-sealable zippers, tear notches, degassing valves, and others.Regional Outlook of Side Gusset /Quad Seal Bag Market-:The quad seal bag/ side gusset market has several domestic as well as international manufacturers and is studied on the basis of key regions viz. Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, North America, and Asia-Pacific. North America is the largest region in terms of gusset bags as most of the major companies are based there. Asia-Pacific also contributes a substantial amount to the quad seal bag /side gusset market and it is predicted to become more important during the forecast period.Make an Enquiry @Key Players in Quad Seal Bag / Side Gusset Market-:Key players active in the quad seal bag / side gusset market are Atlapac Corporation, Tyler Packaging Limited, Maer Flexibles Europe, Diamond Flexible Packaging Co, PBFY Flexible Packaging, Pacific Bag, Inc., Pouch Direct Pty Ltd., Cas-Pak Products Ltd, and Swiss Pack Pvt Ltd.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Rising Online Sales will Contribute to Internet of Thing (IOT) Microcontroller Market Growth By 2024

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Global Internet of Things (IoT) Microcontroller Market: OverviewWith the importance interconnectivity increasing, Internet of Things is also gaining a good view and demand in the market. Microcontroller is also known as MCU alternatively. It is a SoC or system on chip that consists a memory, programmable output and input peripherals, and a core processor. In several cases, a little portion of a random access memory is also integrated in a microcontroller for enhanced performance. At present, microcontroller is employed substantially across many automated Internet of Things products and devices such as power tools, remote controls, office machines, automobile engine controls, and medical devices.A sample of this report is available upon request @The robust enhancements in the application fields of Internet of Things is expected to meet the demands of technologically advanced products of a wide consumer base. This factor is expected to have a long term positive impact on the growth of the market. The deployment of smart meter across several residential and commercial sectors for closely monitoring the total consumption of energy is further expected to have a positive impact on the growth of the global Internet of Things Microcontroller market in the years to come. However, the power that is consumer by these microcontrollers is extremely high, thus hindering the growth of the market to some extent. Developing regions are expected to present market players enhance their consumer base and production units at the same time.MCU, alternatively known as microcontroller is a system on chip (SoC) consisting of a memory, processor core and programmable input and output peripherals. In many cases, small amount of random access memory (RAM) is embedded in a MCU for better performance. Currently, microcontroller is used extensively across various automatically controlled Internet of Thing (IoT) devices and products such as medical devices, automobile engine control systems, office machines, remote controls, power tools and other portable devices.In order to provide detailed analysis of the global microcontroller market, the market has been segmented on the basis of product type, application and geography. By product type, the global microcontroller market can be bifurcated into 8-bit MCU, 16-bit MCU and 32-bit MCU. IoT microcontroller also finds its application across various consumer electronic devices, automotive, medical devices, smart home products and smart grid among others. On the other hand, geographically the market can be classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America among others.Rapid advancements in Internet of Thing (IoT) application in order to provide technologically advanced smart devices to various consumers, is the primary factor predicted to boost the demand of microcontroller at an exponential rate in the coming years. In addition, rising demand for automation across various application segment is also anticipated to accelerate the demand of smart devices during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024. This in turn is also predicted to affect the market of microcontroller positively. Moreover, rapid installation of smart meter across different commercial and residential sectors in order to monitor overall electric energy consumption and to report the information back to the utilities for automatic billing purposes is anticipated to trigger the demand of microcontroller during the forecast period.However, high power consumption of microcontroller is one of the primary factor anticipated to affect the demand of microcontroller negatively. Microcontroller embedded in smart devices rely on batteries to consume required power for its efficient operation. This in turn decreases the lifecycle of batteries and is expected to increase the overall operating cost. In addition, security related issues of IoT devices is another important factor predicted to limit the demand of microcontroller in the coming years.Based on product type, the 32-bit IoT microcontroller held the largest market share in 2015. The main reason behind this segments dominance is attributed to the extensive use of 32-bit IoT microcontroller across various IoT applications owing to its high RAM size and better performance. In addition, the price difference between 32-bit, 16-bit and 8-bit microcontroller is also very low. Thus, consumers incline towards 32-bit variant, there by anticipated to affect the market positively.By application, the global market of IoT microcontroller is majorly driven by the consumer electronics segment. Increasing demand for technologically advanced consumer electronic devices across the globe such as smart wearable, mobile phones, tablets and computers among others, is anticipated to create an optimistic market for various microcontroller manufacturers during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024.Across various regions, North America is anticipated to dominate the market of IoT microcontroller in the coming years owing to the presence of large number of manufacturers and rapid technological advancements taking place in the field of smart devices. However, Asia Pacific region is predicted to experience the fastest growing market during the forecast period. Rapid advancement taking place in the automotive industry in this region in terms of vehicle connectivity and interactive safety system is anticipated to leverage the demand of IoT microcontroller extensively in the coming years. In addition, increasing demand for various consumer electronic devices such as smart phones, tablets, smart television and smart watches among others is also predicted to propel the demand of microcontroller in this region.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Some of the major players operating in the IoT microcontroller market includes, Atmel (U.S), Freescale (U.S.A), Infineon (Germany), ST Microelectronics (Switzerland) and Texas Instruments (U.S) among others.About USTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact Us-U.S. OFFICE:State Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207
Global Nanofiber Equipment Development Market Professional Survey Report 2017

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"Global Nanofiber Equipment Market Professional Survey Report 2017" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-This report studies Nanofiber Equipment 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, coveringTong LiElmarcoAsahi KaseGet Sample Report With TOC @Nanoflux PTE LTDInovensoKato Tech Co., Ltd.NAFIGATEM-TEchX Inc.Asahi KaseiOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoMelt Blown MachineElectrospinning?EquipmentOthersBy Application, the market can be split intoOrganic Nanofibers ProductionInorganic Nanofibers ProductionBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaReport Enquiry and Other Query @Table of ContentsGlobal Nanofiber Equipment Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Nanofiber Equipment1.1 Definition and Specifications of Nanofiber Equipment1.1.1 Definition of Nanofiber Equipment1.1.2 Specifications of Nanofiber Equipment1.2 Classification of Nanofiber Equipment1.2.1 Melt Blown Machine1.2.2 Electrospinning?Equipment1.2.3 Others1.3 Applications of Nanofiber Equipment1.3.1 Organic Nanofibers Production1.3.2 Inorganic Nanofibers Production1.3.3 Application 31.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Nanofiber Equipment2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Nanofiber Equipment2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Nanofiber Equipment2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Nanofiber Equipment3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Nanofiber Equipment3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Nanofiber Equipment Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Nanofiber Equipment Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Nanofiber Equipment Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Nanofiber Equipment Major Manufacturers in 20164 Global Nanofiber Equipment Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Nanofiber Equipment Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Nanofiber Equipment Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Nanofiber Equipment Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 Nanofiber Equipment Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global Nanofiber Equipment Sales Price4.4.2 2016 Nanofiber Equipment Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)5 Nanofiber Equipment Regional Market Analysis5.1 North America Nanofiber Equipment Market Analysis5.1.1 North America Nanofiber Equipment Market Overview5.1.2 North America 2012-2017E Nanofiber Equipment Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.1.3 North America 2012-2017E Nanofiber Equipment Sales Price Analysis5.1.4 North America 2016 Nanofiber Equipment Market Share Analysis5.2 China Nanofiber Equipment Market Analysis5.2.1 China Nanofiber Equipment Market Overview5.2.2 China 2012-2017E Nanofiber Equipment Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.2.3 China 2012-2017E Nanofiber Equipment Sales Price Analysis5.2.4 China 2016 Nanofiber Equipment Market Share Analysis5.3 Europe Nanofiber Equipment Market Analysis5.3.1 Europe Nanofiber Equipment Market Overview5.3.2 Europe 2012-2017E Nanofiber Equipment Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.3.3 Europe 2012-2017E Nanofiber Equipment Sales Price Analysis5.3.4 Europe 2016 Nanofiber Equipment Market Share Analysis5.4 Southeast Asia Nanofiber Equipment Market Analysis5.4.1 Southeast Asia Nanofiber Equipment Market Overview5.4.2 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Nanofiber Equipment Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.4.3 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Nanofiber Equipment Sales Price Analysis5.4.4 Southeast Asia 2016 Nanofiber Equipment Market Share Analysis5.5 Japan Nanofiber Equipment Market Analysis5.5.1 Japan Nanofiber Equipment Market Overview5.5.2 Japan 2012-2017E Nanofiber Equipment Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.5.3 Japan 2012-2017E Nanofiber Equipment Sales Price Analysis5.5.4 Japan 2016 Nanofiber Equipment Market Share Analysis5.6 India Nanofiber Equipment Market Analysis5.6.1 India Nanofiber Equipment Market OverviewResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074
Slip Disc Market worth over USD 11,011.3 Million By 2023, At 5.4% of CAGR; Says MarketResearchFuture.com

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Slip Disc market Analyses, By Key Companies (Captiva Spine, Inc. (US), DePuy Synthes Companies (US), & Others) by types (thoracic herniated discs, lumbar herniated disc, and others), by diagnosis (physical examination, nerve conduction test, and others), by treatment (medications, therapy, and others) - global forecast till 2023Introduction and rapid adoption of technologically advanced diagnostic medical devices is a major factor for the market growth. Medical device manufacturing companies and drug manufacturers are investing large amount of money in research, clinical trials, and new product launch to provide effective solution for slipped disc. Some other factors such as rising geriatric population, increasing government support, and increasing healthcare expenditure has fuelled the growth of the market. Rapid adoption of new therapies also plays an important role in the growth of this market. However, high cost of the treatment and lack of skilled medical professionals in many developing areas may restrict the market growthSlipped (Herniated) disc occurs when a soft cushion of tissue between the bones in spine pushes out and is painful when it presses on nerves. The most common symptoms of slipped disc are loss of motor control, pain etc. Slipped disc mainly occurs due to weaker outer ring that allows inner portion to slip out. Lack of physical activity and weak muscles may also lead to slipped disc. In overweight people, the risk of slipped disc is more because their disks must support the additional weight.Global Slip Disc market is anticipated to grow at the CAGR of ~5.4% during the forecast period and is estimated to reach USD 11,011.3 million by 2023.Get a Copy of Sample Report @Key players for global Slip Disc market:Some of the key players in this market are: Captiva Spine, Inc. (US), DePuy Synthes Companies (US), GlaxoSmithKline plc (UK), Globus Medical, Inc. (US), NuVasive, Inc. (US), Pfizer Inc. (US), and TEVA Pharmaceutical LTD (Israel).Key Findings:Imaging tests is the second largest market by type which is projected to grow at the CAGR of 5.7% during the forecast period from 2017-2023. Medications segment is expected to command the largest market share of around 46.2% in 2016. China holds the largest market share in the Asia Pacific slip disc market and is expected to reach $ 587.0 million by 2023.Segments:Global Slip Disc market has been segmented on the basis of type which comprises of thoracic herniated discs, lumbar herniated disc, and cervical herniated discs.On the basis of diagnosis, it is segmented into physical examination, nerve conduction test, and imaging tests.On the basis of treatment, this market is segmented into medications, therapy, and surgery.Regional analysis of global Slip Disc market:Considering the global scenario of the market, the Americas hold the largest share in the global slip disc market. In the American market North America is one of the leading markets which is expected to reach 4,542.8 million in 2023. Some other factors such as increasing cases of spinal injuries plays an important role in market growth. Latin America market is also growing significantly, lumbar herniated disc market is expected to hold the largest market share in this market.Due Increasing funding for research and new product development, European region is also expected to grow significantly during the forecast period. Europe is the second largest market and holding around 31.0% market share in global slip disc market. Availability of advanced diagnostic and treatment facilities, skilled medical professionals, high healthcare expenditure and adoption of new therapies are driving the growth for this market.The prevalence of slip disc in Asia Pacific region is key factor for the market growth. Rising awareness about the slip disc and related cure is playing important role in the growth of the market. Growing number of patients suffering from back pain either severe or mild is leading the market growth. China is holding the largest share in this market. Asia Pacific slip disc market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.0% during the forecast period of 2017-2023.Middle East & Africa is expected to have the least growth in this market due to some major factors such as lack of awareness about the slip disc, limited access and availability of diagnostic and treatment facilities, low income etc. Middle East holds 70.9% market share in the Middle East & Africa slip disc market.Browse Full Report Details @The report for Global Slip Disc 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 deeper insight to 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 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 regionsContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Slip Disc Market Research Report- Global Forecast till 2023 chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Algae is expected to create lucrative market opportunities for market players till forecast period 2025

Algae Market

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Algae is a diverse group of organisms ranging from unicellular to multicellular. The complex and largest marine algae are called seaweeds. The algae consist of chloroplast, which is similar to cyanobacteria in structure. Algae has its wide application in agar, alginates, fertilizer, energy source, nutrition, pigments, and bioremediation. Algae has wide range of usage in terms of pollution control. It is used as an alternative for toxic chemicals to treat sewers, to capture fertilizer runoff in farms, and to treat water in ponds and aquaria.Algae has the ability to offer higher yield as compared to biofuel feedstock containing sorghum, corn Stover, beet, and corn. Thus, creating immense opportunities for growth of the algae market. Growing research and development activities among manufacturers is expected to fuel the market growth. Increasing demand for reliable, sustainable, and low cost sources of energy to ease the petroleum supply chain and to meet the increasing demand from aviation and automotive sector, are major factors expected to drive growth of the global algae market during the forecast period. Moreover, the demand for algae in the plastic industry to manufacture biodegradable plastic, is another factor boosting market growth.Request a sample copy of this report:Algae Market Taxonomy:On the basis of cultivation technology, the global algae market can be segmented into:Raceway Ponds CultivationOpen Ponds Cultivation TechnologyClosed Fermenter Systems Cultivation TechnologyClosed Photo Bioreactor Cultivation TechnologyOn the basis of application, the global algae market can be segmented into:Marine SectorRoad TransportBio plasticAviation SectorDHA production( Protein sales)DHA production( Pharmaceutical applications)OthersAccess Table of Content (TOC) of the report:Algae Market outlook:North America accounts for the largest market share in the global algae market due to favorable government support related to renewable energy coupled with high investment by manufacturers. Also, DHA has various health benefits such as improving eye, brain, heart and immunity system hence it is a major component of pharmaceutical and healthcare products. These factors are expected to augment the growth of algae market in this region.Increasing demand for biofuels due to government regulations and high adoption rate in the European countries are expected to propel demand for algae, in turn, boosting growth of the algae market. Furthermore, various regulations laid down by the European Union such as biofuels directives, target to achieve 6% reduction of GHG in transport fuel by 2020, Renewable Energy Directives (RED) initiative of replacing 10% of transport fuels with biofuels are the major factors driving the algae market in Europe. The need for a clean energy source in the region has further surged the demand for algae in the region. Germany, Russia, and UK are extensively using and commercializing various solar powered technology for the production of algae.The usage of algae in the pharmaceutical industries has substantially increased over the recent past. Companies are investing in R&D activities to develop treatments for Alzheimers, Parkinsons, and dementia using algae. East Asia and South Asia have the highest number of people suffering from dementia in the world, accounting for above 9 million in East Asia and around 5 million in South Asia.Key players are adopting various organic and inorganic growth strategies. For instance, a Belgian-based company, Tomalgea, has launched a new product in 2017 for oyster cultivators in Asia and Algae Systems LLC merged with IHI Corporation in 2014 for the development of a new production process for biofuel from algae. Pond biofuels Inc., DSM Nutritional Products, Kai BioEnergy Corp., Diversified Energy Corporation, Algenol, Dao Energy LLC, Kent BioEnergy Co., Sapphire Energy Inc., Algaetech International, Aurora Algae, BlueBioTech International, and Alltech Algae are some of the key players in the global algae market.View this full report:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr.ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email:sales@coherentmarketinsights.com
Liquid Biopsy Market to Approach USD 17,372.28 Million, At ~28% of CAGR; Says MarketResearchFuture.com

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Liquid Biopsy Market Analysis, By Key Companies (Guardant Health, Inc. Trovagene, Inc. RainDance Technologies, Inc. Agena Bioscience Inc.) by Biomarker Types and Other Biomarker (Circulating Rna And Proteins), by Application (Cancer Therapeutic Application, Reproductive Health, Other Therapeutic Application), by Sample (Blood Sample, Urine Sample, Other) And End User (Hospitals and Laboratories, Academic And Research Centers, Other End Users) - Forecast to 2022Market Synopsis of Global Liquid Biopsy market:Market Scenario:The global Liquid Biopsy market is currently valued at $ 3950 million and will reach $ 17,372.28 million growing at a CAGR of 28%. A liquid biopsy is a largely non-invasive, sampling and analysis of liquid state biological tissue for diagnostic and monitoring diseases such as cancer. Liquid biopsy is the direct clinical application of two advances in medical science namely human genome sequencing and rising sensitivity of detecting techniques and assays.The growth factors responsible for this explosive growth are liquid biopsy is a comparatively painless and non-invasive technique which provides early real time high precision detection of diseases which could be used for monitoring and designing effective treatment strategies based on the real time molecular assessment for the progression of the disease. Other factors driving the liquid biopsy market are lifestyle changes and environmental factors such as rising investment in research and development and collaborations between companies and public organizations, rise in population particularly geriatric population, rising expenditure on health etc. The technique also has other advantages over traditional tissue biopsy such as potential applications to cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases etc.The restraints include the prohibitive costs associated with liquid biopsy and the differential awareness and availability between developing and the developed world. Also not all cancer patients benefit from early detection as some cancers such as brain cancer and prostate cancer may lie dormant for many years. Further liquid biopsy is not all non-invasive as can be seen in case of using spinal fluid as sample.Get a Copy of Sample Report @Key findingsCirculating tumor cells (CTCs) segment dominates both in terms of market share as well as revenues, contributing approx. 55.48% of the revenue share of the liquid biopsy market.On the basis of the therapeutic application, the segment for Cancer will reflect the highest growth potential, with over 82.83% of the market share by revenues. However, the urine sample segment is anticipated to witness noticeable growth.The market for liquid biopsy is dominated by North America and Europe and this trend will continue. Asia-Pacific market is the fastest growing market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 29.7% during forecasted periodKey Players for Global Liquid Biopsy market:Guardant Health, Inc.Trovagene, Inc.RainDance Technologies, Inc.Agena Bioscience Inc.Admera HealthBiocept, Inc.Circulogene TheranosticsInivata Ltd.SAGA Diagnostics ABExosome DiagnosticsSegments:Global Liquid Biopsy market has been segmented on the basis of biomarker type which comprises of circulating tumor cells (Ctcs), circulating tumor DNA (Ctdna), extracellular vesicles (Evs) and other biomarker. On the basis of application; market is segmented into cancer therapeutic application, reproductive health, and other therapeutic application. On the basis of sample; market is segmented into blood, urine and others. On the basis of end-users; market is segmented into hospitals and laboratories, academic and research centers and others.Browse Full Report Details @Regional Analysis of Global Liquid Biopsy market:Globally North America is the largest market for Global Liquid Biopsy market. Europe is the second-largest market for Global Liquid Biopsy market. However the developing regions market particularly Asia Pacific will be the fastest growing and will be the key to the future. North America accounted for the largest market share of 37.95% in 2016 accounting for a market value of 1,499.10 million in 2016. Asia pacific is the fastest growing market which is growing at a CAGR of 28.8%.The report for Global Liquid Biopsy market of Market Research Future comprises 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.ContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Global Liquid Biopsy Market Research Report- Forecast to 2022 chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Copper Foils Market Analysis, Segments, Growth and Value Chain -2024

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Copper foil is a sheet of copper that is usually only a few micrometer in thickness. Copper foils are commonly used as a conductor in printed circuit boards (PCBs) and flexible connectors. Copper has high electric conductivity and is also ductile and malleable. This makes it one of the widely used metals in the emerging electric & electronics industry. This, in turn, is expected to drive the copper foils market in the next few years with a lot of demand estimated from Asia Pacific.Get Sample Report:There are two widely available forms of copper foils: electrolytically deposited (ED) copper and rolled annealed (RA) copper. ED copper foils are produced by electroplating the copper from a solution, which develops a columnar-grain structure in the metal. In ED copper foils, grains grow perpendicular to the foil. RA copper films are formed through the mechanical operation of applying the rolling pressure on heated, pure-copper ingots. In RA copper foils, grains grow parallel to the foil, resembling a plate-like structure. The two forms of copper foils differ primarily in their mechanical properties, with RA copper foils exhibiting greater ductility and elongation properties but lower hardness and tensile strength. ED copper foils are available in annealed and non-annealed grades while a special, high-ductility grade of the foil is also obtainable. RA copper foils are available in rolled, annealed, and special, low-temperature annealed grade.A large portion of the total electrodeposited copper foil produced is used for printed-wiring boards. ED copper foils are also employed for high-energy, low-power applications such as Li-ion batteries for laptops, cell phones, and consumer electronics. In Li-ion batteries, copper foils are used as negative-electrode current collectors. RA copper foils are generally employed for high-energy, high-power applications such as drivetrain and power tools as well as applications such as printed circuits, electromagnetic shielding, and rechargeable batteries. Other applications of RA copper foils include arts & crafts, panels, and laminated boards.Asia Pacific is a major producer of copper foils, catering to the high demand from the electric & electronics industry in the region. The production of copper in China has increased exponentially in the last two decades, providing ample raw material to manufacturers of copper films. China is also the leading consumer of copper foils in this region, followed by Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The U.S. is another important consumer of copper foils with a majority of the demand coming from high-tech electronics in military, aerospace, and defense sectors. In Europe, Germany accounts for a major share of the copper foils market, followed by the U.K. and France. Among applications, use of copper foils in Li-ion batteries is speedily growing. Growing importance of flexible electronics is projected to be a major driver for the copper foils market in the next decade. A prominent technological challenge in this market is development of ultra-thin copper foils while maintaining speedy production rates. The low-temperature, annealed grade of copper foils is touted to be a promising solution to this problem.Key players in the copper foils market are Targray Technology International Inc., K. L. Laminates d.o.o., JX Nippon, China-Kinwa High Technology Co., Ltd., Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., Kingboard Copper Foil Holdings Limited, Chang Chun Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Hubei Creatwell Co., Ltd., Chinalco Shanghai Copper Co. Ltd., and Oak-Mitsui.Request TOC of the Report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:tmrresearch.blogspot.com/
Offshore AUV & ROV Market Dynamics, Forecast, Analysis and Supply Demand -2024

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The exploration and production of oil and gas is shifting toward the subsea regions. The subsea environment remains mostly unexplored on earth, which adds to the difficulty experienced when it comes to monitoring and conducting intervention in these regions. It also raises some unique challenges as well as environmental issues. These tough environmental conditions has led to the rapid development of the remotely operated vehicles (ROV) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) technology. AUVs and ROVs are used for the maintenance, repair, and inspection of offshore equipment.Get Sample Report:ROVs are an established technology used extensively in the oil & gas industry (up to 3000 m depth) as well as by the scientific and military communities. The ROV technology improves work efficiency and reliability and creates smaller umbilicals and advancements in the launch and recovery systems. AUVs, on the other hand, are speedy and accurate.AUV is an emerging technology for small production runs. They are unmanned submersible vehicles, independent of outside facilities or operators, and free-swimming. They have various applications in pipeline inspection, sub-sea inspection, sub-sea survey, cable inspection, sampling, oceanographic, environmental monitoring, iceberg profiling, under-ice surveys, countermeasures, underwater photography, and mine detection. For the oil & gas industry, AUVs are an effective tool for deep water mapping and survey as they exhibit better data quality and cost-effective operations.The offshore AUV & ROV markets have been segmented by application, payload, propulsion system, product type, and region. Based on application, the market is divided into the oil and gas industry, commercial, defense, scientific research, and others sectors. ROVs are mainly used for various commercial applications, such as offshore drilling, survey and sea bed mapping, pipelining, inspection several, and cabling. The payload-based categories include sensors, synthetic aperture sonar, camera, video screen, lighting system, and others.In terms of propulsion system, the market has been grouped into mechanical system, electric system, hybrid system, and others. Based on ROV product type, the divisions include high capacity electric vehicle, small vehicle, heavy work-class, and work-class vehicle. Based on AUV product type, they are man portable, lightweight vehicle (LWV), heavyweight vehicle (HWV), and large vehicle. Finally, in terms of region, the market is distributed over North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Middle East and Africa.The market for offshore AUV and ROV is majorly driven by factors such as the growing necessity for mapping and ocean data, threats, and maritime security. The increasing global requirement for deep water production is another important aspect, with offshore explorations in Brazil, Nigeria, Indonesia, and the Gulf of Mexico expected to rise during the forecast period. Theres also an escalating number of offshore wells in harsh environments and rising demand for energy and petro chemicals. However, an unstable oil & gas market, price constraints, and technological limitations might hampering this growth.North America is one of the leaders of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) & remotely operated vehicle (ROV) market, and is anticipated to witness further growth during the forecast period. The U.S. is a major operator, developer, and exporter of ROV & AUV across the globe. The markets in Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Africa are anticipated to expand during the forecast period. With the increasing exploration and production of deep water activities in the subsea region of South Africa, the demand of AUV and ROV for operating at such depths is bound to rise.Key players in the global offshore AUV & ROV market include Saab AB, Fugro N.V., Ocean Engineering Ltd, Kongsberg Maritime, Bluefin Robotics, Atlas Elektronik GmbH, BIRNS. INC., International Submarine Engineering, Ltd, Schilling Robotics LLC, Teledyne Technologies, Inc., and Subsea 7 S.A.Request TOC of the Report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:tmrresearch.blogspot.com/
Hydro Turbine Market size and Key Trends in terms of volume and value -2024

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Hydro Turbine Market: OverviewA hydro turbine is an equipment which utilizes the kinetic and potential energy of flowing water and converts it into mechanical energy to generate electricity with the help of blades. This process is known as generation of hydropower or hydroelectric power.Get Sample Report:There are two major types of hydro turbines: reaction and impulse, which are further classified into propeller, francis, and kinetic; and pelton and cross-flow, respectively. Factors influencing the choice of hydro turbine are the height of the standing water (i.e. the head), its flow, volume, the depth at which it must be set, installation cost, and final efficiency.Reaction turbines generate power with the combined action of moving water and the pressure it exerts. They are given preference at sites with a lower head and higher flow. Impulse turbines, on the other hand, utilize the velocity of the water to generate electricity and are thereby suitable for a higher head and lower flow. Hydro turbines are widely used for power generation, agriculture, electricity production, mechanical drive, marine applications, and industrial pumps.Hydro Turbine Market: Market TrendsA major factor driving this market is the increasing demand for renewable energy. In the present scenario, there is a stark need to develop methods such as hydropower which causes minimal harm to natural resources.Some restraints the market may experience are design challenges, high installation costs of dams and generators, and an overall dearth of awareness regarding the use of hydro turbines.It can be concluded that the market may experience a steady growth rate during the forecast period.Hydro Turbine Market: Region-wise OutlookThe market in Asia Pacific is projected to expand during the forecast period, owing to the fact that a majority of countries such as India and Bangladesh are agriculture-driven. China and India are major economies estimated to drive the market in the near future. North America is likely to exhibit a stable demand as well, due to the favorable incentives offered by the government for the utilization of these systems. The rising need for renewable sources of energy is anticipated to propel the market in Europe too. However, Middle East & Africa and Latin America are expected to witness a comparatively sluggish growth rate.Hydro Turbine Market: Key PlayersMajor key players operating in the market include Kirloskar Brothers Limited, Siemens AG, Cornel Pumps, and General Electric.Request TOC of the Report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:tmrresearch.blogspot.com/
Traffic Safety System Market 2017  in-Depth Research, Industry Analysis, Demand, Global Forecast, by 2023

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A traffic safety system plays a crucial role in road safety management for drivers and pedestrians. This system consists of equipment and services designed to prevent and reduce the risk of accidents, control curb errant vehicle movement, and ensure a safe commute for every individual. The components of a traffic safety system include truck escape ramps, median barriers and end treatments, crash cushions, guardrail, and breakaway supports for signs and light standards.Get Flat 20% OFF on this Report: -The global traffic safety system market is driven by continuous increase in accidents and fatalities; introduction of technologically advanced safety systems; growth in innovations in traffic safety products; and rise in transport infrastructure investment to enhance operational performance of traffic management, road transport, vehicle tracking, and road networks. However, negative impact of weather on traffic safety systems and its lengthy transaction cycles limit the market growth. Furthermore, surge in number of government initiatives and investments is expected to provide numerous opportunities for development.Get the PDF brochure of this Market insight: -The global traffic safety system market is segmented on the basis of end user, product, and region. End users covered in this study include commercial, industrial, and municipal sectors. Based on product, the market is categorized into traffic vests and rainwear, tube delineators, traffic cones, traffic barricades, and others. Based on region, it is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.Key players operating in the global traffic safety system market include 3M, Honeywell International Inc., Ergodyne, Traffic Safety Store, Emedco, MCR Safety, Pexco Davidson Traffic Control Products, RoadSafe Traffic Systems, Inc., Roadtech Manufacturing, and The Cortina Companies.Get More Information & Research onTraffic Safety System at: -About UsAllied 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 US5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesDirect: +1-503-894-6022Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada)
Polymer Bearings Market share will expand till 2024

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Polymer bearings, commonly known as plastic bearings, are the latest development in the bearings industry. A bearing is made up of four different parts: inner race, outer race, cage, and balls. The combination of these parts in unison allows smooth and friction free motion. In polymer bearings, the inner race, the outer race, and the cage are all made up of plastic and the material used for manufacturing balls depends on the kind of applications and environmental conditions it gets subjected to. Materials that can be used to manufacture balls include plastic, stainless steel, and glass. Polymer bearings provide numerous advantages over other bearings. This includes resistance to corrosion, chemicals, and fatigue, self-lubrication, lightweight, low co-efficient of friction, and quiet operation. Polymer bearings is an ideal option in applications where steel bearings cannot be used, owing to their corrosive tendencies. Furthermore, they are economical than the other types of bearings. Therefore, these are used in various applications in industries such as food & beverages, textile, medical & pharmaceutical, and electrical. However, polymer ball bearings cannot be subjected to applications involving high loads and prolonged exposure to temperatures exceeding 300F. This calls for need to use traditional bearings such as stainless steel bearings and ceramic bearings. Ceramic bearings offer numerous advantages. They overcome most limitations generally encountered in the other two bearings, and can be subjected to high temperatures up to 1800F and high loads. Despite these advantages, ceramic bearings are used less, as they are expensive. Thus, polymer bearings are widely being used, as they are economical and offer large number of advantages. The market for polymer bearings is expected to expand at a steady pace owing to the increasing usage of these bearings in a large number of industrial applications.Get Sample Report:Based on the type of ball used in the bearings, the market for polymer bearings can be segmented into plastic ball bearing, glass ball bearing, and stainless steel ball bearing. The choice of the material to be used for balls highly depends on the kind of conditions and applications the bearing is subjected to. Plastic balls are generally used when there is a need of light weight, noise free operation. Glass balls are employed when a comparatively lighter option is required in a metal free application. Glass balls also exhibit less magnetic properties.Based on end-use industry, the polymer bearings market can be segmented into chemical industry, food & beverages industry, textile industry, and medical & pharmaceutical industry. The usage of polymer bearings is increasing across these industrial segments. The chemical industry segment of the polymer bearings market is anticipated to expand at a steady pace due to the growth in the chemical industry. The chemical industry is witnessing considerable growth due to growing market of pharmaceutical products and consumer goods.Geographically, the market for polymer bearings can be divided into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. The polymer bearings market is likely to expand significantly in Asia Pacific owing to factors such as rapid industrialization and economic, infrastructural development in countries such as India, China, and Japan.Key players operating in the polymer bearings market include Schaeffler Group, SKF, Timken Company, RKB Bearing Industries, NSK, and JTEKT Corporation.The polymer bearings market is projected to expand at a steady pace in the near future due to the increasing usage of these bearings in the industrial segment in countries such as China and Japan in Asia Pacific. The region accounts for major share of the polymer bearings market due to the increasing industrialization and rapid economic & infrastructural development.Request TOC of the Report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:tmrresearch.blogspot.com/
Industrial Energy Efficient Services Market to increase rapidly by 2024

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Global Industrial Energy Efficient Services Market: SnapshotWith the vast rise in stringent regulations pertaining to energy security, decarbonization, and air pollution, the industrial sector has started to feel the pressing need to adopt measures that can improve the energy efficiency of internal processes and operations. Countries across the globe are setting up advisory, disciplinary, and investigatory panels to ensure that energy efficiency measures are being put in place, especially in energy-intensive industries such as metal processing, chemicals, mining, and petroleum refining, to name a few. These factors are contributing to the increased demand for energy efficient services globally.Get Sample Report:It is estimated that the overall scope of the energy efficient services market is vast but only a small percentage of the market has been tapped, especially across emerging economies with massive and thriving industrial sectors. In regions such as Latin America and Asia Pacific, industrial boom in emerging economies in the past few decades has resulted in the vast expansion of the energy sector, ramping up the uptake of power to a massive extent. This trend has also produced ample growth opportunities for companies operating in the energy efficiency sectors as governments have started realizing the need to reduce impact of emissions led by the majorly fossil fuel-powered electricity plants.From practices such as setting up energy audit programs mandating industrial facilities to evaluate, identify, and report opportunities related to energy efficiency in their organizations from time to time to offering tax incentives to companies with energy efficient plants, governments continue to play a key role in the development of the global energy efficient services market. This report presents an overview of the present state and future scope of development of the market, covering a thorough overview of crucial aspects influencing its development.As the world is transcending toward clean energy, it is becoming increasingly clear that efficiency can make the transition faster, cheaper, and beneficial across all the sectors. Energy efficiency is an important element in energy policies around the world. Globally, around two-third of the economic potential associated with energy saving remains untapped. Around 70% of the energy use in the world is utilized without any energy efficiency and performance measures. For instance, nearly 2/3rd of the energy consumed from buildings across the world has no standards or code applied to it. The core imperatives of an energy policy such as decarbonization, energy security, and air pollution can be made achievable and accessible with the incorporation of proper energy standards and other energy efficiency measures.Growth in the industrial sector has encouraged companies to seek faster ways to lower energy consumption due to the high cost and strict environmental regulations. The industrial sector has been expanding steadily since the last few years. Opportunities for energy efficiency improvements are expected to increase constantly. There exists potential to adopt energy efficient technologies and measures that reduce the energy consumption in the industrial sector by an additional 15-30% by 2025. Governments across the globe are increasingly focusing on adopting energy efficient practices. This is the primary driver of the global energy efficient services market. The European Union devised the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) in order to lower energy consumption by 20% and maintain transparency in the overall billing process. The U.K. has set up the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS), an energy audit program that mandates industrial facilities to identify, evaluate, and report energy efficiency opportunities in their organizations every four years. Similarly, the Indian Energy Conservation Act also mandates energy intensive industries in the country to conduct energy audits and consulting. The Government of India offers tax incentives to companies for energy efficient plants and for keeping a tab on energy requirements diligently. Many companies are already striving to become more energy efficient. For instance, equipment manufacturers Alstom, ABB, Schneider, and Johnson Controls offer energy saving equipment and process optimization services linked to their products. Large IT companies such as SAP, IBM, Cisco, and Microsoft have devised programs to collect, monitor, and manage energy data. According to the International Energy Agency, the global energy intensity, i.e. the amount of energy utilized per unit of GDP, improved by 1.8% in 2015 and this industry is estimated to witness double digit growth in the near future; the commercial sector is expected to account for major share of the growth. Favorable support from regulatory bodies and government institutions is likely to drive the industrial energy efficient services market. However, economic & financial, regulatory, and Informational barriers may impede the implementation of energy efficient measures.Based on service, the energy efficient market can be segmented into energy auditing & consulting, product & system optimization, and monitoring & verification. The energy auditing and consulting segment accounted for the major share of the industrial energy efficient services market in 2015. The segment is anticipated to dominate the market during the forecast period, led by the increase in governmental efforts to mandate companies to undertake energy audits and comply with energy efficient standards. In terms of region, North America held the prominent share of the industrial energy efficient services market in 2015, driven by the energy efficient initiatives in the region and rise in need to enhance energy consumption to achieve development goals. China leads the industrial energy efficient services market in Asia Pacific, driven by its 13th five year plan to achieve energy efficiency standards. The country is estimated to attract further investment in the sector considering the sheer size of its domestic energy usage. China has also developed stringent and energy efficient Monitoring and Verification (M&V). This segment is projected to witness significant growth during the forecast period.The global industrial energy efficient services market is highly competitive due to the presence of a large number of regional and global vendors. Key players operating in the industrial energy efficient services market are Siemens, Honeywell, TERI, DuPont, Dalkia, ENGIE, Getec, Johnson Controls, Schneider Electric, SGS, and Wood.Request TOC of the Report @About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Browse market research blog:tmrresearch.blogspot.com/
Point of Care Technology Market (2017-2023) - Develop Evaluating, Highlights, Surveys and Examination of Choices

Point of Care Technology Market

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Market Research Future.com add new report of Point of Care Technology Market Research Report  Global Forecast To 2023 it contains Company information, geographical data and Table of ContentPoint of Care Technology Market Information: By Type of Products (Glucose Testing, Cardiac Markers, Hba1c Testing, Coagulation and others), and By End Users (Clinics, Hospital, Home Care, Ambulatory Care) - Global Forecast Till 2023Point-of-care testing allows patient diagnosis, in an ambulance, the home, the field, or in the hospital. The results of care are timely, and allow rapid treatment to the patient. Point of care technology market is growing rapidly due to the evolving healthcare industry, especially in developing nations. The major factors that propel the growth of the market are development in diagnostics, patients with chronic diseases, increasing growth in medical technology, and other uses of point of care technology. Moreover, increasing investment in research and development among the developed countries will also boost the growth of the market positively during the forecast period.Some of the key players in this market are Abbott (U.S.), Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc.(U.S.), Techno MedicaCo., Ltd. (Japan), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Switzerland), Siemens AG (Germany), Alere Inc. (U.S.), Instrumentation Laboratory (U.S.), PTS Diagnostics (U.S.), Nova Biomedical (U.S.), Beckman Coulter, Inc. (U.S.) BD (U.S.), Quidel Corporation (U.S), Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (U.S).My Sample Copy@Furthermore, advancement of diagnostic laboratories and adoption of automated lab systems, is likely to fuel the growth of the market. On the other hand, complexity of documentation and investment cost involved in this type of care technology, may hinder the growth of the market during the forecasted period.The global point of care technology market is expecting a healthy growth at a CAGR of 9.5% during forecast period.SegmentsThe global point of care technology is segmented by type of products, and end users.On the basis of type of product, it is segmented into glucose testing, cardiac markers, HbA1c testing, and coagulation, and others.On the basis of end users, it is segmented into clinics, hospital, home care, ambulatory care, and others.On the regional basis, the market is segmented into Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. The Americas own a significant share in the global market as a result of huge investment and its strong economic conditions which favor the research and development of the healthcare sector. Increasing number of surgeries along with rising demand for point of care technology products is predicted to boost the growth of the market.Europe is the second largest point of care technology market followed by Asia Pacific on account of growing importance of research in healthcare sector which inturn is increasing investment in research and development activities. Asia Pacific market shows the fastest growth due to increasing prevalence of communicable diseases and demand for more diagnostics. Additionally, India and China have started investing in research and development of healthcare domain.The Middle East & Africa holds the least share in the global point of care technology market since poor economic condition and less development in medical facilities.Table of ContentReport PrologueMarket IntroductionResearch MethodologyMarket DynamicsMarket Factor AnalysisGlobal Point Of Care Technology Market, By Type Of ProductsGlobal Point Of Care Technology Market, By End UsersGlobal Point Of Care Technology Market, By End UsersGlobal Point Of Care Technology Market, By RegionCompetitive LandscapeCompany ProfileConclusionAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comMRFR has the distinguished objective of providing the optimal quality research and granular research to 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 answer your most important questions.Our Research Analysts are eager to share their knowledge and assist you in refining market research parameters, choosing right market studies, and evaluating both the market scope and the research methodologies of varied segments.We bridge the gap between our clients and their clients by identifying and decoding just the target group, while generating leads with the highest accuracy.Years of research into diverse fields of work has ingrained within us, a proficiency so distinguished that our industry-specific specialists identify with your business ideas and feel the pulse of your challenges and opportunities. This enables us for providing assistance, through our consulting and strategic consulting services, in informed managerial decision making. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industries, WantStats Research and Media often conducts industrial visits for its research analysts. Relevant inputs from various established market participants, help our clients make significant contribution in respective markets are a huge motivation for all of us to endlessly furnish quality. We depend greatly on profound insights into complex realms of our study.Pune, India
World Bronchoscopes Market is Expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.4% from 2017 to 2023

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Bronchoscopes Market Information, By Types (Rigid Bronchoscopes, Flexible Bronchoscopes), Application (Diagnosis (Examination, Tissue Specimen for Biopsy), Surgical Procedure), End User (Hospitals & Clinics, Diagnostic Centers) - Global Forecast till 2023Bronchoscopy is an endoscopic technique of visualizing the airways for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Bronchoscope is inserted into the airways, usually through the nose or mouth, or occasionally through trachea which allows the practitioner to examine the abnormalities in patient airways for foreign bodies, tumors, bleeding, or inflammation. There are a variety of bronchoscopes, introduced for different diagnostic requirements, owing to the different advantages flexible bronchoscopeshave over rigid bronchoscopes. The major driving factors for the growth of the market are increasing prevalence of the different respiratory procedures, increase in preference for minimally invasive procedures, and rising geriatric population. At the University of Chicago Medicine, over 70% of major lung resection surgeries are performed using minimally invasive techniques. Moreover, increasing patient inflow, rising healthcare expenditure and increasing government support have provided push for the growth of the market. On the other hand, the average cost of the bronchoscopes is around USD 2500  USD 3500. Thus, high cost of the bronchoscopes may restrain the growth of the market.The global bronchoscopes market is growing continuously and expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.4% from 2017 to 2023Sample Report Available atMajor players in bronchoscopes marketSome of the major players in this market: Ambu Inc. (US), Boston Scientific Corporation (US), Cogentix Medical (US), Fujifilm Holdings Corporation (Japan), Olympus Corporation (Japan), Pentax Medicals (Japan), and KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Schindler Endoskopie Technologie Gmbh (Germany), Scholly Fiberoptic Gmbh (Germany), Vimex Sp. (Poland), Hangzhou EndoTop Medi-Tech Co., Ltd.(China), Guangzhou MeCan Medical Limited (China), and LocaMed (UK)Regional AnalysisConsidering the global scenario of the bronchoscopes market, there are four main regions: America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa.America accounts for the largest market owing to the huge patient inflow due to increasing prevalence of chronic respiratory diseases, well-developed healthcare sector, increasing geriatric population, and high healthcare spending. America consists of two regions namely, North America and South America. North America is the major market share holder owing to increasing number of hospitals and healthcare organization and huge patient pool in this region. According to the American Hospital Association, in 2016, total number of all US Registered Hospitals was 5,564. Additionally, according to the American Lung Association, lung cancer affects more than 370,000 Americans each year.Europe commands the second largest market share in global bronchoscopes. Some major factors that attribute the growth of Europe bronchoscopes market are, huge patient population, well-developed healthcare facilities, and increasing government support. Germany, the UK and France are the major contributor in the Europe bronchoscopes market.Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market. Improving healthcare sector, rapidly growing economies, presence of huge patient population, and presence of huge opportunities for the development of the market has driven the growth for this market in Asia Pacific. Whereas, the Middle East & Africa accounts for the lowest share in the global bronchoscopes market.Browse complete report atSegmentationThe global bronchoscopes market is segmented on the basis of type, application, and end users.On the basis of type, the market is segmented into rigid bronchoscopes, and flexible bronchoscopes. Flexible bronchoscopes are further sub-segmented into fiber optic bronchoscopes, and video bronchoscopes.On the basis of application, the market is segmented into diagnosis, and surgical procedure. Diagnosis is further segmented into examination, patients airways, bleeding lungs, possibility of lung cancer, chronic cough, and obtain tissue specimen for biopsy. Surgical procedure is further segmented into removal of a foreign object in the airway, laser resection of tumors, lung abscess, stent insertion, percutaneous tracheostomy, and tracheal intubation.On the basis of end user, the market is segmented into hospitals & clinics, diagnostic centers and others.Key Findings: Flexible bronchoscopes segment accounts for the largest market share in the global bronchoscopes market and is expected to be the fastest growing market with the CAGR of 8.0 % during the forecast period. Diagnosis commanded the largest market share in 2016 and was valued at USD 885.7 million in 2016 and is expected to reach at USD 1,484.2 million by 2023. On the basis of end users, Hospitals & clinics segment accounts for the largest market share of 49.1% in the global bronchoscopes market. The Americas bronchoscopes market is expected to reach USD 868.7 million by 2023, at a CAGR of 7.4 % during the forecast period.Ask Question to Expert atNorth America holds the largest market share in the American bronchoscopes market. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in 2015, U.S. healthcare spending increased 5.8% during last few years. Additionally, increasing government support for research & development have fuelled the market growth of the American bronchoscopes market. Europe has the second largest market for the bronchoscopes which is followed by Asia Pacific. Due to the presence of a well-developed healthcare sector, increasing prevalence of respiratory diseases and high healthcare spending, the bronchoscopes market in Europe is growing at a CAGR of 6.9%. Asia Pacific is also witnessing a rapid growth in this market which is mainly due to rapidly increasing awareness about the availability of the treatment, increasing patient inflow, huge population base, and rising healthcare expenditure. The Middle East & Africa is expected to have limited growth. Middle East is dominating this market by holding major share of the Middle East & Africa market owing to the well developed technology and healthcare sector.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Market Research FutureMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.ComWeb:
Outdoor LED Lighting Market Segment by Applications, Manufacturers, Regions and Forecast to 2022

Outdoor LED Lighting Market

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WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On - Outdoor LED Lighting Market Segment by Applications, Manufacturers, Regions and Forecast to 2022.This report studies Outdoor LED Lighting 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, coveringPhilips Lighting HoldingGeneral ElectricOSRAM LichtHubbell IncorporatedCreeEaton CorporationSYSKA LEDVirtual ExtensionDialightZumtobel GroupGet a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comBy types, the market can be split intoNewRetrofitBy Application, the market can be split intoHighways & RoadwaysArchitecturalPublic PlacesBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaReport Details @Table Of Contents  Major Key PointsGlobal Outdoor LED Lighting Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Outdoor LED Lighting1.1 Definition and Specifications of Outdoor LED Lighting1.1.1 Definition of Outdoor LED Lighting1.1.2 Specifications of Outdoor LED Lighting1.2 Classification of Outdoor LED Lighting1.2.1 New1.2.2 Retrofit1.3 Applications of Outdoor LED Lighting1.3.1 Highways & Roadways1.3.2 Architectural1.3.3 Public Places1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Outdoor LED Lighting8.1 Philips Lighting Holding8.1.1 Company Profile8.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.1.2.1 Product A8.1.2.2 Product B8.1.3 Philips Lighting Holding 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.1.4 Philips Lighting Holding 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Business Region Distribution Analysis8.2 General Electric8.2.1 Company Profile8.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.2.2.1 Product A8.2.2.2 Product B8.2.3 General Electric 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.2.4 General Electric 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Business Region Distribution Analysis8.3 OSRAM Licht8.3.1 Company Profile8.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.3.2.1 Product A8.3.2.2 Product B8.3.3 OSRAM Licht 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.3.4 OSRAM Licht 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Business Region Distribution Analysis8.4 Hubbell Incorporated8.4.1 Company Profile8.4.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.4.2.1 Product A8.4.2.2 Product B8.4.3 Hubbell Incorporated 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.4.4 Hubbell Incorporated 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Business Region Distribution Analysis8.5 Cree8.5.1 Company Profile8.5.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.5.2.1 Product A8.5.2.2 Product B8.5.3 Cree 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.5.4 Cree 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Business Region Distribution Analysis8.6 Eaton Corporation8.6.1 Company Profile8.6.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.6.2.1 Product A8.6.2.2 Product B8.6.3 Eaton Corporation 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.6.4 Eaton Corporation 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Business Region Distribution Analysis8.7 SYSKA LED8.7.1 Company Profile8.7.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.7.2.1 Product A8.7.2.2 Product B8.7.3 SYSKA LED 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.7.4 SYSKA LED 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Business Region Distribution Analysis8.8 Virtual Extension8.8.1 Company Profile8.8.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.8.2.1 Product A8.8.2.2 Product B8.8.3 Virtual Extension 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.8.4 Virtual Extension 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Business Region Distribution Analysis8.9 Dialight8.9.1 Company Profile8.9.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.9.2.1 Product A8.9.2.2 Product B8.9.3 Dialight 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.9.4 Dialight 2016 Outdoor LED Lighting Business Region Distribution AnalysisContinue.Buy 1-User PDF@For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT 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.
Global Steam Autoclave Market is Expected to Get US$ 2.5 Billion By 2024

Steam Autoclave Market

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In this report, the global steam autoclave market is segmented by product, indicator, technology, end user, and region. On the basis of product, the market is segmented into traditional and tabletop. The market on the basis of indicator is segmented into mechanical, chemical, and biological. On the basis of technology, the market is segmented into gravity displacement, pre-vacuum, and steam flush. The market on the basis of end user is segmented into hospitals, health care organizations, and academics.The global steam autoclave market size is expected to be more than US$ 2.5 billion by 2024, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% during the forecast period.A glimpse of the report structure is provided in the report description available on the website.M Health Care, STERIS plc, Getinge Group, and Johnson & Johnson are the most active players in the steam autoclave market.The rising need to manage bio-hazardous and medical waste, growing incidence of nosocomial infections, and increasing adoption of CSSD healthcare establishment design are expected to drive the market. However, the shifting trend toward disposable medical devices and the high cost of larger capacity, specialized autoclaves are hampering the growth of the steam autoclave market. In addition, the absence of sterilization guidelines in developing countries and lack of proper implementation of sterilization guidelines in developed countries are factors restraining the growth of the market.The global steam autoclave market is segmented on the basis of key regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. North America accounts for the largest share of the market. However, Asia Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period. Furthermore, each region is segmented to provide market revenue for select countries such as the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, China, Japan, India, Brazil, and GCC countries. The report includes a detailed study of the global and regional steam autoclave market and analyzes the variations in the growth of the industry in certain regions.The Steam Autoclave Market has been segmented as below:By Product Segment AnalysisTabletopTraditionalBy Indicator AnalysisMechanicalBiologicalChemicalBy Technology AnalysisSteam flushPre vacuumGravity displacementBy End-user AnalysisAcademicsHealth care organizationsHospitalsBy Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificRest of the WorldThis report covers the steam autoclave market, in terms of value, and forecasts the market size till 2024. In addition, the report identifies key growth segments and opportunities in the industry. This report also covers detailed competitive outlook including the share and company profiles of the key players in the global steam autoclave market. Company profile includes company summary, financial summary, business strategy and planning, SWOT analysis, and current developments.Request Sample Report:The deep-dive study on the steam autoclave market will help customers with identifications of new market opportunities and targeted promotional plans.Table of Contents1. INTRODUCTION2. Executive Summary3. Steam Autoclave Market - Industry Analysis4. Market Segmentation - By Product5. Market Segmentation - By Indicator6. Market Segmentation - By Technology7. Market Segmentation - By End-User8. Market Segmentation - By Geography9. Company Profiles9.1. 3M Health Care9.2. Belimed Group9.3. CISA Group9.4. Getinge AB9.5. Johnson & Johnson9.6. SAKURA SI CO., LTD.9.7. STERIS plc.About UsMarket Research Engine (MRE) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. MREs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each Market Research Engines research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Media ContactCompany Name: Market Research EngineContact Person: John BayEmail: john@marketresearchengine.comPhone: +1-855-984-1862Country: United StatesWebsite:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States
Medical Device Packaging 2017 Market Is Estimated to Reach US$ 30 Billion And Growing at 6% CAGR by 2022

Medical Device Packaging Market 2017

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Medical Device Packaging Market 2017Summary:Global Medical Device Packaging Information by Material (Plastic, Paper & Paperboard and others), by Product (Pouches, Trays, Bags, Clamshell Packs and others), and Region - Forecast to 2022Key PlayersThe key players of Global Medical Device Packaging Market report include-Amcor LimitedBemis Company IncChesapeake LimitedI. du Pont de Nemours and CompanyKlockner Pentaplast Group3M CompanyWestRock CompanyMitsubishi Chemical Holdings CorporationOliver-Tolas.The global medical device packaging market size is expected to cross USD 30 Billion at CAGR of approximately 6% by 2022.Market ScenarioThe key drivers for the growth of the medical device packaging market are the growing healthcare industry. There is an increased demand for such packaging by the medical device manufacturers on a large scale. The packaging industry on the other hand are seen investing heavily on various technological advancements. On the basis of product type, Pouches contributes the largest to the market, majorly due to its cost-effectiveness and infection resistant specification. Cost sensitiveness and declining healthcare costs are hampering the growth of the global medical device packaging market. North-America contributes largely to overall market share.Study Objectives of Global Medical Device Packaging MarketTo provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of various segments and sub-segments of the Global Medical Device Packaging MarketTo provide insights about factors affecting the market growthTo Analyze the Global Medical Device Packaging 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- North America, Europe, APAC, and Rest of the World (ROW)To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospectiveTo provide country level analysis of the market for segment by Material, Type and by Region.To provide strategic profiling of the key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the marketTo track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global Medical Device Packaging MarketRequest For Sample Report @Regional Analysis of Global Medical Device Packaging MarketAsian countries, especially India, China are expected to grow fastest over the forecasted period due to expansion of the healthcare industry and stricter government and non-governmentRegulations to support healthcare sector. However, North America dominates the market due to advancements of medical technology and infrastructure.Target AudienceManufacturesRaw Materials SuppliersAftermarket supplierResearch Institute / Education InstitutePotential InvestorsKey executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerProduct AnalysisProduct matrix which gives a detailed comparison of the market for different recycled product typesAdditional InformationRegulatory LandscapePricing AnalysisMacroeconomic IndicatorsGeographic AnalysisGeographical analysis across 15 countriesCompany InformationProfiling of 10 key market playersIn-depth analysis including SWOT analysis, and strategy information of related to report titleCompetitive landscape including emerging trends adopted by major companiesThe report for Global Medical Device Packaging 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 Contents1 Executive Summary2 Scope Of The Report2.1 Market Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objectives2.2.2 Assumptions & Limitations2.3 Markets Structure.Company Profiles10.1 Amcor Limited10.1.1 Overview10.1.2 Financials10.1.3 Type Portfolio10.1.4 Business Strategies10.1.5 Recent Development10.2 Chesapeake Limited10.2.1 Overview10.2.2 Financials10.2.3 Type Portfolio10.2.4 Business Strategies10.2.5 Recent Development10.3 E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company10.3.1 Overview10.3.2 Financials10.3.3 Type Portfolio10.3.4 Business Strategies10.3.5 Recent Development10.4 Klockner Pentaplast Group10.4.1 Overview10.4.2 Financials10.4.3 Type Portfolio10.4.4 Business Strategies10.4.5 Recent Development10.5 WestRock Company10.5.1 Overview10.5.2 Financials10.5.3 Type Portfolio10.5.4 Business Strategies10.5.5 Recent Development10.6 Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation10.6.1 Overview10.6.2 Financials10.6.3 Type Portfolio10.6.4 Business Strategies10.6.5 Recent Development10.7 3M Company10.7.1 Overview10.7.2 Financials10.7.3 Type Portfolio10.7.4 Business Strategies10.7.5 Recent Development10.8 Bemis Company Inc10.8.1 Overview10.8.2 Financials10.8.3 Type Portfolio10.8.4 Business Strategies10.8.5 Recent Development10.9 Oliver-Tolas10.9.1 Overview10.9.2 Financials10.9.3 Type Portfolio10.9.4 Business Strategies10.9.5 Recent DevelopmentContinued.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
Telehandler Market 2017: Industry Review, Research, Statistics and Growth to 2020

Telehandler Market

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Telehandler Market Research ReportTelehandler Market Information Report by Capacity (Less than 3 ton, 3.1 to 4 tons, 4.1 to 5 tons), by Application (Construction, Agriculture, Mining and Others) and By Countries (China, Germany, France, U.K. and Eastern European Countries) - Forecast To 2020.About Telehandler Market:Telehandler are lifting machines which are usually mounted on a vehicle and equipped with a telescopic boom that can facilitate lifting to heights of 50 feet or more. Telehandler are usually fitted with pallet forks to enable lifting of materials but there are some models that are designed to handle buckets and other attachments.Sample Report @The growth of the telehandler market is expected to be driven by its widespread use in construction and agriculture purposes. Telehandler have evolved from a typical landscaping and farming equipment into a more sophisticated construction equipment owing to factors such as high load bearing capacity and 360 movement capability. The ability of the equipment to perform a wide variety of tasks such as in farming and construction, further contributes to the growth of the telehandler market.The Telehandler market is poised to grow approximately at 2.6% CAGR and is estimated to touch market volume of 6,684 units by the end of 2020.Study objectives of Telehandler MarketTo provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next ten years of various segments and sub-segments of the telehandler marketTo provide insights about factors affecting the market growthTo analyze telehandler market based on various tools such as Price Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis and Porters Five Force Analysis.To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to countries - China, Germany, France, U.K. and Eastern European Countries.To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospectiveTo provide country level analysis of the market for segment by capacity, by application and by countriesTo provide strategic profiling of the key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the marketTo track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the telehandler market.Browse Complete Report @Regional Analysis of Telehandler MarketGermany is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period and it is expected to grow due to the presence of industries such as construction, plant breeding and agrochemicals. China is expected to grow at 2.5% CAGR during the forecast period, owing to factors such as rapid industrialization and increased manufacturing activities in the region.Key PlayersManitou (U.K.), J C Bamford Excavators Ltd. (U.K), Merlo S.p.A (Italy), Bobcat Corporate (U.S.) is some of the leading players operating in this market.1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.1 Scope Of The Study2.1.1 Definition2.1.2 Research Objective2.1.3 Assumptions2.1.4 Limitations2.2 Research Process2.2.1 Primary Research2.2.2 Secondary Research2.3 Market Size Estimation2.4 Forecast Model3 MARKET DYNAMICS3.1 Market Drivers3.2 Market Inhibitors3.3 Supply/Value Chain Analysis3.4 Porters Five Forces Analysis4 TELEHANDLER MARKET, BY CAPACITY4.1 Introduction4.2 Less Than 3 Ton4.3 3.1 To 4 Tons4.4 4.1 To 5 Tons5 TELEHANDLER MARKET, BY APPLICATION5.1 Introduction5.2 Construction5.3 Agriculture5.4 Mining5.5 OthersTarget AudienceManufacturesRaw Materials SuppliersAftermarket suppliersResearch Institute / Education InstitutePotential InvestorsKey executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerProduct AnalysisProduct matrix which gives a detailed comparison of the market for different recycled product typesAdditional InformationRegulatory LandscapePricing AnalysisMacroeconomic IndicatorsGeographic AnalysisGeographical analysis across 15 countriesCompany InformationProfiling of 10 key market playersIn-depth analysis including SWOT analysis, and strategy information of related to report titleCompetitive landscape including emerging trends adopted by major companiesThe report for Telehandler 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.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comAt 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
Thermoform Packaging Global Market 2017: Key Players  Bemis Company, Inc., Sonoco Products Company, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Amcor Limited, DS Smith Plc.

Thermoform Packaging Market 2017

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/1851

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/thermoform-packaging-market-1851

Global Thermoforming Packaging Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022Global Thermoforming Packaging Market Information by Type (Blister Packaging, Skin Packaging, Clamshell Packaging, Others), by Application (Food & Beverage, Pharmaceuticals, Electronics, Personal Care and others), by Material (Plastic, Paper Aluminum and others) and by Region  Forecast to 2022Key PlayersThe key players of Thermoforming Packaging Market report include-Bemis Company, Inc.Sonoco Products CompanyI. du Pont de Nemours and CompanyAmcor LimitedDS Smith Plc.WestRock CompanyDisplay Pack IncTray Pack CorporationLacerta Group, IncSealed AirMarket Synopsis of Thermoform Packaging MarketThermoform packaging is been used by packaging manufacturers for food products. The key drivers of global thermoform packaging market are the increase in spending by consumers for packaged food, cost-effective, environment friendly and growth in food & beverage industry. The growth in population with increasing disposable income demands packaged food products. Materials such as plastic, paper and aluminum are used for thermoform packaging. Pharmaceuticals industry contributes highest to the overall growth of the market. The market is fueled majorly by the demand arising out of Europe, especially Germany. The global thermoform packaging market size was valued at around USD 32 Billion in 2015.Study Objectives of Thermoform Packaging MarketTo provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 6 years of various segments and sub-segments of the Global Thermoform Packaging MarketTo provide insights about factors affecting the market growthTo analyze the Global Thermoform Packaging 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- North America, Europe, APAC, and Rest of the World (ROW)To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospectiveTo provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, material, application and regions.To provide strategic profiling of the key players in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the marketTo track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the Global Thermoform Packaging Market.Request For Sample Report @Regional Analysis of Global Thermoform Packaging MarketEurope is the largest market for Thermoform Packaging, followed by Asia-Pacific. Developed economies like Germany and UK drive the thermoform packaging market. The reason is attributed to the large consumer base, positive economic environment and increase in manufacturing activities. North America is seen as a stagnant market.Target AudienceManufacturesRaw Materials SuppliersAftermarket supplierResearch Institute / Education InstitutePotential InvestorsKey executive (CEO and COO) and strategy growth managerProduct AnalysisProduct matrix which gives a detailed comparison of the market for different recycled product typesAdditional InformationRegulatory LandscapePricing AnalysisMacroeconomic IndicatorsGeographic AnalysisGeographical analysis across 15 countriesCompany InformationProfiling of 10 key market playersIn-depth analysis including SWOT analysis, and strategy information of related to report titleCompetitive landscape including emerging trends adopted by major companiesThe report for Global Thermoform Packaging 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 Contents1 Executive Summary2 Scope Of The Report2.1 Market Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objectives2.2.2 Assumptions & Limitations2.3 Markets Structure..Company Profiles11.1 Bemis Company, Inc11.1.1 Overview11.1.2 Financials11.1.3 Product Portfolio11.1.4 Business Strategies11.1.5 Recent Development11.2 Sonoco Products Company11.2.1 Overview11.2.2 Financials11.2.3 Product Portfolio11.2.4 Business Strategies11.2.5 Recent Development11.3 E.I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company11.3.1 Overview11.3.2 Financials11.3.3 Product Portfolio11.3.4 Business Strategies11.3.5 Recent Development11.4 Amcor Limited11.4.1 Overview11.4.2 Financials11.4.3 Product Portfolio11.4.4 Business Strategies11.4.5 Recent Development11.5 DS Smith Plc.11.5.1 Overview11.5.2 Financials11.5.3 Product Portfolio11.5.4 Business Strategies11.5.5 Recent Development11.6 WestRock Company11.6.1 Overview11.6.2 Financials11.6.3 Product Portfolio11.6.4 Business Strategies11.6.5 Recent Development11.7 Display Pack Inc11.7.1 Overview11.7.2 Financials11.7.3 Product Portfolio11.7.4 Business Strategies11.7.5 Recent Development11.8 Tray Pack Corporation11.8.1 Overview11.8.2 Financials11.8.3 Product Portfolio11.8.4 Business Strategies11.8.5 Recent Development11.9 Lacerta Group, Inc11.9.1 Overview11.9.2 Financials11.9.3 Product Portfolio11.9.4 Business Strategies11.9.5 Recent Development11.10 Sealed Air11.10.1 Overview11.10.2 Financials11.10.3 Product Portfolio11.10.4 Business Strategies11.10.5 Recent DevelopmentContinued.CONTACT US: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.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
California Senator Dianne Feinstein recently revealed her intention to seek a sixth term. On Oct. 9, she announced on Twitter: I am running for reelection to the Senate. Lots more to do: ending gun violence, combating climate change, access to healthcare. Im all in!

Access to healthcare. Think of what a tricky word that is, in an age where the public is asking for government help so they dont die. But I confess, the Senator has inspired me. Perhaps Feinsteins access to power should be considered, in the same harsh, unforgiving light she shines on the lives of her fellow citizens?

The Times put the matter delicately:

Yet Ms. Feinsteins decision to seek her sixth term, which she disclosed on Twitter on Monday, comes as Democrats are being swept by generational and ideological turmoil that some party members say might make her a leader out of step with her time.

Over the last decade, California has insisted on shipping sequels to the rest of the world. These new episodes are never as good as the originals. And here comes another installment of a long-running series: Feinstein, Part VI. Realistically: who wants this? Who thinks that another Feinstein term would be good for anyone? Is there an actual need for another episode of Feinstein? Is there another Iraq War that wont get approved unless shes at the wheel?

Theres been a lot of talk about Feinsteins age, but its absolutely irrelevant. At every stage of her centrist political career, Feinstein has failed basic tests of progressive vision. The Senator is an avatar of that discredited faith, neoliberalism. That simply cannot stand in the age of Trump. The Senator is out of touch with her constituents, and has stepped wrong on dozens of issues. As an editorial in the L.A. Times pointed out:

The state has clearly moved to the left in the ensuing decades. And while on some issues, Feinstein has embraced the new progressivism, she cant be said to have led the way on such signature liberal causes as universal healthcare, the $15 minimum wage, campaign finance reform, tuition-free higher education, battling climate change or reining in Wall Street.

Feinstein came to power by trudging up a long road. She served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and then as mayor. She got nominated for governor in 1990, lost to Wilson, and then snagged Wilsons Senate seat in 1992. What has she done in that time?

Look up her record. She scoffs at single-payer. She voted to confirm nine of Trumps squad of rapacious plunderers. Feinstein supports capital punishment, and has been a long-time encourager of the drug war. In 2006, she publicly backed a cynical and shabby amendment to ban flag desecration, which the Seattle Times described as an interesting word, given its connotations of religious devotion.

She consistently supports the most draconian DRM tech protectionsthat means the heavy hand of IP lawyers on the Internet, on cable and satellite channels. And then theres her affection for National Security.

Imagine saying this in 2006imagine believing thisimagine being a grown person, and having a childs faith in the deep state:

The USA-Patriot Act has come to be terribly misunderstood. Some think it is related to Guantanamo Bay, and the detention of prisoners. Others are convinced that it authorizes torture, or the secret arrest of Americans. It does none of these things.

There is no getting around the Central Problem of Feinsteinor, as the Post puts it, that she has long been one of the more conservative Democrats in the Senate despite representing the state that defines contemporary American liberalism.

Splinter described the Senators history, in a polite open letter:

... your most prominent policy stances have come on national security. As a senator and member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, you cosponsored the extension of the Patriot Act; supported the FISA Act, which allows courts to operate in secret while deciding how much spy agencies can snoop into American citizens private data; and called Edward Snowden a traitor. You have nearly always supported the expansion of the security state at the expense of privacy rights. Last year, you and Senator Richard Burr proposed a bill that would require tech companies to work with law enforcement break into users encrypted data. Data privacy advocates have called the bill a threat to American privacy. The ACLU has rarely rated you above 75 percent, and some years your rating has fallen much lower. Lets face it: You are a hawkish, centrist Democrat in a state full of voters that have become much more liberal than you have shown yourself to be. Perhaps now would be a great time to retire and make way for a candidate who better reflects the views of your constituents?

The Hill agreed, noting that

She opposes Californias push for single-payer health care, which was a core tenet of Sen. Bernie Sanderss (I-Vt.) presidential campaign in 2016. She also came under heavy scrutiny and raised eyebrows after saying in late August that Trump could be a good president and called for patience when it comes to his presidency.

I interviewed Congressman Ro Khanna. Khanna represents Californias 17th districtSilicon Valleyin Congress. A reliable progressive voice, Khanna is one of the sixsixmembers of Congress who only take donations from individual sources, not PACs. What did he think about Feinsteins attempted return to power?

Feinstein doesnt represent the future of California, Khanna told me. She has been hawkish on foreign policy, having supported the Iraq war and Libya invasion. She also has been an advocate for extending the Patriot Act and curtailing civil liberties. California needs a bold progressive voice. Khanna said he supported former Labor Secretary Robert Reich or East Bays progressive Representative, Barbara Lee.

The time is right to challenge the Senator. Progressive forces have been marching up and down the face of the El Dorado State. In June 28, the California Assembly came close to passing single-payer health care, until Speaker of that Assembly Anthony Rendonfriend of Big Pharmasank the dream.

As my colleague Walker Bragman wrote back in January, Berniecrats took over the Democratic Party in California, winning 618 of 1120 seats in the Assembly District Election Meetings (ADEM) and 44 of 80 executive boards. I asked Khanna: given the reality of a Trump Administration and GOP Congress on the federal level, did he think California could successfully articulate an alternative to the rightward drift?

Yes, Khanna said. Thats why we need a bold thought leader as senator. As far as the priorities of Californias Senators, Khanna suggested Tax credits to working families under 75k to make work pay. Medicare For All. Debt-free college. Stop the foreign interventions and wars, and No to PAC and lobbyist money.

These sentiments were echoed by one of Feinsteins challengers, a man named David Hildebrand, a Democratic Socialist running for Feinsteins seat. Currently, Hildebrand is a legislative analyst for the State of California. His primary subject of interest is in transportation. Im not surprised, he told me, when I asked him about Feinsteins reelection announcement. Ive been campaigning on the assumption that she would run.

Feinstein doesnt represent the interests of Californians, Hildebrand said: California wants single-payer healthcare.  She voted for the Iraq War, for the PATRIOT Act. Shes been wrong on a whole lot of issues. Hildebrand said that California needed a working-class representative. That was him, he said; hed been working since he was very young: I know the experience of Which bill do I pay this month?  Feinsteins been representing corporations since shes been in office. Like Khanna, Hildebrand stressed the urgency of healthcare: Single-payer would be number one if he got into office, along with Ending Citizens United, and setting up a publicly-funded election system.

Like wild horses, politicians surrender unpeaceablythere is fiendish noise and feral biting involved, always. So it will be with Feinstein. But its a fight worth having.

Whatever can be said of California in the past and California now, the state has always been part of the tomorrow of America. It was the final frontier for so many people intuitively heading to the Pacific, to seek what Richard Wright called the warmth of other suns. Are Washingtons swamp-water ways of power shut against progressives? Then we must look to the states and the cities. California can show the way. Even while looking west, let us hope for a new dawn. Replace Senator Feinstein.
Harbor Springs frees up funding with public safety millage

The Harbor Springs public safety millage will free up some of the funds impacted by the Headlee Amendment, but city officials say it isn't a long-term fix.
Bassist of Eagles of Death Metal pays homage to 80s post-punk on her new EP.

Blending a dreamy, synthesized haze and a static punk-rock buzz, Jennie Vee's new EP Suffer pays homage to the 80s post-punk movement. Heavy and heartbreaking, the six songs are a snapshot into the tumultuous life of one of rock music's most underrated players. Vee is screaming her story into the wind, and we're lucky enough to hear the echoes, airy and unfiltered, careening back to us.



Vee has been playing constantly since the 90s, releasing music both on her own and with the band Tuuli. More recently however, she's joined Eagles of Death Metal and has been on tour with both Lana Del Rey and Courtney Love, the latter having been a huge influence in Vee's formative years.

As of right now, Jennie Vee is at a point in her career where she doesn't have to be modest anymore. She knows herself and she's completely level. She brandishes her Fender P-bass like a sword and calmly declares, without conceit, that she's the best rock bassist playing today. She's currently on tour but agreed to take some time away from her busy schedule to talk to us about Buddhism, The Cure, her creative process, and her new music in this Popdust extended interview.

I am going to tell you a question I will not answer.

Okay.

I will not answer any boring question about having a vagina.

I didn't have any questions about your vagina prepared.

[I don't want to answer anything] about how hard it is to be a woman in rock. It's not hard.

Sounds good. We'll start with an easy one then. I know you play guitar, why did you pick bass?



I picked bass because I thought Simon Gallup was the coolest person in the universe. The Cure is my favorite band and he was my hero. I just thought bass players were cool. I knew I was gonna play guitar, but I just wanted a bass first and foremost. [Basses] just made sense to me.

How did you get into music as a kid?



Like with most kids, it started with [my] parents' musical taste. I curated my own taste via their taste. For example, my dad liked Led Zeppelin and The Clash. I liked The Clash. I didn't like Led Zeppelin. So within the records that we had, I made my own little section. I grew up in northern Ontario and we had a satellite dish, so I had MTV unlike a lot of kids. I also messed around and found different radio stations and via that technology, I managed to expand my horizons.

So you're a touring member of Eagles of Death Metal, correct?

I'm in Eagles of Death Metal baby. I don't know where this whole "touring" label comes from. When you're in Eagles of Death Metal, you're in it for life.

How did you start playing with them?

This question is always weird to me. I'd been playing and training. They needed a bassist and I'm a bassist. And I'm cool. It was just a natural thing. It's not like I'm out there hustling or something. Eden Galindo is the sixth member of Eagles of Death Metal, and I've known him since the 90s. When they needed a bassist, he thought of me. That's how it happened. This is my family. I love Eagles of Death Metal.

You also did some touring with Courtney Love and Lana Del Rey right?

Yeah, we did the Endless Summer Tour in 2015.

Was that a big deal for you? I know Courtney Love was a pretty big influence on you.

Fuck yeah, it was. Live Through This was one of the records I played to every day before I went to school. [I was] learning to play on my white '91 P bass. Fast forward to 2015 and I'm in the Hollywood Bowl, playing Asking for It on that white bass. So, absolutely. It was magical.

The Eagles of Death Metal are your family, but you just released your second solo EP. You also have a solo album. What made you want to branch out from them and go out on your own?

I was not branching out and writing on my own. I've been writing and recording songs since 1994. This isn't a new thing that I've decided that I needed to do. I've always expressed myself through my own music. [As a writer,] I'm not super prolific. I think I've written six albums in 22 years, but I have an innate need to write and express myself. It's therapeutic to me. That will always be a part of me. It just works. It doesn't take away from anyone else I happen to be playing with. It's just this beautiful thing that works in tandem [with my other pursuits].

Did you do any of the writing on the newer Eagles of Death Metal stuff, or are you just the bass player?

We're tinkering around in the studio right now. We did recently get together and record the score for Super Troopers 2, which is coming out in the spring. I was in the studio with the guys and it was a lot of fun. It was my first time scoring a film. We did that together. It's so different though. My writing is for me. It's a form of therapy and it's painful. When I perform my own music, it's hard. I'm vulnerable. I'm direct. I'm honest. I'm raw. I make people a little bit uncomfortable. When I get to play with Jesse Hughes or Courtney Love, it's a blast. But that's their pain and that's their diary and their vision. I value my role supporting that. I don't like to compare and contrast.

So with this new EP, is there an overarching theme?

Yeah, suffering. That's why it's called Suffer. We all suffer. I have a beautiful life. I have amazing people in my life. I have a strong Buddhist practice. I'm super happy. But all that being said, it's not the human experience if you don't suffer from loss, heartbreak, or moments of self-doubt. This is what I draw from when I write. Losing a father to drug addiction, almost losing my sister to alcoholism, having my heart broken, coming out of a marriage, all these things are part of my experience and I write about them. I know people can relate.

Is your Buddhist practice something that really informs your writing?

When I think about writing as a 19-year-old girl and now writing as a 41-year-old woman and how I've changed and grown, I think the Buddhist practice has definitely shaped me. I think I evolved from feeling like a victim and blaming outside sources to blaming myself [for my problems]. [Now I've arrived] at the happy medium of understanding that despite the outer conditions I have to stay steadfast, like the flagpole, not the flag whipping around.

Who's the hottest bass player right now? Who's killing it in your mind?

I am. I kill it every night. I'm a warrior. The best to you is different from the best to me. Some people think the best [player] is someone who knows all the scales or someone who can play all the songs, like human karaoke. To me, it's about being sincere, strong, passionate, and open.

What musicians inform your playing style?

Simon Gallup influences me still to this day. I stand like him. I hold myself like him. My playing is also influenced by Peter Hook from Joy Division and New Order. His melodic style of playing really influenced me.

Are you taking the EP on tour?

Maybe, if it feels right. I'm not going to trudge around and just play to play. I love playing heavily curated events. My EP release party in Los Angeles was a beautiful party. Who needs a wedding? Planning a gig like that is just as labor intensive. [I like playing] things like that, you know? Special things.

There's one song on the EP that really stood out to me as different from the rest. It's the fifth track, The Last Time. It really breaks the album up nicely. Was this a conscious decision? Did you want to have something that changed it up in the middle like that?

There are no conscious decisions in my writing process. I can't sit here and say "I'm going to write a song." It's not like that for me. I feel like a vessel. The melody comes through me, filtered through my experience.

So you're a vessel. I get the sentiment, but how does that translate literally? In what context does your work come to you? What goes on in that moment?

That's indescribable. That's magic. Honestly, there are no words to describe it. I can't explain it. If I could explain it, then I could harness it in a more prolific manner. For me it's not like that. I know Nick Cave goes to his office/studio and writes every day. Everyone has a different process and I can't describe mine. I haven't written for quite awhile. Since my last EP, I moved to Los Angeles from New York. My life changed a lot. I've been playing with Eagles of Death Metal, so I really haven't written in awhile. I anticipate that I will soon, but I don't know when, where or how. I never know how it's going to be. My life doesn't have that sort of structure.
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: 2017-10-11 23:27:01

AHF: Keep the Promise to Empower Girls

for AIDS Healthcare Foundation

Kwazi Ngubane, +27 (0) 31 564 8338

kwazi@take-note.co.za

Despite UN declarations and national constitutions, there are millions of girls around the world who are still without access to basic education and healthcare. They are faced with gender inequality, discrimination, physical and sexual abuse in their families and communities and many are forced into child marriages, says Dr. Penninah Iutung, Africa Bureau Chief for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF).

As the world commemorates the 5th anniversary of International Day of the Girl Child today, AHF is reminding the worlds governments to keep their promise, empowering girls and ensuring their full and equal participation in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life, comments Dr. Iutung.

Marked by the United Nations (UN) in 2012, International Day of the Girl Child, aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.

On the African continent, child marriage continues to be a wide-spread problem, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where one in three girls in low and middle-income countries is married before they turn 18 years and one in nine by the age of 15. African countries with the highest [..] include Niger (76%), Central African Republic (68%), Chad (68%) and Mali (55%).

The worlds largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), is commemorating International Day of the Girl Child by donating 1 million sanitary pads to African countries, focusing on Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.

In addition to special events in Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia, AHF South Africa is celebrating International Day of the Girl Child at the Tom Place Primary School in Middledrift, Eastern Cape from 11:00 AM, ensuring girls in rural areas are not left behind.

At the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, we believe in giving every child every means necessary to live up to their greatest potential. In some parts of the world where we do our work, that translates into providing some of life's most basic necessities. Too often young girls have to skip school and stay home simply because they cant afford sanitary pads. Pads only cost a few cents, but these girls cant afford them and they are being left behind, missing the education that will help them to live a better life, and governments are not stepping in to help. Something so natural to a womans development should never be a barrier to her success. This empowerment initiative has a deep, lasting impact, keeping girls in school, staying healthy, taking care of themselves and living productive lives that includes reducing risk and stopping the spread of HIV, says Michael Weinstein, President of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

In South Africa and other African countries, access to free sanitary pads as a way to enable girls to complete their education has been a hotly-debated political topic for years. AHF decided to launch Girls Act in 2016 as a way to illustrate the positive impact that access to sanitary pads, sexual and reproductive health and rights information and healthcare services can make to the lives of girls. At Girls Act events we host discussions about the importance of education, self-esteem, gender-based violence, family planning, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and we highlight the dangers of substance abuse, unprotected sex and unplanned pregnancy. We end by distributing sanitary pads to all the girls in attendance. This 1 million pad donation takes our commitment to girls empowerment to the next level, expanding the benefits Girls Act and access to sanitary pads to a much larger group of girls and challenging governments to make sanitary pads available to every girls who needs them, allowing them to reach their dreams with dignity, says Larissa Klazinga, AHF Regional Policy and Advocacy Manager for Southern Africa.

For more information on AHF, visit either www.aidshealth.org or www.facebook.com/aidshealth.org

ABOUT THE AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION (AHF)

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is the largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider in the world. AHF currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 810,000 individuals in 39 countries worldwide in the USA, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and Asia.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201710110063
Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Aircraft Lighting Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026 " report to their offering.

Aircraft Lighting Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 12:04:23

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The aircraft lighting market has gone through high technological advancements in the recent years. These technological advancements and innovative equipment contribute to spur the global aircraft lighting market. The growth of aircraft lighting market is relational to the growth of the global aircraft industry and growth in air travel. Additionally, factors that drive the aircraft lighting market include use of energy efficient aircraft lights, efficient lighting alternative and growth in aircraft deliveries.Aircraft lighting is the major security concern of aircrafts. New aircraft lighting systems have innovative working design that save fuel and consume less power. These lighting systems are divided into two segments: interior and exterior aircraft lightings. Exterior aircraft lightings are used for visibility and security purpose to make the aircraft more visible to other aircrafts. During takeoff and landing of flights they also improve visibility of pilots. They include strobes, navigational lighting systems, beacons, and equipment. Interior lighting systems are used to provide lighting to the cargo hold, cockpit and cabin. These consist of lights mounted on reading lights, ceilings, mood lighting and sidewalls.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2330 Global Aircraft Lighting Market: DynamicsIncreasing air travel and aircraft industry are the primary factors which are driving the aircraft lighting market.A key growth driver is expected to be the use of energy efficient aircraft lights, and efficient lighting alternatives. The global aircraft lighting market is witnessing high opportunity potential in low weight aircraft lights segment.Additionally, global economic uncertainty is acting as growth restraints in the global aircraft lighting market.Global Aircraft Lighting Market: SegmentationGlobal aircraft lighting market is segmented on the basis of lighting type as follows: Interior Light, and Exterior Light.The global aircraft lighting market is segmented on the basis of lighting fit as retrofit and line fit, wherein, the retrofit segment is estimated to dominate the global aircraft lighting market in terms of value over the forecast period, owing to increasing aftermarket demand for aircraft lighting and increasing MRO services. Also, the demand for aircrafts in emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil is growing steadily, thus in the commercial segment it is expected that retrofit segment may have a higher opportunity to grow.The global aircraft lighting market is also segmented on the basis of aircraft type as follows: Narrow Body Aircraft, Very Large Aircraft and Wide Body Aircraft. The narrow body aircraft type is estimated to grow at a faster rate owing to its high demand from airline carriers. The market for narrow body aircraft is comparatively larger in Asia Pacific, Western Europe, and North America, owing to increase in domestic civil aviation and cost effective carriers market.Global Aircraft Lighting Market: Regional OutlookOn the basis of region, Asia Pacific aircraft lighting market is expected to grow at a faster rate over the forecast period. The key countries mentioned in the Asia-Pacific region are China, South Korea, Japan and India as an outcome of growth in the aircraft industry and airline travel which in turn is resulting in increase in demand for aircraft lighting market in these countries. Japan, Latin America and Middle East & Africa are expected to grow at a steady rate over the forecast period. The North America and Europe are dominant market over the forecast period.Visit For TOC@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2330 Global Aircraft Lighting: Market ParticipantsExamples of some of the market participants in the global aircraft lighting market are:B/E Aerospace, Inc.Cobham plcUTC Aerospace SystemsHoneywell International Inc.Diehl Stiftung & Co. KGAstronics CorporationZodiac AerospaceAveo Engineering GroupBruce AerospaceSTG Aerospace Limited
PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 04:02:01

Global competition for solutions to climate challenges for future generations

Alibaba Cloud and Uk Met Office to Co-Organise Tianchi Data Mining Contest

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Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, today announced at the Computing Conference in Hangzhou China that it will organise a data mining contest with the Met Office, the United Kingdoms national meteorological service. Data experts from around the world will be invited to use Tianchi, Alibaba Clouds global big data crowd intelligence platform, to develop solutions relating to a potential future world in which deliveries by unmanned balloons must be optimised to navigate the variabilities of the UK weather.

The contest will be set in 2050, in a world where the invention of anti-gravity engines has led to the creation of unmanned balloons as the preferred logistics solution. However, because of the UKs complex meteorological conditions, the balloons are occasionally delayed, damaged or even destroyed by extreme weather conditions causing disruption and loss. The contestants will be challenged to create algorithms that can plan flight routes for these balloons to navigate the endless variation and changeable nature across the UK to optimise their delivery schedules and costs. The team which comes up with the best solution will win USD10,000 cloud credits and an internship opportunity at the Met Office.

Contestants will utilise public meteorological data provided by the Met Office in categories including rainfall and wind speed. Changing temperatures, rainfall, wind speed in area grids of four square kilometres and five-minute time intervals will be selected to challenge the resilience of the balloons. This will be overlaid with data for the balloons such as take-off and landing locations, maximum fly time and speed, as well as a set of limiting factors such as collision avoidance parameters. Participants will be able to test their algorithms and modify their models accordingly.

We are excited about hosting the competition with the Met Office. We share a vision to develop solutions that can solve real-life problems of global interest. This competition will challenge the participants in a scenario with real-life factors to test both their technological capability and creative thinking. We look forward to receiving innovative solutions from data talent around the world, said Wanli Min, Chief Machine Intelligence Scientist, Alibaba Cloud.

"Since our foundation in 1854, the Met Office has been striving to continuously improve the accuracy and usefulness of weather forecasting. We are excited that data from our forecasting systems is part of this challenging competition. We hope all contestants will enjoy the British weather as much as we do, even if it pushes them to the limit," said Alberto Arribas, Head Informatics Lab, Met Office.

There are more than 100,000 developers and 2,700 academic institutes and businesses from 73 countries and regions in the Tianchi community. Through hosting big data competitions, such as this, Tianchi pools the wisdom of data experts from around the world and leverages the expertise of the Alibaba Cloud data scientists to develop professional solutions for various verticals including smart manufacturing, aviation, transportation and logistics. The Tianchi scientists creativity will help entities in different sectors to address real-world challenges. An example of this is the successful KDD Cup 2017 competition, deemed the Data Mining Olympics, in which 3,582 teams participated to develop solutions to predict the traffic flow of highway tollgates.

The contest will open for registration on 30 October. For more information, please visit the Tianchi website from 30 October.

About Alibaba Cloud

Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com), the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, is among the worlds top 3 IaaS providers according to Gartner1, and the largest provider of public cloud services in China, according to IDC. Alibaba Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of cloud computing services to businesses worldwide, including merchants doing business on Alibaba Group marketplaces, start-ups, corporations and government organisations. Alibaba Cloud is the official Cloud Services Partner of the International Olympic Committee.

1 Source: Gartner, Market Share: Public Cloud Services, Worldwide, 2016, 19 September 2017

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201710110063
Asia Pacific Market By Oxygen Therapy Market Analysis By Product, By Application (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Asthma, Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis, Pneumonia), By End-use, And By Region  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, And Forecasts

Asia Pacific Oxygen Therapy Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 07:13:04

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The Asia Pacific Oxygen Therapy Devices Market was worth USD 0.34 billion in 2016 and estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 7.92%, to reach USD 0.49 billion by 2021. Oxygen therapy involves administering oxygen through an external device.Oxygen Therapy devices are useful specially for people suffering from severe COPD or cystic fibrosis who suffer from chronically low oxygen levels in their body. Advantages of oxygen therapy also include increased mental stamina, aversion of heart failure, and an enhanced breathing pattern. The administration and supply of supplementary oxygen have turned into an indispensable part in the management of numerous diseases. Furthermore, oxygen therapy is applicable to numerous diseases, for example, asthma, respiratory distress syndrome, and obstructive sleep apnoea. Long-term oxygen treatments in patients suffering from chronic lung disease are believed to enhance the length and the quality of life.View full report @The growth of the Asia-Pacific oxygen therapy market is mainly driven by the rise in different respiratory diseases and the increasing awareness among general population regarding personal health. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to offer a lucrative market in the future due to the increasing elderly population who require home-based oxygen therapy. Furthermore, increasing application of oxygen supply is expected to further boost the growth of the market. Be that as it may, poor compensation and constantly changing regulations related to oxygen therapy devices are expected to hamper the growth of the Asia-Pacific oxygen therapy devices market in near future. Despite the fact that the Asia-Pacific oxygen therapy devices market is expecting hindrances due to a couple of restrictions, it will discover new development opportunities in growing economies. Furthermore, government's initiative towards improving respiratory care and an increase in government funding for the introduction of new medical devices are predicted to profit the Asia-pacific oxygen therapy devices market.Download Free sample Report @The Asia-Pacific oxygen therapy devices market is segmented into product type, application and end user. On the basis of product, it is segmented into Oxygen Source Equipment, Cylinders, Concentrators, Liquid Oxygen Devices, PAP, Oxygen Delivery Device, Masks, Nasal Cannula, Venturi Mask, Non-Rebreather Mask, Bag Valve and CPAP. Oxygen source equipment are expected to grow at 11% CAGR It is attributed to the consolidation of this equipment in the extensive variety of uses as the first line of treatment. On the basis of application, it is segmented into Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Asthma, Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis, Pneumonia. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease holds the largest share of the application segment and it is anticipated to grow lucratively at a CAGR of over 10.5% over the next five years. This is due to increasing popularity of supplemental administration in conjunction with first line treatments available for COPD. Moreover, this treatment includes faster response rates, reliability and portability, and above all improves chances of survival. On the basis of end use it is segmented into Home Healthcare and Hospitals). Home health care dominates the end-use segment, owing to the rise in elderly population coupled with increasing number of patients with low mobility and long-term care requirement in conditions such as Alzheimers disease.Market SegmentationProductPortabilityApplicationEnd UserScope of the report:-Regional and country-level analysis and forecasts of the study market; providing Insights on the major countries/regions in which this industry is blooming and to also identify the regions that are still untappedSegment-level analysis in terms of technology, component, and type along with market size forecasts and estimations to detect key areas of industry growth in detailIdentification of key drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges (DROC) in the market and their impact on shifting market dynamicsStudy of the effect of exogenous and endogenous factors that affect the global market; which includes broadly demographic, economics, and political, among other macro-environmental factors presented in an extensive PESTLE AnalysisStudy the micro environment factors that determine the overall profitability of an Industry, using Porters five forces analysis for analyzing the level of competition and business strategy developmentA comprehensive list of key market players along with their product portfolio, current strategic interests, key financial information, legal issues, SWOT analysis and analyst overview to study and sustain the market environmentCompetitive landscape analysis listing out the mergers, acquisitions, collaborations in the field along with new product launches, comparative financial studies and recent developments in the market by the major companiesAn executive summary, abridging the entire report in such a way that decision-making personnel can rapidly become acquainted with background information, concise analysis and main conclusionsExpertly devised analyst overview along with Investment opportunities to provide both individuals and organizations a strong financial foothold in the marketInquire before buyingAbout us:Market Data Forecast is a firm working in the areas of market research, business intelligence and consulting. We have rich experience in research and consulting for various business domains to cater to the needs of both individual and corporate clients. A few key business areas that we handle with excellence include business process improvement, corporate financing and decision making based on market research, assisting in developing appropriate strategy and providing consultancy based on extensive research. For more information, kindly visit, www.marketdataforecast.com Contact us:Abhishek ShuklaSales Manager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail:abhishek@ marketdataforecast.com Visit Market Data Forecast Blog @ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/blog/
Asia Pacific Rodenticides Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 10:22:05

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The Asia Pacific Rodenticides Market was worth USD 0.95 billion in 2016 and is projected to be growing at a CAGR of 4.9%, to touch USD 1.21 billion by 2021. Rodenticides are extensively used in agricultural fields, greenhouses as well as warehouses. Pest Control Agencies are also among the major users.Increasing demand to protect crops, as well as food grains, is likely to have a positive effect on the market over the forecast period. The growing agriculture sector in emerging nations such as China, India, and Brazil is expected to boost the market growth in the region.Rising demand for pesticides due to growing agriculture sector increasing food demand is expected to drive the market in Asia. Rising awareness amongst farmers and horticulturists concerning adverse effects of rodents on crops and developing farming techniques are predicted to further supplement the Asia-Pacific market growth. Strict regulations by governmental agencies over rodenticides usage and resulting soil contamination is further likely to challenge the market. Toxicity of rodenticides on humans and animals has been a fundamental factor restraining the growth of the market.Get a comprehensive overview of Rodenticides Market:The Asia-Pacific Rodenticides market is segmented based on Type, Mode of Application, and End User. The market for Rodenticides, on the basis of Type is segmented into Non-Anticoagulant and Anticoagulant. On the basis of Mode of Application, the Asia-Pacific Rodenticides Market is segmented into Pellets, Powders and Sprays. On the basis of End Use it is segmented into Agricultural Fields, Urban Centres, Warehouses, Pest Control Companies and Household Consumers. The non-anticoagulant rodenticides segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2016 to 2022.The Asia Pacific region is geographically segmented into China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Asia Pacific is likely to be the fastest growing market in 2015 for rodenticides and is predicted to gain traction over the forecast period. Swiftly growing agricultural sector in India and China contributes to the high growth of rodenticides in Asia Pacific. Increasing achievement from the government for improving the productivity and quality of food is expected to incentivize the growth of rodenticides market.Key points from TOC: Introduction Research Methodology Overview Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, and Challenges Analysis (DROC) Market Segmentation Strategic Analysis Market Leaders' Analysis Competitive Landscape Market Outlook and Investment OpportunitiesGet accurate market forecast and analysis on Rodenticides Market Request a sample to stay up-to-date on the main trends affecting this market:Scope of the report: Global, regional and country-level analysis and forecasts of the study market; providing Insights on the major countries/regions in which this industry is blooming and to also identify the regions that are still untapped Segment-level analysis in terms of technology, component, and type along with market size forecasts and estimations to detect key areas of industry growth in detail Identification of key drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges (DROC) in the market and their impact on shifting market dynamics Study of the effect of exogenous and endogenous factors that affect the global market; which includes broadly demographic, economics, and political, among other macro-environmental factors presented in an extensive PESTLE Analysis Study the micro environment factors that determine the overall profitability of an Industry, using Porters five forces analysis for analysing the level of competition and business strategy development A comprehensive list of key market players along with their product portfolio, current strategic interests, key financial information, legal issues, SWOT analysis and analyst overview to study and sustain the market environment Competitive landscape analysis listing out the mergers, acquisitions, collaborations in the field along with new product launches, comparative financial studies and recent developments in the market by the major companies An executive summary, abridging the entire report in such a way that decision-making personnel can rapidly become acquainted with background information, concise analysis and main conclusions Expertly devised analyst overview along with Investment opportunities to provide both individuals and organizations a strong financial foothold in the marketInquire Before buying @ http://www.marketdataforecast.com/market-reports/asia-pacific-rodenticides-market-2634/inquire Companies such as Syngenta, BASF, and Bayer Crop Science have been involved in R&D to develop non-toxic rodenticides. The Key companies are aggressively pursuing supply contracts to expand consumer reach and increase market presence. The above is expected to open new possibilities to market participants and provide them with competitive gain. Some key players operating in the market include BASF SE, Bayer Crop Science, Neogen Corp., Impex Europa S.L., J.T. Eaton & Co., Liphatech, Pelgar International, Syngenta SA, and UPL Limited.About Market Data Forecast:Market Data Forecast is a firm working in the area of market research and business intelligence. With rich experience in research across various business domains, they cater to the needs of both individual and corporate clients. From all-encompassing umbrella markets to extremely specific niche markets covering all the major regions across the globe as part of the research scope, their research services offer one of a kind specialities with competitive pricing options. For more information, kindly visit, www.marketdataforecast.com
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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Atalaya Mining Plc--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Nicosia, Cyprus (FSCWire) - Atalaya Mining Plc (TSX:AYM). has issued a press release with the following headline:Atalaya Mining PLC: Q3 Operations UpdateTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Atalaya Mining Plc, or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Atalaya Mining PlcSource: Atalaya Mining Plc (TSX: AYM, AIM: ATYM)Date: October 12, 2017Time: 2:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Atalaya Mining Plc and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)
BIOPRESERVATION MARKET  GLOBAL INDUSTRY INSIGHTS, TRENDS, OUTLOOK, AND OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS, 20172025

Biopreservation Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 14:00:30

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Biopreservation is the technique used to increase shelf life of product, and to ensure the stability, purity of bio specimens. Bio-preservation is used for the storage of cells, tissues, organs and its recent trend includes its use in food safety. The equipment such as refrigerators, liquid nitrogen and consumables, and media and laboratory information management systems are used for bio preservation. Biobanking is a type of biopreservation that is widely used in medical research such as genomics research and for personalized medicine. Numerous type of bio specimen like saliva, plasma, and purified DNA can be maintained through biopreservation technique and maintain safe from contaminants. Some samples can be stored for longer time with the help of biopreservation so that it can be used for longer research studies.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/748 Increase in government initiatives to boost the research and development is driving the growth of biopreservation marketIncrease in number of human sperm and egg banks, and rising demand for preservation of new born stem cells, and adoption of in- house sample storage in hospitals are some of the major factors driving the growth of biopreservation market. Government initiatives in the form of grants, funds, and contract or other type of funding will boost the research and development activities for various companies and research organizations is expected to boost the market. For Instance, according to UK government policy, 2015 explains that there is an expected investment of 5 billion in health and research development by 2020 and additionally Welcome Trust (WT) UK is going to provide funds around 13.9 billion in healthcare research.Increase in healthcare expenditure globally, investment in bio-banks and personalized medicines, are also propelling the biopreservation market growth. The rising population with lifestyle related diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and hypertension are other factors that are driving the growth of biopreservation market. According to World Health Organization (WHO), in 2015, cardiovascular diseases caused 31% of all diseases and 8.8 million people died due to cancer. However, there are certain restraints effecting the market which includes chances of tissue injury during the preservation, high cost of instruments and their maintenance. The technological breakthroughs and regenerative drugs along with the applications of biobanking for cell, tissue, and organ is expected to create numerous opportunities in the biopreservation market.Bio-banking segment dominates the biopreservation market due its extensive application in numerous areasThe global biopreservation market is segmented by application, by product type, by biospecimens, by end user and by region.On the basis of application, the market is segmented intoBio bankingHuman eggsHuman spermsVeterinary IVFRegenerative medicineCell therapyGene therapyDrug discoveryOn the basis of product type, the market is segmented intoVialsStrawsBagsMicrotiter platesEquipmentFreezersRefrigeratorsConsumablesOthersOn the basis of biospecimens, the market is segmented intoTissue samplesStem cellsOrgansOthersOn the basis of end users, the market is segmented intoBio banksHospitalsResearch organizationsOthersRequest for table of content : https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/748 Biopreservation market is expected to show a sustainable growth in Asia Pacific due to the increase in awareness about preservation of umbilical cord cellsRegional segmentation of global biopreservation market by Coherent Market Insights comprises of North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. North America dominates the biopreservation market owing to the factors such as development of novel drugs, increasing demand for diagnosis of chronic diseases, therapies in healthcare sector, and regulations by government to support ethical usage of biological samples. Biopreservation market is driven in the Asia Pacific region due to some factors such as rising population, rise in investments in healthcare research, and growing awareness about preservation of umbilical cord cells. The statistics published in New England Journal of Medicines informed that in 2012, Japan and China had increased their total medical research spending by U.S. $9.0 billion and U.S. $6.4 billion respectively and contributed as 13.8% and 3.1% of worlds total medical research expenditure.Broad product portfolio of major industries helping them to lead in the biopreservation marketKey players operating the market are Biolife solutions, THERMO- FISHER SCIENTIFIC, BioCision LLC, Simport scientific, Cesca Therapeutics, Atlanta biologics, Lifeline scientific, LabVantage solutions, Hamilton Company, Core dynamics ltd., and others. The major industry players are leading in the biopreservation market due to their broad product portfolio particularly related to media, freezers, refrigerators, consumables and their wide regional presence.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 11:34:21

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Blind Spot Detection (BSD) system is a sensor based detection system implemented in automobiles that is used for monitoring vehicles at the rear and side of the driver/vehicle. Such systems generate tactile, audible, vibrating or visual form of warnings. They also assist the driver at the parking lots when there are other vehicles approaching from the sides. Blind spots are caused due to various objects such as passengers, headrests and window pillars. Mirrors are generally used to remove the blind spots but the disadvantage being that they leave huge dead on all the sides of the vehicle. BSD systems, with the help of cameras and sensor systems generate information about various objects that are outside the range of drivers vision.Visit For TOC @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=3443 Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system is a sensor based cruise control system that automatically adjusts the speed of the vehicle in maintaining safe distances from the vehicles ahead. Such a system is integrated with pre-crash systems and automatically applies brakes after generating alerts. BSD and ACC systems have become efficient, sophisticated and advanced over a period of time and play an important role in reducing the number of accidents.The rising number of accidents due to increase in traffic flow is one of the prime reason that is contributing to the growth of BSD and ACC system market. The implementation of such safety systems by the automobile industry has rapidly increased. Since BSD and ACC systems ensure safety of the passengers, customers are frequently looking for such advanced safety features and are also willing to pay. Another factor that is contributing to the growth of this market is the stiff competition among the automobile manufacturers. The manufacturers are continuously upgrading their models so as to cater to the huge demand of innovative safety features that can be used for various applications. Organizations such as New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), are investing in research and development to design automobiles possessing various safety features. The increasing use of sensors due to the advancements in technology is another factor that is contributing to the growth of this market. Sensors are integrated with BSD and ACC systems to increase the performance of engines by reducing carbon emissions. Government initiatives for fuel efficiencies and safety attributes of the vehicle are encouraging manufacturers to implement such integrated systems that can ensure safety as well as comply with such regulations.However, BSD and ACC systems are not efficient in regions with adverse weather conditions. Regions with continuous snowfall and rainfall make such safety systems inefficient in tracking and monitoring the surrounding objects. This makes the owners of such regions reluctant in implementing these systems. Another challenge to the growth of this market is the standardization of such systems. Since every manufacturer competes for offering unique safety features, each manufacturer integrates high-tech sensors having different applications. Such integrations make car owners difficult and confusing to understand the exact operating procedures for different car models. Hence, due to the technicality involved, the car owners are reluctant to install innovative safety systems.Request Report Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=3443 To overcome such technical barriers to the market growth, the vendors are taking initiatives that can address to such flaws. For instance, Autoliv Inc, One of the key players in this market, in August, 2014, announced a new operating structure that shall discuss their safety products and the methods of usage. The key players in the market include Denso Corporation, Delphi Automotive PLC, Magna International Inc., Mando Corporation, Valeo SA and TRW Automotive.
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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for 360 Blockchain Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - 360 Blockchain Inc. (CSE:CODE). has issued a press release with the following headline:360 Blockchain Inc. Investment Focus to Empower the Blockchain RevolutionTo 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 360 Blockchain Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/360 Blockchain Inc.Source: 360 Blockchain Inc. (CSE: CODE, FWB: C5B)Date: October 12, 2017Time: 3:05 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of 360 Blockchain Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)
Persistence Market Research

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 11:59:26

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Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comAssociate Consultant8009610353

Cloud services are those services that are offered to users via the Internet from the server of cloud computing service provider. Such services provide scalable and easy access to various resources and applications, and are entirely managed by the cloud service providers. The examples of cloud services include web-based e-mail services, online backup solutions and data storage, document collaboration services, technical support services, and database processing among others. Cloud service providers supply the necessary software and hardware required for cloud service, thereby eliminating the need for organizations to deploy their own resources for managing networked services. The other advantage of cloud services over the traditional methods of providing infrastructure is faster deployment of services and reduction in in-house maintenance costs.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/6667 On the basis of mode of delivery, the cloud services market is segmented into Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and Infrastructure as a service (IaaS). The SaaS mode of delivery is further segmented into SMB and mobile corporate SaaS cloud services, corporate SaaS cloud services, SMB SaaS cloud services and others. North America is the largest contributor to the cloud services market due to the high penetration of internet in this region. This region is followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW).Major benefits offered by cloud services are driving business organizations in implementing the use of cloud services. Cloud services maximize the effectiveness of shared resources and ensure the business organizations higher returns and faster paybacks. In addition, cloud services offer scalable solutions to growing business organizations at low cost of ownership. This drives business organizations to invest in such services that allow them to generate higher revenues by optimizing the available resources. However, the data security issues are the roadblocks that are adversely affecting the growth of this market. The increasing data hacking incidences using sophisticated tools result in loss of sensitive data, causing serious dents in the business revenues. Also, there are constant evolutions of new security threats that are affecting the quality of cloud services. Further, the small and medium businesses find it difficult to repeatedly invest in the customized solutions available for cloud services security. Due to such factors, the business organizations are reluctant in investing in the cloud services and prefer to carry on with conventional methods of network infrastructure.A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/6667 Some of the major players in the market are improving their existing services by adding new and innovative features. This helps them in staying competitively ahead in the market. For instance, Akamai Technologies, Inc., one of the leading cloud services providers, recently added Zone Apex Mapping feature to its Ion network acceleration technology. This feature reduces DNS resolution time and avoids HTTP redirects. Other major players in the market include VMware, Inc., (U.S.), Taleo Corporation (Ireland), Oracle Corporation, (U.S.), NetSuite Inc., (U.S.), Microsoft Corporation (U.S.), Joyent Inc., (U.S.), International Business Machines Corporation (U.S.), Hewlett-Packard (U.S.), Flexiant Limited (United Kingdom), ENKI Consulting (U.S.), Etelos Inc.,(U.S.) , Citrix Systems Inc., (U.S.), Cisco Systems Inc., (U.S.), CA Technologies, Inc., (U.S.), and SAP AG (Germany).
Confocal Microscope Market: Global Industry Trend Analysis 2012 to 2017 and Forecast 2017 - 2025

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 12:00:38

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# 644 Words

Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Confocal microscopes are advanced versions of conventional optical microscopes that can provide a true three-dimensional (3D) optical resolution. In a confocal microscope, the final image occupies the same focus as the focus related to the point of focus in the object, hence the object and its image are said to be confocal. Confocal microscopes offers ample advantages when compared to conventional microscopes including reformed depth of field, no out-of-focus flare and serial optical sections from thick specimens. Confocal microscopes have wide applications in the field of biomedical sciences. One of the major application is imaging of fixed or living cells and tissues labelled with one or more fluorescent probes. The major components of confocal microscopes include lasers, used as light sources to produce extremely bright light at very specific wavelengths, highly sensitive photomultiplier-detectors (PMTs) as imaging devices and microcomputer to control the microscope's scanner mirrors. Confocal microscopes have proved their immense importance in the field of medical sciences in the areas of diagnosis, treatment and development of biomaterials.The factors driving the growth of the global confocal microscope market include wide range of applications, novel diagnosis and treatment methodologies. Rising demand of efficient tools for early diagnosis of chronic and life threatening disorders have pushed the growth rate of market up. Support of governments in terms of financial grants to improve the overall healthcare services has favored the market growth. Expanding research and development in various technical fields has also fuelled the market growth rate. However, there are factors which can limit the growth of market, which include harmful high-intensity laser irradiation to living cells and tissues, technological complexities associated with highly sophisticated equipment, dearth of trained and expert professionals and unaffordable high cost.Get Sample Report: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/16174 Global Confocal Microscope market is highly fragmented due to presence of numerous players. The overall market is expected to witness a significant rise owing to governments commitments to provide better and affordable healthcare services. Integration capacities of these devices with other imaging technologies have made them more useful and user friendly leading to their market growth. Rising caseload of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, respiratory disorders such as asthma and COPD and pain and life threatening diseases such as cancer will boost the market growth globally as confocal microscopy is useful in the diagnosis and treatment both. According to the statistics availed by the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer caused 8.8 million deaths in 2015, 17.5 million people die of cardiovascular diseases and over 3 million people die of COPD annually across the globe. Most of these deaths are reported in low and middle income countries.Geographically, Confocal Microscope market is segmented into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. North America is currently the leader of the global market followed by Europe because of the presence of major confocal microscope players and research and development in the field. Japan is a leader in Asia because of development of confocal microscope technology. The market in Asian countries will witness rapid growth because of a large patient pool in need of services of such technologies. The governments in the region are focused on improvement of overall healthcare services, which will contribute to the market growth ultimately.View TOC for this Market Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/16174 The key players in the global Confocal Microscope market include NIKON INSTRUMENTS INC., Leica Microsystems, ZEISS, Olympus Corporation, Oxford Instruments, Thorlabs, Inc., KEYENCE CORPORATION, Bruker, IDEX Health & Science, LLC, Applied Precision Inc., Confovis Gmbh, Solarius Inc and Confocal.nl 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 categories such as market segments, geographies, types, technology and applications.
Cystic Fibrosis Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 12:16:21

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Coherent Market Insights

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# 737 Words

1001 4th Ave, #3200 ,Seattle, WACEO2067016702

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disorder that usually affects the lungs and may also affect the pancreas, kidneys, liver, and intestine. Long-term repercussions including difficulty in breathing and coughing as a result of recurrent lung infections can be seen in CF. Some of the other signs and symptoms include sinus infections, poor growth, infertility in males, fatty stool, and guild of the fingers and toes. Different individuals may have diverse degrees of symptoms. CF is chiefly inherited as an autosomal recessive gene. It is triggered by mutations in both the copies of the gene for CFTR or cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator protein. Individuals with a single copy are carriers. Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator protein is involved in the production of digestive fluids, mucus, and sweat. When the protein is not functional, secretions otherwise thin become thick. The ailment is mostly diagnosed by genetic testing and sweat test.Over the last few years, advancements in technology have resulted in a shift in research and development towards treatments that target the fundamental cause of the disease by targeting the CFTR function. Moreover, there is an affinity towards licensing the products, and for that reason alliances are being made by a number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers, since the majority of the treatments for cystic fibrosis are developed by smaller manufacturers. The increase in licensing activity along with the rise in the number of new partnerships will encourage the smaller companies to continue their research work thereby giving a positive momentum to the cystic fibrosis market.In spite of significant advancement in cystic fibrosis therapeutics, individuals suffering from CF face significant unmet needs owing to the deficiency of restorative therapies, inadequate choice of mucolytic treatments, and the unvarying fight alongside severe lung infection that needs the expansion of novel antibiotics. These factors are likely to drive the growth of the cystic fibrosis market during the forecast period.Request For Sample Copy@Cystic fibrosis market TaxonomyOn the basis of therapy type, the global market is classified into:Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) Modulators,Protein Transcription Modulators,Pancreatic Enzyme Products (PEP),Other therapiesThere are many types of antibiotics for CF lung infections such as P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. Nevertheless, excessive use of the drug may lead to resistant strains of the gene. Antibiotics are the most common treatment regime in CF, since they are mainly used to eliminate pathogens in recently infected patients. Antibiotics are used on a long-term basis to avoid the requirement of more serious hospital treatments as a result of their ability to control the infection. The requirement for a more wide range of antibiotics is mirrored in the CF treatment market, with more than a few novel antibiotics in active development phase. This dynamic nature of the treatment for CF will encourage the growth of the global CF market.High prevalence of genetic diseases including CF will drive the overall cystic fibrosis marketAccording to Netwellness, a community service provider, 3 to 4% of the babies are born with genetic disorders. This number is poised to rise in the coming years, especially in the emerging economies of Asia pacific such as China and India owing to high birth rate observed in these regions. As the number of cases of CF rises, so will the demand for CF treatment, thereby augmenting the growth of the overall cystic fibrosis market during the forecast period.On the basis of geography North America held the maximum market share in the cystic fibrosis market globally. Constructive and favorable regulations and policies as well as high availability of sophisticated healthcare facilities and rising approvals of drugs for treating CF are likely to propel the growth of the cystic fibrosis industry in this region.Some of the key players operating in the global cystic fibrosis market are AbbVie, Inc., Aradigm, Aurora Biosciences, Bayer AG, Demegen, EryDel, Genentech, Inc., InDex Pharmaceutials, ManRos Therapeutics, Novartis AG, Polydex Pharmaceuticals, and F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG.Get More Details On this Report:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@ coherentmarketinsights.com
Future Market Insights

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 08:58:52

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# 584 Words

Contact UsU.S. Office616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWeb:https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/Associate Consultant+1-347-918-3531

Disconnect switch or isolator switch is used for the purpose to de-energize or cutoff the electric circuit, when the circuit is scheduled for servicing or maintenance. These switches have wide applications in large industries and power distribution applications, where high-powered machines have their own power source connected, in order to drive them and at a time of repairing or servicing, isolator or disconnect switch breaks the circuit and make machine isolated from the power source. On the basis of electric circuit requirement disconnect switch is categorized into three types; low voltage disconnect switch, medium voltage disconnect switch & high voltage disconnect switch, disconnect switches frequently work as enclosures for overcurrent safety when they have fuses. Some of them are also a part of larger safety scheme, when they are equipped with a shunt trip which is usually signaled by relays present at any place in the network.A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1834 Disconnect Switch: Market Drivers and RestraintThe key trend responsible for the growth of global disconnect switch is the growth in distribution and transmission network worldwide, as electric power is an essential infrastructure for any developing and developed region, hence every region is trying to expand in the area of power systems.The key growth drivers of global disconnect switch market are rapid growth of urbanization and industrialization across the globe, and also increasing safety concern among the industrialist regarding their labors/workers, are some factors which are boosting up the growth of global disconnect/isolator switch market across the globe. On the other hand there are also some factors which are hindering the growth of global disconnect switch market, those restraints are fluctuating price of raw material being used to manufacture these disconnect switch, presence of low quality cheap products by other manufacturers in the market are key restraints of global disconnect switch market.Disconnect Switch: SegmentationSegmentation of disconnect switch market is done on the basis of technology type, mount type, operating voltage, application & Geography. On the basis of technology type, global disconnect switch market is segmented as non-fused disconnect switch and disconnect switch. Among above segments, fused disconnect segment is the most popular segment has been used in most of the industrial applications. Furthermore, on the basis of mount type, global disconnect switch market is segmented into din rail mounted disconnect switch, panel mounted disconnect switch and other disconnect switch.By operating voltage, global disconnect switch market is segmented into low voltage disconnect switch, medium voltage disconnect switch and high voltage disconnect switch. On the basis of application, global disconnect switch market is segmented into industrial disconnect switch and commercial disconnect switch, from which industrial disconnect switch is further sub segmented into utility, manufacturing and inverter based generation and other application.Geographically, disconnect switch is segmented into seven regions which are ; North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Among all the regions North America is the highest contributor in term of revenue in global Disconnect switch market followed by Western Europe & Asia Pacific and it is expected that same trend is being followed in near future as well.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1834 Disconnect Switch Market: Key PlayersThe key players of global Disconnect switch market are ABB Limited, General Electric Company, Schneider Electric SE, Crompton Greaves Limited, Havells India Ltd, Siemens AG and others.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 16:01:13

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ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Endurance Gold Corporation--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Endurance Gold Corporation (TSX Venture:EDG). has issued a press release with the following headline:Endurance Announces Encouraging Results at the Trout Target, Elephant Project, AlaskaTo 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 Endurance Gold Corporation, 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/Endurance Gold CorporationSource: Endurance Gold Corporation (TSX Venture: EDG, OTC Bulletin Board: ENDGF, ISIN: CA29267M1086)Date: October 12, 2017Time: 10:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Endurance Gold Corporation and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)
Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Photoresist Chemicals Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026 " report to their offering.

Photoresist Chemicals Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 12:05:41

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CONTACT:Abhishek Bhudoliya616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: http://www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Photoresist chemicals are used in the fabrication of m- and sub-m structures, prominently in the micro-electronics industry. These are speciality chemical which changes its chemical structure when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light, this unique property makes them ideal for photolithography and photoengraving processes which in turn are commonly used in semiconductor manufacturing industry. Henceforth, photoresist chemicals are considered as an essential component for making high-performance circuit boards and semiconductor chips. Various chemical are used for this purpose, to achieve the desired properties, such as, poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA), poly methyl glutarimide (PMGI), phenol formaldehyde resin (DNQ), SU-8 and OSTE polymers. Further, there are two basic classification of photoresists, positive and negative, both works on different principals, but cater to similar needs. However, with increasing smaller geometry designs in micro-electronics industry, positives are becoming more popular, as they offer process controllability.With inevitable features offered by Photoresist chemicals and absence of any other feasible alternatives, market for photoresist chemical is ever growingPhotoresist Chemicals Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global photoresist chemicals market is projected to grow at a moderate growth rate as the demand for micro-electronics continue to steadily grow, amid rising demand from electronic products in developing nations, and increasing penetrations of IoT across the globe. Furthermore, rising demand for dynamic display technology is expected to be another prominent factor fuelling growth in photoresists chemicals market. Excessive R&D in the photoresist chemicals and its end use industry, is expected to drive innovations, further shaping newer demand arenas, and fuelling more revenues in the global photoresist chemicals market.Request For Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2334 Photoresist chemicals are prominently made from crude oil; thus rising prices of crude oil is expected to increase costs, this coupled with continued pricing pressure from end use industries, shall affect margins in the market. Furthermore rising environmental concerns regarding derogatory effects of these chemicals is also expected to affect the market in long term.Photoresist Chemicals Market: SegmentationOn the basis of Product Type,PositiveNegativeOn the basis of spectral line size,g-linei-lineKrFArF ImmersionArF DryOn the basis of end use application,MicroelectronicsSand carvingFabrication of printed circuit boardsOthersPhotoresist Chemicals Market: Region Wise OutlookThe global photoresist chemicals market is segmented into the seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan and Middle East and Africa (MEA). APEJ and Japan together leads the Global Photoresist Chemicals Market in terms of demand, followed by North America and Western Europe. Furthermore, owing to rapidly rising electronics industry in India and China, the APEJ region is anticipated to remain its dominance and grew steadily over the forecast period. Along with, rising economies of Latin America, demand for microelectronics is expected to significantly rise in the region, translating into rising demand for photoresist chemicals.Visit For TOC@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2334 In terms of production, photoresist market has been a forte of Japan and Korea based companies, and with many new upcoming companies in the region, competition in the APEJ market is expected to further intensify.Photoresist Chemicals Market: Key PlayersThe Dow Chemical CompanyFujifilm Electronic Materials Co. LtdTokyo Ohka Kogyo Co. Ltd.E.I. DuPont de NemoursMitsui Chemicals America IncJSR CorporationLG ChemShin-Etsu ChemicalTOK AmericaHonsou Chemical Industry
Persistence Market Research

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 12:26:17

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# 330 Words

Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.comAssociate Consultant8009610353

Fraud detection and prevention services are the solutions offered by IT vendors to the different enterprises. This solutions helps enterprises to prevent occurrences or spot frauds at initial stages. In other words fraud detection and prevention refer to the solutions and systems provided by the IT vendors, which are used to find patterns and anomalies and analyze the data (to spot deviation from usual path) and these solutions control user access by authentication and verification.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/7045 With growing revenue losses owing to the frauds around the globe, have led to increased adoption of these solutions. Requirement and usage of such systems is considerably high in the industries with high monetary transactions including insurance services, banking and financial, telecommunication, retail, and government or public sector. Increase in usage is observed in industries such as transportation, manufacturing, professional services, healthcare among others.Low awareness of fraud possibilities in small and medium enterprises and high investment for deployments are the major factors hindering the growth of the market The pre deployment measures and cost would remain key concern in the field of restraints for this market, even though awareness level in small and medium enterprise is growing, which leads to the decreasing effect of this factor.Fraud detection and Prevention market is segmented by solutions into authentication, and fraud analytics. The market is segmented by type of users into large enterprises; medium and small enterprises. Furthermore, the market is segmented by industry verticals into insurance, banking and financial Services, retail, public/government, telecommunication and others verticals. In addition to the above the fraud detection and prevention market is segmented by regions into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and rest of the world (RoW).A sample of this report is available upon request @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/7045 Major players in fraud detection and prevention market are FICO, SAP, Fiserv, EMC, Experian, ACI, NICE Actimize, Computer Sciences Corporation among others.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 13:00:13

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ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for GreenBank Capital Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Toronto, Ontario (FSCWire) - GreenBank Capital Inc. (CSE:GBC). has issued a press release with the following headline:GreenBank Completes Acquisition of 19% of Inside Bay StreetTo 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 GreenBank Capital Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/GreenBank Capital Inc.Source: GreenBank Capital Inc. (CSE: GBC, OTC Pink: GRNBF, WKN: A1W8UJ, ISIN: CA3935762029)Date: October 12, 2017Time: 7:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of GreenBank Capital Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)
In business since 1993 Employee Benefits specialist Over 500 agents in North America 17 offices in the US, Corporate offices, Dallas Texas Benefits offered to thousands of businesses and associations nationwide A+rated with the Better Business Bureau Cutting edge marketing materials Excellent training program and national sales support system Committed to the financial success of the agents in HRMC

Harvard Risk Management Corporation

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 07:32:31

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Harvard Risk Management Corporation

Three Galleria Tower, 13155 Noel Road Suite 900





Dallas, TX. 75240



Vanessa Chattman

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8322792938

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https://idshieldoverview.com/280435



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8322792938

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# 375 Words

Three Galleria Tower, 13155 Noel Road Suite 900Dallas, TX. 75240Regional Manager8322792938Vanessa Chattman8322792938

Harvard Risk Management Corporation is the largest benefit broker for legal and identity theft plans in the US. We approach companies by offering them a free identity theft workshop for their employees. During the workshop, we educate the employees on the different types of identity theft and show them video clips from CNN and other news outlets. All of the identity theft plans that are available on the market have been researched, including LifeLock and other identity theft protection plans. This is the one that we recommend because of these specific features and benefits.We provide state-of-the-art training and support platforms which include over 100 hours of video and audio training segments.The identity theft plans can be marked in any state.We commonly market the Legal Shield and ID Sheild products together, bundled at a group rate of 33.90 a month for both plans. The top commission on this is 237.00, which is paid out on each employee that participates in the benefit. To get to the top commission, you need to write 100 total memberships and maintain at least 50 membership sales a month.If you write just 50 memberships a month, your monthly commission would be 11,850 /237.00 times 50 which is annual income of over 140,000. There are also many hours of bonuses and incentives available. If you write 50 memberships a month for three months, then you will earn a 7500.00 bonus. We provide a Contact Management System that helps keep track of your contacts and shows you a picture of the company website, a map etc. We also provide access to several personalized membership exposure websites.We provide field training, where you can spend time with one of our top producers in your local market.Harvard Risk Management Corporation offers an incredible opportunity for you to leverage your time by building a national sales team of independent agents. There is no limit to the number of agents you recruit, and there are no geographical restrictions.We have developed some very successful recruiting systems that help you find qualified individuals to join your team. You would be fully trained on the use of these systems. You can recruit both both full and part time agents, and there is no limit to the size of your team or the income you can receive.
Home Healthcare Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 14:03:16

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# 634 Words

1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154CEO+12067016702

Home Healthcare offers a wide range of healthcare services given from home for the treatment of disease or injury. The diverse industry includes infusion services, home skilled nursing and physical therapy and is often referred as home medical care. The home care services are usually less expensive, highly convenient to the patients, equally effective to the hospital care units or skilled nursing facility. The ultimate goal of home health care is the complete treatment of the disease or injury which helps the patient regain independence and become self-sufficient faster. Home healthcare also involves helping senior citizens with daily activities like bathing, dressing, eating including monitoring the medication routine. The home health care professionals are licensed practical nurses, therapists, and home health aides, mostly working for home health agencies or public health departments.Request a sample pdf Copy of report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/840 Cost effective alternative to expensive hospital stays is expected to drive the global home healthcare marketAccording to the National Centers for Caregiving estimates in 2015, the number of individuals using paid long-term care services in settings including home, residential care such as assisted living, or skilled nursing facilities is likely double from the 13 million in 2005, expected to 27 million people in 2050 due to the influenced growth in the population of older people in need of care. The shift of healthcare delivery from traditional clinical settings, increasing adoption of telecommunication services, affordable healthcare delivery systems, and the technological advancements are the major factors attributed to the growth of global home healthcare market. Also, the replacement of expensive hospital stays with the cost effective home healthcare is anticipated to serve as high impact rendering driver. Additionally, the factors driving the growth of global healthcare market include the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, rising aging population, the government initiatives to promote home healthcare, and increasing healthcare costs. However, limited insurance coverage, changing reimbursement policies and patient safety concerns are the factors to restrict the growth of global home healthcare market.Infusion therapy segment contributes the largest share owing to its effective treatment for serious conditionsThe global home healthcare market is segmented on the basis of products, service, software and geography.On the basis of service, the global home healthcare market is segmented into:RehabilitationInfusion TherapyRespiratory TherapyPregnancy CareSkilled NursingPalliative CareOn the basis of software, the global home healthcare market is segmented into:Agency SoftwareClinical Management SystemsHospice SolutionsFavorable reimbursement policies is expected to dominate the global home healthcare market in North AmericaRegional segmentation of the global home healthcare market by Coherent Market Insights comprises of North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates in 2014, number of patients who received and ended care globally were approximately 4.9 million in 2013, with 12,400 home healthcare agencies in the U.S. Thus, the rising number of agencies, converging trends of aging population, favorable reimbursement policies and technological advancements is expected to dominate North America in the global market. Asia Pacific is poised to be the fastest-growing region during the forecast period owing to the rising geriatric population, increasing disposable income levels, expansion of home healthcare companies, increasing need for affordable healthcare delivery systems, rising awareness about home healthcare, and the rising adoption of innovative techniques.Browse full report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/home-healthcare-market-840 Key players operating the global home healthcare market include Omron Healthcare, McKesson, Philips, Johnson & Johnson, and Roche. The strategy adopted by the key players include service portfolio expansion, mergers and acquisition, collaborations, and regional expansion. For instance, the agreement of Almost Family, Inc. with Medicare-certified home health agency owned by Caldwell Medical Center to acquire the assets in 2014. Other vendors operating the market include Fresenius, Apria Healthcare, Rotech Healthcare, Abbott, and Interim Healthcare.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 08:33:02

Hoylu announced today the immediate release of the Hoylu Software Suite Personal Edition, a package designed for personal login and usage on laptops, tablets and personal devices.

Malmo, Sweden, October 12, 2017 - Hoylu, a leading enterprise collaboration company announced today the official release of the updated Hoylu Software Suite Personal Edition. This version introduces user account creation, which allows Hoylu Users to login and create their own personalized workspaces, repositories, history and set personal preferences.

"This new release dramatically improves the user experience for customers who use our software every day. Users can create accounts, set preferences and receive immediate value around workspace organization and sharing," said Travis Beaven, Chief Product Officer of Hoylu. "The ability to personalize the software to your own preferences, combined with Anytime Collaboration and cloud-based services make Hoylu's software the most powerful and flexible collaboration system available today. Everyone in a company can have their own version of Hoylu's software running on their own device, allowing collaboration to truly happen anywhere."

The updated release also includes usability improvements to Hoylu's Anytime Collaboration system, allowing any individual to work collaboratively with team members around the world. Hoylu Sketch and Flow both contain Anytime Collaboration and all of the cloud-based functionality, and are available in all editions of Hoylu's software, and can be run on display walls, screens, laptops, tablets and other personal devices.

Hoylu's solutions and software offer new and exciting ways to work better, faster and more efficiently. Based on years of research, the Hoylu Software Suite is designed from the ground up to offer the best possible user experience for individual and multiple users working with ideation, creative collaboration and presentations.

For more information, please contact:

Stein Revelsby, CEO at Hoylu +1 213 440 2499 Email: sr@hoylu.com

Karl Wiersholm, CFO at Hoylu +1 425 829 2316 Email: kw@hoylu.com

Hoylu AB

Hoylu delivers solutions for presentation, ideation and collaboration that focus on enhancing the user experience. The company's main area of interest is software for Creative Collaboration, combined with intuitive input and display technologies. This includes technologies for remote collaboration, Internet of Things and for connecting workspaces in different locations together, with the objective of simplifying work processes while improving productivity and creativity. For more information: www.hoylu.com or visit www.introduce.se/foretag/hoylu

Ticker symbol: Hoylu

Marketplace: Nasdaq First North Stockholm

Certified Adviser: Remium Nordic AB +46(0)84543200

Publication

The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above at (8:30) CEST on October 12th, 2017.

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Hoylu AB via Globenewswire


PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 13:04:01

100% of IPUT current development pipeline is now pre-let

IPUT plc Pre-Lets 10 Molesworth Street to AIB plc

FTI Consulting for IPUT plc

Jonathan Neilan

+353-1-663-3686

Jonathan.Neilan@fticonsulting.com

IPUT plc, the largest unlisted property vehicle in Ireland, announces that it has pre-let the entire of 10 Molesworth Street to leading Irish financial services group Allied Irish Banks plc (AIB plc). The 115,000 sq. ft. (10,680 sq. m.) landmark office building is located at the heart of Dublins commercial and government quarter and is due for completion in Q1 2018.

10 Molesworth Street

115,000 sq. ft. Office development on Molesworth Street pre-let to AIB

20-year lease

Newly built contemporary office building set over seven floors

Landmark building in Dublins city centre with LEED Platinum environmental certification

IPUT Portfolio

IPUT has now leased a total of 400,000 sq. ft. of commercial space in 2017 YTD

Development programme now de-risked with current pipeline fully prelet

New leases in 2017 add 16 million or 19% to IPUTs rental income stream

IPUT contracted annual rental income to exceed 102M by year end 2017

IPUT portfolio comprises 95 properties, 99% by value situated in Dublin, with a NAV* of 2.2 billion

*Net Asset Value as at 30 September, 2017

IPUT plc, Chief Executive Officer, Niall Gaffney, commented: We are delighted to welcome AIB plc to 10 Molesworth Street and to the IPUT portfolio. The completion of this major letting to AIB means we have now fully pre-let all of our development projects, bringing our total lettings for the year to date 2017 to 400,000 sq. ft, generating 16 million in new rent for our shareholders in 2017.

We designed 10 Molesworth Street to reach the highest possible standards of sustainability and it will be the first newly constructed office building in Ireland to achieve platinum accreditation through the LEED rating system.

We take a long term approach to investment and this strategy is reflected in the selective redevelopment of our properties. As we see with the successful completion and leasing of 10 Molesworth Street, this form of investment both enhances the quality of our building stock and regenerates our rental income for the longer term."

JLL and Knight Frank handled the letting for IPUT plc; AIB plc was advised by Cushman & Wakefield.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201710120056
PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 08:04:02

KAMUX CORPORATION STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 12 October 2017 9:00

Publication schedule for Kamux Corporation's financial reporting in 2018

Kamux Corporation will publish its financial statements and interim reports in 2018 as follows:

8 March 2018: Financial Statements Bulletin 2017

24 May 2018: Kamux Corporation will publish its interim report for January-March 2018.

23 August 2018: Kamux Corporation will publish its half-yearly report for January-June 2018.

22 November 2018: Kamux Corporation will publish its interim report for January-September 2018.

The Annual Report for 2017 including full financial statements will be published on week 14/2018.

The Annual General Meeting of Kamux Corporation is scheduled to be held on Thursday 26 April 2018.

Distribution:

Nasdaq Helsinki

Key media

www.kamux.com

Kamux Corporation, Communications

ir@kamux.fi

Telephone +358 400 629 337

Kamux is a retail chain specializing in the sale of used cars and related integrated services that has grown rapidly. The first Kamux car showroom started its operations in 2003 in Hameenlinna, Finland and the company has 51 car showrooms totally in Finland, Sweden and Germany. Since its foundation, the company has sold more than 150,000 used cars. Kamux's revenue reached EUR 405 million in 2016. Kamux employed 552 employees at the end of 2016, of which 272 were permanent employees.

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Kamux Oyj via Globenewswire


PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 06:01:01

44 of the worlds cities ranked in The Mori Memorial Foundations GPCI 2017 Report

London, New York and Tokyo Remain the World's Most Attractive Cities

Media Inquiries

Weber Shandwick

Rutsuko Nakajima, +81 (0)90 9006 5841

Masashi Nonaka, +81 (0)80 1037 7879

moribldg@webershandwick.com

London, New York, and Tokyo were again named as the most comprehensively attractive cities in the Global Power City Index (GPCI) 2017 report published today by The Mori Memorial Foundations Institute [..], a research institute established by Mori Building, a leading urban developer in Tokyo. First released in 2008, the annual GPCI report evaluates and ranks 44 major cities according to their magnetism, or their overall power to attract creative individuals and enterprises from around the world. Cities are rated on the basis of 70 detailed indicators in six categories: Economy, R&D, Cultural Interaction, Livability, Environment, and Accessibility.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201710110050

Overall ranking of all 44 cities and function-specific ranking of top 10 cities (Graphic: Business Wire)

This year, the top three cities - London, New York and Tokyo  all retained their slots, with London maintaining its No. 1 position for the sixth year running. Tokyo, which claimed the No. 3 position for the first time last year, further improved its scores in the field of Cultural Interaction, closing the gap on second-placed New York. Paris experienced a significant decline in its ranking in the Livability category, due largely to the recent terrorist attacks, but the host city of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is expected to rise above the competition in the coming years by further strengthening its Accessibility scores and recovering its Cultural Interaction ratings.

Overall, European cities scored highly on Livability and Environment, maintaining their reputations as the worlds most livable cities, while U.S. cities maintained their high scores in the areas of R&D, underscoring the attraction of these cities for researchers and innovators. Seven Asian cities, topped by Beijing, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong, featured in the top 10 in the Economy category, followed by Dubai, which featured for the first time in this years report and achieved strong ratings for its corporate tax rates, ranking No.11 in that indicator category.

Commented Hiroo Ichikawa, Executive Director of The Mori Memorial Foundation, In the last 10 years, the report has shown that the power of cities has been changing as a result of changes in the macro environment. Our report suggests that a citys overall power cannot be determined by a single factor, such as economy, but needs to take into account the many factors that define the city. Rapid urbanization and globalization pose both challenges and opportunities for cities, so for cities to thrive, they need to accurately assess their specific strengths and weaknesses, as well as their relative positioning against other cities. We believe that our GPCI report can help policy makers and global companies achieve smarter planning and decision-making in their efforts to thrive in todays highly competitive global environment.

Key Highlights

Londons core strengths lay in the category of Cultural Interaction, which helped the city keep its No.1 position overall for the tenth consecutive year. London continued to maximize its overall strengths by improved scores in the indicators of GDP Growth Rate and Level of Political, Economic and Business Risk. While there remains some uncertainty surrounding the U.K.s exit from the EU, Londons balanced strengths across several categories mean the city has the potential to turn challenges into opportunities, extending its commanding lead and continuing forward as the top-ranked city in which to live and work.

New York, in second place overall, increased its scores in the Economy category due to improvements in its Nominal GDP and GDP Growth Rate, but failed to make any significant headway in its overall score, owing to weaker showings this year in the category of Cultural Interaction.

Tokyo maintained its No.3 position and further closed the gap on New York, largely due to improved Cultural Interaction indicators, in particular the Number of Visitors from Abroad. Tokyo also further improved its scores in the field of Accessibility, due largely to an increase in the number of direct flight connections between Tokyo and overseas cities.

Dubai and Buenos Aires made their first-ever appearances in the GPCI in 2017 with respective overall rankings of 23 rd and 40 th . Dubai posted strengths in Cultural Interaction (9 th ) and the Economy (11 th ), thanks mainly to strong evaluations in the area of Number of Luxury Hotel Guest Rooms and Corporate Tax Rates.

and 40 . Dubai posted strengths in Cultural Interaction (9 ) and the Economy (11 ), thanks mainly to strong evaluations in the area of Number of Luxury Hotel Guest Rooms and Corporate Tax Rates. In other parts of the world, Sydney climbed four spots this year to edge its way into the top 10 for the first time in seven years. Cities such as Los Angeles (in 11th position overall), Beijing (13th), San Francisco (17th), Amsterdam (7th), Berlin (8th) and Frankfurt (12th) all significantly improved their rankings from last year, as did Vienna (14th), Stockholm (16th), Zurich (18th) and Copenhagen (20th).

For more details, see:

http://www.mori-m-foundation.or.jp/english/ius2

www.mori-m-foundation.or.jp/english/aboutus2/index

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201710110050
Mulch Films Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 09:45:46

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Abhishek Budholiya90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Global Mulch Films Market: DescriptionMulch films are plastic coverings for plants utilized to retain the moisture in the soil. Since loss of soil moisture through evaporation can be a significant issue in dry areas, the demand for mulch films has grown in recent years. Plants can grow through holes in mulch films, leading to their growth being completely unaffected despite the covering. Some mulch films are also designed to produce the greenhouse effect on a small scale, retaining the heat from solar radiation to help plant growth.The global market for mulch films is driven not only by the loss of arable land, which has become a major concern, but also by the steady increase in the demand from the growing global population. The steady funding to the development of agrotech solutions from governmental as well as nongovernmental research bodies has also helped the global mulch films market significantly.The report examines the past development trajectory of the global mulch films market and provides solid forecasts regarding the markets growth from 2016 to 2020. The report explains the role expected to be played by each segment of the market in the markets growth and elaborates on the operations of the key manufacturers of mulch films.Browse Full Report With ToC @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=13178 Global Mulch Films Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe increasing global population and the consequent increase in the demand for food is the prime driver for the global mulch films market. With the realization that the earths own bearing capacity is not likely to support the increasing human population, research into various kinds of agrotech solutions has become more prominent over the years. Biotechnological solutions such as genetically modified crops have taken care of the problem of increasing crop yield and making it sturdier, while mechanical solutions such as mulch films deal with increasing the efficiency of agriculture practices so that no resource is wasted.The technological advancement in modern mulch films has also been crucial for the global mulch films market. While the technology appears rudimentary, several kinds of mulch films have been developed to provide different benefits. This is a crucial tool for the mulch films industry, which needs to keep up with the times and provide suitable solutions to a dynamic problem.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=13178 The problem of plastic mulch films polluting agricultural land perfectly illustrates the value of technological advancement to the mulch films industry. While conventional plastics such as polyethylene and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) are currently used to produce mulch films, the difficulty in removing the films means they can themselves be the cause of significant pollution in priceless fertile land. Developing mulch films from biodegradable plastics is thus a key opportunity for players in the mulch films market.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 09:26:43

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Electrical stimulation is a therapeutic treatment to treat muscle spasms and pain. It prevents atrophy and builds strength in patients with injuries. It is helpful to keep muscles active, especially after a spinal cord injury or stroke. Electrical muscle stimulation can be used to strengthen weak pelvic floor muscles. Stimulating activity can be achieved by passive contraction of the pelvic floor muscles through the transmission of low grade electrical impulses to the nerves that supply impulse to the bladder and other sections in the pelvic area. The small electrical impulses are delivered to the pelvic structures through an internal vaginal method or anal electrode method. Posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) is done by inserting a small electrode through skin of lower legs. The electrode can be connected through pulse generator. Similarly, sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) is done using a pacemaker like stimulator above the skin which plays an important role in functioning of the bladder. However, new developments in medical devices allow imaging at the cellular and molecular level, paving the way for earlier diagnosis and treatment by pelvic floor stimulation.Get Sample Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=17438 High prevalence of diseases such as urinary infection, neurological diseases, rising patient awareness, growing research and development initiatives, and increasing demand for electric stimulation devices such as electrodes and pacemakers are the major factors driving the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 17 million adults in the U.S. suffer from urinary incontinence, where women are twice affected as compared to men. Nearly 35% of female Medicare beneficiaries and 25% of male beneficiaries are estimated to suffer from urinary incontinence. Cost of reagents and sensitivity toward electrical impulses from the devices used during treatment are expected to hamper the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market from 2016 to 2024.The global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market has been segmented by device type, treatment, end-user, and geography. In terms of device type, the pelvic floor electrical stimulation market is classified into non-implantable electrical stimulator device and implantable electrical stimulator device. Based on treatment type, the market is classified into pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT), intravaginal neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), and transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS). In terms of end-user, the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market is classified into hospitals and ambulatory surgical units. The non-implantable device type segment is projected to witness strong growth driven by increase in urinary incontinence among the population, rising number of elderly women, and obesity. The Journal of Wound Ostomy and Continence Nursing 2016 has conducted a study to evaluate the effect of intravaginal neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS) on lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in women with multiple sclerosis disease in order to compare the efficacy of the approaches.View TOC for this Market Report @ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=17438 Geographically, the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market is classified into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominates the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market due to increasing number of elderly women, rising obesity, and urinary infection rates. Early-phase diagnosis and treatment of disease is driving the medical biotechnology market, which in turn is expected to propel the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market in North America. Europe is the second largest market for pelvic floor electrical stimulation devices due to favorable government policies regarding improvement of health standards for women and awareness programs by NHS and other health institutions. The market in Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a higher rate due to rising population, changing lifestyle, aging population, and increasing per capita expenditure. In addition, economic growth has led to improvement in health care infrastructure in developing countries such as India, China, and southeast Asia. These factors collectively support the growth of the pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market in Asia Pacific.Major players operating in the global pelvic floor electrical stimulation device market include Boston Scientific, Coloplast A/S, C. R. Bard, Inc., and Ethicon, Inc. (Johnson & Johnson).
Percutaneous Screw Placement Systems Market: Global Industry Trend Analysis 2012 to 2017 and Forecast 2017 - 2025

PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 12:19:48

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# 707 Words

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Pedicle screw system is system in which spinal stabilization is done with use of pedicle screws. Till last decade, pedicle screw system placement was done only through conventional surgery. However, Percutaneous Screw Placement System is one of the crucial alternative through minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS). Percutaneous Screw Placement Systems, with less morbidity, achieves the same results as the conventional surgery. The system consists of an extension sleeve- which allows remote manipulation of screw heads and remote arrangement of the screw locking mechanism. A rod insertion device, linked to screw extension sleeves, allowing a precut. Percutaneous screw placement systems have several benefits over conventional surgeries such as reduced blood loss, less operative time, lower postoperative pain, shorter infection risk and shorter hospital stay as well. Also, in unstable spine fractures patients, instruments can be easily removed after bone union allowing regaining patient mobility in less time. Without compromising the quality of spinal fixation, percutaneous screw fixation placement system minimizes paraspinous tissue trauma. According to a study conducted by Regev et al. found that in conventional open procedures, multifidus motor nerve was injured in 80% of cases, whereas multifidus nerve damage was only 20% in the surgeries done through percutaneous screw placement system. Another study by Kim et al. found that the patients operated through open procedure has used more painkillers in postoperative phase, it also showed that muscle enzyme levels were high on first and seventh day and raised muscle atrophy was visible in MRI scan, highlighting the surging significance of percutaneous screw placement systems.Get Sample Report: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/16327 Increased number of bone surgeries worldwide is a major driving factor for the percutaneous screw placement systems market. Surge in geriatric population, global rising number of accidents are also fueling the revenue of percutaneous screw placement systems market. Several scientific studies have proved the benefits of percutaneous screw placements systems over conventional surgeries, increasing the awareness of percutaneous screw placement systems in surgeons and drives the growth of the global percutaneous screw placement systems market.However, the high cost of percutaneous screw placements systems, uncertainty in the reimbursement, and unawareness about advanced technologies like percutaneous screw placement systems can impact negatively on the revenue growth of the market and restrain the growth of the global percutaneous screw placement system market over the forecast period.Percutaneous screw placement systems market has been segmented on the basis of component type, indication, end user, and regionBased on component type, the percutaneous screw placement systems market is segmented into the following:Screw typesLateral mass screwsPedicle screwsC2 variant screwsPlatesRodsBased on Indication, the percutaneous screw placement systems market is segmented into the following:Traumatic dislocations or traumatic fracturesDeformity or instabilityPseudarthrosis (Nonunion or false joint)Tumors involving the cervical spineDegenerative diseases (intractable radiculopathy or/and myelopathy)Based on end user, the percutaneous screw placement systems market is segmented into the following:HospitalsAmbulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs)ClinicsOthersPlayers in percutaneous screw placement system market are adopting new product launches and new product innovation as the key strategy. Owing to high revenue in the percutaneous screw placement system market, players are investing to addressing the needs of the surgeons and strengthen their portfolios as well. By indication type, traumatic dislocation and nonunion or false joint are anticipated to grow in positive traction owing to global rising incidences of traumatic dislocation and false joints.View TOC for this Market Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/16327 Geographically, percutaneous screw placement systems market is segmented into regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America and Europe regions are anticipated to garner larger market revenue share in percutaneous screw placement systems market over the forecast period owing to increasing number of geriatric and obese population with increased spinal deformities in the region. Awareness of percutaneous screw placement systems over conventional surgeries in the region is also anticipated to fuel the revenue growth in the region. High patient populated countries like India and China are attractive markets for key players for global percutaneous screw placement systems market. MEA is a developing market in global percutaneous screw placement market and anticipated to register a steady growth over the forecast period.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 11:43:35

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Refineries are large assets requiring massive capital influx are long gestation periods for successful construction. With significant political unrest surrounding the hydrocarbon sector, safeguarding of ones assets is of the utmost interest. Albeit in the downstream segment, refineries are a major, if not the most important part of the hydrocarbons value chain. Crippling a nations refinery infrastructure can result in dire consequences. Needless to say, oil and gas security solutions are becoming increasingly relevant in the hydrocarbons sector. Currently, threats are not only limited to physical ones. In an era of technology, cyber threats are equally dangerous and may disbalance the operations of a refinery. Refinery security solutions and services are those which successfully protect a refinery owner from both physical and cyber threats. With refinery capacity additions planned in certain regions of the world, the refinery security market is likely to grow at moderate levels in the future.Visit For TOC @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=3560 The future of the refining sector currently is still uncertain. The industry has historically suffered from overcapacity, with large refinery closures being observed in certain countries. However with a rapidly growing demand for refined petroleum products, the refinery segment is likely to make a significant comeback within the forecast period. One of the major driving factors for the refinery security is the increasing government imposed security compliance regulations. This is further accentuated by security threats from terrorist organizations and other cyber criminals. The market for refinery security is likely to grow rapidly within the forecast horizon. This will provide a distinct opportunity of companies dealing in refinery security solutions to acquire a larger market share in the future. On the basis of security type, the refinery security market can be broadly segmented physical security and cyber security. Some of the cyber security solutions being provided include anti viruses, firewalls, and secure wired connections and secure wireless connections.The physical security aspect generally encompasses the refinery complex security solutions. These can include building management systems and peripheral security solutions. Business continuity and disaster recovery systems are also gaining increasing momentum in the refinery security market. Refinery shutdowns or any other halt in operations can result in monumental financial losses for refinery owners. Also refineries use crude oil as a raw material which results in significant inbound crude oil movements to the refinery. All of these factors significantly increase the requirement for refinery security solutions. In terms of refinery security services the market can be further sub-segmented on a broader scope. One of the major services being provided by refinery security service providers includes system integration and design. Other services include consultation services, which are increasingly becoming important in the refinery security market.This is because consultation services provide clear directives and guidelines regarding the optimal installation and adoption of refinery security solutions, which generates maximum benefit to the refinery. The growth of the refinery security market is tied strongly to the growth of the crude oil upstream sector and the refinery sector. The refinery sector is currently suffering from overcapacity. Amidst the economic slowdown in Europe, refinery shutdowns have also been observed in the regions. However newer refinery capacity installations have been planned in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Russia. The Greenfield refineries of the Middle-East and Asia-Pacific have high complexity indexes and were very expensive to construct. Post commissioning of these refineries, refinery security solutions are likely to be required.Request Report Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=3560 Some of the major companies in the refinery security market include ABB Ltd., Siemens AG, Lockheed Martin and CISCO among others.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 11:50:12

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Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

Global energy demand is expected to rise by as much as 50 percent over the next 25 years. This combined with depletion of existing fossil fuel reserves will mean extensive exploration and production activities by the offshore oil and gas industry in the years to come. 75 percent of this increased requirement is expected to come from the developing world. Security provides industries the freedom to find, develop and manage assets and to deliver services and supplies without interference. Being secure is a result of having the correct strategy through innovative technology, supported by rigorous systems management. Even a simple standalone offshore well sites risk assessment must consider type of fluids produced, well pressure, directional configuration, measured depth and vertical depth, water access, location, sub-surface safety valve, well maturity and reserves, damage containment, and possible collateral damage. There is a growing trend towards the use of remote control centers. These require continuous monitoring, with the concept of the digital field wholly dependent on guaranteed secure communications. Solution providers are expected to provide innovative cyber solutions at competitive prices by unifying the portfolios against bundled attacks.Visit For TOC @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=T&rep_id=3661 Some of the major forces driving this market are the rapid adoption of cloud-based services, wireless communication along with strict government mandates and increasing cyber crime threats across all industries. Hence, the implementation of cyber security solutions is increasing to combat the advanced and sophisticated threats created by professional adversaries. Also, cloud service providers and verticals such as aerospace and defense, energy, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), and utilities have adopted solutions for cyber security more readily because of growing cyber crimes which may cause the loss of intellectual and financial assets and may tarnish the national infrastructure and economy. On the other hand, establishing and maintaining such a wide network requires constant diligence as well as time, effort and investment which can be cumbersome and can divert the market from its core competencies, which is provision of products and services. However, since these measures are imperative in such volatile times, no leniency can be shown, which acts as a positive catalyst for the market.The underwater security market can be segmented based on the solution provided viz. security analytics; and by services: consulting, system design and integration, risk and threat assessment, managed security services, and training and education. End users in this industry are corporations and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) mainly based in industries such as aerospace and defense, agriculture, BFSI, education, energy and utilities, government, healthcare and life science, information technology, manufacturing, telecommunication and logistics.Geographically, the demand market for underwater security solutions is concentrated in areas that account for the most production and supply of products and services as well as the level of threat experienced. Major demand is being seen from the Middle Eastern and African oil producing countries along with many others, such as Malaysia, China and Australia in the Asia Pacific region. Increase in cyber systems integration is also being seen in the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa. European regions have tightened security mostly at their North Sea pipelines as well as drilling positions. The demand from U.S. and Canada has experienced a steady rise owing to their extensive civil and defense installations offshore, mostly oil wells and telecommunication equipment.Request Report Brochure @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=3661 Some of the market players involved in the underwater security (systems and services) market are Cisco Systems, Inc., Computer Sciences Corporation, International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation, Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Lockheed Martin Corporation and Thales Group.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 04:58:02

Industry Experts Discuss Innovations in Field Service and the Vision of a Digital Industrial Future at Annual Event by ServiceMax, from GE Digital

ServiceMax Presents Maximize Tokyo- Japans Premier Field Service Event

ServiceMax, from GE Digital

Katie Bromley

katie.bromley@ge.com

ServiceMax, from GE Digital, the leading provider of field service management solutions, continues its annual Maximize series world tour on Tuesday, October 17, with the 2nd annual Maximize Tokyo event. Maximize Tokyo attracts service industry leaders from across the APAC region to discuss innovations in field service and key service factors to maximize business growth.

This years distinguished keynotes include Bill Ruh, CEO of GE Digital, and Seiichiro Yonekura, Professor at the Graduate School of Innovation Management at Hosei University. Mr. Yonekura will discuss the future of service innovation, highlighting examples of advanced service companies, and Mr. Ruh will speak about GE Digitals vision of a digital industrial future.

Since opening our Japan office in 2015, ServiceMax has seen tremendous growth, said Dave Yarnold, CEO of ServiceMax, from GE Digital. As the field service management market continues to expand in Japan, we are excited to be the premier field service management technology company providing the leading solutions. We look forward to a day of celebration for the industry and lively discussions around innovation in field services.

Maximize Tokyo 2017 speakers include:

Andy Watts - Japan Chief Officer, ServiceMax Corporation

- Japan Chief Officer, ServiceMax Corporation Bill Ruh - CEO, GE Digital

- CEO, GE Digital Dave Yarnold  CEO, ServiceMax, from GE Digital

CEO, ServiceMax, from GE Digital Rei Kasai  Senior Vice President of Product, ServiceMax, from GE Digital

 Senior Vice President of Product, ServiceMax, from GE Digital Seiichiro Yonekura - Professor at the Graduate School of Innovation Management, Hosei University

- Professor at the Graduate School of Innovation Management, Hosei University Yuichi Yamauchi  Director of Technology Division Design Support Unit, Topcon Co., Ltd.

 Director of Technology Division Design Support Unit, Topcon Co., Ltd. Mandar Wavde  Commercial Leader, GE Digital Japan

 Commercial Leader, GE Digital Japan Joe Kenny  VP of Global Transformation, ServiceMax, from GE Digital

 VP of Global Transformation, ServiceMax, from GE Digital Makoto Enomoto  Corporate Officer & CMO, NEC Corporation

 Corporate Officer & CMO, NEC Corporation Takashi Kikukawa  Service Expansion Sales Group Senior Engineer, Hitachi Systems, Inc.

 Service Expansion Sales Group Senior Engineer, Hitachi Systems, Inc. Takayuki Komatsu  CRM Sector Manager, ABeam Consulting Co., Ltd. Process & Technology

 CRM Sector Manager, ABeam Consulting Co., Ltd. Process & Technology Noriyuki Sekine  Senior Project Manager, Services Engineering Solution Division, Dentsu International Information Service

Maximize Tokyo event information:

October 17, 2017; Toranomon Hills Forum, Tokyo, Japan

https://www.servicemax.com/maximize/japan

About ServiceMax

ServiceMax, from GE Digital, leads the global industry of field service management software  an estimated $25 billion market worldwide. The company creates solutions for the 20 million people globally who install, maintain, and repair machines across dozens of industries as the leading provider of complete end-to-end mobile and cloud-based technology for the sector.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201710110063
PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-12 04:28:18

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ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for West African Resources Ltd--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Scarborough , Australia (FSCWire) - West African Resources Ltd (TSX Venture:WAF). has issued a press release with the following headline:West African hits 7.5m at 15.2 g/t Au including 2.5m at 37.8 g/t Au at M1 SouthTo 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 West African Resources Ltd, 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/West African Resources LtdSource: West African Resources Ltd (TSX Venture: WAF, WKN: A1CZBT, ISIN: AU000WAF6)Date: October 11, 2017Time: 10:28 PM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of West African Resources Ltd 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: 2017-10-12 10:32:02

Wolters Kluwers Finance, Risk & Reporting Named Integrated Regulatory Compliance & Reporting Platform of The Year by Wealth & Finance International

Wolters Kluwer

Paul Lyon

Director of International Corporate Communications

Governance, Risk & Compliance

Office +44 20 3197 6586, Mobile +44 77 6539 1824

Paul.Lyon@wolterskluwer.com

Wolters Kluwers Finance, Risk & Reporting business is the winner of Wealth & Finance Internationals Integrated Regulatory Compliance & Reporting Platform of The Year Award, 2017. The publication has awarded the firms OneSumX finance, risk and reporting solutions the global accolade as part of its inaugural FinTech Award Series, based on evidence of market share, excellence and innovation.

OneSumX is used by financial services firms to manage a broad array of regulatory reporting, finance and risk obligations globally. Global and local regulators are demanding ever-greater integration across business processes, more invasive and broader scope in management and reporting, and faster reaction to change of regulations. Wolters Kluwers OneSumX offers integrated regulatory compliance and reporting solutions for managing these ever more complex finance, risk and regulatory reporting obligations.

In the past few months leading banks across the world have implemented the OneSumX solution for Regulatory Reporting, Risk and Finance. Major financial services firms that have recently announced their use of Wolters Kluwers finance, risk and reporting solutions include: Nordea, BBVA, CIBC, Australias Queensland Treasury Corporation and The Swedish Export Credit Corporation.

This award is further independent global recognition of our leading position when it comes to providing integrated finance, risk and regulatory reporting solutions, commented Clive Pedder, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Wolters Kluwers Finance, Risk & Reporting business. Wolters Kluwer continues to place a strong emphasis on product development and evolution and such awards provide independent verification that this strategy is welcomed by our clients.

Chartis Research recently named Wolters Kluwer a Category Leader for IFRS 9 [..], for the second year running, as well as a Category Leader in its Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) Report. At the end of last year Chartis Research named Wolters Kluwer #1 for Regulatory Reporting in [..]. Notably, this is the sixth year running that Wolters Kluwer has achieved this honor, with 2016 also seeing the company win a plethora of other accolades for its dominant position in regulatory reporting from the likes of FinTech Finance and Data Management Review and Corporate Vision magazine. Wolters Kluwers OneSumX was also named Best [..] at the end of 2016.

Wealth & Finance International provides global financial news across both traditional and alternative investment sectors. Published in the U.K. it has a monthly readership of more than 130,000.

About Wolters Kluwer Governance, Risk & Compliance

Wolters Kluwer Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) is a division of Wolters Kluwer which provides legal, finance, risk and compliance professionals and small business owners with a broad spectrum of solutions, services and expertise needed to help manage myriad governance, risk and compliance needs in dynamic markets and regulatory environments.

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. 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.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201710120050
Intels Nigeria Limited, INL, on Wednesday kicked against the termination of its Pilotage Agency Agreement by the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA.

In its reaction on Wednesday, the company described the action as preposterous and highly injurious to Nigeria.

The company was reacting to decision of the NPA to terminate the agreement between the agency and Intels, several months after both parties had disagreements over the companys operations in Nigerian ports.

On June 27, PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported how the Nigerian government was making moves against the operations of Intels, partly owned by former Nigerian vice-president and a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Atiku Abubakar.

The company was founded over three decades ago by Gabriele Volpi, an Italian national who also has Nigerian citizenship, and former Vice-President, Mr. Abubakar.

Earlier in April, President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the recommendations of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, breaking the near-monopoly of Mr. Atikus Intels in the handling of oil and gas cargoes in the country.

But on September 27, Mr. Malami, wrote to the Managing Director of NPA, Hadiza Bala-Usman, directing her to terminate the boats pilotage monitoring and supervision agreement that the agency had with Intels, saying that the contract was illegal.

According to THISDAY newspaper, Mr. Malami in the said letter had stated that the agreement which had allowed Intels to receive revenue on behalf of NPA for 17 years, was in contravention of the Nigerian Constitution, especially in view of the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of government.

But Intels, in a statement on Wednesday, disclosed that following the letter from the Mr. Malami, directing NPA to terminate the pilotage agreement, NPA promptly ended the contract on October 10, without inviting it as the other party to the agreement for negotiation.

It also alleged that the NPA acted without due recourse to the terms of the agreement that specify conditions precedent before a party can exit the contract.

Based on the directive, Intels stands to lose several millions of dollars in commissions for the monitoring and supervision pilotage services it handles on behalf of NPA on Nigerian coastal waters.

Mr. Malami, in the letter, made it expressly clear that the agreement violated Sections 80(1) and 162(1) and (10) of the constitution, and wondered that both NPA and Intels did not avert their minds to the relevant provisions when they were negotiating the agreement in 2010.

But in its reaction on Wednesday, Intels argued that the termination of the agreement which was conveyed to the firm in a letter signed by the NPA boss on Tuesday, was clearly preposterous and the consequences highly injurious to the interests of Nigeria.

In a letter signed by a Director of Intels, Silvano Bellinato, the logistic firm said the action by NPA would force it to reconsider its multi-billion dollar investment at the Badagry deep seaport in Lagos, adding that the investment would have created thousands of direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians.

It explained that it had invested too much in the country and if the Nigerian government was not prepared to respect the sanctity of its contract, it would resort to the courts to challenge NPAs action.

The company, therefore, gave NPA seven days to reconsider the decision, look into the critical areas of their relationship and to agree on a common solution.

According to the company, the NPAs failure to address its concern shall lead to arbitration.

The company also alleged that the NPA was indebted to it to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) acknowledged a debt towards Intels Nigeria Limited (INL) in the sum of 674,767,415.00 US$ (in addition to the interests accrued in the meantime), it said.

NPA communicated the need to reconcile the sum of 109,000,000.00 US$ for the additional works carried out; NPA informed INL about the implementation to be discussed in respect of a transit account called NPA service boat revenue collection account domiciled at one of the banks indicated by you and the related standard operating procedures (SOP); NPA confirmed 28% agency commission to INL and the 72% balance to be shared between NPA and INL in the ratio 30:70.

It stated further: On March 27th 2017, we replied to every point in your letter of 15th March as stated below: INL took note of NPAs acknowledgement of debt; INL declared availability to meet NPA in order to discuss the details for the certification of the 109,000,000.00 US$ for the additional works carried out.

INL requested for postponement of the SOP application. On April 19th 2017, NPA acknowledged our acceptance of NPAs proposal in respect of 28% agency commission (already included in the existing running Agency Agreement) and in particular to the 30%  70% split, respectively to NPA and INL, related to the 72% balance. This would imply that the 30% is to be remitted on a monthly basis to NPA while the 70% is to be applied towards reducing the indebtedness to INL.

Regarding the TSA application, NPA reiterated the strategic importance of such a request. However it is noted that TSA was not part of the existing agency agreement between the parties.

Meanwhile, the company said that on May 5, it replied NPAs letter of April 19 proposing the opening of a jointly signed account between INL and NPA in which the boat service revenues would have been directed.

Mr. Bellinato explained that: Afterwards the account holders, with relative proxies, would remit the respective portions due to the parties, being 30% in favour of NPA and 70% in favour of INL.

In the same letter we indicated our availability to identify the bank, from among the ones indicated by NPA; regarding the reasons of our proposal we firmly reiterated the precariousness of our financial status, mainly attributable to the credits towards NPA and heavily financed by various credit institutions.

Such circumstances rendered alternative solutions to the ones suggested by us unviable, and also taking into consideration the inapplicability of TSA to running contracts in the manner proposed by NPA.

Clearly, deduction of entitlements due to INL from collections under the Agreement, and payment of the balance into the designated NPA account for TSA purposes, would be in compliance with the TSA policy.

The logistic firm also maintained that the decision by NPA to terminate the Agency Agreement, which was totally unexpected in consideration of the meetings held by the parties and exchange of letters, was clearly preposterous and the consequences highly injurious to the interests of the company.

Hence, in compliance with the Article 12 of the Agency Agreement between the NPA and INL, we hereby request you to schedule a meeting within seven days from the date of this letter, in order to analyse the residual critical areas of our relationship and to agree, to the possible extent, on a common solution.

Should this not happen, we hereby notify you that, in accordance with Article 13 of the Agreement, we will refer the matters to arbitration, in order to safeguard our company from the significant damages and other adverse consequences that may result from this rather unbecoming decision, it said.

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A bill which will enforce that an elected President and Vice President of Nigeria be inaugurated at the premises of the National Assembly was on Thursday passed by the Senate.

The passage of the bill sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, followed several debates on the report of the Senate Committee on Special Duties.

Before now, inauguration of presidents and vice presidents of the federation takes place at the Eagles Square in the Federal Capital Territory under the oath administered by the Chief Justice of the Federation.

The bill if agreed to by the House of Representatives and assented to by the Executive will enforce the inauguration of president and vice president within the confines of the parliament as is done in the United States and some other democracies of the world.

Reading the report, chairman of the committee, Abdul-Aziz Nyako, noted that the bill if assented to will be a welcome development as the National Assembly represents all segments of the country.

The senators after several debates passed the bill through a voice vote.

However, the lawmakers deleted Clause 6 of the bill which deals with the observance of relevant prayers in places of worship before inauguration.

The clause reads: there shall be national prayers in the week of the inauguration in designated places of worship in the Federal Capital city on Friday and Sunday preceding the date of inauguration.

The senators observed that prayer is a regular practice and need not be made a point of law.

This is in consideration that people of other faiths apart from Islam and Christianity may rise in protest of this.

Similarly, the committee made amendments to Clause 8 of the bill which deals with accompanying of dignitaries at the venue of inauguration.

Reading the amendment, Mr. Nyako said that the duty of accompanying dignitaries in a ceremony is totally for ushers appointed to serve in that capacity. Originally, we used to have senators to escort dignitaries; the committee is of the opinion that such exercise should be handled by the clerk of the National Assembly who shall delegate officers to handle the assignment.

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The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Kaduna chapter has criticised Governor Nasir El-Rufais recent disclosure that two third of primary school teachers in the state failed to score up to 75 per cent when asked to write competency examinations meant for primary four students.

Mr. El-Rufai, while receiving a World Bank delegation in his office on Monday, revealed the startling news.

We tested our 33,000 primary school teachers, we gave them primary four exams and required they must get at least 75 per cent but Im sad to announce that 66 per cent of them failed to get the requirements, he said.

The hiring of teachers in the past was politicized and we intend to change that by bringing in young and qualified primary school teachers to restore the dignity of education in the state, the governor said.

The governor also said that his administration would disengage about 20,000 unqualified primary school teachers to restore confidence in public schools adding that the state will employ 25,000 primary school teachers as part of efforts to restore dignity and quality to its education sector.

But, Adamu Ango, Chairman of the Kaduna chapter of the NLC told PREMIUM TIMES that the governor erred in his disclosure.

He challenged the state government to make public the comprehensive results of the said test alongside the international standard of teachers competency examination criteria.

Mr. Ango, who doubles as the state secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, said the governor has not been fair to the primary school teachers he embarrassed publicly by the revelation.

This is the third test conducted on teachers. Where are the rest of the results? What are the criteria, who are the bodies that are supposed to conduct these exams? What is the agreed internationally accepted pass marks and the unconcluded verification exercise?

He said the governor as an employer cannot be a judge in his own case.

He said it was the duty of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN to conduct professional examinations for teachers.

Or can the government organise examinations for medical doctors or lawyers? You cannot just come and set examinations and call it primary four exam when we know it is not for primary four.

This is just a cheap media propaganda. There is also more of politics in this examination than even the standard they are talking about. They just want to give a dog a bad name to hang it.

What the government is saying about teachers in the state is not correct. By tomorrow, we, together with the Nigeria Union of Teachers, shall ensure that the correct results are available to the public to judge, he said.

He said rather than vilify the teachers, the state ought to train them more.

What they should have done is to send them on capacity building training and do away with the few bad ones who may have performed below standard.

Mr. Ango also claimed that the state government is yet to pay the backlog of 2016 leave grants of teachers.

And they want to sack 20,000 out of 36,000 teachers and employ 25,000. The government just wants to do something like being crafty because they have this in mind, to reduce the number of teachers. There is no way they will do it, that is why they brought in this examination of a thing to drive home what they have in their mind, he said.

A few of the teachers who spoke under condition of anonymity with PREMIUM TIMES asked the governor to make their test results public adding that the governor was not fair in his assessment

In fact, they (state) has already sacked 100 teachers who were employed in 2008 and 2009 in Kaduna South Local Government even before this competency examination is conducted, a teacher in one of the primary schools visited said.

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An aged couple, Aremu and Fausat Abidoun have appealed for support from Nigerians after they lost their lifes savings and home in an inferno allegedly caused by suspected land grabbers.

The house, located at number 1, Abiodun Street, Ilese-Awo along Abeokuta-Lagos road, in Abeokuta, Ogun State Capital was razed to the ground by arsonists at about 2.15am, October 5.



PREMIUM TIMES learnt that a legal practitioner, Michael Figbele, has written a petition to the police, alleging that some suspected land grabbers were behind the crime.

The 70-year-old retiree, Mr. Abiodun, while narrating his ordeal on Tuesday, said the couple, including the two grandchildren living with them narrowly escaped death on October 5, the day, the alleged crime was committed.

He alleged that some unnamed land grabbers within the community had been on his trail for a while for reportedly exposing their illegal land deals.

He said the arsonists in retaliation doused his two-room apartment with petrol on the day they struck.

He said efforts by neighbours to quench the fire was unsuccessful adding that his family has since been staying with kindhearted neighbours since then.



He said he has equally reported the case to the police through his lawyer, who forwarded a petition to the head of operations, Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Zonal Intervention office, Abeokuta.

The lawyer in the petition, a copy made available to PREMIUM TIMES, appealed to the authorities to help bring the perpetrators of the crime to book.

Mr. Figbele confirmed that the arsonists stormed the victims house with a gallon of petrol and set the house ablaze.

The lawyer said some suspected land grabbers before the incident had earlier tried to persuade the victim to join them and sell off a parcel of land belonging to another person which he declined.

He said the land grabbers, thereafter, threatened to burn down his clients house. He added that the life of his client was still in danger.

This same set of hoodlums have been terrorising and killing people in Ilese-Awo community. Please sir, kindly investigate and bring them to justice as we are ready to supply the police all useful information, the counsel appealed in the petition.

When contacted, the SARS spokesperson, Ifedolapo Badmos, declined comments. She also did not reply a text message sent to her by the reporter.

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Few real-life heroes have captured the imaginations of as many readers as Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner whose death-defying fight to go to school was first recounted in the 2013 book I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. That book, which describes Yousafzais childhood in Pakistans Swat Valley, her dream of universal education, as well the attack that brought her name and cause to the worlds attention, has sold close to two million copies worldwide; the Little, Brown Books for Young Readers edition, I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World, has more than 750,000 copies in print across multiple formats. This month, with the release of Malalas Magic Pencil, Yousafzai uses a picture book formatand the gold-embellished illustrations of the French duo Kerascoetto reframe her story for even younger children. PW spoke with the now 20-year-old Yousafzai about the challenge of writing for this audience about complex topics such as activism and terrorism.

Why was it so important to you to write a book for young readers? What did you want to convey to them?



I meet so many children who want to know why I fight for 12 years of education, so it was important for me to share my story with them. For this age, a picture book felt like the best wayto use pictures and show the events in a way that younger kids will understand. Some of my story is scary and involves complicated politics, but I wanted to be able to share it with young readers so they can see that even one persons actions can create change.



What was the writing and editing process like for this book? How was it different this time?

Writing the other books took a long time, and the process was intense. There were so many details to remember, which meant [my editor Farrin Jacobs and I] were always checking dates and facts to make sure they were accurate. Retelling my story in this new way was also a lot of work. It involved choosing the artists, figuring out how to express everything in pictures, and deciding if the art felt accuratedown to the cracks in the wall of our home. Once the text was paired with the art, we made a lot of small changes that made a big difference. I really enjoyed writing Magic Pencil.

In the book, you describe seeing the dangerous men in your city, carrying weapons. What is your advice for children who may be frightened about events theyre seeing in their community or in the news?

My advice is to speak about your fearto your friends, to your teachers, to your family. You might want to join a club or start a group to talk about how you can make a positive change in your community. This action might seem smallhow will one small action bring change in this big world? But if we do it together, it will multiply. When frightening things were happening in Swat, I didnt know if raising my voice would bring any change, but I refused to stay silent. Your voice is powerful, and you can raise it in different ways.

Congratulations on starting your first year at Oxford University. Do you have any thoughts yet on a focus of study?

Thank you. Ill be studying PPEPolitics, Philosophy, and Economics. Im eager to meet new friends and find out what life will be like on my own for the first time, but also quite nervous.

Malalas Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai, illus. by Kerascoet. Little, Brown, $17.99 Oct. ISBN 978-0-316-31957-7
Bestselling author John Green celebrated the release of his latest novel, Turtles All the Way Down, at a launch party on October 10 at Town Hall in New York City. The multimedia event featured a reading from the book, an audience Q & A, and musical performances with fellow Vlogbrother Hank Green.

Hundreds of his fans, known as Nerdfighters, poured into the auditorium when the doors opened, getting a first look at the book, autographed copies of which were supplied by the Strand Bookstore, and posing for selfies as they waited for their favorite author to take the stage. Green began by discussing the personal story behind his book, the much anticipated follow-up to his bestselling The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton, 2012). (If fans were impatient for this next book, so was Green. It was a long six years; I guess all six-year periods are, he joked.) Green, who has been open about his lifelong struggle with OCD and anxiety, stated that there is some of his experience in the story of 16-year-old heroine Aza Holmes. Part of the challenge of writing the novel lay in translating abstract thoughts and emotions into words. I lacked language for the fear, Green said. I can say what it felt like, but its very hard to say what it was or, for that matter, what it is.

The book follows Aza as she investigates the disappearance of a billionaire, while fending off intrusive thoughts. But any similarities between Aza and another literary sleuth by the name of Holmes end here. According to Green, Azas particular mental illness doesnt help her crack the case: its uniquely unhelpful. His portrayal of Aza is in part a reaction to what he described as a tendency to stigmatize and romanticize individuals coping with mental health issues. While Green is wary of equating the act of reading with empathizing, he stated, Ive found that the best way to improve my listening is through stories. He encouraged young people who may be facing difficulties to seek treatment. There is hope, he said.

And Now for Something Completely Different

The author then brought to the stage his brother Hank, who delivered a tongue-in-cheek PowerPoint presentation on taxonomy dressed in full turtle costume as Dr. Lawrence Turtleman. After a quick costume change, Hank returned for a live session of Dear Hank & John, in which the brothers traded banter and answered questions from the audience. The duo offered such observations as babies are objectively terrifying, and other words of advice.

Next, Hank Green brought out his guitar for some original science-themed songs, with many fans cheering and joining in at full volume. On a quieter note, John Green offered a song in tribute to his late friend and fellow childrens writer Amy Krouse Rosenthal, who passed away earlier this year. A few additional tunes, including a rendition of Sweet Caroline, rounded out the evening.

The Turtles All the Way Down tours next stop: Washington, D.C., with 17 additional cities scheduled, for a total of 19 tour stops and dates.
For those involved in bringing Armand Baltazars debut novel to readers, patience has paid off.

Though rights to the trilogy were sold in 2014, the first installment, Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic (HarperCollins/Tegen, Oct.) is just now arriving in bookstoreswith a 75,000-copy first printing. The foreign rights team didnt take the manuscript to Bologna until 2016 because they believed presenting something closer to a finished product would yield better results.

We wanted to wait till we had the full copyedited text as well as cover art and finished illustrations from the first two chapters before submitting abroad, said Will Roberts, who handles childrens and YA foreign rights sales at the Gernert Company. Because it was such an ambitious, unique novel, we wanted to make sure that foreign publishers had a clear sense of the narrative scope, the amazing visual component, and how HarperCollins was positioning it, before they considered the series.

That worked. Timeless, a middle grade fantasy, has sold into 16 territories so far, including France, Germany, Italy, and China.

Those sales are made even more impressive by the fact that Timeless is a publishing challenge: a huge book, clocking in at 624 pages, and tipping the scale at 2.6 pounds with more than 150 full-color illustrations. It was also important to the author, a former designer at Pixar, that foreign publishers pledge to publish the full trilogy.

Foreign publishers have become a little more hesitant to commit to multiple books, Roberts said. But with a story of this scope, you want to make sure a publisher is fully onboard so you dont leave readers hanging. We were asking for a commitment.

Culture Clash

Timeless tells the story of Diegomodeled after Baltazars own sonwho lives in New Chicago after a catastrophic time collision has restructured the earth and jumbled its history. Dinosaurs coexist with buffalo; robots ply the same rivers as steamships. Diegos middle school is not just a melting pot of kids from different places, but from different eras. His best friends hail from Victorian England and the U.S.in the 1920s and the 1980s.

On his 13th birthday, Diego learns he has a special gift, one hell need after his father, an engineer, is kidnapped by an enemy group. He and his friends will have to save Dad and their world from forces that would rather keep cultures distinct.

The original manuscript, with sample art, came to Seth Fishman at the Gernert Company via Baltazars agent at CAA. Fox was circling with an offer for film rights but the series didnt yet have a publisher. Fishman approached HarperCollins Childrens Books because of its corporate ties to Fox.

One of the problems with Hollywood is that its sometimes hard for a publisher to tell just how enthusiastic a film company actually is, Fishman said. This way, they would believe me when I said there was going to be an option.

World English rights for three books went to Harpers Katherine Tegen imprint, with Ben Rosenthal editing. Rosenthal had been at the company for two weeks. It was a little bit of trial by fire, he admits.

Though Baltazar had formal art training and had worked in animation at DreamWorks, Walt Disney, and at Pixar, where he was a senior designer, he had never written a novel before.

There was a complete manuscript and artwork, but we had to take the whole thing apart in order to find a way to integrate them, Rosenthal said. Baltazar had not skimped on the artwork. The first time we laid it out, it was 900 pages.

Knowing that the book had strong international potential, Rosenthal had an additional burden of making sure art and text would work in translation. When you translate it into a character system or even into Spanish or German, any language that tends to use more words than English, you have to make sure the art falls in the right spot for text you havent even seen, he said. It was like putting together a puzzle.

Editor and author agreed to combine some artwork and cut text. Rosenthal worried for Baltazars health. I think he didnt sleep for six to eight months, he said. The two spent hundreds of hours on the phone. Armand has a very distinct style but it had to be adapted to work as a book, Rosenthal said. The artwork read a lot like a film, successive images that were like storyboards.

Pixar Dust

Less than a week after Baltazar signed with HarperCollins, Fox picked up the movie rights, with Ridley Scott signed on as producer.

Baltazars background in film animation and the Fox/Ridley Scott seal of approval, as Roberts called it, now became key selling points with foreign publishers. When we made the pitch, that fact that he had come from Pixar was one of the lead loglines, said Roberts. People associate Pixar not only with amazing illustration but with great storytelling. Its a good way to get your foot in the door.

Karine Sol, editorial director with Bayard Editions Jeunesse, which won the rights to publish Timeless in France at a heated auction, said sales of the book can fly away when there is film potential, citing the strong bump given to all three volumes of the Miss Peregrine series by Ransom Riggs after the film release. Italys Il Castoro, which acquired Timeless in a preempt, even included a film bonus in its offer. This would be a perfect book to render in a movie, said publisher Pico Floridi.

That Baltazars latest credential is with Pixar, specifically, is icing on the cake, said Martina Patzer, acquiring editor at cbj Verlag in Munich. Pixar movies are very well known in Germany, she said. Any illustrated book that can refer to a visual language that is already known and loved does benefit from that fact.

Fishman has been thrilled with the foreign reception. This is the first childrens title of mine that was a clear book of the fair,  Fishman said. With the globalization of film and TV, to sell a book that goes on to be the lead title in Germany and Canada, these things really matter, not just to me or to Armand but to Fox, he said.

Go Big or Go Home

The fact that the book would be a logistical challenge to publish was not only conquerable, Roberts said, it turned out to be an asset. It would be easy to be intimidated by the size and scope of this but that actually became one of the big selling points, he said. Increasingly, a hardcover book has to be an art object. In the contemporary marketplace, people who are buying a hardcover book want it to be something that they are happy to display on their shelves.

Sol, the French editor, said a fall 2018 release is planned with just that in mind. This book, in color, could be a lovely gift for Christmas. A thick, beautifully illustrated book is also appealing to Patzer of cbj Verlag. Thanks to the fixed book prices in German-speaking countries, we still have a very vibrant book market with a bookshop in nearly every small town, she said. This kind of book, with its unique design elements and stunning illustrations, will be very important to those booksellers.

Even at 624 pages, no editor worried that middle-grade readers would be intimidated. Our readers would not mind the size of the book, said Il Castors Floridi, who noted that the amount of artwork will likely lessen any hesitancy caused by the books size. Thanks to Harry Potter, readers are no longer intimidated by big books, said Sol. They like when there is a strong, fantastic world.

Meanwhile, Rosenthal and Baltazar are hard at work on book two. We learned a lot and I think it will help us with the rest of the series, Rosenthal said. Armand has the whole series planned and were hoping to speed it up so its not two years between books, but it could be, he said, adding, I havent even told sales that yet.

Perhaps he can point out how well patience has already worked.

Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic by Armand Baltazar. HarperCollins/Tegen, $19.99 ISBN 978-0-06-240236-3
The Author Feast session occurred on the second night of the annual Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association trade show. But to many attendeesbooksellers, librarians, publishers, publicists, and authorsthe dinners abundant trout, al dente vegetables, and chicken selections were secondary. The actual feast was on the written word.

Im like a kid in a candy store, Annie ODonnell, first-time PNBA attendee, said at the dinner. I just want to grab everything; I am a book addict, said ODonnell, who sells books and comestibles at Dudleys Bookshop Cafe. She was up from Bend, three hours southeast of the three-day Portland-based event that ran from October 8 through October 10, at its new venue, the Red Lion Hotel on the River. PNBA members hail from as far north as British Columbia, Canada, and east as far as Montana.

Long-time PNBA attendee Deb Mersereau, co-owner of Cannon Beach Book Co. on the Oregon coast, was also excited to be with her colleagues. Theres simply camaraderie between the readers, sellers, publishers, all those in love with the written word," she said.

The love continues to grow. PNBA saw an uptick in its event attendance, including 26 volunteers, three of whom flew in from as far away as Minnesota just to work for free, as Brian Juenemann, PNBA's executive and marketing director, put it. There were about 400 attendees at any given time throughout the event, stationed on or roaming the show floor, and learning in education sessions. This year there also were more bookstores represented, books (thanks to 107 authors), and librarians, too.

At last years trade show in Tacoma, Wash., 14 libraries were represented. This year, that number jumped to 20 libraries (and 27 librarians). Sam Kaas, bookseller at Third Place Books Lake Forest Park site in Seattle and PNBAs Education Committee chair said his effort to attract more librarians to the event was purposeful.

I want to encourage more networking by putting authors, sellers, buyers, and librarians into this space, all at once, said Kaas, who helped organize the well-attended education session, Making Readers Happy: the Latest from LibraryLand. Aimed at booksellers, its purpose was to offer ideas about how librarians and sellers can better collaborate with one another.

Also well-attended was the bookseller panel Trailers, Tweets, and Snapshots: Social Media Outreach to Ensure a Robust Audience. Author, teacher, and self-deprecating social-media buff (with at least 700 Facebook friends and 500 more who follow his every tweet), Bart King said he both loves and loathes his platforms. King has written more than 20 books; his latest is The Drake Equation (Disney Hyperion). He said posting to social media is a great way to build good relationships with his readers.His modus operandi is less is more; he fears Twitters new limit of 280 characters. This is the best editor Ive ever had, he quipped of Twitters 140-character limit.

Still too limited are books by diverse authors and those with diverse characters. This was explored in a bookseller panel, Beyond the Bookstore Walls: Multicultural Outreach in the Literary Community, and was a constant topic of group and individual conversations throughout the event.

Rosanne Parry, bookseller, panelist, and author of The Turn of the Tide (Random House) and other middle grade and YA novels, said awareness among readers and booksellers is on the rise in the fairly homogenous Pacific Northwest. But its the booksellers actions  in their displays, in the books they guide their customers to  that will make the difference, said Parry of Annie Blooms Books in Portland.

Kayla Newton of Aunties Bookstore in Spokane, Wash., who describes herself as a person of color, said her favorite genre is sci-fi, especially space operas. She touted the Broken Earth trilogy (Orbit) by N.K. Jemisin as a favorite. Its fine if books are written about brown people growing up in the projects, Newton said. Thats a valid story. And its not mine. So where is mine? I want to see people who look like me in space.

The genre of sci-fi came up a lot at PNBA; many cited the current political climate for the increasing popularity of escapist works, especially YA and adult books timed for the holiday season.

First-time author Ingrid Walker (High: Drugs, Desire, and a Nation of Users [University of Washington Press]) said, Its a gnarly time, a tough time. People can talk through books instead of being so upset with one another. Walker, an associate professor of American Studies at University of Washington, Tacoma, added, I cant get enough of sci-fi right now, and recommends Jenni Fagans The Sunlight Pilgrims (Hogarth).

Fortunately for PNBA, its reality is no fantasy. Larry West, PNBA treasurer, reported a surplus of more than $35,000, with assets inching over $441,000. We are cautiously optimistic that we will end 2017 with a slightly better than break-even year, West reported to the PNBA membership. Another positive was the report by Juenemann that PNBA has more than 900,000 orders for its hard-copy holiday books catalogs from 85 stores, up slightly from previous years.

At the conclusion of its membership meeting, PNBA president Shawn Donley remembered Brian Doyle, beloved Northwest author of works like Martin Marten and Mink River (Picador), who died at 60 this past year. Every store (in our region) had a Brian Doyle story, Donley said. Hell always be part of PNBA. Thank you, Brian, we miss you.
Escapism and connectionthis is what buyers at the Frankfurt Book Fair are betting readers want. Descending on Germany against the backdrop of a tumultuous and disheartening news cycle, the tastemakers in the publishing industry spent big on a handful of women's fiction titles, and a bunch of memoirs. While the novels will offer a classic dose of escapism, the memoirs, some insiders mused, can deliver something readers may crave even more in these divisive times: a sense of connection with other people.

Before the show kicked off, seven-figure sums were spent on memoirs by Adrienne Brodeur and Sara Seager. Brodeur's Wild Game, which Lauren Wein at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt won after a 14-bidder auction, explores her complicated relationship with her mother, Malabar. (The book is subtitled My Mother, Her Lover and Me.) Brettne Bloom at the Book Group, who represented Brodeur, compared Wild Game to bestselling memoirs like The Glass Castle, saying it "reads like a great novel."

The title that some insiders said spoke most profoundly to what they believe readers want right now, namely stories that inspire hope, was Seager's The Smallest Lights in the Universe, which Rachel Klayman at Crown bought in a North American rights acquisition. An MIT professor and expert on exoplanetsher work focuses on proving the existence of life elsewhere in the galaxySeager lost her husband to cancer, suddenly, just before turning 40. Struggling as a widow and newly-minted single mother to two young children, she found salvation in a local widows support group. Mollie Glick at Creative Artists said the book explores the notion that "our understanding of the cosmos and our understanding of love and loss are twin quests."

Memoirs of the celebrity flavor also dominated headlines at the fair, where it was announced that books by Cher and Roger Daltrey were in the works.Daltrey's memoir, still untitled, went to U.K.-based Blink Publishing in a world rights sale. (Agent Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown handled the nine-way auction and rights in the U.S. wound up with Steve Rubin, at Henry Holt.) The book, which is slated for Autumn 2018, will chronicle Daltrey's music career, 50 years of which have been spent as the frontman of The Who. Blink, in a release about the sale, said Daltrey has not written "just a rock and roll memoir," and that will also offer "a glimpse into life in Britain from the 1940s to the 1970s, a tumultuous time of change."

Another memoir drumming up buzz was Julie Yip-Williams' currently untitled memoir about her battle with terminal cancer. The book was sold, for six figures, in a North American rights deal, to Andy Ward at Random House. (Aevitas Creative Management's David Granger handled the U.S. sale and his agency confirmed that the book also sold, in a six-figure preempt, to Transworld in the U.K., as well as to publishers in Holland and Brazil.)

In the book, which will be released in fall 2018, is being compared to the bestseller When Breath Becomes Air (which Ward also edited). Yip-Williams, diagnosed at 37 and now 41, chronicles her fight with stage IV colon cancer, focusing on the final years of her life. Chelsey Heller at Aevitas, who is handling foreign rights for the book, described it as a "legacy project" for Yip-Williams, a lawyer (as well as a wife and mother to two daughters) who lives in Brooklyn. (The book grew out of a blog Yip-Williams began, shortly after her diagnosis, called My Cancer Fighting Journey.)
It's the title one scout called the "secret book of Frankfurt" and its pedigreeacquired un-agented by an editor at Knopf from the author, who was writing it in prisonis among the things that have piqued the interest of festival-goers in Germany.

Cherry, by Nicholas Walker, is a fictionalized account of the author's exceptional life. An Iraq veteran who won multiple commendations for valor as a medic in the war, Walker came back home and floundered, suffering from an intense case of PTSD. What set him apart was the salve he found for his condition: robbing banks.

Walker landed in prison in 2012 and his casehe became one of Ohio's most prolific bank robbers by knocking over 10 branches in four monthsand his unique case caught the eye of a reporter. In 2013 Buzzfeed profiled Walker in a story by Scott Johnson called "How a War Hero Became a Serial Bank Robber."

Knopf's Tim O'Connell, who acquired Cherry, told PW he heard about the author through a friend at the indie label Fat Possum Records. Fat Possum's Matthew Johnson reached out to Walker after reading the Buzzfeed piece and began a correspondence with him. When interest in a possible movie about Walker's life started to surface, Johnson, according to O'Connell, encouraged Walker to try his hand at writing a novel based on his own life.

"As it turns out, Nico was steeped in Ernest Hemingway and Thomas McGuane and, even more incredibly, was cut from much the same cloth," O'Connell said. "Nico found a typewriter and he began hammering out passages that would eventually grow into Cherry. Right away, I saw the electricitya voice so fresh and raw."

After seeing pages from the novel, O'Connell went with Johnson to meet Walker in prison. From there, a deal was hammered out. As O'Connell put it: "I visited Nico with Matthew at the federal correctional facility where he is being held in Ashland, Ken. We sat there all morning, ate chips, and discussed the word 'ajar' for over an hour. Thats how it began. I knew I had a winner."
It has only been in the last two years that Spains publishing industry has returned to growth, after five years of enduring a massive financial crisis that saw book sales drop by 40%. Now the October 1 vote on Catalonian independence has left many publishers in Spain and other countries wondering what the impact on the Spanish-language industry may be. Some reports have already indicated an impact on book sales, with booksellers reporting a 20% plunge in book sales since the vote as people choose to hold onto their cash and wait to see what comes next.

On Thursday (October 12), the Catalan Publishers Association, which represents 96 publishing houses, read a statement addressing the vote, and the violence that followed, at their stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The statement noted its outright rejection of any form of violence and, furthermore, to declare its trust in the strength of the word as the sole tool for resolving conflicts. It went on to state, If we devote ourselves to the task of publishing, it is in large measure because we share this belief in the ability to take action through non-violence, using arguments and ideas, never blows and weapons.

Barcelona, located in Catalonia, is home to several of the largest publishing companies in the Spanish-speaking world, including Planeta, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, and Anagrama, as well as numerous smaller, independent presses, such as Blackie Books and Malpaso. Numerous literary agents who work with Spanish-language authors, including Agencia Literaria Carmen Balcells, are in Barcelona.

Planeta, with several thousand employees in the city, has stated that should Catalonia secede it will transfer its legal dominion to Madrid. PRH Grupo Editorial, which employs 500 people in Barcelona and a further 150 in Madrid, is being more pragmatic. Nothing has officially changed, as yet, said Patxi Beascoa, commercial director of PRH Grupo Editorial. It it does change, and it impacts our ability to do business, then we will discuss what is the best plan of action.

Many feel that Planeta is following the lead of other large, commercial entities in threatening a move as a gesture to demonstrate opposition to independence. Right now, the companies and the Catalonia and Spanish governments are playing cat-and-mouse with each other, Marina Espasa, author and director of the UNESCO Office Barcelona City of Literature, said. The population is roughly equally divided, half for and half against, and theres no real certainty of what will happen next.

One vocal advocate for Catalan independence has been literary agent Anna Soler-Pont, who employs half dozen agents at the Pontas Agency in Barcelona. She told PW, We live in a global and digital world, especially business-wise, and in the end it's not that important where companies are physically located," she told PW at the fair. "So I don't think the Spanish-language publishing industry would be harmed in any way: not in Spain, neither in Latin America. For a small independent company like the Pontas Agency we don't foresee any threat. to the contraryI personally believe that having a smaller and much efficient new Catalan state, we would perform even better.
Just hours after the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association's annual meeting began in Portland on October 8, news broke of the horrifying wildfires that are racing through Northern California, responsible as of Thursday for at least 23 deaths, hundreds of missing people, and untold damage to properties, businesses, and wineries. Hearing the news, PNBAs nine-member board immediately decided to double its annual gift to the Book Industry Charitable (BINC) Foundation, which provides financial assistance to booksellers nationwide in times of need.

Brian Juenemann, PNBAs executive and marketing director, said hed been in touch with his counterparts in Napa and Sonoma counties. They reported that booksellers, their stores and homes are suffering power loss, unbreathable air, and potentially irreparable structural damage. Were in the black and we have a rainy day fund, Juenemann said. Theres no reason to sit on that when it can be used by someone else who really needs it. Because it could be us next time.

His board doubled PNBAs prior gift, donating $5,000 to BINC to give them more to work with because theyre inundated as never before, he said, noting damage from hurricanes Harvey and Irma and, now, the newest fire to hit the burning west, in Santa Rosa, Calif.

Carol Spurling, PNBA vice president and co-owner and manager of Bookpeople of Moscow in Moscow, Idaho, said, Its so great to be able to channel our concern into something that can be immediately helpful.

This year, BINC so far has disbursed $118,000, Juenemann reported.
The once-feuding Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah may be moving closer to reconciliation in Gaza, but Salafi jihadist groups launching audacious attacks could spoil any rapprochement, potentially dragging the Palestinians back into another conflict in the process. In August, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest in the Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt, killing a member of Hamas' security team and wounding several others. Far from being an isolated incident, this attack represents the emergence of yet another violent militant faction in Gazaa densely populated strip of land wedged between Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which crams 1.8 million people into an area slightly more than twice the size of Washington, D.C. This major shift toward an even more radical and violent milieu is mainly due to a growing Salafi movement in Gaza, a new phenomenon that threatens the temporary equilibrium of what is usually a turbulent area within the Middle East.

The suicide attacker is widely suspected of being a member of a Palestinian Salafi group with links to the Islamic State (or ISIS). The rise of hardline Salafisma branch of Islam that embraces a literalist interpretation of the Koran and advocates the restoration of a so-called global caliphateis a worrisome trend in Gaza. Hamas, whose ideology is a blend of Palestinian nationalism and hardline Islamist politics, is being outflanked by more violent, extremist terrorist organizations determined to destroy Israel and wage war on Palestinian groups it has deemed too moderate.

A Strengthened Ideology

Salafism historically took root in Gaza in the 1970s, when Palestinian students returned from studying abroad at religious schools in Saudi Arabia. A number of Salafi groups in Gaza continue to receive support and funding from Riyadh today, according to journalist Jared Maslin. The four principal active groups are Jund Ansar Allah (Soldiers of God's Supporters), Jaysh Al-Islam (Army of Islam), Jaysh Al-Umma (Army of the Nation), and al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Monotheism and Jihad).

Although these groups have not traditionally been a major force in Palestinian politics, this has changed in the past several years. Salafists first gained traction in the power vacuum that resulted from the internal conflict between Hamas and Fatah in the summer of 2007. In 2009, Salafi leader Abdel-Latif Musa, leader of Jund Ansar Allah, even proclaimed an Islamic Emirate in the southern city of Rafah before he was killed in a raid by Hamas.

ISIS' declaration of a caliphate helped rejuvenate Salafi ideology.

The success of the Islamic State (ISIS), itself a hardline Salafi group, further strengthened Gaza's Salafists. Media statements released by Gaza-based Salafi groups, for example, have included songs and imagery originally produced by ISIS' propaganda wing. More broadly, ISIS' declaration of caliphate, an official announcement of the group's intention to govern a state ruled by strict Islamic law, helped rejuvenate Salafi ideology. The organization's global appeal was and is evident in its ability to recruit tens of thousands of foreign fighters and cultivate tens of thousands of supporters online who promote its propaganda and spread its message. It doesn't matter that the caliphate has been destroyed over the past six months and ISIS is in shambles. The group's temporary success was proof to its supporters that forming a caliphate governed according to strict Islamic principles is not only possible, but a divine duty.

Outflanking Hamas

With ISIS' example in mind and that group's success in taking over large swaths of Syria and Iraq, the active Salafi groups in Gaza have gone to great lengths to position themselves as the most radical organizations within the occupied territories. These groups consider Hamas members infidels for their willingness to participate in Palestinian legislative elections in 2006. Salafi groups are inherently opposed to elections, since they believe that only God's law matters and that sharia is the only acceptable governing platform. In their attempts to claim the moral high ground vis-a-vis Hamas, these groups have gone so far as to deploy members to shutter video stores, Internet cafes, and other establishments they deem un-Islamic.

Gaza's Salafi have also criticized Hamas for agreeing to a cease-fire with Israel on several occasions, the most recent of which was in mid-2015, claiming that the once-feared Palestinian terrorist group known for its use of suicide bombings is now guilty of collaborating with the Zionist enemy. A group known as the Soldiers of the Monotheism Brigades referred to Hamas as perverted and crooked and added that it will not stop targeting the figures of Hamas and breaking their bones and cleansing the pure land of the Gaza Strip of these abominations. To sabotage the cease-fire, ISIS supporters in Gaza have sporadically fired rockets over the border into Israel in a display of insubordination. In response, Hamas has waged a campaign against the Salafists, rounding up scores of them and imprisoning them without trial or due process. The tensions have even escalated into firefights between Hamas and the Salafists, the latter of whom has repeatedly threatened to fire rockets into Israel over the past several years in outright defiance of Hamas.

In effect, these Salafi groups are challenging Hamas' claim to being the most truly Islamic group among the various Palestinian organizations. In doing so, they possess the ability to push Hamas toward a more hardline stance. Hamas has already lost some of its more radical members, including many from its military wing, to these groups, which advocate a more militaristic stance toward Israel.

The View From Israel

Israel is even more worried than Hamas about the rise of Gaza's Salafi jihadists. The Jewish state is used to existing in a region where it is constantly under siege by its neighbors, but the danger posed by transnational jihadists is especially severe. Although Israel has been relatively immune from al Qaeda attacks, the presence of an organized and highly capable ISIS affiliate based in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, just across the border from Gaza, has presented Tel Aviv with yet another security challenge. These insurgents regularly clash with Egyptian security forces and were responsible for the attack on Metrojet Flight 9268, which was brought down two years ago by an ISIS bomb that killed all 224 people on board. That same month, an ISIS video released in Hebrew warned that not a single Jew will remain in Jerusalem. Although some might dismiss this threat as mere bluster, Israel takes these warnings seriously.

For its part, Israel does not recognize the difference between attacks launched by Salafists and those conducted by Hamas. Israel regards Hamasthe de facto recognized government of Gazaas responsible for any and all attacks emanating from Gazan soil. This means that attacks by Salafists couldand indeed haveresulted in Israeli reprisals targeting Hamas infrastructure and property. Punishing Hamas for the misdeeds of the Salafists seems wrongheaded, as it could easily torpedo what has been a relatively calm period during the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which has held steady for most part since the end of Operation Protective Edge in late August 2014.

Reducing the threat posed by Gaza's Salafists will necessarily entail limiting the potential pool of recruits. The current generation of Gaza's youth has come of age during three successive wars with Israel; unemployment is rampant and hope is in short supply. These young Palestinians have been labeled the Hamas generation. But if the economic situation in Gaza continues to deteriorateresulting in part from an economic blockade enforced by Egyptthe young Palestinians may eventually become known as the Salafi generation. Just as Hamas began to eclipse Fatah in the late 1980s as the most radical and violent Palestinian organization, Gaza's Salafists could surpass Hamas as the most dangerous threat to other Palestinians and the state of Israel. Such a result would likely be disastrous, since it could very well signal the sabotage of yet another chance for progress in one of the world's longest-running conflicts.

Colin P. Clarke is a political scientist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and an associate fellow at the International Centre for Counter Terrorism inThe Hague.

This commentary originally appeared on Foreign Affairs on October 11, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
A+E Networks has revealed that it is to take advantage of the forthcoming MIPCOM to unveil the latest scripted drama series from its studios in the form of Blue Book, directed by Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis.





Blue Book is a new drama series about the US Air Forces' 1952-1970 real-life investigation into the UFO phenomenon. It follows Dr J Allen Hynek and Air Force Captain Ed Ruppelt as they confront the very real possibility that we may have been visited while they might simultaneously be used as pawns in a nationwide disinformation operation. The series is based on actual Blue Book case files.Blue Book represents A+E Networks latest investment in premium scripted content through our own A+E Studios. It is yet another example of our commitment to build long-term relationships with top creative talent and deliver programming that resonates with viewers, said Patrick Vien, the companys executive managing director, international.In addition to the new launch, A+E Networks is growing its global footprint of its premium scripted programming with new territories signing on for SIX, Knightfall and Roots. Military action drama SIX has been sold to ARTES (Spain) to follow the series run on HBO (Spain); CEE (Poland); Starz Play (Middle East); and TMG (Germany), which sold the series to RTL2 (Germany) and Amazon (Germany).Scripted drama series Knightfall chronicles the mysterious but true accounts of the Knights Templar and has recently been sold in the Nordics and CEE (Spain), while Roots, broadcast in 42 languages, is set to reach more audiences around the world with new broadcasters coming on board including iQiyi and BesTV (China), THC (UK), TV Globo (Brazil), Showmax SVOD (Africa), Nitro and Neox (Spain), HBO (Andorra), Kavosh Television and Manoto TV (Persia), FilmBox Premium (Pan CEE), Channel 4 (Ecuador), and RCN (Colombia).
Abertis, a major stakeholder of Hispasat, is considering selling the Spanish satellite operator if Atlantias takeover bid is successful.





In a strategic attempt to keep Spanish ownership of such an important player as Hispasat, Abertis is reported to be negotiating with Red Electrica de Espana.According to an analysis note published by Expansion , the partly state-owned corporation and sole operator of Spains power grid is looking for diversification opportunities in the telecoms business, and the Government would approve of a deal that would retain state control of Hispasat.Following the recent agreement with Eutelsat , through which Abertis acquired Eutelsats 33.69% share, Red Electrica de Espana would have to pay over 1 billion for the entire company.However, the operation is dependent upon Atlantias takeover bid. The offer presented by the Italian group has been given the green light by Spains antitrust agency, the CNMV.If no third parties interested in Abertis present offers during the next two weeks, Atlantia will move the merger forward in the final months of this year.
Mumbai studio Cosmos-Maya is taking its new Turner collaboration Tik Tak Tail to the TV market MIPCOM in search of a global audience, following the shows launch on Indian kids channel POGO.





The animated comedy centres on the unending chase of Tik, a cute rabbit, by Tak, a ferocious tiger. But the Tail, who constantly eyes Tiks carrots, always thwarts Taks plans. Tak and Tail are partners in crime with Tik always their target. But Tik outruns and outwits them by pitting them against each other.Tik Tak Tail is universal in its appeal and has its heart in the right pace. This new show on POGO makes for a fascinating game of one-upmanship, giving the chase-comedy a unique identity of its own, said Krishna Desai, executive director and network head - kids, South Asia, Turner India.The comedy also follows other hit animations from the Mumbai creative animation studio, including Motu Patlu and VIR  The Robot Boy, which has proved successful on Cosmos-Mayas YouTube channel WowKidz.Cosmos-Mayas first European co-production Atchoo along with Studio Campedelli, Italy made its debut in India on Amazon Prime Video before its launch in Europe. The series is co-produced with Rai TV Italy.With a series of accomplishments on a global level already, we at Cosmos-Maya are aiming for a global success with Tik Tak Tail, said Cosmos-Maya CEO Anish Mehta.
As it builds up its business across Asia, growing a meaningful presence in what it calls one of the most dynamic content markets the region, global content company A+E Networks has expanded into South Korea with the launch of History and Lifetime.





Original productions feature prominently in A+Es plans for both History and Lifetime, and the company is promising an initial launch slate of original content through a mix of genres. The shows will progressively premiere through October 2017 to March 2017.History is said to be Koreas first infotainment brand and will showcase premium documentary series, information-based fun reality programmes, drama series and more, under the channels slogan, Knowledge Is Fun. It will also offer a variety of brand activities for viewers interested in knowledge-oriented content in the field of humanities. Under the slogan Find Yourself In Lifetime, the other core channel will features stories of women, their potential and inner beauty. It will also provide viewers with reality programmes and well-crafted dramas that will not only entertain but also raise awareness on social issues.History and Lifetime will reach Korean customers across all platforms including TV, digital media and offline venues. For linear television, A+E Networks has secured coverage for 20 million homes across the country through the IPTV platforms, all major cable platforms and satellite broadcasting. The brands will also be launched simultaneously on digital media through YouTube, Naver TV, Facebook, Instagram, and GomTV.Continuing to build on its strategic partnership with iHQ, A+E has also signed an agreement for content format development. The partnership aims to sell and distribute projects in the global market to reap success in both Korea and the international markets. Two projects have been shortlisted and aim to begin production as soon as the end of this year. Content produced in Korea will be represented by A+E for global distribution of both original content and remake opportunities, contributing significantly to the promotion of Korean content worldwide. They will also air across A+E media brands including Lifetime and History throughout the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia.Commenting on the launch, Sean Cohan, president of international and digital media, A+E Networks , said: The Korean markets rich storytelling tradition and appreciation for history is a great match with A+Es own heritage in compelling and quality storytelling. The digital maturity of the market allows us great opportunities to have a direct dialogue with consumers in different formats, platforms and technologies. Finally, Korean production has made its mark on the global content community. I look forward to A+E Koreas team and productions making a tremendous impact on our global brands and content everywhere in the world.
When a respected analyst says that no one expected your quarterly video subscriber results to be good, but doubts anyone expected them to be so bad, maybe it is time for AT&T to be worried about its TV business after posting its financial guidance.





Commenting on an 8-K form  a current report US companies must file with the countrys stock exchange to announce major events that shareholders should know about  filed after close of business on 11 October, analyst MoffettNathanson has sounded the alarm on what is a significant trend in the companys video business.In the guidance, even though it forecasts gaining 300,000 subscribers for its over-the-top (OTT) offerings, AT&T expects to lose 390,000 traditional video subscribers in the quarter. The 8-K states that the effect of hurricanes and flooding during the reporting period were contributory factors, but the top-line stated trend is that video net losses were driven by heightened competition in traditional pay-TV markets and OTT services.The analysts co-founder, Craig Moffett, said there were four main important takeaways from AT&Ts video guidance. He said: First, it should be clear that DirecTV, like all of its cable peers, is suffering from the ravages of cord-cutting. Second, it should now also be clear that the pressure Comcast acknowledged in its own video subscriber numbers was not a function of elevated competitive intensity from AT&T. DirecTV and Comcast are seeing and responding to the same secular pressures. The issue is in the acceleration in cord-cutting, and the prevalence of OTT, not each other. It is reasonable to expect a weak quarter for the whole pay-TV industry.Third, it is becoming increasingly clear that the wheels are falling off of satellite TV. We would expect Dish Networks satellite result to be similarly weak as well. Fourth and finally (since it is a topic of increasingly frequent speculation), the weakness at DirecTV makes an AT&T acquisition of Dish Network all but unthinkable. Sure, the weaker the numbers get, the easier it would likely be to gain regulatory approval. But it is certainly also the case that the weaker the numbers get, the less AT&T would want more of the same. MoffettNathanson believes the weakness in AT&Ts pay-TV numbers shines a new light on the spate of aggressive promotions at AT&T, notably that almost all of them appear to be centred on bundling, with the benefit seemingly toward bolstering video metrics at DirecTV. It suggests that AT&T might want to focus on stemming the erosion of its traditional video subscribers and that the 8-K could lend credence to the analysts hypothesis that AT&Ts promotions might be an expensive attempt to stem such a decline.
Body cameras for the Mooresville Police Department have arrived. Find out when they will be used.
Overall civilian casualties in Afghanistan declined 6 percent during the first nine months of 2017, the United Nations says, as the Kabul government continues to battle militants after nearly 16 years of war.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report published on October 12 that it documented 8,019 civilian casualties, including 2,640 deaths, for the period of January 1 through September 30.

"As ground engagements continued to cause most civilian casualties, suicide and complex attacks, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) took a heavy toll on Afghan civilians," the report said.

It added that those living in the provinces of Kabul, Helmand, Nangarhar, Kandahar, and Faryab suffered the heaviest losses.

Of the overall civilian casualties, UNAMA said that 64 percent, or 5,167, were caused by "antigovernment elements."

It attributed 66 percent of those casualties to the Taliban, 10 percent to militants linked with the extremist group Islamic State (IS), and the rest to unidentified antigovernment elements.

"Antigovernment elements continued to target civilians intentionally using an array of tactics in attacks that amount to war crimes pursuant to international humanitarian law," it said.

The report added that attacks targeting the Shi'ite population as they attended mosques or religious ceremonies resulted in 278 civilian casualties, including 84 deaths.

UNAMA said that civilian casualties attributed to pro-government forces fell 19 percent to 1,578, including 560 deaths. Meanwhile, civilian casualties caused by air strikes surged 52 percent.

The UN mission said it documented 466 civilian casualties -- 205 deaths and 261 injuries -- during the first nine months of the year from air strikes, with women and children representing 68 percent of the casualties.

A U.S.-led invasion drove the Taliban from power in Kabul after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States -- carried out by Al-Qaeda, whose leaders were harbored by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

But the Western-backed government in Kabul 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 IS group.

The administration of President Donald Trump has recently unveiled a strategy to try to defeat the militants, and officials said more than 3,000 additional U.S. troops are being sent to the country to reinforce the 11,000 U.S. troops already stationed in the country.
The wife of an Azerbaijani journalist who had sought refuge in Georgia has left Tbilisi for Germany.

Leyla Mustafayeva told RFE/RL on October 12 that she is currently in Berlin with her four-year-old daughter, Nurayla.

Mustafayeva told RFE/RL that she decided to leave for Germany because she did not feel safe in Georgia anymore.

Afqan Muxtarli and his wife fled to Georgia in 2015, fearing for their safety in connection with his reporting on suspected corruption in President Ilham Aliyev's circle.

Muxtarli disappeared on May 29, and the next day Azerbaijani authorities said he was in custody in Baku on suspicion of illegally crossing the border and smuggling money. Muxtarli's lawyer, Archil Chopikashvili, said his client had been "abducted."



Mustafayeva said that, after her husband's disappearance, she had been stalked for months by various people in Tbilisi, and that the "surveillance" intensified after Azerbaijan's Interior Minister Ramil Usubov visited the Georgian capital in August.

Mustafayeva said Georgian authorities did not take any measures to stop the stalking, although she gave them photos and videos of her stalkers.

Human rights groups and Western governments have called on Baku to release Muxtarli.

European lawmakers passed a resolution in June calling on Azerbaijani authorities to free him immediately and drop all charges against him.
Activists say a court in Belarus has jailed a Russian professor for six days on a hooliganism charge after police barged into a lecture he was giving on the history of anarchism.

Police interrupted Pyotr Ryabov's lecture in the western city of Hrodno on October 9, briefly detaining him and about 20 other people and confiscating several of his books.

Police in Belarus, where authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's government tolerates little dissent and protests are frequently broken up, described their actions as an operation to prevent an "unsanctioned mass gathering."

The Minsk-based Vyasna (Spring) human rights center said that Ryabov, a professor at the Moscow Pedagogical University, was detained again in nearby Baranavichy on October 10 as he was preparing to leave for Russia.

On October 11, a court there found Ryabov guilty of hooliganism and ordered him to spend six days in jail.

Belarusian human rights activist Alyaksandr Vaytseshyk, who came to the hearing to support Ryabov, was detained in the courtroom and charged with contempt of court.

According to Vyasna, Ryabov announced a hunger strike to protest his incarceration.

With reporting by Vyasna
Activists in Ukraine demonstrated with a live goat outside Prague's embassy in Kyiv on October 12, after controversial comments made earlier this week by Czech President Milos Zeman. He told the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg on October 10 that Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region was a "fait accompli." Zeman added that there should be discussions of possible Russian compensation to Ukraine, with gas, oil, or money. The comments were quickly rejected as private and not official policy by the Czech prime minister and other top officials in Prague, but they sparked anger in Kyiv. Russia seized Crimea in March 2014, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegal by dozens of countries. (RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
Greek authorities have detained a leading member of Tajikistan's outlawed Islamic Renaissance Party (IRPT), a spokesman for the party told RFE/RL on October 11.

IRPT press secretary Mahmudjon Faizrahmonov said that a member of the IRPT's political council, Shohnaimi Karim -- also known as Mirzorahim Kuzov -- was detained at the Athens airport late on October 9 while en route from Warsaw to Tehran after attending a conference organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

He cited Greek authorities as saying that Karim was detained at the request of Interpol.

Tajik authorities branded the IPRT a terrorist group and banned it in 2015, claiming it organized an armed mutiny along with former Defense Minister Abdulhalim Nazarzoda in September of that year an attempt to seize power. Nazarzoda and several supporters were killed by Tajik security forces.

More than 12 leading IRPT members and lawyers for the party were convicted of involvement in organizing the mutiny and sentenced to lengthy prison terms in 2016. IRPT members and the party leader Muhiddin Kabiri, who now lives in exile, rejects the accusations.

Faizrahmonov told RFE/RL that Karim left Tajikistan before the violence in 2015 and has been living in Turkey and Iran.

Once the only registered Islamic political party in any of the five predominately Muslim former Soviet republics of Central Asia, the IRPT was represented in the Tajik parliament for 15 years after a 1992-97 civil war.
A panel of judges in Greece on October 11 accepted Russia's request for the extradition of a Russian cybercrime suspect also being sought by the United States for allegedly masterminding a $4 billion bitcoin money-laundering scheme.

The decision is at odds with a ruling last week by a different panel of judges in the city of Thessaloniki, which had agreed to send Aleksandr Vinnik to the United States to face charges of laundering bitcoins through a digital currency exchange to facilitate crimes ranging from computer hacking to drug trafficking.

The latest ruling extends a legal tug-of-war between Russia and the United States over Vinnik, 37, who was arrested in July during a holiday in Greece following a U.S. request.

Lawyers said the final decision on Vinnik will rest with Greece's justice minister once the suspect has exhausted the process of appealing his extradition to the United States.

Vinnik is one of seven Russians arrested or indicted this year on U.S. cybercrime charges. Russia has complained repeatedly about the detention of Russian citizens while traveling abroad, accusing U.S. officials of "kidnapping" them.

Russia filed its extradition request for Vinnik after the U.S. request and has accused him of a lesser 667,000 ruble ($11,500) fraud which, if upheld in court, could draw a maximum prison sentence of six years.

Vinnik denies both sets of charges, but his lawyer said he wants to be tried in Russia. He has appealed his U.S. extradition, and Greece's Supreme Court is expected to rule on that appeal in the coming weeks.

"That is his wish -- to be extradited to Russia and to give his account before the Russian judicial authorities," Alexandros Lykourezos, the lawyer leading Vinnik's defense, told reporters after the latest court ruling on October 11.

Vinnik was indicted by a U.S. grand jury in July on an array of charges that include money laundering, identity theft, and facilitating drug trafficking.

U.S. prosecutors said Vinnik "helped to launder criminal proceeds from syndicates around the world."

Vinnik has told Greek judges that he was a technical consultant to the digital currency exchange and not its operator.

He faces up to 55 years in prison if convicted on the U.S. charges.

With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and Interfax
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump will not pull the United States out of the landmark 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, despite offering blistering criticism of Tehran, U.S. officials say.

In a White House statement outlining elements of a new strategy to counter Tehran hours before the address, Trump said that it was "time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran's government end its pursuit of death and destruction."

Although Trump will not pull the United States out of the landmark 2015 Iranian nuclear deal signed along with six world powers, he will ask Congress to toughen a separate U.S. law (the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, or INARA) that runs alongside the nuclear accord.

INARA would automatically impose sanctions against Iran should it go past "firm trigger points" related to its ballistic-missile program, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told a briefing ahead of Trump's planned policy statement on Iran.

Trump is expected to speak about the issue on October 13 at 12:45 Washington time.

In the speech, Tillerson said, Trump will confirm that Iran remains in "technical" compliance with the terms of the nuclear deal, therefore preventing the United States from withdrawing from the accord, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Trump has long said Tehran may be complying with the terms of the deal but is not acting in the "spirit" of the accord because of its nuclear and ballistic-missile programs and its alleged meddling in the affairs of its Middle East neighbors.

"It is intended that we will stay in the JCPOA, but the president is going to decertify under INARA," Tillerson said. "The president has come to the conclusion that he cannot certify under INARA that the sanctions relief provided is proportionate to an effective benefit we are seeing."

He said the president will ask lawmakers to amend INARA to put in place "very firm trigger points" that would automatically reimpose sanctions should Tehran "cross" those red lines, which he did not specify.

No other actions would be required if it is determined that trigger points are invoked. The trigger points are specific to the nuclear program and the ballistic-missile program, Tillerson said.

He also said the president will ask Congress to eliminate specific "sunset dates" that establish expiration dates for matters related to Iran's nuclear program, meaning the restrictions would go on indefinitely.

Tillerson said any sanctions related to INARA would not affect the JCPOA, which is certified every 120 days by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and can be used in a "productive way" to meet U.S. goals.

But the JCPOA, which was also signed by Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia, "deals with nuclear activities only," Tillerson said. "We've talked about how that's only one piece of what concerns us about the relationship with Iran."

Officials in Russia, Germany, and France reacted by pledging their continued support for the Iran agreement.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assured his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, of Russia's "total commitment" to the nuclear deal, Interfax reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on October 13 that U.S. moves against the nuclear deal would have "very negative consequences" and would "seriously exacerbate the situation" surrounding the Iran nuclear issue.

A government spokesman in Berlin said Germany considered the Iran pact an "important instrument" to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and that German officials will "continue to work for its full implementation."

The French Foreign Ministry said in an October 13 statement that the Iranian nuclear deal was "a solid, robust, and verifiable tool guaranteeing that Iran will not get nuclear weapons."

Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said during a visit to Moscow that any U.S. move against the nuclear deal would be an insult to the United Nations, which sponsored the talks that led to the agreement. He also said any revision of the deal could lead to Iran not adhering to "our obligations."

Reports say Trump will urge Congress to pass legislation setting new, tougher requirements that Tehran must meet to continue to benefit from sanctions relief.

Trump will also ask Congress to amend or replace legislation that requires him every 90 days to certify that Iran is in compliance with the accord, a requirement officials say Trump has long opposed, the officials said.

'Destabilizing Influence'

The White House statement issued ahead of the address set out elements of a strategy designed to neutralize the Iranian government's "destabilizing influence," constrain "its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants," and prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.

It said the Trump administration would work to deny Iran -- particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) -- the funds it needs to conduct "malign activities" and to oppose IRGC activities that "extort the wealth of the Iranian people."

The statement did not say whether it would declare the IRGC a terrorist organization, something the Iranian government has warned the Trump administration not to do or to face a "proportionate response."

The Trump administration said it would also "rally the international community" to condemn the IRGC's "gross violation of human rights and its unjust detention" of U.S. citizens and other foreigners on what it called "specious charges."

The statement added that most importantly, it would "deny the Iranian regime all paths to a nuclear weapon."

The July 2015 agreement between Iran and six world powers -- the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia -- puts limits on Irans nuclear program in return for the easing of economic sanctions.

Trump has repeatedly denounced the deal, which was negotiated and signed under President Barack Obama's administration, and told the UN General Assembly last month that it was "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into."

Under U.S. law, the administration is required every 90 days to recertify that Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal and that the agreement remains in the U.S. national interest. The Trump administration has twice in the past certified that Iran is complying.

Congress To Decide

Media reports say the president this time under an October 15 deadline will announce that he is decertifying Iran while not formally pulling the United States out of the deal.

That move would give the Republican-controlled Congress 60 days to decide whether to reinstate sanctions on Tehran that were suspended under the agreement, a development that would amount to withdrawing from the deal.

While Congress could vote to reimpose sanctions, sentiment among lawmakers has been building recently in favor of keeping the deal in place, even among Republicans and Democrats who originally opposed it when Congress voted on it in 2015, media have reported.

Trump and other administration officials have repeatedly said that, while Iran may be complying with actual terms of the pact, it has not acted in the "spirit" of the accord, including by continuing to test-launch ballistic missiles and rockets capable of carrying nuclear warheads and by meddling in the affairs of its Middle East neighbors.

Tehran says its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes, including power generation.

Most Democrats and some Republicans, including members of Trumps national security team, have expressed concerns about pulling out of the accord, saying it could hurt U.S. credibility on the world stage.

The U.S. officials said that, along with discussing the nuclear accord, Trump in his speech will also point out many complaints regarding Iran's nonnuclear activities.

Among those will be the country's ballistic-missile program and support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war.

Tillerson also cited Iran's alleged support of extremist organizations, including Hizballah in Lebanon, support for the Huthi in Yemen and for the overthrow of the Yemeni government, and Tehran's export of foreign fighters to the region.

Tillerson said by amending the INARA, it would set the changes into U.S. law that could not be changed by a future president, unless altered by Congress and the president together.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and dpa
AK-JOL BORDER CROSSING, Kyrgyzstan -- Lines of cars, trucks, and frustrated travelers on foot stretched back from Kyrgyzstan's border with Kazakhstan, which officials in Bishkek suspect has restricted movement across the frontier amid a politically charged dispute ahead of a Kyrgyz presidential election on October 15.

As the crush at the border entered its third day, some motorists at the Ak-Jol checkpoint on October 12 told an RFE/RL correspondent they had waited in line overnight but still had not crossed into Kazakhstan.

"We had to spend many hours at one checkpoint on October 10 before they told us that their computers were frozen," said Natalya Tyan, a Russian citizen who was trying to cross into Kazakhstan. "Then we came here the next day, and now 17 hours later we are still in the line."

Motorists said only one vehicle was crossing the border every two hours, and that nobody had explained why. People without cars were stuck in long lines inside a cage-like corridor leading to the border and were waiting hours to cross.

Alamudun district governor Kasymbek Chodurov, who arrived at the Ak-Jol checkpoint on October 11, told RFE/RL that tents had been set up to provide travelers with food and water and offer beds for pregnant women and the elderly and ill.

Kyrgyzstan's State Border Service told RFE/RL that long lines of automobiles and people had formed near several checkpoints as Kazakh authorities appeared to step up checks and slow the pace of crossing procedures as of October 10.

Kazakhstan's National Security Committee said on October 11 that "a scheduled border operation" was being conducted along the countrys frontiers.

But some of the travelers seeking to cross blamed a public blow-up between senior officials of the two countries over what outgoing Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev claims has been interference by Kazakhstan in the election to choose his replacement.

Accusations Of 'Meddling'

On October 7, Atambaev accused Kazakh authorities of "meddling in Kyrgyzstan's internal affairs" and of openly supporting Omurbek Babanov, who is facing off against his favored successor and other candidates in the vote in Kyrgyzstan.

Atambaev also criticized Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, who has been in power since the Soviet era, over his long rule.

The accusations came after Nazarbaev met on September 19 with Babanov, who is seen as a front-runner along with ruling Social Democratic Party candidate Sooronbai Jeenbekov -- an unusual step by the president of a neighboring country during an election campaign.

Atambaev is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term and has publicly supported Jeenbekov, who stepped down as prime minister in August to run for president.

On October 10, Kazakh Prime Minister Baqytzhan Saghyntaev rejected the Kyrgyz claims of interference, calling them "groundless."

Speaking before the border trouble began, Saghyntaev said that "all of Kyrgyzstan's aviation, railway and automobile routes go out via Kazakhstan, and we have never imposed any restrictions on them."

Some in Kyrgyzstan -- which also borders China, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and is separated from Russia by its much larger northern neighbor Kazakhstan, believe that was a signal presaging tighter control over the border.

Adding To Election Tension

At the border on October 12, people seeking to cross -- a mix of Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Russians, and others -- said they had never seen such crowds in the past.

Truck drivers said they were worried that the fruit and vegetables they were hauling would spoil before making it to markets in Kazakhstan and Russia further to the north.

The Kyrgyz government said on October 11 that Prime Minister Sapar Isakov spoke with Nazarbaev on the sidelines of a Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Russia, and that Nazarbaev then ordered his government to resolve the border issue.

But on October 12, the Kazakh government said the two had only spoken briefly, and that Nazarbaev gave no such order. It said he had instructed Kazakh officials to consult with Kyrgyz officials.

Truckers on the Kyrgyz side told RFE/RL that the line started moving faster as of about 11 p.m. on October 11, but that it slowed again starting at about 8 a.m. on October 12.

Meanwhile, RFE/RL's correspondents on the Kazakh side reported that vehicles and people on foot were entering Kyrgyzstan without waiting in line.

Armed Kazakh soldiers were seen near the Qordai checkpoint, which observers said they had never seen before.

The feud with Kazakhstan has added to tension ahead of the election in Kyrgyzstan, where presidents were driven from power by protesters in 2005 and 2010.


Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev discussed supplying liquefied Russian natural gas to Morocco on a visit to Rabat on October 11 during which he signed a string of energy, military, and other deals.

Medvedev met with Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani and presided at a signing ceremony for 11 bilateral agreements covering cooperation in such areas as customs, agriculture, the military, culture, energy efficiency, and nuclear energy.

Medvedev touted what he called a "very promising project to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet the needs of the Moroccan economy," saying during a press conference that "the potential for cooperation is huge."

Russia's energy minister, Aleksandr Novak, on a visit to Morocco last month said an LNG regasification terminal was being built and the two countries discussed gas deliveries by the Russian groups Gazprom and Novatek, local media reported.

Morocco has few oil and gas reserves of its own and is planning to open an LNG terminal at Jorf Lasfar on the North African country's Atlantic coast in 2019, according to the Energy Ministry.

The disputed Western Sahara region that Morocco annexed in the mid-1970s also was a topic of the talks between Medvedev and El Othmani.

Medvedev is traveling with a large Russian government delegation and business executives. Morocco's King Mohammed VI hosted a lunch in the prime minister's honor.

Medvedev arrived in Morocco after a visit to Algeria, where he discussed oil prices and energy cooperation.

Based on reporting by AP, TASS, Interfax, and AFP


Pakistani soldiers have rescued a Canadian-American family of five that was being held hostage for nearly five years by a group that has ties to the Afghan Taliban.

U.S. citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012. Coleman gave birth to the couple's three children while in captivity.

The Pakistani Army announced in an October 12 statement that the family was rescued during an operation in the northwestern Kurram tribal district near the Afghan border after the military received intelligence from U.S. officials.

It said U.S. intelligence agencies had been tracking the family in Afghanistan and that the captives had been moved across the border into Kurram on October 11.

Pakistani military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor later gave additional details about the operation.

"We sent our troops, traced the vehicle on the basis of intelligence sharing by 1900 hours yesterday and recovered the hostages," he said in televised comments late on October 12.

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed the release.

"Yesterday, the United States government, working in conjunction with the government of Pakistan, secured the release of the Boyle-Coleman family from captivity in Pakistan," Trump said in a statement on October 12, calling the rescue operation a "positive moment" for U.S.-Pakistani ties.

The Afghan Taliban-aligned Haqqani network released videos of the couple during their captivity.

The latest video, which was released in December 2016, showed the couple with two young boys. In it, Coleman, who was pregnant when she was abducted, begged for an end to their "Kafkaesque nightmare."

The Haqqani network has been demanding the release of three of its prisoners in Afghanistan.

The release of the family from custody comes as relations between Washington and Islamabad are at low point.

The United States has accused Pakistan of not doing enough to counter Islamist militants who operate across its border with Afghanistan  an accusation rejected by Islamabad.

Pakistans army said the success of the operation "underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan's continued commitment toward fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy."

The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region, Trump said in his statement. We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis praised Pakistan for successfully carrying out a potentially risky rescue mission, which family members said included a shootout during which Taliban captors were killed.

"This is a very positive moment and the Pakistan army performed well. We will hopefully see it being a harbinger for the future," Mattis told reporters on October 12.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said her government was "greatly relieved" the family had been released and was safe, and thanked the United States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan for their efforts.

The High Commissioner for Pakistan to Canada, Tariq Azim Khan, said the family was flown by helicopter to the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad following the raid conducted by a Pakistani commando team.

He said all the members of the family were fit to travel but that it is still undecided whether they will fly to Canada or to the United States from the Pakistani capital.

In a video posted on the Toronto Star newspaper's website, Boyle's parents said he told them by phone he would see them within days. The couple offered thanks to the Pakistani soldiers who had "risked their lives" to rescue the family.

Meanwhile, reports quoted unidentified U.S. officials as saying the U.S. Army was ready to fly the family out of Pakistan but that the couple refused to immediately board the aircraft over Boyle's concerns he could face U.S. scrutiny for links to a former Guantanamo captive.

Boyle was once married to the sister of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee and the daughter of a late senior Al-Qaeda financier. CNN suggested that he might fear prosecution in the United States.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, and the BBC
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told world leaders that the time to end Russia's war in Ukraine is "now" and called for the extension of a grain-export deal due to expire shortly, as heavy fighting continues in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

"I am convinced that now is the time when the Russian destructive war must and can be stopped," Zelenskiy said in a video address to the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Bali, Indonesia, on November 15.

"It will save thousands of lives," he said.

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.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine would not allow Russian troops to regroup after their withdrawal from the southern strategic city of Kherson, and said there would be more fighting until Ukraine reclaims control of all of its occupied territory.

The liberation of Kherson over the weekend was one of Ukraine's biggest successes in nearly nine months since the start of the Russian invasion.

Zelenskiy urged Moscow to withdraw all its forces from Ukraine and reaffirm Ukraine's territorial integrity, warning that Kyiv would not compromise its sovereignty, territory, or independence. He also called for all Ukrainian prisoners to be released.

Zelenskiy outlined several approaches to achieve peace, including ensuring nuclear and food safety, the ending of hostilities, and a prevention of escalation.

He blasted "the crazy threats of nuclear weapons that Russian officials resort to," referring to rhetoric employed repeatedly by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskiy thanked the "G19," pointedly excluding Russia, for making clear that "there cannot be any excuses for nuclear blackmail."

Putin has shunned the gathering and sent Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Bali in his place.



A deal struck in July between the United Nations and Russia that allows the export of Ukrainian grains and other food products from ports blocked by Russian warships is due to expire on November 19.

Zelenskiy said the deal, which according to the UN has allowed the export of 10 million tons of grain and other food, should be extended indefinitely.

"I believe our export grain initiative deserves an indefinite extension -- no matter when the war ends," Zelensky said.

"The right to food is a fundamental right of every person in the world," he said, proposing to expand the deal to more Ukrainian ports.



Zelenskiy accused Moscow of an "attempt to turn the cold into a weapon" by launching waves of air strikes against key infrastructure ahead of the coming winter.

He also spoke in favor of a U.S.-led push for a price cap on Russian oil exports "so that energy resources are no longer used as weapons."



The Ukrainian military reported early on November 15 that its forces repelled waves of Russian attacks on positions in the Donetsk region, including Bakhmut and Belohoryivka, and on Novoselivske in Luhansk.

According to Ukraine's General Staff, the Russian military is accommodating recently arrived reinforcements in abandoned private houses in Luhansk.

The General Staff had previously said that in Luhansk, occupying Russian forces plan to carry out a complete evacuation of the civilian population from three settlements.

The Russian Army is also trying to hold captured territories and continues to equip defensive lines on the left bank of the Dnieper River in the Kherson region, the military said.

In the parts of Kherson region recaptured by the Ukrainian Army over the past week, Russia has destroyed "all critical infrastructure," Zelenskiy said in his regular nightly address on November 14.

Zelenskiy said there is no electricity, no communication, and no television in Kherson, saying the withdrawing Russian troops destroyed everything intentionally.

Earlier on November 14, Ukrainian national energy company Ukrenerho 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," Ukrenerho chief Volodymyr Kudrytskiy said. "We are doing our best to supply people with electricity as soon as possible."



Ukrainian commander-in-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."



The White House announced separately that CIA Director Bill Burns met in Ankara, Turkey, with Russian intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin, the head of the 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.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and BBC
Russia is introducing a new banknote showing images of Ukraine's annexed Crimea region.

The new 200 ruble ($3.5) note was presented by Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina at a press conference in Moscow on October 12.

It shows a naval memorial in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, where Russia's Black Sea fleet is based, and the ruins of the ancient city of Chersonesus.

The design also includes a map of the Crimean Peninsula.

The images on the banknote were chosen after a national competition to pick symbols of Russia.

"The Russian people chose these symbols," Nabiullina told journalists. "This reflects the desire of the people of Russia to see these symbols on notes."

Nabiullina also said that the new images "will not harm the position of the ruble in any way."

Russia seized Crimea in March 2014, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegal by dozens of countries. It also backs separatists in a war that has killed more than 10,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

The United States, other Western countries, and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine that have hit Russias economy and currency hard.

The green, 200-ruble banknote, along with a new 2,000-ruble ($35) bill that shows the Vostochny Cosmodrome being built in Russia's Far East, are planned to appear nationwide by the end of the year.

In 2015, Russia issued a commemorative limited-edition 100-ruble ($1.7) note to mark what Moscow calls "the return" of Crimea.

Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, TASS, and Interfax
Russia lashed out at the United States on October 11, lodging a protest and claiming that Russian flags were stolen from its vacated consulate in San Francisco, a charge immediately disputed by the U.S. State Department.

The Russian Embassy to the United States said on its Russian-language Twitter account that flags were "stolen" from the building and called it "the latest shameful event" in a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic reprisals between the countries this year.

"We demand the American authorities return our state symbols," the post said, alongside pictures of a bare flagpole on top of the consulate building.

The U.S. State Department denied that the flags were stolen.

"The flags at the former Russian consular properties in San Francisco were respectfully lowered and are safely stored within each of the buildings," a State Department official said in e-mails to reporters.

The Russian Embassy said it had lodged a formal protest over the incident.

"A decisive protest was sent to the American side in connection with the fact that Russian flags were torn off our diplomatic properties in San Francisco, which are under the control of U.S. authorities," the embassy said in a Russian-language statement on its website.

In English, the embassy used the more neutral word "removal."

"We consider such a move...an extremely unfriendly step," the embassy said.

A tweet from the Russian Foreign Ministry cited ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying: "We regard the removal of flags from Russian diplomatic property in the US as desecration of a Russian state symbol."

Washington ordered Moscow to vacate the consulate and Russian trade annexes in Washington and New York at the beginning of September, steps intended to produce parity in the sizes of the Russian and U.S. diplomatic missions.

Earlier on October 11, a Russian Foreign Ministry official repeated a threat to demand a further cut in the number of U.S. diplomatic personnel in Russia, to 300.

In late July, Russia ordered the United States to cut the number of diplomatic personnel in Russia to 455 by September 1 -- a reduction of about two-thirds -- in retaliation for a new U.S. law strengthening sanctions imposed on Russia over issues including its aggression in Ukraine and alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election in 2016.

With reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax
Officials from Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor, including its press secretary, were placed under house arrest earlier this month amid an investigation into possible fraud, a Moscow court spokesman said.

Chertanovo District Court spokesman Stanislav Yezhov said on October 12 that Roskomnadzor press secretary Vadim Ampelonsky and the chief of the agency's legal department, Boris Yedidin, were ordered under house arrest for one month on October 5.

Aleksandr Veselchakov, an adviser to the director of the state-run Main Radio Frequency Center, was also put under house arrest for the same period, Yezhov said.

According to Yezhov, the three are suspected of involvement in a massive financial fraud. He said none has been charged.

Roskomnadzor is the state agency that monitors electronic media, mass communications, information technology, and telecommunications to ensure their compliance with federal laws.

Kremlin critics accuse President Vladimir Putin's government of using it as a tool to clamp down on Internet freedoms and stifle dissent.

Based on reporting by Rapsinews, Interfax, and TASS
A high-level U.S. diplomatic delegation is visiting Pakistan for the first time since President Donald Trump announced a new strategy for Afghanistan in August.

Alice Wells, the acting assistant secretary for South and Central Asia and acting special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Lisa Curtis, a senior director for South and Central Asia at the National Security Council, met with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua on October 12, a U.S. Embassy spokesperson told Radio Mashaal.

The U.S. delegation, which also included David Helvey, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, was to meet with Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif.

Wells and Curtis would discuss Pakistan's role in finding a solution to the 16-year Afghan war, the embassy spokesperson said.

When Trump announced his new approach to the war in Afghanistan on August 21, he said additional pressure would be put on neighboring Pakistan to crack down on safe havens for extremists within its borders, although he did not mention specific actions that might be taken.

News agencies have reported that measures being discussed include potentially downgrading Pakistans status as a major non-NATO ally.

In an apparent response to Trump's remarks, Pakistan asked the United States to postpone a visit by Wells that had been due to begin on August 28.

Pakistan did not say the postponement was linked to Trumps allegations, but Islamabad has heavily criticized the comments.

"At the request of the government of Pakistan, Acting Assistant Secretary Wells' trip has been postponed until a mutually convenient time," the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said.

Asif visited the United States earlier this month and held talks with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on October 4.

Tillerson and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will visit Pakistan in the coming weeks, media reports say.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has expressed concerns over articles in Ukraines new education law relating to teaching in minority languages.

In addition, several European Union diplomats told RFE/RL on October 13 that Hungary will bring up the law when EU foreign ministers meet on October 16 in Luxembourg.

Meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg on October 12, the PACE voted for a resolution criticizing the new legislation, saying it "does not appear to strike an appropriate balance between the official language and the languages of national minorities."

"In particular, the new law entails a heavy reduction in the rights previously recognized to 'national minorities' concerning their own language of education," they said.

EU diplomats told RFE/RL that Hungary had threatened to review the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement that entered into force on September 1. Since this can only be done by unanimous agreement of all EU members, Hungary instead said it will bring up the issue at the Luxembourg meeting.

Hungary also included the issue in the Eastern Partnership declaration that EU ambassadors agreed to on October 11 and that leaders plan to issue at the Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels on November 24.

The draft text says parties should "ensure respect for rights already exercised of persons belonging to national minorities as enshrined in UN and Council of Europe conventions and related protocols."

The EU officials also said Budapest would consider pushing for tough language on the matter during an EU-Ukraine association council session in December if the issue remains outstanding.

Poland and Romania, which both expressed concerns about Ukraine's education law, have not joined Hungary in any of the actions, the officials said.

After days of criticism from Ukraines ethnic minorities and its neighbors, President Petro Poroshenko on September 25 signed the legislation into law, which makes Ukrainian the required language of study in state schools from the fifth grade on.

The law does not outlaw instruction in languages other than Ukrainian, and students can still learn their native languages as a separate subject.

But the new law's language requirement overturns a 2012 law that allowed for minorities to introduce their languages in regions where they represented more than 10 percent of the population.

No 'Real Consultation'

PACE said that the new law was adopted without "real consultation with representatives of national minorities."

It also expressed dissatisfaction that Ukrainian authorities submitted the text of the bill to the Council of Europe's Venice Commission of legal experts for an opinion only after its adoption by lawmakers.

The assembly urged the authorities "to fully implement the forthcoming recommendations and conclusions of the Venice Commission and to modify the new Education Act accordingly."

In signing the bill, Poroshenko insisted that it was "in harmony with European standards" and "ensures equal opportunities for all," according to a statement on the presidential website.

But that hasnt assuaged the concerns of groups such as Poles, Romanians, and Hungarians, all of whom have sizable ethnic communities in Ukraine. The law has also incensed officials in other countries neighboring Ukraine as well, particularly Russia and Hungary.

On October 12 in Budapest, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Hungary will continue with withhold support for Ukraine's further integration with the European Union as long as the law remains unchanged.

"We consider the new Ukrainian education law a stab in the back of our country," he said.

He was speaking at a joint news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, who said that not knowing the native language made it hard for minorities to be successful in Ukraine.

"Everyone needs the opportunity to fulfill themselves in their country of citizenship," Klimkin said. "But this is not possible without knowing the language."

He added that "not a single school" would be closed or "a single teacher" dismissed because of the new language requirement.

Russias Foreign Ministry has said that the law is designed to "forcefully establish a mono-ethnic language regime in a multinational state." Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Ukraine "stabbed Hungary in the back" with the law.

With reporting by AP and Reuters
The story of the rise and fall of Gulnara Karimova, the elder daughter of Uzbekistan's late president, has been gradually unearthed and corroborated by reporters and police in multiple countries in the three years since she disappeared from the public eye under reported house arrest in Uzbekistan.

But details of her efforts to wrest control of a major telecoms operator, and the sprawling criminal investigation that continues, have not been fully explored to date.

Now, court documents obtained by RFE/RL detail a relentless campaign of intimidation in a multibillion-dollar case that led to an international corruption investigation and her stunning fall from grace.

The assertions are contained in documents compiled by Swedish prosecutors pursuing criminal bribery and other charges against former top executives of the Scandinavian telecom company previously known as TeliaSonera.

The documents include an affidavit filed in September 2012 by one of Karimova's closest business associates, Bekhzod Akhmedov, a former senior executive at one of Uzbekistan's largest telecom companies, Uzdunrobita.

In it, Akhmedov asserted that Karimova and an aide issued explicit or implied threats against him and his family, and pressured him to pony up hundreds of thousands of dollars for a Karimova-foundation event. They even pushed him to sell a family home to meet the demand for cash, and reminded him that "every dollar of your property belongs to me."

His statements shed light on alleged tactics that had already made Karimova "the single most hated person in the country," in the words of a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable. She reportedly remains incommunicado in Uzbek custody.

Akhmedov made his initial, 17-page affidavit to an investigator with the Russian Interior Ministry's organized-crime unit with his lawyer present in Moscow in 2012, about three months after he had fled Uzbekistan.

Akhmedov said he bolted his home country in June 2012 "fearing for my life and health, as well as that of my family" following a series of increasingly hostile threats by Karimova.

Akhmedov is still believed to be living in Moscow. Attempts by RFE/RL to locate him for further comment were unsuccessful.

Attractive Target

Founded by U.S. investors at the time of the Soviet collapse, Uzdunrobita had been essentially controlled by Karimova through a series of shell companies since 2002.

Akhmedov initially joined Uzdunrobita thanks in part to an exchange program in which he participated in the United States, where he met Uzdunrobita's U.S. investors in the late 1990s. He later became director of one of its main divisions.

Akhmedov said he met Karimova in 2001 through his sister, who was a university classmate of hers in the Uzbek capital. Karimova, he said, invited him to work simultaneously for a retail clothing store that sold Levi's jeans in Tashkent, among other things.

Later in 2001, he said, he introduced Karimova to Uzdunrobita's main U.S. investors, who were seeking a new license in Uzbekistan and wanted her to seek involvement of her father, then-President Islam Karimov. Karimova demanded a 20 percent stake in Uzdunrobita, Akhmedov said, and threatened problems for the company. The two sides ultimately created a new structure for the company.

By 2004, Uzdunrobita's U.S. investors were actively seeking to exit Uzbekistan, in part because of currency restrictions that prevented them from converting their Uzbek profits into U.S. dollars.

Mobile-phone use was exploding in Central Asia's most populous country and around the region, and the growth potential for the Uzbek market attracted the attention of Russia's largest telecom, MTS, which eventually took control of Uzdunrobita over the next three years, reportedly at a cost of $371 million.

Other companies, including VimpelCom -- which was controlled by a group of Russian oligarchs and was Russia's No. 3 cell-phone provider -- and Finnish-Swedish TeliaSonera, which later changed its name to Telia, also saw potential in the Uzbek market and began investing there.

In December 2011, Akhmedov, who was Uzdunrobita's general director at the time, was notified that Uzbek tax authorities and prosecutors were investigating the company for unspecified legal violations. By the following March, the company had been notified it owed the Uzbek state around $1.5 million

In February 2012, Akhmedov said, Karimova's close associate Gayane Avakyan ordered him to come to Karimova's Tashkent office, where he said he was notified that he owed Karimova $15 million stemming from what she alleged were losses from Uzdunrobita's advertising operations in 2007-11.

"I didn't react to Karimova's demands to pay her [$15 million], but in response to Gayane Avakyan's questions about when the payment would be made, I answered that I was considering how to resolve this problem," Akhmedov said in the affidavit.

Later that month, Akhmedov said that Avakyan notified him that he and all members of his family were under surveillance and warned them not to leave the country. He said Karimova later demanded that he sell his father's house for approximately $1 million. Otherwise, he said, she told him, "they might throw Bekhzod in jail."

After paying Karimova $1.16 million in several installments from the sale of his father's home, Akhmedov said, he moved into an apartment with his parents and his sisters.

In May 2012, he said, Avakyan asked Akhmedov about the whereabouts of his wife and children. Akhmedov told her they were living in Moscow, where his youngest daughter was getting medical treatment. Avakyan allegedly demanded to know their address, along with photographs of the residence in Moscow and copies of utility bills. Akhmedov said he complied, according to the court document.

On May 14, 2012, he said, he received an invoice from Karimova's charitable foundation, called the Fund Forum, in the amount of $250,000, to attend a gala event being held during the Cannes Film Festival in France. The event was being hosted, he said, by Monaco's Prince Albert and the foundation of former President Bill Clinton. It was co-sponsored by Karimova's fashion business, Guli. He said he borrowed money from acquaintances and four days later paid her the requested amount.

Ratcheting Up Pressure

Most of Karimova's demands, Akhmedov said, were relayed through Avakyan, except on two occasions when Akhmedov spoke directly to Karimova on the phone, once through speakerphone in discussing the Cannes gala.

She "demanded money, but didn't name an amount, threatening only that in the worst-case scenario, I would be taken to court. Moreover, Karimova said that she didn't care where I got the money from," he said according to the affidavit. "Her speech was accompanied by unprintable words."

Later in May 2012, he said, Karimova demanded that Akhmedov's wife and children return to Tashkent and that their apartment in Moscow be sold to pay off the alleged debts.

A message from Karimova that he received on his Blackberry later that month and reportedly shared with the Russian investigator said, "We hope to receive all outstanding sums, as initially requested, in order to halt the process of criminal consequences in all cases.... If you find it difficult to sell your home more quickly, give me documents and our representatives will sell it in the coming days. Under any circumstances, every dollar of your property belongs to me."

On June 1, 2012, Akhmedov said, he submitted a letter of resignation as Uzdunrobita's general director. The next day, he received a letter signed by Karimova, again via his Blackberry: "Bekhzod, in answer to your note: before you can say farewell, you must fulfill your obligations. Everyone is tired of repeating this. The faster you bring order to these affairs, the quicker this all will be finished," the letter said.

"It's fully possible that this will be the last warning, and in the near future, how events unfold will depend on your speediest actions. It should be noted right away that if you try to use your children, your wife, or your family as an excuse, it's better not to even go there; that should have been thought of earlier," the letter said.

Five days later, he fled Tashkent.

"Karimova's baseless demands, as dictated here and in the text of the previously provided letter, of the illegal transfer of the property of myself and my family, I took to be, and continue to take as, genuine threats of violence directed toward me and my family members," Akhmedov said in his affidavit.

Two months later, in August 2012, Uzdunrobita and MTS lost their license to operate in the country.

In 2014, MTS announced it was under investigation by U.S. authorities for possible violation of U.S. corruption laws. Two years later, the company announced it was selling its stake in Uzdunrobita and leaving the country altogether.

VimpelCom also announced that year it was the subject of a U.S. investigation, and last year agreed to pay almost $800 million to settle bribery claims in the United States and the Netherlands.

Telia agreed in September to pay approximately $1 billion in criminal and civil penalties to U.S. and Dutch authorities in connection with bribes that officials said were paid to a Gibraltar-based shell company controlled by Karimova.

VimpelCom, U.S. and European officials said, used the same Gibraltar-based shell company to make payments to Karimova.

On September 22, Swedish prosecutors charged three former TeliaSonera executives with paying bribes as part of an effort to get a mobile-phone license in Uzbekistan.

'Cash Cow To Milk Anytime'

While it is difficult to independently confirm Akhmedov's account, many of the facts, dates, and figures in his 2012 affidavit match up with findings made by European law enforcement, Uzbek civil-society activists, corporate filings, and journalist reports.

Akhmedov's statements are significant enough that Swedish prosecutors, as well as Swiss prosecutors who are conducting a parallel criminal investigation, have included them in some of their court filings.

In 2015, three years after his initial affidavit to Russian law enforcement, Akhmedov was interviewed for four days in Moscow by Swiss investigators. Transcripts of those interviews were also included in the criminal proceedings in Sweden, where prosecutors are seeking his testimony.

In one interview, Akhmedov described Karimova variously as his friend and also his perpetual creditor. "She looked at me like I was her slave," he said, according to a transcript. "She treated me as a 'cash cow' that she could milk at any time. On the one hand, she invited me to her birthday party. On the other hand, she forbade my parents to travel abroad and tried to seize my houses."

He told the Swiss investigators he had no choice but to obey Karimova. Otherwise, he said: "I would have ended up in a psychiatric hospital. She could even have killed me."

RFE/RL shared Akhmedov's Russian affidavit with an Uzbek national who also worked closely with Karimova in the early 2000s and later fled the country. He said the details matched up broadly with his recollection.

Dudley Christie, an American eye doctor who was involved in setting up Uzdunrobita before cashing out in the early 2000s, said he remembered Akhmedov well. Christie told RFE/RL he could not be 100 percent certain of the dates and details of, for example, the sale that gave Karimova greater control of Uzdunrobita, but he said it largely matched his recollection.

"He used to be a fairly straight shooter," Christie said of Akhmedov. "I also knew the first family really well; if they wanted something, they would get it."

"I saw the handwriting on the wall. There was so much crookedness over there, so much corruption in that region, I knew that [instead of] screwing around over there, I could make more money being an eye doctor," he said. "I knew we had to get what we could and at least for the American side, the investors, to get out of these things, without losing our shirt."

In July, nearly a year after the death of Karimova's father, Uzbekistan's chief prosecutor for the first time confirmed that Karimova had been arrested, saying she was convicted in 2015 of economic crimes and sentenced to five years of "restricted freedom."

RFE/RL's Uzbek Service contributed to this report
A United Nations expert has called on the Uzbek government to enact reforms that would allow citizens to practice their faiths freely, saying that strengthening diversity and freedom of religion can help combat religious extremism.

The UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ahmed Shaheed, made the comments in a statement issued on October 12, after concluding a 11-day official visit to Uzbekistan.

"Religions or beliefs should not be seen as a threat to Uzbekistan, where many ethnic and religious communities live together peacefully," Shaheed said.

He also said the rights to freedom of religion or belief "cannot be sacrificed in preventing or countering violent extremism."

Shaheed said that what he called President Shavkat Mirziyoevs recent efforts to reform could be a turning point in Uzbekistan's development, if the moves are implemented systematically.

Mirziyoev took the reins of government in one of post-Soviet Central Asia's more repressive systems last year, following the death of longtime autocrat Islam Karimov.

Mirziyoev won a five-year term in a tightly controlled presidential election in December. Since then, he has taken steps to reduce Uzbekistan's isolation.

His government has released some people widely seen as political prisoners, taken steps to improve ties with neighboring Central Asian countries, and established channels aimed at improving communication between citizens and the authorities.

However, the Forum 18 News Service, an agency monitoring religious freedom in the former Soviet republics and Eastern Europe, said last month that freedoms of religion or belief, expression, association, and assembly remain "seriously restricted" in Uzbekistan.

"These restrictions on human rights are part of the regime's intentional systemic policy to control every aspect of society," it said. "This is why followers of all religions and beliefs -- with no exceptions -- face freedom of religion or belief violations.

Shaheed said Uzbekistan faces many human rights challenges and will require sustained commitment to make the right to freedom of religion or belief a reality.

Along with legal reforms, the Uzbek government needs to embrace an "operational" approach to human rights, including institutional and policy reforms, he added.

"Freedom of religion or belief requires widening the space for the freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression, as well as strengthening the rule of law and guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary," according to Shaheed.

He also said that freedom of conscience, thought, religion, or belief is overregulated, if not restricted, in Uzbekistan.

"Religious communities can only function within the given limits of registration and the authorities tend to stay watchful of all religious activities," the special rapporteur said.

Shaheed insisted that people "should not have to activate auto self-censorship whenever they speak of religion or practice their faiths."

During his mission to Uzbekistan, Shaheed met government officials, local authorities, representatives of ethnic and religious communities, civil society organizations, and the diplomatic community, the statement said.

He is due to present a report containing his conclusions and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2018.


U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 23964 / October 11, 2017 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Gerardo de Nicolas et al., No. 3:17-civ-2086-JAH- AGS (S.D. Cal. filed Oct. 11, 2017) SEC Charges Former Top Executives for Role in Mexico-Based Homebuilder's $3.3 Billion Accounting Fraud The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against former senior officers of Mexico-based homebuilding company Desarrolladora Homex S.A.B. de C.V. for their roles in the company's $3.3 billion accounting fraud. Homex settled SEC charges earlier this year without admitting or denying allegations that it reported fake sales of more than 100,000 homes to boost revenues during at least a three-year period. The SEC used satellite imagery to help uncover the accounting scheme and illustrate its allegation that Homex had not even broken ground on many of the homes for which it reported revenues. According to the SEC's complaint, the multi-billion dollar financial fraud was masterminded by Homex's then-Chief Executive Officer, Gerardo de Nicolas, its then-Chief Financial Officer, Carlos Moctezuma, then-Controller, Ramon Lafarga, and Noe Corrales, then a manager in the company's operations department. The complaint alleges that Homex's annual reports for 2010 through 2012, which were filed with the SEC, portrayed the company as productive and financially sound, and that de Nicolas and Moctezuma certified them when they knew Homex was in a dire financial state. The SEC's complaint also alleges that de Nicolas and Moctezuma caused Homex to enter into loan agreements with at least 13 Mexican banks, which Homex was able to repay only by additional bank borrowing, in check-kiting fashion. The SEC alleges that de Nicolas and Moctezuma hid the true nature of these loans from Homex's investors and mischaracterized them to Homex's auditors. The SEC's complaint alleges that Lafarga directed Corrales to create a false second set of books, through which the fraud was perpetrated. Homex filed for the Mexican equivalent of bankruptcy protection in April 2014 and emerged under new equity ownership in October 2015. The SEC's complaint alleges that during the Mexican bankruptcy proceedings, de Nicolas and Moctezuma incorporated the allegedly fraudulent 2010-2012 financial reports into Homex's post-bankruptcy business plan, which they knew would be shared with the company's investors. The SEC's complaint charges de Nicolas, Moctezuma, Lafarga, and Corrales with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 10(b) and 13(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5 and 13b2-1 thereunder, and with aiding and abetting Homex's violations Sections 13(a), 13(b)(2)(A) and (B) of the Exchange Act and Rules 12b-20, 13a-1 and 13a-16 thereunder. The complaint also charges de Nicolas and Moctezuma with violating Rules 13b2-2 and 13a-14 under the Exchange Act. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest, civil penalties, and officer and director bars. The SEC's continuing investigation is being conducted by Alfred C. Tierney, Benjamin D. Brutlag, Andrew M. Shirley and Juan M. Migone, and is being supervised by J. Lee Buck II. The SEC's litigation will be led by Richard Hong. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Mexican Comision Nacional Bancaria y de Valores. SEC Complaint https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2017/lr23964.htm

Modified: 10/11/2017
Most countries focus on industrial output to measure their worth, boasting their high GDPs (Gross Domestic Product). But that's not the case in Bhutan, a tiny Himalayan kingdom tucked between India and China. Bhutan focuses instead on a concept they call GNH, or Gross National Happiness.

Often cited at the 'most authentic country in the world,' Bhutan is often seen as "a magic time machine," and it has a long history of isolationism in attempts to preserve its unique identity. After defeating Tibetan forces and feuding warlords in the 16th century, Bhutan's leader unified the country and cultivated a unique culture to differentiate itself from warring powers. A distinct Bhutanese identity emerged which emphasized a communal relationship with nature and a lifestyle centered around Buddhism.

Bhutan avoided globalization and preserved its society in isolation for centuries. As the rest of the world modernized, Bhutan still had no currency, telephones, hospitals, or paved roads. It wasn't until the late 1960s that Bhutan cracked open its doors to the outside world and started to focus on development. But instead of hurriedly adopting western reforms, Bhutan's beloved Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck invented Gross National Happiness to guide his country's progress.

Learn More:

Telegraph: Profile: The King of Bhutan - The prince who brought satellite TV to Shangri-La

Aljazeera: My Country is My Family: Resettling Bhutan's Refugees

Time: Bhutan: The Last Authentic Place on Earth
Incoming South Bend board members talk facility plans, community input

South Bend school board members elected this fall will likely play a role in shaping the district's footprint for years to come.
Blue Origin has so far signed up only commercial customers for its New Glenn rocket, but the company's new CEO said initial talks are underway about certifying it for U.S. government missions.

CHANTILLY, Va.  The new chief executive of Blue Origin told the National Space Council his company is in discussions about certifying its New Glenn rocket for government missions, a shift in strategy that could put the company in competition with a customer.

In a presentation to the first meeting of the reconstituted National Space Council at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center here Oct. 5, Bob Smith said that the New Glenn rocket the company is developing could be used for both commercial and government missions, the latter requiring the company to go through a certification process with agencies like NASA and the U.S. Air Force.

"Our New Glenn launch vehicle will be more capable than existing launch vehicles flying today, and can be used not only for human spaceflight and other commercial missions, but also for civil and national security payloads," he said. "Therefore, we are in early discussions with the national security community and NASA about how to certify New Glenn for their use." [Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket in Pictures]

New Glenn, Blue Origin's first orbital launch vehicle, is designed to place up to 45 metric tons into low Earth orbit and 13 metric tons into geostationary transfer orbit. That is a larger capacity than the existing Atlas and Delta vehicles by United Launch Alliance, with the exception of the Delta 4 Heavy, which can place nearly 14 metric tons into geostationary transfer orbit. It's also bigger than SpaceX's Falcon 9, which, like the Atlas and Delta, is certified by the U.S. Air Force for military missions.

To date, Blue Origin has focused on the commercial market for New Glenn. The company has so far signed up three customers, all developers of commercial communications satellites, for New Glenn. The company announced the third customer, Thai startup mu Space Corporation, Sept. 26 at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Adelaide, Australia.

New Glenn is powered by seven of its BE-4 engines in its first stage and one BE-4 engine in is second stage, with an optional third stage using the BE-3 engine first developed for its New Shepard suborbital vehicle. Blue Origin is also offering the BE-4 to ULA for its next-generation Vulcan rocket.

Blue Origin executives, including founder Jeff Bezos, have suggested in the past that the company would not pursue national security missions, which are a cornerstone of ULA's business.

"That is ULA's specialty," Bezos said of national security missions during a March 2016 media tour of Blue Origin's headquarters and manufacturing facility in Kent, Washington. "It may be very logical for ULA to continue to be specialized in doing that and we just support them with the engines."

ULA has not yet made a formal decision on what engine to use in Vulcan, although the company has previously stated that the BE-4 is the leading contender versus Aerojet Rocketdyne's AR1. ULA Chief Executive Tory Bruno said in April that he was awaiting the outcome of tests of the BE-4 at Blue Origin's test site in West Texas before officially selecting the engine.

Testing of the BE-4, though, has been delayed by a mishap in May that destroyed an engine powerpack, a key component of a rocket engine that includes the turbomachinery that pumps propellant through the engine. Smith indicated at the National Space Council meeting that those tests could begin in the near future.

"We will soon begin testing our BE-4 engine, which will take New Glenn into space, and is being developed in partnership with United Launch Alliance," he said.

Rob Meyerson, president of Blue Origin, said at the IAC last week that the company has made "measureable progress this year" on the BE-4, but did not elaborate. "We delivered the BE-4 hardware to our West Texas launch site for testing, and have more engines in the pipeline," he said in a presentation there where he announced the mu Space contract.

Smith's testimony at the National Space Council meeting was his first major public appearance since becoming chief executive of Blue Origin. The company had not made a formal announcement regarding hiring him, although Smith joined Blue Origin in August, according to his profile on the professional networking site LinkedIn (opens in new tab).

"It's a great privilege to be part of an amazing team that is building reusable launch vehicles, modern powerful rocket engines and all the capabilities that will enable millions of people to live and work in space," Smith states in his LinkedIn profile.

Smith previously worked at Honeywell Aerospace for more than a decade, most recently as president of mechanical systems and components. Before that, he was at United Space Alliance, the joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin that managed space shuttle operations, where he was executive director of the company's space shuttle upgrades development program.

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
A possible "Planet Nine" in Earth's solar system would orbit far beyond Neptune's orbit (visible as a bright ring around the sun in this artist's illustration).

Planet Nine is out there, and astronomers are determined to find it, according to a new statement from NASA. In fact, mounting evidence suggests it's hard to imagine our solar system without the unseen world.

The hypothetical planet is believed to be about 10 times more massive than Earth and located in the dark, outer reaches of the solar system, approximately 20 times farther from the sun than Neptune is. While the mysterious world still has yet to be found, astronomers have discovered a number of strange features of our solar system that are best explained by the presence of a ninth planet, according to the NASA statement.

"There are now five different lines of observational evidence pointing to the existence of Planet Nine," Konstantin Batygin, a planetary astrophysicist at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, said in the statement. "If you were to remove this explanation and imagine Planet Nine does not exist, then you generate more problems than you solve. All of a sudden, you have five different puzzles, and you must come up with five different theories to explain them." [The Evidence for 'Planet Nine' in Our Solar System (Gallery)]

Researchers say an anomaly in the orbits of distant Kuiper Belt objects points to the existence of an unknown planet orbiting the sun. Here's what we know of this potential "Planet Nine." (Image credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics artist)

In 2016, Batygin and co-author Mike Brown, an astronomer at Caltech, published a study that examined the elliptical orbits of six known objects in the Kuiper Belt, a distant region of icy bodies stretching from Neptune outward toward interstellar space. Their findings revealed that all of those Kuiper Belt objects have elliptical orbits that point in the same direction and are tilted about 30 degrees "downward" compared to the plane in which the eight official planets circle the sun, according to the statement.

Using computer simulations of the solar system with a Planet Nine, Batygin and Brown also showed that there should be even more objects tilted a whopping 90 degrees with respect to the solar plane. Further investigation revealed that five such objects were already known to fit these parameters, the researchers said.

Since then, the astronomers have found new evidence that further supports the existence of Planet Nine. With help from Elizabeth Bailey, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at Caltech, the team showed that Planet Nine's influence might have tilted the planets of our solar system, which would explain why the zone in which the eight major planets orbit the sun is tilted by about 6 degrees compared to the sun's equator.

"Over long periods of time, Planet Nine will make the entire solar-system plane precess, or wobble, just like a top on a table," Batygin said in the statement.

Finally, the researchers demonstrate how Planet Nine's presence could explain why some Kuiper Belt objects orbit in the opposite direction from everything else in the solar system.

"No other model can explain the weirdness of these high-inclination orbits," Batygin said in the statement. "It turns out that Planet Nine provides a natural avenue for their generation. These things have been twisted out of the solar system plane with help from Planet Nine and then scattered inward by Neptune."

Going forward, the researchers plan to use the Subaru Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii to find Planet Nine, and then deduce where the mysterious world came from.

The most common type of planets discovered around other stars in our galaxy has been what astronomers call "super Earths"  rocky worlds that are larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. However, no such planet has yet been discovered in our solar system, meaning that Planet Nine could be our missing "super Earth," the researchers said.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to clarify that some Kuiper Belt objects unexpectedly orbit in the opposite direction to the rest of the Solar System, not all of them.

Follow Samantha Mathewson @Sam_Ashley13. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
A small asteroid buzzed Earth early Thursday (Oct. 12) in a close flyby that scientists had been looking forward to for months.

The space rock, known as 2012 TC4, zoomed about 26,000 miles (42,000 kilometers) above Antarctica at 1:42 a.m. EDT (0542 GMT) Thursday. That's about 11 percent the distance between Earth and the moon, and just beyond the orbit of geostationary satellites.

There was never any danger of an impact during this flyby, NASA researchers stressed. And 2012 TC4 is almost certainly too small to cause any serious concern, even if it did line up Earth in its crosshairs. (Before the flyby, scientists estimated the asteroid's diameter to be between 33 feet and 50 feet, or 10 to 15 meters.) [Famous Asteroid Flybys and Close Calls (Infographic)]

"The impact effects would be simply a flash through the atmosphere and a breakup  a very bright fireball, basically," Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, told Space.com.

Artist's illustration showing the small asteroid 2012 TC4 zooming by Earth on Oct. 12, 2017. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

But Chodas and other asteroid researchers around the world were keenly interested in the flyby nonetheless. They've been tracking 2012 TC4 for months, as a sort of dry run for dealing with an approaching asteroid that may indeed pose a threat to Earth.

"This campaign is a team effort that involves more than a dozen observatories, universities and labs around the globe so we can collectively learn the strengths and limitations of our near-Earth object observation capabilities," campaign leader Vishnu Reddy, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, said in a statement.

"This effort will exercise the entire system, to include the initial and follow-up observations, precise orbit determination and international communications," Reddy added.

Diagram showing the asteroid 2012 TC4's flyby of Earth on Oct. 12, 2017. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Among the telescopes that were involved is the big radar dish at NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in the California desert, whose observations should help scientists nail down 2012 TC4's size, Chodas said. (The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico also would have been participating, he added, but it's been offline since Hurricane Maria pounded the island.)

But don't expect great radar images of the asteroid, as Goldstone and Arecibo have generated for other, much larger asteroids; 2012 TC4 is likely too small for any significant surface features to be resolved by radar, Chodas said.

Other scopes were slated to gather composition data during the flyby  information that should shed light on the space rock's density, Chodas said. And scientists should have a good idea of 2012 TC4's precise orbit in the aftermath of the encounter as well, he added.

As its name suggests, 2012 TC4 was discovered in 2012, by the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System in Hawaii. The asteroid flew past Earth that year  oddly enough, also on Oct. 12.

But the space rock dropped off the map shortly after that 2012 flyby, speeding beyond telescopes' reach into the dark depths of the solar system. And now astronomers have welcomed it back with open arms.

Thursday's flyby "was rather special in the sense that we don't often know about small asteroids approaching the Earth years in advance," Chodas said.

"It's interesting to study such a small object, but it's also very appropriate, because we're more likely to see a small asteroid heading for Earth impact than a large one, simply because there are far more small ones than large ones," he added.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
LAS CRUCES, N.M.  What role will NASA play in getting humans to Mars, and when will the agency depend on participation from commercial companies? A top NASA official discussed the agency's plans this week.

Here at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) Wednesday (Oct. 11), William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Directorate, discussed how the agency is thinking about future collaborations with commercial companies.

"Our goal for human spaceflight is essentially to expand the human presence deeper into the solar system," Gerstenmaier said, adding that this task will require participation from many countries, companies, agencies and individuals. NASA could lead that effort, he said initially, before changing his wording. "'Lead' is maybe too strong a term," he added. "I think more maybe 'orchestrate' that effort  to bring together this diverse community to figure out how we can go accomplish that goal." [Red Planet or Bust: 5 Crewed Mars Mission Ideas]

Setting standards

In its path to eventually send humans to Mars, NASA has laid out a multiphase plan that includes the work being done on the International Space Station (phase 0) and the construction of the Deep Space Gateway (DSG) around the moon (phase 1) in the early 2020s. The DSG will assist in the construction of Mars-bound vehicles and habitats, and serve as a launching point for astronauts bound for the Red Planet.

Gerstenmaier emphasized that NASA cannot afford to carry out its entire humans-to-Mars plan on its own, but he added that NASA could serve two primary functions. The first would be to set standards for spaceflight technology and safety.

As an example of standards in technology, he brought up existing international docking standards that enable different vehicles to dock at the International Space Station. Those standards, he noted, still make it possible for companies to innovate in the actual vehicle design.

"We need to do that same thing in the life support area," Gerstenmaier said. That might include, for example, "the common pressure inside the capsules or in the modules that are in space. We need to understand the basic atmospheric constituents [that everyone should use]. We need to understand the basic data protocols [for measuring pressure and atmospheric content].

"[We could] set those standards  and anyone that builds hardware, and they build to those standards  they can be part of our system," he said.

NASA is already working with two commercial companies  SpaceX and Boeing  to build vehicles that will carry humans to and from the International Space Station. Those vehicles must meet NASA's safety standards, as well as various other mission standards, Gerstenmaier said, but the companies are in control of the design and how they use the vehicles outside the NASA contract.

"We let the companies design, build and own their systems," he said. "They can then market them; they can find creative uses. But NASA is there to make sure the basic safety, mission and success requirements are set in the right way."

An artist's impression of astronauts on the surface of Mars. Boeing and other commercial companies are working with NASA to be involved in the agency's pursuit of human missions to the Red Planet. (Image credit: Boeing)

Owning the architecture

While NASA wants to encourage commercial participation in its human mission to Mars, the agency should design the basic architecture for the mission, so that no single company has a monopoly on any critical piece, Gerstenmaier said.

"It's more important that [certain things] be owned by the government, and then they are available to the wider industry and not held by one company," he said. "Things like going to cislunar space [should really be] driven by NASA's needs, and then when we get down to  a service or a capability, then those can be done by the companies.

"NASA can also help by providing substantial early demand and maybe being an anchor customer," he added. "But at some point, we need to get out of that mode and see if there's a market that can be generated."

Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
For every ton of carbon dioxide emitted by a power plant's smokestack or a car's exhaust pipe, some portion will stay in the Earth's atmosphere, raising global temperatures, while the rest is absorbed by the oceans or ecosystems on land.

But which parts of the ocean or biosphere act as net sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) and which take up more than they emit into the atmosphere, has been an open question. Figuring that out, as well as understanding what mechanisms govern that interplay and how they might change along with the climate, has been an open question and one that is key to understanding how global warming will progress.

The 2014 launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 satellite was aimed at beginning to piece together some answers by monitoring the comings and goings of CO2 from the atmosphere with unprecedented precision and over large regions. [The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted]

So far, the mission has done that and has turned up some surprises along the way. The mission serendipitously coincided with one of the strongest El Ninos (an ocean and atmosphere cycle that impacts global weather) on record, allowing scientists to see how the carbon cycle responded and pinpoint exactly where the resulting record pulse of CO2 that entered the atmosphere came from. The satellite's instruments also unexpectedly proved capable of distinguishing the relatively small CO2 signatures of cities and even volcano plumes.

An artist's rendition of the OCO-2 Observatory. (Image credit: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

"We're very, very happy with these results," deputy project scientist Annmarie Eldering, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told Live Science.

But the findings, described in series of five papers in the Oct. 13 issue of the journal Science, are just the first steps at getting a better handle on the carbon cycle (how carbon flows through land and sea ecosystems and the atmosphere), as OCO-2 heads into an expected extended mission and other space-based projects are scheduled to follow in its wake.

Luck and surprises

Carbon dioxide is added to and removed from the atmosphere by a range of competing processes. On land, for example, the photosynthesis of plants takes up CO2, while the decay of plant matter and wildfires release it back into the atmosphere. [Here's How Carbon Dioxide Warms the Planet]

Scientists knew that El Ninos were another factor that caused more CO2 to build up in the Earth's atmosphere, and from the 1997-1998 major El Nino, they had some suspicions on why that was. For one thing, El Nino tends to lead to drying in parts of the tropics, resulting in less photosynthesis and less uptake of carbon dioxide.

What project scientists couldn't know when the satellite rocketed into space on July 2, 2014, was that it would be perfectly poised to observe how one of the strongest El Ninos in the books affected the carbon cycle.

"Sometimes you get really lucky," said Galen McKinley, a carbon cycle scientist at Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory.

These effects were in evidence during the 2015-2016 event, which caused the biggest year-over-year jump in global CO2 concentrations on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But OCO-2 revealed, as is so often the case in science, that the picture was more complicated than previously thought. [CO2 Satellite: NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 Mission in Photos]

This artist's rendition reveals a column of carbon dioxide as the OCO-2 satellite monitors it. (Image credit: Debbi McLean/GSFC, Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The satellite's observations let project scientists piece together the sequence of events of the carbon cycle's response as the El Nino geared up and then reached its peak. They saw that at first there was a tiny dip in carbon dioxide levels over the tropical Pacific because of changes in the structure of the underlying ocean that meant waters gave off less CO2. But that slight decrease was quickly overtaken by the much larger response from terrestrial biomass as drought, heat and wildfires took a toll and caused less CO2 to be absorbed and more to be released. [Top 10 Deadliest Natural Disasters in History]

The ocean signal "was really a big surprise to us," said Abhishek Chatterjee, a scientist with University Space Research Association working at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center. The response had been inferred before, "but it was never observed to the degree that we could" with OCO-2, he said.

The team was able to take the analysis a step further by using OCO-2's capability to detect a signature of photosynthesis, which is a marker of the productivity of land plants. Together, the data showed that while the tropical areas of Southeast Asia, South America and Africa all added about the same amount of CO2 into the atmosphere, they did so for different reasons. In Southeast Asia, the hot, dry conditions brought on by El Nino made the region more vulnerable to fire, which releases CO2 into the atmosphere. In South America, dry conditions tamped down plant productivity, meaning the biosphere took up less carbon dioxide, so that the region became a net source of CO2. And in Africa, while rainfall was about normal, exceptional heat increased plant respiration, which caused more CO2 emissions.

More work to do

Illustration of an OCO-2 data collection over the Los Angeles Basin. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

OCO-2 sensors were also surprisingly good at picking out much smaller CO2 signatures, such as the plume of Vanuatu's Yasur volcano and the contrast between Los Angeles' relatively higher CO2 levels compared with the surrounding suburban and rural areas. [Earth from Above: 101 Stunning Images from Orbit]

The satellite could also see how the difference between the urban core and rural areas declined in the summer because plants in the region took up some of the excess.

The ability of satellites to pinpoint these signatures has implications for a wide range of applications, including monitoring emissions to make sure cities and countries are complying with their pledges to reduce CO2. Satellite CO2 measurements could also provide earlier warnings of volcanic eruptions, said Florian Schwandner, also of NASA's JPL, as CO2 emissions from volcanoes increase before an eruption.

OCO-2 has completed its initial two-year planned mission and is expected to begin a three-year extended mission once NASA officials sign off on it, said Eldering, the deputy project scientist.

Scientists are also hoping that two other planned missions go as scheduled to build on OCO-2's work. One, called OCO-3, will use leftover spare parts from OCO-2 and would be mounted on the International Space Station to allow scientists to point at features of interest. That mission has been slated to be cut by the Trump administration, though it remains to be seen whether Congress will go along with that plan.

The other, called the Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory, would be able to measure CO2 over continuous areas, such as the U.S., something OCO-2 can't do.

"It's very exciting science, [but] there's a lot more work to do," McKinley said.

Original article on Live Science.
T he Brexit negotiations are stalled, with little to show in the way of progress  and that is just within the Cabinet.

Last month, the Prime Minister tried to break the deadlock with her speech in Florence that publicly conceded what everyone knew: Britain is not ready to leave the EUs economic arrangements in 2019, and is prepared to pay to remain in them for a transition or implementation period of around two years.

The mantra that no deal is better than a bad deal was quietly dropped. Though the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson attempted to hijack the Florentine offer, he was rebuffed  and the whole Cabinet agreed to Mrs Mays approach.

Business heaved a sigh of relief at the pragmatism, and the EU responded cautiously but positively. It intimated that while the UK wouldnt get the green light to move to the next stage of negotiations in October (something of a snub to Brexit Secretary David Davis, who had in a newspaper article set that deadline), there was a more positive dynamic in the talks.

But over the past week the goodwill has been put at risk by some ill-chosen prime ministerial pronouncements and a new bout of Cabinet infighting.

First, Mrs May, weakened by her conference performance, tried to look strong in front of her parliamentary troops by unnecessarily upping the anti-EU rhetoric.

The ball is in their court, she declared on Monday. Brussels responded predictably to this empty threat: by hitting the ball straight back at the UK.

Second, the idea that no deal was an option  so carefully shelved a few weeks ago  was carelessly allowed to resurface.

This provided the ammunition the hard Tory Brexiteers needed to have another go at their new bete noir, Chancellor Philip Hammond. His thought crime is trying to be reasonable in finding a way to deliver Brexit without sending the economy off a regulatory and trading cliff-edge.

The Brexiteers were outraged when he said he was not going to spend large sums of taxpayers money preparing for a no deal.

The issue is not lack of cash. Yes, extra infrastructure in our ports, computers for customs payments, new regulatory agencies  all needed if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal  would cost billions.

But even if the money were available, there is no prospect, legally or administratively, that we would have these contingencies ready in time.

Consider how long it would take to get planning permission for a big lorry park in Dover.

Look at the sorry history of procuring an IT system for the new universal credit and ask yourself: how long would it take to create new computer systems to track every product imported into Britain and every service provided abroad?

And how much time do you think it will take in a hung Parliament to pass controversial laws on everything from a new immigration system to an agricultural subsidy regime?

By setting the exit date from the EU in the spring of 2019, the Prime Minister threw away the option of walking away from the table. They know that in 10 Downing Street.

They could have demonstrated unity by backing the Chancellor. Yet instead, today they brief the newspapers against their neighbours at No 11.

No wonder the Europeans are looking at the political paralysis in UK with a wry smile and benign bemusement.

Thank you to the Met

The Evening Standard was the first to publish the picture, by sharp-witted photographer Ian Lawrence, of the moped raiders who reigned terror on pedestrians in the West End this summer.

The police said yesterday that the photo was crucial in identifying the suspects and securing their conviction.

We want to congratulate the Met on its brilliant detective work.

Thank you for keeping us safe.
R evolutions occur first with a bang, then with a series of whimpers, as the ousted give up the ghost of revival and the victorious group consolidates its power. More often than not, that means sacrificing the last vestiges of pluralism, while proclaiming tolerance and the best interests of mankind. In a nutshell, that is the story of the Russian Revolution, marking its centenary this year. Allowing for a change of scale, it is also the tale of Jeremy Corbyn, his Momentum backers and their onward sweep.

While Theresa May takes the strain of seeking a Brexit deal that will satisfy no one and eat up political capital for the Conservatives, Labour has a resurgent grassroots movement and is about to take a historic step that will complete its journey from a centre-Left party to one whose precepts are essentially Marxist, and whose operating principles owe a lot to Walter Ulbricht, the first leader of East Germany, who candidly described his approach to the party system thus: It must look democratic, but we must have everything in hand.

No one is more important in this process than Jon Lansman, who has stuck to the shadows of party organisation but who can claim a good deal of the credit (or take the blame) for winning the battle for control of the Labour Party for the far-Left. The founder of Momentum now has an odds-on chance of winning a seat on Labours governing body as Team Corbyn, buoyed by its advances in the election in June, extends and deepens its hold over the party.

If National Executive Committee battles seem like arcane stuff (Lansman has represented the Bennite wing of the party as a campaigner since the Seventies and ran Tony Benns 1988 campaign against Neil Kinnock), it is worth remembering that the fight to affiliate with and ultimately gain control of the party is the key to the creed of entryism  or infiltration, to use a less starchy term.

Entry is now pretty much complete  enabled in part by bold political play and planning by Lansman and John McDonnell, helping engineer the election of Jeremy Corbyn. But more woefully for moderates  be they Blairites, Brownites or anything-but-Jeremy-ites  it would not have been possible without such a swift relapse into exitism across Labour.

Jeremy Corbyn's Labour conference speech in 60 seconds

Key players on the centre, Left and Right of the party have either quit the field of play (Tristram Hunt, Jamie Reed to other jobs); practised internal emigration (Hilary Benn, Angela Eagle); retired (Gisela Stuart); caved into public agreement with politics they know to be wrong-headed to keep a place at the table (Tom Watson); and consigned themselves to the role of ex-MPs without a fight (Douglas Alexander). Or, like most of the ministerial or MP ranks who are not allies of Jeremy Corbyn, they have convinced themselves that his offer will not turn out to be as intransigent in power as it is in opposition. That is a very risky bet to take on the available evidence. A leadership that is promising to undermine the independence of the Bank of England through imposing Peoples Quantitative Easing is not one given to caution.

From the other side of the factional balance sheet, believers in the long march through the institutions and the extra-parliamentary route to socialism feel vindicated. Lansman is, after all, a prime example of the power of organisation and a ruthless determination to see off rivals and shift power away from elected representatives to activists corralled to a set menu of policy choices. Many of these reflect real resentments about the state of capitalism. Few look deliverable, let alone desirable.

Along the way Lansman has built Momentum into an organisation that sustains the pro-Corbyn machine in Labour branches and crafted the vital union link to provide the funding and infrastructure other grassroots organisations lack. A visit to the Transport Salaried Staffs Association headquarters behind Euston is instructive. The Momentum campaign room there is peopled by young activists, churning out inventive social-media messages that have, as one happily told me, a grassroots vibe. Lean young graduates (often rather posh by background) are courteous missionaries for the cause and good explainers of it. They rub shoulders with core staff of a union that has also listed leftwards. The brainwave of Lansman was to combine the two cultures  youthful protest, and the organisational heft of the unions.

Something of a hybrid himself  a Highgate public school boy and sharp-tongued Cambridge graduate who turned sharp Left after spending time on an Israeli kibbutz, he has been a long-standing campaigner for members and unions to control policy, sway leadership contests and (the nasty bit), control candidate selection and the inevitable consequence  deselections.

Someone who crossed swords with him over policy matters for years acknowledges that Jon leaves nothing to chance  from the timing of Momentum emails on constitutional changes (often late at night with instant deadlines) to the detail of who will be aide to whom and the intelligence he can gather through that.

If Lansman is indeed elevated to the NEC, he will have helped elect himself by a rule change  ensuring that seats on the ruling body be expanded, to include seats that Corbyn-friendly names were likely to occupy. If Jon doesnt somehow get on this time, we will just find ourselves expanding the committee until he finally gets there, sighs a current committee member.

Lansman has built Momentum into an organisation that sustains the pro-Corbyn machine and crafted the vital union link to provide the funding

Crucially, as far as moderates are concerned, the grip on the partys rule-giving body makes it more likely that Labour MPs will need to gain the support of a hefty majority of their local party and trade union branches for re-selection. Obviously, that squeezes out all but the most pliant MPs. But watering down electoral democracy is a dangerous game because it creates changes that are fiendishly hard to reverse.

Moreover, they are not offset by an acceptance of pluralism, or the systemic balance between Parliament and the people. That is often imperfect: but maintaining it matters in a democracy. It is why revolutions, stripped of the myth-making and slogans, tend to end up looking a lot like coups.

Anne McElvoy is also Senior Editor of The Economist
R uth Davidson is correct: London is not Scotland [Tories have to make a distinct appeal to win back Londoners, Comment, October 10]. But in other respects her analysis of how the Tories in London could succeed by copying her playbook and concentrating on local elections is flawed.

First, talk of a Tory resurgence in Scotland is somewhat exaggerated. In Mays local elections Tory seats gained were entirely at the expense of Labour, while the total number of council seats held by the SNP hardly changed at all.

Second, the so-called Tory resurgence wasnt due to localised policies or progressive-sounding young candidates. The Scottish Conservatives are still defined by Brexit and austerity, taking orders from Westminster, but are also the chief beneficiaries of tactical voting by the minority of Scots who voted to leave the EU. Many willingly believed the mantra that the SNP is obsessed with independence at the expense of day-to-day government and calculated that the Tories are more credible as a pro-Union party.

However successfully Ruth Davidson may have deluded herself and credulous members of the press, she cant fool Londoners. Like it or not, she is a member of a backward-looking, predominantly white party, many of whose members want to use Brexit to reclaim powers currently residing with the devolved parliaments, her membership of which, ironically, is the only reason she is famous at all.

Robert Clark



While she deserves praise for her gains at the last general election I believe Ruth Davidson had it easy.

I was there at the time in my home in the Highlands and all the Tory literature that came through the letterbox merely screamed no to a second independence referendum! This chimed well with the view of the overwhelming majority of Scots  hence her gains. There was no programme for a new Scotland. Now that the second independence scare is over the Tories are back in third place in the polls.

While she does have a sparky personality, it is a pity she has nothing original to say regarding policies. Davidson has little to offer Tories elsewhere in the UK.

Prof Alan Sked



Ruth Davidson is right: local elections really matter. It is the moment we can influence how our communities are run.

In Kensington and Chelsea the current political system has led to failure, incompetence and division across the borough. We need a change to the system, where our elected representatives are truly accountable. It is time for a new vision, where social justice and a strong economy are two sides of the same coin.

Annabel Mullin



Being so difficult could harm our city

Your report on the distinctive attitudes, behaviour and economic activity of Londoners and the rest of the UK was both fascinating and unsettling.

Long the economic powerhouse of the UK, the citys openness to innovation, creativity and immigration makes London an attractive and genuinely world-class city. It is no wonder people flock here, despite the housing situation.

However, to be so distinct from its hinterland is not healthy. Time after time we have seen a selfishness in Londons attitudes that will result in further alienation from the rest of the country.

Classic examples include Crossrail 2, HS2 or even Heathrows third runway, when the North and Scotland are crying out for infrastructure investment.

You might reflect that the last time London and the rest of the country were so divided, economically, culturally and politically, was the era of the English Civil War. It is not a cheerful prospect.

Simon Diggins



Base school's policy on hard evidence

THE publication of evidence demonstrating potential injustice or discrimination in our public services is wholly to be welcomed. The proof of this particular pudding, however, will be some clear signs that the Government is prepared to base future policy decisions on the available evidence.

It is, for instance, a disgrace that graduates who were privately educated should secure more of the highest-paid jobs than state-educated students with similar or better degrees. But since it has also been demonstrated that students educated in comprehensive schools regularly outperform their privately or grammar school-educated counterparts at university, it was bizarre that the Prime Minister decided that her priority was to introduce more grammar schools!

More policy based on research, rather than on personal anecdotes or hunches, can only be a very good thing for our country. But Im not holding my breath.

Chris Dunne, Campaign for State Education

Join the conversation: #esnewsviews



Mayor's actions fail to match his words

The Mayors latest hard-hitting pronouncements on air quality and the need for urgent measures are welcome. But words are one thing and actions quite another.

In Merton, for example, while the Labour council claims air quality is high on its agenda, planning officers are recommending the approval on October 19 of a concrete batching plant on the banks of a peaceful river in the officially designated Wandle Valley Regional Park. The plant will produce dangerous dust and generate massive heavy lorry movements a stones throw away from a primary school and a well-used childrens playground.

Residents have established that there will be 200 extra HGV movements per day thundering through central Wimbledon on a road network which is already over capacity. Despite this, the councils planners have elected to reject residents objections and accept the developers unsubstantiated claims that the scheme will somehow halve HGV traffic in our area.

For a local council, this is bad enough. For the Mayor, who has been fully advised of the issue, to turn a blind eye is hypocrisy. How can we have confidence in the Mayor when his actions fail to match his rhetoric?

Nicola Thompson



True result of the Oxford Street poll

Patrick Grafton-Green claims that two-thirds of people back plans to pedestrianise Londons iconic Oxford Street [Online, October 10].

In fact, the results of Transport for London and Westminster City Councils consultation show that 49 per cent of respondents either have concerns about the proposals to transform  not pedestrianise  Oxford Street, or oppose them, compared to 43 per cent who support the changes.

Hundreds of respondents expressed concern that the proposals could displace the 15,000 taxis that travel along Oxford Street every day. It is disingenuous to present these findings as overwhelming support for the proposals.

Richard Massett, chairman, Licensed Taxi Drivers Association

Join the conversation: #escleancityviews
Less than a week after Glamour magazine revealed its new 'digital first' initiative, editor-in-chief Jo Elvin today announced that she will be standing down from the role.

UK Glamour's editor since its launch, Elvin has been at the helm since 2001 and rendered the magazine the biggest-selling monthly title in Europe in her first four years.

Announcing her move this morning, Elvin said: "It has been an honour to be Glamours editor for 17 years. I dont think I can ever adequately put into words what a wonderful, wild, exhilarating and of course glamorous ride it has been."

"The fact that I have stayed so long tells you a lot about what a fantastic title it is to lead and what an exceptional place Conde Nast has been to work."

"[...] I have to thank an absolutely wonderful team, whose brilliant ideas and boundless energy and passion has made my working days probably more fun than is decent."

"And I want to thank Glamours readers who have been so involved in helping us shape the brand that connects with millions, across print, online and beyond. It has truly been a privilege."

"It is no exaggeration at all to say we have helped so many women mine the best out of their lives and that connection is what I will miss most of all."

"Im excited for what lies ahead, for both myself and for Glamour. I wish the new team every success for the exciting new phase of this wonderful, beloved brand."

Glamour Awards 2017 - the dresses 1 /41 Glamour Awards 2017 - the dresses Glamour Awards 2017 Holly Willoughby Rex Features Glamour Awards 2017 Nicole Kidman PA Glamour Awards 2017 Holly Willoughby Getty Images Glamour Awards 2017 Jourdan Dunn Getty Images Glamour Awards 2017 Mollie King PA Glamour Awards 2017 Gabriella Wilde Dave Benett Glamour Awards 2017 Jennifer Hudson PA Glamour Awards 2017 Winnie Harlow Getty Images Glamour Awards 2017 Fearne Cotton PA Glamour Awards 2017 Anna Kendrick PA Glamour Awards 2017 Lily James Getty Images Glamour Awards 2017 Lilah Parsons PA Glamour Awards 2017 Felicity Jones Getty Images Glamour Awards 2017 Alice Temperley PA Glamour Awards 2017 Sophie Ellis Bextor PA Glamour Awards 2017 Billie Piper PA Glamour Awards 2017 Dawn French Dave Benett Glamour Awards 2017 Rochelle Humes PA Glamour Awards 2017 Myleene Klass PA Glamour Awards 2017 Louise Redknapp PA Glamour Awards 2017 Lisa Snowdon PA Glamour Awards 2017 Alice Liveing PA Glamour Awards 2017 Clara Amfo Dave Benett Glamour Awards 2017 Frankie Bridge PA Glamour Awards 2017 Giovanna Fletcher PA Glamour Awards 2017 Diana Saldana PA Glamour Awards 2017 Ella Eyre PA Glamour Awards 2017 Caroline Flack PA Glamour Awards 2017 Christine Bleakley PA Glamour Awards 2017 Gabby Logan PA Glamour Awards 2017 Ashley James PA

Nicholas Coleridge, Chairman of Conde Nast Britain, said: "Jo Elvin has been the Editor-to-beat in her market for almost two decades, the undisputed Queen of the upper-middle market."

"[...] From the moment I first met her, over a poached eggs-and-avocado breakfast at the Halkin Hotel, I knew she was the perfect Glamour Editor, and have never doubted it since."

"She is witty, sassy, utterly professional, and empathetic with her readers."

"Anyone who has been a guest at the annual Glamour Women of the Year Awards, and heard celebrity after celebrity paying homage to Jo, understands the depth and breadth of her reputation."

"She is one of the All Time Greats."

Elvin's successor is yet to be announced.
T he director Rungano Nyoni is telling me how women she met ended up in a Ghanaian camp for witches. A woman had been fetching water and dropped the pail after walking miles; when she got home, she accused another woman of causing it by witchcraft, she says. Others were accused because of someones dream; another after a kid got sick.

Nyoni, 35, lived in this camp for a month as research for her film, I Am Not a Witch, which is screened as part of the London Film Festivals First Feature competition this week. What surprised her about the women  all older than 60  was how ordinary they seemed: I thought they might have a mental illness. Instead, they were super-independent.

"Some think they were accused because they started a business and someone said youve got this fortune because of witchcraft. And Ghana is patriarchal  you cant even own land without a man. So as soon as you become a widow, you are open to someone  even family  accusing you to take your house.

When she arrived at the camp, Nyoni had been prepared to pack it in and find a hotel if necessary. But she found it was like an ordinary African village  it even had toilets except the huts (donated by an NGO) were metal, so became ovens in the Ghanaian sun.

Her initial inspiration for the film  which tells the story of nine-year-old Shula, who is exiled to a similar camp in Zambia  came from a fascination with the rules imposed on other humans, and how we collude in them, even though theyre absurd. Its a family trait to question customs. Nyonis grandmother lived under British colonial rule in Northern Rhodesia (before Zambian independence), where mixed-race relationships were banned, yet Nyonis grandfather is Spanish. He was deported when the relationship was discovered, and her grandmother then took a Dutch lover. She also used to fix trucks and was arrested for wearing trousers while working: I thought how brave she was, and how easily most of us conform to societal rules.

Nyoni is Zambian-born but her family moved to Cardiff when she was eight. She went to Hockerill boarding school, with her mother  then a cleaner  paying just 15 a month for her place.

After school, Nyoni wanted to act, studying at Central Saint Martins, before realising she was too shy for the screen: Directors would complain that Id move away from the camera, she laughs. So she taught herself to edit and began making shorts. Her name, appropriately, means story-teller.

The research trip to Ghana was paid for by the BFI Network with the National Lottery  a welcome surprise: I didnt think I could get funding from Britain to make this film, because its not very British. She feels it was a brave film for them to fund: African films that you see internationally tend to be a certain type because the people picking them are European, so you have to have a sense of what they like. I got rejected from other funding because it isnt very African.

While making it, her biggest struggle was finding a girl to play Shula. Nyonis husband was the location manager (I know it sounds awful, but he was the only one we could afford) and had taken stills in northern Zambia that happened to feature a girl, Maggie Mulubwa, playing. She looked startling.

Although she auditioned another 1,000 girls, Nyoni kept thinking of this girl. Two weeks before shooting started, they launched a search for her, calling in a local tribal chief whod been in the Zambian air force. His advice was to ask everyone, even the drunk on the street. Eventually, Mulubwa was found and brought to the set.

She was very shy, but she told me later it was because she was scared, Nyoni recalls. Villagers had told her not to come because we would kill her  cut her up and use her for witchcraft. She still came because she hoped we would send her to school. She didnt know it was a film.

Mulubwa couldnt read and had never attended school, but the BFI will now fund her education. Now shes cheeky. She doesnt shut up. Mulubwa was flown in for the Cannes screening, having never before stepped on a plane. She was such a village girl  even for a Zambian. No one knew when she was born, so she had to pick a birthday for her passport.

One of the themes explored in the film is the tension between the modern and the mystic. Zambia is a hotpot. There are a lot of witch accusations in Lusaka  and the police deal with them. They bring people in and interrogate them.

The film seems ambivalent about witchcraft, neither mocking it, nor condoning it. I dont know where the truth lies  maybe people can practise black magic to cause harm. The only fact I know is that it is misogynistic, exploitative.

Still from I Am Not a Witch

She thinks the obsession with witches stems from a fear of female power. Men are threatened by women. Its the idea of being threatened by something and wanting to destroy it.

So these women  often vulnerable women such as widows  become scapegoats for societys ills. What places [with witch camps] had in common is that they all experienced drought badly. Its the same in winter in Europe [in the past]  when food was scarce, witch accusations occurred.

On screen, you see the witches being treated like zoo animals. Tourists take photos, while a guide makes up stories, claiming that the women would fly away and kill, were it not for ribbons tying them down. I was interested in exploring the idea of oppression, and the way we collude in it, Nyoni explains. Thats why its a ribbon, not a chain. The woman can escape any time; they just have to cut it. And everyone else colludes  no ones blameless.

She includes herself here. The tourist scene is also a judgment on me. In one of the camps, I asked women if I could take a picture, and they said everyone takes pictures, and they just leave. Im that. I was there to write a script and leave, while these womens lives continue.

Despite the subject, the film is funny. Nyoni says it is injected with Zambian humour, which can seem cruel to outsiders. In Zambia, its impossible to punch down  you punch across. We find humour in bleak things. At a Zambian funeral, people joke. They say: Is this corpse bloated? He looks fat. Its our way of dealing with tragedy. When the HIV epidemic was huge, Id go to a funeral in the summer holidays once every two weeks.

Nyoni says audiences have struggled with whether they should laugh. After one screening, black audience members expressed disquiet on Twitter that white people were laughing. I thought maybe I should segregate my screenings!

She pauses, contemplatively. I wanted to communicate Zambian humour. I didnt want it to be laughing at beliefs, but the problem with images of Africa is that immediately the reaction goes to pity. Its trying to break that  I chose humour to do it.

I Am Not a Witch is screened as part of the London Film Festival tonight (October 12), Saturday and Sunday, and is on general release from October 19
I t was like someone had done a really cheap makeover in the Eighties, laughs Anthony Kendal.

Its a crisp autumn morning and the 41-year-old founder of brand agency Kendal and Partners is showing me around the Bloomsbury apartment he shares with his husband, Rossa Prendergast, an architect.

In contrast to the propertys historic exterior (a mansion block that dates back to the late 1800s), the interior is all new. It wasnt in the best condition when we bought it five years ago, explains Kendal. It was a whole series of interconnecting rooms, so we knocked through them to make it open-plan. Theres not a surface or wall that is original. Everything, apart from the front door, has been stripped back. I think Rossa has done an amazing job.

The couple drew their inspiration for the eight-month renovation from the architect John Pawson and his signature style of minimalism. First they knocked out the restrictive walls to create a free-flowing, open-plan kitchen, dining and living space. As the home also doubles up as a slick HQ for Kendal and Partners (the agencys client roster includes fashion megabrands such as MyTheresa, Acne Studios and Prada), one of the bedrooms was transformed into a workspace, furnished with the occasional accent pieces (We like modernist Italian furniture and there is a lot of German, Bauhaus stuff here, too).

Style guys: Anthony Kendal, left, and husband, Rossa Prendergast

In an age of Pinterest-worthy maximalist interiors, creating a space that is minimal without feeling devoid of character is a skill in itself. The couple has a strict one-in, one-out rule when it comes to belongings and theyve installed floor-to-ceiling cupboards to maximise storage. There are no personal family pictures on the walls: You spend so much time on social media that actually we dont need photographs of our closest friends and family. Theyre there on a constant instant basis and it almost feels more poignant to keep up on that than to have photographs everywhere.

Instead, the clean, white-painted walls (an arctic Dulux White Mist) provides the perfect canvas to offset Kendals impressive collection of artwork, which runs the gamut from a drawing of Kate Moss by Tracey Emin to a bronze water feature by Italian architect Carlo Scarpa. Im quite in love with it but my husband thinks it looks like something from a Seventies Chinese restaurant, he giggles.

We are lucky to have a florist that comes here a lot, who punctuates the calmness with some-thing more living

The couples hero piece, however, is a large black-and-white photograph of Isabella Blow taken by Lucy Ferry shot through a stocking, giving the image a beautiful mottled effect. I met Isabella at a party when I was 20. I remember going back to her hotel suite, [where] she decided she was going to take all her clothes off, get in the bath and clean her teeth. It was an interesting experience. Years later Kendal spotted the photograph at one of Ferrys exhibitions and he had to have it.

Best UK Design Shops - in pictures 1 /30 Best UK Design Shops - in pictures The Conran Shop, London Oskar, Bristol Dig Haushizzle, Bristol Nest, Sheffield Caro, Somerset HAY, Bath Aram, London West Elm, London Mint, London Mint Press Alex Eagle, London House of Hackney, London Jasper Morrison, London Jasper Morrison in Hoxton - press image Skandium, London Pitfield, London Labour & Wait, London Moleta Munro, Edinburgh I Gigi General Store, Brighton The Lollipop Shoppe, Brighton Birdie Fortescue, Burnham Market Lassco, Oxfordshire Willow & Stone, Cornwall A G Hendy & Co, Hastings Utility, Liverpool

Elsewhere in the all-white space is a corner-sized shrine to colour. Its a celebration of primaries. We call it the Memphis room. There are also other meaningful objects that punctuate the space. Take the handwritten poem, for example, given pride of place in a living room cabinet, suspended in a clear glass frame. Written for the couple by a close friend, it was read at their wedding last year at Lismore Castle in Ireland. The friend later had it framed as a gift. We asked our friend Justin to do a reading but I had no idea that he would write the prose himself nor how beautiful it would be.

Kendal was born and brought up in Perth, Australia, and fashion has always been a central part of his life. His mother was an ex-model turned finance director and many of his early memories include her wearing YSL and Giorgio Armani on the school run. I suppose fashion was always something my sister and I were exposed to and loved. He also did his homework, first studying business and marketing at Murdoch University in Perth (it was there that he first met Prendergast drunk in a nightclub) followed by fashion design at Sydneys prestigious National Art School.

The sofa is from Poliform, the cushions are Hermes, the chairs are by Marcel Breuer and The Bauhaus pieces were bought in Berlin

His first big break in London, having moved here in 2004, was working for Anya Hindmarch, packing boxes. He took the position with a pinch of salt: Its about positive energy and working hard and not being afraid to get your hands dirty.

The rest is history, but the frenetic pace of fashion makes coming back to a temple of serenity all the more comforting. There is so much noise that goes on in the world; its nice to have something calm to come home to.
W here do you stay in London?

I always stay at Claridges. Its an art deco gem and I love its old world charm and outstanding service.

What are you up to at the moment?

Weve just showed a collection at the Roundhouse (above) in Camden. Londons inspiring heritage of fashion and music created the perfect place to celebrate our TOMMYNOW event.

Alamy Stock Photo

Whats the first thing you do when you arrive in London?

Some of the worlds best art collections are in London. My wife Dee and I always enjoy going to Sothebys S|2 gallery, where I previously co-curated the Rock Style exhibition that celebrated the unique style of my favourite music artists. In many cases, musicians like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Madonna have been more influential in the world of fashion than designers.

Earliest memory?

I remember visiting Savile Row in the 1970s and seeing the incredible designs of Tommy Nutter, who was dressing a lot of the rock groups. His irreverent approach to tailoring has always inspired me.

Best meal you have had?

The sushi at Zuma (below) in Knightsbridge. The presentation is as good as the taste.

Favourite members club?

I love 5 Hertford Street. Robin Birley has done a remarkable job creating an amazing atmosphere.

Last album you downloaded?

I recently bought Memories Do Not Open by The Chainsmokers. They have a unique style and I am proud that they are the new brand ambassadors for Tommy Hilfiger menswear.

Best place to let your hair down?

Chiltern Firehouse. Andre Balazs put his magic into it.

What would you do if you were Mayor for the day?

I would ask The Rolling Stones to do a concert in Hyde Park for free, with Led Zeppelin (Robert Plant, left) as opening act.

BARRY PEAKE./REX/Shutterstock

Favourite shops?

Londons famous department stores: Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Liberty, Fenwick and Fortnum & Mason. I always stock up on Fortnum & Masons world-renowned tea (above). No one does afternoon tea better than the British.

Best piece of advice you have been given?

When I once asked Andy Warhol (right) why he did what he did, he replied, Because I like it. Ive never forgotten this; it shows how important it is to do what you love.

Alamy Stock Photo

Biggest extravagance?

My yacht Flag, which I love to sail along the coast of Italy and the south of France with Dee and the children. I really value the time I get to spend with my family.

What do you collect?

Pop and contemporary art from fun and irreverent artists like Warhol and Keith Haring (left), with which we decorate our Miami home.

Whos your hero?

I have always admired Martin Luther King Jr, and in 2007 I teamed up with Quincy Jones and Russell Simmons, among others, to produce the Dream Concert in his honour. All funds raised went to the Martin Luther King Jr memorial site in Washington, DC.

Tommy Hilfiger, 138 Regent Street, W1 (uk.tommy.com)
W HAT TO EAT

Located just off Rue Saint-Honore, Balagan is Pariss answer to Londons Nopi. Headed by Israeli chefs Assaf Granit and Uri Navon, and owned by the Experimental Group, its a cosmopolitan cultural clash: think Jerusalem-style sea bass and Moroccan-Israeli artichoke ragu washed down with pisco-infused cocktails. Another fashionable dining spot is

Le Grand Bain on Rue Denoyez  the same street as the new Hoxton Hotel  by former Au Passage chef Edward Delling Williams, which serves an ever-changing mix of small plates. Over in the Marais, Carbon, at 14 Rue Charlot, is brilliant for lunch or dinner.

WHAT TO SEE

The Frank Gehry-designed Fondation Louis Vuitton is hosting Etre Moderne: Le MoMa a Paris, a new show of 200 works on loan from New Yorks MoMA, including art by Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder and Yayoi Kusama. If you fancy a few more frocks thrown in, Dior is celebrating its 70th anniversary with Christian Dior, Couturier du Reve at the Musee Des Arts Decoratifs, while the Grand Palais is hosting another sartorial retrospective honouring US fashion photographer Irving Penn.

Andy Warhols Double Elvis

WHERE TO SHOP

Louis Vuitton, Place Vendome. The luxury maison has opened just a stones throw from where a young Vuitton opened his first shop in 1854. Designed by Peter Marino, the new store houses the superbrands full repertoire over four floors. Back on Rue Saint-Honore, take one last selfie outside Colette before it closes in December, then head to the Marais for alternative multi-brand meccas Tom Greyhound and Merci.

Artful: Louis Vuitton in Place Vendome

HOW TO PAMPER

Caroline de Maigrets favourite spa, Ladda, designed by Olivia Putman, is an oasis of calm with a 180-degree view of Paris. (laddaparis.com)

14 free things to do in Paris 1 /18 14 free things to do in Paris Take in the views at Montmartre Once an artists quarter, this uniquely bohemian village within the metropolis is a must-visit for any serious Instagrammer. Ascend the steps of the Basilica, to the top of Pariss tallest hill. and gaze upon one of the most romantic (and photogenic) views in the city. Theres plenty of history to soak up - Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec immortalised the cabarets here in the late 19th century, and you can still visit the famous Moulin Rouge windmill. At the foot of Montmartre youll find Pigalle - the closest thing Paris has to a Soho district. Think sleaze shops, hipster bars and cool music clubs on every corner. Flickr/katsuhiro7110 Stroll around Pere Lachaise Visit the tombs of the rich and famous at the cemetery Pere Lachaise. It sounds rather macabre, but the cemetery in the 20th arrondissement is a surprisingly picturesque place to stroll around the resting places of Chopin, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust and Jim Morrison to name a few. Legend holds that polishing the grave of Victor Noir can bestow good luck and improve fertility. Flickr/emile lombard See a classic at Parc de la Villette open air cinema If the weathers decent, catch a free film at the open-air cinema at the Parc de la Villette, which runs between July and August each year. Previous screenings have included Where the Wild Things Are, Be Kind Rewind and Rushmore. If youre feeling flush, you can always upgrade to a deckchair for 7. Parc de la Villette Visit Paris' coolest neighbourhoods For a village atmosphere head to Butte aux Cailles, which is filled with narrow cobblestone streets, boutique shops and pretty Parisian restaurants. The multicultural Belleville is home to a bustling Chinatown, art squats and traditional outdoor market held each Tuesday and Friday along the Boulevard de Belleville. And at Ile Saint Louis, youll find old-fashioned markets, traditional ice cream shops and cheerful street performers. Best of all? You can wander them all for free. Flickr/Philippe Milbault Go dancing on the river They say Paris is the city of love, so why not spend a warm summer night on the quai along the left bank of Port St. Bernard? When the sun sets, the area comes alive with couples picnicking and and ballroom dancing. Every evening, from June until the end of August, hundreds of dancers gather spontaneously at the Jardin Tino Rossi, just below the Institut du Monde Arabe to salsa, tango, waltz and swing. Flickr/Linh Nguyen Visit the 'Lock Bridge' Couples flock to the Pont des Arts to fix a lock to the famous bridge before throwing the key into the River Seine below. More than a million locks currently sit on the bridge, so even if you head over there single - it still makes for a great photograph. Flickr/Ben Harrington See the Eiffel Tower sparkle Every hour from sunset, Paris famous tower sparkles continuously for five minutes. Its one of the most famous attractions in the city, but the spectacular light show is a must for any first-timer. Flickr/gerardreyes Get your cultural injection at Nuit Blanche Every autumn, Parisians celebrate Nuit Blanche, a night in the year when galleries, museums and other art institutions open all night, free of charge. The event celebrates the contemporary international art scene, scattering stunning sculptures, installation and projections across the city. Flickr/Sarah Karlson Visit some famous film spots Plenty of brilliant films and TV shows were shot in Paris and you can skip the 25 euro tour fee by planning your own walking route of famous, off-the-beaten-track districts featured in films shot in the French capital. Visit the famous merry-go-round from Amelie (in Montmarte), the Pont de Bir-Hakeim double-decker bridge from Inception or the Plauce Dauphine where Carrie and Aleksandr strolled around in Sex and the City. Couples should make their way to the beautiful Pont Alexandre III bridge from Midnight in Paris. And of course, there's the famous Louvres role in The Da Vinci Code. Flickr/CpaKmoi Visit the food markets Foodies should make a beeline for the quaint rue des Martyrs in the 9th arrondissement, one of the best market streets in Paris. Here you can find bakers, cheese sellers and gourmet food producers setting up stalls alongside trendy bistros and pavement cafes. Flickr/David McKelvey See some free street art If street art is your thing, the best spot to head for is Canal St. Martin in the 10th arrondissement. This up-and-coming, boho-chic neighbourhood is packed with trendy little restaurants, boutique shops and some of the most exciting graffiti murals in Paris. Its truly one of the last hidden gems of the city. Many locals share a bottle of wine at the edge of the canal with friends warm evening. Shutterstock / Michael Sheridan Listen to an organ concert at Saint-Eustache Church If you fancy hearing some free music, make your way to Saint-Eustache Church where they hold free organ concerts every Sunday at 5.30pm. The organ in this Gothic church is said to be one of the biggest in the world, boasting an impressive 8,000 pipes. Flickr/Joe deSousa Go shopping at a flea market For one-of-a-kind treasures, visit hip neighbourhood Belleville. Its renowned flea markets are a magpies paradise of retro furniture, antique jewellery and colourful pottery. Just make sure you leave some extra room in your suitcase... Flickr/Juan Antonio F. Segal Free live music Located underneath a bridge on the bank of the Seine in the heart of Paris, Showcase has free admission alongside a roster of live acts playing everything from rock to jazz, along with some of the worlds top DJ acts. Showcase

WHAT TO DRINK

Giving the Hemingway Bar at the Ritz Paris a run for its gilt decor is the newly reopened Hotel de Crillons bar, Les Ambassadeurs. Pull up a chair for some serious people watching.

WHERE TO STAY

Hotel National des Arts & Metiers is the latest boutique hotel from the super-stylish La Cle Group. This 70-room property, designed by Raphael Navot and spread across six floors of two Haussmann buildings, is the Marais apartment you always dreamed of, while downstairs LHerbarium bar and Julien Cohens modern spin on the traditional trattoria was buzzing every night of the week during the recent shows. (hotelnational.paris). Meanwhile, by the Champs Elysees, Amastan Paris has teamed up with luggage brand Away to create a bespoke suitcase featuring the hotels signature blue marbling on the interior. www.awaytravel.com/amastan; www.amastanparis.com
F rom the outside, it looks like any other family-run pub in an idyllic stretch of the English countryside, but the unassuming Black Swan Pub has beaten the likes of El Cellar de Can Roca and Heston Blumenthals Fat Duck to be named the worlds best restaurant.

The pretty Yorkshire pub came out top in a ranking of millions of reviews of fine dining restaurants on TripAdvisor.

The Black Swan, which is run by head chef Tommy Banks, is the first British restaurant to have claimed the top spot at the Tripadvisor Travellers Choice awards.

Thinking of making a gastro-visit to the North York Moors? Heres everything you need to know.

Where is the Black Swan?

Perched on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, around 20 miles North of York. The easiest way to get there from London is by car, and It takes just under five hours from the city centre. The drive into Olstead village is beautifully picturesque with winding roads, country cottages and verdant countryside.

Why is it so good?

The Black Swan is owned by the Banks family, whose wunderkind son Tommy won the restaurant a Michelin star when he was just 24 years old.

Dont expect to come and expect scampi and chips or steak and ale pie. Diners instead feast on a 95-a-head tasting menu with Champagne and wine pairings included.

Expect to be wowed with starters like squid dressed in horseradish juice and lobster with onion and gooseberry before moving on to mains of texel lamb with turnip and mint and turbot with strawberries and cream.

The desserts sound delicious too: brown butter and rhubarb and chicory root cake.

The pub itself has bags of character, and the atmosphere is warm and unstuffy, with open fires, exposed wooden beams and plenty of comfy seating to sink into with a full stomach.

What are people saying?

Fantastic meal - enjoyed every second of it, said one reviewer on TripAdvisor. This was our first time at a Michelin star restaurant, so we were nervous but we were put at ease by James. All the staff pleasant and well informed. I can't wait to go back!

Another wrote: Every course was brilliantly designed and was a work of art itself and some of the taste combinations were sublime.

Bucket list desitinations in the UK 1 /12 Bucket list desitinations in the UK Go stargazing on the Isle of Man David Tiernan/Flickr Hike the Brecon Beacons Corbis Visit the Roman Baths in Bath Corbis Soak in the views in Snowdonia Getty Images Climb Arthurs Seat iStock Do a pub crawl in the Cotswolds Corbis Ski the Cairngorm mountain iStock Go sailing in the Lake District Corbis Drink a cream tea on the beach in Devon iStock

What is there to do in the local area?

While the pub itself is sure to be the highlight of your weekend, there are plenty of other pursuits you can pack into a 48-hour jaunt to Olstead.

The pub is within easy striking distance of the beautiful North York Moors, where you can blow away the cobwebs with a bracing country walk. We suggest you start your journey at Sutton Bank National Park where you can find the finest view in England, according to vet and author James Herriot. From the vantage point, you can take in the tremendous view from the dramatic Sutton Bank escarpment over the Vale of Mowbray.

Elsewhere, the National Centre for Birds of Prey in nearby Duncombe Park is well worth a visit - it's the biggest collection of these amazing birds in the north of England. Here youll find over 100 owls, eagles, vultures, falcons, hawks and more in a spacious 10 acre setting.

History buffs can also go on the hunt for the fascinating ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, hidden in the deep of River Rye valley. Or you could make a play for Helmsley Castle, one of the finest examples of a medieval castle in the country.

The whole area around the pub is pretty fabulous - so chances are youll just want to simply belt yourself into the car and pootle from village to village, taking in the treasured landscape and local sights.

Luckily, there are miles of roads to take in and ample places to park up and enjoy the natural beauty.
A woman described how her skin came off in her hands after acid was hurled over a packed dancefloor at an east London nightclub.

Lauren Trent said her skin "blistered straight away" after hearing a "hissing sound" like a can of Coke being opened as she rushed to the nightclub toilets in search of water after the attack.

She was giving evidence at Wood Green Crown Court in the trial of Arthur Collins, 25, ex-boyfriend of The Only Way is Essex star Ferne McCann.

Collins and co-defendant Andre Phoenix, 21, were charged after clubbers were doused with corrosive fluid at the Mangle nightclub in Dalston on April 17.

Ms Trent said: "It was like when you open a can of Coke, there was this hissing sound like an aerosol. It touched my neck and my skin was coming off in my hands.

"I knew it was acid. Nothing blisters that quickly other than acid. I've been in clubs before where there was pepper spray.

"My neck blistered straight away."

Accused: Arthur Collins with ex-girlfriend Ferne McCann

Ms Trent, who came to London to celebrate both her and a friend's birthdays, then shouted "it's acid" before running to find water, jurors heard.

Emma Goodall, defending Phoenix, said: "The security guard you spoke to wasn't doing anything."

She replied: "Security were just standing around not doing much. They didn't seem to have a clue.

"I had to show him my neck for it to hit him something serious had happened."

Ms Trent added the club seemed to continue largely as normal after the episode, with paramedics taking over an hour to arrive.

Speaking about bouncers on the door, she added: "The security was appalling, I can't remember many checks being done."

Luke Ponte, prosecuting, said: "You have no idea who was involved in the attack. It happened quickly."

She replied: "Very quickly, there was nothing to indicate something was about to happen."

Mr Ponte said she and other victims were told to change into foil suits so police could take their clothes for tests.

The court also heard from victim Phoebe Georgiou, who had to be taken to a specialist burns unit. Jurors heard she froze, initially thinking the liquid was water, but it instantly started to burn her chest.

Collins, of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, denies five counts of grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, and 11 counts of actual bodily harm against 16 people.

Phoenix, of Clyde Road, Tottenham, north London, denies the same offences.

Collins accepts throwing the fluid but says he did not know it was acid in the bottle.

Jurors have heard 16 people on the crowded dance floor were injured by the substance, which had a pH level of 1.

The trial continues.

Court reporting by Press Association
P olice are still hunting for a jogger who pushed a woman into the path of a bus on Putney Bridge after a third suspect was eliminated from enquiries.

Shocking footage released by detectives showed the man shove the pedestrian into oncoming traffic as he ran past.

The victim was hurled into the path of oncoming traffic and narrowly missed being hit by a double-decker bus after the driver swerved just inches from her head in the incident on May 5 at 7.40am.

Fifteen minutes later the jogger returned and was confronted by his 33-year-old victim when he refused to acknowledge her and sped towards the north of the river.

Police released this image in the hunt for a jogger wanted over the incident

Detectives today arrested a 49-year-old man in Aberdeen, Scotland, in relation to the incident and later released him without charge, a Met Police spokesman said.

Two 41-year-old men were previously arrested and released over the incident.

Scotland Yard is appealing for further information in a bid to trace the man, described as white and in his 30s, with brown hair and brown eyes.

The woman's head narrowly misses being crushed under the bus

During the attack he was wearing a light grey T-shirt, dark blue shorts and grey trainers.

Detective Sergeant Chris Griffith said: We are continuing to investigate this incident and follow up leads as and when we receive new information about possible suspects.

We are grateful to those who have called in so far. I am also appealing for anyone who recognises the man in the CCTV stills, or with any information that might assist the investigation to contact police or Crimestoppers."

Anyone with information should call detectives from Wandsworth CID on 020 3276 2606 or via 101, or tweet @MetCC.

Information can also be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.
T his is the terrifying moment masked attackers armed with knives targeted a pizza delivery driver in north London.

The horrifying CCTV clip appears to show around five men with their faces covered approaching the driver as he pulled up in a quiet residential street in Kingsbury, Brent.

They appear to swipe at the delivery driver with blades in the video which was shared on social media by a group campaigning against moped and motorbike theft in the UK.

In a second clip, one of the men appears to hold the victim, aged in his 50s, while the others brandish huge knives in Rugby Road on September 24.

Terrifying moment: CCTV shows a gang threaten a pizza delivery driver with knives / Facebook/The UK Motorcycle Theft Protest Community

One of the attackers then flees on the moped as the others follow on foot.

The victim escaped unhurt, police said.

A spokeswoman for the Met told the Standard they had received two reports of a robbery in the residential road at around 4pm.

Police investigation: The group stole the driver's moped / Facebook/The UK Motorcycle Theft Protest Community

The victim, a man in his 50s, reported being attacked by at least three men in Rugby Road who took his moped and a pizza.

A witness later reported seeing knives used in the same incident, she said.

It was currently unclear if any arrests had been made in connection with the incident and enquiries were ongoing, the spokeswoman added.
C hildren who become bilingual in Mandarin and English from nursery school age will have a lifelong advantage over their peers, according to the head of a Europes first completely immersive Chinese-English primary.

Jo Wallace, former head of Putney High Junior School, said Kensington Wade - launched this September for a roster of international pupils - offers the best way for Londoners to equip their children as businesspeople and global citizens of the future.

Ms Wallace insisted the 17,000-a-year school, which teaches half its lessons in Chinese and the other half in English, is the opposite of a stressed-out environment.

She told the Standard: Almost all business opportunities by and large are helped by having Mandarin, and professional parents who work with China - or who understand this is the future - want their children to keep up.

We want to take all the children from different backgrounds who come here and create 21st-century global citizens having a bilingual brain has both emotional and intellectual benefits.

The school has been welcomed by Vice Chancellor of the University of Buckingham Sir Anthony Seldon as the most exciting in the country, and advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell last month told parents at an event that tuition fees were worthwhile as he saw Chinese and [computer] code as the only two languages the next generation would need.

Pupils are taught for half a day in each language and study all subjects in both tongues, with UK versions of traditional Chinese teaching methods  such as Shanghai maths, where the class does not move on until every child understands, so that no child ever has a hole in their learning.

One parent, Adele Turner, speaks five languages herself. The businesswoman has one son Tristan, three, at Kensington Wade, while son Rory, six, attends nearby Knightsbridge School where he learns Chinese - only once a week.

Ms Turner said: I was a bit worried about the Chinese teaching methods but the teachers are so lovely and in three weeks my son is already speaking Mandarin. He sings songs in Mandarin to me when he comes home. She added that Tristans grasp of Mandarin was already catching up with Rorys.

The school aims to expand into other European cities over the next decade, with a larger London campus involving two classes of 18 children in every year group from ages three to 11.
T he lowest rates of dementia in the UK are found in London, with some Londoners less likely to get the condition than anywhere else in the country.

Interactive maps have revealed that the east London constituency of Poplar and Limehouse has fewer than four cases for every 1,000 people, according Alzheimer's Research UK.

This is less than a third of the national average of 13 per 1,000 people. Hotspots for the condition are coastal towns and areas popular with retired people.

Christchurch in Dorset has the highest prevalence of dementia per head of population at 28 cases per 1,000 people, according to the charity, which compiled the maps.

Four of the five Parliamentary constituencies with the lowest rates are in London. There are five cases in every 1,000 people in West Ham, Bethnal Green and Bow, Hackney South and Shoreditch, and Manchester Central.

Dementia researchers launch app to help enhance home and hospital environments

But the maps show wide fluctuations in dementia rates in the capital.

The three areas with the highest prevalence are Hornchurch and Upminster, Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, and Old Bexley and Sidcup, where there are 16 cases in every 1,000 people. The constituencies' populations are older than the London average.

A 2014 report by Alzheimer's Society highlighted a "postcode lottery of dementia care and support" in London, and said neighbouring boroughs often had wildly differing services, diagnosis levels, and memory clinic waiting times

Nationally, the area with the highest rate after Christchurch is in New Forest West, with 27 cases per 1,000 people, followed jointly by North Norfolk, Clacton and Worthing West, each with 24 cases per 1,000 people.

The areas with the highest prevalence typically have between 1,500 and 2,700 people suffering dementia.

There are currently 850,000 people living with the dementia in the UK but this is expected to rise to one million by 2025 as people live longer.

Dr Matthew Norton, director of policy at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "Dementia is our greatest medical challenge and with our ageing population, the number of people affected by this devastating condition is only going to rise.

"Today, one in three people have a family member or close friend with dementia.

"Despite this, there is still a worrying lack of public understanding about the condition, which is why we have developed the dementia hotspots maps.

"As the UK's leading dementia research charity, one of our biggest challenges is to empower people with the knowledge that this cruel and unforgiving condition can be defeated.

"Dementia is not an inevitable part of ageing, it is caused by diseases."

The maps can be viewed online, broken down by constituency or clinical commissioning group.
AirAsia X Bhd., the long-haul arm of the regions biggest budget carrier, is looking at swapping an order for 66 Airbus SE A330neo wide-body jets to larger A350s in a bid to boost capacity on its busiest routes.

A review of the Kuala Lumpur-based discounters fleet requirements is underway and could result in a plan to trade up to the bigger wide-body, Tony Fernandes, chief executive officer of Air- Asia group, said in an interview Tuesday. He said the Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner will also be considered.

AirAsia X will remain focused on routes within four to eight hours flying time and would deploy the A350s on those services just as it had aimed to do with the A330s, Fernandes said, adding that a switch wouldnt indicate a revival of plans to serve Europe. For Airbus, an order would shrink the 212-plane A330neo backlog while bolstering an A350 program that has itself suffered recent setbacks.

Over the last 10 years weve been tweaking the model, the CEO said. Now that we kind of know what we want to do, were looking at the fleet. Were toying with the A350. If we went A350, we wouldnt use the A330neo anymore, wed go all A350.

AirAsia X currently has 10 A350-900s on order alongside the larger A330neo commitment, while its existing fleet is comprised of 30 current-generation A330s. The Boeing 787 looks interesting as well, Fernandes said in London.

The move would mark an about face from previous plans. In 2015, the Malaysian operator began looking at flipping the 10 A350s due for delivery from 2021 to A330neos, with the units chief Benyamin Ismail saying the smaller jet was cheaper and just as economical.

While an order rethink could be lucrative for Airbus, with the A350-900 having a sticker price of $311.2 million versus $290.6 million for the A330neo, the switch would come as a complication given the airlines status as a launch customer for the plane.

Fernandes said the first jet is due in December 2018, though the date is slipping after already being put back amid development issues with Rolls-Royce Holdings Plcs Trent 7000 engine. The company will send representatives to the models first flight, scheduled for Oct. 18 in Toulouse, he said.

AirAsia X is also exploring the business case for adding Airbus A321neos to serve routes to India and China that might not support bigger planes, Fernandes said. The main AirAsia short- haul operation already has orders for more than 400 upgraded Airbus narrow- bodies, including 100 A321 variants.
A crack unit of ex-special forces soldiers, military and former police officers has been drafted in to protect West End jewellery stores after a surge in attacks by moped raiders, the Standard reveals.

The Standard spoke to one former commando who foiled the latest raid in Regent Street by taking on machete-wielding thugs with his bare hands.

In dramatic video footage obtained by this newspaper, the soldier can be seen tackling the raiders as they fled the luxury store Mappin & Webb in Regent Street on Monday.

The guard, a former officer in the Iranian special forces, told the Standard: I am highly trained, I was a commando and an officer, I am not scared of these people.

One of the ex-special forces troops, circled, trying to stop a moped gang during a recent raid on Regent Street

The 35-year-old, known only as Seyed, was first on the scene when robbers stormed the jewellers at just after 7pm as the area was crowded with shoppers and commuters.

He said: Were in contact with all the businesses we represent via a secure line.

I saw the guys about to break in and I raised the alarm sending the message attack attack to Mappin & Webb to make them aware.

I then ran towards the gang and took them on. One had a long sword he was waving at me and they were shouting threats.

Special forces troops are being deployed to tackle smash-and-grab gangs in the West End

The former soldier, who saw action defending Iran from Iraqi border incursions, is one of a team 16 undercover guards protecting stores across the West End, Victoria and Kensington.

His company, security specialists UK Protection, are employed to defend a string of luxury jewellers including Mappin & Webb, Watches of Switzerland and Goldsmiths.

Seyed said: The message to these guys is not to mess with us. We are former military personnel, we are highly trained, we are watching and we will get you. Do not come back.

The thieves plundered a number of watches including Rolexes but fled after less than two minutes following Seyeds intervention.

Another of the firms security guards gave chase, attempting to drag one the robbers from the saddle of his speeding moped.

Seyed says he recognised one member of the six-man gang from a previous robbery. He said: I looked him in the eye. He is about 35 or 36, he is no kid. He recognised me as well I could tell. It was like meeting an old enemy.

Forensic officers at the scene of the raid on Regent Street / Nigel Howard

The raid on Mappin & Webb was followed by another on Watchfinder on Avery Row, just half a mile away, at 11am Tuesday morning.

In that incident members of the public including builders and restaurant workers chased off the gang and held one of the alleged raiders until armed police arrived.

James Strout, security manager at the vintage watch specialists, said: Lets hope this will dent the gangs who are terrorising London and the UK. We have to stop them and are determined to do so.

Marc Jacobs, the head of operations for UK Protection, refused to comment on the Mappin & Webb raid, but said: Our staff are all ex-police officers and ex-military who are trained to the highest standard.

Police investigate the incident at the Mappin & Webb store on Regent Street / PA

They have close protection security licences and carry out surveillance on the stores and can intervene if a robbery takes place.

He said his guards had intervened in smash and grab attempts on West End stores on a weekly basis in recent months.

He said the guards had a citizens power of arrest and their main duties were to observe and report matters to police but they could intervene whenever it was safe for them and the public.

He added: Given their training and the people they are, they intervene when you and I might not do so.

The robbers fled on a single moped before police arrived / PA

Mr Jacobs added that much of the work of security staff was also spotting and trying to prevent credit card and other frauds.

Gangs of marauding robbers on scooters have been stalking central London with a string of high profile raids.

The Fenchurch Street branch of Mappin & Webb in the City was targeted on September 19 but the thieves left empty handed after failing to smash the shatter proof glass with an axe.

Six men reportedly smashed open cabinets with a hammer and machete / PA

On August 16 robbers on scooters plundered watches from luxury store Boodles on Sloane Street.

Last month tens of thousands of pounds worth of Mulberry bags were stolen by thieves who smashed through the window of House of Fraser on Victoria Street.

Met police crime figures showed that there were more than 8,000 crimes involving mopeds and scooters in London last year. In 2014 the figure was around 1,000.

Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of New West End Company said: This was a serious attack and sadly a type of incident that is becoming more frequent in London. Thankfully such incidents are rare in the West End but they still need to be addressed as a priority.

Raid: Robbers used a hammer and machete to break into cabinets at Mappin & Webb / reisenderpirat / Twitter

New West End Company is meeting with the police and the Deputy Mayor for Police to discuss security in the West End and how we can all work together to ensure that our district remains safe for shoppers, employees and residents.

Andy Fairbanks, managing director of UK Protection, praised Seyed and other members of the security team for the way they confronted the robbers.

He said the thugs would eventually be overwhelmed by his highly trained unit of top former police and military personnel, deployed to tackle a surge in the number and ferocity of raids in the past year.

They cannot carry weapons but wear stab vests and are self defence experts.

He said: I am very proud of my staff for the way they dealt with this difficult and dangerous situation. We provide the security staff in the shop as well as undercover security and both combined to tackle them.

The robbers panicked because of the way Seyed and the others responded.

One was fighting with Seyed and they started dropping their weapons and trying to get away.

Our security our very highly trained former military and police. They are told not to resist because these gangs are very heavily armed and in the past 12 months we have seen them with machetes and swords and all sorts.

But everybody is fed up with these people terrorising London and threatening lives. Some of my people take it personally and cant just stand by despite the danger. We are disrupting these people and they have to be aware there will be consequences otherwise they will continue. They work on the basis that they will overwhelm security staff with numbers.

But we work on intelligence expertise and surveillance and they will one day find that they are being overwhelmed by our people and we will detain them. They were lucky to get away this time.

He said the company worked closely with the Flying Squad who had also passed on praise for Seyed and the other security guards.

Mr Fairbanks added: The Flying Squad were very complimentary about the way Seyed and the others dealt with the gang. Our message to the robbers is that we are watching and ready for you.
A 30-year battle by victims of London bombings sponsored by terrorist-backing despot Muammar Gaddafi has made a major breakthrough, the Evening Standard can reveal.

Libyan leaders are offering to meet British people who suffered injuries or lost relatives in a spate of IRA bombings in the Eighties and early Nineties, including devastating attacks on Harrods, Hyde Park and Canary Wharf.

News of the offer of talks has been privately passed by the Foreign Office to campaigners fighting for compensation from a 9.4 billion fortune stashed away in London by the Gaddafi regime before it collapsed.

Campaigners representing victims from London and Northern Ireland may be flown to Tripoli to meet a senior figure in the Libyan justice ministry.

Although there is no compensation on the table, the offer of talks has raised hopes.

Muammar Gaddafi / REUTERS

Susanne Dodd, the daughter of a hero police officer killed in the 1983 Harrods bombing, said: It is looking very promising. But I hope there are no more delays because some of the victims are very elderly and others have already died without getting the help they needed. We have lost 30 people among the victims since this campaign began.

Susannes father, Inspector Stephen Dodd, 34, was one of three Met officers killed trying to save shoppers and tourists near the famous store just before Christmas in 1983.

Jonathan Ganesh, who founded the Docklands Victims Association, said he believed the campaign was making progress but could not discuss details.

I feel more optimistic that the Government is now committed to correcting this injustice. But many victims have suffered greatly with injuries or poverty who should have been helped sooner.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has met with campaingers / AFP/Getty Images

Libyan assets in Britain have been valued at a staggering 9,467,630,000, including cash, properties and investments. They are frozen under UN sanctions until a permanent new government is recognised in Tripoli.

A Whitehall source said it was too early to discuss compensation. However, he said the interim Libyan authorities had expressed deep sympathy for British victims along with their own innocent victims of Gaddafi.

They all suffered at the hands of this dreadful man, said the source.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt have both met campaigners in the past two days.

Campaigners are bitter that American, French and German governments won substantial payouts for their own victims while Gaddafi was in power. A cross-party report this year said Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron all missed opportunities to secure payments during Gaddafis life and at his fall in 2011, when he was murdered by a mob.
A tights firm hit out at Transport for Londons advertising rules today after it was forced to cover up part of a models back in a campaign image.

Heist Studios, which launched its first advertising campaign on the London Underground this month, was told by TfLs agents to add a bandeau top to its image of a dancer leaping through the air in a pair of tights.

The model is facing away from the camera and no part of her chest is visible in the shot.

In an email to Heists creative director Edzard van der Wyck, seen by the Standard, a member of staff at Exterion Media, which holds the 1.1 billion advertising contract for the Tube, said one of TfLs stipulations is we cannot run topless models on the Underground.

The edited version of the tights ad

The email continued: Whilst I know this is only showing a bare back, it still depicts a topless model. If we could add a boob tube around the back I think this would be passed.

Ellie Howard, the head of community at Heist, said: We were told to cover up the offending area  her back. Its bonkers.

"We were very excited about sharing our image of a strong, female dancer wearing our tights, especially since womens underwear ads are usually so heavily sexualised, but it seems that the back of a female dancer is unacceptable.

Under-dressed Tube ads under fire In 2015, a Protein World advert on the Tube featuring a model in a bikini and the slogan are you beach body ready? provoked 400 complaints that it body-shamed women and was socially irresponsible.But the advertising watchdog said it did not break rules. An ad campaign on the Tube for breast enlargement surgery was defaced by campaigners in 2009. They wrote sexist shit next to a quote from a woman who said that going from a 34B to a 34DD was the best decision I ever made! Victorias Secret was criticised for a 2014 campaign that appeared to suggest thin fashion models had the perfect body. About 33,000 people signed a successful petition calling for the lingerie brand to change the wording. The adultery website Ashley Madison ran an advert in 2011 featuring a plus-sized model in lingerie and the tagline: Did your wife scare you last night?

TfLs guidelines prohibit advertisements which depict men, women or children in a sexual manner or display nude or semi-nude figures in an overtly sexual context.

For example, while the use of underdressed people in most underwear advertising may be seen as an appropriate context, gratuitous use of an overtly sexual nature will be unacceptable.

Ms Howard said: Were pretty indignant about that  the image is not designed to be overtly sexual. We use dancing and movement in our imagery to show agency and precisely because we are trying to challenge the way that women are sexualised in underwear adverts.

This beach body ready ad sparked 400 complaints / PA

There are many male dancers on tube ads who are topless and there are women in seductive poses and clothes, where theres no agency, yet a muscly dancers back has to be covered.

"How on earth can we provide an alternative view of how women should be depicted in underwear if we cant show it? We think there is something fundamentally wrong with how TfL is screening adverts.

Last year, Sadiq Khan announced that TfL would no longer run adverts that could cause body confidence issues. The Mayor said the ads could demean people, particularly women, and make them ashamed of their bodies.

It followed widespread anger over a Protein World advert which featured a model in a bikini with the slogan are you beach body ready?.

In February, TfL was criticised by campaigners for allowing another Protein World advert which featured Khloe Kardashian in a bodysuit with the slogan can you keep up with a Kardashian?.

A TfL spokesman said that while it had not seen Heists advert, Exterion acts on its behalf. He added that TfL bore responsibility for all its advertising: We set the policy  they are imposing the rules on our behalf. Exterion could not be reached for comment.
A squad of anti-slavery enforcers visited London car washes in a major response to the Evening Standards special investigation into slavery.

The Standard yesterday exposed the horrors of Britains car washes, where young men report being tricked and trapped, sleeping four to a room and subjected to injury and even death.

It was reported that Sandu Laurentiu-Sava, a 40-year-old Romanian, died by electrocution while showering in squalid quarters attached to the car wash where he worked in Bethnal Green. Others told of leprosy-like damage to their hands from using chemicals without gloves.

Officers from the Met polices Modern Slavery and Kidnap Unit, Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), and the HMRC launched a series of joint car-wash welfare visits after this newspaper urged authorities to act.

The Standard accompanied officials on visits to four hand car washes in east London. Staff told how they worked 12-hour days for as little as 3 an hour, revealing to officers that they just work, eat and sleep.

They were seen washing cars in trainers and jeans, some of them not wearing gloves  often a cause for alarm, according to UK slavery experts. One Romanian, who asked not to be named, said he worked gruelling hours in cold weather, and was constantly soaked. I work 12 hours a day, six days a week, for 40 a day. Its very difficult, he said, adding that he did not have a passport or bank account.

How to spot the signs of slavery

You stay with your feet in water all day. Even in winter, I am not wearing boots. During the visits, officers also found a 17-year-old who said he had fled slavery in his native Albania hoping for a better life in the UK.

He told officers how he then ended up working 10 to 12 hour days in a car wash for low pay.

Chris Flint, investigator for the GLAA, said the multi-agency inspections were crucial to identifying labour abuses, from minimum wage infractions to the extremes of coercion, threat and injury.

Although the men did not identify themselves as victims of slavery during the visits, officers saw clear hidden-economy exploitation, he said, adding: Its all about protecting those exploited workers  and this is a fantastic example of that. We should be doing this day in, day out. Joint working works. More welfare visits are planned as the Metropolitan police seek to tackle vulnerable premises such as car washes.

A new monthly meeting at Scotland Yard has also been launched between agencies that deal with modern slavery to share intelligence and combine efforts.

Help end slavery by visiting the Evening Standard's digital action platform.
L awmakers will hold a special meeting to explore how the UK's Modern Slavery Act could be rolled out across the Commonwealth.

Experts hope to encourage the creation of laws to stamp out forced labour in all of the 52 Commonwealth nations.

Labour's Frank Field, who chaired the UKs Modern Slavery Bill Evidence Review, said there was "a unique opportunity for countries like Britain to learn how other Commonwealth countries are combatting slavery".

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK announced on Thursday that it will gather politicians from across the Commonwealth in December to discuss how it could be done.

The Modern Slavery Act was the first dedicated piece of legislation of its kind in the world, bringing in a raft of measures including new powers to seize traffickers' assets as well as the creation of an anti-slavery commissioner for the UK.

The seminar will take place in the Houses of Parliament from 11th to 15th December and will bring together bill drafters from different Commonwealth nations to explore the development, drafting and amendment of modern slavery and human trafficking legislation.

Leading Nigerian anti-slavery campaigner R Evon Idahosa, whose voice features in a new animation made by CPA UK, said: Modern slavery is a global pandemic that circumvents borders, gender, race and class in its mandate to consume human bodies, human rights and human dignity.

Now is the time for all parliamentarians to collectively strengthen their resolve to interrupt this injustice and to amplify the voices of those silenced by this evil.

Campaigners and the Evening Standard's special investigation into modern slavery have previously called for Commonwealth leaders to pledge greater action to fight the scourge, ahead of the next Commonwealth heads of government meeting in April 2018.

You can urge the Commonwealth to act on modern slavery at our dedicated action platform, made with anti-slavery advocates Freedom United.
F ormer Irish prime minister John Bruton has said there is a very strong likelihood Brexit talks will fail.

Mr Bruton, in an exclusive interview with the Evening Standard, said the talks are likely to fall down because of time pressure, Tory party splits and a lack of negotiating skill. I think theres a very strong likelihood of no deal because of the lack of preparation and the blowing away of time, he said.

He was particularly critical of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, hinting that he is unqualified for the job.

Mr Bruton said: Unfortunately, you have a government in which the Foreign Secretary  who should be an authoritative figure, in terms of understanding the needs of other countries  has set forth red lines that, quite literally, make any deal completely impossible. And yet he continues to be Her Majestys Foreign Secretary.

A fifth round of Brexit talks were winding up today with little progress made on the three main divorce issues of citizens, money and Ireland.

Former Irish prime minister John Bruton said there is a very strong likelihood Brexit talks will fail

EU leaders meet next week, where they are likely to say that not enough has been done to move talks on to a transition period or future trade deal, delaying a decision until December.

But Mr Bruton, who is also a former EU ambassador to the US, said the UK Government is ill-prepared for trade talks and that Tory divisions make it incapable of moving forward.

He said: Even if the UK were to be allowed to move on to the trade negotiation, they dont have a worked-up proposal I have serious doubts about whether the current UK Government is able to come forward with a proposal on the future relationship without splitting fatally.

He said the only solution is to extend negotiations to 2023  which would require unanimous approval from the EUs 27 other leaders under article 50 of the EU treaty.

He added: Because the UK is not ready to compromise, it is not ready to make the sort of decisions that need to be made They seem to be wanting to get as much of their cake as they can, and eating as much of it at the same time as having it.

Mr Bruton, who became Taoiseach right after the 1994 IRA ceasefire, said there was no appreciation in the UK of the impact Brexit will have on Northern Ireland and Ireland. He added that it was good the EU had put Ireland as one of its top three priorities.

Mr Bruton was in Brussels to speak at an event run by the Friends of Europe think-tank, where he is a trustee.
T alks between Theresa May and Sadiq Khan ended in soured relations after Downing Street today accused the mayor of dragging his feet on building homes for Londoners.

A war of words broke out after the private meeting at 10 Downing Street, where Mrs May called for much more ambitious and pro-active approaches from the Mayor and council leaders to unlock developments.

Mr Khans team voiced surprise, saying Mrs May had not made such strong criticism to his face.

The skirmish suggests the Tories are gearing up to put Labour councils record on home-building at the heart of their campaign for next years borough elections.

Mrs May was said to have called for the rapid development of some 5,700 acres of land owned by Transport for London, chaired by Mr Khan, as it had huge potential for flats and houses.

Downing Street accused the Mayor of dragging his feet over the issue / Nigel Howard

Government sources said the PM had expressed concern that just 371 affordable homes have been started in London so far in the 2017/18 year, despite some 3.15 billion being provided.

She is said to have scolded him by saying the supply of homes in London was the responsibility of City Hall and the 32 boroughs.

The meeting was part of Mrs Mays regular talks with the Mayor of London and other heads of devolved administrations on a range of issues.

A Government source later went further by saying there was concern that Mr Khan was not acting fast enough. The housing crisis is one of the most serious issues facing Londoners today - yet the Mayor is failing to take the action necessary to increase house building in the capital.

The Prime Minister has made clear the Mayor needs to deliver a housing strategy which includes an ambitious annual housing target and a credible plan for identifying land suitable for development. The Mayor simply cannot continue to drag his feet any longer.

A source close to the Mayor hit back, saying: Clearly the Prime Ministers dreadful week has got to her as she didnt say that in the meeting. Sadiq inherited a dreadful housing crisis from his Tory predecessor and the Tory Government, and he is doing everything possible within his powers to turn it round - but this will take time.

Sadiq Khan speaking at Labour Party Conference 2016

If the Prime Minister knew the first thing about housing she would know that the shockingly low number of houses being built now are the pipeline inherited from Boris Johnson - her Foreign Secretary. This pathetic party politics will not solve the housing crisis. Its time the Prime Minister gave London the powers and resources we need to build the homes Londoners need.

There were 7,350 starts on new homes from July to December 2016, when Mr Khan was first Mayor of London, according to official statistics. That was down from 10,410 in the same period in 2015 under Mr Johnson, and down from 9,720 starts from January to June 2016, when they overlapped.

The talks also covered devolution and the planned Crossrail 2 north-south route.
O xford is surging ahead of London in the race to become emissions-free after outlining plans to ban all non-electric vehicles in parts of the city by 2020.

The city is set become the first place in the UK to ban all polluting vehicles from some areas within just three years.

The proposals would initially prohibit all petrol and diesel vehicles from the city centre's streets, including cars, taxis and buses.

This area will then be expanded twice, in 2025 and 2030, to encompass the entire city centre, before banning HGVs in 2035.

The ban goes a step further than plans outlined by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who is set to introduce the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which will impose an additional charge on the most polluting vehicles.

Pollution in London / PA Archive/PA Images

Oxford city council plans to launch a six-week public consultation on the proposals on Monday.

John Tanner, Oxford city council cabinet member for environment, said: "Toxic and illegal air pollution in the city centre is damaging the health of Oxford's residents. A step change is urgently needed; the new Zero Emission Zone is that step change.

"All of us who drive or use petro or diesel vehicles through Oxford are contributing to the city's toxic air. Everyone needs to do their bit - from national Government and local authorities, to businesses and residents - to end this public health emergency."

Experts say the scheme could cut levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide significantly - down by as much as 74 per cent in one area.

Local businesses could be hit hard, however, costing bus operators, taxi firms, haulage companies and councils around 14m. Anyone driving a non-electric vehicle is likely to receive an automatic fine of 60.

Oxford city council and Oxfordshire county council then plan to spend 7m on a broad range of improvements, including a comprehensive range of relevant infrastructure changes and one of either CCTV or licence plate recognition software as a means of enforcement. Both councils will also be required to replace their bin lorries and gritting vehicles.

The councils have said most of the costs will be back-loaded to the second half of the next 18 years, allowing them time to budget.
A student plunged 200ft to her death after she jumped in the air for a photograph on a cliff edge, an inquest heard.

Hyewon Kim suffered catastrophic injuries in the fall during a solo trip to East Sussex beauty spot Seven Sisters on June 22, the court was told.

The 23-year-old, from South Korea, had asked a stranger to take the snap but lost her footing as she leaped.

Senior coroner Alan Craze recorded a verdict of misadventure at an inquest into Miss Kims death at Eastbourne coroners court on Thursday.

The death came just a day after another tourist was injured in a similar fall nearby, top fire fighter Mark Webb, from East Sussex Fire and Rescue told the Standard.

He urged tourists to stay away from dangerous cliff edges while posing for holiday snaps.

Mr Webb said: This was an incredibly sad incident leading to the unnecessary loss of a very young life.

"What we would say is to urge people to stay well away from cliff edges.

"The day before this incident we had a very severe rock fall in the same sort of area, so it's clear some of these cliff edges can be very unstable."
A British man facing a three year jail sentence in Dubai after putting his hand on a mans hip to avoid spilling his drink has had the complaint against him dropped.

Jamie Harron, from Stirling, in Scotland, was arrested for public indecency after putting a hand on the man to avoid spilling a drink as he moved through a crowded bar, campaign group Detained in Dubai (DiD) said.

The 27-year-old electrician was told he faces up to three years in jail and lost his job following the incident.

However, the businessman who made the complaint is understood to have dropped the allegation after realising how long Mr Harron could spend behind bars.

A statement released by his employer Neumann & Esser said: "With a certain distance from the incident and the punishment to be expected for the suspect, our employee decided to withdraw the complaint despite the harassment having been confirmed by several witnesses.

"However, according to the typical laws for the country, this does not automatically result in the termination of the proceedings as, for example, very likely in England or Germany."

Mr Harron has already been sentenced to 30 days in prison for making a rude gesture and drinking alcohol and has spent 30,000 in legal fees and expenses after being stuck in the country for three months.

According to a DiD spokesman, he admitted drinking alcohol at the Rock Bottom Bar party spot after being arrested in July but denied making a rude gesture.

His lawyers have submitted an appeal.

Mr Harron is said to have been holding a drink, moving through a crowded bar and held a hand in front of him to avoid spilling it on himself or others when he "touched a man on his hip to avoid impact".

Police arrived at the scene "20 to 30" minutes later and arrested Mr Harron, according to his representatives.

He was then said to have been charged with public indecency, locked up for five days in Al Bersha prison, then released after bail with his passport confiscated.

The next court hearing is set for later this month.

Radha Stirling, chief executive of Detained in Dubai, said: "Jamie is quite hopeful he will get back now but the hearing is not set till October 22.

"If they drop the charges now it's fine but we will not hear back till then.

"The case has prompted 80 messages an hour of support and has even prompted calls for a boycott of the UAE over its treatment of expats and tourists."

Mr Harron had been working in Afghanistan and was on a two-day stopover in Dubai when the incident happened.

Speaking on Wednesday, he said: "I hope that it can be sorted out but I already didn't think it would have went on for so many months in the first place.

"I've lost my job, I'm in debt now, I may be going to prison and all this for a two-day stopover.

"It's just unbelievable. I'm still in shock that it's actually happened."
A bid by China to clean up pollution in its biggest cities and industrial towns is fueling a push to mine resource riches on the other side of the globe in the Amazon rainforest  one of the most environmentally sensitive areas on Earth.

Smog-laden skies across the worlds most-populated country prompted the government to impose curbs on a domestic steel industry that uses coal-fired blast furnaces to melt iron ore. Thats led to increased demand for higher-grade ore from overseas that can produce more steel with fewer emissions, and profit margins on those shipments have surged.

Exports by Brazil, one of the biggest suppliers, are headed for a fourth straight record in 2017. Top producer Vale SA is shifting production from low-grade reserves in the southeast that have been mined for a century to develop more high-grade deposits in the isolated northern regions of the Amazon, where environmentalists fear further damage to the worlds largest rainforest.

Its a contradiction, said Frederico Martins, an official at the Brazilian governments Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation who monitored Vales operations in the Amazon when he was managing the Carajas national forest for a decade. China wants to clean up 20 years of pollution over there, yet impacting things more here.

The incentive for Brazil to produce more is growing, especially for Vale, which is seeking to reduce USD22 billion of debt it ran up during a three-year price slump that ended in 2016. The gap between low-grade and high-grade ore is widening to about $50 a metric ton from less than $10 about 18 months ago.

Ore that contains 65 percent iron sold for $86.50 a ton on Tuesday, compared with $36.96 for the lower-grade 58 percent ore, according to Metal Bulletin Ltd. The industry benchmark, based on 62 percent ore delivered to Qingdao, China, fetched $61.01.

Vale is ramping up its $14 billion project in the Amazon known as S11D, which began production earlier this year. The Rio de Janeiro-based company says better-quality reserves and more automated machinery mean the mine will eventually be able to produce ore at about $7 a ton. Thats less than half of its current total costs. Output at the site could reach 90 million tons a year by 2020.

The project marks the start of a transition from Vales origins in the southern state of Minas Gerais, where the company has more than 10 billion tons of known reserves. But most of those deposits dont exceed 50 percent iron content. In Vales Amazon reserves, where S11D is located, it has almost 7 billion tons at more than 65 percent.

Brazilian iron-ore shipments will grow significantly over the next four years, as demand increases for higher-grade supplies, said Paul Robinson, director of non-ferrous metals at CRU Group, a mining-industry consultant based in London. Exports that are heading for a record 370 million tons this year may expand to 460 million or 470 million by 2021 as the premium continues to increase, he said.

The increased demand already is helping Vale. The companys credit was upgraded to stable by Fitch Ratings Ltd., which forecast reasonable profitability during periods of lower prices as increased output from S11D boosts Vales advantage over rival exporters in Australia. Brazil currently accounts for about 22 percent of global iron-ore trade, and most of the countrys shipments come from Vale, according to Fitch.

Vale says it has reduced output of lower-grade ore by about 19 million tons a year while boosting supplies of the higher grades China is buying.

At a meeting with analysts last month, Vale Chief Executive Officer Fabio Schvartsman said reduced costs and the widening profit margins should help boost earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by as much as $600 million in the second half of 2017. The company earned about $30 a ton last year, but Schvartsman said that profit could increase by as much as $6 a ton by 2020.

The outlook is improving because of the shift in buying by China, the worlds largest metals consumer and by far the biggest importer of iron ore. Only the countrys coal-fired electricity generators pollute more than its steel makers, according to Greenpeace. The government is closing the dirtiest plants and increasing commitments to expanded use of solar power and electric vehicles.

Aside from reducing costs associated with pollution, China also wants cleaner cities to retain the talents of its expanding middle class, which is better educated and more mobile, according to Matthew Kahn, a professor of economics at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He led a study examining the careers of politicians and mayors in 100 Chinese cities over eight years.

Chinas original growth model was to have its own heavy factories in steel and other industries, and this created output and pollution, Kahn said. But now that China is transitioning to a human capital economy, smart, talented people want to live in cities with blue skies that look like San Francisco.

The risk for Brazil is that it loses more of its rain forest, which Greenpeace estimates has shrunk by about a fifth in the past four decades as farmers moved in to plant soybeans or sugar and miners began digging up minerals.

In the Carajas national forest, where S11D is being developed, Vale says it protects about 8,200 square kilometers of natural habitat, or about five times the total area where it operates. The company has developed technologies and management systems to minimize the impact on the environment, its press department said by email.

Still, satellite images of the region show a dramatic amount of deforestation around locations where mining began in the 1980s. More than 40,000 people worked on developing S11D since 2010, and the company now employs about 2,700 workers full time, plus at least 10,000 indirect jobs.

Mining attracts a migratory flow, said Martins at the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, adding that the impact on rural areas is significant. When the flow settles in the region, it does so in an irregular way, and that puts pressure on the forest as land is converted into rural and urban areas. R.T. Watson, Bloomberg
D onald Trumps decision to pull the US out of Unesco has sent a warning to other UN bodies over granting Palestine membership, an expert has said.

Hugh Lovatt, an Israel/Palestine Project Co-odinator at a top international think tank, said the USA's claim of an anti-Israel bias within Unesco stemmed from the countries long-running support for the Jewish state which occupies Palestinian territories.

Professor Lovatt, who works for the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Mr Trump's decision to quit Unesco would act as a warning to other UN bodies over the "massive headache" accepting Palestinian membership could cause them.

The withdrawal of the US, which is meant to provide a fifth of Unesco's funding, is a major blow for the Paris-based organisation which was founded after World War Two to help protect cultural and natural heritage around the world.

Within hours of the USA's decision, Israel also announced plans to withdraw from Unesco.

A Unesco resolution in 2016 ignored Jewish ties to a major holy site in Jerusalem (Shutterstock) / Shutterstock / ESB Professional

Professor Lovatt said: Over the last few years there have been a number of resolutions passed by Unesco members that have been critical of Israel. This has been a very contentious issue.

Whats most angering Israel is the labelling of sites in East Jerusalem as on occupied Palestinian territory."

He added: The US has tended to be very supportive of Israeli positions in general. Within the UN it has tended to veto or block any resolutions that are critical of Israel."

In 2011, the US cut most of its funding for the agency when Palestine was made a member.

Professor Lovatt said: It (leaving Unesco) sends a threat to the UN. Its sending a message that you should not allow the Palestinians to join because it will give you a massive headache.

But Professor Lovatt disputed the US claim that the agency, which designates sites of cultural or natural importance around the world, is anti-Israel.

Theres all this talk about the UN being anti-Israel but theres not really such a thing, because its decisions are made by its member states. It all depends on how its members line up, he said.

Last year, Unescos members passed a resolution which referred to a key site in Jerusalem only by its Arabic name  making no reference to its Jewish ties. Israel subsequently suspended co-operation with the agency.

It also recalled its ambassador to Unesco amid growing dissent at its practices in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the USA's decision to quit Unesco as "brave and moral" as he announced his country would follow suit.

The US State Department said it will withdraw from Unesco officially on December 31.

Giulio Verdini, a senior lecturer at Westminster University and Unesco report contributor, suggested the USA's withdrawal could lead to a greater balance of power.

He said: From one side the US decision affects multilateralism so it is clearly negative (but not surprisingly given the tension on the Palestine issue since long), from the other side this could also be accompanied by a rebalance of power towards emerging countries.

This could open up a scenario in which the international agenda on culture and education could be increasingly influenced also by non-western players. Something not necessarily negative and for sure something that we will have to get used more and more in the future.
I ndia's top court has ruled that having sex with a wife younger than 18 is rape, a decision that activists say is an important step toward ending child marriages

The Supreme Court struck down a long-established legal clause which meant intercourse between a man and his wife was permissible as long as she was over 15 years of age.

The clause had allowed men to have sex with girls under the legal age of consent as long as they were married.

Indian child protection laws already forbid an adult from having sex with anyone below the age of 18.

But campaigners had argued that the law was of little relevance in the country where, according to UN stats, nearly half (46 per cent) of women aged between 18 and 29 were married before reaching legal adulthood.

Rape: Protesters marching against sexual violence / Shutterstock / arindambanerjee

On Wednesday, a two-judge bench of India's highest court ruled the age of consent was 18 for "all purposes" after hearing a petition by Independent Thought, a non-profit group that hoped to criminalise sex with underage wives.

The judgement said that girls under 18 would be able to charge their husbands with rape, as long as they filed their complaint within a year of being forced to have sexual relations.

Under the old law, a 17-year-old boy having consensual sex with a girl his age could be charged with statuatory rape, whereas an adult man raping his 15-year-old wife was committing no crime.

Vikram Srivastva, the founder of Independent Thought, said: "This is a landmark judgement that corrects a historical wrong against girls. How could marriage be used as a criterion to discriminate against girls?"

The court stopped short of revoking the law which allows rape within a marriage between two adults. The Delhi high court is currently hearing a challenge to that law, which prevents women from pressing charges for rape committed by their husbands, claiming it could put husbands at risk of "harrassment".

India's government says the practice of child marriage is "an obstacle to nearly every developmental goal: eradicating poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, and improving women's health."
S pain today attempted a show of national unity as the crisis over Catalonian independence continued to threaten the country.

The armed forces and police marched in Madrid to celebrate the countrys national day, which typically brings huge crowds onto the streets.

King Felipe VI made his first public appearance since his rare TV address last week in which he branded Catalan separatists irresponsible.

Alongside prime minister Mariano Rajoy, presided over the colourful parade in Plaza de Colon and watched the raising of the Spanish flag. But the attempt at unity came as a global human rights group said Spanish police used excessive force when facing peaceful protesters during the Catalan independence referendum.

Spain's King Felipe VI (2-L), Queen Letizia (3-R), and their daughters, princesses Leonor (2-R) and Sofia (R), attend the army parade to mark Spain's National Day in Madrid / EPA

In a report released today, Human Rights Watch said police used batons on non-threatening demonstrators and caused multiple injuries. The US-based organisation says its researchers interviewed witnesses in three locations and reviewed images from clashes.

At such divisive times it is especially important that authorities respect ... freedom of speech and assembly and the rule of law, said Kartik Raj, the groups Western Europe researcher.

The referendum on 1 October was declared illegal by Spains Constitutional Court. Catalan officials say almost 90 per cent of voters backed independence with a turnout of 43 per cent, but many opponents of independence boycotted the ballot.

Spanish troops march during the Spanish National Day military parade in Madrid / AFP/Getty Images

Today the Spanish government was awaiting a response from Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont to clarify if he has already declared in-dependence. On Tuesday he announced he would proceed with a declaration of independence  but only after dialogue. This ambiguity led Spanish authorities to order him to give an answer within five days on whether he made a formal declaration or not.

The answer will determine whether the government activates Article 155 of the constitution  never used before  introducing direct rule to Catalonia.

In a tweet, Mr Puigdemont said: We demand dialogue and the response is to put Article 155 on the table. Message understood. In parliament yesterday Mr Rajoy accused Mr Puigdemont of a strategy to impose independence that few want and is good for nobody.

Todays holiday, Dia de la Hispanidad, marks Columbuss arrival in the New World and is also armed forces day.
T he US will pull out of UNESCO to save money and also because of what the State Department called its "anti-Israel bias".

The State Department said in a statement on Thursday that it will withdraw from the United Nation's cultural and educational agency on December 31.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," the department said.

It added that the United States would seek to "remain engaged ...as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise."

It is not the first time the US has pulled out of the international cultural body.

Ronald Reagan's administration withdrew from UNESCO in 1984 citing allegations of corruption and a pro-Soviet, anti-western slant. George W Bush led America to rejoin in 2002.

America will participate fully in its mission to advance human rights, tolerance and learning, said Bush at the time.

The US is in $500 million of arrears to UNESCO after it slashed its funding to the organisation by 22 per cent.

America made the cuts six years ago in protest at the acceptance of Palestine as a member.

Last year, Israel recalled its ambassador to UNESCO amid growing dissent at its practices in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

In July this year, the old town of Hebron in the West Bank was named a Palestinian UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Within hours of the US' announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel would also be withdrawing from Unesco.
B en Affleck has been accused of groping by a second woman hours after he apologised for acting inappropriately towards Hilarie Burton.

The 45-year-old actor has been accused of grabbing makeup artist Annamarie Tendlers bottom at a Golden Globes party in 2014.

Tendler, who is married to comedian John Mulaney, made the allegation on Twitter, telling her followers that she is still waiting on an apology from the Hollywood star.

She tweeted: I would also love to get an apology from Ben Affleck who grabbed my ass at a Golden Globes party in 2014.

Allegations: Annamarie Tendler with her husband John Mulaney / Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

He walked by me, cupped my butt and pressed his finger into my crack.

I guess he tried to play it like he was politely moving me out of the way and oops touched my butt instead of my lower back?

She finished: Like most women in these situations I didn't say anything but I have thought a lot about what I'd say if I ever saw him again. Affleck is yet to respond to Tendler's claims.

Tendlers accusations come hours after the Justice League actor apologised to Lethal Weapon star Burton for groping her during an appearance on MTVs TRL in 2003.

Burton told fans she has never forgotten the incident after one Twitter user wrote: He also grabbed Hilarie Burton's breasts on TRL once. Everyone forgot though.

The Twitter user said they were so sorry that happened to the actress, to which Burton replied: Seriously, thank you for that. I was a kid.

Affleck later issued an apology, tweeting: I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize.

The Batman star faced a barrage of criticism after he issued a statement saying he had been left saddened and angry by the accusations levelled against shamed producer Harvey Weinstein.

He deemed Weinsteins behaviour completely unacceptable and said more efforts need to be taken for protecting our sisters, friends, co-workers and daughters.

Actress Rose McGowan slammed Afflecks statement.

She is among a string of actresses including Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie who have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment, assault and rape.

Weinstein  who has flown to Arizona for therapy after being sacked from his production company  has unequivocally denied all allegations of non-consensual sexual behaviour.

Standard Online has contacted a representative for Affleck for comment.
F ootage of Gwyneth Paltrow referring to Harvey Weinstein as a coercer in a 1998 interview with David Letterman has resurfaced days after she claimed the producer harassed her.

The actress  who was starring in Weinsteins Shakespeare in Love at the time  discussed Weinsteins behaviour during a chat about her Thanksgiving plans on The Late Show.

Paltrow said she wouldnt normally have travelled on the national holiday, but that she had made an exception to be able to join Letterman on his show.

He asked: Are you here of your own free will or has someone coerced you into being here?

Paltrow replied: Do you count Harvey Weinstein as a coercer?

She added: I do all my movies for Harvey Weinstein, thats Miramax, and Im lucky to do them there but he will coerce you to do a thing or two.

Letterman then asked what Paltrow got in return for doing things for Weinstein, to which she replied: Nothing.

The chat show host then slated Weinsteins behaviour, saying he is tired of being forced to promote his films.

Speaking out: Gwyneth Paltrow with Harvey Weinstein / Rex

Im kind of fed-up of Harveys behaviour, he said. [But] Im grateful that he bought you here tonight.

Paltrow is among a string of actresses who have spoken out against the shamed producer who was sacked from the Weinstein Company after claims of sexual harassment, assault and rape were levelled against him.

Paltrow claimed Weinstein placed his hands on her and suggested that they go to the bedroom for massages, which she refused to do, during a meeting at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel after shed been given the lead role in Emma at the age of 22.

Harvey Weinstein in 60 seconds

Fellow A-lister Angelina Jolie said that Weinstein also made unwanted advances towards her during the release of her 90s film, Playing by Heart.

Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd and Lea Seydoux have also accused him of sexual misconduct.

Weinstein  who has flown to Arizona for therapy  has unequivocally denied all accusations of non consensual sex.

In a statement his spokesperson Sallie Hofmeister said: Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.

Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.

Weinstein today pleaded for a second chance after telling reporters outside his daughters home that he was not doing OK.

Speaking to TMZ he said: I'm hanging in I'm trying my best. I'm not doing Ok but I'm trying.

I gotta get help guys. You know what, we all make mistakes Second chance I hope.
A ctress Lea Seydoux has claimed that she had to defend herself against Harvey Weinstein when he jumped on her in a hotel room.

The James Bond star said that she to fight off the disgraced Hollywood mogul after he invited her to his room for a drink in 2012 following a work event.

We met in the lobby of his hotel. His assistant, a young woman, was there. All throughout the evening, he flirted and stared at me as if I was a piece of meat, Seydoux wrote in the Guardian.

He acted as if he were considering me for a role. But I knew that was bullshit. I knew it, because I could see it in his eyes. He had a lecherous look. He was using his power to get sex.

Harvey Weinstein in 60 seconds

The actress then claimed that she went to Weinsteins hotel room where he started losing control while they were sitting together on the sofa.

We were talking on the sofa when he suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself, she wrote.

Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman at the 89th Academy Awards / REUTERS

Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted. I wasnt afraid of him, though. Because I knew what kind of man he was all along.

Seydoux is the latest in a long line of Hollywood actresses to accuse the producer of sexual harassment, including Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Cara Delevingne.

Weinstein is set to check into a rehab facility in Arizona to receive treatment for sex addiction, after being sacked from his own company this week.

Speaking to TMZ reporters as he left Los Angeles, Weinstein said: I'm hanging in I'm trying my best. I'm not doing Ok but I'm trying.

I gotta get help guys. You know what, we all make mistakes Second chance I hope.

Weinstein's spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister said: "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Weinstein."
J ames Van Der Beek has said that he was sexually assaulted by older, powerful men, when he was a rising star in Hollywood.

The former Dawsons Creek star has spoken out in the wake of allegations against Harvey Weinstein to say that he has also been on the receiving end of unwanted sexual advances by industry executives.

In a series of tweets, the actor told fans that he understood the shame that comes with talking about being harassed, supporting the women who were scared of telling their story.

What Weinstein is being accused of is criminal. What hes admitted to is unacceptable - in any industry. I applaud everybody speaking out, he wrote on Twitter.

Ive had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men, Ive had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when I was much younger.

I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness & inability to blow the whistle. Theres a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome.

Van Der Beek went on to say that two of the men who had assaulted him had since been convicted for other offences, while one had died.

Harvey Weinstein in 60 seconds

"FTR, the harassment I tweeted about was by people 99.9% of you dont know. 2 were charged (by others) & punished. The other has since died," he wrote.

"So apologies to any mentors & champions and wonderful friends Ive made in this industry who may have been pulled into wrongful speculation."

Actor Terry Crews has also revealed that he was the victim of sexual assault at the hands of a male Hollywood executive.

Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman at the 89th Academy Awards / REUTERS

He said that the allegations made against Weinstein by a number of high-profile actresses had prompted him to speak out about his own ordeal.

He tweeted: My wife n I were at a Hollywood function last year n a high level Hollywood executive came over 2 me and groped my privates. (2/cont.)

Jumping back I said What are you doing?! My wife saw everything n we looked at him like he was crazy. He just grinned like a jerk. (3/cont.)

I was going to kick his ass right then but I thought twice about how the whole thing would appear. (4/cont.)

Stars including Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lea Seydoux and Cara Delevingne have all claimed that they were sexual harassed by Weinstein at the beginning of their careers.
S cotland Yard is investigating a sex abuse allegation involving disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Thursday that it was assessing a sexual assault allegation made against the Hollywood film producer.

Merseyside Police said it had received a report at 8.40am on Wednesday of an alleged sexual assault in the London area in the 1980s and referred it to Scotland Yard.

A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said: I can confirm the Met was passed an allegation of sexual assault by Merseyside Police on Wednesday 11 October.

The allegation will be assessed by officers from Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command. There is no indication that the allegation relates to child abuse.

Harvey Weinstein in 60 seconds

It came as police detectives in New York said they were taking a fresh looking into sexual assault allegations against Weinstein.

The New York Police Department said it will conduct a review to determine if there are additional complaints and has encouraged anyone with information to come forward.

Detective Sophia Mason, of the NYPD, said: "Based on information referenced in published news reports, the NYPD is conducting a review to determine if there are any additional complaints relating to the Harvey Weinstein matter.

"No filed complaints have been identified as of this time and as always, the NYPD encourages anyone who may have information pertaining to this matter to call the CrimeStoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS."

Harvey Weinstein and his wife Georgina Chapman who has announced she is leaving him / REUTERS

The police review follows allegations of rape made by three women against the movie mogul in an article in the New Yorker and a string of sexual harassment allegations from women who worked with him, with model-turned-actress Cara Delevingne and Kate Beckinsale the latest stars to speak out.

Earlier, the movie producer told a pack of reporters outside his daughters house in Los Angeles that he hoped for a second chance and that he was not doing ok as more celebrities came forward to make allegations against him.

He pleaded for a second chance and said we all make mistakes".

The producer, who is thought to be on his way to a rehab facility and whose wife has announced she is leaving him, was then driven away.

The comments came after officers were called after a "family dispute" at the home of Weinstein's daughter.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) confirmed they were called to reports of a "disturbance" at the house but said no crime had been committed. Weinstein was not there when officers arrived.

An LAPD spokesman said: "At 10.37am Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to the 500 block of North Kilkea Drive at the house of Harvey Weinstein's daughter and were there for a disturbance call.

"Officers arrived and conducted an investigation. It was revealed that there was no crime and it was a family dispute. Officers then left the scene."

Bond actress Lea Seydoux also joined the ranks of Weinstein's accusers, saying she had to defend herself after the director allegedly jumped on her and tried to kiss her.

The French actress, who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for Blue Is The Warmest Colour, said the movie mogul stared at her "as if I was a piece of meat".

On Tuesday, Weinstein was accused of rape by three women - claims Weinstein "unequivocally denies" - and his British wife Georgina Chapman announced she was leaving him.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hosts the Oscars, described the sexual abuse allegations against Weinstein as "repugnant" and "abhorrent" and said that it would meet on Saturday to discuss any action to be taken.

Bafta also announced it had suspended his membership.

Rose McGowan, one of the first actresses to be named as an alleged victim, called for the board of the Weinstein Company to be dissolved following the allegations against its co-founder.

Prime Minister Theresa May also spoke out about the scandal on Wednesday.

She said the reports were "deeply concerning" as senior politicians called for Weinstein to be stripped of his CBE.
P ixie Lott, Charli XCX and Louisa Johnson lead the red carpet glamour at this years Attitude Magazine Awards.

The trio of pop stars took centre stage at the annual event at the Roundhouse in London, before Prince Harry collected the posthumous award for his late mother, Princess Diana.

Britains Got Talent judge Amanda Holden wore a revealing black slashed gown, while Myleene Klass wore a sheer black lace dress.

Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall hit the red carpet without her band mates, opting for a gold sequined flared trouser suit.

Pop star power: Charli XCX poses on the red carpet / Getty Images

Former Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle, who has recently relaunched her pop career, was also flying solo.

Prince Harry is set to attend the magazines award ceremony for the first time, after his brother Prince William covered the magazine last year.

X Factor: Louisa Johnoson makes an impact ahead of the ceremony / Getty Images

Buckingham Palace recently said in a statement that the Prince would collect a posthumous Attitude Legacy Award on behalf of Diana, Princess of Wales, at the Attitude Awards at the Roundhouse.

Princess Diana will be named the recipient of the Attitude Legacy Award on the 20th anniversary of her death thanks to her work with the LGBT community.

Prince Williams appeared on the cover of the magazines July 2016 issue after meeting with a group of LGBT people to learn about their experiences of bullying and homophobia.


Indirectly-elected lawmaker, Chui Sai Cheong, brother of the Chief Executive, may be elected as vice-president of the Legislative Assembly (AL) on Monday, when the new legislature convenes for the first time, the Times has learned.

According to our source, Ho Iat Seng will remain president as expected, while two other legislators elected via the indirect vote will occupy the positions of first secretary of the board (Kou Hoi In) and second secretary of the board (Chan Hong). Kou Hoi In, who is a representative of the Business sector, and a veteran lawmaker, was promoted from second secretary, a position now occupied by a female newcomer to the AL board, Chan Hong, a representative of the Welfare and Education sector.

The absence of legislators elected by universal suffrage from the board of the AL doesnt come as a total surprise, although some legislators and political commentators advocated the presence of at least one directly-elected member on the board following the September 17 elections.

What is really surprising, almost shocking, is that a brother of the leader of the executive branch is chosen for the position of vice-president of the legislative branch. Why not president? an anonymous observer remarked to the Times.

Chui Sai Cheong, 63, secured a seat at the Legislative Assembly via the indirect election as one of the three representatives of the Professionals sector.

He is the general-manager of the property and development division of Chuis family business, Companhia de Investimento Predial Chuis, Lda and, among other responsibilities, he presides over the Macau Management Association.

Chui Sai Cheong is also a member of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference. PC
A ctor Riz Ahmed said preparing for the breakthrough television role which scooped him an Emmy left him on the verge of a physical and mental breakdown.

Ahmed, 34, said he immersed himself in hidden New York communities interviewing dozens of people including inmates at Rikers Island prison for the role of Nasir Khan, a Pakistani-American student accused of murder in HBOs The Night Of.

He said: It weighed quite heavily on me. Its weird to say this, but at points I almost felt like I was on the verge of a breakdown while I was filming that. Physically and mentally.

Because of its connection to people and concerns and situations that were much bigger than me, my desire to give a performance.

Breaking records: Riz Ahmed with his Emmy award / Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Ahmed last month became the first male actor of Asian descent to win an Emmy, being named outstanding lead actor in the crime drama. He has also appeared in City of Tiny Lights, Star Wars prequel Rogue One, Jason Bourne and Girls.

The actor, who was born in Wembley after his parents moved from Pakistan in the Seventies, said growing up in multicultural London had given him a connection to the real world which informed the Night Of performance.

Riz Ahmed The Night Of Emmy acceptance speech

Despite his huge success in the US, he told the New Yorker Festival audience of his love for London, likening the citys history to a prodigal son story as the UKs imperial past led to todays multiculturalism.

He said: To me theres something very special about London. Its like this prodigal son story of this city that went out, spread its tentacles over the world Now some seeds are coming back to London to heal and absolve it of that legacy.

Whereas a lot of American cities can be very segregated, London people share physical space The idea, the project, the promise of what London represents is very close to my heart.


R eality is becoming a lot less real. We know about virtual reality but now theres also augmented and mixed reality.

AR and MR might not have the name recognition of VR, but theyre huge tech leaps that are blending digital worlds and graphics with our physical surroundings  if youve ever used a Snapchat filter or played Pokemon GO, youve already experienced AR. In the simplest terms, it puts virtual graphics into real-life environments  think Pikachu popping up in your kitchen on screen.

Microsofts first Windows MR headsets are out next week, while an AR machine has probably found its way into your pocket already: your smartphone. Apples ARKit and Googles ARCore development platforms mean augmented reality is about to be with you absolutely everywhere. As Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said in London, the results will be dramatic.

Meanwhile, VR is in the news. Mark Zuckerberg sent an avatar of himself to hurricane-damaged Puerto Rico this week in a livestream that has caused controversy  he was promoting his new tech  but was this a sensitive thing to do in a disaster zone?

Whether you are into AR, VR or MR, or just dont know yet, heres what the new reality means for you.

Windows into other worlds

Microsoft

Windows Mixed Reality is a new platform bringing AR and VR to PC. For now, the first wave of Windows MR headsets veer more to VR (key apps include zombie-shooting game Arizona Sunshine and social network vTime), turning the PC operating system into a digital room with web browsers and documents adorning the walls.

The key difference to the likes of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive is the in-built room-tracking tech in Windows MR headsets. Plug it into your laptop, and the headset scans your boundaries and works out your location, rather than relying on external cameras.

Microsofts HoloLens is the indicator of where Windows MR is heading  a still-in-development augmented reality headset with its own built-in computer, meaning you can leave your laptop behind and see computer software around your living room using AR.

Were building a platform for the future, says James Guion, Microsoft Product Manager. The aim is that VR, AR and MR all merge. One day youll be able to jump from a fully-immersive VR experience to an augmented experience and cross the spectrum.

Mixed media

Were already seeing these technologies cross over, blending the real and unreal in immersive experiences.

Facebook

Earlier this week, Zuckerberg took Facebook users on a video trip to Puerto Rico via Facebooks social VR tool Spaces  somewhere between a live video conference call and virtual reality tour (pictured bottom).

Motion-tracked avatars represented Zuckerberg and head of social virtual reality Rachel Franklin, who in real life were in different offices wearing headsets looking at the area. Expect to see more of these experiments as the technology evolves.

The Royal Academy's Virtually Real project in pictures 1 /5 The Royal Academy's Virtually Real project in pictures The Royal Academy's Virtually Real exhibition in pictures The Royal Academy's Virtually Real exhibition in pictures The Royal Academy's Virtually Real exhibition in pictures The Royal Academy's Virtually Real exhibition in pictures

Try before you buy

Ikea is beloved for its cheap meatballs, but less so as ground zero for blazing arguments. Now its AR is solving domestic debates about what colour sofa to get or whether that shelf will fit in your kitchen.

Coming soon to the iOS App Store, Ikea Place uses ARKits depth-sensing abilities to digitally place IKEA products around your home on your phone so you can see how they look. More than 2,000 products have been rendered to scale in the app with detailed textures. Its a bit like The Sims but practical.

IKEA

Ikea isnt the only retailer already using AR  Specsavers app takes a 3D map of your face and lets you try glasses on digitallys.

Exploration stations

Augmented reality will show us more about the world around us. Popular app Night Sky uses AR to point out planets, constellations and satellites when users point their iPhones skywards, while the new ARKit-powered Grand Orrery feature conjures a detailed solar system in mid-air.

Youre able to walk through the asteroid belt, see planetary moons, and manipulate time and space, says Andy Weekes, CEO of iCandi Apps. You can even track Nasa missions within your living room.

Its the perfect example of AR enhancing the world around us with relevant information.

Using AR, Night Sky educates users without detracting from the natural beauty of the stars, says Weekes. Apps could augment navigation around the city, showing directions on the real street in front of you, or names of nearby mountains in a national park. The possibilities are endless.

An app already moving towards this is Trarvel, created by Kings College graduate Clarence Ji. Hold your mobile up to the London skyline and the app points out landmarks, with info and food tips for each area.

(Trarvel)

We want Trarvel to become the ultimate all-in-one tourist information app, using AR to make exploration an interactive experience, explains Ji, adding that New York and Hong Kong are the next cities for the app..

Game on

As with VR, AR and MR are changing the gaming world. ARise conjures a floating puzzle in the middle of a room, tasking players to solve forced-perspective brainteasers by walking around levels to find a solution.

The strength of ARKit is that we know where the iPhone or iPad is in space to a fine degree, says Simon Gardner, CEO of Climax Studios. Augmented reality will allow players to experience gameplay anywhere and its more immersive.

Climax Studios

Lenovo is working on Mirage, a smartphone-powered AR headset which brings games into the room. The first is Star Wars: Jedi Challenges, with a lightsaber controller.

Windows Mixed Reality headsets will be available from October 17
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In September 2017 the U.S. Army asked Congress to allow it to revise its budget to deal with some serious network vulnerabilities. Specifically the army needed to halt work on its battlefield Internet, known as WIN-T (Warfighter Information Network-Tactical) so that some changes can be made to ensure the system is not only more resistant to hacking and jamming but also capable of being patched (software fixes) much more quickly. Many in Congress were upset about this but those few with access to the classified briefings were not. Nor were many military personnel working on communications and EW (Electronic Warfare). The army specified a potential Russian threat but it is known China is trying to catch up in this area. Civilian users of the Internet are constantly warned about new security threat to wireless access to the Internet and the military is not immune to these new threats.

Russia is the usual suspect because Russia has a history of developing some innovative and effective electronic monitoring, jamming and hacking equipment. Case in point is a new Russian communications and monitoring system called Murmansk-BN. The idea behind Murmansk-BN is to monitor wireless communications for thousands of kilometers from Russian naval bases to make those bases less vulnerable to attacks (surprise or otherwise.) This was a concept the Russians worked on throughout the Cold War but were never able to create a workable system that could demonstrate these concepts on a large scale. Murmansk-BN is the latest manifestation of that effort and it is still unclear just how effective it is, at least as far as the public record goes. The system has been active in the Crimea since early 2017 providing coverage of Eastern Europe and much of the Middle East. Western experts believe that the availability of more powerful electronic and software tools makes Murmansk-BN more likely to appear in a workable form. But so far there is no proof, at least none that has been made public. The same can be said the numerous battlefield EW systems Russia has used recently in Ukraine and Syria. Russia has used these two combat zones to test a lot of new weapons including EW ones. This includes airborne and ground based electronic monitoring and jamming systems. NATO nations, especially the United States, send EW experts to work with the Ukrainian troops to help cope with the Russia EW efforts and, more importantly, to collect as much data as possible on the new Russian systems and what they were capable of. Israel was doing the same thing in Syria. Although not an officially participant in the Syria fighting Israel has been very active monitoring Iranian backed efforts to upgrade its forces (mainly the Lebanese Hezbollah) and regularly carry out airstrikes against targets in Syria. The Israelis are regarded as a world class developer of EW and Internet security software and hardware. It appears some conclusions about the threat were reached, at least by the U.S. Army as regards WIN-T and the threat was considered serious enough to do something as obvious as halt major work on WIN-T to improve security.

Meanwhile Russia has been showing its ability to hack even the most secure cell phone systems, something American diplomatic officials in Russia, using the latest secure cell phones have found that security easily penetrated by Russians.

This latest U.S. Army request is also seen as a side-effect of the new (since 2015) terrify and train approach to getting commanders, especially of combat units, ready for what they will face in wartime. Just putting officers through an educate and familiarize course on Cyber War is not enough so the army has also created cyber protection teams to give units they are assigned to a taste of what horrors await them in wartime on the network warfare front. This is an improvement over Cold War era policies that generally discouraged exposing combat units to realistic demonstrations of what kind of jamming and other electronic techniques the Russians had developed to cripple American military communications in wartime. That was the pre-Internet version of a network attack. Sometimes American units on training exercises did get a taste of electronic jamming and deception and it proved so disruptive to operations that it was discouraged. But many officers, and a lot of the tech-savvy troops knew that they type of ignorance would make the Russian electronic warfare even more effective in wartime. Some of this new software includes apps for commercial cell phones that will provide alerts when that phone is being hacked while using the Internet.

American combat units got a small demonstration of how disruptive this Russian EW could be in 1991 when Iraq used the few, generally older, Russian jammers and other electronic weapons against advancing coalition troops. These electronic weapons were more of a nuisance, but word got around that if these devices had been more recent models and used on a larger scale they would have made American operations less effective and gotten American troops killed.

Partly as a result of this when the Internet arrived later in the 1990s and many young officers and troops quickly adopted it. After 2000 these Internet savvy officers were quick to realize that anyone who used the Internet a lot had a huge military advantage, but was also vulnerable. It took the army a while to get most senior officers on board but by 2010 the army was forming a separate command devoted to Cyber War and especially Internet defense. Because of that the army was able to prepare for big changes, as needed, for its new battlefield Internet project that was centered on WIN-T. This effort has been underway since the late 1990s and nearly all army units have some components of it in daily use. Some WIN-T components are on the second or third generation of software or hardware. Now the army is telling Congress that this evolution and adaptation has to be revised so it can happen faster and with less notice.

An example of already evolving WIN-T hardware is the current introduction (since 2015) of a lighter and easier to set-up version of its battlefield Internet. The army has developed Win-T node (routers and satellite communications) equipment is much smaller, small enough that it will fit in a hummer (instead of a five ton truck). The new node gear can be set up in two hours (rather than 24 hours with the older stuff). The new node gear has been made much easier to operate and maintain as well as set up. In addition the new version will operate on the move. All this makes it possible to keep the battlefield Internet fully operational even when units are moving around rapidly. The army apparently plans to turn off some features of the new node hardware until their security can be improved.

Win-T is a key component of the new army communications system (CS 13 or Capability Set 13) created for combat troops as part of an effort that began in the 1990s. In 2013 four combat brigades successfully tested CS-13, which consisted of several different technologies the army has been developing since the 1990s. This includes Nett Warrior (an effort to get networking down to the squad leader), Win-T, BFT 2 (Blue Force Tracking 2 for tracking troop location in real time), Company Command Post (giving company commanders more data), and tactical radios like AN/PRC-117G, Rifleman Radio, and combat smart phones and tablets. The test showed that the stuff in the hands of the troops was easier to use but away from the troop level, especially the node gear, was often too complex and bulky. Thus the need for the new and improved node gear.

CS 13 is the result of over a decade of effort to create better battlefield communications, including a combat version of the Internet. The final selection took place between 2012 and 2013 years as 115 systems were tested by troops and those found wanting (most of them) were dropped. The most common feedback was about troops wanting the same kind of wireless capabilities they already enjoy with their smart phones and tablets as well as military apps for these devices.

The army has been moving in this direction since the 1990s but in the meantime wi-fi and portable electronics like smart phones and tablets leapfrogged the military efforts. The army is playing catch up the best it can. The army had already developed the CS-13 tools which include items like WIN-T, which was designed to allow troops to simultaneously exchange text, data, video, and voice data using a new generation of radios. Personal computers and smart phones (including both off-the-shelf and "ruggedized" military models) can now hook into WIN-T and use the future improved communications and networking. JCR (Joint Capabilities Release) is the latest version of BFT (Blue Force Tracker). JCR is part of an effort to link everyone in a combat brigade electronically while in the combat zone and, most importantly, while in combat. The new gear equips individual troops as well as vehicles. Commanders can use a handheld device or laptop to view BFT locations. The commanders app can also be used to take data from troops about enemy locations or where minefields or other obstacles are and post it, so that everyone else with JCR equipment can see and share it. JCR also includes better encryption and improved reliability.

This all is part of an effort that went into high gear in 2003, when BFT was first used, and that turned into a larger project to perfect the battlefield Internet. All of this goes back to the American 1990s era Force XXI Battle Command Brigade-and-Below (FBCB2) project. After 2003 BFT quickly evolved into JCR and became part CS 13. Back in 2003, parts of FBCB2 (mainly BFT) were quickly issued to the troops for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. BFT is a GPS/satellite telephone device that was suddenly in thousands of combat vehicles. Anyone with a laptop, satellite data receiver, the right software, and access codes could then see where everyone was (via a map showing blips for each BFT user). The spectacular success of BFT appealed to generals everywhere. Since 2003, the U.S. Army built new versions of the BFT and this produced BFT 2 and now JCR. This single device has revolutionized the way commanders handle their troops in combat.

Company Command Post gives a company commander the ability to quickly send and receive (and sort out) text, voice, and data with his troops (three platoons consisting of nine squads and special teams of snipers and machine-guns). This provides company commanders, using a laptop and other gear that can be carried while on foot, the same kind of command post capabilities previously restricted to battalion, brigade, and larger headquarters.

The battlefield Internet could not exist without a new generation of combat radios. The key radios in CS 13 currently are the AN/PRC-117G, the AN/PRC-154, and combat smart phone. AN/PRC-117G is a 5.45 kg (12 pound) radio that can be carried or installed in vehicles. About a third of its weight is the battery. It has a maximum output of 20 watts and handles FM, UHF, and VHF signals, including satellite based communications. On the ground max range is 20 kilometers (depending on hills and the antenna used). The U.S. has been using the AN/PRC-117 since the late 1990s, as an interim radio, and found it a solid piece of equipment. The AN/PRC-117 is based on a commercial design (the Falcon series) that several foreign armed forces and many civilian operations use. The AN/PRC-117 has been regularly upgraded in that time (going from version A to the current G).

AN/PRC-154 (or RR for Rifleman Radio) are lightweight (1 kg/2.2 pound) voice/data radios for individual infantrymen. RR includes GPS and a battery good for over ten hours of use. The RR began field tests in 2010. For most of 2012 U.S. Army Rangers used them in Afghanistan. Since then over 21,000 of these radios have been given to troops. By itself, the two watt RR has a range of up to two kilometers. But it can also automatically form a mesh network, where all RRs within range of each other can pass on voice or data information. During the field tests this was done to a range of up to 50 kilometers. The RR can also make use of an aerostat, UAV, or aircraft overhead carrying a RR to act as a communications booster (to other RRs or other networks).

The mesh network enables troops to sometimes eliminate carrying a longer range (and heavier) AN/PRC-117 for the platoon leader. The new combat smart phone is a ruggedized Android smart phone, equipped to handle military communications via the mesh network. This device will supplement the AN/PRC-154. Now the army is making it possible to add the video feeds from small UAVs and robots that all combat units have.

CS-13 provides capabilities that, before September 11, 2001, where not expected until the 2020s. But because of all the American troops seeing combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, there were opportunities to try out new equipment under combat conditions, and this accelerated the development process.

Android has already been accepted for military use in many countries and military-grade security systems have been created to make the battlefield Android devices compliant with military security requirements for wireless devices and portable computers.

But as the most recent army move indicates the advantages of battlefield Internet comes with new dangers, many of them not encountered during all the combat American troops have been involved in after 2001. But now the prospect of combat with a well-equipped (near peer) force is closer to reality than at any time since the 1980s. That means more skilled Internet hackers and at least the U.S. Army detected and responded to the threat. Whether or not WIN-T can be effectively modified is another matter.
The ongoing 2017 Latin American Cultural Festival features eight cultural activities and aims to raise the publics awareness on the regions overlooked Latin American roots.

Organized by the Macau Association for the Promotion of Exchange between Asia-Pacific and Latin America (MAPEAL), a series of Peruvian cultural activities took place on Tuesday for students, residents and visitors in Macau so that they could learn more about Peruvian culture.

The activities included the Latin American Cultural Seminar and the Latin American Film Shows held at the University of Macau, while a Photo Exhibition titled Perus Memory: 1890  1950 and cooking demonstration were held at the Macau Tower.

Gary Ngai, president of the Executive Board of MAPEAL, and Sergio Manuel Avila, Consul General of Peru in Hong Kong and Macau, both stressed that the city should not forget the roots of Macau, and that Portugal and China are not the only counties that should be recognized as important to Macau history.

He argued that as Macau is promoting its links between Portuguese-speaking countries, it should also do the same with Latin American countries.

Speaking to the press, Ngai recalled that culture flowed between Macau and Latin America back in the 16th century through the Maritime Silk Route.

That makes us now, after 400 years, look back at our history, he said.

According to Ngai, Macau has a long way to go in acknowledging the influence of the Spanish- speaking countries of the world.

Here in Macau, they only have contacts with 12 to 14 Latin American countries [in terms of] culture and business. Its not enough. Its just a starting point but we have been doing it for 10 years already, Ngai pointed out.

He added that Macau is the only Chinese city which has these sorts of roots and additionally suggested that it should not disregard its links with Spanish-speaking countries.

The Latin culture in Macau is deeply rooted but if you dont show it to the people, theyll forget, he noted.

With the wide array of gastronomic offers in Macau, both Ngai and Avila revealed that a Peruvian restaurant will be opened at MGM Cotai, a move that will allow residents to become more aware of Peruvian cuisine.

However, they also expressed the opinion that much support from the government is still needed to open Latin American restaurants in Macau, as it is an initiative that will take time and will cost money.

Ngai pointed out that Macau has positioned itself as an international city and expressed hopes that the government would support further cultural initiatives such as the Latin American Cultural Festival. They should not forget that one of roots here in Macau is the Latin American culture, Ngai reiterated.

With the festivals aim of raising the publics awareness of Macaus Latin roots, Ngai stressed that if the region forgets certain cultural roots, Macau will only be a part of its neighboring regions.

If you try to forget this, you make Macau just a small part of Hong Kong or Guangzhou, Ngai warned.

Avila noted that Spanish- speaking countries have cultural similarities and influence on Macau, even with their different cuisine.

The diplomat stressed that the festival is an opportunity for the younger generations to be aware of the regions historical similarities, citing similarities of some churches and residential demographics.

During the festivals cooking demonstration on Tuesday, the diplomat demonstrated how to prepare traditional Peruvian dishes such as Aji de Gallina and Mazamorra.

Avila also prepared a typical Peruvian dessert Arroz con Leche with quinoa from Peru.

I was missing Peruvian food during my first diplomat post abroad [] so I started learning how to cook. I wanted to share with the public a little bit of what Ive learned during the years, said the diplomat.

For next years edition of the festival, Avila hoped that they would be able to create a whole week offering Peruvian cuisines as part of the festivals gastronomic highlights.

The 2017 Latin American Cultural Festival will run until November 5.
Heavier rains have returned to Somalia this year but that in turn has led to an outbreak of cholera in areas with poor sanitation. This is a problem for much of East Africa but is worst in Somalia where most of the damage has been done. So far over 77,000 Somalis have been infected by cholera and more than 1,100 have died as a result. There is still hunger in many parts of Somalia and the problems are not so much al Shabaab deliberately keeping food out (or asking for large bribes the aid groups cant afford) but rather general mayhem as the dozens of clans look out for themselves as the expense of anyone else (Somali or foreigner). That chaos sustains the culture of corruption that is the one thing about Somalia that is world class (most corrupt nation in the world for several years in a row).

Much of the territory al Shabaab still controls is theirs because the Islamic terror group has become more adept at exploiting clan feuds and general dislike for foreigners, especially the 22,000 peacekeepers. Although most of these troops are from other African nations that, in Somali eyes, makes this foreign invasion even more intolerable. For many Somalis even Somali soldiers from another clan are seen as foreigners and treated as such.

While al Shabaab manages to thrive on the endemic chaos and corruption they do have some new problems in the form of more aggressive and effective American military efforts to destroy Islamic terrorism in Somalia. The current (since early 2017) American government has allowed their military commanders to do what they feel is most effective to get the job done and not rely on a lot of micromanagement from lawyers and politicians back in Washington DC. That decision has made a big difference and al Shabaab has to devote more attention to keeping its leaders and key people alive. Then there are the Turks, who recently opened a military base in Somalia for training local troops. Al Shabaab is making fewer attacks and most seem aimed mostly to get publicity rather than achieve any practical (to a group like al Shabaab) goal.

October 9, 2017: In the north (Puntland) Al Shabaab attacked a police station and ambushed the police reinforcements before fleeing. Three police and four civilians were killed and 13 more wounded in the pre-dawn attack.

October 8, 2017: In Mogadishu an Al Shabaab grenade attack on a group of police left three policemen wounded. The attacker fled.

October 2, 2017: Turkey officially opened its new base on the outskirts of Mogadishu. Construction of the four square kilometer base took two years and its main purpose is to train up to 1,500 troops at a time in various military specialties. Several hundred Turkish military personnel are assigned at this base, the largest Turkey maintains outside Turkey. After opening its new embassy in Mogadishu in mid-2016 the Turks concentrated on completing the military base located between the capital and the airport. The new embassy compound is near the beach and is the largest Turkish embassy in the world. Since 2011 Turkey has provided more than $900 million in aid for Somalia and the new military base will be used to train Somali soldiers as well as troops from other parts of Africa. Turkey is making a statement; that is will help Somalia and will not be driven out by threats. Turkey has always provided Turkish security personnel for its embassy. The local outlaws and Islamic terrorists quickly found that the Turks were as tough as their reputation implied. Al Shabaab still makes threats against the Turks in Somalia, but usually chooses a less dangerous target.

Al Shabaab cannot make as many attacks as it used to and suffering defeat going after the Turks makes little sense, even to Islamic radicals. The new embassy and military base are part of a growing Turkish presence in Somalia. Turkey has been a major provider of aid to Somalia from Moslem nations. Western countries still provide most of the aid to Somalia and Turkey is trying to encourage wealthy Moslem nations to change that, at least when it comes to Moslem nations in need. Turkey established an embassy in Somalia in 2011 (one of the first nations to do so) and a Turkish airline was one of the first to establish regular commercial service to Somalia in 2012. Senior Turkish officials (including the president) have visited Somalia, despite al Shabaab threats, and that gave other potential investors and aid donors encouragement. Encouraged by the Turkish example non-Moslem nations are now reopening their embassies. In 2013 Britain did so. British diplomats were withdrawn in 1991 and had been gone ever since. But embassies are one thing, massive food or economic aid that must be sent all over the country is another.

Elsewhere in Mogadishu a peacekeeper vehicle hit a landmine and was destroyed. Apparently there were no fatalities.

October 1, 2017: In the north the feud between Puntland and Somalia is still active and a three month state of emergency was declared to help deal with it. Peace talks with Puntland broke down on September 28. The feud is actually between Puntland and Galmudug, an autonomous region of Somalia just south of Puntland. Galmudug was formed in 2006, has a population of about 1.8 million and considers it an autonomous region of Somalia rather than an independent state.

Northern Somalia is another matter. In the 1990s to Puntland (2.5 million people) and Somaliland (3.5 million), which formed northernmost Somalia, declared themselves independent. Somalia was unable to do much about it but as Somalia began forming a government after 2010 it eventually established economic and diplomatic relations with the two separatist areas. In 2014 Puntland cut diplomatic relations with Somalia over a Somali plan to reunite the northern province of Mudug at the expense of Puntland. Back in the 1990s clan wars in Mudug caused the province to be divided. The northern part joined Puntland while the southern half did not. Now Somalia wanted to reunite Mudug and Puntland saw that as aggression. Somalia says it will work with the UN to do it peacefully but Puntland still sees it as a land grab. Meanwhile some of the Mudug clans in the Puntland want to join with the Mudug clans in Somalia to form a separate state and are willing to fight Puntland over the issue. At the same time Puntland is threatened by Somaliland because of territorial disputes. It is more peaceful in the far north but that is a relative term in this part of the world.

Another side-effect of the Puntland feud is that it prevents Galmudug from keeping pirates from resuming use of local ports like Hur and Hobyo which long served as a base for pirates until Galmudug shut down the pirates in 2012. The pirate gangs continued to operate out of Puntland ports but these ports were more closely watched by the anti-piracy patrol.

September 29, 2017: In the south (Barire, 50 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu) al Shabaab attacked an army base using two suicide car bombers and gunmen. At least 17 soldiers were killed, mostly during the start of the assault when a suicide car bomb exploded at the main gate. The attackers lost 18 men but stole 11 vehicles and escaped.

September 28, 2017: In Mogadishu an Al Shabaab suicide car bomber, apparently seeking to attack a military unit collided with a mini-bus killing seven civilians and wounding six.

September 18, 2017: Unrest among ethnic Somalis next door in Ethiopia continues and the fighting has left at least fifty dead in the last two weeks. This time its not violence against Somalia but between ethnic Somalis in eastern Ethiopia and the Oromo people who live to the west. The Ethiopian province of Ogaden, which comprises most of eastern Ethiopia contains a largely ethnic Somali population. To the west is Oromia, where the largest minority in Ethiopia (the Oromo) predominate. There have long been territorial disputes along the Ogaden-Oromia border and these have flared up again in 2017.

Meanwhile many Somalis believe Ogaden belongs to Somalia. Islamic radicals in Somalia have long sought to conquer Ogaden but the Ethiopians have been defeating these efforts for generations. That is not going to change, especially since oil and gas has been discovered in Ogaden, and drilling is underway. In 2015 Somalia and Ethiopia signed an agreement to not provide rebels from the other nations with sanctuary.

September 16, 2017: In Mogadishu a police counter-terrorism force, searching for hostile clan militiamen reported in the area, opened fire on an army patrol that was mistaken for the hostile militiamen. Before true identities could be established nine people were shot dead, one of them a civilian and the others police or soldiers. It was later discovered that the tip about the hostile militiamen was inaccurate.

September 13, 2017: In the south (near Jilib about 260 kilometers south of Mogadishu) American UAVs hit three targets killing six Al Shabaab members. All that was revealed was that the airstrikes were in support of peacekeeper and Somali army operations in the area. In the last three months the U.S. has carried out about 14 airstrikes in Somalia, usually at Islamic terrorist leaders or bases (where bombs were made and ammo stored). Many of the attacks have been in or around Jilib and nearby Barire an area north of the port of Kismayo that has been a base area for al Shabaab since they lost Kismayo in 2012.
In this age of tech industry consolidation, one has to wonder what will happen with the pace of innovation as a few large companies begin to dominate.

In personal computers, the WinTel (Microsoft Windows and Intel) marriage continues to control the technology, while Dell, HP and Lenovo control the devices. Similarly, in smartphones, Apple and Samsung, which both design their own chips and devices, dominate the market, especially in North America.

It is natural for market leaders to emerge as technologies and markets mature. However, that maturity often is accompanied by a change in the strategy of key players.

Theres a shift from market enablement  that is, seeking to share technologies and enable competition  to market control. Key players continue to innovate, but they seek to limit access to their technology as a means of controlling the market or the pace of innovation.

Intel and Microsoft once sought to not only innovate, but also to enable any original equipment manufacturer to build PCs and compete with Big Blue (IBM). That changed as the two companies rose to dominance, often squeezing out competitors and leaving startups with one hope: being acquired by a market leader. So, what happens to innovation and market enablement as smartphones and other segments also mature?

Enabling an Ecosystem

While the acquisition strategy of startups is nothing new, I do not believe this should be the strategic goal of innovators. It is still possible to outmaneuver the industry powerhouses, as long as a strategy includes both innovating and enabling the market.

Despite the PC example, I am encouraged by many of the current startups and other industry leaders not only to innovate through huge investments in research and development, but also to enable the market.

For example, at Huaweis recent Connect conference in Shanghai, the company indicated that it was targeting just 1 percent of the cloud ecosystem that it hoped to enable through its partners, and it was pleased with that figure.

Similarly, by some estimates the average smartphone leverages more than 200,000 active patents from more than 30,000 patent holders, the largest being a handful of companies like Qualcomm, Ericsson, and Nokia, all of which have been willing to license their patents to all smartphone OEMs.

While not all of those patents would be considered essential for the construction of the smartphones, its clear that the experience of using a mid-range phone like the Chinese Oppo R11 or even the new Apple iPhone X would not be the same without those patents.

Qualcomm alone spends US$5.15 billion in annual R&D, and it grants access to its entire pool of Qualcomm intellectual property, the largest in the industry.

Additionally, the concept of enabling an ecosystem has allowed a small processor design company, ARM, to rise to the top of the semiconductors largest ecosystem, which ships more processors than all the PCs and enterprise servers combined and is still growing.

Market Influencers

We will see new companies emerge through new areas of innovation, such as connected devices (Internet of Things, or IoT), augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR), autonomous vehicles and intelligent solutions (machine learning, or ML), deep learning (DL) and artificial intelligence (AI).

Many of these new areas have become the focus of acquisitions and consolidation by industry powerhouses, but the culture of the organization ultimately will determine whether innovation continues to be accompanied by ecosystem enablement.

In PCs, Microsoft once again has been aiming to reinvigorate innovation and ecosystem enablement by building PCs based on ARM-based processors, beginning with Qualcomms Snapdragon mobile processor  theyre two of the previously mentioned industry enablers.

Microsoft also has been contributing code to the open source community through GitHub.

Likewise, the industry has been going through a major shift as it approaches 5G, which will entail not only new mobile devices, but also broader connectivity of all electronics. Two of the companies most heavily investing in 5G technology are Huawei and Qualcomm, market enablers.

While it is natural for mature companies to shift from being market enablers to market controllers, in this age of startups vs. powerhouses (or Davids vs. Goliaths), its growing clear that those that both innovate and enable are likely not only to influence the market, but also to grow their respective market segments.
The American Technology Council, which President Donald Trump established this spring by executive order, has four years to rebuild the federal governments information technology structure.

A massive reboot of both hardware and software will be necessary to bring government computers up to modern standards. The effort will force many government agencies to shift years of floppy disk and other outdated storage technologies to current cloud storage systems, and to adopt big data and machine learning solutions.

The ATC is comprised of cabinet members and top officials of related agencies. Both the executive order and the ATC it created terminate on Jan. 20, 2021.

The ATC, which is headed by Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner, met last month to set an agenda for collaborating with industry leaders to forge a new technology plan.

The ATCs goal is to promote the secure, efficient and economical use of information technology to achieve its mission. Toward that end, the federal government must transform and modernize its information technology operations and the systems it uses to deliver digital services, according to the executive order.

Council members will coordinate advice to the president on technology policies and processes. The council is tasked with coordinating the vision, strategy and direction for the federal governments IT reboot.

Two major impediments could hinder full achievement of the presidents IT goals, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

First is the sheer complexity of the federal governments IT assets, systems and management, he told the E-Commerce Times. The second is the compartmentalized culture of many or most federal departments and agencies.

Is an IT Reboot Needed?

An IT reboot is not necessary, suggested King, who favors expanding what the Obama administration started instead. The previous administrations accomplishments include appointing the first U.S. chief technology officer, and bringing greater order and innovation to federal agencies IT efforts.

Consideration of those ongoing efforts was curiously absent during the ATC meeting, said King.

Rebooting, or starting all over again, rather than building on that solid, existing foundation, is likely to waste time and money, he warned.

There is a clear need for the ATC initiatives, according to Brian Chappell, senior director at BeyondTrust, who cited a recent survey of federal IT managers.

An overwhelming majority of federal IT managers (81 percent) said that the federal governments aging IT infrastructure had a significant impact on their agencies cybersecurity risk, Chappell told the E-Commerce Times.

It is statistics like this that make initiatives like the American Technology Council essential in starting the drive toward not only modernizing the federal government and the services it provides, but also  and more importantly  improving the safety of U.S. citizens and government staff using those services.

Deja Vu All Over Again

Budget concerns are a major barrier to system modernization, said Tami Gallegos, federal manager at BeyondTrust.

Eighty-one percent of survey participants mentioned budget as a major roadblock, she pointed out.

Sixty-nine percent of the respondents expressed concern about losing information during the conversion, which would have a negative impact on their ability to achieve their missions.

This is a very complex proposition that will require talent and expertise across several technology cycles to get the job done, Gallegos told the E-Commerce Times.

Enterprise-focused IT vendors, including those involved with the ATC, should be able to offer valuable solutions to many of the federal governments IT infrastructure problems, said Pund-ITs King. However, it will take more than a few months to develop, design and deploy replacements for such massively complex systems.

A notable shift in the political landscape due to the 2018 mid-terms and the 2020 election could result in a new Congress and/or a new president starting the process all over again, he said.

Repeal and Replace Gov IT?

Information technology dynamics have changed dramatically in the last few years, according to David King, director of solutions marketing at Commvault. The need to introduce new applications more quickly and in dramatically larger volumes has altered the interaction between IT operations and the organizations that they support. [*Editors Note  July 25, 2017]

Hybrid cloud, virtualization, big data analytics and machine learning have provided new options to deliver those applications and derive new value from the information they produce.

If you are willing to consider doing things in a different manner, the results can be remarkable, King told the E-Commerce Times, so a reboot in how the federal government does infrastructure technology is a necessity.

Modernizing the current IT infrastructure and shedding legacy architectures will require a much more data-centric philosophy, he noted. It will be necessary to eliminate cumbersome data silos and make it easier to access big data and machine learning systems.

What Is Needed

The American Technology Councils agenda is to lay important groundwork, according to Dux Raymond Sy, CTO of AvePoint public sector.

However, the ATC may not go far enough to upgrade the governments IT infrastructure, which is a worrisome prospect, he said.

Government IT should embrace artificial intelligence, use commercial technology, and prioritize coding in schools, he suggested.

Moving from legacy technologies to the cloud is critical, and action will be required in three key areas to achieve a successful reboot of the U.S. IT infrastructure, Sy told the E-Commerce Times.

Influencing decision makers to muster the political will to change how government works is the first step for the ATC, he said.

What is slowing down government IT is the overlapping numbers of government agencies that are counterintuitive in modern technology, noted Sy. The irony is that new technology is designed for agility and more responsiveness. This is counter to how the government works. How the government works has to change.

Reach for the Sky

The second step for the ATC is to promote more government and private industry collaboration, noted Sy. The formation of the ATC is a good beginning toward creating a stronger IT partnership with other government agencies, but the government must be committed to executing the recommended changes.

Artificial Intelligence could be a vital part of any IT innovation efforts, but for AI to work, it needs to reside in the cloud.

The federal government is moving towards harvesting cloud technology, said Sy, which is a necessary step toward maximizing commercial technology.

No single government agency is tasked with overseeing innovative thinking about technology, so having an agency such as the ATC is great, according to Sy. Unless there is authority attached to that agency, though, nothing will move beyond merely discussing ideas.

Having government agencies move to the cloud is a good first step  but then what? The government can not behave like a homeowner who moves into a big new modern house but then continues to use worn out furniture and house maintenance policies from their old, rundown structure, Sy cautioned.

How long will it take? Its doubtful that it will take much time for the government to move into the cloud, he said. The bigger question is this: How does the government maximize the new IT infrastructure?

Forward-Looking Education

The third essential action the ATC must take is investing in technical education for the next generation, according to Sy. That includes improving computer education teaching goals in schools.

We need to make coding skills a much larger priority than it is now, he urged. The council needs to consider how to maximize commercial technologies that already exist.

Voices for Innovation is a strong advocate for more government spending on technological education. This is an area our government has to consider and address soon, said Sy.

Sy cited two examples of governments with forward-looking IT policies: Singapore and Estonia. Singapore has two agencies responsible for government IT and technology innovations.

These two agencies are in lockstep with all other Singapore government agencies, Sy said.

Estonia is one of the most modern and forward-looking governments out there leveraging IT, he added.

Initially, the intent was to modernize the Estonian governments IT. Then the plan was to follow through with better services and innovations. They have done that today, Sy pointed out.

Out With the Old

The days of upgrading technology hardware every five years are long gone. The government must focus on upgrading technology daily  and that way of thinking about technology innovation should be introduced at a formative age, Sy suggested.

How many government agencies are still using outdated hardware and software? The answer is mind-boggling. There are still government agencies using floppy disks to store data, he said.

Too many government agencies and IT workers are stuck in the old IT mindset. We spend a boatload of money, and once we spend money on upgrades we must wait another five-to-10 years to consider something new, Sy lamented.

That is what government IT is suffering from, he maintained.Two reasons explain why government IT has fallen into such a bad disarray: One is the bureaucracy, or its lack of political will. It is that mindset of if it aint broke, dont fix it.'

The second reason is the government attitude toward cost and spending taxpayers money.

How many times do we see government waiting to step up and make change only when bad things happen? Well, really bad things are happening today with malware, ransomware and really serious network breaches. The government has to step up, Sy said.

Getting There

Wheels are turning in some quarters to overcome governments big legacy obstacles in adopting AI/big data/machine learning systems, said Chris Nicholson, CEO of Skymind.

The government is grappling with outdated technology and a cumbersome procurement process.

They are reaching out through groups like DHS Silicon Valley office to  do deals with startups that have never worked with government before and have unique technology to offer, Nicholson told the E-Commerce Times.

Getting technology right will occur only if the government understands how new technologies can help agencies fulfill their missions, he said.

The government is planning on using powerful open source technology on top of their legacy systems. A lot of government has invested in Java and the [Java Virtual Machine], and there are many, powerful tools for big data and AI for the JVM stack, he said.

Small Steps to Success

An IT reboot as a necessary and inevitable change, in Nicholsons view, even if it is difficult to accomplish. It will involve educating people, connecting people, and empowering them to make hard decisions about how to build new systems.

In government, no one wants to fail or be seen to fail, but when you are building new systems, you are actually experimenting with the world, seeing what works and trying again, he said.

To avoid overall failure, the reboot needs to involve projects that are small enough to prove themselves at a scale where failure matters less, suggested Nicholson. That involves taking small risks and betting on new tech in order to understand its potential.

That is how you shape the future, he said. If failure is going to happen, it should happen small and early, so that you can get the big projects right. A lot of people on the ATC know this because they have built companies, made bets, failed, and corrected course until they succeeded.

*ECT News Network editors note  July 25, 2017: Our original published version of this story attributed David Kings comments to Craig McCullough, vice president of U.S. federal sales at Commvault. Per Commvaults Daniella Kohan, the quotes the company shared with us actually came from King.
Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as the Amazon Echo are becoming more and more popular with homeowners living a connected lifestyle. The US Army is now looking to implement similar technologies on the battlefield and has enlisted the help of some of the country's top research universities.

The $25 million project, funded by the Army Research Lab, will be headed by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as five other universities across the country.

Some of the Army's existing battlefield is already connected but this project will go much deeper. The Alliance for IoBT Research on Evolving Intelligent Goal-driven Networks (IoBT REIGN) looks to add predictive battlefield analytics and services to the Army's arsenal. The goal is to give soldiers "extra sensory" perception of threats, offer situational understanding of the battlefield, and provide advanced risk assessment.

The project isn't focused on reprogramming consumer devices for battlefield use or micromanaging existing infrastructure. Rather, a soldier should be able to tell a machine his/her intent and then have the machine intelligence and autonomy take over to execute that goal. The IoBT can be used to predict enemy troop movements and prevent casualties as well as analyze the efficiency of supply runs to make better use of resources.

With a larger number of connected devices always comes a greater threat of cyberattack. This can be especially dangerous when the devices control or are themselves military assess. With additional teams from Carnegie Mellon, Berkely, UCLA, UMass Amherst and USC, these challenges shouldn't be too difficult to overcome.
China is close to matching the United States as a source of official grants and loans to developing countries, but much of Beijings financing serves its own economic interests and yields scant benefits for recipients, a multinational group of researchers reported yesterday.

The research by AidData, a lab at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, is the most extensive effort yet to measure official financing by China, which releases few details of its aid flows. That has spurred concern about Beijings intentions as it tries to expand its global influence to match Chinas status as the worlds second-largest economy.

China gave or lent USD354.4 billion in the 15 years ending in 2014 in Africa, Asia and elsewhere, compared with $394.6 billion for the United States, according to AidData. It released a database of Chinese financing, assembled from thousands of sources of information, and a study on its impact by scholars from Harvard University, Germanys Heidelberg University and William & Mary.

At the very top level, you could say the U.S. and China are now spending rivals when it comes to their financial transfers to other countries, said AidDatas executive director, Bradley C. Parks.

Chinas secretiveness about its spending has fueled complaints its aid might prop up corrupt regimes or undercut environmental and human rights standards Western donors are trying to enforce.

Attention to Chinese financing has increased as Beijing promotes its Belt and Road Initiative, a multibillion-dollar initiative to expand Chinas trade links with Asia, Africa and the Middle East by building ports, roads and other facilities.

About 23 percent of Chinese spending met the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developments definition of aid, or official development assistance, which requires at least 25 percent of a transfer to be a grant. By contrast, 93 percent of U.S. spending qualifies as aid.

The bulk of Beijings financing appears to be export credits and other measures aimed at promoting Chinese exports or other goals, which produced little measurable growth in recipient economies, according to Parks. He said such official finance doesnt count as development assistance but is part of the OECDs broader definition of aid.

The lions share of the portfolio is really not delivering, at least on average, any significant economic growth benefits for its partner countries, said Parks.

That leaves Beijing room to have a positive impact by shifting spending to development assistance, he said.

There still is a lot of scope for them to learn and adapt, said Parks.

The portion of Chinese financing that qualifies as aid substantially improves economic growth, according to the report. It said results were comparable to the impact of U.S.- and other Western-financed projects.

I thought that was a pretty important finding and an encouraging one, said Parks.

The 5-year-old project used a computerized system to look for information from more than 15,000 sources including news reports, Chinese government offices, ministries of other countries and academic reports. Its data cover 4,304 projects in 138 countries and territories.

China doesnt participate in global aid reporting systems. It released some figures in 2011 and 2014 but gave few details and none about individual countries.

AidData released its first report in 2013 focusing on Chinese financing to Africa. Parks said its data have been used by other scholars to launch more than 100 research projects.

AidData is the most comprehensive source of information on Chinas lending for development projects, said David Dollar, an economist at the Brookings Institution in Washington and former World Bank country director in Beijing, in an email.

The data show that Chinas lending is indiscriminate with respect to governance. Some big borrowers have poor rule of law, such as Venezuela, Angola and Pakistan, Dollar wrote. The overall pattern of lending indicates that it is demand-driven by which countries want to borrow rather than by a Chinese master plan.

Parks said the data show more Chinese finance goes to countries that vote with Beijing at the United Nations. He said that might not look good, but a similar analysis of U.S. and other Western donors shows they act the same way.

In a sense, Beijing has taken a page out of the playbook of traditional Western donors, said Parks. That doesnt comport with the rogue donor narrative that China is somehow inferior or different.

Parks said the project didnt try to measure whether Chinese aid undercuts environmental or other standards by giving an alternative to more stringent conditions on Western aid.

But a separate study published this year by researcher Diego Hernandez of Heidelberg found the World Bank attached significantly fewer conditions to loans if recipients also had aid available from China.

New donors might be perceived as an attractive financial option to which the World Bank reacts by offering credits less restrictively in order to remain competitive, wrote Hernandez. Joe McDonald, Beijing, AP
Following several days of rumors, it's now been confirmed that Disney has reached an agreement with four major Hollywood studios to bring their titles to its rebranded Movies Anywhere service, increasing the digital locker's content library to over 7300 movies.

By connecting to their iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play, or Vudu accounts, Disney Movies Anywhere users could store Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm movie purchases in a single location. The service allows people to view their digital library anywhere and across a range of devices and operating systems, including Android, iOS, Amazon Fire devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, Sony Bravia smart TVs, and Roku.

Now, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. have joined the expanded version of Movies Anywhere --- launched late yesterday --- which is built on the same Disney "keychest" digital rights system architecture. It also means physical DVDs and Blu-ray movies from the newly signed-up studios that come with digital codes can be accessed anywhere via the app/website.

For a limited time, users that activate and connect their accounts to one of the aforementioned online retailers will receive free copies of Ice Age and 2016's Ghostbusters. Linking two or more accounts will also get you Big Hero 6, Jason Bourne, and The Lego Movie for nothing.

The Disney Movies Anywhere app is being replaced by the new version, which drops the "Disney" part of the name. Although only available in the US, travelers can access it internationally, and movies can be downloaded for offline viewing.

Disney last month confirmed that its Marvel and Star Wars movies would be joining Pixar and Walt Disney Studios features in leaving Netflix for the company's own streaming service, set to begin in 2019.
Hyperloop, the proposed rapid transit concept from serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, gained significant validation on Thursday thanks to a high-profile investor.

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson announced his company is investing in Hyperloop One, a frontrunner in the race to bring Musk's vision of high-speed, tube-based transportation to life.

Financial details weren't disclosed although one would assume it's significant considering Hyperloop One is changing its name to Virgin Hyperloop One.

Branson, who described the endeavor as the world's most revolutionary train service, said that as a train owner (his company owns a train network in the UK in addition to an airline and other ventures), he felt this is something he wants to be able to operate.

Hyperloop One Chairman Shervin Pishevar told CNBC that with Branson on board, the company will be able to accelerate the commercialization process and also design products with the consumer in mind. The executive added:

The customer experience of the pod is something that we definitely want to lean on Richard's and the Virgin Group's experience to create an experience when you walk into a hyperloop pod. ... You should feel comfortable. You should feel like you've been there before. This is not futuristic technology. This is happening now.

Hyperloop One successfully completed a full-scale test over the summer. If you recall, the prototype test pod accelerated to a speed of 192 mph and traveled a distance of 1,433 feet. That's far from the promised goal of over 700 mph but it's certainly a promising start.
Sony at Mobile World Congress earlier this year unveiled the Xperia Touch, an Android-driven projector that uses a 60fps camera and infrared sensors to detect taps and gestures on a 23-inch projected image on a horizontal surface (up to 80 inches on a wall).

The Xperia Touch, which Sony is looking to utilize as an interactive hub for the home, comes installed with Android Nougat and can use any surface as an interface. As you would expect, it can function just as any Android tablet would.

You can browse the Internet, check the weather, view your calendar and use Google Assistant. There is also a "memo board" app for leaving messages for family members and you can even conduct Skype calls with the built-in 13-megapixel camera.

The XT is not limited to pre-installed apps, either. You can download any app you want from the Google Store. Since the gesture controls are processed on-board, it should be compatible with any app.

It is also compatible with the PlayStation 4's Remote Play feature. Playing PS4 games on a 23-inch screen is not ideal for most and projecting a bigger display reduces luminosity. However, it could serve in a pinch as a way to play games somewhere other than the living room.



Google Maps can be controlled with the same pinch and drag gestures you would use on your tablet (Image via Tech Advisor).

The battery only lasts about an hour but if the idea is to have it as a hub located in one place in the home, it can just remain connected to a power source at all times through its USB-C port.

The Verge got some hands-on time with the Xperia Touch prototype back in February when it was announced. The device worked as advertised but the reviewer was left wondering if there is even a market for it. Our smartphones are way more convenient for doing most of the tasks it is capable of and image quality is not going to replace out televisions.

"It's just not really clear who this helps," said The Verge. "It's really cool technology, but I wouldn't buy one." I feel the same about it. It seems cool, but I just don't see myself using it that much. After the novelty wore off, it would just end up in my closet.

The Xperia Touch is already available on Amazon for $1,700 which is about $100 more than the announced MSRP. As of writing, there were only three in stock with more on the way. The device will also be sold through T-Mobile in Chicago, Los Angles and Miami. Sony will likewise have it at its Sony Square display room in New York.

Top image by Expert Reviews
Borrell Says EU Will Continue To Try to Isolate Russia
China yesterday protested the sailing of a U.S. Navy ship near its territorial claims in the South China Sea, saying it would continue to take measures to protect Beijings interests in the vital waterway claimed by several nations.

A U.S. official said the destroyer USS Chafee sailed near the Paracel Islands on Tuesday, coming within 16 nautical miles (30 kilometers) of land. The Navy does not announce such missions in advance and the official spoke on condition of anonymity.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying denounced the mission as dangerous and a violation of Chinas sovereignty. She said the military verified the presence of the U.S. ship by sea and air and warned it off.

The Chinese government will continue to take firm measures to safeguard national territory, sovereignty and maritime interests, Hua told reporters at a daily briefing.

China claims the South China Sea and its islands virtually in their entirety, and its military expelled Vietnamese forces from the Paracels in 1974. The U.S. does not take an official position on sovereignty claims, but the Navy regularly sails through the area to assert freedom of navigation.

China usually claims to have expelled Navy ships on such missions and its relatively mild response this time suggested the Chafee had not entered what it claims are its territorial waters.

The South China Sea has crucial shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds and potential oil, gas and other mineral deposits. China has carried out extensive land reclamation work on many of the islands and reefs it claims, equipping some with air strips and military installations. AP
One in Three London Car Journeys Could Be in an Autonomous Vehicle By 2025







 A third of private vehicle journeys could be made with new technology, forecasts Addison Lee-led MERGE Greenwich consortium

London

London

LONDON - October 12, 2017: Autonomous ride-sharing services could account for a third of all trips by private drivers in London by 2025, according to a consortium investigating ways to integrate new technology into the city's public transport network.

Experts predict that 34 per cent of private drivers' journeys could be replaced, while up to 30 per cent of taxi and private hire journeys could also be served by Autonomous Vehicle (AV) ride-sharing.

The figures - extrapolated from studies carried out in Los Angeles and Boston, together with the London Travel Demand Survey - are contained in initial research from the MERGE Greenwich consortium, a group of six partners undertaking a year-long project to study how autonomous vehicle ride-sharing can work and connect with London's transport network.

The consortium is backed by funding from Innovate UK - an agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Overall, an AV ride-sharing service could serve up to one in seven of all trips within London within eight years, equivalent to 2.5m trips per day, and take up to 25 per cent of the total transport market by value - worth around 3.5bn at today's rates.

"The idea that one-in-three London car journeys could be replaced by autonomous vehicles by 2025 shows the huge potential in the sector," said Andy Boland, Addison Lee's CEO.

The MERGE Greenwich consortium is led by Addison Lee Group and involves mobility experts Ford, TRL, Transport Systems Catapult, DG Cities and Immense Simulations.

Paul McCabe, Addison Lee Group's Director of Mobility, said: "With some of the brightest British automotive and ground transport brains involved, the MERGE Greenwich partnership will pave the way for autonomous vehicles on the streets of London at scale, to provide significantly improved transport.

"This will put London at the forefront of mobility development, globally."

It comes as an exciting future of autonomous cars on British roads moves a step closer with the Addison Lee-led MERGE Greenwich consortium securing funding from the Government's national innovation agency to help take the country to the forefront of mobility innovation.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also put the need to reduce the number of cars on the capital's roads at the heart of his transport strategy.

So, what exactly will the project deliver?

A plan on how autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing will integrate into public transport systems, focused on the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Advanced simulation and analysis to demonstrate how this integrated solution can benefit consumers, society and the environment.

Ideas on how to improve the efficiency of the way we travel around cities and how to reduce total vehicle journeys and reduce emissions.

Key requirements for a vehicle which will be optimal for an AV ride-sharing service.

A review of customer barriers to adoption and design considerations to overcome them.

A detailed commercial and business model to show how this service and AV technology can be brought to market.

Working from the Smart Mobility Living Lab: London, the project will develop a future business and operating model to integrate AVs, ride-sharing and existing transport into truly multi-modal transport system. From this, the next stage could be conducting real-world testing to see how AV ride-sharing services could contribute to and enhance the new mobility vision for London.

Trevor Dorling, Director of DG Cities explained: "With the advent of connected and autonomous vehicles, there is now an opportunity to redefine transport in our cities and towns. Offering modern, flexible and responsive mobility services that can be shared by the public is likely to reduce the cost to the consumer, reduce the number of journeys and vehicles on our roads - helping the environment and improving road safety. DG Cities looks forward to being a part of this project and sharing the key lessons learnt with other cities in the UK and overseas."

Innovate UK's Chief Executive Ruth McKernan added: "Successful industry-led R&D projects will further spearhead UK development of low emission, and connected and autonomous vehicle technology. This builds on our world-leading research and innovation capability in this area and the significant strength of UK businesses both large and small in this field."

The consortium partners bring a crucial and complementary set of assets and knowledge to the MERGE Greenwich programme:

Addison Lee Group provides real world commercial knowledge of operating a large fleet on a global scale, which enables the MERGE Greenwich project to accelerate the validation of the AV ride-sharing model beyond any previous project.

Ford brings expertise to develop vehicle requirements fit for purpose in an AV ride-sharing model and DG Cities will ensure that the AV model is compatible with the Borough's needs and objectives, and will explore how services can be integrated with the city and existing public transport.

The operating model, vehicle requirements and city-integration know-how will be combined with the extensive simulation and modelling capability of Immense Simulations, TRL and Transport Systems Catapult.

MERGE Greenwich will develop a world first, custom-designed blueprint which showcases the UK's cutting edge mobility capability.

Anticipated uptake of Autonomous vehicle ride-sharing[1]

Estimated AV Forecast AV Potential value of ride-share Market ride-share trips per the AV ride-share Year 2024/25 penetration (2025) day (2025) market (2025) Underground/ DLR 5% 109,646 GBP116,060,694 Bus/tram 5% 159,796 GBP87,488,571 Taxi/ Other 30% 100,856 GBP865,094,976 Car driver 34% 1,369,603 GBP1,895,591,907 Car passenger 34% 771,004 GBP559,352,079 Motorcycle 5% 3,234 GBP3,134,520 Cycle 0.5% 3,904 GBP1,002,384 Walk 0.5% 29,580 GBP1,483,054 TOTAL 14% 2,547,623 GBP3,529,208,186

About MERGE Greenwich

MERGE Greenwich is a project to investigate how to improve the way we travel around cities, reduce total vehicle journeys and reduce emissions, using new and future developments in electric and autonomous vehicles. The project will focus on the social, commercial and infrastructure challenge of autonomous vehicles, and will consider safety, ride-sharing, security, accessibility and environmental factors of an autonomous ground transport service. The MERGE Greenwich consortium will simulate the way the Royal Borough of Greenwich moves today and how it could move with an autonomous ride-share system which is integrated with public transport. Consumer and city-level research will also be carried out in order to understand how this new mobility system could be applied to the real world. The resulting report will provide a blueprint for an optimal operating model, to give the UK a first-to-market global advantage in next generation ground transportation systems.

The 12-month project will be delivered by a consortium led by Addison Lee Group, and will use the London Borough of Greenwich to model, test and assess options. The consortium's membership comprises of:

Addison Lee Group: apply booking, allocation and dispatch technology to pair ride-sharing journeys in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and coordinate with the broader transport network.

Ford: developing electric and autonomous vehicle requirements and feasibility.

DG Cities: brings experience of developing strategic and scalable smart city innovation initiatives. They will lead on work to ensure that the business model is compatible with the needs of the Borough.

TRL: will utilise significant experience from the Smart Mobility Living Lab: London to help analyse and develop the business case for autonomous ride-sharing.

to help analyse and develop the business case for autonomous ride-sharing. Transport Systems Catapult: bringing existing data and modelling expertise relating to ride-sharing and AVs.

Immense Simulations: Enabling the consortium to assess the commercial viability of alternate strategic AV deployment scenarios by using large scale, agent based simulations driven by Immense's unique mobility insight prediction tools.

About Innovate UK

Innovate UK is the UK's innovation agency. Innovate UK works with people, companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy - delivering productivity, new jobs and exports. Our aim at Innovate UK is to keep the UK globally competitive in the race for future prosperity.

1. Data extrapolated from TfL London Travel Demand Survey and from Chen, TD & Kockelman KM (2016), Management of a Shared, Autonomous, Electric Vehicle Fleet: Implications of Pricing Schemes, University of Texas at Austin

SOURCE Addison Lee
Harvey Weinstein. Photo: YANN COATSALIOU/AFP/Getty Images

The New York Police Department has opened a criminal investigation into a sexual-assault allegation against Harvey Weinstein from 2004, People reports. The investigation comes after bombshell reports by the New York Times and The New Yorker revealed decades of harassment and assault accusations against the Hollywood titan.

A police spokesperson told People that the NYPD was looking into claims that Weinstein assaulted the victim 13 years ago. Although officials would not release further information about the alleged assault, People points out that actress Lucia Stoller, who now goes by Lucia Evans, told reporter Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker that in 2004, the producer had forced her to perform oral sex on him.

The NYPD also told the Hollywood Reporter in a statement: Based on information referenced in published news reports the NYPD is conducting a review to determine if there are any additional complaints relating to the Harvey Weinstein matter. No filed complaints have been identified as of this time and as always, the NYPD encourages anyone who may have information pertaining to this matter to call the CrimeStoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

In response to The New Yorker article, Weinsteins spokesperson said, Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.
A South Korean lawmaker says North Korean hackers stole highly classified military documents that include U.S.-South Korean wartime decapitation strike plans against the North Korean leadership.

The United States, meanwhile, staged another show of force meant to deter any North Korean aggression by flying two B-1B supersonic bombers Tuesday night from an air base in the U.S. territory of Guam to the South for drills with South Korean fighter jets. Such flights by the powerful aircraft based in Guam incense the North, which claims they are preparation for war; Pyongyang has threatened to send missiles into the waters around Guam.

If confirmed, the reported hacking attack by the North would be a major blow for South Korea at a time when its relations with rival North Korea are at a low point. The South has taken an increasingly aggressive stance toward the Norths belligerence amid back-and-forth threats of war between North Korea and U.S. President Donald Trump. North Koreas possession of secret war plans would require a major overhaul of how South Korea and its ally Washington would respond if theres another war on the Korean Peninsula.

An unusually aggressive approach to the North by Trump, which has included rhetoric hinting at U.S. strikes and threatening the destruction of North Koreas leadership, has some South Koreans fearful that war is closer than at any time since the Korean War ended in 1953 in a shaky cease-fire, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically in a state of war.

Rep. Lee Cheol-hee, a lawmaker for the ruling Democratic Party who sits on the National Defense Committee, said defense sources told him that North Korean hackers last year stole the classified U.S.-South Korean war plans, including parts of Operational Plan 5015, which includes procedures for a decapitation strike on the Norths leadership if a crisis breaks out or appears imminent.

The Defense Ministry after an investigation said in May that North Korea was likely behind the hacking of the Defense Integrated Data Center in September last year, but had refused to confirm media speculation that the decapitation strike plan was compromised. Defense officials refused to comment yesterday.

The bilateral training mission between the U.S. B-1B bombers and South Korean F-15K fighter jets on Tuesday night followed a Sept. 23 mission in which U.S. bombers and fighter escorts used pre-dawn hours to fly to the farthest point of the border between North and South Korea by any U.S. aircraft this century.

South Korean analysts say the nighttime flights, and also the decisions by Washington and Seoul to release the itinerary of the warplanes, are aimed at sending a clear warning to North Korea and demonstrating capability for surprise attacks.

South Koreas spy agency told lawmakers after the Sept. 23 mission that North Korea failed to detect the B-1B bombers as they flew in international airspace east of the country. Pyongyang belatedly responded by relocating some of its military aircraft to its east coast, the National Intelligence Service then said. Some military experts believe that power supply problems make it difficult for North Korea to turn on its air defense radars for 24 hours a day and also that the systems might struggle to effectively track advanced warplanes such as B-1Bs, which have low radar-cross sections.

During Tuesdays drills, the U.S. bombers, which flew from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, staged simulated air-to-ground missile striking drills off the peninsulas east coast before flying across the country accompanied by the two South Korean fighters. The aircraft then conducted similar simulated air to ground striking drills off the peninsulas west coast, according to South Koreas Defense Ministry.

The drills were conducted not long after Lee broke the news about the alleged cyberattacks to reporters. Lee, who didnt specify his sources, said the plans allegedly stolen by the North include operations for tracking the movement of the Norths leadership, isolating their hideouts, executing air assaults and follow-

up actions for securing and eliminating targets, which would obviously include North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

There is an urgent need for the military to change and update parts that were stolen by North Korea, Lee said.

A pre-emptive strike against Pyongyangs leadership would be difficult to undertake, but its widely seen as the most realistic of the limited military options Seoul has to deny a nuclear attack from its rival.

Outside governments and international human rights organizations say Kim rules as a tyrant over a largely malnourished and abused population while enjoying a luxurious lifestyle backed up by a weapons program nearly advanced enough to viably target the U.S. mainland with nuclear-tipped missiles. But Kim, the third generation of his family to rule, is officially revered in the North, and any suggestion of removing him from power is taken extremely seriously in Pyongyang.

Lee said that 235 gigabytes of military documents were taken, but the military has yet to identify 80 percent of the documents that were compromised. Other stolen data included contingency plans for South Korean special forces and information on military facilities and power plants, he said.

Seoul says North Korea has repeatedly staged cyberattacks on South Korean business and government websites. North Korea routinely denies responsibility.

North Korea has yet to comment on either the bombing drills or the hacking claims. AP
Because no two paths to parenthood look the same, the Cuts How I Got This Baby invites parents to share their stories. Want to share yours? Email gotbaby@thecut.com and tell us a bit about how you became a parent.

Photo: Constance Bannister Corp/Getty Images

Katie and her then-husband planned on starting a family by their late 20s. Instead, the year she turned 27, Katie was diagnosed with breast cancer.

By 30, Katie had no evidence of disease  and was no longer married. Though doctors had assured Katie her fertility might be intact after cancer treatment, when she met her now-wife, she was unsure whether she could have biological children.

Below, Katie discusses the difficulty of choosing a sperm donor, buying and then throwing away What to Expect When Youre Expecting, the financial barriers to the fertility industry, and the realities of early parenthood with twins.

On having her plans for a family derailed. I got married, initially, when I was 24, to a man. We had lots of plans to get pregnant pretty fast  I wanted to get pregnant by the time I was 27. But when I went to the doctor to get a prescription for prenatal vitamins, they found a lump in my breast.

I wound up getting diagnosed with breast cancer instead of pregnant: The day I had marked on my calendar that I was going to start trying to get pregnant, I was in chemo-induced menopause, totally bald, with no idea whether Id ever be able to have a baby. I spent that day crying on the sofa drinking wine, as any good cancer patient would.

After four and a half months of chemo and a double mastectomy, there was no evidence of disease. But my plans for having babies got derailed by cancer  ultimately, my marriage did too. I wound up 30, no longer married, and not totally sure how Id ever have kids.

On making a new plan. Id decided to go get a Ph.D. because I still wasnt sure if I was going to die, and I thought I could never have children. I thought, Okay, I wont have kids. I also thought, If I start a Ph.D.  a really, really long project  the universe wont let me die in the middle of it. This was so stupid; there were a lot of days where I was like, Id rather have cancer than do this stupid Ph.D. But while I was doing it, I met my now-wife, and we had a whirlwind romance.

Shed always known she wanted to have kids. I was still recovering from the trauma of my divorce and cancer, but I still had it in the back of my mind that wed want to try. Fairly early on, we talked about how we might do it: She didnt want to be pregnant, I kind of did. We knew we werent getting any younger, so we decided to start trying when we were 33. Thinking, Okay, well have a baby at 33, another at 37, maybe another at 39 

I was 27 when I had chemo. Because my cancer was so aggressive, I wasnt allowed to have fertility preservation before starting treatment  they needed to begin right away. Which ultimately was good: Had I done fertility preservation at the time, I would have had a bunch of embryos left over from my ex-husband, which would have been super-complicated. But they said, given my age, they thought I would have a normal reproductive life after cancer. I have a lot of friends whove had cancer and gone on to have babies; its very common. I was just one of the unlucky ones.

On picking a human from a catalogue. If I could give anyone advice about choosing a sperm donor, it would be: More information does not make the choice easier. One donor, for example, we were sure we wanted to go with  until we heard a recording of his voice. He had the most annoying laugh in the world. Another had a horrible chin. These were characteristics youd never discount your partner for, because you love them despite their flaws. But in a sperm-donor catalogue, you can come up with a lot of reasons not to pick someone.

Eventually, we did pick someone, bought ten vials of his sperm, and set off to do an IUI. We did our first one and were stupid enough to immediately go out and buy What to Expect When Youre Expecting. As if wed be pregnant that day. I think we wound up throwing it away. It took so many more years to get a baby, it didnt feel relevant anymore.

On using up their sperm supply. After the first failed IUI, we moved states. Once we were settled, I went and got assessed by a new fertility doctor, who told me I had a less than one percent chance of ever getting pregnant with my own eggs, even with IVF. And then, the day after I found that out, my ex-husband announced his new wife was pregnant. It was a really difficult week.

We did some mourning. I did some very deep mourning. Then we tried five more IUIs on my wife, and all five failed. At that point, we were running out of sperm. I had to go back and buy more sperm, which was the most demoralizing experience ever. Sperm is ridiculously expensive: Its about $700 a vial. I realized wed spent $11,000 on sperm. I worked at a university at the time, surrounded by all these young men. I was just imagining that there was so much sperm around me, at all times of the day. All free! And I was going broke, buying thousands of dollars worth of sperm off the internet.

On confronting a bias and maxing out savings. Our fertility clinic suggested whats called reciprocal IVF: Theyd take my wifes egg, make embryos with donor sperm, and put the embryo in me. So I could be pregnant, carrying my wifes child. We thought about it and debated for a while. Id said before that I would rather live childless than go through IVF. I had some weird bias against it  I mean, partially because its so expensive. Ultimately, we did decide to do three rounds.

We maxed out our pharmacy benefits within the first ten days. My wife took a loan from her parents, I took a loan from my parents. Our savings were decimated. We went through these three rounds. Two failed, and one miraculously resulted in a pregnancy.

On coping with a miscarriage. It was the night that Robin Williams killed himself. I was watching that on CNN, and then I just started to bleed all over the place. I sent my wife out for wine and Parliament Lights. I was like, Time to smoke and drink my way through this miscarriage.

We felt like it was the end of the road for us. In part, I just couldnt stand the idea of spending another thousand bucks on sperm. Overall, wed spent $45,000 on fertility treatments. That was more than my salary at the time. We didnt have any money left, and we were just emotionally shattered.

On discovering a new option. We moved, again, and just kind of started over, working on our relationship and not talking about babies. Eventually, I found out about a program for double-donor embryo adoption.

Theres just one program like this in the country, in California. Basically, its a shared-risk program, where you share a batch of embryos with some other people, people you dont know. The batch of embryos is made by the IVF clinic; they recruit egg donors and buy sperm from existing sperm donors, then they make embryos at the clinic.

This program is the end of the road for most people. Their eggs are gone; theyre all out of money. This program costs $15,000 for three tries  and their success rate is over 90 percent. You cant get a better deal than that, in the fertility world. Generally, a single IVF cycle costs $15,000, and your chance of success can be in the garbage.

Its hard to think of my babies as a deal, because I would have paid any amount of money for them. But the fertility industry is a racket, and it can make people go bankrupt. Im in an online community with a lot of other women who have gone through this same program, which is so nice  you dont have to explain the situation to anyone there. But its also nice to see women of varying socioeconomic statuses, who would not be able to access a traditional program  I mean, $15,000 is not nothing, but for the success rate, people can justify taking out a loan with the knowledge theyre likely to have a baby in the end. For a lot of women, theres a guarantee program: If you meet the criteria and dont have a baby after the third try, you get all your money back.

On traveling across the country alone to possibly get pregnant. The trip was horrible. My flight was canceled because of a giant storm. I was trying to get to California by a particular time, because that was the exact time the embryo transfer needed to be made. But I finally made it to Dallas. And missed my connecting flight. I collapsed on the ground, sobbing  Im sure people thought I was insane.

Still, I had to do my progesterone shot, which is a shot you take to prepare your uterine lining for the embryo. Its a giant shot in your butt of this thick oil, a giant needle. One of the ways you get the oil to go in a bit easier is to heat the syringe with a lighter. So Im in a bathroom stall at the airport, with a lighter, about to shoot up  and still hysterically crying. I sprayed blood everywhere, but I did manage to do the shot.

Finally, I got a flight to Sacramento, then got a rental car to fly to Davis. It was the only time I lied about having cancer to get something: They were all out of cars when I got there, so I started screaming that I needed to go get some cancer surgery. This was a lie, but I figured  I did have cancer, so I should be able to use it to get something in my life, since it had taken so much from me already. Luckily, the lie worked.

The next day, I woke up feeling oddly calm before the transfer. I went; it seemed to go well. That night, I lay down on the bed in the hotel and put my hand over my uterus and thought, There are two potential people inside me, and I dont know anything about them. The next day, I flew home.

On experiencing pregnancy. Wed put two embryos in hoping that one would stick. Still, when both did, it was a shock. I found out when I was eight weeks along: They said, Heres baby one! And heres  baby two! They actually had to stop the ultrasound because I was laughing too hard for them to continue. I was just freaking out.

Most of the pregnancy was great. I felt very attached to the babies, right from the start. I didnt think of them as anyones but mine. It did occur to me that I had no idea what they would look like. If they were biologically mine, wed expect them to pop out with giant heads of black hair.

But we did know that the sperm donor had white-blond hair  would we have two blond babies? We just didnt know.

On wanting to avoid the worst of both worlds. Around 35 weeks, my legs were so swollen that I couldnt bend my knees anymore  I had to go on medical leave because I couldnt walk. The next week, I went in to my regular OB appointment and they were like, Youre having the babies today. I had preeclampsia; Id gained 30 pounds of water weight in three weeks.

We went straight to the hospital. They asked me if Id eaten recently, and I had  a huge turkey sandwich  but I was so over being pregnant that I said no. I went into the C-section with turkey sandwich coming up my esophagus.

With twin births, you can deliver vaginally, but a lot of times, women deliver one vaginally, but the other wont come out  so she ends up having a vaginal delivery and a C-section, which seems like the worst of both worlds. I just did not want to risk having both, so Id always planned on a C-section. Overall, the pregnancy and the birth were just fine; after how hard it was to get pregnant, I felt so lucky.

On early parenthood. People are always like, I wish I had twins! And Im like, No. You dont. Having twin babies is kind of nightmarish. They dont sleep at the same time. Theyre constantly crying. I dont think I had postpartum depression, but I think I had postpartum anxiety  I was obsessively doing the dishes, trying to keep the house really clean, which of course is impossible when you have two newborn babies. That period was magical and awful all at the same time. It was really hard. I think people arent honest enough about that.

My kids are now 8 months old, and now theyre great. I think its just going to keep getting better.



On telling her kids their origin story. I know its important to be completely honest with donor-conceived kids about their origins, and I think thats going to be the next hurdle for us, in completing this entire experience. We need to figure out how to tell them that they came from a clinic in California, that they may or may not be able to locate their genetic parents. Luckily, we are in touch with some of their genetic siblings. Theyll always have those relationships. Im really grateful that those parents are wanting to stay in touch with us.

I will never understand the feeling of being donor-conceived  so how will my wife and I support them in navigating these emotions? Maybe our kids wont have any weird feelings about it at all. But I imagine theyll have complicated feelings at some point, and hopefully well be able to support them. Ive told them about their donor-conception story, but of course theyre not understanding me quite yet. I dont know at what age theyre going to formally get it, but I do know that well keep talking about it.
Rose McGowan at the live Talkhouse broadcast at Samsung 837 on March 9, 2016, in New York City. (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Samsung)

Twitter Suspends Rose McGowans Account After Tweets About Hollywood Sex Assault

A number of women called for a boycott of Twitter on Thursday after the social media platform suspended the account of actress Rose McGowan who sent a series of messages accusing Hollywood elites of covering up Harvey Weinsteins sexual assaults.

The actress tweeted that actor Ben Affleck was lying about his knowledge of Weinsteins sexual harassment, called for the board of Weinsteins company to be dissolved, and wrote that the people who fund and air Weinsteins films and shows, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, should be looked into. She also tweeted in support of women who have come forward with claims that Weinstein abused them.

McGowan posted a message on Instagram on Thursday morning, Oct. 12, with a screenshot of the suspension message she received from Twitter. Her account would be locked for 12 hours because some of the messages she sent violated Twitter policy, the company wrote. Her account would become unlocked in 12 hours if she deleted the offending messages.

TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED ME, she wrote on Instagram. THERE ARE POWERFUL FORCES AT WORK. BE MY VOICE.

While suspended, McGowan cant send or reply to tweets and is limited to sending direct messages.

It is unclear which messages violated Twitters policy. Twitters terms of service merit a suspension if a message creates risk or possible exposure to us, The New York Times reported. Another part of the terms prohibits behavior that can be described as harassment and hateful conduct.

Twitter declined to comment to The New York Times on the suspension, saying that they dont comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons.

McGowan was one of eight women who settled lawsuits with Weinstein over sexual assault, the Times reported. Following the Times expose, Weinstein was fired from the company he co-founded. Meanwhile, both the FBI and the New York Police Department opened investigations, as allegations of assault continued to pile up.

Weinstein is a powerful movie mogul with the power to make or break a career in Hollywood. Up to 30 women have alleged he sexually assaulted them, according to a Daily Mail tally.

Twitter users who heard the news of the suspension called for a one-day boycott on Friday, Oct. 13. Twitter then went public with several messages explaining why McGowans account was suspended.

We have been in touch with Ms. McGowans team. We want to explain that her account was temporarily locked because one of her Tweets included a private phone number, which violates of our Terms of Service. The Tweet was removed and her account has been unlocked. We will be clearer about these policies and decisions in the future, the company wrote in a tweet.

Some people are calling for a boycott of Twitter on Friday, after the service partially suspended actress Rose McGowan for violating its terms and policies.

Despite Twitter saying that McGowan was no longer suspended, she did not send any tweets on Thursday, compared to the dozens she sent on Tuesday and Wednesday.

From NTD.tv
Missing Rocket Men Fuel Fears of Another North Korea Nuke Test

Two top North Korea nuclear and missile officials were absent from recent celebrations in the reclusive communist regime, raising concerns that another nuclear test is imminent.

Ri Man Gon and Kim Rak Gyom were both absent from large-scale celebrations on Saturday and Tuesday, South Korean newspaper Chosunilbo reported. Ri is the supervisor of the department for the nuclear and missile development, while Kim leads the strategic rocket forces.

North Korea held a mass rally on Saturday and celebrated the anniversary of the founding of the Workers Party on Tuesday, Oct. 10. The regime is known to test nuclear weapons and missiles on major holidays, but no blast or launch occurred on either day.

Theres little chance that Ri and Kim have been dismissed or purged because theyve been praised for major achievements recently, a government-funded think tank staffer told Chosunilbo. Its highly likely that they were absent because theyd been given an important assignment.

The U.S. Geological Survey detected a magnitude-2.9 earthquake on Thursday in the same area that North Korea conducted prior nuclear tests. USGS could not confirm the nature of the tremor, but it was significantly weaker than a magnitude-6.3 hydrogen bomb test Pyongyang carried out on Sept. 3.

Officials and watchdogs warned about an imminent test on the two key dates, but all was quiet, signaling that President Donald Trumps fire-and-fury threats may be working.

Pyongyangs communist dictator Kim Jong Un has so far been undeterred by intense threats from the American president and tightening United Nations sanctions. After testing the hydrogen bomb on Sept. 3, North Korea fired two missiles over Japan that crashed into the ocean.

President Trump renewed the threat to North Korea recently in a seemingly cryptic manner. At a meeting with top military officials, he said that this might be the calm before the storm. When asked what he meant, Trump said, youll find out.

Four days ago, Trump also sent an ominous threat to Kim, whom he refers to as Little Rocket Man, on Twitter.

Presidents and their administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25 years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid. Hasnt worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings fools of U.S. negotiators, Trump wrote. Sorry, but only one thing will work!

After a period of uncertainty, a Trump official clarified that by one thing the president meant military options in North Korea.

Trump is a fierce opponent of communism and has often referred to it as a deadly and destructive ideology. North Korea is a typical late-stage communist regime, with millions of people living in terror and the majority of the populace destitute under a corrupt elite class. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people are feared to have perished in the nationwide network of forced labor camps.

From NTD.tv
A still image from a video posted by the Haqqani terror group on Dec. 19, 2016, showing American Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle, and their two sons. (screenshot)

Family Abducted by Terror Group Rescued From Captivity

Caitlan Coleman, an American citizen, who was abducted in 2012 together with her husband Joshua Boyle, a Canadian citizen, have been released.

Coleman had been forced to give birth to the couples three children while in captivity. They were held hostage by the Haqqani network, a terrorist organizations with ties to the Taliban.

President Donald Trump made the announcement of their release himself in a statement released by the White House.

Today they are free, said Trump.

An undated image provided by SITE Intel Group shows Canadian Joshua Boyle and American Caitlan Coleman, who were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012. (SITE Intel Group)

The Pakistani governments cooperation is a sign that it is honoring Americas wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region, he said.

The couple was kidnapped in 2012 while traveling in northern Afghanistan. Their trip was part of a journey that took them to Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Afghanistan.

In a video released in 2016 Boyle and Coleman begged for their governments to intervene on their behalf.

It is an indescribable emotional sense one has watching a grandson making faces at the camera, while hearing our sons leg chains clanging up and down on the floor as he tries to settle his son, the parents of Boyle said in a statement in response to the video at the time.

Related Coverage Trump Greets American Freed From Egyptian Detention

It is unbelievable that they have had to shield their sons from their horrible reality for four years, they said.

The parents of Coleman said at the time they had received a letter from their son saying that they pretended for their children that the captivity was part of a game that was being played with the guards.

The parents of Coleman expressed their hope that then-president elect Trump would be able to secure their release.

The Haqqani network was started by a former anti-Soviet commander in Afghanistan in 1995. The group has pledged allegiance to the Taliban and has been behind some of the most deadly violence in Afghanistan in recent years, including attacks on embassies, local residents, and U.S. military bases.

Since coming to office in January, Trump has implemented a policy of principled realism to guide foreign policy.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Sept. 19. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

For the diverse nations of the world, this is our hope. We want harmony and friendship, not conflict and strife. We are guided by outcomes, not ideology, Trump said in describing his approach to foreign policy at the U.N. General Assembly in September.

Trump has been fiercely critical of Pakistan for harboring terrorists organizations.

Today, 20 U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations are active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Trump said in a speech in August.

For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror, he said.
Academy Holds Emergency Meeting Over Harvey Weinsteins Membership

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, known for holding the Oscars, announced Wednesday, Oct. 11, that it will hold a meeting to discuss Harvey Weinsteins future membership with the group.

The planned meeting comes just days after reports broke alleging that famed Hollywood producer Weinstein sexually assaulted a number of actresses when they were in their 20s.

In a statement, the academy called the moguls behavior repugnant, and said that their Board of Governors will hold a special meeting on Oct. 14 to discuss if any actions are warranted by the academy, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Academy finds the conduct described in the allegations against Harvey Weinstein to be repugnant, abhorrent and antithetical to the high standards of the Academy and the creative community it represents, the statement on Wednesday said. The Board of Governors will be holding a special meeting on Saturday, Oct. 14, to discuss the allegations against Weinstein and any actions warranted by the Academy.

As the number of people both inside and out of Hollywood called for the academy to revoke Weinsteins membership, on Wednesday The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced that his membership in the organization had been suspended, effective immediately.

In a statement released on the BAFTA website, the academy said Weinsteins behavior was completely unacceptable.

Whilst BAFTA has previously been a beneficiary of Mr. Weinsteins support for its charitable work, it considers the reported alleged behavior completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTAs values, the statement said. This has led to Mr. Weinsteins suspension, and it will be followed by a formal process as laid out in BAFTAs constitution.

As the Hollywood Reporter points out, Weinstein has been a member of the Academy for over 20 years and has also been a major player at the Oscars. Weinsteins two companies he founded, Miramax and The Weinstein Co. have distributed five Best Picture winners: The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, Chicago, The Kings Speech, and The Artist.

Weinstein himself also won an Oscar for his production of Shakespeare in Love.

Academy CEO and newly elected president John Bailey have conveyed on the surface that they are taking the issue seriously, they have not yet decided what, if any, further action they will take against Weinstein, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

One possible reason that the Academy stopped short of kicking Weinstein out in their earlier statement is that doing so would create an expectation that they would also adjudicate the behavior of other members caught up in scandals, such as Mel Gibson, Roman Polanski, and Bill Cosby, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Members of the Academy stay for life, and the group does not make public the list of its members names, but the Hollywood Reporter independently confirmed that Mel Gibson, Roman Polanski, and Bill Cosby are all members.

From NTD.tv
Australian Mom Wrestles Shark Back into Ocean With Her Bare Hands

An Australian mother was captured on video lifting a shark with her bare hands.

Melissa Hatheier got a call from her mother who said a shark was swimming in the rock pool that she frequents, which is right beside the ocean in Cronulla, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. The shark was distressed because it couldnt escape, The Independent reported.

The police arrived but didnt know what to do, so Hatheier jumped in to see if she could help. She decided to catch the shark in the shallows so she could get ahold of it. She pressed on its fins so she wouldnt get bitten. She lifted it up and turned it over on its back so that it wouldnt move. Then she tossed it back into the freedom of the sea.

So I came down, there was a bit of a crew down here, and had a look and he was a little Port Jackson and was doing laps of the pool and I said, you know Im going to go in and check him out, Hatheier told news.com.au. She isnt sure if the shark was indeed a Port Jackson or another type.

The video was posted to the Facebook page of Cronulla Real Estate, the company Hatheier works for when not wrestling sharks. It received 316,000 views and made Hatheier a social media star. Hatheiers daughter, Shannon, filmed the encounter while her other daughter, Lani, observed. Her son, Nathan, was also there, but he left earlier.

He wasnt that heavy but his skin was very rough, like sandpaper, said Hatheier, describing the shark to The Leader. I just threw him over the edge of the pool into the water and watched him swim away.

The shark was an infant that she said was about three-feet long. Hatheier mentioned that she wouldnt have tried to lift a fully grown shark. She didnt really see the incident as a big deal.

I was just trying to catch a little shark, she said. If it had big teeth I wouldnt have done it.

Port Jackson Shark:

the coolest teeth ever (that's the bone)

eats things like sea urchins

a baby

spine said to be poison??

SO CUTE pic.twitter.com/prWy47ROFC  ?Sharky @ School? (@CBJiminnie) August 29, 2017

From NTD.tv
Autopsy Performed on Vegas Gunmans Brain: Report

An autopsy was performed on Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddocks brain, said Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo as officials are trying to piece together why he went on a shooting rampage that left 58 people dead.

Lombardo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the autopsy revealed no abnormalities in his brain as of Tuesday. Last week, there were theories that he suffered from a brain tumor or another type of disorder, leading to mental instability before the shooting.

Paddocks toxicology test results have not been returned yet, Lombardo said. The tests would show if he was on alcohol or drugs when he died, which took place right after the shooting.

Days after the shooting, officials said they believed that he might have suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness as they havent been able to determine a motive.

Kevin McMahill, of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, was quoted by ABC News as saying: We thought we might find some ideology, some economic or political or social reason. Some medical reason. But we havent found it yet.

McMahill said they havent ruled out a possibility that he launched the single largest mass shooting in U.S. history simply because he could.

He said, Thats certainly a possibility but its one of those possibilities you really cant wrap your mind around. I dont know if I can accept that.

Eric Paddock, the shooters younger brother, told The Washington Post that he wasnt aware of any mental illness.

Something broke in his head is the only thing possible. Did he have a stroke? he asked the paper. Im hoping they cut open his brain and find something. Theres a data point missing.

His girlfriend, Marilou Danley, also told officials that she had no concerns about his mental health before the attack.

In 1966, when lone gunman Charles Whitman shot and killed 17 people at the University of Texas, officials noted that he had a small brain tumor. But some doctors concluded that the tumor wouldnt have an effect on his actions. Whitmans case has been invoked in the press after Paddocks rampage, with some noting their similarities.

Meanwhile, there has been criticism levied against the Las Vegas Police Departments response time.

Lombardo said that police officials were not trying to cover anything up a day after revising the timeline for the shooting, Reuters reported on Oct. 11.

No matter what that timeline was, the response was as quick as possible. I dont think the response could have been any faster, Lombardo said in a video posted on the stations LasVegasNow.com website.

Lombardo on Monday said Paddock shot hotel security guard Jesus Campos, who was checking on an open-door fire alarm on the same floor, six minutes before beginning to fire on the crowd.

Officials initially said Paddock, who had placed hidden cameras outside the room to monitor activity, first fired into the concert and then stopped shooting after strafing the hotel hallway through the doorway of his room when Campos was apparently detected by the gunman.

Our picture of the suspect is getting a little bit brighter, he said. I think we will have a pretty good assessment of the reasons why, but it is going to take time.

Reuters contributed to this report.
The skyline of the central business district in Beijing on Dec. 2, 2015. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Beijing on High Alert as Major Party Congress Nears

With just days left until the 19th National Congress convenes in Beijing to unveil the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)s next generation of ruling elite, the city is on high-security alert.

Before the congress on Oct. 18, all 300-plus members of the Central Committee, which is comprised of the Partys top officials, are required to attend plenary sessions at the Jingxi Hotel.

This hotel is not open to the public. Run by the military, it is a venue for high-level CCP meetings. Hong Kong media reported that the hotel is currently closely guarded, with metal detectors placed at nearby areas.

Meanwhile, armed police are patrolling highly trafficked public spaces, like public squares, main streets, bus stops, and the airport. One Internet user posted on Weibo, Chinas equivalent to Twitter, a photo of military guards accompanying people on the elevator at the Chaoyangmen subway station.

Supermarkets have also stopped selling knives. They are already off the shelves at many stores. One Internet user posted a video of staff at a Beijing supermarket removing scissors and razors too.

Many aspects of everyday life are being interrupted. Beginning on Oct. 12, package delivery into Beijing has ceased.

Reuters reported that when searching on Airbnb, it found properties in Beijing are not available through Oct. 31.

At the citys gas stations, people are not allowed to buy gasoline in gas cans, Radio Free Asia reported. Residents must report to the police station to confirm their purchase, and can only get limited amounts.

In recent weeks, Chinese authorities have also been on high alert in Xinjiang, a region where ethnic tensions have escalated into violence in the past. They have also heightened censorship on the Internet and arrested citizens petitioning for their grievances. According to some petitioners, as many as 500 are being detained at a black jail in Jiujingzhuang, Beijing.
Britain has urged the United States to extend the Iran nuclear deal, with Prime Minister Theresa May saying it is vitally important for regional security.

Mays office said she and President Donald Trump spoke yesterday and both sides agreed their teams would remain in contact ahead of Trumps decision on the pact.

Trump has threatened to scrap the agreement, calling it the worst deal ever. He must recertify the measure by Oct. 15 because of unilateral conditions set by Congress.

In a rare case of the U.K. publicly pressuring the U.S., the British government said yesterday that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had called Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to underscore British support for the deal.

Johnson said the agreement  under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions  was the culmination of 13 years of painstaking diplomacy and has increased security, both in the region and in the UK. It is these security implications that we continue to encourage the U.S. to consider.

The Foreign Office said Johnson also spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and will meet Ali Akhbar Salehi, Irans vice president and head of its nuclear agency, in London .

China, France, Russia, Germany, Britain and the European Union ratified the deal.
An MQ-9 Reaper takes off Aug. 8, 2007, at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nev. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

British White Widow Jihadi Killed by US Drone

A British jihadi who became one of the most wanted terrorists has been killed in a drone strike in Syria, the Sun newspaper reported on Thursday, Oct. 12.

Dubbed the white widow after her husband, also an ISIS terrorist, was killed in 2015, Sally Jones was a key online recruiter for ISIS.

Fifty-year-old Jones was killed in June by a U.S. drone strike close to the border with Iraq, according to the Sun, which quoted a British intelligence source.

Jones, a former punk rocker, travelled to Syria from her home in Kent in 2013, taking her then 11-year-old son with her, to marry an ISIS terrorist she had met online.

CIA officials told their British counterparts that a U.S. Air Force Predator killed Jones, according to the Sun.

The Home Office source is quoted as saying, The Americans zapped her trying to get away from Raqqa. Quite frankly, its good riddance.

Jones has used her sonwho has previously appeared in an ISIS execution videoas a human shield in the past, prompting speculation that he may have been killed in the drone strike.

According to the newspaper report, the source said that her son, Joe Dixon, had not been specifically targeted by the missile strike, as he would not have been regarded as a combatant.

The report does not say whether he was with her at the time of the strike.

Jones used social media to try to recruit for ISIS and spread messages of hatred, with more than 20 different handles on Twitter, according to the Guardian, but her online activity stopped in recent months.

According to the Sun, Jones was last seen fleeing from Raqqa, heading for a town on the border with Iraq.

Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, told the Guardian, I do not have any information that would substantiate that report but that could change and we are looking into this.

Maj. Gen. Chip Chapman, the former head of counterterrorism at the Ministry of Defense, told Press Association that under the U.N. Charter, Joness son was too young to be classified as a soldier.

Even if he got up to really bad things, he shouldnt have been targeted, he said.
The Sears store in St. Eustache, Que., on July 21, 2017. (The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz)

Canada in Brief, Oct. 12-18

Trudeau criticized for reaction to critics of Energy East demise

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should not go after critics of the cancelled Energy East pipeline project, but should look to his own actions.

Scheer spoke in Edmonton about Trudeaus recent social media comments accusing those critics of using the projects demise to stoke national divisions. Scheer said the issue does not stoke divisions because all of Canada would have benefited from the project.

Last week, TransCanada said it was shelving the pipeline project because of a change Trudeaus government made to the regulatory review.

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said Trudeaus comments are a desperate attempt to deflect away from the actual issue at hand, which is the federal governments responsibility for the cancellation of the Energy East pipeline.

Sears Canada seeks court approval to liquidate all remaining stores

Sears Canada Inc. is applying for court approval to liquidate all of its remaining stores and assets after failing to find a buyer that would allow it to continue as a going concern.

The court overseeing Sears Canadas operations is expected to hear a motion Oct. 13 seeking approval for the liquidation and winding down of the business.

The company wants to start the liquidation sales no later than Oct. 19 and expects them to continue for 10 to 14 weeks.

The company deeply regrets this pending outcome and the resulting loss of jobs and store closures, Sears Canada said in a statement.

IMF report warns of Canadas high debt levels

The International Monetary Fund warns in a new report about Canadas high debt levels and higher-than-average pressure on Canadian households ability to pay down that debt.

The IMF says in its Global Financial Stability report that these dynamics in Canadas private non-financial sector leaves its economy more sensitive to tighter financial conditions and weaker economic activity.

Canada was named along with Australia, Brazil, China, and Korea as countries where the debt-service ratio has risen to high levels.

The IMF also says there was a particularly strong need in these economies for financial sector policy to guard against letting these imbalances grow any further.

With files from The Canadian Press
Congressman Explains Case Around Democrats and Awan Brothers

A criminal case around a Pakistani information technology worker tied to former Democratic Party leader, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), is expanding into a case of corruption that may involve Democrat officials, fraud, and blackmail, and other potential crimes.

During an Oct. 10 meeting between experts on the case and four congressional House members, which was live streamed, Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) explained some of the history of the case, noting that some parts still dont fit together. The problem is a proper investigation into the series of events doesnt seem to be taking place, he said. I think many Americans feel the same way.

In 2016, the Inspector General of the House (OIG) tracked the network usage of the information technology worker, Imran Awan, and his associates, and found that a massive amount of data was flowing from the networks, Perry said.

Over 5,700 logins by the five Awan associates were discovered on a single server within the House, said Perry, and that server belonged to then-Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra, who is now attorney general in California.

Of those logins, Perry said, 5,400 appear unauthorized.

He cited reports saying that Attorney General Becerras server was actually housing the entirety of the servers of all the member offices that employed Amran or his associates. All of it. The entirety.

Perry added, Its a clear violation of House policy.

This would also mean, he notes, that up to 40 or more members of Congress had all of their data moved out of their office server or out of their cloud storage system and onto the Bacerra server without their knowledge or consent.

The Daily Caller reported in September that Congressional technology aides feared that someone was using the data on Congressmembers for blackmail. It quoted Pat Sowers, who has managed IT for several House offices for 12 years, stating, I dont know what they have, but they have something on someone. Its been months at this point, and there had not yet been any arrests.

In late September and early October of 2016, the House OIG reported its findings to the Speakers office, to Democratic leadership, to the Committee on House Administration, and to the House Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police.

The Capitol Police then began a criminal investigation into Imran Awan and his associates. Perry said Capitol Police required Awan to provide them with a copy of the Bacerra server, and determined he provided them with a falsified image, likely with deliberate attempt to conceal the activities that they knew were against House policy and the law.

These facts, standing alone, indicate a substantial security threatat the leastbut the events dont end there, Perry said.

Then the case got even more strange.

At midnight on April 6, a laptop and bag were found in a phone booth in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, and Capitol Police found its contents were linked to Awan and other U.S. officials.

Perry cited the police report, stating the bag contained a Pakistani ID card with the name Mohammad Ashraf Awan, a copy of a drivers license with the name Imran Awan, and a copy of the front and back of Awans Congressional ID card.

The Apple laptop, meanwhile, had the homescreen initials of Rep DWS, which led some to believe it was tied to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. A video was released in May of Wasserman Schultz threatening the Chief of Police that there would be consequences if he didnt hand over the laptop.

Perry noted that despite the threat of consequences to the police chief, the police did not return the equipment and the police continued their investigation of the computer. He added that Rep. Wasserman Schultz has hired an attorney to represent her interests in the matter.

In addition to the laptop and the ID information, the recovered bag also contained, according to Perry, handwritten notes saying Attorney Klein privilege and possibly discussing case details, as well as loose letters addressed to the U.S. Attorney of DC, the District of Columbia, discussing the apparent owner of the bag being investigated.

Perry noted that the bag was recovered after Awan was banned from accessing the House information technology network, but not before he was ultimately fired from Rep. Wasserman Schultz.

Capitol Police, he notes, banned Imran Awan and his associates from the network on Feb. 2, and when the investigation started, Wasserman Schultz then fired Irwan on July 25 after learning about his arrest.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) noted during the Oct. 10 hearing that Imran Awan is now under indictment for a bank fraud case, but noted he and his associates are concerned that other crimes may have been committed.

Imran Awan and his wife Hina Alvi Awan were indicted on Aug. 17 on four counts that are largely unrelated to the information technology scandal. Their charges include bank fraud for trying to obtain home equity loans and transferring the money to Pakistan.
A man carries a European Union flag outside the Supreme Court in Parliament Square ahead of the ruling on whether Parliament have the power to begin the Brexit process in London on Jan. 24, 2017. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

European Court Could Veto Brexit Deal

The European Court of Justice has the power to veto the deal currently being negotiated between the UK and the EU, an expert warned on Wednesday.

Sir Konrad Schiemann was the British representative at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) until 2012. He told a parliamentary Brexit committee that even if both sides agree to a deal, it is subject to a legal challenge by the European court.

Schiemann was giving evidence to a cross-party committee of MPs that was picking over the complex legal implications and details of the Brexit Billthe UKs legal blueprint for leaving the EU.

He said that the ECJ may judge that it should be granted a continuing role in policing any agreement between the EU and the UK.

The future role of the courta hated symbol of EU overreach to many detractorshas become more of an issue in recent months as talk of a transitional deal has grown.

The government has said the ECJ would probably maintain some authority over the UK in the event of a transitional deal, which is looking more likely as negotiations with the EU appear mired in the slow-lane.

The EUs chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, on Thursday said that talks had hit a deadlock over how much the U.K. should pay upon leaving.

The EUs current stance is that negotiations over the future relationship between the UK and EU cannot be initiated until a financial settlement has been thrashed out.

I am not able in the current circumstances to propose next week to the European Council that we should start discussions on the future relationship, Barnier said, talking to reporters after the 5th round of Brexit talks in Brussels. He said he hoped for decisive progress before the December summit of the European Council.

The UKs Brexit Secretary David Davis urged EU leaders tobuild on the spirit of cooperation we now have and give Barnier a mandate to start trade talks.

Barnier said that there were two other issues where the EU could not make concessions: citizens rights and the Northern Ireland border with the UK

Barner said that progress had been made on the Northern Ireland border.

Asked about the possibility of the UK crashing out with no deal, Barner said that the EU was ready for any eventuality, but added: No deal will be a very bad deal.

Earlier this week European Council President Donald Tusk suggest that post-Brexit trade talks would most likely not start until December at the earliest.
Falun Gong practitioners at a demonstration near the Chinese consulate in New York City on May 12, 2017. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Falun Gong Practitioners in China and Abroad Face Police Pressure Ahead of Major Party Congress

Whenever a major political event is about to take place in China, the regime wants to project an image of stability and peace. Any possibility of protest or disagreement with the authorities is quashed, often by silencing and intimidating dissident groups.

Even outside China, the pressure can be felt.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a traditional self-improvement practice based on the core principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Its benefits to physical and mental health led to its popularity, with more than 70 million adherents in China by 1999, according to a state survey. Practitioners say their numbers reached more than 100 million.

The Chinese regime perceived Falun Gongs presence as a threat to its authoritarian rule and began a campaign to eradicate the practice in July 1999. Since then, millions have been subject to imprisonment, brainwashing sessions, and torture, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.

The persecution persists until today. In the days leading up to the 19th National Congresswhen the next round of party elite to rule the country will be unveiledFalun Gong practitioners within and outside China report an increase in police harassment, according to Minghui.org, a U.S.-based website that tracks the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Practitioners who have fled abroad to avoid persecution continue to get pressure through relatives and family back home. In recent weeks, police have visited their families, inquiring about the practitioners whereabouts, such as when they plan on returning to China and what theyre doing abroad.

The police will sometimes insist on having tea with the family to discuss the practitioners goings on. The tactic is used to exert emotional stress on the practitioner, in hopes of coercing him or her to give up their faith.

Ms. Lin, a practitioner from Guangzhou City who now lives in New York, said she heard from her 80-plus-year-old mother that police came to harass her, claiming that they showed up to deal with Lins residence permit.

Lin added that during other major political events, police will visit her family home, frightening her family members.

One practitioner originally from Changchun City in northeastern China who now lives in New York, said police visited her home in Chaoyang District, saying that they needed to chat before the 19th National Congress. Her husband dismissed them, but they later repeatedly telephoned the house in an attempt to get her husband to reveal information.

For practitioners who reside in China, police across the country have been knocking on their doors, pressuring them to fill out government forms or sign papers renouncing their faith, searching or taking photos of their homes, and other such monitoring activities.

About 150 practitioners have been harassed in Heilongjiang Province in far northeastern China, according to Minghui.org. Some were arrested and detained after police ransacked their homes and found Falun Gong-related books and materials.

Some practitioners in Chanji County, Xinjiang in far western China were also taken away by police after their homes were searched.

Ms. Yang, a practitioner in Zengcheng County, in Guangzhou City in southern China, told The Epoch Times security forces kept showing up at her home, even passing out search notices to residents in her building in an attempt to enlist them to turn her in.

The authorities have not given up on persecuting Falun Gong practitioners and their families, whether inside or outside China, in or out of prison.

Li Zhendi and Li Xi contributed to this report.
U.S. film producer Harvey Weinstein at the Burberry Prorsum show during the 2014 Autumn/Winter London Fashion Week in London on Feb. 17, 2014. (CARL COURT/AFP)

FBI Opens Probe Into Weinstein Amid Mounting Allegations

The FBI opened a probe into Harvey Weinstein amid mounting allegations of sexual assault over the span of three decades.

According to the Daily Mail, the move was ordered by the Department of Justice, which is run by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was appointed by President Donald Trump.

The move came amid rumors that Weinstein was planning to travel to Europe to dodge prosecution in a move similar to film director Roman Polanski who escaped to Europe after being convicted of statutory rape and continues to evade U.S. officials to this day.

Weinstein did not go to Europe and instead traveled to Arizona for sex addiction treatment at The Meadows center.

Meanwhile, the New York Police Department started an investigation of its own. Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce ordered the Special Victims Division to identify and locate and interview any potential victims of Weinstein.

Hes a super predator. His conduct shows hes been at this a long time, and hes a professional at it, a police source told New York Post.

Hes been at this so long, theres no way there are not other victims out there, the source added. Imagine how many promises hes made to these young women who were trying to make it into the industry.

The FBI and NYPD investigations come on the heels of bombshell investigative reports, first by The New York Times and then by The New Yorker, which describe decades of sexual assault allegations.

Weinstein settled lawsuits with at least eight victims over the years, the Times reported. Thirteen womens experiences were detailed in The New Yorker.

Weinstein avoided prosecution in New York in 2015 for sexually assaulting model Asia Argento. District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. on Wednesday defended the decision to drop the lawsuit saying that our sex-crimes prosecutors made the determination that this was not going to be a provable case.

Sources in the police department were outraged by Vances call at the time, but say that now the feeling is, this time they wouldnt be so quick not to charge.

Weinstein is a powerful Hollywood mogul with the power to make or break careers. He was fired from the company he co-founded after The New York Times story was published.

Weinstein is a major donor to Democratic causes and backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race. Clinton denounced Weinstein on Wednesday and said that she would donate his contributions to charity.

The mogul traveled the globe extensively to promote his films and accusations of sexual assault have surfaced in France and the United Kingdom. The FBI has field offices in both countries.

The Daily Mail tallied up 30 women who have accused Weinstein thus far.

The mogul hired top criminal defense lawyers Blair Berk and David Chesnoff.

From NTD.tv
Indonesian defendant Siti Aisyah is escorted by police personnel following her appearance at the Malaysian Chemistry Department in Petaling Jaya, outside Kuala Lumpur on October 9, 2017, as part of the ongoing trial for her alleged role in the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. (Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images)

Four More Suspects in Kim Jong Nam Assassination Named in Court

KUALA LUMPURFour suspects charged with two women accused of killing the estranged half-brother of North Koreas leader were identified for the first time in a Malaysian court on Thursday.

Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese national Doan Thi Huong were charged in March along with four unnamed others for the murder of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur international airport on Feb 13.

The four unnamed suspects were only identified as Mr. Chang, Mr. Y, James, and Hanamori also known as Grandpa or Uncle, investigating police officer Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz told the court, citing criminal investigation findings.

Wan Azirul identified Mr. Y as a man seen in a video recording played in court. The man, wearing a black cap and carrying a black backpack, was seen in the video walking into the airport with a woman who resembled Huong.

Huong and Siti Aisyah are accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam by smearing his face with liquid VX, a chemical poison banned by the United Nations.

Based on my investigation, Mr. Y was the person who applied a liquid on the second accused, Wan Azirul said, referring to Huong.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chang was seen meeting with Siti Aisyah at a restaurant at the airports third-level departure hall in a separate video screened in court, Wan Azirul said.

Hanamori had given instructions to Mr. Y, while James had recruited Siti Aisyah, Wan Azirul said, without elaborating.

He did not say whether the four suspects were North Koreans or whether they were the same four people who Malaysian police said left Kuala Lumpur for Pyongyang on the day of the killing.

Malaysia has issued an Interpol red notice, the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant, on the four who left, identified as North Koreans Ri Ji Hyon, Hong Song Hac, O Jong Gil, and Ri Jae Nam.

The trial will resume after a planned visit to the airport on Oct. 24.

Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Michael Perry
An aerial view of Glasgow Harbour development shows 350 Meadowside Quay, where residents were sent letters by the council warning about cladding safety concerns. (Screenshot via GoogleMaps)

Glasgow Tower Block Watched 24/7 Over Grenfell-Style Cladding

A Glasgow tower block is being checked by firefighters every four hours due to concerns over Grenfell-style flammable cladding.

The potential danger was only brought to light last week, four months after the fire in London that claimed 80 lives and gutted the 24-storey building.

Two tower blocks at Castlebank Drive are being monitored around the clock, after it was discovered that their cladding was made of the same material as the Grenfell tower, according to the Daily Record.

The Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 80 people in London, is thought to have spread through a specific cladding system, which acted as a wick, spreading the fire upward through the building.

After concerns were raised about the cladding, authorities scrambled to check hundreds of similar tower blocks around the country, which used aluminium composite material (ACM). The cladding was stripped from many buildings, as many samples failed to meet combustibility tests.

However, it was only last week that the local council informed hundreds of residents of the Harbour Development in Glasgow that their homes used limited ACM and that the owners of the property should seek specialist fire advice.

Contractors for the council took samples for testing last week and one resident was informed that the property has been identified as high risk, according to the Record.

The cladding in my block and one other has no fire resistance at all, the unnamed resident told the Record.

We now have two 24-hour fire wardens, four-hourly visits from fire brigade and a huge amount of parking attendants ensuring that access is clear.

According to an investigation by the BBC, the cladding used on the Grenfell Tower released 14 times more heat than regulations allow.

The cladding in the tower burned with the same energy as 51 tonnes of pinewood according to research from the University of Leeds. The plastic core of the cladding would have burned as quickly as petrol, a Dr. Roth Phylaktou, an expert in fire investigation at the university, told the BBC.

Cladding has been ripped down from towers across the country, including Plymouth, Manchester, Liverpool, and Portsmouth.

Ryhl High School in Denbighshire was closed when cladding was identified as being made by the same company who produced that used on the Grenfell block.

An independent public inquiry was launched on 15 August, one month after the Grenfell fire. The inquiry will try to establish the cause of the fire, and how it was able to spread, in addition to examining the role of fire regulations and safety standards.
The Weddell Sea polynya on Aug. 14, 2016, in an image produced by NASAs Aqua satellite. (Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory

Hole in Antarctic Sea Ice Confounds Scientists

A hole the size of Maine has formed in the ice in Antarcticas Weddell Sea, and scientists have no concrete theory as to why.

This patch of water among miles of ice appeared about a few months ago during a time when the ice is normally very thick, and because of its remote location, researchers are mostly relying on satellite imagery to study it.

The going theory on what caused it has to do with water currents and a flow of warmer water rising up and melting the ice.

The Southern Ocean is strongly stratified. A very cold but relatively fresh water layer covers a much warmer and saltier water mass, thus acting as an insulating layer, said Mojib Latif, head of the Research Division at Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.

Under certain circumstances, that warmer water can break through the insulating cooler water and melt the icea phenomena that happens regularly around coastal areas in both the Arctic and Antarctic, but normally not in the middle of the sea.

This is like opening a pressure relief valvethe ocean then releases a surplus of heat to the atmosphere for several consecutive winters until the heat reservoir is exhausted, Latif added.

The warm water cools when it reaches the air, then sinks to the bottom and reheats.

This cycle could repeat for the rest of the winter, Kent Moore, a professor of physics at the University of Toronto told CBCs As It Happens.

This is the second time in two years the opening in the icecalled a polynyahas appeared. The last time it happened was in 2016.

This years polynya is much bigger than last years, but is still much smaller than in the 1970s, when it appeared for three consecutive winters. The ones that formed 40 years ago were about five times bigger, said Torge Martin, a meteorologist and climate modeler at the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany.

Many climate scientists thought that, based on their theories of climate change, the formation of this deep-sea polynya would not form again in the Antarctic. Because there is a 40-year span between the last time this happened, theres no clear pattern for scientists to follow.

Two of these events happening two years in a row really isnt a long enough kind of trend for us to say its the result of global warming, Moore told CBC.

From NTD.tv
Hurricane Ophelia Forms, Could Pose a Threat to UK and Ireland

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Thursday that Hurricane Ophelia is now the 10th hurricane of the 2017 season.

The storm is moving to the northeast, and it has maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, the agency said. Its currently located about 700 miles southwest of the Azores islands.

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect, the agency said while adding, Interests in the eastern Azores should monitor the progress of Ophelia.

Forecasters said Ophelia isnt moving west toward the Caribbean or United States, but instead, it is moving to the northeast toward Europe. The projected path laid out by the NHC shows that the storm will get very close to the United Kingdom and Ireland on Monday and Tuesday.

The hurricane might hit the U.K. with 70 mph winds, forecasters warned, as reported by The Independent. The storm will likely not be strong enough to be categorized as a hurricane.

Ophelia became a hurricane overnight and the forecast track takes it eastward toward Iberia for the weekend, Met Office forecaster Alex Burkhill was quoted as saying by the paper.

Dramatic satellite footage shows Hurricane Ophelia set to make direct hit on UK https://t.co/CSixTCp0kf pic.twitter.com/XCCLvEe9De  Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) October 12, 2017

After that, indications are that by that point it will then have weakened and be no longer a hurricane or tropical storm, it will be extratropical. But then it will continue its way toward the British Isles, probably reaching us very early next week.

He added, Its definitely something that we are keeping an eye on, for the possibility of some disruptive weather early next week.
A report by the U.N. human rights office says attacks against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar point to a strategy to instill widespread fear and trauma and prevent them from ever returning to their homes.

The report released yesterday is based on 65 interviews conducted in mid-September with Rohingya, individually and in groups, as more the half a million people from the ethnic group fled into Bangladesh during a violent crackdown in Myanmar.

The attacks against Rohingya in Myanmars northern Rakhine state by security forces and Buddhist mobs were coordinated and systematic, with the intent of not only driving the population out of Myanmar but preventing them from returning, the report said.

Some of those interviewed said that before and during attacks, megaphones were used to announce: You do not belong here  go to Bangladesh. If you do not leave, we will torch your houses and kill you.

According to the U.N. researchers, measures against the minority group began almost a month before the Aug. 25 attacks on police posts by Muslim militants that served as a pretext for what Myanmars military called clearance operations in Rakhine.

Information we have received indicates that days and up to a month before the 25th of August, that the Myanmar security forces imposed further restrictions on access to markets, medical clinics, schools and religious sites, Karin Friedrich, who was part of the U.N. mission to Bangladesh, said at a news conference. Rohingya men aged 15 to 40 were reportedly arrested by the Myanmar police and detained without any charges, she said.

U.N. human rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein said the Myanmar governments denial of rights, including citizenship, to the Rohingya appeared to be part of a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return. He has also described the systematic attacks and widespread burning of villages as textbook ethnic cleansing.

The report said efforts were made to effectively erase signs of memorable landmarks in Rohingya areas to make the landscape unrecognizable.

Myanmars Buddhist majority denies that Rohingya Muslims are a separate ethnic group and regards them as illegal immigrants. AP
Afghanistan's Taliban militia stand with their weapons in Ahmad Aba district on the outskirts of Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, on July 18, 2017. (Faridullah Ahmadzai/AFP/Getty Images)

Husband Freed From Taliban Captivity Refuses to Board Plane to US

An American woman and her family were freed from the captivity of a Taliban-affiliated group in the Middle East but her husband refused to board a plane to the United States.

The family was still in Pakistan as of writing on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 12, as details of their departure were still being worked out, an unnamed source told Fox News.

The 32-year-old mother was seven months pregnant when she and her husband, Josh Boyle, were abducted in Afghanistan back in 2012 by the Haqqani network.

The couple and their three children, all born in captivity, were freed Thursday, Oct. 12, in a negotiated release, an official told Fox News.

The husband is refusing to board an American military plane in Pakistan that will take them home, for fear that he will be arrested, a U.S official said.

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told reporters Thursday that the family has been essentially living in a hole for 5 years.

The family was freed by a joint collaboration of U.S. intelligence and Pakistani security forces nearly five years since they were first taken as hostages, CNN reported.

The Pakistani Army said in a statement that U.S. intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and sharing intelligence with Pakistan when the family was first moved to the country. U.S. officials also confirmed there was intelligence about their location in recent days that was shared with the Pakistanis, according to CNN.

Boyles previous marriage was with the sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian man who spent 10 years at Guantanamo Bay after being captured in 2002 firefight at an al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan, Fox News reported.

Khadr was only 15 in 2002 when he tossed a grenade in a firefight that killed U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, a special forces medic.

Because of this history, one U.S. official said that Boyle was nervous about being in custody.

But other officials said there was no link between Boyles background and his capture by the Haqqani network, one official told The Associated Press in 2014 that it was a horrible coincidence.

Back in 2016, a video was released showing Boyle and Coleman begging for their governments to intervene on their behalf.

In an official statement from the White House on Oct. 12, President Donald Trump announced the release.

Yesterday, the United States government, working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan, secured the release of the Boyle-Coleman family from captivity in Pakistan, he said in the statement.

Today they are free. This is a positive moment for our countrys relationship with Pakistan. The Pakistani governments cooperation is a sign that it is honoring Americas wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region, the statement said. We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations. From NTD.tv
A truck transports a container to be loaded onto a ship at a port in Tianjin, China. October, 2017. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

Is a Free Trade Deal With China Worth It for Canada?

COMMENTARY

Rhetoric from the Trump administration has singled out China as the biggest single threat on the global stage.

U.S. President Donald Trump wants to bring back manufacturing lost mainly due to China. His former chief strategist Steve Bannon said in a Sept. 10 interview on 60 Minutes, China is at economic war with us. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer called China a threat to the world trading system.

Chinas questionable reputation in international trade circles stems from acquiring foreign technologies through forcing foreign firms into partnerships with local businesses, stealing intellectual property (IP) through spying and cybercrime, restricting foreign access and investment in Chinese markets, and not fully complying with World Trade Organization policies.

Additionally, given that China is already Canadas second-largest trading partner and with its reluctance to open its markets to foreign competition, one has to wonder: Is it really worth it for Canada to get a free trade agreement with China?

Loss of Manufacturing Jobs

A report written under the supervision of Andrew Sharpe, founder and executive director of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards, showed that the surge in Chinese importsChina shockresulted in a net loss of 105,000 Canadian manufacturing jobs from 2001 to 2011. Thats 20.7 percent of the decline in manufacturing jobs during that time.

The local labor markets that are more exposed to competition from Chinese imports also exhibit larger reductions in average wages, according to the report.

Broadly, bilateral trade between Canada and China has Canada sending natural resources in return for lower-end manufactured products.

The net impact to the economy is a fine balance between the loss of jobs versus Canadian consumers benefiting from lower prices due to Chinese imports and some Canadian businesses gaining from higher export prices.

As Canada contemplates a bilateral free trade agreement with China, its not clear how much more trade there is to be gained, says Sharpe.

It might be relatively minor because we already have significant trade with China, Sharpe said in a phone interview.

China has had a significant price advantage on manufactured goods and so weve already imported so much from China, he added.

Other Economic Concerns

Bannon is well known for taking issue with Chinas military ambitions in the South China Sea, but he also expressed his concerns about the Chinese threat to American entrepreneurship in his 60 Minutes interview.

I want China to stop appropriating our technology. China, through forced technology transfer, and through stealing our technology is cutting out the beating heart of American innovation, he said.

Theres no reason to believe Canada isnt as vulnerable if not more so than the United States regarding IP theft, which can arise in a number of ways.

Gaining market access in China means competing against state-owned enterprises, which puts Canadian companies at a significant disadvantage.

The most successful trade agreements level the playing field for the other country in terms of getting market access, said Jan De Silva, president of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, in a phone interview.

De Silva, who worked for over a decade in Hong Kong, hopes that in principle, a potential trade agreement would see all restrictions removed on Canadian businesses including them being able to bid on government contracts. But given Chinas centrally planned economy, all evidence suggests that this is unlikely under the communist regime.

An early analysis of Australias free trade agreement with China (ChAFTA) hints at these types of concerns.

One question is what impediments companies might still find when they attempt to operate in the Chinese market, said Shiro Armstrong, co-director of the Australia-Japan Research Centre at the Australian National University, in a report for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

Armstrongs report was written in Aprilalmost two years after ChAFTA came into effect. Only time will tell whether businesses are able to make the most of the agreement, he wrote.

Follow Rahul on Twitter @RV_ETBiz
Two Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighter jets fly to the Avalon Airshow in Victoria (Australian Defence Force/Handout via REUTERS)

Joint Strike Fighter Plans Stolen in Australia Cyber Attack

SYDNEY, AustraliaA hacker stole non-classified information about Australias Joint Strike Fighter program and other military hardware last year after breaching the network of a defense contractor, Australias defense industry minister said on Thursday.

About 30 gigabytes of data was stolen in the cyber attack, including details of the Joint Strike Fighter warplane and P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane, according to a presentation on the hack by a government official.

Fortunately the data that has been taken is commercial data, not military data  its not classified information, Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio.

I dont know who did it.

In a presentation to a conference in Sydney, an official from the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) intelligence agency said technical information on smart bombs, the Joint Strike Fighter, the Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and several naval vessels was stolen.

The compromise was extensive and extreme, said the official, Mitchell Clarke, in an audio recording made by a ZDNet journalist and broadcast by the ABC.

Clarke said the attacker accessed the small contractors systems for five months in 2016, and the methodical, slow and deliberate, choice of target suggested a nation-state actor could be behind the raid.

Australia has agreed to buy 72 Lockheed Martin Corp Joint Strike Fighter planes.

A spokesman for the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), a government agency, said the government would not release further details about the cyber attack.

The ACSC said in a report on Monday that it responded to 734 cyber attacks on systems of national interest for the year ended June 30, and the defense industry was a major target.

The attack on the defense contractor was carried out by a malicious cyber adversary, it said.

In 2016 the agency said it responded to 1,095 cyber attacks over an 18-month period, including an intrusion from a foreign intelligence service on the weather bureau.

By Tom Westbrook, editing by Stephen Coates
Kindergarten Teacher Goes Missing After Bailing Man Out of Jail

A kindergarten teacher in Arizona disappeared several days ago after she posted bond for a man in Flagstaff, local reports said.

Cathryn Gorospe, 44, hasnt been seen since Friday, Oct. 6, when she posted bail for Charlie Malzahn, 27, ABC15 reported.

Her roommate became concerned when she didnt come home or return her phone calls, Fox 10 reported. A missing persons report was filed two days after she left.

The Deer Valley Unified School District sent out a letter to parents alerting them about the missing teacher.

Gorospe is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair.

Malzahn was questioned by police, and he didnt have any information to tell them. Its unclear what relationship Malzahn and Gorospe had.

On Oct. 10, Malzahn attempted to buy items with her credit and debit cards. He might have been driving her SUV, according to ABC15, which said her vehicle was seen Monday in Phoenix. He was later arrested after a police pursuit.

Malzahn, once he was arrested, assaulted two officers and caused a cut above one of them while he tried to escape. He tried to wrap his handcuffs around the officers neck during the escape attempt, the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office told ABC15.

Gorospe was seen via security camera footage as she drove to the Coconino County Jail, as AZFamily reported. Gorospe planned to return home with Malzahn that night, her roommate told the news website.

IN CUSTODY:27 year-old Charlie Malzahn of Flagstaff is facing charges; sadly teacher Cathyn Gorospe still missing. Details on @FOX10Phoenix pic.twitter.com/srEplVzllA  Marcy Jones Fox 10 (@MarcyJonesFox10) October 11, 2017

On Saturday, police believe Malzahn contacted some acquaintances in Clifton to try and get some drugs and a gun.

Flagstaff Police Sgt. Cory Runge said that harm may have come to Gorospe after she went missing. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is encouraged to call 928-774-1414.

Malzhan was jailed Aug. 20 on theft and gun possession charges. A police report discovered that he was arrested in August for carjacking his sister, leading to the charges against him, AZFamily.com reported this week.

Charles then went to the back of the van and made one of [his sisters] kids sit in the front seat, according to the police report. Charles pulled out a black handgun and [his sister] stopped the vehicle and took her children out.
FILE PHOTO - Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo responds to a question during a media briefing at the Las Vegas Metro Police headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. October 3, 2017. Aaron Rouse, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Las Vegas Division, looks on at right. (Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus)

Las Vegas Police Chief Says Response to Gunman Came as Quick as Possible

Las Vegas police are getting closer to finding an explanation for why a gunman carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, the citys police chief said on Wednesday, as he defended the speed of the departments response to the massacre.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, who oversees the police department, told the Las Vegas CBS television affiliate in an interview that police officials were not trying to cover anything up a day after revising the timeline for the shooting.

The revision on Monday showed hotel security was aware of a gunman six minutes before he started firing into a crowd of more than 20,000 people, killing 58. The revised timeline raised new questions, including why gunman Stephen Paddock ceased firing on concertgoers once he began, and whether hotel security and police coordinated as well as first believed.

No matter what that timeline was, the response was as quick as possible. I dont think the response could have been any faster, Lombardo said in a video posted on the stations LasVegasNow.com website.

Paddock, 64, injured hundreds of people attending a music festival in a hail of bullets fired from the windows of his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. He then shot himself to death before police stormed his room.

Lombardo on Monday said Paddock shot a hotel security guard Jesus Campos, who was checking on an open-door fire alarm on the same floor, six minutes before beginning to fire on the crowd.

Officials initially said Paddock, who had placed hidden cameras outside the room to monitor activity, first fired into the concert and then stopped shooting after strafing the hotel hallway through the doorway of his room when Campos was apparently detected by the gunman.

Earlier police accounts also said a wounded Campos helped direct police to the room occupied by Paddock, who by then had quit firing on concertgoers. Lombardo originally said police officers reached the 32nd floor within 12 minutes of the first reports of the attack.

We will have a pretty good assessment of the reasons why, but it is going to take time, he said, adding there are going to be questions that will never be answered.

Las Vegas police officials were not immediately available for comment.

MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay, questioned the latest chronology from police, saying in a statement on Tuesday that it may not be accurate.

ABC News reported on Wednesday the gunmans girlfriend, Marilou Danley, has been put on a U.S. government watch list that will notify authorities if she attempts to leave the country on a commercial airline flight.

Danley, 62, has been called a person of interest in the case. Her lawyer said she had no inkling of Paddocks plans.

Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; editing by G Crosse
Lindhouts Mother Pleaded for Daughters Freedom During Tense Phone Calls

OTTAWAAmanda Lindhouts mother pleaded with one of her daughters alleged Somalian kidnappers to lower a $2-million ransom demand, saying her family wasnt rich and had little money to offer.

In a series of tense telephone recordings played in court on Oct. 11, Lorinda Stewart tells accused negotiator Ali Omar Ader that she simply wants to see her daughter again.

Lindhout, now 36, was a freelance journalist from Red Deer, Alta., when she and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were seized near Mogadishu in August 2008 while working on a story. Both were released in November 2009.

Ader, a 40-year-old Somali national, has pleaded not guilty to a criminal charge of hostage-taking for his alleged role.

During an August 2009 call, Stewart points out to Ader that if Lindhout and Brennan are killed, the kidnappers will receive nothing.

Ader tells her the men holding the pair want nothing less than $2 millionnot the $319,000 that was being offered at that point for their release.

Ader was arrested in Ottawa in June 2015 after RCMP lured him to Canada through a scheme promising him a book-publishing deal.

As the trial continues, witnesses from Alberta, the United States, Europe, and Australia, are expected to testify.

From The Canadian Press
Parents of Missing 3-Year-Old Texas Girl Not Cooperating With Police: Reports

The parents of a missing Texas girl have stopped cooperating with police, according to Fox News.

At 3-year-old Sherin Mathews home, police collected evidence this week, and they have searched the parents vehicles, phones, and computers. They also are looking at surveillance video from neighbors, officials said.

Wesley Mathews, the girls father, was arrested on child endangerment charges after he reported her missing Saturday, Oct. 7. He told police that he left her outside at 3 a.m. as a form of punishment for not drinking her milk, but according to local reports, he didnt call police until five hours later.

Mathews told police that he went back inside thinking that the girl would return home.

The search for missing Richardson toddler Sherin Mathews is now in its sixth day. https://t.co/kjOOKeQcOS  CBSDFW (@CBSDFW) October 12, 2017

While he was waiting he did a little laundry and hoped that the light would come around and he could do a better check, said Richardson Police Department Sgt. Kevin Perlich. He elected to call the police shortly after 8 oclock.

Hes now out of jail after posting bond and is wearing an ankle monitor, Fox reported.

NOW: A Garland man saw news of missing Sherin Mathews, decided to check storm drains. "She could be right under us," he says @FOX4 5:30/6pm pic.twitter.com/fBJjcPYFlQ  Alex Boyer (@AlexBoyerFox4) October 10, 2017

Church elder says Sherin Mathews' mother is depressed. Says he can't speak on behalf of the father, Wesley, arrested for child endangerment. pic.twitter.com/KELoc1jUS7  Allison Harris (@AllisonFox4News) October 8, 2017

The mother told officials that she was asleep when the girl went missing.

The 4-year-old daughter of the couple is in the custody of a friend of the Mathewss family.

Richardson Police return to the area where missing 3-year-old Sherin Mathews was last seen. Appear to have found something. Not sure what. pic.twitter.com/pgr0DfAnyO  Larry Collins (@LarryNBC5) October 9, 2017

Sherin, an adopted child from India, would wake up in the middle of the night, Mathews said. The family would feed the child in the day and night. The girl also suffered from developmental disabilities, making it difficult for her to communicate.

So part of the feeding thing was to build some mass and put some weight on her so it wasnt uncommon for her to have to be fed on a consistent schedule or as frequently as they could, Sgt. Perlich was quoted as saying.

According to CBS Dallas, the mother and father have hired their own lawyers.

Shes distraught over the loss of her daughter, Sherin Mathews, Kent Starr, the lawyer for the mother, told CBS. She does not know the whereabouts and all she wants is for her daughter to be returned.

The lawyer added that the girl would wake in the night to drink her milk.

Sherin did have a medical condition, and they have worked to get it under control, the lawyer said. Sherin did have an eating disorder.
Punishing Official Helps Chinese Leader Gain Control of Hong Kong

The latest Chinese Communist official to get punished could be a sign that Xi Jinping wants to clean house in Hong Kong.

On Oct. 10, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)s anti-corruption body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, announced that Li Gang has been placed on probation for a year, citing serious violations of discipline.

From 2003 to 2012, Li was deputy director of the Hong Kong Liaison Office, a branch of the Beijing authorities situated in Hong Kong, which has a separate system of government owing to the Joint Declaration negotiated between the United Kingdom and the Peoples Republic of China to set terms for the handover of Britains former colony to China in 1997.

Since then, Beijing has increasingly extended its influence into the citys political, economic, and social fabricoften through the workings of the Liaison Office. On the 20th anniversary of the handover this year, Chinas Foreign Ministry declared the Joint Declaration a historical document that no longer has any realistic meaning.

Hong Kong-based newspaper Ming Pao reported on Oct. 10 that at age 62, Li is still not yet of retirement age. The CCPs punishment is effectively a way to force him into retirement.

Why is Li the latest target? A look into his background reveals that he is part of a Party faction loyal to former CCP leader Jiang Zeminwhich is directly at war with current leader Xi Jinping.

Former Vice-Chairman Zeng Qinghong, Jiangs right-hand man, was Lis political patron.

Li emerged out of the 16th National Congress in 2002 as a budding Party official. At just 40 years oldconsidered young within the Partyhe was appointed to a top post as deputy director of the State Council Information Office, an organ of the Party in charge of propaganda and censorship.

Zeng was a member of the Politburo at the time. According to Hong Kong media reports, Zeng frequently praised Li during meetings, calling him a person with strong political thought, vigorous energy to work, and  international vision.

By the following year, he was in command of the Hong Kong Liaison Office, acting as the eyes and ears for the Jiang faction.

In the next decade, when Li was in Hong Kong, he frequently showed up in local tabloids, with reports of housing mistresses, showing off his wealth by wearing luxury brand clothing and watches, frequenting private clubs, and going on long vacations to mainland China.

Despite that, Li continued to hold administrative posts, as director of the Macau Liaison Office, deputy director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, and most recently, a post in the State Council dealing with overseas Chinese affairs.

Li was known to be close with the former Hong Kong chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, also an ally of the Jiang faction. As Xi Jinping consolidated his power, however, Leung fell out of Beijings favor.



Taking Li out indicates Xi is serious about getting rid of Jiangs influence in Hong Kong. In recent years, the Jiang faction has attempted to stir up unrest and controversy in local politics.

NTD.tv contributed to this report.
Film producer Harvey Weinstein at the 2016 amfAR New York Gala at Cipriani Wall Street in New York, Feb. 10, 2016. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Report: Police Respond to the Home of Harvey Weinsteins Daughter Over Suicide Threat

The daughter of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, accused by actresses and models of decades of sexual misconduct, called 911 on him.

She said that Weinstein was suicidal, TMZ said in a Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 11, report.

Weinstein was at his 22-year-old daughter Remys place when their argument spilled out onto the street, the report stated.

He told her: Youre making it worse before he flagged a random vehicle and begged for a ride, TMZ reported. Then, apparently, Remy was able to convince her father to go inside.

Police Called to Harvey Weinstein's Daughter's House via @TMZ https://t.co/n01i8C4dUq  Gerald Pelrine (@frenchrevtoo) October 11, 2017

The Los Angeles Police Department and a security company showed up to her home, with sources telling TMZ that she called and said her father was suicidal and depressed. When they arrived, his daughter said that it was a family dispute and Weinstein had left the house.

The website reported that hes leaving Los Angeles for a rehab center.

This week, The Weinstein Company fired co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein after reports of sexual harassment allegations surfaced against the executive.

The board of directors made the decision in light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the company said in an emailed statement, adding that he had been notified, Reuters reported.

Weinstein has produced or distributed Oscar-winning movies including Shakespeare in Love and Chicago. He was a prominent donor to the Democrats during the 2016 general election campaign.

The company also said it was conducting its own internal investigation.

Weinsteins firing from the company he co-founded is likely the final cut on his Hollywood career. Many in the industry believe his days of making movies are over.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Suspect Charged in Death of Pitt Student Alina Sheykhet

The former boyfriend of a University of Pittsburgh student who was found dead in her apartment was arrested in South Carolina, CBS News reported.

Matthew Darby, 21, was arrested in the death of Alina Sheykhet on Wednesday at 12:45 a.m. According to WXPI, an anonymous caller told Myrtle Beach police about a man acting suspiciously near a hotel.

The citizen contacted the authorities and reported the male was checking some windows at a residence, police Capt. Joey Crosby told the station. Officers responded to the scene, initiated an investigation, identified Darby, and came to know he was wanted for murder in your jurisdiction.

Darby was charged with criminal homicide. Police found a claw hammer and knives in a sewer drain near her apartment, and they believe those might have been weapons used against her.

Earlier this year, the suspect was charged with sexually assaulting another ex-girlfriend in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, located northeast of Pittsburgh. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.

On Sunday morning, 20-year-old Sheykhet was found by her father, who broke her door down after she didnt answer calls.

Officials confirmed that she died of head trauma, and homicide detectives got involved.

I lost my beautiful princess, her father told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sheykhet got a restraining order against Darby after he broke into her apartment on Sept. 20, and later, he was arrested Sept. 26 for felony criminal trespassing.

Sheykhet issued a statement in her protection order, saying her ex climbed up the gutter on the side of the house and broke through the second-floor window of my home, the paper reported.

He did this because I left him and stopped answering his phone calls, she remarked.

A protection order was granted for her.

He didnt treat her right, Curtis Hanner, Sheykhets manager, told a CBS affiliate. He cheated on her a couple of times and was really controlling and called her at work when he shouldnt have  Sometimes she picked up, but she would instantly hang up or I picked up and I instantly hung up.

Before Darby was arrested, his lawyer called on him to turn himself in.

Will the operator of the vehicle shown call Violent Crime Unit @ 412-323-7800. Pix taken at the Blvd of the Allies Sunoco at 7:42 AM Oct 8. pic.twitter.com/3r5YY7UkDD  Pittsburgh Police (@PghPolice) October 11, 2017

Matthew, if youre out there, turn yourself in, I can help you, theyre going to help you, attorney David Shrager told People magazine on Tuesday. Youre not even charged in this case, and I know youre afraid.

His parents said in a statement: Matthew, son, we have always handled things as a family. Together we can get through anything  We are pleading with you to contact your attorney.

In a statement by the University of Pittsburgh, the campus said it was saddened and extends its deepest sympathies to the students family and those who knew her.
KOREA A South Korean lawmaker says North Korean hackers stole highly classified military documents that include U.S.-South Korean wartime decapitation strike plans against the North Korean leadership. If confirmed, the reported hacking attack by the North would be a major blow for South Korea at a time when its relations with rival North Korea are at a low point.

MYANMAR A report by the U.N. human rights office says attacks against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar point to a strategy to instill widespread fear and trauma and prevent them from ever returning to their homes. More on p12

VANUATU The 11,000 residents of a Vanuatu island who were evacuated from an erupting volcano will likely need to wait at least two more weeks before they can return home, officials said yesterday.

SRI LANKA Police arrested three prominent opposition lawmakers, including the son of a former president, for leading a protest against government plans to privatize an airport that is named after the ex-strongman.

RUSSIAs domestic security agency said yesterday it detained six people in Crimea accused of involvement in an extremist organization, a move described by one of the suspects lawyer as part of Moscows crackdown on the Crimean Tatars.

ISRAEL-LEBANNON Israels defense minister says the Hezbollah militant group controls Lebanons army. Hezbollah is a member of Lebanons coalition government, and its armed wing has long been seen as more powerful than the countrys security forces.

DENMARK Danish submarine inventor Peter Madsen, suspected in the death of a Swedish journalist whose torso, decapitated head, legs and clothes were found in the sea off Copenhagen, wont talk with investigators anymore, police said yesterday.

BRAZIL A Brazilian lawmaker recommended that his colleagues vote against putting President Michel Temer on trial on charges of leading a criminal organization and obstructing justice. Temers Brazilian Democratic Movement Party is accused of receiving nearly USD190 million in bribes in exchange for political favors and influence.

MEXICO At least 13 inmates died in a prison riot in northern Mexico that authorities ended with lethal force, a state security official said. Spokesman Aldo Fasci said the riot occurred at the state prison in Cadereyta and the death toll could climb because eight people were in critical condition.
Aya Hijazi, an Egyptian-American woman detained in Egypt for nearly three years on human trafficking charges, meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washingtonon April 21, 2017. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Trump Greets American Freed From Egyptian Detention

WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump on Friday welcomed back to the United States Aya Hijazi, an Egyptian-American charity worker whose release from jail in Egypt was sought by Trump when he met Egypts president early this month.

Trump and his aides had engaged in behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to gain her freedom after attempts by the previous Obama administration failed.

She was released from jail on Tuesday after nearly three years of detention on human trafficking charges. Aides said Trump had personally requested her release in a meeting April 3 with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi but had done so privately and made no public mention of her case.

Hijazi, 30, sat next to Trump in the Oval Office for a meeting that also included Trumps daughter, Ivanka Trump, her husband, Jared Kushner, and Dina Powell, the top White House aide who accompanied her home on a U.S. military jet on Thursday. Ivanka Trump and Kushner are top advisers to the president.

We are very happy to have Aya back home and its a great honor to have her in the Oval Office, with her brother, Trump said. Hijazi was accompanied by her brother, Basel.

Hijazi, an Egyptian who holds U.S. citizenship, was acquitted by a Cairo court on Sunday along with seven others who had worked with street children.

Hijazi, 30, was flown to Joint Base Andrews, the U.S. military airfield near Washington. She founded Belady, a non-governmental organization that promotes a better life for street children.

She had been in custody for 33 months in violation of Egyptian law, which states that the maximum period for pretrial detention is 24 months.

U.S. officials had raised Hijazis case with Egypt soon after Trump took office on Jan. 20, aides said.

Pressed on how Trump managed to gain her release when President Barack Obama had not, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said he would leave it to others to look at the different strategies to see why the president was successful and Obama was not. Critics had accused the Obama administration of indifference to her case.

Since toppling President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013, Sisis government has cracked down on the opposition, killing hundreds of Brotherhood supporters and jailing thousands. The net has widened to include liberal and secular activists.

Two Republican U.S. senators, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, called on the Egyptian government to take more steps to improve human rights.

We urge the Government of Egypt to build on this important first step by releasing all those who have been wrongly imprisoned, upholding its international human rights obligations, and respecting the Egyptian peoples right to freedom of expression and rule of law, they said in a statement.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with Ivanka Trump during the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit and Gala in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 10, 2017. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Trump Hints at Bilateral Trade With Canada in Meeting With Trudeau

Fourth round of NAFTA negotiations begin in Alexandria, Virginia

WASHINGTONDonald Trump welcomed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House on Oct. 11 by hinting at the possibility of a free trade deal directly with Americas northern neighbour, should ongoing NAFTA talks collapse.

But the U.S. president also said its too early to give up on efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

Its possible we wont be able to reach a deal with one or the other, Trump said, a poker-faced Trudeau seated at his side. In the meantime, well make a deal with one, but I think we have a chance to do something very creative thats good for Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Trump was speaking from the Oval Office at the outset of the meeting with Trudeau, whose visit coincides with the start of a fourth round of NAFTA talks in nearby Alexandria, Va.

Its no secret that the president is not a fan of NAFTA, but his remarks suggest hes open to the possibility of a bilateral trade deal with Canada.

Well see what happens, we have a tough negotiation, he said.

Trudeau, meanwhile, was far less bearish on the fate of NAFTA, saying the economies of the two countries have long been closely intertwined.

We have a good partnership and theres always ways to improve it, always issues we need to talk through, he said.

The prime ministers arrival in Washington comes amid early signs of trouble in the talks, with big business groups now expressing fear the 25-year-old deal could disappear.

Earlier on Oct. 11, Trudeau held discussions with the House of Representatives influential Ways and Means committee, one of two bodies of U.S. lawmakers that are helping negotiators put forward the U.S. positions on trade.

He joined the committee to warm applause and expressions of optimism about the deal from both the committees Republican chair and the ranking Democrat member.

The committee is dedicated to making sure the negotiations are successful, said Rep. Kevin Brady, the committee chair, who asked for Trudeaus help in keeping an open mind.

We all want this agreement to be a model for future trade deals, Brady said.

The latest round of NAFTA talks kicked off with a discussion of government procurement, already a thorny subjectU.S. negotiators suggested during the last round in Ottawa that they want to limit Canadian and Mexican access to U.S. projects.

From there, discussions are scheduled to move on to developing remedies for trade disputes and the contentious subject of agriculture.

The previous night, Trudeau told Fortune magazines Most Powerful Women gala that he sees room to not only modernize the deal but to make it more progressive as well.

Putting progressive elements into trade dealslabour protections, environmental protectionsactually helps us make the case for trade and reassure people that the benefits of trade will be distributed more fairly and not just to the small number of people whove always benefited from it in the past, he said.

From The Canadian Press
U.S. Still Seeking Explanation for Arrest of Staff in Turkey

ANKARA, TurkeyThe United States is still seeking an explanation from Ankara for the detention of staff at U.S. missions in Turkey which led Washington to stop issuing visas and triggered a diplomatic crisis, the U.S. ambassador said on Wednesday.

Ambassador John Bass said the decision to suspend granting visas was not taken lightly, but the detentions indicated a breakdown in communication between the two NATO allies, whose relations have come under increasing strain.

Unfortunately the U.S. government still has not received any official communications from the Turkish government about the reasons why our local employees have been detained or arrested, he told reporters at the U.S. embassy in Ankara.

Washington says two locally employed staff were arrested in Turkey this year. In May, a translator at the consulate in the southern province of Adana was arrested and last week a Drug Enforcement Administration worker was detained in Istanbul.

President Tayyip Erdogans spokesman said last week the Istanbul employee, Metin Topuz, had been in contact with a leading suspect in last years failed military coup. Turkish media reported similar accusations against the translator.

The notion that people in our employment are facing or are under suspicion of terrorism charges here, that is a very serious allegation, Bass said. It is one we want to take seriously and we want to better understand the ostensible evidence that supports these allegations.

Since the failed military coup in July last year, in which at least 240 people were killed, more than 50,000 people have been detained and 150,000, including teachers, academics, soldiers and journalists, have been suspended from work.

Some Western allies fear the crackdown shows the country is slipping ever deeper into authoritarian rule under Erdogan.

Ankara says its critics fail to understand the scale of the security challenges in Turkey, which has also faced conflict on its southern borders with Iraq and Syria, and an insurgency in its mainly Kurdish southeast.

Envoy targeted

Erdogan has blamed Bass for the latest dispute, suggesting he acted unilaterally in suspending visa services and declaring that his government no longer considered Bass to be Washingtons envoy and would not hold meetings with him.

The U.S. State Department denied Bass acted alone, saying his actions were coordinated with officials in Washington.

In a sign that Ankara was stepping back from the pledge to exclude Bass, Turkish television channels reported that he met a foreign ministry official later on Wednesday. The ambassador is due to leave Turkey within days to take up a post in Afghanistan.

U.S.-Turkish tensions have risen in recent months over U.S. military support for Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria, considered by Ankara to be an extension of the banned PKK which has waged an insurgency for three decades in southeast Turkey.

Turkey has also pressed, so far in vain, for the United States to extradite Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan who is viewed in Ankara as the mastermind behind the failed coup.

Another source of friction was the U.S. indictment of Turkeys former economy minister Zafer Caglayan for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran. A U.S. court also indicted 15 of Erdogans guards after they clashed with protesters during his visit to Washington in May.

In addition to the two detained consulate workers, Turkey is holding a U.S. pastor on charges which Turkish media say include membership of Gulens network. Bass called for the release of the Christian missionary, Andrew Brunson, saying he had seen nothing of merit in the charges against him.

He denied reports that Turkish police were trying to speak to another consulate employee. To the best of our knowledge there are not any outstanding requests from Turkish law enforcement officials for any of our local staff to come in and talk to them, he said.

Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Gulsen Solaker

Writing by Daren Butler, editing by Dominic Evans and Hugh Lawson
People sit beside the sea as they enjoy the fine weather on the beach in Lyme Regis in Dorset, England. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

UK Set for Highs of 23C This Weekend

A spate of warmer-than-normal weather is set to grace parts of the UK this weekend, with Sunday, Oct. 15, looking to be the peak of the balmy weather.

The mild spell is thanks to an air current moving north, pushing up warm air from the Mediterranean to the UK.

The Spanish plume is set to bring in temperatures between 20C and 23C in the South and the South East, depending on the levels of sunshine. It is 5 to 6 degrees higher than normal for this time of year.

Well get a diluted version of Spanish weather, said Steven Keates, a spokesman from the Met Office.

Its pretty good going for this time of year, he said.

Saturday or Sunday evening would be best days for a BBQ, although the sunshine could be variable.

He added, Normal maximum temperatures for this time of year are 14C to 15C in the South and around 11 degrees in the North.

In the run up to the Indian Summer the forecast is more typical of British autumn weather.

Thursday looks to be 15C to 17C in the South or 14C to 15C in the North, Keates said. On Friday, the temperature is expected to climb to the high teens.

Tropical Storm Ophelia

As Tropical Storm Ophelia heads toward the UK, theres a chance that it might get wet and windy early next week.

A cold front will inevitably cross us next week, said Keates.

#Ophelia will intensify in an environment of low shear & high sea surface temperatures during the next 24hours & reach hurricane CAT1 status pic.twitter.com/Wb3mGngQ9m  Weather Co Europe (@WeatherCoEurope) October 11, 2017

It is expected to strengthen into a hurricane in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean by Thursday, possibly affecting parts of the Azores this weekend, per weather.com. It then looks to be heading toward the UKs west coast.

The storm is expected to hit the the western coast of Portugal by 8pm on Sunday.

If it becomes a hurricane, it would be the 10th consecutively named storm to develop into a hurricane.

It comes not long after hurricane Nate killed 25 people in Central America and thousands were forced to evacuate their homes.
USS Chafee, a US Navy destroyer sails about 150 miles (241 km) north of the island of Oahu, Hawaii on July 18, 2012. The Chafee recently conducted a freedom-of-navigation exercise challenging the Chinese regimes expansive claims to international waters in the South China Sea. (REUTERS/Hugh Gentry)

US Warship Challenges Chinas Claims in South China Sea

U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Chafee, challenged the Chinese regimes expansive claims in the South China Sea on Tuesday with a freedom-of-navigation exercise that saw it sail near islands Beijing claims as its own.

The Chinese regime dispatched a frigate, two J-11B fighters, and one helicopter and claimed through state run media to have driven the destroyer off.

The U.S. Pacific Command did not respond to questions about the exercise or that claim by publication time.

China warned & expelled US destroyer USS Chafee, which entered the water of China's Xisha Islands in #SouthChinaSea without authorization:FM pic.twitter.com/Rj7bOWQ8Hi  Global Times (@globaltimesnews) October 11, 2017

Chinas foreign ministry said the operation violated Chinas sovereignty and interests during a press conference on Wednesday.

Chinas expansive claims in the South China Sea have seen it violate international agreements and conventions on freedom of navigation and territorial waters. The U.S. has promised to continue exercises that pushback against those claims.

In an Oct. 5 memo to defense department staff, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis outlined the overarching priorities and direction for the department, singling out Russia, North Korea, ISIS, and China as challenges that had to be faced.

China is a long-term strategic competitor that seeks to intimidate its neighbors while escalating tensions in the South China Sea, wrote Mattis.

While the USS Chafee sailed near islands claimed by China, it came close, but did not go within 12 nautical miles of them. Twelve nautical miles is the internationally recognized territorial limit a nation can claim off its shoreline.

In August, the USS John S. McCain destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island the Chinese regime had built in the South China Sea. Sailing within 12 nautical miles signaled that the United States does not recognize that claim.

Meanwhile, U.S. Pacific Command has been carrying out continual exercises in the Pacific in an effort to maintain combat readiness and expand operational integration with U.S. allies.

The U.S. Air Force, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, and South Korean air force carried out training exercises in the Sea of Japan on Tuesday.

Those exercises saw two B-1B Lancers take off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam conduct the first combined nighttime training mission with Japanese and South Korean fighters.

Flying and training at night with our allies in a safe, effective manner is an important capability shared between the U.S., Japan and [South] Korea, and hones the tactical prowess of each nations aviators, said U.S. Air Force Maj. Patrick Applegate in a statement.

This is a clear demonstration of our ability to conduct seamless operations with all of our allies anytime, anywhere.
Xinjiang on Lockdown Ahead of Chinas 19th National Congress

Knives require ID stamp or will be confiscated

Ahead of Chinas important leadership conclave, the 19th National Congress, Xinjiang is on lockdown.

The region, located in the northwestern reaches of the country and composed mostly of ethnic minorities, has long been the subject of suppression by Chinese authorities. In recent years, ethnic violence between Uyghurs and Han Chinese has been met with harsh police tactics. Ahead of a major political meeting in Beijing when the next generation of party elite to rule the country will be unveiled, the authorities are not backing down.

Residents in Makit County, Kashgar Prefecture, and Aksu Prefecture recently told Radio Free Asia that local police authorities are mandating that people get their identification information printed via a QR code on sharp tools they own, including kitchen knives, axes, pocket knives, and shovels. Those who dont comply will have their sharp tools confiscated, police said.

Residents in Hotunsumul County, Bayingholin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture are also required to register their names and national ID card numbers when purchasing kitchen knives.

Other minority autonomous regionsareas mostly inhabited by ethnic minoritieshave banned the sales of knives in stores altogether last week.

On the popular shopping website Taobao, knives marked for shipping destinations in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia are also being denied.

Severe policies extend beyond the use of household tools.

The Chinese version of Radio Free Asia reported on Oct. 10 that a man of Kazakh ethnicity was arrested and sentenced to one-year imprisonment for buying two telephone cards under the same ID card. In Xinjiang, each person is only entitled to buying one.



Such iron-fisted rule of Xinjiang is why locals say protests and unrest have continued to erupt. Hundreds have perished in these conflicts.
Watertown talent teaches basics in creating artisan bread and charcuterie

Those interested in exploring their culinary side learned the basics of making fresh artisan bread and a guest-pleasing charcuterie board this weekend.
Thales SA, whose products range from aerospace to defence, security and transportation, is opening an artificial intelligence centre Montreal and will hire 50 people for the new facility.

The new hub, called the Centre of Research and Technology in Artificial Intelligence eXpertise (cortAIx), will focus on creating solutions for airlines, satellite operators, air traffic controllers, rail operators, armed forces and critical infrastructure managers, Thales said in a statement.

Thales will be committing about $25 million to the centre over the next four to five years, Philippe Keryer, the companys executive vice-president, strategy, research and technology, said in an interview after a press conference in Montreal. The company chose Montreal due to the wealth of scientists, PhD candidates and universities working in AI. Labor costs in the city are also about 30 per cent lower than in the U.S. and government subsidies makes the city an attractive investment, according to Keryer.

Canada is becoming a destination for foreign companies working in AI. San Francisco-based Uber Technologies Inc. set up shop in Toronto earlier this year to help improve its autonomous vehicle software, while Alphabet Inc.s Google also has an AI presence in Toronto and Montreal. Facebook Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. have also opened AI research labs in the Montreal, Canadas second-most populous city.

AI is a national priority in Canada, Keryer said. The new centre will be working with the Google-backed Vector Institute of Toronto, the Artificial Intelligence Institute of Quebec and the Institute of Data Valorization.

Thales Montreal facility will also focus on automated trains, an area of interest for Germanys Deutsche Bahn and Frances SNCF, which are both looking for autonomous train solutions by 2022 or 2023, said Keryer.

Automated trains are not a myth, Keryer said. Its a project, a road map, a reality.

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Foodies beware: the tiny brown seeds used to make high-end Dijon mustard are in short supply and getting more expensive.

Canada, the worlds biggest grower, has been ravaged by drought in its southern Prairie provinces, cutting the harvest of all mustard-crop varieties by half to the smallest in 11 years. Among the hardest hit are brown mustard seeds, boosting the ingredient cost of the spicy condiment favoured by chefs as well as shoppers of brands like Grey Poupon or Maille Dijon Originale.

While Americans eat a lot more yellow mustard on ballpark hotdogs or mixed into salad dressings, European countries are big consumers of the brown variety. Tighter supplies of seeds from Canada  also the worlds biggest mustard-seed exporter  could hurt food makers in the U.S., the top buyer, as well as major importers including Belgium, France, Japan and Senegal.

There is no substitute for brown mustard in making Dijon, said Walter Dyck, manager of the mustard seed division at Pleasant Prairie, Wisc.-based Olds Products Co., which has been making mustard for over a century and is the second-largest manufacturer in North America. The price  it can move higher quite quickly when supplies are tight, Dyck said by telephone from Lethbridge, Alta. Everybody that needs it has to have it.

Read more: Can ketchup follow in the gentrified trail of mustard?

Some southern parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta got less than 60 per cent of normal rainfall since the start of the growing season, according to the nations agriculture ministry. Farmers  including those in neighbouring North Dakota in the U.S.  endured a very dry and very hot growing season that led to a significant decline in crop yields after the harvest began in August, Olds Products said in a Sept. 20 report.

Production of all varieties of Canadian mustard seed tumbled to 114,900 metric tons this season from 235,600 tons in 2016, according to estimates by Statistics Canada, a government agency. The weather also reduced output of bigger crops including wheat and barley.

Mustard is in shorter supply, said Kevin Hursh, who planted 120 hectares on his farm in Cabri, Sask. The farm got less than 75 millimetres of rain since April 1, and yields shrank by more than 10 per cent from a year earlier, said Hursh, who is executive director of the Saskatoon-based Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission.

Already, the price of brown-mustard seed has risen by a third to 39 cents a pound, up from 29 cents a year earlier and the highest since 2015, according to data collected by Stat Communications Ltd.

Prices could still go higher. Planting of all mustard varieties fell about 28 per cent to 154,000 hectares this year from 2016, Statistics Canada data show. The bulk of the crop is the more common yellow mustard, while the rest are mostly brown and oriental seeds.

Canada exported about $124 million of all mustard seeds last year, according to the government. Most of the shipments to the U.S. are yellow mustard while European buyers import mostly the brown seeds. Between August 2016 and July 2017, Canada shipped 6,900 tons of mustard to Belgium, up 15 per cent from a year earlier, Canadian Grain Commission data show.

Exports are already outpacing last year. Canada shipped 2,900 tons of seed between August and Oct. 1, up 16 per cent from a year earlier, according to the latest available government data.

European food makers probably will be looking for some additional supplies outside of Canada if they expect seed inventories will get tighter, Dyck said.

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NEW YORKShopify Inc. chief executive officer Tobi Lutke called a short seller that targeted his company a troll, in his first public response since being targeted by Andrew Lefts Citron Research last week.

Left, who said he had taken a short position in the stock, published a report on Oct. 4 questioning the sustainability of the Canadian e-commerce companys growth rate and calling its marketing tactics illegal. Though Wall Street analysts overwhelmingly stood by Shopify and rejected Lefts claims, the companys shares fell 12 per cent, its biggest one-day decline since listing in May 2015.

Lots of people want me to address the short-selling troll thats targeting Shopify, Lutke tweeted Tuesday. Looking forward to next earnings calls to do so.

Read more:

Shopify shares slide after company called get-rich-quick scheme

Ottawa-based Shopify sees big increase in U.S. job applicants after Trumps election, CEO says

Shopify and Air Canada help lift Toronto stock index

Shopify helps small merchants set up online stores. Citrons report alleges the vast majority of them are recruited by promoters promising the website is an easy way to make money without doing much work, and that eventually, the companys growth will crumble when these merchants fail.

Left immediately responded to Lutke calling him a troll when contacted by Bloomberg, saying it shows his immaturity as a CEO.

Lutke added, The irony of an outfit like Citron accusing any business of being a get-rich-quick scheme should not be lost on anyone.

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NEW YORKAfter a suspension earlier in the day from Twitter, actress Rose McGowan forcefully re-emerged Thursday, stating more frankly what she has long suggested: HW raped me.

HW was apparently in reference to Harvey Weinstein, the embattled former Weinstein Co. co-chairman.

Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein, Weinsteins representative Sallie Hofmeister said Thursday.

McGowan last year said that she had been raped by a studio head. The New Yorker expose that ran Tuesday reported that Weinstein had allegedly sexually assaulted three women, though the third woman was unnamed. The New York Times earlier reported that Weinstein paid a financial settlement of $100,000 (U.S.) to McGowan in 1997 over an incident in a hotel room at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

The Summit County Sheriffs Office, which shares a records system with Park City Police, had no reports or calls involving Weinstein or McGowan in the past 30 years, sheriffs spokesperson Lt. Andrew Wright said.

The Times reported Weinsteins settlement with McGowan included provisions about speaking about the case in the future.

But McGowan appeared emboldened Thursday to describe more outright her past experience with Weinstein. Shortly before a series a tweets addressed to Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, McGowan tweeted a woman warrior picture with a Rosearmy hashtag and stated Its on.

I told the head of your studio that HW raped me, said McGowan in tweets directed to Bezos. Over and Over I said it. He said it hadnt been proven. I said I was the proof.

In subsequent tweets, McGowan appeared to suggest that Amazon Studios, which is overseen by Roy Price, previously dropped a project penned by McGowan after she insisted Weinstein not be involved.

Read more:

Conventional responses to Harvey Weinstein scandal just dont cut it: Timson

Harvey Weinsteins wife a victim of our judgment: Teitel

Harvey Weinstein being shunned not for wrongdoing, but for getting caught: Paradkar

In a statement Thursday, Amazon said Price is on leave following allegations of sexual harassment. His leave of absence is effective immediately.

The decision came hours after The Hollywood Reporter published a producers detailed claims of harassment by Price.

Producer Isa Hackett alleged that Price propositioned her in 2015 using crudely suggestive language.

Hackett is the daughter of author Philip K. Dick and a producer of Amazons Man in the High Castle, based on his work.

Christopher Tricarico, an attorney for Hackett, confirmed the trade papers report. In an email, he said Hackett doesnt intend to pursue legal action against Amazon or Price.

Hacketts allegations follow multiple complaints of sexual harassment and assault lodged against Weinstein.

In its statement, Amazon says its reviewing options for projects it has with the Weinstein company.

The 44-year-old McGowan has emerged as one of the most vocal in Hollywood about sexual abuse and harassment in the industry. She has pushed for the remaining board members of The Weinstein Co. to resign in the wake of the allegations against Weinstein. She also this week called Ben Affleck a liar on Twitter, suggesting the actor knew about Weinsteins conduct. (She and Affleck co-starred in 1997 Going All the Way and 1998s Phantoms.)

Representatives for Affleck did not respond to messages regarding that allegation.

Considering McGowans stature as a central figure in the Weinstein saga, Twitter sparked an outcry across social media when it temporarily suspended McGowan from its service. The ban was lifted Thursday afternoon but not before a storm of criticism from Jessica Chastain, Anthony Bourdain and many others.

Twitter said Thursday that it suspended McGowans account because she tweeted a private phone number, a practice it said violated its service terms. The company said it will be clearer about these policies and decisions in the future.

Many Twitter users expressed outrage over the locking of McGowans account. Actress Jessica Chastain asked for clarification on which rules McGowan had violated, adding, Asking for multiple victims of sexual violence.

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis wrote: And now THIS? You allow Twitter freedom to our president but you silence a woman speaking out about sexual harassment?

Jack Dorsey, Twitters chief executive, wrote that the company needed to be a lot more transparent to build trust.

After McGowans Twitter account was unlocked Thursday, she made it clear she was none too pleased with what had unfolded.

When will nuclear war violate your terms of service? she tweeted, pointing to Twitters statement about her situation.

With files from the New York Times

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NEW YORKPolice detectives in New York City and London are taking a fresh look into sexual assault allegations against Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein now that some 30 women have accused him of inappropriate conduct.

New York Police Department spokesperson Peter Donald said Thursday that investigators are reviewing police files to see if anyone else reported being assaulted or harassed by him.

So far, no filed complaints have been found, he said, other than one well-known case that prompted an investigation in 2015, but authorities are encouraging anyone with information on Weinstein to contact the department.

Read more:

Police respond to family dispute involving Harvey Weinstein, sources say

Harvey Weinsteins wife a victim of our judgment: Teitel

Ben Affleck condemns Harvey Weinstein then apologizes for acting inappropriately towards actress

London police were also looking into a claim it had received from the Merseyside force in northwest England, British media reported Thursday. Merseyside police said the allegation was made a day earlier and concerned an alleged sexual assault in the London area in the 1980s.

Some 30 women  including actresses Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow  have spoken out recently to say Weinstein had sexually harassed or sexually assaulted them. Weinstein was fired Sunday by The Weinstein Co., a studio he co-founded with his brother.

Some of the allegations involved conduct at hotels in Beverly Hills, but police there didnt return calls on whether they were investigating any possible crimes. The Los Angeles Police Department has no open investigations.

Detectives in the NYPDs special victims unit were instructed to identify and speak with any potential victims, including the women who spoke about their encounters with Weinstein in a recent New Yorker article, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

In the New Yorker expose, a former actress, Lucia Evans, said Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex in 2004 when she was a college student.

At least one other unnamed woman said she was raped by Weinstein, but the article did not disclose when it where it happened. A third woman, actress Asia Argento, told the magazine that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 1997 at a hotel in France.

Under New York law, making someone engage in oral sex by physical force or the threat of it is a first-degree criminal sexual act. Theres no legal time limit for bringing charges.

Weinstein, through a spokesperson, has denied any nonconsensual sexual conduct with any women.

The media mogul has long been a major figure at the Academy Awards, where his films have regularly won Oscars.

He reappeared briefly on Wednesday outside a Los Angeles home, telling the paparazzi hes not doing OK, but hes hoping for a second chance, according to video posted by celebrity website TMZ. He also told the photographers he needs to get help and we all make mistakes.

Delevingne says in a lengthy Instagram post that Weinstein brought up sexual subjects during more than one business meeting and also tried to get Delevingne to kiss a woman in front of him. (The Associated Press)

New York detectives already investigated Weinstein once, in 2015, when an Italian model said the studio executive grabbed her breasts and groped her. Detectives set up a sting where they recorded a conversation between the woman and Weinstein while he tried to persuade her to come into his hotel room.

Why yesterday you touch my breast? the 22-year-old asked on the recording, published by the New Yorker.

Oh, please, Im sorry, just come on in. Im used to that. Come on. Please, Weinstein responded.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said there wasnt enough evidence to prosecute the case. Vance said his offices best lawyers examined the evidence before deciding, less than two weeks after the woman first made her allegations, to drop the investigation.

I, like they, were very disturbed by the contents of the tape. Its obviously sickening, Vance said. But at the end of the day we operate in a courtroom of law, not the court of public opinion. And our sex crime prosecutors made a determination that this was not going to be a provable case, and so the decision was made not to go forward.

Police investigated that allegation as a case of forcible touching, a misdemeanour with a two-year time limit for bringing charges. The statute of limitations has since expired.

On Thursday, actress Kate Beckinsale recounted that she was 17 when Weinstein greeted her in his bathrobe. Years later, Beckinsale said, she met Weinstein again and he asked if he had tried anything at their first meeting. She said she realized he couldnt remember if he had assaulted me or not.

The actress said she rejected several offers over the years to work with Weinstein, and he would often respond with anger, profanity and threats. She called for industry changes to be made to stop allowing our young women to be sexual cannon fodder.

The Eastern branch of the Writers Guild of America pledged to take action to prevent future abuse, noting that sexual harassment and assault have long been hallmarks of the entertainment industry.

Fallout from the numerous allegations against Weinstein, 65, continued Thursday, with the leaders of the Cannes Film Festival expressing dismay at the accusations.

These actions point to a pattern of behaviour that merits only the clearest and most unequivocal condemnation, said festival president Pierre Lescure and general delegate Thierry Fremaux.

Hachette Book Group, one of the countrys top publishers, also announced it has terminated Weinstein Books.

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In one of its most ambitious showcases to date, Torontos Dance Immersion is bringing together six local companies for Movement in Time, a Canada 150 celebration that aims to highlight the depth and range of work being produced by Canadian artists of African heritage.

The title of the program, which will have two showings this Saturday only, comprises several ideas. As the most basic level, it could stand as a definition of dance itself. It also references the historical and mostly involuntary movement of peoples of African heritage to the Americas, their gradual settlement across the continent and the evolution of distinct African-American cultures.

For Vivine Scarlett, Dance Immersionss founder and executive director, the title serves spotlights the fact that Canadian dance artists of the African diaspora are part of a dynamic continuum. Thus, Movement in Time features younger and emerging artists alongside such well-established organizations as Ballet Creole and COBA (Collective of Black Artists). The program also celebrates the diversity of styles and motivations that inspire the events participants, from funky jazz dance and street dance to contemporary fusions of Afro-Caribbean and modern dance, to work steeped in African tradition.

Says Scarlett: Movement in Time speaks to who we are and what has made us as artists in Canada.

It reflects the continuity of the dance community, says Jamaican-born dancer/choreographer Kevin Ormsby, whose eight-year-old company, KasheDance, will perform excerpts from a longer work called Baraka.

All the artists in this program work from different angles and in different genres, says Ormsby. But weve all contributed to what dance is in Toronto.

Ormsby hopes Movement in Time, with its variety of dance expressions, will help dispel lingering stereotypes about Black dance.

People make all these assumptions but its much more complex. I see myself as an artist who happens to be Black, explains Ormsby, whose choreography reflects his training in ballet and modern dance in what he calls a new genealogy of Afro-contemporary dance.

In her evening-length work Ashes, choreographer Shameka Blake, founder/ director of AIM (Artists in Motion) traces a journey from the shores of Africa to the Americas. For Blake, who came to Toronto from Jamaica at age 10, its a tribute to her ancestors and their struggle for freedom and dignity, but the choreographic style in which she expresses herself has only tangential references to traditional African dance.

Blake, who graduated from George Brown Colleges Commercial Dance program, has developed a distinctive blend that draws on everything from hip hop to dancehall.

We need to explore our roots and ancestry, says Blake, who is presenting three sections of Ashes on Saturday. The closing section, appropriately, tells of the Underground Railroad that in the mid-19th century helped thousands of enslaved Blacks escape from the South to find refuge in Canada.

Lua Shayenne, a dancer, actor and choreographer who founded her own Toronto-based company six years ago, has spent extensive periods in Africa, training in and researching both traditional and contemporary forms. It has deepened her sense of the importance of legacy and the need to remember and honour ones ancestors.

For Movement in Time, Shayenne is presenting two new pieces, choreographed in traditional style. The first, a welcoming dance, is about acknowledging and connecting with the ancestors. The second is an initiation dance.

Initiation means growth and transformation, says Shayenne. Its about gratitude towards our legacy but also about moving that legacy forward.

Shayenne says shes excited to be sharing the same program with such a range of artists who, despite their different artistic directions, share a common bond.

I think all of us have been showcased by Dance Immersion at some point. Most of us have worked together one way or another, so this is going to be very much a family affair.

Movement in Time is at Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 235 Queens Quay W.; Oct. 14; harbourfrontcentre.com or 416-973-4000.

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The Art Gallery of Ontario ended a yearlong vacancy for its top curatorial position Thursday, naming British-born Julian Cox as its chief curator.

I wasnt quick out of the gate, said the AGOs CEO and director Stephan Jost, regarding the time frame within which Cox was chosen. Jost, who took over as director in the spring of 2016, intentionally put off the search for six months. Being new, I wanted to get to know the curators we had, to make sure we hired the right person, he said. We have a huge diversity of approaches at the AGO and I wanted to be sure we had the right fit.

As chief curator, Cox assumes oversight of all of the gallerys exhibitions and content. His predecessor, Stephanie Smith, left the gallery in October 2016. She had been in the position only two years.

Cox, who is coming from the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, where he has been chief curator since 2010, arrives with some exposure to the AGO and to Toronto. In the late 1990s, while at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, he co-organized photography exhibitions presented here from renowned artists Man Ray and Julia Margaret Cameron.

But Cox is quick to acknowledge that much has changed since his initial experiences here, and the social shifts in the city and country both were potent factors in his pursuing the job here.

Obviously, theres a great deal for me to learn, he said. A high priority for me will be to get involved, to talk to the right people, to get out there in the community and sensitize myself to the specifics of those discussions. Thats something that really compels me and excites me.

Recently, the AGO has been working to address some of those shifts, in 2016 appointing Wanda Nanibush its first associate curator of Canadian and Indigenous art. Then, just last week, the museum renamed its Canadian art department the Department of Canadian and Indigenous Art, to be led equally by Nanibush, who was promoted to curator of Indigenous art, and Georgiana Uhlyarik, who was elevated from associate curator to curator of Canadian art.

The move, to make an explicit equivalency between Indigenous and Canadian culture, was among the enticing elements of the position, Cox said.

That is a signal of the kind of commitment the institution has, going forward, Cox said. And obviously it will be my responsibility to really make that happen for the institution, and really support the work that the curators in that department do. And for me to learn directly from them, which is a great opportunity.

Cox, whose own expertise is in photography, has a history of working at the intersection of art and social justice. While at the High Museum in Atlanta, Cox created an exhibition of photographs from the Civil Rights movement in the United States that he described as the single most rewarding passage of my career.

At the same time, Cox arrives in a period of reinvention that has seen a high-profile departure. Andrew Hunter, the museums former top curator of Canadian art, resigned at the end of September, voicing concerns in a Toronto Star essay about the museums commitment to a diversity of voices. He specifically raised a concern that the chief curator position, not yet named by the time of his departure, would not be held by a Canadian. (Coincidentally, the Art Gallery of Guelph announced this week it had hired Hunter as its senior curator.)

His final exhibition, Every. Now. Then: Reframing Nationhood is seen as a triumph of inclusivity for its cross-cultural content and devotion to the local fabric of the city itself. Cox, who toured the exhibition with Hunter before his departure, called the show a shining example of what curators can do if theyre really attentive to their environment. They can be shapers of the culture, and the dialogue around important issues.

Cox allayed some of Hunters concerns, saying that the gallery, on his watch, would remain committed to the cultural shifts raised in Every. Now. Then. Most of the great museums in North America are put together usually through a medley of major private collections that are then put into the public sphere, and you build a narrative around them, Cox said.

Every. Now. Then is a counterpoint to that narrative  a very bold, striking counterpoint. Its something thats there to be reckoned with and to be dealt with on an ongoing basis. Its not a one-shot deal. And that will be the responsibility of the institution and its curatorial team to deliver upon going forward.

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HALIFAXA Nova Scotia woman who miscarried after contracting a serious infection and later lost a young child is urging the province to establish a day of awareness about miscarriage, still birth and infant death.

Paula Harmon said families are often forced to suffer with the painful loss of a pregnancy or young child in silence and isolation.

This is a pivotal opportunity to improve awareness around the issues related to still birth, miscarriage and infant and early child loss, she said of a private members bill introduced by Progressive Conservative MLA Tim Houston Wednesday seeking to proclaim Oct. 15 as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.

Harmon said the awareness day would honour grieving families and help break down the taboo of speaking about pregnancy loss and infant death  something she knows all too well.

She was 17 weeks pregnant with twins when she got sick.

She called her local hospital in rural Nova Scotia and said she might be miscarrying.

I was high-risk with twins and told them my symptoms, she said. The nurse told me that because I wasnt yet 20 weeks, the pregnancy wasnt viable ... Their advice was that I should take a warm bath.

Instead, Harmon called the IWK Health Centre, and was told to go immediately to the womens and childrens hospital in Halifax.

When I got there the weaker twin had already died, she said. It turned out I had the worst infection you can get when youre pregnant, listeria.

Her daughter, Grace, was born at 26 weeks, and although she survived numerous complications, she later died of an infection at age 3.

The physician later told us that when we left the hospital that night, she felt like she was throwing us to the wolves, Harmon said.

She struggled to cope with the loss of her twins and to find information and resources. Over time, she learned that almost 3,000 babies are stillborn in Canada every year, 1,800 die before their first birthday, and one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage.

I also discovered the stigma that exists for parents who lose a child and how important it is to moms and dads to validate their childs existence, to say their name and hear their name from others, Harmon said.

A similar bill was passed unanimously in Ontario in late 2015, proclaiming Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day on Oct. 15 and promising better resources, support and research on the issue.

The proposed bill has received widespread support across Nova Scotia, including 28 municipalities that have agreed to proclaim the day.

Houston said its the third time he has introduced similar legislation in a bid to recognize families mourning a death.

The bill falls short of promising new resources for bereaved families, but he said that his last two attempts to pass more sweeping bills failed.

This is a slightly different, kind of watered down version, Houston said. Were just asking for the government to show some respect and some compassion.

Health Minister Randy Delorey said that for a decade the province has recognized Oct. 15 by passing a resolution in the legislature.

I think it is important for those individuals that have been through a situation like this, that they do know that the members of the legislature ... do recognize that this important, he said.

Delorey wouldnt commit, though, to supporting the Tory bill, saying he hasnt seen it yet.

Houston is hopeful the bill could help build momentum to provide bereaved families with better support to deal with such tragic experiences.

Raylene MacPherson, who has suffered through two miscarriages, said there is a lack of adequate support for families coping with the loss of a pregnancy or infant.

The sad reality of losing a pregnancy is something many families experience, she said. These families go through many stages of grief and oftentimes they do so alone with minimal support. Instead of being sent home from the hospital with an empty heart and lots of questions, families could be guided to a place to help them heal.

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Its official. Google Street View has now gone to the ends of the Earth.

As part of a deal with Parks Canada, the internet giant is now showcasing Street View images of one of the most remote places on the planet  Quttinirpaaq National Park on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island.

We want people to care about the places that we protect, said Emma Upton, who manages the park. Bringing it into peoples homes seemed a really good idea.

It is a difficult place to reach.

That is an understatement. Only a tiny sliver at Greenlands apex reaches further north.

To reach Quttinirpaaq, you first fly to Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. Your next flight takes you to Resolute on Cornwallis Island. Then you must hire a Twin Otter to fly to the park, where there are no communities, no services, no nothing.

It takes days and thousands of dollars. Fewer than 25 souls manage it each year.

For those intrepid travellers, however, the rewards are rich.

Its a place where we can still find true solitude and we can still experience real silence, Upton said. You can hike for days and you will not see a single jet flying over you. You will hear the wind in your ears and a few birds and the water rushing.

Mountains, glaciers clinging to their sides, soar thousands of metres from icy seas. Rivers carve through rugged valleys past gentle hills.

I could read the landscape like an open book, Upton said.

Wildlife includes herds of muskox, Arctic fox, wolves and 10-kilogram Arctic hares. Gyrfalcons and owls slice the skies.

Parks Canada staff were trained in the use of Google trekker cameras and spent July 2016 carrying them around the park as part of their regular work, Upton said.

The camera itself is a very sturdy piece of equipment. It can be mounted on Ski-Doos, ATVs, on boats. In the case of a lot of our visits to national parks, it was actually a person carrying the Google trekker on their back.

Parks Canada is trying to make Quttinirpaaq a little more accessible. Once a year, the agency charters a Twin Otter from Resolute and sells eight or nine return seats to the public, price available upon request. Or you could volunteer to cook for park staff.

Most people will have to rely on a high-definition monitor for the view and their imagination for the light, the wind, the silence.

Its quite special to me that we still have places in the world that we can have that, Upton said.

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An Orangeville man had his drug charges stayed after police claimed they couldnt find him for nine months when he was already in jail over other matters.

Prior to his time in custody, police also could have arrested him at the address he gave to them earlier in their investigation but they never checked there, court documents show.

Because of this delay, Mark Nurse, 25, had to wait 22  months for a trial on three drug charges including trafficking cocaine. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled last year that provincial court trials must be completed within 18 months.

Justice Richard Schwarzl ruled last month that Nurses right to be tried within a reasonable time had been breached, saying the steps Orangeville police took to locate him were woefully hollow if not non-existent. Schwarzl stayed the charges.

In March 2015, police allegedly came across Nurse near an Orangeville scrap yard, according to the court document. When Const. Stephen Fisher approached, he said during his testimony he noticed a baggie containing a white powder near Nurses feet.

Fisher testified he told Nurse that if the powder tested positive for illegal drugs, Nurse would be charged. Nurse gave Fisher his personal information, including his current address in Ajax.

By the end of May 2015, Fisher had formed reasonable grounds to charge Nurse with three drug-related offences, Justice Schwarzl said in his ruling.

Even though Nurse had previously given Fisher his current address in Ajax, Fisher ran Nurses name in the local records system and found four addresses  three in Orangeville and one in Shelburne.

Nurse didnt live at any of them and neither Fisher nor any other officer went to the Ajax address hed provided, Schwarzl ruled. Fisher told the court he didnt follow up with the Ajax address because the local ones were more current.

On July 9, 2015, Orangeville police issued a warrant for Nurses arrest and sent out a service-wide email to all local officers about the warrant.

But on July 3, 2015, Nurse was in custody in Niagara region facing drug trafficking charges. He remained in custody until Jan. 19, 2016, when he pled guilty. He was sentenced to time served plus one day. The day he was sentenced, Toronto police laid robbery and other charges against him and brought him to Toronto. He remained in custody and eventually those charges were dropped. In all, he was in jail from July 2015 to April 2016.

No one from Orangeville Police Service checked to see if Nurse was in custody with another police service, or in jail.

(Police) appeared to be content to sit on the warrant and do nothing, Schwarzl wrote in his ruling. Had the police in this case made basic efforts, they would have readily found (Nurse) in custody and could have executed the arrest warrant literally any time after the information was sworn.

It wasnt until the day Nurse was released from Toronto custody, nine months after Orangeville police had secured a warrant, that an Orangeville police officer travelled to Toronto and arrested him.

Fisher testified that neither he, nor any other officer as far as he knows, did anything to attempt to locate the applicant (for) a period of 273 days, Schwarzl wrote. (Nurse) was in custody the entire time and was incapable of evading or avoiding execution of the Orangeville Police Service arrest warrant.

Nurse appeared in court on May 17, 2016. Schwarzl wrote the prosecutor didnt appear to know of his case and had no file or disclosure to provide. After further delays for Nurse to retain defence lawyer Mark Rieger, a pre-trial took place in September 2016. Nurse was available for all 10 of the dates offered for trial, but the Crown turned down eight.

The trial was scheduled to proceed in May 2017  22  months after Orangeville police had issued a warrant for Nurses arrest.

They had 18 months for a pretty simple case that, if it had gone to trial, would have taken a day, Rieger said.

The trial was eventually adjourned so Rieger, on behalf of Nurse, could file a charter application against the delay.

We made the decision late to file the application, but it was important, Rieger said. Somebody knew Nurse was in custody, but nobody seemed to put two and two together. A case like this really demonstrates a culture of complacency on the part of the police. Whether this translates to action, I dont know.

Orangeville police said it is working to achieve the provincial standard of completing trials within 18 months.

When asked about Nurses case, spokesperson Const. Scott Davis said in an email, We take this as a learning opportunity and continue to improve our practices in this area.

We respect the decisions of the judiciary and always accept opportunities to make changes in our practices and work in collaboration with our Crown Attorneys office.

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Those beholders  judges  last weekend chose Lauren Howe as the most beauteous of them all, from a roster of 65 belles, decorating her with sash and tiara as Miss Universe Canada 2017.

If it were purely about beauty I would not have won, honestly, Howe tells the Star.

But she is extraordinarily pretty, in a conventional way, as were all the contestants.

I do not begrudge the women their good looks. Its an asset, like a sharp brain or the ability to hit a curveball.

A few years ago, Howe fell just short of the prize, coming in as second runner-up at the same pageant.

Which did not preclude the former Miss Teen Canada from entering again.

I found myself this year saying, why not give it one more go? Its something Ive always believed in. And it ended up working out this time.

In 2017, beauty pageants are an anachronism, the utter objectification of females. But I wont belittle Howe for pursuing the title. Theres entirely too much of women slamming other women over variance of opinion and choices when no harmful consequence can quantifiably accrue from an individuals value judgments.

No skin off my nose if Howe is dandy with sashaying across a stage in a bikini.

Im very difficult to offend, the 24-year-old says, in a pre-emptive alert about where this conversation might be headed. There are stereotypes about pageants. Theres aspects of pageants that I myself sometimes have a hard time with. But Ive been on the inside of it and there is another end to the spectrum.

Howes personal spectrum of accomplishments and interests would likely surprise many. That engineering ring on her finger has been hard won. Ive had people ask me, oh, nice ring, did you buy that? No, she earned it with a degree in industrial engineering from the University of Toronto.

Regardless of pageants, Ive always faced stereotypes in my life simply because I was a white blond woman. People dont assume that I can be smart. When I say Im an engineer, people are surprised. And I want that to be different for my future daughters. Taking engineering was my point to prove I can do it, I can talk the talk, I can walk the walk. Im definitely more interested in the business side of things but I wanted to understand what business engineers do. So when I work with engineers, Ill have credibility.

At the moment, after leaving her job in sales strategy for Adidas, Howe how has turned her considerable intellect to technology consulting and creating her own start-up company. Im working on my own algorithm  its like a financial app for peoples phones.

See, I dont actually even know what that means.

Also on Howes resume: Travel to all seven continents, volunteering with non-profit organizations internationally, from India to Nicaragua, public speaking and mentoring  particularly encouraging females to pursue engineering as a profession.

I really want to spark a lot more conversations about getting women into engineering, science and technology. After graduating, when I first starting interviewing for jobs, I remember walking into certain office cultures and thinking, I cant see any women here I would connect with. It kind of turns you off wanting to enter that field. And that feeling should not be there.

Hence, the more we can encourage women, the more we can expose them to the knowledge of you can connect with mentors, they do exist. So lets built this community and allow young women to build the skills they need before its too late. Because its important that we have young women doing computer science and math and technology in this day and age.

Howe is probably most recognizable from her two years as in-arena host at Toronto Maple Leafs home games.

That gig arose from a TV chat appearance on Off The Record. Somebody sent her the link, she auditioned and got the job. Howe credits her beauty pageant experience for the poise and self-confidence that must have impressed those doing the hiring.

I was comfortable with being uncomfortable. Comfortable going into a situation where I had no idea what to expect and outside of my educational background. Thats what I picked up through pageants. Its all what a girl makes of it. Some might go into it because, hey, it sounds cool. But if you go into it with the right mindset, I genuinely believe you can learn a lot about yourself and skills that can be used in a professional sense.

Kind of like not freezing during the question phase of a pageant. Howes speaking moment was a (lame) query about what it means to be Canadian. She cited all the usual stuff about diversity and embracing multiculturalism. Cant blame her for the dopey question.

At the recent Miss America pageant, judges got a lot more edgy in their probing. Miss Texas gave an unequivocal response to her question about white supremacy, Donald Trump and Charlottesville. I think that the white supremacist issue, it was very obvious that it was a terrorist attack. And I think that President Donald Trump should have made a statement earlier addressing the fact and making sure all Americans feels safe in this country. That is the Number One issue right now.

So much for droopy statements about world peace etc.

Raised in Toronto by a single mom, Howe fell into pageantry for practical reasons. Howe was casting about for university scholarships when her mother spotted a news story about how Miss Kentucky had paid off her tuition debt by winnings from his Miss Teen USA title. It was pretty much a joke from my mom. Like, hey, you can help me with university payments.

A means to an end, except Howe genuinely enjoyed that environment, made friendships and exploited the opportunities. Whos to chastise her for that?

As a part-time model, she also points out the dissonance between how that profession and pageantry is viewed. The one thing thats always confused me is why pageants get a strong reputation for setting women back. When pageants allow women to have a voice and speak to issues versus modelling where you dont have a voice. You stand and pose. But theres no criticism among that industry like there is against pageants.

In November, Howe goes off to the Miss Universe contest  previously owned by Trump  in Las Vegas. Torontos Natalie Glebova won that title in 2005.

Perhaps shell wear the same dress from the gown portion of this Miss Canada, a sophisticated high-necked white and gold number which, Howe laughs, channelled her inner Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. Mother of dragons! Breaker of kings! It was just this moment of feeling elegant and strong and beautiful.

You go girl.

Rosie DiManno usually appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

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Motherisks flawed hair-strand tests tainted thousands of child protection cases across Canada, but was every parent who tested positive for drugs or alcohol potentially harmed in some way? How much is that harm is worth? And whats the best way to determine who should pay?

These are among the complex questions that were debated in a Toronto courtroom this week in the high-stakes battle over the fate of a proposed national class-action seeking millions in damages for families affected by the litany of failings uncovered at the Hospital for Sick Childrens Motherisk Drug Testing Laboratory.

Whether the class-action will proceed is now in the hands of Superior Court Justice Paul Perell, who reserved his ruling on Thursday. His decision will play a key role in shaping what promises to be years of legal wrangling in the fallout from the problems at Motherisk. Already, some 275 plaintiffs are named in a series of individual lawsuits against Sick Kids and the major players at the lab, the court heard.

This class-action is for the thousands of families who have received an apology but no compensation, Rob Gain, a lawyer for the plaintiff, told the court, at the outset of the two-day hearing to determine whether the case meets the bar for class-action certification.

The proposed class includes anyone who had a positive Motherisk hair test between 2005 and 2015, the period during which a government-commissioned review by retired judge Susan Lang concluded Motherisks results were inadequate and unreliable for use in legal proceedings. (Close family members of those who tested positive are also included.)

Gain argued that a class-action is the best way to ensure access to justice to a vulnerable group of people who suffered a shared harm due to Motherisks faulty tests, ranging from parents who briefly came under the scrutiny of a child welfare agency to cases where children were removed permanently.

When youre dealing with the child protection regime . . . and theres a test result from the lab showing drug or alcohol abuse, it is not discretionary what a Childrens Aid Society does. They must act, he said. That act is common to the entire class.

However, that rationale was rejected by the defendants, who include Sick Kids, Motherisks founder and longtime director, Dr. Gideon Koren, and former lab manager Joey Gareri, who argued that a class-action is not appropriate because the circumstances in each case are highly individualized.

Korens lawyer, Darryl Cruz, told the court that his client obviously opposes certification.

Cruz said a negligence claim may be valid in some individual cases, but only if the plaintiff proves there was a false positive Motherisk result, and that result led to negative consequences.

The link between what happened at Motherisk and these outcomes . . . is absolutely crucial, and not simple, he said. In each and every claim, one needs to consider, who are the various players? How do they relate to one another? How does the outcomes flow from the various players?

Sick Kids lawyer Kate Crawford said the hospital is very willing to engage in discussions about compensation with the appropriate people in appropriate circumstances, but does not accept that there are any common issues that could be litigated through a class-action.

Although much of Motherisks hair-testing was performed at the request of child welfare agencies, some of the labs tests were ordered by physicians for clinical purposes, which shows the relationships between the lab and the proposed class members are different in every case, Crawford said.

Complicating matters further, the labs practices were not consistent and changed over time, as did the internationally accepted standards for hair-testing, which evolved as the science advanced, she said.

The proposed lead plaintiff is a mother whose access to her son was repeatedly interfered with as a result of unreliable (Motherisk) hair tests from 2009 to 2012, according to the plaintiffs written arguments.

If the class-action is certified, the members of the class, however it is defined, will have to choose whether they want to pursue individual claims or join the class proceeding.

The hearing did not deal with the merits of the case. In a statement of claim, the plaintiff argues the defendants were negligent in (their) operation and supervision of Motherisk, and were responsible for the consequences that followed. In his statement of defence, Koren denied the claims, arguing the tests were accurate and reliable for their intended purpose of providing clinical information relevant to the medical care and safety of children. In a joint statement of defence, Sick Kids and Gareri also disputed the claims, and said that if custody decisions were based on the tests, which they denied, childrens aid societies were responsible.

Queens Park appointed Lang to probe Motherisk in late 2014 after a Star investigation exposed questions about the reliability of the labs hair tests. Sick Kids initially defended the reliability of Motherisks testing, but reversed course in the spring of 2015 after the hospital learned it had been misled about Motherisks international proficiency testing results, and closed the lab.

Sick Kids CEO Michael Apkon issued a public apology in October 2015. Koren retired in June of 2015, and is now working in Israel.

An independent commission is now probing individual child protection cases in Ontario to determine whether Motherisks hair tests had a significant impact on individual decisions to remove children from their families.

Rachel Mendleson can be reached at rmendleson@thestar.ca

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Toronto police have issued a safety warning to drivers and pedestrians following a series of recent collisions in the city.

Weve responded to over 30 collisions since noon, tweeted Const. David Hopkinson Wednesday night. Some involve serious injury, please be cautious.

In the last 24 hours, police responded to several road-related injuries. Police arrived at the scene at Old Park Rd. and Wembley Rd. in Forest Hill just before 8 p.m. on Wednesday, after an 84-year-old man was struck by a vehicle. He was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Less than an hour earlier, a woman driving a double-decker tour bus sustained serious injuries after crashing into a pole near Cabbagetown.

One pedestrian was also hit by a vehicle in the area of Dorset Park around the same time, and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

On Twitter, Const. Clinton Stibbe asked everyone to use extra caution during rainy weather conditions Wednesday night, adding that the safety of drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists is in the publics hands.

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2001After validating two tickets at his usual Coboconk variety store, Bob Edmonds, 78, is given a free ticket, while the store clerk and her husband redeem the $250,000 jackpot. Edmonds repeatedly complains to lottery officials but is ignored until provincial police begin investigating. The clerk and her spouse are arrested in 2002 for theft and fraud, but charges are stayed. Edmonds sues the pair as well as the lottery corporation and wins both cases. Edmonds dies of cancer in April 2007, shortly after receiving a personal apology from a top lottery official.

2003Raymond Sobeski, of Princeton, Ont., wins the Lotto Super 7, but waits almost a year to claim his $30 million, during which time he divorces his wife. His former spouse then launches a lawsuit. They reach a support settlement in 2005.

Read more: Penniless Millionaire: How Sharon Tirabassi Lost Her Jackpot, and Other Tales of Lottery Woe

2005Orillia convenience store owner Hafiz Malik cashes a $5.75 million winning ticket for the 6/49 draw and is later charged with stealing the ticket. In June 2010, he is sentenced to a year in jail.

2008In 2007, Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin releases a damning report saying the provinces addiction to gambling revenues had left Ontarians vulnerable to being ripped off by crooked retailers who tell customers they havent won and cash in the winning lottery ticket themselves.

In the wake of Marins report, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. begins investigating any win over $10,000. As a result, a Toronto woman is charged with forgery after she tries to claim a fake Cash for Life lottery ticket worth $675,000. The OLG also pays out $80,000 plus interest to a Burlington woman allegedly victimized by a lottery retailer.

2008Ontario Provincial Police arrest 59-year-old Mary Patricia Moore of Windsor after the theft of a $3.5-million lottery ticket from her 81-year-old husband. Moore collected the prize and split the winnings with her mother and daughter, but her husband later said he bought the ticket. Charges are later dropped.

2009David Stucky of Toronto is fined a record $2 million after selling bundles of Super 7 lottery tickets to buyers who thought they had a good chance at winning tens of millions of dollars. In the scheme, Stucky mailed about 3.1 million ads to victims and generated $1 million in revenue for the Canadian Lottery Buyers Association between March 1999 and May 2000. Participants thought they would be sharing their winnings with a handful of people, but the contract never said how many. The average jackpot was 75 cents.

Read more: $6.1M Lotto 6/49 prize in limbo after couple splits

2011The Ontario Lottery Corp. awards $12.5 million plus interest to the rightful winners of a 2003 Super 7 prize after they were cheated out of their prize. Three people are later charged with stealing lottery tickets from patrons of a Burlington variety store. One of those tickets, according to police, led to the $12.5-million Super 7 win.

2016Frank Galella of Niagara Falls is fined a total of $325,000 and sentenced to two years less one day of house arrest for attempting to cheat other members of his lottery group out of their share of a $7-million jackpot by claiming his daughter, and not the group, had won the prize.

Compiled by Astrid Lange/Toronto Star Library

Sources: Toronto Star files

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The giant rubber duck brought in the big bucks.

Feathers were ruffled at Queens Park over a $120,000 government grant that helped land the worlds largest rubber duck for a summer waterfront festival, but a report released Thursday said the attraction brought in record crowds and profits.

The study by Enigma Research found the Redpath Waterfront Festival held in Toronto over the July long weekend, which featured the duck, had a $7.6-million economic impact, and attracted 750,000 visitors, a third of them from out of town.

Opposition MPPs had criticized the government for handing out funding to the festival when the duck has no connection to Ontario or Canadas 150th anniversary. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation also organized a protest to oppose the spending, saying this giant rubber duck isnt all its quacked up to be.

The 13,600-kilogram rubber duck, almost 19 metres tall, also made appearances at summer festivals across the province, including Midland, Owen Sound and Sault Ste. Marie.

Tourism Minister Eleanor McMahon said she was pleased to see crowds flocked to the festival, helping to create jobs and ended up leaving a strong economic impact.

She had previously defended the grant, saying communities like to find something really fun and sort of quirky to attract visitors.

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Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman and their three young children have been released from captivity five years after the couple disappeared in Afghanistan. Here is a timeline of their case.

Read more: Kidnapped Canadian family released after 5 years of captivity in Pakistan

July 2012  Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman travel to Russia. They later move on to Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and finally to Afghanistan over the course of several months.

Oct. 8, 2012  Caitlan Colemans father hears from Boyle for the last time before the couple is captured. Boyle said he was in an internet cafe in what he described as an unsafe part of Afghanistan. The last withdrawals from the couples bank account were made Oct. 8 and 9 in Kabul. An Afghan official later said the couple had been abducted in Wardak Province, a rugged, mountainous Taliban haven.

Late 2012 or early 2013  Colemans first child is born. Coleman was pregnant at the time of her capture, and her due date was in December 2012.

June 4, 2014  Colemans family releases two videos of Coleman and Boyle in captivity, saying the clips were provided to the family in 2013. Boyle and Coleman are seen calling on the U.S. government to free them and their child from Taliban captors.

Read more: Sisters of kidnapped Canadian Joshua Boyle describe being hostage to helplessness

November 2015  Colemans family receives a letter from Coleman in which she says she has given birth to a second child in captivity.

Aug. 30, 2016  A video of Coleman and Boyle is posted on YouTube. In it, the Boyle says that their captors will kill them and their children if the policies of the Afghan government are not overturned, either by the Afghan government or by Canada, somehow, or the United States. A Taliban official has said the video was recorded in 2015.

December 2016  Another video is posted online, this time featuring Coleman, Boyle and their two young children. In the video, Coleman urges governments on all sides to reach a deal to secure the familys freedom.

Read more: Kidnapped Canadians family shares new video, clings to hope as anniversary of abduction approaches

Oct. 12, 2017  U.S. officials say Pakistan secured the familys release. According to officials, Coleman had a third child while in captivity. In a press release, the Pakistani military says Boyle and Coleman will be repatriated to the country of their origin.

A statement from Linda and Patrick Boyle on the release of their son Joshua, daughter-in-law Caitlan Coleman and their three grandchildren from the Taliban in Afghanistan. (The Toronto Star)

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A couple accused of killing their 13-year-old daughter in 2008 were cleared on appeal, following a court hearing in India on Thursday.

Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, both dentists in New Delhi, were convicted of murder in 2013, after their daughter Aarushi Talwar was found dead on her bed in New Delhi in 2008.

The Talwars lawyer Tanveer Ahmed Mir told the Star that he debunked the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) case which charged both Rajesh and Nupur with murder, alleging Rajesh had murdered his daughter after finding her in a compromising position with the family cook Hemraj, who was found dead on the terrace of the house.

Mir said the judges were not satisfied with CBIs case and acquitted Rajesh and Nupur.

Mir said the couple is expected to be released tomorrow.

I was able to show the evidence that (Hemra) was assaulted and murdered on the roof was an isolated incident to the murder of (Aarushi) in her room, which debunked and demolished the prosecutions case, and simply there was no motive for the parents to have killed them.

He said he told the court that it was outsiders who murdered Aarushi and Hemraj, pointing to three other arrests made in connection to the murders including the Talwars dental clinic assistant Krishna Thadarai. His house was searched and a pillowcase was found with Hemrajs blood.

My duty today was not to prove who did the murders but that my clients did not do it, Mir said.

According to The Hindu, the Talwars previous lawyer Rebecca John said: I am happy that the Allahabad High Court has allowed the appeal filed by Nupur and Rajesh Talwar against their conviction and sentence. The case against them was untenable in fact and law, and their prosecution and subsequent conviction resulted in grave miscarriage of justice.

In November 2013, the couple was given a life sentence.

The Star has covered the Talwar case extensively from the perspective of columnist Shree Paradkar, who is the cousin of Nupur Talwar.

Paradkars 2013 chronicle of the investigation became one of the Stars most-read stories.

A bestselling book on the case, titled Aarushi, was released in India in 2015. That same year, a film on the murders, called Talvar  released internationally as Guilty  premiered at TIFF and is now on Netflix.

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An Italian dog owner who wanted paid time off to care for one of her dogs offered her bosses a simple explanation: They are my family.

It worked.

In what a pet advocacy group called a groundbreaking decision, the womans employer changed its mind and gave the woman leave to care for her sick 12-year-old English setter.

Pet advocacy groups say the womans achievement could pave the way for similar claims in the future.

The woman, an employee at Sapienza University in Rome, who was identified in Italian news reports only by her first name, Anna, lives alone and had to take off work to bring her dog to the veterinarian for surgery.

I had asked for the paid allowance, honestly explaining what I needed it for  namely to care for my sick dog, Anna told the Turin newspaper La Stampa. I later realized that they had counted those days as a holiday, and I got angry as a matter of principle.

An animal advocacy group, Lega Anti Vivisezione, helped Anna make her case to her employer and, the group said in a statement, the university eventually agreed to grant two days of paid leave. The lady lives alone, and had no alternatives to transport and assist the dog, the group said.

Lega Anti Vivisezione argued that owners who fail to take proper care of a pet could find themselves vulnerable to legal action, because it would amount to the mistreatment or abandonment of the animal, a crime under Italian law.

Now, with the due medical and veterinarian certifications, all those who find themselves in the same situation will be able to cite this important precedent, said Gianluca Felicetti, the groups chairperson. Another significant step forward that considers animals not kept for profit or production, but to all intents and purposes as members of the family.

Paid leave for new pet owners or those who need to care for ailing pets has become part of some companies benefits programs. The Scottish company Brewdog allow employees one-week paid leave for employees who adopt a puppy, and several U.S. companies offer bereavement days when pets die.

In Italy, though, because the universitys decision to grant the time-off request kept the case out of court, it was not clear how much of a precedent Annas victory establishes.

At the least, Lega Anti Vivisezione said, it should set an example.

Animals are part of the family, and to take care of them, apart from being our duty must be our right! it wrote in a Facebook post. The group shared an image of the pet owner and her dog.

Anna has two dogs, according to the Italian media: Cucciola, 12, and Duke, 17. She told La Stampa that they were part of her family and that the government should do even more to help pet owners.

I think there should be more support for those who have animals, starting for example with public vet health care, Anna said. The costs to cure our little friends are very high, and not everyone can pay it.

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SMITHS FALLS, ONT.Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman and their children are finally free after five years held hostage in Afghanistan by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network.

Boyle called his parents early Thursday morning to tell of their rescue. He also told his father that theyve had a third baby in custody, a little girl who was born two months ago.

Josh said he was doing pretty well for someone who has spent the last five years in an underground prison, Patrick Boyle told the Star early Thursday, about his conversation with his son.

The young family is in Pakistan and plans were underway midday Thursday to fly them home.

Boyle told his parents that he was in the trunk of the kidnappers car with his wife and children when Pakistani forces rescued them. He said his kidnappers were killed in a shoot out that left him with minor shrapnel wounds. The last words Boyle said he heard from the kidnappers were, kill the hostages.

Other media reports have quoted Pakistani and American officials saying the captors fled on foot.

They are reportedly traumatized by both the violence of the Thursday morning rescue and their long captivity, but healthy and recovering.

The U.S. was prepared to transport the family home on a military flight. Boyles parents said he did not want to go to the American air base in Bagram, preferring instead to go to the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad and get on a flight with his family to Canada.

We had arrangements to transport them back to the United States, or to Canada, anywhere they wanted to go, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said in a news conference Thursday. Theyve been essentially living in a hole for five years, he said, adding that the family is receiving medical and psychological treatment.

Boyle, 34, and Coleman, 31, were kidnapped by the Haqqani network in October 2012. Coleman was five-months pregnant at the time and the couple was backpacking through Central Asia.

Their families did not know they had crossed into Afghanistan.

Coleman gave birth to her first son in custody, followed by a second boy a few years later.

In a letter to his parents from captivity, Boyle described delivering the child in secret, by flashlight.

Ta-da! he wrote. The astonished captors were good and brought all our postpartum needs, so he is now fat and healthy, praise God.

A proof-of-life video showed the children alive for the first time last December.

In the video, Coleman appeals to the U.S. and Afghan government, calling their plight Kafkaesque.

The couples daughter was born this summer.

Pakistans government issued a press release Thursday confirming the rescue through an intelligence-based operation by Pakistan troops and intelligence agencies.

The statement said that U.S. agencies had been tracking the family and kidnappers as they crossed into the Kurram Agency, an area in Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, on Wednesday. The rescue was based on actionable intelligence from U.S. authorities, the statement said.

The family of Joshua Boyle made an Eid appeal to the Taliban asking for the release of the Canadian man, his American wife, Caitlan Coleman and their children. The Video was uploaded to YouTube in June, 2017. (courtesy: Help Boyles/YouTube)

The success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistans continued commitment towards fighting this menace through co-operation between two forces against a common enemy.

The Haqqani network is a powerful Afghan group with a history of taking and holding Western hostages. Their highest profile captive was U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who was held for nearly five years before being freed in a prisoner exchange in May 2014.

On Aug. 29, 2016, an Afghan court sentenced the son of the powerful Haqqani networks founder to death. In a YouTube video released around that time, Boyle told the Afghan government that if it does not stop executing Taliban prisoners, his family would be killed. He appeared to be reading from a script.

Boyles parents made their own video this June, addressing the captors. Weve done the best an ordinary Canadian family can do. Ive personally written to several of the most senior government officials in Afghanistan, those with great power over the execution of your brothers, Patrick Boyle says. Weve done what youve asked of us, were now respectfully asking you to show mercy to our family members in return. Please.

This May 4 was the first time since his capture that Boyles parents didnt celebrate his birthday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland expressed relief that the family had been released.

Canada has been actively engaged with the governments of the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan and we thank them for their efforts, which have resulted in the release of Joshua, Caitlan and their children, Freeland said in a statement.

Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years. We stand ready to support them as they begin their healing journey.

The U.S. has long criticized Pakistan for failing to crack down on the Haqqani network.

The Pakistan press release appears to support what U.S. President Donald Trump alluded to in a speech Wednesday in Colemans home state of Pennsylvania. Something happened today, where a country that totally disrespected us called with some very, very important news, Trump said. And one of my generals came in. They said, You know, I have to tell you, a year ago they wouldve never done that. It was a great sign of respect. Youll probably be hearing about it over the next few days. But this is a country that did not respect us. This is a country that respects us now. The world is starting to respect us again, believe me.

In a Thursday morning statement, the White House called the rescue, a positive moment in our countrys relationship with Pakistan.

U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the release of Joshua Boyle, Caitlan Coleman and their three children. The five are finally free after five years of being held hostage in Afghanistan by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network. (courtesy: The White House/YouTube)

Another Canadian, Colin Rutherford, was released after five years in Taliban custody in January 2016.

Like many Western nations, including the U.S., Canada has an official policy of not paying ransom to secure Canadian captives release. But negotiations always occur.

Last year, an eight-part Star series investigated what happens when a Canadian is taken hostage abroad. The stories of victims and their families, along with interviews with nearly 50 witnesses, government, military, intelligence officials and private security consultants, revealed a system ripe for overhaul.

Read more:

Canadian hostage, children seen in just-released Taliban video

Delivering his own son by flashlight: Kidnapped Canadians correspondence gives glimpse of life in captivity

Family keeps hope alive for son, daughter-in-law kidnapped by Taliban

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PARISThe United States announced Thursday it is pulling out of the UNs educational, scientific and cultural agency because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias and a need for fundamental reform in the agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel plans to follow suit.

While the Trump administration had been preparing for a likely withdrawal from UNESCO for months, the timing of the State Departments statement Thursday was unexpected. The Paris-based agency is in the midst of a heated election to choose a new chief  with Qatars Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari in the lead as the Executive Board vote heads into a final ballot on Friday.

The outgoing UNESCO director-general, Irina Bokova, expressed her profound regret at the U.S. decision and tried to defend the reputation of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions.

She called the U.S. departure a loss for the United Nations family and for multilateralism, saying the U.S. and UNESCO matter to each other more than ever now to better fight the rise of violent extremism and terrorism.

The U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011, but the State Department has maintained a UNESCO office and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes. The U.S. now owes about $550 million in back payments.

In a statement, the State Department said the decision will take effect Dec. 31, 2018, and that the U.S. will seek a permanent observer status instead. It cited U.S. belief in the need for fundamental reform in the organization.

Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel also plans to withdraw from the agency, saying it had become a theatre of the absurd because instead of preserving history, it distorts it.

Israel has been irked by resolutions that diminish its historical connection to the Holy Land and have instead named ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites.

Praising Trumps decision as brave and moral, Netanyahu said he has ordered Israeli diplomats to prepare for Israels withdrawal from the organization in concert with the Americans.

Israels ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also praised Washingtons move as heralding a new day at the UN, where there is a price to pay for discrimination against Israel.

UNESCO has become a battlefield for Israel bashing and has disregarded its true role and purpose, Danon said.

U.S. officials said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the decision and it was not discussed with other countries. The officials, who were not authorized to be publicly named discussing the issue, said the U.S. was notably angry over UNESCO resolutions denying Jewish connections to holy sites and references to Israel as an occupying power.

Chris Hegadorn, the U.S. Charge dAffaires and ranking U.S. representative to UNESCO, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the decision to pull out was linked to the unfortunate politicization of the mandate of UNESCO, where anti-Israel bias has been a major factor and something the U.S. has been struggling to address.

Many saw the 2011 UNESCO vote to include Palestine as evidence of long-running, ingrained anti-Israel bias within the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.

UNESCO chief Bokova defended her agencys reputation, noting its efforts to support Holocaust education and train teachers to fight anti-Semitism  and saying that the Statue of Liberty is among the many World Heritage sites protected by the UN agency. UNESCO also works to improve education for girls in poor countries, help them enter scientific fields, defend media freedom and co-ordinate world knowledge about climate change, among other activities.

UNESCOs executive board plans to select her successor Friday in a secret ballot.

Its not the first time the U.S. has pulled out of UNESCO: Washington did the same thing in the 1980s because it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt and used to advance Soviet interests. The U.S. rejoined it in 2003.

Hegadorn said the U.S. would remain a force at the cultural agency in the same way as it was from 1984, when the country withdrew under then-President Ronald Reagan.

The U.S. told Bokova it intends to stay engaged as a non-member observer state on non-politicized issues, including the protection of World Heritage sites, advocating for press freedoms and promoting scientific collaboration and education.

We will be carefully watching how the organization and the new director general steers the agency, Hegadorn said. Ideally, it steers it in way that U.S. interests and UNESCOs mandate will converge.

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If U.S. President Donald Trump deep-sixes the North American Free Trade Agreement, there are essentially three things that Canada can do.

It can try to salvage a bilateral deal with the U.S.

It can, in concert with Mexico, keep what remains of NAFTA on life support in the hope that Trump will eventually be replaced by a president more amenable to free trade.

Read more:

The Trump administration just introduced a 5-year sunset clause into NAFTA talks

Trudeau turns focus to Mexico in midst of NAFTA tensions

Trudeau says hes braced for a surprise as Trumps NAFTA proposals grow more protectionist

Or it can accept that the idea of continental economic integration is dead and strike out on a new path.

The choice Trudeaus Liberal government will make is unclear. What is clear is that Ottawa underestimated how much Trump  and the voters who back him  despise NAFTA.

When Trump calls the pact tying together the economies of Canada, Mexico and the U.S. the worst deal ever, he means it.

Talking to reporters in Washington Wednesday after an inconclusive meeting with Trump, Trudeau said Canada has always been prepared for unpredictable twists and turns in the NAFTA talks.

But on this topic, Trump has been both predictable and consistent. He thinks Mexico is using NAFTA to hose the U.S. He prefers bilateral agreements to multilateral deals like NAFTA, a point he repeated to reporters Wednesday.

And while he has fewer complaints with Canada (at one point he said the trade relationship need only be tweaked,) he does make demands that Ottawa would find hard to accept.

One such demand is the elimination of a provision that allows the NAFTA signatories to challenge one anothers trade practices before an independent panel. Canada sees this as a necessary to prevent the U.S. from acting even more arbitrarily than it usually does. Trump sees it as an infringement on American sovereignty.

In the talks, Trudeaus strategy has been to use sweet reason to persuade not only Trump but U.S. officials at all levels that NAFTA is good for America. The prime minister has also set out to personally charm the president.

The charm worked; Trump said Wednesday how much he likes Justin. But the sweet reason did not. No matter how many graphics are produced by the Canadian Embassy in Washington, Trumps base still doesnt like NAFTA. Neither do a good many Democrats, including the leadership of the trade union movement.

For that matter, neither do a good many Canadian trade unionists.

Most important, the president himself has not been moved. His strategy has been to make maximal yet unyielding demands. If Canada and Mexico agree to these demands, then Trump wins. If they dont agree and NAFTA falls apart, Trump also wins.

This may not be normal bargaining. But it is bargaining Trump style.

So what does Canada do if the talks fall apart over Trumps intransigence?

First, it can try for a bilateral deal with the U.S. Indeed, if NAFTA is terminated, the 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement will automatically come into play again. But should that happen, Trump is likely to demand that it too be renegotiated, which would put Ottawa back in the same soup.

Second, Canada and Mexico could keep the shell of NAFTA alive until Trump is replaced. This is the strategy Japan hopes to use with the remnants of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal from which Trump has already removed the U.S.

But like the Japanese gambit with the TPP, any attempt to keep NAFTA minus the U.S. alive would be based on the assumption that Trump is an accident of history, an anomaly in a world still defined by globalization.

In fact, it may make more sense to view Trump as the visible expression of a much more deep-seated reaction in the U.S. against globalization. If thats the case, attempts to keep alive NAFTA and pacts like it just wont work.

Third, Canada could try something new. It could look beyond North America.

It would still be a trading nation. In fact, a recent study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives notes that even without NAFTA, 41 per cent of Canadian exports to the U.S. would face no tariffs, while the remainder would face, on average, only modest ones.

All of which is to say that ending NAFTA need not result in the severing of all economic ties to the U.S. But, by forcing us to look for other markets and other trading partners, it could lessen our dependence on Washington, which wouldnt be such a terrible fate.

Thomas Walkom appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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Trustees at Peel District School Board are asking the Ministry of Education to suspend EQAO tests for all students this year in the wake of its plans to review curriculum and how pupils are assessed.

In a motion approved at a board meeting Tuesday night, the trustees also urged other school boards throughout the province and the Ontario Public School Boards Association to support its request.

Given the province-wide review, the motion to cancel EQAO tests in math, reading and writing for students in Grades 3, 6 and 9 makes perfect sense, says Peel chair Janet McDougald.

Ontarios second-largest school board has become increasingly worried that current tests administered by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) dont accurately reflect what its students are learning in the classroom, McDougald said in an interview Wednesday.

The trustees move comes a month after Ontario announced an education refresh that will include revamping curriculum and report cards as well as rethinking standardized testing.

While Education Minister Mitzie Hunter indicated in a statement that the tests will proceed as planned, the Peel motion has already reignited the debate about the explosive topic of standardized testing.

Unions representing elementary and high school teachers, who want the current system of large-scale testing eliminated, applauded the Peel request, while other educators stressed that while no test instrument is perfect, the EQAO is an important measure of what skills students are mastering.

During this review, its important that parents are still receiving information about how their child is doing at school, Hunter said in a statement. Thats why EQAO will continue to provide relevant information to better support student achievement and well-being.

The Ontario Public School Boards Association did not respond directly to the Peel trustees request for support because it needs more information, said president Laurie French.

However, the reality is that EQAO has been in place for 20 years and a comprehensive review is overdue, she said in a statement.

That was also the message in the associations discussion paper on EQAO testing released last spring, which, among other recommendations, called for the province to consider alternatives to across-the-board tests such as randomized testing of a sample of students.

This is an important issue and we look forward to participating in that conversation, said French.

McDougald said the Peel board has long been concerned about a disconnect between student report cards and EQAO scores, particularly in math, and met with EQAO staff earlier this year to try to get to the bottom of it.

While a strategy to improve literacy results led to significant improvement, three years of intensive focus on math has not improved scores on the provincial test, she said.

We do not believe the test is capturing what the children are learning.

While reading and writing results improved at the board this year, math results have declined in line with the provincial trend. Last year, only 63 per cent of Peel students met the standard in Grade 3, dropping to a dismal 49 per cent by Grade 6. Province-wide, 62 per cent of Grade 3 students were successful while only half of those in Grade 6 met the standard.

McDougald said putting the tests on hold during the review is reasonable because of the weight put on the results by everyone from parents choosing schools to real estate agents using them to attract homebuyers to certain neighbourhoods.

Its the only public assessments people see and were fine with that  as long as those assessments are relevant and fair to students.

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario welcomes the motion, said president Sam Hammond. The union has long supported eliminating EQAO testing, arguing it is costly, puts stress on students and diverts resources and teaching time that could be used more effectively to engage them in the classroom.

If they suspended it for this year, teachers across the province would not be teaching to the test as they always do and would have much more time to teach in a much deeper way, he said.

Harvey Bischof, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, said Peel has taken a very responsible position on this at a time when the dubious value of the EQAO is being called even more into question.

However, Wilfrid Laurier University economics professor David Johnson argues the universal tests are a cost-effective way of measuring student achievement in basic skills.

All measurement instruments are imperfect, says Johnson, a policy scholar with the C.D. Howe Institute, who says its important to audit any public system for its effectiveness, whether its health care or education.

He says, on balance, EQAO still provides a good index of how a school is functioning in terms of meeting curriculum demands and allows schools and boards to compare results.

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Activist investor Nelson Peltz may or may not get a seat on the board of Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) - Get Free Report .

But one thing is clear - he and other investors will continue to put pressure on the iconic American packaged goods company in the months to come.

"I would be surprised if Peltz goes anywhere in terms of selling the stock," said Ali Dibadj, a partner and senior analyst at Bernstein. "I think investors including Peltz will continue to put pressure on this company in 2018."

At issue is a massive boardroom battle, the largest ever in the U.S., which took place Tuesday at Procter & Gamble's annual meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio. Peltz, who has $3.5 billion in P&G shares, had been seeking one seat on the $230 billion market capitalization company's board. After the final votes were collected, P&G CEO David Taylor said Tuesday morning that shareholders had voted to keep Peltz off the board. Peltz, quickly responded that in point of fact the situation was "too close to call" and the vote was "plus or minus" 1%.

Detailed preliminary results are expected to be released by Friday - P&G has four business days to release them in an 8-K filing. However, they are likely to show about a 50-50 split for and against Peltz.

Nevertheless, the backing of about half of participating investors in the largest proxy fight isn't something that can be ignored. Whether it is 49% or 52% for Peltz, it is clear shareholders want change. Consider the statement by Christopher Ailman, chief investment officer, at the California State Teachers' Retirement System, or CalSTRS: "Nearly 50 percent of shareholders-including large traditional passive asset managers made it clear that they are looking for the company to change direction."

The fund, which has invested with Trian since 2011, clearly believes that Peltz would be a constructive voice. Expect the insurgent fund manager to continue to put pressure on from the outside. A lot will depend on P&G's share price in the months to come. If it dips will Peltz threaten to launch another proxy fight in 2018? The idea isn't far-fetched.

Peltz threatened to launch another director battle at DuPont in 2016 after he narrowly lost a bruising battle with the chemical giant in 2015. In the months following his defeat, DuPont stock price dropped, and it subsequently replaced its CEO, Ellen Kullman. With Peltz hovering, DuPont began merger discussions with Dow Chemical, which was targeted by another activist, Dan Loeb. In the end, DuPont combined with Dow Chemical in a $150 billion merger to create DowDuPont, which will break up into three companies in the months to come.

The DuPont victory suggests that even with a loss, Peltz's campaign will likely have an impact on P&G's future especially if the company's share price and total shareholder returns are lackluster in the months and years to come.

The Peltz battle also suggests that P&G at the very least will take more time to interact with its investors. Bernstein's Dibadj argued that P&G really wasn't taking much time to communicate with investors about their concerns prior to the contest.

And if P&G share price doesn't improve expect P&G to consider some of his proposals. At the center of the dispute was the investor's assertion that P&G suffers from "suffocating bureaucracy" and should be restructured into three global business units rather than the four it has now.

A massive restructuring into three businesses divisions rather than the four it has today, like what Peltz is seeking, is now extremely unlikely, especially if P&G performs well for shareholders in the months to come. "That was one of the most controversial aspects of Peltz's proposals," Dibadj said. "If P&G delivers it doesn't have to do anything."

However, smaller changes Peltz had sought, like a push to make more small acquisitions to bring in innovative brands or a re-evaluation of its R&D spending, are things that the board could agree on in the wake of the election.

No matter the result, expect Peltz and other investors, to be watching.

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Tim Hortons, owned by Restaurant Brands International Inc. (QSR) - Get Free Report , is celebrating a new lineup of espresso drinks in an unusual way -- it has introduced the Buffalo latte.

For customers in Buffalo, New York, Tim Hortons will sell a drink made with freshly brewed espresso, steamed milk, mocha and Buffalo sauce flavor. It's topped with whipped topping and a "dusting of zesty Buffalo seasoning," Tim Hortons said.

"The unlikely pairing of sweet mocha and tangy Buffalo sauce come together to create an unexpectedly delicious sweet and spicy treat we hope our guests will enjoy," said Stephen Goldstein, Tim Hortons regional president.

It's not the first time Tim Hortons has served up an unexpected Buffalo combination for the Empire State. In 2014, Tim Hortons offered Buffalo Crunch Doughnuts at the New York State Fair.

The Buffalo latte launches just after Tim Hortons' brand new espresso menu. The updated drink lineup includes lattes, Americanos and cappuccinos available hot or iced. There are also new flavors including caramel, vanilla, mocha and everyone's fall favorite, pumpkin spice.

The unusual Buffalo latte will start at $2.79. Would you try it?

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Apple Inc. (AAPL) - Get Free Report received permission from the Irish High Court to build a $1 billion data center in the country after a series of delays, Reuters reported.

Apple first announced plans for the data center in West Ireland in February 2015. The center, which will be built in a rural location, will take advantage of plentiful green energy resources nearby.

Though Apple gained permission to build from the local council six months after announcing plans, a series of appeals kept the tech giant from moving forward for about two years. High Court Judge Paul McDermott dismissed two separate appeals Thursday, Oct. 12, paving the way for Apple's plan to continue.

Apple representatives met with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar last month and expressed their frustration over the delays. Varadkar said Apple warned that the lengthy process could negatively impact its willingness to invest in Ireland in the future.

The data center will provide 300 construction jobs and 150 on-site permanent positions. One in 10 jobs in Ireland comes from foreign multinational companies.

Apple gained 0.19% to $156.77 in early trading on Thursday.

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President Donald Trump seemed to indicate in an interview on Wednesday that stock market gains reduce the national debt. They don't.

The president raised eyebrows in a sit-down with Fox News' Sean Hannity when he appeared to suggest that a record run for American markets is helping to reduce the United States' $20 trillion national debt. But that's not how it works. It would be like saying the sun is shining because it's Sunday -- sounds like they could be related, but they're not.

Here's Trump's full quote:

The country -- we took it over and owed over $20 trillion. As you know the last eight years, they borrowed more than it did in the whole history of our country. So they borrowed more than $10 trillion, right? And yet, we picked up $5.2 trillion just in the stock market. Possibly picked up the whole thing in terms of the first nine months, in terms of value. So you could say, in one sense, we're really increasing values. And maybe in a sense we're reducing debt. But we're very honored by it. And we're very, very happy with what's happening on Wall Street.

But growth in the stock market has no direct relationship to a decline in the national debt.

"Both of these are stocks of wealth, in some sense, one negative and one positive," said Marc Goldwein, senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "But one is the negative wealth of the government, and the other is the positive wealth, collectively, of basically everyone, or a subset of that wealth that's in the stock market. These are unrelated."

The national debt is the total accumulation of the federal government's budget deficits, the annual measure by which government spending exceeds revenue. According to the U.S. debt clock calculator, the national debt is currently more than $20.3 trillion.

Under former President Barack Obama, the national debt did about double, as Trump said, but as the Committee for a Responsible Budget says, the explanation of why is complicated.

Some of the debt increase was already projected to occur before anything was signed by Obama, and the Great Recession caused hugged reductions in employment, wages and profits, which in turn resulted in reduced revenue and more automatic spending on items such as employment. Obama did sign laws worsening the debt situation, such as the 2009 stimulus and the extension of the Bush tax cuts. It is worth noting that those laws were written not by Obama but by Congress.

The debt stands to rise under Trump as well. While he has laid out spending cuts in his proposed budget, he has promised to leave Social Security and Medicare untouched and up defense spending. The tax plan he is proposing would increase the debt.

"He does have some smart ideas with his budget, but when you add them all up...they're not enough to pay for the tax plan, let alone reduce the debt," Goldwein said.

Trump has made a habit of touting the stock market's rise as president and using it as a measure of his success. He apparently uses as his measure the Wilshire 5000, which tracks all of the stocks actively traded in the United States.

He's right that markets have done well since his election, but not, historically, the best. Trump ranks seventh in S&P 500 performance the first 11 months after his election, behind Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt (who beats him out twice), Bill Clinton, Herbert Hoover, George H.W. Bush and John F. Kennedy.

While what Trump is saying on the debt and the stock market, separately, is technically correct, tying them together doesn't make sense.

One could perhaps make a tenuous connection that capital gains and dividend taxes contribute to revenue, but it's hardly enough to reduce the deficit and, therefore, debt. Moreover, his tax plan is silent on capital gains.

Risks that the U.S. would default on its creditors if it were for some reason unable to pay off its debts (if, for example, Congress refuses to address the debt ceiling) would certainly rock markets. But that doesn't appear to be what Trump is talking about, either.

To be sure, this is not the first time the president, a Wharton graduate, appears to have confused financial concepts that seem or sound alike.

In an April 2016 interview, he claimed he would be able to get rid of the nation's entire debt, at that time $19 trillion, in a period of eight years by "renegotiating all of our deals, the big trade deals we're doing so badly on."

While speaking alongside South Korean President Moon Jae-in, he appeared to conflate trade deficits with the budget deficit. "The United States has trade deficits with many, many countries, and we cannot allow that to continue...with South Korea right now, but we cannot allow that to continue," he said. "This is really a statement that I make about all trade: For many, many years the United States has suffered through massive trade deficits; that's why we have $20 trillion in debt."

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Editors' pick: Originally published Oct. 12.
NCI Building Systems, Inc. designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets metal products for the nonresidential construction industry in North America. It operates in four segments: Engineered Building Systems, Metal Components, Insulated Metal Panels, and Metal Coil Coating. The Engineered Building Systems segment offers engineered structural members and panels; and self-storage building systems under the Metallic, Mid-West Steel, A & S, All American, Mesco, Star, Ceco, Robertson, Garco, Heritage, and SteelBuilding.com brands to builders, general contractors, developers, and end users directly, as well as through private label companies. The Metal Components segment provides metal roof and wall systems, metal partitions, metal trims, doors, and other related accessories for use in new construction, and repair and retrofit applications; roll-up doors; and interior and exterior walk doors under the MBCI, American Building Components, Eco-ficient, Metal Depots, and Doors and Buildings Components brands to manufacturers, contractors, subcontractors, distributors, lumberyards, cooperative buying groups, and other customers. The Insulated Metal Panels segment offers insulated metal panels for architectural, commercial, industrial, and cold storage end-market applications under the Metl-Span and CENTRIA brands. The Metal Coil Coating segment engages in cleaning, treating, and painting flat-rolled metals in coil form, as well as in slitting and/or embossing the metal, before the metal is fabricated for use by industrial users. It also cleans, treats, and coats heavy and light gauge metal coils for use in construction products, heating and air conditioning systems, water heaters, lighting fixtures, ceiling grids, office furniture, appliances, and other products; and provides toll coating and painted metal package services under the Metal Coaters and Metal Prep brands. NCI Building Systems, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Trecora Resources manufactures and sells various specialty petrochemical products and synthetic waxes in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Petrochemical and Specialty Waxes. The Petrochemical segment offers hydrocarbons and other petroleum based products, including isopentane, normal pentane, isohexane, and hexane for use in the production of polyethylene, packaging, polypropylene, expandable polystyrene, poly-iso/urethane foams, and crude oil from the Canadian tar sands, as well as in the catalyst support industry. It also owns and operates pipelines. The Specialty Waxes segment provides specialty polyethylene for use in the paints and inks, adhesives, coatings, and PVC lubricants markets; and specialized synthetic poly alpha olefin waxes for use as toner in printers, as well as additives for candles. The company also provides custom processing services; and produces copper and zinc concentrates, and silver and gold dore. Trecora Resources was formerly known as Arabian American Development Company and changed its name to Trecora Resources in June 2014. Trecora Resources was founded in 1967 and is based in Sugar Land, Texas.
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.
Credit Suisse Group AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial services in Switzerland, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and Asia Pacific. The company offers wealth management solutions, including investment advice and discretionary asset management services; risk management solutions, such as managed investment products; and wealth planning, succession planning, and trust services. It also provides financing and lending solutions, including consumer credit and real estate mortgage lending, real asset lending relating to ship, and aviation financing for UHNWI; standard and structured hedging, and lombard lending solutions, as well as collateral trading services; and investment banking solutions, such as global securities sales, trading and execution, capital raising, and advisory services. In addition, the company offers banking solutions, such as payments, accounts, debit and credit cards, and product bundles; asset management products; equity and debt underwriting, and advisory services; cash equities, equity derivatives, and convertibles, as well as prime services; and fixed income products, such as credit, securitized, macro, emerging markets, financing, structured credit, and other products. Further, it provides HOLT, a framework for assessing the performance of approximately 20,000 companies; and equity and fixed income research services. The company serves private and institutional clients; ultra-high-net-worth individuals, high-net-worth individuals, and affluent and retail clients; corporate clients, small and medium-sized enterprises, external asset managers, financial institutions, and commodity traders; and pension funds, hedge funds, governments, foundations and endowments, corporations, entrepreneurs, private individuals, financial sponsors, and sovereign clients. As of December 31, 2021, it operated through a network of 311 offices and branches. The company was founded in 1856 and is based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Thomson Reuters Corporation provides business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments. The Corporates segment provides a suite of content-enabled technology solutions for legal, tax, regulatory, compliance, and IT professionals. The Tax & Accounting Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on tax offerings and automating tax workflows to tax, accounting, and audit professionals in accounting firms. The Reuters News segment provides business, financial, and international news to media organizations, professional, and news consumers through news agency and industry events. The Global Print segment offers legal and tax information primarily in print format to legal and tax professionals, governments, law schools, and corporations. The company was formerly known as The Thomson Corporation and changed its name to Thomson Reuters Corporation in April 2008. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Thomson Reuters Corporation operates a subsidiary of The Woodbridge Company Limited.
Full coverage of the Delphi murders: Look back at 5 years of stories
The Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus are two of the best Android phones around, but the Galaxy S9 (now $599) and Galaxy S9+ ($699) deliver a lot of phone for less money. You get solid cameras with a fun Super Slow-Mo video mode and swift performance inside handsets that are among the sleekest in their price range.

No, you won't get the ultra-wide camera in the Galaxy S10 lineup or a fingerprint reader in the screen. But, overall, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are pretty great values, and today some of the best used smartphones around. We've also picked out the best Galaxy S9 cases.

Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ Specs and Price

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Galaxy S9

Galaxy S9+

Price

From $599

From $699

Display

5.8 inches (2960 x 1440 pixels) 6.2 inches (2960 x 1440 pixels) Camera

12-MP Super Speed Dual Pixel (f/1.5 - f/2.4)

12-MP Super Speed Dual Pixel (f/1.5 - f/2.4), 12-MP telephoto with 2x zoom (f/2.4) Front Camera

8-MP (f/1.7) 8-MP (f/1.7) CPU

Snapdragon 845 Snapdragon 845 RAM

4GB 6GB Storage

64GB, 128GB, 256GB

64GB, 128GB, 256GB

microSD Up to 400GB

Up to 400GB Battery

3,000 mAh 3,500 mAh Colors

Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Lilac Purple, Sunrise Gold

Midnight Black, Coral Blue, Lilac Purple, Sunrise Gold

Size

5.8 x 2.7 x 0.33 inches 6.2 x 2.9 x 0.33 inches Weight

5.8 ounces 6.7 ounces

Design: Now even awesomer

I'll give Samsung a pass for not changing the design of the Galaxy S9 much, because the phone's edge-to-edge Infinity Display already looked stunning when it was introduced a year ago on the Galaxy S8. This time around, Samsung trimmed the bezels slightly on the top and bottom, giving you the same size displays in slightly more compact packages.



The S9+ measures 6.2 x 2.8 X 0.33 inches, while the S8+ is 6.3 x 2.9 x 0.3 inches. However, the newer S9+ is heavier than its predecessor, at 6.7 versus 6.1 ounces, likely owing to the addition of the second rear-camera lens. The S9 is a lighter 5.8 ounces.



The biggest change is on the back of the S9 and S9+, as Samsung wisely moved the fingerprint sensor so that it sits beneath the camera instead of to the right of the lens (which is also a problem with the Note 8). And yet, despite this tweak, the reader is still pretty close to the bottom lens; it took a couple of days of practice for me to target the sensor correctly, but by that time, I had moved on to the iris and face-recognition methods for unlocking the phone.

The S9+ and S9 are available in Midnight Black, Coral Blue and Lilac Purple. We received the black model, which is sleek enough for a business setting but kind of boring. We would much prefer a pop of color. As with the S8, Samsung's new phones are IP68 water resistant, so you can dunk them in up to 5 feet of water for 30 minutes without fear. The new phones also include headphone jacks, but the backs pick up smudges easily.

Alas, the Bixby button remains on the left side, right underneath the volume button, which resulted in several accidental presses on my part. The good news is that you can turn this function off, but you can't remap the button to launch another app.



Durability: Tough to a point



We tested the toughness of the Galaxy S9 by dropping it on its face onto wood from a height of 4 feet and 6 feet; we then dropped it on its edge and face onto concrete from 4 feet. We also dropped it on its edge and face from 6 feet onto concrete.

Drops from 4 feet and 6 feet onto wood caused no damage whatsoever to the S9. A 4-foot face drop onto concrete caused the S9's screen to crack, but the phone was still largely usable. Following that, a 6-foot drop onto its edge caused more damage, as did a face drop from that height.

Finally, a 4-foot drop into a water-filled toilet didn't cause much more damage to occur, but by this point, the screen was shattered pretty thoroughly. It survived, though, which earned it a toughness score of 6 out of 10. To see the results of other smartphones, as well as our complete scoring methodology, check out our smartphone drop tests.

Display: Its killer

A funny thing happened with the iPhone X. Even though that phone reportedly packs a Samsung-made OLED screen, it beat Samsung's own phones in our screen shootout last fall, achieving the highest brightness (indoors), widest viewing angles and most-natural-looking colors.

Samsung has responded with the Galaxy S9+, whose curved display offers a brighter picture than the S8+ and covers even more of the color gamut than the iPhone X and Pixel 2 XL.

On our light meter, the S9's display registered a whopping 603 nits, which is higher than the Pixel 2 XL's 438 nits and even higher than the iPhone X's 574 nits. The S9+ got even brighter at 630 nits. However, it's important to note that Samsung's panels don't get this bright manually; you'll have to be in direct sunlight. Under normal indoor conditions, the max brightness on the iPhone X is higher than the S9 or S9+.



The S9 definitely has the most colorful panel around, though, as it reproduces a whopping 220 percent of the SRGB color gamut. The S9+ registered 231 percent. That's much higher than the results from the iPhone X (128.6 percent) and Pixel 2 XL (120 percent).

In side-by-side viewing of a scene from the Black Panther on the Galaxy S9+, iPhone X and Pixel 2 XL, the S9+ delivered the best image quality. The greens and blues popped more on the S9+s panel, even though the iPhone Xs display shined brighter. The Pixel 2 XLs image looked a little flat by comparison.

My only nitpick with this curved panel is that it can sometimes be difficult to press buttons on the extreme edges of the display; on more than one occasion I had to press twice for something to register.



Audio: A big boost

I did something I've never done before when reviewing the Galaxy S9. I left the phone on for hours by my side playing music as I wrote this review and did my testing. That's because the sound coming from the stereo speakers at the top and bottom of the S9 is just that good.

When I streamed Alice Merton's "No Roots," the vocals sounded clear even at maximum volume and the drums had a nice punch to them. With the S9 and S9+ delivering 1.4 times more volume than the S8 and S8+, I also had an easier time hearing directions coming from Google Maps while I drove.



MORE: Galaxy S9+ Battery Life: Here's How It Stacks Up



Although there's not a lot of content that supports it yet, both the S9 and S9+ support Dolby Atmos technology. This fools your ear into believing that sound is coming at you from different directions in 3D space, making movies more immersive.

Camera: Low-light improvement, Super Slow-mo fun

Boasting a new variable aperture, the Galaxy S9's new Super Speed Dual Pixel camera is designed to let in 28 percent more light than the S8. The aperture automatically adjusts from f/1.5 to f/2.4, depending on the conditions. In addition, the camera offers dedicated memory for reducing noise.

The results were fairly impressive in my testing, although the S9 and S9+ still trail the Pixel 2 and iPhone X in overall image quality. If you like the idea of 2x optical zoom or you want to take convincing-looking portraits, the S9+ is the phone to get, as its dual rear lenses give you those benefits. The regular S9 has a single rear shooter.

The Galaxy S9+ did a good job capturing a pinata indoors with some light streaming in through the window (to the left). When you zoom in, there's definitely less noise and more detail in the Samsung's shot. However, the oranges, purples and yellows are more vibrant in the iPhone X's photo.

In much dimmer conditions, the S9+ pulled off a cool-looking shot at the Campbell bar in New York City. The glass in the background is well-defined, and you can make out the bartender, although the bottoms of some of the glass bottles get blown out.



The Galaxy S9 offered the best focus in this shot of a raspberry tart dessert, and the powdered sugar looks delicious. However, the red looks more luscious and the gold foil more lustrous on the iPhone X.

In this challenging photo taken inside Grand Central Terminal, the Pixel 2's image offered the clearest shot of the clock and the most-legible image of the signs. The Galaxy S9's shot offers truer colors, though.

For video, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ up the ante with Super Slow-Mo, which lets you capture footage at 960 frames per second at 720p resolution. By comparison, the iPhone X and Pixel 2 XL record at just 240 fps (1080p) and 120 fps (1080p), respectively.

To test out Super Slow-Mo, I shot this quick video of someone playing ping pong. The footage looked great, and his backspin shot looked dramatic. From there, I swiped up on the clip to apply my choice of one of three nifty effects: Loop, Reverse or Swing. I picked Loop and then shared the video out to Facebook as a GIF.

My only complaint with Super Slow-Mo is that I wasn't always able to pick the exact right moment to film. In auto mode, the S9 is smart enough to detect motion and activate slow motion, but you might want to switch to manual so you can pick the exact moment you want to slow things down. I found it tricky to capture my son dribbling a basketball between his legs.

AR Emoji: More creepy than cool

If you've been jealous of Apple's Animoji on the iPhone X, the AR Emoji feature on the Galaxy S9 and S9+ is probably not going to help. Using the S9's front camera, you can create a 3D avatar of yourself (similar to Bitmoji) and then create a gallery of GIFs and stickers you can share of yourself via all sorts of apps. The idea is fun, but the execution is lacking.

The AR Emoji I created just had a passing resemblance to myself, and then one my daughter created looked almost nothing like her, except that it somehow managed to pick up some acne in her forehead  not cool. Her take: "Tell Samsung they need to do a better job, because this is the worst ever."

To be fair, another AR Emoji I created of my father-in-law looked almost spot on, right down to his mustache and glasses. But that was the exception. I just wish there were more clothes options for personalizing your emoji.

You can also record videos using your AR Emoji, but I would advise against it unless you want to freak people out. The resulting footage looked jittery, and the S9+'s front camera didn't do an accurate job mirroring my facial movements. The TrueDepth camera on the iPhone X does a much better job with this sort of thing, although you're limited to using just animals.

MORE: AR Emoji vs. Animoji: It's Not Even Close

Security: Intelligent Scan is handy, but it's no Face ID

The Galaxy S9 has an answer for Apple's Face ID, but it's not a great one. A new Intelligent Scan feature combines facial recognition with iris scanning to unlock your device. The good news is that you don't even need to touch the display (unlike with the iPhone X) to get into your phone. You just stare at it. The bad news is that Intelligent Scan doesn't work as well as Face ID, and not just because you can't verify purchases with it.

For starters, Samsung warns you via its disclaimer that "your phone could be unlocked by someone or something that looks like you." That means that, just as with the Galaxy S8, someone could get into your S9 or S9+ using a photo of you. By contrast, the 3D sensor inside the iPhone X creates a depth map of your face using 30,000 invisible dots, so its more secure.

My other nitpick with Intelligent Scan is that the S9+ kept prodding me to hold the phone more upright; I don't have to do that with the iPhone X to get into the device. Lastly, the IR sensor pulsates as it reads your eyes, which was disconcerting to me. (The disclaimer also warns against using this feature with infants, as it may damage their eyesight.)

If you're worried about security, I would advise using the fingerprint sensor to unlock your phone, even though Intelligent Scan is slightly more convenient.

Performance: A step up



Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 processor and 6GB of RAM, the Galaxy S9+ is an absolute beast. The Galaxy S9 is swift, too, but it's a little less powerful because it has 4GB of RAM.

When playing Tekken on the expansive 6.2-inch display with 18 other apps open in the background, I executed three combos in a row  including an explosive kick to the face  and the S9+ never stuttered.



In terms of sheer processing might, the A11 Bionic chip in the latest iPhones is the fastest around, but Samsung is closing the gap. In our video-editing test, which involves exporting a 2-minute 4K video file, the Galaxy S9+ took 2 minutes and 32 seconds. The Galaxy S9 took 3:29. Both of those times are behind the iPhone X's 42 seconds. The Pixel 2 XL took 2:55 with its older Snapdragon 835 chip.

The Galaxy S9+ also opened demanding apps more slowly than the iPhone X did. For instance, it took the iPhone X a little more than 13 seconds to fire up the Injustice 2 game, compared to 20 seconds for the S9+. And the iPhone X was about 5 seconds faster when opening Tekken 2.

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ were no match for Apple's A11 Bionic on Geekbench 4, which measures overall performance. The S9 hit 7,276 and the S9+ 8,295, compared to 10,357 for the iPhone X.

On 3DMark's Sling Shot benchmark, which measures graphics performance, the Galaxy S9 scored 5,739, which beats the iPhone X (3,998). However, on the more demanding Sling Shot Extreme OpenGL ES 3.1 benchmark, the iPhone X notched 4,994 to the Galaxy S9+'s 4,634. The regular S9 hit 4,617.



When it comes to 4G LTE performance, the Galaxy S9+ smoked the iPhone X in side-by-side tests over T-Mobile's network. On the Speedtest.net app, the S9+ averaged 71.6 Mbps downloads and 10.1 Mbps uploads. The iPhone X mustered 48.8 Mbps down and 7.7 Mbps up.



The based model of the Galaxy S9+ comes with 64GB of storage, and you can add a microSD card with up to 400GB. No iPhone lets you do that. A month after the S9's debut, Samsung started offering 128GB and 256GB versions of both the S9 and S9+ for an extra $50 and $100, respectively.



Software: Bixby Vision and AR take center stage

Running Android 8.0 Oreo, the Galaxy S9+ is anything but a stock Android phone. The Edge panel  a series of shortcuts you can access by swiping in from the right side of the screen  is very much all Samsung. The most compelling feature is App Pair, which lets you launch two apps side by side (or top and bottom) with a single touch. For example, I found pairing up email and Facebook to be a good work-and-play combo.

Bixby, Samsung's digital assistant, is the hallmark feature on this flagship, and the assistant has developed some new talents since Samsung introduced it on the S8. For instance, using Bixby Vision and the Galaxy S9's camera, you can point the phone at food and get a calorie count, as I did with a green apple. You can also translate foreign languages on the fly, whether it's a menu, a sign or anything with text. I successfully translated some French headlines to English using this feature on the Le Monde site.

There are some rough edges to Bixby Vision. For example, the Shopping tool accurately identified a jar of Jif peanut butter I held in front of the phone, but when I switched over to the Food tool, the Galaxy S9+ couldn't tell what the object was.

I also had some trouble using the Place finder feature, which is supposed to overlay information on the camera view to show you things like business names, depending on where you point the phone. Unfortunately, the S9 showed me a listing for the Sweetgreen salad place as I pointed the camera directly at a Hale and Hearty Soups.

Although I didn't test Bixby's virtual makeup tool, my colleague Caitlin was generally impressed by it. Using the S9's front camera, you can try on everything from lipstick and eyeshadow to blush; if you like what you see, you can buy it on the spot from Sephora.

Otherwise, Bixby is more of a time-saver than an all-knowing assistant, reducing the number of steps it takes to perform complex actions. For instance, I loved that I could say, "Add this video to my family album," after pressing the Bixby button instead of performing the task myself with a series of taps.

Battery Life: Excellent

The Galaxy S9+ can easily last a full workday on a charge, but the S9's endurance could be better. On the Tom's Guide Battery Test, which involves continuous web surfing over 4G LTE, the S9+ handset lasted a superb 10 hours and 59 minutes, which is comparable to the Galaxy S8+'s 11:04 and a little bit longer than the iPhone X's 10:49.

On the same test, the regular S9 endured for an average of 10:52 over LTE. That's better than the iPhone X but is behind the Pixel 2 XL (12:09).

All of these phones were tested on T-Mobile's network.

Galaxy S9/S9+ vs. iPhone X and Pixel 2 XL

Priced starting at $840 (depending on the carrier), the Galaxy S9+ has a significant price advantage over the iPhone X ($999). For $160 less, Samsung gives you a much bigger display (6.2 versus 5.8 inches), which you'll likely appreciate when typing, reading documents and watching videos. The S9+ also benefits from removable storage and a headphone jack, not to mention the ability to run two apps side by side.

The regular Galaxy S9 (from $720) is cheaper than the S9+, but you'll have to do live with a smaller 5.8-inch screen, a smaller battery and less RAM (4GB vs 6GB for the S9+). Plus, the S9+ packs dual rear cameras to the S9's single lens.



Samsung Galaxy S9+ (left) and Apple iPhone X (right)

However, the iPhone X boasts a brighter display with more-accurate colors, a slightly better camera and more reliable Face ID biometric security. And that phone's A11 Bionic chip is more powerful. The iPhone 8 Plus ($799) has the same processor and great dual cameras as the iPhone X, but its 5.5-inch LCD display looks dated next to the OLED panel on the S9+.

MORE: Best small phones

The biggest advantage the Pixel 2 XL has over the Galaxy S9 and S9+ is the Google device's camera, as it edged out Samsung's handset in our camera shootout. Google's phone also offers even longer life and a pure version of Android. But the Galaxy S9+ has dual rear cameras, which make for better-looking portraits; a faster Snapdragon 845 processor; and a sleeker, edge-to-edge design.

Bottom Line

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ deliver nearly everything you could want in a flagship phone for less money, including speedy performance, good low-light photography, fantastic displays and impressive battery life (the S9+ wins there).



But the S9 and S9+ are also proof that smartphones are starting to hit a wall in terms of radical new changes that companies can make from one generation to the next. Between these phones' lackluster AR Emoji and not-quite-nailed Bixby features, Samsung seems to be lurching a bit in order to trumpet that these are "new" phones and not just great upgrades.

But there's absolutely nothing wrong with great upgrades. And all of the big and little enhancements for the S9 and S9+ make them worth the investment, especially if you don't want to overspend for your next phone.



Credit: Tom's Guide


Buying a DVD or Blu-ray should let you access that movie everywhere you go, or at least that's what Hollywood's Ultraviolet service promised. But if you've used Ultraviolet in the last handful of years, you probably gave up on the troubled platform pretty quickly.

Fortunately, a new streaming star has appeared.

Today, Hollywood movie studios united to announce a new service named Movies Anywhere that unites all of your digital movie purchases under one always-available network.

What's Movies Anywhere?

Movies Anywhere is a new cloud-based movie streaming service that unites the purchases you've made on streaming services such as iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play, and Vudu, and allows you to add supported films purchased on Blu-ray and DVD. It looks very similar to Disney Movies Anywhere, from which it borrows the KeyChest digital rights management technology. It may even replace Ultraviolet, a similar service that never took off.

Why is it better than Ultraviolet?

Movies Anywhere seems to feature more cross-platform buy-in from important players such as Apple and offer a clean and easy to use interface that's available in many more places. Having used Ultraviolet, I can say that its clunky interface and confusing mix of support (not all films could be downloaded onto every platform) made for one of the more frustrating user experiences I've ever used, so crossing that low standard might not be the hardest task.

MORE: Best Netflix Shows and Movies You're Not Watching (But Should Be)

What devices will Movies Anywhere support?

While it only appears to be available via web browsers at the time of publishing, Movies Anywhere will be on iOS, Android, Android TV, Chromecast, Roku, Amazon Fire and Fire TV devices and the Apple TV.

Those iOS and Android apps will include a Save For Offline feature so you can stock up on movies before going on a flight.

How many studios and films does Movies Anywhere have?

Starting with Disney, Sony Pictures, Universal, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, Movies Anywhere has created an alliance of studios that gives the service a launch library of more than 7,300 titles. While that might not seem like a lot, the Movies Anywhere team knows it's just begun. Movies Anywhere general manager Karin Gilford told The Verge that the service has been in talks to add Paramount Pictures and Lionsgate.

Also, new users who connect existing accounts from Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Vudu will get free films added to their libraries. Signing into one account gives you access to digital copies of Ghostbusters (2016) and Ice Age, and a second signup adds Big Hero 6, Jason Bourne and The Lego Movie.

What do we think of Movies Anywhere?

Setting up my account was pretty simple and fast, allowing me to bring my copies of films  including Shaun of the Dead, Inception, Gone Girl and Harold and Kumar Go To White Caste  over from my iTunes account instantly. I did have one small hiccup, though: Vudu wouldn't connect. This is likely a launch-day bug to be ironed out, and isn't the biggest deal for me, as I hadn't used Vudu ever until earlier this week.

The web player interface of Movies Anywhere feels a lot like Netflix, in a good way. Content is divided into three sections: Explore for finding something new, Redeem to input codes from purchased Blu-rays and DVDs and My Movies for your own collection. Under My Movies, you see both the films you can access and stills of any you've paused so you can resume from that point.



The Explore section showed off a solid selection of new films, including Get Out, Baby Driver and Spider-Man: Homecoming. Instead of paying Movies Anywhere for one of these films, clicking Buy in the Explore section allows you to see which of its partners (Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Vudu) sell said movie, and provides a link to buy there.
The group of WTO Friends of Investment Facilitation for Development (FIFD) pledged support for the success of the High-Level Investment Forum taking place in Abuja on the 3rd and 4th of November

Nigeria, Brazil, China, the European Union (EU) and a host of other leading economic powers on 10 October 2017 made tremendous progress on Investment Facilitation Initiative for Development, in Marrakech, Morocco, during the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Mini-Ministerial meeting.

In a breakthrough for Nigeria, the group of WTO Friends of Investment Facilitation for Development (FIFD) pledged support for the success of the High-Level Investment Forum taking place in Abuja on the 3rd and 4th of November, co-hosted by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) Commission in partnership with FIFD.

Investment Facilitation for Development is an initiative by some WTO members including Nigeria as a core member to constructively and progressively drive trade and investment with concrete deliverables in mind.

This WTO Investment Coalition is made of Nigeria, Argentina, China, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, Canada and the European Union.

A draft declaration is being negotiated for finalization at the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland, as part of the deliverables for the Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ministerial Conference in December.

The Objectives of the Investment Coalition are:

Place investment facilitation as a priority for the WTO Ministerial MC11 in Buenos Aries, Argentina. Achieve coherence between the trade and investment policy communities and position the WTO to be more pro-development with actual deliverables for its members. Seek active investment opportunities in their countries.

Nigeria is part of this coalition because we see investment and trade facilitation as a positive and pro-development agenda, and ensure that the WTO is better responsive to domestic economic priorities, said the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Dr. Okechukwu

This Investment Facilitation Initiative is potentially significant to position WTO better to respond to the investment needs of developing countries, in general and African countries in particular, he added.

In his remarks, the Director General/Chief Negotiator of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe expressed delight at the progress made so far, saying: This is for economic growth and recovery, creation of employment opportunities and connection to global value chains.

The Abuja event titled High-Level Forum on Trade and Investment Facilitation for Development is expected to bring together African Investment and Trade decision makers as well private sector representatives to share perspectives on leveraging trade and investment opportunities on the continent. It seeks to connect actual investors within and outside the continent with African policy makers in order to produce concrete outcomes.

At the concluding session of the WTO Ministerial in Marrakech, Edward Yau, Hong Kong China Trade and Industry Secretary, in reporting to the Ministerial Meeting, invited the WTO to ensure the success of the Abuja event on trade and investment facilitation.

Signed

Constance C. Ikokwu

Strategy and Communications Adviser to Minister



Distributed by APO on behalf of Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, Nigeria.
CFTA negotiations: chief negotiators conclude 7th round of negotiations (AU)

The negotiators (2-7 October) made substantial progress towards the conclusion of CFTA negotiations and agreed on the following: (i) to adhere to the deadline of December 2017 to complete the draft legal text establishing the Continental Trade Area as directed by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government; (ii) the title of the legal text, to be called Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area; (iii) the Protocol on Trade in Services, the Protocol of Trade in Goods and the Protocol on Dispute Settlement Mechanism to be integral part of the CFTA Agreement. The Chief Negotiators provided guidance to the Technical Working Groups and instructed them to proceed with their respective work and report to the 8th Meeting of the CFTA Negotiating Forum.

During the meeting scheduled for 6 November 2017 to 1 December 2017, chief negotiators and experts are expected to prioritize the finalization of the CFTA Texts. The CFTA-NF will consider pending issues in the Agreement Establishing the African CFTA during their next meeting scheduled to take place (20-24 November) following a dedicated session on trade in goods. Any unresolved issues will be referred to the Committee of Senior Trade Officials and then to the AU Ministers of Trade. The entire legal text will be considered by the AU Ministers of Trade at the end of November 2017, prior to its consideration by the Specialized Technical Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs in December 2017. The draft CFTA Agreement will be on one of the agenda items of the January 2018 Summit to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

A single African air transport market: meeting of experts (AU)

The Single African Air Transport Market is to be launched during the January 2018 Summit. In preparation for the launch, the Experts of the Ministerial Working Group assisted by AUC, AFCAC, UNECA and RECs, need to meet, discuss and report on the implementation of the immediate measures recommended for starting the marketing and prepare recommendations for the Ministerial Working Group Meeting tentatively scheduled in 26th November 2017 as a side event at the AU-EU Summit. The main objective of the expert meeting (16-18 October) is to assess the reports from each state on the implementation of the immediate measures and to determine activities for the launching of the Single African Air Transport Market in January 2018. The Monitoring Body of the Yamoussoukro Decision will also be convened to deliberate on draft guidelines for the negotiations of air services agreement with third countries. Benefit of full air transport liberalisation (pdf):

To raise awareness on the benefits of air transport liberalisation, AFCAC and IATA in 2015 commissioned a study on benefits of full air transport liberalisation between 12 African countries (Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Uganda). The study indicated that complete air connectivity across these 12 countries would add $1.3bn to GDP, create over 155,000 new jobs and consumer will benefit from a 75% increase in direct services, fare savings of 25-35% worth $500m, greater convenience, time savings and approximately 5 million passengers who cannot currently afford air travel would be able to do so as increased competition among airlines would result in reduced fares. A similar cost-benefit study among the five EAC countries (Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Kenya) provide compelling evidence that complete liberalisation of air transport among the EAC Member States could result in an addition 46,320 jobs, $202.1m per annum gain in GDP, traffic increase by 46%, fares reduction by 9% on average and increase in frequency by 41% on average. [Download: Concept note, pdf]

For dignity and development, East Africa curbs used clothes imports (New York Times)

Kenya, for example, had half a million workers in the garment industry a few decades ago. That number has shrunk to 20,000 today, and production is geared toward exporting clothes often too expensive for the local market. In Ghana, jobs in textiles plunged by 80 percent between 1975 and 2000. Many people in Zambia, which produced clothes locally 30 years ago, can now only afford to buy imported second hand clothes. Although many support government efforts to build national textile industries, they say that the ban on used clothing should be done incrementally. In Rwanda, where the per capita gross domestic product is $700, many people oppose the ban, saying it has thrown thousands out of jobs distributing and selling second hand clothes and has hurt the nations youth in particular. Since Rwandan import tariffs on used garments have been raised 12 times, clothes sellers in Kigali have watched their revenues plummet. The government decision was premature, they said, put in place before the country was able to produce clothes that are affordable. And though the ban excludes imports of second hand clothing, it hasnt stopped the influx of more expensive new clothing from China.

Nigeria, major world economies consolidate progress on trade and investment facilitation (APO)

Nigeria, Brazil, China, the EU and a host of other leading economic powers made tremendous progress on the Investment Facilitation Initiative for Development, during the WTO mini-ministerial meeting in Marrakesh. In a breakthrough for Nigeria, the group of WTO Friends of Investment Facilitation for Development pledged support for the success of the High-Level Investment Forum to take place in Abuja on 3-4 November, co-hosted by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the ECOWAS Commission, in partnership with IFID. The WTO Investment Coalition is made of Nigeria, Argentina, China, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, Canada and the EU. A draft declaration is being negotiated for finalization at the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland, as part of the deliverables for the Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ministerial Conference in December. The objectives of the Investment Coalition are to:

Members review implementation of preferential rules of origin for LDCs (WTO)

WTO members reviewed efforts to implement the Nairobi Decision on preferential rules of origin for least developed countries at a meeting of the Committee on Rules of Origin on 4 October. The Decision aims to facilitate export of LDC goods to both developed and developing countries under unilateral preferential trade arrangements in favour of LDCs. The WTO secretariat presented members an updated note reporting the rates of utilization of LDC preferences. Several members informed the committee of recent developments regarding their preferential rules of origin requirements. [India opposes inclusion of new issues under WTO negotiations]

Strengthening collaboration to support worlds 32 landlocked developing countries (IRU)

The UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and IRU renewed their working relationship today with the signing of a memorandum of understanding to draw on their respective strengths in jointly supporting landlocked developing countries to implement the Vienna Programme of Action. Through the MoU, the two entities will advocate for key issues related to transport. These include: improving border crossings, developing regional transport corridors, private sector partnerships and trade facilitation for the worlds 32 LLDCs and their transit partners.

Zimbabwe, Zambia plan one-stop border post in Victoria Falls (News Ghana)

Neighboring countries Zimbabwe and Zambia are close to finalizing a bilateral agreement to set up a OSBP in the resort town of Victoria Falls, a senior Zimbabwe government official said Monday. The one-stop border post was temporarily operational in 2013 during the United Nations World Tourism Organization General Assembly, co-hosted by the two countries. The Border Efficiency and Management Systems technical committee has to date initiated engagement with Zambia toward the establishment of an OSBP at Victoria Falls border and the proposed bilateral agreement and procedures manual are being finalized, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Abigail Shonhiwa said.

Zimbabwe: Declare entire Bulawayo an SEZ (The Herald)

Industry and commerce executives in Bulawayo have called on the Government to declare the entire city an industrial Special Economic Zone as opposed to adopting a sectoral approach. Contributing during a pre-budget dialogue symposium organised by The Chronicle yesterday, participants said the focus on leather and textile SEZ was narrow arguing that such a move would not yield the desired revival of Bulawayo industries. They pointed out that the city had a wider spectrum of industry operations across different sectors, which should benefit from the model through a value chain system. CZI Matabeleland Chapter president Mr Joseph Gunda said while business was pleased that Bulawayo has been declared under the SEZ, they wanted an inclusive model.

Mozambiques first inland port starts operating in 2018 (Macauhub)

Mozambiques first inland port is due to come on stream in 2018, with a land-based intermodal terminal directly linked to two national highways and the Beira/Machipanda railway line in the provinces of Sofala and Manica respectively, according to Mozambican daily newspaper Noticias. The inland port will be installed at Inchope, where the two roads linking the southern, central and northern areas of the country meet, according to the head of that administrative post.

Kenya says high costs impede trade, foreign investment (Xinhua)

High trade facilitation costs and poor logistics services are hampering foreign direct investment and growth in the east African region, a senior Kenyan official said on Tuesday. Principal Secretary for Trade Chris Kiptoo said smooth logistics not only reduces the cost of imports but is vital to producers to be able to participate in global production circles and eventually move into new business. The 2017 Logistics Performance Survey report, released by the Shippers Council of East Africa, said the climate of conducting business has improved in the region, thanks to right policy choices, the rise in intra-regional trade, and an enabled private sector. The report noted a 40% decrease in truck turnaround time between 2014 and 2016 between Mombasa and Nairobi, to 26.4 hours; Mombasa to Kampala, 10.7 days; and Mombasa to Kigali, 12.5 days. Langat said the improvement in port dwell time, from about 68 hours in January 2015 to eight hours in December of 2016 at the port of Mombasa can be attributed to the introduction of fixed berthing and expansion of the harbor. [EA transporters secure cargo with e-tracking]

Tanzania: All is well with our ports, assures minister Tizeba (IPPMedia)

Bringing down the curtain on the two day two-day International Horticulture Stakeholders Conference jointly organised by the Tanzania Horticultural Association and the ITC in Arusha, Dr Tizeba assured players in the horticulture industry that all was well with the two exit points in exporting their harvests. Fresh from taking oath of office, the minister admitted that there were concerns at the two ports, which threatened to scare away investors of the otherwise lucrative sector. It is true that we had some serious concerns but let me assure you that we have rectified them. The process of exporting cargo now takes less time compared to how the situation was before, noted the minister. Earlier on, TAHAFresh general manager Amani Temu told the minister that those engaged in the horticulture business were now opting for the Mombasa port in the neighboring country of Kenya, to avoid the inconveniences and the bureaucracies they experienced at the Dar port.

Global Hunger Index 2017 (IFPRI)

The regions of the world struggling most with hunger are South Asia and Africa south of the Sahara, with scores in the serious range (30.9 and 29.4, respectively). The scores of East and Southeast Asia, the Near East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States range from low to moderate (between 7.8 and 12.8). These averages conceal some troubling results within each region. Eight countries suffer from extremely alarming or alarming levels of hunger. Except for Yemen, all are in Africa south of the Sahara: Central African Republic, Chad, Liberia, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Zambia. Many of these countries have experienced political crises or violent conflicts in the past several decades. [Report summary]
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No matter what you do or where you live, having some kind of retreat or time out in nature is essential to well-being -- or at least, that's what the experts say. So it makes sense that the cabin speaks to that primordial part of our psyche, of having a place out in the woods to enjoy quiet and to restore that intimate and necessary connection to nature and to that wilder part of us.

But cabins can come in all kinds of flavours beyond that stereotype of the old log cabin. Designed by Manhattan firm JACOBSCHANG Architecture and built by the two amateur builders and owners, this modern, off-grid 360-square-foot cabin is located on a 60-acre property, surrounded by second-growth forest in Sullivan County in New York state.

 JACOBSCHANG Architecture

 JACOBSCHANG Architecture

 JACOBSCHANG ArchitectureThe Half-Treehouse project was built on a tight budget of USD $20,000 thanks to the owners building much of the structure themselves. Much of the exterior and interior Eastern pine board materials were cut from the property itself, then milled and kiln-dried for construction. The outside has been treated with Scandinavian pine-tar as a way to weather-proof the structure from the elements.

 JACOBSCHANG Architecture

 JACOBSCHANG Architecture

 JACOBSCHANG Architecture

 JACOBSCHANG Architecture

The cabin was framed using a combination of engineered wood beams and dimensional lumber. The biggest cost came from the three huge custom-made pivoting glass doors, which were created off-site using steel tubing and dual-insulated glass. This is a completely off-the-grid weekend home with no running water or electricity, so the interior is heated using a Jotul woodstove, while a portable generator is used occasionally.

 JACOBSCHANG Architecture

A lot of money was saved too by reducing environmental disturbances on-site and not including a large, concrete foundation. Instead, Sonotube footings were used on one end of the structure, while on the other, the cabin is held up via two custom-made Garnier limbs that are anchored to two trees. These specially-designed load-bearing fasteners -- often used in the treehouse building industry -- help to minimize future detrimental effects to the health of the host tree as it grows and adapts to the added weight.

 JACOBSCHANG Architecture

Using a combination of personal elbow grease, design know-how, and materials harvested on-site, this project was able to keep costs relatively low, while looking quite elegant in the middle of the woods. For more, visit JACOBSCHANG Architecture.

[Via: ArchDaily]
I wondered about the problem with airline requiring my bags be checked all the way through and so if needed we can break up our flights. We just got off the phone with delta about this.

It would be stored for 9 days and so that would require using Baggage Depot and not the lockers which are a limit of 7 days.

So, then how far is it from where we would exit to going back to check into the next airline?

Can you even begin to guesstimate how much time we'd have to allow for all this?

Another option would be to take our big luggage to the hotel we will be staying at once we return to Amsterdam Hotel next to Central Train Station. How long should we allow for that scenario? Disembark, get luggage, passport control, take train into to town, drop off bags, train back, and then check in for next flight? Whew - typing all that makes me think I should just suck it up drag my big bag all around Norway with me at several different hotels and on and off 3 more flights.

Thanks again for any help.
Agree with AM - you will see almost nothing but airports and road. Skip Brisbane and surrounds, visit Port Douglas Wildlife Habitat and/or Hartleys Crocodile Adventures in Port Douglas to get your animl fix, and fly to Sydney. Also forget Nelson Bay.

You are talkingabout a nine+ hour drive from Brisbane, which is not on the coast and is mostly incredibly boring, and that is without the stops necessary for your safety, and that of other road users. If you try to get there from Sydney you will be lookin at three-four hours drive each way, and sandboarding is just not worth it if you have to sit in a car for that long each way.

Give yourself a whole extra day of NOT sitting in a car and just fly straight from Cairns to Sydney.

Have a surf lesson at Bondi or Manly in Sydney instead of the sand boarding.

Don't bother with a car for Blue Mountains and Sydney, just use the excellent public transport.

Cheers
Agree with Perthite- Albany is very rushed on Day 8 and would be easy to spend 2 nights there to explore in a more leisurely fashion. Dog Rock will take you 5 minutes. but you might include Middleton Beach and some of the Ellen Cove board walk- great for all ages. My 90 year old mother enjoyed her strolls there. Near the Gap is the small animal enclosure at Discovery Bay which might interest your family. From Denmark take the Lower Denmark Rd which gets you then to the road taking you around to the Torrndirup NP attractions- Stony Hill is a short walk out that way and great vista and interesting history. So plenty to do (and if saturday or sunday then markets on both mornings).

Not sure where you are staying in either Walpole or Denmark. But so you are aware the Tree Top Walk is beyond Walpole on road to to Denmark. Also Giant Tingle is lovely and whilst I think its sealed road there the last time I went there was a gravel road beyond (one way to Giant Tingle and Circular Pool). The Wilderness Lookout at Mt Frankand is an interesting area too around Walpole.

Good point about no need for Swan Valley. So if you can cut your Perth/Fremantle time at the end to 2 nights that would be better.

If you arrive early enough on Day 1 you could fit in Kings Park then- sunset would be nice.

It's looking good though! Great to see visitors allocating plenty of time in the south as there is much to see and do.

Edited: 5 years ago
You can price domestic airfares by visiting Nature Air and Sansa's sites - http://www.natureair.com , etc. Note that not each flight leaves from the same airport where international flights arrive and some add taxes and fees, which you only see closer to the end.. The type of fare determines the max allowed checked in luggage weight, which might be quite limited. + Certain domestic airports at destination add on extra fees pp - e.g., US$3, etc.

You might try to use travel planning services of one of the many companies - e.g., https://www.anywhere.com/costa-rica/transportation . They might be able to advise you on the best travelling, etc. options. They are often mentioned on this forum. Our own 2 separate attempts to do different trips planning with them were unsuccessful, as the suggested itinerary was very far from what had been requested, the hotels did not have the few basic requirements we had named, and the budget was literally twice what we had indicated, as though they did not read what we had input, so we just gave up dealing with them and did our own everything. But I have read some "+" reports about their services, too.

Edited: 5 years ago
The map indicates two options. the first is Highway 1 to Liberia, then turn west on Highway 21 to Comunidad, then north on Highway 253.

The other option is Highway 1 to Highway 18 (south of Las Juntsas) to Highway 21 to Comunidad then north on Highway 253.

I would by-pass Liberia on option 2, but the road may not be the best route.

Any recommendations for us?

We anticipate around five hours for the trip and want to take in a little sightseeing on the way.

Dean
Dec. is one of the wetter month in S. Caribbean.

See the average rainfall by months: https://www.puertoviejosatellite.com/weather.php .

It is only behind July (when we were there). It rains frequently, at any time of the day and night. It does not mean do not go, just be prepared, set your expectations, have rain ponchos, waterproof sandals, waterproof your electronics and docs, etc. We talked to locals and they said Ohh, December is just pouring here. Then we saw the rainfall charts. You can always get lucky, of course and when you r there, it will be sunny a lot.

Great site for Transportation in Puerto Viejo and area and in S. Caribbean in general: https://www.puertoviejosatellite.com/transport-to-puerto-viejo.php .

It has Bocas page: https://www.puertoviejosatellite.com/transportation-from-puerto-viejo-to-bocas-del-toro.php .

To get to S. Caribbean, besides public buses from Transportes Mepe terminal in San Jose, you can use prepaid and prebooked shared shuttles. We used Interbus and Pleasure Ride. Both are good. Interbus has more ppl, and no WiFi. Pleasure Ride - we were the only ones from SJO to Cahuita for the entire ride, nice driver, with not much English though, and had Wifi! We were happy! See http://www.pleasureridecr.com/shared-shuttle-services (we phoned and e-mailed them with Qns, but they book only on line), and https://www.interbusonline.com/rates.php for rates and times.

For Tortuguero - see how to get there: http://www.jungletomsafaris.com (see Our New Connections on the top right, or Our Pkgs). Includes land + boat transfers and/or pkgs, but note luggage weight restrictions for the boat portion!

This simple hotel in Tortuguero village has good Directions / map with various options: http://casamarbella.tripod.com/id10.html . They offer own tours and have a resident guide. Note that they do not offer safes in the rooms, nor do they offer any cooking facilities, not even a kettle or a shared area, so you need to buy all your lunches and dinners out.

Did you mean Puerto Viejo de Talamanca?

We liked staying in Cahuita near the national park. You can easily take a public bus to Puerto Viejo from there, if you wish. See my review of that NP, if interested- . It is from our previous visit, in 2016. We liked it, went back the next yr.

For more on getting to Bocas by shared shuttle (Caribeshuttle): see https://www.caribeshuttle.com/transportation-daily-shuttles . They have daily shuttles to Bocas. I think the main displayed rate is for pick up from Puerto Viejo, and for pick up from Cahuita or Manzanillo, there is an extra fee.

If you go to the reviews of Caribeshuttle on TA, filter the reviews by key words. Type Border crossing to get the reviews mentioning going to Panama (or to Nicaragua) to see prior travellers' border crossing experiences. Choosing to cross the border not on a wknd might be better.
A couple of hours out of Liberia would put you into Puntarenas. There is a Double Tree hotel right on the highway if you are just looking for a bed for the night and are not planning to linger.

Esterillos, just outside of Jaco would be my choice. Or go a bit farther and stay in Quepos, but that would be over 2 hours of driving. I suppose it all depends on your Liberia arrival time. As you probably know....you don't want to drive after dark.
Kris. I don't think anoif's post or experience is bonkers. Yes, they can be dangerous but provided common sense is exercised, folks can remain quite safe around them.

Safari goers regularly encounter them either when in a small boat, even canoes, and on foot with no problems whatsoever. As Frqtvlr says, Hippo are frequently encountered in campgrounds where they come to graze the grass and nobody is in danger from them provided commonsense precautions are taken. .

Walking around a pond where they live is even safer. For them and us.

The danger from hippo comes when they are spooked on land and their sole instinct is to head in a straight line for the safety of water. They can move very quickly and care not If somebody or something is in their way and that is when a fatal accident can happen.

You are right to be wary but I assure you that once you have been to Africa and seen them in the flesh you will change your views.

As for the unfortunate incident in Serengeti I have refrained from comment as in the absence of facts all we have is conjecture and speculation. That something went wrong is not in doubt. It is the who and the why that is needed.
OK. All the Lodge reviews are now up and 3000 photos being sifted for suitability so why not make a start on telling the tale of our trip? It starts in Kenya and finishes in Uganda but as the main part routes through darkest Tanzania I will confine the tale to this one forum.

Who are we? Well Lady M and myself of course plus a close friend and more or less regular companion with whom we have enjoyed many trips and some escapades over the years since we first met in Ethiopia way back when.

The fourth member was friend, guide, bird expert and driver Emmy who is happy to drive with gusto as part of our team when asked.

The mission. To visit the David Sheldrick Trust's two release sites in Umani springs and Ithumba in the north of Tsavo East National Park. This area used to be closed to tourism due to Shifta problems but is now considered safe to visit. After Tsavo we would wend our way back to Emmy's home in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for few days before flying home. The obvious route would be back to Nairobi and on to Kampala but that would not be taxing enough so we planned to travel the picturesque route to some less visited places such as Ruaha, Kitulo and Katavi. Most mortals (sensible people that they are) choose to visit the parks, if they go at all, by small plane due to their remoteness. So we decided to drive the whole way and see something of rural Tanzania as a bonus.

Emmy was up for it and arrived in Nairobbery with his trusty Land Cruiser to meet up with us as we flew in for two nights to allow time for buying supplies prior to setting off on our Odyssey.

The Kenyan part was straightforward as we had done this several times before. We first visited the Nairobi Nursery to meet the little ones before setting off next day for Umani Springs where we stayed 3 nights in very pleasant surroundings whilst being re-united with the staff and the keepers as well as the small herd of Orphans scheduled to be rehabilitated. We met Farajah and passed on 4sandi's love and affection for her own adoptee and posed for photos to send her. She was gracious enough not to ask which one was Farajah and which one was me.

Then it was up to Ithumba over 90km of dirt road where we settled in to our Tents for a further 5 nights. Did I mention the self catering? Perhaps not. When we first went to Ithumba some seven years and three visits back we were advised that Access to the Orphans is unique and nothing has changed since that time. It is truly humbling to be with these animals and their wild friends as they go about their daily routine. I got the usual warm hugs from my adoptees and made some new and very large friends. Wendi was there with her new baby Wiva and Galana brought Gawa to the party too. We just missed meeting Yatta's new baby who was born just as we left.

After five lively days we then drove through the wilderness south to cross the Galana River and reach Voi for a late lunch before taking the A23 (tar) road across Tsavo West to enter Tanzania near Taveta. All this time we had been birding madly and had a growing checklist of species including a 'lifer' for us all in the form of the beautiful Red-naped Bushshrike.

After crossing into Tanzania we turned hard right for the gravel track to Lake Chala Lodge where we were booked in for two nights in comfortable Cabins perched on the rim of the crater lake. Dinner was taken with Bush babies scampering over the dining room floor to their feeding station. Our inner needs were also taken care of by the excellent fare on offer from Carolyn and her team. This lodge does not get many visitors and it is hard to see why as it has wonderful views of the area including the nearby peak of Kilimanjaro. It is a firm favourite of ours. It is in a wildlife area and there is much to do including guided walks and swimming safely in the lake.

From Chala we headed first for Arusha and a coffee appointment, which he had forgotten, with Achnab of this forum. It was really great to meet up with him after many years of chit chat on the Forum. He is almost as nice as he looks. Great coffee and great company and with an office close to a good Forex for a top up of TZSh, what more could we want?

We tore ourselves away in time to face the Arusha traffic and the drive to our new base at Roika Tarangire Lodge which was new to us. With neither Tarangire Safari Lodge nor Ol Mesera open to us we wondered what we would find. Our spirits shot up when after checking in to the usual warm towel and cold drink ceremony we were told we could not get to our tents due to elephants blocking the path.

Elephants in camp!! This seems like my kind of place and the food was good too. No more self catering! When will I wake up to find I am dreaming? No Concession Fees either as we are outside the NP although the wildlife does not seem to bother about that small matter. Giraffe,Eland and of course Ellies wandered by casually. Next morning we set off for the short drive, 6km, to the park gate and enjoyed a full day in the park where we met plenty of elephant and giraffe and many birds. I also saw my very first Cheetah in this park and heard of a sighting of wild dogs so things are looking up in Tarangire..Several lions and a lazy leopard completed the big cats and it was good to be in this park once more.

Our final day here was spent exploring the local area on foot keeping a good look out for wildlife as we sought out more birds for our growing list.

We needed to rest our indomitable driver as the next sector was a full 700km to Ruaha where tents had been reserved at Tandala Tented Camp of which I had heard good things. The drive was uneventful as the road south to Iringa was new tar with the Tanzanian Highways Agency having been kind enough to open the final 13km only days before we were to pass. How kind is that?

Good smooth tar through some splendid hilly scenery was a real joy and we made Iringa in good time to top off the tanks before taking to the dirt road for the final 100km to Tandala where we arrived after dark where we were made very welcome by owner Yanni.

More to follow:-
Hi,

The more I research, the more I'm confused. We're thinking of going to Vietnam for the first time and want to spend some time in Hanoi, Halong Bay, and Danang (for the beaches). We're probably looking at September, but though we don't mind the heat, the last thing we want is rain, rain, rain.

We're not able to go in the summer (for us) months, of June, July and August. Maybe February/March/April?

Your help appreciated.
Too ambitious if you want to enjoy your trip in my opinion. I havent been to Con Dao, but I wouldnt do both that and Phu Quoc simply because you dont have time and they are both beaches with little else to see other than things associated with the sea. Pick one.

To prevent you getting too tired I would plan a four night stop at maybe Hoi An or the beach place you decide on so you get to rest. Travel in Vietnam is really tiring and often slow. If you can keep the central part flexible it will be sensible as it can flood and you might need to opt for a plan b.

Two full days in Hue and Can Tho is enough to see the main sights, but anything less isnt worth doing.

You can go by train from Ninh Binh down to Dong Hoi for Phong Nha by night to save a bit of time.

I would also look at travelling from Hue down to Hoi An by motorbike (as passengers) as it is a great experience and you get to see so much on route.

Vietnam is an assault of the senses so make time to do nothing for a few days in between the busy parts. The 3 days with Toan left us in the recovery position for a whole day! Great trip but very tiring.

Edited: 5 years ago
21 days in Vietnam/Bangkok  tell me what you think!

21 days in Vietnam/Bangkok  tell me what you think!

Hi all,

Here is my loose itinerary for my first visit to Vietnam and specifically my first time exploring the Vietnamese food and nightlife scene. I have been to Bangkok a bunch and I wanted to spend a few days there at the end. Tell me what you think!

TUES Nov 14 arrive HCMC 11:45 pm

WED Nov 15 HCMC

THUR Nov 16 HCMC

FRI Nov 17 HCMC

SAT Nov 18 DANANG. Travel straight on to HOI AN if it really sucks?! Supposed to have beach/seafood

SUN Nov 19 danang?hoi an?

MON Nov 20 hoi an? Hue?

TUES Nov 21 Hue? Ha noi?

WED Nov 22 hue? Hanoi?

THUR Nov 23 hue? Hanoi?

FRI Nov 24 hanoi

SAT Nov 25 hanoi

SUN Nov 26 hanoi

MON Nov 27 hanoi

TUES Nov 28 hanoi?

WED Nov 29 bkk?

THUR Nov 30 bkk?

FRI Dec 1 bkk?

SAT Dec 2 Bkk

SUN Dec 3 BKK

MON Dec 4 LAST DAY BANGKOK

TUES Dec 5 fly home 7:00 AM!! Be at airport 4AM!

*fly to Danang, take bike or car to Hoi An and then Hue. Fly to Ha Noi from Hue. Skip central coast altogether if weather is bad and fly from Saigon directly to Hanoi in this case.

How many days ideal for Saigon? Would do around 4-5 days max for Danang/Hoi An/Hue. Is 5 days good for Hanoi? Would like 4 days in Bangkok, maybe 5 but no more than that.
We just returned from a 10 day trip which included Kyoto. We stayed there 4 days and were completely busy exploring, could have used a couple more days We visited the beautiful historical area of Omihachiman, a day trip to Nara where your boys will enjoy feeding the deer. Another day was spent at Arashiyama where we wandered through the bamboo grove, relaxed by the river and too the scenic train ride. There are many historical sights in this famous town and i could really recommend it.

Oh, and there is Nishiki Market too!
Ive just had a look and sunset is due to be 4.34pm.

The last slot I can book at TOTR is 4.30pm on Christmas Day.

I cant see the opening times so is that because it shuts early? Any idea what time it does shut?

What time should I book for if I want to be there for sun setting?

Thanks
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- COTU leader Francis Atwoli has called on President Uhuru Kenyatta and NASA leader Raila Odinga to hold dialogue to save Kenya from eminent crisis

- Atwoli said workers in Kenya were losing jobs due to the demonstrations that have rocked the country

- The COTU leader said they have proposed a 10-member council of political veterans that will urgently meet and discuss Kenya's political stalemate

President Uhuru Kenyatta and NASA leader Raila Odinga should drop their hard-line positions and agree to dialogue to save the country from imminent crisis, COTU boss Francis Atwoli has said.

The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) boss said on Thursday, October 12 in Nairobi that he had in mind a 10-member council to lead the talks between the two camps.

Raila has announced and maintained that there would be no elections on October 26 but Uhuru Kenyatta says Kenyans will go to the polls as scheduled.

READ ALSO: Matiangi bans anti-IEBC demos in Nairobi CBD, NASA CEO to be charged

COTU boss Francis Atwoli who has proposed urgent formation of council to discuss Kenya's political deadlock. Photo: COTU

Making good of his threat, Raila and his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka have withdrawn their candidature.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has said the election will still go on explaining that Odinga and Kalonzo had not followed the law in pulling out of the race.

The High Court on the other hand has compelled the electoral body to include all other candidates on the ballot.

READ ALSO: Law says Form 24A should be signed 3 days after nominations- Orengo

Atwoli, in his proposal, suggests Raila's brother Oburu Oginga, former Kitui Senator David Musila, Garissa Senator Yussuf Haji, Jamleck Kamau, Zipporah Kitonny, Hassan ole Kamwaro, Philip Masinde, Phoebe Asiyo and Abraham Kiptanui.

Also on the list is former Attorney General Amos Wako, who is the current Busia senator on an ODM ticket.

Businesses have been affected and Kenyans staring at job losses if the situation is not contained now, Atwoli explained.

Opposition supporters demonstrating in Nairobi. Photo: NASA

READ ALSO: NASA leader Raila Odinga meets powerful spiritual leader a day after he was compelled to the poll

NASA has called for daily protests across the country to ensure there are fundamental reforms at the electoral body.

The government has however banned protests in the main CBDs of Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa cities due to destruction of property.

No elections no reforms demos in Nairobi on TUKO TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
- Former President Mwai Kibaki's grandson Sean Andrew Kibaki has joined thousands of Kenyans in pushing the United Nation to intervene and stop Raila from Plunging Kenya into Violence

-Sean publicly signed a petition accusing the opposition leader of planning violence in Kenya and derailing the country's economy

-The young lad shared it on his Twitter account as he called upon Kenyans to sign it and stop Raila from ruining the country

- Sean's participation did not auger down well with a cross section of Kenyans who took to bashing him and his grandfathers leadership

Former President Mwai Kibaki's grandson Sean Andrew Kibaki recently shamed NASA chief principal Raila Odinga after publicly signing a petition accusing the opposition leader of planning violence in Kenya and derailing the country's economy.

Sean,who has never been a big fan of politics shocked many when he took to Twitter and joined thousands of Kenyans in pushing the United Nation to intervene and have have Uhuru Kenyatta declared president.

Sean singed the controversial petition on Monday September,18 2017,and shared it on his Twitter account as he called upon Kenyans to sign it and stop Raila from ruining the country.

READ ALSO: Kibakis HOT grandson attacks ex-girlfriend ,AGAIN

Mwai Kibaki's grandson signs petition to have Uhuru declared president. Photo: Sean Andrew /Instagram

READ ALSO: Kibakis young and HOT grandson slams Kilimani Mums

The controversial petition which was initiated by one Tsomnyazi Nganga is meant to push the United Nations to intervene and stop Raila from Plunging Kenya into Violence.

The petition,titled, 'Stop Raila from Plunging Kenya into Violence', has so far received over three thousand signatures on Twitter although the United Nation is yet to respond.

READ ALSO: Ex-girlfriend to Kibakis hot grandson moves on to the next one with another man

READ ALSO: Wilbroda of Papa Shirandula looks like a college slay queen after quitting alcohol (Photos)

Well,Sean's participation did not auger down well with a cross section of Kenyans who took to bashing him and his grandfathers leadership.

The young Kibaki has never commented on participated in any political activity,save for recently when he publicly expressed his disagreement with Raila.

Have something to add to this article? Send to news@tuko.co.ke

No elections no reforms demos in Nairobi -on TUKO TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
It was fun in the sun on Sunday as the Aranguez savannah was the place to crown winners of t
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The situation in ATO area in eastern Ukraine has escalated. Russian-backed militants launched 41 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in last day.

This is reported by the ATO press center.

The tensest situation was observed in Donetsk direction, where militants used grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms to fire at Ukrainian positions near Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk), Mayorske (45km north of Donetsk), Butovka coal mine (11.4km north-west of Donetsk). The enemy also fired machine guns and small arms at defenders of Pisky (12km north-west of Donetsk). As a result, one Ukrainian soldier was wounded. In addition, Russian-backed militants launched attacks near Zaitseve (67km north-north-east of Donetsk), using machine guns.

In Mariupol direction, illegal armed formations shelled Ukrainian strongholds outside Marinka (35 km south-west of Donetsk), Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk) and Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol), using 82mm mortars and different types of grenade launchers. The enemy also twice used weapons on infantry fighting vehicles near Novotroitske (32km south of Donetsk).

In Luhansk direction, ATO troops came under infantry weapons fire outside Novooleksandrivka (65km west of Luhansk). Militants also used tank, 82mm mortars and anti-tank grenade launchers to launch two attacks on defenders of Krymske (42.5km north-west of Luhansk).

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Ukrainian State Concern Ukroboronprom and the Lithuanian Defence and Security Industries Association (LDSIA) signed a key memorandum providing for the creation of favorable conditions for mutually beneficial cooperation between the defence enterprises of both countries.

"We can already talk about the open prospects for expanding the potential for mutually beneficial cooperation between the defence industries of Ukraine and Lithuania. Taking into account the common eastern threat to our countries, cooperation in the field of cutting edge defence technologies is of strategic importance," said the Ukroboronprom deputy director general for foreign and economic affairs Denys Hurak, the press service of "Ukroboronprom reports.

As noted, right now there is a basis for creating joint projects to ensure the defensive capacities of Ukraine and Lithuania, which is a NATO member country.

The signing of this document became another step in strengthening the cooperation of State Concern Ukroboronprom with the military-industrial entities of NATO member countries, which is a strategic goal on path of strengthening Ukraine's integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions.

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The investigation into the embezzlement of state funds by Ukrainian Defense Ministry officials should be conducted in the shortest possible time, President Petro Poroshenko has said.

He told this to journalists at the Defense Ministry on Thursday, while commenting on corrupt actions by a deputy defense minister and other ministry officials.

"I emphasize that the investigation should be carried out as soon as possible, presented to the public and handed over to court. Any delay, when cases are considered for three to four years, is completely unacceptable. This destroys the logic of combating corruption," Poroshenko said.

He expressed hope that in the shortest possible time the society would get "complete information about what happened and how it happened."

"[Deputy Defense Minister Ihor] Pavlovsky headed the M sector, when it was very difficult in Mariupol. He took an active part in the anti-terrorist operation, and absolutely clearly we must conduct a transparent and effective investigation today. If he is guilty, he must be brought to liability, if not, he should be acquitted," Poroshenko said.

As reported, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office exposed a corruption scheme on the loss of over UAH 149 million in state funds during the purchase of fuel for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. Deputy Defense Minister Pavlovsky and Director of the Department for Procurement and Supply of Material Resources of the Defense Ministry Volodymyr Hulevych were detained.

Subsequently, NABU handed a notice of suspicion in embezzling public funds to two more Defense Ministry officials. One of them is an employee of a unit at the Department of State Procurement and Supply of Material Resources and another is an employee of the Department of Internal Audit at the Defense Ministry.

They were declared suspects under Part 5, Article 191 (appropriation, embezzlement or seizure of property through abuse of office) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The issue of choosing a measure of restraint for the detainees is currently being resolved.

The prosecutors demand arrest or UAH 75 million bail for the deputy minister and arrest or UAH 8 million bail for the director of the department of public procurement.

op
The Ukrainian government is interested in the development and success of international and domestic business in Ukraine and is open to any proposals that will contribute to this process, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said.

He stated this at a meeting with representatives of the Canadian business community, the press service of the Ukrainian government reports.

The meeting was held as part of discussion of ways to deepen cooperation between the two countries and the introduction of a free trade regime, which came into force in August this year.

"We set next year's GDP growth at 3%. We understand that this is not enough, and we are ready to improve this figure. But the question of attracting investment arises. I am interested in business success. It is important for anyone working in Ukraine to say: 'I am successful in Ukraine. Ukraine can become one of the most dynamic economies in the continent,'" he said.

Groysman said that the free trade agreement was a good opportunity to deepen cooperation and fill it with concrete content - through joint projects and investment attraction.

He stressed that improving the business and investment climate in Ukraine was a key priority for the government. According to the premier, effective mechanisms of interaction between business and government such as the Business Ombudsman's Council and the Ukraine Investment Promotion Office have already been worked out today, and the outcome of the negotiations is being implemented in structural reforms and initiatives introduced by the government.

op
Denmark can become the third international partner in addition to the European Union and the German Government, with which Ukraine will cooperate in the framework of the Energy Efficiency Fund.

Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Housing of Ukraine Hennadiy Zubko said this after a meeting with Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark in Ukraine Ruben Madsen and Director of Investments and Head of the Danida Business Finance (DBF) Tina Kollerup Hansen, the Governmental portal reports.

"We see the participation of Danish companies in the projects of the Fund as a promising direction in terms of engineering in the areas of energy audit and energy services, the development of technical solutions, the provision of equipment, as well as the possibility of joining the multi-donor fund for co-financing of the implementation of energy efficiency measures. In addition, Denmark is interested in implementing municipal infrastructure projects in Ukraine, in particular in the areas of water and heat supply, waste treatment and modernization of social facilities," Zubko said.

According to the deputy prime minister, in the near future the Ministry of Regional Development will prepare a pool of investment projects to be offered to the Danish side.

As a reminder, the Danida Business Finance (DBF) is a mechanism for providing access to financing of infrastructure projects, offering subsidized loans for them.

ish
For nine months of the current year, NJSC "Naftogaz of Ukraine" imported 7.1 billion cubic meters of gas from the European countries, which is 2.4 billion cubic meters, or 53%, more than last year.

Ukrinform learnt this from the Naftogaz press service.

"For nine months of the current year, NJSC "Naftogaz of Ukraine" imported 7.1 billion cubic meters of gas from the European countries, which is 2.4 billion cubic meters, or 53%, more than over the corresponding period last year," the statement reads.

This year, Naftogaz bought gas from 12 European suppliers from Germany, Switzerland, France, the UK, the Czech Republic, Poland and Italy.

"None of these companies supplied more than 30% of the entire volume of imported gas," Naftogaz commented.

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Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy has said that a joint letter to the European Commission from Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania against the Nord Stream-2 project will soon be signed.

The speaker said this during a meeting with Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland Stanisaw Karczewski, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"It is also very important that our parties have almost agreed upon a letter that the Nord Stream is a threat to the European Union, and it will be signed soon," Parubiy said.

As earlier reported, during an official visit to Poland on September 6, Speaker Parubiy at a meeting with the heads of the Seimas and the Senate, called on the Polish side to join a joint initiative with the Head of the Seimas of Lithuania Viktoras Pranckietis to prepare a joint appeal to the European Commission against the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

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President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko strongly rejects statements of those saying about fait accompli as regards Crimea.

Poroshenko said this, speaking at the plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"I strongly reject some saying about fait accompli as regards Crimea. This tribune was not invented for calls for appeasement. Neither was it for appeals to trade in territory for money, oil or gas. It was invented to safeguard our fundamentals, our values and our principles, and, most importantly, to defend them in time of a need. The time has come," Poroshenko said.

He noted that Russia tried to use against the democratic community its own achievements.

"In 1950 Winston Churchill, an ideological father of the Council of Europe, appealed to this Assembly against the background of the challenge to the democratic Europe from the Soviet Union. He admitted that Moscow had a wealth of opportunities for creating trouble. Given the circumstances, he said something very important about the prospect of this Assembly. I quote: Either we shall prove our worth and weight and value to Europe or we shall fail," the President of Ukraine said.

He added that Moscow now pushed Europe back to the same reality that Sir Winston Churchill was so concerned by almost 70 years ago.

"The guarantee of our success resides in preserving and strengthening of our unity, solidarity and resilience. It is only upon the respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine that we can achieve peace and stability in Europe. Ukraine strives for peace as, I believe, everyone does in this hall. I, as the Head of State, want peace for Ukraine and Europe," Poroshenko stressed.

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The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine has sent a note of protest to Hungary with a demand to cancel the rally Self-determination for Zakarpattia region, scheduled for October 13.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin wrote this on Twitter.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary informed our Embassy about the rally under the slogan Self-determination for Zakarpattia to take place on October 13. Does Budapest support separatism?" Klimkin wrote.

He added that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest in this regard.

"We have immediately sent a note of protest demanding to cancel this provocation! We are sure that Hungary will continue to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine," the Ukrainian minister stressed.

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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called on Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland to get more involved in the liberation of Ukrainian citizens illegally held in the occupied territories and in Russia.

The negotiations between Poroshenko and Jagland took place in Strasbourg on Wednesday, October 11, the press service of the head of state reported.

"The head of state called on the secretary general of the Council of Europe to more actively engage in efforts to free Ukrainian citizens who are illegally held in the occupied Crimea and Donbas and in Russia," the statement reads.

The statement notes that Poroshenko thanked the Council of Europe for its support, adding that from the very beginning of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly had resolutely defended the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Poroshenko stressed the need for the consolidation of all Council of Europe institutions to continue systemic pressure on Russia so that it meets the demands of the Council of Europe to end the aggression against Ukraine.

He also called for more active role of the Council of Europe in protecting human rights in the territory of the illegally occupied Ukrainian Crimea. In particular, Poroshenko asked the secretary general of the Council of Europe to use all available mechanisms to remedy the critical human rights situation on the peninsula.

op
Ukrainian doctors have arrived in the Russian Federation to examine Pavlo Hryb, the 19-year-old citizen of Ukraine, who was abducted from the territory of Belarus in late August and is now being held in a remand prison in Krasnodar.

This was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Health Ministry.

"Ukrainian doctors arrived in the Russian Federation to examine Ukrainian Pavlo Hryb, who is kept in a remand prison in Krasnodar," the report reads.

Pavlo Hryb, who was abducted from Belarus in late August and taken to Russia, has been held in a pre-trial detention center in Krasnodar for over a month and is deprived of the necessary medical assistance.

In order to prevent the deterioration of his health condition, Ukraine decided to send its doctors to Russia and to urge immediately give them the opportunity to examine the detainee.

As reported, on August 27, a Ukrainian citizen and a former border guard officer, Ihor Hryb, appealed to the Ukrainian Embassy in Minsk with a statement that his son, Pavlo, born in 1998, disappeared in Belarus.

On August 24, the young man left Chernihiv for Gomel and disappeared there. Ihor Hryb initially searched for his son in Belarus independently. Police representatives in Gomel reported that his son had been placed on the wanted list by the FSB of the Krasnodar Krai of Russia under an article "terrorist act."

ish
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine has expressed a strong protest against another wave of groundless searches and illegal detentions of Ukrainian citizens by the Russian occupying authority in city of Bakhchisaray in Crimea.

The Foreign Ministry posted a corresponding statement on its official website.

"Offensive actions by the occupants against those who oppose the occupation regime, the Crimean Tatar activists and Ukrainians, once again demonstrates the continuation of Russia's repressive policy aimed at eradicating any dissent and intimidating the population of the Crimean peninsula. In addition, targeted searches in Muslim houses proves the persecution on religious grounds, reads the document.

The Foreign Ministry recalled that earlier following the searches in Bakhchisaray on Wednesday, October 11, six people were illegally detained and at least nine activists were detained only for coming to support their compatriots and were near the places of searches.

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The Embassies of Hungary and Ukraine together with the Franciscan Church organized a charity concert in Vienna to raise funds for Ukrainian children.

This is reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

"The amount of collected funds was EUR 15,000," the statement reads.

The musicians from Ukraine, Austria and Hungary participated in the charity concert, which took place on October 5.
Sumy region has received 40 tons of humanitarian aid from Holland, which will be distributed among medical and educational institutions of the region.

"We are very pleased with such support from the European community," Chairman of the Sumy Regional Council Volodymyr Tokar said this during a meeting with representatives of the Dutch charity foundation, Stichting Meierijstad Helpt Oost-Europa.

Sumy region received the humanitarian aid from Holland for the second time.

During the meeting, the region leaders and benefactors discussed issues of further cooperation.

ish
A vandal, who painted with red paint anti-Ukrainian inscriptions on the building of Ukraine's honorary consulate in Rzeszow on September 30, has been detained by the Polish police, admitted his guilt and is ready to suffer a respective punishment, local police spokesperson Adam Szelag has told an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The police identified and detained this person last Friday (on October 6). This is a 35-year-old resident of Rzeszow. He was charged under an article on appeals for hatred on ethnic grounds. He admitted his guilt and voluntarily expressed his readiness to suffer a punishment," Szelag said.

According to him, the man could not clearly explain the motives behind his actions. At the same time, the police spokesman said that this person was not associated with any radical organizations.

The vandal faces up to two years in prison.

As reported, the vandal wrote on the consulate building in Polish "Ukraina = OUN - UPA, Waffen SS Galitzien," gallows and the inscription "Raus" (in German "Out") near Ukraine's emblem, and an inscription in Russian "No."

After the crime was committed, the Ukrainian Embassy in Warsaw sent a note to the Polish Foreign Ministry, in which, in particular, it asked the Polish authorities to guarantee security to all Ukrainian consular institutions in Poland.

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The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted a resolution that contains recommendations concerning the recently adopted Law of Ukraine "On Education."

The decision was made following the corresponding debate, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The document was supported by 82 members present in the hall. Eleven PACE members voted against, 17 abstained.

The members of the Ukrainian delegation, except Mustafa Dzhemilev, voted against the resolution.

The resolution calls on Ukraine to fully implement the recommendations and conclusions of the Venice Commission and to modify the new Education Act accordingly.

The Assembly takes note of serious concerns expressed on a number of legal issues. It believes that it is important to fulfil the commitments based on the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5), the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ETS No. 157, Framework Convention), and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and to help re-establish a constructive dialogue between the different parties concerned, the resolution reads.

PACE noted that the Ukrainian authorities had submitted the text of the Education Act to the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) for an opinion, which shall be delivered by the end of 2017. However, the Assembly expressed dissatisfaction that this step was not taken before the adoption of the Education Act.

The Ukrainian side, in turn, reported to the PACE that the law had been discussed in detail by members the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, including by members who represent the constituencies where ethnic minorities live and lawmakers who themselves belong to national minorities.

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After hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria blitzed the nation, most Americans think weather disasters are getting more severe and see global warming's fingerprints.



A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 68 percent of Americans think weather disasters seem to be worsening, compared to 28 percent who think they are staying the same and only 4 percent who say they are less severe.



And 46 percent of those who think it's getting worse blame man-made climate change mostly or solely for the wild weather, while another 39 percent say it's a combination of global warming and natural variability.



"Just with all the hurricanes that are happening this year ... it just seems like things are kind of mixed up," said Kathy Weber, a 46-year-old stay-at-home mom from Menomonie, Wisconsin.

When Hurricane Nate washed ashore in the Gulf Coast earlier this month, it was one of the first storms that Greg Thompson did not evacuate for. Thompson, a retired pest control researcher in New Orleans, said "it's pretty irrational" that people and politicians can deny global warming when the Gulf of Mexico is so much hotter than decades ago and storms seem so much more powerful.



"When so many things are happening and so many of them [storms] are intense and so many of them are once-in-500-year levels and they're all occurring, it's a pretty good sign global warming is having an effect," Thompson said.



Susan Cutter, who directs the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina, said she's not surprised by the poll results.



"How can you not" notice it, Cutter said. "The public sees the connection because they see it happening to their neighbors, themselves. They see it on television. And they're not responding to a particular political constituency."



Cutter and other experts say from a science perspective, it is clear that the United States is getting more extreme weather and climate change plays a role.



This year so far has seen 15 weather disasters that cost $1 billion or more, tied for the most in the first nine months of the year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.



An analysis of 167 years of federal storm data by The Associated Press finds that no 30-year period in history has seen this many major hurricanes, this many days of those storms spinning in the Atlantic, or this much overall energy generated by those powerful storms.

Even though she went down to help Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas as a missionary and midwife, Gwendolyn Posey of Oklahoma just doesn't see any increase in extreme weather.



"I don't think it's man-made climate change," Posey said. "It's always changing one way or another. It's always in flux."



Posey points to a record 12-year period during which no major hurricane hit the United States. During that time period, Atlantic hurricanes were still more active than normal, but didn't hit the mainland United States.



"Anytime the government starts ramming things down my throat, I immediately think it's wrong," said Posey, a mother of 10, farmer and doctor of natural medicine. "Truth speaks for itself."



According to the new poll, 63 percent of Americans think both that climate change is happening and that the government should address it, but there's little sign that those feelings have strengthened since surveys conducted before this year's run of hurricanes.



Two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling climate change. That's similar to his approval rating overall.



Thompson said he will take climate change into account when he casts his ballot.



"If there is somebody who actually says global warming isn't happening, that's a sign that they are too stupid, too crazy or too dishonest to get my vote," Thompson said.



Many Americans, like Posey, say they've taken part in charitable activities in response to the recent storms, including 55 percent who gave money, clothing or other items to charity, 11 percent who did extra volunteer work and 9 percent who donated blood or tried to do so.



The AP-NORC poll of 1,150 adults was conducted Sept. 28-Oct. 2 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.



Respondents were first selected randomly using address-based sampling methods, and later interviewed online or by phone.
Are Japanese students too lazy to study abroad long term?

Or are they too busy?

While the Japanese government endeavored in 2013 to double the number of its students studying abroad, instead, the numbers have fallen, says the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Japans initiative - Tobitate! or Leap for Tomorrow - sought to double the number of its university students abroad from 60,000 to 120,000, and the number of high school students abroad from 30,000 to 60,000.That would send 180,000 students abroad by 2020.

But figures from 2014 show a 36 percent decrease from the 2004 peak of 82,945 students abroad long term.

The government hasnt provided much support for students who do a long-term study-abroad, especially for those who seek academic degrees at foreign universities at the undergraduate level, said Yukiko Shimmin, an assistant professor and international education adviser at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, to the Japan Times.

Japanese students are discouraged from studying overseas because of busy academic schedules and time required for clubs, part-time jobs and studying for qualifications that could be useful when job hunting.He said the high language-test scores required for long-term study-abroad programs is a major challenge.

Students in Japan dont know the global dynamics, said Masakazu Watanuki, an economics professor from Chuo University in Tokyo, who sponsors Japanese exchange students to Washington every year.

He said Japanese students have grown somewhat lazy with their comfortable lives in Japan.They have very little incentive to go abroad, Watanuki told VOA Student U.

Japanese students are not challenged enough or motivated to leave the country, said Minori Takahashi, a sophomore at American University in Washington, who came to the United States for her final two years of high school.They are just afraid to go out.

Japanese students feel they have to conform to the same path: high school, college and then a job, she said.Study abroad is not a typical piece of the Japanese educational path.

Another reason for the decrease is the countrys demographics.The number of 18-year-olds in Japan has been dropping since 1991s peak of two million. Projections see the numbers falling even further to less than one million 18-year-olds by 2031, according to the Japanese Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology.

However, while long term study has declined, short term has risen, according to Japan Student Services Organization.

One of Watanukis students, Madoka Konno, is in a three-week program in Washington before studying in Belgium for nine months.She said she was able to study abroad because of scholarships she received from Tobitate! and because she learned English when she was young.

She said she is concerned for Japans future if more Japanese students dont go abroad and experience global business.

Japanese people have to go abroad and do business abroad, Konno said.

Takahashi agrees.She said she is afraid Japan will fall behind in the interconnected global economy if more students do not go abroad.

She said more students dont study abroad because it is too expensive, despite scholarships like Tobitate!

According to QS Top Universities, college tuition costs in Japan are between $4,140 and $8,280 annually.

In the United States, the average annual cost for a public university out-of-state was $22,958 for the 2014-2015 academic year. That year, a private school averaged $31,321.

Hitotsubashis Shimmin told the Japan Times a rise in short-term study abroad programs at his school is because of funding from the Japan Student Services Organization.

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology told the Japan Times the agency has no plans to lower the 180,000 student goal, despite the recent figures.

Im sad a lot of students dont go study abroad, Konno said.

Please share your suggestion in the comments here, and visit us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, thanks!
The Tunisian man who carried out last year's deadly truck rampage at a Christmas market in Berlin could have been detained and possibly deported months before the attack, a special investigator said Thursday.

Anis Amri, a failed asylum-seeker, killed 12 people when he hijacked a truck and drove it into a crowded Christmas market in the German capital on December 19, 2016, in an attack that was later claimed by the Islamic State group. Public inquiries and German media have since uncovered a series of mistakes by officials who had been tracking Amri because he was believed to pose a public threat.

Bruno Jost, appointed by the state of Berlin to investigate how authorities handled the case, said security agencies had a good opportunity to question Amri in detail and put him in investigative custody for months after he was detained in southwest Germany on July 30, 2016, as he tried to travel to Switzerland with forged Italian papers.

"Pretty much every mistake that could have been made was made," Jost told reporters in Berlin as he presented his final report.

The former federal terrorism prosecutor said Amri was questioned only by state police in Baden-Wuerttemberg who weren't familiar with the 23-year-old and failed to delve into his ties to Islamic extremists or his drug dealing.

"Basically, it was a routine interrogation that largely centered on the source of the forged documents and nothing else," said Jost, adding that police didn't examine a piece of paper with Arabic writing or confiscate Amri's cellphone.

During his two-day detention in Friedrichshafen, none of the security agencies who had been observing Amri for months sent officers to Baden-Wurttemberg to question him about phone calls he made to his mother that proved he was a Tunisian citizen  a fact Amri had long denied in order to avoid deportation.

"In my view, there was a very realistic chance to take him out of circulation for [up to five] months" in Friedrichshafen, he said.

Jost also criticized the decision by Berlin authorities to stop eavesdropping on Amri's cellphone in June 2016, even though his case was regularly discussed by German counter-terrorism officials.

Amri fled to Italy after the Christmas market attack and died in a shootout with police near Milan on December 23, 2016.

Andreas Geisel, Berlin's top security official, said the report would be used to prevent similar mistakes from happening again and called for a parliamentary inquiry into the case at the federal level, to ensure the actions of authorities in all of Germany's 16 states are scrutinized properly.
Firefighters battling massive wildfires in California are making progress and beginning to contain the fire, officials said Thursday.

Today is a different day, and its a good day for us. We are now hitting this fire on two fronts, Napa County Supervisor Delia Ramos said.

Fire crews entered their fourth day of fighting the fire on Thursday, as strong, dry winds returned to the area, further complicating the jobs of the thousands of firefighters on hand to battle the blaze.

Barry Biermann, deputy chief for Californias fire protection team (CAL Fire), said additional resources are continuing to pour in and it has allowed officials gain the upper hand and actually ... (get) some containment started in certain areas" of the fire.

As more and more resources come in, we will continue to get additional containment on these fires, those numbers will start to go up and were hoping that the weather continues to cooperate and be mild and allow us the opportunity to make good progress, Biermann said.

The raging wildfires had spread Wednesday, fanned by stiff winds that forced new evacuations in a widening circle of damage.

At least 26 people have been killed and several hundred are reported as missing. Live power lines lay in the street in burnt-out neighborhoods as firefighters battled dry conditions. All that remained of some neighborhoods are a few blackened chimneys and charred trees and abandoned cars.

Officials said 21 wildfires are burning in northern California and have destroyed at least 3,500 homes and businesses.

The fires have burnt more than 75,000 hectares over several counties that are world famous for vineyards and wineries - some of which were destroyed.

Police blocked off many roads and prevented people from going into the destroyed neighborhoods, where some people said they no longer could recognize streets and surroundings.

I have nothing

But Dave Larson, of Glen Ellen, California, sneaked into his destroyed neighborhood to look for his cats and to see if any of his neighbors' homes still stood. He knew his was gone.

This to me is like a nuclear bomb went off, Larson said near his home. Ive woken up the last two mornings, thinking it was maybe a dream but then I realized I have nothing. I have someone elses clothes now. Its bizarre having nothing.

As he surveyed the damage, he marveled how some of his neighbors homes survived. He said he regretted that he hadnt stayed, like his neighbors, standing on the roof with his hose and fighting the fire himself.

Gordon OBrien, a fire captain from the city of Alameda, about 70 miles away, said when a fire is coming fast, there is little humans can do except to save their own lives.

On Wednesday, OBrien and his crew were stomping out flare-ups, hoping to curtail the fire from creating more damage.

Were not focused a whole lot on actual containment, he said. Were focused on structure protection and in the fire lines to stop anything else from burning down.

Larson alerted the firefighters to a missing person on the street. They poked through the persons home looking for remnants of anything  his wheelchair, for example, but found nothing.

Larsons classic car collection was a smoldering heap of metal. And his antiques were gone.

But he found something of sentimental value propped up against his melted flat screen TV  his grandfathers rifle, 100 years old and a memento from World War II. The gun, covered in soot and ash, looked like a burnt stick, although its bayonet was still intact. Larson said he wished he had grabbed the gun as he left.

People here have had little time to take stock of their losses. For now, they are hoping to make it through the fire safely.

California's forestry department fire chief, Ken Pimlott, called the wildfires "a serious, critical, catastrophic event." He is helping oversee the 8,000 firefighters battling the flames.

Authorities do not know the exact cause of these fires, which became deadly on Sunday. They say anything from a car backfire to a thoughtlessly tossed cigarette can bring on an inferno.

President Donald Trump has declared parts of northern California a disaster area, making it eligible for speedy federal aid. Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in eight counties

Strong dry winds called the Santa Ana winds blowing across the valleys from the mountains put northern California at an extremely high risk for wildfires in the late summer and early fall.
As Cambodias ruling party prepares to dissolve the main opposition party and pass legislation that will hand their formidable bloc of seats largely to a notoriously corrupt third party, the countries who spent billions building democracy here are reacting with little more than statements expressing concern.

Representatives of the EU, U.S. and Australia have all stressed the importance of competitive elections and urged the release of opposition leader Kem Sokha, who was jailed on treason charges, but declined to discuss concrete responses that critics have proposed, such as withdrawing aid or targeted sanctions.

Japan, the second biggest donor to Cambodia after China, did not respond to VOA's inquiries.

Democracy at risk



Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday described the Paris Peace Accords, the document that brought about the United Nations democratizing mission in Cambodia in the early 1990s, as a ghost. The accords upheld multiparty elections as a key pillar in the process of transitioning the country to a democratic system.

Legislation has been introduced in parliament Thursday determining how the Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP's, seats will be transferred to parties which won no seats in the last election once it is dissolved, using what critics say are blatantly anti-democratic legislative amendments pushed through the National Assembly in the past year.

The royalist party, FUNCINPEC, will take the majority of those seats in what Prime Minister Hun Sen has called a, heaven for political parties."

Carl Thayer, a politics professor at the Australian Defense Force Academy offers an alternate description: illiberal democracy.

FUNCINPEC, or kept parties, will be allowed to exist and contest the elections next year and Hun Sen will win and then he can grab FUNCINPEC, as he did before, a seat in the coalition government just to show it is a multiparty democracy, he told VOA.

Former co-Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranarridh, who was convicted in 2007 for breach of trust after selling his partys headquarters and was accused previously in multiple corruption scandals, currently heads FUNCINPEC.

Earlier this week, FUNCINPEC party spokesman Nheb Bun Chin told The Phnom Penh Post his party filed a complaint to have the CNRP dissolved because, he said, they took all my supporters. They took my customers."

Human rights



The predicament of how far attacks on human rights and democracy should be tolerated in order to preserve programs developing base conditions for long term socio-political gains is something major pro-democracy donors have grappled with in Cambodia for decades.

Now that the CNRP faces a severe setback, the question democratic donor countries must confront is whether there is anything left to salvage in return for providing the CPP legitimacy.

Thayer said he thought major western powers would still probably acquiesce to a political situation that was going to be a farce because megaphone diplomacy had been recognized as ineffective and risky.

The landscape isnt good and the situation in Cambodia is intensifying and its not the new normal. Its worse than the new normal but thats been underway for a very long time, he said. It gets back to having your other programs that are somewhat effective cut off, and do you want to jeopardize that kind of aid and assistance to make a political stand.

In a series of emailed responses, the European Union stressed preferential access to its markets has contributed to an almost 35 percent drop in Cambodias extreme poverty rate over six years.

Western donors



European Commission officials said they would step up dialogue with countries like Cambodia that benefit from a preferential tariffs system known as the Generalized System of Preferences, "where the EU can have most impact on the fight against human rights breaches," and

"continue to be ready to suspend GSP benefits in the most serious cases.

U.S. ambassador William Heidt has highlighted the positive impacts of Washingtons aid contribution to initiatives to develop the economy, improve food security, and eradicate HIV/AIDS.

A spokesperson for Australias Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which plans to give $68.3 million in in aid this financial year, pointed to the substantive difference to the lives of Cambodian people, programs on poverty reduction, health, small scale infrastructure and agriculture had made.



We are specifically concerned by the arrest of Kem Sokha, leader of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party, on 3 September 2017 and by reports that the opposition party may be dissolved, the spokesperson said in an e-mail.
Chad has withdrawn hundreds of troops from neighboring Niger, where they were helping local forces fight Boko Haram Islamist militants, humanitarian sources and officials said.

The pullout over the past two weeks could weaken a regional struggle against the militants, who have killed tens of thousands of people, forced many more to flee and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

There was no immediate explanation or comment from defense officials in Chad.

But the move came a month after the vast central African country complained about an unexpected U.S. travel ban imposed on its nationals. Chad warned at the time the order could affect its security commitments  which include its involvement in the U.S.-backed fight against Boko Haram.

Residents said the withdrawal had already had an impact on Niger's Diffa region, which has seen a string of attacks by Boko Haram militants crossing over from their base in neighboring Nigeria.

Ibrahim Arimi from the border village of Bosso said banditry had increased since the Chadian troops started leaving. He was temporarily moved to another village for safety, he said.

Diffa parliamentarian Lamido Moumouni said residents had started complaining. "They have come to rely on the forces, so there is a perception that security will be lacking," he said by telephone.

At its peak in 2016 after an attack in Bosso, Chad had 2,000 troops in Niger to help counter Boko Haram, although security sources said this had fallen since.

Boko Haram has attacked Chad, Niger and Cameroon from its base in northeast Nigeria. Its eight-year bid to carve out an Islamist caliphate has driven millions from their homes; more than 200,000 of them are now in Diffa, with little prospect of returning home.

Thousands of them are camped alongside an unfinished highway in the middle of a barren savanna with few resources.

Chad's soldiers also occupy front-line positions in a peacekeeping force in northern Mali. Falling oil revenues after the price crash in 2014 have also sapped Chad's appetite for expensive regional security commitments, analysts say.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet welcomed more than 60 Syrian refugees to the country's capital Thursday, as her country joined other Latin American nations in offering safe harbor to families fleeing Syria's civil war.

At an airport ceremony in Santiago, Bachelet greeted 14 newly arrived Syrian families, who will be resettled in furnished homes with social benefits, including monthly stipends, schooling, health care and language classes.

"We know you have struggled and what we hope is that, in our country, you will find a place to rebuild your lives," Bachelet said.

More than 2 million people fleeing wars or persecution have joined the ranks of the world's refugees in 2017, according to the United Nations, even as the United States and countries in Europe have begun to implement ever more restrictive asylum policies.

The humanitarian crisis has prompted several South American nations, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia, to begin accepting small numbers of refugees from Syria.
The U.S. needs to have a strong relationship with Serbia and must find ways to promote a partnership in order to help the stability of the broader Balkan region, U.S. Representative Ted Poe of Texas said while visiting Serbia earlier this week.

Poe, co-chairman of the Serbian Caucus, recently signed a letter, along with 13 other members of Congress, to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reiterating the need for renewed political attention to the Balkans and additional support to Serbia, as the largest country and political pivot in the region.

He spoke with VOA's Serbian service upon his return from Belgrade, where he met with President Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic.

Terrorism is one of the main reasons for a closer cooperation between the two countries, Poe told VOA's Serbian service. The Balkans have seen an increase militant activity.

The prevention of terrorist recruitment and an exchange of intelligence information would help make the world a safer place, he said.

Poe also noted that Russia has been using its power to manipulate countries in Eastern Europe while the West "did not do a whole lot." He said the Obama administration seems to have ignored the Balkans  which he described as a mistake, one that he said he hoped the Trump administration would not make.

No interest in Russia sanctions

While Serbia has said its main goal is to join the European Union, it has refused to join the bloc in imposing sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine. Unlike its neighbor Montenegro, which joined NATO in June, Serbia has expressed no interest in becoming part of that alliance.

"I appreciate Serbia's position of being a neutral country, but we should be concerned of the Russian 'bear' looking for more places to gobble up, and the Balkans may be one of those places," Poe said.

Europe needs to understand that Russia has not changed its outlook since it was the Soviet Union, he added. "They interfere with elections, everybody's elections," he said. "They send disinformation through social media into all countries, they spread their propaganda.

"Russians really can't be trusted, but being neutral is a decision Serbia has to make."

Speaking of the possibilities for economic cooperation, the U.S. congressman said the export of American natural gas to Serbia and other Balkan countries would be beneficial from a geopolitical standpoint, alleviating Russia's grip on Eastern Europe, where Moscow has the only gas pipeline in the region.
At least 17 people have been admitted for injuries sustained Wednesday in the opposition stronghold of Kisumu, Kenya, as demonstrators demanding electoral reform clashed with police. Police deny using live bullets.

Lucas Otieno, a 24-year-old boat welder, says he was caught in the demonstrations in Kisumu, in western Kenya, on his way to work.

Before I got to my place of work, I met police officers at the bridge. They started throwing tear gas, then people started running, Otieno said. I stopped at the market then I felt pain, I touched and then I saw blood.

A bullet hit his genitals and lodged in his groin, he said.

Father angered by son's injuries

Otieno's father, Moses Odingo, was angered by his sons injuries.

We cannot have a situation where you just shoot aimlessly at helpless people who are not involved in the demonstrations, Odingo said. Kisumu now has become like the Wild West where people are learning to shoot.

Opposition supporters clashed with police in the Kondele area in Kisumu County.

Families of the injured and protestors have accused the police of using live bullets to quell the riots. An accusation denied by the police.

In the main hospital in Kisumu, few doctors and nurses are available to attend to the injured, some of whom had been here for hours without treatment.

Eric Odhiambo, who sells second-hand clothes, said police assaulted him at his place of work.

I was hiding in my shop. Police were chasing some of the demonstrators and they realized someone was hiding in the shop, Odhiambo said. They entered and started beating me with a baton. They broke my left hand, and I have not got treatment. I was told to come back tomorrow.

Odhiambo was one of the dozens of injured waiting for treatment at the biggest hospital.

Serious injuries

Dr. Juliana Otieno works at the Jaramogi Odinga hospital. She said they have received patients with serious injuries.

There were 23 (patients) by 6:30 p.m., three were gunshot, the rest were other injuries, Otieno said. They were treated, one or two were still to go to the theater (surgery). They were being prepared. The ones with the gunshots were the ones who were supposed to go to the theater (surgery).

Political tensions continue to climb in Kenya ahead of the rerun presidential election on Oct. 26.

Opposition supporters took to the streets of major cities Wednesday to demand that electoral officials, who were blamed for irregularities in the August election, step down immediately.

Odinga pulls out

On Tuesday, opposition leader and presidential candidate Raila Odinga pulled out of the October polls, citing grievances with the electoral commission and President Uhuru Kenyatta's ruling party.

The opposition has vowed to continue with the protest till their demands are met.

Opposition supporters say they will take to the streets for more demonstrations.

But for Lucas Otieno, the welder, a long night awaited him at the hospital, as doctors prepared to remove the bullet. He likely has a long road to recovery ahead.
The International Organization for Migration says there has been a dramatic drop in the number of migrants from West Africa crossing the Sahel region into Niger, on their way to Europe.

Migration officials attribute the drop in African migration to strong action by the government of Niger against human smuggling networks.



The International Organization for Migration reports Niger has closed three of six transit houses in the town of Agadez, where migrants often stop on their journey.



IOM Niger Chief of Mission Giuseppe Loprete says migrants used to wait in the houses for smugglers vehicles to take them to Algeria or Libya.



Many vehicles have been withdrawn by the army along the migratory routes. Smugglers have been arrested," Loprete said. "So, all this created a contextsent across a message that transiting Agadez is not easy, is not that easy.



Loprete tells VOA fewer migrants are arriving and staying in Agadez because of the difficulty in finding smugglers to take them to North Africa.



Last year, the first six months, we were estimating five to 7,000 migrants transiting per week going to Algeria or Libya," Loprete said. "Right now, our numbers show that we are 5,500 migrants per month transiting. So definitely less migrants.



While the Agadez route is drying up, Loprate says migration to Europe is not. He says smugglers are finding alternate, possibly more dangerous routes to transport their human cargo.



He says Africans desperate to carve out a better life for themselves in Europe continue to risk their lives, making the perilous journey across the Sahel and eventually, across the Sahara Desert.
Egyptian officials say an attack on a checkpoint in the northern Sinai Peninsula has killed six police.



Security and hospital officials confirmed the toll from Thursday's attack on the outskirts of the city of el-Arish and said another four people were wounded. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Egypt has been battling an insurgency in the northern Sinai that has been led by an Islamic State affiliate since 2014.



In July, Islamic State militants killed 23 soldiers in a remote checkpoint in northeastern Sinai - the deadliest assault on the military in the turbulent region in two years.
The Trump administration handed a rare victory to environmentalists, ordering two big corporations this week to pay $115 million to clean up a Texas toxic waste site that may have spread dangerous levels of pollution during flooding from Hurricane Harvey.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a directive Wednesday requiring International Paper and McGinnis Industrial Maintenance Corp., a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc., to excavate 212,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments from the San Jacinto River Waste Pits site.

Pruitt visited the Superfund site outside Houston last month following historic rains and flooding from the storm, meeting with local environmental activists who had campaigned for years for approval of a cleanup plan.

Cleaning Superfund sites a top priority

Pruitt has said cleaning Superfund sites is among his top priorities, even as he has worked to delay and rollback a wide array of environmental regulations that would reduce air and water pollution. Often Pruitt has done so directly at the behest of industries that petitioned him for relief from what they characterize as overly burdensome and costly regulations.

At the San Jacinto Pits, both companies opposed the expensive cleanup, arguing that a fabric and stone cap covering the 16-acre site was sufficient. The former site of a demolished paper mill that operated in the 1960s, the island in the middle of the San Jacinto River is heavily contaminated with dioxins  chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects.

International Paper respectfully disagrees with the decision by the EPA, said Tom Ryan, a spokesman for International Paper. He said removing the existing protective cap could result in significant damage to public health and the local environment.

'Yellow journalism'

The Associated Press reported Sept. 2 about the risks from flooding at Houston-area Superfund sites, highlighting six prior occasions where the cap at the San Jacinto Waste Pits required significant repairs. Journalists surveyed seven flooded Superfund sites in and around Houston by boat, vehicle and on foot, including San Jacinto.

EPA said at the time it was too unsafe for its personnel to visit the sites, and accused the AP in a statement of engaging in yellow journalism and creating panic. Nearly one month later, however, the agency confirmed that contaminated sediments at San Jacinto had, in fact, been uncovered by the storm.

A sample collected by an agency dive team from an exposed area at the site showed dioxin levels at 70,000 nanograms per kilogram  more than 2,300 times the level set to trigger a cleanup. Dioxins do not dissolve easily in water but can be carried away with any contaminated sediments and deposited over a wider area.

EPA said two weeks ago that additional testing will now be needed to determine whether the contamination spread and to ensure that the exposed waste material is isolated. EPA did not respond to requests for comment Thursday about whether that assessment was complete or what results were.

Galveston Bay a concern

The San Jacinto River empties into Galveston Bay, where state health officials have long advised against regularly consuming fish and shellfish due to contamination from dioxins and PCBs. The cleanup plan EPA approved this week requires the construction of a temporary dam to hold back the river while workers use heavy machinery to dig up and remove enough contaminated soil and sentiment to fill more than 16,000 dump truck loads.

One of the local environmental advocates who met with Pruitt during his visit last month, Jackie Young, said people living along the river south of the waste pits still dont know whether the floodwaters carried toxins to their yards and homes.

This is a monumental victory and testament to what an engaged community can accomplish, said Young, executive director of Texas Health and Environment Alliance. We may never know the extent of damage from Hurricane Harvey or numerous other storms, but at least the EPA is putting their best foot forward and moving in the only direction that upholds their mission.
Ethiopian government forces killed four people and wounded 18 others Thursday in the town of Soddo in the restive Oromia region.



Residents of Soddo and surrounding villages stopped eight trucks escorted by federal forces. They suspected the convoy was transporting weapons to the Liyu, a special police force based in neighboring Somali region, according to witnesses who spoke to VOA's Horn of Africa service and asked for anonymity out of fear of retaliation by the Ethiopian government.

Kulultu Fara, security chief of the Dirre district in the Oromia region, said, "The federal forces were angered by the residents' demand to stop the trucks and opened fire, killing four people."



He said the eight trucks suspected of transporting weapons remain in Soda, and federal government officials are talking with locals in an effort to resolve the conflict.

Violent protests

In the meantime, protests continued Thursday in several Oromia towns.

Businesses were closed in the restive town of Shashemene, where protesters were killed Wednesday by federal forces, according to a regional official.

Addisu Arega, head of the regional government's communications affairs bureau, told VOA that at least six people were killed and more than 30 wounded during protests in several areas of Oromia on Wednesday.

Addisu said three people were killed in Shashemene, 250 kilometers southeast of Addis Ababa, and three more were killed in Bookee, in the West Hararge zone of Oromia. He added that a fourth death that was reported Wednesday in Shashemene was not related to a political incident.

On Thursday, a funeral gathering to bury those who were slain turned into a demonstration.

A witness to the demonstration told VOA that members of several other ethnicities joined the funeral crowd, expressing solidarity with the Oromos and chanting anti-government slogans.

Addisu blamed unspecified forces for instigating young people to participate in spontaneous protests, which resulted in loss of life.

Witnesses in Shashemene told VOA that federal government forces opened fire on demonstrators who marched past their camp.

Oromia has experienced periodic, sometimes violent anti-government protests since late 2015. The protesters in Shashemene were calling for the release of detained political leaders, economic justice, and ending displacements and expulsions of Oromos from the Somali region.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia issued a security message advising Americans not to travel to Shashemene and adjacent areas at this time.



A large but peaceful protest took place Thursday at Ambo University in the town of Wolisso.

University lecturer Seyoum Teshome told VOA that thousands of demonstrators chanted, "down, down, Weyane," a reference to Ethiopias ruling EPRDF coalition, and demanded the release of political prisoners.



Teshome said police watched the protest but took no measures to stop it, and the town was calm by midday.

Shashememe is a business and transportation hub that connects gold, coffee and other cash crops produced in southern, southeastern, eastern and mid-northern areas of Ethiopia.
European countries are scrambling to cobble together a package of measures they hope will keep the Iran nuclear deal on track if U.S. President Donald Trump ignores their pleas and decertifies the landmark 2015 agreement this week.

The package would include a strong statement backing the deal by European powers, together with efforts to lobby the U.S. Congress and put wider pressure on Iran, officials said.

But without strong U.S. support for the deal, senior officials in Berlin, Paris and London say it may be only a matter of time before the pact between Tehran and six world powers unravels, with grave consequences for Middle East security, nonproliferation efforts and transatlantic ties.

The 2-year-old agreement, under which Iran agreed to freeze its nuclear program for 15 years in exchange for sanctions relief, is viewed in Europe as a rare triumph of international diplomacy in the Middle East.

North Korea watching

As tensions over North Koreas nuclear activities risk boiling over into all-out war, any move by the United States to undermine the Iran deal is seen in Europe as utter folly.

European capitals have been delivering this message to the White House and Congress in one of the most intense lobbying campaigns in recent memory. In the past weeks, European ambassadors have met dozens of U.S. lawmakers. And on Tuesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May lobbied Trump by phone.

Despite this, Trump is expected declare this week that Iran is not complying with the pact. He is also due to unveil a tough new strategy towards Iran, including designating its Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization, that could sink the deal.

If the feeling is the United States no longer supports the agreement then the political reality is that the deal will be in serious jeopardy and its implementation will be very difficult, a senior French diplomat told Reuters.

A decision by Trump to decertify would not automatically kill the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The expectation is that Trump would kick the ball to Congress, which would then have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions lifted as part of the JCPOA.

Three-pronged response

European officials said they were preparing a three-pronged strategy if this does occur.

First, Berlin, London and Paris would issue statements reaffirming their commitment to the deal.

Second, they would redouble efforts to lobby Congress, which appears keen to keep the deal, against any rash moves.

And third, they would present measures to pressure Iran over its ballistic missile program and destabilizing policies in the Middle East, areas that fall outside the narrowly focused nuclear deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron alluded to this at the United Nations last month. Diplomats said the package was still in the works and they had not yet briefed Brussels on it.

Imperfect agreement

With the third step, the Europeans hope to build a bridge to Washington while keeping the JCPOA intact. But a German diplomat said ratcheting up pressure on Tehran was like walking a tightrope: push too hard and the whole deal could fall apart.

We all knew the JCPOA wasnt perfect, but by calling its benefits into question I see us only losing, said a senior European diplomat who has been involved in negotiations with Iran since 2003, well before Washington joined the talks under President Barack Obama.

If Trump follows through on his threats it will be the second time in four months that he has distanced the United States from a major multilateral agreement despite intense lobbying by partners and members of his own Cabinet.

But in Europe, the Iran move would be seen as far more damaging than Trumps decision in June to pull out of the Paris climate accord.

The threat from Iran in terms of nuclear proliferation is more immediate. This is far more dangerous, said Elmar Brok, a veteran foreign policy expert in the European Parliament and party ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

European officials and analysts fear a breakdown of the JCPOA could lead to an arms race in the Middle East, a military conflict between Iran and Israel and an escalation of regional proxy wars between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

They fear it would also doom any chances, no matter how slim, for a negotiated deal with North Korea.

All about war

At the end of the day its all about the risk of war, said Francois Heisbourg, chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

There is also the danger of a further deterioration in transatlantic ties, especially if Washington targets European firms that do business in Iran.

Were that to happen, the EU ambassador to Washington, David OSullivan, has said Brussels would revert to a 1990s-era law that shields European companies from extraterritorial sanctions.

Even if the EU were to take such a step, the senior French diplomat said European companies could think twice about their Iran commitments.

Among firms that have announced big deals in Iran since the JCPOA went into force are planemaker Airbus, French energy group Total and Germanys Siemens.

One of the big difficulties of the agreement is ensuring the economic operators have confidence in the system and key to that is confidence in the United States, the diplomat said.

Any signs that European companies are pulling back could prompt the Iranians to reassess the merits of the nuclear deal.

The agreement with Iran is like a delicate plant, said Omid Nouripour, an Iranian-born lawmaker with the German Greens party, which is expected to be part of Merkels next coalition government.

It is a sign of what diplomacy can achieve, but it is fragile. The American president doesnt appear to believe in diplomacy. He seems intent on crushing this plant.
Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said Thursday she "absolutely" supports the public release of all advertisements produced by a Russia-linked organization during the 2016 presidential election.



Sandberg said the company is "working on transparency" following the revelation last month that a group with alleged ties to the Russian government ran $100,000 worth of ads on Facebook promoting "divisive" causes like Black Lives Matter.



"Things happened on our platform that shouldn't have happened," she said during the interview with Axios's Mike Allen.



Later Thursday, Sandberg is set to meet with Congressional investigators who are looking into what role the advertisements which began running in 2015 and continued through this year may have played in the 2016 presidential election.



The $100,000 worth of ads represent a very small fraction of the total $2.3 billion spent by, and on behalf of, President Donald Trump and losing-candidate Hillary Clinton's campaigns during the election.



Multiple congressional investigations have been launched, seeking to determine what effect alleged Russian meddling may have played in the election.



In addition, Robert Mueller, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is conducting a criminal probe, including whether President Trump's campaign colluded with Russian operatives during the election season. Trump has denied working with the Russians.

Facebook had previously agreed to disclose the thousands of Facebook ads to congress. Sandberg said Thursday she thinks "it's important that [the investigators] get the whole picture and explain that to the American people."

In response to the Russian ad buys, Sandberg said Facebook is hiring 4,000 new employees to oversee ads and content. She said the company is also using "machine learning and automation" to target fake accounts that spread fake news.



She defined fake news as "things that are false hoaxes" and said Facebook is working to stamp out the bad information by teaming up with third-party fact checkers and warning users before they share news deemed fake by Facebook.



She said it is important to be cautious when going after fake news because "a lot of what we allow on Facebook is people expressing themselves" and "when you cut off speech for one person, you cut off speech for all people."



"We don't check the information posted on Facebook before people post it, and I don't think people should want us to," she said.



Hundreds of fake accounts were used to distribute the Russia-linked advertisements, Sandberg said. But had those ads been posted by legitimate users, "we would have let them run," she said.
The Palestinian Hamas faction and its rival Fatah signed an agreement in Cairo Thursday, sealing a political reconciliation deal which has eluded the parties during multiple rounds of talks since a 2007 split.

Fatah's lead negotiator, Azzam Ahmed, told a reporters after the ceremony that the agreement's key element is the resumption of control by a Palestinian "unity" government over Gaza.

He says the parties have agreed that the legitimate Palestinian "unity" government will function normally, taking up its official role, according to the law.

Hamas' lead negotiator, Salah Azzoury, maintained that it was in the interest of both sides to end their dispute.

He says that we are part of the same family and we share the same destiny, so when we put our hands in each other's hands, we are helping ourselves...and our only choice is to continue to move toward unity and achieve the aspirations of our people.

Israel has blockaded Gaza for a decade, and its border with Egypt also has remained largely closed in recent years, leaving Gaza's economy in shambles.

Egyptian media reported that Hamas had agreed to hand over control of the Rafah border crossing to both Palestinian Authority security forces and European Union monitors as per a 2005 agreement with Israel. Some 3,000 police officers will also be deployed alongside Hamas' forces inside Gaza. Egypt and Israel will then step up fuel supplies to Gaza's main power plant to ease an electricity crisis.

Hilal Khashan, who teaches political science at the American University of Beirut, tells VOA he thinks the Palestinian reconciliation deal is "part of the global strategy by the Trump administration to reach a peace deal between the Arab states and Israel."

For that to happen, though, he argues that key Arab states, like Saudi Arabia, must find a face-saving solution to the conflict that they can present to their own people.

"The Saudis want peace with Israel; they want to recognize Israel; they want to create an anti-Iranian alliance, and the only way to do it is to end the Israel-Palestine conflict so that they can make good in the eyes of their own people," he said.

Fatah official Zachariya Agha told Arab media that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is "expected to visit Gaza within the coming month," to seal the reconciliation deal. Another round of talks between Fatah and Hamas is expected to take place in Cairo before the end of October to decide on the logistics of holding expected presidential and parliamentary elections next year.

Arab media also reported that Israeli officials met with their Egyptian counterparts during the negotiations to press Hamas to agree to a prisoner swap. It was not immediately clear if any agreement was reached.
The ranking of the 50 most powerful women by Fortune magazine is out. The list include such stalwarts as General Motors Mary Barra and PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi. But it also seven newcomers, including the first foreign-born Latina CEO on the Fortune 500, Geisha Williams. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo was at their annual gathering in Washington this week and has this report.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, said on Thursday a landmark arms control treaty that helped end the Cold War was in peril and called for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to save it.

Gorbachev, 86, said U.S.-Russia relations were in the throes of a "severe crisis" and that the treaty, which banned all Soviet and American short and intermediate-range land-based nuclear and conventional missiles, was now at serious risk.

Gorbachev signed the pact  the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty  in 1987 along with then U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington. Russia, after the 1991 Soviet collapse, took on its obligations.

Both sides have accused each other of violating the treaty in recent months however, stoking fears it might break down as U.S.-Russia ties continue to deteriorate amid allegations that Moscow interfered with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, something Russia flatly denies.

Gorbachev, writing in government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, said the INF treaty was in danger and that Trump and Putin needed to meet and discuss the problems of nuclear disarmament and strategic stability.

"It has turned out to be the most vulnerable link in the system of limiting and reducing weapons of mass destruction," Gorbachev wrote of the landmark treaty.

"If the system of curbing nuclear arms crumbles, and that is exactly what the collapse of the INF treaty can lead to, the consequences will be catastrophic."

The INF treaty required the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate and forego all nuclear ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 Km, eliminating an entire category of weapon.

Appealing to Trump and Putin, Gorbachev said he wanted to see a "fully-fledged" U.S.-Russia summit of the kind he took part in towards the end of the Cold War.

"It's totally abnormal for the presidents of nuclear powers to meet somewhere 'on the sidelines' [of an event] and that they have only met once," Gorbachev wrote, referring to a meeting between Trump and Putin at the G20 summit in Germany in July.

"If the INF treaty could be saved, it would be a powerful signal for the whole world that the biggest nuclear powers understand their responsibility and take their obligations seriously," wrote Gorbachev.
Guatemala's Supreme Court said on Wednesday it would not investigate the country's president for receiving a salary bonus that made him one of Latin America's best-paid leaders.

President Jimmy Morales received 50,000 quetzals ($6,808) each month as a "Bonus for Extraordinary Responsibility" from the Defense Ministry that was not part of the official presidential salary, Guatemala's federal auditor said last month.

With the bonus, which began last December, Morales' monthly pay package totaled about 200,000 quetzals ($27,233), according to the defense minister. He later returned the bonus funds.

The court's decision preserves Morales' immunity against corruption investigations. In a separate case last month, Guatemala's Congress voted to protect the president from a potential probe into alleged illegal campaign financing.

"The president already returned the bonus and ... a person cannot be judged twice for the same incident. That is what causes it to be rejected," Supreme Court spokesman Angel Pineda said of the bonus case.

A statement from the president's office said Morales accepted the court's decision, and contended that actions against him had been politically motivated.

Guatemala's federal prosecutor and a United Nations-backed commission against impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) had pushed to revoke immunity for Morales after his salary bonus became known.

Last month, thousands of Guatemalans marched to protest high-level corruption in the impoverished country and to demand that Morales and Guatemalan lawmakers step down.

The federal auditor, which audits all government spending, said on Sept. 12 it would investigate the salary bonus, but has not yet produced any findings.

With the salary bonus, Morales earned 70 percent more than Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and 130 percent more than Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, two of the region's best-paid leaders.

The bonus made his salary about 90 times more than the $300 monthly minimum wage in Guatemala, where 60 percent of the population lives in poverty.
Friends and relatives desperately checked hospitals and shelters and pleaded on social media for help finding loved ones missing amid California's wildfires, with hundreds of people unaccounted for Wednesday.

We've been to 17 evacuation centers. We've called probably 12 hospitals. I mean, my whole family, all my friends looking for her, Jessica Tunis said as she searched for her mother, who was last heard saying I'm going to die before the phone at her burning mobile home in Santa Rosa went dead.

Hours later Wednesday, the daughter texted a reporter to say that the remains of her mother, 69-year-old Linda Tunis, had been found in the ruins of her home.

As of Wednesday, 22 wildfires were burning in Northern California, up from 17 the day before. The blazes killed at least 21 people and destroyed an estimated 3,500 homes and businesses, many of them in California wine country.

How many people were missing was unclear, and officials said the lists could include duplicated names and people who are safe but haven't told anyone, whether because of the general confusion or because cellphone service is out across wide areas.



We get calls and people searching for lost folks and they're not lost, they're just staying with somebody and we don't know where it is, said Napa County Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht.

With many fires still raging out of control, authorities said locating the missing was not their priority.

Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano put the number of people unaccounted for in the hard-hit county at 380 and said officers were starting limited searches in the cold zones they could reach.



We can only get so many places and we have only so many people to work on so many things, he said. When you are working on evacuations, those are our first priority in resources.

As a result, many people turned to social media, posting pleas such as Looking for my Grandpa Robert, We are looking for our mother Norma or I can't find my mom. It is an increasingly familiar practice that was seen after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the Las Vegas massacre.

A sobbing Rachael Ingram searched shelters and called hospitals to try to find her friend Mike Grabow, whose home in Santa Rosa was destroyed. She plastered social media with photos of the bearded man as she drove up and down Highway 101 in her pickup.

Privacy rules, she said, prevented shelters from releasing information.



You can only really leave notes and just try and send essentially a message in a bottle, she said.



Ingram said she hopes Grabow is simply without a phone or cell service.



I've heard stories of people being relocated to San Francisco and Oakland. I'm hoping for something like that, she said. We're hearing the worst and expecting the best.

Frances Dinkelspiel, a journalist in Berkeley, turned to social media for help finding her stepbrother Jim Conley after tweeting authorities and getting little help. But it was a round of telephone calls ultimately that led her to him.

A Santa Rosa hospital initially said it had no record of him, but when the family tried again, it was told he had been transferred elsewhere with serious burns.



It was a frustrating experience, Dinkelspiel said, but I'm glad he's in a hospital and isn't lying injured on the side of the road.
The foreign ministers of Hungary and Ukraine clashed on Thursday over Ukraines new law banning teaching in minority languages, with Budapest threatening to retaliate by blocking Ukraines aspirations to integration in the European Union.

Hungary said on Tuesday it would ask the EU to review its ties with Ukraine over Kievs decision to stop secondary school instruction in ethnic minority tongues including Hungarian.

Ukraine, which has sizable Hungarian, Russian and Romanian minorities, passed legislation on Sept. 5 obliging teachers to use only Ukrainian in secondary schools, saying it wanted to help minorities integrate and get public sector jobs.

The move triggered protests in neighboring Russia and Hungary  a region where nationalism is historically deep-seated and language and ethnic identity have been highly sensitive subjects prone to escalating into conflict.

The language issue has driven relations between Ukraine and Hungary to their lowest point since Kyiv won independence with the Soviet Unions 1991 break-up, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

At a joint news conference with Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo Klimkin following talks, Szijjarto said Budapest was also worried about two other bills about citizenship and language now in the Kiev parliament.

We see the situation in a totally different light. This can lead to a suffocation of minority language public discourse, which should be avoided, he said. We would like for the citizenship law not to curb (local) Hungarians rights further. If they ask us to fight, thats what we will do. We will not back down one inch.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Kyiv did not intend to crack down on the Hungarian community in Ukraine, including their right to the use of their mother tongue.

We will not close a single school, fire a single teacher, he said. Our logic is simple: every citizen must speak Ukrainian beside their mother tongue to ensure their future success. The education law replaced the old, post-Soviet laws.

He added that Hungarys approach to minority Hungarians living in Ukraine itself undermined European integration.

Giving out Hungarian passports to Hungarian Ukrainians, that is no way to promote integration, he said.

The two leaders ended the news conference in agreement to disagree. I do not want to close any doors, Szijjarto told his colleague on their his way out of the briefing room. Me neither, Klimkin said.

Kyiv's legislation has also ruffled feathers in Romania.
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines began coordinated air patrols Thursday to intensify their fight against Islamic militants who have laid siege to a southern Philippine city.

The start of the air patrols comes four months after the three countries launched joint maritime patrols to prevent Islamic State group-aligned militants in the southern Philippines from fleeing to neighboring nations.



The siege in the Philippine city of Marawi has raised fears that the Islamic State group's violent ideology is gaining a foothold in the country's restive south, where Muslim separatists have fought for greater autonomy for decades.

Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Thursday the conflict shows that terrorist organizations affiliated with the Islamic State group have exploited the region's porous borders and linked up with local terrorist groups.



He said the air and maritime patrols are aimed at "deterring the use of these back channels and counter the movement of violent extremists and terrorists across the borders of our three nations." It is especially important to secure the sea lanes because about $40 billion worth of trade transits through the Sulu Seas each year, he said.



Hishammuddin said the three countries will take turns each month patrolling the seas with aircrews from all three countries on board.



A ceremony at a Malaysian air base launching the air patrols was attended by the Philippine and Indonesian defense ministers, along with security officials from Singapore and Brunei who acted as observers.



Authorities in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, have carried out a sustained crackdown on militants since bombings on Bali in 2002 by al-Qaida-affiliated radicals that killed 202 people. In recent years, it has faced a new threat as the rise of the Islamic State group in the Middle East has breathed new life into local militant networks and raised concerns about the risk of Indonesian fighters returning home from fighting with IS.



Predominantly Muslim Malaysia has also detained more than 300 people in the past three years believed to be linked to IS.
If President Donald Trump moves to scuttle the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Israel's nationalist government can be expected to be the loudest  and perhaps only  major player to applaud.

But the true picture is more complicated than what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might portray: There is a strong sense among his own security establishment that there are few good alternatives, that the deal has benefited Israel, and that U.S. credibility could be squandered in the turbulent Middle East in ways that could harm Israel itself.

That is not to say that Israel's respected security chiefs are all pleased with every aspect of the Iran deal. But after Netanyahu declared at the United Nations last month that it was time to "fix it or nix it," the prevailing attitude among security experts seems to be that fixing it is the best way to go.

"It seems to me that the less risky approach is to build on the existing agreement, among other reasons because it does set concrete limitations on the Iranians," said Uzi Arad, a former national security adviser to Netanyahu. "It imposes ceilings and benchmarks and verification systems that you do not want to lose. Why lose it?"

Israel considers Iran to be its greatest foe, citing its decades of hostile rhetoric, support for anti-Israel militant groups and its development of long-range missiles. Israeli decision-makers see a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat.

With Iran believed to be rapidly closing in on developing nuclear weapons, then-President Barack Obama led a coalition of world powers, including Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, to the nuclear agreement in 2015. The deal offered Iran relief from crippling economic sanctions in exchange for strict limits on its nuclear program.

Netanyahu's opposition

As the deal was being finalized, Netanyahu frantically tried to block it, claiming it did not go far enough. Among his concerns: clauses that will lift the restrictions on Iran next decade, quick relief from sanctions, an imperfect system of inspections and the failure to address Iran's other belligerent behavior such as missile tests and involvement in regional conflicts. Netanyahu's opposition was so intense that he delivered a speech to the U.S. Congress railing against the emerging deal in early 2015, setting off a crisis in relations with Obama that never healed.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump frequently criticized the Iran deal and vowed to rip it up if he was elected. In his own speech to the U.N. last month, Trump called it "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions" in U.S. history. Netanyahu said he had never heard a "bolder or more courageous speech" at the U.N.

Following up on his U.N. performance, Trump is expected to "decertify" the nuclear deal on Friday by saying it is not in America's security interests.

This would not immediately pull the U.S. out of the deal. Instead, it would kick it over to Congress, which will then have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions. If that happens, Iran has threatened to walk away.

Most of Trump's top national security aides do not want to dismantle the nuclear deal, and America's European allies have also urged the Trump administration not to walk away.

Netanyahu's office said he discussed the matter of decertification with Trump when they met last month, but gave no further details. But he is likely to praise any move toward scrapping the nuclear deal.

In an opinion column published in The New York Times last week, Michael Oren, Netanyahu's former ambassador to Washington and now a deputy minister for diplomacy, argued that decertification would not be the disaster that critics have predicted.

He said if the deal is ultimately canceled, it should be replaced by "crippling sanctions." If retained, he said it should be improved to include stricter inspections of suspect nuclear sites, harsh penalties for violations, and eliminating the "sunset clause" that will gradually end the deal.

"Either way, revisiting the agreement will send an unequivocal message to the world," Oren said. "It will say that the United States is truly unwilling to accept a nuclear Iran  not now, not in a decade, not ever."

Support for deal

As Trump's decision nears, however, a number of prominent security experts in Israel are publicly and privately advocating that the deal be left intact and its shortcomings addressed separately.

These experts say that the U.S., in consultation with Israel, should work with its allies to engage Iran on their many concerns. Simply walking away would hurt American credibility and put it at odds not only with Iran, but with its partners who remain committed to the deal.

"You cannot reverse that easily without paying a price," said Arad, Netanyahu's former security adviser. "It would simply be a suboptimal and riskier route to go. So I say build on it, reinforce it, enforce it and address other issues without causing kind of self-inflicted losses in the process."

Arad said that while there is a healthy debate over how to move forward, he believes that based on his discussions with both retired and active security officials, the prevailing view among experts on the issue is that the deal should be preserved.

Top military officials, for instance, say that Iran has scrupulously upheld its commitments in the deal. This calm on the nuclear front has allowed them to focus on their other concerns about Iranian behavior, most critically its involvement in neighboring Syria and its support for the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

"The Iran deal is a deal that contains both problems and shortcomings, but its advantages outweigh the weaknesses by far," said Efraim Halevy, a former director of the Mossad intelligence service.

Yaakov Amidror, another former national security adviser to Netanyahu, said he did not think that scrapping the deal is even possible, given the position of America's partners. "What should be done is to enhance it. Make it a much better agreement," he said.

Yoel Guzansky, a former Iran specialist on the Israeli National Security Council, said that sending the deal to Congress is a "hasty" decision that could backfire.

He said the best way to gain leverage over Iran and alter its behavior is through concerted international action. Working together, he said, the international community could pursue various options, including diplomacy, a U.N. resolution or even threatening military action.

"We need to build an international coalition, which we lack right now. No one except Trump and Netanyahu, with all due respect, is supporting this move right now," said Guzansky, a senior fellow at INSS, a prominent Israeli think tank. "I really hope the two gentlemen have a program."

Chemi Shalev, a columnist with the Haaretz daily, said Netanyahu was playing with fire by pushing Washington to break an agreement.

"Washington's signature on any accord will be significantly devalued, and its demands for new agreements with Iran, North Korea or for Middle East peace would henceforth be greeted with polite mockery," he said.

Dan Shapiro, who served as Obama's ambassador to Israel when the deal was negotiated, said the lack of alternatives and the uncertainty that canceling the deal would bring are causes of great concern to the Israeli security establishment.

"They don't know what will happen if the deal unravels, but it's much more likely that they're going to be faced with their decision point on Iranian nuclear capability much sooner without the deal than with it," he said.
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Dakota Access oil pipeline could continue operating while a study is completed to assess its environmental impact on an American Indian tribe.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's decision will come as a blow to the Standing Rock Sioux, who have argued that an oil spill from the pipeline under Lake Oahe  from which the tribe draws its water  could harm the tribal community.

Boasberg found that it was likely the Army Corps of Engineers would be able to justify previous decisions made while permitting the pipeline.

"The corps must simply connect the dots," he said. "This, then, is not a case in which the agency must redo its analysis from the ground up."

Boasberg also acknowledged that shutting down the pipeline would disrupt the energy industry, but said it wasn't a major factor in his decision.

Operating since June

The $3.8 billion pipeline built by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners has been operating since June 1, moving oil from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to a distribution point in Illinois. From there it can be shipped to the Gulf Coast and potentially lucrative markets abroad. It has the capacity to move half of the oil produced daily in North Dakota, the nation's second-leading producer behind Texas.

Energy industry officials applauded Boasberg's ruling, with North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness calling the pipeline "a critical part of American energy infrastructure."

President Donald Trump had pushed for the pipeline's completion, and the corps dropped a plan to conduct more environmental study after he took office.

Boasberg ruled June 14 that the corps had largely complied with environmental law, but he ordered the agency to reconsider certain areas of its analysis, and he took arguments on whether to shut down the 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) pipeline while the work was being done.

Boasberg in June said the corps hadn't adequately considered how an oil spill under the Lake Oahe reservoir on the Missouri River in the Dakotas might affect the Standing Rock Sioux. The tribe is among four that have challenged the pipeline in court over environmental fears that ETP says are unfounded.

The judge said the corps also hadn't adequately studied how the pipeline might disproportionately affect the tribal community  a concept known as environmental justice. That aims to ensure development projects aren't built in areas where minority populations might not have the resources to defend their rights.

In its analysis of the Missouri River crossing, the corps studied the mostly white demographics in a half-mile (0.8-kilometer) radius, which the agency maintains is standard. But if the agency had gone an additional 88 yards (80 meters), the study would have included the Standing Rock Reservation.

'Closer call'

Boasberg in his ruling Wednesday said that issue was "a closer call" than the others, but that it still did not justify shutting down the pipeline. He noted that the tribe's water intake had been moved about 50 miles (80 kilometers) downstream since pipeline construction began, and said an alternative river crossing near Bismarck that had been studied and rejected would pass much closer to a drinking water intake that serves tens of thousands more people.

"Risks presented to this tenfold increase in population must, of course, be considered," the judge said.

Corps attorneys said the agency expected to be able by next spring to substantiate its earlier determination that the pipeline posed no significant environmental threats. ETP maintained that a shutdown would cost it $90 million monthly and significantly disrupt the broader energy industry as well as state and local tax revenue.

The North Dakota Pipeline Authority this week said that the Dakota Access pipeline had boosted the state's tax revenues by about $19 million in its first three months of operation.

Tribal attorneys argued that ETP had overstated the potential effects of a shutdown, and Boasberg acknowledged "some cause for skepticism" regarding ETP's predictions. Tribal attorneys also said a shutdown would create incentive for the corps to take the review seriously.

The tribes had proposed a fallback plan if Boasberg decided against a shutdown. It includes increased public reporting of pipeline issues such as repairs, and implementation of a spill response plan  including equipment staging  at Lake Oahe.

Boasberg said he would hear arguments on the matter. He scheduled a status conference for October 18.
The U.S. Department of Justice has put five U.S. jurisdictions on notice: end sanctuary policies by October 27.

The DOJ says that Chicago, IL; New Orleans, LA; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA and Cook County, IL have failed to comply with a section of the law that prohibits government entities from impeding immigration agents.

Section 8 U.S.C. s. 1373 says that a state may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.

Sanctuary jurisdictions generally opt not to cooperate with federal agents by notifying them of the immigration status of people who have been detained in connection with criminal activity.

Jurisdictions that adopt so-called sanctuary policies also adopt the view that the protection of criminal aliens is more important than the protection of law-abiding citizens and of the rule of law, said Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a release Thursday.

I urge all jurisdictions found to be out of compliance in this preliminary review to reconsider their policies that undermine the safety of their residents.

The DOJ did not specify what the consequences would be if the five jurisdictions failed to comply before the deadline. Sessions has said that federal grant money would be withheld from sanctuary jurisdictions.

In September, a federal judge put a temporary hold on the federal government's withholding grant money until a Chicago lawsuit against the DOJ makes its way through the courts.

The DOJ also cleared four jurisdictions of failing to comply with Section 8 U.S.C. s. 1373: Milwaukee County, WI; the state of Connecticut; Clark County, NV; and Miami-Dade County, FL.
Former Afghan President, Hamid Karzai is continuing his criticism of the new U.S. strategy for Afghanistan, asserting it does not bring a message of peace but instead increases war and fuels regional rivalries over his strife-torn country.

Addressing a news conference in Kabul, Karzai disclosed he has written a formal letter to President Ashraf Ghani, urging him to convene an emergency traditional grand assembly of elders, or Loya Jirga, for discussing Trumps war plan and finding a way out of the conflict. The jirga meeting is needed to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming victim of rivalries between big powers, insisted the former president.

Karzai added he also has written a letter to the Taliban calling on the insurgent group to attend the meeting to help find a politically negotiated settlement to the Afghan war.

Americas new strategy for Afghanistan does not bring us a message of peace but a message of more hostilities and increases regional rivalries, said Karzai, who himself is being accused of stoking rivalries between Russia and the U.S. by issuing such statements.

Washington supported and installed Karzai as the head of the government in Kabul after a U.S.-led foreign military coalition ousted the Taliban from power in 2001 for sheltering al-Qaida. He went on to rule Afghanistan until 2013, and he developed deep differences with his U.S. allies on a variety of issues toward the end of his long rule.

The former president remained under fire for his inconsistent polices, a lack of key reforms and for not taking steps to stop rampant corruption in state institutions while the U.S. spent hundreds of billions of dollars on Afghan security and reconstruction projects.

Karzai said the regional cooperation Kabul and the United States were receiving until a few years ago in their efforts to stabilize Afghanistan has diminished and instead turned into a rivalry. He apparently was referring to increasing contacts Russia and Iran have established with the Taliban while the insurgent group continues to use alleged sanctuaries in Pakistan.

No I am not, Karzai replied when asked about allegations he was fueling conflict between major powers.

I am trying to bring a balance back in Afghanistan. I am trying to create an environment of cooperation between the big powers in Afghanistan and the neighbors because that is what we need exactly, and very much badly in our country, he insisted.

Karzai has been among a few prominent Afghans who have opposed from the outset President Trumps strategy that he outlined in August. The plan allowed a modest U.S. troop surge and stepped up airpower to help Afghan security forces break the military stalemate with the Taliban.

President Ghanis National Unity Government and many Afghans in general have welcome the new U.S. plan, hoping it will enable Afghan forces to reverse Taliban gains and pave the ground for a peaceful settlement to the Afghan war.

Ghanis spokesman, Shah Hussain Murtazawi, dismissed Karzais assertions, saying the Afghan government is moving in the right direction to ensure security of its citizens.

Americas new strategy is for permanent peace and stability in the region and is based on views of the [Afghan] people and the government [of Afghanistan]. Foreign forces are only advising and training Afghan forces who are leading and themselves conducting security operations, Murtazawi noted.

U.S. officials so far have not responded to Karzais allegations.

Karzai also questioned the emergence of Islamic State in Afghanistan in the last few years, citing the development for Moscow and other nations, including Tehran, to engage with the Taliban in order to keep the Syria-based terrorist group from threatening their territorial boundaries using ungoverned Afghan spaces.

It is for the last four years, five years that they [Russia and other nations] have taken a different attitude because of the emergence of Daesh, because of the emergence of those other radical groups. They are wondering why? How come? Because the U.S. presence here was supposed to end extremism not to add to extremism, lamented the former Afghan leader.

Russian and Iranian officials have acknowledged maintaining contacts with the Taliban, which controls or contests more than 40 percent of Afghan territory. Moscow, Islamabad and Tehran have expressed concerns that the continuation of hostilities, particularly in Afghan border regions, will create security challenges for them.
The White House chief of staff said Thursday that he was not leaving his job, and he chastised reporters for speculating that his tenure would be brief.

"I'm not quitting today, I don't believe. And I just talked to the president. I don't think I'm being fired today," Kelly told reporters from the White House briefing room podium.

In a rare, extended, on-the-record interaction with journalists, the former Marine Corps general also criticized reporters  in concert with his boss  saying "it's astounding to me how much is misreported" about President Donald Trump and what occurs in the West Wing.

Kelly suggested reporters develop better sources at the White House for their stories.

Asked what the president's biggest frustration was, Kelly replied, "One of his frustrations is you. Not all of you, but many of you."

Kelly, who was secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, succeeded Reince Priebus in late July, whom Trump ousted. Priebus, a former Republican National Committee chairman, had struggled since the inauguration to bring order to the West Wing.

Chief of staff's role

Kelly also told reporters that they had mischaracterized his role.

Stories have emanated from the White House of a president bristling under a more disciplined and authoritative chief of staff, himself reportedly exasperated by Trump's controversial ad lib comments in speeches and on Twitter that upended attempts to carefully set policy.

Kelly denied he was bothered by Trump's frequent tweets and that his job did not include managing the president.

"I was not brought into this job to control anything but the flow of information," Kelly said.

The chief of staff added that he did not restrict anyone from going in to see the president, as has been reported, but acknowledged now that instead of "onesies and twosies" entering the Oval Office to speak with the president, advisers go in as groups.

Kelly acknowledged North Korea as the most serious threat the Trump administration was now dealing with but said Pyongyang's nuclear weapons were "not an immediate concern."

Manageable threat, for now

"That state simply cannot have the ability to reach the homeland," he said. "Right now, there is great concern about a lot of Americans that live in Guam. Right now, we think the threat is manageable, but over time, if it grows beyond where it is today  well, let's hope diplomacy works."

In recent weeks Trump and others in the administration have made clear a military option is under consideration for preventing Pyongyang from achieving the ability to hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile.

Kelly also pushed back on the perception that the president strongly desires to increase America's nuclear arsenal.

Kelly said that what he'd heard Trump say most often about nuclear weapons was, "Wouldn't it be great if we could get rid of them all?"
As Kenya's opposition party vows to hold protests demanding electoral reforms ahead of a repeat presidential election, the government has issued an order banning such demonstrations in three major cities.

Interior Minister Fred Matiangi issued the order on Thursday, banning protests in the central business districts of Mombassa, Kisumu, and the capital, Nairobi, citing a "clear, present and imminent danger of breach of peace."

All three cities are strongholds of main opposition candidate Raila Odinga, who is boycotting the October 26 re-vote because the national election board, known by its acronym IEBC, did not replace officials he blames for the irregularities in the earlier election.Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Nairobi Wednesday, a day after Odinga and his NASA coalition announced Tuesday that he will not participate in the re-run of the election.



We cannot take advantage of that to destroy property and businesses of innocent people, who are going about their innocent daily activities, unless, and its important I emphasize this, unless for the leaders who are organizing this, unless it is your intention to destroy the property and the businesses of innocent people, unless it is your intention to hurt innocent people, unless it is your intention to shed blood, it is your responsibility to ensure that when you organize the demonstrations, you stick to the law as provided, said Matiangi.



The opposition has been organizing weekly and bi-weekly protests against the electoral commission, and had announced that daily demonstrations would occur next week.



NASA is scheduled to meet with its legal team Thursday, after which its leaders are expected to give a statement.

The IEBC on Wednesday determined that the countrys re-run presidential election will remain scheduled for October 26, after opposition leader Raila Odinga and his NASA coalition announced Tuesday their withdrawal from the race. The IEBC also stated that all eight presidential candidates who participated in the August 8 polls would be eligible to participate again this time around.



In its statement, the IEBC referenced Wednesdays High Court ruling, in which the judge cleared the path for Thirdway Alliance leader Ekuru Aukot to run in the October 26 election, since he took part in the petition that nullified the previous one.



Odinga argues that according to a 2013 Supreme Court ruling, his withdrawal means that the IEBC must cancel the polls and conduct fresh nominations, which should take place at least 90 days before a general election.



The commission said that it cannot compel a candidate to participate in an election, but noted that the law allows a candidate to withdraw his or her candidature via an official form. In the statement, the IEBC said that Odinga and his running mate Kalonzo Musyoka sent a letter on October 10 indicating their withdrawal from the presidential race, but did not submit the form that was required to officially remove their candidacy.
Volunteers  The Foster Grandparent Program at the College of Southern Idahos Office on Aging needs volunteers, age 55 and older, to help shape childrens tomorrow to succeed. Foster grandparents become encouraging mentors to children and develop caring and positive relationships with students, schools and teachers. Volunteers can work between 15 to 40 hours a week and will receive a stipend per hour of service (to income eligible seniors) and reimbursement for mileage. Information: 208-736-2122 or toll free, 800-574-8656.

Volunteers  Idaho Home Health and Hospice needs volunteers who will bring compassion, support and dignity to those facing a serious, life-limiting illness and their families. Volunteers can choose between offering respite to family caregivers or provide support with administrative tasks. Information: Heidi Walker, 208-734-4064 or Heidi.Walker@LHCgroup.com.

Volunteers  Horizon Home Health and Hospice is looking for volunteers to join their team to provide quality compassionate care to patients through the following activities: companionship, socialization, respite, and support for patients and families and much more. Information: Cynthia Nixon, 208-800-8085 or cnixon@horizonhh.com.

Volunteers  St. Lukes Home Health and Hospice is looking for new volunteers to join its team to share compassion and increase the quality of life for patients and their families. This program is designed to offer companionship and socialization to patients as well as respite and support for the caregivers. Information: Marie Sharp, 208-814-7603 or sharpm@slhs.org.

Volunteers  Community volunteers are needed to become CASA volunteer advocates to represent the best interest of abused children during the court process. Volunteer candidates must pass a background check and receive training and continued support as they speak up and make the difference in the lives of abused children. The program covers all eight counties in south-central Idaho. Information: Tahna Barton, 208-735-1177.

Drivers  The American Cancer Society is looking for volunteer drivers for its Road to Recovery program. Volunteers are needed to drive cancer patients to and from medical treatment facilities, especially for appointments in Twin Falls. The Cancer Society trains volunteer drivers and schedules rides for patients for free. Drivers must have a current and valid drivers license, a good driving record, a reliable car, and proof of car insurance. Volunteer drivers donate their time and the use of their vehicles. The program is flexible for volunteers to provide as many rides as they want. Information: 1-800-227-2345.

Volunteers  The Twin Falls County Historical Society is seeking volunteers for various programs and general support. Volunteers are needed to paint, clean or work on docent projects and fundraising. No minimum amount of hours, commitment is flexible. Fill out an application at the Twin Falls County Historical Museum (Union School at Curry), open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Information: 208-736-4675.

Volunteers  The Jerome County Historical Society is looking for volunteers to help at the Depot Museum and at the Idaho Farm and Ranch Museum. Volunteers will receive training on duties at either museum. The in-town Depot Museum duties will include answering the phone, some filing, and showing visitors the artifacts. The IFARM Museum duties will mostly be outdoors helping to clean the grounds and repairing buildings, but also cleaning inside the buildings. Some machinery and building repairing may be included. Closed Sundays and Mondays. To volunteer, call 208-324-5641 from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Kosovo's prime minister has confirmed that the government will try to transform the nation's security forces into a regular army through constitutional changes to satisfy the country's international partners.



Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said during a visit to Kosovo Security Force headquarters on Thursday that "we should give the constitutional mandate" to the future army.



Haradinaj has been prime minister since September.



President Hashim Thaci bowed to pressure from NATO and the U.S. earlier this year and withdrew legislation aimed at accomplishing the transformation.



The draft law needed only a majority vote in parliament to pass. Constitutional amendments would require backing from lawmakers representing Kosovo's ethnic Serbs and other minority groups. They say they won't back the change.



Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which Serbia refuses to recognize.
Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno will be sworn in on Monday as governor and deputy governor, respectively, of Jakarta, nearly six months after they won a contentious election in a landslide.

Baswedan will be Jakartas fourth governor in three years: Joko "Jokowi" Widodo vacated the post when he became president in 2014, ceding to his deputy Basuki Ahok Purnama Tjahaha, who was jailed for blasphemy after he lost this years reelection bid. The current acting governor is Ahok's deputy, Djarot Saiful Hidayat.

Baswedan, the former Minister of Education, will be the latest to face the enormous developmental challenges facing Jakarta, a city of nearly 10 million people.

He will also have to navigate a minefield of associations, since his campaign allied with Islamist groups like the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and benefited from their religiously charged protests against Ahok, who is a Christian in overwhelmingly Muslim Indonesia.

I do think Anies will be watched more closely because of the Islamist pitch of his campaign rhetoric, said William Liddle, a professor of Indonesian politics at Ohio State University.

Municipal Development

Unfortunately, Baswedan demonstrated during the campaign that he is willing to play the religious card, even though he himself had to know that it was damaging to national unity, said Liddle. At the same time, its impact on his governing ability as Jakarta governor is not likely to be very great. Most of the issues that Jakartans face have to do with economic and service issues not connected to religion, and I suspect that these issues will predominate.

Baswedan and Uno have emphasized housing and transportation as development priorities, and their campaign policy agenda includes proposals like a zero percent down payment on house purchases for lower-income Jakartans, ending evictions in poor slums in northern Jakarta, and expanding the Smart Card and Health Card programs started by Jokowi.

But it wont all be easy. For instance, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs has already challenged a major campaign promise from the pair, to stop the reclamation of islets in Jakarta Bay for touristic development.

Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan said last week that reclamation would go on since it is under control of the federal government, not the municipal one.

Housing Rights

Many of Jakartas poorest residents, some of whom campaigned for Baswedan, are looking forward to his inauguration. Ahok undertook a controversial eviction plan in slums like Pasar Ikan (Fish Market) and Luar Batang around Jakartas historic harbor. People who lived there came to strongly oppose Ahoks candidacy on pretexts that were largely separate from the religiously grounded campaign against the former Christian governor, although their motivations often blurred in the mass demonstrations that shook Jakarta last year.

Dharma Diani, a Pasar Ikan resident and land rights activist, said, Yes, we are happy about the inauguration. But were also waiting for real work, referring to actions such the affordable housing options that they were promised during the campaign.

A spokesperson for Baswedan said that virtual reality headsets would be distributed to certain neighborhoods in Jakarta so that residents could stream the inauguration.

Web of Affiliations

Meanwhile, a steady stream of flower boards (a popular commemorative prop in Indonesia) in support of Ahok and current acting governor Djarot has been streaming into City Hall. Ahok was an unconventional politician whose brash, direct style won him fierce supporters alongside the criticism that led to his downfall.

His prison verdict, two years in jail for allegedly insulting the Quran while campaigning last fall, was widely decried as a loss for pluralism in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

Still, beyond the issues of slum evictions and the Jakarta Bay reclamation, the municipal agendas of Baswedan and Ahok have many common goals. Policy issues dont always sort themselves along party lines in Indonesia, where candidate and personality-based campaigns remain the norm. If executed, Baswedans social agenda would continue recent gains in social welfare for Jakartans.

It remains to be seen how Baswedans administration will engage with FPI, which was hobbled after the Jakarta election when police issued an arrest warrant for its leader, who was engaged in a sexting scandal.

In a parallel development, Uno has been implicated in a recent spate of crackdowns on corruption among high-level politicians. The wealthy entrepreneur was summoned by Jakarta police for his involvement in a 2012 land embezzlement case. But his testimony date had to be rescheduled because it conflicted with the inauguration.
Som Aun contracted malaria after moving to the Thma Baing district of Cambodia's Koh Kong province in 2002. Four years later, two of his children contracted the disease.

For five years, his son, An, now 19, and daughter, Sreyna, now 12, remained infected because no effective treatment was available, he told VOA Khmer.

"Sometimes the disease is healed for one month, but it would come back in the next two months," he said, adding they both exhibited high fevers and chills.

His children, who work in banana plantations, were in and out of clinics, and "after they took medicines, they would be fine for a period of time, then they would have to go to the hospital if they were in serious condition," Aun said. The family resorted to hospitals infrequently, because transportation cost 200,000 riel to 300,000 riel (or about $50 to $75).

Researchers are increasingly alarmed by the emergence of a strain of drug-resistant malaria in Cambodia, a so-called "superbug" that stares down the most commonly used anti-malaria drugs.

The superbug, first identified in 2008 in Cambodia, has spread into parts of Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. Last month, scientists from the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) published a letter in The Lancet saying the superbug's spread throughout the Mekong area was a serious threat to malaria control and eradication.

"A single mutant strain of very drug resistant malaria has now spread from western Cambodia to north-eastern Thailand, southern Laos and into southern Vietnam and caused a large increase in treatment failure of patients with malaria," says letter co-author Arjen Dondorp, and Oxford professor, in a MORU release. MORU is a collaborative effort involving Thailand's Mahidol University, Oxford University and the U.K.-based Wellcome Trust.

"We are losing a dangerous race," Nicholas White, one of the letter's co-authors, said in the release. "The spread of this malaria 'superbug' has caused an alarming rise in treatment failures forcing changes in drug policy and leaving few options for the future."

Local officials not concerned

Huy Rekol, director of Cambodia's National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control (CNM), said he was not worried by the drug-resistant malaria.

"In our country, we don't need to worry about matters of death or resistance because we have efficient drugs to use every day," he said.

Malaria in Cambodia is caused by two types of viruses transmitted by female mosquitoes, according to the CNM. It identified several factors leading to a rise in malaria infections in 2015, including increasing mobility of people living in malaria-affected areas.

Rekol said that about 10,000 infections were detected in 2017, but all those identified as contracting malaria were treated. He said that any resistance was "manageable," adding that more should be done to prevent transmission in the first place.

Nguyen Thi Khe, a former official at the government Institute of Public Hygiene, told VOA Vietnamese that malaria was "not a serious issue in Vietnam right now," a sentiment that was repeated by other officials.

Dondorp said it was worrying that Cambodian malaria officials appeared to be unconcerned by the reports of drug resistance, which he said could undo the gains of recent years. "In northeastern Thailand, Srisaket province is affected, almost all of Cambodia is affected, as well as southern Laos, and South Vietnam," Dondorp said in an email to VOA.

In an email, he said, "The evolution and subsequent transnational spread of this single fit multidrug-resistant malaria parasite lineage is of international concern."

A risk to Africa?

Globally, an estimated 3.2 billion people in 95 countries and territories are at risk of being infected with malaria, according to the World Health Organization. Most of the deaths occur in Africa, and there, children age 5 and younger account for more than two-thirds of the deaths, according to WHO.

The big worry is that the new strain of malaria may spread from the Mekong area to Africa.

Dr. David Sullivan, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who is affiliated with its Malaria Research Institute, said health officials in Africa have been monitoring the situation for several years and that the new bug has yet to appear there.

But, Sullivan added, "in the age of global travel" he could not say there is "zero possibility" of it making the jump. However, "even if it does jump, it's not that super of a bug that it's going to leave us defenseless, as if we have no drugs at all for malaria."

An analysis conducted at the request of the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC), WHO's top advisory committee for malaria, found that while "the risk of drug-resistant malaria spreading to India and Africa cannot be discounted, the broad consensus was that drug-resistant parasites were more likely to emerge independently in other parts of the world than to spread directly from" the Mekong region consisting of Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam, according to Dr. Pedro Alonso, director of the Global Malaria Programme, in a Q&A published late last month on the committee's site.

Alonso said that WHO experts do not "at this time" consider "the threat of antimalarial drug resistance a public health emergency of international concern."

That drug-resistant malaria would emerge in Cambodia is not a surprise. "In the past 50 or 60 years, this is the fifth or sixth time this has happened," Sullivan said. "This is not new."

The new strain "is able to be tackled and held in check," he said. "I understand the concern and the alarm, but I would not put a superbug label on it, although I can see why people have."

"Treatment options for the new strain exist," Sullivan said, by either adding a drug to those usually prescribed, or extending the treatment duration of the current treatment.

Substandard drugs

Cambodia adopted one treatment, to which resistance has apparently grown, but has since switched to another. The resistance was identified in the western Cambodian region of Pailin, later spreading to northeastern Thailand and southern Laos, according to the letter published by The Lancet.

Dondorp, deputy director of MORU, said in an email to VOA that resistance may have been encouraged by the use of substandard drugs to treat malaria.

"Malaria is a disease of the poor and disenfranchised. These are often populations living in border areas and in or near to the forest," he said.
Photographs commissioned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation along with a re-creation of the former South African president's prison cell and memorabilia from former President Bill Clinton highlight a temporary exhibit at Clinton's library in Little Rock.



Clinton opened the exhibit while visiting Little Rock to mark the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of the city's Central High School. He called "Mandela: The Journey to Ubuntu" a must-see.



"Look at the art. Look at Mandela's life. Look at all the people who are trying to live by that in Africa today, especially young people, and I think you will leave these exhibits more hopeful than you entered them," Clinton said.



Matthew Willman photographed Mandela in his final years and his work is central to the collection presented by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati. Visitors can enter a replica of the 8-foot-by-7-foot prison cell where Mandela was held for 18 of the 27 years he was held as a political prisoner in a country he later ran. A padded mat lay on the floor; the cell door closes.

"We all generally know he was a great man who was confined for 27 years and came out and instead of being hateful he invited his jailers to his inauguration," Clinton said. "He lived by the spirit of what is in the Zulu language called 'Ubuntu.' It means in English 'I am because you are.' We like to think we exist separate from one another but we don't."



The exhibit closes Feb. 19. A companion exhibit, "Art of Africa: One Continent, Limitless Vision," includes artifacts Clinton received during his presidency  including fabrics, masks and wood carvings.



"The African gifts have always been the heart and soul of this collection. Along with the head of state gifts, the gifts from the African people will move and will fill you with awe," Clinton Library Director Terri Garner said at the dedication last month.

Clinton and Mandela met before either one was elected president  Clinton in 1992 and Mandela in 1994. Clinton said he learned from Mandela to not hold onto anger despite the challenges he faced in office.

One letter on display includes Mandela thanking Clinton for visiting South Africa in 1998  written the day after a federal judge tossed out a sexual harassment lawsuit against the sitting president.



"... we could not but feel great joy at the ruling ...," Mandela wrote.



Clinton recalled Mandela's support last month, "I am grateful that he defended me when I was under fire and admonished me not to be angry."



___



If You Go ...



CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER: Located in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Adults 18-61, $10. Adults 62-up, college students and retired military, $8. Youth 6-17, $6. Active military and children 0-5, free. Free admission days are President's Day, Independence Day, the Saturday before Clinton's Aug. 19 birthday, the Saturday before the Nov. 18 anniversary of the library's opening. Free to all active and retired military on Veterans Day.



GETTING THERE: Daily flights to Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, which is 4 miles away. About 140 miles from Memphis, Tennessee, and 300 miles from Dallas.
West African migrants trying to reach Europe are dying in far greater numbers in the Sahara than in the Mediterranean but efforts to dissuade them may cause new routes to open up, the United Nations migration agency said on Thursday.

So far this year 2,569 migrant deaths have been recorded in the central Mediterranean, while more than 107,000 migrants, mainly West Africans, have reached Italy.

One thing we still dont have is any estimate of number of deaths in the desert, Richard Danziger, the U.N. International Organization for Migration director for West and Central Africa, told a news conference in Geneva.

We assume, and I think we have said before, that it has to be at least double those who die in the Mediterranean. But we really have no evidence of that, its just an assumption. We just dont know.

In Niger, a main transit route, people smugglers were increasingly scared of the authorities, which might make them more prone to abandon migrants in the desert, he said.

Many migrants had told of deaths in the desert, and some said the smugglers believed that if they drove fast through minefields they would be safe, said the IOMs Niger mission chief, Giuseppe Loprete.

Migrant numbers heading through Niger have fallen dramatically after strong action by the government to close migrant ghettoes and arrest people smugglers, he said.

IOM was also trying to spread the word that you do not want to get caught in Libya, Danziger said.

What happens in Libya is far scarier to people than dying, the horror stories that returnees come back with.

Many of the smugglers did not see themselves as criminals, and were often former desert guides trying to make money. Many of them had given up, while organized criminals with contacts in Libya were continuing, Loprete said.

Right now they are looking for alternative routes, I think at least equally dangerous, he said.

When you plug one hole, other holes are going to open up, Danziger said.

Niger had two routes to Libya: one closer to Chad that was used to smuggle migrants and one closer to the Algerian border that was far more dangerous and was used by extremist groups and for drugs and gun-running.

An alternative was through northern Mali, a region beset by conflicts between rival groups, but but there did not seem to have been a dramatic rise there, Danziger said.

The route considered the safest was along the western coast of Africa, via Senegal, Mauritania and Morocco to the Strait of Gibraltar, and migrant flows there had increased, he said.
The media has "exaggerated" the number of Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar, the country's commander-in-chief said Thursday in a sharp denial of accusations of ethnic cleansing by his military.

During a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel, General Min Aung Hlaing blamed "instigation and propaganda" by the media for enflaming the issue, according to a post on his Facebook page.

It is an "exaggeration to say that the number of Bengalis fleeing to Bangladesh is very large," the post quoted him as saying, using a pejorative term for the Rohingya. Myanmar classifies them as illegal immigrants. Min also defended the military crackdown in the troubled state, describing it as "proportionate."

The United Nations estimates more than 500,000 Rohingya have crossed the border to neighboring Bangladesh since August 25, fleeing horrendous violence in Rakhine state. The Muslim minority group has faced discrimination in the Buddhist-majority country for decades.

In a meeting Thursday with U Thaung Tun, national security adviser for Myanmar, Ambassador Nikki Haley, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, appealed to Myanmar to facilitate the "safe, dignified return" of refugees displaced by violence. She also asked that Myanmar hold security officials found responsible for offenses against all affected communities accountable for their actions, according to a readout of the meeting.

The U.N. announced Thursday that Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman will visit Myanmar from October 13 to 17.

Feltman has repeatedly called for an end to the military operations and violence in northern Rakhine state; unfettered access for humanitarian support; and the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of refugees to their areas of origin, the announcement said.

Pope Francis plans to visit Myanmar in late November, when he is expected to push for peace.
Myanmar's embattled leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, called for national unity Thursday and said she has created a committee that will coordinate all international and local assistance in violence-struck Rakhine state.

More than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from the state to neighboring Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when security forces responded to attacks by a militant Rohingya group with a broad crackdown on the long-persecuted Muslim minority. The U.N. has called the violence textbook ethnic cleansing.

Suu Kyi acknowledged in a speech on state-run television that the country is facing widespread criticism over the refugee crisis, and called for unity in tackling the problem. She said her government is holding talks with Bangladesh on the return of those who are now in Bangladesh. She gave no details, but officials have suggested they would need to provide residency documents, which few have.

Myanmar's Buddhist majority denies that Rohingya Muslims are a separate ethnic group and regards them as having migrated illegally from Bangladesh. Suu Kyi did not use the word Rohingya in her speech, although she referred to several other ethnic minorities by name.

She said those who return from Bangladesh would need to be resettled, without providing details, and said development must be brought to Rakhine to achieve a durable peace.

She said she would head the new committee, the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, and that it would coordinate all efforts to create a peaceful and developed Rakhine state.

The government has highly restricted access to Rakhine for international aid groups and journalists.

Suu Kyi said the government has invited U.N. agencies, financial institutions such as the World Bank, and others to help develop Rakhine, one of Myanmar's poorest areas.

Myanmar officials deny there has been ethnic cleansing or genocide.

Myanmar's ambassador to Japan, Thurain Thant Zin, told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday that his government was providing humanitarian aid to all affected by the violence and denied reports of human rights abuses by the military.

To say the Myanmar military conducted those illegal acts is untrue and cannot be true, he said. The Myanmar government protests the use of such terms as ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Northern Californias raging wildfires continued to spread Wednesday, fanned by stiff winds that forced new evacuations in a widening circle of damage.

Thursdays weather forecast for Northern California calls for high winds and low humidity, conditions that make it close to impossible to contain the 22 major wildfires burning north of San Francisco.

At least 23 people have been killed and more than 300 are missing. Live power lines lay in the street in burned-out neighborhoods as firefighters battled dry conditions. All that remained of some neighborhoods are a few blackened chimneys and charred trees and abandoned cars. Authorities say at least 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed.

The fires are raging across nearly 69,000 hectares of several counties, world famous for vineyards and wineries, some of which were destroyed.

Police blocked off many roads and prevented people from going into the destroyed neighborhoods, where some people said they no longer could recognize streets and surroundings.

Destroyed homes

But Dave Larson, of Glen Ellen, Calif., sneaked into his destroyed neighborhood to look for his cats and to see if any of his neighbors homes still stood. He knew his was gone.

This to me is like a nuclear bomb went off, Larson said near his home. Ive woken up the last two mornings, thinking it was maybe a dream but then I realized I have nothing. I have someone elses clothes now. Its bizarre having nothing.

As he surveyed the damage, he marveled how some of his neighbors homes survived. He said he regretted that he hadnt stayed, like his neighbors, standing on the roof with his hose, fighting the fire himself.

Firefighters focus on structures

But Gordon OBrien, a fire captain from the city of Alameda, about 70 miles away, said that when a fire is coming fast, there is little humans can do except to save their own lives.

On Wednesday, OBrien and his crew were stomping out flare-ups, hoping to keep the fire from creating more damage.

Were not focused a whole lot on actual containment, he said. Were focused on structure protection and in the fire lines to stop anything else from burning down.

WATCH: Some Northern Californians Return Home to Face Devastation

Larson alerted the firefighters to a person missing from his street. They poked through the persons home looking for remnants of anything  his wheelchair, for example, but found nothing.

Larsons classic car collection was a smoldering heap of metal. And his antiques were gone.

But he found something of sentimental value propped up against his melted flat screen TV: his grandfathers rifle, 100 years old and a memento from World War II. The gun, covered in soot and ash, looked like a burned stick, although its bayonet was still intact. Larson said he wished he had grabbed the gun as he left.

People here have had little time to take stock of their losses. For now, they are hoping to make it through the fire safely.

Californias forestry department fire chief, Ken Pimlott, called the wildfires a serious, critical, catastrophic event. He is helping oversee the 8,000 firefighters battling the flames.

Authorities do not know the exact cause of these fires, which began Sunday. They say anything from a car backfire to a thoughtlessly tossed cigarette can bring on an inferno.

President Donald Trump has declared parts of Northern California a disaster area, making it eligible for speedy federal aid. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in eight counties.

Strong dry winds blowing across the valleys from the mountains put Northern California at an extremely high risk for wildfires in the late summer and early fall.

Kenneth Schwartz contributed to this report.
New Zealand's major political parties headed into their fifth and final day of talks about forming a new coalition government on Thursday, almost three weeks after an inconclusive general election.

The board of the nationalist New Zealand First party that holds the balance of power in negotiations with the ruling center-right National Party and the challenging center-left Labor Party will then meet on Friday to discuss its options.

Both National and Labor need NZ First to form a coalition government after failing to win enough seats to form a government outright at the Sept.23 vote.

The political deadlock has weighed on the New Zealand dollar, the world's 11th most-traded currency. The Kiwi has fallen around 3.5 percent since the election against the U.S. dollar. It was trading at $0.7086 on Thursday morning.

The uncertainty has been compounded by concerns that a government including the nationalist NZ First would lead to more economically interventionist policies.

NZ First has said it favors more central bank intervention in the foreign exchange market. It also wants to restrict foreign investment, curb immigration and renegotiate certain trade deals.

NZ First leader Winston Peters said the discussions so far had focused on policy, with no talks yet on ministerial portfolios or offices.

"We're not going to think about offices and positions until we're happy with the policy," Peters told reporters late on Wednesday.

Peters said he aimed to conclude negotiations by Thursday evening to report back options to the board, likely on Friday.

He said he expected an agreement of more than 75 percent in the decision of which party to support.

"You want a serious consensus," he said. "If you haven't got a serious consensus, stay there until you get one, but who wants a 50-50 vote?"

Peters lost his own seat in the election to a National candidate but remains the lead negotiator and eligible for a ministerial post as leader of NZ First under New Zealand's proportional representation system.
A peace deal between Colombia and Marxist FARC rebels is being threatened by drug trafficking and cultivation of coca, the base ingredient for cocaine, a peace official said on Thursday, in the wake of a confrontation between coca farmers and police that killed seven.

"Drug trafficking and illegal crops are the most important threats," Rodrigo Rivera, the country's peace commissioner, told Reuters in his office inside the presidential palace.

"While that element exists, it's like honey attracting bees, they're circling and it's creating new organized crime in the territories where the FARC no longer are," Rivera said.

The government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels signed a peace accord last year to end their roles in a conflict that has killed at least 220,000 people.

Thousands of FARC fighters have demobilized under the deal and the group is now a political party, but crop substitution is already a thorn in the side of the government.

Last week at least seven farmers protesting eradication were killed in a confused incident with police in Tumaco, in southwestern Colombia.

The defense ministry accused dissident former FARC members of stoking a confrontation and then firing on the crowd, while farmer's groups have accused jittery police of shooting to disperse the protest. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

As well as dissidents from the rebel group, crime gangs have begun to take over coca areas, security sources say. The gangs often offer ex-combatants higher salaries than they are entitled to under the peace deal.

The dissidents and gangs can be a "siren's call" for ex-rebels, Rivera said.

Subsistence farmers have often been obliged by rebel groups, paramilitaries and crime gangs to plant coca. Some also choose to grow the crop because illegal groups will pay higher prices than farmers can earn with other products - a tempting possibility amid dire poverty.

Coca cultivation reached levels not seen for a decade last year after the government banned aerial fumigation with glyphosate, an herbicide that has been linked to cancer. The prohibition has sparked criticism from the United States, which is set to give the Andean country more than $400 million in funding help for the FARC deal.

Coca is cultivated on about 188,000 hectares (464,000 acres) across Colombia and cocaine production capacity is up to 700 tons annually. The government wants to eradicate 100,000 hectares this year.
Four Twin Falls Chapter members of Idaho Writers League, Bill Strange, Loy Ann Bell, Loraine Fisher and Linda Helms, attended the yearly IWL conference Sept. 22-23 in Pocatello. Workshops on writing, publishing, and marketing manuscripts were held during the event.

The Idaho Writers League sponsors writing contests for members each year. Twin Falls Chapters winning entries were written by Ruth Simerly, Hagerman; Vaughn Phelps, Twin Falls; and Bill Strange, Loy Ann Bell, Win Lenore Mobley and Linda Helms, all of Jerome. Vaughn Phelps won the Vardis Fisher Award for Humor and was also named Writer of the Year. A memorial for Dr. Richard Hagerman, a longtime IWL Twin Falls Chapter member from Wendell, was read during the conference.

Some of the winning entries will be published later this year in an anthology, which will be available for purchase from IWL members.

The 2018 IWL state officers are President Kathleen Clayton, Sandpoint Chapter; First Vice President Cynthia Deatherage, Pocatello Chapter; Second Vice President Terri Picone, Palouse (Moscow) Chapter; Treasurer Emily Moore, Coeur dAlene Chapter; and Secretary Linda Helms, Twin Falls Chapter. Next years conference will be held in September in Moscow.

The Twin Falls Chapter meets from 10 a.m. to noon on the third Saturday each month, except November and December, at the KMVT meeting room. A critique session for writers is held before a brief business meeting. Anyone may bring three or four copies of a manuscript, with no more than three pages double-spaced, to be critiqued. There is no fee to attend, and online critique can be arranged before the meeting.

For more information, contact Twin Falls Chapter President Linda Helms at JCIranch@msn.com, 208-421-6632 or through Facebook.
An American-Canadian couple and their three children left Pakistan for the United Kingdom Friday after five years in Taliban captivity in Afghanistan, officials confirmed to VOA.

Acting on a tip from U.S. intelligence, Pakistani troops rescued U.S. national Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, from the Kurram tribal region near the Afghan border Wednesday.

A U.S. plane is standing by, waiting to fly them to what is expected to be a U.S. military base in Germany for a medical checkup, but news reports said Boyle has been reluctant to board the aircraft. The reasons for that were unclear.

Coleman and Boyle went missing while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012. The Afghan Taliban later claimed responsibility for kidnapping them.

Prisoner exchange sought

The group, which released two videos of the hostages while they were in captivity, had been demanding the release of their prisoners in exchange for Boyle and his wife. While in captivity, the couple had three children, who were rescued with them.

President Donald Trump praised the release of the family from "captivity from the Haqqani network, a terrorist organization with ties to the Taliban." He also called the development a "positive moment" in U.S.-Pakistan relations.

"The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region," he said in a statement. "We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations."

He later told reporters that he thought Pakistan had "started to respect the United States again."

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis gave reporters almost no information on the operation that led to the family's freedom, other than to say, "It's a very good moment and we intend to work with Pakistan in a collaborative way in the future to stop terrorism that includes kidnapping."

Pakistani Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, speaking to VOA's Urdu service, said, "The operation was carried out on the basis of intelligence shared with us. When these people who were abducted by the Afghan group were being transferred from Afghanistan to Pakistan, our security institutions swiftly acted on that intelligence and we were able to recover them safely.

"This is proof that if the United States and Pakistan work together in partnership, we can achieve so much to bring peace to Afghanistan and the region."

Terrorist group designation

The Haqqani network, whose leader is also deputy chief of the Afghan Taliban, is considered a terrorist group by the U.S.

Pakistani army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor provided VOA with details of the operation to rescue the captives.

We swiftly deployed our troops soon after U.S. officials informed us at around 4 p.m. (local time) Wednesday the Taliban were transporting the hostages in a vehicle to the Pakistani side of the border. We traced the vehicle and safely recovered the hostages, Ghafoor said, adding that U.S.-Pakistani cooperation was key to the mission.

A U.S. defense official said the hostages were not in U.S. custody. "A U.S. plane was available for them and they chose not to depart on it," he told VOA.

Coleman, 31, and Boyle, 33, in their last video message released in December 2016, urged then-President-elect Trump to negotiate with the Taliban to secure their release in return for Taliban prisoners.

Word of the couple's release came as Lisa Curtis, National Security Council senior director for South and Central Asia, visited Islamabad as the head of a high-level U.S. delegation and held talks with Pakistani officials at the Foreign Ministry.

An official statement issued at the end of the visit Thursday said the two sides reviewed the state of their bilateral relationship in the wake of the new U.S. strategy on Afghanistan and South Asia and agreed to continue discussions on all matters of mutual interest.

Meanwhile, American Kevin King, 60, and Australian Timothy Weeks, 48, were being held hostage in Afghanistan. The two teachers, with the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, were kidnapped at gunpoint near the campus in August 2016.

In a video the Taliban released in June, the hostages begged Trump to negotiate their freedom with the Islamist insurgent group.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a string of energy, military and other deals with Morocco during a North Africa tour.



Medvedev met Wednesday with Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani and presided at a signing ceremony for 11 bilateral agreements.



The agreements cover cooperation in areas such as customs, agriculture, the military and culture, as well as energy efficiency and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.



The disputed Western Sahara region that Morocco annexed in the mid-1970s also was a topic of the talks.



Medvedev is traveling with a large Russian government delegation and Russian business executives. Morocco's King Mohammed VI hosted a lunch in the prime minister's honor.



He arrived in Morocco after a visit to Algeria, where he discussed oil prices and energy cooperation.
South Korean companies that were forced to shut down operations in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea in 2016 have petitioned the government in Seoul to investigate reports that Pyongyang has reopened the facility without their consent.

The North/South joint venture with South Korea was suspended last year to punish the Kim Jong Un government for conducting nuclear and missile tests, and to cut off a possible source of funding for Pyongyangs illicit weapons development program.

Unconfirmed reports

Last week, the North Korea propaganda web site Meari indicated operations have resumed at the Kaesong facility, and another propaganda web site, Uriminzokkiri posted a comment saying, "It is nobody's business what we do in an industrial complex where our nation's sovereignty is exercised."

The South Korean Unification Ministry could not confirm that the complex has been reopened, but did say that recent bus movements and illuminated street lamps in the site have been observed.

The Corporate Association of Kaesong Industrial Complex that represents the 123 South Korean manufacturing companies that operated factories in the North Korean facility said Thursday it wants to send a delegation to inspect their property.

It is our asset, which we invested in according to North Korean law, and procedures set by both governments of the two Koreas. So as owners with rights to the assets, it is necessary for us to check the situation and status of our assets and find out whether the complex is really being operated or not, said Kim Seo-jin, with the Kaesong Industrial Complex Association.

However it is unlikely North Korea would agree to allow the business owners request to visit their facilities, given the heightened tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

To make the complex fully operational again, North Korea would also be hard pressed to replace the electricity supply that came from South Korea, according to the Kaesong business owners.

Inter-Korean cooperation

When it first opened in 2004, the Kaesong complex, located about 54 kilometers northwest of Seoul, was intended to promote inter-Korean development and give North Korean workers a taste of life in the south, including snack foods like the cakes known as Choco Pies and toiletries that were resold as luxury items in the North.

The South Korean companies that operated in Kaesong also benefited by employing low wage North Korean workers to produce labor-intensive goods, such as clothes and utensils.

Pyongyang responded to Seouls decision in 2016 to suspend Kaesong operations by imposing military control over the site, freezing all assets of the Kaesong companies, and deporting the remaining South Korean managers and staff still there.

The closure of the Kaseong factories put over 54,000 North Korean employees out of work.

The Kaesong association estimated its members left behind over $600 million in equipment and raw materials, and many of the Kaesong companies have been unable to recover without access to the low wage labor available in Kaesong.

That's one of reasons why they want to reopen the complex. They sincerely want to reopen of the complex through immediate normalization of inter-Korean relations, said Kim with the Kaesong Industrial Complex Association.

When Kaesong was shut down in 2016, the conservative government of then President Park Geun-hye claimed 70% of the $100 million in wages paid each year, which was given directly to the government in Pyongyang to distribute to the workers, was diverted to finance the Norths illicit nuclear weapons program.

However an official with the current pro-engagement administration of President Moon Jae-in has said there is no evidence that North Korea diverted Kaesong wages to its weapons programs.
South Sudan's president was a no-show for the nation's first international oil conference, a gathering that also failed to attract prospective investors from the biggest global energy companies.

The turnout showed only smaller companies are risking bets on the oil sector of the world's youngest country.

South Sudan has 3.5 billion barrels of oil and 3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in proven reserves, and is seen by companies as one of the last frontiers in energy exploration in sub-Saharan Africa. But a civil war that broke out in late 2013 dashed the hopes of Exxon Mobil, which has ditched exploration plans. Its rival Total has put such plans on hold.

Four million people have fled the conflict.

Oil production has fallen to about a third of the peak it reached before the war.

The government says Total is still interested in developing two of its biggest oil blocks. The company did not immediately comment when asked by Reuters why it did not send a representative to South Sudan for the conference.

"The elephant in the room is still the crisis," said NJ Ayuk, chief executive of Centurion Law Group, an African energy-focused firm.

He spoke wistfully of 2011, when the country gained independence from Sudan. "Everybody was in love with South Sudan. Everybody was hopeful and wanted to help," he said of prospective investors. "The challenge is bringing the country back to where it was in 2011, where most people could really see a dream."

Britain's Tullow Oil, a leading exploration firm on the continent that the government said had expressed interest in an untapped block, was represented by its Africa vice president.

But at coffee breaks, conference attendees said they worried that political obstacles, more than technical ones, would plague any possible investment.

A fragile peace deal broke down last year amid gunbattles between soldiers and rebels in Juba. International efforts to bring warring sides to new talks have not succeeded.

'World-class oil industry'

There was brief applause when Second Vice President James Wani Igga, standing in for President Salva Kiir, said South Sudan "is emerging as a powerful nation with a world-class oil industry."

A British drilling company executive called arrival at Juba's airport "enlightening." The airport is housed in tents amid renovations of the original terminal. Passports are stamped by officials without computers in a trailer provided by the United Nations.

Petroleum minister Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth said the government would assert itself in talks with potential investors.

"I'm not threatening anybody, but if you don't meet our terms, we will say, 'Bye-bye,' and then somebody else will come in immediately," Gatkuoth said.

He said state-owned Nilepet would take a greater role in partnerships. "You will team up with Nilepet," he told the conference, with a caveat: "I'm not encouraging you to leave  immediately."

This is not a reassuring message, said Andrew Firth of Secure, a regional private security and risk management firm.

"The quickest way to drive the petroleum sector forward is by allowing the market to drive development, not for the government to drive [it]."

Luke Patey, a researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies who studies East Africa's oil industry, said of the turnout: "I think it's a combination of the real risk that exists ... and that the global oil price has been quite low compared to when South Sudan became independent."

Gatkuoth, the minister, said the president had delegated his deputy to open the conference on his behalf. "He is very committed to inviting investors and open this conference but he had other national engagements," Gatkuoth said of Kiir.

The minister said of Total: "They were invited to attend but I do not know why they did not come."
Spain is holding its annual national day celebration Thursday under the cloud of the country's biggest political crisis since a failed coup four decades ago.

Spaniards lined the streets of Madrid carrying national flags as unionists used the holiday military parade to show unity in the face of moves by Catalonia to declare independence.

The wealthy region's intention to break away has plunged Spain into its worst political crisis since an attempted military coup in 1981.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy issued Wednesday an ultimatum to Catalonian President Carles Puigdemont to clarify by Monday whether he has formally declared independence for the northeastern region.

If Puigdemont confirms that he did, indeed, declare Catalonia's independence, then Rajoy has vowed to trigger within several days Article 155 of Spain's constitution to suspend Catalonia's semi-autonomy and impose direct rule.

A majority of Catalonians voted to breakaway from Spain in an October 1 referendum. Puigdemont proclaimed Catalonia's independence on Tuesday during a speech before the region's parliament, but froze its implementation for several weeks to allow for negotiations between the separatists and the Madrid government.

The stakes are high. Spain could lose about one-fifth of its economic output and more than 25 percent of its exports if Catalonia secedes.

Stewart King, a senior lecturer in Spanish and Catalan culture and language at Australia's Monash University, told VOA's Victor Beattie that if Puigdemont does not follow through with formal independence, the junior political party that makes up his ruling coalition government could withdraw its support and cause parliament to collapse.

Rajoy joined King Felipe the Sixth in observing the traditional military parade in Madrid that marks explorer Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas in 1492.

VOA's Victor Beattie in Washington DC contributed to this report.
Four Syrian children offered a glimpse into the hardship and heartbreak of life as a refugee by making videos about their everyday lives over six months, hoping to remind world leaders of their promise to educate Syrian children.

"I studied until the 8th grade, whilst I was in Palmyra, which is three hours away from our hometown of Homs," says 15-year-old Asmah in her self-narrated film titled Too Young To Marry. "At that point, my family got me engaged, which I agreed to as I wanted to relieve my parents of their fear over me."

Asmahs parents feared Syrian fighters would attack their unmarried daughter. She was just 12 years old on her wedding day.

"I got pregnant four months into my marriage," she says. "I was very happy I was going to have a child, but I was also afraid of labor."

Asmah is now living in Turkey, pregnant with her second child, unable to study and struggling to cope.

Her film is one of four overseen by the charity Theirworld. The idea stems from an $11 billion pledge made at a 2016 Supporting Syria' Conference in London.

"World leaders said they would get every Syrian child back into school," said Fiona Duggan, a senior project manager at Theirworld. "And we want to show what those lives of the children who are out of school was really like. And who best to show that but the children themselves?"

There are flickers of childhood joy. But the hardships of refugee life are ever present.

In his film, 12-year-old Mustafa talks about collecting recyclable trash to help support his family.

"I leave home at 10pm so people dont see me, because I am too ashamed to leave during the day."

Throughout all the films there is a deep longing for the past.

"The war has been hard on us, especially my younger siblings," says Rojin, a 16-year-old girl. "It breaks my heart to see them unable to read or write."

Bassams film begins with the heartbreak of separation.

"I was 12 years old when my father travelled," says Bassam, who is now 14. "He went to Europe by sea. When he left, my mother, my sister and I cried. I was very scared for him."

There is a happy ending  Bassam and his family are granted asylum to live with their father in Austria.

"When I went back to school, I was so happy as I hadnt been to school in three years," says Bassam

Theirworld says 2 million Syrian children are still waiting to go back to school  an entire generation denied an education.
Thailand is putting the finishing touches this month to a lavish five-day funeral ceremony in a final goodbye to its late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who helped shape the Southeast Asian nation for decades after World War II.

Many of the hundreds of thousands of black-clad mourners are expected to camp for days near Bangkoks Grand Palace to capture a good view of the ceremonies, which will be guarded by 78,000 police officers and culminate in the cremation Oct. 26.

October is a sad period, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who announced plans for a national election next year, told reporters in the capital Tuesday. I ask that politicians and political parties be peaceful and orderly.

Artisans have worked for 10 months in Bangkoks ancient quarter to build an elaborate cremation site fashioned after a vision of heaven, where Thais believe dead royals return to live above Mount Meru, a golden mountain in Hindu mythology.

The funeral of King Bhumibol, who died Oct. 13, 2016, after seven decades on the throne, is also a time of uncertainty for some Thais, said a Thailand-based analyst, who declined to be identified because of sensitivities around the monarchy.

In many ways the king was Thailand and his death has left a huge vacuum in the Thai psyche, said the analyst, pointing to social and political upheavals in recent decades.

What happens after his funeral? Where will Thailand head next? These are profound questions that must be answered.

Ancient traditions

The late king was succeeded by his son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, or Rama X, who has overseen sweeping changes to the royal household, including the running of palace finances.

Though steeped in ancient traditions, the funeral of King Bhumibol will permit more public participation than those of previous kings, said Thai monarchy expert Tongthong Chandransu.

A strong bond has been formed between the people and the monarchy, the strongest compared to past reigns, Tongthong told Reuters. So we can see more people participation in the royal funeral of this king.

Among the many royal objects restored for the funeral is a golden chariot that will carry the kings body in a giant ornate urn to the cremation site.

The urn will move to the Royal Crematorium before the cremation on the night of Oct. 26, which has been declared a national holiday.

More than 3,000 performers will join in a nightlong final tribute of music and puppet shows to end a year of mourning.

Thais devoted to the memory of the king have folded paper flowers for his cremation, making 10 million in Bangkok alone, city authorities said.

'Our moment'

This is our Mandela, or our Princess Diana, moment, said graphic designer and self-proclaimed royalist Apichai Klapiput.

What the world will see is rivers of tears that show how much Thais love King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was the peoples king.
Frustrated by failures in Congress, President Donald Trump will try to put his own stamp on health care with an executive order Thursday that aims to make lower-premium plans more widely available.

But the presidents move is likely to encounter opposition from medical associations, consumer groups and perhaps even some insurers  the same coalition that so far has blocked congressional Republicans from repealing and replacing former President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act. Critics say the White House approach would raise costs for the sick and the lower-premium coverage provided to healthy people would come with significant gaps.

Administration officials say one of the main ideas is to ease the way for groups and associations to sponsor coverage that can be marketed across the land, reflecting Trumps longstanding belief that interstate competition will lead to lower premiums for consumers who buy their own health insurance policies, as well as for small businesses.

Less cost, but less coverage

Those association health plans could be shielded from state and federal requirements such as mandates for coverage of certain standard benefits, equal pricing regardless of a customers health status, and no dollar limits on how much the insurer would pay out.

Other elements of the White House proposal may include:

Easing current restrictions on short-term policies that last less than a year, an option for people making a life transition, from recent college graduates to early retirees.

Allowing employers to set aside pre-tax dollars so workers can use the money to buy an individual health policy.

No impact on 2018

Democrats are bracing for another effort by Trump to dismantle Obamacare, this time relying on the rule-making powers of the executive branch. Staffers at the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury have been working on the options since shortly after the president took office.

But as Trump himself once said, health care is complicated and working his will wont be as easy as signing a presidential order. Some parts of the plan will have to go through the agency rule-making process, which involves notice and comment, and can take months. State attorneys general and state insurance regulators may try to block the White House in court, seeing the plan as a challenge to their traditional authority.

Experts say Trumps plan probably wouldnt have much impact on premiums for 2018, which are expected to be sharply higher in many states for people buying their own policies.

Sponsors would have to be found to offer and market the new style association plans, and insurers would have to step up to design and administer them. For insurers, this would come at a time when much of the industry seems to have embraced the consumer protections required by the Obama health law.

Markets less viable

Depending on the scope of the order, some experts say the new plans created by the White House would draw healthy people away from Obamacare insurance markets, making them less viable for consumers and insurers alike. This could start happening as early as 2019. Premiums for those in the health laws markets would keep rising, and so would taxpayer costs for subsidizing coverage.

If the order is as expansive as it sounds, association plans could create insurance products that would siphon off healthy people with lower premiums and skinnier benefits, leading more insurers to exit the ACA marketplace or raise premiums significantly, Larry Levitt of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation said recently.

Healthy middle-class people not now eligible for subsidies could get cheaper insurance, but people with pre-existing conditions could be priced out of the market altogether, he added.

Nonetheless conservatives such as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., believe the federal government has overstepped its bounds in regulating the private health insurance market. They argue that loosening federal rules would allow insurers to design plans that, although they may not cover as much, work perfectly well for many people.

17 million buy policies

About 17 million people now buy individual health insurance policies.

Nearly 9 million consumers receive tax credits under the Affordable Care Act and are protected from higher premiums.

But those who get no subsidies are exposed to the full brunt of cost increases that could reach well into the double digits in many states next year.

Many in this latter group are solid middle-class, including self-employed business people and early retirees. Cutting their premiums has been a longstanding political promise for Republicans.
President Donald Trump will nominate Kirstjen Nielsen, who as top aide to his White House chief of staff has sought to instill order in Trump's team, to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.

If confirmed by the Senate, Nielsen would take the reins at a sprawling department with more than 240,000 employees that is responsible for U.S. border and airport security, immigration policy, disaster response, refugee admissions and other matters.

Nielsen, 45, is a cybersecurity expert with a considerable resume in homeland security that includes work at the department's Transportation Security Administration and on former Republican President George W. Bush's White House Homeland Security Council.

Nielsen was retired Marine Corps General John Kelly's chief of staff when he was secretary of homeland security during the opening months of Trump's presidency. Kelly brought her to the White House as his deputy when Trump named him chief of staff in July to replace Reince Priebus after only six months on the job.

The nomination requires Senate confirmation.

Nielsen's departure from the White House would mark the latest upheaval in Trump's White House team. She was responsible for carrying out some of Kelly's orders on who gets access to the president. As a result, she has irritated some White House officials who now have limited contact with Trump, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Kelly has sought to bring more order to the chaotic West Wing since replacing Priebus. Trump has welcomed the changes to some extent, although he has privately confided to friends that the limitations on access to the Oval Office sometimes go too far.

Putting Nielsen into the Homeland Security post will allow Trump and Kelly to keep a close eye on the department, but getting her out of the White House could permit some of Kelly's strictness to be relaxed.

Well versed in technical issues

The department has been led by an acting secretary, Elaine Duke, since Kelly took the White House post.

Cybersecurity is one of the primary issues under the Homeland Security Department's portfolio. Nielsen previously worked at a cyber think tank at George Washington University, blocks from the White House, and is considered well-versed in some of the more technical missions at the department, such as sharing cyber-threat information with the private sector.

The department was created after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States exposed cracks in the country's homeland security apparatus.

The appointment comes at a busy time for the department, with one of its agencies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, overseeing disaster relief in hurricane-hit Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida as well as wildfire-ravaged areas of California. The department also is responsible for U.S. border security.

The department is a major player in implementing Trump's aggressive stance toward deporting illegal immigrants, as well as vetting the lower number of refugees Trump has decided to allow into the United States and devising his travel ban on six Muslim-majority nations, North Korea and certain Venezuelans.

Low-drama pick

"It seems like a low-drama pick. It's a little concerning that she seems to have little background in immigration security and policy, but those individual agencies are in good hands already, and there is a strong core of career managers," said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors more limits on immigration.

Nielsen is not known for hardline views on immigration like those of White House adviser Stephen Miller.

If confirmed, Nielsen would be the first homeland security secretary to have previously served as a rank-and-file member of the department. Some previous DHS secretaries have been criticized for not possessing enough technical fluency to address cyber-threats facing the nation.

"Kirstjen's a policy wonk at heart, especially when it comes to cyber," Frank Cilluffo, a former senior homeland security official under Bush who worked with Nielsen at George Washington University.

Nielsen would immediately be given the task of helping coordinate the federal response to potential cyberattacks that target elections. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election to try to help Trump win, in part by hacking and releasing emails embarrassing to his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, and through online propaganda.

Russia has denied meddling in the election and Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and Moscow.

Jeh Johnson, who served as former Democratic President Barack Obama's last homeland secretary chief, designated election systems as critical infrastructure, widening the support the department can provide to states. But the department has clashed with several state officials over how best to cooperate to defend future elections.

Politico first reported the appointment.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday promised Americans they are going to have so much money to spend if lawmakers approve his tax reform plan.

Trump, in an airport hangar in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, told a crowd of truckers that the typical American household would get "a $4,000 pay raise" with the changes he wants, although economists say that benefit would only materialize over eight years, at a rate of about $500 annually.

Trump's speech to hundreds of truck drivers  the most common job in more than half of the country's 50 states - was intended to counter the views of independent analysts that the Republican tax blueprint would mostly benefit the highest income earners. These analysts contend that at least some middle-income taxpayers would pay more, not less, to the government under Trump's proposal.

The president, in his Pennsylvania speech, did not go into detail of how his plan would affect the wealthy. He said that his rich friends have been telling him they do not want anything from his proposal and are asking him to give it to the middle class.

White House officials say the plan would double the standard deduction so that more income is taxed at zero percent; the first $12,000 of income for individuals and $24,000 for married couples would be tax-free, and the seven existing income tax brackets for taxable income would be consolidated to three brackets: 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent.

The Republican-controlled Congress, however, has yet to determine at what levels of income the new rates would apply, leaving analysts to guess what effects the changes would have on any individual taxpayer.

"You better get it passed, Trump said in a message to lawmakers.

At least six members of Congress were in the audience.

Trump also wants to trim corporate taxes to further boost the U.S. economy, the world's largest.

In his remarks, he also touted that since his election last November, the U.S. stock market has increased corporate values by $5.2 trillion and that unemployment is at its lowest point in 16 years.

The Trump administration, when it took office in January, predicted it would complete a tax overhaul by August, but now has its sights set on completing the reforms by the end of the year.

However, congressional tax-writing panels have yet to hold hearings and Democratic and Republican lawmakers have widely divergent views on what changes should be made.

Under some scenarios, the tax cuts could add to the country's long-term debt of more than $20 trillion, which would be an outrage to many conservative Republican lawmakers. Democratic lawmakers are calling for tax changes to mostly benefit the country's middle class and lowest-income taxpayers, not the wealthiest.

Democrats want to raise your taxes very, very substantially, Trump declared in his speech, labeling the opposition party as obstructionists who are not telling you the truth.
GOODING  The Gooding County Historical Society will hold a grand opening Saturday of its newly restored 105-year-old schoolhouse.

The one-room school, built in 1912 at Thorn Creek, 11 miles northeast of Gooding, was donated to the historical society and rehabilitated at the museum site.

The society members raised $13,000 in donations to restore the building, museum Director Lorna Bard said Wednesday.

The school operated at Thorn Creek, a community of ranch families, until it merged with the Gooding School District in 1947. Seventeen students attended the school in 1941, Bard said.

Two families competed for the school in 1912, she said. Then the losing family moved the finished building more than a mile in the dead of night, on skids over snow and frozen ground, to its longtime site. By 1920, the eight-grade school had outhouses, a windmill and a teacherage.

Norma Moody Burnum, the only student in her class, was the last student to graduate from the school.

In 1991, the schoolhouse was donated to the Gooding County Fairgrounds by Frank and Alma Varin. The building was moved for the final time to the Gooding museum in 2010.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says President Donald Trump is committed to disaster relief for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, according to the Reuters news agency.

Sanders issued the statement hours after President Donald Trump said that government response teams could not remain in the U.S. territory indefinitely.

 We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!, Trump tweeted Thursday morning.

Trump also cited Sharyl Attkisson, a television host for the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, as suggesting the island shared in the responsibility for its dire financial situation.

"Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making," says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of.....

...accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend....

Reuters also cited the White House as saying it is working with the islands governor and the U.S. Congress on the governments response.

Puerto Rico's financial situation has worsened over a period of time, prompting the territory to file for bankruptcy in May and work with Congress to restructure more than $120 billion in debt. After Hurricane Maria destroyed much of the island, Puerto Rico's financial crisis escalated into a humanitarian one.

Recovery has been slow, leaving many of the islands 3.4 million residents without basic services such as running water and power.

The U.S. Department of Defense said Wednesday 89 percent of the island's residents were still without electricity two weeks after Maria made landfall. About half of the residents had cellular service, according to a website created by the Puerto Rico government. As of Tuesday, 43 of Puerto Rico's 72 hospitals were operating with power.

The death toll from Maria has climbed to 45 and 113 people remain unaccounted for, according to Puerto Rico's Department of Public Safety spokeswoman, Karixia Ortiz.

At a White House media briefing, Chief of Staff John Kelly said, Our country will stand with those American citizens in Puerto Rico but added the Federal Emergency Management Agency is not going to be there forever.

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello earlier had a restrained response to the president's comments.

The U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico are requesting the support that any of our fellow citizens would receive across our Nation, Rossello said.

Rossello's muted response was in sharp contrast to that from Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of Puerto Rico's capital, San Juan.

Tweet away your hate to mask your administration's mishandling of this humanitarian crisis. While you are amusing yourself throwing paper towels at us, your compatriots and the world are sending love and help our way, Cruz said in a letter to Trump.

Cruz's letter added, I ask the United Nations, UNICEF and the world to stand with the people of Puerto Rico and stop the genocide that will result from the lack of appropriate action of a President that just does not get it because he has been incapable of looking in our eyes and seeing the pride that burns fiercely in our hearts and souls.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer also responded to Trump's latest tweets, saying the island's residents deserve to have the full support of the U.S. government, as did Texas, Florida and other southern U.S. states that were stricken recently by hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

There is still devastation, Americans are still dying. FEMA needs to stay until the job is done, Schumer wrote on Twitter.

Like Schumer, Rossello has also emphasized the island's residents are Americans  as he did last month when he issued a plea for federal assistance.

Puerto Rico, which is part of the United States, can turn into a humanitarian crisis, Rossello said. To avoid that, recognize that we Puerto Ricans are American citizens. When we speak of a catastrophe, everyone must be treated equally.

Although Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens they, like residents of other U.S. territories, cannot vote in general presidential elections unless they become residents of one of the 50 states.

According to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, these citizens cannot vote in the presidential election unless they have official residency in a U.S. state or the District of Columbia."

Despite their inability to vote in presidential elections, the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act says people born in Puerto Rico have the same birthright citizenship as anyone born in the 50 states.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that the United states is "sacrificing" ties between the two allies as a diplomatic feud between the nations continues.

"It is unacceptable for America to sacrifice a strategic partner like Turkey for an impertinent ambassador," Erdogan said, referring to Washington's ambassador to Ankara John Bass, who is due to leave his post later this week for a new assignment in Afghanistan.

Relations are deeply strained following the arrest of local U.S. consulate employee Metin Topuz on terrorism and espionage charges in relation to a failed coup staged last year against President Erdogan. Those tensions resulted in both sides severely restricting the issuance of visas.

Erdogan blamed Bass for the tensions, having declared that the ambassador would no longer be considered Washingtons legitimate representative.

But Washington has strongly backed Basss actions, reiterating its criticism of the detention of its local employee. Observers suggest the move has closed the door to Ankara's hopes of ending the crisis by blaming it on the ambassador, rather than Washington.

"We're actually quite surprised by the United States State Department response to what would be considered as a routine investigation," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said during a visit to Washington on Wednesday.

"We think the reaction is out of context and we hope that pretty soon this issue will be resolved. U.S. and Turkey have been friends, allies, partners, for over half-a-century. And that relationship, this partnership, I think, is strong enough to weather such crisis," he said.

Watch:Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek hopes U.S.-Turkey dispute is temporary



Following Topuz's arrest, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced that it would temporarily halt all non-immigrant visa applications - a move that was quickly mirrored by Turkey.

A statement Sunday from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara said, "Recent events have forced the United States government to reassess the commitment of the government of Turkey to the security of U.S. Mission facilities and personnel." The statement did not say how long the suspension would last.

VOA Turkish contributed to this report
The United States is asking the Turkish government to present evidence to back up its accusations used to justify the detention of locally-employed U.S. consulate members and several American citizens, including jailed American pastor Andrew Brunson.

"We would call upon the government of Turkey to please provide us that evidence, if there is evidence, that they were involved in what Turkey alleges, and that is terrorism," said State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert on Thursday.

She told reporters the U.S. has "not seen any evidence" to that effect and called on Ankara to fulfill its pledge to allow access for the detained to see their lawyers.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, conveying Washington's "profound concern" over the detentions. It is the second phone call in less than a week between the top diplomats of two NATO allies.

Relations between Turkey and the U.S. are deeply strained following last week's arrest of local U.S. consulate employee Metin Topuz on terrorism and espionage charges, in relation to a failed coup staged last year against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Both countries have severely restricted the issuance of non-immigrant visas.

Washington's suspicions are growing that the detention of local staffers could be politically driven.

Detained Americans

Meanwhile, about a dozen U.S. citizens have been held in connection with last year's failed coup, including Brunson, who has been in jail without being charged for about a year.

"It is something that we follow extremely closely. We would like to see Pastor Brunson brought home," Nauert said Thursday. "That's one of the issues that is consistently brought up, the safety, the welfare, the well-being of the American pastor, Pastor Brunson."

Tillerson raised Brunson's case over the weekend in his phone call with Cavusoglu, according to the State Department.

Erdogan had said that if the U.S. wants Brunson freed, it should extradite Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for last year's failed coup attempt.

While Washington and Ankara agreed the two sides would remain in close contact to calm the escalated tension, there appeared to be little sign of a quick resolution to the diplomatic dispute.

Erdogan: US 'sacrificing' ties with Turkey

On Thursday, Erdogan said the United States is "sacrificing" ties between the two allies.

"It is unacceptable for America to sacrifice a strategic partner like Turkey for an impertinent ambassador," Erdogan said, referring to Washington's ambassador to Ankara John Bass, who is due to leave his post later this week for a new assignment in Afghanistan.

Following Topuz's arrest, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced it would temporarily halt all non-immigrant visa applications  a move that was quickly mirrored by Turkey.

Erdogan blamed Bass for the tensions, having declared that the ambassador would no longer be considered Washington's legitimate representative.

But Washington has strongly backed the American ambassador's actions, reiterating its criticism of the detention of its local employee. Observers suggest the move has closed the door to Ankara's hopes of ending the crisis by blaming it on Bass, rather than Washington.

"We're actually quite surprised by the United States State Department response to what would be considered as a routine investigation," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said during a visit to Washington on Wednesday.

"We think the reaction is out of context and we hope that pretty soon this issue will be resolved," Simsek said. "U.S. and Turkey have been friends, allies, partners, for over half a century. And that relationship, this partnership, I think, is strong enough to weather such crisis."
U.S. and Mexican CEOs gathered in Mexico City on Wednesday said it would be better to live with no North American Free Trade Agreement than be saddled with a bad deal, as industry braces for the end of a treaty that drives $1 trillion in annual trade.

The CEO meeting ran in parallel to talks near Washington aimed at refreshing the 1994 agreement, with Mexico, Canada and businesses united in opposition to a number of radical U.S. proposals they say would damage the North American economy.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be open to bilateral trade pacts with Mexico or Canada if a deal cannot be reached to substantially revise NAFTA.

"We are all much worse off with a bad agreement than with no agreement," said Guillermo Vogel, who co-chaired the Mexico City event and is a vice president at Tenaris, a steel company.

The meeting, part of a bilateral "CEO dialogue" that meets a couple of times each year, included a closed-door discussion on the NAFTA negotiations addressed by Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and Economy Minister Idelfonso Guajardo, who are in charge of the negotiations for Mexico.

On the U.S. side the event was co-chaired by FedExs CEO Michael Ducker and U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue.

The event's organizers declined to say who else attended.

American Express, AT&T, GM and Delta were listed on publicity material for an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Mexico on Tuesday, where Donohue warned that several U.S. proposals in the NAFTA talks were "poison pills" that risked dooming the agreement.

The process of renegotiating NAFTA has turned increasingly sour. Mexico accuses Trump of spoiling for a "protectionist war" with proposals aimed at balancing trade.

Those proposals include removing dispute resolution mechanisms, limiting trade in fresh produce and introducing minimum quotas for U.S. parts in autos.

Vogel said the content rules for auto parts were still negotiable, despite shock in Mexico at suggestions half of all parts in cars should be made in the United States. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday he expected an agreement would be reached on that issue.

On Tuesday, Donohue also singled out a "sunset clause" that would automatically terminate NAFTA every five years unless there were fresh negotiations.

"Clearly, a clause that cancels the agreement every five years totally defangs it," Vogel said. "Starting to play with a non-market economy would be terrible for us."

Vogel said U.S. and Mexican businesses still believed NAFTA talks would produce a good deal and said they would continue to lobby their governments and lawmakers to negotiate a good deal.

"With an agreement, in 10 years I see a strong region that can face Asia or China, without an agreement I see a weaker region in the medium and long term."
Iran may well make good on some of its threats to lash out at American interests and targets, should U.S. President Donald Trump move forward with decertifying the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday pledged a "tougher" response if Trump decides to find Tehran is not in compliance with the nuclear deal, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. An Iranian military spokesman further promised this week that his countrys forces would teach the U.S. "new lessons if needed.

But current and former U.S. intelligence and military officials say any Iranian action is unlikely to be carried out directly and that such behavior would not be a dramatic departure from Irans behavior since the nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), went into effect.

WATCH: Congress Braces for Trump Decision on Iran Deal

The trajectory that we have seen Hezbollah on has continued pretty much unabated throughout the duration of the conflict in Syria, National Counterterrorism Director Nicholas Rasmussen told reporters Wednesday, as the U.S. announced a new round of actions aimed at countering the Iranian-sponsored terror group.

Rasmussen is only the latest in a long line of U.S. officials to voice concern about Irans activities since the nuclear agreement went into effect.

'Clearly the top threat'

Just last month, the head of U.S. Central Command called Iran clearly the top threat to long-term stability in the Middle East.

They operate almost entirely in what we refer to as the gray zone, that space between normal international competition and armed conflict, Gen. Joseph Votel said during an appearance in Washington.

And White House officials say Iran has become increasingly aggressive, even as the U.S. continued to certify the regimes compliance with the deal.

What theyre doing now more than ever is accelerating the arming of their proxies, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told a forum in Washington last month.

The agreement signed by Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, requires Tehran to sharply restrict its nuclear program and allow more access to international inspectors. Iranian leaders also promised not to seek, develop or acquire nuclear weapons.

In return, Iran received relief from crippling economic sanctions, including the release of billions of dollars in frozen overseas assets and re-admittance to the international banking system.

It is the worst deal, McMaster said. It didnt address clearly critical capabilities Iran is still free to develop.

And there has long been suspicion that Tehran has been using financial flexibility as a result of funds freed up under the terms of the nuclear deal  estimated $50 billion to $150 billion  to expand the scope and reach of its proxy forces across the Middle East and beyond.

Aggressive approach

With few signs Iran is willing to modify its behavior, officials say the U.S. has no choice but to take a more aggressive approach to weaken Irans widening influence, even if the results are not immediate.

"The Iranians are concerned about this (decertification), said Michael Pregent, a former U.S. intelligence officer now with the Hudson Institute. It calls them out for their behavior. It punishes them for their behavior.

Pregent said the U.S. would also be wise to designate Irans elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), whose commanders often embed with proxy forces, as a terrorist organization.

Putting sanctions on the IRGC and other entities constrains Iranian actions, constrains other countries from supporting Iran, Pregent said.

Experts who track Irans proxies say few seem to have felt any constraints until now.

In September, the [anti-U.S.] rhetoric was upped by Kata'ib Hizballah, one of the IRGC's most loyal creations, said Phillip Smyth, a University of Maryland researcher who follows the online activity of Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq and Syria.

They were talking about targeting U.S. forces in Iraq, Smyth said, describing it as the usual rhetoric.

Still, there are those who worry decertifying the nuclear deal and designating the IRGC as a terrorist group, will only make U.S. efforts to contain Iran more difficult while making its proxies more dangerous.

Decertification will support the Iranian narrative that the U.S. is distrustful and may persuade Iranian militias to target U.S. service members as they did during the Iraq War, said Nicholas Glavin, an independent researcher formerly at the U.S. Naval War College's Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups.

Iranian militias will continue to exert a significant amount of control in parallel to American troops attempts to stabilize Iraq and Syria," Glavin said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging action to stop the spread of tuberculosis from animals to humans. The health agency warns zoonotic TB, as it is called, infects about 150,000 people and kills more than 12,000 every year.

The WHO says TB in animals has been neglected for too long and it is time to put an end to that. So, for the first time, the organization is issuing a road map to combat animal tuberculosis and its transmission to humans.

Anna Dean, technical officer for Zoonotic and Drug Resistant Tuberculosis at the WHO, told VOA zoonotic TB is a global problem, with the disease thriving mainly in Africa and to a lesser extent in the Asia region.

It is mainly transmitted to people through food; dairy products and milk that have not been heat-treated is the most common route. Less commonly, it can also be transmitted through the consumption of improperly prepared meat from diseased animals, Dean said.

Besides posing a major risk to food safety and human health, the WHO notes bovine TB threatens peoples livelihoods and results in major economic and trade barriers.

Dean said the best way to eliminate bovine TB is to slaughter diseased animals. She says that is generally not a hardship for wealthy countries such as the United States, where cattle herders tend to be compensated for their lost animals. Dean pointed out that in other parts of the world, doing so poses a challenge.

It is not the case obviously in African countries. To implement these animal health interventions requires a lot of economic - a lot of financial investment. So, I think to stop, to prevent TB in people, you need to first of all control the disease in animals, she said.

Dean added that improving food safety, which can be easily done, is also essential. For example, she says, boiling untreated milk is enough to kill TB and other important bacteria that can cause illness in people.
After a brief reprieve with calmer winds and cooler temperatures, the wildfires in the western U.S. state of California grew overnight Wednesday to 22, as officials said the death toll rose to 17.

Cooler weather and moist ocean air had helped the hundreds of firefighters battling the blazes in the northern part of the state, which have burned nearly 50,000 hectares (123,500 acres) of land and at least 3,500 homes and businesses, and have caused more than 20,000 people to evacuate their homes. Several thousand have gone to temporary shelters.

"We are expecting some extreme fire behavior and growth of our incidents currently, and that is going to lead us to challenges," Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann said Wednesday. "The good news is we are starting to get some additional resources coming in throughout the state."

Evacuations continued throughout the state overnight.

"My advice to you is, 'Go,' " Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said at a news conference Wednesday, encouraging residents to flee even before mandatory evacuations. "This is still a very serious event."

Among the areas affected are Napa and Sonoma counties north of San Francisco that are home to dozens of wineries that draw tourists from around the world.

Giordano said more than 500 people had been reported missing in Sonoma County. But he said that many of these might simply be struggling to get in touch with family members and authorities, with 73 cell towers down across the state.

Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in eight counties and thanked the federal government for a fast response in offering aid to the state.

U.S. President Donald Trump approved the funding Tuesday.

"Napa has been hit so hard  and Sonoma, as they deal with the tragic loss of life and property to devastating wildfires," Trump said at a White House reception.

Authorities said they did not know what started the fires. California commonly has wildfires in the late summer and early fall that spread with the help of strong, dry winds.
Donald Trump's unique, Twitter-driven presidency has re-energized and personalized a national debate on the media as old as the First Amendment.

Trump, backed by some pundits and commentators on the right, has described some leading news outlets as "the enemy of the people," intent on destroying his presidency.

He asked Wednesday on Twitter when it is appropriate to challenge the broadcast licenses of some outlets he accuses of being fake news.

Defenders of journalism counter there's nothing new in a president chafing at reporting of his administration's foibles, as every one of his modern-day predecessors has done.

The difference is Trump's use of social media to amplify his criticisms, and the determination of some of America's journalistic powerhouses to increase manpower and reporting they say is aimed at holding the administration accountable.

In a steady drumbeat of Twitter posts, Trump has cast himself as the victim.

"Wow, so many Fake News stories today. No matter what I do or say, they will not write or speak truth. The Fake News Media is out of control!" he tweeted.

Studies show that coverage of Trump has tilted heavily to the negative. A content analysis done by the nonprofit Pew Research Center showed that reporting about the first months of the Trump presidency was 62 percent negative and five percent positive.

By contrast, the early 2009 coverage of President Barack Obama's presidency was 42 percent positive and 20 percent negative, according to Pew. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also had higher negative than positive coverage, but nothing like Trump's.

Trump critics see nothing exceptional in those figures given the volume of missteps and misstatements coming from the Oval Office, but Trump and his supporters interpret them as evidence of malign intent.

In post after post on Twitter, the president has pointed the finger directly at some of America's most influential media and platforms, accusing them of misrepresenting facts and telling outright lies, and suggesting there is a concerted campaign to damage his presidency.

'Contempt for Trump'

Angered by an NBC News story last week that quoted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as having called him a moron, Trump demanded an apology and called for a congressional investigation.

While the prospect of a Senate probe seems remote, the president's complaints have reinvigorated some media critics.

"The national media have a dramatic contempt for Trump," said Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the conservative Media Research Center. "They not only did not vote for him, they really feel he is a dangerous moron, which is why this [NBC] story resonates with them."

"The tenor of the discussion is, Trump has to deny he's a moron. That, to them, is a good day," Graham told VOA.

'False narratives'

Members of the journalistic community, however, say their coverage is about holding the administration accountable.

Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson, writing in the Columbia Journalism Review, said, "The quixotic nature of the new administration  and the false narratives that tumble out of the White House daily, cry out for this kind of accountability journalism."

At the same time, Abramson warned her former colleagues that some commentary, and the sheer volume of coverage, could be construed by critics as "gloating" or "overkill."

"This doesn't mean holding back stories, mincing words, or publishing bland journalism that equates both sides or makes false equivalencies," the former Times editor wrote. "It means not taking cheap shots, not publishing biased headlines ... and not overreaching."

Indira Lakshmanan, the Newmark Chair for Journalism Ethics at the Poynter Institute, argues Trump's attacks on the media are threatening legitimate concerns over "fake news," a term originally coined to describe hoax stories meant to disinform and influence, or simply earn advertising dollars on the internet.

"Trump has turned a genuine scourge that threatens an informed populace and our democracy on its head by deeming any critical reports on him that he doesn't like 'fake news' in an effort to undermine the credibility of Washington political reporting and mainstream, fact-based journalism in general," Lakshmanan said in a statement to VOA.

Ironically, the media may be the long-term beneficiary of Trump's ire. Newspapers such as the Times, which the president often refers to as "the failing New York Times," have shown significant increases in readership and revenue.

"Every time I hear him tweet about the 'failing @nytimes' or use the shopworn sobriquet 'fake news,' I also hear the ka-ching of the so-called 'Trump bump,' which has helped kick the Times' digital subscriptions above two million since the election, a revenue stream that is crucial to support its reporting staff at current levels," Abramson noted.
The once-powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was suspended from the British film academy Tuesday as allegations of his decades of sexual abuse continue to emerge.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts said in a statement Wednesday that Weinstein's membership had been "suspended, effective immediately."

The organization, which had previously received money from Weinstein to fund its charitable work, called his alleged sexual transgressions "completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTA's values."

Weinstein was fired by the board of his production company, the Weinstein Co., on Monday following an explosive New York Times report, in which 13 women accused him of sexually harassing or assaulting them.

On Tuesday, another report from the New Yorker emerged, in which three women accused Weinstein of raping them. Actresses Asia Argento and Lucia Evans went on the record in the New Yorker story to accuse Weinstein of raping them, while another woman chose to remain anonymous.

Among the accusers are some of Hollywood's A-listers, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rosanna Arquette.

The New Yorker story says 16 current and former employees at the Weinstein Co. and Miramax either witnessed or knew of Weinstein's sexual abuse. According to the report, all of those employees said Weinstein's sexual deviancy was widely known within the two companies.

The 65-year-old Weinstein oversaw production of many popular films over the last 30 years, including Shakespeare in Love, Pulp Fiction, Sex, Lies and Videotape, The English Patient, Good Will Hunting and Lee Daniels' The Butler. He ran Miramax and later the Weinstein movie companies with his brother Bob Weinstein.

Watch report:





His fall came quickly after the Times reported on his unwanted sexual advances on women stretching over nearly three decades. The story said Weinstein, who is known in Hollywood for his demanding control of film productions and angry outbursts, had paid confidential settlements to his female accusers.

In a statement last week, Weinstein said that "the way I've behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it." Later, he claimed some of the newspaper's claims were false and said he would sue for defamation.

Weinstein took a leave of absence from his company Friday, but on Sunday the board said that "in light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days," it had told him that "his employment is terminated, effective immediately."

High-profile reactions

Weinstein has been big donor in recent years to Democratic politicians in the U.S., including twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. But with the sexual harassment revelations, Democratic political figures scrambled over the weekend to distance themselves from the disgraced filmmaker.

Several Democrat politicians, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren have promised to donate money they received from Weinstein to charities supporting women.

Clinton broke her silence on the matter Tuesday, saying she was "shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein."

"The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated," she added in a statement.

"Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status," former President Barack Obama said in a statement Tuesday. "We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories."

President Donald Trump said over the weekend he's "known Harvey Weinstein for a long time" and he is "not at all surprised" by the sexual abuse allegations.

Matt Damon's first film, Good Will Hunting, won him his first Oscar after Weinstein took a chance on a script from Damon and fellow unknown, Ben Affleck.

"We know this stuff goes on in the world. I did five or six movies with Harvey. I never saw this," Damon told CNN's Deadline in an interview published Tuesday.

He added later in the interview: "This morning, I just feel absolutely sick to my stomach."
Social media is on fire following President Robert Mugabes move to re-assign former Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa to the Ministry of Cyber Security, Threat Detection and Migitation.

Zimbabweans started circulating crafty memes on Monday after the minister was reassigned to this portfolio with one of the images showing him taking off his eyeglasses and pondering his next move.

The meme has some unkind words, which read in part  When you go from Minister of Finance to national WhatsApp admin 

An administrator of a WhatsApp group has the power to select, add and delete names of members, and the ability to post comments as and when its necessary.

Not to be outdone, another meme shows Chinamasa about to get to parliament with a briefcase having Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, You Tube, Google, WhatsApp and other logos, possibly to present to legislators his vision on cyber security, threat detection and mitigation, instead of the 2018 national budget.

Chinamasa used to carry a big briefcase before presenting his national fiscal outlook to parliament. This has been the norm in the southern African nation whenever ministers of finance present national budgets in parliament.

Another meme shows the former finance minister raising one of his fingers and urging someone to get out of an imaginary WhatsApp group. The meme reads, Buda Mugroup, Buda! (Get out of the group, get out).

Several other memes are circulating on social media and messaging application, WhatsApp, depicting Chinamasa as a person who was demoted by President Mugabe.

The former finance minister was not available for comment.

George Charamba, President Mugabes spokesperson, told reporters in Harare soon after the swearing in of new Cabinet ministers that Chinamasas portfolio is designed to fish out people, who abuse others on social media, and other issues.

Charamba said Chinamasa was the best candidate for the job as he is a qualified legal practitioner capable of handling issues like the use of social media to undermine the state.

Zimbabweans always come out with memes designed to take on the ruling Zanu PF elite. Social media enthusiasts went wild when Mr. Mugabe fell at Harare Airport after returning home from some international engagements.

Some of the memes created a year ago are still circulating on social media and other platforms.
TWIN FALLS  Just as work wraps up on the last two blocks of the Urban Renewal Agencys Main Avenue project, city employees are preparing to move to a new home.

On Monday, desks will arrive at the future City Hall  the former Banner Furniture building at Main Avenue East and Hansen Street. The $5.7 million remodel is nearly complete, as contractors work to finish drywall, painting, grouting and exterior siding.

Meanwhile, police officers will move next week into their operations building at the $9.5 million public safety complex.

And it appears that both city projects are on time and on budget.

They need about two weeks to put those desks together, said Jason Derricott, project manager for Starr Corp.  the citys construction manager/general contractor for both jobs. They will be out of the temporary City Hall by the end of October.

He expects city staff to begin moving into their new home in the last week of October  starting with utility billing on the first floor, and followed by administration on the third floor and engineering on the second.

The new City Hall will open in November, Derricott said.

While awaiting the completion of Main Avenues reconstruction, Julie Deters at Bennos Fine Jewelry hopes the new City Hall next door will attract more people to Main Avenue. Her family-owned and -operated business has been downtown for 57 years.

Downtown Renaissance

For Deters, construction has gone about as expected on the block between Hansen Street and Idaho Street.

Theyve made a lot of progress, she said.

Work here is pretty much on schedule. Having begun in August, it will be complete by the end of October, Guho Project Superintendent Rob Cloninger said.

But not every part of the URAs $6.4 million Main Avenue reconstruction has gone as scheduled. The final block, from Idaho to Jerome streets, wont be complete until mid-November.

Were pretty close to being on target, Cloninger said. For a project of this size, to be as close as we are is pretty good.

The good news: The project is under budget, thanks in part to savings on tree removal and brick pavers.

The festival blocks off of Shoshone Street took longer than the two months they were projected to.

When we made that two-month commitment, that was before we had even put anything out to bid, Cloninger said.

Hes been more than satisfied with the half-dozen subcontractors Guho hired, but he didnt have the numbers of skilled manpower needed to complete the project as quickly as planned.

Our problem throughout Idaho is skilled, qualified manpower is hard to come by, Cloninger said.

The third block of the project  from Shoshone Street to Hansen Street  was opened Friday.

The delay didnt discourage Tony Prater of Jensen Jewelers from making some improvements of his own. Prater, who served on an advisory committee for the Main Avenue reconstruction, decided to put his money where his mouth was.

On Oct. 3, his downtown business got a new $20,000 storefront and logo  part of a company rebranding.

I wanted this to be the first place where we invested the money because of whats going on downtown, he said.

In time for Oktoberfest, he also brought in new display cases and about $200,000 worth of new merchandise.

And his is just one example of private investment made during construction. On that same block, The Gyro Shop owners opened an ice cream shop and Extreme Staffing began remodeling the former home of Toy Orphanage and Things.

Overall, I think it went very well, Prater said. Oktoberfest was a good boost to business down here.

Twin Beans Coffee owner Paul Graff said his business increased from last year  but he estimates that during construction it was down about 20 percent from where it could have been.

I think we fared better than most, he said.

The final piece of Main Avenues reconstruction will include paving Hansen Street from Second Avenue East to Second Avenue South. Some of that has been completed.

Cloninger hopes to have good weather through Thanksgiving, but if that fails, the project will be carried over in the spring. Thats the same time when construction of the $1.3 million downtown commons  a public plaza with a splash pad and restrooms  will resume west of the new City Hall.

Public safety complex

Police officers and administration should all be settled into their respective buildings at the public safety complex by the end of the month.

Starr Corp. led the project to turn the old City Hall into a police administration building, which was essentially complete and occupied in March.

Meanwhile, the former police station has been remodeled for general police operations and evidence storage. Everyone should be moved into their new working places in a couple of weeks.

Theyre trying to do a phased move-in to get everyone set, Derricott said.

The public safety complex, City Hall, Main Avenue reconstruction and downtown commons represent a $17.2 million effort by the city and URA to revitalize downtown.
About half of teenagers in the United States and Japan say they are addicted to their smartphones.

University of Southern California (USC) researchers asked 1,200 Japanese about their use of electronic devices. The researchers are with the Walter Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism. Their findings were compared with an earlier study on digital media use among families in North America.

Advances in digital media and mobile devices are changing the way we engage not only with the world around us, but also with the people who are the closest to us, said Willow Bay, head of the Annenberg School.

The USC report finds that 50 percent of American teenagers and 45 percent of Japanese teens feel addicted to their mobile phones.

This is a really big deal," said James Steyer, founder of Common Sense Media, an organization that helped with the study. "Just think about it, 10 years ago we didnt even have smart phones.

Sixty-one percent of Japanese parents believe their children are addicted to the devices. That compares to 59 percent of the American parents who were asked.

Also, more than 1-in-3 Japanese parents feel they have grown dependent on electronic devices, compared to about 1-in-4 American parents.

Leaving your phone at home is one of the worst things

Nowadays, one of the worst things that can happen to us is, like, 'Oh, I left my phone at home,' said Alissa Caldwell, a student at the American School in Tokyo. She spoke at the USC Global Conference 2017, which was held in Tokyo.

A majority of Japanese and American parents said their teenagers used mobile devices too much. But only 17 percent of Japanese teens agreed with that assessment. In the United States, 52 percent of teens said they are spending too much time on mobile devices.

Many respond immediately to messages

About 7-in-10 American teens said they felt a need to react quickly to mobile messages, compared to about half of Japanese teens.

In Japan, 38 percent of parents and 48 percent of teens look at and use their devices at least once an hour. In the United States, 69 percent of parents and 78 percent of teens say they use their devices every hour.

Naturally, that hourly usage stops when people are sleeping, the researchers said.

The devices are a greater cause of conflict among teens and parents in the United States than in Japan. One-in-3 U.S. families reported having an argument every day about mobile device use. Only about 1-in-6 Japanese families say they fight every day over mobile devices.

Care more about devices than your children?

But 20 percent of Japanese teens said they sometimes feel that their parents think their mobile device is more important than they are. The percentage of U.S. teens saying they feel this way is 6 percent.

In the United States, 15 percent of parents say their teens use of mobile devices worsens the familys personal relationships. Eleven percent of teens feel their parents use of mobile devices is not good for their relationship.

The USC research was based on an April 2017 study of 600 Japanese parents and 600 Japanese teenagers. Opinions from American parents and teenagers were collected in a study done earlier by Common Sense Media.

Bay, the Annenberg School of Communications dean, said the research raises critical questions about the effect of digital devices on family life.

She said the cultural effects may differ from country to country, but this is clearly a global issue.
President Robert Mugabes succession dispute has taken another dramatic twist after the ruling partys Soviet-style Politburo resolved that the December annual conference be turned into an extraordinary congress in what many political pundits view as a plot to oust Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Mnangagwa, who claims he was poisoned by his rivals in the party and has clashed with Mr. Mugabes increasingly powerful wife, Grace Mugabe, was stripped of his justice ministerial portfolio in a Cabinet reshuffle early this week following a spat with his colleague, Phelekezela Mphoko.

Finance minister and party secretary for administration, Ignatius Chombo, told VOA Studio 7 that the party will make a final decision next week following a proposal by some members to hold an extraordinary congress.

The party hold congresses once every 5 years and the next one was expected to take place in 2019.

POISONING

While attending a ruling Zanu-PF youth meeting in Gwanda, Matabeleland South, in August, Mnangagwa collapsed after suffering from relentless vomiting and diarrhea.

Mnangagwas allies initially alleged he was poisoned after eating ice cream from Gushungo Dairy owned by the first family.

He was forced to publicly state that he had not eaten ice cream on the day in question. Mr. Mugabe also told close to 30,000 Zanu-PF supporters in Gweru, Midlands province, at a ruling party Youth Interface Rally that Mnangagwas doctors had told him personally at State House that Mnangagwas illness was not a result of food poisoning.

There was no food poisoning. It is not food poisoning. no! the 93-year-old Zimbabwean leader said.

Mnangagwa though had a different version when he addressed journalists in Harare last week. He alleged that, during the briefing with His Excellency, the President, Cde R.G Mugabe, the medical doctors who attended to me ruled out food poisoning, but confirmed that indeed poisoning had occurred and that investigations were still in progress.

TOPPLING MUGABE

But First Lady Grace Mugabe hit back at Mnangagwa, accusing his supporters of plotting to topple President Mugabe.

She also shot down allegations of food poisoning. "Why would my dairy business prepare a single poisoned ice cream cup just for him? Why would I want to kill him? I am the wife of the president. Who is Mnangagwa? Who is he? What do I want from him?"

This, according to party sources, triggered calls for an extraordinary congress.

Mnangagwa allegedly leads a faction of the party called Team Lacoste while Mrs. Mugabe is said to be in charge of G40. Both camps are allegedly wrestling for the control of the party with group leaders aiming at succeeding Mr. Mugabe, who is the ruling partys sole candidate in the 2018 presidential election.

ZANU PF CONSTITUTION

The Zanu PF constitution stipulates that an extra ordinary congress may be convened whenever it is deemed necessary and at the instance of:- the majority of the members of the Central Committee; or the President and First Secretary, at the instance of not less than one third of members of the Central Committee, or the President and First Secretary, at the instance of at least five Provincial Executive Councils by resolutions to that effect; the President and First Secretary, on receipt of a resolution requesting an extraordinary session of Congress, shall forward the same to the Secretary for Administration.

The secretary for administration, on receipt of the said resolution, is expected to give at least six weeks notice convening an extraordinary session of Congress.

The Central Committee shall formulate the necessary procedures for the execution of the business of the extraordinary session of the Congress. The extraordinary session of Congress shall deliberate only on those matters for which it has been specifically convened.

Human Rights lawyer Dewa Mavhinga says it is clear that the extraordinary congress is targeted at Mnangagwa but it will be difficult to oust him as he enjoys massive support.

President Mugabe has been in power since Zimbabwe attained independence from British rule in 1980.

Mnangagwa, who was his right-hand person during the war of liberation of the 1970s, has served Mr. Mugabes government for more than 37 years.

The vice president was elevated to his current position following the ouster of former vice president Joice Mujuru, who was accused of attempting to topple the president.

She dismissed these allegations as far-fetched.
Armed Zimbabwean police have arrested several vendors resisting moves by the government to remove them from the streets following an order by President Robert Mugabe to get rid of people selling various wares in public.

One of the arrested vendors leaders, Stanley Zvorwadza, was set free after he was among the first people picked up in an early police raid.

According to press reports, police and municipal security guards raided various areas in the Harare central business district where they destroyed stalls belonging to struggling vendors.

Some of the vendors temporarily fought back but were overpowered by the police, who are implementing a presidential order to get rid of people littering the streets.

Mugabe made the order when he addressed members of the ruling partys Youth League a few days ago.

ZimRights has condemned the move, saying it will destroy the livelihoods of millions of Zimbabweans, who are resorting to vendors due to lack of jobs as a result of the devastated economy.

In a statement, ZimRights said,  The Harare city is typically calling the clean-up Operation Restore Order. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) condemns the eviction of vendors from the streets where they are trying to earn an honest livelihood in a difficult economic environment.

ZimRights is of the view that the current high numbers of vendors is directly related to the high levels of unemployment, which some economists have put at over 80%. The attempted eviction of vendors is therefore tantamount to addressing the symptoms of the problem. The solution lies in the Zimbabwean government creating opportunities in the main stream economy.

The organization further urged Mr. Mugabe, who issued the eviction order, to stop the unwarranted human rights violations and uphold the Constitution.

ZimRights also said the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission should intervene and advice the government to stop the removals.

ZimRights sees no difference between Operation Restore Order, and Operation Murambatsvina, which failed to decongest the city, but had led to gross human rights violations of mammoth proportions.

Under this operation, on May 19, 2005, police burnt, bulldozed and destroyed tens of thousands of properties around Zimbabwe. The destructions resulted in the mass evictions of urban dwellers from housing structures and the closure of various informal sector businesses. According to the United Nations, 700,000 people - nearly 6 percent of the total population - were forcibly evicted from their homes, made homeless or lost their source of livelihood.
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) has noted with concern the absence of commissioners of oaths at Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) centres run by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in the ongoing blitz to register voters in the country.

In a statement Wednesday evening, ZimRights said commissioners of oath are failing the people of Zimbabwe.

Reports gathered by ZimRights show that the commissioners of oaths are totally absent, arrive late or leave the centres while registration is still in progress, forcing people to either look for alternatives where they have to pay, or to leave the registration centres without registering for failure to fulfil the proof of residence requirement.

These shortcomings are greatly affecting the voter registration process and unnecessarily compounding the challenges caused by the unfamiliarity of the new biometric system.

ZimRights would like to emphasize that all eligible citizens have the constitutional right to register in the ongoing BVR blitz as voters, for them to express their political preferences in the forthcoming harmonised elections in 2018.

ZimRights urged ZEC to provide commissioners of oath in all registration centres.

The government of Zimbabwe has a duty to fund electoral processes and see to it that all personnel such as commissioners of oaths and stationery including VR1 and VR9 forms required for voter registration are provided.

The Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai also expressed the same sentiments, stressing that the so-called voter registration exercise is no living up to expectations.

Throughout the country, people are turning out to register to vote in their numbers but the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, with the assistance of Zanu PF, are making frantic efforts to snuff out the national craze through unnecessary bureaucracy and a deliberate creation of chaos.

The MDC is seriously disturbed by the slowness of the process in serving prospective registrants which can only point to a desperate attempt to blight the growing national enthusiasm to register to vote.

But ZEC chairperson Justice Rita Makarau insisted that the process is running smoothly.

However, the MDC-T said, We note with serious concern that ZEC appears ill-prepared to execute its Constitutional mandate. Impediments are deliberately being thrown into the whole process, amid reports that at some centres the electoral management body is claiming that VR 9 forms have run out.

The forms can be used as proof of residence and their so-called shortage is leaving a lot of potential voters stranded and helpless. There are also no commissioners of oath at most registration centres to assist prospective registrants. The voter registration certificates themselves are fraught with a lot of anomalies, with notable variations and inconsistencies on their format.

Despite these hurdles, the opposition party urged people to register to vote in the 2018 council, parliamentary, senatorial and presidential elections.

Let us all register to vote. The right to vote is a right for which many Zimbabweans paid the supreme price. We must not betray the spirit of the departed patriots of this land by staying away from this important process, whatever impediments ZEC and Zanu PF may wish throw in our way.

ZEC expects to register at least 7 million people by January next year, a few months before the crucial polls.
President Trump on Wednesday took his case for massive tax cuts directly to the public, even as Senate Republicans struggle to unite behind the proposal ahead of a key Senate vote that could derail his entire approach.

During a speech to truckers and others here, Trump touted what he alleges are the tax cuts benefits for the working and middle classes, making grand-but-disputed claims about the additional dollars workers would see if tax rates were cut for corporations.

Youre going to make more money, youre going to do better than ever before, and we truly admire you, Trump told the truckers assembled before him. You are our heroes.

Trumps speech came just one week before Senate Republicans must decide whether to pave the way for his tax plan. They are planning to vote on a budget that would allow the tax cuts to raise the deficit by as much as $1.5 trillion over 10 years. At least one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), is expected to oppose the budget resolution, as he has traditionally voted against any budget that doesnt eliminate the deficit.

Republicans control only 52 of the Senates 100 seats, and they need at least 50 votes to advance the budget, as Vice President Pence would vote to break any tie. And if the House and Senate dont pass matching budget resolutions, then the Senate cannot approve tax cuts with a simple majority.

That would require them to seek help from Democrats, who so far have mostly opposed the construct of the GOP tax plan on the grounds that it would largely benefit the wealthy while potentially raising taxes for some others.

With Pauls support considered unlikely, Republicans can afford to lose at most one more vote if they hope to move the budget forward. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) opposed the White Houses effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and his support for the budget is unclear. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has also bucked the White House in the past and is going to announce on Friday whether she will run for reelection to the Senate or for governor. That decision could influence how she approaches legislation going forward.

Meanwhile, Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) has been ill and hasnt cast a vote since mid-September. Republicans hope he will be back by next week, but that is uncertain. And Trumps public and messy name-calling exchanges with Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) in recent days have also raised concerns within the GOP about whether his support for the budget will waver.

The budget resolution would essentially allow the tax-cut plan to add $1.5 trillion to the debt over 10 years, and Corker has said he wants assurances that it would actually reduce the deficit, not increase it. If Corker decides to buck GOP leaders on the Senate budget resolution vote, it could imperil the entire tax plan.

Its not something they are taking for granted, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a conservative economist who is president of the American Action Forum, referring to Senate Republican leaders assessment of the upcoming budget vote. They are worried.

Until recently, Senate Republicans were touting progress on the budget deal as a sign of their partys ability to unify, after party deficit hawks found a compromise with those pushing for the large, supply-side tax cuts to move the bill through committee. But the budgets prospects in the broader Senate again have become clouded.

The White House and Republican lawmakers are under a tremendous amount of pressure to pass the tax-cut plan, having come up short on other priorities earlier in the year. The House already has passed a budget resolution that is very different from the one Senate lawmakers will consider next week, but leaders have expressed confidence that they can work out their differences.

For Congress, Trump also offered a blunt message about his plan: All I can say is, you better get it passed.

They will. I know, he added.

Trump spoke Wednesday in front of an open airport hangar door, with a semi-truck visible stage right and another behind him on the tarmac. The truck behind him was emblazoned with a custom logo, Truckers for Tax Reform, inside a large red circle next to the words win again and lower taxes, bigger paychecks, more jobs.

Corralling Senate Republicans for the budget vote is just one part of the process that the White House is trying to pin down. Trump is also trying to convince supporters of the plans benefits even though many details remain unresolved. He has said that a massive tax-cut package will speed up economic growth and lead to more investment in the United States, raising wages, with workers seeing an additional $4,000 in pay over eight years.

Trump based this assertion on rough findings from his Council of Economic Advisers chairman, Kevin Hassett, who has a contrarian view from other economists and says that corporate tax cuts primarily help workers, not companies.

Democrats are skeptical of Hassetts claim, arguing that the plan, as currently designed, would add to the debt and primarily help the wealthy. Some party members on Wednesday asked how Trump could claim the tax plan would raise wages by $4,000 over eight years when specifics of how the plan would work havent been released.

I heard that number, and I have not seen any evidence that even comes remotely close to that suggestion, said Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee.

In a nod to the sway some Democrats might ultimately have on the tax plans fate, Trump has been pitching it in states that he won last year and where vulnerable Democratic senators are up for reelection next year.

Trump was joined at his events in North Dakota and Indiana by Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and made clear that he wants their support for his tax cuts. At the event in Indianapolis, the president motioned to Donnelly and told a supportive crowd that well campaign against him like you wouldnt believe if he isnt on board.

Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (Pa.), a member of the Finance Committee, is one of 10 Democrats in the chamber who are up for reelection next year in states that Trump won. Casey did not attend Wednesdays event in Harrisburg.

His tax message is also being reinforced on the ground by operations set up by the Republican National Committee in 19 states, including Pennsylvania. The RNC, buoyed by robust fundraising this year from small donors, has targeted state party leaders it believes will be key to the GOPs fate in next years midterms as well as Trumps reelection bid.

Beyond preparing for elections, the field operations set up by the party are working to promote Trumps tax initiatives with campaign-style tactics, including door knocking, phone banks and house meetings, RNC staff say.

Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Kelsey Snell contributed to this report.
Columnist

One of the most interesting parlor games in the business world these days is trying to guess where Amazon.com will locate its second headquarters and the 50,000 jobs that will supposedly be created by Amazon HQ2.

So its time for me to get my bet down, and I pick . . . Toronto. As in Ontario. As in Canada.

Im not picking the Washington area  home of The Washington Post and many of my journalistic colleagues  which is trying to entice Amazon.

And Im not picking my home state of New Jersey, which desperately needs the reputational enhancement, economic stimulus and personal income tax revenue that HQ2 would create.

Im picking Toronto.

Why? Partly because although Amazon said it was looking for a site in North America, it didnt say it was looking in the United States.

And partly because I think that if I were Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon (and owner of The Post), Id find Toronto attractive in ways that the United States once was but no longer is under Donald Trumps anti-immigrant, anti-intellectual and anti-Bezos presidency.

Canada, as my friends have explained to me, has an immigration system that gives preference to highly educated people. Thats as opposed to the U.S. system, which (perfectly understandably) places a premium on reuniting families. Thats a major advantage for Canada, given that Amazon is no doubt hoping to lure thousands of highly qualified non-North American people to join the company.

Even though Canadian English is somewhat different from U.S. English  if you've spent time north of our border, you know what I'm talking aboot  people at Toronto HQ2 would have no language problems communicating with people at Seattle HQ1. There would be all sorts of language problems, I think, if Bezos picked a site in Mexico.

Trump boasts endlessly about all the U.S. jobs that he claims to be creating now and that his policies will create in the future. So imagine one of the most desirable corporate projects of our time taking place outside the United States, while Bezos explains that a major reason was the uncertainty and fear Trumps policies and pronouncements have created  and that another reason was the difficulty Amazon could have recruiting highly qualified foreigners because our immigration policy has become so unpredictable.

Im not rooting for the United States to lose the jobs that HQ2 would create.

Im telling you what I think will happen, which isnt what I want to happen, as someone who considers himself a U.S. patriot.

Just so you know, I have no pipeline whatever to Amazon (whose employees havent told me anything useful for years) or to Bezos (who has never talked to me and probably never will) or to any people playing any sort of role in deciding where HQ2 goes. I didnt ask Amazon to comment for this column, because why waste the time and effort?

My Toronto pick is based on a hunch, which some polite people might call an educated guess.

There is also some journalistic risk-reward calculation at play. Theres very little downside for me if Im wrong about Toronto, and theres a very big upside if Im right.

If Im wrong, almost no one will remember. And if Im right, I wont let you forget.

Alice Crites contributed to this report.


The animated film Loving Vincent was created from approximately 65,000 oils-on-canvas, hand-painted in the style of Vincent Van Gogh, who is played by Robert Gulaczyk in the film. (Credit: Good Deed Entertainment) )

The road to Loving Vincent was long and arduous: The movie was 10 years in the making, according to filmmaker Dorota Kobiela, who dreamed up the idea of an animated biopic about Vincent van Gogh in 2007. Although originally imagined as what Kobiela calls a short mock-documentary  in which various subjects of van Goghs portraits would come to life and be interviewed about the painter  her plan was never less than a time-suck. Thats even before the movie  which is framed as a mystery centering on the circumstances of the artists death  had morphed into a full-blown feature.

The 38-year-old animator and painter, who has degrees from Warsaws Academy of Fine Arts and the Warsaw Film School, had deliberately given herself a massive headache: Each of the films frames, she insisted, would be an original oil painting, done in the style of van Gogh.

Do the math: At 12 frames a second, a 90-minute movie has 64,800 frames. Give or take a couple of hundred images, thats how many individual paintings were produced  by a stable of 125 classically trained painters  for the new film, which marks the feature directorial debut of Kobiela and her 42-year-old co-director (and husband), Hugh Welchman.

The Polish-born Kobiela and Welchman, a Brit, make their home in the Baltic port of Gdynia, Poland, where the film was made. They recently sat down to talk about Vincent, starting off by saying that the collaboration began when they fell in love, not just with each other, in 2008, but with the inspirational story of an artist who took his failures  at life, love and career  and turned them into brilliant art.

Q: In making what is essentially a cartoon  albeit one about a great artist  was there a danger that the story itself would become cartoonish?

Welchman: We weren't worried about it becoming cartoonish, because it's based on his life, and his life was rather tragic. Inspirational, yes, but also tragic. We were concerned about doing justice to Vincent's person, to his letters, to his paintings. We wanted to use real actors behind the painted characters, because Vincent painted from life, too. Our interest in framing the story as a mystery came about organically. We found we were arguing a lot: Who was this man? Why did he commit suicide? Did he commit suicide? We found that  despite the fact that there is a whole museum dedicated to him [the Van Goh Museum in Amsterdam], and there have been scores of books written on him, beginning with Julius Maier-Graefe's biography almost a century ago  there were still a lot of unanswered questions.

Q: For those who dont understand the technique you use in the film, which involves Rotoscopy  or painting on top of live action  can you explain what that is?

Welchman: Rotoscopy, in the case of the film's black-and-white flashback scenes, involves taking underlying footage  normally live action  and drawing or painting over top of it. Typically, nowadays, that's done on computer. We used Painting Animation Work Stations (PAWS), where the artists can look from reference images on a screen to the paintings in front of them, in this case, on canvas board. The film's color paintings, on the other hand, those made in Vincent's style, are not true Rotoscopy, because the artists were reimagining live-action scenes in the style of van Gogh paintings.



Loving Vincent features characters from Vincent Van Goghs paintings, such as Adeline Ravoux played by Eleanor Tomlinson), here seen folding napkins at the inn where the painter died. (Credit: Good Deed Entertainment) )

Q: Dorota, youre a painter, and you have spoken about your own struggles with depression. How did those two things inform this film?

Kobiela: I had read van Gogh's letters many times, the first time at 16. They  how shall I say it?  struck a chord. The seed was the line from one of the last letters Vincent ever wrote  the one found on his body: "We cannot speak, other than by our paintings." I had been working in animation for several years, but I felt this need to go back to painting, to combine my two passions.

Q: When did the idea hit you to approach the film as a thriller?

Welchman: Before I met Dorota, I knew what everyone knows about van Gogh, and nothing else: He cut off his ear. He went mad. He made colorful paintings. They sell for lots of money. That's it. After we fell in love  and fell in love with the story of van Gogh  I read all the books. I became obsessed. In 2011, when "Van Gogh: The Life" came out [by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith], and they said he was murdered, I thought, "Wow, that's interesting." Many of the questions about his suicide  Where did he get the gun? What happened to the gun? What happened to his painting equipment?  can be addressed by the theory that the shooting was not suicide, but accidental.

[When Loving Vincent was a Kickstarter project]

Welchman: We've been working with the museum since 2013. They helped with disputes in the historical record, with valuable information about van Gogh's painting technique. You know, they have X-rays. They can tell you the order in which the paint was applied, the tools he used. When you're dealing with someone as famous as Vincent, you want to feel that you're being respectful to his legacy. The museum gets 1,000 requests a year for approval and support of van Gogh projects. They only accept a handful.

Q: Youve sold some of the original paintings through the films website. What are you doing with the other 60,000?

Welchman: We have four on our walls at home. All have sold pretty quickly that we put up on the site. As for the rest, we're doing an exhibition at the Noordbrabants Museum in Den Bosch, Holland, where van Gogh comes from. They have six original van Goghs in their permanent collection. We chose 119 of our favorites from the film. They're showing 70 of those downstairs. The real ones are upstairs.

Q: Did it ever occur to you that there might be an easier way to make this film, like, say, designing an app that can imitate the style of van Gogh?

Kobiela: I had my heart set from the beginning: I wanted it to not just look like oil on canvas, but to be oil on canvas. I wanted there to be human error. I didn't want it to look calculated.

Welchman: There was this university computer-science department in Prague. Someone from the department saw the trailer for the film. They said, "We want to do that. We want to do, in the computer, what you've done by hand." I said, "Fine, let's do a test. We'll put your computer program up against one of our best painters." They said, "We're not ready yet. Maybe next year."

Q: Would you say that paint is never just paint? It takes a glint of light and turns it into something solid.

Kobiela: It's important to see the artifact.

Welchman: Painting is still, even in this day and age, a great technology. It's better than film. It's better than celluloid. It's better than a digital disk. It's really tough technology. We had a flood in our studio, and none of the paintings were damaged.

Kobiela: But our computers were!

Loving Vincent (PG-13, 94 minutes). At area theaters.
TWIN FALLS  An out-of-state BASE jumper broke his leg when his chute tangled and drove him into a boulder at the rivers edge.

John McDonald, 56, of Orlando, Fla., jumped from the I.B. Perrine Bridge at about noon Thursday.

Robin Hildebrand, of Bellevue, Wash., witnessed the accident from the Snake River Canyons south rim, east of the bridge.

His chute tangled and he couldnt control it, Robin Hildebrand said, pointing to a talus field across the river in Jerome County. He hit a large rock.

Her husband, Bruce Hildebrand, was on the bridge filming a group of BASE jumpers when the accident happened. He missed McDonalds launch, but saw the crash landing.

After hitting the boulder, McDonald fell into the river, said Lori Stewart, spokeswoman for the Twin Falls County Sheriffs Office.

There was a boat right there that picked him up, he said. Other BASE jumpers followed and accompanied McDonald on the private boat downstream to Centennial Waterfront Park, where rescuers were waiting.

The Twin Falls County Sheriffs Office, Twin Falls Fire Department and Magic Valley Paramedics responded. An air ambulance from St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center landed in the parking lot at Centennial, but McDonald was taken by ground to St. Lukes, said Brian Cunningham, Twin Falls Fire Department battalion chief.

McDonalds injuries are not life-threatening, Stewart said.


The entrance sign to Nicholson Ranch vineyards, which was consumed by fires in Sonoma, Calif., on Oct. 10. (John G. Mabanglo/European Pressphoto Agency/EFE/Rex/Shutterstock)

As I write this, less than 48 hours after the first alarms sounded of wildfires in California wine country, it is impossible to estimate the impact of this catastrophe. Fires are still spreading, people are still fleeing their homes and desperately trying to protect their families, pets and livelihoods. By the time you read this, the fires may be out, and we may have a clearer picture of the devastation to cities, neighborhoods, vineyards and wineries. It could be jaw-droppingly bad.

[Killer wildfires continue to rage in Californias wine country]

If youve ever visited Napa or Sonoma counties, you know someone affected by this disaster. Maybe you have friends or family there, or a favorite winery you visit and order wine from every time youre in the area. Perhaps you remember that cheerful woman who poured you a taste at Signorello winery in Napas Stags Leap District or at Paradise Ridge winery near Santa Rosa, where you lingered to watch the sun set into the Pacific in the distance. Perhaps that waiter who so enthusiastically explained the daily specials and the wonderful zinfandel available by the glass at Willis Wine Bar. Signorello, Paradise Ridge and Willis are gone, as are many more of our favorite places to stay, visit or taste.

[Photos: Scenes of devastation in wine country]

On the second morning  Tuesday  I heard a report on NPR by a KQED reporter who visited the Atlas Peak area of Napa County, where the first fires broke out late Sunday evening. She spoke of million-dollar homes consumed, Bentleys burned to their metal frames, and an infinity pool cracked by the intense heat of the flames. I shouted at my radio: What about the winery workers who live in the valley, or the migrant laborers who came north for the harvest? A mobile home retirement community in Santa Rosa was decimated, as were several stores and fast food restaurants. The charred hulks of cars in the news photos were Corollas and Civics, not Bentleys. Those hotels that burned down, the Hilton and the Fountaingrove Inn  rich people didnt stay or work there. This is a calamity for everyone, not just the wealthy.



Grape vines damaged by heat from wildfires at a vineyard in Santa Rosa on Oct. 11. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

And fate was its usual fickle self, leaving people to wonder why they were spared when their neighbors were decimated. Adam Lee, winemaker at Siduri winery, in an industrial park in Santa Rosa just west of U.S. 101, walked past devastated blocks of his neighbors businesses and found his winery intact. Less than two miles away, my cousins house remained unscathed, while more than 40 homes in her development were burned to the ground.

[Wildfires sweep across the face of the California wine industry]

Residents rallied through social media, posting news of fires, road closures and shelters opening for people and animals. I  and many others out of harms way  followed these updates raptly, trying to sort fact from rumor to glean news of friends and favorite wineries. My friend and fellow wine writer Elaine Chukan Brown fired off a volley of updates about wind direction and evacuation routes with a journalists sense for reporting facts over rumor. Because of her, I knew exactly where I could have taken my dogs or horses if I needed to. Reporting these developments was a coping mechanism perhaps, as she calmly evacuated her own family and pets from their home east of Sonoma late Monday when the fires turned in their direction.

Through it all, Brown never lost her sense of humor. The people we were going to go sky diving with later this week had to evacuate but did not lose their home. Yay, she posted on Facebook. Even so, we will not be going sky diving this week.

Early Wednesday, as the fires continued to spread, she wrote: There are times when prayers make sense because it is all you have. Pray.

This was supposed to be a column about the effects of the fires on the wine industry in Napa and Sonoma. And, well, it is, because the effects will be mainly on the people, not the wineries burned, damaged or spared, the grapes tainted or scorched.

Harvest was well underway, with only the latest-ripening grape varieties still hanging on the vines. These would be mostly cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel, so those wines from 2017 might be the most severely affected, especially in areas where the fires hit hardest. (Zinfandel lovers can take comfort that Sonomas Dry Creek Valley, a prime zin region, was not hit.)

Wineries that burned down lost not only the 2017 wines, but also the 2015 and 2016 vintages of reds aging in barrels or bottles but not yet released. Even wineries that were spared may see their wines affected by smoke. Extended power outages may also affect wines in the cellar as they rise in temperature. And future vintages could be affected  destroyed vineyards may take several years to recover.

Vines may be more resilient that we expect, however. Daniel Roberts, a viticulturist based in Sonoma County, has helped restore four vineyards damaged by fire in the past. Its hard to kill vines, he says. The fire may kill the current foliage but rarely the vine itself. Moisture within the trunk of the vine helps it stay alive even through the stress of a fire. You may lose a year or two of crop, but the vines recover, Roberts says.

Perhaps thats a metaphor for the people of Napa and Sonoma. After all, this is a story about them.
The following review appears in The Washington Posts 2017 Fall Dining Guide.



Rosemary ricotta cheesecake at Tosca. (Scott Suchman for The Washington Post)

Ristorante Tosca

(Excellent)

Business inevitably mixes with pleasure at this Italian power magnate downtown. When do you testify? I overhear one woman ask another at the next linen-draped table. I lean in to eavesdrop, but the food in front of me, from chef Massimo Fabbri, is competing for my attention. Whole-wheat spaghetti is cooked just so, draped with a tomato sauce that smacks of summer and is embellished with nothing more than fresh basil and fruity olive oil  so Italian, the delicious simplicity. Slices of Iberico pork loin, dusted with espelette pepper and served with an orange swipe of piquillo pepper sauce, help fill the dining room as surely as Toscas proximity to both Capitol Hill and the White House. The only thing better than listening in on power players is the cloudlike combination of mascarpone cream and coffee draped in frothy Marsala zabaglione, at once cool, warm and luscious.

3 stars

Ristorante Tosca: 1112 F St. NW. 202-367-1990. toscadc.com.

Prices: Mains $26-$52.

Sound check: 75 decibels / Must speak with raised voice.

Previous: Timber Pizza | Next: True Food Kitchen

---

The following was originally published April 15, 2015.

Tosca review: Go for the decor, stay for the pastas and desserts



Scialatelli pasta with rabbit ragu, thyme, and white wine sauce at Tosca Restaurant in Washington. (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post)

(Good)

R emember when Posto lived up to its Italian name (the spot) on 14th Street NW, and you had to shout to be heard amid the swarm of diners and waiters slinging wood-fired pizzas?

Owner Paolo Sacco does.

Then remember how nearby construction hid the facade from easy view, just as scores of competitors moved in?

Sacco would just as soon forget.

But the guys a pro, and he has another restaurant from which to borrow, which is a short way of saying he put Massimo Fabbri, his executive chef at the formal Ristorante Tosca downtown, in charge of returning the crowds to Posto. As skilled as he is, Fabbri has his work cut out for him. Diners can be fickle, especially with so many restaurants calling to them.

Tosca wasnt left on autopilot. Sacco filled the vacancy with a chef he was familiar with, Matteo Venini, who originally had been hired as a pastry assistant at Tosca in 2006, went on to helm Posto in 2008 and, for just five months, at Bond 45 in National Harbor.



Toscas Chef Matteo Venini, who was formerly at Posto and Bond 45. (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post)

Light-as-clouds potato gnocchi, goat cheese crema, red beet puree, and candied walnuts. (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post)

Since Venini returned to where he started in September, the chef has put his own stamp on the menu, adding duck with foie gras sauce and lamb with polenta  and amuse bouches so big they could double as appetizers. Cured salmon, the most memorable of the welcomes from the kitchen, spoke to the influence modern Spanish gastronomy has had on chefs everywhere. Setting off the fish, imbued with citrus, were a foam of whipped burrata and concentric rings of lime jelly. The enhancements raise eyebrows but redeem themselves on the tongue.

Its a bit of a letdown, then, to encounter first courses that tend to be routine (tuna tartare, beef carpaccio) or mere eye candy. After tasting the snow-white cauliflower panna cotta tricked out with cauliflower florets in several hues, a companion put down his fork and said, Beautiful  but it has no taste!

When I last reviewed Tosca, in the 2011 Spring Dining Guide, I praised it most for its pastas, a detail that holds true today. Honestly, if my position didnt require me to explore the range of the list, Id order pasta to start and pasta as a main course.

Veninis potato gnocchi, sauced with goat cheese, are light as clouds and staged as if by Jackson Pollock, with splashes of beet juice on the canvas. Linguine provides an al dente net for sea treasures running to Manila clams and shrimp, their flavors touched up with white wine, sofrito and cured fish roe (bottarga). Scialatielli  picture spaghetti, but more square than round  finds a soul mate in rabbit ragu, fragrant with thyme. Most irresistible of all are the stamp-size ravioli swollen with braised short ribs and finished with a glossy reduction of red wine, herbs and chocolate, my grandmothers trick for balancing flavors back in Northern Italy, Venini says.

Not to take away from the meat and the fowl, but few of them quicken the pulse like the pastas. (Definitely not the dense grilled veal chop, a $48 disappointment.) The best fish dishes are the simplest  say, Dover sole, simply grilled and framed with roasted potatoes tossed with garlic and rosemary.



Outstanding dish: Rosemary ricotta cheesecake dessert, with rosemary, pistachios and blood orange caramel sauce. (Scott Suchman/For The Washington Post)

Frances loss was Italys gain when pastry chef Catherine Flaherty decamped from Le Diplomate on 14th Street to Tosca last fall. Servers are quick to promote her rum-splashed sponge cake with pineapple-passion-fruit sauce, and its a fine version of the classic baba au rhum.

But the dessert I hold in the same regard as the pastas is ricotta cheesecake laced with fresh rosemary and garnished with candied pistachios and blood orange caramel sauce. Simpler pleasures beckon among the house-made ice creams and sorbets. If you dont order dessert, you still get biscotti, which become downright intoxicating if someone bends your rubber elbow and insists on a shot of vin santo for dunking the biscuits.

Even before the chef swap, the owner had been thinking about ways to enhance the look of the dining room he had opened downtown 14 years ago  middle age in industry terms. Twice since 2012, Sacco has briefly closed Tosca to refresh the interior. A glance around the room these days finds a glass-wrapped wine display, frosted lights that suggest moons overhead, banquettes to break up the expanse, a Secret Service agent or two and  why hello, Caroline Kennedy! Hows Japan treating you? If they dont come in the same numbers as they used to, power brokers still break foccaccia at this address. Isnt that so, Justice Scalia?

The good life at Tosca isnt inexpensive. A sybarite could easily shell out three digits for a soup to nocciole dinner with wine and cocktails. The restaurant makes itself accessible with a three-course, pre-theater menu for $38 six nights a week. The catch? The deal is offered between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m.

Downtown doesnt enjoy the cachet it used to in Washington, but Sacco is doing everything in his power to keep his stake there relevant. In his favor are an elegant backdrop, some terrific pastas and the occasional celebrity sighting. More formidable: a dining scene that looks nothing like it did when Tosca set sail.
Napa County firefighter Jason Sheumann sprays water on a home as he battles flames from a wildfire Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, in Napa, California. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

As wildfires continued to blaze across Northern California, the states top firefighter, Ken Pimlott, said that investigators have not yet determined the cause of any of the 17 major fires.

Californias most dangerous wildfire season comes in autumn, when summer heat and insects have left brush dead and dried-out, and when winds are especially hot, dry and strong.

This is traditionally Californias worst time for fires, Pimlott said Tuesday.

Pimlott said firefighters typically respond to 300 blazes a week during this season, but nearly all are extinguished quickly and with minimal damage.

However, conditions were ripe for wildfires after record rains last winter created an abundance of vegetation, which dried, then combined with low humidity and unusually high winds to create fast-moving infernos.

None of the major fires have been contained. Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann said fires had been moving too fast and unpredictably for firefighters to attack them directly.

Biermann and others said resources are stretched thin as firefighters battle so many major blazes simultaneously.
Editorial aide

The SpiceSuite Spice Bar is simultaneously tiny and as big as the world. Thats how it is when the product you sell has been around for millennia, used as food preservatives, as medicine and as a means of trade.

Angel Andersons shop, at 6902 Fourth St. NW in Washingtons Takoma neighborhood, is a warm, umber anchor near the end of a row of unassuming shops. Its a short walk from the Takoma Metro station. Stroll by focused on your phone and you might miss the stores window, which is decorated with Moroccan lanterns.

Food is fashion for me, says Anderson, a foodie and fashionista. The kitchen and the closet are about adventure.

The SpiceSuite has Andersons vibrant personality and is filled with colorful signage, art and antiques. There are shelves of small vials of spices and spice blends, some for purchase, some for visitors to sniff. The scents alone can whisk a person back to a grandmothers kitchen or a market in Zanzibar. Anderson makes a blend every month. One of my favorites has been the masala that I picked up in New Delhi, India, this April, says Anderson, who travels to collect spices. Its so fragrant and fun ... because it has such complexity.

One way Anderson makes time for travel involves business ingenuity. She invites fellow entrepreneurs to sell their products at the SpiceSuite on Fridays and Saturdays in pop-ups. Anderson gets time off when her "Spice Girls" run the store. Spice Girl Danita

Nikki Brooks has a line of whipped shea butter, sugar and coffee scrubs, candles, soaps and sprays called

Zen in a Jar. She's at the store the third Saturday of each month, noon to 6 p.m. "I learn about the ins and outs of running a brick-and-mortar shop," she says.

SpiceSuite has been open nearly two years. Back when Anderson first noticed the Takoma space was available, the leaser asked what her plans were. In that moment she was uncertain, but she still offered an answer: I told him I wanted to open a spice store, Anderson recalls. Spices were something I would always seek out when I traveled. In some ways, it feels super random, but when I think about the evolution of the space, it feels divine.
Chief film critic

Circle the talent.

When times get tough  when a reporter or newbie or civilian dares to challenge the behavior of a Hollywood eminence  the impulse is to close ranks around who has more power, money, fame and, perhaps most crucially, talent. In an industry whose chief products are works of novelty and imagination, its creativity thats prized and mythologized most highly: that ineffable, unquantifiable artistic gift that makes someone unique and seemingly indispensable to the entire enterprise.

Did a star lash out at a clumsy boom operator on a film set? Circle the talent, fire the crew member. Does a director have a drug problem thats endangering an entire production? Circle the talent and quash the expose. Is a movie mogul serially abusing young women and enlisting his employees as accomplices? Circle the talent and lie, ignore, attack, move on. Theyre worth it, goes the rationalization. No one else can do what they do.

[Kate Beckinsale and Cara Delevingne join the growing list of Harvey Weinstein accusers]

Its the same impulse that drives celebrity worship: that attraction, even adoration, audiences feel toward those possessed of exceptional charisma and physical attractiveness. Hollywood certainly loves its stars but reserves some of its awe for behind-the-camera operatives as well, those brilliant writers and directors  mostly male, cut in the heroic mold of John Ford, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino  whose touch can rescue a floundering script or turn a workmanlike film into a genuine work of art. Its the same auteur worship that takes over Cannes every year, when a revered filmmaker can deliver a subpar film and still be greeted with awed standing ovations and fawning pats on the back.

Inflating mediocre work is one thing. Protecting pathology is another. Harvey Weinstein, who now faces mounting allegations of sexually assaulting and exploiting young women over nearly 30 years, has always been propped up by a phalanx of publicists, lawyers and enablers; hes earned a reputation as a practiced bully in his own right. But power and intimidation obscure the nuances of Weinsteins status as that rare executive who achieved auteur-like creative status in his own right, projecting a starlike aura that was partly based on his own Barnum-esque persona, but also on subtler gifts that made people believe only he could do what he did, so well and so profitably.

Weinsteins instincts  his ability to anoint actors and filmmakers as the Next Big Things, his nose for turning movies into events  made his first studio, Miramax, a cultural force of nature in the 1990s, when to attend the premiere of Pulp Fiction or Kids was to be at the precise center of the hip, young universe. In 1992, he launched a brilliant whisper campaign urging viewers not to give away the shock ending of The Crying Game, catapulting a modest indie thriller into a must-see pop phenomenon; he made similar marketing hay from tussles with the Motion Picture Association of Americas ratings board and trips to Capitol Hill, where he leveraged public-policy debates on mental health and transparency in adoption to burnish Silver Linings Playbook and Philomena.

Hollywood has always made Oscar-bait movies, usually big-screen epics, socially important problem pictures or sturdy biopics. But, with such plummy literary adaptations as The English Patient and Emma  movies whose tone and bona fides were completely at odds with the boorish, possibly criminal behavior Weinstein is alleged to have been engaged in  he turned awards movies into a reliable, audience-friendly genre.

And, at a time when the industry was largely turning its attentions to comic books and special effects, he fashioned them into a viable business model. Thanks to the free advertising of their stars appearances on red carpet and at congressional hearings, small and midrange movies actually stood a chance of making money. Weinsteins Oscar campaigns could get brutal, but they gave Hollywood a potentially lucrative alternative to the comic-book spectacles it had pinned its future on. As the director Paul Feig told the Washington Post in an article published on Thursday, Hollywood is a business, and all business, all corporate culture, is going to make excuses for the person who is making them a lot of money.

But Weinsteins importance transcended money and power: He allowed an increasingly corporate industry to convince itself that it could still make art.

[Harvey Weinstein embodies a culture whose power is on the wane]

In recent years, its become clear that the man who once disrupted the movie industry has been disrupted himself, his uniqueness threatened by the natural evolution of technology, competition and social norms. As his financial and corporate powers have waned, so has his mystique, with his awards-season dominance being usurped by such boutique distributors as Sony Pictures Classics and Fox Searchlight, as well as such shrewd, zeitgeist-y upstarts as A24.

Meanwhile, the filmmakers and stars Weinstein once so assiduously cultivated are now flocking to Netflix and Amazon  even, heaven forfend, premium cable. Harvey Weinstein is no longer the sole proprietor of turning little-movies-that-could into juggernauts.

And as his industry has changed, so has the outside world, where women are claiming the power to call out the kind of predatory behavior that was rationalized and overlooked for so long. In addition to trauma, guilt and shame, the movie business is now left to contend with the wages of their idolatry, however artistically high-minded. Which genius actor, comedian, director or producer are they protecting now, and at what human cost? Circling the talent always means turning your back on someone, whether its an expendable apparatchik, an innocent victim or your own best self.


Comedian and actor Mike Birbiglia had his career trajectory pretty much planned from the day he started college. (Brian Friedman)

Alison Becker couldnt lose the kid, even as she walked all the way back to her dorm, even as she dismissed him. So the actress who would later make a name on Parks and Recreation spent part of one of her first days at Georgetown University in the fall of 1996 listening and relenting.

No, her new acquaintance wasnt interested in a date. But he was in love.

"He was like, 'Well I think the improv troupe is what we should do,' and 'The improv troupe. . .' and blah blah blah blah blah," Becker recalls. He "was giving me his plan for his comedy trajectory. And I was like, Okay, dude. Take it easy."

The dude did not. And as a result, 21 years after he successfully annoyed Becker into joining the Georgetown Players Improv Troupe, comedian Mike Birbiglia is just about where he had always prepared to be.

At 39, he has followed his trajectory to a third standup special, released in February; to a recurring role on Netflixs Orange Is the New Black; to a supporting role in Amy Schumers Trainwreck; to directorial acclaim for his second film, Dont Think Twice, last year; and now back to Washington on Friday, for back-to-back performances of his latest one-man show at the Warner Theater.

[Dont Think Twice: The existential crisis of an improv comedy troupe]

I do feel different, Birbiglia said of his recent successes, in a phone interview from Boston last week.

The path to this point began with an epiphany, a cliche he otherwise doesnt really believe in. (So many characters have epiphanies, he said, and youre like, I should have epiphanies, too. ) But when Birbiglia was 16, at a show on Cape Cod, a deadpan Steven Wright made him laugh so hard his face hurt and his future was hatched.

It really changed the way I view the world, Birbiglia said. I went home and I started writing jokes in my notebook. I didnt know how to write jokes; I just started writing things like he said.

His current longform-storytelling style bears little resemblance to his early one, and little resemblance to Wrights. That first style, though, gave him his first break: By winning a Georgetown standup competition as a sophomore, he earned a set at the DC Improv, opening for a pre-Chappelles Show Dave Chappelle. It went, Birbiglia said, okay.

He wanted to try again, wanted any job that would get him near the stage of what he calls hands-down one of the top-five, top-10 comedy clubs in America. They handed him a mop. He took it.

Something about Mike that was true in high school and thats still true today is that he was always a hustler, said Star Trek: Discovery co-executive producer Jordon Nardino, a friend and classmate at St. Marks School in Massachusetts and later at Georgetown. He never was interested in staying in his lane.

In high school, that meant leading the sketch-comedy club and publishing a fake edition of the newspaper. At Georgetown, it meant joining improv and pestering the occasional stranger like Becker. And at the D.C. Improv, it meant eventually opening for Brian Regan and Kathleen Madigan and absorbing anything theyd let him.

I would just bug them and ask them for advice, and I find that when you ask someone for advice, whether theyre the biggest comic in the world or the smallest, people will generally give you about one piece of advice, Birbiglia said. And so I have a lot of gathered wisdom.

He has passed along more than one piece in turn.

In 2005 and 2006, after the release of his first album, Dog Years, Birbiglia took a recent Georgetown alum, a Chicagoan named John Mulaney, with him on tour. It was life-changing, Mulaney, now one of standups biggest talents in his own right, told The Post after one of his shows in July. I loved him as a friend, and then he taught me almost everything about being a comedian.

Birbiglias own education continued. He found his voice, and his way into film, with his off-Broadway show and first movie, Sleepwalk with Me. The follow-up success of Dont Think Twice, an improv-troupe-centered feature that Birbiglia wrote, directed and starred in, means he can finally start to take it  at least a little bit  easy.

[Mike Birbiglia on Sleepwalk With Me]

There are no more constant auditions, or searches for voiceover work. He instead is able to devote more time just to writing the material, for whatever the platform. At a certain point, he said, its just f---ing exhausting.

Still, this stretch is busy. Coming off six shows in five days in Boston, Birbiglia will perform twice at the Warner Theater on Friday, first at 7 p.m. and then again at 9:30.

He is tweaking some parts of the act, he said, but hes satisfied with it. Satisfied, too, with where he is in his career, with how his freshman selfs comedy trajectory has unfolded. Satisfied with the odds that when he goes on stage this time in his college town, the crowd will watch and laugh and experience, just maybe, that telling sensation of a face beginning to hurt.
An earlier version of this story stated that Turkish Airlines offers nonstop service to Istanbul from Baltimore Washington International Marshall Airport. The airline offers nonstop service from Dulles International Airport. The story has been updated.

Earlier this week, a brief note appeared on the website and Twitter account of the Turkish Embassy in Washington. The meat of the message was:  . . . effective immediately we have suspended all visa services regarding the U.S. citizens at our diplomatic and consular missions in the U.S. This measure will apply to sticker visas as well as e-Visas and border visas.

The implications are grave: No visa, no Turkey.

You cant go to Turkey right now, said Justin Chapman, director of sales at VisaHQ, which assists travelers with procuring travel documents, including Turkish visas. We arent even allowed to process them.

As recently as last week, Americans could apply for a Turkish visa through the countrys U.S. consulates or via the online system called e-visa. Now only travelers who currently possess a visa can visit the republic. The State Department updated its informational page on Turkey with news of the visa suspension. A Sept. 28 travel warning alerting travelers to potential terrorist threats still stands.

U.S. and Turkey announce tit-for-tat travel restrictions, a sign of deteriorating alliance

We recommend U.S. citizens carefully consider the need to travel to Turkey at this time, and avoid travel to southeast Turkey, the department stated.

In response to the freeze on visas, Turkish Airlines, which offers nonstop service to Istanbul from Dulles International Airport, has loosened its rebooking and cancellation policies. U.S. passport holders with tickets issued by or before Oct. 9 and plans to fly to Turkey by Oct. 31 can change their reservation free of charge. They can also receive a refund for any unused plane ticket, including unflown legs of the journey. The airline will waive fees through Oct. 31 on flights aboard Turkish Airlines and AnadoluJet. Travelers with final destinations elsewhere in Europe or beyond can still transit through Turkey, but they are not permitted to leave the airport.

American Airlines partners with British Airways on flights from the United States to Turkey and typically sends checked bags to the final city on the travelers itinerary. Although U.S. citizens do not need a visa for London, the connecting city, American Airlines staff will check passports for proper travel documents at the departure airport. The agents will deny boarding to any passengers without a Turkish visa. (The passport check applies to all destinations requiring Americans to have visas.)

We dont want them to get stuck in London, said Ross Feinstein, an American Airlines spokesman, and have to fly back.

The Dubai office of International SOS, a security consulting firm, said it does not anticipate a drawn-out standoff over visas. (Turkeys move followed a decision by the U.S. ambassador to Turkey to suspend nonimmigrant visa services at all U.S. diplomatic facilities in the country.)

We dont expect the suspension of visa services between the U.S. and Turkey to be a long-term policy due in part to the negative economic impact it would likely have, especially in Turkey, the company wrote in an email.

However, the firm is keeping an eye on the issue  and on Americans in Turkey.

We will continue to monitor the situation in case of any escalation, including additional arrests of U.S. diplomatic employees, the expelling of U.S. diplomatic staff from country, a revised policy on the status of U.S. nationals already in the country, and, less formally, any signs of rising anti-U. S. sentiment that could affect U.S. nationals and business in country, the security experts stated.

Tour operators with future trips to Turkey are waiting and watching, hoping for positive developments. Abercrombie and Kents next voyage to Turkey departs in May. Jean Fawcett, an A&K spokeswoman, said its too early to know if the visa issue will affect the trip. But she said the company will fully refund travelers in the event of a cancellation.

Friendly Planet Travel has seen a dip in interest to Turkey, due to the crisis in Syria, but the tour company recently reinstated trips for 2018. The next Best of Turkey departure is scheduled for early April.

Peggy Goldman, founder and president of Friendly Planet, said the company has not noticed a rise in cancellations, nor has it received any new bookings for its Turkey tour. But Goldman has time  at least on the visa matter.

We can wait this out, she said. I am not going to worry about it until the end of November.

More from Travel:

On an international vacation, even unplugged teens find Turkish delights

Introducing my kids to their grandparents' Greece

Romania and Bulgaria by bus, train and minivan
Columnist

Here it is  we have it now  the defining moment of this bizarro, alternate reality were living in today.

The black man who was surrounded in a Charlottesville parking garage by white supremacists during the heinous Unite the Right rally and beaten bloody  you saw the horrifying video, everyone did  is now facing a felony charge from that incident.

How crazy is that?

Its true that, in the video, DeAndre Harris swung a flashlight at a white supremacist trying to spear a counterprotester with the pole of a Confederate flag. But within seconds, he was kicked the ground by a group of at least five white supremacist, who pummeled the 20-year-old with sticks and and a large board.

Somehow, in our new kingdom of Cruelsville, a guy who winds up with a spinal injury and 10 stitches in his head gets charged with unlawful wounding  a similar crime to the one his three attackers are facing.

[Black man attacked by white supremacists in Charlottesville faces felony charge]

Should we suspend the California wine country kids who didnt show up for classes at their burned-out school? Or ticket the cars swept away in Houstons flood?

Why not? The parents of Tamir Rice received a $500 bill for his ambulance ride after Cleveland police killed him in a park three years ago. (To his credit, the mayor quickly apologized and canceled the bill after it made news.)

In this strange world, victims are guilty, facts are alternative and no one can feel safe. (Need more evidence of the world turned upside? Rush Limbaugh just said that President Trumps comments are starting to make me nervous. Which is actually making me nervous.)

Harris had to turn himself in to authorities on Thursday, thanks to a cunning runaround by white nationalists who figured out that in Virginia, an alleged crime victim can generate a warrant through a local magistrate after a police report has been filed.

And as Black Lives Matter activists worked to help identify Harris's attackers in the video and share that information with police, the white power people decided to make Harold Ray Crews the victim.

Crews describes himself on Twitter as an attorney and a "Southern nationalist." He also runs the North Carolina chapter of the League of the South, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which considers it a hate group.

Harriss attorney, S. Lee Merritt, told The Washington Post that Harris did not injure Crews in the melee and that the charge against him is unjustified.

We find it highly offensive and upsetting, Merritt said, but whats more jarring is that hes been charged with the same crime as the men who attacked him.

How can this be happening?

Its the new, Fake Reality, the culture of Alternative Facts, the world in which white men, who hold the majority of the nations wealth, congressional seats, judgeships, CEO spots and gun licenses, stage a protest to chant about being replaced.

[Trump lit the torches of white supremacy in Charlottesville. We must extinguish them.]

The white supremacists and neo-Nazis returned to Charlottesville again on Saturday, carrying their torches and bearing their hatred.

The violence and racial enmity theyve unleashed in our country feels like an extension of the presidential campaign we endured last year. Remember when candidate Trump promised to pay the legal fees for supporters who knock the crap out of protesters from Black Lives Matter and other groups, then wished aloud that he had been closer to a protester being escorted from one of his rallies so that he could punch him in the face.

During the campaign last year, I wrote about the Trump Effect, when children listening to the ugly rhetoric also hurled hateful phrases like "build that wall" at immigrant and minority kids.

For all of Trumps dangerous declarations since he took office  provoking North Korea, trashing freedom of speech, threatening opponents  it has been possible to believe others will protect us from the presidents worst impulses.

Many of Trumps supporters brush his words off as mere bluster. Some political moderates remind us that the nation has survived worse. Even lawmakers have convinced themselves that experienced men like Chief of Staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis will keep America from slipping into chaos or nuclear war.

But what has happened in Charlottesville  the gathering of this countrys worst bigots, the killing of a counterprotester by a Nazi sympathizer, and now the deliberate manipulation of the judicial system by a hate group  points to a darker outcome.

Charlottesville is the Trump Effect, Adult Edition. And we will be living with the consequences of the vitriol and violence captured in that parking garage video for years to come.

Twitter: @petulad
DeAndre Harris crouches as he is beaten by white supremacists in a Charlottesville parking garage in August during a Unite the Right rally. (Zach D. Roberts/AP)

DeAndre Harris, the 20-year-old black man beaten by white supremacists in a Charlottesville parking garage in August, turned himself in to authorities Thursday after being charged with a crime in connection with the attack.

Merlyn Goeschl, a local magistrate, issued the warrant for Harris on a felony charge of unlawful wounding Monday, part of the continuing fallout from a viral video of the parking garage assault during the Aug. 12 "Unite the Right" rally.

Harris, a former special-education instructional assistant who sustained a spinal injury and head wound that required 10 stitches, was released on bond after turning himself in to Charlottesville police.

Harold Ray Crews, who identifies himself online as an attorney and a "Southern Nationalist," has claimed that Harris injured him during the brawl.

Online footage shows Crews trying to spear another counterprotester with the pole of a Confederate flag, prompting Harris to fight back. Harris swung his flashlight at Crews, appearing to hit him. But Harriss attorney, S. Lee Merritt, has argued that Harris did not injure Crews in any way and that footage from the rally shows that Crews was actually hurt by other counterprotesters in a separate incident.

Harriss case is scheduled for a court hearing Friday morning at Charlottesville General District Court. Merritt said Harris will not attend the hearing and that he does not want to be interviewed by the media.

Crews has not responded to calls for comment.

News of Harriss charge and the issuance of an arrest warrant by a local magistrate surprised many activists, including the Charlottesville Police Department.

It was Harris, after all, who was pummeled by at least five white supremacists inside the parking garage.

Online sleuths, led by Black Lives Matter activist and journalist Shaun King, have led the quest to identify all five men. So far, three have been found, and each has been arrested and charged with malicious wounding: Daniel P. Borden, 18, of Ohio; Alex Michael Ramos, 33, of Georgia; and Jacob Scott Goodwin, 22, of Ward, Ark. Goodwin was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals on Tuesday night  the day after the warrant for Harris was issued.
US President Donald Trump has "lit the wick of the war" against North Korea, a Russian state news agency quoted North Korea's foreign minister as saying on Wednesday.

The statement follows weeks of escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States, fueled by Pyongyang's repeated nuclear tests and Trump's tough talk.

Speaking to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho cited Trump's September speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York as the tipping point.

"By his bellicose and insane statement in the UN arena, Trump -- it can be said -- lit the wick of the war against us," Ri is quoted as saying on TASS' English language website. "We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words."

During his remarks at the UN last month, Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea and mocked the country's leader, whom he referred to as "Rocket Man."

Ri, who had called Trump "mentally deranged" after the UN speech, told TASS that North Korea was "winning" and represented "a worthy counterweight to the US."

Echoing previous warnings by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Ri said, "the United States should act sensibly and stop touching us if they do not want to disgrace themselves in the face of the whole world," adding that his nation's forces "will not leave America, the aggressor state, unpunished."

Ri's comments are likely to continue to fuel a mounting war of words between Trump and Kim.

During an appearance with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said that while he listens to others around him, he has a "different" attitude when it comes to the North Korea -- one he describes as "tougher."

"I think I have a little bit of a different attitude on North Korea than other people might have. And I listen to everybody, but ultimately, my attitude is the one that matters, isn't it?" Trump said. "That's the way it works. That's the way the system is."

Trump also told reporters that he wants to have the US nuclear arsenal in "tip-top shape," pushing back on an NBC report that he wanted to increase the stockpile tenfold.

Asked by a TASS reporter if dialogue between North Korea and the US is possible, Ri said it is not.

"The current situation -- when the US resorts to maximum pressure and sanctions, to outrageous military threats against the DPRK -- is not at all an atmosphere to negotiate," Ri said, according to TASS.
Anne Arundel County

The following were among incidents reported by the Anne Arundel County police. For information, call 410-222-8050.

GLEN BURNIE AREA

ROBBERIES

Crain Hwy., 11:33 p.m. Oct. 2. Two armed males jumped a counter at a pharmacy, stole items and fled.

Annapolis

These were among incidents reported by the Annapolis Police Department. For information, call 410-268-9000.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Breakwater Dr., 900 block, 3:40 a.m. Oct. 1. Someone was seen looking into vehicles; a tailgate was found open, but nothing was stolen.

Cathedral St., 4:45-5 a.m. Oct. 3. Tools and electronic devices were stolen from a vehicle.

McKinley St., 1300 block, Sept. 28. A delivered package was stolen from a houses's front porch.

Newtowne Dr., 700 block, 3 a.m. Sept. 27 to 5:50 a.m. Sept. 28. Someone tried to enter a home through an open window.

Silverwood Cir., midnight to 12:30 a.m. Oct. 1. A purse was stolen from a vehicle.

Silverwood Cir., 8 a.m. Oct. 2. A male with a stick demanded a wallet from a man. The man fled.

Silverwood Cir., 1 a.m. Sept. 30 to 9 a.m. Oct. 3. An inhaler was stolen from a vehicle.

Sixth St., 400 block, 12:40 p.m. Oct. 4. A card skimming device was found at a bank's outside ATM.

Van Buren Dr., 1200 block, 8:40 p.m. Oct. 4. Electronic devices were stolen from a vehicle.

Howard County

These were among incidents reported by the Howard County Police Department. For information, call 410-313-2236.

ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Guilford Rd., 10000 block, 3:54 p.m. Sept. 24. Construction tools were stolen from a business.

COLUMBIA AREA

ROBBERIES

Harpers Farm Rd., 5400 block, 8:30 p.m. Sept. 29. A male asked a man on a footpath for a dollar, assaulted him and fled.

Snowden River Pkwy., 8200 block, 3:30 a.m. Oct. 2. An armed male approached a man in his vehicle, stole his wallet and cellphone, and fled.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Bendbough Ct., 6900 block, 12:13 a.m. Oct. 2. A garage door was broken at a home; entry was not gained.

Columbia Rd., 5100 block, 1:03 p.m. Sept. 30. A laptop computer was stolen from a vehicle.

Hayshed Lane, 8700 block, 7:10 a.m. Oct. 3. A wallet was stolen from a vehicle.

Little Patuxent Pkwy., 12000 block, 5:01 p.m. Sept. 28. Electronic devices and two laptop computers were stolen from a home.

Rushlight Path, 5000 block, 2:49 p.m. Oct. 2. A garage and vehicles were entered; nothing was reported stolen.

Waterloo Rd., 5800 block, 3:27 p.m. Sept. 28. A license plate was stolen from a vehicle.

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Dobbin Center Way, 6400 block, 8:22 a.m. Sept. 28. A 2014 Mazda 5 was stolen.

ELKRIDGE AREA

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS

Mandrake Ct., 7600 block, 9:41 p.m. Sept. 28. A Toyota Matrix and a Honda Accord were stolen.

ELLICOTT CITY AREA

ROBBERIES

Tuscany Rd., 10000 block, 11:35 p.m. Sept. 27. An armed male stole a plastic container from a another male.

ASSAULTS

Baltimore National Pike, 10000 block, 10:01 p.m. Sept. 28. Two men assaulted another man. A Rockville man, 37, and an Elkridge man, 35, were charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Baltimore National Pike, 10100 block, 2:58 p.m. Oct. 3. A rear license plate was stolen from a vehicle.

Hallowed Stream, 4600 block, 9:40 a.m. to noon, Oct. 3. A security door at a home was pried open; entry was not gained.

GLENELG AREA

ROBBERIES

Dorsey Mill and Roxbury roads, 11:20 p.m. Oct. 3. During a drug deal, two males were robbed of cellphones and cash.

HIGHLAND AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Browns Bridge Rd., 8000 block, 8:30 a.m. to 5:23 p.m. Sept. 29. Two guns were stolen from a home.

JESSUP AREA

ROBBERIES

Sons Ct., 8900 block, 1:39 a.m. Sept. 28. A man assaulted and robbed an acquaintance. A Jessup man, 20, was charged with robbery, assault and theft.

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Linda Ct., 8300 block, 7:15 a.m. Sept. 27. Four tires were stolen from a vehicle.

Washington Blvd., 8600 block, 5:31 p.m. Sept. 28. Items were stolen from a vehicle.

LAUREL AREA

THEFTS/BREAK-INS

Washington Blvd., 10000 block, 8:14 a.m. Sept. 28. A backpack was stolen from a vehicle.

Washington Blvd., 9800 block, 9:22 a.m. Sept. 28. A tablet was stolen from a vehicle.
Prince Georges County Public Schools chief executive Kevin Maxwell speaks in 2016 about a sex abuse case. School officials say fewer employees are on administrative leave this school year for alleged abuse or neglect of students. (Mark Gail/For The Washington Post)

Officials in a Maryland school system that placed hundreds of employees on leave amid allegations of abuse and neglect say they have improved training and procedures this year to strike a better balance between protecting students and keeping staffers on the job.

Forty employees were on administrative leave as of early October in Prince Georges County public schools, officials said Thursday, and just five cases have originated this school year.

The school system drew a wave of complaints from parents, educators and elected officials last year as the number of such cases soared, with nearly 850 employees  including more than 400 teachers  placed on leave for alleged misconduct in the 2016-2017 school year.

The surge reflected a jump of more than 1,000 percent from 2014-2015, the year before Prince Georges was roiled by child abuse scandals and stepped up its emphasis on reporting of suspicious behavior.

While many lauded efforts to boost safety, they also complained that the district went overboard and did not distinguish between serious and lesser claims. Many teachers were out of classrooms for weeks or months; parents and students did not know when they would return, and some said classroom instruction was compromised.

This year, officials said they believe the school system  Marylands second-largest, with more than 132,000 students  is showing signs of turning a corner.

[Nearly 850 employees in Md. school system on leave this year as child abuse investigations soar]

Were trending down and back to what it looked like more than a year ago, said Lewis Robinson, director of employee and labor relations for the school system.

He and others say the district has added three administrative procedures and revised six. New online training was completed by more than 90 percent of staffers. There is also a new employee-incident tracking system.

Principals were trained over the summer in new practices and about which situations warrant placing employees on administrative leave, he said.

Some of it is about making sure people know what they are looking at, Robinson said. He noted that last year, employees were sent off the job for accidentally bumping into students and in one instance, despite video recordings to the contrary, allegedly slamming a students hand in a locker and, in another, hitting a student with a hat.

This year, there is a longer process for considering the use of administrative leave. Employees will be steered to alternative placements for a period that could be a week or longer while principals and district administrators consider sending them on leave.

Employees who are awaiting such a determination may be involved in grading, lesson planning or other activities that support the learning process without placing those employees in contact with students, officials said.

[Abuse allegations lead to surge in teachers placed on leave in a Maryland suburb]

The school system is not discouraging the reporting of suspicious incidents to Child Protective Services but will not automatically place employees on administrative leave as a result of suspicious-incident reports, they said.

As the school year started, the number of reports to Child Protective Services involving allegations against staffers has dwindled considerably: There were 31 this year, compared with last years 152, for the month of September.

For the first month of the Prince Georges County school year, which started Sept. 6, five employees  including three teachers  were placed on leave for alleged abuse, neglect or failure to report, district data showed. The district did not immediately have a comparison figure from last year.

The idea behind it is to be more thoughtful at the initiation point, Robinson said.

The new policies were the focus of a school board presentation Thursday evening.

We remain committed to improving school and student safety while providing a positive workplace climate for our employees, Kevin M. Maxwell, the districts chief executive, said in a statement.

Employee conduct has been a flash point since February 2016, when Deonte Carraway, then an elementary school volunteer, was accused of video-recording students as he directed them to perform sex acts. Carraway, who previously had been a paid classroom aide, was sentenced last month to 100 years in prison on 23 counts of child sex abuse and pornography involving 23 children.

[Carraway sentenced to 100 years in prison]

Following Carraways arrest in 2016, a student safety task force was appointed, and the school system looked to change what many saw as a culture of underreporting.

Robinson said the school system is not looking to reduce the number of employees on leave to the level that preceded the safety efforts. But the school system wants to come in far below last years high number. We underreported in the year before, and we want to get somewhere in the middle, he said.
Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, a policy consultant who is married to longtime U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), is launching a bid for Maryland governor, becoming the second woman and the third African American to join the crowded Democratic primary field.

"I truly believe Maryland is punching below its fighting weight," Rockeymoore Cummings, who is also a small-business owner, said in explaining her decision to seek the nomination to challenge Gov. Larry Hogan in 2018. "I think we are going backwards on a number of key indicators. Inequality across the state is a real concern  economic inequality. Many Maryland families are anxious about their economic situation."

Rockeymoore Cummings, 46, is not widely known in Maryland political circles apart from her husband. She holds a doctorate in political science from Purdue University and has more than two decades of experience working in the public and private sectors, including as chief of staff to New York congressman Charles B. Rangel (D), senior resident scholar for health and income security at the National Urban League and vice president of research and programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. She started Global Policy Solutions, a social change strategy firm, in 2005.

This is her first run for public office.

Once Marylanders hear the experiences that Ive had and the skills that I possess, they will consider my background on par with any county executive or anyone else in the race, she said.



Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, center, as House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio poses for a photo with Rep. Elijah Cummings D-Md.), right, during a re-enactment the House oath-of-office in 2015. (Susan Walsh/AP)

A recent poll by Goucher College found that nine percent of Democratic voters would consider voting for Rockeymoore Cummings in the June primary.

Twenty-eight percent of Democrats said they would consider voting for former attorney general Doug Gansler, who also had the greatest name recognition. Gansler decided last month not to enter the race. Twenty-one percent said they would consider voting for Prince Georges County Executive Rushern L. Baker III; 17 percent for Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz; and 14 percent for former NAACP president Ben Jealous.

The other candidates  State Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., attorney Jim Shea, tech entrepreneur Alec Ross and Krishanti Vignarajah, a former policy aide to Michelle Obama  were in low single digits.

A separate poll showed Baker doing better than any other declared Democratic candidate in a one-on-one matchup against Hogan, who is widely popular. Baker trailed the governor by seven points.

Emily's List, a political action committee that pushes to elect Democratic women who support abortion rights, put Hogan "on notice" for 2018 last month, saying it planned to endorse and raise money for a candidate to run against him.

The group has not yet made an endorsement in the race, but it is helping Rockeymoore Cummings with the launch of her campaign.

Rockeymoore Cummings said she plans to use her experience growing up in a military family; working as a congressional aide; managing a program for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and running a small business to help create and enact policies that will move the state forward.

If we can get the politics right in Maryland, we can get the policy right, Rockeymoore Cummings said. And if we can get the policy right, we can get the outcomes for people right in a way that will grow the economy and certainly make Maryland a model for the nation.
Maryland House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) is receiving some backlash for comments about Democratic gubernatorial candidate Maya Rockeymoore Cummings that some critics have characterized as petty and divisive.

Szeliga wrote on her Facebook page: "Elijah Cumming's wife running for MD gov. - she likes fancy words - 'minutiae' to let us know how smart she is - 'I have a Ph.D. in political science with an emphasis on public policy,' she said. 'I am confident on mastering any minutiae when it comes to government and policy.' "

Rockeymoore Cummings, a policy consultant who is married to U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), is the eighth Democratic candidate vying to unseat popular Gov. Larry Hogan (R). She announced her campaign on Thursday morning.

Szeligas post received nearly 150 responses. Almost 95 laughed at it; three dozen liked it.

While the majority of those who commented on the post cheered Szeliga on, others were offended by what they saw as an attack on an educated black woman.



Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, shown in this July 18, 2017, file photo, announced Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, that she would seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. (Brian Witte/AP)

One follower called the post petty and said she was disappointed in Szeliga, who last year ran for U.S. Senate as a moderate Republican.

Generally I like Kathy, but this statement was in poor taste, said another.

Others encouraged Szeliga to refrain from mud slinging and to not get drawn into this war of words. Theres enough of that going around.

One poster told Szeliga that it was not necessary to use someones education as a way to divide. It actually makes you look smaller.

So being intelligent and educated is a problem for you? another asked. Or is it a problem that shes an intelligent and educated BLACK WOMAN?

Szeliga said in an interview that she has posted about all of the Democratic candidates who have entered the race. She dismissed the criticism on Facebook.

Dont judge me by what someone posts on my page on Facebook, she said. I was just quoting her. . . . Shes telling us her qualifications to be governor and that she has a PhD. I wasnt opining on that; I was just putting what her words were.
A group calling itself The Militia outside the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville Aug. 12. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post)

Charlottesville residents, business leaders and elected officials went to court Thursday to try to prevent a repeat of the violence at a white-nationalist rally this summer that rocked the university town.

The legal response from the local community, including from individuals injured during the confrontations, comes as officials from Boston to Berkeley are looking for ways to avoid similar clashes at political protests.

Two filings  one in federal court, and the other in state court  target Unite the Right rally leaders and organizers, including white nationalists Richard Spencer, Jason Kessler and Matthew Heimbach.

The federal lawsuit, brought by residents injured in August, seeks monetary damages and a ban on similar gatherings. The complaint cites federal laws enacted during Reconstruction to counter intimidation of blacks in the South and more recent cases targeting antiabortion activists.

The other suit, joined by the Charlottesville City Council, fixes on the heavily armed, camo-clad private militias at the rally using a rarely invoked provision of Virginias constitution that attorneys say bans military organizations other than those controlled by the state government. That complaint seeks to avoid another invasion of roving paramilitary bands and unaccountable vigilante peacekeepers.

Charlottesville has been besieged repeatedly by these groups, and key organizers and leaders of the Unite the Right rally have pledged to return to Charlottesville as often as possible, according to the lawsuit filed by Georgetown Law Schools Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection with support from city officials.

Charlottesville exploded into the nations consciousness Aug. 11 and 12, when hundreds of white supremacists, white nationalists and neo-Nazis from across the country gathered to protest the planned removal of a Confederate statue from a city park.

At a nighttime torchlight rally, marchers chanted Jews will not replace us! and Blood and soil! before engaging in a violent confrontation with a small group of counterprotesters. The next day  a Saturday  the planned rally, which had a permit, was canceled by law enforcement as nationalists and counterprotesters brawled on Charlottesvilles downtown streets while police stood back.

In midafternoon, James Alex Fields Jr., a 20-year-old reported Nazi sympathizer, allegedly drove his car into a crowd of pedestrians. Heather Heyer, 32, of Charlottesville was killed, and 19 others were injured.

The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit include University of Virginia students, Charlottesville residents and religious leaders who say they were subjected to tear gas, physical and verbal assaults and, in one case, were targeted online by white supremacists who posted their photos on a racist website.

[Charlottesville lawsuit seeks restrictions on white nationalist groups]

The Ku Klux Klan, Vanguard America, the Nationalist Front and the League of the South, all of which support white nationalist or supremacist aims and took part in the rally, are among the three dozen individuals and organizations named in the 98-page federal complaint.

The violence in Charlottesville was no accident, the lawsuit reads. In countless posts on their own websites and social media, defendants and their co-conspirators promised that there would be violence in Charlottesville and violence there was.

Plaintiffs Marissa Blair, 28, and her fiance, Marcus Martin, 27, were standing among counterprotesters on Fourth Street in Charlottesville when the Dodge Challenger plowed into the crowd. Martin pushed Blair out of the way, but he was struck and his leg and ankle were broken.

I went to look for him, and all I found was his bloody baseball cap. I thought he was dead, Blair said in an interview Wednesday.

Freedom of speech, we get it, Blair said. But not when youre doing it to terrorize people. There has to be a stop to it. We want to let Charlottesville live in peace.

The federal case was filed by New York attorney Roberta A. Kaplan, who represented Edith Windsor in the landmark Supreme Court case that ordered the federal recognition of same-sex marriage, and Washington attorney Karen Dunn, a former federal prosecutor. The lawsuit is funded by Integrity First for America, a new nonprofit group aimed primarily at bringing legal challenges to President Trumps businesses.

The legal approach in the federal complaint was inspired in part by an Oregon case from the late 1990s in which a group of doctors successfully sued antiabortion activists over a website that targeted doctors who perform abortions.

Spencer declined to comment on the lawsuit. Other defendants, including Kessler and Heimbach, did not respond to requests for comment.

Last Saturday, Spencer returned to the Charlottesville park, where a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee has been covered by the city in a tarp, and held a smaller torchlight rally with a few dozen followers who chanted: We will be back!

That evening, Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer tweeted: Another despicable visit by neo-Nazi cowards. Youre not welcome here! Go home! Meantime were looking at all our legal options. Stay tuned.

Spencer told The Washington Post the next day that the mayor has no authority to prevent lawful protests like what we did last night. . . . He currently thinks the city of Charlottesville is a sovereign nation or something.

[Richard Spencer vows to keep coming back to Charlottesville? Can the city legally stop him?]

At an early morning meeting Thursday, Charlottesville City Council voted 4 to 0  with one member absent  to sign on to the second lawsuit, filed minutes after the vote on the state suit.

The complaint lists 22 white-nationalist organizations, leaders and private militia groups as defendants, saying these military forces transformed an idyllic college town into a virtual combat zone.

Many wore matching uniforms and used command structures to coordinate actions, according to the lawsuit that also details planning and paramilitary tactics it says were discussed via social media. The groups of men dressed in camouflage and carrying semiautomatic rifles at the August rally confused even Virginias public safety secretary, Brian Moran, who first assumed some were soldiers in the states National Guard.

[How Charlottesville lost control amid deadly protest]

The lawsuit tries to preempt likely arguments from defendants, saying it does not seek to restrict individual rights to gun ownership or free-speech rights to assemble and express political views.

Our complaint shows that there are legal tools available to ensure that the streets do not become battlefields for those who organize and engage in paramilitary activity, said the Georgetown institutes senior litigator, Mary B. McCord, a longtime federal prosecutor who was most recently head of the Justice Departments National Security Division.

Under Virginia law dating to 1776, the state constitution specifies that "in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power." That means, according to the court filing, that the "government alone retains a monopoly on the organized use of force."

"Whatever their stated intentions, these groups terrified local residents" and created confusion about who was in charge, the complaint asserts.

Among the defendants in the case invoking Virginia's constitution is Christian Yingling, a leader of the Pennsylvania Light Foot Militia, who has said that he and his troops "convoyed in" to Charlottesville to defend free speech and maintain civil order.

Yingling declined to comment Thursday, saying he was reviewing the lawsuit.

[Militiamen came to Charlottesville as neutral First Amendment protectors, commander says]

Laws similar to Virginias have been used throughout history in cases filed in Texas and North Carolina to shut down paramilitary activities by the Ku Klux Klan. The statutes on the books in most states make clear that only the government can control military organizations in a state.

After the August rally, University of Virginia historian Philip Zelikow thought of a Texas case hed worked on in the 1980s that relied on state law banning military companies not authorized by the governor. In that case, a judge stopped the Ku Klux Klan from training paramilitary groups to harass Vietnamese American fishermen on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Zelikow called the Charlottesville case an important reminder of laws on the books for decades "that are meant to keep our political protests and confrontations free from paramilitary intimidation and companies of men with guns."

An article that Zelikow had written about the Texas case on the Lawfare site caught McCord's attention in August. "If you say it's okay for private military groups to mass, carrying assault weapons at political confrontations," Zelikow said in an interview this week, "that's a powder keg."
A District man was sentenced to four and a half years in prison Thursday after robbing a man of his SUV in Northeast Washington this summer, federal prosecutors said.

Marcquise Smith, 27, took the SUV within six weeks after his release a from five-year sentence for armed robbery in the District, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney for the District Jessie K. Liu.

As prosecutors describe the SUV incident, Smith approached two men who had just parked a black Nissan Pathfinder in Northeast Washington on June 27 and while pretending to be armed, demanded the driver give up his car keys.

While being pursued by D.C. police, Smith crashed the stolen vehicle at 19th Street and Maryland Avenue NE and fled into an apartment building, where he was arrested.

Smith was sentenced in the SUV case by D.C. Superior Court Judge Juliet McKenna.
A 33-year-old Maryland man accused of luring his pregnant girlfriend to a field, shooting her in the back of the head and then making a dramatic public plea for help finding her was indicted Thursday on one count of murder, according to Montgomery County Circuit Court records.

The grand jury indictment against Tyler Tessier was not unexpected. On Sept. 13, he was charged with the murder of Laura Wallen by Montgomery County police. He has been held in jail since. The legal action Thursday was part of a regular process of moving cases from Montgomerys District Court to Circuit Court, where felony cases are handled.

No trial date has been set.

On Friday, Montgomery County States Attorney John McCarthy said Tessier would not be charged in connection with any crimes connected to the unborn child. McCarthy said he could not do so because Maryland law requires a fetus to be viable to pursue such charges. McCarthy said Wallen was 14 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

The defendant is not charge-able in connection to the unborn child, McCarthy said. We are bound to follow the law.



Laura Wallen and Tyler Tessier (Photos from Montgomery County Police)

Allen Wolf, the public defender representing Tessier, said his client is innocent of the charges against him. Although he has made mistakes in his personal life, he cared deeply about Laura Wallen and never would have physically hurt her, Wolf said.

On Sept. 4, a family member of Wallen reported her missing. The popular 31-year-old high school teacher, who lived in the northern part of Montgomery County, hadnt been seen for days by family members. And they couldnt reach her on her phone.

Police conducted an intense search for Wallen, all the while talking to her longtime on-again, off-again boyfriend, Tessier. They learned that he had another girlfriend to whom he was engaged, but neither she nor Wallen knew about Tessiers dual relationships.

Earlier: How detectives built their case against Tyler Tessier

On Sept. 11, police officials held a news conference appealing for help finding Wallen. They invited Tessier to attend, even as their suspicions of him deepened. When asked questions by reporters, Tessier answered in front of a bank of TV cameras.

"Laura, if you're listening," he said, "it doesn't matter what's happened. It doesn't matter what type of trouble. There's nothing we can't fix together."

Two days later, police charged him with her murder. They alleged that he led her to a field in the Damascus area, shot her in the back of the head and buried her body. Police found the body, which was taken to the state's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy.

Hal Lawrence, a doctor who is chief executive of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said Thursday said a 14-week fetus would not be viable.

"At 14 weeks' gestation, there is no possibility that the fetus will survive outside the womb," Lawrence said. "In fact, before 23 weeks, it is extremely rare for a fetus to survive, and those that do survive have significant impairments."
D.C. police on Thursday identified a second man who died in a shooting in Northwest Washington on Tuesday night.

Sefjuan Jones, 22, of Nashville, N.C., was pronounced dead at a hospital after the shooting near a three-story colonial in the 6200 block of Eighth Street NW, two blocks east of Georgia Avenue in the Brightwood neighborhood.

[3 dead in separate shootings in Northwest, Northeast Washington]

Police responded to the scene after reports of a shooting about 11:58 p.m. Tuesday and found three adult men with gunshot wounds. Jones and Renard Marsh, 25, died, police said. A third man suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

Authorities are investigating and have yet to determine a motive, spokeswoman Karimah Bilal said.
Dozens of students at Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, Md., were checked for possible bee stings. (Courtesy of Montgomery County Fire)

Thirty-two students were evaluated for possible bee stings Thursday morning at a Gaithersburg, Md., high school, officials said.

The incident unfolded just after 8 a.m. at Quince Orchard High School. Exactly where the bees came from was not immediately clear.

Montgomery County Fire spokesman Pete Piringer said crews were searching for the potential source of the swarm of bees but believed they came from off the schools campus.

While dozens of students were evaluated by fire and rescue personnel, officials said only three were transported to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. There were reports that some students may have had allergic reactions to the bees, fire officials said.

[Thats a big one: Father-son team relocates 40,000 bees swarming in Virginia neighborhood]
Testudo is pictured on the University of Maryland campus in College Park. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

University of Maryland police are investigating three hate-related reports of graffiti inside a mens restroom stall.

Offensive language or drawings scrawled in black marker were found in a mens restroom stall in the Ellicott Dining Hall between Sept. 28 and Oct. 9, police said.

The first report was on Sept. 28 at 10 a.m., the second shortly before 6 p.m. on Oct. 7, and the third at about 3:50 p.m., on Oct. 9, police said.

The Oct. 7 report was about an offensive phrase and a swastika, police said.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about these incidents to call 301-405-3555 or email investigations@umpd.umd.edu. A reward of $2,000 is available for information that leads to the successful identification of the individual responsible for these despicable acts, University of Maryland police said in a statement.

[Salutes and a folded flag at funeral for Bowie State student killed in possible hate crime]

The writing and drawings in the restroom stall are the latest in a string of reported hate-related incidents at the University of Maryland and colleges nationwide.

In August, police reported a "person of interest" to university officials in connection with an investigation of a noose made of plastic wrap found in the kitchen of a fraternity house.

Last week, police said they charged a Hyattsville man with malicious destruction of property in connection with a swastika found spray painted on a trash cart in a dorm on Sept. 27. Ronald Alford Sr., 52, has also been charged with one count of disturbing the operations of a school and has been banned from campus, police said.

Authorities are also still working to determine whether the slaying of Richard Collins III should be prosecuted as a hate crime. Collins was visiting campus with friends when he was fatally stabbed at a bus stop.

[Pr. Georges grand jury hands up murder charge in U-Md. stabbing investigated as hate crime]

Police arrested Sean Christopher Urbanski, 22, of Severna Park, in the slaying of Collins. Police said Urbanski was associated with a Facebook page called "Alt-Reich: Nation."

Urbanski awaits trial on murder charges in Prince Georges County Circuit Court.
Luke Buckingham gazed hungrily at the motorcycle belonging to one of his fellow apprentices at Ironworkers Local 16. A brand-new Suzuki GSX-R1000 with a cobalt finish, glittering against the broken sidewalk.

Oh man, he said. That things a beast. Someday, someday . . . 

To Buckingham, a bearlike 25-year-old with buzzed blond hair, the bike was a symbol of the middle-class life he hoped to someday have  the waterfront house, the boat, the monogrammed bedsheets he imagined himself sliding between. It was why he dragged his 6-foot, 260-pound frame out of bed before dawn to climb along iron beams and weld columns for $21.36 an hour, minus the 4 percent union tithe. Someday, hed get the superintendent position; someday maybe be a foreman, just being the top dog.

It was his third year as an apprentice. Twice a week, he and two dozen other apprentices drove to this cinder-block shop just east of the Baltimore city limits to learn drilling, welding, rebar and the values of a union man.

Outside the shop, the country seemed to be at war over how much longer their kind of work would be around. Manual jobs were being edged out by automation and overseas competition. President Trump had vowed to bring them back, extolling the working class, which somehow had become shorthand for white Trump supporters.

Local 16 apprentices saw something different. Mostly white but also African American, Hispanic and from other ethnic groups, they reflected the true makeup of Americas working class in 2017, which was closing in on half minority. As a Jewish American, Buckingham didnt fit the Trumpian mold, either.

The apprentices had more pressing concerns than politics, dogged by questions their elders never had to face. Would there be enough work to make their four years of training worth it? Was there still room in the United States for a blue-collar worker to make a good life?

They werent going to wait on Trump. Instead, they were taking their futures into their own hands. Baltimore wasnt booming like Washington or New York, but there was one bright spot: the possibility of a major wind energy project that would create local jobs and help them get closer to their middle-class dreams.

Soon, the apprentices would head to the Maryland Public Service Commission to push for the plan to be approved. And they were counting on men like Jimmy Gauvin, who heads their apprenticeship program, to guide them.



Ray Luis, part of an ironworker apprentice program at a union shop in Baltimore, gets in some welding practice at one of several welding booths at the ironworker training center. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

No promises now

Gauvin, 62, doesnt generally go in for sentimentality. But what had happened to Sparrows Point, he said, was like a dagger in our heart.

Hed started working there in the 1980s, when the site buzzed with tens of thousands of workers. You were always burning and welding, tearing something out, putting something in.

Back then, youd see mill after mill after mill, each engaged in the steelmaking process. The tallest blast furnace pumped out smoke that was black, red or brown, depending on what was being made. Three times a day, the shift changes swallowed and disgorged thousands of men through the gates.

Local 16, a five-minute drive away, had 1,400 dues-paying members. But when Gauvin retired as a full-time ironworker in 2008, the Point was dying, and in 2012, it closed altogether.

The steel industry shrank because the technology became out of date, said Thomas Kochan, co-director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research. The old blast furnaces werent replaced with new technology as fast as in China, Korea and India, and the U.S. industry became less competitive.

The unions meeting hall fell silent. To the apprentices, the Point became a landscape of gauzy nostalgia, a symbol of a time when ironworking promised a future.

Now, there were no promises. The system was top-heavy, with 300 active members paying for 600 retirees. They needed more apprentices, but the work was dangerous, and there was no guarantee of jobs.



A sad reminder of the job losses in the Sparrows Point area is the abandoned office complex that had been used by Bethlehem Steel. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

Then, last year, the unions business agent heard about a proposal to build wind turbines off the Maryland shore.

The U.S. Energy Department has called for ramping up wind-powered electricity to 20 percent by 2030, and the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers has begun offering turbine training and certification. Bringing such a large project to Baltimore would be a real cause for excitement, said Ahmer Qadeer, a Rutgers University researcher who works on energy and labor issues. It represents a lot of work and . . . a growing industry.

Gauvin didnt want to get too excited. Still, it sat like a coin in his pocket, something to run his thumb over. If the turbines were approved, it would mean that when he retired from running the program in a year or two, hed be leaving his apprentices with the prospect of steady work.

That, to him, would be a big step toward making America great again.

But Ocean City homeowners worried the turbines would ruin their views. So Gauvin went from classroom to classroom with a message for his apprentices.

Go, he told them. Go to the hearings and speak in favor of the turbines. Their futures depended on it.

Saved by the union

Buckingham hadnt planned on being an ironworker. After high school, he started studying engineering at Frostburg State University before dropping out.

A local general contractor took him on, offering him a path to good money. He loved the job, but then his fiancee decided to move to Chicago, and he quit to join her. A week later, the engagement fell apart. I came back to Baltimore and begged for my job back, but he said, No, youve got to learn your lesson. 

He drifted for a couple of years, until a family friend suggested Local 16s apprenticeships. Gauvin let him take the entrance exam even though the program had started three months earlier.

For Buckingham, the union held a lot of the appeal of the fraternity hed joined in college  the structure, the brotherhood, even the rules. As he and his buddies lifted a 616-pound I-beam or held a magnetic drill steady, he absorbed lessons on why it was worth it to pay dues and how a union mans work was higher quality and ultimately more lucrative than that of his nonunion counterparts.



Luke Buckingham, an apprentice in the ironworkers training program, hopes to save enough money to buy a house. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

Now, living in a basement room he rents in his fathers Canton home, Buckinghams decision to quit the contractor job still gnaws at him. He knows he can be rash  he wasnt even sure whom hed vote for in November until he stepped into the booth and picked Trump.

His father was outraged. But Buckingham liked that Trump was all about making money. Thats what he wanted for himself.

Some of Buckinghams fellow apprentices razzed him. Trump was the worst kind of boss, they said, a rich man who hired nonunion workers, a racist.

The day after the election, Taaz Robinson, a fellow third-year, posted a picture on Buckinghams Facebook page of Trump as an infant being dandled by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Like Buckingham, Robinson, a square-jawed African American man, had also made rash choices. After graduating from high school in Aberdeen, he turned down a college lacrosse scholarship, began dealing drugs and wound up in prison.

He was paroled in 2013, married and had a second and third child. Despite his record, Local 16 was willing to take him in. He felt, as he put it, in a positive light for the first time in my life.

He and Buckingham had that gratitude in common, and though Robinson avoided talking politics at work, he could tease Buckingham. After he posted the Putin picture, Buckingham good-naturedly hit the like button.

Then in January, Local 16 received the news that it would be merging with Local 5 of Upper Marlboro, one of several mergers of ironworkers unions around the country. The Local 16 members felt blindsided. The union was part of their identity, like a tattoo. What kind of message did it send, that their union could no longer stand on its own?

Compared with this, national politics seemed distant. Ironworkers fortunes rise and fall with the local construction economy, and for Baltimore workers, the more important vote was the one coming in the spring about the wind turbines.

A united front

On an overcast Saturday in March, Buckingham walked into the cafeteria of Stephen Decatur Middle School in Berlin, near Ocean City. The drive from Baltimore had taken over two hours on his day off, but he wanted to stand with Gauvin and his brothers.

Gauvin stepped up to the microphone. He recounted his ironworking journey, which began in 1978. I was able to provide for my family, put my children through college, pay for their weddings. Noting the apprentices in the room, he said, if the turbines were approved, these gentlemen would have the opportunity the same as I did.

Some men from Local 16 spoke, along with environmental groups, business organizations and other unions supporting the project. Homeowners spoke, too, about views and electricity rates, which, at least initially, can rise after a switch to wind energy.

Back in Dundalk, Gauvin treated the group to dinner at Chilis. Buckingham ordered a cheeseburger and two Budweisers.

He had liked the way Gauvin had threaded his life story together with those of his apprentices. Watching him, hed thought, Jimmys the man!

Two months passed. On a Tuesday in late May, as the apprentices filed in, Gauvin summoned them to the shops central room.

They jostled for space along a horizontal I-beam. Gauvin raised a hand to shush them.

I dont know if you all heard about the vote a few days ago on our offshore windmills, he said.

The room grew quiet.

It went our way.

The men erupted in cheers and thumbs-ups.

Two companies had been approved to construct 77 turbines off the Maryland shore, pending federal sign-off. The Public Service Commission estimated the project would create nearly 9,700 jobs and spur more than $1.8 billion in in-state spending. The companies would be required to use local port facilities and invest in a steel fabrication plant. And they would have to fund nearly $40 million in port upgrades at the Point.

So our little part in it, going down to testify, it worked, Gauvin said.

There was no telling how big this could be. It could spark a chain reaction, with buildings going up at the Point, turbines built and installed, windmill maintenance ongoing. However it fell out, he told them, Its all man-hours for us.

Then he ordered them back to work.

It wasnt until later for Buckingham that the news began to sink in.

"It gives me job security, and it helps the guys that are coming in," he said. "The kids growing up in Dundalk and Edgemere and Sparrows Point, they're going to see that and they're going to go, 'Well, that's a job. Maybe I'll go do that.'"



Luke Buckingham takes a drag of a cigarette during a break as an apprentice in the ironworking training class. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

A half step into the middle class

On a breezy afternoon, trucks pulled into the union hall parking lot, and apprentices climbed out. They smoked cigarettes, and a first-year sat on a car trunk and strummed a guitar, singing, The Weight as a briny scent wafted in from the Point.

Fifty feet above, Buckingham and another apprentice stood in a manlift painting the union halls flagpole. As part of the merger, they would eventually move from this building. But for now, it was still their home.

Buckingham was recently prequalified for a home loan; now he needed to save for the down payment. He had gotten an offer to work for a nonunion company, but he had quickly declined.

Id be missing the union, the sense of belonging, the value, the relationships, he said.

The manlift lowered him to the ground. The sun was low and golden, and Buckinghams clothes were splattered with paint. He stubbed out a cigarette and dropped it into an empty water bottle. He looked up at the flagpole, white against the blue sky. Then he crushed the plastic bottle with his hands and headed into class.
The booming and increasingly dynamic D.C. economy is leaving the city's longtime black residents behind, according to a study released Thursday that examines African American employment, population and housing trends in the nation's capital.

The Georgetown University report, which culled data from several recent studies, found that more than half of all new jobs in the District between 2010 and 2020 will require at least a bachelors degree, although only 12.3 percent of black residents in 2014 had graduated from college. It noted the average white household in the region has a net worth of $284,000, while the assets of the average black household are just $3,500.

[Net worth of white households in D.C. is 81 times that of black households]

Its not a pretty picture, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said before the findings were presented to city leaders and residents.

According to the report, the median annual income for white D.C. families is $120,000, while it is $41,000 for black households. Between 2007 and 2014, the median household income in the District increased by about $10,000 but remained flat for black households.

While striking, the findings largely mirror those of other recent studies. As the city becomes wealthier, younger and more affluent residents are moving in, raising housing prices and pushing longtime black residents out of the city. In 2015, the population of black residents in the District  which garnered the nickname Chocolate City  dipped below 50 percent for the first time in 60 years.

The Georgetown report traces the inequities in the District today to discriminatory practices that once kept black residents out of the economy. It also provides recommendations for the city to help strive for greater equality.

One of the contributions of this report is how much it puts in one place both the history of the city and redlining and school segregation, and connecting it to how those impacts play out today, said Ed Lazere, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, whose work is extensively cited in the study. That half of all black households in D.C. have assets of $3,500 or less  thats virtually nothing, and its probably a reflection that housing discrimination years ago kept them from owning homes.

The report indicates that one of many reasons black Washingtonians are being left behind is that after the devastating 1968 riots, many businesses opted to move to the suburbs. It also notes that black residents were often redlined, the practice of banks and loaning institutions refusing to lend to business owners in communities with large minority populations.

Aspiring black businesspeople were unable to fill the vacuum simply because they could not secure a line of credit to open and maintain small businesses, stores, dry cleaners, restaurants and other outlets, the report states.

The report recommends that the D.C. Chamber of Commerce and city agencies create a database of minority businesses that would outline opportunities and procedures for small-business loans and training aids. Local universities, the report says, should offer courses in the how-tos of minority business development.

[At a job fair with Eric Holder and Howard Schultz, hundreds get on-the-spot offers]

Maurice Jackson, a Georgetown history professor and chairman of the citys Commission on African American Affairs, stressed the need to invest in education and training programs so D.C. residents have the skills needed to meet modern job demands. Jackson, the reports lead author, also suggested that the city invest in apprenticeship and job programs for residents returning to society after serving jail time.

Council member Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) said that as mayor, he invested in vocational and career programs in high schools that focused on IT, hospitality and other trades.

Why those curricula? he asked. Because thats where the jobs are. Thats where theyre emerging.

The report also traces the history and effects of gentrification, noting that it has led to a dearth of affordable housing. There are 43,000 D.C. residents who qualify as extremely low-income, which means a family of four making less than $32,000 a year. (Ninety-one percent of extremely low-income families are African American.)

Beginning in the 1950s, wealthy and middle-income families started fleeing cities, including the District, for suburbs and largely left poor people by themselves in city centers.

This suburbanization led to economic downturn within several major cities, such as Atlanta, Chicago and Washington, creating fiscal crises due to shrinking tax bases, according to the report. To alleviate this problem, many city governments pursued policies to attract new investments in the city, bring in wealthier residents to increase taxable income and housing sales, revitalize retail activity and raise sales tax revenue.

Now that wealthier residents have moved back to cities, rent increases have left longtime residents unable to afford their homes. The report recommends building more affordable housing in newly expensive neighborhoods such as Columbia Heights and NoMa. And, it says, the city should intervene before poorer neighborhoods become unaffordable for longtime residents.

In these communities, policies should offer a path to eventual homeownership, enabling individuals to eventually purchase a unit at an affordable price, the report states. Rent-to-own housing is beneficial because it creates personal equity for individuals and helps lift residents from poverty.
Pressure grew on Metro board chairman Jack Evans to resign Thursday after he threatened to exercise a rarely used veto in a struggle between the District and Maryland that critics said exemplifies the parochial disputes hampering the transit agency.

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) joined Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in calling for Evans to step down. Connolly is the first Democrat to urge the departure of Evans, who represents the District on the Metro board and is a Democratic D.C. Council member representing Ward 2.

Connolly blamed Evans for inflaming tensions within the region as Metro seeks regionwide support for increased, reliable funding.

I think the time has come for Jack Evans to step down as chairman and from the board, Connolly said. He has now become a lightning rod that can only create, frankly, opposition to any attempt at forging a regional agreement on dedicated funding.

The escalating criticism of Evans highlighted the tensions among the District, Maryland and Virginia over how to govern Metro and led to renewed calls to shrink the board and make it less political.

The board is made up of eight voting members and eight alternates, evenly divided among the District, Maryland, Virginia and the federal government. Evans was reelected as chairman in January, despite having aroused ire in Maryland, Virginia and Congress for his outspoken rhetoric, such as in faulting the states for resisting a penny-per-dollar regionwide sales tax to fund Metro.

[Hogan calls for Metro board chairman to resign, accusing him of juvenile outbursts]

Connolly spoke after Evans warned that the city would exercise a jurisdictional veto to hold up transfer of Metro property to Maryland, which the state needs for its light-rail Purple Line, unless Maryland supports a board reorganization that the District favors.

Under board rules, two voting members from D.C., Maryland or Virginia can block a resolution otherwise supported by the majority. The veto has drawn criticism for years for allowing individual jurisdictions to obstruct measures in the systems overall interest.

Hogans office condemned Evanss veto threat as tantamount to extortion and used stronger language than in the past in urging the Metro chairman to quit.

This latest stunt by Jack Evans is further proof that he is outrageously unfit to serve on the board and should resign immediately, Hogan Communications Director Doug Mayer said Thursday.

Hogans office had publicly called for Evanss departure last Friday, accusing him of continued juvenile outbursts.

Evans, in a phone interview, declined to comment on Connollys criticisms, but at a news conference earlier in the day, he suggested that Hogans rebuke seemed beneath the office of the governor.

Do you believe that the governor of Maryland is issuing a statement about this? Evans said. I find it somewhat astonishing that the governor is engaging in this kind of namecalling.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) expressed unhappiness over what he called the unfortunate dispute between the District and Maryland, but stopped short of urging Evans to step down.

He said the disageement demonstrated the wisdom of a proposal by former U.S. transportation secretary Ray LaHood to oust the Metro board and replace it with a temporary, five-member reform board. LaHood, who was recruited by McAuliffe to study Metro, is scheduled to issue a report this month including the board proposal.

McAuliffe believes this unfortunate episode is a clear example of the need to replace the current [Metro] governance structure with the non-political 5-member interim control board, McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said. The inability of certain board members to resolve inter-jurisdictional squabbles over policy should not derail progress on projects that are important to the entire region.

Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne, asked specifically whether Evans should go, said, I wont get into personalities, but this kind of behavior is not helpful to us.

[Md. members voice opposition to structural changes to Metro board, raising possibility of veto]

Evans said the restructuring plan has broad support within the board. He conceded it may seem trivial to use the jurisdictional veto for this purpose, but said Maryland had been first to invoke it by suggesting earlier it might use the veto to block Evanss desire to streamline the boards committee structure.

Evans and the Districts other voting board member, Corbett Price, want to reduce the number of board committees from seven to four, and allow alternates to chair committees. Maryland wants only voting members to serve as committee heads, and dislikes the plan because it could have the effect of extending Evanss term as board chairman by six months.

Fourteen members of the board, plus the general manager want this reorganization, Evans said, citing conversations with General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld and other board members. Corbett and I as the Districts two voting members will veto anything else until they agree.

But the threat dismayed Maryland, which says it needs approval soon of transfer of property rights at three Metro stations so construction can begin on the light-rail Purple Line linking Montgomery and Prince Georges counties.

For an authority thats in need of ridership, in need of revenue, thats a very parochial, selfish and unfortunate position for the District of Columbia representative to take, Maryland board member Michael Goldman said.

[McAuliffe, Hogan, Bowser agree with LaHood that Metro board should shrink]

The property transfer also was embroiled in a dispute Thursday over whether Maryland was paying Metro enough for the land rights at New Carrollton, College Park and Silver Spring Metro stations. The property is valued between $24 million and $37 million. It would be given to Maryland in exchange for a 450-space state-owned parking lot and nearly 500,000 feet of state property, valued together at $17.1 million.

In a surprise move, a board committee passed a substitute resolution that gives tentative approval for the transfer  but only if Metro and Maryland enter negotiations and come up with a new figure for fair compensation on the exchange by the end of December. Maryland said the action threatens to delay the project.

[Metro board committee threatens to delay land swap needed for Purple Line for more money]

Top D.C. officials appeared to continue to back Evans. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) both emphasized that the key issue was not changing the board, but finding dedicated revenue for the transit system.

We all must stayed focused on the long-term health of Metro, and that comes through dedicated revenue, Bowser Chief of Staff John Falcicchio said.

The Mayor has agreed with the concept of a smaller board with members appointed by the executives of the District, Maryland and Virginia, and it is time for Maryland and Virginia to agree to dedicated revenue, he said.

The D.C. Council appointed Evans to the Metro board, and Mendelson said he didnt foresee any change there.

Last I checked, I didnt see anybody here in the halls at the Wilson Building advocating a change in our council appointment, Mendelson said.

Martine Powers contributed to this article.
A former chairman of Donald Trump's Virginia campaign said Thursday that the White House is in "very serious talks" with Ed Gillespie's gubernatorial campaign about having the president stump for him in the state.

A Trump rally could fire up Trump supporters for Gillespie, a longtime Republican Party fixture who has struggled to find the right footing regarding the anti-establishment Trump.

A Trump appearance could pose risks for Gillespie in purple Virginia, where Trumps approval ratings are well below 40 percent. Hillary Clinton beat Trump by five points in Virginia last year  the only Southern state won by the Democrat.

Most public polls show Gillespie tied or slightly trailing the Democrat, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam.

The White House and Gillespie campaign are in very serious talks about such a presidential appearance as a means of boosting the Republicans chances in his neck-and-neck race against Northam, said John Fredericks, a conservative radio host.

He announced that plans were in the works on his show Thursday morning and later elaborated in an interview with The Washington Post.

The days of Ed Gillespie threading the needle with President Trump are coming to an end, Fredericks told The Post. And hes got to get on stage with him, and motivate Trump voters to get out on November 7th in huge numbers, enthusiastically, to support this Republican ticket if hes going to win.

The Northam campaign announced Wednesday that former president Barack Obama will appear at a rally with Northam in Richmond next week, upping the ante for Trump.

Obamas coming. Theyve got to counter it, Fredericks said.

[Trump dives into Virginia governors race, attacking Democrat via tweet]

Fredericks, who was co-chairman and later chairman of Trumps Virginia campaign, said he has heard from multiple sources that the White House and Gillespie campaign are trying to get a date for the president to come to Virginia, most likely at the end of the campaign.

A few hours later on Twitter, Fredericks clarified he was talking about a potential Trump rally and his information was not sourced from any official in the Gillespie campaign.

View Graphic The latest stories and details on the 2017 Virginia general election and race for governor.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said there were no plans that Im aware of at this time.

Gillespie spokesman David Abrams said only this: We do not discuss campaign strategy with the media.

Virginia is holding the only competitive statewide election in the nation on Nov. 7, an election that both major parties see as a test of electoral politics in the Trump era and a hint of what may come in the 2018 midterms.

A former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Washington lobbyist and adviser to then-President George W. Bush, Gillespie has been uncomfortable with any association with Trump even as he has recently launched ads about illegal immigration and Confederate statues that could appeal to the presidents supporters.

Republicans have not won a statewide election in Virginia since 2009. Gillespie needs support from both Trump voters as well as independents to have any chance of overcoming the advantage Northam has in populous, heavily blue Northern Virginia.

[Corey Stewart in talks to endorse Gillespie at urging of Trump allies Bannon and Bossie]

Gillespie avoided mentioning the president during the GOP primary in the spring, which he nearly lost to Corey A. Stewart, a bombastic campaigner who ran in the anti-establishment Trump mold and lambasted Gillespie as Establishment Ed.

Immediately after the primary, the White House political team urged Gillespie to hire Trump strategists and embrace issues that resonate with Trump voters. Gillespie brought on at least one Trump strategist and started talking about the dangers of illegal immigration and the need to preserve Confederate statues. The campaign, noting that crime is a perennial GOP election theme and polls show a majority of Virginians do not want the statues removed, contend those positions appeal to swing voters as much as the Trump base.

[Gillespie rolls out Kill, Rape, Control ad against Northam]

Still, when the president endorsed Gillespie via tweet last week, the candidate did not retweet or even acknowledge it until reporters asked him about it the following day. Gillespie said he did not consider the presidents endorsement of a fellow Republican newsworthy.

[Trump dives into the Virginia governors race, via Tweet]

Gillespie has been more comfortable with Vice President Pence, a personal friend for several years, who will fly to ruby red Southwest Virginia on Saturday to headline a campaign rally for him. On the same day, former vice president Joe Biden is appearing in Northern Virginia with Northam.
Members of Congress from Virginia say chronic late payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs to doctors are jeopardizing care for the states aging veteran population.

The states two senators and 11 House members urged VA administrators to fix a system that can leave health-care providers waiting more than four months for payments they should have received within 30 days. The delays can damage credit, they said.

Congress created the Veterans Choice program in 2014 in response to a scandal exposing excessively long wait times at a Phoenix VA hospital that also had been a problem nationwide.

The program is intended to relieve pressure on VA hospitals by allowing veterans to receive care from private providers if they cannot book an appointment at their local VA facility within 30 days or access a facility within 40 miles of their home.

Since its inception, Veterans Choice has been hobbled by administrative errors, including tens of millions of dollars in overpayments, according to findings of the VA Office of the Inspector General.

"With many health care providers reporting accounts receivable in the millions of dollars, the level of late payments is unacceptable," the Virginia delegation wrote in an Oct. 3 letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin.

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) said Congress requires VA to pay bills in a timely manner.

Everyone else in society has to do that, he said in an interview. If this program is going to work properly, then these bills need to be paid on time.

Wittman, chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on sea power and projection forces, said he has talked to the committee chairman, Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), about calling Shulkin to testify if VA doesnt reconcile outstanding bills soon. Virginia is home to 733,000 veterans.

This is the law, he said. This is what youre supposed to be doing. Why isnt it getting done?

VA spokeswoman Paula Paige said in a statement, VA appreciates the lawmakers concerns and will respond to them directly.

She referred specific questions to a May speech by Shulkin in which he said it takes more than 30 days to process 20 percent of VA claims from 25,000 providers nationwide. An additional $50 million in charges are older than six months. He blamed the backlog in part on paperwork delays.

View Graphic The latest stories and details on the 2017 Virginia general election and race for governor.

Community care is handled through several federal programs, making it "too complex, and it's confusing veterans and our employees alike," he said.

Riverside Health System in eastern Virginia reported that 45 percent of claims totaling $2 million went unpaid for more than 120 days. Private insurance companies as well as Medicare and Medicaid take about 60 days, said Mark Duncan, Riversides lobbyist.

Riverside considers it an honor to care for veterans, but we need to have the tools the resources to provide that type of service to these folks over the long term, Duncan said in an interview. Theyve more than earned that service.

The letter details a case relayed by the office of Rep. Barbara Comstock (R), who represents Northern Virginia, in which a veteran was denied dentures because VA failed to pay a private provider $203,000. Comstocks spokesman said the case has been resolved.

Veterans Choice allows veterans to avoid inconvenient travel to VA facilities in Martinsburg, W.Va., or the District, but VA must get its house in order, Comstock said in a statement.

In August, Congress approved $2.1 billion in emergency funding intended to shore up the program until February.

Last month, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote a letter to Shulkin demanding a full accounting of Veterans Choice spending after the Associated Press reported that the program could face another shortfall before the end of the year.

We said at the time that it was essential, given the growing demand for care under the Choice program, that the VA immediately correct the failures that created such a serious shortfall, McCain wrote. It appears as if you have not done so.
When a fast-moving, destructive fire strikes in the middle of the night, how do you get people out of their homes to safety?

For Paul Lowenthal, assistant fire marshal in Santa Rosa, Calif., there was only one answer. When he saw smoke and flames dart across the land toward the heart of the city with astonishing speed Sunday night, there was no time for phone alerts or Facebook postings. He called the local police department to order an evacuation, and then he drove through the nearest neighborhood with his sirens blaring, yelling at people to get up and get out.

The smoke and ash and embers were raining down, sparking spot fires, he recalled in an interview Wednesday. It didnt take but moments for people to look out their front doors and see what was happening.

[At least 21 dead as California wildfires spread]

The deadly wildfires racing unpredictably across Northern California this week have exposed the difficulties that persist for authorities trying to communicate emergencies to vulnerable residents, even in the hyper-connected 21st century.

It is now standard for fire departments, county emergency management offices, and police and sheriffs departments to have multiple Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, programs that allow residents to sign up for real-time text alerts and systems that can robo-dial home phones.

But all that technology wasnt enough, as the fires caught authorities and residents off guard, claiming at least 21 lives and untold homes from Sonoma County to Mendocino County.

The fires incinerated or damaged more than 70 cell towers, including a major communications hub, leaving many people without the ability to communicate or receive warning messages. Some people reported getting text evacuation warnings long after they had left their homes, while others who said they had signed up for the critical alerts didnt get them at all.

[Armageddon: Apocalyptic images show the devastation caused by deadly wine-country fires]

Many residents said they found the lack of information from local authorities frustrating, particularly the silence regarding which communities might be vulnerable to the flames, although the high winds made predicting the fires path difficult.

Janet Balatti saw flames Sunday night in Santa Rosa probably before authorities even knew of the unfolding catastrophe. She watched the sky and packed belongings before fleeing with her husband from the now-devastated Fountaingrove section of the city, but they did that on their own.

No official alert was put out as far as I know, she said.

1 of 55 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  The scene as wildfires devastate Northern Californias wine region View Photos More than 50,000 acres are burning in Napa and Sonoma counties. Authorities say wildfires have destroyed at least 1,500 homes, businesses and other structures. Caption More than 50,000 acres are burning in Napa and Sonoma counties. Authorities say wildfires have destroyed at least 1,500 homes, businesses and other structures. Josh Edelson Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.

Other evacuees were awakened by a neighbor or law enforcement officer pounding on the door. William DeLeon, a machinist who was home Monday morning with his wife, his daughter and her guinea pig, isnt sure whether he ever got an alert; a police officer woke his family up telling them to flee.

An announcement came over the public address system at Spring Lake Village in Santa Rosa, but you couldnt really understand it, said Jean Kalsted, 79. Residents at the senior community had run emergency drills, she said, so they went into action, leaving for the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, which is an emergency shelter.

Imad Mouline, chief technology officer of Everbridge, a company that provides text and other emergency notifications for local jurisdictions around the country, said the company looked into reports in Northern California that some of the messages through their Nixle program were delayed during the fire.

They concluded it was because of a bottleneck in communications caused by the damaged towers and the large number of people trying to use cellular services, Mouline said.

One danger is that people sometimes receive emergency alerts but turn them off or simply tune them out, said J. Keith Gilless, dean of the College of Natural Resources at the University of California at Berkeley.

My biggest worry is that people find warnings annoying and either dont want to regard them anymore or fiddle around with settings on their phones, he said. You dont sign up for systems, or you try to mute them on their phone.

Some people can become overloaded with information and others might be communicating  or searching for communications  when they should be evacuating, said Meg Krawchuk, an assistant professor at the Oregon State Universitys College of Forestry. Other times, the information just cant get out fast enough, particularly with an unpredictable situation  leaving residents with little to go on.

We dont always have information as quickly as we think we might, given what we think of as our sophisticated culture when it comes to tech, she said. There are weak links in that culture that dont do what we think they should be able to do.

At a news conference Wednesday, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said one challenge is that some notification systems rely on landlines. One such system, Reverse 9-1-1, allows public-safety organizations to use public databases to send robo-calls to residential phone lines.

But Giordano said it was critical for residents who primarily use their cellphones to sign up for a system called SoCoAlert, which can deliver emergency information via text, phone call and social media.

The world has changed, he said. People dont have landlines anymore.

However, getting people to opt in to such systems might not be so easy. As of June, about 10,500 people were signed up for the alerts, according to the SoCoAlert website. There are 500,000 people living in Sonoma County.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency also manages a cellphone alert system, which uses different technology than regular text messages that are meant to overcome jammed lines  they turn up automatically without requiring a person to opt in. Many people might recognize them in the form of flash-flood warnings delivered by the National Weather Service, alerts that are accompanied by piercingly loud beeps.

Its unclear how many Northern California agencies might have used the system to try to communicate with residents.

For Melissa and Ken Moholt-Siebert, the first warning that something was amiss came in the form of the acrid smell of smoke about 9 p.m. Sunday. At about midnight, a neighbor came over to point out the fire in the distance. A half-hour later, the two were fleeing.

It was just explosive, Ken Moholt-Siebert said.

Lowenthal, the Santa Rosa assistant fire marshal, had been headed out for what he thought was a quick work assignment Sunday night. He was to serve as a spokesman for a couple of hours for emergency officials in neighboring Napa County, which was grappling with its own fire.

But he stopped in his tracks when he saw the line of flames across his path.

I was just watching it barrel toward the city, he said. No one would have realized it would have gotten there that quickly in the middle of the night.

He grabbed his cellphone and called the police department, telling them to order an immediate evacuation of a broad swath of the city. He guesses that cellphones in the area stopped working a short time later. Police and fire personnel then swarmed neighborhoods, blasting their sirens and banging on doors, he said.

There was no, Lets get on social media and Twitter and Facebook,  he said. This was a situation of, Oh, my God, its here. We just need to start getting people out any way we can. 

Donosky reported from Sonoma County; Somashekhar and Zezima reported from Washington.
Bettina Billups, right, helps Brentley Lashum, 2, touch Superman's hand Wednesday during superhero window-washing day at Children's of Alabama in Birmingham, part of the hospitals Superhero Month celebrations. (Brynn Anderson/AP)

NORTH DAKOTA

Judge rules Dakota pipeline may operate

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Dakota Access oil pipeline can continue operating while a study is completed to assess its environmental impact on an American Indian tribe.

U.S. District Judge James Boasbergs decision will come as a blow to the Standing Rock Sioux, who have argued that an oil spill from the pipeline under Lake Oahe  from which the tribe draws its water  could have a detrimental effect on the tribal community.

Boasberg found that it is likely the Army Corps of Engineers will be able to justify previous decisions made while permitting the pipeline. Boasberg also acknowledged that shutting down the pipeline would disrupt the energy industry.

The $3.8 billion pipeline built by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners has been operating since June 1, moving oil from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to a distribution point in Illinois. From there it can be shipped to the Gulf Coast and potentially lucrative markets abroad. It has the capacity to move half of the oil produced daily in North Dakota, the nations second-leading producer behind Texas.

Boasberg ruled on June 14 that the Corps largely complied with environmental law, but he ordered the agency to reconsider certain areas of its analysis and took arguments on whether to shut down the 1,200-mile pipeline while the work is done.

Boasberg in June said the Corps didnt adequately consider how an oil spill under the Lake Oahe reservoir on the Missouri River in the Dakotas might affect the Standing Rock Sioux. The tribe is among four that have challenged the pipeline in court over environmental fears that ETP says are unfounded.

 Associated Press

LOUISIANA

Ten arrested on hazing charges in Louisiana

Ten people were arrested Wednesday on hazing charges in the death of a Louisiana State University fraternity pledge whose blood alcohol content level was more than six times the legal limit for driving, officials said.

One of the 10 suspects  Matthew Alexander Naquin, 19, of Boerne, Tex.  also faces a negligent homicide charge in the death last month of 18-year-old Maxwell Gruver, a freshman from Roswell, Ga., LSU said.

An autopsy showed Gruvers blood alcohol content level at the time of his death was 0.495, East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Beau Clark said Wednesday. The legal blood-alcohol limit for driving in Louisiana is 0.08 percent.

Eight of the suspects are LSU students and were active members of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, according to university spokesman Ernie Ballard. He said all 10 turned themselves in to LSU police Wednesday. The hazing charges against all 10 suspects, whose ages range from 18 to 21, are misdemeanors.

LSU President F. King Alexander said the arrests "underscore that the ramifications of hazing can be devastating."

Gruver died at a Baton Rouge hospital on Sept. 14 after fraternity members found him lying on a couch at the fraternity house, police said.

Witnesses told police that the fraternity's pledges were forced to drink to excess on the night before Gruver's death during a game or initiation ritual called "Bible Study" that required pledges to drink if they incorrectly answered questions about the fraternity.

 Associated Press

Boy, 4, accidentally shoots grandfather: A 4-year-old North Carolina boy accidentally shot and killed his grandfather with a gun he found on the tailgate of the man's truck on Sunday, police said. Pasquotank County Sheriff Randy Cartwright said Danny Patrick, 57, of Elizabeth City, had been shooting a rifle with his grandson and at some point, the boy fired a shot, hitting the man in the face. The boy then walked to a nearby home, where the resident said the boy told her his grandfather was dead.

 Associated Press
Beth Guardino, left, and her son, Christian, talk about the 17-year-old's life before and after gene therapy for his hereditary blindness. (Julie Jacobson/AP)

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee unanimously endorsed an experimental gene therapy Thursday for patients with a rare kind of hereditary blindness, setting the stage for a historic approval.

If the agency agrees with the recommendation, the one-time treatment would be the first gene therapy cleared in the United States for an inherited disorder.

Made by Philadelphia-based Spark Therapeutics, the therapy involves injecting a healthy version of the RPE65 gene  responsible for making a protein needed for sight  into the eyes of patients who have defective copies of the gene. The treatment does not give patients perfect vision but does produce substantial improvements, researchers said.

The FDA has approved only one treatment that it calls gene therapy  Kymriah, which is used for childhood leukemia. That approach involves extracting immune cells, genetically altering them in the lab and returning them to the patient.

By contrast, Luxturna, the Spark product, represents what is thought of as true gene therapy, in which a functional gene does the job of a defective one. About 1,000 to 2,000 people in the United States have inherited retinal diseases caused by a mutated RPE65 gene.



Christian Guardino testifies during a meeting with the Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies advisory committee on Oct. 12 at the FDA in Silver Spring, Md. (Nick Wass/AP)

The company has not provided an estimated cost for the treatment, but its likely to be steep. Wall Street analysts are predicting a price of $750,000 to $1 million for both eyes. That could fuel an already heated debate over the rising cost of pharmaceuticals.

Children with the dysfunctional gene often are diagnosed at an early age with disorders such as Leber congenital amaurosis or retinitis pigmentosa. They have limited vision that typically gets worse over time, resulting in night blindness and a loss of peripheral and central vision. Almost all end up completely blind.

During an all-day committee meeting Thursday, several young people told stories about how the experimental treatment had transformed their lives, allowing them, for the first time, to see stars and their parents faces, and to go out at night with friends.

A few years ago, I was at a precipice of losing it all, Katelyn Corey, a 24-year-old Los Angeles resident, told the panel. She was falling far behind in her college work as her vision deteriorated and her world literally darkened. After getting the gene therapy in 2013, I was no longer living in a black-and-white film, she said. I may not have gained normal vision, but I gained all of my independence. She graduated from college and earned a masters degree in epidemiology.

Corey and others who spoke Thursday acknowledged that their vision is far from 20-20 and that it isnt clear that the improvement will be permanent. Still, the effects have lasted for four years or more, researchers say.

The committees vote of confidence is a major advance for a field that has struggled for decades to overcome devastating setbacks. One of the hopes of the Human Genome Project was to use genes to develop medicines, said Katherine High, president and head of research and development at Spark. It has been much more complex than people imagined, but if we can succeed, it means a lot for people with rare inherited diseases.

Hundreds of gene-therapy clinical trials are underway throughout the world, including for hemophilia and Huntingtons disease, according to the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, an industry group.

For retinal diseases alone, there are more than 18 gene-therapy trials underway, according to Stephen Rose, chief research officer at the Foundation Fighting Blindness. The group financed some of the earlier research for the treatment, whose generic name is voretigene neparvovec.

The FDA isnt required to take the recommendations of its advisory committee, but it usually does. Its deadline for deciding on the Spark treatment is mid-January.

Spark was founded in 2013 based on research and a substantial investment from Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). In a pivotal trial involving about 30 patients ages 4 to 44, most patients who received the treatment showed improvement in navigating a novel maze  with obstacles and arrows for directions.

The obstacle course was designed to measure patients functional vision, or the ability to handle daily activities in lowlight conditions. The patients didnt see statistically significant gains in visual acuity  that is, in reading an eye chart.

During the meeting, researchers showed a video of a 6-year-old patient who, before getting the treatment, bumped into objects on the obstacle course and was unable to complete it quickly. At age 10, years after being treated, she was able to move through the course easily in seconds.

Christian Guardino, a 17-year-old high school senior from Patchogue, N.Y., was diagnosed with the disorder when he was less than a year old. We literally had to keep all the lights on, said his mother, Elizabeth. He was going completely blind and he couldnt navigate on his own.

In 2012, Christian, who testified at Thursdays meeting, got the treatment as part of the trial at CHOP and his vision improved immediately. Now, his mother said, he can play sports, go out with friends at night and read books, albeit ones with large print.

Christian describes the change in his life as incredible. Recently, he competed on NBCs Americas Got Talent, wowing the judges with his powerful voice. He was especially happy, he said, to be able to see the judges so clearly.

Jean Bennett, an ophthalmologist at the University of Pennsylvania who has been involved in the development and testing of the gene therapy, said the treatment allows children to become much more independent. They can walk around, play sports, she said.
A migrant walk past camp beds in a former skating rink used as a pre-admission center for migrants in Cergy, outside Paris, on Thursday. (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images)

BURMA

Suu Kyi creates panel to oversee aid efforts

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmas embattled leader, called for national unity Thursday and said she has created a committee that will oversee all international and local assistance in violence-struck Rakhine state.

More than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine have fled to neighboring Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when security forces responded to attacks by a militant Rohingya group with a broad crackdown on the long-persecuted Muslim minority.

Suu Kyi acknowledged in a speech on state-run television that Burma, also known as Myanmar, is facing widespread criticism over the refugee crisis. The Nobel Peace Prize winner said her government is holding talks with Bangladesh on the return of those who are now in Bangladesh. She gave no details.

Burmas Buddhist majority regards Rohingya Muslims as illegal migrants from Bangladesh, although many families have lived in Burma for generations. Suu Kyi did not use the word Rohingya in her speech.

She said that she would head the new committee and that it would coordinate all efforts to create a peaceful and developed Rakhine state. Suu Kyi said her government has invited U.N. agencies, financial institutions such as the World Bank and others to help develop Rakhine.

 Associated Press

SPAIN

National day celebrated amid secession crisis

Thousands of Catalans who want their region to remain in Spain marked the countrys national day Thursday, marching through Barcelona waving Spanish and Catalan flags and shouting I am Spanish, as the regions threats of independence have left the country in crisis.

Meanwhile, in the national capital, Madrid, troops and police paraded in front of King Felipe VI. Thousands of people waving Spanish flags lined the sidewalk of Madrids Paseo de la Castellana avenue to view the parade.

The pilot of a fighter jet taking part in the parade died when the plane crashed while landing at a base in Albacete, authorities said.

In Barcelona, Catalonias capital, a crowd that police said numbered 65,000 marched to a central square, some with their faces in the red and yellow colors of both the Spanish and Catalan flags, and shouting Viva Espana, or Long live Spain.

The regional president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, said Tuesday that he was proceeding with a declaration of independence but proposed freezing its implementation for a few weeks to allow for dialogue with the national government.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy asked Puigdemont to clarify whether he had actually declared independence.

 Associated Press

Floods, landslides kill 43 in Vietnam: The death toll in floods and landslides in Vietnam caused by a tropical depression has risen to at least 43, with 34 missing, officials said. The storm injured 21 people and destroyed or damaged more than 1,000 houses, submerged 16,740 other homes, and damaged infrastructure and crops in six central and northern provinces, the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said.

Saw found in Denmark could be tied to submarine case: Danish police said that divers have recovered a saw from the sea off Copenhagen and that forensic investigators are determining whether it was used to dismember the body of a Swedish journalist, Kim Wall. Wall's torso washed ashore in Copenhagen on Aug. 21, and her decapitated head, legs and clothes were found at sea last week. She was last seen on a homemade submarine with inventor Peter Madsen, who is being held in custody.

3 Syrian rebel groups agree to Damascus truce: Three Syrian opposition factions have agreed to cease-fire in southern Damascus under an agreement brokered by Egypt and Russia , officials said. The deal does not specify the area, but the groups control a pocket south of Damascus that is near areas held by the Islamic State. The agreement would allow for humanitarian access but would not involve the relocation of militants or residents. Egypt's state-run news agency said the deal does not include the Syrian government.

Top Indian court says sex with minor wife is rape: India's top court has ruled that having sexual intercourse with a wife younger than 18 is rape, a decision that activists say is an important step toward ending child marriages. Indian law says a woman must be at least 18 to marry and consent to sex, but there are exceptions, and a man was permitted to have sex, even forcibly, with a girl as young as 15 as long as she was his wife. Marriages of girls are especially prevalent among India's rural poor.

 From news services
Contributing columnist

Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page reportedly has informed the Senate Intelligence Committee that he will not agree to turn over documents or be interviewed and will assert his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. What the committee does next may have implications not only for its own inquiry but also for the criminal investigation being conducted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

The committee has conducted closed, voluntary interviews of a number of Trump campaign advisers, including Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, as part of its probe of possible Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election. Investigators are interested in Page because of reports that he had meetings with high-level Russian officials last year while he was working for the Trump campaign.

In light of Pages reported refusal to cooperate, the committees logical next step would be to subpoena him. Unlike a request for a voluntary interview, a subpoena would compel Page to appear. If investigators believe Page may be trying to stonewall, a subpoena is the way to call his bluff. Theres a chance that Page would agree to testify once he was actually before the committee. In fact, there are some conflicting reports that Page has denied taking the Fifth and would be willing to testify at a public hearing  although perhaps not in a closed session. Regardless, if hes refusing to be interviewed, the best way to join the issue and clarify Pages position is probably to subpoena him to appear before the committee and see what he does.

If Page is subpoenaed and continues to take the Fifth, the committee has several options. It could simply accept the privilege claim and move on with its investigation, trying to gather the necessary information from other witnesses and sources.

If the committee believes the privilege claim is unfounded, it could vote to hold Page in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify. Congress did this in 2014 in the case involving former IRS official Lois Lerner, who took the Fifth before a congressional committee investigating alleged abuses by the Internal Revenue Service.

A citation for contempt of Congress then goes to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia for investigation and possible prosecution. But the U.S. attorney is not required to prosecute if the case lacks merit. That's exactly what happened in Lerner's case  the U.S. attorney concluded she had a valid Fifth Amendment claim and that a contempt prosecution would not be appropriate. And of course, a contempt referral and possible related court battles would take many months, during which Page would still be silent.

A third option, and the one loaded with the most potential land mines, is for the committee to immunize Page and compel him to testify. Congress, like the Justice Department, has the statutory power to immunize witnesses. Once immunized, Page would have to testify and anything he said could not be used against him in a criminal case. That might help the committee get to the bottom of what happened in the Russia inquiry. But granting immunity might also jeopardize any potential criminal case against Page that Mueller could be considering.

This happened most famously during the Iran-contra scandal in the 1980s, when the Senate granted immunity to Oliver North and compelled him to testify. North was later prosecuted and convicted, but an appeals court threw out his convictions. The prosecutors could not prove that witnesses at the criminal trial had not been influenced by North's immunized, nationally televised testimony.

Presumably the lessons of the North case would make Congress reluctant to immunize Page and potentially be seen as creating obstacles to Mueller's investigation. If members of Congress did appear headed down that road, Mueller could weigh in and try to persuade them not to proceed. And granting immunity would require a vote of two-thirds of the committee members, which means some Democrats would have to agree. So if Page is angling for immunity, he's probably unlikely to get it from the Senate.

If Mueller is indeed investigating Page, he may ultimately face the same issues now facing the Senate committee. Page presumably would take the Fifth if called to testify before the grand jury. Mueller would then have to decide whether to immunize Page, try to build a case against him without his testimony and possibly persuade him to plead guilty and cooperate, or to just set Page aside and move on.

These issues are common in large criminal investigations, and the more witnesses who invoke the Fifth, the more complicated the decisions become about how to proceed. But so long as Congress does not throw a wrench into the gears, Mueller can deal with recalcitrant witnesses in the ordinary course of his investigation.

Individuals fearing incrimination and taking the Fifth are certainly a further example of the smoke surrounding the events being investigated in the various Russia probes. Whether there is an underlying criminal fire still remains to be seen.
MORE AND more women have come forward in recent days to share their stories of sexual harassment and abuse by film producer Harvey Weinstein, breaking the long silence surrounding his behavior. The details of Mr. Weinsteins actions are grotesque enough. But just as shocking is the fact that his systematic abuse of power seems to have been an open secret.

The allegations described by the New York Times and the New Yorker follow a brutal pattern. Mr. Weinstein would invite a young woman into his hotel room for a meeting before making advances and exposing himself. Some of the women he harassed and attacked tell stories of locking themselves in bathrooms or closets to hide from him. In one exchange caught on tape by the New York Police Department, Mr. Weinstein tries to wheedle an actress into his room and explains that he is "used to" groping women.

While many women have made their experiences public, legal settlements previously reached with Mr. Weinstein have prevented others from speaking out. Meanwhile, his employees  some of whom he reportedly assaulted or harassed as well  are bound by nondisclosure agreements. And such contracts were not the only tools that Mr. Weinstein used to ensure silence. Aspiring actresses and rising stars describe fearing that the powerful producer could end their careers if they spoke out against him. Mr. Weinstein also turned the media into a weapon: In at least one case, he fed negative information to reporters about an accuser who had gone to the police.

Even if stories of Mr. Weinsteins abusive behavior never fully reached the public, they surfaced in the form of hints and gossip and circulated among women who warned each other to be wary. But not only women knew. The Timess reporting shows that the board of Mr. Weinsteins company, which recently forced him out, had been aware of allegations of misbehavior since at least 2015 but never conducted an investigation. Mr. Weinstein, who often relied on the presence of female employees to help draw in victims, surrounded himself with what the New Yorker describes as a culture of complicity.

This same complicity protects many Harvey Weinsteins in many industries. Fox News chief executive Roger Ailes left the network in 2016 after revelations surfaced of his persistent sexual harassment of female employees, and anchor Bill O'Reilly departed the following year  both of whom Fox News protected from harassment allegations by paying out multimillion-dollar settlements to their accusers. And any honest accounting of men whose power shields them from consequences must include the occupant of the Oval Office, who boasted about sexual assault and whom multiple women have accused of harassment.

Its possible that Mr. Weinstein could still face legal repercussions from his behavior, though the likelihood of success of any such suit remains unclear. We hope the stories of the women who lived through Mr. Weinsteins attacks will give other victims the strength to come forward. But these stories also make clear the crucial role that those in positions of responsibility must play by denouncing misconduct when they see it and demanding accountability, rather than remaining quietly complicit.
FROM A certain perspective, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt's move to rip up the Clean Power Plan, President Barack Obama's signature climate change policy, hardly seems radical. The EPA chief repealed a rule he claims was illegal. Indeed, it was something of a stretch for the EPA to regulate planet-warming carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act, a law originally written to handle more traditional pollutants. The Obama administration took an expansive approach, pushing the law as far as it could so that Mr. Obama's climate negotiators could credibly promise that the United States would cut its carbon emissions if other nations would, too.

Yet the Obama EPAs Clean Power Plan did not, in our view and that of many experts, break the law. The Supreme Court has already ruled that the EPA must regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. There is a strong chance that the court would have upheld the Obama administrations now-defunct strategy to do so, or at least much of it. But now the country may never know, because its chief environmental officer wants not to do as much as he can to protect the atmosphere, but to do as little as the law demands, threatening the painstaking progress the Obama administration made in coordinating an international response to climate change.

Mr. Pruitt has not yet proposed a replacement plan; he began a public comment process that may lead to a new set of regulations on carbon emissions. It is technically possible that his EPA will decide to instate new rules that are serious, if less aggressive than Mr. Obamas. But everything about Mr. Pruitts history  relentlessly suing the Obama administration, denying climate science, shutting environmentalist voices out of the EPA  suggests he will aim to do the minimum the courts will allow.

As if to confirm that reading, Mr. Pruitt announced his Clean Power Plan rollback in coal country, declaring that "the war against coal is over." Economist Paul Krugman has pointed out that 18 times more jobs have been lost at department stores than in the coal business since the turn of the century. Nevertheless, it is on behalf of a dirty, dying and relatively small industry that Mr. Pruitt will go down as one of the nation's worst environmental stewards. He may believe that the Obama administration's climate plan was radical. But his approach  anti-scientific, ideological, a betrayal of his office  is far more so.

There is another notable villain: Congress. For decades, lawmakers have dawdled while the greatest environmental challenge of our time has worsened, each wasted year making it harder to address. Once the science became clear  and it has been for years now  it became legislators responsibility to craft a law specifically designed to address the carbon issue. Instead, they punted to the executive branch, leading to the chaotic regulatory seesaw now on display. The right response to Mr. Pruitts radical action is a reassertion of congressional responsibility.
Regarding the Oct. 7 Metro article "Metro's chairman should quit, Hogan says":

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) suggested that Jack Evans, chairman of the Metro board, step down. Mr. Hogan was responding to a suggestion from former U.S. transportation secretary Ray LaHood that the entire board be replaced.

Mr. LaHood is correct that the board of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority should be smaller. I think four members is about right: one from the District, one from Maryland, one from Virginia and a chair, who would hopefully be an honest broker.

Mr. LaHood is also correct that there should be no elected officials on the board. And quite frankly, there would be no Silver Line construction today if the Dulles Corridor Task Force, of which I was chair, had not operated this way.

J. Kenneth Klinge, Basye, Va.
IT HAS been three weeks since Hurricane Maria made devastating landfall in Puerto Rico. Three weeks  and 84 percent of the population is still without power. Only 63 percent has access to clean water, and just 60 percent of wastewater treatment plants are working. Food supplies are spotty, the health-care system is in crisis and people are dying. The death toll has risen to 45.

If the Americans enduring these conditions lived in Connecticut or Montana or Arkansas, would we be counseling patience? Would we be blithely accepting predictions of another month  or more  to get power restored? No. There would be unending media coverage, people would be furious  and the president of the United States certainly wouldnt be threatening to abandon federal relief efforts.

The state of affairs would simply be seen as unacceptable, which it is. The 3.4 million American citizens who live in Puerto Rico are owed a far better response from their government than they have gotten these past three weeks.

Conditions on the island remain grim and, in some instances, have been exacerbated by the delay in getting help. Post reporters detailed an island plunged into darkness, with roads impassable, communications knocked out and the economy at a standstill. The New York Times detailed the impacts on health care, with hospitals running low on medicine, seriously ill patients going without proper treatment and an increasing risk of people getting sick  and dying  from contaminated water. The Guardian reported on food shortages, with federal emergency workers unable to meet the demand for providing meals. "We feel completely abandoned here," the mayor of Yabucoa told Post reporters.

Maria was the strongest storm to hit Puerto Rico in nearly a century. There is no minimizing its catastrophic effects, nor the logistical challenges of getting help to an island already suffering from poor infrastructure and long-standing financial problems. But none of that excuses the federal governments sluggish response and poor planning. Why, for example, as the Times reported, were only 82 patients sent to the hospital ship USNS Comfort over six days when there were so many more sick people in peril?

Yet, almost incredibly, President Trump on Thursday blasted out a trio of tweets seemingly trying to shame the U.S. territory for its current problems and putting its residents on notice that the federal government might pull out. So much for his promise to "be there every day" until the people of Puerto Rico are "safe and sound and secure."

It is time to stop treating the people of Puerto Rico like second-class citizens. Congress should give Puerto Rico the resources it needs. It also should exercise its oversight over the administration to demand answers on why, three weeks after disaster struck, so many Americans are still living in misery with so little hope for the future.
Doug Sosnik wrote in his Oct. 8 Sunday Opinion essay, "Trump is on track to win reelection," that, despite dismal poll numbers, if President Trump is not removed from office, does not lead the country into a historic disaster and benefits from a strong third-party candidate in 2020 who drains votes from his Democratic opponent, then he stands a good chance of being reelected. Yes, and? Exactly the same could be said of any deeply unpopular incumbent at any point in U.S. history.

Like others, Mr. Sosnik claimed we are in a new splintered era in American politics. Even if that were true, why would it mean a third-party candidate would help Mr. Trump more than it would hurt him? What if the third-party candidate is a Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) or former Alabama state judge Roy Moore, rather than (or in addition to) a Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) or Mark Cuban? Does chaos flow only in one predictable direction?

Incongruously, Mr. Sosnik asserted that Trump must carry Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in 2020 to win. If 2020 is a rerun of the dynamics of the 2016 election, then sure. But Mr. Sosnik had just predicted that 2020 will be roiled by one or more strong third-party challengers, meaning almost any state could be the decisive swing state depending on who is on the ballot. Predicting a chaotic election but with the same 2016 swing states suggests that Mr. Sosnik is a conventional thinker for whom counterintuition does not come naturally.

George Kramer, Alexandria
The flag of the Interior Department's deputy secretary, bottom, flew last week above the headquarters building in downtown Washington. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

At the Interior Departments headquarters in downtown Washington, Secretary Ryan Zinke has revived an arcane military ritual that no one can remember ever happening in the federal government.

A security staffer takes the elevator to the seventh floor, climbs the stairs to the roof and hoists a special secretarial flag whenever Zinke enters the building. When the secretary goes home for the day or travels, the flag  a blue banner emblazoned with the agencys bison seal flanked by seven white stars representing the Interior bureaus  comes down.

In Zinkes absence, the ritual is repeated to raise an equally obscure flag for Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt.

Responding this week to questions from The Washington Post, a spokeswoman for Zinke, a former Navy SEAL commander, defended the Navy flag-flying tradition as a major sign of transparency.

Ryan Zinke is proud and honored to lead the Department of the Interior, and is restoring honor and tradition to the department, whether its flying the flag when he is in garrison or restoring traditional access to public lands, press secretary Heather Swift said in an email.



Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speaks at the Heritage Foundation in Washington last month. At right is his special secretarial flag. (Zach Gibson/Bloomberg News)

Zinke, a Stetson-wearing former Montana congressman who has cultivated an image as a rugged outdoorsman, has come under a harsh spotlight in recent weeks for behavior criticized as extravagant for a public official. The agencys inspector general opened an investigation after he ran up bills for travel on chartered jets and mixed business with political appearances, sometimes accompanied by his wife, Lola. Its one of five probes underway of Cabinet secretaries travel.

Zinke upset some of the 70,000 employees at the agency that manages public lands by stating that 30 percent of the workers are not loyal to the flag in a speech to oil and gas executives. It is unclear whether the reference was literal or figurative.

Zinke rode to work on horseback on his first day in office and displays animal heads on his wood-paneled office walls. For a while, he kept a glass-case display of hunting knives but was asked to remove them because of security risks, according to people familiar with the decision.

He has commissioned commemorative coins with his name on them to give to staff and visitors, but the cost to taxpayers is unclear. Zinkes predecessors and some other Cabinet secretaries have coins bearing agency seals, but not personalized ones.

The flag ritual is unique in President Trumps administration. The White House does not raise the presidential flag when Trump alights at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. There is no defense secretarys flag atop the Pentagon.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, like his predecessors, has a personal flag that flies beside the U.S. flag in front of the departments Foggy Bottom headquarters. But its there whether Tillerson is in the building or not.

Were talking about Cabinet members and federal buildings, not the Queen of England and Buckingham Palace, said Chris Lu, deputy labor secretary in the Obama administration, referring to the British tradition of announcing the queens presence by raising her personal heraldic flag.



Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke commissioned commemorative coins with his name on them to give to staff and visitors. (Obtained by The Washington Post)

If we had a secretarial flag at the Obama Labor Department, we never bothered to locate it or use it, Lu said.

Retired Army Col. Steven Warren, who ran the Pentagons press operation before retiring this year, could not recall the place in Washington hierarchy represented by the raising of a federal officials personal flag.

Is he trying to send a message? Warren wondered.

Is he big on pomp and circumstance, or is this a case of Look at me? 

Personal flags for federal government officials have a proud, if arcane, history that originated with the secretary of the Navy in 1866, to help sailing ships in the fleet recognize which one carried the naval commander. The Coast Guard and secretary of war wanted one, too.

By the early 20th century, the civilian heads of the Treasury, Commerce and Labor departments had flags.

The first one for Interior was adopted in 1917.

If you were the secretary of agriculture, you asked yourself, Hey, the secretary of war has a flag, how come I dont have one?  said Joseph McMillan, a retired Defense Department official and student of flag history from Alexandria who is president of the American Heraldry Society.

The flags proliferated by World War II, with banners for subordinate officials from undersecretaries to assistant attorneys general.

Back when security was not a concern, official government vehicles would display a high-ranking officials personal flag on its left front fender, with the American flag flanking the right. They were considered pretentious, McMillan said, and eventually went out of fashion.

At Lady Liberty Flag and Flagpole in Austin, one of the largest flag vendors for federal offices, Sandra Dee Merritt said she sells 300 to 500 department flags a year to various Interior offices.

Secretarial flags are no longer in demand. I havent sold any of those individual secretarial flags to any agency in forever, Merritt said.

Raising a personal flag to mark an officials presence remains a custom in the military. Field commanders often display their units flag when they are at headquarters to signify that the boss is in.

But the personal flag, whether belonging to a general or a Cabinet secretary, stays behind the desk, if its there at all.

By flying his flag, Zinke is doing exactly what the flag was designed for, McMillan said. Yet hes skeptical. The Interior Department is not the Navy.

Im all about tradition, McMillan said. But I kind of have an aversion to militarizing everything in our government. The world doesnt need to know the secretary of the Interior is in the building.
Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) talks with the media after a meeting of House Republicans in the Capitol on June 8, 2016. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP)

A House ethics watchdog has found substantial reason to believe that Rep. Chris Collins violated federal law and congressional rules by meeting with government researchers in his official capacity to benefit a biotech company he is invested in, and by sharing private information to drum up investments in that company.

The New York Republican was an early backer of Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian firm that was developing a new therapy for multiple sclerosis, and recruited investors that included family, his congressional staff and House colleagues  including Tom Price, who later served as Department of Health and Human Services secretary.

[House members see stock price of controversial biotech-firm investments plummet]

A high-stakes trial of Innate Immuno's drug failed earlier this year, and its chief executive said in August that the firm is likely to shutter. But the Office of Congressional Ethics started probing in March whether Collins overstepped bounds in his advocacy for the firm and corroborated some allegations in July.

The report's findings could leave Collins, an early supporter of President Trump's presidential campaign, vulnerable to ethics sanctions or even criminal prosecution based on allegations of insider trading.

The report was published Thursday by the House Ethics Committee pursuant to House rules requiring its public release. The panel is reviewing whether Collins has violated the chambers rules of conduct but has yet to make any determination and declined to make any comment Thursday.

Collinss attorneys have denied the allegations of wrongdoing in the report. Rep. Collins has done nothing improper, and his cooperation and candor during the OCE review process confirm he has nothing to hide, they wrote in an Aug. 14 letter released Thursday by the Ethics Committee. There is nothing in the record to suggest, let alone support, the conclusion that Rep. Collins violated House rules, standards of conduct or federal law.

Collins himself dismissed the findings to reporters Thursday, calling the investigation a witch hunt prompted by a Democratic lawmakers complaint. He noted that the central allegation from Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.)  that he supported a bill, the 21st Century Cures Act, that could have benefited Innate Immuno  was not supported by investigators.

Slaughter said Thursday that the report showed Collins put his obsession to enrich himself before the people he swore to represent. It is a disgrace to Congress and to his constituents, who deserve better.

Said Collins, Shes a despicable human being . . . You dont go after another member with fabricated allegations like she did.

Collins's ties to Innate Immuno have been under public scrutiny since January, when Price was found to have purchased a significant stake in the company amid his nomination as HHS secretary. Collins remains the largest shareholder in Innate Immuno, according to a listing on the firm's website.

Price did not cooperate with the OCE probe, according to the report.

The OCE did not corroborate an allegation that drove much of the media coverage of Collinss ties to Innate Immuno  that he acted improperly in recruiting friends and colleagues, including Price, to participate in a special discounted private placement stock sale.

But it did find other new instances of potential wrongdoing  notably, a Nov. 18, 2013, visit to the National Institutes of Health, where Collins and a House staffer met with a key researcher into multiple sclerosis. In that meeting, Collins is alleged to have asked with help in designing Innate Immunos drug trial.

The meeting came after Collins, in a July 2013 hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space, & Technology, mentioned Innate Immunos drug to a top NIH official without disclosing his stake in the company. The official then invited Collins for a visit.

In interviews with OCE, Collins stated that he went to NIH as a private citizen and that his visit had no relation to any official duties but also described it as akin to a high school field trip, the report said. Asked why he brought a legislative staffer along to the meeting, he responded, I dont go anywhere alone.

An unnamed NIH employee told investigators that Collins represented himself as being connected with Innate Immuno and said the firm was in need of some help with the design of the next Phase 2 trial and he asked me whether I would be willing to help them and I said yes. He did not, the employee said, discuss any constituents affected or any legislation involving multiple sclerosis.

The report also found that Collins on several occasions gave potential investors details on Innates drug trials that were not available in the companys public filings. That, investigators found, could implicate federal insider-trading laws and the Stock Act  a 2012 law that makes clear members of Congress are covered by those existing laws.

Given Innates intention to partner with, or become acquired by, a large pharmaceutical company, updates on patient enrollment, the eventual completion of enrollment, and specific communications with pharmaceutical companies were likely important facts for investors making a decision about whether to purchase or sell Innate stock, the report said.

Collins said Thursday that the NIH meeting was cleared in advance by the House Ethics Committee: They said, As long as theres no nonpublic information discussed  and there certainly wasnt  sure, you can go on a tour anywhere you want.  There is no mention of any official clearance for the meeting in the OCE report.

The discussion of Innate Immunos trial, he added, was an afterthought at the end of a tour. I clearly understand the optics, but there was nothing done that was wrong.

Read more at PowerPost
Tensions rose in Kenya on Thursday as the government banned demonstrations and indicated that it would go ahead with an election rerun that the opposition is convinced cannot be free and fair under the current system.

The order sets authorities on a collision course with supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga, who earlier this week pulled out of the Oct. 26 vote. Major demonstrations against the electoral commission, which the opposition sees as favoring incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta, have been called for Friday.

Last month, the Supreme Court invalidated the results of an Aug. 8 presidential election Kenyatta won, after allegations of widespread irregularities in vote counting. It ordered that new elections be held within 60 days.

Odinga directed much of the blame for the lapses at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and called for electoral reforms. But he said this week that not enough has been done to address the problems and boycotted the new vote.

Odingas backers have held weekly demonstrations against the commission. Some of the protests have turned violent and damaged property. The decree bans demonstrations in Kenyas three biggest cities: Mombasa. Kisumu and Nairobi, the capital.

We cannot go on this way. It is unfortunate to see peoples cars being smashed, property being destroyed in the guise of peaceful demonstrations. We must respect the law, Interior Minister Fred Matiangi said.

[At least 24 reportedly killed in Kenya post-election violence]

Odinga, who has waged four previous unsuccessful campaigns for president, accused the IEBC of refusing to undertake any meaningful reforms and warned that the revote was shaping up to be even more flawed than the original election.

Rather than postpone the new election or address his complaints, the IEBC said Wednesday that the vote would go forward and would include six minor candidates.

Previously, the rerun was to have involved only Kenyatta and Odinga. With none of the other candidates having garnered more than 1 percent of the vote in August, the incumbent was expected to notch an easy win in the new election.

On Tuesday, Kenyattas Jubilee Party, which holds a majority in parliament, passed amendments to the electoral law that appeared designed to legalize many of the voting irregularities that prompted the high court to toss out the original election results.

One amendment says that if any candidate were to pull out of an election rerun involving two hopefuls, the remaining candidate would automatically win. The amendments await the approval of the Senate and the president.

Solomon Owuoche, a professor of political science at the University of Nairobi, warned that such amendments are dangerous.

Regardless of what we will witness in the next weeks or months, these laws will one day come to haunt us, Owuoche said. Changing laws is not the solution to the crisis.

He said the political turmoil is undermining the very purpose of elections, which is to create political legitimacy.

The elections will be held, but there will be one party who will not agree with the results and there is a possibility the elections will be annulled again, he added. Then the shenanigans will continue.

On Wednesday, thousands of Odinga supporters demonstrated in front of IEBC offices in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. They were dispersed with tear gas, and injuries were reported.

Politics in Kenya often has strong ethnic undertones, and the 2007 elections unleashed weeks of violence in which at least 1,400 people died.

Kenyatta, who presents himself as a pro-business candidate, is from the dominant Kikuyu tribe. Odinga, who is focusing on combating corruption and helping the disenfranchised, is from the smaller Luo tribe.

The uncertainty and prolonged election season have been hard on Kenyas economy, normally one of the regions most robust. The stock market has been down, and the Reuters news agency reported that the government trimmed 2017 growth forecasts to 5.5 percent from 5.9 percent.

Schemm reported from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Read more:

Kenya politics thrown into turmoil as opposition candidate withdraws

Kenya Supreme Court annuls election result, orders new vote

Election return in Kenya raises fears about violence and economic troubles

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The rescue of an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three children who were held by a faction of Taliban-linked militants for more than five years has raised hopes of a possible warming in the long-fraught relationship between the United States and Pakistan.

For American Caitlan Coleman and her husband, Joshua Boyle, the release marks the end of a wrenching saga during which Coleman gave birth to two boys and a girl and pleaded for their release in videos posted by their captors on the Internet.

They have been essentially living in a hole the last five years, and thats the kind of people we are dealing with, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly told reporters.

The Pakistani military said that the couple and their three children were found "through

an intelligence-based operation" Wednesday in coordination with U.S. agencies tracking the hostages along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Pakistani government offered scant details of the rescue effort that freed the family, and there were conflicting reports Thursday about whether the captives were secured as a result of a handover or a shootout.

President Trump in a statement praised the operation as a hopeful sign that Pakistan is honoring Americas wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region.

Only about a month ago, Trump slammed the Pakistani government for accepting billions and billions of dollars in American aid while housing the very terrorists we are fighting. In the immediate aftermath of the mission, the president suggested that his tough words had prompted a change in Pakistani behavior.

They worked very hard on this, and I believe theyre starting to respect the United States again, Trump said in brief remarks. Its very important.

But current and former U.S. officials said it is unclear whether the Pakistani action represents a single event or a more substantive change in policy. U.S. officials have long complained that Pakistans inability or unwillingness to eliminate extremist havens along its border with Afghanistan has badly hindered U.S. efforts to defeat the Taliban and end Americas longest war.

The Pakistanis, meanwhile, have accused the United States of hypocrisy and were infuriated by Trumps harsh criticism of their counterterrorism efforts. Last week, Pakistans foreign minister met with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and let loose with his frustrations at a luncheon with American reporters.

[Inside American Caitlan Colemans five-year ordeal as a Taliban prisoner]

Ask them what they have done in Afghanistan. What have they achieved? Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the foreign minister, said of the Americans. We are wholeheartedly, single-mindedly targeting these terrorists.

Nadeem Kiani, a spokesman for Pakistans embassy in Ottawa, said that Boyle, Coleman and their children were taken over the border from Afghanistan to Pakistan in the tribal area of Kurram on Wednesday by their abductors. U.S. intelligence officials, who had been tracking their movements, provided information to Pakistans intelligence service, which planned the operation that secured the familys release.

Pakistani security officials said Friday that the family had left Islamabad by plane, but did not say where the flight was headed, the Associated Press reported.

"First time in five years we got to hear his voice," Boyle's mother, Linda, said in an interview with the Toronto Star. "He told us how much his children were looking forward to meeting their grandparents."

At the Coleman home in Stewartstown, Pa., a sign on the door read, in part: We know there is much interest in the joyful news that theyve finally been released, and are overwhelmed with gratitude and emotion. At this time, as we focus on their wellbeing and make plans for our familys future, we respectfully ask for some privacy.

Reports later Thursday suggested that Boyle for unexplained reasons had refused to let his family board an aircraft that would fly them to the United States. His father told the Star that previous reports indicating that the family was en route to the United States were definitely premature.

Boyle was previously married to the sister of Omar Khadr, once the youngest detainee at the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Khadr pleaded guilty to murder, among other charges, at a military commission before being returned to Canada in 2012 to serve out his sentence. He was released in 2015.

[Watch: Scenes from five years as hostages]

Coleman and Boyle were abducted in October 2012 while traveling in Afghanistan and were held in Pakistan by the Haqqani network, a militant faction with ties to the Taliban.

Coleman was pregnant when she was captured, and the couple has three children, all of whom were born while their parents were being held captive. The release came just after the fifth anniversary of the couples disappearance while traveling in Wardak province, a violent and mountainous region near the Afghan capital, Kabul.

In a video released late last year, the couple said they feared that their family could be executed in retaliation for Western attacks and pressure on militants. Coleman clutched at a headscarf. Boyle had a long, untrimmed beard.

We have waited since 2012 for somebody to understand our problems, the Kafkaesque nightmare in which we find ourselves, Coleman said in the video. . . . My children have seen their mother defiled.

[They will execute us: Couple pleaded in video]

Boyle said in an earlier video: Our captors are terrified at the thought of their own mortality approaching and are saying that they will take reprisals on our own family. They will execute us, women and children included.

In the immediate aftermath of Wednesdays apparent rescue by Pakistani forces, there was, for the first time in years, some cause for optimism for improved relations between Washington and Islamabad.

This provides a template to move this relationship forward, even if incrementally, in a clear-eyed, realistic and positive manner, said Daniel Feldman, who served as President Barack Obamas special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. We must find other such discrete areas of aligned interest.

But questions remained Thursday about the operation. For example, it wasnt clear whether the captors holding Boyle and Coleman were part of the Haqqani network, a Taliban faction that has largely been protected by the Pakistan government, or a splinter group that does not enjoy such special status.

U.S. officials in recent months had suspected that Boyle, Coleman and their children were being held inside Afghanistan, though there was never enough information to locate them in real time, said a former U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.

The couple and their children were being spirited across the border into Pakistan when U.S. officials appear to have learned about their whereabouts and passed on the intelligence to Pakistani officials, who moved quickly to act.

If both sides are highlighting this as a demonstration of U.S.-Pakistani cooperation, that suggests that there may be a will on both sides to work together, said Laurel Miller, also a special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan until earlier this year when the unit she led in the State Department was closed.

The Trump administrations current strategy in Afghanistan is built around using more air power and advisers to bolster the Afghan military and punish the Taliban. The end goal is to push the Taliban and affiliated groups, such as the Haqqani network, into peace talks with the hope of reaching a negotiated settlement.

Pakistans cooperation has long been considered critical to any hope of a durable peace deal in Afghanistan. The Obama administration had appeared to be making progress in talks with the Taliban, but those efforts came to an abrupt halt after the U.S. military killed Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in a drone strike in May 2016.

Last week, Pakistans foreign minister said that the death of Mansour had created a trust deficit with the Taliban that would make future negotiations difficult.

Our influence over the years [with the Taliban] has diminished, Asif said.

Tillerson is expected to visit Pakistan later this month.

Jaffe reported from Washington. Brian Murphy, Andrew deGrandpre and Philip Rucker in Washington, Roy Furchgott in Stewartstown, Sayed Salahuddin in Kabul and Alan Freeman in Ottawa contributed to this report.

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In this March 2009 file photo, U.S. Army Europe commander Gen. Carter F Ham at the U.S. Army Patrol Base of the 2-28 Infantry in Al Hillah, 100 km (62 miles) south of Baghdad Iraq, looks over damage caused to a Humvee the day before during a patrol in the area. The Humvee was hit by an EFP, a roadside bomb of the type believed to be supplied by Iran. (David Rising/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

A roadside bomb that killed an American soldier in Iraqthis month was of a particularly lethal design not seen in six years, and its reappearance on the battlefield suggests that U.S. troops could again be facing a threat that bedeviled them at the height of the insurgency here, U.S. military officials said.

The device was of a variety known as an explosively formed penetrator, or EFP, according to initial investigations, a weapon notorious for its destructive and deadly impact on armored vehicles and the service members inside them, two U.S. military officials said.

EFPs were among the most lethal weapons faced by U.S. forces before a troop withdrawal in 2011. The devices were considered a hallmark of the Iranian-backed Shiite militias battling the U.S. occupation after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. But the technology used to make them proliferated, and cruder versions were also deployed by Sunni militants.

U.S. military officials were quick to stress that they had not determined who was responsible for the attack. The Islamic State militant group  the only threat to U.S. and Iraqi troops over the past three years  was not known to have previously used the weapons, the officials said, though it may have acquired the expertise to make them. The officials talked about the investigation in response to questions about the circumstances of the bombing.

The Islamic State did not make any public claim of responsibility after the attack, on Oct. 1, which killed Spec. Alexander W. Missildine and wounded another soldier, according to the U.S. military. At the time it was struck, Missildines vehicle was traveling south on a major road in Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad, according to Col. Charles D. Constanza, a deputy commander for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.



Spec. Alexander Missildine of Tyler, Tex., was killed Oct. 1, 2017, when his vehicle was struck by an explosively formed penetrator, or EFP. (U.S.Army/AP)

[She said, Promise me youll come back. He was killed in Iraq days after arriving.]

Col. Ryan Dillon, a U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said investigations are continuing into the type and quality of the bomb to better determine where it originated. To say whether ISIS did it or not  we have not determined that yet. We are not ruling anything out, he said.

The question of the type of bomb used and its origin is sensitive because it comes amid an intensifying drive within the Trump administration to counter the expansion of Iranian influence in the region in recent years.

It also coincides with threats from some of the Iranian-backed Shiite militias who have fought in uneasy alliance with the United States against the Islamic State but are making it clear that they want U.S. troops to leave now that the militant group is almost defeated.

The Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, which claimed responsibility for carrying out many of the attacks against U.S. troops in the years before 2011, said in a statement after the recapture of Mosul in July that the resistance factions expect their return to the country after the defeat of ISIS.

If they are going to stay in any guise, the resistance factions will deal with them as occupiers just like they dealt with them before, the statement warned. Another group, Kitaeb Hezbollah, issued a similar warning last month.

But it was also possible that the weapon was used by the Islamic State or another armed group masquerading in order to implicate the Shiite militias, said one U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Dubbed superbombs because of their extraordinary lethality, EFPs are precision-made bombs with a copper or steel plate that is propelled in the form of a projectile whose high temperature and velocity can penetrate even the most heavily armored vehicles.

The bombs showed up in Iraq about a year after the U.S. invasion. U.S. officials at the time said they were being supplied by Iran with the help of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Workshops were subsequently discovered in Iraq, including in areas where Sunni insurgents were active, and as early as 2007, Iraq's al-Qaeda affiliate began using a crude version of the bomb.

The proliferation of knowledge of EFPs has been around for some time. Its out there, Dillon said.

The bombs have since been used in Afghanistan, by the al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab in Somalia and by the al-Quds Brigades affiliate of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, according to Greg Robin, an expert in explosive devices for the Sahan Research Group, a security consultancy. He said the quality of the workmanship can offer clues as to the provenance of the weapons.

In addition to their sheer destructive power, the cunning design of the EFP has exacted a psychological toll. Early versions were set off by the heat of a passing vehicle, allowing the weapon to be deployed without an operator or remote detonator.

Later versions were initiated by the vehicles electronic signal jammers  effectively using technology designed to thwart other IEDs as a trigger.

Dan Lamothe and Alex Horton in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more:

The year after ISIS

After victory over ISIS, Mosul discovers the cost: Homes were turned into graves

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The Palestinian militant group Hamas backed a plan to begin reconciliation with its rival, Fatah, on Thursday, after more than a decade at loggerheads that left the Palestinian territories split between competing leaderships.

Palestinian officials said the deal stipulates that a unity government formed in 2014 and led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbass Fatah party will run the Gaza Strip until a new administration is formed before the end of the year. But thorny obstacles that have blocked past unity bids  including the fate of Hamass powerful armed wing  have not yet been discussed.

Meanwhile, Israeli objections also have the potential to derail unity efforts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel opposes any reconciliation deal in which Hamas does not disarm and end its war to destroy Israel. He said reconciliation makes peace much harder to achieve.

Palestinians have long accused Israel of obstructing reconciliation efforts in order to weaken and divide them.

The split began when Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006, leading to bloody gun battles on the streets of Gaza when Fatah did not cede power. Since then, Hamas has run the Gaza Strip, while Fatah has administered parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank through the Palestinian Authority.

There have been several abortive attempts at unity over the past 10 years. But after the two sides agreed to form a unity government three years ago, Hamas continued to run Gaza through a shadow administration. This time, though, some Palestinian officials say that the conditions are more conducive to reconciliation.

Gaza is in the midst of a worsening humanitarian crisis that has paralyzed daily life for its 2 million inhabitants. Since Hamas took control, Israel has imposed restrictive controls on trade and movement, citing security concerns.

But the stranglehold worsened this summer as the Palestinian Authority asked Israel to reduce the electricity supply to Gaza, demanding Hamas pay its share of the cost and leaving Gaza inhabitants with just a few hours of power a day. It also slashed the salaries it pays to government employees. Losing support locally, Hamas has said it is ready to hand over administrative control. Meanwhile, reconciliation is now increasingly in the interest of influential regional players.

The deal set a February deadline for merging employees belonging to the Palestinian Authority in Gaza with those of Hamass administration, Palestinian officials said, adding that the deal paves the way for Abbas to visit Gaza for the first time in a decade. A committee will be formed to merge thousands of Palestinian Authority security personnel into Hamass police force.

Control of the Palestinian side of the Erez border crossing with Israel will be handed to the Palestinian Authority, while the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt will be ceded to Abbass presidential guard. The opening of the Rafah crossing would ease pressure on Palestinians in Gaza, only a tiny percentage of whom receive permission from Israel to leave the enclave. Egypt, meanwhile, has only sporadically opened its border in recent years.

[In rare outreach, Palestinian prime minister visits Gaza]

Egypt is putting all its weight behind these efforts, said Qais Abdul Karim, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council who belongs to neither faction.



Saleh al-Arouri, left, head of the Hamas delegation, hugs Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad after the sides reached a reconciliation deal Thursday in Cairo. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)

Egypt is attempting to stamp out an insurgency in its Sinai Peninsula by militants who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. It has accused Hamas of aiding the militants, allowing them to cross the border for medical treatment. Through the deal, Egypt can pressure Hamas to safeguard Egyptian security in Sinai, Abdul Karim said.

He added that Cairo also has interests in drawing Hamas away from the Muslim Brotherhood, which has faced brutal crackdowns in Egypt since the ouster of Egypts president, Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi, in 2013. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are working in partnership with Egypt to squeeze the Brotherhood and curb the influence of their regional rivals Qatar and Turkey in Gaza, Abdul Karim said.

Israel also has interests in easing the Gaza humanitarian crisis, which it sees as a security threat. Israel has fought three wars with Hamas. Still, Abdul Karim said, Israeli objections may cause the deal to stall before any meaningful pact can be forged.

The so-called reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah is a convenient cover for Hamass continued existence and activity as a terror organization while relinquishing civilian responsibility for the Gaza Strip, Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said. He said Abbass willingness to partner with Hamas leaders was a cause for concern.

The question of what to do about Hamass armed wing of more than 20,000 militants remains a major sticking point.

[How Gaza fits into wider efforts at Mideast peace]

While Hamas may be willing to cede administrative control of Gaza it has given no indication that it would be willing to give up control of security.

Analysts say the United States is also more interested in unity, which it sees as a necessary step to bring about peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. President Trump has pledged to bring the two sides together in the ultimate deal.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah made a rare visit, surrounded by much fanfare, to Gaza earlier this month after Hamas asked the unity government to take control and dissolved its governing administration.

The U.S. Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, said the United States was watching developments closely, but he said that any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the state of Israel, acceptance of previous agreement and obligations between the parties, and peaceful negotiations.

In Gaza, hope is dampened by the memory of previous failed negotiation efforts. Restaurant owner Basil Eleina said last month that the humanitarian situation is the worst he has ever known.

He has been forced to pay $8,000 a month for generator fuel to keep his business open. It is an achievement every month to keep his 36 staff members employed, Eleina said.

Everybody is hoping, but we have been disappointed so many times that you dont want to let yourself have too much hope, he said.

Heba Mahfouz in Cairo and Sufian Taha in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

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Members of Congress who have squared off on the Iran nuclear deal since its inception strategized Wednesday in preparation for President Trumps highly anticipated announcement on its fate.

Leading House Republicans huddled with national security adviser H.R. McMaster Wednesday evening for a classified briefing on the administrations plan for the 2015 agreement. Emerging from the meeting, McMaster told reporters simply that it had been Great, thanks.

If Trump decides to decertify Irans compliance, as expected, Congress will have 60 days to decide whether to snap back sanctions that were lifted in exchange for curbs on Irans nuclear program. If sanctions were reimposed, despite the International Atomic Energy Agency verifying eight times that Iran has lived up to its end of the deal, the United States would be in breach of its commitments. In effect, it would be walking away unilaterally.

House Democrats met earlier in the day with former secretary of state John F. Kerry and former energy secretary Ernest Moniz, who were the primary negotiators of the deal made between Iran and six world powers. Wendy Sherman, another key negotiator, was also present. Jacob J. Lew, the former Treasury secretary, joined the discussion by phone.

Joining them were ambassadors to the United States from France, Germany and Britain  three European nations that also were parties to the multilateral agreement and have urged the United States not to abandon the deal so arduously negotiated.

Democrats are fiercely opposed to Trumps determination that Iran is not meeting its commitments and insist the agreement must remain intact to survive. Many will not even discuss what congressional debate might follow if Trump decertifies, instead focusing the arguments for certification.

But several key Democrats suggested there might be room to negotiate with Republicans about beefing up the deal without eviscerating it.

The involvement of Congress is not required under the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was approved by the United Nations. But it is a requirement of U.S. law.

Rep. Elliot Engel (N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he would consider modifying the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act so the president certifies Irans compliance less frequently than every 90 days now, or using different standards. He would not say whether he would be open to other changes, stressing new conditions might violate the deal.

France, Germany and Britain, despite their opposition to Washington backing away from the deal, have told U.S. lawmakers that they could join discussions on constraining Irans long-term nuclear ambitions, according to one congressional Democratic aide.

Republicans have complained that the deal delays Irans nuclear ambitions but could allow Iran to resume its nuclear program after certain restrictions expire. Iran has denied it wants to build a nuclear bomb, and the agreement commits it to never build one, but various sunset clauses would allow Iran to amass greater stockpiles of fissile material that raise concerns.

Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) have been working for months hashing out a package to present to Congress, only recently bringing in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, learned of their work a little over a week ago.

Cardin went to the State Department on Wednesday to meet with Tillerson. Cardins spokesman said the purpose of the meeting was to go over the administrations plan for the nuclear deal. Tillersons spokesman said they discussed several issues, including Iran. Tillerson is expected to reach out to other members of Congress in coming days to brief them on the administrations intentions on the nuclear deal.

Some Democrats complain it would be difficult to join in a bipartisan plan to restrain Irans nuclear ambitions. Trumps strenuous opposition to the agreement forged by the Obama administration  which Trump criticized during the campaign as the worst deal ever  means any attempt to change the conditions would be interpreted by Tehran as an effort to blow it up.

The effect of what the president has done has really been to constrain our freedom of action, said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat of the House Intelligence Committee, because steps we might have taken to constrain Irans malevolent activity will now be viewed through the prism of the presidents hostility to the nuclear deal. Ironically he may have limited our ability to confront Iran, rather than expand it.

In addition, Trump could at any time decide not to waive the nuclear-related sanctions again  a decision he must make every 120 days under U.S. law. Many Democrats believe that is more likely to happen if Congress does not act to make changes to the existing agreement.

Thats what we have to consider, said Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppelsburger (D-Md.), the former top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. But the good news is if we can get to the American public like we did on health care . . . and we have our military, Cabinet members who already think the deal is working, we hope he would re-evaluate.

In this environment, many Democrats believe working on the periphery of the deal could be the congressional equivalent of destroying the village to save it.

The president said he wanted to tear up the deal. Hes now taking a step that would lead to tearing up the deal, said Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), one of the key members who whipped support for the Iran deal in Congress when it was struck. He called Trumps move to kick the deal to Congress a trap and a tactic intended to reach the presidents goal of tearing the deal apart.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivers remarks on the U.S. asylum system at the Executive Office for Immigration Review in Falls Church, Va., on Oct. 12, 2017. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions called on Congress on Thursday to tighten the rules for people seeking asylum through a system he said is filled with rampant abuse and fraud.

In a speech at the Justice Departments Executive Office for Immigration Review, Sessions said the nations policies allow too many asylum seekers to exploit loopholes in a broken and extremely backlogged process.

The system is being gamed, Sessions said. Over the years, smart attorneys have exploited loopholes in the law, court rulings and lack of resources to substantially undermine the intent of Congress. . . . There is no cost or risk for those who make a baseless asylum claim.

Tightening standards in the U.S. asylum system was among immigration principles and policies the Trump administration recently said were needed to protect public safety and jobs for U.S.-born workers. The administrations list, sent to Congress, included funding a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, curbing federal grants to sanctuary cities and cracking down on the influx of Central American minors.

[Trump administration releases immigration principles threatening deal on dreamers.]

Civil liberties advocates said Sessionss comments were inaccurate and unfair to the thousands of people fleeing dangerous, life-threatening situations in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela.

Attorney General [Sessionss] remarks today were a mere continuation of the administrations efforts to falsely paint asylum seekers and refugees as threats and frauds, said Eleanor Acer, the senior director of refugee protection at Human Rights First. These individuals are not criminals and frauds; they are mothers, teenagers, and children desperate to escape violence and persecution.

Asylum is given to a person on specific grounds because the person fears or has experienced persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. There are two ways to be granted asylum: One is affirmative asylum through the Department of Homeland Security. An applicant has to file a claim within a year of arriving in the United States.

The second is a defensive application for asylum because the person has filed late, was rejected by the DHS or was apprehended without proper legal documents. The defensive cases are handled by Justice Department immigration courts.

Sessions said that many of the asylum cases lacked merit and are simply a ruse to enter the country illegally.

As this system becomes overloaded with fake claims, it cannot deal effectively with just claims, Sessions said. The surge in trials, hearings, appeals, bond proceedings has been overwhelming. He said that credible-fear claims at the border increased from about 3,000 cases in 2009 to more than 69,000 cases in 2016. The Justice Departments immigration review office has more than 600,000 cases pending, triple the number pending in 2009, according to the department.

We also have dirty immigration lawyers who are encouraging their otherwise unlawfully present clients to make false claims of asylum, providing them with the magic words needed to trigger the credible-fear process, Sessions said.

Sessionss remarks are the latest in a string of anti-immigration stances he has taken since becoming attorney general. Sessions was the Trump administration official who announced Sept. 5 the end of the protection provided by the Obama administration for some 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children  they are often called dreamers  to live and work in the United States without fear of deportation.

[Sessions is in his element when announcing end of protection for undocumented immigrants]

Sessions has also threatened to withhold federal policing grants to sanctuary cities that do not cooperate with the federal government in detaining for deportation people who are in the country illegally. In speeches across the country, Sessions has blasted specific cities, such as Chicago, and tied their crime rates to their policies on undocumented immigrants.

Separately, the Justice Department on Thursday warned five jurisdictions considered to have sanctuary policies  Chicago, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia and Cook County, Ill., whose county seat is Chicago  that officials had preliminarily found them to be in violation of a federal law governing communication with immigration authorities and that they could be at risk of losing grant funding. More than $8.3 million is at stake, a Justice Department spokesman said.

[Sessions makes sweeping attack on Chicagos sanctuary city policy]

Jurisdictions that adopt so-called sanctuary policies also adopt the view that the protection of criminal aliens is more important than the protection of law-abiding citizens and of the rule of law, Sessions said in a statement.

Last month, the Trump administration arrested hundreds of undocumented immigrants in cities, including Washington, New York, Baltimore and Los Angeles, that are some of the harshest opponents of President Trumps immigration policies. Under Sessions, the Justice Department has defended various iterations of Trumps entry ban, which in its current version would suspend the issuance of visas to some citizens of eight, mostly majority-Muslim, countries.

In his speech Thursday, the attorney general, who left the U.S. Senate to lead the Justice Department, called on his former colleagues in Congress to revamp the asylum system by imposing penalties for fraudulent applications, increasing the use of expedited removals, raising the standard of proof in credible fear interviews and expanding the ability to send asylum seekers to safe third countries.

What we cannot do  what we must not do  is continue to let our generosity be abused, Sessions said.

Maria Sacchetti and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.
President Trump introduces Kirstjen Nielsen, his nominee for secretary of homeland security, in the East Room of the White House. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

President Trump introduced his pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, nominating White House staffer and cybersecurity expert Kirstjen Nielsen.

I share the presidents profound commitment to the security of our country, she said at a brief White House ceremony. Truly, there is nothing more valuable than to feel safe and secure in your homeland.

Nielsen was the favorite of White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, and her nomination is another sign of the former Marine Corps general's effort to impose a more conventional, professional management regime on an administration with a reputation for disorder.

Nielsen was Kelly's chief of staff when he was DHS secretary, and Kelly later brought her into the same role at the White House, where some staffers came to see her as the former general's dreaded enforcer. Her supporters say she has been trying to help professionalize the White House.

In introducing Nielsen, Trump praised her sterling reputation as a longtime public servant dedicated to security, not politics or ideology.

[Trump taps Kirstjen Nielsen to lead Department of Homeland Security]

There will be no on-the-job training, he said. She will be ready from Day One.

If confirmed, Nielsen would replace Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke, who was widely criticized for characterizing the federal government's response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico as a "good news story."

Duke assumed that role when Trump brought Kelly into the White House in July. While she has otherwise earned high marks for her performance, Duke does not have a background in counterterrorism or law enforcement, usual prerequisites for leading the sprawling agency with a $40 billion budget and 240,000 employees. Trump said Duke would remain at DHS as Nielsens deputy.

Nielsen, 45, is the first nominee to have experience at DHS. As a young attorney, she drafted legislation and policy at the Transportation Security Administration, then served as a special adviser for emergency preparedness and disaster management under President George W. Bush.

Nielsen was part of the White House team that shouldered much of the blame for the governments botched response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

That episode of her career may become a target for Senate Democrats during the confirmation process. But Nielsen is not expected to face an especially difficult fight, given her background as an experienced professional and a no-nonsense, nonpartisan manager.

She would be immediately served a full plate of operational challenges and policy controversies: overseeing the governments response to multiple natural disasters, safeguarding the countrys transportation networks from terrorist attacks and protecting its election infrastructure from foreign hackers. DHS is also the agency responsible for implementing the Trump administrations immigration enforcement agenda.

Senate Democrats may press Nielsen on that point, especially as protection expires for some 800,000 Dreamers who were brought to the United States illegally as children. They were allowed to remain in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, whose protections will begin to expire in March, leaving them at risk of deportation.

Administration officials were optimistic that the confirmation process would move fairly quickly, with senators voting to install Nielsen in the role within a month.

That fast-track timeline would leave DHS under Dukes temporary leadership for more than three months, and Democrats had criticized the White House for moving slowly on Kellys replacement.

[Trump slow to replace John Kelly at DHS as immigration, security challenges continue]

Given the threats posed to the United States by everything from terrorism to natural disasters, having permanent leadership in place at the Department of Homeland Security is more important than ever, said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee. I look forward to working with Chairman [Ron] Johnson to ensure that the Committees process is comprehensive and fair.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/10/2017 (1860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

By the end of this month, customers will be able to order their groceries online from all 11 Real Canadian Superstore outlets in Manitoba.

The only two Superstore outlets that dont already offer the companys click-and-collect service  550 Kenaston Blvd. and 1035 Gateway Rd.  will be rolling it out within the next two weeks, the companys vice-president of operations for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario said Wednesday.

Our customers enjoy click-and-collect. The ease of the shopping is there for them, Jonathan Carroll said during a tour of the companys largest Manitoba store, located at 1385 Sargent Ave. So we are expanding that part of the business.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Jonathan Carroll, vice-president of operations for the Real Canadian Superstore in Manitoba, said the chain is rolling out its click-and-collect service at all locations in the province due to the growing popularity of online shopping.

The click-and-collect service allows customers to order their groceries online. A store employee will fill their order and bring it out to their vehicle when they arrive later to pick it up. The store charges a convenience fee of $3 to $5 for the service, depending on the time of day, and orders must be placed at least four hours before the designated pick-up time.

When Superstore first introduced the service at two of its Winnipeg stores in May of last year, a spokewoman said the company wasnt sure how many of its Manitoba outlets would be offering it.

Its not something for every store, she said. We listen to our customers and we want to go where they want us to be. But what the future holds, I dont know just yet.

However, with the growing popularity of online grocery shopping, it made sense to expand the new service throughout the companys local retail network, which includes eight big-box stores in Winnipeg and one each in Brandon, Steinbach and Winkler.

Many of the mainstream grocery chains, as well as a number of local independent grocers, now offer some form of online shopping for the customers. In some cases, customers have to pick up their orders, and in a few cases they can have them delivered to their door.

As a sign of the changing times within the grocery retailing sector, industry giant Walmart continues to beef up its U.S. online shopping operations and scale back its new store growth as it gears up to do battle with online behemoth Amazon.com, which plans to disrupt the grocery business with its recent purchase of Whole Foods.

But Carroll maintained Superstore isnt expanding its online shopping service in Manitoba because thats what its competitors are doing. Its expanding it because thats what its customers want.

He said customer demand is what drives most of Superstores retailing decisions. And some of the key things customers are demanding these days are quality products, broader selection, value for their money and ease of shopping.

All of those things factored into the companys decision to undertake a 14-week renovation of its 12-year-old Sargent Avenue store. The renovations, which will be wrapping up this week, include relocating or reconfiguring some departments, adding new coolers, display cases and lighting fixtures, and expanding the stores produce, natural foods, seafood and multicultural food offerings.

The Sargent Avenue store is the only local Superstore outlet undergoing a full renovation this year, although a number of others have been undergoing mini-renovations.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 11/10/2017 (1861 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A curbside vigil for a man killed in a hit-and-run allegedly involving a city police officer evoked a mixture of sorrow, remembrance and anger Wednesday afternoon.

The family of 23-year-old Cody Severight called for justice prior to the pipe ceremony, just outside the Sutherland Hotel, where Severight was struck about 8 p.m. on Tuesday night. The driver immediately sped from the scene and was later apprehended by police.

It isnt right, Nancy Gabriel, Severights aunt, told reporters. Hes not a dog or anything, hes a human. a nice guy. This happens too many times. When does it ever stop.

Severights grandmother, Gloria Lebold, said police never contacted the immediate family to notify them that the victim had succumbed to his injuries.

Nobody came to my door to let me know my grandson passed on, she said. Nobody told me anything. As a grandmother, I should have been told.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS. Family members comfort Gloria Lebold, centre, grandmother of 23-year-old Cody Severight who was struck and killed by a vehicle on Main Street near Sutherland Ave. at about 8 p.m., Tuesday.

Const. Justin Holz, 34, has been arrested for impaired driving causing death and failure to stop at the scene of an accident in a fatal hit-and-run. Severights brother, David Hunter, was angered that the officer was already released from custory on a promise to appear in court Nov. 22.

I think thats bullshit, Hunter said. Im really pissed off. He shouldnt be out. Whether its his first charge or not. He killed someone.

What if he had stayed and helped him (the victim) until the ambulance came?

One witness said Severight flew 15 feet from the impact of the car, which never stopped. He (the driver) took off, Donnie Fizell added. He fled. He nailed him (the victim) and just kept going.

One source told the Free Press the officer behind the wheel originally panicked at the scene, and fled. But after continuing to travel north, he stopped and called police to turn himself in just south of the perimeter.

According to several of Severights friends, the young man, who was born and raised in Winnipeg, was a fixture of the New West Hotel, just across the street from the Sutherland.

He was my sidekick, said Diane Hatch, who said shes known Severight for the past two years. He was everyones sidekick. Everyone has their troubles, all of us. But he was a good kid. One of the best ones.

He knew how to comfort people when they were down. He could make you smile.

Severight was taken into Child and Family Services at age 9 and had a regular teenage life, said his uncle, Paul Lebold. He was raised by foster mother Karen Beaudin until the age of 21.

Beaudin said Severight was a bit of a joker who was very giving.

Severight never graduated high school, but had attempted to get his adult education in subsequent years. In fact, Beaudin said Severight was at her home for Thanksgiving dinner on Monday, talking about another attempt to get a high school diploma.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS. Friends and family hold a vigil Wednesday on Main Street near Sutherland Ave. for Cody Severight.

He was trying, Beaudin said. He was making changes in his life. He was pretty happy. He had his issues, but he was trying to work through them.

Severight was not a stranger to tragedy. His mother, Julia Hunter, died in 2012 at age 41. She was found dead in a stairwell. Although no charges were laid in connection with Hunters death, she is listed among Manitobas Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. So is her sister, Jennifer, who died in the early 1990s, after being found dead in a Winnipeg hotel room.

Gloria Lebold, the mother of Jennifer and Julia and grandmother of Cody, said the loss seems never ending.

I dont know how Ive lived so far, she said.

Leslie Spillett, executive director of Ka Ni Kanichihk, who performed the pipe ceremony, said Severights death is just a tragedy  again  especially for this family thats lost so many.

Sometimes its hard to understand the tragedies communities live with, Spillett added. I dont even know if its understandable. It seems like families are forever grieving.

Meanwhile, Beaudin said she was still in shock, given that Severight was only in her home eating turkey and talking optimistically about the future the day before the accident. You get that, I cant believe it feeling,' she said.

Its sad that it happened in that way, Beaudin added. With a police officer, with alcohol involved. I try not to get too angry and upset about things. You hear a lot of rumours. I just hope justice is done in the right way. Hopefully, the courts will do whats right.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @randyturner15
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/10/2017 (1860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A small but boisterous crowd gathered outside the Manitoba legislature Thursday afternoon to protest looming cuts to outpatient physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

In a contentious move, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is set to close the bulk of its outpatient programming as soon as next month for expected savings of $1.5 million this fiscal year.

Patients, physiotherapists and the unions representing them were heartened last week when the WRHA decided it would use clinical guidelines instead of a means test to decide which small group of patients would still have access to the public service. However, many remain concerned that the cost of private physiotherapy will prove prohibitive for Manitobans who wont qualify but will require therapy to successfully recover.

Patients first! Patients first! the crowd chanted.

Shelley Kowalchuk, a physiotherapist at Health Sciences Centre who says she isnt at risk of losing her job, said she went to the rally to speak for her patients, not her union.

Under the new system, HSC will house the only remaining public outpatient programs but Kowalchuk said it wont fill the need.

The government still thinks that Manitobans have private health coverage, she said. They think that Manitobans have enough coverage to have physio after complex injuries.

Not so, Kowalchuk said.

At $60 a session, physio can quickly eat through the insurance of the small portion of the population that actually has it; most will get five or six sessions covered, she said, which isnt enough in cases involving complex injuries that may require months of treatment.

Private physio is out of reach for many people, she said. They cant afford it, so they wont get it.

Manitoba Federation of Labour president Kevin Rebeck said its clear from the calls the MFL has received that there is a lot of concern about health-care changes.

We hear from our community partners, from students, from seniors and from so many other voices that Manitobans want a health-care system thats there for them when they need it and where they need it, he told the crowd.

Cutting physiotherapists out from the public delivery is wrong. Cutting emergency rooms and closing them down is wrong. Cutting and closing urgent-care clinics is wrong.

Bob Moroz is president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, which represents the majority of Winnipeg outpatient physiotherapists. He says hes increasingly offended by suggestions  particularly from within the provincial government  that rallying health-care workers only care about our union cards, not patient care.

Were part of different unions, he said, and were fighting for the same thing.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 12/10/2017 (1860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  A Winnipeg man, arrested Tuesday following two high-speed police chases, is behind a Supreme Court application that could drastically change the use of Indigenous sentencing guidelines.

Wayne Daniel Rennies request stems from a previous conviction. If successful, the application could affect hundreds of cases involving people who were adopted into non-Indigenous families.

Rennie, 26, was charged with multiple offences this week, after police claim a man stole a Ford pickup truck, filled it with gasoline without paying then drove dangerously through the Transcona neighbourhood.

MELISSA TAIT / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Five parked police vehicles were heavily damaged by a delivery truck outside the Public Safety Building in 2015. Wayne Daniel Rennie was sentenced to 30 months in prison for the incident.

Rennie already was on probation, having been sentenced in December 2015 to 30 months in prison (with credit for seven months already spent behind bars) for a July 2015 road-rage incident.

The 2015 incident began when an officer in Winnipeg ticketed Rennie for using his cellphone while he was driving a five-ton delivery van. In response, Rennie rammed the van into five parked police cruisers outside the Public Safety Building and drove off.

That prompted a 100-kilometre highway chase that ended just west of Portage la Prairie. Rennie later pleaded guilty to mischief, fleeing police and assaulting an officer with a weapon.

That 2015 case is now before the Supreme Court, which will decide imminently whether to hear Rennies appeal.

This is of utmost importance in the Canadian province with the largest population of Aboriginal people and one of the greatest proportions of Aboriginal people in custody, Rennies lawyer, Zilla Jones, argued in court filings.

The case surrounds whos entitled to special Indigenous consideration at sentencing, known as Gladue factors. These detail how intergenerational trauma may have contributed to an offender committing a crime.

Rennie was born to a mother of unknown ethnic background and a Metis father, whom he barely knew.

Child-welfare agents intercepted him as a six-month-old baby and a Caucasian foster family adopted him at the age of three.

In filings, Jones argues its unclear whether Indigenous people who are adopted qualify for Gladue consideration, and a Manitoba appeal court sidestepped the question.

She noted an Ontario case that found a man adopted early in life still had a profound sense of displacement upon learning of his adoption as a teen, which led him to a gang lifestyle. Meanwhile, an Alberta case ruled an adoptees drug habits and violence didnt seem linked to any emotional trauma.

Manitobas Court of Appeal rejected Rennies request for a sentence of two years less a day, arguing he hadnt demonstrated isolation or distress. His fathers Metis heritage was mentioned only in passing.

In fact, Rennie blamed the road rage on stress from work, and the court heard he had a loving adoptive family provided him with ample opportunities.

But in filings, Jones argues it was the judges job to seek more information on Rennie.

The court responded that while it must consider the serious intergenerational impact of colonialism, it cant use speculation to fill in blanks.

The case also calls Gladue reports into question, a tool used to formally assess an offenders circumstances. Rennies lawyer waived his right to such a report.

Twitter The 2015 road-rage incident occured after Rennie received a ticket for using his cellphone while driving. After backing into the police cruisers, Rennie fled the scene leading police on a 100-kilometre chase that ended with his arrest outside of Portage la Prairie.

In court filings, Jones argues in Winnipeg these reports usually take eight to 12 weeks to complete, compounding time spent incarcerated before sentencing.

She also claimed revealing an offenders multiple disadvantages has sometimes backfired, by convincing Manitoba judges they present a higher risk of reoffending and thus need harsher sentences.

Rennies team also noted in filings he was adopted in 1991 at the tail end of the Sixties Scoop, which saw governments take thousands of Indigenous children taken from their homes, often for dubious reasons, from the 1960s to 80s.

The provincial Crown deemed the comparison inappropriate.

But Jones said in an interview Rennies case was strengthened by Ottawas decision last week to compensate Sixties Scoop survivors, saying even those raised in loving adoptive homes had suffered a traumatizing cultural loss.

I hope we understand this is a devastating legacy, and something that needs to continue to be looked at, she said.

Both sides finished submitting arguments Sept. 18 and it normally takes Supreme Court judges four to six weeks to decide whether theyll hear the case, meaning that decision will likely come this month.

As for this weeks run-in, Rennie now faces a charge of driving while disqualified and four counts of failing to comply with a probation order. Jones says she will absolutely raise Gladue issues in that case, and Rennie seemed remorseful when her colleague visited him Wednesday.

I think he understands why hes there, and he feels bad about what happened, Jones said.

In the original sentencing, the court did note Rennies intellectual deficits, which include learning disabilities and trouble with alcohol  although he was deemed to not be an alcoholic in a test and never has been tested for fetal-alcohol syndrome.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
The Burmese (Myanmar) governments bogus claims that the cleansing operations against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state ended on September 5 are refuted by the ongoing flight of tens of thousands of refugees and clear evidence of intensifying attacks by the military and Burmese nationalist thugs.

The government alleges that the million plus Rohingya in Burma, many of whom have lived in the Arakan region for generations, are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and has subjected them to decades of blatant discrimination.

At least 520,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the Burmese military began its operations on August 25, supposedly in response to minor attacks on security posts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). The real aim of the countrys military, with the full collaboration of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) government, is to drive the Rohingya out of Burma.

In early September, military chief General Min Aung Hlaing told a parade that the Bengali (Rohingya) problem was a long-standing one and an unfinished job. The generals have ruled the country from 1964, until a power sharing arrangement with the NLD in 2011. Now they have decided to exploit the democratic veneer provided by the NLD to finish the job.

United Nations and international aid groups estimate that about 20,000 Rohingya have been forced to leave the county in the last 1014 days. The Organisation for Migration puts the figure at 2,000 per day currently.

On September 28, UN spokesman Farhan Haq told the media that the number of Rohingya now in Bangladesh, including those who had fled Burma since 2012, is now well over 700,000 and increasing.

At the same time, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the ongoing and systematic violence against the Rohingya could result in spillover into central Rakhine. This would mean, he said, that another 250,000 Rohingya could be displaced.

In fact, a Reuters report published this week indicated that Buddhist monks and nationalist thugs are stepping up their attacks against these Rohingya. Ashin Saromani, a Buddhist monk from the central town of Myebon, told the news agency that vigilante committees had blocked all communication with the Muslims.

Rohingya residents said they were being cut off from essential supplies in the town and other areas where these racist committees have been established.

In 2012 nearly 200 Rohingya were killed and 140,000 displaced by communalist attacks. Three thousand of those displaced that year are currently living in an overcrowded camp in Myebon. Dependant on international aid, the camp is now surrounded by thousands of hostile Arkansese Buddhists. According to Reuters, one Arkanese woman who ignored the ban to sell goods to the Muslims was dealt with by a mob who branded her as a national traitor.

On October 6, United Nations humanitarian office chief Mark Lowcock in Geneva demanded unhindered and unfettered access to the now closed-off area of north Rakhine. He told the media that a small UN team had visited the area and witnessed unimaginable suffering.

Last Sunday an overloaded boat carrying 100 Rohingya attempting to flee the increasing violence sank in the Naf River, which separates Burma from Bangladesh. Eleven people were rescued on the Bangladesh side with an unknown number drowned. It was the latest of many such incidents.

Last week the Australian Broadcasting Corporation broadcast video from the cordoned off Rakhine. The footage, which the state-funded network stated was from reliable sources, showed bodies exhumed from mud in Gu-Dar Pyin village. It refutes claims by Suu Kyi that Burmese security forces had ended their campaign on September 5. The program included video allegedly showing security forces and vigilantes burning Muslim homes in Maungdaw on October 5.

The sheer size of the humanitarian disaster and its destabilising effect across the entire region are forcing the international backers of Suu Kyi and the NLD belatedly issue limited criticisms. Plans are reportedly being drawn up by the US and European Union to impose targeted sanctions against certain Burmese military leaders, whilst taking care not to push the regime towards China for further economic and political support.

Danish minister for development cooperation Ulla Tornaes told the media on Monday that Copenhagen wants Burma discussed at the EU Foreign Ministers' Council meeting on October 16, and further pressure [put] on the (Burmese) military.

Two US officials informed Reuters that the Trump administration is considering sanctions against Hlaing and other Burmese generals and Buddhist militia leaders. This could include US asset freezes, travel bans and business restrictions.

One official said that Washington wanted a plan for Burma in place before the US presidents November 314 trip to Asia. Trump will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines and attend both the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam and the Association of South East Asian Nations in the Philippines.

Significantly, no sanctions are planned against Suu Kyi and her ministers despite the fact that she gave the green light for the ethnic cleansing and acted as an apologist for the militarys atrocities. The US regards Suu Kyi as an essential political asset in its efforts to strengthen its position in Burma and undermine Chinese influence.

China is also manoeuvring. Its major projects underway in Burma including, the energy corridor and Kyaukphyu seaport on the Bay of Bengal, are under threat by the ongoing crisis in Rahine. While Beijing has supported Burmas security operation, it has offered relief supplies to Bangladesh and to mediate between Bangladesh and Burma.
Crowds of protesters took to the streets in cities across Kenya after Tuesdays announcement by opposition presidential candidate Raila Odinga of his withdrawal from the new presidential election set for October 26.

The Supreme Court in late September invalidated the August 8 poll, which declared the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta the winner, ruling that the election was marred by irregularities and illegalities. As part of its decision, the court ordered a new election.

In announcing his withdrawal, Odinga stated, In the interest of the people of Kenya, the region and world at large, we believe that all will be best served by NASA [the National Super Alliance party] vacating the presidential candidature of elections slated for 26 October 2017.

Protests reached a fever pitch on Wednesday after the parliament passed president Kenyattas proposed Election Laws Amendment, a measure blocking the Supreme Court from nullifying future polls and granting far-reaching power to the ruling government over nearly every aspect of the electoral process.

Befitting the autocratic character of the Kenyatta government, the changes to the electoral process enshrined in the amendment constitute an attack on the democratic rights of the Kenyan population, with the law stripping the judiciary from presiding over a disputed election, and ensuring future polls are rigged in favor of the ruling government.

The key elements of the amendment include setting the nearly impossible burden of proof on the challenger to establish that electoral fraud took place before the court can hear such a dispute. The law also drops a requirement that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairperson have 15 years of experience as a lawyer, academic, or as a senior judge.

Most odious is the amendments granting of autonomy to the IEBC chair to declare the winner before the vote is completely counted when it is perceived by the electoral body that any further counting would not change the outcome of the poll.

As the chair of the IEBC is appointed by the president, the amendment effectively establishes the president as the arbiter for deciding the outcome of an election.

On the news of the amendments passing, angry demonstrators descended on the parliament building in Nairobi. Police responded with violence, deploying tear gas into the crowd, firing live rounds and beating several protesters.

In other cities across the country, police responded in a similar violent manner to the popular opposition the new law engendered.

Behind the violent crackdown on the mass demonstrations is the ruling governments desperation to quell a growing insurrection of the Kenyan masses, which the regime fears could spill out of its control and threaten the entire political and economic system.

Since the hotly disputed August 8 poll, protests have been met repeatedly with violence by police forces. According to a report released Monday by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, 37 people have been killed in the police crackdown, including an infant and two children.

In September, the General Services Unit (GSU) was deployed to the University of Nairobi to quell days of unrest by students demanding the release of a former student and current member of parliament Babu Owino, who was arrested for insulting the president. Owino reported he had been tortured by police while in custody.

Demonstrations organized by Odinga and NASA took place in the cities of Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa on Wednesday. In calling for the mass demonstrations with the slogan No reform, no election, NASA stated that its demands for reform of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the electoral body charged with the election tally, were not met.

Speaking to these circumstances and calling the electoral system biased, NASA filed a case with the Kenyan High Court, asking it for a complete restructuring of the IEBC, pointing to the Supreme Courts decision nullifying the August 8 poll with its finding of irregularities and illegalities committed by the IEBC in the electronic transmission of the tally.

On Wednesday, High Court Justice John Mativo rejected NASAs claims that the IEBC acted in a criminal manner, saying, Clearly, the Supreme Court did not indict the first to eight respondents as alleged nor did it find either of them criminally culpable.

NASA sought the sackings of IEBC CEO Ezra Chiloba and chairperson Wafula Chebukati, as well as five other IEBC senior officials. The party also called for the replacement of companies hired by the IEBC for the printing of ballot papers, voter verification slips, and the transmission of the election results, which NASA allege are biased toward Kenyatta.

As the WSWS has noted, the widespread perception of government corruption surrounding the 2017 elections is entirely justified. However, a government ruled by either Kenyatta or Odinga, both multimillionaire representatives of the Kenyan ruling elite, would not relieve the social misery experienced by Kenyan workers, whose economic interests are the diametric opposite of those represented by Kenyatta and Odinga.

With the hotly disputed election as its catalyst, the broad social anger sweeping the country is in reality the product of years of attacks on the social position of the Kenyan masses by a corrupt ruling clique carrying out the dictates of Western banks and corporations.

On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund downgraded Kenyas economic prospects for the near term as a result of the continuing social unrest, illustrating the pessimistic outlook of the Western capitalist elite toward Eastern Africas top economy.

Making clear the disastrous economic outlook for Kenya, on Wednesday Kenyan stocks fell 1 percent, and yields on the countrys Eurobonds fell by five points upon the news of the renewed election chaos.

Kenyas economic prospects were further darkened by the prospects of the historic famine sweeping the African continent from Somalia to Nigeria, with projections of a food shortage due to low agricultural yields.

Speaking to Bloomberg concerning the impact the election crisis has had on international markets, Ronak Gopaldas, a financial strategist with the Johannesburg-based Rand Merchant Bank said, It is unclear how much more of a battering the economy can continue to withstand as a result of this election cycle.

[T]he continued politicking will sap confidence, while further delaying the urgent need for fiscal consolidation and policy reforms, Gopaldas warned.

For its part, Washington fears that the chaos surrounding the election will be disastrous to its political arrangement in Kenya, and impact its imperialist designs for Eastern Africa, of which Kenya plays an important role carrying out its US-backed war in neighboring Somalia.

Speaking to these contingencies, US Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec rebuked both candidates for causing the crisis, saying, We are deeply concerned by the deterioration in the political atmosphere and the impact this has had on preparations for the election.
Amid accelerating US preparations for conflict with North Korea, yesterdays night-time flight by two B-1B bombers over the Korean Peninsula was designed to provoke a North Korean response that could be used as the casus belli for all-out war.

The supersonic bombers were joined by Japanese and South Korean fighter jets for the first joint night-time training exercise that involved practicing air-to-ground missile drills in waters off the east coast of South Korea, then off the west coast. This rehearsal for war with North Korea followed another first when two B-1B bombers late last month flew the furthest north along the North Korean coast since the start of this century.

At the same time, the Pentagon is assembling a naval armada off the Korean Peninsula. The nuclear attack submarine USS Tucson arrived off South Korea on Saturday. The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group of cruisers and destroyers is due to arrive later this month for joint exercises with the South Korean navy. Two Australian frigates are also en route to Korean waters.

The Trump administrations relentless campaign of bellicose threats and military provocations makes clear that the danger of a catastrophic war, which could drag in major powers such as China and Russia and escalate into a nuclear exchange, is real and imminent. As he faces a mounting political crisis at home, the US president may see a war with North Korea as a means of shoring up his administration and crushing domestic political opposition.

From the standpoint of military logic, the US has deliberately placed the Pyongyang regime in an impossible situation. In his fascistic rant at the UN last month, Trump declared that North Korea confronted total destruction unless it capitulated completely to US demands. He flatly ruled out any negotiations with Pyongyang when he rebuked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for wasting his time in sending out diplomatic feelers.

North Koreas foreign minister responded to Trumps UN speech by declaring that it amounted to a declaration of war and warned that his country had the right to take countermeasures, including the shooting down of US strategic bombers in international airspace. Yet the Pentagon has continued to send B-1Bs to conduct war games in close proximity to North Korea.

Confronted with the most powerful military on the planet armed to the teeth with thousands of nuclear weapons, the Pyongyang regime could conclude that it has to attack first, including with its limited nuclear arsenal, before its military is totally destroyed. Each B-1B flight poses the immediate question to the generals in Pyongyang: is this another drill, or the start of an all-out attack?

In Washington, the military is being prepared and primed for war against North Korea. In a keynote speech to top army officers on Monday, Defence Secretary James Mattis insisted that the military had to be ready to ensure we have military options that our president can employ if needed.

The Army Association paraphrased General Robert Abrams, commander of US Army Forces Command, who spoke at the same event as saying, Sending American forces to fight a World War II-style all-out war would mean facing a harsh reality: Troops will die, and in large numbers. 

Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford met with Trump on Tuesday to review military options, including to prevent North Korea from threatening the United States and its allies with nuclear weapons. In other words, the Trump administration is on the brink of an illegal war of aggression on the pretext that North Korea's small nuclear arsenal poses a threat to the US.

A US attack on North Korea would inevitably lead to a confrontation with China and Russia, which have repeatedly called for an easing of tensions and a return to negotiations. A war on their borders and the installation of a US puppet regime in Pyongyang cuts directly across their strategic interests in Asia. Moreover, the subjugation of North Korea is part of Washingtons far broader ambition to undermine, encircle and, if necessary, go to war with China to ensure American hegemony in Asia and the world.

Trump has accelerated the Obama administrations so-called pivot to Asia against Beijing on every frontdiplomatically, economically and militarily. He has strengthened US ties throughout the region, threatened China with trade war and confronted Beijing militarily, not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the South China Sea. On Tuesday, a US navy destroyer carried out another provocative intrusion near Chinas Paracel Islands to challenge Beijings excessive maritime claims.

The US drive to war is not simply the product of the fascistic President Trump. Rather, he is the expression of the deepening political, social and economic crisis of American imperialism, which has sought to arrest its historic decline through its aggressive use of military might. Having created one disaster after another in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa, Washington is upping the ante and preparing for a direct conflict with its major rivals, China and Russia in the first instance.

The danger of war is further heightened by the immense turmoil and conflicts within the American political establishment, including in the White House, and more broadly, popular opposition to war and austerity. Trump is publicly at odds with both Tillerson and Mattis, who have suggested that diplomatic efforts need to be exhausted before any attack on North Koreanot because they are opposed to war, but because they fear the immediate eruption of a mass anti-war movement in the event of undisguised US aggression.

The bitterness of the infighting was underscored when a well-sourced NBC article last week revealed that Tillerson had threatened to resign and called Trump a moron following a top-level Pentagon meeting.

On Wednesday, NBC reported that what prompted Tillerson to make that remark was a proposal by Trump to increase the number of US nuclear weapons ten-fold, which would put the US in violation of all existing nuclear treaties and effectively render it a pariah state.

In a chilling expression of the type of crackdown that could be imposed in the context of a further escalation against North Korea, Trump threatened in a tweet to suspend NBCs broadcasting license over the story.

The deep divisions in American ruling circles that are fuelling speculation about Trumps impeachment were summed up in a Washington Post editorial on Tuesday headlined What to do with an unfit president.

Far from halting the drive to war, the political crisis only adds to the danger. Beset with conflict at home, Trump is being propelled to extricate himself by seeking to project political and social tensions outwards against a foreign foe. His critics and opponents are not opposed to warmany are criminally culpable for the US acts of aggression over the past 25 years. The differences are purely tacticalhow to attack and who to attack first.

Without the development of a mass anti-war movement of the working class in the United States and internationally, war is not only possible but inevitable. Such a movement cannot be based on appeals to the powers-that-be, but rather on a revolutionary socialist perspective to abolish the diseased capitalist order that threatens to drag humanity into the abyss.
Last week, the aging and ailing King Salman undertook a first-ever visit by a Saudi monarch to Russia, accompanied by a massive 1,000-strong entourage of business executives.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pulled out all the stops to impress his guests, mobilising the leaders of Russias Muslimsfrom Chechnya, Ingushetia, Tatarstan and Bashkortostanwho have business and other connections with the kingdom, to greet him.

Salman and Putin signed more than 15 cooperation agreements worth billions of dollars covering oil, petrochemicals, military and space exploration. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that the visit marked the moment when Saudi-Russian relations reached a new qualitative level.

Salmans four-day visit comes just months after President Donald Trump flew to Riyadh as part of his first overseas visit. Trump lavished praise on the arch-reactionary monarch and stressed their close strategic cooperation on regional political issues, above all in the struggle against Iran, Saudi Arabias regional rival.

The visit to Moscow thus marks a turning point in Middle East politics and the operation of the world oil markets. It testifies to Russias increasing influence in the Middle East, and Riyadhs tacit acceptance of the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, whom Saudi Arabia, along with the CIA, the Gulf States and Turkey, has sought to overthrow at vast expense.

The king is seeking to shore up his own tottering regime by stabilising the price of oil, securing investment in Saudi Arabia, reducing Riyadhs dependency on US imperialism, and winning Moscows support in countering the rise of Iran, the kingdoms main regional rival.

This follows the sharp fall in oil prices over the last three years that has led to acute political, economic and social tensions within Saudi Arabia, threatening stability. While oil prices have risen this year to around $56 a barrel, they are still around half the level they were in mid-2014 when they provided 90 percent of state revenues.

This has been met with a series of austerity measures, the introduction of a value-added tax and plans to privatise part of state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco, along with airports, electricity, water, transport, retail, schools and health care.

Riyadh is keen to extend the agreement to curb oil production and increase prices reached with Moscow in January. Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said that the January agreement had breathed life back into OPEC [Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries]. He added, The success of this collaboration is clear.

While Russia is not a member of OPEC, it too needs an increase in oil prices to support its ailing economy.

The move to stabilise oil prices and reduce the fiscal deficit, expected to reach $53 billion in 2017, also serves to ensure a higher valuation for Saudi Aramco.

Saudi Arabia and Russia also plan to set up a $1 billion fund to invest in energy projects. These could include the provision of drilling services in Saudi Arabia, a joint venture with Russias Novatek to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Russia, and cooperation between Saudi Aramco, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and Russias biggest petrochemical firm, Sibur, to build petrochemical plants in the two countries.

They also agreed to invest $100 million in transport projects in Russia via the Russian sovereign wealth fund and Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund.

Crucially, the Saudis announced they would purchase the Russian S-400 surface to air missile system at a cost of $3 billionmaking them the second US ally after Turkey to purchase Russian weaponry. They also agreed to buy Russias Kornet-EM anti-tank guided missile systems, TOS-1A heavy flamethrowers, AGS-30 automatic grenade launchers and Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles.

Moscow in turn agreed to help Riyadh develop its own military industries and transfer the technology and localise the manufacturing and sustainment of these armament systems. The details of these agreements are to be thrashed out at a Russian-Saudi meeting later in October.

The king met Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, along with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, to discuss the bilateral military cooperation and the broader security situation in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has played a leading role in inciting Islamist militants against the Russian-backed Chechen government.

Salmans visit to Russia unfolds amid worsening relations between Washington and the kingdom that hassince 1945constituted an essential prop of US imperialism and a bulwark of reaction and repression. The US-led interventions in Iraq, Libya and Syria to assert Washingtons hegemony over the Middle East and North Africas vast energy resources have destabilised the entire region, threatening Saudi Arabia.

Riyadhs relations with Washington became strained following the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, which served to strengthen Tehrans influence by removing Saddam Husseins largely Sunni-based regime and installing the Shiite majority in power. Riyadh sought to undermine the newly installed Iraqi regime through direct or covert military interventions, the use of Islamist fighters as proxies, and economic aid.

Relations deteriorated further following the USs failure to sustain its support for Hosni Mubarak against the Egyptian masses in 2011.

Tensions increased following the Obama administrations subsequent pragmatic manoeuvrings, including the retreat on its promise to intervene decisively in the war to overthrow Bashar al-Assad in Syria in 2013allowing Russia to intervene to shore up the regimeand its deal with Iran in 2015.

While Riyadh hoped that relations would improve under Trump, who is opposed to Obamas deal with Iran, insisting that Iran poses a security threat to the region, it is taking no chances. The Islamophobic rhetoric of Trump and some of his inner circle and the call for Saudi Arabia to be included in his travel ban, since 15 of the 19 hijackers in the 9/11 terror attacks were from the kingdom, have raised hackles among the ruling clique. In addition, 800 families of 9/11 victims and 1,500 first responders, along with others who suffered as a result of the attacks, have filed a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia over its alleged complicity in the 2001 terror attacks.

Trumps visit to Riyadh in May sought to mend relations and cement a broader alliance against Tehran, with a $110 billion arms sale to the kingdom and an option to purchase $350 billion worth of weapons over the next 10 years, to support the long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the entire Gulf region against Iran. But the Trump administrations failure to give the Saudis unequivocal support in its dispute with Qatar further soured relations.

The House of Saud faces increasing discontent over the lack of jobs for the countrys predominantly youthful populationtwo thirds are under 30 years of ageand strife in the predominantly Shia Eastern Province, the centre of the kingdoms oil production.

Last month, the authorities arrested dozens of people, including influential clerics, in a coordinated crackdown on dissent. Many of those detained were opposed to the 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salmans bellicose foreign policy that includes the genocidal war against Yemen, its southern neighbour, and the blockade of Qatar, as well as his austerity measures, subsidy cuts and privatisation of state assets.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble is using his last days in office to call for his austerity policies to be made permanent. The 75-year-old Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician is set to resign in the next few days because he will be elected as president of the Bundestag (federal parliament) on October 24. This week, however, Schauble will be meeting all those who have a say in international monetary and financial policy.

Schauble, who, like no other politician, stands for German arrogance and a ruthless cuts policy in the interest of the rich, and who has ruined the lives of millions, wants to ensure that this course continues after his departure as finance minister. And he is finding much support for this.

On Monday, Schauble met with the finance ministers of the euro zone in Luxembourg, and on Wednesday he attended the anniversary of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, where, alongside ministers and central bank officials from 189 member states, many powerful figures from the banking and financial sectors meet. Two press conferences, as well as numerous bilateral meetings are planned.

In Luxembourg, Schauble was praised in the highest tones by his 18 colleagues. We will miss him, said Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem. He was a great colleague for each of us, he gave advice, sometimes asked for, sometimes unasked for. He has always put the long-term interests of a stable Eurozone in first place.

Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan described Schauble as a great finance minister. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called him a great European, who had played a major role in the development of the European community.

Amidst the exuberant praise, the fact that Schauble, who is considered arrogant and cynical, finally resigned after eight years in office met with some relief, even though the admiration for his harsh attitude in enforcing unpopular austerity measures is genuine in ruling class circles. The brutal attacks on the working class with which Schaubles name is synonymous, especially in Greece, will determine the European agenda even after his resignation.

Schauble, who was born in southern Germany in 1942, joined the reactionary Young Union in 1961, at a time when most young people were moving to the left. In 1972, he was elected to the Bundestag for the CDU. In 1984, he became a minister and headed Helmut Kohls chancellery.

In 1990, as interior minister, Schauble negotiated the agreement on the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, former East Germany), or rather, he dictated it, as the CDUs puppets were sitting at the negotiating table on the GDR side. The devastating consequences of reunificationthe decommissioning of East German industry or selling it off for a pittance, the resulting mass unemploymentwere largely due to Schauble.

As interior ministeran office he held under Helmut Kohl from 1989 to 1991 and under Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2009Schauble advocated a repressive policy of the strong state. He wanted to deploy the Bundeswehr (armed forces) at home, and demanded a corresponding amendment to the constitution; among other things, the Bundeswehr should be given the authority to shoot down civilian aircraft in terrorist cases. He opposed parliamentary scrutiny of the secret services and advocated the abolition of fundamental rights for terrorists. He also proposed the use of statements obtained under torture in the investigatory work of the security authorities.

Legal professional associations accuse him of sacrificing fundamental rights on the altar of supposed security interests; of leading a frontal attack on the constitution, and arousing fears among the population in order to create acceptance for far reaching powers for the security authorities.

Schauble found his real calling when he became finance minister in 2009. The previous year, the criminal speculation of the banks had driven the world financial system to the brink of collapse, and his predecessor, Social Democrat Peer Steinbruck, had rescued them with billions from the public purse. Schauble then began to recoup these billions from the working class. Above all in Greece, Portugal, Spain and other heavily indebted countries, he imposed a policy of social devastation such as Europe had only previously experienced in wartime.

Schauble seemed to derive an almost sadistic pleasure in dictating one austerity package after another to the Greek government in night after night of negotiations, which decimated the livelihoods of the population, deprived millions of older people of their hard-earned pensions, and destroyed any perspective for the future of a generation of young people, while the aid credits were paid directly into the coffers of the international banks.

In Germany, Schauble insisted on a balanced budget. While the infrastructure collapsed, health care and provisions for the elderly were bled dry, the shortage of teachers grew unbearable, and wages and pensions sank, he boasted for four years about the so-called black zero (balanced budget).

The praise that Schauble now receives on the international and national stage shows that the great majority of the ruling class supports this policy. Schauble himself has urged a tightening of austerity policy in a long interview with the Financial Times .

At his last meeting with the euro finance ministers on Monday, Schauble brought with him a bad gift ( Die Welt ), a working paper from his ministry suggesting that the euro rescue fund (ESM) be expanded into a European Monetary Fund that would support budgetary policies and the observance of debt limits by members of the euro zone, and which would enjoy far-reaching powers of control.

In this way, Schauble wants to disempower the European Commission, which in his opinion is subject to too much political influence, and replace it with an institution immune to social pressures and which subjects all of Europe to the financial diktats of Germany.

His paper is also directed against the European plans of French President Emmanuel Macron. The latter has the support of Schauble when he attacks the social gains of the working class in France, but not if he calls for the establishment of a EU finance minister with his own budget for the euro zone.

Less nation-state, more Europe, according to his [Macrons] ideas, writes Die Zeit. Schauble wants more power for a European control body following German thinking. But it should be less subordinate to the unloved commission than the national governments.

These contradictions are likely to intensify if a coalition of the CDU/CSU with the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) comes about in Germany and the new finance minister comes from the FDP. The FDP rejects not only Macrons but also Schaubles plans. It wants to abolish the euro rescue fund, which was set up in 2012 to overcome the financial crisis, and to prevent any financial equalisation among the euro countries.

What the future German government will ultimately look like is not yet clear. However, one thing is certain: it will not only continue Schaubles austerity course but will also follow the motto Germany first and intensify national contradictions in Europe.
In a menacing speech to the Spanish Congress on Wednesday, Popular Party (PP) Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy stated that, in response to Catalan regional Premier Carles Puigdemonts speech affirming the October 1 independence referendum, he was preparing to invoke Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. This provision allows Madrid to suspend the authority of the Catalan regional government and seize control of the regions finances and administration.

With the Spanish media discussing the invocation of Article 116 to impose a state of emergency or state of siege, it is clear that Rajoy is moving rapidly to establish military rule not only in Catalonia, but across all of Spain.

Army sources told El Pais Wednesday morning that they are preparing to move into Catalonia and crush any opposition from sections of the 17,000-strong Catalan regional police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, or civilians loyal to the Catalan nationalist parties. Under the attack plan, code-named Cota de Malla (Chain Mail), the army will back police and Guardia Civil operations in Catalonia. It will march significant forces into the region to support two units already therea motorized infantry battalion in Barcelona and an armored battalion in Sant Climent Sescebes.

This plan has been in preparation for a considerable period of time, according to El Pais. It was nearly invoked by Rajoy after the August 17 terror attack in Barcelona.

Rajoy is acting with the full support of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and on the basis of clear signals from the Podemos party that it will not oppose moves towards military dictatorship.

In his own speech on Tuesday, Puigdemont suspended his declaration of independence in a desperate bid to open talks with Rajoy. But the Madrid political establishment is rapidly falling in line behind the governments hard-line rejection of talks and plans for mass repression.

Earlier on Wednesday, Rajoy made a brief public statement demanding that Puigdemont clarify whether Catalan independence had in fact been declared. In a letter to Barcelona, Rajoy said he was requesting clarification in order to prepare the invocation of Article 155. He gave Puigdemont until October 19 to reply.

PSOE General Secretary Pedro Sanchez, a self-styled left within the party, hailed Rajoys initial statement. We agree with the premier's request for clarification, to clear up the swamp in which Premier Puigdemont has placed Catalan politics, Sanchez said. Asked whether this meant that Madrid was activating Article 155, he replied: Of course, it is obvious that we are activating it.

Amid rumors of plans for a PP-PSOE government of national unity, Sanchez indicated that the PSOE would work with the PP on plans to rewrite the Spanish Constitution.

Speaking to the Congress at 4 pm on Wednesday, Rajoy launched a violent denunciation of Puigdemont and a full-throated defense of the Spanish polices brutal crackdown on Catalans peacefully seeking to cast votes in the October 1 referendum. Stating that Puigdemonts reply on October 19 would determine future events, Rajoy made clear that he would accept nothing less than total surrender from Puigdemont as the basis for opening talks.

No result of this illegal and fraudulent [October 1] referendum can be taken as grounds for justifying any action, much less the independence of Catalonia, Rajoy said.

Rajoy felt compelled to refute accusations that he was refusing dialogue, insisting that since conflicts emerged in 2012 over European Union (EU) bank bailouts and austerity, he had negotiated continuously with Barcelona. He blamed the failure to reach a deal on the fact that the Catalan government decided to throw themselves into the arms of the most anti-system and far-left party, by which he meant the petty-bourgeois nationalist Candidatures of Popular Unity (CUP).

Denouncing the October 1 referendum as a coup against our model of conviviality, he insisted that the PP responsea bloody police assault on polling places and thousands of voters across Catalonia that horrified people around the worldwas proportional. In a moment that captured the class content of the entire session of Congress, Rajoys praise of the Guardia Civil crackdown evoked sustained and thunderous applause from the deputies.

Calling Puigdemonts position a disloyal way of trying to declare independence, Rajoy indicated that if mediation began, it would be directed to his efforts to rewrite the Constitution. Citing the need for social peace, diversity and Catalan sentiment as a mestizo identity, Rajoy brought his address to a close by hailing nationalist protests for Spanish unity that have been held in a number of Spanish cities. In several of these protests, fascist organizations, including the Falange of the late fascist dictator Francisco Franco, were active.

Rajoy also enjoys the full support of the major EU powers. After statements earlier this week by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in support of Rajoy, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel again backed Rajoy yesterday. Calling Puigdemont's independence declaration irresponsible, he said, A solution can be found only on the basis of the rule of law and in the context of the Spanish Constitution.

The statements of the Spanish army, Rajoy, the PSOE and the EU must be taken by the working class as an urgent warning. Plans for a return to authoritarian rule are well advanced, not only in Spain, but across Europe, where politicians support Rajoy because they are preparing similar measures in their own countries.

Workers must oppose plans for military rule and demand the withdrawal of troops and police from Catalonia, but this can be done only in revolutionary opposition to the entire ruling establishment, including its nominally left components.

While the immediate target of Rajoys crackdown is Catalonia, the broader target is the working class of Spain and Europe. After a quarter century of escalating austerity and imperialist war since the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, European capitalism is in an advanced state of collapse. A decade of deep austerity since the 2008 Wall Street crash has left large swathes of the continents economy in tatters, tens of millions of workers unemployed, and social inequality at explosive and unsustainable levels.

Class tensions are reaching extreme levels incompatible with democratic forms of rule. France is under a two-year state of emergency while Germany has recently seen the election of its first fascistic parliamentarians since the end of the Nazi regime. Now the Madrid establishment is rapidly and violently swinging behind Rajoys weak minority government, confirming that while Franco is dead, the class forces that underlay his regime survived Spains 1978 Transition to parliamentary democracy. They are again pressing for authoritarian rule.

The critical task is the political unification and mobilization of the Spanish and European working class in struggle against the rehabilitation of fascism and military dictatorship, and for socialism. This underscores the bankruptcy of the Catalan nationalist parties. They support the EU, have long overseen pro-austerity governments in Barcelona, and advance a pro-capitalist program of national separation that divides the working class.

Puigdemonts Democratic European Party of Catalonia (PdeCat) responded yesterday evening by dismissing Rajoys remarks and repeating that Catalonia had won the right to declare independence. Calling Madrids invocation of Article 155 a major error, PdeCat spokesman Carles Campuzano asked Rajoy to accept Puigdemont's offer of talks. Take this opportunity, he said, it may be the last chance we all have to reach a solution that is good for everyone.

The response of the PSOE and Podemos parliamentary group leaders to Rajoys speech shows that his crackdown faces no opposition in the political establishment. Their comments, amid a looming danger of military crackdown and a state of siege in Spain, constitute a historic marker of the bankruptcy of what for decades has passed for the Spanish left.

PSOE fraction leader Margarita Robles began by declaring herself in full agreement with Rajoys speech and hailing the 1978 Constitution Rajoy is now using to tip Spain towards military rule. We have always been a state party, a party of government, a party that fought for modernity for this country, she said, adding, We will continue our role as a state party defending the constitution.

Podemos General Secretary Pablo Iglesias showed that while Podemos may have received 5 million votes in the last election, it is incapable of mobilizing any opposition to the bourgeoisie and its dictatorial agenda. In a repugnant display of cowardice and cynicism, Iglesias engaged in a friendly chat with Rajoy. Even as the right-wing premier was preparing to send in the army to carry out a bloody crackdown in Catalonia, Iglesias treated him as a democrat, appealing to him to respect Spains linguistic diversity.

Addressing Rajoy directly in the Congress, Iglesias said, Today is not a day for polemics. I want to reflect with you. Your group represents 7.9 million Spaniards You have received PSOE, Ciudadanos support and I congratulate you.

While he criticized Rajoy for using the Catalan crisis to defend your party banner, Iglesias added, You know you have to live with the pluri-nationality of the state.
The conflict within the American state apparatus reached a new level of intensity this week, after a leading Senate Republican, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, warned that President Trump was risking World War III, and Trump responded to media reports about internal conflict within his administration by suggesting that NBC could have its broadcast license revoked.

The recriminations between the White House and Congress and within the Trump administration itself are particularly explosive since they take place amid rising tensions between the US government and North Korea, in the wake of Trumps repeated threats of nuclear war against the regime of Kim Jong-un.

Corker made the warning about Trumps foreign policy producing World War III, and he has previously criticized what he called the lack of stability and competence in the Trump presidency. Trump responded with vulgar insults on Twitter, while White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders falsely claimed that Corker was responsible for the US nuclear agreement with Iran, which Trump appears ready to revoke as early as today.

Insider accounts of seemingly uncontrolled rages and wild mood swings on the part of the commander in chief have fueled a new round of discussion in the corporate media about the possibility of removing Trump from office, either through impeachment, which requires a majority vote in the House and a two-thirds vote in the Senate, or through invoking the 25th Amendment, under which the vice president and a majority of the cabinet can declare the president incompetent to continue in office.

An extraordinary editorial published Tuesday in the Post was run under the headline, What to do with an unfit president.

The editorial concluded that impeachment was not likely, and urged congressional action to counteract Trumps policies in a range of areas (all important to corporate interests), including reinforcing US trade deals like NAFTA, and maintaining foreign aid programs that spread US political influence abroad.

That the leading newspaper in the countrys capitalread by everyone in Congress and the Trump administrationproclaimed the president unfit for office reflects the extraordinarily sharp divisions within the ruling class, only hinted at in the Post editorial.

The corporate media has been targeting the Trump White House, in part because of concerns over his expressions of sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin and professed reluctance to continue the Obama administrations campaign of confronting Russia in Syria, Eastern Europe and the Baltic.

But there is a deeper concern that the policies and methods of the Trump administration, and particularly its increasing appeals to ultra-right, racist and fascistic forces, such as those which rioted in Charlottesville, Virginia two months ago, risk destabilizing the United States politically.

There is particular concern in corporate and banking circles that Trumps deteriorating relations with top Senate Republicans like Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker may hamper efforts to push through a huge tax cut for corporations and the wealthy, the main item on the agenda of the Republican-controlled Congress this fall.

On Wednesday a group of six right-wing lobbies allied to the White House, including the Tea Party Patriots, the Senate Conservatives Fund, FreedomWorks, the Media Research Center and ConservativeHQ.com, called for McConnell to step down due to the failure to repeal Obamacare or enact other right-wing measures, and threatened campaigns against incumbent Republicans in primary elections next year.

They were echoing former White House counselor Steve Bannon, who is threatening to back anti-McConnell candidates in the Republican primaries, and who called Tuesday for Corkers immediate resignation.

NBC triggered the latest round of internecine warfare with a report last week that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had called Trump a moron after a high-level discussion of foreign policy and nuclear strategy on July 20 at the Pentagon. This was followed by a series of denials by Tillerson and tirades by Trump, culminating in his remark Tuesday, in an interview with Forbes magazine, that if IQ tests were administered to the two men, he would come out on top.

On Wednesday the network added further details, reporting that Tillerson was provoked to an explosion of frustration by Trumps suggestion that the US should reverse 50 years of declining numbers in its nuclear weapons stockpile, and revert to the level of weaponry amassed in the 1960s, which would require a ten-fold increase.

Trump then launched into a diatribe against NBC, claiming that it was fabricating fake news about his administration, and calling for the networks broadcast license to be revoked, apparently ignorant of the fact that there are no licenses for the networks and the federal government has no such legal authority.

This was not merely a manifestation of Trumps authoritarian proclivities. The White House is in deep internal crisis, with top officials leaking unflattering and alarmed comments about Trumps state of mind, inability to maintain a coherent policy, and tendency to fly off the handle over any public criticism.

The NBC report was based, according to the network, on three officials who attended the top-secret Pentagon meeting in the war room, and heard both Trumps remarks about nuclear weapons and Tillersons moron comment.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday, in a remarkable front-page article, on the president lashing out, rupturing alliances and imperiling his legislative agenda, citing numerous White House officials and outside advisers.

Trump in recent days has shown flashes of fury and left his aides, including White House chief of staff John F. Kelly, scrambling to manage his outbursts, the Post reported. One Trump confidant likened the president to a whistling teapot, saying that when he does not blow off steam, he can turn into a pressure cooker and explode. I think we are in pressure cooker territory, said this person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly.

At least one of the 18 White House officials, outside advisers and other Trump associates interviewed for this highly unflattering portrait was identified the following day as Thomas Barrack, a real-estate multi-millionaire and longtime Trump crony and adviser, who chaired the fundraising committee for his inauguration, but now describes himself as shocked and "stunned" by the tone of Trumps tweetstorms.
Ben Affleck has joined the growing list of Hollywood stars condemning Harvey Weinstein.

Affleck released a statement Tuesday following the publication of a New Yorker story in which The Weinstein Company co-founder was accused of sexual assault.

I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades, Affleck wrote in the statement, which was shared on his Facebook page. The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick. This is completely unacceptable, and I find myself asking what I can do to make sure this doesnt happen to others. We need to do better at protecting our sisters, friends, co-workers and daughters. We must support those who come forward, condemn this type of behavior when we see it and help ensure there are more women in positions of power.

Affleck has worked with Weinstein numerous times over the years, including on Good Will Hunting, which won Affleck and costar Matt Damon a best screenplay Oscar and was released by Weinsteins previous company, Miramax. Affleck also starred in other Miramax-released projects including Shakespeare in Love, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and his feature directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone.

The New Yorker story came less than a week after The New York Times published its own investigation, detailing decades of alleged sexual misconduct. Weinstein has since been fired from The Weinstein Company. Last week, he released a statement to the Times, saying in part, I appreciate the way Ive behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it. Though Im trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go. In a separate statement, Weinsteins lawyer Charles Harder said he was preparing a lawsuit against the Times. The New York Times published today a story that is saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein. It relies on mostly hearsay accounts and a faulty report, apparently stolen from an employee personnel file, which has been debunked by nine different eyewitnesses. We sent the Times the facts and evidence, but they ignored it and rushed to publish. We are preparing the lawsuit now. All proceeds will be donated to womens organizations.

In a statement to the New Yorker, a representative for Weinstein denied the allegations presented in the new story.

Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein, the statement read. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. Mr. Weinstein obviously cant speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual. Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance.
After authorities found 19-year-old Jessica Chambers burning alive nearly three years ago on a back-road in Courtland, Mississippi, she told them shed been set on fire by someone named Eric or Derek  or, at least, thats what it sounded like she said.

Chambers statement, made only hours before she died of her injuries in the hospital early the next morning, was the subject of debate in the opening of the murder trial for her accused killer, Quinton Tellis, according to multiple news reports.

DeSoto County, Mississippi, District Attorney John Champion contended in his opening remarks, on Tuesday, that Chambers could have been trying to say Tellis name, but her mouth and throat were too damaged by burns, the Associated Press and Fox News report.

Whats more, according to the prosecutions case, phone records allegedly show Chambers and Tellis, 29, were together on Dec. 6, 2014, the day she died, the Commercial Appeal reports.

PEOPLE previously reported that, according to a source on the scene after Chambers was found, she whispered either Eric or Derek  information that prosecutors said at the time they could not confirm.

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

Jessica Chambers

Quinton Tellis

Chambers friend Kesha Myers, one of five witnesses who testified on Tuesday after the opening statements, said she was with Chambers and Tellis earlier that December day, according to the Appeal.

Chambers mother, Lisa Chambers, also testified Tuesday and said she talked to her daughter by phone at 6:48 p.m.  a little more than an hour before Jessica was found, the Appeal reports.

Lisa said she believes somebody was with her daughter during their phone conversation, according to local TV station WMC.

The prosecution reportedly argued that Tellis  previously described as a habitual criminal offender  tried to suffocate Jessica after the two had sex in her car that night.

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Thinking he succeeded, Tellis then doused Jessicas car with gasoline and set both it and her on fire, the district attorney alleged. The pair had met only weeks before.

Jessica was found walking near her vehicle just after 8 p.m., Champion said. She had burns over 98 percent of her body.

Champion said her car keys were found at the scene, allegedly with Tellis DNA on them.

 PEOPLEs special edition True Crime Stories: 35 Real Cases That Inspired the Show Law & Order is on sale now.

When we start showing you the number of lies that he told and how he had to when hes confronted with the physical evidence and the cell phone data, there was no way out for him, Champion said of Tellis, according to station WATN. None whatsoever.

In her own opening statements, however, Tellis defense attorney Darla Palmer said he could not have been the person responsible because he was at a store purchasing a pre-paid debit card at the time of the attack, according to Fox News.

Palmer also stressed the apparent discrepancy of Jessicas description of her killer.

She said, Eric set me on fire,  Palmer argued in court. She didnt say any other name, she didnt mention any other person. She said Eric did this to me.  She didnt know the persons last name. She knew Quinton. Quinton Tellis is his name.

He insisted this is not something he would do, Palmer said.

A 2015 memorial for Jessica Chambers at the site of her death in Courtland, Mississippi.

Help Me, Help Me, Help Me

Among Tuesdays five witnesses was Cole Haley, a former volunteer fire chief and one of the first responders who found Jessica burning. At times tearful, Haley described the teens condition, the Appeal reports.

When I got there, Jessica came towards me saying, Help me, help me, help me,  he recalled, according to WMC. Her hair was fried like she had stuck her finger in a socket. Her face was black, and she was burned all down her body.

There appeared to be a zombie coming out of the woods, Jody Morris, a volunteer firefighter, also reportedly testified. I know that sounds harsh, but thats what it looked like. Her hair was completely singed.

I laid her down on the ground and she reached out for my hand, Haley said. I held her hand.

Tellis was indicted in Chambers death in February 2016. His murder trial is expected to last up to two weeks, according to the Appeal. Prosecutors have reportedly said they will call approximately 35-40 witnesses.

If convicted, Tellis faces life in prison without parole.

In an unrelated case, he has been indicted for murder in the death of Meing-Chen Hsiao, a 34-year-old Taiwanese graduate student in Louisiana.

It was not immediately clear Wednesday if Tellis had pleaded in Hsiaos death. A trial date in Louisiana is pending the outcome of his trial in Mississippi.
UPDATE: The Academy has issued a statement, calling the allegations against Weinstein repugnant and abhorrent, as well as announcing an emergency meeting to determine his fate with the organization on Saturday, Oct. 14.

In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal, one of the biggest stories to ever rock Hollywood, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences may soon be forced to react in some way.

Could the group move to oust the disgraced movie mogul from the organization, as Tina Brown suggested Tuesday in a tweet? Growing lobby to kick Harvey out of Academy, she wrote. Honor the brave women who spoke and do it!

Or, might the Academy consider stripping Weinstein of the Oscar he personally won in 1999 as producer of best picture victor Shakespeare in Love?

No doubt to the organizations chagrin, Oscar season has become synonymous with Weinstein and his companys many nominations and wins stretching back decades for films that also include The English Patient, Chicago, The Kings Speech, and The Artist. He has been thanked dozens of times on Hollywoods biggest night, by everyone from Billy Bob Thornton to Ennio Morricone.

So far, theres is no evidence that the Academy is currently considering either taking away his honors or kicking him out. A rep for the Academy had no comment at this time.

If you consider his campaign tactics, Weinstein has been a thorn in the Academys side for decades. I would credit the whole existence of campaign regulations, in large part, to stuff he was initiating, one insider says. They were definitely responding to things he was doing.

In fact, Weinsteins Oscar for Shakespeare precipitated one rule shift nearly two decades ago. Five winning producers ascended the stairs of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage  too many, in the Academys view. So a rule (later loosened) that only three producers could be named on the best picture ballot was put into place. Many at the time also felt Weinstein was not a true producer of the film and had simply slapped his name on it in order to reap the Oscar.

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But what recourse would truly be available to the Academy, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year?

The Oscar statue Weinstein won is his property, but per Academy regulations, he cannot sell it to a third party without first offering to sell it back to the institution for one dollar. So there might be wiggle room. Even if the organization didnt take the physical Oscar, internally, it could expunge Weinsteins win and nominations for Shakespeare and for Gangs of New York from the record. That has certainly been done in the past for nominees and winners who violated rules and regulations.

Stripping his membership would be a viable move, particularly as there is no love lost between Weinstein and the Academy. Hes never been an insider with them, one member says. Theyve never really liked him.

At the same time, this is an organization that still counts Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski among its ranks. And the Academy has never really looked at any one members moral or criminal history, Im told. So if the banishment string is pulled, there will be others left dangling.

The British Academy suspended Weinstein Wednesday morning, calling his alleged behavior completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTAs values.

Weinstein is a member of the Academys executives branch. Reached Tuesday, branch governor Bill Mechanic said he had not heard of any such internal lobby. If theres a movement afoot it hasnt gotten to me, he said. Two others on the board said the same thing, however, other board members are reportedly considering it.

All of this would clearly be uncharted territory for the Academy, but the organization has waded into its share of bold new waters as of late. Not to mention, there are more women on the board now than ever. They could be quite vocal, joining a chorus that becomes more deafening with each new revelation about Weinstein.

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The Marchesa designer announced she was leaving her husband on Tuesday.

The myriad accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct leveled against Harvey Weinstein over the past week have made a serious impact on the embattled producer's estranged wife, Georgina Chapman.

A source close to Chapman tells ET that the fashion designer is "not doing well."

"She is very upset and feels defeated, the source says, adding, "She is not concerned about her own finances whatsoever."

Chapman announced in a statement on Tuesday that she plans on leaving Weinstein in the wake of the accusations, explaining, "My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband."

WATCH: Harvey Weinstein Accused of Three Decades of Alleged Sexual Harassment

ET's source said that Chapman "always knew [Weinstein] exhibited questionable behavior."

Chapman is currently living in New York City while her estranged husband has been residing in Los Angeles.

As for Weinstein, the source says, "He is feeling very desperate and he is struggling."

WATCH: Harvey Weinstein Entering a Treatment Facility for Sex Addiction, Source Says

TMZ reported on Wednesday that police were called to Weinstein's daughter's house after allegedly receiving a call from her claiming that her father was "suicidal and depressed."

The report stated that the producer and his daughter got into an argument and that Weinstein left her house before police arrived.

LAPD Public Information Officer Tony Im tells ET, "We did respond to the 500 block of North Kilkea drive at 10:37 this morning. It was a disturbance call. Nobody was arrested. There was no evidence of criminal activity."

Police could not confirm who had made the call.

WATCH: Cara Delevingne Describes Alleged Sexual Harassment by Harvey Weinstein, Claims He Tried to Kiss Her

In regards to the incident at Weinstein's daughter's house, a source tells ET that once he arrived, Weinstein believed paparazzi were outside her home and, in an attempt to protect his daughter's privacy, he left.

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The source says Weinstein's actions concerned his 22-year-old daughter, so she subsequently called the police out of concern for his wellbeing.

That being said, the source says, "Harvey was never suicidal," and upon the arrival of the police, the situation was properly explained and clarified.

"Harvey's heart is breaking for his children," a source tells ET.

WATCH: Gwyneth Paltrow & Angelina Jolie Claim Harvey Weinstein Sexually Harassed Them

On Tuesday, it was reported that Weinstein was planning on leaving the country to seek treatment for sex addiction at a live-in facility overseas. However, the source tells ET that his originally-planned trip was delayed due to "plane issues."

At this time, the source adds, Weinstein is no longer certain that he will be heading to Europe for rehab, but he remains in intensive therapy in L.A.

WATCH: Meryl Streep, Jessica Chastain & Others React to Harvey Weinstein Sexual Harassment Allegations

On Sunday, Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Company -- the independent film studio he co-founded with his brother, Bob Weinstein, in 2005 -- in light of the multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.

Since Monday, more women have gone on the record accusing Weinstein of sexual harassment and/or sexual assault, including actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevingne and Mira Sorvino, among others.

WATCH: TV Reporter Lauren Sivan Claims Harvey Weinstein Sexually Harassed Her in 2007

A spokesperson for Weinstein, Sallie Hofmeister, issued a statement in response to the allegations, and said Weinstein denies any allegations of non-consensual sex.

"Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances," the statement reads. "Mr. Weinstein obviously cant speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual. Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance."

For more on Chapman's decision to leave her husband, and the "massive support" she's gotten in response, watch the video below.

--Reporting by Rande Iaboni

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Stars have continued to come forward with stories about the producer, who is now being investigated by police in Los Angeles, New York and London.

Police in the U.K. are now investigating a sexual assault allegation against Harvey Weinstein, as a source tells ET Weinstein's team is still undecided about where he will go for treatment.

London's Metropolitan police tell ET that they've opened an investigation on Weinstein based on an allegation of sexual assault that was reported to Merseyside Police on Wednesday. The allegation comes after multiple women have gone on the record accusing the 65-year-old studio mogul of sexual harassment, following explosive reports by both The New York Times and The New Yorker.

The allegation will be assessed by officers from Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, the Metropolitan police said in a statement on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the New York Police Department also tells ET its conducting a review to determine if there are any additional complaints regarding Weinstein, though no filed complaints have been identified as of this time.

Kate Beckinsale Alleges Harvey Weinstein Sexually Harassed Her as a Teenager

ET has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department as well.

In a statement last Thursday, Weinstein's lawyer, Charles J. Harder, called the initial New York Times report claiming Weinstein has sexually harassed multiple women over three decades, "saturated with false and defamatory statements." He also said Weinstein and his team are planning to file a lawsuit, with any proceeds being donated to women's organizations.

In regard to The New Yorker article, in which multiple women accused the onetime top film executive of sexual harassment and/or sexual assault, Weinstein's spokesperson, Sallie Hofmeister, said in a statement, "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances... Mr. Weinstein obviously cant speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual. Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path."

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Everything You Need to Know About the Harvey Weinstein Scandal -- From the Accusations to the Fallout

Weinstein has since been fired from The Weinstein Company -- the independent film company he co-founded -- and a source told ET that he flew out of Los Angeles on Wednesday to receive treatment at The Meadows in Arizona. According to the source, Weinstein was planning to go to Switzerland for treatment, but his brother, Bob, suggested he go to The Meadows, which has treated multiple high-profile celebrities.

However, according to our source, Weinstein's private plane actually made a last-minute diversion to Scottsdale, Arizona, instead of landing in Wickenburg -- which is near The Meadows rehab center.

The source says that there is a continuing discussion within Weinsteins team about where he will officially receive his treatment, since the team is worried about information leaking from a live-in treatment facility. While the plan was originally to go to The Meadows, according to the source, there is potential for leaks since the center is such a popular treatment facility for celebrities.

The new plan is for Weinstein to receive treatment at a private Arizona residence that is isolated from the public eye," the source says, adding that therapists will come to the location and treat him in private one-on-one settings.



For more on the accusations against Weinstein, and how his estranged wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, is holding up, watch the video below:

-- Reporting by Rande Iaboni and Tracie De La Rosa

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Amid the sexual assault and harassment allegations surrounding Harvey Weinstein, the embattled producer this morning saw his BAFTA membership suspended. Now, he could lose another British distinction: the honorary CBE he received in 2004 in recognition of his contribution to the UK film industry.

A group of senior British Labour MPs has written to Prime Minister Theresa May, urging her to strip Weinstein of the Commander of the British Empire.

The letter describes the accusations against Weinstein as unacceptable and intolerable and says keeping the CBE in place risks bringing the honours system into disrepute.

The MPs wrote, These actions are unacceptable and intolerable. They were unacceptable in the 1960s, they are unacceptable now and they may well be criminal under US and UK law.

These revelations prove that Mr Weinstein has fallen far short of the standards we expect from recipients of a CBE. His continued membership runs the risk of bringing the honours system into disrepute and, moreover, sending the deeply troubling signal that our Government does not take womens voices or allegations of sexual harassment seriously.

We are therefore calling upon your Government to act urgently and strip Mr Weinstein of his honorary CBE.

RelatedHarvey Weinstein Lawyers Up Again, Adds Mel Gibson Attorney Blair Berk To Team

Mays spokesman, per The Independent, said today: The independent Honours Forfeiture Committee considers cases where the honours system has been brought into disrepute; their discussions are confidential. Its right that we let them get on with their work.

According to the Press Association, the letter has been signed by shadow industrial strategy minister Chi Onwurah, shadow minister for labour Jack Dromey, shadow secretary of state for women and equalities Dawn Butler, shadow arts and heritage minister Kevin Brennan and the head of the Womens Parliamentary Labour Party, Jess Phillips.

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Hillary Clinton released a statement regarding the allegations against campaign donor Harvey Weinstein  get the details

Hillary Clinton remained silent about Harvey Weinstein, until today.

I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein, Clinton wrote in a statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday, October 10. The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.

The disgraced movie mogul contributed $46,350 to Clinton during her presidential candidacy, according to The Associated Press.



Earlier on Tuesday, CNNs Alisyn Camerota asked Clintons former running mate Tim Kaine about why she had yet to speak out on the subject of Harvey Weinstein.

Im nobodys press secretary; Im a U.S. senator, Kaine replied. When pressed, he said: Any leader, any leader should condemn this . . . When you read the stories about young women feeling pressured by somebody in a position of power, it makes you sick.

As previously reported, Weinstein was fired from his company on Sunday, October 8, after The New York Times published a report detailing decades of sexual harassment claims against him, one in which was made by actress Ashley Judd.

Many celebrities have since condemned his actions, including Rose McGowan, George Clooney, Jennifer Lawrence, Seth Rogen, Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep.

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There are no zombies in sight, but the danger feels omnipresent for Walking Dead alum Jon Bernthal in the dark and brooding trailer for the new thriller, Sweet Virginia (watch exclusively above).

Bernthal, known for antagonistic roles in the AMC hit series and films like Baby Driver as well as the antihero Punisher on Netflixs Daredevil, plays Sam, a former rodeo star in small-town Alaska who unwittingly strikes up a relationship with Elwood (It Comes at Nights Christopher Abbott), a stranger who is responsible for a triple murder thats gripped the rural community.

(An earlier draft of the screenplay was set in Virginia, but while the setting moved, the films title remained intact.)

This is only gonna go one direction, Sam warns Elwood over the course of a tense diner sit-down. And hes not talking about the British pop band.

Directed by Jamie M. Dagg (River) from a script by The China Brothers, the film also stars Imogen Poots, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Odessa Young.

Sweet Virginia opens Nov. 17.

Read more on Yahoo Entertainment:
Justin Trudeau and Ivanka Trump reunited as seatmates for Fortunes Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday evening.

The first daughter and advisor to the president was all smiles as she enjoyed dinner with the Canadian prime minister and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau.

There, Trudeau  an avowed feminist who notably appointed a Cabinet with an equal number of men and women  gave remarks about making the workplace more equitable for women.

Now that we have a Cabinet, and a government, and quite frankly, a party with all these great, strong, young women, the challenge we have is, despite all their presence, were still very much in an old-fashioned mans game of politics, Trudeau said. And were having to look at how we change things in the workplace.

Ivanka also posted about the evening on her Instagram account, writing, Great night at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit dinner with Prime Minister Trudeau, Mme. Sophie Gregoire, Billie Jean King, Jewel and so many incredible women leaders. #FortuneMPW.

She posted several smiling shots of herself with the Trudeaus.

It wasnt the first time Trump and Trudeau spent time together.

During Trudeaus March visit to the U.S., the pair took in the Broadway show Come From Away at New York Citys Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. They were joined by Trudeaus wife and a number of other U.S. and Canadian government officials. (The musical focuses on residents of the Canadian island of Newfoundland, who welcomed passengers onboard 38 jumbo jets and four military flights after the U.S. closed its airspace following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.)

A month earlier, Trudeau had a roundtable meeting with Ivanka at the White House, where they created a womens business group, the United States Canada Council for the Advancement of Women Business Leaders-Female Entrepreneurs.

The task force is made up of female executives, including General Electric Canada CEO Elyse Allan, T&T Supermarket Inc. CEO Tina Lee, TransAlta Corp. CEO Dawn Farrell, and Linamar Corp. CEO Linda Hasenfratz.

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The first daughter, who did not yet have an official position in the Trump White House at the time, was an active participant in the meeting, and spoke of hoping to collaborate with task force members on confronting the challenges facing women in the workforce today.

She also said that Trudeau reached out to her father about working together on issues impacting women.

Things were friendly between President Trump and Trudeau during that visit, though theyve had a contentious relationship in the past. Trudeau has been a vocal critic of Trump, going back to the early days of his candidacy.

I dont think it comes as a surprise to anyone that I stand firmly against the politics of division, the politics of fear, the politics of intolerance or hateful rhetoric, Trudeau said at a 2016 town hall. If we allow politicians to succeed by scaring people, we dont actually end up any safer. Fear doesnt make us safer. It makes us weaker.




Kate Beckinsale is the latest actress to allege that Harvey Weinstein made unwanted sexual advances toward her.

On Thursday morning, Beckinsale posted a photo to Instagram of herself at a young age, and claimed in the caption that the Hollywood movie mogul sexually harassed her when she was a teenager.

(Photo: Kate Beckinsale via Instagram)

"I was called to meet Harvey Weinstein at the Savoy Hotel when I was 17. I assumed it would be in a conference room which was very common.When I arrived, reception told me to go to his room," she wrote. "He opened the door in his bathrobe. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him."

MORE: Everything You Need to Know About the Harvey Weinstein Scandal -- From the Accusations to the Fallout

"After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning, I left uneasy but unscathed," Beckinsale continued. "A few years later, he asked me if he had tried anything with me in that first meeting. I realized he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not."

The 44-year-old actress said over the course of her career she repeatedly refused to work with Weinstein, and while she stands by that decision, she said it "undoubtedly harmed" her professionally.

Kate Beckinsale Alleges Harvey Weinstein Sexually Harassed Her as a Teenager

"I said 'no' to him professionally many times over the years -- some of which ended up with him screaming at me, calling me a c**t and making threats," she wrote. "Some of which made him laughingly tell people, 'Oh, Kate lives to say no to me.'"

Beckinsale praised all the other women who have shared similar stories of allegedly being sexually harassed by Weinstein, and hopes that gone are the days when "producers, managers, executives and assistants" can say, "'Well, that's just Harvey.'"

"Let's stop allowing our young women to be sexual cannon fodder," she concluded her post. "And let's remember that Harvey is an emblem of a system that is sick, and that we have work to do."

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WATCH: Cara Delevingne Describes Alleged Sexual Harassment by Harvey Weinstein, Claims He Tried to Kiss Her

Beckinsale's allegations against Weinstein comes just days after both Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie claimed they too were sexually harassed by the movie producer.

Paltrow told The New York Times that when she was 22, Weinstein summoned her to a suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for a work meeting, which ended with him allegedly placing his hands on her and suggesting they head to the bedroom for massages.

"I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified," Paltrow said.

In a statement to the Times on Tuesday, Weinstein's spokesperson, Sallie Hofmeister said: Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. He will not be available for further comments, as he is taking the time to focus on his family, on getting counseling and rebuilding his life.

Here's more of Paltrow's story:

Watch Entertainment Tonight on Yahoo View.
The actress took to Instagram on Tuesday to ask people to 'stand up' for the embattled producer.

Lindsay Lohan is standing up for Harvey Weinstein.

The actress took to her Instagram story on Tuesday to share her thoughts on the sexual harassment allegations that have surfaced against the embattled producer over the last week.

"I feel very bad for Harvey Weinstein right now," said Lohan -- who is currently living in Dubai -- in the first of two since-deleted videos. "I don't think it's right what's going on."

In the second video she posted, Lohan doubled down on her support for the producer by adding an angel emoji below the word "Harvey."

WATCH: Gwyneth Paltrow & Angelina Jolie Claim Harvey Weinstein Sexually Harassed Them

She also said that Weinstein's estranged wife, Georgina Chapman, should defend him as well.

"I think Georgina needs to take a stand and be there for her husband," Lohan said. Chapman announced on Tuesday that she plans on leaving Weinstein in the wake of the scandal.

"He's never harmed me or done anything wrong to me, and we've done several movies together," the 31-year-old actress continued. "So I think everyone needs to stop. I think it's wrong. So stand up."

WATCH: Lindsay Lohan Claims She Was 'Racially Profiled' for Wearing a Headscarf at London Airport

In a statement to ET on Wednesday, Lohan said she was "saddened" to hear about the allegations against Weinstein.

"I am saddened to hear about the allegations against my former colleague Harvey Weinstein," the statement reads. " As someone who has lived their life in the public eye, I feel that allegations should always be made to the authorities and not played out in the media. I encourage all women who believe Harvey harmed them to report their experiences to the relevant authorities."

Lohan has been one of the only celebrities to come out in support of Weinstein, who is at the center of a massive sexual misconduct scandal with accusations of sexual harassment and assault that stretch back over three decades.

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A score of Hollywood stars have come forth to condemn Weinstein, while many actresses have presented their own allegations of sexual harassment against the producer, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Rose McGowan, Mira Sorvino, Rosanna Arquette and numerous others.

WATCH: Harvey Weinstein's Wife Georgina Chapman Leaving Him Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations

A source tells ET that the embattled movie mogul will soon be entering a live-in treatment facility for sex addition. The facility is located out of the country, and the source says he is expected to leave as early as Tuesday night.

For more on the ongoing controversy surrounding Weinstein, watch the video below.

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Peek-a-boo! Where are you, baby bump?

Khloe Kardashian, who is expecting her first child with boyfriend Tristan Thompson, was spotted out in Los Angeles on Tuesday, but kept her belly covered with loose-fitting clothes  much to the disappointment of fans impatiently waiting to see the star with a baby bump.

The 33-year-old Keeping Up with the Kardashiansstar was seen leaving a studio carrying a handbag and what appeared to be several jackets.

Kardashians best friend, Malika Haqq, was along for the outing and was all smiles in a black, skin-tight dress with a matching jacket.

Although Kardashian has kept any physical signs of pregnancy under wraps, she recently hinted that a baby bump reveal may be in the near future.

In a recent post on her Instagram account, Kardashian is shown modeling a leather-like tight denim mini skirt and matching peplum top from her Good American brand. Fans quickly began to comment that they could see a baby bump, and the star was sure to shut the speculation down  but not without leaving the social media users with a bit of hope.

Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter.

This is a peplum shirt. It [flares] out at the bottom. Its just the way the shirt is designed, she commented on the post. In some of the next pictures coming up from the SAME shoot, Im in a crop top. Showing a lot of skin  

PEOPLE learned in September that Kardashian, 33, and Thompson, 26, are expecting a baby.

Khloe Kardashian Is Pregnant! Revealed Days After Kylie Jenners Big Baby News

Yes, Khloe and Tristan are expecting and they are absolutely thrilled, a source told PEOPLE at the time. This isnt something they were in a rush to announce to the whole world, and its only been in just the past week or so that theyve felt comfortable telling most of their inner circle.

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Kardashian and Thompson have been dating since September 2016

The pregnancy news came just four days after PEOPLE confirmed that Kardashians sister Kylie Jenner is expecting her first child, a daughter.

Related Video:
The set of Morning Joe took a break from what has become the week of Harvey Weinstein to dedicate some time to an NBC scoop that President Donald Trump had requested a 10-fold increase in the U.S. nuclear stockpile over the summer (around the time of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly called him a moron.)

Scarborough  a consistent and vocal critic of the president  went further than usual this morning, even floating the idea of removing Trump from office via the 25th amendment of the Constitution.

Theres something called the 25th amendment that theyre going to have to start looking at, said Scarborough. This is not acceptable as the status quo. We have the most powerful Republican on Capitol Hill saying the president of the United States could be leading us toward nuclear war, and Republican senators remain silent.

Also Read: 'Morning Joe' Blasts 'SNL' and Lorne Michaels: 'People Have to Stop Protecting Harvey Weinstein'

Earlier this week, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) told the New York Times that he was worried about Trump leading to U.S. towards such a conflict.

For anyone wondering, the 25th Amendment provides a legal mechanism for removing a president if they are unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Many  including The New York Times  have floated the idea of using the amendment as a way to remove Trump from office.

A lot of people, among our allies in particular, are quite nervous that the president could lead us, perhaps accidentally, into some type of military conflict, said show regular Julie Pace.

Scarborough said GOP lawmakers should act to limit the presidents ability to unilaterally start nuclear conflict.

At what point do they step forward as a delegation and do what Barry Goldwater did when he went over to the White House in 1974 and told Richard Nixon it was over, he said.

They dont have to go over and tell Donald Trump that it is over, he continued. But a delegation of Republicans need to go over the white house and tell the president either you assure us that the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the United States Senate is wrong or we are going to take immediate action to limit your ability to launch nuclear weapons.

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Related stories from TheWrap:

'Morning Joe' Blasts 'SNL' and Lorne Michaels: 'People Have to Stop Protecting Harvey Weinstein'

'Morning Joe' Rips 'Sleazebag' Harvey Weinstein, Dems Who Took His Money: 'Where Is Hillary Clinton?'

'Morning Joe' Buries Harvey Weinstein Bombshell in Show's Closing Minutes

'Morning Joe' Compares Trump to Mao, Stalin and Kim: 'We're in the Dear Leader Phase' (Video)
Harvey Weinstein is spotted at Hotel Martinez during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival, May 19, 2017. (Photo by Jacopo Raule/GC Images)

Harvey Weinstein is pushing pause on his life as he reportedly seeks treatment for sex addiction, but the scandal surrounding him continues to blow up.

On Wednesday, the disgraced movie mogul  who has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women spanning several decades  flew by private plane to Arizona, according to TMZ. The website reports that hes getting treatment in the Scottsdale area, but he has yet to check in. It capped off another another eventful day for the former honcho of the Weinstein Co. Earlier, he had a dispute with his daughter Remy at her L.A. home, which drew the LAPD. He gave photographers the finger outside his attorneys office. He also spoke out to the press via a statement to Page Six (in which he described himself as profoundly devastated. I have lost my wife and kids, whom I love more than anything else), as well as a TMZ videographer (he said hes not doing OK but was hoping for a second chance, adding, We all make mistakes).

New police investigations

The news hasnt stopped, however. On the heels of the Manhattan D.A.s urging more Weinstein victims to come forward, the NYPD has launched a criminal investigation into the movie exec stemming from an assault allegation in 2004. No details were given, but the New Yorker investigative piece that came out on Wednesday  the same day Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie told the New York Times they were victims of Weinsteins harassment  Lucia Stoller, who now goes by Lucia Evans, told the magazine that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex in 2004. (A spokesperson for Weinstein issued a strong denial to the magazine, saying, Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.)

Shortly after that, the Guardian newspaper reported that there is also an investigation into Weinstein for alleged sexual offenses in the U.K. A spokesman for Londons Metropolitan Police told Reuters: The Metropolitan Police Service was passed an allegation of sexual assault by Merseyside Police on Wednesday, 11 October. The allegation will be assessed by officers from the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command. The spokesman said police wont identify the person involved.

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New accusers coming forward

On Thursday, Kate Beckinsale came forward claiming Weinstein acted inappropriately with her when she was a teenager. It follows the same story as many of the other women: She says she had a meeting with him in a hotel, he greeted her in a bathrobe, and  despite her being 17  he offered her alcohol. She said she left the meeting unscathed. Oddly, a few years later he asked me if he had tried anything with me in that first meeting, she recalled. I realized he couldnt remember if he had assaulted me or not. Meanwhile, Bond girl Lea Seydoux also shared her story publicly for the first time of having to fight off advances from the Hollywood producer in a Paris hotel room. We were talking on the sofa when he suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me, she told the Guardian. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. He tried more than once. I pushed him physically. I think he respected me because I resisted him.

Rose McGowan (briefly) silenced on social media

The actress, who has said that Weinstein sexually harassed her 20 years ago (the New York Times original story noted she reached a $100,00 settlement with the studio exec), has been using social media to speak out against him, his brother (and Weinstein Co. exec) Bob Weinstein, Ben Affleck, and others. One of her tweets, which included a private phone number, led to Twitters suspending her account for 12 hours. However, by Thursday she was back in business after said tweet was deleted. Of the suspension, McGowan wrote, THERE ARE POWERFUL FORCES AT WORK.

TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED ME. THERE ARE POWERFUL FORCES AT WORK. BE MY VOICE. #ROSEARMY #whywomendontreport A post shared by Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) on Oct 11, 2017 at 9:19pm PDT

Jane Fonda says she knew

The actress and activist was not at all surprised when the allegations about Harvey Weinstein came out. I found out about Harvey about a year ago, and Im ashamed that I didnt say anything right then, Fonda told CNNs Christiane Amanpour in an interview set to air Thursday. She said she didnt speak out because it hadnt happened directly to her, but she heard about Weinsteins inappropriate behavior from one of his accusers, Rosanna Arquette. I only met Harvey when I was old and Harvey goes for young, because thats more vulnerable, you know, Fonda said.

However, Fonda recounted that when she was 20, a director suggested she have sex with him  for the movie, of course. He said, In the movie your character has to have an orgasm and I really need to know what kind of orgasms you have, she told CNN. And so he wanted me to sleep with him.

The latest on Mrs. Weinstein

Georgina Chapman, Weinsteins second wife and the Marchesa designer, who announced days ago that she was leaving him, has reportedly reached out to Huma Abedin, the soon-to-be ex-wife of convicted sex offender Anthony Weiner, according to Page Six. Meanwhile, Weinstein told the New York Posts gossip columnist that in addition to being profoundly devastated over the scandal and losing his wife, I fully support her decision. I didnt stand in Georginas way when we discussed a separation, I encouraged her to do what was in her heart. I know she has to do what is best for the children, for herself and her business, she employs 130 people. I dont want her or my children to be hurt any more than they already have. I truly love Georgina, and I hope one day we can reconcile, although right now I dont know if that could possibly happen.

The Ben Affleck factor

Affleck, who said he had no idea his good pal Weinstein had been acting inappropriately, has been dragged into the scandal. On Thursday, Hilarie Burton reminded everyone that the actor had groped her years ago on TRL, which he apologized for. But that opened the floodgates. An old interview he did, in which he got handsy with a Canadian reporter, started circulating, but she came to his defense, saying it was out of context. However, makeup artist Annamarie Tendler, who is the wife of comedian John Mulaney, made a new claim that Affleck groped her at a Hollywood party in 2014, saying she was seeking an apology as well.

Jason Momoa backlash

Someone not attached to Weinstein is now being dragged on the internet as well. Aquaman star Jason Momoa started trending on Twitter Thursday when an old clip of him making a really bad joke about rape, while sitting on a panel with his then-Game of Thrones co-stars, was recirculated.

tw: rape a horrific clip of jason momoa saying he loved working on #gameofthrones bc he "got to rape beautiful women." men are trash. pic.twitter.com/K2RBmsWEt6  elizabeth (@peeanofreek) October 12, 2017

Something else being recirculated today is an old clip of Paltrow, one of Weinsteins many accusers, from 1998 in an interview with David Letterman on the Late Show. During the bit, she called Weinstein a coercer.

Sharing stories of similar misconduct

The bright spot in all this is how the Weinstein scandal has encouraged so many women  and men  to speak out about harassment theyve endured. James Van Der Beek, of Dawsons Creek fame, revealed that he had his ass grabbed by older, powerful men. Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood made a 15-minute video explaining why she cannot name the powerful, entitled, rich, narcissistic white men who raped her. Jamie Lee Curtis called Weinstein a brutish thug in a personal essay that shared her own sexual harassment story.

And we suspect these types of stories will keep coming.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
EXCLUSIVE: Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez who had long been in business with Miramax and was in a relationship with actress Rose McGowan who says she was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein in 1997 is now speaking up.

I find the behavior of Harvey Weinstein truly disgusting, both what he did and how he covered his tracks, and it makes me wonder how many others cant come forward and tell their full story because of legal and personal intimidation, Rodriguez said in a statement to Deadline. His repulsive behavior was an abuse of power. Thankfully, hes now discovering what true power is.

McGowans encounter with Weinstein happened during what The New York Times reported was an episode in a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival. She was paid a reported $100K at the time to settle out with Weinstein.

Rodriguez has a long history with the Weinsteins and Miramax as they churned out a number of films including Roadracers, Four Rooms, From Dusk Til Dawn, The Faculty, the Spy Kids series, Grindhouse, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sin City and From Dusk Til Dawn television series.

Related stories

NYPD, London Police Review Complaints Against Harvey Weinstein

UTA Chief Jeremy Zimmer Addresses Harvey Weinstein, Sexual Harassment In Internal Memo

James Van Der Beek Says He Was Harassed As Younger Actor
On Tuesday morning, The New Yorker published an in-depth report on Harvey Weinstein. And it describes new sexual assault allegations against him that go much further than what the New York Times published in last week's expose.

The New Yorker piece, the result of a 10-month investigation, is written by Ronan Farrow (son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen) and outlines the stories of 13 women who have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault. Three women allege that they were raped by the film producer, according to the publication.

Multiple women who spoke out said that they feared sharing their stories earlier because their careers and reputations were threatened by Weinstein, the report outlined.

VIDEO: Meryl Streep Calls Out Harvey Weinstein in Statement About Sexual Harassment Allegations

Four actresses, including Mira Sorvino and Rosanna Arquette, told me they suspected that, after they rejected Weinsteins advances or complained about them to company representatives, Weinstein had them removed from projects or dissuaded people from hiring them, Farrow writes. "Multiple sources said that Weinstein frequently bragged about planting items in media outlets about those who spoke against him; these sources feared that they might be similarly targeted."

Read on for disturbing new details unearthed by The New Yorkers investigation.

1. Weinstein has been accused of rape by three women.

Asia Argento and Lucia Evans are two of the women who have accused Weinstein of forcing oral and/or vaginal sex on them. Argento describes an experience from 1997, when she was a 21-year-old rising actress, when she agreed to attend a Miramax party in France and was led to a hotel room for it:

When the producer led her upstairs that evening, she said, there was no partyonly a hotel room, empty but for Weinstein: Im, like, Where is the fucking party?  She recalled the producer telling her, Oh, we got here too early, before he left her alone with Weinstein. (The producer denies bringing Argento to the room that night.) At first, Weinstein was solicitous, praising her work. Then he left the room. When he returned, he was wearing a bathrobe and holding a bottle of lotion. He asks me to give a massage.

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Argento said that, after she reluctantly agreed to give Weinstein a massage, he pulled her skirt up, forced her legs apart, and performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop. Weinstein terrified me, and he was so big, she said. It wouldnt stop. It was a nightmare.

Farrow describes what Evans said about an experience at the Miramax's New York City office in 2004 from when she was a senior in college:

In the meeting, Evans recalled, he immediately was simultaneously flattering me and demeaning me and making me feel bad about myself. Weinstein told her that shed be great in Project Runway the show, which Weinstein helped produce, premiered later that yearbut only if she lost weight. He also told her about two scripts, a horror movie and a teen love story, and said one of his associates would discuss them with her.

At that point, after that, is when he assaulted me, Evans said. He forced me to perform oral sex on him. As she objected, Weinstein took his penis out of his pants and pulled her head down onto it. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont,  she said. I tried to get away, but maybe I didnt try hard enough. I didnt want to kick him or fight him. In the end, she said, Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. At a certain point, she said, I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault.

RELATED: George Clooney Slams Harvey Weinstein

2. Even more women have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment.

Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino, who starred in several of Weinsteins films, has accused the former film executive of trying to pressure her into a physical relationship.

She said that, at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, 1995, she found herself in a hotel room with Weinstein, who produced the movie she was there to promote, Mighty Aphrodite, for which she later won an Academy Award. He started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around, she recalled.

3. The police formally investigated Weinstein for groping Ambra Battilana Gutierrez.

The New York Police Department Special Victims Divisions investigated Gutierrezs claims against Weinstein in 2015, when she reported an assault and described him as having lunged at her, groping her breasts and attempting to put a hand up her skirt while she protested. Gutierrez wore a wire that recorded Weinstein's response to a question of why he touched her chest with Im used to that, and I wont do it again. The New Yorker even published the audio from the conversation. In the end, the Manhattan District Attorneys office decided not to file charges against Weinstein.

RELATED: Harvey Weinstein Fired from Weinstein Co. Amid Harassment Allegations

4. Weinsteins behavior was reportedly well known within both Miramax and The Weinstein Company.

Sixteen former and current executives and assistants at Weinsteins companies told me that they witnessed or had knowledge of unwanted sexual advances and touching at events associated with Weinsteins films and in the workplace. They and others describe a pattern of professional meetings that were little more than thin pretexts for sexual advances on young actresses and models. All sixteen said that the behavior was widely known within both Miramax and the Weinstein Company. Messages sent by Irwin Reiter, a senior company executive, to Emily Nestor, one of the women who alleged that she was harassed at the company, described the mistreatment of women as a serial problem that the Weinstein Company was struggling with in recent years. Other employees described what was, in essence, a culture of complicity at Weinsteins places of business, with numerous people throughout the companies fully aware of his behavior but either abetting it or looking the other way. Some employees said that they were enlisted in subterfuge to make the victims feel safe. A female executive with the company described how Weinstein assistants and others served as a honeypotthey would initially join a meeting, but then Weinstein would dismiss them, leaving him alone with the woman.

5. Weinstein reportedly bragged about not drugging women like Bill Cosby.

Emily Nestor, a temporary front-desk assistant at The Weinstein Company in 2014, accused Weinstein of sexual harassment.

In Nestors account of the exchange, Weinstein said, Oh, the girls always say no. You know, No, no. And then they have a beer or two and then theyre throwing themselves at me. In a tone that Nestor described as very weirdly proud, Weinstein added, that hed never had to do anything like Bill Cosby. She assumed that he meant hed never drugged a woman. Its just a bizarre thing to be so proud of, she said. That youve never had to resort to doing that. It was just so far removed from reality and normal rules of consent.

6. Weinstein's teams have reportedly escalated attempts to suppress harassment and assault allegations as of late.

Weinstein and his legal and public-relations teams have conducted a decades-long campaign to suppress these stories. In recent months, that campaign escalated. Weinstein and his associates began calling many of the women in this story. Weinstein asked Argento to meet with a private investigator and give testimony on his behalf. One actress who initially spoke to me on the record later asked that her allegation be removed. Im so sorry, she wrote. The legal angle is coming at me and I have no recourse. Weinstein and his legal team have threatened to sue multiple media outlets, including The New York Times.

7. A spokesperson for Weinstein, Sallie Hofmeister, gave a statement to The New Yorker in response to the article's allegations.

It reads in full: "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. Mr. Weinstein obviously cant speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual. Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance."
Harvey Weinstein

Over a 10-month investigation, Ronan Farrow interviewed 13 women who claim that film executive Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them between the 1990s and 2015.

His story for The New Yorker published October 10, 2017 revealed detailed accounts of decades of assault that Farrow claims has been an open secret to many in Hollywood and beyond.

Previous attempts by many publications, including The New Yorker, to investigate and publish the story over the years fell short of the demands of journalistic evidence, Farrow writes."Too few people were willing to speak, much less allow a reporter to use their names, and Weinstein and his associates used nondisclosure agreements, monetary payoffs, and legal threats to suppress these myriad stories.

RELATED: The 5 Most Disturbing Details About Harvey Weinstein's Sexual Harassment Allegations And His 'Code Of Silence'

One of those suppressions was rumored to have been made by none other than Matt Damon and Russell Crowe, who reportedly called Sharon Waxman before her story about Weinsteins sexual-harassment allegations ran in The New York Times.

Waxman, who went on to found the Hollywood-focused website The Wrap, claims The New York Times gutted an article she wrote in 2004 after receiving pressure from Hollywood A-listers and Weinstein, whose company was one of the papers big advertisers.

The Times Executive Editor Dean Banquet denied Waxmans claim and said the story was edited because it was largely an off-the-record account from one woman.

Farrow, who is the son of actress Mia Farrow and director Woody Allen, published his article following The New York Times report that came out last week saying Weinstein had settled sexual harassment lawsuits with at least 8 women.

Before that story ran, Weinstein apparently sent an email to top Hollywood CEOs and entrepreneurs for their support right before he was fired from his film studio.

A media strategist for The Hollywood Reporter Billboard Media Group posted the email on Twitter.

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JUST IN: Weinstein's desperate email to Hwood CEOs, moguls hours before his firing. Read to me by a disgusted (male) recipient pic.twitter.com/wQA64WcKf7  Janice Min (@janicemin) October 9, 2017

My board is thinking of firing me, he wrote. "All Im asking is let me take a leave of absence and get into heavy therapy and counseling. Whether it be in a facility or somewhere else, allow me to resurrect myself with a second chance. A lot of the allegations are false as you know but given therapy and counseling as other people have done, I think Id be able to get there. I could really use your support or just your honesty if you cant support me.

Here are 8 of the most disturbing allegations of Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault and abuse (so far):

1. Gwenyth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie claim Weinstein harassed them too.

New York Times

The New York Times reported that when Gwyneth Paltrow was 22 years old  and up for a role that would eventually launch her career  Weinstein put his hands on her during a meeting and suggested they go into the bedroom for a massage.

She refused, and told her boyfriend at the time, Brad Pitt, what happened. He called Weinstein and confronted him, and soon after, Weinstein warned her not to tell anyone else about the incident.

"I thought he was going to fire me," she said.

Angelina Jolie said in the late 1990s he made unwanted advances on her in her hotel room, which she rejected.

I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did, Ms. Jolie said in an email. This behavior towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable.

2. He admitted on tape to groping a model.

Watch this video on The Scene.

Farrow found audio evidence of Weinstein that was captured during a sting operation by the New York Police Department in 2015. In it, he admits to groping Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, a Filipina-Italian model.

He also described it as behavior hes used to doing. Gutierrez told police Weinstein lunged at her, groped her breast and went to put his hand up her skirt though she protested. He finally backed off and said his assistant would give her tickets to "Finding Neverland."

3. Actress and director Asia Aregento claimed he forcibly performed oral sex on her.

People

Asia Aregento, an actress and director, said Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her after she agreed to give him a massage. "He pulled her skirt up, forced her legs apart, and performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop, Farrow writes. "Weinstein 'terrified me, and he was so big,' she said. 'It wouldnt stop. It was a nightmare.

4. Many of his colleagues knew of his behavior.

We must believe women who, often at great risk, expose harassment. Those who spoke out about Harvey Weinstein have shown real courage.  Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) October 10, 2017

Sixteen former and current executives and assistants at his companies told Farrow they were aware of Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances. A few had even witnessed it.

RELATED: 6 Disturbing Details About The Louis C.K. Sexual Assault Allegations

5. Four actresses who rejected Weinstein faced career obstacles.

Page Six

Mira Sorvino, Rosanna Arquette and others said that after they said no to his advances or complained about his behavior, they were pulled off projects.

6. Lucia Evans claimed Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him.

The Wrap

During a meeting where he told her shed be great on Project Runway if she lost some weight, he pulled out his penis and pulled her head down to it. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont, she said. I tried to get away, but maybe I didnt try hard enough. I didnt want to kick him or fight him.

Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. At a certain point, she said, I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault.

7. One of Weinsteins former assistants described a meeting with him as the most excruciating and uncomfortable hour of my life.

To the women who spoke out in @RonanFarrow's New Yorker piece on Harvey Weinstein, we thank you for your courage + bravery. You are heroes.  Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) October 10, 2017

Emily Nestor said Weinstein asked her to be his girlfriend, and when she said no, he replied: "Oh, the girls always say no. You know, No, no. And then they have a beer or two and then theyre throwing themselves at me.

He also said he never had to do anything like Bill Cosby.

8. He exposed himself to a French actress.

French actress Emma de Caunes said when she was on the phone, Weinstein turned on the shower, and then came out naked and with an erection.

He demanded she lie on the bed and told her other women had done so before.

9. He used female employees to make other women feel safe being alone with him.

Men/boys, read this. The problem is cultural and institutional and personal and ours. Look outward and inward. https://t.co/DSwcIZLROJ  Bo Burnham (@boburnham) October 10, 2017

One female executive said: It almost felt like the executive or assistant was made to be a honeypot to lure these women in, to make them feel safe."

"Then he would dismiss the executive or the assistant, and then these women were alone with him. And that did not feel like it was appropriate behavior or safe behavior.

RELATED: A Response To The Sexual Assault Allegations From Harvey Weinstein's White Robe

Keywords: Angelina Jolie, crime, Gwyneth paltrow, Hollywood, Matt Damon, sexual assault, sexual harassment, harvey weinstein

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Victoria Beckham wearing the Victoria t-shirt in August - GC Images

Victoria Beckham may have become renowned for experimenting with tricky trends and translating them into looks which actually seem wearable- think wide-legged trousers, 'off' colours or oversized silhouettes- but her latest style staple is the decidedly simple white t-shirt.

As she flitted from London to New York finalising her SS18 collection and launching the next iteration of her collaboration with Estee Lauder in September, a slightly slouchy, boyish-cut t-shirt became Beckham's go-to piece. She paired it with relaxed trousers, 80s-inflected blazers and several styles of vintage jeans. In short, she showed that when in doubt, a white tee is the basic we all need in our wardrobes.

Victoria Beckham wearing her new favourite white t-shirt Credit: GC

But of course, being the perfectionist that she is, Beckham's new obsession wasn't just directed at any old white t-shirt. No, it turned out that she had fixated on creating her own perfect version as part of her Victoria, Victoria Beckham collection.

I hate tees which are droopy around the neck, it needs to be boxy and masculine but not too long in the body," Beckham mused as she launched her latest VVB collection during LFW. "It should be so easy and simple to find but as someone who wanted that, I couldnt find it.

Today, the very t-shirt which Beckham lovingly created - and which comes with her VB initials subtly embroidered in graphic white font on the sleeve- is available to buy at VictoriaBeckham.com, priced at a pleasingly affordable 90.

Victoria Beckham in another look built around her 90 t-shirt Credit: GC

The 'Victoria' tee is described as a "white T-shirt is made from soft white cotton jersey in a boyfriend tee cut, with loose-fit sleeves and a neat crew neck." Take note especially of the longer length sleeves which hit a little above the elbow leaving only the slimmest part of your arm on show. Beckham also noted that it's not so short that you can't tuck it in, but also not so long that it bunches up inside your trousers/ skirt.

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Victoria Beckham's chicest looks

I dont have time to think about what Im wearing," Beckham told The Telegraph. "Im spending so much time focussing on the collection that the last thing I want to think about is what Im wearing, so its like a uniform.

Whether you layer yours underneath a cardigan, use it to pare back a ladylike skirt or keep it simple with jeans, the Victoria t-shirt could become the wardrobe staple you probably always knew you needed, but never quite got round to nailing- until Beckham did the hard work for you.
'I applaud everybody speaking out': James Van Der Beek in September - Getty Images North America

Dawson's Creek actor James Van Der Beek has added his voice to the plethora of accounts of sexual assault in Hollywood.

Van Der Beek, 40, defended famous victims for not coming forward about their assault sooner, adding that he had felt silenced after his experiences as a young star.

On Wednesday night US time, Van Der Beek posted a series of comments on Twitter:

For anyone judging the women who stayed silent, read this for perspective. Also for anyone brushing off harassment as boys being boys. https://t.co/UX9xWxpn2K

 James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017

What Weinstein is being accused of is criminal. What hes admitted to is unacceptable - in any industry. I applaud everybody speaking out.

 James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017

Ive had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men, Ive had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when I was much younger...

 James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017

I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness & inability to blow the whistle. Theres a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome

 James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017

Also... never met a local in Sonoma or Napa I didnt like. Heart goes out to that community and prayers for safety for the firefighters.

 James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017

Van Der Beek broke into the industry when he was 20, taking on the title role in hit teen series Dawson's Creek, before being cast in films including Rules of Attraction.

He is among a number of stars who have been sharing their stories of assault on social media in the wake of allegations that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein assaulted and raped dozens of women over a three-decade period.

Related Video:
Victoria Beckham is still grappling with the fact that her eldest son, Brooklyn Beckham, is on his own in the busy, yet beautiful streets of New York City.

On Wednesday night, she couldn't help but show the Parsons School of Design student some love in a sweet Instagram video. In the short and grainy, black-and-white clip, the duo share a warm embrace.

"I love u so much @brooklynbeckham x kisses from NYC x," she captioned the adorable video.

I love u so much @brooklynbeckham x kisses from NYC x A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Oct 11, 2017 at 2:34pm PDT

Velcro rollers ?? coffee ?? ?? X VB A post shared by Victoria Beckham (@victoriabeckham) on Oct 11, 2017 at 1:00am PDT

"I'm still crying," Beckham affirmed in a Pixiwoo interview last month. "Brooklyn's moved to New York, he's 18, and I haven't stopped crying. I miss him so much, so much."

RELATED: Victoria Beckham Hasn't Stopped Crying Since Brooklyn Left for College

Brooklyn Beckham has so much love surrounding him with such a caring family. We know the holidays will be huge for the Beckhams this year, as the burgeoning photographer makes his first trip home from college.
(Credit: Rex Features)

Matt Damon has become embroiled in the growing sexual harassment scandal surrounding Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Its claimed that he and Russell Crowe both helped in getting a previous story about Weinsteins sexually inappropriate behaviour spiked.

Sharon Waxman, who founded the movie business website The Wrap, has said that she wrote a story about Weinsteins conduct in 2004 when she worked at the New York Times, but that it was eventually gutted of the sexual allegations, re-angled and then buried in the newspapers culture section.

The story revolved around an executive called Fabrizio Lombardo, who headed up the Italian outpost of Miramax  which had been bought by Disney in 1993  between 2003 and 2004, and was paid $400,000 for less than a years employment for the company.

Waxman claims her sources told her that Lambardo had no experience whatsoever working in the movie business, but his real job was to take care of Weinsteins women needs, which is said to have included organising Russian escorts.

She adds that she spoke directly to one terrified women in London who had been paid off after an encounter with Weinstein, and forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Waxman said that she was called on the phone in person by both Matt Damon and Russell Crowe, who vouched for Lombardos credentials.

In a stinging editorial, she added: I was told at the time that Weinstein had visited the newsroom in person to make his displeasure known. I knew he was a major advertiser in the Times, and that he was a powerful person overall.

But I had the facts, and this was the Times. Right?

Wrong. The story was stripped of any reference to sexual favors or coercion and buried on the inside of the Culture section, an obscure story about Miramax firing an Italian executive. Who cared?

Waxman said that she tried to argue her case, but was asked why the story mattered considering Weinstein was not a publicly elected official.

Story continues

I explained, to no avail, that a public company would certainly have a problem with a procurer on the payroll for hundreds of thousands of dollars. At the time, Disney told me they had no idea Lombardo existed, she added.

Neither Damon or Crowe has yet to comment on this specific matter, or the mounting allegations against the producer, but Damons relationship with Weinstein goes back to the late 90s.

Weinstein gave Damon and Ben Affleck their big break after Kevin Smith, who had directed Affleck in Chasing Amy, passed their script for Good Will Hunting to Miramax, who then scooped it up and turned it into an Oscar-winning movie.

Smith has made his feelings known, however.

He financed the first 14 years of my career  and now I know while I was profiting, others were in terrible pain. It makes me feel ashamed. https://t.co/T0hInW7EqJ  KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) October 9, 2017

Weinstein has been accused of numerous instances of sexual harassment dating back nearly three decades, following an expose by the New York Times.

He has since been fired from The Weinstein Company.

Read more

Harvey Weinstein dismissed from his own company

New Star Wars trailer coming this week

The sexual politics of Blade Runner 2049




Ten suspects face charges of hazing in the death of Louisiana State University freshman Maxwell Gruver, authorities announced Wednesday.

The LSU Police Department has issued arrest warrants for the 10 suspects, one of whom will also be charged with negligent homicide, according to a university statement. Eight of the suspects are LSU students and were active members of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, the Associated Press reported.

Gruver, an 18-year-old who was pledging Phi Delta Theta, died Sept. 14. Hospital tests showed he had a highly elevated blood alcohol level, and preliminary autopsy results revealed swelling in his brain and lungs.

Todays arrests underscore that the ramifications of hazing can be devastating. Maxwell Gruvers family will mourn his loss for the rest of their lives, and several other students are now facing serious consequences  all due to a series of poor decisions, LSU President F. King Alexander said in a statement on Wednesday. We are all in this together. Affecting real change requires students, faculty, staff, administration and alumni engagement.

Alexander suspended Greek activities indefinitely during the investigation.
Travelers may automatically think of Salt Lake City when considering a visit to Utah. However, if spectacular scenery, cozy eateries and rich history are your travel goals, then Provo deserves a spot on your itinerary, too. Set in the verdant Utah valley, the Provo area was home to the indigenous Ute tribe before the arrival of Mormon leaders who chose the spot for their first colony beyond Salt Lake. Now, the city is known for Brigham Young University, a proximity to the mountains of Sundance Resort and the careful preservation of many local historic sites.

It turns out this place is pretty photogenic, too. We took to Instagram for a tour of the most photo-worthy spots in and around Provo. Take a look!

Big Springs Park

A post shared by Adam Schildmeyer (@adamschildmeyer) on Oct 8, 2017 at 10:15pm PDT

Use this mountain park's hiking trails and bike paths to get a closer look at Provo's gorgeous natural surroundings. In the fall, Big Springs' changing leaves pop on camera.

Brigham Young University Museum of Art

A post shared by Jeffrey Isenhour (@isenhore) on Oct 4, 2017 at 1:18pm PDT

The whole of BYU's campus is beautiful, but the university's art museum is an obvious spot to capture in photos. Ten exhibition galleries display treasures of all artistic styles.

Rugged Grounds

A post shared by sarah elton (@sarahh_elton) on Sep 6, 2017 at 11:03am PDT

You'll find this self-described "community coffeehouse" inside The Boxcar, a collective of artist studios downtown. Try an iced mocha, and admire the rustic ambiance.

Provo Canyon

A post shared by Whitney Kristine Prince (@princewhitney) on Aug 5, 2017 at 3:11pm PDT

Take a drive along this canyon's scenic byway for dazzling views and hiking opportunities. Better yet, skateboard down a designated trail for an epic photo.

Petroliana Museum

A post shared by Snow Hofstrand (@snowhofstrand) on Mar 29, 2016 at 6:49am PDT

Check out this collection of old road signs, gas pumps, cars and other auto memorabilia, which is housed at a working storage facility. A mountain backdrop makes for the perfect pic.

Story continues

Black Sheep Cafe

A post shared by Female Foodie (@femalefoodie) on Feb 7, 2017 at 8:25pm PST

Native American cuisine influences the menu at this family-run spot. From burgers to tacos to egg-topped fries, pretty much everything is Instagrammable.

Bridal Veil Falls

A post shared by Kyle Woodbury (@kwoodyphoto) on Oct 2, 2017 at 7:10pm PDT

Along the Provo Canyon Scenic Byway, you'll find this glorious 607-foot waterfall. No matter your photo skills, it's guaranteed to provide a good shot.

Provo City Center Temple

A post shared by SAMANTHA (@sammilarisch) on Oct 8, 2017 at 7:58pm PDT

This temple of the Church of Latter-Day Saints is a major landmark in Provo. While non-members can't go inside, visitors say the grounds make a beautiful place to walk, explore and admire the architecture.

Provo Bakery

A post shared by BELLA MOWER (@isabellamower) on Feb 6, 2017 at 7:03pm PST

Seasonal goodies and creative custom donuts are the name of the game at this longtime local fave. The bakery's cutesy interior is a sweet photo spot.

Provo Beach

A post shared by Jordan (@munoa32) on Aug 31, 2017 at 11:20am PDT

Provo may lack oceanfront coastline, but the indoor wave machine at Provo Beach is a solid substitute. This family fun facility has a photo-worthy retro ice cream shop, too.

Here

A post shared by Cate Pendleton (@tea_obsession) on Mar 31, 2017 at 3:31pm PDT

Local artisans sell gifts and home goods at Here, a community space which hosts regular crafting nights and art workshops. Beyond the shop's quaint exterior, you'll find an abundance of photographable trinkets.

Station 22 Cafe

A post shared by RestaurantTourism | Food (@restauranttourism) on Mar 11, 2017 at 9:24pm PST

"The flavors of Grandma's house" reign supreme at Station 22, according to founder Richard Gregory. The chicken and waffles are especially photogenic.

Sundance Mountain Resort

A post shared by Aubrey Freiberg (@aubreyfreiberg) on Aug 30, 2015 at 2:40pm PDT

In the '70s, film icon Robert Redforddeveloped this stunning swath of land about 15 miles from Provo proper, now known for its eponymous institute and film fest. Book a zip line tour, and see the place from above.

BYU Museum of Paleontology

A post shared by Thomas Perez (@t0mmythekat) on Aug 8, 2016 at 1:15pm PDT

You can watch students and researchers work in the fossil lab at BYU's on-campus dinosaur museum. Thankfully, the resident T.rex isn't camera shy.

Fruta Crush

A post shared by Myles Hart (@mt_hart) on Jul 26, 2017 at 3:37pm PDT

This Mexican snack shop dishes out classic cultural treats like flan, churros and cheese-coated corn. Their colorful drinks -- including one served inside a pineapple -- will brighten up your followers' feeds. Cheers to Provo!

Do you love to take photos in Provo? Tell us what we missed! Tag your favorite Instagram posts with #ListenToAmerica, and well add a few to this post.
(DENVER)  Two women have been charged with killing two young girls whose bodies were found on a Colorado farm.The women were arrested in mid-September along with three other people after authorities discovered the bodies. All five were initially charged with fatal child abuse.

Prosecutors on Friday added the murder charges against Nashika Bramble and Madani Ceus.An attorney for Ceus, a 37-year-old from Haiti, declined comment on Tuesday. An attorney for Bramble couldnt be immediately reached.

A spokeswoman for 7th Judicial District Attorney Dan Hotsenpiller said Tuesday that she couldnt comment on what led to the murder charges.

Police have said the girls were between the ages of 5 and 10. Investigators believe they were dead for several weeks before the bodies were found in mid-September on a farm outside Norwood, about 30 miles (48.2 kilometers) west of the ski resort town of Telluride.

Authorities have shared few other details about the case that shocked the town of about 500 people. Its not clear how any of the defendants are connected to the children. Authorities havent released any details about what caused their deaths, and affidavits in the case have been closed to public view.

Two men and a third woman face other charges in the girls deaths.

Frederick Blair, a 23-year-old man from Norwood, Ika Eden, a 53-year-old woman from Jamaica, and Ashford Archer, a 50-year-old man from Haiti, are charged with fatal child abuse.

Blair and Archer also have been charged with acting as an accessory to a crime.
From Esquire UK

Last week, an article published in the New York Times, reported that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women over decades. Now, a second article, this time published in The New Yorker, also details multiple allegations against Weinstein, for both sexual harassment and sexual abuse.

On Tuesday morning, The New Yorker published its own investigation into the allegations made against Weinstein. For the article, "From Agressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein's Accusers Tell Their Stories," Ronan Farrow spoke to 13 women who claimed the Hollywood producer sexually harassed or assaulted them at some point between the 1990s and 2015. Some of the women said speaking out or rejecting him hurt their careers.

Last week, Weinstein's attorney Charles Harder threatened to sue the New York Times for what he called "a story that is saturated with false and defamatory statements about Harvey Weinstein." Harder has yet to make a public statement about The New Yorker's article. Since the publication of both stories, celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie have also accused Weinstein of sexual harassment. On Sunday, Weinstein was fired from the company he cofounded, The Weinstein Company.

A spokesperson for Weinstein issued the following statement in response to the New Yorker report: "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. Mr. Weinstein obviously can't speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual. Mr. Weinstein has begun counselling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance."

Story continues

Here are some of the most prominent allegations from The New Yorker's in-depth magazine story.

Italian actress Asia Argento accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting her in 1997. Argento, who was 21 at the time, was having her film, B. Monkey, distributed by Miramax. She claimed he asked her to give him a massage, and "reluctantly" did so, and then he forced her legs apart and performed oral sex on her. She said after a while she stopped resisting, and has regretted not fighting back ever since. Later, she said she had consensual sexual relations with Weinstein on several occasions, and communicated with him in a professional way. "I was in a vulnerable position and I needed my job," she told Farrow. "It just increases the shame and the guilt." Eventually, she created a scene in her 2000 movie Scarlet Diva that was modeled after her view of the alleged assault. Argento posted footage of the scene on Twitter.

I wrote and directed this scene in 1999. #Weinstein pic.twitter.com/VFRJQM0O4M - Asia Argento (@AsiaArgento) October 10, 2017

Oscar-winner Mira Sorvino claims speaking up about Weinstein hurt her career. Sorvino told The New Yorker that in 1995, she was alone in a hotel room with Weinstein during the Toronto Film Festival. She told Farrow he started massaging her shoulders, and then started "sort of chasing me around" the room. She claims she told him to stop, and then a few weeks later, he showed up at her apartment, only leaving when she said a friend, who was posing as her boyfriend, was on his way over. She told Farrow that she believes her speaking out about feeling uncomfortable ended up hurting her career prospects. "There may have been other factors, but I definitely felt iced out and that my rejection of Harvey had something to do with it," she told the magazine.

Rosanna Arquette also claimed rejecting Weinstein led to fewer prospects. The actress told the magazine that in the early 1990s, she met with the producer in a hotel room and found him wearing a white bathrobe. She claimed he asked for a massage, and then grabbed her hand, first moving it to his neck, then to his penis. According to her account, she said, "I'll never be that girl," and left the room. After that, Arquette told Farrow, she lost out on roles in many of Weinstein's films, except for Pulp Fiction.

The New Yorker published audio of Weinstein admitting to groping a woman. According to the magazine, Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez wore a wire after reporting an alleged assault to the NYPD. In the audio, she asks him why he groped her breasts the day before, and he responds, "I'm used to that. Come on. Please." Gutierrez ended up reaching a settlement with Weinstein and could not comment due to a nondisclosure agreement, according to the magazine.

Weinstein, in conversation with Gutierrez, admits to groping her. Heres the audio: https://t.co/zSQbK5NV0c pic.twitter.com/vmrrSUp43w - The New Yorker (@NewYorker) October 10, 2017

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A firefighting aircraft helped tackle the massive fires burning Northern California's wine country.

SEE ALSO: The science behind the fast-moving wildfires that are devastating California

Earlier this week, the 747 SuperTanker dropped fire retardant on the deadly flames north of San Francisco. The craft can hold up to about 20,000 gallons of water or retardant.

The large, modified Boeing plane operated by Global SuperTanker Services made six flights on Monday in an attempt to quell the raging inferno. As of Wednesday, the massive fires had burned 160,000 acres.

The state's fire agency contracted the aircraft this year, according to the San Bernardino Sun.

The wildfires were still barely contained Wednesday night as fire crews continue to face a tough battle with difficult weather conditions. So far the fire has killed 21 people and destroyed 3,500 homes and businesses.

Hopefully the SuperTanker can make a difference.

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Watch more from Mashable, plus original series on go90.
Three weeks after Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, there is a major medical crisis for thousands on the island, and one infant is among those in dire need of treatment.

Read: 'Despacito' Singer Daddy Yankee Hand Delivers Boxes of Food in Puerto Rico

Eight-month-old Sebastian suffers from congestive heart failure and must have surgery to save his life.

An anonymous billionaire donated his private jet to bring Puerto Rico's sick to safety. The flight was organized by a disaster relief charity PALS (Patient Airlift Services) and it departed from New Jersey this week with cargo of medical supplies, generators and other important items.

Read: Conan O'Brien, Lin-Manuel Miranda Join #PuberMe Challenge to Raise Money for Puerto Rico

Dr. Katie Gollotto, an American physician, got to the island and examined baby Sebastian before he boarded the flight to return to New Jersey from Puerto Rico.

Sebastian's mother was overcome with emotion as her family boarded the G-4 jet for the flight. There were five other patients on board who will also need care once they land.

Watch: Lin-Manuel Miranda Unveils Star-Studded New Song to Benefit Hurricane Maria Victims

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This winter-loving couple braved the Michigan cold on their January wedding day with the talented Blaine Siesser Photographer in tow to snap a few photos, and let me tell you, it paid off! The beautiful Bride looked radiant in her Bill Levkoff gown against the snowy, white backdrop. Bonus: the cold gives you all the more reason to snuggle with your Groom! So if you're dreaming of a winter wedding, head to the Vault for inspiration that will absolutely warm your heart.

From the Blaine Siesser Photographer... Leading up to Krista's wedding, I was excited! I knew her wedding was going to be full of love and so beautiful! With Alicia Caldecott from A Day in May leading the way with creative ideas and production expertise, this event was bound to be amazing. Krista and Jed's touching grace for each other and their warm hearts were the x factor that really made this one of my favorite events, too. They are a couple that truly values people, and they threw this party for their friends and family. They placed them as their top priority. About six months before their wedding, Krista and Jed made the trip down to Detroit, and we had a blast taking photos all over the city at their engagement session. They are true adventurers, and exploring Detroit together was a great lead-in to their January wedding. A winter wedding is (always) an adventure too  you just don't know what Michigan will have for you on any given Saturday in January. That day in Detroit was when Krista first told me she loved the winter! I could hardly believe her, but after seeing her wedding day, it is completely true. Considering that fact, she must have had her perfect wedding. It was 15 degrees with a wind chill and light flurries. Fleece shawls and Ugg boots adorned the bridesmaids while Krista kept warm with only her veil, bouquet, a tailored Bill Levkoff, and Jed's hugs. He also lent her his jacket in between photos. After a first look at a family friend's historic farm property, Krista and Jed stopped by the downtown district of Traverse City to take a few photos in front of the kissing wall (now since demolished making that photo even more special) and the theatre. At the reception, Krista and her guests were greeted with the warm glow of endless candelabras on long tables. It was a perfect winter evening spent staying cozy warm at the Grand Traverse Resort with toasts, dances, and his and her custom cocktails. I was blessed to be there and to know this wonderful couple. If you ever see a couple walking the streets of any snowy winter city without a hat and gloves, you might have found this wonderful duo  say hello! Here's to more wonderful winter weddings! Stay warm out there!

Photography: Blaine Siesser Photography | Cinematography: Epic Motion | Event Design: A Day in May, Event Planning & Design | Floral Design: Field of Flowers North | Wedding Dress: Bill Levkoff | Wedding Dress: Spring Sweet | Cake: Aunt B's | Stationery: A Day in May, Event Planning & Design | Reception Venue: Aerie Restaurant & Lounge | Catering: Aerie Restaurant & Lounge | Makeup: Impres Salon | Groom's Attire: Jos. A. Bank
Left: QingWai Wong, Right: Wilson Tang

Welcome to The Story We Share, a series of Q&As that profile two people with similar identities  but who live in very different places. As part of HuffPosts Listen To America tour, were exploring how peoples lived experiences overlap and diverge depending on their zip codes. What is the American Experience? It depends where you look.

***

Those iconic waxy, folded white Chinese takeout boxes have become so ubiquitous in America, theyre nearly as recognizable as the golden arches.

But these cartons are so much more than an emblem of Asian-American fast food. They are symbols of struggle, entrepreneurship, and the will to make it in a country far from home.

Behind these Chinese restaurants are families that are rarely highlighted  the immigrants who put down roots in the country, desperate to achieve their own American dream. For many first-generation immigrants, working in those restaurants were a way to provide for their children in a strange land where the job industry felt almost impossible to crack without extensive educations.

However, amid the produce, fortune cookies and nights spent in front of the wok, these families ended up forging a sub-culture among Asian-Americans.

We chatted with two members of Chinese restaurant families who grew up in demographically different areas.

QingWai Wong, 25, grew up in working at her familys restaurant in Manchester, Connecticut, and later Norwich  towns without significant Asian-American populations. Wong noted that she often felt reduced to her familys restaurant identity and had, at times, felt a sense of shame because of it.

Wilson Tangs family entered the restaurant business in New York Citys Chinatown, an area rife with Asian-American immigrants. The 38-year-old said he has always felt an attraction to his familys work and credits it with his choice to enter the field today as owner of several restaurants under the Nom Wah umbrella  including the Chinatown institution Nom Wah Tea Parlor, a popular dim sum spot for both locals and tourists.

Story continues

Despite growing up with vastly different types of people and contrasting glimpses of diversity, Wong and Tangs experiences are united by childhoods defined by strong work ethic  a pillar of the Chinese-American restaurant story.

Read more below on their reflections on growing up in the world of Chinese restaurants.

How did your family get into the restaurant business? Was it a dream of theirs or a way to ensure survival in America?

QingWai Wong(Connecticut): It was sort of a means to an end. My dad came over in the 80s and worked in the restaurant business as a chef in Chinatown in New York City for a while. Finally, when my mom and my sister immigrated as well, they opened a restaurant. This is what they knew they could do to make a living. It wasnt so much a passion for food as much as it was making sure they could provide for their family.

Wilson Tang(Chinatown, NYC): I think as first-generation immigrants, as my parents and my family were, you almost had to do that because there was no other option. For my uncle and my dad, there was no other entry-level position besides working at a restaurant. When they came to the U.S., their English was poor, and theyre not coming from a background of academics. So they were pigeonholed into doing restaurant work.

Did you feel that outsiders treated your family differently because of the negative stigmas attached to Chinese restaurants?

Wong (Connecticut): We used to get a lot of prank phone calls from people imitating Chinese accents. I didnt really understand it growing up but as I got older, it made me really mad. And when we got older and started applying to college, customers would be so surprised that we were going off to college or succeeding in school. We were looked down upon in that sense. When customers found out we were going off to college ... they treated us differently because thats not what they expected.

Tang (Chinatown, NYC): I think growing up, I was primarily sheltered from that. My dads side of the family worked so hard in the restaurant component that they wanted me far removed from it. They didnt want me to see any of it. My time in the restaurant was sparse. They knew very early on, thats not the path they wanted me to lead.

Did your parents ever have to adjust their cuisine to be more friendly to non-Asian tastebuds?

Wong (Connecticut): Most of the food we serve at the restaurant is not completely authentic in our culture. In Norwich, we had a bigger Asian-American population and wed make special dishes and certain off-the-menu items for people who specifically requested it. But most of our dishes were pretty Americanized.

Tang (Chinatown, NYC): It was very much the Canton style of cooking. I do have to say that even today, our clientele is mostly American or Chinese-American. I look at food in a general sense  food to me on many levels is a commodity, its a means of business. You want to be open to as many mouths as possible. The stuff that we serve at Nom Wah in particular is very diverse in a sense that if you were to look at 100 people and their eating patterns and habits, were trying to get as many of those people to like it.

In school, did you feel that classmates treated you a certain way because of your parents background?

Wong (Connecticut): Definitely in middle school, a lot of the kids lived around the restaurant. Whenever they saw me in school theyd ask, Why dont you come bring me some egg rolls? At that age, I was just trying to fit in so I just laughed it off, but looking back, it made me feel a little angry. I saw a lot of my classmates work at different restaurants or the grocery store but no one would ask them, Why dont you bag my groceries?

Tang (Chinatown, NYC): Growing up, as any minority kid, especially as an Asian minority, there was a lot of prejudice. And I think thats part of every Chinese-American or Asian-American as a child. Even living in the melting pot of New York, that was always the reality. I always took the high road. I didnt have a choice that I was Asian-American or Chinese. ... I dont dwell on the past but I try to make the future better as the parent of two Chinese-American kids. And try to make sure that doesnt happen. What Chinese kid anywhere in the U.S. doesnt have a story of discrimination? But what are you going to do about it?

Did you find that your upbringing was immensely different from others?

Wong (Connecticut): I remember I used to have this fight all the time with my mom. Id say, Kids are supposed to have fun, but I have to work in the restaurant. I have to come to the restaurant every day. Thats just not fair. And my mom would say, Dad and I have to work every single day. Its not like we have someone to care for you at home, so you have to come work in the restaurant. It was an added duty to my other responsibilities. In hindsight I was absolutely happy to help out but at the moment, it really felt unfair.

When I was applying for colleges, I didnt have much help from my parents. I know my friends, theyd tell me their parents would help them out with FAFSA. I was just trying to sift through my dads tax returns, trying to figure out what to put where. ... All of the college application process was on my shoulders but a lot of people, they at least were given the time and space.

Tang (Chinatown, NYC): Even though we were living in Queens, going to a private Catholic school, my dad was a hustler. My dad would work Monday through Friday 9 to 5, as a salesperson for a Chinese distributor of foods to Chinese restaurants. On the weekend evenings, him and his brother had a Chinese restaurant that he would manage. And on weekend days, he would work at a travel agency that he co-owned. So at a very early age I knew the importance of hard work and paying my dues.

From what I remember from my classmates back in the day, a lot of their parents had those 9 to 5 jobs. Their dads were bankers, their moms worked in other offices. That was a typical American dream. ... My parents were a little different from that. My mom and dad didnt fit that mold. If I think about class trips and extracurricular activities, my parents were the ones who were never there because they were working. Tom, John and Jerry  their parents were always at their events, at the softball game, at the yard sale.

Were you ever ashamed of what your parents did?

Wong (Connecticut): I dont think as much growing up, but I remember in college, I didnt tell my friends for a while about what my parents did. Everyones parents were doctors or lawyers. Halfway through college, I really started embracing it. But I definitely remember feeling ashamed that my parents didnt have some swanky office or fancy letters behind their name.

Tang (Chinatown, NYC): No, absolutely not. My dad had always been in the restaurant business and I didnt have a chance to be embarrassed about it. It was all I knew. The only thing I felt embarrassed about was that we had a really old, shitty car growing up and I got made fun of because my dad drove a crappy car.

Did your childhood experiences in a Chinese restaurant family influence your career choice?

Wong (Connecticut): It definitely influenced me in that I dont want to work in a restaurant. I see my parents work so hard but I definitely want a living a little more comfortable where I can give back to my parents and at the same time I can spend a little more time with my kids.

Tang (Chinatown, NYC): Yes, the restaurant business is hard work. But that hard work being normalcy for me has made me really excel in the profession.

Has being from a Chinese restaurant family become a core part of your identity?

Wong (Connecticut): As much as I didnt like it growing up, its where I did a lot of my learning. My mom would make dumplings and teach me the times tables. It was an activity we used to do every weekend. Growing up I was really shy and quiet, and I think in certain instances of micro-aggressions, I learned to really stand up for my family. Its a core part of my identity and I definitely came to appreciate the experience. Also, knowing that my parents work so hard makes me want to work a little harder too.

Tang (Chinatown, NYC): If restaurants werent such a big part of my livelihood growing up, I wouldnt have developed this hospitality piece in me about always wanting to take care of people. ... I think coming from a family with roots in customer service and hospitality has made me who I am today.

These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Smoldering Peters Canyon Regional Park in Orange, Calif. (Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

California has so far lost 23 lives and more than 170,000 acres to the wildfires that continue to rake across its wine country, and the death toll is expected to rise. But despite the apocalyptic tragedy theyre facing, some Californians have found moments of hope, and are sharing them on social media with the aim of spreading bits of joy to others.

Napa Valley resident Clark Good, for example, shared a touching moment of an elderly couple returning to what had been their home, left in ashes by the fire. When the husband, Carl, found just one fresh, unscathed lemon from their otherwise burnt tree, he said to his wife, look hon we can have lemon in our drinks tonight! To which she responded, we got out alive and still have each other, we are blessed. Good shared an image of the two beaming among the wreckage.

Carl and his wifes positive attitude, despite having lost it all, has struck a chord with many, including the 35,000 who have liked the post. Live, laugh and love with lemon and at least your life was saved, noted a commenter, while another chimed in, They were definitely blessed to be able to move forward with each other. What a fantastic attitude.

Santa Rosa resident Susie Parker, meanwhile, found a family photograph partially burned by the flames. She posted the picture on Facebook with the hope that someone might know the family and help reunite them with their portrait, which, she noted, might be the only thing they have left.

Others have shared stories of praise for the incredible work being done by exhausted firefighters.

Nancy Gallagher Cortesi, who is an aunt of a firefighter from Novato, Calif., publicly thanked a family that fed her nephew and his team.

Our community is amazing, wrote a commenter on the post, which has been liked more than 8,900 times. Everyone is coming together to take care of one another during this devastating time. Another noted, There are some amazing heroes in our communities. We all need to help take care of them and those who have become victims of these fires.

Story continues

A couple from Sonoma County shared a touching photo of them kissing in the middle of the rubble and ashes of what had been their home, along with a simple caption: Love is all there is.

The woman behind that post, Katie Rose Delzell, also shared another photo of her former home, with a caption that is meant to bring a chuckle: WellI guess I get that bathroom remodel after all.

The Delzell family has three small children under the age of 6, and supporters have started a GoFundMe page to help them get back on their feet.

These inspiring stories and others like them have been beams of light for many across the state. As one California resident shared in an Instagram post praising firefighters, This is absolutely heartbreaking and so hard to see but there is good that comes out of all this. I know that there are so many great people out there strangers that will lend a helping hand. Prayers to all.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
(CINCINNATI)  The father of a 4-year-old Ohio boy who died after his stepmother put him in a scalding bath was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and child endangering.

Robert Ritchie was sentenced in a Warren County court in Lebanon, roughly 35 miles (56 kilometers) northeast of Cincinnati. Prosecutors said the Franklin man failed to get medical treatment that could have saved Austin Coopers life in March 2016.

One of Ritchies attorneys, Frank Schiavone III, argued that Ritchies wife covered up her crime. Schiavone also characterized Ritchie as another victim and an abused man.

Anna Ritchie is serving 18 years to life in prison after pleading guilty last year to murder and other felonies. Prosecutors accused her of holding her stepson in a scalding bath as a punishment and then trying to hide his burns and not getting him medical attention before he died.

Prosecutors had said Robert Ritchie didnt check on his son when he got home. They said the boy was bleeding and had skin coming off his legs.

Ritchies other attorney, Frank Schiavone IV, said his client is remorseful. He said Tuesday that he thought probation would have been appropriate and described Ritchie as a gentle man who has been living with despair and hopelessness since Austins death.

Ritchie asked the judge for mercy prior to his sentencing, but the judge asked why he didnt check on Austin and said he could have prevented what happened to his son.

We definitely plan to appeal, Frank Schiavone IV said in a telephone interview after the hearing.

He said that he believes there are a number of issues on which to base an appeal. He declined to cite specifics, other than to say that they include the way certain evidence was presented in the third trial.

Ritchie was convicted at his third trial after two mistrials and could have received up to 11 years in prison. His first trial ended in a mistrial when Warren County jurors couldnt reach a verdict. His second trial was declared a mistrial after Ritchie got sick in court.
Bringing a gift for your host when youre visiting from out of town is often a courteous move and something that Turkmenistans president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov obviously believes in as he brought quite the gift for Russian president Vladimir Putin on a trip to the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi.

During their meeting, Berdimuhamedov revealed that he had brought a Turkmen shepherd puppy dog, which he then proceeded to pick up by the scruff of its neck and handed to Putin, who seemed to be surprised but pleased with the canine, even going so far to give it a cuddle and a kiss.

According to Reuters, Berdimuhamedov told Putin upon gifting the pup that the animal was a connecting factor between the two. We have a common friend, he said. This is the worlds unique alabai dog. And today I brought this little alabai with me.

Putin has named the puppy Verny, which means faithful in Russian.
What would you chose? (Photo: mphillips007 via Getty Images)

Its the age-old Thanksgiving debate. When youre buying a turkey for the holiday, should you buy a fresh or frozen bird?

HuffPost spoke with a few turkey farmers and butchers to determine if one is better than the other and why.

Most people prefer fresh turkey.

If fresh is an option, always choose fresh, Aimee Ashley Myers of Ashley Farm in Flanders, New Jersey, told HuffPost. You cannot beat a fresh farm-raised turkey, she explained, noting that fresh turkey tastes better than frozen.

Steven Ford, owner of Butchers Best Market in Newtown, Connecticut, echoed Myers thoughts.

Always fresh turkeys, he said, adding Fresh turkeys will hold their moisture better than frozen.

That doesnt mean theres anything wrong with frozen turkey.

But if your only option is a frozen turkey, you can still find a way to make sure youre getting a good bird to put on the table.

A frozen turkey from a good grower is head and shoulders above a supermarket turkey, Myers said. For example, our turkeys are flash frozen to preserve the flavor and quality and they are superior.

Trevor Bundy, COO of Fleishers Craft Butchery in New York City and Greenwich, Connecticut, also said there isnt anything inherently bad about frozen turkey.

A good processor will freeze the turkeys right after harvest. They can freeze them much faster, and at much lower temperatures, than what your household freezer can manage, he explained. This will prevent the formation of ice crystals in the muscles, and as long as the bird isnt thawed and refrozen along the way, the end result will be a quality turkey.

Just keep in mind fresh and frozen turkey cook differently.

If youre ordering a local fresh turkey, (which I totally suggest) ask about cooking, Mary Carpenter of Violet Hill Farm, a farm located in Mohawk Valley, New York, said.

Fresh turkeys cook much more quickly. Resting is vital, Carpenter explained. Cooked weight is much closer to raw weight since there isnt water pumped in them (so yield is better). Youre going to want to plan for leftovers because theyre amazingly delicious.

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If you want to know when to order your turkey, read about it here.

Related...

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(NAPA, Calif.)  Mike Rippey stood among pieces of metal, porcelain and other remnants of the California home where his 100-year-old father and 98-year-old mother had died in the raging wine country wildfires.

Rippey said Tuesday his brother had discovered their bodies after driving to the home and managing to get past security.

He said his father Charles appeared to be heading to the room of his mother, Sara, when he was overcome by the smoke and flames.

My father certainly wouldnt have left her, Mike Rippey said.

The couple had met in grade school in Wisconsin and been together ever since, celebrating their 75th anniversary last year.

Rippey, 71, said he and his siblings couldnt imagine how either parent would have navigated life if just one had survived the flames.

We knew theres no way they would ever be happy, whoever was the last one. So they went together, and thats the way it worked, he said stoically.

In the charred remains of the home, only metal and porcelain survived to testify to the couples long life together. There were coffee cups along a low sill; two metal chairs, side-by-side by a patio table; and a porcelain tea set of white and soft washes of blue, some pieces still intact.

Charles Rippey  nicknamed Peach as a toddler for his chubby cheeks  and his wife were among the 17 victims who have died in the fierce, fast-moving fires that started on Sunday and raged through neighborhoods. None of the other victims had been identified.

Authorities are expecting other older people to be among the dead, who like the Rippeys might not have been able to move fast enough to beat the flames.

Mike Rippey said his mother had previously suffered a stroke.

Seventeen wildfires raging across parts of seven counties have destroyed more than 2,000 homes, businesses and other structures.

The wildfires rank among the five deadliest in California history, and officials expect the death toll to rise as the scope of destruction becomes clear.

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At least 185 people were injured, and nearly 200 have been reported missing in Sonoma County alone, though many may be safe but unable to use damaged communication systems.

Mike Rippey was in London and boarding a flight to California when his brother called and told him their parents had died.

The couple attended the University of Wisconsin and married in 1942 before Charles Rippey served as a U.S. Army engineer in World War II. He became an executive with the Firestone tire company.

Rippey said he had no plans to rebuild the home.

Without them, it doesnt mean a thing, he said. Its gone. Theyre gone.
The location of Amazons (AMZN) next headquarters is one of the business worlds hottest topics of discussion right now.

Back in September, the company said it was looking for a new city to house a second headquarters  dubbed HQ2  and that it would be seeking proposals from cities by October 19.

Reuters reported on the day of Amazons announcement that Dallas, Houston, Toronto, St. Louis, Kentucky, and Miami were committed to make bids. Cities including Philadelphia and Chicago have sent delegations to Seattle  the location of Amazons current headquarters  to find out more about what the company wants. While states like New Jersey have held internal bidding processes to determine which city will get the states official backing for an application to house Amazons next headquarters.

The bronze statue of Sylvester Stallone portraying the boxer from the film Rocky III is seen shortly after workers installed it near the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Bloomberg View columnist Conor Sen argued that Toronto, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Dallas and Denver are the cities that best meet Amazons criteria. And Axios outlined why Denver, Chicago, Phoenix, Minneapolis, and Detroit are the best candidates for Amazons new home.

In a new analysis published Thursday, Moodys economists Mark Zandi and Adam Ozimek found that Austin, Texas and Philadelphia meets the Amazons desires for its new HQ best, with Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Rochester, New York not far behind.

What Amazon wants

What has been to some extent lost in discussion around which city Amazon will pick for a new HQ is what Amazon wants in the city that will house a new headquarters for 50,000.

As the company laid out in its initial release, it is looking for:

Metro areas with more than one million people

A stable, business-friendly environment

Urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent

Communities that think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options.

The company also said that it doesnt need an urban or downtown campus, a layout similar to its existing headquarters in Seattle, or a development-prepared site.

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Amazon HQ2 will be a complete headquarters for Amazon  not a satellite office, the company said.

Amazons Seattle headquarters.

And so this framework narrows down the contenders to the 64 metro areas (which excludes Seattle) in the U.S. with more than one million people, but also leaves an opening for almost all of these cities to make a case for Amazon.

Five key categories  and a wild card

To break down the attributes of Americas biggest metro areas and how they might appeal to what Amazon seems to be looking for, Zandi and Ozimek chose five categories on which to rank cities.

The pair chose business environment, human capital, cost, quality of life, and transportation as the categories most important to Amazon and quantifiable. A sixth category, geography, was considered by Moodys and ranks metro areas based on unstated subjective regional and geographic factors that we believe Amazon will be considering but are subject to more debate than the five other categories.

Fireworks explode over downtown Austin, Texas,on Thursday, July 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Jay Janner)

Business environment captures factors like the willingness of a city to offer tax breaks and reflects growth rates for overall and tech-related employment in the area over the last five and ten years. Austin, Nashville, and Dallas top this area.

Human capital  which you can think of as the supply of educated workers in the area  looks at how many college grads live in, or have moved to, a metro. This factor also looks at how many colleges are close by and ranks Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington D.C. as the top cities for this factor. Population, Zandi and Ozimek notes, is a huge factor in a citys quality of human capital.

Quality of life ranks New York City, Seattle, and San Francisco as the top three and looks at dining and recreation options per capita as well as the crime rate and diversity. The drawback of these cities, Zandi and Ozimek note, is that they are also some of the most expensive in the country.

Cost puts Buffalo, NY, Oklahoma City, and Memphis as the top three. This area looked at the cost of acquiring land and real estate for both housing employees and commercial development, while also looking at salaries for workers in jobs that closely match what Amazon lists and Moodys cost of doing business measure.

New York City ranks highly on Moodys ranking of potential Amazon headquarters locations with high human capital and a high quality of life. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Transportation explored public transit options, walkability, bikability, and distance to a major airport. San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Seattle ranked in the top three.

Geography is something Moodys calls a wild card as its less measurable than the other five factors but also considers some more strategic corporate factors Amazon might keep in mind.

Arguably, Amazon will want to diversify into a different labor market as much as possible; therefore we award points for metro areas farther away from Amazons Seattle headquarters, Zandi and Ozimek write.

The Northeast scores the highest because of the access to the economically important Northeast Corridor and the political power center of Washington DC. Finally, this category awards points for the number of Amazon fulfillment centers in the state and distance to Jeff Bezos closest non-Seattle homes. Taken together, geography helps bring Pennsylvanias two metro areas to the top of the list.

You can read Zandi and Ozimeks full analysis here, and read a more detailed discussion of each city that lands in the top 10 from Moodys here.



Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland

Read more from Myles here:
Former President Barack Obama is breaking his silence on the unfolding Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment and assault scandal.

Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein, Obama said in a statement provided to media outlets Tuesday.

Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status. We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. And we all need to build a culture  including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect  so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future.

The Obamas daughter Malia, 19, interned for Weinsteins powerhouse company earlier this year. The movie mogul also helped raise millions of dollars for the Democratic Party, hosting fundraisers during Obamas presidency.

Barack Obama and Malia Obama

Hillary Clinton, who has also benefitted substantially from Weinsteins fundraisers, also spoke out on Tuesday, saying, I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein. She also addressed his accusers, now in the dozens, saying, Their courage and support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.

She added, The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated.

Weinstein has contributed more $20,000 to Clintons campaigns since she ran for U.S. Senate in New York in 1999, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

In the wake of the explosive New York Times report detailing allegations spanning three decades, several Democratic lawmakers who had received contributions from Weinstein  including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California, have said they are giving that money to charities helping women.

More allegations against Weinstein emerged on Tuesday, as The New Yorker revealed  among 13 different womens accounts of alleged sexual harassment, assault or rape  that the mogul allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on Italian actress Asia Argento two decades ago. Actresses Mira Sorvino and Rosanna Arquette also claimed that after rejecting Weinsteins unwanted advances, they were removed from or kept from being hired for projects.

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In response to the lengthy allegations made against Weinstein in the New Yorker piece, a spokesperson for Weinstein said, Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.

Weinstein was fired from his company this week, and his wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, is leaving him.

My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband. Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time, Chapman said in a statement to PEOPLE.

There are plans for Weinstein to enter a treatment facility  but the mogul, who has been staying at a Los Angeles hotel, has not left yet, according to a source.
Are we laying the blame at the wrong door with regards to the Harvey Weinstein scandal? [Photo: PA/Getty/Yahoo Style]

Another day, another horrific allegation of sexual assault pinned to Harvey Weinstein (Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow have both now claimed they were sexually harassed by the producer.)

Even his wife has announced she is leaving him after more details about the scandal emerged.

In a statement to People magazine, fashion designer Georgina Chapman described her husbands behaviour as unforgivable.

My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions, she told the publication.

I have chosen to leave my husband. Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time.

Though Weinstein has unequivocally denied any allegations of non-consensual sex, the fact that his wife has left him, he has been fired by the company he helped to set up and he himself has admitted enough about his behaviour for us to conclude that he is not a good man.

Youd think therefore that the response to the scandal would be somewhat straightforward. Sexual harassment and assault are quite obviously wrong and the anger and upset should quite rightly be laid at the door of the person responsible for committing them.

Youd think.

While to a certain extent that has happened with many speaking out against the movie mogul and his alleged abhorrent behaviour, there have been some other responses, which have once again muddied the blame waters.

A couple of days ago Donna Karan was forced to issue an apology after appearing to insinuate that the women Weinstein reportedly attacked put themselves in the position to be sexually harassed or assaulted because of how they dressed.

How do we present ourselves as women? she told Daily Mail.

Are we asking for it, by presenting all the sensuality and all the sexuality? And what are we throwing out to our children today about how to dance and how to perform and what to wear? How much should they show? I dont think its only Harvey Weinstein  We have to look at our world  And how women are dressing and what theyre asking by just presenting themselves the way they do. What are they asking for? Trouble.

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The fashion designer said that her words were taken out of context, but it is difficult to imagine the context in which the concept of victim blaming could be explained away.

The other blame-game is landing at the door of other Hollywood actresses for not speaking out sooner about their own experiences or concerns about Weinstein. And this is far from OK either.

The allegations against Harvey Weinstein go back almost three decades, but some victims are only choosing to speak out now. And they are finding themselves getting berated because of it.

Why didnt you come forward sooner? You might have prevented this happening to other women? the headlines implore.

Though their words are dressed up in concern, chastising victims for not speaking out sooner is tantamount to saying its their fault: either that they got harassed in the first place, or that other women got attacked afterwards.

But there are untold reasons why someone might not want to speak up about their experiences.

Yolanda Moses, a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Riverside and a consultant/trainer for preventing sexual harassment and sexual assault told Live Science that the fear of being blamed can have an impact.

People ask victims questions such as, Why were you in that place at that time? and Why did you go to that persons room? Such questions can shift the blame to the victim rather than the perpetrator, she said.

Then theres the fact that speaking out about sexual assault and harassment can be very painful and/or embarrassing.

When a person speaks out, he or she has to relive the event over and over again, by telling the story of the assault to police officers and juries, for example, Moses continues.

Moses says that is particularly difficult if a victim is accusing a high-power individual in society, or someone who has power over their life. Like a Hollywood producer for example?

Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism project, told The Guardian that a concern about the impact on their lives can also determine whether a victim chooses to report an incident. When women do report sexual harassment, the outcomes are terrible, she says.

Over two-thirds of young women are experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace now, today. Eighty per cent of them felt unable to report it, but three-quarters of the ones who did said that nothing changed afterwards, and 16% said that the situation got worse.

Blaming other prominent Hollywood actresses for not either spotting what was going on or speaking out to condemn Weinstein is yet another example of the double standard reactions to the scandal.

Meryl Streep, alongside other female stars have been publicly criticised for waiting days to issue a statement on Weinstein.

Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Gwyneth Paltrow, who have all won Oscars for starring in Weinstein films, have made no public comment, one Daily Mail story asked.

The three women have also been happy to provide interviewers and reporters profiling Weinstein with sound bites and quotes about their affinity for the exec.

Thankfully though, a number of female celebrities, activists and writers are clapping back at the comments.

Sharing a tweet about the issue, Jessica Chastain wrote: Im sick of the media demanding only women speak up.

What about men? Perhaps many are afraid to look at their own behaviour

Clapping hands emoji.

[Photo: Twitter]

But while Hollywoods women are having to defend themselves about their failure to come forward, notice what was going on or publicly condemn it all as wrong (er, no brainer!), the abhorrent behaviour of the actual person who committed it is getting somewhat dummed down.

The point is that blame should always lie with the person who carried out the harassment, no matter who that person is, no matter who their victim is and no matter who has or has not condemned it. And any other form of blame acts as a mere distraction from the real issue at hand.

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:

Women share stories of sexual harassment in the workplace following Harvey Weinstein allegations

What is the future of Marchesa: Harvey Weinsteins wifes mega-successful fashion label?

This woman takes selfies with the men who harass her on the street
As the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement hangs in the balance, British ministers have decided now would be a great time to consider the possibility of joining the embattled pact, according to a report in the U.K. newspaper the Daily Telegraph. Thats an indication of how desperate the British government may be as it spirals ever closer to Brexit without any free trade deals lined up to replace what it would lose with Europe.

Renegotiation talks among NAFTA members are set to restart this week, but President Donald Trump recently threw cold water on hopes for a happy resolution.

The U.S. administration has made several demands that Mexican senators and Canadian analysts have deemed red lines that would end their participation in the renegotiations. Those demands increase the possibility that Trump would follow through on his threats to withdraw the United States from the almost quarter-century-old agreement.

The idea of Britain joining NAFTA, in theory at least, is understandably attractive. NAFTA would open up an economic market of $16.2 trillion, the combined GDPs of the three member countries, to replace the $16.3 trillion GDP of the European Union.

Joining NAFTA is one of the British governments no deal scenarios, according to the Telegraph, meaning a sort of contingency plan in case Brussels refuses to meet British demands and the United Kingdom must leave the economic union without any kind of trade agreement.

Its hardly a new idea. In 1998, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich brought up the possibility of making Britain a NAFTA associate member. Two years later, then-British Conservative Party member Roger Helmer published an opinion piece in the International Herald Tribune arguing that the U.K. should forgo the EU in favor of NAFTA.

Since a majority of British voters checked the leave box on June 23, 2016, a flurry of op-eds in both the United States and Britain have hailed the idea of joining the transatlantic neighbors in the landmark free trade deal.

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If NAFTA survives, Britain may find Republican support for joining the pact. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he would support a trade agreement with a post-Brexit Britain, and Trump, who has previously expressed approval for the Brexit vote, has a reasonably good rapport with British Prime Minister Theresa May.

But thats a big if. As it is, the Trump administration has made several demands that Mexico and Canada cannot abide, including a sunset clause that would require a renegotiation of NAFTA every five years, requirements for U.S. content in the automobile sector, and getting rid of the Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism.

Mexican economists have criticized Trumps attitude toward trade and economy as looking to the past rather than the future, emphasizing traditional industries rather than modernizing the agreement to include e-commerce and big data.

Britain may have picked the worst possible time to consider boarding what may be a sinking ship.

Photo credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Authorities fear the death toll from Californias wild fires could rise rapidly from 21, as thousands of firefighters battle blazes engulfing the states wine country.

Hundreds of people have been reported missing in fires that have destroyed more than 3500 homes and businesses.

In places the damage to the region's wineries has been so devastating that a boiling river of wine was spotted at the Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa flowing beneath the smouldering ground where barrels have been incinerated.

Three days after the first fires were reported, the blazes continue to multiply in number. On Wednesday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said 22 wildfires were burning, up from 17 a day earlier.

Ken Pimlott, department chief, said the fires had burned through 265 square miles of ground parched from years of drought.

The main building at Paras Vinyards burns in Napa Credit: AFP

"We are literally looking at explosive vegetation," he said. "It is very dynamic. These fires are changing by the minute in many areas."

Entire residential neighbourhoods have been reduced to blackened rubble in parts of northern California as smoke cloaks the land and turns the sky orange.

The dead include a married couple of 75 years, who were found in the charred remains of their home.

Mike Rippey said his brother discovered the bodies of his 100-year-old father Charles, who appeared to be heading to the room of his 98-year-old mother Sara, when he was overcome by smoke and flames.

The remains of Journey's End mobile home park in Santa Rosa Credit: AP

"My father certainly wouldn't have left her," he said in the ruins of their home in Napa, where they lived for 35 years.

The couple met in primary school in Wisconin and had been together ever since.

Mr Rippey, 71, said he and his four siblings could not imagine either parent living alone. "We knew there's no way they would ever be happy, whoever was the last one. So they went together, and that's the way it worked," he said.

Authorities ordered more evacuations for parts of Sonoma Valley on Wednesday after a blaze grew to 44 miles across.

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The vast scale of the fires, problematic communications and chaotic evacuations meant the death toll would likely rise, according to Robert Giordano, Sonoma County sheriff.

"The devastation is enormous," he said. "We can't even get into most areas. I would expect the number to go up."

Burned wine barrels are seen at a destroyed Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa in California Credit: AFP

Jerry Brown, the governor, said 8000 firefighters had been deployed with more resources arriving form neighbouring states.

"We have had big fires in the past. This is one of the biggest, most serious, and it's not over," he said, adding that climate change would make such disasters more common in the future.

Dry, windy weather is forecast for the next 24 hours, offering little in the way of respite. Gusts of up to 50 miles per hour and 10 percent humidity are expected throughout the rest of Wednesday and Thursday.
As Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau wanted one thing none of his predecessors had: a Cabinet with an equal number of men and women.

But almost exactly two years after Trudeaus election, the leader of Canadas Liberal Party is dealing with some unanticipated consequences of that decision. For starters, pregnancy in the Situation Roomsomething that until now, has been unheard of in North American governments.

Now that we have a Cabinet, and a government, and quite frankly, a party with all these great, strong, young women, the challenge we have is, despite all their presence, were still very much in an old-fashioned mans game of politics, Trudeau said Tuesday evening on stage at Fortunes Most Powerful Women summit. And were having to look at how we change things in the workplace.

When Karina Gould, who serves in Trudeaus Cabinet as Minister of Democratic Institutions, announced last month that she was expecting a baby, it forced Canadas highest level of government to confront the issue of maternity leave for the first time, the prime minister said.

Sign up: Click here to subscribe to the Broadsheet, Fortunes daily newsletter on the worlds most powerful women.

Shes going to have a baby in the spring, its hugely amazing, but what do we do about maternity leave? This is the first minister in Canada and maybe one of the first in Western democracies to be having a kid, Trudeau said at a dinner held at the Smithsonians National Portrait Gallery.

Gould announced her pregnancy on her Twitter feed Sept. 5. The baby is due in March 2018.

Excited to announce a new member of the team joining in March 2018!

Heureuse d'annoncer que mon equipe s'agrandira d'un membre! pic.twitter.com/AKLVuO3xFD  Karina Gould (@karinagould) September 5, 2017

At the time, though, Canada had no policy in place allotting a certain number of paid weeks off to Cabinet ministersand Trudeau is still working on creating one. Were giving her as many as we can figure out that we need to, and as many as she wants, like we dont know! he said. Were writing this, but were writing it together with her, and she gets to help define it, and hopefully were get to show that its possible to be a minister and a mom, and everything, according to your own choices.

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Trudeau, No. 31 on Fortunes Worlds Greatest Leaders list, has made womens rights a pillar of his political platform, even pushing to include a gender chapter in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that he is working to renegotiate with President Trump. (The Prime Minister is set to meet with Trump to discuss NAFTA Wednesday, but said the meeting came about because he was in town for [the Most Powerful Women summit], just so you know.)

The Canadian leader also said he has managed to find common ground with Trump even though their politics differ greatly. President Trump got elected on many of the same goals I got elected onmaking sure that people who dont feel like the success and the growth of the economy has worked for them do better.

There was also one other surprise from creating Canadas first Cabinet with complete gender parity, Trudeau added: It has led to a better level of decision-making than we could ever have imagined.

This article originally appeared on Fortune.com
By David Ljunggren OTTAWA (Reuters) - When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets President Donald Trump on Wednesday, he will try to persuade the U.S. leader to focus on Mexico as a source of potential problems at talks to update NAFTA. Although Trudeau officials were confident Trump would mostly target Mexico as the three nations started to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, Washington has slapped duties on Canadian Bombardier airliners and lumber exports in recent months and talked tough on dairy and wine. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Trudeau would "explain really clearly to the President ... that Canada is not America's problem". Freeland, who says Canada buys more from the United States than China, Britain and Japan combined, told CTV television on Sunday that Trudeau's message to Trump at their White House meeting would be "We are your biggest client." Trump has threatened to scrap the 1994 pact unless changes are made to address issues such as a $64 billion deficit with Mexico. Negotiators start the fourth of seven planned rounds of talks near Washington on Wednesday. Freeland describes the U.S. administration as the most protectionist since the 1930s while noting the United States runs a surplus in the trade of goods and services with Canada. Canada has so far shunned confrontation with Washington, stressing instead the merits of NAFTA and free trade. By no means everyone south of the border is convinced. Chris Sands, a professor at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, said Canada's problems marked "a new era of tough love" with Washington. "It turns out Trump is an economic nationalist ... and it's come as a bit of a surprise to the Canadians that they have been so much on the hot seat," he said. Trudeau officials deny Trump is targeting Canada as part of the NAFTA talks, saying the airliner and softwood disputes have been rumbling on for years. Mexico has been more assertive with Washington, talking openly about abandoning NAFTA if need be or slashing imports of U.S. grain. Andres Rozental, a former Mexican deputy foreign minister involved in the original NAFTA talks, said Ottawa had assumed traditionally close ties with the United States would insulate them from problems with NAFTA. "The Canadians have been jolted into the realities of Trumpland," he said. "They have now realized that Trump doesn't follow the mould and that there is no such special relationship." (Additonal reporting by Dave Graham in Mexico City; Editing by Susan Thomas)
N'Djamena (AFP) - Chad is to boost protection for a key haven for endangered wildlife in the south of the country under an agreement with a conservation group.

African Parks is to take over management and protection of a territory of high ecological value that lies around the vast Zakouma National Park in southern Chad.

The programme will help beef up security at the Siniaka Minia and Bahr-Salamat reserves around the park, as well as vital corridors used by fauna, African Parks said in a statement.

The deal was signed on Tuesday in Johannesburg.

African Parks has been managing Zakouma since 2010, after the park's elephant population had slumped by 95 percent over the previous eight years.

Since then poaching has been "practically eliminated," helping its elephant population rise for the first time in a decade and creating jobs for the local community, the NGO said.

Chad's first national park, created in 1963, Zakouma has an area of nearly 3,000 square kilometres (1,200 square miles), lying just south of the Sahara and above the fertile regions of the rainforest.

On Sunday, Chad and South Africa signed a memorandum of understanding under which African Parks will move a "founder population" of six black rhinoceroses from South Africa to Zakouma next year.

The black rhinoceros was last seen in the wild in Chad in the late 1980s.
Squad Goals #Repost @nbcchicagopd



The #ChicagoPD squad is taking over @yahooentertainment today!

pic: @spiridakos (Photo: Instagram)

The Chicago P.D. squad is used to handling the worst perpetrators in the Windy City, but their talent isnt limited to fighting crime on the Chicago streets. We handed over our Instagram account to the cast of the hard-hitting NBC police procedural and we have to say, the captions are as great as the pictures. Sure theres guns and protective masks and really cool (read: dangerous) locations, but well take Patrick John Flueger (Officer Adam Ruzek) dipping Oreos in a tiny cup of milk any day. Ditto for LaRoyce Hawkins (Det. Kevin Atwater) and his rap-worthy badge. Also, its Woman Crush Wednesday, and were smitten. Click through this slideshow to see all of the photos from the Chicago P.D. set.

Chicago P.D. airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.
Beijing (AFP) - China has lodged a diplomatic protest with Britain after London demanded to know why a British human rights activist was barred from entering Hong Kong, it said Thursday.

Immigration agents stopped Benedict Rogers, deputy chairman of the ruling Conservative Party's human rights commission, from entering the former British colony on Wednesday morning.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson voiced concern and said his government would be "seeking an urgent explanation".

China "launched stern representations" over the comments, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said during a regular press briefing.

"The central government is responsible for Hong Kong-related diplomatic affairs," she said, adding: "who can get in and who cannot is within our sovereignty."

"Hong Kong affairs are China's domestic affairs. We oppose the interference in China's domestic affairs in any way by any foreign government, institution or person."

Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula intended to protect its freedoms and way of life. The semi-autonomous city is supposed to handle its own immigration affairs.

Hong Kong's immigration department said it did not comment on individual cases.

But Chunying said Rogers "meant to interfere in China's domestic affairs and the judicial independence of Hong Kong".

Rogers however said he told Hong Kong immigration authorities Wednesday that he was on a "purely private visit".

"I reiterated to them that... I wasn't going to be taking any public engagements or media interviews in Hong Kong, I wasn't there representing any organisation. I was there purely as a private individual," he told AFP.

Rogers said he was contacted last week by the Chinese embassy in London through an intermediary and had given them the same assurances, which he described as a "step further" on his part to "try to de-escalate the situation".

The barring of Rogers, who has spoken out against the jailing of Hong Kong democracy activists, came a week before a major congress in Beijing of the ruling Communist Party.

The activist said he believed the embassy had somehow become aware of private discussions he had about possibly visiting the campaigners in prison, which he later realised would not be possible.
By Venus Wu and Ben Blanchard HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it had the right to bar people from Hong Kong, a day after a British activist was denied entry to the former British colony, and that it had complained to Britain after it demanded an explanation. Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula that promises it a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland. But critics have accused the government of bending to the will of Communist Party leaders in Beijing and of a gradual watering down of the territory's freedoms, including freedom of speech and right to protest. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he was "very concerned" that Benedict Rogers, a co-founder of the Conservative Party's Human Rights Commission, was denied entry to Hong Kong on Wednesday and demanded an "urgent explanation" from Hong Kong and China. It came a week before a sensitive Communist Party leadership meeting starts in Beijing. Johnson also said Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, rights and freedoms were "central to its way of life". Rogers has been a vocal critic of China-ruled Hong Kong's treatment of political activists, including that of jailed student leader Joshua Wong. He believes the decision to bar him was made by Chinese officials after the Chinese Embassy in London had warned him earlier, through a British member of parliament, that he wouldn't be allowed in. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the central government had a responsibility for foreign matters related to Hong Kong. "The central Chinese government and the special administrative region government handle the relevant issue in accordance with the law," Hua said. "Allowing or not allowing people in is China's sovereignty ... Hong Kong affairs are a purely internal matter for China." She said China had lodged a solemn representation with Britain, meaning an official complaint. When asked about the incident on a radio talk show, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam agreed. "Ultimately, under the Basic Law (Hong Kong's mini-constitution), the central government is responsible for foreign affairs," Lam said. Asked if immigration controls fell under Hong Kong jurisdiction, Lam said: "It has to be considered whether foreign affairs are involved during the process of immigration. "If you say everything falls under Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, this is not what the Basic Law says." Rogers, speaking to Reuters shortly after arriving in London, said Beijing's statement confirmed his assumption that the decision to boot him out was made not by Hong Kong but by Chinese authorities. He described the interference in Hong Kong's immigration controls as "very alarming" and "a very serious threat to 'one country, two systems'." "China has now revealed its hand. The world ought to have woken up a long time ago, but I think now they really ought to wake up to what this means for 'one country, two systems'," he said. "I'm very sad for what this means for Hong Kong." The former head of Hong Kong's civil service turned pro-democracy activist, Anson Chan, said the case was a "serious breach" of the Basic Law. Article 154 of the Basic Law says Hong Kong "may apply immigration controls on entry" of foreigners into Hong Kong. "The Immigration Department must have sought instructions from on high," she told Reuters. "They (Beijing) are sending a message that if you dare speak out on Hong Kong ... you will not be allowed in." Amnesty International's East Asia director, Nicholas Bequelin, suggested China's definition of what constitutes national security is creeping into Hong Kong. "In China if you're critical of the political system, you're committing a national security crime and this is exactly the type of thing 'one country, two systems' should protect against." In response to a Reuters' request for comment on whether China was involved in Rogers' denial of entry, Hong Kong's Immigration Department said it did not comment on individual cases. China has admitted asking a group of British MPs to cancel a visit to Hong Kong in 2014 during the massive pro-democracy protests, of which Joshua Wong was a leader, that paralyzed highways for 79 days. Hong Kong has, on occasion, barred entry to individuals including dissidents, such as former leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing and a Danish sculptor, Jens Galschiot, who made a Tiananmen sculpture. (Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing and James Pomfret in Hong Kong; Editing by James Pomfret and Nick Macfie)
WASHINGTON  Conservatives activists are calling on Republican leaders in the Senate to step down, citing protracted inaction on President Donald Trumps legislative agenda and their failure to confirm his judicial nominees at a sufficient rate.

You were not going to drain the swamp. You are the swamp, leaders of conservative groups wrote in a letter on Wednesday, complaining about the Senates failure to repeal Obamacare, control rising debt and curtail access to abortion. The four-page litany of grievances was addressed to five members of GOP leadership: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Majority Whip John Cornyn (Texas), Roy Blunt (Mo.), John Thune (S.D.) and John Barrasso (Wyo.).

(Photo: Joshua Roberts / Reuters)

We foresee a scorched-earth disaster if McConnell and others dont leave their leadership posts, the activists warned.

The letters signatories included representatives from some of the biggest conservative grassroots organizations: Ken Cuccinelli, the president of the Senate Conservatives Fund; Adam Brandon, the president of FreedomWorks; Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots; Brent Bozell, founder of the Media Research Center; and Richard Viguerie, the chairman of the website ConservativeHQ.com.

Some also hinted at the possibility that they could urge other conservatives to stay home during the 2018 midterm elections.

[GOP leaders] come to us because they need us to help, Bozell said during a press conference at the FreedomWorks headquarters in Washington, D.C. If we do not help them, its going to be a stampede against the Republican Party.

Given that McConnell was re-elected majority leader with the unanimous support of his conference following the 2016 election, it is extremely unlikely that he or any of his deputies will accede to the conservatives demands.

Still, the letter highlights the growing angst within the GOP during a crucial time for the party. Republicans are hoping to pass a tax reform bill this fall, and yet another rift within the party could threaten their last chance to score a major legislative victory before the end of this year.

Story continues

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon  who is targeting GOP incumbents across the country who he says do not adequately support Trumps agenda  has also called on McConnell to step down. Buoyed by last months victory of Roy Moore, his preferred candidate in the race for the Alabama GOP Senate nomination, Bannon is now seeking to recruit candidates to topple senators in other states  including Wyomings Barrasso, Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Utahs Sen. Orrin Hatch.

Were going to cut off the oxygen to Mitch McConnell, Bannon said earlier this week during an interview on Fox News, adding that he was also looking into convincing donors to stop contributing to GOP leadership committees.

Also on HuffPost

Taking Security Seriously

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) talks with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) before the start of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing concerning the roles and responsibilities for defending the nation against cyberattacks, on Oct. 19, 2017.

With Liberty And Justice...

Members of Code Pink for Peace protest before the start of a hearing where U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on Oct. 18, 2017. Committee members questioned Sessions about conversations he had with President Donald Trump about the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, the ongoing investigation about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and other subjects.

Whispers

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), right, speaks with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) before a confirmation hearing for Christopher Sharpley, nominee for inspector general of the CIA, on Oct. 17, 2017.

Not Throwing Away His Shot

Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the musical "Hamilton," makes his way to a meeting of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies in the Rayburn Office Building during a round of meetings to urge federal funding for the arts and humanities on Sept. 13, 2017.

Medicare For All

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), center, speaks on health care as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), left, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), right, listen during an event to introduce the Medicare for All Act on Sept. 13, 2017.

Bernie Bros

Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pack his office on Sept. 8, 2017. Members of the "Draft Bernie for a People's Party" campaign delivered a petition with more than 50,000 signatures to urge the senator to start and lead a new political party.

McCain Appearance

Sen. John McCain, second from left, leaves the Capitol after his first appearance since being diagnosed with cancer. He arrived to cast a vote to help Republican senators narrowly pass the motion to proceed for the replacement of the Affordable Care Act on July 25, 2017.

A Narrow Win

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, center, speaks alongside Sens. John Barrasso, left, John Cornyn, right, and John Thune, rear, after the Senate narrowly passed the motion to proceed for the replacement of the Affordable Care Act on July 25, 2017.

Kushner Questioning

Jared Kushner, White House senior adviser and son-in-law to President Donald Trump, arrives at the Capitol on July 25, 2017. Kushner was interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door meeting about contacts he had with Russia.

Hot Dogs On The Hill

Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) prepares a hot dog during the American Meat Institute's annual Hot Dog Lunch in the Rayburn Office Building courtyard on July 19, 2017.

And Their Veggie Counterparts

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) visits the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals veggie dog giveaway on July 19, 2017, countering a National Hot Dog Day event being held elsewhere on Capitol Hill.

Poised For Questions

Callista Gingrich, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, waits for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican on July 18, 2017.

Speaking Up

Health care activists protest to stop the Republican health care bill at Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 17, 2017.

In The Fray

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks to members of the media after announcing the revised version of the Senate Republican health care bill on Capitol Hill on July 13, 2017.

Anticipation

Christopher Wray is seated with his daughter Caroline, left, as he prepares to testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination to be the next FBI director on July 12, 2017.

Up In Arms

Health care activists protest to stop the Republican health care bill at Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 10, 2017.

Across A Table

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) meets with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Capitol Hill on June 29, 2017.

Somber Day

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks about the recent attack on the Republican congressional baseball team during her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill on June 15, 2017.

Family Matters

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), right, and his sons, Jack, 10, and Brad, arrive in the basement of the Capitol after a shooting at the Republican baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 14, 2017.

A Bipartisan Pause

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), right, coach of the Republican congressional baseball team, tells the story of the shooting that occurred during a baseball practice while he stands alongside Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), left, a coach of the Democratic congressional baseball team on June 14, 2017.

Hats On

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) reacts about the shooting he was present for at a Republican congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, as he speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on June 14, 2017.

Public Testimony

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is sworn in to testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on June 13, 2017.

Comey's Big Day

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election on Capitol Hill on June 8, 2017.

Conveying His Point

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats testifies at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on his interactions with the Trump White House and on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on June 7, 2017.

Selfie Time

Vice President Mike Pence takes a selfie with a tourist wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat inside the U.S. Capitol rotunda on June 6, 2017. The vice president walked through the rotunda after attending the Senate Republican policy luncheon.

Budget Queries

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies before the House Budget Committee about President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 budget proposal on Capitol Hill on May 24, 2017.

Flagged Down By Reporters

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, leaves a closed committee meeting on Capitol Hill on May 24, 2017. The committee is investigating possible Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election.

Shock And Awe

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) hold a news conference on the release of the president's fiscal 2018 budget proposal on Capitol Hill on May 23, 2017.

Seeing Double

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) arrives in the Capitol for the Senate Democrats' policy lunch on May 16, 2017.

Honoring Officers

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Peace Officers Memorial Service on the West Lawn of the Capitol on May 15, 2017.

Whispers

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), right, and ranking member Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) talk during a hearing with the heads of the U.S. intelligence agencies in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 11, 2017.

Skeptical

Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates arrives to testify before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election on Capitol Hill on May 8, 2017.

Differing Opinions

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) gives a thumbs-up to protesters on the East Front of the Capitol after the House passed the Republicans' bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on May 4, 2017. The protesters support the ACA.

Real Talk

United States Naval Academy Midshipman 2nd Class Shiela Craine (left), a sexual assault survivor, testifies before the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Military Personnel with (2nd from left to right) Ariana Bullard, Stephanie Gross and Annie Kendzior in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 2, 2017. Kendzior, a former midshipman, and Gross, a former cadet, were both raped twice during their time at the military academies. The academy superintendents were called to testify following the release of a survey last month by the Pentagon that said 12.2 percent of academy women and 1.7 percent of academy men reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact during the 2015-16 academic year.

In Support Of Immigrants

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), center, is joined by dozens of Democratic members of the House of Representatives to mark "Immigrant Rights Day" in the Capitol Visitor Center on May 1, 2017 in Washington, D.C. The Democratic legislators called on Republicans and President Donald Trump to join their push for comprehensive immigration reform.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
The remains of fire damaged homes after an out of control wildfire moved through the area in California: Justin Sullivan/Getty

An elderly couple who had been together for more than 75 years have died in wildfires ravaging northern California.

Charles Rippey  who was also known as Peach  had recently turned 100 and his wife Sara was 99-years-old.

At least 11 people have been killed and 100 injured in the fires, which have also destroyed as many as 1,500 homes and businesses.

Some of the largest of the 14 blazes burning over a 200-mile region were in Napa and Sonoma counties, where there are scores of wineries that attract tourists. Smoke from the fires billowed as far south as San Francisco, about 60 miles away.

The elderly couple's grandaughter, Ruby Gibney, told KTU-TV that their house in Napa "was quickly ravaged by the fire, and they were unable to get out in time and tragically died.

She added: "The only thing worse would have been if one survived without the other."

The couple met as children in Wisconsin. One of their sons, Mike Rippey, told ABC News: "They lived a long life. It was a great life and they were happy right up until the last minute."

Napa County Sheriffs Sergeant Mark Foster told The Mercury News Ms Rippey used a wheelchair. He said they had a carer, but she could not save them. "She was barely able to get out in time and wasnt able to get to them, he said.

The fires are already among the deadliest in California, with the death toll expected to rise.

Sonoma County said it had received more than 100 missing-person reports, with family and friends desperate to locate loved ones.
It was an Airbnb nightmare for a couple vacationing in Florida after they say they found their rental unit rigged with hidden cameras  something experts tell HuffPost is happening more often, but there are ways to detect.

Derek Starnes said he and his wife had already spent a full night at the Longboat Key home listed by Wayne Natt last month when he noticed a small hole on the side of the bedrooms smoke detector, he told Tampa-based station WFTS.

Being employed in the tech industry, Starnes took the device down and inspected it, only to find a camera inside. Reviews of an SD memory card taken from the device, as well as a second in the living room, revealed footage of them, as well as other suspected victims, according to police.

My wife and I are distressed by this situation. I hope more victims will come forward, Starnes said.

This image was reportedly taken of the couple inside the Airbnb home by the hidden camera. The couple said they never gave their Airbnb host permission to film them. (Photo: Longboat Key Police)

Natt, 56, was arrested and charged with one count of video voyeurism, which is a third-degree felony. A since-deleted Airbnb page appearing to belong to him, and confirmed by Starnes to WFTS, shows 42 reviews by guests since 2015, earning him a stellar five-star rating.

Police said Natt has denied wrongdoing, claiming that the camera was there for consenting sex parties  something local authorities arent quite buying.

If everyone had knowledge, then why hidden cameras? Lt. Bob Bourque asked Fox 13 News. His answer to that was, a better angle of video, which we dont necessarily believe.

For the record, the Starnes deny they gave any consent to be filmed. Airbnb, in a statement to HuffPost, said hosts are required to disclose whether there are security cameras or other surveillance equipment at or around the listing. They must also get consent where those devices are required.

The couple said they were never informed that they'd be filmed inside of the rental, pictured among these townhouses. (Photo: WFTS)

Airbnb spokesman Benjamin Breit said the company is outraged over the allegations and that Natt has been permanently banned from using their services in the future.

A Google search for similar hidden camera cases in the news suggests this Longboat Key case is just a drop in the bucket, which security experts affirmed to HuffPost.

Story continues

In Thomas Martins line of work, handling hidden camera cases is as common as picking up your pen and writing, he told HuffPost. Martin is a former supervisory federal agent and current president of Martin Investigative Services in Newport Beach, California.

Hiding a camera in a smoke detector may be one of the easiest places, according to one security expert. (Photo: lionvision via Getty Images)

Martins work often protects and serves corporations, banks, attorneys, and high-profile individuals, including celebrities. His company also recently investigated a case of a camera found in a corporate offices restroom.

Over the last decade, there has been a rise in the number of secret surveillance bugs found during sweeps, he said, with his company finding them in 16 percent of their hunts. Thats up from four to six percent between 1988 and 2005.

Theres a variety of sick crazy reasons, he said. Ultimately, he says its because the technology has improved and people are becoming more aware of it.

Ari Morse with investigative services company Locaters International Inc., in Daytona Beach, Florida, agrees.

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It is more common because the cameras are so affordable nowadays, he told HuffPost.

An Amazon search lists a number of hidden cameras that are disguised as alarm clocks, USB chargers, smoke detectors, lamps, light bulbs and pens, to name a few.

Im not saying it to scare anybody but there are cameras that come in all shapes and sizes nowadays, Morse said.

People suspicious of being watched are advised to look around for anything out of the ordinary, including items showing signs of tampering.

Experts recommend examining surrounding items for possible cameras or signs of tampering. Often these cameras are placed over the bed or in front of the bed. (Photo: ploy via Getty Images)

I would make sure that the outlets look normal, that the smoke detectors are not necessarily near another one, Morse said. If youre staying in a lower end hotel and theres a fancy piece of china there, [ask yourself] well does that fit? If youre staying in a fancy hotel and you see a broken piece of plastic or a book that looks out of place, does it look right?

Martin also suggested inspecting the ceiling fan, lamp and dresser drawers. Usually its a small device thats easily detectable by us but not by the naked eye and its put over the bed or in front of the bed, he said.

The smoke detector would probably be one of the easiest, Morse said, reasoning that its power source can be concealed. You can run the power through the ceiling, though sometimes they are battery powered.

Battery-powered cameras can only operate for a finite amount of time, making them less desirable. There are ways to attach and hide battery packs, though that requires more time and expertise, which most creeps lack, he said.

Both Martin and Morse acknowledged that there are a number of devices for sale that are marketed as able to detect hidden cameras, but theyre not as reliable as one would hope. A glance of such products reviews on Amazon appear to confirm that assessment.

For those who have serious concerns about being secretly monitored, both men advise calling in a professional, since they are equipped with sophisticated technology and expertise to sniff out such bugs.

Most of the time, for people to do it the right way, its sometimes cost prohibitive because it takes a team of people, Morse said.

Martin also warned that not all debuggers are experts like they claim.

The vast majority dont have the skill, knowledge, and more importantly, they dont have the equipment, he said, while describing that pricey equipment as including room X-rays and scanners that detect electronic signals.

A lot of guys just have a magic wand, wave it around, he said of the electronic devices you can buy online. We bring the real deal.

I know that it probably sounds very scary, Morse said of all of the information and security measures out there. Weve seen it a lot because thats just what we do.

Related...

Utah Couple Arrested Over 'Peeping Tom' Drone

A Year After 'Peeping Tom' Rabbi Arrested, Congregation Perseveres

Comedian With Hidden Camera Gets A Gun Without ID In Under 5 Minutes

Fake Hair Dresser Arrested For Voyeurism

Erin Andrews Settles With Hotel Over Peeping Tom Case

Also on HuffPost

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday announced a major shift in the countrys infamous drug war, instructing the national police to end their operations and handing control to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

In a vitriol-filled speech, Duterte said the move would be better for the bleeding hearts and media that have consistently criticized the enormous death toll and police abuses of the crackdown. Police have killed nearly 4,000 people since Duterte took office in late June of last year, while emboldened vigilante groups have murdered thousands more.

The change in policy is a sign that Dutertes administration may be beginning to bend under the increasing weight of domestic and international pressure, despite the presidents characteristically belligerent reactions to criticism and attacks against human rights groups.

Whats different now is that opinion polls are indicating a softening in support for Duterte, and there have been very large, loud and public displays of opposition to the drug war, said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

Recent weeks have seen protests, falling approval ratings and threats of international economic repercussions over Dutertes violent 15-month anti-drug campaign. The high-profile extrajudicial killings of three teenagers this summer put an increased spotlight on the brutal nature of anti-drug operations.

The death of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos in August drew special outrage as it appeared to provide clear evidence of a police cover-up. Officers involved claimed to have shot Santos after he fired on them while resisting arrest, but closed-circuit TV footage revealed two plainclothes policemen had the teenager in custody and fully restrained before his death. Santos body was found in an alley near his house, shot twice in the head and once in the back.

Protesters burn an effigy of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to express their outrage while calling for the immediate pullout of U.S. troops in Mindanao province. (Photo: Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

Human rights groups and critics of Dutertes government have consistently condemned the police for carrying out extrajudicial killings with impunity, often planting evidence or falsifying accounts of how the deaths took place. Duterte even briefly suspended police involvement in the drug war once before, in January, after anti-drug squad officers kidnapped and murdered a South Korean businessman.

Story continues

But the highly publicized killing of Santos, along with those of two other teenage boys in the past two months, has brought new levels of opposition to the drug war. A Social Weather Stations poll released earlier this week showed a significant drop in public support for Duterte, with trust in him hitting the lowest point of his presidency, albeit remaining mostly favorable.

Adding to Dutertes woes are falling foreign investment, continuous martial law in the island of Mindanao over conflict with extremists, and pressure from the European Union that it will end a preferential trade deal if the killings dont stop.

Relatives of Aldrin Castillo, an alleged drug user killed by unidentified assailants, grieve as they arrive at the crime scene in Manila on Oct. 3, 2017. (Photo: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)

Duterte responded to the EU officials warnings in his speech on Thursday, calling them bullshit and saying, We are past the colonization stage. Dont fuck with us. But human rights groups say that despite Dutertes bellicose rhetoric, the economic consequences of his drug war are a major concern for the Philippines.

Its clear that people in his government, people in the business community are telling him that he needs to pull back  that theres about to be an economic price to be paid for this war on drugs that is going to be considerable and painful, Kine said.

In response to the growing discontent around extrajudicial killings, Dutertes administration has made overtures toward investigations into police conduct and tried to manage the public image of the drug war. Officials have denied abuses as fake news and tried to downplay the statistics on drug-related killings since Duterte took office.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency taking control of operations has the potential to slow the rate of extrajudicial killings, as the group has only about 1 percent of the forces of the national police, but the deaths wont stop entirely.

Human rights groups say that one of the most dangerous ramifications of Dutertes drug war has been a breakdown in the rule of law as vigilante groups have felt emboldened to carry out killings without fear of reprisal. During the brief halt in police operations earlier this year, bodies of victims still piled up in the streets. Their heads were wrapped in packing tape and they were lying next to cardboard signs accusing them of having links to drugs.

You can get away with murder in the Philippines. Anyone with a gun and a grudge can kill someone and it can be attributed to a drug killing, Kine said.

The war isnt over until there are some meaningful moves toward accountability.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
The Dalai Lama said recently that he is concerned that the United States is becoming more selfish, nationalist under President Donald Trump.

When asked by the Washington Post about his current view of the United States, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said: Your ancestors really considered the importance of liberty, freedom, democracy, these things . . . The present President, in the very beginning he mentioned America first. That sounded in my ear not very nice.

The Dalai Lama said that after the U.S. presidential election last year, he had no worries about Trumps controversial campaign rhetoric, predicting that he would behave differently in office.

But speaking at a forum hosted by the Tibetan government-in-exile on Saturday, the Dalai Lama said he was concerned by Trumps approach to climate change and military growth, according to the Post. The Trump Administration has rolled back environmental regulations aimed at stopping global warming, and Trump continues to threaten military action against North Korea.

The present President is not much paying attention to ecology. So on that, I feel some reservation, the Dalai Lama said. But anyway, the American people elected him, so I must respect [that].
James Van Der Beek has revealed he too was a victim of sexual harassment.

The Dawsons Creek star, 40, spoke out about his experiences as a younger actor in Hollywood after slamming those criticizing the women who have spoken out about Harvey Weinsteins alleged sexual misconduct.

Taking to Twitter late Wednesday night, Van Der Beek said he had been the target of older men.

Ive had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men, Ive had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when I was much younger...  James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017

Ive had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men, Ive had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when I was much younger, he tweeted.

I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness & inability to blow the whistle. Theres a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome.

His comments came after he slammed those who judged the women who have alleged that they were sexual assaulted or harassed by Weinstein.

What Weinstein is being accused of is criminal. What hes admitted to is unacceptable - in any industry. I applaud everybody speaking out.  James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017

I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness & inability to blow the whistle. Theres a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome  James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) October 12, 2017

For anyone judging the women who stayed silent, read this for perspective. Also for anyone brushing off harassment as boys being boysWhat Weinstein is being accused of is criminal.

What hes admitted to is unacceptable  in any industry. I applaud everybody speaking out, Van Der Beek added.

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The Vice star is not the first male Hollywood actor to reveal he was the target of sexual harassment, on Tuesday Terry Crews said a high level Hollywood executive groped him.

This whole thing with Harvey Weinstein is giving me PTSD. Why? Because this kind of thing happened to ME, the Brooklyn Nine-Nine star tweeted Tuesday, revealing his ordeal in a series of further posts.

Crews, 49, said the incident happened at a Hollywood function in 2016 and claimed the executive came over to him and groped my privates.

Jumping back I said What are you doing?! My wife saw everything n we looked at him like he was crazy. He just grinned like a jerk, alleged Crews, adding in another tweet, I was going to kick his a right then but I thought twice about how the whole thing would appear.

The star said, 240 lbs. Black Man stomps out Hollywood Honcho would be the headline the next day, adding, Only I probably wouldnt have been able to read it because I WOULD HAVE BEEN IN JAIL. So we left.

Crews and Van Der Beeks revelations follow the sexual harassment and abuse scandal that has seen actresses including Cara Delevingne, Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow speaking out against Weinsteins alleged behavior.

In a bombshell New York Times report last week, eight women accused him of acting inappropriately. The paper also reported that Weinstein reached private settlements with eight women, including actress Rose McGowan.

On Tuesday, Paltrow and Jolie told of their own accounts of alleged mistreatment. Paltrow told the NYT that Weinstein sexually harassed her in a hotel room when she was 22. The encounter allegedly ended with Weinstein placing his hands on her and suggesting a massage.

Jolie also told the outlet that she had a bad experience with Weinstein in a hotel room during the release of Playing by Heart in the late 90s.

Also on Tuesday, the The New Yorker revealed  among 13 different womens accounts of alleged sexual harassment, assault or rape  that the mogul allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on Italian actress Asia Argento two decades ago. Actresses Mira Sorvino and Rosanna Arquette also claimed that after rejecting Weinsteins unwanted advances, they were removed from or kept from being hired for projects.

In response to the lengthy allegations made against Weinstein in the New Yorker piece, a spokesperson for Weinstein said, Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.

This article originally appeared on People.com
Mexico City (AFP) - The death toll from a major prison riot in northeast Mexico has risen to 16, authorities said Wednesday.

Unrest at the prison in Cadereyta in Nuevo Leon state broke out on Tuesday morning and was put down, but flared again later as inmates started fires that sent up huge columns of black smoke.

One prisoner died in the blaze. Prisoners then took three guards hostage, and when talks with them went nowhere, security forces were sent in.

"Sixteen people were killed, most of them convicted of serious crimes," said Bernardo Gonzales, the state prosecutor on Wednesday.

"The bodies have various injuries, it is not possible to determine whether their deaths were due to bullets" before autopsies are performed, added Aldo Fasci, a government spokesman.

He added that authorities used lethal force to prevent the violence from escalating and that the clash was a result of gang rivalries.

Twenty-six people were also injured in the unrest, including two police and three security guards.

Cadereyta is on the outskirts of Monterrey, the third-largest city in Mexico.

Mexican jails are often rocked by riots, killings and escapes, especially those controlled by drug gangs. Most are overcrowded.

In 2016, a vicious fight between rival gangs left 49 dead in the Topo Chico jail, also in Nuevo Leon.
People protest Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' policy address on Title IX enforcement at George Mason University on Sept. 7. (Photo: Mike Theiler / Reuters)

A group of Democratic lawmakers unveiled legislation at a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon that would protect Title IX after recent rollbacks by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

The new legislation, named the Title IX Protection Act, would codify into law three Title IX guidances that were created during the Obama, George W. Bush and Clinton administrations. These guidances  the 2014 Questions and Answers on Title IX document, the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter and the 2001 Guidance on Title IX (originally issued by the Clinton administration and then re-issued by the Bush administration)  were designed to help all parties involved in sexual assault cases navigate the campus reporting process.

Students should be chasing dreams, not running from sexual predators, Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) said at the press conference.

In the beginning of September, DeVos announced that she would begin rolling back guidances like those named above. She called the current campus reporting process a failed system that is increasingly elaborate and confusing.

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) has spearheaded the proposed legislation with help from the Democratic Womens Working Group. Speier was joined at the press conference at the Capitol Visitors Center by other congressional lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.). Anti-sexual violence and advocacy groups including End Rape On Campus, Know Your IX, the National Womens Law Center and the American Association of University Women were also in attendance.

The Title IX Protection Act is very important because Secretary DeVos decision to roll back vital protections for victims of campus sexual assault is an alarming reminder of the White House dismissive and cruel attitude towards survivors and students, Pelosi said during the press conference.

Speier told HuffPost that this bill is key to ensuring that all parties involved in sexual assault accusations handled under Title IX are treated fairly.

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The most important element of this legislation is that we create a standard that cannot be changed, Speier said. We have a secretary of education who is trying to take us back in time and were not going back in time. Were not going back to a period of time when a woman who is raped is not believed or her case is swept under the rug.

Jess Davidson, managing director of End Rape On Campus, told HuffPost that this bill will send a strong message to survivors that they are not alone.

A few weeks ago, Secretary DeVos sent survivors of sexual assault a terrible leadership signal, one that clearly told survivors the United States government is not with them, and that survivors are on their own when it comes to the enforcement of their own civil rights. But advocates and survivors know we cant go back, Davidson said. The Title IX Protection Act sends the opposite message to survivors, and to all who want fairness in Title IX processes, as it reiterates the importance of strong Title IX enforcement and of fair, impartial and trauma-informed processes.

Rep. Jackie Speier said the Title IX Protection Act would "create a standard that cannot be changed. (Photo: Leigh Vogel via Getty Images)

During the presser, Speier and other speakers addressed an argument often used against the Title IX reporting process.

In Title IX cases, the accused must be found guilty by only a preponderance of the evidence. Thats the standard of proof usually used in civil rights cases and other civil court matters. It is lower than the beyond a reasonable doubt standard used in criminal cases, where the punishment could be prison time.

Preponderance of the evidence means simply that it is more likely than not that the accused did the alleged deed. The standard is used in Title IX cases where the potential punishments relate to the accuseds status at school  suspension, expulsion, etc.  and do not threaten a loss of liberty, like prison.

Critics of the Title IX reporting process often contend that the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard makes it too easy to wrongly convict the innocent. But Speier and others at the press conference argued for the standard by putting sexual violence on college campuses in the larger context of civil rights.

The law is clear, women have the right to an education free from discrimination and sexual violence, Speier said. Because [preponderance of the evidence] is what is used in all civil rights cases, and isnt this a civil right  to be able to go to school and not be subjected to violence?

Watch the full press conference below.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story mistakenly said that clear and convincing evidence is the same as beyond a reasonable doubt. It is, in fact, a third standard of proof that falls between preponderance of the evidence and beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Related Stories

Betsy DeVos May Rescind Title IX Guidelines. Here's What That Could Mean.

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29 Senators Sign Letter Urging DeVos To Maintain Title IX Guidelines

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Visitors said they could 'smell the flames': juniorolivas / Instagram

As wildfires raged across Northern California, authorities have said the fires have burned more than 1,500 buildings and at least 13 people have died.

The fires have been among the largest and most damaging in the states history. Authorities estimate there are 150 people missing in wine country.

People shared eerie photos of Disneyland, clouded over with smoke and ash dropping from an orange sky, which have emphasised the magnitude of the disaster.

The Canyon fire 2 in the nearby Anaheim Hills has burned at least 7,500 acres.

"@Disneyland looking surreal with #canyonfire2 burning in the distance," wrote Laura Olden on Twitter.

Twitter user S Preston said: "Anaheim fire as seen from Disneyland. Ash dropping everywhere. #Wildfire."

Anaheim fire as seen from Disneyland. Ash dropping everywhere. #Wildfire pic.twitter.com/s26P2xvuoL  S. Preston (@PootPoot) October 9, 2017

Canyon Fire from Disneyland pic.twitter.com/WKobLUedE6  Kevin Livingston (@tongoroa) October 9, 2017

Disneyland said it will stay open.

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The theme park wrote on Twitter: "Due to wind conditions continuing into this evening, 'Remember... Dreams Come True' fireworks has been cancelled."

More than 100 people are being treated in hospitals for fire-related injuries and smoke inhalation.

Thousands of people are unable to return to their homes on Tuesday, after 5,000 homes were evacuated as the blaze spread.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is trying to bring the fires under control.

President Trump declared the fires as a major disaster and has approved additional funding to the state.

Vice President Mike Pence said Congress will consider $576 million and new legislation to aid fire suppression in the future.

"To California, we say though this declaration, we are with you, our prayers are with you and we will be with you every day until we put the fires out," he said.

Dozens of schools remained closed on Tuesday, flights were cancelled and tens of thousands of people were without cell phone service.

Two hospitals in Santa Rosa, the largest city in the region, were also forced to evacuate patients.
Donald Trumps aides are reportedly concerned what to di if he orders a nuclear strike on North Korea (Rex)

Aides of Donald Trump are reportedly working out what they would say to him if he were to order the United States to launch a nuclear strike on North Korea.

White House officials are said to be increasingly concerned by the Presidents behaviour, both publicly and privately, and are worried he will start World War III.

Trumps Chief of Staff John Kelly and Secretary of Defence James Mattis are reported to have talked about what they would say to the President if he does order a nuclear attack.

According to numerous sources who have spoken to Vanity Fair about a range of issues surrounding the President and his apparent unravelling, Kelly and Mattis have already discussed their response.

Would they tackle him? the source said.

The publication claims that those closest to Trump believe him to be unstable, while advisers said the White House was in crisis over the Presidents dark moods.

A nuclear attack is seeming ever more likely, with reports emerging yesterday that Trump wants a tenfold increase in the United States nuclear arsenal.

However, Trump denied the story on twitter, calling it pure fiction.

MORE: Donald Trump is definitely coming to the UK in 2018  but NOT on a state visit

MORE: British man accused of indecently touching businessman in Dubai sentenced to a month in prison for drinking alcohol

The White House also denied accounts about the Presidents dark moods, saying: The Presidents mood is good and his outlook on the agenda is very positive.

Tensions between the United States and North Korea continue to ramp up after the US staged another show of force by flying two B-1B supersonic bombers from an air base in Guam over the Korean peninsula.

These flights are said to anger the North, with Pyongyang claiming the drills are preparation for war.

Two B-1B supersonic bombers took part in a another drill with South Korea (PA)

South Korean lawmaker Lee Cheol-hee claims that North Korean hackers may have stolen highly classified military documents that contain details of a strike against Kim Jong-un if war breaks out.

The Souths Yonhap news agency quoted Lee as saying that 235 gigabytes of military documents were taken last year.

Seoul says North Korea has repeatedly staged cyberattacks on South Korean business and government websites, something the North has denied.
Donald Trump has intensified his war with the media by launching an attack on the frankly disgusting freedom of speech bestowed upon US journalists.

The embattled President told reporters in the Oval Office it was frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write and people should look into it, criticising the tremendously dishonest press.

Mr Trump, who has made some 1,300 false statements since taking office, has long complained of fake news hampering his administration.

Free expression is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Mr Trump on Wednesday threatened to consider whether TV networks licences could be reviewed over unflattering coverage of him.

He later added: Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked.

Singling out NBC News for criticism, he added: Not fair to public!

A Republican senator, Ben Sasse, challenged Mr Trumps outburst. He said: Words spoken by the President of the United States matter. Are you tonight recanting the oath you took on 20 January to preserve, protect and defend the First Amendment?

And Ed Markey, a Democrat, urged the chairman of the Federal Communication Commission to ignore the Presidents apparent call to action.

Maggie Hassan, another Democrat, called it an unacceptable attack on the free press.

According to The Hill, Mr Trump later said he had no plans to seek to limit journalistic activity.

The latest tension between the media and the Trump administration arose from an NBC News report that claimed the President was seeking to expand the US nuclear arsenal tenfold, which he denied.

He told reporters, during a visit by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: I never discussed increasing it. We dont need an increase, but I want modernisation and I want total rehabilitation.

Earlier this year, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Mr Trump used his speech to reiterate his belief that fake news media outlets using anonymous source were the enemy of the American people.

They are the enemy of the people, he said in February. Because they have no sources. They just make them up where there are none.
President makes veiled threat claiming network broadcasts fake news

NBC, like all other networks, is not licensed by the federal government

Donald Trump ramped up his war with the news media on Wednesday morning, suggesting that it might be appropriate to challenge the license of NBC News in response to what he claimed was its fake news.

With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017

The spat between Trump  who worked for NBC for 14 years as the host of The Apprentice  and the networks news arm has been swirling ever since NBCs report on the strained relationship between Trump and the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. It appears that Trumps most recent outburst was triggered by a report that Trump requested a tenfold increase in the US nuclear arsenal, a report Trump called made up and pure fiction.

NBC News attributed that report to three unnamed officials who were in the room.

Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a "tenfold" increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017

Trump followed up the tweet by remarking to reporters in the Oval Office: It is frankly disgusting the press is able to write whatever it wants to write.

As is often the case, the implications of Trumps tweet are unclear.

There is no single license that the federal government grants to NBC or any other national broadcast network. The FCC does register individual stations and affiliates, of which NBC has more than 200, but there would be no mechanism for separating NBC news  the object of Trumps ire  from the networks non-news programming, the vast majority of its broadcast content.

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Also, even if the network were broadcasting fake news as Trump puts it, the FCC can only revoke a broadcast license for content that either violates the law, or falls short of certain technical standards.

The threat  a naked challenge to the first amendment protection of freedom of the press  comes less than a week after Trump also pondered why Congress had not begun to investigate the Fake News Networks, rather than his administrations many alleged ties to Russian actors.

Why Isn't the Senate Intel Committee looking into the Fake News Networks in OUR country to see why so much of our news is just made up-FAKE!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2017

Questioned about that statement in a press conference, the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, responded: The president is an incredible advocate of the first amendment.

Republican senator Ben Sasse issued a statement on Wednesday night asking the president if he was recanting his presidential oath by attacking freedom of speech.
President Donald Trump has yet to respond to Eminems rap at the BET Hip Hop Awards on Tuesday, in which he described the president as a kamikaze that will probably cause a nuclear holocaust.

The five-minute video, filmed as part of the shows traditional cyphers, saw Marshall Mathers attack Trump for his racism and anti-immigrant stances.

Following the awards show, social media was awash with speculation about how Trump might react.

I think its fake news, Trump said, but if he did that, I guess well have to freestyle. And I can tell you who is going to win. Reddit user czegoszczekasz imagined.

The president has a reputation as quickly rising to respond to criticism through his personal Twitter account, using the platform to decry public figures that speak out against him. In fact, when Snoop Dogg pointed a pistol at a clown called Ronald Klump in a music video back in March, Trump condemned the rapper almost immediately.

Can you imagine what the outcry would be if Snoop Dogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Jail time! Trump said.

In response to Eminems latest video, Twitter user TheMichaelRock suggested Trump may try to rap:

Trump's possible response.

Twitter user DeMarko_Gage said Trump may opt to blame Eminem as the reason why people dont watch BET.

Trump is so mad right now that he is going to blame Eminem on the reason why people dont watch BET pic.twitter.com/hJimvQ2yVF  DeMarko Gage :) (@DeMarko_Gage) October 11, 2017

This would follow whats become a common refrain for Trump. Hes described the New York Times, NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN as failing before, all in one Twitter post. Many assume he will make some sort of comment about Eminem, or BET, failing.
Emma Thompson is joining a chorus of famous actresses condemning Harvey Weinstein in the wake of the many allegations of sexual assault and harassment leveled against him.

Thompson, who starred in a handful of films produced by Weinsteins company, including 2008s Brideshead Revisited, said she had no previous knowledge of his actions, but is not entirely surprised.

I didnt know about these things, but they dont surprise me at all and theyre endemic to the system anyway, Thompson told BBC Newsnight. What I find sort of extraordinary is that this man is at the top of a very particular iceberg.

I dont think you can describe him as a sex addict, she continued. Hes a predator. But what hes, as it were, [at] the top of the ladder of is a system of harassment and belittling and bullying, and interference.

Emma Thompson tells us the Harvey Weinstein allegations are just the tip of the iceberg of a wider and systemic problem in Hollywood pic.twitter.com/VDxswrUP5Z  BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) October 12, 2017

Later in the interview, when journalist Emily Maitlis pressed Thompson on whether she believed there were others within the film industry that have committed similar acts, the Beauty and the Beast actress dropped this piece of knowledge.

Of course. Many. Maybe not to that degree, she responded. Do they have to all be as bad as him to make it count? Does it only count if you really have done it to loads and loads and loads of women? Or does it count if you do it to one woman, once?

Thompson added, I think the latter.

Emma Thompson the 61st BFI London Film Festival in October 2017. (Photo: Mike Marsland via Getty Images)

Weinstein was fired from his production company this week after incriminating investigative reports by both The New York Times and The New Yorker detailed decades of alleged sexual harassment, as well as rape, according to three womens testimonies. The producer has since reportedly fled to a rehab facility in Arizona to treat, among other things, a sex addiction.

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Thompson, however, doesnt consider this kind of behavior specific to the film industry, but part of a larger problem regarding how men abuse power.

This has been part of our world, womens world, since time immemorial, she said. So what we need to start talking about is this crisis in masculinity, the crisis of extreme masculinity, which is this sort of behavior, and the fact that it is not only OK, but it also is represented by the most powerful man in the world at the moment.

While Thompson does not mention him by name, she is likely referring to President Donald Trump, whom she once turned down a date with and has routinely criticized since he took office.

Also on HuffPost

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HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 10: Actress Lena Headey arrives at the premiere of HBO's 'Game Of Thrones' Season 6 at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 10, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) - A former Chemours Co employee has been indicted on U.S. charges that he conspired to steal trade secrets related to its lucrative sodium cyanide business and sell them to Chinese investors, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday.

Jerry Jindong Xu, who moved from China in 2011 and was employed by DuPont before the U.S. conglomerate spinned off Chemours in 2015, was charged in an indictment filed in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.

Xu, 48, was arrested in New York state in August in connection with the case, though the indictment was only unsealed this week. He is being held without bail, according to court documents.

Xu has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyer and Wilmington-based Chemours did not respond to requests for comment.

U.S. concern about intellectual property theft by China has been heightened, with President Donald Trump in August authorizing an inquiry into the matter.

"We are committed to prosecuting anyone - be they rogue actors or foreign nations - who tries to line their pockets by jeopardizing the hard work our businesses perform every day," Acting U.S. Attorney David Weiss in Delaware said in a statement.

According to the indictment, Chemours is the world's largest producer of sodium cyanide, a chemical used to mine gold, silver and other precious metals. Chemours earlier this year broke ground on a $150 million sodium cyanide plant in Mexico.

Prosecutors said Xu had worked for DuPont since 2004 and was involved in marketing sodium cyanide-based products. He was terminated by Chemours in 2016, prosecutors said.

The indictment accused Xu of using his position with Chemours to obtain trade secrets and confidential information including reports and spreadsheets regarding three different company projects related to cyanide plants and facilities.

Prosecutors said his main goal was to either help investors build a competing sodium cyanide plant or become an import competitor.

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He told one potential investor that he wanted to do the project "for himself and not to slave away at this only to benefit someone else," prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said he conducted the scheme with the help of an unidentified longtime former DuPont employee who had left in 2014. They said that during the scheme, he accessed Chemours documents and secretly took pictures of plant system diagrams.

The case is U.S. v. Xu, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware, No. 17-cr-00063.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Richard Chang)
Brussels (AFP) - NATO members should step up efforts to help Ukraine in its conflict, the alliance's former chief said Wednesday, warning that a Russian proposal for a peacekeeping force was a "Trojan horse".

Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO nations should supply defensive equipment to Ukrainian forces battling Russian-backed insurgents in the country's east in a conflict that has claimed more than 10,000 lives since it erupted in 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last month asked the UN to approve a lightly-armed peacekeeping force to protect international observers monitoring the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine.

Rasmussen, who was NATO secretary general from 2009 to 2014, told an event in Brussels that Putin "may have changed his calculus" following tighter international sanctions over Russian interference in Ukraine.

He said the proposal could be a "first indication" the situation may start to change, but urged caution on the peacekeeping force.

"In its current form Putin's peacekeeping proposal is what I would call a Trojan horse, it is a non-starter," Rasmussen said.

"But I think we need to seize the moment and try to reshape it to put him to a test, because this is our first opening in years to actually end the conflict, so I think it would be a big mistake just to denounce his proposal."

A peacekeeping mission was needed, he said, but one with "the right mandate, the right terms and the right capabilities".

Kiev, which has long called for UN peacekeepers to be deployed, fears Moscow would use any force to lock in gains made by Kremlin-backed rebels and is simply trying to ease the international pressure it faces.

Some 600 observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are on the ground in eastern Ukraine but have failed to stop the fighting.

Ukraine has submitted an alternative to the Russian proposal which goes significantly further, deploying UN peacekeepers across the east of the country including on the border with Russia to prevent armed forces from entering.

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Former Danish prime minister Rasmussen said he recently visited Ukrainian forces on the frontline in the conflict-torn Donbass region who told him they needed not heavy weapons but secure communications equipment, night goggles and the like.

"I think NATO members could do more by providing defensive systems to Ukraine so that the Ukrainian military improves its capability to defend itself and defend Ukraine," he told AFP.

"I think it will raise the costs of Russian aggression so that it could eventually also change the calculus in the Kremlin."

Rasmussen, who was replaced by Norway's Jens Stoltenberg, played a leading role in shaping the early NATO response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Ukraine has been pressing the west to supply it with offensive weapons to take the fight to the rebels, but the international community has been wary of doing anything that might escalate the conflict.
The remains of a neighborhood in Santa Rosa, Calif. (Photo: Jack Thiebaud)

SANTA ROSA, Calif.  Perhaps the only thing thats certain for the roughly 175,000 residents of this wine-growing region being terrorized by devastating wildfires is that no one knows whats going to happen next.

For 18-year-old Jack Thiebaud, an aspiring firefighter who just started his first semester at Santa Rosa Junior College, a tour of whats left of the apartment complex where he had recently settled proved dumbfounding.

Never in my life have I seen so much destruction, said Thiebaud, who hiked back into the flattened neighborhood with his father on Tuesday. Its all gone.

Fifteen of the 20 buildings in the Hoper Lane Apartments were razed, though the unit that housed Thiebauds one-bedroom apartment miraculously remains. With the area still designated an evacuation zone, and with no power or utility service, he has relocated to his parents home in Berkeley.

I have no idea what theyre going to do. Maybe theyll bulldoze the whole thing, Thiebaud said. But it could have been much, much worse for me.

Slideshow: Wildfires destroy Northern California wineries >>>

Thanks to the unusually high winds in the region Sunday night, when the so-called Tubbs fire descended on Santa Rosa, Gry McFarland and her husband, David, decided to close their windows before going to sleep. Around 2 a.m., awoken by noises outside, he got up to see if the winds had died down.

There was so much smoke when I opened the window, I was just shocked. Before I could really register anything, my doorbell was ringing and someone was knocking, Gry McFarland, 60, said while sitting beside her golden retriever at a makeshift shelter at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds. Fifteen minutes after that my phone rang with a recording that said, Evacuate now. No matter how calm you think youll be, everything just goes out the window.

Gry McFarland and her dog at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds shelter. (Photo: David Knowles)

The McFarlands woke their houseguest, a woman who had traveled to California from Houston to escape Hurricane Harveys floods, and headed for the Veterans Memorial building.

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All we could see was red behind us, and I thought, OK, its just all going to burn up. We were mentally preparing not to have anything to go back to, Gry McFarland said.

The fire came within two blocks of her home before the wind changed direction, the blaze engulfing nearby stores like Lucky and Home Depot instead. But McFarland knows her good fortune might be temporary.

Theyre expecting the wind to come back up, and if that happens they could have to evacuate people all over again, she said.

After a calmer day on Tuesday, the winds did indeed kick up on Wednesday afternoon, and were forecast to gust up to 40 miles per hour overnight, playing havoc with firefighting efforts. And despite those efforts since Sunday, containment of the Tubbs fire stands at just 3 percent, fire officials say, the same low number as containment for the Atlas Peak fire in nearby Napa.

The remains of a car found in a destroyed Santa Rosa neighborhood. (Photo: Jack Thiebaud)

Meanwhile, the number of deaths and destroyed properties continues to rise  21 people have died and 3,500 buildings have been lost over the entire region as of Wednesdays count. Thousands of firefighters, aided by a fast-growing number of California National Guard troops, are now fighting multiple blazes across the wine country, and the magnitude of the disaster has begun to sink in.

Weve had big fires in the past. This is one of the biggest, most serious, California Gov. Jerry Brown said at a Wednesday press conference. Its not over.  We have people living in communities and cities and very developed situations that are close to forests and brush that becomes kindling.

Slideshow: Deadly wildfires ravage Northern California, threaten wine country >>>

For Alicia Abarca, 35, the stress of uncertainty is taking its toll. Silver Star Care Home, the assisted-living facility where she worked, burned to the ground Monday. Now she has to wait to see whether her boss can figure out a plan to serve the dislocated seniors and keep his workers employed.

Weve got our stuff in the car just in case we have to leave, Abarca said, accepting a sandwich from a Red Cross worker at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds shelter. We just spent our last money that we have on gas and food when we had to leave on Monday morning.

While her husband has been able to keep working at his construction job, Abarca, who has lived in Santa Rosa for 28 years, waits for word from her employer about whether shell need to look for a new job.

Its just not normal, Abarca said, looking up at the ocher-hued sky. Youre used to thinking, OK, were going to get paid. Were going to pay our bills. Right now were struggling.

If theres a bright spot to be found, its in the unrelenting efforts of the firefighters who come to the area from across the state to work grueling 72-hour shifts and who have earned the admiration of the entire community.

Seeing how the first responders did such an amazing job, it made me want to be one that much more, Thiebaud said.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Ms Sandberg made the comment during her first public interview since Facebook disclosed the ads exist: Getty

A top executive at Facebook says that Congress should publicly release ads purchased by Russia-linked accounts on the social media site.

Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer at Facebook, made the comments during her first public interview since Facebook announced that it had found Russia-linked accounts that bought ads during the 2016 US election campaign. Facebook later disclosed that information to Congress, which is investigating Russian meddling in the election.

Absolutely, Ms Sandberg told Axios when asked if she supported releasing those ads publicly.

Things happened on our platform in this election that should not have happened, especially troubling foreign interference in a democratic election, she said. We know we have a responsibility to do everything we can to prevent this kind of abuse.

Facebook found roughly 3,000 ads paid for by Russian operatives related to the 2016 campaign. The social media platform says that Russia-linked groups spent about $150,000 on political ads, including some promotions that mentioned either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton by name.

Congress has been investigating Russias meddling in the 2016 campaign, including whether the Trump campaign colluded with the country to win the election.

Following Ms Sandbergs comments, Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that they would eventually release those ads. Mr Schiff noted that it is unlikely that the ads will be released before tech executives testify before Congress in November.

Facebooks disclosures come as Congress considers potential regulations on the platform, and Democrats have called on the Federal Election Commission to adopt rules to block foreign agents from purchasing political ads on social media.

The social media platform has announced that it would take steps in the coming months to protect election integrity around the world.

That includes disclosure of who paid for political advertisements on the platform, which could add a layer of transparency to what has been a relatively opaque system. They will also add more than 250 employees in the next year to work on election integrity programs, essentially doubling that program.
We've heard quite a bit about Russian meddling in the US election through Facebook ads. Last month we reported that Facebook handed over the suspected Russian ads to Congressional investigators. We also learned that the social media giant is hiring 1,000 additional people to approve ads on the platform and will hand-review ads that target politics or race. Now, it turns out Facebook has set a deadline for itself to overhaul its advertising system: the 2018 US election.

On Tuesday, November 6th of next year, the US electorate will head to polling stations to vote in the 2018 general election. Facebook wants to ensure that Russian ads don't play the same role they might have had in 2016. The ads purchased by this Russian group sought to exploit existing social divisions on America on issues of race, religion, gun control, immigration and more. They apparently specifically targeted swing states in the election.

Facebook's Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer told Reuters that the company is making improvements to its ad platform constantly, and that users would start to see regular updates. The challenge, he says, is the amount of content on Facebook's platform; it's difficult to police over 2 billion users and 5 million advertisers. "We're investing very heavily in technical solutions, because we're operating at an unprecedented scale," he said.

It's understandable that Facebook doesn't want to play the same role in future elections that it did in 2016. And on a larger scale, the company is constantly in the headlines for its lackluster response to hate speech and other misuses of its platform. Perhaps these changes will be applied on a broader scale if they work and improve the experience for Facebook's users at large.
By Mark Hosenball and Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee's Russia investigation said Wednesday they intend to publicly release thousands of politically divisive Facebook ads purchased by Russia during last year's presidential election. Representatives Mike Conaway and Adam Schiff told reporters after meeting with Facebook Inc Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg that they were working with the company to release the ads publicly. "We've asked for Facebook's help to scrub any personally identifiable information, but it's our hope that when that concludes we can release them publicly," Schiff said. Conaway said it was unlikely the ads would be released before Facebook will testify to Congress about Russian interference on Nov. 1. The committee, one of the main congressional panels investigating allegations of Russian meddling, recently received more than 3,000 politically divisive ads believed to have been purchased by Russia. The social media company found them on its network and said they appeared in the months before and after the vote. Lawmakers in both parties had previously said they wanted to make the ads public. Officials from Facebook and the committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Sandberg's meeting in Congress came as the world's largest social media network, joined by a growing list of other major internet firms, finds itself on the defensive in Washington amid renewed scrutiny about how Moscow sought to use their platforms to influence the 2016 presidential election. Sandberg is in Washington this week meeting with other lawmakers as well. She is expected to give a live interview with the news website Axios on Thursday. In addition to Facebook, Alphabet's Google and Twitter have recently detected that suspected Russian operatives used their platforms last year to purchase ads and post content that was politically divisive. All three companies have been asked to testify publicly about Russian interference before both the House and Senate intelligence panels on Nov. 1. While Facebook and Twitter have confirmed plans to attend, Google has not. Revelations over the past month about how Russia appears to have leveraged their platforms to spread propaganda have prompted questions from both political parties about whether more federal oversight of their businesses is needed. Some Democrats plan to introduce legislation to require internet companies to disclose more information about political ad purchases on their platforms. (Reporting by Mark Hosenball, additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Dustin Volz; editing by David Gregorio amd Cynthia Osterman)
A family of four was removed from a plane and arrested because their children were noisy and rowdy. (Photo: Getty Images)

A family is demanding answers after they were kicked off an airplane and the parents arrested because their children were a disturbance.

Craig Schilling and his wife, Erin Gatling, took to Facebook Live to share the Monday incident in a video thats drummed up 37,000 views. In the footage, the pair, who live in Los Angeles, stand in Chicagos Midway International Airport with their son, Gunner, 3, and daughter, Paige, 16 months, after they were informed by Southwest Airlines that they could not continue on their route home after a family vacation.

Speaking to the camera, Schilling explains that his family was waiting to speak to a dozen police officers who brought along a crime dog because his children were being noisy and rowdy during the flight. We dont even know what we did wrong, he says.

Theres a large discrepancy in the chain of events between the family and Southwest Airlines, but four incidents are at the core of the controversy.

In a Facebook post, Gatling says she was told her children were being noisy by running up and down the aisle and jumping on tray tables, a claim that she denies.

They did not cry or scream at all during the flight, Gatling wrote in an Oct. 9 Facebook post. My biggest frustration is that no one will tell me what being a disturbance means. The only further explanation was running up and down the isle and jumping on tray tables. First, we never opened our tray table so jumping on them didnt occur (though I will admit my oldest has tried to stand on them on previous flights, just not this flight) and we were in the isle only one time.

According to Gatling, the fact that her youngest walked solo in the aisle was also problematic. Per her Facebook post, I got up to take my oldest to the restroom. We sat 3-5 rows from the rear, as always. We walked out of the restroom my husband let my 16 mo old walk to me. Is a baby walking 3-5 isles by herself to her mom not ok????

Whats more, as Shilling detailed in a Facebook comment, a flight attendant stepped on his wifes sprained foot when the mom reached for her child in the aisle, which made her cry in pain.

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Gatling further explained on Facebook, I went to grab [my daughter] and an attendant stepped between me and her, literally stepping on my foot. I said excuse me maam, you just stepped on my foot and then shrugged it off as I reached around the attendant and picked her up and went to our seats. We never got up again. What the heck is happening?

And finally, Schilling says, he was accused of bumping someone with a stroller, which led to his arrest. However, he wrote in a comment, I never bumped anyone with our stroller. I didnt get out of my seat the whole flight or order any refreshments. The kids were better behaved then usual and nobody from the airline talked to me about anything during the flight.

He also claimed that the reason his family was kicked off their connection was because the airline oversold tickets and that he was arrested because he filmed the officers.

After six hours, during which Schilling was detained and Gatling and her children waited at the airport, the father was released at 1 a.m. and the family checked into a hotel. My husband was charged with battery and we have a court case in November, Gatling tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

Southwest Airlines sent Yahoo Lifestyle the following statement:

In addition to providing legendary customer service to each customer onboard, our flight attendants are responsible for enforcing regulations as well as our policies to ensure the safety of those traveling with us. Our reports indicate customers traveling onboard flight 102 were not following inflight instructions. A Southwest supervisor met the customers upon arrival at their connecting city, Chicago, to discuss the events that occurred onboard. The customers were unwilling to be approached by our employees in the airport and when the situation escalated, local authorities became involved.

The statement continues: We made the decision to issue a refund to the customers based on the reaction to our attempts to discuss safe travel to their final destination. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and employees is of the utmost importance to all of us at Southwest Airlines, and we are disheartened by the way this situation unfolded.

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The day I've been dreading for months is drawing near. On October 18th, the Department of Homeland Security's modified system of records is scheduled to go into effect. The updated policy would affect all US immigrants, whether they are new, existing or permanent residents or even naturalized citizens, and how they are identified by the government. More accurately, it would allow the DHS, Border Patrol and other immigration authorities to collect social media handles as part of an individual's official record. As someone who's working in the US on a visa, I was immediately worried about how it would affect my standing.

The reason the DHS gave for the update is that it is beginning to conduct "more immigration actions in an electronic environment" and that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is adjudicating "more immigration benefits and requests for action in its USCIS Electronic Immigration System." Basically, people are increasingly applying online, and the changes would reduce the existing reliance on paper records. What the DHS wants to do is be able to officially identify you by your online persona in addition to existing attributes like your name, birthday and address. The update would also add an individual's "country of nationality; country of residence; the USCIS Online Account Number; social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results" to one's records.

A DHS spokesperson said in a statement, "This amendment does not represent a new policy." The notice published on September 18th was "an effort to be transparent (and) comply with existing regulations" and "due to updates in the electronic immigration system." Multiple requests for clarity on what would change for immigrants -- whether they would have to fill out new forms asking for their social media handles or what would happen for those with private profiles, were not answered.

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I was raised in Singapore, where political criticism can get you sued (if interpreted as libel), arrested (if seen as inciting violence) or even jailed. At my first full-time job, as a marketing executive for a local oil and gas company, my boss told me not to speak in meetings -- playing dumb was always better than potentially making a mistake, he said. For most of my life, I learned to swallow my feelings. My mother's mantra was "Keep your opinions to yourself," and she sternly repeated it as we made our way to family gatherings and social functions.

USA-ELECTION/TWITTER

When I first came to live in the US, in 2008, I was surprised by how liberally people expressed themselves. I learned that individuals' thoughts have value but also, more important, that we are entitled to them. The notion of freedom of speech was new to me, but as I observed the thriving arts and culture in American society, I understood what liberty was worth. Just as people grow and improve by accepting and learning from different opinions, so a country flourishes by embracing and encouraging open discourse.

I got used to the freedom to air my thoughts on any topic in public forums like Twitter and Instagram. I still refrain from saying anything that would make me look insensitive or give away too much personal information, though. Part of me also continues to fear the wrath of the Singapore government; I worry about what could happen to me when I return to visit family should I unwittingly say something too critical. But for the most part I feel carefree. My posts tend to be a mix of my own articles, random musings, funny videos or frustrating stories about poor customer service and bad PR.

Something changed a few months ago, after I first heard of the DHS' plans to incorporate social media into its visa application process. I started to second-guess myself. I avoided weighing in on topics that would show my political leanings. I dutifully wished my followers a happy Fourth of July, shared the results of the Super Bowl and retweeted posts honoring the fallen victims of 9/11. I sent these tweets mostly out of goodwill, but a small part of me felt it was better to look like I participate in American activities.

I started posting what I imagined a immigration officer would like to see, rather than show an unfiltered version of my thoughts. Truth is, Chinese New Year matters more to me than Fourth of July does, and I didn't really care if the Patriots won. I love America, and I love many of its festivities and people, but I can't change the fact that I grew up elsewhere. And honestly, I shouldn't have to.

I continued to tweet, trying mostly to stay on neutral topics. Occasionally, I let myself express anger at institutions or people, but I only feel safe ranting about issues that people agree on regardless of political views.

I don't want to let my fear get in the way of me expressing myself, but it already has.

But it's what people don't see that I found the most telling. I agonized over whether to soften a jokingly violent tweet about New York's subway system. I didn't want someone to come across those thoughts, assume I was serious, and decide I'm a dangerous individual. Who knows what an immigration officer might think? Eventually, I toned down the language and added qualifiers like "I guess" to make it clear I was merely musing.

There are times I've avoided posting altogether. I kept quiet during the white nationalist rally in Virginia and generally don't comment on things Donald Trump does. But things came to a head when I found myself holding back from sharing negative tweets about American gun laws and political gridlock after the Las Vegas shootings. As my feed filled up with statistics showing how the US and its (lack of) gun control policies have led to massive loss of lives, I longed to retweet and share. But I didn't. Instead, I vented in private messages to trusted friends. I felt like I was back in Singapore.

I'm torn. I don't want to let my fear get in the way of me expressing myself, but it already has.

Maybe I'm being paranoid. A DHS spokesperson said the agency already does "and continues to monitor publicly-available social media to protect the homeland." They might already know everything they need to about me from years of unfiltered tweeting. But when your job, life and future depend on how strangers in some government agency perceive you, wouldn't you be careful too? Yes, my profile is public and anyone can already access it and judge me. But it's one thing to allow random people online to decide if they like you -- it's almost debilitating when your beliefs or personality are used to officially determine if you can visit a country.

The good news is, based on the thousands of comments on the proposal's forum, an overwhelming majority of people are against the upcoming update. Many of them argue that the move would be a violation of the First and Fourth Amendments. Some even claim this is a slippery slope toward a Big Brotherlike future with the government monitoring the social media of citizens and immigrants alike. It's still unclear exactly how the changes would affect us, or how they are new, given the vague responses from the USCIS and the DHS. At this point though, my social media is no longer an accurate representation of the person I actually am. It's some facade I've created for the powers that be. Which really makes monitoring it useless anyway.
By Mai Nguyen HANOI (Reuters) - Heavy rain in northern and central Vietnam triggered floods and landslides that killed 46 people and 33 people were missing in the worst such disaster in years, the search and rescue committee said on Thursday. Vietnam often suffers destructive storms and floods due to its long coastline. More than 200 people were killed in storms last year. "In the past 10 years, we haven't suffered from such severe and intense floods," state-run Vietnam Television quoted agriculture minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong as saying. A typhoon tore a destructive path across central Vietnam just last month, flooding and damaging homes and knocking out power lines. The latest floods hit Vietnam on Monday. "Our entire village has had sleepless nights...it's impossible to fight against this water, it's the strongest in years," a resident in northwestern Hoa Binh province was quoted by VTV as saying. Vietnam's Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control said authorities were discharging water from dams to control water levels. Some 317 homes had collapsed, while more than 34,000 other houses were submerged or had been damaged. Earlier reports said more than 8,000 hectares (19,800 acres) of rice had been damaged and around 40,000 animals were killed or washed away. Hoa Binh province in the northwest declared a state of emergency and opened eight gates to discharge water at Hoa Binh dam, Vietnam's largest hydroelectric dam, the first time it has done so in years, VTV reported. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited northern Ninh Binh province where water levels in the Hoang Long river are their highest since 1985. Rising sea levels are also threatening Vietnam's more than 3,260 km (2,000 mile) coastline, resulting in increased flooding of low lying coastal regions, erosion and salt water intrusion. Floods have also affected seven of 77 provinces in Thailand, Vietnam's neighbour to the west, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said on Thursday. More than 480,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of agricultural land have been hit, the department said. Thailand is the world's second-biggest exporter of rice. "It is still too soon to tell whether there will be damage to rice crops because most of the rice has already been harvested," Charoen Laothamatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, told Reuters. In 2011, Thailand was hit by its worst flooding in half a century. The floods killed hundreds and crippled industry, including the country's key automotive sector. (Additional reporting by Mi Nguyen in HANOI and; Suphanida Thakral in BANGKOK; Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Neil Fullick and Nick Macfie)
By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) - The part owner of several Florida-based energy companies on Wednesday became the latest person to plead guilty as part of an ongoing U.S. investigation into bribery at Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA.

Fernando Ardila Rueda, 49, pleaded guilty in federal court in Houston to two counts, including that he violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in connection with a scheme to pay bribes to PDVSA employees, the U.S. Justice Department said.

He became the 10th person to plead guilty as part of a larger investigation by the Justice Department into bribery at Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) that became public with the arrest of two Venezuelan businessmen in December 2015.

The two men were Roberto Rincon, who was president of Tradequip Services & Marine, and Abraham Jose Shiera Bastidas, the manager of Vertix Instrumentos. Both pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to pay bribes to secure energy contracts.

Prosecutors said that Ardila, who from 2008 to 2014 was a sales director, manager and partial owner of several of Shiera's companies, conspired with Shiera and Rincon to pay bribes to PDVSA purchasing analysts.

The Justice Department said Ardila provided PDVSA officials with entertainment and offered them bribes based on a percentage of the value of contracts they helped Shiera's companies obtain.

Two other former employees of Shiera's companies have also pleaded guilty in connection with the case, as have several former PDVSA officials.

PDVSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Donald Trump speaks about tax reform during an event at the Harrisburg International Airport in Middletown, Pennsylvania: AP/Alex Brandon

Republicans are waiting to pass their tax-reform bill before they move to impeach Donald Trump, a former Republican member of Congress reportedly told a former US labour secretary.

In a Facebook post, Robert Reich said the former senator, an old friend of his, told him Republicans are "just praying Trump doesn't do something really, really stupid before the tax bill."

Speaking over the phone, Mr Reich said he asked his friend whether other Republican senators were preparing to follow Senator Bob Corker and "call it quits with Trump".

His source told him: "Others are thinking about doing what Bob did. Sounding the alarm. They think Trumps nuts. Unfit. Dangerous."

He said the US President's personal attacks on his own staff "got them to notice all the other things," such as his threats about North Korea.

"Tillerson would leave tomorrow if he wasn't so worried Trump would go nuclear, literally," he added.

"Who knows whats in his head? But I can tell you this. Hes not listening to anyone. Not a soul.

"Hes got the nuclear codes and, well, it scares the hell out of me. Its starting to scare all of them. Thats really why Bob spoke up."

When asked what would happen if Republican leadership said Mr Trump was unfit to serve, the former senator said: "Bingo! The emperor has no clothes. Its a signal to everyone they can bail. Have to bail to save their skins.

"I mean, Trump could be the end of the whole goddamn Republican party."

He said once Republicans "start bailing on him, the stage is set" for impeachment."

Asked if Republicans would go that far, the senator replied: "Not yet. Heres the thing. They really want to get this tax bill through. Thats all they have going for them.

"They dont want to face voters in 18 or 20 without something to show for it. Theyre just praying Trump doesnt do something really, really stupid before the tax bill."

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"Like a nuclear war?" Mr Reich asked.

"Look, all I can tell you is many of the people I talk with are getting freaked out," the former senator said.

"Its not as if theres any careful strategising going on. Not like, well, do we balance the tax bill against nuclear war?

"No, no. Theyre worried as hell. Theyre also worried about Trump crazies, all the ignoramuses hes stirred up."

When asked what was going to happen, he said: "You got me. Im just glad Im not there anymore. Trumps not just a moron. Hes a despicable human being. And hes getting crazier. Paranoid. Unhinged.

"Everyone knows it. I mean, were in shit up to our eyeballs with this guy."
Paris (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron launched round two of his ambitious domestic reform programme on Thursday, welcoming business leaders and trade unionists for talks about a highly sensitive overhaul of unemployment benefits.

Fresh from pushing through major changes to French labour law, the 39-year-old centrist has now turned to the next stage of the "transformation" of the French social model which he has promised.

This includes major changes to France's generous unemployment benefits system, as well as large increases in state-funded training aimed at helping the unemployed back into the workplace.

Any change to social security is controversial in France and Macron is hoping to avoid an escalation in street protests against him which began in early September at the call of trade unions.

The head of the Communist-backed CGT trade union, Philippe Martinez, described his talks with Macron as "polite but firm" and said he would continue to hold the president to account.

Martinez has been one of the most vocal critics of Macron since his election in May and the CGT has spearheaded what has so far been a mostly ineffective round of strikes and demonstrations to demand the government change tack.

Macron intends to deploy the same playbook used to push through the labour law reform: negotiations over the next few months culminating in a set of government's proposals.

"Objective: to invent new protections," Macron tweeted.

But whereas his opponents were previously divided -- with the more moderate CFDT and FO unions backing talks, not protests -- there are growing signs that the labour movement is preparing to push back together.

- Protection or precarity ? -

Macron vowed during campaigning to overhaul the unemployment benefits system to extend it to self-employed people and farmers who are currently not covered, as well as opening it up -- under certain conditions -- to people who quit their jobs.

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But controversially he also proposed that benefits claimants could only refuse one job locally for which they were qualified. If they refused twice, they would lose their payouts or have to accept a government-approved re-training programme.

Funds set aside by the government for training are set to total 15 billion euros (18 billion dollars) over the next five years for adult education aimed at helping increase the skills of the jobless.

"The aim is to open up the unemployment benefits system to everyone and also to reform it to help fight against job precariousness," said Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud, who will pilot talks in the months ahead.

Macron's popularity ratings have fallen sharply since his election in May, with only 40 percent of respondents in a recent survey saying they had a favourable view of the former investment banker.

Attempts to cut public spending and the public sector payroll led to a strike this week by civil servants, while local mayors and regional chiefs are also angry over plans to reduce their funding.

Macron also provoked leftist opponents with a proposed tax reform that will scrap wealth taxes on financial investments, leading him to be dubbed the "president of the rich".
After eight years with Harvey Weinstein, Georgina Chapman, his second wife, is now being put in a difficult position.

An English former model and co-founder of Marchesa, a high-end fashion label based in New York City, Chapman was in the middle of presenting the new autumn/winter 2018 bridal collection when The New York Times released a detailed report accusing her husband of a long history of sexual assault.

The article includes the actress Ashley Judd saying she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room, where he waited for her in his robe and asked for a massage and for her to watch him shower. Accusations of sexual assault were leveled by women who have worked for his company.

Weinsteins wife is no stranger to the spotlight. Originally from London, Chapman is the daughter of journalist Caroline Wonfor and the multimillionaire Brian Chapman, who founded Percol. After going to school in England, she moved to America to start the Marchesa brand with colleague Keren Craig.

The fashion label quickly grabbed the attention of Vogue, and stars including Blake Lively, Sandra Bullock and Rihanna have donned its iconic dresses for the red carpet. Chapmans net worth is $20 million, while her husbands is about $150 million, according to a Forbes 2013 report.

Chapman and Weinstein met in 2004, when the 65-year-old approached the young model at a party. They dated for three years before getting married in 2007. They have two children together.

Amid the recent allegations, the future of their marriage is uncertain. According to People, sources have said that a divorce is inevitable, and that Chapman is concerned about the effect the allegations may have on the clothing line.

While there is a lot of information on the couple and their marriage, the same cannot be said about Weinsteins previous marriage, to Eve Chilton. In 1986, Chilton was an assistant to Weinstein at Miramax when she caught the bosss attention. The two exchanged vows less than a year after they met. They had three children together, but divorced in 2004.

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Berlin (AFP) - Germany will extend border controls introduced amid the 2015 mass refugee and migrant influx by another six months until May 2018, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said Thursday.

He justified the move with the continued threat of terrorism, illegal migration inside Europe's passport-free Schengen zone, and the European Union's porous outside borders.

The police controls will target the country's southern border with Austria, the main gateway for illegal migrants, and direct flight connections with Greece, his ministry said.

Germany introduced the ID checks in September 2015 when more than 10,000 migrants a day crossed the border after travelling overland through Balkans countries.

The European Commission has previously urged Germany and other countries to drop the controls inside the Schengen zone, which includes 22 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Germany's border controls had been due to expire on November 11.

De Maiziere said he decided on the extension "in close consultation" with his counterparts in Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and had informed the European Commission.

De Maiziere has pointed to the continued threat of attacks since a jihadist truck rampage across a Berlin Christmas market last December claimed 12 lives.

The suspect in the deadly attack, Anis Amri, is a Tunisian national who had been jailed in Italy before moving to Germany in July 2015 amid the mass migrant influx.

"Germany and other EU member states have experienced dramatic terrorist attacks," he said.

The reintroduction of European border checks has raised concerns about the collapse of the Schengen zone, which is widely seen in Europe as a symbol of unity and freedom.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's BSI federal cyber agency said on Wednesday it had no evidence to back media reports that Russian hackers used Kaspersky Lab antivirus software to spy on U.S. authorities. "There are no plans to warn against the use of Kaspersky products since the BSI has no evidence for misconduct by the company or weaknesses in its software," BSI said in an emailed response to questions about the latest media reports. "The BSI has no indications at this time that the process occurred as described in the media." The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Israeli intelligence officials spying on Russian government hackers found they were using Kaspersky software as a sort of Google search to find sensitive data stored by U.S. government agencies and others. [nL2N1MM037] It said the Russian operation also stole classified documents from a U.S. National Security Agency employee who had improperly stored them on his home computer, which had Kaspersky antivirus software installed on it. The U.S. government last month ordered Kaspersky software removed from government computers, saying it was concerned the Moscow-based cyber security firm was vulnerable to Kremlin influence. [nL2N1LU1GI] Kaspersky Lab has repeatedly denied any knowledge of, or involvement in, Russian hack1ing. "Kaspersky Lab has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyberespionage efforts, a company statement said on Tuesday in response to the New York Times report. Germany's BSI, which also uses Kaspersky products for technical analyses, said it was in touch with U.S. officials and other security agencies about the issue so it could take action and issue a warning on short notice if required. It said German government agencies could use software protection for clients and servers that is offered by CANCOM online GmbH, which works together with Trend Micro. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Thorsten Severin; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Metz (France) (AFP) - Greenpeace activists set off fireworks inside a nuclear plant in eastern France early Thursday after breaking into the facility to underline its vulnerability to attack.

The anti-nuclear group, known for its daring and often spectacular publicity stunts, said the fireworks were set off at the foot of a spent fuel pool -- where nuclear plants store highly radioactive fuel rods that are removed from reactors after their use.

"Our activists launched a firework in the perimeter of a French nuclear plant. These installations are vulnerable," the group said on Twitter, along with a video of the stunt at the plant in Cattenom, near the border with Luxembourg.

The tiny duchy's environment minister, Carole Dieschbourg, was "very worried over the huge security shortcomings" at the plant, her ministry said in a statement.

Operator EDF, France's state-owned energy giant, said police stopped the protesters eight minutes after the pre-dawn intrusion and that the plant's safety was not threatened.

Police said eight Greenpeace activists were in custody, and a local prosecutor said they faced five years in jail and 75,000 euros ($89,000) in fines.

On Tuesday, Greenpeace had warned about security shortcomings at French and Belgian nuclear plants, citing an expert report commissioned by the group.

Top EDF official Olivier Lamarre said in a conference call with journalists that the activists had "proved nothing, other than that the security detail worked perfectly."

Roger Spautz, a Greenpeace official in Luxembourg, said that about 15 activists crossed two security barriers to reach the building containing the spent fuel rods.

He told AFP the action was aimed at drawing attention to the "fragility" of the fuel tanks "that are not protected, unlike the reactor buildings".

- Built before Al-Qaeda -

Greenpeace tasked seven experts from France, Germany, Britain and the United States with looking at various attack scenarios involving nuclear plants in France and Belgium, some of which date back more than three decades.

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France is the world's most nuclear-dependent country, with 58 reactors providing 75 percent of the country's electricity. Belgium has two nuclear plants.

The Greenpeace report noted that most of France's plants were built before the rise of threats from non-state terror groups such as the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda and that their defences -- particularly of their spent fuel facilities -- were weak.

Environmentalists have long questioned the safety of France's vast nuclear network, but around a third of all reactors in the country are set to be closed by 2025 under government plans.

Nuclear power was once a source of national pride in France, but public support has fallen in line with other European countries after the disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan in 2011.

EDF said in a statement that it was constantly evaluating its nuclear plants' resistance to criminal acts or terrorism.
A woman and a child walk past U.N. peacekeepers from Gabon patroling the Central African Republic town of Bria on June 12, 2017. (Photo: Saber Jendoubi/AFP/Getty Images)

United Nations peacekeepers bring hope to vulnerable populations when they arrive in war-torn countries and post-conflict areas. But allegations are mounting that they may bring something else: sexual assaults against the very people they were trusted to protect.

Amnesty International urged the U.N. on Wednesday to take swift action on allegations that one or more of its peacekeepers drugged and raped a 19-year-old woman in Central African Republic last month.

The victim told Amnesty International, a human rights organization based in London, that she was sexually assaulted near a checkpoint run by peacekeepers in the town of Bambari on Sept. 30.

Joanne Mariner, the senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty International, said local authorities have confirmed the rape, and the U.N. is investigating the incident. If it is substantiated, she said, the allegation should result in the repatriation and prosecution of the guilty troops.

Overall, the U.N. still has a long way to go. In this case, its too early to say because the U.N. hasnt announced its findings and we dont know what actions its planning to take, Mariner told Yahoo News. Whats really crucial is that these cases be criminally prosecuted. and that generally doesnt happen.

Mauritanian soldiers board a United Nations flight to Central African Republic as a peacekeeping force in Nouakchott, Mauritania, on Feb 21, 2016. (Photo: Ahmed Mohamed/AP)

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced Wednesday that they had been alerted about the rape allegation, and that the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services carried out a verification of information inquiry. (Contradicting the Amnesty account, the U.N. described the victim as a minor.)

The U.N. purports to have a zero-tolerance policy for sexual exploitation and abuse, but experts say sexual abuse by peacekeepers is a widespread problem, and very serious in Central African Republic. An internal review acknowledges the troubling scope of these allegations and severely deficient victim assistance.

AIDS-Free Worlds Code Blue Campaign, which works to end impunity for U.N. peacekeeping personnel, says the U.N. has demonstrated that it cannot continue to police and judge itself  and called for an independent investigation and special courts to cover each peacekeeping mission.

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The problem is enormous, and it is present in U.N. missions worldwide, Paula Donovan, co-director of the Code Blue Campaign, told Yahoo News. With all eyes on the Central African Republic, the country has become an important proving ground for the U.N.s best efforts to respond and prevent [it], yet both are failing. We recently completed a review of leaked U.N. files that revealed the U.N. hides sexual exploitation and abuse complaints from public view, making cases disappear before they are ever investigated by proper authorities.

An AP investigation published in April found that there were nearly 2,000 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by U.N. peacekeepers in the past 12 years, but that only a fraction of the alleged attackers went to jail.

Mariner said the Bambari case differed from most others in a crucial way: Police learned of the assault within hours and launched an investigation, rather than hearing of it much later from a non-governmental organization.

MINUSCAs armored vehicles and tankers operate next to the cathedral of Bangassou in southeastern Central African Republic on Aug. 22, 2017. (Photo: Alexis Huguet/AFP/Getty Images)

According to the young woman, peacekeepers from the Islamic Republic of Mauritania in northwestern Africa had offered her tea as she walked home from a funeral around 9 a.m., and that she passed out  awakening on the ground stripped of most of her clothing a few hours later. Workers from a nearby medical clinic found her, placed her in a bed and treated her with fluids. One of the Mauritanian soldiers reportedly visited the center that night. The next morning, the woman told a health care worker that she thought she had been raped, so they treated her with anti-HIV medication and emergency contraception.

The young woman told Amnesty International that she hopes her attackers go to prison, and that shes willing to provide a formal statement to the U.N. and Mauritanian investigators. The alleged rape occurred near a checkpoint run by peacekeepers on the MINUSCA force  the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic.

Sectarian violence in the Central African Republic has reportedly displaced more than 1.1 million people  more than 500,000 in neighboring countries and roughly 600,000 internally. This is the largest number of people uprooted in the landlocked nation since 2013, when Muslim rebels overthrew longtime President Francois Bozize, inciting backlash from Christian militias.

Amnesty Internationals Mariner said she arrived in Bambari a day after the alleged rape and stayed until Saturday. She interviewed 11 people with direct knowledge of the case, including the victim and medical staffers who treated her.

There have been other reports of U.N. peacekeepers sexually assaulting women in Bambari, but this is the first to have resulted in a formal criminal investigation.

Faithful pray during a Sunday Mass in Saint Joseph Cathedral in Bambari, Central African Republic, on Oct. 18, 2015. (Photo: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

Peacekeepers with the U.N. are not subject to domestic prosecution, but their countries of origin are responsible for investigating and prosecuting their crimes.

If this case is substantiated  and obviously theres very strong evidence  its important that the U.N. really push the troop contributing country to prosecute the case, Mariner said, and to treat this as a rape case, as if a woman had been raped in Mauritania.

Mariner said Amnesty International expects the intergovernmental organization to take vigorous action and make sure Mauritanian authorities do so as well. She said their response will be closely scrutinized.

Last month, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced that Jane Connors would become the first U.N. Victims Rights Advocate, responsible for developing systemwide processes for filing complaints that are sensitive to children and people of both genders. Guterres also announced the formation of the Circle of Leadership, which encourages government leaders to demonstrate resolve and commitment to eradicating sexual exploitation.

In February, during a ceremony for the deployment of 225 Mauritanian soldiers to the Central African Republic, the countrys defense minister  Diallo Mamadou Bathia  vowed none of the peacekeepers would ever be implicated in sexual abuse.

The U.N. did not respond to requests for comment.

Read more from Yahoo News:
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Omar Fahmy GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters) - Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation deal on Thursday after Hamas agreed to hand over administrative control of Gaza, including the key Rafah border crossing, a decade after seizing the enclave in a civil war. The deal brokered by Egypt bridges a bitter gulf between the Western-backed mainstream Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas, an Islamist movement designated as a terrorist group by Western countries and Israel. Palestinian unity could also bolster Abbas's hand in any revival of talks on a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territory. Internal Palestinian strife has been a major obstacle to peacemaking, with Hamas having fought three wars with Israel since 2008 and continuing to call for its destruction. Hamas's agreement to transfer administrative powers in Gaza to a Fatah-backed government marked a major reversal, prompted partly by its fears of financial and political isolation after its main patron and donor, Qatar, plunged in June into a major diplomatic dispute with key allies like Saudi Arabia. They accuse Qatar of supporting Islamist militants, which it denies. Israel viewed the Palestinian accord warily, saying it must abide by previous international agreements and terms set out by the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators - including the recognition of Israel and the disarming of Hamas. "Israel will examine developments in the field and act accordingly," said a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets across Gaza on Thursday in celebration of the unity pact, with loudspeakers on open cars blasting national songs, youths dancing and hugging and many waving Palestine and Egyptian flags. Egypt helped mediate several previous attempts to reconcile the two movements and form a power-sharing unity government in Gaza and the West Bank, where Abbas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) are based. Hamas and Fatah agreed in 2014 to form a national reconciliation government, but the deal soon dissipated in mutual recriminations with Hamas continuing to dominate Gaza. "The legitimate government, the government of consensus, will return according to its responsibilities and according to the law," Fatah delegation chief Azzam Al-Ahmed said at the signing ceremony in Cairo. He said the unity government would "run all institutions without exception," including all border crossings with Israel and in Rafah, Gaza's only access point with Egypt. The agreement calls for Abbas's presidential guard to assume responsibility of the Rafah crossing on Nov. 1, and for the full handover of administrative control of Gaza to the unity government to be completed by Dec. 1. Analysts said the deal is more likely to stick than earlier ones, given Hamas's growing isolation and realization of how hard Gaza, its economy hobbled by border blockades and infrastructure shattered by wars with Israel, was to govern and rebuild. Deeper Egyptian involvement, believed to have been backed by Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, also helped cement the deal. "We in Hamas are determined and are serious this time and just like all other times ... We have dissolved the administrative committee (shadow government)... We have opened the door to reaching this reconciliation," Saleh Arouri, the head of Hamas negotiators in Cairo, said after the signing ceremony. Delegations from the two rivals have been in talks in Cairo this week to work out the details of the administrative handover, including security in Gaza and at border crossings. RAFAH CROSSING Key was the Rafah crossing, once the gateway to the world for the 2 million people packed into the small impoverished territory. Fatah said it should be run by the presidential guards, supervised by the European Union border agency, EUBAM, instead of the Hamas-linked employees now deployed. "EUBAM Rafah maintains readiness to redeploy to the Rafah crossing point when the security and political situations will allow," said Mohammad Al-Saadi, press officer for the EU Coordinating Office for Palestinian Police Support. Any decision on EUBAM deployment would be taken in conjunction with the Palestinian Authority and Israel's government, he said in a statement. Some 3,000 Fatah security officers are to join the Gaza police force. But Hamas would remain the most powerful armed Palestinian faction, with around 25,000 well-armed militants. Both rivals hope the deal's proposed deployment of security personnel from the PA to Gaza's borders will encourage Egypt and Israel to lift tight restrictions at frontier crossings - a step urgently needed to help Gaza revive a war-shattered economy. Another major issue in talks on the deal was the fate of 40,000 to 50,000 employees Hamas has hired in Gaza since 2007, a thorny point that helped crash the 2014 unity accord. Under the deal, these employees will receive 50 percent of what their PA salary would be - or equivalent to what they are paid now by Hamas - pending vetting of their professional qualifications. Hamas and Fatah are also debating a potential date for presidential and legislative elections and reforms of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is in charge of long-stalled peace efforts with Israel. The last Palestinian legislative election was in 2006, when Hamas scored a surprise victory. That sparked the political rupture between Hamas and Fatah, which eventually led to their short civil war in Gaza. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, and Hesham Hajali in Cairo and Ali Sawafta in the West Bank; Writing by Patrick Markey and Eric Knecht; Editing by Larry King and Mark Heinrich)
Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has nothing to worry about  at least financially.

The Hollywood super-producer  whose movies for Miramax and The Weinstein Company have made billions over the last three decades  will continue to reap millions in profits for himself, despite being fired from his own company after years of sexual assault allegations and paid cover-ups.

The board that fired Weinstein cant force him to sell his one-quarter equity stake in the company, which is estimated to be worth $360 million, according to a 2014 New York Times article. And even more important, though first-dollar-deals aren't done anymore, producers generally make between $1.5 and $2 million upfront per movie, with even more in the backend, according to the Hollywood Reporter. This year alone, The Weinstein Company's movies have grossed more than $123 million  leaving millions more in Weinstein's pocket.

And the next few months are expected to be extremely profitable for the company. This could convince the company to buy Weinstein out, so he doesn't continue to make money off their profits. But even if Weinstein ends up with a $90-million buyout, he could retire on $3.6 million a year every year until he's 90, according to a well-respected formula from Business Insider.

The lap of luxury in which Weinstein will live out his days comes as a result of his status as one of Hollywood's most successful executives ever.

Weinsteins company, which created movies that have grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide, isnt actually a billion-dollar company. Even with successful films such as The Kings Speech and The Artist, more than 300 Oscar nominations and 75 Academy Awards, brothers Harvey and Bob Weinsteins company is only worth about $150 million, according to a 2015 Forbes report.

Weinstein started to obtain some of his net worth as co-founder of Miramax Films, a film production company which he and his brother Bob worked on together before it narrowly escaped bankruptcy. In 1993 the pair sold it to The Walt Disney Company for $80 million, according to Forbes. They continued to run it until 2010, when Disney sold Miramax Films to an investor group for $660 million. The Weinstein brothers attempted to regain control of Miramax, but were unsuccessful, according to The New York Times. Harvey's salary has never been disclosed, and it is unknown whether he received any of that $660 million.

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All the while, in 2005, the two brothers started The Weinstein Company with a $1 billion in investment from Goldman Sachs, according to Forbes. The brothers' stakes were diluted and left them owning roughly half the company together.

The Weinstein Company is privately held, so it doesnt have to disclose any of its financial information. But, according to a 2014 New York Times article, its estimated at around $360 million. That would leave Harvey Weinstein, who owns a quarter of the company, with about $90 million.

Sexual assault comes at a steep price, beyond the emotional and physical tolls its already taken on the victims. And Weinstein has been accused of raping three women and harassing even more. Throughout the past few years, The New York Times reported that Weinstein reached eight settlements with women to avoid lengthy and costly litigation. These were each in the six-figure range, and if Weinstein is taken to court again, theres a chance hell have to pay up even more.

Since there are no financial disclosures from The Weinstein Company, this is an estimation.

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Harvey Weinsteins wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, is leaving him  as more women continue to step forward to accuse the movie mogul of decades of sexual harassment and assault.

Weinstein, 65, and Chapman, 41, married in 2007 and have two children together  India Pearl, 7, and Dashiell Max Robert, 4.

My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband. Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time, Chapman says in a statement to PEOPLE.

In the wake of the first allegations by multiple women in a New York Times report, Weinstein, who has denied allegations of nonconsensual sex, initially said Chapman was standing behind him.

She stands 100 percent behind me. Georgina and I have talked about this at length, Weinstein told the New York Post, adding that Chapman was helping him become a better human and to apologize to people for my bad behavior, to say Im sorry, and to absolutely mean it.

On Sunday, Weinstein was fired from his powerhouse film studio.

In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company  Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar  have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately, the Weinstein Company said in a statement.

In the NYT report that ran last week, eight women  including actress Ashley Judd  spoke out against Weinstein, accusing him of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior. The paper also reported that Weinstein reached private settlements with eight women, including actress Rose McGowan.

On Tuesday, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie added their own accounts of alleged mistreatment. Paltrow told the NYT that Weinstein sexually harassed her in a hotel room after hiring her for the lead role in Emma when she was 22. The encounter allegedly ended with Weinstein placing his hands on her and suggesting a massage.

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Jolie also told the outlet that she had a bad experience with Weinstein in a hotel room during the release of Playing by Heart in the late 90s.

Also on Tuesday, the The New Yorker revealed  among 13 different womens accounts of alleged sexual harassment, assault or rape  that the mogul allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on Italian actress Asia Argento two decades ago. Actresses Mira Sorvino and Rosanna Arquette also claimed that after rejecting Weinsteins unwanted advances, they were removed from or kept from being hired for projects.

In response to the lengthy allegations made against Weinstein in the New Yorker piece, a spokesperson for Weinstein said, Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.

This story originally appeared on People.com
The New York Police Department has launched a criminal investigation into Harvey Weinstein stemming from an assault allegation 13 years ago, PEOPLE confirms.

The NYPD is looking into claims that the embattled movie mogul sexually assaulted the victim in 2004, a police spokesperson tells PEOPLE.

Officials would not release additional information on the alleged assault or the investigation. However, Lucia Stoller, now Lucia Evans, told the The New Yorker that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004.

I tried to get away, but maybe I didnt try hard enough. I didnt want to kick him or fight him, she told the magazine. Hes a big guy. He overpowered me.

In response to several allegations made against Weinstein, including Evans, in the New Yorker piece, a spokesperson for Weinstein said, Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.

The Manhattan District Attorneys office investigated Weinstein in 2015 and went so far as to have an accuser wear a wire  but DA Cyrus Vance declined to press charges. Vance defended the decision on Wednesday, saying that he did not believe prosecutors could have won the case.

Vance has been widely criticized after he received a $10,000 donation from one of Weinsteins lawyers. Vance said he never had contact with the lawyer who made the donation and the money had no bearing on his decision.

Evans told the New Yorker that Weinstein first approached her at a New York club when she was a college student. She said he began calling her repeatedly and had an assistant call her until Evans agreed to meet with Weinstein at his Manhattan Miramax office.

Evans claimed she was led to a secluded office where she was alone with Weinstein, and he soon allegedly began to demean her while telling her about movie scripts.

At that point, after that, is when he assaulted me, Evans told New Yorker. He forced me to perform oral sex on him.

She added: I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault.

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Harvey Weinsteins Wife Georgina Chapman Is Leaving Him: My Heart Breaks for All the Women Who Have Suffered

In the years following the alleged assault, Evans said she was largely unable to talk about the incident  I was disgusted with myself  It was always my fault for not stopping him, she told the publication.

She said she developed an eating problem and concerned friends told her to seek help because they thought I was going to kill myself.

No filed complaints have been identified as of this time and as always, the NYPD encourages anyone who may have information pertaining to this matter to call the CrimeStoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, the spokesperson adds.

News of the investigation comes as the 65-year-old finds himself in the midst of an ongoing sexual harassment and abuse scandal with actresses including Cara Delevingne, Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie speaking out against Weinsteins alleged behavior.

In a bombshell New York Times report last week, eight women accused him of acting inappropriately. The paper also reported that Weinstein reached private settlements with eight women, including actress Rose McGowan.

In accounts in the New York Times, the New Yorker and elsewhere, more than 20 women have spoken out against the producer, with allegations including rape, forced oral sex, groping and harassment. Legal experts told PEOPLE that the women involved could seek criminal charges or pursue civil lawsuits depending on when the alleged harassment or assault occurred.

If a woman comes forward and says this happened on this date and its within the statute of limitations, there is a likelihood that a prosecutor will look at it and take the case, New York criminal defense attorney Stuart Slotnick said. In prosecution for a Class A felony, and rape in the first degree or aggravated sexual abuse, theres no statute of limitations. For any other felonies its five years.

Statement by Chief ADA Karen Friedman Agnifilo on allegations against Harvey Weinstein  pic.twitter.com/4kLfEk60re  Cyrus Vance, Jr. (@ManhattanDA) October 10, 2017

New York Citys Chief Assistant District Attorney Karen Friedman-Agnifilos office fielded a 2015 complaint of sexual assault against Weinstein by Italian model Ambra Battilana but did not bring charges (Battilana reportedly settled out of court with Weinstein).



If we could have prosecuted Harvey Weinstein for the conduct that occurred in 2015, we would have. Mr. Weinsteins pattern of mistreating women, as recounted in recent reports, is disgraceful and shocks the conscience, Friedman-Agnifilo said in a statement.

Any individual who feels that she may have been the victim of a crime by this person in Manhattan is strongly encouraged to contact our Offices Sex Crimes Hotline at (212) 335-9373.

The Weinstein Company announced on Sunday that the Shakespeare in Love producer would be removed from his position. As Weinstein faced backlash, his high-powered attorney Lisa Bloom has resigned from her position as his advisor. Meanwhile, his wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, has announced shes leaving him.

A source confirmed to PEOPLE that Weinstein had flown out of Los Angeles to enter a residential treatment facility. The producer was spotted boarding a private jet on Wednesday from the Van Nuys airport in California and landed in Arizona later that night.
Harvey Weinstein is "profoundly devastated" in the wake of his wife Georgina Chapman's announcement that she's leaving him.

Chapman, one of the founders and designers of Marchesa, revealed that she would be leaving her husband of 10 years on Tuesday night after more allegations surfaced that her husband had sexually assaulted, harassed and raped women during his decades of work in Hollywood. The couple shares children India Pearl, 7, and Dashiell Max Robert, 4.

SEE ALSO: Cara Delevingne details Harvey Weinstein's attempt to force her to kiss woman in his hotel room

In a new statement to Page Six, Weinstein said that he "fully" supports Chapman's decision and that he "didn't stand in Georgina's way" when they "discussed a separation."

"I am profoundly devastated," he reportedly told Page Six. "I have lost my wife and kids, whom I love more than anything else."

See photos of Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman together:



"I fully support her decision," he continued. "I didnt stand in Georginas way when we discussed a separation, I encouraged her to do what was in her heart. I know she has to do what is best for the children, for herself and her business, she employs 130 people. I dont want her or my children to be hurt any more than they already have. I truly love Georgina, and I hope one day we can reconcile, although right now I dont know if that could possibly happen."

Weinstein's new statement comes amid reports that he has jetted off to Arizona to receive treatment for his alleged sex addiction. He had reportedly initially planned to fly to Switzerland to get treatment, though those plans were thwarted due to "plane issues," ET reported.

The ET source claimed that Harvey's brother, Bob, suggested that he fly to Arizona instead to receive treatment at The Meadows.

SEE ALSO: James Van Der Beek shares experiences with harassment

Meanwhile, his wife is "not doing well" in the aftermath of her announcement that she's leaving her husband.

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"She is very upset and feels defeated," a source told ET. "She is not concerned about her own finances whatsoever, [and she] always knew [Weinstein] exhibited questionable behavior."

According to Page Six, Chapman has reportedly reached out to Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's top aide and Anthony Weiner's soon-to-be ex-wife, for support.

See photos of Huma Abedin:



"One of the people Georgina has reached out to is Huma, who has been through this kind of scandal and media storm and survived with her dignity in tact," a source told the outlet. "They are both mothers, they have both been in a situation where their husbands turned out to be a different person than the man they thought they knew."

More than 20 women have come forward with allegations of Weinstein's unwanted sexual advances towards them, including well-known names like Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd. The backlash against Weinstein started at the end of last week with the New York Times' explosive report on his past, which was followed up by another bombshell report in the New Yorker.

Weinstein was fired from his perch at The Weinstein Company on Sunday night.

The continuing revelations about Weinstein's past behavior have also inspired other figures in Hollywood to come forward with similar experiences with different producers or male figures in the industry. On Wednesday, former "One Tree Hill" actress Hilarie Burton and makeup artist AnnaMarie Tindler both claimed that Ben Affleck had groped them -- Burton on "TRL" in the early 2000s and Tindler at a Golden Globes party in 2014.

Affleck apologized to Burton on Twitter, but has yet to comment on Tindler's accusation.

Actors Terry Crew and James Van Der Beek also came forward with stories of sexual harassment, saying that they'd both been inappropriately touched by "powerful" figures in Hollywood that they didn't name.

Women who have come forward with accusations against Harvey Weinstein:



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The model, seen here with singer Rita Ora, said Weinsten had asked about her relationships with other women - Getty Images North America

Cara Delevingne has come forward to tell how Harvey Weinstein asked her to kiss a female assistant and implied she should have sex with him after he invited her to his hotel room to discuss her film career.

The model and actress became the latest to allege sexual abuse or harassment at the hands of the Hollywood mogul.

Ms Delevingne said she had just started working as an actress when Mr Weinstein invited her to a meeting and suggested she kiss the female assistant, before trying to kiss her himself as she tried to leave.

She also said the producer had asked her about her relationships with women she had been seen with in public - and told her that she would not get any parts as a straight woman if she came out as gay. Ms Delevinge is openly bisexual.

Ms Delevingne said she did not speak out for fear of upsetting Mr Weinsteins family and because she was scared of the repercussions.

She said that although she managed to flee the room I still got the part in the film and always thought he gave it to me because of what happened. Since then I felt awful that I did the movie.

Earlier on Wednesday, actress Heather Graham told of her guilt for not previously speaking out over Harvey Weinsteins abusive behaviour.

The star of Twin Peaks, The Hangover, Boogie Nights said Weinstein implied he would make her career prosper if she had sex with him during a meeting to discuss a film role in the early 2000s.

Heather Graham at a Hollywood party with Harvey Weinstein in 1999 Credit: Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock

Graham spoke out after Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie joined the growling list of female stars to accuse Weinstein of sexual abuse and harassment.

Keira Knightley has also joined the chorus of condemnation which has greeted the numerous revelations about the man behind two of her own film hits.

At the same time the BBC sacked Weinstein from his role as a producer of its adaptation of Les Miserables and the British Academy of Film and Theatre Arts (BAFTA) suspended his membership of the prestigious body.

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Weinsteins wife, the British fashion designer Georgina Chapman, yesterday announced she had left him following the revelations, saying: My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions.

In a powerful account of her experience of Weinsteins behaviour Graham said he had called her into his office and shown her a pile of scripts, saying that he wanted to cast her in one of his films.

Keira Knightley with Harvey Weinstein at the 15th Annual AFI Awards in Beverly Hills in 2015. She had condemned his behaviour Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images

He then claimed he had an agreement with his then wife, Eve Chilton, that he could sleep with whoever he wanted when he was out of town.

Graham said: I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there.

She added: I was never hired for one of his films.

Graham now says she feels guilty for not speaking out over his behaviour at the time, saying she fears that by keeping quiet she made it easier for him to harass other women.

She told Vanity Fair magazine: It wasnt until Ashley Judd heroically shared her story a few days ago that I felt ashamed. If I had spoken up a decade ago, would I have saved countless women from the same experience I had or worse?

Graham, who said that she feared she would not be believed if she reported Weinsteins behaviour at the time and had not wanted to be defined as a difficult woman, added:

Im glad the victims are being heard, that powerful voices in the industry are speaking up to say this kind of behavior isnt acceptable anymore, and that a predator is finally facing the consequences  it means the world is starting to change for the better.

While I still do feel guilty for not speaking up all those years ago, Im glad for this moment of reckoning.

Knightley, who won a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the Weinstein produced drama The Imitation Game and was photographed with him at Hollywood parties, said she was profoundly shocked by reports of his disgusting behaviour.

In a statement to the Daily Telegraph, the British-born actress said: I worked with Mr Weinstein twice and although he was bullish in his marketing of the films, he was always professional with me.

I had heard rumours of his tantrums and bullying but not of the extreme sexual harassment and abuse that is coming to light now.

Knightley added: I would like to applaud the extraordinary bravery of the women who are coming forward. It is only through acts of bravery like this that we will see change.

"I believe we need a serious discussion about women's treatment in the workplace and the culture that allows people like Mr Weinstein to so abhorrently abuse their power. It would be naive to assume that this is an isolated case in the film industry or any other and while women remain so underrepresented across all professions and in politics, they remain at risk.

The BBC is understood to have removed Weinstein as an executive producer from its forthcoming adaptation of Les Miserables.

BAFTA said it was suspending Weinsteins membership, stating: "Whilst Bafta has previously been a beneficiary of Mr Weinstein's support for its charitable work, it considers the reported alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with Bafta's values.

"We hope this announcement sends a clear message that such behaviour has absolutely no place in our industry.

Ewan McGregor also spoke out, describing Weinstein as a "bully" over the multiple allegations of sexual abuse.

The star of Trainspotting and the Star Wars prequel, said he had "heard rumours" over the years and said the producer was now getting what he deserved.

McGregor wrote on Twitter: "Weinstein. It's about time this came to light and he is getting is just deserts. Heard rumours over the years but this is awful. Bye Bully!"

Weinstein. It's about time this came to light and he is getting is just deserts. Heard rumours over the years but this is awful. Bye Bully!  Ewan McGregor (@mcgregor_ewan) October 11, 2017

Fellow actor Kevin Bacon praised the courage of the women who have come forward to denounce Weinstein.

He tweeted: "Fathers. Teach your sons to respect woman. Teach your daughters to use their power like the voices of these heroic woman speaking out."

The British Film Institute (BFI) said it "wholeheartedly support(s) those brave enough to come forward and speak out" against Mr Weinstein.
Hillary Clinton on Wednesday tore into film producer Harvey Weinstein over the plethora of sexual abuse allegations against him, vaguely suggesting she would give away the money hes contributed to her political campaigns.

The 2016 presidential candidate told CNNs Fareed Zakaria that she would of course donate Weinsteins campaign contributions to charity, though it remained unclear if and how she would actually do so.

I give 10 percent of my income to charity every year, Clinton said. This will be part of that. Theres no doubt about it.

Hillary Clinton on Weinstein campaign donations: I give money to charity every year and "this will be part of that" https://t.co/8EZXQ9JSbG pic.twitter.com/tKFoP0ceok  CNN (@CNN) October 11, 2017

Clinton was notably silent on the Weinstein sex abuse allegations for five days after The New York Times published its initial bombshell report last week. She first spoke out on the matter Wednesday in a statement, saying she was shocked and appalled by the accusations and praising the alleged victims for their courage to come forward.

Weinstein  a major fundraiser for the Democratic Party  personally donated over $17,000 in total to Clintons 2016 and 2008 presidential runs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Hes helped raise money for the Clintons since the 1990s, hosting fundraisers attended by Hollywood A-listers that helped rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars toward their political campaigns.

Clinton, who rented a home in the Hamptons next to Weinstein in 2015, said Wednesday that she would have considered him a friend and was just sick over his intolerable alleged behavior.

"I was just sick. I was shocked. I was appalled": Hillary Clinton describes learning of Harvey Weinstein allegations https://t.co/WVC4WZLdHu  CNN (@CNN) October 11, 2017

This was a different side of a person that I and many others had known in the past, Clinton said. People in Democratic politics for a couple of decades appreciated his help and support.

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Other Democratic players, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have announced more defined commitments to donate any political contributions Weinstein may have made to them. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said Friday that she would give away $5,000 in contributions from Weinstein to a California-based organization that advocates for womens equality.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Hillary Clinton on Tuesday said she was shocked and appalled in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, speaking publicly for the first time about the longtime Democratic donor five days after it first emerged that multiple women had accused him of harassment over the course of decades.

I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein, Clinton said in a statement. Their courage and support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.

A high-profile donor in the Democratic Party, Weinstein has contributed more $20,000 to Clintons campaigns since she ran for U.S. Senate in New York in 1999, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In the wake of the explosive New York Times report detailing allegations spanning three decades, several Democratic lawmakers who had received contributions from Weinstein  including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California, have said they are giving that money to charities helping women. Former President Barack Obama, who has also raised campaign cash from Weinstein  and whose daughter Malia worked for Weinstein earlier this year  has yet to comment publicly.

The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated, Clinton said.

Statement from Secretary Clinton on Harvey Weinstein: pic.twitter.com/L1l2wl9l0I  Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) October 10, 2017

More allegations against Weinstein emerged on Tuesday, as The New Yorker reported that three women claimed he had raped them, and the Times reported a new slew of allegations from high-profile figures including Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. A spokesperson denied any allegations of non-consensual sex in response to both reports.

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Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein, the spokesperson said.

I appreciate the way Ive behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it, Weinstein said in the initial New York Times report last week. Though Im trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.

Weinstein was fired from his company this week.
By James Pearson and Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) - In 2009, a pop video from North Korea celebrated a new national hero - one that outside experts would later realise was at the heart of the secretive state's banned nuclear and missile programmes. That hero, widely available in factories across the world, was the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine. Big, grey and boxy, CNC machines use pre-programmed guides to produce intricate parts for everything from automobiles and mobile phones to furniture and clothes. They offer accuracy that human machine tool operators are unable to achieve. In North Korea, thanks to a combination of homemade technology and reverse engineering, the machines now play a critical role in the weapons programmes. They allow Kim Jong Un to build nuclear bombs and missiles without relying as heavily on outside technical aid or imports. Nuclear weapons experts say this has helped him accelerate missile and nuclear testing despite international sanctions on the transfer of sensitive equipment. "North Korea's centrifuges and new missiles all depend on components made with CNC machine tools," said Jeffrey Lewis, head of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of Strategic Studies at Monterey, California. "(They) are the essential underlying technology for producing missiles and nuclear weapons," said Lewis. Since 1996, CNC machines have been included in the Wassenaar Arrangement  an international arms control regime aimed at stopping the proliferation of equipment with both civilian and military uses. North Korea is not a signatory. The country's celebrations of its CNC technology have been fulsome. Hundreds of dancers in luminous orange and green performed the CNC pop song, titled "Break through the cutting edge," at a Korean Workers' Party celebration in 2010. In 2012, the year the South Korean hit "Gangnam Style" was released, the North's CNC title was on karaoke machines nationwide, according to Choson Exchange, a Singapore-based company that trains North Koreans in business skills. The official video for the song opens with a long-range North Korean rocket soaring into a blue sky. CUTTING EDGE North Korea likely started to develop its own CNC machines in the early 1990s as part of a drive to build sophisticated missiles and nuclear weapons, nuclear experts say. It probably learned how to make them by taking apart machines it had imported from the Soviet Union. Its first homemade CNC machine was introduced in 1995. Former leader Kim Jong Il gave the machine the "Ryonha" brand, according to a 2009 article in the country's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun. That was the first time state media mentioned the technology. By 2009, the machines had become a mainstay of North Korean propaganda, as Pyongyang launched a nationwide campaign to boost domestic industry. Sanctions were mounting after its second nuclear test and a long-range missile launch that year. At the time, arms control experts raised concerns about a visit by former leader Kim Jong Il to a North Korean factory where homemade CNC machines appeared to be producing aluminium tubes. These could be used for nuclear centrifuges. "By around 2010, it seemed they were capable of manufacturing various types of CNC machines," said Kim Heung-gwang, a North Korean defector who taught at Pyongyang's Hamhung Computer Technology University before defecting to South Korea. But it wasn't until 2013 that the Korea Ryonha Machinery Joint Venture Corporation, which produced the machines, was blacklisted by the U.N. Security Council for supporting the weapons programmes. And it was only in August this year that U.S. intelligence officials told Reuters North Korea likely has the ability to produce its own missile engines themselves. Now, Kim Heung-gwang estimates, North Korea has about 15,000 CNC machines. He bases this on North Korean state media reports and photos as well as interviews with more than a dozen defectors who were scientists, professors or factory workers. MASS PRODUCTION Pyongyang hailed the homemade machines as a triumph for its governing ideology of "Juche", which champions self-sufficiency. But that wasn't strictly true. In August 2016, state media released photos of Kim Jong Un visiting a factory using CNC machines with the logo of Swiss engineering firm ABB, one of the leading players in the global CNC machine market. It's not clear when or how the machine reached North Korea. ABB said the firm respects all applicable trade sanctions against North Korea, and undertakes not to deliver ABB equipment to the country. "That said, we cannot rule out that some of our equipment may have been resold to DPR of Korea without our knowledge or permission," the company said in response to a Reuters inquiry, using North Korea's official title. A United Nations panel monitoring sanctions on North Korea said in a report this year that Tengzhou Keyongda CNC Machine Tools Co of China had been a supplier of Pyongyang's new CNC machines. A sales representative for Tengzhou Keyongda told Reuters the company stopped selling CNC machines to North Korea four years ago, and no longer maintains trade relations with the country. Despite sanctions, CNC machines are commonplace across North Korean manufacturing and can be brought in through China and Russia, said Lee Choon-geun, a senior fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Institute in South Korea. The biggest loophole has been that while some CNC machines are banned because they can have both military and civilian functions, most serve civilian industry. "Given their dual-use capability, you could even import the machines for other purposes, take them to pieces and use them however you want," said Lee. The CNC song highlights this in its opening line: "Whatever it is, once we put our mind to it, there's a programme to make it," it says. (By James Pearson and Hyonhee Shin in SEOUL; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON, Lusha Zhang in BEIJING; Editing by Soyoung Kim, Lincoln Feast and Sara Ledwith)
Indias Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that sex with an underage wife constitutes rape, in a landmark ruling that campaigners say could affect millions of girls.

The decision overturned a previous clause that permitted men to have sex with a married girl as young as 15, the Indian Express reports.

Indias age of consent is 18 and child marriage is illegal, but the practice persists in many parts of the country. According to Girls Not Brides  a coalition of NGOs working to end child marriage  47% of Indian girls are married by the age of 18.

Marital rape is not recognized as a crime in India, but sex with a child under 18 is considered rape. Under the new ruling, girls who are raped by their husbands can bring charges within one year of the offense.

The ruling was praised by rights advocates, who noted it coincided with International Day of the Girl Child on Oct. 11.

The judgment is a step forward in protecting girls from abuse and exploitation, irrespective of their marital status, Divya Srinivasan of gender-equality group Equality Now told Reuters.

Read More: Surviving Sexual Assault in India

Others raised concerns about the difficulty of enforcing the new provision, particularly in Indias conservative rural areas where child marriage persists due to poverty, low education, patriarchal social values and weak law enforcement, according to UNICEF.

A minor girl who is already married, almost always with the consent of her parents, will not usually have the courage to go to the police or court and file a case against her husband, said the BBCs Geeta Pandey.

In 2015, there were more than 34,000 rape cases reported in the country, according to Indias National Crime Records Bureau. Domestic abuse is even more widespread, affecting 40% of married women between the ages of 15 and 49, and 70% of child brides, according to government statistics cited by Reuters.
Arbil (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraq's prime minister on Thursday denied an attack on the Kurds was imminent, in a bid to defuse tensions that had prompted Kurdish peshmerga fighters to temporarily seal off road links with the rest of the country.

"We are not going to use our army to fight our people or to make war on our Kurdish citizens or others," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said.

"Our duty is to preserve the unity of our country, to implement the constitution, and to protect citizens and national forces," he told a meeting of tribal leaders in the western province of Anbar, where Iraqi security forces are battling to seize the Islamic State (IS) group's last bastion in the country.

The rise in tensions came two weeks after Kurdish voters overwhelmingly backed independence in a non-binding referendum that the central government condemned as illegal.

Iraqi Kurdish forces closed the two main roads connecting Arbil and Dohuk with the northern city of Mosul for several hours, a Kurdish military official said.

"The closure was prompted by fears of a possible attack by Iraqi forces on the disputed areas," held by Kurdish forces but outside the autonomous Kurdish region in the north of the country, the official said.

Kurdish authorities said late Wednesday they feared Iraqi government forces and allied paramilitary units were gearing up to launch an assault on the autonomous region.

"We're receiving dangerous messages that the Hashed al-Shaabi (paramilitary forces) and federal police are preparing a major attack from the southwest of Kirkuk and north of Mosul against Kurdistan," the Kurdistan Regional Government's Security Council said.

- 'Fighting a single enemy' -

Security sources said Thursday that Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service and Rapid Response Force had deployed more forces near peshmerga positions around Rashad, a village some 65 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk city.

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The oil-rich province of the same name, areas of which took part in the referendum, is disputed between the Kurds and Baghdad.

On a conciliatory note, Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani's government reached out to Abadi.

It reiterated that it was "ready for dialogue and negotiations, based on the constitution, on border posts, internal trade, citizens' services, banking and airports".

For its part, Iraq's Joint Operations Command, which groups all pro-government forces, played down the tensions, expressing confidence that dialogue would resolve the problem.

"Our mission is clear: we are fighting a single enemy, Daesh," Brigadier General Yahiya Rassul said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

"All that interests Iraqis... is to liberate our country and beat the terrorist group," he said. "We do not forget the role played by the peshmerga."

He said Iraqi government forces had previously operated close to peshmerga lines near the northern city of Tal Afar.

Asked if there had been movements of Iraqi forces close to peshmerga positions, Colonel Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the US-led coalition battling IS in Syria and Iraq, said: "We don't see that."

The coalition has worked with both peshmerga and Iraqi pro-government forces in the battle to oust IS from areas of Iraq it seized in mid-2014.

"Our mission is clear -- to defeat Daesh," Dillon said.

"We have done that throughout Iraq. We will support the Iraqis in the same way we have in the last three years to make sure that Daesh is defeated".

- Ties cut -

Central authorities severed ties between the Kurdish autonomous region and the outside world after the referendum by cutting international air links.

Neighbouring Turkey and Iran, which fear that Iraqi Kurdish moves towards independence could fuel demands from their own sizeable Kurdish communities, have also threatened to close their borders to oil exports.

An Iraqi court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of senior Kurdish officials responsible for organising the referendum, saying they had done so "in contravention of a ruling by the Iraqi supreme court".

The warrant is likely to prove toothless as Baghdad's security forces do not operate inside Kurdistan, but it could stop the officials leaving the region.

Iraq has also launched a probe into Kurdistan's lucrative oil revenues and pledged to expose "corrupt" officials in the region who might have illegally monopolised the market.
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel will withdraw from the UN's cultural and education body after a United States decision to do the same on accusations of bias against the Jewish state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday.

"The prime minister instructed the foreign ministry to prepare Israel's withdrawal from the organisation alongside the United States," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Netanyahu "welcomes the decision by President (Donald) Trump to withdraw from UNESCO. This is a courageous and moral decision because UNESCO has become the theatre of the absurd and because instead of preserving history it distorts it."

The premier's decision came hours after the US State Department said the United States would pull out from the UN body, in part due to "continuing anti-Israel bias".

Washington's withdrawal is set to take effect on December 21, 2018, and Israel is expected to pull out at the same time.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman called the US move "an important, right, principled and moral step by our great ally, the United States".

UNESCO, he said in a statement, is "an anti-Semitic and politically biased organisation that has turned lying into a standard practice and lost its way and relevance".

Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said Washington's decision showed there was a "price to pay for discrimination against Israel" and marked "a new era" at the United Nations.

"Today's decision is a turning point for UNESCO. The organisation's absurd and shameful resolutions against Israel have consequences," he said in a statement.

"UNESCO has become a battlefield for Israel bashing and has disregarded its true role and purpose," he said.

UNESCO, which is best known for producing the list of World Heritage sites, infuriated Israel and the United States by granting full membership to Palestinians in 2011.

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It has been the scene of diplomatic flare-ups in recent years after Arab countries succeeded in passing a number of resolutions critical of Israel.

In July, the UN body declared the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank an endangered World Heritage site, delighting Palestinians and angering Israel.

Netanyahu announced a $1-million cut in funding to the United Nations, saying the UNESCO vote ignored Jewish ties to the site.

In May, Israel was infuriated by a resolution identifying it as "the occupying power" in the disputed city of Jerusalem and calling on it to rescind any move changing the city's "character and status".

The text denounced "all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem".

At the time, Netanyahu said the "absurd" vote denied the Jewish connection to the city.

Washington opposes any move by UN bodies to recognise the Palestinians as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.

The Trump administration is reviewing many of its multilateral commitments, pursuing what he calls an "America First" policy.
First daughter Ivanka Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were photographed on what looked like a cozy dinner date.

Read: Melania Fires Back at Ivana Trump's 'I'm First Lady' Remark, Calling It 'Self-Serving Noise'

Many weighed in on social media with cheeky comments.

"Get a room," went one tweet.

But it wasnt what it seemed. Trudeaus wife, Sophie, was in attendance, and they were all guests at Fortune Magazines Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C., Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, the Trudeaus stopped by the White House for an official visit.

This afternoon, @cafreeland & I met with the House Committee on Ways and Means in DC to talk about the benefits of Canada-US trade. pic.twitter.com/irJftqCp3k  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 11, 2017

Meanwhile, the president is challenging Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to an IQ test.

The idea came after Tillerson reportedly called the president a moron.



"I think its fake news," the president told Forbes. "But if he did [say] that, I guess well have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win.

On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert joked about the incident Tuesday night.

We have the results right here. Tillerson scored 120  not bad. Trumps is a drawing of a truck with MAGA on the side, he quipped.

Read: Whatever Happened to Trump's Second Wife, Marla Maples?

Inside Edition asked Rick Rosner, a true genius, to weigh in. Rosner's IQ is 190  the highest in America and the second highest in the world.

I think Tillerson would kick Trump's butt, he claimed. He seems pretty no nonsense.

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Rosner added that Trump is the president, he shouldnt be wasting time on IQ tests.

He also said he is willing to take on Trump.

If he wants to, I'll go up against him and if he gets within 20 points of my score, I'll cut off one of my toes, Rosner claimed.

Watch: Why This Mom Went Through 9 Hours of Cosmetic Surgery to Look Like Melania

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Advisor to the president Ivanka Trump speaks onstage at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Fortune

Ivanka Trump has called for a long-term solution for Dreamers, the childhood immigrants for whom her father has promised to end protections.

I am of the opinion  and the president has stated  that we have to figure out a good solution that protects these innocent people," Ms Trump said at a dinner panel honouring powerful women.

She added: There has to be a long-term fix. I cant be bandaged over on a presidential level by another executive order that can be rescinded by a subsequent administration.

Dreamers is a term used to refer to immigrants who came to America illegally as children. Under the Obama-era DACA programme, some Dreamers were given temporary work permits and protection from deportation. Donald Trump announced the end of DACA  with a six-month delay  in September, drawing outcry from many on the left.

Last month, Mr Trump looked poised to strike a deal with Democrats to protect the estimated 800,000 Dreamers in the country. He met with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, and even tweeted that he would revisit the issue if Congress could not come up with a solution.

But the White House recently released a list of hard-line policy proposals that could put any Democratic deal in jeopardy. The policy priorities include constructing a border wall with Mexico, stopping sanctuary cities, and creating a merit-based immigration system  none of which would be popular with Democrats.

The administration cant be serious about compromise or helping the Dreamers if they begin with a list that is anathema to the Dreamers, to the immigrant community and to the vast majority of Americans, Ms Pelosi and Mr Schumer responded in a statement.

White House officials clarified that the list should only be considered a starting point for a DACA deal.

The Presidents daughter is said to be a mediating voice in his ear on social issues, but rarely speaks out publicly on her opinion. Sundays Fortune Most Powerful Women panel was an exception  if only a brief one.

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After voicing her support for Dreamers, Ms Trump turned to echoing her fathers calls for large-scale immigration reform.

I think that is the right approach because our system is flawed, and it is not equipped to handle the challenges, she said. [O]ur visa program is deeply flawed. Were not retaining the best talent for the jobs that we need and that has to fundamentally be reconsidered.

The White Houses list of proposals has been sent of Congress to consider.
By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling bloc could come close to keeping its two-thirds "super" majority in an Oct. 22 lower house election, defying some predictions of substantial losses and solidifying his grip on power, a survey published by the Nikkei business daily on Wednesday showed. Abe's conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its more dovish junior partner, the Komeito, are likely to secure more than 290 seats in the 465-seat chamber, the Nikkei said. The ruling bloc had a two-thirds "super majority" in the lower house before the chamber was dissolved. The number of seats has been cut from 475 as part of electoral reforms. The Nikkei forecast was broadly in line with a Kyodo news agency forecast released on Thursday that saw Abe's coalition winning more than 300 seats. However, Kyodo said 54.4 percent of voters were still undecided. A survey by the Yomiuri newspaper showed the LDP and Komeito winning close to 300 seats. A strong showing by Abe's coalition would boost his chances of winning a third term as LDP leader from next September, putting him on track to become Japan's longest-serving premier. Abe called the snap election amid confusion in the opposition camp and after an uptick in his ratings, which had been hurt earlier this year by suspected cronyism scandals, in hopes of gaining a fresh mandate after nearly five years in power. But the outlook has been clouded by the emergence of popular Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike's Party of Hope, a fledgling party that the former LDP lawmaker and defence minister calls a reformist, conservative alternative to Abe's LDP. The Nikkei said Koike's party was on track to get around 69 seats, with a forecast range of 46-110. Another new party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, formed from the liberal wing of the failed opposition Democratic Party, was set to win more than 40 seats, it said. The Democrats, faced with rock-bottom ratings and internal dissension, have said they would run no candidates of their own, freeing many to run on the Party of Hope ticket. PRO-CONSTITUTION REVISION FORCES The Asahi newspaper also forecast a strong showing by the ruling bloc, with the LDP set to win well over the 233 seats needed to have a simple majority on its own. It said Koike's Party of Hope was struggling but was likely to get more than 57 seats. About 40 percent of voters were undecided, the Asahi said. The Nikkei also forecast that parties in favour of revising the post-war, pacifist constitution - Abe's long-held goal - were on track to win more than two-thirds. That includes the LDP and Koike's Party of Hope as well as another smaller right-leaning party, the Japan Innovation Party. Amending the constitution, a politically controversial move never yet taken, requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers and a majority in a public referendum. Koike's party had raised expectations that it would cut into the LDP's conservative base. But her decision not to run for a lower house seat herself and refusal to say whom her party would support for premier after the election appears to have eroded the party's momentum. Competition among a fragmented opposition, which also includes the Japanese Communist Party, in many districts means the anti-LDP vote could be split, a plus for Abe's party. Abe has led the LDP to four landslide wins since he took the helm of the party in 2012, but turnout has been low and the LDP has typically won with about 25 percent of eligible votes. The others either stayed home or backed opposition parties. The premier has been touting the success of his "Abenomics" recipe of hyper-easy monetary policy, fiscal spending and promised structural reforms, while Koike argues that reforms have been too slow in a fast-changing global economy. The world's third-largest economy is on track for its longest expansion since World War Two, and the jobless rate was at a 23-year low of 2.8 percent in August while wages are starting to rise a bit. But Abe's reflationary policies have not yet sparked a sustainable recovery led by the private sector. (Additional reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Christopher Mirasolo is registered sex offender after two convictions of sexual assault on children: Michigan Department of Corrections

A judge has revoked a court's decision to grant custody of a boy conceived by the rape of 12-year-old girl, to his father.

Christopher Mirasolo was granted access to the eight-year-old boy and given the current address of his victim, who is now 21-years-old.

The joint custody was granted by a judge in Sanilac County, Michigan without the knowledge of the boys mother.

He was was also unaware that Mirasolo was not actually seeking access to the child.

Probate Judge Gregory Ross set aside the ruling which he originally issued on 22 September, according to The Detroit News.

According to the victim and her attorney, Rebecca Kiessling, the custody was given after the victim filled out a questionnaire seeking reimbursement of child support.

The woman identified Mirasolo as the childs birth father which resulted in the prosecutors office filing for a DNA test on his behalf to confirm paternity.

The victim, who was assaulted in September 2008, said she was never consulted regarding joint custody.

County Prosecutor James V Young said his office will conduct an internal review of its policies and procedures as to how these matters are handled and will be making changes as deemed appropriate.

Mirasolo did not initiate the custody action, which Young said stemmed from a questionnaire the victim answered in July.

She had received $260 a month in food stamps for three years and wished for this to continue.

While the mother did request that the father not receive visitation the (court) order stated: Parenting time shall be as the parties agree. If they are unable to agree, either party may file a motion, the prosecutor said in his statement.

He added: The order is clear that, if the mother does not want the father to have visitation, she does not have to provide it.

Young said that Mirasolo has agreed to pay child support but is waiving all other rights to the child.

Ms Kiessling said Mirarsolo of Brown City forcibly raped and threatened to kill her client in September 2008, when she was 12-years-old.

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He was later found guilty of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and sentenced to one year in jail. But he only served six-and-half-months.

In March 2010, Mirasolo committed another offence against a victim aged between 13 and 15 years old. He served four years in prison for that offence.
Photo credit: Getty

From ELLE UK

Kate Beckinsale is the latest actress to come forward with allegations about sexual advances from Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

The British actress just issued a statement on Instagram in which says she was greeted by Weinstein in a bathrobe after she was 'called' to a meeting with him. She assumed it would be a business discussion in a conference room, but she was then sent up to a room in the Savoy hotel.

She was 17 at the time - under the legal age of consent in America - and declined alcohol from the producer because she had 'school in the morning'.

The actress said no to him 'professionally many times over the years' some of which ended up with him calling her a 'cunt and making threats' and some of which made him 'laughingly tell people oh "Kate lives to say no to me ".'

Saying no, she says, 'undoubtedly harmed' her career and was 'never something I felt supported by anyone other than my family.'

'I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him,' she continues.

'I left, uneasy but unscathed. A few years later he asked me if he had tried anything with me in that first meeting. I realised he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not.'

Beckinsale is just one of many actresses who have come forward over the last week to accuse the movie mogul of sexual harassment or assault, including Cara Delevingne, Lea Seydoux, Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow.

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Weinstein has admitted his behaviour has 'caused a lot of pain' but describes many of the allegations against him as 'patently false'.

His spokesperson has said 'any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied' and there were 'never any acts of retaliation' against women who turned him down.

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Pregnant Kate Middleton at Kensington Palace

Kate Middleton made her first public appearance since announcing her third pregnancy on Tuesday. And while fashion critics gave the duchess glowing reviews for her baby blue Temperley London dress, body shamers werent so kind. Taking to social media, many called the 35-year-old, whos expecting her third child with husband Prince William, too thin.

I cant believe shes prego, one commenter said on Kensington Palaces Instagram account. I thought she was pregnant!? another questioned.

Others expressed concern for the duchess  whos experiencing another bout of hyperemersis gravidarum, a severe form of morning sickness  and hoped she was feeling OK and healthy. Shes so thin. I hope shes doing better, a fan of wrote.

The comments come a month after Kensington Palace revealed Middletons pregnancy. Its presumed that the announcement came earlier than the royal couple would have liked, but the duchesss absence from royal engagements had to be explained.

Their Royal Highness The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their third child, the statement read. The Queen and members of both families are delighted with the news. It also noted that as with her previous two pregnancies, The Duchess is suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum.

Kensington Palace released a statement last month, revealing Prince William and Kate Middleton are expecting their third child. (Photo: Getty Images)

Indeed, the duchess missed out on accompanying Prince George to his first day of school just a few days after the announcement was made.

She was being cared for at home by her mother, Carole Middleton, and Prince William said he was looking forward to getting Kate back to full health. It was a bit anxious to start with, he said during his speech at National Mental Health and Policing Conference in September. He also said they hoped to start celebrating this week and added that there was not much sleep going on at the moment.

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The same morning that President Trump tweeted again about fake news, one of his top advisors said she never uses the term.

Speaking at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit Wednesday morning, White House advisor Kellyanne Conway said she does not treat the press as an enemy and does not use the term fake news.

Im a person in the West Wing who has actually never uttered the word fake news, enemy of the people, opposition party, she said. I dont speak that way.

Instead, Conway said that she shares her concerns that the news media doesnt cover Trump fully and fairly.

What Im concerned about is that this president, and I hear this from people who did not vote for him and from people who dont always cover him fully and fairly either, but there is a concern that they literally have never seen a president covered this way, she said, arguing his tweets about policy get less coverage than his bombastic ones. My grievance is never about fake news. I talk about incomplete coverage.

While she does not use the term often, Conway has said fake news on some occasions. In November, she tweeted approvingly about a profile of herself, saying it was the facts after a day of FAKE news.

After a day of FAKE news, the facts. Challenging the Boss in Public? For Kellyanne Conway, Its Part of the Job https://t.co/khnPx9jkqC  Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) November 29, 2016

And in December, she told CNN that the biggest piece of fake news in this election was that Donald J. Trump couldnt win.
By Katharine Houreld and Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya lurched deeper into political crisis on Wednesday as a court ruling and a parliamentary vote appeared to ease Uhuru Kenyatta's path to a second term as president, a day after his rival quit an election they were to contest. Kenyatta and Raila Odinga were due to face off in a repeat election on Oct. 26, after the Supreme Court annulled their August ballot -- in which the president was declared the winner -- due to irregularities. But Odinga pulled out of the re-run on Tuesday, fuelling doubts about whether it would be contested at all. Wednesday's interventions by the judiciary and legislature added to the uncertainty. As police used teargas to disperse opposition protesters demanding electoral reform, the High Court approved a petition by Ekuru Aukot, who polled less than 1 percent in the August vote, to contest the second ballot. Aukot has yet to announce if he will definitely run. Further muddying the political waters, parliament passed an election law amendment stating that if one candidate withdrew from the re-run election, the remaining one would automatically win. The vote was boycotted by opposition lawmakers. That would mean Kenyatta could be declared president if he faced no challengers. The events stoked confusion among voters and fears that politically-driven violence might escalate. Months of political uncertainty have already blunted growth in East Africa's richest nation, a long-time ally of the West. "There's a real atmosphere of confusion and uncertainty. There seems to be dozens of opinions of what should come next," said Murithi Mutiga, a senior Horn of Africa analyst for the global thinktank International Crisis Group. UNEASE Justifying his pullout on Tuesday, Odinga said the election would not be free and fair and renewed calls for the electoral board (IEBC), which he blamed for the procedural irregularities identified in the first ballot, to be replaced. Opposition supporters on Wednesday renewed their protests for electoral reform. Demonstrators lit bonfires in Kisumu, an Odinga stronghold in the country's west, while more than a thousand supporters marched through the central business district in the capital Nairobi. Police used teargas to disperse them in both cities, witnesses said. A repeat of the widespread ethnic clashes that killed 1,200 people following a disputed presidential poll in 2007 appears unlikely at this stage. But at least 37 people were killed in protests immediately following the August vote, almost all of them by police, a Kenyan rights group said Monday. "We want a reformed IEBC," said Elisha Odhiambo, an opposition legislator, referring to the electoral board, which has frequently relied on riot police dispersing protests outside its offices in recent weeks. After the High Court ruling in his favour, Aukot told reporters that he still had concerns about the board and would issue a statement in a day or two giving clarity about his plans. It was unclear if other candidates from the first ballot with little support would also seek to be included, but the election board said it still had time to print ballot papers. The Sept. 1 Supreme Court judgement that nullified Kenyatta's 1.4 million vote win also stipulated elections had to be held within 60 days. If that schedule is not met, the constitution provides for the speaker of parliament, a member of Kenyatta's party, to take power. With two weeks to go until the elections, it is still unclear who will stand. "I would expect one of the parties will try to seek an authoritative announcement from the Supreme Court," International Crisis Group's Mutiga said. Amid the political uncertainty, the government has trimmed this year's GDP growth forecast from 5.9 percent to 5.5 percent last month. The country's equity markets slid further on Wednesday. Kenya's all share index slipped 1.24 percent while the blue chip index fell 1.14 percent. (Additional reporting by Humphrey Malalo and George Obulutsa; editing by John Stonestreet)
A descendant of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev is calling out President Donald Trump over his latest attacks on the media.

Trump on Tuesday accused NBC of fake new and said broadcast licenses should be challenged and revoked.

Here, President Trump defined fake news the way Joseph Stalin defined enemies of the people: if they offer a slightest objection to his rule they must be wrong. And they must be silenced, Nina Khrushcheva, an international affairs professor at The New School in New York City, told The Washington Examiner.

She told the website:

Somewhere on the way to his real estate/reality TV career he forgot his lessons in civics and American democracy from high school. Or maybe he always had an F in those subjects; being rich, he didnt and still doesnt think they apply to him. For that we are all paying dearly. And the longer he stays in, offering more and more somewhat Stalinesque amendments to American democracy, the more autocratic erosion to this once wonderful system we will experience.

Khrushcheva is the great-granddaughter of the former Soviet leader, who ran the country from 1953 to 1964. When Khrushchevs son  Ninas grandfather  was killed in World War II, Nikita Khrushchev adopted his sons 2-year-old daughter, Julia.

Julia would become Ninas mother.

Consequently, by relations Nikita Khrushchev is my grandfather, and I always refer to him as such, she explained on her website.

Khrushcheva, author of The Lost Khrushchev, has been a frequent Trump critic, posting tweets such as this:

when @realDonaldTrump is impeached or institutionalized, would all his decisions be rescinded as those of criminal or feeble mind?  Nina Khrushcheva (@nk18) September 6, 2017

(h/t Raw Story)

Also on HuffPost

False. Indeed, the pope said of Donald Trump earlier this year, "This man is not Christian."

Big league false.

This Facebook post is actually a link to the very article that disproves it. Eagle-eyed readers will notice the description itself even says it's "fake." False.

This is false.

Still waiting for this sex tape. Not holding our breath.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
With a huge promotion, Kim Yo-jong is one of the most powerful people in North Korea right now.

The younger sister of reigning leader Kim Jong-un is often seen in the background accompanying her brother at various functions and tours, but she's now a member of the Worker's Party's Politburo, the nation's most important political body.

SEE ALSO: Rare flyover video of North Korea shows a virtually empty ghost town

Yo-jong, who is believed to be 30 years old, will be the youngest member to join the decision-making body  and is currently the only one of Kim's siblings active in government.

An early start into politics

Yo-jong is the youngest daughter of the late Kim Jong-il and Ko Yong-hui. Ko is also the mother of Kim Jong-un.

She was the youngest of three children, with Kim Jong-un the middle, and eldest Kim Jong-chol, who does not appear to be closely involved in politics.

Both she and her brother Kim Jong-un attended school in Switzerland when they were younger, and have maintained a "very good relationship," based on an older interview we did with Michael Madden, who runs a blog called North Korea Leadership Watch (NKLW), an affiliate of 38 North from the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

She had already started participating in politics back in 2008 as a "junior" member of the party, when her father was still running the country.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ahn Young-joon/AP/REX/Shutterstock (6748366a) People watch a TV news program showing Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's younger sister, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, . North Korea has revealed that Kim is a senior official in the ruling Workers' Party, strengthening analysts' views that she is an increasingly important part of the family dynasty that runs the country South Korea North Korea Kim Jong Uns Sister, Seoul, South Korea

Image: Ahn Young-joon/AP/REX/Shutterstock

She was one of the only ones that was distinctly interested in politics, in North Korean politics," Madden had said, adding that her father had spoken of her sharp political mind.

Now, one of a few young women at the pinnacle of power

After her initial "junior" status, she was eventually made deputy-director of the Workers Party's Propaganda and Agitation Department in 2014, which as the name suggests, handles state propaganda for the country.

She has now been promoted to the Workers Party Politburo, the highest political body in the country which is technically responsible for managing all of the party's political activities.

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This could make her the youngest, and one of a few women ever let into the Politburo.

According to a report by the New York Times, state media also often shows top officials listening "reverentially" when she speaks.

Her promotion was announced last Sunday as part of a political reshuffle involving other high ranking officials.

Yo-jong is reportedly married to Choe Song, the son of the Workers' party vice chairman Choe Ryong-hae. She is also said to have had a child in 2015.

She, along with several other North Korean officials, have been placed on a U.S. Treasury Dept blacklist for "severe human rights abuses."
After Las Vegas police offered new details about the timeline of the October 1 mass shooting, the company that owns the hotel where the shooting happened is saying it disagrees with the description of how events unfolded.

On October 1, a gunman shot and killed at least 58 people from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino as they attended the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, according to police. The suspect later took his own life. Investigators are still searching for a motive.

At his most recent press conference, on Monday, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo said the suspect checked into the hotel on September 25, not September 28, as the police had previously said. In another change to the police timeline, Lombardo said a hotel security guard named Jesus Campos encountered the suspect prior to the shooting, not after. The sheriff also said the suspect had gambled the night before the shooting.

Related: What genetics theories suggest about the Las Vegas shooting

But MGM Resorts, the company behind the Mandalay Bay hotel, is disputing that timeline. This remains an ongoing investigation with a lot of moving parts, MGM Resorts spokesperson Debra DeShong said in a statement Tuesday night. As evidenced by law enforcement briefings over the past week, many facts are still unverified and continue to change as events are under review. We cannot be certain about the most recent timeline that has been communicated publicly, and we believe what is currently being expressed may not be accurate. DeShong added that the company would not be commenting further at this time.

10_11_Las_Vegas_MGM_police

Ethan Miller/Getty

The statement suggests that MGM Resorts has its own information about the incident. The company so far is facing at least one lawsuit from a survivor of the shooting, alleging negligence.

Story continues

The Las Vegas police department has said it is not commenting on the incident outside of its press conferences. The next press conference is scheduled for Friday.

Related Articles
(Reuters) - Las Vegas police are getting closer to finding an explanation for why a gunman carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, the city's police chief said on Wednesday, as he defended the speed of the department's response to the massacre.

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, who oversees the police department, told the Las Vegas CBS television affiliate in an interview that police officials were not trying to cover anything up a day after revising the timeline for the shooting.

The revision on Monday showed hotel security was aware of a gunman six minutes before he started firing into a crowd of more than 20,000 people, killing 58. The revised timeline raised new questions, including why gunman Stephen Paddock ceased firing on concertgoers once he began, and whether hotel security and police coordinated as well as first believed.

"No matter what that timeline was, the response was as quick as possible. I don't think the response could have been any faster," Lombardo said in a video posted on the station's LasVegasNow.com website.

Paddock, 64, injured hundreds of people attending a music festival in a hail of bullets fired from the windows of his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. He then shot himself to death before police stormed his room.

Lombardo on Monday said Paddock shot a hotel security guard Jesus Campos, who was checking on an open-door fire alarm on the same floor, six minutes before beginning to fire on the crowd.

Officials initially said Paddock, who had placed hidden cameras outside the room to monitor activity, first fired into the concert and then stopped shooting after strafing the hotel hallway through the doorway of his room when Campos was apparently detected by the gunman.

Earlier police accounts also said a wounded Campos helped direct police to the room occupied by Paddock, who by then had quit firing on concertgoers. Lombardo originally said police officers reached the 32nd floor within 12 minutes of the first reports of the attack.

Story continues

"We will have a pretty good assessment of the reasons why, but it is going to take time," he said, adding "there are going to be questions that will never be answered."

Las Vegas police officials were not immediately available for comment.

MGM Resorts International , which owns the Mandalay Bay, questioned the latest chronology from police, saying in a statement on Tuesday that it may not be accurate.

ABC News reported on Wednesday the gunman's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, has been put on a U.S. government watch list that will notify authorities if she attempts to leave the country on a commercial airline flight.

Danley, 62, has been called a "person of interest" in the case. Her lawyer said she had no inkling of Paddock's plans.

Related:

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; editing by G Crosse)
Getty Images

Questions are swirling about what exactly happened on the night of the Las Vegas shooting.

Some are suggesting there may have been problems with the initial story that came out of the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. And others are suggesting that the official time of events could be wrong.

While police have been clear about what they believe on the night of the attack, that story has changed in recent days. Below is an account of that timeline  and the questions that remain amid the reports.

More than a week after the attack, police have still not laid out a complete timeline of what happened that night. And as more details are revealed, what information there is appears to be contradictory and confusing.

That missing information has allowed conspiracy theorists to step in and suggest that something else happened that night that hasn't yet been made public.

Throughout the investigation into the attack, those strange inconsistencies have allowed people to seize on the mysterious parts of the story and suggest something is being hidden about the attack.

That confusion is partly because authorities have now changed the timeline of what happened last night. And in that new timeline  given a week after the events  there appear to be a number of strange gaps and inconsistencies.

They suggest  apparently entirely without basis  that there is something not being told about Jesus Campos, the security guard who is said to have first engaged with the gunman. There is no suggestion, proof or substantial reports that there was anything unusual about his behaviour  but he has now found himself at the middle of questions about the police response to the attack.

Internet detectives claim to have visited the man's house, for instance, and are poring through his online footprint in an attempt to make their theories stick. False reports have even attempted to blame him for the attack, reviving conspiracy theories about their being another shooter on the night of the attack, which have been entirely rejected by police.

Story continues

There is absolutley nothing to suggest that Mr Campos was involved in the attack in any way beyond what the police have communicated: that he found the attacker, was shot by him, and then alerted the police.

But while the conspiracy theories appear to have no basis at all, a range of questions do remain about the events of that night  and it appears to be those questions that have led the attack to become such fertile ground for planting conspiracy theories.

According to the new timeline, two hotel employees called for help and said that gunman Stephen Paddock had been shooting inside the hallway of the hotel, and that one of those shots had hit an unarmed security guard in the leg. That barrage of bullets inside the hotel came several minutes before Paddock went on to shoot out of the window, killing 58 people and injuring almost 500 in the massacre.

Police didn't arrive at Paddock's hotel room until two minutes after the shooting started, according to authorities. That has led to concern about how long police took to arrive at the room  they got there at 10.17pm, 12 minutes after the shooting began at 10.05pm.

That delay was despite the fact that police now say there was six minutes between Paddock shot inside the hotel and when he began his shots into the crowd at the concert. And there was a full 18 minutes between the shooting of the security guard and the police's arrival in the room  despite the fact that staff were reported to have told authorities what room and what floor the shooter was in.

Questions have now arisen about whether police actually knew about that. If they didn't, why weren't they told? And if they did, what happened in those crucial minutes?

Here is an Associated Press run-down of what happened in those mysterious, crucial moments.



THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE SHOOTING HAS CHANGED

On Monday, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Paddock shot and wounded the security guard outside his door and opened fire through his door around 9:59 p.m.  six minutes before shooting into the crowd.

That was a different account from the one police gave last week: that Paddock shot the guard, Jesus Campos, after unleashing his barrage of fire on the crowd.

The sheriff had previously hailed Campos as a "hero" whose arrival in the hallway may have led Paddock to stop firing. On Monday, Lombardo said he didn't know what prompted Paddock to end the gunfire and take his own life.



BULLETS WHIZZING DOWN THE HALLWAY

A hotel maintenance worker, Stephen Schuck, told NBC News on Wednesday that he told hotel dispatchers to call police and report that a gunman had opened fire in the hallway on the 32nd floor.

He had been called there to check out a report of a jammed fire door and made it about a third of the way down the hall when he heard gunshots. Schuck saw Campos, the security guard, peek out from an alcove and was told to take cover.

He described bullets whizzing past his head as he tried to flee the shooting.

"It was kind of relentless so I called over the radio what was going on," he said. "As soon as the shooting stopped we made our way down the hallway and took cover again and then the shooting started again."

Gunshots can be heard in the background as Schuck reported the shooting on his radio, telling a dispatcher: "Call the police, someone's firing a gun up here. Someone's firing a rifle on the 32nd floor down the hallway."



SECURITY GUARD IS SHOT

Campos had been dispatched to the 32nd floor before Schuck to respond to an alarm that signaled a door was open and heard an odd drilling sound, police have said. As he approached there was a series of single gunshots through the door, one of which hit him in the leg. At about the same time the maintenance worker arrived and Paddock fired more than 200 rounds through the door at Campos and Schuck.

As he was running away, Campos used his radio and possibly a hallway phone to call for help, Assistant Sheriff Tom Roberts confirmed to The Associated Press.



HOTEL QUESTIONS POLICE TIMELINE

Late Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Mandalay Bay questioned the latest timeline of events provided by police.

"We cannot be certain about the most recent timeline that has been communicated publically (sic), and we believe what is currently being expressed may not be accurate," said Debra DeShong, a spokeswoman for MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay hotel casino. The company's statement did not offer what it thinks was the correct timeline.



WHAT TYPICALLY HAPPENS WHEN THERE'S A SHOOTING AT A CASINO

A security officer in a casino-hotel the size of Mandalay Bay, with about 3,200 rooms, would typically report the shooting to an in-house dispatcher who would then call Las Vegas police, said Jim Tatonetti, an executive with Griffin Investigations, a Las Vegas company that provides security and surveillance information to casinos.

Tatonetti said they should have gotten word quickly about the shooting from the lead hotel security supervisor or they would hear the call from police dispatch.

"When you have law enforcement on property you defer to them," Tatonetti said, adding that hotel security officers would turn to their primary duty: guest safety. Officers would focus on evacuating and keeping guests away from dangerous areas.

A large casino in Las Vegas might have 50 or more security officers on a shift, Tatonetti said. Supervisors might be armed. Few on regular patrol have guns. Some might have emergency medical training.



WHAT WE STILL DON'T KNOW

It was unclear if the hotel relayed the reports of the hallway shooting or the gunman's location to the police. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department hasn't responded to questions from The Associated Press about whether hotel security or anyone else in the hotel called 911 to report the gunfire. Police have not responded to questions about the hotel's statement or whether investigators stand behind the revised timeline released earlier in the week. A request for the 911 recordings was denied by police who said they were part of the ongoing investigation.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- The Latest on wildfires in California (all times local):

8:15 p.m.

Authorities have confirmed two more deaths from Northern California's wildfires, taking the total to 23.

The sheriff's office in Sonoma County, where most of the deaths have occurred, said Wednesday night that the toll there has reached 13. The other 10 deaths are dispersed across three other counties.

No details have been released on the two newly confirmed dead.

The massive complex of blazes has burned 265 square miles since breaking out almost simultaneously on Sunday night.

They have destroyed at least 3,500 homes and businesses.

At least 180 people are injured and hundreds have been reported missing.

___

7:40 p.m.

The last remaining evacuation order has been lifted as firefighters continue to make progress in their battle against a Southern California wildfire that destroyed 23 buildings, including some homes.

People were returning to an Orange neighborhood on Wednesday evening.

A day earlier, thousands of people who had to flee the blaze Monday night were allowed to return as winds that fueled the blaze calmed.

As of Wednesday night, the blaze was 60 percent contained after burning some 9,000 acres of brush and grass  nearly 14  square miles of devastation.

Authorities are hoping that cooler, more humid weather will allow them to fully surround the blaze by Sunday.

___

6:30 p.m.

Authorities in Northern California say they are poring through the list of hundreds reported missing amid fierce wildfires and working through the cases one at a time.

Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said Wednesday night that investigators are starting at shelters looking for evacuees and working their way backward to people's homes to see if they got out alive.

While many if not most of those reported missing have simply been unable to communicate with loved ones, authorities say the death toll of 21 is bound to grow.

The series of fires is already among the worst in California history, and high winds expected to arrive overnight could light them up even more.

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State fire Chief Ken Pimlott says it's "going to continue to get worse before it gets better."

___

3:15 p.m.

Authorities are ordering all residents of the Northern California town of Calistoga to evacuate, saying "conditions have worsened."

The Napa County Sheriff's Office says in an alert sent via cellphone and email that residents need to leave by 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Earlier, officials went through the town of 5,000 people, knocking on doors to warn about 2,000 of them to leave.

Low moisture was forecast and winds were beginning to pick up in the region Wednesday afternoon.

In neighboring Sonoma County, authorities issued an evacuation advisory for the northern part of the town of Sonoma and the community of Boyes Hot Springs. By then, lines of cars were already fleeing the community.

___

1:20 p.m.

Officials say they have thousands of firefighters battling 22 blazes burning in Northern California and that more are coming from nearby states.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Chief Ken Pimlott says close to 8,000 firefighters have been deployed and are fighting the blazes by air and on the ground.

Pimlott says Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and Washington are sending firefighters and the U.S. Forest Service is sending fire engines, bulldozers and hand crews.

He also says there are concerns several fires could merge into one big blaze. The fires north of San Francisco are among the deadliest in California history.

The blazes have also left at least 180 people injured and have destroyed more than 3,500 homes and businesses. More than 4,400 people were staying in shelters Wednesday.

___

12:25 p.m.

California Gov. Jerry Brown warns that catastrophic wildfires will keep ripping through the state as the climate warms.

Brown told reporters Wednesday that more people are living in communities close to forests and brush that easily ignite because of dry weather. Blazes burning in Northern California have become some of the deadliest in state history.

He says a warming climate has contributed to catastrophic wildfires and that they will continue to happen. The governor, who's positioned himself as a leader in the fight against climate change, says residents and officials have to be prepared and do everything they can to mitigate the problem.

Brown says the federal government has pledged assistance but points out resources also are going to hurricane recovery efforts in Texas and Florida.

___

11:50 a.m.

Authorities say some of the most destructive wildfires in California's history have killed 21 people.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Chief Ken Pimlott gave an updated death toll Wednesday, calling the series of wildfires in wine country "a serious, critical, catastrophic event."

He says 8,000 firefighters are focusing on protecting lives and property as they battle the flames chewing through critically dry vegetation.

___

11:15 a.m.

Authorities in Northern California say they have discovered a body at a burned home, bringing the number of people killed by wildfires to 18.

The Yuba County Sheriff's Office said on its Facebook page that deputies found the remains Tuesday after a resident asked for a welfare check on a family friend who was missing.

The office says the body was found in the Loma Rica area, where another body was found earlier.

People have also died in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties.

The fires north of San Francisco are among the deadliest in California history.

The blazes have also left at least 180 people injured and have destroyed more than 3,500 homes and businesses.

___

10:35 a.m.

Sonoma County officials say 670 people are still listed as missing from fires in California wine country.

But Sheriff Robert Giordano said Wednesday that many of those people may have been found but have not yet updated a registry of missing people.

Desperate family members and friends are turning to social media with pleas for help finding loved ones missing from the 22 fires in Northern California.

It's unclear if some of those people are actually OK.

Authorities pleaded with previously missing people to mark themselves as safe on the registry and alert authorities.

Napa County Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht says many people are staying with somebody else and haven't checked in.

___

9:30 a.m.

A California fire official says at least 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed by wildfires burning in Northern California wine country.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant says fire activity increased significantly overnight, destroying more buildings and leading to new mandatory evacuations in several areas.

Berlant said Wednesday that 22 wildfires are burning in Northern California, up from 17 on Tuesday.

Officials in Napa County say almost half of the population of Calistoga, a town of 5,000 people, has been ordered to evacuate. New evacuation orders are also in place for Green Valley in Solano County.

After a day of cooler weather and calmer winds, officials say low moisture and dangerous gusty winds will return to the region Wednesday afternoon, complicating firefighters' efforts.

___

8:10 a.m.

The return of cooler weather and moist ocean air is helping an army of firefighters gain ground against a wildfire that has scorched more than a dozen square miles in Southern California.

Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi says the fire has laid down significantly Wednesday due to the marine layer and the work of more than 1,600 firefighters and a fleet of aircraft.

Concialdi says the blaze is 45 percent surrounded and full containment is expected by Saturday, but commanders are holding onto resources because of forecasts for another round of gusty winds and low humidity levels starting Thursday night.

Incomplete damage assessments have now tallied 15 structures destroyed and 12 damaged, including homes and outbuildings.

All evacuations have been lifted except for certain homes in the city of Orange.

The fire erupted Monday about 45 miles southeast of Los Angeles as warm, dry Santa Ana winds swept the region. The cause remains under investigation.

___

6:45 a.m.

Animals from the Orange County Zoo are among evacuees returning home as crews get a handle on a Southern California wildfire that destroyed 14 buildings and damaged 22 others.

Evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday for thousands of people in Anaheim, Orange and Tustin. And more than 100 animals  including small birds, mammals and reptiles  were returned to the zoo within Irvine Regional Park, where flames roared on Monday.

Zoo officials tell the Orange County Register (http://bit.ly/2gcnFiK) that the remaining animals including bears and mountain lions will be brought back in the coming days.

The newspaper says the zoo had undergone an emergency drill a week before the fire, which helped the evacuation run as smoothly as possible.

Cooler, more humid air is helping firefighters tame that blaze in northern Orange County.

___

6:30 a.m.

A wildfire tearing through California's wine country continues to expand unabated, prompting authorities to order more evacuations.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday it ordered mandatory evacuations for several areas of Sonoma Valley after a blaze grew to 44 square miles (113 square kilometers).

After a day of cooler weather and calmer winds, officials say dangerous gusty winds will return to the region Wednesday afternoon, complicating firefighters' efforts.

The blaze in Sonoma County is one of a series of fires that flared up north of San Francisco on Sunday night and continue to burn with little to no containment. Seventeen people have died in the blazes, 11 of them in Sonoma County.

The fires have also left at least 180 people injured and have destroyed more than 2,000 homes and businesses.

___

12:00 a.m.

Jose Garnica worked for more than two decades to build up his dream home that was reduced to ashes in a matter of minutes by the deadly firestorm striking Northern California.

Garnica's house was among more than 2,000 homes and business destroyed by the fires that have also killed 17 people.

He moved to the U.S. from Mexico more than 20 years ago, and after saving money from his steady job with a garbage company he fixed up his Santa Rosa house with new flooring and stainless steel appliances.

All of it burned early Monday when the fires broke out. But Garnica says he's still better off than when he came to America.

The fires have scorched large sections of the state's wine country.
As the auto industry fatefully moves into electric vehicles, Europe's major car-makers need high capacity batteries. Until now, companies like VW, Volvo and BMW have had to import batteries from Asia. LG's forthcoming car battery factory in Poland, the first in Europe, hopes to fulfil that growing demand. "The company has chosen Poland as the most competitive location for production to satisfy the needs of European and global car producers," said Chang-Beom Kang, vice president at LG Chem. The facility will cost $1.63 million, based in the city of Wroclaw which is close to the country's border with Germany. (In case you didn't know, Germany is a major car manufacturing country.)

The company's chemical arm is planning to manufacture up to 100,000 EV batteries starting next year, recruiting 2,500 people in the process. According to Reuters, the factory will also include an R&D center.

While the factory may sound big enough, LG Chem's production estimates place it at around 10 percent of the capacity of Tesla's Gigafactory estimates for 2018. Demand is ramping up in Europe, and this is likely just the start. Paris stated today that it aimed to ban the sales of new fossil fuel car by the year 2030, while both France as a country, and the UK, aim to ban the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2040.
A sheriff in Louisiana has been railing against the states new prisoner release program, saying many of those good inmates need to stay behind bars for the free labor they provide.

Last week, Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator blasted the states Justice Reinvestment Package, a series of bills passed in June that could reduce Louisianas prison population by 10 percent and save more than $260 million over the next decade by slowly releasing nonviolent offenders. The legislation is set to go into effect on Nov. 1 and would authorize the early release of 1,400 prisoners across 21 parishes in the state.

Just 35 prisoners would be immediately released in Caddo Parish, but that seems to be too many for Prator, who said the state needs them to wash cars.

WATCH.



In 38 seconds Steve Prattor, Sheriff of Caddo Parish in Louisiana, tells you why he REALLY likes keeping "good" Black men in jail. pic.twitter.com/7YtxixE1rU  Shaun King (@ShaunKing) October 12, 2017

In addition to the bad ones ... theyre releasing some good ones that we use every day to wash cars, to change oil in the cars, to cook in the kitchen, to do all that where we save money, he continued. Well, theyre going to let them out  the ones that we use in work release programs.

Marjorie Esman, executive director for the ACLU of Louisiana, told HuffPost that Prators desire to keep prisoners purely for their free labor is essentially slavery.

The purpose of the criminal justice system is to keep the community safe and to make sure that nobody is incarcerated any longer than necessary, Esman said. Its certainly not to provide free labor for law enforcement officials  that is essentially slavery. It is obviously not only ludicrous but a gross violation of peoples rights.

Prator went on to say that the state is risking our safety for bragging rights and to save money.

Story continues

The bragging rights Prator might be referring to is Louisianas desire to relinquish its spot as the U.S. state with the highest incarceration rate.

Louisiana is somewhat of a special case just because it has such a substantial proportion of its state prison population being held in local jails, Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, told HuffPost. This has been going on for a very long time, and many of the local sheriffs welcome it because its bringing more money into their jurisdictions. Its one of a number of factors that have contributed to Louisiana being a national leader in its use of imprisonment, and thats nothing to be proud of.

Angel Harris, assistant council for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said she was shocked that an elected official like Prator would make such a callous and disturbing comment.

[Prator] is talking directly about economic exploitation of human beings, which is one of the biggest issues in our criminal justice systems, Harris told HuffPost. Its almost as if he forgets that hes talking about human beings  like hes speaking about animals or cattle.

It brought on images of slavery, quite frankly, she said. You think about the demographics of who is he actually talking about. It is overwhelmingly black and brown bodies ... [who] are being housed in his jail and in those prisons.

In a statement from the Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office, spokeswoman Cindy Chadwick doubled down on the sheriffs statements while criticizing Intercept reporter Shaun King for tweeting that Prator likes keeping good Black men in jail.

statement from office of Sheriff Prator in response to @ShaunKing. pic.twitter.com/bIFr74H8DN  Sebastian Murdock (@SebastianMurdoc) October 12, 2017

It is a fact that state inmates serving a hard-labor sentence can be required to work as part of their court-ordered sentence in Louisiana, the statement read in part. Those jobs may include picking up trash on parish roadways, preparing meals for inmates at the jail, or working for non-profits and public agencies in our community. The term good inmates was in reference to state prisoners who are eligible to work but have lesser felony charges compared to others facing release who have criminal histories including murder, domestic violence, and battery.

At least 66 percent of Louisianas prison population is black, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. Mauer said there were disturbing parallels between todays prison labor practices and a 19th century system in the South called convict leasing, in which African-Americans were rounded up by police and charged with minor offenses like loitering so they could be sold to plantation owners as cheap labor.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said Prator has misunderstood what the program hopes to accomplish.

The sheriff is incorrect in his assessment of the Justice Reinvestment Package, Edwards said in a statement to HuffPost. The goal of this bipartisan package is to reduce the incarceration rate, make communities whole, and promote public safety by reducing the rates of recidivism with investments in treatment and jobs training programs.

Edwards said he would meet with Prator next week to discuss the plan further. Prator did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment.

This story has been updated with a statement from Angel Harris and Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
A female Neanderthal who lived in what is now Croatia 52,000 years ago is revealing that our "caveman" relatives may have passed on genes that play roles in cholesterol levels, eating disorders, arthritis and other diseases today, the researchers who sequenced her genome say.

And some modern humans are carrying around more Neanderthal DNA than scientists had thought: The study found that the genomes of modern human populations that originated outside Africa hold between 1.8 and 2.6 percent Neanderthal DNA. That's much higher than previous estimates of 1.5 to 2.1 percent.

Neanderthals were the closest extinct relatives of modern humans. Research over the past decade has revealed that Neanderthals interbred with the ancestors of modern humans who migrated out of Africa, contributing variants of genes that play a wide variety of roles in modern human biology, such as in depression, heart attacks, nicotine addiction and obesity.

By extracting DNA from Neanderthal fossils, researchers sequenced the genomes of five Neanderthals. However, until now, just one of these yielded high-quality data  that of a woman found in Denisova Cave, in the Altai Mountains in Siberia. The fossil of the woman, who lived about 122,000 years ago, is known as the Altai Neanderthal. [Denisovan Gallery: Tracing the Genetics of Human Ancestors]

Now, scientists have fully sequenced the genome of another female Neanderthal  this one from Vindija Cave, in Croatia  who lived about 52,000 years ago. Prior work suggested that Neanderthals lived in Vindija Cave until relatively late in their history. Scientists estimate that Neanderthals in Europe went extinct around 40,000 years ago.

Neanderthal genes

In the new study, the researchers analyzed billions of DNA segments from a bone fragment discovered in 1980. It was challenging to find a bone from Vindija Cave that carried enough Neanderthal DNA to yield high-quality data and that had relatively little contamination from modern-human and other DNA, said lead study author Kay Prufer, a paleogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

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"Advances in laboratory methods helped us to overcome some of these challenges, in combination with cheaper sequencing technology," Prufer told Live Science.

The new findings suggest that, compared with the Altai Neanderthal, the Vindija Neanderthal was more closely related to the Neanderthals who interbred with the ancestors of modern humans living outside Africa. This closer relation allowed the scientists to identify an additional 10 to 20 percent more Neanderthal DNA in modern humans. [In Photos: Neanderthal Burials Uncovered]

The newly identified Neanderthal gene variants found in modern humans play roles in blood levels of vitamin D and "bad" LDL cholesterol, as well as in eating disorders, body fat levels, rheumatoid arthritis, schizophrenia and responses to antipsychotic drugs, the study found.

"Variants from Neanderthals are not necessarily bad for your health," Prufer said. "We find one variant that is associated with LDL cholesterol, and the variant we got from Neanderthals is associated with lower LDL cholesterol."

Their findings also suggested that modern-human DNA entered the Neanderthal gene pool. The scientists estimated that modern human gene flow into Neanderthal populations occurred between 130,000 and 145,000 years ago, before the Altai and Vindija Neanderthals diverged.

Neanderthal inbreeding

In addition, by comparing the genomes of the Vindija Neanderthal and the Altai Neanderthal, the researchers found that the two were surprisingly similar.

"The two Neanderthals were separated by thousands of kilometers and probably lived tens of thousands of years separated in time as well," Prufer said. "That is why it is so surprising to find them to be so similar."

A small overall Neanderthal population size is the best explanation for this similarity, Prufer said. The fewer Neanderthals there were, the more likely it was that they had ancestors in common, he explained.

Previous research suggested that the Altai Neanderthal's parents were half-siblings, prompting scientists to wonder if Neanderthals often interbred with family members. The new Vindija genome does not have similar incestuous patterns  a finding that suggests the extreme inbreeding seen with the Altai Neanderthal may not have been common among Neanderthals.

Still, Prufer noted that the two sets of chromosomes that the Vindija Neanderthal inherited from both of her parents carried only about 1.6 differences per 10,000 base pairs of DNA. (The double strands of DNA that make up each chromosome are made of sets of molecules known as base pairs.)

"For comparison, modern humans in Africa have around 10 differences in 10,000 [base pairs], and Europeans and Asians around seven differences in 10,000  much more than we see in Neanderthals," Prufer said. "This shows again that Neanderthals lived in small populations."

In the future, the researchers hope to obtain even more high-quality Neanderthal genomes. "More Neanderthal genomes will help us to better understand how they were related in space and time, but also to narrow down which Neanderthals contributed to disease," Prufer said.

The scientists detailed their findings online Oct. 5 in the journal Science.

Original article published on Live Science.

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Is Melania Trump trying to send a message with her fashion?

Earlier this week, Melania Trump had a tense exchange of words with President Trump's first wife Ivana Trump.

During an interview on "Good Morning America" to promote her new book "Raising Trump," Ivana had implied that she was "basically" first lady. The comments didn't sit with Melania too well, who released a statement on the matter, calling Ivana's remarks "attention-seeking and self-serving noise."

On Tuesday, the first lady donned an emerald green shirtdress from British brand Cefinn during a visit to Lily's Place, the nation's first non-profit infant recovery center that also provides services to parents and families dealing with addiction.

Unbeknownst to most, the brand was founded earlier this year by Samantha Cameron, who is the wife of David Cameron, the former prime minister of Great Britain. Long story short, Melania opted for a dress designed by a former first lady.

Is her fashion choice a subtle dig at Ivana?

By wearing a garment designed by a former first lady, America's first lady may be trying to slyly remind everyone of her title.

Melania's shirtdress, made out of muslin, is currently available at Net-a-Porter for $450. However, her Christian Louboutin pumps will set you back $1,395.

Check out the slideshow above for Melania's emerald green number.
I grew up with nuclear civil defense drills. I was told if I saw a bright light to duck under my wooden desk. When I would visit my father in Hollywood, he had a bomb shelter at his house. It was part of our consciousness early on.

Today, nine nations together have 15,000 nuclear weapons. Each more powerful than the one that destroyed Hiroshima. Some leaders swear they will never use these weapons; some threaten to use them tomorrow. All are fallible human beings capable of making a mistake that could end the world as we know it.

Ive felt for a long time that we werent talking about this danger enough. Well, we are now. Whether its Kim Jong Un in North Korea or Donald Trump in the White House, hardly a week goes by when we are not reading about the possibility of nuclear war.

So I was pleasantly surprised by the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize this year to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN. The Nobel Committee said they gave the prize to the group for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.

I know the leader of this peace network, Beatrice Fihn. We met last year in Geneva when I was there talking with United Nations officials and civil society groups about working more closely together on this cause. She and her colleagues are dreamers, in the best sense. They had a dream of a treaty that could ban nuclear weapons, just the way we have banned chemical weapons and biological weapons.

When we talked last year, I supported their dream, but had my doubts about their plan. Turns out, they were right. It took years of work, but they helped convince over 120 countries to gather at the United Nations and approve a nuclear ban treaty this summer. It is just the first step; none of the nuclear-armed countries agree with this ban. It is not clear how we convince them to join, or exactly how the ban would work.

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The vision, however, is correct. The only way to eliminate the global nuclear danger is to eliminate all nuclear weapons. These weapons are not our greatest security, they are our greatest threat.

And its getting worse. As the Nobel Committee said, we live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time. Allies of President Trump seem to agree, with one senator warning this week that his policies could set the nation on the path to World War III.

The President, all by himself, without checking with any of his top security advisors, can launch nuclear weapons within four minutes of his command. No one can overrule him. Once launched, the missiles cannot be recalled. And he is planning to spend over one trillion dollars on new nuclear weapons.

We are lucky to have a new generation take up this fight. ICAN is one of dozens of groups that Ive been proud to work with on this great crusade like Ploughshares Fund, Global Zero and the Nuclear Threat Initiative. As my fellow New Yorker, John Lennon, said, you may think that we are dreamers, but were not the only ones. I hope someday youll join us.
MADRID (Reuters) - A Eurofighter combat jet plane crashed near a military base in southeastern Spain on Thursday, killing its pilot, an emergency services spokesman said. Local emergency services received a call at 1009 GMT informing them that the plane had crashed on farmland around the Los Llanos base near the town of Albacete, the spokesman said. The jet had been taking part in a military parade to commemorate Spain's national holiday and crashed on its return, a defence ministry spokesman said. The causes of the accident were being investigated, the ministry added in a note. (Reporting by Jesus Aguado and Rodrigo de Miguel; Writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Gareth Jones)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Hebei province has ordered two big coal producers to shut a total of 59 mines during a key Communist Party gathering in Beijing later this month, state-run China Coal News reported on Thursday. Hebei surrounds Beijing, which is gearing up for the once-in-five-years 19th Party Congress that kicks off on Oct. 18, with China looking to avoid images of its notorious choking smog and show the capital in clear skies. Kailuan Group will shut a total of 27 coal mines and Jinzhong Energy Group will close 32, China Coal News said, citing an internal document from Hebei's work safety watchdog. The total capacity of these mines was not immediately clear. "These mines being shut down are the older and smaller ones," an executive from Jinzhong Energy told Reuters, adding that the temporary closures would not have much impact on supply ahead of the peak winter-demand season. He declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to media. Kailuan Group did not respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Meng Meng and Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Joseph Radford)
Washington (AFP) - A stream of actress, models and ex-employees have come out, many anonymously, to accuse Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and abuse dating as far back as the 1990s.

- The first to speak out

The scandal unfurled with the testimonies of eight women published in the New York Times on October 5. The women who spoke out were anonymous ex-employees of the director, known for his work on films including "The King's Speech," as well as actress Ashley Judd.

The newspaper also revealed other cases of harassment, including actress Rose McGowan and model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, who reportedly received settlements from Weinstein following the incidents.

The New Yorker magazine also carried out its own ten-month investigation, published October 10, which featured accusations from 13 women -- including three of rape from actresses Asia Argento and Lucia Evans, and another anonymous young woman.

In the same article, actress Mira Sorvino, Emma de Caunes, Rosana Arquette and Jessica Barth gave similar accounts of the cinema mogul's sexual advances -- along with Emily Nestor, an ex-employee of the Weinstein Company, who fired Weinstein in the wake of the allegations.

- A string of superstars speak

The flood of revelations paved the way for other women to begin speaking out.

Celebrated actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Judith Godreche and Katherine Kendall all told the New York Times they were approached by Weinstein -- who was naked or wearing a bathrobe -- in hotel rooms during the 1990s.

The Times also published the accounts of two other women -- Tomi-Ann Roberts, a 20-year-old student in 1984, and up-and-coming comedian Dawn Dunning in 2003.

Elsewhere, journalist Lauren Sivan told NBC's "Today" show the producer masturbated in front of her in a restaurant kitchen a decade ago.

Meanwhile, model and actress Cara Delevingne took to social media to share her account of being invited to a meeting about a role -- only to be propositioned by Weinstein in his hotel room, before he tried to kiss her.

And in a damning op-ed in the Guardian, French actress Lea Seydoux -- also subjected to Weinstein's advances -- alleged "everyone" in Hollywood "knew what Harvey was up to."
The tally of people injured in the Las Vegas mass shooting increased in the week after the attack as more people checked into local hospitals with injuries caused not by bullets but by the mayhem associated with thousands of people fleeing the gunfire, hospital administrators and doctors tell Newsweek.

The three hospitals operated by Dignity Health treated about 60 patients on Monday and Tuesday after Stephen Paddock killed 58 people on Sunday by firing at a country music concert from his room in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

The number of people treated climbed into the 70s by the end of the week, boosted by those who hadnt immediately sought medical attention, a spokeswoman said. Those patients suffered injuries associated with being trampled, cuts on their hands from climbing chain-link fences or broken wrists after jumping off tall fences or taking cover.

People may have put off their hospital visits because of shock or adrenaline, or because they didnt want to take up space right after the shooting, says Dignity Health spokeswoman Jennifer Cooper. Now those people are coming in, whether its for surgery or needing something looked at, Cooper said on Monday, eight days after the attack, adding that the hospital ended up treating a total of 79 people who were at the attack scene.

Alcohol is another factor that slowed some victims from reaching the hospital the night of the shooting, says Dr. Lonnie Empey, a vice chief of staff for Desert Springs Hospital, which is part of The Valley Health System. They got away, and then they came in and said I think I twisted my ankle, says Empey. Alcohol is a really good anesthetic.

A total of 611 attack victims were treated at four different hospitals or hospital groups for which Newsweek was able to obtain figures. That includes 104 people at University Medical Center, 199 people at Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, 229 people at the Valley Health Systems six hospitals and 79 people at Dignity Health Systems three hospitals, according to spokeswomen for each hospital or group.

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That figure is significantly higher than the 406 injuries and 50 deaths the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department estimated on October 2, the day after Paddock carried out his attack. (Authorities have still not established a motive behind Paddocks actions, and this week Las Vegas police announced new details that complicated the timeline of when he began firing.)

10_11_Trauma_Apron_Las_Vegas

REUTERS/Mike Blake

More injuries were caused by gunfire than by other causes, according to numbers obtained by Newsweek, though the ratio was lower than some might have expected. At Sunrise Hospital, 124 of the 199 victims had gunshot wounds (or about 62 percent), according to a spokeswoman. At the Dignity Health hospitals, 37 of the 79 victims had gunshot wounds (or about 46 percent), according to a spokeswoman.

The majority of the victims brought to Valley Health Systems hospitals were injured by gunfire, according to a spokeswoman who couldnt provide more specific numbers. A University Medical Center spokeswoman would not release any information about how the patients brought there were injured.

"There's a wide range of injuries, from gunshots to shrapnel wounds to trample injuries to people jumping fences, trying to egress and getting hurt," Clark County Fire Chief Greg Castle said at a news conference the day after the shooting, according to CNN.

Because so many of the victims were from out of town, some may have returned home before seeking treatmentmeaning its possible they wouldnt be counted in the total number of injuried, says Dr. Peter Caravella, a general surgeon on staff at Desert Springs Hospital, which is part of The Valley Health System. The flesh wounds, the broken wrists, those can usually be treated electively in the next couple of days, he says, adding that a lot of people with those types of injuries likely sought medical attention after returning home.

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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was carrying $100,000 in cash in his backpack at the time of his murder, the police officer investigating the case told a Malaysian court on Wednesday. Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, a Vietnamese, are charged with murdering Kim Jong Nam by smearing his face with VX, a chemical poison banned by the United Nations, at Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13. The money is now stored in a safe in the office of the police chief of the Sepang district, which has jurisdiction over the murder site, police official Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz said. Wan Azirul said he took posession of the victim's blazer, backpack and watch and handed them to the chemistry department for analysis, but was later told by investigation authorities to hand them over to representatives of the North Korean embassy. "I do not know why, I was following orders," he added. In court, the prosecution played more than 30 videos of closed-circuit television footage of the women's activities, after Judge Azmi Ariffin overruled defense objections to their admissibility, saying it could be challenged later in the case. The defense lawyers for both Huong and Siti Aisyah said the videos could be considered hearsay, as the investigating officer did not record them himself and was not present to witness the crime. Some of the footage, dated Feb. 11, appeared to show Huong approaching an unidentified man from behind and placing her hands around his neck and face, before backing away slowly with her head slightly lowered and her hands put together. Most of the videos, however, appeared to show Huong and Siti Aisyah before, during and after the attack on Kim Jong Nam. The two women were mostly seen in separate locations, save for during the attack and when they were at a taxi-stand later. The two women were in the same area at the time of the attack, Wan Azirul, who is with the Sepang criminal investigations department, confirmed. The hearing resumes on Thursday, with Wan Azirul returning to the witness stand. (Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Writing by Joseph Sipalan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Rawalpindi (Pakistan) (AFP) - A North American family that had been held hostage by the Afghan Taliban has been freed following an operation in Pakistan, the Pakistani military said Thursday.

"Pak Army recovered 5 Western hostages including 1 Canadian, his US National wife and their three children from terrorist custody" in an operation in Kurram tribal district along the Afghan border, the army said in a statement.

It did not name the family, but Canadian Joshua Boyle and his American wife Caitlan Coleman were kidnapped by the Afghan Taliban during a backpacking trip in Afghanistan 2012, and are believed to have had at least two children while in captivity.

The last known footage of the couple surfaced in December last year when they appeared in video urging their governments to secure their release. They were pictured holding their two young sons, who had been born while they were in captivity.

It was not clear when the video was shot, but it was released after rumours swirled in Kabul that the government was planning to execute Anas Haqqani, son of the Taliban-allied Haqqani network's founder, who has been held since 2014.

The Haqqani network has been accused of masterminding several high-profile terrorist attacks in the Afghan capital and have been known to kidnap Western hostages and smuggle them across the border into Pakistan.

"We welcome media reports that a family including U.S. citizens has been released from captivity," a US embassy spokesman in Islamabad told AFP, without confirming the identity of the released hostages.

Afghanistan is rife with militants and organised criminal gangs who stage kidnappings for ransom, often targeting foreigners and wealthy Afghans, who have been ferried over the border into Pakistan's tribal belt.
Washington (AFP) - An American-Canadian family that spent years in Taliban captivity was released following a Pakistani operation, officials said Thursday, but refused to immediately board a US-bound jet over concerns about the husband's past links to a former Guantanamo Bay inmate.

US President Donald Trump hailed the couple's freedom after five years held in the lawless Afghan-Pakistan border region by the notorious Haqqani network.

And he suggested the rescue was the result of his tougher diplomatic stance against Pakistan, which Washington has been pressuring over its support for some militant groups.

"The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wish that it do more to provide security in the region," Trump told reporters.

"They worked very hard on this, and I believe they're starting to respect the United States again," he said, adding that "a lot" of other nations were also showing greater deference to the US.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis meanwhile praised the release as a positive step in often rocky US-Pakistan ties.

"This is a very positive moment and the Pakistan army performed well. We will hopefully see it being a harbinger for the future," he told reporters on Thursday afternoon, without offering details about the nature of the operation.

- Concern over Guantanamo links -

Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle were kidnapped during a backpacking trip in Afghanistan in 2012, and had three children while in captivity.

A US military official said American forces were not involved in any rescue, but that a medical team had been able to meet the family and stood ready to fly them home if needed.

Another military official told AFP the couple was hesitating to board a US military jet in Pakistan over the Canadian husband's concerns he could face American scrutiny for links to a former Guantanamo captive.

In 2009, Boyle was briefly married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of Canadian-born Omar Khadr, who spent a decade at Guantanamo.

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But the official said Boyle did not risk any US repercussions.

"It is not in our intention to do anything like that. We are prepared to bring them back home," the official said. Trump identified the captors as the Haqqani group, whose head, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is also the Afghan Taliban's deputy leader.

Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland added that Boyle was not being investigated by Ottawa.

"Let me be very clear and as we have been with the Boyle family," she said in a televised statement from Mexico where she was traveling. "Joshua Boyle is not the subject of any investigation."

- High-profile attacks -

The Haqqani network has long been suspected of having links with Pakistan's shadowy military establishment.

In 2011, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, admiral Mike Mullen, described the Haqqani as a "veritable arm" of Pakistani intelligence.

Pakistan has been under increased pressure from Washington to crack down on alleged militant sanctuaries inside its borders after Trump lambasted the country in a televised address in August.

During the speech, Trump accused Islamabad of sheltering "agents of chaos" and suggested ties with Pakistan would be adjusted immediately but offered few details.

Defense Secretary Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are expected in Pakistan in the coming weeks on separate visits, according to US and Pakistani sources, to maintain pressure on a country that was designated a major non-NATO ally by former president George W. Bush.

The Haqqani network has been accused of masterminding several high-profile terrorist attacks in the Afghan capital, including a massive truck bomb on May 31 that killed some 150 people.

They have been known to kidnap Western hostages and smuggle them across the Afghan border into Pakistan, as appears to have been the case with Coleman and Boyle.

The Pakistani military said the hostages had been "recovered... from terrorist custody through an intelligence-based operation by Pakistani troops."

- 'Horrible ordeal' -

They were found in Kurram district, part of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt, where militants such as the Haqqanis operated with impunity until the army intensified an operation there in 2014.

"US intelligence agencies had been tracking them and shared their shifting across to Pakistan on 11 Oct 2017 through Kurram Agency border," the Pakistani military said.

Boyle and Coleman appeared in a hostage video in December last year with two of their children pleading for their release.

The video was released after rumors swirled in Kabul that the government was planning to execute Anas Haqqani, son of the Haqqani network's founder, who has been held since 2014.

Freeland expressed relief at the release.

"Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years," she said.

Afghanistan is rife with militants and organized criminal gangs who stage kidnappings for ransom, targeting wealthy Afghans and foreigners, who have been ferried over the border.

The Taliban are also thought to be holding American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weekes, professors at the American University of Afghanistan who were dragged from vehicles in Kabul by gunmen.
A photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows Kim Jong Un visiting a farm: Reuters

North Korean hackers have reportedly stolen a large cache of classified South Korean military documents, including plans to assassinate Kim Jong-un and members of his leadership circle.

Rhee Cheol-hee, a member of South Korea's ruling Democratic Party, said cyber attackers had stolen the top secret plans from the country's defence ministry database.

Among the stolen files was Operational Plan 5015 which contained up to date information on the North Korean leadership and plans to "decapitate" it, South Korean state news agency Yonhap reported.

Another dossier called Operational Plan 3100, which reportedly contains Seoul's planned response to any acts of aggression by the North around the Korean Peninsula, was also taken.

The leak is thought to include contingency plans for special forces and information about power plants and military bases in the South.

However, the extent of the breach is still unknown, as around 80 per cent of the contents of the 235 gigabytes of leaked data is yet to be identified, Mr Rhee said. This was despite the hack taking place in September 2016.

South Korea's defence ministry declined to comment on the fresh reports.

But state media in the country reported that its northern neighbours have targeted government networks and financial institutions in the country with a barrage of cyber attacks.

Security group FireEye recently accused North Korean hackers of trying to steal bitcoin from South Korean exchanges, as a way of mitigating financial pressures from punitive international sanctions.

The North has accused South Korea of "fabricating" the accusations.

Revelations about the contents of the documents came as tensions in the region remain high.

In recent months the pariah state has appeared to make significant steps in its development of nuclear weapons, testing what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb in September.

It has also launched a series of ballistic missiles over the Japanese mainland in recent months and threatened the Pacific island of Guam, a US territory.

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US President Donald Trump has also traded a series bombastic threats and insults with the North Korean leader.

Over the weekend the US President hinted at military action remained on the agenda, tweeting that "only one thing will work" when dealing with isolated state.
By Christine Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean hackers stole a large amount of classified military documents, including South Korea-U.S. wartime operational plans to wipe out the North Korean leadership, a South Korean ruling party lawmaker said on Wednesday. Democratic Party representative Rhee Cheol-hee said 235 gigabytes of military documents were taken from the Defense Integrated Data Center in September last year, citing information from unidentified South Korean defense officials. An investigative team inside the defense ministry announced in May the hack had been carried out by North Korea, but did not disclose what kind of information had been taken. Pyongyang has denied responsibility in its state media for the cyber attacks, criticizing Seoul for "fabricating" claims about online attacks. Separately on Wednesday, cyber security firm FireEye said in a statement North Korea-affiliated agents were detected attempting to phish U.S. electric companies through emails sent in mid-September, although those attempts did not lead to a disruption in the power supply. It did not specify when the attempts had been detected or clarify which companies had been affected. Rhee, currently a member of the National Assembly's committee for national defense, said about 80 percent of the hacked data had not yet been identified, but that none of the information was expected to have compromised the South Korean military because it was not top classified intelligence. Some of the hacked data addressed how to identify movements of members of the North Korean leadership, how to seal off their hiding locations, and attack from the air before eliminating them. Rhee said the North could not have taken the entire operation plans from the database because they had not been uploaded in full. These plans had likely not been classified properly but defense ministry officials told Rhee the hacked documents were not of top importance, he said. "Whatever the North Koreans took, we just need to fix the plans," Rhee later told Reuters by telephone. "I disclosed this because the military hasn't been doing that fast enough." SIMPLE MISTAKE Rhee said on radio the hack had been made possible by "a simple mistake" after a connector jack linking the military's intranet to the internet had not been eliminated after maintenance work had been done on the system. The South Korean Defense Ministry's official stance is that they cannot confirm anything the lawmaker said about the hacked content due to the sensitivity of the matter. In Washington, the Pentagon said it was aware of the media reports but would not comment on the potential breach. "Although I will not comment on intelligence matters or specific incidents related to cyber intrusion, I can assure you that we are confident in the security of our operations plans and our ability to deal with any threat from North Korea," Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning told reporters. FireEye said the phishing attack on the electric companies detected was "early-stage reconnaissance" and did not indicate North Korea was about to stage an "imminent, disruptive" cyber attack. The North has been suspected of carrying out similar cyber attacks on South Korean electric utilities, in addition to other government and financial institutions. Those attempts were likely aimed at creating a means of "deterring potential war or sowing disorder during a time of armed conflict", FireEye said. "North Korea linked hackers are among the most prolific nation-state threats, targeting not only the U.S. and South Korea but the global financial system and nations worldwide," its statement said. "Their motivations vary from economic enrichment to traditional espionage to sabotage, but all share the hallmark of an ascendant cyber power willing to violate international norms with little regard for potential blowback," it said. (Reporting by Christine Kim in SEOUL and Ishita Chigilli Palli in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish, Michael Perry and Paul Tait)
North Korean hackers have obtained a treasure trove of documents related to South Korean and U.S. military action, said a South Korean lawmaker, according to a report from the BBC.

The documents, obtained from South Koreas defense ministry, included a plan to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, U.S.- and South Korea-authored wartime contingency plans, plans for South Korean special forces, and reports to ally senior commanders, Rhee Cheol-hee, the lawmaker, said.

Revelations of the September 2016 hack come in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trumps threatening words against North Korea, including at a photo opportunity last week with military leaders that he said might represent the calm before the storm.

Defense Secretary James Mattis on Monday told an audience at a U.S. Army exhibition and conference to be ready in case diplomacy with North Korea doesnt work.

Now, what does the future hold? Mattis said. Neither you nor I can say. So theres one thing the U.S. Army can do, and that is, you have got to be ready to ensure that we have military options that our president can employ, if needed.

And the hack story gets worse.

What may be hundreds of thousands of documents are still not identified. Some 80 percent of the 235 gigabytes of military documents taken from South Koreas Defense Integrated Data Center is unknown, Rhee said.

He should know. A member of South Koreas ruling Minjoo Party, Rhee serves on the National Assemblys defense committee.

Military facility and power plant information was also stolen, according to the BBC report.

South Koreas defense ministry has refused to comment on the hack, the BBC said.

The country in May announced that data had been taken, but it did not specify how much, and North Korea denied its involvement, that report said.

President Trump suggested on Twitter last weekend that diplomacy with North Korea was futile. Twenty-five years of agreements hadnt worked, he suggested.

Sorry, but only one thing will work! he tweeted Saturday.

Photo credit: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
Undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 21, 2017: AFP/Getty Images

North Korea's foreign minister has accused President Donald Trump of having "lit the wick of a war" between his country and the US, saying that America would be made to pay with a "hail of fire".

Tensions between the US and North Korea have intensified in recent months as the Trump administration has struggled to rein in Kim Jong-un's expanding nuclear and ballistic weapons programme alongside international allies. The words of Ri Yong Ho are the latest episode of increasingly hostile barbs being traded between Mr Trump and the regime in Pyongyang.

Russia's TASS news agency quoted Mr Ri as saying: "With his bellicose and insane statement at the United Nations, Trump, you can say, has lit the wick of a war against us."

"We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words," he reportedly added.

During an address to the United Nations General Assembly in September, Mr Trump declared that the US would "totally destroy North Korea" if forced to defend itself or its allies. The President added that while the US has "great strength and patience," its options for dealing with the isolated nation could soon run out.

Mr Trump also mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, referring to him as "Rocket Man".

The speech came about a week after the UN Security Council had voted to ratchet up sanctions on North Korea following its sixth and largest nuclear test, with numerous other rocket tests having been conducted this year.

A spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry said last month that the more sanctions the US and its allies impose, the faster the nation will work to develop its nuclear weapons programme, according to North Koreas official KCNA news agency.

Mr Ri has previously called Mr Trump President Evil and his latest comments are unlikely to be received well by the White House.

We have almost reached the last point on the journey towards our final goal - to achieve a real balance of power with the United States, Mr Ri said.

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Our principal position is that we will never agree to any talks in which our nuclear weapons will be the subject of negotiations, he added.

Many members of Congress have criticised Mr Trump's "belligerent" rhetoric toward North Korea. On Sunday, Republican Senator Bob Corker even suggested that Mr Trump's comments about other nations could put the US "on the path to World War III."

Asked on Tuesday if the Senator was correct in his assessment, Mr Trump responded: "We were on the wrong path before."

"All you have to do is take a look," Mr Trump added. "If you look over the last 25 years, through numerous administrations, we were on a path to a very big problem  a problem like this world has never seen. Were on the right path right now, believe me."

While Mr Trump has taken an aggressive tone in his comments about North Korea, other officials have been more measured.

Defence Secretary James Mattis has said the administration is still aiming for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, but has told the US Army "to be ready" should military action be ordered by the President.

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North Korea threatened the U.S. with "a hail of fire" on Wednesday over President Donald Trump's recent statements toward the reclusive nation at the United Nations, Reuters reports.

Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been engaged in an ongoing war of words in recent weeks, particularly after the president threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea during his first address in front of the U.N. Kim referred to Trump as a "mentally deranged dotard" in the wake of his speech and the two have continued to exchange insults since.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho responded to these recent developments Wednesday by stating the advancement of his country's nuclear program would facilitate a "balance of power with the U.S.," and suggested the animosity between the U.S. and North Korea would soon escalate beyond insults.

"With his bellicose and insane statement at the United Nations, Trump, you can say, has lit the wick of a war against us. We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words," Ri said.

"We have almost reached the last point on the journey toward our final goal  to achieve a real balance of power with the United States," Ri added. "Our principal position is that we will never agree to any talks in which our nuclear weapons will be the subject of negotiations."

Trump has reacted to previous provocations from North Korea and its leaders with inflammatory tweets, in which he's referred to Kim as "Rocket Man." It's likely that the president will feel inclined to publicly respond to the latest threat from his adversaries in Pyongyang.

The U.S. has attempted to pressure North Korea into ceasing its nuclear program and missile tests via economic sanctions and other diplomatic measures, but has so far been unsuccessful. This has prompted Trump to indicate he believes diplomacy is useless in terms of dealing with the North Korean threat. The president's apparent preference for the military option has created tension between him and members of his administration, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis.

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On Monday, Mattis emphasized the current approach to North Korea is diplomatic, but urged the U.S. armed forces to "be ready to ensure we have military options that our president can employ if needed."

The last time the U.S. was involved in a war on the Korean Peninsula, roughly 33,000 Americans and 2.27 million Koreans died.

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South Korean radar systems would be unlikely to detect paragliders - TASS

North Korean special forces have carried out an exercise in which they used paragliders to simulate infiltrating behind South Korean lines and launch an attack on the headquarters of the joint South Korean-US military command.

Officials of Seoul's Defence Ministry told Yonhap news that the exercises were conducted over a number of days in mid-September and were the first time that the tactic had been tested by the North.

Special forces troops used paragliders to land on a training ground where a mock-up of the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command in Seoul had been constructed.

The new infiltration technique has caused concern in Seoul, where a defence source said that existing radar systems would be unlikely to detect such small targets crossing the border. Paragliders can also travel swiftly and in silence and would allow the North's special forces to carry out an attack with little warning, particularly at night.

"A paraglider flies at low altitude without making a sound", the official said. It could be useful for making a surprise attack, like a drone.

The replica presidential house (Blue House) Credit: EPA

"I believe that North Korean special forces are adopting amazing methods of infiltration with limited resources".

The North is clearly attempting to develop its own "decapitation" capabilities, aimed at the joint South Korean-US command and control capabilities in the event of war breaking out on the peninsula.

Seoul has made no secret of its development of a specialised unit that will be tasked with eliminating the leadership of the North should war appear to be imminent.

South Korea and the US responded to the exercises by staging short-range air defence drills close to the border.

North Korea has carried out previous demonstrations of its special forces' capabilities, with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, in December overseeing an assault by commandos on a full-scale mock-up of the Blue House, the official residence of the South Korean president.

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South Korea flexes its military muscle after Norths nuclear test

In footage broadcast on national television, troops used ropes to descend from helicopters before commencing their attack, with the replica of the Blue House later pictured wreathed in smoke. The images also showed attackers firing semi-automatic weapons into the building.

Mr Kim was also pictured standing in front of heavily armed members of the unit.

He also ordered the unit to be ready to "conduct bold combat actions with the southern part of Korea as their theatre", state-run media reported.
Accra (AFP) - Ghana is facing calls to update its laws on wildlife crime after fears the country has become a transit route for the illegal trade in pangolin scales.

More than 31,000 kilograms (68,000 pounds) of scales from the nocturnal mammal have been seized across the world this year, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

In May and June, two major seizures were made in Malaysia, with at least 700 kg found to have been shipped through Ghana.

Massive hauls of the scales have also been made in Uganda, Cameroon and Ivory Coast.

IFAW's Mark Hofberg said most of the scales from Africa were traded to meet demand in Asia, where they are used in traditional medicine.

The docile pangolin, which has a thick armour and is also known as a "scaly anteater", is indigenous to parts of Southeast Asia and Africa.

Two of the eight species of pangolin are classed as "critically endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: two are "endangered" and four "vulnerable".

Hofberg suggested the increase in seizures could be a sign the authorities are taking the issue seriously but he said many countries lacked strong laws to punish traffickers.

"For the pangolin trade to be significantly reduced, penalties and conviction rates must be appropriate," he told AFP.

Harsher sanctions "would complement customs efforts" that have led to recent major seizures, he added.

- Sold at the roadside -

The pangolin is a protected animal in Ghana but the head of the Ghana Wildlife Commission, Nana Kofi Adu-Nsiah, said tougher legislation was needed.

Current wildlife protection laws were passed in the 1960s and the commission wants them updated to reflect international standards and the global nature of wildlife crime.

Three people were arrested in Ghana in connection with the June seizure in Malaysia.

Government officials believe new laws would stop Ghana becoming a transit point for trafficked animals but there is also concern over local hunting of the pangolin.

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Along main highways in Ghana, people can be seen selling live pangolins, which are usually held upside down, unravelled from the tail.

The animals, which range in size from 30 to 100 centimetres (12 to 39 inches) can sell for about 200 cedi ($45/38 euros). Those responsible are usually impoverished.

Wildlife Commission officers typically arrest anyone selling pangolins but Adu-Nsiah suggested a solution may be to buy the animals live from the sellers and re-home them elsewhere.

- Protected species -

It is not known how many pangolins survive in the wild in Ghana but their habitat has been hit by deforestation and development.

Their temperament also makes them easy prey and has led to them becoming the most trafficked mammal in the world.

"The nature of the animal makes it prone to attack by human beings. As soon as you touch it, it coils so humans can pick them up," said Adu-Nsiah.

"They are not animals that can run quickly to protect themselves or defend themselves."

Cape Coast University student Daniel Konzin researches pangolins in the Kakum National Park, a 4.5-hour drive west of the capital, Accra.

His team had been looking at the local use of the pangolin outside the protected areas, and found it used for food and the scales for spices.

The research, sponsored by the Earthwatch Institute discovered people had come to communities to buy live pangolins and scales.

"The species is so vulnerable you can just pick it up it will not attack you," he explained.

"Sometimes when I see them I feel so sorry for them -- they cannot do anything to defend themselves against humans."

Part of Konzin's work is to teach rural communities, whom he said were often surprised that the pangolin was protected.

"The project is trying to educate people about the conservation status of the species we want to affect an attitude change amongst the people so that at least the species won't go extinct in Ghana."
Americas poultry workers better get ready to work faster.

A previously abandoned and controversial plan to speed up processing lines inside chicken plants has found new life under the Trump administration. The industry has formally asked that the White House lift the limits capping how quickly birds can move down plant lines, which would allow meatpacking companies to process more chickens.

But worker rights and food safety groups say the plan would also make a difficult job even harder, endangering vulnerable workers and weakening the food inspection process. Eleven such organizations plan to visit the U.S. Department of Agriculture next week  accompanied by poultry workers  demanding that it reject the industrys proposal.

The poultry industry has asked Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to let them run their processing lines without speed limits. (Photo: Aaron Bernstein/Reuters)

In most poultry facilities, line speeds are currently capped at 140 birds per minute to allow adequate time to inspect them for signs of contamination. The industry has proposed that the USDAs Food Safety and Inspection Service get rid of the limits altogether for facilities that choose to take part in a new inspection program aimed at cutting down on salmonella and other foodborne dangers.

Opponents of a speedup claim the current rates are already too fast and that any increase would be accompanied by a rise in carpal tunnel syndrome and other painful injuries common to the low-wage meatpacking workforce.

Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents 70,000 poultry workers around the country, sent a letter Wednesday to the USDA calling the industry effort troubling.

Poultry workers hold some of the most dangerous and difficult jobs in America, Perrone said. The implications of this rule change are striking.

It isnt clear when the USDA would make a decision on the request, and a USDA spokeswoman declined to comment. The agency is now run by Sonny Perdue, the former Georgia governor whose nomination enjoyed wide support from agricultural and poultry companies. (He is not related to the Perdue family famous for its supermarket chickens.)

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A spokesman for the National Chicken Council, an industry lobby, said its petition to the USDA speaks for itself. The petition argues that allowing a speedup would have no impact on food safety and that the industrys falling occupational injury rate should allay concerns about the effects on workers. Granting the speedup, the council argued, would be right in line with Trumps deregulatory agenda.

These cost saving actions are consistent with the regulatory reform initiatives recently put in place by the President, and waivers are consistent with the Administrations emphasis on reducing regulatory burdens on the industry, the petition reads.

The chicken industry has fought for years to raise the cap on line speeds, just as worker and consumer groups have fought to beat back those efforts. The Obama administration proposed then later pulled a speedup plan after an outcry from worker and consumer groups as well as Democrats in Congress. That rule would have raised the cap from 140 birds per minute to 170, a speed that was allowed only at plants that took part in a special pilot program. Under the latest proposal, there would be no cap at all for many plants.

The industry claims U.S. plants need to process more birds to keep up with competitors in other countries where the speed caps are more lax. Creating a waiver system to allow establishments to operate without arbitrary line speed limits will put U.S. producers on more equal footing, the council argued.

The case for allowing faster line speeds rests largely on the rosy injury data for chicken processing jobs. The data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics seems to show that poultry work has been getting less dangerous over time, with the number of injuries per 100 workers dropping, from nearly 10 in 2004 to less than six in 2013. From the industrys perspective, the improving safety picture makes the concern over line speeds overblown.

But the injury data isnt everything it seems. Many workers choose not to disclose injuries to their bosses for fear of losing their jobs, while many companies choose not to disclose injuries to federal officials for fear of increased scrutiny and higher costs. As a result, many experts believe the overall injury rate for the field is much higher than the statistics indicate.

It isnt just labor groups that question the accuracy of the improving injury numbers: The U.S. Government Accountability Office published a report in 2016 probing the poultry industrys underreporting problem and saying the federal data probably dont provide a complete picture of the hazards involved in poultry work. The GAO found that at some plants workers were punished for visiting the in-house health clinic too frequently.

As one occupational health expert previously put it to HuffPost, We should have no confidence about the industrys assertions about its injury rates.

The poultry lobby already has some GOP backing on Capitol Hill. Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, whose state is the leading slaughterer of chickens in the U.S., recently published an opinion piece in The Hill saying the nations poultry plants dont move fast enough.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), a longtime opponent of faster lines, fired back at Collins, writing in her own op-ed that the poultry industry is already dangerous enough. These corporations rarely stop the line or even slow it down  leaving workers making tens of thousands of repetitive motions each day, DeLauro wrote.

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NAFTA is expected to come up when President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meet Wednesday afternoon.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Trudeau is expected to explain really clearly to the President . . . that Canada is not Americas problem, Reuters reported. Freeland added that Canada buys more from the United States than Britain, China and Japan combined.

Wednesdays meeting will include Trudeau, Trump and trade-focused U.S. lawmakers, according to Reuters. Hundreds of negotiators, government officials and lobbyists representing the U.S., Canada and Mexico will also be in attendance.

This comes after Trump said in April that he would pull the U.S. out of NAFTA. Trump has also said some very unfair things have happened with Americas dairy farms among Canadas dairy industry.

Trudeau also attended Fortunes Most Powerful Women Summit upon arriving in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, where he was seated next to the Presidents daughter, Ivanka Trump.

Were going to be talking about NAFTA and the fact it has led to great opportunities for our citizens, Trudeau said at the dinner.

Watch the meeting between Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau live above. Its scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m. ET.
On Wednesday morning, President Trump took to Twitter to denounce a NBC News report that he had called for a nearly tenfold increase in the countrys supply of nuclear weapons.

Pure fiction, made up to demean, Trump wrote, and then came back with a more incendiary followup: With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country! Several hours later, he told pool reporters that the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write was frankly disgusting.

As many commentators noted, Trumps musing about revoking a broadcasters license was both startling in a country where freedom of the press is protected by the Constitution, as well as impractical given the way that the Federal Communications Commission regulates broadcasters.

But on Capitol Hill, Republican lawmakers found the discussion amusing.

I would suggest that NBC News should have to report all of their expenditures to the FEC as an in-kind contribution to the Democratic Party, Rep. Trent Franks, an Arizona Republican, quipped outside the mens restroom adjacent to the House chamber. There are probably few things in life more incontrovertible than systemic left-wing bias in the media. The bias is spectacular, and for the president to point that out  it should be an obvious recognition on all our parts.

For many Republicans, elected officials and otherwise, Trumps hostility towards the press has been a breath of fresh air. The notion of a leftward slant in the U.S. mainstream media is nothing novel  Barry Goldwaters campaign was deprecating the Eastern Liberal Press back in 1964  but many conservatives believe this bias has reached a fever pitch over the last few years: particularly with regard to Trump.

In conversations with TIME on Wednesday, a number of Republican lawmakers dismissed concerns over Trumps assaults on the media as hyperbolic. Hes got the right to free speech, too, Rep. Ron Estes from Kansas told TIME. With the fake news thats out there  and granted, it doesnt always come from NBC  its worthwhile to have a chance about whats right and whats wrong.

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Several congressmen seized on the opportunity to denounce what they said were the prevailing trends in American journalism: a shift away from fact and towards commentary; a widening partisan chasm between liberal and conservative viewpoints. Others opted to speak out against specific outlets that they said failed to consider report the news fairly.

I think the movement is towards opinion journalism as opposed to true, pure journalism that tries not to take a side, Rep. Mike Conaway, a Texas Republican, said.

If I walked down this hallway and asked, I dont think Id find one media person who voted for Trump, and he got 45% of the national vote, Rep. Dave Brat, a conservative Virginia Republican, told TIME in the Capitol Building on Wednesday. Commentary has replaced the news. Its always something about what Trump tweeted this morning, or some gotcha piece from the Washington Post  its relentless.

Theyre a perfect example, by the way, he continued, getting excited. If you want me to weigh in against one entity, you can ask the whole Virginia delegation  we wont hardly speak to the Washington Post anymore. We dont think they do news at all. They dont even do opinion pieces  they do hit pieces. Were just fed up with it. They come out and attack Republicans, and they dont ask the same questions of Democrats.

Others took a more pragmatic view of things.

The media is all about getting the next click, or the next view. We need to have a moment of clarity and honesty: its not about the news, its about revenue, Rep. David Schweikert, an Arizona Republican, said. Its a societal crisis that were in. People feel theyve been taken advantage of, and so many people just go to sites or information sources that simply give reaffirmation of what they already believe. We are so completely siloed.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the Philippines wants to expand development cooperation with long-time ally the United States as economic growth is poised to accelerate further in the coming years.

Dominguez said in a speech before American businessmen at the New York leg of the Philippine Economic Briefing the cooperation agreements between the two countries perfectly complemented the strategy for rapid and inclusive growth espoused by the Philippine government.

We are looking to both expand and deepen our development cooperation as our economy emerges more rapidly in the following years, he said at Morgan Stanley Auditorium.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III

Our people fully appreciate the cooperation between our two countries. As the polls show, the US remains the country Filipinos trust most. We are happy to welcome American investments that will assist us in providing quality jobs for our people, Dominguez said.

He said that over the years, the US supported the Philippines not only in helping us build a credible defense capability but, more significantly, in helping us build more effective institutions of governance.

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The finance chief also cited the accumulated numerous collaborative agreements between the Philippines and the US, the most prominent of which were the Mutual Defense Treaty that is the basis for regular inter-operability exercises between the armed forces of our two countries, along with accords for sharing of information in our common effort to combat terrorism and transnational crime.

Dominguez said the Philippines expected greater foreign direct investment inflows in the years ahead as the Duterte administration stepped up efforts to modernize infrastructure and reform business policies meant to sustain the growth momentum, create more jobs, attack poverty and achieve a more inclusive economy

He said the US was most generous in providing official development assistance in support of the Philippines priority programs like education, health, energy and environmental protection.

Dominguez said the US also supported the government with projects to help the Philippines meet its Millennium Challenge targets and provided financial assistance for the rehabilitation of Marawi City following the attack in May by terrorists aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

He also thanked the American business community based in the Philippines for its support for the Duterte administrations Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, which is designed to ensure a steady revenue flow for the governments massive investments in infrastructure and social services.

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United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Peacekeepers in the Central African Republic are accused of sexually abusing a teenage girl, the United Nations said Wednesday, the latest in a spate of rape claims that have hit the UN mission.

The minor was taken to hospital after being allegedly assaulted on September 30 in the southern town of Bambari, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The UN said the girl was 16 years old, but Amnesty International, which interviewed her, said she was 19.

News of the allegation came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is preparing to meet victims of sex abuse by UN peacekeepers when he visits the Central African Republic later this month.

It will be the UN chief's first visit to the poor African country struggling with sectarian violence since the 2013 overthrow of longtime leader Francois Bozize.

The United Nations has notified the country that sent the peacekeepers involved of the rape allegations and has requested that the government investigate, Dujarric said.

The country was not named, but UN sources said it was Mauritania.

Under UN rules, it is up to the country contributing troops to a peacekeeping mission to investigate and prosecute criminal cases.

Amnesty International said the victim told them that she had been drugged by the peacekeepers. They had given her tea when she approached them at a Bambari checkpoint after she became ill.

"She said she passed out not long after she drank the tea, and woke up on the ground nearby, several hours later, nearly nude," an Amnesty statement read.

Guterres has made combating sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers a priority since taking over from Ban Ki-moon nine months ago.

The 12,000-strong MINUSCA force has been plagued by a wave of sexual abuse allegations since the mission to help restore stability to the country began in 2014.

In June, about 600 troops from Congo Republic who were serving in MINUSCA returned home following several allegations of sex abuse and other misconduct.

UN critics in the United States -- many of whom are in the US Congress -- point to the mounting cases of misconduct by UN peacekeepers to support their campaign to cut funding to peacekeeping.
(NEW YORK)  The New Yorker reported Tuesday that Harvey Weinstein has previously raped three women, significantly intensifying the scandal surrounding the disgraced movie mogul. A representative for the mogul vehemently denied the allegations in a statement to the magazine.

The expose, published online Tuesday, detailed allegations not just of sexual harassment but of three incidents involving rape. Actress Asia Argento and a former aspiring actress named Lucia Evans went on the record to allege Weinstein forced himself on them sexually. A third woman spoke anonymously.

Evans, then a senior at Middlebury College, said Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004 at the Miramax offices in Tribeca. She had been brought in for a casting meeting with Weinstein. Argento, an Italian film actress and director, said Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her at the Cannes Film Festival in 1999.

I know he has crushed a lot of people before, Argento told the magazine. Thats why this story  in my case, its twenty years old, some of them are older  has never come out.

Attorneys for Weinstein did not immediately return messages Tuesday. The New Yorker quoted Weinstein representative Sallie Hofmeister responding that any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.

Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. Mr. Weinstein obviously cant speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual, said Hofmeister. Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance.

The story, written by Ronan Farrow, claimed that thirteen women have said Weinstein sexually harassed or assaulted them between 1990 and 2015. The incidents described range from unwanted groping to forced sex. Some of those incidents overlap with the eight allegations of sexual harassment previously reported by The New York Times, all of which resulted in financial settlements.

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But they also go much further. In the article, Patricia Arquette and Mira Sorvino are among those who claim Weinstein sexually harassed them. Arquette described a 1990s incident at a Beverly Hills hotel in which Weinstein tried to make her give him a massage and then attempted to lead her hand to his penis. Afterward, the actress told the magazine, He made things very difficult for me for years.

Representatives for the actresses did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The New Yorker also reported that 16 former and current executives and assistants at The Weinstein Co. and Miramax either witnessed or knew of Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances. All sixteen said the behavior was widely known within both Miramax and the Weinstein Company.

Representatives for The Weinstein Co. didnt immediately respond to messages.

The New Yorker also revealed an audio recording made by the New York Police Department in 2015 in which Weinstein says he groped a model named Ambra Battilana Guitierrez.

Weinstein was fired Sunday by the Weinstein Co., the studio he co-founded, three days after a bombshell New York Times expose alleged decades of crude sexual behavior on his part toward female employees and actresses, including Ashley Judd.

Weinstein responded to the report in a lengthy, rambling statement in which he pleaded for a second chance and apologized for the pain he had caused.

Since his firing, much of Hollywood has reacted with disgust and outraged, including Meryl Streep, Lena Dunham, Jennifer Lawrence and George Clooney. Congressional Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, have given charities thousands of dollars in donations they had received from Weinstein.

I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades, Ben Affleck wrote in a statement Tuesday. The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick. This is completely unacceptable, and I find myself asking what I can do to make sure this doesnt happen to others.

We need to do better at protecting our sisters, friends, co-workers and daughters. We must support those who come forward, condemn this type of behavior when we see it and help ensure there are more women in positions of power, said Affleck, who won an Oscar for co-writing the Miramax-produced film Good Will Hunting.

Weinstein has not publicly commented since Thursday.
A restaurant manager in Conway, South Carolina, has been indicted in federal court for allegedly forcing a mentally disabled man to work as a buffet cook under appalling conditions.

Bobby Paul Edwards, 52, was indicted on Wednesday on one count of forced labor. A U.S. Department of Justice release alleges that he used force, threats of force, physical restraint and coercion on the victim between 2010 and 2014.

Edwards pleaded not guilty.

The troubling situation at the J&J Cafeteria first came to light in November 2014, according to WPDE TV, when co-owner and manager Edwards was charged with second degree assault and battery, a misdemeanor, after the South Carolina Department of Social Services received a complaint of abuse and torture at his restaurant.

The victim, John Christopher Smith, 39, had worked at the cafeteria since he was 12. He started out busing tables and eventually rose to buffet cook.

Smith was happy on the job until Edwards allegedly started abusing him in 2010.

He would beat me with belts and all that, Smith told WMBF News. Take the tongs to the grease on my neck.

The federal indictment does not contain details of the alleged abuse, but a 2015 civil suit filed on behalf of Smith contends that Edwards hit the victim repeatedly with a frying pan, burned him with tongs that had been dipped into a hot grease fryer, and routinely spoke to him using racial slurs, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Court documents obtained by The Washington Post allege that Edwards once punished Smith for restocking the buffet too slowly by beating him with a belt buckle in the back of the restaurant.

Plaintiff was heard crying like a child and yelling, No, Bobby, please! After this beating, Defendant Bobby forced Plaintiff to get back to work, the complaint read, according to the Post.

Edwards allegedly forced Smith to work 18-hour shifts six days a week. Smith earned less than $3,000 a year for his efforts and had to live in a roach-infested apartment near the restaurant, according to the Charleston Post and Courier.

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Sometimes he was so exhausted that someone else had to feed him.

Bobby Paul Edwards allegedly used verbal and physical abuse against John Christopher Smith. (Photo: J Reuben Long Detention Center)

If convicted of forced labor, Edwards faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and payment of mandatory restitution to Smith for all the years he was underpaid, according to the Justice Department release.

When HuffPost reached out to the J&J Cafeteria, the person answering the phone said, You wont be getting a statement from here.

Also on HuffPost

A reverent retelling of Harriet Tubman's brave work on the Underground Railroad, written by Carole Boston Weatherford with luminous illustrations by Kadir Nelson.

David Drake was a real artist who lived in slavery in South Carolina; he died not long after Emancipation. But he left behind many beautiful ceramic works, some of which he inscribed with original poetic couplets. This meticulous book by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier, celebrates his genius while reminding us that it was no protection from the inhumanity of being "owned."

This picture book, written by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by James Ransome, tries to present the painful truth about slavery without images that will overly upset young children. It tells the story of a young girl who resourcefully hides a map to freedom in a quilt design.

Patricia and Fredrick McKissack have turned out a number of thoughtful books to introduce kids to the horrors of slavery. In this seemingly idyllic holiday book, they joltingly juxtapose the idle luxury in the big house of the master with the deprivation, labor and hope for freedom in the slave quarters.

Sojourner Truth, like Harriet Tubman, is a great historical figure for kids to start reading about early on. This vibrant picture book by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney celebrates the strength and resourcefulness of Truth in playful, engaging language.

A retelling of the true story of Henry "Box" Brown, written by Ellen Levine and illustrated by Kadir Nelson, this gorgeous picture book shows Brown's heartbreaking separation from his wife and children, who are sold to new owners, and his determination to escape by any means. His ultimate, successful plan: mailing himself to freedom in a box.

Sharon M. Draper's novel, an unflinching examination of the slave trade, is appropriate for somewhat older readers. It follows an Ashanti teenager, Amari, who is kidnapped by slavers, brought to the Carolinas, and sold to a plantation family, along the way seeing and experiencing shocking brutalities -- while still nursing a hope for freedom.

Gary Paulsen doesn't pull his punches -- his wilderness survival YA book, Hatchet, makes camping sound nightmarish -- and this young adult novel brings atrocities from the author's research off the page, from vicious dog attacks on runaways to mutilation as a punishment for teaching other slaves to read. The violence may seem gratuitous, but there's no happy whitewashing of slavery here.

The Dear America diaries might seem a little kitschy, but they offer an entire narrative from the viewpoint of a young girl at certain points in history. Still better, acclaimed black authors Patricia McKissack and Joyce Hansen each offer fully realized, honest portraits of girls living in slavery, and in its aftermath, in the series.

A saga stretching for generations, Walter Dean Myers' The Glory Field follows one family from its first ancestor kidnapped and sold into slavery up until five generations later, now free from slavery but still suffering deeply from its wounds.

In a novel told in dialogue, Julius Lester dramatizes the day of the single largest slave auction in American history, when one Georgia plantation owner sold hundreds of slaves in order to pay off debts. The human suffering caused by such auctions leaps off the page in this heart-wrenching book.

The protagonist of Christopher Paul Curtis' Elijah of Buxton is the first person born free in a small community of escaped slaves north of the Canadian border. But unexpected events draw him south, and slowly he begins to discover the truth of the enslaved life his family escaped, and how desperately he values his own freedom.

With striking illustration by Leo and Diane Dillon, Patricia McKissack poetically tells the story of a West African father whose son is stolen by slavers and taken to America. McKissack gives words to a mourning for lost ancestors, and lost loved ones, created by the cruelties of the slave trade and all-too-often neglected in historical accounts.

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British billionaire Richard Branson on Thursday placed another bet on the future with an investment in Hyperloop One, which is developing super high-speed transportation systems. Hyperloop One said Branson's Virgin Group would take the company global and rebrand itself as Virgin Hyperloop One in the near future. Branson has joined the board of Hyperloop One, which will develop pods that will transport passenger and mixed-use cargo at speeds of 250 miles per hour (402 km per hour).



The company did not disclose the size of the investment. Last month, Hyperloop One raised $85 million in new funding, bringing the total financing raised to $245 million since it was founded in 2014.



Hyperloop One's co-founders, executive chairman Shervin Pishevar and president of engineering Josh Giegel, have previously worked at Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic is Branson's space company, which in 2016, was granted an operating license to fly its passenger rocketship with the world's first paying space tourists once final safety tests are completed.



"Virgin Hyperloop One will be all-electric and the team is working on ensuing it is a responsible and sustainable form of transport," Virgin Group said in a statement.



Hyperloop One was originally conceptualized by Elon Musk. He recently received verbal approval to start building the systems that would link New York and Washington, cutting travel time to about half an hour (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)



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After Twitter suspended her account, Rose McGowan returned to the social media platform on Thursday afternoon and revealed that Harvey Weinstein allegedly raped her.

The actress, who had been named in the New York Times' initial Oct. 5 expose as having reached a settlement with Weinstein in 1997, slammed Amazon chief Jeff Bezos in a string of explosive tweets for allegedly ignoring her claims, despite her telling Bezos' Amazon Studios head "over and over" that the rape had indeed occurred.

SEE ALSO: All the women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, misconduct and/or assault

"1) @ jeffbezos I told the head of your studio that HW raped me. Over & over I said it. He said it hadnt been proven. I said I was the proof," she tweeted. "2) @ jeffbezos I had already sold a script I wrote to your studio, it was in development. When I heard a Weinstein bailout was in the works."

Women who have accused Harvey Weinstein:



"3) @ Jeffbezos I forcefully begged studio head to do the right thing. I was ignored. Deal was done. Amazon won a dirty Oscar," she continued. "4) @ jeffbezos I called my attorney & said I want to get my script back, but before I could, #2 @ amazonstudios called to say my show was dead."

"4) @ jeffbezos I am calling on you to stop funding rapists, alleged pedos and sexual harassers. I love @ amazon but there is rot in Hollywood," she finished. "5) @ jeffbezos Be the change you want to see in the world. Stand with truth. # ROSEARMY # Amazon"

1) @jeffbezos I told the head of your studio that HW raped me. Over & over I said it. He said it hadnt been proven. I said I was the proof.  Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) October 12, 2017

2) @jeffbezos I had already sold a script I wrote to your studio, it was in development. When I heard a Weinstein bailout was in the works  Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) October 12, 2017

3) @Jeffbezos I forcefully begged studio head to do the right thing. I was ignored. Deal was done. Amazon won a dirty Oscar.  Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) October 12, 2017

4) @jeffbezos I called my attorney & said I want to get my script back, but before I could, #2 @amazonstudios called to say my show was dead  Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) October 12, 2017

4) @jeffbezos I am calling on you to stop funding rapists, alleged pedos and sexual harassers. I love @amazon but there is rot in Hollywood  Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) October 12, 2017

5) @jeffbezos Be the change you want to see in the world. Stand with truth. #ROSEARMY#Amazon  Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) October 12, 2017

SEE ALSO: TV host says her wild Ben Affleck interview is being taken out of context

The reveal comes almost exactly a year after McGowan revealed that a "studio head" had raped her. Last October, the hashtag #WhyWomenDontReport trended on Twitter to raise awareness around why some women don't report rape or sexual assault when it happens, educating people who criticize women for not coming forward quickly enough -- or at all.

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"a (female) criminal attorney said because I'd done a sex scene in a film I would never win against the studio head. #WhyWomenDontReport," she tweeted in October 2016. "because it's been an open secret in Hollywood/Media & they shamed me while adulating my rapist. #WhyWomenDontReport"

"Because my ex sold our movie to my rapist for distribution #WhyWomenDontReport," she continued.

See the tweets below:



Back in 1997, McGowan reached a $100,000 with Weinstein following an incident in a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

McGowan has been extremely vocal on Twitter in support of women who have come forward with claims against Weinstein over the past week since the Times' report was published. On Wednesday night, however, the social media platform suspended her account for 12 hours reportedly for tweeting out someone's personal phone number.

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President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday Russia was giving 5,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles to the Philippines in what is believed to be the first ever shipment of Russian weapons to the US ally.

Duterte, who briefly visited Moscow in May as part of a pivot away from Washington, said the arms would soon arrive by ship.

The United States has traditionally been the main supplier of arms to the former American colony.

But the Philippine armed forces, who have been battling both communist insurgents in rural areas and Muslim extremists in the troubled south, remain among the weakest in the region.

"As part of what I got from Russia when we were there for almost 24 hours, we will have the Kalashnikovs," Duterte told a gathering of soldiers and police near Manila.

The Russian embassy declined to comment on Duterte's announcement.

Duterte did not say which types of rifles from the Russian manufacturer are being shipped to Manila.

"As far as I can remember, the Russians have never supplied us with any form of materiel in the past," defence department spokesman Arsenio Andolong told AFP.

Duterte, who took office last year, has shaken the Philippines' 70-year-old alliance with the US as he moves to strengthen ties with China and Russia.

The firebrand leader has sought out other sources of weapons as he angrily rejected US criticism of his deadly war on drugs that has left thousands dead.

China this year donated about 6,000 rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition to Manila.
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane has explained why he made a joke about producer Harvey Weinstein while announcing the supporting actress nominations for the Oscars in 2013.

After naming the actresses, he said, Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein.

Following the recent list of sexual assault and harassment allegations levied against Mr Weinstein, Mr MacFarlane explained his joke on Twitter.

In 2013, my friend and colleague Jessica Barth, with whom I worked on the Ted films, confided in me regarding her encounter with Harvey Weinstein and his attempted advances. She has since courageously come forward to speak out," he said.

It was with this account in mind that, when I hosted the Oscars in 2013, I couldnt resist the opportunity to take a hard swing in his direction."

Make no mistake, this came from a place of loathing and anger, he added.

Ms Barth has responded to criticism of Mr MacFarlane for not speaking up at the time.

To the people slamming Seth for not doing anything, please STOP! He stood by me and respected my wishes that he not retaliate in any way, she wrote in a tweet.

Earlier this week, The New Yorker reported an account from Ms Barth about a meeting she had with Mr Weinstein in 2011.

She claimed the producer alternated between offering to cast her in a film and demanding a naked massage in bed.

So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? Ms Barth recalled Mr Weinstein asking. And Im, like, Thats not going to happen.

Mounting numbers of women are coming forward with allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against Mr Weinstein, most recently model Cara Delevingne.

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Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow have also accused him of harassment.

Mr Weinstein has denied allegations of rape made in The New Yorker magazine.

There were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances, spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister said in a statement to the magazine.

Mr Weinstein obviously cant speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual.

Weinstein has separately issued an apology and said he is going to get therapy.

I appreciate the way Ive behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologise for it, he said in a statement issued last week. Though Im trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.
With great power on Twitter comes great responsibility, and no one understands that more than Seth Rogen.

The comedian has taken it upon himself to bombard Donald Trump Jr. with direct messages ever since he discovered the president's son followed him on the platform. Rogen has previously requested Trump Jr. look into Michael Flynn's ties to Russia and even tried to convince the president to resign. But on Thursday morning, in response to the Harvey Weinstein scandal that has unfolded this week, Rogen decided to bring up Trump's own sexual assault allegations to Trump Jr.

SEE ALSO: Nicki Minaj dropped Seth Rogens name in a verse and he lost his mind

"Hey dude! See you're going pretty hard at us 'Hollywood' types. I agree Harvey is a piece of shit and people should speak against him," Rogen said, referencing Trump Jr.'s latest tweets. "But...are you aware your father has been accused of sexual harassment by several women and even admitted to sexual assault on tape?"

Sliding in to @DonaldJTrumpJr DMs to remind him his father is a sexual predator like: pic.twitter.com/a1vW3A4YCk  Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) October 12, 2017

"Maybe you should denounce that?," Rogen continued. "Just a thought man! Have a good one!," he said. After that he wished the president's eldest son fun "shooting innocent animals," referring to his infamous safari expeditions.

As expected, people were here for Rogen's public shaming.

Fucking draG HIM  Passion Fruit (@sabrinabruen) October 12, 2017

The blue check next to Rogen's sent messages suggests that yes, Trump Jr. has read the messages. While he didn't respond to the actor last time, Trump Jr. recently did get in a public spat with Jimmy Kimmel about Weinstein, which didn't end so well, so anything is truly possible.
Entire rows of properties in Santa Rosa, California, have been razed to the ground by the wildfires. (AP/Jeff Chiu)

Rows of houses reduced to piles of white ash and entire communities decimated  these heartbreaking aerial images show the devastation of the California wildfires.

At least 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed by the most destructive wildfires in California history which have also left 23 dead.

As Californias state fire chief warned its going to get worse before it gets better, shocking birds-eye photographs illustrate just how quickly the destruction has spread.

The fires have so far destroyed more than 3,500 homes  and theyre still going. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Powerful diablo winds have helped the wildfires spread across Californian communities. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

At least 23 people have been killed by the wildfires so far, though the death toll could rise. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Areas destroyed include Calistoga, the historic resort town of wine tastings and hot springs where 5,300 people have been told to evacuate.

Elsewhere in Santa Rosa, devastated homeowners said the wildfires have hit the area like an atom bomb.

There are fears on Thursday, however, that the fires could cause fresh damage due to dry diablo winds which may stoke the flames overnight.

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The 22 fires spanned more than 265 square miles (686 sq km) as they entered their fourth day, many of them completely out of control.

Modern, strategic attacks that have kept destruction and death tolls low in recent years just have not worked against their ferocity.

State fire chief Ken Pimlott explained on Wednesday: We are literally looking at explosive vegetation.

Make no mistake, this is a serious, critical, catastrophic event.

The community of Boyes Hot Springs in Sonoma County was also told to get out on Wednesday, and the streets were quickly lined with cars packed with people fleeing.

Thats very bad, resident Nick Hinman said when a deputy sheriff warned him that the driving winds could shift the wildfires toward the town where 11,000 people live. Itll go up like a candle.



Story continues

In Santa Rosa, the contrast between fire-damaged homes and those unaffected could not be more stark. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Nothing left: By Wednesday, the wildfires had still been contained and could burn for the rest of the week. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

On the ground, a devastated homeowner in Santa Rosa tries to come to terms with the damage. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Rudy Habibe, from Puerto Rico, and his service dog Maximus walk toward a burning building at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel in Santa Rosa, on Monday as the fires burn. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

State fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said 22 wildfires were burning on Wednesday, up from 17 the day before.



As the fires grow, officials voiced concern that separate blazes would merge into even larger infernos.

Around 8,000 firefighters and other personnel have been battling the blazes and more resources are pouring in from Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Oregon.

Orange County fire officials said the blaze was 60% contained and full containment was expected by Sunday, although another round of gusty winds and low humidity levels could arrive late on Thursday.
It would have been quietly resolved away from the public eye. But Congress probably forgot that it was dealing with someone who, while he claimed to be quitting his post to save his children, has not been providing financial support for them for nearly a year now.

It turns out that Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista had really struck a deal with the House concerning the impeachment case filed against him: Bautista would resign, he would no longer be impeached and no one would be the wiser.

There would be no messy impeachment trial and Bautista and the congressmen would not have to be confronted with uncomfortable questions about the conduct of the elections last year. But it was not to be.

Bautista, who was given up to 4 p.m. Wednesday to make good his promise to resign, welshed on the agreement. Instead, he sent a resignation letter to Malacanang declaring that he would stay on until the end of the year, allegedly to give President Rodrigo Duterte time to find a suitable replacement and to ensure a smooth transition process at the election agency.

The House called an emergency caucus and retaliated by impeaching Bautista, rejecting the committee on justice report dismissing the complaint filed against him. Bautistas plan to hang on for 10 more weeksa timeframe crucial to the conduct of the next elections in 2019was exposed.

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Deputy Speaker and Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia, one of the endorsers of the impeachment complaint against Bautista, said the 137 congressmen who impeached the Comelec chairman saw through his ploy. Garcia went along with the dismissal by the House committee on justiceeven if she still voted against itupon being given the assurance by the House leadership that he would quit anyway.

But when Bautista reneged on the deal by post-dating his resignation to the end of the year, according to Garcia, the lonely two [endorsers who voted to impeach him] increased to 137. What if after his prayers and discernment he would say I will not resign [by yearend]? she asked.

He thought he could take the congressmen for a ride with a very lame claim to resignation [but] the 137 saw through his game, Garcia said. Dont mess with us; if you say something, do it.

Garcias fellow endorser, Kabayan Party-List Rep. Harry Roque, imputed malice on Bautistas part when he postponed the effectivity of his leaving. Resignation is always an option for him, but he should not determine when, Roque said.

Roque alleged that if the full House had upheld the committee report, Bautista would have become immune from impeachment for a year. And if he changes his mind [by yearend], he would be free to sign [new] contracts with Comelecs voting technology and services provider Smartmatic for the 2019 midterm elections.

Roque added: We dont want to give him that chance again to sign contracts with Smartmatic. The Venezuela-based technology provider has been repeatedly accused of rigging previous automated elections with the help of Comelec.

But I guess Congress is also to blame for making a deal with Bautista and forgetting that the public demands explanations from him about how he supervised the last elections. Now it has no choice but to bring a case against Bautista before the Senate impeachment court, when it had really wanted him to just resign and fade into obscurity, taking his secrets with him to the grave.

Bautista can still resign immediately and attempt to go back to the original plan. But I think that glob of toothpaste cant be brought back into the tube anymore.

So no more deals with the devil. Let the truth-telling about Bautistasand Smartmaticsshenanigans begin.

* * *

Moving forward, President Rodrigo Duterte would be able clean up the Augean stables of the Comelec if he appoints a replacement for Bautista who is unwaveringly committed to the job. To my mind, that replacement should be the longtime crusader against electoral fraudlawyer, IT expert and former Biliran Rep. Glenn Chong.

Since the start of this countrys experimentation with election automation, Chongwho insists he was cheated out of his Congress post in 2010has become the conscience of the poll body. His has been a mostly lonely battle against the evil syndicate that the poll agency and its automation provider Smartmatic have become.

In every forum that will have him as speaker and at every opportunity online, Chong has railed against how automation has actually made election cheating a lot easier in this country, where elections have long been decided by who has the most money to buy not only voters but also election administrators. Chongs experience as a congressman and as an advocate for clean automated elections makes him an even better choice than Gina Lopez was to head up the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Im sure that now, with Bautistas ouster or resignation already a fait accompli, Duterte is looking for a suitable replacement who will bring change to Comelec. The President could do a lot worse than to pick Chong for the job that seems tailor-made for him and that promises to permanently clean up the poll body.

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In the weird era we're living in todaythe one in which Donald Trump is the president, Flint, Michigan still doesn't have clean water, and the likes of Colin Kaepernick and Jemele Hill are being attacked by the White Houseart somehow manages to continue on.

But because of the platform many artists, particularly musicians, are afforded these days, it's becoming harder and harder to find art that doesn't have a political leaning, whether explicit or not.

Eminem's biting freestyle at the 2017 BET awards sparked conversation about who has been speaking up publicly against policies (and politicians) a la Public Enemy in the 1980s, and while the list has gotten extensive since the election, here are some you may have missed.

SEE ALSO: Eminem just delivered an emotionally charged anti-Trump freestyle takedown

1. Amine's political rendition of "Caroline"

The Portland, Oregon, rapper's television debut came a week after the election of Trump, and in light of the political climate, the 23-year-old spun his viral hit "Caroline" into a political moment. Amine added stirring lyrics about the recent election, his identity, and the divided nation.

"9/11, a day that we never forgettin', 11/9, a day that we always regrettin / If my President is Trump then its relevant enough / To talk bout it on TV and not give a fuck / Im black and Im proud / My skin is brown and Im loud," he rapped, before adding a direct line to Trump himself: You can never make America great again, all you ever did was make this country hate again."

2. A Tribe Called Quest, joined by Anderson .Paak, speak out at the Grammys

A Tribe Called Quest's music usually speaks for itself but before their performance of "We the People" at the 2017 Grammys, Busta Rhymes had to clarify exactly what they were there to do.

"I want to thank President Agent Orange for perpetuating all of the evil that you've been perpetuating throughout the United States," he said, after saying he wasn't feeling the political climate. "I want to thank President Agent Orange for your unsuccessful attempt at the Muslim Ban."

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3. Shakespeare in the Park's take on Julius Caesar sparked controversy and free speech debates

The play, which features a Donald Trump look-a-like as Ceasar, sparked controversy this summer after Trump supporters protested the performance, including one who yelled "this is violence against Donald Trump" during the assassination scene.

Sponsorships were pulled, including Delta and Bank of America, and a conversation about silencing artists began bubbling. The Public Theatre responded to the backlash with a powerful statement: "We recognize that our interpretation of the play has provoked heated discussion; audiences, sponsors and supporters have expressed varying viewpoints and opinions. Such discussion is exactly the goal of our civically-engaged theater; this discourse is the basis of a healthy democracy."

4. Green Day leads a chant at the American Music Awards

During a performance at the 2016 American Music Awards, Green Day took an opportunity in the middle of their song "Bang Bang" to call out Trump with a chant.

"No Trump, no KKK, no racist U.S.A," the punk band repeated, taking on the chants of protestors who poured into the streets after the election.

5. Hamilton cast delivers message to Trump-Pence administration

Tonight, VP-Elect Mike Pence attended #HamiltonBway. After the show, @BrandonVDixon delivered the following statement on behalf of the show. pic.twitter.com/Jsg9Q1pMZs  Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) November 19, 2016





While the show itself did not change to reflect vice president Mike Pence's attendance, the cast of the critically acclaimed Hamilton did break routine to deliver a passionate message to the Trump administration.

We, sir, we, are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Vice President Aaron Burr, said. We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us."





6. Stevie Wonder takes two knees for racial justice and equality for all





"Tonight, I'm taking a knee for America," Stevie Wonder said at the Global Citizen Festival, in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, one of Trump's many targets over this year. "But not just one knee, I'm taking both knees. Both knees in prayer for our planet, our futures, our leaders of the globe, and our world."





7. Pink Floyd's anti-Trump tour





"We need to survive his presidency because it's totally unpredictable," Pink Floyd's Roger Waters said to CNN. The band's tour features significant amount of anti-Trump imagery.

I do find it slightly surprising that anybody could have been listening to my songs for 50 years without understanding, Waters said to CNN when asked if it was important if his fans understand his music. Go see Katy Perry or watch the Kardashians. I dont care," he said, in response to people who may want politics and music separated.





8. Eminem destroys Trump in a freestyle

There isn't much to say that hasn't already been said about Eminem's brutal freestyle. The Detroit native destroyed the president, uplifted Colin Kaepernick, and called out his fans who might be supporting the Trump administrationall with biting wordplay. "Racism's the only thing he's fantastic for, 'cause that's how he gets his fuckin' rocks off and he's orange," Eminem raps at one point.
Sri Lankan police Tuesday arrested the legislator son of a former president for leading violent anti-India demonstrations over alleged plans to sell an airport built and named after his father.

A police spokesman said MP Namal Rajapakse was arrested for being a member of an unlawful assembly outside the Indian consulate in the southern town of Hambantota on Friday.

Police Superintendent Ruwan Gunasekera said Rajapakse, the eldest son of former leader Mahinda Rajapakse, had violated a court order banning street protests and damaged public property.

"He was arrested along with two other members of parliament and three others," Gunasekera said.

Police arrested 28 people after the protest.

Video footage of the demonstration released on social media showed Rajapakse chanting anti-India slogans at Hambantota, 240 kilometres (150 miles) south of Colombo, and leading a march towards the consulate.

Rajapakse accused the government of trying to sell the airport named after his father to an Indian company at a rock bottom price.

Hundreds of protesters tried to break through barricades but police fired teargas and water cannon to stop them reaching the diplomatic compound. At least four policemen were injured when the demonstrators pelted stones.

The government has denied it was planning to sell off the $210 million international airport, but Colombo has said Indian companies had shown interest in a joint venture to make the facility commercially viable.

The airport in Rajapakse's home constituency of Hambantota is one of several state-owned white elephants that were built under the former president and have never turned a profit.

It is one of the world's least used airports, servicing just one flight a day.

The new government offered to sell the airport after sealing a billion-dollar deal in July with a Chinese state-owned company to take over a majority stake in a deep sea port in Hambantota.

The administration of Rajapakse who was toppled in January 2015 elections had raised some $8 billion in loans from China to build infrastructure, including the ports, which do not generate enough revenue even to pay staff.
The Orange County District Attorney's building. (Photo: Mike Blake / Reuters)

The State Bar of California has recommended that a prosecutor from the beleaguered Orange County District Attorneys Office be suspended for at least a year after finding that she willfully withheld evidence from a defendant during a child abuse case.

In a ruling filed this week, state bar Judge Yvette Roland recommended that veteran OCDA prosecutor Deputy District Attorney Sandra Lee Nassar be placed on a three-year probation with at least the first year including a suspension from practicing law.

A prosecutors failure to timely turn over exculpatory and impeachment evidence is extremely serious misconduct, Judge Roland wrote in an opinion published this week. Even when facing difficult situations, such as the protection of witnesses, prosecutors must operate within the confines of the law.

OCDA did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The accusations of misconduct stem from a 2011 child abuse case that Nassar was prosecuting. Nassar accused Carmen Iacullo, the boyfriend of Orange County resident Lori Pincus, of abusing the womans 5-year-old son. Pincus also faced charges of child abuse and of acting as an accessory to child abuse.

While Iacullo and the boys mother were held in a local county jail in 2011, Nassar requested a mail cover to track correspondence between the pair, enabling staff to intercept the mail, copy it, and provide it to Nassar for review before it was sent to its intended recipient.

By 2012, the boys mother pleaded guilty to both charges against her and agreed to testify against Iacullo. Later in 2013, Nassar was transferred into a new unit, as part of her offices regular rotation of assignments, and the prosecution for the case was taken over by another OCDA prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Duke.

Duke found that the mail cover had amassed more than 1,000 pages of correspondence. Concerned at the sizable collection of documents, she asked Nassar if the pages had been turned over to the defense  prosecutors are obligated to turn over any evidence that could be favorable to a defendant  and Nassar responded, Why would I? according to the ruling.

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Failing to turn over the mail cover materials seemed odd to Duke, the ruling states, so she discussed it with her supervisor who confirmed to Duke that the materials should have been turned over to Iacullos defense team.

The letters contained critical details about the case. One letter, the boys mother writes to Iacullo that she knew he didnt do what theyre saying because he wasnt home during the time of the abuse, but that they accused me of lying to protect you.

Duke would go on to hand the materials over to the defense and also cancelled the mail cover.

During a 2013 hearing, Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals, asked Nassar why she never turned over the documents. Nassar said it relates to trial strategy, arguing she wasnt required to turn over Pincus letters with exculpatory information to Iacullos defense because it was already in Iacullos possession.

Goethals would ultimately recuse her from the case.

I dont know if [Nassar] doesnt know what the law is, Goethals said. Thats no excuse. Ignorance of the law for an experienced prosecutor for engaging in Brady misconduct is not a reasonable excuse either. That was a willful violation.

State bar Judge Roland said the court found Nassars testimony about the issue deeply disturbing, especially as the prosecutor said she would engage in the same conduct again.

In her capacity as a prosecutor, [Nassars] lack of insight on this subject represents a tremendous threat of future harm to the public and the administration of justice, Rolands ruling reads.

The disclosures in the letter cache ultimately would lead prosecutors to negotiate a plea with Iacullo, who ultimately pleaded guilty to child abuse and received a 12-year prison sentence. Iacullo had faced a maximum sentence of life in prison for the original charges.

Rolands recommendation for disciplining Nassar, who according to court records had no previous record of misconduct, will now go before the state Supreme Court for approval.

Orange County prosecutors are no strangers to allegations of misconduct. For years, prosecutors at OCDA have been accused of egregious misconduct linked to illegal use of a jail informant program and the withholding of evidence gleaned from it.

Californias 4th District Court of Appeal found last year that misconduct by prosecutors and sheriffs officials in Orange County was very real and that the magnitude of the systemic problems cannot be overlooked. Later, the U.S. Department of Justice announced an investigation into the use of jailhouse informants in Orange County.

The informant scandal has led to the unraveling of more than a dozen murder, attempted murder and felony assault cases in the county and threatens to upend countless more. Just last month, Scott Dekraai, the shooter in the worst mass killing in Orange County history, was sentenced to eight consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole, rather than receiving the death penalty, because of government misconduct linked to a jail informant program. In a rare move, Goethals excluded the death penalty as a punishment option after concluding that county prosecutors and sheriffs deputies had engaged in misconduct in the use of the countys now-notorious jail informant program.

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The gunman who killed dozens of people when he opened fire on the crowd of a Las Vegas country music festival had no abnormalities on the brain, an autopsy has revealed.

County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said investigators were still awaiting results of a toxicology report on Stephen Paddock's body, which would show whether he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he began spraying revellers with bullets.

The 64-year-old gunned down 58 people and injured 489, before apparently killing himself.

Sheriff Lombardo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the results of an analysis of his brain revealed no abnormalities and therefore no clues as to what motivated his behaviour.

The results appear to quash circulating in the wake of the attack, that Paddock could have been suffering from a brain tumour or a mental disorder.

Police are still struggling to identify what drove the prolific gambler to carry out mass murder.

Sheriff Lombardo said he was absolutely confident authorities will find out what motivated him. But nearly two weeks on, investigators are still struggling to explain why he committed the worst mass shooting in US history

Officials said last week they believed Paddock was suffering from an undiagnosed severe mental illness but have so far ruled out any political or ideological motivation.

Kevin McMahill, of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, told ABC News: We thought we might find some ideology, some economic or political or social reason. Some medical reason. But we havent found it yet.

Asked by a reporter if Paddock may have launched one of the biggest mass shootings in US history simply because he could, Mr McMahill didn't rule out the idea.

He said: Thats certainly a possibility but its one of those possibilities you really cant wrap your mind around. I dont know if I can accept that.

Paddock's girlfriend Marilou Danley also said she had no concerns about his mental health after she was cleared by authorities of playing any role in the attack.

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Vice President Mike Pence and former presidential adviser Steve Bannon are seen in the White House ahead of a press conference: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Steve Bannon may have been one of Donald Trumps first, most exuberant supporters, but he was never fond of the businessmans Vice President, reports claim.

Emails obtained by BuzzFeed News show Mr Bannon slamming Mr Pence as an unfortunate necessity, just one month before the former Breitbart News chief took over as Mr Trump's campaign manager.

On the same day Mr Trump announced Mr Pence as his running mate, Breitbart's former technology editor Milo Yiannopoulos wrote to Mr Bannon, calling the Indiana governor a bad pick.

Should I tweet something ambivalent about him? Mr Yiannopoulos wrote, according to BuzzFeed. People are telling me Trump likely didn't want this. ...What's our party line on this?"

"This is the price we pay for cruzbots and #nevertrump movement, Mr Bannon responded, referring to Mr Trumps Republican detractors. An unfortunate necessity...very. feel free to do whatever u want. we, as always, will remain above it all."

Mr Bannon would not, of course, remain above it all. One month later, he would take over as manager of the Trump campaign, helping the candidate to his surprise victory. In the White House, as a top adviser to the President, Mr Bannon would successfully implement many of his nationalist, isolationist policy ideas.

At the same time, Mr Bannon clashed with the more traditional elements of the White House. While he never publicly feuded with Mr Pence  the Vice President once called him a very highly valued staffer  the adviser made it clear he would not tolerate anyone who opposed his nationalist agenda.

But Mr Bannon was pushed out of his White House role two months ago, after General John Kelly took over as Chief of Staff. Now, as a free agent with a newly high profile, Mr Bannon has declared war on the Republican establishment  generally understood to include politicians like House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, and Mr Pence.

Story continues

Theres a new game in town, Mr Bannon recently told Fox News Sean Hannity. We are to cut off the oxygen to Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnells biggest asset is the money. Were going to make it the biggest liability. We are going after these guys tooth and nail.

Mr Bannon said he and his team have been working with grassroots organizers to identify anti-establishment candidates whose campaigns they could support.

Nobodys safe," Mr Bannon said. "We are coming after all of them and we are going to win.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon  whose website Breitbart News has spent the last week skewering Democrats with connections to Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein  had his own business dealings with the man at the center of the sexual abuse scandal, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

In 2005, Bannon, then chairman of a small DVD and home video distribution company called Genius Products, went into business with The Weinstein Co., according to AP. Weinstein and his brother had a 70 percent ownership stake in the project.

We are extremely honored to be in business with the new Weinstein Company, Bannon told investors during a conference call at the time, AP reported. He added that the Weinsteins have the most impressive track record in the film industry and are two of the most prolific studio heads in the history of Hollywood.

Harvey Weinstein is facing ever-growing allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault by multiple women, including Ashley Judd, Asia Argento, Rosanna Arquette, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and TV journalist Lauren Sivan. Weinstein has been fired from The Weinstein Co.

Over the last several days, Breitbart News, whose executive chairman is Bannon, has blasted 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama and other Democrats for not quickly speaking out about the alleged sexual assaults and for accepting Weinsteins political donations. Breitbart continued to provide updates Wednesday evening on a live blog dedicated to the scandal but made no mention of the AP story connecting Bannon to the Hollywood producer.

Clinton and Obama each broke their silence via written statements Tuesday. Clinton said she was shocked and appalled by the revelations. Obama and his wife, Michelle, said they were disgusted by the reports and that any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned.

Clinton told CNN on Wednesday that she will donate the campaign money she received from Weinstein to charity.

Story continues

Also on HuffPost

Ashley Judd

Ashley Judd told the New York Times that Harvey Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked her if he could give her a massage or if she wanted to watch him shower.



She told the Times that she thought, How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow told the New York Times that Weinstein touched her inappropriately.



I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, she said, noting that when Weinstein found out she told her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt, "I thought he was going to fire me."

Angelina Jolie

I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did, Angelina Jolie told the New York Times. This behavior towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable.

Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet told Variety that she had heard rumors of Weinstein's behavior for years.



"I had hoped that these kind of stories were just made up rumours, maybe we have all been naive," she said. "And it makes me so angry. There must be no tolerance of this degrading, vile treatment of women in ANY workplace anywhere in the world.

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep told HuffPost that the women who came forward about Weinstein's behavior are "heroes."



The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported," she said in a statement.

Rose McGowan

Rose McGowan has been vocal about the scandal since the New York Times published its bombshell report on Weinstein's alleged misconduct. McGowan, the Times said, was one of several women with whom Weinstein reached a financial settlement following the alleged abuse.



After The Weinstein Company fired Harvey, the actress and director called on the rest of the studio's board to resign.



"They knew," she said in a tweet. "They funded. They advised. They covered up. They must be exposed. They must resign."

Ben Affleck

"I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades," Ben Affleck posted on Twitter. "The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick."



Actress Rose McGowan denounced Affleck for implying that he didn't know of the abuse before this week, saying that the pair had previously discussed Weinstein's treatment of her.



"You lie," she tweeted.

Lena Dunham

'Girls' co-creator and star Lena Dunham penned an op-ed for the New York Times calling on more men to speak out against Weinstein and others like him.



"Abuse, threats and coercion have been the norm for so many women trying to do business or make art," she wrote. "Mr. Weinstein may be the most powerful man in Hollywood to be revealed as a predator, but hes certainly not the only one who has been allowed to run wild. His behavior, silently co-signed for decades by employees and collaborators, is a microcosm of what has been happening in Hollywood since always and of what workplace harassment looks like for women everywhere."

George Clooney

In an interview with The Daily Beast, George Clooney said that, for decades, he'd heard rumors about Weinstein, but dismissed them as gossip. Calling Weinstein's behavior "disturbing" and "indefensible," Clooney said he had no idea of the severity of the accusations.



"A good bunch of people that I know would say, Yeah, Harveys a dog or Harveys chasing girls, but again, this is a very different kind of thing," the actor told the Daily Beast. "This is harassment on a very high level. And theres an argument that everyone is complicit in it. I suppose the argument would be that its not just about Hollywood, but about all of usthat every time you see someone using their power and influence to take advantage of someone without power and influence and you dont speak up, youre complicit. And theres no question about that."

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence won an Academy Award for "Silver Linings Playbook," which The Weinstein Company distributed. She called the alleged harassment "inexcusable and absolutely upsetting."



"I worked with Harvey five years ago, and I did not experience any form of harassment personally, nor did I know about any of these allegations. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting," Lawrence said in a statement. "My heart goes out to all of the women affected by these gross actions. And I want to thank them for their bravery to come forward."

Hillary Clinton

Weinstein was a major Democratic Party benefactor, having donated to or raised money for a host of candidates, including Hillary Clinton.



Clinton said that she "was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein. The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior."

Barack and Michelle Obama

Weinstein visited the White House multiple times while Obama was in office after having raised huge funds for his presidential campaign. Earlier this year, Malia Obama also reportedly worked for the Weinstein Company.



"Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein," the Obamas said in a statement. "Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status. We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. And we all need to build a culture -- including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect -- so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future."

Judi Dench

Judi Dench, who won an Oscar for her performance in the Weinstein-backed "Shakespeare in Love" and was nominated for two other films under his wing, denounced the alleged abuse.



"Whilst there is no doubt that Harvey Weinstein has helped and championed my film career for the past 20 years, I was completely unaware of these offenses which are, of course, horrifying and I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered, and whole-hearted support to those who have spoken out," she said in a statement.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio worked with Weinstein on blockbuster films like Gangs of New York, The Aviator, and Django Unchained.



"There is no excuse for sexual harrassment or sexual assault-- no matter who you are and no matter what profession," DiCarpio said in a Facebook Post. "I applaud the strength and courage of the women who came forward and made their voices heard."

Jessica Chastain

Jessica Chastain has been one of the most outspoken critics of Weinstein and of Hollywood's complicity since The New York Times published its damning report.



"I was warned from the beginning" about Weinstein, she said in a tweet. "The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an environment for it to happen again."

Julianne Moore

Moore, who starred in the Weinstein-backed film "A Single Man," tweeted that "coming forward about sexual abuse and coercion is scary and women have nothing to be gained personally by doing so. But through their bravery we move forward as a culture, and I thank them. Stand with @AshleyJudd @rosemcgowan and others."

Colin Firth

Calling Weinstein a "frightening man to stand up to," Colin Firth told The Guardian that reading about the allegations gave him "a feeling of nausea."



It must have been terrifying for these women to step up and call him out. And horrifying to be subjected to that kind of harassment. I applaud their courage."

Tamron Hall

Its a womans worst nightmare to be in a situation where you believe someone more powerful has control over your life, former "Today" show host Tamron Hall told HuffPost. She called the allegations against Weinstein "horrifying."

Blake Lively

Blake Lively spoke out against Weinstein in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.



The actress said that she was unaware of the abuse but admitted that "it's devastating to hear."



"It's important that women are furious right now. It's important that there is an uprising. It's important that we don't stand for this and that we don't focus on one or two or three or four stories. It's important that we focus on humanity in general and say, 'This is unacceptable.'"

Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts gave a statement to People, saying, A corrupt, powerful man wields his influence to abuse and manipulate women. Weve heard this infuriating, heartbreaking story countless times before. And now here we go again. I stand firm in the hope that we will finally come together as a society to stand up against this kind of predatory behavior, to help victims find their voices and their healing, and to stop it once and for all."

Ryan Gosling

I want to add my voice of support for the women who have had the courage to speak out against Harvey Weinstein, Gosling wrote in a note on Twitter. Like most people in Hollywood, I have worked with him and Im deeply disappointed in myself for being so oblivious to these devastating experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. He is emblematic of a systemic problem. Men should stand with women and work together until there is real accountability and change.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Stocks slip from record highs as traders take in the start of earnings season. Plus  JPM, Citi kick off earnings season with so-so reports. Is this the start of bad things to come for Q4? And  Facebook under the spotlight as Sheryl Sandberg goes to DC  can she get the government to back off the social media giant?

Winners and losers

Stocks in the red today include J Jill as the retailers guidance came in well below estimates, AT&T slipping after announcing it lost 90,000 video subscribers last quarter, and Equifax  in case you didnt think things could get worse, the credit reporting agency reported it may have been breached again, and has taken down a webpage temporarily.

Stocks in the green today include Ardelyx following positive results for a phase 3 irritable bowel syndrome treatment, Glu Mobile as the maker of the Kardashians mobile game was upgraded by Benchmark to Buy with a $6 price target, and Square  shares of Jack Dorseys payments service up after Oppeneheimer initiated coverage with an outperform rating, citing its success in attracting small merchants.

The best trades in ETF-and with Tom Lydon

Tight trading ranges and low volatility has investors hunting hard for yield. Where are they looking when it comes to ETFs? Tom Lydon, ETFtrends.com is back to tell us.
Marlene Soto at her restaurant, Happy Burger, in San Juans Santurce district. (Photo: Caitlin Dickson/Yahoo News)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico  Ever since Hurricane Maria, Marlene Soto and her husband, Joel Ortiz, have been beginning their days at 3:30 a.m. to search for fresh ingredients for their restaurant, Happy Burger.

The couples small business, in the heart of San Juans Santurce district, had only been up and running for four months before the Category 5 storm swept the already struggling island. Before, they did their grocery shopping weekly. But now, without electricity for refrigeration, each morning starts with a journey from supermarket to supermarket.

This whole situation feels like its out of a movie, Soto told Yahoo News. She said that everyone has been hiking the price of meat, and bags of ice are few and far between.

The menu, handwritten by Soto in chalk each day, varies depending on what they are able to procure from the picked-over stores each morning.

Tiene chuletas? a man on a bicycle yelled to Soto from the sidewalk, asking if she was serving pork chops today. No, she replied in Spanish, We have only grilled chicken with rice and beans. And burgers.

While chain restaurants like Outback Steakhouse and Burger King can afford large generators to keep the lights on and their food refrigerated, Happy Burger has been operating in the dark  and oppressive heat.

Its like an oven back there, said Soto, gesturing to the kitchen, where her husband was manning the grill without any ventilation. Outside, the temperature has been wavering around 95 degrees.

Still, they have stayed open every day, providing the neighborhood with a much needed service  until the sun starts to go down.

Now that we dont have light, air, its busier now than it was before, Soto said. A lot of new people.

Soto serving a customer at Happy Burger. (Photo: Caitlin Dickson/Yahoo News)

Alanis Ponilla, who lives nearby, had eaten at Happy Burger once or twice before Hurricane Maria, but said shes been coming here a lot more often since the storm.

We have no lights or water, Ponilla said while waiting for her burger Thursday afternoon. My grandma has a gas stove, she cooks there. Or sometimes we go out and eat.

Story continues

This one is really unique, its better, she said of Happy Burger, compared to the bigger chain restaurants that line the streets of San Juan and much of the metropolitan area. Plus, she added, Its close to where I live.

Ponilla was part of the steady stream of customers filing into Happy Burger on Thursday afternoon, waiting for their to go orders at the unlit countertop inside, or eating at the partially shaded table on the sidewalk. Among them was a group construction workers in reflective vests  locals whove been hired by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help with repairing the damage caused by Maria, Soto said.

I recognize that other places outside the metropolitan area are in much worse shape than we are, she said. I hope that since people come here during difficult times, they will continue come when things are back to normal.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen pledged on Tuesday to bolster the island's military but added it will not "seek war" amid tensions with its biggest rival China.

Cross-strait relations have rapidly deteriorated since Tsai took office last May, with Beijing cutting all official communications with Taipei as it does not trust her traditionally pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party.

The two sides split after a civil war in 1949 but China still sees self-governing Taiwan as a wayward province to be brought back into its fold, by force if necessary.

Tsai made the remarks Tuesday in a national address at a National Day celebration, her second since taking office last year.

Taiwan is committed to build its own military jets and submarines, and should be prepared for increasing cybersecurity and espionage risks, she said.

Troop morale and soldier benefits must also be improved, Tsai added.

"Although we are strengthening our military capabilities, we do not seek war," she said.

"We remain committed to maintaining peace and stability both in the Taiwan Strait and across the region."

Tsai also called on Beijing to find "new modes" for cross-strait interactions.

China has repeatedly said Tsai must acknowledge both sides are part of "one China" for dialogue to resume, but the Taiwan leader has refused to do so.

Beijing has ramped up pressure on Tsai by sailing its sole aircraft carrier and flying jets near the island during military exercises, as well as blocking Taipei from participating in key international events.

"Although political differences between the two sides have led to some complications, we have nevertheless worked to maintain the basic stability of cross-strait relations," Tsai said Tuesday, adding Taipei will not "bow to pressure."

Tsai's remarks come as China's Communist Party is set to hold its 19th congress next week -- expected to cement President Xi Jinping as the most powerful Chinese leader in a generation.

Beijing sees any calls for Taiwan independence as a challenge to its power, even though the island today is a thriving democracy.
In 1815, a volcano erupted in Indonesia, launching the world into the Game of Thronesesque Year Without a Summer. The planet was enveloped in a dark cloud of dust, which warped the climate and caused the second coldest year since the Middle Ages. Across all continents, crops withered and people suffered.

But this event was nothing compared to what researchers at Washington State University just discovered.

Klarissa Davis, John Wolff, and their team found evidence that a massive eruption took place in the Pacific Northwest in what are now Washington and Oregon in millions of years ago. The team reached this conclusion by examining chips of volcanic glasswhich Wolff describes as the closest thing to original magma that its possible to findin ash deposits of the Columbia River Basalts. They estimate that the event resulted in between 242 and 305 billion tons of sulfur dioxide over tens of thousands of years. That is thousands of times the sulfur dioxide eruption that led to the year without a summer, to say nothing of the 40,000 cubic kilometers of lava.

Along with striking fear into the hearts of people everywhere, understanding this eruption could help resolve a question in the history of the Earths climate.

Volcanic eruptions canperhaps counterintuitivelycool the climate. And Wolff points out that the eruption his team describes coincided with an intense period of consistent cooling.

At that time, Earth was at the peak of a warm phase called the Miocene Climatic Optimum, Wolff told Newsweek. This peak, Wolff said, was broken up by several hundred thousand years of cooler climate. Wolff and his group believe that the cooling caused by this massive set of eruptions could explain that change. Wolff adds that this study does not prove the eruptions were the cause.

The fact that sulfur dioxide cools the climate raises a question scientists have considered for some time: Could sulfur dioxide be used to intentionally cool the climate for the Earths benefit?

Story continues

In principle it should certainly work, Wolff said. However there are side effects that may be unacceptable, acid rain being the most obvious one.

Whether or not that line of work proves fruitful in mitigating human-induced climate change, this work offers a fascinating snapshot of a distant, surreal event from before humans walked the Earth.

Related Articles
By Jeff Mason and David Morgan HARRISBURG, Pa./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday told workers that they would win under his tax plan, saying it would help the middle class and boost the economy, though critics say it would mainly benefit corporations and the rich. Speaking in an airplane hangar at a Pennsylvania Air National Guard base in Harrisburg with a trailer truck behind him, Trump reiterated the basic points of the nine-page tax cut "framework" he unveiled two weeks ago. "It's a middle-class bill. That's what we're thinking of. That's what I want," Trump said. "I've had rich friends of mine come up to me, and say, 'Donald, you're doing this tax plan -- we don't want anything. ... Don't give it to us. Give it to the middle class.' And that's what we're trying so hard to do," he said. His remarks came as new Reuters/Ipsos polling showed that more than three-quarters of Americans say the wealthiest Americans should pay more in taxes. The poll found 53 percent of adults "strongly agree" and 23 percent "somewhat agree" that the wealthiest Americans should pay higher tax rates. The Sept. 29-Oct. 5 poll of 1,504 people has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of plus or minus 6 percentage points. Financial markets have rallied strongly since Trump's November 2016 election victory, driven partly by expectations that he would cut taxes for businesses, although policy analysts have been skeptical that he would do so. Trump on Wednesday boasted about the rally in markets. "The stock market is soaring to record levels, boosting pensions and retirement accounts for hard-working Americans. Their values are going up every single day," he said. Earlier on Wednesday, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said he was a "little bit discouraged" about the prospects for federal tax reform. Given the difficulties Congress has had in passing laws this year, Williams, in comments following a speech in Salt Lake City, said he is "losing confidence" that any tax reform will be passed in the next six months or so. DEMOCRATS DISPUTE "PAY RAISE" Trump said his plan for cutting corporate taxes could boost wage growth and mean a $4,000 pay raise for the average household, citing research from a White House economic council. Democrats, who oppose Trump's plan, dispute such claims. "I have not seen any evidence that even comes remotely close to that," Richard Neal, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, said of the $4,000 calculation at a forum on Wednesday in Washington. Independent analysts have said Trump's blueprint would provide uneven tax relief, add significantly to the federal budget deficit, and in some cases, benefit the very wealthy. For instance, taxpayers in the highest 1 percent of incomes, making more than $730,000 annually, would get about half of the total benefit from Trump's plan, with after-tax incomes rising an average of 8.5 percent, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington-based nonprofit tax think tank. Trump on Wednesday said his framework would provide a $500 tax credit to "those who care for an adult dependent or elderly loved one" and that it would substantially increase the child tax credit. No details on those items have been made public. Congressional tax writers in the House and Senate are working to fill in the details of Trump's framework. Republican leaders hope to pass a bill by January, delivering what would be Trump's first legislative victory a year into his presidency. Before that can happen, the Senate and House must open a procedural path for tax legislation by passing a budget resolution. Lawmakers have hoped to do that this month. CORPORATE, PASS-THROUGH CUTS The tax framework, developed in secret by a select group of senior Republicans known as the Big Six, calls for cutting the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent and creating a new category for pass-through income earned by partners and sole proprietors, which would be taxed at 25 percent, instead of the 39.6 percent top individual rate currently paid by some. It proposes cutting the top individual rate to 35 percent, but congressional tax writers may opt to create an additional, higher rate for the highest earners. The plan also proposes eliminating the 40 percent tax on inherited estate assets worth more than $5.5 million, or $11 million for a married couple. A highly placed Republican operative who used to work with senior leadership on Capitol Hill said he did not expect the estate tax repeal to be included in a final package, because the proposal would greatly benefit Trump himself and his family, which would leave the tax reform effort and Trump open to Democratic attack. He said many Republicans do not see estate tax repeal as crucial, but Republicans have promised wealthy supporters for years that the tax, which they call the "death tax," will end. Trump on Wednesday offered a different view. Republicans will end "the crushing, horrible, and unfair estate tax," he said. For graphic on top power brokers, click: http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/USA-TAX/0100519C2VQ/index.html (Additional reporting by Eric Beech, James Oliphant and Steve Holland in Washington, Ann Saphir in Salt Lake City, Chris Kahn in New York; Writing by Amanda Becker; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Leslie Adler)
Tom Hanks is the latest actor to speak out against Harvey Weinstein after numerous women have come forward claiming the producer sexually assaulted or harassed them.

In an interview with The New York Times, Hanks, whos never worked with Weinstein, shared his thoughts on why so many in Hollywood seemingly protected the Miramax co-founder when they were aware of his behavior. He also called BS on Weinsteins bizarre statement addressing the allegations, in which the producer claimed his conduct was a result of growing up in the 60s and 70s.

Well, thats a really good question and isnt it part and parcel to all of society somehow, that people in power get away with this? Hanks told the outlet. Look, I dont want to rag on Harvey but so obviously something went down there. You cant buy, Oh, well, I grew up in the 60s and 70s and so therefore. ... I did, too. So I think its like, well, what do you want from this position of power? I know all kinds of people that just love hitting on, or making the lives of underlings some degree of miserable, because they can.

Somebody great said this, either Winston Churchill, Immanuel Kant or Oprah: When you become rich and powerful, you become more of what you already are, he continued.

So I would say, theres an example of how thats true. Just because youre rich and famous and powerful doesnt mean you arent in some ways a big fat ass. Excuse me, take away fat. Im not the first person to say Harveys a bit of an ass. Poor Harvey  Im not going to say poor Harvey, Jesus. Isnt it kind of amazing that it took this long? Im reading it and Im thinking You cant do that to Ashley Judd! Hey, I like her. Dont do that. That aint fair. Not her, come on. Come on!

Hanks joins the growing list of actors, including Rose McGowan, Asia Argento, Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Glenn Close and Ryan Gosling, among others, whove condemned Weinsteins actions.

As the allegations continue to surface, Weinstein is deservedly facing consequences. The producer was fired from his production company, The Weinstein Company, which reportedly plans on changing its name. Its also been reported that TWC will remove Weinsteins executive producer credit from future TV and film projects. Aside from that, Weinsteins wife, Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, has decided to leave her husband, and the NYPD has opened a criminal investigation into Weinstein regarding a 2004 sexual assault.

Story continues

Also on HuffPost

Ashley Judd

Ashley Judd told the New York Times that Harvey Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked her if he could give her a massage or if she wanted to watch him shower.



She told the Times that she thought, How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow told the New York Times that Weinstein touched her inappropriately.



I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, she said, noting that when Weinstein found out she told her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt, "I thought he was going to fire me."

Angelina Jolie

I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did, Angelina Jolie told the New York Times. This behavior towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable.

Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet told Variety that she had heard rumors of Weinstein's behavior for years.



"I had hoped that these kind of stories were just made up rumours, maybe we have all been naive," she said. "And it makes me so angry. There must be no tolerance of this degrading, vile treatment of women in ANY workplace anywhere in the world.

Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep told HuffPost that the women who came forward about Weinstein's behavior are "heroes."



The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported," she said in a statement.

Rose McGowan

Rose McGowan has been vocal about the scandal since the New York Times published its bombshell report on Weinstein's alleged misconduct. McGowan, the Times said, was one of several women with whom Weinstein reached a financial settlement following the alleged abuse.



After The Weinstein Company fired Harvey, the actress and director called on the rest of the studio's board to resign.



"They knew," she said in a tweet. "They funded. They advised. They covered up. They must be exposed. They must resign."

Ben Affleck

"I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades," Ben Affleck posted on Twitter. "The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick."



Actress Rose McGowan denounced Affleck for implying that he didn't know of the abuse before this week, saying that the pair had previously discussed Weinstein's treatment of her.



"You lie," she tweeted.

Lena Dunham

'Girls' co-creator and star Lena Dunham penned an op-ed for the New York Times calling on more men to speak out against Weinstein and others like him.



"Abuse, threats and coercion have been the norm for so many women trying to do business or make art," she wrote. "Mr. Weinstein may be the most powerful man in Hollywood to be revealed as a predator, but hes certainly not the only one who has been allowed to run wild. His behavior, silently co-signed for decades by employees and collaborators, is a microcosm of what has been happening in Hollywood since always and of what workplace harassment looks like for women everywhere."

George Clooney

In an interview with The Daily Beast, George Clooney said that, for decades, he'd heard rumors about Weinstein, but dismissed them as gossip. Calling Weinstein's behavior "disturbing" and "indefensible," Clooney said he had no idea of the severity of the accusations.



"A good bunch of people that I know would say, Yeah, Harveys a dog or Harveys chasing girls, but again, this is a very different kind of thing," the actor told the Daily Beast. "This is harassment on a very high level. And theres an argument that everyone is complicit in it. I suppose the argument would be that its not just about Hollywood, but about all of usthat every time you see someone using their power and influence to take advantage of someone without power and influence and you dont speak up, youre complicit. And theres no question about that."

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence won an Academy Award for "Silver Linings Playbook," which The Weinstein Company distributed. She called the alleged harassment "inexcusable and absolutely upsetting."



"I worked with Harvey five years ago, and I did not experience any form of harassment personally, nor did I know about any of these allegations. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting," Lawrence said in a statement. "My heart goes out to all of the women affected by these gross actions. And I want to thank them for their bravery to come forward."

Hillary Clinton

Weinstein was a major Democratic Party benefactor, having donated to or raised money for a host of candidates, including Hillary Clinton.



Clinton said that she "was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein. The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior."

Barack and Michelle Obama

Weinstein visited the White House multiple times while Obama was in office after having raised huge funds for his presidential campaign. Earlier this year, Malia Obama also reportedly worked for the Weinstein Company.



"Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein," the Obamas said in a statement. "Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status. We should celebrate the courage of women who have come forward to tell these painful stories. And we all need to build a culture -- including by empowering our girls and teaching our boys decency and respect -- so we can make such behavior less prevalent in the future."

Judi Dench

Judi Dench, who won an Oscar for her performance in the Weinstein-backed "Shakespeare in Love" and was nominated for two other films under his wing, denounced the alleged abuse.



"Whilst there is no doubt that Harvey Weinstein has helped and championed my film career for the past 20 years, I was completely unaware of these offenses which are, of course, horrifying and I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered, and whole-hearted support to those who have spoken out," she said in a statement.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio worked with Weinstein on blockbuster films like Gangs of New York, The Aviator, and Django Unchained.



"There is no excuse for sexual harrassment or sexual assault-- no matter who you are and no matter what profession," DiCarpio said in a Facebook Post. "I applaud the strength and courage of the women who came forward and made their voices heard."

Jessica Chastain

Jessica Chastain has been one of the most outspoken critics of Weinstein and of Hollywood's complicity since The New York Times published its damning report.



"I was warned from the beginning" about Weinstein, she said in a tweet. "The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an environment for it to happen again."

Julianne Moore

Moore, who starred in the Weinstein-backed film "A Single Man," tweeted that "coming forward about sexual abuse and coercion is scary and women have nothing to be gained personally by doing so. But through their bravery we move forward as a culture, and I thank them. Stand with @AshleyJudd @rosemcgowan and others."

Colin Firth

Calling Weinstein a "frightening man to stand up to," Colin Firth told The Guardian that reading about the allegations gave him "a feeling of nausea."



It must have been terrifying for these women to step up and call him out. And horrifying to be subjected to that kind of harassment. I applaud their courage."

Tamron Hall

Its a womans worst nightmare to be in a situation where you believe someone more powerful has control over your life, former "Today" show host Tamron Hall told HuffPost. She called the allegations against Weinstein "horrifying."

Blake Lively

Blake Lively spoke out against Weinstein in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.



The actress said that she was unaware of the abuse but admitted that "it's devastating to hear."



"It's important that women are furious right now. It's important that there is an uprising. It's important that we don't stand for this and that we don't focus on one or two or three or four stories. It's important that we focus on humanity in general and say, 'This is unacceptable.'"

Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts gave a statement to People, saying, A corrupt, powerful man wields his influence to abuse and manipulate women. Weve heard this infuriating, heartbreaking story countless times before. And now here we go again. I stand firm in the hope that we will finally come together as a society to stand up against this kind of predatory behavior, to help victims find their voices and their healing, and to stop it once and for all."

Ryan Gosling

I want to add my voice of support for the women who have had the courage to speak out against Harvey Weinstein, Gosling wrote in a note on Twitter. Like most people in Hollywood, I have worked with him and Im deeply disappointed in myself for being so oblivious to these devastating experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. He is emblematic of a systemic problem. Men should stand with women and work together until there is real accountability and change.

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Mexico City (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Mexico Thursday for high-level talks, on the heels of a tense visit to Washington that saw him spar with US President Donald Trump over trade.

His tour of Canada's partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement comes as negotiators from the three countries meet in the United States for their latest round of what Trump vowed would be "tough" talks on a new version of NAFTA.

Trump has put both Mexico and Canada on the defensive over trade, accusing the former of taking American jobs and the latter of unfair subsidies, and wants to either overhaul or "terminate" NAFTA.

Trade was a touchy subject during Trudeau's visit to Washington, after the US slapped a 220 percent retaliatory duty on Canadian planemaker Bombardier's CS100 and CS300 aircraft over allegations of dumping.

Trudeau in turn threatened to cancel a purchase of 18 fighter jets from American aerospace giant Boeing, saying he had told Trump he "disagreed vehemently" with the US decision.

The prime minister arrives in Mexico looking for a friendly ear in President Enrique Pena Nieto, himself no stranger to hostility from the Trump administration, who will receive Trudeau at the presidential palace with military honors.

Despite their common ground, however, Canada and Mexico are also at odds on some key issues.

Canada, which shares Washington's concern over competition from cheap Mexican labor, is notably pushing for Mexico to improve workers' wages under the new NAFTA -- something the Pena Nieto administration says should be determined by the market, not dictated by a trade deal.

Pena Nieto sought to send a message that Mexico and Canada are better off working together as they forge ahead in the delicate negotiations with the giant and sometimes grumpy neighbor they both share.

"Canada and Mexico are going through one of the best moments of our relationship," he wrote in an op-ed published in Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.

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"The government of Mexico will keep working constructively with Canada to further strengthen our relations, achieve mutual benefits and contribute to reaching our shared goal: to make North America the most prosperous and competitive region in the world."

Trudeau will also visit the Mexican Red Cross, which played a key role in the emergency response after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that rocked Mexico on September 19.

On Friday, he will give a speech to the Mexican senate, whose approval is needed to ratify any renegotiated version of NAFTA.

Mexico and Canada do some $20 billion a year in bilateral trade.

The figure is dwarfed by their trade with the US: more than $480 billion last year for Mexico and more than $540 billion for Canada.
US President Donald Trump delivers a speech during an event at the White House honouring the Pittsburgh Penguins: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

In less than one year as President, Donald Trump has become less popular in every single US state, a new poll shows.

Morning Consult surveyed more than 470,000 Americans between the months of January and September about their opinions on Mr Trump. The pollsters found that the President's approval rating had dropped in every state  including those that supported him in the election  in the eight months since his inauguration.

In fact, Mr Trumps approval rating dropped by double digits in several of the states he won easily in November, including Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Indiana, and Kansas. He saw a slightly less dramatic decline in states where he scored narrow victories, such as Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Overall, his approval rating was down six points, from 49 per cent in January to 43 per cent in September. His disapproval rating, meanwhile, increased by 13 per cent.

In 25 states and the District of Columbia, the majority of voters said they disapproved of Mr Trumps job performance in September.

The drop-off could be due to any number of factors, from the Presidents ongoing disputes with members of his own party to the mounting investigations into his possible collusion with Russia. The GOPs failed attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare also led to drops in Mr Trump's approval rating, as did his controversial response to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

Much of the popularity decline comes from Democrats, who have failed to warm up to the Republican leader. But his approval rating among independents  a crucial demographic in his November victory  has also plummeted, from a fifty-fifty split to -18.

Republican strongholds like Wyoming, West Virginia, and Alabama still support the President by double-digit margins. But the pollsters note what they call an enthusiasm gap among Republicans: The share of GOP voters who strongly approve of Mr Trump declined by 10 points from January to September.

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The gap may be troubling to members of Mr Trump's party, who are trying to keep a Republican Congressional majority in 2018. Eight Republican Senate seats are up for election in 2018, and the President's unpopularity could turn voters against them.

In fact, Democrats in the Senate have already started talking about the possibility of winning back the majority next year, according to Politico.

The map feels a little different today than it did a few weeks ago, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy recently told the outlet. We might be playing a little more offence.
The Trump administration has put in place many of the tenets of an extreme religious liberty order that was leaked earlier in the year  and more is no doubt coming.

LGBTQ activists and allies thought theyd dodged a bullet. But in fact, we were shot in the back.

Lets review: On February 1 of this year, Sarah Posner at The Nation published a leaked draft of the executive order Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom  that Donald Trump apparently was going to sign. And the publication of it created a firestorm. As Posner described it:

The draft order seeks to create wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious or moral objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity, and it seeks to curtail womens access to contraception and abortion through the Affordable Care Act...Language in the draft document specifically protects the tax-exempt status of any organization that believes, speaks, or acts (or declines to act) in accordance with the belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, sexual relations are properly reserved for such a marriage, male and female and their equivalents refer to an individuals immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy, physiology, or genetics at or before birth, and that human life begins at conception and merits protection at all stages of life.

After a furious backlash driven in the media by progressive activists, LGBTQ and womens rights leaders, the administration downplayed the order and distanced itself from it, saying the order was just one draft among many drafts circulating and written by advocates:

White House officials told ABC News that the draft appears to be among the hundreds of possible executive orders that are circulating  drafted by the Trump transition team, the White House policy team or by outside groups  and that not all reflect administration thinking or likely policy. One official did not say who drafted this possible order but did not dispute its authenticity. We do not have plans to sign anything at this time but will let you know when we have any updates, said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokesperson.

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Legal analysts had also stated in much of the media that such a broad order would not stand up to judicial review, and the ACLU and others threatened lawsuits. Coming on the heels of the administrations court losses on the Muslim ban, this seemed to put the White House on the defensive. By no means were activists placated by the White House distancing itself at that time, but at least the White House was on the run a bit.

Three weeks later, at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 25, I interviewed Trump transition official Ken Blackwell, who told me the order was most certainly coming. Blackwell is a senior fellow to the anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council. Blackwell also brought into our conversation former director of Family Research Councils Center for Religious Liberty, Ken Klukowski, whom he said had actually structured the draft order as a legal advisor to the Trump transition team and who was, according to Blackwell, in the process of redrafting the order.

Blackwell envisioned the anchor concept of the order as one that will allow people with devoutly religious beliefs to turn away LGBTQ people in the course of business. Clearly alluding to legal challenges, he said that it must, however, meet the scrutiny of the judicial process and said, were still in the process.

Kuklowski, who had not publicly acknowledged that he was on the transition team, couldnt comment in that regard but as a private citizen said there are several routes to securing religious liberty, and did add that getting conservative judges like Neil Gorsuch on the courts was key too.

The hints of the insidious strategy that would eventually transpire  and the determination of anti-LGBTQ forces  were all there in those comments.

Yet, on May 3, LGBTQ activists breathed a sigh of relief.

Trump Signs Religious Liberty Executive Order That Appears To Leave LGBTQ People Alone went the headline on HuffPost. And it was true, enough so that some anti-LGBTQ advocates were furious. Ryan T. Anderson of the Heritage Foundation slammed the order as woefully inadequate. David French at National Review called it worse than useless. Brian Brown of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage said it falls far short of what is needed to protect people of faith from governmental persecution.

But the Family Research Council (FRC) praised the order, which mostly amounted to letting churches get involved more in politics, and FRC didnt criticize its omission of anti-LGBTQ or other socially conservative directives. And thats because they obviously knew what was coming down the pike.

Realizing that there would be yet another media firestorm and perhaps a tougher legal challenge if Trump signed a broad order, the White House clearly soon went in the direction of putting the components of the order in place piecemeal, something the ACLU had actually warned about, filing a lawsuit in July for all the records surrounding the original order.

What we have in fact seen is much of the original order put in place in little pieces here and there, sometimes meeting with a bit of media backlash, but mostly getting in under the radar or on the medias back burner.

In recent weeks, the Trump White House, Justice Department and other departments have:

Signed a memorandum, the Federal Law Protections for Religious Liberty, in which Attorney General Jeff Sessions defined 20 sweeping, broad principles about religious freedom, and how discrimination by employers and businesses based on their religious beliefs was perfectly acceptable  and obviously that would also mean according to their religious opposition to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Banned transgender people from the military, making them a target for discrimination in all other areas in which the government might target them.

reversed the Obama Department of Justices decision that transgender people are protected against discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, allowing for discrimination against transgender people in businesses across the country.

Filed briefs in cases in federal court and at the Supreme Court allowing for discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual people in employment and public accommodations.

rolled back the birth control mandate under the Affordable Care Act  again, using moralistic religious arguments about how it promotes risky sexual behavior  creating a situation in which millions of women could go without birth control.

All of these elements and more directives that the administration has moved forward on  as well as others that it surely will be moving forward on in the future  were in the original religious liberty executive order.

And now theyre in place, with much less pushback in the media than the original order  and just in time for Trumps speech on Friday to Family Research Councils annual Values Voter Summit.

The religious freedom order we thought wed beaten back is in fact here. This entire strategy shows the insidiousness and determination of anti-LGBTQ forces. And it shows how and why we must be on guard always and stay very much in the fight.

Follow Michelangelo Signorile on Twitter: www.twitter.com/msignorile

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There is something shocking about the leader of the Free World suggesting we remove the licenses of broadcasters he doesnt like: AP

Donald Trump, the entertainer-President, frequently highlights the importance of the US Constitutions Second Amendment. In case youve forgotten, thats the bit that allows pretty much any Tom, Dick or Stephen Paddock to nip into their local gun shop to pick up another semi-automatic to add to their burgeoning collection.

I say Trump knows the importance. In fact, he understands the value  which is basically however many millions of dollars his support for the unencumbered right to bear arms will ensure he receives in donations from the National Rifle Association.

But before you get to the Second Amendment, there is another one to get through. Its catchily called the First Amendment, which maybe reflects its importance to Americas early lawmakers, who enshrined in its words the right to free speech and expression.

On this constitutional nicety, the current US President appears less sold, primarily because it outrageously confers on his fellow Americans permission to disagree with their leader. You can see why he gets himself in such a tizzy over Kim Jong-un: he must be green with envy over the North Koreans ability to control his peoples every thoughts and actions.

Trump has long lambasted the media in his homeland, convinced that every outlet bar Fox and those blogs run by the Kremlin are part of a liberal establishment which is out to get him. His tweets slating the purveyors of fake news are as multitudinous as they are bombastic. And of course his tweets, paranoid and sad (sorry, SAD!) as they are, are themselves protected by the First Amendment.

After months of anti-media vitriol, we should have seen his latest attack coming. Yet there is still something shocking about the leader of the Free World seemingly raise the spectre of removing the licenses of broadcasters he doesnt much like.

First came the tweeted threat: With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country! Then, having no doubt been gladdened by the reaction, he went on to assert: Its frankly disgusting that the press is able to write whatever it wants.

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The Presidents defence  such as it is  is to argue that journalists get things wrong and shouldnt be allowed to get away with it. And hes right that the media does sometimes foul up. But what he identifies as fake news is nothing of the sort  and is usually a view he doesnt agree with or a true but inconvenient fact.

To query the right of respectable, professional journalists to operate is the kind of thing that facile bullies do on social media all the time. That the President of the US is doing it perhaps doesnt surprise anyone nearly a year into his term of office  but it is truly chilling.

In the wake of Harvey Weinsteins fall from grace, some have questioned whether the media was complicit in covering up his despicable behaviour, or in smearing those who rejected his advances. If it was, journalists and their bosses must search their souls.

But Weinsteins exposure  however belated  highlights too the medias crucial role in holding the powerful to account. That is why Trump hates so much of what he sees in the papers and on TV  because he cannot control people who are seeking to shine a spotlight on his policies, his personality and his often bizarre presidency.

Maybe the playground rhyme about sticks and stones breaking bones but names never hurting is a British thing. Evidently Trump doesnt buy it, in any case.

He appears not to give a damn about any number of sticks, stones or bump stocks, however many casualties they cause, because they cant show up his absurdities or prick his ginormous ego. When it comes to words though, they have the capacity to damage him very much.

Yes, the media has an obligation to aim for the truth. But Trump has a duty  to which he must be held  not to take aim at free speech.
Lest anyone gain the impression that President Donald Trump is feeling any regret over his recent provocations of North Korea  calling its leader Rocket Man and threatening to totally destroy the country with fire and fury  recent days have only seen an intensification of the presidents rhetoric. Shortly after mocking his own secretary of state for wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man and telling U.S. military leaders they were in the calm before the storm, Trump called previous U.S. negotiators fools for trying to deal with Pyongyang, ominously tweeting: Sorry, only one thing will work!

The charitable explanation of this approach is that Trump is just playing the master negotiator, staking out a hardline stance to position himself for a deal. Playing good cop/bad cop, he is not really undermining his secretary of state but cleverly bolstering him.

The problem is that there is almost no reason to believe the tactic will work, the chances of miscalculation are high, and if Pyongyang fails somehow to fall for the obvious ploy and cave to Trumps threats, the only remaining outcomes of the crisis are a humiliating U.S. climb-down  or war.

There is good reason to believe Trump is merely posturing. For decades he has described his own negotiating strategy as one in which he aims very high but sometimes settles for less. In a version of President Richard Nixons madman theory, Trump has also said he sees value in giving his adversaries the impression he might be crazy, willing to take risks that his predecessors would not. We also know Trump believes the Obama administration made a mistake in the Iran negotiations by telegraphing that it did not want to go to war with Iran. (As a member of that administration, I can confirm that we did not want to go to war with Iran and were therefore reluctant to claim that we did.)

It is thus plausible that Trump and his team have decided to do the opposite, seeking to convince North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that they are not afraid to use force. This would explain why the U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Defense Secretary James Mattis keep insisting there is a viable military option, even if deep down, they know there is not.

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The problem with this approach is that it is almost certain to fail for three reasons. First, Trumps track record on holding firm on his initial positions is appalling. In foreign policy alone, he has already backed away from threats to withdraw from NATO, increase tariffs on China, move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and tear up the Iran nuclear deal. (His expected decision this week to kick responsibility for that deal to Congress is a classic example of Trumps tendency to back away from his original position while claiming he did not.) The actions he has taken  withdrawing from the Paris climate accords and striking a single airfield in Syria  were notable for being low risk and having almost no short-term consequences: not characteristics one would associate with attacking North Korea.

Second, even if Trump is not bluffing, Kim  like so many insecure dictators before him  is unlikely to realize that until it is too late. In 1991, the U.S. and others encircled Iraq with over 600,000 troops and credibly threatened to attack, yet Saddam Hussein did not withdraw from Kuwait until they actually invaded. In Libya in 2011, Moammar Gadhafi was given the opportunity to remain in power if he agreed to compromise, yet he chose to stand up to all of NATO  until his military was destroyed and he was murdered in the street. The Afghan Taliban, Syrias Bashar al-Assad, and Serbias Slobodan Milosevic all defied credible threats to bomb them and forced the United States and others to actually do so, and none had as good a reason as Kim to doubt that the bombing would actually take place. And of course there are the North Vietnamese, who defied not just threats but massive U.S. airstrikes, including for nearly four years after Nixon tried to convince them he was mad.

Finally, it is hard to see how Trumps threats could produce a negotiated solution while he mocks the very idea of negotiating and humiliating his secretary of state. In the case of Iraq, master negotiator James Baker had the absolute trust and confidence of his president and more than a half-million troops at his disposal, yet was unable to extract concessions from Hussein. It seems implausible to think that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whom Trump has accused of wasting his time and who in the second week of October was unable to deny having called the president a fucking moron, will convince potential interlocutors in Pyongyang he is empowered to cut a durable deal.

If Trump really wanted to make the best of bad options in North Korea, he would define a set of realistic goals  such as freezing the size and quality of Pyongyangs nuclear arsenal and limiting its ballistic missile tests  and convey that objective to Kim. He would underscore that the Norths refusal to agree to such limits would only lead to increasingly painful economic isolation of North Korea and the strengthening of U.S. military support for South Korea and Japan. And he would work closely with those key U.S. allies to forge a common strategy, and empower his top diplomat rather than insulting him.

What he would not do is continue to make threats that are hard to believe, and statements that surprise his allies and risk provoking an unpredictable Kim into calling his bluff.

Perhaps I am wrong, and Kim will conclude that Trump is serious about destroying North Korea and give up his nuclear deterrent.

But to even evoke that scenario only underscores just how unlikely it is. Which means one of two things: Either Trump will back down and once again eat his words, further eroding U.S. credibility in Asia and around the world, or he will strike North Korea, with consequences almost too great to contemplate.

Photo credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Presidents tweets warn aid cant continue forever, and the mayor of San Juan responds You are incapable of empathy and frankly cannot get the job done

People affected by Hurricane Maria bathe in water piped in from a mountain creek, in Naranjito, Puerto Rico, amid concerns about islanders exposure to contaminated water. Photograph: Ramon Espinosa/AP

Donald Trump has seemingly threatened to pull federal emergency support from Puerto Rico a day after his administration reported that desperate people in the US territory have been drinking from contaminated wells due to a lack of water.

In a series of tweets sent on Thursday morning, Trump said: We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. Forever!

The president preceded this with tweets that stated Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes in Puerto Rico and quoted a TV host who said of the territory that a financial crisis looms largely of their own making.

There are currently more than 1,400 Fema personnel in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands responding to the humanitarian crisis that has erupted following hurricanes Maria and Irma.

On Thursday, Fema said it had expanded its leadership team in Puerto Rico following the unprecedented destruction from the hurricanes.

Sufficient aid has yet to reach many people in Puerto Rico, three weeks after much of the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria. More than 80% of the island is without electricity and nearly half of all people are still cut off from communication.

The water situation has become particularly dire, with the state department estimating that about a third of Puerto Ricans are without potable water. This has led to some people attempting to access wells that have been sealed due to toxic pollution, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

On Wednesday, the EPA said it has reports of residents obtaining, or trying to obtain, drinking water from wells at hazardous waste superfund sites in Puerto Rico. Superfund sites are heavily polluted areas that have been designated for federal cleanup.

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The environmental regulator said it was working with Fema to get drinking wells functioning and urged people to not tamper with locked wells or drink their contents. The EPA added that Puerto Ricans should not use water from rivers or streams for drinking or bathing without boiling it first because raw sewage continues to be released into waterways and is expected to continue until repairs can be made and power is restored.

The death toll from Hurricane Maria jumped to 45 people this week, and 113 people remain unaccounted for. The Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, a local investigative journalism project has estimated that the real total is likely to be much higher.

Trumps comments prompted a furious reaction from Puerto Rican leaders.

New York congresswoman Nydia Velasquez said on Twitter that the presidents comments were outrageous, indefensible and irresponsible. We will not allow our govt to abandon our fellow citizens.

America does not abandon fellow citizens during crises!! she wrote.

.@realDonaldTrump certainly made no mention of withdrawing federal resources from TX or FL following #Harvey and #Irma. Shameful! pic.twitter.com/rmRC9Tu4F8  Rep. Nydia Velazquez (@NydiaVelazquez) October 12, 2017

Governor Ricardo Rossello followed suit, saying that the US territory, home to 3.4 million US citizens, was requesting the support that any of our fellow citizens would receive across our Nation.

Carmen Yulin Cruz, mayor of San Juan  an outspoken critic of Trumps response to the disaster  said in a statement addressed to the president that Trumps tweets and comments about Puerto Rico underscore the inadequacy of your governments response to this humanitarian crisis.



It is not that you do not get it, it is that you are incapable of empathy and frankly simply cannot get the job done, she wrote.

Puerto Ricans have suffered greatly in the past month. Two hurricanes devastated our homes and our electrical infrastructure leaving us without the essentials to survive: drinkable water, food and medicine.

But perhaps more frustrating has been the devastating actions, time after time, by a president whose tweets, comments and actions seem to be taken out of a book on how to add insult to injury rather than a book on how to help during a humanitarian crisis.

Amid the furore, Trump had an ally in the House speaker, Paul Ryan, who acknowledged that Puerto Rico was facing a humanitarian crisis, but went on to echo Trumps emphatic declaration that the island would not always have access to federal resources.

Yes, we need to make sure that Puerto Rico can begin to stand on its own two feet, Ryan told reporters Thursday. Theyve already had tough fiscal problems to begin with ... Weve got to do more to help Puerto Rico rebuild its own economy so that it can be self-sufficient.



 This article was amended on 13 October 2017 because Puerto Rico is a US territory, not a state as an earlier version said.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. federal government is working on a long-term plan to help Puerto Rico rebuild after Hurricane Maria tore through the island territory three weeks ago, an administration official said on Wednesday. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to consider on Thursday a $4.9 billion loan for Puerto Rico, proposed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday. But the loan is meant to be a short-term measure to help the island pay urgent bills. "The Community Disaster Loan cannot and does not address the recovery, rebuilding, and future of Puerto Rico, which the administration intends to address with a more long-term solution in concert with the Puerto Rican government, oversight board, court and Congress," the administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Hamas has announced it sealed a unity agreement with rival West Bank-based Fatah after two days of talks in Cairo.

The Head of Gaza-based Islamist group Ismail Haniyeh said both parties reached a deal on the management of Gaza, which has been under the control of Hamas since 2007 after Fatah members were fought out in the wake of 2006 elections won by Hamas.

Haniyeh however noted that details of the deal will be announced during a press conference later on Thursday.

Hamas under intense pressure from Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia agreed to surrender the enclave Strip to Fatah of Mahmoud Abbas who heads the Palestinian Authority.

The Islamist movement lost its traditional supporter Qatar after Doha found itself isolated by the Saudi-led quartet over its alleged endorsement for terrorism.

Hamas has been cashless and squeezed in a dramatic humanitarian situation after Abbas refused to pay Israel Gazas energy bills and Hamas workers.

Gaza, following Hamass takeover, has been under siege both by Israel and Egypt complicating life conditions of close to 2 million Palestinians.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah made a historical visit to Gaza last week. The visit was the first since 2014 following the fall of the unity government.

The reconciliation will be crystal clear with both sides reaching agreement on the security control of Gaza and the fate of the thousands of workers who are on Hamass payroll.

Abbas last week warned that the Palestinian Authority will not accept any copy of Hezbollah of Lebanon in Palestine, referring to Hamas military power in Gaza.
Washington (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threatened Wednesday to cancel a major arms buy from the US over a tariffs row, as talks on a North American free trade deal got off to a rocky start.

Ottawa was set to purchase 18 new Super Hornets fighter jets from Boeing until the American aerospace firm successfully petitioned the Trump administration to impose anti-dumping penalties on its Canadian rival Bombardier over planes sold in the US market.

"I highlighted to the president how we disagreed, vehemently, with Commerce's decision to bring in countervailing and anti-dumping duties against Bombardier," Trudeau told reporters following talks with US President Donald Trump.

Further, "attempts by Boeing to put tens of thousands of aerospace workers out of work across Canada is not something we look on positively. And I certainly mentioned that this was a block to us purchasing any -- making any military procurements from Boeing."

His comments came after Trump had previewed "a tough negotiation" over NAFTA -- a quarter-century-year-old trade pact that also includes Mexico.

Trump has made revamping the pact and reducing US trade deficits a core pillar of his election campaign, but has not set out exactly what changes he would like to make.

"If we can't make a deal, it'll be terminated and that will be fine," Trump said, using his typical bare-knuckle approach to top level diplomacy. "It has to be fair to both countries."

As the pair sat down, trade negotiators huddled nearby in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Virginia for another round of talks, complicated by the aerospace spat.

The US administration, having found Bombardier guilty of receiving state subsidies, slapped a 220 percent countervailing duty on Bombardier CS100 and CS300 aircraft imported into the United States.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced that talks had been extended by 48 hours and would conclude on Tuesday.

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He and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland are expected to make a joint appearance.

"Thus far, we have made good progress, and I look forward to several days of hard work," Lighthizer said.

The United States takes in three quarters of Canadian exports, but trade relations have been strained since Trump's inauguration earlier this year.

- 'Poison pills' -

With a nationalist economic agenda, Trump has denounced the agreement as a job destroyer and a "disaster" for the United States, vowing to reverse offshoring by renegotiating the treaty.

Following the most recent round in Ottawa last month, negotiators said they had made progress on subjects such as telecommunications, competition policy, digital trade, regulation and customs and trade facilitation.

Negotiators have completed talks on NAFTA provisions relating to small and medium enterprises as well as competition, Lighthizer's office said.

The updated provisions on competition will allow for more "procedural fairness" in the enforcement of competition law, the statement said.

A major sticking point has been $64 billion US trade deficit with Mexico, which Washington wants to reduce or eliminate.

IMF Economic Counsellor Maurice Obstfeld warned Tuesday that all three NAFTA countries faced economic consequences if the outcome of the talks ended up disrupting trade relations.

Meanwhile, US Chamber of Commerce president Thomas Donohue said that several issues under discussion could scotch the entire effort.

"There are several poison pill proposals still on the table that could doom the entire deal," he said in a speech delivered in Mexico.

He cited in particular a provision to allow the agreement to expire in five years unless all parties agreed to extend it.

"We all know that certainty and stability are crucial to successful trade relationships -- and necessary to foster a pro-investment environment that drives economic growth and job creation. This clause would achieve the opposite effect."

Following his visit to Washington, Trudeau is due to travel to Mexico, where he will meet with President Enrique Pena Nieto.
By Roberta Rampton and David Ljunggren WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was open to bilateral trade pacts with either Canada or Mexico if a three-way deal cannot be reached to substantially revise the North American Free Trade Agreement. Asked by a reporter if he could envision maintaining free trade with Canada if NAFTA talks sour with Mexico, Trump said: "Oh sure, absolutely. It's possible we won't be able to reach a deal with one or the other, but in the meantime we'll make a deal with one." Trump added that a "very creative" deal was still possible to benefit all three countries. Trump's comments came at a White House meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was in Washington to promote NAFTA's benefits as a new round of renegotiations began near Washington. Asked about Trump's comments at a news conference later, Trudeau said he was still optimistic about the chances of modernizing the 1994 trade pact. "I continue to believe in NAFTA ... so saying, we are ready for anything, and we will continue to work diligently to protect Canadian interests, Trudeau said. Trudeau added that Canada was "very much aware of and very braced for" Trump's unpredictability, but his government would work in a "thoughtful, meaningful way towards getting a good deal." Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, speaking on Mexican radio, praised Trump's comments as "very balanced" to include the possibility of a deal with either country and hold out hope for a creative solution. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday accused Trump's administration of trying to sabotage the talks with "poison pill proposals," including demands for more favorable treatment for the U.S. side on car production, and a "sunset clause" to force regular negotiations. In his appearance with Trudeau, Trump said: "We'll see what happens" when asked whether NAFTA was doomed. "It's possible we won't be able to make a deal, and it's possible that we will," he said. "We'll see if we can do the kind of changes that we need. We have to protect our workers, and in all fairness, the prime minister wants to protect Canada and his people also." U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, one of Trump's top trade advisers, downplayed the chances that a NAFTA termination would become necessary. "We don't hope it will, we don't desire that it will, we don't believe that it will, but it is at least a conceptual possibility as we go forward," Ross said. But U.S. and Mexican corporate chief executives gathered in Mexico City said they would be better off with no NAFTA than be saddled with a "bad agreement." AGGRESSIVE PROPOSALS Trade experts said the NAFTA talks were likely to stall in the face of aggressive U.S. attempts to sharply increase content requirements for autos and auto parts. People briefed on U.S. proposals to be presented this week said Washington was seeking to sharply lift North American content threshold in car manufacturing. The proposals call for North American content overall to rise to 85 percent from the current 62.5 percent. In addition, the United States wants to add a new 50 percent U.S.-specific content requirement, something that was not in the earlier agreements. "These will be met with widespread opposition from Canada and Mexico. I think it's just a bridge too far," said Wendy Cutler, the Asia Society's Washington policy director and former chief U.S. negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal canceled by Trump. The U.S. side sees strengthening the rules of origin for the auto industry as a way to bring back some auto parts production, including electronics, from Asia. But Mexico strongly opposes a U.S.-specific content requirement, which would limit the growth of its own car industry. The difficult issue of rules of origin will be addressed mostly at the end of the current talks, according to a schedule obtained by Reuters. The negotiations were extended on Wednesday by two days to Oct 17. Other U.S. proposals opposed by Canada, Mexico and U.S. business interests include the five-year sunset provision, radical changes to NAFTA's dispute arbitration systems, changes to intellectual property provisions and new protections for U.S. seasonal produce growers. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Wednesday the three nations had completed their negotiations on company competition policy, reaching an agreement that goes beyond previous U.S. trade deals to ensure "certain rights and transparency under each nation's competition laws." (Additional reporting by David Lawder, Ginger Gibson, Makini Brice and Susan Heavey in Washington and Ana Isabel Martinez and Dave Graham in Mexico City; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Tom Brown and Peter Cooney)
Donald Trump said NBC should lose its broadcast license after the networks news division reported on comments he allegedly made about radically expanding the U.S.s nuclear arsenal during a national security meeting.

The network said the president surprised the military by making a request for an almost tenfold increase of nuclear weapons in a meeting over the summer, which allegedly prompted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to call Trump a moron.

Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Trump denied making the request and wrote: Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a tenfold increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!

With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!

Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a tenfold increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017

With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017

The Executive Director of the First Amendment Coalition, David Snyder, told Newsweek the comment from Trump was something more akin to a statement the leader of some authoritarian country would make.

Broadcast licenses have previously been revoked by authoritarian leaders including the late former president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez, who nullified a number of broadcast licenses of stations that displayed stringent anti-Chavez views.

I think its stunning even for Trump to say that a news organization should have its broadcast license revoked, to even suggest that thats what should happen is a stunning statement, Snyder said.

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The whole point of the First Amendment is to make sure the government cant stop speech before it happened and the government cant censor speech because it disagrees with what that speech says, said Snyder.

Even if Trump is right and the story is completely invented, there is no basis under the First Amendment to ensure NBC loses its broadcast license, which would mean that it would have to stop broadcasting.

Snyder added it was important to keep in mind that Trump has made similar sweeping statements on Twitter on previous occasions, without any action.

But the risk of making these statements, even if they are not followed through, is Trump is setting a tone that suggests the government should be in the business of determining what is true and falseand has the right and the ability to stop speech. And that is profoundly wrong under the First Amendment, Snyder said.

Indeed, Trumps threat seems rather difficult to carry out given the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not directly license networks. The agency grants licenses to broadcast television stations, 28 of which are owned by NBCs parent company NBC Universal.

The FCC was not immediately reachable for comment.

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President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to withdraw federal aid from Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory continues struggling to recover from back-to-back hurricanes.

In a series of tweets, Trump quoted conservative journalist and frequent Fox News guest Sharyl Attkison blaming Puerto Rico for its festering financial crisis and suggested Federal Emergency Management Agency aid could soon end.

Congress to decide how much to spend, Trump tweeted. We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!

"Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making." says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

...accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

...We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

Puerto Rican officials have pleaded with the government for more help after the island was pounded by major hurricanes Irma and Maria last month. San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, among others, has harshly criticized the Trump administration response.

Cruz responded to Trumps Thursday tweets with a fresh blast, calling him a hater-in-chief.

@POTUS your comments about Puerto Rico are unbecoming of a Commander in Chief they seem more to come from a Hater in Chief.  Carmen Yulin Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) October 12, 2017

The House of Representatives is set to vote Thursday on a disaster relief bill that includes a $4.9 billion loan for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Puerto Rican governor estimates $95 billion in damage.

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Roughly 83 percent of the island remained without power and more than one-third was without access to drinking water. Impassable roads blocked rescue and recovery crews from remote areas. More than 5,600 people were still living in shelters, according to a government website tracking Puerto Ricos recovery.

FEMA officials told The Guardian the government and its partners provide 200,000 meals a day, but millions of people are in need of aid.

Last week, Trump announced a vague plan to wipe away the Puerto Rican governments $73 billion debt. White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney attempted to walk back the presidents comments.

Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly praised himself and his administration for what he claims is a job well done. He visited the island last week, tossing rolls of paper towels at storm victims and complaining that the islands crisis had thrown our budget a little out of whack.

Nobody could have done what Ive done for #PuertoRico with so little appreciation. So much work! pic.twitter.com/k2jAkIpfjI  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2017

This article has been updated to include the San Juan mayors response and the latest recovery statistics.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
A scene from 1967s Mad Monster Party? (Credit: Lionsgate)

Youve checked in with The Simpsons latest Treehouse of Horror. Youve paid your annual respects to Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Now what?

Heres your viewing guide to a half-dozen high-quality, off-the-trick-or-treat-path Halloween TV specials of yesteryear. (Please take note of the deliberate use of the phrase high quality. The Paul Lynde Halloween Special will not be discussed here except in passing, specifically to note that you can find the whole strange thing on YouTube; look for rock band KISS at about the 26-minute mark. Youre welcome.)

Though cult favorites all, these shows have fallen out of the regular TV rotation  but they deserved to be rediscovered. Settle in.

1. Mad Monster Party?

In another time, this 1967 Rankin-Bass production  available on DVD and for rent on streaming services like Amazon, Vudu, and Google Play  was anything but an obscure-ish gem; it was rerun on TV every October as sure as Rankin-Basss Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was rerun every December. But it didnt have the rep of Rudolph; it was actually a failed theatrical release that found its way to syndication. But no matter, its a stop-motion joy starring the voice of the Boris Karloff and an all-star collection of classic-monster characters, from Dracula to the Werewolf. To be honest, its a little slow, but Phyllis Dillers cackle really never gets old.

2. Winter of the Witch

No less than the The New York Times covered the cult of this once-upon-a-time classroom staple from 1969. The film, now easy to track down on the internet, is being discovered by a generation of adults in their 30s and 40s with a fervor more typically associated with locating a long-lost relative than a kiddie movie, the newspaper reported in 2011, and accurately so. As its title suggests, Winter of the Witch is technically not a Halloween special, but: one, its got a witch, and two, its got a blueberry-pancake scene thats as eerie as it is psychedelic.

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3. Halloween Is Grinch Night

If Mad Monster Party? has lived in the shadow of Rudolph, then this animated special has been absolutely buried by Dr. Seusss other holiday classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Did you even know this existed until now? Did you know that it has existed for 40 years? (It premiered in 1977, about a decade after the primetime arrival of the Yuletide Grinch.) Did you know it won the Emmy for Outstanding Childrens Special? Did you know that its fine seasonal TV in its own right? If not, check it out. The music by Joe Raposo, best known for his Sesame Street classics, is lovely, and actor Hans Conried is an able storyteller in place of Karloff, who was the voice of the original Grinch holiday cartoon and who died in 1969.

4. The Night That Panicked America

This TV movie about Orson Welless infamous radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds premiered on Halloween night 1975. (Welles and his team put on their show on Oct. 30, 1938, hence the storys Halloween association.) The movie, featuring a host of 1970s primetime stalwarts, including the young John Ritter, is a solid dramatization of unfounded public panic that still has resonance today. As a bonus, it features a restrained screenplay by sci-fi/fantasy favorite Nicholas Meyer (Time After Time, Star Trek II, Star Trek IV, and Star Trek VI).

5. The Worst Witch

The Tim Curry Halloween movie for the whole family, about a boarding school for aspiring broomstick types, also boasts the fabulous Diana Rigg, Fairuza Balk (TheCraft), the post-Facts of Life Charlotte Rae, and production design that screams HBO in the mid-1980s. (Yes, we know The Worst Witch was a British coproduction, but then again, thats what HBO originals looked like in the mid-1980s: things that were not quite of Hollywood.) In any case, the movie is a charming reminder of those simple days before the Hogwarts Express rolled into the creative space.

6. The Halloween Tree

This animated, feature-length, Emmy-winning, made-for-TV version of Ray Bradburys novel of the same name was a seasonal staple of the Cartoon Network in the 1990s and into the 2000s. Animation giant Hanna-Barbera, a sister company of the network, produced the special, now on home video and available for rent via Amazon and Google Play. You know youre in good hands, so to speak, when the great Bradbury is the first voice you hear. (Leonard Nimoy is no slouch as the neighbor you dont want to run into on a dark and stormy Halloween night, Mr. Moundshroud.)

[Editors note: A version of this story was originally published in October 2014.]

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
Tim Clark, Head of Emirates has indicated that the Dubai-based airline he runs is keen on partnering with rival Abu Dhabi-based Etihad in areas such as procurement but ruled out a tie-up.

There are many areas that the airlines could work together on like procurement. But we have to go the first jump first to understand what it is we could do and Im simply the manager of one of the businesses, he said.

Rumors for a merger of the two companies supported by the Emirati government were circulated early this year due to slump of benefits at the level of both entities.

Clark in March rejected the rumors. He confirmed on Wednesday that a combination of the two is not on the agenda for the time being.

The Dubai-based airline has announced a union with its low coast sister airline Flydubai to codeshare on 29 routes. It is also working on a deal with Australian carrier Qantas.

Etihads newly appointed CEO Tony Douglas is expected to sustain the companys growth.

Douglas who will take office January next year will expand and implement a range of strategic initiatives to position Etihad for sustained success, the Abu Dhabi-based company said.
Geneva (AFP) - The UN human rights chief warned Thursday that serious violations were "endemic" in many detention centres in Libya, but said he was "optimistic" that authorities were intent on improving the situation.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who this week became the first UN rights chief to make an official visit to Libya, welcomed commitments he received from authorities, including Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, and the ministers of Justice and Interior, to address a wide range of abuses.

But he warned that "the human rights situation in Libya continues to be marked by widespread abuses and violations perpetrated by all sides to the conflict with complete impunity."

Libya has plunged into chaos since the overthrow of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with dozens of armed factions, filling the power vacuum.

The country has also become the main launchpad for African migrants trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean in boats operated by smugglers, but many of the migrants are also detained in the country, reportedly in horrific conditions.

In addition to his meetings with members of Libya's government, Zeid said he had met with civil society and women's human rights groups, and had visited one of the country's main prisons and a camp for displaced people during his one-day visit on Tuesday.

"Thousands of people are held arbitrarily in detention centres across the country, some since the 2011 armed conflict, many subjected to torture and ill-treatment," he said.

"Armed groups unlawfully kill and hold hostage civilians and combatants. Civilian men, women and children are killed and injured every week by the indiscriminate use of weapons," he added.

Zeid especially stressed the "horrific" reports emerging from a number of detention centres, including the Mitigia detention centry.

"The situation there needs to be addressed urgently, as do other facilities where abuses are endemic," he warned.

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Zeid acknowledged that "the large-scale near-collapse in the justice system, the power and influence of armed groups, and the many challenges faced by the Government are real."

But he insisted that there was still much the government could do to improve the situation, urging it to "halt the practice of arbitrary detention, and to ensure accountability for the abuses perpetrated against migrants in detention centres."

He said authorities had told him one of the detention centres in Surman, where there have been serious allegations of sexual abuse, had been closed, stressing that his office was working with the government to confirm that this was the case.

"The human rights challenges in Libya are massive, but they are not insurmountable," Zeid said.
A Hezbollah fighter is seen standing at attention in an orange field near the town of Naqura on the Lebanese-Israeli border on 20 April 2017: AFP/Getty

Donald Trumps administration is offering millions of dollars in rewards for two senior Hezbollah operatives because of growing fears of a homeland threat to the US, the State Department has announced.

A total of $12 million (9 million) is on offer for information leading to the arrest of Talal Hamiyah and Fuad Shukr, National Counterterrorism Centre Director Nicholas Rasmussen told reporters in Washington DC on Tuesday - the first such bounties on the heads of Hezbollah leaders in more than a decade.

While I'm not here today to speak publicly about any specific, or credible, or imminent threat to the homeland, Mr Rasmussen told reporters, We in the intelligence community do in fact see continued activity on behalf of Hezbollah here inside the homeland.

It's our assessment that Hezbollah is determined to give itself a potential homeland option as a critical component of its terrorism playbook and that is something that those of us in the counter-terrorism community take very, very seriously.

Two men were arrested in New York and Michigan in June on charges of providing material support to the Lebanon-based Shia militant organisation.

The armed wing of Hezbollah - which was formed in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 - is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and most other countries. It is rare for the group, which is allied to regional power Iran, to engage in violence outside the Middle East.

It has been pointed out that the new rewards come at a time of heightened tensions between the US and Tehran as President Trump prepares to scrap the 2015 nuclear deal.

The new measures against the two Hezbollah operatives are widely viewed as part of the administrations broader aim of pressuring Iran and its proxies.

A Hezbollah official told the AP on Tuesday that the move, and recent sanctions, are part of the continuous efforts to demonize Hezbollah.

They are false accusations that will not have any effect on the operational activities of Hezbollah, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with party regulations.

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There is a $7 million (5.3 million) reward for information about Talal Hamiyah, who the State Department believes has orchestrated attacks, hijackings and kidnappings targeting US citizens.

Another $5 million (3.8 million) is being offered for Fuad Shukr, who runs Hezbollahs military operations in the south of the country, on the border with Israel, and is believed to play a key role in Hezbollahs operations in the Syrian civil war on the behalf of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
As his Secretary of State was negotiating with China in an effort to find a way to lower tensions with North Korea, President Trump undercut the nation's top diplomat tweeting that he was " wasting his time " engaging in mediation. This is one  but far from the only  example of dysfunctional diplomacy afflicting the administration. If not soon corrected, the damage done to the country could be severe. For months, the administration has been trying to apply enough pressure on North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un to force him into giving up his nuclear weapons program. A common refrain among the many so-called experts weighing in on why Kim stubbornly refuses to give up his nukes is that the reclusive dictator is irrational, arrogant, or just plain crazy. This much is certain: Kim is a brutal, murderous, and vicious leader. He is not, however, suicidal, and is in fact acting quite rationally based on his worldview.Fundamentally, looking at situations from another's perspective does not condone their actions, does not concede any of their points, nor acknowledge their views are valid. But when negotiating with any partnerand especially an adversaryit is critical we understand what motivates their actions, what they fear, and what they desire. It is instructive to determine why the Kim dictators have pursued nuclear weapons so emphatically. First, the reason isn't to gain the ability to attack American cities or personnel in an offensive strike. Their overriding and unambiguous purpose is to provide the regime with the ability to deter invasion and attack from its much stronger neighbors and the U.S., a country with which it warred in the 1950s at great cost. Given recent history, they believe they must possess a credible, deliverable nuclear weapon to prevent the U.S . from ever invading or trying to change the regime by force. We don't have to wonder what North Korea's foreign policy objectives are in this current standoff, as their official news agency has plainly stated : "Our final goal is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the U.S. and make the U.S. rulers dare not talk about military option for the DPRK." Perhaps the biggest impediment to solving this predicament with North Korea is not President Trump's decidedly undiplomatic behaviorthough this clearly narrows our available policy optionsbut on the myopic foreign policy actions U.S. leaders have taken generally over the past several decades, and in the past few years in particular. One of the drivers of North Korean fears is their assessment of U.S. foreign policy practiced on Libya. In December 2003, the Bush administration negotiated a deal with Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to disband its nuclear weapons program in exchange for various economic and security promises. The process was effectively completed in 2009 but two years later, the international community, aided by President Obama, deemed Gaddafi a menace and ordered airstrikes that brought his regime down, and the Libyan leader was later killed in the streets . This decision continues to hamstring American efforts abroad to this day.Kim is convinced that should he ever give up his nuclear deterrent, a day will come when we decide to attack himand without nuclear weapons to deter us, he'll be vulnerable.If Washington policymakers believe that making life harder for the North Koreans is going to force them to submit to U.S. pressure and give up the only deterrent they believe can ensure their survival, we doom our policy to failure before it even beginsan increasingly recurrent theme.If the administration doesn't change course, the best outcome we could hope for regarding North Korean is perpetual frustration at our inability to accomplish security objectives; the worst case is a nuclear war leading to the deaths of millions of South Koreans, Japanese, and Americans in the region.Dramatic and immediate changes in the way America conducts foreign policy must be made. We have to examine and understand the viewpoint of our friends and adversaries and then propose and pursue policy solutions that can rationally be accomplishedand then hold true to our word. Neglecting to do so puts us on a path to long-term failure. Commentary by Daniel L. Davis, a senior fellow for Defense Priorities and a former Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army who retired in 2015 after 21 years, including four combat deployments. Follow him on Twitter @DanielLDavis1 . For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter. As his Secretary of State was negotiating with China in an effort to find a way to lower tensions with North Korea, President Trump undercut the nation's top diplomat tweeting that he was " wasting his time " engaging in mediation. This is one  but far from the only  example of dysfunctional diplomacy afflicting the administration. If not soon corrected, the damage done to the country could be severe. For months, the administration has been trying to apply enough pressure on North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un to force him into giving up his nuclear weapons program. A common refrain among the many so-called experts weighing in on why Kim stubbornly refuses to give up his nukes is that the reclusive dictator is irrational, arrogant, or just plain crazy. This much is certain: Kim is a brutal, murderous, and vicious leader. He is not, however, suicidal, and is in fact acting quite rationally based on his worldview. Fundamentally, looking at situations from another's perspective does not condone their actions, does not concede any of their points, nor acknowledge their views are valid. But when negotiating with any partnerand especially an adversaryit is critical we understand what motivates their actions, what they fear, and what they desire. It is instructive to determine why the Kim dictators have pursued nuclear weapons so emphatically. First, the reason isn't to gain the ability to attack American cities or personnel in an offensive strike. Their overriding and unambiguous purpose is to provide the regime with the ability to deter invasion and attack from its much stronger neighbors and the U.S., a country with which it warred in the 1950s at great cost. Given recent history, they believe they must possess a credible, deliverable nuclear weapon to prevent the U.S . from ever invading or trying to change the regime by force. We don't have to wonder what North Korea's foreign policy objectives are in this current standoff, as their official news agency has plainly stated : "Our final goal is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the U.S. and make the U.S. rulers dare not talk about military option for the DPRK." Perhaps the biggest impediment to solving this predicament with North Korea is not President Trump's decidedly undiplomatic behaviorthough this clearly narrows our available policy optionsbut on the myopic foreign policy actions U.S. leaders have taken generally over the past several decades, and in the past few years in particular. One of the drivers of North Korean fears is their assessment of U.S. foreign policy practiced on Libya. In December 2003, the Bush administration negotiated a deal with Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to disband its nuclear weapons program in exchange for various economic and security promises. The process was effectively completed in 2009 but two years later, the international community, aided by President Obama, deemed Gaddafi a menace and ordered airstrikes that brought his regime down, and the Libyan leader was later killed in the streets . This decision continues to hamstring American efforts abroad to this day. Kim is convinced that should he ever give up his nuclear deterrent, a day will come when we decide to attack himand without nuclear weapons to deter us, he'll be vulnerable. If Washington policymakers believe that making life harder for the North Koreans is going to force them to submit to U.S. pressure and give up the only deterrent they believe can ensure their survival, we doom our policy to failure before it even beginsan increasingly recurrent theme. If the administration doesn't change course, the best outcome we could hope for regarding North Korean is perpetual frustration at our inability to accomplish security objectives; the worst case is a nuclear war leading to the deaths of millions of South Koreans, Japanese, and Americans in the region. Dramatic and immediate changes in the way America conducts foreign policy must be made. We have to examine and understand the viewpoint of our friends and adversaries and then propose and pursue policy solutions that can rationally be accomplishedand then hold true to our word. Neglecting to do so puts us on a path to long-term failure. Commentary by Daniel L. Davis, a senior fellow for Defense Priorities and a former Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army who retired in 2015 after 21 years, including four combat deployments. Follow him on Twitter @DanielLDavis1 . For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.



More From CNBC


Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, Commander of the US 7th Fleet - EPA

The collision of the USS John S.McCain guided missile destroyer with a merchant ship near Singapore in August that killed 10 sailors was preventable, the U.S. Navy said after it relieved the warship's commander and his deputy from their duties.

"The commanding officer exercised poor judgement, and the executive officer exercised poor leadership of the ship's training program," the USS Seventh Fleet said in a statement released in Japan on Wednesday.

A spate of U.S. naval collisions this year has resulted in a major leadership shake up in the U.S. Navy in Asia as it tackles increased tensions with North Korea and engages in operations in the South China Sea that challenge Beijing's growing control of the waterway.

The U.S. Navy in August ordered a fleet wide probe and removed Seventh Fleet chief Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, citing a lack of confidence in his ability to command.

Last month Admiral Scott Swift, responsible for U.S. naval forces in the Pacific, said he plans to retire after being passed over for promotion to the chief of all military forces in the region.

Navy sailors cover an unidentified body on to the deck of KD Lekiu frigate after it was recovered in the waters off the Johor coast of Malaysia Credit: AP

The McCain's sister ship, the Fitzgerald, almost sank off the coast of Japan in June after colliding with a Philippine container ship. That incident claimed the lives of seven U.S. sailors.

In May, a South Korean fishing vessel collided with the guided-missile cruiser Lake Champlain, while another guided-missile cruiser, Antietam, damaged its propellers in January while anchoring in Tokyo Bay.

The McCain's captain, Commander A. Sanchez, and his executive officer, Commander J. Sanchez, were reassigned to other duties in Japan, where the Seventh Fleet is headquartered, the Navy said.

The Seventh Fleet operates as many as 70 ships, including the U.S. navys only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, and has about 140 aircraft and 20,000 sailors.
(Reuters) - A Utah police lieutenant who ordered a detective to arrest a nurse after she refused to let the detective take a blood sample from an unconscious patient without a warrant was demoted on Wednesday, according to a police spokesman and police records.

James Tracy, a lieutenant who was the watch commander at the time of the July 26 incident, was demoted to officer. A lawyer for Tracy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Detective Jeff Payne, accused of assaulting and unlawfully arresting the nurse, was fired from the force on Tuesday, according to Salt Lake City police spokesman Detective Robert Ungricht and police records.

"We are disappointed with the decision and will be filing an appeal this week. We acknowledge the wrongful conduct but believe termination is not the proper remedy," Payne's attorney, Greg Skordas, said in an email.

Police chief Mike Brown decided to terminate Payne's employment after reviewing information about the incident, records showed.

"I am deeply troubled by your lack of sound professional judgment and your discourteous, disrespectful, and unwarranted behavior, which unnecessarily escalated a situation that could and should have been resolved in a manner far different from the course of action you chose to pursue," Brown said in a memorandum to Payne.

Brown said Tracy showed a lack of judgment and leadership.

Ungricht declined to comment further, citing pending expected civil litigation from the men and open investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and district attorney.

Body camera footage of Payne taking nurse Alexandra Wubbels into custody made headlines. The footage shows Payne roughly handcuffing Wubbels and shoving her into an unmarked squad car after she refused to let him draw blood from an unconscious man, who had been badly injured when he crashed at the end of a police chase.

Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski and Brown previously apologized to Wubbels.

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Payne was fired last month from his second job as a part-time paramedic.

Hospital representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the firing and demotion.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; Editing by Frances Kerry)
Inspired by an upcoming Italian honeymoon, this couple drew from the beauty of their favorite place while planning their wedding. The result is a delicious mix of fall colored blooms by Stacy K Floral, and tablescapes dotted with the flavors of Italy. From olive branches at each place setting to signage of all their favorite spots, see how New York perfectly melds with Italy through the gorgeous images by Michael & Carina.

From the Photographers... Lindsey and Justin married on the most beautiful day at a vineyard in New York and celebrated with their friends and family in style. The couple is headed to Italy on their honeymoon; to celebrate their love for Italy, the wedding decor was heavily inspired by their favorite place. Fruits and wine were carefully placed on each table in the reception area and each table had a special Italian city they were inspired by.

Photography: Michael and Carina Photography | Cinematography: Jacquelyn Daley Photography | Floral Design: Stacy K Floral | Wedding Dress: Pronovias | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Hayley Paige | Hair Stylist: Cristina Magliocchetti | Calligraphy : Hanwriting | Groom's Attire: Jos. A. Bank | Accessories: BHLDN | Film Lab: Richard Photo Lab | Paper Goods: Minted | Ribbons: Tono & Co
Near Humacao, Puerto Rico A message written on top of a building is seen from the air during recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria near Humacao, Puerto Rico, Oct.10, 2017. (Photo: Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

President Trump warned on Thursday, Oct. 12, that he couldnt have federal relief workers in Puerto Rico indefinitely even as the hurricane-ravaged island struggles to recover.

We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever! Trump tweeted early Thursday after quoting conservative television host Sharyl Attkisson and suggesting that Puerto Ricos poor infrastructure was a disaster before Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma struck.

Here is an aerial view of the devastation to the island.

See FULL STORY by Dylan Stableford /Yahoo News

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One 11-year-old says she feels like a million, gillion things just exploded in her heart after she learned she was getting adopted.

Read: Woman Surprised on Her Birthday With Son She Gave Up for Adoption 18 Years Ago

Tannah Butterfield couldn't contain her excitement after learning she was getting adopted, along with her 6-year-old brother Teagun and 2-year-old sister Tallie.

"I felt, like, so happy," Tannah told Inside Edition. "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Jennifer and Jeff Fisher, who have two children of their own, have fostered Tannah and her siblings for two years. They will now be formally adopting them.

"It made my heart really, really happy to realize what we've been doing has been worth it and that everyone's so happy, Jennifer said.

When the judge formally approved the adoption, they asked Jackie Alexander, an office manager at the American Heritage School in South Jordon, Utah, to relay the joyous news.



"I grabbed her by her shoulders and I just said, 'Baby, have you heard the news?' I said, 'You get your family. Everything went great in court today. You get your forever family,' Alexander recalled.

School surveillance camera captured Tannah jumping into Alexander's arms. It went viral after she posted it on Instagram.

"I cry every time I watch the video," Alexander said. "I cry every time I get a message from somebody that said they needed some light in their day."

Read: Couple Films Shocked Reactions as They Tell Family and Friends They're Adopting 4 Kids

Now Tannah is looking forward to a happy life with her forever family.

"I know they're safe people and I know that they love me and I know that they will always be there for me and I just love them, she said.

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White House chief of staff John Kelly denied claims that President Trump wanted to dramatically increase the number of nuclear weapons in the United States arsenal, stating instead that the president was more interested in eliminating them.

In spite of what someone reported the other day about President [Trump], Kelly told a reporter during Thursdays White House briefing, What hes said to me many, many times and to the group oftentimes I hear him most say about nuclear weapons: Wouldnt it be great if we could get rid of them all, as opposed to we need 10 times more, he added.

Kelly continued: So even more than when he references maintenance of nuclear weapons, modernization, it doesnt mean increase in numbers. I hear him talk more, Wouldnt it be great, how could we get rid of nuclear weapons?

Kelly was responding to a report from NBC News earlier this week that Trump had a July meeting in which he said he wanted a tenfold increase in the nuclear arsenal, surprising military and diplomatic officials. The comments reportedly happened in the same meeting that resulted in Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling Trump a moron.

During a Republican primary debate, Trump credited the power of nuclear weapons as being so massive it provided the United States with security that didnt require the deployment of military forces.

With nuclear, the power, the devastation, is very important to me, added Trump in December 2015.

An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test just after midnight, May 3, 2017, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. (Photo: William Collette/U.S. Air Force via AP)

Trump has fiercely denied the NBC report, even going as far as to threaten the networks broadcast license.

I never discussed increasing it, Trump said on Wednesday. I wanted it in perfect shape. That was just fake news by NBC.

Right now we have so many nuclear weapons. I want them to be completely in perfect shape, the president continued. We wont need an increase. I want modernization and I want rehabilitation. Its got to be in top-top shape.

He added: I know the capability we have, believe me, and it is awesome. It is massive. So when they make up stories like that, thats just made up, and the generals will tell you that. And then they have sources that dont exist, they dont exist. They make up the sources. There are no sources.

In separate statement, Defense Secretary James Mattis said, Recent reports that the president called for an increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal are absolutely false.



NBC stands by its reporting.
Sally Jones pictured with her with baby boy, Joe, who was born on December 19, 2004 at Gillinghams Medway Maritime Hospital. (SWNS)

British Isis recruiter Sally-Anne Jones, dubbed the White Widow, is understood to have been killed in a US drone strike.

Jones was killed close to the border between Syria and Iraq by a US Air Force strike in June, according to The Sun.

She and her husband Junaid Hussain went to Syria in 2013 to join Isis in 2013.

A photoshopped image of Sally-Anne Jones taken from her Twitter account dressed as a gun-toting nun (Twitter)

Hussain was killed by a US drone in 2015. He is thought to have been planning barbaric attacks against the West, including terror plots targeting high profile public commemorations that summer.

News of her death was not made public amid fears that her 12-year-old son JoJo may also have been killed.

Jones was known as Mrs Terror and the White Widow (Unknown)

Who was Sally Jones?

Mum-of-two Jones, 50, was born in Greenwich, London.

She moved to Chatham in Kent where it is thought she worked as a perfume saleswoman for LOreal. She is also known to have been a punk rocker in a band called Krunch.

She became known as Mrs Terror after marrying Junaid Hussain, who was in charge of recruiting new hackers to Isis, before the pair fled to Syria in 2013.

She took her son from a previous relationship with her, while her 20-year-old son remain in the UK.

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Why was she so wanted by the US?

Jones is accused of being one of the most prolific planners in terror attacks. It is claimed she was one of those behind a failed plot to kidnap and film the beheading of a US army vet.

US authorities believe she and her husband were behind at least a dozen Isis terror plots, including a plot to target the Queen during VJ Day celebrations in 2015.

She used her Twitter account to recruit women and provided practical advice on how to travel to Syria.

Story continues

Jones married Junaid Hussain before travelling to Syria (Rex)

What about her 12-year-old son?

Jones is said to have used her young son, JoJo, as a human shield to protect herself whenever she went outside. His father said Jones brainwashed the boy, who was reportedly forced to execute Isis prisoners.

He was renamed Hamza and has been seen in Isis videos. He would not have been deliberately targeted in the attack due to his age and may have been killed accidentally.

A return to Britain?

Jones, who was also known as Umma Hussain al Britani, was reportedly desperate to flee the Kurdish refugee camp in Syria where she lived and return to Britain.

Her friend Aisha told Sky News: She was crying and wants to get back to Britain but Isis is preventing her because she is now a military wife. Thousands of Brits signed a petition to block Jones from ever returning to the UK.

Jones is believed to have been killed by a US drone (Af.mil)

How was she killed?

Jones was reportedly killed by the CIA in a drone strike close to the border between Syria and Iraq. News of her death was kept from the public as the US were not sure if her son was also killed.

Her death has not been 100% confirmed due to a lack of DNA evidence. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: We do not comment on matters of national security.
It seems that several prominent Algerian personalities can no longer take it or hold their tongues. They say enough is enough. The political masquerade and the drama unfolding in Algeria must end, the sooner the better for the interest of the Algerian people held hostage by political & economic crisis, which has reached its apex.

Among the furious voices calling for political change in the North African country, two former ministers and one retired general who urge Algerians to unify their ranks to enable the country avoid descending into chaos.

These are Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi, former foreign minister and presidential candidate in 1999, Ali Yahia Abdenour, ex-minister, lawyer and human rights activist and retired General Rachid Benyelles, former navy chief.

Thats enough!, they said in a press release published lately by Algerian media, stirring a fresh debate on the capabilities of the head of state to rule and remain in office.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is no longer able to lead the country due to his health condition, they added voicing opposition to his bid for a 5th mandate.

The current head of state, very heavily handicapped, is clearly no longer able to continue to lead the country, they stressed in their joint statement.

In any other democratic country, such a situation would have led either to a voluntary resignation by the President for the sake of the Nations supreme interests or to constitutional removal from office, they underlined.

Bouteflika, who is 80 and has held office since 1999, won a fourth term in a 2014 election after he suffered the previous year a stroke that affected his speech and mobility.

He has since used a wheelchair during his rare appearances in public.

Members of his team have publicly suggested that he may run for a fifth term in 2019 elections.

In their joint statement, Ahmed Taleb Ibrahimi, Ali Yahia Abdenour and retired navy chief Rachid Benyelles said Bouteflika should be barred from seeking a fifth term.

They accused those who really hold power  namely the presidents family circle and a group of powerful oligarchs  of preparing as candidate an old man who is impotent and unable to express himself.

Their statement follows numerous calls by opposition figures, intellectuals and academics for Bouteflikas removal.

In power since 1999, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who rarely appears in public, holds a record of longevity at the head of Algeria.
Vienna (AFP) - Austria is set to move to the right in elections on Sunday with conservative Sebastian Kurz expected to become Europe's youngest head of government and form a coalition with the anti-immigration Freedom Party.

The centre-right People's Party (OeVP), rebranded by Kurz, 31, as his personal turquoise "movement", is forecast to come first with over 30 percent, polls suggest.

But in a fresh triumph for Europe's populists just after Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the third-biggest party in parliament there, the Freedom Party (FPOe) looks set to be second or third with at least 25 percent -- double the AfD's score.

Austria has had almost 150,000 asylum claims since 2015, making the wealthy Alpine country of 8.75 million one of Europe's highest recipients per capita.

Like the AfD, France's National Front and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, the FPOe -- which almost won the presidency in December -- has stoked concerns about the influx, while also moving left on social issues.

"No, Islam is not part of Austria," party head Heinz-Christian Strache, 48, recently told a cheering, flag-waving FPOe rally.

Immigration must stop "until further notice", its programme says, and asylum is temporary.

"Strache is the counterweight to (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel whose 'welcome culture' is destroying Europe," one FPOe supporter told AFP, not wishing to give his name. "Austrians should come first."

- Novelty act -

"Wunderwuzzi" ("whizz-kid") Kurz took over the OeVP in May and ended its acrimonious "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats (SPOe).

Presenting himself as a breath of fresh air despite being in the government since 2011 and the OeVP having been in power nonstop since 1987, the foreign minister helped his party leapfrog the FPOe to lead opinion polls.

This was partly thanks to Kurz swinging to the right, talking tough on immigration and pledging to both shut Islamic kindergartens and cut welfare payments for foreigners.

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Kurz and Strache also see eye-to-eye on lowering taxes, reforming Austria's bloated bureaucracy and wanting the EU to be less involved in how the country is run.

The once-mighty SPOe, in government for a total of around 60 years since 1945, looks set to be the main loser on Sunday despite it too taking a harder line on migrants.

Chancellor Christian Kern, 51, whose business acumen gave the SPOe hope when he took over last May, has suffered a string of mishaps, scandals and resignations.

Most damagingly, an Israeli election consultant -- since fired -- allegedly set up fake Facebook accounts with anti-Semitic content on behalf of the SPOe to damage Kurz.

Kern has said the SPOe will go into opposition if it doesn't win the election, making another "grand coalition" unlikely -- unless a party coup topples him or he changes his mind.

- 'Explosive' -

The reaction abroad will likely be more muted than in 2000 when the FPOe under the late Joerg Haider, who called Hitler's employment policies "orderly", entered government and turned Vienna into a pariah.

But Austria could become a tricky EU partner.

Vienna will hold the bloc's presidency in the second half of 2018, just when Brussels wants to conclude Britain's talks to leave the bloc in March 2019.

Strache wants Austria possibly to join the Visegrad group of eastern and central European countries including Hungary and Poland, a thorn in Brussels' side.

He thinks Britain "will probably be better off after Brexit" and demands EU sanctions on Russia be lifted.

But Kurz too, and his ideas on everything from immigration to economic policy, could prove a source of conflict, said Patrick Moreau, an Austria specialist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

The young leader does not subscribe to the agenda of French europhile President Emmanuel Macron, who has outlined an ambitious reform proposal for the bloc, he said.

"Kurz's positions are pretty much diametrically opposed to those of French President Emmanuel Macron and are to a large extent in conflict with Merkel," Moreau told AFP.

"It's an explosive combination."
There was chaos at some McDonalds restaurants over the weekend  all because of Szechuan sauce.

Read: 'Little Baby Bum': How 2 Parents Built the Most Popular YouTube Channel You've Never Heard of

The Cartoon Network's Rick & Morty, which has a huge cult following, triggered the craze with an episode about the dipping sauce. Unfortunately for fans, it was discontinued almost 20 years ago.

McDonald's decided to bring the special sauce back for one day only in selected restaurants. They were given just 20 packets each.

Lines formed around some of the locations with people chanting, We want sauce!

At one location, one man freaked out when his local McDonalds didn't have any of the precious sauce left.

People shared photos of the fallout on social media.

Angry crowd chants "We want sauce" as police force them back. 1000+ people camped out to get #szechuansauce but McDonalds had 70 sauces... pic.twitter.com/wEaqC64Hln  Ian  Sikes (@ianjsikes) October 7, 2017

Cops are at Wellington McDonalds where tons of angry people lined up for hrs for Rick and Morty Szechuan sauce only to learn they had none pic.twitter.com/3T272osid4  Lulu Ramadan (@luluramadan) October 7, 2017

Inside Edition went to Chef Jonathan Wu of the Nom Wah Tu Restaurant to find out what is in the sauce.

See below for his recipe:

50g ginger, minced

50g scallion white, minced

50g garlic, minced

120ml maple syrup, grade A (preferably from New York State)

65ml sherry vinegar, Pedro Ximenez

60lm ketchup

45ml soy sauce

2 grams potato starch

2 grams ground Sichuan peppercorn

2 grams ground tianjin chilies

5 grams Sichuan peppercorn oil

Story continues

Start off by mixing 20ml of the soy sauce with the potato starch to make the base in one pan.

Then in another pan, maple syrup, sherry vinegar, ketchup, and the rest of the soy sauce in a small saucepan. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add the potato starch and soy sauce mix from the previous pan and mix vigorously to avoid lumps. Simmer for an additional 2 minutes. Then add the ground Sichuan peppercorn, chili, and Sichuan peppercorn oil.

Read: Cops: Drunk Man Gets 9-Year-Old Neighbor to Drive Him to Store For Barbecue Sauce

Following Saturdays antics, McDonalds apologized on social media and will add more of the sauce to other locations.

The best fans in the multiverse showed us what they got today. We hear you & we're sorry not everyone could get some super-limited Szechuan.  McDonald's (@McDonalds) October 7, 2017

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By Alexandria Sage SONOMA, Calif. (Reuters) - Firefighters, facing resurgent winds and bone-dry conditions on Wednesday, battled to halt the advance of wildfires that have killed at least 21 people, destroyed 3,500 homes and businesses and blanketed Northern California's famed wine country in smoke. A rash of 22 blazes spanning nine counties have scorched nearly 170,000 acres (68,797 hectares) since the first flames erupted on Sunday night in what state fire officials say is one of the deadliest wildfire outbreaks in California history. More than 550 people were still reported missing in Sonoma County on Wednesday morning, said Jennifer Laroque, a spokeswoman for the county's emergency operations centre. It was unclear how many might be actual fire victims rather than evacuees who merely failed to check in with authorities after fleeing their homes. Officials urged displaced residents to let their family members know they were safe. The Sonoma County town of Santa Rosa, the largest city in the wine country region, was particularly hard hit by one of the fiercest blazes, the so-called Tubbs fire. Block after block of some neighbourhoods were virtually obliterated with nothing left but charred debris, broken walls, chimneys and the steel frames of burned-out cars. "It's like driving through a war zone," J.J. Murphy, 22, one of thousands of evacuees, said of the area around his home in the Sonoma Valley community of Glen Ellen. Murphy, five relatives, a bird, a dog and two cats piled into their camper van to flee on Monday, he said. "It's crazy how in just a few hours a place I've recognised all my life I can't recognise," he said at a roadside food stop in the town of Sonoma. Gusts of up to 50 miles per hour (80 kph) and 10 percent humidity were forecast for Wednesday and Thursday for parts of the Northern California fire zone. Firefighters worked on Wednesday to strengthen fire containment lines as winds picked up again. "Were not out of the woods and were not going to be out of the woods for a great number of days to come," Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), said at a news conference. The weather had given firefighters a reprieve on Tuesday as cooler temperatures, lower winds and coastal fog let them make headway against flames. At least 11 people were killed by the Tubbs fire in Sonoma County alone, officials said. It is the deadliest single California wildfire since 2003, when the so-called Cedar fire killed 15 people in San Diego, according to state data. The latest overall death toll of 21, including six fatalities in Mendocino County and two more each in Napa and Yuba counties, is believed to mark the greatest loss of life from a California wildfire event in 26 years, since 25 people perished in a firestorm that swept the Oakland Hills in October 1991. The deadliest wildfire on record in California dates back to October 1933, when 29 lives were lost in the Griffith Park fire in Los Angeles. Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said by phone that some of the latest victims in Northern California were asleep when the fast-moving fires broke out on Sunday night, igniting their homes before they could escape. The dead in Napa County were identified as 100-year-old Charles Rippey and his 98-year-old wife, Sarah, according to the county sheriff's office. The couple were married for 75 years, a CBS affiliate in San Francisco reported, citing their son, Mike. Charles Rippey's body was found outside where his wife's bedroom once stood, Mike Rippey said. "He was trying to get from his room to her room," he said. "He never made it." Wildfires have damaged or demolished at least 13 Napa Valley wineries, a trade group for vintners there said on Tuesday. But experts say smoke rather than flames may pose a greater risk to the delicate grapes still waiting to be picked. California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in several northern counties, as well as in Orange County in Southern California, where officials said a fire destroyed 15 structures and damaged 12. Investigators still are determining what caused the fires, Berlant said. In some instances, winds might have toppled power poles and sparked flames, he said. (Additional reporting by Stephen Lam and Marc Vartabedian in Santa Rosa, Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Keith Coffman in Denver, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Bill Trott and Diane Craft)
Dawn Cousins. (Photo via Facebook/This Morning)

There are a lot of reasons relationships dont pan out: different interests, not enough time to put in proper effort or a lack of mutual hobbies  but what about being too attractive?

One woman claims her reason for not finding love isnt because of personality differences or working too often, but because she is just too beautiful to find someone who truly loves her. Her suitors, blinded by her beauty, are constantly falling at her feet  but they dont interest her.

Dawn Cousins is a 44-year-old mother of four who appeared on the British daytime show This Morning. After her long-term relationship ended more than 14 years ago, Cousins thought shed meet someone new who could keep up with her good looks and fun lifestyle. Her kids, ranging in age from 17 to 22, think she needs to settle down.

They feel like I need to lower my standards to find someone that is a similar age as me and just settle down before they put me in a nursing home, she said on the show. But I am saying no because I have the advantage of looking good so I want someone I am really attracted to and connect to emotionally. I want to enjoy the second part of my life. I am not just going to settle because I am 44 and not married.

ALSO SEE: Is this 26-year-old too beautiful to find a boyfriend?

The London-based receptionist admits that while she appreciates her childrens concerns, she doesnt find herself attracted to men her own age.

I look half my age and I have men drooling over me all the time, aged from 18 to ancient, she told the TV hosts. I cant date a fat, unattractive, old aged man when I look so young and beautiful Guys over 40 are all putting on weight and the women have got a lot of wrinkles. I havent got any. Im not in the same bracket as them.

Listing a personal YouTube channel and clubbing with her daughters as some of her hobbies, Cousins claims she is much more fun than stereotypical 40-year-old women. Despite her confidence, viewers of the TV segment took to Twitter to express their skepticism over the moms perceived dating life.

Story continues

Looking half my age is a nightmare? She looks her age. Her problem is her personality is utterly grotesque. Wouldnt touch her, tweeted one user.

ALSO SEE: This Instagram model lost male followers after having a baby

Oh my Lord! This woman is crazy! Too good looking for love?! She has a very ugly soul and she must be looking in a circus mirror, added another.

The mom-of-four added that she is often mistaken for her daughters sister, and as someone who prefers younger men, she finds it flattering. Despite her affinity for less-mature men, she claims she would never date a friend of her daughters.

Cousins plans to move to the United States in the near future to find true love.

Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA!

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Researchers are saying the supervolcano sitting beneath Yellowstone National Park could erupt sooner than thought -- and could possibly plunge the planet into a "volcanic winter."

It's been roughly 631,000 years since Yellowstone's last super-eruption and, until now, scientists thought it would take centuries for the supervolcano to make the transition, according to National Geographic.

Now, after analyzing minerals in fossilized ash from Yellowstone, researchers from Arizona State University are saying the lava-filled mountain could erupt in just a few decades.

RELATED: Click through photos of the Yellowstone supervolcano



The discovery arrives several years after a 2011 study found that the ground above Yellowstone's caldera had risen as much as 10 inches in some places over the course of seven years.

"It's an extraordinary uplift, because it covers such a large area and the rates are so high," the Bob Smith, an expert in Yellowstone volcanism at the University of Utah, told National Geographic at the time.

Researchers are also saying the supervolcano has the ability to produce an eruption of a thousand times more powerful than Mount St. Helen's eruption in 1980 and eject more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of rock and ash -- which could blanket large areas of the US.

SEE ALSO: Earthquake in Montana stirs fears of Yellowstone supervolcano erupting

Arizona State graduate state Hannah Shamloo, who developed the theory that there was a much shorter timeline than once anticipated for an eruption, spent weeks with several colleagues at the site in Yellowstone where they collected and studied fossilized ash from its last eruption.

"Its shocking how little time is required to take a volcanic system from being quiet and sitting there to the edge of an eruption," Shamloo told New York Times, while adding that more research is necessary before drawing definite conclusions.

Though the pair presented the study at a recent volcanology conference before the American Geophysical Union in 2016, it has yet to be peer-reviewed.

RELATED: Amazing lava fountains captured at night


By Brendan Pierson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York lawyer charged with failing to report more than $3 million of income from tax shelter and other transactions he handled at the law firm Herrick Feinstein, where he led the tax practice, was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday.

Harold Levine, 59, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan, prosecutors said. He had pleaded guilty to attempted tax evasion and obstruction charges in June.

An attorney for Levine could not immediately be reached for comment.

Prosecutors announced charges against Levine in October 2016, claiming he diverted the money from Herrick Feinstein with the help of Ronald Katz, a certified public accountant who hid more than $1.2 million he received for his involvement from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The scheme began in 2004 and lasted roughly a decade, and included the use of limited liability companies controlled by Levine, Katz or both, according to an indictment.

The government in June 2014 filed a civil lawsuit accusing Levine of cheating the IRS out of more than $129 million by participating in roughly 90 illegal tax schemes, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of improper deductions. That case has been on hold since July 2015.

Levine left Herrick Feinstein in 2012 to take over the tax practice of another law firm, Moritt Hock & Hamroff. A spokesman for that firm said last October that Levine had left voluntarily in June 2016.

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York, editing by G Crosse)
By Brendan Pierson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York City man has been arrested on charges that he threatened employees of a Colorado software company with a "Las Vegas repeat" days after a gunman opened fire on a crowd from his Las Vegas hotel room, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Victor Casillas, a 34-year-old Manhattan resident, was arrested Tuesday night and faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted of making extortionate threats, according to John Marzulli, a spokesman for federal prosecutors in Brooklyn.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court, Casillas began sending threatening online messages to the Colorado software company after it deleted his accounts.

The complaint does not name the company, but its description matches that of Ibotta, which makes a smartphone app that allows users to earn cash back on purchases with retailers, and bonuses for referring friends.

The company closed multiple accounts around Sept. 26 after concluding they were all registered by Casillas in an attempt to get fraudulent referral bonuses, the complaint said.

In the following days, Casillas sent a series of threatening messages to the company, the authorities said. In one, Casillas claimed to have traveled to Denver and sent a photo of two submachine guns, according to the complaint. The photo appears to be a stock image from a gun website.

Another message said, "PLEASE TELL LOVED ONES TO START PICKING OUT A NICE BEAUTIFUL CASKET AND PLAN A DECENT FUNERAL," and went on to include names and photographs of company employees, according to the complaint.

On Oct. 4, three days after the Las Vegas massacre, Casillas sent the company an email titled, "GET READY FOR A LAS VEGAS REPEAT (Final Warning)," the complaint said.

Authorities have not said that Casillas ever actually traveled to Colorado or possessed guns.

A lawyer for Casillas could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
Messalina Morley is a 20-year-old woman whos been competing in beauty pageants for the past five years, both on the state and national levels. Her initial entry in the world of pageantry was through a recommendation letter that asked her to audition for the National American Miss pageant when she was just 15  an experience that exposed her to a deeper focus on physical appearances. Now, as a seasoned contestant of multiple pageants and a former model, Morley has been identified as plus-size through the industries in which shes worked. However, she is using that status and experience to shed light on what she calls being in the in-between.

Morley at her first pageant for National American Miss. (Photo: Courtesy of Messalina Morley)

Through her immediate success in her first pageant, Morley was able to gain a certain level of confidence from simply knowing that she could step onto a stage in front of hundreds of people. But that didnt take away from her ability to notice that she looked different than the girls around her.

I noticed in school and everywhere I went that I was always taller, broader, and generally bigger than the other girls around me, she tells Yahoo Lifestyle. And I always used to think that it was a bad thing that I was bigger, and I used to try to be smaller, I used to try to eat less. I would make myself unhappy because I was trying to achieve something that my body just is never gonna let me be.

Noticing her own differences among the crowd, however, ended up being a good thing for Morley, as it allowed her eventually to focus on the differences all around her. Once she figured out that everyone was different in their own ways, shapes, and sizes, she realized that her own uniqueness shouldnt be a source of shame.

But in determining that every body is truly different, Morley also became aware of a huge gap in the industrys labeling of women: Theres no mention of the women who are the in-between. Though some call her plus-size and others straight size, Morley calls herself curvy. She now uses #inbetweengirl on her social media posts.

Story continues

There is that between a 6 and a 12 kind of gap where loads of women fall into, and theyre not represented, Morley explains. In the modeling world, youre either considered too big or too small, so its definitely a gray zone in terms of what you are.

The pageant contestant explains the lack of representation out there for the in-between women.

I think its definitely very easy to feel like youre not good enough when youre in that sizing because youre neither a big beautiful woman, neither are you super straight sized. Youre not Ashley Graham or Gigi [Hadid]; youre neither.

The hashtag has allowed Morley to share this message with a number of people, who she says reach out to her through her social media to express their gratitude for her shedding a light on midsized women. But the body-positive advocate also explains that the in-between isnt just about that. Instead, it could expand into all areas of life.

People can be in-between because they felt like they didnt fit in with different social groups at school. Or you could be from two different countries, like your family might be Spanish and it might be Norwegian, so, like, which are you? Well, youre both, she says.

Morley is now getting ready to compete in Miss New Jersey USA this weekend, where shell be looking to move on to Miss USA in Las Vegas next month. But regardless of how far pageantry takes her, she knows what her platform will always be.

Its important to embrace what makes you you and to not feel like you have to be confined to one little box. You can be part of many boxes and just enjoy your life the way it is.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

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The United States is planning to officially announce its withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) due to its anti-Israeli stances, American news site Foreign Policy reported Thursday.

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The State Department officially anounced the withdrawl, slated to take effect December 31, 2018, saying, "This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO."

UNESCO's General Conference. The US now seeks to withdraw from the organization (Photo: AP)

The United States would seek to "remain engaged ...as a non-member observer state in order to contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise," the State Department added.

The withdrawal would also constitute a cost-saving measure for the US, the report added, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson interested in halting American funding for the organization and paying off America's debt to the UN group, which is $500 million.

The withdrawal would mark a sharp escalation in the relationship between the US and the organization it helped found after World War II in order to promote collaborations in the field of education.

Most of the American ire was directed at the organization due to its positions on Israel. Last year, Israel attacked UNESCO after it denounced Israel's control of holy sites in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

UNESCO Director Bokova said she regretted the American decision (Photo: AP)

In response to the announcement, UNESCO expressed regret over the United States' official decision to leave its organisation.

"After receiving official notification by the United States Secretary of State, Mr Rex Tillerson, as UNESCO Director-General, I wish to express profound regret at the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO," said UNESCO director general Irina Bokova in a statement.

Bokova added that the US decision marked a loss for multilateralism and for the UN family.

The Cave of the Patriarchs and the Old City of Hebron were declared a 'Palestinian World Heritage Site' by UNESCO this past July (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Relations soured further when UNESCO announced the Old City of Hebron to be a Palestinian World Heritage Site this past July.

US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley joined the condemnation then, stating the US will reexamine its relationship with the organization.

"The decision is an affront to history and further discredits an already highly questionable UN agency," she stated.

The vote "does no one any good and causes much harm," Haley added.

US envoy to UN Haley called UNESCO's Hebron decision an 'affront to history' (Photo: Reuters)

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu termed UNESCO's decision on Hebron "absurd."

Netanyahu protested the fact UNESCO determined the Cave of the Patriarchs was a Palestinian site, "meaning not Jewish... Is this not a Jewish site?! Who's buried there? Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Sara, Rebecca and Leah. Our patriarchs and matriarchs!"

The prime minister also took issue with the declaration of the site as a world heritage site in danger. "Only where Israel is present, like in Hebron, the freedom of religion for all is guaranteed," Netanyahu said.

Prime Minister Netanyahu denounces UNESCO's decision on Hebron

X

Tillerson decided to withdraw from the organization as far back as several weeks ago, the report claimed, announcing the decision to French President Emmanuel Macron, who asked for President Donald Trump's help in upgrading his statue within the group.

France's delegate to the UN Francois Delattre said in an interview Wednesday he hopes the US decides to stay in UNESCO. "For us, it is important to have the United States on board, including at UNESCO at this critical juncture. We consider the US must stay committed to world affairs."

The American State Department delayed announcing the decision until current UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova was replaced. The two leading candidates to succeed her at the organization's helm are former Jewish French Minister of Culture Audrey Azoulay and Qatari diplomat Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari.

Secretary of State Tillerson wants the US to pay off its debt to UNESCO and then cease funding it (Photo: AFP)

Trump would not be first president to seek UNESCO withdrawal

The last time the United States decided to withdraw from the cultural organization, it was Ronald Reagan's administration that blamed it for corruption and a political bent in favor of the Soviet Union, at the then height of the Cold War.

President George W. Bush had the US rejoin the organization in 2002, saying its members toned down their anti-Western and anti-Israeli positions.

President Bush had the US rejoin UNESCO in 2002, after the original withdrawal during the Reagan administration (Photo: AP)

Six years ago, during Barak Obama's administration, the US cut more than $80 million of fundinga fifth of UNESCO's total budgetin response to the organization admitting the "State of Palestine" as member. The Obama administration claimed at the time the move had to be carried out due to laws prohibiting American funding of UN bodies recognizing a Palestinian state.

Despite the slashed funding, the United States remained a prominent member of the organization and reserved the right to vote in UNESCO's Executive Board, which determines the identity of the organization's Director-General, despite no longer being able to vote in its General Conference.
Those who want to properly analyze the third reconciliation agreement in the past six years between Fatah and Hamas signed Thursday in Cairo should do the oppositethat is, to examine everything that was not said in the speeches and what was not written in the final statement.

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First, the two parties decided to start from the easy part of the reconciliation, perhaps even the easiest. They negotiated a way that the Palestinian unity government would return to govern the Gaza Strip, in addition to its functions in the West Bank. The parties decided that the unity government would seize control the Gaza Strip no later than the first of December. From this date, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will be responsible, through his prime minister and his ministers, for the strip's education, welfare, tourism and more. He will also take responsibility for electricity, road construction and sewage.

In addition, the PA will gain control over the crossings between the Gaza Strip, Israel and Egypt. The two crossings into Israel will be handed over to the unity government on the first of November, but those familiar with the situation know full well that the PA already controls the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings without armed security personnel. Hamas has a slightly more remote outpost at the Erez crossing, and anyone who leaves the Gaza Strip and enters it must pass through it as well, through its officials and security personnel. So what will happen to that Hamas outpost? No one knows.

Saleh al-Arouri (L) and Azzam al-Ahmad, after signing the agreement (Photo: EPA)

And what about the Rafah Crossing, which is considered the most significant of them all because it is the only real way for the residents of Gaza to exit the strip? It was agreed and declared today that the Palestinian Authority would also take control of it. However, the parties' announcement stated that due to its uniqueness and the need to renovate it in order to bring about its renewed operation, PA officials would not enter it on the date specified, November 21. So when would they? That too has no answer.

In the past two weeks, senior Fatah officials, led by President Abbas, have sworn that they will not accept a reconciliation agreement without full security control over the Gaza Strip. The Hezbollah model from Lebanon will not be accepted here, they said. The agreement was signed today, and the words "weapons", "military wing", "rockets", "Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades" and "tunnels" were not mentioned at all. The reason for that is that Egypt wanted them to leave the biggest obstacle for later. So the agreement was signed and no one even spoke about the giant elephant in the room. It is not clear how long this silence will last.

Celebrations in Gaza following the reconciliation agreement's signing (Photo: Reuters)

Another question concerns Hamas' security forcesit is highly doubtful that they will merge with the Palestinian Security Services and the Palestinian National Security Forces, which have worked very hard in the last decade to create a reputation for themselves respected by all intelligence services in the world, including Israel. The resumption of the work of the paralyzed Palestinian parliament has not yet been discussed, and Hamas' demand for new elections for PA presidency has suddenly ceased. And will the Palestinian Authority stop arresting Hamas operatives in the West Bank?

All the mines that were difficult to dismantle, the rival partiesapparently due to Egypt's demandchose to set aside. But these obstacles will not disappear and they are what ultimately led to the failure of the other agreements of reconciliation in the past. The Palestinian public is fed up with declarations and celebrations, and it seems that this time, alongside the dances, there is a great deal of criticism and suspicion about the chances of success of the current agreement. Will the agreement remain in writing and not in practice? Will it be stopped by the civil administration of Gaza and then shelved? One thing is clearit is full of holes, and raises too many pertinent questions.

Azzam al-Ahmad, the senior Fatah official who signed the reconciliation agreement with the deputy Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri, tried to show at the press conference that this time it would be different. "Abbas told usdo not return if you did not reach an agreement." So they reached an agreement, but it is not clear what it entails or what will come of it. They may hug, kiss and applaud but we have been here several times before.

Israel, meanwhile, intends to wait and examine the developments on the ground after the signing in Cairo. "Any reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas must include compliance with international agreements and compliance with the conditions of the (Middle East) Quartet, primarily recognition of Israel and the disarmament of Hamas," reiterated Israeli officials. "Continuing to dig tunnels, manufacturing rockets and initiating terrorist attacks against Israel are contrary to Quartet conditions and US efforts to renew the political (peace) process."

"Israel demands the fulfillment of these conditions, as well as the immediate release of IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, and the civilians Ibrahim Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are held by Hamas," they added. "As long as Hamas does not disarm and continues to call for the destruction of Israel, Israel considers it responsible for all acts of terrorism emanating from Gaza, and insists that the PA does not allow any outpost of Hamas, potentially used for terrorist activities, to remain within the PA's territories, as well as in Gaza, should the PA indeed assume responsibility for the strip.

"Israel will examine developments on the ground and act accordingly."
Morocco expressed its steady commitment in favor of Africa and invited Russia to seal a tripartite partnership to undertake mutually beneficial projects in the continent.

The call was made by Head of the Moroccan government who was speaking at a Moroccan-Russian working session on the occasion of the state visit of Russias Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev to Morocco.

EL Othmani underscored that Morocco has a strong presence and expertise on the African continent and is willing to engage in a partnership with Russia benefiting the three parties.

Morocco is also interested in reinforcing its partnership with the Eurasian Economic Union which opens to Moroccan exporters a market of over 200 million consumers, said El Othmani.

The Moroccan government chief also commended Russia for its firm position in support of a consensual and political solution to the Sahara issue.

The visit by Medvedev to Morocco was marked by the signing of 11 agreements that build on the momentum ushered by the visit of King Mohammed VI to Russia in 2016 during which 16 agreements were signed.

The 11 agreements are conducive for bolstering cooperation in the fields of customs, agriculture, trade, energy efficiency, renewable energies, nuclear energy as well as military cooperation.
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Guys, the funniest thing happened to me the other day.

Now, I know I probably say that a lot, but this time I REALLY MEAN IT! I swear!

So a month ago I got invited on a whirlwind trip to the Maldives (fuck you, Liz) to deliver a keynote speech for a conference. I flew Emirates business class all the way there. I slept in overwater bungalows in beds that could have fit four people. I stayed on my own private island.

Dont mind me, Im just over here living my best life, guys. Seriously though, how the hell is that my life?! Slap me, go on, hate me. I hate me.

I was only there for four days, but it was a great four days. Oh, and it was my second free trip to the Maldives in a year.

But Ive got something to confess, so dont stop reading because Im about to share my favorite funny travel story to date!

I had one and a half free days to myself in the Maldives on this trip. And they werent even that free, I had heaps of work to do.

But I took a break from my laptop mid-morning to go for a swim from my lovely romantic bungalow that is built on the water. You know, those ones everyone wants to stay in, especially on their honeymoon.

I wasnt on my honeymoon though. Sigh. Havent managed to trick a guy yet.

Any takers?

My villa. Honeymoon for one?

Im also going to preface this by saying Im one of those people who is a magnet for why me moments. Can you relate?

Let me set the scene. Its a scorching hot sunny day, and the water is as warm as a bathtub. I grab my fins and snorkel and climb down from my balcony to take some photos. Then I think, this water is ridiculously amazing, Im gonna go for a proper swim.

Fair warning, the sea really isnt deep enough to swim from around your bungalow until high tide, and even then the current can be a bit strong (this is an important thing to remember for later).

Im only here for a few days, Ive got to spend as much time in the water as I can, right?

Most resorts in the Maldives are on small islands, and have these overwater bungalows that go off from either side along a very long boardwalk. So I decide to swim all along the bungalows around to the other side then back to mine.

A very sane and logical decision, and I might add as a side note, a few other people were out swimming off their private decks too. I was not alone. Can you see where this is going?

Seriously, the water is amazing. Its so clear and warm, and there are so many fish about, honestly, its the most beautiful beach place Ive ever been, and I dont say that lightly.

I passed other people swimming and sunning on their deck, waving hello and sharing how amazing is this? chit chat, as I paddle around.

I get all the way to the end of the bungalow boardwalk, then come back along the rows of villas on the other side. Its high tide and a bit choppy with the current pushing me along coming back in the opposite direction.

I have this big goofy grin on my face, and I alternate between swimming on my stomach and on my back, every other second having one of those pinch me is this real life? moments.

I mean come on, 36 hours before I was in the snow in New Zealand. Now I was in 30 degree crystal clear water in the middle of paradise!

And then I heard a noise. Laughter. To be expected.

I hear oh hello, and more giggles.

I roll over into the water looking around saying oh hi, before spotting a couple on a balcony deck near me, and I raise my hand to wave. I mean, Im in such a good mood; Im even being social! Paradise, it does things to you.

Wait, why isnt she wearing a top? Oh, they have no clothes on.

Then I realize.

They are naked. Totally naked.

AND doing it.

Hankie pankie. Having sex. Banging. Coitus. Going to the bone zone.

On the balcony. (Technically, over the balcony)

Meters from me.

In broad daylight. At 11am.

(FROM BEHIND!)

!!!!!!

It was one of those horrible moments where youre looking at something and dont initially realize what youre seeing, like a giant spider on your leg or a car crash.

Me: 1, 2, 3, blink blink, OH MY FUCKING GOD! GAH!

Immediately begins to twist and flop around in the water looking away, choking on seawater.

I yell, SORRY IM NOT LOOKING, as I frantically try to swim away.

And this is the best part, I couldnt swim away back where I came from because the high tide current was too strong. I literally couldnt get away!! IT WAS THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES!

In the end I just let it float me away underneath the villas back towards my side. Their villa to be exact.

Where I promptly died of embarrassment and was never seen from again.

Whats your best funny travel story? Have you ever accidentally stumbled on something you werent meant to see? Share!
Burkina Fasos former foreign affairs minister, Djibril Bassole, has been released from jail on Wednesday, pending trial for treason.

Djibril Bassole who is accused of alleged involvement in a coup attempt in 2015, left the military house of Ouagadougou on Wednesday to a presidential villa under military surveillance, local media reported.

The defense team of the former minister says he had nothing to do with the coup attempt, and that he has been detained for political reasons to prevent him from running in the 2015 presidential election.

Bassole was arrested along with two dozen people accused of supporting a coup detat against the interim government ahead of elections in September 2015.

However, the government has failed to produce an evidence to condemn him by a military court.

In November 2015, social media circulated a recording of an alleged telephone conversation between Bassole and his friend the speaker of the Ivorian National Assembly, Guillaume Soro about the coup detat and how to support the putschists.

As a reminder, more than 30 ministers of ex-President Compaore face murder charges for allegedly authorizing the use of deadly force against unarmed protesters.
New tree top walk to create awesome forest experience in Georgias national park

A path in the forest, an incredibly beautiful installation of the tree top walk will soon make its way through the trees up to the sun in Georgias Lagodekhi Protected Area.Located in the countrys eastern Kakheti region the Lagodekhi Protected Area boasts rare and endangered species and now is engaged in a new project that will bring new life to the park.As Georgias Agency of Protected Areas announced the arrangement of the tree top walk in Lagodekhi national park will be financed by Germanys Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and a German government-owned development bank KFW.The tender has already been announced and interested parties should apply up until November 13, 2017.The wooden construction of the tree top walk will be integrated into the forest and deliver a natural experience. It will lead visitors up to the crowns of the trees and will enable them to discover a unique forest of Lagodekhi national park from a different point of view.Along the path various points of information regarding the Lagodekhi Protected Area as well as some adventure points will be installed.The path will wind up to an impressive tree tower from where visitors will be able to enjoy an impressive view.It has been announced that the tree top walk should serve about 60,000  100,000 visitors per year.
Is it a conspiracy or a vision? Alliance of Patriots initiates talks directly with Russia

By Khatia Kardava

Members of the Alliance of Patriots are in Moscow to hold meetings with deputies of the Russian Federation Duma for the second time this year."There is no alternative to launch a dialogue and discussion, leader of the Alliance and Vice-Speaker of Parliament Irma Inashvili has said.The Alliance members deeply believe "without negotiations with the Russians, Abkhazians and Ossetians, the country cannot be united." According to them, this is a politically unpopular step, but the work must be done.Members of the ruling party dissociate themselves with the MPs who have visited Moscow. According to the Speaker of Parliament, this is a party visit and "it cannot have any connection with the Parliament.Some Georgian politicians criticize the meetings held in Russia and consider it as a huge threat for the countrys security. Some of them believe the Alliance of Patriots is financed from Russia. Many analysts share this assessment and think that the visit of the Alliance to Russia is a direct instruction from Moscow."What might sound logical in talks in Moscow, Kremlin and Lubyanka, is nonsense for the Georgian population, and thus the Alliance of Patriots failed to effectively introduce these topics into our reality. They have conducted what they were instructed, but the methods were weak and therefore they became victims of humorous and cynical approaches, said an analyst Nodar Kharshiladze with newposts.ge.Alexander Kantaria, from parliamentary majority Georgian Dream (GD), believes that there is no conspiracy between the Alliance and the Kremlin."I'm far from the idea that they will get some assignments, get involved in some conspiracy and well tell them betrayers how dare you to go!... They are trying to break a circle, but I doubt that the only one party is able to do it. I remember, they have been once there but in vain, said majority MP Kantaria.Many believe that the visit of the MPs in Moscow cannot be result oriented."The political party that participates in this dialogue should have at least little confidence in the country. This confidence does not exist, so the context itself is unenviable,  says a political scientist Shorena Lortkipanidze.There are two formats of negotiations with Russia today: the first is Geneva International format regarding security issues and the second is Abashidze-Karasin meetings, which focus on cultural-humanitarian and economic issues. The Georgian authority does not recognize another alternative format of negotiations that could produce any outcomes until now."We have the formats in which Russia is the main side of negotiations and discussions. We have been trying for years to make this format effective and work properly, said Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality.
Georgias Minister holds meetings in US ahead of EU, NATO summits

By Messenger Staff

Georgias Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration has held meetings with US Department of State officials ahead of the Eastern Partnership meeting and NATO summit.Minister Viktor Dolidze met Bridget Brink, US Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, and US Department of State European and Eurasian Affairs Bureau EU Office director.The meetings concerned Georgias integration issues into the EU and NATO ahead of the EU Eastern Partnership meeting scheduled in November and preparations for the next NATO summit.The US is Georgias key strategic partner and its support to Europeans would be of high importance. This will be significant for out more integration into the EU, Dolidze stated.Dolidze highlighted successful fulfillment of the Georgia-EU Association Agreement, as well as the situation in breakaway regions of the country.The Minister stated that the situation in Georgias occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions created security threats for the whole regional stability.The meetings were also dedicated to the importance of raising public awareness to neutralize the anti-Western propaganda in Georgia.Both the Eastern Partnership meeting and the NATO summit are very important for Georgia as each are steps forward to membership in the EU and NATO, which means more stability for Georgia in the long term perspective.The NATO summit is especially important, and the country is eager to gain a Membership Action Plan (MAP) from the Alliance. Georgia was not offered MAP in 2014, however, NATO officials declared at that time they would implement substantive package of cooperation. Up to present, particularly in 2017, a number of joint trainings with NATO member states have taken place in Georgia.Today, the MAP will be the key and a very visible indicator for Georgia that NATOs door is really open. The US support for both Georgias aspirations to the EU and NATO are also essential.Georgia requires strong international support to somehow suspend Russias occupation and halt its creeping occupation on Georgian soil.
The News in Brief

President Margvelashvili Meets Portuguese Counterpart



Ties between Europes westernmost and easternmost countries should further be strengthened, President Giorgi Margvelashvili told his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.



President Margvelashvili, who is on his first official visit to Portugal on October 1-3, spoke on the Portuguese-Georgian relations at his joint press conference with President Rebelo de Sousa following their meetings in bilateral and extended composition.



According to Margvelashvili, in the last 25 years, Portugal has been a stable supporter of Georgias EU and NATO aspirations, as well as its territorial integrity.



I am confident that the potential that exists between our countries in the areas of economy, culture, science and tourism will be further extended with your visit to Georgia, President Giorgi Margvelashvili noted, with his press office reporting that President Rebelo de Sousa accepted Margvelashvilis invitation to visit Georgia.



The Presidents press office also reported that Giorgi Margvelashvili briefed his counterpart on the situation in Georgias occupied regions, highlighting that the so called border markers and other artificial barriers on the occupation line pose serious problems to the local population.



The sides also discussed the process of Georgias EU and NATO integration and the importance of Portugals support to this end, as well as the upcoming Eastern Partnership and NATO summits.



As part of his visit to Portugal, President Giorgi Margvelashvili will also hold meetings with Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, President of the National Assembly. (civil.ge)







Syrian parliamentary delegation arrives in Sokhumi



A Syrian parliamentary delegation arrived in Sokhumi and met with the de facto foreign minister of occupied Abkhazia Daur Kove, Apsnipress reports.



Prospects of bilateral relations were discussed at the meeting.



"The Syrian people are actively struggling with international terrorism. We are glad that Abkhazian-Syrian relations have been developing dynamically this year. We cooperate at different levels. The Abkhazian society is deeply concerned about the situation in Syria," said Dour Kove.



In turn, the head of the Syrian delegation, Sanah Abo Zaid, said that Abkhazians are well aware of all the events that are happening in Syria now.



"Abkhazians felt the pain in the past that our people are now feeling. We have seen that the Abkhazian society is very well informed about the events ongoing in Syria and are showing solidarity," said Sana Abo Zaid. (IPN)







Ergneti talks: illegal activities at occupation line on agenda



Georgian officials, representatives of international organisations and the de-facto authorities from Georgias Russian-occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) have gathered around the table in Ergneti to discuss issues that concern people living along the occupation line late on October 3.



A tent in the village of Ergneti has hosted the 81st Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting. The release of a Georgian man GiorgiGiunashvili sentenced to 20 years in prison by an unrecognised court in Tskhinvali region has been among the top issues, as well as the urgent need to transparently investigate the case of David Basharuli who had gone missing in 2014 and later found dead.



At todays meeting we also spoke about the illegal borderisation process. As an example we discussed the so-called fire protection zone between the occupied villages of Orchosani and Karapila, which, as we observe, later grew into a transportation road, Kakha Kemoklidze, the Deputy Head of the Information-Analytical Department under the State Security Service said.



According to Kemoklidze, the Georgian officials suggest the immediate suspension of illegal processes that not only causes threat to security, but also affect the local population. However, the representatives of the de-facto government claimed this road does not cause any threat and it only aims at making it easier for the firefighters to approach the site.



Special attention was also paid to dismantling of abandoned Georgian houses in the village of Eredvi, which the Georgian side believes is aimed at "erasing Georgian traces in the settlement.



The de-facto government has destroyed all the houses that prior to 2008 belonged to the ethnically Georgian local population. The representatives of the central government told the participants of the meeting that the above mentioned activities are not only vandalism but also include elements of crime and we have asked international mediators to deeply study the case, Kemoklidze said.



The detention of Georgians along the occupation line has been a common practice since 2008. 11 people have been detained allegedly for "illegally crossing the occupation line since the previous meeting in Ergneti on September 7; however, all of them have been released. (Agenda.ge)




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?
Top Democrats and business allies invited reporters to a Capitol Hill event to watch illegal immigrants demand amnesty and smear Republicans as racist, in Spanish and broken English.

Im here representing all the immigrant mothers like myself, will not allow the government to tear down our sons and daughters dreams while they try to separate our families, said Lenka Mendoza, an unskilled illegal alien who has been living in the United States for 17 years since the year President Geoge W. Bush was elected. She continued, using a translator, saying:

The president does not care about our children and our families. Trump and his government supposed priorities are nothing else but an anti-immigrant and white-supremacist agenda that dont solve anything  need clean act now.

Mendoza was welcomed to the podium by Todd Schulte, a Democratic political activist who is president of FWD.us , a lobbying group formed by Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, Venture Capitalists and software CEOs. Nine of the groups 15 founders are investors who would gain from cheaper white-collar labor and a larger population of customers in the United States.

Schulte hosted the event to showcase Democrats opposition to President Trumps new immigration principles, which balance business demands for more workers and customers against Americans worries that they and their children will be unfairly outsourced, sidelined and ignored amid mass immigration.

In his October 8 letter to Congress, Trump said

These findings outline reforms that must be included as part of any legislation addressing the status of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. Without these reforms, illegal immigration and chain migration, which severely and unfairly burden American workers and taxpayers, will continue without end. Immigration reform must create more jobs, higher wages, and greater security for Americans  now and for future generations. The reforms outlined in the enclosure are necessary to ensure prosperity, opportunity, and safety for every member of our national family.

Instead of urging compromise, Schultes speakers upped their demands, saying they want an amnesty for young dreamer illegals plus an amnesty for their parents, to be delivered immediately and without any compromises, such as the improved border defenses sought by a supermajority of Americans.

The illegals were invited to speak alongside leadership speakers at the event, including the House Democrats leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi  who described Trumps immigration proposals as  trash   and the chairwoman of the Democrats Hispanic caucus.

The escalating demands and aggressive rhetoric from Schultes illegals were much sharper than the prior soft-spoken claims by Democratic leaders who say they want to protect dreamers from deportation. That soft, poll-tested language has been damaged by simple questions from reporters who have shown the bigger-than-expected scale cost and demographic impact of what started out as supposedly modest demand to save 690,000 DACA illegals from repatriation.

The new language from Mendoza included a claim that immigration-enforcement officers of terrorizing people.

Congress can solve today the young peoples situation without using them as an excuse to deport their mothers or spending more money terrorizing people that live near the border, said Mendoza, an unskilled migrant who cleans houses for a living.

Many people think ending DACA or approving the Dream Act will only affect young people, but this is not true. This is something that effects all of us  mothers, our families and all of our communities, Mendoza said.

A second illegal, Ingrid Vaca, said she arrived in the United States from Bolivia in 2000. I came to this country with dreams to protect my sons and to give them a better future, she said in heavily accented English, adding: I would not let anything stand in their way.

Vaca continued:

DACA away was taken away by Trump and his racist advisors, Jeff Sessions and Steven Miller  We will not let racist men negotiate with our kids lives  We will not allow our families to be broken up  A mothers love is stronger than the racists from the White House.

The escalated demands from the illegal aliens are compatible with Schultes goals, which primarily include a defeat of the popular RAISE Act , authorized by Goerge Sen. David Perdue and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.

The RAISE Act is a problem for Schultes investors because it would halve the inflow of new customers and workers, and worse  it would prevent the investors from pushing Congress to pass the so-called staple green card proposal.

The proposed  staple  visa program would allow foreign students at U.S. universities to receive a green card stapled to their graduate degree. It is very popular among business groups because it would create a huge wave of salary-cutting white-collar competition in the skilled job sectors where young Americans hope to earn a good living. The salary-cutting competition would be intensified by the governments offer of the very valuable prize of citizenship to foreign graduates who take jobs sought by the 800,000 Americans who graduate from college each year with skilled degrees in business and medicine, engineering, architecture and science, technology, math and chemical engineering.

But Schultes investors wont get their staple proposal  or any increase in white-collar H-1B outsourcing  if Trump and the voters pressure Democrats to accept Trumps popular immigration principles in exchange for a limited amnesty.

Condorimay, who migrated to the United States from Peru at age 13 and earned a 2016 degree in chemical engineering. The third illegal alien introduced by Schulte was Luis

An amnesty for just younger illegals is unacceptable if it does not also include their parents, he insisted. T his is just not something I can do. Would you accept a law where you protect yourself  but hurt your father and mother?

He also spoke against any border and enforcement upgrades, and described the illegal-alien communities as the victims:

There are politicians in power right now who want to deport my father and my mother, who want to separate me from my little sister. Those politicians are the same ones who killed DACA and put the lives of immigrants on the line. They want now to use my life and the life of my sister, who also has DACA, as a bargaining chip to get a wall built on the Southern border and to militarize our border, to increase the number of immigrants agents in our cities and continue to terrorize and separate our families. They say they have heart for us, they say they understand our pain, but all they really want to do is hurt our families and continue to sperate us as they have done for the past many years  I ask you all here today to put yourself in our shoes, just for one moment: Havent we suffered enough already?

We need [amnesty] now, we need it right now because too many families have already been separated, he said.





Four million Americans turn 18 each year and begin looking for good jobs in the free market.

The cheap-labor policy has also reduced investment and job creation in many interior states because the coastal cities have a surplus of imported labor. For example, almost 27 percent of zip codes in Missouri had fewer jobs or businesses in 2015 than in 2000, according to a new report by the Economic Innovation Group . In Kansas, almost 29 percent of zip codes had fewer jobs and businesses in 2015 compared to 2000, which was a two-decade period of massive cheap-labor immigration.

Americans tell pollsters that they strongly oppose amnesties and cheap-labor immigration, even as most Americans also want to favor legal immigrants, and many sympathize with illegals.
@ByKristenMClark

When Hurricane Irma threatened the entire Florida peninsula last month, millions fled their homes to seek refuge elsewhere  with untold thousands opting for a long trek northward out of Florida and into Georgia via Interstate 75.

Drivers complained of lengthy delays, traffic jams and a lack of basic services  such as open bathrooms and gas stations stocked with fuel  along what is one of only a few primary north-south evacuation routes in the state.

A month after Irma blew threw, Gov. Rick Scott is now asking state transportation officials to explore ways to better expedite the outbound traffic next time.

RELATED: Built for bottleneck: Is Florida growing too fast to evacuate before monster storms?

He announced Thursday that he wants the Florida Department of Transportation to specifically look at ways the state could speed up the section of northbound I-75 from the interchange in Wildwood  where the Turnpike merges with the interstate  to the Florida-Georgia line.

The 144-mile stretch takes about 2 hours to drive under normal circumstances, but during the Irma evacuation, motorists reported being stuck for hours in gridlock.

More details here.

[Photo credit: AP]
@ByKristenMClark

Children in Floridas K-12 public schools who have been victimized by bullying, assault or other violent trauma will have a new option to change schools  including an incentive to leave the public school system for a private alternative  under an initiative announced Wednesday by House Republicans.

House leaders wont have specific legislation available for at least another month for the school choice program theyre proposing as a Hope Scholarship, but their announcement sets the stage for a top priority of House Speaker Richard Corcoran in the 2018 session.

Many of the details are still being ironed out  including how much tax money would be diverted to fund the program, which Corcoran, R-Land OLakes, says he envisions would be funded very similarly to the [Florida] Tax Credit Scholarship.

The tax credit scholarship is a controversial, voucher-like program that traditional public school advocates argue takes taxpayer money away from public education.

Businesses get a tax break in exchange for funding scholarships that help 100,000 poor  and often minority  children afford a private school education. The money is funneled directly through designated scholarship organizations, so it never passes through the states hands as taxpayer money.

Citing data from the Florida Department of Education, House Republicans said more than 47,000 incidents of violence were reported in the 2015-16 school year involving children in the K-12 public school system  acts that included hazing, fighting, threats and bullying.

We know from all of the studies that, if youre fearful of stepping on to a school campus, if youre worried for your own safety  you will not learn, Corcoran said, when he announced the proposal during a press conference Wednesday at the Capitol flanked by six of his top lieutenants in charge of education policy and funding.

Full story here.

Photo credit: House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land OLakes, announced on Oct. 11 a new Hope Scholarship proposal to help public schoolchildren who are victims of bullying, assault or other trauma to attend a different school of their choice. Joining Corcoran were his top lieutenants on education policy and spending, from left: Republican Reps. Jake Raburn of Lithia, Manny Diaz Jr. of Hialeah, Chris Latvala of Clearwater, Michael Bileca of Miami, Jennifer Sullivan of Mount Dora and Byron Donalds of Naples. [Kristen M. Clark / Herald/Times]
@alextdaugherty

Waiving the Jones Act for 10 days in Puerto Rico was touted as a way to deliver crucial aid and supplies to the U.S. territory in its time of need after Hurricane Maria.

But the Trump administration did not renew the waiver when it expired on Sunday night, despite Gov. Ricardo Rossellos desire for an extended waiver that allows foreign ships to deliver goods to Puerto Rican ports from the U.S. mainland.

I think we should have it. I think we should have all the tools that we have at hand, Rossello said to CBS news. I dont know what the results are of that Jones Act, again, we only had it for 10 days. It still needs to be analyzed. It couldnt hurt, it couldnt hurt to have it.

Most humanitarian relief supplies are being delivered by U.S. government (DHS, FEMA and DoD [Department of Defense]) assets, or Jones Act-qualified vessels, said DHS spokesman David Lapan.

Ships operating under the Sept. 28 waiver must have loaded their cargo by the October 8 deadline and have until October 18 to transport their cargo to Puerto Rico.

Sen. John McCain, a longtime opponent of the Jones Act, called on Congress to pass a permanent Jones Act exemption for Puerto Rico after the temporary waiver expired.

Now that the temporary Jones Act waiver for Puerto Rico has expired, it is more important than ever for Congress to pass my bill to permanently exempt Puerto Rico from this archaic and burdensome law, McCain said in a statement. Until we provide Puerto Rico with long-term relief, the Jones Act will continue to hinder much-needed efforts to help the people of Puerto Rico recover and rebuild from Hurricane Maria.

McCain and some libertarian-leaning Republicans oppose the Jones Act because they argue that it stifles economic competition in U.S. ports. A number of Puerto Ricans in Congress also support a permanent Jones Act exemption because they argue it causes the cost of goods to rise on the island, though Florida benefits from the 1920 law intended to bolster the domestic shipping industry.

Read more here.
A Republican state senator  and funeral director  is suggesting that a South Florida nursing home may not be to blame for 14 deaths that occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said Wednesday he isn't convinced that all 14 deaths now associated with The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills stemmed from sweltering heat that filled the nursing home after it lost power following the powerful storm.

Look at the population. You're dealing with the 90-somethings. Some of these deaths would naturally occur, storm or no storm, Baxley said Wednesday at the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, adding eventually everyone who was in that nursing home will die. But we don't need to attribute those all to the storm and bad policy.

Baxley became one of the few politicians to take a different stance following the high-profile deaths at the South Florida nursing home. Many leaders, including Gov. Rick Scott, have sharply criticized the nursing home. A criminal investigation is underway. Read more here.
The assemblage art of Michael deMeng seems to occupy a strange space between fragmented dreams and myths.

That made deMeng a perfect invite for "Mind Fields," a group exhibition meant to draw viewers into the artists' psychic spaces, said Radius Gallery co-owner Lisa Simon.

The former Missoula resident is well-known around the Pacific Northwest and farther afield for his assemblage art  sculptures meticulously crafted from found objects and treated surfaces.

DeMeng's interest in myths, whether ancient or even the modern pop-culture equivalent, are visible: the Tin Man and the Wicked Witch from "The Wizard of Oz." Pluto and Persephone, the Greek gods of the underworld. Kali, the Hindu goddess related to life and death. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the infamous symbol of duality dreamed up by the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson.

DeMeng's vivid creations are plastered with details, almost too many to take in during a single viewing. Take "The Tin Man," who stands at attention  a repurposed nutcracker from a discount retailer. The label on the base identifies him as "Nick Chopper." Attached to a chain around his hand is a little heart  the classic Valentine's symbol, not the organ. His armor is constructed from zippers glued together like plates of a steampunk tortoise shell. Instead of a spike atop his helmet, he bears an oil can spout. A TeleType logo adorns his chest piece.

When DeMeng moved to Missoula from California in the mid-1980s, he was studying painting and intended to stay for perhaps six months. It's a "magical place" to be a starving, emerging artist, he said in a phone interview.

During the almost three decades he lived here, he transitioned from painting into assemblage. While he had no previous desire to sculpt, a trip to Mexico spurred his interest in repurposing objects.

"Nothing goes to waste in Mexico. It's true artistically, but it's day-to-day as well," he said. He saw works in galleries with found objects, and had an epiphany about the shrine-like paintings he was creating.

DeMeng, who didn't have a religious upbringing, said he developed a passionate interest in deities, mythologies, legends, symbologies and the way they evolve over time and across cultures. He's interested in both the cosmologies and the visual motifs. Now based in Vancouver, Canada, he does a significant amount of travel for workshops. He still travels to Mexico every year for the Day of the Dead.

Missoula, like any college town, wasn't the easiest place to find second-hand materials. Like good vintage shoppers, he'd take road trips to outlying towns, too. Ideas for pieces are often spurred by the objects themselves. When he came across a cache of those zipper-pulls, he knew he could make them into armor for "The Tin Man."

He said there are roughly two extremes in the assemblage art world. At the one hand are purists, who don't modify the colors or forms of their found items. At the other end are artists like himself, "a bit of a cheater," he said.

He freely mixes old and new items. Some pieces might have dozens of individual items that he's modified and painted so they have the aged surfaces he prefers. He likes the vagueness it creates, the way it spurs viewers into a game trying to determine where one piece stops and another begins.

Take his "Persephone" and "Pluto" pieces. The wall pieces began with torsos from mannequins. He began adding objects for shape and texture. Once he's happy with the base, he begins painting.

"For me, the painting is the part that matters," he said. He doesn't typically work with a set goal in mind, instead stopping himself when it reaches a moment that surprises him.

"I strive for that weird moment where it exceeds my anticipation," he said.

The Radius exhibition is deMeng's first since he moved to Canada, his wife's home country, in 2012. Still, he said Missoula played a key role in his development as an artist. He said it's a small town with an outsize, nurturing passion for the arts.

***

Many of the other artists are active in the Missoula and Montana art scenes. Susan R. Carlson's assemblage boxes, in the general mode of Joseph Cornell; abstract encaustics by Pamela Caughey; pop-surrealist paintings by Philip Slagter; finely illustrated ceramics by Lauren Gallaspy, a former Archie Bray resident.

There also are mind-warping wood-cut illustrations by Theo Ellsworth. As an unrelated aside, earlier this year, the author Jeff Vandermeer had a cross-over critical and commercial hit with "Borne," a post-apocalyptic tale that involves a gigantic flying bear. Before he set out for readings across the country, he commissioned Ellsworth to create a large woodcut illustration of the bear that he brought with him to arrange on stage during his talks.

One artist who's lived in Missoula for decades but hasn't really shown at local galleries is Joe Boddy, who recently transitioned into sculpture. For "Tall Trees," he arranged a bisection of log in the teeth of an old saw, with three rectangular visual accents joining the two. Another smaller work functions like a memorial to shared mental space now gone forever. The little wooden frame holds a brick from the Missoula Mercantile.
Arts & Above, a dance-based performance duo, is opening a new season in a new artistic home.

The duo are Kate Jordan and Bruno Augusto. Their residency for the 2017-18 season is the MASC Studio at 1200 Shakespeare St.

Like all of their work, season-opener "The Things" isn't properly described as a dance performance. The couple, who moved to Missoula from the Bay Area in 2016, are trained dancers in various forms, but branch out extensively in their Arts & Above shows to choreography, performance art, music and elements of theater or storytelling.

"The Things" originally began as a solo piece for Augusto called "Build." In its expanded form, which clocks in at roughly 40 minutes, both Augusto and Jordan will perform in the open space of the renovated MASC Studio.

The raw materials are 72 brightly colored plastic crates. The concept, as the name suggests, relates to minimalism.

Augusto said it poses questions: "When is enough enough? When is too much, too much? We as humans find ourselves sometimes with too many things in our lives." Not necessarily physical, either. They could be emotions or thoughts.

"The Things" is a duet, but the two don't really interact with each other. They've generated two contemplative storylines that are balanced so they don't distract the eye when the other takes the lead.

Augusto made a sound score that has mantra-like repetitions. Jordan said the repetitions can sometimes serve as a jumping-off point, when a "character" is ready to try something new or unknown.

The two are often asked how much their pieces are improvisation versus set choreography. They use both. In the case of "The Things," the sound score guides them to specific points of action, but there's room for them both to make spontaneous decisions  the piece is different each time they perform it.

"It's allowing enough space for that potential to surface in the work while having a map between the two of us, and a map through time that guides the movement choices," Jordan said.

***

This is Arts & Above's second season in Missoula. Their first year, they held an artistic residency at the Downtown Dance Collective. This year, they were invited by MASC Studio, which is home to Moksha Aerial Studio Collective. Their space is equipped for its own classes and performances with aerial silk, fire-spinning, juggling and more. Arts & Above will have a casual environment for "The Things," and encourages people to stay afterward and share their thoughts or questions.

They've branched out to include performances at Imagine Nation Brewing Co., worked with Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre, are scheduling youth dance summer camps, and their own work.

They've conducted a version of "The Things" with children, and said kids intuitively understand the relationship between "building" with the blocks and telling a story: Some are meticulous in constructing an object, others want to knock them over, and some want to be communal workers.
The City of Missoula, in collaboration with its nonprofit partner Home ReSource and the community-based Zero Waste Advisory Committee, will hold an open house Thursday as the next step in the city's waste-reduction initiative, called "Zero by Fifty: Missoula's Pathway to Zero Waste."

The open house will debut four focus areas of the forthcoming plan, along with supporting strategies for each. The four "paths" that form the backbone of the plan are access, infrastructure, education and policy. The paths and supporting strategies grew from information and ideas gathered at three community listening sessions, coupled with best practices culled from exemplary community initiatives around the country.

The open house will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Home ReSource community room at 1515 Wyoming St. The Missoula City Council adopted a zero-waste resolution in 2016 in an effort to systematically avoid and eliminate the toxicity of waste and materials and to conserve resources. For more information visit ci.missoula.mt.us/2087/Zero-Waste.
The Missoula County Board of Commissioners met Wednesday and approved reimbursing a private development company up to $600,000 to aid in the relocation of a Coca-Cola bottling plant from central Missoula to near the airport.

The tax increment financing assistance will go toward building public right-of-way improvements, including constructing a new road, on an undeveloped 18-acre piece of land in the Missoula Development Park on Expressway Boulevard near the airport. The Coca-Cola Bottling Co. High Country plant is currently located on South Third Street West in Missoula.

The commissioners also discussed applying for a federal grant to fund a portion of the proposed Missoula County Airport Landside Infrastructure Project. The roughly $30 million deal includes building new roads, bridges and other infrastructure in an effort to attract businesses, create thousands of jobs and reduce commute times.

The TIF funding, which is paid for by increased property taxes generated by new development, will go to a private development and investment company called Double Haul, LLC. The firm has a buy/sell agreement with the current Canadian owners on the 18-acre piece of land west of Big Sky Brewing Co. on Expressway. The company is planning to build a 69,500-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility, which it will then lease to Coca-Cola Bottling Co. High Country, a North Dakota company that operates the Missoula bottling plant. The total project cost, including land acquisition, will be around $9 million. The Coca-Cola bottling plant expects to relocate 25 jobs at the new facility and to create 11 new jobs. There also would be roughly 25 temporary construction jobs created by the development.

Right now, the county receives $10,386 annually in property tax revenue from the bare land. After the new facility is built, the Montana Department of Revenue estimates the project will generate up to $168,000 per year more in taxes. Mark Kobos of Double Haul, LLC, said it's anticipated the county will recoup the TIF reimbursement in less than five years.

It appears that the Coca-Cola bottling plant, which is located in central Missoula in an area that includes a lot of residential neighborhoods, would close down once the facility relocates.

There will be an additional property tax revenue generated by the redevelopment of the property occupied by the initial project owners vacated property, which is located in the City of Missoula, Kobos wrote in his application for TIF funding. This redevelopment could also generate new incremental property tax revenue for Missoula County, depending on the ultimate master plan and construction of the redevelopment.

Kobos, a vice president at Jackson Contractor Group in Missoula, also informed the commission that they have another prospective project for the same piece of land, which would be a new 10,000-square-foot facility to house new manufacturing. The remaining portions of the land would be used for light industrial uses. The total cost for that project would be about $2.5 million.

Dori Brownlow, the countys development director, said she and officials at the Missoula Economic Partnership constantly get calls from out-of-town businesses wanting to relocate here, but the lack of developed industrial land turns many away. So, she said, its important for the road to get built even if there is no guarantee that the second proposed business materializes.

Companies that want to move dont want to wait even six months for a new street to be put in, she said.

County commissioner Jean Curtiss said Missoula isnt on the map for so-called site selectors, those business people and consultants in large cities like Seattle and Portland who help corporations choose new relocation spots.

We wont be on their lists until we have spaces ready, she said. This is it. If youve got the land and infrastructure in, somebody like Double Haul and Jackson Contractor or any other construction firm can put a building up pretty fast. We dont have it. So this is the piece. ... The county has been talking about how do we get some of these things up and running and I think this gives us that opportunity.

***

The commissioners also discussed another major project that would install infrastructure to attract businesses near the airport. The Missoula County Airport Landside Infrastructure Project would leverage a TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation of perhaps $20 million to $25 million, more than $2 million in TIF assistance and $7.5 million in local private funding. It would be used to build roads, bridges, roundabouts and traffic lights between West Broadway and Mullan Road near the airport. Ostensibly, the project would then allow the airport to lease currently underutilized land to commercial tenants and generate more tax revenue for the county.

Jeremy Keene, a principal engineer with WGM Group in Missoula, said the project is part of a long-term plan the county has developed to build out the Wye-to-Mullan grid road network.

The county passed a resolution in 2002 for kind of a transportation plan in that area, he said. Theyve been working on that as development is occurring. England Boulevard and George Elmer Boulevard are part of that. The TIGER grant would accelerate the build-out of the road network.

Keene said the project would have a lot of traffic and transportation benefits for the Mullan Road area, such as reducing congestion and wait times that waste gas, because it would create a connection over to West Broadway so people could access the airport easier.

The airport also has designated that area in their long-term plan as an area for commercial development, Keene said. So this is two long-range plans coming together, the airport plan and the Wye/Mullan plan.

Part of the project would extend George Elmer Boulevard from Mullan all the way to West Broadway, and extend England Boulevard from Reserve to development areas south of the airport.

Keene said Missoula County is experiencing a high level of interest in new businesses looking to locate in Missoula because of the exceptional quality of life and access to outdoor recreation. The primary impediment is a lack of available land for industrial development. This project would help alleviate that, he said.

Theres a lot of interested businesses, and the Missoula Development Park is completely built out, so theres nothing build-ready thats 100,000 square feet right now, he said. And its got to be shovel-ready. If these businesses cannot move very quickly into construction, theyre moving on to the next site.

The project would also enhance the bicycle and pedestrian network in the area, as well as restore the Grant Creek floodplain and riparian areas. The commissioners are meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday to finalize the grant application.
Prosecutors say a 27-year-old Missoula man threatened to stab and shoot neighbors who intervened after his partner said he attacked her.

Sean Anthony Krebs had his bail set at $15,000 during an appearance Tuesday in Missoula County Justice Court after he was charged with felony assault with a weapon and misdemeanor partner assault.

According to an affidavit, sheriffs deputies were called to Chandler Street on Monday for a disturbance. A neighbor reported that she, her son and two of his friends were outside when a woman came over and asked for help after allegedly being assaulted by Krebs, her partner.

The neighbor told the woman to come inside and lock the door. The neighbor then went to talk with Krebs, who allegedly told her that she needed to mind her own business.

He pulled out a knife and threatened to kill her, her son and his friends, the affidavit stated, saying he would cut their throats. The neighbor reported that Krebs at one point said he would go grab his gun and just start shooting because hes from California and thats how they do it.

Krebs was standing next to a vehicle when he was found by sheriff's deputies and told them he didn't know its owner. The vehicle belonged to his partner. He said he had left the home after an argument and that the neighbor, her son and his friends tried to fight him.

Krebs' partner told deputies he had started drinking and became angry, according to charging papers. When she tried to call his mother for help, he grabbed the phone and threw it before punching her in the face.
SOMERS  Faced with an aging building and growing student body, the Somers Lakeside School District is asking voters to approve a $15.8 million bond to upgrade the middle school.

The upgrade would include renovating newer sections of the current school and replacing older portions of the building.

The district mailed out ballots Friday, and they must be returned by Tuesday, Oct. 24.

District Superintendent Joe Price said the school is in bad need of upgrades to address both the educational needs of its current student body as well as accommodating potential growth that could come with a proposed new 178-lot subdivision.

The Flathead County planning department received a pre-application for the large subdivision last January. Planning department officials said developers are at early stages of the process to develop 60 acres in Somers.

Price said the district has been working with the developers on a utility right-of-way.

At this point, Price said Lakeside Elementary School is completely full with students. This past summer, the district converted a room used by teachers as a break room into a classroom to accommodate incoming students.

If voters approve the bond, Price said the district could move the fifth grade to the middle school to make room for growth in the student body.

Price said there is a long list of upgrades that need to occur to offer the districts students the opportunities afforded to other students in the state. The plans for the new building would incorporate new technology to create more hands-on learning opportunities for middle-school students.

For instance, Price said the school has a science classroom, but not a science lab.

We know that students learn and retain information better when they have a hands-on experience, he said.

The current middle school building was constructed in several phases.

The oldest is the west hall. Built in 1953, that portion of the school has old and decaying windows, an overloaded electrical system, inadequate heating and ventilation and there are issues with the plumbing.

On top of all that, Price said theres asbestos everywhere.

The south hall was built in 1993. It includes the current areas used for art and music.

The stage doesnt have space behind it to allow students to assemble before a performance and when they gather there, the acoustics dont project sound toward the audience. The stage also doesnt have any sound or lighting equipment.

The schools tiny little gym isnt large enough to host any indoor sports, Price said. On top of that, that space is carpeted.

The schools shop is located in the basement of the old section of the school.

Having a shop class there is like going back to the 1950s, Price said. Theres no dust control. Theres no good ventilation. We can only have 12 kids down there at a time.

The entrance and school office was built in 1967. At this point, the office manager cant see the front entrance. The phone system is outdated, with an inability to make announcements to the entire school.

If the bond passes, the district would tear down the sections of the school built in 1953 and 1963. Renovations would occur to the newer sections built in 1993.

Construction would be completed in phases. A new gym and stage would be the last portion of the building project. Price said that probably would be completed by 2020.
The University of Montana will likely reduce the number of sabbaticals it grants by more than 80 percent for the 2018-19 school year to help address budget constraints.

In an email this week, Provost Beverly Edmond said UM approved 36 sabbaticals last year. But she said she anticipates the university will be able to fund just five to seven next school year.

Faculty take sabbaticals to engage in "scholarly and professional achievement" intended "for the mutual benefit of the university and the grantee," according to the faculty union contract. Applicants must submit a detailed plan to a committee about their professional pursuit.

"The university remains committed to providing our faculty leave for continued professional development through the annual granting of sabbaticals to those eligible," Edmond said in the email to academic leaders.

"We understand our contractual obligation to do so, but more importantly, fully endorse the fact that sabbaticals ultimately result in enhanced instructional performance and research/creative scholarship productivity."

But she also said UM must balance those objectives "as we weigh how to navigate our fiscal challenges."

This year, UM's budget lines up with its enrollment, but it's still struggling to adjust its finances from years of a decline in students. For example, UM spends some 90 percent of its budget on personnel, and one of its goals is to get closer to a national benchmark of a percent in the 70s.

Projected revenue shortfalls at the state may also mean less direct support for the university system, possibly to the tune of $12 million over two years for UM.

***

Provost Edmond said her office provides money each year to cover the costs "associated with the instructional commitments required for those faculty who go on a yearlong sabbatical." She said the money that doesn't go to sabbaticals will be reallocated and noted the costs as follows:

2016-17  $86,885

2015-16  $128,698

2014-15  $181,539

2013-14  $125,747

"The issue is not so much what we save, but what we spend," Edmond said in an email to the Missoulian.

The news about sabbaticals comes on the heels of word that the Mansfield Library may need to make a deep cut to subscriptions and other resources, prompting some faculty and students to call for protecting research and scholarship at UM. Last month, faculty librarians estimated the pending cut at $600,000, although the provost earlier said collections may not need to absorb that entire amount.

Faculty Senate Chair Mary-Ann Bowman said Tuesday she believes the situation at the library will be resolved favorably for research and the dramatic reduction in sabbaticals won't be permanent  and should not be.

She said she understands UM must tighten its belt in all ways, and sabbaticals are costly. So reducing them is one way to save in personnel costs.

"A sabbatical is expensive, and the university is trying to figure out how to make things work," Bowman said. "But, boy, what a loss  and not just for the people that want to go on sabbatical, but also for our research mission and our students and just being able to have the chance to go deep into your work."

UM still ranks among the top 500 universities in the world and top 120 to 135 in the country, according to the 2017 independent Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities. (Montana State UniversityBozeman is not among the top 500 published names.)

ShanghaiRanking Consultancy's methodology includes research, research citations, alumni and staff with Nobel Prizes and other awards, papers published in Nature and Science, and more.

Lee Banville, spokesman for the faculty union, said UM does need to address budget challenges, but sabbaticals also offer the university opportunities to make an impact across the globe.

"Of course, it's a source of concern if you're impeding the research that faculty could be doing, but we also recognize that this is an area where you can address the budget shortfalls without directly affecting personnel that are currently here," Banville said.

Banville teaches in the School of Journalism, and he pointed to colleague and associate professor Jeremy Lurgio as an example of a faculty member making a mark for UM with a sabbatical. He said Lurgio is in New Zealand taking UM's "Native News" model to faculty and students there; at UM, students publish comprehensive reports on issues facing reservations in Montana, and in New Zealand, they could use the same model to shed light on the Maori.

"Thats an example of a really good use of sabbatical. And we hope that the university understands the value of those and will try to make sure that theres enough funding available to make sure projects like that go forward," Banville said.

Edmond said the number of sabbaticals varies from year to year, and UM doesn't have a target set going forward.

"Sabbaticals are judged on the merits of the plans/proposals submitted by faculty and not on their potential individual costs," Edmond said in an email. "We are committed to providing sabbatical opportunities to faculty and will continue to do so."

She also said she does not believe UM's research enterprise will be hurt from the decrease.

"While sabbaticals do support a component of our commitment to research, the larger portion of this is comprised by a robust externally funded enterprise. We see nothing in this decision that will have a direct impact on this," Edmond said.
Applications are open to any Ward 2 residents interested in serving on the Missoula City Council as of Tuesday night.

Representative Ruth Swaney, who was appointed in January, announced her resignation last week and officially will vacate her seat on Tuesday, Nov. 7, according to an email from city clerk Marty Rehbein.

Information for interested applicants is on the citys website, or available in person from the city clerks office at City Hall on Ryman Street. Applications can be submitted electronically or in person.

Applications are due Friday, Oct. 20, at 10 a.m. and applicants will be selected by the City Council during its meeting Monday, Oct. 23.

The rest of the schedule, as outlined in Rehbeins email, follows:

Tuesday, Oct. 24: Selected applicants receive written questions from the city clerk.

Wednesdays, Oct. 25 and Nov. 1: Committee of the Whole interviews applicants in person.

Thursday, Nov. 2: Written answers due at 5 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 6: City Council votes on a new representative during Monday night meeting.

Wednesday, Nov. 8: The newly sworn in Ward 2 representative joins the councils weekly committee meetings.

Applicants must be at least 18 years old, registered to vote and have lived in Ward 2 for 60 days or longer.

Ward 2 encompasses the Westside, Grant Creek and Captain John Mullan neighborhoods. Exact borders can be found on the city's website by navigating to the Your Government tab and clicking on Ward Map.

City Council members are paid $1,249.23 a month and are eligible for city benefits.

The appointed council member would serve until the first Monday of January, 2020, according to Rehbeins email. The seat will be open in the fall 2019 election.

Swaney is the first Native American woman to serve on the Missoula City Council and just the second Native American after Patrick Weasel Head, who was appointed to finish a term in 2015.

Swaney's fellow council members appointed her based on their desire to have a voice and viewpoint thats underrepresented on City Council.

"Liberty and justice for all is an aspirational statement, and Dr. Swaney works tirelessly to turn that aspiration into enduring reality," Ward 2 representative Jordan Hess said when she announced her resignation.

Swaney is leaving Missoula for North Dakota to work for the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation in the tribal education department.

Hess is running unopposed this year and will serve until 2022. Swaney was unopposed for her seat after Jack Metcalf dropped out earlier in the race.

Metcalf was among five applicants, including Swaney, who were up for the position last winter, along with former state legislator Gail Gutsche and retirees Roger Seewald and Mike Curran.

Swaney was appointed to fill out Harlan Wells full term. Wells left last January to work for Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton.

The applications can be found on the citys website or by going to ci.missoula.mt.us and finding the Ward 2 Appointment link in the bottom right corner of the main page.
A Kennewick, Washington, man caught bringing 20 pounds of methamphetamine into Montana has been sentenced to more than 21 years in federal prison.

On Wednesday in Helena, U.S. District Court Judge Sam Haddon sentenced Hector Ricardo Gonzalez, 30, one of four men charged in the drug trafficking case, to 260 months in prison, with five years of supervision after his release.

Prosecutors accused Gonzalez and his codefendants of bringing large amounts of meth into the Deer Lodge area on a monthly basis over the course of 2016. Under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Gonzalez pleaded guilty to a single felony charge in June.

One of the codefendants in the case, Jeff Allen Trask, already was sentenced to a 54-month prison sentence for his role in the drug distribution conspiracy.

Two other men, Chase Ryan Storlie and Christian Jesus Ruiz, are set to be sentenced in January.

Gonzalez and Ruiz were arrested in Mineral County in January with 20 pounds of methamphetamine after being pulled over by sheriff's deputies. Prosecutors say the meth was going to be taken to the Deer Lodge area, and that Gonzalez admitted he planned to sell it to another person for $140,000.

According to prosecutors, charges against Gonzalez and the other men were filed following an investigation by the Montana Department of Justice, local law enforcement in Lewis and Clark, Mineral and Powell counties, the Missouri River Drug Task Force, the FBI and other federal agencies.

In a statement about Gonzalezs sentencing, U.S. Attorney for Montana Kurt Alme said the case was an important step in the effort to stop organized drug distribution networks in Montana.

The case is particularly important because the defendants possessed firearms in connection with drug trafficking, a prescription for violent crime of the sort the United States Department of Justice is committed to ridding from our communities, he said.

Alme said the case fell under the U.S. Department of Justices Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program aimed at reducing violent crime that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced last week he would be bolstering.
The police booking photo of U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, who was convicted in Gallatin County Justice Court earlier this year of assaulting a reporter, was released Wednesday.

Neither Gianforte nor the county attorney contested the release of the mugshot, and the decision was made by Gallatin County District Judge Holly Brown to release the mugshot after requests from across the nation, including from Lee Montana Newspapers.

The mugshot was distributed for a $10 fee to media Wednesday. Seven news organizations had filed a request for the mugshot. Now that it is public, campaigns against Gianforte, who is up for re-election next year, are expected to make use of the image.

In the mugshot, Gianforte is smiling, wearing a dress shirt and U.S. flag pin on the left lapel of a blazer.

Gianforte pleaded guilty earlier this year to misdemeanor assault for "body-slamming" Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs on the eve of his election to Montana's U.S. House seat in a runoff to fill the post after it was vacated when Ryan Zinke became Secretary of the Interior.

While Gianforte admitted to the assault, he never clarified why his campaign sent out a false statement immediately after saying Jacobs instigated the event.

In June Gianforte was given a six-month deferred sentence. He has since completed community service and an anger management course and paid nearly $4,500 to Jacobs.

At the June court hearing, Jacobs asked Gianforte for an interview once the Representative was sworn in. Jacobs has since expressed frustration that an on-the-record interview hasn't occurred, while Gianforte has said he offered an off-the-record chat.

A spokesman for Gianforte released the following statement Wednesday:
More than 100 people Tuesday night attended the Billings Public Librarys panel discussion Confederate Monuments: From the National to the Local, during which four local history professors talked about the historical context and meaning of Americas monuments to the Confederacy.

Participants in the hour-and-half event were Montana State University Billings history professors Emily Arendt and Joseph Bryan, and Rocky Mountain College history professors Tim Lehman and Jenifer Parks.

The purpose of monuments is to anchor historical memory within society and as a result memory can become imposed and a part of collective identity, Bryan said.

After the Civil War, the south was reeling from devastating losses. Two-fifths of southern livestock were destroyed, along with a quarter of fighting-age white males, Arrendt said. Railroads and other infrastructure also suffered severe damage.

Confederate monuments, she said, are closely connected to the development of the Lost Cause Mythology, which attempts to alter the story of the Confederacy and its defeat by depicting Southerners as honorable and inevitable victims who fought and died to preserve their values in the face of an oppressive monolith in the form of the Union.

This narrative does not match up to historical fact, she said.

Often, she said, the cause of the Civil War according to this mythology is states' rights.

Spoiler alert, Arrendt said, slavery was the cause of the Civil War.

The intention of many monuments to the Confederacy to both revise history and re-frame the reality of a defeated culture reliant on racially based chattel slavery is evident in historical trends in monument building, Arrendt said. Data shows a spike in monument construction during Reconstruction and the Jim Crow Era, followed by a dip, and then another spike during the Civil Rights Movement.

Monuments' locations also matter. Parks, who said she grew up in southern Georgia, relayed a story about a monument in the town of Andersonville, which lies adjacent to Camp Sumter, commonly known as the Andersonville Prison. It was there, under the command of Confederate officer Henry Wirz, that 13,000 Union soldiers died during the 11 months of the camps operation, mostly of disease caused by starvation and unsanitary conditions, Parks said. The prison is now the location of the National Prisoner of War Museum. In the town of Andersonville, less than a mile away, the Daughters of the Confederacy erected a monument to Wirz in 1909, she said.

"Inscriptions on that monument and another nearby show an attempt to make Wirz out as a hero and suggest that he was an example of scapegoating, Parks said. They called him a victim of judicial murder. Theres another historical maker in town that furthers this narrative and says he Gave his life for the South. So now a war criminal has become a martyr and a victim.

Building monuments isn't cheap, either. The Confederate Memorial Fountain in Helena cost $2,000 when it was built in 1916. "Rich people or people with access to money, people in control of public funds, get to build monuments," Lehman said.

"The monument imports to Montanans a history that's not really theirs," Bryan said. "So it then transmits to successive generations a history that becomes grafted on that's not necessarily their history. And that seems a little bit problematic."

Ultimately it's not up to historians to decide the fate of monuments, Bryan said.

"There's a little bit of a misconception of what historians' task is," he said. "We're not here to answer the should question. We're not here to necessarily say what should be done. We're here to essentially equip everybody with the correct kind of information to then make decisions."
Technology is the great equalizer. Theres no reason Missoula cant compete with Silicon Valley, and thats the message we heard at the Montana High Tech Jobs Summit.

On Monday, close to 700 Montanans came out to the University of Montana to talk about the growth of high-tech jobs in our state. Technology has removed geography as a constraint to doing business, and the opportunities are endless. Our big sky and Montana way of life are our greatest recruiting tools as Montana takes hold of the future  a future we know lies in technology.

We had a first-class lineup of speakers at the summit. Men and women whove learned about technology, not from a textbook, but from living and breathing it, gathered to discuss the future of high-tech jobs. These jobs are growing at seven times the rate of Montanas economy. The rest of the world is realizing what weve known all along in Montana: you can work where you like to play.

Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte, who started RightNow Technologies in Bozeman, knows a lot about that. He shared his insight into the importance of entrepreneurship in bringing opportunity to Montana communities. RightNow Technologies became Bozemans largest commercial employer, with wages that averaged over $70,000 a year and created over 500 jobs in Montana before being acquired by Oracle. RightNow Technologies is just one Montana success story. We also heard from businesses like Blackfoot, Butte Broadcasting, LMG Security, onXmaps and many others.

We also talked about the gap that exists between rural and urban America. Theres no doubt we must close the technology gap to bring more opportunity to rural Montana. We were excited to hear T-Mobiles Chief Technology Officer, Neville Ray, pledge to launch 5G in Montana by 2020.

Chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, U.S. Sen. John Thune also spoke about rural America and growing high-tech jobs. He understands rural  his hometown of Murdo, South Dakota, has 461 people. It was great to hear about his efforts in the Senate to bring broadband to underserved areas in rural Montana and on tribal lands.

Theres a lot of change ahead, but theres a lot of opportunity as well. That was the encouraging message we heard from Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, and in an era of ever-changing technology, its critical that Montana remain a leader in innovation and high-tech jobs. Our kids and grandkids will hold jobs one day that you and I will never know, but its something we can look forward to.

Technology is growing in Montana and its bringing more and more high-paying jobs to our state. You dont have to trade the great Montana way of life, our hiking, fly-fishing and hunting, to have a good-paying job. Technology has removed geography as a constraint to business and Montana is realizing those benefits.

If you were at the Montana High Tech Jobs Summit, thank you for being a part of the important discussion about high-tech jobs in our state. The future is technology and that future is here in Montana.
During my service in the military, the Air Force would immediately start designing the next generation fighter jet while the previous generation jet was still on the assembly line. In the same way, both political parties should support President Trumps tax plan so that we can create enough goodwill to build a far better tax system soon.

President Trumps tax plan is designed to gain Democratic support by preserving high income taxes for the rich. It reduces business taxes to make the U.S. more competitive with foreign countries so we can attract more businesses. The tax cuts will boost job growth and help unions and retirees earn higher returns on their pensions so they can retire. Other parts of President Trumps tax plan will simplify the tax code. I wholeheartedly support the presidents tax proposal because it promotes unity.

We need unity because the nations problems are so severe. Debts are so high that every taxpayer is on the hook to pay nearly $900,000 in unfunded liabilities. We cannot afford those debts because 69 percent of Americans have less than $1000 in savings, and millions of people face hunger every day. We cannot spend or tax our way out of this mess. Liberal and conservative economic strategies will no longer work.

We need new solutions. If you elect me to the Senate, I will build a new system designed to address every concern of both parties. I will help people generate lots of money to get rid of their debts and build savings. We must interconnect people to solve each others problems as fast as possible. If we can solve everyones problems in more effective ways, then we dont need to rely so heavily on government spending to get things done.

People need to solve each others problems through personal relationships without having to involve the federal government as much. For example, new technology allows us organize society to give each child a personalized education system that helps children toward a lifetime goal.

Everyone needs their own personalized tax code, and it must adapt as circumstances change. Everyone is different, so the government should treat everyone differently. It makes no sense to tax children or young college students because we should invest in them, not take money from them. Businesses that are testing new ideas and need assistance should pay low taxes at first.

We also need to harness everyones knowledge and opinions more effectively. The best system will employ everyones ideas, not just the elite few. You need a senator who will build a system that magnifies the power of your own personal knowledge and experience and allows you to benefit accordingly.

I support President Trumps plan because it fixes defects in the tax code. When our car breaks down, we fix it. If it keeps breaking down, we buy another car. Lets fix the tax code now. Then lets build ourselves a brand-new tax system.
Thanks to all the firefighters who continue to protect us.

The Missoulian article Experts weigh in on wildfires (Oct. 6) reviewed options to minimize future firefighting risk factors, and the dangerous public downsides of wildfire. This story ran over 2,200 words and 57 paragraphs, yet had no direct suggestion about earlier and more aggressive containment.

Western Montana citizens are tired of being told of too dangerous terrain, etc. These conditions have always existed and we know more could be done with quicker tactical suppression.

With drought being a big future factor, one answer is less costly, quicker suppression. Using aerial retardant with aerial ground strike force insertion sooner will result in greatly reduced costs and less rapid fire growth. Reaction time is the key here. We cant afford the current national written policy of using wildfire to reduce fuel loads.

The U.S. Forest Service should honestly tell us on which major fires where the wildfire tool was not an initial consideration. There were more excuses than strike force action. The Lolo Peak fire was a prime example, and also most of the major fires around Missoula.

Try to save those important federal and state tax dollars. You are killing us with your smoke.

Rod Dietz,

Missoula
Is it accidental Missoula routinely ranks as one of the best places to live in the U.S.? Many have contributed to that success, but none have worked harder than John Engen. His leadership has made Missoula a better place. His experience and his exceptional energy are the best guarantees that our town will continue to prosper.

Critics assert hes responsible for every Missoula tax increase. But the largest contributors to increased taxes  the open space bond, school bonds, Fort Missoula improvements and the library  were voter-approved. Taxes are down this year and predicted to remain stable.

Do those who claim that Mayor Engen isnt business friendly drive around town (Southgate Mall, downtown, Sawmill District) with their eyes closed? My concern: Can Missoula sustain such growth and retain our quality of life?

Lisa Triepke claims she will reduce taxes while increasing services. But she offers few specifics for how this oxymoron will be achieved. Triepke has no political experience and an undistinguished work record: many jobs over short periods. My experience: She served on the Montana Natural History Center board for a few months and then quit, citing "personal" reasons.

It's not a close call. Vote for Engen.

Hank Fischer,

Missoula
In a recent presentation to Montana Tech Professor Doug Camerons pre-professional health class, I spoke to students about health disparities that can be illustrated by geographic regions  in other words, I spoke to the class about how your zip code can be more important to your health outcomes than your genetic code.

One health outcome that can be looked at, I told the students, is length of life, which can specifically be looked at through the lens of premature death  or the years of potential life lost before age 75. The County Health Rankings, published annually by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, uses this years of potential life lost prior to age 75 as its measure of premature death and produces applicable data as a rate.

The County Health Rankings says its premature death rate measures the number of deaths in a county over a three-year period, divided by the number of people in that county; this value is then multiplied by 100,000 to calculate the years of potential life lost under age 75 per 100,000 people. Developing such a rate helps to compare data across counties with different population sizes. Years of potential life lost measures mortality by giving more weight to deaths at earlier ages than deaths at later ages, says the County Health Rankings. For example, when a person dies at 20, this death contributes 55 years of potential life lost, whereas when a person dies at age 70, this death contributes only five years of potential life lost to a county. The data used for this measure are age-adjusted to remove the effect of differently aged populations as a risk factor for premature death, says the County Health Rankings. Since we all age, aging is not preventable; and as we age, our risk of premature death increases. Counties with older populations are more likely to have higher crude premature death rates than counties with younger populations. Using an age-adjusted rate allows us to make a fair comparison of premature death rates across counties.

With that out of the way, lets get back to the Montana Tech students. On an overhead screen in the classroom, I went to the County Health Rankings website and selected on a map Montana and then Silver Bow County (the site is very interactive and simple to use). Once Silver Bow County was up on the screen, the students and I were able to look at how our county matches up on a variety of measures with the rest of Montana  but we honed in on length of life, specifically the premature death measure. For the 2017 rankings, Butte-Silver Bow had 8,700 years of potential life lost before age 75 compared to 7,100 years for Montana as a whole and 5,200 years for top U.S. performers in this measure  counties setting a benchmark.

The students and I were able to collectively determine that we in Butte-Silver Bow have more years of life lost prior to age 75 than the rest of Montana. In other words, our life spans as a whole are shorter. (After class, I looked on the website for the leading causes of death under age 75 in Butte-Silver Bow: cancer; heart disease; chronic lower respiratory diseases such as bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma; suicide; and accidents.)

Since students in the class were from all over the state, we went to various other counties, and heres what we found for years of potential life lost:

 Cascade County (Great Falls): 7,200

 Yellowstone County (Billings): 7,000

 Missoula County (Missoula): 5,600

 Lewis and Clark County (Helena): 5,900

 Gallatin County (Bozeman): 4,200

 Flathead County (Kalispell): 6,700

And because one student was from Phoenix, we looked up:

 Maricopa County: 6,100

Trying to drive home my point about our zip codes being a huge factor in our health outcomes, I told the students that Native Americans throughout our country can expect to live many years fewer than other populations. On the overhead screen, I went to Roosevelt County, home to the Fort Peck Reservation; we learned the county, whose county seat is Wolf Point, had 23,400 years of potential life lost before age 75.

One student gasped.

After class, I looked up the years of potential life lost measure for counties that are home to Montanas six other reservations:

 Big Horn (Crow Reservation): 15,100

 Blaine County (Fort Belknap Reservation): 11,500

 Glacier (Blackfeet Reservation): 14,100

 Hill County (Rocky Boys Reservation): 7,600

 Lake County (Flathead Reservation): 8,200

 Rosebud (Northern Cheyenne): 13,800

As I told the Montana Tech students, where you live has a lot to do with how healthy you are. Many areas in Montana, including tribal jurisdictions, have some incredibly heavy lifting to do to prompt healthier living and longer lives.

Butte-Silver Bow is right in that mix.
In a move to save jobs in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, Chief Executive Bill Everett has made an offer to the states Department of Revenue he hopes the agency cant refuse.

Everett wants to give the department free rent in the courthouse for "the next several years" if it locates its proposed regional hub for state assessors there.

The loss of the rent to the county would be $8,400 annually, he said, but Everett hopes the move would save two assessor jobs.

Due to state budget cuts, the revenue department must shave about 10 percent of its operating budget. This is expected to mean a loss of about 70 jobs statewide. Some of those positions are vacant and will not be filled.

But it will mean layoffs for some revenue department workers.

The department is proposing to Gov. Steve Bullock to lay off staff in assessor offices and to close those county offices. The state has an assessor office in each of Montanas 56 counties. Butte-Silver Bow County has eight assessors, Gene Walborn, revenue department deputy director, said Wednesday.

Whose jobs will be affected by the cuts has not yet been determined, Walborn said. But the revenue departments proposed plan is to close many of the county offices and create, instead, regional hubs.

Everett has offered not only to stop charging the state rent to save the two jobs that could be on the chopping block, but also offered Anacondas courthouse to become the regions hub for southwest Montana.

Everett sees the potential loss of the two assessors as a bigger issue for Anaconda than just the loss of income for two Anaconda residents.

The countys number one funding source is property tax, Everett said Wednesday by phone.

Assessors assess the amount of tax homeowner's pay. Everett's concern is that if the countys assessors arent living in the county, they will not be as aware of changes to a homeowners property that could raise values. That, in turn, would be a loss of tax revenue for the county.

Things escape the process (if assessors dont live in the county); the loss of revenue could be significant, Everett said.

Walborn agreed, but said the states plan to prevent that kind of loss to county revenue is to create mobile offices for each county. That would mean that although there would be regional hubs, one assessor would still be living in the county where he or she assesses property.

A lot of the work in county offices is dealing with paper; thats a thing we want to regionalize and turn into an electronic process, Walborn said.

Walborn said nothing is final until Bullock makes his decision. But Walborn added that it would be more likely that regional hubs will be located in the larger communities in each particular region.

But Everett hopes Anaconda can be that regional hub. He pointed to other recent job losses Anaconda has faced. The Smelter City lost five full-time jobs last month when the state Department of Labor and Industry closed its Job Service office due to a cut in federal funding. In a move to become more efficient, the state closed the Title and Registration Bureau in Deer Lodge last year, relocating it to Helena. Everett said that one-third of those 23 jobs were held by Anaconda residents.

"It's pretty brutal," Everett said.
A man who bolted from an officer while in custody at the Butte-Silver Bow County courthouse in April pleaded guilty to felony escape Thursday but will avoid prison time if he abides by probationary terms.

District Judge Brad Newman gave James Franklin Wasson, 29, a 10-year suspended sentence after accepting a plea agreement.

As part of the deal, prosecutors dropped six felony charges and one misdemeanor that landed Wasson in custody in the first place but were not tied to his brief escape later.

Those charges, including five counts of criminal endangerment and one for possessing dangerous drugs, were tied to a high-speed chase on April 13 that included police shooting the tires out of a car Wasson was driving.

While in custody for that incident, Wasson tried to hurt himself and was taken to the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs for a mental health evaluation.

When he was returned, he arrived behind the courthouse in an ambulance van without hand or ankle cuffs and wearing civilian clothes like other prisoners, which is state hospital policy.

When an officer was removing a bag from the van, Wasson jumped out another door and took off running. He was spotted about 20 minutes later at an entrance to St. James Healthcare and was arrested.

Prosecutors filed a motion in June to dismiss the original seven charges, in part because some evidence items would take seven to nine months to process at the crime lab.

Deputy County Attorney Ann Shea told Newman Thursday the state wanted to resolve the case and move on, so those charges were being dismissed.

She supported the 10-year suspended sentence for escape and Wassons attorney, Colin Delli Bovi, also said it was fair. He said his client had work lined up, had children to support, and had close ties to Butte.

We dont want to lock James up and throw away the key, Delli Bovi said. James wants to be better. He obviously will be on a very tight leash.

Newman told Wasson he would be supervised by probation officers, could have his vehicles or residence searched any time, could not drink alcohol or have illegal drugs, and was subject to drug and alcohol testing.

I think it will give you a chance to succeed in the community, Newman said, but he reminded him that a 10-year-sentence is still possible if he messes up.

Ive got a key in my pocket and can sure use it, the judge told him.
Tribal leaders and experts on mental health gathered in Helena Wednesday to work on ways to prevent suicide among Native American youth.

The two-day conference to teach best practices is the first step in The Native Youth Suicide Reduction Plan. More than 75 people from tribal governments, Urban Indian Health Centers, the Indian Health Service and the Department of Health and Human Services will spend two days at the Zero Suicide Academy, a national program to implement best practices.

Some of you may come here carrying heavy hearts, Jan Ulrich, a senior project manager with the Zero Suicide Institute, said.

The framework was tailored to fit the states specific needs. In Montana, Native youth are at the highest risk for suicide. The statewide suicide rate is 8 deaths per 100,000 for ages 11 to 24, while the rate among Native Americans is 43 per 100,000 deaths.

The conference is part of the first pillar of the Native Youth Suicide Reduction Plan released to state leaders in January, which calls for launching a statewide Zero Suicide Initiative. The other three pillars require the state to: support local community healing and transformation, empower Native youth and reinforce front line healers.

Zero Suicide framework encourages universal screenings, risk assessments, data collection and reporting and other evidence-based measures.

Gov. Steve Bullock addressed those who came to the conference and thanked them for doing difficult work.

Im tired of consoling and talking to my own kids about what we see around the state, he said. We can be tired or we can recommit and say we have to change things.

Bullock said the conference shows Montanans are committed.

"Were all here to make zero suicide a reality, he said.

Most speakers were quick to acknowledge the challenging work, but asked attendees to have hope. Some said the academy is a unique opportunity to have solutions come from within the Native American community.

We descend from people that were masters of not giving up, Iris Pretty Paint, of Kaufman and Associates, said. Were excited at getting this pillar and going to the next.

Montana has been in the top five states with the highest rates of suicide for the last 40 years.

The initiative geared toward Native youth is part of a multi-pronged effort to reduce suicide in the state. In 2017, the Legislature passed a bill providing DPHHS with $1 million to prevent suicide with $250,000 going to Native youth, $250,000 to schools, and $500,000 for veterans, Native Americans and other groups.
MUSCATINE  It took 50 years, but on Wednesday morning, a Durant veteran was finally presented with the medals he earned serving in the Vietnam War.

At the Durant Lamp Memorial Community Center, .S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, handed David Happ a shadowbox filled with five medals and badges. The Durant American Legion Post 430 hosted the event and presented the colors, while a member of the local high school band played taps.

Happ, who enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1965, earned the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the National Defense Service Ribbon, the Vietnam Service Medal with three bronze star attachments and other medals.

Happ said he served two tours in Vietnam before returning home in 1968. A disabled veteran, who discovered he had diabetes in 1996, Happ said he was reluctant to ask for help from the Veterans Affairs department.

Cedar County VA Administrator Patricia Hamann remembers when Happ first greeted her in the courthouse around 2007 and their interactions since that time.

"He always says 'I don't need it, I don't need the medals,'" Hamann said. "But it's OK, as a veteran, to ask for things you deserve."

Happ now refers to Hamann as his angel. She was instrumental in having the federal government award the medals he earned in war.

"He's one of the most generous people I know," she said. "There's never a sad day, although, he's had plenty to bring him down."

Hamann said Happ frequently steps up to help veterans in need, distributing food and furniture to nearby vets, among other assistance.

"You've inspired a lot of folks and continue to inspire, even though you're not in uniform 50 years later," Ernst said after presenting the medals.

Ernst, who served in the military for 23 years, said she is proud Iowans are so dedicated to their country, adding out of the 3 million people in the state, around 270,000 are veterans.

The senator said it has been one of her missions and privileges to travel the state to award veterans the medals they earned decades ago. Most of the veterans, she said, served in Vietnam and did not receive a warm welcome when they returned home.

"This is extremely important to me as a veteran," she said. "At a time during Vietnam where those veterans were separated without any salute or goodbye or thank you, that's really hurtful to me. So it's an honor to present (them) with these awards."

Ernst said it's not always easy to track down the paperwork to award the medals the soldiers have earned. For example, a fire at a veterans facility in St. Louis destroyed hundreds of documents. She said the hardest part is digging, researching and finding the right records.

The Durant community center was filled with dozens of Happ's relatives, friends and neighbors. He thanked everyone in the room, saying they were the most important people to support him over the years.
MUSCATINE  Boasting the city's growing amenities and development, 2nd Ward Councilman Michael Rehwaldt said he believes "it's morning again in Muscatine."

Rehwaldt is seeking his second term on the Muscatine City Council. He has a challenger, Osmond "Oz" Malcolm, a newcomer to Muscatine politics.

Born and raised in Muscatine, Rehwaldt attended Muscatine schools and the University of Iowa. He is the former owner of Hotel Muscatine, then had a career working as an executive recruiter specializing in environmental talent. He also served multiple terms as a board member of Decatur Electronics, and CDM, an international consulting engineering firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Having traveled across the country, Rehwaldt eventually returned to his roots in Muscatine. He remembers his father serving on the city council around 50 years ago.

"My dad, Charles, was active in everything in the community, everything," Rehwaldt said. "He was just a good example to follow, a good man, and I always admired him."

Inspired by that example, Rehwaldt ran for election in 2013, unseating former 2nd Ward council member Mark LeRette.

"I thought my dad would be pleased if I did [run], so it's a wonderful tradition," he said. "I hope to be as conscientious as he was. He never did the easy thing. He always tried to do the right thing."

In part, he said he attributes the victory to his work helping the Muscatine Fire Department secure the longevity of its annual boot drive.

"The council before me banned the firemen from having their boot drive, and I was out campaigning and people...were very unhappy," he said. "I think that's how I won the election. I got that turned around, gathered the votes I needed and we got them back out where they should be."

In 2013 with LeRette still on the council, members approved allowing firefighters to collect donations on the streets for another year, according to the minutes. The city now allows the crew to hold the boot drive outside of Muscatine businesses.

Throughout his first term, Rehwaldt said he is most proud the city has avoided raising the city's tax levy. The city's tax rate is $15.67 per $1,000 of assessed value, according to the city budget.

"Seven years and no tax levy increase, that is phenomenal," he said. "You got to give staff a lot of credit for doing more with less. We give the order every year, no tax increase. And we find a way to make it work."

The councilman said he also worked to preserve Iowa Field in Muscatine. While not a park with the typical amenities, Rehwaldt said the field is used by residents each week.

"There was a proposal to build some(thing) on it, and the bottom line is, you can't build there because it's literally a flood plain," he said. "So I got it off the list to make it eligible for development and now it's in a lock box. It can never be used for anything other than what it is right now."

On Oct. 11, 2012, before Rehwaldt's term, the city council agreed to remove Iowa Field from a development proposal in closed session due to an outcry from Muscatine residents, according to previous reporting by the Muscatine Journal.

If re-elected to city council, Rehwaldt wants to keep the city's tax rate at the same level, plus better promote Muscatine's public safety departments.

"There's this culture in the fire department that they fight to see who gets to be the first one through the door when there's a structure fire," he said. "They all want to be the first one through the door to attack the fire. And it's that kind of attitude that makes them real winners."

Rehwaldt wants to provide the police and fire departments with the right resources, and also looks forward to the development of a potential container port on the Mississippi River.

"There's a tremendous amount of talent here because it's a headquarters town for some really vibrant enterprise that you don't find in other towns," Rehwaldt said. "We're lucky to have the resources we've got and the tradition of giving and community involvement from these companies."

The deadline for residents to pre-register to vote is Oct. 27. The Muscatine municipal election will be held Nov. 7.
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 []
Less than 12 hours after ordering a partial evacuation, fire officials in Calistoga are ordering all 5,000 residents to leave.

Officials issued the alert shortly before 3 p.m., telling all residents to leave and directing them to a shelter at American Canyon High School.

The Tubbs fire caused extensive damage in the hills around Calistoga early Monday, destroying homes, a winery, and a historic resort off Petrified Forest Road and Highway 128 into Knights Valley, but doing no damage to the city itself.

The fire remains well outside city limits but spread on Tuesday to the flanks of Mount St. Helena, north of the city. Forecasters say strong winds were expected to begin as early as Wednesday evening, blowing from the north, which could push the fire into the city.

The first evacuation order went out shortly after 3 a.m. for areas in the northern and eastern parts of the city, affecting about 2,000 people, including guests at several resorts and the remaining evacuees at a public shelter at the Napa County Fairgrounds. The rest of the city was ordered to evacuate after that partial evacuation was completed.

Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning said he was concerned about the potential of the fire spreading to the city, but was "cautiously optimistic" because the active fire is still some miles away.

He confirmed that a report from a San Francisco TV station on Wednesday that some homes in the city had burned was false.
A number of businesses and other entities are holding fundraisers, raising funds, announcing special offers or accepting donations for fire relief efforts. Among them:

Napa Valley Community Foundation (NVCF) distributed $565,000 in grants on Friday that will fund trusted community-based nonprofit agencies to support families and individuals impacted by the Napa Fire Complex who are in immediate need of assistance. The grants are earmarked for critical disaster-related needs, such as temporary shelter, food, medical care, mental health services, emergency childcare, transportation, resource/referral and case management services, legal services, and other human services for affected communities in Napa County. The grants were made from the Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund, which is managed by NVCF and was established with a $10 million lead gift from Napa Valley Vintners following the 2014 South Napa Earthquake.

As of Thursday afternoon, more than 3,400 donors had contributed $1.2 million to the Disaster Relief Fund in response to the fires. Additional cash gifts are needed, but the Foundation is not able to accept in-kind contributions. Moreover, most nonprofits helping those affected by the fires dont have the capacity at this time to accept the significant volume of in-kind donations that are generously being offered. After the devastating fires in Lake County in 2015, it took 15 tractor trailers to haul away all the in-kind donations that poured in but couldnt be used by people, said Mulligan. One exception: gift cards purchased to assist evacuees, particularly pre-paid Visa, MasterCard or American Express gift cards in $25, $50 and $100 denominations, which are being accepted by Cope Family Center at 707 Randolph Street in Napa and UpValley Family Centers at 1440 Spring Street in St. Helena.

 Redwood Credit Union (RCU) is accepting donations to assist those impacted by the North Bay fires. Anyone can make a secure donation online at www.redwoodcu.org/northbayfirerelief or at any of RCUs North Bay and San Francisco locations. One hundred percent of tax deductible donations will aid fire victims and relief efforts.

Contributions to the fund may be made securely online via credit card or checks can be dropped off at a branch and made payable to the RCU Community Fund. Checks may also be mailed to RCU Community Fund, P.O. Box 6104, Santa Rosa, CA 95406.

Anheuser-Busch is sending two truckloads  each carrying more than 50,000 cans of water  to assist American Red Cross relief efforts in the region.

Our Fairfield brewery is not at risk from the fires, but the heavy smoke in the area is making conditions difficult and the team has temporarily shut down operations until air quality improves, said Bill Bradley, Anheuser-Buschs vice president for community affairs.

The two trucks of drinking water will arrive in Sacramento and Fairfield this week.

 Stephen Troy, CEO of Silicon Valley based AeroPay Express, a division of AeroFund Financial, is offering up to a $50,000 line of credit, interest free, to qualified companies impacted by the fires who need to pay their vendors quickly and may not have the resources to do so. AeroPay will waive all interest charges on the $50,000 and offer extended credit terms. The mechanisms are in place to get funding paid out within 24 hours.

Troy, who has a home in Napa, said he was deeply moved by seeing the business and personal devastation created by the recent fires and sought to find a way to help companies get back on their feet. Info:

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. E. & J. Gallo Winery is donating $1 million to aid the fire recovery effort. The money will be divided among the American Red Cross California Wildfires Relief Fund, the Community Foundation of Sonoma and the Napa Valley Community Foundation, said a news release. In addition, Gallo will match employee donations two-for-one.

AUL Corp of downtown Napa has been collecting donations for fire victims and donated $10,000 to the Napa Valley Disaster Relief Fund at https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/napafirerelief.

 Napa Moose Lodge on Browns Valley Rd has been collecting donations for families and has provided a group of local volunteers a place to cook meals for first responders.

Treasury Wine Estates is making a contribution of $100,000 to support those affected by wildfires in the Napa and Sonoma Regions by donating $50,000 each to the Napa Valley Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and the Sonoma County Community Foundation Resilience Fund. We are encouraging others to join us in these efforts, said the company.

Taube Philanthropies has granted $250,000 to Jewish Family and Childrens Services (JFCS) in support of its emergency aid to victims of the North Bay wildfires. The financial support is making it possible for JFCS to render short-term humanitarian assistance  including food, clothing and housing  as well as longer-term support to help fire victims recover and rebuild their lives. Anyone needing help can contact JFCS at 707-303-1500 or sonoma@jfcs.org. JFCS is also accepting financial contributions to support these emergency services; donations are accepted online or by phone at 415- 449-1256.

 Nakedwines.com has donated $100,000 to evacuation and relief efforts. The company has also launched a rescue fund to which everyone can contribute. The funds will be donated to local groups in Napa, Sonoma and surrounding wine country, including the Napa Valley Community Foundation and other organizations that support winemaking communities in need. To contribute visit https://us.nakedwines.com/fire-recovery

 Rabobank N.A. is waiving certain fees until Oct. 21 for accounts based at the Napa, Magalia, Paradise, Santa Rosa and Sonoma branches. Fees are being temporarily suspended for cash withdrawals from any ATM owned and operated by another bank, checking account overdraft and late-loan payments.

 Wells Fargo & Company will donate $100,000 to the American Red Cross to support fire relief efforts. The bank is also providing $50,000 to the Salvation ArmyDel Oro Division so they can feed evacuees and first responders fighting fires in Northern California. Through Oct. 23, customers who wish to support relief efforts may do so by using any California Wells Fargo ATM and selecting the option to donate. One hundred percent of contributions will be sent to the American Red Cross.

 Lucky Supermarkets stores throughout the Bay Area and surrounding regions started collecting monetary donations on Wednesday for the American Red Cross relief efforts.

 Also raising funds are Safeway, Vons, Pavilions and Albertsons stores in California and Northern Nevada in the Northern California areas affected by wildfires. Albertsons Companies Foundation will match customer donations up to $500,000.
City of Napa officials want to extinguish the fake news before it spreads like wildfire.

For example, a Facebook report on Tuesday falsely said Broadmoor Drive area in Browns Valley was burning. A resident said the looky-loos flocked to the area  30 to 40 carloads of them -to watch the non-existent disaster.

The Partrick and Nuns fires werent immediately threatening the city of Napa and Browns Valley. As of Wednesday, no part of the city had been evacuated.

All we ask is dont spread rumors, dont play with other peoples emotions and treat everybody respectfully, Police Chief Steve Potter said.

Then there was the television news report that said city residents should boil their water before drinking it. In fact, the city had issued this order only for a fire-battered area mostly outside of city limits, much of it an evacuation area.

Your water is safe, Joy Eldredge, general manager of the city Water Division said. Its ready for drinking.

City officials delivered these and other messages during a 1 p.m. Wednesday town hall meeting at Browns Valley Elementary School, with an encore session planned for 6 p.m. at City Hall. The city convened the meeting by social media only an hour before it started and enough residents responded to pack the auditorium and spill out the doors.

Potter didnt sugarcoat the real, accurate information.

Most fires of this size go for weeks, if not months, he said to a few groans. We need to plan for the long haul.

The city is between the jaws of a fiery pincer. It has the Partrick, Nuns and Norrbom fires on the west side in the Mayacamas mountains and Carneros area and the Atlas fire to the east.

Napa Fire Chief Steve Brassfield said the city has significant buffers on both its west and east sides from the fires.

Were hoping and praying those boundaries stay intact, Brassfield said. We have fire resources all around the city . We have resources coming from both Oregon and Nevada, more federal resources coming.

The weather unfortunately has changed 180 degrees every 12 hours or so in terms of the winds, Brassfield said. That means strategies to fight the fires have also had to constantly change.

People asked how an evacuation within city limits would work. City officials said they would communicate by Nixel and social media. They would, if necessary, go through neighborhoods using sirens and public address systems and knock on doors.

Is there any fear of a potential mass exiting, and how to we manage such chaos? a resident asked.

Dont wait until the last minute to prepare, and have everything ready ahead of time, Potter said. People can also think ahead to what evacuation route they would take.
AMERICAN CANYON  American Canyon rolled out the welcome mat Wednesday for evacuees from Calistoga, but a space at the high school that can accommodate 600 only had 77 by Thursday morning.

Part of the reason may be a reluctance by Latinos, who make up a significant portion of Calistogas population, to risk being picked up by federal immigration agents, shelter volunteers said.

In other cases, these evacuees may be having trouble making their way the length of the Napa Valley on short notice, city officials said

We are expecting more people, interim City Manager Jason Holley said Wednesday night. It takes them a while to gather their things and drive here from Calistoga.

Others spoke of the fear factor.

A lot of people in Calistoga are Spanish speaking, and theyre afraid to come here because they think ICE agents will get them, said American Canyon resident Karina Servente, who was volunteering Wednesday night at the center and helping communicate with those who speak limited or no English.

County Supervisor Belia Ramos was also trying to assuage concerns about the center.

We certainly are expecting the evacuees to be more Spanish speaking, she said outside the schools gymnasium.

I have been on the radio in Spanish saying its really important that the message is consistent, said Ramos, that this is a safe haven for everybody.

We are not asking immigration status, she said.

Servente said she had told the few dozen who had arrived: This is a sanctuary.

Many migrant workers nonetheless were worried to show their faces at the center, according to evacuee Alfredo Ramirez, who showed up just after dark.

I know a lot of people, said Ramirez, a farmworker in Calistoga. They dont want to come into these places cause theyre afraid of immigration [authorities]. Thats why they dont show.

Ramos said she was concerned migrant workers would resort to sleeping in their cars.

Its cold, theyre tired, she said. I want to make sure they have food.

Ramirez said he spent part of Wednesday morning sleeping in a car after fleeing Calistoga with his four roommates who also are seasonal workers.

Three in the morning last night they knocked on the door and said, You got to go, he said, recalling the first mandatory evacuation order that was announced in the early morning hours on Wednesday.

He said he and his roommates piled into their two cars and headed south, without any idea where to go.

They got as far as Yountville and decided to pull over. They slept for a few hours in their cars. When they awoke they still had the same problem: where to find shelter.

We returned back [to Calistoga] because we dont have a place to go, he said, standing in front of the bleachers of the ACHS gym. So we stayed right there [in their apartment] most of the day on Wednesday.

But by three oclock the cops started knocking on the door, telling them they couldnt stay in their apartment any longer because of the threat of fire.

So they got back into their cars and began a circuitous journey to American Canyon. They headed east toward Silverado Trail, only to find they couldnt go south very far, forcing them to head west and then south on Highway 29.

They encountered heavy traffic on their way to Napa and eventually American Canyon, where they pulled into the parking lot of Walmart. Ramirez said they found out about the evacuation center only after doing a Google search on his phone.

He said he was lucky to be at the ACHS gym because they give you everything, such as food and a place to sleep.

The American Canyon evacuation center did not lack for supplies after opening about 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

The school library was converted into a makeshift food pantry loaded with cases of bottled water, stacks of toiletries and paper products, scores of boxed and canned foods, as well as prepared meals donated by restaurants.

By 10 p.m., volunteers were talking about having to throw away some of the meals they had received because health regulations require unused portions be discarded after four hours.

City Councilmember David Oro, who showed up to help open the center, said he was impressed with American Canyons effort to help fire victims.

Its incredible, said Oro. The outpouring of support and giving from the city of American Canyon is beyond my expectations. I knew we were always a giving community, but there are stacks and stacks of bottles of water, stacks of toiletries. Way more than enough.

The question remained how much of it would be used, and by how many.

Ramos said she would continue to do radio interviews and call-ins to stations, including KVON in Napa and KBBF, a bilingual public radio station in Santa Rosa.
Planning a trip to Napa Valley this week?

According to Napas official visitor serving agency, its best to hold off until the fires have been contained.

Clay Gregory, Visit Napa Valley president and CEO, said that the citys Welcome Center is still open and tourists are still visiting the hub and finding their way to the businesses that are open, including those downtown.

However, due to road passage difficulty and poor air quality, please consider making alternate travel plans until the emergency is over, Gregory said in a statement.

As the days progress, Napa Valley businesses will continue to assess their ability to welcome visitors and Visit Napa Valley will update visitors planning a visit to the Napa Valley, he said. Many businesses remain closed due to power outages, evacuation orders and employees who are unable to get to work.

The economic impact of the wildfires on Napa County businesses is not known yet, Gregory said.

The entire city of Calistoga was evacuated on Wednesday afternoon, effectively closing all businesses there temporarily.

As of Thursday, according to a listing on the Visit Napa Valley website, hotels that were temporarily closed included Auberge du Soleil, Aurora Park Cottages, Best Western Plus Stevenson Manor, Calistoga Spa Hot Springs, Carneros Resort & Spa, Hotel Villagio, Indian Springs Resort, Las Alcobas, Lavender Inn, Maison Fleurie, Marriott Hotel and Spa, Meadowood Napa Valley, Motel 6 Napa, North Block Hotel, Poetry Inn, Silverado Resort & Spa, Southbridge Napa Valley, SpringHill Suites by Marriott and the Trailside Inn.

Wineries temporarily closed included Andretti Winery, B Cellars, Baldacci Family Vineyards, Benessere Vineyards, Beringer Vineyards, Brown Estate, Burgess Cellars, BV (Beaulieu Vineyard), CADE Winery, Cakebread Cellars, Castello di Amorosa, Charles Krug, Chateau Montelena, Chimney Rock Winery, Clif Family Winery, Cliff Lede Vineyards, Clos du Val, Conn Creek Winery, Covert Estate, Crocker & Starr, Crosby Roamann, Durant & Booth, Eleven Eleven Wines, Elizabeth Spencer, Etude, Fantesca Estate & Winery, Far Niente Winery, Flora Springs Winery and The Room, Franciscan Estate Winery, Grgich Hills Estate, Hess Collection, Historic Del Dotto (Atlas Peak Road), Joseph Phelps Vineyards, Judds Hill, Kieu Hoang Winery, Long Meadow Ranch Winery, Mark Herold WinesMain Tasting Room, Mark Herold WinesReserve Room, Materra, Cunat Family Winery, Nichelini Winery, Nickel & Nickel, Odette Estate Winery, Opus One, Piazza Del Dotto Winery (Yountville), Pine Ridge Vineyards, PlumpJack Winery, Provenance Vineyards, Robert Mondavi Winery, Round Pond Estate, Rutherford Hill Winery, Signorello Estate, Silverado Vineyards, Stags Leap Winery, Sterling Vineyards, Summers Estate Wines, Trefethen Family Vineyards, Yao Family Wines and Yountville tasting rooms.

Restaurants and other businesses temporarily closed included 1313 Main Restaurant & Wine Bar, Angele Restaurant, Bounty Hunter, CIA at Greystone, Dynamic Wine Tours, Enterprise Rent a Car, French Laundry, Model Bakery, Napa Valley Wine Train, Napa Valley Wine Trolley, Oakville Grocery, Ottimo, Platypus Wine Tours, Protea, Redd, Redd Wood, Silos Napa, Skyline Wilderness Park, The Restaurant at Auberge, TORC and the Yountville Visitor Center.
They had to do something.

Yamini Rangan and Eileen Winter were staring out at seven acres of what was essentially wildfire kindling behind their homes on Broadmoor Drive on the western edge of Browns Valley.

After the tension of Tuesday night, with Napa police ramping up patrols and notifying residents in the area about a potential evacuation because of the encroaching Partrick Fire, the two neighbors decided to act and reduce the fire risk from their neighbors property.

Look at the number of homes there. Theres 20 homes all around there, said Rangan, pointing toward the fence line behind the houses on Broadmoor. More houses were vulnerable on Borrette Lane.

I dont want to have it on our conscience that the open field caused a problem  we have to take the responsibility, she said.

The idea was simple. Rather than wait for the owner to act, they would try to build a fire break, removing the dead grass and exposing bare earth, and dampen the ground and the fences with water.

The only problem was getting a bulldozer and enough water to make all this happen. Rangan started putting out feelers on Facebook and calling rental companies and vineyard management companies to see if there was equipment that they could use.

But she was getting dismissed at every turn, and some even scoffed at the thought of lending equipment in a time like this.

Eventually she got put on to Walsh Vineyards Management, which could spare a disc mower to slice down the tall grass. Winters sister tracked down a broker who was able to connect them with Jim Brown, owner of Browns Water Trucks.

Suddenly, they were in business.

Through many calls and Yamini being persistent and my sister hound-dogging the water issue, people just showed up, Winter said. It was fabulous. I was feeling very guilty and nervous about all these houses, and not knowing what to do. Its hard to know what the right thing is.

Browns company specializes in construction, water and aggregate hauling, and has been busy assisting his neighbors since the fires kicked up Sunday night.

Were going to help out and do what we can, said Brown.

Joined in the water truck by his wife Diane, Brown circled the field multiple times Wednesday afternoon, spraying 20,000 gallons of water over the freshly cut grass and opening up the ground with the tires to make Rangan and Winters desired dozer line a reality. By 4 p.m., most of the field had been cleared and Brown was onto his second tank.

Whether their grassroots effort to defend their neighborhood will work, or will even get tested, remains to be seen.

The two women split time between San Francisco and Napa because of work, but the thought of simply surrendering to the fires and abandoning their homes was out of the question.
Public schools throughout Napa County will reopen on Wednesday Oct. 18, with the exception of Calistoga, which will remain closed through at least Oct. 20, the Napa County Office of Education said Thursday.

Justin-Siena High School, a private school, will also reopen on the 18th, the school announced Thursday, but student-led conferences set for that day are cancelled. Staff is asked to report on the 17th.

Napa Valley College plans to resume classes on Tuesday, Oct. 17. Staff is asked to return on Monday.

We need the weekend to transition our campus from an emergency shelter operation to a learning center, and we need Monday to prepare out staff for resumption of classes, Dr. Ron Kraft, the colleges president, said on Thursday.

Since Monday, the college has housed hundreds of fire evacuees in three on-campus shelters that are being run at capacity by the Red Cross under the auspices of the Napa County Office of Emergency Services.

Superintendents of the all the public school districts in the county met Thursday with the Office of Education to coordinate their plans. They said the districts will be in touch directly with staff to discuss when they should report back to work.

The Office of Education warned that the reopening date was based on the assumption that the fire situation and air quality would improve. The date is subject to change if the situation deteriorates, officials said.

Calistoga remains a question mark. The entire city remains evacuated indefinitely as firefighters prepare to make a stand against the Tubbs fire, which is now burning on a broad front north of the city.

The Calistoga district sprawls well north and west of the city into parts of Sonoma County, and that area suffered devastating damage Sunday and Monday as the Tubbs fire spread into Knights Valley and Santa Rosa. Roads through that area remain impassible.

Even if the city itself escapes damage, therefore, it could be a challenge for students and staff living in the damaged areas to reach the schools, officials said.

The districts reopening on Oct. 18 are Napa Valley Unified School District, St. Helena Unified School District, Pope Valley Union Elementary School District, Howell Mountain Elementary School District and Napa County Office of Education schools.
Drawing maps of legislative and congressional districts for partisan advantagecommonly called gerrymanderingis ethically wrong, and the U.S. Supreme Court may soon decide whether its also a constitutional violation.

The case (Gill v. Whitford) involves Wisconsin, where the Republican legislative majority drew new districts that, in effect, guaranteed its dominance.

It is just one example of a years-longand very successfuldrive by conservative organizations to achieve control of enough state legislatures to affect control of Congress through redrawing districts after every decennial census.

Democrats complain that the state-by-state gerrymanders of legislative districts, and through them the partisan redrawing of congressional districts, unconstitutionally thwart the ability of voters to decide which party and candidates they prefer.

You are the only institution in the United States that can solve this problem, Democratic lawyer Paul Smith told the Supreme Court during oral arguments last week.

Whether the court will insert itself into this partisan duel is uncertain.

The courts liberal minority is eager to act. Whats really behind all of this? Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked, answering herself: The precious right to vote.

However, Chief Justice John Roberts expressed concern about having courts decide, in effect, which party will emerge victorious.

Like many controversial cases, the outcome likely rests on the shoulders of the courts swing vote, Sacramentos Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Regardless of how the court rules, however, its amusing to see Democrats, all the way up to former President Barack Obama, expressing outrage about gerrymandering. Republicans are merely doing what Democrats did for many decades, until the GOP figured out how to turn the tables.

California is virtually a case study in the politics of gerrymandering.

When they controlled all the levers in 1981 during Jerry Browns first governorship, Democrats gleefully grabbed every legislative and congressional district they could.

The late Congressman Phil Burton drew congressional maps so partisan and convoluted that he described them as my contribution to modern art.

After the 1970 and 1990 censuses, Republican Governors Ronald Reagan and Pete Wilson refused to sign the Democrats gerrymanders and threw the issue to the state Supreme Court, which drew the maps itself.

Democrats once again controlled the Legislature and the governorship after the 2000 census. But Republicans cleverly threatened intervention by the U.S. Justice Department, forcing Democrats to accede to a bipartisan gerrymander that protected the status quo.

Those maps, however, were as outrageously distorted as any other gerrymander. That sparked a drive, financed by wealthy Stanford University scientist Charles Munger, Jr., and backed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was then governor, to remove redistricting from the Legislature and give it instead to an independent commission.

Voters agreed, passing Proposition 11 in 2008 to shift legislative redistricting to a commission, followed by Proposition 20 in 2010 to extend its authority to congressional seats.

Tellingly, Democratic leaders such as Barbara Boxer, then a U.S. senator, and Democratic congressional leader Nancy Pelosi opposed Proposition 11 in 2008. Other Democrats sponsored a rival measure, Proposition 27, in 2010 that would have repealed the independent commission altogether.

Proposition 27 failed, and the commission did its work after the 2010 census. Its maps may not be perfect, and Republicans didnt like their effect, but they are paragons of fairness compared to past gerrymanders.

Democrats, having been burned by the Republican drive to take over legislatures and Congress, are now enamored of having independent commissions draw districts.

As the worm turns.
Clearer skies above besieged North Bay communities Wednesday opened a window of opportunity for a stepped-up air attack on multiple fires after two days of low smoke ceilings that limited firefighting flights and hampered efforts to stall blazes across Sonoma and neighboring counties.

The deployment included 37 helicopters and 36 planes -- both tankers and spotter planes -- assigned to a complex of fires located largely in Sonoma and Napa counties, as well as Lake and Mendocino counties, Cal Fire officials said.

In Lake and Napa counties, especially, residents have questioned the conspicuous dearth of tankers typically visible during wildfires of such magnitude, their telltale red retardant splashing down across flame fronts.

"That's one of the prevailing questions I've gotten," Santa Rosa Vice Mayor Jack Tibbetts said Wednesday about the first two days of the fires. "Today, I haven't gotten it once, and that's because we're starting to see more."

The planes aloft Wednesday included four standard 1,200-gallon air tankers launching from Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, as well as high-volume supertankers loading fire retardant at McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento.

They flew missions over uncontrolled fires threatening nearly 30,000 structures in Sonoma County alone, Cal Fire personnel said. The larger tankers can carry 3,000 gallons of heavy, red flame retardant.

Clearer conditions made for a reassuring buzz of activity at the Cal Fire Air Attack Base north of Santa Rosa, where Sonoma County airport manager Jon Stout reported "a steady stream of tankers" coming and going in rotation.

"We're happy to be working, helping out," said Cal Fire Engineer Jim Whitlock, air attack base manager. "It was frustrating when visibility made it difficult for us to fly. But now that we're able to kind of get in and make a difference, I would say the mood is good."

Assistant Cal Fire Chief Bret Gouvea, an incident commander for the Tubbs and Pocket fires in Sonoma County, said the cleared skies allowed targeted air drops to reinforce the southern boundaries of the area's fires before shifting winds put renewed pressure on them overnight Wednesday and today.

An unprecedented firestorm swept through the region overnight Sunday and into Monday morning, destroying upwards of 3,000 structures and wiping out entire neighborhoods. The death toll in Sonoma County on Wednesday rose to 13.

The firefight early in the week was vexed by a sky filled with smoke following the firestorm that ripped through more than 50 square miles of rural and urban landscape in a matter of hours. So much smoke, ash and particulate matter billowed up that the Bay Area has marked consecutive days of its worst air quality on record. People in face masks have become a routine sight on city streets.

The thick haze is a problem for airborne tankers. Unlike helicopters, whose engineering allows them to adjust speed in poor visibility -- stopping to hover or even reverse if obstacles loom ahead -- fixed-wing aircraft can't safely maneuver over rough terrain within their effective drop range without moderate visibility.

In Sonoma County, those poor flight conditions prevailed Monday and Tuesday, complicating efforts to launch tankers over burning areas.

Helicopters were deployed throughout Tuesday, making targeted water drops in the Tubbs fire area, the largest Sonoma County blaze, as well as other areas, Cal Fire representatives said.

Helicopters are the preferred tool in many scenarios in any case, Gouvea said.

When the wind shifted and visibility improved Tuesday afternoon, "we were able to get fixed-wing out until our cut off (time) last night, and then we've flown all day today," Whitlock said Wednesday.

Tibbetts said some constituents alarmed by the absence of tankers wondered if priority was being given to Napa County and the 42,000-acre Atlas fire. The opposite suspicion was voiced by people in Napa about firefighting efforts in Sonoma, Tibbetts and others said.

"I guess they're saying we're getting all the supplies," Tibbetts said. "I think it's just a high level of anxiety. People are having frustrations, fear, anger, and there might be a little bit of finger-pointing going on."

Gouvea sought to banish such notions. Sonoma County has been top firefighting priority, he said. "We have had aircraft at our fingertips the whole time," he said.

On Wednesday, Sonoma County Sheriff's Sgt. Pete Quartarolo, who supervises the department's helicopter unit hangared at the Sonoma County airport, described "a tremendous amount of activity out of this airport, compared to the past two days."

"The wind and the weather is giving us a break," Whitlock said, "and that allows us the visibility to operate at a higher capacity than earlier on in the incident."
More than 2,800 homes were destroyed in Santa Rosa by the Tubbs Fire, which has killed 15 people in Sonoma County and is just one of several wildfires that continue to burn in the North Bay, city and county officials said at a briefing Thursday afternoon.

Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey said that city staff have determined as of Thursday morning that 2,834 homes and more than 400,000 square feet of commercial space were lost in the blaze that tore through the city Sunday night and early Monday.

Coursey was one of several city, county, state and federal officials to speak at a 1 p.m. briefing at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

"The city of Santa Rosa has suffered a serious blow in these fires," he said, noting other major infrastructure was destroyed like the city's newest fire station, Station 5.

Sonoma County Rob Giordano said the county's death toll from the fires ticked up by one from earlier Thursday and is now at 15.

Giordano said there have been roughly 1,000 missing persons reports in the county but 603 of those have been confirmed as safe. He said some of the missing person reports might be duplicates so the missing persons total could be lower.

Giordano also dispelled rumors that immigration status checks were taking place at evacuation shelters.

"No one involved in this process is going to ask any immigration questions," he said. "It's not appropriate, it's not going to happen ... help is there for everyone."

The Tubbs Fire, the most destructive to Sonoma County of the several North Bay fires, had burned 34,270 acres and was 10 percent contained as of midday Thursday.
Two days after voters approved Patricia Guerrero to become Californias first Latina Supreme Court chief justice in January, a state panel has approved Kelli Evans to be the high courts first openly lesbian justice. The moves mark the last dominos to fall after Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye announced in July that she will step down in January. Gov. Gavin Newsom first elevated Guerrero to lead the nations largest judicial system. The same day, he announced he would appoint Evans to take her place. Evans was approved Thursday by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.
There are currently 380 people missing in Sonoma County in the wake of the wildfires that have ravaged the northern and eastern areas of the county, Sheriff Rob Giordano said Wednesday afternoon.

Early Wednesday, Giordano said 670 people were missing and 110 were found. He clarified the number of missing at a media briefing Wednesday afternoon.

Giordano said the sheriff's office received 670 missing persons reports, but subtracting duplicate reports, the number of missing actually was 530 people. Since then, 150 people were located, leaving 380 people unaccounted for.

"We may still have some duplicate reports in that number," Giordano said.

Sheriff's deputies and detectives have made house searches in cold areas but are not entering hot areas to sift through debris, Giordano said.

Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Crum said a team of 30 detectives are making cursory searches of some homes.

Sonoma County is receiving help from many law enforcement and fire agencies, Giordano said.

The number of people who have died in the Tubbs Fire that started Sunday night in Calistoga remains at 11, Giordano said.

The fire had burned 28,000 acres as of this morning, according to Cal Fire.

Giordano said sheriff's officials are trying to upgrade the Nixle notification system to reach landline phone numbers in a particular area.
DHARAMSALA, India - The Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of the Tibetan nation, is known worldwide for his advocacy of non-violence, peaceful coexistence, environmental protection and human rights. But the 82-year-old Buddhist monk is worried about the rise of nationalism and selfishness around the world and in the United States.

In wide ranging remarks to a unique conference of Tibet supporters here in northern India, the Dalai Lama said he was concerned about President Trump's "America first" policy, America's stance on global warming and the use of military tools to solve international problems. He also praised the United States and expressed hope that the American people will continue to do the right things, including with respect to Tibet.

"Your ancestors really considered the importance of liberty, freedom, democracy, these things," the Dalai Lama said in response to my question about his current view of the United States. "The present president, in the very beginning he mentioned 'America first.' That sounded in my ear not very nice."

The Dalai Lama is concerned that the United States, despite being "the leader of the free world," was becoming more "selfish, nationalist," he said. But the American Congress and people have long supported the cause of Tibet and human rights, and he thinks that will continue, he added.

The Dalai Lama also lamented that Trump doesn't pay more attention to the issue of global warming, which, he said, knows no borders and no religion.

"The present president is not much paying attention to ecology. So on that, I feel some reservation," the Dalai Lama said. "But anyway, the American people elected him, so I must respect [that]."

The event, called the Five Fifty Forum, was hosted by the Tibetan government-in-exile, which is based in this northern Indian mountain town. The Dalai Lama has been living in India since he fled Tibet in 1959 and has not been allowed to return.

The forum was held under Chatham House rules, which forbid quoting participants. But the leadership of the Tibetan government-in-exile gave me permission to publish the Dalai Lama's remarks.

The Tibetan leader, who is believed by followers to be in his 14th reincarnation, criticized the use of military force around the world and called on nations to solve problems through diplomacy and negotiation rather than violence. He said the use of military power, even by the United States, never achieves its goal.

"Every problem on this planet, including our problem, must be solved with respect and mutually acceptable [solutions]," he said.

The Dalai Lama's commentary on world events was not limited to the United States. He said that the Britain had erred in voting to leave the European Union, and he attributed that decision to nationalism as well.

The European Union should become the model for every region and then, when the world's countries are all working together, they can demilitarize, the Dalai Lama explained. "That's my vision. That's my hope."

The Dalai Lama said he wants to engage with China to find a mutually acceptable solution for Tibet. He added that the Tibetan people must also be ready to talk to China if there's an opening. That doesn't seem likely, considering that the Chinese government cut off dialogue with the Tibetans in 2010 and has pursued a brutal repression campaign in the region ever since.

Nevertheless, "for the last several centuries, praying to Buddha more or less failed," the Dalai Lama joked. "So I think we need to take a more practical approach."

He is arguing against current trends for a world based on common interest, global integration, defense of human rights and shared responsibility for the environment. For most of his long life, the United States has agreed with him and led that effort. Will that continue? Even the Dalai Lama doesn't know.
The President and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were scheduled to meet today and discuss, in part, reports that the Secretary had referred to the President as a moron. I have obtained a transcription of that meeting.

POTUS: Good morning, Rex. I have been told that you called me a verrrry baaad word.

T. Rex: I am aware of that and I welcome the opportunity to address that with you sir. But first I have a question. Let's say that you had five Super Huge Trump Towers, and I gave you three new Super Huge Trump Towers, how many Super Huge Trump Towers would you now have?

POTUS: Is this a trick question? Is one of them in Moscow?

T. Rex: If that will make it easier for you then, yes, it is located there.

POTUS: Oh goody, this is a fun game. Uh, umm, lemme see, can I get back to you on this?

I need to talk with Jared. Hes much better on this mathy stuff.

T. Rex: I suppose so...you know A DumbosaysWhat.

POTUS: What?

T. Rex: Exactly

POTUS: On another issue, the White House Word Police have told me that Rex means King in Latin. There can be only one King, and the Electoral College crowned me that. You need a new name.

T. Rex: Ill work on it. General is very popular, and Caliph has a nice lilt to it.

Eric Brian Zimny

Napa
No one who calls him or herself a wine lover deserves that title, in my book, if he or she doesnt have a great bottle of Sherry in a wine cache. Or a dozen!

Thats because there is virtually nothing in this world like a great bottle of Spanish Sherry for the various purposes it provides. And those purposes are many, and often not limited to consuming it.

I first learned (nothing!) about sherry (lower case s, domestic) approximately 50 years ago. Most of what I tasted back then was pretty bad stuff. I hated it. And for good reason.

My love affair with Sherry came in 1976 when I first tasted a great Spanish Sherry  I use a capital S for the real thing. That taste changed my life instantly. The wine was a dry oloroso, and I havent been the same since.

Sherry is wine that is intentionally not protected from oxygen, so some oxidation is an essential component of it. That is why it perfectly reflects foods that are on the fall dinner table, Thanksgiving in particular.

Candied yams, stuffing with walnuts, caramelized fruit preparations, and the like all are compatible with dry, medium, and sweeter Sherries  both to sip alongside or put in the dish.

Sherry, from southern Spain near the Mediterranean, is one of a few great wines of the world in which the grape variety is almost immaterial. (Its mostly made from the Palomino grape.) Far more important is the method of production. Part of Sherrys secret is that its typically aged for years in various types of barrels, acquiring nutty nuances that might be perceived as flaws in more traditional table wines.

Sherry also is fortified with neutral spirits, so most are between 15 percent (bone dry Fino) and 18 percent (dry to medium olorosos, with their remarkable nutty aromas. A few are in excess of 20 percent.

Appreciating the nuances of any great wine calls for years of tasting, and thats as true of Spanish Sherry as any other wine. Since this column cant provide a 10-year tasting regime, lets look at just a few of its most fascinating attributes.

Besides consuming it as an aperitif, with nuts, olives, aged cheeses, or other finger foods, Sherry is an engaging companion to some seafood and shellfish dishes.

It is also an almost essential ingredient in many of traditional holiday dishes; without a dash of it, they are merely okay. With it, they can be sublime.

For example, I have a great turkey dressing recipe that calls for four different kinds of nuts (including chestnuts) as well as one essential ingredient: a quarter cup of quality Sherry to give the dressing the proper aromatic nuttiness. (Even cream sherry works.)

I routinely add two tablespoons of an oloroso Sherry to onions and mushrooms while they are being sauteed. They later will be placed atop marinated, grilled Portobello mushroom burgers.

A teaspoon of Amontillado Sherry added to a cream soup, or consomme, and a chilled glass of the same wine served alongside, are sublime accompaniments to each other.

And its hard to even imagine lobster bisque without a few drops of Sherry.

A salad dressing recipe I occasionally make calls for sherry vinegar. I enhance the flavors by adding a teaspoon of Sherry itself.

Fino is the driest of all Sherries and its not for everyone. Served ice-cold, I love its austere lemon-peel, salty minerality. (A companion wine, Manzanilla, is just as dry and austere.)

Amontillado Sherries can be dry, but often lower-priced ones ($8 to $13) are slightly sweet. For me, the best Sherries are called dry oloroso (also called oloroso secco), long-aged in a progressive series of barrels called a solera. Dry versions are superb before dinner with nibbles.

Sweeter sherries, some called cream, work nicely with desserts or alone as dessert.

A few additional notes:

 Although your great aunt Matilda may have sipped sherry after dinner from a long-opened bottle, chances are it wasnt as fresh as it should have been.

Most Sherries are best when freshly opened, but can be OK to sip for a couple of weeks if refrigerated. They can be used for cooking after that. (Old Sherries can oxidize. Sherry is a white wine, so after it is open, consume the rest without further oxidation.)

In general, the more you pay, the better the Sherry will be. The good news is that even modestly priced Sherry can be great value. So although my favorite Sherries run $50 to $75 bottle, great ones can be had for $20.

Most Sherries are best served slightly cool, and fino is best cold.

Wine of the Week: NV Emilio Lustau Dry Oloroso, Don Nuno ($25): This reliable producer has a series of exceptional but higher-priced olorosos called Almacenistra. Most sell for $35 or more. This basic version is a true bargain, similar to the higher-priced wines and occasionally discounted to about $21.
Emory Universitys Rollins School of Public Health, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), and the Association of Schools and Programs for Public Health (ASPPH) are co-hosting a free global health symposium titled, Learning from Ebola and the Future U.S. Role in Global Health.

The symposium will be held Wednesday, Oct. 18 from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Rollins School of Public Health Claudia Nance Rollins Building in the Lawrence P and Ann Estes Room, 8th Floor  1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322.

Symposium topics will include an in-depth discussion of two important 2017 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine reports.

The first panel, on the Ebola report, will include a review of provider experiences in the Atlanta region during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. The second panel, on the global health report, will include an exploration of the current state of U.S. investments in global health and implications for the future.

Co-sponsoring principals are James W. Curran, MD, dean of the Rollins School of Public Health, Victor Dzau, MD (NAM), and Laura Magana, PhD (ASPPH). The trio will moderate and invite participants to engage with each other and the speakers.

Speakers include:

Gerald Keusch, MD, Boston University School of Medicine

Inger Damon, MD, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Bruce Ribner, MD, Emory University School of Medicine

Michael Merson, MD, Duke University

Dionisio Herrera-Guibert, MD, TEPHINET, The Task Force for Global Health

Anne Schuchat, MD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Carlos del Rio, MD, Rollins School of Public Health and Emory University School of Medicine

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Carletto is a man raised in privilege and wealth in Europe, where he is seen as white, if exotic. He struggles with the very question of identity after he loses his fortune and comes to the United States, where he is viewed as black.

What may sound like a contemporary debate about the complex questions of race and identity is actually the plot from the 1922 novel The Blue Stain.

Austrian author Hugo Bettauers novel might have been lost to the ages had Peter Hoyng, an associate professor of German studies in Emory College, not stumbled across it in the Austrian National Library while doing scholarly research on the author in 2002.

He was struck that Carlettos story starts, and ends, in Georgia. Along the way, it touches on the entrenched role that race has in American society, as seen by an outsider like Bettauer, a Jewish man from Austria.

Hoyng became devoted to translating the story. His labor of love recently became the English-language version of "Blue Stain"  published with the subtitle, A Novel of a Racial Outcast with him as editor and co-translator with Chauncey J. Mellor, a former colleague at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

There is nothing else in German literature at the time that addresses racial issues in the United States, how racism worked not just in the South, but in New York and the North, Hoyng says. The story itself, though, is a small but very effective way to discuss the deeply political ideas of standing up for equality and against injustice.

Hoyng had been researching Bettauers better-known 1922 novel The City Without Jews when he found Carlettos tale. That novel remained somewhat known since it predicted the rise of Nazism and its murderous political anti-Semitism in Austria after the Anschluss in 1938; Bettauer himself was murdered in 1925 by a man associated with the Nazi party.

But Hoyng views Carlettos story as better written and more plausible, not just from a historical perspective but in contemporary society.

The racial divide in this country in 2017 is again at the forefront, because there are so many layers to it, he says. Bettauer packages these issues in a very plot-driven story, so that we can have discussions, sensitive discussions, through his novel.

Contemporary relevance

Hoyng and Mellor went line-by-line in the book, sometimes taking days to translate a single sentence. The goal was to find not just the precise word or phrase, but also the proper term from the time. Deciding on whether to call a teen-age girl a "schoolgirl," for instance, fell to research for what were more common terms in 1920s American slang.

Two former Emory College undergraduates  Jonathan Jackson and Chloe Kipka  helped with current language and precision questions.

Both are credited in the book, as is Carol Anderson, Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory, who connected Hoyng with Kenneth R. Janken. Janken, director of the University of North Carolinas Center for the Study of the American South, wrote the afterword for the translation.

With the authors notes, afterward and translation itself, Hoyng believes the book could become a classroom staple for high school or college students.

The melodramatic tale in which Carletto moves from Europe and Georgia  going from the playboy son of a white European academic, to losing his fortune and slowly recognizing himself to be also the son of an African-American daughter of former slaves  is an engrossing read.

It could also serve as a 20th century launching point to transcultural racial beliefs now, Hoyng says.

The novel provides a good glimpse of racial discrimination at a specific point in time in this country, but it also offers many ways to point us to the issues that we still grapple with today, he says.
- Human Rights Watch accuses Spain of highhandedness in Catalonia.





- Investigations reveal that Spanish Police used excessive force against peaceful Catalan protesters.





- Police had no right to use violence against peaceful protesters.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the Spanish governemnt of using excessive force against peaceful Catalan protesters as they attempted to prevent the October 1st Catalonia independence referendum.





HRW indicated that although the Police may have had the backing of the law through a court order to stop the referendum, it had no right to unleash violence on peaceful protesters.





"Our detailed investigation into three cases found that national police and Civil Guard officers used excessive force on October 1 in Catalonia," said HRW's Kartik Raj.





"The police may well have had the law on their side to enforce a court order but it didn't give them the right to use violence against peaceful protesters."
From left:Du Chuangui, general manager of Guangdong-based Southern Publishing and Media Co Ltd; Helga Zepp-LaRouche, president of Schiller Institute in Germany; Bernard Dewit, chairman of the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce; and Xiao Fenghua, president of Guangdong People's Publishing House pose at the Frankfurt book fair on Wednesday after attending a seminar on the Belt and Road Initiative. [Photo by Fu Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]

Up to 70 Chinese publishing houses have brought more than 2,000 titles to the five-day Frankfurt book fair, which was kicked off by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday night.

The books exhibited by Chinese publishers have focused mainly on those introductory publications on the Communist Party of China, which will hold its 19th Congress on Oct 18, and on China's latest social and economic developments. In the China publication exhibition areas, dozens of activities on copyright transfers, book launches and seminars on various topics have been arranged.

Famous writer Jia Pingwa's work The Lantern Bearer, a novel on the transformation of a Chinese rural village, by a grassroots woman officer, was published on Wednesday. Guangdong People's Publishing House also launched A New Code for Common Peace and Prosperity, which has explained how China and the EU could deepen cooperation through the Belt and Road Initiative.

Romano Prodi, a former European Commission president and Italian prime minister, has highly recommended the book. On the book's back cover, he is quoted as saying:"The thought-provoking book has testified that the initiative, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, is a both economic and political project, which could help achieve common peace and prosperity across the massive land of Eurasia."

Prodi continued:"This is our shared dream and destiny."

When launching the book, the publishing house arranged a seminar to discuss the theme that the initiative could offer new engines for China and the European Union to develop bilateral relations in the coming years.

"On the occasion of the fourth anniversary of President Xi's coming up with the Belt and Road Initiative, we found it extremely important to launch this book and further discuss how China and the EU could tap the potential to boost connectivity," said Du Chuangui, general manager of Southern Publishing and Media Co Ltd in Guangdong.

Bernard Dewit, chairman of the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said it is of great importance to discuss the Belt and Road Initiative, which could offer people in different sectors ample development opportunities.

"For example, many chances need to be explored by Europeans in cultural and publishing sectors to set up contacts with their Chinese counterparts," said Dewit, whose organization is based in Brussels.

But Dewit said the European side, especially those from European Union headquarters, should invest more time and energy to seek synergies with the Chinese side to explore the opportunities under the Belt and Road Initiative.

"I hope, with the incentives and momentum offered by the initiative, both sides could sign the bilateral investment treaty in the coming five years," Dewit said.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, president of the Schiller Institute in Germany said the Belt and Road Initiative is the most important global public good for the common development of humanity, but the Western media have not realized its significance fully.

"This initiative is already changing the world in terms of its magnitude of infrastructure construction," Zeppa-LaRouche said. "It has already ignited the hopes and dreams for other developing countries."
22:16

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh today said ex-president Pranab Mukherjee had every reason for grievance at being ignored for prime ministership despite being more qualified but knew "I had no choice" in the

matter, and that smoothened their relationship.

Singh's comments at the launch of Mukherjee's book --'The coalition years -- in the presence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her deputy Rahul Gandhi left the audience in splits.

"In 2004 when Soniaji chose me to become the prime minister, Pranabji was one of the most distinguished colleagues that I had.

"He had every reason to feel a grievance that he was better qualified than I was to become the prime minister, but he also knew that I have no choice in the matter," the former prime minister said as the audience, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, burst into guffaw.

Mukherjee wrote in his book that after the 2004 election victory there was intense speculation in the party about who would be the prime minister, but the consensus within the Congress was that the incumbent should be a political leader with experience in party affairs and administration.

"The prevalent expectation was that I would be the next choice for prime minister after Sonia Gandhi declined. This expectation was possibly based on the fact that I had extensive experience in government," he wrote.

Mukherjee also said that when he declined to join the government headed by Manmohan Singh, Sonia insisted on his being a part of it as he would be "vital to its functioning and also be of support of Singh".

Mukherjee, in his speech at the book release function, decribed the Congress as a coalition in itself, as it brings all ideas on one platform.

"It was difficult to have one coalition within and another outside. But that was done," he said.

Mukherjee said in the book he has described the coalition years and tried not to bring in any personal matters. He said running the coalition government seemed difficult but everything worked out smoothly.

Mukherjee said in writing the book about the coalition years of 1996 to 2012, he did not claim the objectivity of a historian, which he is not, but put down things while viewing them as a political activist.

Singh said with their relation smoothened, they ran the government as a cohesive team. He said history would record Mukherjee's great contribution to the management of Indian polity.

The former prime minister described Mukherjee as the "most distinguished living parliamentarian and Congressman", whom everyone in the party looked up to for discussing and resolving ticklish and difficult issues.

"He is a politician by choice. He is the greatest politician living in the country. I became a politician by accident when P V Narasimha Rao asked me to become the finance minister," he said.

Singh described Mukherjee and NCP chief Sharad Pawar as respected senior members of his government both of whom were of great calibre. He said if the UPA government ran smoothly, a large measure of credit would go to Pranab Mukherjee. -- PTI
Get involved in public life, says speaker at Hispanic Heritage Month Forum

As its main event for Hispanic Heritage Month at UF, the Hispanic Heritage Month student organization hosted nationally recognized political commentator Ana Navarro on October 10 at the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom. Over 400 students, faculty, and staff attended to hear the viewpoint of a Republican Latina, highlighting a lesser-known section of the Latin-x political identity.

The Hispanic Heritage Month Forum event was presented as a conversation with Dania Alexandrino, Spanish-language news manager at the UF College of Journalism and Communications, and producer of the weekly Noticias WUFT radio broadcast. Alexandrino, a former CNN en espanol reporter and producer, recently joined UF.

The conversation covered topics ranging from immigration, the term 'fake news,' and bipartisan politics. The event was organized by UF undergraduates Kendra Blandon, Alberto Barcenas, Andres Garcia, and Laura Robles-Torres.

For many students at UF, Navarro's personal story resonated. Fleeing the Nicaraguan civil war, Navarro described how she migrated to the United States when she was eight years old. Among her comments, Navarro said she sympathized with DACAmented Gators, saying, "But for the grace of God, I would have been a DACA kid, too." The University of Florida is home to countless undocumented and DACAmented students who struggle to pave their way in education in spite of their legal status. The official philanthropy for Hispanic Heritage Month, CHISPAS, provides financial assistance to undocumented students that otherwise could not afford attending college.

In both the comments and on site, the event focused on civil responsibility and civic engagement in the student body. Chomp the Vote, the voter registration agency of Student Government, was on hand to register students to vote in upcoming elections. From the stage, Navarro encouraged the audience to get involved in public life, and call their Congressional representatives, speak out against injustice, and advocate for their communities. If youre not registered to vote, dont talk to me about politics, Navarro said in both English and Spanish to the audience.

"Stand Up, Speak Up, Empower," was the theme of the night as students engaged in an open and honest conversation on national and local politics. Hispanic Heritage Month and Hispanic Student Association are proud to promote the professional, cultural, and personal growth of all of its members. To learn more about HSA events and CHISPAS, visit to https://www.facebook.com/HSAatUF/ and http://chispasuf.com.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-11 17:02:12|Editor: liuxin

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BEIJING, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Two major Chinese courier companies announced price hikes on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of November 11, which will see China's largest online shopping festival.

ZTO Express and Yunda Express said the aim is to provide better services amid rising labor, material and transportation costs.

Neither company disclosed the scale of price hikes.

Industry insiders said other domestic couriers are likely to follow suit.

China Express Association predicted Wednesday that the industry would handle more than 1 billion packages for nationwide shopping spree between Nov. 11 and Nov. 16.

In 2016, delivery volume of China's courier sector accounted for more than 40 percent of the world's total with 60 percent of world delivery volume growth.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 02:55:57|Editor: Yamei

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U.S. President Donald Trump (Xinhua file photo)

TEHRAN, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Iran is prepared to counter the U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to possibly "decertify" the international nuclear deal sealed in July 2015, which would add new dimensions to the conflicts in the Middle East region.

The U.S. move could lead to the potential collapse of the agreement, of which the Iranian officials have cautioned the parties of the repercussion.

The Iranian senior officials have reiterated that Iran is playing by the rules set out in the nuclear accord, which was affirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN nuclear watchdog, last month.

However, they have warned that they will not remain idle in the face of U.S. aggressive movements.

Trump has long criticized the Iran nuclear pact. In his speech delivered at UN General Assembly last month, Trump called the agreement "an embarrassment" for the United States and indicated that he may not recertify the deal at its mid-October deadline.

The Trump administration is due to inform the congress by Oct. 15 whether Tehran is complying with the deal. If he decides it is not, it could open the way for U.S. lawmakers to reimpose sanctions against Iran.

In a fresh reaction to the harangue by Trump, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said that the Iranian people, irrespective of their political, religious or ethnic differences, are united against the U.S. "hostile" stances against the Islamic republic and "fear not" of Washington's anti-Tehran measures.

Rouhani noted that the United States would be the loser if Trump decides to drop Iran's international nuclear deal.

If they recommit their earlier mistakes, they will face global predicament, Rouhani said in the weekly cabinet meeting.

"We are not afraid" of the U.S. measures, he said, adding that "the international community will learn who is unreliable and (the) liar."

"If the ill-wishing side, our rival and enemy, leaves the agreement, this is not a defeat for us, but rather a defeat for the opposite side," he stressed, vowing retaliation.

The nuclear deal was reached between Iran and the world six powers of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany in July 2015. The deal, officially known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, has helped defuse the Iran nuclear crisis and bolstered the international non-proliferation regime.

Other Iranian senior and military officials have also pronounced counter-measures to Washington's continuous hostility towards Iran.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced earlier that if the United States imposes new sanctions against Iran, it would have repercussions for Washington.

In case the United States imposes fresh sanctions, they will have to relocate the U.S. regional bases out of the reach of Iran's missiles.

IRGC commander Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari cautioned the U.S. government of what he termed as the dire consequences of imposing new sanction against Iran.

Over the past months, Washington has imposed several sanctions against a number of Iranian and the international entities over the latter's ballistic program, alleging that Tehran's missile tests have harmed the spirit of the deal.

Washington accused Iran's missile program, mainly conducted by the IRGC, of threatening the regional and international peace.

Iran denied the allegations, stressing that its missile program is only for deterrent purposes.

Iran has also warned it has "all options on table" if the U.S. designates the IRGC as a terrorist group.

Rouhani on Wednesday warned against the repercussions of a possible move by the United States to designate the IRGC as a terrorist group.

Iranian Islamic guards are popular not only in Iran but also among regional countries, Rouhani said, adding that the IRGC has protected Iraq's capital Baghdad and Syria's Damascus against the terrorist groups.

The IRGC is also popular among the Iraq's Kurds, because it has saved Erbil, and among the Lebanese people because it has saved their honor against the invaders.

According to reports, President Trump is expected to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization in the coming days.

On Sunday, Jafari said if the U.S. administration makes a "stupid decision" to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, the corps will, in turn, treat the U.S. military around the world, particularly in the Middle East, as the forces of the Islamic State, according to Tasnim news agency.
Professor Jonathan Cooper (1st L), Vice Principal Innovation and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Glasgow, speaks at the launch ceremony of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) Student Center at the University of Glasgow, Britain, July 27, 2016. The University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) Student Center was formally launched at the University of Glasgow on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Guo Chunju)

LONDON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The number of visas granted to Chinese students to study in Britain has increased this year by 17 percent, Home Office Minister Baroness Williams told the House of Lords.

Britain's upper chamber in the Houses of Parliament debated a growing call from politicians to remove international students from the country's net migration totals.

So far the government has refused to accept the change in the way the figures are counted, but Baroness Williams made it clear in the debate there was no limit on the number of overseas people heading to Britain to study.

Lord Holmes, who sparked the debate Tuesday in the House of Lords said since 2010 the number of international students coming to Britain has fallen by 6 percent, with an estimated cost to the economy of 9 billion pounds or almost 12 billion U.S. dollars, while the global market has increased by 7 percent.

Holmes said the message had to go out through the Foreign Office, the British Council and all channels, saying: "Students of the world, you are so welcome here, come study in the UK and be part of our future."

Baroness Williams said to the year ending June 2017, there was a 9 percent increase in Russell group universities, and a 17 percent increase in all student visas granted for Chinese nationals.

The minister said that in the 2015-16 academic year, almost half a million international students enrolled in British universities, with visa applications sponsored by universities 19 percent higher than in 2010.

"There is no limit on the number of international students who come to this country, and we welcome them all," she said.

"We absolutely recognise the cultural and financial contribution that they make to this country. That is why we do not limit the number of genuine international students who come here to study and from whom UK businesses can recruit," she added.

Meanwhile, Britain's third biggest airport reported Wednesday that an influx of international students jetting into Britain to start their studies gave Manchester Airport a massive boost.

Thousands of international students arrived on their journeys to the 25 universities inside the airport's catchment area.

The students helped bring the number of people travelling through the airport in September 2017 to 2.8 million. It saw the airport's annual rolling total reach 27.6 million people, a year-on-year increase of 11 percent.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 04:01:23|Editor: Yurou

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. officials hit out at International Monetary Fund on Wednesday for discounting Trump administration's tax cuts endeavors in the newly-released economic outlook, revealing the rising tension between the IMF and its largest shareholder.

In the latest World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday, the IMF revised up its U.S. growth forecast to 2.2 percent in 2017 and 2.3 percent in 2018, 0.1 and 0.2 percentage point higher than its projection in July. The fund, however, didn't take into account the impact of Republican tax cuts plan because of political uncertainties.

Moreover, IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld disputed the U.S. tax cuts plan that would raise fiscal deficit. "Given where the U.S. is, in terms of its overall debt level and the off-the-balance-sheet obligations going out into the future as the population ages, we feel that whatever the tax reform plan looks like, it should not increase the deficit," he told reporters on Tuesday.

A senior official with the U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday that the IMF shouldn't be rating the odds on whether the administration can enact an overhaul to the U.S. tax code, according to a Bloomberg report.

Mick Mulvaney, head of the Office of Management and Budget, also criticized the Fund fiercely. "There are folks that are invested in seeing this fail because if it works then what is their argument for re-regulating?" Mulvaney said in an interview with the Financial Times published Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump, together with U.S. Congress Republicans, released a unified framework for tax code reform last month, which would cut tax rates for businesses and individuals.

A recent study by Tax Policy Center, an independent think tank based in Washington, said that the top one percent of U.S. earners would benefit most from Trump's tax plan rather than the middle class.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 05:01:43|Editor: Yurou

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LONDON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Mayor of London Sadiq Khan Wednesday accused Theresa May's government of ducking the issue of immigration as the country prepares to leave the European Union (EU).

In a keynote speech to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Khan warned that the government's strategy to look tough on immigration during the Brexit negotiations is "one of the most severe, irresponsible and selfish mistakes by any political party in decades."

Addressing business leaders, the Labour mayor said qualified freedom of movement of people is the best way to protect economic prosperity in London and Britain in the aftermath of Brexit.

Speaking at the CBI Autumn Lunch in London, Khan said that for London and the rest of the country to prosper, it's vital that Britain continues to have barrier-free access to the "dynamic European workforce."

He said it is possible to address concerns in parts of the country about the pace of immigration, and the impact this has had on communities, without losing membership of the European Single Market and keeping our access to European talents.

Sadiq's speech coincided with the publication today of his immigration plan for London and Britain, which he described as a "blueprint for what the Government should be doing."

The mayor's migration plan calls on May's government to provide a cast iron guarantee that EU nationals in Britain are welcome to stay.

He wants the government to recognize the benefits that immigration and freedom of movement have brought.

Khan says jobs, growth and future prosperity should take priority over politically driven policies to reduce immigration.

His blueprint calls for British Brexit negotiators to pursue a transitional arrangement with the EU which maintains the status quo, and seeks to negotiate a long-term agreement based on remaining part of the Single Market.

He also wants to see the introduction of a post-study work policy giving international students the chance to work in Britain after graduation for 12-24 months.

He has called for the remove of international students from the annual net migration target as a matter of urgency and adoption of a pro-active approach to bring global talent to Britain by reforming the current non-EU visa system.

Khan said in his speech: "The government's long-term position on access to talent remains vague. It's time for us to stand up and make the case for the freedom of movement of people and the benefits it has brought to our economy."

"Immigration brings new skills and innovation to our shores. But despite this it has become an issue too many of our leaders have ducked," said the mayor.

Khan said the government's non-EU visa system is no longer fit for purpose.

"A clear signal of our ambition would be to begin reforming the visa system now," he said.

Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General, said: "Keeping London ahead of our global competitors is a top priority for the capital's businesses. Businesses urgently need a pragmatic and determined approach from the EU and the UK in Brexit negotiations to lock in investment decisions that will affect jobs and growth for years to come. A quick transition agreement will allow us to start shaping our future trade relationship with the EU."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 09:37:35|Editor: Yurou

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YANGON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has called for speeding up measures for humanitarian aid, rehabilitation, resettlement and development in conflict-torn northern Rakhine state, Myanmar News Agency reported Thursday.

At a coordination meeting held at the National Reconciliation and Peace Center in Nay Pyi Taw Wednesday, Aung San Suu Kyi laid down the priorities for the government for effective implementation of the measures.

The move came one day after the government organized a trip of ambassadors of five neighboring countries to conflicted areas of Rakhine state, led by Minister for the Office of the State Counselor U Kyaw Tint Swe.

Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu also said the government is pushing for the implementation of the tasks of rehabilitation in three areas - compilation of list, food supply for refugees and improvement of communication and transport.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army launched fresh attacks on police outposts in Rakhine on Aug. 25, displacing residents from a number of areas in Maungtaw district.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 10:29:29|Editor: Yurou

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Sophia (C), a life-like humanoid robot, is pictured at the UN headquarters in New York, Oct. 11, 2017. Sophia was here attending a meeting on "The Future of Everything - Sustainable Development in the Age of Rapid Technological Change". (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 10:22:48|Editor: Yang Yi

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by Xinhua writer Li Jia

MINSK, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone has been attracting investors, and the number of resident companies has more than doubled, said the head of the park's administration.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 10 companies from China, Belarus, Russia, Austria, the United States and Lithuania have become new residents of the industrial park, Alexander Yaroshenko said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"We set ourselves a goal for this year. At least 20 resident companies have come to us, ten of them have begun to actively build their facilities and at least five of them have started carrying out their work. The park is entering an active phase of development," he said.

The industrial park, also known as the Great Stone, is being built near the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The two countries have agreed to connect the park to China's Belt and Road Initiative, which runs through Asia and Europe.

In May, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko issued a decree to expand the benefits for resident companies of the park in a bid to attract more enterprises from around the world, including those from China.

According to the decree, resident companies will be exempted from a profit tax for 10 years after the first fiscal period during which they would start generating profits by selling goods or services.

Resident companies and the joint managing company will also be exempted from the land tax until June 14, 2062.

"The decree created unprecedented favorable conditions for investors to enter the industrial park. The park provides investors with almost complete exemption from taxes", Yaroshenko said.

According to Yaroshenko, under the new presidential decree, the investment threshold has been reduced from 5 million U.S. dollars to 500,000, offering opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.

"Already now we can say that due to the lowering of the investment threshold and unprecedented business conditions in the park, guaranteed by the new decree, the interests of investors has began to grow," he said.

Currently, China-Belarus Industrial Park Development Company is negotiating with many enterprises. By the end of the year the number of residents is expected to increase to 25 at most, according to the park's administration.

"Despite a significant leap in the development of the park, we would like this process to move more dynamically, so that more high-tech enterprises would come and produce competitive products," Yaroshenko said.

Yaroshenko has seen good prospects for the development of the industrial park. The park will create new jobs and attract high-tech talent and is expected to create more than 6,000 jobs by 2020, he said.

He believes that the park will become a real city in the future. "We expect to have about 10,000 people working and living in industrial park by 2020, and more than 130,000 people by 2030," he added.

"Realization of our goal will make Great Stone a new face of the Belarusian economy and become a growth point," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 11:02:52|Editor: Yang Yi

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URBANA, United States, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- An American pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the charge of kidnapping resulting in death of a Chinese scholar.

This has been the first time Brendt Christensen appeared in court after a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment on Oct. 3 against the 28-year-old, accusing him of kidnapping resulting in the death of Zhang Yingying, a visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC).

U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric Long read the main part of the superseding indictment, and Christensen replied that he fully understood the three counts of charges, namely kidnapping resulting in death and two counts of making false statements to FBI agents.

When Christensen entered the courthouse, Zhang's mother tried to grab the defendant while shouting "give me back my daughter." She was escorted out of the court before the hearing began.

Christensen, in grass green prison clothes, sat between his two lawyers, and never looked at the family of the victim despite the mother's cries.

Preliminary hearing will be held on Feb. 12, 2018, and the final ruling of the case will be on Feb. 27, 2018, Judge Long said.

If convicted of the charge, Christensen will face death penalty or mandatory life in prison.

"Suspect pleading not guilty is within our expectation," U.S. lawyer Wang Zhidong, who has been offering legal support to the Zhangs on a voluntary basis, said outside the court.

He believes that the police and prosecutors have enough evidence to prosecute the suspect, but Wang doubted the final ruling can be held on the set date announced by Long, citing the complexity of the case.

Zhang went missing on her way to sign a housing lease on June 9. Investigators later announced that Zhang was kidnapped. Prosecutors alleged that Christensen approached Zhang and lured her into his car.

Law enforcement agents first turned their attention to Christensen after they found his Saturn Astra was the same one Zhang disappeared in, according to surveillance footage.

Christensen told the FBI that he was at home all day on the day Zhang went missing. He then changed his story, saying that he came across an Asian woman and offered her a ride; however, he let her out of his car after she panicked.

The FBI arrested Christensen on June 30 after catching him on tape pointing out people he described as "ideal victims" during a vigil in Zhang's honor.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 11:07:53|Editor: Yurou

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CANBERRA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- More than 90,000 Australians are still driving vehicles with airbags that have been blamed for serious injuries and deaths, it has been revealed.

Takata airbags have been implicated in 18 deaths worldwide, prompting the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to release eight recall notices for cars containing the airbags.

But in a statement issued on Wednesday night, Stephen Collins, director of Honda Australia, said tens of thousands of Honda owners have not had their airbags replaced.

"As of late last week, there are still 94,325 Honda vehicles in need of repair," Collins said.

"We are urging customers of vehicles who service outside the Honda network to have their vehicle repaired, free of charge, as soon as possible."

The update from Honda came after the ACCC in September issued a reminder to Australian motorists, urging them to check if their vehicle was subject to the recall.

"There have been serious injuries and deaths from faulty Takata airbags," the ACCC said.

"The inflator components may deteriorate and subsequently mis-deploy in an incident causing metal fragments to propel out of the airbag."

Collins said that the company had completed more than half a million inflator repairs so far and plans to issue another recall letter warning that "choosing not to act could be deadly."

"Unfortunately there are still some customers of affected vehicles who are simply not responding to repeated attempts by the company to contact them and have their airbag inflators replaced. We need to change this behaviour," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 11:42:59|Editor: Yurou

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TOKYO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- "Japan shall make efforts to improve bilateral relationship with China," said Yukio Hatoyama, former Japanese Prime Minister.

"Japan shall fully recognize the fact that steady development of China is beneficial to Japan," the 70-year-old former prime minister stressed in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Hatoyama admitted that there are still some problems in the Sino-Japanese relationship, and the problems are rooted in the fact that "the Japanese government is hyping up the so-called 'China threat.'"

"Political relationship between Japan and China is not normal now, because Japan has been hyping the threat from China. I hope Japan could realize it is a mistake to do so and make efforts to improve its relationship with China," he said.

Hatoyama spoke highly of China's foreign policies. "China tries to make friends and promote cooperation with its neighboring countries, instead of taking advantage of them by relying on its strength," he said.

"Just as an old Japanese saying goes, the better yields the rice shoots have, the lower they bow their heads. And that is how China, a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, deals with things (by keeping its head down)," he said.

In Hatoyama's opinion, Japan, with an aging population and only a 10th of China's population, should set its target to become a "middle power" instead of trying to become a "superpower" and dedicating itself to boosting defense capacity.

"Japan should have a friendly coexistence with its neighboring countries, especially with China, from which Japan had learned much in the past in culture and other aspects," he said.

Japan and China should establish a mechanism to address disputes and expand their channels of dialogue and cooperation, he said.

He also said that Japan should find a better balance in its relationship with the United States and China.

Hatoyama is also a member of the international advisory panel of the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Saying that it is "unnatural" for Japan not to join the AIIB yet, he urged the two countries to enhance cooperation for the sake of peace and development of Asia.

Hatoyama spoke highly of China's initiative of building "a community of common destiny for the mankind" and the Belt and Road Initiative.

"China is promoting co-development with neighboring countries with initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative. I hope Japan would not exclude itself from such programs but adopt cooperative policies," he said.

"Regarding the China-Japan relationship, I think Japan still needs to address a lot of problems, including the historical issue," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 12:18:07|Editor: Yurou

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TOKYO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- A volcano in southwestern Japan continued to erupt for a second consecutive day on Thursday, following an eruption early Wednesday morning, the weather agency here said.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the plume from Mt. Shinmoe, one of the 50 active volcanoes constantly under the agency's observation, rose around 2,000 meters above the crater on Thursday.

The plume on Wednesday initially rose around 300 meters, the agency said, adding that it had raised its volcanic alert level.

Wednesday's eruption marked the first time since 2011 that the volcano had experienced a major eruption.

The 1,421-meter volcano, which straddles the borders of both Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, had been showing signs of intensified activities since late September.

Ashes from the eruption have fallen in some areas of Miyazaki prefecture causing local residents to clean their houses, cars and clothes.

Local municipalities had to hose off roads and pavements, local media reported.

The agency warned on Thursday that ash could fall in the neighboring prefectures of Kumamoto and Kagoshima henceforth.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 12:33:11|Editor: Yurou

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said here Wednesday that he and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have "a very good relationship," adding he is tougher than anybody else on the nuclear issue concerning Pyongyang.

Trump made the remarks while meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Speaking of his high-profile relations with his secretary of state,Trump said "we have a very good relationship. The press really doesn't understand that, but that's ok."

As for differences on the issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Trump said he "might have a somewhat different attitude and different way than other people," adding he felt "stronger and tougher" on that subject than other people.

"I think I have a little bit different attitude on North Korea (DPRK) than other people might have. And I listen to everybody but ultimately my attitude is the one that matters," said Trump. "That's a world problem. That's a problem that has to be solved."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 12:43:14|Editor: Yurou

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PHNOM PENH, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodia's National Assembly began its ninth plenary session of the fifth legislature on Thursday after a three-month recess.

Sixty-seven lawmakers of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), including Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, attended the session, as all lawmakers of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) boycotted it in protest against the arrest last month of its leader Kem Sokha, who was charged with "treason."

King Norodom Sihamoni sent a royal message to mark the opening session, praising the legislative body for working well to serve the nation and people of Cambodia.

"I hope that the National Assembly, which represents the Cambodian people, will continue to settle challenges to ensure a solid society with peace and prosperity," said the king's message read during the session by National Assembly President Heng Samrin.

In the message, the monarch also admired Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen for his tireless efforts in ensuring political stability, security, social order, and sustainable socio-economic development.

According to the schedule, the National Assembly will debate and pass several draft laws, including a draft law on anti-dumping.

The National Assembly comprises 123 lawmakers: 68 from the ruling CPP and 55 from the opposition CNRP.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 12:48:15|Editor: Yurou

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SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating modestly rose for two weeks in a row, a poll showed Thursday.

According to the Realmeter survey, support for Moon edged up 0.8 percentage points over the week to 68.5 percent this week.

It was the second straight weeks of increase at a modest pace, ending the previous downward trend caused by the rising geopolitical risks on the Korean Peninsula.

The result was based on a poll of 2,059 voters conducted from Sunday to Wednesday. It had 2.2 percentage points in margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.

Moon's ruling Democratic Party garnered 50.2 percent in support scores this week, up 0.5 percentage points from the previous week.

Support for the main opposition Liberty Korea Party gained 1.9 percentage points to 19 percent, keeping an upward momentum for the second consecutive week.

The centrist People's Party won 5.2 percent in approval rating, with the minor conservative Righteous Party and the minor progressive Justice Party garnering 5.3 percent and 4.7 percent respectively.

In a separate poll, six out of 10 South Koreans opposed the unification of the Liberty Korea Party and the Righteous Party.

According to the Realmeter survey, 62.9 percent of respondents opposed the attempt among some of conservative politicians to re-unify the conservative parties. Only 22.5 percent was in favor of the unification.

Members of the Righteous Party defected from the Saenuri Party, predecessor of the Liberty Korea Party, as support for the Saenuri Party tumbled after a corruption scandal involving impeached President Park Geun-hye.

The result was based on a survey of 506 voters conducted on Wednesday. It had 4.4 percentage points in margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 13:13:19|Editor: Yang Yi

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HANOI, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Companies in Vietnam currently have higher recruitment demand for senior and middle-level positions, according to recruitment company Navigos Group.

In the third quarter of this year, the number of such job orders surged 19 percent on-year, Navigos said in its report released on Wednesday.

The biggest demand was seen in such sectors as manufacturing, consumer goods and retail, information and communication technology, and banking and finance.

The manufacturing sector accounted for 35 percent of the total demand, primarily in construction and electrical and electronics segments.

Highest salaries for senior and middle-level managers were offered by consumer goods companies, banks, real estate and information technology firms, ranging between 100 million Vietnamese dong (4,400 U.S. dollars) and 300 million Vietnamese dong (13,300 U.S. dollars) per month.

Navigos predicted the labor market in Vietnam's power sector will thrive in the years to come due to the potential for remarkable development as foreign investors are proposing several solar energy projects nationwide.
Source: Xinhuanet| 2017-10-12 13:22:48|Editor: Yamei

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BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- The second International Fuel Cell Vehicle Congress will be held from November 9 to 10 in Rugao City, east China's Jiangsu Province.

The two-day event, hosted by the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, is organized by the governments of Rugao City and Nantong City.

The congress aims to improve the exchanges and cooperation in the hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicle industry.

A series of sessions featured with different topics will be held for experience exchanges.

The topics cover hydrogen energy extraction, storage, transportation and fuel cell vehicles manufacturing.

Hundreds of participants, including government officials, experts and industry leaders from home and abroad will discuss the further development and regulation of the industry.

The host city, Rugao, is one of the earliest cities that encourage hydrogen energy industry in China.

This event will further promote the development of the industry in Rugao City, home to more than ten hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicle companies.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 13:48:25|Editor: Yang Yi

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BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Kong Guangsheng, one of China's most wanted fugitives, returned to the Chinese mainland and turned himself in to the police Thursday, according to the anti-corruption authority.

Kong, former general manager of Shengli Oilfield Qingdao Petroleum Industrial Co. Ltd., was suspected of embezzlement and fled to Hong Kong in 2012, according to a statement released by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

In April 2015, Interpol issued a Red Notice listing 100 economic fugitives wanted by China. Many of the fugitives are former government staff or employees of state-owned enterprises.

Kong is the 48th fugitive from the list to return.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 13:58:27|Editor: Yang Yi

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by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- All eyes are on the White House this week as the deadline approaches to recertify the Iran nuclear deal, which U.S. President Donald Trump called one of the worst deals ever made. With just few days left, it remains unknown whether the president will continue the international accord.

Under the deal, which was reached between Iran and the six countries of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany in July 2015, Iran said it would reverse its nuclear program in exchange for the dropping of international sanctions that crippled its economy and caused the tumbling of the nation's currency.

Trump and other critics have long blasted the deal as a path to nuclear weapons for Iran, though the latter insists its nuclear program is peaceful.

With the clock ticking, the president must inform the Congress by Oct. 15 whether he believes Iran is going along with the rules laid out in the nuclear deal, and whether the deal is aligned with American interests. If not, U.S. lawmakers must within 60 days decide whether or not to slap sanctions back on Iran, according to stipulations governing the agreement.

Now, many Democratic lawmakers who were initially opposed to the deal are asking Trump not to pull out, and contend that enforcing the accord is the best way forward. Many on Trump's national security staff are also wary of scrapping the deal.

On Wednesday, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce said at a hearing on Iran that the nuke deal should be strictly enforced, and the United States will work with allies on the issue.

"As flawed as the deal is, I believe we must now enforce the hell out of it," Royce said.

But the Republican heavyweight representative urged Washington not to put an end to the deal.

Darrell West, a Brookings Institution Senior Fellow, also told Xinhua that a possible refusal by Trump to recertify the agreement would give Iran "an excuse to opt-out of the deal."

"They would have the ability to continue their nuclear program and refuse to allow inspectors access to their facilities," West said, speaking of a scenario that could unfold if Trump does not continue the agreement.

West said this would be "catastrophic" for the Middle East for it will add uncertainty to the region and create anxiety among regional countries.

Though the deal isn't perfect, there are positive aspects such as imposing constraints on Iran, said West. It could be a "very short-sighted move on Trump's part" to decertify the deal.

Furthermore, West pointed out, decertifying the deal would add to the tensions the United States has been already facing. "If the agreement falls apart, Trump will face a crisis not just in North Korea, but in Iran," he said, referring to the name Americans often use for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Currently, tensions are rising between Washington and Pyongyang over the latter's nuclear weapons program, and harsh rhetoric between the United States and DPRK has escalated in recent days and weeks.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 14:03:30|Editor: Yurou

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NEW DELHI, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- A juvenile court in India has sentenced a boy to three years in a remand facility after holding him guilty of conspiracy in two serial bomb blasts in eastern state of Bihar four years back.

The two serial bomb blasts took place in state capital Patna and at a temple in the holy town of Bodhgaya in Bihar within a gap of six months.

The blasts at a political rally in Patna in October 2013, which targetted then Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, killed six people and injured over 90 others. However, no one was killed in the 10 minor bomb blasts in Bodhgaya six months ago.

"For the two serial bomb blasts, the juvenile justice court has convicted the minor for conspiracy and he will now have to serve three years in a remand facility," a senior official said Thursday.

According to Indian laws, juveniles (those below 18 years of age) can only be remanded to a reforms facility for a maximum of three years even if convicted in heinous crimes like murder, rape and bomb blasts.

The two serial bomb blasts were investigated by India's anti-terror agency, the National Investigation Agency. A total of 11 persons were arrested for Patna blasts, while six were held for their alleged involvement in Bodhgaya blasts.

Trial of other men in the two cases are going on and some of them face a maximum of death penalty if convicted.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 14:18:32|Editor: Yang Yi

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SARI PUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Five militants, including a key Taliban commander, Mullah Sayed Ahmad, were killed and two others injured after security forces aircraft targeted their positions in the northern Afghan province of Sari Pul on Thursday, an army spokesman Nasratullah Jamshidi said.

"Acting upon intelligence report, the security forces aircraft pounded Taliban hideouts in Mirza Olang area of the restive Sayad district early Thursday, killing notorious commander Mullah Sayed Ahmad along with four of his armed men and injuring two others," Jamshidi told Xinhua.

Mirza Olang has been the scene of brutal fighting over the past few months and militants had killed more than 30 villagers, all civilians, some six weeks ago, forcing hundreds to leave their houses.

Taliban militants are yet to make comment on the airstrike.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 14:43:37|Editor: Yang Yi

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BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- China will step up financial support for major projects of its "Made in China 2025" strategy, a blueprint for upgrading the country's manufacturing sector.

Sectors that boost manufacturing innovation, including the Internet of Things, smart appliances and high-end consumer electronics, are the major priority for funding, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The total funding is likely to exceed 10 billion yuan (1.5 billion U.S. dollars), Xinhua-run Economic Information Daily reported.

Aside from central-level funding, local authorities will also increase financial support for "Made in China 2025" projects with over 10 billion yuan expected to be invested by local governments nationwide from 2016 to 2020.

The MIIT will also cooperate with China Development Bank to provide financial services including loans, bonds, leasing to support major projects, with an estimated 300 billion yuan of financing in place in the 2016-2020 period.

"The financial support gives a clear direction for future development in China's manufacturing innovation and boosts social confidence in economic restructuring and upgrades," said Wu Hequan, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering.

The "Made in China 2025" strategy, a roadmap released by the State Council in 2015 to guide the country's advanced industrial manufacturing, has seen steady progress in industrial capability, smart manufacturing, innovation, as well as product quality and branding.

Average productivity was up by 38 percent for China's first 109 pilot projects in smart manufacturing, while operating costs dropped by 21 percent, according to the MIIT.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 14:48:38|Editor: Yurou

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COLOMBO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of commuters were left stranded in Sri Lanka on Thursday as railway unions launched an indefinite strike urging the government to fulfill their demands.

The unexpected strike was launched late on Wednesday evening, at a peak rush hour, leading to the cancellation of all trains throughout the island.

A tense situation erupted at the Fort Railway Station in capital Colombo on Wednesday when passengers were informed that trains had been cancelled.

The angry passengers launched a protest of their own against the railway unions, resulting in special police teams being deployed to calm the situation.

The Railway Unions launched the strike alleging that a group of junior train drivers, who were still under training, had been appointed by breaching the normal recruitment procedures.

The unions urged the government to look into the matter and revise the recruitment procedure of trainee.

Thousands of commuters who arrived at the railway stations on Thursday morning were left stranded.

Groups were seen get onto special buses. Special luxury buses had also been parked outside the stations to transport passengers to the north and south.

The strike caused severe traffic jams in Colombo and its outskirts as additional buses were deployed by the Transport Ministry.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 15:18:45|Editor: Mengjie

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OTTAWA, Oct.11 (Xinhua) -- As Canadian, American and Mexican negotiators began the fourth round of talks to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) near Washington D.C. Wednesday, a Canadian trade expert believes agriculture could keep the negotiations from collapsing.

"Agricultural trade pretty much doubled under NAFTA, and there is a large swath of agricultural interests that want to make sure that stays open," said Carlo Dade, director of the trade and investment center at the Canada West Foundation.

He explained that the American agricultural industry persuaded Donald Trump not to withdraw the U.S. from its five-year-old free trade agreement with South Korea. But if NAFTA is terminated, as Trump has threatened, U.S. access to foreign markets could be further imperiled.x Should the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) proceed without the U.S. after Trump pulled his country out of the now 11-country agreement, Canada and Mexico, which signed onto the pact, could benefit, according to Dade.

"Withdrawing from the TPP will cost the U.S. billions of dollars, and that's money that's coming to Canada for beef, fruits and vegetables, and timber exports," Dade told Xinhua in an interview.

He explained that Mexico is already preparing a back-up plan if NAFTA "goes sideways." The Mexican government is exploring other markets beyond the U.S. to purchase corn, which is now imported mostly from the U.S.

If the TPP is ratified, Mexico could rely on other imports from its pact partners, such as New Zealand or Canada - for dairy products, said Dade.

Canada's supply-management system for dairy, eggs and poultry, which is subject to tariffs as high as 270 percent for dairy products to protect Canadian producers, has been a trade irritant between Canada and the U.S., and Trump has already called it "unfair" to American dairy farmers.

But supply management could be an important bargaining chip for Canada in the NAFTA talks, according to Dade.

"If we agree to grant access for more American dairy products to Canada, that's a win the U.S. administration needs," he explained.

"In exchange, Canada could ask for regulatory harmonization on food processing and food inspection to reduce the chance the U.S. can target a specific Canadian agricultural sector. The American agricultural industry would like that too because it would ensure that Canada wouldn't target it either."
Source: Chinadaily| 2017-10-12 15:36:26|Editor: Xiang Bo

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China Daily Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Zhou Shuchun, delivered the welcome address in Hong Kong at China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable forum "Guangdong-HK-Macao Greater Bay Area from the Belt & Road Perspective: Opportunities and Challenges" on Oct 9, to mark the 20th anniversary of China Daily Hong Kong Edition.

Here is the full transcript of his speech.

I am extremely happy and deeply honored to be here this morning. This is the 20th anniversary of both Hong Kong SAR and China Daily Hong Kong Edition. For 20 years China Daily Hong Kong Edition dedicated itself to the service of the city. As a member of the China Daily family I feel very proud to be able to witness this moment.

China Daily Hong Kong Edition was founded to cater to the city's huge community of English-speaking readers  to bring them news, views and in-depth research-based features from across China, and beyond.

Established after the Hong Kong SAR came into being, China Daily Hong Kong Edition was tasked with upholding the values of "one country, two systems" principle, outlining its scope and clarifying the nuances according to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR for its readers.

As President Xi Jinping pointed out when he was here this past July to attend the events held to mark the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, "One country, two systems" gives expression to the vision of peace and harmony in the Chinese culture. It embodies a very important tenet, namely, seeking broad common ground while setting aside major differences.

I am happy to note that the Hong Kong Edition of China Daily, through its reports and opinion pieces, has been promoting exactly such a value system, founded on the principles of national interest, harmony and common good. Today it's a well-respected and influential paper, having acquired a substantial local and international following across its different platforms accessible in both print and digital forms.

My sincere congratulations to the China Daily Hong Kong Edition team for putting in the hard work and dedication that has turned the paper into a credible source of news and views. It shows in the news awards they keep winning every year, competing with the heavyweights in the media industry.

Like many of you present here I am also quite eager to listen to the highly-esteemed panelists about the scope for Hong Kong's growth in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The initiative was launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013, looking to revive and bring new vitality to the ancient trade route extending from China to the Middle-East and beyond, and combining it with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, spanning more than half the world, from China to Europe and beyond.

As we all know, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development project is meant to develop nine cities in Guangdong province along with Hong Kong and Macao into a world-class cluster for technology and business. Hong Kong, because of its strategic position, is all set to play a significant role in both projects.

In a few minutes we will hear from those who understand the scenario best about how Hong Kong might use this opportunity to leverage its strengths  its solid foundation in trading, finance and litigation, its inclusivity and cosmopolitan culture  and emerge as one of the mighty players in the world stage of commerce.

I imagine many of you are looking for answers to specific questions related to the theme. Should Hong Kong's entrepreneurs rethink their current business models to adapt better to the coming climate of resource sharing? How might Hong Kong emerge as a key contributor to programs being drawn up by the central government towards the Greater Bay Area development?

I have a few questions of my own as well.

At the Dialogue of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries summit in Xiamen last month, President Xi stressed that while the Belt and Road Initiative was about promoting the spirit of international cooperation, it was also about fostering sustainable development.

"Let us work together to blaze a new path to development that is fair, open, comprehensive and innovative," he had said. I, for one, am eager to hear from today's keynote speakers and panelists how President Xi's vision of achieving both commercial prosperity and eco-friendly development in the same space might be turned into a reality.

I hope all of us present here today will have something to take away from what we hear at today's forum.

Please consider this a return gift from China Daily Hong Kong Edition on its 20th Birthday. Thank you!

(Source: Chinadaily)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 15:33:50|Editor: Mengjie

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Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean (7th R) poses for a group photo with delegates attending the 23rd ASEAN transport ministers meeting and associated meetings with ASEAN dialogue partners China, Japan and South Korea, in Singapore, on Oct. 12, 2017. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey)

SINGAPORE, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The 23rd ASEAN transport ministers meeting and associated meetings with ASEAN dialogue partners China, Japan and South Korea opened here Thursday.

The two-day meetings will discuss regional cooperation and initiatives in air, maritime and land transport as well as transport facilitation, which will bolster connectivity in the region, according to Singapore's Ministry of Transport.

The ministry said participating transport ministers will ink several documents on cooperation relating to aircraft accident and incident investigation.

Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean said requirements for cross-border bus transport services within ASEAN will be simplified, and thousands of buses will enjoy facilitated entry and transit to other ASEAN member states.

"This sends a strong signal to the international community that ASEAN is committed to foster open, integrated economies and will further liberalise trade for the benefit of all our people," he added.

China's Vice Minister of Transport Dai Dongchang participated in the event. He visited the Kaki Bukit MRT station, which was built by China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited Singapore Branch, after the opening ceremony of the meetings.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 15:48:56|Editor: liuxin

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SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Lawmakers of South Korea's ruling Democratic Party on Thursday stressed the importance for dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to resolve the Korean Peninsula's nuclear issue.

The emphasis on the peaceful resolution through dialogue came as the parliamentary inspection of the government kicked off. The first inspection session under the Moon Jae-in administration, which was inaugurated in May, would last for about three weeks.

Rep. Shim Jae-kwon of the Democratic Party, who serves in the parliamentary committee of foreign affairs and reunification, said in a press release that though sanctions and pressure are a necessary tool to deal with the advanced nuclear and missile technologies of the DPRK, its eventual objective should be dialogue and negotiations.

Shim, the head of the committee, said inter-Korean dialogue would be needed at any cost, emphasizing the urgency of restoring hot line between South Korea and the DPRK under the current situations that tensions escalated on the peninsula.

Rep. Park Byeong-seug of the governing party said talks with the DPRK should start before the country completes the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the United States, which he claimed would be a "game changer."

The Moon administration had proposed to Pyongyang holding military talks to prevent possible accidental conflicts near the inter-Korean border as well as dialogue to resolve humanitarian issues, but the DPRK has been mum about the proposals.

Tensions ran high on the Korean Peninsula following the DPRK's nuclear and missile provocations. The Asian country detonated what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb in September, after test-firing ballistic missiles with intercontinental capability. The sixth nuclear test was seen as the most powerful one ever conducted by the DPRK.

The war of rhetoric was resumed between Pyongyang and Washington. In response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to "totally destroy" the DPRK, top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un threatened the highest level of countermeasure in history.

South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo told the parliamentary defense committee that the United States would not wage a war on the peninsula under situations that South Korea is excluded.

President Moon has repeatedly said another war must never break out on the peninsula again. The peninsula is still in a technical state of war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in armistice, not peace treaty.

Regarding the Sept. 23 flight of U.S. strategic bombers in international airspace off the DPRK's east coast, Song said he had consulted on it with his U.S. counterpart in advance via phone calls.

Two B-1B Lancers, long-range supersonic bombers of the U.S. Air Force, flew again across the South Korean territory earlier this week in an apparent show of force against the DPRK.

Meanwhile, about 40 South Korean businessmen, who had run factories in the now-closed inter-Korean factory park in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong, early Thursday asked the unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs to approve their visit to the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

The industrial zone has been closed for over one and a half years as the South Korean government under impeached President Park Geun-hye unilaterally shut it down following Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January.

The businessmen applied for their visit to the DPRK's border town to check whether their factories and facilities in Kaesong were illegitimately being operated by the DPRK.

According to local media reports, some of the DPRK's media outlets indicated a resumed factory operation.

Though the South Korean ministry gave a greenlight to their visit, the businessmen would not be allowed to cross the inter-Korean border into Kaesong without consent from the DPRK.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 16:03:59|Editor: Mengjie

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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday presented the organization's proposed program budget for the 2018-2019 biennium, amounting to 5.4 billion U.S. dollars, to the UN General Assembly's main administrative and budget committee.

The proposal (before re-costing) is about 200 million dollars, about 4 percent below the appropriation for the current biennium, and reflects an overall net decrease of 92 posts compared to the current budget.

"In taking the oath of office last December, I promised to work with the member states to reform the UN thoroughly and continuously," Guterres told the General Assembly's Fifth Committee.

"Reform is for the people we serve and, indeed, for everyone who serves under the UN flag or is part of the enterprise of building a better world for all," he said.

In formulating the proposal, explained the UN chief, ways to make the organization more nimble, responsive and effective in managing its staff and resources, and in supporting its member states were explored.

An extensive review of internal policies and administrative instructions is under way to remove duplication, reduce fragmentation and streamline procedures, he added.

In his briefing to the committee, Guterres spoke of the new UN strategy to combat sexual exploitation and abuse, a strategy on gender parity, strengthening whistle-blower protection, the new counter-terrorism office and strengthening the development pillar of the organization.

As part of the reforms, the secretary-general noted that he is delegating managerial authority to program managers and demanding greater accountability from them for mandate delivery, proposing changes to the UN management and support structures, and proposing measures to streamline and improve the planning and budgeting processes, as well as measures to improve his ability as the chief administrative officer to redeploy resources within parts of the budget to better support the implementation of mandates.

"The reform proposals will not affect the budget proposal for the biennium 2018-2019," he said.

The UN chief also noted that for the new management structure, a breakdown of functions and a costed proposal for the two new departments in 2018 will be provided. Some of the changes will be reflected in the support account for 2018/2019, and others will be accommodated within the approved staffing table for the regular budget.

The changes to the planning and budgeting cycles and documentation will come, if approved, into effect in 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 16:21:51|Editor: ZD

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A man views a car at Wuhan Motor Show 2017 in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, Oct. 12, 2017. The six-day motor show, with the exhibition of more than 800 cars of some 100 brands, kicked off here Thursday. (Xinhua/Ke Hao)
FILE PHOTO: Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (R) and Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh hold hands in Gaza City October 2, 2017. (REUTERS PHOTO)

GAZA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement's chief Ismail Haniyeh announced on Thursday that his movement and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party have reached a reconciliation agreement in Cairo.

"Ismail Haniyeh, chief of Hamas, announced that Hamas and Fatah have reached an agreement in Cairo under an Egyptian sponsorship," Taher al-Nouno, an aide to Haniyeh said in a short text message sent to reporters.

Haniyeh only announced that the two groups reached an agreement, without giving further details.

Meanwhile, Osama Qawasmi, Fatah spokesman in the West Bank said in an emailed press statement that the two movements have reached an Egyptian-brokered internal reconciliation agreement in Cairo early this morning.

He added that the leaders of the two groups, who have been holding intensive dialogue in Cairo for three days, will announce the details of the agreement at a joint news conference later on Thursday.

Palestinian sources to the negotiations speaking on condition of anonymity said the agreement was reached to rule crossing points and ease hard daily living situation in Gaza.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 16:34:09|Editor: Mengjie

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by Peerzada Arshad Hamid

SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Gulshan Akther (name changed), a 25-year-old woman, was busy washing clothes inside her house at a village near Bijbehara town in southern Anantnag district.

She was alone inside the house, while as rest of the family members had gone to reap the paddy crop in their fields nearby.

Unmindful of the braid chopping incidents that took the district by storm, Akther had never thought she would soon be in the list of victims.

She recalls someone trying to catch hold of her from behind and pulling her scarf that covered her head.

"In awe, I shrieked and struggled to let loose myself, but the attacker managed to cut part of my hair," Akther said. "I ran outside raising alarm and soon neighbours gathered and took me to sub-district hospital Bijbehara."

The residents who had gathered near Akther's house searched lanes by lanes of the village, but could not find anyone fleeing or suspicious.

Akther told her family she couldn't recognise the attacker.

The attack sent a tizzy in the village and adjoining areas.

Like Akther, dozens of women so far have reported such attacks on them, with some saying attackers sprayed some chemical and chilli powder towards them prior to attack.

Police officials Thursday said so far 100 braid chopping incidents have taken place in the Muslim majority areas of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"There have been 100 braid chopping incidents in Kashmir so far. Not a single victim has approached any police station with her hair sample," a local newspaper quoted senior police official Muneer Khan as having said. "We could have sent the hair sample to forensic laboratory to find out which spray the braid choppers are using."

So far no one has been found guilty of braid chopping and no arrests were made. However, in panic residents have attacked strangers, mostly outsiders.

"There have been instances wherein migrant labourers, non-local ragpickers and even foreign tourists were caught by mobs considering them behind braid chopping," another senior police official told Xinhua.

Even local residents and a transgender have to face wrath of angry mob after they were caught suspiciously.

On Sunday, police rescued six tourists from Australia, South Korea, Ireland and England from a mob who mistook them for "braid choppers" from a Srinagar locality.

"The six tourists - four men and two women - were traveling from Leh to Srinagar in a Tavera. Having lost their way, they were using Google Maps to navigate. Suddenly locals at Kanikachi Lati Mohalla raised a hue and cry, and more people gathered at the spot," the official said. "As the crowd was becoming unruly, some locals began rescuing them and also called in police who came immediately to rescue them from the spot."

Police officials initially viewed the incidents as psychiatric disorder among the victims and blamed rumour mongers for using social media networking sites to trigger scare. However, soon after they announced a cash reward of 9,216 U.S. dollars (600,000 INR) to anyone, who provides them clues about braid choppers.

The authorities also tried suspending Internet services to check what they described "rumour-mongering," however, the incidents are yet to stop.

In July and August, similar braid chopping incidents were reported in many Indian parts like Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana.

Authorities, however, described them as "mass hysteria" and related it with somewhat similar incident of monkey-man attack that gripped Delhi in 2001.

However, in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, the braid chopping incidents by now seem to have taken a political colour. Every fresh incident brings people out on roads against police and government.

The residents accused police and government of apathetic towards their plight.

"We are feeling unsafe even inside our homes. Why can't they (police) unmask them," questions Rouf Ahmad, a Srinagar resident.

Separatists suspect hand of government agencies in the braid chopping incidents. On Monday the entire region observed a shutdown against government's failure to stop the braid chopping incidents on call of separatist groups.

"The incidents are part of a well-thought-out conspiracy," a joint statement issued by region's separatist leaders reads. "The dignity of our womenfolk is at stake."

Nayeema Mehjoor, heading government-owned State Women Commission in the region, views the incidents as an effort to "instil fear among residents."

"My worry is that the failure of the police to identity culprits is only fuelling speculation. Why can't the police solve these cases when they could carry out anti-militancy operations with great precision, Mehjoor told a local newspaper.

In towns and villages, vigilante groups armed with axes and clubs have been formed in response to the attacks.

The uncertainty has also claimed a civilian life.

Last week, 70-year-old Abdus Salam Wani was attacked with a brick in head after a young man mistook him as braid chopper near his house at village Danter in Anantnag.

With no end to braid chopping incidents, for baffled residents, every stranger is a suspect. Amid chaos and fear, almost all the residents in towns and villages lock their doors immediately after the dusk.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 16:44:11|Editor: Mengjie

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NAKURU, Kenya, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- As Kenya joined the rest of the world to celebrate International Day of the Girl on Wednesday, campaigners and gender specialists called for enactment of progressive legislation and polices to enable this vulnerable demographic to realize its full potential.

The theme of this year's International Day of the Girl, "EmPOWER girls: Before, during and after conflict," brought into focus needs and interests of girls across the globe with the aim of capturing attention of all stakeholders to take action.

Faiza Jama Mohamed, Africa Director for Equality Now, a non-governmental organizations that protects the rights of girls, said laws meant to advance girls' rights should be accompanied by creation of a safe environment for them to succeed in life.

"Girls need in-depth and comprehensive empowerment. It is not enough to put in place laws to protect them from abuses, or educate them. Rather they need a safe environment at home, school and within their communities to thrive and realize their potential," Mohamed remarked during an interview with Xinhua on Wednesday.

She said all stakeholders including governments, policy makers and community leaders should be committed to eliminating all obstacles that hinder girls from fully enjoying their rights.

Anita Nyanjong, an expert on sex trafficking, regretted that under-age prostitution in tourism havens, mining fields and plantations has affected poor African girls disproportionately.

"In Africa, as countries continue to expand their economies, many girls have borne the brunt of a continued proliferation of sex tourism, a thriving trade existing both along Africa's vast coastline as well as around mines and commercial plantations," she said.

"It will take the interventions of African governments and its people to address this ticking time bomb. If not, Africa may just face a lost generation of girls vital to its future survival," said Nyanjong.

She emphasized on the importance of African governments operationalizing international frameworks such as the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons and the Sustainable Development Goals to end sex trafficking.

"Addressing demand for commercial sex and focusing on the rights and needs of girls are key steps towards their empowerment and lives free from sexual exploitation," noted Nyanjong.

Martha Anyika, founder of a girls' empowerment grassroots organization, Ches Beneficiaries Alumni of Kenya (CHEBAK), said girls will continue to carry heavy burden of social and cultural injustice if concerted efforts to listen and act on their challenges are not made.

"You can never take a rest from realities of girls undergoing Female Genital Mutilation, forced into early marriages or getting pregnant and dropping out of school. These are serious problems that deny girls opportunities to enjoy their lives and they are still common in our communities," said Anyika.

The 2014 Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) reports that out of 100 Kenyan women, eight are married at age 15, which in Kenya's education sector points to a girl who just joined Form One in secondary school from primary level.

Anyika pointed to collaborative goodwill in all levels of implementing policies directly benefiting girls as an important factor in achieving a breakthrough in tackling challenges bedeviling the girl-child.

Christa Stewart, a Justice for Girls Expert with Equality Now, said committing to provide the girls with an education would empower them to minimize their vulnerabilities to violence and discrimination.

"Education is often the one critical support system that enables girls to become economically empowered, speak out against abuses and seek help," said Stewart.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 16:54:16|Editor: Xiang Bo

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NANJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- French oil painter Christian Poirot is visiting Nanjing, a city whose tragic wartime history has inspired a new painting series.

"Honestly, in the past, I knew nothing about the Nanjing Massacre and the history of forced comfort women during the Japanese invasion of China in WWII," said the 56-year-old painter.

While he was traveling through Nanjing several years ago, a friend told him that 300,000 Chinese people were killed in Nanjing after the city fell into Japanese hands. He was shocked, and decided to create a painting.

In December 2015, he donated a painting measuring 2.35 meters tall by 7.46 meters wide to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

The painting depicts scenes of the violence that occurred during the 1937 massacre, confronting viewers with the bloody ordeal suffered by the victims.

He visited Nanjing again this September and based his work out of a museum built on the former site of a "comfort women" station at Liji Lane in Nanjing to create the comfort women series.

He has created three paintings there.

In a painting, miserable-looking women wait for examination while the dead bodies of women are piled on the ground.

"My heart was deeply touched when I looked at historical photos of comfort women in the museum. Painting the bitterness of their tortured lives is my tribute to those women who still live with painful memories. I hope the work can call for peace for humankind," said Poirot.

He said he would continue the comfort women series after he returns to France.

Poirot plans to donate the comfort women series to the Nanjing Memorial Hall ahead of Dec. 13 to coincide with the commemoration of China's national memorial day for victims in the Nanjing Massacre

Poirot, a world-famous oil painter, was granted honorary citizenship of the city of Nanjing in 2015.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 17:04:19|Editor: Xiang Bo

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Widespread mismanagement in juvenile detention facilities in south Florida has resulted in a dozen questionable deaths, sex abuse of detainees and cover-up for wrongdoers, a media report said Wednesday.

At least 12 deaths occurred between 2000 to 2015 in the detention centers, where supervisors lacked basic management training and even encouraged fighting and bullying among young detainees, an investigation by the Miami Herald, a local daily newspaper found.

Detainees have long complained of staff turning them into hired mercenaries, offering extra food and other rewards to rough up fellow detainees as a way to maintain control without involving themselves.

One particular appalling incident took place in 2015, when 17-year-old Elord Revolte was jumped by fellow inmates as he was returning to his quarters from the dining hall.

According to close-circuit TV, 18 boys beat Revolte relentlessly, kicking and punching him for more than a minute.

Revolte died thirty hours later as a result of the beating, but no one at the detention center was held accountable.

"They treated my child worse than a dog," said Revolte's father, who brought his son from the Caribbean Island country of Haiti eight years ago.

According to official documents, testimony offered by two of the boys who beat Revolte claimed the attack was instigated by a detention officer.

Following the death of Revolte, local prosecutors launched a probe into the detention center and found that detention officers "likely engaged in the practice of offering honey buns" or other food as a reward to youth detainees to carry out physical attacks as a means of punishment.

"In here, a honey bun is like a million dollars," a prosecutor involved in the probe said.

According to the Miami Herald, a number of reasons are behind the mismanagement of juvenile detention centers, including low pay and insufficient training for staff, tolerance for cover-ups and faulty security cameras.

Detention officers receive a starting salary as low 12.25 U.S. dollars per hour to deal with youth who suffer from mental illness, drug addiction, disabilities and trauma, resulting in an annual salary of roughly 25,000 dollars.

Pay has not increased since 2006, other than a 1,400 dollar bump on Oct.1.

Inadequate screening during the recruiting process also led to the hiring of many former convicts who were charged with violence or abuse.

The paper found that a worker at a prison psychiatric hospital who was fired because of "an inappropriate relationship" with an inmate but then joined the staff of a youth program, was accused only months later of having sex with a detainee on the bathroom floor.

Investigators found over the past 10 years at least 1,455 cases - or three a week - of detainee abuse were not reported.

Local police found in August that top administrators of detention facilities knowingly covered up misconduct in their jurisdiction by destroying records and concealing videos.

Florida says its juvenile justice system is the largest in the country, with 3,269 employees and a detention capacity of 1,243 among its 21 detention centers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 17:24:26|Editor: Xiang Bo

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BOGOR, Indonesia, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The governments of Indonesia and Laos on Thursday reached agreements to expand cooperation on the sectors of defense, trade, investment and energy.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo held a meeting with visiting Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith at the Bogor Presidential Palace in west Java on Thursday.

Widodo said that Indonesia is ready to provide strategic products for defense system needed by Laos, including aircraft and other weaponries.

During his visit to Indonesia, the prime minister brought a number of business delegates.

"I welcome the business delegate joining the prime minister's visit. I am confident that a business meeting will help boost cooperation on trade and investment," President Widodo told a joint press conference after their meeting at the palace.

"Indonesian investors are very interested in investing capitals in mining sectors and fertilizer industry (in Laos), and I hope this plan can be immediately materialized," said Widodo.

During the meeting, Widodo said that Indonesia conveyed a plan to cooperate in battle against drug abuses and illegal trade of narcotics.

For his turn, the prime minister said that he was upbeat that both nations will persistently strengthen the cooperation in the sectors.

"On behalf of the government and the people of Laos, we express gratitude to the Indonesian government for its supports to us on several sectors and contribution to efforts to boost economic and social condition on Laos," he said.

Both leaders believe that the good bilateral relationship of the two nations which has been experienced for 60 years will give benefit for the people of the two nations.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 17:44:30|Editor: Xiang Bo

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DOHA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Qatari Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) and Chinese company Nuctech have signed an agreement to manufacture smart jackets for workers in Qatar, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported Thursday.

The smart jacket will feature a helmet cooling system and a chip that gives signals indicating the condition of workers. The solar-powered jacket also includes the voice dialing function and a tracker.

Under the deal, Nuctech will take patent for a number of devices innovated by Lekhwiya, including safety devices for construction workers in Qatar.

Apart from smart jackets, safety devices to be developed under the deal also include intelligent eye sensor, automatic explosive and drug detection device, Nuctech cross-sectional scanning device and intelligent security fence.

The agreement was signed by Lekhwiya's commander of the security technologies Ali Hassan al-Rashed and Nuctech Vice-President Wang Weidong, in the presence of Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs Issa al Nuaimi.

The Beijing-based Nuctech has been a provider of security equipment in China since 2006 when it was awarded a contract by the Chinese government for producing scanners to detect liquid explosives at all of China's airports.

The company is one of the world's top providers of security scanning equipment, which has clients in about 50 countries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 17:44:31|Editor: Xiang Bo

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MOMBASA, Kenya, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's military said on Thursday that it has intensified manhunt for a group of Al-Shabaab militants dispatched from Somalia to wage more attacks targeting civilian and security agents in the coast's Lamu County.

Kenya Defence Force (KDF) spokesman David Obonyo said the group crossed over to the country through the vast Boni forest to stage more attacks in the counties of Lamu and Garrisa near the Kenya Somalia border.

Obonyo said they are trailing militant group that is heavily armed and split in at least three groups to carry out attacks in several parts of Lamu.

"Our troops are trailing the suspects as part of operation Linda Boni, intelligence reports indicate that militants have split in at least three groups to carryout attacks," said Obonyo.

KDF, which is part of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM), is leading the latest onslaught against the group blamed for a series of sporadic attacks in Coast and northeastern Kenya.

He said the group has no central operation center, making it difficult for security agents to flush them out from the forest.

Obonyo said more military personnel with armored personnel carrier (APC) have launched both aerial and ground operation targeting the militants.

On Monday, KDF killed five members and recovered AK 47 riffles with 321 bullets, three grenades and several explosive devices. They laid ambush in Bodhei area of the forest where the five were killed.

The group is believed to be behind Tuesday's ambush where more than 10 police officers escaped death after their vehicle was sprayed with bullets after it missed running over an improvised explosive device (IED).

Last month, a group of more than 30 heavily armed Al-Shabaab militants descended on villages of Lamu West and beheaded four men.

The terror group has been carrying out sporadic attacks in several parts of the country following Kenya's contribution of soldiers to AMISOM.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 17:44:32|Editor: Xiang Bo

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MOSCOW, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Moscow sees the removal of Russian flags from diplomatic buildings in the United States as a violation of its state symbol and will consider filing an complaint at an international court, Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 17:44:33|Editor: Xiang Bo

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ANKARA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Officials from Turkey and the U.S. will meet to resolve the visa suspension crisis, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Thursday.

"A decision has been made between the two countries for representatives to meet and work jointly on the issue, and a step will be taken soon according to its result," Bozdag said in an interview with the TV channel Haber Turk.

His colleague, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek on Wednesday said the "the temporary undesired dispute has no political interference" and "will likely be soon resolved."

On Sunday, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced it had suspended non-immigrant visa services at all diplomatic facilities in Turkey.

In response, Turkey's Embassy to the U.S. suspended non-immigrant visa services in the U.S., citing security concerns.

On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the U.S. decision as "upsetting," saying Turkey's response is "based on the rules of reciprocity."

The spat between the two countries was ignited by the recent arrest of Metin Topuz, a Turkish employee at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, over suspected link to the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Ankara of being behind a failed coup attempt in July 2016.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 17:49:34|Editor: Xiang Bo

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NAIROBI, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Masai Mara National Reserve located in western part of Kenya was recently declared Africa's leading wildlife sanctuary after beating five competitors in the continent, local media reported on Thursday.

According to the Daily Nation on Thursday, Masai Mara overcame fierce competition to be voted Africa's leading national park at the 2017 World Travel Awards ceremony held in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

The Masai Mara which is home to iconic wildlife species beat Kruger National Park in South Africa, Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana, Kidepo Valley National Park in Uganda and Etosha National Park in Namibia.

At the same time, the pristine Diani Beach located in Kenya's South Coast was voted Africa's best beach tourist destination for the fourth year in a row after beating competition from beaches in South Africa, Mozambique, Zanzibar and Egypt.

The Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) on its part beat ten other tourism marketing agencies in Africa to emerge the winner for the sixth year in a row.

It beat the Egyptian Tourist Authority, Moroccan National Tourism Organization and South African Tourism to be voted the best tourism marketing agency in the continent.

The National Carrier, Kenya Airways won two awards after it was voted Africa's leading airline and the continent's leading airline-business class.

A host of Kenyan game and beach resorts as well as tour operators were voted Africa's leading brands.

The President and Founder of World Travel Award (WTA), Graham Cooke hailed Kenya's hospitality industry for scooping continental awards which reaffirmed their prestige and popularity in Africa and beyond.

"We have recognized the leading lights of African tourism tonight and I wish to offer my heartfelt congratulations to all our winners," Cooke remarked at the awards ceremony in Kigali, Rwanda on Tuesday night.

The Masai Mara Game Reserve where investors have put up luxury resorts to attract high-end tourists from around the world is home to iconic wildlife species that include giant land mammals, carnivores, birds and reptiles.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 17:49:35|Editor: Xiang Bo

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DHAKA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Two warrants of arrest were issued in two separate cases against Bangladeshi former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia as she failed to appear for hearings on Thursday.

Judge Akhteruzzaman of the Special Judge Court-5 in Dhaka issued a warrant after Khaleda Zia did not attend the hearing on the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case while Metropolitan Magistrate Nur Nabi also ordered her arrest in another case over undermining the country's map and national flag.

Khaleda Zia, also chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has been staying in London for the last three months for treatment, the party leaders say.

Khaleda's counsel Sanaullah Mia told journalists that the arrest warrants were politically motivated, with the aim of barring the largest opposition party chief's return to Bangladesh.

Khaleda Zia has reportedly been facing 30 cases, including five on corruption charges and 15 for masterminding violence during their anti-government movement since 2014.

Of the five graft cases, according to the sources, the trial proceedings in Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage trust graft cases against Khaleda are almost complete.

Khaleda often said political vendettas are to blame for the cases against her and her sons during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's incumbent government.

Political analysts say the key challenge for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) party leadership could be bringing the party in power with people's mandate in the next general elections slated for early 2019.

AL, which rose to power with a landslide election victory in early 2009 and won its second term in 2014, now eyes for the third consecutive victory, observers say.

As always AL has been facing challenges from Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which boycotted the 2014 elections.

Some 21 parties including Khaleda Zia's BNP boycotted the parliament elections as Hasina did not heed their demand for a non-party caretaker government to hold the polls.

BNP has still been demanding parliament polls under a non-party government.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 17:59:38|Editor: Xiang Bo

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PHNOM PENH, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The National Assembly of Cambodia on Thursday adopted a draft law on anti-dumping, which was designed to shield domestic producers from the impact of dumping by foreign exporters.

Sixty-seven lawmakers of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), including Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, unanimously approved the bill, as all lawmakers of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) boycotted the session in protest against the arrest last month of their leader Kem Sokha, who was charged with "treason."

"The law is aimed at protecting domestic producers from the impact of dumping by foreign exporters," Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak told the parliament. "It will also be a shield to protect both domestic and foreign investors in Cambodia."

Comprised of six chapters with 45 articles, the law would ensure a fair competition atmosphere between domestic producers and foreign producers, the minister said, adding that it would also allow the government to raise tariffs or restrict imports to counteract the dumpers.

"Dumping" is a form of predatory pricing, where foreign exporters sell goods below costs into a country with an aim of driving domestic producers out of business. Once the domestic producers go bankrupt, the dumpers can increase prices and recoup their losses.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 18:14:43|Editor: Xiang Bo

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TOKYO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said on Thursday that the U.S. forces in Japan will ground all of its CH-53E helicopters following one of the transport choppers crash-landing near a U.S. base on the main island of Okinawa in Japan's southernmost prefecture.

The incident involved a CH-53E transport helicopter catching fire in midair during a training drill on Wednesday and bursting into flames as it made an emergency landing near the U.S. military's Northern Training Area, just 300 meters away from a residential area.

In a meeting in Tokyo between Onodera and Maj. Gen. Charles Chiarotti, deputy commander of U.S. Forces Japan, Onodera said the incident was "deplorable and had caused considerable anxiety among the residents living nearby and other people in the prefecture."

Chiarotti, for his part, said that as well as grounding the choppers, he would consider measures to prevent further such incidents.

Meanwhile, Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga, a staunch proponent of lessening the U.S. base hosting burdens of the residents of Okinawa, described the incident in the village of Higashi in Okinawa as "horrible."

"I felt disconcerted at seeing the sudden change from ordinary life to this horrible situation. I feel sad," Onaga told local media.

According to informed sources here, the U.S. Naval Safety Center has rated the accident as the most serious "Class A." It said that a fire broke out in the helicopter's engine, which forced it to make crash-landing.

The CH-53E helicopter belongs to the controversial Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa.

The base is central to a relocation spat between the local and central government.

Okinawan officials and residents want to see the base relocated outside the prefecture, whereas the central government maintains that relocating it to a coastal region within Okinawa remains the only solution.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 18:19:44|Editor: Xiang Bo

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DOHA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The third "Made in China" exhibition will be held in Doha on November 16 to 19, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported Thursday.

More than 100 Chinese companies are expected to join this year's exhibition, which is to be held at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre, the QNA report said.

The Chinese companies are keen on displaying their products and latest innovations for Qatari investors, Qatar Chamber Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani was quoted as saying.

Al-Thani said that the expo was highly acclaimed in its first and second editions, during which many contracts and joint ventures were signed between Qatari and Chinese companies.

He said that Qatar Chamber is ready to offer "all possible aid" to attract more investment to Qatar to boost its economic development.

The four-day expo aims to enhance cooperation between Qatari and Chinese businesses, take advantage of Chinese expertise in the industry, and create a platform for reaching trade deals between both countries.

Al-Thani noted that the annual trade between China and Qatar has increased to 5.42 billion U.S. dollars. He expected it to continue to grow with the launch of a direct marine route linking Hamad Port to some Chinese ports.

Qatar Chamber, established in 1963, is one of the oldest chambers of commerce in the Gulf area. It supports Qatar's economic development through creating a sustainable business environment for businesses, enhancing Qatar's economic diversity, and attracting foreign investment.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 19:17:50|Editor: ZD

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Zhang Yan, a container crane operator, walks to his working place high above the ground at the container terminal of Yangshan Port in Shanghai, east China, Sept. 26, 2017. Zhang, a young man born in 1980s, has been elected as a delegate to attend the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing from Oct. 18. In about one year, a total of 2,287 delegates have been elected to attend the five-yearly national congress. According to requirements, nominees must be highly qualified politically and ideologically, have good work and life styles, be competent in discussing state affairs, and have been successful in their work. Among them, 771 delegates are from frontline production and manufacturing, including workers, farmers, and technicians, accounting for 33.7 percent of the total, up by 3.2 percentage points from five years ago. These delegates not only come from traditional industries like manufacturing, transportation, steel and coal, but also from sectors such as finance, the Internet, and social organizations. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)
File photo of a hippo yelling in the Serengeti National Park, north Tanzania. (Xinhua/Zhang Ping)

WINDHOEK, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Namibia confirmed Wednesday it is anthrax that killed the 120 hippopotami and 25 buffalo that died since last week.

The animals started dying on Oct. 1 in the Bwabwata National Park northeast of the country. By Oct. 10, 120 hippopotami and 25 buffalo had died.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism, in a statement, assured tourists that there is no health hazard to people as a result of the situation.

Parks and wildlife officials, as well as the veterinary department from the Ministry of Agriculture, are visiting the area to assess the situation, the statement said.

The two ministries, the statement said, are working to find an appropriate action to avoid further mortalities.

"While the authorities work around the clock to find an appropriate action to be taken, we urge the public to refrain from touching and using the meat for consumption as this might be catastrophic.

"We urge that tourists do not go close to the affected area by any means," the statement said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 18:54:57|Editor: Mengjie

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TOKYO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The chief executive of Kobe Steel Ltd. warned on Thursday that there may be further cases of falsified data than have been previously disclosed, in a widening scandal over its inspection data that has affected hundreds of companies.

Following revelations that the embattled steelmaker had falsified data for its iron powder, aluminum and copper products that has affected companies ranging from automakers to airplane manufacturers, Kobe Steel Ltd. Chairman and President Hiroya Kawasaki said there could be more cases contributing to the unfolding scandal.

"There are suspicious cases in Japan and abroad that could involve further wrongdoing, as the ongoing investigation has not been completed," Kawasaki told a press briefing on the matter, following a meeting with an official from the trade ministry.

Kobe Steel has already admitted that its products, with falsified data about their strength and durability, have already been sold to around 200 companies globally, with the depth of the scandal so damaging that the government here has ordered the steelmaker to report the results of new safety checks within a fortnight.

Kawasaki, stating that no recalls on products will be made at the moment, said in his first public appearance since Sunday's revelations, that the results of safety inspections on shipped products would be made within two weeks and details of the firm's response to products undergoing false inspection data given.

He added that the root cause of the extensive scandal, that has affected auto giants such as Toyota, Mazda and General Motors, would also be made known within a month.

Kawasaki did not rule out the possibility that Kobe Steel might be liable for compensation claims.

In a meeting with Kawasaki, Akihiro Tada, director general of the Manufacturing Industries Bureau of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said the scandal had shaken the very core of fair trade.

"The issue shakes the foundation of fair trade and is extremely regrettable. The incident affects the trust of the Japanese manufacturing industry as a whole. We take the matter seriously," Tada said at the meeting, the outset of which was open to the press.

Kawasaki, for his part, said he wanted to regain the public's trust and said that trust in Kobe Steel "had fallen to zero."

On whether or not he will step down as the company's chief to account for the scandal, Kawasaki said he will fully look into the details of the matter with his responsibility in mind.

Investigations have shown that Kobe Steel knowingly shipped some 20,000 tons of aluminum and copper products with fabricated inspection data.

The beleaguered firm also said on Wednesday that an internal probe had revealed that 140 tons of iron powder shipped in fiscal 2016 did not meet customer specification and that one of its subsidiaries, Kobelco Research Institute, had falsified data related to the production method of liquid crystal displays, DVDs and other electronic equipment.

In Japan, much attention has been given to the country's iconic Shinkansen bullet trains, with major operators Central Japan Railway and West Japan Railway stating that their trains contained aluminum parts sourced from Kobe Steel that did not meet industry standards.

Beyond automakers and trains, Kobe Steel has also been implicated in fabricating data for aerospace and defense-related products.

Kobe Steel was founded in 1905 and has been a bastion of Japan's manufacturing sector.

The revelations, however, of the data fabrication scandal, has cast doubts over corporate governance in the manufacturing industry and beyond in Japan.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 19:00:01|Editor: Mengjie

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MOGADISHU, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, widely known as Farmajo, on Thursday called for unity and cooperation with the regional states for prosperity of the Horn of Africa nation.

Farmajo said he has been keenly following the concerns of the leaders of the federal member states and underscored the need for closer cooperation between the Federal Government and the Federal Members States to achieve the hope of peace and prosperity for our country.

"I want to remind you all that we must acknowledge that our country is on the path of recovery, and the only way we can achieve full recovery is through cooperation," he said in a statement.

The statement comes after the leaders who have been meeting in Jubbaland capital Kismayu in southern Somalia for the last four days sought more bargaining power with the central government which controls 90 percent of the country's administration.

During the meeting which kicked off on Sunday, the regional states called on the central government to make regular consultations on pressing issues affecting the states as well as ways of resolving political disputes amongst them.

The meeting which brought together regional presidents from Puntland, Jubbaland, Glamudug, HirShabelle and Southwest called on the central government to come up with a new strategy based on cooperation and also set up a body to fix the underlying issues between the federal and regional governments.

In his statement, Farmajo acknowledged that in a nascent federal system, there would be challenges and that must always be solved amicably through dialogue while remaining faithful to the constitution.

"We must therefore all strive for the greater good of this country and be true to the oath that we all took to put the country first," the Somali leader said.

The president said he remained confident that all concerns will be resolved and that leaders would remain true to the pledge of putting the interest of our country before anything else.

The conference which ended on Wednesday night was also aimed at resolving the differences between Somalia's central government and federal member states over the Gulf diplomatic crises.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 19:05:08|Editor: liuxin

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LHASA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- In the morning, researchers and monks gather in front of a hall in Sakya Monastery, the earliest monastery of the Sakya Sect of the Tibetan Buddhism.

They go through the security checks and enter the hall, which is designated as a work area for the second round of a digital archive project which was launched in September.

Sitting in front of a table, the researchers and monks work together to carefully clean butter lamps, measure their size and weight, then number and photograph them. They store the data on computers in both the Tibetan language and Mandarin.

The project aims to archive 26 types of artifacts in the Sakya Monastery, Tibet Autonomous Region.

The details of more than 7,000 Buddha statues, 1000 Thangkas (a form of Tibetan silk paintings), 1,000 musical instruments used in Buddhist mass and hundreds of scriptures were recorded during the first round of digital archiving in 2015.

Built more than 900 years ago, Sakya Monastery is renowned for its huge collection of artwork, including Buddha statues, frescoes, scriptures and porcelain pieces. It is even the home to the world's largest bronze Buddha statue, as well as the largest bronze butter lamp.

"The artwork in the monastery is invaluable. They show the skills in craftsmanship and shed light on essence of Tibetan culture. Identifying and understanding them is vital to long-term preservation," said Sonam Wangden, director of the heritage evaluation center of Tibet.

Before the digital project began, Sakya Monastery archived its relics in various ways.

According to Lodro Thokme, the monk in charge of relic preservation and management at the monastery, monks have recorded basic information of the works in more than 60 note books since 1986, and used scanners to record 6,000 scriptures since 2012.

"The scriptures may be damaged by frequent opening and touching, but they have little value if we lay them aside on the shelves. After digital archiving, we can share the photocopied editions with the public," he explained.

The monastery previously lacked the funds and the personnel to figure out the exact size of its collection of artwork, according to Lodro Thokme.

Since 2002, the central and Tibetan governments have invested more than 100 million yuan (around 15 million U.S. dollars) into the renovation of the monastery and the protection of its artwork.

Currently, 50 out of 140 Tibetan Buddhist monks in the monastery are engaged in relic preservation and management.

"When the digital archiving is complete, we will issue a report on the monastery's artifacts and advise on future preservation," Sonam Wangden said.

Lodro Thokme did not give an end date for this round of archiving, but he hopes the cultural relics will live on through digital archiving to the benefit of the whole world.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 19:10:10|Editor: Mengjie

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Malaysian Special Forces demonstrate skills in combatting terrorism after a launch ceremony at the Malaysian Air Force Base in Subang, Malaysia, Oct. 12, 2017. Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines on Thursday announced the launch of trilateral air patrol operations over the Sulu Sea to tackle long- festering terrorism and cross-border crime problems. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung)

SUBANG, Malaysia/JAKARTA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines on Thursday announced the launch of trilateral air patrol operations over the Sulu Sea to tackle long- festering terrorism and cross-border crime problems.

A launch ceremony was held at the Malaysian Air Force Base in Subang. The operations upgraded a similar joint maritime patrol program starting in June to a new level.

Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's defense minister, said the initiative is aimed at countering movement of violent extremists and terrorists across borders of the three nations, as the Sulu Sea has been used by terrorist organizations as a base of operations.

The trilateral air patrol will adopt a continuous monthly rotation. Malaysia will be the first to lead the operation, followed by the Philippines Air Force and subsequently the Indonesia Air Force.

Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, who attended the launch ceremony, said in a statement that the patrol is integrated with operation on land.

"This type of cooperation will be integrated with patrol and exercises on land by using a mechanism which has been previously made," Ryamizard said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 19:15:14|Editor: Mengjie

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CAIRO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Egypt has decided to extend the nationwide state of emergency for another three months starting from Friday over security challenges, according to a presidential decree published in the official gazette on Thursday.

"As per the decree, the armed forces and the police will take all necessary measures to face the dangers of terrorism, maintain security across the country and protect public and private properties and the lives of citizens," said the decree issued by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Sisi first imposed a three-month nationwide state of emergency in April, following a twin bombings at two churches in northern provinces of Gharbiya and Alexandria that killed at least 47 and wounded over 120. A similar suicide bombing at a Cairo church in December 2016 killed at least 28 worshippers.

The Egyptian parliament approved in early July the extension of the state of emergency for three months from July 10.

According to the Egyptian constitution, the president can declare a three-month state of emergency and extend it only once after the parliament's approval. So, today's decision is considered a new announcement in form but an extension in fact.

Egypt has been suffering from a wave of terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers following the military removal of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to the mass protests against his one-year rule and his now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Terror attacks had been centered in restive North Sinai province bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, before spreading to several provinces and later starting to target the Coptic minority in the most populous Arab state.

A constantly renewed three-month state of emergency and a curfew have been imposed on some parts of North Sinai since October 2014, following a terror attack on a military checkpoint in the province that killed at least 33 soldiers.

Most of the terrorist operations were claimed by the so-called Wilayat Sinai (Sinai State or Province), a Sinai-based group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) militant group.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 19:25:17|Editor: Mengjie

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BERLIN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- German market leader Lufthansa signed an agreement to acquire the lion's share of the insolvent carrier Air Berlin on Thursday.

Lufthansa Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Carsten Spohr told press that it was a "big day" for his company which will gain an even tighter grip on Germany's commercial aviation industry by taking over large parts of its former rival.

Air Berlin employs around 8,000 staff and was the second largest German carrier until it declared insolvency in August. The budget airline subsequently received an emergency state credit facility of 150 million euros from Berlin to ensure its continued operations until a new owner was found.

Air Berlin's management has held exclusive negotiations over the bankrupt firm's sale with Lufthansa and Easyjet over the course of the past three weeks. Whether Easyjet will acquire the remaining share of Air Berlin's business still remains unclear.

Lufthansa CEO Spohr told the newspaper "Rheinische Post" on Thursday that his company was looking to take over 81 planes, 3,000 employees and invest 1.5 billion euros towards this end. Air Berlin previously voiced confidence that 80 percent of its workforce would be able to keep their jobs under new ownership.

While Lufthansa was widely anticipated to be successful with its bid for Air Berlin, its likely purchase of the bulk of the insolvent firm's assets has also prompted criticism in the aviation industry.

Irish budget airline Ryan Air warned that Lufthansa increasingly resembled a monopoly in Germany. Consumers would pay the price if the already dominant airline were to additionally gain highly-prized assets such as Air Berlin's starting and landing rights at Berlin and Duesseldorf airports.

Spohr rejected such concerns on Thursday, expressing the view in the "Rheinische Post" that competition was set to intensify both "in Europe and globally."

"We expect prices to continue falling," said Spohr, attributing the fall to internal competition between Lufthansa and its own budget airline Eurowings.

The Lufthansa CEO offered to repatriate Air Berlin customers stranded abroad at a "fair price," should his company have the necessary capacities. Air Berlin will cease operating all of its long-haul flights as of Oct. 15.

Air Berlin will further be unable to operate as an independent entity from Oct. 28 onwards, with tickets issued for later dates being cancelled. By contrast, the profitable Air Berlin subsidiaries Niki and LG Walter will continue to operate as normal.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 19:35:22|Editor: Mengjie

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BISHKEK, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- A member of the terrorist group Al-Nusra Front (or Jabhat al-Nusra) was detained in Kyrgyzstan, the press service of the State Committee for National Security reported Thursday.

According to intelligence services, a 39-year-old Kyrgyz man was detained due to the ongoing anti-terrorist operations, which prevents attempts by militants from plotting terrorist attacks to destabilize the country.

The detainee left Kyrgyzstan in 2013 for Syria, where he joined the Al-Nusra Front international terrorist organization. In 2016, the detainee was sent from Syria to Central Asia by leaders of terrorist organization to prepare and organize terror acts, including in the territory of Kyrgyzstan, the report said.

This is the third militant detained in Kyrgyzstan since the beginning of October who was trained in Syria.

According to official figures, about 500 Kyrgyz citizens are in Syrian territory, among the ranks of international terrorist organizations. About 70 people have died in battle.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 19:45:25|Editor: Mengjie

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ISTANBUL, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Thursday that Turkey has received the request of the United States to solve the ongoing visa spat between the two NATO allies.

"We will assess it and evaluate it in detail," Kalin told reporters in Istanbul, saying the ongoing row was not complicated for Turkey and "could be solved in one day."

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson discussed the issue over the phone on Wednesday, marking the first contact between Ankara and Washington since the two sides announced a suspension of all non-immigrant visa applications for each other's citizens on Sunday.

The spat erupted after Turkey arrested a Turkish national working with the U.S. consulate general in Istanbul last week over alleged link to the network led by the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fetullah Gulen, who is accused by Ankara of masterminding a coup attempt last year.

On Monday, Istanbul prosecutors summoned another Turkish national working for the U.S. consulate to testify.

On the ongoing judicial process against Turks working for the U.S. mission, Kalin said, "It is not possible to understand the U.S. move in connecting these latest developments to the visa issue or the security of the personnel working at the U.S. embassy."

"The employees in question are Turkish and not the U.S. citizens," the spokesman added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 19:50:27|Editor: liuxin

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by Xinhua writers Jin Jing, Liang Xizhi

LONDON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The direct China-Britain freight train is likely to shake up traditional trade patterns as speed and reliability are the key in modern supply, said Nichola Silveira, general manager of Logistics of DP World London Gateway.

The first China-bound freight train carrying British products left DP World London Gateway terminal on April 10 and arrived at eastern China's Yiwu city known as China's "world supermarket" after a 19-day journey.

"This was the pilot run and now we are working to establish a weekly service that will touch many provinces in China... and come directly into the UK," said Silveira, whose company boasts the largest rail terminal in Britain, told Xinhua in an interview at London Gateway logistics park, some 48 km east of central London.

The direct train service, a significant part of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, is reshaping the supply chain between Britain and China as train is more reliable and cheaper than air freight and much faster than sending goods by sea, said Silveira.

The initiative is aimed at building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road by promoting trade, financial integration, and infrastructure inter-connectivity and people-to-people exchanges between Asia, Europe and Africa.

"These are the very critical points for supply chain today, speed and reliability. And the Belt and Road Initiative will be very critical ensuring that the supply chain moves in the right direction," she said.

The logistics chief noted that the direct train service has drawn much interest from a range of clients, especially car manufactures, pharmaceutical companies and toy manufacturers.

"This train's transit time is only 18-19 days and can bring cargo right in time from source to consumption for Black Fridays or for any of the promotional activities," said Silveira.

Technical problems could be a concern as railway gauges vary between the connecting countries and freight need to swap trains along the 12000-km journey way.

"Yes there will be technical issues and challenges but we as a company are looking at the Belt and Road Initiative and we will support and make sure we work through these challenges as the train moves on weekly service between China and the UK," said Silveira.

London is the 15th city in Europe to join in the China-Europe freight train services. The first Chinese freight train arrived in London in January.

China now has express freight services to 28 European cities. More than 5,000 trips are expected to be made by 2020, according to the China Railway Corporation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 19:50:28|Editor: Mengjie

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KIGALI, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- African economies have been urged to intensify efforts towards branding the image of the hotel and tourism sector as the continent continues to gain traction as a major global force in the hospitality industry, experts said Thursday in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda.

Speaking at a panel session dubbed "Brands Innovation Update" during the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) that kicked off here on Tuesday, hospitality players called African countries to focus more on selling a positive image of the continent's tourism and hotel sector.

Rwanda hosts the meeting from Oct. 10 to 12 that has attracted leading international hotel investors in Africa with local operators, ministers, government officials and industry experts, to discuss all aspects of hotel investment and operation in Africa.

"For long, African image has been perceived globally as of a broken continent, devastated by war, violence, robbery, disease and corruption which impede the growth of hospitality industry. The continent should focus more on broadening the narrative and tell a more balanced, honest story about Africa," said Karl de Lacy, International Development Director of Best Western Hotels and Resorts, Ireland.

He said the image of Africa does not reflect its economic transformation, diversity, entrepreneurial aspirations, investment growth, infrastructural development and stability.

Travel and tourism is seen as a highly attractive growth industry in Africa, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). The sector is responsible for 8.1 percent of Africa's GDP and it is forecast to rise at 4.9 percent per annum until 2025.

According to Paul Mack, executive director of the Latitude Hotels Group, branding the continent positively by telling real stories happening across tourism and hotel development would make African region a popular tourism destination.

"Africa is a continent of opportunities with a lot of untapped potential, but all is lost in the negative images. There is a need to create strong and positive messages for an entire continent that highlights Africa as hotspot for safari destination," he said.

The interactive session highlighted partnerships between the government and the private sector as key to creating stronger brand message about Africa hospitality industry.

Driving the necessity to attract tourists and investors in Africa requires promoting the positive narrative about the continent's structural information in all sectors of the economy, said Andrew McLachlan, vice president of Africa and Indian Ocean Islands office at the Rezidor Hotel Group.

He called on African governments to create conducive environments for travelers and investors, most especially in volatile regions, to influence the message positively.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 19:55:29|Editor: Mengjie

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Britain's Brexit Secretary David Davis (L) and European Union (EU) chief negotiator Michel Barnier attend a press conference at the end of the fifth round of Negotiation on Brexit talks at the EU Commission in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 12, 2017. The Brexit talks are currently in a "disturbing deadlock," but no deal between the EU and Britain would be a bad deal, Michel Barnier told reporters Thursday. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)

BRUSSELS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Brexit talks are currently in a "disturbing deadlock," but no deal between the European Union (EU) and Britain would be a bad deal, EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier told reporters Thursday.

"No major step forward in this week's Brexit talks yet we still have the common goal," said Barnier in his joint press conference with British counterpart David Davis, asserting that doing things in right order is the key to Brexit talks' success and EU-UK future relationship is definitely not the subject of the first negotiation session.

For his part, Davis urged the other 27 EU members to recognize the progress and achievements made in the past five rounds of talks in the EU leaders' summit slated for Oct. 19 in Brussels, which is a precondition for the start of the second negotiation session.

In the middle of the fifth round talks, President of the European Council Donald Tusk said on his twitter account Tuesday that EU27 are not working on a "no deal" scenario in their Brexit talks with Britain.

"We negotiate in good faith and hope for 'sufficient progress' by December," he said.

Tusk's remarks came a day after British Prime Minister Theresa May told Britain to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.

Addressing MPs in the House of Commons on the first day back after the conference season, May said achieving a special partnership after Brexit will require leadership and flexibility, not just from Britain, but from the 27 nations of the EU.

"As we look forward to the next stage, the ball is in their court. But I am optimistic it will receive a positive response," May told MPs in her first parliamentary statement since her big speech last month in Florence.

"What we are seeking is not just the best possible deal for us, but I believe that will also be the best possible deal for our European friends too. Progress will not always be smooth but by approaching these negotiations in a constructive way in a spirit of friendship and cooperation and with our sights firmly set on the future, I believe we can prove the doomsayers wrong," May added.

In her statement, May said the British government published on Monday two new policy consultation statements on trade and customs.

"These pave the way for legislation to allow the UK to operate as an independent trading nation and to create an innovative customs system that will help us achieve the greatest possible tariff and barrier-free trade as we leave the EU," said May.

Also on Monday, Brexit negotiation entered its fifth round in Brussels. With the absence of Britain's Brexit Secretary David Davis, the two sides kicked off their talks in a low profile -- no joint press conference as usual.

Prior to her speech in the House of Commons, May told the other 27 members of the Union that "the ball is in the EU's court," calling on EU to take actions and exert more flexibility and imagination in the negotiations.

Answering the question of a British reporter about "the ball is in whose court," Margaritis Schinas, European Commission (EC) chief spokesperson, told reporters during Monday's daily briefing in the headquarters of the EC that "This is not exactly a ball game."

"You know we don't provide comments on comment, but what I can remind you is that there is sequencing of these talks," he said.

"There is no solution found so far to the step one, that is the divorce proceedings, so the ball is entirely in the UK's court for the rest to happen," said Schinas.

The long-awaited Brexit talks was launched on June 19, nearly one year after Britain voted to leave the bloc by a narrow margin on June 23, 2016.

May sent a notification letter to the EU in late March, triggering a two-year countdown to Britain's withdrawal of the bloc after more than 44 years of membership.
A man walks in front of the United State Embassy in Ankara, on October 9, 2017 as United States and Turkey mutually suspended visa services. (AFP PHOTO)

ISTANBUL, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Thursday that Turkey has received the request of the United States to solve the ongoing visa spat between the two NATO allies.

"We will assess it and evaluate it in detail," Kalin told reporters in Istanbul, saying the ongoing row was not complicated for Turkey and "could be solved in one day."

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson discussed the issue over the phone on Wednesday, marking the first contact between Ankara and Washington since the two sides announced a suspension of all non-immigrant visa applications for each other's citizens on Sunday.

The spat erupted after Turkey arrested a Turkish national working with the U.S. consulate general in Istanbul last week over alleged link to the network led by the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fetullah Gulen, who is accused by Ankara of masterminding a coup attempt last year.

On Monday, Istanbul prosecutors summoned another Turkish national working for the U.S. consulate to testify.

On the ongoing judicial process against Turks working for the U.S. mission, Kalin said, "It is not possible to understand the U.S. move in connecting these latest developments to the visa issue or the security of the personnel working at the U.S. embassy."

"The employees in question are Turkish and not the U.S. citizens," the spokesman added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 20:15:37|Editor: Mengjie

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MADRID, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Spain held a military parade on Thursday to celebrate its national day amid the Catalan crisis.

Spanish King Felipe VI presided over the traditional parade, which was held a day after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy gave Monday as an ultimatum to Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont to verify whether or not he had declared the independence on Oct. 10 speech.

Along with the Monday ultimatum, Rajoy also gave Puigdemont further three days to withdraw the declaration, in the case of an affirmative answer, before starting procedures to suspend Catalan autonomy.

On Thursday's parade, King Felipe VI was surrounded by political leaders from all of Spain's Autonomous Regions with the exception of Catalonia. The Mayor of Madrid Manuela Carmena and leaders of Spain's other main parties were also present.

The parade returned to the central Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid under the slogan "Proud to be Spanish," and saw the participation of 3,900 military personnel, 78 aircraft and 84 vehicles.

The scale has made Thursday's parade the largest compared with last year's scale of 3,500 military personnel, 59 aircraft and 43 vehicles.

There was applause from crowds with the presence of the National Police force, who are not part of the Spanish military, while the ambulance service from the Madrid region were also present in the parade for the first time.

But shortly after the parade, a fighter jet was reportedly crashed, which was later confirmed by the Defense Ministry.

A 120-strong French gendarme, who are currently training in Spain, also participated in the parade.

The day also saw the traditional homage to the fallen, which this year was dedicated to the victims of jihadist terrorism with the ambassadors from the countries of victims of the Aug. 17 attack on Las Ramblas de Barcelona, all invited, along with the Association of Victims of Terrorism.

Following the parade King Felipe offered a reception in the Royal Palace to 1,500 guests.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 20:36:33|Editor: Xiang Bo

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A visitor views jade-carving artworks during a jade crafts exhibition in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Oct. 12, 2017. More than 1,300 jade-carving artworks were on display on the exhibition that kicked off here on Thursday. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 20:20:38|Editor: Mengjie

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ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- A road accident in North Shoa zone, Ethiopia's central Oromia regional state, killed eight people, a local official said Thursday.

Enyewe Ferede, North Shoa zone crime prevention division deputy head, told journalists the accident happened at around 7 p.m. Wednesday when two passenger buses collided.

Seven other people who were injured in the accident have been taken to health clinics and hospitals.

Ferede said police is investigating the cause of the car crash.

Despite having one of the lowest per capita car ownerships in the world, deadly traffic accidents in Ethiopia are fairly common with bad roads, flawed driving license issuance system and lax enforcement of road safety blamed for the high fatalities.

With a growing economy and a rising middle class, the East African nation has for the past several years also recorded an average of 11 percent growth in vehicle numbers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 20:20:39|Editor: Xiang Bo

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BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- China said Thursday it hopes all parties could respond positively to the Sino-Russian proposals to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the comment after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said his country wouldn't accept the proposals put forward by China and Russia.

"The joint proposals of China and Russia are reasonable as they accommodate the concerns of all parties in a balanced way, helpful to get out of the current predicament and offer a path to resuming dialogue," Hua said.

China and Russia called on all relevant parties to consider China's dual track approach and suspension for suspension initiative, as well as Russia's step-by-step approach, according to a statement released after the China-Russia consultation on security in northeast Asia.

China has proposed realizing denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula while establishing a peace mechanism. The proposal is that the DPRK suspends its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale U.S.-ROK military exercises.

"The Korean Peninsula situation has been trapped in a vicious cycle of escalating tension, which is rooted in the hostility between the U.S. and the DPRK and their lack of trust or sense of security," Hua said.

"The problem can only be resolved by addressing the justified concerns of all parties in a balanced way and through dialogue and consultation," the spokesperson said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 20:35:43|Editor: Mengjie

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PARIS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Violence erupted during an extreme left anti-labor law demonstration held in western Paris on Thursday, 41 people have been arrested, said the Paris police prefecture.

Police say a group of 80 people, with 30 of them hooded, Thursday morning set three cars on fire and destroyed four others, in the fringe of human resources managers congress in the Bois de Boulogne, western Paris.

The sabtage triggered a standoff between riot police and hard left demonstrators, who were in an "undeclared rally" against labor new code.

Police accused the demonstrators of "throwing projectiles on law enforcement officers, carrying a prohibited weapon, and participating in a mob when carrying arms."

The clashes, with no victims reported so far, have led to 41 arrests made by police, said the police statement.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 20:35:44|Editor: Mengjie

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CAIRO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Egypt hosted on Thursday a ceasefire agreement signed by three rebel factions southern Damascus in war-torn Syria with a guarantee from Russia, official MENA news agency reported.

"The deal is signed at the headquarters of the Egyptian General Intelligence for a ceasefire south of the Syrian capital Damascus on the part of Jaysh al-Islam, Jaysh Ababil and Aknaf Bayt al-Maqdis factions," MENA quoted a statement from the Egyptian intelligence agency as saying.

The statement noted that the agreement is reached under Egyptian sponsorship and Russian guarantee and that the ceasefire is in effect from Thursday, 1000 GMT.

Rebels hold a small area of a territory southern Damascus bordering an enclave held by the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

The forces of the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Asad are backed by Russia, Iran and Shiite militias.

Russian troops in Syria have been launching bombing raids in support of the government forces, while a U.S.-led international anti-terror coalition has been launching airstrikes against IS targets in the conflict-stricken country.

In early August, Egypt and Russia also brokered an agreement to create a "de-escalation zone" and a ceasefire between the Syrian government forces and armed rebels in the northern Homs countryside in Syria.

Egypt successfully brokered an earlier deal to de-escalate conflict in Eastern Ghouta region in Damascus, according to MENA.

The Egyptian leadership has always expressed support for a political settlement for the Syrian crisis in a way that ends bloodshed in Syria and maintains the unity of its territories.

Since its eruption in March 2011, the Syrian crisis has claimed the lives of about half a million people and displaced and wounded over 14 million.

Latest UN-sponsored peace talks in Astana of Kazakhstan failed to reach an agreement between the Syrian regime, backed by Russia, and Iran and the exiled opposition.
The Russian flag waves in the wind on the rooftop of the Consulate General of Russia in San Francisco, California, U.S., September 2, 2017. (REUTERS PHOTO)

Russia told U.S. authorities it strongly protests against the removal of Russian flags from its shut-down diplomatic properties, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

"We consider this incident as a desecration of the Russian state symbols," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a news briefing.

She said that agents of U.S. special services removed Russian flags from the Russian trade mission in Washington and the Consulate General in San Francisco, which were seized by the U.S. authorities in September in a series of tit-for-tat actions that form part of the spat between the two countries.

Zakharova said that Moscow considered the removal of its flags as a "hostile step" and was thinking new measures in response to it.

She said that by breaking into the Russian diplomatic properties, the U.S. special services showed that they were ready for Moscow to act in a similar manner.

Zakharova also said that in accordance with an instruction given by President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Foreign Ministry was in the process of selecting a legal firm to start a court proceeding over the seizure of diplomatic properties.

In December 2016, two Russian diplomatic properties in New York and Maryland used by Russian diplomats were closed by the Obama administration over accusations of alleged Russian hacking during the presidential election.

Russia has drastically scaled down the U.S. diplomatic staff in Russia to 455 people and seized a U.S. dacha and a warehouse in Moscow in retaliation to Washington's actions.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 21:05:54|Editor: Mengjie

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ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Sugar Corporation revealed on Thursday that the current sugar shortage witnessed in the capital Addis Ababa and other parts of the country is attributed to bad weather conditions that wreaked havoc on the country's sugar production last year.

Gashaw Aychlum, Corporation's public relations head, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview, that Ethiopia had an initial plan to produce some 5 million quintals of sugar during the last 2016-2017 Ethiopian fiscal year. However, as bad weather conditions, mainly unprecedented rains, affected the production of some of the country's sugar plants, the actual production was reduced to 3.5 million quintals.

The shortage forced the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation, a government entity established to regulate Ethiopia's sugar sector, to provide the product only up to the end of August, which resulted to total supply termination for industries in the country and halved sugar supply to the general public.

According to the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation officials, the east African country is currently implementing both short term and long term solutions to solve the ensuing sugar shortage, which includes importing sugar from abroad.

Gashaw, who stressed the ongoing sugar shortage to be solved shortly, revealed that the Ethiopian government has already purchased some 700,000 quintals of sugar from Algeria and Thailand in a bid to meet local sugar demands.

The Ethiopian Sugar Corporation further expressed the country's aspiration that two sugar factories, which will commence production within the coming months, will permanently solve the ongoing sugar shortage together with the already existing 6 sugar plants.

The corporation further revealed the plan to produce in excess of 7 million quintals of sugar during the just started 2017-2018 Ethiopian fiscal year.

Sugar production sector is amongst of the priority sectors that the Ethiopian government outlined as part of its first and second five-year Growth and Transformation Plans (GTP I and GTP II). Ethiopia is presently implementing its second five-year national plan, GTP II, effective from 2015 to 2020.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 21:05:55|Editor: Mengjie

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Azzam al-Ahmad of Fatah (front R) and Saleh al-Arouri (front L) of Hamas react after signing a reconciliation agreement in Cairo, Egypt, on Oct. 12, 2017. Palestinian rival movements Fatah and Hamas on Thursday agreed to end their long-time rift following talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo, official MENA news agency reported. (Xinhua/STR)

CAIRO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian rival movements Fatah and Hamas on Thursday agreed to end their long-time rift following talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo, official MENA news agency reported.

Under the agreement, the consensus government under Fatah will have full control of Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip by December 1.

The deal was reached after two-day Egyptian-brokered talks between ruling Fatah Movement and the Islamic Hamas movement.

The agreement is considered a resumption of a frozen reconciliation deal reached in Cairo in 2011.

Egypt invited all the Palestinian factions that signed the 2011 reconciliation agreement for a meeting in Cairo on November 21, a few days before complete handover of Gaza to Fatah.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 21:31:04|Editor: Yurou

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Spanish Air Force fighters fly at the parade of the national day of Spain in Madrid, Spain, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain held a traditional parade to celebrate the national day in Madrid on Thursday. (Xinhua/Guo Qiuda)

MADRID, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- A Spanish air-force pilot has been confirmed dead in a Eurofighter crash on landing after taking part in the military parade to celebrate Spain's national day on Thursday.

The crash happened at the Los Llanos air force base, close to the city of Albacete, south of Madrid, and the Spanish Defense Ministry named the pilot as Captain Borja Aybar.

Although the causes of the accident are still unknown, the Defense Ministry explained the accident happened when the aircraft, one of four Eurofighters which took part in the fly-past in Thursday's parade, crashed as it was approaching the runway.

An ensuing fire and a large column of smoke can be seen from a distance away.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Defense Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal left the reception that was being held at the Royal Palace in Madrid following the parade to travel to the Los Llanos base, while King Felipe VI expressed his condolences to the victim of the accident.

Thursday's parade saw the participation of 3,900 military personal, along with 78 different aircraft, including four Eurofighters.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 21:41:08|Editor: Xiang Bo

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SUVA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Fijian president on Thursday spoke highly of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, calling it a connector enabling the South Pacific Island state to facilitate its connection to the global community.

President Jioji Konousi Konrote made the remarks at an investiture ceremony for Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Zhang Ping, who was awarded the Order of Fiji for distinguished service of a high degree to Fiji.

"Fiji views the Belt and Road Initiative as a connector, and the strengthening of our relations as an enabler that will facilitate our connection to the global community through the five key areas of Policy, Infrastructure, Trade, Finance, and People-to-People Development," he said.

"This is especially vital for Fiji, given our status as a geographic and socio-economic hub of the Pacific and so we look forward to the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative."

The president described Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama's invitation by China to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in May as "a privilege and a testament" to the strengthening relations between the two countries.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aiming at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting countries and regions along the ancient trade routes of Silk Road.

At the ceremony, President Jioji Konousi Konrote reiterated his country's adherence to the one-China policy.

He praised China for helping Fiji in multiple sectors, saying that Fijians have felt and seen the strengthening of engagements between the two countries across various sectors.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 21:41:09|Editor: Mengjie

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MONROVIA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Opposition parties in Liberia have expressed dissatisfaction with the way Tuesday's presidential poll was handled, thereby calling on authorities to discontinue the announcement of provisional results slated for Thursday.

Citing some irregularities in the electoral process, the Liberty Party, the Alternative National Congress and the Coalition for Democratic Change alleged electoral sabotage during the presidential and parliamentary elections.

The Liberty Party alleged the presidential election was fraught with fraud and irregularities and called on the National Elections Commission (NEC) to suspend its planned announcement of provisional results until it formally presents its findings to the electoral body.

"If NEC does not cooperate with our request, we will take the appropriate legal action," the party's chairman, Benjamin Sanvee, said in the capital city of Monrovia.

The Alternative National Congress and Coalition for Democratic Change, also expressing similar concerns, called on the Liberian electoral body to address issues concerning missing and incomplete presidential ballot books in Montserrado County.

The parties alleged late arrival of electoral materials in Sinoe, Grand Gedeh counties, saying validly registered voters were turned away because of numerous reasons, including names not being on the voters' roll.

They further cited various irregularities in Montserrado, Bong, Grand Gedeh, Margibi, Sinoe and Grand Bassa counties.

Nathaniel McGill, chairman of the Coalition for Democratic Change party, believes that poll workers were either not properly trained to handle the election or their failure to handle the election was a deliberate attempt on their part to sabotage the process.

At a press conference Wednesday, Jerome Korkoya, head of the Liberian electoral commission, admitted that the voting exercise was fraught with challenges, including the late opening of certain polling stations and several voters' names missing from the voters' register in some polling stations.

Korkoya, who had earlier declared that Tuesday's election was successful, said the alleged irregularities had not led to any major obstacles, noting voters still voted according to the law.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 21:51:13|Editor: Mengjie

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NAIROBI, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Thursday banned protest marches staged by opposition supporters against the electoral body after three weeks of looting and destruction of property across the country.

Cabinet Secretary for Interior, Fred Matiang'i, said the protests do not fall within the parameters set by the constitution which allows for peaceful demonstrations and picketing and warned of "dire consequences" for those challenging the ban.

"To stem further violence and destruction of property, the government from today prohibits all unlawful demonstrations within the country," Matiang'i told journalists in Nairobi after holding talks with local investors.

"Protecting lives of people is not negotiable in as much as the enjoyment of personal rights is not absolute and we will do everything possible to maintain peace and tranquility," he said.

The opposition coalition, the National Super Alliance (NASA) have been holding weekly protests in major towns across the country to demand the resignation of officials of the polls body who were implicated in electoral malpractices that led to the annulment of the Aug. 8 presidential elections.

During the protests on Wednesday, 23 people were injured during violent confrontations between police and anti-Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) demonstrators in Kenya's third city, Kisumu whereas the capital city experienced massive looting of property.

In another opposition stronghold town of Homa Bay, a policeman was seriously injured when he was attacked by rioters who overwhelmed his colleagues and left him at the mercy of the mob when they retreated to their station.

Matiang'i accused the protestors of causing massive losses to businesses, and reiterated that organizers of demonstrations will from henceforth be personally held liable in the event of chaos and destruction to property.

"All those Kenyans whose property has been destroyed and looted should report to the police so that legal proceedings can commence against the instigators. We are in the process of preferring charges against one individual who has been notorious for organizing the protests," said Matiang'i.

While announcing the ban, the cabinet secretary assured the country of elaborate security structure that has been put in place to contain violence, adding that the government will soon gazette the requisite conduct governing public procession.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 21:56:15|Editor: Mengjie

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- At least two girls were wounded Thursday in a grenade blast in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The grenade blast took place in Pulwama town, about 28 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Two girls were wounded today after some unknown people hurled a grenade here outside a beauty parlor," a police official said. "They were immediately rushed to hospital for treatment."

Soon after the attack, police and paramilitary forces rushed to the spot and launched a manhunt to nab the attackers.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident unidentified gunmen barged inside a bank at village Marhama of district Anantnag and looted cash.

"We were told three armed men barged inside the branch decamped with some cash," a police official posted in the area said. "Bank officials are calculating the exact figure that has been looted."

Police suspect militants behind both the attacks. However, so far no militant outfit has claimed responsibility of the attacks.

Militant groups opposing New Delhi's rule are engaged in a guerrilla war with Indian troops in the region since 1989. Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 21:56:17|Editor: Xiang Bo

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TIRANA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- "Taming of the Shrew," a comedy by William Shakespeare, has recently been staged in China by a group of Albanian artists. And the director says the success of the play in China has opened a new game for the cultural cooperation between the two countries.

"This is the first time that a group of Albanian artists participates in an International Festival of Theaters in the People's Republic of China, paving the way for more cooperation experiences in the future," Albanian director Elma Doresi told Xinhua in a written interview.

The play was first welcomed in the International Festival of Theaters "The Silk Road" in Xi'an, capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and then in the International Theater Festival in Fuzhou, provincial capital of east China's Fujian from Sept. 23-28, 2017.

While mentioning the two invitations from China, the Albanian director thanked the festival organizers in Xi'an and Fuzhou, saying they gave Albanian artists the opportunity to speak Albanian in China.

"Our languages are different but the body language made it possible to perfectly communicate with the public during the show," said Doresi.

The director said she was impressed by the applauses and the compliments made by the Chinese public, saying that it was an unforgettable emotion.

"If you want to see how successful a play is, go to a place where they do not know your language. If you succeed, then you can say that you have reached the goal," Doresi explained while citing one of main lessons in art.

"We made it and I say this because I saw the public' eyes and eyes never lie. I saw their happiness after the show and the joy they had received from our show. I really want to thank our Chinese public for the enthusiasm and participation during the three festival nights," she said.

"We couldn't be happier than that. In Fuzhou, we were told 'Next year we will see you in Shanghai!' And this was a second victory for the Albanian Theater. It opened a door and after our participation it will remain open to other Albanian artists," Doresi told Xinhua.

Speaking about her impressions about the visit to China, she said China was a miracle.

"We went to some ancient sites that filled us with magic and spiritual tranquility. The culture and history were perfectly preserved. I call myself fortunate that I was able to see from close all those beautiful places that I had seen only on the internet. But apart from the architecture miracle, I saw the miracle of the man. Happy and working people. People who never said 'No you can't'. I learned a lot of things and I feel lucky to have been given such an opportunity," said the Albanian director.

Asked how can Albania and China take cooperation to another level, she said participation in this important festival was a crucial step, which can further push the exchanges between the artists of the two sides.

"The Chinese Ambassador to Albania said that we have created a bond to our culture and we hope that such bond will last long. So, the first step was to attend these two festivals, and given that the first presentation was successful, then why not enhance such cooperation," Doresi said.

Meanwhile, one of the actors of the play, Klodi Hoxha told Xinhua that he was marveled by China and the way the Chinese people welcomed the Albanian artists.

He said such cultural exchanges should continue so that Albanians can know more about Chinese culture and vice versa.

In his view, communication through art is very important as it further strengthens the bond that already exists between the two countries.

Hoxha also praised architecture and the landscape that China has. He expected to shoot a film in China in the future, as the architectural designs there would offer perfect sceneries.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:01:20|Editor: Mengjie

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TEHRAN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Defense Minister Amir Hatami on Thursday warned the United States against listing the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group, saying it could destabilize the region and world as a whole.

The IRGC is "the most powerful" force on the frontline of the fight against terrorism in the region, Hatami was quoted by the state TV as saying.

Any move against the IRGC, as the counterterrorism force, would only promote terror and instability in the region and the entire world, Hatami said.

He vowed that the IRGC, Iranian Army and other armed forces in Iran stand united against the hostile, belligerent policies and actions of the U.S. government, and will not allow them to jeopardize regional security through proxy war and terrorism.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday warned about the repercussions of a possible move by the United States to designate Iran's IRGC as a terrorist group.

The IRGC is popular not only in Iran but also among regional countries, Rouhani said, adding that the IRGC has protected Iraq's capital Baghdad and Syria's Damascus against the terrorist groups.

The IRGC is also popular among the Iraqi Kurds, because it has saved Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan region, and among the Lebanese people because it has saved their honor against the invaders, Rouhani said.

Media reports speculated that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization in the coming days.

Washington has accused Iran of advancing its missile program, mainly conducted by the IRGC, saying it threatens the regional and international peace.

Iran has denied the allegations, stressing that its missile program is only for deterrent purposes.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:01:20|Editor: Mengjie

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COLOMBO, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Over 100 people working in a garment factory in Sri Lanka's Central Hills were rushed to hospital on Thursday after suffering from acute food poisoning, police said.

The employees had fallen ill after consuming their breakfast which was provided by the factory in Kandy.

Employees had complained of stomach pains, discomfort and nausea soon after consuming the meals.

The employees were rushed to the Kandy General Hospital, police said.

Further investigations were underway.

The incident is the second this month as over 200 people working in another garment factory in the Central Hills were hospitalized on Oct. 4 after suffering from acute food poisoning.

The employees had been sickened after consuming their morning meals.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:06:22|Editor: Mengjie

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ISLAMABAD, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani and visiting U.S. officials held talks here on Thursday and agreed to "continue bilateral engagements at all levels," according to an official statement.

An inter-agency U.S. delegation included Lisa Curtis, deputy assistant to the president and national security council senior director for South Asia, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense David Helvey. Pakistani Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua led the Pakistani side, according to the statement.

"The two sides reviewed the state of play in the relationship in wake of the U.S. strategy on Afghanistan and South Asia and agreed to continue discussions on all matters of mutual interest," the statement said.

Reiterating Pakistan's stance for a politically negotiated settlement owned and led by the Afghans, the foreign secretary reaffirmed Pakistan's constructive participation in all regional and bilateral mechanisms aimed at pursuing a peaceful solution to the Afghan conflict.

The U.S. delegation was also informed on the recent visit by Pakistani officials to Kabul with a view to intensifying engagement and addressing mutual concerns particularly border management and repatriation of refugees.

Highlighting Pakistan's ongoing law enforcement and counter-terrorism campaign, the foreign secretary apprised the U.S. delegation of Pakistan's efforts in eliminating terrorism from the Pakistani soil. Pakistan's concerns on continued attacks from across the border were also shared, the Foreign Ministry said in the statement.

"Noting that U.S. had a long track record of cooperation with Pakistan, the U.S. delegation emphasized the importance of reinvigorating the bilateral relationship in order to achieve the common objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region," the statement said.

The U.S. delegation was informed about the "human rights violations being committed by the Indian forces" in the Indian-controlled Kashmir resulting in hundreds of casualties, the Foreign Ministry said.

"It was noted that persistent Indian refusal to engage with Pakistan despite Pakistan's repeated overtures for a comprehensive dialogue was adversely impacting regional stability," it said.

The U.S. officials visited Pakistan at a time when the relationship between the two countries are seen under pressure following U.S. President Donald Trump's tough stance against Pakistan in his policy for Afghanistan and South Asia in August.

Islamabad has been asking Washington not to make Pakistan scapegoat for its failure in Afghanistan.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:06:22|Editor: Mengjie

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that the release of a North American family held by a Taliban group is "a positive moment" for the U.S.-Pakistan relationship.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:16:27|Editor: Mengjie

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VILNIUS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), personally invited on Thursday Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite to take part in the next year's Davos forum.

The invitation is interpreted in Lithuania as "the best possible evidence of Lithuania's success in establishing itself on the global arena as a vibrant, innovative and reliable economy," Grybauskaite was quoted as saying in a statement released by the presidency.

According to the head of the state, Lithuania is already known in the world for its achievements in the areas of ultra-high-speed fiber optic internet, laser industry, also for its strategic location and multilingual IT talent.

"The world also highly values Lithuania's experience in gaining energy independence," Grybauskaite added.

Among other issues, cyber threats were discussed during Grybauskaite meeting with the chairman of the WEF.

Professor Schwab, who founded the forum in 1971, arrived in Lithuania to take part in the annual Economic Forum organized by Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists.

He will also present in Vilnius his book "The Fourth Industrial Revolution" translated into Lithuanian.

Davos Forum, which each year gathers the world's most influential political figures, businesspersons and opinion makers, will take place at the beginning of 2018.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:21:29|Editor: An

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In about one year, 2,287 delegates have been elected to attend the upcoming 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), to be held in Beijing from Oct. 18. According to requirements, nominees must be highly qualified politically and ideologically, have good work and life styles, be competent in discussing state affairs, and have been successful in their work. Among them, 771 delegates are from frontline production and manufacturing, including workers, farmers, and technicians, accounting for 33.7 percent of the total, up by 3.2 percentage points from five years ago. These delegates not only come from traditional industries like manufacturing, transportation, steel and coal, but also from sectors such as finance, the Internet, and social organizations. (Xinhua/Wang Yongzhuo)

BEIJING, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) is set to hold its 19th National Congress this month. The five-yearly political event is expected to pave the way for China's future development.

During the year, 2,287 delegates have been selected to attend this year's congress to be held in Beijing starting Oct. 18.

Attendees will include high-ranking government officials, Party leaders, and military officers as well as grassroots Party members from "frontline production and manufacturing" such as workers, farmers, technicians, nurses and teachers.

According to a circular issued by the CPC Central Committee in November 2016, frontline workers should account for no less than one-third of the delegates.

A total of 771 grassroots delegates have been selected from various social sectors, accounting for 33.7 percent of the total, up by 3.2 percentage points from five years ago.

The voices of grassroots delegates, especially those who have made achievements in reforms, scientific innovation and poverty alleviation, are expected to gather wisdom and increase the strength of China's overall reform across all social sectors.

While these delegates all share their belief in Marxism and contribution to the people, each has a story to tell.

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For some of China's college students, Party theory classes may not be a fun part of their campus life. But this is not the case for students at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Xu Chuan, a 35-year-old associate professor, has made the university's Party classes popular by blending in vivid anecdotes and a touch of humor.

"Many of our graduates will go on to work in China's national defense. Therefore Party classes are very important for them to nurture political awareness to better serve our country," Xu said.

"I understand what interests young students. Instead of throwing rigid theories at them, I use my own experience to give the classes a personal spin," he added.

To attract a wider audience, Xu regularly publishes articles online promoting the CPC ideals. He also uses his WeChat social media account, to give advice to college students and young adults on topics such as education, careers and relationships.

In 2016, Xu's article "Why should I join the CPC?" went viral garnering more than one million views after it was forwarded by the official WeChat accounts of CPC authorities.

"When students are asked about why they joined the Party, they tend to come up with very similar answers," the article states. "They always say their grandfathers were the source of their Communist faith. It seems to me they all have the same grandfather."

"If a person is not ready to sacrifice for the people and endure hardships, he or she is not qualified to be a CPC member," the article goes on.

Xu's WeChat account now has nearly 200,000 followers.

In June this year, he was selected to attend the 19th CPC National Congress.

"With a social media following of nearly 200,000 young people, I will try my best to pay attention to the needs of Chinese youth," said Xu. "I will also inform them of information released at the congress to help them with their studies or career."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:26:31|Editor: Xiang Bo

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JINAN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- A total of 74 Chinese nationals arrested for telecom fraud were sent back to China from Cambodia on Thursday under the escort of Chinese police.

The suspects were involved in more than 60 major transnational telecom frauds involving over 7 million yuan (1.1 million U.S. dollars).

They were captured in Phnom Penh, Pailin and Sihanoukville.

A big amount of bank cards, computers and mobile phones were also seized during the raids.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:46:42|Editor: yan

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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Three warships of the Russian Pacific Fleet arrived in Brunei on Thursday for a visit on the occasion of Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah's accession to the throne.

The ships - large anti-submarine ships Admiral Vinogradov and Admiral Panteleev as well as tanker Boris Butoma - will be open to the Bruneians on Sunday.

According to local media, this is the first visit of the Russian naval ships to Brunei within the framework of bilateral cooperation in more than 25 years.

The commanding officers and over 700 Russian sailors will hold exchanges with Royal Brunei Navy to establish inter-operability, cooperation and mutual understanding between the two navies.

As part of multilateral and bilateral military cooperation activities, the Russian warships made port calls in Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Singapore and South Korea.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:46:43|Editor: Zhou Xin

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MANILA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte fumed on Thursday over what he called "interference" by Western countries particularly in his administration's war on drugs, threatening to expel diplomats of EU countries "within 24 hours."

In a speech at the Malacanang presidential palace, Duterte warned that the Philippines will not allow other countries to dictate on internal affairs.

"We will not allow anybody, not even the United States, to dictate on us," Duterte said.

Specifically, Duterte accused the EU of interfering in Philippine affairs.

"You are interfering in our affairs because we are a poor country. You will give aid and then you start to orchestrate what things should be done and which should not happen in my country," he said.

"Now, the ambassadors of those (EU) countries listening now: tell me because we can have the diplomatic channel cut tomorrow. You leave my country in 24 hours. All of you," he said.

He added, "We are past the colonization stage. We, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members, can export to each other. We could also have tariff-free (trade)."

Duterte was angered by the EU's persistent criticisms of his drug war, especially the increasing number of drug-related killings.

Robespierre Bolivar, the acting spokesperson for the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), declined to comment on Duterte's remarks and told Xinhua that the DFA has not received any instructions on the matter.

Duterte has started a "drug war" since he took office last year, vowing to eradicate rampant illegal drug problems and related crimes. The Philippine police have conducted thousands of anti-drug operations and killed over 3,000 drug addicts and dealers.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:51:45|Editor: yan

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by Eric J. Lyman

ROME, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Italian government has started a process of pushing through a new electoral reform through a series of risky confidence votes, a move seen as an attempt to marginalize the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement.

Deputies from the Five-Star Movement, which was founded by comedian-turned-activist Beppe Grillo, sat out the first vote on Wednesday amid protests outside the parliamentary chamber. The measure cleared its first hurdle anyway, passed with 307 votes against 90. Two more votes are scheduled to take place before the end of the week.

Confidence votes are risky because a loss would force the government, currently led by Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, to step down. But analysts told Xinhua it is likely the measure would pass, despite opposition from legislators from the Five-Star Movement.

"There would be a real mess if the measure failed because then the Gentiloni government would have to step down and it's not clear if there would be new elections or if some other figure would try to form a government with the existing parliament," Lorenzo Castellani, a professor of institutional history at Rome's LUISS University, said in an interview. "But the representatives know that, and so the odds are strong the measure will pass."

The reform would allow the formation of multi-party alliances before voting takes place. An alliance would pick a single candidate for each specific district, making a victory for that candidate more likely. As such, the Five-Star Movement, which refuses to make alliances, would likely win fewer seats.

Two-thirds of the next parliament would be chosen on a proportional basis, giving the Five-Star Movement the same chance it would have under the current rules. But the movement estimates it could lose as many as 40 to 50 parliamentary seats under the new rules.

Before the confidence vote was called this week, analysts said they believed the proposal had enough votes to pass, through normal means. But by employing a confidence vote, it shortens the period of debate and removes the possibility that the proposal could be amended. Additionally, according to Federico Castorina, president of Cultura Democratica, a think tank, the move also removes any doubts about the passage of the measure.

"I think they must have been worried they might not have the votes," Castorina told Xinhua. "On paper, they had enough support. But with a secret ballot (this time in parliament), it's never a guarantee."

The passage of an electoral reform removes one of the last major obstacles before next year's national vote. Italian President Sergio Mattarella said he wanted new rules in place before the vote could take place.

The current rules, which were in place for the last national parliamentary vote in 2013, resulted in a stalemate that resulted in back-to-back technocrat governments followed by an unstable period with governments headed by former Florence mayor Matteo Renzi, and then Gentiloni. Renzi, who is seeking to return to the prime minister's office, is a big backer of the new reform and is seen as likely to benefit from its passage.

The new reform is likely to limit the influence of the Five-Star Movement and its new leader Luigi Di Maio, but analysts are split on whether it will help make the next government any more stable than the last four.

"Everybody knows that what is really needed to have a stable government is a reform that gives a certain number of bonus seats in parliament to whatever party does best in the election," Castorina said. "But nobody is willing to vote for it because they fear their opponents will win and be able to hold onto power."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:51:46|Editor: Zhou Xin

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NAIROBI, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's political standoff enters a dicey moment as the Opposition and the ruling Jubilee Party dig in for the repeat polls set for Oct. 26.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga withdrew from the polls on Tuesday citing failure to effect changes at the electoral body and forced amendments to election regulations by the ruling Jubilee party, whose passage in Parliament is near completion. President Uhuru Kenyatta has promised to sign them into law immediately.

Odinga asked the electoral commission to cancel the Oct. 26 poll and call for a fresh one in 90 days. But in a rejoinder, Kenyatta maintained that elections would be held as scheduled whether Odinga participates or not.

The position was reaffirmed on Wednesday after the electoral commission announced that the elections would go on as planned and Odinga's name, together with those of the other fringe contestants who took part in the Aug. 8 polls, would be on the ballot.

This followed a court ruling Wednesday that the name of one of the contestants who the electoral commission had excluded from repeat polls be included in the fresh elections.

However, Odinga's party National Super Alliance (NASA) has maintained that there would be no elections on Oct. 26.

"The Oct. 26 polls died when Odinga withdrew on Tuesday. You cannot resurrect them. Elections will only take place on Oct. 26 if there are reforms at the electoral commission," said Gladys Wanga, a NASA lawmaker.

On Wednesday, NASA leaders called for daily protests starting next week against the electoral commission and to push for the sacking of officials who bungled the Aug. 8 polls.

The government, on Thursday, however, banned demonstrations in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu central business districts, with the Interior minister promising the police would take legal action against NASA for destruction of property.

Otiende Amollo, an MP and NASA lawyer, however said Thursday that demonstrations would continue; that government directive banning them is unlawful and they will protect their right to picket.

The move sets the stage for confrontation between the police and demonstrators beginning Friday when NASA would hold protests. The turn of events portends interesting times for Kenya as the country gravitates towards the Oct. 26 polls.

Senator James Orengo, who was the lead counsel for Odinga in the Supreme Court petition, informed supporters Thursday that the battle for free and fair elections had just started and Jubilee should be ready for a tough fight.

"Don't panic by the polls body's announcement, our moves are well-calculated and we knew that Jubilee was going to try and use any means to rig polls and swear in Kenyatta. But we sealed the loophole before we announced withdrawal from polls. Let them continue making mistakes, we understand the constitution," said Orengo as he assured supporters following the announcement that Oct. 26 polls would go on.

Aaron Cheruiyot, a Jubilee senator, noted that the party would not back down on its quest to amend electoral laws despite Opposition protests.

"Senate on Thursday passed election amendment laws before Odinga signs Form 24 as asked by the electoral commission," he said, highlighting the political games the two rivals are engaged in.

A major thing the law recommends is the swearing in of Kenyatta if a candidate withdraws from polls, what NASA has named as Jubilee's quest to get power at all costs and behind the doors.

Aden Duale, the Majority Leader in the National Assembly, while reinforcing Jubilee's position observed that NASA has no choice but to join in the elections.

"Election commission must now finalize preparations for the Oct. 26 poll and inform Kenyans of it in readiness for the occasion. It must also be noted that Odinga did not withdraw his candidature by following the legally prescribed format through Form 24A," he noted, maintaining a hardline position.

"It's Odinga's right to withdraw from the fresh elections. It's also the Kenyan people's right to elect their president on Oct. 26," he added.

Analysts noted that next week would be a defining moment in the history of the East African nation as time nears the polls.

"We expect Kenyatta to sign into law the election laws angering the opposition, which would step up protests ignoring the ban by government. This means protesters would clash with police. While no one expects bloody scenes, it may lead to a dark moment for Kenya as polls would be a week away," said Bernard Mwaso, a consultant with Edell IT Solutions in Nairobi, adding the Kenyatta and Odinga should initiate talks to end the standoff.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 22:56:50|Editor: yan

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DOHA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Doha will host on Sunday the founding conference for the Global Dryland Alliance (GDA) with the participation of 25 countries and some international organizations, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported Thursday.

The participating countries are from the Middle East, Africa, Central and Eastern Asia, as well as South America, the report said.

At the conference, the founding treaty of the new international organization, which will deal with food security of dryland countries, will be signed, the report said.

The participating countries supported the initiative to establish the alliance at the ministerial conference held in Marrakesh, Morocco, in May 2015.

Once founded, the GDA will assist in establishing broad cooperation with partners locally, regionally and internationally to find, deploy and implement solutions to the challenges of agriculture and water energy in dryland countries.

In addition, it will develop public-private partnerships to finance and implement programs and projects of member states in various areas related to food security.

Dryland countries constitute about 40 percent of the total land surface of the Earth and are home to almost 3 billion people, one third of whom are directly dependent on agriculture for their living.
A still image from a video posted by the Taliban on social media on Dec. 19, 2016 shows American Caitlan Coleman (L) speaking next to her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their two sons. (Taliban/Social media via Reuters)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that the release of a North American family held by a Taliban-linked group is "a positive moment" for the U.S.-Pakistan relationship.

According to a statement, American citizen Caitlan Coleman, together with her husband Joshua Boyle, a Canadian citizen, and their three children, were taken captive and held hostage in Pakistan by the Haqqani network, a radical group with ties to the Taliban.

"Yesterday the United States government, working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan, secured the release," said Trump.

He praised Pakistan's cooperation, saying it is "a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region."

The U.S. president voiced his hope of seeing more of such U.S.-Pakistan cooperation "in helping secure the release of remaining hostages" and "future joint counterterrorism operations."

The couple were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012. Coleman was pregnant at the time, and a video released by the Taliban in December showed their children while they were held in captivity.

U.S.-Pakistan bilateral relations have been shaky in recent years over counterterrorism. In an August address, Trump lashed out at Islamabad, accusing it of providing safe haven to "agents of chaos."

He indicated that the country has to do something to assuage Washington's frustration over its counterterrorism efforts.

"We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars, at the same time, they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting," he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-12 23:57:13|Editor: yan

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TEHRAN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- A car carrying the crew of Iran's state TV was attacked by the Islamic State (IS) militants in the Syrian city of Al Mayadin on Thursday evening, state IRIB TV reported.

None of the crew members was injured, said the report.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 00:07:19|Editor: Zhou Xin

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File photo taken on July 6, 2015 shows a night market in Luangprabang, Laos. Colorful festivals and events depicting Laos' diverse cultural, traditional and natural charms are set to be highlighted through Visit Lao Year 2018, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone said on Oct. 12, 2017. (Xinhua/Liu Ailun)

VIENTIANE, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Colorful festivals and events depicting Laos' diverse cultural, traditional and natural charms are set to be highlighted through Visit Lao Year 2018, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone said on Thursday.

Sonexay, who is also chairman of the National Committee for Visit Lao Year 2018, told a press conference that a number of festivals and events have been prepared to impress visitors.

"There will be 18 main festivals to be organized in provinces across the country," he said, adding that the festive activities taking place throughout the year will showcase diverse cultures, customs and local lifestyles of Laos.

The main festivals include the New Year Festival of the Khmu ethnic group in northern Oudomxay province, City Pillar Festival involving 10 ethnic groups in southern Xekong province, and the Ethnic Festival in northern Luang Namtha province, among others.

A number of overseas activities will be carried out to promote Visit Lao Year 2018 to the world, including participation in international tourism exhibitions and publishing advertisements in foreign media.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 00:12:22|Editor: Zhou Xin

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YANGON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday stressed the need to tackle the Rakhine issue based on the strength of unity.

Suu Kyi made the remarks in a speech to the nation, aired by the state radio and TV.

Thanking people for standing together with the government with full understanding and unity at a time of challenges, she said there was no power that can compare with support of the people, trust of the people and unity of the people, believing that no matter whatever difficulties the country faces, it can be overcome with unity of the nation.

Noting the world's attention on the Rakhine issue since terrorist attacks occurred in Rakhine state, Suu Kyi emphasized the need to continue doing things that need to be done correctly, bravely and effectively.

Extremist terrorists renewed attacks in the districts of Maungtaw and Buthidaung in Rakhine state in August, prompting Myanmar's security forces to counter the offensive and causing displacement of local residents.

She prioritized three main tasks to be done in Rakhine - repatriation of refugees who have crossed over to Bangladesh and providing humanitarian assistance effectively; resettlement and rehabilitation; and bringing development to the region and establishing lasting peace.

She said Myanmar is negotiating with Bangladesh for the third time on the matter of accepting those who are now in Bangladesh, adding that since the country's independence, Myanmar has successfully negotiated with Bangladesh on the issue for twice.

For the development of Rakhine state, Suu Kyi called for setting up the "Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine" chaired by herself, which involves the private sector, local non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations, friendly countries and United Nations agencies.

To achieve peace and development of the country, she called for overcoming all challenges and obstacles by loving kindness, compassion and sympathetic joy despite anger, hatred and bullying Myanmar may have to face.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 00:37:30|Editor: Zhou Xin

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SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- An Indian army trooper and a porter were killed and six others wounded Thursday in skirmishes between troops of India and Pakistan on Line of Control (LoC) dividing the disputed Kashmir region, officials said.

The casualties were reported in Krishna Ghati sector of frontier Poonch district, about 180 km southwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

According to India's state-run broadcaster All India Radio, five army personnel and a porter were also wounded in the shelling.

Last week two children were killed in Rawalakot on Pakistan side due to Indian firing. Prior to that three children were killed in Poonch due to Pakistani firing.

According to Pakistan military's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), last month a junior officer was killed and three soldiers were wounded while they were assisting evacuation of civilian casualties in the Rawalakot.

Over the past several weeks troops from both sides posted in frontier locations are targeting each others' positions. 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. And both sides maintain that their troops gave befitting reply.

LoC is a de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir region 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.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 00:52:34|Editor: Zhou Xin

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BRUSSELS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing development of the Belt and Road Initiative has brought not only new opportunities for Europe's economic growth, but also social benefits to European citizen, experts said.

Over the past four years, European countries such as Serbia, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Malta, Cyprus and the Czech Republic have seized the opportunities of cooperation and achieved improving infrastructure construction and accelerated economic development, observers have pointed out.

MOMENTUM ACTIVATED

Like a golden key can open any door, the Belt and Road Initiative brought momentum for the revival of the economy in Europe.

China COSCO SHIPPING's investment in the Greek Port of Piraeus has been helping transform the port into a more important transport hub at the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa, making it a shining star in modern maritime Silk Road.

Troubled by the debt crisis, Greece has been struggling in an economic slump. China's commitment to the Piraeus project has been hailed for its positive contribution in Greece's effort to move forward.

"We are confident in the future development of the Piraeus port," President of the Piraeus Port Authority Fu Chengqiu told Xinhua, standing in his office overlooking the panoramic view of the port.

Cooperation between China and Poland was consolidated in new areas for the common need of green development. In June 2016, China Everbright International Limited acquired Poland's leading independent solid waste treatment company NOVAGO for 123 million euros (134 million U.S. dollars), the largest single Chinese investment in Poland so far.

CEFC, a Chinese privately-owned Fortune Global 500 company has emerged as one of China's biggest investors in Czech, with the total investment of more than 14 billion yuan (2.1 billion U.S. dollars). In four years, CEFC has done a series of deals in different areas including financial services, energy, manufacturing, aviation and tourism, providing 5,000 local jobs.

"Belt and Road is of course a very important initiative, and we see how it has developed over the last couple of years. It has a much wider approach now in terms of the modes of transport it covers, but also in terms of the countries it covers," said Gunnar Wiegand, managing director of Asia and the Pacific at European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU's diplomatic service.

SOCIAL BENEFITS CREATED

From the Chinese-built Pupin bridge over the Danube River in Belgrade, Shanghai Electric's energy project in Malta, Chinese Railway Express riding in the Eurasian continent, to the ocean liners straight to the Mediterranean, with the expansion of China-Europe cooperation, more and more jobs are being created, and the lives of European citizens are improving.

Vamvakidis, the 60-year-old manager, is one of the 1,500 Greeks employed at the Piraeus port. "At first, we worried that China's investment would hurt local jobs, and after three years the worries have vanished," he said.

According to a report released by the Greek think-tank, Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research, by 2025 at least 31,000 job positions will be created by the Piraeus project.

In April 2016, China's HeSteel Group acquired Serbia's loss-making steel plant. By December that year, the steel plant reversed the seven consecutive years of losses and made profits. While production and sales increased, workers' wages also grew steadily.

Liugong Dressta Machinery has a special meaning for Malgorzata Bielica, a Polish technical expert. Her father and her used to work for a company preceding Liugong Dressta. In 2012, when she learned that the company was going to be acquired, Malgorzata, like other Polish employees, had some concerns.

However, not only could they continue to work there, the work content and treatment of employees changed for the better. "I have been working at Liugong Dressta for 35 years," Malgorzata said proudly.

According to the data provided by Liugong Dressta, the company has provided more than 1,200 job opportunities in the region, with a total of more than 230 million zloty (about 66 million U.S. dollars) of various accumulated taxes and fees contribution to the country between years 2012 and 2016.

Liu Lijuan, a business counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Poland said Chinese enterprises have provided about 15,000 jobs in Poland, of which more than 80 percent are Polish employment.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 01:02:38|Editor: yan

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DAR ES SALAAM, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian police in collaboration with security organs in the eastern and southern African regions have arrested 46 people in connection with cross-border crimes, including drug trafficking, officials said on Thursday.

Gilles Muroto, the Dodoma regional police commander, said the suspects were arrested in a joint special operation mounted by members of the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization (EAPCCO) and Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organization (SARPCCO) under the supervision of the international police (Interpol).

"The aim of the operation was to help control cross-border crimes," Muroto told a news conference in the political capital Dodoma.

He said the joint operation that started on October 4 through October 12, naming other local institutions that participated in the operation as Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO), the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA), the Immigration Department and the Natural Resources Department in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.

He said during the operation police seized 1,770 rolls of bhang, weighing 26 kilograms, a roll of heroine and 52 litres of local brew.

Other suspects were found in possession 61 different keys, tools used to break into houses and other local weapons, said Muroto.

He said some of the suspects were found in possession of five stolen motorcycles, two skins of leopard, three kilograms of wild animal meat, 200 pieces of illegally harvested timber and several bags of charcoal.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 01:07:42|Editor: yan

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AMMAN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Thursday condemned what it called the repeated Israeli violations in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani said such violations, including recent storming into the yards of the Mosque by Jewish settlers, increased the regional tension.

"Jordan rejects and condemns such provocative and irresponsible acts by the Israeli authorities. These acts provoked the feelings of Muslims everywhere and violated all international laws and norms that call for respect for the holy sites," said Momani.

Jordan, who signed a peace deal with Israel in 1994, oversees the holy Islamic and Christian sites in East Jerusalem which is envisaged by the Palestinians as their future capital.

Momani added that such Israeli measures were undermining international efforts to resume peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The minister called on the Israeli government to cease such violations and provocations immediately and to respect Jordan's role in the protection of the holy sites in Jerusalem.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 01:17:46|Editor: Yurou

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File Photo: The logo of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is seen in front of its headquarters in Paris, France, Oct. 4, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

JERUSALEM, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Thursday welcomed U.S. pulling out of the UN's cultural organization, announcing the Jewish state was considering a similar move due to the body's "anti-Israel" bias.

Earlier on Thursday, the United States formally notified the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that it would withdraw from the organization on Dec. 31, 2018.

Commenting on the move, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed it as "a brave and moral decision."

A statement released by the PM's office said that Netanyahu had instructed the Foreign Ministry to prepare Israel's withdrawal from UNESCO. Israel would pull out on the same date as the U.S.

Netanyahu accused UNESCO of "becoming a Theater of Absurd because instead of preserving history, it twists it."

Commenting on the withdrawal, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement that the decision reflected "U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO."

The U.S. would seek to "remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state," the statement added.

The Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova said that she "deeply regrets" the U.S. decision.

"It's a loss to UNESCO, it's a loss to the family of the United Nations and it's a loss to multilateralism," Bokova said in a statement.

Earlier this year, UNESCO triggered Israel's anger after it listed Hebron, a city in the occupied West Bank, as a world heritage site in the "State of Palestine."

In October 2016, Israel suspended its ties with UNESCO after the organization voted in favor of a resolution that warns over the escalating violence around the holy site in East Jerusalem, a territory that Israel seized in 1967 and annexed shortly later.

Israel accused UNESCO of denying the Jewish link to the Temple Mount, a historic site destroyed in 70 A.D. and is nowadays a Muslim holy site called the Noble Sanctuary.
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The United States said on October 12, 2017 that it was pulling out of the UN's culture and education body, accusing it of "anti-Israel bias" in a move that underlines Washington's drift away from international institutions. (AFP photo)

JERUSALEM, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Thursday welcomed U.S. pulling out of the UN's cultural organization, announcing the Jewish state was considering a similar move due to the body's "anti-Israel" bias.

Earlier on Thursday, the United States formally notified the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that it would withdraw from the organization on Dec. 31, 2018.

Commenting on the move, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed it as "a brave and moral decision."

A statement released by the PM's office said that Netanyahu had instructed the Foreign Ministry to prepare Israel's withdrawal from UNESCO. Israel would pull out on the same date as the U.S.

Netanyahu accused UNESCO of "becoming a Theater of Absurd because instead of preserving history, it twists it."

Commenting on the withdrawal, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement that the decision reflected "U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO."

The U.S. would seek to "remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state," the statement added.

The Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova said that she "deeply regrets" the U.S. decision.

"It's a loss to UNESCO, it's a loss to the family of the United Nations and it's a loss to multilateralism," Bokova said in a statement.

Earlier this year, UNESCO triggered Israel's anger after it listed Hebron, a city in the occupied West Bank, as a world heritage site in the "State of Palestine."

In October 2016, Israel suspended its ties with UNESCO after the organization voted in favor of a resolution that warns over the escalating violence around the holy site in East Jerusalem, a territory that Israel seized in 1967 and annexed shortly later.

Israel accused UNESCO of denying the Jewish link to the Temple Mount, a historic site destroyed in 70 A.D. and is nowadays a Muslim holy site called the Noble Sanctuary.
October 3, 2017

The recurring debate in Iran over reviving the position of prime minister has been resumed. This time, however, the discussion appears to be taking a somewhat more serious turn, with a number of parliamentarians preparing to obtain the backing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to proceed from talk to action.

For a decade after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran had a parliamentary political system. Mehdi Bazargan served as the country's first post-revolutionary prime minister, before his government resigned following Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's endorsement of the US Embassy takeover in November 1979. The last prime minister was Mir Hossein Mousavi, who held the office from 1981 to 1989, concurrent with much of the Iran-Iraq War. Mousavi is currently under house arrest stemming from protests against the disputed 2009 presidential elections.

In 1989, the constitution was amended to abolish the premiership, with the responsibilities of the office divided between the president and first vice president. The move was primarily driven by repeated disputes between the prime minister and president, including tensions over their areas of authority and the appointment of ministers. During the past decade, however, reverting to a parliamentary system has been raised on several occasions.

In 2011, the supreme leader stated, If one day in the distant or near future, which is not likely to happen in the near future, [the need to change] the presidential system to a parliamentary [one] is sensed, that would be no problem. A conservative member of parliament has now announced that lawmakers are preparing a letter to Khamenei, asking for his backing to once again amend the constitution.

On Oct. 1, conservative member of parliament Ezzatollah Yousefian Molla told a news agency, A parliamentary system would have good results, but to do so, we need a constitutional review, so the MPs are thinking of what to do for reviewing the constitution, and [whether] they should send a letter to the supreme leader for [his permission to] review the constitution or [whether] the leader [himself] orders the president to [pursue] the constitutional review.

Following Molla's statement, another member of parliament clarified the thinking in the legislature. There are two views in parliament, Mohammad Javad Jamali Nobandegani told a news site on Oct. 3. Some MPs want the presidential term to be extended, and a number of them seek [to reinstate] a parliamentary system.

He further explained, MPs seek to extend the presidential term to seven years in order to prevent the country from being engulfed by the [issue of] elections and campaigns every four years. Nobandegani added, These lawmakers believe that by extending the [presidential] term, the country wont face electoral tensions and conflicts anymore. Besides, seven years is a good opportunity for the government to take control of the country.

During the current debate over whether the presidency should be abolished, Reformist members of parliament and analysts have mostly kept quiet or have voiced their opposition to such a move. Changing the presidential system is the end to direct voting by the people, and Im opposed to it, wrote Sadegh Zibakalam, a prominent pro-Reform analyst, in the Oct. 3 edition of the daily Ghanoon.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 03:13:15|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- French ambassador to the United Nations Francois Delattre on Thursday asked the United States not to leave the Paris-based UN cultural body, UNESCO.

"UNESCO is about promoting our ideals and values through culture, education and science. These values and ideals are very much part of France's DNA, but also (part of) America's DNA," Delattre, who is president of the UN Security Council for the month, told reporters.

"That is why it is so important to have our American friends on board -- now more than ever -- as these values are contested and as we need an America that stays committed to world affairs."

The Trump administration announced earlier Thursday that it would pull out of UNESCO, after years of America distancing itself because of what it called the organization's "anti-Israel bias." Israel later announced it would withdraw as well.

U.S. officials have also threatened to pull out of the Geneva-headquartered UN Human Right Council for the same reason.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 03:23:21|Editor: yan

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GENEVA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Syria and neighboring countries in the Middle East face a critical need for more mental health care for victims of the humanitarian crisis, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Thursday.

Marking World Mental Health Day, Robert Mardini, regional director at ICRC, said he grew up in Lebanon during the time of its civil war.

"When I grew up in Lebanon during the civil war, I recalled it was a time people had great difficulties to speak of suffering psychological challenges and to share their invisible scars from the war. People just had to cope and to move on," said Mardini.

He said colleagues in Syria have countless similar stories and he cited the family of 13 who had fled from recent fighting, only to lose 10 of them along the way to explosions, airstrikes and sniper fire.

"Let us think of the invisible scars of the survivors of this family," said Mardini.

He said that over the past five years, the Middle East has seen close to half a million people killed, 1.5 million injured, 56 million dependent on humanitarian aid, and 28 million people who had to flee because of fighting.

Behind the statistics, Mardini said, there is a huge challenge for countries to develop emergency mental health care so they can cope with the mounting demand for those who are mentally broken.

He noted than in 2000, the ICRC had no mental health programs, now it has more than 70.

Avril Patterson, ICRC health coordinator in Syria, who has spent four years there, said people need to look at the numbers given by Mardini and try to imagine what they mean.

"When you add to the death of your spouse, the death of your child or children while fleeing, airstrikes, mines and snipers. Let's imagine you add to this the loss of your job and your home, everything you have ever owned and worked for gone," said Patterson.

Milena Osorio, the ICRC's mental health and psychosocial support adviser, also unveiled the ICRC's guidelines on mental health and psychological support.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 03:28:22|Editor: Zhou Xin

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MOSCOW, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday accused the United States of beefing up troops near the Russian border in Poland, which is in breach of an agreement between Russia and the NATO.

According to the ministry, the Third Armored Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Armed Forces was supposed to replace the servicemen of the Second Armored Brigade Combat Team in Poland last month, but the two teams ended up staying there together.

"The Second Armored Brigade arrived in Poland quietly with its military equipment. At the same time, the military equipment of the Third Armored Brigade did not leave Poland and the Baltic area," the ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

The presence of both brigades violated the Russia-NATO Founding Act signed in 1997, which opposes "additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces," according to the spokesman.

Konashenkov added that the U.S. side took advantage of the chaos around the Russia-Belarus joint military drills Zapad-2017 when deploying the troops.

"This whole Baltic and Polish hysteria about a 'Russian threat' posed by Zapad-2017 is a fraudulently played information smokescreen part of the Pentagon's operation," he said.

The Zapad-2017 drills, held from Sept. 14 to 20, was widely criticized for the lack of transparency by the West who remained skeptical about Moscow's "real intentions," while the Russian side repeatedly claimed that the exercises were purely defensive in nature.

Reportedly the largest-scale between Russia and Belarus since the Cold War, the drills involve up to 12,700 troops, 70 warplanes and helicopters, 680 units of military equipment.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 03:48:31|Editor: yan

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DUBAI, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday accused Qatar of denying allegations against it and pretending to be a victim.

Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, discussed in Abu Dhabi with Bertrand Besancenaut, the French president's envoy to the Gulf, on the latest development of the Qatari crisis, state news agency WAM reported.

"Denial policy and image of a victim are not convincing considering Doha's documented policies," the UAE official was quoted as saying.

During the meeting, the foreign minister explained to the French envoy "the clear position of the state that Qatar must stop supporting extremism and terrorism and undermining the security and stability of its neighbors and the surrounding region."

Qatar needs to make a comprehensive review of its policies, which have led to its isolation and ruined its international reputation due to links to extremism and terrorism, he added.

Gargash reiterated that the anti-Qatar Arab quartet including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt "have made clear their position."

The Saudi-led quartet cut diplomatic ties with Qatar on June 5 and has imposed air, sea and land blockade against the tiny gas-rich Gulf state, citing Doha's support for terrorism and extremism.

Qatar has strongly denied these charges and has been seeking diplomatic and economic support from Turkey and Iran, Saudi's arch rival, to break the blockade.
A participant holds a placard during a protest rally against wildlife farming in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, Feb. 4, 2017. The protest is against the possibility of fur farms, bile farms, circuses, mini zoos, meat farms, slaughter houses and experiments on animals due to wildlife farming. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma)

ROME, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Italy's National Animal Protection Organization (ENPA) on Thursday hailed the announcement by Gucci fashion brand that it would abandon the use of animal fur in its designs, beginning in 2018.

"We wish to express our gratitude to the president of Gucci for finally embracing cruelty-free fashion," ENPA president Carla Rocchi wrote in a statement. Gucci president and CEO Marco Bizzarri made their announcement on Wednesday during a talk at the London College of Fashion.

"The success of fur-free fashion, confirmed by the growing number of companies that are abandoning the use of (animal) leather and fur, demonstrates that ethics and business are not necessarily opposed," Rocchi wrote.

Italy's Anti-Vivisection League (LAV) also hailed the "historic turning point in fashion" represented by Gucci's decision to abandon fur, beginning with its Spring/Summer 2018 collection.

"Gucci collections will no longer include fur from mink, fox, sable, astrakhan, rabbit, opossum, and many other animals," the LAV said in a statement, "This is a historic result."

Gucci joins other global clothing brands such as Armani, Hugo Boss, Stella McCartney, Yoox Net-a-Porter, and Zara in embracing a fur-free policy as part of the global Fur Free Alliance, which lists all the adhering companies on its website. "We will continue to strive to do better for the environment and animals," Gucci chief Bizzarri said in a statement.

"Gucci is taking a bold stand for animals, showing the world that the future of fashion is fur-free," said Joh Vinding, chairman of the Fur Free Alliance. According to its website, worldwide 100 million animals are killed for their fur every year. They are subjected to intense cruelty all their lives and in their manner of death.

Public opinion in Italy seems to support the cruelty-free ethic, according to a 2016 report by Italian think tank EURISPES. At least 86.6 percent of Italians are against the use of animal fur, 80 percent are against vivisection, 71.4 percent oppose the use of circus animals, 68.5 percent are opposed to hunting, and 54.9 percent are against keeping animals in zoos, according to a report by the think tank.

Gucci is owned by the Kering Group, which also owns brands such as Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, and many others.
An F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 354th Fighter Wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, the United States, is being refueled by a KC-135 Stratotanker from Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, the United States, on May 4, 2015. (PHOTO BY U.S. AIR FORCE)

MOSCOW, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday accused the United States of beefing up troops near the Russian border in Poland, which is in breach of an agreement between Russia and the NATO.

According to the ministry, the Third Armored Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Armed Forces was supposed to replace the servicemen of the Second Armored Brigade Combat Team in Poland last month, but the two teams ended up staying there together.

"The Second Armored Brigade arrived in Poland quietly with its military equipment. At the same time, the military equipment of the Third Armored Brigade did not leave Poland and the Baltic area," the ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

The presence of both brigades violated the Russia-NATO Founding Act signed in 1997, which opposes "additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces," according to the spokesman.

Konashenkov added that the U.S. side took advantage of the chaos around the Russia-Belarus joint military drills Zapad-2017 when deploying the troops.

"This whole Baltic and Polish hysteria about a 'Russian threat' posed by Zapad-2017 is a fraudulently played information smokescreen part of the Pentagon's operation," he said.

The Zapad-2017 drills, held from Sept. 14 to 20, was widely criticized for the lack of transparency by the West who remained skeptical about Moscow's "real intentions," while the Russian side repeatedly claimed that the exercises were purely defensive in nature.

Reportedly the largest-scale between Russia and Belarus since the Cold War, the drills involve up to 12,700 troops, 70 warplanes and helicopters, 680 units of military equipment.
Representatives from six world powers and Iran attend a meeting on Iran's nuclear deal in Vienna, Austria, on July 21, 2017. (Xinhua/Pan Xu)

MOSCOW, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- All parties involved in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program should abide by it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

The minister held a telephone conversation with the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the two sides discussed the current situation around the nuclear deal, according to a statement of the Foreign Ministry.

"Lavrov drew attention to the fact that Tehran adheres to all its JCPOA obligations and stressed the need to observe this document by its other co-sponsors," the statement said.

The Trump administration is due to inform the Congress by Oct. 15 whether Tehran is complying with the nuclear deal. If it decides Tehran is not, it could open the way for U.S. lawmakers to reimpose sanctions against Iran.

Earlier in the day, Lavrov said it was beyond his comprehension how the U.S. will quit the agreement in legal terms, given the status of the agreement including the decision on its approval by the supreme body responsible for peace and security.

"It is difficult for me to imagine how it is possible to withdraw, in legal terms, from an agreement that is a product of collective labor recognized by all as an international legal act," Lavrov said at a press conference following talks with his Burundian counterpart Alain Aime Nyamitwe.

Iran's nuclear deal was reached between Iran and the world six powers of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany in July 2015.

The deal, officially known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has helped defuse the Iran nuclear crisis and bolstered the international non-proliferation regime.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 05:29:06|Editor: Zhou Xin

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TUNIS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Conflict broke out on Thursday in Tunisia's southwestern province of Kebili between security forces and a group of youths, whose relatives died in the sinking of an illegal immigrant boat off the central province of Sfax.

The protesters set fire to the headquarters of local government and the residence of officials, apart from blocking the main road linking Kebili to the neighboring province of Tozeur, according to local sources.

The military forces have been dispatched to the scene to protect public institutions and properties and the situation has gradually calmed down.

On Monday, a Tunisian naval vessel struck a boat carrying young illegal immigrants 54 km from the Island of Kerkennah in Sfax, leaving eight dead and 40 missing.

Up to 1,400 illegal immigrants from Tunisia have reached Europe since the beginning of this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 06:09:22|Editor: An

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Photo taken on July 29, 2017 shows the night scene of the Tianjin Eye in north China's Tianjin Municipality. The 13th Chinese National Games will open on Aug. 27 in Tianjin. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

NEW YORK, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese economy could sustain current growth rate of over 6 percent for the foreseeable future, a U.S. expert has said.

"The growth rate has come down from the previous eight or 10 percent, but that is still a very healthy rate and that should be the envy of any other country in the world," Farok Contractor, a distinguished professor at Rutgers Business School, told Xinhua on Tuesday.

SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS

Contractor noted that China has made enormous progresses in economic development for the past five years, highlighting poverty reduction and RMB internationalization.

"Today there are only about 50 million Chinese left in grinding poverty, according to the World Bank's criterion, so that's a wonderful accomplishment not just for China but for the whole world," he said.

Having visited China for many times, the professor noticed that income inequality in the country is being addressed, and that "more attention is being paid to relatively poor provinces like Guizhou."

"There has been a more balanced distribution of benefits and more balanced growth," he added.

In terms of finance, the expert lauded China's continuous efforts in liberalizing its foreign exchange market.

He pointed out that one of the related achievements is the "inclusion of the Chinese RMB into the IMF's SDR basket, which is putting it on the path to becoming a recognized internationally tradable currency."

SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

Rather than adopting large-scale stimulus, China has been intensifying efforts to shift the economy towards consumption, services and innovation.

The expert believed such structural reform could help the country to maintain a more sustainable growth rate.

"I think China will continue the 6-percent growth rate for the foreseeable future, because the population is over 1.3 billion... there are more and more people coming out of the lower middle class into the middle class status," said Contractor.

"Encouraging the consumption of the lower middle-class will give a stimulus or boost to the Chinese domestic economy," he added.

Moreover, he was also optimistic about the prospect of innovation in China.

"China is emerging as a R&D (research and development) center and there is a prospect of a few cutting-edge technologies, especially in biotechnology or in solar where China can become a leading contributor to the development," he said.

China's economy expanded 6.9 percent in the first half of 2017, with consumption and services, and new innovation-driven economic sectors taking up larger roles, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday expected the Chinese economy to grow 6.8 percent this year and 6.5 percent next year, both 0.1 percentage point higher than its previous forecast in July.

According to the IMF, the upward revision to the 2017 forecast reflects "the stronger-than-expected outturn in the first half of the year underpinned by previous policy easing and supply-side reforms."

"There have been a lot of achievements in economic management in China... I would say that the 6 percent path the China is on will be sustained for quite some time now," Contractor said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 06:19:23|Editor: Zhou Xin

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Photo taken on Oct. 11, 2017 shows a market in the Kurdish-controlled neighborhood of Sheikh Maksood in Aleppo city in northern Syria. Syria's Kurds try to promote co-existence with Arabs in Aleppo's Sheikh Maksood neighborhood. (Xinhua/Hummam Sheikh Ali)

ALEPPO, Syria, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- "No difference between Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians or Christians," read graffiti on a wall at the entrance of the Kurdish-controlled neighborhood of Sheikh Maksood in Aleppo city in northern Syria.

About 200 meters separate the checkpoint of the Syrian army from that of the Kurdish Internal Security Forces, known in Kurdish as Assayish, at the entrance of Sheikh Maksood.

The Kurdish checkpoint has two lanes for inspection, one for women and the other for men.

The Assayish men approach the comers to inspect their belongings, speaking in a relatively heavy Arabic if the arrival is an Arab.

After crossing the checkpoint, another graffiti on a wall welcomes the arrival with photos of Kurdish fighters surrounding a bigger one of Abdullah Ocalan, a highly influential Kurdish leader currently imprisoned in Turkey, and a line reads in Arabic "We are not lovers of destruction, not lovers of arms, but the lovers of peace."

In the middle of the graffiti, there is a flag of the Kurdish People Protection Units, or the YPG.

The enclave-like neighborhood is adjacent to former rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo, of which the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and other ultra-radical rebel groups had been in control before they were driven out of Aleppo city late last year.

Being in the eye of the tornado, the Kurdish community in addition to the smaller Arab one opted to defend their neighborhood against the attacks of Nusra Front when it was nearby, and the YPG assumed control of that area before withdrawing toward the Kurdish-controlled Afreen area in the countryside of Aleppo, leaving the security issues inside Sheikh Maksood to the Assayish.

"Our job is to protect all of the components of the society here in the neighborhood and all of the components are protected by the Internal Security Forces (Assayish)," a member of the Assayish told Xinhua.

The withdrawal of the YPG happened after the situation became better when the Syrian government forces have taken over the former rebel-held part east of Aleppo in December of last year.

Still, the neighborhood is being run by a local movement called the Democratic Society Movement (DSM), which has been formed to organize the civil life inside the neighborhood during the war in Aleppo and is still carrying on with its duties.

For now, the Syrian government seems okay with the presence of the Kurdish control over that neighborhood at least until they have a dialogue with the Kurds on the future of their areas.

In a trip of Xinhua to this neighborhood, which is out of the government control, the people there spoke of how they defended their neighborhood against the attacks of Nusra and other radical militant groups.

Muhammad Sheikhou, the head of the DSM, said the Kurdish-run movement includes Arabs and Christians from the neighborhood.

"We have protected our neighborhood and managed to live together with all other components and up until this day we live here, and Sheikh Maksood should be an example to be followed in Syria in the co-existence between all of the social components," he told Xinhua.

Inside the neighborhood, photos of the Kurdish "martyrs" who died defending their areas against the Nusra attacks were posted on the walls and inside a center created for their families.

"I am so proud my son was one of those martyrs that have struggled to defend his honor and land, not only for his family but for all the components here," one Kurdish woman said, pointing to the photo of her son, who was among tens of other photos on the wall inside the center.

She and all of those who were interviewed in the neighborhood have stressed that there is no difference between Arabs and Kurds and that they are against separating from the motherland of Syria unlike what happened in Iraq's Kurdistan, where the Kurds have been trying to separate from Iraq through a recent vote that sparked regional and international criticism.

Another woman pointed to a few photos of "martyrs" who were Arabs from the neighborhood.

"We all gave blood, there is no difference between us ... we have lived all our lives together with the Arabs," she said.

Sheikhou, the head of the DSM, said: "We are with the unity of Syria and all of us are the sons of this homeland and we have no calls for an independent state for the Kurds and we are against such an idea but we are with the establishment of a federal rule so we need to solve our problems without foreign intervention."

His remarks collaborate with the demands of other Kurds, who make up around 10 percent of the Syrian population, to have a federal rule in areas under their control in northern Syria, known in the Kurdish language as Rojava.

Rojava is a Kurdish word short of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, a Kurdish-controlled region that constitutes of three self-governing cantons, namely Jazira Canton, which includes areas in the Hasakah province in northeastern Syria, the Afreen Canton, which combines areas in Aleppo province.

The third canton is the Euphrates Canton, grouping areas in northern Syria in Aleppo province and Raqqa.

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said recently that the Syrian government is open to negotiations with Kurds over their demand for autonomy within Syria's borders.

"This topic is open to negotiation and discussion and when we are done eliminating Daesh (Islamic State), we can sit with our Kurdish sons and reach an understanding on a formula for the future," Moualem said.

Aside from politics, large swathes of the neighborhood seemed intact, while others, close to the frontlines, are largely destroyed.

The neighborhood has a school that teaches students both the Arabic and Kurdish languages.

One school student told Xinhua he was learning both languages among other subjects.

"I am happy I am learning Kurdish language along with the Arabic," he said, as in the prewar times the Kurds had only learned their language at home from their parents.

The marketplace in that neighborhood is also full of goods, which people say it enters the neighborhood from other areas in Aleppo through the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

But for their daily movement, the people move out and into the neighborhood on daily basis, some to attend a school outside the neighborhood or a university, or even to attend their jobs in other Aleppo neighborhoods.
Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, attends a press conference of the 2017 Annual Meetings of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group in Washington, D.C., the United States, Oct. 12, 2017. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said on Thursday that China's effort to help 800 million people out of poverty is historic.

"This is one of the great stories in human history, frankly," said Kim in a press conference marking the start of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings, when he was asked to comment on China's poverty reduction efforts.

"With evolution of the Chinese economic system and its embrace of the global market, China has lifted over 800 million out of poverty," said the World Bank chief.

With China as the major contributor to the world's poverty reduction progress, the ratio of people living in extreme poverty in the world has dropped to less than 10 percent from 40 percent, said Kim.

"The lessons we learn in China... the fact that 800 million people were lifted out of poverty, the lessons we learned by working in China are very helpful to other middle income countries," said Kim.

According to Kim, the World Bank will continue to work with China in areas, such as healthcare system overhaul and ensuring social services access in distant regions in China.

When asked about China's economic outlook, Kim said that China has been making progress in reducing reliance on investment and exports and focusing on domestic consumption and services sector.

"We're encouraged that China has stayed on a course of this change from what they call rapid growth to more quality economic growth," said Kim.

At the same press conference, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said that the IMF upgraded China's economic outlook in 2017 and 2018 in view of its fiscal stimulus.

"We certainly welcome the decisions that have been made, particularly by the PBOC (China's central bank) to actually tame, reduce credit," said Lagarde.

Lagarde suggested China should continue the policies to rein in credit growth in order to prevent financial risks.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 06:34:26|Editor: yan

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BUCHAREST, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Social Democratic Party announced late Thursday to make a major reorganization of the current government, after three cabinet members including a deputy prime minister had maintained their decision to resign.

The decision showed that the prime minister's request for reshuffle has been met, despite the great resistance within the main ruling party.

The three cabinet members who resigned, namely deputy prime minister and regional development minister Sevil Shhaideh, EU funds minister Rovana Plumb, and the minister for the relation with the Parliament Viorel Ilie, are targeted by investigations of the National Anticorruption Directorate, but all of them denied the accusations.

The discord between Prime Minister Mihai Tudose and his party leader Liviu Dragnea became apparent after the former announced Monday evening at a private television station that he will replace the three ministers as their corruption allegations had created problems for the country and the governing coalition.

Shhaideh, a close ally of the party leader, was the first premier candidate nominated by the governing coalition after the Social Democrats won the election last December.

The head of government also said that his relationship with the party leader is not "in a happy moment," mentioning his dissatisfaction over the party's involvement in certain cabinet decisions.

He also said that he considered resigning if the party leadership would refuse the reshuffle.

The Social Democrats convened on Thursday evening in the National Executive Committee meeting that lasted more than five hours, as most of the participants disagreed with the reshuffle and asked the three ministers to remain.

The top committee of the party is to gather Friday afternoon to decide the new candidates to fill the vacant positions.

Mihai Tudose, 50, took over as prime minister on June 29, after the ruling coalition made of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance or Liberals and Democrats toppled its own cabinet on June 21 amid a tense relationship between the Social Democratic leadership and Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu who refused to resign even after his party withdrew political support for him and expelled him from the party.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 07:04:30|Editor: Zhou Xin

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UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday stressed the importance of conflict resolution to address the root cause of famine in some African countries.

Despite more aid from the international community, the numbers of people at risk of famine have grown in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and northeast Nigeria, Guterres told the Security Council.

In South Sudan, some 6 million people are severely food insecure, up from 5 million at the beginning of the year, he said.

The government and opposition groups are preventing agencies from accessing areas of urgent need and 19 aid workers have been killed since January, and more than 440 others have had to be relocated. Humanitarian supplies are regularly looted, said Guterres.

More than 830 incidents related to access have been reported this year in the war-torn country, more than half involving violence against humanitarian agencies. Both government and opposition forces are implicated, he said. The collapse of the economy has led to widespread violence and increased criminality, making the delivery of food aid even more dangerous, he added.

In northeast Nigeria, some 8.5 million people now need humanitarian aid. There have been tangible improvements in food security in some areas thanks to the efforts of the government and humanitarian organizations. But aid agencies face obstacles because of ongoing attacks by the Boko Haram terrorist group. Operations by the Nigerian military also have impacts on access, he said.

In Somalia, more than 6 million people depend on humanitarian aid for their survival. Aid agencies and their partners face conflict, insecurity, blocked roads and unnecessary bureaucracy. Four aid workers were killed in the first eight months of this year. There were more than 100 violent incidents affecting aid organizations, said the secretary-general.

Large parts of southern and central Somalia are still under the control or influence of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group. Almost 1.9 million people who need help are beyond the reach of aid agencies. Road access is severely limited by illegal checkpoints and blockades. Al-Shabaab and other non-state armed groups target humanitarians, and confiscate or destroy aid supplies. Meanwhile, the government frequently imposes bureaucratic obstacles, he said.

In Yemen, the World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners helped to avert famine by reaching 7 million people in August. But many millions of people are still suffering. Some 700,000 people in areas of Saada, Hajjah, Hudaydah, and Taizz governorates are hard to reach because of bureaucratic obstacles, airstrikes, shelling and ground clashes, he said.

Both the Sanaa-based authority backed by Houthi forces and the Aden-based Yemeni government led by Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi have imposed restrictions on the movement and transportation of humanitarian personnel and aid, said Guterres. Meanwhile the world's largest cholera epidemic stands at some 800,000 suspected cases and more than 2,000 deaths.

"Humanitarian aid is saving lives. But we have not dealt with the one major root cause of these food crises: conflict," he said.

Some 8 percent of the WFP's funding is going to areas affected by conflict. Around 60 percent of the 815 million people suffering from hunger today live in the shadow of conflict. Three-quarters of the stunted children in the world are in countries affected by conflict, he noted.

"Until these conflicts are resolved, and development takes root, communities and entire regions will continue to be ravaged by hunger and suffering."

Conflict and violations of international humanitarian law inevitably increase vulnerability to all kinds of menaces including food insecurity, which in turn causes people to flee. Conflict in one country creates demands on its neighbors to provide food and basic services to refugees. This can lead to further instability, affecting the security of an entire region and beyond, he said.

Guterres called on the parties to conflict in all four countries to honor their commitment to peace. He asked them to allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief, only impose constraints in good faith, and respect and protect humanitarian personnel and supplies.

"The parties to conflict in all four of these countries have stated their commitment to humanitarian and human rights law, but most of them have not followed through. I call on them, and those with influence over them, to translate that commitment into practical measures and to address impunity immediately."

He asked the Security Council to continue to engage in and support the political process in Somalia. "We see with concern that this process is not going as smoothly as we would like. Without progress on politics and security, improvements in the humanitarian situation will be temporary."

For Nigeria, he encouraged the government and its counterparts in the Lake Chad Basin to develop a regional strategy to address the root causes of the crisis.

He called for peace talks in Yemen between the rival factions. "What is needed most is for the parties to return to the negotiating table and focus on agreement."

He urged parties to the conflict in South Sudan to come to terms urgently, to prevent increased food insecurity, refugee movements that threaten to destabilize the region, and continued human suffering and misery. "I urge the government to facilitate access to people in need, to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers and supplies, and to remove bureaucratic impediments to aid."

Guterres also stressed the importance of famine prevention.

Early famine warning mechanisms have worked well in the four countries, he said. "Humanitarian aid and strengthened respect for international law must be complemented by investment in sustainable peace and comprehensive long-term solutions."

These countries are dealing with violent extremism at the same time as they are hit by economic recession and low oil prices. They are powerful examples of the complex and multi-dimensional challenges. They require a system-wide approach that addresses the humanitarian-development nexus and its link to peace, said Guterres.

"In the long term, we must focus on what communities and countries need to emerge from protracted conflict and instability. We must help people not just to survive, but to thrive."

But right now, the international community must urgently commit to increasing humanitarian aid and funding the programs already in place. "Where we have not prevented or resolved conflict, we must support its victims and survivors. It is unconscionable that aid agencies must make life-or-death decisions about who gets aid, because of a shortage of resources."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-13 07:19:32|Editor: Zhou Xin

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BOGOTA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday pledged that the government will fulfill the commitments of the peace deal signed with the now-disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

More importantly, Santos said the peace agreement, which was ratified by the country's Constitutional Court, is binding for the opposition as well, which could come to power in 2018 elections.

"We saw how, by unanimous decision, (the court) said in plain language that the peace agreement is the committed word of the Colombian state," said Santos.

The president has called on the president of the Chamber of Representatives, opposition lawmaker Rodrigo Lara, to recognize that the agreement ratified by the court cannot be modified over the next three administrations.

The opposition opposed the peace agreement, which put an end to some five decades of fighting between the leftist rebels and state forces.

As part of the deal, the FARC agreed to disarm and transform its movement into a political party.

Future leaders "will not be able to make decisions that violate these accords," said Santos, adding "the agreements were made to be fulfilled and that's what I am determined to do.

"I want to reiterate to all Colombians and to the members of the FARC: the agreements will be fulfilled," said Santos.

Colombia's Cambio Radical (Radical Change) party has announced it will not back proposed political reforms that are part of the peace agreement.

The party's main concern appears to be the FARC's alleged ties to drug trafficking as a means of financing.

The peace deal was signed on Nov. 24 and approved by Congress in December.
Jason Ponic

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydethe classic tale of one man's treacherous quest to unlock the secrets of the divided human psycheis lately told by Musical Theatre Southwest in a production running until Oct. 22 at the African American Performing Arts Center (310 San Pedro NE). In this take on Frank Wildhorn's broadway adaptation, our local troupe belts out the challenging score with aplomb, amid a sparse stage that acutely draws attention to where the real drama happensthat is, in the interior spaces of man split in two.

All human beings, when we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil, writes Robert Louis Stevenson in the original novel. And that notion is what viewers are asked to firstand most importantlygrapple with. The play opens with Dr. Jekyllin song, as evertenderly in one-sided conversation with his father, who, though once a great man, is now diminished by madness. It is then, with great urgency that Jekyll petitions the hospital's board of directors (or whatever the term for board of directors was in Victorian England) to allow him to continue his research and permit him to begin testing a tonic he's devised on human subjects. Dr. Jekyll believes that this potion might eradicate the inherently evil part of mankind.

Denied by the hoity toity directorswho are the picture of morality when passing judgment on the doctor's work, but are less holy in their personal livesJekyll is driven by the conviction he has in his research to take the experiment to trial in the only way he canby testing it on himself. The plot progresses quite slowly and we are nearly to intermission by the time the stage is set for the real action. As we all anticipate, the experiment goes horribly awry and Mr. Hyde, the picture of evil, is unleashed on London.

The cast of Jekyll & Hyde in this iteration of the stage play execute the task of a difficult score quite remarkably. The leadplayed by Colin Burdge, is particularly adept at navigating the challenge. Burdge is tasked with playing two roles, reallythe striving, obsessive Dr. Jekyll and the devil lurking inside, Edward Hyde. Burdge even pulls off a duet with himselfeffectively changing the tone of his voice and his body language to assume both roles at once. The play reaches a frenzied climax in this moment when Jekyll and Hyde battle it out for supremacy, in a moment both anxiety-inducing and riveting. (This scene is also accompanied by a crafty bit of stage choreography, externalizing the battle quite smartly.)

Equal to Burdge's performance is that of Courtney Awe playing the part of Lucy Harris. Lucy is a down-on-her-luck prostitute with a heart of goldamounting to a horribly written cliche in high heels. Yet, Harris manages to bring a little more depth to poor Lucy, and perhaps most importantly, perfect pitch. Awe's character possesses some of the best solos and accompanied pieces in the entirety of the show, requiring the ability to hit incredible high notes and sustain them with lungs of steel. The unfortunate object of Hyde's most pointed wrath, her sorrow only adds to the darkness that settles over the show like London fog.

That the play is dark is part of its appeal. Too many musicals I've seen trend toward the upbeat, and Jekyll & Hyde is, necessarily at its heart, broodingthough the grief is at times undercut by the campiness of some of the writing. I'm of two minds about this playwowed by the cast's alacrity in performing the piece, and the agility of the whole thanks to the direction of Robb Anthony Sisneros, but also less than impressed by the initial pace and hackneyed quality of the script. Despite that, working with the text as well as any crew ever could, Southwest Musical Theatre's production of the play illuminates the core queries of the play wonderfullywith all the fun stage smoke you would expect. Enjoy Southwest Musical Theatre's perfect pitch Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 22. Tickets and more information available at musicaltheatresw. com.
PM Modi attends inauguration of birth centenary celebration of Nanaji Deshmukh

New Delhi, Thu, 12 Oct 2017 NI Wire

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, yesterday attended the inauguration of the birth centenary celebration of Nanaji Deshmukh at IARI at Pusa in New Delhi.

The Prime Minister visited an exhibition on the theme "technology and rural life." The exhibition showcases good practices and applications, as well as schemes and initiatives of the Ministry of Rural Development. He interacted with some innovators and beneficiaries.

The Prime Minister offered floral tributes to Nanaji Deshmukh and Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan. He released a commemorative postage stamp on Nanaji Deshmukh.

The Prime Minister launched the DISHA Portal - a smart governance tool developed for MPs and MLAs for monitoring of implementation of various Programmes and Schemes of different Ministries in their constituency through a single portal. As on date, integration of datasets of 41 programmes and schemes of 20 Ministries has been achieved on this Portal.

He also launched Gram Samvaad - a citizen centric mobile app to serve and empower the rural citizens of India, by facilitating single window access for citizens to information at Gram Panchayat level, on various Rural Development programs. The App presently covers seven programs of the Ministry of Rural Development.

The Prime Minister digitally inaugurated 11 Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) Buildings and a Plant Phenomics Facility at IARI.

The Prime Minister addressed an audience of over 10,000 people, drawn from Self Help Groups, Panchayats, water conservation innovators, and beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

He said that today marks the birth anniversary of two great leaders - Nanaji Deshmukh and Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, who devoted their life to the betterment of the nation.

The Prime Minister said that Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan was deeply popular among youth. The likes of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan and Dr. Lohia were active during the 'Quit India' movement, inspired by the clarion call of Mahatma Gandhi, he added. The Prime Minister said that Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan was never interested in power politics, and fought corruption. He said Nanaji Deshmukh also preferred to devote himself towards rural development and making our villages self-reliant, and free from poverty.

Just having the best ideas for development are not enough, the Prime Minister said. He added that initiatives have to be completed on time and the fruits of development must reach the intended beneficiaries. Efforts have to be comprehensive and 'outcome driven', not 'output driven', the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said that facilities that are associated with cities must also be made available to our villages. He said that the real essence of a democracy is Jan Bhagidari and integrating people in the development journey of cities, and villages. Regular interaction with governments is required, he added.

Noting that lack of sanitation facilities is adversely impacting the development journey of villages, the Prime Minister said that is why the Government have been working to build toilets in rural areas.
Technology driven processes required to address multiple challenges: Vice President

New Delhi, Thu, 12 Oct 2017 NI Wire

Addresses 63rd Annual General Meeting of Indian Institute of Public Administration

The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that technology driven government processes are required to address multiple challenges in contemporary India. He was addressing the 63rd Annual General Meeting of the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), here yesterday.

The Vice President said that IIPA with more than six decades of Indian administration, assimilating changes, examining reforms and initiating research, evaluation and training programmes. He further said that the Public Administration has always been the management of change: administering change in society, in the economy and in political life. That is more so in a major democracy, he added.

The Vice President opined that we have to re-fashion our administrative abilities to implement the innovative and citizen-centric schemes of the Central and State Governments. He further said that it is a matter of pride that Indias fifteen-year development agenda is completely aligned with the global UN Sustainable Development Goals of citizen-centricity. The agenda before use is to convert swaraj in to suraj by providing good governance, by reaching all sections of the people, he added.

The Vice President said that we should aim at greater efficiency and effectiveness and we have to build a culture of evaluation and constant learning in our governance systems. He expressed hope that IIPA in conjunction with other similar institutions at state level will chalk out a comprehensive governance reform agenda and create a governance system with people at the centre, the results as the criterion of success and constant innovation in processes as the guiding principle.

The Vice President said that programs should be implemented with Antyodaya approach that focuses on the most vulnerable, marginalized and hard-to-reach populations groups. Our approach has to be more empathetic, responsive and inclusive, that cares for women, differently abled and has, at its heart, a genuine commitment to spread the benefits of democratic governance to all sections in society without any discrimination in the spirit of the principle Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikaas, he added.

The Vice President said that officers and the entire administrative system must understand the development imperatives of today and reorient the processes towards our common goal of serving each citizen. Need of the hour to create a governance system with people at the centre, the results as the criterion of success and constant innovation in processes as the guiding principle, he added.

The Vice President released several publications and inaugurated the Online library - Digital Knowledge Repository of IIPA showcasing the research output and published resources of the Institute. He also gave away Paul H. Appleby Awards for distinguished services to IIPA and the field of Public Administration.

Following is the text of Vice Presidents address:

I am happy to participate in the 63rd AGM as the President of this historic Institute. The IIPA has recently concluded its Diamond Jubilee. It has seen more than six decades of Indian administration, assimilating changes, examining reforms and initiating research, evaluation and training programmes.

In post-Independence India, Public Administration has always been the management of change: administering change in society, in the economy and in political life. That is more so in a major democracy such as India where poverty and diversity create a massive demand for responsible and responsive governance. Addressing the first batch of IAS officers on 21 April, 1947 Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel underlined the important post-Independence change in administrative emphasis from the colonial Indian Civil Service to the All-India Administrative Service. Terming the ICS as neither Indian nor Civil, Sardar Patel had said:

.your predecessors were brought up in the traditions in which they felt out of touch and kept themselves aloof from the common run of the people. It will be your bounden duty to treat the common men in India as your own or to put it correctly, to feel yourself to be one of them and amongst them and you will have to learn not to despise or disregard them. In other words, you will have to adapt yourselves to democratic ways of administration.

This massive shift in outlook in serving the common person of India rather than the colonial command and control system, required great effort in Human Resources Development and training. This is one of the important reasons for setting up the IIPA.

We are again at the cusp of change as we have to re-fashion our administrative abilities to implement the innovative and citizen-centric schemes of the Central and State Governments. We have to harness the power of technology and utilize it for the benefit of the people. Todays administrators have to match the strengths and weaknesses of our internal environments with the pulls and pressures of external forces. They have to not just manage but deliver change impartially, honestly, forcefully and at a pace which is socially and economically acceptable.

It is a matter of pride that Indias fifteen-year development agenda is completely aligned with the global UN Sustainable Development Goals of citizen-centricity. This is the most comprehensive framework for our countrys growth and development. It covers administrative deliveries, policy and regulation in the critical areas of reducing poverty, eliminating hunger, extending public health and well-being, providing basic education, providing clean water and sanitation, ensuring gender considerations, promoting clean energy and continuously striving for growth, employment and equity in our Governance.

Showing deep concern for the countrys environmentally dependent poor, India ratified its commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. That shows our new resolve towards adhering to responsible growth patterns and strong commitment to climatically protect our poor especially in Indias coastal regions, hill tracts and the vulnerable populations in all of Indias twelve bio-geographic zones. All this requires intelligent and knowledgeable administrative capacity that needs to be inculcated among our young officers. I am aware that IIPA and institutes of its kind have been engaged in this effort and will continue to do so in the future.

However, I feel much more needs to be done.

We have a long way to go in translating the vision of our founding fathers into tangible reality. Our founding fathers thought that once we get swaraj all the problems will be solved. But now, the agenda before use is to convert swaraj in to suraj by providing good governance, by reaching all sections of the people. We are still facing enormous challenges in delivering basic services to the common man. Illiteracy, ill health, poor quality of education, lack of clean drinking water and sanitation facilities, poor urban planning, inadequate attention to environmental pollution and a host of other issues remain. We have to gear up the implementation processes so that the intended benefits of the policies and programmes of our government reach the people on time.

We should aim at greater efficiency and effectiveness. We have to build a culture of evaluation and constant learning in our governance systems.

Let me elaborate. We tend to focus more on activities and inputs and very often miss out on what I consider as the most important aspect- the outcome and the impact of our actions on the populations we are trying to serve. We must focus on results. We must look at the cost effectiveness and the ultimate impact. We must be willing to honestly evaluate and keep improving on our delivery systems. We must assess on a continuous basis as to whether we are able to achieve the stated objectives in the stipulated time and within the projected budget. W must look at efficiency of our working. We must keep reflecting on the question: Have we have adopted the most cost-efficient and energy-efficient and sustainable modality or not. Did we achieve the results without time overrun or cost-overrun?

This requires a culture of evaluation, learning from the results of evaluation and acting promptly to make mid-course corrections. Unless this kind of an orientation is built into our governance patterns, we may be wasting our precious and scarce resources and not delivering services to our populations effectively and efficiently. IIPA has an important role to play in building this crucial element in contemporary administrative and moving the entire system towards results based managerial culture.

Institutional support to the Government from IIPA, to help officers implement our programmes at all levels is crucial to success. I am happy that IIPA provides support services to major implementing ministries such as Housing and Urban Affairs, Consumer affairs, MEITY, DoPT, DST etc.

New thinking is necessary on the structure, attitudes and capacity of our administration to deliver on programmes like Swacch Bharat (urban and rural), Smart cities, Skill India, Direct Benefit Transfer, Digital India, AMRUT, universal housing through the PM Awas Yojana and so on.

All these schemes go beyond the conventional delivery mechanisms of development administration of the Seventies and require greater coordination with the objective of reaching the citizen in the farthest village keeping in view the Antyodaya approach that focuses on the most vulnerable, marginalized and hard-to-reach populations groups.

It has to be a more empathetic, responsive and inclusive approach. It should be an approach that cares for women, differently abled and has, at its heart, a genuine commitment to spread the benefits of democratic governance to all sections in society without any discrimination in the spirit of the principle Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikaas.

Not only repeated classroom training but repeated field visits and hand-holding of Central Ministries and State Governments by institutes like IIPA is the need of the hour. I congratulate the Institute for having consistently trained about 4500 officers from the Central and State Government in these topical areas of learning and for conducting about thirty research projects each year.

In our HRD efforts, Urban Management is in the forefront with more than 50% of Indias population expected to reside in cities and urban centres by 2030. I am happy that IIPA houses the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Centre for Urban Services an urban sector think tank providing training and research support since 1963. It is extending urban financial and municipal management training to city Mayors, Commissioners and other senior functionaries from cities, public-sector and para-municipal agencies. The CUS at IIPA has also done appreciable work in city-management reports in corporations like Bengaluru, Indore, Gurugram and Ahmedabad.

I am encouraged by the fact that the IIPA management has concluded an MOU with the National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) to re-develop its old infrastructure. Let the new structures represent the 21st Century and the new administration of tomorrow which IIPA through its past and present knowledge management and delivery will be able to portray to the Governments of the future. IIPAs global network should enable an enhancement of its inter-country experience sharing and developing common good practices in relevant fields of administration.

The change that Sardar Patel saw and Pandit Nehru, the first President of the IIPA Society in the initial years dreamt of, are today a multi-dimensional challenge.

Technology driven government processes are required to address these multiple challenges in contemporary India.

Governance has to be very agile in its efficacy and reach if services to the poorest of the poor and those in the remotest corners- to the last mile- to the last person in the queue- of our country have to be effective in their impact.

Officers and the entire administrative system must understand the development imperatives of today and reorient the processes towards our common goal of serving each citizen.

I hope IIPA in conjunction with other similar institutions at state level will chalk out a comprehensive governance reform agenda and create a governance system with people at the centre, the results as the criterion of success and constant innovation in processes as the guiding principle.

I wish you all the very best in your endeavours to deliver high quality outputs.

I hope you will be relentless in shaping IIPA as an institution of excellence, always alive to the current realities, agile enough to respond to changing contexts and forward looking enough to anticipate future trends.

Jai hind!

Source: PIB
The two day International Conference on 'Yoga for Wellness' concludes successfully in New Delhi

New Delhi, Thu, 12 Oct 2017 NI Wire

Speaking at the valedictory session today, the Minister of Road Transport, Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari said that Yoga has a huge potential for generating employment opportunities. He said that to capture these opportunities we have to give professional training to practitioners of yoga. He insisted that a systematic yoga education syllabus should be prepared and scientific research should be developed in a professional manner.

Addressing the valedictory session, the Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge), Shri Shripad Yesso Naik expressed his happiness over the overwhelming response from the people across the globe to participate in the Conference. He said that the level of participation has forced us to think to organise a bigger event than this in the coming years.

Shri Shripad Naik explained that the Western countries are showing much interest towards Yoga and in USA alone, nearly 20 million people are practicing Yoga. This number is increasing average by 5% every year he added. The Minister also informed that the USA military training has adopted Yoga in its training curriculum and many other countries like UK, European countries, and south eastern countries are increasingly practising Yoga.

The AYUSH Minister also said that our Government is committed to the development of AYUSH systems especially Yoga not only in the country but outside as well. He further said that several modern medical institutes have adopted Yoga as an alternative or adjuvant treatment for many of the disorders. Shri Naik said that in India also, the system of Yoga is gradually gaining popularity as a best mode of alternative therapy to the modern medical system. Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey said that both modern medicine and yoga understand the need for total health and even the World Health Organization has recently added a new dimension to the modern understanding of health by including spiritual health in its definition of the state of health'. Shri Choubey said that Spiritual health is an important element of yoga and now that even the WHO has come around to understanding this point of view, there is hope for a true unification of these two systems. Secretary (AYUSH), Shri C.K. Mishra, Special Secretary, Shri Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Managing Director of Patnjali Acharya Balakrishna, founder vice chancellor of S-VYASA shri H.R. Nagendra and, renowned Yoga Guru from Austria Swami Maheshwarananda were also present in the inaugural function.

The two day conference consisted of seven technical sessions and a panel discussion on different aspects of Yoga and Wellness including recent research trends, Integrated medicine, non communicable diseases, mental health, women health, cancer, pain management and policy making. The purpose of the conference was to provides a common platform for the AYUSH and Allopathy Practitioners, Researchers, Academicians, Policy Makers and students and enable them to capture and understand various dimensions of the yoga for wellness.

Source: PIB
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Fixed wireless broadband  or at least the idea of it  is making a comeback. 5G is helping drive new interest and activity on this front.





Youre probably already aware that U.S. cellular giants AT&T (News - Alert) and Verizon have been talking about and doing trials of fixed broadband wireless. But other carriers of varying sizes are getting in on the action, as well. That includes Cincinnati Bell (News - Alert) Inc., Consolidated Communications Inc., Frontier Communications Corp., Redzone Wireless out of Maine, Windstream Services LLC, and others.

For example, regional service provider Frontier is planning fixed broadband tests. The carrier apparently wants to use fixed broadband to expand services in rural areas to help meet its Connect America Funding Phase II obligations. The company received $283 million in federal funds as part of that effort a couple years ago. And it was 40 percent of the way to its goal as of June.

Frontier, Consolidated, and Windstream (News - Alert) put in a joint filing with the Federal Communications Commission asking for flexible use of spectrum between 3.7 and 24GHz. In that filing, the companies wrote: As the Commission is making substantial CAF investments to extend broadband to unserved rural Americans, it really has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to accelerate those multi-billion dollar investments to unleash faster broadband for even more rural Americans. Authorizing point-to-multipoint fixed broadband deployments in the fastest possible timeframe, potentially in the manner the BAC has proposed, would pay great dividends for rural broadband.

The BAC stands for the Broadband Access Coalition. It includes a long list of members, including Cincinnati Bell, Mimosa (News - Alert) Networks Inc., SpeedConnect, Wisper ISP Inc., the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, and many others. This summer the group input its own FCC (News - Alert) filing asking the commission to allow the use of spectrum between 3.7GHz and 4.2GHz for fixed wireless use on a shared basis with incumbent licensees who use the spectrum for satellite distribution of cable television content, as Telecompetitor reporter Joan Engebretson noted in June.

Fixed wireless, a method of delivering internet connectivity over the airwaves, is attractive because it offers the promise of being fast and affordable to install, suitable for rural deployments, low latency, and good for competition. Service revenue from fixed wireless 5G subscriptions is forecast to reach $1 billion by the end of 2019, according to SNS Research. The firm expects this space to experience a compound annual growth rate of 84 percent between 2019 and 2025.

Edited by Mandi Nowitz
My prayer for Nigeria is that President Muhammadu Buhari will not contest another presidential election in 2019. I hope when the time comes, he will do the noblest thing: Thank Nigerians for giving him a chance to serve, allow the transition process to run smoothly without his interference, and walk away with his head high.

That will be the best thing for Nigeria, and one hopes he has enough of the acclaimed Mandela spirit in him to know when to walk away from the gambling table. Nigeria is doing poorly under his watch and we cannot continue this way until 2023. We cannot be munching the same old issues on our weakened gums every election cycle. If Buhari decides to contest in 2019, we will waste about half of the electioneering time on enervating debates about his health; arguing whether he has the physical and mental capability to continue the taxing job of leading Nigeria or not. His detractors and his followers will have a lot of material to chew on for many such specious debates, none of which will improve our lot.

There will be much talk about Buharis disposition: how he not only failed to stop medical tourism as he promised but has probably spent the highest sum of public money ever on his health. This year, he has spent almost six months abroad treating an unknown ailment, and there is no guarantee he will not travel again before his tenure expires. His foreign trips have cost Nigeria tons of naira, and knowing how prohibitive medical costs in Britain can be for a non-citizen, Buhari has probably cost Nigeria higher than the budgetary allocation to the entire health sector in Nigeria. And the man is not humble enough even to be grateful to Nigerians whose sweat and blood pay for these luxuries.

When he returned from his last lengthy trip in August, after some 104 days, his first impulse was to re-establish territorial dominance to dissidents who had gained ground in his absence. Shorn of either tact or contemplation, he rode roughshod on an issue that could have been handled far differently. If Buhari chooses to contest, these issues will come up and his defenders, will, expectedly, twist themselves into climbing ropes to defend their big daddy. They will blackmail us with religious and cultural sentiments about not holding a poor mans health against him. They will whip out their Red Book and mindlessly spew out their regular jabberwocky about their poor old man. They will say he is deserving of our indulgence because he is the messiah who saved Nigeria from the 10 plagues, (never mind that people are fighting Pharoahs army and drowning in the Red Sea).

The conversation will expectedly spiral into the usual argument about Buhari fighting corruption. His aides will argue that for Buharis flaws to be so evident, it could only mean that corruption is fighting back. At this point, aides will then reach for their favourite whipping boy  Dr. Goodluck Jonathan  to blame him for everything wrong with Nigeria. They will do all these to pass the time and by the time we are done with this chaotic cycle of palaver, more than 90 per cent of the election time would have been frittered and the election date, close. We would have little time left to engage the actual issues that matter to our lives as Nigerians and our future as a country. Time is running out on us as a nation and we can barely afford distractions. We need to be serious and Buharis presence will hardly let us be. That is why he needs to go in 2019.

Buharis government has fallen far short of the standard it set for itself and it is unfair that we should be called upon to discuss his underperformance when far weightier matters are at stake. We should not have to be running through the content of its manifesto to see what promises he made about reforming the countrys political construct when we should be having far more useful conversations with a fresher candidate who has his thought through political reforms and is ready to highlight them lucidly. In 2019, we should not have to be carrying out a post-mortem of Jonathans government, along with the usual spirit-sapping news of who stole what, when, and where. We want someone who has thought through the art of fighting corruption in Nigeria, has viable and workable plans towards achieving them and is not going to surround himself with people his government should be putting through the judiciary laundry.

From 2019, we should not have to listen to about a mere 55 people who have stolen a whopping $6.2bn from Nigerias coffers anymore. We need to move forward as the stories of corruption are no longer entertaining; they are now a psychological burden that breeds despair in the audience and ultimately desensitises them to corruption. We no longer need such diversion

We should not have to resurrect the old question of whether Buhari has a certificate or not. Neither should we be consumed with his aging body when he gets exhausted on campaign grounds and flies out for another round of medical tourism in the thick of the election. None of that should be our portion. Come 2019, we should not have to deal with the odium that will emanate from Buharis aides who will dominate the media with their religious-spiced charade. We deserve more; we deserve better.

If Buhari loves us and loves this country, he should just go back to Daura so he can free the political space for more deserving candidates. In 2019, we want to be talking about issues that border on rebuilding the education sector that has been consistently vandalised by previous administrations that needed to weaken the mind of Nigerians to make them more susceptible to administrative abuse.

We need to talk about how we can revamp the Nigerian health sector so that every Nigerian, from the interior of Borno State to the cosmopolitan Lagos can have access to quality medical care. We do not want to hear Mrs. Aisha Buhari talk about how Aso Rock, with all the budgetary allocation it receives, lacks elementary amenities. If Mrs. Buhari is pained by what is happening in Aso Rock, she could have conducted an independent investigation and resolved the issue privately. Bringing it to the public is a waste of time because her audience has no power to adjudicate. Public access to medical care is worse and Mrs. Buharis complaints, from the top of the pinnacle where she is perched and enjoys the privilege of her positions, can barely appreciate peoples health challenges.

From 2019, we should not be dealing with leaders who gorge themselves on public wealth and then turn around to enter the oppression Olympics with genuinely disenfranchised people. No matter what the APC and its governors  especially the likes of Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State who is an ardent supporter of Buhari 2019 say  I pray Buhari leave the arena and let Nigeria breathe.

Not that I believe that 2019 will turn Nigeria into an El Dorado or that a perfect leader is waiting in the wings to take over. Our walk to freedom is far and the road ahead offers no guarantees. There is a lot of work in our future to get to the Promised Land and that is why we can barely afford to waste time beating a dying horse and insisting it takes us home. We should be looking for candidates who have energy, goals, plans, ideas, philosophy, and vision. Buhari cannot offer all these for obvious reasons, some of them not his fault. And that is why he should do all of us a favour and exit this stage when he can still get some applause.
Governor Fayose described the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwus allegation of award of $25 billion contracts without following due process against the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); Dr. Maikanti Baru, as messy and an embarrassment to the country.

According to a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said; When miscreants write petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against perceived opponents of President Buhari, EFCC will act immediately, but when known Nigerians, including members of Buharis government raise allegation of corruption against close allies of the President, the EFCC will look the other way.

He said; As posited by APC Senator, Shehu Sani, we are in a situation where perfume is being sprayed on corruption when it affects Buharis men while insecticide is being sprayed on corruption when it involves perceived political opponents of the President.

When allegation of corruption is made against Buharis men, EFCC acts like pet dog, but when it is against those whose faces the President does not like, the anti-graft agency acts like lion.

No nation can achieve greatness with such a partial leadership.

Speaking further, Governor Fayose said; While Nigerians are still asking questions as to what has happened to the report of the committee that investigated the $43 million discovered in an apartment at Osbourne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, allegation of $25 billion was made by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, and as usual, the allegation like others before it, is being treated as family affairs.

Before now, the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, was indicted of corruption by the Department of State Service (DSS) and all that was done by President Buhari was to ask the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to investigate the DSS report. Up till today, nothing has been heard about it and Magu, despite his rejection by the Senate, is still acting as the EFCC chairman.

Up till today, Nigerians are yet to be told the owner of the Legico Shopping Plaza, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos inside which the EFCC claimed that it found N448.8 million cash.

Despite the presence of CCTV cameras, we have not been told the identities of those who brought the five sacks in which the EFCC claimed that it found N49 million cash to the Kaduna Airport.

As far as I am concerned, President Buhari is not fighting any corruption. He is fighting his political foes and God is not a God of double-standard. This Buharis government is a government of double-standard.
A Jos High Court on Tuesday found Etisalat Nigeria (9 Mobile) guilty of trespassing into a personal property and ordered it to pay N15 million damages.

The judge, R.K. Sha, ordered that the plaintiff be given the property.

The judgment was based on a suit filed by Christ Best West Africa Ltd, the plaintiff, against Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited (Etisalat Nigeria now 9Mobile).

Sha said that the act of running and maintaining the mast on the property amounted to trespass and constituted a nuisance to the rights of the plaintiff to exclusively use and enjoy the property.

The judge ordered that the mast be dismantled and removed and awarded N15 million damages to the plaintiff considering the amount of discomfort and annoyance that must have resulted from the defendants act of trespass.

In the suit filed on October 14, 2013, the plaintiff said that the defendant trespassed into his property on 15 Hausa Road at Ku Mark West of Mines in Jos Local Government Area.

It urged the court to declare 9Mobile mounting its telecommunication mast, electricity generating sets and the steel perimeter fence on the property illegal.

The plaintiff also urged the court to declare the entire development of the property a nuisance and order a restoration of the property to him.

It prayed the court for a mandatory order of injunction directing and compelling Etisalat to dismantle and remove the mast and other installations on the property.

The plaintiff also prayed the court to award it N50 million as special damages against the defendant. The plaintiffs counsel, A. I. Okafor, told the court that his client acquired the land in 2010, from the Olagbemiros family and processed the Right of Occupancy in 2011.

Mr. Okafor said that the defendant entered the land and erected a mast illegally and thereby obstructed movement on the premises.

Many tenants refused to pay their rents as a result of the disturbances from the mast and prospective tenants were deprived thereby causing loss of enormous amounts of revenue from the property, he said.

Mr. Okafor said Nigeria Communications Commission inspected the site and confirmed that the mast was wrongly erected and a nuisance to the people.

The defendants counsel, Great Nnamani, however, said that his client had a lease agreement on the piece of land for the purpose of erecting its telecommunication mast, base station and equipment.

Mr. Nnamani said a search was conducted and it was found that one Mai Iliya, the District Head of Jenta Adamu Village in Jos North Local Government Area, issued a letter confirming ownership of the land.
Former American Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell

According to Premium Times, President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Campbell said Mr. Omokri mistook his appreciation of Mr. Buharis anti-corruption efforts for consultancy services.

I am not a consultant to any Nigerian, to any Nigerian corporation, to the presidency, nor to any part of the Nigerian government, Mr. Campbell told Premium Times Tuesday.

The retired diplomat, now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., was responding to an email enquiry from PREMIUM TIMES over a slew of unflattering remarks Mr. Omokri directed at him.

Mr. Omokri had in a statement Sunday said Mr. Campbell was trying to divert attention from corruption allegations currently rocking the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in order to protect Mr. Buharis public image.

It is most unfortunate that the former US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, who is now a consultant to certain Nigerians and a self-confessed admirer of President Muhammadu Buhari, would again insult Nigerians with his procured opinions meant to divert the public from the monumental $26 billion corruption scam recently uncovered in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation of which President Muhammadu Buhari is the supervising minister, Mr. Omokri said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES Sunday.

The former presidential assistant was responding to a blog post Mr. Campbell published on the website of Council on Foreign Relations, a public policy think-tank which has its headquarters in New York.

In his article, Mr. Campbell criticised the Nigerian House of Representatives for issuing a warrant of arrest for the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.

The EFCC is currently probing several millions of dollars linked to Mrs. Jonathan, some of which she claimed to be hers.

Mr. Campbell said the arrest warrant was orchestrated by most Christian Nigerian lawmakers and they were hounding Mr. Magu for daring to go after Mrs. Jonathan, from whom they benefitted while her husband was in power.

Mr. Campbell also castigated Mrs. Jonathan as being arrogant and flamboyant and questioned how she was able to amass such stupendous wealth as a career civil servant.

In his Sunday statement, Mr. Omokri said Mr. Campbell was ignorant of issues in Nigeria, adding that Mrs. Jonathan had been a businesswoman who was never confined to the other room, in an apparent mockery of Mr. Buhari who last October said his wife, Aisha, belongs to the kitchen and the other room.

He also defended the Houses invitation to Mr. Magu, saying the lower chamber is a legally constituted legislative body with powers to summon.

Premium Times wrote to Mr. Campbell for reactions to Mr. Omokris attacks on Sunday, but the diplomat did not respond before the story was published on Monday evening.

He later sent in his response, saying Mr. Omokri mischaracterised some elements of his article.

Contrary to what Mr. Omokri seems to imply, I did not maintain that the PDP dominates the House of Representatives.

Rather, I said that the Committee on Public Petitions move to issue a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Magu was led by PDP representatives, as it was. I did not comment one way or another on the justification for the arrest warrant, which is controversial.

Nor did I comment on laudable steps taken by the Jonathan government for the empowerment of women, Mr. Campbell said.

Mr. Campbell said although he supports Mr. Buharis anti-corruption efforts, he was equally as worried about corruption at the NNPC as Mr. Omokri.

I share Mr. Omokris concern about corruption within the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Campbell said while applauding certain initiatives taken by President Muhammadu Buhari, especially with respect to corruption.

The diplomat, however, maintained his assertion that the influence of Christians was most pronounced in Mr. Jonathans government, with the exception of some powerful Muslims in the cabinet at the time.

I stand by my characterisation of the Jonathan government as being predominately Christian in colouration, Mr. Campbell said. I did note, however, that former National Security Advisor, Sambo Dasuki, charged with corruption, is a northern Muslim. I stand by my characterisation of the former first lady.
Nigerias screen diva, Genevieve Nnaji, is starring in a movie: Farming, alongside Hollywood actors, Kate Beckinsale, Damon Idris and Gugu Mmbatha-Raw.

The film, which is being shot in the UK and Nigeria, started production in August and is being directed by Nigerian-British writer and director, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.

The film is based on Akinnuoye-Agbajes autobiographical story: Farming.

Nnaji, who shared few pictures of herself on set on her Instagram, is popular for classic movies, including Ije and Keeping Faith.

The Nollywood veteran recently made her directorial debut with her upcoming movie, Lion Heart.

The script was developed at the Sundance Film Institute and chronicles his own coming-of-age story growing up fostered by a white working-class family in the UK.



In the film, the lead character is sent to the UK by his parents in hopes of achieving a better life.

Instead, he becomes the feared leader of a white skinhead gang in 1980s England. When all seems lost and he spirals into self-destruction, a benevolent teacher (played by Mbatha-Raw) offers him one last chance at redemption.

Nnaji won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005, making her the first actress to win the award.

Nnaji, who has starred in over 80 movies, is considered to be one of the best paid actresses in Nollywood.

Due to her contributions to the Nigeria movie industry, she became the first actress to be awarded Best Actress at the 2001 City Peoples Awards, the award ceremony that previously had only recognized politicians and business conglomerates.

She is also the first actress to be awarded as Best Actress by the Census Board of Nigeria in 2003.

In 2009, she was referred to as the Julia Roberts of Africa by Oprah Winfrey.

In 2004, Nnaji signed a recording contract with EKB Records, a Ghanaian record label, and released her debut album: One Logologo line, a mix of R&B and Urban music.

In November 2015, Nnaji produced her first movie: Road to Yesterday, which won Best Movie Overall-West Africa at the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards.
A Nigerian has been arrested by the Maltese police and customs after he was found to be carrying heroin and cocaine.

According to The Times of Malta, the Nigerian was accosted by officials after he arrived at the Malta International Airport on a flight from Brussels, Belgium after midnight on Wednesday.

When customs officials scanned his luggage, they discovered three packages of cocaine and heroin. The packages were said to have been hidden in a black file at the bottom of the mans suitcase.

Reports said two of the packages contained a brown powder which narcotics tests confirmed was heroin, while a white powder inside a third package tested positive for cocaine.

Nigerian is in police custody and is expected to be arraigned in court.
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Morocco and Russia signed 11 cooperation agreements in the fields of customs, agriculture, trade, energy efficiency, renewable energies, nuclear energy as well as military cooperation.

The agreements were signed at a Moroccan-Russian working session chaired by Head of the Government Saad Eddine EL Othmani and Russias Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev who paid an official working and friendship visit to Morocco this October 10-11.

The agreements are also part of the momentum created by the visit paid by King Mohammed VI to Russia in March 2016 during which a deep strategic partnership was declared between the two countries.

In a statement to the press following the signing ceremony, El Othmani underscored Moroccos willingness to build on the momentum ushered by the visits paid by King Mohammed VI to Russia in 2002 and 2016 and the visit paid by President Putin to Morocco in 2006.

He said prospects are promising for bolstering ties between the two countries in the priority areas of energy, industry and agriculture, noting that Morocco attaches utmost importance to upgrading its military and security ties with Russia.

The Head of the Moroccan government also stressed the need to boost Moroccos agricultural exports to Russia.

For his part, Russian Prime minister underscored Moroccos place as a key strategic partner for Russia in the MENA region, saying that his country is willing to reinforce cooperation with the kingdom in strategic fields such as peaceful uses of nuclear energy and LNG supply.

He also expressed Russias willingness to share expertise with Morocco in the field of industry and strengthen cooperation in the military and security areas.

Moroccos total trade volume with Russia rose from some $200 million in 2001 to about $2.5 billion in 2016.
Trump and Trudeau. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Trump on Wednesday signaled the possibility of the U.S. striking a bilateral trade deal with Canada if talks to renegotiate NAFTA break down.

Oh sure, absolutely. Its possible we wont be able to reach a deal with one or the other, but in the meantime well make a deal with one, Trump said when a reporter asked about individual trade deals with Canada and Mexico.

Trumps comments came as he was seated next to Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who is in Washington as negotiators gather for the fourth round of talks to renegotiate NAFTA. A bilateral deal with Canada will only be necessary if those negotiations fail, something that Trump appears to want. In an interview with Forbes published this week, he said NAFTA will have to be terminated.

Trump was less willing to commit to pulling the plug on NAFTA Wednesday. Well see what happens, he said when asked if the deal is already dead. Its possible we wont be able to make a deal, and its possible that we will.

Trudeau was more optimistic about the future of the 23-year-old trade deal. We gave a good partnership and there are always ways to improve it, always issues we need to talk through and thats why having an ongoing constructive relationship between the president and prime minister is really important, he said after the meeting Wednesday.

The Canadian press has suggested that Trudeau is on a charm offensive in a last-ditch effort to save the deal. As a part of that campaign, he hung out with Ivanka Trump on Tuesday night and visited the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.

In terms of trade, the U.S. sells more to Canada than it does to China, Japan and the United Kingdom combined. So we are your biggest customer, he told lawmakers. There will always be challenges that come up that we can thoughtfully work through.

Some observers dont think the U.S. is trying very hard to work through the challenges. On Tuesday, U.S. Chamber of Commerce president Tom Donahue accused the Trump administration of taking poison pill proposals to the negotiations.

Donahue identified proposals from the Trump administration to impose a sunset clause that would stipulate that the revised trade agreement would terminate after five years unless all three countries agree it should continue and increasing the percentage of parts that are used in cars and other products that have to made in the U.S., Canada or Mexico to qualify for duty-free treatment under the deal as troublesome to negotiators from Canada and Mexico.

The Trump administration is not worried about the Chamber though. Responding to criticism from the group last week, a spokesperson for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said, The president has been clear that NAFTA has been a disaster for many Americans, and achieving his objectives requires substantial change. These changes of course will be opposed by entrenched Washington lobbyists and trade associations. We have always understood that draining the swamp would be controversial in Washington.
Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Philly. Photo: Rdsmith4

The United States is withdrawing from UNESCO, the United Nations agency that promotes education and cultural understanding and names those World Heritage sites youve been forced to visit on family vacations. The State Department, making a formal announcement Thursday morning, cited anti-Israel bias and financial reasons for its departure from the organization it helped establish after World War II.

JUST IN: US says it is withdrawing from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). pic.twitter.com/xZr9Wv9PC3  NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) October 12, 2017

The United States said it would formally pull out of UNESCO at the end of 2018, and seek to remain a nonmember observer state. Rex Tillerson had made the decision weeks ago, informing French president Emmanuel Macron during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, reports Foreign Policy. Frances U.N. ambassador encouraged the U.S. to remain part of the global agency this week, but the administration moved ahead despite the objections from close allies.

The Trump administrations planned departure from UNESCO comes as the president has withdrawn  or threatened to withdraw  from multiple international agreements, including the Paris climate accords. Critics were quick to point out that trend, which is recasting the United States as an increasingly unreliable global partner.

Trump foreign policy has found its theme: The Withdrawal Doctrine. US has left/threatening to leave TPP, Paris accord, Unesco, NAFTA, JCPOA  Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) October 12, 2017

But, despite the current administrations America First track record, the United States has had a bit of a rocky history with UNESCO long predating Trump. President Ronald Reagan broke with the organization in 1984, claiming the agency was succumbing to Soviet influence. The United States only officially rejoined nearly two decades later, in 2002, under George W. Bush, who, at the same time, happened to be selling the U.N. on taking action in Iraq. In 2011, under President Barack Obama, the United States stopped paying its UNESCO membership dues after the body voted to make the Palestinian Authority a full member of the organization. It was a decision the administration was required to make, based on a law, passed in the 1990s, that bars the U.S. from funding any U.N. group that allows for Palestinian membership. Because the U.S. hadnt been paying its bill  which, as UNESCOs biggest contributor, was a big one  it lost its voting rights in 2013.

Trumps withdrawal from UNESCO may deal another blow to Americas soft-power influence  something a president who loves his generals and chooses his top diplomat based on height never really a fan of, anyway  but the U.S.s practical role in the organization has been hamstrung for the past few years. Still, UNESCOs director-general, Irina Bokova, said the U.S.s decision to withdraw was met with profound regret.

At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack, she said in a statement, where she also listed some UNESCO World Heritage sites in the United States, the Statue of Liberty among them.
Photo: Courtesy of RDNY

Dont beat the shit out of him, says the former NYPD detective Kenny Hieb, by way of introducing me to my tablemates. Hes a reporter. Were in ONeills pub in Maspeth, Queens, in a windowless back room full of mustachioed ball-busting ex-cops in boxy suits drinking Budweisers. Its the monthly dinner for the RDNY, the Retired Detectives of New York, an association founded in 1965 that has honored everyone from Boomer Esiason to the SEAL who shot bin Laden. A few minutes later Im standing near a bar cart festooned with a Blue Lives Matter crest. Someone yells at the bartender, Get this guy drunk, hes a reporter! (Full disclosure: I had a Budweiser.)

Tonight, two well-known NYPD detectives, John Russo and Louis Scarcella, are to be celebrated. Russo became a tabloid hero earlier this year, when he helped solve the ghastly murder of the Howard Beach jogger Karina Vetrano. Scarcella has been famous, and infamous, for far longer. In the 1980s, during one of the worst crime waves the city has ever known, Scarcella  a flashy second-generation detective from Bensonhurst  became renowned for a sterling arrest record in high-profile murder cases and a preternatural ability to coax confessions.

In 2013, however, allegations emerged that Scarcella had fabricated the confession in the case of the notorious 1990 murder of Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger. The suspect, David Ranta, was freed after 22 years in prison. That sparked a chain reaction. To date, 12 Scarcella-related convictions have been overturned. That includes the double-murder conviction of Shabaka Shakur, whos since opened a Brooklyn restaurant thats become something of a hangout for fellow arrestees of Scarcellas. Lawsuit payouts from the city and the state in the overturned Scarcella cases now total over $37 million.

I invited you here to show our side, Hieb  who is the president of the RDNY and also served on the NYPDs Joint Terrorist Task Force everywhere from D.C. to Yemen  explained to me. Bad cops are bad cops. Ive locked up bad cops. Running drugs, all that. Lous not a bad cop. Lous a fucking good cop.

Hieb believes the allegations against Scarcella are financially motivated, both from the arrestees and the media. They nitpick on bullshit to make a newspaper article, he says. You write Dirty Cop on the cover of the Post and it sells papers. You say Good Cop. Saves Babies  not selling. Look, we all know abusive cops. But you got assholes that are police officers, you got assholes that are plumbers, you got assholes that are newspaper writers. When I fuck up it sells papers. When you fuck up nobody cares.

The Brooklyn DA is currently conducting an ongoing investigation of roughly 70 of Scarcellas old cases. The DA, however, has been clear that it is not accusing Scarcella directly of criminal wrongdoing. As the Times pointed out earlier this year, by not charging Scarcella the district attorneys office has relieved itself of a handful of unpleasant consequences, including even bigger payouts. As Hieb sees it: Hes been exonerated of any wrongdoing! Hes been exonerated!

A few minutes later, the evenings program begins. Hieb presides at a central table alongside a kindly white-haired priest and RDNYs chairman of the board, a pugnacious sexagenarian named Johnny Wilde. To their right is a poster reading When you throw the police under the bus tragedies happen. It features a cop staring down a literal parked bus, as if to say, not today, friend.

The task of speechifying Scarcella falls to Wilde, and hes fiery from go: We wore that shield, and there aint nobody in the world can ever do anything against our shield! Wilde recalls seeing Scarcella on the news in the Brooklyn courthouses, and how disgusted he was, and how he would have gotten down there to show support himself  but, uh, bad news trying to get to Brooklyn to go to the courthouse, cause you cant park when youre out there. The crowd murmurs in acknowledgment of the tricky parking situation.

They called him Detective Disgrace, Wilde continues, scoffing. But then again most people think Shades of Blue is a true story. Now theres some murmurs of confusion. Shades of Blue, Wilde says again. Its on NBC. It stars J.Lo and Ray Liotta.

Wilde circles back to his point: that Scarcella has been officially cleared of all charges. It wound up on page 16. You gotta get past the weather and everything. You never saw it. So now were saying: Lou Scarcella did nothing wrong. So what the hell is yous trying to pull?

As Scarcella comes up to the podium to receive his statuette, the room breaks out into a standing ovation complete with whistles and shouts of Louie! Louie! Barely fighting off tears, he promises, Im not gonna say anything bad about anyone.

Afterward, I grab a few minutes with Scarcella. The first thing he says is, I cant say anything about any cases. The only way hed be prosecuted now is if he perjures himself while in court for the reinvestigations of his old cases. Of the RDNY statuette, he says, It was wonderful, what they did. One of the greatest honors of my life.

Why do you think they did it now, I ask? Well, I guess they thought it was time. Enough was enough. And it wasnt only about me. It was about all the detectives that carry the shield in New York City.

Do you think this will change your public perception? I have nothing to say about public perception. These are my friends, these are detectives I work with. Theyre honorable men and the greatest detectives in the world.

Photo: Courtesy of RDNY

Wilde sidles up next to me, so I ask, How did you make the decision to honor Scarcella now? And what about the people that would say this was disrespectful to  We honor! We honor! Wilde shouts. We did justice for the people of New York. All the citizens. Thats all. If they cant get over it, get a life. Get a life! Go out and do it before you talk about it. Get a life!

Someone grabs Wilde. You gotta come eat the cake with your hands! I go to look for Scarcella. Hes already made his way outside, where hes waiting patiently for the valet.

Before the night is up, John Russo would get his turn at the podium. Honoring him would be the mother of Karina Vetrano, whose murder Russo solved. Visibly shaken, Ms. Vetrano would say, Detective Russo  there are no words. Its a horrible world where people have no respect for the police. I wanted to thank you for the service you provide people like me every single day. Thats the only thing that held me up through this.

Russo helped find the Howard Beach attacker by flashing back to a suspicious person 911 call hed followed up on months before. Its a true iteration of that classic, cinematic detectives intuition that cops love to valorize. Its the same one Scarcella was so famous for before the allegations appeared to suggest he was just making all that shit up. But Russo, working on his hunch, eventually helped the NYPD connect the murderer to the Vetrano case with DNA evidence.

Photo: Courtesy of RDNY

The allegations against Scarcella conjure up corruption  and speak to why so many New Yorkers distrust and fear the NYPD. Russos investigative craftiness exemplifies the kind of unspeakable relief only the police can provide. A gulf exists between the extremes, with all the good and the bad and the indifferent and the incompetent that also exists in New York policing. But in the back room of ONeills, theres not much appetite for nuance. Here, all cops are working their asses off to protect and to serve, and if you never wore the shield youll never understand what its like.

Before I leave the bar I circle back with Hieb and a couple other ex-cops having a few last rounds. The priests collar is loose by now. I ask Hieb one more question. Relations between the people and the police dont seem to be too good right now. So what would he advise cops today? Just do your job, he says. Common sense prevails. Right is right.
Farrow paid for his own camera crew to interview an accuser after NBC refused. Photo: Alexander Koerner/Getty Images

Its been a rough time for NBC News. Megyn Kellys recent morning-show debut was poorly received, and now shes reportedly dragging down the ratings of the Today show franchise. This week, President Trump focused his frequent media attacks on NBC, suggesting that the networks broadcast license should be revoked for its unflattering coverage (though thats not how the FCC operates).

Now, NBC is facing ugly questions about something it didnt do. Two days ago, Ronan Farrow published a blockbuster Harvey Weinstein expose in The New Yorker, which followed a report last week in the New York Times on the film moguls long history of alleged sexual harassment and assault. Farrows piece includes allegations from three women that Weinstein raped them, and an audio recording of Weinstein trying to bully model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez into entering his hotel room, and admitting that he touched her breast the previous day. Farrow spent months reporting the story at NBC, so why did the network ultimately decide not to run it?

Rachel Maddow put the question to Farrow in an interview on Tuesday night (which, to add another layer, aired on MSNBC). Initially, Farrow said he didnt want to discuss the specifics of NBCs decision, but noted that over the years many outlets tried to report the story and faced intense pressure from Weinstein. But when Maddow said NBC was claiming the story wasnt in good shape when Farrow brought it to them, he defended his work.

I walked into the door at The New Yorker with an explosively reportable piece that should have been public earlier, he said. And immediately, obviously, The New Yorker recognized that and it is not accurate to say that it wasnt reportable. In fact, there were multiple determinations that it was reportable at NBC.

Farrow has said repeatedly that he wants the focus to remain on those who decided to go public, shedding light on Weinsteins long-rumored mistreatment of women. Hes right that the primary issue is Weinsteins allegedly despicable, and possibly even criminal, behavior. But NBCs failure to run the piece  which comes almost exactly a year after it sat on the Donald Trump Access Hollywood video  has raised concerns both inside and outside the network about why it passed up two explosive reports on sexual-harassment allegations by powerful men.

NBC moved quickly to counter Farrows claim that they should have run his story. By Wednesday morning, an anonymous NBC source had told several outlets that Farrows early reporting didnt meet the standard to go forward with a story; it was nowhere close to what ultimately ran in The New York Times or The New Yorker  for example, at that time he didnt have one accuser willing to go on the record or identify themselves.

Farrow started reporting the story in January, and according to multiple outlets, he had several significant scoops by July. The first was an on-camera interview with actress Rose McGowan, who received a $100,000 settlement from Weinstein in 1997 related to an incident that occurred in a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival. Later McGowan withdrew her permission to use the footage, reportedly because it could have sparked a lawsuit under the terms of her settlement. In his article, Farrow notes that an unnamed actress asked to remove her allegation from the piece, saying, The legal angle is coming at me and I have no recourse.

But by that point Farrow had another coup: He had obtained the Gutierrez audio, which was recorded with the help of the NYPD after Gutierrez told police that Weinstein groped her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt.

Many journalists had been chasing the audio, and according to the HuffPost, Farrow was eager to publish smaller reports on Weinstein, in the hope that it would encourage more women to go public with their claims. But several NBC executives and producers said that wasnt enough for an on-air report, and a story he and NBC News investigative producer Rich McHugh prepared for the web didnt run either.

Farrow kept working, and by July he had on-camera interviews with accusers, and had talked with with several former Miramax and Weinstein Co. executives. Sources said Farrows story had cleared NBCs fact-checking and legal process, and another NBC investigative journalist rereported Farrows work and said it was solid. But HuffPost reports that Farrow was then told that NBCs top executives, including NBC News Chairman Andy Lack, would have to review the story, which is not common practice.

The network reportedly concluded that Farrow still didnt have enough to air the story  but they also said he should stop reporting the story. Around that time, a woman accusing Weinstein of rape agreed to appear on camera, in shadow. According to the New York Times, NBC wanted to postpone the interview. Eventually they agreed to let Farrow conduct it, but he could not use network resources. Farrow conducted the interview anyway, paying for a camera crew out of his own pocket.

In the course of his reporting, Farrow interviewed the New Yorkers Ken Auletta, who had tried to write about Weinsteins predatory behavior himself years earlier. He said on camera that it would be a scandal if NBC did not allow the story to air. Auletta arranged for Farrow to meet with New Yorker editor David Remnick, and eventually NBC said the story could go to the magazine.

NBC News president Noah Oppenheim pushed back on the idea that he and other network executives were dragging their feet on the story during a town hall meeting with employees on Wednesday.

Ronan, who was not working for us exclusively, began reporting on that story for NBC. We are proud of that, Oppenheim said. We launched him on that story, we encouraged him to report that story. We supported him and gave him resources to report that story over many, many months. The notion that we would try to cover for a powerful person is deeply offensive to all of us.

Oppenheim attends the Hollywood premiere of Jackie on November 14, 2016. Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AFI

Oppenheim then repeated the claim that NBC did not believe the story was publishable:
Wanted. Photo: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Donald Trump campaigned for the presidency as the law-and-order candidate  a leader who would make life harder for criminals (and suspected criminals), and easier for Americas embattled law enforcement officers.

In one sense, Trump has made good on this promise: When African-Americans basic civil liberties and the freedom of individual cops to fight crime as they see fit have come into conflict, the Trump administration has prioritized the latter. Earlier this year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Justice Department would scale back investigations into civil-rights abuses by American police departments, even though previous investigations had revealed that police departments in Chicago, Ferguson, and Baltimore routinely violated the rights of their black constituents.

Still, there is a limit to the Trump administrations fealty to the police. And when the financial interests of gun manufacturers have been at odds with the safety of American cops, the White House has sided with the arms merchants.

The United States does not have a whole lot of restrictions on who can purchase firearms. Still, the Brady Handgun Prevention Act stipulates that when a gun dealer runs a background check, and finds that a would-be customer is a fugitive from justice, they cant sell that person a gun. But theres been a decade-long dispute between the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives about who, precisely, counts as a fugitive.

The FBI has argued that anyone with an outstanding warrant is a fugitive, at least for the purposes of the Brady law. The ATF has insisted that only people with outstanding warrants who have crossed state lines to avoid prosecution are fugitives. Earlier this year, the Trump Justice Department took the ATFs side  and drastically narrowed the category of suspected criminals who are legally barred from purchasing firearms.

This week, the the Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained FBI records that document the far-reaching consequences of this administrative change:

Although the revision has only been in effect for six months, there has already been a noticeable dip in the number of gun sales denied because the potential buyer was a fugitive from justice. According to NICS data, there was an 80 percent decline, compared to the same period in 2016.

The FBI records show that 518,670 names have been removed from the nationwide background check database, meaning those individuals would not automatically be banned from obtaining a gun. Nationwide, there were 1,581 gun sales or carry permits sought by fugitives that were declined between March and August in 2016; 18 percent of all denials. This year, there were 321 denials based on entries in the fugitive from justice category in NICS, or 4 percent of all denials nationwide.

I cannot believe this has happened, Vernon Keenan, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, told the paper. I told them this is a problem.

Blue lives matter to this White House. But apparently, ensuring that suspected criminals can purchase assault weapons  even while evading active warrants for their arrest  matters just a little bit more.
Its not clear the president understands the damage his pending executive order would do to the poorer and sicker people who depend on Obamacare. Photo: Andrew Harrer

For a couple of weeks now, the president has been promising  or threatening, depending on how you look at it  to accomplish by executive order what the Republican Congress has failed to achieve this year: liberating a lot of Americans from the horrors of Obamacare, and letting them buy insurance across state lines  one of the few health-care strategies Trump has consistently supported.

Now the moment seems to be nigh, and although there are a fair number of questions we cannot answer until the executive order is formally released, the basic idea appears to be an expansion of the kinds of entities who can take advantage of so-called association health plans  group insurance plans normally available to trade associations and other groups of businesspeople  and then a reclassification of these plans so that they do not have to comply with Obamacare regulations. Its sort of a Great Escape from Obamacare for small businesses and perhaps even individuals (one of those hazy details we dont know yet).

The across-state-lines aspect of this plan  a big deal in the pre-Obamacare days when there were few if any national standards for health insurance  would not be nearly as significant as the exemption from Obamacares essential health benefits and preexisting-conditions requirements. And virtually everyone who has looked at the idea believes it would mostly attract younger and healthier consumers seeking cheaper and skimpier health plans, leaving older, sicker, and therefore more expensive people to sink the remaining Obamacare exchanges with their costly problems.

That would be just fine with a lot of conservatives, such as Kentucky senator Rand Paul, who not only considers Obamacare to be an abomination, but who has always been a fan of association health plans as a way for businesses and, potentially, individuals to band together and get around state health-insurance regulations. Giving the same people a way around national Obamacare regulations makes the whole idea a double treat for those who believe spreading risk among the healthy and the sick is socialism.

The idea of expanding and deregulating association health plans as a stand-alone initiative is especially dangerous when pursued separately from other conservative health-reform ideas that might help counteract some of its effects, such as subsidies for high-risk pools for left behind people with preexisting conditions, or more money for states to come up with their own ways of managing risk.

Depending on its scope, Trumps plan will almost certainly attract legal challenges as an effort  which it most definitely is  to thwart a law with an executive order. But its still a real threat to the poorer and sicker people who rely on Obamacare.

Health-policy wonk Tim Jost said of the proposed executive order that it would destroy the small-group market . Well be back to where we were before the Affordable Care Act. Thats sort of the big idea here, though its unclear if its proud author understands.
Crime-scene tape surrounds the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on October 2, 2017. Photo: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

Two days after police revised their timeline for the shooting in Las Vegas, which left 58 dead and hundreds injured, a hotel maintenance worker said he told hotel dispatchers to call the police before the mass shooting started.

Originally, police suggested that gunman Stephen Paddock stopped firing on concertgoers from the window of his 32nd-floor suite at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino when he saw hotel security guard Jesus Campos in the hallway outside his room. Campos, who took a non-fatal shot to the leg, was credited with protecting a maintenance worker as Paddock fired dozens of shots into the hall. When police entered the room they found Paddock had killed himself.

This week, police said Campos was actually shot about six minutes before Paddock began firing on the crowd. He called it in before the attack started, possibly using a hallway phone to call hotel security, Clark County Assistant Sheriff Tom Roberts told the L.A. Times. He manually called down and he used his radio to call  Thats what we were briefed this morning.

We just dont know how long it took him to call. Hes getting shot at, hes running, hes getting shot, he finds some cover, thats when he starts calling in, Roberts added.

On Wednesday, the hotel maintenance worker, Stephen Schuck, revealed that he told hotel dispatchers to call the police as well. Like Campos, Schuck was responding to a report of a jammed fire door. When he arrived on the 32nd floor, he heard gunshots and Campos peeked out from an alcove and told him to take cover.

As soon as I started to go to a door to my left the rounds started coming down the hallway, Schuck said. I could feel them pass right behind my head.

It was kind of relentless so I called over the radio what was going on, he said. As soon as the shooting stopped we made our way down the hallway and took cover again and then the shooting started again.

In an audio recording of Schucks call, hes heard telling his maintenance department supervisor, Call the police, someones firing a gun up here. Someones firing a rifle on the 32nd floor down the hallway.

On Wednesday, the AP reported that when the hotel called police Paddock had already started firing on concertgoers.

The timeline shift raised questions about how police and hotel security responded to the shooting, and MGM Resorts, which owns the hotel, cast doubts on the new version of events. We cannot be certain about the most recent timeline that has been communicated publically, [sic] and we believe what is currently being expressed may not be accurate, the company said in a statement.

The issue is now the focus of a lawsuit, which is likely the first of many. Shooting victim Paige Gasper is suing Mandalay Bay, MGM Resorts, concert promoter Live Nation, and the maker of bump stocks, a device that allowed Paddock to fire more quickly. Gasper, a 21-year-old concertgoer who was shot in the underarm, says MGM Resorts breached their duty of reasonable care and failed to keep the hotel in a reasonably safe condition, alleging that hotel staffers did not respond quickly enough after learning of the shooting.

Joseph Lombardo, the Las Vegas sheriff, said in interviews on Wednesday that the investigation is complex, and the timeline may change again. Nobodys trying to be nefarious, nobodys trying to hide anything, and what we want to do is draw the most accurate picture we can, he said.

Lombardo has also defended how hotel workers and police responded to the shooting. He said officers were on the floor two minutes after Paddock stopped firing, and did everything right. He suggested people are focusing on the response because there are still no clues about Paddocks motive.

I think people are looking for a fall guy, as usual as a result of post-evaluation of any critical incident, and there isnt one there, he said. No matter what the timeline is, the response was as quick as possible, and I dont think the response could have been any faster.
Residents of Kabwoya sub-county in Hoima district are demanding over Shs 2 billion in compensation from Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) and Collin Construction Company for lost property during the Kaiso- Tonya road works.



The affected residents are drawn from Kyenjojo, Hohwa, Kaseta, Nyanseke Kataaba and Kabaale villages, all in Kabwoya sub-county. The road passes through the village of Kabaale, in Buseruka county, the location of the Uganda's oil refinery under construction.



The petition by the residents came up for mention before Justice Albert Rugadya Atwooki yesterday and was adjourned to February 15, 2018.

Kaiso-Tonya road, one of the 'oil roads'

Aplha Opio, the LC V councilor Kabwoya sub-county, says during the road works in 2013 the contractors blasted rocks, which damaged resident's property.

"During the construction works of Hoima-Kaiso, one of the oil roads in the region, there was rock blasting in the areas in the villages of Hohwa, Kyenjonjo. And similarly, there was a quarry plant that was set by Collin Construction Company next to their camp in Kataaba.

During the rock blasting, stones could explode and this caused destruction of properties, crops and even animals. Most of the houses around those villages developed cracks and became uninhabitable and people abandoned them. People no longer even use these houses", said Opio.



According to Opio, residents opted to go to court when after trying to engage the office of the Resident District Commissioner on the matter without success.

"We tried to engage the office of the RDC to have an amicable way of solving this but Unra and Collin did not respond well that why in 2015 the matter was brought to this honourable court of Masindi and were happy that the case is proceeding on well."



Robert Irumba, the lawyer of the project affected persons, says they are seeking over Shs 2 billion.

The total claim is Shs 2-point something billion and so far the witnesses for plaintiffs are almost done. We are left with one, the chairman of Kyenjonjo but court has decided we first go to the ground, establish the facts on the ground, look at the damaged properties then we shall come back to court to proceed with the hearing then after court will determine the matter", Irumba said.



On Friday this week, Justice Albert Rugadya Atwooki, the Masindi resident judge will visit the affected area on a fact finding mission.
Child Marriage Restraint Bill is un-Islamic: Senate

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Wednesday rejected The Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and said it was un-Islamic.



The bill was rejected even though the mover of the bill was not present though three other bills were deferred for the same reason.



The chairman of the committee, Rehman Malik said the bill, which suggests increasing the minimum age for girls to marry from 16 to 18, was contrary to Islamic injunctions.



I have also discussed it with religious scholars and they also believe that girls can be married before the age of 18 according to Islam, so these kinds of bills cannot be passed, he announced.



Despite not being bound by procedure, parliamentarians normally ask the opinion of the Council of Islamic Ideology regarding certain bills. However, the council has been without a head for almost a year and cannot give an opinion. Parliamentarians have therefore been resorting to asking the opinion of Islamic scholars in their individual capacity.



The mover of the bill, Senator Sehar Kamran, was not present and it was decided to hold a voting on the bill without the mover and it was rejected.



Talking to media men, Senator Kamran said she had asked Mr Malik to defer the bill as she would not be able to attend the meeting and that she wanted to convince members about the draft law.



She said Pakistani citizens are not issued CNICs and driving licences before the age of 18 and that they are also not allowed to vote. Then how can they be allowed to marry before that, she asked.



Girls as young as 10 are being married off in Pakistan even though the legal minimum age for getting married is 16 and this is because they do not get their CNICs made. That is why I suggested the minimum age for getting married be raised to 18. If the government thinks 16-year-old girls are adults, they should also be issued driving licenses and allowed to cast votes, Ms Kamran said.



The Senator said that because of the vague law, pre-teen girls are being married off to men four times their age and that due to this, they are deprived of an education, get physically weak and develop complications from early pregnancies, some even resulting in death.



This bill was important for addressing these issues, she said.



The draft bill, available with Dawn, says the leading cause of death for girls between the ages of 15 and 18 is pregnancy. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child also suggests the minimum age for marriage should be 18.



The practice of marrying off young girls is common in Pakistan, particularly in low-income families but action cannot be taken against offenders and that the minimum age should therefore be increased to 18.



One of the committee members, Tahir Hussein Mashhadi told reporers though he had voted to reject the bill, he believed that children are robbed of their innocence and youth due to early marriages and that there is a need to look into the matter.



The chairman was of the view that girls of less than 18 years of age could be married off according to Islam and that the bill was therefore against Islam, he said.



However, it is a fact that children need to be protected and society should also look at moralities. We snatch innocence and youth from children with early marriages. In the past, girls were strong, healthy and more responsible, but the girls of today are not mature and healthy enough to take on the responsibilities of marriage. All these things need to be considered when doing legislation, he said.
Hussain-Hassan Nawaz to be declared PO if not appeared within 30 days: NAB

LAHORE: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has given ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharifs sons  Hussain and Hassan  30 days to appear before the Islamabad accountability court, otherwise they will be declared proclaimed offenders (PO) and their properties attached.



Hussain and Hassan have decided in principle not to join the proceedings of the corruption references against them.



On Wednesday, NAB officials pasted copies of the notice at the Model Town and Jati Umra residences of the Sharif family. The former prime ministers sons are required to appear before the trial court within 30 days, starting from Oct 11, otherwise they would be declared proclaimed offenders and their properties would be attached.



The process of issuing red warrants for Mr Sharifs sons will begin after the completion of 30 days (on Nov 10), if they do not appear before court, a NAB prosecutor told Dawn.



On Oct 9, the accountability court in Islamabad ordered NAB to initiate the process of declaring the former premiers sons POs, as they have consistently skipped the courts proceedings in three graft references pertaining to their Park Lane flats and the establishment of offshore companies. Mr Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law retired Capt Muhammad Safdar will be indicted on Oct 13.



According to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders, Hassan and Hussain have chosen to invoke their foreign citizenship in order to skip the court proceedings in Pakistan. They are foreign citizens and Pakistani laws do not apply to them, therefore they are unlikely to join the court proceedings against them here, PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rashid told Dawn.



He said because Mr Sharifs sons had been doing business abroad for over two decades, their financial matters were open for scrutiny in Britain and Saudi Arabia. All their business affairs are being run according to the laws of the land there, Senator Rashid said, adding that Mr Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law would, however, continue to attend court proceedings in the NAB references.



Another PML-N leader said the two brothers were British citizens and could hence take shelter behind Britains laws because they considered the proceedings in Pakistan to be politically motivated.



It will be difficult for NAB to bring them back through red warrants as Pakistan and the UK do not have an extradition treaty, he said, adding that Mr Sharifs sons had doubts about getting justice in this case. Foreseeing the verdict, they have asked their father to stay with them in London. It is anybodys guess whether Mr Sharif will take his sons advice, he said.



In respond to a question of whether the brothers owned property in Pakistan, the PML-N leader said: So far, what we know is that they do not have any property under their names in Pakistan.



Maryam Nawaz arrived in Lahore from Islamabad on Tuesday on a special plane. She stayed at the home of her son-in-law, which is located on The Mall, rather than going to her Jati Umra residence.



Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Begum Mehnaz Rafi has questioned why Maryam had been given a government-owned plane to use for personal reasons.



Under what legal capacity was the government-owned plane used to transport her (Maryam) from Islamabad to Lahore. Why are the governments resources being used for a suspect in graft references? The court must take notice of this, Ms Rafi demanded.
Ishaq Dar appeared before an accountability court

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar appeared before an accountability court in Islamabad on Thursday as trial into National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) graft case against him resumed.



The court had indicted Dar last month in a reference pertaining to his owning assets beyond his known sources of income.



As the hearing began on Thursday, NAB presented before the court two witnesses who testified against the finance minister. The witnesses are Al-Baraka Bank Senior Vice-President Tariq Javed and Shahid Aziz of the National Investment Trust (NIT).



In his testimony, Aziz informed the court that Dar had invested Rs120 million as finance minister in 2015, but he withdrew this money from the trust after the Panama Papers case started in January 2017. NIT is the first asset management company of Pakistan that was formed in 1962, according to its website.



Javed of Al-Baraka Bank informed the court that Dar opened an account in the bank's Lahore branch in 1991. He said the minister's wife, Tabassum Ishaq Dar, too holds an account in the bank and owns a company named HDS Securities Private Limited.



Dar's lawyer Khawaja Haris is cross-examining the witnesses and questioning whether the documents produced by them are legitimate. The witnesses have claimed that all documents submitted by them against Dar are genuine and attested.

First witness



At the last hearing on October 4, Dars lawyer had raised questions regarding the relevance of the first prosecution witness and objected to the admissibility of evidence procured from the witness by NAB.



The counsel made the objections after Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir recorded the statement of Bank Al-Falah Manager Operations Ishtiaq Ali, in whose branch Dar held a personal and company account until 2006.



NAB Special Prosecutor Imran Shafiq produced the witness and exhibited the relevant documents in the assets reference against Dar, which defense counsel Khawaja Haris described as completely irrelevant.



Ali then told the court that his bank had received three letters from NAB on August 16, 2017, requiring details of Ishaq Dars bank accounts. In compliance, the banks account manager submitted documents pertaining to a company named HDS Securities Pvt Ltd on August 27 and 28.



He said the last transaction from the companys account was made on July 25, 2005, while the account was formally closed on February 2, 2016.



During cross-examination, Advocate Haris pointed out that NAB did not summon the record related to HDS Securities. He also pointed out that the original documents were somewhat different from the certified copies the bank had provided to the prosecution, saying that the photocopies did not reflect the official bank stamp.



During cross-questioning, the witness admitted that he did not prepare these documents, nor was he their author. He also could not produce any evidence to show whether he was the custodian of the warehouse where the bank kept such documentation.



Advocate Haris concluded the cross-examination saying: the evidence produced by the witness is inadmissible, since none of the documents were prepared or executed by the witness.



On July 28, a five-member Supreme Court bench had ordered NAB to file three references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and one against Dar, on petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insafs Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islamis Sirajul Haq and Awami Muslim Leagues Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.



In its reference against the finance minister, NAB has alleged that the accused has acquired assets and pecuniary interests/resources in his own name and/or in the name of his dependants of an approximate amount of Rs831.678 million (approx).
We are looking for briquettes manufacturerers or traders from the Ukraine and Russia for Pini&Kay, RUF and Nestro (round with hole; round without hole).

Just full trucks, possible without labels (a lot lower price), deliveries directly to Germany top company.

No traders between, you are dealing with one of the top german companies in the segment.You can contact me at anytime...

product: Pini&Kay:

Min. 10 kg each unit

Type of wood: hardwood

Form: 8 square or 4 square

Colour: dark brown

Size: 225-240 mm x 65 mm x 65 mm

Weight of each briquette: 0,8334 kg (0,5%)

Each unit: min. 10 kg

Moisture: 6-12%

Ash: less than 1%

Heat value: min. 18 MJ/kg

Label: Hamann Mercatus

Norm: DIN 51735

Packaging - quantity: 96 pieces and 10kg (net) on each pallet

Briquetting compacted from a non-treated tree, without any kind of foreign materials, including primarily chemical.

Packaging: pallets / parcels secured for transportation, parcels not protruding beyond pallet format (foil, bandage)

External dimension of the pallet: 800 mm x 1200 mm

At least 100 mm clearance on fork insertion

Thickness of boards is min. 22 mm.

Fork lift possible from 4 pages.

Label for each unit of sales and in each package/unit.

product: RUF briquette / sawdust briquette

Min. 10 kg each unit

Type of wood: pine, spruce or others (please answer which ones)

Dimensions: approx. 155 x 95 x 65 mm

Weight: min .: 0.834 kg

Humidity: 6-12%

Ashes: <1%

heat value: 18.0 MJ / kg

Label: Hamann Mercatus

Norm: DIN 51735

Packaging - quantity: 96 pieces and 10kg (net) on each pallet

Briquetting compacted from a non-treated tree, without any kind of foreign materials, including primarily chemical.

Packaging: pallets / parcels secured for transportation, parcels not protruding beyond pallet format (foil, bandage)

External dimension of the pallet: 800 mm x 1200 mm

At least 100 mm clearance on fork insertion

Thickness of boards is min. 22 mm.

Fork lift possible from 4 pages.

Label for each unit of sales and in each package/unit.

product: Nestro with and without hole:

Type of wood: hardwood

Diameter: ca. 90 mm

Weight: min . 10 kg (net) each single unit

Humidity: 6-12%

Ashes: <1,5 %

heat value: min. 18.0 MJ / kg

Label: Hamann Mercatus

Norm: DIN 51735

Packaging - quantity: 96 pieces and 10kg (net) on each pallet or 100 pieces and 10 kg (net) on each pallet

Briquetting compacted from a non-treated trees, without any kind of foreign materials, including primarily chemical.

Packaging: pallets / parcels secured for transportation, parcels not protruding beyond pallet format (foil, bandage)

External dimension of the pallet: 800 mm x 1200 mm

At least 100 mm clearance on fork insertion

Thickness of boards is min. 22 mm.

Fork lift possible from 4 pages.

Label for each unit of sales and in each package/unit.



Please calculate: DAP (incoterms)

Andernach 56626 - D

Frankfurt/Oder 15232  D

Also purchase of briquettes without labels is possible, but of course the prices will be a lot lower.
Aeromart Summit Clark - Philippines

The Philippines aerospace industry is projected to become one of the fastest-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific region. It is indeed expected to generate more than 2.5 billion USD by 2022 (the industry generated 800 million USD in 2013).

With support from the government, the local industry is aggressively pushing for the development of the sector while it entices aerospace companies to set up global operations in the country.

The country contributes to 20% of the OEM business globally with its production of landing gear systems, actuation systems and interiors.

In this context, BCI Aerospace organizes the first edition of Aeromart Summit Clark - Philippines, an international business convention which will give the opportunity to interact with local businesses and officials, visit facilities and increase the knowledge of the regions business potential.

Institutional Support From

With Industrial Support from
Rep. Elise Stefaink, R-Willsboro, addressed the House from the floor on National Farmers Day. Listen to her speech or read the text below:

Mr. Speaker, when you eat today, you can thank a farmer.

Across this great nation, over 3 million farmers work tirelessly each day to produce the food that feeds our families and keeps our country running.

From Graceway Dairy Farm in Lowville to Everett Orchards in Peru, Ive been blessed to meet with so many farmers that make up the backbone of our North Country economy.

Many of these family farms in my district produce dairy, apples, honey, wine, and the most delicious maple in the country.

And as Congress works on the next farm bill, we need to focus on supporting those who support our nations food supply.

Mr. Speaker, today, on National Farmers Day, I urge my colleagues to join me in thanking the men and women who rise before the sun each and every day to make sure our families are fed.

Thank you and I yield back.
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An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three children have been freed from captivity by Pakistani security forces, nearly five years after being taken hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The initial word came from a Pakistani Army statement and was confirmed by US officials.

The couple, American Caitlan Coleman, 31, and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, 33, were kidnapped by the Taliban in 2012 while they were traveling as tourists in Afghanistan and were held in captivity since.

Coleman was pregnant when she was kidnapped. The couple had two more children born in captivity.

In a statement, the Pakistani Army said US intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and shared intelligence with Pakistan when the family was moved to the country. US officials confirmed there was intelligence about their location in recent days that was shared with the Pakistanis.

In the initial hours after their release, the family was still in Pakistan as arrangements were being made to return them to either the US or Canada.

"The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from US authorities was successful; all hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin," the statement said. "The success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan's continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy."

CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen spoke Thurday to Boyle's parents, Patrick and Linda Boyle, who have spoken to their son since his being freed from captivity. Patrick Boyle said that all of the recovered family members are OK. The parents also learned for the first time that they now have a granddaughter.

A Pakistani military official told CNN that the recovery operation was conducted by Pakistani intelligence agents with the Pakistani military helping to secure the perimeter. He said that the operation took place in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in northwestern Pakistan while the family was being transported from one location to another.

President Donald Trump issued a statement Thursday confirming the recovery of the hostages and praising Pakistan's role.

"The United States government, working in conjunction with the government of Pakistan, secured the release of the Boyle-Coleman family from captivity in Pakistan," the statement said.

"This is a positive moment for our country's relationship with Pakistan," Trump added, saying, "The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region."

Trump has made getting tougher with Pakistan in an effort to get them to crackdown on the Taliban a central tenet of his recently announced strategy for Afghanistan and the wider region.

"We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations," Trump said in the statement.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Thursday that the successful recovery of the family was what was being referenced Wednesday when Trump told a crowd in Pennsylvania that "something happened today where a country that totally disrespected us called with some very, very important news."

Trump did not disclose what country or any details involved but said "one of my generals came in and they said, you know, I have to tell you, a year ago they would have never done that."

"This is a country that did not respect us, this is a country that respects us now. The world is starting to respect us again, believe me," Trump said appearing to reference Pakistan and that country's role in bringing about the the recovery of the four hostages.

US intelligence officials believed the couple was being held by the Haqqani Network, a branch of the Taliban believed to be responsible for some of the group's most violent and sophisticated attacks. In December the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, said the Haqqani Network held a total of five American hostages.

The Taliban released a "proof of life" video of Coleman, Boyle and their two children in December 2016 where Coleman addressed President Barack Obama and then President-elect Trump, saying the Taliban "are not going to simply release our family easily, because it is correct. They want money, power and friends. ... We are told there are Afghans who are prisoners in Kabul that these men care about."

The Afghan government has captured several senior members of the Haqqani Network and US officials believed the Taliban faction had hoped to exchange American hostages for their release.

The US military has long believed that Pakistan's principal intelligence organization, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, has maintained links with the Taliban, particularly the Haqqani Network.

"I think it's clear to me that the ISI has connections with terrorist groups," Gen. Joseph Dunford, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate Armed Services Hearing on Afghanistan and South Asia last week, using the Pakistan intelligence agency's acronym.

Trump has previously slammed Pakistan for not doing enough to combat terrorist groups like the Haqqani Network.

Trump has made getting tougher with Pakistan in an effort to get them to crack-down on the Taliban a central tenant of his recently announced strategy for Afghanistan and the wider region.

"We can no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond," Trump said during his August speech announcing the new strategy.

And while Trump labeled Pakistan "a valued partner" in the past, he also said the US had "been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting."

"That will have to change, and that will change immediately," Trump added, saying "No partnership can survive a country's harboring of militants and terrorists who target U.S. service members and officials."

Secretary of Defense James Mattis has already withheld millions in military funding from Pakistan due to the Pentagon's view that Islamabad has not "taken sufficient action against the Haqqani Network."

The Taliban continue to hold other western hostages including US citizen Kevin King, 60, and Australian citizen Timothy Weeks, 48. Both men were working as teachers at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul when they were forcibly kidnapped from a vehicle in August 2016.

In September, three administration officials told CNN that US Special Operations Forces from SEAL Team 6 attempted to rescue the two teachers shortly after they were kidnapped but the captives were not at the location the US forces raided.

One other American is believed to be held hostage in Afghanistan or Pakistan: writer Paul Overby, who is in his 70s.
Third-Ward voters in Glens Falls have two good choices as they select their Common Council representative for the next four years.

At first glance, Rachel Murray and Diana Palmer have a lot in common.

Both are young professional women with young families who we found to be well-versed in the challenges facing the city.

Both expressed a great love for the community and what makes it unique  neighborhood schools, safe streets and neighborhoods, and a great place to raise children.

Both cited taxes, rundown properties, infrastructure, high water bills and a need to grow the tax base as important issues that need to be addressed.

But there was one glaring difference between the candidates  experience.

Murray, who grew up in the Third Ward before moving away, has spent the past five years doing turns on the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board.

I just love the Planning Board, she said.

Anyone who has ever been to one of these meetings knows this is where the minutiae of city government is worked out, and disputes settled. Many find the work tedious and boring. That Murray loves the work means she has the temperament to deal with other complicated and less glamorous problems facing the city.

These boards are great preparation for serving on the Common Council.

Murray works in the family business as an insurance adjuster and her work there is also good preparation for the issues the council deals with.

Murray pointed out she regularly goes into peoples homes in stressful situations and has to deliver bad news about what their insurance will and will not cover. She also has previous experience working in social services. Both careers give her valuable insights into issues affecting the citizens.

We also like her back story.

After growing up in Glens Falls, she lived and worked in larger communities around the country  Oregon, Philadelphia, outside Washington, D.C., and the Jersey shore  before finally moving back to Glens Falls in 2010 to raise her children. She said she wanted the same experiences that she had as a child. She has had the opportunity to experience other communities to give her context about life here in Glens Falls.

She said her husband jokes they moved here and got half the house and twice the taxes, but then gushes about her love for the schools, Crandall Park and the library.

I came back here with a different perspective, Murray said.

Palmer, who is a therapist in private practice at True North in Glens Falls, was equally effusive about her love for the city, schools and the environment. She moved here from California in 2014.

She also made the case that as a therapist she often specializes in conflict resolution to help people go forward in their lives.

Although she does not have the same type of board experience as her opponent, Palmer has been an officer on the Kensington Road Elementary School PTA and a volunteer for the Open Door Mission and the Red Cross disastermental health team.

She has also showed she is a quick study. When voters asked her about why the water bills were billed the way they were, Palmer contacted the superintendent of the water department to get answers. She says she now understands the issue better and found the city is working on alternative ways to do the billing.

Both showed concern about the rundown properties in the city and favored more aggressive enforcement.

But when it came to where each stood on the potential for police consolidation with Warren County, both hesitated.

Palmer said she is open-minded, but needed to know more.

Murray also said she would be open-minded, but said she would not be afraid to back consolidation if she believed it would be in the best interest of the city.

We believe residents in any of the citys five wards would feel lucky to have either as a representative on the Common Council.

It is a shame both cant serve.

But because of her experience, that candidate should be Murray.
Editor:

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Cancer Services Program (CSP) of Warren, Washington and Hamilton Counties at Glens Falls Hospital would like to take this opportunity to remind your readers about the importance of getting screened for breast cancer. With regular screening, breast cancer is more likely to be detected at an earlier stage when treatment may be most successful. Early detection can save lives and regular screening is the key to early detection.

According to data from the New York State Department of Health, there are certain populations of women who are less likely to have received a mammogram as recommended. These women are often uninsured and without a primary health care provider. The CSP provides life-saving mammograms to eligible women without health insurance, and can help them find a health care provider that they can see regularly. Our program can also help enroll eligible women in the NYS Medicaid Cancer Treatment Program to receive treatment if cancer is found.

Studies show that roughly one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. That means that one out of every eight of your female readers could be at risk for breast cancer. These women are wives, mothers, sisters and friends who are loved, needed and whose lives matter.

We help eligible, uninsured women get free mammograms, and we are here to encourage every woman to get their mammogram. If any woman needs help, call the CSP of Warren, Washington and Hamilton Counties at Glens Falls Hospital at 518-926-6570.

Gail Infante, CR Wood Cancer Center, Glens Falls Hospital
Editor:

Councilman Doug Irish, who serves on the Queensbury Town Board, as well as chairman of the Queensbury Republican Committee, the man who would bring up controversial topics, speak his mind and argue with members of the Town Board, has not attended a town meeting since July 3.

Mr. Irish has been in Fayetteville, North Carolina working in a local community college. In a Post-Star article dated Aug. 28, Mr. Irish stated, He will be able to attend every meeting beginning Sept. 25. Not only did Mr. Irish not show for the Sept. 25 meeting, he failed to show for the Oct. 2 meeting as well.

Mr. Irish, however, has been consistently collecting his annual salary of $18,000 with no problems or interruptions. Mr. Irish in the same Aug. 28 article is quoted as saying if he cant get to meetings soon, I will most likely resign.

The Republican Party, the party of Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln, the party known for fiscal conservatism, sits idly and allows this to occur. Those in office and those running for town office, many of whom tout conservative values and watching out for the local taxpayer, are obviously paying lip service and pandering to the voters, past and present.

New York Public Officers Law addresses the issue regarding Creation of Vacancies. Section four of the New York Law states a vacancy is created when an individual ceases to be an inhabitant of the state. His office under the law is officially vacant.

Mr. Irish and those closely surrounding him and protecting him remind me of the Wizard of Oz. The Scarecrow, a lack of brains, the Tin Man, a lack of heart and the Cowardly Lion, a lack of courage.

P. Brent McDevitt, Queensbury
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
On the first week after the long holidays in China and Taiwan, prices in the supply chain generally remained flat, and only high efficiency product price went down because of the decrease of MIP in Europe and the increase of mono PERC cell capacity. Because Taiwans capacity loses part of the demand from the US and Europe, it suffers pressure of lowering price from the market. Besides, with high material cost, the price is in a weak position this week.

Polysilicon

Under the impact of overhaul and accident, polysilicon effective capacity isnt enough. However, with the shrinking demand from the US Section 201 case and large-scale decreasing demand from downstream such as the utility-scale ground-mounted power stations in China, supply and demand conditions arent tight. This week, polysilicon price mainly remains at RMB 147-150/Kg. Second-level material price and contract price become one level lower: RMB 140-145/Kg. The oversea material price of Chinese market maintains USD 18-18.5/Kg this week. Materials which have lower prices from the US and European manufacturers are lack of supplies.

Si-wafer

Si-wafer price has remained stable this week and each type of product has maintained the same condition before the holidays: diamond wire cut multi-si wafers are in shortfall, slurry wire cut multi-si wafers become secondary necessity good due to the weak demand, and the supply and demand of mono-si wafer are steady. The price of diamond wire cut multi-si wafer this week is RMB 4.5-4.8/pc. Slurry wire cut multi-si wafer price is RMB 4.9-5.2/pc, and mono-si wafer price is RMB 5.8-6/pc.

Although the overall price doesnt change, after diamond wire cut multi-si wafer becomes the mainstream, keep an eye on whether mono-si wafer price will be forced to lower owing to the gap between mono-si and multi-si prices, easing mono PERC PV cell price from pressure.

PV cell

Under the influence of the decrease of MIP in Europe, high efficiency PV cell starts to experience the pressure of bargaining over the price this week. Especially for PERC products, because of the three factors such as the growth of mainstream efficiency, the expansion of capacity and the decrease of basic price on the market, the entire average price declines. Mono PERC products whose efficiency is below 21% is considered as insufficient efficiency. Their speed of lowering in prices may be faster in order to face new capacity competition.

On the other hand, under MIPs regulations in EU, there are 20.5 Euro cents of gap between mono-si PV-cell and module prices, making 290-295W module prefer to finish packaging locally after purchasing oversea PV cell. Therefore, there is a difference between the demand of high and low efficiency PERC products.

On account of the downsizing of European niche market and the decrease of high efficiency product price, Taiwanese PV cells are in hardship again. In 4Q17, if there is no proper demand of Chinese distributed system or Top Runner Program, Taiwanese PV cells will be unable to compete during the halt of insufficient capacity from Chinese manufacturers in the short term. The prices will be under the pressure of decreasing due to the reducing outlet of shipment.

This week, mainstream price of mono-si PERC PV cell with above 21% efficiency is USD 0.3-0.32/W and 20.6-20.9% efficiency PERC PV cell price is USD 0.28-0.3/W. With the end of storage period due to Section 201 case, high efficiency products will largely be imported in Europe. It is expected that further intense competition will appear until the price reaches MIPs range in Europe.

Module

Similarly, module price suffers pressure of lowering because of the two factors which are the decrease of MIP in Europe and the slowing demand because of the US Section 201 case. Currently, larger price drop appears in 290-300W PERC product and the decrease of 0.5-1 pennies for 300W mono-si module, making the price become USD 0.43-0.51/W. 290W is USD 0.42-0.5/W. The rest of the regular efficiency module prices remain steady. For multi-si module,owing to the improvement of technique and efficiency, the cost decreases. In the future, it will be likely to drop in order to face the competition in Chinese module tender projects.
The Illinois Small Business Development Center at Western Illinois University-Quad Cities will host a workshop, Starting a Business in Illinois, from 5-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, and Thursday, Nov. 29, in Complex B, Room 2102 on the WIU-QC campus, 3300 River Drive, Moline.

Each workshop will present the same information including choosing a business name, types of business ownership, licenses and permits, obtaining a tax identification number, business bank accounts, insurance, paying taxes including sales and payroll, and basic record keeping.

Participants interested in the Oct. 25 session must register by Oct. 20. Registration for the Nov. 29 session is open until the day of the workshop.

Participants are encouraged to bring questions and ideas.

To register, visit ilsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/signup.

For more information, call 309-762-3999, ext. 68042.
One of the Davenport Fire Department's top leaders and longest tenured members has passed away.

Fire Marshal and Assistant Chief Mike Hayman, 62, died Thursday afternoon after being admitted to the intensive care unit at Genesis Medical Center-East Rusholme Street, Davenport, on Wednesday.

Hayman was with the Davenport Fire Department for 33 years and left behind a strong legacy.

"I never knew a man who had so much integrity and truly was committed to the people he worked with and the people he worked for, which was our community," former Davenport Fire Chief Lynn Washburn said while fighting back tears. "He was my best friend on the department. I never knew a man with more sense of integrity than him."

Mayor Frank Klipsch, who knew Hayman for 25 years, echoed those sentiments.

"We want everyone to know Mike will be missed, and we will rally around his family to make sure his memory lives on," Klipsch said.

Hayman was the recipient of the Iowa Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators Life Member Award. The Life Member Award is the chapter's most prestigious honor.

In honoring him with the award, the organization recognized Hayman for his commitment to bring training to the eastern half of the state and his continued support of the Annual Training Seminar, which the Davenport Fire Department was highly involved in.

Hayman was a member of the Iowa Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators since 1993.

City Administrator Corri Spiegel has not indicated who will assume the fire marshal and assistant chief position in the interim period.

In a memorandum to the Davenport Civil Service Commission this past week, Spiegel wrote that succession planning for the department's top leadership positions was a key strategic goal with Hayman and Interim Chief Jim Bickford set to retire in early 2019.

Klipsch said those decisions will be made in the upcoming days, but the department was well-equipped to continue to protect the city. The city's focus in the interim period will be on Hayman's family, the fire department and city staff.

"We're focused on being with the family through grieving process and providing support to his fire service family," Klipsch said.

Davenport has had one of the highest arson conviction rates in Iowa, which Scott County Attorney Mike Walton said was partly due to the strong working relationship Hayman built with his office.

Walton called Hayman "the consummate professional" and the "epitome of a dedicated public servant."

"I think Mike and I educated each other about the successful investigation and prosecution of arson crimes," Walton said. "He taught me the science of firefighting and cause determination, and I taught him about the judicial process. He fostered a close working relationship between the Davenport Fire Department and the County Attorneys Office that remains to this day."
Based on historic weather patterns, the Midwestern United States can expect the drought of the century around 2025, according to Elwynn Taylor, a climatologist for Iowa State University Extension, Ames.

Taylor spoke Wednesday in Moline at the 10th annual Upper Mississippi River Conference hosted by River Action Inc., a Davenport-based environmental organization.

While the Earth's climate is changing, some weather cycles recorded by actual data or discerned by studying tree rings is remarkably consistent, Taylor said.

One consistency is the Gleissberg cycle, suggested by scientist Wolfgang Gleissberg, in which changes in solar activity every 89 years corresponds with a major drought in the Midwest, Taylor said.

This happened in 1847, 1936 and will likely happen again around 2025, he said.

Taylor spoke in a session that also included a talk about the "Dead Zone" in the Gulf of Mexico  where we stand and how we're doing. Rebecca Smith, of The Nature Conservancy, a worldwide conservation organization, made these points:

 The "Dead Zone," or area of low oxygen, grew to 8,776 square miles this year, the largest since monitoring began 32 years ago.

The zone is caused by algal blooms that consume oxygen. The blooms are fueled by nutrients, primarily nitrate and phosphorus from agricultural runoff in the Mississippi River.

"It's us. It's coming from us," Smith said.

 The most effective way to reduce the amount of nutrients is to focus on the rivers that contain the most  the Wabash in Indiana, the Illinois in Illinois and the Des Moines and Iowa in Iowa. These basins are "musts," she said.

 Private entities are helping to push change and innovation, and Smith sees great potential in this. One entity is The Fertilizer Institute, based in Washington, D.C., that has adopted a "4R" program for reducing fertilizer runoff.

Those principles are to apply fertilizer at the right location, right time, in the right way and of the right type. "Farmers will listen to their fertilizer man," Smith said.

The other entity is the totality of companies selling food products that have become interested in sustainable corn because their millennial customers are professing an interest in sustainability, Smith said. These include General Mills, Walmart, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, she said.

The river conference continues through today at the TaxSlayer Center, formerly the iWireless Center. Topics this year focus on climate change and nutrient reduction.
One by one, four women positioned their bare feet on yoga mats around the drab-carpeted, makeshift studio in downtown Davenport.

Well start in the mountain pose, Joan Marttila, the instructor, said to begin the session. Thats a pose where we just stand very still.

None of the students had cellphones with them or commitments after class to disturb or distract their focus. Clad in orange jumpsuits, they walked there empty-handed from their cells at Scott County Jail for their weekly 60-minute yoga class.

Timing their breaths and testing their balance and flexibility, the group followed Marttilas step-by-step instructions, transitioning to warrior II, tree pose and other classic stances on their orange mats.

If you feel nice and strong, close your eyes and maybe you can inhale and exhale, feeling the air hit the back of your throat, the calm teacher continued, encouraging her students. On the exhales, maybe you can just let the thoughts of the day go, whatevers been rolling around in your head.

Completely engaged, each of the inmates kept to themselves, quietly copying Marttila's moves.

Taxpayer-free program

Launched in 2012 under former Sheriff Dennis Conard, staff recently named yoga the program of the year at the jail.

The restorative exercise, jail officials said, reduces the inmates stress and anxiety levels and improves their sleep. Many participants take what they learn in class back with them to their rooms.

They leave centered, said MaryBeth Wood, healthcare coordinator at the jail, who initiated the effort, and teaches a weekly class for male inmates. My whole intention is to help them realize they can take a breath and hit the pause button before they make a choice.

The male class is limited to 15 participants, while the female class is capped at eight.

Only inmates housed in the facilitys general population may participate in yoga, or any of the other 60-plus programs offered there, including substance abuse, money management and parenting classes, Sgt. William Hyde, of the Scott County Sheriff's Office, said.

Before they can attend programs, however, prisoners at the direct-supervision jail must exhibit good behavior to move into general population. The activities and classes serve as incentives to reward the inmates for following the rules.

"As long as they cooperate and stay in the general population area, they're allowed to attend programs," said Hyde, who has worked at the jail for 11 1/2 years.

The inmate fund, which is backed by commissary sales and phone call fees, covered the expenses of mats and foam support blocks needed for the yoga program.

Additionally, both instructors, who received training at the Davenport School of Yoga, volunteer their time.

Inspired by other programs around the country, Wood underwent supplementary teacher training in 2012, led by James Fox, the founder of the Prison Yoga Project. He started teaching yoga 15 years ago at San Quentin State Prison in California. The nonprofit organization's commitment to bringing yoga to incarcerated individuals since has spurred the development of 200-plus programs at correctional centers worldwide, including four in Iowa and four in Illinois.

The Scott County Juvenile Detention Center also recently introduced yoga to adolescents.

'My spirit is lifted'

Although Marttila initially felt nervous about entering the jail environment, she has grown to appreciate her role and interactions with female inmates.

"I found out that it's not the way it is on television," she said with a laugh after a recent class. "I think that a lot of times, when we look at people who are incarcerated, we begin to think of them as somewhat less than human, but I find that many of the women here are kind, funny and really good sports."

Marttila teaches a class at St. Peters Episcopal Church in Bettendorf, as well, but she called her time at the jail the "highlight" of her week.

That goes for the inmates, too.

Earlier this month, Linda Leitholf, 52, an inmate who is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and violating her parole, attended her first yoga class at the jail.

I actually feel like my spirit is lifted, said Leitholf, who wears a gold-colored grill, or jewelry, over her top teeth. Im going to look forward to this if Im here for a while.

She accompanied her roommate, Sara McConnell, 39, who is charged with interference with official acts resulting in bodily injury and third-degree robbery.

Yoga allows her to "stretch and release some of my energy," she said.

At the end of the hour, Marttila directed the four inmates to lay flat on their mats with their feet spread apart, their arms at their sides and their palms facing upward.

"Notice how each inhalation enters the body and each exhalation exits the body," she said. "Feel your belly rise and fall."

They remained in that pose, called Shavasana, for several minutes until Marttila instructed them to return to a cross-legged position.

At the end of the yoga classes here I say a word to you, Marttila said, noting they did not have to repeat it back to her if they did not want to. The word is Namaste, which means, 'I honor you.'

"Namaste," she said with her hands folded, bowing her head.

Responded all: Namaste.

When they are released from jail, former inmates may attend classes for free at the Davenport School of Yoga, taught by the studio's founder, Jeani Mackenzie.
The Quad-Cities Association of Evangelicals will sponsor the 14th annual Quad-Cities Night to Honor Israel program at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, at Calvary Church of the Quad-Cities, 4700 53rd St., Moline.

A free-will offering will directly help Jews fleeing from the civil war in Ukraine to Israel and integrating into Israeli society. For more information, contact Allan Ross, executive director of the Jewish Federation of the Quad-Cities at 309-793-1300, aross@jfqc.org, or visit https://www.jfqc.org or www.facebook.com/jewishfedqc.
Butting up to Camden Park in Milan is a wooded area that in the late 1800s was the farm of Henry Bastian. Young men Bastian hired as farm hands worked for a while, then mysteriously disappeared. In time, authorities determined Bastian murdered three of the men, burying two of their bodies on the farm. He may have killed five more.

Bastian might have gotten away with more crimes except that one of the men  a German immigrant named Frederick Kushmann  had relatives in the area who began asking questions. They did not believe Kushmann died in a fall from his horse, as Bastian claimed. As the questions got more intense, Bastian committed suicide.

This account of a long-ago serial killer in the Quad-Cities is one of 16 stories of unusual deaths, hauntings and spirits in a new walking tour titled "The Darker Side of Davenport" that is drawing unprecedented crowds to the German American Heritage Center.

"It's a dark story that you almost cannot believe happened this close to here," said Kyle Dickson, the center's assistant director, who came up with the tour idea. "It also perfectly lines up with our museum's interest as he targeted young German immigrants looking for work."

The Bastian story also bears an eerie resemblance to the serial killings of a pharmacist told in the bestselling "Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. The Chicago pharmacist hired young women with few strong family connections and eventually killed them.

"Oh, exactly," Kelly Lao, executive director of the German center, said of the comparison.

Lao happened upon the Bastian story while reading the blog of the Davenport Public Library's Richardson-Sloane Special Collections department. "Oh, my gosh," Lao said. "There are so many stories. It's a ... gold mine. It's like going down a rabbit hole. You can get lost in it."

Most of the research was done by a summer intern, consulting the library's blog, newspaper archives, the histories of Scott County written by Harry Downer and authors of books about the paranormal. Lao and Dickson contributed, too.

The connection between this creepy, darker side and the German heritage story is that many of the stories involve people of German descent, or occurred in areas of Davenport where German influence was strong. Standing in front of Davenport City Hall, for example, tour leaders can talk about the influence Germans had on government.

But it's probably the creepiness that is drawing the crowds.

The first tour was Saturday and, at the starting time of 10:30 a.m., in almost pouring rain, there was a crowd of 70.

"I was ready for five or 10," Lao said. "But more and more people kept coming. Kyle drove in from Galesburg to help. We split the people into two groups."

She offered vouchers to people who might want to leave and come back at a better time, "but no one left," she said.

The crowd included four "regulars," members of the Rock Island Paranormal Society, children between the ages of about 9 to 13 with their parents, and, as Lao said, "a bunch of new faces.

"There were 20-somethings," she said. "I don't usually see them down here. And then people of all ages  30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s."

Because of the popularity, another tour has been added for 5:30 p.m. Friday, beginning at the center, 712 W. 2nd St., Davenport. The cost is $5. Other tours are at 10:30 a.m. Saturdays, Oct. 14, 21 and 28.

Paranormal society members told Lao that they had never heard the Milan serial killer story, but that it might explain why they occasionally get calls of lights and sightings near Camden Park, Lao said.
As the leaves are working on changed colors, and harvest is in full swing. The month of October is not only great for beautiful colors, tailgates and trick-or-treating, but it is a great opportunity for South Dakota pig farmers to showcase their AMAZING product during October Pork Month.

A lot of consumers are looking for a healthy protein source that offers lots of flavor and a variety of cooking methods? Youll find some great options with pork  whether youre making a family dinner, grilling in the backyard or planning the perfect holiday meal.

Many consumers are in search of knowledge about the different cuts of pork. A few years ago there was a makeover at the meat case with NEW pork cut names. In order to ease confusion over the various names of pork cuts, the National Pork Board and The Beef Checkoff program joined forces to make the meat case more familiar for shoppers. Several pork chop names are now aligned with beef steaks, so consumers can easily identify their favorite cut. Consumers will now find Ribeye Pork Chop bone-in or boneless instead of the Rib Chop, along with the Porterhouse Pork Chop and New York Pork Chop.

Not only are consumers looking for the perfect cut, but have several questions on meat preparation. So often you hear from a consumer that they feel pork is dry and tough, which is a result of being over cooked. But there is good news! You can have a delicious, juicy, great-tasting pork experience if you follow the current FDA guidelines which recommend cooking fresh pork to 145 degrees Fahrenheit with a three minute rest period.

Cooking to medium doneness for chops, tenderloins and roasts means just a blush of pink in the center. Cooking low and slow for ribs, loins and pork shoulder for classic fall-of-the-bone ribs and perfect pulled pork is a must!

Pork is so versatile it works with many flavors! No matter what time of the year it is, it is easy to adapt sauces, rubs and marinades to create a dynamic meal that will turn Blah into Ahh!

Over the last thirty years, pork has become leaner and contains less saturated fat. Cuts of pork that come from the loin such as chops and roasts are the leanest cuts of pork; pork tenderloin, the healthiest cut of pork, ounce for ounce, it is just as lean as a skinless chicken breast. Pork has received the American Heart Associations Heart Healthy Checkmark, which means it can be marked and promoted as a heart-healthy product.

Pork packs nutrients in every lean serving and is a excellent source of protein and a good source of thiamin, vitamin B6, phosphorus and niacin, potassium, riboflavin and zinc.

For more healthy pork recipes and information contact Stacey Sorlien, program and communications director for the South Dakota Pork Producers Council at (605)332-1600, or visit www.sdpork.org.

The South Dakota Pork Producers Council (SDPPC) was created in 1954 to responsibly serve, support and enhance the success of the South Dakota pork production industry. Along with managing industry issues and improving the image of the pork industry, the South Dakota Pork Producers Council works to insure a safe, wholesome product for the consumers confident consumption.

South Dakotas pork producers have 170,000 sows and they produce 339,000 farrowings per year. South Dakota is ranked #11 in pork production and ranks #2 in pigs per sow. South Dakota ranks 9th nationally in number of pigs born in the state. South Dakotas pork industry contributes $2.1 billion overall economic impact of SDs Swine Industry. Also, South Dakota pork industry contributes $17.4 million in total tax revenue.
The christening of the USS South Dakota (SSN 790) fast attack submarine this weekend will include at least two links to Sturgis.

On Saturday, a flag was flown over Harley-Davidson Rally Point in Sturgis and carried to Sioux Falls to be taken to the ceremony aboard a new 2018 Harley-Davidson Street Glide.

Also, when the USS South Dakotas sponsor, Deanie Dempsey, smashes the bottle of sparkling wine on its bow during the christening, it will be a wine from the Belle Joli Sparkling House in Sturgis.

Choi Jackson said members of the commissioning committee contacted the winery last spring about supplying the sparkling wine for the christening.

Choi and her husband, Matthew, are co-owners of Belle Joli along with Matthew's parents, John and Patty Jackson.

"They were looking for a South Dakota-made product they could use and they chose us," she said. "They were excited to learn that the grapes used to make the product are grown in Belle Fourche and that we are 100 percent South Dakota made."

The group chose Belle Joli's 2013 Estate Reserve Brut Sparkling Wine for the christening.

"We're very honored for this opportunity," Choi Jackson said.

Dempsey is the wife of the former Joint Chief of Staff. She was also on hand for the keel laying ceremony last spring.

The christening, slated for 11 a.m. Saturday in Groton, Conn., is an important tradition and a monumental day for all involved  similar ceremonies have been practiced since our countrys inception, with former First Ladies and numerous other notable women sponsoring ships and participating in the festivities.

After the boat is christened, it will begin sea trials, where crew members will perform rigorous tests to ensure its ready to officially join the Navys fleet.

The flag ceremony Saturday in Sturgis began the journey by a group of motorcyclists, lead by retired U.S. Navy Commander Wiley Cress of Rapid City, to Sioux Falls by way of Pierre, Aberdeen, and Groton. The riders delivered the flag to J&L Harley-Davidson in Sioux Falls on the evening of Sunday, Oct. 8.

The flag was featured as part of the ceremony to unveil the USS SOUTH DAKOTA (SSN 790) Commemorative 2018 Harley-Davidson Street Glide at J&L Harley-Davidson in Sioux Falls.The motorcycle was donated by the Harley-Davidson Motor Company to help celebrate the states new U.S. Navy submarine and honor South Dakotas motorcycle heritage.

J&L Harley-Davidson is the sponsoring dealership for the 2018 Street Glide and has also donated parts and labor for the project. The motorcycle features custom paint honoring Battleship SOUTH DAKOTA (BB 57) and commemorates the new Submarine SOUTH DAKOTA (SSN 790). Artist Mickey Harris of Menno created the custom motorcycle artwork.

The U.S. Flag was placed in the saddlebag of the USS SOUTH DAKOTA (SSN 790) Commemorative 2018 Harley-Davidson Street Glide at the conclusion of the motorcycle unveiling ceremony and will then be transported via enclosed trailer to Groton, CT for the christening ceremony of the USS SOUTH DAKOTA, on Saturday.
BISMARCK, N.D. | The Dakota Access oil pipeline boosted North Dakota state tax revenues by about $19 million in its first three months of operation, according to an analysis by the North Dakota Pipeline Authority.

Producers have seen about a $2 increase per barrel in the average price for crude oil coming from western North Dakota in June, July and August, compared with figures from 2016, Pipeline Authority Director Justin Kringstad told The Bismarck Tribune.

Kringstad attributed the increase to more competitive transportation costs since the $3.8 billion pipeline went into service in June, following months of delays caused by legal battles and on-the-ground protests led by the Standing Rock Sioux and supporters who fear environmental harm. Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners maintains the pipeline is safe.

Kringstad's figures are based on current North Dakota oil production, which in August averaged just over 1 million barrels daily. The $2 boost for every barrel equates to more than $6 million in additional oil tax revenue for the state each month, he said.

Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger said the figures he's seeing in his office are consistent with Kringstad's estimates.

"It's helping all the producers and royalty owners regardless of whether those barrels are actually traveling down the Dakota Access pipeline," Rauschenberger said. "That has really set the market and made the transportation much more competitive leaving North Dakota."

Rauschenberger estimates North Dakota will see a boost in oil tax revenue of $140 million each two-year budget cycle if the trend continues. That will benefit the entire state, not just oil-producing areas, he said, helping fund such things as water projects and education.

Craig Stevens, a spokesman for Grow America's Infrastructure Now, a pro-pipeline coalition of businesses, trade associations and labor groups, issued a statement Wednesday touting the North Dakota tax figures as "proof of the returns that investment in energy infrastructure can provide."
U.S. prosecutor asks court to lower sentence for Fishenko case defendant

MOSCOW, October 12 (RAPSI)  The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York has asked a court, to give Viktoria Klebanova, one of the defendants in the case over illegal export of microelectronic components to Russia, a sentence below the advisory range, the court documents available to RAPSI read on Thursday.

The prosecutor noted that the defendant, who admitted guilt, was cooperating with authorities since the day of her arrest in 2013 and provided valuable information on criminal actions of Arc Electronics companys employees headed by recently convicted Alexander Fishenko.

Sentencing of Klebanova is scheduled for October 18. The prosecutor asks to lower the potential prison term to 46-57 months (about 4.5 years).

In October 2012, FBI made public the fact that eight people had been arrested on charges of unlawfully exporting high technologies to Russia for needs of the Russian military and special services. Four employees of Arc Electronics, a private Houston-based company, were arrested alongside the companys co-owner Alexander Fishenko.

The firm took part in transactions aimed to purchase electronic components from US manufacturers and consequently sell these components to Russian firms. As the case material show, the customer of Fishenkos company was Apex System having connections to a number of Russian enterprises.

According to U.S. Department of Justice Export laws exist as an important part of our national security framework and protecting national assets from ending up in the hands of our potential adversaries is one of our highest priorities.

Fishenko pleaded guilty to the entire indictment in September 2015. In particular, he agreed in his guilty plea that he violated the United States law by selling electronic components to Russia without required licenses. He also pleaded guilty to ancillary money laundering, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and being an unregistered foreign agent.

On July 22, 2016, Fishenko was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Later, Sevinj Taghiyeva was sentenced to time served. She voluntary self-deported from the United States. U.S. citizen Svetalina Zagon was found guilty in September and sentenced to time served as well. In March 2017, Russian citizen Alexander Posobilov received a 135 month prison term in this case.
Venice Commission stresses importance of ECHR judgment execution

MOSCOW, October 12 (RAPSI)  The Venice Commission, an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law, has reminded several countries including Russia of the importance of executing judgments delivered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

This is an unequivocal and imperative legal obligation, whose respect is vital for preserving and fostering the community of principles and values of the European continent, the Commission says in its opinion requested by PACE.

In December 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law granting the countrys Constitutional Court a right to decide whether to execute judgments of the ECHR and other international courts or not.

Last week, Valentina Matviyenko, Chairperson of the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, said that Moscow would not acknowledge the ECHR rulings as legitimate until Russian delegates resume their work in the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE). Russia was deprived of voting rights in PACE in 2014.
A Hamilton speaker won the Toastmasters Division A speech contest in Columbia Falls on Oct. 7.

Tricia Parks, president of the Bitterroot Toastmasters Club, took first place in the Table Topics competition. Table Topics are one to two-minute impromptu speeches on a topic provided just before the contestant speaks.

Parks said it is hard to think on your feet.

Its always a challenge, she said. But it was exciting to beat people who have gone to international competition previously and the top echelon of our whole district, which is three different states.

Parks said she was ready for the challenge because last year she competed in the inspirational competition of Toastmasters and took third.

I was two speeches away from standing on the world stage, so that was pretty fantastic, she said. Its always a challenge but always a good challenge because it makes you grow as a person.

The Toastmasters Division A competition was for 17 western Montana clubs representing about 285 members. Along with Parks' first-place award, other Table Topics winners are: second - Wayne OBrien, City of Gold Toastmasters in Helena; and third - Elizabeth Depke, Kalispell Toastmasters.

The Toastmasters Division A speech contest is a stepping stone and Parks will advance to the district competition on Oct. 27 and 28 in Helena. She will compete against speakers from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Minnesota and Wyoming.

Parks said Toastmasters has been key to her self-confidence and personal growth.

Ive recently been elected as president of our club, she said. That has been such an integral part of my finding my voice as a leader. It has made me feel like what I say matters and it has changed my life.

Parks said being in Bitterroot Toastmasters has helped her business.

She and her husband, Amos, own Glass Guy Bitterroot Valley Incorporated (BVI) located on the northwest corner of U.S. Highway 93 and Woodside cut-off.

My husband was a former president of the Bitterroot Toastmasters, Tricia Parks said. Its a fantastic organization to be part of.

For more information on Toastmasters, or to find a club, visit on-line toastmasters.org.
A dead bull elk was left to rot on or about Tuesday, Oct. 10, near the Threemile Wildlife Management Area east of Florence.

Justin Singleterry, a game warden with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, is seeking the public's help in finding out more information about the bull.

Singleterry said the bull was shot elsewhere and dropped off near the WMA. The antlers were removed and about half of the meat was still attached. Wardens are investigating evidence found at the scene.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call 1-800-TIP-MONT (1-800-847-6668). Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to a conviction.
James Garrison of Hamilton is facing three felony charges after he allegedly shot off a gun as part of a drunken fight with a friend.

Officers were called to a Hamilton area home about 2 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, after receiving reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, Deputy Matt Reynolds reported that he observed Garrison, 38, with a .22-caliber AK-47 in the home and later found a revolver in Garrisons pocket with six spent rounds in it.

A witness said she was in the house with Garrison and another man, and the two men started arguing.

She reported they all had been drinking, but both of them were drunk, Deputy County Attorney Angela Wetzsteon wrote in court documents. At some point during the argument, there was a scuffle and defendant appeared with a handgun.

The woman said she didnt like guns, so she went outside a sat in a vehicle, where she allegedly watched Garrison walk outside and discharge two rounds from the rifle into the ground. He went back in the house and the woman said she heard more shots.

Meanwhile, the other man also ran out of the house and off an embankment, falling into Skalkaho Creek and breaking both of his wrists.

The felonies Garrison is charged with include two counts of assault with a weapon and one count of criminal endangerment. It turns out the AK-47 was reported stolen out of Albany, New York, so he also was charged with misdemeanor theft.

Garrison was booked into the Ravalli County Detention Center, and released Wednesday after posting a $25,000 bond.
Victor school children worked on writing poems with intense visual imagery Tuesday, which is the starting point for creating 12 ornaments that will decorate a tree in Presidents Park in Washington, D.C., for the 2017 America Celebrates display.

Every year, unique ornaments are made by Americans across the county that "symbolize the history, heritage and culture of there homelands." This is the 95th year of the tradition by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation.

Victor art teacher Jennifer Ogden said the Montana Arts Council suggested she partner with a poet from the Humanities Montana Speaker's Bureau. She also collaborated with Victor teachers for ideas.

In the scope of Montana, there is so much and we wanted to include geography, headwaters, tribes, firefighters and maybe students who have their own fire story, Ogden said.

Other ideas included industry, ghost towns, small-town life, bodies of water, swimming, mountains, Glacier and Yellowstone.

On Tuesday Caroline Patterson - author, poet, and director of the Missoula Writing Project - helped students from kindergarten to 12th grade write poems with strong images.

She helped us write poems to inspire us when we make the ornaments that are an authentic reflection of what its like for our kids to grow up in a small town and to represent Montana, Ogden said. Its from their point of view and much like a love letter from Montana.

Every period of the day, a new pairing of younger students with older students began writing. After the noisy and creative task, students shared their poems full of imagery like red junky trucks, owls, golden retrievers, ribbons in the wind, jack-a-lopes, bald eagles, deer, tomatoes, trout and dinosaurs.

We did place poems like a little Montana Sampler  a snap shot of the area to go to Washington, D.C., Patterson said. They wrote beautiful poems about water, about the Bitterroot River, Victor Crossing, and area animals. The mixture of ages is great; especially the classes that have worked together before because they inspire one another.

Patterson said the younger children are close to their senses.

They help the older kids get back to their senses, she said. Other writers have noticed that too. Young children are close to their sensory experiences.

At the end of each period, the poems were collected and the creative imagery will be available for artists in Ogdens art class to use for inspiration.

The large ornaments are weather proof. They snap together like Easter eggs, Ogden said. We can add text and 3-D objects to represent our state. It depends on my students. This is their opportunity to brainstorm ideas, and pair visuals with the images in the poems. I like the authenticity of student voices.

Ogden said she sees poetry as a great equalizer.

It allows people to say things they wouldnt normally say with normal language, she said. Thats why I love this project - it is a way to be the most expressive about a place we are very fond of but have a hard time saying.

The ornaments must be in the mail by Halloween.
Washington Post fact-checkers claim Secretary of the Interior and former Montana congressman Ryan Zinke obscures the reality of domestic energy production as the Trump administration reduces regulations around the energy sector.

In a late September speech to the Heritage Foundation, Zinke told the group, Our country has inherited an energy-dependent country from previous generations, and in recent years, weve struggled to be self-sufficient in producing low-cost, abundant and reliable energy.

The newspapers Fact Checker column published Wednesday graded Zinkes statement with Four Pinocchios  the lowest rating on its accuracy scale. The column uses the Pinocchio scale to analyze and often chastise statements from lawmakers and other public officials for misrepresentations.

The column analyzes domestic energy sources, production and use, noting that production is up from a historic low of 69 percent in 2005 to 2016, when the U.S. produced 86 percent of the energy it consumed. The increase is primarily due to an uptick in natural gas and crude oil via fracking.

As domestic crude production and efficiency has increased, foreign imports have decreased. The 2008 financial crisis also contributed to the drop of imported crude oil and other fuels, the column says.

As production of natural gas increased, the price plummeted to its lowest level since 1999 and in 2016, retail gasoline prices hit their lowest point since 2004, corresponding to increased crude production. An abundance of cheap natural gas has largely replaced coal as a primary source of electricity generation, the column says.

While prices dropped, the column points out that residential electricity prices continued to climb over the last several years due to infrastructure investment and new requirements to generate electricity from renewable sources.

Finally, the increasing capacity of renewables is also factoring into the overall energy portfolio.

Interior Department spokesman Alex Hinson told the Post that Zinke is focused on rolling back Obama-era regulations. In defending Zinkes statement, he said while some energy sources may have been either low-cost, abundant, or reliable in recent years, very rarely have the sources been all three at once.

In its Four Pinocchio grade, the Post says that Zinkes statement just doesnt square with the current state of domestic energy production, and the outlook on domestic energy production remains promising.

The crux of Zinkes claim is that regulation increases the cost of U.S. production, and to achieve his vision of becoming an energy superpower, the United States needs to cut the red tape, the column concludes. But instead of focusing on all the gains made by the energy industry over the past several years, Zinke obscures the reality of the domestic energy production.

In Montana, energy production has become a hot button issue with the decline of coal and downturn in the Bakken oilfield. Officials have also pinned the states fiscal crisis in part on lower tax revenues from extractive industries.

Zinke is not the first from Montana to receive Four Pinocchios. In 2015, the Post dinged Democratic Sen. Jon Testers misstatements about forest management and litigation.

The Interior Department did not respond to a request for comment in time for this story.
Rockot delivers Sentinel-5P After a long string of political problems, a veteran Soviet ballistic missile converted into a space launcher successfully delivered into orbit a European Earth-watching satellite for the world's largest environment-monitoring constellation after a liftoff from Plesetsk on October 13, 2017, at 12:27:30 Moscow Time. Previous Rockot mission: Geo-IK-2 No. 2 Sentinel-5P mission at a glance: Spacecraft designation(s) Sentinel-5P Launch vehicle Rockot Launch site Plesetsk, Site 133 Mission Remote sensing, atmospheric studies Launch date and time 2017 Oct. 13, 12:27:30 Moscow Time From the publisher: Pace of our development depends primarily on the level of support from our readers! Political problems for Sentinel-5P According to original plans, the launch of the Sentinel-5 satellite on the Rockot booster was expected in 2014. As of January of that year, the mission was expected at the beginning of 2016 and it was later planned for mid-April and mid-July 2016. However like Zenit, Dnepr and other space vehicles built in cooperation between Russia and Ukraine, the Rockot program was affected by Moscow's annexation of Crimea. Rockot used a Ukrainian built flight control system on its Briz-KM upper stage which was responsible for the operation of all three stages of the rocket. Still, after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out in 2014, six Rockot missions were able to fly. However, Moscow-based GKNPTs Khrunichev, which developed Rockot, had an increasingly hard time getting necessary avionics and other assistance from Ukraine as the bloody conflict on the border between the two former Soviet republics continued unabated. After several delays of the Sentinel-5P mission, it reportedly required a personal intervention from the Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko to authorize the shipment from Ukraine to Russia of the necessary hardware for the launch, a European source said. Under the cover of that exception, GKNPTs Khrunichev apparently attempted to procure from Ukraine extra sets of onboard equipment for the Rockot as backup units. Obviously, if the first set of Ukrainian avionics intended for the Sentinel-5P mission operated as planned, the extra hardware would be critical for flying Russia's own future missions on the Rockot, which otherwise could be grounded by the anti-Russian sanctions. With the assistance of European officials, a deal to acquire the Ukrainian hardware had been successful, but all the additional negotiations further delayed the Sentinel-5P mission. There were also reports that problems with components of the Rockot booster provided by the Russian company PO Polyot in the city of Omsk further contributed to the delays of Sentinel-5P. All the problems with the Sentinel-5P mission reportedly prompted European space officials to consider switching the follow-on Sentinel-3B spacecraft from Rockot to the much more expensive European Vega launcher, even if this would mean its own associated delays. The European Commission, which uses the Sentinel satellites, was expected to make a decision on the launcher for Sentinel-3B this month. Launch campaign Around the beginning of February 2017, Sentinel-5P was mated for the first time with its launch vehicle adapter designed to serve as an interface with the Briz-KM space tug. The so-called fit checks were conducted at facilities of Intespace in Toulouse, on February 3 and 4. On May 25, 2017, the Russian government issued formal decision No. 1020-r, authorizing the military personnel in Plesetsk to support the Sentinel-5P mission. At that time, the launch was expected on Sept. 21, 2017, but by July it was reported to be scheduled between Oct. 9 and Oct. 31, 2017. In a manifest published by Roskosmos on Aug. 28, 2017, the launch of the Sentinel-5P satellite was identified as under consideration between October 9 and 12, 2017. At the end of August 2017, the Sentinel-5P's "advanced team" arrived at Plesetsk and the satellite itself departed England for Plesetsk on August 30, 2017. The container with the satellite was driven from Airbus Defense and Space facility in Stevenage, where the satellite was built, to London Stansted Airport where it boarded an Antonov-124 transport plane. After a short stop in Moscow for customs, the aircraft carrying the satellite and its support equipment landed at Arkhangelsk's Talagi airport on August 31. The container with the spacecraft was then loaded on a train for the 250-kilometer trip to Plesetsk, which took around 1o hours to complete due to speed restrictions when carrying this sensitive cargo. The spacecraft arrived at Plesetsk on the morning of October 1, 2017. After the container was cleaned, it was moved into a dedicated clean room facility, No. 101 B inside the spacecraft processing building. After a week of preparatory work, the satellite was extracted from its container and successfully powered up. The satellite then went through pneumatic and electric tests. Specialists also conducted communications checks between the satellite and its mission control. Irreversible operations of the Sentinel-5P launch campaign started on Sept. 20, 2017, with preparations for fueling of the spacecraft with hypergolic propellant. Loading of the propellant was successfully completed by a team from the ArianeGroup site in Lampoldshausen on September 22. During the same week, the launch vehicle underwent a dry run on the launch pad which proved that the Briz-KM upper stage fitted to the booster. The flight version of Briz-KM then made a 30-kilometer trip by rail to its fueling station. On September 26, the Director General of the European Space Agency publicly announced that the launch of the Sentinel-5P was set for October 13, 2017. Joint operations between the launch vehicle and the spacecraft began on September 28, when Sentinel-5P was integrated with the launch vehicle adapter. By October 2, the satellite and its adapter were mounted onto the Briz-KM upper stage and the next day, the spacecraft was encapsulated under the launch vehicle payload fairing, completing the assembly of the upper composite section. Once the upper composite was assembled and a mission logo was glued to the payload fairing, it was signed by the members of the Sentinel launch team on October 5. The structure was then wrapped into thermal blankets to protect it from the elements during the trip to the launch pad. The upper composite with the Sentinel-5P made the four-hour rail trip to the launch complex 14P25 at Site 133 on the morning of Oct. 7, 2017. The mobile service tower was then used to lift the satellite and its Briz-KM upper stage and mount it on top of the two-stage booster. Electrical check-outs and calibration runs on Sentinel-5P were then conducted in order to confirm the flawless functioning of the spacecraft after its rollout to the launch site. According to ESA, the spacecraft team was expected to pay regular visits to the payload on the pad until shortly before launch in order to ensure the continuous purging of the satellite's main instrument with nitrogen gas as a protective measure against contamination on the ground. In the meantime, the personnel of the Russian Space Forces installed the pipelines connecting the rocket with the fuel and oxidizer tank storage. The dress rehearsal for the launch was planned for October 10, 2o17. The fueling of the first two rocket stages was scheduled to take place two days before launch and the Russian State Commission overseeing the launch was to meet on October 12 to issue a formal permission for the liftoff. Sentinel-5P finally lifts off The launch of the Rockot booster with a Briz-KM upper stage took place as scheduled on Oct. 13, 2017, at 12:27:30 Moscow Time (09:27 GMT; 11:27 CEST; 5:27 a.m. EDT) from Site 133 in Plesetsk. The vehicle carried the 900-kilogram Sentinel-5P satellite for the European Space Agency, ESA. Despite overcast skies over the launch site, very low winds allowed mission to proceed, ESA said. Following the ignition of the first stage, the rocket emerged from the Transport and Launch Container which is attached to the stationary column holding it in place. After a short vertical ascent, the rocket headed northwest to align its ground track with an orbital inclination of 98.75 degrees toward the Equator, in order to reach a near Sun-synchronous orbit. The first stage of the rocket separated two minutes and two seconds into the flight, followed by the separation of the payload fairing, which split in two halves and dropped off nearly three minutes into the flight. The rocket's second stage completed its burn and separated five minutes and five seconds after liftoff (L+319 seconds), leaving the Briz-KM stage and its payload on a suborbital trajectory. Moments later, Briz-KM initiated its first firing inserting itself and the satellite into an initial orbit. The second maneuver of the Briz-KM was conducted around an hour later, when the stack reached an apogee of its initial orbit and made it nearly circular. Upon entering its target orbit, which was expected to have an altitude of 824 kilometers and an inclination of 98.7 degrees toward the Equator, pyrotechnic charges of the special clamp-band mechanism fired, separating the spacecraft from its Briz-KM upper stage at 13:46 Moscow Time (6:46 a.m. EDT). Then, 93 minutes after liftoff and 14.5 minutes after the separation from the upper stage, Sentinel-5P established first contact with its mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany, via a ground station in Sweden at 11:01 GMT (7:01 a.m. EDT). The NORAD data then showed an object associated with the launch in a 816 by 820-kilometer orbit. Another object was in a 413 by 767-kilometer orbit, which could be the Briz-KM stage after it had entered a burial orbit. Design of the Sentinel-5P satellite The Sentinel-5P, where P stands for "precursor" is the sixth member of the Copernicus remote-sensing constellation developed by the European Space Agency for monitoring various aspects of the Earth's environment. This particular spacecraft is designed to conduct global mapping of the chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere with a resolution as high as 7 by 3.5 kilometers every 24 hours, ESA said. That accuracy will allow to monitor air pollution over individual cities. Within the atmosphere monitoring capabilities of the European Space Agency, the Sentinel-5P will serve as a bridge between the ENIVISAT and EOS-Aura missions and the more sophisticated Sentinel-5 satellite to be launched no earlier than 2020. As its main payload, the Sentinel-5P carries the state-of-the-art Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument, Tropomi, which is an absorption spectrometer, developed at Dutch Space. The instrument is designed to map a multitude of trace gases such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone, formaldehyde, sulphur dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide and aerosols. It will allow an increased frequency of cloud-free observations required for the study of troposphere variability. The range of sensitivity for the Tropomi spectrometer on the Sentinel-5P satellite. The mission will contribute to EU Copernicus services such as volcanic ash monitoring for aviation safety and for services that warn of high levels of UV radiation which can cause skin damage. In addition, the measurements will improve knowledge of important processes in the atmosphere related to the climate and to the formation of holes in the ozone layer. The scientific side of the mission is managed by Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, KNMI, and the Netherlands Institute for Space Research, SRON. Tropomi is a collaboration between Airbus Defense and Space Netherlands, KNMI, SRON and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, TNO. It was commissioned by the Netherlands Space Office, NSO, and ESA. Airbus Defense and Space Netherlands were the principal contractor for developing the instrument, while scientific management is in the hands of KNMI and SRON. Funding for TROPOMI was provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment in the Netherlands. The Dutch government has invested a total of 80 million in the development of the space project under a 2009 agreement with ESA. This allowed the NSO to award the contract to the consortium that developed Tropomi. Known specifications of the Sentinel-5P satellite: Spacecraft mass 900 kilograms Power supply system capacity 1,500 watts Target injection orbital altitude 824 kilometers Orbital inclination 98.75 degrees Injection orbit eccentricity 0.0011 Mean Local Solar Time at Ascending Node 13:35 Payload swath width 2,600 kilometers Project mission duration Seven years Spacecraft operator European Space Agency, ESA; European Commission Spacecraft prime contractor Airbus Defense and Space UK, Stevenage Main payload (Tropomi) developer Dutch Space Spacecraft separation system CASA CRSS 937 clamp band Airbus Defense and Space (formerly CASA Espacio), Madrid Program cost 240 million euros ($284 million) Read much more about the history of the Russian space program in a richly illustrated, large-format glossy edition:

A logo for Sentinel-5P launch on the Russian Rockot booster. Credit: ESA An internal design of the Sentinal-5P satellite. Click to enlarge. Credit: ESA The Tropomi instrument for Sentinel-5P. Click to enlarge. Credit: ESA A fully assembled Sentinel-5P satellite. Credit: ESA Pre-launch processing of the Sentinal-5P satellite in Plesetsk in September 2017. Click to enlarge. Credit: ESA Sentinel-5P is being integrated with Briz-KM upper stage on . Click to enlarge. Credit: ESA An artist rendering depicting payload fairing separation during the ascent of the Sentinel-5P satellite into orbit. Click to enlarge. Credit: ESA Sentinel-5P rides Briz-KM upper stage. Credit: ESA Sentinel-5P separates from Briz-KM upper stage. Credit: ESA Click to enlarge. Credit: ESA Sentinel-5P lifts off on Oct. 13, 2017. Credit: ESA
(excerpts from the executive summary Asia Report 290, International Crisis Group)

[ . . . ] Since the start of the political liberalisation in 2011, Myanmar has been troubled by an upsurge in extreme Buddhist nationalism, anti-Muslim hate speech and deadly communal violence, not only in Rakhine state but across the country. The most prominent nationalist organisation is the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion (commonly referred to by its Burmese-language acronym, MaBaTha), made up of monks, nuns and laypeople. The government has focused considerable effort on curtailing this group and pushing the top Buddhist authority in Myanmar to ban it. Yet these efforts have been largely ineffective at weakening the appeal of nationalist narratives and organisations, and have probably even enhanced them. However uncomfortable it may be, a more nuanced understanding of the sources of social support for MaBaTha, as opposed to simplistic one-dimensional portrayals, is vital if the government and Myanmaras international partners are to find effective ways to address the challenges posed by radical nationalism and reduce risks of violence.

[. . .]

The Rise of MaBaTha

A. Origins of the Organisation

The recent resurgence of Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar was spearheaded in part by the a969a movement, which first became prominent in the southern city of Mawlamyine in 2011. 969 is numerological shorthand for the special attributes of Buddha and his teachings and a riposte to the number a786a , a folk Islam representation of the Basmala long used by Muslims in Myanmar and elsewhere to identify halal restaurants and Muslim-owned shops.

The 969 movement was led by prominent monks including Ashin Wirathu and Ashin Wimala and was particularly vocal in its extremist rhetoric, making claims of a Muslim plot to take over the country and of schemes to pay Muslims for marrying and converting Buddhist women.

These dire warnings combined with a simple message to the faithful to abuy Buddhista resonated strongly and were spread widely in the country through DVDs and 969 stickers. Yet the movement remained decentralised, with no infrastructure beyond the monastic economies of individual member monks.

Wirathu had begun preaching in 2001 about the rising threat presented by Islam and was arrested two years later and sentenced to 25 years in jail for inciting deadly violence in his home town of Kyaukse by distributing inflammatory anti-Muslim pamphlets; he was freed in 2011 as part of a broad amnesty by then-President Thein Sein.

He and the 969 movement revived old prejudices: a British colonial inquiry into the 1938 riots noted that aone of the major sources of anxiety in the minds of a great number of Burmese was the question of the marriage of their womenfolk with foreigners in general and with Indians in particulara .

In late-2013, the 969 movement was effectively banned by the Sangha Council, the government-appointed body of monks that oversees and regulates the Buddhist clergy.

In the announcement, the Sangha Council said nothing about links between the 969 movementas inflammatory anti-Muslim rhetoric and subsequent outbreaks of deadly violence, but focused on the movementas unauthorised use of Buddhist symbolism. This was not an outright dismissal of the groupas ideology, but rather reflected the Sangha Councilas frustration with the 969 movementas lobbying for the enactment of the protection of race and religion laws (see below) a not because the council considered the laws unnecessary or inappropriate, but rather because the protection and promotion of religion comes under the remit of the Sangha Council and the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Members of the 969 movement rejected not only the legitimacy of the ban, but of the Sangha Council in general, which they stated was formed by the previous military regime to control the monkhood, and which they saw as serving the interests of the government not the faith. Such views are widely held in Myanmar, though MaBaThaas highest-ranking monks tell members that disparaging the Sangha Council is bad karma.

These actions against the 969 movement prompted it to evolve into the somewhat more formal structure of MaBaTha. Though founded a few months earlier in June 2013, MaBaTha was not particularly prominent until January 2014, when its upper Myanmar branch was established in Mandalay. Its founding monks then stated publicly that the organisation was intended not only to support the 969 movementas ideology, but also to rein in outspoken ayounger monksa (including Wirathu) who were prompting domestic and international criticism. In addition, MaBaThaas structure was specifically designed to give official roles to laymen and women, which in turn created ambiguity about the Sangha Councilas jurisdiction over the group.

MaBaTha immediately picked up where the 969 movement had left off, rallying for the adoption of the race and religion laws and extending awareness of nationalist ideology a and the MaBaTha brand a far into rural and remote parts of the country, and making it by far the most prominent and nationally-known Buddhist nationalist group. [ . . . ] .

READ FULL REPORT HERE:
Asia Times, October 6, 2017

When journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead in front of her house early last month, quite a few writers and social activists in India must have felt a chill down their spines as the country steadily becomes a dangerous place for intellectuals.

Gauri was a journalist turned social activist based in Bangalore, the technological capital of India. She was the fourth activist to be killed in that region in as many years, whose killers have not yet been apprehended despite the fact that the opposition Congress party leads the government in Karnataka state.

There have been a spate of killings of intellectuals and writers in the country in recent years. Narendra Dabholkar, a rationalist activist, was killed in August 2013, after lobbying for social reform against superstitions such as black magic and child sacrifice. Govind Pansare, a left-wing politician and author of the best-selling book Shivaji Kon Hota, was killed in February 2015 after being an outspoken critic of communalism in society.

In the same year, Kannada scholar M M Kalburgi, winner of a national literary award, was killed after many court cases were filed against him by several Hindu groups for hurting their sentiments.

Apparently there were motives and patterns to these killings. But who could be the enemies and potential killers of writers and activists?

The strong suspects are people close to the ideology of Hindutva, for the simple reason that they have not kept their hatred of writers and activists a secret.

Kalburgi and Gauri had more than a dozen cases filed against them in different courts by Hindu fundamentalists of various names. Even in the aftermath of Gaurias death the Karnataka state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) filed a defamation suit against the noted historian Ramachandra Guha for reasoning that Gaurias murderers came from the Hindu nationalist Sangh Parivar umbrella group. Social scientist Kancha Ilaiah has also received death threats and undergone physical attacks from groups sympathetic to the Hindu right.

This contempt for activists is corroborated by a statement by a BJP member of the Karnataka state legislature that if Gauri had not criticized Sangh Parivar member RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), she would still be alive.

Furthermore, individuals followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter condoned the murder of Gauri in abusive language on which, while the prime minister maintained silence, the BJP issued a statement clarifying a aprincipleda stand on why the supreme leader of the party continues to follow people who have been so vile in their conduct on social media. Modi follows 1,845 people on Twitter and is followed by 35 million.

Restricted by ideology

Ideologies, by definition and practice, restrict thought within bounds, so sometimes they tend to be highly irrational, for instance nationalism, fascism and communalism, to name a few. Hindutva too falls in that category. Its adherents have a fixed worldview rooted in myths and the Manusmriti, an ancient text similar to other religionsa treatises.

On the contrary, a writer does not adhere to the boundaries of ideologies. He is rooted in the present, he seeks truth, challenging, explaining and expressing social reality through the art of writing and speaking. In the words of famous Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, the writer creates anew valuesa for society.

Such new values and their creators are discomforting for the status quo and its forces. So when Kancha Illiah through his research argues that Hindutva promotes social smuggling, or Kalburgi, backed by scholarly evidence, reveals a disconnect between Lingayatism and Hinduism, Hindutva followers resort to intimidating, harassing and finally purging the intellectual.

Constitution under threat

When Jawaharlal Nehru wrote The Discovery of India in the 1940s, he underlined a set of new values on which the Indian constitution was later based, and it has been a shared ideology among Indians since the country became a republic and stands above any other affiliations.

Since independence, barring the Emergency of 1975-77, writers have been able, to borrow a phrase from Jean-Paul Sartre, to exist and express their freedom. They enjoyed freedom of conscience and fulfilled what he considered their amoral and ethical responsibilities of observing the social political moments, and to freely speak to their societya .

However, now writers in India are in double jeopardy. On one hand, society is so radicalized that as a social class they are perceived as a threat, and on the other, the constitution of the country is unable to protect them because those guiding its implementation do not fully believe in it. Addressing its lawyersa wing last week, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat stressed that the constitution should be changed according to the ethos of the country.

While thinking about the state of writers in India, one is reminded of the Turkish Nobel laureate for literature, Orhan Pamuk. In 2006, he was charged with ainsulting Turkishnessa for referring to the Armenian genocide of 1915-17, which the nationalist government denies. Those were the early days of Recep Tayyip Erdogan rise to power.

Today, many writers and journalists have left Turkey, and many of those who remain are either in jail or awaiting trial. With the Erdogan regime holding nearly total control over the media and restricting the Internet, in the words of Pamuk, the writer of Istanbul, aso many crazy, unacceptable things are happeninga .

Will India become like present-day Turkey? It is a depressing but relevant question.

Pushkar Raj is a social analyst/author based in Melbourne. Formerly he taught political science in Delhi University and was the national general secretary of the Peopleas Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). He writes on society, politics, culture and human rights.
Hindustan Times, October 9 , 2017

The peace Nobel to ICAN has disarmed many of its critics. Itas a recognition that ridding the world of nuclear weapons is not an idealistas fantasy, but a robust action plan

[by] Vidya Shankar Aiyar

A little-known movement for a nuclear weapons-free world won the Nobel Peace Prize last week. The International Campaign to Abolish to Nuclear Weapons, ICAN (nuclearban.org, @nuclearban) is a movement of several hundred organisations and individuals spread over a hundred countries. Itas a movement of all the little guys banding together to take on the big bad world of the nuclear armed. Even little guys like me, the lone civil society participant from India at the crucial Geneva debates last summer. It was at Geneva that the resolution to the UN General Assembly was drawn up, that culminated in the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons on July 7.

Ever since I quit TV news in 2008, an inevitable eye roll would follow when I revealed that I work on nuclear disarmament issues. Usually that would be followed by a commiserating, aOh, zero nukes is a noble goal, but impractical, isnat it? You should try for smaller numbers.a The peace Nobel to ICAN has disarmed many such critics. Itas a recognition that ridding the world of nuclear weapons is not an idealistas fantasy, but a robust action plan.

How does it work? When the nuclear armed states are refusing to join the ban treaty, and indeed, the United States is actively discouraging states, how is disarmament possible?

The world of nuclear disarmament has changed tremendously from the days when stodgy, Leftist intellectuals formed its backbone. Now it is mainly a young peopleas movement, young people who are armed with social media, incredible energy and the willingness to try the impossible, and they are spread across the globe. ICANas women are a tour de force. A cooler set of people would be hard to find. And they have the experience, wisdom and knowledge to back their credentials.

In 1996, the International Court of Justice regretted that no explicit law exists in the world prohibiting nuclear weapons. The ban treaty now plugs that hole. It bans all nuclear weapons. The Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) does not do that. It only allows a few states to keep their nuclear weapons while promising to eliminate them eventually. So, the plan is simple. Stigmatise nukes, then eliminate them. Stigmatise, meaning, keeping nukes will be uncool.

To stigmatise, you only need a law that prohibits nukes. And that law need not be created by the nuclear armed states. The non-nuclear armed states may not have nukes, but they have the numbers to create that law. ICAN launched a campaign that empowered the weak states to take on the Goliath of the nuclear powers by making them believe that non-nuclear states can lead us to a nuclear weapons-free world. Creating the law first and eliminating after that is true of every disarmament treaty in history.

To get such states on board, ICAN chose to campaign on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons. This is where ICAN got a lot of help from key states and organisations. Its key events in Oslo, Nayarit and Vienna over 2013-14 made it clear that the world does not have the capacity to deal with the fallout of a nuclear war. And the fallout would be global and catastrophic, no matter where the conflict happens. Norway first gave ICAN the platform. Mexico gave it momentum on the American continent. Austria rallied 127 states under the Austrian pledge to disarm. The job was now up to ICAN and its campaigners to move the debate out of the moribund Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to the UN General Assembly, and get these states to put their money where their mouth is. Finally, the ban treaty opened for signature on September 20, and is expected to come into force soon.

No, nuclear weapons will not be dismantled immediately, but give it time like other treaties. Equally, no nuclear-armed State can indefinitely say that nuclear weapons are necessary for its security. That would violate a new law and would incite proliferation. This is the logic that provoked Kim Jong-un to counter Donald Trumpas America. Donat underestimate the small guys. Theyave disarmed the critics. The nukes are next.

Vidya Shankar Aiyar is an anti-nuclear weapons activist
Education Reporter

Mathew Burciaga is a Santa Maria Times reporter who covers education, agriculture and public safety. Prior to joining the Times, Mathew ran a 114-year-old community newspaper in Wyoming. He owns more than 40 pairs of crazy socks from across the globe.
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Thursday 12

I Love You, America (Hulu streaming anytime) Still-dedicated Bernie Sanders supporter Sarah Silverman headlines this political comedy in which she travels around the country and interacts with people of all leanings.

The Rundown with Robin Thede (BET 9pm) BET jumps into the late-night talk show realm with former The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore head writer Robin Thede.

Friday 13

Lore (Amazon streaming anytime) Aaron Mahnkes popular podcastexploring the truth behind scary mythsgets turned into a horror anthology.

Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (Amazon streaming anytime) Sid & Marty Kroffts mid-70s mix of live-action and life-sized foam-rubber puppets gets rebooted for a new generation.

Mindhunter (Netflix streaming anytime) Director David Fincher (Se7en, Zodiac, Gone Girl) collaborates with actress Charlize Theron to executive produce this dark drama about FBI special agents who hunt down serial killers.

Spongebob Squarepants: The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom (Nickelodeon 5pm) The ghostly Flying Dutchman returns to Bikini Bottom in time for this Halloween special.

Saturday 14

Nickelodeons Ultimate Halloween Haunted House 2017 (Nickelodeon 6pm) Hidden cameras capture Nickelodeon stars (Lizzy Greene, Ricardo Hurtado, Breanna Yde, Jade Pettyjohn, JoJo Siwa) as they make their way through the ultimate haunted house.

Dirk Gentleys Holistic Detective Agency (BBC America 7pm) This mad, crazy, brilliant adaptation of Douglas Adams book series enters season two with former bellboy Todd (Elijah Wood) reluctantly looking for loony detective Dirk (Samuel Barnett) while invincible, fate-driven assassin Bart (the completely awesome Fiona Dourif) searches for her unwitting partner-in-crime Ken (Mpho Koaho).

Sunday 15

Psycho In-Law (Lifetime 6pm) Its been two years since Tinas husband-to-be, Brock, lost his first wife in a tragic accident. Everybody is thrilled to see Brock and Tina so happyeverybody, that is, except for Brocks former mother-in-law. (Cue ominous music.) Hey, if you liked Lifetimes The Psycho She Met Online and Psycho Wedding Crasher, youll love Psycho In-Law.

White Famous (Showtime 8pm) From executive producer Jamie Foxx and Californication creator Tom Kapinos comes this sitcom (loosely based on Foxxs life and career) about a stand-up comic (Jay Pharoah) who is suddenly thrust into the Hollywood limelight.

Monday 16

Horror at the Cecil Hotel (ID 8pm) Investigation Discoverys new crime docu-series examines the death of Canadian student Elisa Lam, whose body was found inside the water-supply cistern at LAs Cecil Hotel. According to ID, the hotel is known for its rich history of murders, suicides and unexplained deaths.

Tuesday 17

Slasher 2: Guilty Party (Netflix streaming anytime) The Canadian, American Horror Story-esque anthology Slasher returns with the same cast, but a different storythis one about former camp counselors being stalked by, you guessed it, a slasher.

Loudermilk (Audience 8:30pm) Writer-director Peter Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber, Theres Something About Mary) is the man behind this comedy about a recovering alcoholic and substance abuse counselor with an extremely bad attitude. Ron Livingston (Band of Brothers, Office Space) stars.

Wednesday 18

The Secret World of Super Posh Pets (Animal Planet 7pm) Why would Animal Planet want to make me hate cute pets as much as I hate the Kardashians?
I know I may have said this before but I used to think that a school was only as good as the three-legged stool that it is - parents, teachers/staff and principal. I soon learned that without a good principal, you might not ever want to sit on that stool. I have also often wondered if Seattle Schools had just bad luck/poor judgment about principals or if other districts have the same kind of churn. And principals aren't the same category as teachers. They don't have a union per se but in SPS, they have their own org, PASS (Principals Association of Seattle Schools). They oversee hundreds of students, not a single class. They have to juggle multiple balls of budget, discipline, curriculum and governance of a staff. That plus make parents and students feel good about the school. It was also an interesting fact for Seattle Schools that only until recently, they had three principals who had all graduated from the school that they now oversaw. That was Martin Floe at Ingraham High
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 New Sentencing Project fact sheets on disparities in youth incarceration and comments to USSC on incarceration alternatives | Main | Big new report provides state-by-state guide to expungement and rights restoration 

The question in the title of this post is the headline of this new Salon article. Here is how it gets started:

With the presidential election in the rearview mirror, a genuinely bipartisan group of senators, led by Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois, are hoping for real movement on the issue of criminal justice reform. Last week, Grassley and Durbin introduced a new version of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, a bill Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell killed off during the campaign season, seemingly for political reasons.

This coalition that supports reduced sentences for nonviolent offenses even has an audience in the White House: Donald Trump's daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, hosted a bipartisan dinner with prominent senators to discuss the issue.

But even though it's not an election year, there's real reason to believe that this move towards criminal justice reform is opening up fissures in the conservative coalition. Bluntly put, the more racist forces in the party  the ones that got Trump nominated and elected in the first place  don't like the idea of criminal justice reform and aren't afraid to kick up an intra-party fights in order to maintain the staggeringly high imprisonment levels in the United States.

"Most of the mainstream Republican party, traditional Republican leaders like Chuck Grassley, are very invested in the criminal justice debate. They want to see it done," Ames Grawert, counsel for the Brennan Centers Justice Program, explained to Salon. "Its this insurgency alt-right side, of which I think Jeff Sessions is one iteration, that is opposing sentencing reform to any extent."

The fight against mass incarceration has been largely associated with the left and the Democrats  Hillary Clinton's campaign platform promoted policies aimed at ending the era of mass incarceration, for example  but there's actually been a surprising amount of leadership from Republicans on this issue over the past few years. Republican-controlled state governments such as those in Texas, Georgia and Kentucky have made real progress in trying to reduce their prison populations through surprisingly progressive reforms. And most people familiar with the issue say that Republican senators like Grassley, Mike Lee of Utah and Tim Scott of South Carolina are really dedicated to reducing long prison sentences, especially for nonviolent, drug-related offenses.

The reasons for this shift are both moral and pragmatic. "When the fiscal crisis hit," said Inimai Chettiar, director of the Brennan Center's Justice Program said, conservatives "were much more focused on this fiscal angle," but added that a growing church-based effort to reach out to imprisoned populations has also led many Republicans to come to this "from a moral angle and a religious angle."

When faced with the need to save costs, they couldnt help but notice the burdens that departments of corrections were creating, added Kara Gotsch, director of strategic initiatives for the Sentencing Project, in discussing why state-level Republicans have taken the lead on this issue. Gotsch also feels that mass incarceration is such a widespread problem that it's "hard for anyone not to know someone whos been touched by the criminal justice system." This, she feels, is also provoking more compassion from some Republicans.
Some residents in Northern California's more rural areas threatened by fire are refusing to leave their homes because they don't want to leave their livestock and larger animals behind, including one Butte County woman who is still on-property with over 175 animals.

As ABC 7 reports, one farmer didn't want to go until all of his cows were properly corralled. It took some help from a neighboring animal sanctuary to get that accomplished. Following that, a T.J. & Friends Sanctuary employee told ABC 7 that they "picked up six horses yesterday, llamas, goats, pigs whatever we can."

It may have been a little tougher for the Butte County woman in Bangor, California, though. SFGate spoke with Monica Hardeman, founder of the Equine Rescue Center, who stayed on her property with 72 horses, 100 cattle, and her goats and dogs. They reportedly tried to move all of the animals off the property, but the LaPorte Fire has effectively cut off any possible help, stranding her there with the animals. In a phone interview with SFGate, Hardeman said, "We're just kinda trapped at this point. If people could get to us, they would, but we're in a situation where it's just not possible."

Since then, Hardeman has been providing updates through the ERC Facebook page. In the latest one, she said that the LaPorte Fire has moved in a different direction, but the Cascade Fire "has come our way." She went on to say, "I don't want to leave because I know [officers] won't let me back, so I'm not leaving. Unless somebody puts a gun to me or something I might leave, but... right now, I go where they go and nobody could get up here yesterday, they wouldn't let people in."

Hardeman isn't alone at the ERC, though, as SFGate also explained that the center's ranch director, Gabe Pimentel is also there assisting her with taking care of the horses. As of right now, they're in pretty dire straits  they have no electricity, only one generator, and spotty cell phone service.

On the other side of things, Safari West in Santa Rosa has written a post on Facebook thanking people for offering to help take care of their stable of African animals with donations and the like, but they've asked that potential donors redirect their efforts and generosity elsewhere. They wrote, in part:

Please, if you do feel compelled to make a donation, direct it to a charity or organization that benefits all the victims of this terrible event. Our Safari West family has suffered but we are not alone and our fellow citizens of Sonoma, Napa, and surrounding counties are all dealing with the same heartache and loss. Thank you again for thinking of us.

They also wrote that they have a skeleton crew of core staff back on site, including a veterinarian who will take care of the animals. Though they seem to be safe now, they still remain worried as the Tubbs Fire bearing down on them hasn't been contained at all, according to CalFire.

Related: Santa Rosa's Safari West Works To Save African Animals While Area Shelters Take On More Pets
Drone footage shows the devastation caused by deadly wildfire in Santa Rosa, California, where some neighborhoods were virtually obliterated. At least 21 people have died as a result of the massive wildfires sweeping across California. #santarosa #fire #firefighter #wildfire #sonoma #california A post shared by ABC News (@abcnews) on Oct 11, 2017 at 7:30pm PDT

As fire crews continue their fight to contain the 22 separate fires raging across California, with several of the largest in the North Bay, the death toll continues its steady climb, with officials fearing that the number will balloon when excavation of the burned-out areas can finally begin.

The Chronicle has the latest on the death toll, which they say has risen to 23 as of this morning. [Update: As of Thursday afternoon, the death toll stands at 29.] They also go on to say that officials are expecting to see the number rise as the ashes are sifted in the coming days. The Tubbs Fire has clearly been the most deadly out of all the fires, having claimed 11 of the 13 total deaths in Sonoma County alone. A majority of the people reported missing in Sonoma County, however, have been found, leaving 285 of the estimated 600 reported people still missing. Sonoma County Sheriff Deputy Brandon Jones told the Chron, "It skyrocketed [Wednesday], which was phenomenal. A lot of these things resolve themselves. But we dont want to miss a single update."

The latest Cal Fire report shows that while the Tubbs fire has grown to consume 34,270 acres, it's now 10% contained, meaning that at least the beginning of a containment line has been held. The Atlas Fire now covers 43,762 acres, an increase in over 1,400 acres from Wednesday afternoon, and is still only 3% contained. KRON 4 reports that the Nuns Fire and the Norbbom Fire (both part of the Southern LNU Complex Fire along with the Atlas Fire) have joined together, bringing the total area consumed for both fires to 14,698, with a total of 3% containment.

Below, a map of these fires, with indications of what has most recently been burning.

Regarding evacuation orders, new orders have come in for parts of the city of Napa, and both Calistoga, Geyserville, and Boyes Hot Springs were evacuated Wednesday evening, the latter which was under a voluntary order. Reportedly the National Guard arrived to protect historic downtown Sonoma, possibly from looting.

The Chron reports that fire officials have asked Petaluma residents to be ready to evacuate, though they haven't delivered any firm orders yet. KRON 4 also has a list of updated evacuation areas, which include:

In Napa County, advisories were issued for people living east of Silverado Trail, Soscol Avenue, Highway 221, Highway 29 and north of Jameson Canyon Road. In Sonoma County, Palomino Lakes as well as parts of Windsor and Healdsburg. In Solano County, north of Jameson Canyon Road and I-80 and west of Suisun Valley Road

Schools farther south have also been impacted by the smoke-polluted air, according to the Chron. They report that all schools in the following districts have been closed on Thursday:



Vallejo City Unified School District



Benicia Unified School District



John Swett Unified School District



Pittsburg Unified School District



West Contra Costa Unified School District



Martinez Unified School District



Mount Diablo Unified School District



Antioch Unified School District



All previous coverage of the North Bay wildfires on SFist.
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WESTFIELD, Iowa | The former Westfield city clerk was arrested Wednesday after Plymouth County authorities investigated a complaint of a misappropriation of city funds.

Angela Lynn Sorensen, 48, of Westfield, has been charged with second-degree theft, a Class D felony. A court document accuses her of using $8,972 from a city fundraising account to buy personal items. The document said Sorensen was in control of the account that had money raised for a public park and T-ball complex at the Peoples Bank in Akron, Iowa.

Westfield Mayor Mike Tadlock contacted the sheriff's office on Sept. 7 after officials discovered the funds were missing, a press release said.

A warrant had been issued for Sorensen last week. She was arrested Wednesday in Le Mars. After appearing before a judge, she was released on $5,000 bond.

Tadlock said Sorensen resigned in August. The city has since hired a new clerk.

Westfield, located 21 miles northwest of Sioux City, has a population of 131.
SIOUX CITY | Sioux City fifth and eighth-grade students were given the opportunity to meet with Thomas Jefferson, the "Man of the People."

Or more precisely, the kids spent time with two reenactors who portrayed the third U.S. president at different stages of his life, during a presentation held at the Orpheum Theatre on Wednesday.

"I portray an older Jefferson when he's beginning to forget certain names and events," Bill Barker explained, following the 75-minute production. "I'm revisited with a younger version of myself. He has a fresher perspective on what had occurred in real time while I could warn him of the pitfalls that would happen over time."

Barker and Kurt Smith, who portrays the "Sage of Monticello" at age 34, are both Thomas Jefferson reenactors from Colonial Williamsburg, a living history museum and private foundation in Williamsburg, Virginia.

"Each summer, (businessman) Irving Jensen Jr. helps a handful of educators attend a teacher's institute conference at Colonial Williamsburg," explained Sioux City Public Schools Foundation executive director Kari Kellen. "This allows teachers to invigorate their American history curriculum tied to the Jefferson era."

Nine Siouxland educators attended this year's conference, she said, while more than 120 educators have gone to Colonial Williamsburg over the past 13 years.

Many years, a local teacher may choose to take a stab at portraying the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.

However, this is the second time in a decade that Barker, a reenactor with more than 35 years experience, has portrayed Jefferson in Sioux City.

"It's important to remember Thomas Jefferson was passionate in his belief in a public education," Barker said. "By bringing Jefferson back to life, we want students to remember the importance of a public education as well."

According to Smith, live performances may be more meaningful than lessons taught in a history book.

"Students are able to see that Jefferson's words were more than just black ink printed on white paper," he said. "Students are able to see the real man."

Smith, a Jefferson reenactor for nearly three years, said it's easy for him to get into character.

"The costuming helps a lot," he admitted. "Jefferson was a man of the people who put his breeches on one foot at a time. And so do I."

Growing up, Smith said he knew as much about Jefferson as most students. It wasn't until he became an adult did he become a fan.

On the other hand, Barker was always a bit of a history buff.

"I grew up in Philadelphia to two Southern parents," he said. "Thomas Jefferson was someone I found to be very intriguing."

Jefferson may even have had an opinion in the age of "fake news."

"He believed that newspapers should publish the truth and nothing but the truth," Barker said. "That's because so much of what was being printed back then was, indeed, fake. Things were much worse back in Jefferson's time than it is today."

Despite that, Jefferson was also a believer in a free press.

"(Jefferson) said that if it was left to him to decide between having a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, he wouldn't hesitate for a moment and choose the latter," Smith said. "We can all learn a lot from Jefferson."
SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City man involved in the theft of a pickup truck and who later tried to break out of jail was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison.

Faron Starr, 33, pleaded guilty in Woodbury County District Court to second-degree theft, third-degree burglary, second-offense possession of a controlled substance and escape from custody.

Starr and Jeremy Adams were involved in the Jan. 18 theft of the pickup, which was parked at the Whistle Stop Casino in North Sioux City. The two then drove to the truck owner's Sioux City home and used the garage door opener inside the pickup to open the garage and take a Honda Accord. Police later pulled Adams and Starr over in the Honda and found them in possession of methamphetamine.

On July 13, Starr attempted to escape from the jail by breaking through a wall in his cell.

In addition to the prison term, District Judge Jeffrey Poulson ordered Starr to pay $760 restitution to the victims and $300 to the Woodbury County Jail.

Adams, 34, of Sioux City, was sentenced in April to five years in prison on theft, burglary and drug possession charges.
SIOUX CITY | Incumbent City Council candidates Dan Moore and Alex Watters led the field of nine council hopefuls in both fundraising and spending leading up to Tuesday's primary election, according to documents filed with the state.

Moore, Watters and fellow incumbent Pete Groetken were the only candidates who were required to file reports with the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board by the Oct. 5 deadline. Under state law, candidates for public office are required to file reports if they raise or spend at least $1,000 during the reporting period.

The three incumbents were the top three vote-getters in Tuesday's primary, advancing to the Nov. 7 general election along with challengers Denny Quinn, Doug Waples and Jake Jungers. Three other candidates on the ballot Tuesday did not qualify for the general election, where three seats will be up for election.

Moore raised the most, listing $6,505 in contributions. Watters followed close behind with $6,210.

Groetken reported a balance of $2,112.42 for the start of the period, although those funds were carried over from his 2013 council campaign. Moore, who is also pursuing his second council term, did not report any carryover balance.

Moore spent the most on his campaign in the weeks leading up to the primary, reporting $2,082.32 in expenditures, according to the report. Watters spent $1,873.07, and Groetken spent $415.05.

All contributions came from individuals or families with the exception of $1,000 donations awarded to both Moore and Watters from the Sioux City Professional Firefighters Association Local No. 7.

Other large donations included $1,000 contributions by both Dave Bernstein and Louis Weinberg to Watters' campaign and a $1,000 contribution to Moore's campaign from Ritch LeGrand.

Moore also received $500 donations from Sioux City residents Jim and Bev Wharton, George Madsen, and Magnhild Madsen, as well as a $400 contribution from the Irving Jensen Trust.

Watters received listed contributions from a trio of Democratic elected officials, among them a $50 donation from state Rep. Chris Hall and a $75 donation from state Rep. Tim Kacena. He received a pair of $100 donations from Marty Pottebaum, the lone Democrat on the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors.

Sioux City Council seats are elected at-large and are officially nonpartisan.
Todays top picks from our online calendar. Find more events at siouxcityjournal.com/calendar.

Lecture at Morningside

Dr. Patrick J. Murphy will give a lecture at 7 p.m. on Social Enterprise: Ventures that Do Well and Do Good in the UPS Auditorium at Morningside College, 3627 Peters Ave. There will be a meet-and-greet in the lobby 30 minutes prior to the lecture. Both the meet-and-greet and the lecture are free and open to the public. Part of the Entrepreneur in Residence program at Morningside College.

'Love, Sex and the I.R.S.'

The Morningside College Theatre Department will present the student-directed play Love, Sex and the I.R.S. Seats are $5 general admission and can be purchased at the door. On stage at Klinger-Neal Theatre, 3700 Peters Ave., at 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Visit www.morningside.edu or call 712-274-5132 for more information.

2017 Signature Chefs Event

Siouxland chefs will create signature dishes in support of the March of Dimes 5:30 p.m. at the Sioux City Convention Center, 801 Fourth St. Taste from the chef's creations before taking your seats for the Live Auction and Fund the Mission. Tickets, $150 each, are available at https://signaturechefs.marchofdimes.org/.
SIOUX CITY  Tyson Foods will fund an internship program starting next summer that will allow college students to gain experience serving nonprofit groups in two Siouxland communities where the meat company has large plants and a diverse workforce.

The Tyson Foods Summer Community Internship Program will offer eight-week paid summer internship to assist community organizations in Sioux City, Storm Lake, and Council Bluffs, Iowa and Chicago. Tyson has a beef plant in Dakota City, Nebraska, just across the Missouri River from Sioux City, and pork and turkey plants in Storm Lake, the Buena Vista County seat.

The creation of this program offers the professionals of tomorrow a unique opportunity to build their resume, while also adding value to the critical services nonprofit organizations provide in their communities, Garrett Dolan, Tyson Foods senior manager of corporate social responsibility, said in a news release Thursday.

Iowa and Illinois Campus Compact affiliates will oversee and administer the program.

Opportunities like this are great examples of how colleges and universities can partner with local nonprofits to deepen student learning and professional development while contributing to community work, said Maggie Grove Campus Compacts vice president for strategy and operations. This program will provide benefits both to those students selected and directly to community organizations in need of capacity support.

The application process is now open for both community organizations interested in receiving a grant to host an intern and students interested in being matched up with organizations.

All nonprofits and public organizations within the designated communities are eligible to apply, however, applications are especially encouraged from those focused directly or indirectly on hunger relief, adult education, and immigrant services. Organizations will be selected based on need and capacity to provide a quality student experience.

For more information, visit iacampuscompact.org/what-we-do/tyson-summer-interns.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa  Suggestions that drainage districts could be on the front line of efforts to mitigate nitrate pollution overstate their authority and likely would spur legal battles, according to the Iowa Drainage District Association.

Under Iowa law, drainage district funds only can be used for the benefit of the district, according to the associations executive director, John Torbert. The term is not defined in law, making a case that nitrate mitigation benefits the district would be a stretch and would be open to legal challenge.

Torbert was responding to a report earlier this week from the Iowa Policy Project that drainage districts probably have the power and the obligation to address ag-sourced nitrate pollution that threatens Iowa waters and is the primary cause for the hypoxic zone, or Dead Zone, at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Mitigating nitrate pollution would be a public good, according to the think tanks researchers.

If were going to start somewhere, we might as well start somewhere where we have the infrastructure in place to do something about it, said IPP researcher Sarah Garvin. Were past the tipping point.

However, Torbert believes drainage district trustees only have the authority spelled in state law and if statutes are silent on an issue  nitrate mitigation, for example  trustees cannot assume legal authority to act.

This was specifically spelled out in the recent court decisions on the Des Moines Water Works lawsuit as well as United States District Court decisions that drainage districts do not have statutory authority to mandate water quality measures outlined in Iowas Nutrient Reduction Strategy, Torbert said.

The Iowa Supreme Court dismissed the case the Water Works brought against three northwest Iowa county boards of supervisors -- Sac, Buena Vista and Calhoun -- for nitrate contamination in the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers.

Iowa Policy Project researchers believe that in his dissent in that case, Chief Justice Mark Cady seemed to suggest that drainage districts may have an existing responsibility to address water quality for the public good.

If drainage district law had been developed with the thought that a drainage district could be a polluter, Cady wrote, I am convinced our law would have developed in a way that would have recognized a clear remedy.

Torbert suggested the think tank researchers dont understand drainage law. Drainage districts can assess costs back to landowners and can use eminent domain to complete projects, property owners assessments only can be spent for the benefit of the district. However, he added, drainage districts sole purpose of existing is to drain excess water from the land.

So it is a legal stretch to assume that monies could be directed toward conservation projects (because) such projects would not benefit the district in terms of its ability to drain water, Torbert said.

Even if trustees can get past that legal hurdle, Torbert said landowners who question the projects  specifically the cost  could stop the projects through what is known as remonstrance.

Landowners are assessed based on the benefit they receive from being a part of a drainage district, Torbert explained. If it is determined a landowner is going to get 10 percent of the benefit of the district being formed, that landowner will be assessed 10 percent of the costs of repairs and improvements.

Remonstrance usually is used to stop projects that landowners perceive as being too expensive, he said.

In its legislative priorities, the drainage district association said it supports the states Nutrient Reduction Strategy and voluntary efforts to improve water quality.

Its also supports significant, consistent, and dependable funding, such as the Iowa Water Land Legacy Fund that would capture three-eighths of a cent from the next state sales tax increase to fund water quality and outdoor recreation efforts. Its estimated to raise $180 million a year.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel will be the featured speaker at Iowa Republicans annual Reagan Dinner next month, but the undercard is getting most of the attention.

Thats because former presidential press secretary Sean Spicer, who has been spoofed on Saturday Night Live, will be giving the GOP faithful in insiders view of the Trump White House.

Spicer, 46, who left the White House in August, gained attention from actress-comedian Melissa McCarthys portrayal on SNL for his often heated skirmishes with the White House press corps.

Ironically, I think that the SNL skits have given him a celebrity status that will make people listen to him a little bit more carefully, said Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann, who got to know Spicer when he worked in communications for the RNC. Ive been a friend of his and kept in touch through the ups and downs and the tension of being the first press secretary for the president.

Spicer and McDaniel will speak Nov. 8 at the annual dinner at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. All Iowa GOP federal and statewide elected officials have been invited. Tickets start at $100 at www.eventbrite.com.

Earlier this week, the Iowa Democratic Party announced that Alec Baldwin, 59, an actor and comedian who portrays President Donald Trump on SNL, will be the headliner at its Nov. 27 Fall Gala, formerly known as the Jefferson Jackson Dinner. A link to tickets  $50 for bleacher seats and $125 for dinner  is at iowademocrats.org.

Kaufmann expects that Spicer will provide a good time for the Reagan Dinner audience and may attract Trump supporters who might not have attended previous party events.

He may bring in individuals who make connection between him and SNL, but who arent passionate about politics, Kaufmann said.

McDaniel, he added, likely will appeal to more establishment Republicans with her insight into whats going on inside of high-level Republican politics.

He also hopes the dinner and Iowa Republicans make a good impression on McDaniel, 44, who as national chairwoman has a lot of influence on whether Iowa maintains its first-in-the-nation status.

She has been very, very supportive, Kaufmann said. The Iowa GOP also is bringing in other members of the RNC to continue to educate them on what it takes to put on a caucus and why Iowa is a good spot to start.
'Marshall' (Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content, sexuality, violence and some strong language) -- Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, battles through one of his career-defining cases.

'The Foreigner' (Rated R for violence, language and some sexual material) -- When a humble businessman's daughter is killed in an act of terrorism, his buried past catches up to him as he seeks justice.
Man uses stolen credit cards at Casey's

STORM LAKE, Iowa | And I thought I had a lot of cards in my wallet.

On Oct. 4, the Storm Lake Police Department took a report from a reporting party out of Des Moines that a person was unlawfully using their credit card at businesses in Storm Lake.

An investigation determined that a person allegedly purchased approximately $150 in merchandise from a Caseys in Storm Lake on Oct. 4 with a fraudulent credit card with the victims number on it. Security video was acquired from the store with the suspect on it. The next day, police were told that the suspect returned to the store and was allegedly purchasing more items with another credit card. He then left the store. Caseys staff provided police with a description of the suspects vehicle. It was then spotted in the 200 block of West Milwaukee Avenue.

Police identified the suspect as Orlando Miranda Diaz, 28, of Denison, Iowa. Police allege that Diaz had several fraudulent credit cards in his possession. He was taken into custody and transported to the police station for questioning. Diazs vehicle was impounded pending application for a search warrant.

That day, SLPD investigators and Denison Police Officers executed a search warrant at Diazs residence and car in Denison. In the vehicle, police located and seized a credit card reader, 13 iTunes gift cards, three cell phones, four Redbox movies, a Visa debit card and assorted, unknown pills.

Diaz was charged with ongoing criminal conduct (class B felony), forgery (class D felony) and two counts of unauthorized use of credit cards (aggravated misdemeanor). He was booked into the Buena Vista County Jail on a $25,000.00 bond.

Man gets 10 years

SIOUX CITY | A Sioux City man who stole a cooler filled with fish and beer from a backyard was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday.

Hai Nguyen, 47, pleaded guilty in Woodbury County District Court to third-degree burglary. As part of a plea agreement, charges of third-degree arson and reckless use of fire or explosives were dismissed.

District Judge Steven Andreasen sentenced Nguyen to five years in prison for the burglary charge and revoked his probation and imposed the five-year prison sentence from a January conviction for an unrelated burglary.

In the recent case, Nguyen entered an open patio at a house in the 1500 block of Virginia Street in the early morning hours of July 4 and took a cooler containing fish and beer while a man and his son were sleeping inside the home. Nguyen was accused of burning the wire of a surveillance camera to disable it.
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.
WASHINGTON

(Oct. 11, 2017)The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced the following contract awards that pertain to local Navy activities., is being awardedfor firm-fixed-price modification to a previously issued delivery order 0132 placed against basic ordering agreement N00019-14-G-0020. This modification provides for the procurement of initial air vehicle spares in support of the low-rate initial production Lot 11 F-35 Lightning II for the Marine Corps and Navy. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (24.6 percent); El Segundo, California (9 percent); Owego, New York (8.6 percent); Samlesbury, United Kingdom (7.2 percent); Cheltenham, United Kingdom (6.2 percent); Nashua, New Hampshire (5.8 percent); Torrance, California (5.5 percent); Orlando, Florida (4.9 percent); Cedar Rapids, Iowa (3.7 percent); San Diego, California (3.6 percent); Phoenix, Arizona (3.1 percent); Melbourne, Florida (3 percent); Irvine, California (2.5 percent); North Amityville, New York (2.4 percent); Baltimore, Maryland (2.2 percent); Windsor Locks, Connecticut (2.2 percent); Papendrect, The Netherlands (1.9 percent); Rolling Meadows, Illinois (1.8 percent); and Alpharetta, Georgia (1.8 percent). Work is expected to be completed in February 2022. Fiscal 2016 and 2017 aircraft procurement (Marine Corps and Navy) funds in the amount of $64,240,000 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This modification combines purchases for the Marine Corps ($39,540,000; 61.6 percent); and the Navy ($24,700,000; 38.4 percent). The, is the contracting activity., is being awarded afirm-fixed-price supply contract for fiscal 2017 through 2020 production of the MK 38 MOD 3 machine gun system (MGS) and associated spares. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $121,518,062. Work will be performed in Haifa, Israel (67 percent); and Louisville, Kentucky (33 percent), and is expected to be completed by April 2019. Fiscal 2017 weapons procurement (Navy) $26,879,041; fiscal 2015 National Guard and Reserve Equipment Appropriation $3,196,511 funds; fiscal 2017 weapons procurement (USCG) $2,711,934 will be obligated at the time of award, of which $3,196,511 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2) - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The, is the contracting activity (N00174-17-C-0022)., is being awarded acost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide development, maintenance and upgrade of the Visual Interactive Simulation Training Application (VISTA) computer based synthetic operations and maintenance trainers in support of the Center for Surface Combat Systems. VISTA is a flexible high-fidelity computer based networked system that provides a training environment for both operation and corrective maintenance tasks on selected combat systems. The simulations are designed with fault scenarios representative of those experienced on the actual equipment so that troubleshooting, isolation, removal and replacement of the components may be practiced by the technicians under instruction. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (25 percent); Japan (20 percent); Pakistan (20 percent); Spain (20 percent); and Norway (15 percent). Work is being performed in Canada (90 percent); Dahlgren, Virginia (2 percent); Norway (2 percent); Japan (2 percent); Pakistan (2 percent); and Spain (2 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2022. Foreign military sales funding in the amount of $710,000 will be obligated at time of award and contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The, is the contracting activity (N00178-17-D-5001)., is being awarded amodification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price contract (N00174-16-C-0046) to exercise option year one for continued implementation of a facilities critical infrastructure control and monitoring system interface to the Navy Virtual Perimeter Monitoring System that will allow for monitoring and control of critical facility infrastructure for potential operating hazards or intrusions. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (55 percent); Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (44 percent); and Kauai, Hawaii (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2018. Fiscal 2017 operations and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps); and funding in the amount of $4,835,054 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is being awarded afirm-fixed-price undefinitized contract action to procure 200 AGM-154C Block III joint standoff weapons, 212 containers, various component parts and support equipment for spares, and engineering and technical support for the government of Qatar. Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona (36.6 percent); Glascoed, Wales, United Kingdom (15.6 percent); Dallas, Texas (11.7 percent); Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (6.2 percent); Vergennes, Vermont (5.3 percent); Minneapolis, Minnesota (3.4 percent); Richardson, Texas (2.9 percent); Andover, Massachusetts (2.5 percent); McAlester, Oklahoma (2 percent); Joplin, Missouri (2 percent); Tulsa, Oklahoma (1.9 percent); Goleta, California (1.6 percent); Williamsport, Pennsylvania (1.5 percent); Berryville, Arkansas (1.1 percent); Bohemia, New York (1.1 percent); Orchard Park, New York (1 percent); Pinellas Park, Florida (0.8 percent); Boulder, Colorado (0.7 percent); Valencia, California (0.4 percent) and various locations within the continental U.S. (1.7 percent), and is expected to be completed in June 2020. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $84,708,344 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The, is the contracting activity (N00019-18-C-1002)., is being awardedfor cost-plus-fixed-fee task order 0041 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-15-G-0026) to procure test and maintenance services to sustain MQ-4C Triton unmanned air system (UAS) air vehicles, mission control and operator training systems. In addition, this effort includes procurement of field service representatives technical support to ensure that the MQ-4C UAS aircraft are mission-capable for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions supporting Triton's early operating capability. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (50 percent); Point Mugu, California (25 percent); Jacksonville, Florida (20 percent); and Yigo, Guam (5 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2018. Fiscal 2017 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy); and fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $13,018,952 are being obligated on this award, $2,550,000 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity., is being awardedfor modification P00009 to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-16-D-1003) to exercise an option to provide depot level maintenance support to facilitate the sustainment of up to 13 F/A-18A-D aircraft. Depot level maintenance shall include high flight hour inspections, high flight hour recurring inspections, modifications and liaison engineering. Work will be performed in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada (80 percent); and Waco, Texas (20 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2020. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. The, is the contracting activity., is being awarded a not-to-exceedfor modification P00020 to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00421-14-D-0025) to exercise an option for the procurement of up to 166,500 AN/SSQ 36, AN/SSQ-53, AN/SSQ-62, AN/SSQ-101, AN/SSQ-125 and MK-84 signal underwater sound series sonobuoys. Work will be performed in DeLeon Springs, Florida (51.7 percent); and Columbia City, Indiana (48.3 percent), and is expected to be completed in October 2020. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. Funding will be obligated on individual delivery orders as they are issued. The, is the contracting activity.
When I was speaking Los Angeles recently calling on President Donald Trump to keep his pledge to respect states rights on the question of medicinal marijuana I was interviewed by a local blogger named Jeff4Justice. I should have sensed a ringer when his first three questions were disjointed and benign but then he unloaded his "gotcha question" asking about my sexual orientation. Are you bi-sexual? he barked.

In view of my self- admitted past as a libertine it was a ridiculous question. I was an avid participant in the Sexual Revolution of the 1970s. I responded by saying that it while it was none of anyone's business that "I'm try-sexual  Ive tried everything reprising an old Milton Berle joke.

I was subsequently surprised to see myself attacked by Jeff4Justice in The Advocate defending his gotcha question by saying I think it's very relevant when you have people who in their own private lives are living sexually wild lives and yet they use their time, talent, and treasure to elevate people to power who utilize the religious right to go and do horrible things to other people.

"Stone's alleged sexual activity may or may not correspond with his sexual identity," bisexual activist Eliel Cruz also told The Advocate. "He may have experimented and found it wasn't for him or he may actively engage in sex with men while not claiming a bisexual identity. Whether or not Stone is bisexual, his ideology and policies are dangerous to large swaths of people  including the LGBT community. That's far more important."

My ideology?

I am clearly not, based on a long-documented history, the person Jeff4Justice or Eliel Cruz think I am. Did either do any basic research on my record?

I have always been a libertarian conservative in the Goldwater mold, wanting government out of the boardroom and out of the bedroom. I have never been a part of the so-called Moral Majority and in fact have been one of their fiercest critics inside the Republican Party. My work was for Republicans like Governor Tom Kean and Congressman Jack Kemp. Republican Analyst Kevin Phillip attacked me for my criticism of Religious Right.

I have long said and written that the Evangelical Christian insistence on opposition to gay marriage and legal abortion would destroy the Republican Party by costing us any chance with younger voters.

In 1978 I resigned as treasurer and a member of the board of the National Conservative Political Action Committee when NCPAC Chairman Terry Dolan (who was gay) included anti- gay rhetoric in a fundraising letter for the organization.

In 1996, along with Senator Arlen Specter I was the founder of the "Republican Majority Coalition which was a coalition of libertarian and moderate Republicans who supported LGBT rights. Our goal was to counter the influence of the then growing religious right.

In 1996 I sought to persuade Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, a supporter of gay marriage, to seek the Republican nomination and failing to do so, chaired the campaign of Senator Arlen Specter who took the same position in the 1996 race.

I have been publicly supportive of the Log Cabin organization and I am a member of GOProud  an organization of Republicans who support gay equality which I joined at the request of Andrew Breitbart, another libertarian who supported LGBT Rights.

I have signed petitions to remove the anti-same sex marriage language from the Republican Platform since it first appeared. In 2006 I published an OP-ED in opposition to the Florida constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage. I was for gay marriage before Bill, Hillary or Obama!

In 2012 I abandoned the Republican Party to join the Libertarian party whose platform I was generally more comfortable with on LGBT rights as well as foreign and domestic policy. I helped persuade Governor Gary Johnson, who had not supported same-sex marriage as governor of New Mexico embrace it in his 2012 presidential campaign.

As a 40-year friend and advisor to Donald Trump I urged him to ad lib pro-gay comments in his acceptance speech in Cleveland. When he tweeted his recent comments on transgender issues I publicly denounced them when speaking at the POLITICON conference in Pasadena which receive widespread coverage.

Donald Trump will, however, protect the LGBT community from the violence and threat of Islamic terrorists. He is well aware of the mass murder of gay people at their hands in the Middle East. Obama and the Clintons, at a minimum, want to accommodate them, and in many cases, have empowered them.

I have never engaged in hypocrisy or urged candidates to take an anti-gay position if it were politically advantageous. My conduct in the bed room is irrelevant because I am no hypocrite.

Roger Stone was a campaign adviser to then-candidate Donald Trump.
In a time when President Donald Trump has directed a ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military, his administration has rescinded protections for trans students in public schools and the advancement of LGBTQ national historic landmarks are in question, the stories of those who fought for equal rights in an earlier era seem to be more important than ever before.

One such story is that of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, who ushered in the modern lesbian movement and made history by becoming the first same-sex couple married in San Francisco  twice. Their accomplishments as activists and the love they shared have become a symbol of perseverance, strength and hope for the LGBTQ community.

"If you got stuff you want to change, you have to get out and work on it," said 93-year-old Lyon. "You can't just sit around and say, I wish this or that was different. You have to fight for it."

Lyon is still a beacon of strength, wit and charm as she reminisced about her younger years. Although Martin died in 2008 at age 87, Lyon still lives in the couple's one-bedroom home nestled in the hills of Noe Valley, which they shared for more than 50 years.

"I can't be out galloping around like I used to, getting stuff done," said Lyon as she sat in her living room during a recent interview with the Bay Area Reporter. Decades ago, the room served as a gathering place for lesbians during a time of social conformity, when the lesbian community only had a handful of bars in the Castro district in which to meet and socialize.

"Oh, gosh, we used to have dance parties here all the time," Lyon recalled, smiling.

Although Lyon said she has not considered submitting her home to become a national or local landmark after she passes, one step inside the cozy abode reveals the couple's history-making life, seen through countless pictures, knickknacks and newspaper clippings.

Kendra Mon, Martin's only child from her first marriage, remembers spending summers at the couple's home when she was a student at UC Berkeley. Over the years, Mon has come to understand the important role her mother and Lyon played in the lesbian community, something she didn't quite grasp as a young adult.

"Lesbians would call the house from all over the world," said Mon, a retired mother of two who lives in Petaluma, Calif. "A lot of their friends were scared at that time. Mom gave them a place where they could feel safe."

Wedding bells

When former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered city officials to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in February 2004, the "Winter of Love" was unleashed, as images of happy gay and lesbian couples lined up outside City Hall were beamed into living rooms across the country, and around the world. But that day, Feb. 12, started off with a quieter ceremony inside a City Hall office, where Newsom married Lyon and Martin, as LGBT community leaders and others looked on.

Ultimately, the California Supreme Court ruled several months later that those 2004 marriages were invalid because Newsom had exceeded his authority. Lyon and Martin  and the thousands of others  would have to wait four more years, when the same court in May 2008 overturned Proposition 22, a same-sex marriage ban, and said that denying marriage rights to same-sex couples violated the state Constitution. Wedding bells began ringing in the Golden State in June.

(The same-sex nuptials were halted in November of that year, after state voters passed the Proposition 8 marriage ban. After years of legal wrangling, the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2013 tossed out Prop 8 on a technicality and same-sex marriages resumed in California.)

Martin and Lyon were the first same-sex couple to be married in the city in 2004 and 2008. Framed, yellowed San Francisco Chronicle articles of the couple's historic weddings grace the walls of Lyon's well-lit living room. The headlines read, "Wedding Bells to Ring in a New Era" and "The Wait is Over."

"We got it started for everybody else," Lyon said of her 2004 wedding. "We didn't get married just for us. We knew it was important to a lot of other people."

Although their first marriage was ended after 181 days, it didn't stop the couple from continuing their fight. Martin and Lyon exchanged vows again on June 16, 2008.

Martin died Aug. 27, just 74 days after again making history.

The matching pink and blue suits the couple wore are now in the permanent collection in the archives of the GLBT Historical Society.

A longtime friend of both women, Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, personally asked Lyon and Martin to be the first same-sex couple to wed in 2004.

"I called the house and Phyllis answered the phone. I told her I needed them to do one more thing for the movement," Kendell said, recalling it to be a humorous conversation, after Lyon put her on hold to ask Martin. They said yes a few minutes later.

Kendell attended both marriage ceremonies, an emotional experience for her.

"I burst into tears, as did other staffers," she said. "You knew you were a part of something historically very important standing there."

For someone who grew up in a time where lesbianism was seen as "immoral, sick and illegal," Lyon said she never believed she would live long enough to marry her "sweety-puss" and the love of her life, as she called Martin, let alone see same-sex marriage legalized nationally. But sure enough, in a landmark decision on June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples could marry in all 50 states.

"I think we've made tremendous progress," said Lyon, laughing about how she is still amazed that people don't fall over dead when she tells them she is a lesbian. The incredible accomplishments of Lyon and Martin no doubt played a role in the progress of the LGBTQ community in San Francisco and beyond. When Martin died, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) famously said, "We would never have marriage equality in California if it weren't for Del and Phyllis."

Earlier days

Martin began working as an activist after receiving her degree in journalism from UC Berkeley. While working at a newspaper in Seattle, Martin met Lyon in 1950 and the two began working on behalf of lesbians in their community, health-care access, advocacy on behalf of battered women and issues facing elderly Americans.

Together more than 50 years, the couple founded the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955, the first social and political organization for lesbians in the United States. In 1956, they started a newsletter called the Ladder, which grew into a publication about lesbian politics and culture and became a lifeline for hundreds of women isolated and silenced by the restrictions of the era.

Martin also became an activist for the feminist movement in 1963 when she was the first out lesbian to serve on the board of directors of the National Organization for Women. The women were pioneers, tireless activists and together a symbol of what it means to fight for equality and love in the LGBTQ community.

Their many contributions over the past five decades are credited with shaping the modern LGBT movement.

In 2005, Lyon and Martin were inducted into the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame.

"No, we are not back in the 1950s, but we are facing some of the most threatening and dangerous times, certainly in my lifetime," Kendell said of the Trump administration's lack of support of the LGBTQ community. "Phyllis and Del are examples of how you live during difficult times. I look to them as an inspiration, a north star of how you show up, you fight and be present."

Lyon plans to donate some of the items in her home to the Smithsonian Institute after she is gone, but, as Kendell said, the memory and legacy of Martin and Lyon live on through their writings, perseverance and love for one another.

Alex Madison is a freelance reporter for the Bay Area Reporter.

This piece is part of a national multi-newspaper LGBT history project thats put together by the Philadelphia Gay News every year.

This is a part of our LGBT History Month special package. Check out sfgn.com/2017historymonth daily for new stories.
NASA NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 10 October 2017 - Spacewalk Today.

Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA will head outside the International Space Station at approximately 8 a.m. EDT Tuesday to begin a 6.5-hour spacewalk. Live coverage will be available on NASA Television and the agencys website beginning at 6:30 a.m.

During Tuesdays spacewalk, Bresnik and Vande Hei will lubricate the Canadarm2 Latching End Effectors (LEE) that the spacewalkers replaced Oct. 5. Canadarm2 has two identical Latching End Effectors used to grapple visiting cargo vehicles and payloads, provide data and telemetry to the rest of the Canadian-built Mobile Base System and the unique capability to walk from one location on the stations truss to another. The Canadarm2 grappling mechanism that was replaced last week experienced a stall of its motorized latches last month.

This will be the 204th spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance, and the second of three spacewalks planned for October.

On-Orbit Status Report

USOS Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) #45: Today Randy Bresnik (as EV1) and Mark Vande Hei (as EV2) successfully performed US EVA #45 with a Phased Elapsed Time (PET) of 6:26. The primary goal of todays EVA was to Remove and Replace (R&R) the External Television Camera Group (ETVCG) located at Camera Port 9 (CP9) and to lubricate the newly installed Latching End Effector (LEE) A on the Space Station Robotic Manipulator System (SSRMS). The LEE A was installed onto the SSRMS last week during USOS EVA #44. Additional tasks accomplished include: Airlock High Pressure Gas Tank (HPGT) handle tie back, rotation of the Pump/Flow Control Subassembly (PFCS), R&R of the Mobile Base System (MBS) mast Camera/Light/PTU Assembly (CLPA) lens cover, removal of a handrail from Node 3, and BDCU MLI Removal.

At Home in Space: The crew took photographs today to document the current on-orbit ISS culture. This Canadian Space Agency investigation assesses culture, values, and psychosocial adaptation of astronauts to a space environment shared by multinational crews on long-duration missions. It is hypothesized that astronauts develop a shared space culture that is an adaptive strategy for handling cultural differences and they deal with the isolated confined environment of the spacecraft by creating a home in space. At Home in Space also uses questionnaires to investigate individual and culturally related differences, family functioning, values, coping with stress, and post-experience growth.

Todays Planned Activities

All activities are on schedule unless otherwise noted.

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Reminder for EVA In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE) Preparation

External Wireless Instrumentation System Network Control Unit EVA Inhibit

LAB Wireless Access Point Port Inhibit

ISS HAM Radio and Video Power Down

USOS Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Communication Configuration

EVA COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) Verify off

USOS Window Shutter Close

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE) Preparation

KUBIK Temperature Adjustment to 20C

Verify that SM Window Shutters #6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14 are closed.

CALCIUM. Session 7 of the Experiment

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Purge

Monitoring of -1 Sensors Installation

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE) Prebreathe

Video Recording of Greetings

VIZIR. Preparation. Tagup with specialists if required

PK-4 Flexhose connection to Cleaning gas bottle

Crewlock Depress

Crewlock Post Depress

Crewlock Egress

Airlock High Pressure Gas Tank (HPGT) Reconfig

SSRMS Setup and Worksite Interface (WIF) Adapter Install

SSRMS EVA Support

Articulating Portable Foot Restraint (APFR) and Worksite Interface Extender (WIFEX) Setup

[] Set R&R

Pump and Flow Control Subassembly (PFCS) Rotate

 Maintenance

CP9 External TV Camera Group (ETVCG) R&R

Vacuum Cleaning of Ventilation Screens on FGB Interior Panels 201, 301, and 401

VIZIR. Closeout Operations

Mobile Base System (MBS) Mast Camera Light Pan-Tilt Assembly (CLPA) Lens Cover R&R

SSRMS Cleanup

Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Latching End Effector (LEE) Lube

Worksite Interface (WIF) Adapter Remove

Worksite Cleanup

Node 3 Handrail Remove

Articulating Portable Foot Restraint (APFR) Cleanup

SPLANKH. Preparation for the Experiment

Crewlock Ingress

IMS Delta File Prep

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill [Deferred]

At Home In Space Culture Photo

PK-4 Flexhose disconnection from Cleaning bottle

ACME Session Review

EVA Glove Photo Setup

Crewlock Pre Repress

Crewlock Repress

Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) Post-EVA Activities

Post Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Communication Deconfiguration

EVA Glove Photo Downlink

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Camera Image Downlink

Photo/TV Extravehicular Activity (EVA) GoPro Downlink

Metal Oxide (METOX) Regeneration Initiation

External Wireless Instrumentation System (EWIS) Network Control Unit (NCU) Enable

LAB Wireless Access Point Port Enable

Completed Task List Activities

At Home In Space Questionnaire [GMT 283]

Stowage audit of COL Endcone [GMT 283]

Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Protoflight Unit #3 (PFU3) Close Out and Stow [GMT 283]

Ground Activities

All activities are on schedule unless otherwise noted.

Support for EVA

Standard commanding

Three-Day Look Ahead:

Wednesday, 10/11: Urine Transfer, ACME Chamber Install and Config, Neuromapping, HAM Radio Ops

Thursday, 10/12: CIR Ops and ACME Config, WHC Dose Pump R&R, EVA 46 Tool Config

Friday, 10/13: ETVCG Build, FIR Reconfiguration, DECLIC Hose Return, EVA Procedure Review and Conference

QUICK ISS Status  Environmental Control Group:

Component  Status

Elektron  On

Vozdukh  Manual

[] 1  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV1)  Off

[] 2  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV2)  On

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab  Operate

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3  Startup

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab  Idle

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3  Operate

Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA)  Process

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA)  Standby

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab  Full Up

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3  Off
The Russian Progress 68 resupply rocket stands at it launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: Roscosmos. Roscosmos.

Two astronauts checked in with ground engineers today after completing the second of three spacewalks yesterday that are planned for this month. Meanwhile, a Russian cargo ship stands at its launch pad ready to blast off Thursday morning on a short delivery trip to the International Space Station.

Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei called down to Mission Control today to discuss the elements of Tuesdays successful spacewalk. During the excursion, they began the lubrication process on the Canadarm2s newly-installed latching end effector and swapped out a degraded video camera. Today, the spacewalkers are servicing their spacesuits water system and recharging the batteries.

Bresnik will conduct another spacewalk Oct. 18 with NASA astronaut Joe Acaba to finalize the servicing on the Canadarm2 robotic arm. The duo will also perform some electrical maintenance work and replace another degraded video camera. NASA TV will broadcast the third and final spacewalk on Oct. 18 beginning at 6:30 a.m.

Three tons of food, fuel and supplies are loaded inside a Russian resupply ship (ISS Progress 68) ready to lift off to the orbital complex Thursday at 5:32 a.m. The 68P will take just two orbits around Earth and dock to the station less than three-and-a-half hours later. This will be the shortest delivery mission for a Progress mission which usually takes a near six-hour trip, and in the past has taken up to two days to assist in the resupply of the complex.

On-Orbit Status Report

NeuroMapping: Today two 52S crewmembers set up the NeuroMapping hardware and performed their Flight Day 30 tests in strapped in and free floating body configurations. During the test, the crewmembers executed three Behavioral Assessments: mental rotation, sensorimotor adaptation, and motor-cognitive dual tasking. The NeuroMapping investigation studies whether long-duration spaceflight causes changes to brain structure and function, motor control, or multi-tasking abilities. It also measures how long it would take for the brain and body to recover from possible changes. Previous research and anecdotal evidence from astronauts suggests movement control and cognition can be affected in microgravity. The NeuroMapping investigation performs structural and functional magnetic resonance brain imaging (MRI and fMRI) to assess any changes that occur after spending months on the ISS.

Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) Configuration for Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME): To support the ACME payload investigation, the crew disconnected water umbilicals at the CIR Z-Panel to remove water pressure from the rack and then removed the Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus (MDCA) Chamber Insert Assembly (CIA) from the CIR combustion chamber for the final time. The ACME chamber insert for the first set of test points was configured and connected into the CIR Combustion Chamber. After the water umbilicals were reconnected to the Z-Panel, the crew performed a leak check. Due to the amount of hardware requiring installation, activities will be conducted over the next two days. The ACME investigation is a set of five independent studies of gaseous flames to be conducted in the CIR. ACMEs primary goal is to improved fuel efficiency and reduced pollutant production in practical combustion on Earth. Its secondary goal is to improve spacecraft fire prevention through innovative research focused on materials flammability.

Post Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) Tasks: Today crewmembers participated in an EVA debrief conference with ground specialists, preformed battery maintenance, and serviced the water system on the Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs) used during yesterdays EVA. During US EVA #45 the crew successfully Removed and Replaced (R&R) the External Television Camera Group (ETVCG) located at Camera Port 9 (CP9) and lubricated the newly installed Latching End Effector (LEE) A on the Space Station Robotic Manipulator System (SSRMS).

Todays Planned Activities

All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Calf Volume Measurement

SPLANKH. EGEG Recording.

SPLANKH. Photography of the Experiment Session

KUBIK Temperature Adjustment to 6C

ISS HAM Video Power Up

Multi Omics Item Gathering

Study of veins in lower extremities.

Snapshot of Cardiomed windows on MSE-Med

PK-4 Flexhose connection to Neon gas bottle

Nikon still camera sync with station time

Health Maintenance System (HMS) Periodic Health Status (PHS) Post EVA Examination

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Drain

Public Affairs Office (PAO) Event in High Definition (HD) in Columbus

PK-4 Gas Supply Flexhose disconnection for storage

NeuroMapping Experiment Neurocognitive Test Video  Subject

RELAKSATSIYA. Parameter Settings Adjustment.

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (RGN) Wastewater Storage Tank Assembly (WSTA) Fill

RELAKSATSIYA. Observation.

ISS HAM Service Module Pass

Manufacturing Device Print Removal and Stow

Metal Oxide (METOX) Regeneration Termination

Public Affairs Office (PAO) Social Media Event

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Long Life Battery (LLB) Initiate

Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) Operation Initiation

Filling (separation) of  () for Elektron or -

Rodnik Bag Audit

ACME MWA Prep

Plug-in Plan (PiP) GFCI Cable Swap

 Maintenance

Combustion Integrated Rack Rack Doors Open

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Water Recharge

Polar IMAK Sample Swap

Combustion Integrated Rack Front End Cap Open

Polar Desiccant Pack insert

Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Recycle Tank Fill

ACME Insertion Configuration 1

Download Pille Dosimeter Readings

Pille Dosimeter Readout after US EVA

IMS Update

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Debrie

Completed Task List Activities

None

Ground Activities

All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

SSRMS Walkoff

Standard commanding

Three-Day Look Ahead:

Thursday, 10/12: CIR Ops and ACME Config, WHC Dose Pump R&R, EVA 46 Tool Config

Friday, 10/13: ETVCG Build, FIR Reconfiguration, DECLIC Hose Return, EVA Procedure Review and Conference

Saturday, 10/14: Housekeeping Tasks, Crew Off-Day

QUICK ISS Status  Environmental Control Group:

Component  Status

Elektron  On

Vozdukh  Manual

[] 1  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV1)  Off

[] 2  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV2)  On

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab  Standby

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3  Operate

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab  Idle

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3  Standby

Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA)  Process

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA)  Standby

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab  Full Up

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3  Off
Mawrth Vallis NASA

The combination of morphological and topographic information from stereo images from NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, as well as compositional data from near-infrared spectroscopy has been proven to be a powerful tool for understanding the geology of Mars.

Beginning with the OMEGA instrument on the European Space Agencys Mars Express orbiter in 2003, the surface of Mars has been examined at near-infrared wavelengths by imaging spectrometers that are capable of detecting specific minerals and mapping their spatial extent. The CRISM (Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) instrument on our orbiter is a visible/near-infrared imaging spectrometer, and the HiRISE camera works together with it to document the appearance of mineral deposits detected by this orbital prospecting.

Mawrth Vallis is one of the regions on Mars that has attracted much attention because of the nature and diversity of the minerals identified by these spectrometers. It is a large, ancient outflow channel on the margin of the Southern highlands and Northern lowlands. Both the OMEGA and CRISM instruments have detected clay minerals here that must have been deposited in a water-rich environment, probably more than 4 billion years ago. For this reason, Mawrth Vallis is one of the two candidate landing sites for the future Mars Express Rover Mission planned by the European Space Agency.

This image was targeted on a location where the CRISM instrument detected a specific mineral called alunite, KAl3(SO4)2(OH)6. Alunite is a hydrated aluminum potassium sulfate, a mineral that is notable because it must have been deposited in a wet acidic environment, rich in sulfuric acid. Our image shows that the deposit is bright and colorful, and extensively fractured. The width of the cutout is 1.2 kilometers.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Larger image
Summer has turned to fall and so too do we return from our #liveauthentic outdoor excesses and retreat into the reflective warmth and safety of the indoors. As we sit upon the hearth aglow with autumnal embers, we cant help but stroke our grey beards in pontification, as we have done thricely now, over the summer now past, a summer that was the Build-Outs of Summer, Edition Seven.

And between sips of brandy heating over candlelight, as we check the ticker tape detailing the series of intrigues that took place between June and September, we cant help but feel a warmth. Is it the fire? The sweet elixir? No. It is the beloved memory of the Build-Outs returning to warm our very souls. And it is this sensation, this Indian summer of Build-Outs, that we want to share with you, that you may remember what was and hope for what may be yet again.

Overview

This years Build-Outs of Summer saw a whopping 39 cafes in total. An impressive number, no doubt, but it is actually only the second most Build-Outs in a year, falling four behind last years 43. Unlike last year, though, the East Coast has the lions share of this years 37 North American builds; along with the easts 15 cafes, middle America was represented by 12 cafes and surprisingly, only 10 for the West Coast. But even those numbers dont really tell the full story of just how east-heavy this years Build-Outs were. Other than Cutbow in Albuquerque, NM and Hygge in Missoula, MTwhich is arguably in the west anywaythe westernmost of the middle America build-outs is in Elmhurst, IL in the eastern part of the state. If the country were divided equally into thirds, the breakdown would go 27, 11, 1 for east, west, and middle, respectively.

For the first time in the three years of cataloguing the Builds, LA did not register the most entries. This year, that honor is split between Seattle and Washington, D.C., each with three. Following closely behind with two each are Kalamazoo and Marquette, representing four of the five total Michigan entries this year, which ties the state for most along with Washington.

Breakdown by Population

At Sprudge, we talk a lot about how really good coffee is happening everywhere in the United States. And it is more than just hippy-dippy, everybodys cool, lets all be friends talk, and this years Build-Outs bears that out. Of the 36 US entries, the average population of the cities represented is 393,000, putting this conglomerate Build-Out city at 47th largest in the nation, just ahead of Tulsa, Oklahoma. But this number is a bit inflated due to the multiple entries from above-average cities like Seattle and DC. The median population, 132,321.5, wouldnt even break the top 200 US cities; it would be somewhere between Surprise, Arizona and my hometown of Carrollton, Texas.

Cafe Stats

Continuing the trend from the two previous years, shops that roast their own coffee comprise over half of this years Build-Outs, totaling 23 of the 39. But in a reversal of the previous years, multi-roaster cafes werent better represented than single-roaster shops, losing out in a big way five to 11.

For 21 of the Build-Outs, this was their first cafe space. Of those 21, 10 will roast their own coffee, six are single-roaster, and five are multi-roaster; no companies opening their second location are multi-roasters.

Machinery

It is no surprise that La Marzocco is the most represented espresso machine manufacturer in this years Build-Outs, because they are always the most represented, due almost entirely to the preponderance of Lineas. Of the 17 total LM machines listed this year, 11 were some manner of Linea including one Mini (which I begrudgingly included in the tally even though it really feels like the rest of the Lineas in name alone). But what is new this year is the rise of the Synesso. With 10 total this year, the Seattle-based espresso manufacturer has jumped from the back of the pack all the way up to second. Even more impressive, the nine Hydra MVPs comprise the second most used machine. In previous years, pretty much every podium spot went to La Marzocco. Synesso is one of the first to successfully challenge them.

For grinders, Mahlkonig is king yet again. Both for espresso and brewed coffee, the German grinder manufacturer outnumbered every other brand combined. The 34 total Mahlkonig grinders quadrupled that of the second most used grinder manufacturer, Mazzer, who had a total of eight, all of which were used solely for espresso.

And if you thought the EK43 was the grinder de jour this year, then youd be right. And wrong. But mostly right. With a total of 14 instances of EK, it is the most common grinder in this years Build-Outs, and the eight dedicated to brewed coffee were also the most of its kind. But the honor of most used grinder for espresso this year goes to Mahlkonigs PEAK. Could you argue that the PEAK is basically just the EK in a more counter-friendly body? Sure, but Im not gonna. PEAK wins.

Batch Brews Back ALRIGHT!

Continuing the trend from last year, batch brew coffee is easily the most popular of the filter options again this year. Of the 28 shops that responded with their brewed coffee setup, 18 had batch brew on offer, with 13 only offering batch brew. Pour-over, it would appear, is losing momentum. 15 shops stated they had some sort of pour-over offering, but only 10 were pour-over only. And of those 10, six had some sort of automated pour-over system, a la Marco SP9, Poursteady, etc.

Conclusion

So what does it all mean? Is there anything that can be gleaned from this crop of brand new cafes? Since gerrymandering and wild conjecture are kind of my forte, allow me to proffer a few thoughts. The overall theme appears to be a scaling back of concept. New coffee shops no longer appear to be in an arms race to see who has the shiniest new toys. In just about every category, cafes were trending towards functionality and efficiency. The Linea being the most popular espresso machine is no surprise; its a workhorse and is consistently on the top of the list. But many of the same praises can be said of the Synesso Hydra. Inside and out, its a straightforward, reliable piece of hardware.

Additionally, cafes appear to be moving away from the multi-roaster model, deciding to stick with a single supplier or roast for themselves. This was most true in established shops opening new locations, who appear to be settling into what works best for them as a business. But the multi-roaster torch is still being carried by the newbies. Managing a guest roaster programespecially one that rotates frequentlycan be quite a bit of additional (and some would say unnecessary) work, so the trend toward single roaster may be due to pragmatism.

And of course, the continued automation of filtered coffee is the smoking gun in my case for cafe efficiency. Hand-poured coffee, while still quite popular, is being overshadowed by consistency and automation. There will always be a place for manual pour-overs, but if this current trend is indicative of anything, its place will be as a small part of a brew program, not the majority.

One thing that we can say without much worry of wildly misrepresenting the truth is that specialty coffee is not just for the hoity-toity, Ivory Tower metropolitan socialites. Its everywhere. Half of the shops we profiled in this years Build-Outs come from cities whose populations dont crack the top 200 in America.

Theres no need to speculate: specialty coffee is the new normal.

Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
Everything is a coffee story if you dig deep enough, but the damage wrought by Hurricane Maria to the coffee industry on the island of Puerto Rico feels particularly specific and cruel. The storms path wrecked havoc across the islands coffee growing regions, and continued difficulties with the dispersal of aid and basic necessitieselectricity, running waterhave made the business of simply roasting and serving coffee almost impossible, some three weeks after the storm first hit.

In the wake of yesterdays important NPR reporting on Hurricane Marias effect on the coffee industry in Puerto Rico, were following up with an interview with Abner Roldan, the owner of Cafe Comunion in Santurce, San Juan and a two-time Puerto Rico Latte Art Champion. The opening of Roldans cafe has been delayed due to storm damage, and hes currently serving coffee outside in front of the space in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan.

Sprudge Media spoke with digitally with Abner Roldan from Puerto Rico.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Hello Abner, and thank you for speaking with Sprudgeby way of introduction, what is your background in coffee?

Hellomy name is Abner Roldan, speaking to you from Puerto Rico. I am the owner of Cafe Comunion and I am the 2014 and 2015 Puerto Ricos National Latte Art Champion. Cafe Comunions new space was supposed to be opened by mid October, but due to some damages suffered because of Hurricane Maria, the opening has been moved a couple of weeks.

Describe the current scene today in Puerto Ricohas aid arrived? Is the power back on? Is it safe?

Today, after almost twenty days after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, there are still communities without access because streets and bridges disappeared. Most of the island is without water and electricity, supermarkets are empty, theres no access to potable water, there are endless lines on gas stations and ATMs, and the local and federal governments aid is ineffective and disorganized.

The main problem is distribution of goods and aid. We have received lots of donations, but the US military and local government havent created an efficient way to distribute them.

How has the hurricane-impacted cafes and roasters in Puerto Rico? Do you have any idea how long it will be before they can reopen?

Puerto Rico has suffered a $200 million loss on the new coffee harvest. Our next harvest will be in at least three years, because of the lost trees. Coffee shops and roasters are very affected by these circumstances because most of the coffee that we sell in our coffee shops is from Puerto Rico. Most of these coffee shops have enough coffee for at least six weeks.

My main concern to me as a coffee shop owner is that I need coffee to serve in my business and since we will not have Puerto Rican coffee available in a few weeks, we will need to import green and roasted coffee from the United States. The main problem about importing coffee is that importing green coffee is illegal in Puerto Rico, and to import roasted coffee you have to pay $2.50 in taxes for each pound of coffee. Both circumstances are held by old laws that were created to protect Puerto Rican coffee and increase its sales. Now that Puerto Rican coffee will need at least three years for a new harvest, I believe both laws need to be modified.

Have you been able to make contact with people who work in the coffee growing portion of Puerto Ricos coffee industry?

I have talked to coffee growers, pickers, producers, cafe owners and baristas and all of them are devastated by this tragedy. We are grateful to be alive, but most of us are jobless. Specifically, the growers and producers that will need to redefine their farms and find and income until they have a new coffee harvest in at least three years. Almost 100% of the coffee trees are gone or damaged. The eye of the hurricane (with the most powerful winds) passed by the center of the island, where most of our coffee farms are.

Is there anything about the current situation in Puerto Rico you think people outside the island might not know, or could be misunderstanding? What do you want people to know and understand?

First of all, a lot of people in the United States forget that Puerto Rico is a coffee producing country and that we are a U.S. territory. And because of this situation, we are unable to receive aid from other countries in the world. We are not asking for handouts, we are asking for what is rightfully ours because we also pay taxes.

What people may not know is that the reconstruction of Puerto Rico is not something that is starting now, after hurricane Maria. For the last three there has been an exponential growth of small local businesses that started to contribute with the development of a better economy for Puerto Rico. We are working to overcome Maria and keep doing what we started: to create small businesses, to shop local, to create jobs.

Whats the hope for Cafe Comunion in the coming weeks? When will you open?

We were having our grand opening on October 16 but our entrance was damaged because of the hurricane. Right now, Ive been selling drip coffee in the curb in front of Cafe Comunion to neighbors and pedestrians and I will continue doing that until we repair the entrance and can finally have our shop opened.

What do you think is the best way for readers on the mainland and around the world to support the Puerto Rico coffee scene right now?

People in the world should start learning about Puerto Rican coffee history and buy it as soon as we have a new harvest. Right now there is not an easy solution, what we ask is that the world doesnt forget us.

Also, even if most of our touristic destinations are damaged or gone, you should still come visit us. We are a beautiful island with beautiful people.

Thank you.

This story is developing. Cafe Comunion is located at 1616 Avenida Ponce de Leon in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Follow Cafe Comunion on Facebook and Instagram for updates.

Jordan Michelman is a co-founder and editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Jordan Michelman on Sprudge.

Photos via Facebook.
Northfield Park is hosting a Pace for the Cure on Saturday, October 14, an event that is part of Pinktober, a month-long effort to raise funds to fight breast cancer, at the Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park.

The race features nine female drivers and is the 10th race on a 15-race evening card. Post time is 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

We are committed to playing an active role in the Hard Rock Rocksinos Pinktober event, said Brent Reitz, Northfield Park Vice President and General Manager. The Pace for the Cure is a great way to highlight harness racing and create awareness and support for breast cancer research.

The Pinktober Pace for the Cure will carry a $7,500 purse. Among the participants are local trainer-drivers Rachel Kaneoka and Rosy Weaver. The most accomplished among the guest drivers is Jayne Weller, who has scored nearly 200 victories. She is the daughter of June Weller, the first female to ever drive in harness racings crown jewel, the Little Brown Jug.

Hannah Miller, who has posted 21 victories so far this year, may have bloodlines that give her a leg up on the competition. Her brother Marcus, a prominent national driver, has over 2,800 wins and purse earnings in excess of $30 million.

The races other participants include: Renee Bauslaugh, Mary Birkhold, Christina Evans, Ulrika Fox and Emily Hay.

In addition to normal wagering on the Pace for the Cure, the purchase of raffle tickets are encouraged. These tickets are $1 each or five tickets for $3. Tickets are placed into bags that correspond with each female driver. All tickets from the winning bag will be entered into a drawing for a host of prizes.

Pinktober is celebrated all month at the Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park, which hosts a variety of events to support local cancer-fighting efforts. A portion of the proceeds from the events benefit Susan G. Komen Northeast Ohios vision of a world without breast cancer.

The monies raised as a result of Pinktober will help Susan G. Komen Northeast Ohio to provide vital services like free mammograms and clinical breast exams through partnerships with local healthcare facilities, diagnostic services, including ultrasounds, biopsies, and advanced services, as well as survivor support, including financial, transportation and other services.

(Northfield Park)
Carhart to Open New Late-Term Abortion Facility in Maryland Next Week

info.operationrescue@gmail.com Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-683-6790 ext. 111; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President, 316-516-3034; Both with Operation Rescue

BETHESDA, Md., Oct. 12, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- Operation Rescue has learned that Nebraska's late-term abortionist, LeRoy Carhart, has secured a new office in Bethesda, Maryland, and plans to continue conducting abortions on babies throughout all nine months of pregnancy.

Operation Rescue's researchers conducted an undercover investigation to locate the secret new abortion facility, which is going by the name AbortionClinics.org, Inc. It is located in a multi-tenant medical building at 10401 Old Georgetown Road Suite 104, Bethesda, MD 20814.

The new abortion business plans to begin abortions the week of October 16, 2017.

"There will be pro-life advocates outside this facility when it opens next week. This neighborhood is about to be in for a real surprise when they realize one of the most notorious late-term abortionists in the nation will be conducting highly unpopular late-second and third trimester abortions in their neighborhood," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

Carhart was forced to relocate after the Maryland Coalition for Life bought and closed Germantown Reproductive Health Services in Germantown, Maryland, where he previously worked as an independent contractor.

During the nearly seven years Carhart conducted late-term abortions in Germantown, at least ten women were rushed to hospital emergency rooms by ambulance suffering from life-threatening complications to the risky abortion procedures. At one woman, Jennifer Morbelli , died from complications to a 33-week abortion.

Carhart has no admitting privileges at any hospital, and hasn't since 1982.

"We want to warn the public of the dangers women face during abortions done by Carhart, and encourage pro-life activists to join in the vigil outside this new late-term abortion facility," said Newman.

The opening of this new late-term abortion facility provides new urgency for the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act that now languishes in the U.S. Senate. This legislation, if passed, would protect pre-born babies at twenty weeks gestation and later, which are specifically targeted for abortion by Carhart's Maryland abortion business. If passed, it's doubtful if Carhart will be able to stay in business in Maryland, since the later abortions are expensive and highly profitable.

Please contact your Senators and urge them to support the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.



About Operation Rescue
Judicial Watch: Court Overrules Trump Administration Objections and Will Review State Department Clinton-Petraeus Emails

Contact: Jill Farrell, 202-646-5172

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- Judicial Watch today announced that a federal judge will personally review, in camera, unredacted copies of emails between then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and General David Petraeus. In taking these steps, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the Trump State Department's argument that information regarding a potential personnel appointment is protected by a claim of personal privacy. This is the third federal court that has turned aside Trump administration efforts to defend Hillary Clinton's email and related information from further review.

Judge Randolph D. Moss last week ordered the State Department to "provide the court with unredacted copies of General Petraeus' emails to Secretary Clinton dated January 10, 2009, and January 14, 2009 for in camera [non-public] inspection."

Judicial Watch seeks the emails as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit related to Clinton's non-government email server ( Judicial Watch vs. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00689)). Judicial Watch filed its May 6, 2015, lawsuit after the State Department failed to respond to a March 6, 2015, FOIA request. Judicial Watch seeks:

 All records concerning the use of a non-"state.gov" email address by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Such records include, but are not limited to, records concerning security, classification, preservation, and compliance with the Federal Records Act and/or the Freedom of Information Act.

In August 2016, the FBI uncovered 14,900 Clinton emails and attachments that Clinton deleted and withheld from the State Department. Judicial Watch argued that the State Department inappropriately withheld "the names of 'any third party discussed' in an email exchange between Clinton and Petraeus."

One Petraeus email at issue reads:

P.S. Any feedback on possibility of keeping [redacted] until his replacement is confirmed? As you recall this was a personal request from [redacted]. Best -- Dave.

A second email reads:

Thx for making it happen [redacted]. Great news.

Judge Moss states in his order that "the Court must balance the privacy interest of the individuals with respect to the public disclosure of their identities against the public interest in that disclosure."

In a related case , another federal judge ordered the State Department to file an affidavit addressing why it should not have to search new Clinton emails recovered regarding redacted material from emails discussing Secretary Clinton's use of iPads and iPhones during her tenure at the State Department. In taking these steps, the court rejected arguments by the Tillerson State Department and its lawyers at the Sessions Justice Department.
Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff warned Sunday that Washingtons interference in Venezuela is extremely dangerous and could provoke an armed conflict.

Our continent has been living in peace for 140 years. Any attempt to interfere in the legitimate constitutional process in Venezuela, including by forcing a presidential election, is extremely dangerous, as it might lead to a civil war, she said in an exclusive interview with RT in Moscow.

Rousseff was herself impeached and removed from her elected post last year in what was widely decried as a parliamentary coup.

The Brazilian leader likewise took aim at her congress-designated successor, Michel Temer, who has moved to align Brasilias foreign policy closely with Washington, leading the regional charge against the government in Caracas.

The Temer government has an absolutely incorrect attitude with respect to Venezuela and its not only the pressure from Trump and (Temers) intention to appear submissive, but above all the fact that it accepted joint action with US troops in the Amazon, she continued, referencing a US-led military exercise set for November, in which the armed forces of 14 countries will participate.

Rousseff denounced the drills, which will involve the creation of a multinational logistics base in the Brazilian city of Tabatinga, as part of an anti-democratic vision to besiege Venezuela.

Located on the border with Peru and Colombia, Tabatinga is a little over 630 kilometers south of Venezuela.

The ex-president additionally criticized US support for Venezuelas right-wing opposition, which led four months of violent anti-government mobilizations aimed at toppling the Maduro government earlier this year.

Comparing Venezuelan anti-government forces to the Syrian rebels, Rousseff said the US has often been mistaken in regard to oppositions.

(Washington) says: Those are democracy supporters. Theyve said it about opposition forces in Syria too. And what has happened with that opposition? Islamic State has emerged, which has nothing to do with democracy.

Over one hundred people were killed in the unrest, including at least 14 at the hands of Venezuelan state security forces and 31 direct and indirect victims of opposition political violence.

Lastly, Rousseff condemned as an absurd error the decision by the right-wing governments of Argentina and Brazil to indefinitely suspend Venezuela from the Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR) on the grounds of a breach of the bodys democratic clause.

She slammed the move as hypocritical, noting that a similar measure was not taken against Brazil following her ouster.

In August, MERCOSURs parliament issued a statement backing Venezuelan sovereignty and rejecting US President Donald Trumps threats of military intervention.

At the time, former Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva similarly hit back at the White House, calling US military threats inadmissible.
It's Election season and our editor's mailbox is overflowing. Who do your neighbors support? Read about it here.
A study on the health impacts of the Longview coal terminal is nearing completion, and Millennium Bulk Terminals is determined to finish the study even as it faces two major challenges from the state that could undercut its $680 million project.

A steering committee of citizens tasked with shaping and approving the health impact assessment  the first of its kind in Cowlitz County  met for the first time in eight months on Wednesday to discuss how to deliver an easy-to-understand document to the public.

The non-binding, voluntary study isnt tied to the permitting process. It will assess the potential health impacts of the terminal, drawing on data from an earlier 4,000-page environmental impact statement. The health study is based on 15 questions posed by the steering committee, which is comprised of people who support and oppose the project.

Wednesdays steering committee meeting was held two weeks after the Department of Ecology dealt a potentially fatal blow to the project when it denied Millennium a key water quality permit. Separately, Millennium is appealing a decision from the state Department of Natural Resources to reject an aquatic lands sublease needed for the project. While Millennium appeals both state decisions, its moving forward with the health impact assessment and permitting with Cowlitz County.

State law allowed Millennium to contract directly with consultants to produce the $200,000 health impact assessment. The company says it has spent $15 million on environmental studies and permitting.

The steering committee asked consultants to answer questions about the projects economic impact and about the health effects of coal dust, diesel exhaust from trains and increased emissions.

The study should be something that anyone who lives here could pick up and understand, said Dr. Jennifer Vines, a health officer with Cowlitz County Health & Human Services. Rather than providing a comprehensive analysis, the study will serve as a companion document to Millenniums environmental impact statement.

A draft of the health impact study will be publicly available on the Cowlitz County Building and Planning website by Nov. 10, said Nick Fazio, an assistant planner for the county.

The public will then have until Nov. 30 to submit written comments for the steering committees consideration.

However, responding to public comments could be difficult, said Elaine Placido, director of Cowlitz County Building and Planning. Millenniums initial environmental review received more than 265,000 comments. And an additional 10,000 comments were submitted in response to its application for a shoreline permit.

We dont have the staff to respond to 10,000 comments, Placido said.

The next steps for a team of county officials to finish reviewing a 120-page draft health study and prepare analysis for the steering committee, Placido said. The committee will produce a 20-page report summarizing the studys findings.

Steering committee members will have about three or four weeks to review the draft before meeting for two eight-hour workshops in early December.

At Wednesdays steering committee meeting, community member Diane Dick expressed concern that Millennium was allowed to contract directly with the firm that drafted the study.

Even though its been said that it was normal procedure to have the applicant to write the report, I think this is bad practice, she said. Especially for a community group thats trying to present an objective view.

The only other community member to comment Wednesday was Stephen Chandler, a local physician, who argued in a letter that was read out loud that the proposed project has already had a negative impact on the community.

The enmity and bitterness caused by this divisive issue has adversely affected our communitys health, fitness and wellness, Chandler wrote. Hope in the future has been worsened. I see this all around our community. Our deepwater port is calling for a different use and future.

The coal terminal has been one of the most hotly-debated projects on the Columbia River since Millennium first applied for permits five years ago. It would create more than 1,000 construction jobs, 130 permanent jobs and $5.4 million in annual state and local taxes.

The project would fill 24 acres of wetlands, require 41.5 acres of dredging of the Columbia River bottom and drive 537 pilings into the river for a new trestle and docks, according to a state environmental impact statement. The terminal would add nearly 1,700 vessel transits to the Columbia River, a quarter of all freight traffic on the waterway.

The health impact assessment is expected to be complete by early next year.
Tattoo artists typically dont see seniors stroll into their shops, but on Wednesday one Longview tattoo business hosted two elderly grandmothers who decided to get inked for the first time.

Its strictly for Chris, Jean Pullings said of her grandson. I wont do it for anybody else, and I wont have another (tattoo) besides this one, because its for him.

Pullings, 86, of Clovis, New Mexico and Lillian George, 92, of Yacolt, Wash., each got their first tattoo Wednesday to support their grandson, Christiaan Pullings, and his tattoo shop, Stand Fast Tattoo at 1258 12th Avenue in Longview.

The two grandmas received the exact same tattoo: A small black cross on their left forearm. Christiaan Pullings, 41, of Longview, only needed five minutes for each one.

I dont want anything big and showy, George said when asked why she chose her design. And I am a Christian; my faith has always been in the good Lord, and hes kept me going all these years. It seemed the right thing to do.

I think thats a wonderful answer, she just answered (for me), Jean Pullings added, laughing.

Their grandson said he was shocked that the pair agreed to let him give them ink in the first place.

I asked them as a joke, Christiaan Pullings said. I brought it up, because thats kind of how I am. My one grandma, Lillian (George), said Yeah, that would be fine. So then I asked my other grandma Jean (Pullings), because I thought she would for sure say no, and she said yes too.

The women took a while to warm up to the idea of tattoos in general, Christiaan Pullings said.

Both of my grandmas never really wanted me to get a tattoo, said Christiaan Pullings, who has sleeves of tattoos covering both of his arms. But now that tattooing is more mainstream, more like an art form and more socially accepted, theyre happy Im doing something with my art. Im definitely shocked that they agreed to let me give them their first ink.

Both of his grandmas seemed to respect him as an artist.

Chris has been talking about doing tattoos since he was in high school, George said. Hed come down and tell me in the summer about how he would draw these things and he was practicing at home. I told him the other day that Im just so grateful that he finally got to do the thing that hed always wanted to do.

Hes a wonderful artist, and Im glad hes doing something with his art, Jean Pullings chimed in.

Christiaan Pullings said hes been in the tattoo business for five years, after he got burned out with careers in law enforcement and construction.

I figured Id just go full circle and do what Ive always wanted to do, he said. Ive always been an artist: painting, sculpting, airbrushing, carving. Ive never had an art class, its just something I was always able to do. I finally just said, lets go do tattoos.

Now, the artist is licensed in both Washington and Oregon after spending a year in tattoo school, he said.

Wednesdays event was a family affair as the grandmothers were joined by Christiaans father and stepmother.

During the inking itself, both George and Jean Pullings sat calmly, neither one complaining. The latter jokingly threatened to give her grandson an old-fashioned spanking if he made a mistake.

If he doesnt do (the tattoo) right, Ill put him right here, Jean said, gesturing to her bent knee and laughing.

While getting inked, George quipped, My arthritis hurts worse than this.

Afterwards, both women said they were happy with their new tattoos, and that their grandson did a fantastic job.

Its what I wanted from what I had to choose from, Jean Pullings said. If it pleases (Christiaan), it tickles me to death.

And he can tattoo really well over wrinkles, she quickly added, making the whole room erupt in laughter.
Staff advisers at Oregons utility regulator threw cold water on PacifiCorps plan to spend $3.5 billion, one of its biggest upgrades ever, on wind turbines and a new transmission line.

The Public Utility Commission staff say the utility had failed to justify the need for the massive capital investments, whether to meet its capacity, energy or reliability needs.

PacifiCorp is seeking state regulators blessing for what it calls Energy Vision 2020. Approval from the regulators would provide greater assurance that the power company would be able to recover the costs in a rate case when the projects are done.

The staff instead contended the plan comes with significant risks for ratepayers. They recommended the three commissioners not acknowledge the plan, which would make the investments considerably riskier for the utility and its parent company, Berkshire Hathaway. Alternatively, if the commissioners decide to approve the plan, staff recommended a number of conditions to protect ratepayers.

There is no need for the proposed resources at all, said the staff recommendation. PacifiCorps existing resources are able to meet its resource needs.

Thats not a universally held opinion. Some environmentalists support the wind investments, if not the transmission. And PacifiCorp insists it needs it all. But if commissioners agree with its advisory staff, it would be a big setback for the company.

PacifiCorp is proposing to repower some 900 megawatts of existing wind turbines, upgrading them with new blades and gear boxes to improve their efficiency and output. It plans to add another 1,100 megawatts of new wind resources in Wyoming. And it says it needs to build a 140-mile section of transmission line there to relieve congestion and get the new energy to market.

The company maintains that it has a near-term energy need that it needs to fill, and the wind resources are the lowest cost choice in the market to do so. Moreover, it will eventually be forced to make similar purchases to comply with Oregons renewable energy standard, which requires utilities to meet half their customer demand with renewable energy by 2040, with progressively higher targets in intervening years.

It makes sense to make the wind investments now, the utility says, because the projects would still qualify for federal production tax credits that cover 70 percent of the capital costs of the projects. Those incentives are scheduled to start sunsetting in 2020.

Its hard to see how this could be improved on, said Scott Bolton, a senior vice president for the company. Were proposing exactly the kind of resources that our customers want and that the market is telling us are the lowest cost.

Some customers  including the City of Portland and Multnomah County  have been telling the company they want significantly more of their energy to come from renewable resources. But ratepayer advocates for both residential and business customers, have big qualms about the plan.

Bob Jenks, executive director of The Citizens Utility Board, supports the upgrades to existing wind turbines, saying the companys analysis shows those are cost effective. But he has big concerns about the new wind and particularly the transmission investments. The companys analysis shows the economic benefits of those investments are small over two decades.

Echoing concerns expressed by the commissions staff, Jenks thinks those benefits could be wiped out by cost overruns or construction delays that prevent the company from realizing the full amount of the production tax credits.

Im concerned theyre lowballing the costs and in the end, Im going to end up stuck with a much higher bill, Jenks said. I think theres a lot of risk to customers, particularly when they start building transmission lines.

Adding more wind now would help PacifiCorp lower its greenhouse emissions more quickly, an important point for environmental groups, as 60 percent of the companys electricity still comes its fleet of coal-fired plants. State leaders are also talking about a new carbon pricing scheme that would force utilities and other big industrial customers to lower emissions.

But the carbon benefits are not part of staffs analysis, or the commissions traditional method of evaluating utilities resource action plans.

Some groups like the NW Energy Coalition have suggested that PacifiCorp should shut down one of its big coals plants in Wyoming, which would free up the transmission capacity to move the new wind power to market without the underlying cost.

PacifiCorp says thats not possible, as the plant still provides 13 percent of its capacity reserves, and plays an important role stabilizing the voltage on transmission lines in the area. Rick Link, the companys vice president of resource and commercial strategy, said the company can accommodate the upgrades to existing wind farms without the new transmission line, but we cant interconnect an additional megawatt without some upgrades on the system.

The staff did recommend that PacifiCorp be required to complete a comprehensive economic analysis of its coal plants by March of 2018. Advocates hope that study will help make clear which of the coal plants should be retired, and which should keep running with expensive new pollution controls.
Drivers beware: If youre a Vancouver resident with out-of-state plates, the city is on the prowl.

The first wave of volunteers from the Neighbors On Watch group patrolled Vancouver neighborhoods last weekend on the lookout for out-of-state vehicles parked in residential neighborhoods. License plates were recorded and vehicles that could be out of compliance received an informational pamphlet on the law.

Some 10 percent of Vancouver residents have failed to register their vehicles in Washington state, and its costing the city more than $300,000 annually in Transportation Benefit District funding.

The funding  about $2.4 million annually  is generated by the district and a $20 license tab renewal fee that was implemented in 2016. Those fees are used to improve city streets, including fixing potholes and sidewalks.

The citys $300,000 loss could double in mid-2018 if the city council, acting as the Transportation Benefit District Board, approves a recommended license tab fee increase to $40. That decision will be made in December.

Volunteer patrol

When the city council learned of the issue in June, councilors agreed action was needed. Thus the volunteer patrol program was born.

Jaycee Elliott, Vancouver police crime analyst, said thats just the first step in the plan. While volunteers patrol neighborhoods, the team will record license plates into a database and return to those neighborhoods 30 to 45 days later to check compliance.

The hard thing with regulating compliance is just because we observe a vehicle in residential areas with out-of-state plates doesnt mean we can prove theyre out of compliance, Elliott said. The definition of what a resident is with regard to vehicle registration is very clear, but very difficult to measure.

Washington residents are required to register their vehicles within 30 days of moving to the state or face a $529 penalty.

If we observe the vehicle twice, we can be more confident theyre not compliant, he said.

If cars are observed a second time by volunteers, the team will try to pair an owner with the vehicle and send a letter informing the owner of required vehicle registration compliance.

Vancouver police will also work with the city to encourage voluntary compliance. Elliott said officers will receive specialty training in vehicle registration compliance and what steps to take for enforcement. Officers will identify violators in traffic stops.

Theyre not going to be stopping people that have Oregon plates or out-of-state plates, but when theyre conducting normal business with out-of-state drivers, they may be asking questions like, Do you live in Vancouver?  he said. They can verify that information from the license of the driver.

Citations are not yet on deck because the city wants to see how much progress it can make with voluntary compliance first.

We may want to do some more enforcement later on down the line, but we really want to see what some voluntary compliance efforts can do first, Elliott said.

The final layer to reining in vehicle registration avoidance is a new reporting system.

Elliott said neighbors can go online and report vehicles theyve observed exceeding the 30-day grace period and avoiding registration.

At an individual level, I cant imagine that registered vehicle owners are not registering because they dont want to pay a $20 tab fee, he said. Its more likely to avoid taxes. But what specifically impacts the city is that tab fee.
Editors note: Todays editorial originally appeared in Walla Walla Union Bulletin and The Yakima Herald-Republic. Editorial content from other publications is provided to give readers a sampling of regional and national opinion and does not necessarily reflect positions endorsed by the Editorial Board of The Daily News.

Federal laws aimed at regulating medical treatments for the long-term safety of patients are critically important. This means testing, testing and testing medications to ensure they will do as they claim and they wont cause further harm. This is an expensive and time-consuming process.

Yet, the slow  seemingly glacial  pace at which the federal government approves these medications for public use is frustrating for many and heartbreaking for others. Its devastating when access to potentially lifesaving drugs are denied to terminal patients because they have not yet been deemed safe enough for general use.

Withholding access of last-ditch medication to a dying person defies logic as well as compassion. Yet, few are surprised this occurs in a country with a rigid, beaurocratic agency overseeing pharmaceuticals and an overly litigious society.

But legislation now being considered in Congress might make experimental drugs available to those with terminal illnesses. The proposal, know as Right to Try, seems rooted in good sense.

The Senate unanimously approved a version of the proposal, and it also has support from President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Yet, as reported by Bloomberg News, apparently final passage of the concept isnt a slam dunk.

Critics of the Right to Try law include drugmakers, researchers and ethicists. They contend focusing on the urgent needs of one person, no matter how compelling, can lead to greater harm and slow development of medicines for thousands of others.

This is probably true. If the treatment fails, which given the dire circumstances of the patients is likely, there will certainly be second-guessing and public concerns  perhaps even legal action.

But this is exactly why a federal law is needed. Steps must be taken to help protect drugmakers, doctors and others in the process from legal action.

Those who agree to treatment would accept the risk things could go terribly wrong. Matt Bellina was a 35-year-old when he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrigs disease in 2012 while serving as a Navy officer flying jets. He is now lobbying hard for Congress to make it easier for terminally ill patients to get access to experimental drugs.

I need to know before I die that if my children find themselves in this unenviable position, that this nation that I proudly served will respect their liberties and their right to make their own decisions about their medical treatments, Bellina said at a House hearing.

Lets hope lawmakers were listening.

Those who are hopeless deserve some hope. And, perhaps, some lives might also be prolonged.

The Right to Try legislation makes good sense. It deserves approval.

Marijuana road safety a glaring unknown

Almost five years have passed since Washington state voters approved Initiative 502, which legalized the use, sale and cultivation of recreational marijuana, and more than three years have gone by since customers could walk into stores and buy a product. We have learned a lot about supply, demand and tax revenues in cities and counties that have allowed marijuana operations, but we still know almost nothing about a critical public safety aspect that affects the entire state. That is: Who is driving while stoned, and what danger do they pose to other motorists?

We dont know for a number of reasons. Start with marijuana affecting users differently from how alcohol does. Determining driving under the influence of alcohol can be measured quickly and efficiently with a breath test, and law enforcement can use the well-established and accepted blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent. Initiative 502 called for a parallel DUI threshold of 5 nanogram of TCH, marijuanas active ingredient, per milliliter of blood in a users system. But there is no parallel pot test that can easily measure legal impairment.

The best law enforcement can do now is measure the presence of THC, but that doesnt necessarily mean impairment; THC remains in the body tissues long after the high has worn off. And a driver could be high without noticeable signs of impairment that can be flagged in a standard field sobriety test.

Statistics dont offer much further guidance. We do know that the number of fatal crashes in this state involving drivers with marijuana in their system totaled 79 last year, a figure that is more than double that of 2012, when I-502 passed. The numbers show a huge spike from 2013 to 2014, when the new law went into effect. But the Yakima County figure is basically unchanged at an average of five a year. And most police agencies, in issuing impaired driving citations, dont differentiate whether the driver was using alcohol, marijuana or other drugs.

For the past three years, a marijuana breathalyzer has been promised in the near future but has yet to materialize. In the meantime, much of the impairment assessment falls on officers to evaluate a drivers motor skills and attention levels, and on this states 200 or so recognition experts who can identify a substance and calculate an intoxication level going back several hours.

Much of this dilemma results from a law approved by ballot initiative, not through the vetting of the legislative process. The result is a law that came into effect before government entities were ready for it. The state is getting the handle on regulating sales, distribution and the grow, but there is still a long way to go on this key public safety issue.
Dropout

I read in Saturdays (Oct. 7) Daily News about Tom Merzs decision to remove himself from the Kalama mayoral race.

It would have been a waste of time on Merzs part since the majority of upstanding citizens in our community wholeheartedly support our police department and believe they deserve a decent facility that is crucial to our citys public services.

In my many years of service on the Kalama City Council, I had never seen Merz at a single council meeting. How could someone with such a personal agenda expect to run a city with not a day of public service in any capacity?

Days before the Merz withdrawal, Arne Mortensens endorsement was his attempt to further his own agenda. I find it interesting, during Mortensens time as a Cowlitz County commissioner has he ever taken the time to visit Kalama, the city he supposedly represents? Apparently Mortensen has been too busy carrying out the Trumps Alt Right agenda of attempting to dismantle our government to fit their own needs.

Dominic Ciancibelli

Kalama

Whats left?

The shooting in Las Vegas Oct. 1,2017 was such a tragedy so many lives were taken that day and wounded victims by one crazed person. I just wanna know why the left couldnt wait until we bury the dead and tend to the wounded victims before they start their anti-gun agenda. Can someone please tell me why you dont see the same outrage from the same lawmakers about the black on black gun crimes in Chicago, More people were killed in the streets of Chicago in 2016 than in Afghanistan alone. The left wants to take all guns and do away with our Second Amendment rights and they will argue thats not what they wanna do, but it is what they wanna do. The left is removing our history as a nation right before our eyes, Statues are being removed and now childrens books are being removed from classrooms in our schools. It sure looks like 1939 in Germany to me. But you can decide for yourself. God, please save our nation.

Gary Marsh

Longview

Longview schools

The bond measure is exceptionally high for people on Social Security and those with low incomes. When one sees the argument of paying less in 2019 than 2017, lets wait and see if it actually happens. Everything seems to be unconstitutional these days.

Will Seattle go to court to stop paying more taxes? How many years would that take? Maybe something else will come along later to slow things down. By the way, where are the signs that one can check vote no?

Mel Brown

Longview

Toledo bond

Members of my extended family have attended Toledo schools since 1898. Three generations of my immediate family have graduated from Toledo High School. The quality of education provided by the support of a committed community has assured that each generation achieved more than the previous. Today Toledos school buildings are in need of repair and retrofitting, particularly for protection against a major earthquake. Washington is the second most vulnerable state tor earthquakes, and the recent quakes in Mexico demonstrate the devastating damage they can do. California, Oregon and British Columbia have all required upgrades of dangerous school buildings. Washington has not. As a consequence, a bond issue is being presented to Toledo voters in November to fund needed repairs and improvements. Unfortunately, there is opposition to the bond issue with opponents sometimes citing nonsensical facts. For example, one claim is that 43.2 percent of households in the district have income 200 percent below the poverty line. That is mathematically impossible.

It is important Toledo voters continue the support provided by previous generations of patrons and inform themselves of the need for this bond issue by talking to their school board members and the superintendent.

Arland Lyons

Toledo
While all true Britons will join the blustering blimp at the Ministry for Wog-Bombing in gloating over the demise of the White Widow and the collateral detrimentation of her twelve-year-old child, the other glorious achievements of British arms should not be forgotten. The cholera epidemic in Yemen, despite having been predicted by mere experts, is now the biggest in modern history, thanks in no small part to the British government's happy business relationship with the head-chopping House of Saud. The vandalism of Yemen's public works and health facilities amount to little more than a radical acceleration of Conservative policy at home; while the enthusiastic subjection of an estimated six hundred thousand children to an entirely preventable epidemic must surely constitute an investment in the future of the British national security state that will rival the Reverend Blair's midwifery at the birth of Isis out of al-Qaeda.
President, PM for creating awareness to reduce disaster risks



President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday stressed on creating awareness and ensuring active participation of people of all strata alongside the government and non-government organizations in all programmes to reduce disaster risks.

In separate messages on the eve of the International Day for Disaster Reduction- 2017, they urged all to be alert to tackle disasters like lightning and earthquake.

The President and the Prime Minister wished all the programmes of the day a success.

In his message, the President said Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone countries, especially in tremor risk.

"We are not free from tremor risks. It destroys life as well as houses and infrastructures...I think the electronic and print media can play a vital role in creating awareness among the people by publishing and broadcasting information about tremors," he said.

The theme of this year's International Day for Disaster Reduction - 'Home Safe Home' - is very significant, he said, adding Bangladesh is now a role model in combating natural disasters.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was awarded as 'Champions of the Earth' for combating disaster, which is a matter of pride for the country, Abdul Hamid said.

In a separate message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the government is implementing a number of effective measures to reduce different natural calamities.

The Premier said, "I am happy to learn that the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction will be observed today in Bangladesh as elsewhere in the world."

"Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the pioneer of implementing disaster risk reduction programmes in the country. He took steps to make Mujib Killa for saving lives from cyclones. He also established Cyclone Preparedness Programmes (CPP) in 1973 for the coastal people of the country," she added.

The theme of this year's International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is time-befitting, she said and added that it is possible to make the disaster management more dynamic by integrating modern technology and indigenous knowledge.

She urged the people to be more aware to reduce the loss of life and property caused by earthquake and lightning and to follow the building code while making buildings.

The government has taken initiatives to prepare an adequate number of volunteers in every district for post-disaster period, she said.

"We made Disaster Management Act-2012 and National Disaster Policy-2015," the Premier said, adding the government bought rescue instruments worth Taka 169 crore for combating earthquake.




An unfolding humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh

Poppy McPherson :

In mid-September, several days after arriving in Bangladesh from conflict-torn Western Myanmar, 18-year-old Rashida Begum sat with her baby by the side of the road, under the shade of a tree. She had lost her brother and sister somewhere in the crowd as they fled. Now in Cox's Bazar, she was alone in a sea of thousands. "I have no house, I live in the street like this," she said, as her four-month-old crawled in her lap.

They were waiting not for aid distribution from international agencies - like many Rohingya interviewed by Devex, they said they had received nothing - but for scores of trucks manned by Bangladeshis who tossed snacks and shoes to Rohingya refugees waiting with outstretched arms. The roads were lined with families nestled under tarps. Trampled clothing lay on the ground: the new arrivals needed food, water, and shelter, not T-shirts.

Now, nearly six weeks on from the start of the crisis, conditions in the camps are still being described as chaotic as thousands of exhausted, traumatized Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority, continue to pour in daily, and aid agencies struggle to handle the influx.

While United Nations officials and international NGOs cite the urgent need to "scale up," staff on the ground say the humanitarian response has been hampered by funding shortfalls and bureaucratic obstacles that have left agencies without approval to work and vital supplies stuck in transit.

At a press conference in Cox's Bazar on Tuesday, Mark Lowcock, the U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator, said aid agencies had delivered 9 million food rations over six weeks and inoculated more than 100,000 children, but conditions continued to be "terrible." Now, aid workers fear an outbreak of cholera - endemic in Bangladesh - may be imminent. "We need to do a lot more to scale up beyond what we have done so far," said Lowcock.

"It's an immediate wave, an injection of hundreds of thousands of people in very few days and in an area that is relatively deprived."

An 'unprecedented' crisis

This is a humanitarian crisis that has happened faster, on a greater scale, than most aid workers can remember.

After August 25, when Rohingya militants attacked police posts across Myanmar's northern Rakhine state and the army responded with a brutal crackdown, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya crossed the border within days. Since then, Rohingya have continued to flee what Amnesty International is calling a "scorched earth campaign" by Myanmar's military, who are accused of mass arson, indiscriminate killings, and rape. The army insists Rohingya militants are urging the exodus as a way to generate sympathy for the population.

More than 500,000 Rohingya are now in Bangladesh, adding to an existing population estimated at more than 300,000.

"This crisis has been one of the fastest displacements that I can remember," said Paolo Lubrano, Oxfam's regional humanitarian manager for Asia. "It's an immediate wave, an injection of hundreds of thousands of people in very few days and in an area that is relatively deprived."

"Back in June I was working on South Sudan, where a million people crossed in two to three years," said Kyle Degraw, Save the Children's global emergency and humanitarian communications manager. "It does feel like a unique crisis just because there are so many people in such a short period of time."

A large proportion of the new arrivals - about 60 percent - are children, many of whom were already severely malnourished before fleeing.

"The humanitarian response has been inadequate, but this crisis is in many ways unprecedented, particularly in the scale of refugee movement in such a short period of time," said Matt Wells, Amnesty International's senior crisis adviser. "The Rohingya are also an extremely vulnerable population, due to the systemic discrimination in Myanmar that has long affected their access to food and medical care, and the fact that many refugees have gone days without eating while hiding and fleeing from the army's attacks," he said.

Challenging logistics

The conditions in Cox's Bazar district, a hilly region prone to landslides and about to enter cyclone season, have presented a unique set of challenges for aid distribution. Last month, a truck carrying relief supplies crashed into paddy field, killing nine Red Cross staff.

There is no single entry point into Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees, who have been arriving overland and by boat.

Groups are spread across a huge area of land. "One of the elements is that most of the displaced people are living in hard-to-reach places and we're just coming out of the rainy season, so logistics is quite challenging," said Lubrano of Oxfam.

The Bangladesh army plans to move more than 800,000 Rohingya into a 3,000-acre "super-camp" currently under construction. The government has signed an agreement with Myanmar to repatriate those who have fled, but expectations are low.

"What for me is important is really raising awareness in the international community of the magnitude of this crisis," said Lubrano. "We have no idea for how long the Rohingya refugees will be in Bangladesh. We have no idea how this response could be sustainable in the long run."

Rohingya refugees crowd the road in Coz's Bazar waiting for food distribution. Photo by: Poppy McPherson

NGO access delayed

For years, Bangladesh has tightly controlled humanitarian access to the Rohingya, who have arrived in waves since the 1970s. They are not officially recognized as refugees, and so the agency tasked with leading the humanitarian response is the International Organization for Migration.

Since the latest crisis began, scores of agencies have applied to the government for permission to help in the camps, but authorization has been slow to come, meaning some international NGOs have been unable to start work. Medicine and shelter supplies have been stuck in offices and staff grounded.

Dominic Bowen, response and team leader at Medical Teams International, said they had been forced to operate on verbal agreements with government, which could cause problems if staff were stopped at a checkpoint and asked to produce a permit.

"The biggest thing slowing us down is everyone is talking about, 'Are you registered? Can you distribute?'" he said. "And that just prevents NGOs from going larger. It discourages our fundraising departments from going all-in and raising money."

One of MTI's partners had money and shelter for some 4,000 families but are unable to distribute it because official permission has not come through, he said. "They're literally just sitting on their hands," he said.

The delays have mostly affected smaller agencies, but even large NGOs were waiting for approval as recently as this week, Lubrano from Oxfam said. Oxfam was given access in early September, he added, raising funding shortages and capacity as other obstacles. "Visas to work in Bangladesh are one month and there's a bit of turnover that doesn't help the consistency of the response," he said.

On Wednesday there was a meeting between the Inter Sector Coordination Group (which represents UN agencies leading the response) and Bangladesh's NGO Affairs Bureau where the issue of authorization was raised. "The NGO Affairs Bureau has committed to speed up the approval for a number of agencies," said Lubrano.

The bureau did not respond to a request for comment and phone calls to their office went unanswered.

"Historically, the number of registered humanitarian actors in Bangladesh has been limited," said Wells of Amnesty.

"This needs to be scaled up, given the enormity of what Bangladesh and the humanitarian community are responding to. Donor countries should also increase their support and engagement.

"Otherwise, the warning signs are there that this humanitarian crisis will continue to worsen, with a devastating impact on people who have already gone through so much; doctors were already telling me several days ago that they're seeing a spike in serious illness."

The specter of a cholera outbreak now looms large over the camps, where clean water supplies are scarce and many families are drinking out of muddied holes. The U.N. has shipped 900,000 cholera vaccines set to arrive next week, said Jean-Jacques Simon, UNICEF's regional communications chief. But additional doses are needed.

"The biggest need now is definitely water and sanitation and also health care because you've seen over the last few days that there were many thousands of cases of diarrhea, and we are just hoping it will not transform into cholera," he said. "That's the biggest fear in the camps today."

Additional reporting by Belal Uddin Joy.



(Poppy McPherson is a journalist based in Myanmar. She has spent the past five years mainly covering Southeast Asia, most recently focusing on Myanmar and Bangladesh, for the Guardian, Guardian Cities, Buzzfeed, Foreign Policy, Time and others).
Movement to protect judiciary to continue

Staff Reporter :

Lawyers of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Thursday said that their movement to protect the judiciary would continue till the goal was achieved.

This movement is not to save any person or to keep any political party, this movement is to protect the judiciary, they said.

The SCBA members said this in a demonstration programme held on the Bar premises. The Supreme Court Bar arranged the programme to uphold the image of the judiciary.

The lawyers said the Supreme Court's movement cannot be stopped, rather it will continue till the goal is achieved.

Bar President Advocate Zainul Abedin presided over the programme, while Bar Secretary Barrister A M Mahbub Uddin Khokan, Vice-President Advocate Umme Kulsum Rekha, Advocate Mirza Al Mahmud and Barrister Ahsanur Rahman were present at the programme, among others.

Advocate Zainul Abedin said their movement is not to save any person or not to save any political party, their movement is to protect the judiciary.

"A political party is trying to divide the lawyers. They are arranging counter programme with some officers of the Attorney General's office. But their evil purpose will not be successful," he said.

Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokan said, the leave petition of the Chief Justice was false. The Chief Justice had been detained. The government was trying to send him abroad by force, he added.

Meanwhile, Md Ozi Ullah, Senior Vice President of the Supreme Court Bar, on Thursday at a press conference alleged that the Bar President and the Secretary were trying to use the bar for political purpose.

He also said that the Chief Jusice went on leave on medical grounds. But some were trying to stream the matter in different areas. That would be harmful for the judiciary.

Bar Tresurer Rafiqul Islam Hiru, Assistant Secretary Shafiqul Islam, Executive Member Kumer Debul De, Habibur Rahman and Noor-e-Alam were also present at the press conference.
11 undocumented Bangladeshis deported from USA

banglanews24.com, Dhaka :

Trump administration has sent back a total of 11 Bangladeshi migrants from the United States as part of their on-going anti-migrant crackdown.

Of the deported Bangladeshis, 10 are residents of New York. They were forced to leave the US by a special Bangladesh-bound flight from a deportation center in Arizona State on Wednesday morning (Oct 11).

The deported Bangladeshi citizens are- Nasrin Chowdhury, Mohammad Ambia, Khairul Ambia, Selim Ahmed, Mozammel Huq, Karim Chowdhury, Mujibur Rahman, Bablu Sharif, Moahmmad Badal Roni, Mohammad Faridul Mawla and Monirul Islam.

After President Donald Trump was elected in November last year, US immigration officials have started crackdown operation against undocumented immigrants. The deported Bangladeshi people were victims of the situation and deportation of 27 more Bangladeshis including two women is underway.

Realitives of the deported Bangladeshis have alleged that Bangladesh authority in US is actually helping the immigration officials instead of helping the migrants by giving them passports of detained Bangladeshis. No one is getting a chance to take the matter in court.
Rohingya Muslims not native, refugee numbers exaggerated

Thousands of Rohingyas waiting in queue for relief from different camps at Kutupalong. This photo was taken on Thursday.

Channel NewsAsia, Yangon :

Rohingya Muslims are not native to Myanmar, the army chief told the U.S. ambassador in a meeting in which he apparently did not address accusations of abuses by his men and said media was complicit in exaggerating the number of refugees fleeing.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing gave his most extensive account of the Rohingya refugee crisis aimed at an international audience in the meeting with Ambassador Scot Marciel, according to a report posted on his Facebook page.

The general is the most powerful person in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and his apparently uncompromising stance would indicate little sensitivity about the military's image over a crisis that has drawn international condemnation and raised questions about a transition to democracy under Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military campaign is popular in Myanmar, where there is little sympathy for the Rohingya, and where Buddhist nationalism has surged.

Min Aung Hlaing, referring to Rohingya by the term "Bengali", which they regard as derogatory, said British colonialists were responsible for the problem.

"The Bengalis were not taken into the country by Myanmar, but by the colonialists," he told Marciel, according to the account of the meeting posted on Thursday (Oct 12)."They are not the natives, and the records prove that they were not even called Rohingya but just Bengalis during the colonial period."

The U.N. human rights office said on Wednesday, Myanmar security forces had brutally driven out half a million Rohingya from northern Rakhine State to Bangladesh, torching their homes, crops and villages to prevent them from returning.

Coordinated Rohingya insurgent attacks on some 30 security posts on Aug 25 sparked a ferocious military response.

The U.N. rights office said in its report, based on 65 interviews with Rohingya who had arrived in Bangladesh, that abuses had begun before the Aug 25 attacks and included killings, torture and rape of children.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley last month denounced what she called a "brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority" and called on countries to suspend providing weapons to Myanmar until its military puts sufficient accountability measures in place.

The European Union and the United States are considering targeted sanctions against Myanmar's military leaders, officials familiar with the discussions said this week. Suu Kyi is due make a speech on television later on Thursday. She was swept into office last year after winning an election, but the military holds immense power, including exclusive say over security. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein has described the government operations as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and said the action appeared to be "a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return".

Min Aung Hlaing did not refer to such accusations, according to the published account, but said the insurgents had killed 90 Hindus and 30 Rohingya linked to the government.

Insurgents' opposition to a citizenship verification campaign, which used the term Bengali, was behind the attacks, he said.
UN recalls its coordinator from Myanmar

Annan to provide details of Rohingya plights

The United Nations (UN) has recalled its resident coordinator in Myanmar to headquarters in New York following allegations that she had sought to block action on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State.

Renata Lok-Dessallien would leave by the end of October, diplomatic and aid community sources in Yangon told media on Thursday.

They said the decision was linked to her failure to prioritise human rights.

Earlier Ms Dessallien also served as UN resident coordinator in Bangladesh.

Lok-Dessallien, who took up the UN's top Myanmar post in January 2014, was accused of presiding over a "glaringly dysfunctional" in-country mission in an internal memorandum sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in April.

The UN's team in Myanmar has been plagued by tensions since her appointment, with accusations that Lok-Dessallien had prioritised building a strong relationship with the Myanmar government while sidelining human rights concerns in Rakhine State.

During her tenure, Lok-Dessallien had attempted to stop human rights activists from visiting Rakhine state where the Burmese army allegedly persecuted the Rohingya minority, and undermined staff who attempted to warn of the imminent risks of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine, according to several former UN officials working in Myanmar.

In one instance, Lok-Dessallien counselled former UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana to avoid public statements on the Rohingya community and to avoid travelling to Rakhine State during his final visit to Myanmar in 2014.

One former member of the resident coordinator's office, Ms Caroline Vandenabeele, told the BBC in September that discussing issues related to the Rohingya community was strongly discouraged under Lok-Dessallien's tenure.

"You could do it but it had consequences," she said. "And it had negative consequences, like you were no longer invited to meetings and your travel authorisations were not cleared. Other staff were taken off jobs - and being humiliated in meetings. An atmosphere was created that talking about these issues was simply not on."

Other UN Officials in Myanmar said that the fractious internal culture of the UN team, along with the resident coordinator's management of ongoing issues in Rakhine State, had prompted the decision to rotate Lok-Dessallien out of Myanmar earlier than the end of what is usually a five-year term.

"The UN has proposed upgrading its country chief to the position of assistant secretary-general after Lok-Dessallien's departure, a move that has been rejected by Myanmar's government," according to one UN staff member in Myanmar.

Meanwhile, former UN chief Kofi Annan is expected to provide details of a report on the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Burma (Myanmar) during an informal meeting with the Security Council on Friday.

Annan in late August presented the final report by the special advisory commission on Rakhine state. Annan, who chairs the commission, did this at the request of Burma's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Among others, the report called for Burmese authorities to take urgent action to address the plight of the Rohingya, who are not recognised as citizens and have faced decades of discrimination from the country's Buddhist majority.

Besides, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman will arrive in Myanmar on Friday for a five-day visit to discuss the latest conflict in Rakhine State, which has sent more than half a million Rohingya refugees across the border to Bangladesh.

"Feltman will be holding consultations with Myanmar to address these urgent issues," said a UN official.
Law Ministry signs LIA agreement with IFC

BSS, Dhaka :

Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry today signed an agreement titled Legislative Impact Assessment (LIA) with International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Aimed at formulating high standard law in the country, LIA would become handy in enacting law considering the advantages and disadvantages for the citizens before and during the formulation of the concerned act.

Joint secretary Sayed Ahmed of the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division and IFC acting country manager Ehsanul Azim signed the agreement for their respective organizations in presence of Law Minister Anisul Huq at Hotel Sonargaon.

Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division Senior Secretary Mohammad Shahidul Haque, Law Secretary Abu Saleh Sk Md Zahirul Haque and IFC senior economist Dr Masrur Riyaj were present on the occasion, among others.

"We the people in the government are public servants. It is not enough for us just to formulate laws. We have to make efforts how to implement those laws for the welfare of the people," Law Minister Anisul Huq said.

The minister emphasized on formulating perfect laws so that time does not get wasted in correcting the flaws in those laws.
Iraq Kurd fighters block roads to second city Mosul

Kurdish peshmerga forces, show here voting in last month\'s independence referendum, are reported to have blocked roads from other parts of Iraq to the autonomous Kurdistan region

AFP, Arbil :

Kurdish peshmerga forces on Thursday blocked roads from Iraqi Kurdistan to the country's second city Mosul in response to Iraqi troop movements, a senior Kurdish military official told AFP.

"The two main roads connecting Arbil and Dohuk to Mosul were cut off on Thursday with sand embankments as a precautionary measure after we detected an increase in deployments and movements of Iraqi forces near the front line with the peshmerga," he said. The move came after Kurdish authorities said late on Wednesday they feared Iraqi government forces and allied paramilitary units were preparing to launch an assault on the autonomous northern region.

"We're receiving dangerous messages that the Hashed al-Shaabi (paramilitary forces) and federal police are preparing a major attack from the southwest of Kirkuk and north of Mosul against Kurdistan," the Kurdistan Regional Government's Security Council said.

The warning came amid spiralling tensions between Iraq's Kurds and central authorities in the wake of last month's Kurdish independence referendum.

In the oil-rich region of Kirkuk, which is disputed between the Kurds and Baghdad, a local commander told AFP there were no immediate signs of movement.

"We have seen no unacceptable movement on the part of Iraqi forces," Wasta Rasul, the commander of peshmerga forces in southern Kirkuk, told AFP.

He said the peshmerga were in meetings with the US-led coalition that has intervened in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State group and that "its aircraft are monitoring the situation carefully". The coalition has worked with the peshmerga, as well as Iraqi pro-government forces, in the battle to oust IS from areas it seized in Iraq in mid-2014. Security sources said that Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) and Rapid Response Force had deployed more forces near Rashad, a village some 65 kilometres (40 miles) south of Kirkuk, near peshmerga positions.

Asked by AFP, the spokesman for Iraq's Joint Operations Command, refused to confirm or deny any preparations for an offensive.

"What I can say is that our forces in Hawija have accomplished their duty and have started to clear the region of explosives and restore the law in order to allow people to go home," said the spokesman, Brigadier General Yahiya Rassul.

Iraqi forces last week retook control of Hawija, one of IS's last enclaves in the country, which is close to Kurdish majority areas.

Baghdad and Arbil have been locked in a stand-off since voters in Kurdistan overwhelmingly opted two weeks ago for independence in a referendum that the central government slammed as illegal.

Iraq has cut Kurdistan off from the outside world by severing air links to the region, while neighbouring Turkey and Iran have threatened to close their borders and block oil exports.

Meanwhile, a tough line from President Donald Trump has been met by a show of unity from both sides of Iran's political divide, uniting hardliners who cast the United States as an implacable enemy with pragmatists who seek rapprochement with the West.

Iran, which has kept up a steady drumbeat of angry statements for days, lashed out again on Tuesday, threatening to teach the Americans "new lessons" and keep "all options on the table" if Washington blacklists its Revolutionary Guards.

Trump, who has accused his predecessor Barack Obama of being too soft on Iran, is expected to announce a hardening of policy this week, likely to include "decertifying" a landmark 2015 deal that lifted international sanctions in return for curbs on Tehran's nuclear programme. Such a step would stop short of pulling out of the agreement, leaving that decision to Congress.

Trump is also expected to designate Iran's most powerful security force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), as a terrorist organisation. The IRGC has a vast economic empire in Iran, and blacklisting it could make it more difficult for Iranian businesses to access the global financial system.

"It seems the Trump administration understands only swear words, and needs some shocks to understand the new meaning of power in the world," said Iranian armed forces spokesman Masoud Jazayeri, who is also a Revolutionary Guards commander.
Rivals Hamas, Fatah reach preliminary deal on governing Gaza

AP, Gaza City :

Rival groups Hamas and Fatah have reached a preliminary, partial agreement that could pave the way for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume governing the Gaza Strip, a decade after Hamas overran the territory, officials close to Egyptian-brokered negotiations said on Thursday.

Details of the deal were to be presented at a news conference in Cairo later Thursday.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement that the agreement was reached under "generous Egyptian auspices," but provided no details.

A senior Palestinian official said Abbas, the leader of Fatah, might visit Gaza in the coming weeks, depending on a successful implementation of the agreement. The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement in Cairo.

The Western-backed Abbas hasn't set foot in Gaza since 2007, when the Islamic militant Hamas, his main ideological rival, seized the territory in street battles with his loyalists. The Hamas takeover, which came a year after the group defeated Fatah in Palestinian parliament elections, left Abbas with autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Hamas, meanwhile, became increasingly isolated, as Israel and Egypt enforced a Gaza border blockade of the coastal strip.

Over the past decade, each side deepened control over its territory, making it increasingly difficult to forge compromises and repeated attempts at reconciliation failed.

The preliminary deal being announced on Thursday came after two days of talks between Hamas and Fatah in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Under the emerging agreement, Hamas would hand over responsibilities of governing Gaza to the West Bank-based government of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.

Officials close to the talks said the sides agreed to set up committees to work out the details - in the past a mechanism that quickly led to deadlock.
US Department of the Interior

Zinke!

US Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is under investigation for his travel arrangementsagain.

Earlier this week, the departments Office of the Inspector General opened an investigation into privately chartered flights the secretary took, costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

This isnt the first time Zinke has exercised (alleged) ethical lapses when it comes to air travel. As the New York Times reported in the run-up to his confirmation, he improperly billed the government for travel to his home in Montana when he was a midlevel SEAL Team 6 officer in the late 1990s.

He was punished for abusing his travel expenses, and according to the NYT:

His former commanding officer in SEAL Team 6, retired Vice Adm. Albert M. Calland III, who had never before discussed the matter publicly, said in an interview that it was an easy decision to hit Mr. Zinke hard over the travel claims, which came at a time when he was supposed to help prevent such abuses.

I gave him a fitness report that I thought would not allow him to get to captain, and that seemed, in that regard, to work O.K., Admiral Calland said. Even though Mr. Zinke served in a succession of No. 2 jobs in special operations after that, he never got command, the admiral said.

Another retired vice admiral, Sean A. Pybus, who was Mr. Zinkes boss after he left SEAL Team 6, said that Admiral Callands decision to cite Mr. Zinke for lapses in judgment in failing to set a proper example was a red flag for boards screening officers for coveted command jobs.

One of the secretarys recent privately-chartered flights, from Las Vegas to Montana aboard a private plane owned by oil and gas executives, cost $12,375. A commercial flight would have been about $300.

Republican leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee, including Utah Rep. Rob Bishop, are even starting to ask questions, and have asked the Interior Department for information related to privately-chartered flights of Zinke and President Obamas two previous secretaries.

This year, US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has also taken privately chartered flights, costing a total of $58,000.

Oil and Gas

As Reuters reported, oil prices were dropping this week due to a global glut of supplies. And theres a lot of new movement among oil companies in New Mexico.

Oryx Midstream Services plans to build a 220-mile long crude oil pipeline from Carlsbad to Midland, Texas and Exxon-Mobil has gained access to 22,000 more acres in the Permian Basin. Earlier this year, the companywhose former CEO Rex Tillerson is now US Secretary of Stateannounced plans to invest $5.6 billion in the Permian, which includes Texas and New Mexico.

But some energy executives remain unhappy with business in the state, according to a story in the Albuquerque Journal last week:

Government regulations are also a challenge, especially red tape in approving drilling and right-of-way permits on federal lands. Thats particularly true in New Mexico, which has the most federally leased land in the US for oil and gas production, Flynn said. Conservative estimates say New Mexico loses about $2.3 million in revenue per day because of those delays, [New Mexico Oil and Gas Association Executive Director] Ryan Flynn said. Prior to his job at the trade group, Flynn was the New Mexico Environment Department Secretary.

Speaking of Flynn, the Santa Fe New Mexican recently quoted the former secretary as supporting the states newly proposed science standards, which omit references of human-caused climate change, promote the fossil fuel industry and diminish language around evolution.

The paper, like the Journal, failed to mention Flynns cabinet position, a detail that helps contextualize the administrations actions and its close ties, across agencies, with the energy industry.

In other oil and gas news, Sean Spicer has been doing more than hobnobbing with Hollywood stars at the Emmys since being fired as White House press secretary. He was the keynote speaker at the Marcellus Shale Coalitions annual conference. According to DeSmogBlog, Spicer started by telling the crowd of shale industry executives:

Before I begin, the one message that I want to make sure that you take away from my comments today, is that while I may not be in the White House anymore, I remain unbelievably confident that this industry has a huge friend in the Oval Office and throughout this administration.

But wait! Theres more oil and gas news.

A study published this week in Nature Energy, a peer-reviewed journal, shows that half of all new oil production in the United States would be unprofitable if it werent for federal subsidies. In the Permian Basin, 40 percent of development wouldnt be economically viable.

Last, even though this is technically Arizona news, New Mexicans will benefit from the research, too. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just awarded the Climate Assessment for the Southwest program at the University of Arizona $3.75 million to continue its research on climate change in the southwestern US, including New Mexico, and northern Mexico.

Visit the programs website at climas.arizona.edu.

Public Meetings and Comment Periods

 To submit public comment about proposed statewide science standards to the N.M. Public Education Department send an email to rule. feedback@state. nm. us, or fax to (505) 827-6681 before 5pm on Oct. 16. The agency will hold a public hearing regarding the standards on Oct. 16, from 9am to noon, at Mabry Hall, Jerry Apodaca Education Building, 300 Don Gaspar Avenue, Santa Fe.

 Until Oct. 20, the US Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment on opening 26 parcels in northern New Mexico for oil and gas leasing. The draft environmental assessment is online here. Email comments to NMleasesalecomments@blm. gov with March 2018 Lease Parcels in the subject line or send them to Ross Klein, BLM New Mexico State Office, 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87502.
BOGRA: Bogra District BNP brought out a procession on Wednesday protesting arrest warrant against BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.
2 killed in separate incidents

Chittagong Bureau :

Two persons including a Mason were killed in separate incidents in the city and district on Wednesday.

The victims were identified as Mason Saiful Islam, 32, hailed from Gaibanda district and day labourer Mohammad Solaiman, 52, of Bagherhat district.

Solaiman was electrocuted while collecting green coconut from the tree in Dostirhat area of Satkhania upazila of the district around 10 am. He was rushed to Chittagong Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) where the attending doctors declared him dead.

Besides, Saiful received severe injuries after falling from an under construction seven-storey building in the city's Hill View area this morning. Locals brought him to the CMCH where he succumbed to his injuries after admission.
BRU, EBAU sign deal on research cooperation

Prof Dr Profulla Chandra Sarker, Vice Chancellor of Royal University of Dhaka delivering lectures at a workshop on research project proposal held at Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur on Tuesday. Prof Dr Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, BTFO, Vice Chancellor of the

Jannatun lucky, BRUR :

Begum Rokeya University (BRU), Rangpur and Exim Bank Agriculture University (EBAU), Bangladesh signed an agreement at EBAU campus on Monday. Vice Chancellor of BRU Prof Dr Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, BTFO and Vice Chancellor of EBAU Prof ABM Rashedul Hasan signed in favour of their respective organizations. This agreement will create opportunities and develop research standard with joint enterprise, BRU sources said.

Prof Dr Sayed Zabed Hossain, adviser, Tragerar, register and teachers of different faculties of EBAU were presented there.

Besides, Md. Mahmudul Islam, DC, Chapainababganj and TM Mujahidul Islam Police Super were also presented on the occasion.
Workshop on post self-assessment improvement at NUB

Campus Report :

The Institutional Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of Northern University Bangladesh (NUB), in collaboration with the World Bank and the University Grants Commission, arranged a workshop on "Preparing Post Self-Assessment Improvement Plan (PSAIP)" on Wednesday.

Prof Dr AYM Abdullah, Chairman of NUB Trust, was the chief guest on the occasion. Vice-Chancellor of NUB Prof Dr Anwarul Karim joined the workshop as special guest and the facilitator was Prof Dr Sanjoy Kumar Adhikari, Head QA, Heqep, UGC.

Quality assurance expert and Director of the IQAC of NUB, Prof Dr M Shamsul Haque coordinated the session.

Heads and other members of Self-Assessment Committee of Northern University Bangladesh participated in the training session.

Prof Dr AYM Abdullah urged the participants to embrace career-long learning and to focus on scholastic pursuit of knowledge. He stressed on the importance of conducting high-quality research, learning the latest statistical tools and gaining expertise in software for achieving professional excellence.

Moreover, he added, as theoretical learning can fulfil only 30-40 percent of the knowledge students require, university education should be closely interlinked with the industry and the market.




US sacrificing strategic ally Turkey: Erdogan

Ankara (Reuters) :

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States on Thursday of mistreating a strategic ally, in a blistering speech which appeared to rule out swift resolution to a dispute between two NATO members jointly fighting Islamic State.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan looks on as he stands next to Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic (not pictured) during their visit to Novi Pazar, Serbia, October 11, 2017. REUTERS/Marko Djurica

Hours after Ankara announced officials would meet soon to settle differences, Erdogan accused the U.S. consulate in Istanbul of hiding an individual with links to a network he blames for last year's failed coup.

He also condemned U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria and separate U.S. court cases against a senior Turkish banker and the president's own security guards, mocking what he said was Washington's claim to be "the capital of democracy".

Turkey's relations with the United States and many Western countries have been strained since last year's failed military coup against Erdogan, in which more than 240 people were killed.

Turkey felt many allies were slow to condemn the coup attempt and failed to appreciate the danger it faced. Western countries have grown alarmed at the scale of Turkey's post-coup crackdown, with 50,000 people detained and 150,000 suspended from work.

Ties with the United States hit a low when Turkey detained a locally employed worker at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul last week.

The United States says it is still seeking an explanation for the arrest - the second detention of a consulate worker this year. It suspended most visa services in Turkey, saying it needed to review Turkey's commitment to the security of its mission and staff. Turkey reciprocated within hours.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday and expressed his "profound concern", the U.S. State Department said.

Erdogan has blamed outgoing U.S. ambassador John Bass, saying he was putting at risk a decades-old alliance.

"Let me be very clear, the person who caused this is the ambassador here. It is unacceptable for the United States to sacrifice a strategic partner to an ambassador who doesn't know his place," Erdogan told provincial governors meeting in Ankara.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said Turkish and U.S. officials would meet to work on resolving the crisis and described talks between their foreign ministers as constructive.

But Erdogan aired a list of grievances, accusing Washington of sheltering suspected members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), and supporters of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen he blames for last year's coup attempt. Gulen denies involvement.

"On the one hand you say you are the capital of democracy, but you hide PKK and FETO members," Erdogan said, using the label his government has given to Gulen's network.
Myanmar envoy denies genocide against Rohingya Muslims

AP :

Myanmar's ambassador to Japan said Thursday there is no ethnic cleansing or genocide of Rohingya Muslims in his country despite violence that has led a half million of them to flee the country.

Myanmar security forces responded to Rohingya militant attacks with a broad crackdown in August in Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled across the border in what the United Nations has called

"textbook ethnic cleansing."

The ambassador, Thurain Thant Zin, denied reports of human rights abuses in Rakhine by the military and told reporters in Tokyo that his government was providing humanitarian aid to all affected by the violence.

"To say the Myanmar military conducted those illegal acts is untrue and cannot be true," he said.

"The Myanmar government protests the use of such terms as ethnic cleansing and genocide," he said.

The ambassador said the government is prepared to help resettle all who have fled.

"Some people have said they are too afraid to return to their original homes and want a new place to live," he said. "We have promised the Myanmar government will provide support for reconstruction."

Myanmar's Buddhist majority denies that Rohingya Muslims are a separate ethnic group and regards them as "Bengalis" who migrated illegally from Bangladesh.

Myanmar's military commander in chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, also denied that large numbers of people had fled.

"It is an exaggeration to say that the number of Bengalis fleeing to Bangladesh is very large," he said in a statement issued in Myanmar after he met Wednesday with U.S. Ambassador Scott Marciel.

He also denied there was ethnic cleansing, saying the refugees "might have fled because they feel insure" following the earlier attacks by militant Rohingya. A report by the U.N. human rights office released Wednesday said attacks against the Rohingya and widespread burning of villages reflected a strategy of instilling "widespread fear and trauma" to prevent those displaced from ever returning to their homes.

The attacks against Rohingya by security forces and Buddhist mobs were "coordinated and systematic," with the intent of not only driving the population out of Myanmar but preventing them from returning, the report said. Thurain Thant Zin insisted only crime and terrorist attacks were to blame, not ethnic or religious tensions.

"Up to today, Myanmar has no ethnic or religious problems," he said, despite civil strife in Rahkine and elsewhere. He said the issue is one of immigration and that in most communities in the region Buddhists, Muslims and other minorities lived peacefully together.
MURPHYSBORO  WSIU Public Broadcasting, a service of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, along with the Southern Illinois Immigrant Rights Project, will co-present a free screening and discussion of an episode from the PBS film "Homeland: Immigration in America," as part of WSIUs Community Cinema film series.

The film will be shown at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, at the Liberty Theater, at 1333 Walnut St. in Murphysboro.

Produced by Nine Network in St. Louis and narrated by Ray Suarez, senior correspondent for PBS NewsHour, the film explores the politics and people on all sides of immigration through contemporary stories of immigrants and those who confront them, as well people who give them help and those who craft legislation that affects them. The episode to be screened, Enforcement, explores how communities and our nation struggle to enforce inconsistent immigration policies.

Cindy Buys, professor of law and director of International Law Programs at the SIU School of Law, will moderate a discussion after the film.

For more information about the film, visit wsiu.org/community-cinema. For more information about Community Cinema, contact Beth Spezia at 618-453-5595, beth.spezia@wsiu.org.
Since the start of his prolific career, Jon Langford hasnt shied away from venturing into new creative territory.

The Welsh-born musician, now based in Chicago, is a founding member of the first-wave British punk group The Mekons and the alt-country outfit The Waco Brothers; hes also an esteemed visual artist, radio host and playwright.

His latest album and project, Jon Langfords Four Lost Souls, allowed him to delve into a sub-genre of American roots music he hadnt previously explored: the blend of gospel, soul and country perfected in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Along with fellow Chicago-based musicians John Szymanski, Bethany Thomas and Tawny Newsome, Langford will perform songs from the album starting at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at PKs in Carbondale.

The project sprang from a chance meeting with legendary Nashville producer and original Muscle Shoals session player Norbert Putnam. In 2015, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville commissioned Langford to produce artwork for a long-running exhibit called Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City. Langford performed with the Cats for the exhibits opening ceremony and caught the ear of Putnam, the bands bassist.

After the first rehearsal, he said, You sing like a pirate. You should come down to Muscle Shoals, Langford said.

When Langford sat down to write the album, he found he didnt want to write pirate songs  he wanted to draw on Muscle Shoals history and unique groove.

I thought a lot about the South and the history of race conflict, and also the history of unsegregated music-making that epitomized Muscle Shoals, and tried to kind of write songs that broached both my love for the South and all the things that have come out of it  the sort of incredible cultural things that have come from the South  and the terrible, repressive history as well, Langford said.

As he was writing the album, Donald Trumps presidential bid was picking up steam. Langford said some of the rhetoric from the campaign seeped into his work.

Im pretty sure the kind of vile racism and bigotry that he was tapping into, that was an influence for me. I didnt think all the graves would actually open and all the zombies would crawl out like weve seen happen. So it was that kind of unease about the South and how the Civil War seems to have not really ended for some people, he said.

On Nov. 8, the day after the 2016 election, he and the other Lost Souls headed down to Alabama to cut the record. Langford said the timing contributed to some apprehension.

My band (includes) two very strong-willed women of color, Tawny Newsome and Bethany Thomas. Theyve lived in the North all their life, havent been to the South very much. So I think for them it was a feeling of dread, fear.  We didnt know what it might be like, you know, who would have been emboldened. But fortunately Muscle Shoals is a sort of cultural bubble of brilliance, and we didnt run into anything, we didnt have a problem, Langford said. Ive always loved the South, and the albums about music as well as politics, and I always see music as this really incredibly positive thing that links people.

Stace England, a Southern Illinois musician known for his historical concept albums, invited Langford to the region for Tuesdays show, he said.

I like the way (Englands music) transcends pop music and it gets deeper into politics and history in a really profound sort of way, so with this album I was definitely thinking along those lines, Langford said.

England said hes been a fan of Langfords work since his days in The Mekons.

It's a combination of insightfulness, fearlessness and tenacity, delivered by someone with an outsider perspective yet with a deep understanding and appreciation of American music and culture, England wrote in an email. In that way it's entirely unique. You can't listen to a Waco Brothers recording without a smile on your face. On top of all that, Jon is one of most entertaining live performers you're ever going to see. A club show like PKs is the man completely in his element.
MARION  A 51-year-old Marion man was sentenced Wednesday to 14 years in prison for the offense of distributing methamphetamine.

Ricky E. Shull was sentenced to federal prison for methamphetamine offenses, Donald S. Boyce, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced in a press release on Wednesday. Shull received an enhanced sentence based on his classification as a career offender.

Shull  who had previously pled guilty to a two-count indictment charging conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of methamphetamine  was sentenced to 168 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Shull was also fined $400.

The indictment alleged that the offenses occurred between September 2016 and January 19, 2017, in Williamson County, according to a news release. Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings established that Shull was involved with other persons in the distribution in Southern Illinois of ice  methamphetamine which has a purity level of at least 80 percent.

On January 19, 2017, Shull sold ice to a confidential source working for law enforcement, according to the news release.

At sentencing, the district court found that Shull was responsible for distributing 436.45 grams of ice.

The investigation was conducted by the Southern Illinois Enforcement Group and Drug Enforcement Administration. The Williamson County States Attorneys Office also assisted in the investigation.
CARBONDALE  Celina Maniece is a proud double alumna of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, so she was quick to partner with the universitys Small Business Development Center for help in developing, testing and marketing a new app and business. Her BizClips project, which also involves SIU students and local businesses, seeks to connect businesses, professionals and consumers through video-based imagery.

Maniece, currently of Laredo, Texas, grew up in Du Quoin and earned her bachelors degree in psychology in 2006 and her masters in workforce education and development in 2010. After years of research, she conceived the concept for a company and app to help business owners decrease marketing expenses while streamlining their hiring process.

As Maniece began to develop her company and app, she reached out to the SIU Office of Economic and Regional Development for technical assistance in Southern Illinois. The professional, interactive, video-based social media networking app and site is now in the research and development phase.

In early spring 2017, Maniece began collaborating with the Illinois Small Business Development Center at SIU. Robyn Laur Russell, director of business development and international trade, and Greg Bouhl, SBDC director, are providing assistance to Maniece regarding conceptualization, development and programming of the app as well as business processes and how to monitor company and product development.

They also assisted her in the earlier stages of app development in learning to evaluate the work of programmers. In addition, theyve lent their expertise in creating marketing messaging to make it appealing to the public.

The SBDC has helped her conceptualize different ways and places to market the app, which Russell characterizes as a fun, interactive, turbo-charged link between students, companies, professionals and the public that could revolutionize how people and businesses connect.

BizClips is designed to help businesses and professionals seeking employment connect. Consumers can also get involved as they can learn about and rank businesses and their products or services. The SBDC is working to connect BizClips with SIU students and with businesses in the region to help test the app before it goes mainstream. Students who are interested in being involved in the cutting-edge product testing, providing feedback regarding functionality and utilization, can join a private beta test group that will launch in October.

Maniece, a member of the SIU Alumni Association, is looking for up to 200 SIU students from the region as well as additional businesses. Interested parties should send their email address (Android-based) or Apple ID, along with information as to whether they are SIU students or area businesses to info@mybizclips.com by Friday, Oct. 13. They will in turn soon receive the beta version of the app.

Along with early free access to the app and the benefits it offers, those involved in the testing will also be able to connect with counterparts in Texas who are simultaneously testing it as well. The combined data and input from testing in the two pilot regions will be used to improve the app before it goes to market.

Maniece is also working with Norma Rodriguez, certified business adviser at the SBDC at Texas A&M International University in Laredo. Russell notes that Maniece, through working with the SBDCs in the national network, became small business management certified and that this entire project shows how people, universities and agencies can collaborate to foster success.

The SIU connection will continue in the future, too, Russell said. Chelsea Robbins, an SIU marketing alumna from Du Quoin who attended SIU from 2003 to 2004, is serving as the point person for BizClips in Southern Illinois, and plans are underway for Maniece to work with SIU marketing classes as they offer their expertise, just as they frequently do for other area businesses.

The collaboration involving SIU and the SBDC with BizClips is a perfect example of knowledge creation and expanding partnerships that support innovation, Russell said.

The Illinois Small Business Development Center/International Trade Center is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and is hosted by SIU Carbondale. For more information about the center and many services it provides to new and expanding businesses, visit www.sbdc.siu.edu, call 618-536-2424 or email sbdc@siu.edu.
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois officials are cutting costs by putting violent prisoners in less-secure prisons, a driver behind a 51 percent increase in inmate assaults over two years, a state employee union said Thursday.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 asserted that Gov. Bruce Rauner's campaign to reduce the prison population has meant an 18 percent drop in maximum-security prison populations.

At the same time, assaults on corrections officers jumped from 541 in 2015 to a projected 819 this year, AFSCME Executive Director Roberta Lynch, surrounded by correctional officers who had suffered or witness attacks, said at a Springfield news conference.

"Is it because ... prisons with lower security levels have lower staffing levels and cost less to operate and that far too little attention is paid to the human cost of increasing violence against staff?" Lynch asked, noting "the recurring pain, the family turmoil, the physical trauma and even the permanent disability that can occur when staff is subject to violent assaults."

Illinois Department of Corrections Director John Baldwin, meeting later with reporters, rejected AFSCME declarations that management "doesn't care" and dismissed the AFSCME's claims of "budget-driven security re-classification."

He said the department is changing its classification system for inmates to replace a 30-year-old model, acknowledging that "we have a lot of population in the wrong place."

"Staff said, 'We need to know more about the offender,' and we're trying to get them that information. Staff are the best people to deal with the offenders," Baldwin said.

AFSCME counted assaults by calendar year  541 in 2015 and 819 projected this year, based on year-to-date data. Baldwin said the department counted a 27 percent increase over fiscal years  566 in the year that ended June 30, 2015, to 761 in the year that ended last June 30.

Seven in 10 assaults are perpetrated by mentally ill inmates, Baldwin said. Key to reducing those, he said, is training approved by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which all department employees have had, in dealing with sometimes uncertain responses and reactions associated with mental illness.

Alanea Lewis, an officer who suffered a concussion in an attack that sent half-a-dozen staff members at the maximum-security lockup in Pontiac to the hospital last year, said the inmates responsible have been charged with battery in criminal court but Corrections department disciplinary infractions were dismissed.

Baldwin denied AFSCME's claim that misbehavior isn't punished, saying the agency's disciplinary system is "robust."

Officer Cody Dornes from East Moline complained that an improper radio communication system delayed the response to a bloody attack on a guard who was alone on a 100-inmate unit recently. Baldwin said the officer's distress call was heard and that he has sought legislative appropriation for new equipment repeatedly but has been stymied by the state's budget problems.
This editorial appeared in Wednesday's Washington Post.

Authoritarian governments around the world have increasingly embraced the disgraceful tactic of arresting U.S. citizens and holding them as de facto hostages in an attempt to gain leverage over Washington. Iran and North Korea were pioneering practitioners  and both repeatedly extracted U.S. concessions. That probably encouraged other nations, including Egypt and Venezuela. Now comes Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkey, a NATO member that appears well on its way to becoming an outlaw state.

In the past year the Erdogan government has seized a dozen Americans as well as two Turks working for U.S. consulates. With a brazenness that would make Tehran's Revolutionary Guard Corps blush, Erdogan recently made clear that the prisoners are little more than pawns whom he wishes to trade for Turks in the United States  particularly the cleric Fethullah Gulen, an Erdogan rival who lives in Pennsylvania. "Give us that pastor," Erdogan recently said of Gulen, "and we will do what we can" to release Andrew Brunson, an America minister.

Following the latest arrest, of a consular employee in Istanbul, an understandably exasperated U.S. Embassy announced a freeze Sunday on the issuance of nonimmigrant visas to Turks  a drastic measure that was quickly reciprocated by the Turkish mission in Washington. Such a ban could hurt many innocent people, including Turkish journalists and civil society activists working to resist Erdogan's repression. If it endures, it should be refined to target government officials, business executives and others linked to the regime.

There's no question, however, that the Trump administration, which has persisted in describing Erdogan as a close ally, must now stand up to his bullying. The Turkish ruler appears to believe he can persecute Americans with impunity; his arrogance was encapsulated when he watched as his security detail attacked peaceful protesters outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington in May. His demands about Turks in the United States are equally lawless. Ankara has offered scant evidence that Gulen is guilty of a crime, which means that U.S. courts could not approve extradition. Two other Turks whose return Erdogan seeks are being prosecuted for helping Iran evade sanctions.

Over about 15 years in power, Erdogan may have drawn the conclusion that Washington will inevitably tolerate his transgressions because of Turkey's strategic importance. Unfortunately, the Obama administration provided plenty of evidence for that, as has President Donald Trump, who after meeting Erdogan last month inexplicably declared that "we are as close as we've ever been." In fact, Turkey's value in fighting the Islamic State has diminished as U.S. forces have partnered with rival Kurds; and Ankara's decision to work with Russia and Iran in Syria, while purchasing an advanced air defense system from Moscow, has further detached it from the West.

The long-standing U.S. alliance with Turkey should be preserved, to the extent that is possible with Erdogan in power. But that cannot come at the expense of tolerating hostage-taking and assaults on the U.S. rule of law. Erdogan should be made to understand that he is risking a rupture of relations that will do far more harm to his regime than to the United States.
The American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences honored its 2017 Distinguished Service Award recipients at a ceremony during the 108th Annual Conference & Expo in Dallas, Texas.

Among those selected for the prestigious award is Dr. Ethel G. Jones, director and associate professor, School of Human Ecology, Louisiana Tech University.

Jones career has spanned public school teaching, higher education, Cooperative Extension, instruction, research and community outreach.

Her commitment to academic program excellence has been exemplified in providing active involvement in the reaffirmation and accreditation of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at South Carolina State University, and through her service to the AAFCS Council of Accreditation.

Jones has received more than 40 special distinctions and awards, and served on more than 30 committees for professional and community organizations locally and nationally.

Other AAFCS 2017 Distinguished Service Award Recipients are Dr. Carol E. Kellett and Mary Turner Gilliland.
Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5 trustees praised the performance of the districts teen pregnancy prevention program at Tuesday nights meeting.

The Medicaid Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Services program paid its debt and ended the 2016-2017 school year with a $41,000 overage, MAPPS Supervisor Lakesha Hart reported.

This is the first year since its inception that the program has made money.

This has been the best year ever with MAPPS, trustee Julius Page said.

Hart said the program is evidence-based and focuses on prevention services and promotes abstinence.

She said that the MAPPS program had a 98.6 percent success rate for the past year, meaning there were two pregnancies.

But, Hart said, thats two pregnancies too many.

In other business at Tuesdays meeting:

 Trustees heard a presentation by Dr. Charlene Stokes, principal of host school Robert E. Howard Middle School.

 The board designated trustees Henry Jenkins and Idella Carson as delegates to the South Carolina School Boards Associations upcoming conference in Charleston.

 Trustees voted to move next months meeting from Tuesday, Nov. 14, to Monday, Nov. 13, because of a conference that several board members will be attending.

 State Rep. Lonnie Hosey, D-Barnwell, spoke to the board about several S.C. House bills that involve public schools and higher education. He was invited by trustee Vernon Stephens.

Hosey attended the meeting with state Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, and said he was impressed with the board and the school district.

We thank you for what youve done, he said.

 Payroll Supervisor Pam Williams gave the finance and operations report.

For the month of August, local revenue was $417,527, and interest revenue was $27,669. State revenue was $764,593, and state Education Finance Act revenue was $1,358,921. Total revenues for the month were $2,846,705, and total expenditures were $4,390,612, she said.

OCSD5 Public Relations Director Bill Clark said that it is normal for expenditures to exceed revenues at this time of year.

The reason is that the majority of people pay their property taxes in the months of December and January. Revenue spikes during these months while expenditures stay relatively consistent from month to month, Clark said.

You'll see revenue start to pick up in November, peak in December and January, and then start declining again in February and March, and be minimal April through September, he said.

 Dr. Cynthia Cash-Greene, head of instructional services, requested a work session with trustees to discuss the results of student testing prior to the November meeting.

After discussion, the board approved a motion to hold a special called meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31, to review the test results.

 Superintendent Dr. Jesse Washington praised Principal Stokes and her faculty and staff for a great job with schools STEM lab.

It really is a great promotion and something the school should be proud of, he said.

 Trustees voted to enter closed, executive session to discuss personnel recommendations and personnel matters. After returning to open session, trustees approved Human Resources Director Robert Grants recommendations for certified staff and for separation.
By Azernews





By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijan and Tajikistan discussed the opening of direct flights between the capital cities.

Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev discussed the issue with Tajik Ambassador to Azerbaijan Rustam Soliyev.

The meeting focused on the current state of economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, a number of specific issues related to the expansion of ties and prospects for cooperation.

Discussions were held on cooperation between the Ganja Aluminum Smelter and the Aluminum Plant of Tajikistan in the spheres of metallurgy, transit and so on, as well as issues of mutual interest.

Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, both post-Soviet republics, established diplomatic relations on May 29, 1992. The cooperation between the two countries reached a new level in 2008, when an intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation was launched. It coordinates the realization of economic ties and develops new proposals for future cooperation.

Currently, the basis of trade and economic relations between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan is import-export, including transit transport. Tajikistan imports alumina and petroleum coke from Azerbaijan for the production of aluminum. Annually more than 300,000 tons of alumina is supplied from the Ganja Alumina Smelter of the Tajik Aluminum Plant. At the same time, Tajikistan imports pomegranate juice, butter, sugar and agricultural products from Azerbaijan.

The sector of the Azerbaijani economy, specializing in meat and dairy production, winemaking and branches based on other crops, is of some interest to Tajikistan.
By Trend





President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory letter to Felipe VI, King of Spain.

"On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, it is my pleasure to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and the people of your country on the occasion of the national holiday of the Kingdom of Spain," President Aliyev said.

"On this remarkable day, I wish you all the best, robust health and happiness, and the friendly people of Spain everlasting peace and prosperity," said President Aliyev in the congratulatory letter.
By Trend





A dinner party has been hosted for participants of a session of the Council of CIS Heads of State in Sochi, Russian Federation.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the dinner party.

President Ilham Aliyev completed his visit to Sochi on October 11.
By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, will host a briefing on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, organization's website reported on October 12.

The briefing titled Averting all-out war in Nagorno Karabakh: The role of the U.S. and OSCE will be held on October 18.

Two former U.S. Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Carey Cavanaugh and James Warlick, as well as Magdalena Grono, Director of the International Crisis Groups Europe and Central Asia Program, will participate in the breefing.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Until now, Armenia 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 regions.

The Minsk Group, the activities of which have become known as the Minsk Process, spearheads the OSCE's efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation, and the United States. Although the Group deals with the issue for over two decades, its activities have brought no breakthrough results so far.
By Trend





The OSCE monitoring held on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia near Azerbaijans Qazakh district on Oct. 12 passed without incidents, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on October 12.

The monitoring was held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative, said the ministry.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was held by Simon Tiller and Ghenadie Petrica, who are field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

On the Armenian side, the monitoring was held by field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative Mikhail Olaru and Ognjen Jovic.

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.
By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

The Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations, held with the assistance of international mediators, to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been held for over two decades, alas, no serious result has been achieved so far.

A renowned Azerbaijani political scientist Fikret Sadikhov believes that the conflict is unresolved due to the stubborn policy of the Armenian leadership, which is unprepared for substantive negotiations with Azerbaijan.

There is no doubt that the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a serious threat for the entire region, and this fact has been periodically voiced by world powers, but the problem is that they are silent about the main reason for the unsettled status of this conflict, which is emanating from Armenia, Sadikhov told Day.az on October 11.

Sadikhov further said that one of the causes of stagnation in the negotiation process is the crisis of the OSCE Minsk Group format, which for many years demonstrates inconsistency in carrying out an intermediary mission on this issue.

The OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, the United States and France, is working to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. While the OSCE Minsk Group acts as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, it failed to achieve a breakthrough in the peace process so far.

I believe that the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict is stalled due to the failure of the Minsk Group in general and the passive activity of the co-chairs, since none of the intermediary countries in the OSCE Minsk Group format expresses its position categorically or shows proper activity, Sadikhov said.

He added it is surely welcome that the mediators make calls on the need for substantive negotiations with the participation of Azerbaijan and Armenia, but it does not go beyond words.

None of the mediator countries in the negotiation process exerts proper pressure on Armenia in order to force it to implement the UN Security Council resolutions, the expert said.

Sadikhov also noted that Russia is the closest strategic ally of Armenia, and France and the United States are countries with the largest Armenian diasporas, which have serious political support and political representation.

As for Azerbaijan, we have good-neighborly relations with Russia, as well as partnership relations with the USA and France. Nevertheless, Azerbaijan has the right to raise the issue of diplomatic reformatting of the OSCE Minsk Group, he said.

The expert brought as an example inclusion of Turkey as the co-chair country, which is able to lead the same active policy as Russia, France and the United States.

The political analyst further noted that provocative actions and aggressive policy of the Armenian leadership still have not been condemned by the international community, and this is a demonstration of a double approach towards Azerbaijan.

To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts. While the aggressor country illegally remains in 20 percent of Azerbaijans occupied lands, over a million of Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons live with a dream to return to their native places in Karabakh.

The OSCE MG co-chair countries have serious political weight and great diplomatic experience gained over the decades, and the fact that this issue has not advanced a single step towards a settlement is a matter of regret and frustration, Sadikhov noted. The time to take effective steps to resolve the conflict is long overdue.

Thus, the expert points out that the OSCE MG co-chairs should be more active in the issue of forcing Armenia to hold substantive negotiations with Azerbaijan so that the multi-year problem is resolved through a constructive dialogue of the parties, and not by force.

Azerbaijan has long ago stated it is ready to settle the conflict through direct negotiations with Armenia with mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. However, the Armenian side, as always, is trying to make up reasons to avoid a constructive dialogue and preserve the unacceptable status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hopefully, the forthcoming meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents to be organized by the co-chairs will make a significant contribution to the settlement process.
By Trend





Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev plans to visit Turkey, Uzbek Foreign Ministry said in a message.

The upcoming trip was discussed during the presentation of credentials of new Uzbek Ambassador to Turkey Alisher Aghzamhodjayev to the countrys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish president noted the symbolic nature of the upcoming visit of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, which will give new impetus to the further development of the Uzbek-Turkish political dialogue, expansion of cooperation between the two countries in trade, economic, investment, financial, technical and other spheres.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that Uzbekistan is an important partner of Turkey in Central Asia and in the world, and expressed readiness to foster bringing bilateral relations to a qualitatively new level in all areas of mutual interest.

The sides noted positive dynamics in the Uzbek-Turkish relations, which has been observed since the negotiations at the highest level in November 2016 in the city of Samarkand.

The subsequent meetings of the two presidents in Beijing, Astana and New York made it possible to start working together to implement the existing great opportunities for building mutually beneficial cooperation.
By Azernews





By Kamila Aliyeva

Fragile relations between the two NATO allies  Turkey and the United States  have reached a new low after months of tensions which stem from the Syrian issue, failed coup in Turkey and U.S. court cases against Turkish officials.

The U.S. claims to be an ally of Turkey, but Washington does not sell weapons to Turkey even for money while it supplies arms to the Syrian wing of the PKK (YPG / PYD) for free, Turkish quoted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying on October 12.

Turkey is well aware that the weapons transferred by the U.S. to YPG / PYD will later be used against Turkey, according to the Turkish leader.

Commenting on the current crisis in relations between the U.S. and Turkey, Erdogan said that the cause of the crisis between Washington and Ankara is U.S. Ambassador John Bass.

"The U.S. should not sacrifice relations with Turkey for the sake of one ambassador," he said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. special delegation is expected to visit Turkey next week aiming to resolve the crisis between the two countries which erupted following the arrest of an employee of the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, according to the diplomatic sources.

The spokesman and deputy chairman of the ruling Turkish Justice and Development Party Mahir Unal previously stated that Turkey hopes for an early resolution to the crisis in relations with the United States.

Currently, the Turkish Foreign Ministry is negotiating on this issue. The crisis in U.S.-Turkey ties will not damage military cooperation between the sides, he noted.

Earlier, spokesman for the U.S. State Department Heather Nauert expressed deep concern over the arrest of an employee of American embassy in Turkey.

The U.S. and Turkey previously suspended the mutual issuance of non-immigrant visas. Non-immigrant visas are issued to people who travel for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work or study.

This decision followed the October 4 arrest of a Turkish national who works at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul for alleged involvement in the July 2016 coup attempt aimed to overthrow the Turkish president. The U.S. embassy stated earlier that it was deeply disturbed over the arrest and rejected the allegations against the employee as wholly without merit.

Previously, U.S. President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in New York, where Trump praised Erdogan as a friend despite tensions in two countries relations over a number of issues.

This latest incident aggravated the already tense relationship between Washington and Ankara. The two countries have clashed over the U.S. support for Kurdish rebels in Syria as well as Turkish demands that the United States extradite Fethullah Gulen, a cleric whom Ankara blames for a military coup attempt of last July.

In addition, Ankaras rapprochement with Russia and purchase of S-400 missiles become the subject of criticism by the U.S.
Coface, a world-leading credit insurer, has appointed Berna Keskin as the acting interim Country Manager for GCC.



Based in Dubai, UAE Keskin will succeed Massimo Falcioni, who has decided to pursue opportunities outside Coface. Berna Keskin was last appointed to the position of COO for the GCC Countries.



Keskin joined Coface in Turkey in 2007 as director of Underwriting and Claims departments after 10 years experience in various public and private financial institutions. She worked as chief risk underwriting officer for Coface Turkey since 2013 and in 2015 extended her responsibilities to deputy risk underwriting director for Mediterranean Africa Region.  TradeArabia News Service
Saudi Arabias facilities management (FM) market is flourishing amid steadily booming real estate, tourism, and retail sectors and is poised to reach $49.82 billion by the end of 2030, according to a report by the Middle East Facility Management Association (Mefma).



The report titled Facilities Management Role in Achieving Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, which investigates the industrys pivotal function in the Saudi Governments long-term economic diversification plan, was released on the sidelines of the recently concluded Saudi Arabia Confex 2017 in Riyadh.



Saudi Arabia has the largest market for FM services in the GCC to date, accounting for a value share of about 55 per cent in the regions FM market in 2016. The report was completed by TechSci Research.



Jamal Abdulla Lootah, the president of Mefma, said: "Saudi Vision 2030 is an all-encompassing economic framework that focuses on its non-oil sectors, including real estate, tourism, and retail, to name a few, to help reduce its reliance on oil revenues."



"Part of its objectives is to boost government revenues from $159.99 billion in 2016 to $1866.52 billion by 2030. The non-oil sectors are forecasted to experience significant expansion in the coming years in light of the governments full support and commitment to drive their growth," observed Lootah.



The role of facilities managers in this regard is going to be critical as they will be the key to ensuring the sectors smooth operational performance. The report navigates closely and deeply delves into this strategic role in a bid to guide regional industry leaders, players, and stakeholders to step up to the challenge and substantial contribute to the realization of the Saudi Governments vision, he added.



The report looked into several ways by which FM companies could significantly contribute to the kingdoms socio-economic expansion.



FM companies, said the report, helps increase the competitiveness of the local commercial and industrial enterprises by enabling businesses to focus on their core operations.



Additionally, capital infused by global FM companies could further catalyze growth in the local services sector and, thus, generate considerable employment opportunities. The report also states that the expansion of small to medium scale FM providers will help stimulate the development and promotion of KSAs small and medium enterprises, the report stated.



The study also tackles the local FM industry landscape to present many market opportunities. It notes, for instance, that the FM market in Saudi Arabia is highly cost sensitive and people consider FM essentially as a preventive maintenance process.



The FM market in Saudi Arabia and the region is highly dominated by demand for hard services. In the kingdom, the study says that the rapid consolidation of the FM market will boost local demand for soft services in light of the growing presence of new international FM companies in the country.-TradeArabia News Service


Up to 6,303 factories have been running investments worth more than Dh103.1 billion ($28 billion) in the UAE until the end of 2016, a senior government official said.



"The food and beverage industry accounts for 30 per cent of the total volume of the country's industrial sector followed by the primary mineral industries with 24 per cent, the non-metallic raw products industry with 14.9 per cent, refined oil products with 6.6 per cent, the chemical industries with 6.5 per cent and the metallic product industries with 5.5 per cent," Abdulla Al Saleh, Under-Secretary for Foreign Trade and Industry at Ministry of Economy, was quoted as saying by Wam, the Emirates official news agency.



Al Saleh was speaking on the sidelines of the UAE-Saudi Business Forum, held yesterday (October 11) in Abu Dhabi.



The UAE and Saudi Arabia come in the16th position globally in terms of GDP, with both countries accounting for 48 per cent of the total Arab GDP, he said, adding that Saudi Arabia is the UAE's fourth major world trade partner, comprising 4.6 per cent of UAE's non-oil trade in 2016 and the country's top Arab partner, making up 43 per cent of UAE's non-oil trade with GCC states and 27 per cent of UAE's non-oil trade with all Arab nations.



Under the slogan Together Forever, the UAE-Saudi Business Forum was held today in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, and Dr. Majid Al Qasabi, Minister of Commerce and Investment in Saudi Arabia. The event saw the participation of more than 1,000 officials, investors and entrepreneurs coming from the two countries.



The forum, which was held at the Emirates Palace Hotel, included three sessions that covered key discussions on the national transformation plans under UAE Vision 2021 and KSA Vision 2030; industrial integration and the role of women in the economy. The forum also discussed key ways on how to enhance cooperation across eight main sectors, including industry, tourism, oil, aviation, construction, financial services, food stuff, gold, jewellery, medicines and medical equipment.



The forum is part of the joint retreat called Khalwat Al Azm. The outcomes of the event are aimed at enhancing trade, economic and investment cooperation, strengthening ties and opening new investment channels to promote diversification of sources of income, attracting value added investments and increasing the volume of non-oil exports.



The forum was organized by the Ministry of Economy, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development-and Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with the Higher Corporation for Specialized Economic Zones (ZonesCorp).



UAE Minister of Economy delivered the opening speech wherein he expressed his pride of the sincere brotherhood between the UAE and KSA, which represents a unique example of cooperation at the Gulf and Arab levels, openly demonstrated by the continuing efforts to enhance stability and growth of the region.



Al Mansoori pointed out that the bilateral relations between UAE and KSA are still witnessing continuous development and growth, driven by the firm will and sincere determination of the leaderships of the two countries--led by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, H.H. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud--to advance cooperation and synergy between the two countries across various fields of development.



"The UAESaudi Business Forum is a vital platform for further achieving greater economic, trade and investment cooperation, based on a joint strategy that focuses on investing in the development prospects and capabilities of the UAE and KSA, which are the two largest Arab economies, as well as benefiting from their huge commercial and investment potentials," he noted.
Qatars Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) recently signed a co-operation agreement with Chinese company, Nuctech, with regards to the patent for a number of devices innovated by Lekhwiya, including devices for the safety of construction workers, said a report.



The agreement was signed in the presence of the Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs Dr Issa Saad Al-Jafali Al-Nuaimi, who along with a delegation from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) listened to a detailed explanation of innovative devices for protecting workers, added the The Gulf Times report.



The agreement was signed by Lekhwiyas commander of the security technologies brigade, Major Ali Hassan al-Rashed, and Nuctech vice-president Wang Weidong.



The cooperation agreement is in preparation for a subsequent agreement the two parties will sign under which the Chinese company will take the patent for devices innovated by Lekhwiya, the report said.



Besides devices for the protection of construction workers, the agreement includes intelligent eye sensor, automatic explosive and drug detection device, Nuctech cross-sectional scanning device and the intelligent security fence.



Under the agreement, the Chinese company will manufacture the smart jacket of workers and other devices that have been developed in order to achieve the rules of intellectual property rights and all related steps and procedures during the stages of work and development.



Major Al-Rashed briefed the participants that the jacket is part of Qatars strategy to ensure maximum protection and safety for expatriate labour working on its territory in different projects.



The smart jacket features a helmet cooling system, and contains a chip that gives signals indicating the condition of the worker if exposed to any risk such as excessive stress or increased heart rate or abnormal breathing, added the report.
US-based Parsons, a technology-driven engineering services firm, has announced the acquisition of Williams Electric Company, a privately owned, value-added company specialising in control system integration, electrical and general contracting, and energy infrastructure solutions.



Williams Electric is headquartered in Ft. Walton Beach, FL, with company offices in Virginia and Maryland and employees located at more than 100 customer sites in the US and abroad.



The companys customers include numerous Department of Defense organisations and a wide range of other US government agencies and organisations, said a statement.



Chuck Harrington, chairman and CEO, Parsons, said: This acquisition should be viewed as the latest investment within our strategy to grow our leadership position in protecting critical infrastructure assets from threats targeting connected operational technologies, including control systems.



Operational technology (OT) is the new IT in terms of where cyber threats are accessing the connected enterprise. Our strategy is simpleintegrate our growing control system leadership with our unmatched cyber capabilities to fulfil our promise of unique, converged OT protection for critical infrastructure assets, he said



Williams Electric and Parsons share several significant customer relationships within the US government, including the US Army Corps of Engineers as well as numerous classified customer engagements. Parsons is projecting significant US and international growth of its control system business following the Williams Electric acquisition, it said.



Carey Smith, president of Parsons federal business unit, said: Parsons existing contractual relationships with numerous customers within the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Veterans Affairs and elsewhere are ideal environments for our now expanded control system offering.



And, certainly in regions such as the Middle East where we have been a tier-one player for decades, Williams Electric will bring new opportunities on both sides of the acquisition, he added.



Within the broader OT sector, the control system market alone is a $50 billion market and projected to have a compound annual growth rate of more than 10 per cent in the next five years. Forward-leaning initiatives such as smart cities, next-generation automation of manufacturing, and government-mandated cyber standards for critical infrastructure assets will all rely on innovative control system technologies.



Parsons intends to become the name synonymous with fully converged protection of control systems, said Smith.



Connectivity and the Internet of Things are both necessary and the origin of the evolving threat to critical infrastructure. At the control system level, whether its a networked surveillance or smart HVAC system, we intend to stay ahead of the threat curve, he added.



Dan Rucker, president of Williams Electric Company, said: Joining forces with Parsons was the right strategic move for both companies.



The market for converged critical infrastructure protection technology is evolving quickly, and the integration of our two companies creates a single-source end-to-end solutions provider for integrated physical and cyber protection solutions, he concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
The Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (Dafza) is partnering with Dell EMC initiating a landmark project titled Dafza Cloud, which will make it the first freezone in the world to transform its Infrastructure into cloud.



Dafzas strategy is geared towards leveraging frontline ICT solutions to develop and deliver innovative accelerated digital services and achieve unparalleled customer happiness.



Expanding on these smart transformation efforts, Dafza will adopt Dell EMCs industry-leading Enterprise Hybrid Cloud, Data Protection and Backup solutions to offer unique services. This innovative solution will further strengthen Dafzas position as a powerful ICT enabler.



Helping organizations to succeed in a multi-cloud era, Dafza Cloud will function as an enabling platform extending the necessary ICT infrastructure, from end-to-end client solutions to high-performance computing and storage.



With a mandate to support Dafza strategy that is in line with the Smart Dubai Strategy, the National Innovation Strategy, and 10x initiatives, Dafza designed a roadmap spanning five years. This involves automating its internal processes and launching a new and integrated cloud infrastructure to introduce and improve a range of smart cloud services.



As an entity known for innovation-based initiatives, we required an integrated platform that successfully meets our objective of accelerating growth, continually innovating and delivering services that cater to the rapidly evolving digital economy. In our journey to evolve to a digital-ready organization, in line with the broader vision of the leadership, we believe Dell EMC is the right partner to help us enhance our ICT capabilities and make Dubai the happiest and smartest city in the world. said Buthaina Bin Fahad, senior director of ICT at Dafza.



Fady Richmany, senior director & general manager at Dell EMC said, We are proud to stand alongside Dafza as a trusted partner and play a role in their digital transformation and success. Given their pace of ensuring digital-readiness, our work with them is to enable delivery of cloud infrastructure and services to provide complete access to smart services and empower innovation.



With this partnership, we are committed to supporting Dafza in their mission to achieve the vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of creating a smart and sustainable future for Dubai.  TradeArabia News Service
The growing demand for streamlined and IP network security systems will double the value of the Middle Easts commercial security market over the next four years, with hospitality likely to witness the highest growth of all end-user segments, according to new research.



Driven by increased investments and stringent regulatory policies, the commercial security market has witnessed an upswing throughout the region creating opportunities for suppliers of IP-based video surveillance, access control and intrusion detection.



Analysts Frost & Sullivan (F&S) estimate the market will be worth $4.8 billion by 2021, growing at a 17 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from its $2.2 billion value in 2016.



Video surveillance accounts for a 75 per cent of total market share, followed by access control at 15 per cent, and intrusion detection at 10 per cent.



Saudi Arabia and the UAE together comprise more than half of the entire regional market according to F&S, while among the end-user sectors, hospitality will see the highest growth at a CAGR of 25 per cent, followed by commercial buildings at a CAGR of 22 per cent.



The latest in sophisticated technologies and innovation in a regional and global market that is undergoing dynamic changes will be a key focal point at Intersec 2018, a leading trade fair for security, safety, and fire protection.



Taking place from January 21-23, 2018, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Intersec will mark its 20th anniversary edition, featuring more than 1,300 exhibitors from 58 countries.



With 580-plus exhibitors, commercial security is the largest of seven sections, with more than two-thirds of the worlds top 50 security solutions players on board, including Hikvision, Bosch, Dahua, Assa Abloy, Tyco, FLIR, Hanwha Techwin, Axis Communications, Avigilon, Panasonic, Infinova, IDIS, and Milestone Systems.



Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of Intersecs organiser Messe Frankfurt Middle East, said: Safety and security is the pre-eminent priority for businesses and civic authorities not just in the region but across the globe, especially in todays scenario where a small security vulnerability can lead to major losses.



Intersecs commercial security section reflects the increasing demand that exists in the region for cutting-edge IP-based network video surveillance, access control and monitoring systems. With a majority of the leading brands present, the exhibition presents a comprehensive line-up of the best in the industry to regional trade visitors, systems integrators, end-users and professionals, he said.



In its 20th anniversary edition, Intersec returns with 13 exhibitors that participated in the very first exhibition in 1999, including the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), which works with the UK Government to support British security companies trade internationally.



The BSIA and supporting government partner the UK Department for International Trade, Defence and Security Organisation, will bring more than 150 UK companies to Intersec 2018, compared to the less than 10 that exhibited in the inaugural edition 20 years ago.



Simon Everest, director for operations and security at the UK Department for International Trade, Defence and Security Organisation, said: UK companies at Intersec grow every year and thats testament to what they get out of participating at the show in their ability to meet people, both with older acquaintances and to meet new contacts.



The UK has a long history in securing major events, most recently the London Olympics so were excited about the opportunities that will arise as a result of the Expo 2020 in Dubai. That will be a fantastic event and a really good opportunity to showcase the number of innovative products and technologies from UK providers, he added.



Intersec 2018 will occupy 60,000-sq-m across 13 halls at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, with the shows other six sections covering fire and rescue, safety and health, homeland security and policing, perimeter and physical security, Cyber Security, and Smart Home & Building Automation.



New developments next year include a drones pavilion, an indoor drone zone, and a wearable security pavilion, while returning features include the safety design in buildings pavilion in the fire and rescue section, as well as an outdoor Demonstration Zone of the latest fire rescue applications in action.



A comprehensive three-day conference programme will be spearheaded by Dubais Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA) Forum, while other topics will cover cyber security, drones, commercial security, and fire protection.



Intersec 2018 is held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and supported by the Dubai Police, Dubai Civil Defence, the Dubai Police Academy, and the Dubai Municipality, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
Nokia will modernize and expand Zain Iraqs radio networks with its most advanced technologies across Karbala, Najaf and Basra.



The move will have a special focus on the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, to support the expected increase in data and voice traffic during Zeyara as millions of people converge on the region. Once completed, the upgrade will allow users to enjoy improved indoor and outdoor coverage in both urban and rural areas as well as increased data throughput.



Nokias project management and proven services expertise will be used to expand and modernize Zain Iraqs 2G and 3G network, providing ubiquitous coverage and faster mobile broadband.



Additionally, the Nokia Mass Event Handler will be deployed to address the surge in data and voice consumption expected during Zeyara. The network modernization will allow visitors to remain continuously connected with their loved ones through superior voice and data connectivity during Al Arbaeen and beyond.



Ali Al-Zahid, chief executive officer of Zain Iraq, said: Our top priority is to provide superior services for our subscribers. This network modernization and expansion is only the beginning of providing the best possible service quality and coverage with the most advanced technologies across the overall Karbala and Najaf and rest of southern region. We selected Nokia, our longstanding technology partner, for this important project, as we are confident that its advanced technologies will enable our network to provide such superior services. The current project will also enable a best-in-class mobile experience for visitors to Zeyara when we expect a high turnout this year.



Bernard Najm, head of the Middle East Market Unit at Nokia, said: Nokia fully understands Zain Iraqs requirements and is committed to providing leading technologies to enable pioneering services for its subscribers. Nokias solutions cater to the unique connectivity requirements of mass events, and will help Zain Iraq address the expected surge in data and voice consumption during Zeyara.  TradeArabia News Service
Egypts El Sewedy Electric is set to complete the financial closure of a solar power plant in Benban Aswan as part of the feed-in tariff projects within 10 days, the company chairman was quoted as saying in a media report.



The project is worth about $70 million and will be financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the French Development Agency (AFD), Ahmed El Sewedy was quoted in Daily News Egypt.



The construction work is expected to start in the first quarter of next year.



El Sewedy noted that the company acquired a plot of land to launch the project and signed an energy purchase agreement with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC). The financial closure and obtaining the licenses from the Egyptian Electric Utility & Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency are the two steps remaining, he added.



He said that El Sewedy Electric is currently working with the German company Siemens to complete the remaining stages of the power plant in Beni Suef.




Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.7 trillion in 2018, an increase of 4.3 per cent from 2017 estimated spending of $3.5 trillion, according to the latest forecast by leading research and advisory company Gartner.



Enterprise software and IT services continue to exhibit strong growth, with communications services continuing to drive the majority of spending. Software spending is projected to grow 8.5 per cent in 2017, and it will grow another 9.4 per cent in 2018 to total $387 billion. IT services spending is on pace to grow 4 per cent in 2017 to reach $931 billion, and increase 5.3 per cent in 2018 to reach $980 billion.



The devices segment is expected to exhibit growth for the first time in two years with an increase of 5.3 per cent in 2017 and 5 per cent in 2018. Increased average selling prices for premium phones in mature markets, partially due to the introduction of the iPhone 8 and 10, along with an underlying demand for PCs from businesses replacing their machines with Windows 10 PCs is driving the growth in this segment.



Gartner analysts discussed the emerging trends that are driving digital transformation this week during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo. While all IT spending segments are expected to experience growth in 2017, Gartner has identified 10 markets within these segments that will make up the most dynamic portion of the IT spending forecast in 2018.



"Looking at market opportunity  how profitable a market is, how big it is and how fast is it growing today and for the next five years  we have identified the top markets that companies should be looking to be part of in 2018," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner.



"Global IT spending is showing little overall growth, as are traditional markets. These top 10 markets will be the key to remaining relevant and achieving growth in the future."



These 10 markets  including three cloud segments (infrastructure as a service [IaaS], integrated platform as a service [iPaas] and communications platform as a service [cPaaS])  range from technologies that enhance the digital workplace, such as workstream collaboration, workforce analytics and video message-oriented middleware (MOM), to security (endpoint detection and response), analytics (smart data discovery) and storage (in-memory data grids). All are tied to enabling and enhancing an enterprise's digital transformation efforts.



"The IT buying landscape is changing: Digital business transformation is an effort to create connected, platforms and new industry revenue streams," said Lovelock. "Organizations that are not creating new digital business models or new ways to engage constituents or customers are falling behind. Those vendors that do not move more quickly than their clients, will be left behind."



Gartner's IT spending forecast methodology relies heavily on rigorous analysis of sales by thousands of vendors across the entire range of IT products and services. Gartner uses primary research techniques, complemented by secondary research sources, to build a comprehensive database of market size data on which to base its forecast.



Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, running from October 23-26 in Sao Paulo, Brazil is a major gathering of CIOs and senior IT leaders, uniting a global community of CIOs with the tools and strategies to help them lead the next generation of IT and achieve business outcomes. More than 23,000 CIOs, senior business and IT leaders worldwide will gather for the insights they need to ensure that their IT initiatives are key contributors to, and drivers of, their enterprise's success.  TradeArabia News Service
Turkish Airlines announced Wednesday that it signed a new agreement with Enterprise Holdings, the worlds largest car rental company.



"Turkish Airlines passengers can easily rent a car from the Enterprise, National and Alamo brands through the official website of the airline; www.turkishairlines.com and its mobile apps," the flag-carrier said in a press release.



The airline's passengers will also have the opportunity to rent a car with discounted prices through special campaigns to be organized in certain periods, according to the statement.



"As a prominent airline, famous with its wide network and its high-quality services, were glad to collaborate with the Enterprise Holdings, another prominent brand in its field. Im sure that this partnership will be so beneficial for both sides," said Ilker Ayci, the airline's chairman of the board and the executive committee.



Head of European Operations at Enterprise Holdings, Mike Nigro commented: We are so pleased to sign an agreement with Turkish Airlines as the airlines worldwide car rental partner. Turkish Airlines and Enterprise Holdings are two well-known global brands with their wide network and outstanding customer experience. We are happy to welcome Turkish Airlines passengers, and believe that this is just the beginning of a successful partnership. - TradeArabia News Service
Dubais growing business events offerings and increasing levels of support for associations are among the key developments under the spotlight this week at Imex America, a leading exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events.



Planners are finding out about the latest venues and activities for business event groups, including La Perle, a new permanent aqua theatre show created by Franco Dragone, and the 150-metre tall Dubai Frame, which offers views of both the historic and modern parts of the city. They are also discovering the latest hospitality options, with over 105,000 rooms across Dubai, including new properties such as Five Palm Jumeirah Dubai and Address Boulevard.



Dubai Business Events (DBE), the citys official convention bureau and a division of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, once again has a strong presence at the show, which runs till October 12 at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas, USA.



DBE has been joined by 10 co-exhibitors, including Emirates Airlines, Jumeirah Hotels, JW Marriott Marquis and Arabian Adventures, to showcase the citys well-rounded proposition and the opportunities that are available for planners and organisers seeking to host small, medium or large-scale business events. DBE is also highlighting the upcoming Dubai Association Conference, which is scheduled to take place in Dubai from December 11-12.



Issam Kazim, chief executive officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said: Imex America offers a unique opportunity to communicate directly with meeting planners and business event organisers, not just based in the USA, but also from the wider North America and neighbouring South America regions. With such a wide reach, the industry event is an ideal platform to showcase significant developments in Dubais business events offering. We are focused towards strengthening Dubais reputation as a leading business events destination, as we acknowledge the crucial role that business events are playing in transforming the city into a global knowledge hub. Along with our partners and key Dubai stakeholders, we aim to showcase the emirates world-class facilities and infrastructure across the business, leisure and hospitality sectors.



The inaugural Dubai Association Conference is scheduled to take place in Dubai from December 11-12. Themed Building a Community, it is set to welcome association executives from around the world, in addition to government representatives, university faculties and students, as well as professionals seeking to develop associations. The conference will provide a valuable platform to gain insights from international experts on trends including membership, online communities, restructuring education, volunteerism and governance, among others.



Speaking at Imex America, Steen Jakobsen, director, Dubai Business Events said: Imex America provides us with an invaluable opportunity to engage with the business events community, and this year we once again have a strong presence. During our time in Las Vegas, we are hosting a breakfast for 50 global meeting planners, a dinner event for another 50 key decision makers and trade media as well as destination presentations and one-to-one meetings at the Dubai stand.



Imex America is also one of the key milestones in our journey towards the first-ever Dubai Association Conference, and we are already seeing substantial interest from potential delegates. We aim to further build on this interest at Imex America as we steadily approach the conference scheduled to take place later this year.



DBE witnessed a strong performance in the first half of the year, with the bureau reporting 97 bid wins that were awarded to the city. The events secured in the first half of 2017 are poised to attract over 51,636 delegates from around the world, resulting in an economic impact of approximately Dh375 million ($102 million). Visitors to the Dubai stand at Imex America can experience first-hand the factors that have contributed to the citys success in attracting major international meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions from around the world and across diverse sectors. - TradeArabia News Service


The Lufthansa Group welcomed around 12.7 million passengers in September, an increase of 17.8 per cent compared to the previous years month.



The available seat kilometers were up 11 per cent over the previous year, at the same time, sales increased by 12.9 per cent. The seat load factor improved accordingly, rising 1.4 percentage points compared to September 2016 to 83.8 per cent. In the first nine months of the year, around 98.4 million passengers were transported, 17.5 per cent more than in the first nine months of 2016. Overall, the Lufthansa Group carried more passengers than ever before in the first nine months of 2017. The seat load factor has reached a historical peak of 81.4 per cent. The figure was 2.1 percentage points higher than in the previous year.



The currency adjusted pricing environment in September was again positive.



Cargo capacity increased 1.9 per cent year-on-year, while cargo sales were up 6 per cent in revenue tonne-kilometer terms. As a result, the cargo load factor showed a corresponding improvement, rising 2.7 percentage points in the month. Overall, the cargo capacity in the first nine months of 2017 was 2.7 per cent higher than in the previous year. At the same time, cargo sales in this period increased by 8%, resulting in a load factor of 3.4 higher percentage points.



Network Airlines



The Network Airlines - Lufthansa German Airlines, Swiss and Austrian Airlines - carried 9.3 million passengers in September, 5.1 per cent more than in the prior-year period. Compared to the previous year, the available seat kilometers increased by 1.1 per cent in September although the number of flights was reduced by 0.8 per cent. The sales volume was up 2.9 per cent over the same period, raising seat load factor by 1.5 percentage points to 83.7 per cent. In the first nine months of the year, the Network Airlines carried 73.9 million passengers and therefore 5.8 per cent more than in the same period of the previous year. During this period, the seat load factor for Network Airlines increased by 2.3 percentage points to 81.6 per cent.



Lufthansa German Airlines transported 6.3 million passengers in September, a 4.2 per cent increase compared to the same month last year. A 0.4 per cent decrease in seat kilometers in September was still a 1.9 per cent increase in sales. Furthermore, the seat load factor was up to 84.6 per cent, therefore 1.9 percentage points above the prior-years level. In the first nine months of 2017, Lufthansa German Airlines carried 50.1 million passengers, 4.4 per cent more than in the same period of the previous year. At 82 per cent, the seat load factor was 2.7 percentage points higher than in the first nine months of 2016.



Point-to-Point Airlines



The Lufthansa Groups Point-to-Point Airlines  Eurowings (including Germanwings) and Brussels Airlines  carried around 3.4 million passengers in September. Among this total, 3.1 million passengers were on short-haul flights and 220,000 flew long-haul. This amounts to an increase of 77.3 per cent in comparison to the previous year. September capacity was 107.2 per cent above its prior-year level, while its sales volume was up 108.4 per cent, resulting in a slightly increased seat load factor which was 0.5 percentage points higher.



On short-haul services the Point-to-Point Airlines raised capacity 69.3 per cent and increased sales volume by 75.4 per cent, resulting in a 3.0 percentage points increase in seat load factor of 85.6 per cent, compared to September 2016. The seat load factor for the long-haul services decreased 8.8 percentage points to 80.9 per cent during the same period, following a 329.5 per cent increase in capacity and a 287.2 per cent rise in sales volume, compared to the previous year. The number of passengers on long haul flights of the Point-to-Point Airlines in September was around 4.5 times higher than one year before.



The Point-to-Point Airlines carried a total of 24.5 million passengers in the first nine months of the year, 75.8 per cent more than in the same period of the previous year. At 80.3 per cent, the seat load factor was 0.3 percentage points higher than in the previous year. - TradeArabia News Service
State regulators rejected a permit for Brook Mine on Thursday, a proposed coal mine in northern Wyoming. This official decision comes 15 days after an

Some locals in Sheridan had argued that the coal firm, originally from Kentucky, had put forward a deficient plan for operations in the historically mined region. From ensuring protection of neighboring water wells, to studying the impact that blasting would have on nearby buildings to the risk of increased sinkholes, the Environmental Quality Council decided in four-to-one vote that the company should go back to the drawing board. Based on that decision, the states Department of Environmental Quality reversed its earlier position and denied the mine permit and laid out a number of steps for Ramaco to remedy the application and try again. We denied based on the order and the findings from EQC. Obviously there is still a door open for [Ramaco] to review these deficiencies, but that is up to them, said Keith Guille, spokesman for the state environmental agency. They can resubmit it, and we have to review that and make sure that it meets, for us, completion. The coal companys CEO said he was pleased by the states position in a statement Thursday. After the citizens council decision in September, the company had implied a legal response if it was forced to start over. There is never a victory for Wyoming when the creation of high quality jobs and opportunities in coal/carbon innovation, manufacturing and energy technology for Wyomings current and future generations is deferred or prevented, said CEO Randall Atkins. We appreciate, however, that the DEQ will allow Ramaco Carbon to now supplement its current application. Atkins also thanked local supporters in his statement. The Brook Mine began as an idea for an ordinary thermal coal mine, a dwarf compared to the large surface mines in neighboring Campbell County that sell coal to power plants across the country. But the coal market busted in the midst of the companys legal battles. Earlier this year, Ramaco Carbon announced that Brook would feed

, calling the coal too valuable to burn. The news was welcome by some in the region, eager for the economic boon of new jobs and local revenue.

from the mine itself and a neighboring coal company, Big Horn Coal, that is in a dispute with Ramaco over permit boundaries. The Powder River Basin Resource Council made a statement saying its members were glad about the decision and that the permit fight had been difficult. The group also criticized Ramacos statement. Its important to remember that the permit application the EQC remanded as deficient on a number of grounds ... is for a coal mine, not a research center or a carbon fiber manufacturing plant, said Councilmember Gillian Malone. As with previously released statements, Ramaco is spinning a tale to woo the public on what are currently unfulfillable promises. Should the company proceed and satisfy state regulators requests for a hydrology study and environmental assurances against subsidence concerns and the impacts of blasting, the amended application will again be sent out for public comment.

State regulators rejected a permit for Brook Mine on Thursday, a proposed coal mine in northern Wyoming.

This official decision comes 15 days after an independent citizens council sided with landowners over environmental concerns. Some locals in Sheridan had argued that the coal firm, originally from Kentucky, had put forward a deficient plan for operations in the historically mined region.

From ensuring protection of neighboring water wells, to studying the impact that blasting would have on nearby buildings to the risk of increased sinkholes, the Environmental Quality Council decided in four-to-one vote that the company should go back to the drawing board. Based on that decision, the states Department of Environmental Quality reversed its earlier position and denied the mine permit and laid out a number of steps for Ramaco to remedy the application and try again.

We denied based on the order and the findings from EQC. Obviously there is still a door open for [Ramaco] to review these deficiencies, but that is up to them, said Keith Guille, spokesman for the state environmental agency. They can resubmit it, and we have to review that and make sure that it meets, for us, completion.

The coal companys CEO said he was pleased by the states position in a statement Thursday. After the citizens council decision in September, the company had implied a legal response if it was forced to start over.

There is never a victory for Wyoming when the creation of high quality jobs and opportunities in coal/carbon innovation, manufacturing and energy technology for Wyomings current and future generations is deferred or prevented, said CEO Randall Atkins. We appreciate, however, that the DEQ will allow Ramaco Carbon to now supplement its current application.

Atkins also thanked local supporters in his statement.

The Brook Mine began as an idea for an ordinary thermal coal mine, a dwarf compared to the large surface mines in neighboring Campbell County that sell coal to power plants across the country. But the coal market busted in the midst of the companys legal battles.

Earlier this year, Ramaco Carbon announced that Brook would feed a coal research center to advance carbon product technology, calling the coal too valuable to burn. The news was welcome by some in the region, eager for the economic boon of new jobs and local revenue. It was criticized by those still wrangling for more environmental protections from the mine itself and a neighboring coal company, Big Horn Coal, that is in a dispute with Ramaco over permit boundaries.

The Powder River Basin Resource Council made a statement saying its members were glad about the decision and that the permit fight had been difficult. The group also criticized Ramacos statement.

Its important to remember that the permit application the EQC remanded as deficient on a number of grounds ... is for a coal mine, not a research center or a carbon fiber manufacturing plant, said Councilmember Gillian Malone. As with previously released statements, Ramaco is spinning a tale to woo the public on what are currently unfulfillable promises.

Should the company proceed and satisfy state regulators requests for a hydrology study and environmental assurances against subsidence concerns and the impacts of blasting, the amended application will again be sent out for public comment.
Schools

Free, reduced meal policy

Natrona County School District has a policy for free and reduced price meals for children unable to pay the full price of meals served under the National School Lunch Program, and the School Breakfast Program. Each school and the Food Services office have a copy of the policy, which may be reviewed by any interested party.

SNAP Benefits and Foster Children: Students who are in these two categories can be directly certified for free lunch and breakfast without completing a meal benefit income application. Contact the school and they will process your request.

POWER and FDPIR Power (non custodial): Students who are in these two categories can be certified for free lunch and breakfast, after a meal benefit income application is completed by the adult. The adult must include the adult household members signature and the appropriate case number.

Homeless and Runaway: Students determined to be homeless or runaway by the school will receive free lunch and breakfast. Contact the school for more information.

Households not receiving SNAP, POWER or FDPIR benefits: Students can be eligible for free or reduced lunches and breakfasts by completing a meal benefit income application. It must include all members of the household and their income, the last four digits of the primary adults social security number and signature. Forms can be obtained through the school.

Head Start, Early Head Start in food program

Wyoming Child and Family Development, Inc., announces its participation in the Child Care Food Program, offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Meals will be provided at Head Start, 301 W. B St., and Early Head Start, 160 N. Washington, in Casper.

The same meals will be made available to all enrolled children at no separate charge regardless of race, color, national origin, age, sex, or handicap, and there is no discrimination in the course of the meal service.

Private school has openings, scholarships

Excel Academy Private School has openings in its K-8 program. ALL remaining spots are eligible for scholarships. No need to apply for the scholarships, as anyone in need is eligible to receive the funding. Class sizes are small and curriculums are suited to each individual student. Visit the website at www.excelacademywy.com or contact Jennifer Wistisen at 259-4599 or jawistisen@excelacademywy.com.

CY honors veterans

CY Middle School would like to honor all veterans at our Veteran's Day Program on Friday, Nov. 10. Please plan to arrive at 8:45 a.m. Refreshments will be served and the program should last around 45 minutes. CY is located at 2900 Cyclone Dr. If you have any questions or would like to RSVP, please call the office at 253-2700. The CY Middle School Community is grateful for your service.

Register for Early Head Start

Early Head Start, a United Way agency, serving pregnant women and children birth to age 3, is accepting applications for the 20172018 program year. Different program options are available, including a full-day program. Please call 2659562 or 473-5848 to enroll or visit www.wyomingchild.org.

Apply for Head Start

Head Start is currently accepting applications for the 2017-2018 school year. Head Start is a free, quality preschool program that prepares children for school. Applications are available at 301 W. B St. in Casper. Head Start is a United Way agency. Call 577-1864.
LARAMIE  The Wyoming Community Foundation recently awarded $212,500 to 21 nonprofits in Natrona County as part of its annual grant-making process.

The McMurry Library Fund also made a distribution to the Natrona County Public Library Foundation.

Grant requests have increased over the past few years, and we dont anticipate requests to slow down next year, said foundation program associate Anita McLaughlin. We know we cant fill all of the gaps, but we are thrilled that with support from donors, many community projects are being supported.

Following its most recent board meeting, the statewide organization reported it distributed $996,632 to various organizations with an additional $188,305 given in individual scholarship money.

In 2016, the community foundation granted $8.1 million to charitable organizations across the state and hopes this year will bring similar numbers.

The foundation counts on donor support for grant-making. The organization holds over 400 funds for families, individual donors, businesses and nonprofits. These funds are invested, and the returns are used to support charitable causes.

The Wyoming Community Foundations next grant application deadline is Dec. 15. Nonprofit organizations working to strengthen their communities are encouraged to apply.

In Natrona County, the Wyoming Community Foundations local board granted money to: Artcore, Boy Scouts of America, Casper Chamber Music Society, Casper Downtown Development Authority, Casper Family YMCA, Central WY Senior Services, Child Development Center of Natrona County, Childrens Advocacy Project, Habitat for Humanity, the Heart of WY; Jasons Friends, Joshuas Storehouse, Meals on Wheels, Mike Sedar BMX Parents Association, NAMI Casper, Platte River Trails Trust, Reach 4A Star Riding Academy, Science Zone, Self-Help Center, WY Business Coalition on Health, WY Senior Citizens, and Wyoming Symphony Orchestra.

For more information about the Wyoming Community Foundation, the organizations it supports, or getting involved, visit www.WYCF.org or call 307-721-8300.
A Natrona County District Court judge has been appointed to a statewide commission governing judges ethical conduct.

Catherine Wilking, of Casper, was appointed to the 12-member Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics after being elected by her fellow judges, the commission announced Wednesday.

The commission is tasked with reviewing and investigating complaints that allege judicial misconduct. It can also choose to initiate investigations of its own accord.

The ethics committee made news in 2016 after sending a Pinedale magistrate before the state supreme court for refusing to marry gay couples. She was eventually censured by the court and ordered to perform marriages for both gay and straight couples or none at all. The court also censured a retired Sublette County judge in 2007 following a commission investigation for failure to exercise proper oversight over a court clerk who was also his wife.

Six private citizens compose the commission, along with three lawyers and three judges. The private citizens are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate, while lawyers are appointed by the state bar association.

Wilking took the seat vacated by retired Rawlins judge Wade E. Waldrip.
The Natrona County School District isnt considering allowing employees to carry guns, the board chairman said Wednesday, but at least one district in Wyoming is seriously examining arming staff.

Theres been nobody on the board that has been interested in pushing that, Natrona County board chairman Kevin Christopherson said Wednesday. Im kind of neutral on it. Im not going to bring it forward. We have enough on our plate at this point in time to jump into another controversial thing like that.

Last winter, the Legislature passed, and Gov. Matt Mead signed, a law permitting Wyoming school districts to authorize employees to carry firearms on district property. Generally, staff members will have to apply to carry a firearm and must meet training requirements and keep the weapon on their person or in a container, according to the law.

The measure was opposed by the Wyoming Education Association. State Superintendent Jillian Balow testified in favor of it, said Dicky Shanor, the Department of Educations chief of staff.

After the law passed, Balow created a committee of educators, law enforcement and others to create a manual to help interested school boards navigate the process, Shanor said. The guidelines are nonregulatory, as the law delegated power to implement the law to school districts.

Christopherson said that he didnt anticipate the discussion would ever come up for debate in front of the board, though he said any newly elected trustees could bring the issue forward.

Park County School District No. 6, on the other hand, is discussing the possibility. Ray Schulte, school districts superintendent, said the Cody-based board had discussed the measure with law enforcement at a September meeting and had gone over the education departments guidelines earlier this month.

There are people on the board who have indicated that they would like to see armed personnel in the schools and there are people who have indicated the opposite, he said. Most of them, they want to hear more information.

The board will have a more in-depth discussion about the guidelines next month, followed by a public forum in December. Schulte indicated it was difficult to voice support or opposition for a policy thats yet to be written, but he said he would support arming at least some district personnel.

We have a couple schools that are very rural, and knowing that the police response time for those schools is certainly much, much higher than it is in Cody city limits, I look at those situations differently, he said, and Im more inclined to think, yeah if we had a good, clean, tight policy and school employees follow that policy and are given authority to carry weapon, Id support that.

In Natrona County, Sgt. Scott Jones of the Casper Police Department said the agency has not had formal talks with the district here about arming teachers. The law mandates that any districts seeking to arm staff consult with local law enforcement.

He said polices primary concern with potentially arming employees is that they all be trained and careful with the weapon. He added that while the department wouldnt necessarily need to know the exact location of all gun-carrying staffers, it would be important to find a way to differentiate staff from a threat in a potential active shooter situation.

The law requires the district notify parents and law enforcement of any staff members who have received permission to carry a firearm. It also gives the districts boards the authority to suspend or revoke an employees ability to carry on school grounds.

The law does not permit students or nondistrict employees to carry firearms on school property, even if they are licensed.

The delegation of power to school districts could create some confusion. For instance, the law allows isolated rural schools to waive the training requirements gun-carrying staff must meet. But, because no higher agency has rule-making authority under the law, it appears that a district will decide for itself whether its isolated and rural, Shanor said.

Schulte said two of his schools would be considered rural and isolated, but added that the Park 6 board likely wouldnt support a policy that didnt include training requirements.

He also expressed wariness about allowing volunteers to carry firearms. Under the law, employees under contract with the district  including volunteers  would be eligible to apply to be armed.

He and the board have plenty of questions they want answered.

If staff were allowed to carry guns in school, do they go through psychological evaluation? he said. How much training, who pays for it? We havent had time to answer all those questions.
TORRINGTON  Goshen County Fire Warden Bill Law announced the lifting of a county-wide fire ban, which has been in effect since before the Great American Eclipse in mid-August.

The full lift of the ban was approved by Goshen County Commissioners Oct. 3. The ban had been placed in effect due to seasonal dry conditions, combined with the anticipated influx of visitors to Goshen County for the eclipse on Aug. 21.

The full lift of the ban goes into effect Monday, Oct. 9.

All residents, land-owners, hunters and those engaged in outdoor recreational activities must utilize common-sense practices regarding overall fire safety, the release said.

Any planned outdoor burning must still be reported to the Torrington Dispatch Center, (307) 532-7001, both before starting the burn and when its been extinguished.
Wealthy Wyoming philanthropist and conservative Christian political activist Foster Friess has become the second big name to consider running against the states incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Barrasso next year.

Friess, who lives in Jackson, told media outlets this week that he was exploring a run.

(D)ue to the stature of the people requesting, I sense a responsibility to prayerfully explore the possibility, Friess wrote in an email to the Washington Post Monday.

Friess did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Erik Prince, the founder of private security contractor Blackwater, confirmed on Monday that he was considering a run, attacking Barrasso as insufficiently conservative for Wyoming.

Reports: Barrasso may face 2018 challenge from Blackwater founder Erik Prince, a prominent security contractor based in Virginia with strong connections to Pr

(F)rom the state of Wyoming, where the Republican wins with 75 percent of the vote typically, year to year  75 percent!  the delegation from Wyoming should be the most rock-ribbed conservative, Prince told Breitbart News. They should be leading the charge on these issues, and not going along to get along. Thats why Mr. Barrasso needs a challenger.

Focus on civility

In contrast, Friess did not attack Barrasso despite expressing interest in his seat. He told the Washington Examiner that Barrasso was one of my heroes and already excelled at the trait of civility, which Friess said would be his central campaign platform if he ran.

Id be willing to contemplate giving up a very pleasant lifestyle in order to try to move the divisiveness back to a greater sense of civility, Friess said in an email to the Examiner.

Friess has been a major player in Republican party politics for several years, backing religious conservative Rick Santorum during the Pennsylvanians U.S. Senate campaign in 2006 and presidential race six years later.

On Friess website, the retired investor outlines a political worldview that calls on private corporations to solve problems in society.

Foster believes that private individuals are called to carry others burdensrather than relying on the government to do so, his online biography reads.

The website also says that a top priority for Foster is helping peaceful Muslims transcend the seventh-century ideology of coercion, intimidation, and violence that threatens us and them.

He referred to political Islam as a greater danger than Nazism or Communism posed during the twentieth century.

Foster is also a prolific philanthropist. In 2010, he used his 70th birthday party as an opportunity to donate $7.7 million to charities suggested by his guests, including $630,000 to eight local organizations in Jackson, and leads the Lynn and Foster Friess Foundation.

Bannons role

Washington media outlets have reported that both Friess and Prince are being recruited by former Trump administration official and conservative media entrepreneur Steve Bannon as part of a battle against so-called establishment Republicans.

Barrasso falls into that category as the fourth-ranking Republican in the Senate. But unlike Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, President Donald Trump appears to be on good terms with Barrasso. Barrasso said the White House spoke to him about a cabinet appointment as Health and Human Services secretary earlier this month, though he withdrew his name from consideration.

Senator Barrasso always prepared for the possibility of a primary campaign and he is well prepared, chief of staff Dan Kunsman said in an email.
CHEYENNE  The Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the conviction of a Cheyenne man accused of kicking and injuring a police officer during a fight in 2015.

In an opinion issued Tuesday, the court stated that there was sufficient evidence to convict Michael Flores of felony interference with a peace officer.

Flores was sentenced in November 2016 to at least three years in prison after he was convicted of intentionally injuring a Cheyenne Police officer by kicking him near the solar plexus.

Flores appealed, asking whether there was enough evidence to prove he committed the act.
At least seven Cabinet-level officials, and a smattering of aides, appear to have abused their access to publicly funded travel. Collectively, these bureaucrats billed taxpayers for millions of dollars worth of private jets, military flights, spousal travel and other questionable expenses.

Yet so far just one of them, former health and human services secretary Tom Price, has been forced to step down.

The White House argues that while Price may have misbehaved, there is plenty of precedent for such extravagant government travel. And the administration is right. Government officials were abusing travel budgets long before President Trump came on the scene.

Like, a really long time before Trump  were talking ancient Rome here.

So maybe examining how Roman emperors dealt with the problem can offer insight into how to deal with it now.

During the Roman Empire, government representatives traveling on official business used a state-authorized transportation system, called vehiculatio. They received special travel passes (called diplomata, and issued by emperors or governors) that allowed them to requisition carts, horses, food, lodging and guides from provincial populations along their route.

Locals were usually compensated at set rates. But otherwise, the rules varied from province to province, reinforced or modified over time as governors and emperors saw fit, according to Hunter College classics professor W. Graham Claytor, an expert in Greco-Roman documents.

In practice, this led to a lot of abuse.

Public officials took personal trips disguised as work trips. They spent, and extracted from locals, much more than they really needed. They seemed indifferent to the hardships created by their profligacy and oblivious to more productive uses for the scarce taxpayer resources they were gobbling up.

Sound familiar?

Consider a petition from the villagers of Skaptopara in Thrace (today Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria), sent to Emperor Gordian III in A.D. 238.

The village, renowned for its hot springs, was located between two army camps and a famous market. Villagers complained that soldiers leave their proper routes to stay in their town, where the soldiers demanded hospitality and provisions free of charge. Governors and other officials also frequented the town, further burdening locals.

Villagers warned the emperor that the abuses might force them to pick up and leave  and take their tax dollars with them:

If we are weighed down, we will flee our homes and the treasury will suffer the greatest loss.

In other ancient correspondence, officials tried to expand their already generous travel perks.

In one letter, Pliny the Younger (governor of Bithynia and Pontus in A.D. 110) used flattery to justify a travel pass he had recently issued to his wife, even though she was traveling on a private matter.

It was for familial piety, Pliny explained; surely the beneficent Emperor Trajan would understand. Trajan replied that he did.

When emperors or governors did get mad about such abuses, sometimes they issued financial or other penalties. Often enough, though, the result was another edict reminding officials to please, please follow the rules  and stop making the government look bad!

Heres one, from Marcus Petronius Mamertinus, provincial governor of Egypt, dated A.D. 133-137:

I have learned that many soldiers, traveling through the countryside without a diploma, unjustly demand boats, baggage animals, and men, sometimes taking things by force, sometimes receiving them from the local governors as a favor or service. As a result, private citizens suffer insults and abuse, and the army is accused of greed and injustice. Therefore I command once and for all that the local governors and their lieutenants furnish none of the things given for escort to anyone without a diploma, neither to those going by boat nor those traveling on foot. I shall forcibly punish anyone who, after this proclamation, is caught either taking or giving any of the things specified.

You can find many similar edicts issued across centuries. Which shows that travel-related corruption and abuse were a recurring problem.

Why wouldnt this problem go away? Because, as scholar Russell S. Gentry has argued, rulers preferred to cast bad behavior as isolated incidents rather than systemic flaws in an empire that treated provincials as unimportant and afforded government elites relatively little oversight.

Just as, say, Trump might prefer to cast a jet-setting former health secretary as a bad apple not representative of the spirit of his administration, Claytor observes.

It took centuries for Roman emperors to realize they needed to make real, system-wide changes if they hoped to curb the wanton abuse of taxpayer resources. How long will it take Trump?
PHOENIX  Tiny housing has been a hot topic the past few years, with shows such as Tiny House Hunters and others appearing on HGTV and tiny house communities popping up across the country.

The trend has flourished in densely populated cities such as New York and Seattle. Some smaller communities  such as Spur, Texas  have embraced the movement as well.

Despite the growth, the trend has struggled to gain a significant foothold in Arizona. One tiny house builder said his company has built 10 tiny houses since 2015, and most of those went out of state. In terms of more permanent micro-housing communities, such as container and studio apartments, there are only a handful of examples in the Phoenix metro area.

Tiny housing, sometimes referred to as micro-housing, generally refers to a house or small living space that is typically more than 300 square feet but less than 500 square feet, according to the Urban Land Institute.

Mark Stapp, a real estate and development expert at Arizona State Universitys W.P. Carey School of Business, said the idea of cost savings from tiny housing appeals to people, but he still doesnt think theres a strong future for it in Phoenix.

We dont have the scarcity of space like San Francisco or New York has, Stapp said. I dont see theres going to be demand.

TINY CHALLENGES

Stapp said developers in the Valley can still build housing in less dense, cheaper areas. He said there are just too many housing options in Phoenix to make small living the mainstream choice at this point.

Stapp said that despite the lower cost overall for tiny housing, it might cost developers more per square foot to build these smaller spaces.

Benjamin Hall, architect and developer of White Stone Studios near downtown Phoenix, said it wasnt easy getting the tiny set of apartment units off the drawing board.

By being a small developer, Im up against the wall, Hall said. Theres no incentive to get city help.

In a way, the scale is too small (for local city government) to take interest in, he said. White Stone Studios rentable units are less than 600 square feet.

Hall began his commercial venture in 2011 after the Great Recession, and he said White Stone Studios was the first tiny commercial housing project in Phoenix.

It paved the way for other projects, such as the modified shipping container housing units on both Grand Avenue and on Portland Street, by familiarizing city officials with the idea of smaller development projects.

I wasnt sure if this was going to work, he said.

Because Hall wasnt an established developer and was asking for rental rates comparatively higher than the rest of the area, he said construction loans were nearly impossible to come by after the recession, forcing him finance the venture independently.

No one would talk to me. Banks wouldnt talk to me, he said.

Mike Partanna, builder and owner of Phoenix-based Uncharted Tiny Homes, said people who want to buy tiny houses face similar financing challenges.

He said the company has only sold three individual tiny houses in Arizona. The houses are built on custom wheeled trailers and range from 150 to 350 square feet, but they dont meet housing code requirements such as minimum ceiling height.

Its not a house. It never will be a house, Partanna said. I always tell people to treat (a tiny house) as an RV.

Because its not technically a house, people cant finance it through a home mortgage, he said.

We would have sold 50 in the last two years if people could get financing, he said.

Partanna said he plans to register his company as an RV manufacturer, which would allow potential customers an easier way to obtain financing for their tiny home because the builds would fall within a legal classification.

Christoph Kaiser, Phoenix architect and design firm owner, knows a thing or two about tiny house development. Kaisers Garfield neighborhood grain silo tiny home where he and his wife lived for a year and a half has appeared in publications such as Today and Curbed.com.

Kaiser said he faced legal hurdles building the unconventional project, such as getting it registered as a residence in a historic neighborhood.

Theres always economy of scale, Kaiser said.

The amount of paperwork and bureaucracy we have to tread through is the same for a master bedroom or bathroom addition as if youre building a 4,000-square-foot house, he said.

In a commercial sense, if a property owner builds 500 consistent units, the development cost is spread out over greater numbers compared to just a handful of tiny units.

Whether a tiny residence is mobile or permanent makes a legal difference as well.

Kaiser said many cities dont allow mobile structures on a plot of vacant land without a permanent foundation, and they need to comply with regulations such as grading and drainage.

Hall said city regulations governing permanent housing construction also might impede smaller projects, specifically fire code issues  theres a threshold where you have to provide fire sprinklers, which is a very expensive thing to do.

Hall said smaller builds may need to meet parking requirements as well, which could kill a project.

Despite the challenges of developing the project, Hall said he has a waiting list of people looking to move into White Stone Studios.

Other projects are in the works. Phoenix officials recently agreed to give tax breaks to a micro-apartment high-rise planned for Roosevelt Row. The 19-story building will feature units that average 400 square feet, according to azcentral.com.

Kaiser and his design firm are working on a tiny housing project they call the kbox, using a modified shipping container as a base, with an emphasis on affordability, quality and portability. He said he intends to release the project to the public in January

My main interest in small architecture is the product aspect, that you can potentially bring the same sort of tailoring and ergonomics to architecture as people bring to the automobile industry, Kaiser said.

Kaiser said he envisions small living as both a means to spread out away from the city into areas where conventional housing might not be practical, but also to revitalize areas of Phoenix.
Tucsonan James Carlos Blake, acclaimed writer of novellas, short stories, essays, and historic and border noir novels, has won literary awards that include the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Southwest Book Award, the Quarterly West Novella Prize, and Chautauqua South Book Award.

He answered questions from the Star shortly after the recent publication of his fourth Wolfe family novel, The Ways of Wolfe.

C W-H: In addition to college professor and writer, your biography cites Volkswagen mechanic, swimming pool maintenance man, county jail properties officer as well as snake-catcher, as your occupations.

Snake-catcher? Thats an interesting skill set for a novelist.

J C B : First paying job I ever had. When I was a junior high kid in Miami, we lived at the edge of the Everglades, where a buddy taught me how to catch poisonous snakes. Wed sell them for 25 cents apiece to the Serpentarium, a local tourist attraction and research facility that worked at using snake venom for medical purposes. Rattlesnakes were the easiest to catch and coral snakes the hardest to find, but the fiercest were the water moccasins. Rattlers will try to avoid you if they can, and coral snakes are shy little things, but an angry moccasin will come at you. And unlike any other snake I ever knew, they gave off a stink. You could smell them before youd see them.

Everything a novelist has experienced makes it into his work, one way or another, and can lend it authenticity. Imagination cant carry the whole load. A writer whos never fired a gun or been in a fistfight cant convey such experiences with the sensory or emotional authority of one who has.

C W-H Guns and fistfights in mind, for about a decade, you wrote fiction from a relative distance about violent, often unlawful, historical figures like John Wesley Hardin, Pancho Villa, gangster Harry Pierpont, boxer Stanley Ketchel. Then you closed that distance and opened the Wolfe family series with the 2012 novel Country of the Bad Wolfes inspired by your own familys at times sketchy relationship with the law. Would you talk about that shift?

J C B The historical characters are distant only in time and place, not emotionally or psychologically. I inhabit them to the same degree I do the Wolfe characters.

Country of the Bad Wolfes is based on the fact that my family landed in the U.S. by way of a British pirate who married in New Hampshire, sired two sons, then ventured to Mexico, where he was captured and executed. The story spans almost a century and ends in 1911, setting the stage for subsequent books about the generations to follow. But I couldnt resist the drama of the present-day borderland and cartels, so I jumped directly to the 21st-century and the Wolfe border noirs. However, I still intend to write Wolfe books that fill in the generational gaps.

C W-H In the Wolfe books, lust and violence are frequently as cited as being in the (familys) blood. Do you believe there are, in fact, inherited drives (just as inherited hair and eye color)?

J C B It certainly seems so, judging by so many people Ive known or read aboutchips off the old block, even though the old block had nothing to do with the chips nurture, having been dead or missing ever since the chip was born.

C W-H Well, Axel Prince Wolfe displays the family appetites in your new novel, and he acts against his better judgment: He has a family and isnt supposed to participate in the shade (criminal) trade until hes finished college, but he cant resist joining a buddy to rob a jewelry store. Then he knows he could be in prison for the rest of his life, but he cant resist attempting to escape prison.

What is it about the allure of the unlawful that overwhelms the reason of smart characters like Axel?

J C B I love that phrasethe allure of the unlawful. Thats exactly why young Axel cant wait to join the familys shade trade, and why he joins in the robbery that puts him in prison. I suspect the allure is rooted in pride, in a readiness to risk punishment rather than submit to the will of another. That outlook is best expressed in Paradise Lost, when Satan, the boss gangster of them all, says, Id rather rule in hell than serve in heaven. Pride has long been the darkest angel in human nature.

C W-H In a 2013 New York Times personal op-ed, My Other Self, you wrote that all of your life youve experienced an almost chronic loneliness, and then as an adult you learned that you had a twin brother who died as an infant. Could you talk about that loneliness and your decision to have twins pay significant roles in Country of the Bad Wolfes?

J C B It was a peculiar loneliness that had nothing to do with a lack of love or companionship or had any relation to existential angst. It was an inexplicable condition until I learned the truth about my twin. Ive since come to know of others who lost a twin in early childhood but didnt know it until adulthood, and they describe having grown up with the same puzzling sense of an incomplete self that I had.

The most fun in writing Country of the Bad Wolfes was in creating the two sets of twins that dominate the novel, especially the younger set, whose relationship to each other borders on the supernatural. Theyre like a single soul in identical bodies.

C W-H You were born in eastern Mexico, and lived and studied and taught in Texas and Florida, and a large portion of your Wolfe books are set along the steamy Gulf of Mexico. How has moving west affected your work?

J C B The Wolfe novels range all over the border, and the Sonoran Desert is one of its most dramatic and narrative-rich regions. Like the crime gangs that prowl its expanse, the desert can kill you quick. All we need to do to be reminded of that is go for a walk at high noon in mid-July or venture to a nearby wash in the midst of a monsoon storm and regard the current roaring like a runaway train. The desert itself is an awesome character.

C W-H In a 1998 Los Angeles Times memoir piece, The Outsider, you wrote that you felt most at home as a grade school child in Brownsville, Texas, where you could be fully bilingual and bicultural. How is that?

J C B Im sure there are border kids right now living in the same sort of bilingual, bicultural world I did who as adults will look back on it with the same sense of nostalgic comfort I do.

Its worth noting I wasnt a typical Mexican. My family is of Anglo descent and we look it. None of the neighborhood Anglo kids, who had known only mestizos, believed I was really Mexican until they heard me conversing in Spanish with other Mexican kids on the block. The occasion prompted my blond neighbor Danny to proclaim, Dang if you aint the un-Mexicanest Mexican I ever seen.

C W-H Now, where are you going with the next Wolfe novel? (And how about those lusty and not-violent-averse 21st century women Jessie and Rayo?)
There is no surprise ending to give away with Only the Brave, the film about the deadly 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire in Prescott.

The headlines on June 30, 2013, spelled it out: 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighters died in the blaze, the biggest loss of firefighters since 9/11. Only one survived.

Which is why the movie builds slowly to the inevitable, taking us on a journey into the characters who make up this crew of elite firefighters risking their lives every time they get the call.

The story is centered on recruit Brendan Donut McDonough (Miles Teller), a directionless pothead who wants to turn his life around after getting his girlfriend pregnant. Fire supervisor Eric Supe Marsh (Josh Brolin) gives him the shot at redemption, hiring him after McDonough confesses hes done drugs and served time in jail.

Marsh immediately tests his new charge with a run up a mountain. After sucking in air and throwing up as he struggles to keep up with the rest of the crew, McDonough earns their respect by completing the run and returning with a selfie taken from the mountaintop.

The movie, directed by Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy, Oblivion) and based on Sean Flynns GQ article No Exit: The Granite Mountain Yarnell Fire Investigation, takes us through the rigors of elite firefighting as Marsh, a man who knows more about fighting wildland fires than anyone in his sphere, drives his men to achieve the hotshots classification. We see them doing pushups as exercise and as punishment when McDonough cant remember the codes that will save their lives. They run up mountains with full packs and picks and shovels to dig a defense line to starve a growing brush fire.

If this was all that Kosinski focused on, Only the Brave would feel more like a documentary than a dramatic retelling of a tragedy that hits particularly close to home for Arizona and Tucson; one of the Granite Mountain Hotshots killed was William Billy Warneke of Marana.

Instead, Kosinski takes us into the bedrooms and living rooms, corner country bars and family picnics. We see how hard it is being a firefighters spouse through Marshs wife, Amanda (Jennifer Connelly), a veterinarian who rescues horses as a way to keep her mind off her husbands singular focus: saving his world one fire at a time. When she meets McDonough, she tells him he and her husband are more similar than he thinks, hinting at Marshs own addiction history and redemption.

The firefighters lean on each other outside the firehouse, forming a strong bond of brotherhood. When Chris MacKenzie (Taylor Kitsch) tells McDonough that he is sleeping in his car after finding his girlfriend cheating on him, McDonough invites him to stay with him. And when McDonough gets bit by a snake while fighting a wildfire, MacKenzie spends the night in the hospital in a chair next to his bed.

One of the characters in the film that we dont come to understand is the fire, brilliant and loud and entirely unpredictable, especially when it was devouring Yarnell Hill. As Marsh and the crew knock down trees and brush to create a barrier between the fire and more fuel, McDonough, still recovering from the snake bite, is dispatched to a rocky hill in the distance to monitor the wind and the fires direction.

But the fire quickly storms toward McDonoughs perch, forcing him to flee back to town. Sitting in the back of a Granite Mountain buggy, he listens to the radio as Marsh, calm at first, then sounding more desperate, tells the base commanders the crew is preparing to get in their shelters. You can almost feel McDonoughs heart pound with fear and terror as the scene plays out and he realizes his brothers are trapped in the middle of the fire.

Kosinski has taken pains to create a visually stunning film and compelling story that honors the men who died on Yarnell Hill and the families they left behind.

He also makes sure that we meet the real firefighters, so the closing credits feature a slide show of those men next to the actors who portrayed them.
At about 1 a.m. today, Bisbee police were alerted to a fire at City Hall on Arizona Street, Carol Capas, a Cochise County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, said in a news release.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some Oct. 12 papers in history. With a subscription to newspapers.com you can search the Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers using keywords or dates, and download articles or pages.
A mother and her 7-year-old son died after being struck by a car this morning in midtown, Tucson police say.

The pair was crossing in a marked crosswalk on East Pima Street near North Swan Road about 7:30 a.m. when they were struck, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson police spokesman.

The child, identified as Ethan Mentzer, was a second-grader at St. Cyril of Alexandria School, about a block from where he and his mother, Anna, were struck, according to a letter to parents from St. Cyril's principal, Ann Zeches.

They were walking to school, a statement from Salpointe Catholic High School on Facebook said.

Tucson Fire Department crews were the first to arrive at the crash scene and began rendering first aid to both the mom and her child.

Anna Mentzer, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ethan died later at Banner-University Medical Center.

Dugan said the two were crossing Pima Street in a marked crosswalk when they were struck.

The woman driving the car that hit the pair stayed at the scene and cooperated with detectives.

She showed no signs of impairment, Dugan said.

Since January, there have been 24 pedestrian fatalities in the city.

Six of those have occurred since Sept. 27.

"The St, Cyril's school and parish family is working together to help everyone deal with this loss of the friend and classmate and his mother as well others in the family," said Steff Koeneman, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Tucson.

Counselors were on hand to speak to students Wednesday and would be back again Thursday, Koeneman said.
In the view of County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, proposed changes to the countys information technology policy are principally intended to guarantee software and hardware conformity between all departments, even those headed by elected officials.

However, Supervisor Ally Miller sees an attempt to limit free speech in the proposed policy and says she would consider taking legal action against the county if there are not significant changes in what is being considered.

This is a violation of my First Amendment rights, she said. You cant tell people what they can and cannot express in an opinion.

Proposed changes would explicitly include elected officials in prohibitions on inappropriate usage of county IT equipment. Such uses include the advancement of personal views, or producing, distributing or forwarding content that is discriminatory, harassing or disruptive or objectively offensive, among other restrictions. Personal devices would also no longer be able to access county email or the county network, according to a draft of the policy.

Huckelberry said the changes reflect the boards desire for the new IT policy to require compliance from all county departments.

I dont think that the policy was ever intended to restrict the free speech of any individual, including an elected official, Huckelberry said. The board explicitly requested that (the policies) apply to elected officials.

Supervisor Sharon Bronson said she was open to looking at the legal arguments, but said the purpose of the proposal was to hold her and other elected officials to the same standards that we hold the rest of Pima County employees.

If the board were to approve the changes, Huckelberry would have the power to block or terminate any component of the IT program that has been determined to violate any county policy. If an elected official were to be found in violation, the Board of Supervisors could then also consider budget sanctions for their department.

To think that he can financially punish somebody for their First Amendment free-speech rights, that is stunning, Miller said.

The supervisors were set to consider the changes this coming Tuesday, but Huckelberry requested that the item be postponed until the Dec. 19 meeting to allow us to address the individual concerns that have arisen over implementation of this proposed policy.

Timothy La Sota, a Phoenix attorney who represents Miller, said the delay is a welcome development. We did want this fixed, and part of fixing is probably delaying it so the county can give it more thought, he said.

In an Oct. 3 letter to Huckelberry sent on behalf of Miller, La Sota said if the policy is adopted without significant changes to address the First Amendment concerns expressed here, Miller will likely take the matter to court. Miller said she is paying La Sota out of her own pocket.

The letter says the policy would not only limit the free speech of officials like Miller, but also severely restrict communication between constituents and their representatives. La Sota told the Star the restrictions on use of information technology by regular employees may be permissible, but is completely nutso for elected officials.

The draft proposal was released in early September, shortly after Miller expressed pride in being white in a Facebook post from her personal account. Written the same day that race-based protests turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia, the comments offended many.

But even if they had been written during business hours on county equipment, Huckelberry said the comments dont rise to being profane, so they likely wouldnt constitute a violation.

Examples of likely violations include inappropriate jokes and other comments that make fun of ethnicity, or race or sexual preference, Huckelberry offered.

Miller suspects she would be the principal target of the policy if it were to be approved, but said it could potentially be used against any elected official who disagrees with (Huckelberry).

Huckelberry said the County Attorneys Office is still reviewing parts of the proposal, which is one of the reasons he requested the delay. He did say the prohibition on using personal devices to access county email probably wont survive.

He also suggested that elected officials like Miller could be exempted from the policy entirely, and that it could state that violations by elected officials could only be addressed by a recall initiated by voters.

I can discipline employees. I cannot discipline an elected official, Huckelberry said. The only people who can discipline an elected official is the electorate through a recall.
Tucson and other parched Arizona cities offer rebates for businesses and homes that harvest rainwater, but the practice struggles to gain momentum in the Phoenix area.

The ancient method can conserve thousands of gallons of water, reducing reliance on groundwater and other sources. Rebates can motivate people to install water-collection tanks or landscape-design systems to capture rain for indoor and outdoor use, conservation experts say.

Tucson leads Arizona in encouraging rainwater harvesting. Since 2010, city law requires that at least half of the landscaping for any new building use rainwater. The city offers up to a $2,000 rebate for rain-harvesting systems at homes and businesses that have become more popular over the years. Prescott and Flagstaff also offer rebates.

But in Maricopa County, where about 60 percent of Arizona residents live, experts said none of the 27 cities or towns offers rebates specifically for rainwater collection or storage systems.

There are nowhere near enough people doing this, said Tucson advocate Brad Lancaster, who harvests rainwater for almost all of his daily needs, from drinking water to washing dishes. I dont say this to be Dr. Doom, I say this to inspire, but we are moving at a glacial pace with this.

To harvest

or not harvest

Cities looking to encourage water conservation should consider offering rebates in order to heighten community interest, experts said.

Phoenix cities need to adopt a rebate with specific language to rainwater harvesting that can help people understand the benefits of these systems, said Ryan Wood, program manager for the Watershed Management Groups Phoenix branch. Rebates would help encourage folks to invest in a system.

But some city leaders feel otherwise.

It isnt even a blip on our radar, said Phoenix city spokeswoman Stephanie Bracken.

The city believes that conservation practices are already strong, Bracken said, noting that overall water usage has declined since 1985 and because of this, such rebates arent needed.

Some cities, including Mesa and Chandler, offer versions of turf removal rebates, but simply eradicating grass is a missed opportunity, Wood said.

The rebates are not specifically for passive earthworks and is missing the specific rainwater-harvesting rebate as offered in Tucson, Wood said.

Instead, business and homeowners should craft berms, swales and basins, a method otherwise known as passive harvesting or earthworks, to direct rainwater throughout a landscape. Done well, the rain could not only more effectively water desert plants, but also help recharge groundwater.

Lancaster encourages people to start with passive systems, where the cost of a new landscape is sometimes just time and a shovel.

For active harvesting systems, or ones that utilize a storage tank of sorts, the price tag starts at around $200 for a small residential home, but can cost thousands for businesses, depending on factors such as location, the size of a building and the desired amount of storage.

One inch of rain on a 1,000-square-foot roof can collect about 600 gallons of rainwater to be stored for later indoor or outdoor use. Phoenix-area residents experience about 8 inches of annual rainfall, potentially capturing 4,800 gallons of water a year.

Simply put, every gallon you capture is a gallon you dont need to pump, Wood said.

Expanding the rainwater cause

Businesses and organizations look to expand rainwater-harvesting efforts into areas where the practice is not as common.

The Tucson-based Watershed Management Group, which educates communities on how to implement environmentally friendly practices, opened an office in Phoenix about six years ago to start a long-term vision of expanding further into the Southwest.

The sheer size of the Phoenix area is a challenge for harvesting expansion, Wood said.

There are over 4 million people here. Are we hitting every home? Do they even know about us? We have more outreach to do, Wood said.

One of the groups latest efforts is Hydrate Arizona, a five-part, in-person series that introduces participants to rainwater-harvesting methods. The program launched in Phoenix 2015 and has since expanded to different cities including Mesa and Glendale, growing in class size from about 20 participants to more than 50, Wood said.

Cities in the Phoenix valley and elsewhere promote water conservation through other methods, including seminars and classes.

Wood described the overall progress as slow moving but steady, which seems to be the theme for other Arizona cities that now offer rebates, including Prescott.

When Barnabus Kane opened Skywater Rainwater Collection Systems in 2005, it was the only business in Prescott providing harvesting systems, he said.

There were always interested homeowners, but it was very much a backyard hippie thing at first, Kane said. Only the outliers were doing it.

Today, Kanes business has expanded to include large-scale commercial systems in addition to residential systems. Some of the systems have been built outside of Prescott, where a rebate of 50 cents for every gallon of storage up to $500 is available.

Drought influences rebate policies

Committed advocates and a citys history with drought influence the creation of rainwater-harvesting policies as progress sometimes comes from necessity and passion.

Tucsons water crisis really spurred development, said Catlow Shipek, a founding member of the Watershed Management Group.

I see Phoenix without having that conservation ethic at the residential level; it will take time to build that momentum.

Decades ago, Tucsons only water source was its rapidly depleting groundwater, so the demand in other areas such as Phoenix, was not quite as immediate, Lancaster said.

Shipek credits Tucsons robust rebate system to Lancaster and other city officials early efforts to popularize the practice.

Tucsons rebate program has grown 35 percent since the 2012-13 fiscal year, from 296 applications processed for rainwater-harvesting rebates to 438 so far this fiscal year, a water-department spokesman said.

Prior to 2006, water harvesting for the most part didnt exist, Lancaster said. It was here, but was very hidden and practiced by very few.
A mother and her 7-year-old son, who were walking in a marked crosswalk on their way to his midtown school, were struck and killed by a car Wednesday morning.

The pair was crossing East Pima Street near North Swan Road at about 7:30 a.m. when they were struck by a car traveling east on Pima, said Officer Chris Hawkins, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

The child was Ethan Mentzer, 7, a second-grader at St. Cyril of Alexandria, a school about a block from where he and his mother, Anna Mentzer, were struck.

Mentzer, a chef who had also graduated from St. Cyrils, was walking her son to school. Their home is a couple of blocks south of the Catholic school.

Her older son, Eli, a fifth-grader at the school, was not with them because he was at home sick, said family friend Molly Bednar. Eli was in the care of Annas brother, Clement Mentzer, who also lives in the neighborhood.

Tucson Fire Department paramedics were the first to arrive at the crash and began treating Mentzer, a 37-year-old single mother, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ethan was taken to Banner-University Medical Center Tucson where he died, said Hawkins.

Traffic detectives determined that the car was traveling east on Pima in the median lane, approaching North Mountain View Avenue. Mentzer and her son were crossing Pima near Mountain View in the crosswalk when they were struck.

The woman driving the car stayed at the scene and cooperated with detectives. She showed no signs of impairment, and no citations have been issued, Hawkins said.

Since January, there have been 24 pedestrian fatalities in the city  compared with 11 at this time last year  and six of those have occurred since Sept. 27, police data show.

Friends of Mentzer and her boys were trying to deal with the news late Wednesday.

I am in total shock right now, said Sarah Lamberth. I talked to her recently, and she told me her kids were everything to her.

Anna was always, always positive. When things were bad, she could always see the silver lining. She was a really beautiful soul, said Lamberth, adding that the boys loved to camp with their mom on Mount Lemmon.

Friends said Mentzer had taught cooking classes at The Art Institute of Tucson and was sharing her love for cooking with her sons. She began teaching them about Italian dishes, said Lamberth.

Molly Bednar said her children played well with Mentzers boys.

We would hang out together at birthday parties, and we would have play dates and take them swimming and camping.

Bednar wrote in a Facebook post: Love you Anna. Rest in Peace my friend. I promise to look after Eli for you.

Daniel Ribbentrop, of San Antonio, Texas, said he first met Mentzer in 1999 after she graduated from Salpointe Catholic High School in 1998. She was attending Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and received a bachelors degree and later moved to Phoenix to attend Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Scottsdale, he said.

She was a wonderful person who worked several jobs to support her kids, said Ribbentrop.

Then she began working for Tucson Unified School District in the food services department where she really found happiness, he said. Everything was going her way for a change.

Everyone is heartbroken in the department, said Michelle Valenzuela, a TUSD spokeswoman, as employees heard about her death.

Anna was a very free spirit, said Ribbentrop. She was a big Grateful Dead fan. She was a modern hippie. Her sons were rambunctious, happy little boys. They were doing well in school, and she enjoyed spending time with them. Her kids were her absolute life.

Ethan and his older brother were new to St. Cyrils this year, principal Ann Zeches said.

The St. Cyrils school and parish family is working together to help everyone deal with this loss of the friend and classmate, and his mother, said Steff Koeneman, a spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.

Counselors were on hand to speak to students Wednesday and will be back Thursday, Koeneman said.

At the end of the school day Wednesday, St. Cyrils held a prayer service for students, parents and community members. An overflow crowd packed the pews and aisles at the church.

We are a family, Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas told the crowd. We care for one another, and we are there for one another.
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington (NNS) The Cougars of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 139 held a change of command ceremony aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in San Diego, October 5.

Cmdr. Ladislao Montero, from Tucson, Ariz., relieved Cmdr. David Skarosi, from Chicago, as commanding officer of the VAQ-139. Capt. Robert Loughran, Deputy Commander of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17 presided over the transfer of command.

Skarosi led the Cougars through a notable work-up cycle. In 2016 they totaled 1014 sorties, flying 1478.5 mishap free hours, completing 120 Growler Weapons and Tactics Program events and becoming again the recipients of the Navys Aviation Battle Efficiency Award (Battle E) for Pacific Fleet embarked Electronic Attack Squadrons. The Cougars were also awarded with the Association of Old Crows Outstanding Naval Unit Award for Electronic Warfare, CNAF Blue M, Command Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT) Retention Excellence Award, as well as the Navy Surgeon Generals medical readiness Blue H awards.

Skarosi has totaled over 2819 flight hours and 437 arrested landings during the course of his career in the EA-6B and EA-18G as a pilot and naval flight officer.

Upon reflection of his career and time in command Skarosi said, Im the most blessed man you know! The Navy and its people have made me a better person. I am truly thankful to all Cougars, past and present, for all that they did and all they will continue to do!

Upon detaching from VAQ-139, Skarosi will report to Headquarters, United States European Command in Stuttgart, Germany.

Montero has seen over 2,500 flight hours and has accumulated over 500 carrier arrested landings as a Naval Flight Officer in the S-3B, EA-6B, and EA-18G. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1988. After his enlistment he earned his commission in 1999, and his Naval Flight Officer Wings of Gold in 2001.

Montero has participated in multiple deployments supporting Operations Southern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom. He transitioned to the EA-18G Growler after completion of his joint tour at NATO Combined Air Operations Center Torrejon in Madrid, Spain in 2015; and reported aboard VAQ-139 as Executive Officer in July 2016.

VAQ-139 over the past year has completed detachments to Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, Nevada, Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, Naval Air Station Lemoore, and the USS Theodore Roosevelt in preparation for their upcoming deployment in Fall 2017 with CVW-17.
A Border Patrol agent stationed in Ajo was arrested on a fugitive warrant issued in connection with two charges of lewd acts with a minor in California.

Supervisory Agent Kyle Mrofka, 29, is being held without bond at the Pima County jail until he is extradited to Imperial County, which borders Yuma.

He faces two counts of lewd acts in which the defendant was at least 10 years older than a 14- or 15-year-old child, according to Imperial County Superior Court records. The charges were filed May 26, 2013.

Deputies from Pima and Imperial counties served a fugitive warrant at the Ajo Station on Sept. 29, said Deputy Cody Gress, a spokesman for the Pima County Sheriffs Department. Imperial County deputies interviewed Mrofka before he was taken into custody by Pima County deputies.

Mrofka is scheduled to appear at a Nov. 2 review hearing before a Pima County Superior Court judge, according to court records.

Mrofka has worked with the Border Patrol for nine years, the Tucson Sector public affairs office said in a statement. He was indefinitely suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

The U.S. Border Patrol stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of its mission, the statement said. We do not tolerate misconduct on or off duty and will fully cooperate with all investigations of alleged unlawful conduct by our personnel.

The Yuma Sun reported Mrofka was a graduate of Cibola High School in Yuma and the alleged lewd acts occurred in the Picacho State Recreation Area, located along the Colorado River about 25 miles north of Yuma.
The Tucson City Council has signed off on the largest residential annexation in recent history, bringing in about 652 acres on the southeast side into the city limits.

The council unanimously voted in favor of bringing in roughly 3,100 residents located southeast of South Swan and East Valencia roads and north of the Los Reales landfill, with estimates that the annexation will bring in a combined $25 million in revenues over the next decade. Part of the annexed area is adjacent to areas that are already part of the city, including on the east and south sides.

City officials sold the measure to residents of the Rancho Valencia and Littletown subdivisions on a series of improvements to the area that adds up to roughly $16 million over the next decade, said Mike Czechowski, the citys annexation project manager.

The area also includes a number of businesses along Interstate 10, including the Triple T Truck Stop, Freightliner, Circle K, Taco Bell, Pilot Travel Center and other small businesses.

Over the next decade, those improvements would include an estimated $8.7 million in roadway improvements and six additional police officers at a total 10-year cost of roughly $6.6 million.

The council also signed off on committing $200,000 a year over five years for neighborhood improvements.

The newly annexed land is located about 3 miles from Tucson Fire station No. 22; city officials do not anticipate needing to hire additional firefighters to cover the new area, said Czechowski.

Nearly 700 of the 1,296 unique property owners in the area agreed to the annexation, which Czechowski said should save some homeowners up to $100 annually in property taxes.

Mayor Jonathan Roths-child said the annexation is an excellent example of what benefits unincorporated areas of Pima County adjacent to city limits can realize.

This has been an underserved area for years, Rothschild said.

He called the annexation a win-win for both the residents and the rest of the city, noting the city will receive nearly $1 million in state shared revenues and taxes annually. I wish more people would look at annexation, Rothschild said.

The annexation district will become part of the city in 30 days.
CHINHAE, Republic of Korea (NNS)  The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Tucson (SSN 770) arrived at U.S. Fleet Activities Chinhae, Oct. 7, for a visit as part of its deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

With a crew of approximately 150, Tucson can conduct a multitude of missions and maintain proficiencies of the latest capabilities of the submarine fleet.

"The Korean-American relationship is very important and our visit to Chinhae gives us the opportunity to strengthen the outstanding relationship that exists between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea," said Cmdr. Chad Hardt, commanding officer. "My crew and I are looking forward to experiencing the exciting culture of this great Korean city."

Tucson's crew operates with a high state of readiness and is always prepared to tackle any mission that comes their way.

"The performance and work ethic of this crew over the past several months has been nothing less than exceptional," said Master Chief Electronics Technician (Navigation) Juan Gonzalez, chief of the boat. "It is an honor to be a part of the Tucson family. Chinhae is a wonderful city for the crew to spend their well-deserved rest and relaxation."

For many of the crew members, this was their first time visiting the Republic of Korea.

"I am really looking forward to visiting the Republic of Korea for the first time," said Culinary Specialist Seaman Thomas Patras. "This will be the first port call of my career and I am looking forward to experiencing a new and exciting culture."

Measuring more than 360 feet long, Tucson is one of the stealthiest and most advanced submarines in the world. It is capable of supporting a multitude of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Homeported out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Tucson is able to operate in all oceans of the world. Tucson is the 59th Los Angeles-class attack submarine and the 20th of the improved Los Angeles-class attack submarines to be built.

Twelve vertical launch tubes for Tomahawk cruise missiles and four torpedo tubes provide Tucson with great offensive capabilities and strategic value. Its stealth, endurance, mobility and responsiveness make Tucson a formidable force in multiple mission roles.
More than 40 congressional Democrats on Wednesday sent a letter to the White House expressing "deep concern" over the Environmental Protection Agency's recent proposal to "reverse clean water safeguards" for an area of Alaska that is home to the world's most valuable wild salmon fishery.

The EPA's move, if finalized, would make it more likely a large gold and copper mine could be built in the Bristol Bay watershed, the lawmakers warned.

"The EPA's plan to reverse clean water safeguards is egregious and inconsistent with science and frankly, inconsistent with basic logic," Sen. Maria Cantwell, of Washington, and Rep. Jared Huffman, of California, wrote in the letter, which also was signed by 40 of their colleagues.

The comments address a plan by Pebble Limited Partnership, which is owned by Northern Dynasty Minerals, a Canadian mining company, to mine for gold and copper in Bristol Bay. Such a mine would threaten "the entire Bristol Bay region, salmon, and the multibillion-dollar economy it supports," the lawmakers wrote.

The letter comes after CNN reports showing EPA head Scott Pruitt directed his staff on May 1 to withdraw the Obama-era proposed protections on Bristol Bay. Pruitt gave the directive little more than an hour after he met with Tom Collier, Pebble's CEO, and without being briefed by EPA's experts on the matter, according to multiple sources and internal government emails.

The EPA's move would have to be finalized, and Pebble still would have to apply for and be granted permits to mine in the area before any construction could take place. Two public hearings on the EPA's proposal are scheduled to be held in Alaska this week. The public has until October 17 to comment on the EPA's proposed withdrawal of a move under the Obama administration to protect the Bristol Bay watershed from potential mining activities.

"Scott Pruitt is signing up to kill the largest salmon run on Earth and thousands of fishing jobs," Cantwell said in a statement emailed to CNN on Wednesday. "The Northwest can't afford him or his job killing ideas. We can't let Pruitt pollute our clean water and throw away thousands of jobs because one mining CEO received special treatment."

Collier, the Pebble CEO, denied he received special treatment. In an interview with CNN, he maintained a mine could be built in an environmentally friendly manner that would have no ecological ramifications. Pebble plans to file permit applications in December, he said, and the mine proposal will be far smaller than the EPA had thought when it moved, under the Obama administration, to protect the watershed and pre-emptively veto certain mining activities.

"The Bristol Bay watershed is 40,000 square miles with millions of acres already in protected status," Pebble spokesman Mike Heatwole said in an email to CNN. The company plans to propose a mine site that would cover 12.7 square miles, according to a presentation posted on the company's website. The EPA's proposal to withdraw Obama-era protections for Bristol Bay does not ensure a mine will be built, Heatwole said, but rather gives the company the opportunity to apply for permits. "All we have ever sought is the ability to have the project reviewed like every other resource development project in the nation," he said.

A 2014 EPA report found a larger-scale mine would result in the "complete loss" of salmon habitat in some areas of the watershed. That report, which was based on three years of research, was the basis for a rare move in which the agency proposed pre-emptively protecting Bristol Bay from certain mining activities under a provision of the Clean Water Act, section 404(c).

The watershed produces nearly half the world's annual sockeye salmon catch and supports Alaska Native villages.

The prospect of a Pebble mine "directly threatens our maritime economy and thousands of American jobs that rely on this world class fishery," the members of Congress wrote to the White House this week. "We ask you to listen to America's fishermen and businesses and reverse EPA's decision to undo strong protections and clean water safeguards in Bristol Bay."

Alaska's congressional delegation -- three Republicans -- did not sign the White House letter.
Re: the Oct. 8 article Cup It Up owners issue an apology over politically charged message.

I deplore the threats of violence against the Cup It Up business, but did the owners really think it would not hurt their business when they promoted political beliefs that were opposed by a majority of voters in the last election? And, when they voice their support for a president who garners approval from less than 40 percent of the country and invite those who disagree to stay away from their restaurant and tell 100 friends about it?

I do not generally boycott businesses due to the owners political beliefs, because I expect those to be private. I would not boycott a business over the owners views unless they make it apparent that I am unwelcome or they present their views in an offensive manner. These guys did both. What in the world were they thinking?

Bruce Hilpert

North side
Hey, Julian, Chris and Jay, of Cup it Up American Grill, did you realize you are not alone in your recent business backlash?

There is another small business, called the NFL, that will be closing soon, due to allowing their employees to share their political beliefs on the job. When one is working, at any job, one must curtail their political views until their off time.

Or suffer the consequences and backlash from the general public that perhaps has an opposing view. When at work, just do your job. Whether it's throwing a little brown ball around, making pizza, selling cars, healing patients, scrubbing floors, reading meters, you are there to do a job, not pontificate. You have plenty of time, when not working, to use your Constitutional First Amendment Rights of Free Speech.

Marilyn Smith

Catalina
Re: the article; "UA-area Cup It Up restaurant closes," Oct 10. Let me get this straight: the owners publicly supported the President of the United States and his core policies and the hostile and harassing response, which included threats to burn down the building with the owners in it, caused the owners to permanently close the restaurant. I don't think this has ever happened before. It obviously follows that if you own a local business you better not publicly support the President. If this isn't a challenge to free speech I don't know what is.
Monday, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, said he will sign an order to override the Clean Power Plan, fulfilling a campaign promise made by Donald Trump and giving a win to those who want to thwart limits on carbon emissions. Twenty-seven state attorneys general, including Arizonas (and Pruitt, when he was Oklahomas attorneygeneral), filed suit against the Obama administration.

Their argument for doing so is economic  the rule causes harm to coal, oil and gas, and presents economic hardship for states that depend on those industries.

The irony is that our state and many others on the list are already moving forward with cleaner energy plans. Thats because at the end of the day, increasing wind, solar and natural gas will not only create a healthier environment, it will save us money.

Obamas plan, issued in August 2016, would limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants by one-third by 2030. It would lead to the closing of hundreds of the most heavily polluting coal-fired power plants and more development of wind, solar and other cleaner energies.

Yes, there would be economic impacts of this shift, as the states have been arguing in court.

But the plan gives great flexibility to states in reaching their individual carbon emissions goals. This is not an imposing, one-size-fits-all rule. Each state, depending on its own resources, is encouraged to develop either natural gas, wind, solar or nuclear energy, in addition to finding ways to reduce overall energy demand.

Here in the sunny Southwest, compliance is even easier for us because we have a solar advantage. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory rates southern and western Arizona as having some of the nations best solar power potential.

Even members of the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates the utilities and is made up of mostly Republican elected officials, recognized the importance of increasing transmission capacity for renewable energy when they approved the 515-mile Sunzia transmission project earlier this year. The fact is, fossil fuel production uses a lot of water. And although we have sun in abundance in Arizona, we live with the constant threat of drought.

A recent study conducted by the Tucson-based Sonoran Institute and researchers at Arizona State University maps Arizonas solar and wind potential. It finds Arizona can increase its energy generation enough to power more than 603,000 homes by 2030 and easily meet the rules carbon-cutting requirements by developing the states abundant and already-available solar and wind power resources.

Arizona has at least 15 large-scale solar and wind projects in progress with the capacity to produce 2,032 megawatts of electricity  nearly half the goal set in the Obama Clean Power Plan. These projects are close to having all the necessary permits and papers and could be operational within two years. But they are waiting for the utility companies to grant them power purchase agreements, which allow them to sell the power they produce.

Arizona utilities need to act quickly. Without these agreements, the projects may stall. Or developers may choose to sell Arizonas power to other states, such as California. This happened last year, when Sempra U.S. Gas & Power LLC struck a deal with Southern California Edison to sell the electricity produced from its Mesquite Solar complex in Arlington, Arizona.

Regardless of EPA actions, the states should take to heart the reduction goals and find a way to meet them. Resisting is counterproductive and costly. It would be a better use of state funds and state experts time to take advantage of the opportunities presented by development of renewable and alternative energy.
The Ho Chi Minh City tourism department is seeking feedback on a proposal to impose a small tourism tax on visitors for each night spent in the city.

Money raised from the proposed VND23,000 tax, equivalent to roughly one U.S. dollar, would be spent on improving the local tourism infrastructure, the department said in its proposition to the municipal administration.

Inspiration for the tax came from revisions to the law on tourism, effective from January 2018, which will allow localities to create a fund for tourism development with revenues generated from tourists.

The proposal has so far received positive feedback from local travel companies, who say the fee will be insignificant to tourists but will have huge upsides for Ho Chi Minh Citys tourism infrastructure and promotional opportunities.

Tran The Dung, deputy director of The He Tre Travel, said it is a good idea to have a new source of capital, funded by tourists who enjoy services offered by the city.

The lack of free restrooms and trained tourism professionals could be fixed with money from this new fund, he said.

While the tourism department did not elaborate whether the tourism tax will be applicable to both domestic and international visitors, industry insiders say the tax should be piloted on foreign visitors first with collections made by travel firms or hotels.

Ho Chi Minh City is expected to receive six million international tourists this year, and a $1 per night fee could be a huge source of revenue for re-investment in the tourism sector, Dung said.

Careful consideration needed

Charging overnight visitors a tourism tax is not an uncommon practice.

Certain Italian cities impose such a tax on tourists staying overnight, with visitors required to pay the tax directly to their hotel before the end of their stay, according to the ItalyVacations.com.

In July, Malaysias tourism ministry also stipulated that foreigners staying at paid lodgings in the country should be charged a flat tax of $2.30 per night, while Malaysians are exempt from the fee, according to Channel NewsAsia.

However, the director of a Vietnamese travel firm said the model should be carefully studied before its introduction in Vietnam, especially when the Ho Chi Minh City tourism department has yet to clarify whether the tax is only meant for foreign tourists or includes domestic visitors as well.

He noted that room rates and tour prices in Vietnam are quite high compared to other countries in the region, so a tourism tax may make packages to Vietnam even less attractive, especially for tourists on multiple-day trips.

We should try to improve the quality of our tourism products before we consider charging tourists more fees, he advised.

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Vietnam will organize the first-ever awards ceremony held to honor films by ASEAN directors.

The 1st ASEAN Film Awards will take place during the 20th annual Vietnam Film Festival, held from November 24 to 28 in the central city of Da Nang.

Following the inaugural awards ceremony, hosting the ASEAN Film Awards will be an honor rotated sequentially between other members of the ten-country bloc.

The event will be themed Cinematography Connecting the ASEAN Community as a testament to the best works of regional filmmakers and the inspiration they give newcomers to the seventh art.

The event logo

ASEAN is a political and economic organization whose members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.

Each ASEAN member nation will be permitted to nominate one film, produced in 2016 or 2017 and screened in the local country, for the best film award.

The event will also include a US$3,000 cash prize for the best movie. Other awards will include best director, best actor, and best actress.

The judgment panel for the event includes South Korean film producer Hyong-Joon Kim, Hong Kong director Roger Garcia, and Polish scriptwriter Karolina Bielawska.

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The 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam closed its sixth plenary meeting on Wednesday after announcing significant changes to the countrys political system, including the dissolution of three regional steering committees.

General Secretary of the Vietnamese Party Nguyen Phu Trong delivered the closing speech, ending the sixth plenum of the Party Central Committee in Hanoi from October 2 to 10, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

The Vietnamese Party chief reiterated the decision to cut fat from the current political system, namely through the termination of steering committees in the Northwest, Southwest, and Central Highlands regions.

A new model calling for secretaries from local Party Committees to chair their corresponding Peoples Councils will be applied.

In localities that meet necessary requirements, secretaries of Party Committees can also be chairs of district- and commune-level Peoples Committees.

Members of the Party Central Committee also consented on regulating the number of employees, public servants, and officials in each state entity and under local authority, General Secretary Trong continued.

It is necessary to build a competitive, overt, and transparent mechanism in the recruitment, appointment, and promotion of officials in order to attract moral and competent talent for government organizations, he said.

A special mechanism will also be established to strictly oversee the power of certain legal regulations in order to facilitate accountability and the sanctioning of violators, particularly heads of institutions.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at the sixth plenum. Photo: Vietnam Government Portal

The Party Central Committee stressed the need to improve the quality and operational efficiency of public service institutions, which will be a top priority in the near future, Trong stated.

The committee also agreed that the provision of basic and essential public services and an increase in the accessibility of public services to people from all walks of life must be ensured.

Apart from re-arranging and reforming the structure and operation of public service institutions, the importance of promoting social investment in public services without commercialization was agreed upon.

Also during the sixth plenary session, delegates elected two additional members to the Party Central Committees Secretariat and dismissed Nguyen Xuan Anh from his posts as member of the Party Central Committee and secretary of the Party Committee of the central city of Da Nang.

General Secretary Trong asserted that any violations will be strictly dealt with from now on to ensure the Partys discipline and reinforce peoples trust.

Regarding the population and family planning issues facing the government, the committee suggested that population policy be shifted from family planning to population and development.

Married couples will now be encouraged to have two children in order to strive toward a national population of 104 million by 2030, against a former encouragement for one or two kids and an old ban on a third child in a family.

Mechanisms and policies will also be tailored to improve health care, ensuring that every citizen will be equal in their rights and obligations regarding health insurance coverage and related services.

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Good morning from Tuoi Tre News!

Politics

-- Phan Van Sau, General Inspector of the Government Inspectorate, will be dismissed from his office by the countrys lawmaking National Assembly, its chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan announced on Wednesday.

Society

-- At least 53 people have been confirmed dead or missing in northern and north-central Vietnam following heavy rains and flood as a result of a tropical cyclone that hit the regions on Tuesday.

-- A private company has submitted to the administration of Ho Chi Minh City a plan to charge automobiles entering the city center a fee of VND30,000-50,000 (US$1.32-2.20) in an attempt to curb congestion.

-- Dinh Huu Du, a reporter of the state-run Vietnam News Agency, is still missing after he was swept away by swollen water on Wednesday while reporting on a flood in northern Yen Bai Province.

- Ho Chi Minh City is looking to auction its public land reserves to get money needed for the development of seven breakthrough programs until 2020, which are estimated to set the city back some VND850 trillion ($37.42 billion).

-- The Song Han terminal at Da Nang Port in central Da Nang City will be turned into a massive parking lot for vehicles attending the upcoming 2017 APEC Senior Week hosted by Da Nang, November 6-11.

-- An outbreak of diphtheria has been reported in the north-central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam, infecting at least seven people and killing one.

Business

-- A number of car models in Ho Chi Minh City are being discounted by up to VND160 million ($7,000) apiece, a move regarded as car sellers effort to free up their inventory for new shipments.

-- Police on Wednesday raided a petroleum retailer in north-central Nghe An Province and found the facility to have been mixing gasoline with powder colorings and a solvent to increase the fuels volume for profit.

-- Ho Chi minh Citys Department of Finance has proposed that tourists who stay overnight in the city be charged VND23,000 ($1) per night, which would be used to reinvest in the citys tourism.

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A local firm has put forward a plan to charge every automobile entering downtown Ho Chi Minh City an average fee of almost US$2, in a bid to reduce congestion.

The Innovative Technology Development Corporation (iTD) has submitted a project to the municipal Peoples Committee and the Department of Transport, suggesting that each car entering the city center pay a fee for the ultimate goal of alleviating traffic jams.

This downtown area includes streets within a diameter formed by Hoang Sa, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen, Canh Mang Thang Tam, Ba Thang Hai, Le Hong Phong, Ly Thai To, Nguyen Van Cu, Vo Van Kiet, and Ton Duc Thang Streets.

A total of 36 tollgates would be placed along the diameter, all of which will be monitored by a control center, according to the project.

The fare would be charged from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm every day.

Drivers of personal cars would have to pay VND40,000 ($1.76), while taxi drivers would be charged VND30,000 ($1.32), the firm said in the proposal.

A map detailing the downtown area to which the project would be applied. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Truck and commercial bus drivers would be required to pay VND50,000 ($2.20).

The toll would only be collected when these vehicles enter the downtown area, the firm noted.

The project is projected to cost an estimated VND1.797 billion ($79,099), iTD said, proposing that it should be carried out under a PPP (publicprivate partnership) deal and BLT (build, lease, transfer) contract.

Those who refuse to pay the fee would be penalized as per a government decree.

According to the company, the tollgates would be installed in 2018-19, after which the fee collection would be initiated.

The project is expected to generate some VND700 billion ($30.8 million) per year.

It is formulated to minimize congestion on major streets in the city center and to encourage local residents to use public transportation, the company claimed.

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At least 40 people have been killed while 22 remain missing after heavy rains and floods swept through north-central and northern Vietnam.

Among the deceased, 15 were from Hoa Binh Province, five from Son La Province, four from Yen Bai Province, eight from Thanh Hoa Province, and eight from Nghe An Province.

Twenty-two people are still missing and 21 injuries have been reported in the wake of the floods.

Two hundred and seventeen houses were swept away by floodwaters while 1,059 were severely damaged by winds and water.

Subsidence caused by floods in Yen Bai Province. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Van Thang, head of the office of the Peoples Committee in Hoa Binh, confirmed on Thursday that rescuers have so far recovered six bodies from a landslide in Khanh Village, Tan Lac District.

Initial reports indicated that the mudslide occurred at around 1:00 am Thursday morning, crushing four houses and their 18 occupants.

The situation became even more perilous as rising floodwaters isolated several other residential areas in the province.

The aftermath of a landslide that buried 18 people in Khanh Village in the northern province of Hoa Binh on October 12, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre

In Nghia Lo Commune, Yen Bai Province, flooding on Wednesday morning inundated 24 neighborhoods and villages, washing away 11 homes in the process.

Nguyen Thi Hoan, a resident who lost her home to the disaster, said fast rising water and strong currents left her and her family helpless.

We had no time to react. My oldest son was swept away by the floodwater, Hoan recalled.

An inundated street in Thanh Son Town in the northern province of Phu Tho. Photo: Tuoi Tre

During a meeting on Wednesday evening, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung ordered local authorities to exert their full efforts in locating missing residents, providing assistance for flood victims and evacuating residents in dangerous areas.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong has requested that prompt weather forecasts be made to inform the affected localities of harsh weather and facilitate necessary preparations.

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Problems have once again occurred to two of Vietnams major submarine Internet cables, which had just been repaired last month, resulting in sluggish connection.

The Asia America Gateway (AAG) cable system encountered an issue at around 7:20 am on Thursday, a source close to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper has said.

Initial information showed that the problem was caused by a submarine cable break near Hong Kong.

Earlier on Tuesday, the South-East Asia - Middle East - Western Europe 3 (SMW-3) was also affected by a technical error.

According to a local Internet service provider, the two incidents will slow down the international connectivity of users in central and southern Vietnam.

In late August, problems were reported on three submarine communications cables crucial to Vietnams international connectivity, including the AAG, SMW-3, and Intra-Asia (IA).

The AAG cable system was fixed on September 26, while repairs to the IA system were completed on September 30.

The AAG is a 20,000-km submarine communications cable system connecting Southeast Asia with the U.S. mainland across the Pacific Ocean via Guam and Hawaii.

The US$560 million submarine system strikes land in Vietnam in Vung Tau City in the south, delivering up to two terabits per second.

Meanwhile, the SMW-3 is the worlds longest cable system, which is 39,000 kilometers long, connecting Vietnam and 39 other countries through the landing point in central Da Nang City.

The IA cable system was inaugurated in November 2009 with a total length of 6,800 km, linking Internet users in Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan.

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Production on Season 2 of Netflixs 13 Reasons Why was shut down yesterday due to fires in Vallejo in Northern California.

The unplanned hiatus has been extended for two more days, but filming is due to resume on Sunday

Cast and crew members who wanted to leave have been flown home for the break as a courtesy since many of them reside in the fire zones.

At least 17 people are dead and over 20,000 people had been ordered to leave as entire neighbourhoods have been engulfed, especially in Northern Californias wine country.

Cast members tweeted about the disaster:

Devin Druid:

The NorCal/Bay Area has been my home for almost a year while filming @13ReasonsWhy. My heart goes out to all affected by these awful fires.

Dylan Minnette:

We film 13 Reasons Why in many of the areas in NorCal affected by these devastating fires. Sending love and thoughts to everyone involved.

13 Reasons Why is due to return in 2018.

Source: Deadline, CNN
Disneys Ravens Home, a spin-off to Thats So Raven, has been renewed for a second season.

The series starring original lead Raven-Symone, resumes production in November on new episodes.

The renewal comes as no surprise after 4 million viewers, 1.3 million of them kids 6-11, tuned in to the premiere.

We are incredibly proud of our first season and the fact that Raven has returned home to Disney Channel in a very big way, said Disney Channels Worldwide executive vice president of original programming Adam Bonnett. The entire cast and crew have delivered a classic family sitcom that kids and families will be watching for many years to come.

The series is currently screening in Australia on Disney.

Source: Hollywood Reporter
While Seven goes into early evenings in the drivers seat, thanks to The Chase and Seven News, it is still losing ground in early evenings, notably in the crossfire of The Block vs The Bachelorette.

Nines reno show drew 1.21m, down on last week, and TENs dating series was up at 840,000. That left observational shows The Force and Border Security in fourth place behind ABC, with 502,000 / 496,000 respectively (although both were up on last week). Next week The Grand Tour moves in.

Gruen hit the front from 8:30pm with 838,000, up on last weeks 806,000, with Doctor Doctor, Criminal Minds and The Wrong Girl to follow.

Last episode of Look Me in the Eye was low for SBS at 128,000.

Nine network won Wednesday with 30.6% then Seven 26.4%, TEN 19.6%, ABC 16.9% and SBS 6.5%.

The Block was #1 for Nine wth 1.21m then Nine News (950,000 / 941,000), A Current Affair (817,000), Doctor Doctor (745,000) and Hot Seat (464,000 / 269,000). Embarrassing Bodies was 231,000.

Seven News (971,000 / 957,000) was best for Seven then Home and Away (664,000), The Chase (590,000 / 369,000), The Force (502,000) Border Security (496,000) Criminal Minds (414,000 / 387,000).

The Bachelorette (840,000) led for TEN followed by The Project (553,000 / 340,000), TEN Eyewitness News (458,000), The Wrong Girl (387,000) and Family Feud (322,000). Hawaii Five-0 was 167,000.

Gruen (838,000), ABC News (721,000), Hard Quiz (606,000), 7:30 (528,000), Get Krack!n (348,000), Grand Designs (194,000), Adam Hills: The Last Leg (166,000) and The Edge of the Bush (143,000) comprised ABCs night.

On SBS it was Railways that Built Britain (243,000), Riviera (140,000), SBS World News (132,000) and Look Me In the Eye (128,000).

Shaun the Sheep shut-up multichannel competition with 214,000. New ABC ME show Mustangs FC drew 38,000.

Sunrise: 267,000

Today: 261,000

News Breakfast: 99,000 / 44,000

OzTAM Overnights: Wednesday 11 October 2017
After a broadcasted television address, the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr. Rajoy, has called for the President of Catalonia, Mr. Puigdemont, to reveal explicitly if he is now considering Catalonia as independent territory. Puigdemont's decision will have major consequences, and if the answer is found to be affirmative, Rajoy may implement the legal power of Article 155, which will cease all autonomy of the region and pull it back under Madrid's control. Spain isn't alone in rejecting the vote, however, as the global community makes its stance known.

A legitimate vote?

The referendum was overshadowed by claims of illegitimacy and errors, with the supposed result being a 90 percent backing of independence, with voting numbers failing to reach half of the population. The vote was declared invalid by Spain's Constitutional Court, yet Puigdemont was relentless in his affirmation that they had won the right for independence, directly engaging the global community to request they now support this claim. Unfortunately for Puigdemont, who would become the leading power to one of Spain's most prosperous regions and over 7.5 million citizens, the majority of the world took the side of Madrid. Both Italy and France have been outspoken in their disapproval, with Macron, the French PM, calling out the separatists for having purely selfish motivations driven by economic greed.

The EU has also made it extremely clear that it will not recognise Catalonia, and whilst Rajoy is now seen to be acting cautiously and responsibly, Puigdemont has garnered criticism for being "tricky" and starting social, political, and economic disruption. It seems they may find themselves in the position of Kosovo, who has struggled with worldwide approval of its independence since the 2008 vote.

What is Article 155?

Rajoy's comments came shortly after an emergency meeting held to discuss and plan Madrid's next steps, and attempt to predict the actions of Catalonia's Government. Puigdemont is acting in an unusual way; just as he had the opportunity to declare independence in a "legal" sense, he annoyed many pro-independent voters by his decision to postpone the matter for two weeks in order to start some negotiations with central powers.

These negotiations may not even arise, however, as Rajoy primes Article 155.

He would be the first Prime Minister to conduct such drastic behaviour; 155 stems from the 1978 constitution and would permit Madrid to retake Catalonia, as an autonomous region, if it fails to "fulfil the obligations" it is expected to uphold, or if its behaviour threatens the "general interest of Spain".

It is now up to Puigdemont and his team to respond to the power of central government, and declare whether or not they are acting as an independent state. Whatever the case, the next few weeks will be full of both political and social unease throughout the entirety of Spain, and all the international community can do is simply watch, and wait, for the outcome.
The tide of the total acceptance of Islamic culture that has swept Europe over the last two decades seems to be on the turn. It is not difficult for people who wish to practice islam in an inclusive way that respects the laws and traditions of the countries they are entering. These countries that are often affording great opportunities for Muslims and their families that their country of origin could not provide. The problems present when practices that are not appropriate within the new host countries are demanded as rights.

Troubling practices

In the UK for example, the strict rules that are meant to minimise the horrible suffering animals go through when they are slaughtered seem now not to apply universally, with the growing practice of halal slaughter.

Animals are often not properly stunned during this practice and it is becoming commonplace without large-scale debate in Parliament.

In many areas of the UK and other European countries, some areas are becoming ghettoised Islamic communities with no real integration taking place. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is another area of concern with the practice widely reported as going on but with almost no prosecutions of the perpetrators. A refusal to afford gay or transsexual people equal rights and respect as demanded by law is another concern with open hostility and contempt often directed against them.

No more masking in public, please

The clearest sign that many areas of Europe are now beginning to challenge the compliance to the changes in culture demanded by Islam, is the evident growing willingness to confront the public masking of women through the wearing of niqabs or burkas.

These items cover either the face or the whole body and face. They are not generally thought to be a requirement of Islam and many millions of Islamic women do not wear them, but they do tend to be worn by the more fundamental elements of the religion or are demanded by men in these male-dominated families.

The practice is accepted in the UK, leading to ridiculous scenes at airports and ports with people sweeping past customs in garments where it is impossible to even tell if they are women or men and recently in a trial of three women accused of serious terrorist offences, with the women facing the judge and court wearing more masking than the Lone Ranger.

Denmark will be the latest European country to ban this practice

Masking will no longer be allowed in public spaces but it is far from alone. Bulgaria, Belgium, France and the German state of Bavaria also disallow the practice, with MP's in Holland prohibiting it in government buildings, public transport and schools among other places.

One member of Denmark's Liberals Ellemann-Jensen put it rather well by explaining it is not a ban on religion, it is a ban on masking. In the UK a YouGov survey carried out in 2016 found a significant majority (57%) of people who responded were in favour of the ban coming into force in Britain, but of course the UK government has shown a tendency to ignore the will of the population whenever it can as demonstrated by the ongoing struggle to complete Brexit.

Why might the mistrust of Islam be spreading?

The surge in anti-Islamic parties and individuals through Europe is unmistakable. France and Austria had elections to determine who would lead the countries, with an anti-Islamic candidate proving the most popular two choices in both countries.

Gert Wilders has a lot of support in Holland. Merkel has found in the most recent elections a slump in her own popularity and the right wing obtaining some power in Germany for the first time since the Second World War. The EU's insistence on imposing refugee quotas from Muslim majority countries has led to open rebellion in Hungry, The Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Liberals like to paint this as Islamic hatred and some countries follow their lead. They are wrong and make the problems worse. Other than a few marginalised extremists there is no phobia of Hindu's, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians or Jews (apart from within some hateful swathes of the UK Labour Party). It is not a mindless hatred of anyone that is going on but rather an insistence that anyone entering a country complies with that countries traditions and laws.

It is also common sense and courtesy. It is far easier to give and receive a pleasant greeting and a smile when one person's entire face is not covered with an intimidating black cowl. It removes the barriers to communication and encourages integration which surely has to be good for all of us and something we all want!

Don't they?
In April this year, there was speculation that Theresa Mays government would scrap the 12bn budget for International aid the UK had taken pride in since they met the UN target of 0.7% for ODA (Official Donor Assistance). Even though that speculation was quashed in the same month when Theresa May said the UK will continue to give that aid. Nonetheless, I wish it were true for Ghana that the aid will stop, simply because Ghana does not need it.

Bill Gates thought differently though, urging the UK not to withdraw its promise to foreign aid. He said removing the Foreign Aid would damage the influence the western countries have and risk the saving of lives, especially in Africa.

He also mentioned as an example the impact of foreign aid in helping to eradicate malaria has been immense. While this is true, malaria is the kind of disease that if you have access to good healthcare, you would not die from the disease. Look at private healthcare in Ghana, I have access to it because my parents can afford it and thats why if I get sick with malaria, I will have the right medication and care to ensure I do not die from the disease. However, a child in Bolgatanga; a town in the Upper East region, one of the northern regions of Ghana, may not have access to that medication and care because his/her parents cannot afford it.

The problem here isnt that people are dying of malaria and so we need foreign help, it is the mere fact that people who are poor do not have access to the opportunities that could get rid of their poverty.

So Mr Gates, as much as you say foreign aid saves lives, in Ghana, all our government needs to do is step up its game plan and create opportunities for the people in poverty to be able to contribute to and improve Ghanas socio-economic status. For starters, mosquitoes breed in stagnant waters and contaminated environments - thus, we simply need to clean our environment so that no mosquitoes may breed and therefore would not spread malaria.

A clean environment doesn't require foreign aid. To have a clean environment requires the Ghanaian government to enforce sanitation policies.

Foreign aid can only do so much

Ghana has been receiving aid since the 1960s. It took off as a vibrant middle-income country with a sound economic and infrastructural base right from independence in 1957, but that was short-lived when Dr Kwame Nkrumah was removed from the presidency by means of a coup detat in 1966.

Successful post-colonial Ghana came to a screeching halt, and Ghana began to experience a decline in GDP per income. Between 1966 and 1983, Ghana witnessed seven changes in political leadership and out of those seven, five were military. This is what drew the attention for donor assistance  to salvage the economy from total collapse.

Ghana also attracted donor assistance in the late 1990s. Ghana was beginning to live up to its earned title  a model for Africas development  the country was adamant in the pursuance of democratic governance of which it benefitted from as a result of aid. Although Ghana has been one of the largest beneficiaries of donor assistance, the country is still classified a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) according to the World Bank.

According to a study by Paul Appiah-Konadu, in the African Journal of Economic Review, foreign aid and interest payments have a negative impact on economic growth in Ghana while labour, capital and government expenditure have a positive impact on economic growth and development in Ghana.

African development experts like Dambisa Moyo, disagree with foreign aid in Africa and they do not stand alone. For the whole of Africa, aid has been a hindrance to economic growth of the continent and has created a dependency syndrome  something we do not need yet exists because powerful countries continue to prowl on the natural resources of the developing world to forward their own agendas keeping Africa in the unending cycle of despair.

More so, foreign aid isnt managed well among agencies in Ghana. If donor aid is not properly coordinated, the desired results will not be achieved. In the northern regions of Ghana, there are more than 500 NGOs that claim to provide development assistance. Most of which are improperly managed aggravating the state of economic deprivation and in turn become an administrative burden. Transparency and foreign aid go hand-in-hand. Ghanaian communities do not trust the NGOs operating in their communities without being accountable or transparent.

Poverty is a result of absent opportunities

The primary objectives of ODA to Ghana is to promote Economic Development welfare which is usually assessed by the impact ODA has on economic growth and poverty reduction.

Taking a look at poverty alleviation in Ghana, even though the country has halved extreme poverty already, the lack of effectiveness that donor aid has on Ghana is evident in the recent data on national poverty rate which stands at 24.2% as of 2012 according to the World Bank. The lack of effectiveness can be seen in the disparity between the Northern regions of Ghana and the Southern regions of Ghana. The southern regions of Ghana can be described as wetter, agricultural, and mostly thriving, whereas, the northern regions can be described as drier, more pastoral and economically deprived. This disparity echoes the testament that even though, lots of foreign aid inflows to Ghana, not much is done to attest to that aid, in the areas that need it most.

Poverty in Ghana remains an obstacle. Since foreign aid cannot do much, the government of Ghana has to understand that poverty is of our own making and that poverty exists as a result of absent opportunities. The Ghanaian government has to consider other avenues internally, to solve and rid poverty for good. How? Give the people who are 'poor' a chance. Provide accessible school blocks to children in the northern regions of Ghana and in addition to that, provide a means for which they can have updated school textbooks and accessories. Reduce inequality in these regions by setting up education for girls and information skills for women in those regions. Improve healthcare in the NHIS and continue to subsidise medication for them.

How would they afford the subsidised healthcare? Invest in educating parents/guardians in the informal sector so that they may get the opportunity to learn and earn. How would you teach them to manage their money and consequently contribute to the countrys economic development? Microfinance is the answer.

The government of Ghana has to put in place a system due for success suitable to the needs of the people of the northern regions of Ghana so that they too may enjoy what their country has to offer. This can be done without the need for foreign aid, just re-thinking and managing resources properly, through prioritisation.

Receiving aid in Ghana is detrimental to the country in the long run. It increases external debt which makes the country, prone to becoming an unstable country and does not allow for internal local companies to develop and be of benefit to the nation and contributing to the economic development of Ghana as we wanted in the first place.

This is our woe. The best way forward for Ghana is to invest in nurturing the country to gradually detach herself from dependency on donor aid in hopes of weaning the country off foreign aid. The government must focus on corruption-free havens so that everybody may have an equal share of the national cake and that those at the grassroots may also know what it is like to taste and be the beacon of hope for Africa.
In 378AD, a tribe called the Visigoths settled on the borders of the Roman Empire. The Romans allowed them to settle in Europe en mass and little was known about these people. Rather like the EU's Schengen Agreement, which allows for the free movement of people across EU member states, Rome adopted a similar measure with the Visigoths. That turned out to be a grave error. In 382AD, the Visigoths humiliated Rome and defeated them at the Battle of Adrianople. By 410AD, this tribe had come close to sacking Rome. Emperor Honorius vacated the mighty city and withdrew Roman troops from Britain to defend the capital.

The leader of the Visigoths, Alaric, was forced to abandon his invasion due to ill health, otherwise he would have overthrown the Roman Empire sooner.

Free movement should never have been a founding principle of the Single Market

The Visigoths should have acted as an important lesson for the founders of the EU. When the free movement of people was implemented in the 1950s, the then European Coal and Steel Community only consisted of Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. Free movement made sense then as these six countries could collaborate through trade to recover from the Second World War. As this body expanded into the EEC and now the EU, the free movement of people should have been allowed to be decided by individual member states.

It should never have been a founding principle of the Single Market in 1985.

When the refugee crisis started in 2015, German Chancellor Angela Merkel created an open border policy in Germany and deployed the Schengen Agreement to allow refugees to settle across the continent. This was a profound mistake and showed she learnt nothing from Roman history.

The Visigoths should have reminded her what happens when you allow foreign tribes into your country unchecked. By doing so, Merkel has destroyed both Germany and the EU.

She has weakened her authority

Immigration was a key factor that triggered the Brexit vote last year. The phrase "take back control" chimed with swathes of voters whose communities had been decimated by free movement and the last thing they wanted was more of it being imposed on them by the EU and Ms Merkel.

In 60 years' time, we will witness the true impact of her open border policy, but many of its effects have already been felt. Sweden has been dubbed as the "rape capital" of Europe. Sex attacks have increased in Cologne. The AfD party is now the first far-right movement to break the German political consensus since 1949. And with Brexit set to trigger financial and political turmoil in the EU, this is the beginning of the end of Merkel's federal dream.

Merkel thought she could be the first German leader to dominate the whole continent, but if she also studied the twentieth century, she would've learnt her country always fails to achieve that goal. With the Greens set to disrupt her coalition agreement with the CSU, she has weakened her authority and provided the AfD with motivation to storm upcoming elections. The sad fact is, she is unlikely to be around in the future to witness the significant impact of her failed attempt to transform Europe. Instead, the rest of us will have to pick up the pieces.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been criticised for appointing a foreign policy adviser who designed her open border policy.

Jan Hecker designed the controversial policy in October 2015 when Ms Merkel announced one million migrants would be entering Germany. The former federal judge has been brought onto the Chancellor's team for tough coalition talks this week and next, with immigration being a substantial issue.

Ms Merkel has failed the German people

Mr. Hecker's involvement is likely to be questioned by many of the Chancellor's opponents. Despite reversing her open border policy, her opposition will accuse her of failing to learn from the past after retaining the designer of the damaging measure.

Ms Merkel's Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) party has made strident efforts to avoid being associated with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to avert an electoral meltdown. The latter benefitted from an overwhelming rejection of the Chancellor's refugee policy in the September election. The CDU achieved its worst result since 1949.

The CDU's Bavarian sister party, the CSU, forced the Chancellor into compromising on her open border policy in a bid to strike a coalition deal. CSU leader Horst Seehofer and Ms Merkel agreed to an upper immigration limit of 200,000 new arrivals per year. Strict new criteria would also make it increasingly difficult to settle in Germany.

Many in the German press are sceptical of the proposed coalition.

One journalist suggested that the Chancellor had failed the German people by ignoring the problem of immigration before the AfD had been elected to parliament.

During a joint press conference held by the Chancellor and Mr. Seehofer, where they announced the new immigration policy, Ms Merkel was embarrassed by a reporter, who said her party had suffered massive damages during the election.

He then asked her why she did not reverse this policy before.

The CDU leader responded by saying it was reasonable to ask questions as to why a change of direction was not considered sooner. She said a lot of work has been carried out since October 2015 and it is only possible now to place all the pieces together. She concluded that there is a time to sort out everything.

Mr. Seehofer said a lot has changed since September 2015. He quoted Ms Merkel by saying the refugee policy was the missing piece. He added that the agreement with Turkey, the closing of the Balkan route, the many asylum laws and other factors also contributed towards this policy transformation.

Such a policy agreement should not be reached

Following the agreement between the CSU and the CDU, the latter are set to commence coalition talks with the FDP and the Green Party. The CSU and CDU's previous coalition partners, the Socialist Party, refused to participate in discussions after suffering election losses worse than Ms Merkel's party.

The Greens have expressed their opposition to the new immigration policy.

Green co-leader Cem Ozdemir said such a policy agreement should not be reached, though she said it would not be a barrier to further talks. Instead, she is pushing for quick and fair integration measures and an immigration law with clear rules and criteria.

Bavaria has bore the brunt of the Chancellor's refugee policy, with 890,000 migrants entering Germany via Bavaria in 2015 and 280,000 in 2016. The issue is set to spark arguments between the Greens and the CSU.

We would have liked more wind behind us

Lower Saxony, in north-west Germany, was viewed as a possible gain for the CDU during Sunday's local elections. The centre-right candidate, Bernd Althusmann, was likely to replace the Socialist regional president Stephen Weil.

It appears that the governing party's popularity is in decline. According to German newspaper Der Spiegel, Mr. Althusmann is defending the Government's record.

The CDU candidate said his party would have liked more wind behind them. He admitted the refugee policy was ill-judged and that his values must reflect those of the rest of the population's.
Fashion House Gucci has taken the decision to stop using animal fur in its designs. The decision takes effect next year and means that all products and lines that the Italian fashion giant creates will not contain fur.

The move has come at a time when the fashion industry has found itself under immense pressure to stop the controversial practice. Protests, many of them violent, have been staged around the world against brands that use animal fur.

The Gucci brand has a new creative director, Alessandro Michele, and has enjoyed a significant increase in profits since he started two years ago.

The move towards a non-fur future for the company has been linked to Michele's appointment. The chief executive of Gucci, Marco Bizzarri, spoke to Reuters about the big change and mentioned Michele in his comment. According to Reuters, Bizzarri said: In selecting a new creative director I wanted to find someone who shared a belief in the importance of the same values,.

Gucci is not the first, and will not be the last either

Gucci's decision has been welcomed by the industry, but it is actually behind the times a little with its new attitude towards the use of fur. Other fashion houses and brands, particularly in the online arena, have dismissed fur as an option for their work, and some did this a while ago.

Among the growing number of fashion brands taking a stand against fur is Armani, Stella McCartney and Hugo Boss. Armani is the closest in size and prestige to Gucci though.

Gucci is an iconic brand, and it is arguable that the statement it has made will influence the work of many other fashion houses in the years ahead. It has been met with a positive response from major charities and organisations opposed to the use of fur.

The Humane Society has expressed support for a 'fur-free alliance' among fashion designers and brands. According to BT, it said the Gucci move was a 'game changer', and called it: 'perhaps the biggest fur-free retailer announcement worldwide to date."

Inhumane treatment in the pursuit of fur

There has been widespread condemnation of the treatment of animals by some suppliers to the fashion industry.

The way animals have been treated in breeding farms has caused some considerable concern.

Speaking to Reuters, Simone Pavesi, from the Italian campaign group LAV, said: "As fashion becomes more and more ethical, supply chains that revolve around animals will be a thing of the past.

The Gucci men's range will be the first to be completely fur-free. This is due to be released in Spring and Summer collection of 2018.
It is suspected that the British terror suspect and member of ISIS, Sally Jones, has been killed by a US airstrike along with her 12-year-old son Jojo. The reports are as yet unconfirmed as it is impossible to retrieve DNA samples from the ground after an airstrike, but it is thought that she was fleeing from Raqqa to the IS stronghold of Mayadin when the attack occurred.

The White Widow

Jones was given the nickname after the death of her husband Junaid Hussain in an airstrike in 2015. By that time she was already a high profile member of ISIS and led the highly secretive wing of the Anwar al-Awlaki battalion which is composed solely of foreign fighters for the purpose of planning and executing attacks in the west.She was also responsible for training all the European female recruits or 'muhajirat'.

A prolific user of social media, Jones had up to 20 Twitter accounts which she used to post threats of terror attacks in the UK. The accounts were also used as a recruiting tool for extremists and to provide practical advice on how to travel to Syria and how to make bombs.

As a result of her high profile activities, Sally Jones was placed on a UN sanctions list, including a travel ban and a freeze on assets.

Where it all began

She was born in Greenwich, London and was 19 years old and a single parent living on benefits when she met her future husband Junaid Hussain online and quickly became besotted with him. Hussain, at the time, was a hacker for ISIS and encouraged Jones to leave the UK which she did in 2013, taking her youngest son, Jojo with her.

Propaganda films have since emerged of a young, smiling, blue-eyed child taking part in executions in the name of so-called Islamic State and it is believed that this is Jojo, who may also have died in the attack.

The legacy of Sally Jones

Even though it is as yet unconfirmed, the death of Sally Jones will have little significant impact on the battle with ISIS and the outcome of any struggles.

Her death is more likely to be seen as a symbolic blow as she was seen as a high-profile recruit from the West who had reached such high status within ISIS

Whether her death will be confirmed in the coming months or not, remains to be seen, however, what is definite, is that her presence as a high-level recruiter for ISIS will not be missed in the West. In an interview with The Sun newspaper, a Whitehall source said; "The Americans zapped her trying to get away from Raqqa. Quite frankly, it's good riddance."
The Franklin County, Florida Sheriff's Office arrested Kevin Wyatt, 49, Sunday on five felony charges, including sex trafficking. Wyatt was a fugitive from nearby Gadsden County, where authorities allege he traded sex with an underage girl to dealers in exchange for drugs. The Sex Trafficking took place over a period of more than 13 years, according to probable cause affidavits. This was confirmed in a report by the New York Post.

Wyatt's girlfriend, Celeste Chambers, 36, was arrested several months ago in Gadsden County on charges of sexual battery on a child, lewd or lascivious child molestation, and human trafficking by a parent or legal guardian in connection with the same allegations concerning the underage girl.

Chambers bonded out on that charge and is awaiting a January 2 trial. She was rearrested last week on additional Gadsden County charges, including three counts of sexual assault and one count of cruelty to a child and remains in jail.

Authorities allege Florida couple beat child if she refused to have sex with men

The lengths to which Wyatt and Chambers extended their prostitution of the girl in order to get whatever they wanted at the time were spelled out in probable cause affidavits. The multi-jurisdictional investigation, which began when the girl was able to tell her story to authorities, uncovered evidence indicating that if the girl at any time refused to have sex with the men to whom Wyatt and Chambers were offering her, Wyatt would beat her.

Authorities also allege that Wyatt would sometimes watch as the men had sex with the child.

In addition to drugs, the Florida couple offered the girl's sexual services in exchange for money and fighting chickens, according to the probable cause affidavit. The prostitution of the child began in February 2003 and continued through March 2016, according to Gadsden County authorities.

Teen used by Florida couple in sex trafficking, prostitution, trying to adjust to normal, everyday life

Life has changed for the better for the teenage girl since she came forward to Gadsden County authorities and told the sordid story of what she had been forced to endure for nearly all of her young life. She was immediately removed from the supervision of Chambers and Wyatt and eventually ended up staying with relatives who were unaware of the circumstances of her home life.

Gadsden County authorities say the girl is attending school and doing her best to adjust to living a normal, everyday existence. The Florida Safe Harbor Act, passed by the legislature in 2012, enables law enforcement to deliver minors who are in situations where their home lives present a danger to them to be placed in safe houses on a temporary basis. Before being placed in safe houses or foster homes, the children work with specially trained case managers who help them with their adjustment.
Last week, House Resolution 3956, Simplifying Technical Aspects Regarding Seasonality (STARS) Act was introduced to Congress by Reps. Jim Renacci, Kurt Schrader, Lynn Jenkins and Jim Costa. The Legislation has long been overdue as it addresses the employer mandate provision within the affordable care act. Representative Kurt Schrader made an effort in 2014, along with the above Reps, by introducing STARS Act HR 5213 but the legislation stalled in the House Committee on Ways and Means. Due to the politics of the Affordable Care Act, there are two different definitions of seasonal workers, one created by the Treasury Department and the other created by the Affordable Care Act stature.

Ending the confusion

The proposed bipartisan legislation will end the confusion that has been imposed on employers of seasonal workers by eliminating the ACA definition and adopting the Treasury Departments definition. This will allow the IRS to exclude politics of seasonal employees being defined as "full-time employee." If passed, employers would only be mandated to provide seasonal employees with minimum essential health care coverage. Now, the resolution was again referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means; with hopes that this time partisan politics will not be played and the bill will move quickly and get passed in Congress. Congressman Lynn Jenkins said that small businesses and the agriculture sector deserve clarity and relief from the unnecessary negative impact or penalties of this confusing regulation.

Strong show of support

Today the American Farm Bureau praised the introduction of the STARS Act, as it offers clarification for small and agriculture businesses on the meaning of seasonal worker and seasonal employee. Making it easier to comply with ACA regulations while cutting time and cost in the administrative duty of determining the actual employment size.

It would help employers to focus on growing and investing in their business. American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall dispatch a letter to House members urging them to cosponsor the legislation.

Reps. Jim Renacci said, "Seasonal business owners across the country continue to struggle to meet the conditions of ACA regulations." Being a former small business owner, he knows how hard it is to navigate thru the tax code and the amount of time and money it takes to following confusing rules. This bill will lessen the confusion for seasonal employers.
Donald Trump and the mainstream media have not seen eye to eye for sometime, and the rift between the two has only gotten worse. As the president met with Canadian Prime Minister justin trudeau at the White House, he couldn't help himself by taking another shot at the press.

Trump on media

During the entire year and a half that Donald Trump was running in the 2016 presidential election, he made it clear that he wasn't a fan of the press. Following his shocking upset election win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton last November, the former host of "The Apprentice" doubled down on his attacks on the media, labeling any news story he doesn't agree with as "fake news." On Wednesday morning, Trump singled out NBC News over a report that the president wanted to increase the United States nuclear arsenal, which didn't over well with the White House.

Trump took to Twitter to bash the network, saying that they were "fake news," while threatening to take legal action to revoke their journalism license. As reported by NBC News on October 11, Trump moved forward with his attack.

President Trump: "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write, and people should look into it." pic.twitter.com/gT9FhI94tJ  NBC News (@NBCNews) October 11, 2017

After Donald Trump held a meeting at the White House with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the two took questions from the press inside the Oval Office. Not long after the questions came pouring in, the billionaire real estate mogul ripped into the news media. "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write, and people should look into it," Trump said with Trudeau sitting just a few feet away from him.

Twitter reacts

It didn't take social media users long to react to Donald Trump's remarks, and they did so by sounding off on Twitter. "Pesky first amendment, amirite, Donald? And btw, the media just reports what WH officials tell them, so maybe get your own house in order...," actor George Takei tweeted out.

Pesky first amendment, amirite, Donald? And btw, the media just reports what WH officials tell them, so maybe get your own house in order... https://t.co/xVe0F9voK2  George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 11, 2017

Yep. He wants the USA to be like Putin's Russia (or maybe Stalin's). Or Hitler's Germany. Or Mugabe's Zimbabwe. Maybe even Kim's N. Korea?   Hercule Platini (@de_valida) October 11, 2017

It is frankly disgusting the way the president is able to make up whatever he wants to make up, and people should look into it.  President Jeff (@PresidentJeffPJ) October 11, 2017

"It's frankly disgusting that we have a president who is incapable of telling the truth," one Twitter user wrote.

"It's frankly disgusting to have a president who doesn't believe in free speech, the right to protest, or freedom of the press," another tweet read.

Stop the insanity! He wants to control the press! Just because he says something is fake, doesn't make it so. How much longer???  Tweeter of Snark (@LoveBGees) October 11, 2017

It's frankly disgusting that we have a president who is incapable of telling the truth.  Alan Lobock (@AlanLobock) October 11, 2017

"Christmas gift idea for Mr Trump / a copy of the U.S.

Constitution / I know its only October but hard to buy for someone who has everything," another tweet added. "But YOUR lies are perfectly okay? FOX News is allowed to lie??" an additional tweet asked. As the negative reaction continued, Donald Trump found himself on the receiving end of a virtual beatdown.
Low humidity -- at a level not seen in many years -- coupled with particularly strong winds, could be the reasons behind the California Wildfire. The fire burned down entire neighborhoods in a short span of time in northern california. It seemed to come out of nowhere, leaving hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed in its wake. The fires that started raging on Sunday Night havent died out since.

The possible reasons behind the tragedy

Low single digit humidity levels might have dried out the vegetation completely. Dried shrubbery and grass should have kept the fire going.

Northeastern winds called the Diablo winds or the Santa Ana winds created low pressure around the Great Basin area. This low-pressure region caused particularly fierce winds to flow at great speed toward the dry areas. The fierce winds blew those small flames out of proportion. Fires that would have otherwise been contained in the local area jumped lines and spread further until they gutted a large expanse.

Many dead and hundred others missing

According to official statistics reported by Fox News, around 17 people have been killed, and hundreds injured. 3,200 people have been forced to move to shelters. Winds that generally blow toward the ocean change their direction during early October and November and thats precisely what fueled the fire in this case.

California and surrounding regions have a long history of wildfires with October being the most difficult time of the year, according to a report from the Washington Post. In October 1991, wildfires in the Berkeley hills took the lives of more than 25 people and destroyed almost 3,000 homes and businesses. The fires have resulted in 115,000 acres of land being burned in Northern California.

Napa Valley, famous for its wine saw large-scale damage of crops.

Most likely man-made

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) is of the opinion that its too early to comment on exactly what caused the fire. Barry Biermann, deputy incident commander with CAL said, "The winds were extremely erratic. During those conditions of high winds, it doesn't take much to start a fire." Whats disconcerting is that the fire was most likely man-made.

There was no lightning in that area during the period specified so lightning couldnt have been the ignition factor. The State administration should order a probe into the incident and announce conclusive reasons on what caused this tragedy.
After it was revealed that film producer Harvey Weinstein had been outed for numerous allegations of sexual assault and harassment, the right-wing media was quick to link him back to the Democratic Party. While Weinstein has been a mega-donor for the Democrats, a new report finds that Breitbart's Steve Bannon has his own history with the now disgraced media mogul.

Bannon and Weinstein

It was just last week when the New York Times blew the roof off of Hollywood as it released their exclusive story on Harvey Weinstein, the co-founder of the Weinstein Company and Miramax.

According to the NYT article, Weinstein had been accused of sexual harassment multiple times over the last four decades, while he did his best to keep the allegations quiet by paying off many of the accusers. After the story broke, Weinstein quickly obtained legal counsel, but the damage was already done. Daily since the news hit the wire, high-profiled actresses have come out to confirm the contents of the story, including the likes of Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Rose McGown. The allegations range from harassment to assault, which put enough pressure on the board of the Weinstein Company to fire their co-founder earlier this week. In response, conservative media outlets had a field day with the news as they used it as a talking point against the growing criticism in Hollywood against Donald Trump.

According to the Associated Press on October 11, former White House Chief Strategist and current Executive Chairman of Breitbart News, Steve Bannon, has his own history Weinstein where he was able to make a profit.

Trump adviser Steve Bannon profited from a now-defunct joint venture with The Weinstein Co. about a decade ago. https://t.co/3PWBF5OXSv  The Associated Press (@AP) October 11, 2017

In a report by the Associated Press on Wednesday, Steve Bannon's time in the film industry can be linked back to Harvey Weinstein.

Back in 2005, Bannon was the chairman of Genius Products which distributed DVDs and other home videos. At that time, Bannon linked up with the Weinstein Company, giving Harvey and his brother Bob a 70 percent controlling interests in the company.

Steve Bannon profited from ties to Harvey Weinstein https://t.co/a36ProKghI  CNBC (@CNBC) October 11, 2017

Once both sides came into agreement, Steve Bannon was thrilled with his new partners, saying on a conference call, "We are extremely honored to be in business with the new Weinstein Company," while going on to describe the brothers as two of the "most prolific studio heads in the history of Hollywood." As of press time, Bannon has not responded to the news in question.

The list of women accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual abuse is still growing https://t.co/CaImT9WLhv  Mashable (@mashable) October 11, 2017

Next up

While Steve Bannon's Breitbart has led the anti-Hollywood narrative for sometime, which has only increased in the last week, many have accused him of hypocrisy due to his own ties back to Harvey Weinstein. As each day passes, only time will tell who else will be caught up in the scandal and whether or not they are innocent.
We can never be immune to sadness when one character dies brutally in The Walking Dead. Although he is important to the storyline since the beginning, rumors about Andrew Lincolns Rick Grimes exiting the show are making a lot of fans deeply worried.

Some The Walking Dead Season 8 rumors are quite difficult to debunk, especially if major hints are dropped. In this case, Andrew Lincoln seems to be sending the fandom a message. In an interview with EW, he explains that there are multiple ways on how The Walking Dead will continue.

Andrew Lincoln might not be there until the end of The Walking Dead

I am not saying that the show would ever finish, Lincoln says, but I certainly think that there is an opportunity for the show to change at some point, and I think it should.

The rumor started when the first trailer for season 8 unveiled, during the San Diego Comic-Con. It featured an all-out-war between Ricks team and Negans. At the end of the trailer, a vague moment of peace was there and Rick looked like he was in a hospital bed, suggesting that the first episode of season 8 (also the 100th episode) might proceed to the results of the war.

Whether his character lives or not, the British actor wanted the spotlight to focus on his on-screen son, Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs).

Its beautifully set up for that  for the camera to be certainly [Rick Grimes] story, and then it just shifts off, he said.

Will Andrea ever return to the hit show?

Speaking of the shows death, Remember Andrea? One of the original Atlanta survivors? Well, her character was already killed off in season 3, but in the comics, she definitely did survive past that  she was even romantically linked to Rick!

But of course, some scenes cant be the same when it is written for television.

Laurie Holden recently spoke about her character at a fan convention, saying, I think the whole stuff that they wrote about Andrea and the Governor was complete and utter nonsense. I did the best that I could to tell that narrative and to justify it where Andrea kept her heart, then she added, She died on her own terms.

But I think that there was so much beautiful narrative that was lost.

It seems like the actress did not really expect her death in Season 3. But if she stayed longer in the show, could she survive Negans absolute leadership?

The Walking Dead Season 8 will return with Andrew Lincoln, Chandler Riggs, and Norman Reedus on October 22.
Facebook identified 150 ads bought by Russian-linked accounts on Instagram to interfere in the last year presidential election, Fox News reported. The company has already provided the information of 3000 ads purchased from Russian fake accounts, for which more than $100,000 was spent by the Russian agency to Congress. Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, paying $1 billion in cash and stock.

A statement of Facebook's VP

On Friday, Elliot Schrage, the vice president of Facebook's policy and communication, revealed that about $6,700 was spent on 5% ads purchased from Russian fake accounts on Instagram.

Schrage said that around 10 million people had seen such advertisements, but 25% ads had never appeared in the public, according to BBC.

Earlier, Facebook said that the main aim of the Russian interference was to spread the political and social divisive messages around the U.S. They were focused on such issues as Black Lives Matter, LGBT topics, immigration, and ammunition.

Schrage mentioned in his blog post that 44 percent of the ads were shown before the 2016 Election, and remaining 56 percent appeared after the election. He also added that less than $3 were spent on 50% ads and less than $1000 on 99%.

Facebook's strict changes

Recently, Facebook has done some changes in its advertising programs, adding strict rules in choosing ads destination and other information, especially related to politics and religion.

The company also added that it would hire 1000 employees to review the ads. It announced that many of the ads did not violate its policies. Special counsel Rober Muller is investigating the Russian meddling in the last year US election.

Twitter has also shared the information of similar ads purchased on its network and agreed to testify its evidence in Congressional hearings.

Google, which previously denied Russian interference on its network, recently uncovered the Russian-linked accounts used to purchase ads on its network. Russian agents affected YouTube, Gmail and Google's search advertisements system, according to BBC.

Google said, "We are taking a deeper look to investigate attempts to abuse our systems." The company has also added strict policies on its advertising programs, adding limits on political ads, race, and religion. Senate and the Intelligence House committees invited the three tech giants to testify their information.
China will reinforce regulations to monitor public-private partnership (PPP) projects as part of its efforts to prevent illegal borrowing by local governments, said a senior official with the nation's top economic regulator.

"Strengthened supervision over local governments' financing for PPP projects, which started earlier this year, marks a new starting point (in PPP management)," said Han Zhifeng, deputy head of the fixed-asset investment department of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Such strengthening of supervision will be a long-term measure, he told China Daily. "Local governments should adapt to long-term strengthening of oversight."

Han also said risk control measures will be extended to specific PPP projects in the future. "Control of risks should be improved at an early phase and carried out on a case-by-case basis," he said.

PPP is an effective way to engage in private investment to help local development, but some governments have used the scheme as a disguised way to borrow from the banks, which will add to the already troublesome pile-up of local government debts and increase the country's overall financial risks.

It will become a long-term task to control local governments' debt risks, according to a statement released after the five-yearly National Financial Work Conference held in July.

In June, six top government regulatory bodies co-issued a guideline on ramping up efforts to rein in financial risks in local government financing.

The statement specified that local governments will be prohibited to provide guarantee for securing fixed returns for enterprises and lenders involved in PPP projects.

Local governments are not allowed to shoulder responsibility for reimbursement for PPP projects or use fiscal income to repay debts, according to the statement.

Experts said pushing for a clearer boundary of responsibilities shouldered by local governments at beginning stage will be helpful to curb risks that could arise from PPP projects.

"The PPP contracts should clarify the rights and obligations of local governments and private investors," said Xu Dongsheng, a manager of Beijing Enterprises Water Group. "It should not be mixed up with government guarantee for fixed returns."

"Without clear rules, uncertainties that emerge during implementation of projects will cause disputes," he said.

Clear boundary will also be helpful to boost private sector participation, according to Wei Jianguo, vice-president of China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

Experts said that the country is facing a severe challenge of tackling financial risks as such risks are rising in some areas, such as property market bubble and high debt levels, including local government debts.

China should improve its monetary policy management, squeeze out insolvent enterprises, and strengthen financial regulatory framework to prevent the eruption of systemic financial risks, said Huang Yiping, an economics professor of Peking University and a central bank advisor, in an article of the International Economic Review journal, published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Xin Zhiming contributed to the story.
CAIRO  China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) finalized here on Wednesday a $3 billion deal to build a massive Central Business District (CBD) in Egypt's new administrative capital, some 50 kilometers east of Cairo.

The deal was signed by CSCEC Vice-President Zheng Xuexuan and Egyptian Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly, in the presence of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Song Aiguo.

Under the deal, CSCEC will build the CBD on a total area of about half a square km. The district includes a 345-meter high skyscraper, the would-be highest building in Africa, 12 business complexes, five residential buildings and two hotels.

The whole project is scheduled to be finished within 43 months.

Song told Xinhua during the signing ceremony that the deal is important in three ways.

First, finalizing the deal, whose initial signing was witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Sisi during Xi's first state visit to Egypt in January 2016, manifests the depth of the China-Egypt cooperation.

Second, it is part of the China-Egypt cooperation within the framework of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

Third, the project has symbolic significance as it will be a long-lasting sign of the China-Egypt friendship for next generations to come.

Egypt had previously sought to develop the project with a Dubai real estate company before reaching a deal with the Chinese developer after overcoming all points of disagreement.

China and Egypt enjoy strong and growing ties politically, economically and culturally, as they celebrated the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in 2016, which was marked as the China-Egypt Cultural Year.

The two countries have also raised the level of their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

At Xi's invitation, Sisi visited China in early September to attend the 9th BRICS summit of the economic bloc including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Xi reiterated China's support for Egypt's stability and development, vowing to advance the comprehensive strategic partnership with the Arab country.

Egypt is also a major hub in China's Belt and Road Initiative launched four years ago, which is designed to revive ancient trade routes to link China with a number of countries in Asia, Africa and Europe through trade and infrastructure networks.

The construction of Egypt's new administrative capital is a national mega project that is designed to gradually expand over an area of 700 square km.

With government departments and ministries moving in after its completion, business centers, residential housing, hotels, green spaces and other facilities will also be built, which will provide vast job opportunities.
Naval vessel entered Chinese waters near Xisha Islands without permission

Beijing urged the United States to stop its "wrong behavior" after a US naval vessel was warned away from China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea on Tuesday.

The Chafee, a US guided-missile destroyer, made an unauthorized entry into the nation's territorial waters, the defense and foreign ministries said on Wednesday.

China dispatched a guided-missile frigate, two fighter jets and a helicopter "in an emergency response" and warned the US ship to leave, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

China is "resolutely opposed" to the unauthorized entry, and has lodged "solemn representations" to the US, according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

"The Xisha Islands are China's inherent territory," Hua said.

The Chinese government announced the baseline of the territorial sea off the islands in 1996 under the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone.

"The US military vessel's behavior violated China's law and international law, which severely impaired China's sovereignty and security interests and threatened the safety of the front-line personnel of both sides," Hua said.

China urged the US to respect China's sovereignty and security interests, as well as the efforts that countries in the region have made to maintain peace in the South China Sea, Hua added.

The unauthorized entry, which the Defense Ministry said "will easily trigger accidents", came after another US naval vessel entered China's territorial waters near the islands without the permission in July.

The Chinese military will improve its defense capacities "against the US military's repeated provocations", the Defense Ministry said.

Zhang Junshe, a researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said the unauthorized entry undermines peace in the South China Sea, as well as the international maritime order.

The situation in the sea has been stabilizing as parties involved have agreed to solve disputes peacefully through talks, and the US is being a "troublemaker" by making such unauthorized entries, Zhang said.
FRANKFURT - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron opened the 69th Frankfurt Book Fair on Tuesday evening.

With around 200 French authors coming to Frankfurt, France is this year's guest of honor at the international publishing industry's biggest trade event, where more than 7,300 exhibitors from 102 countries and regions as well as around 278,000 visitors are expected.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Merkel and Macron underlined the close cultural connection of both countries - despite controversies.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron visit the French pavilion at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Frankfurt, Germany, on Tuesday. The event, which runs from Wednesday until Sunday, will feature France as its guest of honour. Ralph Orlowski / Reuters

Both countries saw themselves united in a controversial but always rich interflow in culture, said the German chancellor, whose Christian Democratic Union party won the parliamentary election in September.

"Authors can be creators of ideas and bridge builders," Merkel said, emphasizing the solidarity and friendship between the two countries and the importance of the bilateral cooperation in and for Europe.

It was widely anticipated that the French president would make use of his visit to Frankfurt to speak about the future of Europe, after he had presented in September his receipt for Europe amid mounting populism, calling for closer ties to build joint defense force, common fiscal policy and coordinate efforts to tackle migration crisis and climate change.

"We must not isolate ourselves, in order to protect our values," Macron said in Frankfurt.

Regarding the fair's motto "Frankfurt in French", he spoke highly of the power of diversity in culture and languages, saying that the identity of the language lives amid the confrontation with other languages, "diversity is wealth".

Close connection

The opening of Frankfurt Book Fair by Merkel and Macron was symbol of close connection between the two countries and their commitment to a common and strong Europe, said the fair's director Juergen Boos.

More than 4,000 events are going to take place during this year's book fair, which will open its doors to trade professionals from Wednesday to Sunday and to the public from Friday.

Meanwhile, one of the topics at this year's event is gender issues, with authors tackling what it means to be a boy or girl.

From a transgender teddy bear to a fearless girl pirate, visitors will be faced with a string of books for young readers that defy stereotypes and navigate today's hot-button issues of transsexuality and gender fluidity.

Stories with transgender lead characters in particular have broken one of the last "taboos" left in children's writing, said literary expert Nicola Bardola.

"Some are watching this trend nervously, these kinds of books still make critics uncomfortable," Swiss-born Bardola said, an author himself.

Bardola said stories that turned gender roles on their head had always been around but that such titles tended to peak every few years depending on the zeitgeist.

"Of course you can still find books for girls about ponies and princesses," said German literature critic Ralf Schweikert.

"But if you want to get away from those cliches, there's a lot of good material out there right now."

Xinhua - AFP
COLOMBO - Thousands of commuters were left stranded in Sri Lanka on Thursday as railway unions launched an indefinite strike urging the government to fulfill their demands.

The unexpected strike was launched late on Wednesday evening, at a peak rush hour, leading to the cancellation of all trains throughout the island.

A tense situation erupted at the Fort Railway Station in capital Colombo on Wednesday when passengers were informed that trains had been cancelled.

The angry passengers launched a protest of their own against the railway unions, resulting in special police teams being deployed to calm the situation.

The Railway Unions launched the strike alleging that a group of junior train drivers, who were still under training, had been appointed by breaching the normal recruitment procedures.

The unions urged the government to look into the matter and revise the recruitment procedure of trainee.

Thousands of commuters who arrived at the railway stations on Thursday morning were left stranded.

Groups were seen get onto special buses. Special luxury buses had also been parked outside the stations to transport passengers to the north and south.

The strike caused severe traffic jams in Colombo and its outskirts as additional buses were deployed by the Transport Ministry.
The boyfriend of missing scholar Zhang Yingying and her father leave the federal courthouse in Urbana, Illinois on Wednesday. ZHANG RUINAN / CHINA DAILY

The suspect charged with kidnapping resulting in the death of missing Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying pleaded not guilty in federal court on Wednesday.

The grand jury had returned a new indictment on Oct 3 that charged Brendt Christensen, 28, with kidnapping resulting in death, and of lying to federal agents.

Zhang's mother, who traveled to the United States from China, was in the courtroom for Wednesday's hearing. Upon seeing Christensen, Ye Lifeng burst into tears and screamed in Mandarin, "Give me my daughter back!" at the defendant in the courtroom.

It was the first time Zhang's mother saw Christensen face to face, and it was too much for her to handle. She was helped out of the courtroom before the eight-minute arraignment.

The new indictment alleges that Christensen intentionally killed the 26-year-old woman in "an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse" and that her death occurred "after substantial planning and premeditation". Zhang has been presumed dead by authorities.

Christensen was initially charged with Zhang's kidnapping and pleaded not guilty to that charge in July.

The prosecutors said Christensen faces the death penalty or mandatory life in prison if he's convicted of kidnapping resulting in death, and if he is convicted on the false statement charges, he could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

The new indictment also said Christensen told FBI agents that he stayed at his apartment, slept and played video games all day on June 9. The indictment said that was a lie and that he had picked up Zhang as she waited for a bus in Urbana.

The decision on whether to seek the death penalty will be up to US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Magistrate Judge Eric Long said the trial date would remain Feb 27, as previously scheduled.

Christensen has been held in the Macon County Jail in Illinois since he was arrested on June 30. Christensen told the judge he was taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication when asked if he was taking any medication while in federal custody at the jail.

Wang Zhidong, the lawyer representing Zhang's family, said he was not surprised by Christensen's decision to plead not guilty.

Wang said he and the family have talked with the prosecutors, and the prosecutors were "very confident" of the evidence they've found related to the charges.

"The family said they were extremely pained and saddened, and every day for them is more like a year," said Wang.

"The FBI said they are still trying and would never give up searching," Wang added.

Reuters contributed to this story.

ruinanzhang@chinadailyusa.com
Jessica Beinecke, whose Weibo livestream from New York in Mandarin has many Chinese fans. JUDY ZHU / CHINA DAILY

Jessica Beinecke walks the streets of Manhattan, saying ni hao to thousands of people while livestreaming on Weibo.

"Hey guys! Good morning and good evening no matter where you are! Today, let me show you how to order a flat white (a less-foamy cappuccino)," Beinecke said in her energetic voice.

The blonde thirtyish lady speaks fluent Mandarin and holds up a selfie stick as she interacts with thousands of Chinese fans on screen.

Known in China as Bai Jie, Beinecke became an online celebrity thanks to her series of instructional English slang videos for Chinese millennials and later expanded her repertoire with Crazy Fresh Chinese for Mandarin learners. She has had a live broadcast for a year.

She posts her one- to three-minute videos on Weibo, where she has more than 400,000 followers. For each episode, she shifts through American lingo, introducing expressions and explaining their meanings in Chinese in her signature peppy, comical style.

Her content, which she usually films on her smartphone, has been viewed more than 100 million times this year.

For the Ohio University journalism graduate and Middlebury College graduate degree holder, it began with her journey to study in China in 2007.

"China feels like a second home to me for the friends that I made from the very first teachers to inspire me to learn Chinese and to the first roommates that I had in Beijing and Hangzhou," she said.

"When I started my business I wanted to create content that will help young Chinese people understand what it is like to live in America, be that friend who helps them realize their dream of learning conversational English and learning cultures outside of China."

Last year, Beinecke was invited to conduct a 30-minute speech in Chinese at Alibaba's first global philanthropy conference, to advocate for the deeper development of a culture of private philanthropy in China.

In 2015, Beinecke was named to Foreign Policy's Pacific Power Index as one of the 50 people shaping the future of the US-China relationship, "for taking American culture and language viral on the Chinese web. ... Beinecke has harnessed the power of social media to teach English - and Chinese - to countless eager language-learners."

Sitting at her apartment in midtown Manhattan, coincidentally across the street from a Chinese bubble tea shop, Beinecke talked about her ties to China.

"Behind me are paintings that I purchased when I was in Beijing. They are hutong doors. Every day it reminds me of my zhong guo jia ren (Chinese families)," she said.

"Just the fact that a girl from a small town in Ohio can have any kind of impact on the world's top two economies still blows my mind.

"I believe that people-to-people exchange will always be one of the top factors impacting the US-China relationship," Beinecke said.

judyzhu@chinadailyusa.com
US bombers fly over area as situation remains 'highly complex and delicate'

Beijing has again called for restraint on all parties involved in the nuclear tension on the Korean Peninsula, after the US military flew two strategic bombers over the area in a show of force late on Tuesday.

The US bombers had taken off from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, and it was the first time US bombers have conducted training with fighters from both Japan and South Korea at night, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

"The current situation on the Korean Peninsula remains highly complex and delicate," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing on Wednesday.

"We hope all the relevant parties can remain restrained and avoid taking actions to provoke each other and aggravate antagonism and tension."

Hua also said Beijing and Moscow conducted a consultation on the security situation in Northeast Asia on Tuesday, in which the two sides expressed "high concern".

"Both of them believe that all the relevant parties should remain restrained, refrain from actions that may escalate tensions and faithfully uphold peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region," the spokeswoman said.

Moreover, the two sides reiterated the opposition to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in the Republic of Korea by the US and the ROK, she said.

The latest US military action took place as US President Donald Trump met members of his national security team early Tuesday for a briefing and discussion that "focused on a range of options" to respond to threats from the DPRK, according to a statement of the White House.

In another development, US Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan will travel to Tokyo and Seoul for a trilateral meeting on Oct 18 that will focus on "strategic coordination related to the urgent threat from DPRK's advancing nuclear weapons program", the Department of State said in a release on Wednesday.

"We don't know if the North Koreans will eventually be prepared to accept meaningful limits on their nuclear program," Robert Einhorn and Michael E. O'Hanlon, two senior fellows with the Brookings Institutions, said in a recent article.

"The only way to find out is to sit down with them at the negotiating table," they said.

In addition to intensifying international pressures, getting them back to the table will also require finding a formula for initiating talks that "addresses DPRK concerns while protecting US and allied security", they said.

The US president tweeted on Monday, "Our country has been unsuccessfully dealing with North Korea for 25 years, giving billions of dollars & getting nothing. Policy didn't work!"

On Saturday, he tweeted how negotiations have failed for 25 years and said "only one thing will work" with Pyongyang, remarks that some analysts said hinted that military action was on his mind, according to newswire reports.

In commenting on the tweets, Hua said, "We hope that various parties can strictly observe and implement the UN Security Council resolutions, refrain from provoking each other and aggravating the contradiction, exercise restraint and caution to ease the tension."

huanxinzhao@chinadailyusa.com
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner shakes hands with Hu Hao, ICBC senior executive vice-president, as he welcomes ICBC's first office in Houston on Tuesday. MAY ZHOU / CHINA DAILY

Amid an ice sculpture of the company logo and indoor fireworks, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China's largest bank, opened its first bank in Houston on Tuesday.

ICBC is the first Chinese bank in Houston, the US' fourth largest city, and in the southern US.

The Houston office is another addition for ICBC to the branches and offices it has in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. Globally, ICBC has established institutions in 44 countries and regions and it indirectly covers 20 African countries as a shareholder of Standard Bank Group.

Texas is home to more than 100 Chinese enterprises, and more than $7 billion has been invested by Chinese companies in the state since 2000. The ICBC Houston business center will provide corporate lending, real estate lending, cash management and credit-card financial services.

"As the first Chinese bank in Houston, ICBC will not only focus on Houston, but also serve the Texas market. ICBC plans to further localize our service, and increase cooperation with local financial institutions. We aim to bring comprehensive, high-quality and professional financial services to corporate and individual clients," said Hu Hao, ICBC senior executive vice-president.

He said that ICBC always looks at the US as one of the key strategic markets for its overseas development and first established ICBC's New York representative office in 1997.

"With total assets of $69.3 billion, the institutions have contributed to local communities by creating more than 500 jobs and paying a total of $312 million in taxes in the past decade, including more than $100 million in 2016 alone," said Hu.

ICBC's presence was welcomed by more than 100 local business and political leaders, including Consul General of China Li Qiangmin, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, state Representative Gene Wu and Greater Houston Partnership President Bob Harvey.

"As the mayor of the city, I want to thank you for opening an office in Houston. Being the largest bank in the world, it's no question that ICBC has significant impact around the globe.

"You have come to a city still relatively young and developing. As the largest bank in the world, you have come to Houston, which represents the future of the US," said Turner, who also proclaimed Tuesday "ICBC Day" and presented the proclamation to Hu.

Turner said Houston is working to forge closer relationships with China.

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com
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HA TINH  Central Ha Tinh Province approved in principle 76 projects over the past nine months, including three foreign-invested projects, with combined investment capital of over US$330 million, local authorities said.

Among these projects is a $55.3 million-maritime tourism complex, developed by An Giang Dragon Ha Tinh Co; a $54 million hotel and trade centre complex, financed by Viet Trung Investment Co; and another eco-tourism project, valued at $13.4 million.

So far, the province is home to 740 projects, capitalised at $4.38 billion. Of them, 69 were financed by foreign investors from 15 countries and territories with capital totaling more than $11.63 billion.

Japan, South Korea, Brunei and Australia, as well as the US, Thailand, Philippines and Laos, along with Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong, are the provinces leading sources of foreign investment.

Under this years investment promotion programme, the province plans to lure potential investors from Japan, South Korea and Germany with the help of those currently investing in the province.

The province is calling for investment in hi-tech farming, support industries, tourism and services, as well as high-quality personnel training projects and waste and wastewater treatment projects.

The Thien Cam and Xuan Thanh tourism sites and Ke Go Lake eco-tourism spot are also seeking foreign investment.

To attract more investors, the province will continue to speed up administrative reform, perfect infrastructure facilities, accelerate land clearance and foster investment promotion activities.

Provincial authorities will also hold dialogues with entrepreneurs and investors in the locality to get recommendations and help resolve problems.  VNS
HCM CITYVietjet on Thursday announces its two-phase interline partnership with Doha-based Qatar Airways.

Accordingly, the first phase, which came into effect in September, enables Qatar Airways passengers to travel to and from destinations in Viet Nam and Taiwan served directly by Vietjet.

The next phase will soon allow Vietjet passengers to fly to more than 150 points around the world on Qatar Airways using a single reservation across both airlines networks.

We are delighted to welcome Vietjet to our growing roster of interline partners as it allows us to provide a more seamless experience for our passengers, Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar Al Baker said.

He said the agreement with Vietjet will offer passengers even more choice, providing them an easy connection in HCM City or Ha Noi before transferring to their Qatar Airways flights.

This partnership is a pillar of Vietjets strategy to diversify our services, aimed at offering our passengers travel opportunities to points over the world. We will continue to partner with other airlines based on advanced technology platforms to better benefit our passengers, Vietjet vice president Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh said.

Qatar Airways is commencing two non-stop operations connecting Ha Noi and HCM City with Doha, with two daily flights and 10 weekly flights, respectively.

Previously, Vietjet and Japan Airlines agreed on an interline agreement for their flights between Japan and Viet Nam, their domestic services and their flights between Viet Nam and other Asian countries.

The two carriers also committed to co-operate in various areas, including a frequent flier partnership, aircraft operations and maintenance, and ground handling services and training.  VNS
HUNG YEN  Authorities of Hung Yen will continue to create favourable conditions for enterprises production and business activities to ensure high efficiency and sustainable development in business.

Chairman of the Peoples Committee of the northern province of Hung Yen Nguyen Van Phong said this at a meeting held on October 10 between provincial authorities and more than 300 entrepreneurs in Hung Yen Province on Viet Nam Business Day.

At the meeting, Nguyen Xuan Duong, chairman of the Hung Yen Business Association, said enterprises in the province have made important contributions towards improving economic structure and development of the province.

Tran Quoc Van, director of the Hung Yen Department of Planning and Investment, said to support and develop the business and improve the business environment, the provincial authorities have directed departments and agencies to regularly review and simplify administrative procedures, reducing time to process these procedures for people and enterprises.

As a result, time was reduced by 50-60 per cent for handling administrative procedures and by 30 per cent for solving administrative procedures in the land and environmental protection areas. Departments and local authorities are continuing to implement programmes on supporting enterprises.

Meanwhile, Phong highly appreciated efforts of local enterprises in renovating management method and technology, raising the efficiency of operation, obeying regulations, fulfilling financial obligations and actively participating in social security activities.

He said that with regard to the proposals of the business community, Hung Yen Peoples Committee has asked the departments and localities to receive proposals from businesses and come up with solutions to support them. They should hold dialogues to get information and remove difficulties of enterprises, along with proposing policy changes to central State offices.

For enterprises, Phong said they should speed up the construction of approved projects, use land economically and effectively, and realising commitments on environmental protection.

Enterprises should also enhance further renovation of technology to increase productivity and reduce production costs, he said.

Investment up

In another development, the northern province of Hung Yen attracted 182 investment projects in the first nine months of 2017, up 44 per cent year-on-year, according to local authorities.

During the period, registered capital of domestic and foreign projects reached more than VN12 trillion (US$528.12 million) and more than $145 million, respectively.

The province is currently home to 1,619 projects, with total registered capital exceeding $8.44 billion.  VNS
HA NOI  VNPT EPAY and Woori Bank Viet Nam signed a co-operation agreement on online payment services on Wednesday. The two sides committed to priotising each others services to create convinient products for their customers.

In particular, the two sides will co-operate in providing electronic wallets, collection and payment assitance and an online payment portal.

Chau Nguyen Anh, director of VNPT EPAY, said the agreement marks a new direction for cooperation between international banks and local payment companies, with the goal of expanding the scale and geographic boundaries of payment, targeting users in different territories.

VNPT EPAY is one of the market leaders in payment portal platforms for online services and e-commerce partners. With 10 years experience in the field of electronic payment, VNPT EPAY has served more than 1 million customers, 400 connected partners and more than 2,000 payment acceptance points.

Woori Bank Viet Nam is a South Korea bank aiming to become the leading foreign banking system in Viet Nam.  VNS
The Saigon Classical Music Group will host a Classical Favourites II concert on October 20 at Morico in HCM City.

The group will perform 14 of their favourite pieces, including those by Chopin, Mozart, Haydn and Ravel. Chopins Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 and Haydns Sonata in E-flat major will be featured.

The performers will include pianists ang Tri Dung and oan Tran Thuy Tien, and violinists Lam Hoai Bao and Pham Nguyen Hoai Thao.

The event will begin at 7pm at 11 Mac inh Chi Street in District 1. Tickets are VN350,000 and available at www.ticketbox.vn.  VNS
HA NOI  A European language festival in Ha Noi will allow visitors to learn English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish and learn about the diversity of the continent.

The European Day of Languages will be held on October 21 by the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) members including the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Wallonia in Belgium themed Internationalisation: Challenges and Opportunities for School in Viet Nam.

The festival consists of two parts. In the morning representatives of the six organising EUNIC institutions and the Ministry of Education and Training will highlight opportunities and challenges for schools in Viet Nam to enhance international contact.

The morning session provides a fantastic opportunity for up to 120 experts on teaching foreign languages, lecturers and teachers to listen to talks by international speakers.

The representatives, lecturers and teachers will also present and discuss their experiences.

In the afternoon, the festival will open to anyone interested in European languages. Students, parents and anyone interested in languages and culture will be able to learn new languages in classrooms through games. Trial classes will be offered to enable participants to learn some words in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Additionally, model lessons and information on the participating countries will be offered, focusing on their languages and cultures.

Speak-dating will also be at the festival - a format to get in touch with different languages quickly. Four short films will be shown featuring the countries, landscapes, cuisines and peoples of Italy, Brussels, Spain and Germany.

There will also be a quiz offering prizes, including scholarships for intensive language courses, t-shirts, caps, books, and much more.

The seventh European Day of Languages offers unique exchange opportunities for all those interested in language, culture, international exchange and experience.

"The theme this year is not quite new but it is a trend meeting the demand of foreign language studying," said Wilfried Eckstein, director of Goethe Institute which hosts the event.

"Through the day all organising members wish to have more friends and counterparts as well. Languages help to connect Vietnamese young people with the world."

No registration is required for the afternoon portion of the festival, with entrance to all events free.  VNS
A swirl: Ursula Lopez performs flamenco.Photos Courtesy of the Embassy of Spain

To mark the National Day of the Kingdom of Spain on October 12, Viet Nam News presents an article written by the Ambassador of Spain to Viet Nam, Maria Jesus Figa Lopez-Palop.

The commemoration of national days, a common practice throughout the world, has as its main goal the formal remembrance of historical events that belong to the common heritage of its citizens.

In the case of Spain, October 12, signals the day Christopher Columbus, in 1492, discovered America. This date has a special place in Spanish history, and it has since been strongly linked to that of the new American continent.

Indeed, October 12 is also a date celebrated under different names in many countries of America. And, since 2010, it is also the Day of Spanish Language following a decision by the United Nations to honour the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the world. So today, being proud to belong to a Spanish community that is increasing its international influence in social, cultural and economic terms, we celebrate several things.

These last few years have not been easy for my country. With the significant effort of Spanish citizens, the hard economic crisis we have been going through has been overcome, and Spain is now a European country that is growing faster, while unemployment figures, one of our biggest challenges, are falling significantly. Thanks to our export sector, the strength of our companies in a highly internationalised economy and tourism, Spain is today an attractive brand.

These days, Spain is experiencing challenging times. The Catalan Government is deliberately violating Spains Constitution and Catalonias Statute of Autonomy. The State has legitimate powers to ensure the constitutional order and defend the majority of Catalan citizens who dont sanction the irresponsible conduct of secessionists. The Spanish Government is determined to maintain the unity of Spain and the rights of all its citizens. Democracy is based on law, and democratic principles and the rule of law are strong and solid in my country.

The Spanish people, who are experiencing recent events with a combination of unease and sadness, have confidence in overcoming this difficult moment.

In the realm of Spain and Viet Nam relations, we are celebrating the fortieth anniversary of diplomatic ties. This offers us a magnificent opportunity to take a leap forward in our bilateral relationship.

Throughout our long relationship, Spain has been committed to the development and welfare of Viet Nam, granting more than 221 million Euros in terms of Official Aid.

Symbol: Logo celebrates the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Spain and Viet Nam.

The impressive results in reducing poverty of Viet Nam within the framework of its rapid economic and social development, have deeply transformed the dynamics of cooperation. This calls for a search for new and more effective modalities based on a broader and more active participation of the private sector.

In this endeavor, Spain has a lot to offer as the fourth largest economy in the Eurozone and thirteenth worldwide in terms of GDP.

Some of our leading companies are present in Viet Nam and the figures of bilateral trade are positive. Viet Nam is our first trade partner among ASEAN nations.

The presence of Spanish companies in the energy sector of Viet Nam is particularly significant and we hope for the success of joint-venture projects, which will surely open new spaces for other Spanish investments.

We are convinced that the right application of a Free Trade Agreement will render great benefit to both sides. We must work together in to facilitate the right conditions and surmount obstacles to this win-win agreement.

Cultural and social links among both peoples are of paramount importance. Let me invite you to join us in the celebrations of Spanish-Vietnamese cultural cooperation at a Film Festival in Ha Noi on Tuesday, October 17 - and a flamenco show on November 6.

On this particular and special October 12, I want to convey a special greeting to all Spanish people living in Viet Nam.

To all of them, as well as to all genuine friends of Spain in Viet Nam, I sincerely wish you a FelizDia de la Hispanidad.  VNS
Prof., Dr. Bui Chi Buu, former director of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences for Southern Viet Nam, speaks to Viet Nam News about the agricultural challenges facing the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta and measures to cope with them.

What challenges does agriculture in the Mekong Delta face today?

There are three major challenges for agricultural production in the Mekong Delta now.

The first is small scale of production as a result of which farmers have disadvantages.

Secondly, climate change is becoming more severe, with saline intrusion and drought becoming more serious in the dry season and rainfall being extremely abnormal.

Thirdly, we are in the process of economic integration with many countries. And during the integration process, if we do not prepare well, our farmers will suffer a lot.

How can we address these challenges to ensure stable production and thus food security?

For these three challenges we have three solutions to take note of.

The first is reorganisation of agriculture in the direction of co-operation, with farmers having to co-operate with each other first and then with businesses.

We have a very important document  the Co-operative Law No 23/2012 (which specifies the establishment and organisation and operation of co-operatives and co-operative unions). If we actively deploy this, we can bring farmers together.

In the delta, farmers have mobilised but into production groups and groups in which members contribute funds to do business with each other, but they are still at a very small scale. The relationship between farmers and businesses is hard to explain because contracts are casually cancelled if prices change and benefit either side.

Reorganising production will help fully resolve many problems from inputs to processing and consumption and helping cut production costs.

The second solution, in the face of such severe climate change, is the immediate use of bio-technology. Using traditional methods to create new rice varieties will take a long time, say 10 years or more.

But if we use bio-technology, the time needed for the task can be reduced by two or three times. And with bio-technology, we can create new varieties that are resistant to drought, saline intrusion, flooding, and even heat.

The third solution is to enhance international linkages, especially with ASEAN [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] and APEC [the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation] members.

Economic integration will offer great opportunities for us. Opportunities come but we have to be proactive. If we do not take the initiative, do not prepare the legal framework and technical barriers, we will face disadvantages.

These alliances offer opportunities for us on the condition that we are very active, alert, smart in our policies.

As you said, bio-technology is very important for creating new varieties of rice and other crops. What is the status of bio-technology in Viet Nam?

Viet Nam as well as the rest of the world is facing energy and food crises. Many measures have been suggested to address them, including a second green revolution through the use of bio-technology.

Viet Nam has been involved in bio-technology since 1995, with sponsorship from the Rockefeller Foundation for human resource training. From 1995 to 2005, we have enough personnel capable of undertaking key tasks in the countrys bio-technology development.

In human resources training, we have moved to the second phase targeting quick access to new technologies, including research into the genomes of major plants such as rice, corn, soybean, and sugarcane besides poultry and pigs.

We have made great use of [technology] to create new rice varieties with the help of molecular markers that mark salinity/drought tolerance genes and other specific traits.

We know very well how to create genome maps and maps for hybrids. So far 10 rice strains have been developed this way. It was the same for corn and soybean.

We have laws that allow cultivation of genetically-modified crops as well as for ensuring bio-safety, bio-diversity, and careful studies of risks in genetically modified crops [before allowing them to enter the market].

The Government has allowed the cultivation of GMO corn and soya. Of these, six GMO corn events have been approved for food and animal feed and have a total cultivation area of around 5,000ha, and this area expected to expand in future.

We send many doctoral and post-doctoral students to learn epigenetics and gene-modifying technologies to create complete plant varieties with targeted traits.

At present we are very focused on nutritional quality to add more value.  VNS
HCM CITY  Violations of construction regulations have been increasing in HCM City despite sanctions imposed by the city, according to the citys Department of Constructions inspection division.

In the first nine months of the year, the number of unlicensed construction works rose by nearly 36 per cent, while the number of projects with different construction permits increased by 11 per cent compared to the same period last year.

To better manage the situation, the construction department has proposed transferring the construction inspection team management to district authorities.

Inadequate sanctions

Public opinion has recently been focused on the construction violation in Thu uc Districts Hiep Binh Chanh Ward, where construction of 44 boarding rooms was suspended.

The rooms were built without any construction permits. Despite the suspension of these works by the Construction Inspection Division of Binh Thanh District in November 2015, these boarding rooms were completed and rented.

It was not until August 2017 that these construction works were coercively removed and the late removal of these illegally built works angered residents in the area.

The late removals were caused by a variety of reasons, including inadequate work of the inspection teams and poor co-operation between the inspection forces and authorities of districts and wards in HCM City.

A spokesman for the District 9 Peoples Committee said that District 9 had seen many illegal construction works in the past few years because of rapid urbanisation, with a population increase of 17,000 people (which is the average population of a ward in HCM City) per year.

The area, which is located near schools and factories employing large numbers of labourers, has a high demand for accommodations.

Previously, the construction inspection teams at the ward level included an official in charge of land registration and another for construction as well as two to three building inspectors.

The construction inspection teams only reported violations to district authorities. This made the removal of illegally built works more difficult because district authorities considered documents related to the illegal works only after construction had been completed.

Solutions

The District 9 Peoples Committee has asked for permission from the city to set up special teams that would include the chairmen of wards peoples committees as heads of the teams that review unlicensed construction works in each ward.

Meanwhile, Nha Be District authorities have asked the Department of Construction to urge the municipal Peoples Committee to amend regulations on cooperative construction management because the rules are confusing and overlapping.

Tran Trong Tuan, director of the citys construction department, said a decision issued by the city government in 2013, for example, required the Peoples Committee of each ward to be responsible for inspecting, discovering and treating illegal construction works.

He said the decision also specified that inspectors from the citys Construction Department were responsible for inspecting and treating works that have different construction permits.

The construction inspection teams work under the construction department, not under district authorities.

Tuan said this had made management of construction projects in wards difficult, and he asked appropriate agencies to send building inspectors to districts where they could be more effective at the grassroots level.  VNS
Starting in 2002 by breeding 2,000 hens, Nguyen Thi Theu, a woman from northern Vinh Phuc Province, now earns about VN5 billion (US$224,000) a year and creates job for dozens of workers.  Photo danviet.vn

by Viet Tung

VINH PHUC  Starting in 2002 by breeding 2,000 hens, Nguyen Thi Theu, a woman from northern Vinh Phuc Province, now earns about VN5 billion (US$224,000) a year and creates job for dozens of workers.

The farm, located on a hill separated from residential areas, at present has 100,000 chickens.

At the farm gate, is a well-designed disinfection system. The gatekeeper, a woman, said the owner was voted as an outstanding national farmer this year and was preparing to go to Ha Noi to receive the award.

The gatekeeper used disinfectant to spray any visitor and his/her vehicle before letting him/her to step into the farm. In the livestock sector, disease prevention is now seen as better than cure.

Disinfection is part of the regulations. Anyone who wants to visit must go through the disinfection room, said the gatekeeper.

Theu, born in Binh inh Commune, Yen Lac District, said that Kim Long Commune, where her farm was located, was the hub of the provincial poultry industry.

According to her, in 1998, her family faced many difficulties caused by the small scale of operations.

Theu and her husband left their homeland in Binh inh Commune and went to Kim Long Commune to rent a land plot for farming.

At first, her family rented a 10ha hill for breeding poultry. But soon she was able to buy the whole piece of land.

In the initial period, capital was limited and my family only bred 2,000 hens," she said.

Over the years, the farm has increased its stock to 50,000 hens, she said.

The farms scale was developing well until authorities in Vinh Phuc Province decided to build Tam Duong Industrial Park and her farms land was needed for the project.

Urgently, she had to seek land to re-establish the farm. After negotiations with Tam Duong District authorities, she rented an 8ha-hill, about 1km from the old farm.

My family again began excavating a site on the hill to build a new farm. At first, we built four breeding areas designed to hold 10,000 hens each.

The hill was separate from the residential area, so outbreaks of poultry disease were kept at bay.

Each year, the breeding area was expanded and now, the farm has a total of 22 blocks, holding a total of 50,000 hens.

Theu said her family built the poultry breeding farm following a German model. Everything from the cooling system, fan, to the water filtration was in accordance with German standards.

She said that many poultry breeders didnt see the importance of clean feed and water and sanitation facilities. That is wrong. Good food and clean water will affect the quality of chickens or any other animal.

At the farm, water for breeding chickens passes through a German standard filter system. As a result, chickens are rarely affected by disease. We save a lot from medicine costs - and poultry avoid the risk of disease.

Theu has experienced difficult days. Before 2002, the family lost money by breeding poultry and growing fruit trees ineffectively but then decided to buy 2,000 baby yellow-breasted chickens.

No raising techniques were supplied, so she had to read poultry books for more information. I was lucky to learn how to grow chickens fast and healthy, she said But a H5N1 flu pandemic killed the whole herd in 2004.

All her efforts ended up buried in lime pits. Her spirit collapsed but then her husband motivated her to carry on.

The most importance is to know the techniques and strict measures on disease prevention, Theus husband said.

A bit sad at remembering the past, her face brightened up when she thought of the present, showing me a newly-built house and a five-seat car, all bought from chicken breeding.

To expand the business, in 2014 her family set up a poultry and aquaculture co-operative.

According to Theu, after 19 years, she decided to leave her homeland and set up business on new land in the provinces Kim Long Commune at a cost of VN50 billion.

The new farm provided about 50,000 chickens and 10,000 eggs per month. It also creates jobs to 66 labourers with wages from VN4 million to VN6 million, and four agricultural engineers on salaries of VN10-12 million a month.

Not only has Theu enriched her own family, she is now selling baby chickens to local households on a pay later basis.

As a result, many families have escaped from poverty and are on the way to enriching their lives.

Additionally, Theus family is enthusiastic about taking part in community activities in the district, such as assisting poor and underprivileged families, creating a study encouragement fund for children, donating up tens of million ong.

In recent years, the farm has become a familiar ddress not only for farmers in Tam Duong District, but also in northern provinces of Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Tuyen Quang.

After failure and success, Theu draw from her experiences. When we do a job, we must put prestige on the top.

Sharing her future plans, she said her family planned to expand domestic-breed chickens, such as the ong Tao from Hung Yen Province, Mong from Ha Nam Province and Yen The from Bac Giang Province to provide baby-chicken sources for farmers.

Providing good baby chicken at affordable price helps farmers get their business grow, she said simply.-- VNS
CUU LONG (MEKONG) DELTA -- Ground was officially broken in Can Tho for a 500-bed oncology hospital, to be the biggest and most modern in the Mekong Delta yesterday.

Construction had in fact begun last year.

It is being built on a nearly 45,000sq.m area on Nguyen Van Cu Street in Ninh Kieu District at a cost of VN1.73 trillion (over US$Eur70.5 million) with funding from ODA loans provided by the Hungarian Government.

The hospital will have advanced equipment for cancer treatment, research and training.

It is expected to become a leading centre for research and treatment of cancer, and will treat the increasing number of cancer patients in the region, according to the Can Tho Department of Health.

Its tariffs would be reasonable and correspond to the economic status of the region, the department said.

Bui Thi Le Phi, director of the department, said contractors have been identified for eight of the 12 packages of the hospital project.

Speaking at the ground-breaking, Bus Szilveszter, Hungarys deputy minister of state, ministry of economic and foreign affairs, said the ceremony marks the start of the construction of the most advanced hospital in the Mekong Delta, which would not only diagnose and treat millions of patients in the region but also offer quality training for doctors and nurses.

He said Hungary is ready to train the Vietnamese personnel and transfer know-how in oncology research and treatment.

Vo Thanh Thong, chairman of the Can Tho Peoples Committee, said the Can Tho Oncology Hospital Project is of great social significance since it would fulfil the Governments policies on enhancing health services provided to the public.VNS
HA NOI  The capital city has managed to build only 17 out of 80 schools that meet national standards as per this years plan.

In addition, an increasing number of schools which were earlier deemed to satisfy national standards are facing deterioration and in need of upgrade or maintenance.

The information was disclosed by vice chairman of the Ha Noi Peoples Committee Ngo Van Quy at a meeting held on Tuesday to review the progress of building national standard schools this year and crafting plans for the following year.

These deteriorating schools, following repair, will also need to be re-evaluated to see whether they meet national standards.

From this month until the end of this year, another 182 schools are subject to re-evaluation, deemed a difficult target by the city vice chairman, requiring determined efforts by all district- and township-level governments.

The municipal education department has been urged to take stock of all the schools in the city and prepare a plan to ensure the target is met.

Vice chairman Quy ordered that any school  even previously certified ones  that fail to meet the five national criteria during this inspection round will be stripped of the title.

The five criteria are requirements concerning the number of classes and students, active socio-political organisations; qualified staff and managers; education quality (reflected via students results); infrastructure; and socialisation of education and training.

According to the Ha Noi Department of Education and Training, the 80 national standard schools to be built in 2017 are 29 kindergartens, 22 primary schools, 22 secondary schools and seven high schools.

Notably, according to the education department report, only two urban districts  Long Bien and Hoan Kiem  have met the target on national standard schools. All other districts in the city have failed to achieve their targets.

The plan for 2018 eyes for building another 80 national standard schools being built  34 kindergartens, 16 primary schools, 24 secondary schools and six high schools.  VNS
Authorities in several northern provinces have remained silent as hundreds of thousands of households living along Lo River desperately seek help to prevent their farms being swept away by rampant sand mining.  VNA/VNS Photo Trung Kien

TUYEN QUANG  Authorities in several northern provinces have remained silent as hundreds of thousands of households living along Lo River desperately seek help to prevent their farms being swept away by rampant sand mining.

The households in the northern provinces of Tuyen Quang, Phu Tho and Vinh Phuc say that hundreds of sand mining boats operating along the two river banks are responsible for the erosion that threatens their land. They have reported the situation to local authorities, but to no avail.

Dozens of dredging boats have been found operating on the river section that passes through Phu Tho Province. Some of these have moved close to the river bank to mine sand, threatening residents corn fields.

Ho Thi Thanh Kien, a resident of Phu Ninh Districts Ha Giap Commune, said she as well as other residents had to harvest the corn in haste as they were afraid the land would disappear soon.

The water has almost reached the fence of my corn field, she said.

In Son Duong Districts ong Tho Commune, around ten hectares of farm land were lost to erosion soon after dredgers began operating in the area.

Duong Thi Lien, a resident of Son Duong Districts Lam Xuyen Commune, said that as much as 700sq.m of her 1,000sq.m plus plot has been swept away, and she is scared she will lose the rest too.

Duong Thi Phuong Nhung, chairman of Lam Xuyen Commune Peoples Committee, said they have been reporting the situation to provincial authorities, but have received no response.

A similar situation prevails in Vinh Phuc Province.

Although the provincial Peoples Committee invested VN 19 billion (US$836,400) last year to build a dyke system along the river in Song Lo District, landslides have continued to occur.

Nguyen Thi Loan, a resident of the provinces on Nhan Commune in Song Lo District, said that local residents have asked authorities for help many times, but received no reply.

Conflicts flare

The situation has seen conflicts flare up between the residents and sand miners.

After reporting the illegal sand mining produced no result, locals have gathered to block and even burn some of the boats.

On August 8, residents of Tuyen Quang Provinces Xuan Van Commune burnt a boat belonging to the Toan Thang Construction and Trading Service Co. Ltd.

Nguyen Huu Minh of Xuan Van Commune said that local residents had asked the companys representative to talk about the serious landslides caused by its sand exploitation, but the company refused.

They had tried to drive the sand mining boats away, but these vehicles soon returned.

In July, 2016, a sand dredger belonging to the Thai An Company in Phu Tho Provinces Vinh Phu Commune was also burnt. Locals claimed that the companys boats were illegally mining sand outside the allowed area at night, causing landslides that threatened their land.

Loose management

Residents say that lax management by authorised agencies, typified by mass granting of sand exploitation licences without any regard for sustainability, is also responsible for the conflicts between them and sand mining firms.

Along the 5km-long river bank in Vinh Phuc Provinces on Nhan Commune, up to six firms have been licensed to mine sand.

A representative of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that license granting procedures were implemented according to plans approved by provincial authorities.

On the accusation of illegal sand mining near the rivers banks, Tran Minh Duong, head of the provincial departments Minerals Division, said that the office has conducted regular inspections of all six firms and found them operating in the designated area.

Duong said that their sand mining had not impacted the dyke.

In Tuyen Quang Province, provincial authorities have issued documents to halt all sand mining activities, but dredging boats have been caught operating regularly in Son Duong Districts Van Son Commune.

In Phu Tho Province, waterway traffic police say their inspections have found no violations.

Nguyen Xuan Toan, head of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environments Minerals Division, said four sand mining businesses have been licensed in the province. Since 2016, the office has found no violations, he added.

But residents are not happy. They want authorised agencies to publicise the names of businesses that have sand mining licences, their mineral exploitation certificate, including the number of mines and their areas, total area and the quantity and type of exploitation. This, residents say, would allow them to monitor the businesses and report violations more accurately to authorised agencies.  VNS
PARIS  Pham Sanh Chau, Vietnamese candidate for the director-general position of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), decided to withdraw his name prior to the third round of voting on Wednesday.

The third round saw the breakthrough of French candidate Audrey Azouley, who secured 18 out of 58 votes of the UNESCO Executive Board, sharing top spot with Qatari candidate Hammad bin Al-Kawari.

The candidate from Egypt, Moushira Khattab, bagged the third spot with 13 votes, while Chinese candidate Qian Tang and Lebanese Vera El Khoury received five and four votes, respectively.

The fourth round of voting is supposed to be held later on Thursday.

The Vietnamese candidates pulling out of such a highly competitive race is not an unusual move in international relations.

Michael Worbs, chairman of the UNESCO Executive Board, appreciated the Vietnamese notable jump in the second round. Other members of the council said his withdrawal would help to pool votes for the remaining candidates, which would mean fewer chances for more tied results as witnessed in the previous two rounds.

In the run-up to selecting a candidate for the director-general position of UNESCO, most countries will pull out of the race if their candidate fails to secure 10 or more votes in two rounds.

Pham Sanh Chau used his election campaign as an opportunity to help bring Viet Nam, its nature, people and culture to the attention of the international community, incumbent UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova told Vietnamese Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Ha Kim Ngoc, leader of the Vietnamese delegation to UNESCO, during the 202nd session of the Executive Board (October 4-18, 2017)

Viet Nams bid for the leading position of a respectable global organisation such as UNESCO has made evident its commitment to actively contribute to the international community.

The election campaign, despite the unfavourable results, has been a learning experience for the country in the process of deepening international integration.  VNS
HCM CITY  More than 600 CEOs and human resource managers at local and global companies discussed the latest trends in building an engaged, efficient and loyal workforce at a workshop yesterday in HCM City.

The event, titled Driving sustainable growth through happier workforce, was a forum for leaders and managers to share advanced methods for human resource management, Thanh Nguyen, CEO of Anphabe, an agency that offers solutions for employer branding, said.

Twenty five speakers discussed five topics: happiness trends, happiness essentials, happiness and business, happiness leadership, and happiness innovation.

Nguyen Thi Bich Van, chairwoman of Unilever Vietnam, which employs more than 1,700 employees, said companies need to transform in the new setting in terms of human resource management.

Know-it-all leaders no longer exist. Servant leadership is the new norm.

Managers need to empower their employees, recognise their value and take more time to talk with their employees to build trust and improve employees engagement, she said.

The best place to work is where people leave milestones of life, where their heart and mind belong, and where they can grow.

Le Quy on, human resources director at Heineken Vietnam, said not only human resource executives but also all other leaders and managers should be involved in building and improving employee engagement.

CEOs and managers should regularly meet and have a straight talk with their employees to understand their concerns and address their problems in a timely manner.

It is one of the important factors to build employees trust as well as their engagement.

Phillippe Richart, general director of Siam City Cement Vietnam, agreed that communicating is very important.

We spend a lot of time communicating with employees. When employees meet their managers, they are able to express their concerns. [It helps] build trust and transparency.

Human resources should be part of business models and strategies in every department, he added.

Stephen James Clark, country head & CEO, Prudential Vietnam, said: It is always challenging in todays fast moving world. We have to recognise that younger people have different views to careers.

In Viet Nam, it is not unusual to see people move within two or three years from one organisation to another.

We need to provide skills that allow people to develop and make a contribution to the success of their organisation. That is win-win.

We need to recognise that a city like HCM City is very stressful. Things like work-life balance are also important.

We should be honest and transparent, and be humble and respect other people when we take the position of leaders.

Viet Nam Best Place to Work survey

At the workshop Anphabe launched the Viet Nam Best Places to Work survey.

This year the survey will focus on jobs, workforce and the working environment in the world of Industry 4.0.

The annual survey conducts in-depth measurements of employer brands and employee happiness at working for the top 500 businesses.

Based on assessments by employees in 26 industries, the 100 best places to work list will be drawn up.

The research methodology and rankings will be audited and advised by INTAGE Vietnam, a market research company.

The survey will be out in March next year. VNS
HCM CITY  Universities in the country are expanding academic programmes that encourage students to take part in the startup culture, HCM City Party Secretary Nguyen Thien Nhan said on Thursday at a ceremony marking the beginning of the academic year.

Speaking at Viet Nam National University- HCM City, Nhan said that creative startups established by young people were essential to spur the countrys socio-economic development.

Startups should be integral to our countrys sustainable development, he said, adding that students have many opportunities to start their own businesses.

Nhan said that more graduates should be involved in research efforts so that HCM City can become an urban centre with good cybersecurity.

Farmers in the Mekong Delta region, the countrys agricultural hub, for example, need advanced machinery, he said. The need of smart machines for agricultural production is very high.

Though startup programmes at universities exist, the number of people opening their own company remains low.

One of 200 people opened a new company last year in the entire country, but HCM City had a higher rate, with one of 53 people establishing new enterprises, according to Nhan.

He urged students to study business skills in operation and administration and after graduation seek help from city programmes that provide capital for startups.

HCM City has four startup programmes, organised by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Department of Science and Technology, the Viet Nam National University-HCM City, Saigon Hi-tech Park and Quang Trung Software City.

The citys Saigon Hi-Tech Park includes many centres for startups.

Nhan encouraged Viet Nam National University-HCM City to work with city agencies to make robots, which are needed in many sectors, including healthcare.

He also said the university should cooperate with Saigon Hi-Tech Park and other universities to turn HCM Citys eastern districts of 2, 9 and Thu uc into a creative urban area with an advanced technological infrastructure.
For visitors to the northern province of Hai Duong, Co (Stork) Island is a must-see.

Nestled in the middle of An Duong Lake in Thanh Mien Districts Chi Lang Nam Commune, the island is a stunning natural destination endowed with bio-diversity and is home to more than 10,000 storks, bitterns and many other bird species.

Travellers will see flocks of birds flying away to feed in the early morning and returning in the evening.

Tourists often take boat trips to the islet to admire the birds and enjoy nature.  VNS
SEOUL  South Korea will accelerate its "leading" efforts to create an environment for the resumption of talks aimed at denuclearising North Korea, the countrys top diplomat said on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said that her ministry will work hard to encourage China and Russia to convince North Korea to the negotiating table.

"We will beef up our leading role to generate an environment in which denuclearisation talks can resume," Kang told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit. "In this process, we will actively push to induce the influence that China and Russia have over the North."

Her renewed emphasis on talks with the North came despite rising tensions prompted by the Norths continued provocations and a recent war of words between the leaders of the North and the US.

South Korea has been saying that it will seek to resolve the Norths nuclear issue not just through sanctions and pressure but also through diplomatic efforts, including direct talks.

In a speech in Berlin in July, President Moon Jae-in underlined the importance of dialogue to address the Norths nuclear issue and said that his government will work to establish a permanent peace regime on the peninsula.

Kang vowed to keep the "moment" strong for the presidents policy direction on the North and continue the efforts to establish a peace regime here in tandem with progress in denuclearisation efforts.  YONHAP
Eagles Club

to hold lunch

WATERLOO  The Fraternal Order of Eagles, 202 E. First St., will have an all-you-can-eat soup and salad luncheon today, beginning at 11 a.m.

Call 234-9369 if you have limited time for lunch. The event is open to the public.

Bachs Lunch recital planned

WAVERLY  Wartburg College organist Karen Black will feature pieces based on Lutheran chorale tunes as a celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation during the colleges Bachs Lunch organ recital series Friday.

The concert will begin at 12:30 p.m. in Wartburg Chapel. It will be preceded by a noon lunch and conversation with Black in the Chapel Commons.

Bachs Lunch attendees are invited to bring a lunch.

Events planned at Moose Lodge

WASHBURN  The Moose Lodge 328, 6636 La Porte Road, has several events planned this week.

Beef and noodles and mashed potatoes served today for $8. On Friday, there will be all-you-can-eat fish for $8, with karaoke from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday features pot roast with mashed potatoes.

An omelet and waffle breakfast will be served from 9 a.m. to noon Sunday.
WATERLOO  Attorneys for a man shot by Waterloo police in 2015 said officers overreached when they attempted to stop his car.

Jovan Webb is charged in Black Hawk County District Court with assault on an officer, interference and carrying weapons for allegedly driving at Sgt. Steve Bose while leaving the New World bar parking lot at closing time. Officers Mark Nissen and Thomas Frein fired at Webbs Chevrolet Impala, injuring him, and Webb drove himself to the hospital. Police found a handgun in his vehicle in the hospital parking lot.

On Wednesday, attorney Robert Montgomery, who is representing Webb, said officers had no reason to stop Webbs vehicle. He said police first claimed Webb had an open alcohol container in his vehicle, but later backed off from that allegation to claim they suspected he was driving drunk.

He said police had no indication of intoxication like weaving or erratic driving.

Its just a mere hunch, he said.

Montgomery said the attempted stop violated Webbs Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. He is asking the court to throw out any evidence obtained from the search.

Assistant County Attorney Brad Walz said police had legitimate reasons to stop Webbs Impala. He said officers found a bottle of alcohol in the car, and a video before the shooting shows Webb carrying what appears to be a bottle as he walked to his vehicle.

He said Webb was shot because he attempted to run over a police officer.

Patrol officers had been called to the nightclub at closing time, and Nissen, who was on foot and in plain clothes, followed Webbs vehicle as it drove through the parking lot and told uniformed officers to stop it. Bose, positioned by the driveway, stepped in front of the Impala and held his hand out.

He said the Impala stopped but then began to accelerate and brake, bumping his legs.

I was bumped three or four times before I dived out of the way, Bose said during Wednesdays hearing.

Walz asked why he dived, to which Bose responded, So I wouldnt get run over.

Police said officers Nissen and Frein shot at Webbs vehicle because they thought Bose had been knocked over and was being dragged.

Judge James Bauch will rule on the suppression request at a later date.
CHARLES CITY -- Antoine Williams and Nathaniel Fleming were like brothers, but a fight between the two led to a fatal shooting, a defense attorney said during opening statements Wednesday.

Williams, 36, a Chicago native, is accused of first-degree murder in the death of Nathaniel Fleming, 36, last known address Mason City, on June 30.

Police say Williams shot Fleming multiple times during an argument around 10 p.m. near the Casa Apartments on Clarkview Drive and then fled the scene.

Steven Kloberdanz, Williams court-appointed defense attorney, described a series of events to a Floyd County jury, claiming Fleming was angry at Williams that day.

Fleming was intoxicated, Kloberdanz said, and believed Williams was in cahoots with some people who had assaulted him.

Fleming then left the apartment complex, allegedly telling Williams he better not be here when I come back, Kloberdanz said.

Kloberdanz claimed Fleming had a Napoleonic or Chihuahua complex because he was small in stature.

He often bragged about having guns, Kloberdanz said. Makes up for his small size by talking tough.

Upon returning, Fleming pulled his car up near the complexs dumpsters and backed in. Kloberdanz said Williams went out to talk to Fleming, who was still upset.

The more he tried to talk him down, the angrier he got, Kloberdanz said.

Kloberdanz claimed Fleming reached for a gun and then Williams  acting in self-defense  shot him.

To Antoine Williams, it was either shoot or be shot, Kloberdanz said.

Prior to the argument, Kloberdanz said the two had a close relationship.

Antoine Williams is the kind of man who treated Mr. Fleming so well that many people thought they were brothers, Kloberdanz said.

Later in the testimony, bodycam footage from Charles City Police Officer Leonard Luft showed a man talking with police saying the shooter was supposed to be his brother.

That statement was repeated in a 911 call played for jurors, in which at least three people reported the shooting.

The first caller, a man who doesnt identify himself, tells dispatcher Heather Johlas somebodys been shot and carjacked. The call was reported at 9:46 p.m.

Johlas then asks the man how he knows someone has been shot and carjacked.

Cause I heard the gunshots, and hes laying right here by the garbage dumpster, and they took off in his truck, I seen it, the caller says.

Did you see who took the truck? the dispatcher asks.

Yes, I did, its supposed to be his brother, the caller replies, but doesnt supply the name of who supposedly took the vehicle.

He then asks the dispatcher to hurry up, (because) the man might die and says the person  who he says he doesnt know  has been shot three times.

The third caller, a woman who doesnt identify herself, tells Johlas she heard gunshots. Judge Rustin Davenport asked the jury to disregard the female caller, as she couldn't be identified.

Luft, who was the first officer to respond to the scene, testified he had driven his patrol vehicle by the complex one to two hours before the shooting.

While near the complex, Luft said he saw Williams outside with two other people  Josh Baker and Ed Brown.

The description witnesses gave of the shooter matched Williams and Brown as they are of similar height, build and racial description.

OMara asked Luft if he had interacted with Williams before and what his impression of Williams was.

Luft said he was familiar with Williams, as he had been a victim of criminal mischief when someone kicked in the door to his apartment in May. He said he had never encountered Fleming.

He was laid back, Luft said of Williams.

Once on the scene, Luft and fellow officer Duane Ollendick performed CPR on Fleming until the ambulance arrived, but Fleming was unresponsive.

Fleming appeared to have wounds to his chest and neck, Ollendick said.

Luft asked witnesses who the shooter was, and where the shooter went. His bodycam footage  which was shared in court  showed several witnesses, some shouting, others agitated or excited.

Witnesses at the scene told officers a person shot into the vehicle, a dark red Chevy Equinox SUV, and pulled Fleming out of the vehicle after he was shot. The person then climbed into the vehicle and drove off.

Police then looked around the complexs parking lot for the vehicle.

Williams later turned himself in to police in Chicago, Floyd County Attorney Rachel Ginbey said, as she gave the series of events that led police to discover Williams likely drove to Illinois.

Officer Jason Flores was with Luft on patrol that night, as he was in training. He was not uniformed or armed.

It was my first time witnessing something like that, Flores said.

On Tuesday, six men and eight women were selected as jurors.

Williams other court-appointed attorney, Nellie OMara, previously argued that because of media coverage, Williams would not be able to get a fair trial in Floyd County. She asked that the trial be moved.

Davenport denied the motion last month.

Testimony will resume Thursday in Charles City.
CEDAR RAPIDS  Knocking on doors in the waning days of the 2016 campaign, Andy McGuire didnt find much support for Democrats.

That changed quickly after the election of Republican President Donald Trump. Campaigning in a special election a month later, people were asking her for absentee ballots for themselves, family members, friends and neighbors.

Its fired up people that this isnt what they want, McGuire said. I cant tell you how they voted last time, but the energy and intensity is really different than it was at the end of the election.

That energy is carrying over into her campaign for the 2018 Democratic nomination for governor, McGuire, one of seven candidates for the nomination, said during a stop this week in Cedar Rapids.

Shes building on the relationships formed as a candidates for the lieutenant governor nomination in 2006 and as party chair in 2015 and 2016.

When youre in the trenches for two years like we were, the county chairs (and) the party activists, were all shoulder-to-shoulder, so there is a lot of goodwill from going through that together, McGuire, 60, said about her tenure as chairwoman. People know that I believe in what they believe in.

Thats important because many Iowans lack trust in both the state and federal administrations, McGuire said.

People trust me because Ive been here fighting the good fight for years. They know Im on their side, she said.

The fight for the nomination also is about issues. As a physician, McGuire is concerned about reforms Congress considered that would shift health care responsibilities to the states.

Health care decisions will become a big part of what a governor does, she said, emphasizing her experience as a medical practitioner and in executive positions with Wellmark and American Enterprise Group insurance companies, and Medicaid-managed Meridian Health Plan.

Based on her visits with Iowans, McGuire said, mental health and substance abuse are becoming major issues.

Opioid abuse is exploding and its only going to get worse, she said, but Iowa ranks 50th among states in beds available for mental health care and lacks other resources. Weve got to talk about it. We have to have resources in every community.

Democrats have taken a lot of criticism for their failure in rural Iowa, but McGuire sees potential. A recent Democratic meeting she attended in Sioux County, where voter registration is lopsided in favor of the GOP, attracted 70 people.

We have got to get out and listen to rural Iowa, she said. Rural Iowans feel they werent listened to in 2016, but theyre not getting any help from whats going on right now under Republican leadership.

The state is not adequately funding schools, and proposed Medicaid reforms could result in the loss of 30 rural Iowa hospitals, she warned.

Thats a really big deal because if you cant get good health care, people arent going to come to a rural county, McGuire said. If you cant have good education, people arent going to come to a rural county.

If there is an upside to all-Republican control at the state and federal levels, its the passion McGuire sees in Democrats. The angst with the current administration is already helping us because I hear about it everywhere I go.

She shares that passion.

When you talk to this many Iowans and you hear that theyre hurting, and theyre not getting what they need and theyre worried about their kids and theyre worried about their communities, its hard not to be passionate about changing it and leading them to a different priority system and some place where they are important ... McGuire said.

And I can beat Kim Reynolds, she added.
WAVERLY  Wade Kelley hasnt run for office before, and hes only been in Waverly for the last couple of years.

But he believes hes got a better idea of what the residents of Ward 5 want than the council member currently occupying that seat.

Kelley, 40, who works at the John Deere Product Engineering Center in Waterloo, will run for the Ward 5 seat currently held by Tim Kangas.

Kangas announced in June he would seek another term in office, the only one of four council seats on the ballot in November to run for re-election.

Waverly council member Tim Kangas seeks third term in office WAVERLY  There have been a lot of big projects on the Waverly City Councils plate in the p

Kelley holds a metallurgical engineering degree from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and a masters degree in industrial math from the University of Northern Iowa. His job title at John Deere is Six Sigma master black belt.

Kelley declined to go into many specifics about what he felt Kangas could do better, but said recent zoning decisions  from agricultural to residential land  were a major factor in his deciding to run.

We just dont feel that the residents of Ward 5 are being well represented in these decisions, Kelley said. It seems like theres a feeling of choosing outside of the residents wishes.

He said he also was against a proposed solar panel field in his ward, which hasnt yet come before the City Council.

Kelley said if he had been involved in the green bridge decision, he would have voted yes on repair  Kangas voted not to repair it in a split 4-3 vote. Kelley said, however, he didnt believe a vehicular option was the way to go.

I cant support a two-lane bridge, because it forces people out of their homes, Kelley said.

He stopped short of saying he would have voted for the pedestrian-only bridge, like Kangas did, instead saying he was a data-driven person who needed more information.

Throughout all of this, I am trying to remove the emotional piece out of it, he said.

Several candidates in Waverly this year have mentioned the citys taxes and utility rates, which Kelley agreed were too high.

We moved to Waverly two years ago; we knew the taxes were high, and theyve gone up since then, he said.

He said he wanted to dive deeper into the citys expenditures before suggesting ways to cut spending.

Kelley mentioned he approved of the Champions Ridge project, opposed eminent domain proceedings related to the airports expansion and opposed repairing 20th Street.

Four million to repair a road that currently doesnt affect a lot of people? Kelley said. Thats one that, again, I would like to understand better. If its just potential future development, we can postpone or cancel.

Just like in his day-to-day work at John Deere, Kelley said he would use a data-driven approach to problem solving if elected to the council.

Identify the need and whats the question being asked, and using data to answer the question, Kelley said. I believe I bring a unique skill set to problem-solving and data analysis that I would like to offer to the community.
Candidate forum

reset for Oct. 19

WATERLOO  A forum for Waterloo municipal election candidates has been moved up due to scheduling conflicts.

The forum, sponsored by the Black Hawk/Bremer League of Women Voters, will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday in the council chambers on the second floor of Waterloo City Hall.

All eight council candidates and Mayor Quentin Hart have been invited to participate in the event, which was originally scheduled for Oct. 26.

The public is invited to attend. The audience will be able to submit written questions at the forum.

Waterloo rental

forms, fees du

e

WATERLOO  Landlords are required to register their rental units by Nov. 1 for the coming calendar year.

Rental property owners are required to register properties they own each year and within 30 days of purchasing new ones. Registration fee is $25 per rental unit, which will double to $50 per unit for failure to register by Jan. 1.

Registration is required for a dwelling, duplex, multiple dwelling, condominium, dwelling unit, rooming unit, trailers, mobile homes or sleeping unit, which is not eligible for the Iowa homestead credit for property tax purposes, or single-dwelling portions of a duplex or multiple dwelling that are not occupied by the owner of the property, and which requires a payment in money or services to be made to the owner for the possession or use thereof.

For more information, call the City Clerks Office at 291-4323.

LIHEAP apps

now available

WATERLOO  Operation Threshold of Black Hawk, Buchanan and Grundy counties is taking limited LIHEAP applications from households with a member that is age 60 or over or has a disability.

The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program income eligibility limit for the program remains at 175 percent of the federal poverty level this year.

All other households may apply beginning Nov. 1.

Each applicant will need to provide proof of Social Security number for all household members (unless proof is already on file with Operation Threshold). Applicants also will need to bring proof of all household members gross income for the past 30 days and copies of their most recent heating and electric bills. Per LIHEAP requirements, applicants will be required to meet with an Operation Threshold staff person as needed.
WATERLOO  For the second time in a few short months, Waterloo firefighters are mourning the death of one of their own.

Justin Charles Junk, a fire engineer and 10-year veteran of Waterloo Fire Rescue, died Tuesday, succumbing to cancer. He was 34 and leaves behind a wife and four children.

His death comes less than two months after Firefighter Greg Freshwater, 27, was struck by a car and killed while jogging off duty in late August.

Relatives said Junk, a resident of Independence, was following a family tradition when he joined the fire service. His father, Joe Junk, is an engineer at Waterloo Fire Rescues Station No. 4, and his uncle, Mike Junk, had been a captain and battalion chief with the department before retiring recently.

When Justin got out of high school, he thought it was a pretty good deal, too, Mike Junk said.

Justin Junk obtained a degree in fire science from Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids before moving on to earn an agriculture studies degree from Iowa State University in Ames.

He served the Independence Fire Department in 2003 and 2004 before he was hired by Waterloo Fire Rescue in August 2007. He was a paramedic-engineer at Station No. 5 on Nevada Street.

He just seemed to be a magnet for bad calls. In his first few years on the department, he probably had more bad calls than a lot of guys did in 30 years, said Mike Junk.

MORE PICTURES: Waterloo firefighter laid to rest WATERLOO  Family, friends, firefighters and police officers Saturday paid their respects to

For firefighters, a bad call is a fire or accident that involves serious injury or death, and Mike Junk remembered a house fire years ago where a child was trapped and died.

Justin was the one who found the little guy in the fire and carried him out, Mike Junk said.

Justin Junk and his father recently worked on a grant to obtain a rescue tube, equipment used to free people trapped in grain bins, said Fire Chief Pat Treloar. The department is slated to receive the equipment this month.

Away from the station, Justin Junk enjoyed being with his family and continued to be involved in farming. He was an Iowa State University livestock judge and showed cattle and sheep.

In recent years, Justin Junk had been afflicted with benign tumors and had undergone numerous operations and treatments.

Junks medical condition wasnt a secret, and Treloar said he was impressed how the firefighter was able to push on with his work.

He had a lot of medical challenges, and we all knew that, but he came to work with a great attitude. He was courageous, and we could all learn something from him. A lot of days he was at work, Im sure most of us wouldnt have been at work. We could see he was struggling, but he was still here and still doing his job.

Over the summer, Justin Junk underwent radiation treatments, the uncle said. He said Justin Junk was feeling better and had regained some weight.

He looked like a million bucks, Mike Junk said.

But three or four weeks ago, it was like someone pulled the rug out from under him, Mike Junk said. Justin Junk usually wasnt one to talk about how he was feeling or to complain, but this time he confided in his uncle something wasnt right and he was going to the hospital.

Sometime later, he collapsed at work, and doctors found internal bleeding from a tumor, Mike Junk said. After a trip to the Mayo Clinic, Justin Junk returned to Waterloo under hospice care and died about a week later.

Waterloo firefighters are coming together to help. Services are slated for Monday at St. Johns Catholic Church in Independence.

We are all affected, but some more than others. The departments focus is going to be on the Junks until Justin is laid to rest, and then we will work on making sure we are all OK, Treloar said. I think, as a family we are doing well. We come together just like any other family when there is a tragedy.
AMC and Zoom made it possible for enterprise meetings to be held in some AMC theaters throughout the U.S. with Zoom Rooms.
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Oct 12, 2017 | By David

A major new international partnership has been set up between organizations in Israel and Youngstown, Ohio. 3D printing will be one of the key areas to benefit from this collaboration, which is intended to support the entry of Israeli technology startups into the U.S. market. The Youngstown Business Incubator (YBI) will be working with two companies that are part of The Junction, a business accelerator based in Tel Aviv.

The Junction is backed by some major global business figures, including HP and SAP, and also has affiliations with F2 Capital, a venture capital fund. Youngstown native Barak Rabinowitz is a managing partner of the fund, and it was partly through his vision that the collaboration with the YBI came about.

According to Rabinowitz, the economically deprived conditions of Youngstown when he was growing up were depressing, and finding out about the YBI was exciting and inspirational for him.

Israel isnt an ideal place for new businesses to flourish either. As Barb Ewing, CEO of the YBI puts it, the Israeli market is rather small, not really surrounded by friendly partners in the countries around them...Theres just no way to scale a company within the geographic boundary that is Israel... They always need to look at either the North American or the European markets."

A delegation of leaders from the Youngstown Business Incubator, as well as Youngstown state president Jim Tressel, took a trip to Israel earlier in the year, and it was as a result of this that the partnership was established.

The two Israeli companies that will initially be benefitting from The Junctions support are PrintCB and NanoFabrica. PrintCB has an innovative copper-based ink product that can be used for 3D printing, and NanoFabrica is a manufacturer intending to mass-produce nano and micro parts using 3D printing.

Every six months, the Junction issues a call for applications for one of five slots in its business accelerator program. Around 250 companies are narrowed down to 20, and those 20 are then invited to a two-day session with the founders of the Junction. Of those 20 companies, five are selected to work with the Junction. As finalists in this contest, the two firms each received $100,000 in startup money.

Funding is also being provided by the Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation. The firms will now be able to expand the reach of their 3D printing business into a receptive and growing U.S. market, while Ohio and perhaps eventually regions elsewhere in the U.S. will benefit from the new jobs that will be created.

Ohios existing capabilities in additive manufacturing were part of what convinced the firms to agree to this deal, along with the financial investment.

PrintCB has already reached out to customers and development partners in the Pittsburgh-to-Cleveland area. Its ink product has the potential to affect manufacturing in the automotive and consumer electronics sectors, amongst others.

According to founder Sagi Daren, We found a great ecosystem in this area, with hard-working people who understand what we are doing and are keen to try it. Also, there are many large manufacturing corporations based in this area, which makes it very attractive.

Posted in 3D Printer Company

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Simon Worrall in National Geographic:

British codebreaker Alan Turning had a movie, The Imitation Game, made out of his lifeand Benedict Cumberbatch to play him. The great American codebreaker Elizebeth Friedman hasnt been so lucky. Although she put gangsters behind bars and smashed Nazi spy rings in South America, Friedmans name has been forgotten. Her work remained classified for decades, and others took credit for her achievements. (Find out what secret weapon Britain used against the Nazis.)

Jason Fagone rescues this extraordinary womans life and work from oblivion in his new book, The Woman Who Smashed Codes. When National Geographic caught up with Fagone by phone, he explained how Friedman, like Alan Turing, broke the Enigma codes to expose a notorious Nazi spy, how J. Edgar Hoover rewrote history to sideline her achievements, and how the cryptology methods that she and her husband, William Friedman, developed became the foundation for the work of the National Security Agency (NSA). (Go inside the daring mission that stopped a Nazi atomic bomb.)

Elizebeth Friedman is probably not a name familiar to most of our readers. Introduce us to this remarkable womanand explain what drew you to her.

Well, its an amazing American story. A hundred years ago, a young woman in her early twenties became one of the greatest codebreakers America had ever seen. She taught herself how to solve secret messages without knowing the key. Thats codebreaking. And she started from absolutely nothing.

She wasn't a mathematician. She was a poet. But she turned out to be a genius at solving these very difficult puzzles, and her solutions changed the 20th century. She caught gangsters and organized-crime kingpins during Prohibition. She hunted Nazi spies during World War II.

She also helped to invent the modern science of secret writingcryptologythat lies at the base of everything from government institutions like the NSA to the fluctuations of our daily online lives. Not bad for a Quaker girl from a small Indiana town!

More here.
Plus, designer haircuts for under $100 and tees for climate change!

Cat Wu: Not Just Motos



She had us a year ago with the butteriest, most perfectly cut leather moto we ever did see. Now, Catherine Wu is wooing us again with the launch of several new pieces. Our favorites: the luxe and splurge-worthy Italian calf-suede midi coat ($1,650) in gray or tan, and the Topknot tote ($265), made of super lightweight lambskin and available in several rich shades. And if you're wondering, yes, we're still crushing hard on our first love. // Shop online at catwu.com





(Courtesy of Away)

Trip out on Hayes Street

And by that we mean get your suitcase shopping on at the just landed, and much anticipated Away store on Hayes (in the former Kit and Ace digs). The sleek space is the perfect backdrop for the red-hot luggage-maker's minimalist hardshell suitcases with built-in USB chargers. The Instagram A-listers are available in tons of fun colors, which makes for easy spotting at baggage claim. The Carry-On sells for $225 and the largest case is $295. (Along with the suitcases, we're obsessed with the quirky leather stickers.) // 371 Hayes St. (Hayes Valley), awaytravel.com





(Courtesy of Chad Malm)

Stylist Chad Malm Is Back and Badder Than Ever

Is a haircut by a seasoned pro for less than $100 music to your mane? Get thee into Chad Malm's chair at Bad Jax Haircuts, his brand-new Union Square salon. This is not the stylist's first SF rodeo, mind you: he was the owner of the much-loved Claude Nine Salon (on Claude Lane) from 1995 to 2001. After 16 years living on the other coast, Malm, who has been featured in glossies like Allure, Harpers Bazaar and Cosmopolitan, is back and excited to be building a fresh space with a talented team of stylists and colorists. The salon scores bonus points for being open seven days a week, 7am to 7pm. // 545 Sutter St. Suite 201 (Union Square), 415-653-3395, badjaxhaircuts.com





(Courtesy of Vincent Roazzi Jr.)

Buy a Tee for Cool Effect
The predictions may be right. Already on Oct. 9, an early snowstorm stunned Coloradans, knocking down trees and electricity lines.

Were going to have a really early ski season out in the West, Dan Leonard, senior meteorologist with the Weather Company, told Newsweek.

That snowstorm comes on the heels of several other disruptive events in recent weeks  including hurricanes named Harvey, Irma and Maria, as well as a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Mexico City that killed hundreds of people. And this week, strong winds of up to 79 mph spread wildfires across Northern California, killing 17 people.

According to meteorology company AccuWeather, which released its predictions for the winter on Sunday, both the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions will face a very chilly winter, especially when compared to last year. Both sections of the country also will be shoveling more of the white stuff, with the New York City and Boston areas expected to see six more inches of snow than normal.

I think this year is going to bring a good ski season in the Northeast, AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Pastelok said in a written release. And around the holidays we should have some snow for the interior Northeast.

The Northern Plains will be even colder, with low temperatures expected to drop to a tough-to-take minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit at times. But not everyone will be chilled to the bone. If youre looking for milder weather this winter, head to the Southern Plains, Southwest and California, where conditions are expected to be drier than usual.

When it comes to the Southeast, Pastelok also believes conditions will be fairly warm and dry, with above-normal temperatures  especially in Florida and Georgia. He said the winter weather in parts of Texas should be mostly dry, and few storms are expected.

However it shakes out, enjoy the sweater weather while you can. Soon many of us will be trading in our apple cider for warm cocoa. Very warm cocoa.


RM Research - High Grade Co-Au-Cu acquisition in British Columbia

Perth, Oct 12, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Blackstone Minerals Limited ( ASX:BSX ) Research Notes issued by RM Research on a High Grade Co-Au-Cu acquisition in British Columbia



Key Points From the Research Note:



- BSX are holding their General Meeting to approve the acquisition of Cobalt One this morning.



- Rock chip sampling as part of the due diligence program at Little Gem Mine has confirmed the occurrence of high grade cobalt-copper-gold mineralisation that was the focus of previous underground mining activity in the 1930's.



- The Project covers approximately 195km2 and is situated near Whistler in British Columbia.



- Little Gem represents a walk up start for a junior with existing headings on high-grade cobalt-gold-copper mineralisation. The business strategy is to outline a JORC Indicated resource and produce a high-grade concentrate suitable for toll treatment/mine gate sale.



- Rock chip sample SOLG019A from the Roxey Prospect (ASX Announcement 6/9/2017) situated 1.5km along strike from Little Gem, returned up to 24g/t gold and 1.94% copper from outcropping iron stained quartz-pyrite altered diorites.



To view the Research Notes, please visit:

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/9BR3880O





About Blackstone Minerals Ltd





Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX:BSX) is an explorer/developer with an international portfolio of battery and precious metals exploration projects. These include the Ta Khoa Project (Nickel-Copper-Cobalt-PGE) in Vietnam, The BC Project (Cobalt-Gold) in Canada, the Silver Swan South Project (Gold-Nickel) in Western Australia and the Middle Creek Project (Gold) in Western Australia.

The company's core focus is the Ta Khoa Project, located 160km west of Hanoi in the Son La Province of Vietnam, in South East Asia's premiere nickel sulfide district. Maiden drilling commenced at the Ta Khoa Nickel Project in August 2019 with the initial diamond drilling intersecting substantial disseminated nickel sulfide mineralisation, including 45.5m @ 1.2% nickel sulfides.

Previous project owners invested more than US$136m into the project and generated US$213m in revenue during a 3.5-year period of falling nickel prices. The project was placed into care and maintenance in mid-2016 during some of the lowest nickel prices in the past 10 years. Existing infrastructure associated with the project includes an internationally-designed 450ktpa processing plant connected to local hydro grid power, with a fully-permitted tailings facility and a modern 250-person camp.

Blackstone is investigating the potential to develop downstream processing infrastructure in Vietnam to produce a downstream nickel and cobalt product to supply Asiaas growing lithium-ion battery industry.

The company has a well-credentialed management team with a proven track record of discovery and creating shareholder wealth, including Hamish Halliday (Non-Executive Chairman), Scott Williamson (Managing Director), Andrew Radonjic (Technical Director) and Steve Parsons (Non-Executive Director).


Notice of Annual General Meeting/Proxy Form

Sydney, Oct 13, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Lithium Power International Ltd ( ASX:LPI ) ( LTHHF:OTCMKTS ) announces the notice of Annual General Meeting.



LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS



It gives me great pleasure to invite you to attend the Annual General Meeting of Lithium Power International Limited and I enclose the Notice of Meeting, which sets out the items of business, and the Explanatory Statement, which explains each of the resolutions to be considered at the Annual General Meeting.



The meeting will be held at 10.30am (Sydney time) on Wednesday, 15 November 2017 at the offices of Boardroom Pty Limited, Grosvenor Place, Level 12, 225 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000.



The Board considers the Annual General Meeting to be an important event on our calendar and we look forward to the opportunity to update you on the Company's recent performance and answer any questions you may have. It will be my first Annual General Meeting as Chairman of the Company.



The Company has made significant advancements in the past year, particularly with our Maricunga Joint Venture (MJV) Agreement completed in January 2017. For this reason, the Company has chosen to focus on the development of the Maricunga lithium brine project, with the impetus that high-grade lithium brine projects will sit on the bottom of the global lithium cost curve, which the Board expects will ultimately maximize value and return for our shareholders.



LPI has met every target and delivered on key milestones to ensure the acceleration of the Maricunga project. In addition to the A$8M raised in the IPO in June 2016, the Company has contributed substantial funds towards the MJV via two further capital raisings of A$13.5M in November 2016 and A$12M in April 2017. The funds enabled LPI to fast-track its highly successful exploration program, resulting in the release of our maiden JORC compliant mineral resource estimate in July 2017.



The updated resource estimate has given the Maricunga lithium project both scale and global significance. The resource now stands under two internationally recognized standards, JORC and NI 43-101, at 2.15 Mt of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) and 5.7 Mt of potassium chloride (KCI).



Maricunga's lithium concentrate grade of 1,160 mg/l is classified as the 2nd highest grade lithium brine deposit in South America. The current resource has the potential for a multi-decade mine life, with further potential for a multi-decade mine life in the exploration target.



In parallel, we continue to work towards completing the pre-feasibility study (PFS) around December 2017 and the submission of the environmental impact assessment baseline study (EIA) in early in 2018.



Given our strategic focus on the MJV, LPI has decided to divest its Argentine lithium brine asset. A Term Sheet for the sale of the Company's Centenario project in Salta, Argentina has been agreed upon, subject to long form documents and final due diligence, with completion anticipated in 2017 or early 2018.



The Board has continued to strengthen with the appointment of Mr. Russell C Barwick as a Non-Executive Director in April 2017. Russell is a mining engineer and former CEO of Newcrest and COO with GoldCorp. I also had the privilege of joining the Board as the Chairman of LPI in February 2017, with my background as the founder and former Chairman of Atlas Iron. LPI will continue to put the right people in the right place at the right time as the Company advances.



To view the full release, please visit:

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/42R6GCM1





About Lithium Power International Ltd





Lithium Power International Limited (ASX:LPI) is a pure-play lithium explorer and developer, focusing on developing and fast-tracking to production the high-grade Maricunga lithium brine project in Chile.

LPI has a well-known performing technical team with the experience to take the Maricunga project all the way through the development stages to production.

The regions that LPI is currently focused on are:

1. Maricunga JV (Chile) - Located within the "Lithium Triangle", Maricunga is Chile's highest grade and most advanced lithium project outside the Salar de Atacama. The project lies 170 km northeast of Copiapo and 250 km from the port of Caldera.

2. Pilbara (Western Australia) - LPI has three granted exploration tenements covering 203 km2 in the Pilbara region of northern Western Australia. The largest granted exploration tenement is the Pilgangoora tenement which is 2-3 km west of the Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) and Altura Mining (ASX:AJM) lithium deposits.

3. Greenbushes (Western Australia) - LPI has two granted exploration tenements covering 400 km2 in the Greenbushes area of southern Western Australia. The tenements are adjacent to the world's largest hard rock lithium mine owned and operated by Tianqi/Talison.

4. Centenario (Argentina) - Through its Argentinian subsidiary, Lithium Power holds a total of seven granted tenements in the Centenario lithium brine salar within the Salta province of the Puna Plateau. In total, the seven granted tenements cover an area of 68.46 km2.

With the exception of the Maricunga JV, all tenements are 100% owned by LPI or LPSA (including rights to the Centenario tenements).


Annual Report 2017

Sydney, Oct 13, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - MNF Group Ltd ( ASX:MNF ) provides the Company's Annual Report 2017.



Letter from our Chairman



It is with great pleasure that I present to you the 2017 full year results for the MNF Group. It has been another very successful year for the MNF Group. The company achieved another financial record, making this the eighth year of profitable year-on-year growth.



Our consolidated group revenue increased to $192 million, up 19% from the previous year. Our EBITDA rose by 34% to $23.9 million, and our NPAT rose 34% to $12.1 million. This year's result includes 5 months contribution from our recent acquisition of CCI. The company ended the year with a strong cash position and no net debt, and the ability to redraw $15.8 million from our revolving acquisition facility.



This year's success is attributed to solid contribution from all three segments of the business - Domestic Retail, Domestic Wholesale, and Global Wholesale. Particularly pleasing was the 24% YoY organic growth in the Domestic Wholesale segment margin which is continuing to demonstrate strong growth potential. Organic growth and the additional 5 months of CCI saw the Domestic Retail Segment margin up 25% YoY. The Global Wholesale Segment margin, up organically by 15% YoY, performed in line with expectation, assisted by new business from network upgrades in London, Los Angeles and Hong Kong.



This year's solid performance has allowed the board to declare an annual dividend of 8.25 cents per share fully franked - an increase of 18% over the previous year. The dividend is consistent with our track record of providing consistent returns to shareholders in the order of 50% of NPAT.



Achievements



During the year MNF Group grew thanks to some incredible achievements and the dedication and effort of our invaluable team. The highlights of our year are:



- Conference Call International Acquisition - The MNF Group acquired CCI in February, the largest Australian independent audio conferencing company, with over 5,000 Business Enterprise and Government customers in Australia and New Zealand. CCI allows MNF Group to leverage our Symbio and TNZI platforms to create a dual point of presence which allows potential for a large network synergy resulting in a future $500K per annum EBITDA uplift. We have already begun to see the benefit of this synergy and will endeavour to grow and develop CCI within the MNF Business to create further opportunities and offerings in the future.



- Continued Organic Growth - The Domestic Wholesale segment achieved 49% YoY organic growth in FY16, with an additional 24% organic growth in FY17. This was due to our service provider customers growing organically, as well as signing up new customers. We also have a number of new initiatives in place for new products, expansion of existing customers and growth based on new customers coming online.



- Opening Global Opportunities - The Global Wholesale segment achieved 15% YoY organic growth this year. This was largely due to growth in our Next Generation services being sold to our global customers. The company this year also finished its network upgrade and transformation project of the TNZI network, upgrading London and Los Angeles, and building Hong Kong. Additionally, the company has completed a New Zealand domestic network upgrade enabling further trans-Tasman growth.



The Future



The company has established three very solid independently performing business segments, each with a well-defined strategy for growth. The Domestic Retail segment is performing steadily with some good potential in addressing small business and government customers. The Domestic Wholesale segment has excellent momentum coming out of last year, and is poised to capitalise on the company's position in the domestic market. And finally, the Global Wholesale segment will continue to sell and expand its Next Generation products and footprint into the global market.



In addition to developing our own organic four-dimensional growth strategy, the company continues to seek sensible acquisitions that will deliver incremental value to shareholders. Our goal is to find opportunities that allow us to leverage our strong intellectual property assets, incredibly skilled team, and massive synergy potential of our nationally and internationally interconnected voice network.



Additionally, we see ourselves as a disruptor in the market, continually developing new technology and software processes that will allow us to deliver innovative products and solutions to our customers. As our company grows so does our strategy and we will continue to focus around our core strength being enabling voice communications. We see ourselves as an integrated telecommunications software and network provider, specialising in Internet communications. The MNF Group is truly in a unique position to explore new opportunities and challenge the industry norm to push the boundaries and cement our position as a credible player in both the Australian and global markets.



To view the full report, please visit:

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/1Q7Y6497





About Symbio Holdings Limited





Symbio Holdings Limited (ASX:SYM) is a software company changing the way the world communicates.

Symbio's technology replaces old-fashioned telecom networks with software, making it faster and easier to deliver modern cloud-based communication services, unlocking endless new applications for calling, messaging and phone numbers.

Symbio is the backbone for the global cloud communication industry. Over 500 service providers - from telecom start-ups to the world's biggest software companies - rely on Symbio for the connectivity, quality and expertise they need to solve complex communication challenges.

Headquartered in Sydney, Symbio powers billions of calls and messages each year, owns networks in three countries and employs over 450 staff worldwide.

For more information about Symbio visit www.symbio.global
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharamans visit to India-China border at Nathu La in Sikkim has marked yet another instance of Indias foreign policy initiatives. While the Defence Ministers visit to the border is a great morale booster for the Army and the country as a whole, her gesture of exchanging pleasantries with the Chinese troops sends across Indias message. It indicates that India is always ready to face any challenge to its national security and sovereignty but at the same time it is ready to move forward and approach all the issues in a peaceful manner.

Coming at the backdrop of the Doklam stand-off, this visit assumes great deal of importance. While Chinese social media praised Ms. Sitharaman for her Namaste gesture, Chinese foreign ministry did not attach any importance to this visit. And although India should also not expect too much that from this one event China could rethink its stand and look forward to consider the offer from India to resolve the pending issues.

There are several reasons for China to take up this opportunity. Firstly the 19th Congress of Chinese Communist Party is starting on October 18, 2017. This conference is an important platform for Chinese President Xi Jinping to prove his credentials as the leader of China. Disengagement at Doklam and acknowledgement of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism at the BRICS Summit, were the starting points of the efforts to avoid any challenge to his position. This meeting will also decide the future course that China would take. It would set strategic goals for the future.

Another factor is the shape that US policy is taking towards South Asia. Donald Trumps Afghan policy followed by warning issued to Pakistan has marked a shift in the policy followed by previous US administrations. US has also called for a greater role by India in Afghanistan. Considering the high economic and strategic stakes that China has in Pakistan (and even in Afghanistan), this policy does pose a challenge to China to some extent. The US policy has indications of formation of new geopolitical equations in Asia. However, it is clear that India will not send its army in Afghanistan and will continue to contribute in the development and rebuilding of Afghanistan. And although US would not totally abandon Pakistan, the latter is under considerable pressure at the moment. This is a new phenomenon in US-Pakistan relations.

Stronger India-US ties and increasing international pressure on Pakistan is a matter of concern for China. Pressure on Pakistan would not only affect the economic interests of China but it would also create complications in the bilateral relations between the two countries.

The only thing going in favour of China at the moment is the size of its economy. Currently Chinas economy is five times the size of Indian economy. China is using this advantage as leverage to forward its ambitions of expansion. It will take some time for India to match Chinas economic might. However, India has diplomatic advantage. India has not only been able to raise the issue of Pakistan sponsored terrorism on international platforms, it has also been successful in gathering support. India should use its diplomacy with US and also Afghanistan to further create pressure on Pakistan. India also has the success of Doklam stand-off in recent times. This stand-off has sent across the message that China cannot have its own way all the time. This message is important for those countries which are at risk because of Chinas expansion plans. A challenge to China from these countries cannot be ruled out in future.

Further, North Korea provides one more reason to escalate tensions between Washington D.C. and Beijing. China using North Korea may not work since US, Japan and South Korea would keep all types of response options open to any threat.

Despite a strong economy, China has a number of diplomatic and strategic problems. It is true that China has created these problems itself. It is also possible that over ambitiousness on Chinas part on account of One Belt One Road (OBOR) might actually backfire and diplomatic isolation of China cannot be ruled out in future.

Even now it seems, unlikely that China would change its course. However, India has offered an opportunity to China. Now the ball is in Chinas court.

(The author is an Independent Researcher based in Vadodara and can be reached at  niranjanmarjani@gmail.com)

Niranjan Marjani

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
NOTE: Divorce is contentious enough without rancor regarding medical decisions. Here, a mother went to jail for contempt of court - over her decision not to vaccinate her son, against her ex-husband's decision. This case was in Michigan. Are vaccines to become a new weapon in divorce cases? The courts are likely to agree with the parent who wants to vaccinate. Doest his put the child's best interests first?



A 9-year-old boy at the center of vaccine dispute between his divorced parents received four immunizations on Monday, according to court testimony today.

The boy's mother, Rebecca Bredow, 40, of Ferndale, opposed the shots and served five days in the Oakland County Jail for refusing a judge's order to get them. The boy's father, James Horne, wanted his son vaccinated and had them administered on Monday, when he had custody of the child.

Through his attorney, Benton Richardson, Horne declined comment after the court hearing.

Bredow fought back tears as she discussed her jail stint and the rulings today.








Web Toolbar by Wibiya

The International Monetary Funds recent report warns about the rising debt levels of Canada which pose higher-than-average pressure on Canadian households ability to pay down. The Global Financial Stability report released by the IMF on Wednesday revealed that the dynamics in Canadas private non-financial sector opens its economy to weaker activity and tighter conditions.

Other countries pinpointed to have a high debt-service ratio include Brazil, Australia, Korea, and China. The IMF advised that it was paramount for the financial sector of these economies to come up with policies that will guard the imbalance from growing further  which could have dire consequences on their economies.

The IMF further observed that in countries like China, Australia, and Canada where the ratio of household debt payments relative to disposable income has risen to great heights, there has also been a coupled, steep increase in the prices of homes. Borrowing inferences from past experience, the IMF said the combination of the two factors could create strain which, with a sharp fall in the prices of assets, can spill over to the economy.

The warning is coming on the heels of Canadas rising job market is a serious source of concern. In a more cheering development, the IMF also estimates that Canadas GDP could rise to three per cent in this quarter of the year from the 0.5 per cent in July figures.

The International Monetary Funds estimate for Canadas economic growth rate for this year and 2018 puts it near the top of the pack among advanced economies including countries like the United States, Germany, UK, France, Japan, and Italy.

The estimates released by the Washington-based International Monetary Fund is a lot similar to the estimates of the Paris-based OECD which also tipped Canada to be at the top of the G7 countries economies this year.

The International Monetary Fund says Canadas accelerated growth reflects reduced drag from lower oil and gas prices with assistance from government spending and central bank policies. Projections for next year shows that the IMF expects Canadian year-on-year growth rate to slow to 2.1 per cent which is still better than the 0.2 per cent recorded in the July update from the IMF. This also will leave Canada in the second spot among the G7 nations, just behind the United States which is projected to have a GDP of 2.3 per cent.

In the past four years, the top spot has been occupied by a different G7 nation. Canadas dominance in 2017 is one that was unforeseen. The United Kingdom clinched to the fourth position despite a unanimous vote to leave the European Union. Surprisingly, the vote didnt have unexpected downturn on the nations economy as widely speculated by analysts.

In 2016, Britain was the second-fastest growing economy, bested narrowly by Germany. The IMF said it revised Canadas 2017 outlook following strong economic growth in the first quarter and a dogged resilient second-quarter activity. Undoubtedly, Canada needs stronger economic policies and bilateral negotiations to sustain the gains made so far.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 59F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 44F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
October 11, 2017

For Rana Beiruti, the co-founder of Amman Design Week, the beauty of an object is linked to the story behind it. That is why she and her colleague Abeer Seikaly have put the craftsmen, particularly those whose crafts were disappearing, at the heart of their design event this year.

Beiruti and Seikaly, both architects, founded Amman Design Week in 2016. Supported by Queen Rania Al Abdullah, the event offers a platform for local and regional designers. After speaking with numerous designers, artists and architects, Beiruti and Seikaly realized the needs were much bigger than expected. They wanted jobs, better access to the region and the rest of the world, better manufacturing and education, Beiruti told Al-Monitor. So we decided to launch the first Amman Design Week in 2016, which we consider a spark in the region. This year, it is taking the shape of a movement.

Its second edition, held Oct. 6-14, showcases more than 100 local and regional designers under the theme of Design moves life moves design. The Crafts District is a space that pays homage to local heritage and the ability to transform the regions rich handcrafts through modern design.

We are creating a holistic approach of design, Beiruti told Al-Monitor. Its not just about seeing the beauty of an object, but how it is made and the stories behind it. We think that it is a misconception to see craftsmanship as past heritage. Crafts are underappreciated in Jordan, so through collaboration with designers, we show people they can innovate and modernize.

The Crafts District is divided into two groups: the pop-up market and an area where craftspeople work in full view of the people. This area shows people weaving carpets and baskets, felting, glass blowing and making mosaics or daggers.

It is important to show people how craftspeople work, how an object is made, because many of the crafts are dying in Jordan. Even though basket weaving and felting comes from the region, very people know about this, Shermine Sawalha, the curator of the exhibition, told Al-Monitor. Instead of supporting local craftsmanship, people buy foreign goods from Turkey or China, which are cheaper.

She said that most of the handcrafts used to come from Syria, but the war destroyed its market, which is very sad. "Craftsmen are losing their jobs, both in Amman and Syria. Family businesses are disappearing. Look at the glass blower. He is from Syria, and his name, Mohammad Maher Alqazaz, whose last name comes from kazazz and literally means glass. I bought him an oven especially for the occasion.

Alqazaz, who came especially from Syria to blow glass for the event, had left the glass business to work on plastics, a more profitable field of business. Glass is a family tradition, but to be able to work, I need a very big amount of glass and it costs a lot, he told Al-Monitor. There is also no demand for it anymore. To support craftspeople like Alqazaz, Sawalha has been working on a program that helps craftsmen find new markets through collaborating with designers.

Its more than just saving the heritage, Sawalha said. Most of the women in this business feed their family with their handcrafts. That is why I push them to work with designers. Great objects were born out of this collaboration, like a jewelry line that resembles daggers, 3-D mosaics and misshaped glass objects.

In the Crafts District, people can indeed discover traditional handcrafts, but with a modern twist, like at Zawayed shop, where art objects are created from waste by women from less privileged areas like Jabal al-Natheef. I started it almost 10 years ago as a hobby until I met my wife and business partner, Liyan Jabi, co-founder Mohammad Al Hajji told Al-Monitor. We use local material with minimal processing so that our products both look natural and are a good price. We are starting to take Zawayed international through working with different international weeks and fairs.

In another shop, the Iraq Al Amir womens cooperative showcased a line of products designed by German and French designers and fabricated by the women of the cooperative. The cooperative started in 1994 with the support of the Noor Al Hussein Foundation and received funding until 2001, but now they are an independent womens cooperative.

It was opened to support women economically, Houda Mihayrat, a member of the board and co-founder, told Al-Monitor. We started off training women with a workshop to make environmentally friendly and sustainable paper objects, then moved to ceramics and weaving. In 2014, two German designers, Jenny Hier and Eva Schlete of Studio Gutedort, came to work with us and created several lines of products. We also cooperated with other international designers since then. Putting talents together helped us create original products. It really helped us revive old-fashioned handcraft methods and products.

The independent exhibitions of Amman Design Week include traditional Jordanian and Palestinian arts of embroidery and weaving at Tiraz Widad Kawar Center. The center is a nonprofit organization that has one of the largest existing collections of Palestinian and Jordanian traditional costumes in the region. For Amman Design Week, it opened its doors to the Naqsh collective, whose founders Nisreen and Nermeen Abu Dail use traditional embroidery motifs in modern design, and to the initiative Yarns, run by women from villages to preserve the art of embroidery and weaving through new designs and patterns on bags and pillows.

We must find creative ways to maintain and use our heritage, Tiraz founder Widad Kawar told Al-Monitor. We must save whats left of our heritage.

With this second edition, Amman Design Week put heritage and craftsmanship at the center of a very diverse audience, with incentives and collaborations that could help local and regional handcrafts find new boundaries through design.
October 12, 2017

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unleashed a fresh barrage of salvoes against US Ambassador John Bass today, once again seeking to pin the blame for the ongoing crisis with Washington on its outgoing envoy.

In a fiery rehash of his favorite themes  that global and internal foes are seeking to besiege, weaken and dismember Turkey  Erdogan told a group of provincial governors in Ankara today, Let me be very clear: The person who caused this is the ambassador here. It is unacceptable for the United States to sacrifice a strategic partner to an ambassador who does not know his place. We are not a tribal state.

Erdogan was referring to Washingtons decision to indefinitely halt all non-immigrant visa services for Turkish citizens at all US consulates in Turkey. The move followed the Oct. 8 arrest on terror charges of US Consulate employee Metin Topuz, who is a Turkish citizen. Administration officials say Turkish officials were warned at the highest level of the grave consequences that would ensue should Topuz be formally arrested following his detention several days prior.

Moreover, when Erdogan first took aim at Bass, saying he was no longer seen as Washingtons legitimate representative in Ankara, the State Department rose to the ambassadors defense. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters Oct. 10 that the visa suspension was coordinated with the State Deparment, it was coordinated with the White House and coordinated with the [National Security Council].

Sources privy to how the decision was made told Al-Monitor on condition they not be identified that it evolved roughly like this: Jennifer Davis, the US consul general in Istanbul who is extremely well-connected with Washington power circles, led the push for action. She felt very strongly that her staff needed to be shown that the US was committed to their security, one said. Bass concurred. Then Fiona Hill, who is deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian Affairs at the NSC, embraced the idea and brought NSC adviser H.R. McMaster on board.

Hill is known to take a keen interest in Turkey and has written scholarly articles about Turkish-Armenian rapprochement. The Turkish daily Hurriyet also reported that the Harvard-educated Russophile had played a role in the decision.

All of this has left many wondering why Erdogan continues to shift all the blame to Bass.

Nicholas Danforth is a Yale-trained Ottoman historian and a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center. In an interview with Al-Monitor, he asked, To what extent does [Erdogan] think he is just offering Trump a way to back down? Danforth concluded, At a moment when the Americans are still trying to figure out the relationship between our institutions and Trumps personal power, Erdogan seems to be making a heavy and high-risk bet on the latter.

Omer Taspinar, a professor at the National Defense University who has written extensively about Turkey, shared Danforths analysis.

Taspinar told Al-Monitor, "The prevailing consensus is that Trump is well-disposed toward Turkey and its some bad eggs around him who are bent on wrecking the relationship.

Taspinar added, To be sure, there are those in the administration who do worry that when Trump and Erdogan get together they can strike deals that fly in the face of the United States interests. Thus Turkish thinking may not be all that off the mark because this administration is unique in the way it functions.

Trump certainly fed such thinking when he told reporters before meeting Erdogan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting, I think right now we are as close as weve ever been. And a lot of that has to do with the personal relationship. Trump added, [Erdogan] is getting high marks. In fact, relations between Turkey and United States have been rotten for a long while.

Washingtons military alliance with the Syrian Kurds, who Turkey says are terrorists, is an open sore. Washingtons refusal to extradite Iranian-Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab, who has close ties to Erdogan and his political allies, is another. Erdogan apparently fears Zarrab may reveal incriminating information about him at the next hearing, due to be held in New York on Nov. 27.

Some believe Erdogan deliberately ignited the latest crisis with Washington in order to lay the groundwork for spinning any revelations from Zarrab as part of a broader conspiracy against Turkey.

One of his multiple broadsides against Washington today suggested there may be some truth to this theory. You arrest my citizen and then you try to make a false witness out of him, he thundered.

Turkeys other bugbear is Fethullah Gulen, the secretive Pennsylvania-based imam who allegedly masterminded last summers abortive coup against Erdogan. The United States says it lacks sufficient evidence to send him back to Turkey.

Topuz, the consulate official who was arrested last week, is accused of membership of the so-called Fethullah Gulen Terror Organization. So is Andrew Brunson, the pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina, who has been held in a Turkish prison since October 2016. Hamza Ulucay, a Turkish employee at the US Consulate in the southern city of Adana, was arrested in March on trumped-up charges that he is linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party. Taspinar believes its unlikely that the arrests would have been made without Erdogans knowledge. He micromanages everything, Taspinar said. Many believe the men are being held as bargaining chips to trade for Zarrab and Gulen.

But the visa suspension, which sent a temporary chill through Turkish markets, was a fiercer reaction than Turkey ever reckoned on. There is growing speculation that Ankara may release Topuz on bail to defuse the row. But will that be enough? What if Trump calls Erdogan and asks him to free Brunson, then what? asked Taspinar. Erdogan and his lieutenants must be plotting a response.
October 11, 2017

MOSCOW  As veteran diplomat Jon Huntsman Jr. assumes his new role as US ambassador to Russia this month, he faces a thicket of thorny issues separating the countries.

Many Russian officials see Huntsmans appointment as an attempt by US President Donald Trump to shield himself from criticism he faces for appointing Russia-friendly officials to high-level positions amid the resignation scandal of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The same line of reasoning in Moscow also applied to the nominations of Kurt Volker as special representative for Ukraine negotiations and Wess Mitchell as assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.

Following the official announcement in July of Trumps intent to nominate Huntsman, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, the chief Russian diplomat for the United States, praised the administrations choice when he appeared on TV. Weve given our consent [as protocol requires], knowing Mr. Huntsmans biography well and realizing that he is a top professional, a man with strong beliefs, very experienced, Ryabkov said.

Huntsmans nomination sparked an array of reactions from the Russian foreign policy establishment and expert community. Andrey Sushentsov, a program director at the Valdai Discussion Club, noted that Huntsman knows how to work with difficult partners that are important to the United States.

The nations bilateral relations require great prudence and Huntsman will not be making any abrupt, [scandalous-like] moves, he said.

Huntsman, a former Utah governor (2005-2009) and US ambassador to China (2009-2011), has an extensive background in diplomacy, serving in various positions under four presidents from both parties. Huntsman ran in the Republican presidential primary in 2012. In 2016, after a recording of Trump using vulgar language about women was released, Huntsman said publicly that Trump should end his campaign for president. He has also stated his conviction that Russians interfered with the 2016 election, something Trump has been unwilling to acknowledge.

Political commentator Konstantin von Eggert told the Kommersant newspaper that Huntsman will be difficult for Moscow to deal with: Huntsman is too independent to do business with easily. It would be important for him to not make any moves that could have a negative impact on his reputation in the United States.

An even more cautious attitude toward the new US ambassador comes from the Russian right. Publicist Egor Kholmogorov, a prominent voice among Russian nationalists, called Huntsman a member of the anti-Russian hawks camp in the United States.

But, he noted, [Huntsman] represents a very specific type of conservatism. He is a very nuanced personality with broad business interests.  [Also], we should not forget that Huntsman is an influential man with influential people behind him.

The overwhelming majority of those reflecting on Huntsman in Moscow feel the China factor in Russian foreign policy will dominate his mission.

Huntsman is likely to be working on deterring Russia from a rapprochement with China, said Alexey Arbatov, who heads the Center for International Security at the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations.

When asked what Russia should expect from Huntsman regarding the Middle East, a Kremlin official speaking to Al-Monitor not for attribution expressed a similar sentiment: Huntsmans ambassadorship in Russia is likely to be small on the Middle East and big on China and, probably, Ukraine. The official noted, Even if this turns out to be true, theres [still] enough ground to cover for the two states in the Middle East, and Ambassador Huntsman will be seen as an essential troubleshooter.

While the ambassador wont necessarily get to define the US-Russia agenda, both countries dealings in Syria and across the Middle East are constantly being watched from both embassies in the respective capitals.

In recent weeks, new hostilities have engulfed Syria, with some important developments in Deir ez-Zor and Idlib that could to a great extent define the wars outcome. Russias Defense Ministry has escalated its rhetoric, accusing the United States of leaking sensitive intelligence to terrorists and seeing the US military base in Al-Tanf as a long-term problem for the Syrian army. All of this reveals a bitter truth: Theres no cooperation between Russia and the United States in Syria. Moscow has come to calling potentially constructive US-Russia engagements in Syria as cooperation, hoping its own campaign will move Washington to be more pragmatic in its attitude toward the Syrian crisis, and toward Russia itself.

The truth is, whats happening on the ground is coordination at best. After Russias two-year campaign in Syria, Moscow and Washington each continue to pursue their own agendas, each run their respective operations in parallel, and each get to pick and target their own enemies. The world needs to recognize  if not for political reasons, then for the sake of analysis  that their list of enemies isnt limited to the Islamic State or Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Arguably, the only task uniting the two militaries is ensuring theres no head-on collision. All of the communication channels that are now in place  from the working groups in Amman, Jordan, to the hotline connecting Russias Khmeimim and the US Al-Udeid air bases, to continued drawing of borderlines separating the Syrian army and US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces  is meant to safeguard the two nations from a major direct clash. This is a very important, and so-far successful, tool, and despite all the heated rhetoric, both parties appreciate the true value of such contacts. But until there are new political agreements between Russia and the United States, both will continue to forge ad hoc coalitions with regional players and unwittingly engage in battles that dont necessarily serve their own interests. So seeking prospects for such agreements and assessing their likelihood is going to be one of Huntsmans challenges in Moscow.

Finally, another big Middle East-related issue looming on the horizon for the two nations is the fate of the Iranian nuclear deal. Moscow is watching closely how Trump will express his displeasure with Iran. A few days ago, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed Vladimir Putins attitude regarding the possible moves, saying the Russian president believes a United States exit from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action would undoubtedly have negative implications. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that Moscow hopes Trump ultimately makes a well-measured decision on the agreement with Iran. If he doesnt, the sense in Moscow is there will be another thorny issue on Huntsmans agenda with the Russians for the course of his diplomatic tenure.
October 12, 2017

More than two weeks after the Sept. 25 independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iran has yet to take any meaningful action against the Kurdish region despite its rhetoric, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneis labeling of the plebiscite as treason and a threat to the region in his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Oct. 4. The perspective of the American and European states is completely different from the Turkish and Iranian perspective, Khamenei told his guest, emphasizing that Israel and the United States are the main beneficiaries of an independent Kurdistan. America is interested in having a pressure card at its disposal against Iran and Turkey; therefore, there can be no trust in the Americans and Europeans and their positions.

While Iranian officials, including Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, have not hidden their anger and frustration at the way the Iraqi Kurdish leadership handled the referendum, they appear to be wary of a possible US plan to change the borders of the region in favor of the Kurds. Indeed, the line that Washington has a secret plan for the Middle East has been echoed by various former and also the current head of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). We believe that the creation of  a new state in the region is the wish of the system of domination headed by the Americans and the Zionists, said former IRGC commander Yahya Rahim Safavi on Oct. 4. Safavi, who now serves as a senior military adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei  the commander in chief of the Islamic Republic  believes that the United States wants constant tension around Irans borders with Iraq and Turkey, and also Syria, as an excuse to keep a foothold in the vicinity. Changes in the regions geopolitical borders mean constant tension and a drawn-out war between the four countries with the supposed future [Kurdish] state that is intended to be established, and this insecurity and tension is what the Zionist regime and Americans want in order to have a permanent presence in the region.

Despite these claims by Iranian officials, Washington has been clear about its policy of preferring a united, federal and democratic Iraq. But the situation is rendered further complex by the Donald Trump administrations expected designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Tehran is furious about this, with some IRGC officials going as far as calling for the targeting of the US military across the region and the world. If the news about the foolishness of the American state in designating the Sepah [IRGC] as a terrorist group is true, Sepah will also consider the American army across the world and in particular in the Middle East as equal to Daesh [Islamic State, or IS], said IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, referring to the terrorist group that the IRGC is fighting both in Iraq and Syria.

Such a scenario would further complicate the situation for Iraqi Kurdistan given the large presence of US forces within the region, with some as close as 60 kilometers (37 miles) to the Iranian border. While the official task of these forces is to fight IS, some in Tehran are concerned that Washington is there for the long haul to keep a close eye on Iran.

In this vein, it should be noted that a new American military base is being constructed 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest of Mosul, in an area controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) peshmerga forces. The base is also 50 kilometers from the Syrian border, which is controlled by the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), a strong US ally currently fighting IS in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria. The United States is additionally building a sprawling consulate in Erbil that will cost some $600 million. Meanwhile, Washington appears to have taken charge of the Harir base, also known as Bashur Airfield, 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of the Haji Omran border crossing with Iran. The US government used the base for the first time in March 2003 as part of its invasion of Iraq.

But some top Iranian officials believe that Tehran should tread carefully and see Trump as a dangerous president who should not be provoked. The fact that we should not provoke Trump is an accurate statement, former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaei said April 27 in response to a question about whether Trump is after war with Iran, adding, But we also cannot give him space to come and play in our court either. Rezaei, who now serves as secretary of the powerful Expediency Council, believes that the solution lies in the art of successful diplomacy and that Iran should avoid confrontation with the United States.

The task of diplomacy falls on the shoulders of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who addressed Iranian parliament members in a closed-door meeting Oct. 11 to discuss three main issues: Trumps policy toward the IRGC and the nuclear deal, the Syrian conflict and the referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan. The message that came out of the meeting for the Kurds was that Iran is the closest friend of Iraqi Kurds and that they should work together.

As such, it appears that while Iran may not be happy with the way the Kurds decided to go ahead with the referendum, it has come around to living with the result so long as the Kurds do not take further steps toward independence. Iran wants to maintain its historical ties with Iraqi Kurds, and its current nonhostile approach  despite the bellicose rhetoric before the referendum  suggests that officials in Tehran have taken into account what are seen as Trumps intentions in Iraqi Kurdistan, be they real or imagined.

Thus, it is difficult to know how Iran might have reacted to the Kurdistan referendum had the Americans not returned to Iraq in the aftermath of the June 2014 IS blitzkrieg across northern Iraq. However, in the past  both in Iraq and Afghanistan  Iran has done everything possible to avoid a direct confrontation with the American forces. In the words of Zarif, No party or country need fear our missiles, or indeed any Iranian military capability, unless it intends to attack our territory or foment trouble through terrorist attacks on our soil.
October 12, 2017

Conflicting reports about the arrest of an Iranian nuclear negotiator have been circling in Iranian media since August 2016, when Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, spokesman for the judiciary, confirmed the news. The individual, whose name was not initially revealed, is Abdol Rasul Dori Esfahani, a dual Iranian-Canadian national and member of the negotiation team who worked on economic and banking sanctions.

On Oct. 4, the news of Dori Esfahanis arrest resurfaced when Mohseni-Ejei confirmed his conviction. At the press conference, Mohseni-Ejei said that Dori Esfahani was accused of spying for two [foreign] spy agencies and was sentenced to five years in prison. He added that Dori Esfahani also had a financial case, meaning corruption, which he has not yet been sentenced for.

But on Oct. 11, Mahmoud Alavi, Irans intelligence minister, threw doubt on the case of Dori Esfahani, suggesting that he was operating on behalf of their agency. The Intelligence Ministry was responsible for the protection of the nuclear negotiations, said Alavi. On this issue, it performed one of its brightest activities in this field. Alavi continued, The negotiations took place under the most secure environment by the Intelligence Ministry, and the ministry gave continuous reports to the highest authorities in the country.

Specifically mentioning Dori Esfahani, Alavi said, [He] not only did not commit any spying in the face of [efforts] by foreign agencies, he consciously resisted and cooperated with the ministrys anti-spying department.

Alavis defense of Dori Esfahani, albeit belated, suggests that Dori Esfahanis case may have political dimensions to it. The news of Dori Esfahanis arrest a year ago was first broken by Tasnim News Agency, which is believed to be linked to the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Mohseni-Ejei, even among judiciary officials, stands out as someone particularly aligned with the countrys hard-liners and the IRGCs intelligence organization.

Mizan News Agency, which is the news agency of Iran's judiciary, answered back to Alavi's claims regarding Dori Esfahani on Oct. 12. The article stated that Alavi's statements were "incorrect, from various perspectives." The article continued that only the judiciary has the authority to determine whether an individual is a spy, not the Intelligence Ministry. Shedding light on some of the domestic battles in Iran, the article also stated that the Intelligence Ministry is not the only agency that refers spies to the judiciary, but that the IRGC does so as well.

Alavi and the Intelligence Ministry operate under Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's administration. While the Intelligence Ministry is not completely under the presidents authority, given his background in security matters, Rouhani does wield power in this area and seems to be using it to push back against accusations of spying, particularly against someone on the negotiation team, which so far has been the signature foreign policy achievement.

The arrest has resulted in various reactions. Hamid Baeidinejad, Irans ambassador to the United Kingdom and a former nuclear negotiator, attempted to distance the nuclear negotiation team from Dori Esfahani. Contrary to some media who are inclined to introduce Dori Esfahani as a primary member of the negotiation team, he was not a member of the negotiation team, Baeidinejad wrote on his Instagram page. He advised on some specialty fields, as a representative of his organization [Irans Central Bank] and with participation in some meetings.

Baeidinejad re-emphasized that the Foreign Ministry, which led the nuclear negotiations, was not responsible for certifying the security qualifications of individuals who represented their respective specialty fields during the talks.

Baeidinejads explanation did not sit well with everyone. On their top story, conservative Vatan-e Emrooz newspaper quoted Baeidinejad and asked sarcastically, Then why did he receive a medal? A picture of a ceremony in which Rouhani gave medals to those who negotiated the talks accompanied the story.
October 12, 2017

Several hundred people who gathered in Rosh HaAyin on Oct. 8 raptly focused on the huge screen at the front of the hall. They were watching the disconcerting testimony of Shulamit Mallik, 83, and the spine-tingling validation it gave to their similar claims that an official state apparatus was involved in kidnapping the children of Yemenite immigrants in the 1950s and handing them over for adoption.

When Mallik was 18, she worked at the children's home at the Kadima transit camp for immigrants arriving in Israel. She said that delegations of women from overseas sometimes came to visit the camp and that a number of babies then would disappear from the camp immediately afterward. She recalled suspecting that something inappropriate was taking place and the screams of mothers when they were informed that their children had allegedly died of illness. Many members of the audience  the brothers and sisters of those infants  could not hold back the tears. Their parents were likely dead or too old to attend the event, but these siblings, now in their 60s and 70s, came to exchange stories. The similarities in their accounts were chilling.

Yedioth Aharonoth first reported on Mallik's story in August. This month, she sat facing a hall full of people with similar experiences at the annual Yemenite Festival, hosted by the city of Rosh HaAyin every Sukkot. Her remarks had special meaning to them. They were poignant coming directly from her. Watching select parts of Mallik's video testimony intensified the outpouring of emotion. For six decades, they had been silenced or branded as delusional, but now they felt that the truth was finally coming to light, and that it would no longer be possible to dismiss their account of what happened. More documents and testimonies came to light last year, proving that parents had not concocted horrific stories about the abduction of their children. In some way, it was a relief for many, after years of dealing with a wound that refuses to heal. The establishment was finally paying attention to their anguished cries.

Last year was a milestone in the long-running saga of the kidnapped Yemenite babies, which has dogged Israeli society since the 1950s. Over the past few decades, a number of committees charged with investigating the affair only scratched the surface, doing nothing to uncover the scope of the affair. This year was the first time that the government has recognized the injustice suffered by these families, establishing the Special Committee on the Disappearance of Children from Yemen, the East and the Balkans to investigate the affair.

In December 2016, hundreds of thousands of documents in the state archives that were supposed to be sealed for 70 years were released ahead of schedule. These included the sealed conclusions of various committees of inquiry along with numerous testimonies. It was a huge step by the state, indicating that it genuinely wants to resolve the issue. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as correcting a historical injustice. Minister Tzahi Hanegbi, appointed by Netanyahu to oversee the lifting of confidentiality, said, "Children disappeared from the embrace of their parents and their families. This whole incident refuses to disappear from the hearts of these families.  We feel that we have a moral obligation to investigate the truth.  From now on, we will allow families to try to achieve closure. First of all, this trove of documents will remove any doubts the families have about state institutions and allow them to move forward. It will help them heal the wound, and this will, in turn, strengthen Israeli society."

Israeli media finally decided this year to take the affair seriously and conduct their own investigations into the testimonies and claims. Until now, it had dismissed them as little more than baseless rumors.

The vibrant spirit behind these changes is Likud Knesset member Nurit Koren. Since being elected in 2015, Koren, the daughter of Yemenite immigrants, has been waging a campaign to uncover the truth about the affair. By harnessing the parliamentary tools at her disposal, she has shown that an elected official can instigate real change. "Not a single journalist wanted to hear about it at first," she told Al-Monitor. "They all brushed me off, when I tried to interest them in it. They thought it was all made up and that various committees of inquiry had already investigated the claims."

Thanks to social networks, she was able to put the issue on the national agenda. The internet made more and more documents and testimonies readily available and connected people with similar stories. The abundance of new information and extensive coverage by the media, as well as interest by the public and politicians, resulted in an outburst of creative efforts as well. Numerous films and plays about the issue were produced in the last year.

Koren's stubbornness not only resulted in getting sealed documents' released, but also led to a series of DNA tests in an attempt to find links between adopted children and families whose babies were taken from them. As a result of these tests, two children who disappeared in the early 1950s have been able to re-establish ties with their biological families. As head of the special parliamentary committee, Koren has spearheaded special legislation to exhume the bodies of missing children for DNA testing on their remains. The law passed its first reading in September. Soon after the Knesset convenes its winter session Oct. 22, it will be brought up for a second and third reading, perhaps making it possible to take another giant step toward solving this mystery.

Koren says that the current focus of her struggle is to get the state to assume responsibility and confirm that its institutions were responsible for the methodical abduction of children. "While I have no document that says that someone gave the order, nor will we find such a document, it's obvious that it happened. And there are plenty of testimonies and documents confirming this," Koren said. "What people have to understand is that in the 1950s, Yemenite immigrants were perceived as coming from a primitive culture. It was said that they didn't know how to care for their children, so their children were taken from them and put in children's homes. It was a direct order, given by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. People living on kibbutzim were revered, while Yemenites were given showers and had their side curls shorn off. There are accounts dating back to the early 1950s of Knesset members [Uri Avneri and Menachem Porush] requesting an investigation into immigrant claims of abductions in the transit camps, but they were silenced. The crime was organized. A single person couldn't have done this alone. It required institutional support."

As far as Koren is concerned, there is still a lot to do but little time to do it. Who knows when the next elections will be, and after that, whether the committee she heads will continue to exist? Her decision to focus on getting the state to recognize its role in the affair does not stem from any desire to obtain financial compensation for the families affected. Rather, she wants to get this chapter of Israeli history into the history books and create a center celebrating the legacy of Yemenite Jewry. As Koren puts it, "That is the only thing that will bring closure to this affair and allow us to move on."
October 12, 2017

As part of his push to revisit the 2015 nuclear deal later this week, US President Donald Trump is expected to unveil a broader plan to roll back Iranian influence across the Middle East.

Former US diplomats posted to the region, however, are deeply skeptical that the United States can come out ahead in a geopolitical confrontation with Tehran. While the White House has expressed frustration with the gains made by Iran-backed Shiite groups in places such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen, three US ambassadors warned that changing the situation on the ground would be costly and difficult to achieve.

I see no good options vis-a-vis Iran in Iraq or Syria, former US Ambassador to Iraq and Syria Ryan Crocker told Al-Monitor. Theyre not going to be easily persuaded, and I dont think we have the wherewithal to push them out.

Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor, which he argues has constrained Americas ability to confront Tehran on a range of other issues such as its ballistic missile program and support for proxy forces. He is widely expected to refuse to certify that the deal is in Americas national security interest ahead of an Oct. 15 deadline and to ask Congress to consider more sanctions while stopping short of pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The president isnt looking at one piece of this. Hes looking at all of the bad behavior of Iran, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters last week. Not just the nuclear deal as bad behavior, but the ballistic missile testing, destabilizing of the region, No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism, cyberattacks, illicit nuclear program.

Many experts have yet to be convinced that Trump really has much of a plan beyond voicing his displeasure. He had been expected to lay out an Iran strategy today, but those plans appear to have been delayed by internal dissension among his national security team, including on whether to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group.

I have not seen any indication that there is a concrete, a discrete Iran policy, said former US Ambassador to Iraq and Turkey James Jeffrey, now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Were helping the Saudis in Yemen, but apart from the president reviewing the JCPOA, there isnt a policy.

If anything, Trumps tough rhetoric on Iran dating back to the early days of his administration appears to only have emboldened Iran. Casualties of Iranian proxy forces in Syria have jumped in recent months, while Iran has created a number of militias that dont answer to Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Iran has continued to provoke US troops in the region throughout Trumps first nine months in office. In August, an Iranian drone buzzed a US fighter jet near an aircraft carrier operating in the Gulf, which the Pentagon deemed the 13th unsafe interaction between Washington's and Tehrans navies this year.

At the same time, the United States last month abandoned Al-Tanf base in Syria, once a training center for Arab rebels aligned against Bashar al-Assad's regime. The move came as Iranian-backed Shiite and Hezbollah fighters were operating nearby, provoking fears of a possible clash.

Its going to be hard. Its going to require patience. What the Iranians  like the Syrians  have learned is that they can wait us out, said Crocker, who served as the top US diplomat in Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria and Pakistan before coming to Iraq amid the 2007 US troop surge. We will not stand up to them. Its up to the administration. Are we going to push back, or are we just going to let it rock along?

Its not clear whether the Trump administration plans to keep a permanent military presence in the region aimed at deterring Iran.

When the president visited Saudi Arabia in May, he agreed to help Gulf Cooperation Council countries deter Iran. But its unclear if that effort will gain traction with the Gulf embroiled in diplomatic strife over Qatars challenge to the status quo.

Earlier this summer, the administration requested  and the Senate granted  authority for US forces to build temporary facilities in Iraq and Syria to help defeat the Islamic State (IS). It remains unclear, however, if the US presence will be extended to counter Iranian influence after the final defeat of IS.

I think a permanent Iranian presence in Syria is unavoidable, Robert Ford, a former US ambassador to Syria, told Al-Monitor. The only way to get it out is to attack it on the ground.

The one force that really had a chance to limit Iranian growth was predominantly Sunni opposition, and its not coming back, said Ford, who resigned in 2014 out of frustration with the Barack Obama administrations limited support for the Syrian opposition. Its two years too late.
ServisFirst Bancshares has grown rapidly in the last few years, gaining the fourth-largest marketshare by deposits in Alabama - and with the opening of its new headquarters, there's a lot more room for growth.

The 100,000-square-foot building at 2500 Woodcrest Place in Homewood will hold about 175 people when it formally opens for business on Monday, but it can hold more than 400.

"We currently outsource a lot of functions, and we've never had the opportunity to look at in-sourcing those functions because we didn't have the space or parking spaces for any of those people," President and CEO Tom Broughton said. "We'll have the opportunity to evaluate in-sourcing functions that we currently outsource today."

Some of those functions ServisFirst will consider in-sourcing will include core processing, loan review and internal audit.

The four-story building has an adjoining 45,000-square-foot parking deck.

"We wanted a nice clean look and that's what I think we got," Broughton said. "Giattina Aycock certainly pulled it off."

ServisFirst Bank was founded in 2005 and is a branch-lite model primarily serving commercial clients. It's operating in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina.

"The point is to serve clients better, and we think we can do that here," Broughton said. "Homewood is a great central location to cover the entire Birmingham area."

About 65 employees are already working out of the building. The building has floor to ceiling windows, a white noise system to make the office space seem quieter than it is, and lights that go on and off automatically according to motion in order to use less energy.

"We can look at new opportunities, things we couldn't look at in the past," Broughton said.
Hyundai offers 3-day money back guarantee

Hyundai is rolling out a new program in select U.S. cities aimed at streamlining the process of car buying and appealing to the kind of no-nonsense shopping Internet users enjoy. The company this week is introducing Shopper Assurance, which offers market pricing, a streamlined purchasing process and a three-day money back guarantee.

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Anniston food handler identified with hepatitis

he Alabama Department of Public Health is investigating a case of a food handler infected with hepatitis A. Anyone who has eaten food prepared at Anniston's Marco's Pizza by pickup or delivery between Sept. 26 through Oct. 2 should contact their health care provider, pharmacy or the Calhoun County Health Department as soon as possible. Patrons may need the Hepatitis A vaccine or immune globulin to reduce their chance of illness.

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Koch Foods to build $40 million feed mill in Roanoke

Koch Foods has announced it will build a $40.45 million feed mill in Roanoke. The Randolph County plant will produce prepared feeds and feeding ingredients to support the growth of Koch's Pine Mountain, Ga., processing plant.

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Dothan nursing facility recognized by national magazine

Dothan's Westside Terrace Healthcare earned a national honor for its work in using technology. Westside Terrace, which was named one of the top nursing homes in Alabama by U.S. News and World Report, received a certificate of merit from McKnight's Long-Term Care News. The honor is part of the publication's Excellence in Technology Awards.

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Navy awards contract for Littoral Combat Ship

The U.S. Navy has awarded Austal USA a contract worth up to $584 million to build LCS 30, which will become the 15th Littoral Combat Ship built in Mobile. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Tuesday that the news amounted to not just an endorsement of Austal's work in Mobile, but of the state's workforce as a whole.

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11 sweet shops to try at the beach

It's October which means Halloween is right around the corner and that means lots of candy for the little ones. Now, if you can't wait to for Halloween, then check out these 11 sweet shops at the Alabama Gulf Coast. From Halloween candy to shakes to cakes and everything sweet in between, these are 11 sweet shops that satisfy that sweet tooth.

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Full Moon Bar-B-Que opens Montgomery restaurant

Birmingham-based Full Moon Bar-B-Que opened its newest location today in Montgomery. It is the 31-year-old barbecue restaurant's 14th location in Alabama and the first in the state capital. The 5,000-square-foot restaurant is located at 7660 Eastchase Parkway, behind the Target shopping center.

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Woman sent to federal prison for Regions fraud

An Atlanta woman was sentenced today to federal prison for her role in a fraudulent credit card scheme that stretched into north Alabama. Nenita Chiffon Barnes, 40, pleaded guilty in April to charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, producing or trafficking in a counterfeit device, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and fraud with identification documents.

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Auburn's student business accelerator running

From a business standpoint, it's now the Liveliest Village of the Plain. Auburn University students who want a leg up in starting their own businesses can now get help from the Tiger Cage Accelerator and Incubator, which opened last week at Auburn Research Park.

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Birmingham hosts global supply chain summit

Alabama companies will get a chance to network next week during the 6th annual Global Supply Chain & Logistics Summit at Birmingham's Hyatt Regency - The Wynfrey. The summit, which will take place Oct. 17 and 18, will tackle subjects related to trade and technology in the global market. "Supply chain efficiency and innovation continue to be relevant topics for our companies," said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. "At the summit, businesses have the opportunity to learn how their peers have put in place supply chain strategies that have led to success both locally and internationally."

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Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

Superhero window washers delight child patients

Window washers from Sunlight Building Services, LLC contracted by Hoar Construction, LLC, thrilled the young patients at Children's of Alabama this morning. Books-A Million helped sponsor the event. The window washers dressed up as Captain America, Spiderman, Superman and Batman and rappelled down the side of Children's of Alabama, surprising patients as part of the hospital's Superhero Month celebration.

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Growing doubts that NAFT can survive

The North American Free Trade Agreement is in its 23rd year. But there are growing doubts that it will survive through its 24th. President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw from the agreement if he can't get what he wants in a renegotiation. But what he wants - from requiring that more auto production be made-in-America to shifting more government contracts to U.S. companies - will likely be unacceptable to America's two NAFTA partners, Mexico and Canada.

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How Trump tax plan would alter mortgage interest deduction

Each year, taxpayers subsidize America's homeowners by roughly $70 billion, with the benefits flowing disproportionately to coastal areas with high incomes and pricey homes, from New York and Washington to Los Angeles and San Francisco. But under President Donald Trump's tax proposal, some Americans would likely be steered away from this tax break. Here's why: Trump's plan would double the standard deduction, which taxpayers can take if they don't itemize deductions.

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Tech and health care stocks take indexes back to records

U.S. stock indexes drifted back to record highs Wednesday as investors got ready for another round of corporate reports to begin. Technology, health care and household goods companies all rose. Technology companies like PayPal, Visa, and Google's parent company Alphabet made some of the biggest gains as the market was little changed for the third day in a row.

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California moves toward self-driving cars

California regulators took an important step Wednesday to clear the road for everyday people to get self-driving cars. The state's Department of Motor Vehicles published proposed rules that would govern the technology within California, where for several years manufacturers have been testing hundreds of prototypes on roads and highways.

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Facebook gets real about virtual reality's appeal

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seems to be realizing a sobering reality about virtual reality: His company's Oculus headsets that send people into artificial worlds are too expensive and confining to appeal to the masses. Zuckerberg on Wednesday revealed how Facebook intends to address that problem, unveiling a stand-alone headset that won't require plugging in a smartphone or a cord tethering it to a personal computer like the Oculus Rift headset does.
A select group of more than 200 got a look today at the future of public transportation.

New Flyer's Vehicle Innovation Center opened in Anniston, described as North America's first lab to focus on new bus technology.

The center is part of a $25 million expansion at the New Flyer plant in Anniston, which kicked off last month. New Flyer, the largest transit bus manufacturer in North America, describes the center as focusing on research and development of electric, autonomous and clean technology in mass transit.

Much of the floor space in the center was occupied today by exhibits on fuel cells, zero emissions and renewable energy. There was a bus simulator, a virtual reality exhibit and a simulated charging station.

Anniston Mayor Jack Draper said the center exceeds expectations.

"It blew me away," Draper said, after touring the facility. "They've done a fantastic job here and this is really important for the City of Anniston. To know that history is going to be made out here in the way of technical innovation is really big."

The New Flyer plant, which builds about 15 buses a week, is in the midst of an expansion that will add about 76,000 square feet, increasing New Flyer's Anniston complex to almost 380,000 square feet.

Jane Williams, Deputy Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, said the needs of an expanding population and changing systems of technology will raise many questions for society.

"The center is one way to begin to answer those questions," she said.
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former Anniston police officer who sued the city after he was fired for his membership in a white supremacist organization.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Emerson Hopkins dismissed the case of Josh Doggrell in a Sept. 29 ruling.

Doggrell was fired in June 2015 over his membership in the League of the South, what the Southern Poverty Law Center called a "neo-confederate" group. He sued the city a year later, claiming the firing violated his rights under the First Amendment and the Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment.

Doggrell was identified as a member of the league in a post by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch blog. Another officer, Lt. Wayne Brown, also identified in the blog, decided to retire to avoid "adverse publicity" and "creating a distraction" for the police department, officials said at the time.

In Hopkins' 56-page decision, she attributed Doggrell's firing to the "community uproar resulting" from his speech being made known, with the implication that the city's police department had "a sympathetic, if not supportive, view" of the League of the South.

The city also cited Doggrell for violating the city's anti-harassment policy by posting a white "not-equal sign" with a black background on his Facebook page. Doggrell said the image was not racial but symbolized his opposition to gay marriage on religious grounds.

The SPLC, in the blog posted, posted a video of remarks Doggrell made at a 2013 conference about the group and his job as a law enforcement officer. Doggrell stated in the speech that, during a department interview in which he mentioned his ties to the group, he told officials, "I'm not going to sell out my position with the League, as something I believe in strongly. If it came down to it, I'd choose the League."

Hopkins' decision stated that city officials were "very concerned about violence breaking out within the city." In addition, Hopkins' stated Doggrell was given an opportunity to denounce the League of the South in hopes of deescalating the situation and "declined to do so."

Later in 2015, when testifying for two hours before the city's civil service board in appealing his firing, Doggrell said he grew disillusioned with the league as individuals within it began to identify with neo-Nazi elements. But he said he would not have repudiated the league to keep his job because of his admiration for some of its members.
Blake Sifton was born to a family of funeral directors. He explores the prevalence of mental illness in the profession.

I was born into a family that cares for the dead.

For more than 90 years, they have watched over funerals in our small Canadian hometown. My great-grandfather established the family business in 1926 and both my grandfather and father have carried forward his legacy as independent funeral directors.

We grew up in a home where death was an appropriate dinnertime discussion, where dearly departed pets always received professional send-offs and where we were encouraged to confront our own mortality and taught that death is not something to be terrified of or obsessed over. It should be acknowledged, understood and respected.

But death remains a taboo subject in the Western world and much is misunderstood about funeral directors, those who care for us at the end.

The public often sees only the tailored suits, polished cars and price tags on caskets. They dont understand all that funeral service involves and the toll thats taken by witnessing the awful sights and tragic scenes, by suppressing your emotions while you shoulder others grief and help them through the worst days of their lives, nearly every day of your own.

They certainly dont realise just how many funeral directors are suffering. I didnt either.

While working on our film, Death in the Family, we came to learn that mental illnesses, including depression, vicarious traumatisation and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are prevalent among funeral professionals, but most suffer in silence.

Thats part of our job

Caleb Wilde is a 35-year-old funeral director from Parkesburg, Pennsylvania and the author of a popular blog called Confessions of a Funeral Director, along with a recently released book by the same name.

His family has owned their funeral home since 1850 and Caleb is the sixth generation to work there. But he struggled when he entered the industry.

I found myself unprepared for the sights, the stress and the work schedule that goes along with the funeral business, he says.

It took me a while to realise what was happening, but I was depressed. I had a lot of suicidal ideations. I thought about different ways out of the business and that was one of the options.

Wilde believes that funeral education leaves many unprepared to deal with the psychological challenges they will face in their careers.

Theres absolutely nothing in our schooling on self-care. Theres absolutely nothing on resiliency training, he says.

Wilde sought help and, while he still struggles sometimes, he eventually got better through therapy and a conscious effort to reframe his interpretation of death.

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Most of us have a narrative about death where we see it as entirely negative and we dont look for the experiences that are beautiful and positive, he says. We dont see the times where death brings people closer together. We dont see the love, the vulnerability that happens in death that happens nowhere else.

Just as death is taboo in Western culture, so too is mental illness, and while opening up has become more accepted in some professions where the psychological risks are higher, funeral directors are still very much in the shadows, reluctant to show emotion and admit when they are hurting.

Wilde believes that the professional culture around funeral service discourages people from speaking up.

Were expected to repress ourselves. Thats part of our job. Were supposed to be stable so we can guide and direct everybody else. If you arent, its looked down upon, he says.

The gatekeepers in the funeral business tend to be older white men in their 60s and 70s. Their generation has been taught that showing your emotions or even getting help is a sign of weakness.

When I expressed my struggles with the funeral industry, some people told me that Im unfit to be a funeral director. The assumption being that if you arent able to repress your emotions then youre not cut out for it, he says. But thats b******t.

Dying for help

Pam Moss is a former minister from Markham, Ontario who experienced burnout and compassion fatigue. She became a funeral celebrant and soon recognised many of the same symptoms she experienced in the funeral directors she worked with.

I recognised the same look in the eyes of many funeral directors and their stories quickly came pouring out as I would ask the simple question, Are you ok? Clearly, they were not and had not been for a long time, but didnt feel safe to express that.

Very naively, I asked what support was in place, making the assumption that there was support, only to hear from everybody, There is nothing.'

In the absence of proper support, Moss says, Their coping strategies were alcohol, drugs, sarcasm and denial  The fact that they were angry, cynical and jaded was their norm and some thought that that was fine.

Some were just emotionally void, she says. They were shut down. They werent feeling anything.

Moss went on to become a bereavement educator and participated in a landmark conference on mental health in funeral service at Humber College in Toronto in 2016 where several established funeral directors shared their struggles with a crowd of their colleagues.

Once they did that, the floodgates opened, Moss says. Pardon the pun, but funeral directors are dying for this.

They see the worst of the worst all of the time. It affects their mental health, their physical health, their spiritual health. It erodes their soul.

People at the conference were saying, Okay, this is real, and it doesnt mean Im weak or not cut out for this job. Finally, someone is hearing them and making them realise that vicarious traumatisation is real.

Moss now hosts seminars and speaks to funeral directors across Canada.

Ive had funeral directors in their 70s come up to me with tears in their eyes and tell me about the family they served 25 years ago that still haunts them, she says. But they come to me privately, they dont often say it aloud.

PTSD: Normal reactions to abnormal events

Greg Armstrong is a former paramedic turned chaplain who provided first responders with crisis intervention support inside the perimeter of Ground Zero in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

That experience gave Armstrong a, heightened awareness of the need for and the benefit of mental health intervention, and he now works with a Canadian organisation called, Tema, that provides support and resources for first responders suffering from PTSD.

While Tema works mostly with firefighters, paramedics, police officers and members of the military, they have also provided support for funeral directors and Armstrong participated in the Humber conference.

Knowing what theyre exposed to, I certainly have concerns for their mental health, he says.

What theyre feeling are normal reactions by normal people to abnormal events. Working in the funeral industry is not a normal environment.

One of the precipitating factors for PTSD is vicarious trauma, travelling with people and facing unfixable suffering. When you get to the doors of a funeral home, youre dealing with unfixable suffering.

What can happen

My father tells me that suicides and the deaths of children have always been the hardest cases for him to deal with.

He admits now that when my sister and I were young and he would come home from the funeral of a small child, he would go to our rooms and hold us tightly while we slept.

In small towns like ours, many funeral directors bury their own neighbours, friends and family members, and my father has overseen the funerals of my mothers parents, a cherished cousin and his own father.

He acknowledges that in taking on professional responsibilities during a personal loss, he didnt always allow himself the space to grieve properly.

At times, Ive seen him worn down by the long days, sleepless nights and missed family moments that are inevitable because death has no business hours.

But we have been lucky. Perhaps through a combination of family and community support and a positive outlook my father has been able to avoid the burnout and depression that plagues so many others.

I believe that we appreciate life more because of what we have seen in funeral service, he says.

We see tragic situations, situations where we think, That wasnt fair for that to happen to that family. Youre very aware of what can happen. It reinforces whats important in life.
Despite the differences between the two Palestinian parties, they have managed to reach a deal to end their divide.

Hamas and Fatah are the two most dominant parties in the Palestinian political scene.

On Thursday, the two movements announced they had reached a deal to end a decade-long rift that brought them to an armed conflict in 2007.

Hamas has been the de facto ruler in the Gaza Strip since 2007, after defeating President Mahmoud Abbas long dominant Fatah party in parliamentary elections.

HAMAS VS FATAH Ideology:

Hamas  Islamist

Fatah  Secular

Hamas  Islamist Fatah  Secular Strategy towards Israel:

Hamas  Armed resistance

Fatah  Negotiations

Hamas  Armed resistance Fatah  Negotiations Objectives:

Hamas  Does not recognise Israel, but accepts a Palestinian state on 1967 borders

Fatah  Recognises Israel, wants to build a state on 1967 borders

Hamas then pushed Fatah out of Gaza when the latter refused to recognise the result of the vote.

Hamas and Fatah have ruled the occupied Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank respectively ever since.

While the two groups work towards the same goal of building a Palestinian state on the territories that Israel occupied in 1967, consisting of East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, there are some stark differences.

What are their ideologies?

Fatah is a reverse acronym for Harakat al-Tahrir al-Filistiniya or Palestinian National Liberation Movement in Arabic. The word Fatah means to conquer.

The secular movement was founded in Kuwait in the late 1950s by diaspora Palestinians after the 1948 Nakba  the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by the Zionist movement aiming to create a Jewish modern state in historic Palestine.

Fatah was founded by several people, most notably the late president of the Palestinian Authority  Yasser Arafat, aides Khalil al-Wazir and Salah Khalaf, and Mahmoud Abbas, who is the current president of the Palestinian Authority.

The movement was premised on the armed struggle against Israel to liberate historic Palestine.

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The main military wing of the group was al-Asifah, or the Storm. Al-Asifah fighters were based in several Arab countries as well as in the West Bank and Gaza.

The groups armed struggle against Israeli occupation began in 1965. Most of its armed operations were carried out from Jordan and Lebanon.

Under Yasser Arafat, and after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Fatah became the dominant party in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), which comprises numerous Palestinian political parties. The PLO was created in 1964 with the goal to liberate Palestine, and today acts as the representative of the Palestinian people at the United Nations.

After being pushed out of Jordan and Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s, the movement underwent a fundamental change, choosing to negotiate with Israel.

The Arabs basically helped in forcing Fatah to agree on taking a diplomatic route, after it was pushed out of Beirut, Nashat al-Aqtash, a West Bank-based political analyst, told Al Jazeera.

In the 1990s, the Fatah-led PLO officially renounced armed resistance and backed United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which calls for building a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders (West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza), alongside an Israeli state.

The PLO then signed the Oslo Accords, which led to the creation of the Palestinian National Authority, or Palestinian Authority, an interim self-governing body meant to lead to an independent Palestinian State.

Hamas is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyya, or Islamic Resistance Movement. The word Hamas means zeal.

The Hamas movement was founded in Gaza in 1987 by imam Sheikh Ahmed Yasin and aide Abdul Aziz al-Rantissi shortly after the start of the first Intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories.

The movement started as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and created a military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, to pursue an armed struggle against Israel with the aim of liberating historic Palestine. It also provided social welfare programmes to Palestinian victims of the Israeli occupation.

Hamas defines itself as a Palestinian Islamic national liberation and resistance movement, using Islam as its frame of reference.

In 2017, Hamas issued a political document effectively claiming to break ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and said it would accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with the return of Palestinian refugees.

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Though the move stirred fears among its loyalists that it was giving up on the Palestinian cause, Hamas added the following clause:

Hamas rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea but considers the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state on 1967 borders to be a formula of national consensus.

The movement believes that the establishment of Israel is entirely illegal. This sets it apart from the PLO, of which it is not a member.

Hamas entered Palestinian politics as a political party in 2005 when it engaged in local elections, and won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in 2006, beating Fatah.

Since 2007, Israel has launched three wars against Hamas and the Strip. After Hamas won elections in that year, Israel imposed an airtight blockade.

Civilians in Gaza have borne the brunt of the fighting. In the last Israeli assault on the Strip, more than 2,200 Palestinians were killed, including 500 children, over a span of 50 days.

How do their objectives differ?

With the release of Hamas political document in 2017, the objectives of the two parties are effectively the same  creating a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967.

There is no value to the clause in which Hamas says it will not give up on historic Palestine, said al-Aqtash, the political analyst. Hamas has accepted a political compromise and they cannot go back on this.

All Palestinians dream of liberating historic Palestine, but today, they are working on a realistic solution, he added, explaining they are focusing on what they can achieve as opposed to what they hope of achieving.

What are their strategies?

The biggest difference between the two movements today is their attitude towards Israel.

While Hamas has clung to using armed resistance, Fatah believes in negotiating with Israel and has completely ruled out using attacks.

The Oslo Accords gave Israel full control of the Palestinian economy as well as civil and security matters in more than 60 percent of the West Bank.

Under the agreements, the PA must coordinate with the Israeli occupation over security and any armed resistance attacks planned against Israelis. This is seen as highly controversial and seen by some as the PA collaborating with the Israeli occupation.

In March, protests erupted in the West Bank when prominent Palestinian political activist Basil al-Araj was killed by Israeli forces in Ramallah, after being arrested by PA security personnel on allegations of planning an attack.

Abbas, the PA president, regularly and publicly condemns any operations of armed resistance carried out by Palestinians against Israelis.

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The issue of armed resistance has cast doubt over whether the unity agreement reached this week would succeed.

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, Abdulsattar Qassem, a Nablus-based political analyst, told Al Jazeera.

This will inevitably lead to the destruction of the potential new unity government.

How do they rally support?

Hamas attraction lies in its ideology, compared with Fatah which has more international backing and is seen as more financially secure.

In terms of garnering support, the two employ very different tactics.

Hamas, like the Muslim Brotherhood, uses grassroots activism to inform people on its ideology, in places such as mosques and universities.

Fatah, on the other hand, no longer carries out such exercises, and relies more on providing financial support to gain followers, according to those on the ground.

Al-Aqtash says about half of Fatah loyalists financially benefit from the PA and get rewards such as salaries and high positions  along with their families.

Their livelihood is tied to the existence of the PA.

Many still view Fatahs Arafat as a Palestinian leader. In his time, before signing the Oslo Accords, the party supported armed resistance.

Many of those on the street who support Fatah do so from an emotional perspective  for the slogans and the history of the movement  without really understanding what the movements current views are, said al-Aqtash.

On the other hand, Hamas has a completely different loyalty base, says Ramallah-based activist Hazem Abu Helal.

Hamas has a distinct ideology and they have people working to promote their ideas, as opposed to Fatah which uses money to secure its followers, Abu Helal told Al Jazeera.

Today, if you ask university students, the majority of them do not know what Fatahs ideology is. The movement does not have clear principles.
Wildfires in California have declined in numbers over the years, but their damage and size have grown.

The recent wildfires in California have killed at least 23 people and left hundreds missing.

The fires in the northern counties of California are among the deadliest in the states history, with thousands of houses and businesses destroyed.

Wildfires are not uncommon in California given its hot, windy and dry weather in the summer and autumn months.

While the number of wildfires in state has decreased over the years, the destruction caused by these fires has grown, making them more costly to contain.
Small sparks can start fires, wrote the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland.

His warning was directed at Ukraine and its newly adopted law on education, which in Jaglands diplospeak provides less favourable conditions for minority language teaching.

The law envisages a near-full Ukrainisation of tuition in what is a de-facto multilingual country. It has caused an outrage in Ukraines EU neighbours, particularly Hungary, which pledged to veto every pro-Ukranian initiative it can.

But Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Greek and many other minorities are just collateral damage. The elephant in the room is, of course, the Russian language, which is the main target of the legislation. Spoken as either the first or second language by the vast majority of Ukrainians, it also happens to be the language of Ukraines aggressor that seized Crimea in 2014 and instigated a conflict in the Donbas region.

Ukrainian nationalists have long dreamed of turning Ukraine into a monolingual country like Poland, and now Russia has provided them with a perfect pretext by invading their country. The virtual absence of any clear and coherent reaction from Russian-speaking Ukrainians clearly shows that the timing couldnt be better.

The break-up with Russia prompts people to embrace their long-lost or freshly acquired Ukrainianness. Many families who became Russian-speaking only a generation or two ago would be happy to see their children speak the tongue of their grandmothers as their first language. For others, speaking Ukrainian is a political choice  numerous Russian-speakers, including those born in Russia, have been so dismayed by the Russian aggression that they are ready to completely change their ethnic and linguistic identity.

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Ultimately, most people are simply indifferent. Virtually every Ukrainian is bilingual and switching from one language to another poses few problems. Millions of Ukrainians speak a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian known as surzhyk. Language issues are extremely low on Ukrainian peoples priority list compared with economic woes and the war in the east, as multiple polls repeatedly show.

Those who do care about the future of Russian language in Ukraine are in disarray and they should blame themselves for their predicament. It was their inability to organise politically and defend their rights in a civilised European manner, their nostalgia for authoritarianism and their acceptance of Putins dictatorship, which left them in a political vacuum, when Russia invaded Ukraine. More importantly, millions of Russia-leaning Russian speakers have lost their link with Ukraines Russian-speaking intelligentsia and middle class, which were overwhelmingly pro-Maidan and constituted a significant part of the revolutionary movement in Kiev.

Of course, some Russian-speakers still habitually expect Russia to raise its voice and use the pretext to increase its pressure politically and militarily. After all, it was the brief cancellation of the Yanukovych-era law on minority languages by the Ukrainian parliament in March 2014, which immensely helped the Kremlin propaganda to consolidate pro-Russian forces in Crimea and justify the invasion.

Putin's regime and Ukrainian nationalists owe a lot to each other for their mutual success. by

But this time the Kremlins reaction was slow and rather muted. One reason might that the new Ukrainian legislation caught the Kremlin amid controversy over minority languages within Russia itself. In August, Vladimir Putin voiced his opposition to compulsory teaching in the languages of Russian autonomies. The expected reduction of language classes has sparked protests in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. It is also easy for Ukraine to rebuff Moscows accusations by pointing at the destruction of Ukrainian-language education in Crimea, where ethnic Ukrainians are the largest minority.

But of course, the main reason for Russia not to make too much noise is that it is definitely more exciting for the Kremlin to watch Ukraine harm itself than to make any efforts in that direction. The new legislation has already pitted Ukraine against its western neighbours, and the Hungarian threats to Ukraine are music to the Kremlins ears.

In the long term, the language issue will certainly be used by the Russia-friendly opposition to Ukraines post-revolutionary government, which already controls some of the large cities and a multitude of smaller municipalities in the countrys east and south, especially in areas adjacent to the front line in Donbas.

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The language issue is, of course, only the cherry on the cake  the main source of dissatisfaction stems from extremely low standards of living in what is now officially the poorest country in Europe, exacerbated by radical reforms of the energy sector that led to skyrocketing prices for electricity and heating. With the pendulum of political sympathies inevitably swinging away from the revolutionary camp, the language law is a neatly laid time bomb, which the Kremlin will not be detonating until the time is right.

Finally, of course, it can only make the Kremlin happy that Ukraine is moving away from the idea of a democratic multicultural society towards the obsolete idea of a monocultural ethnic nation-state, or  in other words  away from Europe and political modernity. It is the course Putin has long chosen for his own country, so Ukraine is certainly welcome on board.

Besides, it is well known that outwardly Russophobic forces in Eastern Europe are much easier to tame and turn to its side than their annoying liberals with their principles, values and sceptical mindset. The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, is a great example of former right-wing Russophobes complete and logical transformation into a friend of the Kremlin. Ukrainian nationalists are much more likely to drift back into the Kremlins fold than staunch liberals.

Putins regime and Ukrainian nationalists owe a lot to each other for their mutual success. In Ukraine, many ironically call Putin the father of the modern nation, because his invasion consolidated Ukrainians in the way nation-state builders could only dream of.

But without Ukrainian nationalism and its flirtation with highly toxic totalitarian symbols and ideas of the early 20th century, Putin wouldnt have been able to mobilise his constituency in support of the Crimean invasion the way he did in 2014, when his approval rating soared from 65 to 88 percent.

Their sparring may look like a fierce battle, or as they like to put it  a clash of civilisations, but its whole point is to keep liberals and pacifists on both sides off of the pitch.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Islamabad, Pakistan  Three members of Pakistans persecuted Ahmadi sect have been sentenced to death for blasphemy by a court in the central town of Sheikhupura, a community spokesperson said.

Mubasher Ahmad, Ghulam Ahmed and Ehsan Ahmed were convicted by the court on Wednesday for insulting Prophet Mohammad under the countrys strict blasphemy laws, Ahmadi community spokesperson Saleemuddin told Al Jazeera.

The three men were arrested in May 2014 after they tore down religious posters in Bhoiwal, a village about 22km southwest of the city of Lahore.

Khalil Ahmed, a fourth accused, was shot and killed in police custody just days after the incident took place.

While the accused claimed the posters carried anti-Ahmadi slogans, the prosecution said they carried religious significance and that tearing them down was tantamount to insulting the prophet.

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Saleemuddin said that the Ahmadi community would challenge the trial courts decision in the high court.

Ahmadis are a sect that consider themselves Muslim but whose faith is rejected by the Pakistani state. There are around 600,000 Ahmadis in the country and several million around the world.

Members of the sect face three years in prison for referring to themselves as Muslim, to their places of worship as mosques or to their call to prayer as azaan under Pakistani law.

Last year, at least six Ahmadis were killed in planned attacks, according to local media reports.

Since 1984, when the blasphemy laws were amended to include several Ahmadi-specific clauses, more than 250 Ahmadis have been killed, according to data collected by the community.

Atmosphere of fear

Pakistans strict blasphemy laws prescribe a mandatory death penalty for anyone found guilty of insulting Prophet Muhammad, and life imprisonment for those found to defile the Quran.

Those accused often face the threat of murder, even if they are acquitted by the courts.

Since 1990, at least 74 people have been murdered over blasphemy allegations, according to a tally maintained by Al Jazeera.

Those killed include people accused of blasphemy, their lawyers, family members and judges adjudicating blasphemy cases.

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On Tuesday, Muhammad Safdar, a member of parliament and son-in-law of recently dismissed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, launched a scathing attack against Ahmadis in the parliament.

These people [Ahmadis] are a threat to this country, its constitution and ideology. This situation is heading towards a dangerous point, he said while calling for them to be barred from serving in the military or judiciary.

Safdar was not challenged by any other member of parliament at the time, although some political leaders have distanced themselves from his remarks since then.

These statements create an atmosphere of fear, said Saleemuddin. If these things are being said on the floor of the house, then what do you think will happen in the streets?

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras web correspondent in Pakistan: @AsadHashim
Couple and three young children were reportedly held by Haqqani network after abduction five years ago in Afghanistan.

An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after five years as captives of an armed group with ties to the Afghan Taliban, American and Pakistani officials say.

US officials said on Thursday that Pakistan secured the release of Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Joshua Boyle, who were abducted five years ago while travelling in Afghanistan and had been held by the Haqqani network.

Coleman was pregnant when she was captured. The couple had three children while in captivity, and all have been freed, US officials said.

The Pakistani military confirmed the release and said the family was being repatriated to the country of their origin.

But as of Thursday morning, the familys precise whereabouts were unclear, and it was not immediately known when they would return to North America.

The family was not in US custody, though they were together in a safe, undisclosed, location in Pakistan, a US national security official told the Associated Press news agency.

US officials had planned on moving the family out of Pakistan on a US transport plane, but at the last minute Boyle would not get on, the official said.

The couple have told US officials that they wanted to fly commercially to Canada, according to the official.

US officials describe the Haqqani network as a terrorist organisation and have targeted its leaders with drone attacks.

But it also operates like a criminal network. Unlike the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, it does not typically execute Western hostages, preferring to ransom them for cash.

The US has long criticised Pakistan for failing to aggressively pursue the Haqqani network.

In a statement on Thursday, US President Donald Trump described the release as a positive moment for our countrys relationship with Pakistan.

US-Pakistan meeting

The release came as Lisa Curtis, a member of the National Security Council, was in the Pakistan capital, Islamabad, for talks with Pakistani officials on the implementation of the administrations new Afghanistan and South Asia strategy.

Noting that US had a long track record of cooperation with Pakistan, the US delegation emphasised the importance of reinvigorating the bilateral relationship in order to achieve the common objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region, the Pakistan government said after Thursdays meeting.





The Pakistani army said its forces recovered the hostages after acting on US intelligence about their passage into Pakistan from Afghanistan.

However, one US official told Reuters news agency there was no indication that the hostages had been in Afghanistan in the days before they were freed.

The US believed the hostages were probably held by the Haqqani group in or near its headquarters in northwest Pakistan the entire time, two other US officials said.

John Kelly, Trumps chief of staff, said: Theyve been essentially living in a hole for five years. Thats the kind of people were dealing with over there.

The release came together rapidly on Wednesday. It happened nearly five years to the day since Coleman and Boyle lost touch with their families while travelling in a mountainous region near the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The couple set off in summer 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan.

Colemans parents last heard from their son-in-law on October 8, 2012, from an internet cafe in what Boyle described as an unsafe part of Afghanistan.

In 2013, the couple appeared in two videos asking the US government to free them from the Taliban.

Trumps message

In recent remarks on his Afghanistan policy, Trump took note of the billions paid to Pakistan at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. But that will have to change, and that will change immediately.

However, in his statement on Thursday, he said: The Pakistani governments cooperation is a sign that it is honouring Americas wish that it do more to provide security in the region.

Trump said the release suggests other countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again.

For her part, Chrystia Freeland, Canadas foreign minister, said in a statement her country was greatly relieved the family was safe, and she thanked the US, Afghan and Pakistani governments for their efforts.

Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years. We stand ready to support them as they begin their healing journey, she said.

With additional reporting by Al Jazeeras Asad Hashim. Follow him on Twitter @AsadHashim
Casualties include four families whose houses were buried in a landslide early Thursday while they were sleeping.

At least 37 people were killed and another 40 are missing as floods and landslides ravaged northern and central Vietnam.

The disasters injured 21 people and destroyed or damaged more than 1,000 houses, submerged another 16,740 homes and damaged infrastructure and crops in six central and northern provinces, the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said in a statement on Thursday.

In the hardest-hit northern province of Hoa Binh, 11 people died and 21 others were missing.

Its impossible to fight against this water, its the strongest in years, Ngo Thi Su, a resident in Hoa Binh, was quoted as saying by state-run Vietnam Television (VTV).

Casualties include four families whose houses were buried in a landslide early Thursday while they were sleeping, killing six and leaving another 12 missing, disaster official Quach Viet Hoang said.

We are mobilising all forces to search for the missing, a disaster official in the province told AFP news agency by phone.

A terrified resident described severe flooding in other parts of the province, where a state of emergency was declared.

The flash flood was terrible. Water poured down from the hill, like a surge three metres high, Phan Ba Dien told state-controlled VNExpress news site.

Evacuations were ordered for 200,000 people in Ninh Binh province in the north.

A tropical depression hit central Vietnam on Tuesday and brought heavy rains.

More rain is forecast for some parts of northern and central regions as a cold spell is moving from southern China to Vietnam, the disaster agency said.

Agriculture Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong was quoted as telling a government emergency meeting Wednesday it was the first time in a decade that northern and central regions suffered such a large volume of rain in a short period of time.

Rain of up to 50cm was reported over the three-day period until Wednesday in some parts of central and northern regions.
Leader reports agreement has been reached with Fatah to end 10-year political schism.

Palestinian rival factions Hamas and Fatah have reached a deal over political reconciliation, Hamas leader and former prime minister Ismail Haniya said in a statement on Thursday, without providing further details.

Further information will be announced at a noon news conference (10GMT) in Cairo, where unity talks between the rival factions began on Tuesday.

Fatah and Hamas reached an agreement at dawn today upon a generous Egyptian sponsorship, Haniya said in a statement.

The Western-backed mainstream Fatah party lost control of Gaza to Hamas in fighting in 2007. But last month Hamas agreed to cede powers in Gaza to President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah-backed government in a deal mediated by Egypt.

The meetings in Cairo are centred around implementing the 2011 Cairo Agreement between the two political parties, in hopes of ending the 10-year political schism.

A party to the negotiations, who asked not to be identified, told AFP news agency the agreement would see forces of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by Fatah, take control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

He added all Palestinian factions would begin wider negotiations on the formation of a national unity government in the coming two weeks.

Egypt has been eager to improve security in the Sinai Peninsula that borders Gaza, where fighters launched a long-running campaign of attacks.

Last month, Hamas agreed to cede civil power in Gaza to the Palestinian Authority, but the fate of its vast military wing remains a significant issue for the two sides.

An Egyptian source close to the talks said intelligence chief Khaled Fawzi had followed the discussions closely.

The 2011 agreement stipulated that legislative, presidential and national council elections should be conducted within one year of its signing. The deal would see both Hamas and Fatah form a Palestinian government to appoint the prime minister and ministerial positions.

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.

The deal could temporarily ease Gazas dire humanitarian situation.
Demonstrations banned in the central business districts of Nairobi, Mombasa and the opposition stronghold of Kisumu.

Kenya has banned protests in three major city centres following weeks of demonstrations by opposition supporters.

Fred Matiangi, acting internal security minister, said rallies are banned in the central business districts of the capital, Nairobi, the countrys second city  Mombasa and the opposition stronghold of Kisumu.

Protecting the lives and properties of the people of Kenya is not negotiable, Matiangi told a press conference in Nairobi on Thursday.

We have noted with great concern the escalation of lawlessness, breach of peace and public order during demonstrations organised by NASA, Matiangi said.

The National Super Alliance, NASA, is the coalition opposition.

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Due to the clear present and imminent danger of breach of peace and public order as witnessed in recent demonstrations, the government notifies the public that, for the time being, we will not allow demonstrations within central business districts of Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, Matiangi said.

The East African country has been gripped by protests after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner of the August 8 election.

Last month, the countrys Supreme Court annulled the vote and called for a rerun of the poll.

But opposition leader Raila Odinga, Kenyattas main challenger, pulled out of the race this week after claiming his demands were not met. Announcing his withdrawal on Tuesday, Odinga said: All indications are that the election scheduled for 26 October will be worse than the previous one.

The opposition had requested that some of the electoral officials in charge of the last poll should be replaced, calling for daily protests until their demands were met.

Those daily protests should start next week, the opposition has said.

Kenyatta, for his part, insists that the election rerun must go ahead.

Philip Zeal Chebunet, a lecturer and political communication expert at University of Eldoret, told Al Jazeera the government had no choice but to ban protests in central business districts.

The government had to put in place everything to ensure the properties and the people of Kenya are safe. It appears they are handling the situation based on the Constitution. And I believe in the next few days everything will be in order and back to normal, Chebunet said.

Kenyas parliament passed an election law amendment on Wednesday stating that if one candidate withdrew from the rerun vote, the remaining one would automatically win. The vote was boycotted by opposition legislators.

The law aimed to ensure Kenyatta could be declared president if he faced no challengers.
Move comes after Kurdish authorities said they feared Iraqi forces were preparing to launch an assault on the region.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces blocked roads from the Iraqi Kurdish region to the countrys second city Mosul for several hours in response to Iraqi troop movements, a senior Kurdish military official said.

The two main roads connecting Erbil and Dohuk to Mosul were cut off on Thursday with sand embankments as a precautionary measure after we detected an increase in deployments and movements of Iraqi forces near the front line with the Peshmerga, the official told AFP news agency.

Hours later, the barriers were removed and the situation returned to normal, he said.

The move came after Kurdish authorities said late on Wednesday they feared Iraqi government forces and allied paramilitary units were preparing to launch an assault on the autonomous northern region.

Were receiving dangerous messages that the Hashed al-Shaabi [paramilitary forces] and federal police are preparing a major attack from the southwest of Kirkuk and north of Mosul against Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Regional Governments Security Council said.

OPINION: Why is Israel supporting Kurdish secession from Iraq?

The warning came amid escalating tensions between Iraqs Kurds and central authorities in the wake of last months Kurdish independence referendum.

In the oil-rich region of Kirkuk, which is disputed between the Kurds and Baghdad, a local commander said there were no immediate signs of movement.

We have seen no unacceptable movement on the part of Iraqi forces, said Wasta Rasul, the commander of Peshmerga forces in southern Kirkuk.

Rasul said the Peshmerga were in meetings with the US-led coalition that has intervened in Syria and Iraq against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and that its aircraft are monitoring the situation carefully.

The coalition has worked with the Peshmerga, as well as pro-government forces, in the battle to remove ISIL from areas it seized in Iraq in mid-2014.

Some ISIL terrorists have been allowed to enter Kirkuk, Iraqs Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Wednesday. We ask the Kurdistan region and we ask Kirkuk  which is under the federal authority  to send officials to Kirkuk to get these terrorists and investigate them.

Security sources said Iraqs elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) and Rapid Response Force had deployed more troops near Rashad, a village 65km south of Kirkuk, near Peshmerga positions.

READ MORE: Iraqi Kurds overwhelmingly back split from Baghdad

The spokesman for Iraqs Joint Operations Command refused to confirm or deny any preparations for an offensive.

What I can say is that our forces in Hawija have accomplished their duty and have started to clear the region of explosives and restore the law in order to allow people to go home, said Brigadier-General Yahiya Rassul.

Iraqi forces last week retook control of Hawija, one of ISILs last enclaves in the country, which is close to Kurdish majority areas.

Baghdad and Erbil have been locked in a standoff since voters in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region overwhelmingly opted two weeks ago for independence in a referendum the central government called illegal.

Iraq has cut the Kurdish region off from the outside world by severing air links, while neighbouring Turkey and Iran have threatened to close their borders and block oil exports.

Turkey will gradually close border gates with northern Iraq in coordination with the central Iraqi government and Iran in response to the independence referendum, Ibrahim Kalin, President Recep Tayyip Erdogans spokesman, said on Thursday.
Islamabad, Pakistan  The Election Commission of Pakistan has rejected the registration application of a new political party due to its links to charities said to be fronts for the armed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group.

Milli Muslim Leagues (MML) application for registration was rejected on Wednesday by a four-man panel headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Muhammad Raza in the capital Islamabad, MML spokesperson Tabish Qayyum confirmed to Al Jazeera.

We have been told that we need to get clearance from the interior ministry, he said. This is an unprecedented move.

Qayyum said the MML would challenge the ECPs decision in the high court in the coming days.

The ECPs decision was based on a letter from the interior ministry advising the panel that the political party was known to be linked to the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) charities, both of which are subjected to international anti-terrorist sanctions by the UN and US.

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According to the UN, JuD and FIF are front organisations for LeT which is blamed for carrying out attacks against Indian security forces in the disputed region of Kashmir. LeT was also blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed 166 people.

JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who is also founder of the LeT, has been designated as a terrorist by the UN. The US has also placed a $10m bounty on Saeed for his role as JuD chief.

Saeed has been under house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore under local anti-terrorism laws since January. He denies any wrongdoing and rejects claims that the JuD and FIF have any links to the LeT.

Launched in August this year, MML officials confirmed that while the party shares ideological links and supporters with the JuD, it is a legally distinct entity that does not share any officials.

Saifullah Khalid, the MML chief, has long been a member of JuDs central leadership, although the party says he has now given up that post.

The MML structure and design is independent  there are no office holders who are also leaders of the JuD, said Qayyum.

They may go to events and programmes, but they are independently in the MML now, it is totally separate.

Mainstreaming debate

Last week, Pakistans military spokesman confirmed that the state was working on a mainstreaming programme to induct members of armed groups into the political process and away from carrying out terrorist activities.

It is in my knowledge that the government has started some discussion over how to mainstream them so they could do constructive contribution, Pakistan Army spokesman Major-General Asif Ghafoor told reporters at a press conference.

Ghafoor did not comment on the militarys specific role in such a programme.

Last month, an MML candidate ran as an independent candidate in a major by-election in Lahore, challenging the ruling PML-N in its political heartland.

Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh finished fourth in that election, garnering 4.6 percent of the vote. Sheikhs election banners prominently featured images of JuD chief Saeed, and several voters told Al Jazeera they were moved to vote for him based on JuDs humanitarian work across the country.

Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan, a right-wing religious party that featured images of Mumtaz Qadri, a man convicted of murdering a provincial governor over blasphemy allegations, finished in a surprising third place, with 5.6 percent of the vote.

The MML registration rejection comes days before another by-election, in the northwestern city of Peshawar, where the party is fielding its candidate as an independent.

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras web correspondent in Pakistan: @AsadHashim
The UN is accusing Myanmars security forces of torture, killings and the rape of children, as part of what it says were well-organised, coordinated and systematic attacks against Rohingya.

The UN is accusing Myanmars security forces of torture, killings and the rape of children, as part of what it says were well-organised, coordinated and systematic attacks against the majority-Muslim Rohingya.

It says those clearance operations began before an attack by Rohingya fighters on August 25th, which was the reason given for the military crackdown.

More than 500,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since August, and many more are on the way.

Al Jazeeras Yaara Bou Melhem reports from Yangon.
Officials scamper to fix city as storm hits areas around South Africas third-largest city, killing at least eight.

Durban, South Africa  Selva George says she is lucky to be alive. When the storm began early on Tuesday afternoon, it brought with it torrential rains and gale force winds, that pulled roofs off homes, demolished churches and turned roads into sinkholes.

Selva, a resident of Isipingo, some 19km south of Durban, found herself shielding her face when ferocious winds shattered her windows, sending shards of glass across her flat.

I was praying to God, that if I have sinned, to forgive me and to put an end to this trauma, George says, her eyes moist, and her hands trembling as she speaks.

I lay on the ground and tried to escape the falling glasses that started flying in all directions.

George survived, and her home like so many in Isipingo and other parts of KZN was severely damaged in a storm that has killed at least eight people and injured scores of others. But she knows that others lost everything.

The rains, measuring around up to 108mm south of Durban, flooded highways and washed away roads.

Barely two kilometres from her home, in the informal settlement known as Uganda, women and children were forced to sleep in toilets or in the open, as the winds tore down their homes made of wood, plastic and metal sheeting. Here, uprooted trees flattened the homes known as shacks, and if homes were spared, the rain washed away valuables.

Horrific

On Wednesday, hundreds of people could be seen picking through streams and canals, in search of shoes, clothes, furniture that has been taken by the floods.

Many were also rendered homeless.

All our belongings were washed away and the furniture got destroyed. I had to sleep at my neighbours house because mine had completely went down, said Nonkanyiso Simkani, 43, a resident of Uganda settlement.

Simkani told Al Jazeera she was in bed when felt her home, built on the crest of a hill, begin to slide.

What I witnessed yesterday was horrific  People were running around trying to save their belongings, but the wind and rain were blowing hard. As shack-dwellers, we have it really hard, whenever storms hit the city its us who get affected the most, she said.

Another resident, Sibusiso Ntanzi, 33, told Al Jazeera that a large tree had fallen on his home and flattened it. He was forced to sleep outside.

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Its been 11 years of this type of pain and when we demand houses we are told to wait, Ntanzi said. Are they waiting for someone to die before they take us seriously?

The provincial government said in a statement on Wednesday that it was still assessing the impact of the storm and cost to life and infrastructure. At least five hospitals and 42 schools suffered partial damage.

Likewise, the Durban municipality said that road closures, hazardous driving conditions and rains made it dangerous and difficult for technical staff to attend to hundreds of problems across the city.

But it was too early to declare the area a disaster zone, the government said. On Thursday, the premier of KZN, Willies Mchunu is scheduled to meet families who suffered losses due to the storm, officials said.

Follow Azad Essa on Twitter: @azadessa
The spokesman of Iraqs state-sanctioned paramilitaries has issued a stern warning to Masoud Barzani while saying his fighters have no immediate plans to take military action against the Kurdish leader.

Karim al-Nouri, spokesman for the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), has accused the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of behaving like the leader of a fifth column during the war against ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group.

The PMF consists of mainly Shia Arab paramilitaries, many of which are backed by neighbouring Iran.

Barzani is more dangerous than Daesh because he comes from within Iraq, said Nouri, using the Arabic term for ISIL, also known as ISIS.

The referendum of September 25 organised by Barzani, in which more than 90 percent voted for secession, escalated long-running tensions between the Iraqi Kurdish region and the central government over the sharing of oil wealth and the fate of disputed territories such as Kirkuk.

Kirkuk is held by Kurdish forces, but lies outside their semi-autonomous zone.

Iraq, Iran and neighbouring Turkey have all rejected the referendum and insist Iraqs borders will not be redrawn.

Summer of 2014

Nouri accused Kurdish forces, known as the peshmerga, of occupying Kirkuk and stealing the oil wells.

The peshmerga assumed control of the oil-rich, multi-ethnic Kirkuk in the summer of 2014, when ISIL swept across northern Iraq and the Iraqi military crumbled.

Anyone occupying Iraqi land must be thrown out. We do not discriminate between Daesh and anyone else in this manner, Nouri told the Associated Press news agency.

He said the paramilitaries have no immediate plans to move on the city, and would follow orders from Baghdad. But other commanders suggested clashes were on the horizon.

I think Kirkuk will stay Iraqi, and there will be a major sacrifice to retake Kirkuk, after the approval of the Iraqi government, said Rayan al-Kaldani, commander of the Babylon Movement, a Christian militia in the PMF.

Haider al-Abadi, Iraqs prime minister, has ruled out military action in response to the referendum, but has also said he will deploy Iraqi forces in response to any violence.

Iraqi Vice President Iyad Allawi said on Monday there could be civil war over Kirkuk if the two sides failed to show restraint.

Reports of major attack

On Wednesday, the Kurdish authorities accused Iraqi government forces and the Shia Arab paramilitaries of preparing a major attack on Kirkuk and the area near Mosul.

The peshmerga closed roads to Kirkuk early on Thursday after Kurdish authorities warned that the Iraqi government was moving forces in the direction of the city. They reopened them later in the day.





A leading official of a Kurdish opposition party offered late on Thursday to dissolve the Kurdish administration of Kirkuk and enter into unconditional negotiations with Baghdad over the city.

Kirkuks governor belongs to the party known as the PUK.

Befal Talabani, son of Jalal Talabani, the late Iraqi president, said he wanted to avoid war with the Iraqi central government.

Talabanis PUK is a rival of Barzanis KDP party and enjoys good relations with Iran.

The Iraqi government said on Thursday it would not hold talks with the KRG on reopening its airports and providing dollars for its banks, unless the Kurds commit to Iraqs unity.

Punitive measures

Iraqs central government imposed a ban on direct international flights to the land-locked region, stopped selling dollars to four Kurdish-owned banks and called for a halt to its independent crude oil sales.

The Kurds have repeatedly called for negotiations following the referendum in which an overwhelming majority voted for independence.

To avoid this collective punishment, we invite Haider al-Abadi, again,  [to] any form of dialogue and negotiations in conformity with the Iraqi constitution, the KRG said in a statement.

It offered discussions regarding the crossings, internal trade, providing services to the citizens, the banks and the airports.

The US, long friendly with the Kurds, had also called on them before the referendum to cancel it.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans spokesman said on Thursday his country would gradually close border crossings with northern Iraq in coordination with the central Iraqi government and Iran.
Attack on Pakistani migrants Ashfak Mahmoud and Vakas Hussein in Greeces Aspropyrgos adds to list of recent assaults.

A violent attack on two Pakistani migrant labourers has sparked outrage in Greece, the latest in a string of suspected hate crimes across the country.

On Saturday afternoon, a group of men used iron bars and knives to beat stab the two migrant workers in a field in Aspropyrgos, an industrial area near the Greek capital of Athens.

Vakas Hussein and Ashfak Mahmoud were subsequently hospitalised.

Mahmoud told local media that five black-clad assailants encircled them in the field and yelled racist taunts as they struck their heads and bodies.

Speaking to Greeces 24/7 News, he said: They said they would burn me alive.

In an email to Al Jazeera, a Greek police spokesperson said the incident was the latest in a long string of suspected racist attacks.

The police recorded 75 such incidents in the first half of this year alone.

Alluding to four similar attacks in Aspropyrgos between January and June, the spokesperson said Saturdays incident was carried out by a group of unknown perpetrators with racist characteristics [and] a police investigation is under way.

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Javed Aslam, the president of the Pakistani Community in Greece union, dismissed the polices hate crime statistics, explaining that his organisation has documented between 70 to 80 attacks on Pakistani workers in Aspropyrgos between August 2016 and April 2017.

Describing the attackers in Saturdays incident as fascists, Aslam told Al Jazeera: The victims know the attackers, but the police never arrested them before.

Protests planned

The Pakistani Community in Greece and anti-racist organisations are planning to protest violence against immigrants on Friday evening.

Our message is that the police needs to do their job correctly, Aslam said. These men were attacked many times, but now we are standing together, and we have to stop [the attacks].

In a separate incident on Saturday, some 10 to 12 people attacked 30-year-old Osman Mohammed, also from Pakistan, as he made his way home from work in the Lambrini suburb of Athens, according to Keerfa, an anti-racist activist group.

These by Javed

.]

Petros Constantinou, a city councillor in Athens and Keerfas national director, said the Greek governments increasingly strict policies towards refugees and migrants have contributed to an environment of xenophobia.

There are systematic efforts by [the far right] to come out in the streets and carry out more attacks, he told Al Jazeera. The far right and the fascists are trying to benefit from the racist policies of the government.

Constantinou added: In Greece, the refugees and migrants are left without rights, and the door has been left open for the fascists.

Syriza promises action

Several political parties also condemned the attack.

Syriza, the left-wing party that currently controls the government, vowed in a statement to put an end to the fascist gangs who regularly target migrant labourers.

In a statement published on Sunday, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) accused the Golden Dawn, a neo-fascist party that has a long history of attacking migrants and political opponents, of being behind the violence.

The KKE also blamed the Syriza-led government for the assault, accusing authorities of allowing gangs of fascists [to act] unhindered in areas like Aspropyrgos and elsewhere.

Fofi Gennimata, president of the centre-left PASOK party, decried the attack, saying it demonstrated that the racist monster is alive in Greece. The perpetrators and organisers of this attack must be arrested and brought to justice, she said in a press release.

In a statement published on Tuesday, the Golden Dawn rejected the accusations as slanderous attacks.

We condemn violence  and we continue our legitimate and righteous struggle for the liberation of Greece, it said.

In January 2013, two assailants affiliated with the Golden Dawn fatally stabbed Shahzad Luqman, a 26-year-old Pakistani, in Athens.

Nine months later, a self-professed member of the Golden Dawn murdered Pavlos Fyssas, a Greek anti-fascist rapper who often criticised the far-right party.

After the murder of Fyssas, 69 Golden Dawn members were put on trial in a case that will decide if the party constitutes a criminal organisation. Slated to conclude in 2018, it has progressed slowly, largely owing to the complexity of the case.
Powerful general says the Rohingya were brought into the country by British colonialists.

Rohingya are not native to Myanmar and were brought by British colonialists, the countrys powerful army chief told the US ambassador.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing gave his most extensive account of the Rohingya refugee crisis in the meeting with American Ambassador Scot Marciel, according to a report posted on his Facebook page on Thursday.

The general is the most powerful person in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and his apparently uncompromising stance would indicate little sensitivity over the crisis, in which more than 500,000 people have fled into neighbouring Bangladesh.

Min Aung Hlaing, referring to Rohingya by the term Bengali, which they regard as derogatory, said British colonialists were responsible for the problem.

The Bengalis were not taken into the country by Myanmar but by the colonialists, he told Marciel, according to the account of the meeting posted on Thursday.

They are not the natives and the records prove that they were not even called Rohingya but just Bengalis during the colonial period.

READ MORE: Army offensive aimed at preventing Rohingya return

The UN human rights office said on Wednesday that Myanmars security forces had brutally driven out half a million Rohingya from northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh, torching their homes, crops and villages to prevent them from returning.

Coordinated Rohingya rebel attacks on some 30 security posts on August 25 sparked a ferocious military response.

The UN rights office said in its report, based on 65 interviews with Rohingya who had arrived in Bangladesh, that abuses had begun before the August 25 attacks and included killings, torture, and the rape of children.

The countrys civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi is due to make a speech on television later on Thursday.

She was swept into office last year after winning an election, but the military holds immense power, including exclusive say over security.

Local Bengalis were involved in the attacks under the leadership of ARSA. That is why they might have fled as they feel insecure, Min Aung Hlaing said, referring to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army fighters.

Min Aung Hlaing, whom rights groups say carries personal responsibility for the crisis, insisted the Rohingya are merely returning to their motherland.

The native place of Bengalis is really Bengal, he said. They might have fled to the other country with the same language, race and culture as theirs, assuming they would be safer there.

FEATURE: The mental health toll of the Rohingya crisis

He said it was an exaggeration to say the number fleeing to Bangladesh was very large, adding that there had been instigation and propaganda by using the media from behind the scenes.

While immigration increased under British rule, historians say Muslim communities were recorded as living in the Rakhine region long before the colonial era.

This week, an AFP reporter on a rare government-steered trip to the conflict-hit Rakhine heard testimony from Rohingya villagers who are scared and fast running out of food.

They said Buddhist villagers are trying to starve them out of their homes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet Siemens and other German firms in Sochi. Siemens is set to start legal proceedings against Russia next week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet Siemens and other German firms in Sochi.

Siemens is set to start legal proceedings against Russia next week.

Its not happy about four power-generating turbines it sold to the Kremlin, which have now allegedly ended up in Crimea.

Crimea is subject to European Union sanctions on technology supplies, after Russia annexed the region three years ago.

Al Jazeeras Rory Challands reports from Crimea.
Rights group reviewed three cases where security forces used disproportionate force during Catalonia referendum.

Human Rights Watch has accused Spanish police officers of using excessive force against civilians during Catalonias referendum on secession from Spain.

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Security forces  including the Spanish Civil Guard and National Police Corps  used batons and shields to strike and charge at peaceful protesters causing multiple injuries, according to a report by the rights group released on Thursday.

Our detailed investigation into three cases found that national police and Civil Guard officers used excessive force on October 1 in Catalonia, said HRWs Kartik Raj.

The police may well have had the law on their side to enforce a court order but it didnt give them the right to use violence against peaceful protesters.

HRW documented the excessive use of force by officers in the cities of Barcelona and Girona, and received a number of other allegations regarding ill-treatment of protesters by police.

The organisation called on officials from Catalonia and the Spanish government to cooperate fully with an independent investigation into the violence.

Nearly 900 people were injured during the regions disputed vote on secession from Spain on October 1, according to regional and national authorities. More than 400 police officers were also injured.

The report comes as Spain prepares to celebrate its National Day on Thursday, despite the ongoing political crisis.

Five-day ultimatum

The separatist movement secured a 90-percent vote in favour of independence but a unionist boycott of the vote meant turnout stood at just 43 percent.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has given Catalonias President Carles Puigdemont five days to clarify whether or not he has declared the region independent.

Puigdemont suspended any declaration of independence to allow for talks with the central government in Madrid during a speech to the Catalan regional parliament on October 10.





Article 155 of the Spanish constitution allows the central government in Madrid to take direct control of any of the countrys 17 autonomous regions  of which Catalonia is one  if they are deemed to be breaking the law.

Spains constitutional court ruled to suspend the referendum last month, on the grounds that the countrys 1978 Constitution states Spain is indivisible and gives the national government the exclusive power to hold referendums.

Catalonia is home to 7.5 million people and has a distinct culture, history and language. The region is one of the wealthiest in Spain, accounting for a fifth of the countrys economic output. Historical disputes and economic grievances have strengthened the cause of independence for the region.

Catalans previously voted in favour of seceding in a non-binding referendum in 2014, with 80 percent in favour.
Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir  A wave of fear has gripped Indian-administered Kashmir after a series of braid-chopping attacks that have resulted in protests across the region.

At least 200 women in Kashmir have reported being attacked by masked assailants in the last two months.

The women claimed the attackers sprayed chemicals on their faces and left them unconscious. Upon waking up, they found their hair had been chopped off.

On Sunday, masked attackers cut off a womans braid in Srinagar, sparking angry protests.

The 35-year-old victim said she was attacked after she responded to someone knocking at the gate of her house. Her husband  an auto-rickshaw driver  was not home at that time.

One of the masked attackers grabbed me by my hair from behind and sprayed something on my face, the victim, Gulshan, told Al Jazeera.

I screamed loudly before fainting. I assumed it was my husband, but.

Gulshan was unable to finish off her sentence. She started shivering amid inconsolable sobs, sitting on her bed as she relayed Sundays events.

Hussain Ahmed, a neighbour, was the first to respond to Gulshans screams.

I saw her face had some sort of liquid on it and her eyes were fluttering, Ahmed said. We tried contacting the police several times. Nobody answered our calls or came for help.

A week earlier, Sami Reyaz, 32, of Srinagars Baghat neighbourhood had met the same fate.

I was holding a dustbin when two people came through the main gate of our house, Reyaz said.

Like other victims, she was also rendered unconscious and her braid was sliced off.

When I woke up, I found they had left my chopped braid near the entrance before fleeing.

The first braid-chopping incident in Kashmir was reported on September 6, when a schoolgirl, Naira Nazir, was attacked.

Such incidents have also been reported across the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana, as well as the capital, New Delhi.

Earlier this month, a senior police official told local media he has sought details of over 1,500 incidents, as well as history of victims from these states to get to the root of the issue.

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Government sources said police has registered more than 40 First Incident Reports against alleged braid-choppers and rumour-mongers in Kashmir.

The regions police chief SP Vaid told Al Jazeera that the cases were being treated as a crime and has even offered a reward of $9,000 for information leading to the culprits.

The police is doing its best, Vaid said. We have requested the government for constituting a team so that those who are complaining of braid-chopping are properly assisted. We will be sure about things once the investigation is completed.

Vaid, however, hoped the incidents in Kashmir will vanish soon as they did in northern India.

The issue has now snowballed into a major political crisis.

Pro-independence groups, who oversaw protests on Monday, see a government hand behind the increase in these attacks.

The government wants to instil fear and divert attention from the main issue which is unabated killings and other human rights violations committed by the Indian troops in Kashmir, pro-independence leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told Al Jazeera.

Every other day, rebels are identified and killed and youth are arrested under the pretext of stone-pelting. Why cant the government identify these culprits, he added.

The alleged braid-choppers have frightened locals across the disputed Himalayan region opposition and rebellion against Indias rule and militarisation since 1989 have already caused huge physical and mental damage on its population.

India and Pakistan each administer a portion of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the rebel uprising and a subsequent Indian military crackdown.

Another 10,000 people have disappeared, mostly in the custody of government forces, leaving behind an army of orphans and widows.

The fear among the local population has left several innocents exposed to public anger.

In the northern Baramulla district, locals beat a young boy who had gone to see his girlfriend. In Srinagar city, two women, who gatecrashed a wedding, were accused of braid-chopping and assaulted by the hosts and guests.

Last month, people in southern Kulgam district claimed to have caught a braid-chopper, who was rescued by Indian soldiers, stirring renewed tensions.

Earlier this month, a 70-year-old man, who had gone to relieve himself during the night, was mistaken for a braid-chopper by neighbours and killed.

On Sunday, police released pictures of six backpackers  three Australians, a South Korean, an Irish person and a Briton  who lost their way and were travelling in Srinagar, when some people surrounded them and started probing.

Some locals tried rescuing the group and called the police. With great efforts of the police and understanding individuals in the public, the group was rescued, a police spokesman said.

Follow Baba Tamim on Twitter: @BabaTamim
ISIL suicide attackers have killed dozens of people, including Syrian refugees and Kurdish security personnel, with car bombs in northeastern Syria, according to multiple sources.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Thursdays attack took place at Abu Fas, near the border of Deir Az Zor and Hasakah provinces, and the dead included refugees, as well as members of the Kurdish Asayish security force.

ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, has lost large expanses of its territory in both Syria and Iraq this year and is falling back on the towns and villages of the Euphrates valley southeast of Deir Az Zor.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance of Kurdish and Arab paramilitaries is pressing it from the north and a rival offensive by the Syrian army, supported by allies including Iran and Russia, is attacking it from the west.

Talal Sello, an SDF spokesman, confirmed that a car bombing targeting people displaced from Deir Az Zor occurred in Abu Fas in Hasakahs south.

Dozens of people were killed and wounded, he told AFP news agency.





After the blast, the civilians escaped towards desert areas where mines exploded and the toll rose.

Much of Hasakah province and Hasakah city are under the control of a Kurdish autonomous administration, with smaller parts of both controlled by the central government.

Abu Fas is where Kurdish authorities gather people displaced by conflict before allowing them to enter camps where they can shelter, the SOHR said.

Earlier on Thursday, the SOHR, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, said government forces had retaken four neighbourhoods in the town of Mayadeen in Deir Az Zor.

The state news agency SANA confirmed that troops had re-entered Mayadeen.

Last week, ISIL, also known as ISIS, succeeded in expelling Syrian forces from Mayadeen, two days after they entered the town.

A Syrian army source recently described Mayadeen as the military capital of ISIL in Deir Az Zor.

In a separate development on Thursday, Syrian armed groups reached a ceasefire agreement for southern Damascus during a meeting in Cairo, according to Egyptian state media.

The deal includes opening main crossings and halting forced displacement of people living in the opposition-held district of Eastern Ghouta, a report in the state-run Al Ahram newspaper said.

It quoted Mohamed Alloush, the political head of Jaish al-Islam, as saying that Egypt had pledged to help break the siege on Eastern Ghouta using diplomatic means and allow in aid in sufficient quantities to alleviate the suffering in the region.

Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, is one of the last strongholds of fighters battling President Bashar al-Assads forces and was the scene of a chemical weapon attack that killed hundreds in August 2013.
US president says he knows exactly what he wants to do as the deadline to certify the agreement nears.

US President Donald Trump has repeated his criticism of the Iran nuclear deal, ahead of a crucial decision that could make or break the two-year-old international agreement.

On Wednesday, Trump again called the agreement between Iran and six world powers the worst deal the US has ever signed.

We did it out of weakness, when actually, we have great strength, Trump said. We got nothing.

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We will see what happens pretty soon, he said in an interview with the US broadcaster Fox News.

When asked if he would refuse to certify or withdraw from the deal, he said, We could do both. I know exactly what I want to do.

Trumps European allies and other world leaders have been urging him to certify that Tehran continues to be in compliance with the 2015 deal, signed during the term of his predecessor Barack Obama.

But ever since he took office, Trump has been hinting that he could refuse to certify it, despite conclusions by UN inspectors of Irans compliance.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, he had also vowed to tear it up.

In recent days, Trump has ramped up his criticism of Iran, saying Iran had not lived up to the spirit of the deal.

October 15 deadline

In response to the Obama administrations decision to sign the nuclear deal, the Republican-controlled Congress passed a law requiring the US president to notify Congress every three months whether Iran has lived up to the requirements of the bargain.

The deadline for Trump to make that decision is October 15, but he could make an announcement as early as Thursday, according to reports.

Trump previously certified the deal twice since becoming president. At the same time, his administration also slapped new sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities over its missile programme, even though that is not covered by the agreement.





On Tuesday, following a phone call with Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May issued a statement defying the US leader: The PM reaffirmed the UKs strong commitment to the deal alongside our European partners, saying it was vitally important for regional security, the statement said.

Emmanuel Macron, president of France, has also warned that it would be a grave error to withdraw from the deal, which he said is solid, robust and verifiable.

There have also been reports that European leaders are considering ways to bypass Trump to save the deal.

But Saeid Golkar, an Iran analyst at the University of Tennessee, told Al Jazeera that it would be difficult for any country to work with Iran, if the US withdraws from the deal, particularly if Washington reimposes sanctions.

While admitting that the deal is not perfect, Javad Zarif, Irans foreign minister, told Al Jazeera that it has to be less than perfect, so all sides can live with it.

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Zarif also said that the US cannot impose pressure his country to abandon its dignity and sovereignty. But he also said that it would not be the first to violate the deal.

Meanwhile, Federica Mogherina, European Union foreign policy chief, said that if the US backs out of the deal, it would send a message that America cannot be trusted upon.

This is not a way of making deals, not in foreign policy, not in private businesses, and I think President Trump understands this perfectly well, she told PBS News.

Must enforce the hell out of it

If Trump decides to refuse to certify the Iran agreement, Congress will have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran, a move that could doom the deal and risk retaliation from Iran.

On Wednesday, Ed Royce, a senior Republican member of Congress and a Trump ally, refused to call for an end to the agreement.

As flawed as the deal is, I believe we must now enforce the hell out of it, Royce, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the House of Representatives, said during a hearing on Iran.

Meanwhile, the US president has also picked a fight with Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate foreign affairs committee and a member of Trumps Republican Party.

He recently accused Corker of giving the US the Iran deal, though Corker repeatedly voiced his opposition to the agreement before it was signed.

Both Royce and Corkers support are crucial if Trump wants to reimpose sanctions on Iran.
US president is expected to refuse to certify Irans compliance with the landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

US President Donald Trump is expected to refuse to certify Irans compliance with the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, an agreement between world powers and Tehran aimed at limiting the latters nuclear programme to non-military purposes.

The move comes despite thinly-veiled criticisms from US allies in Europe who have developed burgeoning commercial and political ties with Iran.

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Trumps withdrawal of endorsement means US lawmakers can vote to introduce new sanctions against Iran, which Iranian leaders say could lead to their countrys partial or complete withdrawal from the deal.

Al Jazeera answers some of the most important questions regarding the Iran deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and Trumps expected decision.

What is JCPOA?

Often abbreviated to the Iran deal or Iran nuclear deal, JCPOA is an agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and the EU to ensure its nuclear programme is limited to civilian use.

The deal, which was signed in October 2015 and implemented at the start of 2016, followed years of negotiation between the US, represented by then-Secretary of State John Kerry, and Iran, represented by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

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The agreement requires Iran to completely eliminate stockpiles of medium-enriched uranium and drastically reduce reserves of low-enriched uranium.

The material in its high-enriched form is required to produce nuclear weapons. Iran denies that it has ever had the aim of producing a nuclear weapon.

Iran also agreed to reduce the number of centrifuges capable of enriching uranium.

In return, UN sanctions related to Irans nuclear programme were lifted, as were some EU sanctions.

The US ended some secondary sanctions against non-US businesses and individuals who engaged in commercial activity with Iran.

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Frozen Iranian assets, valued at over $100bn, were also released back to Tehran.

Who ensures Iran abides by its side of the deal?

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly confirmed Irans compliance with the deal.

Why does Trump need to certify Irans compliance with JCPOA?

The Obama administration faced heavy criticism from Republicans, as well as from some members of his own Democratic Party for signing up to the deal, which they saw as excessively compromising.

Opponents of the then-US president passed legislation requiring US presidents to certify Irans compliance with the deal every 90 days.

The Trump administration declared that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal in May and July, but threatened more sanctions for breaching the spirit of the agreement.

The deadline for certification is October 15, but it is believed that Trump will announce his decision sooner.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said this week that the president has reached a decision on an overall Iran strategy.

Trump has repeatedly called the agreement the worst deal ever and had promised to tear it up even before he was elected.

What will happen if Trump refuses to certify the Iran nuclear deal?

If Trump refuses to certify, the issue goes to Congress.

Lawmakers will have a non-binding 60 day period to debate the deal.

Congress can decide to introduce or restore sanctions.

It remains to be seen whether that will actually happen as several prominent Republicans are undecided on the issue or do not want the deal to unravel.

Would Trump be violating the nuclear deal?

Not certifying the deal would not be a violation of JCPOA in itself, however, it does pave the way for Congress to introduce new sanctions, which could be in breach of US commitments under the agreement.

The onus on breaching the deal would, therefore, be with US lawmakers.

Would it be easy to introduce new sanctions?

While opposition to the Iran deal as it stands is strong, any attempt to scrap it would face resistance from members of the minority Democratic Party, as well as some Republicans, such as Senator Lindsay Graham, who has called on Trump to renegotiate parts of the agreement instead of scrapping it entirely.

How has Iran reacted?

Foreign Minister Zarif has threatened to partially or fully withdraw from the deal in the event of new US sanctions on Tehran.

Analysts say hardliners in Iran will be empowered by any US violation of the deal and would use it as an opportunity to block any further rapprochement with Washington.

If anything Iran has gone out of its way to show it is compliant with the nuclear deal but what it will do is put pressure on the European countries to stand up for the deal for them to keep up with their part of the bargain, Durham Universitys Professor Anoush Ehteshami told Al Jazeera.

How have US allies reacted?

European leaders have taken the unusual step of publicly calling on the US to abide by the deal and have affirmed that Iran is upholding its commitments under JCPOA.

On Friday, the British embassy in Washington, DC took the unusual step of posting an animation on Twitter showing how Iran was complying with the deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron has told the US that not honouring its side of the deal could push Iran into producing a nuclear weapon in the future.

European states have enjoyed burgeoning trade ties with Iran since the deal came into force and experts say US breaches of the deal would damage its reputation as a reliable partner.

Europe and the rest of the world would perceive the US as an international troublemaker and unreliable partner, Arshin Adib-Moghaddam of the School of African and Oriental Studies said.

What other sanctions has the US placed on Iran?

As recently as last July, the US imposed sanctions on 18 Iranian individuals and entities for supporting what it said was transnational criminal activity.

Sanctions related to Irans ballistic missile programme, its activities in other countries and its alleged ties to proscribed groups remain unaffected by JCPOA.




Tens of thousands march in Barcelona for country to remain united as questions linger over Catalan leaders intentions.

Barcelona, Spain  Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Barcelona on Thursday to celebrate and show support for a united Spain during the countrys national day.

The rally comes at a tense time in the relationship between Madrid and the Catalan regional government, which has soured since the disputed October 1 independence referendum and subsequent fallout.

Catalan President Carles Puigdemont declared independence for eight seconds Tuesday night before suspending the declaration in favour of talks with the Spanish government.

Maria Garcia Anton, a 23-year-old student who attended the rally, told Al Jazeera: Spain is one country and Catalonia is a part of it. The problems can be solved, but our country should remain intact.

Some are questioning the Spanish governments methods to keep the country together.

The Civil Guard, a military force charged with police duties, used excessive force to stop Catalans from voting on independence from Spain in the October 1 referendum, according to rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Images and videos showing assaults on peaceful protesters and voters young and old went viral. However, the military police force was popular with demonstrators.

They chanted Long live the Civil Guard, among other pro-union slogans.

It was justified, Garcia said as she marched. The court ruled the referendum was illegal and the Civil Guard did what was necessary.

Travel concerns

The Spanish High Court decided that the referendum contravened the nations constitution and ordered police to stop it from occurring, while simultaneously requiring law enforcement to respect coexistence between citizens.

By the end of the day, almost 900 people had been injured by the authorities, according to an estimate from the Catalan Department of Health. The Spanish government insists that police acted lawfully and respectfully.

The police may well have had the law on their side to enforce a court order, but it didnt give them the right to use violence against peaceful protesters, Kartik Raj, HRWs Western Europe researcher, said in a press release.

Raj wants an independent investigation to get to the bottom of HRWs findings, which include various tales of wounded protesters, including evidence that police allegedly broke the wrist of a 70-year-old woman.

But police violence was not on everyones mind at the rally.

Jorge Puyol, an unemployed 31-year-old who told Al Jazeera his mother is Spanish and his father Catalan, said that he was worried about losing the rights afforded to citizens of the European Union, such as passport-free travel to other EU nations.

Scholars and politicians are not sure what exactly would happen if Catalonia were to secede, but it is known that the newly-formed state would have to apply for EU membership.

During the application process, treaties could be made to re-instate freedom of movement and trade. However, Spain would have to agree to allow for Catalonias full membership.

Puyol is not sure that would happen.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has taken a firm stance on Catalonia, giving Catalan President Puigdemont an ultimatum to clear up whether or not he declared independence by Monday.

If Puigdemont affirms the declaration, Rajoy promises to employ Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, which would allow Madrid to take control of Catalonias government.

Although it is conceivable that Catalonia could still attain independence after Article 155 is invoked, Puyol would rather not live through such a divisive time.

I have family in the rest of Spain and I like being able to travel without a passport. I dont want to risk these things, he said as he marched in Plaza Catalunya, one of Barcelonas main squares.

There, Puyol joined the crowd of thousands as police helicopters circled overhead, chanting We wont be fooled, Catalonia is Spain!
Court rules Ayla Albayrak showed support for outlawed PKK group in an 2015 article, accusing her of terror propaganda.

The US-based newspaper the Wall Street Journal has denounced a jail sentence handed to one of its reporters by a Turkish court.

A Turkish court sentenced Ayla Albayrak on Thursday to a prison term of two years and one month over a 2015 story about ongoing clashes between Turkish security forces and fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the southeast of the country, according to a report by the newspaper.

The court ruled that she had shown support for the outlawed PKK group in the article, accusing her of terrorist propaganda.

Albayrak, who has dual Turkish and Finnish citizenship, is currently in the United States and will appeal against the conviction, the Wall Street Journal said.

Turkey, the US and the EU consider the PKK a terrorist organisation.

The court decision coincides with an escalating fight between Turkey and the US after the NATO allies mutually suspended visa services on Sunday, plunging already strained relations to a new low.

Albayraks story featured interviews with the town mayor and residents, a Turkish government official, and a representative of an organisation Turkey says is the PKKs youth wing, the newspaper said.
US accusation that Paris-based agency harbours anti-Israel bias dismissed as counterproductive and shameful.

The US has announced it will withdraw from the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), accusing the body of anti-Israel bias.

Heather Nauert, US state department spokesperson, said on Thursday the US would establish an observer mission to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.

In a statement announcing its withdrawal, Israel called the US administrations decision courageous and moral, and accused UNESCO of becoming a theatre of the absurd.

The prime minister instructed the foreign ministry to prepare Israels withdrawal from the organisation alongside the United States, Benjamin Netayanus office said in a statement.

Irina Bokova, the outgoing UNESCO head, called the US withdrawal a loss to multilateralism, saying she is convinced that UNESCO has never been so important for the US, or the US for UNESCO.

At a time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack, she said.

Thursdays development demonstrates the US administrations complete and total bias towards Israel, says Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, a political party comprising mostly secular intellectuals.

This behaviour is counterproductive and shameful, he told Al Jazeera by phone.





Sooner or later they will see Palestine in every UN agency. Will the US respond to that by withdrawing from the WHO or the World Intellectual Property Organization? They will be hurting only themselves.

The US was angered in 2011 when UNESCO members granted Palestine full membership of the body, despite opposition from its ally Israel.

That year the US stopped paying its dues to the 195-member organisation but did not officially withdraw.

The US opposes any move by UN bodies to recognise the Palestinians as a state, insisting that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.

Cultural agency

UNESCO is best known for its work to preserve heritage, including maintaining a list of World Heritage sites, and programmes to promote education in developing countries.

UNESCO is about promoting our ideals and values through culture, education and science, Francois Delattre, Frances UN ambassador, said in New York, adding that we need an America that stays committed to world affairs.

Russias foreign ministry said it regreted the decision, adding that the move would disrupt a number of important projects planned by UNESCO.

We share the concern by many countries that the activity of UNESCO has been too politicised lately, the ministry said in a statement.

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said through a spokesperson that he regrets this development deeply.

Barghouti, of the Palestinian National Initiative, said it is as if Israel is dictating US policy not only in the Middle East but also in international organisations.

This is going to have a very harmful effect on the idea of the US being a mediator between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Israel has long been at loggerheads with UNESCO, particularly over its decision to admit the Palestinians as members in 2011.

In July, the UN body declared the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank an endangered World Heritage site.

Netanyahu announced a $1m cut in funding to the UN, saying the UNESCO vote ignored Jewish ties to the site.

A UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem in May strongly criticised Israels occupation of the eastern part of the city.
Region given deadline to make final decision on independence declaration before Madrid takes any further measures.

Mariano Rajoy, Spains prime minister, has asked Catalan separatist leaders to clearly state if they have declared independence before taking any further measures.

On Tuesday, Catalonias leader Carles Puigdemont stepped back from announcing full independence and instead signed a symbolic declaration to allow for negotiations with the central government in Madrid.

But Rajoys government says Spains unity is guaranteed by the constitution and cannot be questioned.

With its worst political crisis in decades now only stalled, not resolved, what is the way forward for the divided country?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Alfred Bosch  Leader of pro-independence ERC party in the Barcelona City Council

Toni Roldan  Economic Spokesman, Ciudadanos Party

Simon Toubeau  School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham
Following talks mediated by Egypt, Fatah and Hamas agree to reconcile in Cairo after a decade-long split.

Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas have agreed to reconcile after a decade-long split.

Their relationship soured in 2006 after Hamas won the elections, then seized the Gaza Strip from Fatah after a period of violence.

Since then there have been many attempts at reconciliation between the between the rival Palestinian factions: Saudi Arabia (2007); Yemen (2008); Egypt (2011); Qatar (2012); Gaza (2014).

The latest talks were mediated by Egypt in Cairo and the successful outcome is being treated with cautious optimism.

The people living in Gaza have been caught in the middle of the rift between Hamas and Fatah. The UN says living conditions there have deteriorated in the past 10 years because of a blockade by Israel and Egypt.

Complicating matters, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah, which is based in the West Bank, has been using its administrative power to pressure Hamas in Gaza.

It cut the salaries of government employees living there and asked Israel to reduce the electricity supply to the territory. This summer Gazas two million residents sometimes had just three hours of electricity a day.

So will this deal succeed where others have failed?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Ahmed Yousef  senior Hamas official

Ghassan Khatib  former director, Palestinian Authority governments media centre

Yezid Sayigh  senior associate, Carnegie Middle East Center
Ahead of Richard Spencers speech at UF on Oct. 19, two legal advocacy organizations wrote to University Police on Tuesday claiming the events prohibited items policy is unconstitutional.

Partnership for Civil Justice Fund and Florida Legal Services wrote in a joint letter to UPD that the rights of people who want to protest Spencer were being restricted by UFs rules. Florida Legal Services staff attorney Andrea Costello said UPD didnt provide a geographical boundary for prohibited item restrictions and was vague about law enforcements discretion to confiscate commonly carried items like umbrellas and water bottles.

Without any guidelines, law enforcement is free to pick and choose based on the content of people's speech and how they are expressing it which items they can take, Costello said. Thats a big constitutional problem.

Costello said UF and law officials shouldnt tell people to stay home and avoid the event. People have a constitutional right to attend and protest, she said.

We are supporting the right of people who want to protest against Richard Spencer, Costello said. (Richard Spencer) represents a form of fascism and white supremacy and both of those things are very dangerous to our democracy.

UF spokesperson Janine Sikes said the university is reviewing the letter sent by the two organizations. UPD will mark the areas of the event, Sikes wrote in a statement.

Please know that prohibited items areas for this event will be clearly marked, similar to other events on campus, such as sporting events, she said.

Hours after UF made that statement, UF Public Affairs sent an email to all students about security for the event with a map detailing the area prohibited items that are not allowed.

The area includes Bledsoe Drive, Surge Area Drive and parts of Hull Road, which will be closed for the event, according to the email. RTS busses that run on these roads have alternative routes or will not run. Routes 117, 118, 119 and 125 will close, while 20, 21, 28 and 33 will be detoured to Radio Road.

The Cultural Plaza parking lots and garage will also be closed that day, according to the email.

The Florida Museum of Natural History, Harn Museum of Art, Southwest Recreation Center and Steinmetz Hall will be closed, according to UFs website on free speech that was launched for the event. The Counseling and Wellness Center will also close but its Peabody Hall satellite office will remain open.

In the email to students, UF Public Safety warned students to carry their Gator 1 Card from Oct. 18 to Oct. 20 because some buildings on campus will require a UFID for access, including Newell Hall, Housing and Residence Education buildings, and the Reitz Student Union.

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UF and the law enforcement agencies involved have spent over $600,000 on security measures, President Kent Fuchs said at a forum on Wednesday.

UF Police along with local, state and federal agencies have developed robust security plans aimed at stopping potential disturbances before they start, according to UFs email to students.

Richard Spencer
Kal Penns grandparents coaxed him to eat his peas as a child by telling him stories of the time they walked with Mahatma Gandhi for Indian independence.

In our house, one of the values was public service. It was less about the partisanship and more about helping, Penn told about 450 people at the Phillips Center of Performing Arts Wednesday night.

The talk, moderated by actor Malcolm Gets, was hosted by Accent Speakers Bureau. Penn, an actor, comedian and former White House employee, was paid $65,000 to speak, according to Alligator Archives.

The star of the Harold and Kumar comedy film series spoke about the challenges being a minority in Hollywood. He said one of his first roles was for a character named Taj Mahal from the film Van Wilder.

I didnt go to theater school to play a character named Taj Mahal, Penn said.

He said his parents immigrated to the United States, and he grew up in New Jersey.

They moved halfway around the world for a better life. I dont think any immigrant moves to America to have their child smoke in a movie, he said referring to his role in Harold and Kumar. I dont think that the American dre- actually that is the American dream, its just not why they come here.

In 2007, Penn joined Barack Obamas presidential campaign. His work on the campaign got him a job in the White House Office of Public Engagement after Obama won. He was tasked with reaching out to college-aged citizens and getting them involved in government.

It was getting behind collectively what people wanted to see done, he said.

Penn was one of 17 members of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities who resigned in an open letter to President Donald Trump after Trumps comments on the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, according to TIME Magazine.

Siding with terrorists in Charlottesville was not something we saw coming and something we thought was un-American, Penn said.

When Penn brought up the Richard Spencer speech that is scheduled for the same venue on Oct. 19, the audience booed.

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I think you have another special guest who is gracing this stage next week, he said.

Although Penn wouldnt tell audience members if he thought they should attend the speech or protests, he encouraged members to sign up to register voters with Chomp the Vote after his talk.

I would love to read that you registered 10,000 black voters in the name of that guy, he said referring to Spencer.

Candice Luc, a UF civil engineering senior, said she knows Kal Penn from his role in Harold and Kumar but not from his political career. Luc and her friend came to understand Penns activism role better.

We know his characters, but we are going to get to learn more about him, the 21-year-old said.

Diana Castiblanco, a UF economics senior, liked how Penn told the truth about trying out for roles with racist or offensive casting descriptions.

I just liked how open and honest he was, the 23-year-old.

Accents chairwoman Shelby Buchanan announced that the next Accent speaker would be Goosebumps author R.L. Stine on Oct. 24 in University Auditorium. Doors for the talk will open at 7 p.m. and the event will begin at 8 p.m. The tickets will be distributed a day before at the venue, she said.

Buchanan said Penn connected with Accents mission.

Kal Penn has a very unique story. Hes definitely someone that appealed to a lot of students, she said. He was insightful and inspiring.

Penn
Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Heather Nauert: As a longstanding friend, the United States applauds the people of Liberia for exercising their democratic right to vote in the historic presidential and legislative elections. This is an important step toward achieving Liberias first peaceful transfer of power from one democratically-elected []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...
In The Vulgar Manliness of Donald Trump, Harvard Professor of Government Harvey Mansfield depicts the President as a demagogue -- precisely the sort of crass figure whose rise to power the Founders wished to forestall. The theoretical underpinning of the article, the concept of manliness itself, receives its full expostulation in Professor Mansfields book, Manliness (Yale University Press, 2006). We are unable to go into that rich and learned work here. Suffice it to quote from the books preface, Manliness seeks and welcomes drama and prefers times of war, conflict, and risk. But it is about fifty-fifty good and bad. The good manliness, that of the first responders on 9/11 (and, we might add, of the Seals who killed Osama bin Laden), is necessary to resist the wicked manliness of the 9/11 attackers and their ilk.

According to Professor Mansfield, Trumps is a vulgar manliness, and therefore to be disdained. Vulgarity was understood in ancient political philosophy as the characteristic of the common people. Classical authors, and others through the centuries, viewed democracy as problematic and likely to collapse into tyranny, because the people, in Mansfields reprise, were hasty, angry, impulsive, brash, and punitive. We need only think of the Roman mob in Shakespeares Julius Caesar. The people inevitably will choose a man with those same qualities, one as vulgar as they are, but with the ambition, guile, and rhetorical talent to raise them against men of quality, nobles, aristocrats, or gentlemen.

The popular demagogue excites class envy, making those same men of quality out to be enemies of the people and vowing to take and distribute their wealth if only the people give him power, surrendering their liberty. The Presidents behavior fits with the classical demagogue, who roused the demos against the nobles or gentlemen, and Trump has used the same method against the leaders of both parties. The intricate structure of constitutional republicanism, with its checks and balances, separation of powers, federalism, independent judiciary, and electoral college, all designed to prevent the election of men like Donald Trump, failed us in the 2016 election. The wall was breached.

The President, Mansfield tells us, displays the outrageous coarseness of a vulgar man. The adjective outrageous appears not less than three times in the piece. Besides outrageous coarseness, Trump made outrageous comments about Fox correspondent Megyn Kelly after she went after him at the first Republican presidential nomination debate. In opposing political correctness, he supported vulgar manliness with outrageous behavior meant to be offensive.

The worst aspect of Trumps campaign, in Mansfields view, appears to be his encouragement of the base tendencies of his supporters -- just the sort of louts who delight at his lack of good taste, of good manners, of gentlemanliness, of protocol, and of tact. They are people who suppose indecency and blurting lies to be honesty. Trump, furthermore, exploited a racial envy and resentment in poor white voters. It is not immediately clear if this category -- the poor white voters angry at special privileges being accorded blacks -- is different from the first (the cheering section for bad taste). But as to the poor whites, Trump shrewdly discerned their sentiments and began to mobilize them as a white voting block to oppose that of the black community. In doing this, Trump was not calling on the finer feelings of the electorate.

Certainly, there is no denying the Presidents propensity for insult and rough language. Those of us who supported Senator Cruz had occasion to resent the personal attacks on both Senator Cruz and his loved ones. We, ourselves, may even have worried that the most ardent Trump supporters during the election had not been improved by his influence. See, for example, Peggy Noonan's Trump Tears It is, however, a little difficult to identify the men [and women] of quality, nobles, aristocrats, and gentlemen [or ladies] to whom Professor Mansfield refers.

Against what exemplary public figures did Trump seek to raise the rabble? Surely Professor Mansfield does not have in mind Trumps predecessor in office, or the awful brute of a woman he defeated. Does he refer to the Democratic congressional leadership, to Senator Schumer and Congresswoman Pelosi, or to their acolytes in the news media and Hollywood? One would hope that it is not such a company that comprise the defenders of republican virtue in Professor Mansfields formulation. If the incumbent President is vulgar, and a bad influence on his partisans, then what are his Democrat enemies?

Barack Obamas ascent, no doubt, was attributable to more politically significant factors than the utter disgrace of the American intellectual. That was merely the aspect of the 2008 election most distressing to me. Men of letters, including newspaper and television pundits who fancy themselves as such, saw in Obama one of their own: a man of supreme urbanity, reflection, and wit, and one whose elevation to the highest authority would alleviate racial strife. In the event, this determined radical and his subordinates did everything in their power to exacerbate racial strife. The Justice Department hounded local police departments into passivity, accusing them of bias, even as the President received advocates of cop-killing at the White House.

Democratic politicians, now and since the transformation of the Party during the Vietnam years, have opposed virtually every plan to enhance the nations prosperity, and most especially any proposal to reduce taxes, by screaming that it is a plot to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. Who among their prominent figures has failed to resemble the man who incites faction against those who have wealth? Plato, Republic, 566a. Do they appeal to anyones finer feelings, inciting envy and racial animus? Is it, perhaps, a little late in the day to be worrying about the demise of republicanism under Donald Trump?

And what evidence is there that Trump has been an instigator of class resentment? Free market conservatives lament his pressuring companies into keeping jobs in the country and his occasional threats to retaliate for the inimical trade practices of foreign powers. But the policies he has pursued -- lowering taxes, repeal and replace ObamaCare, and paring business regulations -- have all been in the direction of growth in the private sector, and have provoked the usual Marxist wailings from the party opposite. The insistence that equality is morality, pure and simple, and that liberty, beginning with the right to own and enjoy private property, must be sacrificed on its alter, comes from the Democratic Party.

Perhaps Professor Mansfield means more the Republican congressional leadership when he writes that Trump denigrates the Establishment and that by this term we should understand the nobles or gentleman in the land. But has not the Republican leadership proven at best feckless in passing legislation, even when the Party holds the majority in both Houses and the Presidency, and at worst deeply dishonest with its constituents? The leaders and members were indeed chosen by the people, but with the promise that, among other things, they would do something about the health care disaster that Obama bequeathed them.

It might be argued that Senator McConnell is hardly responsible if a two-faced old fraud like Senator John McCain -- that, regrettably, is what he turned out to be, with all regard for the heroism of young Lt. John McCain -- wins reelection by assuring the voters that he will be in the forefront of repealing ObamaCare and then once back in office, deliberately frustrates the endeavor. But there were no consequences for McCain and the other turncoats meted out by leadership. Their chairmanships and their party support in the next election remain unaffected, as far as we can tell. The opposition of the Republican leadership and a number of senior members of Congress to the Democrats appears to be nominal.

Professor Mansfield finds additional evidence of the Presidents demagoguery in his bypass[ing] the media, the parties, and the Constitution and appealing directly to the people. As to bypassing the parties and the media, why should he not have done so? They are rotten, and reflect the national decline. Presidents in the television age often appeal directly to the people. And as to bypassing the Constitution, it would have been helpful had Mansfield cited an example of Trump committing an unconstitutional or lawless act.

In the previous Administration, such instances were legion. Obamas I.R.S. persecuted conservative political groups in order that they not endanger his reelection. He purported to amend his own healthcare bill by executive order, without further action by Congress. With the cooperation of craven Republicans, Obama upended the Treaty Clause by his agreement with Iran. To cover what looked very much like a decision to abandon American fighting men in Benghazi, Obama and his Secretary of State fabricated a story about a film prompting a spontaneous riot, and threw the obscure filmmaker into jail. And that same Secretary of State relentlessly violated the Espionage Act by putting classified documents on a private server. All of this represents my idea of outrageous.

The supporters of candidate Donald Trump no doubt included some unsavory types, but tens of millions of people voted for him. Are they to be dismissed as vulgar or envious of privileges given other races? Or were they driven by a leftist assault on the very Constitution that Professor Mansfield elsewhere rightly calls our way of life to choose someone dauntless enough to resist? Were they not for the most part admirable and patriotic Americans, who sought only that their way of life not die?
Its a brave new world, progressives proclaim, and the old rules no longer apply. From the Russian Communists New Man to the mantra of Thats not who we are from Obama, its always different this time.

But is it? Has mankind, after millennia of contemplation, perhaps discovered eternal verities about human nature? One historical test is that when a culture denies the wisdom of the ancients, it eventually fails; those remaining must pick up the pieces and start anew.

Wisdom of the Ancients and eternal verities are abstractions, of course. But there is a short list going back to Socrates and St. Augustine that is a handy pocket guide to human pitfalls and frailties. It is called The Seven Deadly Sins.

Lets go through the list one by one and see if we can recognize any these in modern American progressivism, in its social, cultural, and political forms. Note that all humans are prone to the Seven Deadlies, progressives and conservatives alike. Normal people just dont make a movement out of them.

Gluttony

Contrary it what you may think, this is not the sin of getting fat and obese. Rather, it is focusing on food for other reasons than substance. In the case of progressives, food snobbery is a basic part of the class distinctions that sets them apart and above the masses. Of course, one can be a foodie and not be a progressive, but the correlation of Blue ZIP codes and Whole Foods is no coincidence. You are what you eat, be you Woke or Deplorable. Free range chicken or KFC? Indian Pale Ale or Bud? Eating organic can be objectively shown to not affect the taste or nutrition or wholesomeness of food, in most cases. It does affect the price and social cachet and is too often a matter of pride to progressives (See more at Pride below.)

Lust

The recent news of the passing of Hugh Hefner is a timely reminder that sex has its place and has to be balanced within an honorable persons life. While Im not as critical of the Playboy philosophy as other conservatives, seeing it as a somewhat reasonable response to technological change and affluence, sex remains at its core about making children and the next generation. A young playboy could be expected to settle down, marry, and have children  even Hefner tried it, three times.

The current glorification of purely non-reproductive sexual behavior like homosexuality and transgenderism is surely a huge mistake -- pure, unbalanced lust leads nowhere for the individual nor for society. Worst, the disdain many progressives show for breeders leads to demographic replacement as Mark Steyn has explained repeatedly.

Sloth

To a hardworking man coming home exhausted after a long day, sloth might sound like an idea pretty close to heaven. But work builds true self-esteem. One is contributing and in return one earns a paycheck.

Progressives facilitate sloth as a matter of policy in at least two ways. Welfare is of course the most serious and destructive. With rules that favor single mothers and absent fathers, the State rewards the destruction of the family and the production of rudderless young men and women. Idle hands are the Devils workshop is another eternal verity. Useless men are not free.

A new wrinkle is the legalization of recreational marijuana in many U.S. states. One can reasonably argue that the medical consequences of freely available pot are trivial compared to alcoholism, drunk driving, etc, and so a free people should be able to put in their bodies what they chose. What is seldom mentioned is that a major consequence of smoking a lot of pot will be a big increase in sloth in the smoking population  been there, done that!

Greed

This one is really simple. Working to build personal and family wealth is not greed. Keeping it is not greed. Stealing that wealth earned and accumulated by others is. Who is for high taxation to redistribute the wealth? Who wants confiscatory inheritance taxes? Progressives, of course, especially if that wealth passes through the hands of a government controlled by progressives.

Envy

What progressive political movement hasnt relied on a tactic of playing to envy as a path to power? Lately, progressives invented the notion of white privilege and harp on it incessantly to excite envy in people of color and to isolate them from mainstream American culture. As a historical example, Franklin D. Roosevelt campaigned against the malefactors of great wealth in his presidential run in 1932 during the Great Depression. Envy of the success of conservative talk radio was the motivation for a call for a return of the Fairness Doctrine.

Wrath

What a sinful pleasure it is to wallow in self-righteous wrath! Even better is to physically hit, kick, smash, burn, and shoot. Rioting by Black Lives Matter in some of our cities was justified as wrath over police brutality. Rioting and mass assaults against conservatives by Antifa is called protective wrath to suppress all sorts of imagined evils. James Hodgkinson attempted a mass assassination of Republican congressmen in wrath over the election of President Trump.

And what is contemporary feminism about but wrath against men?

Pride

St. Augustine considered pride to be the source of all other sins, much as Aristotle considered courage to be the foundation of all virtues. A modern progressive must reek of pride to declare himself wiser than either. To claim to understand more about gender than Schopenhauer or about politics than Machiavelli or about economics than Smith is neither humble nor plausible.

Even worse, based on that prideful claim of greater understanding than the great thinkers of Western Civilization, progressives claim the right and duty to impose their mission on others, using government or street coercion as handy tools.

But What of Progressive Virtue?

Just as there is the Seven Deadly Sins, theres the Seven Cardinal Virtues. To be fair, I should task myself to analyze progressivism against them. They have Hope and Faith that their cause will do good. But is social justice true Justice? Is Charity served with other peoples money collected by taxation? Prudence and Temperance? To experiment with the fate of Western Civilization expecting human behavior to change simply because progressives want it to is both risky and radical. They do have the Courage of their beliefs, I must grant.

Conclusion

Vices and virtues arise in the heart of the individual. But society reflects the character of its people and in turn molds the individual. Progressivism is waging war on the West by extolling and justifying the Seven Deadlies.

Normals, as Kurt Schlichter so accurately calls us, are in no ways immune from and innocent of the Seven Deadlies. We just recognize them as pitfalls on the way to the life well lived that we should recognize and strive to resist. Progressives seem to embrace them as tools for achieving the social, political, and economic change they imagine is the next step to Utopia.
NOAAs National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) publishes a temperature database for 7280 worldwide meteorological stations. It is called the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN.) The database consists of six files, three (maximum, minimum, and average) for Unadjusted and three for Adjusted values. The Unadjusted was formerly called Raw data. For this short essay only the average-value data set is under consideration.

The Unadjusted is as received data from agencies/centers from around the world that collect the respective Station data. For the United States there are six collection centers known as NOAAs the Regional Climate Centers. Supposedly the Unadjusted data are as measured values, but the NOAA-NCEI advises on its GHNC web page it is entirely possible that the source of these data (generally National Meteorological Services) may have made adjustments to these data prior to their inclusion within the GHCNM. NOAA-NCEI then makes its own adjustments, primarily a lowering of the temperature values of land stations in the earlier part of the temperature record. The Adjusted data are used to determine global temperature trends, the results of which are the basis of the claim that global temperature is rising at a significant and concerning rate, the cause of which is primarily attributed to human activities. Numerous scientists, engineers, and others have challenged this, asserting that NOAA-NCEIs adjustments cause a temperature increase that is artificial. But this adjustment issue aside, there is at least three more fundamental issues with the GHNC database. They may be found by inspection of the GHNC Unadjusted average-temperature database.

The first issue pertains to NOAA-NCEIs categorization of the stations locations. For the categorization of the stations used for the V2 database, the same as used for the V3 database, NOAA-NCEI categorized 7220 of the 7280 Stations according to whether they are in Urban, Suburban, and Rural locations. The agency then further divided the stations in each of the three locations into whether or not they were at airports. The first issue is that if the longitude and latitude values attributed to each of the stations are correct, then some of the stations said to be at Rural locations are not at what should be termed rural. Such errors may well be human, so perhaps they do not warrant too much complaint if the number of them are not excessive. Then again, rooting out errors and correcting them is a good engineering/scientific practice.

The second issue is more significant and pertains to stations involving airports. At least some of these stations began reporting data decades earlier, when it is highly unlikely there was an airport at that location. Thus, at dates earlier than when the V2 database was created, those stations are incorrectly biasing the data and should be in the not at an airport category. Another aspect this issue is that for the Rural stations, NOAA-NCEI designates as being at airports the yearly average temperature jumps approximately 2 degrees C at about the year 1950. Some, if not all, of this discontinuity is due to the stations reporting before 1950 and those reporting after 1950 are entirely different stations at entirely different locations. This particular temperature discontinuity and the inaccurate categorization of stations at an earlier time being at airports when they were not carries over to data from all 7220 stations. The net effect is a temperature trend interpreted as an indication of a rise in global temperature, when instead the cause is documentation of station location that does not take into account when stations at airports actually began to be at airports. There should be some indication in the database when the host airport actually went into operation. Clearly, this adds to NOAA-NCEIs report burdens, but as said earlier, rooting out errors and correcting them is a good engineering/scientific practice.

The third issue is perhaps far more significant than the first two. The durations stations report temperature varies from as little as 8 or 10 years to nearly, if not all, years for a timeframe, say 1900-2016. To exacerbate matters, some stations report data for only a few years in one portion of a timeframe and others, which are at entirely different locations, report for only a few years in much different portions of the timeframe. So for a particular timeframe station-reporting pops in and out causing the averages to increase or decrease depending on the location. If a required reporting percentage of the timeframe is imposed, say 25, 50, or 75 %, then the temperature trend for the timeframe changes. For the cases of Urban and Rural locations, each at and not at an airport, a larger required reporting percentage results in a smaller value temperature trend for the timeframe. So the issue is that the important quality-of-data factor is being overlooked in NOAAs assessment of global temperature trends.

The question is whether or not NOAA is prepared, or even able, to address these three issues. Solving these alone will likely make for a significant change in the assessment of global temperatures. The reality may be that politics are much more significant issues. I have written a technical report on these issues.

Edward R. Long is a retired NASA physicist who from time-to-time succumbs to the urge to inspect temperature and other databases.
It used to be that supporting abortion as a member of the Democratic Party was in style, but according to Tom Perez, the Democratic Party chairman, it is now compulsory. He has said pro-life Democrats are not welcome in the party. Whatever happened to diversity? This abortion stance is so rigid that it is beginning to look like their raison d'etre. But in the collectivist mindset, how can this unsavory practice be doing the most good for the most people? Let us explore some issues.

For more than two thousand years, some women have wanted to terminate their pregnancies. Terminating a pregnancy belies the real truth that one is terminating a fetal life. In the ancient world, a surgical abortion would have been impractical and dangerous. There would have been a high incidence of hemorrhage and fatal septicemia. Some women allowed their abdomens to be beaten to enhance a pregnancy loss, but this ran the danger of uterine rupture or abruptio placenta, both fatal before modern surgery. So most women resorted to abortifacients, and most were herbal. There is no verifiable evidence that these nostrums and potions had much efficacy. One reads about using the oil of pennyroyal, or tansy, or the now extinct silphium, but there is no real data. A lot of anecdotal success probably relied on the natural spontaneous abortion rate of at least 20-30%. In extremis, some women swallowed doses of turpentine or mercury. Most women who did not want the baby carried it to term rather than succumb to these horrendous methods.

The ancient Greeks and Romans had another solution for the unwanted life: infanticide. To be sure, they did not call it that, but it was a passive form of murder. Unwanted infants were left exposed to the elements to die of hypothermia, starvation or predation. The paterfamilias held the ultimate power and decided which boys were not fit and which girls were just too many girls. The Spartans had a more institutional system. The father brought the newborn to the ruling elders, and they decided which were to be exterminated. The other Greek city-states were appalled by the Spartan tradition, but not because of the infanticide. The Spartan system eliminated the father's right to choose. (Does that sound familiar?) So the cradle of Western civilization had no compassion for the occupants of the cradle. The exceptions in Europe were the Etruscans and ancient Germans. They raised all of their children.

But starting about two thousand years ago, Western Europe began to go topsy-turvy over its attitude toward children and the unborn. This revolutionary change was the adoption of Judeo-Christian values. From its earliest history, the Jewish nation abhorred child sacrifice. This is one of the reasons why the Canaanites were considered an abomination worthy of extermination. They sacrificed infants and children up to the age of four to the god Moloch. The children were burned alive.

But it goes beyond the proscription of child sacrifice. It was understood that the child in the womb and the born child were part of the same continuum. There were not separate words for "fetus" and "child." A woman was pregnant with child, not pregnant with fetus. The Ten Commandments do not condemn abortion because they already condemn murder. Both David and Jeremiah were told that God knew them in the womb. God would not speak of knowing a lump of lifeless flesh. This dovetails completely with the Jewish tradition of taking care of widows, orphans, and the poor.

Christianity continued this ethic and was probably a greater influence because of its adoption throughout the entire Roman world. Christians also recognized human life in the womb. Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth shortly after she was informed she was pregnant with Jesus. Elizabeth's baby in utero, John the Baptist, jumped for joy at the recognition of Jesus in Mary's womb. Like the Jewish tradition, this confirms personhood. And there was another dimension. Jesus told his disciples to bring the children to him, and he exhorted them to be more childlike. For the first time, children were cherished for being children and were allowed to have a childhood. And children were safe in the womb, with few exceptions, for almost two thousand years. This, it would seem, was real human progress.

Everything changed in the twentieth century. With advances in surgery, one could have an abortion procedure and hope to survive. Although abortion was illegal, many self-proclaimed visionaries began promoting it as part of the program of family planning. Margaret Sanger, the patron saint of Planned Parenthood, paved the way for abortion throughout the United States. She leaves a complicated legacy. Her apologists insist she was a champion of women's rights, especially the poor. Her detractors rightfully point out the she was a leading figure in American eugenics. She believed in racial purity and that all misfits should be sterilized. It is difficult to put a positive spin on her own statements. In the journal The Birth Control Review, in 1919, she published an article entitled "Birth Control and Racial Betterment."

Many American eugenicists were irked by Hitler commandeering their movement. He also believed in racial purity. And the left now has a very short memory of ever supporting such notions.

Then, in 1973, the Supreme Court, in Roe v. Wade, legalized abortion on the nonexistent constitutional principle of a right to privacy. In the last 50 years, 1.5 billion  I repeat: billion  abortions have been committed around the world. The enormity of this is staggering. In America, 50,000,000 to 60,000,000 abortions have been done. A full 12.5% of American women have had abortions, but there are 233 induced abortions per 1,000 live births. That means that some women are using abortion as primary birth control. Between 2007 and 2010, in America, 36% of abortions were against black babies and 21% Hispanic. These two groups make up less than twenty percent of our population. It sounds as though Margaret Sanger's descendant minions are working on her goals of racial purity.

Considering the Judeo-Christian tradition of the recognition of the fetus as fully human, one well versed in this tradition will not acknowledge a "right" to choose the fetus's death. The fetus was not given a vote. You are free to choose any other surgery or life choice that does not infringe on others.

There is one subset of women who are pro-choice (pro-abortion) who don't really care if the fetus is human. In true collectivist fashion, it is an inconvenient life and must be exterminated. It does not fit the collective. Curiously, this is the only instance in the collectivist mindset where individuality is honored. But what if the collectivist state decides it wants to increase the birth rate and outlaws abortion? There goes the vaunted right to choose. Collectivism is not a very friendly bed partner.

I would contend that most women who have an abortion are not flippant about their choices. They need to find a rationale to assuage guilt and to not feel like despicable people. The problem is that every mental construct has a plausible refutation. Some feel that a zygote is not human because he does not look like one. But he has a complete and uniquely human and individual genome. The zygote is a cornerstone, with a complete blueprint of a human, and just needs the Carpenter to finish building. Some feel that the fetus is not human until he can be felt in the womb at 16-18 weeks. That is an ancient notion of quickening. But we now know that the fetus is moving less than four weeks from conception and can be seen by ultrasound. Some say the fetus is not human until he can live outside the womb. That means that a 30-week baby in utero in 1950 was not human, but a 24-week baby in utero today is. Some say the fetus is not human until he is born and takes the first breath. But that requires some magical thinking. Why would a single breath of air suddenly imbue one with all the attributes of humanity?

And the law is schizophrenic on the subject. If the fetus is not human, how can you be charged with a double homicide if you kill a pregnant woman? If you do a 24-week partial-birth abortion and rip the fetus in pieces, it is just an abortion. If the child is delivered spontaneously alive during an abortion procedure and you strangle him, then it is murder.

All in all, the abortion debacle is a hot mess. One can trace it to the rejection of Judeo-Christian principles, especially promulgated by the collectivist left. We are in the midst of a new Dark Age as regards to respect for all human life. Abortion may be part of the progressive agenda, but it is not progress.
Obamacare buyers in California, willing or not, are about to be slapped with another 12.5% surcharge on top of their already built-into-the-cake 12.5% surcharge, making the cost of buying insurance on the individual market higher than ever and Obamacare itself even more detested. More cost, less choice, and fewer services is the ever spiraling endgame, and the people stuck in the individual market can't take their business elsewhere. In California, it's either force the consumers to eat the higher costs or see the state devolve into a one-provider entity as insurers flee.

The media are yelling that it's all President Trump's fault for not shipping more subsidy cash out to one class of buyers stuck in the individual market known the "silver plans." In reality, it's the design of the system itself, made intentionally complex by its architects such as Jonathan Gruber, such that the only way to keep it afloat is by papering over its deficits by ever larger infusions of federal cash. Trump didn't win the presidency by promising ever greater yearly bailouts to this fail-by-design system.

Obama is culpable for the unsustainable design, but he's gone now, off to his libraryless library and jet-set vacations. But there are still the Republicans who failed to repeal this mess, and they are responsible for how high these disastrous price hikes are going to go.

Senators John McCain, Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins are the ones who can be thanked for this rate hike, because they refused to halt Obamacare in its tracks three or four times this year, all in a bid to bite back at President Trump. They don't care that Obamacare buyers are getting socked in the face yet again for more cost hikes, nor do they care that voters explicitly voted for them because they promised to end Obamacare and all its nightmares for consumers.

The Democrats seized the "narrative" about small groups of people who were "helped" by Obamacare. But the broader picture here is that millions and millions are now facing gigantic rate hikes because this hellish failed system is allowed to go on, thanks to McCain, Paul, Murkowski, and Collins, who, by the way, are doing nothing to improve this situation otherwise.

Should these people be primaried? You bet they should.
It's amazing what a movie about a guy running around South America on a motorcycle will do for your reputation.

A few days ago, we remember the 50th anniversary of Che Guevara's execution in Bolivia. Yesterday, I learned that Ireland has decided to honor Che with a postage stamp.

Let's get the story from Lucinda Creighton:

Guevara's image might look good on a T-shirt, or even a stamp for that matter, but no amount of revisionism and soft soaping by politicians can take away from the fact he was not a champion of the dispossessed or the poor. He was a dangerous zealot who established deadly squads to torture and murder political opponents. If his objective were just to topple the fascist Batista regime in Cuba, he would have stopped when that mission was accomplished. Instead he and his friends Fidel and Raul Castro replaced one deadly and murderous regime with another. They proved themselves to be as bloodthirsty as the fascists who went before them.

No kidding!

The story behind the stamp is that Che's ancestors went from Ireland to Argentina. So what? Does that make a native son of Ireland?

Here is the odd rest of the story.

Che was not a "diversity" kind of guy. His quotes are full of racist and what we call today "homophobic" statements, as Humberto Fontova wrote.

I wonder what Che would think of Ireland's gay prime minister! We will never know for sure. We do know how the Castro regime treated homosexuals in Cuba, as was reported in the Telegraph:

Like other Cubans, including some priests, considered "ideological deviants," homosexuals in the 1960s were sent to labour camps for re-education and "rehabilitation." Discrimination continued in the 1970s, with gays, in particular gay artists and writers, disgraced, marginalized, or in some cases driven into exile.

This stamp is an insult to the truth and especially the many who were victims of Che's ways. There is nothing positive about putting this man on a stamp, unless you hate the U.S. and want to use his image to show it.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
(ANSA) - Milan, October 11 - Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano expressed faith in the Brazilian authorities on Thursday amid reports that President Michel Temer has decided to revoke former Italian leftist terrorist Cesare Battisti's status as a political refugee. Battisti is reportedly set to be extradited to Italy to serve two life terms for four 1970s murders unless his lawyers' petition to the supreme court for him to be granted habeas corpus is successful.

"At the moment we must only express respect for the decisions of the Brazilian president and for his evaluations, which we await with great confidence," Alfano said.

"We have done a great job but the fewer declarations you make at times like this, the more likely you are to achieve your aim". Battisti was arrested last week in Corumba', on the border between Brazil and Bolivia.

The alleged would-be escape was launched after reports that the Brazilian government is moving towards extraditing Battisti for the murders committed in the 1970s 'Years of Lead' of rightist and leftist terror. Battisti, who was provisionally released at the weekend, said Tuesday he had not been trying to flee Brazil when he was picked up in a taxi heading for Bolivia, saying he had no reason to do so because he is still protected from extradition by former president Lula's 2010 decree.


(ANSA) - Milan, October 12 - Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano expressed faith in the Brazilian authorities on Thursday amid reports that President Michel Temer has decided to revoke former Italian leftist terrorist Cesare Battisti's status as a political refugee. Battisti is reportedly set to be extradited to Italy to serve two life terms for four 1970s murders unless his lawyers' petition to the supreme court for him to be granted habeas corpus is successful.

"At the moment we must only express respect for the decisions of the Brazilian president and for his evaluations, which we await with great confidence," Alfano said.

"We have done a great job but the fewer declarations you make at times like this, the more likely you are to achieve your aim". Battisti, 62, said that "if they hand me over to Italy they will be consigning me to death".

Battisti was arrested last week in Corumba', on the border between Brazil and Bolivia.

The alleged would-be escape was launched after reports that the Brazilian government is moving towards extraditing Battisti for the murders committed in the 1970s 'Years of Lead' of rightist and leftist terror. Battisti, who was provisionally released at the weekend, said Tuesday he had not been trying to flee Brazil when he was picked up in a taxi heading for Bolivia, saying he had no reason to do so because he is still protected from extradition by former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's 2010 decree.

Battisti "has nothing heroic and a lot criminal" and "the sooner he comes to Italy to serve his time the better," European Affairs Undersecretary Sandro Gozi told an ANSA forum Thursday. Justice Minister Andrea Orlando, meanwhile, replied "absolutely" on Thursday when asked if all the necessary steps had been taken for the extradition of Cesare Battisti.

"This is not the time to make comments, but to work with great determination," he added. Brazilian federal police have been "monitoring every step" of Battisti since the former leftist terrorist was granted a provisional release, the website of daily newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo reported. The cops have been ordered to photograph Battisti's home in Sao Paulo to confirm that he is actually there.


(ANSA) - Milan, October 12 - Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano expressed faith in the Brazilian authorities on Thursday amid reports that President Michel Temer has decided to revoke former Italian leftist terrorist Cesare Battisti's status as a political refugee. Battisti is reportedly set to be extradited to Italy to serve two life terms for four 1970s murders unless his lawyers' petition to the supreme court for him to be granted habeas corpus is successful.

"At the moment we must only express respect for the decisions of the Brazilian president and for his evaluations, which we await with great confidence," Alfano said.

"We have done a great job but the fewer declarations you make at times like this, the more likely you are to achieve your aim". Battisti was arrested last week in Corumba', on the border between Brazil and Bolivia.

The alleged would-be escape was launched after reports that the Brazilian government is moving towards extraditing Battisti for the murders committed in the 1970s 'Years of Lead' of rightist and leftist terror. Battisti, who was provisionally released at the weekend, said Tuesday he had not been trying to flee Brazil when he was picked up in a taxi heading for Bolivia, saying he had no reason to do so because he is still protected from extradition by former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's 2010 decree.

Battisti "has nothing heroic and a lot criminal" and "the sooner he comes to Italy to serve his time the better," European Affairs Undersecretary Sandro Gozi told an ANSA forum Thursday. Justice Minister Andrea Orlando, meanwhile, replied "absolutely" on Thursday when asked if all the necessary steps had been taken for the extradition of Cesare Battisti.

"This is not the time to make comments, but to work with great determination," he added. Brazilian federal police have been "monitoring every step" of Battisti since the former leftist terrorist was granted a provisional release, the website of daily newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo reported. The cops have been ordered to photograph Battisti's home in Sao Paulo to confirm that he is actually there.


TEL AVIV - The leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh has announced that his organization reached a reconciliation agreement with Fatah - the party of President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) - after Egyptian-mediated meetings in Cairo.

''Fatah and Hamas - Haniyeh was quoted as saying by local media - have reached an agreement at dawn today thanks to the generous Egyptian mediation. The details of the agreement will be explained at a press conference scheduled today, according to delegation chief Fatah Azzam al Ahmad.

''We will do everything to make the agreement effective to turn a new page in the annals of our people, closing the book of our divisions forever'', added Haniyeh.

Fatah and Hamas met over the past two days in Cairo as part of reconciliation talks sponsored by Egypt. Over the past few weeks, Palestinian Premier Rami Hamdallah with the government travelled for the first time in over two years to Gaza to start procedures to gain control of the Strip.

During meetings in the Egyptian capital - whose ''atmosphere'' was reportedly described as ''excellent'' by both sides - important issues were discussed including government matters, borders and the salaries of public employees.

However, according to several statements made by officials who attended the meetings, participants did not discuss the weapons present in the Gaza Strip nor the future of the military wing of Hamas, which were allegedly postponed to a meeting at a later date.


BARCELONA - Spain on Thursday is celebrating a national holiday in the midst of the Catalan crisis, the most serious experienced by the country since the end of Franco's regime.

King Felipe VI and Premier Mariano Rajoy will attend a traditional military parade at 11 am in the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, with the participation of 3,800 soldiers and officers from the Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional, with 78 aircrafts. The platform for authorities was moved this year near Real Madrid's stadium Santago Bernabeu.

The reception at the Royal Palace will be attended by, among others, the leaders of Spain's autonomous communities (regions) except for Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and Inigo Urkullu, the president of the Basque government.
Amman, XVII edition of Week of Italian Language in the World October 16-18. Actor-screenplayer-director Pif will inaugurate

(ANSAMED) - AMMAN, OCTOBER 12 - The Jordan Capital will host from October 16th to October 18th 2017 the XVII edition of the "Italian Language Week in the World". This year's theme of the Event will be " italian at cinema, Italian within the cinema".



The opening evening will see the extraordinary participation of one of the most important characters in the Italian cinema and television scenario: the actor, screen player and director Pier Francesco Diliberto, known as Pif. The Sicilian artist will inaugurate at the Zara Centre in Amman the Week of the Italian language, organized by the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in more than 120 Countries all over the World.



Pif will propose to the Jordanian public his last film " In Guerra per Amore" ( At War for Love) released in 2016 and presented in preview at the Rome Film Festival the same year and distributed in the Italian cinemas from October 27th 2016.



For the second appointment of the event on the 17th October, there will be the Documentary Film directed by Luisa Porrino " I wear the veil, I love the Queen" in which the every- day life of three young Muslim Women shed a light over the prejudices and stereotypes that limit the understanding of a multifaceted Culture like the Islamic one, favouring the mutual comprehension and inter-cultural integration.



The concluding evening, finally, will be presented the film " Have Nice Dreams" ( 2016) directed by Marco Bellocchio and inspired by the auto biographical novel written by Massimo Gramellini. The main character, played by Valerio Mastrandrea, lives in a very well described frame of the socio- economical changes Italy has been through in the last thirty years, analyzed both by the eyes of a child and a war journalist, with a final dramatic plot twist linked to the main character's personal troubles for his mother's death. (ANSAmed).




Jordan, Egypt sign accord to boost energy supply

(ANSAmed) - AMMAN, OCTOBER 12 - Jordan and Egypt reached an agreement to boost electricity cooperation and increase volume of voltage as consumption in the kingdom increased, officials said today.



An agreement was signed between concerned parties from both countries during recent meetings in Egypt, according to Petra news agency, The two sides also agreed to maintaining oil and gas pipelines and networks in the Kingdom, and to prepare economic feasibility studies on natural gas supplies for household, trade and industrial use.



These agreements were signed by Jordan Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Saleh Kharabsheh to Egypt, and Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla and the Minister of Electricity and Energy Mohamed Shaker.



Jordan heavily depends on electricity from Egypt and was one of the main consumers of Egyptian gas through a pipeline that connected the two countries. But continued attacks on the pipeline by unknown people in Sinai lead to continued disruption of supplies. Jordan was forced to seek gas supply from the international market as the pipeline situation remained unstable. (ANSAmed).




(ANSAmed) - ROME - Representatives of the 57 member states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and of the six OSCE partner countries for Mediterranean Cooperation - Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia - and numerous international organisations are to gather for the OSCE Mediterranean Conference in Palermo on October 24 and 25 to discuss migrant and refugee flows in the Euro-Mediterranean area. "Italy is to chair the OSCE next year, but the foundations for that important mandate will be laid during this Mediterranean Conference," Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said.



"Our aim in fact is to strengthen awareness among OSCE member states that a joint response is needed to the migration emergency and the challenges coming from the Mediterranean," he continued. "It is no accident that Palermo has been chosen for an international meeting such as this. Sicily is the place where the Arabs and Normans forged not only a unique artistic style that still shines today as UNESCO World Heritage, but also an essential model of social integration and religious tolerance between different peoples," Italy's chief diplomat concluded.(ANSAmed).


Paestum Exchange celebrates 20th anniversary 'in Arabic' Initiative launched to promote dialogue

(ANSAmed) - NAPLES - The Mediterranean Exchange of Archaeological Tourism (BMTA), an annual international event in Paestum dedicated to archaeological heritage, will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year "speaking Arabic", in a campaign launched for the event set to take place October 26-29.



Event organisers are inviting Arabic speakers who are interested in archaeology and cultural tourism to visit the BMTA website at www.bmta.it or to visit the Exchange in October.



"It's not a commercial project, but rather a cultural one," said BMTA Director Ugo Picarelli.



"It's that of a new form of social inclusion, in the name of the Exchange's 'Mediterranean' denomination and in the name of the event's international recognition on the part of UNWTO and UNESCO as a best practice in intercultural dialogue," Picarelli said.



"In the Salerno province as well as in southern Italy, there are thousands of Arab citizens, many of whom probably know nothing about cultural heritage, even though they live in places where their history is established and where an undeniable part of their cultural tradition fully emerges," he said.



"Discovering it isn't only an acquisition of knowledge, but an opportunity for dialogue and sharing, aware in their own language that cultural heritage, not only that of UNESCO sites, also belongs to them," he said.



In addition to online communications in Arabic, the event will also conduct press office activities and event promotion in Arabic with a newsletter and intense work through social media.



(ANSAmed).




Syria: Dayr Zor council, 100,000 fleeing from east Over 400 Russian-government air raids, 95 US air raids

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, OCTOBER 12 - A reported 100,000 civilians are fleeing from Syria's eastern region of Dayr az Zor, which is in part controlled by ISIS and has been for days in the midst of separate offensives by the Russian-Iranian-Syrian government coalition and the US-led coalition and Kurdish forces, according to the exiled regional council of Dayr az Zor. The council presents itself as the authority alternative to ISIS in the rich Euphrates region bordering with Iraq.



Speaking to pan Arab broadcaster al Jazeera, representatives of the Council of Dayr az Zor said that 94,000 people have been displaced in the area from the beginning of October until today due to ongoing fighting. They also said that 440 Russian and government air raids have been carried out in the area over the last 10 days, along with 95 raids by the US-led coalition. At least 33 civilians were killed in the latest Russian and government air raids, according to sources cited by Al Jazeera.



(ANSAmed).




ANSAmed - Tomorrow's events in the Mediterranean

(ANSAmed) - ROME, OCTOBER 12 - These are some of the main events scheduled for tomorrow in the Euro-Mediterranean area: ROME - Visit by Lebanese premier Saad Hariri.



ROME - Conference titled 'Climate, Agriculture and Migration: Scientific Results and Possible Scenarios' with the participation of Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni.



ROME - Confindustria Assafrica headquarters - Country Presentation dedicated to Bahrain.



SALEMI - The Festival of hosting communities to promote the integration of migrants kicks off (to October 15).



BRUSSELS - EU, meeting of environmental ministers.



SIRACUSA - EU, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans participates in 'dialogue meetings' with citizens.



BRUSSELS - EU, meeting of justice ministers and interior ministers. (ANSAmed).




ROME - European Affairs Undersecretary Sandro Gozi told ANSA during a forum Thursday "the federal European solution is the right one" and said he's "not sure this European phase that's opening following Brexit is so negative".



Gozi said Europe has to "give citizens the answers they expect on key themes such as defence, the creation of a true European policy on migration, reforming the Eurozone, and focusing on a policy of growth".(ANSAmed).
Hamas announces reconciliation pact with Fatah Statement made by Ismail Haniyeh

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, OCTOBER 12 - The leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh has announced that his organization reached a reconciliation agreement with Fatah - the party of President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) - after Egyptian-mediated meetings in Cairo.



''Fatah and Hamas - Haniyeh was quoted as saying by local media - have reached an agreement at dawn today thanks to the generous Egyptian mediation. The details of the agreement will be explained at a press conference scheduled today, according to delegation chief Fatah Azzam al Ahmad.



''We will do everything to make the agreement effective to turn a new page in the annals of our people, closing the book of our divisions forever'', added Haniyeh.



Fatah and Hamas met over the past two days in Cairo as part of reconciliation talks sponsored by Egypt. Over the past few weeks, Palestinian Premier Rami Hamdallah with the government travelled for the first time in over two years to Gaza to start procedures to gain control of the Strip.



During meetings in the Egyptian capital - whose ''atmosphere'' was reportedly described as ''excellent'' by both sides - important issues were discussed including government matters, borders and the salaries of public employees.



However, according to several statements made by officials who attended the meetings, participants did not discuss the weapons present in the Gaza Strip nor the future of the military wing of Hamas, which were allegedly postponed to a meeting at a later date. (ANSAmed).




Migrants: IOM voices concern over migration from Tunisia Head of mission, saddened by umpteenth tragedy at sea

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, OCTOBER 12 - The mission chief in Tunisia of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Lorena Lando, on Thursday voiced sadness and concern for the deadly collision last Sunday between a Tunisian Navy ship and a vessel packed with migrants.



''IOM is following up on the fate of migrants who have been reported missing'', said Lando.



''We are saddened by this tragedy, which is affecting so many people and their families''.



''IOM is working to support and promote a safe and dignified migration'', she also said.



''We are worried by the rising phenomenon of irregular immigration from Tunisian coasts and we are working closely with all sides affected to develop long-term solutions''. (ANSAmed).




U.S.-Turkey tension, delegations scheduled to meet soon American team allegedly expected in Ankara to solve visa row

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, OCTOBER 12 - Representative of the United States and Turkey are scheduled to meet ''in the coming days'' in an attempt to solve a crisis that followed the arrest of a local employee at the US consulate in Istanbul and the subsequent reciprocal suspension of short-term visas, Turkish Deputy Premier Bekir Bozdag announced on Thursday.



A US delegation is allegedly expected to travel to Turkey next week, led by Jonathan Cohen, the deputy assistant secretary of the Department of State's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, covering Turkey.



The scheduled meeting reportedly follows a phone conversation between US secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. (ANSAmed).




ROME- US President Donald Trump decided the United States will leave UNESCO starting in December 2018, but the country will remain as an observer, the White House said on Thursday.



It said the reason for the decision was an alleged anti-Israel position on the part of the Paris-based UN agency for cultural heritage, of which Palestine is also a full member.



Elections are also underway for a new UNESCO director-general to replace outgoing head Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, with results of the secret ballot expected Friday.



The leading candidates are Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari of Qatar and Audrey Azoulay of France, followed by others including Egypt's Moushira Khattab.



On paper, al-Kawari - whose slogan is "I'm not coming empty handed" - is favored to win.



He has promised significant funding for the rebuilding of archaeological sites, including Palmyra in Syria.



However, a US-led boycott by Gulf countries accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism and keeping close ties with Iran could hamper his chances.
BELGRADE - The year 2017 is proving positive for tourism in Serbia, in particular for Italian visitors with a 7% increase in arrivals and a 6% growth in their presence, according to official data on the first eight months of the year presented at the tourism trade fair TTG Incontri 2017 in the coastal city of Rimini.

The data confirmed an overall 10% growth of arrivals and that the presence of visitors went up 10%.

On average, tourists visit for 2-3 nights with many opting to stay in Belgrade or to take or a trip to discover the Balkans.

Visitors can explore local culture and history, as well as natural attractions and cuisine.

Marija Labovic, director of Serbia's national tourism agency, said that ''the demonstration of the growing potential of the Italian market is the presence at TTG Incontri 2017 in out stand of three incomers and two hotels from Belgrade. This is for us a very interesting opportunity, both from the standpoint of the promotion of the country's excellence as well as to commercialize for our tour operators'', she said of the trade fair.

Serbia was confirmed as an all-year-round destination with tours across different cities and regions including a city-break in Belgrade and Novi Sad, a cruise along the Danube or a stopover during a trip to the former Yugoslavia.

Many also opted to travel for the holidays at the end of the year to experience local traditions.

A demonstration of this is the new edition of Lonely Planet's tour guide on ''Belgrade and Serbia'' that hit bookstores last summer with many more pages and advice for a trip to the land of Tesla and Djokovic to discover, among others, Balkan music and traditions.

On October 12-14 representatives of Serbia's national tourism agency, together with Serbian tour operators INTERTOURS, Balkan Holidays, Serbia Tour Operator and the sales managers of the hotels Prag and Life Design in Belgrade will meet tour operators, travel agencies, journalists and bloggers at the stand 180 in the Pavillion A1.
If youre considering a subscription to the Disney Plus streaming service, you may be wondering how much it costs. The service is available on both
MadridCarmen Lamela, a judge with Spains National Court, has once again summoned Josep Lluis Trapero, head of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Jordi Sanchez, President of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), and Jordi Cuixart, President of Omnium Cultural, to appear in court on Monday October 16th in the ongoing probe into an alleged crime of sedition.

All three had already testified as potential defendants on October 6th regarding events on September 20th, which the Guardia Civil views as a siege. They are accused of hampering the departure of officers that had been searching the HQ of Catalonias Ministry of Economy on Rambla de Catalunya. On October 6th they were released under their own recognizance because the prosecutor did not request injunctive measures while awaiting a new statement from the Guardia Civil. This report was delivered on Friday, and the accused had the right to review it. The report extended the investigation of the alleged crime of sedition into the events of October 1st.

Also called to appear is Mossos superintendent Teresa Laplana, who last Friday asked to testify by videoconference due to health problems.

Lamela summoned them to appear after an interlocutory decree denied a request by Cuixart and Sanchez to move the case to a Barcelona court, as they believed that Madrids National Court does not have jurisdiction to investigate alleged cases of sedition. Sedition is one of a group of crimes against public order that do not belong to this centralized judicial body, but rather to the territorial courts.

The decree responded that the actions being investigated sought to "illegally change the organization of the State", and as a result fall under the jurisdiction of the National Court. And it emphasises that the events that took place on September 20th and on October 1st were not "isolated", but rather they were a part of the roadmap towards independence, in which the ANC and Omnium Cultural played an "essential" role.

According to the judge, "in the strategy as designed, their activity [that of Sanchez and Cuixart] after the approval of the laws of disconnection and the order calling the referendum, was essential for directing all of the pro-independence synergies in the same direction, which was to culminate in the mobilization of the entire Catalan society, in line with the pro-sovereignty argument".

This mobilization had to be "of such magnitude that it could drag the mass of undecided people towards the pro-independence interests. This effort would be led by pro-sovereignty organizations ANC and Omnium, among other groups", according to the decree.

Added to this is the fact that the events were not isolated, "as those who question jurisdiction would have us believe, but rather lie within a complex strategy" in which Cuixart and Sanchez collaborated "to execute the road map designed to culminate with Catalan independence".

The judge believes that both "are part of a strategic committee with specific duties to carry out", as the Guardia Civil pointed out in the last report that they submitted to Lamela last week.

In that report, Spains Guardia Civil placed the leaders of these organizations in what it called a "strategic committee" for the declaration of independence, which would also include Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and Vice-president Oriol Junqueras.

In fact, the police report considers that Sanchez and Cuixart are "in decision-making positions" similar to that of the leaders of the Catalan government, while the Mossos Major, Josep Lluis Trapero, would be the executing arm of the pro-independence plan, according to the Guardia Civil and judge Lamela.
The integration of Cargo-XML in the WCO CTS enables electronic communication between airlines and customs authorities using the IATA Cargo-XML standards format. This will make communication simpler and more effective, and facilitate more accurate risk assessments by customs authorities using the WCO CTS application to capture advance electronic cargo manifest information.

"Simplifying processes, enhancing efficiency; and maximizing safety and security are in everybody's interest--shippers, border authorities and airlines. Collaboration is critical. And the integration of Cargo-XML into WCO CTS is the latest example of the positive results that can be achieved. About a third of the value of goods traded across borders are transported by air. We look forward to the further expansion of our vital work with the WCO in support of efficient world trade," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATAs Director General and CEO.

"Effective electronic data exchange is integral for Customs authorities to build accurate risk assessments of cargo shipments. Integrating Cargo-XML into the WCO CTS will allow customs authorities using this tool to easily access detailed information about shipments, profile these shipments and identify those presenting a high-risk. Using standardized and quality information is key to enhancing security, expedite customs clearance, optimize customs resources and facilitate global trade," said Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary General.
Only 6% anticipate a fall in demand between now and 2022. The findings were revealed in research among business aviation professionals commissioned by Global Jet Capital, a global leader in financial solutions for corporate aircraft.

The main reason identified for the growing demand for finance is that there is a growing trend for potential buyers to use less of their own capital, a fact cited by 62% of the professionals interviewed. Two in five (40%) respondents said the overall level of sales of business aircraft will grow resulting in increased demand for finance.



21% also pointed to the fact that operating leases are currently very attractively priced.



Key findings include:



57% of the business aviation professionals think the overall amount of finance made available to this market will increase in the coming year. 25% said this was because more specialist lenders have recently come into the market, while 34% expect to see more specialist lenders entering the sector in the future. 33% think traditional lenders will want to increase their exposure to the business aviation market.

32% of those interviewed believe that the growing size of the business aviation market over the next twelve months will naturally lead to an increase in the amount of finance available.

51% of the studys respondents think that finance rates will increase between now and 2020. Only 21% believe they will stay the same as today, while 18% think they will decrease.
An initial batch of Lebanese military pilots is currently at Moody Air Force Base in the US state of Georgia undertaking training on six Embraer A-29 Super Tucano light combat aircraft that will shortly be ferried to the Levant.

They will be warmly received by the Lebanese armed forces as welcome reinforcements to fend off Daesh and other Islamist terrorists just over the border in western Syria.

Lebanon has ordered six of the turboprop aircraft, with options on a further six. Their low operating costs, short runway requirements and five weapons pylons, plus two built-in 0.5-inch machine guns, equip them well for the counter-insurgency (COIN) role.

Lebanon has limited resources, so an affordable aircraft with low costs is suitable, said Brigadier-General Nazem El Khoury, editor-in-chief of Arab Defence Journal. Also, we do not need a fighter for air-to-air combat, so the Super Tucano satisfies the Lebanese needs for close air support against the Islamic fanatics on our border.

El Khoury added that two of the aircraft could be delivered in October or November this year, with the rest in 2018. They could be based either at Kleyate Air Base in the north of the country or at Riyak Air Base in the Bekaa Valley in the east of the tiny nation. Beirut International Airport is a third possible location.

He said senior US and Canadian officers had visited Lebanon recently to assist in its defence: Everybody is helping, because they trust the Lebanese army. The new army commander, General Joseph Aoun, is tough and believes in pre-emptive strikes.

Another former officer, Staff Colonel (Retd) Kamal Awar, now editor of the Lebanon-based publication Defence 21, agreed that the Super Tucanos are what we need.

The aircraft is super for COIN operations; you dont need fast jets in Lebanon. The whole length of the country is almost 200km and its width 50km.

That makes the high speed of a jet unnecessary  the Super Tucanos will be able to reach any location on the borders of a country that has shouldered the burden of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees within 30 minutes or so of being scrambled from their bases.

The Super Tucanos are being bought under a US foreign military sales purchase as part of a $462 million package of equipment announced in 2015 and, according to Gulf defence sources, being paid for as part of a $1 billion grant from Saudi Arabia.

That package will include eight AN/AAR-60(V)2 missile launch detection systems to alert the pilots of hostile surface-to-air missiles, eight ALE-47 countermeasure dispensing systems and 2,000 advanced precision kill weapon systems, which are unguided 2.75in (70mm) rockets that are given a laser-guidance system to convert them into a low-cost, guided-weapon system.

The Super Tucanos will be the first new fixed-wing combat aircraft to reach the Lebanese Air Force for some years. The country has been operating two Cessna Caravans armed with AGM-114 Hellfire II air-to-ground missiles for sorties against Daesh and Al Nusra Front forces that have attempted incursions into Lebanese territory.

In summer 2015, the US Department of Defense informed Congress of the proposed sale of a further 1,000 Hellfires. These could be fired by both the Caravans and the Super Tucanos.

Until recently, the Lebanese Air Force operated a small number of 1950s-vintage Hawker Hunter FGA70s. Although some sources show the air force as still having three aircraft on strength, they are thought to have been withdrawn from operational use in 2014.

Ironically, with their simple systems, tough structure and internal gun pack mounting four 30mm cannon plus SNEB 68mm multiple rocket pods on under-wing pylons, the Hunters would have made adequate COIN platforms.

More recently, the Lebanese armed forces have had to resort to improvised methods of attacking Daesh terrorists, such as attaching 250kg and 400kg dumb bombs under the fuselage of helicopters.


India and Japan will also look at establishing LNG spot price indices that reflect true supply and demand.

India will work with Japan to make long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) import deals more affordable for its price-sensitive consumers. (File Photo)

New Delhi: India will work with Japan to make long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) import deals more affordable for its price-sensitive consumers, it said on Wednesday, as these two big importers try to secure better prices and concessions from suppliers.

The arrangement will help state-run GAIL India Ltd swap a part of its 5.8 million tonnes of LNG booked with firms from the United States with that of Japans contracted volumes in Asia and elsewhere, Sunjay Sudhir, joint secretary for international cooperation in Indias federal oil ministry, told Reuters.

The worlds biggest LNG buyers, all in Asia, are increasingly clubbing together to secure more flexible supply contracts in a move that shifts power to importers from producers in an oversupplied market.

An alliance of big buyers puts pressure on exporters such as Qatar, Australia and Malaysia. They prefer to have clients locked into fixed supply contracts that run for decades and make buyers take fixed amounts of monthly volumes irrespective of demand, with no right to re-sell surplus supplies to other end-users.

Without joining any club, we would like to work with other major consumers to promote a flexible and open LNG market, Sudhir said.

Indias cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation with Japan that it said would help to diversify gas supplies, strengthen energy security and lead to more competitive prices.

Japan is the worlds largest LNG importer, and India the fourth biggest.

Under the arrangement, the two countries will try to get more flexibility in LNG contracts and abolish the Destination Restriction Clause, which prevents them from re-selling imports to third parties.

The agreement will have a swap clause as well, like we can swap our Australian LNG from Gorgon project with LNG booked by Japan with Qatar, Indias oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is travelling to Japan next week, told reporters.

India last month agreed to buy more LNG from the Gorgon project after Exxon Mobil agreed to cut prices under a long-term deal.

India and Japan will also look at establishing LNG spot price indices that reflect true supply and demand.

Pradhan earlier this week said that India wanted to set up a gas trading exchange for transparent market-driven prices that would encourage investment into the sector.

India wants to increase its share of gas in its energy mix from about 6.5 percent now to about 15 percent in the next few years. Locally produced gas is sold at a government-set price formula.

The president of Japans JERA Co, the worlds biggest LNG importer, told Reuters on Wednesday that his firm was set to sign a new LNG contract that would be free of destination restrictions.

LNG markets have been marked by oversupply since 2014 as production has jumped.
The actor has started shooting for the film, but is yet to shoot with Aishwarya for which he is both nervous and excited.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was reportedly in the news for throwing tantrums on the sets of 'Fanney Khan' which also stars Rajkummar Rao.

Mumbai: Actor Rajkummar Rao said he is both nervous and excited to romance Aishwarya Rai in his upcoming film 'Fanney Khan'.

The 33-year-old actor is looking forward to start shooting for the movie, in which he is paired opposite the 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' star.

Produced by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the film also features Anil Kapoor and Divya Dutta.

"I have started shooting for the film, but I am yet to shoot with her (Aishwarya), though we have had our workshops and reading sessions.

"There is a love angle between us. I am looking forward to it, though I am nervous and excited because you have to romance the world's most beautiful woman," Rajkummar added, and quipped, "But it will come naturally, I am sure."

The actor said he has started working with Anil on the film.

He was speaking at the trailer launch of his latest, 'Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana' here on Tuesday evening.

Like his previous films such as 'Queen', 'Behen Hogi Teri' and 'Bareilly Ki Barfi', the upcoming film also has marriage as the backdrop.

Asked about his take on arranged marriage, the 33-year- old actor said, "I totally believe in arranged marriage, I think each to their own. My parents had an arranged marriage and they remained happy.

"Sure, there should be freedom, no one should be forced into an arranged marriage. Everybody has the freedom to choose their own partners."

When quizzed if he has any plans of tying the knot soon, Rajkummar said, "I have been getting married, not married so many times in films that I am not getting the time to get married in real life. 'Shaadi' (marriage) is like a big festival, it is like making three films. You need a lot of time for that."

Also starring Kriti Kharbanda, 'Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana' is scheduled to release on November 10.
The notice asked Ritabrata Banerjee to turn up before CID officers on October 13.

The complainant also claimed that Banerjee raped her and then bribed her with Rs 50 lakh to maintain silence over the incident. (Photo: YouTube)

Kolkata: The West Bengal Police on Wednesday served a notice to expelled Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) leader Ritabrata Banerjee after a complaint by a woman, who alleged that he had established a physical relationship with her by promising marriage.

The notice asked Banerjee to turn up before Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officers on October 13.

The woman, who is a resident of Balurghat, has lodged a complaint at Balurghat police station in south Dinajpur district alleging that Ritabrata Banerjee had established a physical relationship with her by promising marriage.

The woman later claimed that Banerjee raped her and then bribed her with Rs 50 lakh to maintain silence over the incident.

"I was in a relationship with Ritabrata Banerjee. We met sometime in April 2016. I stayed with Ritabrata Banerjee at his residence for seven days. During those days, we had a physical relationship. During this time, he promised he would marry me. He transferred Rs 2.5 lakh to my account as a compensation for having a physical relationship with me. He also said he would give me Rs 50 lakh if I didn't tell anybody," the woman said in a video.

Meanwhile, Banerjee has filed a counter complaint, terming the incident as a politically motivated conspiracy. In the complaint, Banerjee has stated that the complainant blackmailed him and extorted money from him.

"I was blackmailed by the complainant. The complainant extorted money from me. This is a politically motivated conspiracy," the leader has stated.
Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008.

The Allahabad High Court, on Thursday, acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj in 2008, saying they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record. (Photo: PTI/File)

Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, on Thursday, the police made a "total dog's breakfast" of the investigation in the Aarushi murder case.

The Allahabad High Court, on Thursday, acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj in 2008, saying they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record.

In a series of tweets, Abdullah wrote, "Don't know who killed #Arushi & will probably never know but what I do know is the police made a total dogs breakfast of the investigation (sic)," suggesting that the probe was a complete mess.

Dont know who killed #Arushi & will probably never know but what I do know is the police made a total dogs breakfast of the investigation.  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 12, 2017

"The law presumes innocence until guilt is established beyond reasonable doubt. Innocent till proven guilty is bedrock of criminal law," he said in another tweet.

The law presumes innocence until guilt is established beyond reasonable doubt. Innocent till proven guilty is bedrock of criminal law. https://t.co/5fkVqCRMab  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 12, 2017

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008.

The needle of suspicion initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing, but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house two days later.

The high court verdict, on Thursday, ends a nine-year ordeal of the parents who were found guilty of murdering 14-year-old Aarushi by a CBI court.
Stubble burning has become a major concern for authorities as it causes air pollution as well as reduces soil fertility.

The protesting farmers lashed out at the government for not making proper provision before implementing the order, and asserted that substitute to stubble burning is expensive machinery, which is not a possibility for debt-ridden farmers. (Photo: ANI/Twitter)

Sangrur/Sheikhupura (Punjab): Farmers in Sheikhupura and Sangrur's Daska village of Punjab on Thursday burnt stubble in a show of protest against Government's order of banning the practice.

Demanding subsidy as compensation, farmers refused to abide by the order.

The protesting farmers lashed out at the government for not making proper provision before implementing the order, and asserted that substitute to stubble burning is expensive machinery, which is not a possibility for debt-ridden farmers.

"Government should have made proper provisions before issuing the order. Our expense will increase if we don't burn stubble; our land will not be ready for sowing and the cropping season will get delayed," said a protesting farmer, and added that government should pay them compensation to cover their losses.

"Is it only about pollution in Delhi? We have children too and it is as harmful to them as anyone else. Stubble burning is for betterment of land, and we will continue till our demands are met," he added.

On Tuesday, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) also came out in support of the farmers and resorted to stubble burning in Karnal.

Stubble burning has become a major concern for authorities as it causes air pollution as well as reduces soil fertility.

Following the orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), state government and district administration has tightened strictures against stubble burning, and booked charges against farmers, who are not following orders.
The court said that immunity couldnt be granted to a husband having sexual intercourse with his wife between the ages of 15 and 18.

New Delhi: In a landmark ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court held that in a child marriage, sexual intercourse between a man and his minor wife under the age of 18 is rape.

Delivering this ruling, a bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta declared unconstitutional the Exception 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which gave protection to the husband from criminal prosecution. The court said that immunity couldnt be granted to a husband having sexual intercourse with his wife between the ages of 15 and 18.

This verdict will protect all existing child marriages and have prospective effect. The victim minor girl will have to lodge a complaint with the police against her husband within one year of the child marriage for the purposes of prosecution.

The court said this section is arbitrary, capricious, whimsical and violative of the rights of the girl child and not fair, just and reasonable. It was, therefore, inherently discriminatory and violative of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.

The bench, allowing a PIL filed by NGO Independent Thought challenging Exception 2 to Section 375 IPC, said: We make it clear we have refrained from making any observation with regard to the marital rape of a woman who is 18 years of age and above since that issue is not before us at all.

The bench held that sexual intercourse with a girl below 18 is rape regardless of whether she is married or not. It said Exception 2 carved out in Section 375 IPC creates an unnecessary and artificial distinction between a married girl child and an unmarried girl child and has no rational nexus with any unclear objective sought to be achieved. The artificial distinction was arbitrary and discriminatory and was definitely not in the best interests of the girl child.

The bench noted that the artificial distinction was contrary to the philosophy and ethos of Article 15(3) of the Constitution as well as contrary to Article 21 of the Constitution and our commitments in international conventions. It was also contrary to the philosophy behind some statutes, the bodily integrity of the girl child and her reproductive choice, the court said.

The bench observed that the social cost of a child marriage (and therefore of sexual intercourse with a girl child) was itself quite enormous. This was in addition to the economic cost to the country, which would have to take care of infants who might be malnourished and sickly; the young mother of the infant might also require medical assistance. All these costs eventually add up and apparently only to support a pernicious practice, it said.

The bench said when the age of consent was raised to 18 years, the minimum age of marriage was also 18 and, therefore, fixing a lower age under Exception 2 to Section 375 IPC was totally irrational. It violated the right of fair treatment of the girl child, who was unable to look after herself, the court said, adding that the magic figure of 15 years was not based on any scientific evaluation, but on the mere fact that it had been existing for a long time. The age of 15 years in Exception 2 was fixed in 1940 when the minimum age for marriage was also 15, and the age of consent was 16.

When the age was raised in all other laws, the age under Exception 2 should also have been raised to bring it in line with evolving laws, specially laws to protect women and the girl child below 18. Therefore, the court held it had no hesitation in holding that Exception 2, insofar as it relates to the girl child below 18, was unreasonable, unjust, unfair and violative of the rights of the girl child.

The court said: We can only express the hope that the Government of India and state governments take an informed decision on the effective implementation of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and actively prohibit child marriages, which encourage sexual intercourse with a girl child. Welfare schemes and catchy slogans are excellent for awareness campaigns, but they must be backed up by focused implementation programmes, other positive and remedial action so that the pendulum swings in favour of the girl child, who can then look forward to a better future.

The judges said it was quite clear Parliament was not in favour of child marriages, but Parliament recognises that although child marriage is a criminal activity, the reality of life in India is that traditional child marriages do take place, though studies reveal it is a harmful practice. Strangely, while prohibiting child marriages and criminalising it, such marriages had not been declared void; and what is worse, intercourse within a child marriage was not rape under IPC, though it was a punishable offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012.
However, India has been engaging Russia on the Afghanistan issue and putting forth its views bilaterally to its time-tested friend.

New Delhi: India on Thursday dismissed Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasis reported statement that India has zero role in Afghanistan, saying it does not agree with it. Ironically, India, along with Pakistan, have just participated in the meeting of regional grouping Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCOs) Contact Group on Afghanistan that took place in the Russian capital Moscow. Putting forth its views at the meeting, New Delhi referred to terrorism emanating from across Afghanistans borders  a veiled reference to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism  and also supported strengthening of Afghan security forces besides emphasising that the Afghan peace and reconciliation process has to be Afghan-led, owned and controlled.

Interestingly, Russia has shown more of an inclination in recent times to ally with the Chinese and Pakistani stand on Afghanistan even as India, the United States and the Afghan Government itself seem to be on the same page on the issue. However, India has been engaging Russia on the Afghanistan issue and putting forth its views bilaterally to its time-tested friend.

The MEA spokesperson made it clear on Thursday that India does not believe in the concept of a good Taliban or bad Taliban, again a veiled reference to Islamabads strategy of sponsoring terror groups.

India and Afghanistan had recently agreed on an ambitious and forward looking next generation New Development Partnership that will see 116 High Impact Community Development Projects to be implemented in 31 provinces of Afghanistan. They agreed to implement the following new projects under grant-in aid assistance from India which are Shahtoot dam and drinking water project for Kabul that would also facilitate irrigation; low-cost housing for returning Afghan refugees in Nangarhar Province to promote resettlement; road connectivity to Band-e-Amir in Bamyan Province that would promote tourism to the National Park and economic development; water supply network for Charikar city in Parwan Province; establishment of a Gypsum board manufacturing plant in Kabul to promote value added industry; and construction of a polyclinic in Mazar-e-Sharif.
RSS chief backs Amit Shah's son, says evidence must be produced.

New Delhi/Bhopal: RSS leaders, including its chief Mohan Bhagwat, on Thursday paid tributes to slain journalist Gauri Lankesh, whose death had led to war or words between the political ideologies of the country. Also, making its stand clear on the allegations against BJP president Amit Shahs son, Jay, the RSS said charges against Mr Jay Shah can be probed if there is prima facie evidence but added that it is for those who allege a scam to prove it.

At its three day long Akhil Bhartiya Karyakari Mandal baithak or the Diwali Baithak, which began in Bhopal from Thursday, the RSS leadership also paid tributes to former Karntaka chief minister and Congress leader N. Dharam Singh, former ISRO chief Professor U.R. Rao, Yakshagana artiste Chittani Ramachandra Hegdae, Sevika Samitis Shrada Ghate and other eminent personalities, along with Lankesh, a known vocal critic of right wing outfits.

An RSS supporter had filed a police complaint against historian who had suggested that the RSS was behind Lankeshs murder while a complaint was also filed against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi over his purported remarks where he had suggested a link between Lankeshs killing and the BJP-RSS. RSSs joint general secretary, Mr Dattatreya Hosabole, told reporters on the sidelines of the outfits meeting, that unless the charges were of serious in nature, there was no need to order probe into them.

Let those who hurled charges of corruption against Jay Shah first produce evidence, he added.

After some media reports suggested that the RSS was mulling to allow women to participate in activities of its Shakhas or units, the RSS clarified that the Rashtriya Sevika Samiti works with women. The Congress vice presidents recent remarks when he had asked a gathering of students during his election campaign in Gujarat, why there are no woman in RSSs shakhas, apparently to target the outfit for not promoting women.

The meeting will see RSS leaders discussing on expansion and strengthning the organisation and its affiliates, review of ongoing progmamme as well as planning for new programme for next three years. Discussion on political and econmic issues will be part of the agenda. One issue that the RSS core group is likely to take up is that of whether or not RSSs second-in-command Bhaiyya Joshi, who is not keeping well, should be replaced.

Mr Hosabale, while briefing the media about the first day, said there has been an increase of more than 1,600 daily shakhas 1,700 weekly milans since last year.
The latest move to pull back has taken place in the backdrop of the ongoing Army commanders conference which began on Monday and will end on Sunday.

The move is likely to be matched by a similar pullback by Chinas Peoples Liberation Army, which had also garnered and consolidated its positions in the remote and inhospitable terrain in the Doklam plateau.

New Delhi: Indian Army formations including heavy guns and artillery that had moved north in the eastern sector to areas near the site of the Doklam standoff between the Indian and Chinese armies have been ordered to move back.

While an operational alert was issued because of the border standoff with China in Doklam near the trijunction between Indias Sikkim, China and Bhutan, an Indian Army exercise had also begun at that time, an annual feature before winter sets in, setting bells ringing across the border, which was followed by counter moves.

The Indian Army undertakes military exercises before the onset of winter and this time the exercise coincided with the Doklam standoff with China. The exercise has ended and the troops are moving back to the barracks, a source confirmed to this newspaper.

The move is likely to be matched by a similar pullback by Chinas Peoples Liberation Army, which had also garnered and consolidated its positions in the remote and inhospitable terrain in the Doklam plateau.

At the actual site of the standoff that lasted 73 days, a contingent of about 350 Indian soldiers faced an equal number of Chinese soldiers in a vigil at the 10,500-foot high spot, about 2 km south of the trijunction near Sikkim, with only about 100-odd metres separating the two armies. The highly tense situation also saw a border skirmish between troops of the two countries engaging in fisticuffs near the Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh.

The latest move to pull back has taken place in the backdrop of the ongoing Army commanders conference which began on Monday and will end on Sunday. The past four days comprised open sessions where defence ministry officials and the Army brass participated.
Several other state units of the Congress have already passed similar resolutions urging Rahul Gandhi to take over as Congress president.

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC), on Thursday, unanimously passed a resolution supporting Mr Rahul Gandhis elevation as Congress president. The UPCC also authorised the party president to name the UPCCC president.

The two resolutions were passed at a meeting of PCC members, district and city Congress presidents, returning officer Kishore Upadhaya, former ministers M.A. Khan and Suresh Shetty and UPCC president Raj Babbar.

Mr Raj Babbar moved the resolution seeking elevation fo Mr Rahul Gandhi to the post of Congress presidents post while senior Congress leader Ram Krishna Dwiwedi moved the resolution authorising the party president of naming the UPCC chief. Both the resolutions were passed by a voice vote.

Mr Raj Babbar, while addressing the meeting, said that Mr Rahul Gandhi had given a new energy to the Congress and was carrying forward the ideology of Gandhi and it was the duty of every Congress worker to strengthen his hands.

The PCC meeting was held here after a gap of six years. The last meeting was held in 2011 in Lucknow.

Several other state units of the Congress have already passed similar resolutions urging Mr Rahul Gandhi to take over as Congress president. It is said that Mr Gandhi will assume his new responsibility after Diwali.
The 24-year-old man has no purpose of the visit and is of the free-spirited kind.

A 24-year old Russian tourist Evangelin sought alms in a temple at Kancheepuram as he was left with no money. He could not draw money using his ATM card since the PIN number got locked. (Photo: AP)

Chennai: The Russian tourist, Evgenii Berdnikov, rescued by the police and sent to Chennai after he sought alms at a Kancheepuram temple on Tuesday says he would continue begging and has no immediate plans to leave the country. This newspaper found the man with another tourist on South Boag road in T. Nagar. It seemed that the foreign national is not in any distress as feared initially.

The Russian consulate in Chennai had earlier told the media that he had not contacted them and that they will assist him in a proper way if he contacts them.

When asked as to why he has not contacted the Russian consulate in Chennai as suggested by the cops, Evgenii replied that they would be of no help to him and he wants to travel. His visa expires on November 22.

While military tensions prevail between Russia and Ukraine, the person Evgenii befriended on reaching the city on Wednesday is a Ukranian, Andre, with whom he was loitering on the city streets. They were returning after visiting a temple in T. Nagar. I came with $8 and 50 Euros (approximately Rs 4,000), Eugene claimed, demanding Rs 100 from people who recognise him from the news reports and approach him.

The Russian tourist said that he had exhausted the very little money he had. I will continue asking people for money, Evgenii said, adding that he has plans to visit Bengaluru next.

The 24-year-old man has no purpose of the visit and is of the free-spirited kind.

I just want to travel, was all he said when asked about his reasons to visit India. He has the flags of the countries he has visited inked on his right arm  China, Thailand, Cambodia and most recently that of India.

Expressing genuine surprise that Indias external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted about him, the 24-year-old pointed out that the minister got his name wrong. Evangelin  Your country Russia is our time-tested friend. My officials in Chennai will provide you all help the minister had tweeted.
The deceased, identified as Samiksha Vitkar (13) and Divya Pawar (12), were on their way to school when they were mowed down.

The SUV is registered in the name of a relative of Shiv Sena leader Pappu Mane, who often uses it, but was not inside the vehicle at the time of the mishap that occurred on the Baramati-Morgaon road. (Photo: ANI)

Pune: Two schoolgirls were killed and another was injured when they were run over by a speeding SUV belonging to a Shiv Sena leaders relative in Maharashtras Baramati on Thursday morning. The incident triggered huge protests by residents, who set the vehicle ablaze.

The SUV is registered in the name of a relative of Shiv Sena leader Pappu Mane, who often uses it, but was not inside the vehicle at the time of the mishap that occurred on the Baramati-Morgaon road.

The deceased, identified as Samiksha Vitkar (13) and Divya Pawar (12), were on their way to school when they were mowed down. Both the girls died on the spot while the third girl sustained injuries and was rushed to a hospital, a police officer said.

Following the accident, the driver and other occupants of the SUV fled from the spot. A mob soon gathered and set the SUV on fire and resorted to a rasta roko (road block) to demand the drivers arrest, the officer said.

There were three to four people inside the car when the accident took place, but Mane was not inside the SUV. We have summoned him for questioning, he said, adding the law and order situation in the area was under control.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath will be campaigning in Gujarat on October 13 and 14, while other ministers will follow later.

Lucknow: The BJP has now decided to deploy leaders from Uttar Pradesh for its campaign in Gujarat. The party will use leaders from UP to push aggressive Hindutva card in the upcoming Assembly elections.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath will be campaigning in Gujarat on October 13 and 14, while other ministers will follow later.

According to BJP sources, Mr Adityanath is emerging as BJPs star campaigner and the party wants to convey the message of aggressive Hindutva through him.

Yogi Adityanath is an enigma for people outside UP and his charisma has created a demand for him for campaigning. There is a large workforce in Gujarat that hails from eastern Uttar Pradesh and we plan to win them over with Mr Adityanaths campaign, said a BJP functionary.

It may be recalled that during the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talked about the Uttar Pradesh migrant workers contribution in Gujarats development.

Mr Modi had said that people from all districts of Uttar Pradesh have moved to Gujarat to do wonders for the state.

Other UP ministers will be asked to campaign in areas that has a sizeable Hindi speaking population in Gujarat.

These ministers will be asked to explain how they have emerged as game-changers in Uttar Pradesh, ending 14 years of misrule.

Ministers who are known for their organisational skills like deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma and minister Swatantra Dev Singh will be asked to concentrate on the weak pockets in Gujarat.

Kurmi leaders in the UP BJP and its allies, in particular, will be an important part of the Gujarat campaign in order to counter the influence of Patidar leader Hardik Patel.



All the campaigners from Uttar Pradesh are being asked to lash out at the Congress and its dismal performance in Uttar Pradesh. The apathy of the Congress towards Amethi and Rae Bareli, which are the pocket boroughs of its leaders, will be highlighted in the Gujarat campaign.



BJP president Amit Shah, during his Amethi visit on Tuesday, has already given a clear indication that the BJP will go all out to targets Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in the Gujarat campaign. Mr Gandhi is also showing an aggressive streak in his campaign in Gujarat.
Young man breaks into womans house while she slept and put a knife to her throat before tying her up to the bed prior to the attack.

The victim, who hasn't been named, says she woke up in the middle of the night to find Walding 'hovering over her' wearing a mask. (Representational Image)

It turns out that this offended might actually have a conscience.

According to new reports, a Florida teen allegedly raped his neighbour at knifepoint, while wearing a mask. He then offered to make up to his victim by doing some yard work or by fixing something around her house, says arrest report.

The youngster, Timothey Adam Walding, 18, of Boynton Beach is now being held without bond at the Palm Beach County Jail on charges of three counts of sexual assault with a weapon and a single count of burglary and one on false imprisonment following the attack, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The young man broke into the womans house while she slept and put a knife to her throat before tying her up to the bed prior to the attack. Afterward, he stayed at the womans home and told her that she knew him, an arrest report said.

The victim, who hasn't been named, says she woke up in the middle of the night to find Walding 'hovering over her' wearing a mask.

At some point, she realised that Walding is a neighbour and he eventually untied her for a smoke outside.

According to reports, he told her that she really should deadbolt her door because even though he did not want to do it but he had to.

He then asked her 'if he could make this up to her by doing some yard work or by fixing something around her house.' To which she replied no.

Apparently he also said that he did not want to kill her because his own mother passed away when he was 12 and he could not imagine leaving two children without a mum.

Walding further revealed that he would be joining the military as it would be awkward living nearby.

He went back to his home after about an hour and a half, at which point the victim went back inside to call for help.
The car was donated to Kejriwal by Kundan Sharma, a software engineer, in January 2013.

New Delhi: A Wagon R car, used by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till the 2015 assembly polls, was stolen outside the Delhi Secretariat on Thursday, the police said.

The humble Blue hatchback, which became synonymous with Kejriwal's 'aam aadmi' image, was being used by an AAP functionary these days.

"The car was parked outside the Delhi Secretariat. It went missing around 1 am," a senior police official said.

The car was donated to Kejriwal by Kundan Sharma, a software engineer, in January 2013.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged the saffron party was also trying to create differences among the tribals by taking away their land.

Jhargram: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee On Wednesday held the Centre responsible for the Darjeeling unrest and said the state government would not tolerate any rumour mongering that might endanger peace.

Speaking at an administrative meeting held here on Wednesday afternoon, she requested the people in the Hills and the former Maoist stronghold of Jangalmahal not to pay heed to any form of instigation or rumours.

There was peace in the Darjeeling. Due to Delhi's instigation, the peace was disturbed for a few days but peace has returned to the Hills again, Ms Banerjee alleged. I will request everybody not to pay heed to any form of rumours. You people have to protect the peace of Jangalmahal, Im with you as your friend, she added.

In India, a new political party with saffron flags has evolved. It is trying to create differences among people. It is fomenting trouble from one village to another...Also trying to create division among the Hindus and Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, she alleged.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged the saffron party was also trying to create differences among the tribals by taking away their land. It (saffron party) is creating differences among tribals. And in their regime, tribals are the most troubled. Their land is being taken away. This has recently happened in Jharkhand, she alleged.

The chief minister described West Bengal as a land where people of all religions were living happily and referred to an incident in Gujarat where a Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death by a group of men belonging to the upper caste Patel community for attending a garba event.

A Dalit was lynched when he went to witness a Dandiya dance in Gujarat. These incidents happen in Rajasthan, in Madhya Pradesh and also in some parts of Bihar, she alleged.

But in West Bengal, we keep Dalits close to our heart, we protect tribals, we protect the minorities...This is the culture of West Bengal, she said.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee further said in that West Bengal people work as per their will, follow the religion they prefer and there was no discrimination or misunderstanding among them.


The TMC had suspended him for six years for anti-party activities after he announced on September 25 that he would resign from the party.

Kolkata: Mukul Roys exit from the Trinamul Congress (TMC) on Wednesday marked the end of his 20-year-long spell in the party that he helped mould with his former mentor, Mamata Banerjee.

The 63-year-old politician, who was once Banerjees right-hand man, resigned from the Rajya Sabha and the party he had helped her set up in January, 1998.

The TMC had suspended him for six years for anti-party activities after he announced on September 25 that he would resign from the party. Mr Roy was known for his organisational capability, loyalty to Banerjee and backroom manoeuvring skills.

Apart from micro-managing the organisation, he was in charge of the partys expansion within and outside Bengal, a TMC leader said on the condition of anonymity. Mr Roy was a Youth Congress worker in the 1990s when he became a close associate of Banerjee, then the West Bengal Youth Congress president.

He was among those who left the Congress for the TMC when Banerjee decided to form her own party. Given the task of expanding the partys organisation in West Bengal, Mr Roy, who had lost in the 2001 state Assembly election, became the face of the party in New Delhi after he was sent to the Upper House of Parliament in 2006 and appointed as the TMC general secretary.

A former Union minister  he held the Rail portfolio and was minister of state for shipping  Mr Roy was a poll strategist for the TMC, importing the system of poaching on elected representatives of opposition parties. His motto was victory at any cost, the TMC leader, who did not wish to be named, said.

Cracks began to surface in the relationship between Ms Banerjee and Mr Roy with the rise of the formers nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, as the next generation leader of the TMC. The fissures widened in 2015 when Mr Roys name came up in the Saradha chit fund scam and he was removed as the party's general secretary.

The ties nosedived after the TMC vice president's post  given to Mr Roy following a patch-up effort -- was abolished. Mr Roy spoke about the pitfalls of one-man parties after his resignation on Wednesday. All should be comrades in a party and not servants. But the one-man parties do not work like that, he said.
The striking resident doctors of GMCH claimed that hey are functioning without security guards for the last 25 days.

The resident doctors of Government Medical College anbd Hospital, Nagpur, went on strike last saturday demanding enhanced safety at the hospital premises.

Mumbai: Around 350 resident doctors of the state-run Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Nagpur were suspended on Wednesday for bunking work since five days. On Tuesday, the state medical education minister Girish Mahajan had warned the resident doctors, saying they should resume duty within two days or would have to face suspension.

The resident doctors bunked work from Saturday, demanding enhanced security at the hospital. The striking resident doctors of GMCH claimed that hey are functioning without security guards for the last 25 days.

Tension erupted at the GMCH when the body of a murdered woman was found lying in the bushes adjacent to the hospitals ward on Saturday morning. The body was naked. It is suspected that the woman was murdered somewhere else and her body was dumped inside the GMCH premises. This led to a feeling of insecurity among the resident doctors. Last year, there were several incidents of assaults on state doctors across the state.

Dr Pradeep Kaswan , president of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), GMCH Nagpur said, We need security guards at GMCH for our safety. That is our major demand. We have been given suspension letters but we are having meetings with Mr Mahajan and directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER). We want everything in writing or else will be continue with our strike, he said.

Mr Mahajan said that the Maharshtra Security Force (MSF) guards went on a strike 20 days ago. That thing sparked tension and the resident medicos went on strike without intimation. We have already arranged private security guards but these doctors dont want them. the minister said.

GMCH dean Dr Abhimanyu Niswade claimed that 25 guards have been appointed at the hospital.
The MNS chief has asked the BMC to evict illegal hawkers from the citys roads.

Mumbai: After a decent turnout at last weeks rally against railway administration, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray plans to consolidate the gains by concentrating on civic issues. Raking up the issue of illegal hawkers again, he has asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to evict them from citys roads.

On Wednesday, the MNS chief met BMC chief Ajoy Mehta and demanded action against illegal hawkers in the city.

In Mumbai, illegal vendors have outnumbered the authorised hawkers and action should be taken against them to ensure that Mumbaikars get encroachment-free roads and pavements to walk on. If even the illegal hawker happens to be Marathi, he should be removed, said Mr Thackeray.

The MNS chief demanded that the BMC should provide a Whatsapp number for people to complain about illegal hawkers in their areas.

After whisked away by the civic body, hawkers again encroach upon places in the city. The Whatsapp number will help people to file complaints against them, he said.

The demand to act against illegal hawkers is not made to take ones daily livelihood away. It is being made so that tax-paying people are able to walk freely on roads.

If illegal hawkers are not allowed to sit on roads, people will not buy from them and instead go to civic markets, he added.

After the Elphinstone Road station stampede last month, in which 23 people were killed, Mr Thackeray had taken out a rally to Western Railway headquarters at Churchgate on October 5. He had also warned railway authorities to take action against illegal hawkers on railway bridges within 15 days.
The situation reportedly worsened when someone shouted, phool padla, in reference to a flower vendor dropping a bunch of flowers.

Mumbai: The report by a five-member team headed by the Western Railway (WR) Chief Security Officer (CSO) probing the September 29 stampede at the Elphinstone-Parel bridge states that the stampede was caused due to panic, as reported by The Asian Age on Sunday. The WR has also said that they will be providing a walkie-talkie hotline to the station master, Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police personnel on duty to deal with such crisis situations.

A recent press release by the WR said that the committee had come to a conclusion that the stampede happened because of the sudden downpour of heavy rains coupled with the accumulation of a large number of commuters on the foot over-bridge around 10 am. The situation reportedly worsened when someone shouted, phool padla, in reference to a flower vendor dropping a bunch of flowers, but being misinterpreted as pool padla, referring to the bridge's collapse.

Speaking about the walkie-talkies being provided to the railway and police personnel, said, The on-duty station master, RPF and GRP personnel will have to make sure that they keep each other in loop. The walkie-talkies will help them in patrolling and knowing each other's location.

Committee made to probe delay

The railway ministry orders enquiry into the 18-month delay of issuing tender for the Elphinstone Road Bridge. The WR press release stated that the issue of notice inviting tender for the FOB took about 18 months and that the railway board has decided to constitute a high level expert committee to inquire into the delay in the process and suggest ways to prevent such delays. The committee will be headed by Pratyush Sinha, Retd Chief Vigilance Commissioner with Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman CII Economic Affairs Council, and Subodh Jain, Retd Member Engineering, Railway Board as members and current Director Safety, Rly Board, Shri Pankaj Kumar as Member Secretary. They have been asked to submit the report in three months.
The office of the National Security Council discussed in some detail West Asia and Rohingya refugees.

A Rohingya refugee reacts while holding his dead son after crossing the Naf river from Myanmar into Bangladesh in Whaikhyang. (Photo: AFP)

He sat at the head of a long dining table, donning the grandest headgear, a combination of turban and hat, with neat, cascading pleats. Grand Mufti Ahmed Bader Eddin Mohammad Adib Hassoun, Syrias highest religious authority, held the ambassadors and a sprinkling of journalists in his thrall. It was an unstoppable torrent.

Unable to get a word in edgeways, the guests attended, with dedication, to the sort of elaborate feast which has gone out of fashion in this era of spartan hospitality even in diplomatic circles.

That the Mufti was not on a mission of religious sightseeing alone was clear from his itinerary. He had quality time with home minister Rajnath Singh and travelled to Srinagar to meet chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti. The office of the National Security Council discussed in some detail West Asia and Rohingya refugees.

According to him, the running Rohingya-Buddhist conflict is being aggravated by the US-Saudi combine to serve their interests  to transform the moderate, Sufi-inclined Rohingyas into Salafi groups. These would help destabilise a country neighbouring China.

Evidence of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmars Rakhine state since the 7th century is not accompanied by a narrative of harmony with the Buddhist majority in that country throughout this period. But since 1970-80, increased repression, economic deprivation and denial of citizenship rights could possibly be because of the reverberations following the Iranian revolution in 1979.

Saudi Arabia, particularly shaken by the emerging, bipolarity in the Muslim world, took the lead in drumming up an anti-Shia hysteria. Over time, Sufi Islam was also in the line of fire. Riyadh had an interest in diverting the worlds attention towards Iran because a much bigger danger had reared its head within Saudi society. An anti-monarchy, radical, Islamic group had occupied Islams most important mosque in Mecca for weeks almost at the same time as the Iranian revolution. The Saudis needed to create Wahabi enclaves wherever they could.

This brief background is essential to understand the antecedents to the current exodus of over 400,000 Rohingyas.

Americans no longer deny that they have from time to time fallen back on militants or terrorist groups as tactical assets. In an interview to Christiane Amanpour, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov made exactly that allegation. Neither could Amanpur risk a counter-allegation, nor ask a followup question on that subject. Heaven knows what beans Lavrov might spill on live TV.

Since the Muftis visit, a disturbing narrative circulating in some circles suggests that the present crisis was precipitated from outside.

The story begins in 2012 when Prince Bandar bin Sultan, former Saudi ambassador to the US (nicknamed Bandar Bush because of his close friendship with then President George W. Bush), who had then been given the Syrian portfolio by the late King Abdullah, invited a Rohingya named Hafiz Taha to his office in Riyadh.

Taha was given the task of developing Islamist sleeper cells in Rakhine. The idea was to promote Islamism of the Wahabi variety among a people who were otherwise inclined towards a folksy form of Sufism.

In her study on the Rohingyas for the Council on Foreign Relations, Eleanor Alberts version tallies with the Muftis narrative on how the trouble started in Rakhine in August. Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army claimed responsibility for attacks on police and army posts. Is it any surprise that the government declared ARSA a terrorist organisation? It was then that the military mounted a brutal campaign that destroyed hundreds of Rohingya villages and forced more than 500,000 Rohingya to leave Myanmar, approximately half of the Rohingya population out of the country.

Military brutality on a scale never seen in history was then unleashed: the security forces allegedly opened fire on fleeing civilians and planted landmines near the border crossings used by the Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh.

A long-simmering conflict, intensifying over the past decade, was custom-made for outsiders to ignite and cause an explosion. This precisely is what appears to have been precipitated in Rakhine state two months ago. But why would sleeping cells be activated now? Well, one lesson learnt from manufactured terrorist groups is this: groups reared on lethal Islam cannot be destroyed. They have to be relocated. The defeat of militant groups in Syria has, ironically, created another kind of problem. Trained with Western and Saudi help, these trained terrorists cannot be exterminated or sent to the gas chambers. They have to be given work elsewhere.

In the Syrian whodunit, the Americans have actually been admitting their mistakes with endearing docility. Remember former secretary of defence Ashton Carter, his face distinctly in the lower mould, being grilled by a US congressional committee, then by the media, for the clumsiness of US special operations in Syria? The moderates they were training had left their weapons with the Al-Nusra Front and sought safe passage. Mr Carter announced, on live TV, that a $500 million training programme had been discontinued.

Remember Gen. Lloyd Austin admitted to the Senates armed services committee that only four or five fighters trained by the Americans were in the fight.

In an interview to Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in 2015, former President Barack Obama admitted that he had not bombed ISIS when it first reared its head because that would have relieved pressure on Iraqs Shia Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki whose departure, and not ISIS elimination, was a US priority.

The cake for flaunting terrorism as an asset goes to Bandar bin Sultan, who promised a terrorism-free Sochi Olympics in February 2014 to President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin if only the Russians helped him show Bashar al-Assad the door out of Damascus.

The plight of the Rohingyas in the exodus is even more heartbreaking as they have no clue of the Kafkian script which has maliciously affiliated then with the externally-financed Rohingya Salvation Army, a group most of the refugees know absolutely nothing about.
Qualcomm has been accused of refusing to licence its technology to other industry players.

Qualcomm faces an antitrust fine in Taiwan, the latest in a years-long streak of regulatory setbacks to its business model that comes as it also fights US regulators and iPhone maker Apple in court over many of the same legal issues. The Taiwan Fair Trade Commission said on Wednesday it would fine Qualcomm T$23.4 billion ($774.14 million) for anti-trust violations of its chip technology.

The Commission said in a Chinese-language statement that Qualcomm had a monopoly over the chip market for several so-called modem technologies, which provide wireless data connectivity for mobile phones, and refused to licence its technology to other industry players.

In Taiwan, Qualcomm is required to submit a progress report on the matter every six months to the Commission on negotiations with related parties. In a statement, Qualcomm said it disagreed with the decision. Once the final decision is issued in the coming weeks, Qualcomm said it will challenge the decision in court.

The fine bears no rational relationship to a number of Qualcomms revenues or activities in Taiwan, and Qualcomm will appeal the amount of the fine and the method used to calculate it, Qualcomm said.

The Taiwanese decision is the latest challenge to Qualcomms business model, which involves selling chips and also licensing a suite of patents related to how those chips are put into a phone to provide mobile data to the device. While the regulatory and legal attacks differ in some details, a key theme is the allegation that Qualcomm uses its dominant position in the market for modem chips to charge unfair royalty rates for its patents.

Last December, Korean regulators fined Qualcomm $854 million for violating its competition laws, a ruling that followed an $975 million fine from Chinese regulators in 2015. European regulators have also expressed antitrust concerns over Qualcomms $38 billion bid to buy NXP Semiconductors.

The US Federal Trade Commission is also suing Qualcomm over its licensing practices. Those regulatory challenges are playing out as Apple is waging a global legal battle on Qualcomms long-held practice of charging a percentage of the total price of iPhones and other Apple devices as a licensing fee for its patents.

After those lawsuits were filed, Qualcomm brought an action against Apple before the US International Trade Commission seeking to ban imports of some iPhones. Qualcomm filed a separate civil lawsuit accusing Apple of infringing the patents at issue in that action.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is also holding an open hearing with the three companies that day.

Washington: One of Facebook's top executives met Wednesday with House members investigating the company's Russia-linked ads and told them the social media giant is serious about dealing with the issue.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, told lawmakers behind closed doors that the company is working hard to ensure Americans "understand what the propaganda is that they may or may not be reading," said House Republican Rep. Mike Conaway, who is leading the House intelligence committee probe.

Wednesday's meetings are ahead of a November 1 House Intelligence Committee hearing at which Facebook, Twitter and Google are expected to testify. The Senate Intelligence Committee is also holding an open hearing with the three companies that day.

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 recently provided three congressional committees with more than 3,000 ads they had traced to a Russian internet agency.

Facebook has said those ads focused on divisive political messages, including LGBT issues, immigration and gun rights, and were seen by an estimated 10 million people.

Conaway, R-Texas, and the top Democrat on the panel, California Rep. Adam Schiff, met with Sandberg in the office of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Sandberg also held a separate meeting with Schiff, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

Schiff said Sandberg wanted to calm members of Congress, who were initially concerned that the company was reluctant to share information and to ensure that foreign governments don't wage information campaigns in U.S. elections.

Sandberg said, according to Schiff, that Facebook is "determined to take whatever steps are necessary to ferret out foreign actors creating fake identities and using their platform."

He said Sandberg also indicated the company wants the help of the intelligence community to identify who may be using Facebook for those reasons.

Conaway and Schiff said after the meeting that they expect to eventually release the Facebook ads. That's a break from the Senate intelligence committee, which had said it won't release them. Facebook has also declined to make the ads public.

"My personal bias is that we'll do that as quickly as we can," Conaway said, adding that they probably wouldn't release the ads before the Nov. 1 hearings.

Both men said that in the end, voters need to be more aware of the type of information they are seeking out.

"You and I as voters are responsible for where we get information and how we trust it, and whether we trust it," Conaway said.

Sandberg also was expected to meet Thursday with the Congressional Black Caucus. Some members of the caucus have been critical of Facebook over the ads, many of which had racial themes.

One member of Congress who viewed the ads said that of about 70 that person had viewed, all of them had racial themes. The person said the ads were meant to inflame all sides, with some showing white police officers beating black people. The member declined to be named because the ads aren't yet public.
The Federation of American Scientists says the US currently has about 4,000 nuclear warheads earmarked for use in its military stockpile.

Speaking to reporters at the White House during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump said the report was not true. (Photo: AFP)

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied a report from NBC News that he told his national security advisers in July he wanted to increase the countrys nuclear arsenal by nearly tenfold, saying he argued for its modernization.

NBC News said the president called for the increase after he was shown a chart indicating the stockpile of US nuclear weapons had slid from a high of 32,000 in the 1960s. Trump said he wanted to have that same number now, NBC reported.

Speaking to reporters at the White House during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump said the report was not true.

I never discussed increasing it. I want it in perfect shape. That was just fake news by NBC, he said. We dont need an increase. But I want modernization and I want total rehabilitation. Its got to be in tip-top shape.

The presidents denial was buttressed by a statement from his defense chief.

Recent reports that the president called for an increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal are absolutely false. This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said.

Although US presidents have modernized weapon stockpiles over the years, any meaningful addition to the nuclear arsenal would violate treaty agreements. The Federation of American Scientists says the United States currently has about 4,000 nuclear warheads earmarked for use in its military stockpile.

After the meeting in July, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson referred to Trump as a moron, according to NBC. US news reports have painted the relationship between Trump and Tillerson as tense.

The NBC report comes during a time of high tension between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyangs nuclear weapons and missile programs, and just ahead of an expected announcement from Trump on whether to decertify the international deal on Irans nuclear program.

Trump told Reuters in February that he wanted to ensure that the US nuclear arsenal was at the top of the pack.

MSNBC reported in 2016 that as a candidate, Trump asked a foreign policy adviser three times in a one-hour meeting why the United States could not deploy its nuclear weapons.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr Asif said that Pakistan was taking action against the militants on its own.

Islamabad: Pakistan foreign minister Khawaja Mohammed Asif said Wednesday that he had requested United States authorities to identify terror hideouts in Pakistan.

Speaking to reporters here, Mr Asif said that Pakistan was taking action against the militants on its own.

I have asked the US to identify the hideouts where we are allegedly not taking action. We will consider the inputs seriously, he added.

The foreign minister has just completed a visit to the US and is awaiting his US counterpart Rex Tillerson in Islamabad for further talks.

Mr Asif said that he stands by his stance that Pakistan needed to clean our house.

He rhetorically asked why National Action Plan was needed if everything was alright internally. Mr Asif said that he did not need to earn any certificate for his love for Pakistan from anyone except for the people.

About his meetings with US authorities, the minister said that Washington agreed with Pakistans reservations over Indias involvement in Afghanistan and with recommendation to seek political solution to Afghanistan troubles.

Mr Asif has warned last month that the country will continue to face embarrassment if terror groups like the LeT and JeM are not reined in, according to media reports.
On the evening of October 5, I went to the Grand Palace for the last day for mourners to bid farewell to the King.

Bangkok: Friday, October 13, will mark the one-year anniversary of the passing of Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX of the Chakri Dynasty, King of Thailand for 70 years and seven months. In this year of mourning King Bhumibols body has lain in state in the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall of Bangkoks Grand Palace, and 13 million Thais, about one in six in a nation of 68 million, have paid their respects to the Golden Urn.

On the evening of October 5, I went to the Grand Palace for the last day for mourners to bid farewell to the King. Sanam Lunang, the great field adjacent to the Grand Palace, has served as the waiting area where multitudes have been given food and drink, medical assistance, even clothing rentals to adhere to the traditional sartorial requirements for the occasion. Staffed by volunteers, medics and military, the atmosphere was gracious and heartfelt. It was a full moon at the end of the rainy season  Thailand has three seasons: the hot, dry and wet  and Bangkok is daily drenched by cloudbursts. But on that Purnima night, Lord Indra withheld the rain and a pearl white moon rose above the golden spires of the Grand Palace, as citizens waited in patient queues until 3 am. One grandmother had come 315 times to express her love for her King. I wanted to be close to my King one more time, said an engineer from Bangkok, lingering at Sanam Luang after a last pilgrimage to the palace. For 70 years, we never knew life without him. From my earliest childhood, every night we watched him on television, always working, always helping us. I cant quite believe that he isnt here.

In this year of mourning, King Bhumibols presence has been ubiquitous. Images of the beloved monarch are seen everywhere, adorned with black and white banners and floral offerings. His hit songs, which he played live on Thai radio every Friday in the early years of his reign, float through the air. And for an entire year many Thai citizens have worn the mourning colours of black and white, many with pins and emblems with the numeral 9.

Indeed, for 70 years, Rama IX was a constant presence in the lives of his people, as he was the first Thai monarch to visit every corner of the kingdom. Bangkok is filled with exhibitions with paintings and photographs of King Bhumibol striding through fields and jungles with his pencils, maps and cameras. Helaunched thousands of royal projects in infrastructure, healthcare, education, art and commerce, which made Thailand the most stable and prosperous nation in Southeast Asia. King Bhumibol is known as the father of Thai radio, from childhood he took a keen interest in telecommunications and on his visits to remote regions of Thailand he always carried a walkie-talkie, to be alerted to crises and natural disasters. King Bhumibol also created Thailands modern university system and personally bestowed the degrees on every single graduate; many visitors to the Grand Palace brought with them treasured photographs of receiving their diplomas from the Kings hand.

Throughout this month, jumbotrons, video screens in the sky train and Thai television are screening archival footage of the Kings life, which show the astonishing range of his talents and achievements. There are innumerable programmes about his innovations in agriculture and technology, and of course, his gifts as a composer and musician. There are two iconic pop culture images of the King  meeting Elvis Presley in Hollywood, and jamming with Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa in New York City. When Benny Goodman and his orchestra performed in Thailand in 1956, Mr Goodman famously observed: That King of Thailand is the coolest cat in the world.

Watching the film footage of King Bhumibols life is witnessing the arc of the post-Second World War order. His state visits throughout the world were triumphs; fluent in English, French and German, his protocol was impeccable, and his wife, the exquisitely poised Queen Sirikit, ruled the international best-dressed list for years. But Thailand was under siege from a violent Communist insurgency that lasted from 1963 to 1983, and when Saigon fell to the Vietcong in 1975, King Bhumibol vowed that he would never leave his people. The ultimate proof of his fidelity is that he never did, save for a trip to the Laotian border in 1994 where he supervised the opening of a bridge.

As the grounds of Sanam Luang are cleared and swept to prepare for the ceremonies leading up the royal cremation on October 26, many feel a looming sense of finality. The Bangkok Post wrote: The reign began when we had so little. It ended with us having so much more. On the last night when mourners could come to the Grand Palace, a retired civil servant said: I came over 30 times to pay respects to His Majesty. This last time was the hardest. We all want to keep serving him. We can never repay him for everything he gave to us.

The writer is a New York-based author and researcher who specialises in Asian history and current events
It is very important that Mr Puigdemont clarify for the rest of Spaniards if he declared independence yesterday or not, Rajoy added.

Madrid: Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday gave Catalonias separatist leader five days to clarify his position on whether or not he was declaring independence.

Speaking in Parliament, Mr Rajoy said Carles Puigdemont has until Monday at 10 am to say if he declared independence before suspending Catalan autonomy.

It is very important that Mr Puigdemont clarify for the rest of Spaniards if he declared independence yesterday or not, he added.

If Mr Puigdemont confirms his region had split from Spain, Madrid would give him five more days, to October 19 at 10 am, to reconsider before suspending Catalan autonomy, Mr Rajoy added.

Mr Puigdemont announced in the regional Parliament on Tuesday that he had accepted the mandate for Catalonia to become an independent state following the referendum. But, in a parliamentary speech, Mr Puigdemont immediately called for independence to be suspended, to allow for negotiations with Madrid.
The head of UNESCO Irina Bokova voiced 'profound regret' over United States withdrawing from the UN body.

Foreign Policy magazine said the decision was aimed at saving money and to protest what the US believes is UNESCO's anti-Israel stance. (Photo: AFP)

Paris: The United States on Thursday withdrew from UNESCO, the UN's cultural and educational agency, dealing a further blow to an organization hobbled by regional rivalries and a lack of funds.

The United States announced its withdrawal from the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization, accusing the body of "anti-Israel bias."

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington would establish an "observer mission" to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.

The head of UNESCO Irina Bokova voiced "profound regret" over United States withdrawing from the UN culture and education body which she called a "loss to multilateralism".

"I wish to express profound regret at the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO," Bokova said in a statement.

Paris-based UNESCO, which began work in 1946, is known for designating World Heritage sites such as the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and the Grand Canyon National Park. It will pick a new chief this week to try to revive its fortunes.

Three diplomats had said that the United States - which cancelled its substantial budget contribution to UNESCO in 2011 in protest at a decision to grant the Palestinians full membership - would announce its decision in a few days.

Foreign Policy magazine reported earlier on Thursday that Washington would formally withdraw after the 58-member UNESCO Executive Board selects its new director general on Friday.

The magazine said the decision was aimed at saving money and to protest what the US believes is UNESCO's anti-Israel stance.

The United States, which has contributed around $80 million a year to UNESCO, accounting for around a fifth of its budget, still has a vote on the board and is expected to keep an observer status at the organization.

President Donald Trump has in general been critical of the United Nations and complained about the cost and value to the United States of some of its affiliate institutions.

"The absence of the United States or any large country with a lot of power is a loss. It's not just about money, it's promoting ideals that are vital to countries like the United States, such as education and culture," a UNESCO-based diplomat said.

For differing reasons, Britain, Japan and Brazil are among states that have yet to pay their dues for 2017.

After three days of secret balloting that could run until Friday, Qatar's Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari and France's Audrey Azoulay are tied to win the top post at the organization, with Egyptian hopeful Moushira Khattab in third. Two other candidates trail.

Voting lasts over a maximum five rounds. If the two finalists end level, they draw lots.
by Mathias Hariyadi

Bishop Sylvester Tung Kiem San is the new apostolic administrator of the diocese. In June, dozens of priests had resigned from their positions in protest. The former bishop under a Vatican investigation since last August.

Ruteng (AsiaNews) - Bishop Hubertus Leteng resigned from office as bishop of Ruteng, Flores Island (East Nusa Tenggara), following the pressure of local faithful and clergy following allegations financial corruption.

The announcement was made public last night, along with the Vatican decision to appoint a new apostolic administrator for the diocese. Shortly thereafter, a closed-door meeting was concluded, attended by the former bishop, his successor, Msgr. Sylvester Tung Kiem St. Denpasar (Bali), secretary of the Vatican Embassy Fr. Fabio Salerno and Fr. Siprianus Horma, executive secretary of the Indonesian Bishops' Conference (Kwi). There were also several priests and representatives of the diocesan curia and the presbyteral council.

In August, the Holy See appointed General Secretary Kwi Msgr. Antonius Benjamin Subianto to conduct an investigation into the alleged immoral behaviour of the former bishop. The scandal broke out a month earlier, when local Catholics came to know about the secret love affair of Msgr. Leteng with a woman from Denspasar (Bali). Defined as a "adoptive daughter," the woman used to receive the frequent visits of her lover, from whom she is believed to have attempted to extort money with the threat of revealing their unlawful attachment.

Dozens of priests and some prominent lay faithful of Ruteng have issued two motions of mistrust against the former bishop, pushing the Vatican nunciature in Jakarta to address the issue to save the dignity of the priesthood and defend the moral he has offended. On June 15, dozens of "dissident" priests announced their resignation as "officials" of the diocese after securing the continuity of their pastoral work as "ordinary" priests. On June 20, they appealed to the Vatican nuncio to resolve this situation of "pastoral stalemate" with their bishop.

Contacted by AsiaNews, Msgr. Leteng did not want to make any statements.

Ruteng is the most "prosperous and dynamic" diocese of Flores, the "Catholic island" of Indonesia, and oversees the three major regents, from where many vocations and hundreds of priests and nuns come. For seven years, Bishop Leteng was head of the diocese, which has over 875,000 faithful, about 90% of the local population, and 81 parishes, served by 237 priests and 421 religious.
by Li Yuan

The 85-year-old bishop of Baoding was abducted by police on October 8 1997. There had been no further news of his whereabouts since then. Msgr. Yeung of Hong Kong: We hope he is alive. A book in print and online to remember his life and influence in the Christian community. Justice and Peace official: We need to discover what made him so firm in his faith.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - About 200 Hong Kong Catholics attended a Mass dedicated to Bishop James Su Zhimin of Baoding, who has been forcibly disappeared for 20 years. Bishop Michael Yeung of Hong Kong presided over the evening Mass on Oct 11 organized by the dioceses Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) at the St Andrews Church.

When greeting the faithful in the Introductory Rites of the Mass, Bishop Yeung said off the cuff from the printed liturgy leaflet that he prayed that Bishop Su could regain freedom and return to his flock that entrusted to him by God if he is still alive.

In his homily, Bishop Yeung said the church will diminish in good time but will grow strong in time of persecution as we often heard the saying that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

He encouraged the congregants not to fear in face of difficulties since no one would live forever and that everything is in the hand of the eternal God. However, he stressed that one should not resort to violence when voicing out opposition.

The bishop said the Church particularly emphasizes seeking for dialogue. We should have positive faith on God and not give up even others do not want to dialogue with you, he said, adding that in dialogue, we could not abandon our main principles while minor matters could leave aside first.

Or Yan-yan, a JPC project officer, said the Mass was organized on the occasion of Bishop Sus forced disappearance 20 years ago at Xinji city in Hebei province on Oct 8, 1997.

It was terrible thing that a person could be disappeared for two decades and it would not be right if the Church itself does not voice out for its bishop, she said.

Even if grand churches were built in the past decades, they are only hardware. The essence [of Chinas religious situation] has not changed as we could see the authorities continue to take away and detain clergy at discretion, such as Father Liu Honggen of Baoding, Coadjutor Bishop Cui Tai of Xuanhau and Bishop Peter Shao of Wenzhou, she continued. They are real living cases that show to us that we really need to pray for the Church in China, she added.

Bishop Su, aged 85, was arrested for several times since 1956 and has been under detention and imprisonment for almost half of his life.

Along with the Mass was the publication of a Chinese booklet on Bishop Su in both printed and electronic editions (https://issuu.com/christineor/docs/a5_booklet_single). Besides history of the bishop between 1950s and 1990s, there are also local Catholics recalling their impression of the bishop and how he influenced their faith.

Or Yan-yan said many faithful may know the basic profile of Bishop Su such as the date of his ordination as priest and bishop. But I believe it is good for people to know also his conviction as there must be something that he makes him hold firm to his faith.

Baoding is a stronghold of the underground church community in Hebei, which is the largest Catholic province in China with about one million Catholic population.

Bishop Su was ordained Coadjutor Bishop of Baoding in 1993 and became the ordinary of the diocese in 1995. He and his Auxiliary Bishop Francis An Shuxin were arrested together two years later in 1997.

Bishop An was released in 2006 after 10 years of detention. In 2007, he was appointed by the Vatican as coadjutor bishop as when Bishop Su was still under detention in unknown location..

However, in 2009, he joined the government-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which split the diocese further between the underground and open communities. Under the government permission, Bishop An was installed as the head of the diocese in 2010, leading the open community.
The arrest warrants apply to members of the Kurdistan Region's electoral commission. The vote was "contrary to the decision of the high federal court. Kurdish leaders said "Yes" provided mandate to start negotiations on secession. Baghdad considers the vote in conflict with the Constitution.

Baghdad (AsiaNews/Agencies) - An Iraqi federal court has ordered the arrest of Kurdistan officials involved in overseeing a referendum last month on the region's independence.

The arrest warrants, issued by Baghdad's Rusafa investigation court, apply to members of the Kurdistan Region's electoral commission.

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.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi last month demanded the suspension of the controversial vote.

Kurdish leaders later insisted the referendum was legitimate.

On Wednesday, the Rusafa court said "legal measures" would be taken through the office of the public prosecutor against those Kurdistan officials it said were involved in supervising the vote.

A spokesman for the court, Abdulstar Bayraqdar, said the warrants followed a lawsuit filed by the country's National Security Council which argued that the referendum was "contrary to the decision of the high federal court".

Following the vote on 25 September, Kurdish officials said 2.8 million people living in the three provinces that form the Kurdistan Region, as well as "areas of Kurdistan outside the region's administration", had voted in favour of independence.

Kurdish leaders said the "Yes" result provided them with a mandate to start negotiations on secession with the central government in Baghdad and neighbouring countries.

However Mr Abadi has called for the referendum, in which 92% of voters backed secession, to be annulled.

Kurds are the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East but they have never obtained a permanent nation state.

In Iraq, where they make up an estimated 15-20% of the population of 37 million, Kurds faced decades of repression before they acquired autonomy in 1991.
Nguyen Van Oai, Thai Van Dung and Tran Minh Nhat are among the 14 young people arrested in 2011. Condemned to prison in 2013, they are accused of failing to comply with their domicile obligations.

Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews / EdA) - Public security continues to closely follow the members of the group of young Catholic activists in the Vinh diocese who were arrested by the regime in 2011.

In 2013, Nghe An tribunal condemned the 14 Christians to jail for a supposed attempt to "subvert state power". Some of them have already been released, but the newly discovered freedom has lasted little.

In 2011, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's government launched a campaign to stop bloggers and individuals spreading news and criticisms of party and government members accepting kickbacks. Since then, many bloggers and Internet users have become prey to the security forces for their pro-democracy and human rights advocacy activities in Vietnam. Dung had ordered the police to "prevent the formation of any political opposition group".

Three of the activists are targeted by police in particular. They are Nguyen Van Oai, Thai Van Dung and Tran Minh Nhat. According to the same article in the Criminal Code (No. 304), the former has already been judged and sentenced, while the other two are still being investigated by the authorities. They are accused of failing to comply with the strict regime of domicile, to which the 2013 ruling is subject.

The first one to be prosecuted for this offense is Nguyen Van Oai (photo). On 18 September, the Hoang Mai People's Court in Nghe An Province sentenced the Catholic blogger and former political prisoner to five years in jail and four house arrest for "resistance to official public" and "violation of probation freedom ". On 19 January, plain clothes police officers attacked and detained the activist, then accused him of having resisted and violated the terms of his residence requirement in 2015 after taking away the previous condemnation of pro-democracy activity.

After the arrest of Nguyen Van Oai in January 2017, police attention focused on the other two recently released activists. On May 5, the regional public security newspaper announced the opening of an investigation against Thai Van Dung. He was arrested in August 2011 in Hanoi, where he resides. The 2013 trial sentenced him to four years in jail and four under house arrest. He was released in 2015.

Last August 4, former prisoner Catholic Tran Minh Nhat was subjected to a similar procedure. For facts dating to 2011, he was sentenced to three years in prison and four in house arrest.
by Kamran Chaudhry

Safdar is a retired Captain and son-in-law of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He spoke against Ahmadi believers, who already are discriminated in Pakistan. A Muslim faithful: An online petition will be launched.

Lahore (AsiaNews)  Christian and Muslim activists are planning protests after a member of Pakistani National Assembly called for restriction on Ahmadis for applying for the armed forces, atomic energy commission, judiciary and bureaucracy. In this false religion, there is no concept of Jihad [holy war] in the cause of Allah. We do not want to see the enemies of Prophet in key [public] posts, said a visibly charged Captain (retired) Safdar, son-in-law of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in his Oct 10 speech in the National Assembly.

It is their policy to marry their daughters to people in key posts and then achieve their mission through those daughters. People in bureaucracy, political parties and judiciary should sign certificates declaring their belief in the Prophet Muhammad as the last prophet.

Since declared as non-Muslims in 1974, Ahmadis have been facing violence and persecution in the Islamic Republic. In 1984, General Zia ul Haq introduced laws that made it a criminal act for any Ahmadi to identify or pose as a Muslim. Under these laws, thousands rounded up from across the country and jailed for crimes such as saying the Islamic greeting of AssalamoAlikum, reciting the Islamic call to prayer, reading the Quran and identifying as Muslim.

256 have been killed, 65 were denied burial in Muslim graveyards and 27 places of worships have been demolished from 1984 to 2015. The community does not speak to media, boycotts every elections and only communicates its grievances through Jamaat-i-Ahmadiyya spokesperson Saleemuddin. Safdar is not a credible person. Ahmadis have helped in forming, strengthening and developing the country. But our contribution has been set aside in history books, he told AsiaNews. The speaker of assembly should have stopped him. His speech was given full coverage on national television. It will increase hate and anger. We are already against the wall, people are against our lives.

Safdar, a member of national assembly MNA also demanded that the name of the physics department of the Quaid e Azam University in Islamabad should be after a Muslim. Presently that block is titled as Dr. Abdul Salam, the Ahmadi professor awarded the Nobel Prize for his contribution to developing the theory of electroweak unification in particle physics. Pakistans first foreign minister, Sir Zafarullah Khan, was also an Ahmadi by faith.

Peter Jacob the Catholic Executive Director of Center for Social Justice labelled the controversial speech as political opportunism. The accountability court is presently hearing corruption cases against the Sharif family and now they are trying to attract the vote bank of a certain mind set. The whole civil society in a single voice demands that the former PM takes notice. This is an incitement to violence and must be taken into consideration, he said.

The Institute for Peace and secular studies IPSS is planning a protest in Lahore. We want a public apology from the MNA. An online petition will be launched and submitted to Nawaz Sharif. Our society is already polarized and sectarian killings are occurring every day. Such statements strengthen extremist groups. People cannot be silenced in presence of social media, said Saeeda Deep Muslim Director IPSS.
by Piero Gheddo

Milan (AsiaNews) - I read Pope Francis Message for the World Mission Day (WMD), which is celebrated on Sunday, October 22nd with joy. The title: "The Mission at the heart of Christian faith" is a trumpet call that wakes us up from our indifference. Pope Francis states that "the Church is missionary by nature; if it were not, it would no longer be the Church of Christ, but an association like many others, which would soon end with the end of its purpose and disappear. " In the Message, our dear Pope explains clearly and passionately the contents of the title and the responsibilities that result from it for all believers in Christ. Meditating and praying, I remembered Jesus telling his disciples: "I have come to set the earth on fire" (Luke 12: 49). True, the Church is missionary by nature, but who today sparks the Pentecostal Fire of about two billion people (in Asia, but also in Africa and Latin America) who have not yet received the first announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of man and people?

Today Brescias Mission Festival begins (October 12-15, www.festivaldellamissione.it ), in which missionaries, men and women and ecclesial bodies of the Mission ad gentes want to communicate their experience, how those Pentecostal flames are ignited among non-Christians. Their example can also ignite the flames in Italy. Speaking on December 12, 1992, to PIME missionaries engaged in social communication, Card. Carlo M. Martini said, "We would like our missionary press always to have the communicative power of the Gospel, with news on the spread of the Gospel. The Christian people, by reading the missionary journals, should be able to exclaim: "How beautiful are the feet of the messenger of happy announcements proclaiming peace" ... Now I ask you: give us this amazement of the Gospel, give it to our communities, give it not only to mission lands, but also to us. Be like Saint Francis Xavier through the Indies, the far lands and the lands of Europe, so that this amazement warms the hearts of all. "

The martyr of Papua

In 1852, two years after the founding of the "Lombardy Seminary for Foreign Missions" (today PIME), the first missionaries left for two remote islands of Oceania, Rook and Woodlark, who had chosen (wanting to go to "the farthest and most abandoned peoples "!), while they could have chosen other closer missions proposed by Propaganda Fide. Blessed Giovanni Mazzucconi, martyred at Woodlark in September 1855, before departing from Milan, wrote and read "The protest of a missionary devoted to God for the conversion of the infidels": "Blessed that day I will suffer much to a cause so holy and so pitiful; but more blessed is that in which I am found worthy to shed my blood for it, and to encounter death among torments. " Mazzucconi died at age 29. But a century and a half later, the fire of his passionate love for Christ, recognized with his beatification in 1984 (there is a statue on the Duomo in Milan) and his biography, continue to arouse, in Papua New Guinea and even in Italy, numerous priestly, religious and lay vocations.

Sister Ida of the children

In 2005 in India, accompanied by Father Carlo Torriani, we went to Vegavaram and interviewed Sr. Ida Moiana, born in 1914 in Cislago (Va) who left for India in 1948, with the first expedition of the Missionaries of the Immaculate (the PIME) . Sister Ida was 91, but she was still young. We found her in the schoolyard for the children of lepers while she was playing ring-a-ring-arosey with them! She was the matron in Vegavaram for thirty years. Telling us about her life of sacrifices she said: "If a young man lacks the will to sacrifice himself and does not ask God for this grace, it is better not to enter even for us." She is full of joy despite the fatigue and discomfort (sleeping on the ground, an heat that reaches over 40 degrees) and the intense pace of work. She added, "If we think of others then it is fine, if we think about us, then missionary life is no longer worth it." Sister Ida received this example from her PIME fathers and brothers: "I can say that here in India I truly met saints." "The lepers, she says, at first frightened me, then I overcame this through prayer. When I was on the maternity wards, we had nothing and if there was need to give oxygen to a cyanotic child, I did so mouth to mouth. Who know hows many diseases I risked getting, but the Lord has always helped me."

Fr. Clemente, the 'non- choice' of the poor

In 1983, I spent 15 days in Burma (Myanmar), five with Father Clement Vismara (1897-1988, Agrate Brianza - Milan- beatified in 2011). I interviewed him several times. In 1924, the prelate of Kengtung, Msgr. Erminio Bonetta, took him on a six day ride to Monglin, in a mountainous and forestous region inhabited by animist and Buddhist tribes. He stayed with him a month and then left him in a mud shed (if it rained, he slept with an umbrella open on the bed) and said, "Clemente, expand." He expanded. He lived for six years in that shed, hunting for souls and tigers, to give his orphans meat. Then he began to build and set up a Christian citadel in Monglin, with some thousands of baptized and the Italian nuns of Maria Bambina. But what did he do first? This: "My line of behavior has always been this: to be happy with everything and to praise whatever they had, their food, their language, their huts, their customs, at least those that were not contrary to the law of God. Render happy the unhappy. Today we talk about "preferential choice of the poor" (I read newspapers and magazines coming from Italy). For me it was not a choice because I had no choice. I had to accept the poor or I had no one. I have hardly ever converted important and wealthy people, but the wastes of the world, the discarded: human wrecks, orphans, sick, humpbacked, crippled, widowed, miserable. My preference was always for the orphans. On these mountains, because of guerrilla wars, misery, hunger, illness, there are plenty of them. Birds without a nest, to whom I offered one. They are my sun, my hope, my future. It takes little to make me grateful: if they are well, I am content. " Clement had a great gift of God, his letters and poetic articles, adventurous, inflamed by the Pentecostal Fire, were and still are read and devoured in Italy and translated into other countries, generating numerous missionary vocations. When I was 16, in September 1945, I came to the PIME of Milan from the diocesan Seminary of Vercelli. For years I had dreamed about Clement's articles in the magazine "Italia Missionaria".

Marcello Candia and the lepers

In 1966, in Brazilian Amazon, I was with the most well-known and beloved missionary in Italy. He is a venerable servant of God and I hope soon beatified and canonized: Dr. Marcello Candia (1919-1983), a wealthy industrial worker dedicated to charity, who after several meetings with Msgr. Aristide Pirovano, founder and prelate of the diocese of Macapa, decides to go with him to found and fund a large hospital. He sold off his industry and in 1965 he left for Macapa, with the Crucifix of the departing missionary on his chest. In Milan he lived in a large and luxurious apartment, with several people serving. In Macapa he lived in a small room in a building under construction, with boxes, bags and personal luggage brought from Italy still in the corridor to be sorted. The toilet and the shower in the yard, and on the wall a tap to fill a jug of water, wash and shave. There was no bread every day, meat was scarce because there were no refrigerators, the cheese (which he loved) did not exist in Macapa. The basic food was: rice (when there was any) and boiled potato (which tasted of sawdust), chili pepper and fish of the Amazonian Rio-Mar. It was painful. He tells me: "When I am homesick for my house in Milan, I think of all the misery I see every day among the lepers and the poor of Macapa and I repeat: He who has received much has to give much. I have received so much, I begin to do something for these poor people who surround me and I have to give everything. "

Marcello, in love with Jesus Christ, saw in the poor and lepers the image of Christ: he knelt beside them, kissed them, loved to be with the humble people. He led me to visit some Macapa lepers, still in their huts (later he will take them to the leprosy clinic of Marituba). There is an old woman already disfigured by leprosy, cared for by his daughter in a hut where the stink of rotting flesh and pus takes your breath away. After a few minutes I have to go outdoors. Marcello kneels beside the old lady's bed, talks to her and prays with her.

When he leaves, I tell him I admire him for that spontaneous and heroic gesture. He answers: "See, if I did not strive to see Jesus in the poor I meet with the help of God, I would return immediately to Italy. Praying I always ask for this grace. It is not easy to live here, but this is the path that the Lord has shown me and I walk it with the joy that comes from God. "

One more anecdote. Every year in December, Marcello returned to Italy and lived with us in PIME or his sisters and brother. Father Giacomo Girardi, journalist Giorgio Torelli and I prepared meetings in parishes, cultural centers and interviews with journalists and radio-TV for him. I once brought him to Rai Uno's TV studios. The journalist presents him and says, "You are in love with the poor and the lepers, tell us about when you went to the Marituba leprosy clinic." "Excuse me," replied Marcello, "I'm not in love with lepers. I am in love with Jesus Christ, who helps me to see in every leper and every poor person Jesus on the Cross. That explains my whole life. "
Photo courtesy of State Farm.

VIDEO: Dealing With a Deer Collision

West Virginia drivers remain more likely than drivers in other states to have a collision with a deer or other large animal, with roughly one out of every 43 drivers in the state filing such an insurance claim, according to an annual State Farm study.

Nonetheless, West Virginias latest statistic represents a 4.7% drop from 2016, the study found. Each year, State Farm releases a deer claim study that ranks states by the likelihood a driver has of hitting a large animal such as a deer, elk, moose or caribou.

Montana drivers have a one in 57 chance of a deer collision, representing a 1.8% increase from last year. Pennsylvania drivers have a one in 63 chance of such a crash  a 6.3% increase from 2016, State Farm reported.

The top 10 states where a driver is most likely to have a large animal collision claim have remained fairly consistent. But Wisconsin this year moved into the top five, swapping positions with South Dakota. Wyoming moved into the top 10 at number eight. North Dakota moved up to number 10. South Carolina is no longer in the top 10. Thirteen states had no change in ranking, the study found.

State 2016-17 State Ranking West Virginia #1 Montana #2 Pennsylvania #3 Iowa #4 Wisconsin #5 South Dakota #6 Minnesota #7 Wyoming #8 Michigan #9 North Dakota #10

Source: State Farm

Mating season, which occurs in October, November and December, more than doubles the likelihood of a collision with a large animal. State Farm offers these tips to help drivers avoid such a crash:

Slow down, particularly at dusk and dawn.

If you see one deer, be prepared for more deer to cross the road.

Pay attention to deer crossing signs.

Always buckle up  every trip, every time.

Use your high beams to see farther, except when there is oncoming traffic.

Brake if you can, but avoid swerving. This can result in a more severe crash.

Remain focused on the road. Scan for hazards, including animals.

Avoid distractions. Devices or eating might cause you to miss seeing an animal.

Dont rely on products such as deer whistles. Theres no proof theyre effective.

If riding a motorcycle, always wear protective gear. Keep focus on the road ahead.

To view a video on what to do during and after a deer collision, click on the photo or link below the headline.
October 12th.

1774  Adolph Jans van Oldeberkoop of Frisia Netherlands, a fifty year old customs officer, was convicted of seduction to sodomy and banished for two years.

1971  The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs recommended the repeal of a law prohibiting homosexuals from working in or frequenting bars. This occurs 2 and a half years AFTER the Stonewall Riots.

1979  The National Coalition of Black Gays sponsored a conference in Washington DC, The First Third World Lesbian and Gay Conference. It was one of the first organizations to initiate HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in the black community, including pamphlets that used coded terms familiar in the black community with men who would never identify with the gay community. The group fades from existence by 1986.

1985  Andy Warhol appears on The Love Boat. REALLY! Warhol made a guest appearance on now the Pacific Princess naturally playing himself. The plot of the episode concerns a Midwestern housewife played by Marion Ross (yes, Mrs. Cunningham from Happy Days), who is startled to find Warhol on board since she doesnt want her husband, played by Tom Bosley (aka Mr. Cunningham) to know that in her dark and misty past she hung out at Warhols Factory in New York. A sample bit of dialogue: Warhol wanders the deck with a camera, and Isaac the bartender quips, When did Andy Warhol become the ships photographer? Cue laugh track.

1998  College student Matthew Shepard dies five days after being beaten and tied to a fence post in Laramie, Wyoming by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson

Media reports contained the graphic account of the pistol-whipping and his fractured skull which shocked the nation. It was reported that Shepard was beaten so brutally that his face was completely covered in blood, except where it had been partially washed clean by his tears.

Matthew suffered fractures to the back of his head and in front of his right ear. He experienced severe brainstem damage, which affected his bodys ability to regulate his heart rate, body temperature, and other vital functions. There were also about a dozen small lacerations around his head, face, and neck. His injuries were deemed too severe for doctors to operate. Shepard never regained consciousness and remained on full life support. While he lay in intensive care, and in the days following the attack, candlelight vigils were held around the world.

Shepard was pronounced dead at 12:53 a.m. on October 12, 1998, at Poudre Valley Hospital, in Fort Collins, Colorado. He was 21 years old and the world still mourns for him.

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Joseph Luiz can be reached at 395-7368 or by email at jluiz@bakersfield.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @JLuiz_TBC.
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Prepare Static Awareness G.K. Questions for upcoming banking recruitment exams with this questionnaire of most expected and frequently asked static awareness question for IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk 2017, IBPS RRB , other banking and insurance exams.





Q1. Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. What is the currency of Somalia?

(a) Somali Yen

(b) Somali shilling

(c) Somali Pond

(d) Somali Ruble

(e) Somali Dollar

Q2. How much rural population is there in India according to the 2011 census?

(a) 93.3 crore

(b) 73.3 crore

(c) 83.3 crore

(d) 23.3 crore

(e) None of the above





Q3. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was formed in December 1985. It is an organization of South Asian countries. Which of the following country is not included in SAARC?

(a) India

(b) Bangladesh

(c) Nepal

(d) China

(e) Sri Lanka

Q4. United Nations Day is devoted for making awareness among the people of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations Organization. United Nations Day is celebrated on?

(a) 10th December

(b) 02nd October

(c) 21st June

(d) 14th April

(e) 24th October





Q5. The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961 (DICGC Act) and The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation General Regulations, 1961 is framed by the Reserve Bank of India. Where is the headquarter of DICGC?

(a) Kolkata

(b) New Delhi

(c) Mumbai

(d) Chennai

(e) Gurgaon

Q6. Who is TS Vijayan?

(a) Governor, RBI

(b) Chairman, IRDA

(c) CMD, BOB

(d) Secretary, United Nations

(e) None of the above

Q7. Canada, stretching from the US in the south to the Arctic Circle in the north, is filled with vibrant cities including massive, multicultural. Where is the capital city of Canada?

(a) Ottawa

(b) Toronto

(c) Nairobi

(d) Paris

(e) New York





Q8. The first Regional Rural Bank in India was sponsored by Syndicate Bank on 2 October 1975. What is the name of that bank and where is it located?

(a) Kashmir Bank at Jammu in Jammu and Kashmir

(b) ChikmagalurGramin Bank at Chikmagalur in Karnataka

(c) PallavanGramin Bank in Tamilnadu

(d) Lucknow KGH Gramin Bank in Uttar Pradesh

(e) PrathamaGrammen bank at Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh

Q9. Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west. What is the capital of Libya?

(a) Cairo

(b) Tripoli

(c) Havana

(d) Damascus

(e) None of the above

Q10. World Cancer Day unites the worlds population in the fight against cancer. World Cancer Day is celebrated on?

(a) Feb 14

(b) Feb 12

(c) Jan 12

(d) Feb 04

(e) March 08

Q11. Chandoli National Park is one of the popular parks in which of the following states?

(a) Madhya Pradesh

(b) Uttar Pradesh

(c) Himachal Pradesh

(d) Jammu & Kashmir

(e) Maharashtra

Q12. The Governor of Goa is a nominal head and representative of the President of India in the state of Goa. The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of 5 years. Who is present governor of Goa?

(a) Ram Naik

(b) Mridula Sinha

(c) Kalyan Singh

(d) C Vidyasagar Rao

(e) None of the above

Q13. Saraswati Samman is given to which field?

(a) History

(b) Science

(c) Literature

(d) Social Harmony

(e) Economics

Q14. Who was associated with the creation of Pentium Chip?

(a) ArunNetravalli

(b) Sabeer Bhatia

(c) C. Kumar Patel

(d) Vinod Dham

(e) None of the above

Q15. World Health Day is observed on

(a) June 5

(b) April 7

(c) June 7

(d) July 11

(e) July 7
Relief efforts are still underway in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.

Tampa Bay Rays sending aid to Puerto Rico

Rays sending supplies, volunteers to help with hurricane relief

RELATED: MARIA: How you can help Puerto Rico

In Florida, many groups, along with local and state leaders are working together to help the island. The Tampa Bay Rays and Moffitt Cancer are also providing aid to those in Puerto Rico impacted by the hurricane.

State Representative Janet Cruz said when she reached out to the Tampa Bay Rays for help getting supplies to the island, they responded saying they wanted to do even more. So they chartered a plane and packed it with supplies and Rays volunteers.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher and Puerto Rico native, Xavier Cedeno, and his family are part of the volunteer effort and plan to stay there for a while.

Moffitt Cancer Center, along with Ponce Health Sciences University and the University of South Florida, all say they too had to step in to help, by preserving cancer tissues samples.

Representative Cruz said the devastation on the island is worse than most people realize.

"So if you're hearing that supplies are getting there, I can tell you that in Ponce they are allowed or rationed a half a cup of water per day," Cruz said.

Cruz said she even gave a woman the shoes off her feet who was staying at a shelter.

Medical officials on the trip said it is vital for them to preserve important cancer research. They also brought back some cancer patients so they can receive the proper treatment.
When you think pumpkin patches in Florida, several things come to mind this time of year:

A cold bottle of water is more valuable than a cup of cider.

Shorts are a necessity when the heat index is 94 degrees F (although

they can lead to an itchy hayride).

Sunscreen is a must.

And that pumpkin, most likely was grown hours away.

While the color orange is all the rage, you may be ready for something different. In Polk County, there's a different way to roll through the pumpkin patch this year.

"Everybody come to the road, shouts safari truck driver Jeanie James over an old school bus engine.

"JJ" as shes calling is calling a group of llamas over to be fed. Imagine this adventure to be a hay ride of another kind, just minus the hay.

"There's some adults and babies out there, Jeanie says looking across a pasture at Safari Wilderness.

In the heart of Polk County, awaits the Pumpkin Safari.

"They are going to come up on either side of the bus, Jeanie says about a heard of water cattle from Africa.

The tours give animal lovers like Susan Henley a trip to Africa without leaving rural Lakeland.

"This is a very unique experience, Susan said with animal slobber still drying on her hands.

"First and foremost, you're riding around in a school bus type vehicle that's open air, Susan said of the bouncy ride.

From this old school bus, Safari Wilderness makes several stops to see, and feed, animals from Africa and Asia.

"You can smell the animals. They are coming up to the windows, they are following you around, Susan said with a grin.

While the 60-minute bus ride is fun, theres more animal encounters back on land. Just like the inside of a pumpkin is somewhat tactile and feels somewhat different than anything else on earth, so does the paw of a lemur.

"Come here baby. Oh my goodness. You want one?" Susan asks a lemur.

Safari Wilderness lemur family captivated Susan.

"Oh my goodness! Look at them!" She exclaimed. "Your little cheeks are all full."

Feeding grapes to the troop of gentle ring-tailed lemur's from Madagascar is an additional charge. Susan's expression says it worth it.

"They would just grab your little hand, and pull it close and go for the grapes. And they were very gentle, she said with amazement.

Pumpkin Safaris end at a pumpkin painting or carving station. Folks can sit and get creative while watching camels in the distance, or while barn cats smooth your ankles.

Know Before You Go:

The Pumpkin Safaris at Safari Wilderness take place on Saturday and Sunday only. Reservations are not needed, but are a smart idea. Get more information here.

Tankful on Television:

Watch Florida travel stories, like the one you just read above, on TV four days a week coast-to-coast across Florida. The award-winning Florida on a Tankful with Scott Fais airs on Spectrum News 13 and Spectrum Bay News 9 Thursday through Sunday. New segments begin airing at 6 a.m. on both Spectrum channels as an exclusive to Spectrum.

Follow Scott Fais on Twitter:

For behind the scenes photos, production notes from the field and Florida travel tips, follow Scott on Twitter at: @ScottFaisTV
With white nationalist Richard Spencer's well-publicized speech at the University of Florida a little over a week away, student leaders at the university sponsored a free speech forum on campus to discuss the situation and the First Amendment.



National Policy Institute paying $10,000 for event space

UF legally obligated to allow Spencer to speak

Costs for campus security during speech estimated at $500,000



The university is bracing for Spencer's speech, scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 19. Spencer's group, the National Policy Institute, is paying about $10,000 to rent space the the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on campus.

UF said it will not be affiliated with the speech in any way, but as a public institution it is legally obligated to allow Spencer to speak.

The student-sponsored forum Wednesday featured speakers discussing the complexities of the situation as well as the university's legal obligations.

"Part of it is educational on the First Amendment, that we are a government entity, that we can't censor somebody because their viewpoints are offensive and disagreeable," said Professor Clay Calvert, one of the forum's speakers, "but that his rights to free speech definitely end when he engages in what we call 'incitement of violence.'"



"I'm not afraid," said Dara Durosomo, a student attending the discussion. "I feel like there's a lot of people that support the minority communities and support us on this campus."

University of Florida President Kent Fuchs is urging students to stay away from the event, but he said he also understands their right to protest.

"Richard Spencer's plan is not to educate us or to recruit anybody from here," Fuchs said. "His plan is to be in the national media, so I think protests serve his plan and that's why I think it's the wrong thing to do, but if students want to protest I support that."



University officials estimate it will cost about $500,000 for security to protect the campus during Spencer's visit.

"$500,000 -- I'm not good at math but that's a lot of tuition money, and to me that's unacceptable that that's where our money is going," said Kimberly Payne, a senior at the school.

Some students said they plan to be on campus during Spencer's appearance. Others said they will stay away.

"I will definitely be at home. I do not want to be associated with it in any way," said Payne.
A locally transmitted case of Zika has been confirmed in Manatee County.

Single case of Zika confirmed in Manatee County

Couple had traveled to Cuba, ill with symptoms upon return

ZIKA: Additional information

The Florida Department of Health made the announcement Thursday morning.

According to FDH officials, a couple traveled to Cuba and became ill upon returning. One partner was ill with symptoms consistent with Zika shortly after travel.

The agency also said there is no evidence of ongoing, active transmission of Zika. According to Centers for Disease Control guidance, this isolated case does not constitute a Zika zone.

According to established protocol, the department notified mosquito control of the suspected case and appropriate mosquito reduction activities have occurred and will continue.

If the department identifies an area where ongoing, active transmission of Zika is taking place, we will notify the public immediately.

The department reminds residents and health care providers to consider a Zika test if symptoms are consistent with the virus.

It is important to remember Zika can also be transmitted sexually and to take precautions if you or your partner traveled to an area where Zika is active.

Background on the single case of local transmission:

Based on the details revealed through a thorough investigation, evidence suggests one partner acquired Zika while in Cuba, was bitten by a mosquito in or around their home, and that mosquito then bit and transmitted Zika to the other partner.

The partner that acquired Zika in Cuba was not tested for Zika while they had symptoms.

A test conducted this week showed evidence of a past Zika infection linking that infection to the partner who was recently symptomatic and tested positive.

The total number of Zika cases in Florida in 2017 is 187.

Infection Type Infection Count Total number of Zika Infections, 2017 187 Travel-Related Infections of Zika 2017 154 Locally Acquired Infections 2017 1 Undetermined exposure in 2016, tested 2017 32 Locally Acquired Infections exposed in 2016; and tested in 2017* 11 Pregnant Women with Lab-Evidence of Zika reported in 2017 107

*These cases are included on the Zika website under the 2016 totals.

Note, these categories are not mutually exclusive and cannot be added together.

According to the FDH, it is critical for people who recently traveled overseas to an area with Zika to prevent mosquito bites for at least three weeks after they return home.

It is also important to reduce the chance of sexual transmission by using condoms. CDC has issued additional guidance related to sexual transmission and prevention.

The department updates the full list of travel-related cases by county online each weekday. To view the list of travel-related cases by county and year, click here.

For more information on Zika virus and the status of Zika in Florida, please visit www.zikafreefl.org
A Pinellas County-based nonprofit group formed in the wake of the tragedy at the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 is hard at work again this year, providing long-term relief for victims of Hurricane Irma.

"Operation Float" established in 2016

Group reactivated following Hurricane Harvey

Group working with local businesses to serve as collection sites



One month after Hurricane Irma hit the Tampa Bay area, many families are still struggling. But thanks to a nonprofit group based in Pinellas County, help for those families is on the way.

"All of us were tired of being on the sidelines, tired of being people who commentate on something rather than react and do something good," Operation Float leader Michael Dacosta said.

"Operation Float" was established last year following the tragic shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Members collected supplies and provided meals to the people of Orlando.

In 2017, the group reactivated after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas.

"Imagine you're working in your regular everyday life, socializing and everything then you wake up and there's no electricity, no water, no food. People's lives have been ruined," Dacosta said.

Just weeks later, disaster struck in their own backyards when Hurricane Irma slammed the Sunshine State. But, that didnt stop or slow them down.

"For eight days I was without power," said Wanda Jones of Love Light Ministries. "But even in the midst of our own setbacks, people were still excited and continued to give to others."

Since Irma, "Operation Float" has collected truckloads of donations and distributed supplies to families all across Florida. The group has also recruited local businesses in the area to serve as donation collection sites.

They have verified stations all over the state, and have had items shipped down to Puerto Rico to help those impacted by Hurricane Maria.

"Putting people back together, I think, is the most honorable thing you can do, and if you do it with a good heart, I think that's important," Dacosta said.

Operation Float is hosting several fundraisers to help with long-term relief. For more information, visit them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/operationfloat/.
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A commemorative rifle will play a role in efforts to save the Battleship Texas.

Fundraising must occur now to save the only remaining World War I dreadnaught, says Bruce Bramlett, executive director of the Battleship Texas Foundation.

"The salt water is wreaking havoc on the hull of that ship," Bramlett said recently as crews raced to repair a new hole in the hull and address numerous leaks in the vessel, which is docked on the Houston Ship Channel in La Porte. "There's not much good metal left to patch."

PREVIOUS: Time short to save Battleship Texas, officials warn

In addition to seeking funds from the state, his group has mounted fund-raising efforts including a partnership with Henry Arms and Barron Engraving to sell a .22-caliber Henry Golden Boy Rifle that features engraved etchings in silver and gold on the receiver. One side of the receiver shows the 1914 USS Texas, and the other displays the upgraded 1927 USS Texas. The Texas state seal also will be featured.

The foundation has been working for years to raise the funds to get the battleship hauled out of the water into a dry berth. But continuous repairs are needed just to keep her afloat.

"We've spent about $68 million on her since she's been in the ship channel," Bramlett said. "We have to constantly make repairs, just to keep her from sinking, which is incredibly expensive. Dry-berthing the ship will take about $40 million, but towing it away will cost about $30 million. Either way, the state is going to have to write a very large check. So, do you want to have spent $98 million and end up with nothing or spend that amount and end up with a ship that is historically preserved for future generations?"

RELATED: Happy berth day to the Battleship Texas

Previously, the foundation partnered with Colt's Manufacturing Co. to develop a commemorative .45-caliber sidearm for sale to the public. That effort was so successful that the group decided to work with Henry and Barron on a new firearm project.

"We raised close to $600,000 off the Colt," Bramlett said. "I don't know if we'll equal that amount again, but we're sure going to try."

"Barron Engraving has done an incredible job on the etchings," Bramlett said of the commemorative rifle. "It's for those people who want to own a piece of history. Not only will people be able to help raise funds to support the Battleship Texas, but it's a legacy piece."

The lever-action rifle with an octagon barrel is only be available through the foundation and can be purchased at www.battleshiptexas.org/donate.

The rifle costs just under $1,000, with $400 going toward the foundation's efforts to preserve the ship.

RELATED: The Battleship Texas played a big, booming part at D-Day

"Because we're a 501(c) organization, orders are tax-exempt," Bramlett said.

Orders must be placed by Dec. 31.

Stephanie Croatt, assistant superintendent of the Battleship Texas, said that efforts like the rifle fund-raiser are vital.

"For us," she said, "funding is a never-ending struggle, so funding - both large and small - is essential. Not only for what we do day to day, but also for our long-term plans."

In addition to having pumps continually run in order to remove the water that slowly, continually seeps into the hull, the staff is constantly dealing with damage from salt water.

"We pump about 300,000 gallons of water a day out of the Battleship Texas," Bramlett said. "There are places on the ship where the hull is so thin you can poke your finger through it. So, we're constantly pumping water out and patching holes, and the water is constantly seeping back in."

RELATED: Tracking the life of the historic Battleship Texas from D-Day to La Porte

Croatt said that because people don't hear about ongoing efforts to save the ship from listing, they may erroneously believe that the efforts to stop the leaks have been successful.

"They assume the problem is fixed, but it's not. The problem will never be fixed in the ship's current condition," she said, "not until she's dry berthed. That's why fundraising like this is so important.

"We need to perform cyclical maintenance, we need to perform maintenance necessary for visitor safety, but we also need it for her general wellbeing and to protect the historic fabric of the Battleship Texas."
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In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Harvey, jury trials have been postponed throughout Southeast Texas, with many pushed back until next year.

"It's just one of the repercussions of the hurricane that we don't think about," Jefferson County District Clerk Jamie Smith said.

In Orange County, where the courthouse was damaged and more than half the county flooded, all jury trials have been postponed indefinitely, and in Jefferson County, civil trials have been paused to make sure there are enough jurors for criminal cases.

"We're trying to take into consideration that everyone needs a little bit of time to get their lives back together, and to put the courthouse back together," Orange County District Clerk Vickie Edgerly said. The building is closed until further notice because of flood damage, with court employees scattered through other buildings.

Although Jefferson County's courthouse didn't suffer physical damage, "a consistent lack of jurors" has been a problem, Criminal District Court Judge John Stevens said last week during a hearing.

Smith said that while a typical jury summons of 3,000 people would bring in about 600 possible jurors, about 60 to 100 people responded to a summons on Sept. 18.

"It's pretty much impossible to fill (a jury selection) like we were filling before," he said.

At a meeting last month, "the civil and family law judges said, go ahead and take care of criminal cases, because they've got people sitting in jail," he said. "For now, we're able to do those and we backed civil up, until we see the numbers come back."

"A lot of people in our county are displaced, they're not getting mail because they're not living at home, or they missed so much work during the storm that they can't financially afford to come to jury duty for a week or more," said 136th District Court Judge Baylor Wortham.

In the meantime, jury trials in his and other civil courts have been postponed. He said lawyers in some cases have agreed to have bench trials, without a jury, rather than waiting, while others have agreed to pause the cases for now.

Local lawyers have asked for continuances in some cases because of damage or displacement from the flood, 172nd Court Judge Donald Floyd said.

"People have some other matters that are a little more serious right now than coming to jury selection," he said.

Jefferson County District Attorney Bob Wortham said that while filling criminal juries hasn't been an issue yet, "the biggest problem we have is locating witnesses."

"They could be in tents, they could be out of town. We have to get ready on these cases and may have to ask for more time if we can't locate the witnesses," Wortham said.

"The last thing we want is for a victim to lose their rights because a witness is unobtainable."

He said so far his office has been able to reach all needed witnesses, "but I fully expect that to arise at some time in the future."

Smith said he hopes civil cases will resume in early 2018, if jury response numbers climb in November and December.

Arraignments, sentencing and other non-jury hearings are happening in shared courtrooms in other buildings in Orange County, Edgerly said.

"In our very limited capacity, we're functioning in the areas that we have to," she said.

She said they haven't been told yet when the courthouse will reopen, or when they will resume cases and jury selections.

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Police have identified a 25-year-old man who reportedly led police on a high-speed chase from Houston to Jefferson County.

Mohamed Ahmed Abu-Shileba, of Houston, was arrested in a pasture on Texas 73 near Country Club Road at about 1 p.m. today following a pursuit that began on Post Oak at about 11:40 a.m., according to information from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and Houston Police Department.

The driver was in a stolen Dodge Challenger Hellcat and had two outstanding warrants for his arrest, JCSO said. He pulled over on the side of the highway and ran into the pasture, where law enforcement made the arrest.

DPS, Houston police, Chambers County sheriff's deputies, Jefferson County sheriff's deputies and members of the Gulf Coast Violent Fugitive Task Force were all involved in the hour-long pursuit. The driver was speeding in excess of 100 miles an hour on Interstate 10.

The man is believed to have stopped the car because it ran out of gas.
Part of the branding of the new Northern Lights bar

Belfast's newest beer bar has been revealed.

Galway Bay Brewery, which runs around a dozen pubs across the Republic, is setting up a new bar called Northern Lights, on the Ormeau Road.

It's taking on the premises which once played home to bar and technology firm Brewbot.

It's due to open its doors next week.

Galway Bay is one of the Republics top breweries. This is its first foray outside the Republic, and into Northern Ireland.

The bar's new Twitter account tweeted on Thursday: Good morning Belfast. We are delighted to be among you. Opening early next week with 20 taps, cask beers, food & fun.

Galway Bay Brewery helped lead the way for the craft beer scene in Ireland, and the company produces a range of its own pale ales, stouts and India pale ales (IPA).

Some of the brewerys top beers include Of Foam and Fury  an award-winning strong, punchy, bitter 8.5% double IPA.

Aside from its own range, the brewerys bars across Ireland stock a large range of top beers from across the UK and Ireland, Europe, and the US.
Northern Ireland will see a pick up in house prices and market activity over the next three months, a survey of estate agents said today.

And professional body the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said the market here would be more buoyant that other UK regions.

However, the RICS and Ulster Bank residential market survey said there had been suggestions from members that a lack of housing stock had led to a slowdown in sales and enquiries from prospective buyers during September.

Most members who were surveyed were positive about prices over the last three months.

It comes as Northern Ireland estate agency Simon Brien announced the opening of a new office in Newtownards, Co Down.

Samuel Dickey, RICS residential property spokesman in Northern Ireland, said that overall, the survey painted "a relatively upbeat" picture of the housing market here.

"Indeed, Northern Ireland and Scotland are the only parts of the UK where surveyors are confident that prices will rise meaningfully over the near-term.

"With key indicators for the local economy continuing to show strong growth in the private sector, this optimism is perhaps unsurprising.

"The one key challenge though remains supply, with surveyors continuing to indicate that availability of stock remains a problem."

Sean Murphy, managing director of personal banking at Ulster Bank, said: "As we move into the final quarter of 2017, what is clear is that this year to date has been a reasonably positive one for the Northern Ireland housing market."

The RICS survey follows data from Land & Property Services showing growth in house prices in Northern Ireland.

The latest residential property price index from Land & Property Services reported a 4.4% increase in average house prices to 128,650 between the second quarter of 2016 and the second quarter of this year.

The index takes into account auction sales, cash sales as well as home purchases financed by mortgages. According to statistics body UK Finance, in the second quarter of 2017 Northern Ireland home buyers borrowed 420m, up 17% on the first quarter of 2017 and 24% compared to the second quarter last year.

There were 3,800 loans taken out for house purchase, up 15% quarter-on-quarter and 15% compared to a year ago.

First-time buyers borrowed 230m, up 15% on the first quarter and 21% on the second quarter last year.

In all, there were 2,400 loans taken out by first-time buyers, up 20% both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year. And Northern Ireland first-time buyers typically borrowed 96,900, compared to 137,700 in the UK overall.
Malaga in Spain, where Neueda has opened an office in the run-up to Brexit

Brendan Monaghan of Neueda (far right) pictured in June with Invest NI head Alastair Hamilton, Ann McGregor, chief executive, Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Michelle Bell, Department of the Economy

Northern Ireland IT firm Neueda has opened an office in Spain to help it retain talent following Brexit, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.

The firm has experienced growth in annual turnover of around 30% in recent years - and founder Brendan Monaghan said it expected to achieve sales of 21m in the year ahead.

But he said the firm's concerns over the impact of Brexit on recruitment from EU member states had led it to open an office in Malaga, Spain.

It makes a range of software products for clients including government and utilities - and among work for government departments in Northern Ireland, it has produced software enabling farmers to buy and sell quotas more quickly.

It comes as the firm's latest accounts show a 50% increase in turnover to 15m in the year to the end of March 2017. The company, which was founded by Mr Monaghan in 2006 and is based at Weaver's Court in south Belfast, also increased pre-tax profits from 1.2m to 2m.

In a strategic report with the results, Neueda said the firm had enjoyed "strong financial performance across its core sectors of government, utilities, and capital markets".

Mr Monaghan told the Belfast Telegraph: "We have had pretty strong growth in all our markets but particularly in capital markets and investment banking, where there are regulatory projects that are driving requirements from our customer base."

And he said he summed up the firm's work as helping customers "enter the digital age".

He said growth in turnover had been strong, and was expected to continue to expand. "This year turnover is expected to be 21m and with a bit of luck we will continue that trajectory into 2018/19."

Mr Monaghan said the firm was preparing for Brexit and that its uppermost concern had been retaining its EU workers, a large number of whom were Spanish.

It had recently opened an office in Spain in a bid to retain its workforce from that country.

"We have had a big relationship with Spain as a source of talent, but we had discovered that a number of staff had returned to Spain. That made us very nervous."

It has 120 employees, though it uses another 110 associates and contractors, Mr Monaghan said.

In June this year, Neueda announced plans to invest 12m in 165 new roles and in the development of its existing software engineers, IT consultants and data analysts.

Alastair Hamilton, chief executive of economic development agency Invest NI, which supported the expansion with 1.9m in funding, said: "Talent is at the core of Neueda's business model, so enhancing the skills and expertise of its workforce is vital to fuelling the company's development."

Mr Monaghan is a finalist in business advisory firm EY's Entrepreneur of the Year competition in Ireland. The final takes place on October 26.
Quotas allowing imports of cheap New Zealand lamb and other goods will be shared out between Britain and the EU after Brexit under a deal signed by both sides.

Restrictions on how many products can be imported into the EU on favourable rates are set across the bloc and concerns have been raised internationally that exporters could take a financial hit when the UK quits. However, the government has agreed with Brussels to divvy up the numbers of goods that can be brought in on low or zero tariffs based roughly on current rates.

It would mean products like lamb, which are imported into the UK in higher numbers than other parts of the bloc, would continue to be traded in similar numbers.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said the deal showed "real progress" and was part of the government's plans to minimise disruption to global trade.

The agreement has been set out in a letter from the UK and the EU to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which regulates international trading arrangements. No decision has been made on how long the tariff rate quotas would be maintained in the long-term.

Mr Fox said: "As an international economic department, we've been working closely with the European Commission to prepare for our withdrawal from the EU in order to minimise any disruption to global trade.

"Our agreed collaborative approach shows real progress on how UK Government intends to take forward our future trading arrangements with the world. This is the start of our open and constructive engagement with the WTO."
The Conservative Party's plans for a 'no deal' hard Brexit would plunge the country into immediate recession, cost the UK economy 400bn and wipe 18% off GDP growth by 2030, a leading investment bank has warned.

Research carried out by Rabobank also shows that any form of Brexit - whether hard, soft or through a new free trade agreement (FTA) - would be detrimental to the economy and British workers.

Under a no deal scenario, UK workers would be left 11,500 poorer, while an FTA or soft Brexit would see working Britons stomach a 9,500 and 7,500 blow respectively.

Prime Minister Theresa May said earlier this week the government is putting in place plans for a no deal scenario and the research comes after Chancellor Philip Hammond warned of a Brexit 'cloud of uncertainty' hanging over the economy.

To compound matters, the UK was also singled out on Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the only major economy not to see its growth forecast upgraded.

Hugo Erken, senior economist at Rabobank, said: "There has been extensive economic research into the immediate effects of Brexit, but they have largely focused on trade and investment, whereas implications of the different factors that affect productivity is only marginally or partially addressed.

"By looking at dynamics such as innovation, competition, knowledge and human capital, how they will change and what effects this will have on the structural make-up of the UK and European economy, our research shows that the long-lasting impact of Brexit is likely to be more severe than initially anticipated."

Rabobank said that even if the UK negotiated a new free trade agreement, like Switzerland's, it would cost Britain 12.5% of GDP growth by 2030.

A soft Brexit, where the UK remains part of the European internal market but exits the customs union, would result in a 10% hit.

According to the research, a hard Brexit implemented in 2019 without a transition period would result in the UK economy "immediately falling into a two-year recession period".

Hard Brexit would also cause a jump in unemployment from 4.6% in 2018 to 6.2% in 2020, but this would only be temporary and quickly return to "long-term structural unemployment levels".

For the FTA and the soft Brexit scenario there would also be a recession, Rabobank said, but "milder and much more short-lived".

If negotiations in Brussels result in a hard Brexit, UK GDP is expected to decline by 2.4% following its departure in 2019.

However, if the UK and EU were to agree on a free trade agreement, GDP would still fall but only by 1.1% and by just 0.3% in a soft Brexit scenario.

For countries in the euro area, any form of Brexit would see a 2% hit to EU GDP by 2024, the study said, with the Netherlands bearing the brunt because of its closer trade relationship with the UK, accruing losses of around 25bn to 35bn.
A new initiative which brings new poetry to the streets of Belfast has been launched.

As part of the Belfast International Arts Festival, Poetry Jukebox will be a permanent installation which will play host to 20 original poems from a variety of writers living in Ireland.

The new arts project will allow listeners to hear recordings of poetry by simply pushing a button.

The first feature of its kind in the city, it was developed by the Belfast International Arts Festival Artists in Residence, Deirdre Cartmill and Maria McManus.

The jukebox opened at the Crescent Arts Centre in the University Road area of Belfast

Ahead of its launch, Belfast Telegraph was given a sneak peek at a sample of work from participating poets:
Former Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas has joined the cast of Australian soap Neighbours.

The actor, best known for playing Jason Grimshaw on the ITV serial drama from 2000 until 2016, will take on the role of Rafael Humphreys.

Rafael has been described as a loner with dark secrets, and he comes to Ramsay Street to confront a difficult chapter from his past.

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He will be seen on-screen in Neighbours, which airs in the UK on Channel 5, from early 2018.

Thomas, 33, said of his new role: I grew up watching Neighbours so to get the chance to join the cast is amazing.

I was on holiday with my daughter when I got a phone call from my agent asking if Id like to play this part I spoke to the producer and found out more  it was very different from anything Id played before  it was quite a deep, dark story, that really interested me.

Its a new challenge and I cant wait to start filming.

Greg Barnett, commissioning editor at Channel 5, said: With his good looks and Corrie years under his belt, Ryan is the perfect handsome devil.

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His arrival in Erinsborough marks the start of darker times for a particular Ramsay Street favourite. Prepare to be gripped.

Thomas joined the cast of Corrie when he was 16, departing in 2016 after 16 years.

Neighbours airs on weekdays on Channel 5.
Gloria Hunniford has said leaving Northern Ireland at the age of 17 for Canada changed her life forever and "broadened my horizons".

The Portadown-born broadcaster, 77, was speaking to This Morning's Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby ahead of the release of her memoir.

Explaining about her time in Canada, Gloria told the pair: "(It) changed my life forever. Back in Portadown it was Catholic schools in one end of the town, Protestant schools in the other, but when I went to Canada nobody cared what religion I was.

"I learned very quickly that all colours, creeds, everybody could live together and that absolutely broadened my horizons forever."

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The star also spoke about her time as a broadcaster for the BBC in Belfast during the Troubles.

She said: "I was on air one day doing a programme and there was a car bomb at the base of the studio wall and the whole building was evacuated.

"I did have the choice to leave but I opted to stay.

"The bomb went off and dust and rubble came out of the walls. I just kept broadcasting and explained to people what was happening.

"Our Head of Programmes came round with a bottle of brandy and the only thing I'd ever drank at that point was a Tia Maria or sherry. By the end of the programme I was a puce colour - it was probably the best broadcast I ever did."

The release of Gloria's book will be preceded by her receiving an OBE at Buckingham Palace on Friday.

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The TV presenter will receive the accolade in the Queen's Birthday Honours for her contributions to cancer charities through breast screening services and cancer support.

Gloria lost her daughter Caron Keating, also a TV presenter, to breast cancer in 2004 just hours after she was brought home for the last time to see her family, including her two sons.

After Caron's death, Gloria and her sons Paul and Michael set up the Caron Keating Foundation, which gives grants to all types of cancer charities in the UK.

"Getting the OBE is very humbling because it's not for showbusiness," she said. "This is for the foundation and it was a cancer charity that actually nominated me, it was Action Cancer in Belfast."

My Life by Gloria Hunniford, Blake Publishing, is out on October 19.
Cookstown schoolgirl Kate Grant, who has Down's syndrome, hopes to break down barriers for disabled people by taking part in a unique beauty pageant next year. Here, Stephanie Bell finds out how a Facebook post has helped her achieve a childhood ambition.

A Northern Ireland teenager with Down's syndrome is proving that disability is no barrier to achieving your dreams after reaching the final of a local beauty contest.

Kate Grant (19), from Cookstown, is one of 50 beauty queens chosen from hundreds of applicants from around the globe who will compete in the 2018 Ultimate Beauty of the World pageant next summer.

In what is a dream come true for Kate, who is an aspiring model, she will enjoy two glamorous days having her make-up and hair professionally done and being photographed during the final of the beauty competition in July.

The fashion-mad teen who loves make-up and beauty has wanted to be a model ever since she joined her mum Deirdre on the catwalk during a local charity fashion show in her home town of Cookstown two years ago.

However after failed attempts to secure interest from local model agencies, Deidre decided to post an appeal on her Facebook page last weekend and was astonished by the response.

Along with glamorous fashion pictures of Kate she wrote of her daughter's dream to be a model.

"Every door was closed in her face because she has Down's syndrome, but she has the same aspirations as any other girl who wants to be a model. Please support her. Like and share. Just maybe her dream will come true," her mum wrote.

Almost 7,000 people responded to the post and just two days after it appeared last Saturday, Kate was taking part in her first fashion photo shoot for a clothing boutique in Omagh.

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She has also had a number of other invitations to model but by far the biggest opportunity was offered by Banbridge woman Taylor-Rae Hamilton who is the founder and director of The Ultimate Beauty of the World competition.

The international beauty pageant was launched three years ago and is open to all women regardless of age, size, height or marital status.

A delighted Kate has been walking on air this week since learning that she is to take part in the beauty event's final to be held in the Seagoe Hotel in Portadown over two days next summer.

"It is my dream come true. To me people are beautiful not just on the outside but on the inside and everyone is special," says Kate.

"I am really so excited about it. It is my big career, my big dream to be a model and I can't wait. I will work hard and do whatever I need to do.

"I want to be a model and I have Down's syndrome and I hope other people with Down's syndrome will be encouraged just like me to follow their dream."

Kate is one of four children who live in the quiet village of Lissan outside Cookstown with her parents Deirdre and John, who run a local veterinary clinic. She has two older brothers, Patrick (28) and Michael (21), and a younger sister Ella (16).

She attends Sperrinview Special School in Dungannon and works two hours a week helping out in a hair salon and hopes next year to study for a qualification in hair and beauty at Parkanaur College in Donaghmore.

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School plays a big part in her life and she paid tribute to her school teachers and classmates for their support. Kate says: "The people in my school really matter to me, they are my family too, they are very close to me.

"They are all amazing people and my favourite teacher John O'Hare always believes in me and trusts in me. My sister Ella also believes in me and trusts in me, and she is my best friend."

Kate has dreamt of being a model for two years and her mum Deidre has worked towards helping make it become a reality.

Deidre recalls: "It all started a couple of years ago when I was asked to do a fashion show for a local business in Cookstown.

"On the night, Kate wanted to get up on the catwalk with me and the girl organising it draped an accessory round her and she went onto the catwalk with me.

"Kate is an extremely bubbly and very social child and just loves meeting people. Everyone cheered when she got on stage.

"She has seen models on the catwalk and knew all the moves and how to carry herself. After it she said she would love to be a model.

"I thought it was just a flash in the pan but then six months ago she mentioned it again and I decided to ring round the local agencies to see how I could go about getting her into modelling.

"When I mentioned she had Down's syndrome they all seemed a bit hesitant and told me that it was up to the client on the night to choose which models they would use. It just felt like they were putting me off."

Feeling disheartened for her daughter, Deidre decided to post her appeal on Facebook last Saturday.

She was overwhelmed by the response. One local boutique owner Brenda O'Donnell, who runs Vixen Boutique in Omagh, contacted her immediately asking Kate to model for a photo shoot for her shop on Monday.

The beauty contest invitation has also thrilled both mother and daughter and Kate has already started to search the internet for the perfect dress to wear at the final.

Deidre says: "It has given Kate a wonderful lift and she just can't get her head round it as so much has happened so quickly.

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"Brenda O'Donnell, who owns Vixen boutique and doesn't know me at all, invited Kate to model for her photo shoot on Monday.

"It just shows how good people are and Brenda is a very special person to do that. It has really humbled me so much.

"I am trying to keep Kate grounded. She has read some of the lovely comments and I just want to keep her level-headed.

"I've explained to Kate about the beauty contest in a way she would understand and in a way that wouldn't blow her mind.

"She is very excited about it and is already looking at dresses on the internet and changes her mind every half hour.

"She has said to me that everybody is beautiful and that beauty comes from the inside."

Kate's younger sister Ella is a keen showjumper and Kate accompanies her to competitions all round Ireland where she helps out.

Her mum describes her as outgoing and while the two sisters are very different, they are also very close.

Deidre adds: "Kate is a real diva and she loves hairdressing and can do her own make up and all the contouring. She loves style.

"She is so different to our youngest girl who is more outdoorsy and into show jumping. Ella isn't afraid to muck out and get herself dirty and Kate just loves her clothes and make-up.

"Kate is a character, she is a bundle of fun and when we go show jumping she knows everybody."

Deirdre, who helps out in her husband John's veterinary clinic, says that both she and her husband have brought Kate up to be as independent as possible.

They hope that she will enjoy having a job and maybe even a place of her own and also find someone special to share her life with.

Deidre says: "Her father and I just want her to be as independent as possible and to be accepted in her own right. We brought her up to be independent and we would like to see her get a job and maybe live semi-independently in sheltered accommodation.

"It would be lovely if each human being could meet a soul partner and if it happens that Kate met that special person who would love and care for her who am I to deny her that - although not just yet.

"I am absolutely delighted that she will be able to enjoy taking part in the beauty pageant next year and at the same time be able to contribute to their charity Make a Wish.

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"If Kate can inspire people with disabilities to give it a go then that would be amazing. If, by Kate's example, she can encourage even one person with a disability to do something they dream of then I will be overjoyed."

Kate will be up against entrants from as far away as Australia, America and the Netherlands when she competes in the Ultimate Beauty of the World competition next year.

Director of the contest Taylor-Rae Hamilton (25), who runs the hair salon Man and the Minx in her home town of Banbridge, set it up as an alternative beauty contest which is open to everyone regardless of their size, age or marital status.

She explains: "The Ultimate Beauty of the World hosts an event for over 50 young ladies from all over the world and promotes the true meaning of beauty.

"We are not like other beauty pageants and believe that everyone deserves a chance to shine.

"To date we have raised over 71,000 for charity and support the Make a Wish Foundation.

"When I saw Deidre's post about Kate I contacted her and I'm thrilled that Kate was delighted to enter and is now one of our 50 finalists for 2018. She will have the same chance to take home the crown as all the other girls.

"I think it is such a brave thing to enter this competition and be a beauty queen and she will do all the things that a model will do over the two days of the final, with a photo shoot and getting her hair and make up done professionally, and she will feel like one of the girls - and why not?

"We believe there is no barrier to beauty and no matter what their height or size, our competition is open to all women and not the stereotypical beauty queen.

"To us beauty is all about what is on the inside and we stage a five star beauty competition."
Belfast is set to host a week-long festival aimed at cocktail lovers.

With a huge programme of events lined up for the inaugural event, here's everything you need to know:

When does Belfast Cocktail Week take place?

Belfast Cocktail Week will run from October 16-22.

What bars will be taking part in the Festival?

Bars taking part in the Belfast Cocktail Week include:

The Cocktail Bar and Berts Jazz Bar at The Merchant

The National Grande Cafe and Club Sixty6

Bullitt Hotel

Bootleggers

Muriels Cafe Bar

The Spaniard

Babel

What kind of events are on offer?

There is long list of events taking place around Belfast Cocktail week, but here are a few of the highlights you won't want to miss:

1. Bar Swift Takeover: The Merchant Hotel, October 16 - 19, 6pm

Fresh from a big win at the Spirited Awards, Londons bar Swift will take up a special residency in The Merchant Hotels Cocktail Bar for a takeover, with cocktails such as the Sgroppino (Lemon sorbet, prosecco, Italicus), and their renowned Irish coffees on offer.

2. An Evening with Glendalough Gin: Muriels Cafe Bar, October 16, 7pm

Wicklows Glendalough Distillery will bring its range of seasonal, wild botanical gins to Muriels Cafe Bar, celebrating the tradition and heritage of the Irish gin trade with an evening hosted by the craft gin distillery.

3. A tribute to Joe Gilmore: Bootleggers, October 16, 7pm

Raise a glass to local legend and Belfast born bartender during this tribute night.

Joe Gilmore was one of the longest running Head Barmen at Londons five-star Savoy Hotel and mixed drinks for film stars, prime ministers and presidents during his career.

4. Luggage Room Takeover: Sixty6, October 17, 7pm

Mayfair comes to Sixty6 to give guests the best hospitality the West End has to offer. Join the team to enjoy a bespoke cocktail menu that has been developed especially by The Luggage Room in the Marriot Hotel, London.

5. Plantation Rum Tiki Takeover: The Spaniard, October 18, 7pm

Sample a taste of the Caribbean with an evening of exotic rum from Jamaica, Barbados and Panama with renowned spirits expert and Plantation Rum Brand Ambassador, Paul McFadyen.

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6. An Evening with Eden Mill Gin: Muriels Cafe Bar, October 19, 7pm

A representative of the Eden Mill Distillery will make the journey from Scotland for a tasting evening of premium Scottish gins, including its famous Pink Love Gin.

7. Tanqueray Ten Takeover Prohibition Party: Berts Jazz Bar, October 19, 8pm

Take a step back in time and enjoy a night of classic cocktails made with the help of The Tanqueray Ten Imperial Shaker.

Guests can also enjoy live music with Long Johns Jump and Jive Band and dinner surrounded by the Art Deco glamour of 1930s New York.

8. Acceptable in the 80's: Bootleggers, October 19, 7pm

Don your best 80s fashion and enjoy a twist on the most popular cocktails of the time including the Blue Lagoon and Pina Colada.

Dont forget to request your favourite tunes from the DJ who will be spinning out top hits such as Livin on a Prayer, Billie Jean and Sweet Child O Mine.

9. Swift Farewell Rooftop Party: The Merchant Hotels Rooftop Bar, October 20, 8pm

For a fitting end to a week-long residency, Bar Swift will take over at The Merchant Rooftop to host a farewell shindig with live traditional music throughout the night.

Ticket price includes a welcome drink and all proceeds go to The Benevolent charity that provides help and support to current and former employees of the drinks industry and their families.

10. Tristan Stephenson: Sixty6, October 22, 6pm

Guest speaker, author of the Curious Bartender range of cocktail books and award-winning bartender, Tristan Stephenson, will host a seminar exploring the art of mixing the perfect cocktail in Sixty6.

The famed bartender will give guests an exclusive opportunity to taste contemporary and classic cocktails with his own unique twist.

Bookings for this event include a drink and ticket to the after party.

How much do the events cost?

Most of the events at Belfast Cocktail Week are free, but you will need to reserve your space in advance.

For information on ticketed events, visit BelfastCocktailWeek.co.uk

Will Belfast Cocktail Week be an annual event?

We hope so!

Please enjoy responsibly - for more information, visit www.drinkaware.co.uk
Cameras and other infrastructure erected along the border with the Republic post-Brexit would become a "legitimate target" and risk undoing the peace process, Chancellor Philip Hammond has warned.

He said any physical aspects to control the crossing would be seen as an affront to "those who do not recognise" the border.

There are concerns that even using number plate recognition technology would breach the aim of avoiding a hard border.

Mr Hammond reiterated to the UK parliament's Treasury Committee his Government's position to avoid any infrastructure and to maintain the Border "broadly as it is now".

He warned: "Number plate recognition requires cameras, not necessarily at the border, but it will certainly require cameras to be installed.

"The challenge in Ireland is that those who don't recognise the border will see any physical manifestation of a border as a legitimate target and that infrastructure will need protecting.

"What we don't want to do is go back to the days when we had a hard protected infrastructure on the border, because that would undo much of the progress that's been made since the Good Friday Agreement."

He said Ireland has a "great deal of interest" in the outcome of the Brexit process because of not only the border issue, but east-west trade.

Mr Hammond said that depending on the outcome of the future relationship phase of the Brexit talks, the border issue becomes more or less difficult to resolve.

"If we for example agree structures with the European Union that allow a highly streamlined border to operate between the UK and European Union, then our starting point to dealing with the specific problems of the Northern Ireland border becomes that much more conducive to finding a positive outcome."

He disagreed that any checks would be needed at the border, claiming Northern Ireland and the Republic already operate a divergent regime on excise for cigarettes and alcohol, and yet there is no physical infrastructure.

"Alcohol duties, tobacco duties, fuel duties, are not harmonised between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, yet the system operates without hard infrastructure at the border.

"That hasn't happened by coincidence. It has happened because a huge amount of work and a huge amount of commitment has gone in on both sides of the border to allowing us to have that separate policy, without the need for a hard infrastructure. And it works pretty well."

Conservative MP Alister Jack said Ireland was the "Achilles heel" to the idea of the UK leaving the EU without a deal and moving forward on World Trade Organisation terms.

Meanwhile in the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, MPs were told that a hard border could be created around Northern Ireland after Brexit even if the UK initially agrees a soft border with the EU.

Economist Paul Mac Flynn raised concerns about proposals that only large businesses could be required to register their imports and exports. He told MPs: "I think the danger is, we could start out with a soft border and end up with a hard border. Like the exemption for small and medium sized enterprises.

"If you're somebody who is going to want to get around a tariff border, all that says to you is - right, don't use trucks, use vans.

"Then we start checking vans. Before you know it, we're checking everyone."
British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis and European Union Chief Negotiator in charge of Brexit Michel Barnier address media representatives at the European Union Commission in Brussels on October 12, 2017. Pic PA Wire

Brexit secretary David Davis has said progress has been made in the Brexit talks on the issue of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

He said the recent round of talks, the fifth between the EU and UK, had resulted in the agreement of joint principals on the joint travel area and how north-south cooperation would work after Brexit. On cooperation he said more work was needed in this area.

"But I am pleased to say progress has been made," he said at a closing news conference in Brussels.

The minister also said they had worked on getting the "necessary protections" required for the Good Friday Agreement, but "focus was needed on creating a specific solution".

He said: "We can't resolve all the issues yet until we know exactly what the final customs and market access arrangements are. When we do we are convinced we will get an agreement that underpins the Good Friday/ Belfast agreement.

"That is common to both sides and we move Heaven and earth to make that happen."

"As the prime minister said," he added, "we owe it to the people of Northern Ireland and those on all Ireland to get this right."

Mr Barnier said negotiations on the status of the Irish border had "advanced" during this week's discussions.

But he said there was "more work to do in order to build a full picture of the challenges to north-south cooperation resulting from the UK - and therefore Northern Ireland - leaving the EU legal framework".

Mr Davis said the talks had made "significant progress" since June.

On the issue of citizens' rights, he said they were confident there would be agreement "soon" on incorporating the final withdrawal treaty into UK law, ensuring EU nationals in the UK would be able to enforce their rights through the UK courts.

EU citizens would still have to register with the UK authorities but the process would be streamlined to make it as simple as possible.

Those already in possession of a permanent residence card would be able to exchange it for "settled status" without having to go through the full application process again, he added.

Earlier Michel Barnier said he can not recommend that talks progress toward the future trade deal between the EU and UK. He said it could be another two months before he was in that position.

The fifth round of Brexit talks did not make any "massive steps forward", the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said.

"We clarified some points without however making any great steps forward," he said

Mr Barnier said the EU and UK were in "deadlock" over the question of Britain's financial contribution, which he described as "very disturbing".

"This week, however, the UK repeated that it was still not ready to spell out these commitments," he said.

"There have therefore been no negotiations on this subject. We confined ourselves to technical discussions - useful discussions, but technical discussions.

"On this question we have reached a state of deadlock which is very disturbing for thousands of project promoters in Europe and it's disturbing also for taxpayers."

Mr Davis said the Government had undertaken a "rigorous examination" of the technical details needed to reach a financial settlement.

"This is not a process for agreeing specific commitments," he said.

"We have been clear that can only come later but it is an important step so that when the time comes we will be able to reach a political agreement quickly and simply."

The Brexit Secretary said to give certainty "we must talk about the future" and called on EU leaders to change Mr Barnier's negotiating mandate.

"I hope the leaders of the 27 will provide Michel with the means to explore ways forward with us on that and build on the spirit of co-operation we now have."
A Northern Ireland man in his 30s has been left badly shaken after a gun attack on his home.

Two shots were fired at the door of the Upper Meadow Street home in north Belfast at around 7.30pm on Wednesday, October 11.

Police hit out at the "criminal groups who seek to control communities through fear and violence".

Detective Sergeant Kelly said: Whilst nobody was injured as a result of this shooting it was a reckless act that could have easily resulted in death or serious injury and yet another example of how criminal groups seek to control communities through fear and violence.

"I am appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident or anyone with any information that can assist with the investigation to contact detectives in Musgrave Police Station on 101 quoting reference 1186 of 11/10/17. Information can also be passed anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."
Sinn Fein chief whip Caral Ni Chuilin and colleagues speak to the media about Robin Newton in Stormont yesterday

Arlene Foster is staying silent on the growing controversy around Speaker Robin Newton, who won't resign from his 87,500 a year job despite claims he misled the Assembly.

Sinn Fein, the Ulster Unionists, SDLP, Alliance, the Greens and TUV were all united yesterday in calling on the DUP MLA to immediately step aside.

But Mrs Foster last night remained silent when the Belfast Telegraph contacted her to comment on her position on the Speaker staying in his job.

Meanwhile, Mr Newton issued a short statement but then went to ground and wouldn't give any media interviews.

In his statement, the East Belfast MLA denied allegations in a BBC Spotlight programme that he misled the Assembly over the true nature of his role with the UDA-linked organisation Charter NI. But he said he wouldn't run again for Speaker if the Assembly returns.

Spotlight reported that when Mr Newton blocked an urgent question on the awarding of public funds to the controversial charity last autumn, he hadn't revealed his key role as an adviser to the group.

The BBC obtained internal Charter NI papers, including copies of its board minutes, which it said proved that Mr Newton had "an important role in helping to run Charter NI, including attending full board meetings from mid-2012".

Mr Newton sat on a Social Investment Fund (SIF) steering group which awarded Charter NI a 1.7m contract.

The charity's chief executive is UDA boss Dee Stitt.

His North Down gang has been linked to drug dealing, racketeering and intimidation.

TUV leader Jim Allister said: "Rather than facing up to what he's done, Robin Newton is only digging an even deeper hole for himself.

"The documentary evidence shows he performed an advisory role in Charter NI and was a figure of importance within the charity."

Sinn Fein MLA Caral Ni Chuilin said Mr Newton's position as Speaker was "completely untenable".

She claimed he had "totally compromised the neutrality of that office" through his previous Assembly performance.

By refusing to resign, he was further eroding "public confidence in the Stormont institutions", she said.

"The Speaker should be above reproach and independently accountable to the political institutions," she said.

"Robin Newton should resign with immediate effect."

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the revelations about Mr Newton raised important questions for both the DUP and Sinn Fein.

He said Mrs Foster must "very quickly" respond to the disclosures on Spotlight.

"The public have every right to be angry - the last 10 years of government in Northern Ireland has brought us scandals in RHI, Red Sky, NAMA and now SIF," he said.

"The Spotlight programme also contains huge questions for Sinn Fein - they cannot wash their hands of their role in all of this.

"As a party they were jointly responsible for SIF funds. They were jointly responsible for the channelling of funds to groups linked to the UDA. This was their status quo and they were up to their necks in it."

Ulster Unionist MLA Roy Beggs said the issue went "right to the heart of public confidence in politics in Northern Ireland at a time when the credibility of Stormont is already at an all-time low".

He said the Speaker's office should be "above reproach" and rather than resign after he chairs the election of a new Speaker, Mr Newton "should simply go now".

Mr Beggs called for a "radical investigation" into SIF.

"It needs to get to the heart of how the SIF funds were used by the DUP and Sinn Fein," he said.

Alliance's David Ford said Mr Newton should resign as Speaker immediately.

"We would also seek to refer Mr Newton to the Commissioner for Standards, once there is a new person elected to that role," he added.

Mr Ford called for the Audit Office to launch an investigation into SIF.

"There also needs to be a revised paramilitary strategy which is backed by all parties (with) clearly defined goals and targets. Only by doing so can we finally remove the poison of paramilitarism from society," he added.

Green leader Steven Agnew claimed Mr Newton's "lack of candour" on his exact role in Charter NI had been "startling".

He added: "The entire issue of the distribution of SIF and Robin Newton's association with Charter NI has further eroded public trust and confidence in our institutions."

In his statement yesterday, Mr Newton said: "I reject the allegations in the Spotlight programme. I did not mislead the NI Assembly. I have never been appointed to any position with Charter NI. I am not responsible for how others refer to me in their correspondence. I will not be a candidate for Speaker in any new Assembly. At the next NI Assembly sitting, I will chair the election of a new Speaker as the first matter of business."
Andrea Leadsom has said the Government is "very hopeful" of good news coming from Northern Ireland to re-establish its Executive, as she confirmed there would be no debate in Parliament on the repeal bill next week.

The business for next week unveiled by the Commons Leader was notable for the absence of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, flagship legislation that will transfer European law onto the domestic statute book after Brexit.

Ms Leadsom faced questions over its absence at Business questions, as well as the fact she had only set out one week's business instead of two.

Responding to shadow Commons leader Valerie Vaz, Ms Leadsom said: "She will be aware that we're very hopeful that there may be some good news coming from Northern Ireland that might enable legislation to recreate the Northern Ireland Executive.

"We always wait hopefully that that will be the case, and other legislation that can come up at the last minute.

"So I think that it's always very important that we give as much notice as possible, but it's perfectly normal practice to only have one week's business mentioned."

On the so-called repeal bill, Ms Leadsom went on to say: "What I can say to all members is of course, there are some 300 amendments and 54 new clauses being proposed, quite rightly, by members who have very real concerns about the Bill.

"Those are being closely evaluated. That is taking a bit of time to have proper, thoughtful, well considered responses to those.

"But we will of course be bringing forward the committee of the whole House just as soon as we're able to."

MPs are due to spend eight days debating the repeal bill at committee stage, which will then undergo further scrutiny in the Commons and the Lords before it is approved.

Next week's business includes an opposition day debate on Universal Credit, where Labour will aim to put further pressure on the Government over welfare reform.

It also includes the second reading of the Nuclear Safeguards Bill, outlining the nuclear safeguards regime for the UK after Brexit.

Ms Vaz said: "Is the Government in such chaos that they don't even know what's happening from one week to the next?

"This is a fiasco. I think we're running out of words, there's a new lexicon for constitutional outrage, I have to consult my theasaurus."

Ms Vaz went on to poke fun at Theresa May's speech at the Tory Party conference, saying: "The Prime Minister yesterday mentioned the Labour Party conference, but she failed to mention that when she spoke, there were cries of 'f off'.

"Actually, it was people saying that the letter f was falling off the back of the platform."

Ms Leadsom said: "I'm slightly bemused about all of the various 'f's going on.

"As far as I'm aware nobody is going to f off, and that's good news."
A so-called lone-wolf dissident republican jailed in Northern Ireland for trying to murder police officers has launched a bid to clear her name.

Christine Connor, 31, is to appeal her conviction for a terrorist plot said to have involved posing online as a Swedish model to lure men into supporting her attempt to kill.

She intends to argue that the guilty verdict should be quashed because her plea was equivocal and should never have been accepted.

Senior judges are due to review the case at the Court of Appeal in Belfast later this month.

Connor's solicitor, Aiden Carlin, said: "An equivocal plea is one qualified by words which, if true, indicate that the accused is in fact not guilty of the offence charged.

"In this unique case, our client told the Crown Court 'I am not guilty, but on advice I will plead guilty'.

"This plea should not have been received by the learned trial judge but instead vacated on application."

Connor, from north Belfast, is also set to appeal the 16-year jail sentence handed down in June.

Described as a staunch republican who claimed to be "at war" with the PSNI, she had pleaded guilty to a number of terrorist offences.

Charges against her involved home-made bomb attacks on police patrols lured to the city's Crumlin Road in May 2013.

Her trial heard how she placed a hoax 999 call and claimed a woman living in the area was in danger.

Although the grenades detonated in the first attack no-one was injured.

Twelve days later one policeman was injured when more bombs were thrown.

Detectives built a case against her based on DNA on gloves found close to the scene and CCTV footage.

They also found a mobile phone, SIM cards and a laptop computer stuffed inside the mattress of a bed at her home.

According to police Connor was not aligned to any dissident republican organisations and acted alone.

They also said she had exploited two men to further her aims - both of whom later took their own lives.

Her efforts to dupe them included using online photographs of a Swedish model and creating a fake social media profile, detectives said.

Connor was also jailed for possessing explosives with intent to endanger life and preparation of terrorist acts.

As well as seeking to overturn her conviction for attempted murder, her legal team will argue that the prison terms handed down were manifestly excessive.

Mr Carlin also revealed she has lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman over the PSNI's decision to release exhibits from the case to the media in May this year.

"This is highly unusual and a clear breach of our client's human rights," the solicitor claimed.

"Further, such disclosure is at odds with the PSNI code of conduct which requires impartiality, fairness and the presumption of innocence." ends
Police at the scene of the murder at Larkspur Rise in Belfast last night

Police have launched a murder investigation and one man has been arrested after a woman's body was found in west Belfast.

The body was found last Friday at a flat in the Larkspur Rise area, off the Suffolk Road.

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Dickson said: "Detectives from Serious Crime Branch have launched a murder investigation following the discovery of the body of a woman at a flat in the Larkspur Rise area, Belfast on Friday."

A 23 year-old man was arrested yesterday, and was taken into police custody for questioning.

It is understood that suspicions were only aroused after a post mortem had been carried out. Police returned to secure the scene at an apartment block last night, near Woodbourne Police Station.
Northern Ireland's worst area for dementia has been revealed.

North Antrim has the highest number of sufferers, according to new interactive maps released by a charity.

The maps show the UK areas most affected by the illness, with coastal towns and areas popular with retired people featuring heavily in the list.

Christchurch in Dorset has the highest prevalence of dementia per head of population at 28 cases per 1,000 people, according to the maps compiled by Alzheimer's Research UK.

There are 2,400 people in the constituency with dementia. After Christchurch comes New Forest West with 27 cases per 1,000 people, followed jointly by North Norfolk, Clacton and Worthing West, each with 24 cases per 1,000 people.

The areas with the highest prevalence typically have between 1,500 and 2,700 people suffering dementia.

In terms of the Northern Ireland analysis, North Antrim has 1,368 sufferers - the highest total of our 18 parliamentary constituencies.

North Down (1,329), Lagan Valley (1,259) and Upper Bann (1,250) also have a high number of people living with the illness.

The five constituencies with the lowest levels of dementia are mostly in London. Poplar and Limehouse has four dementia cases per 1,000 people, followed jointly by West Ham, Bethnal Green and Bow, Manchester Central and Hackney South and Shoreditch, each with five cases per 1,000 people.

There are currently 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, but this is expected to rise to one million by 2025 as people live longer.

Dr Matthew Norton, director of policy at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "Dementia is our greatest medical challenge and with our ageing population, the number of people affected by this devastating condition is only going to rise.

"Today, one in three people have a family member or close friend with dementia.

"Despite this, there is still a worrying lack of public understanding about the condition, which is why we have developed the dementia hotspot maps.

"As the UK's leading dementia research charity, one of our biggest challenges is to empower people with the knowledge that this cruel and unforgiving condition can be defeated.

"Dementia is not an inevitable part of ageing, it is caused by diseases."

The maps - broken down by constituency or clinical commissioning group area - can be found at www.dementiastatistics.org/statistics/dementia-maps.
Northern Ireland homeowners squander almost eight hours of heating every week, making it the second most wasteful region of the UK

Northern Ireland homeowners squander almost eight hours of heating every week, making it the second most wasteful region of the UK.

A survey also found more people here avail of their central heating in October compared to elsewhere.

The results show that a staggering 2.2bn is wasted annually by householders, with more than half having admitted to heating their properties when they are out.

Jenny Truman from Direct Line, which conducted the study, said people here waste on average 7.8 hours heating their homes every week.

"With 42% of people in Northern Ireland admitting to leaving the heating on by accident, it could be that simple forgetfulness is the main cause behind the waste," she said.

Direct Line said that with an average annual heating bill of 747, turning off the heating when not needed could save a household 82.52.

People in London waste most energy - nine hours of heating each week, with Northern Ireland second on seven hours and 48 minutes.
The authorities have betrayed victims by ruling out murder evidence from a loyalist supergrass, a prominent campaigner in Northern Ireland said.

Raymond McCord said he was sickened by the treatment of former Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) commander and informer Gary Haggarty.

Haggarty accused 11 paramilitaries and two former police officers of involvement in murder.

Prosecutors said the evidence was insufficient to prove his claims.

Mr McCord said: "It was a betrayal of justice, a betrayal of victims' families"

Haggarty was a senior figure in a notorious North Belfast murder gang and pleaded guilty to five murders and 202 offences.

Mr McCord's son Raymond McCord junior was killed by the UVF in November 1997.

He added: "What the Government, the paramilitary people behind the scenes, the political people have done, is stabbed the victims in the back.

"We don't matter."

Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service said there was insufficient corroborating evidence to support the allegations levelled by Haggarty to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction.

Prosecutors are still considering the cases of three remaining suspects named by the killer and long-time police informer, related to three murders, with decisions expected by the end of the month.

In the summer, Haggarty, 45, pleaded guilty to 202 terror offences, including five murders, in a contentious state deal that will see him receive a significantly reduced prison term in exchange for his evidence when he is sentenced at the end of the month.

He could theoretically walk free to enter a new life with a fresh identity, having already served three years in custody on remand - the equivalent of a six-year sentence.

Director of Public Prosecutions Barra McGrory said assessing his credibility was a "complex task".

Mr McCord claimed the state did not want the case to go to court.

"The fear is of having to prosecute security force people past and present. "

As well as the five murders, Haggarty, who is in protective custody, admitted five attempted murders, including against police officers; 23 counts of conspiracy to murder; directing terrorism; and membership of a proscribed organisation.

The catalogue of offences stretch over a 16-year period from 1991 to 2007 and include the loyalist murders of John Harbinson, Sean McParland, Gary Convie, Eamon Fox and Sean McDermott.

Haggarty, the boss of the UVF's notorious north Belfast Mount Vernon unit, provided evidence against others in relation to the murders of Mr Convie, Mr Fox, Mr McParland and Mr Harbinson.
The stepfather of a west Belfast man who took his own life in 2012 has described his shock at discovering his stepson's body and explained why he briefly concealed his suicide note from police.

Father-of-one James 'Jim' McCotter was 29 when he took his own life at his flat in Woodbourne Court on August 12, 2012.

Hours earlier he had been in police custody, where he had told officers he had plans to kill himself. Mr McCotter's family has been critical of the PSNI's decision to release him without telling them, knowing he was suicidal.

On day three of his inquest yesterday, the court heard the statement of Mr McCotter's stepfather, Stephen Lagan.

The evidence also focused on Mr McCotter's treatment in police custody, in particular, the guidance from a forensic medical officer who examined him in his cell, but was not told about his risk of suicide.

Mr Lagan's statement from 2012 was read out to court and explained how Mr McCotter had been at his house on the day before his death, helping him to cut the grass.

He added that he was aware Mr McCotter had ongoing issues with prescription medication.

On Sunday, August 12, 2012, concerned family members called Mr Lagan to the Woodbourne flat where he found his stepson intoxicated, with a black eye and threatening suicide.

Believing he would be safer in custody, the family called the police. Needing a reason to detain him, officers arrested him for being drunk, as it was a breach of a previous bail conditions.

Outside, Mr Lagan said he complained to an officer who had pushed Mr McCotter's head against a rear windscreen.

He then heard his stepson say: "I don't know why they're harassing me, when I get out I'm going to kill myself."

Police later said Mr McCotter had resisted arrest, spitting at one officer.

Worried about his safety, the family asked to be informed before his release.

Mr Lagan said he was shocked to be told he was released that night without any notice.

Arriving at Woodbourne Court, Mr Lagan said he "feared the worst" when he saw a note at the door which read: "Sorry for whoever finds me."

Mr McCotter was discovered hanging in his kitchen, but could not be saved despite attempts by paramedics to revive him for 20 minutes.

Mr Lagan said a second suicide note found in the kitchen contained an apology to Mr McCotter's mother Carol.

"I made a decision not to give it to police," said Mr Lagan.

"I was also aware there was a remark saying they 'would never know how police had hurt me'. I was concerned about showing police as it (might) disappear."

Moments later, Mr Lagan changed his mind and handed the note over to an officer, who assured him it would not be lost.

During yesterday's evidence, forensic medical officer Professor John Farnan was questioned about his assessment of Mr McCotter. He said he not been told about the suicide risk when called to Mr McCotter's cell.

During a brief 30 second visit, Mr McCotter refused medical help, but said he suffered from depression.

Professor Farnan concluded a proper assessment of his mental state could not be carried out until Mr McCotter was sober, and that even if he had known of the suicide risk his advice would have remained the same - constant CCTV supervision, with physical checks every 30 minutes until a full assessment was possible.

Mr McCotter was later released and left home to his flat by police that evening.

Coroner Suzanne Anderson is due to deliver her findings next week.
A protester interrupted Nolan Live last night and started shouting during the programme.

Stephen Nolan kept his cool and continued broadcasting.

The man was accompanied out of the studio by security seconds later. He was speaking in a foreign accent and appeared to try to hand the BBC man papers, which Mr Nolan did not take.

Mr Nolan was discussing the controversy surrounding DUP Stormont Speaker Robin Newton at the time.

As the protester interrupts, Nolan jumps back in his seat and appears startled as the man approaches from the presenter's left. However, he appears to relax as it becomes clear that the man is not a threat.

Nolan told the man: "I think what you need to do is leave sir... Thank you - goodbye.

"We have no idea who that was, but we will continue with our programme."

There was speculation on social media that the man may have been Catalan, protesting about the situation in Spain over the referendum on independence.

However, one man took to Twitter claiming to be behind the interruption in saying he was protesting against "big corporations and big media organisation".

"We disrupted Nolan live, Radio one and BBC because we demand the freedom of ideas, the right of participation and to be supported," Dr ACAtivism said in the post.

Expand Close Nolan was interrupted by a protester. Pic BBC screen grab / Facebook

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On last night's panel was TUV leader Jim Allister, former Alliance leader David Ford, SDLP Upper Bann MLA Dolores Kelly and East Antrim MLA Roy Beggs Jr.

It's not the first time Nolan has faced protesters. In January 2013, his show went ahead with a debate about the restriction of the flying of the Union flag at Belfast City Hall, despite a loyalist picket outside the BBC's Blackstaff House studios.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has said British nationals fighting with Islamic State in Syria are a "legitimate target" for drone strikes (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

British nationals fighting with Islamic State in Syria are a legitimate target for drone strikes, Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has said after it emerged Sally-Anne Jones, the so-called White Widow, was believed to have died in a US strike.

Speaking at a Foreign Office press conference, Sir Michael refused to comment directly on reports that the terrorist recruiter had been killed but said Islamic State (IS) fighters were at risk of being hit every hour of every day.

Jones was killed close to the border between Syria and Iraq by a US Air Force strike in June, according to The Sun.

She and her husband Junaid Hussain went to Syria in 2013 to join IS.

He was killed by a US drone in 2015, and had allegedly been planning barbaric attacks against the West, including terror plots targeting high profile public commemorations this summer.

News of her death was not made public amid fears that her 12-year-old son Jojo may also have been killed, according to The Sun.

Sir Michael said: If you are a British national in Iraq or Syria and if you have chosen to fight for Daesh  an illegal organisation that is preparing and inspiring terror attacks on our streets  then you have made yourself a legitimate target and you run the risk every hour of every day of being on the wrong end of an RAF or a United States missile.

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Jones, who was previously a member of an all-female punk rock group, left her home in Chatham, Kent, after converting to Islam.

She used her Twitter account to recruit women and provided practical advice on how to travel to Syria.

Born in Greenwich, London, she encouraged individuals to carry out attacks in Britain, offering guidance on how to construct homemade bombs.

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She has also shared pictures of herself posing with weapons, and used social media to post extremist comments, including offering to behead Christians.

The IS recruiter shares the name White Widow with Samantha Lewthwaite who was once married to July 7 bomber Germaine Lindsay, and is thought to be one of the worlds most wanted women.

Asked whether the US asked the British Government for permission to carry out the strike, Prime Minister Theresa May said: Im aware of the reports about this particular issue but Im not in a position to comment further.

Expand Close Prime Minister Theresa May would not confirm that the 12-year-old son of Sally-Anne Jones died in teh attack (Matt Dunham/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Prime Minister Theresa May would not confirm that the 12-year-old son of Sally-Anne Jones died in teh attack (Matt Dunham/AP)

She also declined to comment on whether Joness 12-year-old son had been killed in the strike.

Mrs Mays official spokesman declined to comment on reports of Joness death but said: More broadly, the UK advises against all travel to Syria.

Anyone who does travel to Syria for whatever reason is putting themselves at considerable danger and that is particularly true if they are fighting for our enemies.

The counter-Daesh coalition, led by the US, follows clear and lawful rules of engagement.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: It is unconfirmed so we have to be quite careful on this, but quite clearly it is significant if it has happened.

Expand Close Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn says it would have been better to put Sally-Anne Jones on trial (Victoria Jones/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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Asked if he would have preferred that Jones had been prosecuted, he said: I think that people who have committed crimes ought to be put on trial.

That way of course when you interrogate someone you get more information about the background to it.
The Queen is to break with tradition and observe the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony from a balcony overlooking the Cenotaph, with the Prince of Wales laying her wreath.

At the Queen's request, Charles will place the floral tribute at the base of the Cenotaph on November 12 and Philip's equerry will lay his wreath, Buckingham Palace has said.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman added: "The Queen wishes to be alongside the Duke of Edinburgh and he will be in the balcony."

Earlier this year Philip retired from his public duties but on occasion has joined the Queen at her official engagements.

The Queen and Duke will stand on a balcony of the Foreign Office traditionally used by royal women like the Duchess of Cambridge and Duchess of Cornwall to watch the Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall.
Labour MP Owen Smith (wearing glasses, third from right) with workers from Bombardier protesting outside the Houses of Parliament yesterday

The Prime Minister is set to come under pressure over buying defence equipment from US company Boeing after the Canadian premier told Donald Trump his protectionist tariffs levied against Bombardier imports was a block to future deals.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met the US President at the White House yesterday to discuss the US governments 300% tariff on Canadian planemaker Bombardiers C Series jets.

Boeing alleges Bombardier  which employs more than 4,000 workers here  has been selling off its C Series jets, which are part-made in Belfast, for below cost. The passenger planes wings are made in Belfast, and the protectionist tariffs has led to major concern over jobs here.

After his meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office, Mr Trudeau said the tariffs would be a block to his country making any military procurements from Boeing.

We feel that this is not something that is warranted, and quite frankly something that we look at very negatively upon, he said.

I certainly mentioned that this was a block to us making any military procurements from Boeing.

The move will put Theresa May under pressure to follow suit, after criticism from Labour that the Government was prepared to sacrifice Bombardier jobs in Belfast to help strike a trade deal with the US after Brexit.

Meanwhile, the boss of US airline Delta said it is not going to be forced to pay the huge tariffs which could scupper a multi-billion pound deal it has with Bombardier.

The carriers chief executive Ed Bastian was speaking as Bombardier workers and Unite union representatives met Business Secretary Greg Clark in London yesterday.

Following the meeting, Unite said there must be action, not words over the dispute with Boeing.

Earlier in the day, members displayed a large banner stating back Bombardier outside Westminster.

Delta boss Ed Bastian has said his airline is not going to be forced to pay tariffs or anything of the ilk.

It was very disappointing. It was a preliminary ruling, not the final stages ruling. We are at the early stages of negotiation as to where that is going to go, he told CNBC.

He said the Bombardier C Series is an innovative product bringing a 100-seat aircraft to market, with no comparable models made by challenger Boeing.

Speaking after the meeting with Greg Clark in London, Davy Thompson, Unite regional co-ordinating officer, told the Belfast Telegraph: We reiterated our position, that we dont think the government has been strong enough in the condemnation of Boeing.

Mr Thompson said there was no real progress as to what the government has already said, in terms of trying to negotiate with the US government and Boeing to try and resolve the dispute.

He added: They are saying that they are doing everything they can, in reference to every office in the US.

We were saying that it hasnt borne any fruit... they need to step up to the plate.
Kenya's government has banned opposition protests in their strongholds in the country's three biggest cities because of "imminent danger of breach of peace" as the fresh presidential election approaches.

Interior Minister Fred Matiangi said demonstrations are banned in Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa.

The right to protest is enshrined in Kenya's constitution, "but we shall not allow a few people while purportedly exercising their freedoms to infringe on the rights of others", Mr Matiangi said on Thursday.

The minister claimed demonstrators had looted and attacked police stations.

But the opposition and human rights groups have accused the government of using police to clamp down on protests and police of using excessive force.

The government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has said police killed at least 37 people, including a six-month-old baby, during protests after the results of the August vote were announced.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga this week withdrew from the October 26 vote after his legal challenge led the Supreme Court to nullify the August election in which President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner.

Mr Odinga has said that without reforms to Kenya's election commission the new vote could be run worse than the first one, and he has called on supporters to protest for changes.

The Supreme Court on September 1 annulled Mr Kenyatta's re-election, citing "irregularities and illegalities" in the vote-counting and the electoral commission's refusal to allow scrutiny of its computer system.

The commission said on Wednesday the new election will go ahead with all eight of the candidates who ran in August and that Mr Odinga was still considered a candidate as he had not yet formally withdrawn.

No candidate aside from Mr Odinga and Mr Kenyatta received even 1% of the vote.

Kenyatta's Jubilee Party has been pursuing changes to the electoral law that the opposition says will make it more difficult for the Supreme Court to nullify a presidential election and will reduce safeguards against electoral fraud.

Parliament approved the amendments on Wednesday, and Mr Kenyatta is expected to sign them into law.

AP
Three Syrian opposition factions have agreed to cease fire in southern Damascus under an agreement brokered by Egypt and Russia that was not signed by the Syrian government, officials said.

The deal did not specify the area, but the three rebel groups control a pocket south of Damascus that is adjacent to areas controlled by the Islamic State group.

The deal would allow for humanitarian access but, unlike other similar agreements, would not involve the relocation of militants or residents.

Several such deals in recent years have involved bussing tens of thousands of people to the rebel-held Idlib province, in northwestern Syria.

The opposition has accused the government of forced displacement, charges denied by Syrian officials.

Egypt's state-run Mena news agency said the deal did not include the Syrian government.

Russia has been a main backer of President Bashar Assad's government, while Egypt has maintained intelligence and security cooperation with the government since 2013.

"The residents of this area will stay in their homes and this (deal) will lift the siege and cease the fire," Mohammed Alloush, of the Army of Islam rebel group, said by telephone.

He confirmed that the Army of Islam, Jaysh al-Ababil and Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, which is linked to the Palestinian Hamas group, were part of the agreement.

Mena said the deal was signed at the intelligence headquarters in Cairo early Thursday and went into effect at noon.

It said the crossings south of Damascus will remain open for humanitarian access and said other opposition factions have been invited to join the cease-fire.

The deal came as Syrian opposition activists said government troops are pushing deeper into an IS stronghold in the country's east, the town of Mayadeen.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes intensified early on Thursday, as government forces advanced into the western and northern neighbourhoods of Mayadeen, which lies on the Euphrates River.

The Observatory said troops were able to cut off the road linking Mayadeen and the town of Boukamal on the border with Iraq.

It added that IS brought in reinforcements from Iraq and elsewhere in Syria.

Opposition activist Mozahem al-Salloum said the fighting is fierce "in a way not seen before".

Omar Abu Laila, who runs a group that monitors developments in Deir el-Zour, said it will likely take time to drive IS out of Mayadeen, which is one of its last major strongholds.

Syrian troops reached Mayadeen on Saturday, after pushing south along the eastern banks of the Euphrates.

AP
An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years held captive by a network with ties to the Taliban, US and Pakistani officials said.

Pakistan secured the release of Caitlan Coleman and her husband, Canadian Joshua Boyle, who were abducted five years ago while travelling in Afghanistan and had been held by the Haqqani network in Pakistan.

Ms Coleman, from Pennsylvania, was pregnant when she was captured.

The couple had three children while in captivity, and all have been freed, US officials said.

A US national security official commended Pakistan for their critical assistance in securing the family's release, and described the cooperation as an important step in the right direction for US-Pakistani relations.

The US has long criticised Pakistan for failing to aggressively go after the Haqqanis, who have been behind many attacks against US and allied forces in Afghanistan.

In Pakistan, its military said in a statement that U.S. intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and discovered they had come into Pakistan on October 11 through its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

"All hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin," the military said.

Three Pakistani military officials, all speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to speak to journalists, also confirmed the hostages' identities.

The release, which came together rapidly Wednesday, comes nearly five years to the day since Ms Coleman and Mr Boyle lost touch with their families while travelling in a mountainous region near the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The couple set off in the summer 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan.

Ms Coleman's parents last heard from their son-in-law on October 8 2012, from an internet cafe in what Mr Boyle described as an "unsafe" part of Afghanistan.

In 2013, the couple appeared in two videos asking the US government to free them from the Taliban.

Ms Coleman's parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, told the online Circa News service in July 2016 that they received a letter from their daughter in November 2015, in which she wrote that she had given birth to a second child in captivity.

It was unclear whether they knew she had had a third.

"I pray to hear from you again, to hear how everybody is doing," the letter said.

In that interview, Jim Coleman issued a plea to top Taliban commanders to be "kind and merciful" and let the couple go.

"As a man, father and now grandfather, I am asking you to show mercy and release my daughter, her husband, and our beautiful grandchildren," Jim Coleman said.

"Please grant them an opportunity to continue their lives with us, and bring peace to their families."

The family was being held by the Haqqani network.

US officials call the group a terrorist organisation and have targeted its leaders with drone strikes.

But the group also operates like a criminal network.

Unlike the Islamic State group, it does not typically kill Western hostages, preferring to ransom them for cash.

AP
A general convicted of war crimes has been praised by Serbia's minister of defence

Serbia's defence minister has reaffirmed his support for a convicted war criminal, denouncing the US ambassador to Belgrade for his critical tweet.

Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin has praised former General Vladimir Lazarevic, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison by a UN war crimes tribunal for atrocities committed by Serb troops in Kosovo during the 1999 crackdown against ethnic Albanians.

US ambassador Kyle Scott tweeted that months of work to improve Serbia's image in the United States can be "undermined with a single statement".

He was referring to Mr Vulin's public praise of Lazarevic.

Mr Vulin told the pro-government Pink TV on Thursday that "Gen Lazarevic is an honourable and brave man and there is no army (in the world) that would give him up".

AP
The United States is pulling out of Unesco after repeated criticism of resolutions by the UN cultural agency that Washington sees as anti-Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel plans to follow suit.

While the US stopped funding Unesco after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011, the state department has maintained a Unesco office at its Paris headquarters and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes.

The withdrawal was confirmed on Thursday by US officials.

Unesco director-general Irina Bokova, who is Bulgarian, expressed "profound regret" at the decision and said the departure was a loss for "the United Nations family" and for multilateralism.

She said the US and Unesco matter to each other more than ever now because "the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security".

Ms Bokova defended Unesco's reputation, noting its efforts to support Holocaust education and train teachers to fight anti-Semitism.

She traced the decades-long US ties with Unesco, and noted that the Statue of Liberty is among the many World Heritage sites protected by the UN agency.

Mr Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel will also withdraw from the agency, which had become a "theatre of the absurd because instead of preserving history, it distorts it".

He said he has ordered Israeli diplomats to prepare Israel's withdrawal from the organisation in concert with the Americans.

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, praised Washington's move as heralding "a new day at the UN, where there is a price to pay for discrimination against Israel".

He said: "Unesco has become a battlefield for Israel bashing and has disregarded its true role and purpose.

"The organisation's absurd and shameful resolutions against Israel have consequences."

Ms Bokova's two terms as director have been deeply scarred by the 2011 Unesco vote to include Palestine as a member, funding troubles and repeated resolutions seen as anti-Israel.

Many saw the vote to include Palestine as evidence of long-running, ingrained anti-Israel bias within the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.

Unesco is best known for its World Heritage programme to protect cultural sites and traditions around the world.

The agency also works to improve education for girls in desperately poor countries and in scientific fields, to promote better understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust and to defend media freedom, among other activities.

The Trump administration has been preparing for a likely withdrawal for months, and a decision was expected before the end of the year, according to US officials.

Several diplomats who were to have been posted to the mission this summer were told that their positions were on hold and advised to seek other jobs.

In addition, the Trump administration's proposed budget for the next fiscal year contains no provision for the possibility that Unesco funding restrictions might be lifted.

The lack of staffing and funding plans for Unesco by the US have been accompanied by repeated denunciations of Unesco by senior US officials, including US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

The US pulled out of Unesco in the 1980s because Washington viewed it as mismanaged and used for political reasons, then rejoined it in 2003.

AP
The UK is in the midst of exiting from the European Union

Claims of deception and misrepresentation over Brexit negotiations are nothing new, writes Nelson McCausland

A few months ago I had a conversation with a journalist about the possibility of a referendum on the border. I happened to mention that there had already been a referendum in the 1970s and the journalist said, I didnt know that.

I went on to explain that there had been a border poll in Northern Ireland on March 8, 1973; that it was boycotted by the SDLP and Provisional Sinn Fein; that almost 99% of the voters wanted to remain in the United Kingdom; and that the Provisional IRA marked the day with four car bombs in London.

Subsequently, nine members of the Provisional IRA from Belfast were imprisoned, including Gerry Kelly and the Price sisters, Marian and Dolours.

More recently, Brendan Hughes and Dolours Price both said that Gerry Adams had discussed the operation at an IRA meeting in Belfast.

So, the next time a Sinn Fein politician calls for a referendum on the border, just remember how the IRA marked the last one.

However, that conversation was a reminder that many people, especially younger people who didnt live through the events, are often unaware of key events that happened 40 or more years ago and that brings me to Brexit.

The current process whereby the United Kingdom is extricating itself from the European Union is complex and the Government has a very difficult task.

Meanwhile, the Euro-fanatics are still not reconciled to the result of the referendum and the debate still goes on in the media, with both sides of the argument accusing the other of misrepresentation and deception.

All of which reminds me of the first European referendum, back in 1975, and after 40 years forgotten by many.

Edward Heath, the Conservative prime minister, had signed the Treaty of Rome in January 1973 and, at that point, the UK joined what was then usually called the Common Market. That was done on the basis of a commitment that we would retain our national sovereignty.

Indeed, in June 1971, a White Paper had been sent to every home in the UK, promising that, there is no question of Britain losing essential sovereignty.

Then, in a television broadcast in January 1973 to mark the signing of the Treaty of Rome, Edward Heath went even further.

He said: There are some in this country who fear that, in going into Europe, we shall in some way sacrifice independence and sovereignty. These fears, I need hardly say, are completely unjustified.

Two years later, there was a referendum, on June 5, 1975, and the majority of voters supported the UKs continued membership of the Common Market, now the European Union.

But that vote was on the basis of assurances which were dishonest.

Both Edward Heath and Harold Wilson knew that, in joining the Common Market, they were ceding sovereignty and joining a political project which had as its end goal the creation of a federal United States of Europe.

The preamble to the Treaty of Rome clearly stated that the objective was ever-closer union.

Moreover, with the passage of time and the release of Government papers under the 30-year rule, we now know that both Labour and Conservative governments had been briefed, time and time again, about the loss of national sovereignty. They were also warned that the ultimate aim was political union across Europe.

The loss of national sovereignty was confirmed by Judge Bruce Morgan on April 9, 2001. He said that, when the UK joined the Common Market in the 1970s, parliament and the British people quite voluntarily surrendered the once seemingly immortal concept of the sovereignty of parliament and legislative freedom.

So, when folk talk about deception and misrepresentation in relation to Europe, the greatest deception of all was that it is just a common market and not much more.

That was the basis on which 67% of voters backed the European Community in 1975, but it was a lie.

Thankfully, that great lie has been exposed, the tide has turned and we are now on the way to recovering our national sovereignty.
A Rohingya carries his children while entering Bangladesh at the Khangrakhali border-crossing point in Teknaf, Coxs Bazar, Oct. 11, 2017.

Newly arrived Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh said people who attacked their villages in Rakhine state used megaphones to threaten them with death if they did not leave Myanmar, the United Nations reported on Wednesday.

Attacks carried out by the Myanmar military in concert with Rakhine Buddhist militia were well-organized and systematic as well as intended to drive out the states minority Muslim population, according to a U.N. report based on 65 interviews with eyewitnesses, individuals and groups at refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh.

In its report the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner Human Rights (OHCHR) challenged assertions that the violence was collateral damage following alleged attacks on police outposts by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) insurgents on Aug. 25.

Efforts to expel Rohingya from Myanmar started as early as the beginning of August, the report said. Since late August, more than 500,000 Rohingya  or half of Rakhines Muslim population  has fled to neighboring Bangladesh following the outbreak of violence.

Some refugees told U.N. interviewers that before and during attacks, their attackers used megaphones to announce: You do not belong here  go to Bangladesh. If you do not leave, we will torch your houses and kill you.

A majority of eyewitnesses told of attacks by security forces and Buddhists.

Testimonies referred to apparently well-organized and coordinated action, where first the Myanmar security forces came into a village followed by the Rakhine Buddhists individuals using knives or machetes to inflict death, injury or damage, the report stated.

I buried her myself

Investigators were told about women and girls, some pregnant and some as young as 5 to 7, being raped  often in front of family members. Others told of witnessing people being killed and houses and villages being destroyed.

A 12-year-old girl, who could not find her mother and four brothers (her father was jailed a month earlier), recounted horrors that she faced when security forces and Buddhists surrounded her house.

They shot my sister in front of me, she was only 7 years old. She cried and told me to run. I tried to protect her and care for her, but we had no medical assistance on the hillside and she was bleeding so much that after one day she died, the girl said. I buried her myself.

Others said attackers used a launcher (most likely a rocket-propelled grenade launcher) to set fire to their properties.

Several victims reported the killing of close family members by random gunfire or referred to the Myanmar security forces surrounding villages at some distance and then shooting indiscriminately at houses and individuals alike, the Mission Report of OHCHR Rapid Response Mission to Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, stated.

Testimony indicated that Myanmar security forces and Rakhine Buddhist militia incited hatred, violence and killings against the Rohingya population within northern Rakhine State through extremely derogatory abuse based on their religion, language and culture and ethnic identity.

Desperate attempts to cross border

The violence in Rakhine has not stopped and many Rohingya have expressed grave reservations over the possibility of returning there, the report said.

According to Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, more than 530,000 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh since Aug. 25.

Meanwhile, the U.N. estimates that the exodus to Bangladesh takes from two to 16 days and many refugees have been forced to pay 5,000 to 10,000 taka (U.S. $60 to $120) to cross the Naf River, which separates the two countries, by boat. It said Bangladesh reported that 100 people, including 42 children, had drowned while attempting to cross the river.

Khan said the Bangladesh Coast Guard rescued 11 men who were trying to cross the river by using makeshift floatation devices.

They have been coming with plastic jerry cans as we have been stopping the boats ferrying Rohingya, he said.

The U.N. report ended by praising the Bangladesh government and aid agencies, but pointed out that the burden created by the mass exodus of Rohingya was too burdensome in the immediate future.

The health and sanitation conditions are critical and described by onsite medical doctors as a perfect storm in the making, the report said.

Kamran Reza Chowdhury in Dhaka contributed to this report.
Defense ministers and military leaders from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines launch the Trilateral Air Patrol from the Subang Royal Malaysian Air Force base, Oct. 12, 2017.

Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines on Thursday launched trilateral air patrols to bolster a three-month-old joint maritime effort that aims to rid their shared borders of threats from Islamic State (IS) extremists.

Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein hosted the launch of the Trilateral Air Patrol (TAP) at the Subang Royal Malaysian Air Force Base, where he was joined by his counterparts, Indonesian retired Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu and Delfin Lorenzana of the Philippines. The defense ministers were united in saying the air patrols were crucial to combatting IS in the southern Philippines, especially around the Sulu Sea.

No country is safe from the clutches of Islamic State. But today we have sent a signal that if you touch any one of us, we will face you head-on together, Hishammuddin told reporters after the launch.

In June, Indonesia hosted Malaysian and Philippine defense leaders in launching the Trilateral Maritime Patrol (TMP).

Hishammuddin said the joint air patrol was an important and positive step and the commitments should be applauded.

With the region consumed by the growing threat posed by the Islamic State, we need to highlight this arrangements significance in not just the Sulu Sea, but in the context of challenges in Southeast Asia, more broadly, Hishammuddin said in his speech.

Abdul Aziz Moh Tamit, Bruneis deputy defense minister, and Maliki Osman, Singapores senior minister of state for Defense and Foreign Affairs, attended Thursdays launch as observers.

Support for military efforts in Marawi

Ryacudu and Lorenzana signalled their governments commitment to wiping out IS through the air patrols in conjunction with the established sea patrols.

The Indonesian government is firm that IS should not grow to other Southeast Asian countries and militants in Southern Philippines must be destroyed, Ryacudu told reporters, adding that military leaders from the United States, China and Australia approached him about joining the air patrol.

But I told them I had to consult ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) members, he said.

Hishammuddin said ASEAN defense ministers would be briefed at a meeting scheduled in the Philippines on Oct. 23.

Lorenzana said the air patrol would support the Philippine army in its battle against IS. Troops have been fighting IS-backed militants in the southern city of Marawi since May 23.

We believe the trilateral air patrol will play an important role in efforts to combat IS and with the presence of the eye in the sky, it will be able to assist the army on land and the navy at sea to act quickly in the event of any threats from militants, he told reporters.

Lorenzana also praised the sea patrols launched in June.

The effectiveness of the maritime patrols have stopped foreign IS militants trying to enter Southern Philippines, especially in the ongoing fighting in Marawi. IS militants were not able to enter battle areas to supply weapons, which has helped Philippines army to retake Marawi except for few areas where fighting is ongoing, he said.

Rotation established

The three countries will adopt an on-going monthly rotation for the joint air patrols.

Malaysia will be the first nation to lead the operation in November, followed by the Philippines in December, and subsequently Indonesia in January 2018, Hishammuddin told reporters.

Earlier, Malaysian Armed Forces Chief Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor told BenarNews that two military transport aircraft, a CN 235 and C130 H, would be used during the patrols.

At the same time, the nations will maintain air patrols within their own borders.

Hishammuddin said the trilateral arrangement was similar to the Malacca Straits Patrol, a joint initiative among Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia in the Straits of Malacca that resulted in a sharp drop in piracy.

What we are doing in the Sulu Sea is essentially the same thing. While the amount of global trade passing through the Sulu Sea is significantly lower than the amount passing through the Straits of Malacca, it is nonetheless substantial, Hishamuddin said.

It is estimated that about U.S. $40 billion (169 billion ringgit) worth of goods transit these waters annually. This, combined with cross-border movements of local communities and a porous maritime border, has led to the difficulty of maintaining open and secure shipping links, he said in his speech.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency operatives, backed by soldiers and police, conduct a raid in the southern town of Maasim where the local mayor was arrested on suspicion of being a leader of a narcotics syndicate, Oct. 6, 2017.

A combative Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte blasted critics of his anti-drugs war on Thursday and demanded that European Union envoys leave the country within 24 hours.

He lashed out at the E.U. during a speech a month before the Philippines was to host a summit of Southeast Asian leaders and their European Union and U.S. counterparts. The Europe-based International Delegates of the Progressive Alliance visited Manila recently and called on his government to end its drug war immediately or risk losing preferential trade rights.

You think were a bunch of morons here, Duterte said in his speech at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila. The ambassadors of those countries listening now, tell me. Because we can have the diplomatic channel cut tomorrow. You leave my country in 24 hours. All. All of you.

It was unclear what he meant, and a spokesman at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said officials were unaware of the ultimatum, adding the department received no specific instruction from the presidential palace.

As president, Duterte said, he was empowered to dictate foreign policy and cut ties with any country.

The conduct of external affairs of this country is not in Congress. Its not in the Supreme Court. It is the presidency in the great separation of powers, the president said. It is solely the privilege of the executive department.

Reacting to Dutertes threat, the E.U. delegation in the Philippines said it continued to work closely with Manila in many contexts and areas, including, of course in the U.N. context.

It clarified that a visit of European politicians last week when delegates voiced concern over what they said was a deteriorating rights situation here was not a European Union mission.

That visit was arranged independently by a group called the International Delegates of the Progressive Alliance and was a private initiative, the E.U. office in the Philippines said.

The European Union was not part of the organization or planning of that visit  neither the Delegation of the European Union in the Philippines nor the European Union institutions in Brussels, it said in a statement.

Despite Dutertes threat, the delegation continues to operate and function normally and would carry on in working constructively with Manila, it said.

The mission, whose members are European parliamentarians, warned that Manila risked losing a preferential trade deal allowing more than 6,200 products duty-free entry into the 28 nation-bloc if it failed to stop the killings and persecution of critics.

The General System of Preferences (GSP) deal is under review and the E.U. report on the Philippines is expected as early as January 2018.

On Thursday, Duterte said should the Philippines be excluded from the GSP, it could boost trade with China and Russia, two countries his administration has been courting as it seeks to move away from the United States.

He said the two countries could absorb the trade the stupid European Union guys would not accept.

House of Representatives member Tom Villarin said that Dutertes reaction showed his immaturity in dealing with international relations and negative publicity.

It is not interference in our domestic affairs. Rather, it shows the E.U.s concern for our country not being seen as a rogue state when it comes to rule of law and human rights, Villarin said.

It should be stressed that there are thousands of Filipinos living in the E.U. that will be adversely affected by kicking out E.U. ambassadors in our country.

On Wednesday, Duterte ordered police to take a step back on the war on drugs with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency assuming oversight, as his government moves to slow dropping popularity ratings.

Public anger over the recent killings of three teenage suspects during anti-drug operations erupted in street protests, with the Catholic Church pledging to protect any members of the police force willing to serve as witnesses.

Duterte on Thursday insisted that the drug menace in the country had become such a huge problem that since he took office, 147 officers had been killed in counter-narcotics operations.

Felipe Villamor in Manila contributed to this report.
Volunteers and health workers lower the unclaimed body of a person killed in fighting in Marawi into a grave at the Maqbarah Muslim cemetery in the southern Philippine city, Oct. 5, 2017.

A Malaysian who was among the key planners of a deadly siege by IS-inspired militants in the southern city of Marawi is believed to be alive and fighting with a dwindling enemy force, the Philippine military said Thursday.

Mahmud Ahmad, a university professor-turned-militant from Malaysia, has eluded government troops and dug in along with Filipinos Isnilon Hapilon and Omarkhayyam Maute, regional military chief Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez said.

Hapilon is the acknowledged leader of the Abu Sayyaf and the Philippine branch of the extremist group Islamic State (IS), and Maute is the last of several brothers who allegedly led planning for the siege.

Mahmud is alive along with Hapilon and Omar. But our troops are determined to neutralize them as we are making our final push, Galvez said, adding that getting Mahmud was a priority.

Mahmud is described as the money man who financed the Marawi attack who trained at al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s while studying at Islamabad Islamic University, the Filipino military said. He is a former lecturer of Islamic studies at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, one of the top universities in Malaysia.

Apart from Mahmud, six to eight foreign militants are on the frontline, Galvez said.

Earlier this week, the military reported that Mahmuds right-hand man, Muhammad Joraimee Awang Raimee, was killed along with 15 militants in aerial bombings in Marawi.

Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., deputy commander of Joint Task Group Ranao, told BenarNews that government forces were closing in on enemy positions and attempting to rescue more than 40 civilian hostages held by the gunmen.

Brawner said the death toll on the government side had reached 160, while 811 enemy fighters had been killed in the battle that has lasted nearly five months.

Among the decomposing cadavers are suspected foreign terrorists, Brawner said.

He said government forces had found tunnels and underground escape routes dug by the gunmen and troops were clearing them of landmines.

Richel V. Umel in Iligan City, Philippines, contributed to this report.
 Contrary to what most people have been told, the only battle we ever lost was right here at home! Read moreWhat being a veteran means to me
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For Immediate Release, October 12, 2017 Contact: Noah Greenwald, (503) 484-7495, ngreenwald@biologicaldiversity.org Analysis: Trump Administration Drops Ball on Protecting Imperiled Animals 22 Species Get No Endangered Species Act Decision, 29 Denied Protection, 20 Denied Protected Critical Habitat WASHINGTON Research by the Center for Biological Diversity shows that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to make decisions concerning protection of 22 species under the Endangered Species Act, pushing the lesser prairie chicken, Hermes copper butterfly and others closer to extinction. The Fish and Wildlife Service also failed to provide critical habitat for 20 already-listed endangered species, including the yellow-billed cuckoo and green sea turtle. Another 29 species, the Pacific walrus and black-backed woodpecker among them, were denied protection altogether. We give the Trump administration and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke a failing grade on protecting the nations endangered species, said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center. The Fish and Wildlife Service made an honest attempt to prioritize species protections with extensive input from state wildlife agencies. But the agency wasnt able to get the job done for these imperiled animals because of opposition from the Trump administration. The decisions were supposed to have been made in fiscal year 2017, which ended Sept. 30, according to a workplan developed by the Fish and Wildlife Service to address a backlog of more than 500 plants and animals awaiting endangered species protections. Under the workplan, as well as court orders in some cases, the agency was supposed to make protection decisions for 61 species and designate critical habitat for 20 other species. Instead agency staffers made decisions for 39 species, only protecting 8, and designated critical habitat for just one species. The Trump administrations failure to implement the Endangered Species Act is pushing dozens of species closer to extinction, said Greenwald. The administration is totally out of step with the vast majority of Americans who back strong protections for wildlife. Trump officials are very clearly putting profits for polluting corporations above the needs of both people and wildlife. For those species that did get decisions in line with the workplan, the majority were denied protection, including many that are severely imperiled. Of the 39 species for which decisions were issued, just 8 received final protection and two were proposed for protection. The other 29 were all denied. This includes the Pacific walrus, which is threatened by loss of summer sea ice caused by climate change and which was found to warrant protection by the Obama administration in 2011; the Florida Keys mole skink, which is extremely rare and rapidly losing habitat to sea-level rise, again caused by climate change; and the Northern Rocky Mountains fisher, a relative of the mink and otter that is threatened by fur trapping and logging of its habitat. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.5 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Table 1. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dropped the ball on making protection decisions for these 22 species. Species Name Action Type Range Atlantic pigtoe 12-month listing determination GA, NC, SC, VA beaver pond marstonia 12-month listing determination GA blackfin sucker 12-month listing determination KY, TN Carolina madtom 12-month listing determination NC Cedar Key mole skink 12-month listing determination FL Hermes copper butterfly Candidate species awaiting a proposed rule CA island marble butterfly Candidate species awaiting a proposed rule WA lesser prairie-chicken Discretionary Status Review CO, KS, NM, OK, TX Mohave shoulderband 12-month listing determination CA Neuse River waterdog 12-month listing determination NC northern spotted owl 12-month determination for uplisting to endangered CA, OR, WA Panama City crayfish 12-month listing determination FL San Joaquin Valley giant flower-loving fly 12-month listing determination CA Tinian monarch 12-month listing determination MP white-tailed prarie dog 12-month listing determination CO, MT, UT, WY Wright's marsh thistle Proposed Listing Determination NM Louisiana pinesnake Final Listing LA black warrior waterdog Final Listing AL western glacier stonefly Final Listing MT mist forestfly Final Listing MT San Fernando Valley chorizanthe Final Listing CA Texas hornshell Final Listing TX Table 2. These 29 species were denied protection by the Trump administration. Species Name Range Barbour's map turtle AL, FL, GA Bicknell's thrush CT, DE, GA, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, SC, VA, VT, Canada bifid duct pyrg NV, UT Big Blue Springs cave crayfish FL black-backed woodpecker (Black Hills population) SD, WY black-backed woodpecker (Oregon Cascades-California population) CA, ND, OR Blue Point pyrg NV boreal toad (Eastern population) CO, ID, NM, NV, UT, WY bridled darter GA, TN Butterfield pyrg NV Colorado tiger beetle CO Corn Creek pyrg NV fisher (Northern Rocky Mountains population) MT, ID, (WY - accidental) flag pyrg NV Florida Keys mole skink FL grated tryonia NV Hardy pyrg NV holiday darter AL, GA, TN Hubbs pyrg NV Kirtland's snake IL, IN, KY, MI, MO, OH, PA, TN Lake Valley pyrg NV Moapa pebblesnail NV Moapa Valley pyrg NV Pacific walrus AK Pahranagat pebblesnail NV San Felipe gambusia TX Spring Mountains pyrg NV White River Valley pyrg NV Kenk's amphipod DC Table 3. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to designate critical habitat for the following 20 species. Species Name Action Type Range spring pygmy sunfish Final critical habitat AL yellow-billed cuckoo (Western U.S. DPS) Final critical habitat AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NE, NM, OR, TX, UT, WA, WY elfin woods warbler Final critical habitat Puerto Rico black pine snake Final critical habitat AL, MS Miami tiger beetle Proposed critical habitat FL Florida bristle fern Proposed critical habitat FL Florida bonneted bat Proposed critical habitat FL green sea turtle (North Atlantic DPS) Proposed critical habitat green sea turtle (Central West Pacific DPS) Proposed critical habitat green sea turtle (South Atlantic DPS) Proposed critical habitat green sea turtle (Central North Pacific DPS) Proposed critical habitat green sea turtle (Central South Pacific DPS) Proposed critical habitat Big Sandy crayfish Proposed critical habitat KY, VA, WV rufa red knot Proposed critical habitat AL, CT, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, RI, SC, SD, TX, VA, WV, WI Guyandotte River crayfish Proposed critical habitat WV narrow-headed gartersnake Revised proposed critical habitat AZ, NM, Mexico Georgetown salamander Revised proposed critical habitat TX Salado salamander Revised proposed critical habitat TX Northern Mexican gartersnake Revised proposed critical habitat AZ, NM, Mexico slickspot peppergrass Revised proposed critical habitat ID
For Immediate Release, October 12, 2017 Contact: Howard Crystal, (202) 809-6926, hcrystal@biologicaldiversity.org Lawsuit Launched to Fight EPA's Delay of Power Plant Heavy Metal Pollution Limits WASHINGTON The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice of intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency today for delaying portions of an effluent limitation rule limiting heavy metals in power-plant wastewater. The Trump administration is giving power plants a free pass to keep dumping toxic metals like arsenic into our rivers and drinking-water supplies, said Howard Crystal, a senior attorney at the Centers Climate Law Institute. These polluting plants spew more than a billion pounds of contaminants a year into our water. Every day of delay further harms wildlife and puts more Americans at risk of cancer and other health problems. The EPA delayed the Obama-era rule last month without first consulting with appropriate federal wildlife agencies as required by the Endangered Species Act. Todays notice demands that the agency vacate its delay of the rule and work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate and minimize the delays threats to imperiled plants and animals.



In its original environmental assessment for the effluent limitation rule, the EPA concluded that power plant wastewater is hurting aquatic species and posing a drinking water hazard for humans. The same assessment identified 138 threatened and endangered species living in or near surface waters with dangerous pollutant concentrations.



The EPA is flouting its own warning that dangerously contaminated power plant wastewater threatens vulnerable species and public health, Crystal said. Well fight to force the Trump administration to protect people and wildlife from this enormous source of water pollution. The effluent limitation rule requires steam-powered electricity plants to take economically achievable measures to reduce wastewater streams of heavy metals, including mercury, arsenic and lead. The EPA proposed the rule in 2013, noting that steam electric power plants contribute the majority of all toxic pollution discharged into surface waters by all point sources regulated under the Clean Water Act. The rule was finalized in 2015 with compliance by power plants set to begin as early as November 2018. However, claiming it wants to reconsider the rule, the EPA has now delayed those compliance deadlines by two years. There are currently no EPA-imposed limits on heavy metal concentrations in power plant wastewater. Enforcement of the rule would reduce the amount of toxic heavy metals and other pollutants entering waterways by 1.4 billion pounds a year.
For Immediate Release October 12, 2017 Contact: Kristen Monsell, (510) 844-7137, kmonsell@biologicaldiversity.org Lawsuit Launched Against Trump Administration for Denying Pacific Walruses Endangered Species Act Protection WASHINGTON The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice of intent today to sue the Trump administration for denying the Pacific walrus protection under the Endangered Species Act. Todays notice points out that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services denial ignores the best available science on climate change. That denial reversed an Obama administration decision that the Pacific walrus warrants protection because of the dramatic loss of the species Arctic sea-ice habitat. Theres no question Pacific walruses are endangered, so denying them protection is absurd and dangerous, said Kristen Monsell, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. The sea ice these animals need to survive is melting away. This ridiculous, about-face decision reflects the Trump administrations hostility to wildlife, science and the rule of law. In 2008 the Center petitioned the Service to protect the Pacific walrus under the Endangered Species Act because of the rapid loss of Arctic sea ice that it needs for survival. In 2011 the Service determined the walrus warranted protection under the Act, but placed it on the candidate waiting list instead of giving it help. A court-ordered settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Center required the Service to make a decision on protecting the walrus by Sept. 30, 2017. The Pacific walrus lives in Arctic waters off Alaska and needs sea ice for giving birth, nursing and resting. Over the past decade, climate change has caused summer sea ice to disappear from the walruss shallow foraging grounds in the Chukchi Sea. Todays letter notes that the Services unlawful, politically motivated decision deprives the species of needed protections in the face of climate change and melting sea ice and leaves the species at serious risk of extinction. The letter also points out that the Service ignored the science, reversed its position that climate change threatens the walrus, and used an unlawfully short timeframe for its analysis of climate threats. Without summer sea ice for resting, walrus mothers and calves have been forced to come ashore, where they have limited access to food and young walruses are vulnerable to being trampled to death or attacked by predators. Arctic sea-ice extent has hit numerous record lows this year. Summer sea ice is half as thick and extensive as it was just a few decades ago. Without strong action to reduce carbon pollution, scientists project that summer sea ice will disappear in the next decade or two. In early August thousands of Pacific walruses were forced ashore near Point Lay, Alaska, when sea ice disappeared  the earliest haul-out event federal officials have documented. A survey of the area on Sept. 11 found 64 dead walruses, most of them less than a year old. They were likely trampled to death in a stampede. Walruses will vanish if federal officials continue to ignore their plight, Monsell said. This is a cruel denial of our responsibility to these animals. Thats why were turning to the courts to overturn the denial and help save the walrus from extinction. The listing of the Pacific walrus would not affect subsistence harvest of the species by Alaska natives.
For Immediate Release, October 12, 2017 Contact: Nathan Donley, (971) 717-6406, ndonley@biologicaldiversity.org

Bill Freese, BFreese@CenterforFoodSafety.org Scientists to Journal: Retract Pesticide Review After Revelations of Monsanto Funding, Influence PORTLAND, Ore. Scientists from four national environmental-health organizations today called on the scientific journal Critical Reviews in Toxicology to retract a review downplaying glyphosates cancer risk because the review article was covertly edited and funded by Monsanto, the pesticides maker. As detailed in a recent news report, the articles conflict-of-interest disclosure stated that a third party hired by Monsanto was independently overseeing the assessment of the popular pesticide. However, Monsanto directlypaid at least two of the scientists who authored the article, and a Monsanto employee substantially edited and reviewed the article prior to publication, in clear contradiction to the disclosure statement. Todays letter from scientists at the Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, Pesticide Action Network and Center for Environmental Health noted: These are serious offenses and if left unanswered will ultimately undermine the work of many scientists who view scientific ethics to be sacrosanct. The review paper in question was one of a series of five articles published in a 2016 supplemental issue entitled An Independent Review of the Carcinogenic Potential of Glyphosate. The review in question was an overview of the four other articles. All five articles were highly critical of the 2015 finding by the World Health Organizations International Agency for Research on Cancer that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, is a probable human carcinogen. This was a deceitful effort by Monsanto to cast doubt on the WHOs finding that glyphosate is a likely carcinogen, said Nathan Donley, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. If the journal fails to retract this study, it will be publically condoning this unethical behavior. To understand pesticides threats to people and the environment, weve got to know if research is truly independent from industry influence. This shameful episode reveals once again that Monsanto is a fundamentally unethical corporation that does not deserve the trust of scientists or the broader public, said Bill Freese, science policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety. Critical Reviews in Toxicology must stand up for scientific integrity and retract this paper in light of this serious misconduct. Todays retraction-request letter highlights a range of failures involved in the review article: Failure to disclose that at least two panelists who authored the review worked as consultants for, and were directly paid by, Monsanto for their work on the paper.

Failure to disclose that at least one Monsanto employee extensively edited the manuscript and was adamant about retaining inflammatory language critical of the IARC assessment  against some of the authors wishes. The disclosure falsely stated that no Monsanto employee reviewed the manuscript. In todays letter the scientists stated that the readers and reviewers of the cancer studies were led to believe that Monsanto had no influence on the content of the reviews other than indirectly funding the work through an independent third party. This is false, and the scientific community and public were misled. In addition to asking for a retraction of one of the five review articles, the scientists have called for an in-depth investigation into the other four articles published in this issue. Multiple internal emails from Monsanto indicated the pesticide makers willingness to ghostwrite or compile information for the authors of the reviews, dictate the scope of one of the reviews, and identify which scientists to engage or list as authors of the reviews. Since Rachel Carsons Silent Spring, Monsanto has attacked independent scientists whose work accurately reveals health risks associated with its products, said Donley. This latest, devious manipulation of scientific research suggests Monsanto will do whatever it takes to try to divert the publics gaze from the growing evidence highlighting pesticide dangers. Todays retraction/investigation request was sent to the journals editor-in-chief, the managing editor at Taylor and Francis  the journals publisher  and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), of which Taylor and Francis and Critical Reviews in Toxicology are both members.
For Immediate Release, October 12, 2017 Contacts: Taylor McKinnon, (801) 300-2414, tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.org

David Miller, Ohio Environmental Council, (419) 944-1986, DMiller@theoec.org

Gabby Brown, Sierra Club, (202) 495-3051, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org Legal Protest Targets New Fracking in Ohio's Wayne National Forest Feds Abandon Environmental Review, Threatening People, Water, Forests, Wildlife COLUMBUS, Ohio Seven conservation groups today challenged a Bureau of Land Management decision approving a December auction of 350 acres in the Wayne National Forest for oil and gas fracking leases near the controversial Rover Pipeline. The administrative protest challenges the BLMs complete failure to assess any social or environmental impacts connected to the fracking in Ohios only national forest. Despite fracking threats to public health, water, forests, wildlife and endangered species, the agency approved the auction without conducting a new environmental review as required under the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act. Ohioans love the Wayne for its beauty and its wildlife, and because it's a great place to play outdoors. Fracking threatens all of these important values, said Nathan Johnson, public lands director with the Ohio Environmental Council. We filed today's appeal to protect both the forest and the public's interest. The fracking industry has so far nominated about 18,000 acres of the Wayne National Forests Marietta Unit to be auctioned for oil and gas leasing. The BLM has leased 1,937 acres of the national forest to the fracking industry since December and plans to continue holding quarterly auctions until all 18,000 acres are leased. Fracking would transform watersheds in Ohios only national forest into polluted industrial zones, said Taylor McKinnon of the Center for Biological Diversity. These precious forests provide clean water, wildlife refuges and quiet recreation. They should be entirely off limits to polluting wells, pipelines and heavy truck traffic. The Rover pipeline route cuts through the northeast corner of the Marietta Unit, within four miles of the lands to be auctioned. Gas from fracked wells in the national forest could feed into the pipeline, where construction has been plagued with numerous mishaps and spills, including a 2 million-gallon spill of drilling mud laced with diesel. Conservation groups have protested every fracking lease sale on the Wayne National Forest. Earlier this year the groups sued the BLM and other federal agencies in U.S. District Court for the agencies failure to analyze threats to public health, water, endangered species and the climate before opening 40,000 acres of the Wayne to fracking. Fracking in Wayne National Forest would be disastrous for Ohio's land, water and wildlife, all for the benefit of oil and gas executives, said Jennifer Miller with Ohio Sierra Club. Rather than permitting the destruction of our only national forest, we must protect our wild places and continue to fuel the transition to clean, renewable energy. If fracking moves forward in Wayne National Forest, fracking and drilling chemical spills could contaminate Ohio River tributaries, threatening the health of people and endangered species downstream. Massive clear-cutting for new wells, pipelines, roads and compressor stations will destroy and fragment forests. Fracking and its infrastructure will reverse decades of forest recovery, undermining the very purpose for which the Wayne National Forest was designated by Congress. Conservation groups that are party to todays protest are the Center for Biological Diversity, Athens County Fracking Action Network, Buckeye Environmental Network, Heartwood, Keep Wayne Wild, Ohio Environmental Council and the Sierra Club. Download a copy todays protest here.

Download a copy of the May lawsuit here.

Images of the Wayne National Forest are available for media use here.

Download a factsheet about Wayne National Forest fracking here.
AfricaCom 2017 takes place 7-9 November at the Cape Town International Convention Centre this year, celebrating 20 years in business. Billed as Africa's largest technology, telecoms and media event, enabling economic empowerment, it has also introduced new innovations for 2017.

AfricaCom 2017 launch.

It promises delegates and exhibitors three days of thought-provoking content and cutting-edge technology and a glimpse into what the future holds in terms of digital and its impact on life as we know it. Organiser KNect365 has introduced a brand-new Technology Arena that will provide a glimpse of the potential the future holds for forward-thinkers  whether it is in the Fintech space, or E-Health, education, energy, agri-tech or more.

The Technology Arena will also house an array of new tech (over 100 exhibitors), some of which, will be interactive and on display in demo pods, along with many other novel developments that will debut at the show. Included in this exciting space is another fresh feature, AfricaCom 20/20. This is a brand-new show floor item dedicated to accelerating Africas digital transformation and is the centrepiece of the new arena.

Underpinning the event is a business-critical agenda and, as always, world class speakers, alongside over 400 exhibitors. But AfricaCom is more than an exhibition and a conference. It is now a staging ground for re-imagining and re-defining how we, as Africans and humans, will communicate and transact with one another.

2017 is a landmark for AfricaCom. Over the past two decades, we have grown from being a purely telecommunications-focused event, to a broader, digital communications show now hosting the foremost group of influencers involved in every aspect of the African digital ecosystem, explained Tom Cuthell, portfolio director of KNect365, the organiser of the event.

As the digi-sphere continues to expand and impact every aspect of our personal and professional lives, AfricaCom has grown in scope to create a broad platform for everybody involved in powering the digital economy in Africa.

Fourth industrial revolution

Over the past two decades, AfricaCom has provided a stage for robust debate, as well as identifying the needs for Africas growth and the solutions and subsequent policy making that has seen the continent leapfrog the desktop era, straight into mobile.

As such, AfricaComs bringing together of front-end developers and backend engine drivers, into one place, is an essential service to the custodians of not just Africas future, but the planets, to embrace the merging of man and machine in the 4th Industrial Revolution.

The first-ever AfricaCom in 1997, was launched in Cape Town as GSM Africa, the same year the first proposal for a regional internet registry for Africa was launched.

In 2012, AfricaCom welcomed 8,000 delegates through its doors and in 2014, Namibia became the first African country to terminate analogue TV signals, with more than 3.8 million jobs being directly or indirectly attributed to the mobile industry by 2015. Now in 2017, over 167-million Africans have access to the internet with around 300 technology hubs on the continent and AfricaCom prepares to welcome over 13 000 delegates from all corners of the world.

As a global events organisation, Informa (incorporating KNect365, the organiser for AfricaCom), took a birds eye view and early-on, recognising the growing confluence of digital, telecommunications and media. Consequently, over the past few years, it has launched several new streams and brought together global influencers to share best practice. The result is a 2017 show and conference menu that is poised to re-engineer thought processes and business outputs.

The calibre of speakers  400 of them  is a major drawcard. The conference tracks will deliver the latest advances in their respective areas. Some of the luminaries to present their insights, include: Herman Singh, group chief digital officer, MTN; John Momoh (OON), chairman and CEO of Channels Media Group; Ishaq Modibbo Kawu, director general of the National Broadcasting Commission and Joseph Hundah, CEO of Econet Media.

Another opportunity to bond is The Village. This is AfricaComs VIP luxury networking space, designed exclusively for C-Level operators and regulators, speakers and ICT leaders from large enterprises.

To register and for more information on the agenda, see https://tmt.knect365.com/africacom/.
The spending power of students is R2,702 per month, while the average South African spends about R2,503 a month, debunking the myth of the perpetually broke student somewhat.

Yolisa Nocanda, Kwanda Mkalipi and Lerato Rabotapi - Fingertips

The problem is accessing methods of payment to transfer money among themselves or make online purchases, as not all students have access to the Bank of Mom and Dad, nor do they have credit cards.

Enter Fingertips, a payment system using something every student has  a student number. The enterprise is the brainchild of Kwanda Mkalipi and Yolisa Nocanda.

Currently we are in our beta stage and are trying to test the product with some students. After we secure all regulatory and technical issues we are confident we will be able to launch our minimal viable product next year  2018, says Mkalipi.

What is Fingertips?

Fingertips is a student card payment solution for students at university, which enables them to shop online with their student card. The student card is linked to their debit card from whatever bank they use. Students will be able to use the product on the web app platform or through the mobile app.

They then go to a merchant partnered with Fingertips and checkout/pay using their student number and a pin that they have generated. If the merchant is giving student discounts, these can be redeemed using Fingertips, instead of providing long, tedious codes.

Students can also receive money from sponsors like their parents, uncle, aunt, guardian or send and receive from a student from any university using their student numbers. It makes spending simple for students, gives them access to a booming ecommerce market and makes it easier for merchants to identify students and provide them with online discounts.

How did the idea come about?

Yolisa and I have been friends since we were 15. We met in our second year of high school, and then went to varsity together.

Well in 2015, we were sitting trying to buy an item online, we were naive and thought just because we were banked we would easily shop online, but soon realised that this was very difficult for two reasons, neither of us had credit cards or parents with credit cards.

So, were sitting at this table and our student cards and bank cards were there in front of us and the idea was sparked. Why dont we put these two things together that students are always carrying around and provide them with a really cool payment solution? We did further research and found that other students were facing the same problem. Just to add an interesting fact over 70% of students dont have access to credit cards, says Mkalipi.

What happened next?

We then met Lindani Pani and Lerato Rabotapi during our long journey of trying to build Fingertips and weve all have been good friends ever since, and make a great team.

Three of us are still students, I am studying business and public management at UWC, Yolisa is studying law at UWC and Lerato is studying politics and philosophy at UCT. Lindani is a qualified software developer that has worked extensively in the fintech sector with companies like Byte Money and Indiefin.

The fintech sector is not the easiest to enter for anyone let alone four young guys in varsity, so beyond the research on the viability of the business such as market research, we needed to understand how the financial and banking sector worked in terms of the regulations and the technology behind the everyday transactions we normal folk think are simple, but are actually very complex.

We literally walked into all banks trying to figure this out, plus reading up on regulatory policy documents, we kind of took it on like another course. All in all, it took about two years for us to have the knowledge we have now and we still have a lot to learn., he says.
The continent's single largest and most influential technology, media and telecoms (TMT) event, AfricaCom 2017, from 7-9 November, promises opportunities to witness future tech trends, network with the industry elite, and learn from a line-up of global thought leaders providing inspiring content.

In a session moderated by the hugely entertaining and knowledgeable, Toby Shapshak, Delegates will be able to hear Herman Singh, Group Chief Digital Officer of MTN, share his thoughts on how Africa can capitalise on the potential of disruptive technology, or the fourth wave of the mobile industry, as he puts it. M-commerce, he believes, will be far more disruptive than PC-based e-commerce ever was.

The combination of identity, location and transactability is far more disruptive than e-commerce ever was on PCs. You dont carry a PC into a shop; your phone, you do, he says.

Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, will describe how innovative mobile network operators can bridge the digital divide and connect the next billion. Safricom is the pioneer of Mpesa, the worlds most developed mobile payment system.

Mobile

If youre looking to discover what support mobile operators need, mobile companies Millicom, Safaricom and Orange will offer expert guidance on how the mobile network operator role is evolving in response to a rapidly shifting digital landscape.

AfricaCom 2017 will provide three days of thought-provoking content and essential learning opportunities, including a chance to map Africas journey towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution with Luke Mckend, Country Director of Google South Africa and World Economic Forum Global Shaper, Rapelang Rabana.

Industry 4.0 will make manufacturing more efficient and productive. By optimising factories, it will directly improve yield. On the product side, it will also extract greater value from data for usage-based design and mass customisation, which in turn will open the way to new markets. On many levels, it will completely change the business model to an outcome-based approach.

Key to any future development will be the policies that enable or curtail progress. A keynote panel hosted by Shola Taylor, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation will explore how creating an enabling environment will support digital transformation in Africa.

Also, joining Taylor on the panel, Is the Hon. Tjekero Tweya, Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Republic of Namibia, who will lend his voice to a discussion on the critical features of such an enabling environment; developing ICT policy to facilitate and accelerate the spread of Internet connectivity and aligning public policy and private sector development in the ICT space.

Digital disruption

Unathi Mtya, CIO of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, will also facilitate a panel discussion unpacking how digital disruption is dislodging established business models and creating new opportunities for African start-ups and tech entrepreneurs. The panel will also tackle the critical importance of entrepreneurship in fuelling Africas digital economy and what start-ups can offer large corporates and vice versa.

Delegates can also access two days of informative IoT content and receive expert guidance from the likes of MTN, Barclays Africa, SqwidNet and Deloitte. There will be many unique opportunities to get the inside track on the next frontier of the digital evolution as well as insights from the likes of South African former Springbok Rugby player, turned businessman, Bob Skinstad on effective business leadership in an age of digital disruption and transformation, at the AfricaCom 20/20 session. Kicking off this session is a keynote address from Clifford de Wet, CIO  CSE lead, Africa at Microsoft addressing a digital-innovation led future for Africa.

Adding even more value to the delegate experience will be opportunities to learn about the role of public broadcasting in a digital age at the TV Connect Africa Conference where delegates will receive strategic insights from John Momoh (OON), Chairman and CEO of the Channels Media Group.

One delegate pass to AfricaCom 2017 opens access to 16 conference tracks filled with premium content designed to keep you one step ahead of the competition in an uncertain age of digital disruption and transformation.
The Cape Craft + Design Institute is now the Craft + Design Institute (CDI) - a national craft and design sector development organisation supporting businesses and sector development in all nine provinces.

Erica Elk, executive director of the CDI.

According to Erica Elk, executive director of the CDI, it is a landmark moment in the organisations history. Over the past year our team has successfully taken our services across the country  we have conducted a business and product development workshop series in every single province and received incredibly positive feedback. The message clearly is more please.

As we have been rolling out our national activities  working closely with provincial and national partners in the public sector, and increasingly with civil society and the private sector  we have come to see that it is time for this exciting evolution. The reality is that we are now operating as a national organisation. And so, our name now needs to reflect the broadness of our vision and mandate and our commitment to the development of the sector across the whole country.

SAs first craft and design directory launched

The announcement of the renaming of the Cape Craft and Design Institute as the Craft and Design Institute (CDI) coincides with the release of a new book, Design Directory, cataloguing hundreds of beautiful South African craft and design products has also launched to celebrate local talent. The Design Directory is intended as an attractive, easy-to-use resource profiling the diverse collective output of South African makers and designers.

Design Directory, cataloguing hundreds of beautiful South African craft and design products.

Over the past year our team has taken our services across the country. And we have done so successfully  we have conducted a business and product development workshop series in every single province and received incredibly positive feedback. The message clearly is more please. This book, with its showcase of the amazing talent we have worked with over the years and around the country, is envisioned as a national resource to share just how much of an abundance of talent exists out there around our country, says Elk.

She added that local and global consumers are placing increasing value on South African indigenous design, finely handmade and manufactured quality products that tell the story of the context and their makers. The Design Directory represents one of the new and exciting ways the CDI is opening up market access for local creatives.

This year the CDI also launched an online digital platform which is a first in South Africa  an un-curated, democratic and visually driven digital platform that puts makers directly in contact with consumers and buyers. This platform, supported by the South African Department of Small Business Development, has grown rapidly and already showcases over 2,000 beautiful local products.

The Design Directory is available to purchase (R290) at good bookstores nationally, at the CDI office and online.

Businesses can contact Craig Carbutt to find out more about being included in the next edition: az.gro.idceht@ttubrac.giarc or on 021 461 14.

CDI survey shows value of design retail in Cape Town is over R400m

In addition the CDI has also conducted a survey which focuses specifically on the Cape Town design retail sector for craft and design products. The survey reveals that 60 local design retailers generate at least R200m worth of retail trade which goes directly in to the local economy as 77% of the suppliers are from the province; and two prime retail nodes, the Watershed and Bay Harbour market in Hout Bay, generate R150m and R200m in annual sales respectively.

Conservatively, if you combine these three figures, and adjust for some overlaps, we can say that the sector contributes at least R400m in to the local economy annually, says Elk. This doesnt take into account the huge value of trade at weekly, monthly and seasonal craft markets, she adds.

The survey consisted of a survey of 60 design retailers in Cape Town and looked at key areas such as turnover and job creation, as well as the market conditions businesses operate in and the challenges faced.

Some of the findings from the survey include:

Design retailers combined turnover is estimated at up to R200,4m. Most design retailers turnover falls into the R600,001 and R3m band.

Foreign tourists were design retailers main customer (46% of respondents attribute over 50% of their sales to them), locals followed closely behind in second place (35%), with domestic tourists lagging behind in third place (13%).

The retailers employed up to 1,220 full time employees on the top end of the estimate. A typical design retailer creates between 1 and 10 direct jobs. Design retailers contribution to job creation includes jobs created by suppliers  these are estimated at up to 1,980 indirect jobs for the 60 respondents.

77% of respondents indicated that their suppliers are based in Cape Town and the wider Western Cape region.

There are strong mutually beneficial linkages between the design, tourism and lifestyle sectors (85% of respondents agreed). The design goods sector creates an experience that supports the development of tourism and lifestyle sectors. Whereas these aforementioned sectors increase the demand for design products, especially among consumers with a high-level of disposable income. According to Elk, there has historically been a lack of research on the sector in general in South Africa, and the design retail survey is an initial step on the part of the CDI to begin to measure the local sector in more detail.

Other findings of the survey include:

87% of the businesses are creating employment opportunities for those that with matric or less (National research shows that 91.5% of the unemployed in the province have a matric certificate or less)

65.8% of the businesses surveyed are women owned (National research shows the national average for small businesses is only 43%)

The survey also looked at two local design retail nodes and how they have stimulated economic activity and local development:

The Watershed, which is the craft and design node at the V&A Waterfront, represents a significant investment by the private sector. The V&A invested R50m in the makeover of the space. This investment has proven its value, in its first year of trading the Watershed reported an exceptional 300% increase in retail trade for the 150 craft and design businesses trading at that site. The Watersheds combined turnover for 2015/16 was R164m.

At the Hout Bay Harbour Market, for the 12 months ended October 2016, the market attracted 312,000 visitors. In addition, foot traffic has steadily increased year-on-year. Compared to 2014, visitors increased by 10% in 2015, whereas in 2016 visitors grew by 12% compared to 2015. The market creates employment opportunities for the local community through outsourcing its trade services and people form micro-enterprises to provide a service. Turnover is estimated at R200m.

This survey provides evidence to support some the trends the CDI has observed, she adds: the high proportion of women ownership, job creation, value to the tourism and lifestyle sectors, how these design retailers support the regional economy through using local suppliers, and the growth of local nodes.
Email marketing offers many personalisation options, yet not all brands are leveraging this functionality to their advantage. With the rise of hyper-personalisation that allows companies to target niche audiences with messages tailored to their real-time needs, marketers should ensure that they have the necessary systems in place to reap the benefits.

Personalisation in 2017

Email marketing already enables personalisation of properties such as the from, to and subject line fields with the option to add emojis to express the sentiment of the content. Marketers can also personalise variables including a persons name, account number and certain sections of content.

List segmentation allows marketers to deliver tailored content to a specific segment of their database, but dynamic content that leverages subscriber and behaviour data enables communication that is truly relevant.

Dynamic content can be linked to pre- and post-purchase behaviour; gender; age; birthdays; geolocation, weather conditions and shopping cart abandonment. Marketers can track subscribers online behaviour on their website to establish what theyre interested in and serve them dynamic content prior to them becoming customers. Post-purchase dynamic content can include messages about products that will complement a past purchase or messages with a callout of when last a customer used a service or purchased a product. Travel companies are good at taking advantage of this data to inform travellers of special offers to their favourite destinations.

Customers date of birth is the opportune time to highlight a special tailored to their interest, buy-one-get-one-free specials or a voucher to celebrate the special day.

Clearly, personalisation has moved beyond a subscribers name.

The power of personalisation

An obvious benefit of personalising emails is retention as recipients are unlikely to unsubscribe if content is customised. Relevant content also leads to more engagement.

Econsultancys Realities of Online Personalisation Report found that 74 percent of marketers say targeted personalisation increases customer engagement. According to Statista, the open rate for e-mails with a personalised message was 5.7% higher than those without any personalisation in 2016.

However, personalisation is no longer enough. Enter hyper-personalisation. It enables marketers to use the data they gather about each subscriber to deliver an ongoing experience that is personalised.

According to Adobes Real-Time Marketing Insights Study, 60 percent of marketers struggle to personalise content in real time, yet 77 percent believe real-time personalisation is crucial.

In a recent report done by Digital Doughnut, 26 percent of marketers identified personalisation and relevance as the top trend over the next 12 months, and 19 percent said it would be pre-eminent over the next five years.

Whether we as marketers embark on personalisation or hyper-personalisation, it is important to understand their customers journey as it influences the level of personalisation required. For example, messaging will differ if an email marketing campaign talks to someone who has just subscribed or downloaded content from a website as opposed to someone who is further along in the sales cycle.

Personalise your database

The level of personalisation marketers will achieve is dependent on the sophistication of their customer relationship management (CRM) software and preference centre.

Build a robust preference centre by asking subscribers about their interests and preferences to allow you to serve them with dynamic content. Information such as their location, type of content they prefer, date of birth and frequency will help to deliver relevant content at intervals that suit them. Some marketers argue that you should know what your customers interests are, but if you are starting a new journey, why not ask them from the beginning?

The ideal is for your CRM to become part of your personalisation centre, where the data from your audience informs tailored content.

Email marketing will soon be about engaging more effectively with a target audience to deliver a hyper-personalised message at the right time and in real-time. The aim is to take subscribers on a continuing personalised journey and to ultimately increase conversions. Are you ready for your communication to get hyper-personalised?




Over the past few years, the King James Group has built a full suite of digital capabilities to include over 90 specialists with deep expertise across data, communications, product and platform, and media. The natural next step was to bring this collective experience together under one brand to be able to offer clients a seamless end-to-end customer experience.

And thus, they have announced the launch of King James Digital. The new entity combines digital agency Punk and social media specialists Society with recent acquisitions Flint & Tinder and SOC (formerly trading as Punk Johannesburg and Punk Media).

Matt Ross, chief creative officer at King James Digital.

Existing leadership will take on new roles

The existing leadership of each agency will take on new roles in King James Digital with Nimay Parekh becoming CEO, Matt Ross CCO, Dan Pinch creative partner, and Ryan Sauer as managing partner of media and data.

The new entity will have digital specialists across Cape Town and Johannesburg working on clients including Sanlam, Santam, AB InBev, Pick n Pay, Visa, FNB, and MultiChoice, amongst others. Both offices will operate as full-fledged independent entities, whilst also collaborating nationally when required.

The move builds on the formidable reputation King James has established in digital over recent years  becoming consistently one of the most awarded agencies in the country at the Loeries and Bookmark Awards.

It also continues the evolution of one of the most respected agency groups to remain an industry leader in a time of radical disruption for South African advertising and business, and underlines the King James group-wide commitment to integrated big ideas of which digital is key.

As digital continues to grow and converge at ever-increasing speeds, we need to keep changing to better service our clients. King James Digital is an end-to-end customer experience agency with industry-leading expertise in four distinct service verticals  data, communications, product and platform, and media, explains Matt Ross, chief creative officer at King James Digital.

Heightened focus on customer experience

Nimay Parekh, CEO at King James Digital.

We believe a heightened focus on customer experience is critical. There is a huge shift afoot: the true convergence of marketing, data, technology, service and experience. No customer interaction, marketing or otherwise, should ever be done in a silo. Everything is interconnected. How well we embrace that, will determine success, now and well into the future, adds Nimay Parekh, CEO at King James Digital.

Although were treating this as a new entity and a reinvention, we are building on the strong creative foundations of all of the digital work weve done in the King James Group over the last few years. As much as this is about making a world-class digital business it is also about making the flow of ideas and work across the whole group and its many disciplines even more effective, says Dan Pinch, creative partner at King James Digital.

The industry is demanding true transparency and accurate measurability in areas of Media, Technology and Data. But, they dont know where to look and who to trust. King James Digital delivers it all under a 20-year-old brand that is synonymous with world-class  we ensure a single point of truth when working with our clients, concludes Ryan Sauer managing partner of media and data.

All speed to the end-to-end digital future.

For further information, visit the King James Digital website.
Sovereign Foods has announced the outcome of the special general meeting of shareholders held on 9 October 2017. The company, in August 2017, received a firm intention from Bidco (controlled by Capitalworks) to acquire Sovereign Foods by way of a R907m cash offer to Sovereign shareholders.

Image: Sovereign Foods

Bidco made two separate but concurrent cash offers to acquire the Sovereign shares (excluding treasury shares), by way of a scheme of arrangement (scheme) and a general offer. The offer was priced at R12 cash per Sovereign share, which represents a 33.33% premium to the failed offer from Country Bird Holdings (CBH) last year, which was priced at R9 per Sovereign share.

Whilst it has been incorrectly reported in the media that the offer has been made in conjunction with Sovereign board and management... and/or that the offer is a management buy-out, this is not the case. The offer has been made solely by Capitalworks, through Bidco, although the Sovereign board and management are supportive of the offer.

On Monday, shareholders holding 89.84% of the total Sovereign shares in issue (including treasury shares), were present in person or represented at the general meeting. The scheme was approved with approximately 100% of votes cast at the general meeting. The scheme required at least 75% approval in terms of the Companies Act.

Sovereign Foods to be delisted from the JSE later this year

In terms of the scheme, and subject to obtaining the outstanding regulatory approvals, ownership of Sovereign Foods will pass to Bidco who will acquire 100% of the Sovereign shares in issue (excluding treasury shares). As a result, it is anticipated that Sovereign Foods will be delisted from the JSE later this year.

Sovereign Foods is pleased with the voting result of the general meeting as it is indicative of the overwhelming support by Sovereign shareholders for the offer, said Chris Coombes, Sovereign Foods CEO.

Avian influenza successfully contained

Sovereign Foods also announced last week that the avian influenza (AI) outbreak  discovered at a layer house on one of its farms in the Eastern Cape  has, to date, been successfully contained and that the cumulative loss of production to date represents approximately 1% of Sovereign Foods total production pipeline.

Coombes said: We are pleased to announce that no further incidents of AI have been detected at any of our Eastern Cape farms. We are monitoring the situation and will continue to implement strict biosecurity controls at all of our sites in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng. To date, our Gauteng facilities have not been affected.
The need for importers to view their supply chain processes as real assets rather than just a means to an end is now more important than ever, says Investec Import Solutions. With a slowing economy and weakening currency, businesses that import require greater visibility if they are to unlock value in their supply chains.

Its about transparency and control. Knowing the fastest or most viable route to market or having insights into pockets of information about suppliers, possible trade route delays and container loads could go a long way to mitigating operational and consumer risks, says Adam Orlin, CEO of Investec Import Solutions.

The company's BlueLink online system was launched to address this need, providing importers with a full view of their transactions. "BlueLink enables Investec Import Solutions customers to optimise their inbound supply chain from booking forex, controlling inventory in transit, reducing shipping times, pre-clearing goods, managing cartage from port to warehouse and scheduling delivery of goods  all while ensuring supplier and end customer payment terms are matched for each shipment," says the company.

Technology a gamechanger

As businesses continue to tighten their belts they need to understand the real costs of their imports and how to mine the process and information that technology is making available to them, to their advantage, adds Orlin.

Experience, growth partners and technology are proving to be the enablers here. Technology is changing the import game, he says.

Not only can it reduce costs, but it also provides for better monitoring and control of the state of the business strategy. Having access to innovative technology provides importers with improved management of their supplier relationships, costs and availability of product. Thanks to having detailed information right down to container level, importers are able to manage their inventory even whilst goods are in transit. This goes a long way to not only ensuring processes are streamlined, but that focus can be placed on the business rather than worrying about logistics.

The Far East trade route to South Africa has experienced significant port congestion due to reduced vessel capacity, rolling backlogs and higher freight rates. Carriers are reporting up to six weeks delays in cargo booked out of ports in Brazil to South Africa, due to weak import volumes and the need to consolidate containers, not to mention the trade union strike in June which is still having knock-on effects. Furthermore, as of 1 August 2017, many carriers have implemented their General Rate Increase on a number of trade lanes.

Its difficult to determine where the industry is moving to, but one thing is certain  getting the import value chain right will be critical and the only way to do that is to ensure importers have greater visibility to make the right decision not only for their businesses, but for the growth of the economy as a whole, concludes Orlin.
Jane Reddick of GreenCape, an NGO driven by the widespread of economically viable green economy solutions in the Western Cape, recently delivered her presentation to hotel establishment members on the organisation's role in saving water.

Members participated in a Q&A discussion and directed questions to a panel made-up of Jeff Rosenberg; Western Cape minister for economic opportunities, Alan Winde; mayoral committee member for informal settlements, water and waste services and energy, councillor Xanthea Limberg and Lea Smith, Institute of Plumbing South Africa; thereafter signing the FEDHASA Cape Water Wise Pledge to demonstrate the commitment to reduce water consumption and increase awareness campaigns for guests. The pledge was later handed over to Winde.

From left to right: Joep Schoof, Chairperson: FEDHASA Cape Hotels segment; Jeff Rosenberg, Chairperson: FEDHASA Cape; Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities, Western Cape; Chris Godenir, Alternate: FEDHASA Cape Hotels segment and councillor Xanthea Limberg, mayoral committee member for informal settlements, water and waste services and energy.

The FEDHASA Cape Water Wise Pledge states: FEDHASA Cape supports the Western Cape Province and the City of Cape Town's Water Saving initiatives, and we challenge all associations and businesses to take urgent action to save water. We are committed to both short and long-term improvement in our water conservation measures, as a part of our commitment to responsible tourism practices that protect and enhance the natural, cultural, social and economic environment.

Day zero is not an option and we are challenging the commercial sector to work alongside us to avoid it. Water saving is a unified effort and hoteliers cant do it alone. The responsibility to conserve this much-needed resource rests on all of our shoulders.

Policy and implementation plan

Each individual member establishment that signed the pledge will also sign and display a copy of the full pledge in their respective properties for all to see and be reminded that Cape Town hotels are doing whats necessary to conserve water. In addition, FEDHASA Cape will also establish a water-wise task team to assist members to, among other things, develop a water wise policy and implementation plan for their businesses, as well as assist with the capturing and monitoring process.

Day zero is not an option and we are challenging the commercial sector to work alongside us to avoid it. Water saving is a unified effort and hoteliers cant do it alone. The responsibility to conserve this much-needed resource rests on all of our shoulders. We were united with the power crisis and we need to do the same now. Everyone agrees that were nothing without water, said Rosenberg.

To strengthen member establishments awareness campaigns, Rosenberg said hotels are advised to start in the lobby. He suggested in your face tactics to communicate to guests, including international visitors, the extent of the crisis and urged hotels to continue implementing existing initiatives and enforcing new ones.

We need to be robust in our efforts and need to start thinking innovatively to come-up with new, fresh ideas to prevent this crisis from extending any further, concluded Rosenberg.
One cubic metre of concrete has a carbon footprint of 350kg of CO2, making this staple material in the construction industry one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases in the world. This fact was shared by Cyril Attwell , researcher and director at ARC Projects, at this year's annual GBCSA Green Building Convention. Attwell, however, is one ardent scientist looking to turn concrete's bad rap around, exploring ways to take the material from grey to green.

He's worked on a number of projects that have seen not only high reductions in CO2 output, but big cost savings as well.

Gautrain

Working on the development of the Gautrain, Attwell was asked to design the concrete and oversee the production of it for the project. From an original estimate of 340,000 tonnes of cement, he was able to reduce the required amount to 210,000 tonnes. How? By replacing 32% of the cement with flyash from mine dumps. The outcome was that approximately 130-million kilogrammes of carbon dioxide were saved.

"The original estimation of cement usage would have needed 4.5km x 3km of rainforest, alive for 40 years, to counteract the carbon dioxide reduced in making the cement for the Gautrain. Due to the technology we applied, we reduced that by 2.5km x 3km," explained Attwell.

Using the molecular integration of the human skeleton as inspiration, they also managed to achieve 74MPa for the material.

"Even more unique was the flexural strength increase," said Attwell. "The standard relationship between compressive strength and flexural strength is you have 10% flexural strength of compressive, but because of the crystal formations we had, we were able to increase that to 22%."

Portside Tower

Attwell also worked on the development of the Portside Tower, not only the tallest building in Cape Town, but the largest autoclaved aerated concrete structure in the world currently. In producing the concrete for the five-star Green Star certified building, 65% of the material constituted waste from the steel industry, reducing carbon output by 58%.

City Deep Container Terminal

In the construction of the 146,000m2 of paving at the City Deep Container Terminal dry port in Gauteng, 100% replacement waste material was used. Along with a 92.7% reduction in carbon emissions and increased durability - at its peak the terminal handles 300 trucks a day - the project saw a 30% reduction in material costs, and a 25% reduction in labour costs.

"This site, to date, is the only site where you broke up 77,000m3 of concrete and used 100% of it - no other site has done this in South Africa yet... We either utilised it on site, or sold it to our other sites and used it there," explained Attwell.

Loved Cyril Atwells passion for what he does. Also concept of waste being an "unnatural resource" #DareToLead #GBCSA2017 @GBCSA  Kevin James (@kevinjGCX) October 10, 2017

The project was named runner-up in the 2014 Nedbank Capital Sustainable Business Awards Infrastructure and Renewable Energy category.

For more info on GBCSA's 10th annual Green Building Convention, go to www.gbcsaconvention.org.za.
Globally, mobile payments will reach $75bn in 2017, with the potential of reaching $503bn by 2020 as a result of advances in technology, research from Business Insider shows. Is it really possible that over the next three years mobile payment providers will be responsible for transactions to the value of half a trillion dollars?

Consumers want options

In the tourism industry, mobile payment technologies have forced both direct travel suppliers, such as the airlines, and intermediaries, such as corporate travel agencies, to review the scope of the offering as the battle for business in this highly competitive sector continues to intensify.

Access to smartphones underpins transacting where consumers enable their devices to connect wirelessly to payment readers. In 2012, 17% of online payments were made through mobile wallets and, by the end of this year, this should rise to 41%.

This means appealing to corporate or private travellers by delivering a variety of best-of-breed solutions to meet client needs, whether in terms of costs, security or efficiencies.

Rise of the virtual card

One growing trend in corporate travel payments is the virtual card. Though less common in South Africa than in the US or Europe, virtual cards have become popular as an alternative to credit cards, usually for staff members who travel either infrequent or on contract and as such wouldnt warrant access to a corporate credit card.

A Carson Wagonlit Travel survey shows that introducing virtual payments to their payments strategy is a high priority for 32% of travel managers. Aside from streamlining administration, many travel managers use virtual credit cards today because they address their need to control the payment process.

Virtual cards can reduce some of the risk and offset the potential inefficiencies associated with regular corporate travel. Since no physical card is presented to the merchant, the likelihood of the virtual card being cloned or stolen is reduced, but only if the physical card is always protected against fraud. One concern with the use of the virtual cards is the tightening of merchant fraud parameters, which includes card-acquiring banks clamping down on the processing of transactions where a physical card is not present.

Another payment trend that might interest travel management companies is tokenisation. Traditionally, when a card or mobile payment is made, the card number passes through various virtual touchpoints to be authorised. Tokenisation counters this as the original number is stored in a secure token vault, and replaced with a unique token number that a fraudulent user would struggle to link to anything else along the chain even if they manage to intercept the token number. This technology will vastly reduce the corporate card issuers write-offs due to fraud, and will enhance operational efficiencies as less time spent liaising with the recon department regarding cancelled or unauthorised transactions.

Out with the new, in with the old

One might consider Bluetooth a dated technology, but in terms of using the technology for making payments, it is still a great option. Bluetooth has certain advantages over other technologies, such as a much longer range than NFC technology. Bluetooth class 4 devices can reach up to 50 metres compared to NFC's requirement for the two devices to be within centimetres of each other. Added to this, for the corporate executive that needs every second at his or her disposal, Bluetooth creates a truly hands-free experience since transactors do not have to take out their devices and tap them to a reader. Finally, for the time-conscious, payment processing is always faster through Bluetooth than through NFC technology.

When catering for corporate travellers there is no shortage of variety, but the different payment technologies also need to be measured in terms of efficiency, costs and processing times.
ACCRA, Ghana - Ghana is home to the world's favourite cocoa beans. They're bigger in size, have a higher butter content and superior flavour - all qualities which make Ghana's cocoa the world standard against which all cocoa is measured. But while cocoa used to be the biggest foreign exchange earner for the West African country, contributing about 45 percent of the total foreign exchange earnings, now the commodity barely provides 25 percent.

"They [farmers who sell their lands] don't know what they are doing because cocoa is a legacy that can be left to children, unlike one-time cash." - Nana Kwasi Ofori of the Cocoa Farmers Association

Farmers in Ghana follow a strict routine in the planting, harvesting and drying of cocoa, supported and monitored by the government regulator, the Ghana Cocoa Board.

They employ natural drying of the beans in the sun (instead of heating), turning the beans at regular intervals for not less than a week. This natural and painstaking means of drying ensures the beans turn out their characteristic golden brown. The layers of monitoring at the time of purchase are all part of government's intervention.

The country is the second-biggest supplier of cocoa worldwide, beaten only by its West African neighbour, Cote D'Ivoire. But Ghana was once the world champion. It lost the first spot to its neighbour in the 1970s after the government reduced the price given to farmers, thereby discouraging many from going into the venture.

Factors contributing to the shortfall

Several factors have contributed to the shortfall. Distribution of free or subsidised farm inputs such as fertilisers or chemicals has been fraught with several challenges. "Not all of us were given the free fertilisers. And they were politicising it. Someone with a small farm of four acres could be given 50 bags of fertiliser while others with very big farms were given less," Abusuapanyin Kwabena Amankwaa, a cocoa farmer, told IPS.

Central Regional Chief Cocoa Farmer Nana Kwasi Ofori also said that "farmers who are not cultivating cocoa were given some of the inputs."

CEO of the Cocoa Board Joseph Baidoo has said his interactions with farmers revealed that Ghana's fertilisers - which are not supposed to be for sale - were, in fact, being sold in Nigeria, Gabon and other neighbouring African countries, adding that this meant the free fertilisers were given to political party loyalists who were not cocoa farmers.

Diseases such as black pod, swollen shoot, and capsids have had a field day as a result.

The new government decided to discontinue the free fertiliser programme following what it says were complaints from farmers. Instead, it wants to sell the fertiliser at subsidized prices.

Ghana has an annual cocoa production target of one million tonnes. That target was achieved in 2011. Since then the government has struggled to maintain the target, with annual production hovering around 800,000 tonnes.

In previous years, the government decided to absorb the cost and technical assistance needed to apply the right chemicals and fertilisers to cocoa farms nationwide - initiatives called the Mass Spraying Exercise and the Hi-tech Programme, respectively. The government also created the Rehabilitation Programme where old, less productive trees were felled and replaced with new, more-yielding hybrid seedlings for free. This saw a big dividend in cocoa bean output, with the country recording its highest cocoa output of over one million tonnes in 2011. But the government has not been able to sustain the programme.

The galamsey invasion

Probably the biggest threat to hit the cocoa industry in recent times is illegal mining, locally called galamsey. The upsurge in the search for gold between 2012 and 2016 has threatened the livelihoods of several cocoa farmers as galamsey takes over cocoa farms.

"Some chiefs are part of the problem which we are facing. They sell the land to the miners and collect the money so sometimes farmers are not even compensated," said Nana Kwasi Ofori, an executive member of the Cocoa Farmers Association. Most farmers are tenant farmers who work on lands owned by chiefs or families. Fifty-three-year-old Adwoa Oforiwaa, a cocoa farmer in the Central Region, says she was only given 500 cedis (about $112) as compensation when galamsey operators took over a good part of her farm.

"When they [galamsey operators] come, they tell you they have orders from the chiefs or even government, and they start the destruction," she added.

A journalist in the Western Region - the leading cocoa-producing region in Ghana - Yaw Obrempong says some farmers willingly sell off their cocoa farms for ready cash. "If the galamsey operator is here with a bag full of cash, why won't I sell my land instead of staying in a queue for over two weeks only to be given a bag of fertiliser?" Obrempong noted.

He says some farmers claim they had to pay bribes in order to get farm inputs from the government. Other farmers sold their lands when the much-needed labour to work on the cocoa farms shifted into illegal mining.

But Ofori says, "They [farmers who sell their lands] don't know what they are doing because cocoa is a legacy that can be left to children, unlike one-time cash."

The galamsey invasion has affected a good part of the 1.7 million hectares of cocoa farms in the country. The government has launched an anti-galamsey crusade to flush out illegal miners. With the help of a task force including the military, several arrests and confiscation of galamsey equipment have been carried out. The launch of the Media Coalition against Galamsey has also given the government a shot in the arm. The government has moved the crusade a notch higher with the announcement by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources of its intention to procure drones at the cost of $3m for surveillance.

Guaranteed pricing

Nonetheless, cocoa remains the most important economic crop for Ghana, raking in about $2bn dollars annually, contributing to some 4.22 percent of the country's GDP. Such a feat has been achieved through government interventions such as price stability. For instance, the world price of cocoa beans has plummeted from about $3,122 per ton last year to about $1,900 this year, yet the Cocoa Board maintained a producer price of 7,600 cedis per ton ($1,700).

The Board is able to cushion farmers with a Stabilisation Fund established some ten years ago, as well as other sources of funds. This presents a big advantage for cocoa farmers in Ghana over other cocoa-producing countries on the continent this year.

For instance, the Ivorian government has slashed the prices of cocoa almost by a third, to 700 CFA per kg (about $1,300 per ton). Some Ghanaians have expressed concern that the development is likely to reverse the dreaded cross-border smuggling of cocoa (Ghana has in the past seen a lot of its cocoa smuggled to their neighbour countries because of price differences).

But professor of Food Science and Technology at the University of Ghana, Emmanuel Afoakwa says: "it is not likely because Ghana is bent on protecting its premium quality and so there is tight security to ensure cocoa does not move from Cote D'Ivoire and other countries into the country." He adds that "farmers must cherish that government is interested in their welfare because the government now loses about 500 dollars on every ton of cocoa bought from them."

The Ghana Cocoa Board also has an arrangement to pay for the felling and replanting of old and diseased cocoa trees. The board has announced that it will be giving away about 60 million seedlings to farmers for replanting. The exercise, called rehabilitation, is meant to boost output. The Government also has a programme to woo youth into the sector to replace ageing cocoa farmers. The Board is providing support for all young cocoa farmers by giving them hybrid pods, improved seedlings, free fertiliser and inputs, a farmer business school programme, as well as extension support to boost cocoa production. Cocoa farmers are also pushing for a Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme which they believe will help attract the youth.

Cocoa processing

To maximise revenue from cocoa, the government has its eyes on adding value to the cocoa it exports. The global cocoa market has an estimated value of $9bn for unprocessed cocoa beans, about $28bn for semi-processed/intermediate products and a whopping $87bn for fully processed/final products. In an attempt to get its share of the $87bn cake, the government has set a target of processing 50 percent of its exported cocoa.

Currently, the seven processing companies operating at various levels of value-addition, process about 25 percent of the county's exported cocoa. But most of the processed cocoa are exported in the semi-processed form of cocoa paste.

Prof. Afoakwa says the huge capital requirement involved in processing cocoa into finished products fit for export could be a big hurdle for Ghana. Moreover, there are high tariff walls with regards to the export of processed products. For example, the European Union levies no duties on the import of raw cocoa beans but levies a 7.7 percent and 15 percent duty on cocoa powder and cocoa cake, respectively.

He believes heightening the campaign on the consumption of cocoa products would be one way of tackling the issue. "I'm working with Ghana Cocoa Board to conduct the cocoa product processing competition and we are bringing together ten different polytechnic institutions to develop new products using cocoa. We are going to invite high schools to come witness it. What we are trying to do is to advocate for higher consumption of cocoa products and this can be done when we know the kind of different products that we can make out of cocoa," he added.
The Minister of Transport, Joe Maswanganyi, together with the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) responsible for transport and public works in the Western Cape province, Donald Grant, recently undertook a site inspection to monitor progress on a R487m road infrastructure upgrade and development project on the N1 between Plattekloof Road and the Old Oak Interchange.

Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash

Approximately 120,000 vehicles travel along this stretch during the morning inbound and afternoon outbound peaks with the addition of an extra lane on both sides of the freeway expected to significantly reduce congestion and travel time.

Project to be completed April 2019

If everything goes according to plan, the project will be complete in April 2019.

The work, being implemented in phases, includes the upgrades of additional lanes on both sides of the freeway, new auxiliary lanes, extensions of the existing concrete median barrier, intersection improvements along the affected stretch, the demolition and reconstruction of the Old Oak West Bridge and repairs to other bridges.

Work on installing the Freeway Management System (FMS), in the meanwhile, has been completed, while completion of the entire project is targeted for April 2019.

The project is creating a number of short-term job and skills development opportunities. To date, R9,7m has been spent on targeted labour while 12,500 person-days of work have been created for people from the City of Cape Town Municipal area.

Windemere Rail Network Control Centre

The Minister and MEC also visited the Windemere Rail Network Control Centre to monitor progress regarding closeness to completion of the project.

The Windemere Rail Network Control Centre will assist, among others in addressing challenges such as poor levels of train reliability and predictability, railway infrastructure and technology that has reached the end of its design lifespan, high costs of maintenance, failure to contribute to an efficient transport system, the inability to support economic activity and limited access to socio-economic opportunities for the society in general.

The Ministers visit forms part of the Departments October Transport Month Campaign (OTM) for 2017 under the theme: Together we move South Africa Forward.

Now in its 12th year running, the OTM was endorsed by Cabinet and inaugurated in 2005 to raise awareness of the important role of transport in the economy and to encourage participation from civil society and business, including the provision of a safe and more affordable, accessible and reliable transport system in the country
Labour sector representatives will converge in East London for a Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting.

The Department of Labour Director General, Thobile Lamati, will host the SADC Employment and Labour Sectors joint tripartite technical meeting (JTTM) in East London in the Eastern Cape from 16 to 18 October.

The JTTMs main purpose is to prepare for the SADC Employment and Labour Sector meeting, which will be hosted by Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant in 2018.

Minister Oliphant will host Ministers responsible for Employment and Labour and social partners from the SADC region as the chairperson following South Africa taking over the blocs chairmanship from August 2017 to August 2018.

The JTTM, in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) office in Pretoria, will deliberate on issues such as digitalization, global supply chain, small, medium and micro enterprises, apprenticeships and youth employment. This is against the backdrop of heightened concerns that the sustained slow growth is weakening the outlook for jobs, exacerbating unemployment, poverty and inequality.

Next weeks meeting will conclude with the drafting of the Ministerial Declaration for the SADC ELS meeting and will be signed by the President at the end of South Africas chairmanship.

The JTTM will convene again in February 2018 to finalise preparations for the ministerial meeting that will follow in March 2018.
One of the bigger news stories this week has been a tacit admission by Microsoft's Joe Belfiore that Windows Phone is essentially dead.

Image via Gearburn

The former face of Microsofts mobile platform confirmed that new hardware and features werent a focus anymore, adding that he had switched from Windows Phone

So with that in mind, we bid adieu to Windows Phone, looking at five of the greatest devices ever released.

Nokia Lumia 920

The Lumia 800 and Lumia 900 continued the colourful polycarbonate design pioneered by the Nokia N9, but it was the Lumia 920 that dramatically upped the ante with features and the camera.

Featuring wireless charging, optical image stabilisation (extremely uncommon for phones at the time) and the ability to use the touchscreen with gloves, the Lumia 920 was one of the more feature-filled Windows Phones ever released.

Nokia Lumia 520

The best thing about Windows Phone? Ask budget smartphone owners and theyll say it was the performance on low-end hardware. Proof of this was 2013s Lumia 520.

Coming in at roughly R2000, you got a dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage. Sure, you might see the dreaded resuming screen more often while multitasking, but it still delivered a brisk experience compared to budget Android rivals.

Special mention also goes to the Proline SP4 and the VERSSED W1, being two local Windows Phones that offered similar specs for around R1000.

Nokia Lumia 1020

What if smartphone manufacturers didnt have to worry about silly considerations like thickness when it came to designing a great mobile camera? Well, the result would be the Lumia 1020 (see featured image).

Featuring a beastly 41MP shooter that juts out like a large biscuit, the 1020 was the ultimate mobile camera  it still delivers great shots today. It wasnt perfect though, owing to a slow dual-core processor that couldnt keep up with the 38MP photos. As a result, shot-to-shot times of four seconds were to be expected.

Great optical image stabilisation (using ball bearings and springs), pixel oversampling (for better low-res shots and lossless zoom), RAW support, the Lumia Pro Camera app (which has been aped by LG and others) and excellent audio recording made it stand out even more. If only we saw an updated version with a Snapdragon 835 and 4GB of RAM

Microsoft Lumia 1520

Its a large phone, even by todays standards, thanks to a 6-inch full HD screen. But phablet fans and/or those with large hands were getting a device that delivered on most fronts.

Featuring a 20MP OIS-enabled main camera, great audio quality, a lush screen and a long battery life, the only real downside to the 1520 was, like all Windows Phones, the lack of apps.

Much like the Lumia 930, the 1520 featured the Denim Update, which brought innovative and crowd-pleasing camera features like dynamic flash and dynamic HDR capture. Both allow you to adjust the level of flash/HDR after the fact, being a feature thats still largely unseen on todays phones.

HTC One M8 for Windows

The HTC One M8 is quite possibly the best Android phone ever made by the Taiwanese firm. But the company made headlines when it swapped Android for Windows Phone in 2014.

Yep, you had the same Snapdragon 801 processor, full HD screen and 4MP UltraPixel camera with depth effects as the Google-powered version. The phone isnt compatible with Windows 10 Mobile though. But then again, given the lack of feature updates

Still, the phone makes the list owing to it being a flagship Android phone that made the transition to Windows Phone just fine.
This week on the big screen; a kelp-horn-blowing man is deeply drawn to a very particular whale in the South African film The Whale Caller, a CIA interrogator finds herself at the centre of a devastating biological attack on London in Unlocked, a detective hunts down a serial killer in The Snowman, a once-successful businesswoman gets a young writer to pen her life story in the comedy The Last Word, and a newly released prison gangster is forced by the leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime in Shot Caller.

The Whale Caller

Based on the acclaimed book of the same title by Zakes Mda and adapted for the screen by Zola Maseko, The Whale Caller is an enchanting, romantic comedy of sorts, told through lyrical and magical storytelling.

Set in Hermanus, the scenic whale watching capital of South Africa, this is a vibrant tale of the new South Africa, with all of its challenges and complexities. It is about whales and nature. But above all, it is about people.

Unlocked

When a CIA interrogator unwittingly provides information to terrorists, she must race against the clock to stop a biological attack on London.

Directed by BAFTA award-winner Michael Apted (The World Is Not Enough) and based on a screenplay by Peter OBrien (Halo: Reach).

The Snowman

A terrifying thriller from director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), based on Jo Nesbs global bestseller.

For Detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender), the murder of a young woman on the first snow of the winter feels like anything but a routine homicide case in his district. From the start of the investigation, The Snowman has personally targeted him with taunts - ones that continue to accompany each new vicious murder.

The films screenplay is by Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Debt) and Hossein Amini (The Wings of the Dove, Drive) and Sren Sveistrup (Forbrydelsen, The Killing).

The Last Word

A once successful businesswoman in tight control of every aspect of her life, Harriet Lauler (Shirley MacLaine), is suddenly inspired to engage a young local writer Anne Sherman (Amanda Seyfried) to pen her lifes story.

As the journey unfolds, the two women develop a unique bond which alters not only Harriets legacy, but also Annes future.

Directed by Mark Pellington (The Mothman Prophecies, Henry Poole Is Here) from a script by Stuart Ross Fink.

Shot Caller

This crime thriller follows a Pasadena financier (Nicolaj Coster-Waldau) whos thrown into prison after a drunk-driving accident. A fish out of water, he is forced to do the unimaginable to survive within the prison gang hierarchy where one wrong move can be your last.

The gritty crime thriller is directed by Ric Roman Waugh (Snitch, That Which I Love Destroys Me) from his own screenplay.

Read more about the latest film releases at www.writingstudio.co.za
La Colombe in Constantia, Cape Town was the only African restaurant featured in TripAdvisor's Travellers' Choice Awards for the best fine dining restaurants around the world. La Colombe was placed seventh in the list of Top 10 Travellers' Choice Restaurants in the World.

"La Colombe has consistently received worldwide acclaim and our passionate team is extremely proud to be recognised amongst the top restaurants in the world, said head chef Scot Kirton.

This year's awards recognised nearly 400 fine dining restaurants, including the top 25 in the world, plus dedicated lists for Asia, Europe, India, Canada, Mexico, Australia, South America, South Pacific, the UK, and the US. Award-winners were selected based on an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews for restaurants around the world over a 12-month period.

Brooke Ferencsik, senior director of communications for TripAdvisor comments, "Whether celebrating a special occasion or simply looking for a culinary discovery, travellers can rely on these Travellers' Choice restaurants to serve up delectable meals and unforgettable moments."

Visit www.lacolombe.co.za to learn more about La Colombe and its sister restaurant La Petite Colombe that recently opened in Franschhoek.
South Africa's debt could increase considerably because of the nuclear deal, even before it happens, due to potential investor disputes around intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) for nuclear.

South Africa currently has two strategic partnership agreements relating to nuclear. These include an agreement with the Russian Federation and another with the Peoples Republic of China, agreements which create a favourable regime for investors from these countries, says Francesca de Gasparis, Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (Safcei) executive director.

The Russian agreement, in particular, creates a strategic partnership between the two states (Russia and South Africa) to implement the national plan for nuclear power sector development. This results in a special regime guaranteeing Russian investors a more favourable position than those of other nations in this sphere of the economy, she says.

In addition to this, South Africa is simultaneously also a signatory to several other bilateral investment treaties that guarantee non-discrimination against the investors of these countries, such as China and Korea which means that preferential nuclear procurement agreements potentially violate these investment treaties.

Servicing national debt

South Africa is currently spending R162bn in 2017/18 on servicing its national debt  more than it spends on tertiary education or land reform and almost equal to what it spends on social grants and health, respectively  while the countrys debt-to-GDP ratio now stands at 50,7% of the GDP, up from 27.8% in 2008, and rising steadily.

We need to be sure that government fully understands the implications and costs of the nuclear deal, as well as the risk of potential investor disputes that could result from South Africas nuclear IGAs. These cover a proposed fleet of 9,600GW of nuclear power and a plethora of related nuclear business and development activities, she adds.

The power plants alone are estimated to cost over R1trn and already millions have been spent on the programme. Yet, SA still has nothing concrete to show for it.

Voicing concerns

Safcei has delivered a letter to the office of the presidency and the minister of energy, expressing concerns. Both the state president and the minister of energy need to be aware that these strategic nuclear partnerships would then expose the SA government to damages claims for discriminating against investors from other trading partners in the nuclear procurement program, should it proceed with procurement while still being a signatory to preferential nuclear agreements, says de Gasparis.

Further to this, SAFCEI is also asking the president and the minister to publicly state that the government will no longer consider itself bound by the agreement between the governments of the Republic of South Africa and the Russian Federation, on strategic partnership and cooperation in the fields of nuclear power and industry in 2014.

Still binding

In the Earthlife Africa v Minister of Energy matter (WC 19529/15) the court set aside the tabling in Parliament of several nuclear IGAs, including the strategic partnership agreement between South Africa and the Russian Federation  which were all tabled under section 231(3) of the Constitution, rather than under section 231(2). While these agreements are not enforceable currently at the domestic level, they are still binding at the international level.

This means that signatories have undertaken to not act contrary to the intention of these agreements. Therefore, the existence of strategic and preferential nuclear procurement agreements could adversely impact the perceived impartiality of any bidding process for tenders for nuclear procurements falling under these agreements, which extend from the procurement of power stations to waste management and a host of related activities.

Safcei was alerted to this matter in June 2017, when it was announced that the minister of energy intends to renegotiate all its current nuclear IGAs, though it is unclear what form these will take in the future.
Marking the fifth anniversary of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the European Union co-hosted a high-level event noting that more needs to be done in land tenure governance.

The VGGT promote secure tenure rights for land, fisheries and forests as a means of eradicating hunger and poverty, supporting sustainable development and enhancing the environment.

"The guidelines have improved the lives of millions of people by recognising, protecting and enhancing their legitimate tenure rights," said FAO director-general Jose Graziano da Silva. "There are still many challenges... First, private sector engagement should be fostered in many countries. Second, more actions should be undertaken at local and grassroots levels, and third, equal gender participation must be further strengthened," he said.

"The EU is committed to support a responsible approach to governance of tenure and to protect the interest and needs of land users. This is a win-win for all, as good land governance helps responsible resource management, creates business opportunities and contributes to sustainable development," said Neven Mimica, European commissioner for International Cooperation and Development.

Guidelines inspire policy and law reforms

In the five years since the guidelines were endorsed, they have inspired policy and legal reforms in many countries, from Gabon to Guatemala, and have started to make a difference to people's lives.

In Senegal, the guidelines have helped shape the National Land Policy which recognises different forms of legitimate rights over land. Sierra Leone's National Land Policy is largely based on the guidelines. Kenya has enacted the Community Land Act that promotes standards laid out in the guidelines to bring about land reforms in communal areas.

Colombia is using the guidelines to address post-conflict land-related issues and promote rural transformation through improved governance of tenure. The guidelines are also used in Burundi, Somalia, Sudan and other countries to help resolve land conflicts.

Last year, Uganda issued over 2,000 certificates of occupation to help protect customary tenure rights. In 2015, Russia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan sought to strengthen tenure rights by improving technology used for land registration based on the guidelines.

FAO and EU support implementation

According to the Global Donor Working Group on Land, more than 200 programmes are currently in place all over the world to support the implementation of the guidelines.

Currently the European Union is supporting around 90 land governance projects in 40 countries, for a total budget of more than 240m. Over 60m of this is specifically to ensure the application of the Voluntary Guidelines in 18 countries, many of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

FAO's support to countries to implement the guidelines, including work in 78 countries, is funded by (in alphabetical order) Belgium, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The guidelines were officially endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in 2012. The CFS is based at FAO's headquarters and is the top forum of the United Nations on food security policies.
For a decade and a half, South Africa's National Business Awards has recognised outstanding achievements by companies in a host of focus areas: sustainability, customer focus, tech innovation, fast growth and more. Also among the awards' alumni are hundreds of individual business champions who have taken home the trophy for Business Leader of the Year; Entrepreneur of the Year or Top Young Executive.

This years ceremony (16 November, Emperors Palace) marks the 15th crystal anniversary of the National Business Awards. A flood of entries came in from companies looking to outshine the competition and position themselves strongly ahead of the December business wind-down. One category that got the most hits - in tune with the growing omnipotence of digital technology - is new to the roster: Digital Company of the Year. In contention for top honours are integrated ICT provider Gijima, digital marketing agency Liquorice; Microsoft SA; mobile solutions provider Morpheus Commerce; digi-fashion phenomenon Superbalist and online education powerhouse, GetSmarter. The latters meteoric rise is worth reading about; in the biggest-ever deal for a local edtech company, US-based firm 2U recently concluded a R1.4 billion acquisition of the Cape-based company - which has been in operation for less than a decade.

Among those flying the green flag for Sustainability this year are heavyweights Alexander Forbes, Coca-Cola, Hyundai, Massmart, Woolworths and Old Mutual. Companies up for the Awards crowning accolade, National Business of the Year, include BrandsEye, Britehouse (a division of Dimension Data), Discovery Health, Hetzner, Woolworths; Top 500-listed Cape Town ICC and Richfield Graduate Institute of Technology.

Meanwhile, in line for individual award trophies are almost 30 business innovators including Get Smarters co-founder Sam Paddock, property powerhouse Xoliswa Daku and Gautrains Tshepo Kgobe. Altogether, well over 100 finalists are confirmed across 15 organisational and individual categories. View the full list of awards finalists here.

Their success is South Africas success

In the wake of their public acclaim on the national stage, many past finalists and winners of the National Business Awards have experienced a positive business impact (international research supports the value of such business awards). Of course, their success is already substantial - when combined, the annual turnover of 2017s awards finalists runs in the multi millions. As a collective, they are also essential job providers for thousands of South Africans - in a year when unemployment has breached 27%.

To qualify as Finalists, entrants had to submit a range of impressive performance metrics and data to awards host Top Media & Communications research and nominations team - along with powerfully-written motivations outlining their vision, their journey and their impact on society. Some excerpts:

Dells passion for youth development and community upliftment stems directly from our leaders and legacy. We understand that youth development is not just about technology but also about preparing our young people for success. The shared responsibility between Dell and youth brings about real learning opportunities and real change. Our ongoing mission will be to continually help youth discover more possibilities through programmes such as Khulisa Academy.The Khulisa Academy is the only one of its kind in South Africa; which stands as a testament to Dells commitment to bringing new innovative possibilities to the youth in our country.

Dell Computers: Innovation through Technology Finalist

I am a young, black South African who has worked really hard to achieve what I have, becoming an Executive at the young age of 28. The furniture industry is a tough one dominated by males, so to be so triumphant is indicative of the hard work that has gone into building such a career. Apart from my career, I have built a reputation for honesty, integrity and fairness. They say that you are only as successful as your team and many of my team have moved on to bigger and greater positions; indicating that it was because of my leadership skills. That is something I am proud of.

Natashia Smith, Bradlows: Top Young Executive of the Year Finalist

Eight years ago, Noelene Kotschan, Founder and CEO of PinkDrive, identified the issue within the cancer space, specifically with womens cancers (breast and cervical), that not enough was being done in South Africa to fight this dreaded disease. Today, we are offering our FREE breast, cervical, prostate and testicular cancer screening services to the medically uninsured in South Africa. Without a doubt, we are making an impact in communities and drive the message that Early Detection Save Lives.To date, PinkDrive has done more than 12,000 mammograms, educated more than 340 200 people regarding breast cancer and conducted over 114,900 sessions on how to DIY a clinical breast examination.

PinkDrive: Top Performing Public Service Finalist

Top Media and Communications Marketing and Events Director Karla Fletcher said,Our judges were seriously impressed by the calibre of entries they received. Divining winners from finalists will not be easy for them. Every leading business has a core priority that it pursues, whether its to be an employer of choice, a sustainability champion or to improve the quality of ordinary South Africans lives. The marketplace should know that every finalist qualified for our awards has been astutely researched and shown to be the best at what they do.

Thats a view endorsed by this years first-rate Judging Panel (read about them here), which includes the likes of Isilumkos Nritika Singh, Netcares Dr Nceba Ndzwayiba

and Integr8 ITs Lance Fanaroff, who commented that the calibre of this years finalists will definitely be a much-needed boost to South Africas business confidence. These awards showcase and recognise the finest talent and businesses that South Africa has to offer. This years list of finalists exemplifies the phrase the Oscars of South African Business, which has become synonymous with the National Business Awards.

Top Media and Communications and its partners congratulate all finalists and wish them a summer of sustained success. For award category sponsorship or media enquiries, email az.oc.ocpot@egohstes.esor or call 0860 009 590. To book an awards table online, click here. Visit www.nationalbusinessawards.co.za for more information and watch a video overview here.




A sentiment analysis of UK mobile networks conducted by opinion mining company BrandsEye looked at social media conversation from May to July 2017 and tracked 447,263 posts relating to the networks, O2, EE, Vodafone and Three.

The data were analysed in order to gauge how customers felt toward the networks and what factors were driving their sentiments and resulted in mobile company, Three performing the best.

According to a 2017 Deloitte Global Mobile Consumer Survey, 85% of adults in the UK use a smartphone with the figure expected to rise to 90% by 2020. As central a role as these devices play in our lives, we rely on mobile networks to provide us with the services that allow us to use many of our phones features. So how do customers of the four UK mobile networks feel about them? And what are the causes of positive and negative sentiment?

Mobile operators ranked according to overall net sentiment.

What were the main topics of conversation?

The most spoken about issue by customers referred to the availability of networks products or services, this made up 24% of all the conversation, nearly a third of which was negative. Much of this was about the availability of signal or network coverage, the lack of which was a point of great frustration for customers and contributed significantly to all providers negative sentiment.

What was positive conversation about?

Competitor comparisons and roaming

Positive sentiment arose in conversation where networks were positively compared to their competitors and in some conversation about roaming services. Both Vodafone and Three received high volumes of positive sentiment about their international roaming services, contributing to over 18% of their positive conversation.

Responding to customers

O2 and EE were the two most successful networks for customer engagement, both scoring over 70% on their response rates. Vodafone and Three did not fare as well, they had response rates of under 23%. Three had a low volume of consumer queries but Vodafone, who had almost 20 000 queries, only responded to approximately 2000.

Sentiment ranking

Weekly net sentiment towards mobile operators.

Campaigns  A driver of positive engagement

Customers engaged positively with networks promotional campaigns, sponsorships and giveaways such as Threes #GoRoam campaign, O2s #ShareAware, EEs Glastonbury ticket giveaway and Vodafones CapitalSTB event, with the campaigns resulting in a spike in positive conversation.

What were the themes influencing sentiment towards the networks?

O2

Network coverage was the main reason for negative sentiment toward the service provider. O2s sponsored #ShareAware campaign promoting online safety contributed to positive sentiment for the brand. One particular post on June 8 by the Ingham family on YouTube, had over 3 900 engagements.

EE

Most negative conversation around EE related to access to services, in particular getting through to call centers roaming and signal. EEs was most often cited as the preferred network to port to when consumers were feeling unsatisfied with their current provider.

Vodafone

Poor customer service and problems with network coverage contributed to the majority of negative conversation for Vodafone. Customers also spoke about poor in-store and call centre experiences. The Goodwood Festival of Speed ticket giveaway contributed to positive engagement with the network.

Three

Threes #GoRoam campaign generated its highest volume (25%) of positive sentiment. Three was also the best performing provider when compared against other brands and was the most consistent brand based on weekly net sentiment.

Signal and network service issues were a prominent complaint area among Three users as well as the other providers in the study.

Social media data provides meaningful insights

Like many other subscription services, mobile network customers regularly take to social media to share their feelings about their services providers, sometimes directly engaging with them. Mobile networks would be wise to seize the opportunity to utilise data from social media to understand customer and industry trends.
The main aim is to discuss in advance how we will carry out ethnic [language] education when the federal union emerges, said said Nan Khin Aye Oo, coordinator of Kaw Lah Foundation, which organized the October 8-10 workshop.

We dont know when the federal Union will be established, but we are discussing in advance to be prepared. We are also preparing [representatives] so that they are able to discuss Karen education in federal political dialogues, she added, referring to national and state-level negotiations to determine the level of local autonomy under future federal power-sharing arrangement.

Forty delegates from the state-level Karen Literature and Culture committees of Bago, Tanintharyi and Yangon regions and Kayin and Mon states attended the summit, as well as representatives from Karen political parties and Mon and Pa-O literature and culture groups.

The participants reviewed the current state of ethnic literature teaching in government schools and planned future educational projects. They also discussed updates to the ongoing peace process.

Members of the Karen Literature and Culture Committees said that the standards of ethnic literature education had accelerated in recent years. Ethnic literature is currently being taught in government schools outside of usual school hours in Yangon, Ayeyarwaddy, Bago, and Tanintharyi regions, but some challenges, including with recruiting and paying teachers and ensuring the classes actually get taught, remain.

The Karen Literature and Culture Committee had faced difficulties to get the right to officially teach Karen literature after school hours in our region. [The government] said they will compensate the teachers, but it has been half a year but they havent been paid yet, said Saw Maung Toke from the Yangon Region committee, noting that lack of interest from parents in supporting ethnic language literature presented another major obstacle.

The committees, Karen political parties and civil society organisations have previously held workshops in Yangon as well as in Hpa-an. Another conference is scheduled for November.
Canada NewsWire

VANCOUVER, Oct. 12, 2017

VANCOUVER, Oct. 12, 2017 /CNW/ - Eco Oro Minerals Corp. ("Eco Oro" or the "Company") (TSX: EOM) announced today that it has obtained a final order (the "Final Order") of the Supreme Court of British Columbia approving its previously announced plan of arrangement pursuant to the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Plan of Arrangement"). With receipt of the Final Order, substantially all material conditions precedent to the Plan of Arrangement are now satisfied and, as a result, the Company expects to implement the Plan of Arrangement in the coming days.

The Company has received sufficient funds, pursuant to the Basic Subscription Right and Additional Subscription Privilege (as such terms are defined in the Plan of Arrangement) to allocate the entire Interest in the Custody CVR (as defined in the Plan of Arrangement). Accordingly, at this time, the Company does not expect to call on any shareholders participating in the Additional Subscription Privilege to pay, in addition to the amounts already deposited with Kingsdale Advisors, any additional amounts. In accordance with the Plan of Arrangement, any funds received by Kingsdale Advisors from a shareholder in excess of the amount actually required for such shareholder to acquire its Interest in the Custody CVR will be returned to such shareholder shortly following the effective date of the Plan of Arrangement.

Company Profile

Eco Oro Minerals Corp. is a publicly-traded precious metals exploration and development company with a portfolio of projects in Colombia. Eco Oro has been focused on its wholly-owned, multi-million ounce Angostura gold-silver deposit, located in northeastern Colombia.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Canadian and United States securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, the effective date of the Plan of Arrangement and the expectation that the funds deposited with Kingsdale Advisors, as rights agent, will be sufficient. Forward-looking statements are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "in the event", "if", "believes", "assets", "position", "intends", "envisages", "assumes", "recommends", "estimates", "approximate", "projects", "potential", "indicate" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon the current belief, opinions and expectations of management that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant litigation, business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and other contingencies. Many factors could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward looking statements. These factors include, among others, the risk that the Company will be unable to satisfy all conditions to the implementation of the Plan of Arrangement, the uncertainties related to the implementation of the steps in the Plan of Arrangement, the uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of a financing need in the future, and any additional costs that may be incurred by the Company which are currently not contemplated. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

SOURCE Eco Oro Minerals Corp.
His name was Peter Power and came from Colac, Victoria. He was my mother's only brother. I was 21 when my uncle was murdered. I idolised him from when he first left Australia.

At the time of his death he was acting principal of the Administrative College in Port Moresby. He was shot in the back of the head by a work colleague who was originally from Queensland.

MY UNCLE WENT TO PORT MORESBY as an 18-year old to train and work as a patrol officer. He lived in Papua New Guinea until his death by murder in December 1976.

As I grew up we became close and he would ask me to send him music tapes that were not available in PNG at the time.

My uncle's death affected me deeply and I don't think my relatives did enough to represent him at the time. No one went to PNG for the murder trial. This distressed me greatly but I was too young to do anything.

The other night, I heard the news that there are to be medals handed out to former patrol officers.

Will there be one for my uncle? If so, can I claim it?

My mother is deceased as is my grandfather (Peter's father). My uncle had no children and was not married. I have two elderly aunts who are Peter's older sisters. The eldest one is in aged care. I have no contact with any of my relatives so I don't know if they will be doing anything about this news.

A friend of my uncle's phoned my aunt and grandfather to let them know that it was Peter's wish that a quarter of his estate be bequeathed to me. This did not happen as a will stating this could not be found.

I would like to think my uncle is remembered along with the other patrol officers. I think my relatives were afraid of any scandal surrounding his death and that is why they did nothing.

If you have read this far, thank you for your patience.

I am 57 years old now and do not feel the need to seek approval from the relatives. My life was changed forever the day Peter died and if a medal of his brings a sense of closure for me then writing to you will be worth it.

If you cannot help or give me any advice please forward this email to someone who may be able to help.

_______________

I have contacted Australia's parliamentary secretary for Pacific Affairs, Matt Thistlethwaite, about this matter. Any assistance readers can offer will be appreciated - KJ
Two newly upgraded teachers celebrate their graduation

TESS GIZORIA | Kokoda Track Foundation

NAMATANAI - 377 elementary teachers from across New Ireland Province gained their certificates of elementary teaching last Thursday in the Teach for Tomorrow project.

The project is an initiative of the Kokoda Track Foundation (KTF), PNG Education Institute and New Ireland Provincial Department of Education.

The certificate enables partially trained teachers  some 7,500 across Papua New Guinea  to meet the governments new minimum qualifications required of elementary teachers.

Without additional certification, the teachers would no longer be employable on the governments payroll, putting at risk the schooling of 225,000 students.

Generously funded by Newcrest Mining Limited, the James Family Foundation and the New Ireland Government, the skills and knowledge training was delivered over six weeks in facilities hosted by the Kimaden and Katedan communities in Namatanai.

New Ireland is the seventh province in which KTF has delivered this training which has involved 1,629 teachers in Oro, Gulf, Milne Bay, Morobe, Manus, New Ireland and Bougainville.
AUBURN  Responding to new legislation signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo requiring defense attorneys at all arraignments no matter the time of day, Cayuga County could set up a central hub in Auburn.

Lloyd Hoskins, executive director of the assigned council program, said off-hour arraignments could be held in the Cayuga County Mental Health Center on North Street in Auburn, with one judge on call during the normal working hours, and judges on a rotation schedule from about 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.

A defense attorney will be available 24 hours a day, seven days per week, he added.

So far the plan has been approved by the Cayuga County Magistrates Association, local judges, and the Cayuga County Bar Association. The next step, Hoskins told Cayuga County legislators at a Judicial and Public Safety Committee meeting Wednesday night, is to get the sign-off from law enforcement agencies.

"Our next meeting will be with law enforcement, which will include APD (Auburn Police Department), (New York) State Police, and the (Cayuga County) Sheriff's Office, because obviously they're going to be involved in the transports," Hoskins said.

Other possible plans that had been discussed included a few courts spaced across the county to be on call for off-hour arraignments. The difficulty some worry about with holding them in one location, is Cayuga County is about 75 miles long. That means if someone needs to be arraigned in Genoa or Fair Haven, law enforcement will have to drive them to Auburn.

There had also been concern at the end of last year for how the county would pay for off-hour arraignments. The state does not cover all of the county's indigent legal defense costs. Hoskins said he was able to secure grant funding to pay defense attorneys on call. The grant is expected to last for three years.




KOCHI (PTI): The Annual Command Meeting of Southern Naval Command for 2017, where stock taking of issues concerning units of the respective commands is carried out for analysis and course correction, if any, was held at the Naval Base in Kochi.



The meeting, held on Tuesday, was chaired by Vice Admiral A R Karve, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Naval Command and attended by Senior Officers, Commanding Officers, Officers-in-Charge and Directors of ships, establishments, training schools and Units of SNC.



Various issues concerning operations, administration, and maintenance were discussed during the meeting, a press release said.



The Admiral also presented awards for outstanding achievements to meritorious establishments.



INS Valsura was presented with 'Dakshin Nausena Kaman Raja Bhasha Rolling Trophy' for best implementation of official language (Hindi) in day to day working, with INS Chilka receiving the Runners Up trophy.



The FOC-in-C (South) Rolling Trophy for Best Green Practices' was awarded to Naval Aircraft Yard (NAY), Kochi under 'Industrial Unit' category and to INS Shivaji under 'Non-Industrial Unit' category.




An unrelated file photo.

BEIJING (PTI): China has inducted its much-publicised light battle tank, introduced in Tibet during the height of the Dokalam standoff with India, and for the first time the Army displayed its photo at a military exhibition in Beijing, according to a media report.



Developed by the China North Industries Group Corp, the country's biggest maker of land armaments, the light tank, whose weight ranges from 25 to 35 metric tonnes, is equipped with a hydropneumatic suspension system that ensures good manoeuvrability and survivability in mountainous regions.



Its main weapon is a 105-mm gun that is able to fire both shells and guided missiles, according to weapons experts, who said the tank's main task is to fight on plateaus even at very low temperatures.



By comparison, a main battle tank, such as the US' M1 Abrams and China's Type 99A, weighs up to 65 tonnes, state-run China Daily reported.



The light tank whose name and details are yet to be revealed was deployed for the first time into well publicised exercises of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the Tibet plateau in June as part of the pressure tactics against India during the 73-day Dokalam standoff which ended on August 28.



The 2.3-million-strong PLA has confirmed the deployment of a new light tank, which observers say will suit combat operations on plateaus, the Daily report quoted experts as saying.



Chinese military spokesman Colonel Wu Qian said the tank undertook trial on the Tibetan plateau and was also displayed at a military parade held on July 30.



A photo of the tank on snowy ground has been displayed at an exposition in the Beijing Exhibition Centre to showcase achievements made by China over the past five years, the Daily report said.



The caption accompanying the picture says it is a new type of light tank, without giving details. This is the first time the Chinese military has officially published a picture of the tank, it said.



Earlier, Chinese official media reports said a brigade of the PLA in Tibet had carried out an exercise involving a new type of 35 tonne light tank.



The new tank has higher barrel and better defence than the type 968 tank and claimed to be better than T-90 battle tank used by the Indian army, the report said.



Du Wenlong, an equipment researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Science, said the vehicle was designed to operate in China's southern regions and on plateaus, which meant the Indian border along Tibet.



"The shortage of oxygen on plateaus means its engine must be very powerful and can work well with a limited amount of oxygen. Similarly, its power, fire control and ammunition systems must have been specially designed for high altitudes," he said.



Ge Lide, a defence technology researcher at PLA National Defense University, told the Daily that while the tank falls into the light-duty category, its combat capability is strong, considering its firepower, mobility, defensive features and information capacity.



He said the tank would be capable of moving through many kinds of tough terrain and should be able to outperform all other PLA tanks and armoured vehicles off-road.



China developed the Type 62 light tank in the 1960s and had used it in its armoured forces in southern regions for more than 50 years until retiring them in 2013.






HYDERABAD (PTI): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch a satellite on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in December, the first since its unsuccessful mission to orbit a navigation spacecraft nearly one-and-a-half months ago.



ISRO is getting ready for the Cartosat-2 series satellite mission in mid-December from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre or Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR), an official of the space agency told PTI.



This would be the third satellite in the Cartosat-2 series.



In February this year, PSLV-C37 launched the first Cartosat-2 series satellite along with 103 co-passenger satellites in a single flight.



In June, India's workhorse launch vehicle launched the second one along with 30 co-passenger satellites  the 39th consecutively successful mission of PSLV.



But a PSLV-C39 flight carrying IRNSS-1H navigation satellite on August 31 was unsuccessful, in what is seen as a setback to ISRO.



"We plan to launch Cartosat-2 series satellite 3 mission, which is a follow-on mission in the Cartosat-2 series with the primary objective of providing high-resolution scene specific spot imagery, in mid-December," the official said.



"There will be a few foreign co-passenger satellites...about 15 to 20 (nano satellites)," he said.



The total number of customer satellites from abroad placed in orbit by PSLV so far is 209, according to ISRO.


NEW DELHI (PTI): The Armies of India and Sri Lanka will hold a 13-day joint exercise in Pune beginning Friday with a focus on enhancing interoperability in counterterror operations.



The 'Mitra Shakti 2017' will be the 5th edition of the joint exercise between the armies of the two countries.



The exercise will take place in Pune from October 13 to 25, a senior defence ministry official said.



The Mitra Shakti series of exercises has been one of the key defence cooperation initiatives between the two countries since 2013.



The exercise is taking place at a time when the region faces evolving security dynamics.



The 4th edition had taken place in Sri Lanka last year.


It's not just Owasco and Skaneateles lakes that have had high levels of toxins in their harmful algal blooms. Cayuga Lake's blooms are just as concentrated and just as bad.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation's Citizens Statewide Lake Assessment Program collects samples of algae as part of its efforts to monitor water quality across the Finger Lakes.

Results from a sample collected on Sept. 20 from the northwestern shoreline showed chlorophyll a levels nearly 40 times the DEC's threshold for measuring a bloom at 995.5 micrograms per liter. Chlorophyll a is one of the indicators the DEC uses to determine a harmful algal bloom. Microcystin, the most common toxin found in blooms in New York state, was found at nearly 12 times the DEC's threshold at 241.43 micrograms per liter.

What is harmful algae and what can it do to your health? Harmful algal blooms are a kind of bacteria that usually crop up in water bodies during late

A bloom sample collected on Sept. 26 near Yawger Creek was even worse. Chlorophyll a levels were at 3,977.48 micrograms per liter, 159 times the DEC's threshold. Microcystin were noted to be extremely dense and measured at 782.84 micrograms per liter. That's nearly 40 times the DEC's threshold of 20 micrograms per liter for confirming a harmful algal bloom.

With no watershed inspection program like Owasco Lake has, the information is not as readily available to the public. However, the DEC, the state Department of Health and the Cayuga County Health Department have continued to stress that people and pets should stay out of any discolored water or algal blooms.

Meanwhile Owasco Lake watershed inspectors report that bloom samples collected Sept. 29 are still showing both microcystin and the neurotoxin anatoxin. A sample collected at the southern end of Owasco Lake near Birge Point showed microcystin at 112 micrograms per liter and anatoxin at 1.83 micrograms per liter. A bloom off of the Owasco Yacht Club also showed high levels of microcystin at 361.8 micrograms per liter. Anatoxin was much lower at 0.15 micrograms per liter.

The latest health department test results show toxins detected in the raw lake water coming into the city of Auburn and town of Owasco's water treatment plants. Owasco showed microcystin at 0.31 micrograms per liter and Auburn showed 0.19 micrograms per liter. The carbon treatment systems continue to work, however, and no toxins were detected in the drinking water from samples collected on Oct. 9.
By Ann O'Loughlin

The High Court has ruled that Apple's data centre in Athenry can go ahead.

Two challenges to the data centre in Co Galway, the first stage of a planned 850m development of eight centres there, have been dismissed by the Commercial Court.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott today rejected both challenges to the centre at Derrydonnell, Athenry.

Independent TD for Galway East Sean Canney and several members of Apple for Athenry, a group of local people who support the development, were in court for the judgments.

Apple had sought to have the cases fast-tracked in the Commercial Court, the big business division of the High Court, saying it was very anxious to proceed with the development.

It said the centre would create hundreds of jobs and is a critical piece of infrastructure necessary to deal with the exponential growth in demand for data processing and storage.

Both challenges were taken against An Bord Pleanala, with Apple Distribution Ireland, developer of the centre, as a notice party.

The first case was by Sinead Fitzpatrick and Allan Daly, whose home at Lisheenkyle, Athenry, is close to the proposed centre. They claimed the Boards August 2016 permission for the development was invalid on grounds including alleged failure to carry out a proper Environmental Impact Assessment.

The second case was by Brian McDonagh who challenged the permission on various grounds.

Representing himself, Mr McDonagh, Unit 1, Ballymount Cross Business Park, Dublin, said he "did not oppose Apple coming to Athenry" but wanted to ensure compliance with "proper planning procedures".

Apple argued Mr McDonagh had made no submissions to Galway County Council in respect of the original planning application and nor had he appealed to the Board before bringing his case.

Noel Doherty from the campaign group Apple for Athenry travelled to Dublin to hear todays judgement in person.

He said: "Todays decision has been a great decision for Athenry and the whole west of Ireland.

"I hope now that our public representatives will help us develop the whole west of Ireland and to bring companies like Apple into Athenry, and make Athenry a hub town for the whole of the west coast."
Ireland's international business reputation has been damaged by delays to the Apple data centre in Athenry, according to IBEC.

It is been two years since Apple announced plans to build two data centres in Europe  one in Denmark and one on Coillte owned lands in Athenry.

The Danish centre is on track to begin operations, but the Derrydonnell facility has been bogged down with legal challenges to the planning process.

Galway County Council granted permission in Sept 2015 but that was appealed to An Bord Pleanala.

The planning board gave it the green light the following year after deciding it wouldnt have a significant effect on the protected nature sites.

But a number of residents appealed that decision to the High Court.

Sinead Fitzpatrick and Allan Daly claim its invalid on grounds including that the board failed to carry out a proper environmental assessment.

The case was fast-tracked to the Commercial Court and Mr. Justice Paul McDermott is due to deliver his judgement this morning

Orla Casey is a planning and infrastructure policy executive for IBEC, and says the case has damaged Ireland's reputation abroad.

"Every subsequent delay we have, whether it's through our appeals system, through our local authorities, through An Bord Pleanala or then when it goes through the courts, every subsequent delay to a project reduces its overall viability," she said.

"But also it reduces the overall attractiveness of Ireland as a place to do business and to invest in."
by Ann O'Loughlin

A 20-year old girl who sued over the circumstances of her birth at Wexford General Hospital has settled her High Court action for 8.5million.

Shannon O'Farrell- Molloy, who has a brain injury, can walk and talk, and the High Court heard has come on extremely well in recent years.

Her counsel Bruce Antoniotti SC told Mr Justice Kevin Cross in the days before Shannon's delivery everything was normal.

He said it was their claim that there was an alleged failure to monitor the fetal heartbeat between 8am and 9.10am on the morning the baby was delivered. Shannon, he said was born at 9.30 am on July 18, 1997.

Counsel pointed out that at the hospital once it was discovered that something was amiss, action was taken quickly and there was no criticism by his side in relation to that.Liability he said was at issue in the case, and a full defence was filed by the HSE.

He said Shannon was able to walk and talk and has great ambitions for herself. He said she has come on extremely well in the last number of years and she had got devoted care from her family. Shannon's mother told the court she was happy with the settlement and Shannon also said she was happy with it.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Kevin Cross said it was a very good settlement indeed, and he said Shannon now has all the support she needs going into the future.

Shannon O'Farrell-Molloy, Kayle, Foulksmills, Co Wexford had through her mother Sandra Maguire Molloy sued the HSE over the circumstances of her birth at Wexford General Hosptial on July 18, 1997.

It was claimed Shannon's mother was admitted to Wexford General Hospital on the day before the birth and monitoring of the fetal heartbeat with CTG was commenced.

It was claimed that on the morning the child was born there was an alleged failure to monitor the fetal heartbeat between 8am and 9.10am and there was an alleged failure to adequately or at all manage the labour and delivery.

It was further claimed the baby was allegedly delivered far too late.

The claims were denied.
Campaigners are stepping up efforts to get defibrillators installed in schools across the country.

It comes after a north Dublin principal saved a nine-year-old boy's life when he collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest in the school yard of Gaelscoil Ros Eo in Rush last month.

Headmaster Tim O'Tuachaigh performed CPR on the boy as a defibrillator, which had been given to the local GAA club by the Apache Pizza company, was rushed to the school.

Paramedics say the outcome could have been very different if a defibrillator from the local GAA club was not available.

Mr O'Tuachaigh said in September at the time of the incident: "All of the first responders said the exact same thing - that if we hadnt done the CPR, if we hadnt had the defibrillator, there would be a very different end to this story."

The headmaster says rolling out the devices nationwide would not cost very much.

He said: "They're not massively expensive. You can get a defibrillator for around 1,200 and you can get training for about 300 on top of that.

"For 1,500. What child's life isn't worth 1,500?"
by Fiona Ferguson

A father-of-six who borrowed money at Christmas time was pressured into holding cannabis valued at almost 40,000 when he was unable to pay the loan back, a court has heard.

Declan Henry (37), who has no previous convictions, told gardai he had been unable to make the payments and was holding the drugs to repay the debt.

Henry, of Brookview Close, Brookfield, Tallaght, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of the drugs for sale or supply at Brookview Close on June 8, 2016.

Garda Brian O'Connor told Garret Baker BL, prosecuting, that gardai acting on information that they may be cannabis at the house conducted a search and recovered several bags containing cannabis with a total value of 39,900. Henry co-operated with gardai during the search.

Henry met gardai by appointment the following day for interview. He said he had not been able to pay back the money he had borrowed and was holding the drugs to repay this debt. He denied making any money from it and did not name anyone involved.

He told gardai he was gutted for what he had done to his wife and kids.

Gda O'Connor agreed with Sandra Frayne BL, defending, that Henry was a family man who worked when he could. He agreed there was nothing to indicate Henry was making any profit.

Ms Frayne handed a number of reports into court which she said detailed a very difficult background. She said her client and his partner had six children and another on the way.

Judge Karen O'Connor adjourned sentencing until October 25 next for finalisation.
by Sarah-Jane Murphy

A former Anglo Irish Bank official has gone on trial charged with conspiring to destroy, mutilate or falsify records of accounts allegedly connected to the bank's former chief executive Sean FitzPatrick.

Tiarnan O'Mahoney (58), who held the position of Chief Operations Officer at Anglo Irish Bank Corp PLC, 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.

Mr O'Mahoney of Glen Pines, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow has also pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to conspiracy to defraud the Revenue Commissioners.

The offences are alleged to have occurred between March 25, 2003, and December 31, 2004, and refer to eight named bank accounts.

Opening the case Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting, told the jury that all eight bank accounts were to a greater or lesser extent connected to Mr FitzPatrick.

Mr McGinn said the prosecution would demonstrate that Mr O'Mahoney conspired to delete six accounts from the bank's electronic record system and to disguise the identity of two further accounts.

The court heard that the alleged offences took place at a time when Revenue were investigating Irish banks in relation to bogus non-resident accounts.

He explained that these accounts were held by individuals who falsely claimed to live outside the State in order to avail of the exemption from Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT).

While Revenue were auditing Anglo accounts in 2003 they asked for a snapshot of all non-resident accounts containing a balance exceeding 100,000 at dates in 1990, 1995 and 1999, Mr McGinn said.

The court heard that two of the accounts which were allegedly altered were in the name of Mr FitzPatrick's brother-in-law, John Peter O'Toole.

Mr McGinn said while Mr O'Toole lived outside the jurisdiction, an account in his name was being used by someone living in Ireland.

There will be evidence that Mr FitzPatrick made it known to a member of the Anglo team that he would prefer if details of his brother-in-law's accounts were not forwarded to Revenue, he said.

Despite the accounts having a balance of more than 100,000 in March 1995 details were not forwarded to Revenue.

The court also heard that Ms Aoife Maguire, a member of staff at Anglo, approached members of the bank's IT team during the Revenue audit in 2003.

Mr McGinn said she requested that certain accounts be deleted from the bank's system.

The IT department were uncomfortable with this instruction and rather than delete the accounts in question they archived them, he told the jury.

When the archived accounts were recovered it transpired that some details pertaining to the accounts had been altered.

This was part of the process to remove the connection to Sean FitzPatrick; an attempt to create distance between these accounts and Sean FitzPatrick, he said.

Mr McGinn said the actions also demonstrated a desire to conceal information from the Revenue.

Tiarnan O'Mahoney was part of an agreement to make a deliberate, concerted effort to alter records and to defraud Revenue, he said.

The court heard from its first two witnesses this afternoon, a former Revenue Principal Officer and a trust and pensions advisor.

The trial, in front of Judge Martin Nolan and a jury of seven women and five men, is scheduled to take between four to six weeks.
Irish people doing their Christmas food shop in Marks & Spencer are set to pay up to 39% more than their UK counterparts.

Marks and Spencer recently published its Christmas food brochure, which shows stark price differences.
AUBURN  A 35-year-old Sennett man pleaded guilty in Cayuga County Court to burglarizing a Sennett home in May.

A second felony offender and convicted sex offender, Brian S. Wilkinson, of 7884 Grant Ave. Road, appeared before Judge Thomas Leone Thursday and admitted to the third-degree burglary charge.

According to a press release from the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office, the owner of a home on Grant Avenue saw Wilkinson leaving his property on May 2 on a black bicycle with a cart attached. Items were missing from the owner's home. The sheriff's office charged Wilkinson on May 3 with third-degree burglary, a class D felony. He was arraigned and remanded to the Cayuga County Jail without bail.

When Leone asked Wilkinson what happened in May, Wilkinson hesitated and said that he'd rather not say anything. With a plea of guilty, Leone explained, he would have to answer the question.

"Well, I walked into the building and got some stuff, and took it for my own use," Wilkinson said.

His attorney, Simon Moody, said a number of the items stolen had been recovered and returned including a flat screen TV. It was not clear how much restitution the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office would ask for for the items not returned, but District Attorney Jon Budelmann said it would likely be less than $1,000.

Moody added that the bike and cart belonged to Wilkinson. Those items were seized by law enforcement, and Moody said Wilkinson would like them back.

"I'm sure they would be happy to get rid of it," Budelmann said.

When Wilkinson was arrested in May, he had not been out of the law's hands for long. He'd pleaded guilty in February 2015 to grand larceny and failure to register as a sex offender in a timely manner. According to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision inmate database, Wilkinson served more than a year in Wyoming Correctional Facility in Wyoming County, and was released Feb. 7 this year.

Though he could face 3 1/2 to 7 years in prison for this latest charge, Leone said Moody and Budelmann had worked out a condition where the sentence may be 2 to 4 years. Leone remanded Wilkinson back to the Cayuga County Jail with no bail. He is scheduled for sentencing at 9:15 a.m. Dec. 7.

Also in court:

 An Auburn woman narrowly missed jail time after violating her probation and failing to notify her change in address.

Leone sentenced Nicole Errico, 28, of 178 Seymour St., to continued probation on second-degree criminal contempt and second-degree aggravated harassment charges against her from January 2015.

Errico has failed to appear for multiple probation and mental health appointments, and threatened to kill a person, Budelmann said.

"The combination of lethal threats and mental health issues frankly scares the hell out of me," Budelmann said. "I would think that we're not out of the woods."

Errico's attorney, Rome Canzano, said his client had made considerable strides in the last two months, getting a job and regularly going to her mental health appointments. Errico addressed the court, too, saying that she'd hit a bad patch when her brother died.

"Since I've been going to mental health, I've been dealing with it," she said, tearing up.

"She understands," Canzano said. "She gets it. She's attempting to live a stable life."

Instead of pushing her sentence out to continue to monitor her progress, Leone said he didn't want to babysit and would proceed, sentencing her to probation until her officer felt it was no longer needed.

"If you violate again, if you miss one probation appointment, I can tell you right now you'll be looking at a jail sentence," Leone said. "No further slip-ups."
by Ann O'Loughlin

A High Court judge has expressed a view there is potential for a future finding of a right under Irish law to State provision of accommodation or housing.

Mr Justice Max Barrett made the remarks when dismissing an appeal by an elderly woman, Mary Dunivya, who has health difficulties, aimed at preventing her lawful eviction from her rented dwelling so her landlords grandson can move in instead and be closer to college.

Ms Dunivya appealed an April 2017 decision of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) that a notice of termination of tenancy served on her by her landlords in late 2016 was valid.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Barrett said he had sincere sympathy for her, but she was effectively asking the court to ignore the law and do justice as she perceived it.

The judgement continued: the landlords wanted this dwelling for occupation by a family member; the courts are rightly bound by law, and our elected sensible lawmakers have decided, under the Residential Tenancies Acts, (RTAs) this was a good basis on which to evict a sitting tenant.

It would be gravely presumptuous of an unelected court, and profoundly unjust to deny the landlords, on a judicial whim, their legal entitlement, the judgement said.

Ms Dunivya, he noted, had not argued in her pleadings there was a constitutional right to accommodation/housing such as acted to frustrate the RTAs and that point was raised only in submissions with very little amplification as to what was being contended for.

In these circumstances, he would remark only there is no express constitutional right to universal provision of housing by the State.

That did not mean a court might not, in a future case, find some unqualified, unenumerated and as yet unrecognised constitutional right to accommodation/housing exists as a matter of Irish law.

Such a finding might perhaps be achieved by reference to the insights to be gleaned from the burgeoning case law, and elaboration of principle, by the European Court of Human Rights concerning minimum State obligations in the area of housing rights, he said.

In this case, there was no free-wheeling or constitutional right to accommodation/housing that could be deployed by Ms Dunivya or the court, certainly not without being pleaded or subject of substantive argument, to upset the lawful finding of the RTB under a law presumed constitutional.

Earlier, the judge stressed the appeal was concerned solely with points of law. The unfailing experience of the courts is persons bringing such appeals essentially seek a rehearing of their case before the RTB, and it might be contended they should be legally permitted such a re-hearing, he observed.

Under the RTAs, a landlord may terminate a tenancy on grounds including they require the property for their own, or a family members occupation, he said.

The phrase to require means a landlord must need the relevant dwelling with the effect termination of the tenancy must be essential, or very important to them, rather than just desirable.

He was satisfied the RTB properly assessed whether the landlord's perceived requirement of the dwelling was bona fide and was satisfied the dwelling was required for the landlord's grandson and there was no unlawfulness in the landlords bona fide requirement of the property.

He rejected further arguments of interference with Ms Dunivyas right to enjoy peaceful and exclusive occupation of the dwelling and also held there was no breach of her right to a fair hearing before the tribunal. She was given a full opportunity to cross-examine witnesses, including the landlords grandson, he said.
Update: The Irish Mortgage Holders Association says the tracker scandal is the single biggest consumer rip off in the history of the state.

Some of those defrauded by Irish banks have told an Oireachtas committee of the devastating medical and financial effects on their families.

So far 20,000 cases have been uncovered, but it's estimated that could reach 30,000.

Earlier: People have killed themselves after banks denied them their entitlement to a low-cost tracker mortgage, victims of the scandal have claimed.

It is estimated that at least 30,000 borrowers and their families have been affected by the multimillion euro overcharging as 15 banks refused to fulfil obligations to give customers the lowest interest rate in the market.

Four borrowers have told their story to politicians in the Oireachtas Finance Committee, including Thomas Ryan, who along with his wife Claire, finally and successfully faced down their bank in the courts.

"It is absolutely appalling. They have destroyed lives all over this country," he said.

"There are people no longer with us over this. They have committed suicide. And they don't particularly give a damn.

"I have heard some of the submissions here in the last few weeks from some of the banks - it is an absolute disgrace, the generic, legalistic garbage they are churning out.

"It is appalling and an absolute disgrace. There's no other words for it."

Mr Ryan, aged in his late 40s and from Wexford, was a Permanent TSB customer who challenged its refusal to give him the tracker rate. He said the banks should be forced into making amends.

He suffered a stroke in 2013 and his wife Claire had a nervous breakdown in 2015 and lost the power of speech under the pressure of their fight to be restored to a tracker mortgage rate.

"As her husband I find it pitiful and so unjust to see my wife's previous confident and bubbly nature stripped away from her," he said.

In an emotional address to the committee, Mr Ryan explained the impact on his three children of the financial pressure and long-running battle with the bank.

"The extreme stress effects on the mental wellbeing of our teenage children is absolutely heartbreaking," he said.

"It can be so upsetting for us that I cannot begin to convey in words."

Scores of people and families were put out of their homes over the last eight years after being refused their entitlement to a tracker. The Central Bank previously put the number of directly related repossessions at 100.

It also previously estimated that up to 15,000 borrowers were affected by the issue across 15 lenders and is due to update the committee next week.

Last week Ulster Bank said it will have to pay more than 100,000 euro to some of its 3,500 customers caught up in the industry-wide overcharging scandal.

Previously it was revealed that 2,100 Bank of Ireland mortgages were restored to tracker rates when the issue was identified in that bank in 2010 and 2011.

There were also about 1,400 cases of customers being denied tracker rates involving Springboard Mortgages, which was a subsidiary of Permanent TSB.

The Central Bank cannot force banks to compensate home owners for tracker issues prior to 2013.

The refusal of banks to allow customers to move on to trackers first emerged as far back as 2010 - the year taxpayers were lumbered with a multibillion-euro bailout of Ireland's banks.

Padraic Kissane, the financial advisor who has been leading the charge to get customers restored to the correct rates, said customers had been treated with arrogance by the banks, a condescending attitude and a lack of empathy and understanding.

"What moral compass do they possess," he said.

"It is financial abuse on a grand scale, contrived to deceive customers of their contractual rights."

Mr Kissane also warned he has a host of cases of bank staff and people working for legal teams and auditors associated with the banks who want to challenge the rates they have been put on but are worried about the consequences for their careers.

He told the committee there was a cartel in operation in Ireland's mortgage market. He compared one of the best rates on offer at the minute - a 10 year fixed mortgage from KBC at 2.95% compared to a 10 year fixed rate in Germany of 1.15%.

He said he would shut the banks down if he was able to open a new mortgage offering European Central Bank tracker interest rates and long-term fixed rates.

"That's what needs to happen," he said.

"I guarantee you a tracker product would be back within a month."

Mr Kissane added that the low German rates are not in Ireland and said: "The cartel wouldn't allow it."

He added: "Their figures show it. They come and they - I would describe it as boast - about their profit levels and not realise the carnage."
More than 40 congressional Democrats on Wednesday sent a letter to the White House expressing "deep concern" over the Environmental Protection Agency's recent proposal to "reverse clean water safeguards" for an area of Alaska that is home to the world's most valuable wild salmon fishery.

The EPA's move, if finalized, would make it more likely a large gold and copper mine could be built in the Bristol Bay watershed, the lawmakers warned.

"The EPA's plan to reverse clean water safeguards is egregious and inconsistent with science and frankly, inconsistent with basic logic," Sen. Maria Cantwell, of Washington, and Rep. Jared Huffman, of California, wrote in the letter, which also was signed by 40 of their colleagues.

The comments address a plan by Pebble Limited Partnership, which is owned by Northern Dynasty Minerals, a Canadian mining company, to mine for gold and copper in Bristol Bay. Such a mine would threaten "the entire Bristol Bay region, salmon, and the multibillion-dollar economy it supports," the lawmakers wrote.

The letter comes after CNN reports showing EPA head Scott Pruitt directed his staff on May 1 to withdraw the Obama-era proposed protections on Bristol Bay. Pruitt gave the directive little more than an hour after he met with Tom Collier, Pebble's CEO, and without being briefed by EPA's experts on the matter, according to multiple sources and internal government emails.

The EPA's move would have to be finalized, and Pebble still would have to apply for and be granted permits to mine in the area before any construction could take place. Two public hearings on the EPA's proposal are scheduled to be held in Alaska this week. The public has until October 17 to comment on the EPA's proposed withdrawal of a move under the Obama administration to protect the Bristol Bay watershed from potential mining activities.

"Scott Pruitt is signing up to kill the largest salmon run on Earth and thousands of fishing jobs," Cantwell said in a statement emailed to CNN on Wednesday. "The Northwest can't afford him or his job killing ideas. We can't let Pruitt pollute our clean water and throw away thousands of jobs because one mining CEO received special treatment."

Collier, the Pebble CEO, denied he received special treatment. In an interview with CNN, he maintained a mine could be built in an environmentally friendly manner that would have no ecological ramifications. Pebble plans to file permit applications in December, he said, and the mine proposal will be far smaller than the EPA had thought when it moved, under the Obama administration, to protect the watershed and pre-emptively veto certain mining activities.

"The Bristol Bay watershed is 40,000 square miles with millions of acres already in protected status," Pebble spokesman Mike Heatwole said in an email to CNN. The company plans to propose a mine site that would cover 12.7 square miles, according to a presentation posted on the company's website. The EPA's proposal to withdraw Obama-era protections for Bristol Bay does not ensure a mine will be built, Heatwole said, but rather gives the company the opportunity to apply for permits. "All we have ever sought is the ability to have the project reviewed like every other resource development project in the nation," he said.

A 2014 EPA report found a larger-scale mine would result in the "complete loss" of salmon habitat in some areas of the watershed. That report, which was based on three years of research, was the basis for a rare move in which the agency proposed pre-emptively protecting Bristol Bay from certain mining activities under a provision of the Clean Water Act, section 404(c).

The watershed produces nearly half the world's annual sockeye salmon catch and supports Alaska Native villages.

The prospect of a Pebble mine "directly threatens our maritime economy and thousands of American jobs that rely on this world class fishery," the members of Congress wrote to the White House this week. "We ask you to listen to America's fishermen and businesses and reverse EPA's decision to undo strong protections and clean water safeguards in Bristol Bay."

Alaska's congressional delegation -- three Republicans -- did not sign the White House letter.

CNN's Drew Griffin contributed to this report.
British IS recruiter Sally-Anne Jones, dubbed the White Widow, is understood to have been killed in a US drone strike.

Jones was killed close to the border between Syria and Iraq by a US Air Force strike in June, according to The Sun.

She and her husband Junaid Hussain went to Syria in 2013 to join IS.

He was killed by a US drone in 2015, and had allegedly been planning "barbaric attacks against the West", including terror plots targeting "high profile public commemorations" this summer.

News of her death was not made public amid fears that her 12-year-old son Jojo may also have been killed, according to The Sun.

Jones, who was previously a member of an all-female punk rock group, left her home in Chatham, Kent, after converting to Islam.

She used her Twitter account to recruit women and provided practical advice on how to travel to Syria.

Born in Greenwich, London, she encouraged individuals to carry out attacks in Britain, offering guidance on how to construct home-made bombs.

She has also shared pictures of herself posing with weapons.

Jones also posted messages in support of IS as well as extremist comments such as: "You Christians all need beheading with a nice blunt knife and stuck on the railings at Raqqa ... Come here I'll do it for you."

A British Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We do not comment on matters of national security."

Major General Chip Chapman, the former MoD head of counter terror, said Jones would have been a "significant" target as a result of her alliance with Hussain and her role in recruiting IS fighters.

Referring to reports her son was killed in the strike, he added: "It is a difficult one because under the UN Charters he is under the age of what we would classify as a soldier."

He continued: "Even if he got up to really bad things, he shouldn't have been targeted.

"We don't know for sure whether he was with her or not."
Burma's embattled leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has called for national unity and created a committee that will coordinate all international and local assistance in violence-hit Rakhine state.

More than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from the state to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 25, when security forces responded to attacks by a militant Rohingya group with a broad crackdown on the long-persecuted Muslim minority.
France's President Emmanuel Macron has launched the second stage of his pledged labour market overhaul, focusing on unemployment benefits and job training.

Mr Macron met on Thursday with France's main workers' and employers' unions to start negotiations that will last for months.

The discussions come as workers and unions are still protesting against the first set of labour measures that Mr Macron signed last month, aimed at making it easier for firms to hire and fire and reducing the power of national collective bargaining.

Far-left activists staged a violent protest today near a human resources conference in Paris' Bois de Boulogne forest, where Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud was due to speak about Mr Macron's economic policies.

Ms Penicaud cancelled her speech, invoking a "schedule problem".

A statement said about 80 people, including 30 wearing hoods, burned three cars and threw projectiles at police.

It said 41 people were detained and no police officers were hurt.

The French government wants to extend unemployment benefits to independent entrepreneurs, farmers and merchants who go bankrupt.

Employees who voluntarily quit would also be entitled to unemployment benefits under strict conditions, to encourage workers to change jobs more easily.

At the same time, unemployment benefits' amount and duration could be capped to help finance the new system.

The French government also wants to make changes to job training programs in order to help unemployed people acquire the new skills needed in a rapidly changing global economy.

The leader of hard-left CGT union, Philippe Martinez, warned: "It's not an option for us to reduce the rights of people without jobs", following his meeting with Mr Macron.

The CGT union opposes the first set of labour measures and is organising a new round of strikes and street protests next week across the country.

Mr Macron, elected in May on a pro-business platform, said his economic policies aim to boost growth and job hiring and attract more French and foreign investors to the country.

The unemployment rate in France has been hovering around 10% for years.

The government wants to pass the new labour measures by summer 2018.

AP
A military pilot has died after a fighter jet that was returning from a national day parade crashed in southeastern Spain, a spokesman for the country's Ministry of Defence said.

The spokesman said the fighter jet was among four that participated in the parade in Madrid.
Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah have reached a preliminary, partial agreement that could pave the way for President Mahmoud Abbas to resume governing the Gaza Strip a decade after Hamas overran the territory, officials said.

Details of the deal were announced at a news conference in Cairo, where the negotiators were meeting.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement that the deal was reached under "generous Egyptian auspices".

A senior Palestinian official said Mr Abbas, the leader of Fatah, might visit Gaza in the coming weeks, depending on the successful implementation of the agreement.

The Western-backed Mr Abbas has not set foot in Gaza since 2007, when the Islamic militant Hamas, his main ideological rival, seized the territory after days of factional street battles.

The Hamas takeover, which came a year after the group defeated Fatah in Palestinian parliamentary elections, left Mr Abbas with autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Over the past decade, each side deepened control over its territory, making it increasingly difficult to forge compromises, and repeated attempts at reconciliation failed.

Under the emerging agreement, Hamas would hand over responsibilities of governing Gaza to the West Bank-based government of prime minister Rami Hamdallah.

Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah delegation, said Mr Abbas' Palestinian Authority would assume control of the crossing points between Gaza and Israel by November 1.

He said Mr Abbas' presidential guard would assume control of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, but did not specify a timetable.

Egypt has kept the Rafah border crossing closed for most of the last decade.

Before the Hamas takeover, Mr Abbas' presidential guard administered the crossing under EU monitoring.

"The Rafah crossing needs some measures to improve and renovate the buildings in a way that is worthy of Egypt and the Palestinian people so as it can operate smoothly," Mr al-Ahmad said during the announcement of the deal.

A senior Hamas official said both sides agreed that European monitors could be posted at the crossing, a measure that might assuage Israeli concerns about weapons smuggling.

A permanent opening of the Rafah crossing would mean an end to the crippling Israeli and Egyptian blockade imposed on Gaza after the Hamas takeover, which prevents free trade and bars the vast majority of Gaza's two million people from leaving the territory.

Only one of Gaza's four commercial crossings to Israel, Kerem Shalom, is currently operating, down from four before 2007.

A small number of people, mainly medical patients, business people and aid workers, use the Erez crossing to enter Israel, usually bound for the West Bank.

Hamas has indirectly run the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom commercial crossing, collecting taxes and fees on imports.

At Erez, Hamas maintained security control from a checkpoint near the crossing, while the Palestinian Authority had a small office to coordinate with the Israeli side.

Key issues were not addressed in the Cairo talks.

A major sticking point has been the Hamas military wing and its arsenal, which Hamas has said is not up for discussion.

Hamas officials have assured the Fatah negotiators that the military wing would maintain a low profile as part of any deal.

AP
Divers have recovered a saw from the sea off Copenhagen and forensic investigators are checking whether it was used to dismember the body of a Swedish journalist, police in Denmark have said.

The capital's police investigator Jens Moeller Jensen said today they were still searching for the arms of 30-year-old Kim Wall.
The Owasco Lake Watershed Inspection Program submits monthly inspection reports to The Citizen in an effort to provide the public with information on surveillance and violations. For additional details or information on the inspection programs projects, inspections and the watersheds rules and regulations, visit owascoinspection.org or call (315) 427-5188 or (315) 237-2066.

 Monitored the entire lake and sampled numerous suspicious shoreline harmful algal blooms, including drone surveillance of mid-lake areas.

 Assisted state Department of Environmental Conservation with a water quality violation involving poor logging practices in Moravia.

 Discovered and ranked nearly 10 miles of poorly maintained road ditches throughout the watershed in all jurisdictions.

 Provided assistance for a stream repair project in Indian Cove.

 Inspected soil stockpiles and checked progress on the ExpressMart drainage construction project adjacent to the traffic circle in Fleming.

 Investigated reports of unauthorized dumping of contaminants into wetland along Cayuga Street in Moravia.

 Investigated report of unauthorized dumping of prescription containers along southeast shoreline.

 Weekly patrols of all watershed towns, including Skaneateles and Groton, for water quality concerns and violations continue to be conducted.

 Inspection program staff met with DEC regional personnel to better align protective enforcement efforts throughout the Owasco Lake Watershed.
British police are investigating an allegation of sexual assault involving Harvey Weinstein from the 1980s, sources said.

Merseyside Police said it had received a report at 8.40am on Wednesday of an alleged sexual assault in the London area in the 1980s, and referred it to Scotland Yard.
A woman has told a divorce court judge in England that she did not pay a man money with a "view to getting rid of" her estranged property tycoon husband.

Tania Richardson-Ruhan, 49, said she had been questioned voluntarily by police investigating a "plot to murder" Andy Ruhan, 55.

But she told Mr Justice Mostyn that police "didn't accuse me of anything".

Detail of the alleged plot emerged today as Mr Justice Mostyn oversaw a money battle between Mr Ruhan and Mrs Richardson-Ruhan at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

The judge was told Cheshire Police investigated the plot in 2016.

He heard that a number of men were arrested but no-one was charged with any offence.

Barrister Martin Pointer QC, who is leading Mr Ruhan's legal team, told the court of a "plot to murder Mr Ruhan".

He asked Mrs Richardson-Ruhan: "Did you pay any money to (a man) with a view to getting rid of Mr Ruhan?"

Mrs Richardson-Ruhan replied: "No."

She said a friend told her of the "plot" in a text while she was on holiday abroad.

Mrs Richardson-Ruhan said the word "assassinate" was used.

She said the text suggested she might be arrested when she returned to Britain.

Mrs Richardson-Ruhan said she approached the police and volunteered to be questioned.

She said officers had asked questions but she told Mr Justice Mostyn: "They didn't accuse me of anything."

Barrister Sally Harrison QC, who is leading Mrs Richardson-Ruhan's legal team, told the judge that police had made arrests but she said no-one had been charged.

Mr Justice Mostyn has heard how Mr Ruhan had been involved in property development in a number of countries over many years.

The couple had married two decades ago and lived in Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire.

Andy Ruhan.

Miss Harrison has told the judge that Mr Ruhan had once netted 87 million after investing 6 million.

The judge has been told of two yachts - Lady K II and Babylon - and expensive cars with personalised number plates and has heard how Mr Ruhan was badly hurt in a helicopter crash 15 years ago.

But Miss Harrison says Mr Ruhan is now ''pleading poverty''.

She told the judge: ''You will have to decide whether the husband, who on any account has been a phenomenally successful entrepreneur, has fallen spectacularly from grace so that now he has nothing.''

Miss Harrison indicated it would be ''almost impossible'' for Mrs Richardson-Ruhan, who still lives in Chalfont St Peter, to quantify how much her husband was worth and has suggested that Mr Ruhan has failed to give ''full and frank disclosure'' about how much money he has.

Mr Justice Mostyn says he may make ''findings of fact'' relating to available assets before making any decisions about how the marital pot should be split.

The hearing continues and is expected to run into next week.

Mr Justice Mostyn has heard that Mr Ruhan and Mrs Richardson-Ruhan have run up lawyers' bills of around 1.5 million.

Mr Pointer told the judge that Mrs Richardson-Ruhan's costs were more than 950,000 and Mr Ruhan's more than 500,000.

Mrs Richardson-Ruhan said she had borrowed money to pay lawyers.
Update 6pm:The "extreme politicisation" of Unesco, the UN's cultural, education and scientific agency, has become "a chronic embarrassment", the US ambassador to the United Nations has said.

Nikki Haley called the agency's designation of Hebron's Old City and the Tomb of the Patriarchs as Palestinian territory the latest of many "foolish actions" that led to the United States' decision to pull out of Unesco.

Ms Haley said the US's view from 1984 when President Ronald Reagan also withdrew from Unesco holds true in 2017, saying: "US taxpayers should no longer be on the hook to pay for policies that are hostile to our values and make a mockery of justice and common sense."

She said: "The United States will continue to evaluate all agencies within the United Nations system through the same lens."

In addition to the actions in Hebron, Ms Haley singled out "keeping Syrian dictator Bashar Assad on a Unesco human rights committee even after his murderous crackdown on peaceful protesters."

AP

Earlier: The United States is pulling out of Unesco after repeated criticism of resolutions by the UN cultural agency that Washington sees as anti-Israel.

While the US stopped funding Unesco after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011, the State Department has maintained a Unesco office at its Paris headquarters and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes.

The withdrawal was confirmed on Thursday by US officials.

Unesco director-general Irina Bokova, who is Bulgarian, expressed "profound regret" at the decision and said the departure was a loss for "the United Nations family" and for multilateralism.

She said the US and Unesco matter to each other more than ever now because "the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security".

Ms Bokova defended Unesco's reputation, noting its efforts to support Holocaust education and train teachers to fight anti-Semitism.

She traced the decades-long US ties with Unesco, and noted that the Statue of Liberty is among the many World Heritage sites protected by the UN agency.

Ms Bokova's two terms as director have been deeply scarred by the 2011 Unesco vote to include Palestine as a member, funding troubles and repeated resolutions seen as anti-Israel.

Many saw the vote to include Palestine as evidence of long-running, ingrained anti-Israel bias within the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.

Unesco is best known for its World Heritage programme to protect cultural sites and traditions around the world.

The agency also works to improve education for girls in desperately poor countries and in scientific fields, to promote better understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust and to defend media freedom, among other activities.

The Trump administration has been preparing for a likely withdrawal for months, and a decision was expected before the end of the year, according to US officials.

Several diplomats who were to have been posted to the mission this summer were told that their positions were on hold and advised to seek other jobs.

In addition, the Trump administration's proposed budget for the next fiscal year contains no provision for the possibility that Unesco funding restrictions might be lifted.

The lack of staffing and funding plans for Unesco by the US have been accompanied by repeated denunciations of Unesco by senior US officials, including US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

The US pulled out of Unesco in the 1980s because Washington viewed it as mismanaged and used for political reasons, then rejoined it in 2003.

AP
Residents from the city of Kherson took to the streets to celebrate Russia's retreat, scientists may have discovered why they keep finding mum
Latest News Clawbacks, commissions discussed at FBAA conference Over 700 brokers attend successful Gold Coast event

CBA becomes an official partner of FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 Bank's sponsorship boosts its strong support of female sport in Australia

Non-major lender ING is backing nine months of unprecedented growth with a new focus on the direct channel and continued expansion in the broker network.While mortgage growth with the bank lies at above 9% (compared to around 6.5% system growth), the direct channel now takes up 15% of all loan originations from 10% last year. This growth lies on the back of an increase in primary customers to more than 350,000.At a media lunch in Sydney yesterday (12 October), ING CEO Uday Sareen said the bank had always relied heavily on brokers for mortgage acquisition. Growth in the direct channel will have its limits, he told Australian Broker.I dont see that number crossing 20%.In the meantime, the bank was still expanding its broker channel with the absolute number of broker transactions on the way up, Sareen added.We want to do both: to do broker and to upgrade the direct channel.Although some banks may be shifting away from the broker channel, Sareen stressed that this was not the case for ING. In fact, he predicted even higher volume numbers for brokers in the future.That INGs total mortgage book has grown 9% year-on-year primarily through brokers reflected the banks focus on acquisition through the third party channel, he said.In the mortgage space, the banks primary customers are owner-occupiers. While INGs mortgage market share sits at just over 3%, its owner occupier market share is closer to 3.7% while the investor book is below 2%.Our strategy has always been focused on our primary customers: mums and dads and owner-occupiers. In that segment, were definitely growing faster than market.At present, ING has an 80-20 mix of owner-occupier versus investor mortgages. Lending caps set by the Australian Prudential Lending Authority (APRA) have seen a fall in the banks investor book which now takes up less than 30% of new business. In comparison, interest-only loans take up around 25% of the banks loan book.
CATO  Verne Montana, 63, of Cato, passed away Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017 at Strong Memorial Hospital surrounded by his family. Verne was born in Auburn, the son of the late Lester Montana and Lena DeLyser Montana.

He was a self-employed farmer in the town of Conquest, as well as an AI technician. He had a passion for woodworking, hunting, music and traveling. Verne also had an interest in researching his family lineage over the years, even connecting with distant relatives abroad. He was an avid collector of antique John Deere tractors and enjoyed driving his 1953 red Chevy truck.

He was a devoted family man who loved spending time with his kids and grandchildren. He dedicated over 30 years volunteering his time in the community and was an assistant chief and lifetime member of the Cato Volunteer Fire Department, past member of the Conquest Fire Department; as well as a past member of CIMVAC Ambulance.

Verne is survived by his wife, Suzanne Petit Montana; a son, Nathan (Kathleen) Montana, of Rochester; a daughter, Erin (Rafael) Larramendi, of Farmington; a brother, Dennis (Marjorie) Montana, of Maryland; his four grandchildren, Chandler and Aiden Montana, Kalyani and Xavier Larramendi; as well as several nieces and nephews.

Calling hours will be from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, at the Keysor-Dain-Cullinan Funeral Home. A funeral will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, in the Cato Christian Fellowship; burial will take place immediately after in the Cato Union Cemetery.

If anyone wishes to make contributions, they can do so to the Cato Christian Church, P.O. Box 176, Cato, NY 13033, the Cato Fire Department, P.O. Box 252, Cato, NY 13033, CIMVAC Ambulance, 2496 W. Main St., Cato, NY 13033, or Lifetime Care Hospice, 3111 S. Winton Road, Rochester, NY 14623.
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...
Some of the best sugar maples grow throughout central New York, and they are a highly valued timber species. Sugar maples have faced decline throughout many regions from competition, over grazing, climate changes and increased pest species.

A widely used popular yard tree, including the Norway maple, specifically the Crimson king variety (Acer plantinodies), requires high amounts of water and nutrients. Norways produce a white milky sap that, unlike the clear sticky sap from sugar maples, cannot be used for maple syrup.

There are warnings on pots of Norway maples at commercial nurseries, disclosing the invasive status present in New York. Combined with urban sprawl and many landscapers' heavy use of the tree, it is enabled to spread into our native forest systems.

Often, tar spot  which is a plant pathogen, that is unsightly to homeowners  infects Norway maple, but sugar maple is resistant.

Invasive plants should not be sold in commercial nurseries, because they add to the continuation of environmental harm. Norway maple is a competitor to many native species, with prolific seed production. Sugar maple is a more valuable species that should be selected as a planted cultivar.

Julia Lampman

Syracuse
latest news

October 31, 2022

Buddy TV

In November, there are hundreds of new and returning TV showsit can be overwhelming to try and choose what to watch. That's why we've selected some of the best options...
President Tom Kirkman and his administration enter our homes once again as Designated Survivor enters its third week of the second season. Patrick Lloyd has finally been taken out, killed by a drone strike while hiding in a bunker. This can only provide a brief period of relief, though, after seeing Hannah and Damian unearth Lloyds laptop. Something was being uploaded during his final moments, but it wont be so easy to uncover the mysterious details.

Designated Survivor Recap: Kirkman Drops a Bomb>>>

Minorities Fall Victim to Outbreak

A woman exits a local place of business and discovers a young boy upset by his car. Whats wrong? she asks. My mom, he cries. Upon opening the drivers door, out slumps the mother. She falls to the ground, unconscious and foaming from the mouth.

At the White House, the First Mother-in-Law doesnt wish to impose her presence on everyone any longer after her scary home invasion by Lloyd. Kirkman insists she stay as long as she needs. Something about that boyish charm and his Kiefer Sutherland voice melts her immediately. The First Lady is convinced her mother likes her husband more than she likes her own daughter.

A call takes the President away from his family to the Situation Room where everyone has gathered around the screen, looking on at a widespread epidemic of Influenza A sweeping the nation and rapidly taking lives. It seems the pandemic has evolved from animals and made its way to the people of the United States. Perfect timing.

Art Imitates Realitys Headlines

Counsel Kendra Daynes, the newest addition to the White House staff, is taking on a controversial confederate statue on federal grounds. Some wish to keep it while others argue to have it taken down. The room if full of commotion from the Black Congressional Caucus until Kendra demands some order. Emmet Aiken, a former mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was an influential character in the states history and a slaveholder, but also someone who stands as a reminder of a painful past. Middle ground would be to move the statue to a less trafficked area. Reverend Dale (Ron Canada), who has been sitting quietly in a corner, stands and states that the past must not be whitewashed. Obviously out of realitys headlines, this sensitive subject of racism and the countrys roots is interesting to see play out on screen.

Hannah and Damian sit in her office, struggling to figure out why Lloyd trashed the First Ladys mothers house before holing himself up in that bunker before his death. Damians suggestions arent even worth mentioning and he doesnt care for the why, but more so about what will happen next. (Does anyone else suspect something here?) Chuck has found that Lloyd uploaded that last file across three continents and its incredibly corrupted. In other words, hes having quite the time deciphering the details. Hannah leads Damian to Mrs. Bookers home where they walk through and investigate the destruction. Everything he did was done for a reason and just as suspected, he has led them to an envelope left in the unharmed desk. Insider are medical documents for a 1987 heart transplant for Andrew Booker, the First Ladys father.

A White House medical representative reports back to Aaron and Emily that ten more civilians have lost their lives in South Carrol Parrish to this swiftly sweeping pandemic. Along with the bad news, though, comes possible good news. There is not a preventative solution, but there could in fact be a cure in an experimental cancer drug called Extasis. Carlton Mackey is the lone holder of the drug. Until they can get their hands on this drug, a quarantine is severely needed before more lives are lost.

A Frog Named Kirkman

Meanwhile, Seth and Lyor witness a White House guest who uncovers a new Amazonian specimen to be named after Kirkman. Its a frog. Its a hermaphrodite frog. The room quickly dissipates and the comic relief duo agree that the President cannot see this. Lyor leaves to find Kendra who is leaning against the door that leads into a still ongoing heated argument over the Aiken statue. He informs her that not only are racist issues running wild in one part of the country, but people of color are dying of an outbreak in another. Im on it, she says. He smirks and she continues to sigh heavily through what looks to be a ridiculously stressful first week on the job.

Casting Bits: Designated Survivor Adds Series Regular>>>

Mackey has been invited to the Oval Office and agrees that his drug will in fact help save lives, but the untested drug may also kill more people. Kirkman smooth talks his way into getting what he wants and thats to save more lives. Mackey agrees, but reluctantly. Lets hope this is a smart move and not a deadly one.

Hannah sits down with the First Lady, looking over files and documents touched by Lloyd during the invasion. She finds the heart transplant insurance form interesting. She didnt realize her mother had kept it. Apparently, it was the first in the area of its kind. Her father was far down on the list, but suddenly it all came together. Hanna most definitely keeps this in mind.

Counsel Daynes to the Rescue





Mackey has reneged on offering up his drug to those who need it. Well, some of those who need it. He gave it to the highest bidder, someone from another parish. The team springs into action in search of an alternate route to saving lives. Time to call Kendra. In she walks to the courtroom where she stands opposite Mackey. The Defense Production Act requires businesses essential to national defense, such as Mackeys, to sign a contract to help the matter at hand. The government is facing a public health emergency, giving the President freedom to distribute Extasis where he sees fit. Mackey is made to hand over those ten thousand doses. Thats 2-0 for Daynes. Shes on a roll!

Kendra reenters the room where the argument over Aidens statue is reaching an all time high and getting personal. Reverend Dale, who still opposes the statue being taken down or moved, is called out by a young woman for selling out in order to visit the White House. (Its a pretty weak jab if you ask me.) His rebuttal tears her apart. You are young, white and have no idea what its like to walk in my shoes, he says, staring her down, and I wont always be around to tell you. That statue will. It stays. Perhaps things are getting a little out of hand now.

Damian Hurts Himself Again

Hannah and Damian are doing more spy work as they snoop around an old building in the hopes of finding more information on what Lloyd is trying to convey by leaving those insurance papers. As Hannah touches the doorknob to look further, Damian yells out for her and pushes her out of the way in just the nick of time. Theres an explosion and the door flies back and lands on Damian. Yes, he is once again injured on the job. Hannah has to pull him from the wreckage. (Why do we need this guy again?)

The death toll of the outbreak has now risen to 74 over two Louisiana parishes and one county in Texas. Mackey comes into question yet again when the doctor informs Kirkman that theres no way he only had ten thousand doses. Emily hurries off to look into it.

Meanwhile, Lyor has been staring at the frog for some time and it finally, uh, squawks back. Yes, it opens wide and squawks. Coming off of this, he takes to the Black Congressional Caucus with Kendra where he points fingers at almost everyone in the room and unites them against him. Giving them a universal bad guy to focus on brings them together to finally agree on something. Kirkman soon congratulates Reverend Dale on his compromise on the removal of the statue.

Mackey is back, but he will never be setting foot in the Oval Office again. He has been producing more drugs for distribution, approaching the matter from a business standpoint. Kirkman challenges him and reminds him that lives are at stake, minority lives. Mackey could care less if hes called a racist. He wants the money he deserves from making this drug and he hopes the President will be prepared to meet with his lawyer when the time comes.

Kirkman turns the television off just as Mackey witnesses Reverend Dale ruin his reputation, calling him someone who cares more for modern medicine than the lives of minorities. He gives him a chance to clear his name, letting him speak for himself and right his wrongs.

Damian is leaving the building, literally and figuratively. Hannah walks him out herself. Cheerio, mate! (Same to you, buddy. Hope you dont trip on the way out.) Now that hes out, Chuck is back in the field. He finds a correlation between Mrs. Bookers husband moving up the heart transplant list and an Eric Little.

Just beautiful, Kirkman loves his new frog mini-me. Who wouldve thought?





What A Guy!

While the drugs have been distributed to the infected civilians, the doctor relaying information on the case has unfortunately fallen ill herself. Its not Influenza A, though. Its kidney failure. She vows to stay put and see the last shot fired. Yet this isnt going to work for Kirkman as he is soon by her side as she lays in a hospital bed receiving treatment herself.

Hannah and Chuck (I like the sound of this duo better) come upon a residence where they find the door is unlocked. They quietly make their way through the home to find the lifeless body of the homeowner, Eric Little.

Just as suspected, Patrick Lloyd is dead and gone, but the threats continue to mount. Who killed Eric Little? How will Kirkman juggle relations abroad? Why is Damian back so soon? Tune in as we answer these questions and so many more on Designated Survivor.

Designated Survivor airs Wednesdays on ABC at 10/9c. Want more news? Visit the BuddyTV Designated Survivor Facebook page.





(Image courtesy of ABC)
Metador has launched its new brand and website after a move to further solidify its position within the steel door market.

Based in Middlesbrough, the family run business built from the ground up over the last 13 years, and with experience in the security industry spanning over 25 years. The company has had been involved with previous projects like the Houses of Parliament, their status is unrivalled.

In a bid to clarify and update their image, Metador drops its previous prefix Britannia, retaining only Metador forward as its strong, simple, standalone identity. Evolving its operation to the next level, with the first step being a comprehensive rebranding process, they hope to take the reins and strengthen their reputation as the obvious choice in the market for steel security doors.

Their process, aptly named BetterBrandBuilder, meant that Metadors new branding was created from the inside out. A fresh brand story was defined, built upon a clear point of difference and supported by a clear brand vision, set of values, an archetype and new strapline.

John Taylor, Creative Director at Better said: Our findings told us that Metador are all about strength. Strong products and strong principles. This knowledge allowed us to bring their solid new identity to life, creating a truly unique, authentic and compelling brand, both verbally and visually.

Alongside the new brand, Metador has also launched a completely new website, strengthening their digital offering and streamlining usability for their customers, making its journey to purchase much easier. With various touch points across the site, users can walk through their choices simply, selecting every specification of their security door, including colour.

Simon Evershed, Managing Director at Metador said: Our new branding undeniably captures the core values of the business, precisely pinpointing our strength and reputation in the global steel security door market.

Without a doubt, everything from the logo to the brand language to the way our customers can access information on our range of products, truly sets us apart from other players in our space. Were proud of who we are and the strength and quality of our doors, now we have a brand that we can be equally proud of.
Following GAPs announcement in August of the acquisition of SIG Building Plastics & Windows, the company has been working non-stop to welcome all their new team members and customers on board.

No sooner had the ink dried on the dotted line that the GAP Directors were hitting the road visiting all 66 new depots and team members, from Inverness to Isle of Wight and everywhere in-between.

The team at GAP prides itself on ensuring all staff feel part of the family and the information gained will help shape the integration strategy.

Simon Bird, GAPs Joint Founder said: Weve been hugely impressed so far by the knowledge and talent of our new team, together with their desire to grasp this unique chance. Weve also been taken aback by the size of opportunity this deal has presented GAP. The quality of the team that has joined, together with the strategic locations of the new depots, has provided GAP a game changing opportunity to become the number one manufacturer and distributor of PVC-U building products for quality, service and choice.

Whilst planning and preparation started well in advance of the deal, further investment has continued in logistics and manufacturing to ensure the new combined network of 112 depots can provide customers with what they need when they need it, from small traders to national house builders.

Phase one of the integration involves the new depots benefitting from a mini make-over, new signage and team workwear. The scale of the change is illustrated by the huge workwear order placed by GAP for 805 T-Shirts, 805 Polo Shirts, 270 Jackets, 532 Jumpers, 330 Hoodies, 810 Pairs of Trousers and 390 Pairs of Shorts. Stock is also being switched at the depots to offer customers the wide range of colours and styles available through GAPs own brand of roofline products; Homeline.

Charles Greensmith, GAPs Joint Founder said: This continues to be a very busy yet exciting time for all involved. Weve got big challenges ahead, but were making great strides together. Over the coming months well do everything we can to make our new team members and customers feel part of GAP.
Ibstock Brick hosted a visit from the Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the United Kingdom on Friday 6 October.

Accompanied by the MP for North West Leicestershire Andrew Bridgen, the visit came as the company invests 50 million in its new factory at its Leicestershire headquarters. The tour was organised following His Excellency Ambassador Alisher Shaykhovs meeting with Mr Bridgen last month when the MP described the Ibstock Brick plant as the UKs most technologically advanced brick production facility.

Uzbekistan is rapidly developing its construction business and has looked to the UK as a leading example, with the Ambassador keen to obtain knowledge of the sector and discuss opportunities for business co-operation in the future.

Andrew Craddock, Production Director at Ibstock Brick, said: We were delighted to welcome our local MP Andrew Bridgen and His Excellency Ambassador Shaykhov to show them round our new manufacturing facility. Brick continues to be the construction material of choice, with the latest government statistics1 showing an increase in sales, and being able to increase production with our new facility will help us meet this growing demand from the construction sector. With construction projects also increasing in Uzbekistan it was an opportunity for His Excellency Ambassador Shaykhov to see the latest technology and machinery and see how this could work in their own country.

Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire, said: "I would like to thank Ibstock Brick for taking the time to show Ambassador Shaykhov and myself the huge investment at the Ibstock site. The new facility when open will be one of the most efficient brick plants in the world and this investment demonstrates the confidence in the construction industry, in the UK economy and in North West Leicestershire."

His Excellency Ambassador Alisher Shaykhov, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the United Kingdom, said: Uzbekistan always considers the United Kingdom as one of the developed countries of the world with enormous political, economic, technological and intellectual potential, playing a leading role in global affairs. I was immensely impressed with how the manufacturing process, safety regulations, team performance, care for its staff, as well as respect to the environment and local community had been conducted.

Once at full capacity, Ibstock Bricks soft mud brick manufacturing plant will increase production by up to 100 million bricks a year  a 13% increase. Commissioning of the plant will start in the final quarter of this year.
NJ Transit gets money for green projects. See how $44M is being spent

transportation
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The Supreme Court ordered the Maharashtra police to hand over the possession of luxury township Aamby Valley to the official liquidator of the Bombay High Court within 48 hours. .
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The promoters of (DHFL) and RKW Developers have come under an income-tax (I-T) department scanner in connection with alleged transactions in benami properties of Rs 95 crore in a Mumbai-based redevelopment project. A provisional attachment order has been issued.
Even as the jury is still out on the implications of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the domestic economy, electronics goods major Sony India managing director Kenichiro Hibi on Thursday said in the long run the decision was beneficial for India.
Leading two-wheeler maker Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt Ltd is looking at two new product offerings by the close of this financial year. The company has lined up a Capital expenditure (Capex) of Rs 700-800 crore, to be invested mostly in creating additional production line at its Karnataka plant.
The deal between Bharti group and Tata Teleservices is yet another example of how swiftly things can change in business. A collapsed deal was brought back to life in the last five days, people close to the transaction said.
Tata Teleservices has decided to merge its consumer mobile business with Bharti Airtel in a deal that will require the latter to pay only Rs 1,500 crore of spectrum fees. This effectively means an almost complete exit of the Tatas from the telecom business  after a long list of mis-steps, wrong technology choices and bets that boomeranged on them.
India has regained its net exporter status. The latest figures provided by the Joint Plant Committee show that India was a net exporter during September.

Exports of finished steel stood at 1.119 million tonnes in September, while imports stood at 810,000 tonnes. In contrast, JPC figures published in August showed that India had turned a net importer for the month of August, though cumulatively during April-August the country had maintained its net exporter status.
has said it would require at least 120 days to make changes to its operations at the Delhi airport and has suggested rival SpiceJet to consider shifting its operations fully alongside GoAir to Terminal 2.
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has dropped plans to merge its subsidiary (CPCL) with itself, a top company official said.

IOC holds 51.89 per cent stake in CPCL and had planned to merge the company with itself like it had done with another subsidiary, Bongaigaon Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (BRPL), more than a decade ago.

But unlike BRPL, CPCL has National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) as a shareholder with a 15.40 per cent stake. IOC was hoping that NIOC may not invest in expansion of CPCL, giving the state-owned retailer a reason to seek the Iranian company's exit.

"They (NIOC) have decided to participate in setting up a new 9-million tonne per annum refinery at the Cauvery basin, Nagapattinam, at an estimated cost of Rs 27,460 crore," he said in New Delhi.

The Iranian company wants to stay invested in CPCL, he said. "We won't like to merge till they are there. If we were to merge CPCL with IOC under the present shareholding, NIOC would get a stake, although small, in IOC."

NIOC holding a stake in IOC would be "risky proposition" in view of threat of US sanctions on Iran and its state- controlled firms, he explained.

If NIOC was to attract sanctions, IOC risks being exposed to actions by the US by virtue of its shareholding in the company.

"We won't like to be exposed to any such thing (sanctions)," he said.

While CPCL does not have any international exposure that may threaten its business in case NIOC is sanctioned, IOC has major dealings with the US including recent buying of US oil.

NIOC holds a 15.4 per cent stake in CPCL through its Swiss unit, Naftiran Intertrade.

IOC was keen to merge CPCL with itself as viability of a stand-alone refinery in the current scenario was questionable.

CPCL is a stand-alone refinery, operating a 10.5-mt unit at Manali in Tamil Nadu and another 1 mt plant at Nagapattinam.

It had been through rough times in recent years and was even reported to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) in 2014-15 due to an erosion of more than 50 per cent in its net worth to Rs 1,655 crore.

CPCL managed a turnaround last fiscal with a profit of Rs 1,029.75 crore.

CPCL, formerly known as Madras Refineries Ltd, was formed as a joint venture in 1965 between the Government of India, AMOCO and NIOC having a shareholding in the ratio of 74 per cent, 13 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively.

In 1985, AMOCO disinvested, following which, the government held 84.62 per cent and NIOC 15.38 per cent.

The government later disinvested 16.92 per cent of the paid-up capital. The company was listed in 1994.

IOC acquired the government stake in 2000-01 and holds 51.89 per cent stake in CPCL while NIOC has 15.40 per cent.
India has an abundance of problems that have not been solved by any organisation globally and need to capitalise on this to be truly disruptive globally.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had moved the top court, seeking contempt proceedings against the Sahara Group for allegedly obstructing the process of auctioning its Aamby Valley property in Pune, initiated on court's direction.
will look at all inorganic options to achieve its target of doubling capacity in the next five years.
A strong double-digit growth in foreign tourist arrivals, rise in the number of domestic leisure, corporate travel and recovery in the hotel business are prompting global chains to bring more top-end luxury brands to India. Leading chains like Marriott and Accor are getting ready to roll out more such brands here.
The Allahabad High Court will on Thursday deliver its verdict on an appeal filed by Rajesh and Nupur Talwar challenging a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court order convicting them for the murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj in 2008.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)-On June 23, Zhejiang Geely Holding signed an agreement with DRB-HICOM to purchase Proton Auto's 49.9% shares, becoming the exclusive foreign strategic partner of Proton Auto. One hundred days later on Sept. 29, the both sides held a joint media conference to announce new executive team for Proton and the future products plan. During the conference, Geely also officially announced that it purchased 51% shares of Lotus, which is British luxury roadster brand under Proton Auto. During the day, Lotus's new board of directors was also established. Li Donghui, Executive Vice President and CFO of Geely Holding, served as the Chairman of Lotus' new board of directors. Nathan Yu Ning, who is the Vice President of International Business and Executive Advisor to the President at Geely Holding, was appointed as member of board of directors. Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of Lotus will continually stay in his position. According to Geely's strategy, it will compete with Porsche.

Geely boasts a speedy development since it acquired 100% stake of Volvo with RMB 1.8 billion in 2012. After the purchase, Geely started to shape its own design style in both exterior and interior for new models, and also learned core technologies of the vehicle, largely promoting the quality for Geely's new models.

Geely showcased the LYNK&CO vehicle brand on Auto Shanghai 2017, showing Geely has made a great improvement in going upscale. Though it hasn't hit the market, the new model has caught much attention from the public due to its pure Volvo genes. Thanks to the deepening cooperation with Volvo, Geely will be experienced in researching and developing new models.

Thing were changed as time pass by, Geely is no longer what it was ten years ago. Now it is a multinational automaker that possesses Volvo, Proton and Lotus. With the purchase of Lotus, it will be competitive enough to rival with Porsche.
AIADMK leader V K Sasikala returned to Bengaluru Central Jail on Thursday after the five-day parole granted to meet her ailing husband in a Chennai hospital, jail officials said.

"Sasikala has returned to the prison on Thursday at around 4.30 p.m. within the stipulated time," Bengaluru Central Jail Superintendent G. Somashekar told IANS here.

"There have been no violations by her during the parole period," he said.

Also called the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison, the jail is located in the southern outskirts of the city.

Sasikala, 60, was granted a five-day parole on October 6, and had to return to the prison by October 12 evening, as directed by the jail authorities.

During the parole period she had visited Geneagles Global Hospital in Chennai where her husband Natarajan, 74, had undergone liver and kidney transplant last week.

Though Sasikala applied for 15 days parole last week, the prison authority had permitted her to be out of jail for only five days with conditions.

She had been directed to restrict her visit to Chennai and refrain from speaking to media or taking part in any political activities during the parole period.

A close confident of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, Sasikala is serving a four-year sentence since February 15 after the Supreme Court on February 14 upheld her conviction in a corruption case by a trial court in September 2015 here.

Sasikala's co-convicts Elavarasi (sister in-law) and V.N. Sudhakaran (nephew) are also serving the sentence concurrently in the same jail after they were held guilty in the Rs 64 crore disproportionate assets case of late Jayalalithaa.
Do you remember how the plumes of blinding smoke billowed from the fields in Haryana and Punjab and travelled to Delhi-NCR? Be prepared! It might return to choke children, women, men and animals too. Stubble burning has begun.
Seasoned diplomat Gautam Bambawale, India's high commissioner to Pakistan, was today appointed as the country's next envoy to China.

This was announced tonight by the external affairs ministry.

A 1984 India Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Bambawale is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the ministry said. He will replace Vijay Gokhale.

A deft hand in Sino-India relations, Bambawale opted to learn Mandarin Chinese as his foreign language and served in Hong Kong and Beijing between 1985 and 1991.

He was first the desk officer for China in the Ministry of External Affairs and served as director in the Americas Division of the ministry, responsible for relations with the US and Canada (1993-94).

He has also functioned as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy in Beijing.

His appointment comes at a time when India and China are trying to put behind the Dokalam standoff and work on a "forward-looking" approach in their ties.
India today rejected suggestions that the US was hyphenating India and Pakistan, saying are comprehensive and should not be seen through the prism of a third country.

Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, also expressed hope that the '2 plus 2' strategic and security dialogue involving the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defence Secretary James Mattis and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would materialises soon.

There are reports that Tillerson could visit India and Pakistan during a trip later this month.

Responding to a question on whether Tillerson's visit to Pakistan could come in India's way to isolate Islamabad, Kumar said, "We do not agree with this assessment that Tillerson visiting Pakistan and India together means anything."



In August, Tillerson had said that Pakistan could lose its major 'Non-Nato ally status' if it continued giving safe haven to Afghan terror groups.

The comments on Islamabad speaks for itself, Kumar said.

"We feel that India-US bilateral relations are very comprehensive and stand on their own merits and both the countries...we do not look at our relationship through the prism of a third country," Kumar said.

On Tillerson's visit to India, Kumar said, "We have not yet confirmed the visit."



However, he added that the two foreign offices are in touch on the proposals for the high-level visits. "When we have some conformation, we will make announcement in due course."



On the '2 plus 2' dialogue, the MEA spokesperson said there are four ministers involved and getting the dates from them all is a process which is going on. "And we hope that this dialogue materialises soon."



To a question on a possible US retreat from the Iran nuclear deal and its impact on the Chabahar port projects, Kumar said India has its own independent position and its relationship with Iran is "historical and civilisational".

"We do feel that it should be seen independent from our relationship from any other country," he said.

Early this week, US President Donald Trump proposed ending extended-family chain migration by limiting family-based green cards to spouses and minor children, and replacing it with a 'merit-based system that prioritises skills and economic contributions over family connections'. This is expected to have an impact on Indians.

Kumar said India has already taken up these issues, including one related to H-1B visas, with the US.

"The issue was recently taken up by the external affairs minister (Swaraj) when she had a meeting with Secretary of State Tillerson in New York," he said.

"We also took up the matter of H-1B visa and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme) and conveyed our position on this matter. This was earlier taken up by the prime minister (Narendra Modi) during his meeting with President Trump as well," Kumar said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Tuesday the police made a "total dog's breakfast" of the investigation in the .

The Allahabad High Court today acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj in 2008, saying they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record.

In a series of tweets, Abdullah wrote, "Don't know who killed #Arushi & will probably never know but what I do know is the police made a total dogs breakfast of the investigation (sic)," suggesting that the probe was a complete mess.

Dont know who killed #Arushi & will probably never know but what I do know is the police made a total dogs breakfast of the investigation.  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 12, 2017

"The law presumes innocence until guilt is established beyond reasonable doubt. Innocent till proven guilty is bedrock of criminal law," he said in another tweet.

The law presumes innocence until guilt is established beyond reasonable doubt. Innocent till proven guilty is bedrock of criminal law. https://t.co/5fkVqCRMab  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 12, 2017

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008.

The needle of suspicion initially moved towards 45-year- old Hemraj, who had gone missing, but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house two days later.

The high court verdict today ends a nine-year ordeal of the parents who were found guilty of murdering 14-year-old Aarushi by a CBI court.

(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.)
Should the Supreme Court legitimise living will to die for terminally ill patients? While hearing a petition on Tuesday that concerns the right of a person to make a living will if he or she becomes incapable of doing so at a later stage, the court on Wednesday indicated it might recognise the execution of the will in cases of passive euthanasia.



The bench was hearing a petition filed in 2005 by an NGO, which said when a medical expert opines that a person afflicted with a terminal disease has reached a point of no return, he should be given the right to refuse life support.
India has reiterated its call for a permanent solution to the food security issue at the World Trade Organisation at a WTO meet in Morocco's Marrakesh, an official statement said on Wednesday.

Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu "emphasised that a permanent solution on the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes must be a part of the outcomes achieved, as this is an issue of tremendous importance not only to India but also several other developing countries," said a Commerce Ministry statement here.

Prabhu was speaking at the informal WTO ministerial meeting in Marrakesh held on October 9-10.

He also called for reducing the "disproportionately" large subsidies given by developed countries to their farmers.

Underlining the importance of the special and differential treatment given to developing countries in the WTO, Prabhu said that "India would be willing to engage on proposals that recognised this right for all developing countries without exception".

Noting that about 600 million people are dependent on agriculture in India, and nearly 98 per cent of farmers are in the low income category and mostly into subsistence farming, Prabhu said: "Under such circumstances, it is imperative for India to balance trade liberalisation with the need to protect the livelihood of its farmers."

He called for the continuation of the reform process in agriculture sector and avoid further widening of the imbalance between developed and developing countries.

On the move by rich economies to introduce new issues for discussion in the WTO, Prabhu called upon members to first deal with the issues which were already under negotiation, before moving to new ones.

Developed economies want inclusion of certain new issues like investment facilitation and e-commerce in the WTO agenda.

This informal WTO ministerial meeting was held in preparation for the 11th ministerial conference slated to take place in Buenos Aires in December.

(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 Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is looking to auction close to 3 GW of by the end of this fiscal. The ministry is also in the final stages of drafting separate bidding guidelines for auctioning .
The Supreme Court of India recently banned the sale and stocking of firecrackers in the National Capital Region until November 1, barely 10 days before Diwali. While many are sure to breathe easier this Diwali because of the order, some might still find it hard to thank the Supreme Court. Apar Gupta explains why.

Coming close on the heels of Richard Thaler being awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics, the residents of Delhi-NCR have also been given a nudge. News tickers announced a smoke-free Diwali thanks, to the Supreme Court banning the sale of fireworks in all of NCR till the end of the month. This ban came in the midst of a hearing of a two-year-old public interest petition that has sought various directions to tackle the problem of air pollution in the National Capital Region. While most welcomed this ban, some disquiet has arisen on the proper role of the Supreme Court in what is viewed as an activity best left to the multitude of environmental agencies. Such concern centres on the phrase, judicial legislation; often used to describe an activist court that blurs the boundaries between adjudication, enforcement and policy formation. Is such a technical critique sustainable as one of Indias most populous and affluent cities suffers a health crisis?

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal. They do not reflect the view/s of Business Standard.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)-GAC Group released its output and sales report on Oct. 10, showing that GAC Group had a total output volume of 188,066 units in September with 15.5% year-on-year growth on the basis of 162,828 units in 2016. The total output volume from January to September reached 1,485,640 units, growing 26.81% compared with the same period last year. The sales volume in September and the previous nine months this year reached 187,105 units and 1,466,561 units respectively, growing 18.19% and 27.63% year on year.



GAC Mitsubishi performed best among all group companies with its monthly sales volume of 12,063 units in September, increasing 167% year on year. Its total sales volume in the previous nine months reached 81,339 units with a year-on-year growth of 199%, accomplishing 81% of the annual sales target. It's analyzed that the launching of Chinese-made Outlander models this year greatly promoted GAC Mitsubishi's sales volume. The further expansion of GAC Mitsubishi's sales network also made contribution to its sales growth.

GAC Honda and Toyota showed slight growths of 8.13% and 2.62% respectively in September. GAC Honda sold 502,972 units from January to September with a year-on-year growth of 14.65%. Supported by compact car, the Levin and middle-size SUV, the Highlander, GAC Toyota has a monthly sales volume of 40,985 units in September. Its total sales volume in the previous three quarters reached 339,014 units with year-on-year growth of 8.22%, accomplishing 78% of annual sales target.

Mainly supported by the GS4 and GS8, GAC Trumpchi sold 46,185 units in September with a year-on-year growth of 24.42%. Its total sales volume from January to September reached 376,220 units, growing 46.67% compared with the same period last year and accomplishing 75% of annual sales target. It's predicted that its annual sales would surpass the annual target with the launch of first MPV model, the GM8 and subsequent busy season at the end of year.

The sales volume for passenger vehicles in GAC Group reached 186,833 units in September with 18.1% year-on-year growth, among which SUV models took the lead with the number of 105,391 units and grew 36.7% year on year. Sales for cars keep steady with a 2.3% year-on-year growth, while MPV sales decline 28.6% year-on-year to 3,382 units in September.
India and Mauritius are set to revive talks for a free trade agreement (FTA), following a revision of the bilateral tax treaty last year that gave India the right to impose the capital gains tax on investments routed through the island nation.
Real estate is often seen as one of the worst sectors in so far as tax evasion is concerned. To address this issue, the government might soon move to bring it within the ambit of goods and services tax (GST). Finance Minister Arun Jaitley indicated this on Thursday while speaking at Harvard University in the US. The Council, at its November meeting in Guwahati, would consider covering the sector under the new indirect tax regime, Jaitley said.
Billed as the most ambitious project in post-Independence India, the $100-billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) has been plagued by project abandonments, land acquisition issues, and delays. With things starting to pick up pace over the past couple of years, Chief Executive Officer Alkesh Sharma talks to Sai Manish about the rationale behind abandoning some projects and innovative approaches the is adopting.
The President of India, Shri Ram NathKovind, opened the 48th Conference of Governors at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (October 12, 2017). The Conference is being attended by Twenty-seven Governors and three Lt. Governors of States and Union Territories. The Administrators of the UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu as well as of Lakshadweep are also participating in the Conference as special invitees. .

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In his opening address, the President said that by participating in this Conference, Governors and Lt. Governors get a good opportunity to discuss important issues and share experiences from their respective States. He stated that Governors play the role of a bridge between the Union Government and States. The obligation of Governors to preserve and uphold the Constitution and commit themselves to the service and welfare of the people is even more pronounced in the current paradigm of Co-operative Federalism. .

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The President said critical milestones and national goals have been set in the context of the completion of 75 years of independence in 2022. This period is only five years away, and the Government of India has resolved to build a society that is safe and secure, prosperous, ensures opportunity for all, and is a leader in science and technology. Given the magnitude of this task, it is necessary that the entire country works unitedly and is on the same page. The five years from 2017 to 2022 are devoted to the creation of New India, one free of corruption, poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and unhygienic conditions. Simultaneously, a strong foundation will also be laid for the coming generations. In order to ensure Team India advances in a single direction to achieve these national goals, Governors should inspire and connect all relevant stakeholders in their respective States. .

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The President said that it is essential to link youth with the process of nation building. The future of the country depends on the capacities, moral values and compassion of the younger generation. Special attention needs to be paid to higher education and skill development at the level of States. This is particularly true given the challenges of automation and Artificial Intelligence. The President pointed out that 69 per cent of Universities in the country fall under the purview of State Governments, and 94 per cent of all college and university students study in these institutions. .

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The President said technology can propel us to reach even difficult and long-term goals, and help ensure access to quality public services for all citizens. He also stressed trusting citizens more and gave the examples of self-attestation of documents by individuals and the easier mechanism for obtaining a passport. He urged the replication of these ideas at the level of States, since much of citizens interaction with Government agencies is at the level of States. .

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The President said that being an intrinsic part of the legislative system in their States, Governors can provide a new dimension to the development of their States by communicating with legislators, and inviting them to Raj Bhavan to deliberate on subjects related to public well-being. By establishing communication with University Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors, academicians, social workers and other thoughtful and enlightened citizens in the States, Governors could help raise the quality of discussion and debate and provide an impetus to society and the State government. .

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The President concluded by expressing hope that this Conference could help the Union Government and the States work together in the interests of all citizens, especially young people. The dream of a developed India will be realised, he said, only when every State develops. .

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Those participating in the inaugural session included the Vice President; the Prime Minister; Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology; Minister of Health & Family Welfare; Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare; Minister of Human Resource Development; Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship; Minister of Railways & Coal; Minister of State (I/C) of Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region, Minster of State (I/C) of Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and Vice Chairman and CEO of NITI Aayog. .

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The two-day Conference will deliberate on distinct agenda items in different sessions. The theme of the opening session was New India-2022. The first session of the Conference was addressed by Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi.There was also a presentation by Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, on the elements of New India 2022. .

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The second session is on the subjects of Higher Education in States and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to Make Youth Employable. In the third session, to take place on October 13, 2017, Governors will make brief remarks on any special issues pertaining to their respective States/Union Territories. In the concluding session, a brief report on the deliberations will be presented by the respective conveners. .

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The talks are currently in a "disturbing deadlock" but no agreement between the European Union (EU) and Britain would be a bad deal, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Thursday.

"No major step forward in this week's talks yet we still have the common goal," said Barnier in his joint press conference with British counterpart David Davis here, asserting that doing things in right order is the key to talks' success, the BBC reported.

Davis said the UK still wanted to be given the green light for trade talks when EU leaders meet next week.

He urged the other 27 EU members to recognize the progress and achievements made in the past five rounds of talks in the EU leaders' summit slated for October 19 in Brussels, which is a precondition for the start of the second negotiation session.

Barnier said he hoped for "decisive progress" by the time of the December summit of the European Council. He said British Premier Theresa May's announcement that her country would honour financial commitments entered into as an EU member was "important".

But he said there had been no negotiations on the issue this week because the UK was not ready to spell out what it would pay.

"On this question, we have reached a state of deadlock which is very disturbing for thousands of project promoters in Europe and it's disturbing also for taxpayers."

The EU had two other issues on which it would not make any "concessions", said Barnier -- citizens' rights and the Northern Ireland border.

Asked about speculation that the UK could exit the EU in March 2019 without a trade deal, Barnier said the EU was ready for "any eventualities" but added: "No deal will be a very bad deal."

Davis said: "It's not what we seek, we want to see a good deal, but we are planning for everything."

In the middle of the fifth round talks, the European Council President Donald Tusk said on Twitter on Tuesday that EU27 were not working on a "no deal" scenario in their Brexit talks with Britain.

"We negotiate in good faith and hope for 'sufficient progress' by December," he said. Tusk's remarks came a day after British Prime Minister Theresa May told Britain to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.

Addressing MPs in the House of Commons on the first day back after the conference season, May said achieving a special partnership after Brexit will require leadership and flexibility, not just from Britain, but from the 27 nations of the EU.
Pakistan Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday asked the United States to not look at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from India's perspective.

This comes after Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said India was unleashing a baseless propaganda against the .

U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis had earlier said to the Senate Armed Services Committee: "The One Belt, One Road also goes through the disputed territory, and I think that it itself shows the vulnerability of trying to establish that sort of a dictate."

He added that in a globalised world, there are many belts and many roads, and no one nation should put itself into a position of dictating the 'One belt, One Road'.

Iqbal urged the Washington to deal with Islamabad on its own merit, instead of tagging it to other states and issues in the region.

"The is not a conspiracy against anyone. It is not a security plan. It's a plan for economic prosperity, which is bringing investment in the energy, infrastructure and other key sectors," Iqbal said.

China came up with its One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative in 2013.

The project comprises a network of railways, roads and pipelines that would connect Pakistan's port city of Gwadar in the province of Balochistan, with the Chinese city of Kashgar in landlocked Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

The human rights activists have, time and again, spoken about and highlighted the growing atrocities of Pakistan on the indigenous people of Balochistan and deteriorating human rights situation as a result of the .

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
United States President Donald Trump has denied media reports that he wanted to increase the country's nuclear arsenal by nearly tenfold and said that he just wanted them to be modernised.

"No, I never discussed increasing it. I want it in perfect shape. That was just fake news by NBC, which gives a lot of fake news, lately," Trump told reporters at the White House during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday.

"No, I never discuss -- I think somebody said I want ten times the nuclear weapons that we have right now. Right now, we have so many nuclear weapons. I want them in perfect condition, perfect shape. That's the only thing I've ever discussed," he added.

Trump said it was disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write.

"No, I want to have absolutely perfectly maintained -- which we are in the process of doing -- nuclear force. But when they said I want ten times what we have right now, it's totally unnecessary. Believe me. Because I know what we have right now," he said.

The US President further said that the country does not need to increase its nuclear arsenal but they need to be modernised and have to be in 'tip-top shape'.

Earlier, Trump also suggested pulling NBC's network's broadcasting license after its explosive news report, stating that the US President had sought a massive increase of 'tenfold' in the nation's nuclear arsenal.

"With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!" Trump tweeted.

Secretary of Defence James Mattis also denied the NBC report, saying, "Recent reports that the President called for an increase in the US nuclear arsenal are absolutely false. This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible.

(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.)
Russian state news agency Tass says North Korea's foreign minister has described his nation's nuclear weapons as a "sword of justice."



Tass quoted North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho today accusing US President Donald Trump of "setting a fuse of war" with his September speech at the United Nations.

Trump threatened in the UN speech to "totally destroy" North Korea if forced to defend the US or its allies.

Ri told Tass that the North's nuclear weapons represent a deterrent to protect the country from the US.

He said the North's strategic forces have "inexhaustible power that won't leave aggressor state America unpunished."



Ri added that North Korea's "army and people are persistently demanding to settle the final score with the Americans with a fiery hail, not words.
US President has said that he has a different approach on North Korea's recent missile and nuclear tests, asserting that the problem has reached a point where "something has to be done".

North Korea has fired 22 missiles, including two across Japan, during 15 tests since February this year, drawing a sharp reaction from the US and its allies.

"I think I might have a somewhat different attitude and a different way than other people. I think perhaps I feel stronger and tougher on that subject than other people, but I listen to everybody," Trump told reporters in a joint media appearance with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau at his Oval Office yesterday.

"Ultimately, I will do what is right for the United States and really, what is right for the world. Because that is really a world problem; that is beyond just the United States," he said.

Responding to a question, the US president said it is a problem that has to be solved.

Later at night, Trump told Fox News that the world has reached a situation on North Korea where something has to be done.

"This should have been handled 25 years ago, it should have been handled 20 years ago, and 10 years ago, and five years ago," he said.

"It should have been handled by numerous not just (former US President Barack) Obama, but certainly president Obama should have taken care of it. Now it is at a point where it is very, very far advanced. Something has to be done. We can not allow this to happen," Trump said.

Meanwhile Republican Congressman Ted Yoho told CNN that the goal is to put sanctions on North Korea, have the world buy into it, bring them to the negotiating table, and get a diplomatic end to this.

"All North Korea has to do is look at the satellites at night and compare South Korea to North Korea. You can see what a democracy and a market economy does, and you can contrast that with Vietnam, who we were at war with, with the Vietnam War. They embraced market economies.

"They are a communist state, but they are our 16th largest trading partners," Yoho said.

"Neither country has a nuclear weapon. So nuclear weapons is not the answer. Economic trade and let's work on those things that we can agree on and then put the nuclear weapons away," he added.

The Trump administration along with the UN has been at the forefront of a drive to impose economic sanctions on the globally isolated North Korean regime for its nuclear ambitions which have threatened the world peace.

Trump has engaged in an escalating war of words with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un amid rising tensions between the two countries. Trump has even said that diplomatic efforts have not worked in dealing with North Korea.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The convicted felon bailed out of jail Friday by a now missing Glendale kindergarten teacher is related to the Williams police chief.

And it was in Williams that Charlie Malzahn, 27, was arrested Aug. 20, landing him in the Coconino County Jail for nearly seven weeks.

Malzahn, who was the last person to see 44-year-old Cathryn Gorospe after she posted bond for him Friday, is the stepson of Williams Police Chief Herman Nixon.

Gorospe is still missing and Malzahn is not talking to police about her whereabouts. He was arrested Monday while driving a blood-stained Toyota Rav 4 that is believed to have belonged to Gorospe.

Williams Police Department spokesman Lt. Darrell Hixson confirmed the police chiefs relationship with Malzahn and said that Nixon had not seen or had contact with his stepson in more than a year prior to the August 20 arrest in Williams. Malzahn attended Williams High School a decade ago.

Malzahn was charged with auto theft, being a prohibited possessor of a gun and possessing a gun during the commission of a felony.

The auto theft charge arose out of an incident in Tempe in which Malzahn allegedly stole his sisters Chrysler Town and Country.

The sister told police that Malzahn was driving her car with her and her children in it on Interstate 10 when he accused her of trying to have him sniped by the driver of the car next to him. He stopped the car, pulled out a black handgun and kicked his sister and her children out of the vehicle, then drove away.

Malzahn later phoned his sister to tell her that he had left the car at the Canyon Club, a restaurant in Williams. He was arrested by Williams police as he left the establishment.

He was carrying a loaded gun at the time of his arrest, which he was not allowed to carry because he is a convicted felon.

Malzahn interacted with police departments across multiple counties during the three days between Gorospe bonding him out on Oct. 6 and his arrest on Oct. 9.

Tucson police say Malzahn tried to buy items at a mall with Gorospe's credit and debit cards last Saturday afternoon and he may have been driving her Toyota Rav 4.

The vehicle was spotted early Monday in Phoenix and Malzahn was arrested after he crashed the SUV following a police pursuit.

On Saturday morning in Clifton, where Nixon and his stepson previously lived, Malzahn contacted some acquaintances trying to get drugs and a gun, Flagstaff Police spokesman Sgt. Cory Runge said in a press release. Gorospe was not reported missing by her roommate until Sunday afternoon.

Malzahns acquaintance in Clifton told police Malzahn was driving a Toyota Rav 4, which matched the description of Gorospes vehicle, Runge said. The acquaintance said the vehicle was missing end pieces of the rear bumper and had damage to the front quarter panel, and said there was blood on the center console, interior passenger door, sunroof area and the interior driver door, Runge said. Clifton police then updated the status in the national database as a possible homicide vehicle, he said.

On Monday at about 1:30 a.m., Phoenix Police spotted the vehicle, and Malzahn tried to flee. During the pursuit, he crashed the car and was taken into custody, Runge said. He has not given any update to Gorospes whereabouts, Runge said.

Phoenix Police arrested Malzahn on suspicion of unlawful flight, resisting arrest and aggravated assault, Runge said. All charges in Phoenix so far relate to his actions there, not to Gorospes disappearance, Runge said.

Malzahn and Gorospe had a romantic relationship at some point, Runge said.

Gorospes friend Mikaela Viloria did not respond to questions regarding Malzahn but described Gorospe as an incredible woman.

Gorospe is a kindergarten teacher at Arrowhead Elementary School, according to the Deer Valley Unified School District

Malzahn has an extensive criminal history, including convictions for assault, theft, aggravated assault, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, criminal damage and drug charges.

Police are asking for the publics help to see if anyone recognizes seeing Malzahn and Gorospe together or recognizes the white Toyota Rav 4 with Green Bay Packers stickers on it. Police suspect Malzahn traveled from Flagstaff to Williams, Chino Valley, Prescott, Prescott Valley and Clifton. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Flagstaff Police Department at 928-774-1414.
SpaceX on Thursday launched a rocket that had already flown to space and landed it successfully on an ocean platform, as part of its ongoing effort to recycle costly rocket components.

On a clear autumn evening at 6:53 pm (2253 GMT), the tall, white Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida carrying the Echostar 105/SES-11 satellite.

"Couldn't be more perfect weather for a launch," said a commentator on SpaceX's live webcast.

The satellite aims to provide television coverage and communications capabilities to North America, Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean.

It is a "dual-mission" satellite for the US-based operator EchoStar and Luxembourg-based operator SES.

About 10 minutes after launch, the tall portion of the rocket, known as the first stage, returned to Earth for a controlled, upright landing on a droneship called "Of Course I Still Love You," stationed in the Atlantic.

The Falcon 9 rocket "is currently standing on the deck," said the SpaceX commentator, as video images showed the smoking rocket securely parked on the platform.

"Yet another successful landing of a Falcon 9 first stage," he added.

"This is our 18th successful landing."



The Falcon 9's first stage which launched today had previously flown on a cargo mission to the Space Station in February.

SpaceX flew a recycled rocket component for the first time in March of this year.

Today's launch was its "third successful mission with a flight-proven orbital class rocket," SpaceX said on Twitter.

The effort is part of CEO Elon Musk's broader vision of making spaceflight more affordable and enabling easier, more economical rocket travel, both from city to city on Earth and eventually to deep space.

(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.)
Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called for speeding up measures for humanitarian aid, rehabilitation, resettlement and development in the conflict-torn Rakhine state.

Citing Myanmar News Agency, Xinhua reported on Thursday that at a coordination meeting held at the National Reconciliation and Peace Center in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday, Suu Kyi laid down the priorities for the government for effective implementation of the measures.

The move came one day after the government organised a trip of ambassadors of five neighbouring countries to conflicted areas of Rakhine state, led by Minister for the Office of the State Counselor U Kyaw Tint Swe.

Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu also said the government is pushing for the implementation of the tasks of rehabilitation in three areas  a compilation of list, food supply for refugees and improvement of communication and transport.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army launched fresh attacks on police outposts in Rakhine on August 25, displacing residents from a number of areas in Maungdaw district.
The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it would withdraw from Unesco, the United Nations cultural organisation, after years of America distancing itself because of what it called the groups anti-Israel bias.
The United States on Thursday announced it will withdraw from the Unesco, accusing the UN's cultural body of "anti-Israel" stance.

The withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018. The US will remain a full member of UNESCO until that time.

"This decision was not taken lightly and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at Unesco, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation and continuing anti- Israel bias at Unesco," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said.

She said the Department of State today notified United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation Director-General Irina Bokova of the US decision to withdraw from the organisation and to seek to establish a permanent observer mission to Unesco.

"The US indicated to the Director-General its desire to remain engaged with Unesco as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organisation, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms, and promoting scientific collaboration and education," Nauert said.

Paris-based Unesco, which began work in 1946, is known for designating World Heritage sites.
Analysts have given a thumbs-up to the Tata Teleservices  Bharti Airtel deal, as they feel the move provides an exit route to the already bleeding Tata-owned company. As on March 31, 2017, the combined debt of Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Limited (TTML) stood at Rs 34,089 crore, excluding deferred payment liabilities to the government for spectrum, according to a CRISIL report.



Also Read: Highlights of the deal
The National Stock Exchanges benchmark Nifty index on Thursday posted its biggest single-day gain since May 25 to close decisively above the psychologically-important 10,000 level. The gains were led by a nearly four per cent rally in index heavyweight Reliance Industries, which closed at a new lifetime high of Rs 875.60.
Arrest warrants have been issued against Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia after she failed to appear for hearings on Wednesday in two separate cases filed against her in connection with the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption matter and over undermining the country's map and national flag.

The fifth special judge's court issued a warrant after Khaleda did not turn up for the hearing on the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, while a metropolitan magistrate also ordered her arrest in a libel suit.

Judge Akhteruzzaman of the Special Judge Court-5 had passed the order against Zia and had fixed October 19 for hearing on arguments related to Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, the Daily Star reported.

The former prime minister has been in London since mid-July.

Earlier, the court recorded the statements of 32 prosecution witnesses including the complainant and the investigating officer of the case.

Khaleda Zia is skipping the hearing in the case since July 15, while another accused BNP senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman has been shown fugitive in the case.

The Zia Charitable Trust corruption case relates to corruption over the misuse of funds in a charity named after former president Zia-ur Rahman.

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case on July 3, 2008, with the Ramna Police Station accusing Khaleda, her elder son Tarique and four others for misappropriating over Tk 2.10 crore that was received as grants for orphans via a foreign bank.

"The courts issued arrest warrants in two cases on the same day. It's a ploy by the government so that she can't return home," Khaleda's counsel Sanaullah Mia said, the media reports.

On November 3 last year, A.B. Siddique, the president of Bangladesh Jananetri Parishad, a pro-Awami League organisation had filed the case with the court, accusing Khaleda and her late husband and former president Zia-ur Rahman of undermining the country's map and national flag.

Siddique had submitted a petition seeking an arrest warrant for Khaleda on September 17, the same court warned Khaleda of arrest warrant if she fails to appear before it today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An analysis done by SRL Diagnostics on tests for Arthritis done in its laboratories revealed that more women than men in India are suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis.

The analysis also revealed that high ESR and CRP levels prescribed in patients of arthritis and, indicative of persistent inflammation of joints, were more commonly found in the East zone, followed by the North zone while a high Uric Acid levels pointing towards Gout were seen more in the North zone followed by the East zone.

The data is based on more than 6.4 million samples received for Arthritis (bone health) testing over the last 3.5 years since January 2014 at SRL Laboratories across India.

Arthritis affects more than 180 million people in India - prevalence higher than many well-known diseases such as diabetes, AIDS and cancer. Around 14% of the Indian population seeks a doctor's help every year for this joint disease.

While the mainstay of diagnostics in bone and joint disorders is Radiology e.g. X-ray, CT-scan, MRI and DEXA scan, laboratory tests are used for screening or for monitoring the progress of the disease.

Lab Tests

Blood tests are done as aids to arrive at a diagnosis and are not definitive in diagnosing arthritis.

- Inflammation Tests

 ESR (Erthrocyte Sedimentation Rate)

 CRP (C-reactive protein)

- Test for Rheumatoid Arthritis

 Rheumatoid factor

- Test for Gout

 Uric Acid

Osteoarthritis

The most prevalent form of arthritis, Osteoarthritis has been affecting 15 million adults annually with a prevalence ranging 22% to 39% in India. Other common joint conditions affecting Indians are gout and rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoarthritis is more commonly observed in women and more prevalent with ageing. Studies have observed that nearly 45% of women over the age of 65 years have symptoms while radiological evidence is found in 70% of those over 65 years.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

An autoimmune disease, this mainly affects tissues around the joints. Most frequent in adults, it afflicts between 0.5%-1% of the population in India. Women are three to four times more frequently affected than men. Onset generally occurs in the 35-55 year age group.

Gout

One of the most common causes of inflammatory arthritis, Gout is three to four times more common in men and the obese aged 50 years or above.

Analysis highlights:

 Abnormal ESR and CRP levels (indicative of persistent inflammation of joints) were more commonly seen in the East zone, where lab tests showed higher abnormal values for CRP (61.23 %), ESR (53.78 %) and RF (14.34%) compared to other parts of the country.

 Abnormal Uric Acid levels indicating Gout were seen more commonly in the North zone (23.19%) followed by the East.

 ESR (56.71%, 61-85 age group), CRP (80.13%, 85+ years), RF (12.77%, 61-85 years) and UA (34.76%, 85+ years) levels were higher in people in their forties onwards.

Dr Avinash Phadke, President - Technology & Mentor (Clinical Pathology), SRL Diagnostics, said, "Although the word 'arthritis' means joint inflammation, the term is used to describe more than 100 rheumatic diseases and conditions affecting the bones and tissues. Alarmingly, India will emerge as the capital of Osteoarthritis by 2025 with more than 60 million to be likely affected. Ironically, one of the main reasons is the increasing longevity of India's population, another being fast-rising obesity. Early signs should not be ignored; early diagnosis and treatment can save the joints. Maintaining joint lifelong should be a goal of everyone's life.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Launching a scathing attack on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for recent pothole deaths in the state, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday said that poor roads in Bengaluru were a reflection of the government's performance.

BJP State President BS Yeddyurappa, who led a protest here condemning the incidents, also said that Congress government's tall claims of providing world-class infrastructure in the state have fallen flat.

"The pathetic state of Bangalore roads is a reflection of the performance of the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his government's performance. Siddaramaiah claims to give a world-class infrastructure to Bangalore but even basic infrastructure is missing," said Yeddyurappa.

He also questioned the government over its expenditure of Rs. 1000-crore loan.

"In one week five people have been killed due to potholes. Congress has blood on its hands. Government says it has spent more than 4,000 crore, where has the money gone?"

Meanwhile, former deputy chief minister R Ashok also lashed out at the state government over the incidents, saying the IT city has turned into a pothole city under the ruling dispensation.

"Worse condition ever seen in Bengaluru. This is not the IT city, this is a pothole city. This is the face of Siddaramaiah government. People are suffering, Siddaramaiah is enjoying," said Ashok.

Four people have been killed in the state capital since the beginning of October while maneuvering around cratered roads, triggering protests by political outfits and residents.

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The Flagstaff Unified School District Governing Board is already working on a plan to improve next years school letter grades.

The Arizona State Board of Education released preliminary letter grades for school on Monday. Two FUSD schools, Flagstaff High School and Sinagua Middle School, are appealing their letter grades of C and D, respectively. FUSD Director of Research and Assessment Robert Hagstrom updated the FUSD Governing Board on the letter grade situation Tuesday

FUSD board member Kara Kelty asked if there were any surprises with the FUSD school letter grades.

Hagstrom said the drop in letter grades for FHS and Sinagua were something of a surprise, especially since both schools are within a few points of the next letter grade up.

It was a punch in the gut to a lot of teachers, he said. Principals and teachers are working together to use the letter grades as a baseline to improve from.

The district needs to work strategically to use the data, including students grades and attendance records, to improve education for FUSD students, Kelty said.

We dont want to be here, wringing our hands, next year, she said.

Board member Carole Gilmore pointed out that the district will need hard information to show substantial growth before going to the public for any bond issues.

Hagstrom said that first-quarter assessments for district students should be coming out soon. District staff were also working on a data warehouse where information on student and teachers could be stored and sorted to spot problem and improvement areas. The warehouse would include data on student and teacher attendance, grades, human resource information, test scores, teacher evaluations and more.

FUSD Governing Board member Kathryn Kozak asked if it was true that students dont feel motivated to do well on the tests because there are no consequences for failing it or rewards for passing it.

Hagstrom said he there isnt enough data out there to determine that. However, when the state took away the Regent High Honors Endorsement scholarship, FUSD did see a dip in AIMS test scores. The scholarship originally gave students who had high scores on the AIMS test full tuition to any Arizona public university. The scholarship was cut back in 2010 and then later eliminated.

He said that principals and teachers at each of FUSDs schools are looking at ways to motivate students to do well on the tests.

Hagstrom told the Board there were a number of differences between how the last time letter grades were calculated for schools in 2014 and how they were calculated this year.

The most obvious change was the change in standardized tests used to score the students and schools, he said. The 2014 letter grades were calculated using data from the AIMS test. This years scores were calculated using data from the AzMERIT test, which is a more difficult test.

The data used to create the letter grades is also weighted differently this year, Hagstrom said. The state is looking not only on how well students are doing in their own grade cohort but comparing them to the cohort from the previous year.

According to the Arizona State Board of Education, the kindergarten through eighth grade school grades were weighted as follows: 30 percent for students scoring proficient, 50 percent for growth in student scores, 10 percent for growth and proficiency in scores by English Language Learners and 10 percent for students scoring in the acceleration/readiness.

The formula for calculating the high school grades is different. High school grades are weighted with 30 percent of the grade going to students scoring proficient, 20 percent for growth in scores, 10 percent for growth and proficiency by English Language Learners, 20 percent for a schools graduation rate and 20 percent for a schools college and career readiness.

The cut scores for each letter grade were also calculated differently from the 2014 grades, Hagstrom said. The 2014 scores were based off of a 200 point system. The 2017 stores are based off a 100 point system. The State Board of Education based the cut off point for the different letter grades based on a mean 2017 grade that would fall somewhere between a B and a C.

Hagstrom also said that the State Board of Education is now calling the grades preliminary and that final grades for schools will be coming out sometime in December. One of the changes to the letter grade formula that schools are expecting between now and December is a request from the state to include career readiness for all high school seniors, not just the seniors that graduate.

In the meantime, the State Board is holding a series of 10 open houses at its headquarters in Phoenix from Oct. 10 to Nov. 6 to collect input from the public on the grade system. The public can also submit comments by email to inbox@azsbe.az.gov. The board is also creating a Technical Advisory Committee to review the letter grade system and report back to the Arizona State Board of Education.
Brutal attacks against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State have been well-organised, coordinated and systematic, with the intent of not only driving the population out of Myanmar but preventing them from returning to their homes, a new UN report based on interviews conducted in Bangladesh, has found.

The report by a team from the UN Human Rights Office, who met with the newly arrived Rohingya in Cox's Bazar, states that human rights violations committed against Rohingyas, were carried out by Myanmar security forces, often in concert with armed Rakhine Buddhist individuals.

The report, released on Wednesday, is based on some 65 interviews with individuals and groups.

It also highlights a strategy to "instill deep and widespread fear and trauma - physical, emotional and psychological" among the Rohingya population.

More than 500,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar security forces launched an operation in response to alleged attacks by militants on August 25 against 30 police posts and a regimental headquarters.

The UN Human Rights Office is gravely concerned for the safety of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas, who remain in northern Rakhine State amid reports the violence is still ongoing, and calls on authorities to immediately allow humanitarian and human rights actors' unfettered access to the stricken areas.

The report cites testimony from witnesses that security forces scorched dwellings and entire villages were responsible for extrajudicial and summary executions, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and attacks on places of worship.

Eyewitnesses reported numerous killings, saying some victims were deliberately targeted and others were killed through explosions, fire and stray bullets.

A 12-year old girl from Rathedaung township described how "the Myanmar security forces and Rakhine Buddhist individuals] surrounded our house and started to shoot. It was a situation of panic - they shot my sister in front of me, she was only seven years old. She cried and told me to run. I tried to protect her and care for her, but we had no medical assistance on the hillside and she was bleeding so much that after one day she died. I buried her myself."

The report states that in some cases, before and during the attacks, megaphones were used to announce: "You do not belong here - go to Bangladesh. If you do not leave, we will torch your houses and kill you."

Credible information indicates that the Myanmar security forces purposely destroyed the property of the Rohingyas, targeting their houses, fields, food-stocks, crops, livestock and even trees, to render the possibility of the Rohingya returning to normal lives and livelihoods in the future in northern Rakhine almost impossible.

UN Human Rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who has described the government operations in northern Rakhine State as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing", has also urged the government to immediately end its "cruel" security operation.

By denying the Rohingya population their political, civil, economic and cultural rights, including the right to citizenship, he said, the government's actions appear to be "a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return."

The report indicates that efforts were taken to effectively erase signs of memorable landmarks in the geography of the Rohingya landscape and memory in such a way that a return to their lands would yield nothing but a desolate and unrecognizable terrain.

Information received also indicates that the Myanmar security forces targeted teachers, the cultural and religious leadership, and other people of influence of the Rohingya community in an effort to diminish Rohingya history, culture and knowledge.

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Death toll in the wildfire that swept through northern California, has risen to 21 as hundreds of firefighters are still battling the flames in multiple areas of the region.

Wildfires raging across broad swaths of northern California have hospitalised hundreds, and charred about 170,000 acres of land, damaged or destroyed at least 3,500 structures and forced nearly 20,000 residents to evacuate, local media reports said.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, more than 2,700 firefighters and support personnel are battling the fires.

United States President Donald Trump has said that the federal government will stand with the people of California after the devastating wildfires blazing through the region led to a massive destruction.

"I want to say a few words to the people of California. Great state. Especially with those in Napa. Napa has been hit so hard. And Sonoma. As they deal with the tragic loss of life and property to devastating wildfires," CNN quoted Trump as saying in his first public comments on the deadly California wildfires.

"I spoke with Governor Brown last night to let him know that the federal government will stand with the people of California and we will be there for you in this time of terrible tragedy and need. And I just want to pay my warmest respects. They are going through a lot," he added.

The wildfire, driven by powerful winds, tore through Northern California on Monday, forcing evacuations and destroying structures in their path.

Officials expect the death toll to rise and the high winds in the coming days could complicate efforts to contain fires.

The Trump administration has also approved a federal disaster declaration for California in response to wildfires.

Earlier, California Governor Jerry Brown had requested federal assistance to combat the deadly fires and had also declared an emergency in eight counties, including Napa and Sonoma.

The Department of Homeland Security has said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency immediately agreed to the state's request for federal funds to help fight many of the fires.

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A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA became the victim of a phone-snatching incident on October 10, when two bike-borne youth snatched his phone and escaped the scene, in Delhi's Rohini Sector-23.

Jibesh Kumar was on a walk outside his home, which is when the two youth, came from behind and snatched Kumar's iPhone 7.

The MLA tried the stop them, but they rode away.

The police immediately reached the spot and filed an FIR against the two.

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A Noida-based woman has complained of sexual assault in Delhi's Vasant Kunj area.

On late Tuesday night, the Vasant Kunj Police Station received information regarding 'outraging the modesty of woman'.

Immediately, the police staff along with a lady officer was rushed to the spot where they met the victim.

The woman, in her complaint at the Vasant Kunj Police Station, has stated that she was sexually assaulted by two bike-borne men, who tried to drag her into bushes after finding her alone while she was waiting for a taxi on the Nangal Devat-Vasant Kunj Road on late Tuesday night.

When she resisted, they caused injuries on her body and thereafter, the assailants fled away.

The woman was immediately sent for medical assistance and examination and after the same, upon her statement, a case under appropriate sections was registered and investigation was taken up.

The victim has expressed an apprehension that Sahil Bagga, against whom she had earlier lodged an FIR for rape on the promise of marriage and for causing medical termination of pregnancies registered in Greater Noida, could be behind this incident.

Bagga was brought to the Vasant Kunj Police Station for interrogation.

Other relevant facts pertaining to the incident are being verified.

Further investigation is underway.

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The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) sanitation workers went on an indefinite strike on Thursday over non-payment of dues.

The workers held protests against EDMC Mayor Neema Bhagat, outside her office in Delhi's Geeta Colony.

The protestors shouted slogans against the Delhi Government and the Centre. They also made an effigy of Mayor Bhagat, and took turns to blow kicks at it.

Meanwhile, the strike has caused inconvenience to the public, which complained of heaps of garbage lying at various spots in the city.

"We are facing a lot of problems due to the garbage; cases of Chikungunya and Dengue are on the rise. Workers don't come to clean; and neither drains nor the roads are getting cleaned. There are heaps of garbage at so many spots," Delhi resident Vijay Kumar told ANI.

"The problem has been continuing for two-three years now. There is always a strike for one or the other reason. We completely sympathise with the sanitation workers, but we'll also question our elected government, the mayor, and the MPs. What are they doing while the people are living in such unhygienic conditions?" said another resident, B.S. Vohra.

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The ongoing crisis in the Middle-East is threatening to split the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) wide open.

An investigative study undertaken by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, has revealed that the GCC has begun to disintegrate from within as a result of the rift between Qatar and the Saudi Arabia-led coalition. The collapse of the only stable regional bloc will likely affect India's interests in the Gulf since trade and commerce are the most important pillar of the India-GCC relationship.

In light of the current crisis, it is going to be challenging for India to balance a complex web of relationships to further its own interests. It must also actively engage in negotiations with individual countries to diversify trade and expand its export market. As a rising Asian power, India must look to offer help and facilitate dialogue in the troubled region, before it spills beyond control.

The economic repercussions of the conflict between Qatar and the Arab-bloc appear ominous already.

Currency and bonds manipulation

One of the most disturbing facts reported in the recent months relate to the alleged attempts at manipulation of Qatari Riyal by the U.A.E. U.A.E.-based bilinear-owned Travelex and the U.A.E. Exchange have been reportedly refusing to buy Qatari Riyal from customers. It is aimed at devaluing the currency and further hurting the country's economy. Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, founder and non-executive chairman of Abu Dhabi-based NMC Healthcare and chairman of U.A.E. Exchange, is allegedly leading the economic warfare on Qatar and is widely believed that he is acting on behalf of the U.A.E. Government.

Leaked e-mails of the U.A.E. Ambassador to the U.S., Yousef Al Otaiba, gave insight into the U.A.E. allegedly orchestrating the hacking of Qatari news agency (QNA) and social media sites aimed at posting incendiary false quotes attributed to Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, in late May, which sparked the ongoing upheaval between Qatar and its neighbours.

U.S. intelligence has claimed the breach took place and the Washington Post reported extensively on the issue. Further revelations from his emails highlight, besides geo-political issues, another dimension of warfare in the economic arena.

The economic warfare strategy is allegedly being deployed by David Rowland, a U.K. real-estate tycoon and billionaire who sources say could be serving U.A.E.'s interests in the ongoing spat. He is the man behind the meteoric rise of Banque Havilland. He founded the bank in 2009 with the remainder of Kaupthing, the Icelandic bank that went bust. His requirement: a bank to manage his money.

Havilland has a presence in Luxembourg, London, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Bahamas, Moscow and Dubai and Rowland especially has a habit of buying weak banks. Sources say Rowland's banks are covertly attempting to buy Certificate of Deposits (CDs) of Qatari banks and selling it back to original sellers at a lower rate.

It's a complex tactic

The economic warfare strategy involves setting up a confidential commercial entity with sizeable size to buy certificate of deposits (CDs) of Qatari banks, then selling the CDs back to original sellers at a lower price, thereby reducing the market pricing. Negative global public relations campaign is done, showing instability in Qatar as a key reason for this downward pressure on CDs pricing. This will ultimately either force Qatar's financial ministry to either break the currency peg, or at least spend a lot of dollar reserves to maintain their pricing when panic initiates global buyers to sell Qatari Riyal.

The expected impact from this economic warfare strategy is to create panic among investment banks, pension funds and retail investors with regard to the stability of Qatari CDs as well as its currency. The best case scenario would force Qatar to remove its currency peg, resulting in a free fall of its currency, quite similar to what happened in the 1997 Asian crisis. It would hurt both Qatar's ability to import essential items, such as food, machinery and transport equipment. It would hurt Qatari banks' ability to raise money in global markets. The perpetrators of this strategy may have also been hoping for regime change as a collateral damage.

What can Qatar do to check such advanced planning and safeguard its economy? Prior knowledge of such financial attack is a major deterrent for others as the element of surprise is gone. By keeping a watchful eye on suspicious transactions around its bonds, CDs and forex related instruments, such a crisis can be averted. It can alert global financial watchdogs as several elements of the strategy, including black PR, with the purpose of devaluing currency, are considered illegal. Also, given its deep pockets, it could buy back its financial instruments sending the price upwards.

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Pakistan Army on Thursday resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati Sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan violated ceasefire around 10.35 hours.

The Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively.

Firing is still on.

Further details are awaited.

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Former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai has said that without Pakistan, peace would not be achieved in the country and has called to convene the constitutional Loya Jirga "to resolve the crisis the country is facing."

Karzai also stated that he had sent a letter to the Taliban asking them to "join the peace talks process as their war was killing the people and destroying their homes."

Criticising United States President Donald Trump's new war strategy, Karzai said, "The U.S.'s new war strategy did not carry a message of peace as Pakistan's role in the peace process was critical and without this, peace will be impossible in both Afghanistan and Pakistan."

"Pakistan has not been honest in its dealings with Afghanistan over the years and at times comes across as being an ally of the U.S. and at other times as an ally of Afghanistan," he added.

"We know we have a historical problem with Pakistan," TOLO News further quoted Karzai, as saying.

He added, "We still want good relations with Pakistan and we want very good relationships with other neighbouring countries.

"A Loya Jirga should be held as soon as possible and must include all stakeholders from politicians, to tribal elders, civil society activists, through to members of the public. The holding of a Loya Jirga is critical and it is extremely important for Afghanistan to project a united front and to resolve the crisis the country is facing," the former Afghan president said.

He, however, also underscored that he would not accept the Durand Line as the official border between the two countries.

"Both the U.S. and Pakistan have done exactly what they want in Afghanistan. I hope that Pakistan knows today that it cannot force Afghanistan (to reach their goals)," he added.

Karzai also condemned the Taliban for their actions in terms of killing civilians. He also called on the country to stand together in order to work towards strong cooperation and friendship with all foreign parties including the U.S., other countries and neighbouring states.

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Kaspersky Lab unriddles today the mysterious threat of cyberespionage against countries, critical infrastructure, and companies in the region as part of its 3rd Asia Pacific (APAC) Cyber Security Weekend in Phuket, Thailand.

The company's annual cyber-security conference in the region will bring together its top security experts along with industry professionals and journalists from 11 countries across APAC. The four-day event will highlight presentations from its top security researchers to reveal the truths and bust myths about cyberespionage, an alarming threat which has crossed the worlds of fiction and reality.

"Cyber espionage is a dangerous and costly threat targeting nations and corporations around the world, including nations right here in the Asia Pacific region. Kaspersky Lab today aims to sound the alarm louder about this imminent danger so we can step up our efforts to strengthen our infrastructure and protect the public," said managing director Kaspersky Lab APAC, Stephan Neumeier.

Four cybersecurity experts from Kaspersky Lab's Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) top bill this year's APAC Cyber Security Weekend and will zero in on the state of targeted attacks in APAC countries from past to present and how governments, businesses, and concerned industrial sectors can beef up their cyber defenses.

Vitaly Kamluk, Kaspersky Lab's Director of GReAT in APAC, will open up the discussion by looking back at major cyber attacks that have hit public and private organizations over the past years in countries around the region.

"Cyberespionage, a subset of intelligence activities in cyberspace, is covert by nature. The new generation of spies are not doing physical James Bond-style operations anymore they are regular software developers and system operators. Their achievements remain in the darkness until researchers like Kaspersky GReAT discover and document their activities. The attackers are not writing the history of cyberattacks, but researchers do. And it doesn't come as easy making documentaries or writing memoirs. The work of researchers require high concentration and solving of multiple difficult logical problems on the way, which is why these stories are so valuable," explains Kamluk.

Kaspersky Lab's 2016 report titled "Measuring the Financial Impact of IT Security on Businesses" has found that targeted attacks, including cyberespionage, are among the most expensive types of attack. The study further shows these threats can cost up to USD 143,000 in losses for small businesses and USD AU1.7 million for enterprises.

The global cybersecurity company's cyberespionage report also reiterates that businesses in all sectors and of all sizes are vulnerable to a targeted attack. A Fortune 500 company is at risk as a two-man startup as both entities hold business data.

Aside from monetary loss, businesses and even government agencies lose confidential data and the trust from their stakeholders and customers in the wake of a successful cyberespionage campaign.

Seongsu Park, GReAT's Senior Security Researcher based in South Korea, will specifically talk about the role of a company's infrastructure in a successful targeted attack.

Park is among the Kaspersky Lab researchers who have been closely monitoring the activity of the high-profile cyberespionage group, Lazarus, a cybercriminal gang believed to be behind the $81-million Bangladesh Bank heist last year. He said thorough analysis on this group proved that many servers of big corporations are being used by the cybergang as launchers of their attacks against these same enterprises.

To answer the who's and how's of a cyberespionage campaign, Noushin Shabab, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab's GReAT based in Australia, will discuss the forensic techniques and critical analysis being carried out by researchers for years to be able to understand an attack and to unmask its perpetrators.

"Like paleontologists collecting the tiniest bones to be able to unearth a full artefact, cyber-security researchers examine the leftovers of a malicious campaign, chase the trail of clues until we have gathered all the necessary pieces of the puzzle, and collate and compare evidences with fellow experts to be able to know the attackers behind an attack, their main goal, their techniques, and the length of their attacks. All the historic information we have gathered through investigating targeted attacks all these years helped us discover the truths and the myths of cyberespionage in the Asia Pacific region," says Shabab.

Yury Namestnikov, Senior Malware Analyst at Kaspersky Lab's GReAT, will explain the trend of cyberespionage groups focusing on attacking financial organizations in the region using the now infamous ransomware to gain monetary rewards. He will also reveal the techniques used by these groups to mask destructive wiper-attack as an ordinary cybercriminal activity.

Aside from elite cyber-security experts from Kaspersky Lab, the global cyber-security company's "Data Guardian" named Midori Kuma will also grace the conference. Midori Kuma, who will be in Asia Pacific for the first time, is Kaspersky Lab's original character tasked to remind internet users on how to keep their data safe from cybercriminals.

Guest speaker Kyoung-Ju Kwak, Security Researcher at the Computer Emergency Analysis Team of Korea's Financial Security Institute will talk about Andariel, a threat actor connected to the Lazarus group and responsible for card leakage and illegal ATM withdrawals in South Korea.

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Having carved a niche for itself in the Indian footwear industry for last five decades, Liberty Shoes, one of pioneering footwear companies in India launched an all new sub-brand Healers, an uber cool footwear which is positioned to give ultimate comfort and style to the modern consumer.

This announcement comes in the wake of company's reoriented strategy to offer premium footwear that would make a world of difference for consumers who look for utmost comfort and chic style in footwear.

"For decades, Liberty is synonymous with comfort. Having extensively researched on consumer preferences, our key findings convinced us that foot health is body health which gives a distinct edge to deliver effective performance. Long working hours, tiring driving, meeting deadlines etc have put huge pressure on feet of consumers. Healers have been conceived to give a perfect fit to the wearer. Truly a technologically marvel is, Healers is high on style quotient and with huge comfort," said Anupam Bansal, Executive Director, Liberty Shoes.

With its state-of-the-art footwear technology, Healers is designed to improve circulation, increase, energy levels thereby adding vitality to your performance and life. The advanced foot biomechanics have been employed in crafting Healers along with the anatomical orthotic insoles which aims help millions of consumer improve mobility, enhance comfort from heel to toe, and get relief of heel, foot, knee, and lower back pain.

The H technology in Healers insoles improves sleep pattern, enhances blood circulation and boost a sense of well being. The massage nodes work together to stimulate, relaxes, and refreshes feet with every step by activating the 15,000 nerve ends at the sole of the feet. Its H8 technology that massages eight key pressure points on the sole connected to your vital organs, activates the self healing mechanism of the related organs and help ensure their effective functioning, ensures better flow of energy throughout your body, alleviates edema, relieves muscle tension for pain relief and improving sleep patterns.

Whats's more, H4 technology in Healers keeps your feet fresh all day long, helps absorb shock and maintain control, stimulates the pressure points in your feet to relieve aches and pain, along with stress and tension. Healers footwear with Memory Foam technology prevents foot tiredness and heel shock. In fact plush comfy Memory Foam insoles are a treat for feet of any size or shape! Additionally, while HA Technology relaxes and relieves stress in your feet and help your feet and body to feel great through the principles of acupressure, its H1 technology eliminates heel pain and enhances foot comfort.

What's more, the stylishly designed Healers range covers the entire gamut of fashion footwear from chic and formal to dressy casual while ensuring the sole provides the right protection, support and comfort. The foot bed consists of massage nodules, shaped and graded to the contour of the foot for comfort, stimulation and support. There are six basic models of Healers.

"The introduction of Healers is both strategic and timely as our game plan is to addresses six themes. Healers would slice and target these six groups with its cutting edge technology, style and comfort. The rationale is to co-design India's comfort footprint by taking new technologies and trendy concepts as a new ecosystem to market," said Bansal.

"Our initial investment is Rs. 25 cores .We intend retailing Healers across five Exclusive Stores initially and Shop-in-shop concepts which we intend to scale up which will offer more flexibility in nature in terms of SKUs we intend to bring out. We are confident to offer everything from an open footwear to a formal, a crossover and even technologically advanced products on the same platform," he added.

Healer range is priced between Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 10,000, and will be initially available in five premium locations in Delhi and Lucknow.

So.

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TUCSON  Tucson and other parched Arizona cities offer rebates for businesses and homes that harvest rainwater, but the practice struggles to gain momentum in the Valley.

The ancient method can conserve thousands of gallons of water, reducing reliance on groundwater and other sources. Rebates can motivate people to put in water-collection tanks or landscape design systems to capture rain for indoor and outdoor use, conservation experts say.

Tucson leads Arizona in encouraging rainwater harvesting. Since 2010, city law requires at least half of the landscaping for any new building use rainwater. The city offers up to a $2,000 rebate for rain harvesting systems at homes and businesses that has become more popular over the years. Prescott and Flagstaff also offer rebates.

But in Maricopa County, where about 60 percent of Arizona residents live, experts said none of the 27 cities or towns offer rebates specifically for rainwater collection or storage systems.

There are nowhere near enough people doing this, said Tucson advocate Brad Lancaster, who harvests rainwater for almost all of his daily needs, from drinking water to washing dishes. I dont say this to be Dr. Doom, I say this to inspire, but we are moving at a glacial pace with this.

To harvest or not harvest, thats the question

Cities looking to encourage water conservation should consider offering rebates in order to heighten community interest, experts said.

Phoenix cities need to adopt a rebate with specific language to rainwater harvesting that can help people understand the benefits of these systems, said Ryan Wood, program manager for the Watershed Management Groups Phoenix branch. Rebates would help encourage folks to invest in a system.

But some city leaders feel otherwise.

It isnt even a blip on our radar, said Phoenix spokeswoman Stephanie Bracken.

The city believes that conservation practices are already strong, Bracken said, citing that overall water usage has declined since 1985 and because of this, such rebates arent needed.

Some cities, including Mesa and Chandler, offer versions of turf removal rebates, but simply eradicating grass is a missed opportunity, Wood said.

The rebates are not specifically for passive earthworks and is missing the specific rainwater harvesting rebate as offered in Tucson, Wood said.

Instead, business and homeowners should craft berms, swales and basins, a method otherwise known as passive harvesting or earthworks, to direct rainwater throughout a landscape. Done well, the rain could not only more effectively water desert plants, but also help recharge groundwater.

Lancaster encourages people to start with passive systems, where the cost of a new landscape is sometimes just time and a shovel.

For active harvesting systems, or ones that utilize a storage tank of sorts, the price tag starts at around $200 for a small residential home, but can cost thousands for commercial businesses, depending on factors such as location, the size of a building and the desired amount of storage.

One inch of rain on a 1,000 square-foot roof can collect about 600 gallons of rainwater to be stored for later indoor or outdoor use. Valley residents experience about eight inches of annual rainfall, potentially capturing 4,800 gallons of water a year.

Simply put, every gallon you capture is a gallon you dont need to pump, Wood said.

Expanding the rainwater cause

Businesses and organizations look to expand rainwater harvesting efforts into areas where the practice is not as common.

The Tucson-based Watershed Management Group, which educates communities on how to implement environmentally friendly practices, opened another office in Phoenix about six years ago to start a long-term vision of expanding further into the Southwest.

The sheer size of the Phoenix area is a challenge for harvesting expansion, Wood said.

There are over four million people here. Are we hitting every home? Do they even know about us? We have more outreach to do, Wood said.

One of the groups latest efforts is Hydrate Arizona, a five-part in-person series that introduces class participants to rainwater harvesting methods. The program launched in Phoenix 2015 and has since expanded to different cities including Mesa and Glendale, growing in class size from about 20 participants to more than 50, Wood said.

Cities in the Valley and elsewhere promote water conservation through other methods, including seminars and classes.

Wood described the overall progress as slow moving but steady, which seems to be the theme for other Arizona cities that now offer rebates, including Prescott.

When Barnabus Kane opened Skywater Rainwater Collection Systems in 2005, it was the only business in Prescott providing harvesting systems, he said.

There were always interested homeowners, but it was very much a backyard hippie thing at first, Kane said. Only the outliers were doing it.

Today, Kanes business has expanded to include large-scale commercial systems in addition to residential systems. Some of the systems have been built outside of Prescott, where a rebate of 50 cents for every gallon of storage up to $500 is available.

The Skywater team recently installed large storage tanks on the municipal buildings in Lake Havasu City to capture rainwater roof runoff and condensation from evaporative cooling units.

The system has collected nearly 270,000 gallons of water since the installation in July, according to Briana Morgan, water conservation specialist with Lake Havasu City. The water covers 100 percent of the corporate yards irrigation needs.

Morgan hopes that the new system will inspire Lake Havasu City residents to consider installing harvesting systems and the city to consider offering rebates.

Drought influences rebate policies

Committed advocates and a citys history with drought influence the creation of rainwater harvesting policies as progress sometimes comes from necessity and passion.

Tucsons water crisis really spurred development, said Catlow Shipek, a founding member of the Watershed Management Group. I see Phoenix without having that conservation ethic at the residential level, it will take time to build that momentum.

Decades ago, Tucsons only water source was its rapidly depleting groundwater, so the demand in other areas such as Phoenix, was not quite as immediate, Lancaster said.

Shipek credits Tucsons robust rebate system to Lancaster and other city officials early efforts to popularize the practice.

Tucsons rebate program has grown 35 percent since the 2012-13 fiscal year, from 296 applications processed for rainwater harvesting rebates to 438 so far this fiscal year, a water-department spokesman said.

Prior to 2006, water harvesting for the most part didnt exist, Lancaster said. It was here, but was very hidden and practiced by very few.

Lancaster, who has lived in Tucson for nearly fifty years, said he uses only 10 to 12 gallons of rainwater a day, about 10 percent of what the average Arizonan uses. He started working with the city in the early 2000s on the possibility of new laws and rebates.

Water conservation specialists hope that Tucson and other cities will continue rainwater harvesting efforts and others will take up the banner.

We cant get too proud here otherwise well be blinded by that, Lancaster said. We need to continue evolving.
Union Minister Uma Bharti on Thursday said Mahatama Gandhi's murder only benefitted Congress.

Bharti told media, "Mahatma Gandhi's murder only benefitted Congress as he was about to disperse Congress."

She further said, the murder of Mahatma Gandhi needs reconsideration.

"Godsey may have killed Gandhi, but who instigated him?," questioned Bhart.

Mahatma Gandhi was murdered on January 30, 1948 in Delhi by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, who was a member of Hindu Mahasabha.

Bharti's comments come after the Supreme Court on October 6 appointed senior advocate and former additional solicitor general Amrender Sharan as amicus curiae on a plea seeking re-probe of Gandhi's murder.

The plea is filed by Mumbai-based Dr Pankaj Phadnis , a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat.

Bharti, who was here to participate in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Gaurav Yatra, said that the people of Gujarat have given the BJP as well as the nation a sense of pride.

She claimed that the BJP will win 160-165 seats in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections.

The 14th legislative assembly election in Gujarat is to be held by the end of 2017 as the term of 13th assembly ends on January 22, 2018.

"BJP President Amit Shah has said about winning 150 seats, but I want to add that we (BJP will get 160-165 seats in Gujarat assembly elections," said Bharti.

When asked to comment on Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's allegations against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she refused to comment by saying that "for his own party, he must be a big leader but for me he is not so big that I comment anything on him."

She said because of the Gujarat model, Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India and even Opposition accepted Gujarat Model that Prime Minister Modi developed while being Chief Minister of Gujarat.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has assured assistance to the drought affected farmers of the state and also announced a compensation for the loss of their crops.

The Chief Minister has already declared 13 districts in Madhya Pradesh as drought-hit. These include Sidhi, Vidisha, Indore, Panna, Sagar, Satna, Shivpuri, Tikamgarh, Bhind, Ashohnagar, Damoh, Chhatarpur and Gwalior.

"13 districts and 12 tehsils of Madhya Pradesh are reeling under drought. We have declared them drought-hit. The Madhya Pradesh Government is with the people of the state. We will provide all possible help to drought affected farmers. I have also apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the situation. We have requested the central government to provide assistance to the farmers in there difficult times," he said.

Chouhan further announced that the farmers will get compensation for the loss of their crops which are being sold at low prices.

"This will start from the October 16 and in this Yojna if the crops are being sold at low price then the compensation of the difference will be given," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Madhya Pradesh Government on Wednesday restricted the use of crackers generating noise more than 125 dB during Diwali.

State Environment Minister Antar Singh Arya has requested the people to use crackers under mentioned noise level and to dump the waste generated by the crackers separately.

He has requested the people not to throw the cracker waste at places, which may pollute the source of drinking water.

The state government, following the Supreme Court's instructions, has also restricted the use of crackers causing noise, from 10 pm to 6 am.

As per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Forest and Environment, the manufacturing, sales or use of crackers generating sound of 125 db or 145 dB is barred.

(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.)
Non-bailable arrest warrants have been issued against Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan by the Election Commission of Pakistan upon his failure to appear before the body in a contempt of court case.

The Commission has ordered that Imran be arrested and brought to the next hearing of the case filed by PTI dissident and one of the party's founding members Akbar S. Babar on October 26.

However, the PTI is challenging the warrants in the Islamabad High Court, the Dawn quoted a PTI spokesperson, as saying.

Earlier on September 15, the ECP had directed the Islamabad Police to arrest Imran Khan and to present him before the commission on September 25 after issuing his arrest warrant a day earlier, which were later suspended by the IHC on the PTI's petition.

Former PTI leader Akbar S. Babar had filed the petition in January this year, regarding the party's alleged receipt of illegal foreign-funding. Following which a show-cause notice for contempt, dated August 24, was issued.

The notice was served after Imran allegedly declined to submit the party's detailed accounts and instead cast aspersions on the ECP by calling it 'biased'.

Moreover, the PTI chief has already challenged the ECP's show-cause notice in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), where a three-judge bench, which adjourned hearings till September 20 without granting a stay order against the ECP's show-cause notice or arrest warrant.

The notice by the ECP had accused Imran of "having chosen not to submit an unconditional apology, thereby obstructing the administration of justice and willfully flouting the directions of the commission."

Despite being given repeated opportunities, the PTI chief refused to tender an unconditional apology in utter disregard of the commission's direction, it added.

The ECP further accused him of underestimating the authority of the commission and "bringing it into disrepute and disrespect and to interfere with, obstruct, interrupt and prejudice the process of law and the due course of proceedings, and scandalising the commission".

Earlier in July, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad had issued orders to confiscate the properties and assets of Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri for repeatedly failing to appear in hearings of terrorism cases registered against them.

The order was subsequently sent to relevant police stations and revenue boards for implementation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After Bharatiya Janata Party's Sandeep Gavai siphoned win in Shiv Sena's bastion, the party on Thursday asserted that if its ally does not shed arrogance it will have to face defeat in future as well.

Averring that if Shiv Sena ditches the grand alliance in Maharashtra it will never win, BJP MP Kirit Somaiya said the seat (ward number 35-A) from where Gavai has won once belonged to Shiv Sena.

"Talk to Rahul baba and make your government," Somaiya mocked Sena.

This comes after BJP's Sandeep Gavai won Nagpur Municipal Corporation's by-election from ward number 35-A.

Sandeep Gavai defeated Congress' Pankaj Thorat.

The ward no 35-A seat of NMC fell vacant after the demise of the first-time corporator Nilesh Kumbhare. Kumbhare contested elections on the ticket of Republican Party of India (RPI) with support from BJP.

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Following the lead of farmers in Sangrur, farmers in Sheikhupura village of Gurdaspur district also burnt crop residue on Thursday to protest government's prohibitory orders on stubble burning.

The protesting farmers said they had no other option except to burn crop residue as substitute to stubble burning was expensive machinery, which was not a possibility for debt-ridden farmers.

"We have no other option except to burn this crop residue. Farmers of Punjab are under debt. Punjab government has not done anything to get farmers free from debt," said President of Bhartiya Kisan Union, Charan Singh.

Farmers said they were burning stubble in protest to demand machinery and subsidy from the government.

"We demand government to provide us machinery, give us subsidy and give diesel in cheap rates," said a protesting farmer.

"We know there is pollution due to this, but we do not have any proper solution," he added.

Stubble burning has become a major concern for authorities as it causes air pollution as well as reduces soil fertility.

Following the orders of the Green Tribunal (NGT), state government and district administration has tightened strictures against stubble burning, and booked charges against farmers, who are not following orders.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Turkmenistan's president Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov gifted a top breed puppy to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Berdymukhamedov gifted Putin the puppy in wake of latter's birthday.

The two leaders held talks in Sochi, on the sidelines of a summit of ex-Soviet states.

A video snippet showed an elated Putin, who is an avid dog lover, celebrating his 65th birthday on October 7, holding and kissing the dog, named Verny, meaning "Faithful" in Russian, during the meeting.

It was not the first time the Russian leader had been gifted animals.

Putin previously received a Bulgarian shepherd named Buffy from Bulgaria's premier and an Akita named Yume from a Japanese official.

The Russian leader has also been gifted horses and even a tiger.

According to reports, Berdymukhamedov is keen to recover lost Russian markets for Turkmen gas.

Russia, once the main buyer of Turkmen gas, stopped buying the fuel last year due to a price dispute.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Rio-Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu will support Bridgestone Pink Valve Cap Donation Drive Campaign to create awareness against breast cancer.

The three month long campaign will be supported by the ace Indian shuttler to generate funds for the Tata Memorial Hospital Mumbai that hosts a specialist cancer treatment and research centre to provide cancer treatment and care of underprivileged patients.

Sindhu, Bridgestone India's brand ambassador said, "I am glad to be associated with Bridgestone India and their campaign for the cause of women's & safety."

"Statistics today reveal that almost 1 out of 28 women in India are at risk of breast cancer and eventually, loss of life if the cancer remains undetected. I believe such initiatives, especially for lesser privileged women, are imperative to curb the growth of the disease and will go a long way in making a healthier India," she added.

Expressing his views on the campaign, Kazutoshi Oyama, Executive Director, Bridgestone India said, "With this campaign, we are collaborating with the Tata Memorial Hospital to raise funds for the treatment of underprivileged women suffering from this painful disease."

"The campaign is aimed at educating more and more people about the importance of early diagnosis to combat cancer. We hope that our efforts will spur other subsidiary companies in Asia Pacific to adopt this initiative and contribute to the fight against breast cancer," he added.

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Ahram Online, by Azza Radwan Sedky

In Wag the Dog, a 1997 movie, a war is fabricated to cover up a presidents sex scandal. It is a perfect example of how easy it is to work up hysteria over a non-existing cause.

Imagine something similar happening in Egypt. Imagine a scenario that is farfetched and definitely preposterous. Imagine the Western world suddenly ganging up on Egypt and deciding, amongst itself, that, for one bizarre reason or another, Egypt erred big time and deserves intense retribution.

It then attacks Egypt.

Stop for a moment. Didnt the Western world attack and destroy Iraq over fake, fabricated causes in 2003?

So, play along. It gets better.

As the Western world bombs Egypts infrastructure and army facilities along its until then tightly secured borders, as well as strategic bridges and thoroughfares in Cairo, the world at large, in particular the Western world, watches unperturbed. Even more freaky, while some nations ignore the attack altogether, others deem it necessary and deserved.

The reason behind such a ludicrous reaction would be what Western media at large, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, too, have paved the way for in their reports on Egypt for the last six years. These publications, by virtue of their misleading tactics, would have convinced the world that the attack is due process.

You see, if you are a layperson who doesnt know much about the comings and goings in Egypt, but is an avid reader of Western publications, you would, most certainly, believe that Egypt is under a repressive dictatorship and that soon Egypt will implode upon itself. Hence, the West must intervene.

You will have heard of death penalties but not why these criminals received such drastic sentences; you will have heard of limitations on freedom of speech, but you wouldnt have been exposed to the incitement, including death lists, flagrantly bellowed on social media; and you will have been told that the traitors, aka Egypts leaders, are giving away their land to the highest bidder, and you will accept it all as a given. Who would think otherwise?

Does Western media lie, twist facts, or mislead? Heavens, no!

You will have read of a Qatar embargo and severe sanctions inflicted on a ganged-up-upon, minuscule emirate but not why there is an embargo: ruthless interference in other countries affairs and becoming an open playground for terrorists.

You will have been told that the poor are getting poorer, that prices are skyrocketing, and that the subsidies on fuel and power are being removed; you would have never perused an article discussing the efforts to create power, to build an expansive road network and better homes to replace the shacks many live in, to cure millions of the debilitating disease Hepatitis C, and to support those in need by providing extensive subsidies.

According to Western media, Egypt will have deserved this powerful reaction by virtue of the image projected prior to the attack. According to that image, Egypt may well be deserving retribution equivalent to attacks that hit Libya, Syria, and Iraq.

Lets consider what the media of the democratic world tells the world.

It didnt take Western media long to decide that 30 June was a coup that went against the legitimately elected Brotherhood regime, disregarding the millions that called for its downfall and neglecting the euphoria that swept Egypt immediately afterwards.

Since then, Western media exerts every effort to downplay accomplishments and overstate defeats. Every issue on Egypt in Western media is presented with headlines and content that twists facts, alludes to failures, and scrutinises even the biggest of successes.

After 30 June, the headlines of Western media read, Morsi is the Arab worlds Mandela, Does Egypt even matter? and The military coup is a cancer eating away at Egypt.

According to The Telegraph, El-Sisi plotted a military takeover even while Hosni Mubarak was still in power. This is so bizarre it is mind boggling. By the way, Egyptians had not heard of El-Sisi before 2012, and for him to predict Mubaraks downfall and scheme a take over when it occurs is ludicrous.

And yet, a Google search proves that, in 2014, Egypts most capturing story was not even mentioned. In confidence with the new leadership, in eight days, Egyptians came up with the EGP 64 billion needed to build the Suez Canal extension. Nothing appeared on this issue in Western media.

And so in another opinion piece in The Guardian, Egypts new masters are wrecking its long tradition of religious freedom was mystifying. The sub-headline says, Sisi is trying to remake the peoples identity by exploiting division.

Both concepts, remaking peoples identity and exploiting division are erroneous to the core. El-Sisi cannot remake peoples identity even if he tried, and in no way is he exploiting division.

The Financial Times is no better. Dark days for Egypts amateur vice squad draws its off-the-wall conclusions from speaking to one single Egyptian  a bawab, or doorman. It builds a dismal portrait of a country in disarray from the views of this single person.

The sub-heading reads, Egyptians used to laugh and smile, but not any more, and I beg to differ; Egyptians laugh and smile more now than they used to while ex-President Morsi was in power. And, because it is in their nature, they will continue to laugh, smile, and enjoy what life gives them because it is innate in them, despite what The Financial Times alludes to.

In March, as President El-Sisi was about to head to Washington, Human Rights Watch published an article titled, Sisis Egypt is a Poor Partner for the United States in the Fight Against Terrorism. It warns President Trump against amending ties with Egypt, concluding that Hosting Egypts repressive president sends the wrong message to the world on how to overcome the scourge of violent extremism and terrorism. And today the same explicit notions continue as Forbes headline reads, Washington should dump Egypts new pharaoh: Dictator El-Sisi turns country into open-air prison.

My two cents: either these journalists are absolute imbeciles who have no clue what they are writing about or, the other extreme, they have a clear goal and are out to accomplish it: ruin Egypt.

Now, after all this, if you were a Westerner, wouldnt you say that Egypt deserved heavy-handed retaliation?

Need I say more?

The writer is an academic, political analyst, and author of Cairo Rewind: the First Two Years of Egypt's Revolution, 2011-2013.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) leader Prakash Karat has asserted that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) wants to use central power to establish influence in Kerala, but as they are unable to do so, they are raising issues of violence and murders.

"All 45 years RSS has been trying to establish its influence in Kerala by targeting the CPM. They are now in power and they want to utilize the central power, but they are not able to do so. They are raising the issues of violence and killing," Karat told ANI.

Earlier on Wednesday, a 36-year-old RSS activist was injured in an attack, while bombs were hurled at a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in separate incidents in Kerala's Kannur.

Activist K.M. Suresh, an auto driver, was attacked by some unidentified persons at Thalassery on Tuesday evening and is in a critical condition.

A case has been registered against unknown assailants and police said they suspect it to be fallout of political rivalry.

Police had recovered some swords, knives and iron rods near the BJP district committee office on Tuesday.

In another incident, bombs were hurled at the BJP party office at Patyam around 12.30 a.m. on Wednesday but no one was injured and only some furniture was damaged.

A case had been registered by the police following a complaint by BJP area committee president K. Ajeesh.

The BJP had launched its 'Jana Raksha Yatra' on October 3 from Kannur to highlight the Left's atrocities in the state.

BJP president Amit Shah had slammed Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, alleging that maximum killings of BJP and RSS workers had taken place in the latter's home district of Kannur.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Supreme Court on Thursday issued guidelines for designation of senior lawyers at the top court and high courts across the country.

The three-judge bench, headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, also set up a committee to accord senior designations to advocates, which will include the Chief Justice of India, two senior-most judges, attorney general and Centre's top law officer.

The committee will examine the background of advocates before designating them as senior lawyers.

Earlier, the judges determined whether a lawyer, practicing in high courts and Supreme Court, would be designated as a senior or not.

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World number one Rafael Nadal and Swiss maestro Roger Federer will aim to book their place in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters when they play their respective last-16 rounds here later today.

Yesterday, Nadal, who is still in the market for his first Shanghai Rolex Masters title, had little trouble dispatching American Jared Donaldson 6-2, 6-1 in just 54 minutes as he extended his winning streak to 13 matches on a rain-hit day at the Qi Zhong Stadium.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion will now take a 9-3 head-to-head series lead into the third round against Italian Fabio Fognini, winning their two 2017 meetings in Miami and Madrid.

On the other hand, Federer had to work a little harder for his 7-6 (4), 6-4 second round win over Diego Schwartzman of Argentina. The Swiss maestro led 4-2 in the first set but surrendered that lead to end up fighting it out in a tie-breaker.

Federer will now lock horns with qualifier Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in his round-of-16 match.

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The Shiv Sena on Thursday questioned the relevance of the Supreme Court's ruling on the sale of firecrackers in Delhi and the NCR region, citing it would end the enthusiasm of 'Hindu festivals' in India.

"The Supreme Court's decision to ban the sale of crackers in Delhi has come in light of the rising levels of air pollution in the city. Now one cannot really say how much the ban will affect the air pollution," said an editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece, 'Saamna'.

Speaking about the shopkeepers and the workers whose household depends on crackers, the Shiv Sena asserted that due to the decision, thousands of people would lose their jobs and further asked if the authorities had done anything about the food and the living conditions of those affected by it.

"Will the authorities do anything for them? Or will they commit suicide just like the farmers elsewhere have resorted to?" asked the Shiv Sena.

The Sena added that banning crackers and disturbing the tranquility of the festivities was not the only solution to the problem.

It further said that even though plastic had been banned, the Mumbai sewers were still choked with plastic waste.

Bashing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation drive, the Shiv Sena said, "The Modi Government's note-ban has given a huge shock to the people and hence, the people of India also have to take the burden of the pollution that demonetisation is spreading."

The Shiv Sena also asserted that till the courts and the Centre don't provide people with the basic necessities, banning events and practices is pointless.

On Monday, the Supreme Court restored the ban on the sale of firecrackers till November 1, in Delhi and the NCR region.

The order has been passed with a view of controlling pollution levels during the festival of Diwali.

The court's order, however, does not comment on the use of firecrackers.
United States President Donald Trump has said that his tax reform plan would help the middle-class families and bolster the American economy.

Speaking at the Pennsylvania Air National Guard base at the Harrisburg International Airport in the Lower Swatara Township on Wednesday, Trump said, "America is finally back on the right track, but our country and our economy cannot take off like they should unless we transform America's outdated, complex and extremely burdensome tax code."

Trump further pledged to help the middle class families by ending the estate tax, which he described as crushing and unfair.

He said his recently-released plan is "pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-worker, pro-family and pro-America."

"We will restore our competitive edge and get higher wages for American workers," the local media quoted Trump, as saying.

He added that tax reform would give the average household a USD-4,000 raise.

Trump also attacked the Democrats by calling them 'obstructionists,' who want to raise taxes.

"We will bring back our jobs, we will bring back our wealth and we will bring back our great American dreams," Trump said.

Trump had earlier released a tax plan that proposes to cut income tax rates, slash taxes for businesses and on overseas corporate profits returned to the country.

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The Russian Foreign Ministry slammed Washington for removing its flags from Russian diplomatic properties in the US, and said "Washington deliberately destroys relations with Moscow".

"Washington deliberately destroys relations with Moscow", the Russian Foreign Ministry stated on Thursday.

"These are absolutely illegal, absolutely provocative and absolutely unfriendly actions of those who seek to hamper restoration of normal relations. They touched our national symbols with their hands", Russia's Trade Representative to the United States Alexander Stadnik said.

Tensions between Washington and Moscow rise as Russian flags were removed from the buildings of the Consulate General in San Francisco and the Trade Representation in Washington, DC.

Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has blamed Washington for backtracking on its commitment to repair ties with Moscow.

"Unfriendly steps by the United States run counter to the claims it made earlier about its desire to restore US-Russian relations," Sputnik quoted the diplomat as saying.

The Russian Mission to the US released photos of the closed diplomatic facility without Russian state flags on Wednesday.

Russia vehemently opposed the US move to take down its flags from its ceased diplomatic properties in San Francisco, Sputnik quoted the statement of the Russian embassy in Washington D.C.

"A strong objection was sent to the American side in the wake of the removal of Russian flags from the diplomatic property in San Francisco, controlled by the US authorities. We perceive this as an "extremely unfriendly move, the statement said.

"Russia demands an immediate return of the flags, the embassy added. We demand the U.S.immediately returns the Russian state symbols to their place and prevents such incidents in the future," the embassy said in a statement.

A U.S. Department of State official told Sputnik that Russian flags were "respectfully" lowered by US officials at former Russian properties in Washington, DC and San Francisco, when the buildings were closed.

"The flags at the former Russian consular properties in San Francisco were respectfully lowered and are safely stored within each of the buildings," the official said on Wednesday. "The flag at the former Russian Washington, DC property was also taken down and is safely stored within the building.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), after the acquittal of Aarushi Talwar's parents on Thursday, said that they are waiting for a copy of the court's judgment and will decide the next course of action after studying it.

The Allahabad High Court earlier today acquitted the parents of Aarushi, setting aside the CBI court's earlier order in connection with the double murder case, which shook the nation in 2008.

A special CBI Judge S. Lal had earlier held Aarushi's parents, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, guilty of conspiracy and murder of 14-year-old Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj.

The order, however, failed to bring a closure to the case and the public opinion remained divided, even after years of the conviction.

A High Court bench, comprising Justice B.K. Narayana and Justice A.K. Mishra, had reserved its verdict in September, in the appeal filed by Aarushi's parents, who were sentenced to life in jail.

On May 16, 2008, Aarushi was found murdered inside her bedroom in the flat in Jal Vayu Vihar - her throat slit with surgical precision.

It was initially suspected that house help Hemraj had killed Aarushi. However, the case took a shocking turn when Hemraj's body was recovered two days later from the terrace of the same flat.

The police then began to suspect the Talwars and said Rajesh had murdered the two after finding them in an "objectionable" position.

The accusations enraged the Talwars and friends, who accused the police of framing the dentist couple in order to cover up a botched investigation.

After widespread outrage, the case was transferred from the Uttar Pradesh Police to the CBI that exonerated the parents and suspected the Talwars' assistant Krishna along with two domestic servants, Rajkumar Sharma and Vijay Mandal.

In 2009, the CBI handed over the investigation to a new team, which recommended closing the case due to critical gaps in investigation.

Based on circumstantial evidence, it named Rajesh as the sole suspect, but refused to charge him due to lack of evidence.

Rajesh was first arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police on May 23, 2008 after which he was lodged at Dasna Jail and let off on July 11, 2008.

Later in 2012, his wife Nupur surrendered before a Ghaziabad court before trial and was also sent to Dasna Jail.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) to change its status from Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to Inter-Governmental Organization (IGO).

The move will facilitate to foster the safe, economic and efficient movement of vessels". It will bring IALA at par with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO).

Background:

The IALA, having headquarters at St. Germainen Laye (France) was established in 1957 under French law.

It is governed by a General Assembly having 83 National members, with its Council as the executive body. The IALA council consists of 24 National Members and India is one of the council members represented through the Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL), Ministry of Shipping. DGLL establishes and maintains Aids to Navigation in general waters along coast of India including A&N and Lakshadweep group of islands, as per Lighthouse Act 1927.

In its Xll session held in La Coruna, Spain in May 2014, International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) General Assembly adopted a resolution stating its firm belief that the status of IALA from NGO to IGO will best facilitate lALA's aims in the 21st century.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) with Capital Markets Authority (CMA), Kuwait for mutual co-operation and technical assistance.

The MoU is likely to promote further development of economic links and cooperation between the two regulators, and aims at creating conditions for an effective development of securities markets in the two countries.

It would also contribute towards strengthening the information sharing framework between the two.

It is expected to add value to overseas mutual cooperation and regulation activities of SEBI and CMA, Kuwait.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the signing of "Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC)" between India and Japan on the "Technical Intern Training Program (TITP)".

This MoC is expected to be signed during the forthcoming visit of Hon'ble Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship during October, 16-18, 2017 at Tokyo.

The Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) is an ambitious program to send Indian technical interns to Japan for on the job training for a period of three to five years. It is expected that the MoC will pave the way for bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the area of skill development.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval for a Memorandum of Understanding between India and Belarus for cooperation in the field of Vocational Education and Training (VET). The MoU was signed on 12th September, 2017 during the State visit of H. E. Mr. Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus to India.

This is for the first time MoU for cooperation in area of vocational education, training and skill development has been signed with Eurasian country.

Belarus has a large concentration of industries, mainly into manufacturing and heavy industries, which draw their strength from available skilled manpower and a highly developed skill training system. The transfer of knowledge of their skilling methodology will immensely help in our initiatives like "Make in India" and "Skill India".

This MoU would pave the way for systematic transfer of their expertise and knowhow in skilling the manpower specially in manufacturing sector.

Cooperation between two countries in identified areas would be implemented through establishing institutional partnerships between Republican Institute for Vocational Education" (RIPO) , an apex institution for development of Belarusian vocational education system and Directorate General of Training for transfer of technology in VET delivery & its sustainability. Cooperation with Sectoral VET/ Centres of Excellence of Belarus is proposed for Research and Development in the skilling ecosystem.

The areas of cooperation are as under:

1. The Belarusian side shall provide comprehensive transfer of know-how of emerging technologies, training and evaluation methodologies, content development for regular / distance learning / e-learning/training of master trainers, competency building of the assessors in area of their competency and network building & industry linkage;

2. Vocational education services for Indian citizens for skill development in the field of construction, electric-power production and distribution, manufacturing industry, trade, auto service and household goods repair and maintenance, transport, communication, hotels and restaurants as well as other fields being in high demand in India;

3. Retraining, up-skilling, internship for Vocational Education and Training managers, teachers and trainers of India by the Belarusian Side;

4. Advisory services in order to enhance planning, management and delivery of Vocational Education and Training and Skill Development.

Major impact:

The MoU would bring in Belarus experience and expertise for overall improvement in skill eco system of the country.

Implementation of proposal includes innovation and improvement in the existing vocational education and skill development through Research and Development in the field.

The financial arrangement for the co-operative activities undertaken within the framework of this MoU shall be mutually agreed upon by the Parties on a case-by-case basis, subject to the availability of funds.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Financial Services Commission (FSC), Gibraltar for mutual co-operation and technical assistance.

The MoU is likely to promote further development of economic links and cooperation between the two regulators and aims at creating conditions for an effective development of securities markets in the two countries.

It would also contribute towards strengthening the information sharing framework between the two signatories. It is expected to add value to overseas mutual cooperation and regulation activities of SEBI and FSC, Gibraltar.

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved two new World Bank supported schemes of Rs. 6,655 crore - Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE). SANKALP is Rs 4,455 crore Centrally sponsored scheme including Rs. 3,300 crore loan support from World Bank whereas STRIVE is a Rs. 2,200 crore - central sector scheme, with half of the scheme outlay as World bank loan assistance. SANKALP and STRIVE are outcome focused schemes marking shift in government's implementation strategy in vocational education and training from inputs to results.

There has been a long felt need for a national architecture for promoting convergence, ensuring effective governance and regulation of skill training and catalysing industry efforts in vocational training space. The two schemes shall address this need by setting up national bodies for accreditation & certification which shall regulate accreditation and certification in both long and short term Vocational Education and Training (VET). The architecture shall help, for the first time in the history of vocational education in India, to converge the efforts of various central, state and private sector institutions thereby avoiding duplication of activities and bringing about uniformity in vocational training thus, creating better impact.

Both the schemes are aimed at institutional reforms and improving quality & market relevance of skill development training programs in long and short term VET. In past many government schemes such as Vocational Training Improvement Project (VTIP) have focussed on strengthening ITIs and over 1600 ITIs have already been modernized under the schemes. STRIVE scheme shall incentivize ITIs to improve overall performance including apprenticeship by involving SMEs, business association and industry clusters. The schemes aim to develop a robust mechanism for delivering quality skill development training by strengthening institutions such as State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), ITIs and National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) etc. The schemes shall support universalization of National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) including National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF) across the skill development schemes of central and state governments thus ensuring standardization in skill delivery, content and training output.

The schemes shall provide the required impetus to the National Skill Development Mission, 2015 and its various sub missions. The schemes are aligned to flagship Government of India programs such as Make in India and Swachhta Abhiyan and aim at developing globally competitive workforce for domestic and overseas requirements. To this end, over 700 industry led institutions are being set up for providing job oriented skill training to lakhs of aspirants.

An innovative challenge fund model has been employed to select and support proposals to set up such institutions in identified sectors and geographies. 66+ India International stalling institutions are being promoted to focus upon skill training as per global standards for overseas placements. Over 30,000 aspirants shall be trained in IISCs and get certificates from International Awarding Bodies (lABs). Upgrading 500 ITIs, as model ITIs across India and improving their industry connect, is also envisaged by ushering in reforms such as on-line examination, centralised admission, improving efficiency and transparency in the system.

National Policy of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 highlighted the need of quality assurance measures such as building a pool quality trainers and assessors. SANKALP envisages setting up of Trainers and Assessors academies with self-sustainable models. Over 50 such academies are to be set up in priority sectors. DOT, MSDE has already made significant progress in this direction by setting up a number of Institutes for Training of Trainers (IToT) in public and private sector, offering training in over 35 trades. The schemes shall leverage such institutions for training the trainers in both long & short term VET thereby bringing about convergence. Additional trainer academies shall be set up on the basis of identified sectoral and geographical gaps.

Greater decentralization in skill planning will be ensured by institutional strengthening at the State level which includes setting up of State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs) and allowing states to come up with District and State level Skill Development Plans (DSDP/SSDP) and design skill training interventions to suit the local needs. SANKALP aims at enhancement of inclusion of marginalized communities including women. Scheduled Castes (SCs), Schedule Tribes (STs) and Persons with Disabilities (PWD) to provide skill training opportunities to the underprivileged and marginalised section of the society.

The schemes will develop a skilling ecosystem that will support the country's rise in the Ease of Doing Business index by steady supply of skilled workforce to the industry. The schemes will also work towards increasing the aspirational value of skill development programs by increasing the marketability of skills, through better industry connect and quality assurance.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between India and Japan on establishing a liquid, flexible and global LNG Market.

The MoC will promote bilateral relationship between India and Japan in the energy sector. It will contribute to the diversification of gas supplies for India.

This will strengthen our energy security and lead to more competitive prices for consumers.

The MoC provides a framework to cooperate in facilitating flexibility in LNG contracts, abolition of Destination Restriction Clause and also explore possibilities of cooperation in establishing reliable LNG spot price indices reflecting true LNG demand and supply.

Background:

India and Japan are major consumers of energy in the world. In the LNG sector, Japan is the world's largest importer and India is the 4th largest importer. Under the Japan-India Energy Partnership Initiative signed in January 2016, the two sides had agreed to work together in promoting well-functioning energy markets and affirmed to promote a transparent and diversified Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market through the relaxation of Destination Restriction Clause.

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NBCC (India) rose 2.99% to Rs 227.35 at 10:22 IST on BSE after the company said it has awarded a contract for construction of multi storey commercial space in Delhi to NCC for a project consultancy fee.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 11 October 2017.

Shares of NCC were up 2.32% at Rs 88.25.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 103.21 points or 0.32% at 31,937.20.

On the BSE, 92,000 shares of NBCC (India) were traded on the counter so far as against the average daily volumes of 1.50 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 227.50 and a low of Rs 223.75 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 228.50 on 21 September 2017 and a 52-week low of Rs 133.07 on 9 November 2016.

The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 11 October 2017, advancing 6.16% compared with the Sensex's 0.15% fall. The stock had also outperformed the market over the past one quarter, gaining 5.67% as against the Sensex's 0.27% rise. The scrip had also outperformed the market over the past one year, advancing 26.48% as against the Sensex's 13.36% rise.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 180 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

NBCC (India) has awarded the contract for construction of multi storey commercial space at GPRA Colony, Nauroji Nagar, New Delhi on design, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis to NCC (NCC - State Construction Integrated Works (SCIW) of Administrative Department of Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine - JV) for around Rs 1949 crore with completion period of 2 years.

NBCC will get project management consultancy fee on the project cost at 8% and revenue booking from the project will start from October 2017.

On a consolidated basis, net profit of NBCC (India) rose 25.7% to Rs 59.16 crore on 0.8% rise in net sales to Rs 1548.90 crore in Q1 June 2017 over Q1 June 2016.

NBCC (India), a blue-chip Government of India (GoI) Navratna enterprise under the Ministry of Urban Development, is present in three segments of operations including project management consultancy (PMC), real estate development and EPC contracting. The GoI held 75% stake in the firm (as per shareholding pattern as on 30 June 2017).

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Supplies to commence from November 2017

Prakash Industries announced that in the recent Coal Linkages auction conducted by Coal India for Sponge Iron sector, the Company has secured additional coal linkages of 2.10 lakh tonnes p.a. for the next five years. The Company is going to sign the Fuel Supply Agreement in the coming weeks and the supplies will commence from November 2017.

With this additional quantity, the Company has fulfilled its 100% requirement for the sponge iron plants from linkages, which was earlier being met through spot auctions; thereby saving over 20% in coal costs.

Accordingly, with this additional linkage, the profitability will improve by over Rs 20 crore; taking total annual cost saving on total linkage quantity of Rs 15.56 tonnes p.a to over Rs 90 crore.

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The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has suspended Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's membership "in light of recent very serious" multiple sexual assault allegations against him.

"Whilst BAFTA has previously been a beneficiary of Mr Weinstein's support for its charitable work, it considers the reported alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTA's values," read a statement on behalf of the organisation, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"This has led to Mr Weinstein's suspension, and it will be followed by a formal process as laid out in BAFTA's constitution. We hope this announcement sends a clear message that such behaviour has absolutely no place in our industry.

"BAFTA will continue to work with the film, games and television industries to improve access to rewarding and fulfilling careers in safe, professional working environments," the statement further read.

Besides others, actresses like Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevingne and Gwyneth Paltrow have said that they were sexually harassed or assaulted by Weinstein at different times.

--IANS

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A girl sustained minor injuries on Thursday when militants hurled a grenade at a beauty parlour in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama town, police said.

"Furniture and fixtures inside the beauty parlour was extensively damaged in the explosion," police said.

--IANS

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British IS recruiter Sally-Anne Jones, nicknamed the "White Widow", has been killed in a US drone strike, a media report said.

Jones was said to have been killed in June in a US strike close to the border between Syria and Iraq, the Sun newspaper reported citing CIA officials.

Previously a punk musician, Jones was the world's most wanted female terrorist for more than three years.

Muslim convert Jones fled to Syria from Kent in 2013 and married computer hacker Junaid Hussain, an IS fighter from Birmingham, and took her then 11-year-old son, Joe Dixon, with her.

A Whitehall source told the Sun: "The Americans zapped her trying to get away from Raqqa. Quite frankly, it's good riddance."

CIA officials told their UK counterparts that a US Air Force Predator killed 50-year-old Jones. But news of the death was kept quiet over fears her son might have also been killed in the strike.

It is not known if her son was with her, the newspaper said.

Reports said Jones was last seen alive fleeing the carnage in Raqqa and heading towards the Syrian border town of Mayadin.

Jones regularly used her son as a human shield, the report said.

Jones was called the "White Widow" after her husband Hussain was killed by a drone in 2015.

Jones used to recruit Western girls to the group and posted threatening messages to Christians in the UK. She used her Twitter account to provide practical advice on how to travel to Syria.

--IANS

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Pure vegetarians usually have limited options at fine dining restaurants. Not so at Burma Burma. Though Burmese cuisine is known for its seafood and meat preparations, the restaurant has given these a miss. But the vegetarian spread they have on offer comes as a pleasant surprise even for meat lovers.

Situated in Saket's Select Citywalk mall, Burma Burma has outlets in Mumbai and Gurugram as well.

The cosy restaurant has beautiful interiors with colourful dolls of several Burmese tribes displayed on one wall, while the other has elements from Burmese culture carved into it -- the lotus flower, the owl, fish and more.

The tea bar in the end of the restaurant boasts a pretty display of Burmese artefacts and lacquer ware as the backdrop.

I started with a Nutella-flavoured bubble tea. A mix of black tea, milk, maple syrup and chewy tapioca pearls with Nutella, it was a perfect blend and had me reordering it.

Then came the Thoke Sampler, a salad platter with raw mango salad, tea leave salad and sunflower leaves. My favourite was the sunflower salad -- the leaves were fresh and left me pondering how a cuisine could utilise every part of a plant, flower and fruit so well. Besides being green, it was crisp with peanuts mixed in it.

Soups offered here are interesting too, with the "samosa soup" a clear winner. A bit on the hot side, the soup will be loved by those who like red chili flakes in their food. The other two were chickpea tohu soup and Burmese pepper soup which were minus the hot spices and rather filling.

While going through the menu a salad with white fungus caught my eye, but somehow I did not have the stomach to try it. However, if you are given to experimenting with your palate, give it a chance. It may just surprise you.

Another must-try is the Tohu mok palata, which is chickpea mash cooked with onions and tomatoes accompanied with flaky Burmese paranthas. To break it down for the common man, the parantha resembles a mini Malabari parantha and is delicious.

Then there was the tofu bun called Paukse. Soft-steamed and served as mini burgers with a crunchy tofu patty and coconut mayo. Not a fan of tofu at all, I was sceptical at first. But being a reviewer I had to give it a shot. Must say I have no regrets.

Like something crispy? Do not forget to order the lotus stem crisps called Kyar Yoe Kyaw. They are super-thin slices of lotus stem sprinkled with paprika and curry leaves. It's a good starter, so chomp on it with your bubble tea and relish the riot of flavours unleashed in your mouth.

Your meal at Burma Burma is incomplete without trying the Khow Suey. The restaurant offers all versions of it, be it dry, curry or medium dry. The curry is a blast of coconut, so if you don't like coconut, best to try the dry option which is delicious too.

End your meal with their coconut jelly, which melts in the mouth. It is scrumptious when had in the form of the faluda-style dish, also called Shway Aye, or with pineapple and toffee, also called Coco Pina.

FAQs:

Where: S 25, Second Floor, A3, Select Citywalk Mall, Saket, New Delhi.

Timings: 12 pm to 11 pm.

Price for two: Rs 1,500/- Plus applicable taxes

(The writer's visit was at the invitation of Burma Burma. Kishori Sud can be contacted at kishori.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette once said, "Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet." Pets provide meaningful social support for owners, and they can be especially beneficial for seniors. Ample research shows pet ownership delivers physical and mental health benefits for seniors, regardless of whether they're living on their own or in a senior living community.

However, many older Americans still mistakenly believe moving into a senior living community means they'll have to leave their pets behind. In fact, the fear they'll have to give up a beloved pet is among the top emotional reasons seniors don't want to move into senior living, according to author and senior real estate specialist Bruce Nemovitz. In an informal survey by Nemovitz, seniors ranked losing a pet as emotionally jarring as having to leave their familiar homes and possessions.

"Senior living communities like Brookdale Senior Living are all about supporting the physical health and mental well-being of residents," says Carol Cummings, senior director of Optimum Life. "For many senior citizens, pets are an important part of their lives. It makes sense to preserve the bond between pet and senior owner whenever possible."

Physical benefits

Pet ownership benefits senior citizens in multiple ways, research shows. Older people who own dogs are likely to spend 22 additional minutes walking at a moderately intense pace each day, according to a recent study by the University of Lincoln and Glasgow Caledonian University. Published in BioMed Central, the study also found dog owners took more than 2,700 more steps per day than non-owners.

Multiple studies have also concluded that pet ownership can help lower blood pressure, contribute to improved cardiovascular health and reduce cholesterol.

Mental health

Interacting with pets also has many mental health benefits, especially for seniors. Spending time with pets can help relieve anxiety and increase brain levels of the feel-good neurochemicals serotonin and dopamine. Pets can help relieve depression and feelings of loneliness.

The online journal Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research reports multiple studies indicate dementia patients who interact with animals become more social, are less agitated and have fewer behavioral issues.

Pets in senior living settings

"For too long, some senior living communities didn't recognize the value of allowing residents to bring their pets with them," Cummings says. "That has definitely changed."

For seniors looking for a community that will accept their pets, Cummings suggests a few questions to ask:

* What is your pet policy and what type of animal do you consider a pet? Generally, small dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, rats, hamsters, fish, turtles and other small companion animals qualify for pet policies. Seniors should check to be sure their pet meets the standards of the community.

* What is your pet health policy? Typically, senior living communities that accept small pets will want them to be current on all vaccinations and have regular exams by a licensed veterinarian. Pets will also need to have any required state- or county-issued licenses.

* What, if any, kind of training do you require pets to have? Requiring dogs to be house-trained and cats to be litter-trained is standard. Communities will also want to know your pet is well-behaved and not aggressive. They may ask you to have pets obedience trained.

* Do you offer any assistance with pet-related tasks? Most communities will require residents be able to care for pets themselves, including feeding, walking, potty needs and health needs.

"Moving into a senior living community is a big change, one that most residents find positive," Cummings says. "They gain freedom from home maintenance tasks and household chores, a socially rewarding environment, and as-needed support for healthcare and daily care. As long as seniors are still able to care for their pets, there's no reason they shouldn't be allowed to bring their best friends with them to their new homes."
The Bombay High Court has chided elitist overtones of a 23-year-old Customs appellate tribunal order for questioning the rise of controversy-prone Goa politician Churchill Alemao from tea boy to Chief Minister.

The order issued on Tuesday by Justice G.S. Patel and Justice Nutan Sardessai, quashing the 2004 order of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) declaring Churchill, his brother Ciabro and Joaquim as gold-smugglers, also questions the swashbuckling account of a Customs officer, who in 1991 chased the former CM's brother Alvernaz, who was allegedly smuggling gold and killed the latter in a gunfight.

Picking a quote from the tribunal's order "Churchill Alemao started his life as a tea-boy and rose to become the Chief Minister of Goa. Democracy at its very best", the HC order decried the its deprecatory overtones.

"We fail to understand what, if anything, this is supposed to mean. That those who stand for elections and rise to the highest echelons of political prominence should be only the elite? Or that no tea-vendor may so aspire? We dare say the CESTAT member who wrote this would be rather more reticent today," it said.

"That statement says far more about the writer's complete lack of understanding of the fundamentals of a democratic republic governed by the rule of law than he imagines," it also reads.

Alemao was chief minister of Goa from March 27, 1990 to April 22, 1990 and has been controversial in his numerous stints as legislator as well as Member of Parliament. In 2015, he was arrested by the Goa Police Crime Branch for his involvement in the Louis Berger bribery case. He has also been detained under the National Security Act.

The 2004 CESTAT order however, specifically dealt with the long-standing case, in which the Alemao brothers were accused of smuggling gold, after a consignment was dramatically caught in 1991 by Customs official Costao Fernandes at Varca beach, which was known for contraband landings, during which Alvernaz was killed.

Justices Patel and Sardessai have however picked holes in the Tribunal's order for its tenor and endorsement of officer Fernandes' gung-ho.

"Fernandes is described as a 'lone ranger' and a 'one man army'. This is law, not a film script," they observed.

A reference to the death of Alvernaz Alemao as "wasted" has elicited a sharp response in the Court's order.

"This is not the language of the law. It is not what we expect - 'no, demand' - from Tribunals in our jurisdiction. This case had nothing that justified this sneering, sniping superciliousness. Sobriety is everything in matters like this, and to use language of this stripe trivializes something fundamental," the HC order says.

It also says, that he CESTAT ruling relied on "pungent story telling" techniques rather than combination of proof and evidence to arrive at a conclusion.

"In our considered view, there is no substitute for evidence and proof, and no amount of pungent story-telling can make up for it; nor is it permissible to borrow selectively and out-of-context from one order while ignoring another that is much closer to the issues at hand, or to misread and misunderstand the purport of a statute," the order reads.

--IANS

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The Central government on Thursday dispatched a mediacal team to Tamil Nadu to investigate the outbreak of dengue in many of its districts, said Health Ministry officials.

The move comes after Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O. Paneerselvam met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprised him about the problem.

According to officials at health ministry, Tamil Nadu has witnessed a spurt in dengue cases and the state government has been trying measures to control it.

The officials also said the team will analyse the factors leading to the rise in dengue cases in the state.

--IANS

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A song shot for Hindi film "Drive", starring Sushant Singh Rajput, marks the commencement of an association between Bollywood and Israel.

Hassan Madah, Director, Israel Ministry of Tourism India, told IANS: "The shoot with Dharma Production's 'Drive' marks the start of an association between Bollywood and Israel."

"We are delighted about the song being shot in Tel Aviv as the city is known for being vibrant, fashion forward, offering delectable world cuisine and is Israel's party city. We hope that this shoot will attract more of Bollywood to Israel and are confident that the locations captured in the song will positively impact the number of Indian tourists to Israel," Madah added.

The team of the film, directed by Tarun Mansukhani, is shooting a party number in Tel Aviv, the party capital of the Middle East

According to a source, while the shoot hours are long, the cast and crew still go out and explore various destinations. They visited Jaffa, Tel Aviv, and experienced the nightlife. They also met Sanam band while in Tel Aviv.

The cast is currently exploring Jerusalem.

Mansukhani has been updating fans on social media with photographs from his travel experiences. He visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and clicked a selfie with actress Jacqueline Fernandez.

"My saviour Jesus Christ. I was lost but now I'm found," Jacqueline shared on her Instagram page from Jerusalem.

"Let the one among you who is 'without sin' cast the first stone. My most important life lesson from Jesus... Jerusalem," she wrote with another image in which she is seen lighting a candle.

--IANS

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The issue of some Army personnel from Army Service Corps, which provides logistic support, questioning their being posted in combat units was raised at the Army Commanders' Conference here. Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has assured that necessary corrections will be done where needed.

This comes in the wake of several serving officers moving the Supreme Court against the Army Headquarters as they felt that the posts available to them for their next promotion were limited on account of their being 'non-combatants' while they are also given operational duties.

"During the Army Commanders Conference the issue of services being non-combatants was discussed. Some personnel from Army Service Corps (ASC) have expressed apprehensions that since they are non-combatants they should not be considered for posting to field areas," a statement said.

The Army Service Corps (ASC), which comprises over 20 per cent of the Army, handles the force's logistic support functions, and the cadre has nearly 10,000 officers in its strength of 2.6 lakh personnel.

A statement on Thursday said the issue was discussed during the Army Commanders' Conference, and added that there is no dispute that all arms and services of the Army are combatant.

"It was never in dispute that all arms and services are combatants. Hence, at no stage has the Army referred to Services Units being non-combatant Units," the statement said.

It also said that the Army Chief has said that he would consider all arms and services at par and they would get their dues that they deserve.

"Some aberrations, if these are being perceived by any particular arm or service are being addressed during the Conference. The anguish amongst some personnel on discrimination in their status, needs to be put to rest and the COAS (Chief of Army Staff) has assured that necessary corrections, where needed will be addressed," said the statement.

The statement said that in its affidavit to the Supreme Court, the Indian Army has highlighted that to boost strength essential in the Line of Control, Low Intensity Conflict, Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorist environment a number of Officers, JCOs and Other Ranks from Combat Support Arms and logistic units are posted on tenure basis in infantry, Counter Insurgency or Counter Terrorist units.

This also provides much necessary operational experience to these Officers, JCOs and Other Ranks. It is submitted that their performance in such roles has been noteworthy, it said.

"Army performs its role in war and peace as a whole and not in isolated compartments. Each Arm/ Service has designated role and function," the statement said.

"Combat Arms, Combat Support Arms and Services are operational entities of Army which has clear and defined roles with charter of duties. Further, without diluting the role played by Services in maintaining logistic support to Combat Arms during operations it has been the consistent stand of the Army during litigation that Commanding Officers (COs) of ASC, Ordnance and Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) are not required to largely remain in contact with front line forces where major combat may take place during operations," it explained.

Apart from the serving personnel moving to court, their wives also recently made an appeal to the Prime Minister's Office and to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stating that injustice was done to their husbands.

Last year, the Supreme Court had directed the Defence Ministry to create 141 additional posts of Colonel to be allocated to 'Combat Support' stream -- engineers, signals, artillery air defence --for being utilised by officers who were eligible for promotions against the same from 2009 and till 2014. The court, however, refused to give the same relief to officers from the Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps and other minor corps -- as it had not been recommended by the A.V. Singh Committee formed by the government.

--IANS

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that Governors can become catalytic agents of change in society and urged them to lead by example in the cause of cleanliness.

Addressing the opening session of the 'Conference of Governors' at Rashtrapati Bhawan here, Modi said the target of "New India" by 2022 can be achieved only by making it a people's movement.

He encouraged Governors to interact at length with students and teachers in this regard.

All Governors can become catalytic agents of change in society, while upholding the sanctity of the Constitution, Modi said, according to an official release.

The Prime Minister also said that festivals and anniversaries can be great motivators and energisers in the quest for change.

He said that Governors can motivate banks to give loans under Mudra scheme to tribals, Dalits and women, especially in the period between Constitution Day on November 26 and Ambedkar Mahaparinirvana Diwas on December 6.

Citing the example of "Hackathon" conducted by the Union Government where students had proposed technology solutions to several problems, Modi said the universities should be centres of innovation.

In the same vein, he said youth in every state must focus on one sport.

Encouraging Governors to lead by example in the cause of cleanliness, he noted that Mahatma Gandhi, whose 150th birth anniversary will be celebrated in 2019, is a source of inspiration in the work towards an Open Defecation Free India.

The Prime Minister encouraged Lt. Governors of union territories to share the best practices being adopted by them in areas such as solar energy, Direct Benefit Transfer, and making UTs kerosene-free.

He said these achievements must be extended across all UTs speedily.

--IANS

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The leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Thursday announced it had reached a reconciliation agreement with its rival, the nationalist party Fatah, following the first round of talks under Egyptian mediation.

Both Palestinian factions reached agreement two weeks after negotiations began at the Egyptian central intelligence headquarters, Efe news reported.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh announced in a statement that the deal had been closed, without providing further details.

Israeli radio station Kan, citing Palestinian sources, reported that Fatah and Hamas had discussed civilian administration and interior security.

Both sides left weapons issues and the question of Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, for the next round of negotiations, according to Kan.

Hamas said in the statement that the details of the agreement would be revealed later in the day.

The initial round of talks was aimed at initiating a mechanism for implementing the reconciliation agreements reached in the last few years.

It followed the historic visit of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to Gaza last week, when his government officially took over control of the Strip.

Despite the agreement, there were plenty of issues that were yet to be resolved. The issues included the future of 25,000 members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which Hamas considers non-negotiable.

Also among the pending topics were Israel's demand to dissolve Hamas, since the Israeli government considers the movement a terror organisation, as well as cutting the group's ties to Iran, Israel's main geopolitical foe in the region.
Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar here on Thursday presented to former President Pranab Mukherjee an anthology of his convocation addresses as the Head of State.

Speaking on the occasion, Javadekar said: "Our former President Pranab Mukherjee has always been our torchbearer. On July 9, on Guru Purnima, he addressed 700 Vice Chancellors from across the country, I thought it calls for a 'guru dakshina'... for the people this compilation is a cogitation on education. It's a philosophy of ideas."

The book, published by the National Book Trust, will be circulated to various higher learning institutes in the country, an official statement said.

Mukherjee said he had always believed that improvement in the quality of higher education with particular emphasis on research and innovation was absolutely necessary if the country was to lead in the field.

He said he had no doubt that under Javadekar's leadership, Indian higher education institutes will become comparable to the best in the world.

--IANS

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Police have busted a casino being run illegally by a suspended Haryana Police constable in an upscale locality here and arrested 43 people, including four women, in this connection, police said on Thursday.

The illegal casino in K Block of Sushant Lok-1 was being run by constable Paramjeet, resident of a village near Haryana's Jhajjar.

Paramjeet was part of a police team that killed Gurugram gangster Sandeep Gadoli last year.

Gangster Gadoli, who was allegedly killed in a staged gun fight by a Haryana Police Crime Branch team in Mumbai on February 7 last year, was cremated on September 2 in his native village here.

After a seven-month wait, Gadoli's family on September 1 finally claimed his body, which had been lying in Mumbai's JJ Hospital morgue since his death.

Paramjeeet had been absconding with his service pistol since then.

"Sector 40 Police Station chief Sudhir Kumar and Crime Branch teams raided the house and arrested people for gambling," a senior police officer said.

The three arrested women were illegally serving liquor to gamblers while the fourth one was helping them in playing.

Paramjeet and his partner Kapil, a resident of Sector 40, have been arrested under relevant sections of Gambling, Arms and Excise acts.

The weapon recovered is the service pistol allotted to accused Paramjeet before he absconded after Gadoli's killing.

--IANS

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India has reiterated the need for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled national peace and reconciliation in the strife-torn country, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.

New Delhi's views were made known when an Indian delegation led by Ruchi Ghanashyam, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, participated in a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)-Afghanistan Contact Group in Moscow on Wednesday

"India shared its perspectives on the situation in Afghanistan, including security challenges posed by terrorism imposed from beyond its borders, the need to strengthen Afghan National Defence and Security Forces, need for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled national peace and reconciliation in an environment free of terror and violence, continued assistance for socio-economic development based on priorities of the people of Afghanistan, and ensuring greater connectivity and regional integration for Afghanistan," the ministry said in a statement.

"India conveyed its readiness to work closely with the SCO member states in efforts to bring peace, prosperity and stability in Afghanistan," it stated.

India has been a major partner for Afghanistan in terms of development aid but Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has gone on record saying that there will be no Indian boots on the ground in the war-ravaged country.

At his weekly media briefing here, Ravish Kumar, spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry, said that India would continue to offer economic assistance to Afghanistan.

"We have identified more than 100 projects. We have also identified six big projects," Kumar said.

"We will also now start training their police force after the Afghan National Army."

Wednesday's meeting of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group was held after a gap of seven years after member states of the Eurasian bloc decided to resume the meetings at its summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, in June this year.

The next meeting of the Contact Group will be held in Beijing in early 2018.

--IANS

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The back office services sector posted about $30 billion revenue in2016-17, with 12 lakh employees, said the Indian IT industry apex body Nasscom on Thursday.

"The Indian Business Process Management (BPM) or back office services sector remains the world's largest base, with $30 billion (Rs.1,95,000 crore) revenue and 12-lakh employees in 2016-17," Nasscom Chairman Raman Roy told reporters here.

Asserting that advanced technology solutions and intelligent automation would drive the sector's growth, he said the BPM sector was projected to touch $50-55 billion by 2025 with a steady growth over the next eight years.

Overcoming the slower growth phase, the Indian BPM industry has 35 per cent share of global sourcing and 38 per cent in the employable graduate pool, with revenue growth of 1.7 times.

"Digital streams will account for 60-70 per cent of the BPM service providers' revenue by 2025, overtaking traditional streams, with intelligent automation driving its growth," said Roy on the margins of the 19th BPM Strategy Summit of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).

Noting that the BPM industry was growing in strength, embracing the change, he said hybrid growth of higher order thinking and digital assistance would drive dynamic shifts towards new geographies, verticals and markets.

"The shift towards digital strategy is witnessing adoption of robotic process automation, advanced analytics and digital assistance," he added.

With the advent of new pricing models and increasing demand for unique skills in analytics, domain-knowledge and emerging technology, the BPM industry is aided by strategic acquisitions, partnerships and collaborations.

"These are interesting times for the BPM industry, with digital becoming the driving force behind the growth of the sector. With customer experience becoming mission critical for companies, they are investing in new technologies enabling AI, Automation and Big Data Analytics in a secured fashion," said Nasscom BPM Council Chair Rohit Kapoor at the summit.

The BPM industry is creating impact in process improvements, helping lower cost to serve, higher return on investment, customers as partners to reduce risks and drive results.

To accelerate the pace of growth, the Council has decided to position India as the destination for global firms to deliver transformation value and the BPM sector as an industry of choice for aspiring professionals.

--IANS

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Wednesday was Ethan Buss 10th birthday, but this year, he doesnt want presents.

Instead, hes throwing a party that he hopes will help the people affected by recent hurricanes and wildfires.

On Oct. 29 at 11 a.m., Ethan will be inviting the public to a birthday party in the back room of Riskys in Beatrice. Its a spaghetti feed, and for $8, the community can help Ethan raise money for the people hit hardest by disastrous weather events this summer.

Ethan likes to give back, and that just comes naturally, said Ethans mom, Amber Shufeldt.

Hes not a needy kid, she said. When we asked him what he needed for back to school this year, he just said socks and underwear. Hes had the same book bag for the last two years.

Ethan is a fourth grader at Paddock Lane Elementary. In the past, he and one of his friends opened up a lemonade stand, sending all of the proceeds to diabetes research. Wanting to help people on his birthday came as no surprise, Shufeldt said.

Ive had a birthday for nine years, Ethan said. Other little kids only had a couple birthdays and now their homes are getting destroyed. If they have a birthday coming up, their birthday present would be like a new home, new toys, new everything.

The party started out as a small idea, he said. Maybe a few friends and family, asking everyone to chip in a few bucks, but then Ethans grandparents Bob and Sharon Roberts stepped in.

They suggested holding the party in a room at the Good Samaritan Society where Shufeldt works and maybe invite a few more people. But then they mentioned the idea at one of their weekly haunts.

His grandpa and grandma eat at Risky's every Friday, Shufeldt said. So they know the managers there and they were talking about it and they were like, 'We want onboard, this is amazing.'

Riskys offered up the back room and will be holding a few games, with the possibility of a pinata and a costume party. Ethans grandparents will pay for the spaghettiso all the money raised can go to the Red Crossbut Riskys has really been putting in work, Shufeldt said.

Theyve printed flyers and are accepting donations for Ethans cause right in the restaurantif youre interested in donating, you can walk in and put your cash in a jar. The goal is to raise at least $5,000 for disaster relief.

When Hurricane Harvey hit in August, Ethans class was studying the effects of hurricanes, which really piqued his interest.

He is very aware of the world around him, his mom said. We watch the news here, and we don't hide our children from things. He went to the library the next day and got books about hurricanes.

Thats one way Ethan decides to help out, she said. If he hears about someone in need, he wants to learn more and pitch in.

Last year, I said that I want to grow up, play for the Huskers and then try to get in the NFL, Ethan said. If I got enough money from the NFL, I was going to buy a bunch of jars and donate loads of clean water to places that don't have clean water.

On Ethans birthday on Wednesday, Shufeldt learned that the Red Cross would be attending his party as well. The Red Cross may even be holding a blood drive on site, she said.

Ethan did get a present for his birthday, however, but it was something he really needed: a refurbished computer. Everything else, he hoped, would go to the Red Cross.

If a bunch of hurricanes come up, I'll do it every year, Ethan said. Probably every year, I don't know.
India's Ambassador to Myanmar Vikram Misri was among delegation of 50 diplomats that visited Rakhine state which has seen exodus of Rohingya Muslims after incidences of violence earlier this month, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.

Answering queries at the weekly media briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the diplomats were taken to the villages in northern districts of Maungdaw and Rathedaung.

"The government of Myanmar had invited the diplomats based there to visit the Rakhine state. Our ambassador in Myanmar did participate in this trip which was orgnaised on October 2. Around 50 diplomats were taken to half-a-dozen villages in the northern districts of of Maungdaw and Rathedaung," he said.

India had last month expressed its deep concern about the situation in Rakhine State and the outflow of refugees from that region. It had said that situation in Rakhine be handled with restraint and maturity, focusing on the welfare of the civilian population alongside those of the security forces.

Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday called for speeding up measures for humanitarian aid, rehabilitation, resettlement and development in the conflict-torn Rakhine state.

--IANS

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Israel has said it will join the US in pulling out of the UN's cultural organisation Unesco, after US officials cited "anti-Israel bias".

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the US decision as "brave and moral", a statement said, BBC reported on Thursday.

The agency is known for designating world heritage sites such as Syria's Palmyra and the US Grand Canyon.

Unesco head Irina Bokova earlier called the US withdrawal a matter of "profound regret".

The US withdrawal will become effective at the end of December 2018 -- until then, the US will remain a full member. The US will establish an observer mission at the Paris-based organisation to replace its representation, the state department said.

Netanyahu tweeted he had instructed his foreign ministry to "prepare Israel's withdrawal... in parallel with the US".

Unesco is an easy target for US President Donald Trump -- it is a multilateral body with educational and developmental goals like promoting sex education, literacy and equality for women.

The US withdrawal will be seen by many as a manifestation of Trump's "America First" approach and his across-the-board hostility to multilateral organisations; the irony being that Unesco is part of the international architecture that the US helped to establish in the wake of World War Two.

But it is the organisation's perceived anti-Israel bias that is the fundamental issue here.

It has condemned Israel in the past for its activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and earlier this year it designated the old city of Hebron a Palestinian World Heritage Site - a step Israel insisted denied centuries of Jewish history there, not least the Tomb of the Patriarchs that dates back to biblical times.

The decision follows a string of Unesco decisions that have drawn criticism from the US and Israel.

In 2011, the US cut its funding to the agency in protest at its decision to grant full membership to the Palestinians.

And last year, Israel suspended co-operation with Unesco after the agency adopted a controversial resolution which made no reference to Jewish ties to a key holy site in Jerusalem.

The resolution also criticised Israel's activities at holy places in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

Then earlier this year, Netanyahu condemned Unesco for declaring the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank a Palestinian World Heritage site.

He accused Unesco of ignoring Judaism's ancient connection to the city, which includes the crypt where its matriarchs and patriarchs are buried.

--IANS

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Rome, Oct 12 (IANS/AKI) The Italian government on Thursday won a third confidence vote in the lower house of parliament on a contested electoral law bill that opponents claim will stymie the anti-establishment Five-Star party in national polls due by May next year.

Lawmakers approved the so-called 'Rosatellum' draft law by 309 votes in favour, 87 against and six abstentions.

A secret vote on the bill was due to be held by Friday in the lower house, giving dissident MPs of all stripes the opportunity to scupper the bill, as happened in June to a previous draft electoral law.

If the 'Rosatellum' fails to pass the secret ballot, it will be a serious set-back for the government and could force Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni to resign.

If the bill is approved in the secret ballot, it will pass to the upper house Senate for approval, where the government lacks a clearly defined majority.

The Five-Star Movement organised a protest outside the Italian parliament on Wednesday over the 'Rosatellum' which its founder, comedian Beppe Grillo, was due to address. He was earlier spotted in Rome carrying a giant foot thought be part of a planned stunt.

Five-Star, which refuses to form political alliances, has accused the 'Rosatellum' which is backed by the ruling centre-left Democratic Party, of subverting democracy by allowing parties to form broad electoral coalitions.

Five-Star, which tops some voter opinion polls, reckons that the new rules could cost it up to 50 seats in the lower house of parliament and wreck its chances of being the largest group in parliament after the elections next year.

Opinion polls show support split three ways between the centre-left, centre-right and 5-Star Movement, raising the prospect of a hung parliament as the proposed new electoral system looks unlikely to produce a clear parliamentary majority, according to analysts.

--IANS/AKI

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The RSS on Thursday said the charges against Jay Shah, son of BJP President Amit Shah, can be probed if there is prima facie evidence but it is for those who allege a scam to prove it.

"Necessary enquiry should be done and action can be taken accordingly," senior RSS functionary Dattatreya Hosabale told reporters here, responding to queries related to the alleged spike in the turnover of a company owned by .

He said there must be prima facie evidence for the charges to be enquired into. At the same time, he put the onus of proving the charges on those levelling them. "Those making the allegations should prove them first."

The RSS leader also distanced itself from senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who on Wednesday criticized the government for defending . Sinha had earlier created a furore after attacking the government's management of economy.

"They are in the BJP and they should discuss the issues within the party. We will not discuss it as it is not our obligation," Hosabale said, when a reporter asked about questions being raised vis-a-vis government by some BJP leaders including Sinha.

He also downplayed a question by a journalist who said senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi had given in writing a complaint about the government and had met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in this connection. "He might have come here for some other reason," he said.
The head of German carrier Lufthansa on Thursday announced that his company was set to take a majority stake in failed airline Air Berlin, which filed for insolvency earlier and was temporarily being kept afloat by a bridging loan from the German government.

Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Carsten Spohr said the giant would sign the deal, which would mean the acquisition of parts of Air Berlin, including 81 aircraft and 3,000 employees, for a price tag of 1.5 billion euros ($1.78 billion), Efe news reported.

"We will see a milestone in the history of Lufthansa and Air Berlin," Spohr said. He added he expected the European Union to approve the deal by the end of the year.

Air Berlin declared itself insolvent on August 15 after losing financial support from its majority investor, Etihad Airways, and began negotiations with Lufthansa and the United Kingdom's easyJet, which were set to conclude on Thursday.

While it conducted the negotiations, Air Berlin's planes were kept in the air by a government loan of 150 million euros.

In 2016, Air Berlin showed a record 782 million euros in losses -- a 75 per cent increase compared to 2015 -- which the company attributed to restructuring costs and depreciation.

--IANS

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Wipro has migrated its IT infrastructure to Microsoft Cloud and is hosting a majority of its business-critical enterprise applications on Azure, Microsoft announced on Thursday.

Microsoft worked closely with Wipro to ensure the streamlining of key aspects such as access, performance, availability and latency from the Cloud data centres to provide a seamless experience to users, across geographies.

"We are excited to be the strategic partner for Wipro in their journey towards digital transformation with the Cloud," said Peter Gartenberg, General Manager, Enterprise Commercial, Microsoft India, in a statement.

"Their adoption of Microsoft Azure as both Platform and Infrastructure as a service not only provides benefits as an enterprise but also helps Wipro extend this capability and experience to its global customers," he added.

Wipro runs its core applications from the Microsoft Azure data centre.

Migrating to Microsoft Azure has given Wipro elasticity on its infrastructure, as well as boosted efficiencies related to data centre footprint, standardised business processes, best-in-class technologies, reduced application delivery time and increased stability and scalability.

"The Azure platform has helped us build modern applications, which offer simplicity and great user experience with extensive leverage of open source technology," said Raja Ukil, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Wipro.

It has also enabled us to set new benchmarks in the pace of adoption in addition to collaboration and partnership in feature evolution to meet the complex requirements of the enterprise, he added.

--IANS

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron will be present at the founding ceremony of the (ISA) due to take place here on December 8, the government said on Thursday.

The institutionalisation of the Gurugram-headquartered ISA, an Indo-French initiative started in 2015 as an inter-governmental agency, will be the highlight of the second global renewable energy investors meet and expo -- RE-INVEST 2017 -- to be organised here by the New and Renewable Energy Ministry over December 7 to 9, Power Minister R.K. Singh told reporters here.

The formal founding of the ISA follows ratification of membership by the minimum 15 member states, for the body which has a prospective membership of 125 countries.

The Pacific island Kiribati on Thursday became the 41st member to join the ISA, with a government minister from the country signing the accession papers here at the event.

Around 125 ministerial delegations are expected to attend RE-INVEST 2017, where the government aims to leverage India's unique position as both a major consumer and manufacturer of renewable energy to attract investment.

The conference-cum-exhibition plans to consolidate on the gains of the previous one which yielded investment commitments of Rs 4 lakh crore for creating clean energy capacity of 78,000 MW, officials here said.

The Indian government has set a target of 175 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity by 2022.

--IANS

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Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Thursday reviewed the progress of construction of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) "Vikrant" at the Cochin Shipyard Ltd.

The Navy Chief accompanied by the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command Vice Admiral A.R. Karve, and other senior officials of the Navy took a walk around the ship to get a firsthand knowledge of the progress of work onboard and was briefed on the various construction activities.

Later, Admiral Lanba held discussions with the Chairman and Managing Director of CSL Madhu S. Nair.

The keel of the IAC was laid in February 2009 and the ship was launched in August 2013. Work on the hull structure is nearing completion and outfitting activities on various equipment and systems are progressing at present.

India's first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant, a 40,000 tonne aircraft carrier, is being built for the Indian Navy by Cochin Shipyard Ltd. It is the first aircraft carrier to be designed by the Directorate of Naval Design of the Indian Navy.

At present, India has only one aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya - a modified Russian Kiev-class aircraft carrier. India at any time requires three aircraft carriers, one each on the east and west coasts, and a third one as a replacement for any of the ships that go for refit.

The other aircraft carrier India had - INS Viraat, a British-built ship serving with the Indian Navy and the oldest carrier in service, was retired on March 6.

The delivery date for the carrier at present is 2023 as per the shipyard, even as the Indian Navy has said it will be ready by 2018.

--IANS

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An 80-year-old man from Tarn Taran district in Punjab was booked on Thursday for the murder of his daughter-in-law, police said.

Police said Arjun Singh doused Harjinder Kaur, 45, with petrol on Wednesday night and set her on fire following a row over money in Burj Puhla village near Harike, about 240 km from here.

She suffered critical burn injuries and died in a private hospital in Amritsar on Thursday. The accused is absconding. The woman's husband is a Punjab Police Head Constable.

--IANS

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The Pakistan Army chief on Thursday highlighted the concerns of Islamabad regarding peace and stability in the region in front of a delegation comprising US Ambassadors and officials, the military's media wing said.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa reiterated that "Pakistan has done its best despite constraints, and shall continue its efforts for the sake of the future of Pakistan and in line with the aspirations of Pakistani people."

The delegation, comprising Lisa Curtis, Ambassador Alice G. Wells, Ambassador David Hale and other representatives briefed the army chief on the contours of the US strategy in South Asia.

The discussion focused on the regional security situation including Afghanistan and how Pakistan has positively contributed towards peace and stability in the region, the ISPR said.

The delegation appreciated and acknowledged the Pakistan Army's contributions and Pakistan's sacrifices in the war against terrorism.

--IANS

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The autumn leaves are changing to hues of brown, orange and yellow, but theres one color the city of Beatrice is hoping to avoid: emerald.

While Gage County hasnt had a confirmed the presence of the emerald ash borer yet, the city of Beatrice will begin removing some non-infested ash trees in November in hopes of staving off the beetle thats been behind the loss of millions of North American ash trees.

The emerald ash borer was first found in Nebraska in June of 2016 in dramatic fashion. At a press conference, Omahas mayor Jean Stothert announced the citys preventative plans to keep the emerald ash borer out of city limits. City crews peeled back the bark of an elm tree to show how theyd search for the insect when they discovered the telltale winding tunnels left by the borer.

In Beatrice, the city will begin working with residents who live between Sixth and 19th streets and Dorsey and Monroe streets to remove ash trees that may be on or near a city right of way.

Letters were sent out in April to residents in those areas, City Administrator Tobias Tempelmeyer told the Beatrice Board of Public Works at a meeting Wednesday. Those letters followed up by another notice this week that city crews would be working over the winter to take down the ash trees. If residents had an ash tree on their property near a right of way, they would sign a release form and the city would remove it.

Now's the opportunity to do it, Tempelmeyer said. If you don't do it now, we're not coming back. Once we've passed through your area, this opportunity will be gone.

While the city wont be going into backyards to remove trees, if an ash tree is close to a city right of way, the city wont survey the land to make sure it is, Tempelmeyer said, theyll just assume that its close enough.

The removal includes city crews sawing down the ash tree and chipping the brush and loading the log onto a truck to take it to the landfill. The stumps will be left intact, but crews will try to saw as close to the ground as possible said Street Superintendant Jason Moore. Grinding the stumps will be left to the property owner, Tempelmeyer said.

BPW chairman Dave Eskra asked how many trees would be included.

It cant be more than 50, can it? Eskra asked.

While theres no exact number, Moore said, its probably in the hundreds in that area alone, even though the area is a relatively small one. The city will be cleaning up from around Nov. 15 to April 1.

Next year, the area from Monroe to Lincoln will probably have to be split in two, between Sixth and 13th streets and 13th to 19th streets, he said.

I don't want to say I'm going to take care of this area and then not be able to get it done, Moore said. A lot of this is also going to depend on winter weather. If we have a heavy snow, it's going to throw me out of some time.

Getting ahead of the emerald ash borer is a big deal, especially where cleanup is concerned, Tempelmeyer said. The emerald ash borer has been found in Ashland, just outside of Lancaster County, which means Gage County may be close behind.

Right now, Tempelmeyer said, removing the trees that may ultimately be damaged and die means the city can simply take the logs and brush away for disposal or use as firewood. As soon as the bugs have been discovered in Gage County, the wood has to be chipped on site at the infested tree so as not to help the insects spread.

The emerald ash borer could be in Gage County sometime in the next couple of years, Moore said, but removing ash trees could take up to five years.

BPW secretary Bob Moran asked if removing the trees once they were infected was a city responsibility. Tempelmeyer said the city has had a practice in the past of removing sick trees, though ash removal is mostly by choice.

Moore said that the city has received calls from people wanting to know if theyll remove trees from their yard that arent in the designated areas. One man called him to see if theyd take down a tree that sat back 25 feet from the sidewalk, and another woman thought her trees were already infested.

A lady called me last week and said, 'Hey, my tree, the leaves are turning yellow, it's dying,' Moore said. No, that's what happens in the fall. It's fall.

However you look at it, Eskra said, its tough to grasp. Its hard to fully understand the trees' removal when theres no devastation in the area so far. On the other hand, he said, theres a chance to avoid similar devastation caused by pine blight several years ago.

It's pretty sad, is what it is, Eskra said.

If residents want to have the city remove a tree, now is their window of opportunity to do so, Tempelmeyer said, stressing the importance of responding to the citys letter.

The big thing is, people have got to sign the release form and get it back to us, he said. Much like clean city week, if you don't sign up, we're not stopping.
Pakistan raised on Thursday its concerns on Indias ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and international border with UN Security Councils five permanent members.

The UN Security Council permanent members include China, France, Russia, Britain and US.

The heads of P5 states were briefed by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua as well as the DGMO Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza in Islamabad on the surge in violations from the Indian side, particularly in the past two months, a Foreign Office statement said.

The Foreign Secretary underscored the need to stop the unprecedented escalation by the Indian army at the LoC.

Janjua said that the ceasefire violations in populated areas has led to the killing of 45 civilians as well serious injuries to 155 in this year alone. The victims include a large number of women and children, she added.

The Foreign Secretary said the violations were taking place in complete disregard to the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding and of International Law.

Indian regime's actions, Janjua said, "were a serious threat to the maintenance of regional peace".

"While emphasizing the important role of the United Nations Military Observers Group (UNMOGIP) which has the mandate for maintaining peace and tranquility at the LoC and the Working Boundary," the statement said.

"However, India is not cooperative and limits their access."

Pakistan, it said, maintains India should permit UNMOGIP to play its mandated role in line with the UNSC resolutions to ensure peace.

She said that the situation has been aggravated by the recent statements coming out of New Delhi and the 2016 "surgical strike" in Pakistani territory, and claims of repeating such a misadventure.

While the DGMO gave a comprehensive presentation on the current situation, heads of the missions assured they would convey the country's concerns to their respective capitals.

--IANS

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Pakistani and visiting US officials held talks here on Thursday and agreed to "continue bilateral engagements at all levels", an official said.

The inter-agency US delegation included Lisa Curtis, Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Council senior Director for South Asia, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense David Helvey. Pakistani Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua led the Pakistani side, according to a Foreign Office statement.

"The two sides reviewed the state of play in the relationship in wake of the US strategy on Afghanistan and South Asia and agreed to continue discussions on all matters of mutual interest," the statement said.

Reiterating Pakistan's stance for a politically negotiated settlement owned and led by the Afghans, the Foreign Secretary reaffirmed Pakistan's constructive participation in all regional and bilateral mechanisms aimed at pursuing a peaceful solution to the Afghan conflict.

The US delegation was also informed on the recent visit by Pakistani officials to Kabul with a view to intensifying engagement and addressing mutual concerns particularly border management and repatriation of refugees.

Highlighting Pakistan's ongoing law enforcement and counter-terrorism campaign, the Foreign Secretary apprised the US delegation of Pakistan's efforts in eliminating terrorism from the Pakistani soil. Pakistan's concerns on continued attacks from across the border were also shared, the Foreign Ministry said in the statement.

"Noting that the US had a long track record of cooperation with Pakistan, the US delegation emphasized the importance of reinvigorating the bilateral relationship in order to achieve the common objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region," the statement said.

The US delegation was informed about the "human rights violations being committed by the Indian forces" in Jammu and Kashmir resulting in hundreds of casualties, the Foreign Ministry said.

"It was noted that persistent Indian refusal to engage with Pakistan despite Pakistan's repeated overtures for a comprehensive dialogue was adversely impacting regional stability," it said.

The US officials visited Pakistan at a time when the relationship between the two countries are seen under pressure following US President Donald Trump's tough stance against Pakistan in his policy for Afghanistan and South Asia in August.

Islamabad has been asking Washington not to make Pakistan the scapegoat for its failure in Afghanistan.

--IANS

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Petrol pump dealers on Wednesday called off their proposed strike on October 13, according to industry body United Petroleum Front (UPF).

According to a UPF spokesperson, the dealers' association has withdrawn its call for a 24-hour strike of fuel pumps on Friday. UPF represents over 54,000 dealers from the Federation of All-India Petroleum Traders, the All-India Petroleum Dealers Association and the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers.

The dealers are protesting marketing guidelines amended by public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs), which introduce stringent penal action for offences involving short delivery of products, operating automated retail units on manual mode and improper maintenance of toilets.

The are also demanding inclusion of petroleum products under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and other long pending issues.

The UPF had warned that if their demands were not met at the earliest, dealers will be forced to indefinitely stop sale and purchase operations from October 27.

The dealers' withdrawal comes after the government took a tough stand on Tuesday, saying it is not going to back down on the new marketing discipline guidelines.

"There needs to be a reason for the dealers' demand. We are not going to negotiate on the guidelines given out on October 2," Indian Oil Director (Marketing) Balwinder Singh Canth told reporters here on the sidelines of the first CERAWEEK India Energy Forum.

Canth also said that about 1,000 company-owned-company-operated (COCO) outlets of the three OMCs will have products available in order to ensure there is no shortage of supplies in the coming week.

--IANS

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in the cool environs of Himachal Pradesh is set to heat up with the Election Commission on Thursday sounding the poll bugle.

Political observers say the ruling Congress this time has managed an edge over its seemingly somnolent rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by clearing its chief ministerial candidate.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has named six-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, 83, to lead the party in the election campaigning and if the party returns to power he will be the chief ministerial candidate.

The BJP is still dithering over its Chief Minister candidate. The main contenders are Leader of Opposition and two-time Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, who is known in political circles for his proximity to party's organizational leadership.

The Election Commission announced that the state would vote for a new assembly on November 9 and the counting would be held on December 18. The term of the 68-member assembly ends on January 7 next year.

The Congress is far ahead of its arch rival as far as campaigning at the grassroots level is concerned.

While Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has already carried out a whirlwind tour of the state ahead the announcement of polls, the BJP is banking on its central top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah.

The only saving grace for the BJP is that its state election committee did the preliminary exercise of screening candidates for the 68 assembly constituencies at a meeting on Wednesday where Dhumal and Nadda were present, among others.

The party evolved consensus on a single name on 45 segments, a senior BJP leader told IANS.

In the 2012 elections to the 68-member assembly, which saw a voter turnout of 73.92 per cent, the Congress won 36 seats, the BJP 26 and Independents six.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has already announced that he would not re-contest from the Shimla (Rural) assembly seat that he is currently representing.

He has announced that his son Vikramaditya Singh would contest his maiden assembly election from that seat.

Congress veteran and eight-time legislator Vidya Stokes, 89, who is the Irrigation and Public Health Minister in the present government, is planning not to re-contest owing to old age. She's keen that Virbhadra Singh should contest this time from her bastion, Theog in Shimla district.

The Chief Minister is still weighing his options to contest from Theog or from some other seat.

"The Chief Minister can contest anywhere - from Shimla, Una or Kangra districts. This is his personal decision," Vikramaditya said while confirming that he is contesting from the seat that his father currently represents.

Within the BJP there is too much confusion over who will lead the party in the elections, a senior state BJP leader, who did not wish to be identified, admitted.

He said the party is divided in two camps -- one led by Dhumal and the other by Nadda.

"The party cadre and the leaders are totally confused over who the party leader is. Who will take the party to victory," wondered a senior BJP leader, a cabinet minister in the previous Dhumal-led government.

Ending months of speculation and turmoil within the Congress, Rahul Gandhi announced at a public meeting in Mandi town on October 7 that Virbhadra Singh will "become the Chief Minister for the seventh time".

"Certainly, it has given a push to the Congress ahead of the assembly polls. There has been a massive public response after Rahul Gandhi announced my chief ministerial candidature," an elated Virbhadra Singh told reporters in Shimla after the announcement by Gandhi.

"The BJP should also declare its chief ministerial candidate. Let the people know who is going to be their leader. They will vote on the basis of CM (Chief Minister) face," Virbhadra Singh said.

Congress leader and former Union Minister Anand Sharma, who is known in political circles as a "rival" of Virbhadra Singh, said: "It's the policy of the party to give a chance to the sitting incumbent Chief Minister to lead the party in the next election."

He was here on Thursday and replying to a media query over announcing the chief ministerial candidate before the election results.

The BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha elections had won all the four seats with a vote percentage of 53.85 per cent. At that time, the Congress, which was at helm in the state, got 41.07 per cent votes.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS Indian Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu has invited Swedish firms to explore business opportunities in India and assured potential investors all support, an official statement said on Thursday .

According to the Commerce Ministry statement, the "Make in India: Sweden 2017" event began on Thursday in Stockholm in order to enhance Indo-Swedish cooperation and explore new areas of partnership.

The Indian delegation for the two-day event is being led by Prabhu and includes Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

"Sweden is an old and trusted friend who came to invest in India when it was a tough time to do business, now it is the time of business oriented structural reforms and time is ripe for these partnerships," Prabhu said at the event.

He also noted that almost all top Swedish companies are present in India.

Fadnavis said huge business opportunities are available in Maharashtra in areas like development of smart cities and invited Swedish companies to visit India and assured them full support, according to the statement.

"We look forward to collaborate with technology providers into solid and liquid waste management," he said.

According to the Ministry, Prabhu also called on Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who said: "I look forward to intensely working with you. We are dedicated to making the relationship develop further."

SAAB, a leading Swedish company in India, has expressed interest in introducing into India the full scope of industrial systems, from design and engineering to production, the statement added.

--IANS

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An Indian soldier and a civilian porter were killed on Thursday as Pakistani Army opened fire on Indian positions on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, police said.

Police sources said the soldier and porter, working for the army, were killed in the firing in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch.

Pakistani Army resorted to unprovoked firing with mortars, automatics and small arms at Indian positions from 10.35 a.m., Defence Ministry sources said adding that Indian troops "retaliated strongly and effectively".

The LoC divides Jammu and between India and Pakistan.

--IANS

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US President Donald Trump will on Friday announce his decision on whether to certify the 2015 multilateral accord on restricting Iran's nuclear activities, the White House said.

White House Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Thursday that Trump would discuss the nuclear treaty in the course of an address on Washington's overall strategy toward Iran, Efe news reported.

The US President has until October 15 to make a formal recommendation to Congress, taking into account both Iran's compliance with the terms of the accord and the question of whether the agreement is in the US national interest.

Under the document that Iran signed with the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, Tehran accepted limitations on its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Trump, a long-time foe of the pact, has kept up a stream of harsh rhetoric against Iran since taking office in January.

A decertification by Trump would open a 60-day review in the US Congress, which could decide to re-impose sanctions on Iran.

The President contends Tehran is violating the "spirit" of the nuclear agreement by continuing to carry out tests of ballistic missiles and accuses Iran of being a state sponsor of terrorism, even as Iranian forces battle the Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq.

Iran is united in defence of the nuclear accord, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday.

Tehran flatly rejects re-negotiating the pact, an idea that likewise seems to have no support among the other signatories, who have indicated that they would not re-impose sanctions on Iran regardless of what Washington does.

--IANS

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The US has announced it is pulling out of the Unesco, the scientific, educational and cultural arm of the UN family, citing what it decried as "anti-Israel biases".

US membership in the UNESCO will formally end next year, the State Department announced on Thursday.

But already in 2013, Washington had lost its voting rights in the UNESCO because Congress stopped paying the dues to the organisation starting in 2011 because it had admitted Palestine as a full member.

The US contribution was 22 percent of UNESCO's budget and the organisation had to cut its programmes with US arrears totaling more than $600 million

For the US, which has consistently complained about the Paris-based organisation's policies and resolutions, the breaking point came when UNESCO designated the Old City of Hebron and a sanctuary considered by both Jews and Muslims in the West Bank as part of Palestinian territory while designating it a World Heritage Site.

The area, which Israeli claims, is under its occupation and Hebron is called Al-Khalil by Palestinians.

The sanctuary is called the Tomb of the Patriarchs by Jews and the Ibrahami Mosque Muslim, and both religions trace it to Abraham, whose legacy is claimed both those religions as well as Christianity.

The July meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Krakow that declared Hebron and the sanctuary a World Heritage site also gave the same designation to Ahmadabad.

"The Tomb of the Patriarchs decision was just the latest in a long line of foolish actions, which includes keeping Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad on a UNESCO human rights committee even after his murderous crackdown on peaceful protestors," US Permanent Representative Nikki Haley said in a statement.

President Donald Trump is a strong supporter of Israel and a skeptic of international organisations, who has threatened cuts to contributions to those bodies.

The US announcement comes as Unesco's Director-General Irina Bokova's term is ending and polling is underway to elect her successor.

Former Culture Ministers, Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari of Qatar and Audrey Azoulay of France are tied in the race and another round of balloting is scheduled for Friday.

Should the Qatari win, it will further complicate matters for UNESCO as his country is at odds with Saudi Arabia and several Arab countries, in addition to the US.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "deeply regrets the US withdrawal, in light of the major role that the country has played in UNESCO since its founding," his spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters.

General Assembly President Miroslav Lajik, regrets the US decision "but looks forward to engaging with both UNESCO and the United States in working towards this common goal", his spokesperson Brian Verma said.

Bokova said: "At the time when the fight against violent extremism calls for renewed investment in education, in dialogue among cultures to prevent hatred, it is deeply regrettable that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations agency leading these issues."

Unesco has been working aceto promote education for remembrance of the Holocaust across the world as the means to fight anti-Semitism and genocide today," she added.

This is the second time the US has pulled out of UNSESCO. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan withdrew the US from UNESCO alleging it was anti-American but under President George W. Bush it rejoined in 2002.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)

--IANS

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To mark the 86th birth anniversary of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Sunday, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu will flag off the Vision 2020 Clean and Green India rally here.

Organised by APJ Abdul Kalam International Foundation, a large number of school students are to participate in the event at India Gate.

Also, Kalam Sandesh Vahini, a bus flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rameswaram on July 27, will reach here on October 15, according to the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam International Foundation.

S.M. Khan, who had served as Press Secretary to Kalam and is an advisor to the Kalam Foundation, said the exhibition bus will be received by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday.

The foundation, along with House of Kalam - the late President's residence in Rameswaram which is now a memorial, has conducted 126 events among colleges and schools in and around Rameswaram. The organisation is also conducting around 86 events in the national capital to commemorate Kalam's birth anniversary.

--IANS

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Dear Annie: Your help is needed to resolve a family problem. One of my granddaughters, "Mackenzie," called to say she is getting married in a few weeks. This will be a small wedding, as she and her fiance do not have a lot of money. Only 45 guests are invited. Now here's the problem: Mackenzie is not inviting my son and daughter-in-law, as they do not have a close relationship and she has not seen them in two years. I was upset with the news. He is her uncle. She also said that she will not be notifying him to tell him he is not invited and that if I want, I can call him to inform him.

I understand this is her wedding, but this exclusion is really upsetting me. Now the question to you, Annie: what does one do in this situation? -- Angry in Connecticut

Dear Angry: As you said, this is your granddaughter's wedding, so she can invite whomever she'd like. But she's also in charge of informing family members that they're not invited. Don't let that fall to you.

That said, if the issue is truly just the expense and you have the means financially to help, you could offer that option to your granddaughter. She might really appreciate the help, and your son and his wife would no doubt appreciate being included in their niece's special day.

Dear Annie: I'm 64, so in six more years, I'll be in my 70s (if all goes well). Writing from that perspective, I disagree with your advice. Telling people our age to "lose (themselves) in helping others" is a way of suggesting that our own interests don't have value or validity.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with volunteering. People of any age are free to do so. But the belief, often stated, that old people should putter around doing volunteer work and focus solely on helping others is selling us short. It's like telling someone who's dissatisfied with being a housewife and raising kids who are almost grown that she just needs to have more kids or adopt foster kids or something along those lines.

A sense of purpose can also come from doing creative work. We could paint, draw or sculpt; write stories, novels, screenplays or memoirs; spend time with friends and family; hike and build our health; travel and explore this wonderful world; or join groups that are working to "heal the world."

None of these activities is focused on giving up on our own interests. Call me selfish if you will, but I'd like to go on living my own life for as long as I'm around. The notion that we need to lose ourselves in helping others suggests our lives aren't fun anymore or aren't worth living. A strange attitude, in my estimation. -- Sarah M.

Dear Sarah M.: I'm printing your letter because you make a great point. There are plenty more ways for retirees to spend their time than just volunteering, and self-enrichment isn't selfish in the least. Thanks for writing.
Film: "Victoria and Abdul"; Director: Stephen Frears; Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar, Tim Pigott-Smith, Olivia Williams, Fenella Woolgar, Paul Higgins, Robin Soans, Julian Wadham, Simon Callow, Michael Gambon; Rating: **1/2

Stephen Frears' "Victoria and Abdul', is a witty telling of the unlikely bond between the aged Queen Victoria of England, the Empress of India, and a commoner, Abdul Karim, whom she appoints as her Urdu teacher and whom she fondly addresses as "Munshia.

Based on "mostly" true facts, the film is drawn from the book penned by Sharbani Basu, which was inspired by volumes of the queen's handwritten notes in Urdu and by the discovery of Abdul Karim's journals in 2010.

Charm and curiosity propels this narrative. The lead pair -- Judi Dench as Queen Victoria and Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim -- are charming and their relationship is definitely intriguing.

The tale begins in Agra in 1887, where local British officials to honour their Queen decide to send an Indian functionary to Britain to present her with a "Mohur" a ceremonial gold coin. Knowing her penchant for tall men, two local civil servants are selected. One of them is Abdul Karim.

How Abdul catches the Queen's fancy, forges a bond with her and upsets the royal sycophants of Victoria's Son Bertie, The Prince of Wales - heir of the royal throne, forms the crux of this tale.

The screenplay written by Frears and Lee Hall is dubiously wobbly as it shift gears from moody to comedy to drama. While the premise is interesting, it is Frears' light-hearted treatment of the narrative that disappoints. The disdainful manner in which the queen is initially presented, the cheap gags about the Queen's bowel movements, the lack of medal-bearing trays at Windsor Castle all add to the disillusionment.

Also the tone and taste of few dialogues are not in congruence with the time and characters of that era.

But it is how Abdul makes his favourable first impression to the Queen by ignoring the instructions of royal etiquette, his failure to disclose his marital status, his religion, and health issues that cause ripples in the evolving friendship and the vocal objections of the Queen's staff are few moments that make the film worthwhile.

With his expressive eyes, coy smile and heart-throb looks, Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim is exceptional. He portrays his part sincerely, but his character is flatly one-dimensional.

Judi Dench in widow's weeds as Queen Victoria is brilliant. She portrays the grace and earthy scorn of her complex character effortlessly. It is delightful to see her character change from a dreary old lady to a buoyant giddy-headed figurehead with girlish charm.

The duo are supported by; Tim Pigott Smith as Henry Pinseberry the head of the Royal household, Michael Gambon as the Prime Minister, reciting a litany of downbeat news to the Queen, Eddie Izzard with his gruff beard and indignant eye-brows as Bertie; all behave in a brusque high-handed manner as if participating in a spoof.

On the technical front, Alan Macdonald's production design and Consolata Boyle's costumes give a fair representation of the period which are astutely captured by Cinematographer Cohen's camera work. But with some moody, some shaky and some brilliant shots he offers a mixed bag of visuals and Thomas Newman's music subtly enhances the viewing experience.

Overall, "Victoria and Abdul" offers mixed reactions. It is pleasantly sweet but annoyingly off-putting.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Iranian auteur Majid Majidi's India-set project "Beyond The Clouds" will have its world premiere at the ongoing BFI London Film Festival.

Starring Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan in the lead roles, the movie celebrates the triumph and adoration of life against a Mumbai backdrop.

It is the official selection in the competition category, movies of which will screen on Friday and Saturday. Ishaan and Malavika, along with Majidi himself, will be present for the world premiere.

"This is the first feature film I have made out of my country Iran, an experience which I waiting for years to happen. 'Beyond The Clouds' is an extension of my cinematic beliefs, the roots of which lie in human values, love, friendship and family bonding," Majidi said in a statement.

"It is a story of a brother and sister like 'Children of Heaven', with the difference being that the siblings are grown ups and tackle greater conflicts with the backdrop of the bustling city of Mumbai," he added.

The event's festival director Clare Stewart said: "Acclaimed Iranian director Majid Majidi brings a powerful outsider eye to Mumbai in this compelling, visually stunning film driven by an extraordinary debut performance from Ishaan Khattar.

Anil Mehta's breathtaking cinematography and the evocative score by Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman bring additional depth to Majidi's visionary filmmaking and we are very proud to present its world premiere in official competition at the BFI London Film Festival."

The film is produced by Zee Studios/ Shareen Mantri Kedia and Kishor Arora of Namah Pictures.

--IANS

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Just four months ago, when the Europhile Emmanuel Macron was elected as Frances president, it seemed that the European Union (EU) could finally look forward to a period of calm. But calm is the last thing one can see on the streets of Barcelona, where demonstrations in favour of Catalonian independence  a referendum on which was brutally suppressed by government forces have been met with equally potent protests against it.

As Spains internal conflict escalates, a return to crisis in Europe may seem all but inevitable. Yet what is happening on the ground in Spain actually indicates that the European economic recovery is strengthening, while highlighting the limits of what the EU can achieve.

The strength of the EUs economic recovery is revealed by the absence of any significant financial-market reaction to the tumultuous scenes in Catalonia. Had a similar situation arisen a few years ago, there would have been a run on Spanish government bonds, and Spains stock market would have tanked. Today, however, markets are taking the countrys profound political uncertainty in stride.

This vote of confidence is built on solid foundations. The entire Eurozone economy is growing at respectable, albeit unspectacular, rates. And the Spanish economy has been growing faster than the Eurozone average, all while keeping its external accounts in slight surplus.

This means that Spains recovery is based on increasing supply, rather than rising domestic demand, as was the case during the pre-crisis construction boom. Add to that the existence of Eurozone institutions that can address temporary financing difficulties faced by banks or states, and it becomes clearer why Spains deep political crisis has not been accompanied by dangerous financial-market gyrations.

But the Catalonia crisis also underscores the limitations of the EUs model of integration, which are rooted in the fact that the Union is ultimately based on the nation-state. This model cannot be described as inter-governmental. Rather, it is based on indirect implementation: Almost everything the EU does and decides is carried out by national governments and their administrations.

This distinction can be seen most strikingly in the area of monetary policy, where the decision-making mechanism is definitely not inter-governmental: The European Central Banks (ECBs) Governing Council operates on the basis of a simple majority.

But the implementation mechanism is certainly indirect: Once a decision is made, it is carried out by national central banks  an approach that can have important implications. For example, the vast bond-buying operations nominally undertaken by the ECB in recent years have been handled largely by national central banks, which purchase their own governments bonds.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg  another common institution of crucial importance  also relies on a decision-making mechanism that is not inter-governmental. Yet its judges are nominated by national governments, and national courts and administrations enforce its decisions.

A comparison with the United States highlights the weaknesses of this approach. While the US Federal Reserve also has a regional structure, the individual District Reserve Banks cover several states and arent tied to any state government or institution. Likewise, US Supreme Court justices are nominated by federal institutions (the Senate accepts or rejects nominees put forward by the president), not by state governments.

For the EU, relying on its member states to build common institutions was arguably the only way to start the integration process, given deep mistrust among countries that had fought so many brutal wars against one another. And yet a union that relies on the nation-state, not just for implementation, but also for legitimacy, can function only as well as its individual members. But, today, with most of them are beset by internal strife, that model is reaching its limits.

In Greece, weak administrative and judicial systems have impeded economic recovery. In Poland and Hungary, illiberal governments are undermining judicial independence. And in Spain, the political system seems incapable of resolving the conflict between the regional government of Catalonia, with its aspirations of greater self-determination, and the central government in Madrid, which argues that even considering the question would undermine the constitutional order.

Even Germany is facing internal political challenges. Having lost about one-fifth of her voters in the recent federal election, Chancellor Angela Merkel will have to reckon with three unruly coalition partners during her fourth  and probably last  term. As for Italy, polls suggest that a majority of voters now support populist and/or Eurosceptic parties.

While outright Eurosceptic parties appear unlikely to gain power anywhere, these political shifts do not bode well for European integration. The EU faces little outright hostility. Today it is facing, instead, an obstructionist indifference, as many of its member states are increasingly preoccupied with their internal challenges, making European integration little more than a second thought throughout most of the continent.

Those EU leaders who do still want to advance integration can no longer count on the argument, used during the financial crisis, that there is no alternative. And the permissive consensus of the first years of integration is long gone. If further progress toward ever-closer union is to be made, Europes leaders will have to find a new model that can overcome their citizens deepening apathy.



Daniel Gros is Director of the Center for European

Policy Studies

 Project Syndicate, 2017

www.project-syndicate.org
With reference to the report, Sitharamans charm may break India-China ice after Doklam: Chinese media (October 11), it was nice to learn that the Indian defence minister greeted Chinese soldiers with Namaste and they responded with Ni hao.
Victorious Caesars returning to Italy from a battle against the French or Germans were gifted a Triumph. This consisted of a parade in which the Roman mob cheered the conqueror, who stood wearing a laurel wreath in a slow moving chariot. A servant stood behind the Caesar and periodically leaned forward to whisper sic transit gloria mundi (glory of the world fades) and memento mori (remember, you are mortal).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday deplored "destruction" of villages due to "venom of casteism" and said efforts should be made to help them rise above it so that they become inclusive and cohesive entities.

He also said there was a need to create development schemes for rural India that are outcome oriented. "Our villages are still poisoned with the venom of casteism... the poison of casteism destroys the village and crushes its dreams."



"We need to make efforts so that the villages rise above casteism and become inclusive and cohesive. Everyone should resolve to work for the village. The government is taking steps to take forward villages," he said.

The prime minister was addressinga gathering here to mark the birth centenary of reformist Nanaji Deshmukh and 115th birth anniversary of socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan.

Batting for an outcome oriented approach to rural development, Modi said the country has sufficient resources to deliver benefits to the last man in queue. He said the desired results can be achieved through good governance.

Explaining the impact of good governance, he said poorer states have fewer jobs under the government's flagship rural employment scheme-- MNREGA-- as compared to states which are better off.

The prime minister said states where governance is good are able to launch more projects, creating greater employment opportunities.

For sustainable development of rural India, he said, schemes that are developed after taking into account the needs of people should be implemented using latest technology.

The prime minister said schemes should be implemented without diluting the spirit behind it.

"It (schemes) should be outcome-based. There should be no dilution or diversion from the spirit in which it was conceived. We also have to adhere to the timeline for its completion," Modi said.

He said if rural products such as earthen lamps are used in cities like a "fashion statement", it would help the poor in villages prosper.

The prime minister said if villages have 24 hour power and water supply and are connected with optical cable for internet, teachers, doctors and bureaucrats would not hesitate in living there.

Their prolonged stay will help rural areas gain from their presence, Modi said.

He also said rural India today seeks facilities available in cities such as power supply, latest technology and internet connection.

A child in a village should get opportunities like a city student to experiment in a laboratory and use latest IT means, he said.

Referring to efforts being made to end the practice of open defecation, he said an increasing number of villages are now naming toilets as 'izzat ghar' (house of honour) as women do not have to relieve themselves in the open anymore.

Speaking about Jayaprakash Narayan, who led the students movement which culminated in the formation of the first non- Congress government in the country in 1977, Modi said JP, as the socialist leader was known, was very popular among youth.

"The likes of Loknayak JP and (Ram Manohar) Lohia were active during the 'Quit India' movement inspired by the clarion call of Mahatma Gandhi. JP was never interested in power politics," he said.

"Loknayak JP fought against corruption. His leadership rattled those in power at that time, and during a march in Patna he was even attacked. At that time, standing shoulder to shoulder with him was Nanaji Deshmukh, who took the blow to protect him," Modi said.

The prime minister recalled when the Janata Party government was formed in 1977, Nanaji Deshmukh was requested to join as a minister but he refused. He followed JP and preferred to devote himself to rural development.

Modi launched the DISHA Portal - a smart governance tool developed for MPs and MLAs for monitoring the implementation of various programmes and schemes of different ministries in their constituencies through a single portal.

The prime minister also digitally inaugurated 11 Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) and a Plant Phenomics Facility at Indian Agricultural Research Institute.

(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.)
Four soldiers and nine rebels were killed in southern Yemen, army sources said, as clashes flared in the last rebel pocket in mainly government-held Shabwa province.

The deaths came in Bayhan district as troops responded to a rebel offensive yesterday, the sources told AFP.

Bayhan is the sole district of Shabwa still held by the rebels, who control neighbouring Baida province and most of northern Yemen.

Both provinces have also been targeted by a long-running US drone war against Al-Qaeda, which has taken advantage of the conflict between the government and the rebels to consolidate its presence.

Despite the military intervention of a Saudi-led coalition in 2015, the government's authority is still largely confined to the south and areas along the Saudi border.

More than 8,500 civilians have been killed in the conflict since the intervention began, according to World Health Organization figures.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three members of the persecuted Ahmadiyya community have been sentenced to death in Pakistan's Punjab province for committing blasphemy by tearing up posters that demanded boycott of the minority sect.

They have also been fined Rs 200,000 each and in case they don't pay the fine, they would undergo six months of rigorous punishment.

Additional District and Sessions Judge of Sheikhupura district of Punjab province Mian Javed Akram announced the verdict yesterday after the prosecution submitted evidence and presented all witnesses in the case.

A blasphemy case registered against them in May in 2014 for tearing religious posters.

According to Sharqpur police station official Muhammad Ashar, the people had displayed posters in the village urging social boycott of the Ahmadiyya community. "The posters carried Islamic verses," he said.

On removing the posters, a complaint was filed against the three men that led to their subsequent arrest.

The convicts admitted before the court that they had removed the posters for demanding social boycott of Ahmadiyya community but not to commit blasphemy.

Their counsel will challenge the verdict in the higher court.

Yesterday, ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif's son-in- law Mohammad Safdar launched a tirade against the Ahmaddiya community, demanding their exclusion from the government and military service.

The Ahmadiyya community was declared non-Muslims in Pakistan through a constitutional amendment in 1974 during the tenure of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

This measure was later followed with former president Gen Ziaul Haq, making it a punishable offence for Ahmadiyyas to call themselves Muslim or to refer to their faith as Islam.

The community is also banned from preaching as well as from travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage. They are also not allowed to publish any material propagating their faith.

Members of the community in Pakistan have often been targeted.

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etween 300 and 400 Islamic State group jihadists remain in their one-time Syrian bastion of Raqa where a Kurdish-Arab force is fighting to seize full control, its US-led coalition backer said today.

"We are looking at approximately 4,000 civilians who remain in Raqa, and a matter of 3-400 remaining ISIS (IS) fighters," coalition spokesman US Colonel Ryan S Dillon told a conference in Baghdad.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, have taken control of around 90 percent of the city from IS since they broke into it in June.

Officials from Raqa Civil Council -- a provisional administration set up by the SDF -- are trying to negotiate the safe passage of civilians from remaining IS-held areas.

"We have seen a trend of ISIS surrendering over these last months, about four to five per week ... including emirs and leaders," said Dillon, adding that others were captured trying to blend in with departing civilians.

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The Delhi High Court today granted interim relief to the CBI by staying a trial court order imposing a cost of Rs 10,000 on its Director of Prosecution for delaying a 36-year-old theft case.

The high court's interim order came on a plea by the CBI challenging the special court order of passing strictures against the agency and its director of prosecution.

It also stayed the trial court order seeking personal appearance of Director of Prosecution of CBI before it on the next date of hearing.

The case relates to the theft of an antique idol from the ancient Takashakeshwar Mahadev temple in Allahabad in 1981 which was being allegedly smuggled to New York. It is probably the oldest pending criminal matter in the country.

Justice Vinod Goel said the special court's September 29 order shall operate only to the extent that the public prosecutor attached to the case shall respond to the clarifications sought by the trial court in the matter which is at its final stage.

The high court reserved its order on the CBI's petition seeking to set aside the special court's order in which the agency was pulled up for its decision to transfer a prosecutor from the special court without posting another one in advance.

The remarks were made by Special Judge Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal, who was hearing the case which is now at the stage of final arguments. The trial court had pulled up the CBI for not being vigilant enough to ensure the disposal of this case.

In the high court today, the CBI counsel argued that there was no laxity on its part and a mere transfer of a prosecutor should not invite such remarks from the court.

Advocates Nikhil Goel and Sanjeev Bhandari, appearing for the CBI, argued that the special judge nowhere mentioned in his order that the prosecutor was unable to answer queries.

They said no inconvenience was caused to the trial court due to the transfer and the finding in the order was "perverse" and it was "gross exceeding of powers by the judicial officer".

CBI's counsel further said the matter went to and from the high court to the trial court because of the accused filing applications.

The counsel, appearing for accused Shrikant Jain, claimed it was the CBI which was delaying the matter and not the accused, and alleged that the agency was misleading the court.

The trial court had earlier lambasted the CBI saying "as is apparent on the face of the record, this is the best case where an old saying 'Muddai Sust, Gawah Chust' (the complainant is lazy, but the witness is active) has come true in all its spirit.

"The case was filed by the CBI and hence it should have been vigilant enough to see that the old cases are disposed off as early as possible.

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Five Western hostages, including three children, were recovered from terrorists with ties to the Afghan Taliban in an operation based on intelligence shared by the US after five years of their abduction, the Pakistan Army said on Tuesday.

They were captured by terrorists from Afghanistan in 2012 and kept as hostages there.

"Pakistan Army and ISI recovered 5 Western hostages including 1 Canadian, his US National wife and their three children from terrorist custody through an intelligence based operation by Pakistan troops and intelligence agencies," the Army said in a statement.

It said the US intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and shared their location when they were shifted to Pakistan through border of Kurram tribal district yesterday.

The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from US authorities, was successful and all hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin, it added.

The success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan's continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy, it said.

The Army did not share the identities of the recovered hostages but they are believed to be Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman, who was pregnant at the time of abduction. All the children are believed to have been born in captivity.

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A family of five Western hostages, including three children, were recovered after five years of their abduction by terrorists with ties to the Afghan Taliban in an operation based on intelligence shared by the US, the Pakistan Army said today.

"Pakistan Army and ISI recovered 5 Western hostages including 1 Canadian, his US National wife and their three children from terrorist custody through an intelligence based operation by Pakistan troops and intelligence agencies," the Army said in a statement.

It said the US intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and shared their location when they were shifted to Pakistan through border of Kurram tribal district yesterday.

The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from US authorities, was successful and all hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin, it added.

In Washington, US President Donald Trump hailed the release of the hostages from Taliban captivity and identified the kidnapped couple as Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle.

He said their release was a "positive moment" for US relations with Pakistan.

"The US government, working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan, secured the release of the Boyle- Coleman family from captivity in Pakistan," Trump said.

Caitlan Coleman, an American citizen, and her husband Joshua Boyle, a Canadian citizen, were kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip.

Coleman, 31, was pregnant at the time of abduction. All the three children were born in captivity.

"Coleman gave birth to the couple's three children while they were in captivity," Trump said in a White House statement. "Today, they are free."



Trump praised Pakistan for its willingness to "do more to provide security in the region" and said the release suggests other "countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again."



"We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counter-terrorism operations," Trump said.

"The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wish that it do more to provide security in the region. And I want to thank the Pakistani government. We want to thank Pakistan, he said.

"They worked very hard on this, and I believe they are starting to respect the US again. It's very important. I think right now a lot of countries are starting to respect the US once again, Trump said.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson too welcomed the development.

In a statement, Tillerson expressed his deep gratitude to the Pakistan government and the Pakistani Army for their cooperation.

Trump's new South Asia strategy recognises the important role Pakistan needs to play to bring stability and ultimately peace to the region, he said.

"The United States is hopeful that Pakistans actions will further a US-Pakistan relationship marked by growing commitments to counter-terrorism operations and stronger ties in all other respects," Tillerson said.

The Pakistan Army said the success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan's continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy.

The hostages "are being repatriated to their country of origin."



The Afghan Taliban last year released a video that showed the family, including two young boys.

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The Supreme Court today took strong exception to the Sahara group writing a letter to the Pune police raising the issue of law and order at its Aamby Valley property, which is undergoing a court-mandated auctioning process.

Taking note of SEBI's allegation in this regard, a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said the group should not have entered into a communication with Pune's Superintendent of the Police (Rural) on the issue since the auction has been ordered by the top court.

The bench, also comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and A K Sikri, directed the Director General of Police, Maharashtra to see that the property is handed over to the official liquidator of the Bombay High Court within 48 hours.

"If any impediment is caused in the auctioning process by anyone, he shall be liable of contempt of this court and sent to jail," the bench said.

The apex court asked the official liquidator to go ahead with the auctioning process under the direct supervision of the company judge.

The bench also said the official liquidator shall take guidance from Justice A S Oka, sitting judge of the Bombay High Court, in the matter.

At the outset, senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for the SEBI, referred to the communication addressed to the SP of police and claimed that due to this, the police has taken over the custody of the property.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Sahara group, countered the submission and said the custody of the property has not been handed over to the poilice and "completly wrong statements are being made to prejudice the court."



The bench, however, clarified that they were not initiating any contempt action at this stage.

The top court was hearing SEBI's plea seeking contempt action against the Sahara group for allegedly obstructing the auctioning process of Aamby Valley.

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Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will visit Gaza for the first time in a decade within a month, a top official in his Fatah party said today, after reconciliation talks with rivals Hamas.

Abbas "will be in Gaza within less than a month", Zakaria al-Agha, a senior Fatah leader in the Gaza Strip, told AFP after a breakthrough in talks between the two sides in Cairo.

Abbas has not visited the enclave since his forces were pushed out in 2007 by Islamists Hamas, who have controlled it ever since.

Earlier today, the two sides announced they had reached agreement on aspects of their decade-long split during talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo.

Details of the agreement have not yet been released and a press conference is expected at 3.30pm IST in the Egyptian capital.

One of the key issues has been punitive measures taken by Abbas against Gaza in recent months, including reducing electricity payments that left the territory's residents with only a few hours of power a day.

"All the measures taken recently will end very shortly," Agha added.

Since the near civil war in 2007, the two Palestinian factions have been at loggerheads -- complicating any potential peace talks with Israel.

Multiple previous reconciliation talks have failed.

Last month, Hamas agreed to cede civil power in Gaza but the fate of its vast military wing is a significant stumbling block and the Islamist group remains effectively in charge in the enclave.

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Around 2.44 crore applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act have been filed with various central and state government departments by citizens, NGO Transparency International India said today.

The RTI Act, which empowers citizens to seek information related to governance from government departments, was enacted in 2005.

"During the year 2005-06 to 2015-16, total number of RTI applications received by public authorities in India including the Union and state governments are 2,43,94,951," the NGO said in a report.

Among states, Maharashtra received the highest number of RTI applications, it said.

During the year 2005-06 to 2015-16, the Government of India received 57,43,471 RTI applications, whereas Maharashtra got 54,95,788 such queries during 2006 to 2015, the report said.

A total of 13,48,457 second appeals and complaints were received by all information commissioners -- in the central and state information commissions, excluding Tamil Nadu -- during 2005-06 to 2015-16, it said.

Second appeals and complaints are filed with either the central or state information commission if people are not satisfied with the response of the departments concerned on their RTI applications.

Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Sikkim are not preparing mandatory annual reports regularly. Hence, data of these states does not reflect real situations, the report said.

"Analysis of data suggests that RTI has achieved a lot but clearly, the transparency Act itself is losing teeth. The nation surely needs a fresh struggle against corruption to bring forth the untapped potential for which the RTI Act was enacted," said Rama Nath Jha, Executive Director of Transparency International India.

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Days after BJP chief Amit Shah's 'padyatra' in Kerala, the ABVP today announced a march in Thiruvananthapuram next month against the state's ruling CPI (M) for its alleged violent targeting of BJP-RSS activists.

The 'Chalo Kerala' march will be organised on November 11.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, an RSS-affiliated students' organisation, plans to mobilise around 50,000 cadres across India for the march aimed at spreading awareness about the alleged violence committed by the CPI(M).

ABVP national general-secretary Vinay Bidre said the communist party has for years been involved in killing their political opponents in Kerala.

"Even the common people have started getting affected by the cadres of CPI(M). Though this march would not bring an end to this practice, it would act as a platform to find a solution," Bidre told reporters here.

The activists of both the BJP and the CPI(M) have been targeted in political violence in Kerala. Nearly 120 BJP workers have been killed in the state, the BJP has claimed.

Shah on October 3 had flagged off a 'Janaraksha Yatra' in Kerala. He announced the 'padyatra' from October 3 across the country against political violence in Kerala.

Asked to comment about victims of political violence on the CPI(M) side, Bidre said if their victims were "real", they would have staged agitations and demonstrations. "None is protesting, which means there are no real victims."



In a statement, the ABVP accused Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other cabinet ministers of being involved with the violence.

ABVP's national media convener Saket Bahuguna slammed the left party for denying "freedom of expression" to RSS and ABVP cadres.

"The communists shout for freedom in other places, but in a state ruled by their party their political rivals are denied such freedom," Bahuguna said.

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Taking a stern view of some advocates holding 'kangaroo courts' to resolve a dispute involving a medical college near here, the Madras High Court today directed that criminal action be taken against them.

The court also directed the Centre to take appropriate steps to streamline the legal profession and told the Bar Council to go in for tighter norms for both admission to law colleges and for approval to new ones.

Justice N Kirubakaran, passing orders on a plea by 17 MBBS students, impleaded the Bar Council of India, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, UnionMinistry of Law and Justice, Law Secretary and the DGP of Tamil Nadu.

The petitioners, students of Annai Medical College and Hospital, sought a direction to the state government to transfer them to state-run colleges in view of the dispute between old and new trustees of the institution.

Perusing the photographs produced in the matter, the judge said, "It is alleged that both the parties had engaged the so-called advocates and the same is also evident".

He said the practice of hiring advocates to resolve disputes in an "extra-constitutional" fashion be stopped immediately. He directed that stern action be taken against them by the police and disciplinary measures by the Bar Council.

Directing the police to identify the persons in the photo and file a report on the present situation in the college, he said, "These people in black and white dress act like mafia."



The judge also said such persons "are stated to be indulging in kidnapping, extortion and other heinous crimes, taking advantage of their alleged status as lawyers".

Noting that the trend of taking properties by force by some advocates was prevalent in Tamil Nadu, the judge said, such alleged lawyers acted like extra constitutional authority.

"It is a classic case to demonstrate why people do not exhibit their faith either in the judiciary or in the police and have faith only on persons clad in black and white dress claiming themselves to be advocates, to be engaged as paid hooligans to involve in property disputes".

This is why verification of antecedents is necessary before enrolment as advocates, since a section of them buy law degrees from colleges that exist only on paper in states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the judge said.

The issue was dealt with by a division bench in another matter and the Bar Council was directed to get the individuals' antecedents verified before enrolment.

"Such people who purchase law degrees from letter pad institutions only prefer to indulge in 'Katta Panchayat' (kangaroo court) under the guise of resolving civil disputes," he added.

Without availability of any work, the so-called advocates naturally would indulge in such illegal ways to resolve disputes, he noted.

The judge stressed tighter norms like a minimum of 75 per cent marks in Class 12 exam for admission to law colleges, and approval to new law colleges only on the basis of principle of demand and supply to address the issue.

The Union Government has to take appropriate steps to set right the legal profession based on the recommendations of the law commission, otherwise things will go out of control, the judge added.

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Hours after the US announced its decision to pull out from the Unesco, America's Permanent Representative to the UN issued a stern warning to other UN agencies that they will be evaluated through the same lens.

US taxpayers should "no longer be on the hook to pay for policies that are hostile to our values and make a mockery of justice and common sense," US Ambassador Nikki Haley said in a statement.

Her remarks came hours after the State Department announced that the US will withdraw from the Unesco, accusing the UN cultural body of "anti-Israel" bias.

The withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018. The United States will remain a full member of Unesco until then.

In July, when Unesco made its latest outrageous and politically based decision, designating the Old City of Hebron and the Tomb of the Patriarchs as part of Palestinian territory, the US clearly stated that this decision would negatively affect its evaluation of the level of engagement with the organisation, she said.

"The US will continue to evaluate all agencies within the United Nations system through the same lens," Haley said.

"The purpose of Unesco is a good one. Unfortunately, its extreme politicisation has become a chronic embarrassment."



The Tomb of the Patriarchs decision was just the latest "in a long line of foolish actions", which includes keeping Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad on a Unesco human rights committee even after his murderous crackdown on peaceful protestors, Haley asserted.
Air India Express today announced the launch of a flight service to Coimbatore from New Delhi, with onward connection to Singapore, from next month.

The services on the Delhi-Coimbatore-Singapore route will be operated three times a week -- Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays -- from November 18, the international budget arm of the state-owned Air India said in a release.

The new services between Delhi and Coimbatore and further to Singapore will now offer more choices to the people from the textile hub in Tamil Nadu, who till now had limited options while flying to both the national capital and the South-east Asia, particularly the island city-state.

AIE already operates from three cities of Tamil Nadu and Coimbatore will be the fourth city in its route network.

Besides a daily operations from Chennai to Singapore, the airline also operate a daily service from Tiruchirappalli and a four-times-a-week services to Singapore.

The new additions in operations from Coimbatore will provide more choice of flights for the passengers to fly to Singapore from Tamil Nadu, it said.

At present, AIE operates to 16 Indian cities and 13 international airports with a fleet of 23 Boeing 737-800 planes.

Of these planes, 17 are owned by the airline, while the rest are on dry lease.

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Bharti Airtel will acquire Tata Group's loss-making mobile telephony business, almost for free, boosting its spectrum holding and raising subscriber base while saving the Tatas from the prospect of having to shut down the struggling unit.

Airtel, for whom it will be the 7th acquisition in five years, will from November 1 take over 4 crore customers of Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd (TTML) in 19 telecom circles or zones on "a debt-free cash-free basis", the two groups announced in separate but identical press statements.

TTSL and TTML employees in the 19 circles, managing the consumer mobile business, along with 178.5 MHz of spectrum across 800, 1800, 2100 Mhz (3G, 4G) bands would be transferred to Airtel.

While all of the Rs 31,000 crore debt will remain with the Tatas, Airtel will assume payment of close to 20 per cent of the Rs 9,000-10,000 crore deferred payments for the spectrum to the government. Tatas will pay the rest.

The telecom sector is in a consolidation mode since the September 2016 entry of India's richest man Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, which has given incumbent operators a run for their money through free voice calling and cheap data offers. Jio has gained 12.8 crore subscribers with in a year.

In February, Airtel absorbed Telenor's operations in seven circles -- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam in a similar no cash deal.

Earlier this year, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular agreed to merge their operations to create the country's largest telecom operator worth of more than USD 23 billion (roughly Rs 1,51,153 crore) with 35 per cent market share.

With this deal, Airtel will have over 32 crore customers, way below 40 crore users with the merged Vodafone-Idea entity.

"Instead of closing down the consumer mobile business, which would have entailed a much higher cost and involved letting go of employees and vendors etc, we have chosen this route," Tata Group chief financial officer Saurabh Agrawal told PTI.

He said Tatas will retain stake in the tower company, Viom, and explore transferring the enterprise business to Tata Communications and retail fixed-line and broadband business to satellite TV arm Tata Sky.

The board of the two firms will evaluate the opportunity and decide in 4-6 weeks, he said.

The struggling mobile consumer business, Agrawal said, "should have been restructured long back" and when new group chairman N Chandrasekaran took over in February, he reached out to people who could help out.

Agrawal, who in July joined Tatas from Aditya Birla Group, said closing down the business would have been against the ethos of Tata Group and would have rendered employees jobless.

Through this deal "Tatas have taken all the pain" associated with the business and ensure that business is not shut, employees not sacked and vendors and other trades associated with it are not thrown out of business, he said.

Without giving the exact number of employees being transferred to Airtel, he admitted that the Sunil Bharti Mittal firm may look at optimisation of staff on ground after the merger.

"The merger is being done on a debt-free cash-free basis, except for Bharti Airtel assuming a small portion of the unpaid spectrum liability of Tata's towards the Department of Telecom, which is to be paid on deferred basis," the statements said.

While Bharti Airtel will also have an "indefeasible" right to use for part of the existing fibre network of Tata, TTSL and TSML's consumer mobile business operations and services will continue as normal until the completion of the transaction.

The 19 circles coming to Bharti "represent bulk of India's population and customer base", it said.

Tata and Bharti Airtel will work together to further explore other mutual areas of cooperation, that will be value accretive for both the Groups, the statement said.

"This is a significant development towards further consolidation in the Indian mobile industry and reinforces our commitment to lead Indias digital revolution by offering world-class and affordable telecom services through a robust technology and solid spectrum portfolio," said Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel.

Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Pvt Ltd acted as financial adviser to Tata.

"We believe today's agreement is the best and most optimal solution for the Tata Group and its stakeholders," said Chandrasekaran. "We have evaluated multiple options and are pleased to have this agreement with Bharti.

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The Supreme Court today took strong exception to the Sahara Group allegedly obstructing the auctioning process of Aamby Valley and warned that anybody creating impediments would be liable for contempt and may be "sent to jail".

The apex court was irked when SEBI claimed that the group had allegedly obstructed the aunctioning process by writing a letter to the Pune police raising the issue of law and order at the prime property.

Taking note of SEBI's allegation in this regard, a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said the group could not have entered into a communication with Pune's Superintendent of the Police (Rural) on the issue since the auction has been ordered by the top court.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), claimed before the bench that the September 28 communication, addressed by the group to the Pune police regarding law and order situation at Aamby valley, has stalled the ongoing auction process.

"It is submitted by Mr Datar that as a consequence of the communication, the police has taken custody of the property. If it is so, we direct the Director General of Police, Maharashtra, to see to it that the property is handed over to the official liquidator (of the Bombay High Court) within 48 hours," the bench, also comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and A K Sikri, said.

"If any impediment is created by anyone, he shall be liable for contempt of this court and may be sent to jail," it said. The punishment for contempt is up to six months of simple imprisonment.

Later however, the apex court clarified that it was not initiating any contempt action at this stage.

SEBI alleged that the police has taken custody of the property due to which no bidder was willing to take part in the auction process.

"You go ahead with the auction," the bench said.

SEBI also said the letter was also sent to the additional chief secretary and no bidder was coming forward to bid for the property as the police, while taking note of the letter, has taken its custody.

Meanwhile, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the group, objected to these submissions, saying "completely wrong statements are made to prejudice the court".

"No bidder has come...I (group) am not standing in the way. I have not halted anything and have not given property to the police," he said.

"The official liquidator shall proceed with the auction under the direct supervision of the company judge. That apart, the official liquidator shall also take guidance from Justice A S Oka, a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court," the bench said.

"The company judge and Justice A S Oka shall make joint endeavour so that the auction process which is to commence from a particular stage, shall continue and be over," it said and posted the matter for hearing on November 23.

The court asked the concerned police to render requisite assistance in holding of auction as and when directed by the company judge in consultation with Justice Oka.

As per the letter placed by Datar before the court, the group had said there was a strong possibility of deteriorating law and order situation in Aamby Valley city and had requested police to take urgent and most suitable measures by deploying adequate force there.

The top court was hearing the SEBI's plea seeking contempt action against the Sahara group for allegedly obstructing the auctioning process of Aamby Valley.

In its plea, the SEBI has alleged "wilful and deliberate attempt" on Sahara's part "by adopting a subterfuge to cause interference with the administration of justice, especially in a court directed and monitored auction sale of the Aamby Valley property under various orders of the apex court."



On August 10, the apex court had rejected Sahara chief Subrata Roy's plea to put on hold the auction process.

It had said that the auction process would proceed as per schedule and if Rs 1,500 crore is paid by Roy in the SEBI- Sahara refund account by September 7, then it may pass an appropriate order.

The Sahara Group had earlier sought 18 months time to repay around Rs 9,000 crore balance of the principal amount of Rs 24,000 crore.

Roy, who has spent almost two years in jail, has been on parole since May 6 last year. The parole was granted the first time to enable him attend the funeral of his mother. It has been extended since then.

Besides Roy, two other directors -- Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary -- were arrested for failure of the group's two companies -- Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHICL) -- to comply with the court's August 31, 2012 order to return Rs 24,000 crore to their investors.

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An Army jawan and a civilian porter were killed in Pakistani firing today at forward areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

"The Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics from 1035 hours in Krishnagati Sector along the Line of Control (LoC)", a defence spokesman said here on the ceasefire violation.

He said that the Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively. "Firing is still on," the spokesman said.

A jawan and a civilian porter died in the unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan today morning in the sector, he said.

On October 6, Pakistani troops had opened fire in Baba Khori and other areas in Rajouri district, and on October 4, three Army jawans were injured in unprovoked and indiscriminate firing inPoonch sector.

In a ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the LoC in Poonch on October 3 an Army jawan was killed, a day after two minors died and 12 civilians were injured in cross-border shelling.

The year 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

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The Supreme Court today accepted an unqualified apology by a man against whom it had issued contempt notice for making certain public statements on the publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

"Never ever do it again," a bench comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R F Nariman warned Abhijeet Sarma, who had filed a petition in the name of NGO Assam Public Works.

At the outset, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told the apex court that prima facie, Sarma's statement at a press conference amounted to criminal contempt. "It is a criminal contempt because it is interference in the judicial proceedings which is being monitored by this court," he said.

Sarma's counsel apologised on his behalf and said he never intended to say such things as he has been pursuing the case for last eight years.

"Though the statement made in press by the alleged contemnor appears to be ill-advised and in a way contemptous, we are of the view that having regard to the unqualified apology tendered by the alleged contemnor, we accept the same," the bench said.

The top court had initiated contempt proceedings on its own after perusing the August 30 report of Assam coordinator for National Registration, Prateek Hajela.

During the hearing today, the bench sought responses from the Centre and Assam government on the report submitted by the coordinator in which he had apprehended law and order situation in the process.

It asked them to filed their responses on or before November 7 and posted the matter for hearing on November 11.

It also directed the Ministry of Home Affairs and state authorities to take steps to ensure that no untoward incident occurs in the state in the process of making list for NRC.

The apex court was hearing a matter relating to the fencing of the India-Bangladesh border.

It had earlier rapped Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal for his "intervention" in the process of publication of the NRC which is being monitored by the top court.

The court had observed that when it was monitoring the process of preparation and publication of the draft NRC, which is meant to identify original residents of the state to check illegal migration, through a court-appointed committee, no agency or authority can make such a statement.

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Two arrest warrants were issued today against Bangladesh's Opposition leader and former premier Khaleda Zia after she failed to attend court hearings in graft and defamation cases, a move her lawyer said was a "ploy by the government" to stop her from returning home from London.

The first warrant was issued by Dhaka Metropolitan magistrate Nur Nabi over a case accusing her of undermining the country's map and national flag. She failed to appear before the court even though the court had asked her repeatedly to attend todays hearing in the case.

Zia, 72, is currently in London on a private tour.

The second warrant was issued by Dhaka's Fifth Special Judge's Court issued within an hour after the first one as she evaded appearance in a corruption case involving embezzlement of funds of an orphanage named after her husband and slain president Ziaur Rahman.

"The courts issued arrest warrants in two cases on the same day. It's a ploy by the government so that she can't return home," Zia's counsel Sanaullah Mia told reporters.

The move came after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government launched a crackdown on the Opposition, arresting leaders and supporters of Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Bangladesh may hold a general election next year, the first since polls in 2014 which Zia's BNP boycotted over fears they would be rigged.

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British Academy of Film and Television Arts has suspended Harvey Weinstein's membership, effective immediately.

In a statement released on the BAFTA website, the group declared that the extensive sexual harassment allegations levied against Weinstein were unacceptable and they have decided to terminate the producer's membership.

"In light of recent very serious allegations, BAFTA has informed Harvey Weinstein that his membership has been suspended, effective immediately



"Whilst BAFTA has previously been a beneficiary of Mr Weinstein's support for its charitable work, it considers the reported alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTA's values. This has led to Mr Weinstein's suspension, and it will be followed by a formal process as laid out in BAFTA's constitution," the statement read.

The New York Times last week published a story citing multiple sexual harassment accusations. It was followed by an explosive report by the New Yorker in which three women accuse the media mogul of rape.

Weinstein was forced out of his own company, the Weinstein Company, after the first New York Times report was published. Since then, many important industry figures have released statements in opposition to Weinstein and the accounts detailed in the reports.

"We hope this announcement sends a clear message that such behaviour has absolutely no place in our industry. BAFTA will continue to work with the film, games and television industries to improve access to rewarding and fulfilling careers in safe, professional working environments," the statement concluded.

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The Delhi government has written to the CISF, asking it to prohibit passengers from carrying matchboxes and lighters in metro trains and on station premises as it "promotes smoking".

In its letter, the health department said the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) does not allow such items at airports and for the same obvious reasons these items should not be allowed in the DMRC premises as well.

The health department, last month, had issued a strict compliance notice to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in this regard.

The DMRC had in January taken lighters and matchboxes off the list of restricted items. A commuter is now allowed to carry one matchbox and one lighter in metro trains and on station premises.

"We have come to know that security to the DMRC is provided by the CISF as an independent government body under the Ministry of Home Affairs and these items (lighter and matchboxes) are allowed after the CISF security check of the commuters," Dr S K Arora, Additional Director (Health), Delhi said.

Arora in his letter sought an urgent action not only in public health interest to protect non-smokers from the hazards of the smoke but also in the interest of safety of commuters and staff as these fire-causing items may cause a big security risk any time in the present sensitive scenario.

"It is worth mentioning that when the CISF doesn't allow such items at airports then for the same obvious reasons these items should not be allowed in DMRC also," he said in the letter.

"Therefore, you are requested to look into the matter urgently in public health interest and also in the interest of safety of the commuters and staff in the DMRC," he said.

Earlier, a strict compliance notice was issued to the DMRC under Section 4 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, asking it to stop allowing matchboxes and lighters in metro trains and on station premises, or legal action would be initiated against it and the erring commuters.

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The BJP narrowed its tally gap with Shiv Sena in the Mumbai civic body as its nominee today won the BMC bypoll from Bhandup, beating the bickering ally's candidate by 4,792 votes.

The BJP candidate, Jagruti Patel, polled 11,129 votes in ward no. 116, while the Sena nominee, Minakshi Patil, got 6,337 votes, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

The by-election was necessitated after the death of Congress corporator Pramila Patil on April 25.

With the latest victory, the BJP's tally in the 227-member BMC has risen to 83, while that of the Sena remains at 84. While Sena has claimed support of four other corporators, BJP has claimed the support of two others.

Senior BJP corporator Shailaja Girkar passed away in Mumbai last month. That seat is still technically counted as belonging to the BJP as bypoll hasn't been held, the official said.

The election was held yesterday and saw an aggressive campaign by both the BJP and the Shiv Sena.

The Congress had fielded Pramila Singh as its candidate.

Reacting to the results, BJP MP Kirit Somaiya said leaders of the bickering ally Shiv Sena should shed their arrogance.

"If Shiv Sena doesn't get rid of their arrogance, they will be reduced to 83 seats and BJP will have 84 seats in BMC," Somaiya said.

Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar said the Bhandup bypoll result has shown the 'hollowness of big claims made by some people'. However, he did not name any Sena leaders.

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Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha president Poonam Mahajan will arrive on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on October 22 to review the functioning of the party in the state.

Talking to reporters here today, BJYM state president Suresh Ajay Magotra said MP and BJYM chief Mahajan will visit the state.

"Poonam Mahajan will arrive on October 22 in Srinagar to attend the BJYM workers meet and to deliver lecture on 'I am new India'. She will also meet various youth delegation from different walks of life from Kashmir," he said.

On October 23, Mahajan will be welcomed at the Jammu airport. She will address the state youth convention at the Convention Centre in Jammu.

She will also hold a meeting with the state BJYM team and other office bearers, Magotra said.

He said Mahajan will seek reports from office bearers and district president regarding various activity of the organisation up to the Mandal level.

She will also seek information regarding youth-oriented schemes started by the central government and the state, he said.

The Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha is the youth wing of the BJP.

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A British member of the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist network, dubbed as the "White Widow" by UK media, has been killed along with her minor son in a US drone strike in Syria, media reports said today.

Sally Jones, known for a her prolific pro-ISIS propaganda on social media and often described as the world's most wanted terrorist, is believed to have been killed along with her 12- year-old son Jojo.

The 50-year-old was a punk rocker from the county of Kent in England before she converted to Islam and went on to become one of the most notorious recruiters for ISIS.

"The premise that Sally Jones and her son are dead is probably accurate," a UK government source was quoted as saying by The Times.

Jones' husband, 21-year-old Junaid Hussain whowas a computer hacker from Birmingham and also an ISIS member, was killed in a drone strike in the terrorist group's former stronghold of Raqqa, northern Syria, in August 2015.

British intelligence had assisted in that operation.

MI6 spies were reportedly tracking the movements of Jones, who travelled with Jojo to Syria in 2013 to marry Hussain.

The husband and wife were since on a US "kill list" of high-value targets.

Jones' death brings to at least six the number of known British ISIS terrorists to have been killed in drone strikes in Syria.

The true number is likely to be higher as it is often difficult to verify the identity of jihadists killed from the air.

According to 'The Sun'newspaper, a US Air Force Predator drone was used to kill Jones, who had adopted the Islamic nom de guerre of Umm Hussain al-Britani.

She had been attempting to flee Raqqa as it came under increased bombardment from the US, British and other coalition aircraft as well as American-backed local forces on the ground in the long-running campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Jones grew in notoriety during her four years in the war zone of Syria.

She attempted to brainwash young girls to travel to Syria to become jihadist brides and also took to social media to threaten attacks on Britain.

Her husband ran a hacking unit for ISIS.

Jones also allowed son Jojo to take part in a propaganda video in which he was seen shooting a hostage in the back of the head alongside other young boys.

Other high-profile British jihadists killed in drone strikes include Mohammed Emwazi, dubbed Jihadi John, who beheaded a number of western hostages on video.

He died in a joint US-British operation in November 2015.

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Cambodia today deported dozens of Chinese citizens accused of extorting money from women in mainland China with threats to circulate naked images of them online.

Gen. Ouk Haiseila, chief of the Immigration Investigation Bureau, said the 74 suspects left the Cambodian capital on a plane sent by the Chinese government.

Online scams by Chinese gangs that operate from foreign countries and target mainland Chinese are common throughout Southeast Asia.

Indonesia deported more than 140 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals in August who were accused of extracting millions of dollars from businesspeople and politicians in China by impersonating Chinese police.

Ouk said the gang in Cambodia contacted women over social media and tricked them into sending nude or erotic photos.

Members of the gang, which included 14 women, then extorted money by threatening to spread the images online.

Since 2012, Cambodia has deported at least 1,000 Chinese and Taiwanese to China.

China is a key ally and economic benefactor for impoverished Cambodia. It has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and investment over the past decade while Cambodia has sided with China in its disputes with other Southeast Asian nations.

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The Gurugram Police has busted a "casino-cum-bar" illegally running from a house in the posh South City area of Millennium City, an official said today.

The police said that it had arrested 43 people, including the manager and four women, on charges of gambling in a raid last night.

"The team was deployed near a house and a raid was conducted. Seeing the police party, all the 43 people, including the women, who were playing in the casino-cum-mini bar tried to escape.

"They were later caught. The majority of accused were businessmen. They are residents of Delhi and Gurugram," Police PRO Ravinder Kumar told PTI.

They have been booked under relevant sections of the Gambling Act, the Arms Act and the Excise Act.

The team seized Rs 22.44 lakh, a pistol and four live cartridges. Forty-eight beer bottles, a currency counting machine, plastic money, a casino table, playing cards and three laptops were also confiscated, the officer said.

The casino was being operated from the house for the past few months and was being run by the Manager, Kapil, a resident of Gurgaon Sector-40, the officer said.

Its owner Pramjeet, a resident of Jhajjar, has also been arrested, Kumar said, adding that it is suspected that a gang was involved in organising such events in Delhi and Gurugram.

It seems the casino-cum-mini bar was being operated here as the police in Delhi had conducted several raids recently, he said.

People were invited to these events through Whatsapp group.

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lifting more than 800 million people out of poverty since the start of its economic reform is a "great story in human history", World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said today, underlining that there is "lessons to be learned" from this Chinese experience.

"This is one of the great stories in human history, frankly, Kim told reporters at the start of the annual meetings of the Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Starting in 1990 with the evolution of the Chinese economic system and its embrace of the global market has lifted over 800 million out of poverty, he said.

"So, most of the progress that's been made in going from 40 per cent of the world living in extreme poverty to now less than 10 per cent...most of that progress happened in . So, we're always looking for the lessons from that experience and it continues," Kim said in response to a question.

The World Bank, he said, has been working very closely with China on things like ensuring that some of the more distant regions in China are also getting access to social services and healthcare.

"It is working right now on a pilot project on healthcare system. If it works out it could lead to a major change in the healthcare system that would help to improve outcomes overall," he said.

"So, this effort has been historic. I think we're still trying to understand exactly how 800 million people were lifted out of poverty, but it was one of the great successes, Kim said.

The World Bank chief, however, refrained from responding to questions on the upcoming congress of China's ruling Communist Party.

"These are internal Chinese political matters. But I think China has been pretty clear about the direction it's going, he noted.

A joint document that China and the bank published some time ago said that China 2030 was very clear about how it's going to change the path of growth from focusing so much on investment and export to unfocused on services and consumption, he said.

That's actually happening. So, we're encouraged that China has stayed on a course of this change from what they call rapid growth to more quality economic growth, he said.

"While we think that the growth rate is going to remain stable in China this year we're waiting to see what comes out of the Party Congress just like everyone else. But I don't expect a major change in policy.

"I think, the economic growth strategy has been made clear and we've been watching as they've kept to the plan, Kim said.
BJP leader and Union minister Uma Bharti today claimed the Congress "benefited" from the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi as he had talked about disbanding the party after Independence.

She was responding to a question on the Supreme Court's recent observations while hearing a plea seeking reopening of the investigation into the assassination.

"This matter is going on since the time Godse killed Gandhiji. Today I ask the country through you (the media) as to who benefited from the murder of Gandhiji?" Bharti asked.

She said while the Sangh and Jan Sangh faced damage and the country suffered losses "only the Congress benefited from the assassination of Gandhiji".

"Because Gandhiji had suggested that the Congress be dissolved (after Independence). In fact, he had already announced the Congress shall be disbanded," the minister of drinking water and sanitation claimed.

She was speaking to the media during the BJP's 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' in Banaskantha district of north Gujarat.

Gandhi was shot dead at point blank range in New Delhi on January 30, 1948 by Godse, a right-wing advocate of Hindu nationalism.

The plea in the SC, filed by Mumbai-based Pankaj Phadnis, a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat, has sought reopening of the probe on several grounds, claiming it was one of the biggest cover-ups in history.

Bharti is one of the ministers taking part in the ongoing yatra of the BJP that aims to galvanise support for the ruling party ahead of the assembly elections.

During the yatra, she addressed public meetings in Deodar, Tharad, Vav and Radhanpur constituencies.

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The Congress today demanded an inquiry by the CBI into a media report alleging that the turnover of a firm of BJP president Amit Shah's son Jay grew manifold after the saffron party came to power in 2014.

The charge has been rejected by the BJP and Jay Shah, who termed the report as "false, derogatory and defamatory".

Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said, "I wonder if the prime minister can explain to us this model of getting Rs 15 crore loan for our businesses. He needs to tell us."



She alleged that agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Income Tax department and Enforcement Directorate were being used to silence the opposition after the BJP-led government assumed office.

"These (agencies) have become a tool to silence the voices, and, for the CBI to function independently this is an important case," she told a press meet.

Chaturvedi said that the BJP initially had come up with the argument that Jay Shah is an individual businessman and he is carrying out his business and, hence, no one can target him.

"However, we had a Union minister coming in support of Jay Shah and giving him a clean chit," she said.

She alleged that the Narendra Modi government is trying to protect Jay Shah, who is just an individual businessman.

Chaturvedi sought to know if it is not a case of "conflict of interest" that Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is supposed to defend the Union of India, is defending Jay Shah.

"Two days before the report came out, he applied for leave to fight this case," she claimed, and asked, "Isn't this a conflict of interest?"



Union minister Piyush Goyal had earlier said in New Delhi that Mehta will represent Jay Shah in the case.

He said Mehta had sought Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's permission to appear for the BJP chief's son and the approval was granted.

portal The Wire recently claimed that the turnover of Jay Shah's firm grew exponentially after the party came to power at the Centre.

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The Hyderabad Police has registered a case against prominent Dalit writer Kancha Ilaiah for allegedly hurting religious feelings through his book on the Arya Vysya community, an official said.

A student belonging to a Scheduled Caste had earlier alleged that Ilaiah, through his book 'Samajika Smugglurlu Komatollu' (Vysyas are social smugglers), not only targeted the Vysya community, but all Hindu communities and hurt the sentiments of Dalits and others, Malkajgiri Police Station Inspector Janaki Reddy said today.

The 22-year-old complainant had approached a local court and based on its directions, the police yesterday registered the case against Ilaiah, he said.

He said the case was registered under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Protests and demonstrations were being held by Arya Vysya community from last month across Telangana against Ilaiah.

The writer had last month filed a police complaint alleging that four people attacked his vehicle at Parkal in Warangal and tried to kill him.

The alleged attack had sparked tension between Arya Vysyas and Dalits who came face to face. However, the police had then averted any escalation of the issue by dispersing the groups.

The community is angry at Ilaiah over his book and are demanding apology from the writer, an official had earlier said.

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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will spend the Diwali with military personnel at the strategically important tri-service command in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Official sources said Sitharaman will be travelling to Philippines on October 24 and 25, during which she will hold extensive talks with senior leaders of the country to explore ways to further deepen military cooperation, particularly in the maritime sphere. It will be her first foreign visit as defence minister.

The sources said Sitharaman will travel to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on October 18 and celebrate the festival of light with the tri-service personnel there on October 19.

During the visit, the minister is also expected to review operational preparedness of the country's only tri-service command.

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Ground transportation service provider ECO Rent A Car today said it has launched a special service that allows customers to have meetings inside the vehicle while on the go.

The company has imported 8-seater Toyota Ventury vehicles specifically from Thailand for the new initiative.

The retrofitted Toyota Ventury vehicles come with revolving seats, flip-down plasma screens, in-car WiFi, mini fridge and projectors to enable meetings.

"When I went for a business trip to Bangkok last year, I noticed this concept was quite successful there. In fact, it is also popular in cities like Kuala Lumpur and Beijing...we thought of replicating this concept here and expect it to be equally successful," ECO Rent A Car Joint Managing Director Aditya Loomba said in a statement.

The company has rolled out the service in Delhi/NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru. It is targetting multinational companies, businessmen, companies with multiple offices in a city, the SME sector and real estate companies, among others.

Eco Rent a Car charges Rs 10,000 per day for each vehicle.

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Garbage and civic problems seem to be mounting for the residents of east Delhi ahead of Diwali as the indefinite strike by a large section of municipal sanitation workers of the area entered its second day today.

Scores of EDMC sanitation workers, who are demanding payment of salaries due to them, clearance of arrears and medical cashless card, protested outside the residence of East Delhi Mayor Neema Bhagat in Geeta Colony.

"We burnt the mayor's effigy and dumped garbage in front of her house to symbolically lodge our protest and highlight our plight. From Centre to MCD, everyone talks about 'Swachh Bharat', but no one understands our problem," said Sanjay Gehlot, president of the MCD Swachhata Karmchari Union.

He claimed that the union has about 11,000 members, and most of them have joined the stir, effectively meaning that east Delhi was staring at a garbage crisis.

"Some other unions are also joining us in solidarity. We know non-disposal of garbage would not mean a good Diwali for people. But, who thinks of us, and our family, who have to manage with a meagre salary, and yet that is not paid. We also want to celebrate Diwali with our family, but we have been left with no choice," Gehlot said.

Patparganj, Mayur Vihar, Gandhi Nagar are some of the most-densely populated areas of Delhi and several unauthorised colonies are located there.

The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), one of the three civic bodies created in 2012 after the trifurcation of the erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), has been cash-strapped for a long time now.

"Our demands include payment of salaries due to various employees, arrears and medical cashless card, retirement benefits and pension," Gehlot said.

A day ahead of the strike, the civic body said Mayor Bhagat met members of some of the unions and assured them that their "legitimate demands would be met".

"Safai karmcharis are the backbone of the EDMC and the corporation would make all possible efforts to fulfil their demands, including the one about issuing a cashless card," she had said.

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Egypt has extended for a third time a nationwide state of emergency for three months, starting tomorrow, according to a presidential decree released today.

The emergency was first declared in April by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for three months after the attacks on two Churches in Tanta and Alexandria killed 46 people.

The attacks were claimed by the Islamic State.

It was extended in July for a further three months.

President Sisi renewed it for a third term starting tomorrow, local media reported.

According to the decision, the armed forces and police authorities are assigned to take necessary measures to combat terror risks, maintain security across the country, and protect public and private properties, the reports said.

The state of emergency allows authorities to make arrests without warrants and search people's homes.

Egypt has witnessed terrorists attacks since the January 2011 revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

The attacks, targeting police, military personnel and minorities, increased after the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013 by the military following massive protests against his rule.

Hundreds of police and army personnel have been killed since then.

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An elderly woman who went missing is feared to have been killed by a crocodile after Australian police found possible human remains and a walking stick near a creek today.

Anne Cameron, 79, who police said might have dementia, was last seen on Tuesday at a care home near the tourist town of Port Douglas on Australia's northeastern coast.

Queensland Police and the State Emergency Service were searching for her when they came across clothing and a walking stick with her name on it.

"We've also located some biological matter which we believe to be human remains," Queensland Police Acting Inspector Ed Lukin told reporters.

"We continue to search the area in the hopes that we find her alive."



But he said that as the items were "located near (a) creek bank, we cannot rule out the possibility of a croc attack".

Lukin said police believed Cameron had wandered into the dense bushland, where she became lost, but it was not known if she had entered the water.

"She may suffer from dementia and her clothes may have been removed voluntarily," he added.

A 2.6-metre long saltwater crocodile was caught at Dickson Inlet near Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas in August, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The broadcaster also said the beach was closed in April when a four-metre croc was spotted swimming offshore, while there had been several attacks by the reptiles on dogs in the area this year.

Saltwater crocodile numbers have exploded since they were declared a protected species in the 1970s, with recent attacks reigniting debate about controlling them.

The "salties", which can grow up to seven metres long and weigh more than a tonne, are a common feature of the vast continent's tropical north and kill an average of two people a year.

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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today said the US was in danger of "sacrificing" its relations with Turkey, as he blamed the American envoy to Ankara for the crisis in relations between the NATO allies.

"It is the ambassador here who caused this," Erdogan told a meeting in Ankara, referring to the outgoing US envoy in Turkey, John Bass.

"It is unacceptable for the United States to sacrifice its strategic partner like Turkey for a presumptuous ambassador," he said.

The dispute erupted last week when Turkey arrested a Turkish employee of the US consulate in Istanbul on suspicion of links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim preacher who Ankara blames for last year's failed coup.

In response, Washington halted issuing non-immigrant visas from its missions in Turkey, prompting Turkish missions in the US to hit back with a tit-for-tat move.

Although Turkish officials blamed the ambassador for the spat, the State Department said Bass had been operating with the full authority of the US government.

Bass is due to leave Turkey at the weekend after he was named the US envoy to Afghanistan earlier this year.

"If the giant America is ruled by an ambassador in Ankara, what a shame," Erdogan said.

On Monday, Turkish prosecutors summoned another local employee working at the US consulate in Istanbul.

Erdogan today claimed that he was hiding in the consulate, but Bass had denied this the day before, telling reporters: "No one's hiding at any of our facilities."



Turkish authorities this week detained his wife, his son and his daughter.

Ankara wanted to open a new page in relations with the US under President Donald Trump but a spate of issues have raised tensions, including the US refusal to extradite Gulen and American support for Kurdish militias in Syria.

Erdogan said the US response to the arrest of the consulate employee was "unfair" and "disproportionate", and urged for common sense.

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A 23-year-old ex-employee of a cash management firm, tasked with collecting cash from metro stations across Delhi, was arrested for allegedly stealing a bag containing Rs 32 lakh in May, the police said today.

On May 22, the police were informed about the theft from the cash van of SIS from Jhandewalan Metro Station. The police scanned the CCTV footage and found a man picking the bag containing the money out of the many bags kept in the van and running away.

After the employees of the firm were questioned, the accused was identified as Kamal Kumar, an ex-employee who was sacked because of his habit "to go on long leaves without explanation", the police said.

While on the run, Kumar travelled to Agra and even made a trip to Nainital, police officials said.

Yesterday, Kumar was arrested from Select City Walk Mall in Saket on a tip-off. Police recovered Rs 11.20 lakh from his hideout in south Delhi, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Metro) Pankaj Kumar Singh.

During interrogation, he told police that he had a love marriage and was living with his wife in the posh south Delhi on a rent of Rs 30,000 per month, he said.

Kumar had lost his job and needed money. In the meantime, he had developed a habit of visiting discotheques and bars in south Delhi and had even made a girlfriend, he added.

In order to fund his lavish lifestyle and spend money on his girlfriend, he hatched a plan to steal the bag since he knew that the cash was insured and the firm's employees were a little careless in handling the cash, said another officer privy to the probe.

During the time he was on the run, he had even visited his girlfriend in Agra and handed over some of the stolen cash to her for safekeep, the police said.

He is currently in police custody and is being probed about where he has hidden the remaining amount of cash.

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Rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo today aimed at ending their decade-long split following negotiations overseen by Egypt, negotiators told AFP.

It was signed by new Hamas deputy leader Salah al-Aruri and Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the Fatah delegation for the talks, according to Fatah and Hamas sources in the negotiations.

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Firefighters from around the United States were joining the grim battle today against massive wildfires that have killed at least 23 people and are among the worst in California's history.

Dry, gusty winds were returning to the area, hampering the efforts of thousands of exhausted firefighters seeking to contain nearly two dozen blazes raging across the western state.

The National Weather Service said wind gusts of up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour were forecast in some areas and the "critical fire weather conditions" would continue into the weekend.

Evacuation orders were issued for more towns in wine- producing Napa and Sonoma counties where hundreds of people have already lost their homes to the fast-moving infernos.

Residents of Calistoga, a resort town of some 5,000 people in Napa, and Geyserville, a town of around 800 people in Sonoma, were told to leave their homes and seek shelter elsewhere.

Entire neighborhoods in Santa Rosa have been reduced to ashes and evacuation orders were issued for more parts of the devastated city of 175,000 people in Sonoma County.

"We've had big fires in the past," California Governor Jerry Brown said at a briefing yesterday. "This is one of the biggest, most serious.

"It's not over."



Twenty-three deaths have been reported so far -- 13 in Sonoma County, six in Mendocino County, two in Yuba County and two in Napa County -- but officials have warned they expect the toll to rise.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department said yesterday it has received around 600 reports of missing persons.

Some 300 have been located and the authorities are hopeful that most of the rest would eventually be found safe, unable so far to contact relatives or friends because of poor communications.

More than 300 fire engines from neighboring states and elsewhere are being rushed to California to help battle the blazes along with 60 firefighting crews.

"This is a serious, critical, catastrophic event," California fire chief Ken Pimlott told reporters yesterday. "Our primary goal is to get these resources into the fires."



Pimlott, the director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), said the lingering effects of five years of drought were fueling the fires.

"We are literally looking at explosive vegetation," he said.

Thousands of people have been left homeless and 25,000 people have evacuated their homes in Sonoma County alone, according to officials.

More than 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed including several wineries in Sonoma and Napa counties, the heart of the state's wine production.

Pimlott said firefighters were battling a total of 22 wildfires that have burned over 170,000 acres.

He said 73 helicopters, 30 air tankers and nearly 8,000 firefighters were currently taking part in the effort to extinguish the blazes.

President Donald Trump has declared a major disaster in California, freeing up federal funding and resources to help fight the fires, and Governor Brown has declared a state of emergency in eight counties.

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The Film and Television Institute of India's (FTII) decision to alter the time-frame for completion of an academic exercise has met with boycott call from students.

The second year batch of various courses have decided to boycott an assignment "dialogue exercise" to protest the administration's directive to finish shooting of films in two days instead of three days.

In the third semester, students from Direction, Cinematography, Sound Design, Editing and Art Direction courses are supposed to shoot films as part of their curriculum and the exercise is called "dialogue exercise".

According to FTII Students' Association (FSA), the entire batch of 2016 has decided to boycott the scheduled production meet which generally takes place before the actual shooting of the films of "dialogue exercise".

The administration initially reacted by asking a student each from Direction, Cinematography, Sound Design, Editing and Art Direction courses to vacate the hostel for the third semester, but eventually revoked the order.

FTII director Bhupendra Kainthola today said the decision asking the students to vacate the hostel has been revoked and they will no longer have to vacate their hostel.

"The notices issued to all these students to vacate the hostels are revoked," he said.

FSA president Robin Joy said as per new norms, every shooting shift will be of 12 hours and the exercise has to be completed within two days.

"Earlier, it used to be of three days with eight-hour shift per day," he said, adding it is not logistically feasible to do 12-hour shift for two days.

Joy said it would be "inhuman" to force lightmen, carpenters, painters, make-up artists and actors to work at such a long stretch.

"With such a co-ordinated exercise in a studio, students should be given enough time as primarily students' learning aspect should be prioritised rather than looking to finish off the exercise in a haste," Joy said.

Meanwhile, Amit Tyagi, Dean (films), said the two-day norm has been there for a long time and it was only altered a few years back.

"With a credit-based syllabus in place, the institute wants to prevent backlogs and has brought back the old two-day 12-hour shift norm. Our purpose is to complete the semester on time so as to prevent the backlog," he said.

Tyagi claimed even the students had agreed to the changed norm.

"We have given them an offer in which they can even use the previous day, apart from the two days, when propping and lighting is done before the actual shoot," he added.

However, the students have decided to boycott the "dialogue exercise".

"We will not accept the offer and we will continue to boycott the exercise," said joy.

Standing firm, the administration said if the students failed to participate, they would miss the opportunity to make a film and in no circumstances, would they be allowed to be a part of the exercise later.

In 2015, the students had held a 139-day-long protest against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan, then FTII chairman, over his "credentials".

Veteran actor Anupam Kher was yesterday named as the new chairman of the premier film institute.

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Actor Gal Gadot is in negotiations to join the cast of Nazi revenge thriller "Ruin".

Justin Kurzel, who directed "Assassin's Creed", is set to helm the movie, which centers on a former Nazi captain who, as a way of making up for his crimes, hunts down and kills his former team of SS officers in Germany, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

It is unclear what role Gadot would play in the movie.

Kurzel is also said to be prepping a film about Australian outlaw Ned Kelly.

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Alleged gangster Neeraj Bawana, arrested in connection with several cases lodged against him, has approached a Delhi court seeking a direction to Tihar Jail authorities to provide better hygienic conditions.

Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Pandit has sought a reply from the jail officials on Bawana's complaint by October 16.

In the application moved through advocate M S Khan, the accused has alleged that he was kept in a high-risk ward along with others. He went on a hunger strike demanding basic facilities, including proper food and medicine.

The strike was called off after getting assurance from a jail official, but thereafter nothing was done to improve the condition and the jail officials even threatened the inmates.

Bawana has been charge sheeted in various cases, including offences punishable under the provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

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A gold merchant in the city today lodged a complaint that two kg of gold ornaments kept in a suitcase was found missing by his workers, while returning to the city from Bengaluru, police said.

According to the complaint lodged by one Thiagarajan, engaged in making jewellery and supplying them to customers in neighbouring States, his staff Jeevanandam and Sekhar had gone to Bengaluru to supply ornaments weighing 2.5 kgs.

After selling half a kilo of the jewels, the duo brought the remaining ornaments in a suitcase in a government bus, he said.

The workers noticed that the suitcase was broken open and the valuables missing when they reached Mettupalayam early today, the merchant said.

Police were interrogating the workers.

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Identifying real estate as the one sector where the maximum amount of tax evasion takes place, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said there was a strong case to bring it under the ambit of the GST.

The matter will be discussed at the next meeting of the GST, which will be held on November 9, in Guwahati, Jaitley said, while delivering a lecture at Harvard University.

"The one sector in India where the maximum amount of tax evasion and cash generation takes place and which is still outside the GST is real estate. Some of the states have been pressing for it. I personally believe that there is a strong case to bring real estate into the GST," Jaitley said, while delivering the 'Annual Mahindra Lecture' on India's tax reforms.

"In the next meeting itself, we are addressing one of the problem areas or at least (having) discussion (on) it. Some states want, some do not. There are two views. Therefore, by discussion, we would try to reach one view," he said.

The finance minister said the move would benefit the consumers who will only have to pay one "final tax" on the whole product.

"As a result, the final tax paid on the whole product in the GST would almost be negligible," he said.

Jaitley said the reduction in eventual expenditure coupled with incentivising people to enter the tax net may also help reduce the size of "shadow economy".

A 12 per cent GST is levied on construction of a complex, building, civil structure or intended for sale to a buyer, wholly or partly. However, land and other immovable property have been exempted from GST.

On demonetisation, Jaitley said it was a "fundamental reform" which was necessary to transform India into a more tax-compliant society.

"If you see the long-term impact of it, demonetisation brought in more digitised transactions; it brought the issue to the centerstage. It expanded the individual tax base. It compressed the cash currency by three per cent which was operating in the market," Jaitley said.

"Those objectives are for the long-term. No doubt there are short-term challenges, but (necessary) for transforming India from a non-compliant to a more compliant society," he said.

The finance minister said India had historically been one of the least efficient tax system in the world with an extremely small tax base.

"Frankly, over the last several decades, serious efforts, real efforts to expand this base had not been made. You had marginal efforts," he said, adding that systematic efforts to challenge the "shadow economy" were made only recently.

"In the last few years, the bulk of the increase in tax payers has not been in terms of number of companies but individuals who are coming into the tax net," he said.

Jaitley said some people had "misunderstood" the objective of demonetisation "which wasn't to confiscate somebody's currency".

"Obviously if somebody has currency and deposits in the bank, it does not become lawful holding. They still have to account for it. Therefore, the anonymity which was attached to a cash currency came to an end and that holding got identified," he said.

"The government was able to trace out about 1.8 million people whose deposits are disproportionate to their normal incomes. And they are all to answerable to the law and pay their taxes," he said.

Jaitley is on a week-long stay in the US, during which he will participate in annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.
Gucci is the latest label to join the Fur Free Alliance in eliminating animal fur from the spring 2018 collection and onwards.

Marco Bizzarri, president and CEO of Gucci, has announced that the Italian fashion house is going to stop producing fur, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Gucci's fur-free decision is part of the company's new 10-year "Culture of Purpose" sustainability plan, which also includes the house's commitment to contribute 1 million euros as a founding partner of UNICEF's Girls' Empowerment Initiative.

"Our new 10-year 'Culture of Purpose' sustainability plan has three principal focuses: the environment, humanity and new models," said Bizzarri.

He added that the plan demonstrates the company's "absolute commitment to making sustainability an intrinsic part of our business."



As part of the "Culture of Purpose" plan, Gucci states that it is committed to reducing its environmental impact; dedicated to enhancing the lives of the people who make its products as well as supporting communities; and devoted to applying technical innovation to improve efficiency in its production and logistics.

The announcement comes soon after the brand received the Green Carpet Fashion award for sustainable innovation.

Armani announced in 2016 that it was going fur-free.

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The Karnataka High Court today commuted the death penalty given to a serial killer by a trial court in a murder case of a woman to imprisonment till death.

A division bench of Justice Ravi Mallimath and Justice John Michael D'Cunha commuted the sentence of Mohan Kumar alias 'Cyanide' Mohan, who faced charges of killing a number of women between 2003 and 2009. He was sentenced to death in three cases.

The court passed the order on the matter referred to it by the trial court for confirmation of the death penalty for killing a woman in a public toilet in Hassan in June, 2009.

The judges held that the prosecution failed to present evidence for the rape andabduction charges against Kumar.

According to the prosecution, Kumar allegedly used to lure women to marry him and take them to hotels. Later, he would kill them by giving them birth control pills laced with cyanide.

He was caughtafter the June incident.

The call details of the woman helped police in cracking the case.

Police officials were shocked when Kumar, during interrogation, gave chilling details of the murders he had committed. Police had considered those cases assuicide or natural death.

The fourth additional district and session's judge of Mangaluru B K Naik had awarded Kumar the capital punishment in the 2009 murder case, calling it it the rarest of the rare.

Kumar faced charges of killing 20 women but was convicted in four cases by the trial court. Out of the four, he was given the death sentence in three and life term in the other.

The 2009 case had come up before the highcourt for confirmation of the death penalty.

Kumar had filed an appeal against the death sentences and appeared before the high court as the party in person, one who argues his case on his own.

He contended that in none of the cases, rape was established and urged the court to commute the punishment to life imprisonment.

Allowing his plea, the court heldthat the accused had not physicallytortured the victim in the present case. Hence, it ordered imprisonment till his death.

The court directed jail authorities not to release him as he will not be entitled for remission.

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Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice to the Centre on a writ petition filed by a woman, seeking repatriation of her husband -- a solider of 1971 war-- from Pakistan.

The HC bench of Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain issued notice to the Ministry for External Affairs and BSF for November 11 while acting on a petition filed by Angrez Kaur, resident of Faridkot.

She has sought direction to get her husband, Surjit Singh, a constable in BSF, who was captured by Pakistani Army during 1971-war on December 4, 1971, repatriated, said petitioner's counsel H C Arora.

However, the BSF authorities presumed him to have been killed in the war in Chhamb Sector, he said.

Among other evidence, the petitioner relied upon a statement given by Pakistani Human Rights activist Ansar Burney on April 28, 2011, in Pakistan to a newspaper claiming that constable Surjit Singh of India was in Pakistan Jail, after he had completed 20 years imprisonment, Arora added.

The petitioner also stated that in 2004 too there were reports that her husband was being released but on going to border to receive him, she found that one Makhan Singh, who was undergoing imprisonment in Pakistan, had been repatriated to India, in the assumed name of Surjit Singh, said Arora.

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The Rajasthan High Court today sought the state government's response on a plea which demanded a probe into the killing of dreaded gangster Anand Pal Singh by police alleging that it was a "fake encounter".

Justice Pankaj Bhandari issued notice to the Rajasthan government asking it submit the reply by October 27 on the petition by Raj Kanwar, wife of the gangster.

The petitioner alleged that the state government had not complied with the guidelines of the Supreme Court in such cases.

Her counsel Govardhan Singh argued in the court that neither an FIR had been registered by the police nor an impartial investigation conducted in the matter.

"We brought to the notice of the court that the police has not obtained any call recording data, tower locations pertaining to the encounter or any CCTV footage from the cameras installed at the toll posts between Haryana and Ratangarh," Singh said.

Additional Advocate General G Shiv Kumar Vyas said that Kanwar's plea was already rejected by the lower court after which the petitioner moved the high court.

Earlier, the matter had come before Justice P S Bhati who recused from hearing the petition.

According to police, the gangster, who carried a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, was killed in an encounter on the night of June 24 at Malasar village in Churu district.

He was on the run after escaping from police custody while being taken back to Ajmer prison from a court in Nagaur district in 2015, it said.

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The Madras High Court has dismissed a plea by actor Anand Baabu, son of late comedian C K Nagesh, seeking to restrain producers of the upcoming movie 'Nagesh Thiraiarangam' from using the title.

Justice C V Karthikeyan also dismissed the original application filed by Baabu, claiming Rs 50 lakh compensation from Trans India Media, producers of the movie.

Vacating the interim injunction restraining Trans India Media from using the name 'Nagesh Thiraiarangam', the judge however, directed the producers not to use Nagesh's name independently or exploit his popularity to promote their movie.

Allowing the producers to use the words ('Nagesh Thiraiarangam'), the judge restrained the producers from referring to the name 'Nagesh Theatre' located in the city.

The judge also directed the producers to immediately withdraw teasers/advertisements produced by them allegedly using the name of actor Nagesh and 'Nagesh Theatre.'



He also directed them that the advertisements of the movie should not be on the basis of the popularity of the late actor or Nagesh Theatre.

Permitting Baabu to approach the court any time if it came to his notice that the producers were using the name of his father or Nagesh Theatre to promote the film, Justice Karthikeyan dismissed the original application filed arising out of the civil suit claiming compensation.

Baabu had filed a civil suit claiming compensation of Rs 50 lakh from the producers of the movie stating that with a view to making profit they had used his father's name in teasers and advertisements, which had shocked his family members.

He had claimed that the movie could not be released under the name of 'Nagesh Thiraiarangam' without permission from him or his family members.

Also, Baabu had claimed damages and sought for an interim stay on the use of the name by the producers, which was granted by the High Court earlier.

Responding to the application, the producers submitted that it was wrong to say that they were exploiting the name 'Nagesh.'



They also submitted that the building 'Nagesh Thiraiarangam' in the movie was located in a remote village and there was no reference to 'Nagesh Theatre' which existed in Chennai and the movie did not revolve around the name 'Nagesh' or 'Nagesh Theatre'.

Hence, they sought vacating of the stay and also filed an affidavit stating that the movie would not have any bearing to the character of late Nagesh.

The judge, who dismissed the application filed by Baabu, in his order said, "On a perusal of script it is seen that it has nothing to do with the character 'Nagesh' or with theatre in his name."



Even though the name 'Nagesh' is familiar and popular in Tamil filmdom, the word 'Thiraiarangam' can be used by any one and there cannot be any injunction relating to the word ('Thiraiarangam'), the judge said.

It is to be noted that Nagesh theatre had been actually sold by the family in the year 2008 and it is not in existence anymore.

"There had been instances of films like 'Shivaji the Boss' using the name of an erstwhile actor," the judge said.

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The Delhi High Court has sought the reply of the Centre on a plea against its two notifications, disqualifying directors of private limited companies for non-filing of financial statements for three continuous financial years.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar also issued notice to the ministry concerned on the plea which alleged that apart from the disqualification from the said companies, the directors would also be banned from being appointed as directors in any other company for a period of five years.

Expressing concern over the issue, the bench also stayed operation of the notifications with regard to the petitioners -- Sushen Mohan Gupta and other two directors.

"Till next date of hearing, there shall be stay of the notices dated September 6 and 12, 2017 to the extent that they relate to petitioners," the bench said and listed the matter for January 29.

It directed the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to file its counter affidavit before the next date of hearing.

The plea filed through advocate Manish Jain said that the disqualification of the directors under Section 164 (2)(a) of the Companies Act, 2013, without granting them opportunity to be heard, was unreasonable, unjust, arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional.

"The gross effect of the said section is such that it can lead to a situation of vacuum within the various companies, as the directors disqualified would not be in a position to appoint a new director which in turn would lead to instant stalling of business activities in various companies that might severely affect the economy as a whole," the plea said.

The counsel contended that Section 274 of the Companies Act 1956 was limited to dealing with disqualification of directors of public limited companies.

"It was only after the Companies Act, 2013 came into effect that the directors of private limited companies were brought within the ambit of disqualification for the first time. Therefore, the new provision ought to have a prospective effect and not a retrospective one," the plea added.

The court was informed by the petitioners counsel that the company had become non-operational on account of failing to do any business, and thus could not file the statutory documents.

The plea contended that the intent of the notifications was to safeguard public interest and public money, whereas the petitioners are the directors of private limited companies, which does not involve public money.

The plea also stated that the government, on its mission to promote ease of doing business, has miserably failed to consider that some sort of mechanism should have been adopted to differentiate the genuine cases from ones that involve illegal activities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Private sector HDFC Bank today launched an initiative for providing tailor-made banking and advisory solutions to startups through SmartUp zones.

These zones will be an exclusive area inside the branch dedicated to startups.

In the first phase, SmartUp Zones will be launched in over 65 branches in 30 cities across India, including tier 2 and 3 cities that are emerging as startup hubs, HDFC Bank head e-commerce and branch banking Smita Bhagat said here.

SmartUp zones was launched by NITI Aayog Additional Secretary Yaduvendra Mathur here.

Furthermore, Bhagat said by accessing the bank's new SmartUp portal, startups will be able to tap into the knowledge and experience of a complete network of startups, while simultaneously offering their services to this universe.

This initiative is part of a larger effort by HDFC Bank to create an ecosystem to nurture the spirit of innovation and enterprise in the startup space, she said.

"SmartUp is tailored to meet all the requirements of a start-up, offering banking and payment solutions, along with advisory and forex services. This year, the bank is taking its start-up offering to the next level with dedicated start-up zones," she said.

These will provide startups assistance with partnerships and alliances in terms of cost savings and growth levers, she added.

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Following are the top stories from the western region at 1700 hrs.

BOM5 GA-CONG-SHAH



Panaji: The Congress seeks an inquiry by the CBI into a media report alleging that the turnover of a firm of BJP president Amit Shah's son Jay grew manifold after the saffron party came to power in 2014.

BOM7 GJ-BHARTI-GANDHI



Ahmedabad: BJP leader and Union minister Uma Bharti claims the Congress "benefited" from the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi as he had talked about disbanding the party after Independence.

BOM6 MH-ACCIDENT-GIRLS



Pune: Two schoolgirls fatally knocked down by a speeding SUV belonging to a local Shiv Sena leader's relative in Maharashtra's Baramati.

BES5 CG-NAXAL-ARREST



Raipur: Police arrest a Maoist, carrying a reward of Rs 3 lakh on his head, from Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.

BCM8 BIZ-ALLIANZ



Mumbai: Financial services group Allianz partners with Shapoorji Pallonji Group to establish a rupee-denominated closed-ended fund to invest in the office market in the country.

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Ahead of the Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's sister-in- law Jyoti Sen and some other relatives joined the BJP today, party sources said.

Along with Sen, Singh's brothers-in-law Veer Vikram Sen, Prithvi Vikram Sen also formally joined the BJP along with their supporters in the presence of the party's state in charge Mangal Pandey.

Jyoti Sen had unsuccessfully contested the 2012 assembly elections from Kasumpti as an independent.

"People from different walks of life are joining the BJP as they are influenced by the progressive and developmental policies of the party," Pandey said on the occasion.

He claimed that the BJP is all set to win more than 50 seats in the 68 seat assembly.

Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh will be held in a single phase on November 9.

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World number four Elina Svitolina withdrew from the Hong Kong Open with a leg injury today, the latest blow to the WTA event which has also been hit by several pre-tournament pullouts and early exits.

The top seed's withdrawal means her second-round opponent, American world number 114 Nicole Gibbs, receives a walkover into the quarter-finals.

Ukraine's Svitolina, who is due to play this month's WTA Finals in Singapore, has been carrying a right groin strain which was heavily strapped as she laboured to a first-round victory over Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas on Tuesday.

Svitolina told AFP that she sustained the injury during her mammoth, 3hr 21min quarter-final defeat in Beijing last week to the eventual champion there, Caroline Garcia.

"I picked up the injury a little bit in Beijing," she said. "It's the groin. All the time when I go for wide shots or stretch I feel it.

"I will probably do some scans now to see how it is, because you know I have Singapore. It's a tough decision because I really wanted to play here."



Svitolina's exit is just the latest to affect the tournament, which was rocked before it started by the pullouts of three big names.

US Open champion Sloane Stephens cried off with an injury after losing in the first round in both Wuhan and Beijing, her only appearances since her Flushing Meadows triumph.

British world number 10 Johanna Konta also cancelled her trip because of a foot problem, while France's 13th-ranked Kristina Mladenovic opted out with a knee injury.

Of the star players that did show up at Victoria Park, number two seed Venus Williams was sent packing in her second-round match in straight sets on Wednesday by Japanese teen sensation Naomi Osaka.

And she was swiftly followed by fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, beaten in three sets by the resurgent former US Open champion Sam Stosur.

It leaves in-form defending champion and world number six Caroline Wozniacki as the highest-ranked player remaining and odds-on favourite to retain her crown.

Wozniacki, who won in Tokyo just two weeks ago, faces little-known Australian Lizette Cabrera, the world number 155, for a place in the quarter-finals later on Thursday.

Svitolina has been enjoying the best season of her career, winning five times on the WTA Tour in Taipei, Dubai, Istanbul, Rome and Toronto while breaking into the top 10 for the first time and hitting a career-high ranking of three.

The Ukrainian now has just 10 days to recover her fitness before the top eight-ranked players battle it out in the season-ending WTA Tour finals.

In the quarter-finals, Gibbs will face either fellow American Jennifer Brady or China's eighth seed Zhang Shuai, who play later on Thursday.

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The first diesel-electric locomotive built by US conglomerate General Electric as part of a USD 2.5 billion deal to supply 1,000 such engines to the Indian Railways has arrived in India.

The project, a joint venture between the Indian Railways and GE to supply and maintain modern diesel electric locomotives of 4,500 HP and 6,000 HP to the public transporter, was announced in November 2015.

GE clarified that the work on a diesel locomotive factory in Bihar's Marhowrah is on track, days after Railway Minister Piyush Goyal ruled out any changes in the deal.

But with government's thrust on electrification of tracks to combat pollution, there was a buzz, and some media reports that it could exit the contract.

"The first of 1,000 diesel-electric evolution series locomotives has already arrived at India's Mundra Port," Vishal Wanchoo, President and CEO, GE South Asia told PTI on the sidelines of the International Rail Conference and the 12th edition of the International Rail Equipment Exhibition (IREE) held here today.

"The work in our diesel factory in Bihar is on track and as the minister has said there are no changes in the contract," he said, adding GE was actually ahead of schedule.

The plan is to deliver 100 locomotives per year on an average. The first fiscal year will be little bit more. We plan to deliver the 1,000 locomotives to the Indian Railways over 11 years, he said.

"Our partnership with the Indian Railways is a best-in- class bilateral example of how entities can work together to create jobs and drive economic development in a region," said Wanchoo.

"Through this project, we're creating a robust supply chain ecosystem in India, and will localize more than 70 per cent of all content. We're proud of the more than 6,000 jobs that have been created by GE in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and remain committed to our work in the country," he said.

Goyal had last month said there would be no changes in the Marhowrah factory set up.

But, the railway minister had also said he had discussions with top executives of GE to explore how the objectives of reducing pollution, bringing down overall cost and honouring agreements with the global conglomerate be met.

Wanchoo said GE has no plans to manufacture electric locomotives at the Marhowrah factory.

"GE bid for diesel locomotives and our Bihar plant can manufacture only diesel locomotives. Two contracts were floated and we bid for the diesel plant.

"However, we support the government's electrification process. In every country that we operate in, we supply these locomotives. Most countries wherein we operate have an electrification program, which makes a lot of sense, but the diesel locomotives also co-exist for various reasons as they are efficient and affordable," Wanchoo said.

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India has invited Swedish firms to explore business opportunities here and assured all support to them, the commerce and industry ministry said today.

The ministry is organising 'Make in India: Sweden 2017' in Stockholm starting today, to enhance Indo-Swedish cooperation and explore new areas of partnership.

The Indian delegation for the 2-day event is led by Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu.

Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, who is accompanying Prabhu, invited Swedish companies to visit India and assured them that requisite support will be extended to them.

According to a statement by the commerce ministry, Fadnavis said huge business opportunities are there in Maharashtra in areas like development of smart cities.

"We look forward to collaborate with technology providers into solid and liquid waste management," he added.

Prabhu said that almost all top Swedish companies are present in India.

"Sweden is an old and trusted friend who came to invest in India when it was a tough time to do business, now it is the time of business oriented structural reforms and time is ripe for these partnerships," the minister said.

Prabhu also called on Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lfven, who said: "I look forward to intensely working with you. We are dedicated to making the relationship develop further".

Further, the statement said that SAAB, a leading Swedish company in India, has expressed interest in introducing full scope for development of industrial systems, from design and engineering to production.

"Importance of fostering an EU-India free trade agreement was discussed, given its potential to open borders and enable products to compete. It was agreed that higher economic integration and interdependencies will help resolve global political issues," it said.

The bilateral trade between the two countries dipped to USD 1.87 billion in 2016-17 from USD 2.17 billion in the previous fiscal.

India has attracted USD 1.38 billion during April 2000 and June 2017.

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Kurdish peshmerga forces today blocked roads from Iraqi Kurdistan to the country's second city Mosul in response to Iraqi troop movements, a senior Kurdish military official said.

"The two main roads connecting Arbil and Dohuk to Mosul were cut off on Thursday with sand embankments as a precautionary measure after we detected an increase in deployments and movements of Iraqi forces near the front line with the peshmerga," he told AFP.

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Ireland today gave the green light for tech giant Apple to build an 850-million-euro (USD 1.0- billion) data centre following a battle with conservationists who were seeking to preserve a forest.

High Court judge Paul McDermott dismissed the appeals brought by three campaigners, who were concerned about the environmental impact of the project, which is to occupy nearly 166,000 square meters in County Galway, west Ireland.

The project, which was first announced more than two- and-a-half years ago, would be the biggest private investment in western Ireland.

Apple had promised to hide the centre in the forest, make good any damage done and use renewable energy to power the centre.

Planning approval was quickly granted but objections were filed on environmental grounds.

The US firm met five key concerns last year, but were held up again by appeals from three local residents, raising doubts that it would ever be approved.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar held talks with Apple executives last month, who warned the delay could influence future investment decisions.

Ireland believes the project will create around 300 construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs.

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Hamas must disarm and recognise Israel under a Palestinian unity deal announced today with its rival Fatah aimed at ending their decade-long split, an Israeli government official said.

"Any reconciliation between the (Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority) and Hamas must include a commitment to international agreements and to the conditions of the Quartet, first of which is recognising Israel and demilitarising Hamas," the official said in the Israeli government's first reaction to the deal signed in Cairo.

The official was referring to the diplomatic Quartet on Middle East peace, which includes the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia.

The reaction was Israel's first after the two major Palestinian factions agreed a unity deal in the Egyptian capital today afternoon, which is supposed to see the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority retake control of Gaza from Islamists Hamas by December 1.

The publicly-released parts of the agreement did not specify what would happen to Hamas' armed wing.

Hamas does not recognise Israel and has fought three wars with the Jewish state since 2008.

"As long as Hamas remains armed and as long as it calls for the destruction of Israel, Israel will consider Hamas responsible for any terror attack originating from Gaza," the official said.

He also demanded an immediate return of the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed by Hamas in 2014, as well as the release of two citizens believed imprisoned by the Islamists.

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Israel will withdraw from the UN's cultural and education body after a United States decision to do the same on accusations of bias against the Jewish state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today.

"The prime minister instructed the foreign ministry to prepare Israel's withdrawal from the organisation alongside the United States," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Netanyahu "welcomes the decision by President (Donald) Trump to withdraw from UNESCO. This is a courageous and moral decision because UNESCO has become the theatre of the absurd and because instead of preserving history it distorts it.

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Jammu and Kashmir Information and Public Relations (DIPR) employees, who are on an indefinite strike, today agreed to carry out public relation works, but not distribute advertisements to media organisations.

The employees stopped work yesterday demanding revocation of attachment of a joint director in the department by the state government.

"Following assurance of the director of information, the protesting employees decided to end their strike partially by resuming the PR (public relation) work in the department from this evening," a Information Department Employees Union press release said.

However, the distribution of advertisements to newspapers by DIPR offices in Kashmir and Jammu divisions would remain suspended till the demand is met by the government, it said.

Director Information Muneer-ul-Islam urged employees to resume work and assured them that their demands would be taken up.

The government had yesterday attached the department's Joint Director (Kashmir) Zahoor Ahmad Mir, pending an enquiry into alleged irrational distribution of advertisements among the print media.

Employees of the advertisement wing are also subjected to frequent intimidation and harassment by editors of some small organisations who demand a lion's share of advertisements and other monetary benefits for their publications, a spokesman of the union said.

In the recent past, the frequency of such incidents has increased alarmingly, he alleged.

"In some incidents such editors resorted to use of the nastiest abuses against the officers and officials of the information department for advertisements," the spokesman said.

He claimed that last week an editor barged into the office of the joint director and abused, intimidated and threatened officers.

The striking employees have sought the intervention of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Information Minister Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali in ensuring their security and dignity, he said.

They have also sought the cooperation of the Kashmir Editors Guild, J&K Joint Forum of Newspaper Editors, Editors Guild Jammu, Working Journalists Association Kashmir and Jammu Press Club.

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Health Minister Satyendar Jain today inspected a Delhi government-run dispensary in Mayur Vihar area and ordered suspension of a staff member there over alleged irregularities in issuing registration slips to patients at the facility.

A senior official of the health department said Jain, accompanied by the city's Director General of Health Services (DGHS), enquired about the quality of service at the dispensary located in Mayur Vihar Phase III.

"At a counter there, when he asked people standing in a queue about the services, some of the them alleged that they were being told to pay Rs 5 for getting a registration slip issued," he said.

Jain then enquired both from the staff on duty and the DGHS as to why money was being charged.

"The DGHS told the minister that there is no such rule (of charging Rs 5). Following this the minister ordered suspension of the staff on the spot," he said.

Jain also inspected the Delhi government's LBS Hospital in Mayur Vihar Phase II area this morning.

"He came at around 8:10 am and interacted with patients in the wards," a senior doctor at the hospital said.

The AAP government had recently ordered extension of the OPD (out patient department) consultation timings by two hours (8 am - 2 pm). Jain also made rounds to check its efficacy.

Earlier, the OPD timings were from 9 am to 1 pm. As per the revised timings, the registration counters shall open at 7:30 am and close at 1 pm.

"The minister also enquired from the patients and their family members about the extension of timings from 4 to 6 hours," the doctor said.

Both Jain and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been carrying our surprise inspections at various hospitals in Delhi in the past couple of months.

On Oct 10, Jain visited the Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital in south Delhi, and on Oct 8, inspected Jagpravesh Chandra Hospital in Seelampur area in north-east Delhi.

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The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party today challenged the state government to demolish residential colonies built by "powerful politicians" by encroaching forest land in Bhatindi-Sunjwan belt, a party spokesman said today.

In Jammu, more than 1,500 acres of land has been encroached upon as the Jammu Development Authority is yet to demarcate 6,818 acres of land meant for development, given to it in 1973.

JKNPP chairman Harsh Dev Singh alleged that "some of the prime residential colonies and other concrete structures in Jammu were developed by powerful politicians by encroaching forest land".

"We dare the government to retrieve the forest land from the ministers, MLAs, MLCs and other bureaucrats in areas like Bhatindi, Sunjwan, Chowadi, Nagrota, Bajalta, Roop Nagar, Bantalab in the vicinity of Jammu city," he said.

In September, in a crackdown on land mafia, the Jammu and Kashmir government demolished 82 concrete structures and removed encroachments from over 125 acres of state-owned land on the city's outskirts.

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Kenya's government today banned protests in the centres of three major cities, including the capital Nairobi, citing lawlessness following opposition demonstrations against the country's electoral commission.

"Due to the clear, present and imminent danger of breach of peace, the government notifies the public that, for the time being, we will not allow demonstrations within the central business districts of Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu," said Security Minister Fred Matiangi.

"The inspector general of police has been advised accordingly."



The outlawing of city centre protests comes as the opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) had promised to step up its demonstrations demanding reforms before the holding of a presidential poll re-run, due on 26 October.

Matiangi said opposition protests had seen "attacks on police stations, attacks on police officers occasioning grievous bodily harm, serious disruption of normal business, assault on innocent civilians, destruction and looting of property."



He threatened protest organisers with legal action.

"It is the responsibility of the organiser that all participants remain peaceful. The organisers shall be held personally liable for any breach of law during the demonstrations," he said.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga said this week that he is withdrawing from the scheduled re-run.

He said that without fundamental reforms to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the vote would not be free and fair.

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The Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Front government in Kerala is tapping the cash-rich expats from the state to mop up Rs 10,000 crore to finance major infrastructure projects by launching an NRK bond called 'Pravasi Chitti' (chits for the expats).

The chits will be launched by the Kerala State Financial Services Enterprises (KSFE), a wholly-owned non-banking company of the government and interested non-resident Keralites (NRKs) spread across the globe can invest in it, which will have a government guarantee.

The government targets to get the chits subscribed by at least one lakh NRKs in the first year who can join the chit by giving a monthly remittance.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will formally launch chit by the end of the month.

"We are adopting a two-pronged strategy to empower the returnees through financial support for their ventures in the state and also to raise funds from NRKs to develop key infrastructure in the state.

"The main target is to fund two highways--the 1,267 km-long Hill Highway and the 630-km-long Coastal Highway. We are planning to raise Rs 10,000 crore through the NRK chits," Vijayan told PTI over phone from Thiruvananthapuram today.

He said there is a larger purpose behind this bond issuance--to support NRKs in the long-term.

"The NRKs have played a key role in the development of the state. Their remittances remain the mainstay of the state economy. We are very concerned about their problems and are committed to address them," the chief minister said.

He also noted that his recent intervention with the Sharjah ruler Sultan Bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi to get as many as 149 Indian prisoners released from the UAE jails was one of such endeavours towards this.

According to data from state level bankers' committee, the state tops in NRI deposits with around Rs 1 trillion. But due to uncertain job scenarios and the increasing move by West Asian nations to replace foreign workers with local residents have resulted in an rise in the number of return migration.

While 7.3 lakh people returned in 1998, this almost doubled to 12.5 lakh in 2014, impacting the local economy, he said, adding that as per a study conducted by the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), only 35 per cent migrants to the Gulf have diplomas or degrees.

To address the problems of the diaspora, the government is also hosting the first of a kind Loka Kerala Sabha, a high-level summit of all MPs, MLAs from the state and representatives of over 200 registered Malayalee associations across the globe and also to rope in their support for key initiatives like the NRK bonds.

The meet will be organised on January 12-13, 2018 in Thiruvananthapuram, by Norka-Roots, the nodal government agency under its Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs (Norka) department.

"The meet assumes significance in the wake of large scale reverse migration of NRKs following a general slowdown in the global economy and tightening labour laws and rules in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries," said K Varadarajan, the executive vice-chairman of the Norka-Roots.

"It is part of a multi-pronged strategy of the present government to put the issues faced by NRKs on the front- burner. The government is working out ways and means not only to address the issues of NRKs but also to rehabilitate those who return," he said.

The two-day summit will be attended by delegates of associations representing expatriate Keralites working across the world, including from Europe, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia, besides from GCC nations, which is home to the highest number of NRKs.

He said all the MLAs and MPs from the state as well as the representatives of 170 NRK associations, prominent personalities from different walks of lives, and observers from various global monitoring agencies will attend the function which will be held at the Legislative Complex.

As part of the meet, the Norka-Roots is also organising a brain storming session on mission inclusiveness to involve NRKs in development of the state, Varadarajan said.

NRKs can make their monthly remittances and the entire money will be invested automatically in NRI bonds being issued by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board on behalf of KSFE, which will have a state guarantee too.

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Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri today decided to simplify the land pooling policy for the national capital by limiting DDA's role to being a facilitator and planner only.

This effectively means the transfer of pooled land to the DDA will not be required.

Originally, the land pooled under the policy was to be transferred to the DDA, which would act as the developer entity and undertake further sectoral planning and development of infrastructure on the land pooled.

"The minister and the L-G decided to do away with this requirement and land title continues to be with the original land owners," the Urban Development ministry said in a statement here after the meeting between Baijal and Puri.

"Delhi Development Authority will now act more as a facilitator and planner as against the role initially envisaged for it as a part of simplification of execution of land pooling policy," it said.

Land pooling is expected to catalyse economic, social and civic development of the national capital besides triggering substantial investments and employment generation.

The policy provides for infrastructure development on the pooled land and returning fixed percentage of it to the owners. It is expected to benefit 95 lakh people by incentivising dense development for effective utilisation of land in the national capital, the statement read.

The two, however, expressed concern over the "delay" in implementing the policy that is expected to boost development of 22,000 hectares of land.

The ministry said that the DDA was asked to initiate spatial and services planning for the five zones covered under the policy "so that it could be given immediate effect after finalisation of regulations under the policy."



The DDA was directed to formulate necessary regulations under the policy in accordance with the changes in a month.

"DDA was also asked to ensure single-window clearance mechanism for according necessary approvals for speedy implementation of the policy," the statement said.

Under the policy, 89 villages have been declared as urban areas under the Delhi Municipal Act, 1957 and 95 villages as Development Areas, as required for the implementation of land pooling.

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Years of struggle for Germany's second-ranked airline Air Berlin appeared on their final stretch today, as airborne behemoth Lufthansa announced plans to buy more than half the bankrupt carrier's planes.

The deal has sparked controversy in the European aviation sector, with the German government facing accusations it helped steer the process under a plan to build the Frankfurt- based carrier into an all-conquering juggernaut.

Lufthansa will take over Air Berlin's Austrian subsidiary Niki, German subsidiary LGW and 20 further aircraft, guaranteeing all jobs at the two smaller firms, Air Berlin said in a statement.

The deal includes 81 of Air Berlin's 144 aircraft and 3,000 of its 8,500 staff, Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said in Berlin, hailing it as a "great day" for his company.

Meanwhile, negotiations with Easyjet -- the other bidder chosen for exclusive takeover talks -- "are continuing", Air Berlin said, offering no information about what the British firm hopes to buy or whether any Air Berlin staff will keep their jobs.

Spohr has suggested Easyjet is interested in up to 30 aircraft.

Lufthansa has yet to say how much it will pay under the deal, but Spohr told newspaper Rheinische Post today that the group would invest 1.5 billion euros (USD 1.8 billion) in its low-cost subsidiary Eurowings following the takeover.

He added that 80 planes was the largest addition to Lufthansa's fleet that competition authorities would accept.

"The European Commission will look very closely at this. We will support them," Andreas Mundt, head of Germany's federal competition authority, posted on Twitter.

"We will only be able to breathe when the Commission has finally confirmed the transaction," Air Berlin boss Thomas Winkelmann said in the company's statement.

Many internal German routes will in future only offer a choice between Lufthansa and Eurowings.

But Spohr told business daily Handelsblatt today that "we expect the competition authorities to examine the takeover at least from the point of view of European competition, not limit it to the German market alone."



While the authorities investigate, Air Berlin will operate flights as a subcontractor, as insolvency rules forbid it from flying on its own account after October 28.

Air Berlin triggered bankruptcy proceedings in August after losing a cash lifeline from its biggest shareholder Etihad Airways.

Its aircraft have been kept aloft by a 150-million-euro (USD 178 million) emergency loan from the German government while details of the breakup were worked out.

German and international investors and competitors lined up, with an eye not only on Air Berlin's aircraft but also coveted takeoff and landing slots at crowded airports.

In the race for exclusive talks, Lufthansa and Easyjet reportedly beat out IAG -- owner of Iberia and British Airways -- and three bids of between 500 million and 600 million euros apiece from private investors.

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French President Emmanuel Macron will make his first visit to India in December during which he will take part in the International Solar Alliance Summit.

France's Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler confirmed the visit. Macron will also hold official talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his stay between December 8 and 10.

During the summit, the International Solar Alliance, an India-led initiate which has the backing of around 121 solar- rich countries to tackle energy issues, will come into effect with the adoption of a legal instrument.

The International Solar Alliance was launched in 2015 by Modi and the then French president Francois Hollande in the presence of former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The prime minister had met Macron, who at 39 is the youngest president in France's history, during his visit to Paris in June.

France is India's 9th largest investment partner. It is also a key partner in Indias development initiatives in areas like defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways.

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The district administration has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the death of a Chinese national in judicial custody here last month.

The Thane sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) will conduct the inquiry into the death of Jiang Changquing in the district jail on September 2, an official release said today.

The 48-year-old was lodged in the jail under judicial custody in a diamond theft case.

Jiang and another Chinese national Deng Xiaobo (45) were arrested on August 1 for allegedly stealing two diamonds worth Rs 36.5 lakh from an exhibition centre in Mumbai suburb of Goregaon.

Both of them were subsequently remanded in judicial custody and lodged in the Thane jail.

On August 29, while having lunch with Deng in the prison, Jiang collapsed all of a sudden, jail superintendent Nitin Waychal had then told reporters.

He was rushed to the jail hospital and then taken to the Thane Civil Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead on September 2, he had said.

The duo had arrived in Mumbai on July 30 and later visited the jewellery exhibition.

The CISF personnel had nabbed Jiang and Deng at the Mumbai international airport minutes before they were to board a flight to Osaka, Japan on July 31, the police had said.

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Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is on Sweden tour, today said the state will become a trillion dollar economy by 2030.

Fadnavis, on a three-day visit to Sweden along with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and Maharashtra Industry Minister Subhash Desai, addressed a gathering in Stockholm, after releasing a 'Make in India' magazine.

"Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji says that India will lead the world because of its demography, democracy and demand. Maharashtra leads in this advantage too," a release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) quoted him as saying.

"China was a factory for the world for the last 20 years, but after this decade it will be India," he said while exhorting Swedish firms to invest in Maharashtra.

The CM further said Maharashtra will be a trillion dollar economy by 2030.

Stating that Maharashtra leads in infrastructure projects and ports, Fadnavis said the proposed 'Samruddhi' corridor project between Mumbai and Nagpur will be the longest "smart road" in the nation.

"Our state has a population of 10 per cent, but we contribute 15 per cent to the national GDP. Almost all global businesses have their footprints in Maharashtra, including over 100 Swedish companies," he said while appealing to Swedish companies to invest in the state.

Stating that Maharashtra offers enormous opportunities and benefits, he pointed out that Mumbai is the financial capital of the nation, Pune is the IT capital and Nagpur is the logistics hub.

Fadnavis met Alrik Danielson, President and CEO of SKF group, a leading bearing and seal manufacturing company, the statement said.

"SKF group already has a manufacturing facility in Pune and its officials informed the CM on their expansion plans and that they would soon finalise the next phase for Maharashtra and also that they are keen to work closely with the state government," it said.

The Chief Minister also met Atul Tandon, Director Strategy and Commercial Excellence, of AstraZeneca.

The company appreciated Maharashtra's initiatives for screening of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, the statement said.

"The global biopharmaceutical company agreed and assured the CM to work closely with the state and that they are keen to work for a pilot project in a civil hospital to improve healthcare facilities," it said.

Fadnavis also met Pr Stenmark, Chief Regulatory Officer, of IKEA and appealed to the company to join hands with the state for use and branding of bamboo/bamboo products to increase the income and employment of tribals and locals.

"The state government has already set up a Bamboo Development Board and is also providing skilling support to the locals. The CM urged IKEA to start a skill centre for Bamboo," the statement said.

IKEA also informed the CM that the work for Navi Mumbai IKEA store has already started and will be completed by 2019.

The 'bhumipujan' (ground-breaking) of the store was performed by Fadnavis on May 18 this year.

Fadnavis also met Swedish Minister for EU Affairs and Trade Ms Ann Linde and discussed important bilateral issues, the statement said.

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A 37-year-old man has been apprehended at a Delhi metro station for allegedly trying to conceal and smuggle in two toy pistols, a senior security official said today.

The incident was reported yesterday at the R K Ashram station when a CISF jawan, during frisking, detected two toy guns concealed inside the trousers and tied on to the legs of Bharat Saini, a local resident, he said.

Saini was apprehended by the security personnel and handed over to the police.

"The security at the Delhi metro is already at a high alert mode in view of the forthcoming festival week. The man told the Central Industrial Security Force personnel that he was trying to smuggle in the two pistols by cheating the security systems," the official said.

"Toy guns are not allowed to be taken inside the metro as they can pose a security threat to the rapid rail system," he said.

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A 35-year-old man was shot dead by motorcycle-borne assailants near his house in Vidya Vihar colony here, the police said today.

Vishal Singh was shot dead while he was returning from Sigra market and had reached the colony gates, they said.

Singh tried to run but the assailants chased him and opened indiscriminate fire, they said.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Police recovered over half a dozen empty shells of 9 mm pistol and also a .32 bore pistol from the spot.

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The police today arrested a Maoist, carrying a reward of Rs 3 lakh on his head, in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district.

Punem Sona (30), who was active as deputy commander of the Local Organisation Squad (LOS) of Maoists, was apprehended from a forest near Futapalli village under Usoor police station area, a police official told PTI.

Acting on specific inputs about the presence of Sona in Futapalli village, around 450 kms from here, a team of local police yesterday launched a search operation near the area, he said.

The patrolling team waited in a concealed position in the forest for the cadre before catching him, he said.

Warrants were since long pending against Sona in four Naxal-related incidents, including attempt to murder, arson and loot, the official said.

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The Supreme Court judgement criminalising sexual intercourse by a man with his minor wife can attract a jail term of 10 years under the India Penal Code or even a life term under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The apex court's landmark decision to amend Exception 2 of Section 375 (definition of rape) of the IPC, which had earlier exempted husbands from being tried for rape for having sexual relations with wives of 15 to 18 years of age, would now make such males liable for prosecution and stringent punishment.

The amended provision now reads: "Sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under eighteen years of age, is not rape."



The court highlighted the inconsistencies in two penal laws saying as per the Exception 2 to Section 375 of IPC, a man's sexual intercourse with his wife between the age group of 15-18 was not rape but at the same time it is an offence of aggravated penetrative sexual assault and punishable under Section 6 of the POCSO Act.

The bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said that as per Section 42 A of POCSO Act, if there was any inconsistency between IPC and POCSO, the latter would prevail.

"Exception 2 to Section 375 of IPC, which makes sexual intercourse or acts of consensual sex of a man with his own wife not being under 15 years of age, not an offence, is not found in any provision of POCSO.

"Therefore, this is a major inconsistency between POCSO and IPC. As provided in Section 42A, in case of such an inconsistency, POCSO will prevail. Moreover, POCSO is a special Act, dealing with the children whereas IPC is the general criminal law. Therefore, POCSO will prevail over IPC and Exception 2 in so far as it relates to children, is inconsistent with POCSO," the bench also comprising Justice Deepak Gupta said.

The bench also observed that the exception 2 of the section 375 of IPC creates a distinction between a married girl child and an unmarried girl child with no real rationale.

"Such an unnecessary and artificial distinction if accepted can again be introduced for other occasions for divorced children or separated children or widowed children," the bench said.

It opened the doors of criminal courts for minor wives to lodge complaints against their spouses if they resort to sexual intercourse.

"It is also clarified that Section 198(6) of the Code (of Criminal Procedure) will apply to cases of rape of 'wives' below 18 years, and cognizance can be taken only in accordance with the provisions of Section 198(6) of the Code," Justice Deepak Gupta who wrote concurring judgement, said.

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Around half a dozen armed miscreants today looted more than Rs 22 lakh from a nationalised bank located in the heart of Sheikhpura town here, police said.

As the branch of the Indian Bank located at Katra chowk, opened in the morning, around half a dozen armed miscreants barged into the bank and held the manager Pankaj Kumar and other staff captive before decamping with Rs 22.67 lakh from cash counter, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Amit Sharan said.

The miscreants also thrashed the branch manager and a customer, the SDPO said adding that they also locked the main gate of the bank branch from outside before decamping with the looted money.

The borders of the district have been sealed and police teams are conducting raids to nab the miscreants, he added.

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US biotechnology major Monsanto's Indian JV has settled royalty dispute with three Indian cotton seed companies that have cleared payment dues of about Rs 300 crore and the arbitration process is on with five other firms.

Mahyco Monsanto Biotech Ltd (MMBL), a joint venture firm of Monsanto, has sub-licensed Bt cotton seed technology to various domestic seed companies since 2002.

However, eight licensees including Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd (NSL) refused to honour their commitments to pay MMBL over Rs 450 crore after collecting these amounts from cotton farmers in kharif 2015.

In a letter to the agriculture ministry, MMBL said it has "amicably settled" the dispute with three Indian companies -- Ajeet Seeds, Kaveri Seed Co Ltd and Ankur Seeds.

According to sources, these three companies owed about Rs 300 crore.

The arbitration process to settle the matter with the rest five companies, including Nuziveedu group firms, is still on and they together owe about Rs 160 crore, they added.

The Nuziveedu group firms -- Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd, Prabhat Agri Biotech Ltd and Pravardhan Seeds Pvt Ltd -- together owe Rs 145 crore and the rest Rs 15 crore by Amar Biotech Ltd and Sri Rama Agri Genetics.

Stating that MMBL is committed to resolving the disputes, the company's Director Shilpa Divekar Nirula in the letter said: "...the outstanding disputes with the few companies, namely NSL group of companies, Amar Biotech Ltd and Sri Rama Agri Genetics, who follow NSL's lead on the disputes, continue."



"The arbitration proceedings are ongoing before various fora across the country," she added.

MMBL said many seed companies had ended their dispute with the company in early 2015-16 except for eight, which were referred to arbitration.

Meanwhile, Monsanto has appealed against the government decision to fix cotton price along with trait value (royalty) under the Cotton Seed Price Control Order. The case is pending with the Delhi High Court.

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A day after resigning from the Trinamool Congress, Mukul Roy today gave strong indications that he would not form a new party in West Bengal, contending that his vast political experience could be utilised by any party including the BJP.

Roy, who has been cozying up to BJP leaders for some time now, admitted that he was in constant touch with them.

"I believe that any good leader of political potential can help any party get good results," Roy told PTI here.

Speaking about his vast experience in state and national politics, Roy said that "apart from Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, there is no one in TMC" who could match his knowledge of every booth in West Bengal.

Roy was the chief election manager of the TMC and the right-hand man of Banerjee in poll planning till he fell out with her recently.

He said he would announce his future plan after Diwali.

Roy said he would go to the Election Commission tomorrow to request it to ensure free and fair elections in the upcoming bypoll to two assembly and one Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.

"I always had a very close connection with the Election Commission. I feel that it is very difficult to hold free and fair elections in West Bengal without the help of the commission," Roy said.

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Myanmar's embattled leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, called for national unity today and said she has created a committee that will coordinate all international and local assistance in violence-struck Rakhine state.

More than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from the state to neighboring Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when security forces responded to attacks by a militant Rohingya group with a broad crackdown on the long-persecuted Muslim minority.

Many houses were burned down. The U.N. has called the violence "textbook ethnic cleansing."



Suu Kyi acknowledged in a speech on state-run television that the country is facing widespread criticism over the refugee crisis, and called for unity in tackling the problem.

She said her government is holding talks with Bangladesh on the return of "those who are now in Bangladesh." She gave no details, but officials have suggested they would need to provide residency documents, which few have.

Myanmar's Buddhist majority denies that Rohingya Muslims are a separate ethnic group and regards them as having migrated illegally from Bangladesh, although many families have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Suu Kyi did not use the word "Rohingya" in her speech, but referred to several other ethnic minorities by name.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former political prisoner, has been widely criticized outside Myanmar for not speaking out on behalf of the Rohingya.

She said in her speech that those who return from Bangladesh would need to be resettled, without providing details, and that development must be brought to Rakhine, one of the country's poorest areas, to achieve a durable peace.

She said she would head the new committee, the "Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine," and that it would coordinate all efforts to create a "peaceful and developed Rakhine state."



The government has tightly restricted access to Rakhine for international aid groups and journalists.

Suu Kyi said her government has invited U.N. agencies, financial institutions such as the World Bank, and others to help develop Rakhine.

Myanmar officials deny there has been ethnic cleansing. Myanmar's ambassador to Japan, Thurain Thant Zin, told reporters in Tokyo today that his government was providing humanitarian aid to all affected by the violence and denied reports of human rights abuses by the military.

"To say the Myanmar military conducted those illegal acts is untrue and cannot be true," he said. "The Myanmar government protests the use of such terms as ethnic cleansing and genocide.

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Revenues for India's Business Process Management (BPM) sector is projected to increase from USD 30 billion in FY17 to USD 50-55 billion by 2025, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) said today.

"The current size is about USD 30 billion in revenue, and we think we can grow this business and industry to somewhere between USD 50 to 55 billion by the year 2025," NASSCOM BPM Council Chair Rohit Kapoor said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 19th BPM Strategy Summit organised by NASSCOM here, he said, "This is despite fact that there will be further cannibalisation of revenue, further use of automation and technologies, use of robotics in much pervasive way.

"And yet the value that thisindustry will contribute is going to be significantly higher," he added.

NASSCOM also projected that digital streams would account for 60-70 per cent of the BPM service providers'revenue by 2025, overtaking traditional streams, with advancedtechnology solutions and intelligent automation driving muchof this growth.

The BPC Industry in India is "healthy, kicking and having a great time", and is at a very "exciting" stage of itsevolution and development, Kapoor said.

Stating that BMP industry in India is the largest such industry across the globe, he said, "in FY 2017 the sector's revenue grew to USD 29.8 billion from the previous years at USD28 billion so the growth rate has been 8.8 per cent for the industry, which is pronominal."



"In terms of the employee head count that are directly employed by this industry, that number has expanded from 1.1 million employees to 1.2 million employees, and therefore we added 100,000 net new positions," he added.

Claiming that India remains the largest BPM base in the world, NASSCOM said its share in the global BPM market had expanded from 36 per cent last year to 37 per cent this year.

The revenues have grown almost two times in the last five years and there were a number of new start-ups being created in the industry, it said.

Suggesting that globally no single location had the capability that "we as an industry from India represent," NASSCOM Chairman Raman Roy said, "we are adding jobs, creatingopportunities both here and internationally."



"It is a level playing opportunity. Earlier we used to do things that the overseas workers used to do there; today weare doing things which the overseas guys are copying. We arethe cutting edge and that is what is most exciting about this industry," he added.

To maintain and accelerate the pace of growth, the NASSCOM BPM Council has highlighted its priorities for the industry which include positioning India as the destination ofchoice for global firms to deliver transformation value andthe BPM sector as a world class industry of choice for aspiring professionals.

The industry also wants to capitalise on Data Science and Artificial Intelligence as the next growth trajectory and provide high value services, re-skill the existing workforce to be positioned relevantly for future work in the areas of RPA, automation, AI and digital.

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Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba today reviewed the progress of construction of the country's first indigenous aircraft carrier 'Vikrant' at the Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) here.

He was briefed about various construction activities related to the 40,000-tonne aircraft carrier, whose keel was laid in February 2009.

The INS Vikrant, which was launched in August 2013 and undocked two years later, is in its final stage of construction at the CSL.

On his arrival, Admiral Lanba was received at the naval air station INS Garuda by Vice Admiral A R Karve, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Southern Naval Command, a Defence release said.

"At the shipyard, the CNS (chief of Naval staff) accompanied by the FOC-in-C (South) and other senior officials of the Navy took a walk around of the ship to get a first hand appreciation of the progress of work onboard...," it said.

Later, the Chief of Naval Staff had discussions with CSL Chairman and Managing Director Madhu S Nair.

Work on the hull structure of the carrier was nearing completion and outfitting activities on various equipment and systems were under progress, the release said.

The ship, which is designed to survive attack by nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, puts India in the elite group of nations like the US, Russia, the UK and France that are capable of designing and constructing aircraft carriers.

The basic design of INS Vikrant was done by the Indian Navy's Directorate of Naval Design, which had been developed into detailed design by the design team of CSL.

According to an earlier schedule, the warship was expected to be ready by next year.

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The farm policy needs to be reworked with a focus on promoting water-use efficiency and other climate-smart agricultural practices, National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) CEO Ashok Dalwai said today.

Both scientists and policymakers need to sit together and decide about the technologies that should be developed and scaled up to address the challenges of climate change, he said.

"India has never been doing climate-smart agriculture. We are cultivating water guzzling crops like sugarcane and paddy in areas where there is no water. We have never produced crops as per the climate," Dalwai said addressing an event here.

Farm practices need to be adopted as per the climatic conditions and availability of natural resources, he said, adding that there is a need to change the farm policy keeping in mind the future challenges of climate change.

Climate change is a reality, he said adding that southwest monsoon, which was to withdraw by September-end, is still active in South India and affecting harvest-ready kharif crops and the farming community.

The need of the hour is to adopt science-based agriculture, he said while suggesting shifting some area to tree-based agriculture from water-guzzling cereals to contain green house gas emissions, and growing crops with water-use efficiency.

Speaking on the occasion, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala said the farm policy should be framed to promote water-based productivity of crops instead of land-based.

Since 52 per cent of agri-land is rainfed, farmers' distress can be mitigated by promoting water conservation, constructing watersheds, among other climate-smart farming practices.

Farmers' distress and suicides are more in areas with no forest cover and watersheds. "In north east which has more forest cover, there have not been incidents of farmers' suicides so far," he observed.

Minister of State for Agriculture Krishna Raj was also present at the two-day event that will deliberate on climate- smart farm technologies and innovations.

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ADG BSF Arun Kumar, who had headed a CBI team into the Aarushi Talwar murder case, today called for a review of criminal justice system following the acquittal of the Talwar couple by the Allahabad High Court.

The CBI team under Kumar had concluded that Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj were murdered by Krishna Thadarai- help at Talwar's clinic, his friend Rajkumar-- a domestic servant with Praful and Anita Durrani who were Talwars' friends, and Vijay Mandal, driver of Talwars' neighbour.

The findings, however, were trashed by then CBI director Ashwani Kumar who found holes in the investigation by Arun Kumar.

"It is a well-discussed case. Subject to the confirmation of the court (about Talwar couple being innocent), think of the family and what has happened to them. Let us review our criminal justice system," Arun Kumar told PTI.

He said nobody should face what the Talwars had faced.

"#AarushiVerdict My only concern is how do we ensure that this is not repeated with any other case! It was worth pursuing the truth," the Additional Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) wrote on Twitter after the verdict.

The Allahabad High Court today acquitted Nupur and Rajesh Talwar in the 2008 murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, saying that neither the circumstances nor the evidence was enough to hold them guilty.

The verdict ends, at least for now, the nine-year ordeal of the Noida couple who were sentenced to life by a Ghaziabad CBI court on November 28, 2013 for the double murder that not only transfixed but also shook the nation with its element of filicide.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.

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India has shared in the just- concluded meeting of SCO-Afghanistan 'Contact Group' its perspective on the situation in Afghanistan, including challenges posed by terrorism from beyond its border and the need to strengthen Afghan security forces, the external affairs ministry said today.

The ministry's spokesperson Raveesh Kumar also said that India has conveyed its readiness to work closely with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states in efforts to bring peace, prosperity and stability in Afghanistan.

"India shared its perspectives on the situation in Afghanistan, including security challenges posed by terrorism imposed from beyond its borders, the need to strengthen Afghan National Defence and Security Forces," he said.

The Indian side also stressed on the need for an Afghan- led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled national peace and reconciliation in an environment free of terror and violence, continued assistance for socio-economic development based on priorities of the people of Afghanistan, and ensuring greater connectivity and regional integration for Afghanistan, he said.

The Indian delegation was led by Secretary (West) in the ministry Ruchi Ghanashyam.

This was the first meeting of the group following the expansion of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in June with India becoming its full member.

The next meeting of the Contact Group will be held in Beijing in early 2018, the ministry said in a statement.

Reacting to recent comments by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi that India has "Zero" role in Afghanistan, the spokesperson said India has a very clear role in that country, and added that it has many development projects in the war-torn country.

Asked about India having a divergent view from China and Russia on engaging Taliban as part of the peace process, he said New Delhi has always maintained that there is no good or bad Taliban.

He also reiterated the country's position that "red lines" should be adhered.

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A Nigerian court has ordered the permanent seizure of properties worth some USD 7 million from the country's former oil minister, who is facing a slew of corruption claims.

Judge Abdulaziz Anka, sitting at the Federal High Court in Lagos, yesterday ordered the forfeiture of properties in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

The houses and apartments, valued at 2.6 billion naira and bought through front companies, were linked to Diezani Alison-Madueke and her cousin, Donald Chidi Amamgbo.

Anti-corruption investigators found documents at Amamgbo's office that he owned some 18 companies and properties in Britain and the United States, the court has heard.

He told Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) the companies had been registered to hold property on Alison-Madueke's behalf.

The 56-year-old, who was also the first female president of the oil cartel OPEC, was arrested in London in October 2015 as part of a British police investigation into corruption.

She is currently on bail.

Last month, a court in south London ordered a freeze on five upmarket properties in the British capital linked to Alison-Madueke and a number of her associates.

In August, another Nigerian judge ordered the confiscation of Alison-Madueke's $37 million luxury apartment complex in the upmarket Banana Island area of Lagos.

The previous month, the US authorities announced it had begun proceedings to seize $144 million of assets belonging to associates of the former minister.

Among them were an $80 million superyacht and a $50 million luxury apartment in New York allegedly bought with the proceeds of suspect oil contracts awarded by Alison-Madueke.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was elected on a promise to tackle endemic government corruption and claw back what he said were "mind-boggling" sums of stolen public money.

In particular the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which Alison-Madueke oversaw, has been singled out for reform.

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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today paid tributes to veteran socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia on the occasion of his 50th death anniversary.

Kumar garlanded a statue of Lohia and artistes sang bhajans at a function in Kankarbagh area of the state capital.

The chief minister had said on many occasions in the past that he followed Lohia's ideals. He had also quoted Lohia during his campaigns for social causes.

Road Construction Department Minister Nand Kishore Yadav, Education Minister Krishnandan Varma, MLAs Shyam Rajak and Arun Sinha were also present there on the occasion.

Born on March 23, 1910, Lohia was a freedom fighter and one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party.

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Even as Madhya Pradesh home minister Bhupendra Singh has invited Delhiites to celebrate "Diwali with crackers" in the state, the state government today banned manufacturing, sale and use of crackers which generate high-decibel sound with immediate effect.

"In view of notification issued by the Union Ministry for Environment and Forest, the manufacturing, sale or use of crackers which generate noise levels exceeding 125 dB(AI) or 145 dB(C) will be banned," state environment minister Antar Singh Arya said in a statement here.

Following the Supreme Court's instructions, the Madhya Pradesh government has also prohibited use of all noise-emitting crackers from 10 pm to 6 am, he said.

Firecrackers increase air pollution and adversely affect the environment and humans, the statement said.

On October 10, home minister Bhupendra Singh had invited Delhiites to come to Madhya Pradesh to celebrate Diwali after the apex court banned sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR area till November 1.

"If the people of Delhi contact us over phone or through letters, we will make arrangements for them to celebrate our important festival, Diwali, in Bhopal," he had said, stressing the cultural and religious significance of the festival.

Asked for a comment on the apex court's decision, Singh said it had imposed the ban in view of the environmental conditions in Delhi. "The Delhi government should work hard to improve the environment, which has been primarily polluted by vehicles," the home minister had said.

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A day after quitting the Trinamool Congress and his Rajya Sabha seat, Mukul Roy today said he had no plans to float a new political party.

Roy, who is slated to visit the Election Commission, said he was not going there to talk about a proposal for a new party but to discuss upcoming assembly bypolls.

"Bypolls to two assembly seats in West Bengal will be held in November and I will request the EC to ensure that the elections are held in a free and fair manner. I will give my suggestions in this regard to the EC," Roy, who was suspended by the Trinamool Congress last month, told the 'ABP Ananda' channel.

Though Roy refused to comment when asked if he would join the BJP, a close aide of his told PTI he was likely to do so after Diwali.

"I don't want to comment on it," Roy told the channel when quizzed about the BJP, but categorically denied any move to form a new outfit.

"I repeat once again I have no plans of floating any new political outfit," he said.

Meanwhile, suspended TMC MP Kunal Ghosh said Roy's role in connection with the Saradha, Narada and Alchemist scams should be probed.

Ghosh, an accused in the Saradha scam, said he had submitted a petition to the CBI seeking joint interrogation with Roy.

"I challenge Roy to sit with me for a joint press conference on the Saradha issue," he said.

Asked to comment on Ghosh's remarks, Roy told PTI, "I want to reiterate that I will fully cooperate with the CBI and the ED. Whenever they call me for questioning I will appear before them".

The Narada scam refers to a sting operation in which TMC leaders were allegedly caught on camera accepting money, while the Saradha and Alchemist scams are chit fund frauds.

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The National Peoples Party (NPP) chief Conrad K Sangma has hit out at the Congress for its alleged misrule in Meghalaya.

"The people are committed to uproot the Congress and its corrupt leaders, Sangma told a meeting in Selsella constituency yesterday.

Sangma said that the mood and wind across the state and the Garo hills in particular was against the Congress party.

"We are committed to work for the tribals, minorities and marginalised sections of the society. We'll not allow anybody to divide us in the name of caste, creed or religion. We'll not tolerate if anybody wants to force any ideology or practice upon us," he said.

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Police detectives in New York City and London are taking a fresh look into sexual assault allegations against Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein.

New York Police Department spokesman Peter Donald said today that investigators are trying to determine whether there were any additional complaints involving Weinstein, now embroiled in a sex abuse scandal.

That includes reviewing police files to see if any women previously reported being assaulted or harassed by him.

So far, no filed complaints have been found, he said, other than one well-known case that prompted an investigation in 2015, but authorities are encouraging anyone with information on Weinstein to contact the department.

Also today, British media reported London police are investigating an allegation of sexual assault involving Weinstein.

London's Metropolitan police force said it had received an allegation of sexual assault from the Merseyside force in northwest England.

Merseyside police says the allegation was made yesterday and concerns "an alleged sexual assault in the London area in the 1980s."



More than a dozen women -- including actresses Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow -- told The New York Times and The New Yorker magazine for recent stories that Weinstein had sexually harassed or sexually assaulted them.

Weinstein was fired Sunday by The Weinstein Company, a studio he co-founded with his brother.

Detectives in the NYPD's special victims unit were instructed to identify and speak with any potential victims, including the women who spoke about their encounters with Weinstein in a recent New Yorker article, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

In The New Yorker expose, a former actress, Lucia Evans, said Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex in 2004 when she was a college student.

At least one other unnamed woman said she was raped by Weinstein, but the article did not disclose when it where it happened.

A third woman, actress Asia Argento, told the magazine that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 1997 at a hotel in France.

Under New York law, making someone engage in oral sex by physical force or the threat of it is a first-degree criminal sexual act. There's no legal time limit for bringing charges.

Weinstein, through a spokeswoman, has denied any nonconsensual sexual conduct with any women.

The film mogul reappeared briefly yesterday outside a Los Angeles home, telling the paparazzi he's "not doing OK," but he's hoping for a "second chance," according to video posted by celebrity website TMZ.

He also told the photographers he needs to "get help" and "we all make mistakes."



New York detectives already investigated Weinstein once, in 2015, when an Italian model said the studio executive grabbed her breasts and groped her.

Detectives set up a sting where they recorded a conversation between the woman and Weinstein while he tried to persuade her to come into his hotel room.

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The Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party and Congress today hit out at the state government on the issue of separatist leader Asiya Andrabi's photo featuring in a poster on 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign.

In a major embarrassment for the Jammu and Kashmir government, the banner aimed at highlighting the women achievers of the country featured Andrabi as an achiever alongside Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and other personalities.

After a lot of criticism, the state government today suspended the child development project officer (CDPO) of Anantnag's Breng block.

While the Congress demanded an apology from the PDP-BJP government over the issue, the JKNPP called for dismissal of the government for "glorification of secessionists".

State Congress spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said, "This is total failure of the PDP-BJP government and it should apologise for hurting the nationalist and religious sentiments of the countrymen and insulting our national leaders besides taking stern action to check such incidents".

Sharma also said if these acts were part of the deliberate attempts to appease the separatist element in the state.

JKNPP chief Harsh Dev said the government had to "accept the responsibility for glorification of such secessionists and anti-nationals and step down for such an abhorable, anti-national and seditious exhibition.

The government had lost its moral, legal and constitutional right to continue in office, he said.

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As many as 185 Congress workers were taken into preventive custody when they tried to march toward the venue of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh's programme here today while demanding release of 'pending' crop procurement bonus to farmers.

Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) secretary Anil Agrawal and former MLA Padma Manhar were among those detained by the police.

Congress workers were stopped at Shaheed Chowk when they tried to proceed toward the venue of the CM's event in other part of the city, a police official said, adding that the protestors wanted to lay siege to the venue.

"As many as 185 protesters, including 53 women, were detained and later released," he added.

The CM was in the city to distribute paddy crop procurement bonus to farmers.

Farmers are demanding Minimum Support Price (MSP) against procurement of the crop.

Raigarh district unit Congress chief Nagendra Negi accused the ruling BJP of ignoring the interest of farmers and "ditching" them by not providing bonus and the MSP against paddy procurement as promised by the saffron party in its poll manifesto.

"The BJP is giving bonus to farmers only for the paddy procurement done in 2016-17," Negi said while demanding award of accumulated bonus of the last three years.

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Pakistan today briefed the envoys of the P5 countries -- the US, China, Russia, the UK and France -- over alleged ceasefire violations by India along the Line of Control (LoC).

Senior officials of Pakistan's military and foreign ministry briefed the Head of Missions of Permanent Members of UN Security Council about the "recent escalation of ceasefire violations by India on the LoC and Working Boundary," the foreign office said in a statement.

The briefing was conducted by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Sahir Shamshad Mirza in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The foreign secretary alleged that the ceasefire violations were taking place in complete disregard to the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding and of International Law.

"Pakistan had displayed exemplary restraint but has been compelled to respond. Indian actions are a serious threat for the maintenance of regional peace and tranquility and may lead to a strategic miscalculation, she said.

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Pakistan's embattled Finance Minister Ishaq Dar today appeared before an anti-corruption court here to face trial in a graft case filed against the close aide of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif by the accountability bureau in the Panama Papers scandal.

The case about owning "assets beyond known means of income" is among four graft cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) following the Supreme Court's order of July 28 against Dar and Sharif and his family.

The apex court had also disqualified Sharif and ordered corruption cases against him, his children Maryam, Husain and Hasan and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar.

Officials said that two witnesses including Al-Baraka Bank Senior Vice-President Tariq Javed and Shahid Aziz of the National Investment Trust (NIT) asset management company testified against the finance minister.

Dar, 67, invested Rs 120 million as finance minister in 2015 in NIT but withdrew this money after the Panama Papers case started in January 2017, Aziz told the court.

Javed of Al-Baraka Bank provided details of Dar account in the bank's Lahore branch. He said Dar opened the account in 1991, where his wife, Tabassum Ishaq Dar, also had account in the bank. She was also owner of HDS Securities Private Limited company.

Both witnesses were cross-examined by Dar's lawyer Khawaja Haris.

Dar was indicted last month in the case in which he is accused of making assets, which are not in accordance with his known sources of income.

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Pakistani and US officials today discussed bilateral ties here following the recent strain in relations after President Donald Trump accused Islamabad of providing safe havens to terrorist groups.

A visiting inter-agency US delegation led by Lisa Curtis, Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Council Senior Director for South Asia, held talks with the Pakistani side led by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The parleys took place following Trump's new Afghan and South Asia policy announced in August in which he called for an expanded role for India in stabilising Afghanistan while rebuking Pakistan for aiding terrorists against the US.

"The two sides reviewed the state of play in the relationship in wake of the US strategy on Afghanistan and South Asia and agreed to continue discussions on all matters of mutual interest," according to a statement by the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO).

Janjua reiterated Pakistan's stance for a politically negotiated settlement owned and led by the Afghans and reaffirmed Pakistan's constructive participation in all regional and bilateral mechanisms aimed at pursuing a peaceful solution to the Afghan conflict.

Last month, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi met US Vice-President Mike Pence on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and expressed concern over the greater role that Trump advocated for India as part of his new Afghan policy.

The US delegation was also informed about the recent visit by Pakistani officials to Kabul with a view to intensify engagement and address mutual concerns particularly border management and repatriation of refugees.

Highlighting Pakistan's ongoing law enforcement and counter-terrorism campaign, the foreign secretary apprised the US delegation of Pakistani efforts in eliminating terrorism from the country.

"Pakistan's concerns on continued attacks from across the border were also shared," the FO said.

It said the US delegation was also informed about alleged atrocities and human rights violations committed by Indian security forces in Kashmir.

"It was noted that persistent Indian refusal to engage with Pakistan despite Pakistan's repeated overtures for a comprehensive dialogue was adversely impacting regional stability," according to the FO.

Noting that the US had a long track record of cooperation with Pakistan, the US delegation emphasised the importance of reinvigorating the bilateral relationship in order to achieve the common objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region.

The two sides agreed to continue bilateral engagements at all levels. The US delegation also met the foreign minister.

The delegation included Acting US Assistant Secretary of State, Ambassador Alice Wells, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defence, David Helvey, and other senior officials from the departments of state, defence and the US Embassy in Islamabad.

The delegation's visit comes ahead of tours to Pakistan by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary James Mattis.

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Pakistan genuinely wants to have peaceful ties with its neighbours, including a "belligerent" India, the country's Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said, underlining that it takes "two to tango".

Speaking at a seminar here yesterday on 'Interplay of Economy and Security', Gen Bajwa also said that the region surrounding Pakistan remains captive due to "historical baggage" and "negative competition".

Relations between India and Pakistan have suffered a series of setbacks following a number of terror attacks by Pakistan-based militants. New Delhi has made it clear to Islamabad that bilateral talks cannot take place unless Pakistan dismantles the terror networks on its soil.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have also been tense with the two countries accusing each other of turning a "blind eye" towards militant outfits.

"Our external front which continues to remain in a flux. With a belligerent India on our East and an unstable Afghanistan on our West, the region remains captive due to historical baggage and negative competition," Bajwa said.

He said there is a need for comprehensive effort to pursue the Action Plan and remove vulnerabilities well before they turn into threats.

"But on our part, we are making a deliberate and concerted effort to pacify the western border through a multitude of diplomatic, military and economic initiative. We have also expressed and demonstrated our genuine desire to have normal and and peaceful relations with India, however, it takes two to tango," Bajwa said.

Bajwa also expressed concern over the country's "sky high" debts, saying the abysmally low tax to GDP ratio must change if the country has to "break the begging bowl".

"Growth has picked up but the debts are sky high. Infrastructure and energy have improved considerably but the current account balance is not in our favour," he said.

According to figures released by the finance ministry, Pakistan's foreign debt and liabilities are around $58 billion.

"In order to secure our future, we have to increase our tax base, bring in fiscal discipline and ensure continuity of economic policies," he said, adding that economy remained one of the highest concerns during Security Council meetings.

Bajwa also said when enemies of Pakistan wanted to damage it, they targeted financial hub Karachi and tried to destabilise it.

He said the authorities had put peace a top priority in Karachi and want the city to return to its old economic growth.
Pakistani troops on Thursday fired from small arms at forward areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

There are no reports of any casualty in the firing.

A senior police officer said Pakistani troops opened fire at forward areasin Khadi Karmara along LoC in Poonch sector this morning.

On October 6, Pakistani troops had opened fire in Baba Khori and other areas in Rajouri district.

The year 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who heads the Group of Ministers (GoM) to look into the technical issues of the goods and services tax network (GSTN), said on Thursday that petroleum products should be brought under the goods and services tax (GST) regime.

Modi, also a member of the GST council, said that many states are of the view that petrol and diesel should come under the new indirect tax regime, while some have apprehensions.

"I think in the coming days, issues will also be resolved and I think very soon petroleum products would also become a part of GST," he told reporters in Kochi.

In response to a question, Modi, also Bihar Finance Minister, said he believes that petroleum products should be part of the GST.

"It is my personal opinion," he said, adding that petroleum products were part of the GST worldwide.

Modi, who chaired the ministerial panel meeting last month to set a road map for resolving the GSTN, said he can say "with confidence that in the coming days, the economy will grow and whatever initial problems surfaced would be tackled."

He admitted that in the initial days of implementation of the GST, there may be some problems but the economy would be on far stronger track in the coming days.

"If the growth rate has come down in one or two quarters, it does not mean it is an economic slowdown. It is a cycle. During the UPA regime, you have also seen there were a plenty of quarters in which growth rate came down."

"... the GST is a big reform and I can say that after demonetisation (and) GST, the economy is on a far stronger track than what it was earlier," he said in a response to a question regarding slowdown of the economy.

He claimed the GST would have been implemented during the UPA rule, if the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram had taken the initiative.

"Chidambaram made no efforts to resolve the issues of the states. He made no serious efforts to implement the GST. Compensation to the states was not given," he said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley started giving pending compensation to the states, he said.

"The trust deficit was during the Congress regime," Modi said.

The Bihar leader also clarified that neither Gujarat nor Madhya Pradesh had ever opposed the GST implementation.

"Never Narendra Modi (as Chief Minister) or Gujarat opposed the GST. Never, never, never. It was in the manifesto of the BJP and I was the chairman of the empowered committee constituted by the then Prime Minister," the Bihar minister said.

"Pranab Mukherjee, the then Finance Minister, appointed me as chairman of the empowered committee with the consent of BJP leaders. Never Madhya Pradesh or Gujarat ever opposed GST," he said.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened today to expel European ambassadors within 24 hours, accusing their governments without citing evidence of plotting to have Manila expelled from the United Nations.

Duterte signalled in a fiery speech he would not tolerate European criticism of his drug war, which has seen police kill at least 3,850 people since he took office 15 months ago and led rights groups to warn of a potential crime against humanity.

Duterte accused the European Union of interfering in the Philippines' domestic affairs, and alleged it wanted to get the country removed from the UN.

"Just like that you tell us: 'You will be excluded in the UN'. Son of a whore go ahead," Duterte told reporters, adding European nations were taking advantage of the Philippines being poor.

"You give us money then you start to orchestrate what things should be done and which should not happen in our country. You bullshit. We are past the colonisation stage. Don't fuck with us."



Duterte said he was prepared to kick European ambassadors out of the country if their governments tried to expel the Philippines.

"You think we are a bunch of morons here. You are the one. Now the ambassadors of those countries listening now, tell me, because we can have the diplomatic channel cut tomorrow. You leave my country in 24 hours, all, all of you."



The EU has made no public comments about wanting to remove the Philippines from the United Nations, and Duterte did not explain his reasons for suspecting they were.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella later said Duterte's comments were an "expression of outrage" to criticisms by a small group of European lawmakers and aides who held a press conference in Manila on Monday to condemn the drug war.

Abella said in a statement the group, from the Progressive Alliance and the Party of European Socialists, had "falsely portrayed" itself as an EU mission.

But Abella nevertheless insisted the group's condemnations justified Duterte's expulsion threat against the EU ambassadors.

"This delegation's irresponsible statements protesting the alleged killings under the Duterte Administration demean our status as a sovereign nation," Abella said.

"For so long has our president tolerated these undue interferences in our domestic affairs, and he has decided that these must stop if only to preserve the integrity and dignity of our State as a sovereign nation."



A statement released by EU delegation to the Philippines today also said the group that came to Manila was not a European Union mission.

It emphasised the EU wanted to work with the Philippines at the UN, rather than expel it.

"The EU and the Philippines work constructively and productively together in a close partnership in many contexts and areas, including, of course, in the UN context," the statement said.

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A plea seeking directions to stop plying of 10-year-old "overloaded" trucks registered outside Delhi from supplying food grains to the PDS shops here, has led the National Green Tribunal to seek responses of Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the Delhi government.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar issued notices to the FCI, AAP government, Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd and others while seeking their responses on the plea before October 16.

The green panel, however, made it clear that it would not deal with all the prayers made by the applicant in the plea.

"We confine our notice only to plying of trucks by FCI which are more than 10 years and causing serious pollution, by over-loading, in violation of the orders of the tribunal. Issue notice to respondents," the bench said.

The petition filed by NGO 'Anyay Virodhi Morcha' has alleged that overloaded trucks, used for transportation of food articles, cause more pollution and accidents and a vehicle carrying goods beyond its capacity emits exponentially more toxic gases.

It claimed that there were six FCI godowns in Delhi and foodgrains were being supplied to the PDS centres and shops by such trucks and goods carriers.

"The applicant submits that the respondents are causing pollution thereby continuously flouting the guidelines, norms, rules/regulations etc. The respondents in collusion with each other are allowing diesel trucks which have been registered more than 10 years back and despite the representations they have not stop or discontinued," the plea said.

Advocate Ashwani Dubey, appearing for the NGO, said the trucks bearing the registration number of other states were being used to transport wheat and rice from one place to another in Delhi itself, which was in violation of rule 90(7) of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.

According to the Rule, the vehicles "shall not pick-up and down goods" between two point situated in the same State (other than home state) even having national permits, he said.

"Issue appropriate order/direction, directing...to immediately stop transportation of specified food articles by the diesel vehicles, that is trucks/trolleys/goods carrier which are older than 10 years," the plea said.

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Pope Francis will talk peace on his to visit Myanmar, a Catholic church representative said today, a potentially highly charged trip during a refugee crisis that has seen 520,000 Rohingya Muslims pushed out of the country.

The late November visit comes as western Rakhine state is devoured by communal violence that has sent unprecedented numbers of Rohingya fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh.

Myanmar's army is accused of using a crackdown on militants to expel its Muslim Rohingya population -- a persecuted minority the Pope has previously called "brothers and sisters".

Any comments seen to support the Rohingya could provoke a strong reaction from hardline Buddhist clerics and a Buddhist-majority public aggrieved at global support for the Muslim group.

Myanmar has a small roughly half a million Catholic population, mainly in the remote north. The same goes for Muslim-majority Bangladesh -- where the Pope will travel on to.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Myanmar said it was unclear whether the Pope would address the Rakhine crisis during his November 27-30 trip.

"We don't know yet what will be his speech... but he is coming for the sake of the country and he will be talking about peace," Father Mariano Soe Naing, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishop's Conference of Myanmar, told AFP.

"There won't be any interfaith meetings because of the lack of time," he said, although he will meet with the main Buddhist authority.

Some 200,000 people are expected to attend a mass led by Francis in Kyaikkasan Grounds, a stadium in Yangon, he added.

Myanmar and the Vatican only established full diplomatic relations in May, shortly after de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Pope Francis during a European tour.

That visit was overshadowed by her country's treatment of the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship by the state and have previously been displaced in huge numbers by communal violence and army campaigns.

Only weeks before his meeting with Suu Kyi, Francis described the Muslim minority as "brothers and sisters" who were were being tortured and killed for their faith.

He added they were "good and peaceful people who have suffered for years".

Any repetition of that stance will put Francis at odds with many inside Myanmar, where authorities have denied committing atrocities and tried to cast the Rohingya as the villains.

Buddhist nationalist hardliners have previously vowed to protest the papal visit because of his support for the Muslim group.

This week Myanmar's government called for unity with a large inter-faith rally in Yangon, the first since the Rakhine crisis.

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Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu today said he met top business leaders of companies, including H&M and AstraZeneca, in Stockholm and discussed investment opportunities in India.

"Met H&M team led by Mr Fredrik Olsson, CEO. Discussions on future collaborations in skill development, fashion design, sourcing from India," Prabhu said in a series of tweets.

He discussed with Leif Johansson, the Chairman of AstraZeneca ways to bring advanced technology in the country in sectors such as biotech, pharma and telecom.

Prabhu also held meeting with Jan Secher, President and CEO, Perstorp.

"Discussed possibilities of setting up greenfield chemicals manufacturing facility in India," he added.

The minister is visiting Stockholm for the 'Make in India: Sweden 2017' event organised by the ministry.

According to a tweet by Make in India, a twitter handle managed by the ministry, India and Sweden aim to boost bilateral economic ties to USD 5 billion by 2017. The two-way trade was USD 2.5 billion in 2014-15.

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The CPI(M) today said the CBI and the ED should probe the financial dealings of firms linked to BJP chief Amit Shah's son to show that the agencies are "not selective" in their action.

"At a time when the Modi government is going after various businessmen and opposition politicians on corruption and charges of laundering black money through investigations by the CBI, ED and the Income Tax department, the way they are handling Jay Shah's case is in glaring contrast," former party general secretary Prakash Karat alleged.

In an editorial in the latest issue of the CPI(M) organ 'Peoples Democracy', Karat also compared Jay Amit Shah's case with that of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, saying "commentators have observed similarities with some aspects of the Robert Vadra case where also unsecured loans and official favouritism were involved".

He said the government "must investigate the affairs of his (Jay Shah's) companies. The CBI and the ED must be put on the job to at least show that they are not selective about tracking down economic offenders."



Accusing the government of "shielding" the corrupt, the CPI(M) leader said the response of the BJP-led government was "similar to that of the UPA government and the Congress".

He said the BJP "is out in force to deny any wrongdoing on the part of their president's son..... The attitude of the BJP in the face of all such charges is to deny any misconduct or bribery.

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The friends and relatives of six former British soldiers lodged in a Tamil Nadu jail today lobbied MPs in the UK Parliament before handing over a 405,000-strong petition to 10 Downing Street to help secure their release.

The ex-soldiers were arrested on October 2013 and sentenced for carrying arms on a commercial ship.

They were held while working for an anti-piracy security company protecting commercial ships off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean and have pleaded their innocence ever since.

"It's now four years since our loved ones were wrongly incarcerated in India. These last four years have been sheer hell for everyone concerned, particularly for the men who were imprisoned while carrying out a vital, legitimate job in anti-piracy," said Joanne Thomlinson, whose brother John Armstrong is among the six former soldiers.

"We hope that today we can raise the profile of this miscarriage of justice even further, so that we can get the government to take a more robust stance against this injustice," she said.

Indian coastguards boarded their vessel, the MV Seaman Guard Ohio, and arrested them along with 29 other crew members for taking weapons into India's territorial waters.

The charges were initially quashed when the men argued the weapons were lawfully held for anti-piracy purposes and their paperwork, issued by the UK government, was in order.

But a lower court reinstated the prosecution and they were convicted in January last year and sentenced to five years in jail.

Since then there have been a series of appeals, includingBritish Prime Minister Theresa May raising the matter with Narendra Modi during her visit to India in November 2016 as well as Britain's High Commissioner in India, Dominic Asquith, visiting the men in jail in Chennai.

The former soldiers who remain behind bars include John Armstrong, Nick Dunn, Billy Irving, Ray Tindall, Paul Towers, and Nicholas Simpson.

The sailors were aboard the American-owned Seaman Guard Ohio, which reportedly offered armed protection to vessels sailing through an area known as "pirates' alley" between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.

Customs officials and police found 35 guns, including semi-automatic weapons, and almost 6,000 rounds of ammunition on board the ship, which allegedly did not have permission to be in Indian waters.

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The nine-year trial in the murder of their daughter Aarushi had left the Talwar couple emotionally drained, Nupur Talwar's father said today, thanking the judiciary for acquitting them.

B G Chitnis, a former group captain in the Indian Air Force, said it was very trying for him to see his daughter, Nupur and her husband Rajesh behind bars.

"I am grateful to the judiciary for the verdict. They (the Talwar couple) have really suffered. They are emotionally drained. At my age it was very trying to see my daughter behind bars," he told reporters here.

Vandana Talwar, Aarushi's aunt, said the entire family had suffered for nearly a decade as the case dragged on.

"It was very exhausting and trying...," she said.

She refused to go into the merits of the case and the judgement, saying the couple's lawyers would answer questions on who killed Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj.

"We are deeply grateful to the judiciary and relieved over the verdict. I would like to thank all the supporters who supported us through the long ordeal," she said.

The Allahabad High Court today acquitted the Talwar couple, saying they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record.

The verdict ends the ordeal of the parents who were found guilty by a CBI court in the sensational double murder case.

A division bench of the court comprising justices B K Narayana and A K Mishra upheld the appeals by the Talwars against the Ghaziabad CBI court order sentencing them to life imprisonment on November 26, 2013.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.

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Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam today exhorted the IT and electronics industry to replicate the "dramatic" growth of domestic mobile manufacturing in consumer electronics sector as well.

The minister, speaking at an Assocham event, said under the Digital India programme, the government has taken a series of measures to promote electronics manufacturing to position the country as a production hub for electronics goods.

The turnover in mobile manufacturing has shown "a dramatic improvement", he said adding that production in consumer electronics has however not increased at the same pace.

"This is one area, where the industry needs to act up...I think this is an area in which we need to have a detailed discussion," the Minister of State for Electronics and IT pointed out.

The information security requirements of the digital society will throw up the need for 5,00,000 cyber security experts over the next three years, the minister said citing industry estimates.

He further asked the industry to share information on cyber security breaches, as pooling of information will enable better handling of such incidents.

Kannanthanam said Computer Emergency Response Teams or CERT (an expert group that handles computer security incidents) are also being established for sectors like telecom, finance and power as well as states like Kerala and Maharashtra.

"Security of online transactions is becoming a big issue," he said.

The minister also expressed disappointment over the pace of digitisation in healthcare sector.

"I am pretty disappointed with this entire digitisation in the health sector," he said citing a particular case of a large hospital not maintaining digital health records, including the diagnosis and medicines being prescribed for patients who come for consultation.

Additional Secretary in Ministry of Electronics and IT, Ajay Kumar said the government is working on a new policy, which will further spur electronics manufacturing.

He said a cyber security product procurement policy to give preference to domestic industry is also in the offing.

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Moscow has lodged a protest with Washington, accusing US officials of tearing down Russian flags from two of its diplomatic missions in the country, the foreign ministry said today.

In late August, the United States ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and two other installations as relations between the two former Cold War enemies took another dive.

"Yesterday we learnt about a new ... hostile act of the US authorities against our diplomatic missions," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters today, warning that Moscow would retaliate.

She said Russian flags "had been torn off the buildings of Russia's trade mission in Washington and the general consulate in San Francisco," she said, Russian agencies reported.

"Obviously the Russian side has never agreed to its flags being removed," she added, calling the removal "a violation of a Russian state symbol."



"The Russian side will decide on retaliatory measures," Zakharova said.

Earlier Russia's envoy to Washington Anatoly Antonov said he had sent a "decisive protest" to the US over the removed flags.

"Such steps only complicate US-Russian dialogue," he said in televised remarks.

"We demand an immediate end to the takeover of our property in the US which is accompanied by offensive actions," Antonov added.

Moscow had previously accused the United States of searching its missions and diplomatic staff's accommodation.

Washington ordered the shutdown of the Russian diplomatic missions in a retaliatory move after the Kremlin demanded the US slash staff numbers at its missions in Russia.

The latest diplomatic spat is the latest twist in tortured ties between the US and Russia, which have slumped to their lowest point since the Cold War following the Kremlin's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

The West slapped punishing sanctions on Russia over its meddling in its ex-Soviet neighbour, sparking a revenge embargo from Moscow against agricultural products.

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Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu today launched the "Sankalp Se Siddhi" programme for the state.

A brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "Sankalp se Siddhi" (Attainment through Resolve) is a five-year plan that aims at good governance under the New India Movement 2017-2022.

The New India Movement envisages an India free from poverty, corruption, terrorism, communalism, casteism and uncleanliness and unite the entire country by adopting good governance using technology.

Khandu said the prime minister is concerned about proper implementation of central government programs at the grass root level.

"The central and state governments have launched several pro-people programmes and schemes but somehow we are failing to take these to the intended beneficiaries who are rural folks and poor," he said.

The chief minister said under the "Sankalp Se Siddhi" programme, the state government would create awareness among the people and create facilities to make them avail all welfare schemes.

He said the state government had set up district-wise committees that would reach out to villages and aware the people of the government programmes.

"We are a state with a small population. If we all



the legislators and officers come together as Team Arunachal, we can reach every household of the state and see to it that every individual is benefited by the various flagship programs," Khandu said.

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Deposed AIADMK leader VK Sasikala, serving a four-year term in a corruption case, today returned to the central prison at the end of a five-day emergency parole for visiting her ailing husband at a Chennai hospital.

Parappana Agrahara central jail Superintendent P S Ramesh said Sasikala returned to the prison at 5 pm.

Her 74-year-old husband M Natarajan had undergone liver and kidneytransplants at a corporate hospital in Chennai.

Sasikala left Chennai this morning by a car which had to halt at several locations till it reached the Bengaluru highway as party cadres gathered to greet her.

She had sought a 15-day parole, but was granted only five days with tough conditions, including that she would not involve in political or any other public activity or take part in party activities.

During the emergency parole, the 60-year-old leader was allowed only to visit the hospital where her husband was undergoing treatment and stay at the residence as mentioned in the parole application.

It was also stipulated by the prison authorities thatshe should not entertain any visitors either at her residence or the hospital and that she should not interact with any media -- print or electronic.

Sasikala has been lodged in the Parapana Agrahara central jail since February this year after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction by a special court in a disproportionate assets case.

Her relatives Ilavarasi and V N Sudhakaran are also serving four-year jail terms in the case.

Sasikala's appointment as interim general secretary of AIADMK after the death J Jayalalithaa in December last year was declared as invalid last month by the party's general council meeting held after the merger of factions led by Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his present deputy O Panneerselvam.

Her visit to Chennai came at a time when her nephew and sidelined AIADMK leader T T V Dhinakaran and the ruling camp are fighting it out to get the two leaves symbol, which was frozen by the Election Commission.

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Construction major Shapoorji Pallonji group and Germany-based Allianz group have tied-up for a USD 500 million equity fund to buy office assets in India.

Allianz, one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers, today said it has "partnered with Shapoorji Pallonji Group to establish SPREF II, a Singapore-domiciled, rupee denominated, closed-ended fund targeting the office market in India".

This marks Allianz's first real estate transaction in India.

Allianz will own 50 per cent of this platform, and the remaining will be held by long-term institutional investors. "The fund is targeting to raise USD 500 million in equity," Allianz group said in a statement.

Francois Trausch, Global CEO of Allianz Real Estate, said India is strategic to the Allianz Group.

"In growth economies like China and India, real estate provides a scalable entry into the market for Allianz in terms of investments/asset management exposure," he said.

The platform's strategy would be to acquire or develop office properties in six cities -- Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and National Capital Region.

With help of this equity fund, the JV has the potential to buy out or develop close to USD 1.5 billion (assuming debt-equity of 2:1) worth of commercial projects across India.

Shapoorji Pallonji Group Chairman Shapoor Mistry said: "We view this partnership with Allianz as the first step in a relationship which will focus on creating long term value for the investors."



The platform will be supported by the groups substantial credentials and experience in delivering and managing real estate assets across key markets in India, he added.

The venture will be supported locally by the Shapoorji Pallonji Investment Advisors team led by Rajesh Agarwal.

Shapoorji Pallonji Group is a diversified business house, with clients in over 50 countries, delivering complex and challenging projects for over 150 years.

It operates in 6 major business areas namely engineering & construction, infrastructure, energy, real estate, water and financial services, with 16 group companies and a strong employee base of over 60,000 people.

The group has USD 250 million equity JV with IFC (subsidiary of World Bank) and Asian development Bank to develop affordable housing projects pan-India.

Currently, three projects are at various stages of development. This should build more than 15,000 units of affordable housing pan India.

The group also has a USD 200 million deal with Canadian Pension Plan (CPPIB) for a 2.7 million sq ft operational IT park in Chennai.

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A court in Pakistan today rejected a petition by ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharifs son-in-law Muhammad Safdar to delay his indictment in the Panama Papers corruption case.

An accountability court is set to indict Safdar, Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz tomorrow in cases filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) following the July 28 verdict by the Supreme Court in the scandal.

According to a court official, Safdar petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to pre-empt the indictment but the court rejected his plea.

He said in the petition that mandatory seven-day period before indictment was not followed as he appeared before the court on October 9.

After the rejection of petition, it is highly likely that Sharif, Maryam and Safdar would be indicted tomorrow during the hearing, unless the court delays it.

Earlier, Safdar was arrested by the NAB on October 9 just after his return from London but later released by the court on bail.

During the last hearing on October 9, the Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir declared Sharif's sons -- Hasan and Husain -- absconders for failing to appear before the court despite warnings.

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BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha today expressed dismay over not being invited to the centenary celebrations of Patna University on Saturday in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be the chief guest.

The actor-turned-politician, an alumni of Patna University that falls under his parliamentary constituency, said he does not figure in the guest list for the occasion.

"I am very emotionally attached to my alma mater. I am pained over being denied invitation on such an occasion," Shatrughan Sinha told PTI.

He claimed BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and RJD president Lalu Prasad, former students of the university, were also not invited to the programme.

University authorities, however, said they were not yet invited because of a delay in printing invitation cards and they are in the guest list.

Shatrughan Sinha, who has in the past put his party in embarrassing situations due to his comments on various issues, said his "elder brother Yashwant Sinha and RJD president Lalu Prasad" were also not in the guest list despite being prominent students of PU.

"I spoke to the two and they also expressed shock over not being invited to the function on October 14 at Patna," Shatrughan Sinha, popularly known as "Bihari Babu", said.

Asked if he has been deliberately left out of the PM's programme due to his comments contrary to the party line, Shatrughan Sinha said, "Quite possible."



Governor Satya Pal Malik, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad would share dais with the PM on that day.

"Recently, Vice Chancellor of Patna University Rash Bihari Singh had come to meet me with Yashwant Sinha in Delhi and sought my guidance for successful organisation of the centenary celebrations of Patna University," Shatrughan Sinha said.

The BJP leader, who has been assisting colleges of Patna University out of his MP Development Fund, said "I hope the PM would be told about the problems of PU like shortage of teachers, lack of fund among others so that he can render help to get rid of these."



Vice Chancellor Singh said, "Printing of invitation cards got delayed and that's why cards have not been sent to them. But, they are very much in our guest list."



"We are going to organise a mega event as part of PU centenary celebrations on December 10 in which all former students of the university would be invited," he said.

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A Niti Aayog paper has suggested enactment of an organised Crimes Act, providing statutory backing to CBI and moving police as well as public order to the Concurrent list to tackle increasing inter-state crime and terrorism under a unified framework.

It also made a case for revival and strengthening of the beat constable system.

"The legislative changes include, enactment of the organised Crimes Act, a single police act for the country, moving police to the Concurrent list, declaration of Federal Crimes, measures regarding registration of crimes, statutory backing for the CBI, Commissionerate system for large areas, revival and strengthening of the beat constable system and some changes in criminal procedure and evidence systems," the paper said.

The paper -- 'Building Smart Police in India: Background Into The Needed Police Force Reforms' -- also pitched for shifting of police and public order from the State list in the VIIth schedule of the Constitution to the Concurrent list.

"This can also be done by amending entry 3 in the Concurrent list formalising what is actually happening on the ground. The need for inclusion of Public Order in Concurrent list stems from significance of public order for national security, economic development and legitimacy of the state," it said.

The paper pointed out that by including 'Public Order' in the Concurrent list of the Constitution, the central government can play a more proactive role in curbing violation of public order at a nascent stage.

Another reason supporting the shift of public order to the Concurrent list is the rapid increase in inter-state crimes, it said.

"Tackling these in the present framework is slightly challenging since all states have varied legal and administrative framework," it added.

Also, in light of the rapid growth in internet, communication and mobile technologies, organised crimes and terrorism can be best tackled through a unified legal, administrative and operational framework for the police forces across the nation, the paper said.

"This can be accomplished only by empowering the union government to also regulate public order," it said.

Citing the report of the Second Administrative Reforms Committee, it further said: "The State Police as well as the CBI could be given the concurrent jurisdiction over investigation of all organised crime, terrorism, sedition, major crimes crimes with inter-state ramifications, Acts threatening National Security, trafficking in arms and human beings, Serious economic offences."



The paper also called for recruitment of students who have done MCA or passed out from an IIT as sub-inspectors/ inspectors under the state CID in light of its highly complex nature of cyber crimes.

"To prevent detection, they should work in plain clothes," it said.

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Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today said that the state government's initiative of 'Gunotsav' to evaluate education at the elementary level has encouraged creative thinking.

'Gunotsav' is a quality enhancement initiative of the state government to bring about improvement at elementary level and aimed at evaluating schools and students.

Sonowal made the statement while interacting with students of Dinanath Nabakishore Girls' HS School at Silchar.

He expressed his pleasure to visit the school which was once visited by Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhash Chadra Bose.

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The medical fraternity today hailed the Allahabad High Court verdict clearing the Talwars in the Aarushi-Hemraj killing, but domestic helps here feel that the dentist couple got away with murder thanks to their affluence.

The high court today said neither the circumstances nor the evidence was enough to hold Nupur and Rajesh Talwar guilty in the 2008 murder of their teenage daughter and Nepalese domestic help.

The Talwars' neighbours appeared guarded in their reaction, with most avoiding comment.

One of residents near their Sector 25 home, D Singh, said, "If not the Talwars, then who killed Arushi? However, we are happy that they have been acquitted."



Indian Medical Association president Dr K K Aggarwal simply said, "The Talwars got justice."



A representative of the Association of Medical Clinics of Noida, Dr K C Sood, expressed happiness that the couple was given the benefit of doubt.

"Unless there is conclusive evidence one should not be punished. However, now it will remain a mystery. It has cast aspersions on CBI investigations," he said.

The verdict ends, at least for now, the nine-year ordeal of the Noida couple who were sentenced to life by a Ghaziabad CBI court on November 28, 2013 for the double murder that not only transfixed but also shook the nation with its element of filicide.

Nepalese doemestic helps here, however, made no bones of where their sympathies lay.

"The rich can get themselves acquitted. In the Nithari case too, (Moninder Singh) Pandher was acquitted. The poor cannot expect justice," said one.

Another said, "Hemraj's relatives should challenge the acquittal at the Supreme Court."



At the Parsvnath Mall at Sector 27, where the Talwars ran their dental clinic, the shopkeepers supported the acquittal.

"They have suffered too much due to their daughter's murder. With the acquittal by the high court, they have got justice," said Harkesh, one of the shopkeepers.

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Tata Teleservices will merge with Bharti Airtel as the Tata group firm looks to tide over its financial woes by exiting the mobile telephony business.

The companies said the deal is on a no-debt, no-cash basis, implying Airtel is not taking over any of the about Rs 40,000 crore debt with Tata Teleservices and is neither paying any cash.

Even 70-80 per cent of the Rs 9,000-10,000 crore deferred payments for spectrum that TTSL holds, will be paid by Tatas.

The deal, subject to regulatory approvals, will see over 40 million customers of Tata Teleservices (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra (TTML) joining Bharti Airtel and mark further consolidation in one of the world's largest telecom markets.

The merger will be on a debt-free, cash-free basis and all past liabilities and dues to be settled by Tata, the companies said in a statement.

"This is a significant development towards further consolidation in the Indian mobile industry... The acquisition of additional spectrum made an attractive business proposition," Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said.

The transaction will create substantial long-term value for shareholders given the significant synergies, he said.

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said the agreement is the "best and most optimal solution" for the Tata Group and its stakeholders.

"We have evaluated multiple options and are pleased to have this agreement with Bharti," he added.

In March this year, Airtel's rivals -- Vodafone India and Idea Cellular had announced merger plans to create India's largest telecom firm.

As part of the agreement, Bharti Airtel will absorb Tata CMB's operations in 19 telecom circles (17 under TTSL and 2 under TTML). It will also assume a small portion of the unpaid spectrum liability of Tata towards the Telecom Department, which is to be paid on deferred basis, the statement added.

The merger will bolster Bharti Airtel's spectrum pool with significant additional 178.5 MHz spectrum in 1800, 2100 and 850 MHz bands, all widely used for 4G.

"The proposed merger will include transfer of all the customers and assets of Tata CMB to Bharti Airtel, further augmenting Bharti Airtels overall customer base and network," the statement said.

Tata and Bharti Airtel will work together to further explore other mutual areas of cooperation, that will be value accretive for both the groups.

"The employees of Tata will be demerged on the lines of the two businesses ie CMB and EFL (Enterprise and Fixed Line and Broadband), and post an optimal manpower planning will be moved accordingly," it added.

Tata is also in initial stages of exploring combination of its enterprise business with Tata Communications and its Retail Fixed Line and Broadband business with Tata Sky.

Any such transaction will be subject to respective boards and other requisite approvals.

Tata will also retain its stake in Viom, and will take care of the liabilities associated with it.

The Boards of Bharti Airtel, Tata Sons, TTSL and TTML have approved the transaction.

Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Private Limited is financial adviser to Tata.

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Tamil Nadu today urged the Coal and Railways Ministry to take steps to provide imported coal due to the critical stock situation in the state.

In a letter addressed to the Coal and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, State Electricity Minister P Thangamani said there was less realisation from coal firms that supplied to the state.

Thangamani requested Goyal to instruct Coal India Ltd and Railway authorities concerned to supply 15 rakes of coal on daily basis to manage the critical coal stock situation.

Due to less realisation from coal companies, out of the 210 MW units, 6-7 units of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation have been shut down, he said.

"The current average coal stock at TANGEDCO's thermal power station is only 3.3 days requirement against normal level of 30 days," Thangamani said.

Thangamani said he has advised the state electricity board to approach central public sector agencies for urgent supply of imported coal so that power outages were avoided.

The minister sought Goyal's immediate intervention in the matter and to instruct Coal India and Railway authorities for coal supply.

He also cited last month's letter by Chief Minister K Palaniswami to the ministry urging to advise the Coal and Railway authorities to allocate around 72,000 tons of coal by allotting 20 rakes per day to "to manage present critical coal and power situation."



Noting that the major supply for TANGEDCO was from Mahanadi Coal Fields Ltd (MCL), Talcher unit, he said, the realisation was about 50 per cent of linkage and realisation from other coal companies was also less due to "seasonal rain and railway congestion."



Referring to the MoU with Singareni Collieries Company Ltd for supply of one million tons of coal through rail to Mettur Thermal Power Station, he alleged that for the past couple of months, SCCL has not supplied any coal.

"In the above scenario, TANGEDCO may not be in a position to meet the grid demand of the state," he said.

Meanwhile, deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam along with Thangamani met Goyal in New Delhi today and formally sought his intervention in the matter.

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The Supreme Court's order stopping the sale of firecrackers in Delhi-NCR has set off a clamour by activists and residents alike in other metros for a similar ban, or at least greater restrictions.

Even in Sivakasi, the centre of the Rs 5,000 crore fireworks industry that will be hit the hardest by the order, traders have grudgingly accepted the reality and are now deliberating on the way forward -- perhaps by manufacturing "green crackers," or environmentally less harmful fireworks.

"As far as the fireworks industry is concerned, this verdict (of the Supreme Court) could lead to positive thinking on why we do not manufacture green crackers. The pressure will be there to explore such avenues," A P Selvaraj, managing partner of Kaliswari Fireworks, told PTI.

Selvaraj admitted that production of green crackers emitting less or no smoke would be a challenging task, but said the industry was willing to explore alternatives.

"Chemicals are available to make smoke-free crackers," he said, seeking help from the Centre.

Mumbaikars also welcomed the ban, with some activists suggesting a calibrated approach towards Diwali celebrations in the metropolis that has a diverse population.

They advised a complete ban on the "private use" of firecrackers, but said a restricted use by experts for certain celebrations should be allowed.

"During the private use of firecrackers, there is no control on whether they are handled by adults or children. Such exposure to chemicals is very dangerous.

"It will be good if a similar decision of banning firecrackers in private places is implemented in Mumbai region," said Sumaira Abdulali, the anti-noise pollution activist and founder of Awaaz Foundation.

Public display of pyrotechnics with state governments earmarking open spaces with proper safety supervision, was amongst the host of innovative ideas proposed.

"It is a decent way of enjoying firecrackers. It can be encouraged in India," Suraiya Artes, another activist working in the field of noise and air pollution, said.

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board reportedly carries out a test of firecrackers every year at an open ground in the presence of environment activists. The sound is recorded and the data used to restrict the use of firecrackers causing loud noise.

However, many activists claimed the tests were often futile, thanks to firecrackers going well beyond the permissible noise limit that continue to be sold in the market.

Would a ban be welcome in West Bengal?



The state pollution control board says it does not have the legal sanction to ban cracker sales in Kolkata.

"We are not empowered by the court to do so unless any such step is backed by a court ruling and a subsequent legislation," Kalyan Rudra, chairman of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB), said.

The board, he said, was working in tandem with law enforcing agencies in the state to prevent illegal firecrackers from entering the market.

"Without any new court direction on the issue, the WBPCB will have to go by the existing order of checking the sale and bursting of crackers that produce sound over 90 decibel. Our teams are on the vigil," Rudra told PTI.

However, activists in the state blame lack of "vigilance by the explosives department, police and WBPCB" for the lax checking on the use of fireworks.

Environmentalist Somendranath Ghosh noted that 200 illegal firework units were operating in the state.

"There is already an appropriate act in Bengal to ensure a quieter Diwali as stipulated by the Calcutta High Court. We think the state authorities should implement in letter and spirit the order of the high court," Ghosh said.

Concerns regarding pollution are clearly varied across different regions of the country.

In Delhi, which is among the most polluted cities in the world, the SC had observed that due to the adverse effects of burning of fire crackers, "the air quality deteriorates abysmally and alarmingly and the city chokes thereby".

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US President Donald Trump's proposed trip to the UK in early 2018 has reportedly been downgraded from the status of a grand state visit to a mere working one, according to media reports here.

It remains uncertain if the tour would include a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, which would have been at the heart of the pomp and show that accompanies a state visit traditionally hosted by the British monarch.

Trump is said to be planning a tour of European capitals to win backing for his tough stance on Iran and North Korea.

The controversy surrounding a state visit has reportedly been hampering efforts to include London on such a schedule, leading to speculation that Trump's first trip to the UK may be in the form of a so-called working visit.

There had been widespread opposition to Prime Minister Theresa May extending an invitation for a state visit to Trump during her visit to Washington in January, days after he assumed office.

More than 1.8 million British citizens signed a petition against the plans, with House of Commons Speaker John Bercow taking the unprecedented step of making his views known that he would not be in favour of Trump addressing the UK Parliament during the visit.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan was also among vocal opponents of the state visit, saying he was not sure it was appropriate for the UK government to "roll out the red carpet" for Trump in the wake of his US travel ban on citizens of some Muslim- majority countries.

It has now emerged that the visit will be a more low-key event where Trump would be a guest of the US ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson, rather than the Queen.

Officials on both sides of the Atlantic tried to downplay this change of plans, claiming a full-fledged state visit was still on the cards.

"Our position on the state visit has not changed an offer has been extended and PresidentTrumphas accepted. Exact dates for PresidentTrumpto visit have not yet been arranged," a Downing Street spokesperson said.

But the lack of any mention of a US presidential visit in the Queen's speech earlier this year, which sets the agenda for all major visits hosted by the monarch, had confirmed that the trip had been postponed indefinitely.

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President Donald Trump will today unveil the US position with regard to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the White House said.

"At 12:45 tomorrow, the president will deliver remarks announcing the strategy to the country," said White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Trump is expected to back away from endorsing the agreement, opening the door for Congress to re-impose sanctions on Tehran.

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President Donald Trump remained non-committal about the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement today as he welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House amid simmering disputes over trade between the two North American neighbors.

Trudeau joined Trump in the Oval Office at the start of a new round of talks over the North American Free Trade Agreement, which the US president has threatened to withdraw from if he can't negotiate a better agreement with Canada and Mexico.

"We're negotiating a NAFTA deal. It's time after all of these years and we'll see what happens. It's possible we won't be able to make a deal and it's possible that we will," Trump said, noting the close relations between the two countries and leaders.

"We have to protect our workers and in all fairness the prime minister wants to protect Canada and his people also. So we'll see what happens with NAFTA," Trump said, adding that it "has to be fair to both countries."



Trudeau, in his brief remarks to reporters in the Oval Office, spoke of the ties that bind the two neighbors and major trading partners.

"We have an incredibly close relationship. Two countries that are interwoven in our economies and our cultures and our peoples," Trudeau said.

"But we have a good partnership ... and that's why having an ongoing constructive relationship between the president and the prime minister is really important."



The trade negotiations this week in Washington have gotten off to a rocky start, with the US Chamber of Commerce warning that the Trump administration might be sabotaging the talks with unrealistic proposals.

Speaking to reporters at the Canadian Embassy after his meeting, Trudeau told reporters that it was possible to get a "win-win-win" from the negotiations but stressed that Canada was "ready for anything."



"I think it's been clear that circumstances are often challenging, and we have to be ready for anything -- and we are," Trudeau said.

The Canadian prime minister, making his second visit to the White House this year, was also expected to raise the Trump administration's recent decision to hit Canadian manufacturer Bombardier with punishing tariffs on its C Series airliner.

US-based Boeing alleges that Bombardier gets unfair subsidies from the Canadian and British governments.

Trump, who made trade a key part of his 2016 presidential campaign, has repeatedly criticized Canada, alleging that it unfairly blocks US dairy products and subsidizes its softwood lumber industry.

Trudeau is scheduled to visit Mexico today to hold additional discussions on NAFTA.

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Donald Trump warned today that his willingness to help hurricane-battered Puerto Rico was not unlimited, prompting a furious backlash with the major of San Juan branding the US president a "Hater in Chief."



Puerto Rico is struggling to recover after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island, leaving 44 people dead and cutting power and running water to much of its population, and its governor this week appealed to Trump for billions in additional federal aid.

"We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!," Trump tweeted, in one of a series of morning posts expressing frustration with the situation in the US territory of 3.4 million people.

Trump has pushed back hard at criticism of his administration's initial response to the disaster, accusing the media of exaggerating the devastation and minimizing relief efforts led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with support from the Defense Department.

Earlier today, the president quoted a journalist with the conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group as suggesting the island shared in the responsibility for the plight of its citizens.

"'Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making,' says Sharyl Attkisson," Trump posted. "A total lack of accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend," he added.

Maria slammed into Puerto Rico as the island was already struggling with a severe financial crisis, which forced the government to file for bankruptcy in May.

Carmen Yulin Cruz, mayor of the island's capital San Juan who has publicly feuded with Trump in recent weeks, pushed back hard at the president's apparent threat to withdraw federal aid, charging that he was incapable of "fulfilling the moral imperative to help" Puerto Ricans.

"@POTUS your comments about Puerto Rico are unbecoming of a Commander in Chief they seem more to come from a 'Hater in Chief'," she tweeted.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined the criticism, tweeting: "It's truly sad to see @POTUS dismiss the suffering of Americans in #PuertoRico & #USVI. We must give more help, not less!"



Last week, after visiting the island to view relief efforts, Trump had asked Congress to approve an emergency aid package of USD 29 billion for Puerto Rico.

With over 5,700 people still in shelters and much of the territory still without electricity and running water, Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rossello this week asked Congress for more help.

Rossello said he has asked Trump for an additional $4.9 billion under the Community Disaster Loan program.

The governor's office did not respond to queries about the total amount of aid requested, which is now equivalent to around half of Puerto Rico's debt of some USD 73 billion.

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Filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj and Meghna Gulzar, the duo behind the critically-acclaimed "Talvar" on the 2008 Aarushi and Hemraj murder case, today hailed the Allahabad High Court verdict acquitting the parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

The court said the Talwars could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record, thus ending the nine-year ordeal of the parents who were found guilty by a CBI court of murdering 14-year-old Aarushi.

Bhardwaj was the producer and the writer of the 2015 thriller while Meghna directed the movie that presented alternative narratives of what happened on the night of May 16, 2008, when Aarushi was found murdered in her Noida home. The body of the Talwars' family help Hemraj was found several hours later.

"Justice delayed is NOT justice denied. Overwhelmed and deeply relieved upon hearing the of the acquittal. #AarushiVerdict #Talwars," Bhardwaj tweeted.

Meghna called the verdict a "triumph of justice".

"I just feel that the truth has finally prevailed. It is a triumph of justice. I can only imagine what the parents must have gone through," she told PTI.

"I did not do that film to tell the story of a particular side. Our intention all along was to see that all the versions of the case are out in the open. I think this is what has happened in this appeal. The facts and testimonies were examined very carefully and rationally," she added.

Bhardwaj, in a statement, said they faced a lot of questions while making the movie "though we didn't take any sides in presenting the story and maintained as neutral a viewpoint as possible".

He said it was painful to imagine the mental trauma that the parents went through for nine years.

"I am overwhelmed and relieved to hear of the Talwars' acquittal and this strengthens my faith in the Indian judicial system. However, it still pains me when I think about the precious years lost in prison and the emotional trauma that the parents had to go through, so much so that they couldn't even mourn their own daughter's demise," the "Haider" director said.

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United Nations Secretary- General Antonio Guterres will continue to work with the Trump administration despite differences, a spokesman said today after Washington announced it was pulling out of UNESCO.

Guterres "deeply regrets" the decision but "at the same time of course we interact with the United States very productively on a range of issues through a range of organizations and will continue to do that," said spokesman Farhan Haq.

The government of US President Donald Trump announced it was quitting UNESCO, accusing the UN cultural and education body of "anti-Israel" bias after it designated in July the old city of Hebron as a Palestinian heritage site.

The UN spokesman appeared to downplay the US decision to leave UNESCO.

"There are times when there may be differences on this or that issue, but the secretary-general, as you have seen, works well with the government of the US," said Haq.

Guterres, who succeeded Ban Ki-moon in January, has worked hard behind the scenes to establish good relations with the US administration despite US funding cuts and disparaging comments from Trump about the world body.

Last month, Trump said during the annual General Assembly meeting that the United Nations "had not reached its full potential" because of a bloated bureaucracy and "mismanagement."



Guterres has repeatedly said he wants the world body to improve its response to global crises and some diplomats say the US pressure to cut costs and enact changes is helping the UN chief push his agenda.

The United States is the UN's number one financial contributor, paying 28.5 percent of the USD 7.3 billion peacekeeping budget and 22 percent of the core budget of USD 5.4 billion.

In 2011, the previous administration of Barack Obama cut funding to UNESCO after its members voted to admit Palestine as a full member.

The Palestinians elsewhere at the United Nations have the status of non-member observer state.

The president of the UN General Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak of Slovakia, separately said he was concerned that the US decision "could have adverse impacts upon the important work of UNESCO."



UNESCO's outgoing director, Irina Bokova, described the US decision as a "loss to multilateralism."



A few hours after the US announcement, Israel declared that it was also withdrawing.

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India today asserted that it was important that understanding reached between the Sino-India special representatives (SRs) for the settlement of the boundary question was "scrupulously" respected by both sides and that each side projected the position of the other accurately.

The remarks by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar came in response to a query on the Chinese foreign ministry's reported statement that claimed that Sikkim section of the China-India border has been demarcated as per the 1890 UK-China treaty.

The Chinese claim was made on Sunday, a day after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made her maiden visit to the Nathu La post.

"We have seen...the reports and the comments. Negotiations for the settlement of the India-China boundary question are held at the level of special representatives of the two countries, based on agreements and understandings reached between them from time to time," Kumar said.

"The most recent common understanding between the special representatives was reached in 2012. It is important that these understandings are scrupulously respected by both sides and that each side projects the position of the other side accurately," he asserted.

On reports that China has maintained a sizable presence of its troops near the Dokalam standoff site and even started widening of an existing road which is at a distance of around 12 km from the area of conflict, Kumar said there have been no new developments at the India-China military face-off site in Dokalam and its vicinity since the August 28 disengagement.

"The status quo prevails in this area. Any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect," he added.

Replying to a separate question on Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's visit to the Seychelles earlier this week, the spokesperson said it was a scheduled visit as he has direct oversight on relations with the island nation.

"He met the President, the Vice President, the Leader of Opposition and members of the Cabinet. The focus was on bilateral development cooperation and maritime cooperation," Kumar added.

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The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) today unanimously passed a resolution that Rahul Gandhi be made the party's national president, a spokesperson said here.

UP Congress chief Raj Babbar moved the resolution at a meeting of party functionaries including city and district unit presidents.

"The resolution was passed unanimously," party spokesperson Amarnath Agarwal said.

Rahul Gandhi, 47, has been the Congress vice president since 2013 and has been assisting his 70-year-old mother Sonia Gandhi, who heads the party.

Sonia Gandhi had taken over as the Congress president from Sitaram Kesari in 1998 and is the longest-serving head in the party's 131-year history.

The UPCC takes this decision in one voice that Rahul Gandhi be made the AICC president, Babbar said at the meeting.

"This is the duty of all Congressmen that the one who has given us new strength and power, and has taken the values of Mahatma Gandhi forward, be made the AICC president...We will become the strength of Rahulji and work under his leadership," Agarwal quoted Babbar as saying.

Other speakers at the meeting, including Sanjay Singh (MP), Aradhana Misra (MLA), Deepak Singh (MLC), also lauded Rahul Gandhi calling him the "messiah of labourers and farmers" and urged him to rid the country of BJP rule.

The resolution will now be sent to the All India Congress Committee (AICC), Agarwal added.

Several other state units of the Congress, including Maharashtra, Goa, Delhi etc, have also passed similar resolutions seeking the elevation of Rahul Gandhi as the party chief.

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US giant General Electric has offered to set up a 2,400 megawatt gas-based power plant in Punjab, offering electricity at Rs 4.81 per unit only.

The offer was made by GE to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh during a meeting here this evening, according to an official release.

The chief minister asked the companys CEO Deepesh Nanda to submit a comprehensive proposal within a fortnight and set up a five-member committee to examine the same.

The committee would comprise CEO Invest Punjab, Director Technical Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, Director Finance PSPCL, a nominee of Principal Secretary Finance, along with Additional CEO Invest Punjab Rajat Aggarwal as its convener.

"The committee has been mandated to recommend to the government the model--IPP or EPC--for setting up of the plant. It will also look into the issue of the selection of the site for the plant, for which the chief minister has suggested a location near Ropar, in place of the existing 35-year old thermal plant which had outlived its utility," the release said.

The company has offered to set up the plant anywhere in the state to ensure uninterrupted and cheap power to the industry, but preferably in a region with an existing pipeline network.

The company also expressed the desire to associate with state government for setting up gas power plants at the load centers at Ludhiana and Amritsar, either on Independent Power Producer (IPP) or Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) model.

The chief minister felt the proposed gas plant would give a fillip to the state government's plan to develop Kandi region as an industrial zone, along with the foothills of Shivalik.

The high-powered GE delegation, led by Nanda, earlier made a detailed presentation to the chief minister on its proposal.

Pointing out that gas power plants had emerged as an effective, green alternative to the conventional coal-based ones, Nanda said the former were also more economically viable as they required up to 35 acres less land.

Further, gas based power plants required just 20 months for completion as compared to at least 48 months in case of thermal plants, which also makes these projects cost effective, he added.

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Dismissing the US' concern over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan's Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that Washington should not look at the multi-billion project from India's perspective as it would provide a platform that would benefit all.

The CPEC will provide a platform for bringing together South and Central Asian, Middle Eastern and African countries by physically joining them through an economic corridor, Dawn quoted Iqbal as saying.

The USD 50 billion CPEC passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), over which India has conveyed its protests to China. The area covers Karakoram mountain ranges, including the Siachen glacier.

India has been severely critical of the CPEC, saying the project violates its sovereignty as it runs through PoK.

Iqbal, who was the keynote speaker at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies here, urged the US to deal with Pakistan on its own "merit", instead of tagging it to other states and issues in the region.

"CPEC is not a conspiracy against anyone. It is not a security plan. Its a plan for economic prosperity, which is bringing investment in the energy, infrastructure and other key sectors," said Iqbal when reminded of US objections to the plan to build a corridor.

Defence Secretary James Mattis last week said the CPEC passes through disputed territory and the US could not ignore this fact.

This was seen in Islamabad as a direct endorsement of India's position on the project, which passes through PoK.

However, Iqbal said US concerns about CPEC were unfounded.

"It will benefit all and will provide a platform for bringing together South and Central Asian, Middle Eastern and African countries by physically joining them through an economic corridor," he said.

"So, I think, the US should not look at CPEC from the Indian perspective, but as a source for peace, stability and prosperity in the region. CPEC can bring the much-needed stability to a region that has suffered from war for the last several decades," Iqbal added.

"Pakistan is also a sovereign nation. We have our own dignity and want others to respect that," he said.

"If the US looks at the region from Indias perspective, it will harm the region and US interests too. So, its necessary that the US should view the situation from an independent perspective, not from someone elses point of view," he said.

Viewing Pakistan from someone elses perspective would create complications and only terrorists would benefit from it, he added.

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said its Board Of Governors will discuss "any actions warranted" against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

The Academy issued a statement addressing the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Weinstein, of which broke in an New York Times expose and was compounded by a New Yorker investigation, reported Deadline.

"The Academy finds the conduct described in the allegations against Harvey Weinstein to be repugnant, abhorrent, and antithetical to the high standards of the Academy and the creative community it represents.

"The Board of Governors will be holding a special meeting on October 14, to discuss the allegations against Weinstein and any actions warranted by the Academy," the statement read.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts also suspended Weinstein's membership, saying the organisation "considers the reported alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTA's values."



Only one member has ever been expelled from the 8,427- member Oscars group: Carmine Caridi, an actor with small roles in "The Godfather" series who was ousted in 2004 after violating an agreement to not share awards screeners.

Weinstein has distributed five Best Picture winners through Miramax or the Weinstein Co.: "The English Patient" (1996), 1998's "Shakespeare in Love", 2002's "Chicago", 2010's "The King's Speech", and 2011's "The Artist".

Slew of celebrities including Meryl Streep, Judi Dench, George Clooney have spoken out against Weinstein in recent days, with Streep calling his alleged behaviour "inexcusable, but the abuse of power familiar."



Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow are among those who have come forward with their own allegations of misconduct by Weinstein.

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Residents of a remote village in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district have been forced to survive only on home-grown potatoes and rice for the last two months after a crucial connecting road got damaged in heavy showers, hitting the supply of essentials.

The locals of Golpha village are mulling an agitation demanding restoration of the 10-km stretch between Golpha and Madkot, from where they received essential supplies earlier.

Located in the newly-constituted Bangapani sub-division near the Indo-China border, Golpha has not received PDS supplies since July when the route got damaged in heavy showers.

"We are being compelled to start an agitation and sit on Dharna at the sub-divisional headquarters, as our children have not tasted roti and salt since two months. We are surviving only on homegrown potatoes and rice as no supply of essentials like wheat, salt or onion, are reaching the village due to the road blockage," Digar Singh Pharswan, a villager said.

Meanwhile, Pithoragarh District Magistrate C Ravishankar said supply department officers have not informed the administration about the dire food situation in the area.

"I have ordered an inquiry against the officers concerned and also instructed the PWD to complete damaged portion of the route in one week's time," the DM said.

According to the locals, at least five families have left the village due to non-availability of ration for the last two months and the thin possibility of the route being repaired in the near future.

The Food Grain Inspector (FGI) at Madkot, who is responsible for supplying ration to high-altitude villages in this part of Munsiyari, acknowledged that ration was not dispatched to the village after July this year.

"No ration dealer from Golpha has come to lift PDS ration after July this year as it cannot be carried beyond Danibagar bridge due to blockage of the route to the village. Even mules cannot take ration to the village," FGI Madkot Jagdish Singh Rathod said.

However, he said, the godowns at Madkot have enough ration to be supplied to the high altitude villages under the PDS system.

"The onus for repairing the road and bridges on the 10-km stretch rests on the district administration and the PWD. As far as we are concerned we have enough stock in our godowns in Madkot to cater to the needs of the people residing in high altitude villages," District Supply Officer Manoj Kumar Burman said.

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By Stefanie Eschenbacher

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Business leaders attending a U.S.-Mexico CEO conference said on Wednesday that no North American Free Trade Agreement would be better than a bad deal, as industry braces for the end of a treaty that drives $1 trillion in annual trade.

The CEO meeting ran in parallel to talks near Washington aimed at refreshing the 1994 agreement, with Mexico, Canada and businesses united in opposition to a number of radical U.S. proposals they say would damage the North American economy.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be open to bilateral trade pacts with Mexico or Canada if a deal cannot be reached to substantially revise NAFTA.

"We are all much worse off with a bad agreement than with no (NAFTA)," said Guillermo Vogel, who co-chaired the Mexico City event and is a vice president at Tenaris, a steel company.

The meeting, part of a bilateral "CEO dialogue" that meets a couple of times each year, included a closed-door discussion on the NAFTA negotiations addressed by Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and Economy Minister Idelfonso Guajardo, who are in charge of the negotiations for Mexico.

On the U.S. side the event was co-chaired by Fedex Freight's CEO Michael Ducker and U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue.

The event's organizers declined to say who else attended. American Express, AT&T, GM and Delta were listed on publicity material for an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Mexico on Tuesday, where Donohue warned that several U.S. proposals in the NAFTA talks were "poison pills" that risked dooming the agreement.

The process of renegotiating NAFTA has turned increasingly sour. Mexico accuses Trump of spoiling for a "protectionist war" with proposals aimed at balancing trade.

Those proposals include removing dispute resolution mechanisms, limiting trade in fresh produce and introducing minimum quotas for U.S. parts in autos.

While better than a bad deal, Vogel said the failure of NAFTA would be a "lose-lose" situation, and that U.S.-Mexico trade without it could lead to a U.S. trade deficit larger than the current $64 billion.

Without NAFTA, Mexico trade experts say U.S. products would face higher tariffs to enter Mexico, which could further skew the trade balance.

"The clear focus was that we have to send a message to all the different constituencies about how much of an error it would be to cancel NAFTA, or make a bad NAFTA," Vogel said in an interview with .

He said content rules for auto parts were still negotiable, despite shock in Mexico at suggestions half of all parts in cars should be made in the United States. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Wednesday he expected an agreement would be reached on that issue.

On Tuesday, Donohue also singled out a "sunset clause" that would automatically terminate NAFTA every five years unless there were fresh negotiations.

"Clearly, a clause that cancels the agreement every five years totally defangs it," Vogel said. "Starting to play with a non-market economy would be terrible for us."

Vogel said U.S. and Mexican businesses still believed NAFTA talks would produce a good deal and said they would continue to lobby their governments and lawmakers to negotiate a good deal.

"With an agreement, in 10 years I see a strong region that can face Asia or China, without an agreement I see a weaker region in the medium and long term."

(Additional reporting by Frank Jack Daniel and Sharay Angulo; Editing by Cynthia Osterman & Simon Cameron-Moore)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By David Gaffen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rebounded from earlier losses, but ended lower on the day, after the Energy Department reported a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. inventories and a falloff in weekly production on Thursday.

The market was pressured by a bearish outlook by the International Energy Agency, which lowered its forecast for oil demand for 2018.

Oil has strengthened in recent weeks, but it is unclear whether U.S. crude prices will regain the high of nearly $53 a barrel reached in late September. A surprise build in gasoline inventories fed concern that crude stocks may begin to rise again, sapping some strength from the recent rally.

Brent crude oil settled down 69 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $56.25 a barrel while U.S. light crude ended down 70 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $50.60 a barrel. Both benchmarks have risen more than 20 percent from their lows in June as world oil markets tightened.

Crude inventories fell by 2.7 million barrels in the week to Oct. 6, compared with analysts' expectations for a decrease of 2 million barrels. Distillate stocks fell by 1.5 million barrels, but gasoline inventories surprisingly rose by 2.5 million barrels. [EIA/S]

"With the U.S. already out of the summer driving season, there will be less demand for gasoline over the coming weeks - this could result in weeks of crude builds as oil production in the U.S. remains high," said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy's Global Gas Analytics in London.

The IEA said demand for OPEC oil would be 32.5 million barrels per day next year - around 150,000 bpd lower than the group pumped last month. [IEA/M]

Gary Ross, founder of PIRA Energy and head of Global Oil Analytics for S&P Global Platts, said the global crude surplus has now largely been absorbed - and there was risk that OPEC could overshoot on its cuts.

"We think (Brent) should make a new high before the end of the year," Ross said, speaking to reporters as the annual PIRA client seminar in New York. He said he expects crude to stay between $50 and $60 a barrel through the end of the year.

U.S. crude inventories are still 13 percent above five-year averages headed into the busy winter season, despite efforts by OPEC to cut production.

The OPEC-led deal helped lift oil from below $30 a barrel early last year. But traders say supplies remain ample and OPEC is widely expected to extend its cuts beyond the current expiry date of end-March 2018.

"There is little doubt that leading producers have re-committed to do whatever it takes to underpin the market," the IEA said.

High U.S. production is pushing increasing volumes of U.S. crude into world markets, feeding inventories and undermining OPEC's efforts to tighten the market . U.S. exports fell in the most recent week to 1.27 million bpd, but U.S. exports have still exceeded 1 million barrels a day for three straight weeks, the first time this has happened.

Traders have expressed concerns that the United States will at some point reach its export capacity, though that has not been hit yet.

(Addititional reporting by Christopher Johnson in London, Henning Gloystein in Singapore and Scott DiSavino in New York)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Inc Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said on Thursday the company was fully committed to helping US congressional investigators publicly release Russia-backed political ads that ran during the 2016 US election.
The majority of Wyoming's hunting seasons are now open, or soon will be. Deer, antelope, elk and moose as well as waterfowl, and upland birds are fair game in many areas. With so many folks afield hunting, anglers have a lot less competition.

Fall fishing can be some of the best all year for a number of reasons. First off, the waters have begun to cool down so that the fish are more active. Water temperatures in streams may have dropped 10 degrees or so since the end of August. Small streams may have temperatures in the upper 40s or low to mid 50s. Even the larger streams have temperatures in the upper 50s or low 60s. In short, the fish are more active and feeding at all hours of the day.

Most lakes and ponds have cooled down so that the fish in them may be occupying shallower water than they were just a month or so ago. Bass, walleye and pike are on the prowl trying to store up fat reserves for the winter ahead.

Lake trout, brook trout and brown trout spawn in the fall. Brook trout in mountain streams and lakes are already spawning. If they are living in lakes and ponds they will be moving up into the feeder streams to find decent spawning gravel. If the brook trout haven't spawned yet, they will be congregated at the mouths of the feeder streams and will be looking for food to fuel their metabolic furnaces.

It is a good bet that streamer flies such as a Mickey Finn, Woolly Bugger, Pine Squirrel Leech or a Silver Spruce Fly will produce quite well on the congregated brook trout. Wet flies such as a Carrot Nymph, Black Marabou Leech, or Black Gnat will also get the job done.

If you like to spin fish, standard spinners such as Panther Martins, Mepps, and Vibrax in gold, silver or yellow with red spots will work very well. Of course, small spoons in silver, red and white, or yellow with black spots are worth a try.

Lake trout spawn in shallow shoals and can be targeted with standard gear, albeit a little beefed up. I recall that my buddies used to do well in Jackson Lake by casting quarter-ounce silver spoons and letting them sink for a two to 10 count depending on the depth. They would then reel, sweep the rod about 2 feet and let the lure flutter back and repeat the process. The fluttering lure had an almost irresistible attraction for lake trout.

Brown trout in lakes that have no inlet stream will cruise the shoreline in search of flowing water. Shore anglers can have good luck pitching spoons or spinners.

If a lake or reservoir does have an inlet stream, brown trout will move upstream to find suitable gravel to spawn on. One of my cherished memories of fall fishing involved the Green River in southwest Wyoming below Fontenelle Dam. The brown trout from Flaming Gorge Reservoir would swim many miles upstream to spawn. The biggest brown trout I have ever seen was on a spawning redd that looked like it had been carved out by bulldozer blade (slight exaggeration). The big brown must have been 30 inches long with an 18-inch girth. The monster absolutely ignored my 4-inch long multi-colored Marabou streamer and slowly slid back into a deep hole below the riffle it had been in.

Many anglers target big browns in the fall before and after the spawn. Spin fishers can do well with spoons and Rapalas. Fly fishers can connect with streamers that are fairly out-sized.

I recall a story that Dave Whitlock told me about his fishing the Missouri River in the fall for big browns. He said, I was using a large multi-colored streamer and swinging it across the water when I hooked into a large brown trout. The fish took off to the middle of the river and then I lost it. This happened to me three or four times in the course of an hour or so: I'd would have a fish on, it would go on a run, and then it would come off. I finally figured out that the male browns attacked my streamer as a small brown trying to horn in on the spawning that was going on. The big male brown would grab the fly by the middle, swim out into the middle of the river, and then let go; I was never getting the hook into the fish.

Whitlock recommended that I use a hard strip strike whenever I was fishing for large brown trout in the fall. I must admit, I haven't ever had any fish that big mess with my flies.

Suffice it to say that rainbow trout will stage below brown trout spawning areas as well as brown trout that are resting. The upshot is that a nymph fly fisher using orange Scuds or Glo Bugs can have a lot of action. Please realize that the spawning redds are off-limits to wading and intense fishing. Wading on the redds can crush the fertilized eggs.

So fall fishing is on. If you have gotten your elk or other big game, perhaps you should go back to fishing. After all, it is a great time to be out of doors and the fish will be biting.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the official liquidator of the Bombay High Court to take over Sahara Group's Aamby Valley property after Sebi said the company and its chief Subrata Roy were obstructing the process. The apex court also directed the Maharashtra Police chief to ensure that the property is handed over to the liquidator within 48 hours.

The Supreme Court took strong exception to the Sahara Group allegedly obstructing the auctioning process of Aamby Valley and warned that anybody indulging in such an act would be held liable for contempt and 'sent to jail'. The apex court also directed the Maharashtra Police chief to ensure that the property is handed over to the liquidator within 48 hours.

The apex court was irked when SEBI claimed that the group had allegedly obstructed the process by writing a letter to the Pune police raising the issue of law and order at the prime property.

Taking note of SEBI's allegation in this regard, a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said the group should not have entered into a communication with Pune's Superintendent of the Police (Rural) on the issue since the auction has been ordered by the top court.

"If any impediment is caused in the auctioning process by anyone, he shall be liable of contempt of this court and sent to jail," the bench, also comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and A K Sikri, said. The punishment for contempt is up to six months of simple imprisonment.

Later however, the apex court clarified that it was not initiating any contempt action at this stage.

Regarding SEBI's allegation that the police has taken custody of the property due to which no bidder was willing to take part in the auction process, the bench directed the Director General of Police, Maharashtra, to see that the property is handed over to the Bombay High Court's official liquidator within 48 hours.

"You go ahead with the auction," the bench said.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), told the bench that the September 28 communication, addressed by the group to the Pune police regarding law and order situation at Aamby valley, has stalled the ongoing auction process.

SEBI also said the letter was also sent to the additional chief secretary and no bidder was coming forward to bid for the property as the police, while taking note of the letter, has taken its custody.

Meanwhile, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the group, objected to these submissions, saying "completely wrong statements are made to prejudice the court".

"No bidder has come. I (group) am not standing in the way. I have not halted anything and have not given property to the police," he said.

However, the bench asked the official liquidator to go ahead with the auctioning process under the direct supervision of the company judge.

It also said the official liquidator shall take guidance from Justice A S Oka, sitting judge of the Bombay High Court, in the matter.

The bench said Justice Oka and the company judge shall work in harmony so that the auctioning process goes on smoothly.

The top court was hearing the SEBI's plea seeking contempt action against the Sahara group for allegedly obstructing the auctioning process of Aamby Valley.

In its plea, the SEBI has alleged "wilful and deliberate attempt" on Sahara's part "by adopting a subterfuge to cause interference with the administration of justice, especially in a court directed and monitored auction sale of the Aamby Valley property under various orders of the apex court."

On August 10, the apex court had rejected Sahara chief Subrata Roy's plea to put on hold the auction process.

It had said that the auction process would proceed as per schedule and if Rs 1,500 crore is paid by Roy in the SEBI- Sahara refund account by September 7, then it may pass an appropriate order.

The Sahara Group had earlier sought 18 months time to repay around Rs 9,000 crore balance of the principal amount of Rs 24,000 crore.

Roy, who has spent almost two years in jail, has been on parole since May 6 last year. The parole was granted the first time to enable him attend the funeral of his mother. It has been extended since then.

Besides Roy, two other directors -- Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary -- were arrested for failure of the group's two companies -- Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHICL) - to comply with the court's August 31, 2012 order to return Rs 24,000 crore to their investors.

with PTI inputs
Taxi service Meru Cabs has filed four new complaints with the country's antitrust watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) against taxi aggregators Ola and Uber for allegedly abusing market dominance in four cities. "We have filed four complaints against Ola and Uber in top four cities of operations. They have disrupted the dynamics of the business by pouring foreign funds in the market and selling services below cost and running into losses," said, Meru Cabs CEO Nilesh Sangoi.

"Due to the capital backing, they sell below cost, add more cars on the platform and when they add more cars customers get the benefit of less waiting time and this in turn attracts more drivers as they get more trips," Sangoi said adding that this time the case is very strong to check on their unfair business practices.

"Even before there is any merger or alliance between the two through global investors, there is already a unified monopoly," Sangoi added. Domestic radio taxi service providers are fighting a bitter battle with ride-hailing apps which are funded by foreign investors.

Ride-hailing service Ola on Wednesday said it has raised $1.1 billion in funding led by Chinese internet major Tencent Holdings Limited. Japan's SoftBank, an existing investor in Ola, along with new US-based financial investors participated in this round. "Tencent Holdings will bring significant expertise to Ola as it furthers its leadership position across the mobility market in India. Ola is also in 'advanced talks' with other investors to close an additional $1 billion as part of the current financing round, concluding a total raise of over $2 billion," Ola said in a press statement.

The new funding round is likely to strengthen Ola's position against the US-based rival Uber Technologies. Cab-hailing companies Ola and Uber are locked in a bitter battle to expand their market share in India. Homegrown ride-sharing service Ola and the US-based Uber have spent millions of dollars in driver incentives and discounted rides for customers.

Sangoi alleged that huge subsidy to drivers, "impractical" discounts to customers offered by Ola and Uber have distorted the taxi service market. He contended that someone with no funding will have more price, less cars, less profits, more waiting time, and ultimately a decline in the number of customers.

The Indian taxi companies, including Meru, took big hits and saw a blip in their business due to the entry of Ola and Uber and the competitors allege that the rivals entice the drivers with lucrative schemes.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had earlier rejected similar allegations against Ola with regard to the Bengaluru market, saying there was no dominance as rival Uber too is a significant market player and denied interfering in the taxi services market that is yet to fully evolve.

With its latest round of funding, Ola will be making strategic investments in supply, technology, and innovations to build for the unique transportation needs. The company will make significant technology investments into Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning capabilities to solve for India's unique mobility problems, Ola said.

"We are thrilled to have Tencent Holdings join us as new partners in our mission to build mobility for a billion Indians. The transportation and mobility industries are seeing huge changes globally. Our ambition is to build a globally competitive and futuristic transportation system in India that will support and accelerate a nation on the move," said Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-Founder and CEO of Ola.

"Ola's unique local offerings are tailored to India's burgeoning transportation needs. The strategic partnership with Ola makes it possible for Tencent to be part of the fast-growing ride-hailing space in the country. We look forward to helping Ola further develop India's transportation solutions," said Martin Lau, President of Tencent Holdings.

According to industry sources, who did not wish to be named as the discussions are private, the $1.1 billion came in over the last 4-6 months in tranches. The additional USD 1 billion funding is also likely to be closed in the next few weeks, they added.

ANI Technologies, which operates Ola, counts among its investors names like SoftBank Group, Tiger Global, Sequoia India and Accel Partners US.

While ANI Technologies is not a publicly-traded company, according to regulatory documents, its revenues registered a stellar growth at Rs 758.23 crore during 2015-16 compared to Rs 103.77 crore in the previous fiscal.

However, Ola suffered a consolidated loss of over Rs 2,311 crore -- about Rs 6 crore a day -- during that fiscal on account of heavy advertising and promotional expenses and other costs.

Indian tech companies have raised billions of dollars in funding this year. Japanese conglomerate SoftBank had pumped in $ 1.4 billion (over Rs 9,079 crore) in Indian digital payments platform, Paytm. Internet giant SoftBank, in what is seen as the biggest ever private investment in an Indian technology company, pumped in $2.5 billion in e-commerce major Flipkart.
Taxi-hailing app Ola has raised USD1.1 billion in a new round of funding led by China's Tencent Holdings and existing investor Japan's SoftBank Group, and claimed to be in advanced talks to raise another $1 billion from other investors. The taxi aggregator did not reveal the valuation at which it raised the latest round of funding.

The money comes as a booster shot for the homegrown startup to keep up its intense competition with American rival Uber as both firms are burning millions of dollars every day in incentives and discounts for India's $12 billion taxi market. Ola will use the funds to increase the number of its drivers and expand its presence to more cities, it said in a statement on Wednesday. It also plans to make significant technology investments into artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities The Bengaluru-based firm, which has a majority market share, is present in 110 cities through bike, auto-rickshaw and electric car offerings.

"The transportation and mobility industries are seeing huge changes globally. Our ambition is to build a globally competitive and futuristic transportation system in India that will support and accelerate a nation on the move," Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said in a statement. Uber, which is present in about 30 cities, is caught in a slew of allegations including sexual harassment claims and a U.S. bribery probe.

It eventually led to Uber founder Travis Kalanick being forced to step down and replaced by new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. ANI Technologies, which operates Ola, counts among its investors names like Soft-Bank Group, Tiger Global, Sequoia India and Accel Partners US. SoftBank, the largest shareholder in Ola, has reportedly pumped in about $300 million in this round.

While ANI Technologies is not a publicly-traded company, according to regulatory documents, its revenues registered a stellar growth at Rs 758.23 crore during 2015-16 compared to Rs 103.77 crore in the previous financial year. However, Ola suffered a consolidated loss of over Rs 2,311 crore -- about Rs 6 crore a day -- during that fiscal on account of heavy advertising, promotional expenses and other costs.

Tencent Holdings president Martin Lau said the strategic partnership with Ola makes it possible for Tencent to be part of the fast-growing ride-hailing space in the country. "Tencent is also aggressively investing in the country to cash in on the burgeoning Indian internet market." Earlier this year, Tencent was part of Flipkart's $1.4 billion fund raising that also saw participation from Microsoft and eBay.

MERU CABS STEPS UP LEGALBATTLE

Taxi company Meru Cabs has stepped up its legal challenge against local competitor Ola and U.S. rival Uber, alleging the firms are abusing their market position, and believes that planned investments in both by Japan's SoftBank underscore its view.The head of Meru Cabs said the company has filed four new complaints with the country's antitrust watchdog, claiming that Uber and Ola are abusing their dominance in four different cities by burning vast sums of investor funds to distort the market. "Even before there is any merger or alliance between the two through global investors, there is already a unified monopoly," Meru CEO said.
The government on Wednesday gave the biggest Diwali bonanza for about 8 lakh teachers and other equivalent academic staff in higher educational institutions. The Union Cabinet yesterday cleared revised pay scales for about 7.58 lakh teachers and academic staff of higher educational institutions following the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission. The approved pay scales would be applicable from January 2016, the government said in a press statement. The annual Central financial liability on account of this measure would be about Rs 9,800 crore.



The cabinet decision will benefit 7.58 lakh teachers and equivalent academic staff in the 106 universities and colleges which are funded by the University Grants Commission and the union HRD ministry and also 329 universities which are funded by state governments and 12,912 government and private aided colleges affiliated to state public universities. "In addition, the revised pay package will cover teachers of 119 Centrally Funded Technical Institutions viz. IITs, IISc, IIMs, IISERs, IIITs, NITIE," the statement said.



"The implementation of the pay revision will enhance the teachers' pay in the range of Rs 10,400 and Rs 49,800 as against the extant entry pay due to the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission for the pay of teachers. This revision would register an entry pay growth in the range of 22 per cent to 28 per cent," the government said. For state government funded institutions, the revised pay scales will require adoption by the respective state governments. The Central government will bear the additional burden of the States on account of revision of pay scales. The measures proposed in the revised pay structure are expected to improve quality of higher education and also attract and retain talent.



Earlier in April, Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar had assured the teacher fraternity and staff of Education Institutions, University and Colleges of getting justice in their pay related matters. Javadekar said 'those who had some doubt whether government is moving or not in this direction, let me dispel their doubts that we have already started action and soon they will get good news'. He further urged the education fraternity to try more vigorously to improve the quality of education at all levels and concentrate on study, examination and assessment work.



The government had last year constituted a pay review Commission to implement the recommendations in educational institute, University and Colleges. The Commission submitted its recommendations earlier this year. After this, a Committee headed by Secretary Higher Education had been constituted to submit its final recommendations to the Cabinet. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu state Cabinet has also agreed to implement recommendations under the 7th Pay Commission for around 10 lakh of its state government personnel and teachers. After the move, the salaries of government employees will increase by 20 per cent.



(With inputs from PTI)
Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who have been serving jail time since November 2013 for the murder of their daughter, Aarushi, were found not guilty by the Allahabad High Court and were acquitted. The court said that the conviction cannot be based on suspicion. The court also mentioned that the Talwars must be given the benefit of doubt.

However, the judgment is likely to be challenged by the CBI in Supreme Court.

Aarushi's was a case that rattled the country and continued to haunt investigators, law enforcement officers and civilians alike. Although the prime suspects were put behind bars, there still are fractions of the society that are willing to believe that there is much more than what meets the eye in this case. On May 16, 2008, 14-year old Aarushi was found in dead in the bedroom, at her house in Jalvayu Vihar, Noida. Her throat was slit and her head was bludgeoned. The first and immediate suspect was the house help, Hemraj, who was missing from the scene.



However, when Hemraj was found dead on the terrace, lying in a pool of blood, it threw all the theories and suspects askew. He was found in a similar manner and the door to the terrace was found locked from inside. Naturally, the Noida police deduced that it was an inside job. Soon, Delhi police joined forces to crack the case.



A week after her body was found, investigators suspected that Aarushi and Hemraj were victims of honour killings and the parents, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar came under scrutiny. The Noida-based dentists were alleged to have killed their daughter when they found her in an 'objectionable position' with the help, Hemraj.



On May 23, Rajesh Talwar was arrested for the murders. The case was then handed over to CBI.

After two months, Rajesh Talwar was released on bail. Narco-analysis tests were carried on the Talwars. In December, 2010, CBI closed the case and cleared all the servants and associates who were investigated as suspects throughout the investigation process but Rajesh Talwar was named as the prime suspect. CBI could not charge him for murder because they did not find enough evidence to convict him.



The court refused to close the case and on November 25, 2013, CBI judge convicted the Talwars for murder and destruction of evidence. The judge called them freaks and killer of their own progeny.



The court sentenced them to life imprisonment. The couple challenged the court's verdict and filed an appeal in the Allahabad High Court.

In 2015, a video surfaced on YouTube that shows Krishna, Rajesh Talwar's assistant at the clinic, saying that the former joint director of the CBI team, Arun Kumar, asking him to confess to the crime and in turn receiving a reduced sentence.

The division bench presiding over the case, fixed today, October 12, 2017 as day of the verdict. The presiding bench pronounced the verdict at 2:45 pm.
On International Day for the Girl Child, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation inaugurated the first Pink Toilet in the capital city's Vikaspuri area on Wednesday. This one-of-its-kind facility is a significant step towards hygienic public restrooms for women and children. To help women, the Pink Toilet is equipped with a sanitary napkin vending machine and feeding room for breastfeeding mothers. As reported in Hindustan Times, this toilet has incinerator facilities as well.



The South Delhi Municipal Corporation mayor, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, mentioned that market in Vikaspuri has been chosen as it sees a high footfall of women and girls and they always face a lot of problems in accessing hygienic toilets and toilets with sanitary napkins and facilities for their safe disposal.

@SwachhBharatGov Hon'ble Mayor of SDMC inaugurated pink toilet having vending machine & incinirator, public feedback device at Vikas Puri pic.twitter.com/7yzoZytQuG - Rajiv Kumar Jain (@rajivjain1962) October 11, 2017

She also urged the users to keep it clean after use so that the next user does not face any problems.

"We will start inviting applications from people desiring to open such facilities in their area. This will go a long way in instilling a sense of security among women and girls in using public toilets," Sehrawat further added.

Pink Toilet Inauguration @ PVR Vikaspuri on International Girl Child Day pic.twitter.com/KAmbZ6WpCG - Kamaljeet Sehrawat (@kjsehrawat) October 12, 2017

The SDMC had earlier directed all petrol pumps to offer similar facilities resulting in around 4,000 more toilets. They had also urged hotels and restaurants under their jurisdiction to offer their restrooms for free.

Moves like this give a boost to the ambitious Swachh Bharat Mission. The guidelines for the mission mention that there must be a toilet every few kilometres but the Pink Toilet is the first one of its kind. Corporations had also received funding from the government under SBM for building toilets and other sanitation work in Delhi.
The government of India will send three lakh youth to Japan for on-job training for 3-5 years as part of the government's skill development programme, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said. Japan will bear the financial cost of the skill training of Indian technical interns.

The Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister said the Union Cabinet has approved signing of Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between India and Japan on the 'Technical Intern Training Program (TITP)'.

The MoC, he said, is expected to be signed during his three-day visit to Tokyo starting October 16.

"TITP is an ambitious program to send Three Lakh Indian technical interns to Japan for on the job training for a period of three to five yrs," Pradhan said in a tweet.

He said the youth will sent for training in the next three years with Japanese financial assistance.

"Each skilled youth going there will have a tenure of 3-5 years. These youth will work in the Japanese ecosystem and get employment opportunities there along with accommodation facility," the minister said.

About 50,000 of them may also get jobs in Japan, he added.

The selection of the youth will be done in a transparent manner according to Japanese requirements.

"When these youth return from Japan they will contribute to our industry as well," the minister said.

An official release said the MoC is expected to pave the way for bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the area of skill development.
Three years after a hike on alcohol prices, the Tamil Nadu government is going to increase booze prices across the state. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting and is likely to add upto Rs 5,320 crore to the state's treasury, reports mention. The government-owned Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Ltd (Tasmac) is the only body authorised to sell alcohol in the state and it will levy an extra Rs 10 on beer and Rs 12 on hard drinks.



Liquor is divided into three categories - ordinary, medium and premium - based on the quality of the drink. In the ordinary category the price is up by Rs 12, Rs 10 in the medium and premium categories. This spike will be on a quantity of 180 ml.



The government earned Rs 26,995 crore in revenues from sale of alcohol in the year 2016-2017 alone. While it might seem that the spike in prices will deter tipplers from buying booze regularly, it is not the case, reports mention. The sale might slow down for the first couple of months but is sure to pick up eventually.



MK Stalin, deputy chief of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), expressed his unhappiness with the decision. According to a report in India Today, in the run-up to the 2016 Assembly elections, most parties had promised to implement prohibition on alcohol. Stalin said that at first the government promised to implement a step-by-step prohibition and now it is increasing the prices to generate revenues. He even asked how the government could promise a liquor ban if it had revenue generation in mind.



According to reports, even after the phase prohibition in 2016 that was implemented by the Jayalalithaa government that shut down around 1,000 shops, the state did not experience any loss as anticipated. In fact, the sales shot up and the revenues collected in 2016-2017 exceeded that of the previous year by Rs 1,149 crore.

In fact, on an average, Tasmac sells around Rs 70 crore of alcohol a day on weekdays, which shoots up to Rs 100 crore on festive days and weekends.
A Livingston-based district ranger for the Custer Gallatin National Forest will be reinstated on Oct. 23 following an internal review of his conduct in a hotly disputed public access case in the Crazy Mountains.

Alex Sienkiewicz was removed from his job on June 16 and reassigned to the forests work on a proposed mineral withdrawal in the Paradise Valley. Even after his reinstatement he will continue to work on the mineral withdrawal, said Teri Seth, acting public information officer for the forest.

Sienkiewicz, who has been a vocal advocate for maintaining and securing public access to public lands, was cleared by a human resources review, Seth said. The review was related to his conduct concerning Trail 115, a historical route that accesses the east side of the Crazy Mountains by first crossing private property  the Hailstone Ranch owned by Lee Langhus. In the past Langhus has said, through his attorney, that the trail does not provide a legal public easement across his ranch.

Several landowners contacted for this story, including Langhus, did not return calls by press time. But in letters to the editor some have accused the Forest Service of bullying and intimidating landowners and threatening their private property rights.

Review

In June, Mary Erickson, forest supervisor, said Sienkiewiczs reassignment was made to create some separation between Alex as district ranger and allegations raised concerning access issues in the Crazies.

Seth said the review focused on whether that issue was handled in accordance with law, policy and regulation  and it was. In such cases, Seth said an investigator from the Forest Service's Albuquerque office is assigned to the case and reports their findings to a line officer.

Kathryn QannaYahu, a public access advocate now based in Helena, announced Sienkiewiczs reinstatement in an email and on her website. She has been a vocal critic of the Forest Services stance on the issue and filed several Freedom of Information Act requests to dig into the subject of public access in the Crazy Mountains.

FOIA

QannaYahu said shes glad Sienkiewicz will be reinstated and that many people spoke out in support of him. But she said the allegations that led to the review should be revealed. She believes they were made based on false information  specifically that a Facebook posting on a public lands access groups site was made by Sienkiewicz.

Her FOIA requests revealed that landowners protested that Facebook posting to Sen. Steve Daines, who wrote a letter to the Forest Service questioning its tactics.

The perceived direction coming from the USFS seems to promote controversy and aggressive action rather than the collaborative approach we all strive to achieve as public servants, he said.

Even when the posting was shown to have been made by someone else, Daines staff still stuck by the original argument.

"Darn right the Senator asked for an explanation for the aggressive and provocative tone coming from a Forest Service employee that was posted on Facebook," wrote Jason Thielman, Daines' chief of staff, in a July email to the Gazette. "Montanans have the right to expect civil servants are both serving citizens and civil. The actions brought to the Senators' attention were neither."

Reached for comment on Thursday, Daines said in an email, "Going forward I hope we can have a more respectful dialogue between federal employees and landowners.

Landowner request

Daines involvement in the Crazy Mountain access issue was requested by Montana Farm Bureau Federation executive vice-president John Youngberg and nine Sweet Grass County landowners who sent a letter to Daines and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in May. The letter was revealed in one of QannaYahus FOIAs.

We would request that you use the full power and authority of your offices to investigate and determine whether this FS Ranger has been acting in congruence with FS policies and his job duties when he has been instigating conflict and encouraging criminal actions by members of the public against private property owners in order to try and establish public access across private lands, the letter said.

QannaYahu compared the entire process to a McCarthy witch hunt based on false information.

There needs to be some accountability and transparency, she said.

Seth said none of the HR review is public information because it was a personnel matter.

The review could also have a chilling effect on other public employees who, like Sienkiewicz, advocate for public access, QannaYahu said.

Trespass

Sienkiewizs removal from his district ranger duties in June came shortly after a resolution to a Sweet Grass County trespass citation. Last year, Bozeman hunter Rob Gregoire was cited for trespassing when he used Trail 115 to reach public land. Gregoire settled his case in June, agreeing to a deferred prosecution on the condition that he make a $500 donation to the Sweet Grass Foundation, not go on the property again and not get into any legal trouble for the next year.

Gregoire said his lawyer told him that even if he were to win and be found not guilty, it wouldnt settle the access dispute. That needs to go through civil court, he said, a case that could cost $100,000 or more.

When contacted on Thursday, Gregoire said, Alex is a good guy, and that he is waiting to see how the complicated issue of Crazy Mountains public access plays out before saying any more.

Negotiations

One of the wheels set in motion by the entire quarrel is that talks began in April between representatives of the Crazy Mountain Stockgrowers Association, the Forest Service, Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Colleen Coyle, a Bozeman attorney, has been acting as a facilitator for the group, which has met about five times. Her work is paid for by the Montana Stockgrowers Association, Seth said.

Discussions have been going pretty well, Coyle said. There are maybe three or four landowners talking about some type of transaction to increase access.

Work continues to try and reach landowners all around the Crazy Mountains to gauge their interest in some type of exchange or purchase to provide public access, she added.

I do think something good will come from it, Coyle said.

Any trade or purchase would go through a public process.

Gregoire said he was encouraged a resolution may be reached when he heard rumors about the talks.

But its only a rumor, and theyve been negotiating a long time, he said.
In its first meeting, the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) agreed to focus on 10 areas of interest in order to help the slowing Indian economy get some of its lost steam back. The panel of economists and experts was handpicked by PM Narendra Modi last month to find measures to boost economic growth. The chosen areas include economic growth, job creation, informal sector and integration, fiscal framework, monetary policy, public expenditure, institutions of economic governance, agriculture and animal husbandry, patterns of consumption and production, and social sector.

A detailed report structured around these 10 aspects of Indian economy will be tabled before PM Modi after being finalised on the basis of consultations from relevant ministries and departments, stated EAC Chairman Bibek Debroy while addressing a press briefing after the meeting.

We will come out with implementable solutions for economic problems and present them to the Prime Minister," Debroy said after the meeting.

The Coucil will be working closely with the Reserve Bank of India on monetary policy and fiscal framework. The EAC-PM can also opt for professional consultation from private sector and other key stakeholders to find solutions to India's economic troubles.

"There is a consensus amongst us that there are various reasons that have contributed to slowdown of growth rate. Our entire thrust would be on implementable decisions. Our views on the 10 identified areas would be of specific things that you can change tomorrow, "Debroy said.

The EAC-PM was formed under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Bibek Debroy, with Ratan Watal, Principal Advisor to the planning body, named Member Secretary of the Council. Other members on the panel include economists Ashima Goyal, Surjit Bhalla and Rathin Roy.

The EAC-PM will have informal meetings and will use resources sourced from NITI Aayog, informed Watal during the press briefing. The ten chosen economic concerns have been evenly distributed among each of the five members of EAC-PM. Progress on these ten topics will be appraised when the EAC-PM formally meets again in November.

The EAC-PM also agreed on the need for effective tracking of key economic parameters, through possible mechanisms for instituting an Economy Track Monitor, using lead indicators and triggers for action, based on informed assessment and analysis. The members will also bring specific issue papers addressing key concerns and linkages will be established with key national institutions.

Prior to the first formal meeting of the EAC-PM, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian made a presentation on accelerating economic growth, including investments and exports using a combination of different policy levers.

Notably, the meeting happened just after International Monetary Fund (IMF) decreased India's growth forecast for the upcoming financial year 2017-18 to 6.7 per cent as opposed to 7.2 per cent it had quoted earlier. Earlier today, even World Bank stated that economic growth for India will come down from 8.0 seen in 2015 to 7.6 in 2017 on account of disruptive effect from demonetisation and GST.
The transition from one generation to the next is a delicate time for family businesses. Studies from across the world have highlighted the fact that more than 70 per cent of all family businesses fail to transit into the second generation. Of the ones that do, more than 90 per cent do not make it to the third generation. It is only an elite 3 per cent that make it to the fourth generation or beyond.

One of the key reasons for this high mortality of family businesses centers around succession or the lack of it. Traditionally, we have heard of family businesses splitting because the many inheritors could not arrive at a consensus on choosing a leader of their business in the next generation. Large and diversified groups like the DCM, Birlas, Dalmias, Modis could not survive beyond one or two generations due to this very reason.

However, there is a new problem around succession that is being experienced these days by the patriarchs of the family-owned businesses - the problem of unwilling inheritors!

Joining the family business is not the default option for the new generation of inheritors. These inheritors are educated at the best institutions around the world, are well-travelled, have a wide world view and have high ambitions. Unfortunately, for many of them, the ambitions center around making a name for themselves away from the family business.

Mr. Bansal (name changed on request) owns a large and successful machine tools manufacturing business and he has a problem of the unwilling inheritor. A first-generation family business owner, Mr. Bansal ensured that his son, an only child, had the advantage of the best education that money could buy. When the son, Rohan (name changed on request), wanted to go to the US for his MBA, Mr. Bansal readily agreed.

It was when Rohan returned to India after graduation that Mr. Bansal ran into an unwilling inheritor. Rohan found the idea of running a machine-tools manufacturing business not suited to his aspirations. He balked at the thought of spending time on the shop floor and, instead, wanted to dabble in e-commerce. All his advice and admonitions fell on deaf ears, as Rohan, as we speak, is trying to find a business model that works.

Mr. Bansal is not a lone example of such a patriarch. There are many like him who find that there are no takers for the business set up by them. Here are some points that they need to keep in mind:

Start Early: Most patriarchs want their children, the potential inheritors, to focus on their studies and hobbies during their growing up years. As a result, the inheritors have little or no connect with the family business. It is only when the inheritors are in the late teenage years that the patriarchs switch gears and want them to start learning about the business. Smart patriarchs understand the value of an early connect and ensure that even as young children, the inheritors spend time with them in the business. Pooja Jain of Luxor and Amit Burman of Dabur both recollect their late school years when they would be encouraged to spend time at the factory/ office. As a result, when it came to joining the family business, they were ready for it.

Ease the inheritors into the business: An Inheritor who is willing to join the family business can be easily overwhelmed by the sheer responsibility of the task. He (the inheritor is usually the son) is likely to be in the mid-twenties when he begins his initiation into the family business. In his enthusiasm the patriarch runs the danger of heaping too much onto the young inheritor's plate, thus scaring away the inheritor completely. Like any other new employee, the inheritor needs to be taken through a structured induction programme. Giving a young inheritor the corner office will be counter-productive not only for the young man himself, but also for the business.

(The writer is the author of The Inheritors - Stories of Entrepreneurship and Success)
"I don't believe in making excuses, you should not make excuses if you want to do something," said billionaire philanthropist Manoj Bhargava during an event in New Delhi where he unveiled his latest innovation to help rural India. According to Bhargava, an outspoken entrepreneur and one of the richest Indians in the US with a net worth of $ 4 billion, the new portable device that can generate electricity could be a game changer for villagers in remote parts of India.

The HANS PowerPack and the HAN Solar Briefcase have been developed after a research of over two years by engineers in production facilities in the US. The solar-energy powered products, which are simple to use and carry, can be recharged by placing them under the sun. The products could be particularly useful in rural households, especially where the natural terrain (such as mountainous areas) create a challenge for regular sources of electricity. It has a USB port and a 12-volt outlet apart from a spotlight and room lighting. The 300-watt instrument can help run electronic items of basic necessities such as bulbs, fan, TV and computer.

But why is a man who has been so successful with businesses in the US looking to target India's rural market? Bhargava's remarks suggest he wishes to give something back to the country of his origin. "I am not doing this for profit, I am doing it for the country," Bhargava says with a pause as he explains the pricing policy of the HANS PowerPack.

The price of the product is fixed at Rs 14,500, but Bhargava says that the production cost is higher with distribution expenses and taxes adding to the bill. A formula of 'Zero Profit' - where Bhargava makes neither profit nor losses - has been followed for the project. Bhargava is confident that the product can see a massive demand in India which still has millions of people living without electricity, but he is not sure if he will be able to meet the demand. There are no production facilities yet in India, which can make the product cheaper.

Bhargava believes it makes sense for him to eventually carry out the production in India, instead of the US, as a cheaper product would suit the budget of rural households. At Rs 14,500 the price is on a higher side for the low-income group. But Bhargava insists it's not as expensive as it seems. With a guarantee of 12 years on the product, consumers can get electricity without paying any bill for a long time.

Bhargava is also not ready to compromise on the quality of the product to cut cost. "Just because you are making a product for the poor does not mean you make low-quality stuff," he says. The product has been tested and designed to maximise durability. "During production process, as part of tests, we dropped this on concrete floors to make sure that it was not easily breakable," Bhargava said during the presentation.

As for the marketing, Bhargava does not seem particularly interested in selling it through retail stores, instead he could be aiming at clubbing his invention with the Indian central government and state governments' initiatives to electrify Indian homes. In fact, the government of Uttarakhand has already placed an order of 1,00,000 HANS PowerPacks and other states could be lining up.

"If we receive an order from the Uttar Pradesh government, we will be busy for the next few years," Bhargava quipped. Bhargava's strategy could be an effective one with Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's special focus on electrifying every house in India. According to the Ministry of Power, 43 million households in the nation are still living without electricity.

But electricity is not the only focus of Bhargava. Access to clean water is another important issue Bhargava has taken up as part of his Billions in Change (also documentary films) campaign. His team has developed two RainMaker filtration units created to make brackish water and grey water suitable for drinking and agriculture.

"People may not realize it, but dirty water is the number one cause of sickness and death around the world today. It's the epidemic," says Bhargava. "Our goal is to give people clean water so they can be healthier, more productive, and experience higher quality of life," he says. "Clean water is health."

Bhargava also presented details of the Shivansh Fertilizer method which can benefit small-scale Indian farmers. According to him, it's a cost-free alternative to urea made with a process that transforms farm waste into a nutrient-rich fertilizer.

"Incorporating Shivansh Fertilizer brings dead soil back to life within one-one-planting season," says Bhargava. "The results are stunning. Farmers are seeing higher yields, they're getting higher quality produce, they're using less pesticide and less water," he added.
The Allahabad High Court today acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the murder of their daughter Aarushi Talwar in 2008. The Court said that the conviction cannot be based on suspicion and they must be given the benefit of doubt. Soon after the verdict, the Central Bureau of Investigation said that it would read the judgment and then decide the future course of action. Now, the investigating agency has two options- either challenge the High Court verdict in the Supreme Court or re-investigate the case and find out - who killed Aarushi.

It was 16 May 2008 when Aarushi was found dead in the bedroom of her house in Noida. The role of Talwars' domestic help Hemraj Banjade came under the scanner. However, a day later, Hemraj also found dead on the terrace of the same room. His throat was slit and the door to the terrace was locked from inside. The Uttar Pradesh Police, which was investigating the case, suspected the murder of an insider job. Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar both came under scanner. However, police failed to provide any evidence - forensic or material- to substantiate the claim. The UP Police drew flak over shoddy investigation into the case and the then chief minister Mayawati handed over the probe to the CBI.

Soon after taking over the case, the CBI arrested Rajesh Talwar's assistant Krishna Thadaraj and two other domestic servants Vijay Mandal and Raj Kumar. There were put on the lie detector test and based on the 'narco' report, the CBI suspected that they had killed Aarushi after an attempted sexual assault. However, the CBI was accused of using dubious methods to extract a confession. Later, the court released them -Krishna Thadaraj, Mandal and Raj Kumar- for 'lack of evidence'. In 2009, the new CBI team took over the case and based on the circumstantial evidence, it named Rajesh Talwar as the sole suspect. However, it could not find any hard evidence to support the claim and later filed the closure report. The Court did not accept the closure report and asked the CBI to investigate Talwars. In 2013, the Court convicted Aarushi's parents and gave them life imprisonment.

Here's what CBI judge Shyam Lal said while convicting Rajesh and Nupur Talwar : "The parents are the best protector of their own children and that is the order of the human nature, but they have been freaks in the history of mankind when the father and mother became the killer of their own progeny." "They have extirpated their own daughter who has seen 14 summers of her life and the servant, without compunction from terrestrial terrain in breach of commandment that 'thou shall not kill' and the injunction of the holy Quran 'take not life, which god has made sacred'," Shyam Lal wrote in the judgement.
LOGAN  Of all his accomplishments during his career, Alexander Boldyrev said the latest is one at the top of my list.

The Utah State University chemist said he and a team of scientists from the Southern Federal University in Russia have recently proven that an ultralight version of aluminum is possible. If made, he said, the metal would be less dense than water. It would be light, it would float, and there is a good chance it would still be as strong as conventional aluminum.

The implications of creating such a metal are far reaching.

Using computer programs, Boldyrev and his team examined the structure of a diamond at its molecular level. They took out every carbon atom and replaced each with a tetrahedron of aluminum atoms.

It worked.

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The team found that the new materials density is .6 grams per cubic centimeter, compared to the 2.7 grams per cubic centimeter of conventional aluminum. Just talking about the discovery makes Boldyrev smile.

Who would think that such material is possible? he said.

Boldyrev brought up automobiles as one example of how developing ultralight aluminum could be beneficial. He pointed out that car parts, made with the new, now-conceivable material, would be just as functional as its conventional counterparts, but they would be lighter. That means the car would use less gas, making transportation less expensive and better for the environment.

You can imagine that implications are everywhere, Boldyrev said. Aerospace and ship making, the auto industry, electronics, medicine, whatever.

Now that it is known that such materials are possible, Boldyrev said the new task is to produce it.

It is another challenge, he said. There is not a straightforward way to make a new material.

Boldyrev said it could be his group that figures it out, or it could be another. The challenge to create it, he said, is open.

The recent discovery opens up a big, brand new area of research. Now that it is clear ultralight aluminum is possible, Boldyrev believes other ultralight metals could be as well.

We will probably find more materials that will be lighter than their conventional analogs, he said. It could be that we can make ultralight iron, maybe some other metals. How they will behave, we dont know yet. We dont know if it is possible or not. We know that for aluminum it is possible, but for other metals it is just the beginning of a huge area of research.
With Election Day less than four weeks away, Billings two mayoral candidates tried to put some distance between each other Wednesday during a candidate forum attended by about 30 people and sponsored by the Yellowstone Democratic Club.

One example: the proposed One Big Sky Center.

Jeff Essmann said declining downtown tax increment financing revenue makes me very worried about that project.

He said hed oppose a general fund subsidy for the project, calling it a corporate handout for an out-of-state corporation. If TIF valuation is falling, how does that pencil out?

Bill Cole noted the project will include $130 million or more in private investment, which would generate about $2 million annually for the TIF district. He said downtown businesses and Billings hoteliers might help cover the ongoing costs of a convention center, which he said will add about 300 jobs and have a $30 million local impact. For Jeff to say he wouldnt give one dollar to that project, hes speaking ideologically, Cole said.

The two debated with spirit and civility for about 75 minutes after sharing a meal around the same table surrounded by family members. Former Mayor Chuck Tooley moderated the event, held at the Fortin Culinary Center.

Welcome, Tooley said at the outset, to this demonstration of democracy.

Asked what skill set the new city administrator should possess, Cole said hes looking for someone whos managed large budgets and large groups of people. He said he hopes the City Council will opt to pay enough to attract the very best. Pay for the citys top administrator has not been competitive in recent years, he said, but its money well spent." Paying the new person a competitive wage sends the message that we really value the administrators work, he said.

Essmann said he wants someone smart and energetic. With some council turnover upcoming, I think we will have a reinvigorated council that wants to set some new directions, a council that wants to set priorities and policies and will look to a smart city administrator to execute them. He said he wants an administrator who looks at what other communities are doing, such as using data analytics  staffing and scheduling patterns  to deal with public safety, a topic he said is very much on the minds of residents hes spoken with.

On state funding cutbacks that will be announced soon, Essmann  whos still serving in the Montana Legislature  said theres still a dance going on between legislators and Gov. Steve Bullock over who should make the cuts. He said he believes Bullock wont call legislators into a special session unless a deal is within reach.

Cole said the Billings mayor cant do much about the cuts except to monitor carefully to see how they will impact the city. He said state cuts will have a ripple effect, which can be substantial on communities, including increased crime and decreased child welfare. We need to count on the Legislature to do its best to fix the problem, Cole said.

Asked to describe how theyd wield the mayoral gavel, Cole  like Essmann, a trained lawyer  called the gavel a symbol of judiciousness and fairness. People can live with council decisions, he said, if they feel they have been heard fairly, and its important that the mayor afford them that respect. He said hed run meetings economically and efficiently.

Essmann, a Republican, said he learned how to run legislative committee hearings years ago under a Democratic chairman of the Senate Taxation Committee. It is the duty of the council to listen, but I prefer the legislative approach to the organization of meetings, he said, adding hed allow each side to flesh out the arguments between themselves and would allow questions from council members while avoiding debate with members of the public. He said hed also take agenda-setting out of the city administrators hands and return it to the council  should the newly elected council approve that change.

Both candidates were stumped when asked how much money theyve raised for their campaign. Essmann said he knows how much cash he has on hand  about $7,300  and Cole said he knows his major donor, because youre looking at him, and my wife.

Essmann said his major donors  those who have given him the maximum $330  are friends of mine in the business community.

Cole said many of his largest donors are family members who live out of state.

They donate to his campaign, he joked, because they know they have to have Thanksgiving dinner with me.
This is the blog of Dr Caitlin Green FSA. It features posts on my main academic research foci alongside other topics that I'm currently working on, including drafts of papers, ideas and similarthese are usually identifiable by the presence of footnotes. You're free to cite these drafts if they are of interest, and are reminded that academic blogs are indeed citable under most citation systems. In addition, the current site also houses posts relating to my personal interests, including long-distance trade, migration and contacts; landscape and coastal history; early literature and legends; and the history, archaeology, place-names and legends of Lincolnshire and Cornwall. For further details of this website & how to contact me, please see the ' About ' page or @caitlinrgreen on Twitter.
The China Insurance Regulatory Commission has proposed guidelines for internal controls over investments in equities, real estate and financial products. Photo: IC

Chinas insurance regulator plans to tighten controls on insurance companies investments in riskier assets as part of an ongoing effort to step up oversight of the risk-plagued industry.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) is soliciting opinions on a new draft guideline covering internal controls over the use of insurance funds. The new guideline mainly targets investments in equities, real estate and some financial products.

The new rules, expected to take effect by the end of this year, would establish an anti-corruption system aimed at curbing the transfer of illegitimate interests. The CIRC would also set standards and procedures for the affiliated transactions of insurance companies.

The new requirements could pose compliance challenges to insurers. Most insurance companies should be able to meet the guidelines after minor adjustments in their risk management. Insurers whose internal controls were already considered poor by the CIRC would need to make big improvements to meet the requirements, according to people close to the CIRC.

In December 2015, the CIRC issued a document covering insurance funds investments in bank loans, fixed-income products, stocks and mutual funds.

Caixin learned that the CIRC is also considering further guidelines covering risk controls for insurance funds investments in debt and stakes in infrastructure projects.

Alternative investments, which include private equities, debt, stakes in infrastructure projects, real estate and trusts, as well as wealth management products issued by commercial banks, are increasingly popular among Chinese insurers, which are allocating more assets to riskier investments in pursuit of better returns.

As of the end of August, the Chinese insurance industry allocated nearly 40% of funds to alternative investments, up from 9.41% at the end of 2012, according to CIRC data.

While safe-haven assets such as bank deposits and fixed-income instruments remain the biggest asset class in insurers portfolios, they accounted for just 48.4% of investments at the end of August, down from almost 80% in 2012, CIRC data show.

The new guidelines dont specify in which assets or how much insurers are allowed to invest in riskier assets. The rules emphasize internal-control management of insurance companies while making such investments.

The CIRC requires an annual third-party audit of insurance companies internal controls over the use of insurance funds. The audit report should be submitted to the CIRC by April 30 each year, according to the draft guidelines.
Qualcomm has seen its stock value drop by around a third since a 2014 peak following fines in South Korea and the Chinese mainland, with revenues and profits also down. Photo: Visual China

Global telecoms chip leader Qualcomm Inc. said on Thursday it will contest Taiwans levy of a NT$23.4 billion ($773 million) fine for anti-competitive behavior, marking the third such massive penalty against the company for similar practices.

The Taiwan Fair Trade Commission handed down its decision late on Wednesday, saying Qualcomm unfairly used its market dominance to force customers into contracts that were overly burdensome. The company controlled about 50% of the global baseband chipset market last year, or about twice as much as the next player MediaTek Inc., which is based in Taiwan, according to Strategy Analytics.

Qualcomm disagrees with the decision  and intends to seek to stay any required behavioral measures and appeal the decision to the Taiwanese courts, Qualcomm said. The fine bears no rational relationship to the amount of Qualcomms revenues or activities in Taiwan, and Qualcomm will appeal the amount of the fine and the method used to calculate it.

U.S. investors were unfazed by the latest fine, with Qualcomm shares closing up 0.5% in the latest session on Wall Street. But the stock has lost about a third of its value from a peak in 2014, shortly before a series of similar rulings began against the company. The largest of those came in 2015, when the Chinese mainland fined the company a record 6.1 billion yuan ($926 million) for anticompetitive behavior. South Korea followed last year with its own fine of about 1 trillion won ($880 million), and the European Union has also launched a probe.

As part of the China ruling, Qualcomm was forced to renegotiate all of its contracts with China-based users of its products, including buyers of its smartphone chips and licensees of its mobile technology. The Taiwan Fair Trade Commission said Qualcomm will need to similarly renegotiate contracts with local customers under its ruling.

The Fair Trade Commission said Qualcomm has acted illegally for seven years, during which time it earned the equivalent of about $43 billion from licensing fees and chip sales combined. It used that figure to help determine the amount of its fine.

The series of findings have undermined Qualcomms business as it is forced to pay major fines and renegotiate contracts under more favorable terms for its customers. In its most recent reporting quarter Qualcomm said its revenue fell 11% to $5.4 billion, while its profit dropped 40% to about $900 million.

Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)
Wemin Insurance Agency Co. Ltd., whose majority owner is Tencent Holdings Ltd., has been granted a license that allows it to sell insurance products, collect premiums and settle claims as an agent. Photo: Visual China

Competition in Chinas fast-growing online insurance industry is intensifying, as tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. recently secured a new license to sell insurance products on its popular messaging apps WeChat and QQ.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said Wednesday it granted an operating license to Wemin Insurance Agency Co. Ltd., a new insurer in which Tencent owns a 57.8% controlling stake. Other shareholders of Weimin include Taiwan-based Fubon Property & Casualty Insurance Co. and a Chinese private equity fund.

Technology companies are flocking to the internet insurance industry in China in recent years. They are riding on a fintech wave, as well as the countrys opening of its financial services sector once dominated by state companies. The hype remains unabated, as shown by the massive oversubscription in the initial public offering of ZhongAn Online Property & Casualty Insurance Co. Ltd., Chinas first online-only insurer, in Hong Kong two weeks ago.

In China, about 65% of new insurance policies were sold through the internet last year, according to management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, which projects that Chinas technology-based insurance industry will grow to 1.41 trillion yuan ($214.1 billion) by 2021, up from 363 billion yuan in 2016.

Weimin, established in October 2016, has registered capital of 200 million yuan. The license now allows it to sell insurance products, collecting premiums and settle claims as an agent, the CIRC said.

WeChat, Chinas most-used messaging app that also has online payment capabilities, has more than 960 million users. Such a massive platform will likely immediately boost the companys internet finance portfolio.

Some market watchers believe companies are likely to prioritize sales for platforms in which they have a higher stake. This means Tencent may focus more on Weimin than ZhongAn, challenging the growth of the latter. ZhongAn is also owned by Ant Financial Services Group and Ping An Insurance.

Tencent holds a 20% stake of the Hong Kong unit of U.K.-based insurance group Aviva, and a 15% stake of Chinas Hetai Life Insurance Co. Both insurers are eye on expanding their presence in digital insurance.

Ant Financial acquired a controlling 51% stake in Taiwans Cathay Century Insurance Co. in 2016. Since then, Cathay Century prioritizes technology as a key business driver, effectively competing head-on against other bigger players like ZhongAn.

Contact reporter Leng Cheng (chengleng@caixin.com)
The late former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, a Republican from Billings, would have loved the hoopla at Wednesdays unveiling at MetraPark of a road sign in his honor  but not so much the sign itself, friends and family said.

I think he would have loved coming to a party like this. He didnt want anything named after him, said his wife, Phyllis Burns, at a ceremony honoring her husbands contributions to Montana and the local community.

He wasnt into that. Just to get it done was enough reward for him, she said.

But almost 50 public officials, friends and associates turned out to celebrate Burns contributions as a senator and former Yellowstone County commissioner and to tell stories.

The large sign, proclaiming Conrad Burns Memorial Highway in honor of Burns, will mark the portion of Highway 3 that runs from Main Street, near MetraPark, up to the Billings Logan International Airport. As senator, Burns helped secure federal funding to improve the roadway and other highway projects and to help the development of telecommunications.

Also unveiled at Wednesdays event was a sandstone rock bearing Burns livestock brand: bar C bar. The rock, which had been at the Burns residence in the Heights, was relocated to MetraPark, next to the flag poles. Burns helped support the construction of MetraPark arena years ago, was the first manager of NILE, a livestock show held annually on the grounds, and helped manage grounds as county commissioner.

The 2017 Legislature approved dedicating a portion of Highway 3 after Burns. The legislation was sponsored by Billings Republicans Sen. Roger Webb and Rep. Dale Mortensen, who both spoke at the ceremony.

The idea for honoring Burns with a road sign grew from a conversation Yellowstone County Commissioner Denis Pitman said he had with Phyllis Burns over what to do with Burns branding rock that was in their yard.

An agricultural broadcaster who founded the Northern Ag Network, Burns also was an auctioneer. He was elected to the Yellowstone County commission in 1986 and then to the U.S. Senate in 1988, where he served for 18 years before losing in the 2006 election to Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat.

Burns died at 81 in 2016 after suffering a stroke a few years earlier.

Taylor Brown, a former state senator from Huntley who worked for Burns at the Northern Ag Network, called Burns a stockman whose heart was in the livestock industry. He also was dedicated to helping rural families and rural youth, he said.

Brown said he still has Burns saddle hanging in his tack room. Saying he wouldnt need it while in Washington, D.C., Burns gave him the saddle for safe keeping. He called for it once and asked Brown to bring it, along with horses for him and a Montana delegation, to ride in the inaugural parade for President George W. Bush.

We did in fact do that, Brown said.

Former U.S. Marshal Dwight MacKay, another longtime friend who served with Burns on the county commission and was his state director, said he got to know Burns when he joined the commission.

People were jockeying over office space, prompting Burns to ask him what was going on, MacKay said. Just a zone change, MacKay said he replied. Whats a zone change? Burns asked, he said.

MacKay also noted Burns service in the U.S. Marine Corps and how he wouldnt take credit for legislative accomplishments, including the millions of dollars that improved roadways. Instead, Burns would comment on what a good road it was, he said.

As commissioners, Burns and MacKay approved claims, not with their signatures, but with their brands, he said. Burns used the bar C bar and MacKay used the Top Hat, the brand for his ranch. It always went through, MacKay said.

Other speakers included Billings Mayor Tom Hanel; representatives for Gov. Steve Bullock, Sen. Steve Daines and Sen. Jon Tester; and Commissioner Jon Ostlund.
| BY Ricki Green |

Melbourne Food & Wine Festival Partner with Paper Stone Scissors for their first campaign together

Creative agency Paper Stone Scissors will be working in close partnership with Melbourne Food & Wine Festival to produce the creative for the 2018 festival around this years theme of community.

Offering over 200 events over two weeks in March, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival continues to bring the very best of the Victorian food industry together in one huge city-wide celebration.

Paper Stone Scissors has a history of working with clients in the food industry  from Tuppaware to Wine Republic  and will bring this experience to its work across the MFWF campaign.
A male found burned Wednesday in a Billings West End neighborhood apparently caught fire while filling a car with gasoline, according to the Billings Fire Department.

Firefighters were dispatched to Concord Drive and Birchwood Drive at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Jeff McCullough, deputy fire marshal.

It was still unknown Wednesday night how the fire started, McCullough said.

The male was flown to Denver to be treated for his injuries, McCullough said. Neither the male's age nor the extent of his injuries have been released.

"I just know he was trying to go fill up his car with gas and next thing you know he's on fire," McCullough said. "And I don't know the details as to how or why."

The incident remains under investigation, McCullough said.
| BY Ricki Green |

OMDs Big Day Out event rolled into Sydney yesterday with over 180 media owners in attendance, held at The Commune in Waterloo.

Now in its third year, the unique event is designed to give media owners a deeper understanding of OMDs clients offerings, business challenges and how the media can help solve them. Whilst also recognising and celebrating the role media owners play in the agencys success.

Guests were taken through eight custom built immersive client experiences, before being joined by the wider agency for a post event party. The day was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Says attendee Kurt Burnette, chief revenue officer at Seven West Media: There is absolutely no question that the very best work for advertisers comes from collaboration and the sharing of insights between media owner and media agency. OMDs Big Day Out has once again done a wonderful job of sharing client objectives in an entertaining and memorable format, better enabling us as media owners to respond with ideas in an effective and relevant way.

Says Yvette Mayer, managing director, OMD Sydney: This was my first OMD Big Day Out event and I couldnt be prouder of the team. It was fantastic to see them put so much creativity and fun into their presentations.
| BY Ricki Green |

Cummins&Partners, Sydney has today announced the launch of #LetUsAllTieTheKnot  a Puma initiative that allows people to show their support for marriage equality in Australia.

#LetUsAllTieTheKnot will allow anyone to show their support for marriage equality by tying The Equality Knot  a simple, recognizable and bespoke knot created by Melbourne-based Professor Shoelace Ian Fieggen  a Puma OG enthusiast and knotting expert.

Says Mandie van der Merwe, creative director, C&P: Whether you identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or intersex, you should be allowed to marry the person you love. But, if you live in Australia, you currently do not have this right; you cannot tie the knot with whomever you want. #LetUsAllTieTheKnot is a PUMA initiative that allows people who support marriage equality to make a statement about it every single day until the laws change.

Says Pancho Gutstein, general manager, Puma Oceania: This initiative is for equality. For love. For everyone. It is about supporting our people; whether that be our employees, our sportspeople or our consumers. PUMA is a brand that stands up for individuality and being true to who you are. We welcome diversity in all forms. #LetUsAllTieTheKnot is our way of giving people a voice to express themselves and their individual views.

Details of the campaign and instructions on how to tie The Equality Knot can be found at www.equalityknot.com. In addition, Puma will offer up 5,000 limited-edition shoelaces, in the six colours of the rainbow flag to support the initiative. These will be available at Puma Chatswood and Melbourne Central Flagship stores, as well as online at puma.com.au at no cost from 12th October.

The team at PUMA, Cummins&Partners, as well as the production partners who have all given their time and talent to bring this idea to life ask, that if you support marriage equality, tie The Equality Knot and share it using the hashtag.

Client: PUMA Oceania

Creative Agency: Cummins&Partners

Production Company: Photoplay

Photographer: Romello Pereira

Animation Studio: Heckler

Sound and Music: Nylon Studios
| BY Ricki Green |

By Tara McKenty (left), creative director, Google APAC

David Waldon, Andy Blood, Damon Stapleton, John Merrifield, Matty Burton, Dave Bowman, David Park, Ross Jauncey, David Slocum, Samual Payne, and Iain Nealie. To the untrained eye, this line up might look like a whos who of creative leadership. But theyre so much more than that. Theyre a group of unsung diversity champions. A group I like to refer to as my man-tors.

Mantor

Noun

1. An experienced and trusted male adviser.

He was her friend and mantor until his death

It may be surprising to hear a woman call out a cast of men as pivotal characters in her career  especially in a piece about diversity. But the truth is, my career and its trajectory is essentially a product of the guidance and support Ive received from these guys.

Of course, this isnt to say that women dont play a part in mentoring up-and-comers. Its just to say that, I didnt have access to any. Because theyre so, well, Rare.

If we look at current gender stats in Australia, only 13% of CEOs and 13.5% of ECDs in our industry are female. So women coming through the ranks have very few other women to mentor them and aspire to. Things get even trickier when you broaden the issue beyond gender.

So thats where the Mantors come in. In my mind, the increase in diversity rates is as much the work of the male champions of diversity, as it is of the female pioneers. Great men mentoring great women, creating opportunities for minorities to progress  despite a challenging environment  is our quickest win as an industry.

And its a win-win. Because research shows that diversity in perspective gets to more interesting and successful solutions  a truth my troop of mantors have shown me in practice.

Theyve also proven, in building and running diverse departments themselves, that diversity isnt an or, its an and. Its not about favouring minorities over talented people who might fall into the majority. Its about having both. I personally dont want to see more women instead of men. I just want to see more women and minorities entering and staying in our industry. And, in time as a result, see future generations of advertisers learn from and aspire to a more diverse group of leaders.

So this is my ask. If youre a talented man in advertising and you are reading this, please think about the minorities you have in your team or agency, and do one thing to pass on your knowledge, skills. Or create an opportunity for someone within your business who has the odds stacked against them.

And if youre a rare talent whod like to bolster your support base, but arent sure where to start, you should look at applying for Rare  a new leadership masterclass for minorities which I recently co-founded with the support of a bunch of legends. But get in quick  applications close this Sunday 15 October.

Further information on the RARE program and applications for tickets to the masterclass are available online now at https://rare-syd.com. 80 spots are available, with those interested asked to submit an application about what makes them RARE.
| BY Ricki Green |

Digital, data and customer experience agency, WiTH Collective Linked by Isobar, has announced the appointment of John Marshall to lead its New Zealand office in the role of client services director.

Marshall joins WiTH Collective following the August launch of its Auckland office, and will work closely with ANZ CEO Justin Hind and general manager Adam Parsons to lead the ASB account and drive the agencys presence in New Zealand.

A New Zealand native, Marshall joins from M&C Saatchi, Sydney and prior to that Ogilvy Sydney where he has worked for brands such Lion, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Vodafone and Google. His work has been recognised at Cannes and a raft of other TV, film and creative award shows.

Says Hind: Weve been on a long search to find the perfect leader. John has had a lot of success in Australia with some of the countrys biggest brands and has the right level of passion, hunger and skill-set that aligns perfectly with our vision of providing business strategy and creative, through to customer experience and optimisation. He will be a great leader for our New Zealand team.

Says Marshall: The opportunity to not only join the WiTH Collective team, but to be able to lead and extend their innovative offering to the market in New Zealand is an exciting one. Add in the chance to work on a brand like ASB and it makes the decision to move back home an easy one for me. I cant wait.
If U.S. House flips red, you can partly thank Ron DeSantis. Here's why
Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 11:34AM

Google Street View has gone the most north ever  to Quttinirpaaq National Park in Nunavut. And it's taken every one along for the ride.

With treks along the ocean shoreline and climbs up to lofty ridges, the resulting imagery is spectacular  a digital reflection of one of the worlds most rural locations. Canadas Arctic is one of the most incredible and remote places on earth. Were proud to be able to show the world this spectacular landscape and share a part of Canadian culture few people have ever seen.

Featuring wilderness and isolation at its most extreme, Quttinirpaaq (pronounced 'koo-tin-ir-pa-ak'), as the Inuktitut (the local Indigenous language) name suggests, really is the 'top of the world.' Located at the northern tip of Ellesmere Island in the High Arctic, it is a vast landscape that offers thrilling adventure to those who are fortunate enough to explore it.

Ancient indigenous people have a long history on Ellesmere Island, starting with the arrival of the Paleo-Eskimos about 4500 years ago. Archaeological sites give testimony to the resiliency of these peoples and their ability to survive in this extreme northern climate. In Resolute Bay theres a campsite captured on Street View.

Bringing Street View to remote places like Quttinirpaaq brings Google Street view closer to the ultimate goal of creating the worlds most comprehensive, accurate and usable map. This project is part of an ongoing quest to build the perfect map; to create a digital mirror of the real world and provide users with a realistic/immersive experience on the web.

See the following links for English and French blogs.
"In doing this it would be prudent to explore models used in other jurisdictions that embrace private sector entities' participation and do not rely solely on public [or] taxpayer funding, as has been the case to date for most ACT government public art.
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 ...
Two Livingston men suspected in a heroin conspiracy denied federal charges on Tuesday.

Appearing for arraignment in U.S. District Court in Billings, Richard Guay, 38, and Donald Lee Jones Jr., 27, pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging them with conspiracy to distribute heroin.

Guay also faces a possession count and two counts of distributing heroin. Jones also faces a possession count.

The indictment accuses the men of conspiring to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin in Park and Gallatin counties from about June 2015 until March 2017.

The conspiracy count carries a minimum mandatory five years to 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Cavan ordered the men to remain in custody pending trial. The case will be heard by U.S. District Judge Susan Watters.
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.
Subaru just dusted off a nameplate they havent used in a while: the Rex. This time though, its not being attached to a sub-compact mini or...
When the Veterans Administration released its most recent health care quality ratings, VA Montana scored at its highest level in two years.

The VA Medical Center that serves all of Montana earned three stars out of possible five for the April-June quarter. In January, VA Montanas quality rating had slipped to one star, down from two in December.

One star meant that VA Montana ranked in the lowest 20 percent of VA medical centers nationwide for quality. Three stars means the latest quality ranking is in the middle quintile, with 40 percent of VA medical centers ranking better and 40 percent ranking lower.

The improved quality score reflects progress in mental health continuity of care, reducing health care associated infections, reducing in-hospital complications and improvement in inpatient survey results.

It is gratifying to see the results of our hard work, Dr. William Campbell, chief of staff, said in a press release. It is highly unusual for a VA health care system to make this dramatic an improvement in just three quarters.

Campbell is part of the new senior leadership team that has come aboard in the past year. Other new VA Montana leaders are Director Dr. Kathy Berger, Chief Nurse Executive Nina Morris, Associate Director Anthony Giljum and Assistant Director Kirby Ostler.

Back in March, the VA Office of Inspector General reviewed VA Montana and made 19 recommendations for improving communication with patients, care documentation and replacing missing ceiling tiles at Fort Harrison. The Montana VA presented a plan to make all those corrections by September.

So it appears that progress has been made, but the byzantine bureaucracy that is VA still hinders care. As The Gazette reported Wednesday, the Billings VA outpatient clinic has had no dentist seeing patients since January. VA spokesman Mike Garcia in Helena told The Gazette that a dentist will be hired and at work in Billings in January 2018. Thats an entire year of no dental service at the states busiest VA outreach clinic.

That gap in dental care has been a hardship for Billings area veterans. With no dentist to see veterans here, some have been referred to VA clinics hours away in Helena and Sheridan, Wyoming. Others have been offered appointments locally with non-VA dentists, but the local referrals ceased during the summer. Garcia said that was the result of temporary funding constraints at the national level.

The effort to improve care quality for our veterans must be robust and continuous. The system still needs changing, and veterans' needs change, too.

Just last week, President Donald Trump signed into law a bipartisan bill to prevent numerous veterans benefits from expiring. The VA Expiring Authorities Act, championed by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, ensures rural veterans who use transportation assistance to travel to and from medical appointments will have those services available through 2019. The new law also continues the Caregiver Support Program, which provides assistance to those who care for veterans; the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, which provides housing, counseling and career training to homeless or at-risk veterans; and the Deborah Sampson Act, which provide more opportunities for women veterans to seek readjustment counseling.

According to Testers office, Trump has signed five other veterans bills the senator co-sponsored, ranging from improving the Veterans Choice program to protecting VA whistleblowers and supporting veterans education benefits.

Yet the work is not done. Montana veterans generally report they receive good care  when they can access it. Access obstacles and staff shortages continue to hamper VA Montana. Having no dental care in the Billings dental office for an entire year is a symptom of the persistent problems that keep VA from delivering the best care at the best time  every time.
A 68-year-old man from Nottingham, Maryland is facing a host of charges after riding on the front of a moving school bus.



The whole saga began at approximately 3:15 pm last Thursday when Ardin Doran claims that someone threw a bottle, possibly from the bus, at his vehicle on the side of the street. Infuriated, Doran thought it was prudent to try and enter the bus but the driver refused to open the door.

Not dissuaded, Doran jumped on the front of the bus, banged his fist on the hood and yelled Open the door! Still refusing to open up, the bus driver began to slowly drive towards a local police station. Shortly after starting the journey with the uninvited guest on the hood, an off-duty police officer saw what was happening and detained Doran.

WBAL TV 11 reports that the man is now facing several charges, including disorderly conduct and destruction of property.

VIDEO
The vast majority of the new cars sold in Japan may be manufactured there by domestic automakers, but the country is also one of the top five markets for high-end luxury automobiles  including those imported from overseas by automakers like Aston Martin.



Little wonder, then, that Aston took the occasion of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend to showcase two of its latest designs in an effort to drum up not only sales for its current models, but enthusiasm for what it has coming down the pipeline as well.

Most vital to the companys success  in Japan and around the world  is the new DB11. The first in a series of new models coming from Aston Martin, the DB11 is hardly what most of us would consider an inexpensive mode of transportation. But with Japans notoriously high tariffs on imported automobiles (especially those with larger engines), its sure to be that much more expensive in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Were not sure we even want to know how much a Valkyrie will go for over there, considering theyll already carry multi-million-dollar price tags in countries with low taxes on new cars (like the United States). Yet were sure Aston will sell (and likely already has sold) a few of them in Japan, where  despite the taxes  a surprising proportion of hypercars find their new owners.

Astons chief designer Marek Reichman was on hand for the presentations of both the DB11 (at the dealership in Nogoya) and the Valkyrie in Osaka and Tokyo, joined at the latter by partner Red Bulls star driver Daniel Ricciardo and former F1 drivers Martin Brundle and David Coulthard.

This wasnt the first visit from a high-level company executive to Japan in recent months, though. Late this past August, CEO Andy Palmer joined British Prime Minister Theresa May on a trade mission to Japan, where Aston announced 500 million ($660m) worth in trade between the company and the country to unfold over the next five years.

The automaker anticipates selling some 400 million in new cars there over the next half-decade, and in turn will buy more than 70 million ($92m) in components from Japanese suppliers like Bridgestone and Denso. Its also opening a new head office and a startup accelerator there next year.

Photo Gallery
Regulators in California have announced a selection of revised rules which will allow self-driving cars to travel throughout the state without human drivers.



The state says the new rules will take effect by June 2018 and streamline the requirements for automakers and technology companies to test their self-driving technologies in the state.

There are currently more than 40 companies testing self-driving vehicles in California with human controls, including automakers such as Ford, Tesla, General Motors, and tech firms including Alphabet, Apple and Samsung.

The new California regulations will also require companies to record information from all autonomous sensors in the 30 seconds leading up to a collision. Additionally, vehicles without human drivers must follow all road rules except when necessary for the safety of the vehicles occupants.

Although car manufacturers and tech companies will be pleased with the more relaxed laws, the Association of Global Automakers told Reuters that Californias regulations are still too strict.

A special permit is still required to deploy, creating regulatory uncertainty and raising concerns about the ability of autonomous vehicles to cross state lines.

PHOTO GALLERY
Buying a new car can be stressful but Hyundai is looking to ease the process with its new Shopper Assurance program.



Set to roll out nationwide early next year, the program seeks to streamline and modernize the car-buying experience. As the company admits, many buyers are frustrated with the current process and are looking for new ways to purchase a vehicle.

As part of the program, all Hyundai dealers in the United States will post the fair market price of vehicles  minus incentives and dealer discounts  on their websites so customers dont have to worry about haggling to get a few hundred dollars knocked off the sticker price.

When it comes time for a test drive, customers can skip the dealership altogether thanks to the Hyundai Drive program. It allows people to schedule a test drive and then have a vehicle delivered to a location of their choosing.

Assuming you want to move forward with the process, buyers can expect a streamlined visit to the dealership as the Shopper Assurance program will allow them to complete most of the paperwork online. This includes everything from applying for financing to valuing potential trade-ins.

Perhaps the programs most radical feature is the three-day money back guarantee. If customers are unhappy with their purchase, Hyundai will take the car back as long as it isnt damaged and has less than 300 miles on it since the purchase/lease date.

Video

Photo Gallery
Japanese steel manufacturer Kobe Steel Ltd. is in the midst of a scandal following revelations that its staff falsified data about the strength and durability of various aluminum and copper parts used in a variety of industries, including the automotive world and used by Toyota, Honda and Subaru.



Bloomberg reports that the three automakers are planning legal action against Kobe Steel with Toyota revealing that it used the companys materials in its hoods, doors and peripheral areas.

Kobe Steel asserts that it delivered materials to over 200 companies and falsified strength details about the metals to make them appear as if they met the quality standards of clients. It has been determined that the fabrication of figures was systematic and occurred at all four of Kobes aluminum plants in Japan.

In a statement, Toyota spokesman Takashi Ogawa said the carmaker was working to determine affected vehicles.

We are rapidly working to identify which vehicle models might be subject to this situation and what components were used. We recognize that this breach of compliance principles on the part of a supplier is a grave issue.

Kobe Steel claims that the falsification of figures impacts products shipped from September 2016 to August 2017. Estimates say it could cost $133 million to replace the parts.

PHOTO GALLERY
General Motors recently sold Opel and Vauxhall to Groupe PSA and there are worries that GM Korea could face a more disastrous fate.



According to WardsAuto, leaders from the Korean Metal Workers Union are worried that GMs decision to combine the leadership of its International region with its South America region could spell doom for Korean operations. GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem attempted to ease their fears by saying the company isnt planning to leave South Korea but everyone isnt convinced.

As the publication points out, the Korea Development Bank owns 17.02 percent of GM Korea shares and that gives them the power to veto plans to downsize operations or sell off major assets. However, the veto power will expire on October 17th and that could give GM a free hand to make drastic changes.

This doesnt mean GM will change anything but analysts believe the union has reason to be concerned as GM Korea has lost $1.7 billion in the past three years. The losses could show a need for cost-cutting measures and increasing productivity.

The decision to appoint Kazem as CEO of GM Korea hasnt helped matters either as he was previously managing director of GM India. In his previous position, he oversaw the sale of assets to SAIC. This has led some union leaders to believe Kazem is a restructuring specialist who was appointed to his position to cut jobs ahead of a possible pullout.

Photo Gallery
Madison Erhardt

More BC Liberal leadership candidates converged on Kelowna, Wednesday, with stops planned in other Okanagan cities as well.

Three of the eight contenders made stops to talk about their platforms.

Former cabinet minister Mike De Jong sipped coffee at The Curious Cafe and met with party members.

"I ask people to look at my experience as the finance minister for the last five years. We achieved something in British Columbia that no other jurisdiction could," De Jong said.

"We talked about education and training today, and how we can marshal the power of our economy," he added.

Candidate Michael Lee toured the Okanagan Innovation Centre and discussed his approach to leadership.

"I want to build and bring a different approach to British Columbia, and that includes here in the Okanagan," Lee said.

"I come with 30 years of experience within the community. I have worked with organizations involved with youth at risk, children and youth organizations and educational organizations," he added.

Meanwhile, Andrew Wilkinson was at the Rotary Centre for the Arts Wednesday morning. Wilkinson was joined by local MLAs Steve Thompson, Norm Letnick and former mayor Walter Gray.

"I was fortunate enough to serve in cabinet for four years and have a really broad understanding of how government actually works," he said.

"My campaign is going to be focused on opportunity. It is up to government to ensure that people have the training they need to get ahead, and that the job opportunities are there," Wilkinson added.

Wilkinson had another public event scheduled Wednesday evening in Vernon while Lee attended an afternoon event in that same city.

The leadership will be decided in February.
Photo: Alanna Kelly

Just how wasted do you have to be to think it's a good idea to urinate on the RCMP detachment?

We may never know the level of intoxication in this instance, but a 21-year-old Kelowna man did receive at least a 24-hour driving ban for his indiscretion.

The incident in question took place about 11:30 p.m. Saturday when a cell block guard at the Kelowna detachment noticed an unauthorized vehicle within the secure parking lot at the rear of the building.

The driver of the Ford Escape was then observed urinating on the side of the building.

When confronted by police, the man was said to be confused and oblivious to just where it was he was relieving himself.

Officers said the man appeared to be under the influence. Drugs and drug paraphernalia were found inside the vehicle and were seized.
Photo: Contributed

Social media allows citizens to share comments, questions and concerns with elected officials in real time that can quickly demonstrate a trend.



As an example, early this week, my social media feed, along with in-person meetings, was filled with outrage over news that if you are an employee who receives a staff discount, that discount would now be considered a taxable benefit by the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA).



Public reaction to this change in interpretation from the CRA has been overwhelming angry and strongly opposed.

For small business owners, the thought of attempting to administer the records of documenting staff discounts was another serious concern as was a potential reduction in wages for staff that might use a staff discount.



Fortunately, there may be some positive news on this matter.



National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier has indicated that this change on interpretation of the tax code is not one the minister authorized. It has been further reported that the minister has instructed the CRA to remove this interpretation from the CRA website.



In Ottawa circles, this is often referred to as the minister throwing the department under the bus."



From my perspective, it seems clear the minister recognized the outrage of this decision and has acted quickly to attempt to mitigate this change to the tax code.



Currently, this interpretation of the tax code is said to be officially under review while CRA consults with stakeholders.

Unfortunately, this does not necessarily mean that the CRA may not again attempt to implement a similar tax grab targeted against workers who receive a staff discount.



Given that many workers are in occupations that may not involve a staff discount, I would like to hear your views on this subject.

Would you support a staff discount being considered a taxable benefit or do you prefer the status quo where discounts are left alone by the CRA?

I can be reached at [email protected] or call toll free at 1-800-665-8711.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Reimer Bros. Trucking Reimer Bros. Trucking has a plan to build a large shop on its Armstrong property.

Building permits are way up in Armstrong, and a local area business is adding to its premises.

On Tuesday, city council approved a development permit application on behalf of Reimer Bros. Trucking for a 10,000 sq. ft. shop at its 2250 Kirton Avenue site.

They are a good corporate member of our community, said Mayor Chris Pieper. This is a shop to repair their trucking fleet, with three bays, and it will bring jobs to the community.

Pieper said 2017 could end up being one of the busiest construction years ever in Armstrong.

As of September, building permits had been issued for 38 new units, mostly houses, with a total value of $15 million. Last year at the same time, a total of 23 permits had been issued with a total value of $6.8 million, the mayor said.

It is a busy time for builders in our community as it is in the whole of the North Okanagan...We're at the top end of our growth projections.
A number of federal lawmakers have continued pushing efforts to privatize air traffic control in the country, introducing a number of bills over the past three years.

Legislation hasnt gone to a vote so far, lacking the support to pass, but aviation groups in the state say it seems support has been growing. President Donald Trump has been vocally supportive, which has recently given advocates of privatization more strength.

And every new year that the issue is brought up it seems more elected leaders get on board. This has spurred the aviation community to get its own message out.

The North Dakota Aviation Council, the umbrella organization for aviation in the state, along with its member organizations, the Airports Association of North Dakota, North Dakota Agricultural Aviation Association, North Dakota Association of Aviation Museums, North Dakota Business Aviation Association, North Dakota Experimental Aviation Association, North Dakota Pilots Association and The North Dakota Professional Aviation Mechanics, have joined with more than 150 other aviation associations around the country to oppose H.R. 2997, the most recent legislation on the issue. The North Dakota Aeronautics Commission Board has not taken a position on the bill but continues to monitor it.

North Dakota Aviation Council Chairman Jon Simmers said the aviation communitys concern with the legislation is more about the unknown.

Currently, all aviators pay a fuel tax based on the volume of fuel used. Those tax dollars are then redistributed by the FAA to pay for infrastructure improvements. Simmers said the fear is, under a privately run air traffic control, that fees would be switched to a user-based system.

General aviation has been billed by privatization proponents as a luxury. But in North Dakota the large majority, about 97 percent, are made up of small operators rather than big business, Simmers said. In reality, general aviation is small businesses, small town banks and specialty medical service providers taking their services to rural communities, where it wouldnt otherwise be available.

If fees are set by a private board in may become uneconomical for those small businesses to fly, Simmers said.

There are so many unknowns, he said.

Simmers said there is also concern over the proposed makeup of the proposed private board. Board representation would be unevenly weighted with commercial airlines over general aviators. This could lead to those commercial airlines acting more in their own interests rather than considering the effects on general aviation. For example, general aviators could find themselves rerouted more often to give commercial flights the preferred route.

Right now, (allocation of airspace) is handled in an unbiased way, Simmers said.

North Dakota has 89 airports and the aviation community has an estimated $1.56 billion economic impact in the state, as well as providing 10,000 jobs.

Mandans airport contributes about $9 million, housing about 90 aircraft, all piloted by general aviators. Bismarcks impact is estimated at $280 million, with 2,100 employees and 110 aircraft accounting for about 150 takeoffs and landings daily. The airport also provides shipping for 7 million pounds of cargo annually.

The Airports Association of North Dakota concern is for safety and worry that level of services may not be maintained by a private organization, said board president Matthew Remynse. If the air traffic control board is dominated by commercial airlines, resources may be rerouted from smaller airports to the larger ones.

More information is needed, Remynse said.

One argument made by privatizers is that the FAA, which has mandates for Next Gen technology, cant move as fast as a private organization could.

The issue with current ATC Technology is that it's over 50 years old. Although the system in the United States is still the safest in the world, it lacks the ability to adapt to the evolving modern technology, Simmers said. Current technology allows for more direct point a to point b flight patterns, enhancing overall efficiency through what is referred to as Next Gen Technology.

Simmers said he understands the Trump Administration is trying to cut governmental costs but, in this situation, privatization may not provide the efficiencies sought. There also may be unintended consequences, particularly for rural areas that are most in need.
Photo: Darren Handschuh File photo

A man who was accused of murder in Polson Park is expected to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter later this month.

Tal Kalum La Riviere, 30, was originally charged with second-degree murder in connection to the death of Jason Hardy, whose body was discovered near the lawn bowling clubhouse on Aug. 26, 2015. At one point, two teenage males were also charged with Hardy's murder although the charges were later dropped.

Hardy was 42 at the time he died.

The BC Prosecution Service anticipates resolving this case by accepting a plea by the accused to the lesser included offence of manslaughter, said Dan McLaughlin, of the Criminal Justice Branch. To facilitate this resolution, the Crown has sworn a new indictment charging the accused with one count of manslaughter.

The accused has re-elected to be tried by a provincial court judge and the matter has been adjourned to Oct. 23 in Vernon for plea and sentencing.
Photo: Okanagan College Professor Nancy Turner will speak at Okanagan College's Vernon campus.

B.C.'s indigenous peoples have historically been described as hunter-gatherers, but a university expert says their traditional knowledge systems are much more sophisticated than that.

Professor Nancy Turner of the University of Victoria will explain how indigenous plant managers bring their personal knowledge, techniques and practices passed down through generations, to cultivate wild species.

An author and a member of the Order of Canada, Turner will present her research at Okanagan Colleges Vernon campus in the lecture theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Called 'Looking after the Plants, Looking after the Land: Environmental Management by Indigenous Peoples of British Columbia', Turners research integrates the fields of botany and ecology with anthropology, geography and linguistics, among others.

She is interested in the traditional knowledge systems and traditional land and resource management systems of indigenous peoples, particularly in western Canada.

She has worked with First Nations elders and cultural specialists in northwestern North America for more than 40 years, collaborating with indigenous communities to help document, retain and promote their traditional knowledge of plants and habitats, including Indigenous foods, materials and medicines, as well as language and vocabulary relating to plants and environments.

Indigenous peoples also embrace their own associated cultural institutions, means of monitoring and maintaining productivity, and ways of passing on knowledge to others, including future generations, said Turner. Their lessons and approaches are often taught through experiential learning, storytelling, ceremony, and art.

Admission to the lecture is $7 in advance or $10 at the door. For advanced tickets call the Okanagan Science Centre at (250) 545-3644. Eventbrite tickets are available online.
Photo: Thinkstock.com

A civil liberties group says severely ill Canadians looking for medical help to end their lives have a longer wait before they find out whether the federal government is violating their right to a medically assisted death.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has ruled the facts used by the country's top court to overturn a ban on assisted dying two years ago are no longer applicable and the federal government can argue them anew.

The government said in its original submissions that the landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling involves different patients and evidence related to assisted-dying regimes in other countries that was presented in the original case is no longer current.

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould says in a statement the government will continue defending its legislation and argues it strikes the appropriate balance between safeguarding access to medically assisted death and protecting the rights of vulnerable people.

Caily DiPuma of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which is spearheading the lawsuit, says today's ruling will prolong the suffering of grievously sick people eager to access a right the courts have already granted them.

Two B.C. women and the civil liberties group are challenging the constitutionality of the legislation, which they say is more restrictive than the system of assisted dying envisioned by the Supreme Court.
Madison Erhardt

Pro-lifers displayed graphic images of aborted fetuses outside UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College in Kelowna, Wednesday.

The "Expose The Reality" event drew a counter-protest from pro-choice students at the college.

"These images are very graphic and that is because they show the graphic nature of what abortion does to pre-born children," said Rebecca Dalcin. "Abortion ends a human being's life. It's a hard reality, but this is the reality that we see here today."

One counter-protester stood outside the school holding a sign reading: Warning, graphic imagery ahead.

"We are here to counter protest them and make everyone feel welcome," she said.

The international student said she had an abortion herself, and if she weren't aware of her choices her life would be very different.

"I can say from experience that were those options not available to me, my life would be much more difficult. If I had (gone through with the pregnancy), I wouldn't have been able to continue my schooling here. I would have been sent home," she added.

The group also protested in front of Kelowna Secondary School Wednesday afternoon.

School District Supt. Kevin Kaardal said he found it ironic they chose to set up their protest at a school with a young mother's program.

Kaardal said school administration at KSS reached out to the organizers with their concerns, but added they do have their right to get their message out.

Protesters are not permitted to breach school grounds.
Photo: Google Street View Coun. Brian Quiring's call for bike lanes along Okanagan Landing Road is receiving support.

A local transportation group is cheering Vernon city councillor Brian Quiring's call for bike lanes in Okanagan Landing, from Paddlewheel Park to Ellison Provincial Park.

Quiring asked about the matter during a council meeting on Tuesday.

There are quite a few blind corners, said Quiring, who also complained about the road surface.

Transportation manager Amanda Watson said it would likely be five-plus years before there was major road rehabilitation along that route.

That's too bad, Quiring said. I would like to see us revisit our plans for bike lanes.

Quiring's call has the backing of the North Okanagan Coalition for Active Transportation.

We support that, said Kerry Carlson, NOCAT director. It is a well-used corridor.

Carlson said many people biked along the road despite the dangers, including the corners.

It's terrible, she said.

NOCAT will discuss Quiring's call at its next meeting.

People like to bike out to Ellison Park....It would be a wonderful recreational corridor.
Photo: Contributed

Lieut.-Gov. Judith Guichon will be the guest of honour at this weekend's Diwali dinner in Kelowna.

The sold-out event is organized by the East Meets West Childrens Foundation and is its major fundraiser to support an orphanage in Kolkata, India.

The Okanagan group also donates to the Starbright Child Development Centre and Karis Support Society locally, and earlier this year helped rescue 10 children from a child-trafficking ring in India.

Diwali is the Indian festival of lights. The colourful celebration will again take place at Rutland Centennial Hall on Saturday evening.

School teacher and board member Pam Samaddar said she has the responsibility to make a change when she can. As a teacher she wants to show her students "they, too, can make a difference both locally and globally."

"We have had amazing support from people in the Okanagan," said board chair Mohini Singh. "All we want to do is make a difference in the lives of those children who need help."
Photo: Thinkstock.com

Oliver council members are in agreement that universal regulations on cannabis are the best option, rather than federal legislation that could leave communities to make their own rules.

The federal government has come under fire for a hands-off approach on currently-proposed legislation, and many municipalities are worried about the possible burden on them to enforce federal rules.

"If there's going to be federal legislation that surrounds (cannabis), we're not the body that enforces federal legislation. We need to have the rules to play by," said Mayor Ron Hovanes.

Council has already ruled business licenses won't be granted to any firm that would contravene laws in the Criminal Code of Canada  including marijuana dispensaries.

"That's our way of saying we don't want to get involved in this. But we know, in June of next year, we might have this handed to us," Hovanes said. "I'm hoping they're not going to say 'well now it's legal in Canada, so now you guys have to come up with the rules', because I think that's wrong.

"We shouldn't be making laws that govern a substance. Whether it's alcohol, tobacco or drugs."

Hovanes worries enforcement of federal regulations on cannabis could put pressure on communities already burdened with decisions on other matters.

"If it's going to come with federal rules, it should come with federal legislation and parameters. I'm hoping it all goes well, but I'm hoping it's not going to be loosy-goosy at the end of the day."

Councillors made proposals Tuesday on what they would like to see in marijuana legislation, and town staff will now create a draft letter based on their input.

If approved by council at their Oct. 23rd meeting, that letter would be sent to the provincial government before Nov. 1st, the deadline for municipalities to submit feedback.
Alanna Kelly

UPDATE: 6 a.m.

The Kelowna Fire Department says the cause of a house fire at Rutland home Wednesday night has not been determined and is under investigation.

Crews arrived to find flames coming from the side of the home on the 400 block of McDonald Road and smoke and flames coming from the rear.

One person was home at the time of the fire, and two residents have been placed in the care of Emergency Social Services.

Investigators confirmed a marijuana grow operation at the home had been dismantled and power had been cut to the residence days earlier, says Platoon Capt. Scott Clarke.

Crews entered the home and were able to extinguish the fire, which was contained to the rear deck and attic.

A total of 16 firefighters responded to the blaze.

UPDATE: 10:30 p.m.

Firefighters battled a blaze inside a marijuana grow-op at a Rutland home.

Platoon Capt. Scott Clarke said the fire started in the attic, but firefighters were pulled back once they determined it was a grow-op.

There were smoke and flames showing from the structure, said Clarke. "Upon looking inside, we found out it was a grow-op, at which point we pulled everybody back from the structure and took a defensive mode."

RCMP arrived and spoke to the owner of the house, who said it was a grow-op and that power was cut a few days ago.

No one was injured in the fire.

The owner was inside and heard some popping and noticed flames from the ceiling and got out of the house," said Clarke.

Crews are inside pulling ceiling and getting at the fire.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

ORIGINAL: 9 p.m.

The roof of a home is on fire in Rutland.

Crews responded to the scene just before 9 p.m. near McDonald Road and Leathead Road.

It is not clear what caused the fire to start.

Castanet is sending a reporter to the scene and will update once more information becomes available.
Alanna Kelly

A campaign to promote buying, eating and drinking local in B.C. officially kicked off Wednesday night.

British Columbias key players in agriculture, seafood and food and beverage industries gathered at Kelownas Sandhill Winery to celebrate the Buy BC: Eat Drink Local.

Agriculture Minister Lana Popham and B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association president and CEO Ian Tostenson are encouraging local restaurants to jump on board and reserve their spot with the campaign.

Farmers wanted it back, consumers wanted it back, retailers wanted it back so we decided in our election platform we would relaunch it, said Popham.

Popham said it is a partnership between restaurants, local farmers and the wine industry.

It makes a whole lot of sense because it is simple, said Tostenson.

A month-long dining promotion will start in May 2018 offering the experience to learn and enjoy fresh dishes made with local ingredients.

Restaurants wanting to sign up or learn more can visit this here.

The possibilities are endless, said Popham.
The number of North Dakota students who took Advanced Placement classes in math, science and English and earned qualifying scores increased by 36 percent this past school year  the highest percentage increase in the country.

Fargo North High School saw a 91 percent increase in the number of students who obtained a score of three or higher on the exams. Principal Andy Dahlen said his school typically has about 60 to 80 qualifying scores, but this past fall that number jumped to 155.

The rise in AP scores is due to a partnership between the state and the National Math and Science Initiative, State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said Thursday at the 2017 Fall Educators Conference in Bismarck.

NMSI, a Dallas nonprofit, aims to boost the number of students who take AP exams by hosting programs in schools across the country with low AP exam rates, including in North Dakota. The NMSI partnership in the state began two years ago with a $13 million investment from an ExxonMobil subsidiary, XTO Energy.

Education and business leaders gathered Thursday at the Bismarck Event Center to present the latest results to the hundreds of educators attending the three-day conference. Gov. Doug Burgum lauded the partnership with NMSI and ExxonMobil and said he hopes to continue the momentum.

NMSI's programs provide new classroom equipment, teacher training and Saturday study sessions for students and teachers leading up to exam time. In addition, the program pays $100 to each student who passes, as well as providing an incentive to the teachers.

Dahlen credited his school's increase in qualifying scores to a group of teachers who took the professional development training program offered through NMSI, as well as the extra study sessions for students.

Baesler said, over the past two years, the programs have yielded students earning qualifying scores on 3,853 AP exams that gave them college credit.

"At average cost of $300 per credit, this has saved North Dakota students and their families $3.5 million in tuition," Baesler said.

The five schools that participated in NMSI's College Readiness program this past school year were Century High School and Legacy High School in Bismarck, Fargo North High School, Magic City Campus High School in Minot and West Fargo Sheyenne High School.

At those five schools, AP qualifying scores increased by 67 percent, Matthew Randazzo, CEO of NMSI said Thursday.

NMSI's three-year College Readiness program will continue this school year at Bismarck High School, Devils Lake High School, Mandan High School, West Fargo High School, Red River High School, Central High School in Grand Forks, Northern Cass High School in Arthur and South High School in Fargo.
Photo: Colin Dacre Electoral officer Julia Buck reads from a list of nominees

A massive fissure within the Penticton Indian Band was on display Wednesday night at a nomination meeting to fill five vacant council seats left open by resignations.

After more than two hours of arguing, several nominations were eventually accepted by third-party electoral officer Julia Buck, under protest by about half the room, including former Chief Jonathan Kruger.

Buck was brought in by band administration to manage the contentious byelection, replacing longtime community-elected PIB electoral officer Valerie Baptiste. She had previously stated there was grounds for an entirely new election following the two most recent council resignations.

The half of the room opposed to Chief Chad Eneas and calling for a new election, argued that Buck had no authority to run the nomination meeting.

We all voted her (Valerie) in when we were all here, and it got dealt with when there was nobody here, Nicholas Kruger told about 100 people at the meeting.

The other half of the room argued that Baptiste never had the authority to call for a new election in the first place. Baptiste eventually declared the whole meeting illegal, leaving before it ended.

Multiple band members backing the existing Chief and Council stood to speak, chastising the opposition for blocking the byelections.

There is no reason to take these people out of office. That is the only reason youve been obstructing the vote, is because you want to take these people out of office, Jeanette Armstrong said. Its personal, because you dont like them. But we do, we voted them in. Thats the way the voting works, thats the way the process works.

Another band member stood to lament the chasm within the community.

We have to move forward as family. Im related to probably 90 per cent of you in this room, said Fred Kruger, speaking in support of Eneas. But yet, I cant walk or drive, or go into the band office, or any other business out here without someone looking at me funny.

As arguing continued and nomination paperwork was being handed into Buck, Jonathan Kruger told Castanet he considered the entire nomination process illegal. Dolly Kruger, another vocal opponent of Eneas, made a similar public declaration.

Dolly also forwarded Castanet News a copy of a letter she sent to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada on behalf of 117 band members, asking the federal government to declare the bands current Chief and Council illegitimate, due to a lack of quorum.

Chief and Council currently has just four of the original nine members.

INAC previously indicated they would be staying out of the situation, stating the band has its own election customs.

Buck said it would be up to the band to decide whether the nomination process was legal, or if she would stay on as electoral officer. Several time throughout the evening, she reiterated that she was simply there to accept the nominations, and the band could vote to oust her at a future meeting.

Chief Eneas was not in attendance. He was elected in Oct. 2016.
Photo: The Canadian Press Members of Quebec's new Liberal cabinet.

When Philippe Couillard was aspiring to be Quebec Liberal leader, he and Kathleen Weil met with members of the province's main English-speaking advocacy group to discuss its wish for a secretariat of anglophone affairs.

Six years later, the Quebec Community Groups Network has what it wanted.

"From our perspective we have been listened to and this is a reality," James Shea, the organization's president, said Wednesday after Couillard named Weil as the secretariat's first minister as part of a major cabinet shuffle.

Couillard, elected premier in 2014, first announced the creation of the bureau in June.

For now, Weil is a minister without a full department, as many details of the new secretariat have yet to be worked out, let alone announced.

"I haven't had briefings on the work that's been done," she said in an interview. "We still have to select the senior civil servant who will be running the secretariat."

Weil said a secretariat is like a department, but smaller.

"It's very historic," she said. "It's the first time there will be a secretariat with actual civil servants working specifically on the file for the English-speaking community."

Weil, who has worked for years inside and outside government on issues important to the province's anglophones, said she doesn't know what her budget will be or how many employees will be hired.

Anglophone community groups have often complained about being taken for granted or ignored by the Quebec government, regardless of the party in power.

Shea said the new office will ensure a dedicated bureaucracy inside the civil service working on behalf of Anglo-Quebecers.

The secretariat will collect and analyze data about the English community to be of service to other departments when policy is developed. The new bureau will also be a "clearing house" where English speakers can go directly with questions about government services, he said.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The federal government has instructed the Canada Revenue Agency to remove a controversial tax policy interpretation that would have seen employees taxed for discounts they get at work.

To calm a growing controversy, National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier directed the CRA on Wednesday to remove from its website the new wording at the heart of the debate  at least until the change has been reviewed.

Lebouthillier's decision to restore the old wording came after strong objections from the business community.

They warned the unexpected reinterpretation would lead to new taxes on retail workers, many of whom earn modest wages. Industry groups also said it could create big administrative burdens if employers were required to track staff benefits.

The confusion created by the change appeared to surprise Lebouthillier, whose office blamed the CRA for the original decision to update the wording without her approval.

Late Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weighed in on the issue.

"Let me be blunt: we are not going to tax anyone's employee discounts," Trudeau wrote on Twitter.

"Minister (Lebouthillier) has asked the CRA to fix this."

A spokesman for Lebouthillier said earlier Wednesday that the CRA will hold an internal review on the wording change, which will be followed by a consultation on the issue with industry groups. The former wording in the agency's employer's guide on the issue of employee benefits was to be reinstated.

"The agency issued a guidance document that does not reflect our government's intentions and the minister of national revenue has instructed officials to clarify the wording," John Power wrote in an email.

"We are deeply disappointed that the agency posted something that has been misinterpreted like this."
A Canadian man, his American wife and their three young children have been released after being held captive for years by a network with ties to the Taliban, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday.

U.S. officials say Pakistan secured the release of Joshua Boyle and his wife Caitlan Coleman who were abducted five years ago while travelling in Afghanistan and had been held by the Haqqani network in Pakistan.

Coleman was pregnant when she was captured. The couple had three children while in captivity, and all have been freed, U.S. officials say.

A U.S. national security official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation, commended Pakistan for their critical assistance in securing the family's release  and described the co-operation as an important step in the right direction for U.S.-Pakistani relations.

The U.S. has long criticized Pakistan for failing to aggressively go after the Haqqanis, who have been behind many attacks against U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan.

Photo: YouTube

In Pakistan, its military said in a statement that U.S. intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and discovered they had come into Pakistan on Oct. 11 through its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

"All hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin," the military said.

The release, which came together rapidly Wednesday, comes nearly five years to the day since Boyle and Coleman lost touch with their families while travelling in a mountainous region near the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The couple set off in the summer 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan. Coleman's parents last heard from their son-in-law on Oct. 8, 2012, from an internet cafe in what Boyle described as an "unsafe" part of Afghanistan.

In 2013, the couple appeared in two videos asking the U.S. government to free them.

The family was being held by the Haqqani network. U.S. officials call the group a terrorist organization and have targeted its leaders with drone strikes. But the group also operates like a criminal network. Unlike the Islamic State group, it does not typically execute Western hostages, preferring to ransom them for cash.
Photo: Vernon Search and Rescue A large group with a cat was rescued off Silver Star Mountain Tuesday evening.

A family visiting from Europe and some local youths became disoriented on Silver Star Mountain Tuesday evening, with Vernon Search and Rescue teams called out to find them.

Two adults, eight children and a pet cat had begun the hike around 2 p.m., heading up the west slope of the mountain. As daylight faded, the group lost its bearings.

The search was considered high priority for rescuers due to the age of the people, the youngest child was only five, and there was little information about their outdoor experience or level of preparedness.

With the weather deteriorating and the temperature dropping, search teams riding ATVS were deployed from points above and below the area of the search.

Rescuers found the group, cold and lost, west of Proctor Lake, according to a VSAR Facebook post.

The family was led to safety and then loaded into vehicles and transported down the mountain to Vernon.

All the hikers, including the cat, were happy to be warm and dry and admitted they were caught unprepared, said the posting.

Vernon Search and Rescue once again encourages people enjoying the outdoors to familiarize themselves with the resources available online and asks people to:
Photo: Alanna Kelly Kelowna RCMP say a woman, whose body was found in a Kelowna orchard, was murdered.

Kelowna RCMP are in the midst of a murder investigation.

RCMP have now confirmed a woman whose body was discovered in an orchard on Cooper Road Wednesday was the victim of foul play.

Police say the woman is believed to have been between the ages of 25 and 35.

"Once the victim has been positively identified, our priority will be to properly notify the woman's next of kin," said Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey.

"Police do not believe that she was the victim of a random act."

The Kelowna RCMP Serious Crimes Unit has taken over the lead on the investigation.

O'Donaghey says police will continue to work with the BC Coroners Service to confirm the victim's identity and the circumstances surrounding her death.

The cause of death has not been revealed.

Anyone who may have witnessed anything in the area is asked to contact Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300.
Colton Davies

UPDATE 4:25 p.m.

Investigators have found no trace of a 93-year-old woman who lived in a home on Lakeside Rd. that collapsed in an inferno Wednesday night.

Fire Chief Larry Watkinson said Thursday afternoon crews diligently picked apart the fire site, twice, looking for the missing elderly womans remains.

We see no remnants, at this point, of anyone being left in the building during the fire, he said The fire investigation is now complete. We will be transferring this into the hands of the RCMP and as I understand, they will be considering this a missing persons file.

Watkinson said in his opinion, the fire did not have the burn rate to completely destroy human remains, adding the fast collapse of the structure would have likely preserved the individual in some way.

He said the situation feels like a bit of a mystery to the department, adding it is a career-first for him.

We feel unclosed on this event, we would have liked to have some closure finding the victim. But maybe there is hope here now. We are hoping someone could have more information on this that could report it to the RCMP.

Watkinson said the elderly woman had family visit at 3 p.m. the same day of the fire, which broke out at 6 p.m. She has mobility, vision and hearing impairments.

UPDATE: 12:25 p.m.

Penticton RCMP confirmed that the person unaccounted for after Wednesday night's house fire is a 94-year-old woman.

"Fire investigators are on scene with the police assisting with the investigation at this time," Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth said in a statement.

During the dramatic fire, a woman was witnessed approaching crews saying "my mother is in there."

Neighbours said the elderly woman was a known hoarder, and there were concerns about a lack of upkeep on the property she lived on.

A cause still has not been determined for the blaze.

Lakeside Road remains blocked off to traffic in both directions as investigators scour the fire scene.

An excavator also arrived shortly after 11 a.m. to remove rubble.

ORIGINAL: 9:15 a.m.

A woman in her nineties is still unaccounted for after a fire destroyed her home and the house next door on Lakeside Road in Penticton, Wednesday evening. The road remains closed to traffic.

Penticton Fire Department deputy chief Chris Forster said the cause had not yet been determined for the blaze that broke out at about 6:15 p.m.

Forster said the fire was fully extinguished at about midnight, and fire crews remained on scene until 8 a.m. Thursday.

RCMP officers, a fire investigator and fire chief Larry Watkinson were to continue their investigation today, trying to account for the missing woman.

It is believed the elderly woman was the only person inside the house when the fire began.

The fire spread to a neighbouring house to the north where a husband and wife, who were home, were able to get out safely.

The couple were also able to go back inside with fire crews some hours later and recover some belongings and prized possessions.

The pair are currently in the care of Emergency Social Services, and one of the residents said their home was insured for fire.

Lakeside Road remains closed in both directions as officials remain at the scene.
Photo: Interior Health

There appears to be some confusion over the scope of parking changes at Kelowna General Hospital.

Interior Health introduced the changes, which came into effect today, to "reduce congestion and improve the overall parking experience" at the hospital.

An email from a concerned rehab patient indicated frustration over the elimination of the pay parking lot for patients and visitors behind the rehab unit.

Lorne Ernewin, who says he has COPD, uses oxygen and can't walk far, goes to rehab twice a week for exercise. He is afraid he, and others like him, may stop going with nowhere close to park.

Interior Health communications spokesman Patrick Gall says that is not the case.

"I've heard a couple of people say they are pretty upset about this, and we're scratching our heads wondering where that assumption came from," said Gall. "I understand patients' concerns if that was to happen, but thankfully, it is not the case. We recognize patients need access right away. Preferred parking for them is crucial."

He says there have been issues with staff using that lot, so adjustments were made to enforce that.

"But, the client and patient parking in that location hasn't changed and won't change."

The parking changes include:

A new hospital-wide parking payment system will be installed to offer further convenience to patients and visitors using the public parking areas.

All levels of the Clinical Academic Campus parkade will now be dedicated to public parking.

The Rose Avenue surface parking lot, which was previously dedicated to public parking, will now be reserved for staff member and physician parking only.

The northwest corner lot on Abbott Street and Strathcona Avenue will be dedicated to staff pass-holders. Public parking directly in-front of the building will still be available.

Carpool stalls for staff members will be relocated to the first level of the west parkade.

Interior Health says the number of stalls available for patients, visitors and staff has not changed.

Change are also being made to the payment system, as the hospital transitions from a pay-by-stall system to a pay-by-plate system. Additional pay stations will be available inside the Centennial lobby, the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre and in Emergency.
Photo: Contributed

Some of the Okanagan's best mixologists will go head to head at the fifth annual Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery Mixoff.

The annual mixoff event takes place Nov. 2 at the Laurel Packinghouse in Kelowna.

Competing bartenders will produce their best drinks with the aim of becoming 2017 Winetender Mix-off champion. Each cocktail will feature a local wine and Okanagan Spirits.

Guests will also enjoy live music, appetizers and be able to vote for their favourite cocktail and food item.

Competing bars and restaurants include: Oak + Cru, BNA Brewing, Globe at Big White, Social Lounge and Grill, Basil & Mint, The Den at Silver Star, Salted Brick, Raudz Regional Table, Brown's Social House and Waterfront Wines.

Early bird tickets are available through Eventbrite for $55 plus charges until Oct. 15. After that, tickets are $70.

Tickets must be purchased in advance.

A media-only Mixoff Mingle will preview the event on Oct. 17.
There has been a great amount of discussion about the tax that Trudeau and the Liberals are proposing. Im wondering why they are not trying to close the loopholes that allow the rich to store taxable money offshore?

Its been reported by the CRA that they are losing millions of dollars in taxes that should be paid but cant because of these loopholes that benefit the rich and super rich. We never hear a word about legislation in the works to close these loopholes.

Instead, the government still goes after the middle and lower class again. Why? Because they are not going to penalize themselves by taking money out of their own pockets. The rich will always get richer and the middle class will continue to shrink. I do not begrudge the rich from being rich, as theyve earned it by being smart or inherited it. All I/we want is they pay their fair share of taxes like the rest of us.

I would hope that there will be some response from Stephen Fuhr on this issue even if it goes against the Party line. After all, we elected him, not the Party. Dan Albas could probably add to this particular issue as well.

Bob Harris
While the overall high school graduation rate in North Dakota remains high, Native American students continue to lag behind.

The total graduation rate in 2015-16  the most recent year data is available  was 87.3 percent. For Native American students, however, that number is significantly lower. The graduation rate for that demographic group was 65.2 percent in 2015-16.

On Wednesday, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction held a Dropout Prevention and Re-engagement Summit, a pre-summit for the Fall Educators Conference held this week in Bismarck.

Lucy Fredericks, director of the department's office of Indian and multicultural education, said the event was requested by teachers across the state who serve Native American students. These teachers had indicated in a survey that they would like to learn more about dropout prevention strategies, she said.

Dozens of educators filled the Brynhild Haugland Room at the state Capitol to hear from education experts on ways to keep students engaged and encourage them to not leave high school before they graduate.

State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler kicked off the summit by thanking the teachers for their commitment to finding solutions to lower student dropout rates, especially among Native American students.

Baesler said, since the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act, achievement gaps for all subgroups have narrowed, except for Native American students.

"That is not OK, and it keeps me up at night  obviously, what we were doing for 15 years was not working. We have to re-examine that, and we have to do things differently," said Baesler, adding that No Child Left Behind's replacement, the Every Student Succeeds Act, an education overhaul that eliminated some federal regulations, will help with these efforts.

North Dakota is "significantly ahead of the nation," in terms of its high school graduation rate, Sandy Addis, keynote speaker and director of the Clemson University's National Dropout Prevention Center, said at the event.

There's been some progress with Native American students in the state, but still plenty of room to improve, said Addis, adding that low-income student graduation rates continue to fall behind.

Addis, whose organization acts as a dropout prevention resource to schools across the U.S., said dropping out of school is the result of a long process of disengagement that may begin before a child enters schools.

Additionally, holding students back a grade increases the risk of school dropout. He also cited data from Georgia, which found a correlation between absenteeism and school dropouts.

Teachers have to help parents understand that their children need to be in school, Addis said.

He spoke about researched ways to prevent student dropout, including three basic "foundation" strategies: making sure everyone in the school system understands and owns the graduation rate, collaboration with the community and ensuring that students feel safe in their schools.

Baesler said DPI intends to continue the summit for years to come. Graduation data for 2016-17 will be released early next year, according to Dale Wetzel, the department's public information specialist.
Photo: Getty Images Illicit drug overdose deaths continue to climb in Kelowna and Vernon.

Deaths from illicit drug overdoses in Kelowna and Vernon continue to climb despite efforts to protect users. Across the province, more than 1,000 people have died from ODs this year, with fentanyl the leading cause.

New data from the BC Coroners Service shows Kelowna in the top four cities in B.C. for illicit drug overdose deaths with 60 reported between Jan. 1-Aug. 31, compared to 47 OD deaths last year.

Numbers for other cities during that time period include:

Vancouver 255

Surrey 123

Victoria 65

Kamloops 32

Prince George 16

In Vernon, 16 overdose fatalities were reported in that time period, compared to 12 last year.

A concerted effort has been made over the past two years to distribute naloxone kits to hospitals and clinics, social service groups and emergency workers and among users in order to reverse the effects of an overdose. However numbers show that the efforts have not been enough to stem the increase in fatalities.

Illicit fentanyl-detected deaths appear to account for the increase in illicit drug overdose deaths since 2012, said the coroner's report.

Fentanyl was detected, alone or in combination with other drugs, in approximately 67 per cent of OD deaths in 2016 but has climbed to 81 per cent this year.

Across the province, 823 OD deaths with fentanyl detected occurred between January and August this year, a 151 per cent increase compared to last year. In August alone, 113 people died of suspected drug overdoses.

A high percentage of those who died were between the ages of 19-59, with males accounting for 82 per cent of all suspected illicit drug overdose deaths.

Rates of illicit drug overdose deaths are highest in Vancouver, Okanagan, Fraser East, Central Vancouver Island and North Vancouver Island Health Services delivery areas.
Photo: Expedia

Vast sums of money are pouring into Penticton as investors bet big on the local hospitality industry.

While two brand-new hotel starts have garnered significant attention, a flurry of motel sales have also taken place in the community as purchasers look to get in on steadily increasing room revenues in the city.

Managing broker Tim Down explains that a perfect storm of increasing tourism and a shortage of investments providing cash flow has created sky-high demand for the product.

Hotel/motels are starting to become popular again because of the return, and the lifestyle that it offers for people to move to the Okanagan and manage a business where they are still earning a decent living, Down said.

Downs firm has recently sold the Slumber Lodge Motel for $3.5M and the Jubilee Motel for $1.2M. The Beachside Motel ($3.5M), Rochester Resort Motel ($2.9M) and Spanish Villa ($5.9M) are all currently listed for sale by NAI.

Weve got a lot of money moving out of the Lower Mainland, weve got a lot of money moving out of Alberta, he said, adding new immigrants have also been attracted to the sector.

Room revenues in Penticton have climbed 42 per cent this decade, to $29.5M in 2016, according to Stats BC. Data collected through the local room tax is complete to just June of this year, but shows a small dip likely attributed to the elevated level of Okanagan Lake.

While revenues rose, the total number of registered properties with four or more rooms fell, as many older motels were torn down or converted to low-income housing.

The Hansel and Gretel Motel became the Skaha Sunrise Apartments in 2010, The Bel-Air Motel was rechristened the Fairhaven in 2016 and work is currently underway on the Motel Super 8 to convert it into the Compass Court social housing complex.

Down says in many ways, investors in the motel market are being drawn in by the same market forces that has spurred an expansion at the Lakeside Resort and two brand-new hotel projects getting underway this year.

Those are sophisticated investors that are monitoring the economics of the cycle, and typically want to get in knowing they have a strong economic cycle, he said, noting it takes about two to three years to get a new hotel operation established.

Its just a challenge right now, to find good quality commercial investment product, Down added.

**a previous version of this story stated the Spanish Villa Motel had an accepted offer on the property. NAI later clarified that a deal has not been completed. The story has been changed to reflect that.
Photo: The Canadian Press Sebastian Kurz, leader of the Austria People Party.

Ahead of Austrian national elections Sunday, the question is less whether the country will swing rightward under the next government and more about how sharp that turn will be, with voters set to reward two major parties that have exploited fears of immigration and Islam.

Chancellor Christian Kern is vowing to take his centre-left Social Democrats into the opposition if defeated and a handful of small parties are struggling to clear the 4 per cent hurdle needed to get seats in parliament. Thus signs point to a coalition between the People's Party and the Freedom Party  which would represent a shift with implications for the European Union.

The Freedom Party is strongly euroskeptic. And while it has long distanced itself from its Nazi roots, and its leader, Hans-Christian Strache, has dismissed his own links with neo-Nazi organizations as youthful folly, its presence in a government could present a new challenge to moderate EU governments shortly after Germany's anti-migrant and EU-critical AfD gained seats in the federal parliament for the first time.

Few saw it coming two years ago. Back then, the Social Democratic-People's Party coalition fervently backed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's open border policy, as hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim migrants flooded into Austria and beyond in their search for a better life in Europe's heartland. The two parties criticized the Freedom Party's call for closed borders and zero migration.

But the People's Party has a new head  and a new message. Since taking over this spring, Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz has essentially usurped the Freedom Party stance on migration and fears of radical Islam as he taps into what pollsters identify as voters' greatest concern.

That will cost the Freedom Party some votes. But the Social Democrats appear to have been hurt most, with their focus on social fairness and support of the economically disadvantaged appearing to fall on less receptive ears than calls for a hard line on migrants and Muslims.

The Social Democrats won the last elections four years ago. But a Research Affairs poll this week shows them third with 23 per cent support. First is the People's Party with 33 per cent, followed by the Freedom Party at 27 per cent. The poll with 1,000 respondents gave an error margin of 3.10 percentage points.

Previously associated with stagnation and lack of direction, the People's Party was trailing in third place until Kurz took leadership in May after securing party pledges of full authority.

The telegenic 31-year old already was known for shutting down the Western Balkan route into prosperous EU nations for migrants. With early elections set after the breakup of the coalition with the Social Democrats, he rapidly remade the party in his own image.

Although the People's Party was part of the government coalition that opened the borders to hundreds of thousands of migrants in 2015, the party now says that "the political establishment failed in dealing with the refugee crisis."

Calling for zero illegal immigration, he says migrants intercepted on the high seas should be shipped to refugee centres in North Africa instead of Europe. Migrants waiting for a decision on their asylum applications should be forced to work menial jobs in exchange for pocket money. And instead of the normal six-year waiting period for Austrian citizenship, those receiving asylum should wait for 10 years, he says.
Photo: Twitter

The Pentagon has no current plans to increase the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. In fact, it can barely sustain the existing force, which is decades old and is in some respects almost decrepit.

The arsenal is far from being in the "perfect shape" that President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wants to see under his watch. That is why the government is planning to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on a top-to-bottom "modernization," or replacement of the three major categories of nuclear weapons  as well as their command and control systems  in coming decades.

Those new weapons would replace, not add to, currently deployed forces such as the 400 Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles that stand ready for short-notice launch in underground silos in North Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska.

Trump was asked during an Oval Office photo shoot whether he sought a big increase in the size of the nuclear force, as NBC News reported.

"No, I never discussed increasing it," he said. "I want it in perfect shape." He suggested he thinks the U.S. already has enough weapons. "We don't need an increase, but I want modernization and I want total rehabilitation," he said, apparently referring to replacing weapons and support systems that have grown old.

"I want to have absolutely perfectly maintained  which we are in the process of doing  nuclear force," he said. "But when they said I want 10 times what we have right now, it's totally unnecessary."

The U.S. has an estimated 4,000 nuclear weapons, of which about 1,800 are deployed on missiles and at bomber and fighter bases, according to Hans Kristensen, a nuclear weapons expert at the Federation of American Scientists. The others are held in reserve. The exact number of active and reserve weapons is an official secret.

The U.S. is constrained by a 2010 arms deal with Russia known as New START, which limits each country to a maximum of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads. As of Sept. 1, the U.S. reported that it had 1,393 and Russia had 1,561; both are required to be at or below the 1,550 mark by February 2018. That limitation will expire in 2021, however, unless an extension is negotiated.
Photo: CTV

Police are looking for what are believed to be armed and dangerous suspects in Saskatchewan after two overnight carjackings and a shooting in the Edmonton region that left one person in hospital.

Strathcona County RCMP say they got word from Edmonton police around 12:30 a.m. about a black Ford Fusion that had been involved in an armed carjacking in the city.

Around the same time, Mounties learned shots had been fired at a hotel in nearby Sherwood Park that resulted in a male being sent to hospital with neck and shoulder wounds.

Minutes later, the Fusion was involved in another carjacking with a shotgun at a gas station, where a black Chrysler 300 bearing a Saskatchewan licence plate was stolen.

Both vehicles left the area but a Ford Fusion was later found in flames on the Yellowhead Highway east of Edmonton, although it's not known if it was one of the suspect vehicles.

The Chrysler 300 was seen speeding through the Vegreville area and was later discovered in Saskatchewan, although police have not made any arrests.
Photo: Twitter

Police in Ohio say hospital workers used three doses of the overdose drug naloxone to revive a 1 1/2-year-old boy who tested positive for opioids.

The child's mother tells police in Toledo that her older son saw the toddler put a bag in his mouth that he found at a neighbourhood park.

She says the toddler then took a nap Tuesday and that she found him unresponsive. Police say the boy was treated at a hospital and admitted to its intensive care unit.

A Toledo police spokesman says officers are investigating how the child overdosed and how he got the drugs.

Police did not say what type of drug the boy ingested.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Rescue officials are working to recover a gas balloon from woods near the Quebec-Labrador border after a record-shattering balloon odyssey across the continent ended in an emergency landing in the remote region.

Joe Power, fire chief of the Labrador City Fire Rescue, said Thursday attempts are underway to free the balloon from an isolated ridge about a kilometre from Lake Lorraine.

Two Swiss pilots taking part in a distance race landed near the northern Quebec border after travelling 3,666 kilometres from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Power said when he received a call from Switzerland Tuesday morning about the emergency landing, he thought it was a prank.

"I didn't know if it was serious. We're in Labrador and this time of year we're getting a little bit of snow," he said Thursday. "It's not like you see a balloon here in the sky even in July."

After confirming the unexpected landing with the America's Challenge race marshal, Power said the fire department worked quickly with the province, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and officials at the nearby Wabush mine to co-ordinate a rescue.

"They had a satellite phone so I was in contact with them to let them know what we were doing," he said. "There are no roads and it's a pretty heavily wooded area. We decided a helicopter was the best option."

The Swiss pilots were rescued by helicopter Tuesday morning but recovering the large air balloon has proven more difficult, he said.

"We're trying to help retrieve their balloon now," he said. "They've got a crew here with them."
Photo: NBC

The Iowa State Patrol says a man pulled over in Des Moines after a car pursuit told state troopers that he wanted to be chased because it was on his bucket list.

Des Moines television station KCCI reports that the man refused to halt a little before 7:30 a.m. Thursday when a trooper tried to stop him over a violation on Interstate 80. The 10- to 15-minute chase ended soon after he left the interstate. He was taken into custody.

That's when the 46-year-old Des Moines resident shared his bucket list story with troopers. Court records don't yet show that he's been charged.

State Patrol Sgt. Scott Bright told The Associated Press that he'd never heard such an excuse in his 28 years of policing.
Photo: The Canadian Press A Parks Canada staff member hikes near Air Force Glacier with the Google trekker in Quttinirpaaq National Park.

It's official. Google Street View has now gone to the ends of the Earth.

As part of a deal with Parks Canada, the internet giant is now showcasing Street View images of one of the remotest places on the planet  Quttinirpaaq National Park on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island.

"We want people to care about the places that we protect," said Emma Upton, who manages the park. "Bringing it into people's homes seemed a really good idea. It is a difficult place to reach."

That is an understatement. Only a tiny sliver at Greenland's apex reaches further north.

To reach Quttinirpaaq, you first fly to Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. Your next flight takes you to Resolute on Cornwallis Island. Then you must hire a Twin Otter to fly to the park, where there are no communities, no services, no nothing.

It takes days and thousands of dollars. Fewer than 25 souls manage it each year.

Mountains, glaciers clinging to their sides, soar thousands of metres from icy seas. Rivers carve through rugged valleys past gentle hills. Wildlife includes herds of muskox, Arctic fox, wolves and 10-kilogram Arctic hares. Gyrfalcons and owls slice the skies.

Parks Canada staff were trained in the use of Google trekker cameras and spent July 2016 carrying them around the park as part of their regular work, said Upton.

"The camera itself is a very sturdy piece of equipment. It can be mounted on Ski-Doos, ATVs, on boats. In the case of a lot of our visits to national parks, it was actually a person carrying the Google trekker on their back."
Photo: The Canadian Press F.B.I director Christopher Wray

The FBI director said Thursday that investigators haven't yet determined a motive behind the mass shooting at a Las Vegas country music festival, but they're still digging.

"There's a lot of effort being put into unraveling this horrific act," Director Christopher Wray told reporters following a ribbon-cutting for the FBI's new Atlanta building. "We don't know yet what the motive is, but that's not for lack of trying, and if you know anything about the bureau we don't give up easy."

Authorities have said Stephen Paddock targeted the country music festival the night of Oct. 1, opening fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and killing 58 people.

Wray spent much of his adult life working in Atlanta and said returning for the ribbon-cutting was especially meaningful.

Asked about his relationship with President Donald Trump, Wray said he has very little interaction with the president but is in regular contact with the National Security Council.

"I would describe my relationship with the president as a professional one, and I think that's what the relationship between any FBI director and any president should be," Wray said.

The independence of the FBI is extremely important, Wray said, adding that he urges his staff every day to do their jobs professionally and be true to the agency's core values.

"We can't be worried about whether there's somebody somewhere that doesn't like the fact that we brought a case or we didn't bring a case or that our intelligence analysis is something people like or don't like," he said. "What we have to do is follow the facts independently, wherever they may lead and to whomever they may lead."
FARGO  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can modify the Fargo-Moorhead flood diversion to meet Minnesota regulators demands, though there are some limits, Maj. Gen. Richard Kaiser told reporters here Wednesday.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said this could mean reducing the volume of water stored behind a dam upstream of the diversion channel and storing it elsewhere.

Kaiser, commander of the corps Mississippi Valley Division, which includes eastern and northern North Dakota, was in town to meet with local officials involved in the $2.2 billion flood control project and Hoeven was his host.

Coincidentally, the day Kaiser took command of the division after returning from duty in Afghanistan on Sept. 7, is the same day a federal judge issued an injunction temporarily halting the project because Minnesota regulators had said it requires a dam permit from them.

The Wednesday meeting was closed to the public, but much of the talk during the press conference that followed had to do with potential modifications to the project as a way to appease Minnesota.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who was at Wednesdays meeting, recently agreed with Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton to form a task force to hammer out a compromise. Dayton was invited to the meeting, but declined because he had earlier planned to meet with Kaiser on Tuesday, only to fall ill.

The basic parameters, Burgum said, are to ensure the region is protected from a 100-year flood, as certified by the federal flood insurance program; to not modify the diversion project beyond the project authorized by congress, which would push the clock back seven to 10 years; and to allay concerns by upstream and downstream property owners.

There will be some political solutions, he said. There will be some engineering solutions. There will be some listening as well.

Congressional authorization for a new project by the already overburdened corps is very rare, so diversion supporters fear losing that authorization.

Hoeven said he included language in the funding bill for the corps that allows more modification of the project. Im trying to get them some flexibility to make modifications that hopefully can help effectuate a compromise, he said.

Legally, there may be more flexibility than many might imagine.

To remain within that federal authorization, there has to be a diversion channel in North Dakota, a southern embankment and minimal downstream impacts, said Terry Williams, the corps diversion project manager.

That means the embankment, or dam, thats so controversial to Minnesota regulators could move farther north, reducing the amount of flood plain that would be protected. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has complained too much land would not flood, displacing floodwaters onto upstream landowners.

Williams said the corps had agreed to move the dam a mile north in 2013 to its present location running east from an area just south of Horace. The present location is a reasonable compromise, she said, because moving the dam farther north, because of the terrain, would require a taller and longer dam, increasing costs by tens of millions of dollars.

None of the officials present were prepared to say exactly what modifications are under consideration, however.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem enjoyed a large reelection margin as she continued to angle for national prominence from her small state. The large win seemed to be proof of the popularity of her hands-off approach to pandemic restrictions, but as she enters her second term, she will face challenges. Noem is looking to enact a historic tax cut and fend off attempts to soften the states abortion ban. But she will be working with Republicans in a Legislature that has not always been on board with the governor.
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Sixteen employees from Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) -- parent company of Ingalls Shipbuilding -- were honored with awards during the 22nd annual Women of Color STEM Conference.

Thirteen of those winners came from Ingalls Shipbuilding.

"The annual Women of Color STEM Conference is an opportunity to celebrate the women of HII whose deep dedication helps keep America and our allies safe," said HII corporate vice president Bill Ermatinger.

"It also gives us a chance to acknowledge the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) careers to our business and the industry as a whole. HII is proud of the 16 bright minds who are representing us this year."

The conference was held last week in Detroit, Mich. Huntington Ingalls is one of the event's corporate sponsors.

Ingalls employees swept the Technology All-Stars awards, which recognizes "accomplished women of color from mid-level to advanced stages of their careers who have demonstrated excellence in the workplace and their communities."

Those four Ingalls winners were:

Debbie Clark, software development analyst

Donna Gardner, program control director

Robin May, industrial engineering manager

Angela Pierre, administration director

Nine more Ingalls employees were honored with Technology Rising Star awards, given to women who are helping to shape future technology.

Those winners were:

Ashley Allman, industrial engineer

Kimberly Cooley, accountant

Tracey Cryer, electrical engineer

Bridget Douglas, program cost control analyst

Carmilla Hoard, foreman

Jennifer Jones, administration manager

Bridgette Kirkpatrick, administration manager

April Martin, project management manager

Camisha Peterson, electrical engineer

Huntington Ingalls Industries is the nation's largest builder of military ships. HII employs nearly 37,000 people worldwide.
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi -- A pilot walked away unharmed after the ultralight, one-man plane he was flying lost power and crashed into a backyard in the Gulf Park Estates subdivision near Ocean Springs Wednesday.

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell said James Hitterman took off from Ocean Springs Airport Wednesday morning for a test flight of the single-seat plane. About 15 minutes into the flight, the aircraft lost power. Hitterman was unable to make it back to the runway and forced to make an emergency landing.

The owner of a home on Marguerite Drive heard a loud noise and went outside to find Hitterman's plane had crashed into a wooden privacy fence along the south side of the property.
Virginia College in Chattanooga will host an open house showcasing its new Medical Office Specialist program for members of the community on Thursday, Oct. 19 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., with a ribbon cutting at 5 p.m.

Located at 721 Eastgate Loop, the event will offer campus tours, program information and meet-and-greets with faculty and staff. Refreshments including barbecue, beer and wine will be provided for attendees, along with music by DJ Jamm. Guests will receive swag bags with goodies while they last, and can enter to win Visa gift card giveaways.

The new program is set to launch at the campus on Thursday, Nov. 9.



We are delighted to host an open house for the community to showcase our new Medical Office Specialist program, says Campus President Dominick DeLorenzo. With its specialized curriculum, this program equips students with the skills to succeed in the healthcare field. We know this program will be an asset to those in our community looking to start a career in healthcare.



"Medical Office Specialist training is designed to prepare students for administrative support roles in healthcare settings. The program, equips students with administrative training and business-related skills, allowing students to develop the skills specific to the needs of local healthcare providers.



"During the 36-week program, students will receive an in-depth education in medical office administration, written and spoken communication, office administration, medical transcription and medical office operations. In addition to courses in management, communications and computer applications, students will receive training in medical terminology, office procedures, customer service, payroll accounting and more. Furthermore, the curriculum includes a practicum where students gain and benefit from real-world experience through an externship.



"Students completing the Medical Office Specialist program may seek positions in many different administrative support jobs in the medical field such as medical office assistant, hospital or physicians office receptionist, medical transcriptionist, insurance collection specialist, medical billing clerk or medical office bookkeeper," officials said.



For more information about Virginia College in Chattanooga, call 423-893-2000.




Shradha Agarwal, left, and Rishi Shah founded ContextMedia in 2006; it's now known as Outcome Health. (Blue Sky photos)

Outcome Health has placed three employees on leave following a monthslong investigation by the Wall Street Journal into whether the Chicago startup misled pharmaceutical clients about the reach and effectiveness of their ads, according to the newspaper's story published Thursday.

The company delivers pharmaceutical advertising to patients from screens placed in doctor's offices.

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In an emailed statement, Outcome Health said incidents identified by the Wall Street Journal occurred between 2014 and 2016. The company denied "having a practice of misreporting campaign information to customers."

The company said it has hired former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, now of law firm Winston & Strawn, "to review allegations about certain employees' conduct that have been raised internally."

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The story comes weeks after Outcome Health, joined by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, announced plans to add 2,000 jobs and move into a 400,000-square-foot space at 515 N. State St., then laid off a number of people the same week. The company said Thursday that 76 employees were let go then.

Outcome Health, one of Chicago's most prominent startups, was founded as ContextMedia in 2006 by Rishi Shah  and Shradha Agarwal  while they were students at Northwestern University. It announced its first outside funding round in May, a raise of more than $500 million that the company said placed its valuation at more than $5 billion.

Investors include Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, the growth equity arm of Google's parent Alphabet and Chicago-based Pritzker Group Venture Capital.

In a public letter posted on the company's website after the Wall Street Journal story was published, Shah said the company is committed to integrity.

"Outcome Health is committed to and has always expected all of our employees to operate with the highest ethical standards and in accordance with our values," he said. "We appreciate the hard work of our dedicated employees, and want to reiterate that adherence to our policies is not optional  anyone who violates them will be held accountable."

Twitter @chicagobluesky
Not content with being dominant online, Google is pushing into your home  with a line of smart devices and speakers that it hopes will grace your shelves and coffee tables very soon.

The company handed out the smallest member of its speaker line, the Google Home Mini, to everyone who attended the launch event last week. These are my thoughts after a few days with it.

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First things first: The main selling point for the Google Home Mini is its price. As the Google Home Mini itself will tell you  if you ask  it costs just $49. That's $10 less than Amazon's competing mini-hub, the Echo Dot. If you're looking for an easy way into the smart home, Google Home Mini is the cheapest way to do that.

(Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)

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And yet it doesn't feel cheap. It feels like a total home hub in its own right  though with a few compromises.

In truth, if you have a Google Home, you pretty much know how the Google Home Mini works. And, if you don't, it's easy enough to figure out. Once you download the app onto your phone, it basically sets itself up and teaches you how to use it to ask for information, set timers and control whatever other smart devices you may have about.

It's simple, and that's good. It keeps a low profile; it's much smaller than the Google Home, not even clearing the base of its older sibling. The Mini has just enough switches and indicators to function, and very little else.

If you're looking to put multiple home hubs in your house  maybe one in the kitchen and one on the nightstand  that's when the Google Home Mini really comes into its own. Like the Echo Dot, the Home Mini is an appealing way to make your smart home features available in more rooms, particularly at that $50 price.

For example: I have a Google Home. It sits in my bedroom and has the main function of controlling my bedroom lights and playing podcasts or music to put me to sleep. But placing it at my bedside meant that I had to choose not to put it in my living room, where I wanted to use it to control my Chromecast and television. With the Mini as a sort of satellite hub in the living room, I can now do both.

As a stand-alone speaker, Google Home Mini is decent  though certainly not something to recommend to an audiophile. It's best for background music while you work or do chores, not for serious music appreciation, such as when you really want to hear the warmth of the clarinets. To be honest, the Google Home isn't the world's best speaker, either, but the Mini is noticeably less full.

But the Home Mini can hear your commands, even when its volume is cranked high  making it better than some smart speakers that can't always hear you over the noise they're generating.

If you have to adjust the volume by touching the speaker instead of using your voice, you can do so with easy taps on the speaker's ends.

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And I can group the Google Home and Google Home Mini together, so that they can, for example, play the same song. That comes in handy if I'm moving from room to room while vacuuming or folding and putting away laundry. I never have to miss a note or word of a podcast, and I don't have to spend a lot on a smart speaker system to get that feature. It's a little creature comfort, but still a nice one.

Of course, adding a Mini  either as a primary or secondary hub  also means allowing Google more access into your home. The Mini, like the Google Home, is always listening for its trigger phrases, "Okay, Google" or "Hey, Google." And that, understandably, can be a bit disconcerting, particularly if you're putting these devices in your bedroom or the bathroom. So, just as with the Home, Mini has a mute function, which will shut off the microphone. If ever you want to, you can flip that mute switch.

Google Home Mini has all the new features coming to Google Home, as well, including the ability to make hands-free calls through the speaker, using your smartphone. So, if you're wrist-deep in bread dough and need to call your spouse for some extra ingredients, you can do that, and it can show up as a call from your own number. If you lose your phone, ask Google Home to call it for you  on Android devices, it will even ring if your phone is muted. (It can't override a mute setting on the iPhone.)

You can also use Google Search as a sort of phone directory, to call the "nearest florist," etc. But I haven't found that feature too useful yet, if only because the nearest store isn't always the best one. Still, it's a promising feature, and shows off how Google is infusing its smarts into these devices.

And that's the broader takeaway for anyone looking with interest at the Google Home Mini. Google knows this is a crowded space and is putting its software smarts front and center to stand out.

So, while Amazon may have a wider spread of products and Apple may pursue hardware excellence, Google's focus is on function. So far, it's working.
Wall Street is buzzing with talk that Amazon soon will swoop down on the $460 billion prescription drug business  an entry that would pit the online powerhouse against locally based drugstore kingpin Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Amazon going after an established company's core business? What else is new?

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This go-around, however, Amazon could find it a lot tougher to be a disruptor, especially compared with its successful e-commerce triumphs with books, consumer electronics, digital media and computers.

On top of taking on Walgreens, CVS and other savvy prescription sellers, Amazon will have to navigate its way through a thicket of industry regulations while coping with the intricacies of the nation's roiling health care market.

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Still, it's never smart to underestimate expansion-minded Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. This year, he surprised many people with the $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods and by announcing plans to build a second corporate headquarters somewhere in the country. Chicago is among the many cities vying for it.

"From an initial Amazon perspective (the pharmaceutical market) may make sense" but it's a complicated matter, wrote R.J. Hottovy, a Morningstar sector strategist, in an investor note.

Amazon declines to comment on news reports that it will make a decision on pharmacy before Thanksgiving. "We have a longstanding practice of not commenting on rumor and speculation," Seattle-based company spokeswoman Katie Loughnane wrote me in an email.

That isn't stopping conjecture over where and how Amazon will strike.

Right now, a couple of moves can be ruled out: It's highly unlikely Amazon is going to make a purchase of a drugstore chain or rush to open Amazon pharmacies within its Whole Foods network.

More likely it would make an acquisition, or enter a partnership, with one of the country's pharmacy benefits managers, which administer drug plans for employers and health insurers.

Overall there's about 30 such companies, but three make up over 70 percent of the business: Northbrook-based CVS Health (formerly Caremark), Express Scripts and West Coast-based OptumRX, a unit of insurer United Health Group. This week, St. Louis-based Express Scripts agreed to a $3.5 billion acquisition of privately owned, South Carolina-based EviCore Healthcare, which monitors and manages health care benefits for about 100 million people.

Pharmacy benefits managers negotiate terms and prices with insurers and drugmakers. They then process many of the prescriptions that Walgreens, CVS and other retailers dispense.

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Teaming up with a benefits manager gives Amazon the opportunity to sell loads of prescription medicine online and distribute them via the burgeoning Amazon Prime network  a one-two punch that, in theory, could hurt prescription sales at Walgreens and other traditional chains.

Yet any purchase or partnership of a pharmacy benefit manager is likely to raise a plethora of regulatory and business issues. The federal government and individual states have pretty strict rules about the warehousing, dispensing and marketing of prescription drugs.

Walgreens and other providers already live with these requirements but the free-wheeling Amazon culture will have to adapt to operating under relentless regulatory constraints.

It took a while for Amazon to get comfortable selling wine and liquor, which are highly regulated, over its online network. Making sure powerful medicines are going to the right people will be a more daunting task  one that's not comparable to shipping multifunctional pressure cookers or robotic vacuum cleaners.

What's more, Amazon doesn't have the long-established business relationships with insurers, employers, government agencies and drug companies that benefits managers and large pharmacy retailers already possess.

In July, Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina made a gutsy prediction that the regulatory nature of retail prescription-selling would, in part, discourage Amazon from expanding into the health care field.

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The company says this continues to be Pessina's opinion. (The CEO left open the possibility that if he was wrong, Walgreens would be interested in partnering with Amazon.)

Right now, Walgreens' focus is on absorbing about 1,900 Rite Aid stores that were recently acquired, expanding alliances with pharmacy benefit managers and bulking up its online Walgreens customer site.

While Walgreens concentrates on its business, others argue the nation's drug-selling and health care industries could use a full-blown Amazonian shake-up.

The company's entry would bring down prescription costs and make drug pricing more transparent to users who depend on and pay for medicines.

Despite many obstacles, I suspect the Wall Street grapevine is on the money and Amazon will jump into the pharmaceutical fray sooner rather than later.

Once that happens, let the disruption begin.

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roreed@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ReedTribBiz

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Its not just large businesses and organizations that are targeted by hackers. In fact, 1 in 5 small businesses has been targeted by a cyberattack, according to a study published Thursday by the Better Business Bureau. (SunnyGraph / Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Yahoo's been through it. So has the Democratic National Committee. More recently, it was Equifax.

But it's not just large businesses and organizations that are targeted by hackers. In fact, 1 in 5 small businesses has been targeted by a cyberattack, according to a study published Thursday by the Better Business Bureau.

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"It's not a matter of if, but when a small business will be hit with a cyberattack," said Steve Bernas, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois. "Education is the most important thing, not just to educate yourself, but your employees."

Many businesses don't know they have been hacked  because hackers are trying to use them to get into bigger companies in the supply chain, according to BBB.

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"Small businesses have limited resources and expertise to address these problems," Bernas added. "With so much information out there, they really don't know what is the best way to protect their business."

While the majority of businesses at risk for criminal hacking are major institutions that deal with a lot of data  such as banks  the idea that small and midsize businesses aren't a target is mistaken, said Richard Sypniewski, CEO and managing director of Sagin, a management consulting and IT management firm that is an accredited member of the bureau.

At greater risk are nonprofit institutions, since their information technology departments aren't very sophisticated, Sypniewski said. "Their defenses are probably not very strong and they are easier targets."

That's because they typically have large databases of donors, several of whom might be high-net-worth donors, making a cyberattack even more attractive to criminals. Other nonprofits have affiliated organizations  say, for example, the Art Institute of Chicago's School of the Art Institute, which has a trove of student information as well, Sypniewski said.

According to the study, 90 percent of cyberattacks on business come from phishing emails and 90 percent of those phishing emails are ransomware, in which scammers breach a company's operating system with software designed to block access or hold data hostage until a sum of money is paid. In other cases, criminals have scattered USB drives in large parking lots, expecting that people will pick them up and put them in their computers to see what is stored on them.

On average, cyberattacks cost small businesses almost $80,000 a year.

In the BBB survey of 1,100 businesses nationally, 9 out of 10 respondents said they had some sort of cybersecurity measures in place  most often, antivirus software, firewalls and employee education.

The best protection, according to Sypniewski, is farming out IT management and data storage to a third-party cloud system. "It's not foolproof but it's 98 percent to 99 percent better than you managing your (IT and cybersecurity) onsite and housing your own servers," he said.

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Cybersecurity awareness among small businesses has come a long way in recent years, according to the report, with 76 percent of businesses in the study aware of the risk of phishing.

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Twitter @corilyns
Caterpillar engineers use remote systems to operate heavy machinery at the Caterpillar's Peoria Proving Ground. This technology was developed by Caterpillar Inc. in a partnership with NASA. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune). (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)

Picture people living in outer space, breathing inside helmets, going about their daily activities. What are they wearing? At a cosmic cocktail party, are they drinking champagne? Lee Anderson needed to know.

The Chicago-based fashion designer keeps a sketch pad full of fashion astronauts, as she calls them, in which she explores the idea of what an average person would wear in an otherworldly atmosphere.

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It's the intersection of fashion and space  something the founder of outerwear design company Starkweather has thought about a lot. As the space industry develops, Anderson wants her company to link the creative and scientific sides.

Anderson's not the only entrepreneur looking toward the stars. From one- to two-person startups to Fortune 500 companies, firms throughout the Chicago area are eyeing outer space as their next market. The city may not end up with a rocket launching pad, for example, but Chicago has a role to play in the uncharted industry, some business leaders say, and companies are eager to start braving the final frontier.

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Some have already begun.

Space program veterans Boeing and Caterpillar are continuing work to get their technology into the cosmos. There's a startup looking to elevate planes into orbit, another company that's aiming to build infrastructure in space, and at least one local law firm that wants to represent companies like them.

To be sure, the capital-intensive industry is still niche, one expert said, and expectations continue to outpace reality. So far, it has been a playground for billionaires like tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Virgin Group's Richard Branson, who recently announced that Virgin Galactic plans to take tourists into space by the end of next year.

But overall, the economy of space isn't science fiction anymore.

The global space economy totaled $329 billion in 2016, up from $323 billion the year prior, according to a report from the Space Foundation, a Colorado-based advocacy organization. That includes NASA and military space spending, hardware manufacturing, telecommunications, broadcasting, and other industries.

"There are people interested in space in all of the industries, like myself in fashion," said Anderson, who also founded FAAR, short for Fashion + Aerospace, an organization focused on education and building a network between the fashion and aerospace industries. "Even if just those people start to become aware of how they might get their foot in the door, we'll all be better off."

Some companies have led the way. Chicago-based Boeing, with the companies it has acquired, has partnered with NASA on human space flight missions for more than 50 years, helped build the International Space Station and does extensive work with satellites. Boeing also is building a new spacecraft to get NASA astronauts to and from the space station, among other projects.

Boeing's network, space and security business, which includes commercial satellites and spacecraft, brought in $7 billion in revenue in 2016, representing about 5 to 10 percent of the company's overall business, spokeswoman Kelly Kaplan said.

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Caterpillar's diesel generators powered communications between the Apollo crew and NASA when Neil Armstrong spoke his historic words from the surface of the moon.

More recently, Deerfield-based Cat has engaged with the agency on development of automation and long-range, remote-controlled machines.

For Cat's customers on earth, that technology can get operators out of dangerous or tiring situations, said Eric Reiners, automation and site technologies program manager. But NASA could one day use it to operate machines on the moon or Mars, he said.

Caterpillar doesn't break out revenue figures for its autonomous technology, but an executive said in June that there were about 75 autonomous trucks in operation.

"They want to be able to learn to live off the land," Reiners said. That could mean digging up water or excavating finely crushed rock on the planet's surface that could be used to create structures.

Of course, there are hurdles.

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Space, as "Star Wars" has taught us, can be a bit of a bureaucratic nightmare. In real life, the bureaucracy to surmount is still here on earth.

To launch a rocket, for example, one needs a license from the Federal Aviation Administration. Want to put a transmitter on a satellite? The Federal Communications Commission regulates that. But if satellite is going to transmit over other countries, it could be the International Telecommunication Union's jurisdiction.

David Hurst sees a business opportunity in all that galactic red tape. His Chicago-based company, Orbital Transports, helps companies navigate the bureaucracy, put the mission together and actually get into space.

"You could think of us as a systems integrator or general contractor," he said, noting that Orbital Transports also can coordinate elements like space vehicles, people, services and facilities. He expects the first mission he's assisted will go into space in 2019. But all that is just the first step in Hurst's plan.

He wants Orbital Transports to eventually develop infrastructure in space  cosmic equivalents to earth's roads, trains and bridges  to support continuing operations in the first 100 to 200 miles of space, called low-earth orbit, and beyond. That could mean mining ice from the lunar south pole or metals from asteroids near earth, Hurst said, or delivering rocket fuel to spacecraft while they're in orbit.

"The entire goal is to really develop this infrastructure that will make it possible and in fact easier for people to travel and work and operate in space," he said.

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Celestial operations, however, still sound like a bit of a moonshot to most people. Hurst knows this.

"I start describing things that are happening now and people look at me like, 'Isn't this science fiction?' " he said.

Though certain space operations remain a ways down the line, it's far from fiction.

Fashion designer Lee Anderson explains how she designs clothes for life in space.

There are new opportunities for companies to jump into the space economy, said Micah Walter-Range, director of research and analysis at the Space Foundation. Pharmaceutical companies, for example, are looking to do research in space, manufacturers are forming partnerships, and logistics brands are aiming to provide support.

"We finally reached a point where because of technology changes and technology just becoming more accessible and widespread, it has brought down the costs tremendously," he said. "People are saying, 'What can we do with technology that is good enough and apply that?' "

Unsurprisingly, NASA helped point private companies toward space. With the space shuttle set to retire, it launched the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program in the mid-2000s to find companies that could take over some operations in low-earth orbit.

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Through that program, Elon Musk's SpaceX and aerospace manufacturer Orbital ATK started providing commercial cargo launch services for the International Space Station. NASA has used commercial companies as contractors since it was founded in the 1950s, but these relationships are different.

SpaceX and Orbital ATK started as NASA's partners, and then NASA became the customer, according to the space agency's website. SpaceX's Dragon was the first commercial vehicle to fly cargo to the space station under a commercial contract with NASA in 2012, followed by Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft in 2014.

Space travel has been expensive in the past, said Hurst, who is also president and treasurer of NewSpace Chicago, a community of professionals interested in space. But SpaceX has reduced the price, partly because it offers services for a fee and through the advent of reusable spacecraft.

"The goal is to build a launch vehicle and reuse it as many times as possible and that will drastically reduce the cost of going to space," Hurst said. "As that happens, we will see new opportunities and new applications and new companies being created to take advantage of that."

Blue Origin, Bezos' space company, also is working on reusable rockets.

The attention companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic attract prompts others to take a look at their own earthbound products and consider cosmic applications, Chicago-based lawyer Charles L. Mudd Jr. said.

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In August, Mudd's firm launched a practice area in space law to assist companies looking beyond Earth. Traditional areas of law such as intellectual property, contract negotiation and regulatory compliance could apply, Mudd said. There could be mergers and acquisitions down the line.

The practice area is in its infancy, and Mudd declined to comment on the number of clients employing the firm's space law services. But with a focus on startups and intellectual property law, among other areas, Mudd said he's positioning his firm to help companies grow the industry.

"It's consistent with our theme," he said. "I've always wanted the firm to be at the cutting edge of developing law."

To be sure, the commercial outer space industry is still "a very, very niche area," said Mohan Sawhney, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. A company claiming to dabble in space could be doing so as a marketing stunt, he said.

It has taken the better part of two decades for companies backed by entrepreneurial billionaires to really get off the ground, Sawhney said. And it's not a coincidence that multiple billionaires are involved in the industry.

"It needs a lot of investment, and it needs a lot of patience and a lot of risk," he said.

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New industries, especially those that require a great amount of infrastructure and capital, start small and take time to ramp up, Sawhney said. Expectations for those industries evolve much faster.

"Outer space and that whole business is still at an early stage where expectations are ahead of reality," he said.

But the intersection of hype and reality is getting closer, Sawhney said. Last year was the first time he saw some of his business graduate students aiming to work at space tech companies.

Vice President Mike Pence also has expressed support, recently promising to foster stronger partnerships between industry and government agencies to make space more accessible.

Most of these companies are in it for the long haul. They're taking steps now to get their operations into orbit later.

Longtime professional pilot and aviation entrepreneur Dave Koch launched a company called AirChicago that plans to operate charter executive jets out of Chicago-area airports like Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling.

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Koch plans to build the network worldwide and eventually start using hypersonic jets, aircraft in development that theoretically could get a customer from Chicago to Beijing in about two hours, he said.

"Those same airliners can get into low-earth orbit," he said. "You just have to fly a little faster."

Koch aims to keep prices for tickets on those flights similar to first-class fares. From there, space opens up for routine use, he said.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 6 Caterpillar engineer Kevin Carew uses remote station to operate heavy machinery at the Caterpillar's Peoria Proving Ground facility located in Washington on Thursday Sept. 28, 2017. This technology was developed by Caterpillar Inc. in a partnership with NASA. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

Anderson's Starkweather is another example. The fashion company, which sells most of its products through trunk shows and custom orders, focuses on outerwear for urban environments. But Anderson and her New York-based partner's approach is one that could apply to space-wear design.

"You design for what you want it to look like, then you find the technology and functional components to make it possible," she said.

A long-term personal goal is designing spacesuits, Anderson said. Hence the sketch pad, full of far-flung musings.

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There's the Blackhawks fan in space, foam finger and all; the cocktail party attendee with a straw leading from her champagne flute up into her spherical helmet; and the fashionista in a gown, her bracelet shining through the protective sheer membrane that envelops her.

"It's kind of ridiculous to be making these drawings," Anderson said, sorting through the sketches. "(But) we have no idea what it's going to be like, so why not?"

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Twitter @AllyMarotti
The Isola County catfish entree at The Delta is the best preparation of the stuff around. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

"We were down in Greenville, Miss., at a juke joint, drinking late at night," remembers Adam Wendt, partner and executive chef at The Delta. "This lady sitting next to us introduced herself as a third-generation Isola County catfish farmer."

That barroom confab convinced Wendt to ship in this regional catfish for his new Wicker Park restaurant, which celebrates and rethinks the foods and flavors of the Mississippi Delta.

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"Most catfish," explains Wendt, "are commodity fish. The taste is muddier, greasier, fattier, and it has a puffy consistency. Isola County catfish is more flaky and clean tasting. It's the best I've ever had."

It is indeed some of the finest catfish around.

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What impresses a diner about this fish is how pure it looks and tastes. A talented kitchen helps.

"Nobody prepares catfish like we do. Catfish is pretty much always fried. We grill it," says Wendt. "We want the fish itself to shine."

The Delta's catfish is finished with coriander, parsley, dill, tarragon, chives and marjoram, herbs that "bring freshness and depth to the dish."

Never much cared for catfish? Sidle up to the Delta's bar, and let them convince you with one of their curiously potent cocktails and a story.

The Delta, 1745 W. North Ave., 773-360-1793, https://www.thedeltachicago.com/

David Hammond is a freelance writer.

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Orland Park resident Sean Kennedy considered himself a lifelong Bill Murray fan until he witnessed the actor's outburst at a sold-out VIP reception after his Tuesday performance with cellist Jan Vogler at Symphony Center.

Kennedy and others shelled out $150 a ticket for an event billed as a "special VIP experience that includes pizza, beer and the opportunity to take a photo with the legendary actor." The meet-and-greet took place shortly after Murray recited literature, sang and danced during his "New Worlds: Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends" show. Reception proceeds were slated to go to Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association programs.

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"It was an unfortunate end to a wonderful evening. We planned the VIP reception as well as we could, and our staff did a terrific job ensuring our patrons were accommodated appropriately," Dana Navarro, CSO Association manager for communications and public relations, said in a statement provided to the Tribune on Thursday. James Fahey, programming director of Symphony Center Presents, which presented the "New Worlds" concert, did not return a request for comment. Murray, 67, was not made available for comment.

Dozens of fans were waiting for Murray when he arrived at the reception in Buntrock Hall after the show, Kennedy said. Murray was amiably chatting with the crowd, Kennedy said, until a few reception attendees including himself snapped Murray's photo with their cellphones while they waited to meet him.

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Kennedy said the Wilmette-raised actor admonished him for taking the photo, and security escorted a woman out of the event for snapping a picture of Murray while he was eating a slice of pizza.

Kennedy said he was not told he couldn't take pictures of Murray with his phone. Navarro said attendees were allowed to take photos during the reception except at the moment when the CSO's photographer was taking their photo with Murray.

As the night wore on, Murray shifted to taking photos with groups, instead of with individuals and couples, in front of the CSO backdrop. Kennedy said a woman said she preferred to be photographed with only Murray and her husband instead of with a group of strangers.

"(Murray) yells at her, 'We don't want your sour puss in our group picture. Get out of here. Get out of here,'" said Kennedy, 35. "Everybody was like, is he just trying to be funny or is he for real right now? It was pretty uncomfortable to watch this."

Kennedy said Murray left shortly after that exchange, and CSO staff told attendees left in line to contact patron services if they wanted a refund or tickets to a future show. Navarro said refunds have been issued to those who have asked for them.

"(Murray is) a good entertainer, he's very good at what he does, apparently doesn't think enough of his fans to not be a jerk for an hour and a half," Kennedy said.

This is not the first time Murray has been frustrated by cellphone camera use. He threw three phones that belonged to other people last year while he was at a California rooftop bar but did not face charges after he said he would replace the damaged phones. TMZ reported that Murray hurled the phones after the bar patrons tried to take his picture.

Tuesday's concert with Vogler, violinist Mira Wang and pianist Vanessa Perez is part of a busy week for Murray. He sang the seventh-inning stretch with his brother Joel during Monday's Cubs game at Wrigley Field and performed Wednesday in Buffalo, N.Y. Murray is scheduled to appear on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Thursday.

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Chicago Tribune's John von Rhein contributed.

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Watch the latest movie trailers.
A workmanlike but vividly acted courtroom drama dealing with what one 1941 newspaper account called "the most sensational sex mystery in history," director Reginald Hudlin's "Marshall" takes the narrow road in biopic terms. The screenplay by Jacob Koskoff and Michael Koskoff doesn't wrestle with the famous achievements of the man who became the first African-American U.S. Supreme Court justice, notably Thurgood Marshall's crucial role in Brown v. Board of Education and the beginning of the end of legal American segregation.

Largely successfully, "Marshall" instead uses the 1941 trial in Connecticut v. Spell as a way of introducing contemporary audiences to its subject. The case involved Joseph Spell, a chauffeur working for a wealthy family in Bridgeport, Conn., accused by his employer's wife of sexual assault and attempted murder. Spell was black; the family was white. Marshall, an African-American, was on the bare-bones payroll of the struggling National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

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As co-counsel the NAACP hired the Jewish insurance attorney Sam Friedman. "The only way to get through a bigot's door," Marshall reminds his initially reluctant and overmatched colleague, "is to break it down." The film tick-tocks between the two men, wary allies at first.

"Marshall" deploys speculative flashbacks to what happened on the night in question between Spell and Eleanor Strubing, seen from various points of view. The actors find the small and large moments "Marshall" requires. Chadwick Boseman brings a steady gravity to young Thurgood. He's the opposite of a flashy actor; he works carefully and shrewdly. This is his third major biopic; he's already played Jackie Robinson in "42" and James Brown in the more adventurous and provocative "Get on Up."

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"Marshall" is as much Josh Gad's movie as Boseman's, for better or worse. Does the script marginalize its own protagonist? A little. Maybe a little more than a little. At the same time, the case was argued by two men, not one, though Marshall himself was not allowed to speak in the courtroom except in whispered asides. The judge (James Cromwell) refused to allow Marshall full participation, even though Marshall was clearly the more gifted litigator.

Sterling K. Brown's grave, intense Spell registers strongly, while Kate Hudson lends an imperious, defiant air to the battered wife of a vicious man who's either telling the truth or lying for reasons to be determined at conveniently timed dramatic junctures. On a modest budget and shooting largely in Buffalo, N.Y., doubling for Bridgeport and various New York City locales, director Hudlin goes for as much period flavor as possible. The movie belongs to Boseman and Gad. There's enough in Thurgood Marshall's story for another two or three movies, but this one's an engaging chapter in the early morning hours of the civil rights era.

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

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Twitter @phillipstribune

"Marshall"  3 stars

MPAA rating: PG-13 (for mature thematic content, sexuality, violence and some strong language)

Running time: 1:58

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Opens: Thursday evening at the Chicago International Film Festival, among other locations; regular run begins Friday.

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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)
Kiki Layne, Jeffery Owen Freelon Jr. and Evan Linder in Definition Theatre Companys and The New Colony's production of "Byhalia, Mississippi" at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre. (Evan Hanover photo)

The New Colony's founding members and co-artistic directors Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder will step down from their positions in January at the end of the company's current season, it was announced Wednesday.

During Hobgood and Linder's tenure, The New Colony presented more than 20 world premieres, grew from five founders to a 25-member ensemble and produced acclaimed shows like "5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche," "FRAT" and "Byhalia, Mississippi."

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Hobgood and Linder say they're stepping down to pursue other projects, but will remain as New Colony company members.

The New Colony says it has launched a search for a new artistic director and plans to announce a replacement later this year.

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On the night of the presidential election, Tara Aisha Willis was in New York with a few friends as the results barreled in. One friend turned to her. "You have to take the job," she said. "You should be in charge of something. I want you to be in charge of something."

That moment stuck with Willis. Months later, she moved back to Chicago and took the job: associate curator of performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

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Wearing earth tones and large oval earrings with opalescent flecks and sitting with better posture than most people around us, Willis, a Hyde Park native, talked recently in the MCA stage lobby about her homecoming, ahead of the Chicago institution's 50th anniversary celebrations for "MCA Hearts Chicago."

Willis boasts a mishmash of labels: dancer, administrator, Missy Elliott enthusiast, writer, ex-pilates instructor, Trekkie, scholar, British television fan. "MCA curator" is new to the mix. But those previous facets of experience make this latest addition obvious. Her predecessor Peter Taub brought innovative performers from around the globe to the MCA stage for two decades, and, like Willis, he was never afraid to embrace the genre-defying and indefinable.

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MCA chief curator Michael Darling says Willis' unique combination of expertise, rigor of thinking and handle on cutting-edge dance and performance made her a good fit for the position. "Also, in that field I thought she brought a really interesting perspective which was not only as a dancer but a true scholar of performance," says Darling. "Another thing that's super crucial these days in these positions is personability. Tara's got this great kind of poise and warmth to her."

Growing up in Hyde Park, Willis had equal interest in academics and art. Her mom, from rural New York and the Cincinnati area, taught at the Ancona School in Kenwood (which Willis attended) and her dad, a jazz musician who came to Chicago as part of the Great Migration, taught music classes with Chicago Public Schools. She took ballet and piano lessons and performed with the Chicago Children's Choir.

"I was that 8-year-old who was like, 'I wrote this poem,'" says Willis. And then, effecting a goofy voice: "Like the trees and the breeze and whatever."

She remembers when her dad went to the Coconuts record store in Hyde Park and asked the staff "what albums by strong black female popular artists he should buy for his preteen daughter"  who loved to lip-sync. The results? Erykah Badu's "Mama's Gun," a "Best of Sade" double album, Mariah Carey's first self-titled album and Whitney Houston's "My Love is Your Love."

The first time Willis saw abstract art was at the MCA. She wanted to know why viewers were intrigued. And why the work belonged in a museum. That curiosity followed Willis through the Latin School of Chicago and surfaced again in her undergraduate studies at Barnard College, where she double-majored in dance and English, and went from being an "Ailey-trained kid" to watching dance shows where there was talking and singing and a lot more going on than long lines and pointed toes.

"For me as a young black and biracial woman, I was sort of like, whoa, the understanding of what experimental or postmodern dance is, is actually a relatively white history," says Willis. "And where do I fall in that?"

During her undergraduate studies, Willis heard academic Thomas DeFrantz and novelist Barbara Browning speak, both scholars with whom she has since collaborated (Browning is now on her dissertation committee at New York University), and realized that part of what drew her to dancing was the possibility of adding language to the physical experience. She felt empowered to speak up. Willis was intrigued by weird work, the experimental, the avant-garde. But she also questioned the weight those terms carry: "What are the cultural meanings that they have around all different kinds of identities?"

As Tom Petty's "Don't Do Me Like That" plays and the lobby starts to fill up, the only thing that stops the loquacious curator in the middle of connected anecdotes is the search for the perfect word, a comfortable backtrack or pause until the right explanation surfaces.

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After Barnard, Willis received a fellowship at Dance Theater Workshop in New York and worked as a hostess at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, where she spent her nights watching everyone from Janelle Monae to Neal Medlyn to Justin Vivian Bond. Then came grad school: As a teaching assistant at NYU, Willis' favorite lesson became showing students James Brown's cape routine. "When he falls to the ground and throws his cape off, that's what he's doing," says Willis. "But what is what he's doing doing?"

That sense of performativity is what Willis is trying to get at in her dissertation, which she says she is now "allegedly" writing. "I'm thinking about dancing as this process and blackness as a sort of way of being as opposed to just  not just  but opposed to a really singular sort of thing," she says.

The MCA may be a stretch from the kind of curation she was used to in New York, where she worked at the dance laboratory and artist services organization Movement Research and helped organize performances where she had to get "200 people into this room with these two cans of beer and make it work," but there's a thread of collaboration, and care for artists, running through her practice.

In attendance at the recent 600 Highwaymen show at the MCA were Willis' parents. Willis says she watched as one of the performers in the interactive show "The Fever" invited her mom to stand, not realizing that her mom had recently strained her back and was unable to pop up. The performer adapted and instead held her mom's hand, telling her it was all perfect.

"That kind of performer is so exciting to me," says Willis. "When they have done all this work and thinking around how they're attending to the audience and how the audience is attending to them."

Right now Willis is channeling that appreciation into building relationships with co-workers and artistic communities in Chicago. She says she plans to curate with a consciousness about local, national and international work and would love to co-curate with artists. When asked about what performances she's most anticipating, she pulls out the MCA brochure.

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"Oh gosh, this is exciting," she says, geeking out over the programming, trailing off. "Sorry."

Willis wonders how the Faye Driscoll (Nov. 9-12) and Twyla Tharp (Dec. 7-10) performances will complement each other, and she can't wait for the performance from Okwui Okpokwasili (April 2018), an artist whose work changed her life.

By the end of our conversation, a new sound fills the stage lobby: a tumbler shaking up one of the Marisol restaurant's craft cocktails.

I ask Willis what it means to go from working in a DIY, grass-roots world to holding a powerful position in an ever-expanding institution.

Willis says she thinks of everything as a resource  space, money, time, the ability to convene in a room with an audience willing to watch your work. Living and breathing theatrical experiences in dark rooms are going to exist with or without her, and continue to involve people with blind spots (all of us), she thinks. Transparency is essential to her practice. But one of the things that convinced her to take the job was the realization that it was risky for the MCA to choose someone who was an artist, who had not been a career curator delivered at the end of a pipeline.

"If I can be of any help in sort of creating, caring, for that situation to come into being, I would rather me do it than some random Joe off the street I guess," says Willis. "That is an honor."

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As Willis gets up to leave, a plain-lettered tattoo on her arm peeks out: "here now then there." Dance coordinates. Also a reference to the late academic Jose Esteban Munoz's "Cruising Utopia."

A few days later, after a weekend trip to Boston to teach dance improvisation workshops and perform in a festival, and New York, to attend the dance and performance Bessie Awards, Willis is back in her office, shared with curator of performance Yolanda Cesta Cursach, for a moment in the middle of a full day. The work calendar on her computer shows a schedule with back-to-back blue blocks, nine in total. Only a few books are up on her shelf ("Radical Bodies," "Performing Queer Latinidad"). She's wearing earth tones again and funky accessories; no sign of jet lag. She says sitting so much is causing flare-ups with her previous dancing injuries. Office life is a new rhythm.

Even so, Willis seems to be fervently anticipating all the upcoming meetings, performances and scouting trips.

A day later she emails to say she's finalized the first MCA Stage program she's seen through from start to finish: "JACK&JILL," directed by New York-based artist Kaneza Schaal and starring Cornell Alston. The "comedy of errors" that explores social codes from prisons to balls, with a transformative set and live music, will open in late May 2018. Programming for students and the public in response to the production, involving the MCA's Learning and Public Programs, will begin in March.

As the MCA looks ahead upon its 50th anniversary, with a hip restaurant, zen common space and continuing boundary-blurring MCA Stage programming, a forward-thinking performance curator only makes sense.

mgreene@chicagotribune.com

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Samantha Bee ripped into Harvey Weinstein, Republicans and "creepy" men during Wednesday's episode of "Full Frontal."

Devoting her entire first segment to "this season's second giant vortex of destructive moisture named 'Harvey,'" Bee immediately criticized the "apology-like statement" Weinstein issued after the decades' worth of sexual harassment allegations first made headlines last week.

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"Give me a break, white Cosby," said Bee. "Don't blame the '60s and '70s for your [terrible] decision-making. It's serial sexual harassment, not a Monkees tattoo."

After detailing some of the allegations, Bee pivoted to the Republicans who immediately latched on to the Weinstein scandal to spin it for partisan gain.

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Bee was also not having it with these Republicans who have accused Democrats (including the "Hollywood elite") for not being as vocal (or as immediate) in reacting to the Weinstein scandal as they did with Trump's "Access Hollywood" tape.

"Yes, Weinstein is exactly as bad as Trump," said Bee. "I demand that we impeach Harvey Weinstein immediately. Call your representative in the Hollywood congress and demand they act now!"

But Bee points out that sexual harassment is not a problem limited to just Democrats or Republicans. It's society-wide and plagues all professions.

"This is about men," said Bee. "Sorry, woke bros, but guys can be creeps [and] the extent of their creepiness seems to be a surprise to everyone except women."

In fact, Bee found out that women can't even escape sexual harassment in Antarctica.

But Bee did save her most severe words for the men of Hollywood and issued them a very specific warning.

"Listen up, creeps of Hollywood. We know who you are," said Bee. "Weinstein isn't the only cool Democrat lurking in film festival hotels waiting to play a jolly masturbation prank. Women talk to each other. And we talk to journalists, and we talk to lawyers.

"It's 2017, we don't have to put up with this," continued Bee. "We are coming for you."

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"Talk to every woman you work with like she has the New York Times on speed dial . Talk to every woman like she has me on speed dial. My show is only once a week. I've got some free time," Bee said.

Watch the full segment (which contains adult language) here.

And for anyone who needs tips on how not to sexually harass women, Bee also created a special public service announcement (which also contains NSFW language) that you can watch here.

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Harvey Weinstein accuser Lauren Sivan: 'I could not believe what I was witnessing'

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Watch the latest movie trailers.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Chicago's Mexique star chef Carlos Gaytan and former "Top Chef" contestant, announced his collaboration with soon to be Mexico's top luxury hotel and a 10-year plan to convert Xcaret, currently focused on operating aquatic and archaeological parks in Mexico, into a top destination in the world, said the CEO of Destino Xcaret, Marcos Constandse R.

Gathered in Gaytan's petite restaurant in West Town, Mexique, 529 W. Chicago Ave., Constandse showcased the $330 million dollar project and released the menu of "Ha," the restaurant that Gaytan will be directing.

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"I'm very excited and grateful for this. To be able to bring my talent back home," Gaytan said.

The hotel, inspired by the "beauty" of Mexico, is decorated by handmade furniture and decorations from artisans all over Mexico, Constandse said.

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"Each piece and room tells a story of our Mexico," he added.

Their goal is to help grow the economy of the area by hiring thousands of people in the Cancun area and its surroundings, said the CEO.

"We are so happy to have Carlos be a part of this, he is really one of Mexico's gems," he said.

The first luxury hotel, part of the 10 year plan to grow Xcaret into a Destino Xcaret located in Cancun, Quintana Roo, will open in December 2017. Gaytan plans to travel back and forth to keep Mexique's doors open in Chicago.
This is our 3rd trip to France, and first time to Chamonix. I can't tell you how glad I am that we went. On a good day, Aiguille du Midi is out of this world beautiful! Yes, it is maybe a bit too crowded than I would like but definitely worth all the hassle to get up there.



1. It takes two gondola rides to get up Aiguille du Midi (3,842 m / 12,605 ft.).

2. Aiguille du Midi.

3. Aiguille du Midi.

4. Aiguille du Midi.

5. Aiguille du Midi.

6. Aiguille du Midi.

7. From Aiguille du Midi, you can take another cable car to Pointe Helbronner (3,462 m) at the Italian side of the Mont Blanc Massif.

8. To Pointe Helbronner.

9. To Pointe Helbronner.

10. To Pointe Helbronner.

11. To Pointe Helbronner.

12. Back at Aiguille du Midi.

13. Chamonix's other attraction, Le Brevent (2,525 m /8,284 ft.) is a worthy option only if you have extra time after seeing Aiguille du Midi.

14. At Le Brevent with Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc in the back.

15. It also takes two gondola rides to get up Le Brevent.

If you buy the Mont Blanc Multipass, you can take the Montenvers Railway to Mer de Glace for free. But in my opinion, the scenery is just ok.



16. Mer de Glace.

17. Hike to Lac Blanc on a cloudy day.

18. Lac Blanc.

19. Waiting for bus to go back to Chamonix at Les Praz Flegere.

20. Paragliders over Chamonix.

(The End)



P.S. 1 euro was about 1.19 USD, and 1 CHF was about 1.05 USD in Aug/Sep 2017.
Meghann Mossell is a co-founder of Good Night Out, a group that trains bar employees on what to do if a customer is being harassed. The organization works with bars like the EZ INN, where Nick Dennis is a bartender. They both agree that maintaining a environment where all bar-goers feel safe makes going out a better experience for everyone. (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune) (Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)

Kicking the offending customer out, bartenders agree, is the best action to take when he or she is harassing another patron. Swiftly, and quietly, if possible.

But how should bartenders handle a harassment situation that leaves a patron feeling unsafe?

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Many women say they've dealt with unwanted, persistent attention at bars, including being groped on a barstool or on the dance floor.

Meghann Mossell remembers when a man kept grabbing her butt at Ukrainian Village bar Empty Bottle. She told a bartender, and the man was kicked out.

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"Oh, my God, I'm safe here," she remembers thinking. Mossell is one of the co-founders of Chicago's chapter of Good Night Out, an international movement that offers training on how to handle sexual harassment and assault in bars, clubs and at festivals.

Bartenders said protecting customers is a priority, and that although they can't keep an eye on every customer at all times, responding when a patron feels unsafe is a key part of the job.

Besides kicking a person out, bartenders will respond by giving the offending patron the bill or by placing the next drink somewhere else on the bar, away from the person being harassed. If someone feels unsafe and wants to leave, a bartender also will offer to call a ride-share service and walk that person out to the ride.

In a situation that seems potentially dangerous, most bartenders said the best and first step is to throw the offending patron out, usually with the help of bouncers.

"If someone's coming over and asking for your help, you need to stop what you're doing," said Empty Bottle bartender Madison Moore. Helping customers feel "super safe" is a priority, she said.

Good Night Out aims to help bars and music venues develop policies to protect patrons. The group's training sessions walk through what might constitute harassment and how to respond.

Already, it's a familiar topic for bartenders. Many are aware, for example, of "angel shots," known internationally as a coded order for customers who need help.

New Line Tavern bartenders keep a sign in the womens bathroom that explains the "Angel Shot" code. (Brownstone/New Line Tavern)

But not every customer knows the code.

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In the Fulton River District, New Line Tavern bartenders keep a sign in the women's bathroom that explains: An "angel shot with ice" means a bartender will call an Uber or Lyft, for example, and an "angel shot with lime" tells the bartender to call the police.

"The idea behind it was if you're on a Tinder date and it's not going well  you're uncomfortable, they're treating you poorly  then you can come up and say, 'Can I get an angel shot?'" said New Line Tavern bartender Scott Johnston.

No one has asked Johnston for an angel shot, he said, but he's had people request help and walked others outside. "This is something that you learn from experience, how to protect your customers and make sure that they are safe," he said.

At Lakeview's Lowcountry, owner Pan Hompluem said the bar has its own cocktail that can be ordered if someone needs help. "We want to create a safe environment," he said.

Even if bartenders are trained to respond to a coded cocktail, the solution becomes moot if customers are not informed. During recent visits to New Line Tavern and Lowcountry, signs explaining the code that employees said were up in a place only women would see them  for example, the women's bathroom  were not visible. Employees at both places have since said the signs are posted.

At New Line Tavern, owner Justin Witalka said that because the signs either get torn down or taken, employees end up printing a few new posters each week there and at his other bar in North Center, Brownstone Tavern. "Every time we put posters up, they seem to disappear," he said.

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Signs would need to be visible at all times to reach as many patrons as possible.

"A lot of it is visibility," Mossell said. "If somebody is victimized, they feel empowered to act, to tell someone."

Mossell and her co-founder have trained about seven bars, including the EZ-Inn in Ukrainian Village and Empty Bottle. The group offers posters that tell patrons that bar employees are there to help.

On a recent evening, EZ-Inn bartender Nick Dennis said the training was helpful to talk through as a group. If he senses someone is making another customer uncomfortable, he said, he will print the tab, place the bill quietly and alert the person that he or she is no longer welcome.

"You're giving them the opportunity to walk away," he said. Mossell said victims often do not want whatever has happened to blow up into a bigger altercation.

Few bars publicize ways that customers can ask for help. In Wrigleyville, for example, bars along Clark Street have bathroom signs about drunken driving and upcoming events, but nothing that indicates available aid.

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Mossell hopes her group can recruit volunteers to offer more training sessions. As public school teachers, she and her co-founder can't get to venues and bars in what is usually staffers' slowest time, during the day.

She said a woman recently said she was grateful to the group after visiting the Empty Bottle, where a drunk man harassed her and employees escorted him out the door. That response meant the woman could keep dancing.

"She said that she had a really good night," Mossell said.

abowen@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @byalisonbowen

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Visitors sunbath along the beach in Nassau, Bahamas. While some islands in the Caribbean were hard-hit by this season's hurricanes, others were relatively unscathed and are open for business as usual. (Alexandre Meneghini / AP)

Some travelers looking ahead to winter and spring getaways may be wondering what their options are when it comes to Caribbean islands, with all the headlines about hurricane damage.

Some islands like Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and St. Martin have a ways to go in recovery from the storms. But many other places were relatively unscathed. Island destinations where it's business as usual include Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

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Here are some recommendations from a couple of travel experts about other spots you might consider if you had your heart set on an island destination that's now off-limits, but you're still hoping for sun, sand and sea.

BEACHES, HISTORY AND DIVING

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Brian Major, executive editor for the Caribbean and Latin America for the trade media company travAlliancemedia, says if you look on a map, it's easier to understand the storms' path. The hurricanes mainly impacted the Caribbean's northeastern Leeward Islands, which include among other destinations Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, St. Martin, Dominica, Anguilla and St. Barts.

Largely unaffected were islands located farther south, like Grenada and Trinidad, and farther west, like Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.

Major offered a few other islands as alternatives to hurricane-impacted destinations.

Consider Martinique or Curacao if you're looking for the European cultural mix found on St. Martin. There's "terrific air service" to Martinique, he said, and "an excellent highway system" if you care to rent a car, "wonderful food" and mostly boutique hotels, along with interesting historic sites like the Schoelcher Library, named for a famed abolitionist. On Curacao, you'll find great diving, Dutch-style gabled houses on the waterfront and local food vendors at Plasa Bieu.

Consider Montserrat for rugged landscapes and outdoor adventures like what Dominica is known for. Montserrat is a volcanic island with soaring mountains, inland rivers, waterfalls, diving and snorkeling.

The Bahamas, like the Virgin Islands, offer a little of everything, with easy access from many U.S. cities (about 300 miles or 480 km from Florida). They offer "every stripe of resort, from all-inclusive to small historic." Travelers who want to experience the famed Atlantis waterpark on Paradise Island without paying for lodging at the resort often stay across the street at the Comfort Suites. For adventurers, head to Exuma Island. There are even small private islands where you can pitch a tent.

Try Barbados for "cosmopolitan flair" and "nice beaches." A former British colony, it offers everything from UNESCO World Heritage sites to horse racing. Hotels range from all-inclusives like Sandals to three- and four-star and boutique hotels. It's easy to rent a car and drive around (though Americans must learn to stay on the left) or hire a driver for a tour.

For information on how hurricanes affected individual islands and resorts, Major recommended the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association .

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ECO-ADVENTURES, CASINOS AND CULTURE

Kelly A. Luf, a Boston-based leader for Liberty Travel's Northeast region, offers these ideas for travelers looking for island alternatives to hurricane-impacted destinations.

Consider St. Lucia "for a customer who was maybe hoping for something like St. John, where they could have a lot of outdoor eco-adventure." Experiences include hiking, hot springs and mineral baths, and diving to underwater national parks.

Try Aruba "if you love a vibrant downtown and shopping like you'd find on St. Thomas." Aruba also offers "excellent casinos and gaming" and "incredible beaches."

Barbados might work "if you enjoyed the refinement and food on the French side of St. Martin." It's got "European-style culture" and great dining options that make it "the only island that's Zagat-rated." You'd be "equally wowed" with an upscale meal at The Cliff or a fish sandwich from a chattel house, a traditional local eatery.

NO PASSPORT? CONSIDER HAWAII

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Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have always been favorites among Americans who prefer to travel without a passport. Luf said her office was able to rebook travelers to Hawaii whose trips to St. Thomas and Puerto Rico were canceled because of the hurricanes. These customers thought Hawaii was unaffordable, she said, but ended up vacationing there for "not much more" than the Caribbean. While of course Hawaii is a longer haul for East Coast residents than the Caribbean, Luf noted that there are nonstop flights available. Another option: Norwegian Cruise Line sails out of Honolulu.

Liberty Travel has an excellent online FAQ for Caribbean travel.

ABOUT CUBA

Travel to Cuba remains legal for U.S. citizens, the island has cleaned up hurricane damage and prices are lower than in recent years. Just be aware of warnings from the U.S. State Department about unexplained sonic attacks in Cuba and be sure to comply with travel regulations. The Trump administration has said it will issue new regulations but so far has not.

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Fashionistas with deep pockets can indulge themselves with the 10-day Italy in Vogue tour offered through Zicasso, a luxury travel specialist. Though the trip may be taken any time of year, the best time to do it is in conjunction with 2018 Milan Fashion Week, Feb. 21-27 for the fall/winter exhibition or Sept. 19-25 for the spring/summer exhibition. The standard tour features highlights like a private VIP fashion show at the Ferragamo Boutique in Florence, an after-hours private tour of the Rolex laboratory, a tour of the Armani Silos that have displays of past collections, a visit to the Italian Institute of Fashion, browsing the Milan Fashion District with an English-speaking personal shopper and a private master class in the art of perfume-making. There's also access to one of the Milan Fashion Week events if the tour is taken during that time. The package during Fashion Week is priced from $9,899 per person, double occupancy. At other times, it's priced from $6,569. International airfare is extra. http://tinyurl.com/y723u9cg

Live like a local

If you like to immerse yourself in local culture when you travel overseas, check out Untours, which recently added a Scottish Highlands option to its roster. The company specializes in setting you up in an apartment for one or two weeks and providing transportation that, depending on the location, will be a car or a pass for public transportation. I've used Untours in Greece, Italy and Switzerland and have never been disappointed. Apartments are generally modest, but their locations make them a great way to feel like a local. There's also a local contact who can help when you have questions. Check out the Highlands Untour at http://tinyurl.com/ya36kfj6.

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Celebrate Christmas in Poland

Christmas Traditions of Poland offers the opportunity for a variety of holiday experiences, including a Christmas Eve dinner in the home of a Polish family in Warsaw. The eight-day/seven-night escorted tour from MIR Corp. begins in Krakow with a visit to the Christmas market in the centuries-old Market Square, where artisans sell their work. See how to make classic Christmas ornaments during a workshop, and visit a small factory where handblown ornaments are made. There's also a class in how to make Polish pierogis, as well as a torch-lit sleigh ride. In Warsaw, the Christmas Eve dinner is noted for the 12 traditional Polish dishes served. Afterward, there's the opportunity to join the family for a midnight church service with caroling. The trip is limited to 16 people and is priced from $3,995 per person, double occupancy. International air is extra. Trip dates both this year and next are Dec. 18-25, though pricing in 2018 is $500 more. http://tinyurl.com/losbxbr

Phil Marty is a freelance reporter.

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Former President Barack Obama's foundation mission is "to inspire and empower people to change their world."

So who better to fire up his audience for democratic change than a man whose family has headed the British state by divine right for the better part of 1,000 years?

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Royal heartthrob Prince Harry  fifth in line to the British throne, behind his niece, nephew, brother and father  is coming to Chicago on Oct. 31 to "empower participants with tools to create positive change in their communities," according to the Obama Foundation, which will host Harry at its inaugural summit.

While it's true that the U.S. fought a war to be rid of Harry's family, bygones are bygones and Harry has in recent years shed his reputation for gaffes and playboy behavior, particularly through his work with the Invictus Games for disabled servicemen and women. Kensington Palace says he will speak in Chicago about a project he sponsors in Nottingham, England, to reduce youth violence "and about the power of youth leadership."

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His girlfriend, actress Meghan Markle, attended Northwestern University and should be able to give his royal highness some tips on where to hang out in Chicago. The United Kingdom media have been rampant with speculation that the couple will soon announce their engagement, which might make the royal visit later this month even more loaded.

Other summit attendees will include former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Chobani yogurt mogul Hamdi Ulukaya, Obama Presidential Center architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, and Chicago artist Theaster Gates.

kjanssen@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kimjnews







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In President Donald Trump's retelling, a mysterious Chicago police officer's plan to solve the city's crime problem keeps getting better.

On Wednesday, the president told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the unnamed Chicago motorcycle cop whom Trump claimed he met on the campaign trail said that if they let us do our job we could stop [violent crime] immediately.

Thats a quicker turnaround than Trump has claimed was possible when he previously mentioned the mystery cop in his references to Chicago crime, a favorite topic of his since he launched his run for office.

Bill OReilly that he believed the mystery cop when the officer told him In August 2016, he told disgraced former Fox Hostthat he believed the mystery cop when the officer told him he could solve Chicagos crime problem within a week if he was in charge.

Then, in July, the president offered a slightly different version of the story  telling an audience of cops in Long Island, N.Y., that the officer, who he said was part of a motorcycle escort to the airport, credibly told him he could clean up Chicago in two days if he was in charge of the Police Department

.@POTUS: "We have incredible police in this country. They could stop [high crime] if they were allowed to do their job." #Hannity pic.twitter.com/KWNRNHjZlg  Fox News (@FoxNews) October 12, 2017

And on Wednesday, Trump sliced the turnaround time down to immediately. Telling Hannity that Chicago is out of control and that minorities want police protection they need it more than everybody, he added that, One of the things we are doing now very strongly is the inner cities  a claim he did not expand upon and was not pressed on by Hannity.

I will never forget I was in Chicago, and ... there was a motorcycle deal to the plane and I was talking to the police, Trump said.

When he asked the cop what could be done to stop Chicagos crime problem, the cop told him, We could stop it immediately, sir, Trump said.

At some point youre going to have to let them do their job, he said of the police. In many cases, the police are not allowed to do their job  they have to be politically correct. Were talking about lives of wonderful people and they have to be allowed to do their job and you will see it stopped.

Trump concluded by invoking the record of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose tough broken windows policing strategy coincided with a fall in crime but also a series of police shootings, cover-ups and brutality cases that mirror Chicagos Laquan McDonald scandal.

Rudy did a fantastic job in New York, and thats an example, Trump said.

The White House has repeatedly ignored requests that it identify the cop Trump says could fix Chicagos crime problem overnight. The president previously stated that he passed the name of the officer to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Emanuels spokesman Adam Collins said again Wednesday that that was not true, and that Chicago officials have yet to receive the name more than a year after Trump first mentioned the mystery cop.

Collins added, If the president has a name for this mystery person he continues to talk about, we're all ears.

In the meantime, we live in the real world and if the president wants to build on the reductions in violence our hard working officers are achieving, if he wants to have an immediate effect on gun violence, he could do something to stop the guns that flow into our city from Indiana and Wisconsin.

The Tribune's Liam Ford contributed.

kjanssen@chicagotribune.com
A member of the Chicago Police Department passes a Chicago Fire Department truck at the scene of a blaze. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

Authorities are conducting an arson investigation after a fire at a Northwest Side seafood restaurant early Thursday, according to Chicago police.

The fire broke out around 2:45 a.m. in the 6500 block of West Fullerton Avenue in the Montclare neighborhood, according to police.

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The fire was started in an office area after someone entered through the front glass door, police said.

Police did not release the name of the restaurant, and no further information was available.
Andres Pina, dead from a gunshot wound to the neck, remained in the silver SUV as police investigated the Southwest Side shooting early Thursday.



A woman who lived nearby retrieved a pink blanket from her home and gave it to police. Officers draped it over the driver's side window.



Pina, 24, was shot as he sat in the SUV in the 4900 block of South Komensky Avenue in Archer Heights around 3:50 a.m., waiting to pick up a friend, police said.

The friend told police he heard shots and found Pina, of southwest suburban Palos Hills, unresponsive in the SUV.



The SUV remained parked in the middle of Komensky, shattered glass on the ground, as police interviewed two women and a man who stood on a porch near the SUV.



A Friday autopsy determined Pina, of the 9000 block of Los Palos Lane, died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

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Pina was one of nine people shot in Chicago between Wednesday morning and early Thursday, two of them fatally.



The other homicide occurred around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday when 28-year-old Dionysus English was shot several times in an alley in the 100 block of South Western Avenue in the Near West Side neighborhood, police and the Cook County medical examiner's office said. English, of the 4300 block of South Champlain Avenue, was taken to Stroger Hospital and pronounced dead at 8:59 p.m., according to police and the office.



Just hours later, in about the same location, a 55-year-old man was grazed in the shoulder blade around 1:45 a.m. Thursday in the 100 block of South Western. Police said he was driving south on Western when someone fired at him from a vehicle. He declined medical attention.



Other shootings



 On the Far South Side about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, a 19-year-old man was shot in the 1900 block of West 119th Street in the Morgan Park neighborhood. The man went to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was stabilized. The man was in a car when he was shot.



 About 6:35 p.m. on the West Side, two men were shot in the 200 block of South California Avenue in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, police said. The men, 18 and 19, were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition. The men were on foot when someone fired at them from a vehicle, police said.



 Around 5:20 p.m. on the Near West Side, a 27-year-old man was shot in the 1900 block of West Harrison Street in the Medical District. He was dropped off at Stroger Hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the right leg, police said.



 About 5 p.m. on the West Side, a 49-year-old man was shot in the leg in the 600 block of North Lamon Avenue in Austin, according to police. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition had stabilized. Police said the man was walking down the street when someone shot him from a white vehicle.



 Around 2:45 p.m. in the West Side's East Garfield Park neighborhood, a man was shot in the face while being robbed in the 3600 block of West Huron Street, police said. The man, 34, transported himself to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. His condition was stabilized, according to Officer Michelle Tannehill, a police spokeswoman. After shooting him, the attacker took his belongings and fled.
Marci Webber, found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2010 killing of her 4-year-old daughter, is in court trying to get released. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune) (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune)

A woman who killed her young daughter in 2010 testified Wednesday that she is ready to be released from a mental hospital, but a prosecutor called that scenario a "recipe for disaster."

The hearing on whether Marci Webber should be released concluded Wednesday with Webber testifying that she suffers only from a "tiny bit of anxiety," almost seven years after she killed her daughter in Bloomingdale in the midst of a psychotic break.

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Webber, 50, was charged with first-degree murder but was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2012 and was involuntarily committed to a mental hospital by DuPage County Judge George Bakalis, who will decide if she can be released. After hearing testimony and arguments from attorneys, the judge ordered both sides back to court on Nov. 13 for his ruling.

At the hearing, Webber, who has blamed her mental illness break on psychotropic medications, said she would not take such medicines again, even if they were made part of her discharge plan.

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"No, I won't risk the public or myself. I can't take it," she said.

But the prosecution's main witness, Dr. James Corcoran, said he did not think Webber was ready for release from Chicago-Read Mental Health Center. Corcoran, the center's medical director, said Webber is irritable and frequently yells and screams at staff members and has not fully cooperated in treatment plans.

When pressed by Webber's attorney, Public Defender Jeff York, Corcoran described Webber as suffering from a mild mood instability. Still, Corcoran said he did not think Webber had sufficiently addressed alcohol problems that could recur if she is released.

Webber testified that she would never drink alcohol again.

Assistant State's Attorney Joe Lindt said Corcoran, who is also the psychiatrist at the DuPage Jail, is the mental health professional who has known Webber the longest, and his opinion should carry more weight than the psychologists and social workers who testified in favor of release last month.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

Webber, Lindt said, should remain hospitalized.

"She is in need of services on an in-patient basis," he told the judge. "She is not appropriate for discharge."

Marci Webber, shown on Aug. 2, 2017, is seeking release from a secured state mental facility, where she was confined for up to 100 years after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2010 slaying of her daughter Maggie Webber. (Family photos)

But York argued that Webber no longer needs to be hospitalized. Her irritability, he said, is mostly a function of her frustration at being committed when she knows she is no longer mentally ill.

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"Not wanting to be there is not a mental illness," York said.

Webber, an Illinois native, killed her daughter, Maggie, 4, in November 2010 by slashing her throat while the two were visiting Webber's mother in Bloomingdale. Webber told authorities after the killing that she believed she and Maggie were being pursued by a secret society that planned to kidnap and enslave the girl.

Webber said she would like to relocate to Arizona if released in order to help her father, who is ill.

Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter.






Brazil's cuts to science are putting research programs and long-term monitoring of biodiversity at risk (1). To mount effective resistance to such policies, scientists must develop strategies to mobilize the public. Engaging with social media influencers could help to raise awareness about scientific issues (Scientists need social media influencers, M. Galetti and R. Costa-Pereira, Letters, 1 September, p. 880). Working with religious institutions to promote shared goals could be another opportunity for scientists to communicate with the public, especially about the importance of biodiversity conservation.

Brazil has about 123 million Catholics (2). Every year, the Brazilian Catholic Church selects a theme for a Fraternity Campaign and encourages its congregations to take action. This year, the theme is Brazilian biomes and life defense. Over the past 54 years, 10% of the campaigns have reflected environmentally friendly priorities (3). In fact, the Catholic Church's slogan Preserve what belongs to everyone was first used in 1979, more than a decade before the establishment of the Convention on Biological Diversity, of which Brazil is a signatory country.

Despite the Catholic Church's support for environmental issues, environmental scientists (including ecologists and evolutionary biologists) avoid working with them to raise public awareness. It is true that on some issues, such as evolution and creationism, the Church and scientists remain at odds [(4) and Intelligent design endangers education, H. M. Silva, Letters, 1 September, p. 880]. However, scientists should consider working with religious institutions where their goals overlap. The demands of environmental scientists will only reach decision-makers if the public at large puts pressure on them. Science transcends race, nationality, and religion, and scientists should take every opportunity to spread their word to the masses.

http://www.sciencemag.org/about/science-licenses-journal-article-reuse This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License.
The 1890s Yale Building on the South Side, with a grand atrium, will be one of the stops during Open House Chicago on Oct. 14-15, 2017. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune) (Chris Walker)

When John Luce's Yale Building was chosen to be part of last year's Open House Chicago, the annual event that allows the public to tour hundreds of buildings, he didn't expect 4,500 visitors to walk through the doors of his restored  and storied  Romanesque apartment building in Englewood.

The building, whose interior is something like a courtyard ringed by seven stories of apartments and capped by a dramatic skylight, is once again part of the 2017 tour, but now Luce is ready for the throngs at this weekend's event  understanding that visitors clearly see the community isn't just defined by violence.

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"I think we both know (the neighborhood) is high crime," Luce said, adding that it's not the only thing that defines the South Side community. "It's (also) a very nice neighborhood, very comfortable. There are no issues just walking around there."

Organizers recognize that the Open House tour is not just an invitation to the public to visit more than 200 buildings across the city and now suburbs  it also offers a peek into neighborhoods they may not regularly visit or even pass through.

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Last year was the first time Englewood was included on the tour, and the Yale Building, which has ties to the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, was one of the most popular sites, said Dan O'Connell, director of communications and public affairs for the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

"I think there might (be a) perception that some neighborhoods are less safe than others," O'Connell said. "They're all vibrant communities with great neighborhoods and great sites. Our goal is to get people to explore new neighborhoods within Chicago. That's one of the goals is to break some of these stereotypes and see them for their richness."

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 6 An exterior view on Oct. 11, 2017, shows the Yale Building, which will be part of the upcoming Open House Chicago tour. It was built in the 1890s as luxury apartments for visitors of the World's Columbian Exposition. (Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune)

The Yale Building is located within the Chicago Police Department's Englewood District, which has logged some of the highest homicide numbers in the city for years. In 2016, the district logged 86 homicides,  second only to the Harrison police district on the West Side. As of Wednesday, the district recorded 45 homicides so far this year, according to data kept by the Tribune.

The neighborhood, which doesn't stretch as far west as police district boundaries, extends from Garfield Boulevard to 75th Street, and its east and west borders are Ashland Avenue to about State Street. Its eastern border shifts from State Street to Vincennes Avenue south of 69th Street.

The Yale Building was constructed in the 1890s as luxe digs for those attending the Chicago World's Fair, also known as the Columbian Exposition. Built before air conditioning systems, the atrium was thought of as a health benefit because of the sunlight and breeze it provided before air conditioners, Luce said.

Almost a century later, it was rescued from a potential date with the wrecking ball. Luce began renovating the building at 6565 S. Yale Ave. in the late 1990s, and more than $6 million went into construction costs. At the time, Luce didn't see much investment happening in Englewood, but he has recently noticed more homes being renovated. The building consists of 69 apartments, and it serves as low-income housing for residents 55 years old or older, Luce said.

Built before air conditioning systems, the atrium was thought of as a health benefit because of the sunlight and breeze it provided before air conditioners, he said.

"I'm very proud to own it," Luce said. "It's a beautiful building."

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The Perry Mansion Cultural Center in the 7000 block of South Perry Avenue will also be among the four Englewood sites that are part of this weekend's architecture tour. Sam Smith, the executive director of the center, said visitors will have a behind-the-scenes experience as he carves out his newest exhibit that includes curved walls.

"I wanted to create a big museum feel inside a house," Smith said. Now home to art exhibits, Smith said the building was once a drug house; he originally bought the home to flip it, but later realized its potential as a cultural center.

"The community respects this space," he said. "The neighbors, the young people who are in gangs, I talk to all of them. We have a connection, we all have a relationship. It's a safe space for everyone."

Felicia Slaton-Young, executive director for the recently formed Greater Englewood Chamber of Commerce, said walking in a neighborhood can change a person's perspective. That was one of the first assignments she gave the college-age interns for the chamber.

"It goes from what they hear in the news to what they actually experience," Slaton-Young said.

Events like Open House Chicago can change the narrative of a neighborhood, said Tameeka Christian, who helps organizations create plans and find funding for neighborhood improvements citywide as the program officer at Local Initiatives Support Corporation Chicago.

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"The way you experience the neighborhood is not always as it is portrayed," she said.

Once people are in the neighborhoods, Christian said that exposes people to local businesses, helping fuel the community's economy. It also gives people ideas about the future of their own neighborhood. She pointed to the Nichols Tower in Homan Square as an example of how a space can be repurposed. It was vacant after Sears moved out, but today it houses a community center.

Nichols Tower and the Yale Building are among the sites on a spreadsheet Valery Levitt, 27, of Old Town, prepared in anticipation of Open House Chicago. It will be her fourth year participating in the event, and her mother plans to fly in from Tennessee to join in on the sightseeing.

Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. >

While she typically spends time with friends in neighborhoods like Lakeview, Levitt picked historical sites in outlying areas such as the South Side and Oak Park that will push her out of her comfort zone.

"There are places that I normally don't get to see, but they seem really beautiful," she said. "That's what drew me to Chicago in the first place  the architecture and how the neighborhoods are set up."

She knows some of the sites are in neighborhoods often synonymous with crime, but she pointed out that her apartment was broken into in the past.

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"Crime can happen anywhere in the city," she said.

emalagon@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @ElviaMalagon

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[ With $65 million renovation soon underway, Congress Theater looks to reopen in 2019  ]
Surveillance photos show three men and a woman suspected of robbing a Northwestern University law student on the Near North Side on Oct. 8, 2017. (Surveillance photos via Chicago police)

Chicago police on Wednesday released surveillance photos of a group of young people suspected of beating and robbing a Northwestern University law student Sunday evening on the school's Near North Side campus.

The student was robbed of his laptop and cellphone about 8 p.m., according to Chicago police and a university alert.

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Police originally said the 22-year-old student reported he was attacked by a group of three men and and two women in the 700 block of North Fairbanks Court, but an alert released Wednesday that included the surveillance photos only listed three men and one woman.

The group punched the man in the face and knocked him to the ground, according to the alert. They kept hitting him in the head and body until he gave up his cellphone password and laptop, according to the alert.

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The man declined medical attention at the scene but later sought treatment at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was initially in good condition.

A witness used an emergency call box to get help, according to an alert posted to the university's website, and the attackers ran away.

Police described the three male attackers as black men between the ages of 20 and 23, with a dark complexion, standing 5-foot-8 to 6 feet. The university's alert described one of the male attackers as 5-foot-4 with white pants, a white, long-sleeved shirt and jacket tied around his neck. The surveillance photos, which appear all to be taken from an "L" train camera, show a man wearing a black T-shirt with the wording "Yo! Biggie THRDS" in large white letters, over a white shirt and what appear to be bleached jeans. He appears to be carrying a laptop in the photo. The other two men were described in the university alert as about 5-foot-6 and wearing dark clothing. The surveillance photos show one man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a black knit cap and blue jeans, with a black belt with a double loop buckle, possibly a Salvatore Ferragamo belt or an imitation. The third man is only shown in profile, wearing what appears to be a black T-shirt with white lettering or a white picture.

The woman was described as black, between 20 and 23, with a dark complexion, standing 5-foot-8 to 6 feet tall. She appears to have either long, straightened hair or hair extensions, with rows in her hair, and is wearing a light gray T-shirt and blue jeans, with a black belt.

Anyone with information about the robbers is asked to call Area Central detectives at 312-747-8384.
A man tried to sexually assault a girl who was walking home from school in the South Austin neighborhood Wednesday night, according to Chicago police.

The girl was walking east in the 5500 block of West West End Avenue around 7:40 p.m. when a man ran up and grabbed her, pulled her into an alley and threw her against a wall, police said.

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The man held the girl against the wall and attempted to remove her pants, but he fled after the girl's cellphone rang, according to police.

The attacker was described as black, with a dark complexion and a full beard, about 45 to 60 years old, around 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds. He was wearing black cargo pants, a gray zip-up hoodie and gym shoes.

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Anyone with information can call Area North detectives at 312-744-8200 or submit an anonymous tip at tipsoft.com
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

Democratic state Sen. Daniel Biss' campaign for governor is going after rival J.B. Pritkzer's the latest $7 million he's dropped into his own campaign.

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Pritzker, a billionaire investor and entrepreneur, has put $28.2 million of his personal wealth into his self-funded campaign. Biss, of Evanston, is reporting $2.6 million in his campaign to start October.

"Why would J.B. continue dumping millions of dollars in this race, this early in the primary? Here's the answer: he and the establishment backing him believe their best chance at winning is by piling on millions of dollars right now," Biss campaign manager Abby Witt said in an email fundraising appeal.

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"They think that a grassroots movement without the backing of a billionaire has no chance. They think it's time to write our obituary. And they want you to believe that too," she warned.

Even as she boasted of the grassroots support for Biss, Witt added an unusual cautionary note about the campaign's long-term viability to try to raise some money.

"We have a lot of ground to make up. If we're going to take this all the way to the March primary, we're going to need each and every one of you to step up however you can," she said. (Rick Pearson)

What's on tap

*Mayor Rahm Emanuel will attend a ribbon cutting at a new business trade school and manufacturing facility in Roseland.

*Gov. Bruce Rauner has no public events scheduled.

*U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin will visit Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago in the morning. At noon, he'll speak at Hinshaw and Culbertson's 22nd Annual Labor and Employment Seminar at the Hilton Chicago in Northbrook. Later, he'll visit the Muslim Community Center Academy in Morton Grove to talk to students.

*A joint meeting of the Finance, Zoning and Landmarks and Building committees is scheduled.

*Democratic candidate for governor Chris Kennedy and running mate Ra Joy are holding a news conference about thefts of guns from freight trains.

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*Democratic State Rep. Juliana Stratton, Pritzker's running mate, will speak at a National Louis University restorative justice forum in the evening.

From the notebook

*Rauner out with second ad touting school funding: Gov. Rauner's campaign is out with its second ad touting the state's new school-aid funding formula  a half-minute attempt to portray himself as the only adult in the room.

The ad shows a mother and three children in a disheveled family room. As the ad plays, it reveals the family cleaning up, including vacuuming and discovering old pizza covered in green goo.

"There's only one way to clean up this mess. One step at a time," the mother character says with a sigh as she points to one of the children to start cleaning up.

"And that's how Gov. Rauner's going to clean up our state," she says. "After decades of dysfunction Gov. Rauner has delivered historic education reform, the highest levels of public school funding ever, tax credits for donations to scholarship programs and more funding for those children who need it most. We've got a ways to go but delivering for our kids is a great start."

Like the first Rauner schools ad, the newest one doesn't mention that Rauner vetoed and rewrote an original school funding bill, criticizing it as a "bailout" for Chicago Public Schools.

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But lawmakers in both parties disregarded Rauner's changes and approved a compromise bill that the governor ultimately signed. That bill ended up giving more money to CPS than the one he vetoed.

There is a change from the governor's original school funding ad. It no longer uses the quote, "It's been called nothing short of a miracle" to describe the new school funding law. In reality, that quote from an NPR Illinois story was spoken by an education advocate praising Democratic state Sen. Andy Manar of Bunker Hill, who was a lead player in the effort to rewrite the funding formula.

But it continues using the newest tagline for Rauner's ads: "Illinois is worth fighting for." That's also a tagline that Democratic U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos of Moline has used in her campaigns for years. (Rick Pearson)

*Pritzker with a new spot, too: Pritzker's new ad touts his campaign's endorsement by longtime Secretary of State Jesse White.

White announced his backing of Pritkzer in August. The commercial shows him working in his office with the Jesse White Tumbling Team.

"For over 50 years I've worked to give kids discipline and focus and a chance for a better future and I'm proud to be supporting someone for governor who shares my commitment," White says in the spot. "That's J.B. Pritzker."

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White, 83, says he's running for a record sixth term next year.

What we're writing

*Cook County Board repeals pop tax after just four months.

*Cook County retailers cheer soda tax repeal: "This was a nightmare."

*Rauner seeks to keep details of business lawsuit secret, court filing shows.

*Facing conservative backlash, Rauner puts nearly $4.5 million into state GOP for "Madigan retirement plan."

*Emanuel's debt plan gets City Council nod despite some protests.

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*Latino aldermen call for more city jobs, resources.

*CTU, SEIU join push for community benefits agreement with Obama Center.

*Schaumburg woman to ask Rauner to void her sentence in death of disabled daughter.

*Women's March organizers plan another Chicago rally for 2018.

What we're reading

*Suspect in CTA pushing is bailed out of jail by wife.

*Call it the mold flu game: Strasburg dominates Cubs, forcing Game 5 in D.C.

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*Mike Ditka: "I intended the right thing. It just came out wrong."

Follow the money

*A committee set up to support former top cop Garry McCarthy in a bid for Chicago mayor reported a $5,000 contribution from Robert Brunetti of Arlington Heights.

*Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here.

Beyond Chicago

*Trump threatens NBC.

*Conservative group leaders want McConnell to step down.

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*Democratic senators tell Sessions they want to hear about conversations with Trump next week.

*Questions about who knew about Weinstein persist.
When he became the first Democratic governor candidate in January, North Side Ald. Ameya Pawar acknowledged he faced a big challenge in trying to corral progressive support to make up for his lack of significant money and name recognition.

On Thursday, Pawar abruptly became the first major-tier contender to pull the plug on his candidacy, telling supporters he lacked the campaign cash needed to fully organize and compete across Illinois compared to better-funded and wealthier rivals in the March 18 primary election.

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Pawar's decision to drop out speeds up the effort by the remaining candidates to try to tap support from the progressive wing of a Democratic Party split between backers of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' failed presidential bid and establishment supporters of defeated nominee Hillary Clinton.

The 47th Ward alderman's departure also could sharpen the contest's focus along the lines of wealth. The remaining major Democrats are billionaire investor and entrepreneur J.B. Pritzker; businessman Chris Kennedy, a member of the iconic and wealthy Massachusetts political family; and state Sen. Daniel Biss, an Evanston lawmaker who with Pawar had sought most diligently to compete for support from populist progressives.

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"We gave it everything we had up until the very last moment, but without the ability to scale (up the campaign) in a meaningful way, I feel I'd be doing a disservice to my staff, my volunteers and to this process," said Pawar, who raised $850,000 including a $250,000 donation from his campaign manager's father Aug. 31.

That stands in contrast to the $28.2 million that Pritzker, an heir to the family-founded Hyatt Hotel fortune, has put into his self-funded campaign. Kennedy has raised $3.4 million, which includes more than $500,000 from himself. Biss has raised more than $1.8 million since announcing his candidacy March 20.

Biss and Kennedy hit that note in reacting to Pawar's decision, taking an unnamed shot at Pritkzer's money. "Good candidates are being pushed out of races by big money and insiders," Biss said. Kennedy said "we should all be disappointed in a system where money is driving people out of politics and, in turn, silencing conversations that drive change."

Pritzker did not mention money but credited Pawar's campaign and noted, "Like me, Ameya advocated for increasing public school funding, paid family leave and reforming our criminal justice system."

Candidate wealth already has become an issue in the Democratic campaign where the winner likely will face Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who has pumped tens of millions of dollars into his re-election campaign from his deep pockets as a private equity investor.

Though Biss was his chief competition for populist progressive support and may benefit from the withdrawal, Pawar said he had no plans to endorse a rival "at this moment" but "won't rule it out" later. Pawar also said he will support the eventual Democratic nominee.

At the same time, Pawar, who is not seeking re-election to the City Council in 2019, said he believed he would "run for something again." As far as a potential 2019 run for mayor and a possible challenge to Rahm Emanuel if the mayor seeks a third term, Pawar said: "I don't know what's next. I'm not going to rule anything out."

For his part, Emanuel issued a statement praising Pawar as "a strong voice on the city council, not just for his ward but for Chicago.

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"While he may have ended his bid for the governor's office I have no doubt his commitment to public service and his commitment to using his voice to stand up for others will continue," the statement read.

Pawar made combating institutional racism his campaign theme, accusing President Donald Trump and Rauner of pushing divisions among race, class and geographical lines to benefit their political base. Pawar tapped Tyrone Coleman, the African-American mayor of financially troubled Cairo at the southern tip of Illinois, to symbolize the need for unity in the state.

Pawar said he entered the race for governor by design to push the conversation of the Democratic nomination to progressive issues.

"By getting in the race first, we were able to lay the frame on a progressive income tax, we were able to talk about legalization of marijuana, talk about mass commutation of sentences for low-level, nonviolent drug offenders, universal child care," said Pawar, who added that "there isn't a lot of daylight" between himself and his former rivals.

As he finishes his term as alderman, Pawar said he most immediately will be launching One Illinois, a political action committee to buttress movement toward progressive issues in Illinois. In addition to electing a progressive leader, he said, there needs to be a parallel track on the political action committee side.

"In order to pass a progressive income tax, in order to move forward on single-payer (health care) or a large capital (public works construction) bill, what we need to do is recognize the politics that keep those things from happening," Pawar said of creating the PAC.

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Pawar's withdrawal from the contest overshadowed an earlier event Thursday by Kennedy, who said as governor he would threaten railroads with potential state seizure of their rail yards and lines if they did not secure from theft rail cars carrying firearms.

Recounting three thefts of guns from rail cars at a Norfolk Southern Railway yard on the South Side between 2014 and 2016, Kennedy said he was putting the railroad, the state and the city "on notice."

Kennedy said that if he is elected, he would send in the Illinois State Police to secure the railroad's cars and bill it for the expense. "I'll explore options to go to court to seize their rail yard and seize their rail lines if they cannot be properly secured," he said.

Asked by reporters if Illinois law provides government seizure of private property as a legal remedy, Kennedy said: "It very well may. I believe we can get a court to agree to that."

Norfolk Southern spokeswoman Susan Terpay said that "the safety and security of our rail operations is the top priority for Norfolk Southern" at all its rail yards.

She said railroad security in Chicago has worked with local and federal law enforcement to investigate past thefts and to come up with "additional security procedures (to) deter and prevent such thefts in the future."

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Twitter @rap30






SPRINGFIELD  Conservative lawmakers have filed legislation to ban tax money from being used to pay for abortions amid continued Republican backlash over Gov. Bruce Rauner's decision to expand abortion access for women covered by Medicaid and state employee insurance.

The proposal is unlikely to gain momentum given Democratic majorities in the legislature and Rauner's signature this month on the abortion law. But the effort to reverse it highlights the deep divide in the Republican Party, which has relied on the governor's personal wealth to help revitalize its ranks.

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Under the bill, no taxpayer funds could be used to provide elective abortions. That would amount to a reversal of a key provision in the measure Rauner signed, which allows for taxpayer-subsidized abortions for state employees and low-income women. Illinois already covered abortions in cases of rape and incest and when there is a threat to the health and life of the mother.

"This controversial and culturally divisive act should not be one that taxpayers should be forced to fund," said Republican state Sen. Dan McConchie of Hawthorn Woods. "Likewise, there is no good reason for taxpayers to be on the hook for someone else's personal decision."

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The measure would not affect the portion of the law signed by Rauner that would prevent a trigger making abortion illegal in Illinois should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.

Meanwhile, conservatives say they are also considering a legal challenge to delay implementation of the abortion bill signed by Rauner.

The governor has called on those upset by his decision to focus on uniting behind issues they can all support, such as his stalled efforts to put in place term limits and win regulatory changes he contends will spur business growth.

"Reasonable people can reasonably disagree," Rauner said last week when asked about the split in the Republican Party over abortion. "No group is defined by any one issue."

mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com

RELATED:

[ Facing conservative backlash, Rauner puts nearly $4.5 million into state GOP for 'Madigan retirement plan'  ]

[ Illinois Republicans in Congress rebuke Rauner over abortion bill  ]

[ Rauner signs controversial abortion bill, angering conservatives  ]






WASHINGTON  Five years after being taken hostage in Afghanistan, an American woman and her Canadian husband are free, along with their three children, all born in captivity. They were released in a dramatic confrontation punctuated by gunfire, officials said Thursday, though the circumstances were not entirely clear.

U.S. officials said Pakistan accomplished the release of Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Canadian Joshua Boyle, who were abducted and held by the Haqqani network, which has ties to the Taliban and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

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Coleman was pregnant when abducted and gave birth to her three children while a captive, officials said.

"Today they are free," President Donald Trump said in a statement, crediting the U.S. government with securing the release "working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan."

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Trump later praised Pakistan for its willingness to "do more to provide security in the region" and said the release suggests other "countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again."

The Pakistani military said the family had been freed in "an intelligence-based operation by Pakistan troops" after they'd crossed the border from Afghanistan.

Boyle and the High Commissioner for Pakistan to Canada described a scene in which gunshots rang out as Boyle, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the trunk of their captors' car. Boyle told his parents there'd been a shoot-out and that the last words he'd heard from the kidnappers were, "kill the hostage," his father, Patrick told The Toronto Star after speaking with his son. Three intelligence officials said the confrontation happened near a road crossing in the Nawa Kili area of the district of Kohat in northwest Pakistan.

The high commissioner, Tariq Azim Khan, said, "We know there was a shootout and Pakistan commandos carried out an attack and rescued the hostages."

The Pakistani military said early Thursday the family was "being repatriated to the country of their origin."

But as of Thursday midday, the family's precise whereabouts were unclear, and it was not immediately known when they would return to North America. The family was not in U.S. custody, though they were together in a safe, undisclosed location in Pakistan, according to a U.S. national security official, who wasn't authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

A U.S. military official said that a military hostage team had flown to Pakistan Wednesday, prepared to fly the family out. The team did a preliminary health assessment of the family and had a transport plane ready to go. But sometime after daybreak there, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board.

Another U.S. official said Boyle was nervous about being in "custody" given his background.

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Boyle was once married to Zaynab Khadr, the older sister of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter of a late senior al-Qaida financier. Her father, Ahmed Said Khadr, and the family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy.

The Canadian-born Omar Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight at a suspected al-Qaida compound. He was taken to Guantanamo and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission. He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody.

Several years ago, Zaynab Khadr and her mother also upset many Canadians by expressing pro-al-Qaida views.

Officials had discounted any link between that background and Boyle's capture, with one official describing it in 2014 as a "horrible coincidence."

The couple has told U.S. officials they wanted to fly commercially to Canada, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the situation.

The military official said the family is still in Pakistan, and there are ongoing discussions about how and when they will leave. The official said the U.S. is still prepared to fly the family out of Pakistan, if that is their choice.

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The Toronto Star reported that Boyle spoke to his parents after his release. "Josh said he was doing pretty well for someone who has spent the last five years in an underground prison," his father told the paper.

Coleman's parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, meanwhile, posted a statement on the door of their Pennsylvania home saying they appreciated "all the interest and concern being expressed at the joyful news that Caity, Josh and our grandchildren have been released after five long years of captivity."

The release came together rapidly Wednesday. It happened nearly five years to the day after Coleman and Boyle lost touch with their families while traveling in a mountainous region near the Afghan capital of Kabul.

The couple set off in the summer 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan. Coleman's parents last heard from their son-in-law on Oct. 8, 2012, from an internet cafe in what Boyle described as an "unsafe" part of Afghanistan.

The only trace of the couple since has been in the form of videos released by their captors and family letters.

Coleman's parents told the online Circa News service in July 2016 that they received a letter from their daughter in November 2015, in which she wrote that she'd given birth to a second child in captivity. It's unclear whether they knew she'd had a third.

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"I pray to hear from you again, to hear how everybody is doing," the letter read.

Boyle's parents say their son told them in a letter that he and his wife tried to protect the children by pretending their signs of captivity were part of a game being played with guards.

U.S. officials call the Haqqani group a terrorist organization and have targeted its leaders with drone strikes. But the group also operates like a criminal network. Unlike the Islamic State group, it does not typically execute Western hostages, preferring to ransom them for cash.

The U.S. has long criticized Pakistan for failing to aggressively go after the Haqqanis. In recent remarks on his Afghanistan policy, Trump noted billions paid to Pakistan "at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. But that will have to change, and that will change immediately."

In his statement Thursday, Trump described the release as "a positive moment for our country's relationship with Pakistan."

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said her country was "greatly relieved" the family was safe, and she thanked the U.S., Afghan and Pakistani governments for their efforts.

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Baldor reported from Tampa, Florida, and Ahmed from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Deb Riechmann in Washington, Rob Gillies in Toronto, and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
A third white supremacist accused of participating in a brutal attack on a black man during last month's "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Va., has been arrested, an Arkansas law enforcement official said Wednesday.

Jacob Scott Goodwin, 22, of Ward, Ark., is allegedly one of at least five men who can be seen in online video footage pummeling DeAndre Harris, a 20-year-old former special education instruction assistant, inside a parking garage after the Aug. 12 rally. The footage shows a man identified by police as Goodwin, clad in a tactical military helmet and carrying a large plastic shield, kicking Harris on the ground. At one point, Goodwin appears to hit Harris with his shield.

The attack on Harris, viewed tens of thousands of times on YouTube, has become a symbol of the violence and racial enmity that engulfed Charlottesville when white supremacists, Klan members and neo-Nazis clashed with counterprotesters. One counterprotester, Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a Dodge Challenger allegedly driven by James Alex Fields Jr., a Nazi sympathizer, plowed into her and several others.

But the confrontation at the parking garage  located next to the Charlottesville police department headquarters  became a bigger flashpoint this week after Harris was charged with a crime in connection with the brawl.

A local magistrate issued an arrest warrant Monday for Harris on a felony charge of unlawful wounding, based on a complaint by Harold Ray Crews, a lawyer and self-described "Southern nationalist," who alleges Harris injured him by hitting him with a flashlight right before the garage brawl. The charge against Harris, who suffered a spinal injury and a head laceration that required 10 stitches, outraged Black Lives Matter activists but delighted white supremacists.

Hunter Wallace, a prominent white nationalist, issued a celebratory tweet, promising "DeAndre Harris is going to jail."

Goodwin's arrest came Tuesday night after two other assailants were charged with malicious wounding weeks ago: Daniel Borden, 18, of Ohio, and Alex Michael Ramos, 33, of Georgia.

Goodwin was taken into custody near his hometown in central Arkansas by U.S. marshals, according to the Lonoke County Sheriff's Office. He is being held at the sheriff's detention center until he's extradited to Virginia, said Lt. Matt Edwards, a Lonoke County Sheriff's Office spokesman. He did not know the specific charge against Goodwin.

The Charlottesville police department declined to comment on Goodwin's arrest, nor did it issue a press release detailing his criminal charge.

Online sleuths  led by journalist and Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King  were the first to publicly identify Goodwin and the other two men charged with the attack. Ever since the rally, King and his volunteer investigators have been examining photos and video footage from the rally and the garage attack itself and combing the Facebook pages of white supremacists to get names.

King outed Goodwin last month and turned his evidence over to Charlottesville police.

"Dear Jacob Scott Goodwin, age 22, of Ward, Arkansas," King posted on his own Facebook page Sept. 24. "We have looked for you for a month. In the end it was your hair, your bracelets, your glasses, your tattoo on your forearm, the white supremacist pins and necklaces, and your own bragging online that helped us identify you as one of the felony attackers of DeAndre Harris in Charlottesville. Soon, you will be arrested."

Goodwin hasn't responded to requests for comment.

In an interview with The Washington Post before his arrest, Goodwin's mother, Tamera Goodwin, confirmed that her son was in the parking garage during the attack and was the one wearing the military tactical gear and carrying the plastic shield. Goodwin also wore two pins, one with the number 88, a code for "Heil Hitler," and the other with the logo for the Traditionalist Worker Party, a white nationalist group run by Matthew Heimbach.

"I told him, 'It does look like you kick him,' but he said, 'No, Mom, I didn't,'" said the mother, who attended the rally.

On Wednesday morning, King posted a celebratory announcement on Facebook.

"GREAT NEWS. Jacob Goodwin was just arrested for the brutal assault of DeAndre Harris. Living in Arkansas. Will be extradited to Virginia," he wrote, attaching Goodwin's mug shot.

Later, King issued one more post. There was still work to do, he said. The remaining men in the video needed to be found and identified - and a successful hunt would be handsomely rewarded.

"IMPORTANT: We are increasing our reward to $50,000 for the identification of these two violent white supremacists who viciously attacked DeAndre Harris in Charlottesville. What are their names? All sources will remain anonymous. news@shaunking.org."
A congressional committee asked Gov. Rick Snyder on Thursday to address when he learned about a fatal outbreak of Legionnaires' disease during the Flint water crisis, warning that it is a crime to commit perjury or to obstruct a congressional investigation.

Reps. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina and Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the ranking Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, gave Snyder until Oct. 25 to respond. Their letter was sent less than a week after one of the Republican governor's aides testified in a Michigan courtroom that he told him about Legionnaires' during a phone call before Christmas 2015.

Snyder previously told the congressional panel under oath that he learned of the Legionnaires' cases in January 2016.

"In order to resolve this discrepancy in recollection, please supply the Committee with any additional relevant information you have concerning the date upon which you first learn of the Legionnaires' disease," Gowdy and Cummings wrote. "If necessary, you may also choose to amend or supplement your testimony."

They then noted that it is a crime for a witness to commit perjury, to "knowingly and willfully" make any false statement or to "corruptly" influence, obstruct or impede a congressional investigation.

A Snyder spokesman said this week that Snyder stands by his congressional testimony.

Nearly 100 Legionnaires' cases, including 12 deaths, were reported in Genesee County in 2014-15 when Flint was using the Flint River for water. The outbreak was not publicly announced until Snyder and his health chief held a news conference in January 2016. It was a remarkable sidebar to Flint's ongoing disaster: a lead-contaminated water supply.

The Snyder administration's handling of the Legionnaires' outbreak has led to involuntary manslaughter charges against six people, including health department director Nick Lyon, who knew about the outbreak months before the governor. Prosecutors allege that a timely announcement could have saved lives.
President Donald Trump was livid. Why, he asked his advisers in mid-July, should he go along with what he considered the failed Obama-era policy toward Iran and prop up an international nuclear deal he sees as disastrous?

He was incensed by the arguments of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and others that the landmark 2015 deal, while flawed, offered stability and other benefits. He did not want to certify to Congress that the agreement remained in the vital U.S. national security interest and that Iran was meeting its obligations. He did not think either was true.

"He threw a fit," said one person familiar with the meeting. ". . . He was furious. Really furious. It's clear he felt jammed," said one person familiar with the meeting.

So White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster and other senior advisers came up with a plan - one aimed at accommodating Trump's loathing of the Iran deal as "an embarrassment" without killing it outright.

To get Trump, in other words, to compromise.

"McMaster realized we just cannot come back here next time with a binary option - certify or decertify," an exercise Congress requires every 90 days, said one person familiar with the July discussion. "He put his team to work on a range of other options including an decertification option that would involve Congress" and would not immediately break the deal.

That effort - described by seven people familiar with the debate, most of whom insisted on anonymity to describe the confidential discussions - led to a revamping of the U.S. approach to Iran and the nuclear pact that Trump is set to announce this week and which Congressional leaders were briefed on Wednesday. Under the expected announcement, Trump will declare that the deal is not in the U.S. national interest while stopping short of recommending renewed nuclear sanctions.

The deliberations show the extent to which Trump's national security team in recent months has been occupied with navigating the future of the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump repeatedly vowed to throw out as a "disaster" during the campaign. The sometimes angry internal debate also provides another illustration of the way in which Trump's gut impulses and desire for dramatic action have often collided with the subtlety of international diplomacy.

The Iran agreement, brokered by former president Barack Obama, was never designed to do many of the things Trump criticizes it for lacking. Many of his own advisers - and many Republican leaders and key U.S. allies - also see it as a valuable tool in stopping an Iranian nuclear bomb.

The solution is a compromise that retains the agreement but also puts Iran and U.S. allies on notice that Trump is willing to walk away. Meanwhile, Trump is likely to make the case that as the Islamic State terrorist group is weakened, Iran is reasserting itself as the most destructive influence in the Middle East and using the nuclear deal as cover to do so.

"He doesn't want to certify the Iran deal for more domestic reasons than international ones," said Vali Nasr, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. "He doesn't want to certify that any piece of the Obama strategy is working."

Trump is expected to announce new conditions for U.S. participation in the agreement among the U.S., Iran, Britain France, Germany, Russia and China, and punt the issue to Congress. He may also announce new sanctions or penalties on Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps.

"You can do both," Trump said Wednesday when asked about certifying or rejecting the deal.

He said he would announce his plan "very shortly," adding in an interview with Fox News, "It's a horrible, horrible embarrassment to our country, and we did it out of weakness, when actually we had great strength."

"We are on a tightrope. We don't know what will happen," said one Western diplomat worried that Trump's action will undermine the international agreement.

As a practical matter, Trump's expected move will place the onus on Congress to decide what to do next. Working with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., a leading congressional hawk on Iran, the White House would refrain from recommending that Congress reimpose nuclear sanctions that were suspended under the deal.

That would buy time for new legislation codifying Trump's conditions for remaining in the deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a Republican congressional aide said. It would also increase U.S. leverage with European allies who don't want to renegotiate the deal, said the aide, who requested anonymity because Trump has not yet announced his plan.

"To get us on the right foot on the Iran strategy we do need to use this certification decision, this moment, to launch a real effort to plug the holes and the weaknesses in the JCPOA," said the aide.

"We need to send the message that the president does not feel constrained by the JCPOA and does not feel beholden to it," while seeking tougher an extension of the deal's restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities and other modifications.

Cotton laid out that approach in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations earlier this month, in which he accused Iran of harming U.S. interests in the Middle East and scheming to preserve its ability to eventually produce a bomb.

The speaker and the setting were clear signals that the Iran hard-liner would block for Trump in two ways. By holding off on new sanctions that would bust the deal, Cotton helps Trump refute the claim of sabotage from Democrats and other parties to the agreement. And because of his history of advocating tough measures against Iran, he may help protect the White House from criticism by conservatives who want to do away with the deal.

"It would give a few months or years lead time to give time to get U.S. allies on board with the same restrictions - a unified front that will put lots of pressure on the Iranians" to reopen the deal, said the aide.

Britain, France and Germany, along with the European Union's foreign policy chief, have argued to Congress and the Trump administration that the deal cannot be redone. Iran has said the same.

The pivotal moment in the administration's Iran debate came on July 17, when the president balked when presented with the consensus recommendation of his national security advisers that he should submit the congressional certification. He argued with aides all that afternoon, forcing a postponement of a planned announcement and a rewriting of White House talking points.

The decision was clumsily announced that evening, hours before a legal deadline, along with a declaration that Trump planned to toughen expectations and enforcement.

The administration announced new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program the following day. But only sanctions related to the country's disputed nuclear program are covered by the 2015 deal. Iran claims it has never sought a nuclear weapon and that its nuclear research and development is intended for medicine and energy.

The first certification of Trump's presidency came in April, when Trump was also reluctant but agreed on the grounds that the administration was just beginning a broad review of its Iran strategy and would wait for any major decisions, the people familiar with the debate said.

By July, the president's frustration was evident. He made it clear he felt strong-armed and that the July certification would be his last, several people familiar with the discussion said.

Trump took the internal confrontation public in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in which he said he regretted the decision. The experience also further soured Trump on Tillerson, whom he complained consistently came forward with only "totally conventional" approaches to foreign policy problems, people familiar with Trump's thinking have said.

It would fall to Tillerson and the State Department to try to negotiate new terms for the Iran deal, and ally after ally has bent his ear with arguments that the deal should be preserved as it is.

"The nuclear deal was a crucial agreement that neutralized its nuclear threat," British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Tuesday, following a telephone call with Tillerson. "The U.K. supports the deal and stresses the importance of all parties continuing to uphold their commitments."

Tillerson joined all of Trump's other top national security advisers in recommending last month that Trump decertify the deal as part of a strategy some refer to as "decertify, pressure and fix."

As Trump officials briefed lawmakers Wednesday, two Obama administration architects of the deal, former secretary of state John Kerry and former energy secretary Ernest Moniz, were also on Capitol Hill arguing in defense of the original agreement.

Congress may now do away with the requirement that the president recommit to the deal every 90 days, something that skeptical lawmakers of both parties mandated when Obama negotiated the agreement.

The Washington Post's Karoun Demirjian and Philip Rucker contributed to this report.
UPDATED

Some charter schools in New York state will soon be allowed to train and certify their own teachers, a move that is drawing criticism from some of the states top education officials.

This is likely the first time a charter school authorizer has allowed the schools it oversees to certify their own teachers, according to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

The State University of New York Charter Schools Committee approved on Wednesday what has become a controversial proposal for the schools it oversees. SUNY is one of four entites in the state allowed to grant charters .

Under the new rules, prospective teachers are required to receive 160 hours of instruction plus 40 hours of classroom practice. A typical certification pathway in New York requires a year of coursework, reports the Wall Street Journal . Aspiring teachers on the new charter certification track will also not be required to earn a masters degree, nor will they have to take all of the state teacher certification exams, according to Chalkbeat .

But charter schools will have to meet certain performance benchmarks to apply to have the right to certify their own teachers.

The states teachers unions staunchly opposed the move, as have some of New Yorks top education officials.

State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and a Board of Regents Chancellor Bety Rosa put out a joint statement decrying SUNYs decision.

This change lowers standards and will allow inexperienced and unqualified individuals to teach those children that are most in need - students of color, those who are economically disadvantaged, and students with disabilities - in SUNY-authorized charter schools, they said.

Charter school leaders have said they need more flexibility in onboarding teachers in the face of staffing shortages.

This plan only applies to SUNY-authorized charter schools. The New York State United Teachers and its New York City affiliate, the United Federation of Teachers, have filed a lawsuit to block the new rules.

This post has been updated to say that the city and states teachers union have filed a lawsuit.

Related stories:
Since becoming president, President Donald Trump's efforts regarding Obamacare have been almost all geared at undermining it. Now that Congress has failed to repeal the law, he's acting as much as he can on his own. And depending on how it's implemented, the executive order Trump signed Thursday could be his most significant step yet to sabotage the law.

It will expand the availability of plans that are loosely regulated and don't have to provide essential health benefits, which could pull people off the Obamacare exchanges. Here's a look at the range of options available to Trump to either fix, save, undermine or gut Obamacare, and where this new executive order fits on that scale.

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Option one:

Prop up Obamacare. Trump could support a bipartisan effort in Congress to provide regular subsidies to insurers to cover the cost of lower-income people who pay less under Obamacare.

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Has he done this?

No. Trump seems entirely uninterested in this. In fact, one of the reasons Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., are trying to make these subsidies payments more regular is that they are concerned Trump could suddenly stop issuing them. That could be calamitous for thousands of people who rely on the subsidies. Experts also warn the unpredictability is bad for all health insurance markets, because insurers don't know how much the government will be helping them out.

Trump has suggested he might work with Democrats to pass some kind of ambiguous health care reform. But no one in Washington is taking that seriously, especially given his 180 on an immigration deal with Democrats.

Option two:

Undermine Obamacare: If Obamacare is going to be the law of the land, Trump can try to cut holes in it so big that the law is unrecognizable. The approach seems to be to force Obamacare to fail, forcing Congress to fully repeal it.

"As I have always said, let ObamaCare fail and then come together and do a great healthcare plan. Stay tuned!"

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2017

Has he done this?

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Oh yes.

Trump has slashed by 90 percent the federal government's budget to advertise and help enroll people on the exchanges

The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin reports he's told the federal government to refuse to help Iowa prop up its struggling marketplace, which is a federal-state partnership.

Add this executive order to the list. The Post's Amy Goldstein reports the order will allow small businesses to form an association negotiate health benefits, called association health plans. Under Trump's rule, these disputed plans could soon be sold across state lines with no regulation on what health benefits they have to cover.

Many state insurance commissioners, both Republican and Democrat, oppose expanding associations because doing so could allow a plan formed in Ohio that, say, doesn't include protections for preexisting conditions to be sold in Indiana, and there's nothing Indiana officials can do about it.

Goldstein reports that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners warned Congress in February that something like this "would result in less protections for the most vulnerable populations and the collapse of individual markets."

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In fact, aside from a few ideologically rigid conservatives, association health plans aren't really a mainstream discussion, said Paul Ginsburg, a health policy expert and director of the USC Brookings-Schaeffer Initiative.

"To aggressively pursue association health plans is very much an attempt to undermine the markets in the Affordable Care Act," Ginsberg said.

Trump will also direct the government to expand the availability short-term health-insurance plans, from three months to a year. That "could do serious damages to the marketplaces and the individual market," said Gary Claxton, an analyst with the Kaiser Family Foundation.

These plans are designed to be short term - say, if you're between jobs and can't get on the exchanges. They don't have to cover essential health benefits, and they are not renewable, and they are cheaper. But Trump's order would make them closer to an alternative for full health insurance, which could make them an attractive plan for healthy people, which could increase the volume of sicker people on the exchanges.

"If you leave the sicker people on the exchanges, then premiums will rise more, and it gets you back to the possibility of a death spiral," said Alice Rivlin, a health policy expert with Brookings Institution.

Option three:

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Fully gut Obamacare: Trump can't do this, since it's a law Congress passed. But he could put nonstop pressure on Congress to repeal the entire law.

Has he done this?

Yes and no. Trump has made very clear how frustrated he is that Republicans were unable to repeal Obamacare. But he has largely pivoted to tax reform.

There's one more thing health policy experts say Trump could do on his own to rip up Obamacare: end the payments to insurers that cover lower-income people's premiums. (The very same payments Congress is trying to shore up.) Most health-policy experts agree that if these subsidies are taken away without a change in how much lower-income people pay for their health insurance, insurance markets would implode, forcing insurance companies to leave Obamacare exchanges, causing Obamacare itself to implode.
Jane Wyman could have had a best-seller.

But the Oscar-winning actress wouldn't dish about her ex-husband. Not when Ronald Reagan was governor of California and not when he made history as the nation's first divorced president.

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Before Reagan, men with failed marriages were considered too tainted for the White House. Nelson Rockefeller's divorce may have cost him the Republican primary nomination for president in 1964.

But by the time Reagan took the oath in 1981, with Nancy Reagan by his side in her royal blue suit and hat, the country was ready for the first lady to be a second wife.

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And Wyman didn't get in the way, though she surely knew plenty from her nine years of marriage to Reagan during Hollywood's heyday.

Their time together received little attention. Reagan never mentioned her in public. And Wyman got no more than a paragraph in his autobiography:

"The same year I made the Knute Rockne movie, I married Jane Wyman, another contract player at Warners. Our marriage produced two wonderful children, Maureen and Michael, but it didn't work out, and in 1948, we divorced."

That's it.

And she honored him with similar silence.

Asked in 1968, right after Reagan became California's 33rd governor, why she never spoke of her ex-husband's political transformation and new starring role, Wyman was wry and succinct.

"It's not because I'm bitter or because I don't agree with him politically," she said in 1968. "I've always been a registered Republican. But it's bad taste to talk about ex-husbands and ex-wives, that's all. Also, I don't know a damned thing about politics."

Bad taste. Remember when there was such a thing?

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But today, rather than a former film actor, we have an ex-realityTV star in the White House. And his leading ladies are going at it, reality-show style.

Ivana Trump wrote a book and did some interviews this week, throwing shade at Mrs. Trumps No. 2 and No. 3. "I'm basically the first Trump wife. OK?" Ivana said. "I'm first lady."

So Melania Trump, wife No. 3, responded with some acid of her own. Her spokeswoman issued a statement, calling her "honored by her role as first lady of the United States. She plans to use her title and role to help children, not sell books."

The palace infighting is so lurid, it got the king of the wife wars exercised.

"This is actually happening. All the wives are fighting. Even I AM SPEECHLESS," tweeted Andy Cohen, executive producer of Bravo's "Real Housewives" series.

It's a good time to remember that as recently as the 1980s, when the first Trump union made Donald and Ivana the toast of Manhattan's gilded crowd, Wyman was exercising Victorian decorum. Even if decorum didn't describe the Hollywood of the 1930s and '40s.

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Reagan played off his good looks and broad-shouldered Everyman charm well into old age. But his early days in Hollywood? A parade of biographies and tell-alls describe him as a player.

From Elizabeth Taylor to Lana Turner to Marilyn Monroe, the Gipper was a guy who allegedly got around.

Wyman and Reagan fell in love on the set. Their marriage in 1940 was his first and her third. They filed for divorce in 1948, after Wyman reportedly fell in love with another co-star, Lew Ayres.

She didn't marry Ayres, but her part in "Johnny Belinda" helped her win an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1948. She went on to marry two more times  both times to the same man  before finally giving up on nuptials. She remained a star on the small screen, starring in the television series "Falcon Crest," as her third ex-husband won the Cold War and championed conservative family values.

"I guess I just don't have a talent for it," Wyman said once about her failed marriages. "Some women just aren't the marrying kind  or, anyway, not the permanent marrying kind, and I'm one of them."

She finally broke her silence about Reagan when he died in 2004.

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"America has lost a great president," Wyman said. "And a great, kind and gentle man."

Wyman died three years later in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at the age of 90. Or maybe it was 93. She wasn't that forthcoming about her birthday either.

The Washington Post

Petula Dvorak is a Washington Post columnist.
A Cook County Sheriff's vehicle is parked at part of the scene of a shooting in the 7900 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017, in the Chatham neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / TNS)

Percy Taylor was fired from his job as a Cook County sheriff's police officer in 2013. He'd been accused of shooting an air rifle into a truck while his neighbor was seated inside; he had also been convicted of drunken driving in Missouri and failed to report it to his supervisors.

But an appellate court has ordered a do-over on the disciplinary process that led to Taylor's firing  and in the meantime, he'll be returned to his job, with back pay and interest. All over a technicality.

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It gets worse. The ruling could open the door to similar findings for hundreds of officers fired in a four-year period beginning in mid-2011. It could put a lot of bad cops back on the sheriff's payroll and cost taxpayers millions of dollars in back pay. Also in question are countless hirings and promotions approved by the Cook County Sheriff's Merit Board.

In 2013, at the end of a lengthy disciplinary process, the merit board voted 8-0 to fire Taylor. After a circuit court judge affirmed the firing, Taylor went back to court and argued that he was terminated illegally because the merit board was not lawfully constituted. This time, the judge agreed. So did the appellate court. The Illinois Supreme Court recently turned down Sheriff Tom Dart's request to hear an appeal.

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What's the problem? The law says merit board members serve staggered six-year terms. The idea is to maintain a balance of experienced and inexperienced members. John Rosales had been appointed by Dart to fill a midterm vacancy and continued in the seat after the term expired. The courts said the law doesn't allow that, so the board's makeup wasn't legal at the time and its decision was void.

Needless to say, attorneys for other officers fired during that period are busy drafting me-too lawsuits to take advantage of this legal gotcha. Dart could hypothetically be forced to take back hundreds of fired officers with back pay, and then go through the motions to fire them again.

The argument that carried the day is that the staggered terms specified in the law are consistent with its goal of balancing the makeup of the board. But the errant appointment didn't affect the outcome of Taylor's case, an 8-0 decision that was upheld on its merits in court. The law's larger intent is to remove politics and other bias from hiring and firing decisions. Potentially thousands of those decisions now could be upended on a technicality. That's the big picture.

While Taylor's case was pending, the Illinois Senate unanimously passed a bill to clean up the statute, including streamlining the disciplinary process and allowing the sheriff to fill a merit board seat midterm. The House never took it up. It's past time to get serious about a legislative remedy.

Meanwhile, there's a big mess to clean up. This big win for fired officers is a big loss for Cook County. It's bad for law enforcement, bad for taxpayers, bad for public confidence in police accountability.

It's especially worrisome because the contract taking shape between the county and a union representing 3,500 sheriff's employees would do little to help Dart get chronic absenteeism and other disciplinary problems under control. Dart wanted tools to crack down on the Super Bowl Sunday sickouts at the county jail, for example. A leaked memo from union leaders to members crows about how much they've won at the table, and how little they gave up in return.

The current disciplinary process is quite a slog. The results of an internal investigation are reviewed up the chain of command, presenting all sorts of opportunities for bickering and second-guessing. If the complaint is sustained and the recommended punishment is a 30-day suspension or more  in other words, in the worst cases of misconduct  it goes to the merit board. In recent years, the board has upheld roughly two-thirds of the sheriff's requests for discipline.

Weeding out bad officers is very, very hard. It just got harder.

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Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
Well-run organizations keep track of their work. If a project runs late by weeks or months, managers ask questions, problem-solve and demand results. Suppose that assignment involves a new state law with potentially life-or-death consequences for babies. How long before officials get impatient with delays and sound the alarm? Six days? Six weeks? Six long months?

At the Illinois Department of Public Health, the confounding answer is seven years. The agency is seven years late creating a mandated program to test newborns for Krabbe disease (pronounced crab-AY), a rare genetic condition that is fatal if not detected and treated early in life. Krabbe is a diabolical affliction that doesn't present itself at birth. The baby, apparently healthy, starts to deteriorate months later, by which time treatment no longer works. That's why testing newborns is crucial.

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In 2007, the General Assembly passed the Krabbe testing law, setting a November 2010 goal to launch the program. It's now October 2017 and Public Health still is not screening newborns at hospitals for Krabbe.

Seven years late.

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The reason isn't as simple as a lack of funding, though tight budgets play a role. Blaming the delay on bureaucratic boo-boos, or giving a shrug of the shoulders at chronic Illinois dysfunction, is too pat an answer. This is an embarrassing failure of a state agency to follow the will of lawmakers. It's a failure of state employees to complete an assignment on behalf of taxpayers. The result is devastating for a small number of Illinois families whose babies, born since 2010, could have been saved from Krabbe by the test.

One of those babies is Kenan Spencer Witczak, born seemingly healthy in Chicago about three months after Illinois was supposed to begin testing for Krabbe. He showed signs of distress at 6 months, and by the time he was diagnosed, it was too late for stem-cell treatment that could have slowed or halted the devastating nerve damage Krabbe inflicts. Kenan, at age 6, is ravaged by the disease and dying.

The story of Kenan's life and the state's failed rollout of a lab-based test for Krabbe is told by reporter Patricia Callahan in "Doomed by Delay," a Tribune special report published this month. Read it here: chicagotribune.com/krabbe.

Hospitals test newborns for myriad conditions, typically sending a pinprick of blood from the heel to a lab for analysis. New York was the first state to test for Krabbe and similar conditions, in 2006, making Illinois an early adopter when Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed legislation the next year. If only.

The initial trouble related to funding, Callahan reports. Illinois was slow to complete rule changes to charge hospitals an additional $19 fee per baby to cover the cost of testing at state labs. More pressure came from Springfield, which passed a law allowing the state to raid the newborn screening fund for other uses. Feeling pinched, health officials gave up on the November 2010 deadline to start Krabbe testing.

The next few years (yes, years) were burned trying unsuccessfully to identify a less expensive Krabbe testing method than using state lab equipment, because word had come down to "do more with less." Eventually, trial runs determined that a cheaper testing system from a private company wasn't accurate. Along the way, Springfield mandated screening for two more conditions.

By 2014, Illinois finally seemed ready to roll, with New York's state lab agreeing to perform second-round tests to root out any false positive readings. Except the deal collapsed over a dispute in the wording of the contract. Next, Public Health sought out the Mayo Clinic to do the additional screening. The glacial pace of Illinois government procurement killed more time. The contract took months to negotiate, then was rejected because a pricing number was entered in the wrong place. And rejected again because the Mayo Clinic wasn't registered with the state. Somehow, one of the world's foremost medical institutions needed to be scrutinized like a college kid trying to get into a bar.

Do you get the sense Illinois government is inefficient? That it has the metabolism of a Galapagos tortoise? That no one working for Blagojevich or the succeeding two governors took responsibility or showed urgency? Callahan cites two apt comparisons to Illinois' lethargy: Kentucky launched Krabbe screening 11 months after passing its law, and soon after detected a baby boy with the disease. Tennessee took two years to implement its screening law.

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Illinois has spent 10 years on this project. Days after the Tribune published "Doomed by Delay," Gov. Bruce Rauner said he would push to begin statewide testing for Krabbe disease. The latest target date: before the end of 2017.

Something is desperately wrong with the way Illinois government operates. No lab test is required to confirm that result.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
President Donald Trump recently traded insults with Sen. Bob Corker, who cracked that the White House "has become an adult day care center." Trump volleyed with his typical playground taunts on Twitter, belittling the Tennessee Republican.

Sigh. Eye roll. More of the same.

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But Corker also said something far more serious for this country's security: He said he feared that Trump's reckless threats against other nations could set the U.S. "on the path to World War III."

Corker has strong foreign policy credentials, so his concerns about Trump carry weight. Many other Republican senators reportedly share those concerns about Trump's impulsive leadership. We'll soon see how, and if, those reservations play out in a major foreign policy drama the administration is set to cue up.

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In the next few days, Trump is expected to "decertify" the Iran nuclear deal under a 2015 law that Corker championed. Trump may essentially declare that Iran is not fulfilling its end of the bargain, or perhaps that the deal is no longer in America's best interests. Trump evidently wants to force the Iranians back to the negotiating table to sweeten the deal for the U.S.

Our view is that this could go two ways  poorly or very poorly.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis strongly favor sticking with the deal. So do America's European allies. We agree with them. We reluctantly backed the deal as the best available option for curbing Iran's nuclear program.

Iran is still a leading sponsor of terror and a major Middle East troublemaker. But this deal isn't aimed at resolving those problems. It is intended to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. And that appears to be happening. The International Atomic Energy Agency, charged with monitoring Iranian nuclear sites, says Tehran is fulfilling its end of the accord. Tillerson, Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agree.

By decertifying the deal, Trump wouldn't automatically kill it. But he would give Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions. If Congress reimposes sanctions, the likelihood is the Iranians abandon the accord. Tehran could then start stockpiling uranium and begin enriching it to near-weapons-grade level. Iran could kick-start a nuclear weapons program and dare the U.S. and its allies to stop it.

Then the Trump administration would face an international nuclear crisis not only in North Korea but in Iran as well. "It makes sense to me that our holding up agreements that we have signed, unless there's a material breach, would have an impact on others' willingness to sign agreements," Dunford said. Translation: Undercut a deal with Tehran and you'll have a hard time convincing Pyongyang to sign one.

Trump may believe that Iran will return to the table to make a new deal. That's not impossible. Reuters reported recently that Iran was open to talks on its growing ballistic missile arsenal. That wasn't part of the original deal the Obama administration and others negotiated with Iran. But if Trump could rein in those missiles, eliminate sunset clauses under which restrictions on Iran's nuclear program are phased out and expand inspections to Iranian military sites, the president would be able to rightly boast of making the foreign policy deal of the century.

That would take a masterful negotiator  a skill that Trump has not demonstrated in office so far.

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The president thrives on creating chaos and disrupting the normal channels of geopolitics. His supporters see a leader who doesn't mince words. We see a provocateur who takes risks with foreign policy and has a dubious strategy for revising this nuclear deal.

Prove us wrong, President Trump. Please.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order on Thursday that may help lower costs and create more options for many Americans who struggle to find health insurance. But we learned later Thursday that he also is poised to halt billions in subsidy payments to insurance companies that help cover medical costs for millions of low-income Americans.

The order and the subsidy action could be two more nails in Obamacare's coffin. And two more reasons for Congress to overcome its bipartisan stalemate and craft an Obamacare overhaul.

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Nobody will know for weeks if not months how all this will pan out. Trump's order, for instance, depends on federal agencies' regulations to enact it. We hope the rules prompt insurers to offer new policies that attract consumers.

Trump's aim with the order  more competition, more flexibility, less regulation  is to bring back to the ranks of the insured many people who can't afford the skyrocketing premiums. Under Obamacare, insurers have left markets or raised premiums to cover high costs.

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Under the order, small businesses and some individuals should be able to band together and buy insurance via what's known as association health plans. Those policies probably would be less comprehensive and rigid  and thus less expensive  than the pricey policies mandated by Obamacare.

The order also aims to expand the availability of short-term insurance policies. Those offer limited benefits for people between jobs or young adults no longer eligible to be covered under their parents' health plans. The Obama administration said those policies couldn't last more than three months; Trump's order extends that to nearly a year. Good.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order on health care as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Vice President Mike Pence, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta look at the White House on Oct. 12, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)

It may be, as critics charge, that the Trump changes aggravate the flight of some Americans from the Obamacare policies. That is, the forthcoming rules could help lure younger, healthier people into cheaper, less comprehensive plans. That would leave older, sicker people in traditional plans and drive up the costs for them.

But remember, many Americans already face double digit increases in Obamacare premiums this year. As they did last year. And the year before. Here in Illinois, hundreds of thousands of consumers who buy on the state's exchange will find an average rate increase of 16 percent to 37 percent next year for the lowest-priced plans.

Trump's move to end those subsidies creates more unknowns. Insurers have warned that they'd flee markets if those subsidies were cut.

That could further spike premiums for everyone, which is why we've urged Republicans and Democrats to join forces to either appropriate funding for the subsidies or better yet, overhaul Obamacare. Lawmakers, over to you.

The sobering context for evaluating any new government health care proposal is that a yearslong decline has reached a perilous point: These fast-rising premiums and narrowing choices of health providers threaten to capsize Obamacare.

We hope Trump's order will ramp up pressure on Congress to find a more sweeping solution to fix Obamacare. Several GOP efforts to repeal and replace the law this year fizzled, partly because these efforts attracted no Democratic votes.

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Any new effort to repair Obamacare should be bipartisan. Against overwhelming evidence to the contrary, we still believe that is possible, and apparently, so does Trump. The president recently reached out to New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer. One option: a bipartisan Obamacare replacement being designed by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Like or loathe Trump's order, it reflects more urgency than Congress has demonstrated. Open enrollment for Obamacare starts Nov. 1. Millions of Americans will face skimpier choices than they had last year. They'll also face higher prices.

Absent a renewed congressional effort, these actions won't be Trump's last. The president says he plans to save "the American people from the nightmare of Obamacare."

Better, though, that members of Congress in both parties just do their jobs.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
This weekend has it all: music, comedy, booze, movies and haunted stories. Take your pick, Chicago.

Chi got the blues

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Chicago played a huge role in the history of the blues, and the annual Logan Center Blues Fest (Oct. 13-15) celebrates those rootsparticularly those from the city's South Sidewith a festive collection of concerts, workshops, film, food and more. Blues performers include Wee Willie Walker, Terrie Odabi, Grammy nominee Billy Branch, Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio and local musicians such as Corky Siegel. Most of the festival's events are free, but certain performances require extra tickets, and workshops require reservations. Tickets: loganbluesfest.org.

Double your funny

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Get double the chuckles with a single ticket at the "Back to Back" comedy tour from wife-and-wife pair Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher, coming at 8 p.m. Saturday to the Vic (3145 N. Sheffield Ave.). You likely know Esposito from her TV stand-up appearances and panel work on "Chelsea Lately," and she hosted Buzzfeed's popular "Ask a Lesbian" series with Butcher. Both comedians got their beginnings in Chicago, so they should have plenty of inside jokes for city dwellers as well. Tickets: $32.50. victheatre.com.

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

What's up, whiskey?

To celebrate its best-rated whiskeys of the year, drink review website Tastings.com will put each of its top-30 rated whiskeys on parade for Mash Bash. A $30 ticket to the party gets you samples of Scotch and American and Irish whiskeys, as well as food samples, a complimentary whiskey glass and a swag bag. The event runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Chief O'Neill's (3471 N. Elston Ave.) but dinner reservations are available following the event. Tickets: eventbrite.com.

The other International Film Festival

The massive annual Chicago International Film Festival kicks off in the city this weekend, but a smaller, locally grown film festival also begins this weekend south of the Loop. The Chicago International Social Change Film Festival comes from Todd Belcore of nonprofit Chicago Social Change and screens socially minded films of all types. Now in its sixth year, the festival has also expanded to New York and Los Angeles. This year's edition in Chicago will be Friday through Sunday at the Harold Washington Cultural Center (4701 S. King Drive). Tickets: $10-$50. eventbrite.com.

Ghost stories, out of the mouths of babes

Ghost stories are a good way to gear up for the Halloween season, and Tellin' Tales Theatre has a special collection of these yarns for the holiday, "Six Stories Up in Haunted Chicago," told by students and adults with cerebral palsy, blindness and dwarfism, as well as some non-disabled peers. Their show, which runs from Oct. 13 to 22 at Filament Theatre (4041 N. Milwaukee Ave.), tells the story of kids on a ghost tour that stops at Resurrection Cemetery. There, they meet famous Chicagoans including Al Capone and John Belushi, and everyone has a lot to say about the city these days. Tickets: $15-$20. brownpapertickets.com.

@lucheezy | adlukach@redeyechicago.com

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One of the largest charter school networks in the country has started issuing report cards for its parentsscoring them on how well they support their children in school.

Success Academy, which is based in New York City, is known as both an academic powerhouse serving mostly low-income, minority students and a prominent adherent to the controversial no excuses charter school philosophy , which promotes strict codes of student conduct.

The network began issuing the parent report cards this month.

Its not uncommon for charter schools to place a premium on parental involvement. Some charters have even gone so far as to mandate that parents volunteer at their childrens school (an issue that got a lot of attention in California relatively recently).

But Success Academyled by Eva Moskowitz, its hard-charging founder and CEOmay be unique for formally rating parents on how involved they are.

Called parent investment cards, the evaluations score parents monthly in three areas: school readiness, homework supervision, and responsiveness and investment. Parents receive green for meeting expectations, yellow for approaching expectations, and red for not meeting expectations.

Parental involvement has always been a priority for Success Academyto such a degree, in fact, that the network is sometimes accused by critics of pressuring families to remove their children from its schools if they dont live up to its exacting standards.

Parents at Success Academy must sign a contract pledging to get their child to school every day, on time and in uniform; respond to any communication from the school within 24 hours; and in general be active members of the school community, according to the schools handbook.

In an interview with Education Week, Moskowitz said she believes parent engagement is crucial to academic success, a philosophy she developed while visiting schools during her time serving as a New York City Council Member. The most successful schools, she said, involve the parents.

I think particularly schools that serve poorer kids tend to take what I call a bypass surgery approach to parents: were as a school going to educate kids without the parents,  she said. I both find that disrespectful to parents but also impractical.

Moskowitz said Success Academy parents have always gotten robust feedback from their childs school on a range of issues including student attedance, tardiness, and homework completion. The report card, she said, streamlines that communication.

But is issuing report cards for parents going too far?

Perhaps, writes Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, in a blog post that asks, Has Eva Moskowitz overplayed her hand on parent accountability?

Pondiscio, who was the first to report on the new policy, writes on the Fordham Institutes blog that he has spoken with a few Success Academy parents and none were exactly pleased with the idea of receiving report cards (although the initiative was praised by some education reform advocates).

"[T]here may be a difference between an uncomfortable conversation when theres a clear and obvious problem and having your childs school assign every parent a grade, an evaluation, and a color, he wrote.

Moskowitz doesnt see this as a big deal, just a new way to communicate policies that have been in place since the networks inception and encourage parents to do better.

She says she hasnt received any major pushback from parents over the idea, yet.

Theres no policy at Success that 100 percent of people love, she said. I got a much bigger reaction from parents when I didnt call a snow day [last winter].

Related stories:
The historic former Waubonsee Community College building at Galena Boulevard and Stolp Avenue in Aurora is in the process of becoming a new arts center. (Steve Lord / The Beacon-News )

Work crews are beginning interior renovation this week of the former Waubonsee Community College building to remodel it into a downtown Aurora arts center.

The work on the overall $35 million project by The Community Builders Inc., a non-profit developer, is in partnership with the Paramount Theatre, which is next door, the city of Aurora, and the Illinois Housing Development Authority.

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The 80,000-square-foot building at Stolp Avenue and Galena Boulevard eventually will include a 25,000-square-foot school for performing arts, 8,000 square feet of rehearsal space for the Paramount Theatre, a 4,000-square-foot restaurant space, 38 apartments designed to support working artists and guest apartments for some Paramount Theater performers.

"Downtown is evolving right before our eyes, and we are all eager to see what it becomes," said Mayor Richard Irvin in a press release about the project. "As the Aurora Arts Center project moves forward, so does the progress of the entire downtown area. The opportunity to take vacant property and transform it into a multi-use complex provides a blueprint for future projects throughout our city."

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The property was vacant for more than five years, after Waubonsee Community College moved into the new campus it built across the river from the old building downtown.

Invest Aurora, the non-profit development arm of the city, purchased the building last year for $350,000 in order to facilitate the development of the arts center.

"We have been working to make this happen for two years and are excited to see construction begin," said Tim Rater, Paramount Theatre president and chief executive officer, in the press release. "This is an important opportunity in making the performing arts accessible for every age and socioeconomic background, while contributing to the future growth of Aurora's downtown."

Rater also will manage the performing arts school. He started and managed the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights, which the Aurora school is modeled after.

In addition to the arts center, The Community Builders will do renovation work on the Coulter Building at Broadway and Downer Place downtown. That houses several uses, including subsidized housing.

The funding for the overall project is a combination of money facilitated by The Community Builders and the city of Aurora.

The developers would continue to pledge $4 million in new market tax credits; $1 million of their own funding; $500,000 to $1 million in developer equity from the project; $750,000 in program income; and $20 million more in additional tax credits.

The developer also would benefit from DuPage County forgiving a $1.35 million loan on the Coulter Building and the federally funded Neighbor Works forgiving a similar $366,000 loan.

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The city is including a $500,000 tax increment financing grant; a $700,000 community development block grant award; $600,000 in federal HOME funding; a $3.8 million loan guaranteed by the federal Section 108 program; and a loan from the city that would be paid back by money generated from the project, including $1.05 million from the Aurora Civic Center Authority, restaurant leases and other sources.

The city also is adding in $150,000 in gaming tax money.

As part of the amended agreement, the city also would carve out an area bounded by River Street, Downer Place, Stolp Avenue and Galena Boulevard from the current downtown tax increment financing district and create a new TIF district for the project.

City officials have said the city will pay less than $6 million of the $35 million project, with most of the funding coming from the developer.

slord@tribpub.com
West Aurora High School students scored below the state average on the SAT. (Kalyn Belsha / The Beacon-News )

German language study may be gone and new technology courses added at West Aurora High School.

West Aurora School District is looking at a proposal to eliminate 16 courses, add 11 and revise six others at the high school.

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The School Board recently had a first look at the plan. The revisions, according to the proposal presented to the board, are a result of a "collaborative committee-based process to continue to refine and expand our high school course offerings ..."

Will Dwyer, West Aurora School District director of Secondary Education, gave a presentation showing 11 course additions: English Language Junior Literacy, Introduction to Health Occupations, Health Communications, Medical Terminology and Ethics, Project Lead the Way (Computer Science A), Introduction to Coding and APP Development Using SWIFT Language, Digital Music Production 1, Digital Music Production 2, Spanish for Heritage Speakers 3 Honors, Studio Theater, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology.

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Six other courses would receive revisions.

The proposal is to eliminate 16 courses. Among them, three computer-related courses  C++ programming, Java Programming and Computer Applications and Science  would be replaced with the addition of two "contemporary" computer science courses and the addition of Innovative Technology and Digital Literacy last year, according to the report.

The proposal to delete German 1, 2 and 3 was of concern to board members. Dwyer's report said the "official elimination" of German as a language offering at West Aurora High School is due to low enrollment in the program.

The proposal is to add the Spanish for Heritage Speakers 3 Honors course, designed to create an honors class for students studying level 3 of Heritage Spanish, the only one of the language offerings that does not currently have an honors course.

Board member Allyson Herget said she was saddened to see the deletion of the German language from the high school course offerings.

"I know the enrollment numbers were not there," Herget said, adding extensive research has been done showing online instruction for language is not as effective as when students receive the "human interaction" in a traditional classroom setting.

"We have talked about Mandarin Chinese which would be the up and coming (language), but it is difficult to find Mandarin Chinese teachers and if we find them, it is difficult to get them full-time because we probably would not have the numbers right away. It's a dilemma not just here but nationwide," Herget said.

Herget said she hopes the district could offer more languages.

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"I know we have pushed it and tried and I know you are doing the best you can with the middle school curriculum," she said.

Dwyer said the district's Heritage Spanish program has become a "shining jewel" as students coming from Spanish-speaking backgrounds are taking advance studies of Spanish and Spanish literature.

"As we look at the middle school restructuring on the horizon, by making languages an open elective going forward, that may change opportunities for high school," Dwyer said.

Dwyer said the district's process allows for bringing back course programs.

Board member Valerie Brown Dykstra said she, too, was disappointed by the recommendation to eliminate the German program.

"I am not sure it got a completely fair shot," she said.

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Brown Dykstra said not offering the language at the middle school level may have something to do with the lower enrollment at high school.

"I just don't think it is being given a fair shot, especially with so many businesses looking for German-speaking (employees)," she said.

Dwyer said the recommendations are part of a multi-step process that eventually involves input from the School Board.

The proposal will be reviewed by the board again Oct. 16.

Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
A crowd walks through a construction gate toward the back parking lot at Aptakisic Junior High School in Buffalo Grove to attend a groundbreaking ceremony. School officials are building a 14,000-square-foot wing to accommodate an anticipated spike in student enrollment. (Ronnie Wachter / Pioneer Press)

Craig Siepka is used to groundbreaking ceremonies, but he still couldn't contain his excitement as he walked past construction machinery at Aptakisic Junior High School before officials recently celebrated the start of a multi-million-dollar expansion project.

As vice president of Chicago-based architecture firm Wight and Company, which is working with officials from Aptakisic-Tripp School District 102 on the project, Siepka moved through a small crowd of visitors, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony Oct. 9 at the Buffalo Grove junior high school, to make sure he gave a hug to school board president Ellyn Ross.

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"I drove onto the lot and saw everything, and I was like, 'This is real,'" Siepka said to Ross.

The revelatory moment was shared by Ross, district officials, students and parents during the groundbreaking ceremony that officially kicked off the school district's $25 million expansion, which is meant to accommodate a growing student population at all district buildings in future years.

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"We're excited to move forward," Ross said moments before she shared a hug with Siepka.

The groundbreaking ceremony focused on a part of the $25 million expansion  a 14,000-square-foot wing at Aptakisic Junior High School that primarily will be used for fine arts classes, officials said. The project should be completed by August 2018 before the start of the new school year.

As part of the expansion plan, district officials are moving sixth graders into the junior high school for the first time. Students in fourth and fifth grades will attend Meridian Middle School, which also will undergo construction work to add six new classrooms, officials said.

Students in kindergarten through the third grade will go to Tripp and Pritchett elementary schools for class, under the expansion plan.

To make room for students at Aptakisic Junior High School, District 102 administrators also are moving from their offices at the school to a building at 1351 Abbott Court, Buffalo Grove, after recently agreeing to purchase a 28,000-square-foot building for $3 million.

"This is a day we've been looking forward to for a really long time," Superintendent Lori Wilcox told the audience during the groundbreaking ceremony. "We can't wait to get started."

District 102 officials have said various residential projects in the works within the district's boundaries will increase enrollment in future years.

Nearby Stevenson High School, which serves students who have come from District 102, also is planning a classroom building addition because of anticipated population increases in the area.

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District 102 spokeswoman Vickie Walter said that each grade level at the district currently averages about 250 students with district-wide student enrollment totaling around 2,300 for the 2017-18 school year.

But with additions and renovations coming to all school buildings, district officials anticipate that the buildings soon will have the capacity to accommodate 280 students at each grade level, Walter said.

During the recent groundbreaking ceremony, many students and parents said the new wing at Aptakisic Junior High School is needed since classroom space at the school has been tight for years.

Seventh-grader Tejas Aravind, of Buffalo Grove, said he was excited to see construction start on the new fine arts wing.

Aravind practices and plays the trumpet at school.

"We need more room in school," he said.

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His mother, Mini Nair, said she was happy to see district officials focus on the fine arts as they planned the expansion project.

"They need more space," Nair said. "Putting more effort into band, culture, things like that, that's always a good thing."

Allison Rakickas, band director at Aptakisic Junior High School, agreed with the sentiment.

"It's really telling that the additional space will house fine arts," Rakickas said. "We've always been crowded."

RWachter@PioneerLocal.com

Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer
Officials at the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency are preparing responses to the National Park Service, which sent back the agencys application to place the Long Grove bridge on the National Register of Historic Places. (John Handley / Chicago Tribune )

Officials at the National Park Service want some questions answered before they consider whether to place Long Grove's one-lane covered bridge on the National Register of Historic Places.

The federal agency that decides what places receive the historical designation recently returned the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency's application to place the Long Grove bridge on the national registry to give the state agency time to answer a few questions about the connection between the vehicular portion of the bridge and a pedestrian walkway on the bridge's side, officials with the National Park Service said.

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Although he declined to discuss specifics, Jeremy Barnum, a spokesman for the National Park Service, said his agency will wait for the state's reply before making any decisions on the Long Grove bridge.

Andrew Heckenkamp, survey and national register coordinator for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, said staff members currently are preparing answers to the National Park Service's questions.

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"I don't have a specific timetable, but hopefully in the next couple of weeks," Heckenkamp said of the agency's response.

The development is the latest wrinkle in the ongoing debate over whether to preserve the Long Grove covered bridge, which dates back to the early 1900s.

Members of the Historic Downtown Long Grove Business Association initially pushed to start the application process to place the bridge on the national registry, which would add more layers if officials ever wanted to demolish the one-lane span that carries Robert Parker Coffin Road over the Buffalo Creek.

Citing recent inspection reports from the Illinois Department of Transportation that deemed the bridge safe for light vehicle traffic but also identified minor deterioration and areas in need of replacement, Village President Bill Jacob and several village board members have advocated in recent years for tearing down the bridge and using mostly federal money to build a two-lane replacement.

Preserving the bridge, they have said, would require more local dollars that Long Grove officials can't afford to spend.

Earlier this year, Jacob and other board members started to back off their comments, indicating they would support the designation effort and a local effort to fund the preservation of the covered bridge.

The downtown business association, meanwhile, has launched a "Save the Bridge" fundraising campaign to try and defray village costs to preserve and restore the bridge, which village officials have said could cost Long Grove around $850,000.

Regarding the National Park Service's questions, Jacob recently said village officials want to find out more information about the agency's concerns and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency's response.

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He said village officials are not directly involved in the national registry process and have not yet seen the questions from the National Park Service.

"We need to see what their concerns are," Jacob said.

Once the National Park Service receives a response back from the state, the agency will restart its customary 45-day review process, Barnum said.

Ryan Messner, president of Historic Downtown Long Grove Business Association, said his group is willing to help out the state agency with its responses to the National Park Service.

He noted how the association's fundraising campaign, so far, has secured $50,000 in donations  about halfway to its goal of $100,000.

"If they have questions, we've got to get them the information," Messner said.

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RWachter@PioneerLocal.com

Twitter @RonnieAtPioneer
Ciro Reyes Ramirez and his son had only been parked for a moment near the Tinley Park bar they were headed to clean early Tuesday morning, when a car allegedly speeding along Oak Park Avenue plowed into them from behind, he said.

Reyes Ramirez's 20-year-old son Alberto Reyes, his youngest, was killed in the crash and he was injured. The driver of the other car, Joseph Vorberg, of Oak Forest, was driving at about 130 mph, with a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit, when he crashed into their parked car, prosecutors said.

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Vorberg fled the scene on foot after the crash, prosecutors said Thursday at the Cook County courthouse in Bridgeview. Police found him 30 minutes later, hiding behind a semitrailer that was parked near a Tinley Park bar, prosecutors said.

Vorberg, 37, of the 15300 block of Arroyo Drive, is facing charges including reckless homicide and aggravated DUI stemming from the crash. A Cook County judge set Vorberg's bail on Thursday at $1 million.

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Judge Peter Felice said Vorberg was a "danger to himself ... and to the community," based on the allegations presented in court.

Data pulled from Vorberg's Cadillac ATS sedan indicated he was traveling 128 mph just seconds before he smashed into the parked car, prosecutors said.

Alberto Reyes was declared dead at the scene, prosecutors said. His father was treated at a local hospital for injuries that were not life threatening and released.

Vorberg had been drinking at bars in Tinley Park and Harvey before the crash, prosecutors said. He had been treated at a local hospital for his injuries.

A test conducted on Vorberg indicated that his blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit, prosecutors said.

The father and son had pulled up near the bar at about 3:30 a.m., Reyes Ramirez said.

The crash pushed their parked car about 200 feet down the road into a light pole, prosecutors said.

After the crash, Reyes Ramirez said, he woke up in the hospital looking for his son. He initially thought they were still in the parked '97 Grand Prix, he said.

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His son sometimes helped him with the cleaning work, he said. But Alberto wanted to go back to school and find a career for himself, his father said. Reyes Ramirez wanted his son to have a better life than his.

"I would tell him, 'you're going to have more opportunities than me, because you speak two languages,'" Reyes Ramirez said Thursday evening at his home in Midlothian, with his son Jose Reyes translating.

Jose Reyes, 30, said the family is in shock over the death of their youngest member.

"I still don't believe it to this day," he said.

A GoFundMe page has been set up under Alberto Reyes' nickname, Beto.

Vorberg is also charged with DUI, failing to give aid/information at an accident, improper lane usage and failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident. Vorberg returns to court Nov. 2.

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Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Ron Guzior, in red shirt, vice president of Richards Building Supply Company, delivered a truckload of donated roofing materials, including plywood, roof felt, roofing nails and trim, which were used to restore Ross School, an 1850 one-room schoolhouse on Bell Road. (Homer CCSD 33C)

The Ross School building has weathered 167 harsh Will County winters, but it might not have survived a 168th without some help from a group of preservation-minded volunteers.

The white wood-sided one-room schoolhouse dates back to 1850 and is one of the last of its kind in the county. Situated adjacent to Homer Junior High School, School officials were concerned the old building's roof would not survive and the structure would collapse.

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"It was either save it now or we don't think it's going to last another winter," said Charla Brautigam, communications/public relations manager for Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C.

Though materials and labor for the new roof were donated, the district still needs another $10,000 to make other necessary repairs to the school house.

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Officials are hopeful the community will help meet that need. Students at Hadley Middle School will have a donation table and exhibit set up at a family reading night at the school Thursday. An antique desk topped with information about the project also sits at the entrance to the school's office, and at each of the district's other schools, to remind students and families of the efforts to preserve Ross School.

"This is a community school and it's part of our history in Homer Glen," Brautigam said.

The school served generations of students until 1956, when Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C was established by combining six one-room schoolhouses, including Ross, Hadley, Wells Corner, Goodings Grove, Harrington and Barrington. Though most of the schools were demolished or converted into homes, Ross remained at its location on 159th Street until 1997 when it was moved to its current home.

At that time, volunteers raised $40,000 to restore and move the school.

The school was used for several years to show students what a classroom looked like in the 1850s. Restoration efforts included furnishing the school with antique desks and a coal burning stove. However, the school has not been used in recent years because of safety concerns.

When officials began discussing the school's current repair needs, three district employees with construction experience volunteered to rebuild the roof and brace some of the support beams. Two local companies, Filotto Roofing and Richards Building Supply Company, donated shingles and roofing materials.

"It's historic," said Bill Kocanda a head custodian at Homer Junior High, who worked on the roof. "We want to keep (the building) up instead of letting it fall down."

The roofing work was recently completed. Kocanda and two other district employees, Ed Malley and Phil Ackland, volunteered to brace the beams holding up the roof and replace the old roof with new roofing materials.

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Restoration efforts also will include replacing two doors and sections of siding as well as new trim for the doors and windows. Volunteers have offered to help make the repairs, but money is needed to buy materials for the work.

"We're continuing to reach out to the community and businesses to help us bring back a piece of history and preserve it," Brautigam said.

Local businesses have offered their services or products to help with the restoration. Crockett Construction has offered to donate crews to install the new siding and doors. Will-Cook Ace Hardware is donating paint. The district also has received pledges from Ultimate Driving School, United Express Delivery, Gaston Bistro, Jet's Pizza and Time 4 Sweets.

The district also is asking for community input to determine how the building should be used once it's restored. One option could be to use the space for exhibits about the community's history, Brautigam said.

The district also plans to get students involved in the project, Brautigam said.

More information on the project is with Brautigam at 708-226-7628.

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Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Columbus Day used to be my favorite holiday.

As a student, I got an extra day off from school in early autumn, which was the ideal time of year to go fishing. Pleasant days, cool nights, no mosquitoes. And lots of fish species feeding and fattening up for winter.

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Frankly, the only thing which I thought back then that was extraordinary about Columbus was the fact he did not know where he was or what he discovered on Oct. 12, 1492. Nor could I understand the significance of "discovering" a place where people had already been living and leading their lives for a very long time.

Later, as a teacher, I still got the day off and still went fishing. But I learned more about Columbus, including the fact that like a lot of western Europeans in the 15th and 16th centuries, he regarded indigenous people in faraway lands as species that were less than human.

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And it is for that reason that many states and cities have adopted resolutions replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day in order to honor, instead, Native American history, and to pay respect to Native American citizens in the United States today.

As for our state of Illinois, a compromise bill was proposed by Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Chicago Heights, that kept both days. His bill was voted into law, so that now the fourth Monday in September is Indigenous Peoples Day, while Columbus continues to be honored on the second Monday in October.

A valid compromise is usually an attempt to make concessions to both sides. But in this case, the "compromise" felt more like a wink from DeLuca, as he offered a trinket to American Indian people at the end of September, while symbolically snatching it back two weeks later.

That's because to Native American tribes in every part of our country, Christopher Columbus Day evokes slavery.

Columbus opened the gates for Caucasian invasion and exploitation, which eventually killed off the majority of Native American people through wars and smallpox. The rest were confined on reservations.

Today, Native Americans' rates of poverty, unemployment, suicide, domestic violence, school dropouts, alcoholism, incarceration, and drug addiction, exceed that of all other minorities in our country.

Columbus, of course, is not solely to blame for Native American misery. And his intelligence, sailing prowess, and daring  cited by DeLuca as reasons for keeping his holiday  rank him with or above other explorers, from Marco Polo to Magellan.

But if we honored people for their skills and talents, while turning a blind eye to their crimes against humanity, we'd have holidays for Benito Mussolini, Attila the Hun, and Hannibal Lecter. The latter, of course, is a fictional character emblematic of evil, but you get my point.

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Nor was Columbus an innocent victim of historical relativism. He personally enslaved many Taino Indians, declaring them property of Queen Isabella. Others he brought back to Spain as souvenirs, describing them in his journal as "fearful and timid ... guileless and honest."

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

If we repeal DeLuca's half-way gesture, and actually replace and rename Columbus Day, we will draw attention to the sad plight of the Native Americans, not so they can be pitied, but in order that their situation, which began with Columbus, can be addressed.

Perhaps replacing Columbus Day with "Discovery Day" would stretch Americans to recognize where we have come from. It also would give a nod not only to what led to the influx of ideas and people on which this nation was founded, but to some abuses that the United States must remember to avoid. In so doing, we gain intellectual honesty.

Another solution would be to replace the adulation for Columbus with a Native American hero.

My nomination would be Chief Joseph. This great leader, warrior, and savior of the Nez Perce tribe in the Pacific Northwest had the wisdom of President Lincoln and the inclination toward nonviolence of Martin Luther King Jr. His recorded reflections are an inspiration for all patriots:

"Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think, and act for myself  and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty."

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What's more American than that?

Emeritus English professor, College of DuPage, David McGrath taught Native American Literature and is author of the novel "Siege at Ojibwa."
Are you kidding me? Media proprietor Oprah Winfrey for president? Come on now. I just certainly hope that after this presidency with Donald Trump that people learn that we do need an experienced person in politics. If we live through this presidency I hope we all know better. We just have to try to find a politician who's more suited. I don't know if it's possible but, please, no more TV stars or reality stars. I can't stand it.

Judy

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My conservative Christian friends tell me that the Bible has no contradictions. Yet, according to Genesis 35:19 Rachel was buried in Bethlehem, which is in the territory of Judah. However, 1 Samuel 10:2 places Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin, which is the home of King Saul, the first king of Israel. Now a simple reading of the text points out this glaring inconsistency but, unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of conservative Christians the world over refuse to read it and refuse to accept it.

Bob, Calumet City

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The Republican Party is fond of using alternative facts. Now it looks like they're going to have to use alternative laws on immigration because they can't pick everybody up and throw them out of the country if they're undocumented. They have their right by our law and our U.S. Constitution to court hearings, which can take up to five years by the time they finish with one, so President Donald Trump is just another incompetent and dishonest politician.

Bob, Calumet City

Why doesn't House Speaker Michael Madigan, who's been in Springfield over 30 years, take no salary? How much money does this clown need? What has he done for the people of Illinois? Nothing. Whenever he retires we'll owe him for his pension. He's a disgrace, and people keep voting this guy in. He should take a job with no salary and no benefits.

RC,Oak Lawn

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Its been a busy few weeks for computer science education.

Earlier this month, tech company CEOs joined Ivanka Trump in Detroit to announce $300 million in private-sector pledges of funding for computer science education meant to close the gap in STEM skills and prepare students for a changing economy. The Internet Association announced the commitment the day after President Trump presented a memorandum calling on the Department of Education to prioritize funding for STEM and computer science education .

The memo instructs U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to direct competitive grant money to STEM focused programs, with the goal of $200 million a year for five years.

A number of prominent companies in tech and other industries said they will make contributions over the next five years, though some offered few specifics on on the nature of those gifts:



Amazon : $50 million, no further details.

: $50 million, no further details. Facebook : $50 million, no further details.

: $50 million, no further details. Google : $50 million, part of which will be given to organizations through Google.org grants, according to a spokesperson. Typically these grants go to local and national non-profits.

: $50 million, part of which will be given to organizations through Google.org grants, according to a spokesperson. Typically these grants go to local and national non-profits. Microsoft : $50 million, including to the companys YouthSpark partners, TEALS, and Code.org .

: $50 million, including to the companys YouthSpark partners, TEALS, and Code.org . Salesforce : $50 million, in partnerships with schools and organizations and one million volunteer hours; Salesforce.org, the companys philanthropic arm, will offer every eligible public K-12 school in the nation ten free Salesforce software subscriptions and an additional $1 million to Code.org.

: $50 million, in partnerships with schools and organizations and one million volunteer hours; Salesforce.org, the companys philanthropic arm, will offer every eligible public K-12 school in the nation ten free Salesforce software subscriptions and an additional $1 million to Code.org. Lockheed Martin : $25 million, to Code Quest, Girls Who Code, and Project Lead the Way, according to a spokesperson.

: $25 million, to Code Quest, Girls Who Code, and Project Lead the Way, according to a spokesperson. Accenture : more than $10 million, no further details.

: more than $10 million, no further details. General Motors : $10 million, including to Code.Org, Girls Who Code, Digital Promise, FIRST Robotics, and the Society of Automotive Engineers, said a spokesperson.

: $10 million, including to Code.Org, Girls Who Code, Digital Promise, FIRST Robotics, and the Society of Automotive Engineers, said a spokesperson. Pluralsight : $10 million through Pluralsight One , a social-impact initiative in development.

: $10 million through Pluralsight One , a social-impact initiative in development. Quicken Loans : financial resources for computer science education for 15,000 Detroit Public Schools students.

: financial resources for computer science education for 15,000 Detroit Public Schools students. Additional private individuals and foundations, unnamed: $3 million to nonprofits focused on computer science education.

Inuit and the Internet Association are also providing unspecified contributions.

Code.org president Alice Steinglass said she hopes that the private-sector funding will be prioritized toward increasing diversity and achievement for underrepresented minorities and training computer science teachers, two areas she identified as important challenges in the field.

If you look at the students who are taking the AP computer science exam in high school today, women and black and Latinx students are highly underrepresented, she said, in an interview. We would love to see the opportunity being made available for those students.

These companies make strong partners in preparing students for future careers, whether students end up in tech fields or not, said Deborah Seehorn, interim executive director of the Computer Science Teachers Association, in an interview.

Its not just the Googles, and the Facebooks, and the IBMs, and the Microsofts, she said. Every company will benefit from a computer-science-trained individual.

But since the original announcement, details about the $300 million corporate commitment have been scarce.

Everybodys interested in when we can get this money, and that guidance has not been distributed yet, said Seehorn.

At this point, only three of the participating companies have made publicly available statements detailing how their gifts will be allocated.

Doug Levin, the founder and CEO of consulting firm EdTech Strategies, said that the lack of information raises concerns about effective implementation.

Levin was executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association during the rollout of ConnectED, the Obama administrations initiative to bring high-speed broadband internet and educational technology to schools. ConnectED also featured significant corporate partnerships from companies that included Apple, Microsoft, Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon.

In contrast to private-sector ConnectED partnershipssome of which were made by the same companies now pledging commitmentsmost of these funding promises were not accompanied by information about what the money will be used for and how students will be able to access it, said Levin.

There was plenty of time for each of these companies to have laid out in some detail what it is that they are proposing, he said, in an interview.

Nonprofits Will Guide Funding

Keith Krueger, the CEO of the Consortium for School Networking, said its encouraging that many of the companies pledging the $300 million have historically made computer science and technology education a priority. But when it comes to how to access the funding, he said, Im not sure exactly sure whos driving the bus and how to get on the bus.

One of the things that we felt was done right under ConnectED was that there was an ongoing conversation and dialogue, certainly with the White House, but also with the education community, about progress that was being made, and what was being committed, and what was accomplished, said Krueger. He hopes that a similar dialogue will come with this new set of corporate funding commitments.

Code.org has instructed nonprofits interested in the private funding to independently reach out to companies individual philanthropic departments . Because the funding commitments arent a collective grant, said Steinglass, the companies will all be making individual decisions about how and when to allocate funds. The groups CEO, Hadi Partovi, participated in the announcement in Detroit.

Of the companies who have released details about where the money will go, most have identified nonprofits and other organizations. Code.org has stated that the corporate contributions will be new commitments of money and wont include software licenses.

Funding nonprofits can be a powerful solution, especially when it comes to teacher professional development, said Seehorn. While some states have growing computer science pathways, teachers in other areas may rely on out-of-school training.

I dont think one silver bullet is going to do it all, she said.

Krueger echoed that assessment. Clearly, school systems need to bake [computer science] into their curriculum and they need support for that. But the swell of momentum behind coding has fostered the development of strong out-of-school time computer science programs that also teach these skills, he added.

But Levin maintains that there is a difference between money awarded to nonprofits and money granted directly to schools. Its not a given that nonprofit programming will be free for schools or students, he said, and it may be harder for rural schools to benefit from the money, as many out-of-school time computer science programs are not based in rural areas.

Ivanka Trump, who appeared with the companies in Detroit, has made coding and computer science one of her public priorities in her role in the White House. Last week, she penned an op-ed for the New York Post advocating teaching technology skills in K-12 schools and closing the gender gap in tech industries.

Trumps involvement has drawn scorn from some who feel her efforts in this area are outweighed by broader critiques of the administration.

Reshma Saujani, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, has said she declined Trumps invitation in January to participate in her computer science initiative. In an op-ed in the New York Times , she wrote that she did not want to align her organization with the administration in the wake of President Trumps travel ban affecting majority-Muslim countries, especially considering many immigrant studentsincluding Syrian refugees participate in Girls Who Code programs.

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Regarding a Daily Southtown article about the Grand Old Party aiming to put their power to use: With Donald Trump as president, Republicans face enormous pressure to score wins after six years of blocking most proposals by former President Barack Obama. Yet, some people state that Obama didn't fulfill his promises. How could he when his hands were tied? Also, U.S. House Republicans initially voted to remove the Office of Congressional Ethics, the independent body to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawmakers, after several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison. What's taking place in the Republican U.S. Congress is wheeling and dealing. They're doing everything to make Trump look good. Congratulations, America. Good luck. We need it.

BJ, Hazel Crest

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Unlike the airlines, Amtrak doesn't overbook trips and then select already-seated people to kick them off, making them surrender their seats to company employees. Amtrak passengers have leg room and views out the window and can get up and walk to the dining car or snack car on the train. They don't annoy residents living near terminals with the roaring noise of their engines.

Reading a Tuesday Speak Out writer who says he's a Democrat but hates the soda tax and he or she won't vote for Toni Preckwinkle in the next election. Thank you Democrats. All they do is raise, raise, raise our taxes. Time to vote every Democrat out.

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Judy feels, "we do need an experienced person in politics." She evidently feels (President Donald) Trump lacks that. I'd point out, though, that it seems "politicians" think party first, then themselves (re-election), then maybe us and our country. President Trump is just the opposite. In spite of all the pluses he's achieved in just 8 months, all of Congress (some Republicans too) are against his succeeding. Face it, they just don't want the voters to realize that "experience" isn't a necessary prerequisite for the presidency. That should apply to any elected office. "Establishment politicians" only want their "gravy-train" to keep rolling.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Bob, Oak Forest

Now that locks of hair from John Paul II are on display in Chicago, I'm absolutely certain all will be right in the world from this day forward.

Wes, Orland Park

Ninety-eight percent of murders by guns are committed by males. If that percentage held true for any other group, be it religious, ethnic, economic or whatever, we would be demanding that that group be denied gun ownership. Too many males are obviously not able to handle the responsibility of gun ownership. If males want to hunt or shoot for sport, they should go to a gun range or gun club to do so. Or, perhaps, they should have to ask permission to use guns owned by their wives and mothers.

Orland Park

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YWCA Elgin CEO Julia McClendon said that 18 people who have taken workshops on running for local office similar to the one the YWCA is offering Saturday have gone on to be winning candidates. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News )

People considering a run for local office will be gathering Saturday to get pointers on what to do and how to win.

YWCA Elgin CEO Julia McClendon said this is the fifth time the YWCA had held the workshop, which is geared toward getting women involved in local politics.

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"With a lot of turmoil in government over the past year, five people requested us to do a workshop this time with an emphasis on making the decision to run for office," McClendon said.

McClendon said 45 people took the past workshops. Of those, 18 wound up running for office and winning their races. Another five ran and lost, she said.

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"Not all participants were running for office. Some were finding out more information about local opportunities, were students, or were working for a potential candidate,' she said.

McClendon said those participating this Saturday include Oswego village President Gail Johnson and Oswego village board member Pam Parr who will be talking about making the decision to become a candidate. City of Elgin Clerk Kim Dewis and former Bartlett village Clerk Linda Gallien will be reviewing the requirements to run for office and nominating petitions, McClendon said.

Judy Dunne, who managed her husband Rich Dunne's successful campaign for Elgin City Council, Elgin City Council member Tish Powell and U46 School Board member Melissa Owens will discuss how to organize a campaign.

Johnson will discuss crafting a message. Gail Borden Public Library Board member and founder of communications firm ColorWord Creative Amanda Garcia will team with Elgin Senior Management Analyst Laura Valdez-Wilson to discuss getting out a message, McClendon said.

Owens attended the workshop in 2016 before deciding to run for the school board and said it helped her put together her successful campaign.

"Much of the information was geared toward smaller, local races such as governing boards and trustee positions, city or village mayors. While plenty of information is available online regarding the technical process to become a candidate, first-time candidates might not have much experience in canvassing, website and media creation, and/or fundraising," Owens said. "I really appreciated the discussion on canvassing, as that was something with which I had virtually no experience, and was the most intimidating part of deciding to run for office."

Owens noted that the variety of speakers sharing their experiences was a plus, too.

"Since no one campaign or election is the same  particularly since some local campaigns are partisan and some are not  there was helpful information for a wide variety of situations," she said.

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Owens said each attendee received a binder full of information to take home, including guidelines and regulations from the Board of Elections, campaign and media strategies, self-assessments, campaign checklists and links to find additional information.

"I referred back to information in that binder often during my campaign," Owens said. "The entire day was a great networking tool, given that the presenters were all leaders in the community."

The event is open to all, though the title of Saturday's workshop is "How to Run for Office: A Woman's Focus."

"At these workshops, women as well as men attend, and we are encouraging women to run for office," McClendon said. "One reason there are gender differences in the initial decision to seek local or state office, according to Center for American Women and Politics Department of Political Science Rutgers University, is women are not encouraged to run."

Last year, at the suggestion of a friend, Corey Dixon attended the workshop in advance of his successful run for Elgin City Council. Dixon said he was the only male at the class, and that he was made to feel welcome.

"There's some good information, and it's transferable, no matter who you are," Dixon said. "The workshop also gave me the opportunity to rub shoulders with others seeking office. And for those who are deciding, it's a good way to figure out if you want to run or not."

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Typically between eight and 12 people have attended the session, which is capped at 15 participants, McClendon said, and openings remain for this Saturday.

The workshop runs Saturday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m, and the cost to attend is $30, which includes a box lunch. Reservations must be made by the end of business day Friday. To register, please visit ywcaelgin.org/Run17 or call the YWCA Elgin, 220 E. Chicago St., at 847-742-7930.

mdanahey@tribpub.com
A semi truck driver was injured when her cab caught fire while heading westbound on Interstate 90 in Hampshire, authorities said.

Illinois State Police District 15 was dispatched at 8:28 p.m. Tuesday to I-90 east of Getty Road.

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A portion of the lanes were closed for several hours.

A firefighter from the Hampshire Fire Protection District said the driver was transported by ambulance to Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin with non life-threatening injuries. No one else was hurt. Fire officials said some kind of a malfunction in the cab ignited a fire. Firefighters were able to put out the blaze before it spread to the trailer.

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The semi-trailer, which was a leased vehicle, was empty, according to State Police. The lanes reopened to traffic about 11:30 p.m.
Kane County has passed a budget that wipes out a projected deficit of nearly $6 million for fiscal year 2018, but also eliminates the county's electronic home monitoring program.

Because the budget calls for the implementation of a 3.6 percent reduction across all departments, court services officials said to comply means having to discontinue the units, which offer 24/7 surveillance of defendants while they await trial.

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Rather than see that happen, Kane County Board member Theresa Barreiro proposed a last-minute amendment prior to Tuesday's vote. To close the budget gap she suggested the county instead take money from both the property tax freeze protection fund and the emergency reserve fund.

"Public safety is the issue here. Programs and services that are already paid for by our tax dollars should not be cut," she said. "Especially if there are funds available, set aside specifically for this scenario."

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Board member Angela Thomas supported the proposed amendment.

"I am not comfortable with the budget as it stands," she said. "The impact to the public safety departments is too great. The savings should not be at the expense of public safety. For those reasons I hope we can take one last shot to come to a compromise which includes smaller cuts and more funds drawn from reserves."

In a letter to the board last month, Chief Judge Susan Clancy Boles, head of the county's Court Services, said the elimination of the electronic home monitoring and GPS programs "will undoubtedly increase the jail population and accordingly, the Sheriff's and Juvenile Justice Center's budgets in this regard."

"Eliminating these programs is not what is best for the integrity of the system or the citizens of Kane County," she said.

John Hoscheit, chairman of the county's finance committee, said board members have been discussing the county's financial situation for the past several months. He called the budget "fair, conservative and prudent."

"It's not an easy budget to pass and it's going to require us to make difficult decisions," he said. "I would encourage (board members) to vote no for the amendment."

Board member T.R. Smith called dipping into the county's reserve funds "a slippery slope."

"Once we start to do this where does it end? What concerns me is we are heading down the same path as the state of Illinois and I don't want Kane County to become the state of Illinois," he said.

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"Instead of dipping into our reserves, let's live within our budget and make adjustments as necessary," added Board member Deborah Allen.

Barreiro's vote to amend the budget failed.

A vote to adopt the budget then passed.

Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
The Cook County Board of Commissioners repealed a one-cent-per-ounce tax on soda pop and other sweetened beverages Wednesday. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune )

Elgin-area business owners near the Kane County border celebrated the repeal Wednesday of Cook County's short-lived tax on sweetened beverages.

"I am very pleased the commissioners  most of the commissioners  listened to their constituents over this arduous ordinance," said David Bear, of the Bear Family McDonald's franchise, which includes locations in Elgin, South Elgin and other places inside and outside Cook County.

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Some business operators on the Kane County side of the border, however, benefited from the tax and say they hope to keep some of the new customers they have acquired since the tax kicked in two months ago.

The one-cent-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages went into effect on Aug. 2, a month later than planned after the Illinois Retail Merchants Association filed a lawsuit. The tax will end Dec. 1.

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Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle had said it was needed to keep the budget balanced; she said the board will now have to look at where to find $200 million or trim that amount from the county budget.

From the beginning, consumers, store owners and retailers sounded off on the tax, which many found confusing and overburdening.

Bear, who is owner/operator of McDonald's restaurants in 14 cities and villages in the suburbs, said he had to handle consumer uproar this summer, as people couldn't understand why they were being charged extra. In many of those cases, Bear said he understood why they were angry.

He noted that, while a Frappuccino at a Starbucks was not charged the beverage tax, people purchasing McDonald's Frappes pay the surcharge.

Sales dropped after the tax was imposed, Bear said, calling it "aggressive, regressive."

Along with sales, the tax created a burden because cash registers had to be programmed to add the cost. And now they will have to be reprogrammed.

"I will be happy to unwind it, that would be a delight for me," Bear said.

Steve Gordon, owner of Dairy Queen stores in Elgin and South Elgin, said he is also glad county commissioners had changed their minds.

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"We had to keep explaining, 'Well, we have the regular tax and the (Cook County) tax,'" he said.

Customers at the Elgin location  right on the county border  noticed immediately when the prices went up, he said. What a "happy hour" drink would normally cost jumped 20 cents overnight, Gordon said.

While his sales didn't change significantly as a result of the county tax, Gordon said he thinks the most significant impact was on retailers or grocery stores.

"My theory is if someone wants one drink in the area, they're going to pick it up regardless," he said. "Now, if they're going to pick up a 12- or 24-pack, they may go elsewhere."

Elgin-Area Chamber President/CEO Carol Gieske issued a statement Wednesday, saying "today's repeal of the Cook County soda tax is positive for our Elgin businesses operating on the east side as they are once again on a level playing field with the businesses in the Kane County portion of Elgin."

Gieske said she brought up the topic with Cook County Commissioner Tim Schneider, of Bartlett, in prior discussions about the unique difficulties businesses in split towns and cities like Elgin had undergone the past few months.

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But not everyone in Elgin suffered because of the one-cent-per-ounce tax. Businesses west of the Cook/Kane line saw sales improve. At the Villa Street Mobil gas station, just blocks from Cook County, beverage sales went up 5 to 8 percent, said assistant manager Ali Amin. Overall sales for the gas station went up 2 percent. Odds are nearby retailers, gas stations and others west of the county line also saw the boon, he said.

It is too early to say what will happen to sales at the station in a couple of months, said Amin. He hopes customers who made the new habit of stopping at Mobil will continue to do so, even if drinks will now cost the same a few blocks east.

Furthermore, just because one county-specific tax is on its last legs doesn't mean there aren't others  Cook still has a cigarette tax that Kane does not.

"We're always the beneficiary from this side," Amin said.

raguerrero@tribpub.com
The widow of a construction worker who was struck and killed by a truck while working in Elmhurst has agreed to a nearly $6 million payment from the companies involved in the death, attorneys said.

Lawyers for the worker's widow alleged that construction companies on site failed to put required traffic barriers or drums in place to protect workers.

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Daniel Green, 38, of Fontana, Wis., was an employee of Hecker and Co. when he was struck and killed by a semitractor-trailer at the corner of York Road and Lake Street on Sept. 12, 2011.

Green was doing electrical work about 4 feet from the intersection when a truck tried to make a sharp right turn from York onto Lake. Green had his back to the intersection when he was struck, attorney Tim Cavanagh said.

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"This was a foreseeable and preventable accident," Cavanagh, who represented Green's widow, said in a phone interview. "They put Dan Green out there with no protection whatsoever."

Attorneys filed a wrongful death suit in 2011 against the trucking company, Adans Trucking Inc., of Chicago, and its driver, Martin Montelongo, as well as against the general contractor for the construction site, Martam Construction Inc., of Elgin and other subcontractors and employees.

An employee on site admitted that most of the trucks turning at that corner drove over the curb, and photos of the area showed old tire tracks there, yet the defendants let Green work close to the road with no traffic protection, Cavanagh said.

Green was conscious for a few minutes after being hit but died of massive traumatic injuries at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, attorneys said. He is survived by his wife, Mary Kriete-Green.

The defendants did not immediately respond or could not be reached for comment.

Green's employer, Hecker and Co., an electrical contractor of Wheeling, contributed $400,000 as part of the settlement, attorneys said.

rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @RobertMcCoppin






Evanston police said they recovered a loaded handgun from a backpack a parolee was carrying, after the man ditched the backpack and his shoes when police pursued him.

As of Thursday morning, Devane Retreage, 33, of the 700 block of Wesely in Evanston, is being held on $150,000 bond in Cook County Jail, on multiple gun charges, according to the Cook County Sheriff's office.

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Retreage is charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a firearm/ammunition without a valid Firearm Owner's Identification card  all felonies  and misdemeanor possession of a firearm/ammunition without a valid Firearm Owner's Identification card.

Police officers responded Monday Oct. 9 to a call from a residence in the 1700 block of Hovland Court where the caller reported seeing a man with dread locks in a red hooded sweatshirt in possession of a handgun, Evanston police said in a news release Wednesday.

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When they arrived on the scene, according to the release, police were not able to find the man. But officers stayed in the area and eventually saw a man who matched the description the caller provided and he also had a backpack, the release states.

The man, now identified as Retreage, ran from police, according to the release. But he was caught in the 1800 block of Lemar Avenue, and didn't have the backpack and was not wearing shoes.

Police said they found his shoes and the backpack in a yard that Retreage ran through when he was running from officers, the release states.

The officers said they recovered a loaded Springfield Arms .45 caliber handgun from the backpack, as well as a second magazine for the handgun that contained .45 caliber ammunition, according to the release.

The release states that the Illinois Department of Corrections also issued a parole violation warrant for Retreage's arrest since he was on parole when the alleged incident occurred.

Retreage is scheduled to appear in court again Oct. 18 in Skokie.
A $9 million deal to settle a lawsuit filed by Jason Strong, who spent 15 years in prison for a murder for which he was later found innocent, has cleared the last of the 10 Lake County governments involved in the investigation.

The Libertyville Village Board was informed behind closed doors Tuesday evening during its meeting that the settlement had been agreed to by its insurance cooperative and it would not need to vote on the agreement, Village Administrator Chris Clark said.

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That marked the final action that needed to be taken by the nine towns and Lake County that either, like Libertyville, had the matter handled nearly exclusively by insurance, or had their governing boards sign off on the agreement.

All that remains now is paperwork, which should be finalized in the next few days, according to Locke Bowman, the executive director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, which handled Strong's lawsuit.

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The lawsuit filed by Strong in May 2016 centered on his conviction in the 1999 murder of a woman whose body was discovered in a Waukegan-area forest preserve in December 1999.

Jason Strong is released from Menard Correctional Center on May 28, 2015, after spending 15 years behind bars. (Terrence Antonio James, Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

The case was investigated by the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, an inter-agency organization

Investigators began to focus on Strong, then 24, after an undercover officer posing as a prostitute had a conversation with a man named Jeremy Tweedy, who claimed to know that the murdered woman had been picked up by a man in a car near the motel and that five other people had joined the man in severely beating the woman, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit claimed that the accounts Tweedy ultimately gave to police were fabricated and that officers had "guided and threatened Tweedy," giving him information to "parrot back."

Officers then backed up Tweedy's account with coerced confessions from Strong and his alleged accomplice and additional false information from purported witnesses, according to the complaint.

The account didn't match up with later reviews of the autopsy report and after the woman was identified as Mary Kate Sunderlin, a mentally disabled woman from Kane County.

A Lake County court ultimately granted Strong a certificate of innocence, and less than a month later, in May 2016, he filed the wrongful conviction lawsuit.

The settlement agreement maintains that the 10 entities involved deny any wrongdoing and that the settlement is not an admission of guilt, according to a copy of the agreement.

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"(T)his settlement is made to avoid the uncertainty of the outcome of litigation, the expense in time and money of further litigation and for the purpose of judicial economy," according to the agreement.

The denials are a standard part of settlements, not just in these types of cases but more generally, Bowman said.

"I think that the reality is that the sum of money that Mr. Strong is receiving from the defendants in this settlement reflects the reality that, first of all, Jason was innocent of the crime for which he went to prison and, second, things happened in the original investigation of this then-unidentified woman's death that should not have transpired," he said.

Nine of the 10 entities  which include Lake County, North Chicago, Park City, Round Lake Beach, Buffalo Grove, Lincolnshire, Libertyville, Barrington Hills and Vernon Hills  will be responsible for equal shares of $3 million, or $333,333 each, according to the settlement agreement.

The village of Vernon Hills, for example, will end up paying $48,000 of its share with the rest covered by a former insurance carrier, according to board documents.

The city of Waukegan, which was a primary target of the lawsuit, carries the largest share of the settlement, though all but $100,000 of the $6 million will be covered by insurance, City Attorney Robert Long has said.

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The settlement also clears the individual officers named in the lawsuit from any further liability or obligation to pay, according to the settlement agreement.

The lawsuit claimed that the behaviors that led to Strong's false conviction were "widespread within the Waukegan police department," which "far from disciplining or firing these officers, the City of Waukegan rewarded and promoted them, such that the officers have flourished within the department and within the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force despite their troubled records."

The complaint points to seven other cases where convictions had been overturned after DNA evidence excluded the defendants, and in several instances, confessions were alleged to have been coerced.

Besides Strong's case, the city faces another pending lawsuit related to a false conviction, filed by Angel Gonzalez, who had been arrested by Waukegan police and convicted of abducting and raping a woman in the mid-1990s.

That case could end up costing the city more than Strong's case, as the city's insurance companies from the time have agreed to front $900,000, the maximum covered under the policies.

It's not enough, though, for municipalities to just pay out money when these lawsuits happen, Bowman said.

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"Not just in Lake County, but around the state and around the country, what I've seen personally is that there is a disappointing failure of police department prosecutorial offices to engage in a process of self-reflective and introspective in the wake of one of these cases," he said.

Long said cities like Waukegan reconcile with their history in two ways  through the settlement process, but also through how its police department moves forward. He pointed to Waukegan's voluntary request to the U.S. Department of Justice to mediate a review of its practices in 2016.

Strong, who lives with his mother in Tennessee, is moving forward as well, Bowman said.

He's met a lot of people who have been through similar experiences and is interested in becoming a documentarian, he said.

"Jason is remarkably strong, remarkably resilient and very determined to the extent  though he'll never be fully able to but to the extent he can  he is resolute about putting this behind him and moving on," Bowman said.

emcoleman@tribpub.com

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Members of the Gonzalez family of Round Lake Beach allege an ICE agent threatened to deport parents Rosa and Guadalupe Gonzalez if their son Luis didn't talk. ICE denies the allegations. (Jim Newton/News-Sun )

Guadalupe and Rosa Gonzalez left their home and family in Round Lake Beach and took sanctuary in a Waukegan chapel after authorities allegedly threatened them with deportation if their 20-year-old son did not act as an informant in the investigation of a shooting in the village.

The couple and their family attended a news conference in Waukegan on Wednesday, organized by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) of Lake County, to call for an investigation into their allegations.

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"The Police Department's attempt to use the immigration status of a United States citizen's family against them in order to obtain information for a criminal investigation is deplorable and frightening," Brooke Lautz, a Chicago-based immigration attorney representing the couple, said.

"Not only will such efforts cause a chilling effect on reporting crime by the immigrant community, but (it) will erode the trust between U.S. citizens and law enforcement," Lautz added.

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According to LULAC representatives and family members, on Oct. 4, a U.S. Immigration Custom Enforcement (ICE) agent at the Round Lake Beach Police Department threatened to have the Gonzalez parents deported if their son did not cooperate with investigators. The group said Round Lake Beach police officers and Lake County sheriff's deputies were present as well.

Rosa and Guadalupe Gonzalez of Round Lake Beach are in sanctuary in a downtown Waukegan chapel. (Jim Newton/Lake County News-Sun )

Sheriff Mark Curran said Wednesday he will investigate the claim.

"If someone was threatened, that's unacceptable and we will investigate the allegation," he said.

Shawn Neudauer, a public affairs officer for ICE, denied the family's allegations, saying in a statement that the agency "assisted with an ongoing local law enforcement investigation. No administrative immigration arrests were made at the time in connection with this investigation."

Julie Contreras, a member of the LULAC Immigration Affairs Committee, said Curran had also told her he was looking into the issue and would be willing to meet with her.

The incident allegedly occurred when the couple's son, Luis, 20, went to the Round Lake Beach Police Department on Oct. 4 with his father to address a traffic violation against Luis.

Luis Gonzalez said after the traffic issue was discussed and citations were issued, he was led to an interview room where he was questioned by investigators about an Aug. 24 shooting in Round Lake Beach that left a 17-year-old seriously injured.

Luis Gonzalez is not a suspect in the shooting, but said Wednesday that he knows some of those whom the police believe were involved, and was asked to give them information about the incident.

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He said he told officers he was not present at the shooting and had no details to provide.

While Luis Gonzalez was in the interview room, his father was in the station waiting area when a man who identified himself as an ICE agent began questioning him about his legal status, Guadalupe Gonzalez said.

"The ICE agent said I had eight days to get my son to give information regarding the shooting incident. If not, he would deport my wife Rosa Gonzalez and I," he said.

Lupito Gonzalaz, 5, daughter of Guadalupe and Rosa Gonzalez of Round Lake Beach, holds a message she wrote asking God for justice for her family. (Jim Newton/Lake County News-Sun )

Attempts to reach Round Lake Beach police officials for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

But in an email to Contreras in response to her call for a meeting or investigation, Round Lake Beach police Chief Gilbert Rivera wrote: "On 10/04/17, Luis Gonzalez arrived at the Round Lake Beach Police Department to receive citations in reference to a hit-and-run accident from the night before. After the Round Lake Beach Police Officer issued the citations, Lake County Sheriff's investigators met with Luis Gonzalez and requested the use of a department interview room.

"The use was granted. The Round Lake Beach Police Department was not involved in the interview of Luis Gonzalez by the Lake County Sheriff's Department or ICE," Rivera wrote. He added that he would be willing to participate in a meeting regarding the situation.

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At Wednesday's news conference, Gonzalez family members said village police had "intimidated" the family by frequently driving and parking near their house while taking pictures of the home.

Although Luis Gonzalez was not charged with anything beyond traffic violations with regard to the hit-and-run of a mailbox, the family has retained attorney Jed Stone to serve as a civil rights attorney for Gonzalez.

"If this is how law enforcement says 'trust us,' then none of us should trust them," Stone said, referring to the recently adopted Trust Act in Illinois designed to curb the arrest or deportation of undocumented residents solely based on their immigration status, rather than other criminal charges.

Both Stone and Lautz said the Trust Act does not directly address the issues in this case, but that it appears the methods used were not proper and were counter to the intent of the act.

"You don't squeeze a kid for information by threatening to deport his parents," Stone said. "That's wrong."

Contreras said Luis Gonzalez has a "past history" with law enforcement, but has "reformed." In Lake County, prior cases against Luis Gonzalez consist of traffic cases and ordinance violations, including one for possession of cannabis, but no felony charges or convictions, according to circuit court records and the Lake County state's attorney's office.

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Guadalupe and Rosa Gonzalez are currently in sanctuary inside Our Lady of Suyapa Sanctuary, a satellite of Lincoln United Methodist Church of Chicago, which is located in the LULAC building on Genesee Street.

"We respect the fact that ICE, the Lake County Sheriff Department and the Round Lake Beach Police Department's jobs are to protect all Americans," Contreras said. "We respect the laws under (the Department of Homeland Security) and know they were created to protect our great nation, but we do not believe our laws were created to destroy American families."

jrnewton@tribpub.com

Twitter @jimnewton5
Georgia advocates have taken up the legal fight against a state-run network of schools that have been faulted for isolating students with emotional and behavioral disabilities.

The Georgia Advocacy Organization and several partners filed a complaint Wednesday against the Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support, or GNETS. It argues that the students in the program are isolated from their peers in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that they are provided an inferior education.

The complaint states that families often consent to the restrictive placement because, theyre told, its the only place their children can get the services they need.

Yet, after doing so, they are sadly disappointed. Their child fails to receive services to help address their behavioral needs, and in many cases, the childs symptoms or behaviors worsen due to the harsh and punitive environment that prevails in GNETS, the complaint states.

Created in 1972, GNETS is the only program of its kind in the country. It is intended to provide educational and therapeutic support to school-aged children who otherwise might be placed in residential schools because of the severity of their behavior. But in recent years, GNETS has been the focus of critical investigations by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, including for the use of restraint and seclusion. In a 2010 audit, the state auditors office said the program could not demonstrate effectiveness .

In 2015, the Justice Department released an extensive letter of findings  cataloguing violations in the program, and after negotiations went nowhere, filed a lawsuit against the state.

But that suit has stalled indefinitely over an issue that has nothing to do with the program itself. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which includes Georgia, will decide whether the Justice Department has the legal authority, or standing, to file these kinds of lawsuits.

If the Justice Department is found not to have standing, the case crumbles. If the federal lawsuit were allowed to proceed, it could end up being settled under terms that local groups might not like, said Leslie Lipson, an attorney with the Georgia Advocacy Office.

We, as nonparties, could never control how they would settle, Lipson said. As local stakeholders, its the idea of being the captain of your ship and enforcing the civil rights of the students in your state, and not leaving it up to a federal agency. And as private parties, theres no question that the local advocates have the standing to bring the case, Lipson said.

A spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Education said Wednesday that the agency had no comment at this time.

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The Lake Bluff Police Department and friends. From left, Mike Hosking, deputy chief, Jim Reynolds, Lisa Malkov, Jason Mount, Police Chief Dave Belmonte, Kendrick Deezy of Vernons Hills, Ryan Kass and Ed Kilcullen at the Lake Bluff March 7, 2015 Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)

When Mike Hosking started as deputy police chief in Lake Bluff in 2014, he had 10 years more experience in law enforcement than the newly appointed chief, David Belmonte.

Hosking, who is retiring at the end of October, had a more than 30-year career with the Lake Forest Police before joining the Lake Bluff Police, where he oversaw patrol and investigations. But Hosking said he wasn't interested in the top spot.

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"I did not want to be chief," Hosking said. "I left administrative and budgeting stuff to the chief. It gave me the opportunity to work at the operations level. I can give (Belmonte) advice and counsel on things he could do, but he decides. He's the chief and there's no doubt about that."

Belmonte said Hosking's experience was particularly valuable in mentoring what was then a youthful staff, as well as being a resource for him.

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"While I'd been a deputy chief for years, I hadn't served in the role of police chief," Belmonte said. "I'm really going to miss having him in the office next door."

Hosking said he was in the U.S. Army when he decided on a law enforcement career.

"I found myself in Vietnam with a lot of time to think about things," Hosking said. "I did not want to make the Army my career, and I thought law enforcement would be a good direction."

He was hired by the Lake Forest Police in May 1975, starting as a patrol officer and working his way up the ranks to investigator, sergeant, commander and, in 1989, to deputy chief, he said.

"When I started in Lake Forest, a lot of it was vacant, particularly along Route 41," Hosking said. "Route 60, now it kind of looks like Schaumburg. Lake Bluff is no longer a tiny bedroom community, with Target and the shopping districts."

In 1999, he was appointed police chief in Lake Forest.

Among the more unusual cases he oversaw was that of a murdered cab driver from Chicago whose body had been discovered in a field on Ridge Road.

"It remained unsolved for about seven years," Hosking said. "Then I got a call from a detective in Lake County who told me a there was a detective in Michigan who had an inmate in Marquette (prison) who had told about a buried body. We went and talked to him and were able to clear up the case. I wrote a book about it, but it didn't get published."

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In 2004, Hosking became director of public safety for the city of Lake Forest, a position that no longer exists. As director, he oversaw both the police and fire departments. He next became interim fire chief while the city conducted a national search for a permanent fire chief, he said.

In May 2007, Hosking left full-time work at the city of Lake Forest although he continued to consult there. He also said he worked for a private company doing recruitment of police and fire chiefs.

In March 2014, Hosking returned to policing, this time as deputy chief of the Lake Bluff Police Department.

"I missed it," Hosking said. "This was close to my home. I was very familiar with Lake Bluff and knew a lot of the people here, particularly through the Rotary Club, which I was involved in. It seemed like a natural fit."

Hosking married in 1974 and has two children and four grandchildren. In retirement, he said he plans to spend time with his grandchildren. He also likes fishing and hunting - particularly in Arkansas - riding a motorcycle and buying things at auctions and selling them on eBay.

Still, he doesn't rule out working again.

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"You never know where I might end up next," he said.

mlawton@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @reporterdude
Jeff Kaminsky's relationships with his Houston-based clients go way beyond business. Kaminsky, who is the national sales manager for Chicago-based Accurate Perforating & Metal Fabricating, said that in the nine years he has been calling on his business associates who work for Houston's Nailor Industries, an HVAC manufacturing company, many have become his dear friends.

So when Kaminsky heard Hurricane Harvey displaced more than 30 families from Nailor, he said he felt awful.

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"I was texting some of them throughout the weekend, asking if they were OK and how their families were, and they started sending me pictures of the devastation," said Kaminsky, a Northbrook father of three. "These are people who have come here to visit me and brought their kids. I felt completely helpless."

The helpless feeling triggered Kaminsky to make some phone calls to find out how he could help.

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"I was ready to get in my car and go there, but found out they really weren't looking for that kind of help," said Kaminsky, who also is a volunteer for the Northbrook Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), an organization that trains community members in basic disaster response skills. "I was thinking, 'Maybe I'll do a fundraiser,' but then I had another idea."

One of Kaminsky's contacts at Nailor had told him the families were in need of bedding, furniture and appliances, that people who were relocated were sleeping on the floor, and that the local stores were depleted of inventory.

So, Kaminsky began networking. He reached out to executives he knows at Darvin Furniture, Abt and J&M Transportation, hoping they would donate furniture, appliances and resources to help his friends.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, according to Kaminsky. Darvin Furniture co-owner Marty Darvin immediately offered to help, donating an entire truckload of furnishings. The Abt family donated another transport filled with appliances from their store. And J&M Transportation, in conjunction with Accurate Perforating, offered to transport everything at no cost. Accurate Perforating and Nailor also each donated money to purchase additional furniture and appliances that went beyond what was donated.

"I can't imagine the emotional toll, let alone the financial toll the loss took on these people," Kaminsky said. "If the furniture and appliances simply lift spirits and provide a little comfort, it's all worth the efforts. If we can get people off the floor and help restore a sense of dignity, that alone can make a difference."

The trucks were scheduled to head for Houston on Wednesday.

"I no longer feel helpless. I feel energized that I've done something productive instead of sitting around watching the news and saying, 'Oh, what a shame,'" said Kaminsky. "I tell my kids, 'When you see something in the world, even though it's far away, you have to ask yourself if there is anything you can do. Figure out your strengths and use them.' In this case, it was my network and the relationships I have."

Kaminsky's story was beyond inspiring because it made me realize that despite this horrendous disaster, what these businesses did is just one of countless selfless acts that the city of Houston has probably seen from people all over the world. And, I truly believe the acts won't stop until the city is back on its feet.

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I believe that on the lining of every tragedy sits a display of love that could be larger than the tragedy itself. The things people do in the wake of others' needs are truly remarkable. When I hear stories of compassion and philanthropy (like Kaminsky's), it is overwhelmingly emotional because it verifies that both faith and hope are ever present in our world. In the face of devastation, people bond together, they protect one another, and they shine the light of love in each other's hearts. In other words, the tragedy ends, but love goes on forever.

Said Kaminsky: "I didn't do this alone. Alone we are nothing, but together we can really make a difference."

Jackie Pilossoph is a freelance columnist for Chicago Tribune Media Group. She is also the creator of her divorce support website, Divorced Girl Smiling. Pilossoph lives in Chicago with her two children.
Andrew R. Longhi, 38, of unincorporated Warrenville, is charged in the March burglaries of three storefronts in a Naperville strip mall. (Naperville Police Department )

Federal authorities have captured a man described as being a "habitual criminal" who is charged in last winter's burglaries of three storefronts in a Naperville strip mall, Naperville police said.

Members of the U.S. Marshals Service's Task Force on Tuesday arrested Andrew R. Longhi, a 38-year-old ex-convict who last lived in the 700 block of Grove Lane in unincorporated Warrenville, according to a police department release. He was in federal custody Wednesday on three counts of burglary and one count of possession of burglary tools, all felonies, the release said.

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Cmdr. Lou Cammiso said Longhi was arrested in Aurora, and had "numerous warrants" for his arrest throughout the Chicago area for crimes that included burglary and theft. Cammiso said he did not have information concerning the specific cities where Longhi is wanted, or the crimes of which he is accused there.

Longhi is described in DuPage County court documents as being a "habitual criminal." He had been on the run since at least August, when Naperville police obtained a warrant for his arrest.

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He served five years in prison on burglary and drug charges, and since 1993 has been arrested or ticketed some 50 times in DuPage County, court records show.

Longhi was charged in the March 10 burglaries of three storefronts in the Sherman Oaks strip mall, at 1100 N. Sherman St., just north of Ogden Avenue. Police said then he took small amounts of money and electronics from the Niki Moon Salon & Spa and the Vasectomy Clinics of Chicago/thinfast MD medical office, and broke into a vacant storefront.

Spa owner Niki Moon gave police a video surveillance tape she said contained images of the burglar.

Longhi in 2007 was sentenced to five years in prison for felony drug possession in Naperville, and for breaking into a Downers Grove nail salon, according to court records. He was arrested again in 2015 for possession of two firearms, and charged with being an "armed habitual criminal," records said.

In 2014, Longhi was charged with stealing merchandise from the Sears store in the Westfield Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, records said. That case is pending.

wbird@tribpub.com
Visitors to Naper Settlement will not be able to drink alcoholic beverages while roaming the grounds, a request from museum officials denied recently by the Naperville Liquor Commission.

Commissioners voted unanimously to not allow the museum to expand its liquor license beyond consumption in the main dining area nor double its annual special event permits from two to four.

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The changes were sought during the Oct. 5 hearing by Macarena "Rena" Tamayo-Calabrese, Naper Settlement's president and chief executive officer. Tamayo-Calabrese did not return calls seeking comment.

Naper Settlement holds the city's lone Class T liquor license which allows the sale of beer and wine in its Pre-Emption House dining hall, a recreation of the original hotel and tavern that in 1834 was Naperville's unofficial "center of town."

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Mayor Steve Chirico, who also is liquor commissioner, said museum officials wanted to be able to sell beer and wine in other buildings and on the grounds, and failing that, have more special event permits.

Naper Settlement is one of 17 non-for-profit organizations in the city, and each receives two special event permits per year. Commissioners said they believed the others would seek the same arrangement, effectively doubling the number of annual permits from 34 to 68. City Prosecutor Kavita Athanikar pointed out most of the permits are used Fridays through Sundays, and with 52 weeks in a year, there would likely be more than one permit in play every weekend.

Chirico said Naper Settlement officials "can still lease their grounds, and a caterer can use its license to provide food and liquor" for events. The museum also might "partner with another non-for-profit and use one of their (special event) licenses, and that group would get a donation" or a portion of the event's proceeds, he said.

Athanikar added local non-for-profits must secure special event permits through the city and special event licenses from the state of Illinois.

"The state allows (each organization) two special events per calendar year, in order to maintain the non-for-profit status for tax purposes," Athanikar said. "So if a Naperville non-for-profit goes from two (special event permits) to four, the state would require them to pay sales taxes on gross receipts for food and beverages" sold during a third or more event, she said.

wbird@tribpub.com
A man who pleaded guilty nearly three months ago to robbery in exchange for a 14-year sentence is asking a judge to set aside his plea.

Roberto Pettigrew-Sanders began writing letters to the judge and filing motions on his own a few weeks after he submitted the plea agreement on July 17. In court, Pettigrew-Sanders pleaded guilty to robbery in a Feb. 3 shooting outside a FedEx store at 101 45th St., Munster, in which a woman was shot in the arm, and the bullet subsequently entered her hip.

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Pettigrew-Sanders admitted he went to the business with two other individuals and was armed with a handgun. After finding Johnson in the parking lot as she was arriving for work, a brief argument ensued between the woman and Pettigrew-Sanders through the doorway of her car. During the verbal exchange, Pettigrew-Sanders admitted he shot her through the arm.

Pettigrew-Sanders, 26, of Dolton, Ill., was arrested a short time later at a nearby business he'd fled to with co-defendant Hexadore Randall. At the time, Pettigrew-Sanders had the woman's car keys in his possession.

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Sanders filed a motion to withdraw his plea agreement.

In the filing, Pettigrew-Sanders challenged everything from his attorney's representation of him to evidence in the case and also complained that he was forced into a plea agreement.

Deputy prosecutor Mark Watson said he'd just received the document Wednesday and hadn't had time to prepare a written response and investigate the allegations.

On the day the plea agreement was submitted, Lake Superior Court Judge Samuel Cappas asked Pettigrew-Sanders if he was pleading guilty of his own free will and whether the facts he admitted to under oath were true. Cappas entered judgment of conviction on the robbery charge that day.

Cappas scheduled a Nov. 16 hearing on the request to withdraw the agreement, which outlines a 14-year sentence, with 10 years served in the Indiana Department of Correction, two years in Lake County Community Corrections and two years on probation.

Pettigrew-Sanders and Randall were charged with attempted murder, armed robbery and battery by means of a deadly weapon. Pettigrew Sanders also was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious, violent felon and carrying a handgun without a license.

Randall, 23, has pleaded not guilty. His case is scheduled for trial starting March 19.

The attempted murder charge is punishable by 20 to 40 years in prison.

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Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Public corruption, the opioid addiction crisis and gangs are all in Thomas Kirsch's view as the new U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, he said Wednesday.

Kirsch spoke about his new role before the Rotary Club of Crown Point on Wednesday at the Youche Country Club, a day after being sworn in.

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The Schererville attorney replaces David Capp, who led the office for eight years before resigning in March at the request of President Donald Trump's administration.

"I'm one of the 93," Kirsch said.

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He is one of the U.S. attorneys taking office across the country after being nominated by the president in July and confirmed by the U.S. Senate last week.

Kirsch walked the rotary club members through some of what his office does and what he hopes to accomplish in the future.

The Northern District of Indiana covers roughly two and a half million people, Kirsch said

"I like to say it's a large ocean and a small coast guard," he said.

New U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana Thomas Kirsch, right, talks to Jim Cuffia, president of the Crown Point Rotary Club, at the group's meeting Wednesday at Youche Country Club in Crown Point. (Joe Puchek / Post-Tribune )

His office relies on partnerships with local and state agencies, and that will still be the case going forward, he said.

Kirsch said his office is "particularly suited" to pursue public corruption cases. This goes back to Jim Richmond's Operation Lights Out and continued into Capp's tenure, he said.

"It will continue to be a priority for this office," Kirsch said.

Kirsch tackled public corruption cases while working as an assistant U.S. attorney in the early 2000s in northern Indiana. One of the last cases he handled was the indictment of Jewel Harris Sr., in Gary, he said.

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Political pressure never influenced the targets his office went after, he said, and it won't during his time as U.S. attorney.

"There were often times where I was investigating individuals or even indicting folks, local elected officials, I didn't even know what party they were a part of," he said. "I had Republicans. I had Democrats. That had absolutely nothing to do with the investigation and the indictment."

Before handling white collar crime, Kirsch said he prosecuted gang cases in Northwest Indiana. He acknowledged "there's always a spillover effect" of violent crime and drugs in the Interstate 80/94 corridor from Northwest Indiana and Chicago.

"When I prosecuted gun cases, it was very rare ... that a gang operating out of East Chicago or Hammond or Crown Point or Gary or wherever would not have some connection to Chicago," he said.

About 50 percent of the cases his office handles are violent crime, he said. Last year, "we prosecuted almost 150 federal firearms cases," Kirsch said.

"That's a lot," Kirsch said.

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One way to try to combat violent crime is through the federal Project Safe Neighborhood program, which Kirsch said will be a "priority" for him.

"It says that we should vigorously prosecute crimes in the most violent locations and we should look for the most violent offenders," he said. "And we should arrest them and prosecute them and take them off the streets."

Kirsch went into private practice and was a partner at Winston and Strawn LLP in Chicago before returning to the U.S. attorney's office this month. In that time, Kirsch said he kept up on the growing opioid crisis in Indiana and across the country.

Drug case prosecution has "changed considerably" in the last 15 years, he said, with the focus shifting from cocaine to heroin. Kirsch said his office "will continue to aggressively prosecute" those cases, whether it's heroin, opioids, methamphetamine or cocaine.

After hearing Kirsch speak, Allan Katz, who is part of the Rotary Club, said he sees Kirsch continuing the "legacy" of former U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen in taking on public corruption.

"There is no more important job in Northwest Indiana than the U.S. attorney," Katz said.

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Club president Jim Cuffia said he was excited to hear Kirsch speak about what he wants to do for the area.

"We wanted to hear his hopes and aspirations," Cuffia said.

rejacobs@post-trib.com

Twitter @ruthyjacobs
Federal officials say a pipe bomb that detonated in an East Chicago post office and bullet with a threatening note attached were both the work of a Munster man arrested and charged Thursday.

Eric Krieg, 45, of Munster, was charged with knowing possession of a destructive device and transporting explosive materials, said U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch, at a news conference.

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"The charges today send a strong and clear message that when explosive devices are used as a means to commit or as an attempt to commit violent acts no resources will be spared in bringing those responsible to justice," Kirsch said.

While Kirsch declined to comment on the motive for Krieg allegedly mailing the bomb and threatening package, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., said the crimes were politically motivated.

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Eric Krieg is charged with knowing possession of a destructive device and transporting explosive materials. (U.S. Attorney )

Police have been surveilling Krieg since Sept. 8, two days after the explosion at the post office located at 901 E. Chicago Ave, according to a complaint in court records. A postal worker was injured while handling a package that detonated shortly after 5:30 p.m. Sept. 6.

The worker, who was seven months pregnant, had cuts, abrasions and bruises to her head, legs and feet, and was treated at an area hospital, court records state. The woman and the baby are doing "fine," Patricia Armstrong, inspector in charge with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, said Thursday.

"She's doing OK. I would imagine she's very shaken up," Armstrong said. "Nobody expects to come to work and have a device blow up."

A second piece of mail was sent to another person at his Hammond residence on Sept. 29, according to the complaint. The man received a bullet and a message that read, "The next one will be in the back of your head," prosecutors said.

When the FBI first contacted Hammond officials in September, McDermott said they provided a list of people they thought might have a grudge against Hammond employees.

"He was the first person I thought of," McDermott said. "He was No. 1 on my list the whole time."

McDermott said he was not surprised to learn that Krieg was charged.

Krieg admitted in an interview with investigators Thursday to sending both pieces of mail, Kirsch said.

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"We believe he specifically targeted the victims," Kirsch said.

The pipe bomb's reported target is an attorney who was opposing counsel in a defamation suit against Krieg, according to court documents.

McDermott said his brother had filed a defamation suit against Krieg, which was later settled for $60,000, according to court documents, and that motivated one of the threats.

"It's political. It's crazy," McDermott said.

Lake County court records show Krieg has no criminal history in the county. Krieg also has no previous criminal or civil cases filed in Porter County and federal courts.

While Krieg has no criminal history, he's a familiar name in Lake County politics.

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During the 2011 Republican primary, Krieg ran against Lake County Councilman Dan Dernulc, of Highland, but ultimately failed in his bid to unseat the incumbent.

Krieg then ran against Democrat George Van Til in a contentious Lake County surveyor's race in 2012. Van Til won but was later indicted and eventually sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for using county resources to run his campaign.

Krieg ran as a Republican against Van Til and said at the time he would quit his high-paying job as an engineer for the position.

In 2013, Krieg filed a series of complaints against McDermott with the Lake County Board of Elections. All the allegations in those complaints were dismissed by the board.

McDermott said after Krieg failed at the Board of Elections, he began to go after the mayor's family in online forums.

Kirsch said the pipe bomb was a "relatively sophisticated" device, made of galvanized pipe, shrapnel, circuit boards and wires. Krieg used M-80 type powder in the device, court records state.

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Krieg has degrees from State University of New York at Buffalo and the Illinois Institute of Technology, according to court documents, and coached primary and middle school students in the FIRST Lego Robotics competition for four years.

Krieg walked into the post office around 11:15 a.m. Sept. 6 with the package and paid cash, court records state.

A witness said Krieg had a "peculiar" walk and was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and white medical mask, according to the complaint. The witness watched the transaction "to ensure the clerk was safe due to the strange characteristics" of Krieg, court records show.

The witness said Krieg left the post office and walked to a Crown Victoria parked behind an abandoned bank nearby that had paper covering the rear license plate.

Krieg faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on both counts, Kirsch said, and "it's possible" future charges could be filed in the case.

Investigators don't know if anyone else is involved at this point, Kirsch said.

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Armstrong said "it is not acceptable for the mail to be used to further someone's criminal pursuits."

"You can trust the mail. The mail is a sacred thing that comes to your home, your place of business. You expect it to be safe," Armstrong said.

McDermott said the FBI and investigating agencies were helpful to the city as it stepped up security measures.

"They made us feel safer," McDermott said.

The Hammond Police Department had K-9 units at City Hall to check packages that were being received, according the mayor.

McDermott said once the second threat was received, it became clear the person sending the packages was targeting Hammond employees. The Hammond mayor said both the intended recipient of the bomb and the person who received the threatening packages are good people.

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"Nobody deserves to be targeted and threatened with death," McDermott said.

rejacobs@post-trib.com

Twitter @ruthyjacobs

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Twitter @craigalyons
Mary Ann Roche, the school nurse at Romona Elementary School in Wilmette, says she has always liked working with children. On Oct. 12, Roche, who has worked at Romona since 2012, talked with Pioneer Press about the best parts of her job, a favorite summer activity, the kind of movie she won't watch, and how she would describe herself.

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

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A: I grew up in Michigan and I went to Boston College. I like science and I like helping people. And I really like working with children, so here I am. In fact, I've always worked in pediatric settings.

Q: What's the best part of your job?

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A: I'd say getting to know the kids and their families, and watching the children change so much between when they come in as preschoolers and when they leave after fourth grade. So much has changed for them in between.

Q: Give us five words you or other people think best describe you.

A: That's hard. I'd say I'm even-keeled, I'm neat, and adventurous. Other people say I'm confident, kind and loyal. I've heard some people say that I'm sweet. And I'm also cold  really! I'm warm in personality but I'm literally cold all the time!

Q: Do you have a cause or charity you'd like people to be aware of?

A: If I have to narrow it down, I'd say educating children in good health habits, like the importance of good eating, and of exercising, and of getting lots of rest. I tell them that it's important to just take care of your body, because if you can take care of yourself, you can take care of other people, too.

Q: Nobody knows that I 

A: Can water ski. I've water skied since I was a kid. It takes a lot of strength, especially core body strength, not just in your arms. I do it every year, just to make sure I still can.

Q: Since we're getting close to Halloween, can you recommend any scary movies?

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A: Oh, no  I cannot watch a scary movie at all! The last one I watched was probably "Scream." I just can't watch them.

kroutliffe@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @pioneer_kathy

Shout Out is a weekly feature in which we get to know and introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago. Check out more online at ChicagoTribune.com/ShoutOut.
The Connecticut teachers union and several school districts are mobilizing legally to block a series of Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloys budget cuts from going into effect.

The states legislature and governor are in a stalemate over how to distribute millions of dollars to its schools. The states supreme court is currently hearing arguments in case in which a coalition of advocacy groups argue that the states funding formula only worsens achievement gaps between poor and wealthier students.

Malloy last week signed an executive order that kept some state agencies and school districts afloat, but also prevented $557 million in state funds from being distributed to school districts. The states attorney general has not determined whether the executive order is legal.

The union on Monday sought a court order to block Malloys move from going into effect.

The governors ... cuts are dangerous and would be devastating for students, parents, teachers, and communities across the state, Connecticut Education Association President Sheila Cohen said in a statement. They violate state statutes and the states constitutional obligation to provide adequate education to public school students. Now that severe cuts are being implemented, we must take action to prevent the potential downward spiral that could further push our schools into chaos.

Several school districts are expected to join the suit.

On Wednesday, Malloy responded to the suit by saying that the unions actions may be premature.The cuts wont come until the end of October and the states lawmakers could reach a budget agreement before then, he said.

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.
The percentage of U.S. public school teachers participating in unions has been declining steadily over the last two decadesand the numbers are soon likely to take an even steeper dive.

About 70 percent of teachers participate in unions or employee associations, according to new federal data. Thats down from 74 percent in 2011-12 and 79 percent in 1999-2000.

The new data come from the 2015-16 National Teacher and Principal Survey , which was administered by the U.S. Department of Education to a nationally representative sample of 40,000 teachers. The previous iteration of the survey, called the Schools and Staffing Survey, has been released every four years since 1987 .

The teachers unions have a nerve-wracking year ahead, with the U.S. Supreme Court set to hear a case that could deem one of their revenue sources unconstitutional as well as prompt a sharp membership decline. That case, Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31 , concerns agency fees, which are monthly fees paid to the union by people who are not members. The fees, which only apply in some states, aim to make up for the cost of collective bargaining, which benefits members and nonmembers alike.

Many teachers who are forced to pay the fees end up joining the unionso the thought is that membership would go down if those fees were lost. And given the makeup of the court, the case is not likely to go in the unions favor.

Suburban Teachers Likely to Organize

Union participation is particularly high at suburban, medium-sized, and higher-income schools, the new federal data show.

About 75 percent of teachers in suburban schools join unions, compared to only about 62 percent of those in rural schools, according to the data. (The numbers for teachers in city schools were not available.)



Schools with between 200 and 499 students have a greater percentage of teachers participating in unions than schools that are larger or smaller.

And teachers in more affluent schoolswhere less than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-priced lunchare slightly more likely than their peers in lower-income schools to join a labor group.

The recent federal data also show the discrepancy between charter and traditional public school organizing: About 73 percent of teachers in traditional public schools are in unions or employee associations, while less than a quarter (24 percent) of charter school teachers participate.

As I wrote recently, some charter school teachers dont know that organizing is an option for thembut word seems to be spreading. The national teachers unions and their local affiliates , despite being continually wary of the charter sector in general, have made headway in helping charter school teachers form unions.

The Education Department released an initial round of data from the teacher and principal survey in August . Those data showed that the teaching force is still largely white and female, but there are signs that its growing more diverse. See the video below for more on what the U.S. teaching profession looks like.

Alex Harwin, research associate in the Education Week Research Center, contributed to this story.

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The inspections will be conducted by the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation and the Climate Change Supervisory Committee, with the assistance of related departments.

Mon State Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dr Min Kyi Win explained that the inspections will be carried out with an eye towards limiting environmental damage caused by oil tankers and coal cargo ships.

He noted the risk of tankers and cargo ships capsizing due to changes in river currents, or of accidental damage caused by overloaded ships pass under the two bridges that span the river.

These ships are carrying coals and other stuff  we dont know [what they are carrying]. Are these ships following the procedures of the environmental impact assessment? Dr Min Kyi win asked. For example, when the oil tankers running [on the river], where are they transporting [the oil], how much oil are they carrying, and what have they done to prevent against oil spills? he added.

According to the state minister, the Mon State government has instructed port authorities to begin inspections after establishing the number of ship entries and departures.

U Zay Ya, state port officer at Myanmar Port Authority, confirmed that port officials had informed the owners of ships operating on the Thanlwin River about the forthcoming inspections on October 9.

Approximately 20 ships travel along the Thanlwin River every day, according to Dr Min Kyi Win.
During this year's National Day holiday, Sun Wenxiao did not spend her holiday visiting crowded tourist destinations, watching box-office hit movies, or shopping. Instead, she went to an "experiential" bookstore in her city of Jinan.

Unlike the traditional bookstores, Pinju provides visitors with diverse activities such as gourmet tasting, photo exhibitions and themed lectures, Sun said. These cultural events make the bookstore a "must-go" for young people, she added.

According to a report by the Publishers' Association of China, the online book sales grew by 30 percent year on year in 2016, while brick-and-mortar book shops saw sales dropping by 2.33 percent.

To change the landscape of the industry that looked to be in decline, more and more of these bookstores have popped up in recent years in China, featuring various cultural events, book launches and public readings.

Fangsuo, a bookstore chain founded in 2011, opened its first store in Guangzhou.

While bookshelves cover the walls from floor to ceiling, the 1,800-square-meter store has a coffee bar, a boutique and a handicrafts shop, welcoming more than two million visitors every year, with an average annual sales volume of 70 million yuan (about 10.6 million U.S. dollars).

The mix space often hosts art exhibitions, lectures and book launches about art, culture and lifestyle, turning it into a center for the city's book lovers.

"We hope the store can improve the quality of life for people in cities and provide them with more cultural and lifestyle information," said Mao Jihong, the founder of Fangsuo.

So far, the company has opened another three stores in Chengdu, Chongqing and Qingdao.

The expansion of Fangsuo is the epitome of the growing popularity of these kinds of bookstores in China.

According to a report released by Everbright Securities on China's retail industry, more than 60 experiential bookstores like Fangsuo have been set up nationwide in the first half of 2017.

Sisyphe, one of the largest private-owned bookstore chains with almost 70 stores in China, is also reinventing itself to diversify its income streams. It offers, for example, special reading and listening lessons for children.

About 80 percent of the store space is planned for bookshelves, 15 percent for coffee shops and 5 percent for creative arts and handicraft shops, said Jin Weizhu, chairman of Sisyphe. "This store space layout will help form a chain effect."

"Whatever your requirements, a bookstore that combines such diverse activities is your best choice," said Li Ou, a customer at the Chengdu Fangsuo store.
In a recent survey by the Beijing Foreign Studies University, international students from various countries including Nepal, Cambodia, Egypt, Ukraine, India, Poland and Malaysia were asked to name the Chinese manufactured items they most aspire to bring to their respective native countries. The highest number of votes went to "the four great inventions of modern China"  high-speed trains, mobile payments, the bike sharing system, and online shopping.

Centuries ago, the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing  the great four inventions of ancient China  were introduced to the West by way of Arab traders along the Silk Road. In modern times, these four innovative solutions and their unique implementation are transforming Chinese life in a similar manner, and are craved by people of other countries.

Why So Admired

High-speed rail is nothing new to France. Back in the early 1990s, while reporting for the Shanghai-based Wen Hui Bao newspaper, I personally covered the rivalry between TGV of France, ICE of Germany, and Shinkansen of Japan for the Chinese market. China at the time was more interested in the French technology of high-speed rail. I also had the opportunity to accompany Zhu Rongji, then mayor of Shanghai and later the Chinese premier, on his ride on the Paris-Lyon line.

A couple in Shenyang ride shared bikes to their wedding on September 9, 2017.

China approached Alstom for technology transfer in this area, but was rejected. It then began to develop high-speed train technology independently, and put it into operation a decade later. If Alstom had considered a long-term strategy more prudently, the 22,000-km high-speed railway network across China today might possibly have been implemented by the French. At present, China is home to more than 65 percent of the world's high-speed rail mileage, all domestically manufactured with operational speeds between 300 and 350 km/h.

Foreign students in China love its high-speed trains for several reasons. The first is obviously the speed and the resultant time saved. A ride from Beijing to Shanghai, 1,318 km apart, takes just under five hours. The ride is also lauded for its smoothness; a student stood a coin on its edge on the window sill of a train moving at high speed, and it remained stationary for minutes. Adding to that is the incredible affordability of traveling on these trains. Economy class tickets from Beijing to Shanghai cost a mere RMB 553 (73). Furthermore, among other amenities, the seats can swivel around 180 degrees, a feature only available in the business class carriages of the updated French high-speed trains starting this year. Though a latecomer, China has overtaken France in the high-speed rail sector, which debuted in the European country in the 1980s.

Foreign students are also quite fond of the ubiquitous mobile payment systems in China. It is incredibly convenient to swipe one's mobile phone and pay through Alipay or WeChat. And almost all retailers accept them, for payments as trivial as one yuan. As an experiment, a U.S. reporter spent a day in China without any paper or plastic cash. Yet he was able to hail a taxi, eat in a restaurant, shop, pay utility bills, go to the cinema and transfer money to his friend... all through his mobile phone.

According to a report in the Financial Times, China's mobile payments are nearly 50 times greater than those in the U.S. Last year 358 million Chinese people paid through their handsets, and the sum added up to RMB 5.5 trillion. One reason for such popularity might be that credit cards never superseded the popularity of cash transactions in China. China now leads the world in mobile payments, whose impact on the rest of the world is yet to be seen.

A China-made high-speed, double-deck sleeper train arrives at Beijing South Railway Station on August 16, 2017.

Shared bike systems, or bike rental schemes, have also long existed in France. But what makes the Chinese implementation considerably more appealing and useful is that one can pick up and drop off the bike at any location one desires instead of designated spots. To unlock the vehicle, and pay for the ride, all that is needed is to scan the QR code on it after downloading an app to one's mobile phone.

I presume everyone knows about online shopping nowadays. Alibaba founder Jack Ma is world famous. Taobao and TMall under his group's umbrella and other retailer websites such as JD and Dangdang are all available to French consumers. In China the number of Internet users has reached 731 million, and 467 million of them, or 64 percent, shop online regularly. The value of their transactions stands at RMB 26.1 trillion (above 3.4 trillion), accounting for close to 40 percent of global retail e-commerce.

After taking a fancy to a cell phone charger in my home, a French friend of mine ordered one online with my help. The order was placed at 10:30 am and by 3:00 pm the same day, the new charger had arrived. According to Chinese law, all products ordered online can be returned or exchanged unconditionally within seven days of purchase. My friend was amazed by the efficiency and convenience of online shopping and delivery, which is testament to China's extensive and incredibly efficient logistics network.

E-commerce is not limited just to cities. It has begun to boom in the countryside. JD, a leading Chinese e-commerce player, began delivery by unmanned drones in far-flung rural areas in certain provinces. The Internet has triggered a veritable revolution in Chinese people's buying habits.

Reflections on a Changing Lifestyle

These aforementioned Chinese innovative applications of solutions epitomize the changing lifestyle in the Asian country. During my years working in France, I was impressed by the ease and comfort of local living. But on returning to China four years ago, I found my habits formed in Europe to be obsolete here.

A customer pays through Alipay at a shopping mall in Chongqing on December 10, 2016.

For instance, I was a regular visitor to the post office in France. In China everyone uses express mail, but no one bothers going to the post office. Dial a number and a courier will appear at your door in no time. Private express mail companies are steadily encroaching on the turf of the post office with a barrage of new ideas and services. Not long ago, two stacks of drop-off and pick-up lockers were set up in my neighborhood. Whenever I have something that needs to be delivered, I leave it in a locker, input the relevant information and pay through my mobile phone. It is soon sent to its destination safely and swiftly. It really is that simple.

Uber and similar services are banned in France. In China, online car-hailing is all the rage. If I'm going to give a lecture in Shanghai, I book a car from UCAR to pick me up at the local airport at a said location and time, and find it waiting there when I arrive. I have had discussions with several drivers of car-hailing drivers about their competition with conventional taxies. The latter are not always available when needed, while car-hailing services are designed to meet a customer's needs, such as pick-up location and time, and the car model. The payment is made through mobile phones, with no cash changing hands. Many old-fashioned taxi drivers have joined the growing car-hailing service fleet in China.

Innovation Transforms Life

I have asked myself the question, what led to the ongoing transformation of life in China? It is not difficult to find the answer. When industrialization comes to a certain stage, innovation emerges as the driving force of industrial development, and has broad, profound impact on people's daily lives. Take online shopping and the accompanying courier service as an example. The viability of e-commerce is, to a great extent, associated with the speed of delivery. Many online retailers have installed automated sorting systems (disc-shaped robots) in their warehouses that, at the instruction of the company's order processing system, find the ordered items and move them to different sections of the warehouse according to their destinations. It is quite a spectacle to behold a horde of tiny robots gliding back and forth across the floor, swiftly but orderly.

This scene, however, is no comparison to the automatic wharf at the Qingdao Port. Developed three years ago and put into use in May, the system reduces the required manpower by 85 percent and increases work efficiency by 30 percent. For instance, it now takes only nine workers to load up a container, down from 60 in the past.

Chinese e-commerce giant JD successfully delivers a package by drone to the office building of the Administrative Committee of Xi'an National Civil Aerospace Industrial Base on June 18, 2017.

The impact of industrial innovation can be felt in all aspects of Chinese people's lives, ranging from clothing, dining, and housing to transport. Some are of revolutionary significance. It is widely recognized that China is a leading player in the unmanned drone sector, hosting 400-plus drone manufacturers and supplying 70 percent of the global market for both civilian and military drones.

In January 2016, China unveiled the world's first autonomous passenger drone, heralding the age of the "air bus." The country has also developed a near space solar unmanned aerial vehicle that can stay airborne for months at a time and potentially even years, in the future. Its impact on the world may exceed our wildest imaginations. To borrow a popular catchphrase, as long as we can dream it, we can make it.

There are more technological innovations in the making in China, including combustible ice, quantum computers, autonomous rail transit (ART) and voice translation machines (by iFlytek). Some will soon enter commercial application. The ART train, for instance, can run without tracks, which saves construction time and money, while its carrying capacity is on a par with its railed peers. Zhuzhou City, where the ART developer CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co., Ltd. is located, is planning on China's first ART route that may start operation in 2018.

A Chinese phrase describing fast change is "taking on a new look with the passing of every day and month." This is exactly what is happening in China. Under sweeping industrialization, the country has reached a new inflection point in history.

Zheng Ruolin is a former Wen Hui Bao newspaper journalist stationed in Paris and author of Les Chinois Sont des Hommes Comme les Autres.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd announced on Wednesday the launch of a global research academy that it hopes will join the ranks of, and potentially outrival, Bell Labs and Microsoft Research.

An Alibaba employee introduces a virtual mirror during the company's annual computing conference in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, Oct 11, 2017. [Photo /China Daily]

The investment of 100 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) over three years in the Alibaba DAMO Academy takes the internet giant one step closer to fulfilling its ambition to serve 2 billion people in two decades, said chairman Jack Ma.

During the company's annual computing conference in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Ma said the investment will help it get a head start in the internet of things, quantum computing, fintech and human-machine interaction.

At this point in the group's development, Ma said it is imperative to have a research body to solve problems facing people, economies and broader society.

"Backed by Alibaba's vast resources, the academy needs to outlive Alibaba  and ought to shoulder the responsibility to serve the whole of society," he said, adding that the academy will need to finance itself in the long run.

The name DAMO stands for "discovery, adventure, momentum and outlook". The word is often depicted in Chinese martial arts fictions as an avenue in the Shaolin Monastery where masterful monks practice skills and experience enlightenment.

The project includes opening seven new research labs in China, the United States, Russia, Israel and Singapore, recruiting related talents on top of its 25,000 engineers and scientists.

Chief Technology Officer Zhang Jianfeng will head the academy, assisted by a global advisory board that includes some of the world's technology luminaries, such as George Church, a leading light of the Human Genome Project, as well as Michael Jordan, a mastermind in artificial intelligence.

The firm will also tie-up with over 200 universities and research institutes worldwide to co-develop technologies that aim to improve the lives of technology end-users or boost business security and efficiency.

The company has spared no efforts to boost its technology arsenal. In March, it established independent research and development teams in a plan dubbed NASA to focus on foundational and disruptive technology research.

The company is particularly delving into consumer-facing solutions. Alibaba's payment affiliate Ant Financial unveiled a biometric identification technology open platform dubbed ZOLOZ, through which organizations can apply Ant's facial recognition, human-machine interaction, and other technologies to a variety of business and civic scenarios.
The Chinese Defense Ministry on Wednesday voiced strong opposition to the unauthorized entry of a U.S. warship into China's waters off the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea.

The Chinese navy dispatched a missile frigate, two fighter jets and a helicopter to warn the U.S. ship away, the ministry said in a statement.

The U.S. navy missile destroyer Chafee entered China's territorial waters near the Xisha islands on Tuesday, said the ministry, adding the provocation infringed upon China's sovereignty and security, harmed mutual trust between the two armies as well as regional stability.

The Chinese military will further strengthen its naval and air defense capability to safeguard its sovereignty and security, according to the statement.

"It is a critical stage for the development of the relationship between Chinese and American armies, and we demand the U.S. side earnestly take steps to correct its mistakes and inject positive energy into bilateral ties," the ministry said.
Three ancient irrigation sites from China have been inscribed as world heritage: the Huang Ju irrigation, Hanzhong three weirs and Yellow River ancient canalization projects.

The project that diverts water from the Yellow River for irrigation in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. [Photo/CCTV]

The 23rd International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage announced the trio's inclusion as world's Heritage Irrigation Structures in Mexico City, capital city of Mexico, on Tuesday.

The Huang Ju Irrigation Project is located in Southeast China's Fujian province. It was named after its designer Huang Ju, an official in the Sui Dynasty (581-618), more than 1,400 years ago. The system had two canals, watering an area of more than 20,000 mu (1,333 hectare) in ancient China.

The Hanzhong Three Weirs Project in Shaanxi province was composed of Shanhe Weir, Wumen Weir and Yangzhen Weir, all completed in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).

The Hanzhong Basin has a long history of irrigation, dating back to the first century. The most developed period of farm watering along the Hanshui River was in the 11th century, with the above three weirs in Hanzhong as typical systems.

The Yellow River Ancient Canalization Project was situated in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Its construction started in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).

A total of 14 canals originated from the Yellow River, or the country's mother river, serving the area for more than 2,200 years. The watering system helped the region evolve from nomadic civilization to agricultural one.

The three projects were inscribed into the list of world heritage irrigation structures for their contribution to people-centered water management systems, which are important to humanity and sound environment.

China now has 13 systems identified in the world's watering heritage program, including previously recognized Zhengguo Canal in Shaanxi province and Dongfeng Weir in Sichuan province, both added in the heritage register in 2014.

International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage has been organizing its flagship triennial event International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage since 1951.
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A 41-year-old American teacher donated a kidney and his corneas after his death in east China's Jiangsu Province Wednesday.

A 41-year-old American teacher donated a kidney and his corneas after his death in east China's Jiangsu Province on October 11, 2017. [Photo/2500sz.com]

Amery Scott from Washington was an English teacher in Changshu City. He suffered a stroke on the night of Oct. 1 and was pronounced brain death on Tuesday.

His kidney and corneas have been given to Chinese patients, said Guo Qiang, a doctor with the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, in the city of Suzhou.

On Oct. 1, China's National Day, Scott wrote at his WeChat moments, "My greatest hope today is that the country I come from and the country that is my current home together continue to grow in peace and prosperity, Happy National Day!"

According to his family, Scott agreed to donate his organs while applying for a driving license in the United States.
The Belt and Road Initiative has boosted cooperation, trade and corporate competitiveness between China and countries along the route, according to a government report released in Beijing on Thursday.

A data-based report on the progress of the Belt and Road was released by the Chinese government on October 12 in Beijing. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]



Compiled by the State Information Center and published by the Commercial Press, the second annual report also indicated growing interest in local participation, media coverage and academic research as the initiative moves forward.

The report is internationally sourced from 500 billion rows of data from over 200 companies, 800 think tanks and 1,000 media outlets in over 60 Belt and Road countries to assess progress of the China-proposed initiative in eight aspects.

According to the report, cooperation between China and the Belt and Road countries is increasing, with Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Vietnam ranking as the top five partners. Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions have shown increased participation in the initiative, with east China taking the lead and west China demonstrating stronger potential.

Chinas uptick in trade with other Belt and Road countries, especially neighboring ones, resulted from supportive infrastructure and policy measures. Chinese companies showed more interest in Belt and Road development and have seen an increased presence along the route, especially those in the construction, manufacturing, finance and internet industries.

The report also outlined the engagement and contribution of various think tanks and media outlets to policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade,financial integration and people-to-people bond.

The report will be vital for further decision-making on the government and corporate level, commented Ou Xiaoli, a senior official from the State Council's special working group on the Belt and Road Initiative.
Over the past few years, while the world's economic development has undergone a profound adjustment, China's economy has maintained a medium-to-high rate of growth. According to statistics from the World Bank, China contributed more than 30 percent on average to the global economic expansion annually from 2011 to 2016 (at constant 2010 prices in U.S. dollars). This shows that China remains one of the major contributors to global growth.

With strong economic momentum, the landscape of Chinese cities, as well as people's lives, has improved with each passing day. China plans to lift all of its poor out of poverty by 2020.

The West took 300 years to innovate and industrialize. China took less than 40 years after its reform and opening-up to emulate and catch up with its Western counterparts. How did an agricultural country achieve such substantial growth and transform itself into a modern country backed by industrialization and informatization? The secret to China's success is that it designed a development path that suits its actual conditions.

In the early 20th century, before the Communist Party of China (CPC) was founded in 1921, the country had 312 modern political parties. They put forward various political views and plans, but eventually failed to lead people out of the hardships of that time, let alone to unite and develop the country. The CPC, by relying on the people, adhered to the path of socialism and finally seized political power to govern the nation. Taking the socialist path under the leadership of the CPC has proved to be the right decision made by our people.

Before the establishment of the CPC, there was no prior system of governance, so our leaders have always set great store on learning from actions and enriching their experience to develop China's path. Just as Deng Xiaoping proposed: We should first have a try. If it proves right, then we should continue with it. If it proves wrong, we will correct it, and if any new problem arises, we will tackle it head-on.

It is a great step in the emancipation of the mind to integrate socialism with a market economy. Since reform and opening-up was initiated, the CPC first proposed the policy of "maintaining the primary role of the planned economy while giving play to the supplementary role of market forces in economic regulation," and later transformed it to "establishing a planned commodity economy on the basis of public ownership," and eventually to "establishing a socialist market economy." The policy adjustments imply that the CPC has continuously deepened its understanding of the relations between socialism and the market economy.

At the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the Party urged comprehensive deepening of reforms and pointed out that reform in the economic system still remains the primary focus. The core idea is to give the market a decisive role in resource allocation and give better play to the role of the government.

The market's status has increased in importance from a "basic" to "decisive" role regarding resource allocation, while the government performs efficiently in guaranteeing macroeconomic stability, optimizing public services, enhancing market supervision, remedying the market failure, and promoting common prosperity. The market-government relationship marks another major innovation to the theory and practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Chinese government has issued over 1,200 reform measures in the areas of economy, politics, culture, society, environmental protection, and Party building, injecting impetus to the country's development.

The CPC spares no effort to meet major challenges, avoid major risks, overcome major obstacles, and resolve major conflicts. The anti-corruption campaign has seen remarkable results. A sound mechanism is taking shape to guarantee that officials cannot and do not want to be corrupt. Some foreign media commented that China's achievement in anti-corruption has made a great contribution to the world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposes to build a new model of international relations based on win-win cooperation and a community of shared future for all humankind, which furthers China's path to peaceful development. On September 11, the 71st session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution which incorporated the principles of "extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits"  all put forward in China's Belt and Road Initiative  with the ideas of global governance of economy. This demonstrates that Chinese notions and wisdom are gaining wide support from the international community.
Sitting on a massive goldmine of energy reserves, Central Asia's Kazakhstan has 30 billion barrels of oil reserves while Turkmenistan's natural gas is estimated at 265 trillion cubic feet. As a result this region is extremely vital in the battle for resources and global dominance over the last decade. Located right in the center of Eurasia, it has considerable potential as a market for its natural gas, gold, copper, aluminum, iron and cotton as well. Geo-economically, CARs are indispensable trade partners for neighboring countries in this era.

Being the third largest consumer of crude oil globally, India wants to have closer strategic and economic ties with the Central Asian states but its trade volume sits at just $500 million. Limited land connectivity has proved to be the major obstacle. Lacking borders with the Central Asian states, India is denied land access through Pakistan's territory due to constant friction between the two countries.

Likewise, even after having invested heavily in Afghanistan it has not been able to establish connectivity with CARs as the country remains unstable. Most of India's connectivity endeavors have ended up as a lot of futile paperwork, even the Chahbahar port planned in Iran as a route to the energy-rich region has not kicked off as yet. Staying out of China's Belt and Road Initiative up till now, India's reach to the region remains constricted and it imports most of its oil and gas from the Middle East, which remains progressively unstable these days. For reasons it knows best, India wants to have its own route to Central Asia instead of consolidating with the regional arrangements in place.

Consequently, India formulated its Connect Central Asia policy to attempt at reconnecting with the region as well as establishing political, security, economic and cultural ties, and success in this venture would help raise its standing in Central Asian regional dynamics.

The "Connect Central Asia Policy" (CCAP) was formalized at the India-Central Asia dialogue held in June 2012 in Kyrgyzstan as a Track II initiative. Recognizing the hurdles in its way, Indian strategic expert K. Subramanian observed, "The Central Asian Republics (CARs) posed the most excruciating and complex challenges to Indian diplomacy judged whether by geostrategic compulsions or by India's energy concerns."

Also considered as India's "extended neighborhood," Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan attained independence after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. India lost touch initially and there were nominal bilateral engagements. Now, however nominal headway is being made with oil-rich Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan providing special incentives for Indian businesses and symbolizing energy security for India today.

In the near future, India plans a project known as INSTC -- the International North South Transport Corridor. Finally connecting it with Central Asia, the INSTC would be approximately 7,200 kilometers long. This multi-modal transportation system would involve roads, a railway and shipping networks to expand India's reach towards the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf onwards to the Caspian Sea and Iran, culminating in Russia and North Europe.

Visualized as a fast-track project by New Delhi, it will be completed by the end of this decade. Additionally, India hopes to inaugurate Chahbahar port this month with its very first shipment of wheat from India to Afghanistan. Initially it suffered setbacks due to sanctions on Iran. In full swing, the INSTC would generate trade worth $170 billion for India and it could import oil and natural gas as well as uranium for its nuclear facilities.

There are also opportunities for hydropower and agriculture agreements with Tajikistan as well. It may be possible to explore and produce hydrocarbons in Kazakhstan as Indian oil and gas companies expand their footprint. Closer economic co-operation would entail stronger defense ties between India and the Central Asian states, notwithstanding the geographical limitations.

Not only that, New Delhi is mulling over extending the Friendship Railway Bridge to Herat in Western Afghanistan as a part of India's bigger vision of "New Asianism." Significantly, the Connect Central Asia policy has heralded in the new power dynamics of the region based on geo-economics, this trend was recently described by the Asian Development Bank as an economic dynamo.

P Stoban, India's leading expert on Central Asia, observed that, "India has been slowly coming up with its own Eurasian agenda. It has taken some significant steps with enormous implications for realizing a strong potential connectivity link between India and Eurasia."

In its own way, India has begun its journey towards intra-regional cooperation even though it relies largely on its own initiatives as it prefers to remain in the leadership role. Having said that, since India has become a member of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization, it stands to benefit from closer engagement with the Central Asian states on that platform as well, especially in the fields of trade and energy.

Sabena Siddiqui (Twitter: @sabena_siddiqi) is a foreign affairs journalist and lawyer based in Pakistan.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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A helicopter tries to put out the wildfire in California's Napa, the United States, on Oct. 10, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Two more deaths from the Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County, Western Calfornia, has brought the number of dead to 23 for all the wildfires sweeping the Bay Area in California, local TV station KRON4 reported Wednesday night.

Sonoma County Sheriff's Office issued a mandatory evacuation order for Seventh Street East and Castle Roa, which is an area about one mile (1.6 km) away from historic Sonoma Square and Mission San Francisco Solano, the last of the California Missions.

Thousands of firefighters grappling with the raging fires were still unable to control the blazes three days after the devastating disaster broke out in Northern California on Sunday night.

At least 3,500 homes and commercial properties were leveled to the ground in one of the most damaging wildfire disasters in the history of California.

The entire historic city of Calistoga, with a population of more than 5,000, was evacuated late Wednesday. The city is famous for its hot springs and wine industry and is a tourist destination in the Napa Valley. Authorities have banned all visitors from the area due to the wind shifts and potential threat of more wildfires.

Earlier in the day, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano told a press conference in Santa Rosa, about 90 km away from San Francisco, that the death toll from the wildfires may continue to rise and the the number of people reported missing has gone up to 560 in the county. He said the county sheriff had originally received reports of 670 people unaccounted for in the wildfires in Sonoma county, but 110 of them were located safe and sound later, cutting the number of missing people to below 600.

"The individuals who died were found as the result of police and sheriff's deputies being called to neighborhoods for various reasons," he said, adding that teams put together to excavate the burned area for bodies have yet to begin their work.

"When we start doing searches, I expect that number to go up," Giordano said.

Santa Rosa, which is the largest city in California's Wine Country and the fifth most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area, was among the counties hardest hit in the California wildfires.

Giodano said the county authorities have ordered madatory evacuations in many areas impacted by the wildfires, and the evacuation order may remain in place throughout this week.

California wildfires have burned nearly 170,000 acres of land as of Wednesday, and the blaze is still burning in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Yuba counties.
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Brendt Christensen (left) and Zhang Yingying (right)

An American pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the charge of kidnapping resulting in death of a Chinese scholar.

This has been the first time Brendt Christensen appeared in court after a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment on Oct. 3 against the 28-year-old, accusing him of kidnapping resulting in the death of Zhang Yingying, a visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC).

U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric Long read the main part of the superseding indictment, and Christensen replied that he fully understood the three counts of charges, namely kidnapping resulting in death and two counts of making false statements to FBI agents.

When Christensen entered the courthouse, Zhang's mother tried to grab the defendant while shouting "give me back my daughter." She was escorted out of the court before the hearing began.

Christensen, in grass green prison clothes, sat between his two lawyers, and never looked at the family of the victim despite the mother's cries.

Preliminary hearing will be held on Feb. 12, 2018, and the final ruling of the case will be on Feb. 27, 2018, Judge Long said.

If convicted of the charge, Christensen will face death penalty or mandatory life in prison.

"Suspect pleading not guilty is within our expectation," U.S. lawyer Wang Zhidong, who has been offering legal support to the Zhangs on a voluntary basis, said outside the court.

He believes that the police and prosecutors have enough evidence to prosecute the suspect, but Wang doubted the final ruling can be held on the set date announced by Long, citing the complexity of the case.

Zhang went missing on her way to sign a housing lease on June 9. Investigators later announced that Zhang was kidnapped. Prosecutors alleged that Christensen approached Zhang and lured her into his car.

Law enforcement agents first turned their attention to Christensen after they found his Saturn Astra was the same one Zhang disappeared in, according to surveillance footage.

Christensen told the FBI that he was at home all day on the day Zhang went missing. He then changed his story, saying that he came across an Asian woman and offered her a ride; however, he let her out of his car after she panicked.

The FBI arrested Christensen on June 30 after catching him on tape pointing out people he described as "ideal victims" during a vigil in Zhang's honor.
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The number of visas granted to Chinese students to study in Britain has increased this year by 17 percent, Home Office Minister Baroness Williams told the House of Lords.

Britain's upper chamber in the Houses of Parliament debated a growing call from politicians to remove international students from the country's net migration totals.

So far the government has refused to accept the change in the way the figures are counted, but Baroness Williams made it clear in the debate there was no limit on the number of overseas people heading to Britain to study.

Lord Holmes, who sparked the debate Tuesday in the House of Lords said since 2010 the number of international students coming to Britain has fallen by 6 percent, with an estimated cost to the economy of 9 billion pounds or almost US$12 billion, while the global market has increased by 7 percent.

Holmes said the message had to go out through the Foreign Office, the British Council and all channels, saying: "Students of the world, you are so welcome here, come study in the UK and be part of our future."

Baroness Williams said to the year ending June 2017, there was a 9 percent increase in Russell group universities, and a 17 percent increase in all student visas granted for Chinese nationals.

The minister said that in the 2015-16 academic year, almost half a million international students enrolled in British universities, with visa applications sponsored by universities 19 percent higher than in 2010. "There is no limit on the number of international students who come to this country, and we welcome them all," she said.

"We absolutely recognise the cultural and financial contribution that they make to this country. That is why we do not limit the number of genuine international students who come here to study and from whom UK businesses can recruit," she added.

Meanwhile, Britain's third biggest airport reported Wednesday that an influx of international students jetting into Britain to start their studies gave Manchester Airport a massive boost.

Thousands of international students arrived on their journeys to the 25 universities inside the airport's catchment area.

The students helped bring the number of people travelling through the airport in September 2017 to 2.8 million. It saw the airport's annual rolling total reach 27.6 million people, a year-on-year increase of 11 percent.
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The death toll from Tuesday's riot at the Cadereyta prison in northern Mexico rose to 16 on Wednesday, the prosecutor-general of the state of Nuevo Leon announced.

In a press conference, Bernardo Gonzalez said that an investigation was ongoing to determine the exact cause of the deaths.

He added that at least 54 people are being investigated for their part in the riot, which happened for over eight hours in the prison located 45 km outside the state capital of Monterrey.

The riot started when prisoners took three guards as hostages, led them to the top of a dormitory block and threatened to throw them off the roof, according to an official report.

The state police entered the prison and had to use lethal force to end the riot by prisoners, who had set fires in several areas to prevent the entry of security forces, according to Aldo Fasci, director of the information center for state security.

This is the second riot this year at Cadereyta after a riot in March left four dead and several others injured.
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More than 30 gigabytes (GBs) of sensitive Australian Defence Force (ADF) data has been stolen by a hacker, it was revealed on Thursday.

The hacker, going by the codename "Alf," stole information about Australia's US$13.2 billion Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program and US$3.1 billion P-8 surveillance plane project from an Adelaide-based defence contractor.

The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) said that the hacker had "full and unfettered access" to the information for four months in 2016 before the breach was detected in November.

Australian Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne admitted that the government still did not know who carried out the hack.

"I don't know who did it... it could be one of a number of different actors. It could be a state actor, a non-state actor," Pyne told Australian radio on Thursday.

"It could be someone who was working for another company."

The username and password combination used to access the company's system was the default "admin" and "guest."

Pyne said that the incident was "reminder to everyone in the industry and the government" to take cyber security seriously but said holding the government responsible for the breach was a "stretch."

"I don't think you can try and sheet blame for a small enterprise having lax cyber security back to the federal government. That is a stretch," Pyne said.

"You don't know that we've tendered a major defence contract to a small enterprise with poor cyber security protections, you don't know that. The contractor could well have been working for a prime (contractor)."

The government stressed that the information stolen was commercially sensitive but not classified.

Mitchell Clarke, an ASD incident response manager, said that the company which was breached was small, employing 50 people and only one Information Technology (IT) expert.

"The compromise was extensive and extreme," Clarke said.

"A significant amount of data was stolen from them, and most of the data was defence related."
PJCS TransContainer, Russia's biggest container operator, has announced a plan to expand its China business in response to the soaring cargo transit demand between China and Europe under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The TransContainer Freight Forwarding (Shanghai) Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary established on Tuesday at the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, will serve as the Russian company's headquarters in China, and focus on port transportation.

The Beijing-based Chinese-Russian Rail-Container International Freight Forwarding Co Ltd, a joint venture set up by TransContainer and China Railway International Multimodal Transport (CRIMT) in 2010, is tasked with handling railway transportation, according to Petr Baskakov, CEO of PJCS TransContainer.

"The Shanghai company can enjoy favorable policies, including taxation of the free trade zone, (and) has three tasks, which are maintenance of the containers, processing of logistics orders, as well as marketing and promoting the company to global market including China," Baskakov told China Daily.

An affiliated company to the TransContainer Shanghai will be established in South China in 2018, and another two will be established in Qingdao of Shandong province and Chengdu of Sichuan province in 2019, the CEO added.

The Port of Shanghai handled 37.13 million TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) containers in 2016, taking the lead among global container ports for seven consecutive years.

China contributes about 30 percent of TransContainer's global transportation volume and revenue for the moment, up from 15 percent of 2010, the largest contributor after Russia.

"Cargo transition volume has surged tremendously between China and Europe, as well as between China and Russia, thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative," Baskakov said.

Against a global economic slowdown, bilateral trade volume between China and countries and regions related to the initiative reached 6.3 trillion yuan ($955.5 billion) in 2016, up 0.6 percent year-on-year, Song Lihong, an official from Ministry of Commerce, was quoted as saying by China News Service.

The decision to set up the Shanghai subsidiary was made by the company's board of directors in February this year, in an attempt to consolidate TransContainer's positions in intermodal transportation between Russia and China, including via sea routes.

"TransContainer hoped ... the Shanghai subsidiary (would) enhance service quality and broaden service field of multi-modal container transportation between China and Russia," Baskakov added.
A Zhongtong Express employee sorts out packages at an outlet of the delivery firm in Fuyang, Anhui province. [Photo by Wang Biao/For China Daily]

Just one month before China's online version of Black Friday, leading Chinese delivery firms Zhongtong Express and Yunda Express have both announced plans to raise delivery fees amid pressure from rising operational costs.

The latest move by the two companies comes as the State Post Bureau predicted that the number of express deliveries is expected to hit a record of 1 billion during this year's Singles Day, China's largest online shopping festival, which falls on Nov 11.

The two express companies announced that they will adjust delivery fees starting on Tuesday and Wednesday due to pressure from rising labor, material and transportation costs. Consumers can consult specific delivery stations to know more details.

A courier who declined to reveal his name at a delivery station of Zhongtong in Beijing's Haidian district told a reporter that he hasn't been informed of the plan yet.

"But the price wouldn't go up much even if it rises," he said.

Other domestic express companies seem to have no immediate plans to follow the trend. Leading express firm Shunfeng Express told China Daily that it hasn't received any notice and currently has no plans to raise fees.

"Apart from rising costs, another reason is that Chinese logistics firms focus more on high-quality services and consumer experience now, which should be achieved by some adjustments such as delivery fee to improve services," said Xu Yong, chief consultant for an express and logistics website.

Highlighting the fact that six leading delivery firms have all gone public, he said: "China's logistic industry tends to be more stable. Properly raising delivery fees in fact indicates that the sector is trying to move beyond price wars into a new stage."

Notably, not to be alone on Singles Day, Chinese express firms have already geared up for the shopping gala to grab a slice of the pie.

On some job-hunting websites including 58 Tongcheng, delivery companies including Zhongtong, Yunda and Shentong released recruitment notices with tempting conditions such as extra subsidies, as part of efforts to attract more staff to cope with the upcoming event.

Cainiao, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group, also said it will cooperate with delivery companies to invest 1.5 billion yuan ($220 million) to promote smart logistics and install around 20,0000 smart delivery lockers to relieve the pressure.

Chai Hua in Shenzhen and He Wei in Shanghai contributed to this story.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reportedly accused President Robert Mugabe's former spin doctor, Jonathan Moyo, of being a spy deployed by America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to destroy the ruling Zanu-PF party from within.In a leaked dossier sent to Mugabe, the embattled vice president alleges that Moyo was working closely with Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, through the Children of Zimbabwe War Veterans Association (COZWA), to destroy the ruling party from within, New Zimbabwe reports.He added that the group's leader, Munyaradzi Shoko, has attacked him and even the first lady, who he had accused of sponsoring violence."As part of Cde Kasukuwere initiative TO GAIN unmitigated control of the party, he created COZWA, an organisation led by one Munyaradzi Shoko whose acerbic tongue has left its acid on me and many others, including the First Lady Amai Dr Grace Mugabe.Shoko's background lays bare his group's sinister motives," parts of the dossier reportedly read.Both ministers are reportedly against Mnangagwa getting the country's top job.The two were believed to be leading a group of young Turks known as the "Generation 40" and backing the first lady in the hotly contested Mugabe succession battle.Reports last month said that Mnangagwa had sued Moyo for $3m on a defamation charge emanating from a widely circulated video presentation during the ruling Zanu-PF party's politburo in July.According to numerous reports on the politburo presentation, Moyo accused Mnangagwa of forcing Godfrey Majonga, a prominent journalist, to choose between sitting on a red hot stove or jumping from his flat window during an altercation about a woman in Harare in 1987.He claims Majonga chose to jump, permanently paralysing him.Subsequently to the surfacing of the accusations, the embattled vice president demanded an unreserved apology from Moyo or risk being sued for defamation.
MINSK  The China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone has been attracting investors, and the number of resident companies has more than doubled, said the head of the park's administration.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 10 companies from China, Belarus, Russia, Austria, the United States and Lithuania have become new residents of the industrial park, Alexander Yaroshenko said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"We set ourselves a goal for this year. At least 20 resident companies have come to us, ten of them have begun to actively build their facilities and at least five of them have started carrying out their work. The park is entering an active phase of development," he said.

The industrial park, also known as the Great Stone, is being built near the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The two countries have agreed to connect the park to China's Belt and Road Initiative, which runs through Asia and Europe.

In May, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko issued a decree to expand the benefits for resident companies of the park in a bid to attract more enterprises from around the world, including those from China.

According to the decree, resident companies will be exempted from a profit tax for 10 years after the first fiscal period during which they would start generating profits by selling goods or services.

Resident companies and the joint managing company will also be exempted from the land tax until June 14, 2062.

"The decree created unprecedented favorable conditions for investors to enter the industrial park. The park provides investors with almost complete exemption from taxes", Yaroshenko said.

According to Yaroshenko, under the new presidential decree, the investment threshold has been reduced from $5 million to 500,000, offering opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.

"Already now we can say that due to the lowering of the investment threshold and unprecedented business conditions in the park, guaranteed by the new decree, the interests of investors has began to grow," he said.

Currently, China-Belarus Industrial Park Development Company is negotiating with many enterprises. By the end of the year the number of residents is expected to increase to 25 at most, according to the park's administration.

"Despite a significant leap in the development of the park, we would like this process to move more dynamically, so that more high-tech enterprises would come and produce competitive products," Yaroshenko said.

Yaroshenko has seen good prospects for the development of the industrial park. The park will create new jobs and attract high-tech talent and is expected to create more than 6,000 jobs by 2020, he said.

He believes that the park will become a real city in the future. "We expect to have about 10,000 people working and living in industrial park by 2020, and more than 130,000 people by 2030," he added.

"Realization of our goal will make Great Stone a new face of the Belarusian economy and become a growth point," he said.
Hu Yi, who sells 3 million flasks to European and American markets each year with 3 million yuan in annual profits, showcases his flasks in Jinhua, East China's Zhejiang province, on June 8, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Hu Yi, a person from the post-1985 generation, has made small flasks into a big business by selling 3 million flasks to European and American markets each year, accounting for one-tenth of the world market, and his company makes 3 million yuan ($0.45 million) in annual profits in Jinhua, East China's Zhejiang province.

About 10 years ago, when Hu first inherited his family business, the stainless steel flask manufacturing company was about to go bankruptcy.

To revive the family business, Hu wrangled a $500,000 order from Russia and invested all his money into purchasing laser beam welding instruments, improving product quality and labor productivity.

Meanwhile, Hu put a lot of effort into the design of his products to increase the value of the flasks manufactured by his family enterprise, as products popular in international markets are selling to foreign brands with 1 yuan of profit each.

Hu, who studied microelectronics at university, wants to build China's own brand to not only attract more customers but also make products manufactured in China more influential in the world.

Currently, all the products of Hu's company are exported to international markets. Hu also eyes on the Chinese market, the largest in the world, saying he hoped more domestic customers could enjoy his flasks as works of art.
Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in a counting machine while a clerk counts them at a branch of a commercial bank in Beijing, March 30, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

China will inject around 10 billion yuan ($1.52 billion) over the next three years to support the development of industries involved in the Made in China 2025 strategy, a blueprint for upgrading the country's manufacturing sector, the Economic Information Daily reported Thursday.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released a budget plan to allocate special funds for major projects in the Made in China 2025 strategy last month, the Xinhua-run newspaper said.

The budget plan covers more than 100 projects in 25 industries, with each project receiving 30 million to 50 million yuan in government financing. Projects concerning core technologies will get more than 100 million yuan.

These industries include the Internet of Things, new material, high-end consumer electronics, and more. Projects under the smart home appliance category consist of the smart refrigerator, the variable frequency air-conditioner, the smart rice cooker and intelligent toilet seat covers.

Aside from central-level funding, local governments have also increased financial support for the Made in China 2025 strategy.

Since last year, the Guangzhou provincial government has invested a cumulative sum of more than 1 billion yuan toward core industries such as robotics, biomedicine, integrated circuitry and rail transit systems.

In 2015, the State Council, China's cabinet, put forward the Made in China 2025 strategy, a roadmap aimed at upgrading the country's manufacturing industry by making it smarter, more efficient and more environmentally friendly and transforming the nation into a high-end global manufacturing center.
BEIJING - The European Union's new anti-dumping rules that grant separate treatment for imports under "significant market distortions" are not in compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

The concept of "significant market distortions" is not stated in the anti-dumping rules of the WTO, said MOC spokesperson Gao Feng at a press conference.

The move is thus groundless and will harm the effectiveness of the WTO anti-dumping legal system, as it adds uncertainty to the rules' applications, Gao said.

Earlier this month the European Parliament's negotiating team and the EU ministers in Strasbourg struck an informal agreement on new investigation methods for anti-dumping, which introduced "significant market distortions" other than the "analogue country methodology" when calculating dumping margins.

The informal agreement will be put to a vote in the international trade committee on Oct 12 and by the full house at the November plenary session in Strasbourg.

In response to the US deferring its preliminary determination in the anti-dumping duty investigation of aluminum foil from China, as well as delaying a decision on China's status as a non-market economy country, Gao said the concept of "non-market economy country" also does not exist in WTO rules.

According to WTO requirements, anti-dumping investigations against imports from China under the "analogue country methodology" were banned starting Dec 11, 2016. The methodology calculates the value of products from so-called "non-market economies" using costs of production in a third country.

"All WTO members are required to keep their promises, abide by international law, and fulfill their obligations," Gao said.

The US Department of Commerce made a preliminary decision in August to slap hefty anti-dumping duties on Chinese producers and exporters of aluminum foil.

The department said it would defer issuing the preliminary determination of the investigation, including a decision on China's NME status, to no later than Nov 30, 2017.

In 2016, imports of aluminum foil from China were valued at an estimated $389 million.
China's State-owned enterprises under central government administration posted a record high net profit of 1.11 trillion yuan ($166.94 billion) from January to September, thanks to more supply-side reforms, reducing the asset-liability ratio requirement and adding curbs on capital outflow.

The nine-month profits represent a year-on-year growth of 18.4 percent, with double-digit growth each month. Among the 98 central SOEs monitored, profits of 56 grew by more than 10 percent and 31 surged by more than 20 percent, the country's top regulator of State-owned enterprises said on Thursday.

Shen Ying, chief accountant of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said central SOEs are fostering new growth engines by expanding their footprints in strategic new industries and high-tech sectors, such as digital and green economies, artificial intelligence and new energy vehicles.

The central SOEs have invested 1.7 trillion yuan into research and development so far this year, accounting for one-quarter of the country's total.

The total revenue of central SOEs amounted to 19.1 trillion yuan in the first nine months of 2017, up 15.4 percent year-on-year.

The government's goal for central SOEs of cutting 5.95 million metric tons of iron and steel overcapacity has been achieved ahead of schedule, while 23.88 million metric tons of coal overcapacity has been cut.

"A total of 2,041 'zombie companies' from 81 central SOEs have taken a turn for the better in their profits in the first half of this year. Their loss has been reduced by 88.5 billion yuan, compared with the same period of 2015," Shen said.

"Zombie companies" are economically unviable businesses, usually in industries with severe overcapacity, kept alive only with aid from the government and banks.

Shen said the government welcomes companies of all ownership types, as well as foreign companies, to participate in China's SOEs mixed-ownership reforms.

The commission is working on the third batch of SOE mixed-ownership reform pilot projects.

Up to now, 19 central SOEs in two batches have undergone mixed-ownership reforms in areas of power generation, oil and gas, railway and telecommunications. The number of central SOEs also has been reduced from 102 in July to 98 this month.

"China is resorting to SOE mergers and acquisitions to create more global powerhouses with competitive edge and to further the supply-side structural reform," said Yu Xubo, president of COFCO Corp, the country's biggest agricultural products supplier by revenue.

The group plans to see 60 percent of its revenue contributed by overseas markets by 2020 and control up to 50 million metric tons of foreign grain resources to ensure China's food security.
BYD Co Ltd is eyeing a 30 percent share of the electric-bus market in North America after expanding its manufacturing facility in the United States.

The addition of a new wing to the existing facility in Lancaster, Los Angeles County, quadruples the floor space to nearly 138,000 square meters.

It will also mean the Chinese automaker will be able to produce 1,500 electric buses a year, the equivalent of 30 percent of the total market in North America.

But that is unlikely to happen for a few years, according to Andy Swanton, vice-president at BYD Motors, the US arm of BYD.

The facility, which the company stressed is the largest of its kind in North America, also supports research and development, and assembly for BYD's electric medium-and heavy-duty trucks among other product lines.

"We have a local engineering team based in Lancaster responsible for the concept of our vehicles. We also work with our overseas engineering groups specializing in individual components," Swanton said.

"So we leverage the expertise from global engineers to design new vehicles. To date, we've developed seven individual products for North America, and that has all been led by the team in Lancaster."

The company also builds prototypes at the facility and does all the testing, validation and certifications necessary to sell products in North America.

BYD has delivered 137 electric buses in the US and Canada since 2013, including more than 75 delivered this year.

The Lancaster facility is producing an additional 300 buses based on orders.

The annual capacity before the expansion is 150 buses with a single shift, and the company will use the additional space for electric-truck production in the short term, Swanton said.

The trucks incorporate the same core components that are used in BYD buses and vehicles. By the end of the year, the company expects to deliver 70 electric trucks to 15 customers in North America, with orders for more than 140 trucks, according to Swanton.

"The electric-vehicle market in North America is here to stay, and it's growing fast. That's the reason for continued investment here in Lancaster," a BYD spokesperson said.
An Alibaba employee introduces a virtual mirror during the company's annual computing conference in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, Oct 11, 2017. [Photo by Niu Jing/For China Daily]

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd announced on Wednesday the launch of a global research academy that it hopes will join the ranks of, and potentially outrival, Bell Labs and Microsoft Research.

The investment of 100 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) over three years in the Alibaba DAMO Academy takes the internet giant one step closer to fulfilling its ambition to serve 2 billion people in two decades, said chairman Jack Ma.

During the company's annual computing conference in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Ma said the investment will help it get a head start in the internet of things, quantum computing, fintech and human-machine interaction.

At this point in the group's development, Ma said it is imperative to have a research body to solve problems facing people, economies and broader society.

"Backed by Alibaba's vast resources, the academy needs to outlive Alibaba  and ought to shoulder the responsibility to serve the whole of society," he said, adding that the academy will need to finance itself in the long run.

The name DAMO stands for "discovery, adventure, momentum and outlook". The word is often depicted in Chinese martial arts fictions as an avenue in the Shaolin Monastery where masterful monks practice skills and experience enlightenment.

The project includes opening seven new research labs in China, the United States, Russia, Israel and Singapore, recruiting related talents on top of its 25,000 engineers and scientists.

Chief Technology Officer Zhang Jianfeng will head the academy, assisted by a global advisory board that includes some of the world's technology luminaries, such as George Church, a leading light of the Human Genome Project, as well as Michael Jordan, a mastermind in artificial intelligence.

The firm will also tie-up with over 200 universities and research institutes worldwide to co-develop technologies that aim to improve the lives of technology end-users or boost business security and efficiency.

The company has spared no efforts to boost its technology arsenal. In March, it established independent research and development teams in a plan dubbed NASA to focus on foundational and disruptive technology research.

The company is particularly delving into consumer-facing solutions. Alibaba's payment affiliate Ant Financial unveiled a biometric identification technology open platform dubbed ZOLOZ, through which organizations can apply Ant's facial recognition, human-machine interaction, and other technologies to a variety of business and civic scenarios.
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has scored a point in its patent dispute in China with its rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which may weigh down on the South Korean company's business in the world's largest smartphone market, experts said.

The Patent Reexamination Board of the State Intellectual Property Office said on its official website that some of the patents involved in Samsung's lawsuit against Huawei are invalid.

Among the eight patents, five are not valid, one is partially valid and only two are valid, the office said on Sept 30.

The decision came amid mounting competition between two of the world's largest smartphone vendors. Huawei and Samsung are involved in a slate of patent disputes in China, accusing each other of violating patents related to mobile technology and design.

Of the 16 patents Samsung accused Huawei of infringing in 2016, 10 were announced to be invalid, accounting for 62.5 percent. There is still one patent awaiting a review decision from the authority, according to data compiled by Securities Daily.

Huawei and Samsung declined to comment on the story.

Li Junhui, an intellectual property expert at China University of Political Science and Law, said Samsung cannot sue Huawei with invalid patents. Part of its lawsuits will likely be revoked.

"This is a blow for Samsung's plan to defend itself in the intellectual property battlefield," Li said.

According to Li, the five invalid patents involve technology related to smartphone cameras, screens and basic telecommunication services.

The review decision also came after a Chinese court ruled in April that Samsung's Chinese subsidiaries must pay 80 million yuan ($11.6 million) to Huawei for patent infringement.

In June 2016, Huawei filed a lawsuit against Samsung's units in China, claiming that more than 20 models of the latter's smartphones and tablet products, including the flagship Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge, had infringed its patents.

One month later, Samsung sued Huawei and other companies in Beijing on accusations of patent violation, demanding 161 million yuan in compensation.

Xiang Ligang, a smartphone expert and CEO of telecom industry website Cctime, said the chances are low for Samsung to win a legal battle in China.

"Samsung is losing ground in the local smartphone market. Patent defeats will have a further negative impact on its brand image," Xiang said.

Fan Feifei contributed to this story.
A cloud computing platform jointly created by a genomics organization and Internet firms in Shenzhen is expected to reduce the time for medical workers and researchers to obtain patients' genomic data, thereby rendering medical treatment more efficient.[Photo/Asianewsphoto.com]

With artificial intelligence (AI) booming across the world, cloud computing as its supportive infrastructure enters the "golden time" for development, Economic Information Daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that the wide use of AI cannot happen without cloud computing, which helps improve efficiency hardware usage and avoid idleness and waste of the resources. And this reflects in the price: cloud computing provides the same services for 1 yuan that traditional IT companies offer for 4 yuan.

In July, the State Council, China's cabinet, issued guidelines on AI development, and AI projects and other areas related to AI, such as big data, cloud computing, quantum computing, and brain science, have also been proposed.

The guideline set three stages for AI development by 2030: catch up with the advanced global levels in AI technology and application by 2020, make major breakthroughs in basic theories by 2025, and become a global innovation center in this field by 2030. The total output value of AI industry is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan ($151.78 billion).

CNBC cited a report from Goldman Sachs earlier last month that the initial benefits of AI are expected to go to China's three large internet companies, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT), because they have substantial and unique data sets and have the right size of resources to take advantage of the technology.

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, announced in June that it plans to open data centers in India and Indonesia, sending its total number of data center locations to 17, which range from Chinese mainland, Australia, Germany, Japan, China's Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates to the United States.

At the same time, Tencent also said in April that Tencent Cloud, its cloud computing arm, will establish five more data centers this year in Silicon Valley, Frankfurt, Mumbai, Seoul and Moscow.

However, Zhong Yuanhe, head of data center of Tencent technical engineering group, said to The Paper in June that the total number of servers in data centers of BAT even misses to catch up a half size of Amazon, whose subsidiary, Amazon Web Services (AWS), provides cloud computing services to businesses.

In addition, lack of recognized standard for these data centers is another concern. Liu Song, vice-president of Alibaba Group, told Economic Information Daily that China could try to establish a standard for building a data center by referring to those of leading international enterprises and requirement of large-scale public cloud computing.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

The government has instructed the National Disability Board to present a proposal for framing a policy that deals with albinism in the country.Addressing hundreds of people during the launch of the Friends with Albinism Campaign in Harare this Wednesday, the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Patrick Zhuwao said the government is committed to put in place a policy that protects people with albinism to improve their livelihoods and eradicates discrimination.Albino Charity Organisation of Zimbabwe Executive Director, Mrs Loveness Mainato said albinos face a lot of challenges as they are sidelined in the society.People living with albinism have expressed their feeling towards the way they are being treated in their day to day lives saying it is unfair.Nearly 40 000 people in Zimbabwe are living with albinism.
Students in Red Army uniforms walk a renowned path in Jinggangshan. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily]

More than 1,684 kilometers separate Beijing and Jinggangshan, Jiangxi province, the birthplace of the Red Army - the predecessor of the People's Liberation Army - and the home of the Communist Party of China's first rural revolutionary base in the province.

It takes three hours to travel that distance by air, but more than 15 hours by train.

I was shocked by the journey time and the realization that Jinggangshan has not yet been added to the high-speed rail network, which covers almost every corner of the country.

Given the length of the journey and the popularity of online classes, I didn't understand why anyone would wish to visit the city to study CPC history.

Full of curiosity, I took the train to the China Executive Leadership Academy in Jinggangshan on the evening of Sept 18. After spending the entire night on the train and then riding a bus for 40 minutes, I arrived at the academy at noon the next day.

It was the longest rail journey I have undertaken. I shared it with Hao Rong, vice-president of the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, who was attending classes at the academy.

He didn't regard the journey to Jinggangshan as tough or inconvenient. The 46-year-old had been attending a 21-day training session at the academy, which has three teaching buildings, a library and an exercise area, but an emergency meant he had to return to Beijing, so he cut his visit short.

It was difficult to buy direct train or flight tickets, so his route home took him to Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi, from where he flew to Beijing.

"Yes, absolutely", he said when I asked if the hardship had been worth it. He added that many young people ask themselves if something is worth doing before they undertake it.

"However, judging whether something is worthwhile should lie in whether a person learns something from it, instead of a tough journey," he said. "I think young people should come to see the place before they comment on whether it is worth attending," he said.

Gu Yu, Hao's classmate, agreed, saying the best thing had been meeting and talking with descendants of revolutionary martyrs.

"That made all the training worthwhile!" the 45-year-old said. "I had read the martyrs' stories in books, but this time I felt excited, because I had face-to-face talks with their descendants," he said. "It is an innovative way to explain the Party's histories and theories, and may be easier for young people to accept."

Cai Jun, great-grandson of Zeng Zhi, a revolutionary and former vice-minister of the Organization Department of the CPC's Central Committee, said he didn't understand how his great-grandmother had helped his poor family until he visited her in Beijing in 1985.

"The tablecloth was ripped, but she hadn't thrown it away. Instead, she repaired it and continued to use it," he said. "Frugality and self-discipline were her principles. Our lives have improved, but virtue is something young people should find worth learning. Young people are the successors and future of the country, which is why it's important to explain history to them."

Hao said the academy is finding new ways of teaching younger people: "The priority is to let them visit and experience the Party's revolutionary history."

Maybe the high-speed railway will reach Jinggangshan soon, making the journey easier. However, there are more pressing priorities, according to Hao: "We need to spend more time thinking about how we can help young people understand the Party."

I agree. After all, a man who voluntarily undertakes a tough journey to understand the history of the Party and the country must be different from people who must be forced to listen.
Tens of thousands of people in eastern China participated in a charity initiative late last month to help two sick children fulfill their dreams of becoming a police officer and doctor for one day. [Ni Yanqian/for China Daily]

Tens of thousands of people in eastern China participated in a charity initiative late last month to help two sick children fulfill their dreams of becoming a police officer and doctor for one day.

Jin Qianzhe, 8, from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, was born with Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects development. His ambition is to become a policeman.

Mao Xu, 9, from Xuzhou of Jiangsu province, also has the syndrome and aspires to become a hospital professional.

The two children's aspirations attracted public attention after their family members posted them online.

To fulfill the two children's dreams, a charity organization called Childream started two months ago to coordinate public security, health and other departments, as well as residential communities in Hangzhou, to stage an "accident" that would allow the children to fill their wanted roles.

On the morning of Sept 28, three roads were sealed off, a dozen police cars helped clear the way and tens of thousands of people as well as hundreds of private cars took part in the event.

Jin helped direct traffic at the scene with a real officer and Mao helped rescue someone "injured" in the accident. Both were dressed in tailor-made uniforms.

"Please walk through the zebra crossing," Jin told a pedestrian. "Stop! Please let the pedestrians pass the road first," he said to a driver.

Before taking up their positions, both children were given special training, including the proper hand gestures for directing traffic, how to deal with traffic accidents, as well as techniques for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and putting on a drip.

Xu Wenjun, an employee of Childream who played the role of someone injured in the accident, said he was tired after lying down on the wet ground for half an hour with his body daubed with ketchup, but he was glad to make the two children happy.

"We released the road closure notice and its reason one day ahead," he said on Tuesday. "Everyone was very supportive. In addition to the residents and volunteers living nearby, many others arrived in their private cars from other areas to help with the activity."

Lu Yingzhi, Jin's mother, said she was touched by the warmth of the city and the day would become the most precious memory of her family.

Qiu Zhaofang, Mao's mother, said that as a mother of a child with a rare disease, her biggest wish was to see her son live cheerfully and she was very glad that the initiative made him happy.

In newborns with Prader-Willi syndrome, symptoms include weak muscles, poor feeding and slow development.

As patients grow up, they become constantly hungry, which often leads to obesity and diabetes. There is also typically mild to moderate intellectual impairment and behavioral problems.
Different uniforms and look, but same smile and professionalism. A series of combo photos of today's students from Sichuan Southwest Vocational College of Civil Aviation posing just like the flight attendants in the 1970s went viral recently. Here is a look at the two generations's unchanged dream to fly high in the sky.

Two students (R) from Sichuan Southwest Vocational College of Civil Aviation pose just like two flight attendants in the 1970s sitting on a plane emergency slide, in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, Oct 10, 2017. [Photo/VCG]
Longtime residents witness change, but say country poised for even more

Longtime foreign residents in the Gubei area, one of Shanghai's largest expat communities, said they have witnessed marvelous changes in the district and its local citizens the past few years, changes that might be difficult to find elsewhere.

These residents are among the first group of expats to settle into their second homes in Shanghai, as the Gubei area, which is between the city center and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, was formed as the first large-scale international community of high standard in the country in mid-1990s.

Michelle Teope of the Philippines said the area, as well as the country at large, has changed dramatically in the 17 years since she arrived.

"The country's transformation in economic strength and cultural diversity has, in turn, changed the way I live as well as that of all the other individuals and families," she said.

Teope is chairwoman of a volunteer organization formed by expats in the Gubei area and dedicated to raising money for children with congenital heart disease, so they can receive surgery. She said the most obvious change is that the local community shows more enthusiasm for charity.

"We have 40 volunteers, and in the past five years we had 10 Chinese joining us for the first time," said Teope, 55. The group, Beacon of Love, has raised enough since 2002 to provide surgeries for 350 children from the Chinese mainland, each costing about 30,000 yuan ($4,550).

Sachiko Ozaki shared Teope's feeling. The Japanese housewife, who moved to Shanghai 16 years ago with her husband and 2-year-old son, is a member of a group of Japanese women who hold a charity bazaar and donate the money to schools in impoverished inland regions.

"The bazaar first came into being 20 years ago, but it was only in recent years that local residents started to become interested," said Ozaki, 48. "My fellows have a common feeling that Chinese are becoming more and more passionate for charity programs."

Teope said how people give also has changed. "Local influential internet companies, such as Tencent and Sina, have set up charity platforms where people can publish verified information of a family in need and internet users can donate money online."

Ozaki said the changes she witnessed in Shanghai in the past five years were faster than what she ever found in Tokyo, where she comes from.

"Shanghai people are increasingly open-minded to internationalization. Their foreign travels are becoming more frequent and their English skills and fashion taste are getting better," she said.

The expats said they looked forward to the upcoming 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China to further steer the country's development.

"The Belt and Road Initiative, which I understand as a way to share wealth and distribute benefits, and China's high-speed bullet trains will bring China new developments and global influence," Teope said.
Joining national initiatives key to future, chief executive says

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor steps up to deliver her first Policy Address on Wednesday. [Photo by ROY LIU/CHINA DAILY]

Innovation and youth development were central pillars of Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's first Policy Address on Wednesday as she laid out her ambitions for the special administrative region.

Lam said she envisioned Hong Kong becoming an "international innovation and technology hub" and creating high-end jobs.

In pursuit of economic diversity, Lam encouraged the people of Hong Kong to join in the national-level Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development plan and take advantage of opportunities they present.

In the 33,000-word address, the words "innovation", "technology" and "technologies" appeared a total of at least 150 times, topping the list of policy-related words. Also high on the list were "young" (people/generation/talent) and "youngsters". Those words appeared 55 times in the Policy Address.

"To sustain these favorable trends for our economy, diversifying is the only solution," Lam said, adding that she believed it will not only bolster economic growth but also create quality employment opportunities for Hong Kong's young people.

For Hong Kong to catch up in the race to become an international innovation and technology hub, Lam vowed to double the gross domestic expenditures on research and development as a percent of GDP from the current 0.73 percent to 1.5 percent by 2022.

Although the figure still lags behind regional competitors - Singapore at 2.19 percent, Taiwan at 3 percent and South Korea at 4.29 percent - this is the first time Hong Kong has set its own target.

Lam also said she will personally lead an interdepartmental committee on innovation and technology to steer future development, and she announced measures such as setting aside no less than HK$10 billion ($1.3 billion) for university research funding, offering tax incentives to innovative companies and investing HK$700 million into Hong Kong's Smart City development.

Lam stressed the importance of Hong Kong's participation in the Belt and Road and Bay Area development.

She said a Bay Area development office will be set up for coordination with various government agencies.

Regarding the city's ever-escalating property prices, Lam announced a "starter homes" program to help young and first-time homebuyers get on the housing ladder. The so-called sandwich class - people who earn too much to qualify for government-subsidized apartments but still cannot afford private housing - will benefit from it.

She also vowed to expand the subsidized housing schemes for the city's public housing tenants.

The address received wide support. Lo Wai-kwok, chairman of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong, said it showed Lam's determination to fulfill her promises.

Starry Lee Wai-king, chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, called it a bold commitment to improve people's livelihoods.

The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce said in a news release on Wednesday that it welcomes the pragmatic and inclusive proposals.


SHANGHAI -- A Shanghai university has opened China's first international negotiations school to train the country's future trade negotiators.

The Shanghai University of International Business and Economics Wednesday inaugurated the trade talk school and the China institute for World Trade Organization (WTO) studies.

The honorary dean of the school is Zhou Hanmin, a renowned national political advisor and law expert based in Shanghai.

The school will produce graduates in five areas -- national representatives specializing in bilateral or regional agreement negotiations, national representatives for multilateral negotiations in international organizations, negotiators employed by international organizations, international dispute mediators and arbitrators, as well as lawyers specializing in international law.

Sixteen years after China joined WTO, the country has transformed from a mere follower of international trade rules to one of the rule makers, Zhou said.

"China urgently needs professional talent with a global vision, who are familiar with China's national conditions and adept in foreign languages, international rules and negotiation skills," he said.

There are 450 Chinese employees in organizations affiliated to the United Nations, accounting for only 1 percent of the total employees, and many of them only hold entry-level positions.

Zhou said the trade talk school will cooperate with the China institute for WTO studies to jointly nurture a team of Chinese experts in international negotiations.
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HONG KONG -- Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has outlined plans to help people of different means become home owners.

In her maiden policy address on Wednesday, Lam said meeting the public's housing needs is the government's top priority and the government has an indispensable role to play in the provision of adequate housing.

She said the government will introduce a "Starter Homes" scheme for middle-class families.

The initial plan is to incorporate provisions into the land lease to require developers to build not only private units, but also a specified number of "Starter Homes" units, she said.

Those eligible to buy "Starter Homes" must be local residents who have lived in Hong Kong for at least seven years and have never owned any property here.

Their income ceiling will be set at not exceeding 34,000 HK dollars ($4,356) a month for singletons and 68,000 HK dollars for households of two or more members.

Details on the scheme will be finalized in the middle of next year and a pilot scheme will be launched by the end of next year to provide about 1,000 units.

On the short-term ways to increase housing supply, Lam said the government will optimize the use of idle government premises to provide units for the needy at an affordable rent.

Noting the Green Form Subsidized Home Ownership Scheme (GSH) can help the better-off public housing tenants move up the housing ladder and vacate their units for the needy, Lam said she has asked the Housing Authority to consider regularizing the scheme and offer more GSH flats for sale.

The GSH is a scheme to sell certain apartments at affordable prices to tenants of public housing so that the tenants can turn into home owners.
BEIJING -- Kong Guangsheng, one of China's most wanted fugitives, returned to the Chinese mainland and turned himself in to the police Thursday, according to the anti-corruption authority.

Kong, former general manager of Shengli Oilfield Qingdao Petroleum Industrial Co Ltd, was suspected of embezzlement and fled to Hong Kong in 2012, according to a statement released by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

In April 2015, Interpol issued a Red Notice listing 100 economic fugitives wanted by China. Many of the fugitives are former government staff or employees of state-owned enterprises.

Kong is the 48th fugitive from the list to return.
BEIJING - China has launched a pilot program to ensure every criminal defendant has access to a defense lawyer for their trial.

The Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice jointly released a document Wednesday which stipulates that if a defendant has not retained a lawyer himself/herself, the court should inform legal assistance agencies to appoint a defence counsel for the defendant.

At present, a defense lawyer is only mandatory for juveniles and defendants with certain physical or mental disabilities, or in cases where the defendants face life imprisonment or death penalty sentences.

According to the document, if the appellate court finds that a defendant has not been allocated a defense lawyer due to the court's failure to correctly inform legal assistance agencies, the original ruling should be revoked and the case should be sent back for a retrial.

The document also guaranteed financial assistance for the services.

It required lawyers to be diligent in their work and improve the quality of their defense services.

The pilot program, which will run for one year, was launched in eight provincial-level regions -- Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui, Henan, Guangdong, Sichuan and Shaanxi.
Preparing teens for their futures with soft skills Businesses of every size and industry continue to identify labor shortages as a top challenge  across the country and...

Where to find non-partisan ballot information Thank you for your non-biased bullet points explaining the three state ballot proposals in "A look at the three state...
In an era when people rarely write letters, a group of college students in Zhejiang province have built close links with left-behind children in a remote middle school by writing letters to each other.

The letter writing is part of the "dolphin initiative" launched in 2016 by Xu Jing, a psychology teacher with Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

Xu, who is also a psychology mentor with Dishui (Water Drop) Charity, launched the program after learning of the negative effects the lack of parental guidance have had on the left-behind children in a middle school in Guanling Buyi and Miao autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Guizhou province.

After talking with junior students in Guansuo Middle School, Xu discovered that they lacked care and emotional connections because most of the students' parents had left home to work outside the prefecture.

"We thought of providing the children a channel to share their troubles and learn more about the outside world," Xu told thepaper.cn.

At first, she tried to address the problem by sending psychology instructors to help the children, which proved not so successful and inconsistent.

Then, Xu came up with the idea of letting college students communicate with the left-behind children, because they had just gone through the age of the middle school students and had a lot in common with them, she said.

Under the call of the Mental Health Association of the university, 40 freshmen were selected in November 2016 to be paired with the left-behind children in Guansuo Middle School, which is nearly 2,000 kilometers away. They were nicknamed "dolphin brothers" and "dolphin sisters".

The "dolphin brothers and sisters" are required to communicate with the left-behind students by writing a letter to each other every month for three years.

Xie Guiying is one "dolphin sister". She said she usually uses instant messaging platforms such as WeChat and QQ to socialize and it is easy to alter the contents she puts in the digital platforms. "But when I write letters, I have to think carefully and express my thoughts completely," said Xie.

"I look forward to receiving the reply (from my pen pal) each month, it's an anxious and wonderful process," said Xie.

She said that at the beginning the boy she exchanges letter with was reserved, and only talked about his academic performance and relations with classmates.

But after months of communication, he started to tell Xie about his family conditions and how he missed his parents and wanted them to come back home to be with him.

"I can well understand what the boy feels since I was a left-behind child when I was a kid. So I shared with him my experiences," Xie said. "Now the boy even cares for me, asks what troubles me and amuses me. I can feel the changes that have taken place in him," she said.

Some of the left-behind students also ask their pen friends personal questions such as relationship. And when the "dolphin sisters and brothers" face difficulties, they turn to psychology mentors for help.

"The kids used to be shy and did not know how to express their feelings. But this year, a kid made a phone call to his father on the Father's Day. And the students of the class even bought me a cake and decorated the classroom to celebrate my birthday," said a teacher surnamed Wang in the Guansuo Middle School.

Xu Jing said the initiative is mutually beneficial.

"The college students used to be pampered children at home. This activity enables them to learn how to care for others and think for others," the teacher said.

"Many participants now pay more attention to their studies and even learn new knowledge voluntarily to set a good example for their pen friends," she said.
Beijing has invested 18.96 billion yuan ($2.88 billion) in a fund for poor counties since 2012, helping to lift 1.7 million people out of poverty, it was announced on Wednesday.

Ma Xinming, director of the Beijing Aid and Cooperation Office, released the figures at a seminar on the capital's poverty relief work attended by 110 representatives, including officials, scholars and entrepreneurs.

Beijing provides assistance to 78 counties in eight provincial areas, including the Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions and Qinghai province, Ma said.

The capital has established 2,650 poverty relief projects in partner counties since 2012, with donations reaching 400 million yuan, he said.

Some 1,442 experts from different professions have also been sent out to develop poverty stricken areas, while 16,640 people from partner counties have attended training programs in Beijing, he added.

Zhang Yi contributed to this story.
An exhibition celebrating the upcoming 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is admired by visitors at the National Museum on Thursday. The painting shows Xu Liping and his team of technicians processing propellant for the nation's ballistic missiles. WANG JING / CHINA DAILY

Xi, while praising progress of past five years, warns of complacency

When looking back over the past five years, changes in all aspects of Chinese society have occurred in such a gradual, steady manner that sometimes they may not be so conspicuous.

But the upcoming 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which starts on Wednesday, offers a chance to review what the nation has achieved under the leadership of the Party and General Secretary Xi Jinping.

At the congress, Xi, also president of China, is expected to deliver a report on the committee's work in the past five years and to present the future direction of the Party and country.

"Our people have an ardent love for life. They desire better education, stable jobs, higher income, reliable social security, trustworthy healthcare, improved housing conditions and a nicer environment. They want their children to be healthy, to have good jobs and to lead better lives. The Party will strive to meet their wishes," Xi promised on Nov 15, 2012, when he was elected top Party leader.

The Party and Xi himself have honored these pledges by maintaining China on a correct and rapid development track.

"We have resolved a great number of tough problems the Party had wished to resolve but had been unable to do so. We have realized many grand projects the Party had aspired to undertake but had seen no completion," the general secretary said at a key Party meeting on July 26.

The achievements have been hard won. The Party and its members, numbering more than 89 million, constantly work to make sure the people have a better life and China sees a great rejuvenation.

Happier and healthier

Groups of people exercising outdoors at night continue to swell in Chinese cities. This is, to a great extent, because the air is cleaner. In 2016, average concentrations of PM2.5  tiny, harmful particulate matter  fell by at least 30 percent in major cities compared with 2013, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said.

Water quality in lakes and rivers and soil conditions are improving, with grasslands and forests continuing to expand.

People also have seen progress in other facets of life. Incomes keep rising and more jobs are being created; food safety is no longer a concern to many people; education is getting more support and is more accessible to every child regardless of background; almost all of the public are covered by social security, and they find it easier to get medical service at a lower cost; new housing is more affordable for low-income families.

A symbol of China's public infrastructure, railway networks  especially high-speed lines  have been extended rapidly. The country has more than 22,000 kilometers of high-speed lines, accounting for 60 percent of the world's total high-speed railways.

The progress flows from comprehensive reforms the Party has been implementing under Xi's instructions in the political, social, economic, cultural and military spheres.

One of the most remarkable advances is taking place in rural areas. Nearly 70 million people in underdeveloped regions, mostly in the northwest and southwest, have been lifted out of poverty.

Poverty alleviation is a top priority on the Party's agenda. Xi has visited all of the 14 regions with high concentrations of the poor since he was sworn in five years ago, and the Party's central leadership has made a solemn pledge to eliminate poverty in China by the end of 2020.

To make sure that reforms stay on track and goals are achieved, the Party and Xi also are striving to get rid of two outstanding hindrances  corruption and bureaucracy.

In the past five years, over 280 officials directly under the management of the CPC Central Committee's organization department, most at or above ministerial level, were deprived of their titles, given internal punishment or sent to prison for graft or other misconduct. They included former senior leaders Zhou Yongkang and Ling Jihua as well as former military commanders Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou.

Stronger and mightier

Xi puts great importance on innovation in science and technology, emphasizing that it determines the further growth of the economy and even the future of the nation.

In the past five years, the country launched two manned space missions, with the most recent lasting over a month. Astronauts conducted dozens of scientific experiments inside the space laboratories. Scientists sent an exploratory rover to the moon and are preparing for a mission that will bring lunar samples back to Earth. They are also planning robotic explorations of Mars and Jupiter.

In the field of supercomputing, China's Sunway TaihuLight is the world's fastest system, capable of performing 93 quadrillion calculations per second.

The nation's aircraft designers have built the C919, a large, advanced jetliner that represents their aspiration to compete with Boeing and Airbus in the most sophisticated industrial field, airliner production.

In the military sphere, the People's Liberation Army is undergoing the biggest and deepest overhaul in decades.

Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, is personally directing the far-reaching reform, which aims to make the PLA stronger, more integrated and more flexible so it will always be able to win modern wars.

The senior governing bodies of the world's largest military have been reshuffled  including the Central Military Commission  to optimize the command chain. Regional command systems were reorganized to boost joint combat ability. Group armies and institutions were merged to improve efficiency, and new high-technology units were set up to prepare for nontraditional fields such as cyberspace. Soldiers now spend more time in combat training and live-fire exercises.

The PLA, benefiting from strengthened efforts in research and development, has added some of the world's top weaponry, including the J-20 stealth fighter jet and DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile.

Farsighted, sober-minded

While Xi has praised the Party's advances, he also is fully aware of obstacles and challenges. The president often tells officials to remain sober-minded and to understand unsolved difficulties.

Speaking at the July 26 Party meeting, Xi asked officials to keep in mind that "China is still in the primary stage of socialism and there still are many challenges and difficulties in the way ahead", adding that they should always maintain a sense of crisis.

Yan Shuhan, a researcher of socialist systems at the CPC Central Committee Party School, said as the Party continues to fulfill its goals, problems and unexpected difficulties may continue to emerge.

"Therefore, Xi's reminding officials to be aware of challenges and difficulties is necessary and important," he said. "Officials mustn't become complacent about existing accomplishments and need to go on studying new things and new problems."

Professor Tao Wenzhao, a researcher on socialism with Chinese characteristics at Renmin University of China, said one of the reasons the Party has been so successful is that it has always been aware of its circumstances.

"Officials must always take disadvantages and the likelihood of unexpected situations into consideration. ... This is crucial to whether the Party can meet its goals," Tao said.
Christian Poirot works on an oil painting in Nanjing. [Cui Xiao/For China Daily]

NANJINGFrench oil painter Christian Poirot is visiting Nanjing, Jiangsu province, the city whose tragic wartime history inspired him to create a new series of works.

"Honestly, in the past, I knew nothing about the Nanjing Massacre or the history of forced comfort women during the Japanese invasion of China in World War II," the 56-year-old artist said. So-called comfort women were sex slaves for the Japanese military.

As he traveled through Nanjing several years ago, a friend told him that 300,000 Chinese people had been murdered after the city fell into Japanese hands. He was shocked, and decided to express his feelings in a painting.

In December 2015, he donated a painting measuring 7.5 meters wide by 2.4 meters tall to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

The painting depicts scenes of violence that occurred during the 1937-38 massacre, confronting viewers with the bloody ordeal suffered by the victims.

Poirot visited Nanjing again in September and worked out of a museum built on the former site of a "comfort women" station at Liji Lane in Nanjing to create a series of works based on those events. He made three paintings there.

In one painting, miserable-looking women wait for examination while the corpses of others are piled on the ground.

"My heart was deeply touched when I looked at historical photos of comfort women at the museum. Depicting the bitterness of their tortured lives is my tribute to those women who still live with painful memories. I hope the work will be a call for peace for humankind," Poirot said.

He said he would continue the comfort women series after he returns to France.

Poirot plans to donate the paintings to the memorial hall before Dec 13 to coincide with the commemoration of China's national memorial day for victims in the massacre.

Poirot, who is well-known around the world for his oil paintings, was granted honorary citizenship of the city of Nanjing in 2015.

Xinhua
By Li Wenfang in Guangzhou and Wang Xiaodong in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2017-10-13 06:54

A hospital in Guangzhou opened China's first 3-D printing laboratory for cardiovascular medicine on Wednesday, with the facility expected to provide help in diagnosis, surgery preparation and realtime surgical guidance.

The lab at Guangdong General Hospital, a joint project with a company in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, was established to promote the clinical applications to further development the technology.

About 6.7 million structural heart disease patients in China need surgery, with the disease featuring a wide range of individual differences, complex treatment plans and difficult surgeries, according to Zhuang Jian, the hospital's president and an expert in cardiovascular medicine.

The hospital's affiliated Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute has made 3-D printed models for 28 patients with congenital heart disease.

In treating a 2-year-old child in September, for example, the 3-D printed model helped doctors identify the exact cause of the disease and helped reduce the time to find four tiny lung-related airway structures from the usual two to three hours to 30 minutes.

The printed heart models are based on imaging examination results, with the whole heart and specific areas available.

The models also aid communication with patients' families, showing them the situation and the surgical plan.

Models printed with hard materials are used for teaching; those with soft materials assist in the treatment of patients.

As a short-term goal, the lab hopes to use the models to assist in diagnosis, surgical guidance and clinical treatments involving blood flow.

In the medium term, it hopes to be able to print tailor-made items for transplantation. In the long run, it hopes to produce artificial hearts using cell cultures as the 3-D material.

The hospital also plans to build a bank of 3-D models of various heart disease cases, which can help with teaching, Zhuang said.

Zheng Zhe, assistant president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences' Fuwai Hospital, and an expert in cardiovascular diseases, said the present cardiovascular models printed with 3-D technology are mostly used for teaching.

"3-D models make teaching easier than with pictures alone," he said. "But most models are not detailed enough for clinical use."

For the present, experienced doctors can give good diagnoses of cardiovascular diseases with 3-D images displayed on a computer, he said.

Whether 3-D models will become popular will be largely decided by the materials used in the printing, he said, adding that models made of cells will be much more useful.
Jiang Yan doesn't stand out from the crowd of tens of thousands of blue collar workers in the northeastern industrial hub of Shenyanghome to major petrochemical, machinery, traffic equipment and tool factoriesexcept for adornments like the pearl stud earrings she wears to work.

Jiang, 44, is the deputy chief engineer at the design institute of Shenyang Blower Works Group Corp in Liaoning province.

She became a delegate of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China due to her achievements and contributions to the design of China's first large-scale ethylene compressor.

Born in 1973, she graduated with a bachelor's degree from Shenyang University of Chemical Technology in 1997 and joined the SBW Group.

The timing couldn't have been better. It was the beginning of China's economic boom and there was a huge demand for ethylene, a key component of plastics and one of most used chemical products in the world. It accounts for more than 70 percent of petrochemical products.

But at the time only a few companies, from the United States and Germany, could produce the heavy equipment used to process ethylene. "This meant costly and long delivery times for domestic companies. It was a huge chance and a huge challenge for us," recalled Liu Shengming, SBW's publicity department manager.

Jiang found her place in designing the equipment domestically. She seized all opportunities to learn from senior engineers and international counterparts.

"Her understanding of theories might not have been the best in the class, but she was definitely the most hardworking student," one of her college instructors recalled.

After three years, in 2000, she successfully designed the country's first compressor capable of producing 1 million metric tons of ethylene a year.

This helped SBW win a package of petrochemical projects in Beijing; Wuhan, Hubei province; and Zhenhai, Zhejiang province.

"This not only gained the company economic success but also made a significant contribution to China's economic security," said Li Kai, a professor at Northeastern University's School of Economics and Management in Shenyang. "Jiang is a valuable national asset."

Jiang then became a model for the company and city and was praised as the representative of the spirit of craftsmanship.

Despite the honor, Jiang remains humble. She always reminds herself to maintain a realistic, down-to-earth attitude.

"I'm not a smart person," she said. "So I always work hard and respect my duty."

Public records show that SBW serves nearly all domestic petrochemical enterprises and has branched into the international market in Iran, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Though the interviews at Shiye lasted just one day, my impression about its residents and environment lasted longer.

To be honest, as a woman growing up in cities, I didn't mind visiting such a peaceful and beautiful island.

The feeling of the humid wind coming from the Yangtze River touching my cheeks, the clucking hens that lay eggs in straw piles and the sweet aromas of fruits on trees seemed fresh and felt good. The yards where they grow of flowers are extremely attractive.

The residents dress like millions of farmers in other rural areas of China. They don't have too much money, but they don't have to have too much. They greet strangers with smiles and live peaceful lives on the small island.

Wei Dingyu, the first farmer I met on the island, said that the exemption of medical expenses has greatly relieved his burden. Wei, whose hair has grayed over the years, lives on the subsistence allowance given by the government.

"Like many seniors, I have some diseases and have to go to hospitals frequently. I'm the man to blame for that, because I didn't exercise much when I was young. But in those years, I had to spend almost all my time in the fields to be the family's bread-earner."

Wei said he now has the cell numbers of doctors he can consult with, but he tries not to call when they get off work. He also can see doctors from downtown hospitals that visit the health center every week.

Each chronic disease patient in the township has his or her appointed doctor. The doctors teach patients how to monitor blood pressure and blood sugar at home and to record the data in the remote monitoring system.

Wei said his grandson, with whom he lives, has been admitted to college and that life will be easier and happier for him in the future.

"Another advantage to living in villages is that neighbors will help you as much as they can. It's good to live here."

The house of Hong Jiayong, surrounded by green trees and bordering a clean river, is the dream home for many people. He showed me and my colleagues around and impressed us with the beauty of his house and his smile.

He kept an album inside that holds photos of President Xi Jinping with his family members.

Hong said the president asked about their daily lives and he added that Xi knows about their lives and cares about them.

"Our lives here are peaceful, and peaceful is good," he said.

He said the island is planning to grow more types of melons, fruits and flowers to develop tourism. Maybe in the near future, visitors can enjoy the island as the locals do, even just for a while.
BEIJING -- China attaches great importance to the development of its relations with Germany and is willing to work with Germany to advance all-round cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday.

Xi made the remarks when exchanging congratulatory messages with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-Germany diplomatic relations.

China and Germany are all-round strategic partners, Xi said. Over the past 45 years, their relations have witnessed rapid progress, their cooperation has expanded in breadth and depth, and the two peoples have got to know each other and their friendship has deepened, he added.

In his congratulatory message, Steinmeier said Germany-China relationship is dynamic and it has become ever-closer all-round strategic partnership with an eye to long-term development.

Germany is willing to work with China to deepen and expand the mutually beneficial and win-win cooperative partnership, he said.
China is a giant that has moved with great ease and has achieved the type of success few other countries have, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua has said.

Pakistan can learn from the hard work and the commitment from its "iron brother", she said, as she hailed China's "amazing development".

"With a population the size that China has, it's difficult for that kind of leap forward to be made," she said. "China has made that leap. We congratulate its leadership and people for that."
President of the European Council Donald Tusk listens at a news conference during the European Union Tallinn Digital Summit in Tallinn, Estonia, September 29, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

BRUSSELS - European Union Council President Donald Tusk said Brexit negotiations will not move to the next stage before December at the earliest, not later this month, as Britain was hoping.

Tusk bemoaned on Tuesday the slow pace of negotiations on the divorce proceedings with London and said it was still far too early to move to the next phase of planning a new trade relationship because the initial breakup talks have yet to reach "sufficient progress".
FRANKFURT - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron opened the 69th Frankfurt Book Fair on Tuesday evening.

With around 200 French authors coming to Frankfurt, France is this year's guest of honor at the international publishing industry's biggest trade event, where more than 7,300 exhibitors from 102 countries and regions as well as around 278,000 visitors are expected.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Merkel and Macron underlined the close cultural connection of both countries - despite controversies.
NAIROBI - Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday pulled out of a scheduled presidential rerun and demanded fresh elections in the next three months.

Odinga defended his decision to withdraw from the Oct 26 polls along with his running mate, Kalonzo Musyoka, saying the decision is in Kenya's interest and is "a win-win for everyone".

"Our withdrawal from the election requires the IEBC to cancel the election and to conduct fresh nominations," he said, referring to the Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission.
The project that diverts water from the Yellow River for irrigation in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region [Photo/CCTV]

Three ancient Chinese irrigation works have been recognized as Heritage Irrigation Structures (HIS) by the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) in Mexico City, bringing the total number of HIS structures in China to 13.

The project to divert water from the Yellow River for irrigation in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region started in the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC) and the canals covered more than 1,280 kilometers in accumulated length.

Three weirs built in Hanzhong city in Shaanxi province also have a history of more than 2,000 years.

The Huang Ju irrigation project in Ningde city, Fujian province, was named after Sui Dynasty (581618 AD) official Huang Ju and includes two irrigation systems.

To be considered for HIS recognition, structures or facilities need to fulfill strict criteria, including being more than 100 years old. The objectives of recognition include tracing the history of and understanding the evolution of irrigation in civilizations across the world, and preserving these historical irrigation structures.

At the International Executive Council meeting of the ICID in Mexico City, HIS plaques for the three projects were presented to Chinese representatives.

China previously had 10 HIS irrigation projects, including the Dongfeng Weir built in the early years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
French sinologist Marie-Claire Quiquemelle (right) accompanies visitors look at items on display at exhibition Traditional Costumes of Ethnic People in Guizhou in Paris on Oct 10, 2017. She donated part of her collection to the exhibition. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

A new exhibition is underway at the China Cultural Center in Paris, offering a glimpse of ethnic costumes and crafting techniques in Southwest China's Guizhou province.

The exhibit, titled Traditional Costumes of Ethnic People in Guizhou, showcases nearly 200 items of traditional costumes and handicrafts, covering clothes, embroidery pieces and silver accessories. The age-old dressing culture of the mountainous area, known for ethnic groups such as the Miao, Tong, Buyi and Yao peoples, is narrated with scripts, photo and video shows.

Yan Zhenquan, head of the China Cultural Center in Paris, said the exhibition is aimed at "presenting the costume culture of China's ethnic groups and at the same time, helping raise more attention to protection of cultural heritages of the ethnic people."

Anne Marie, a local visitor impressed by the exquisite textiles, said, "I've seen embroidery works in many museums in Europe, but never such fine ones. These are so extraordinary that I just want to call them China's 'Yves Saint Laurent'!"

The exhibition runs through Nov 25.
Statues of Buddhist arhats dating from China's Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) are seen at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the United States, on Oct 11, 2017. Freer Gallery of Art, together with its adjacent sister museum, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, both part of the Smithsonian national museums and host to some best Asian art collections in the world, will launch a week-long reopening celebration from Saturday night. The galleries are revitalized after a nearly two-year renovation. [Photo/Xinhua]

Galleries revitalized, exhibitions reimagined, infrastructure upgraded, Asia now meets America again with fanfare in the first Asian art museum in Washington D.C. following a nearly two-year renovation.

Freer Gallery of Art, together with its adjacent sister museum, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, both part of the Smithsonian national museums and host to some best Asian art collections in the world, will launch a week-long reopening celebration from Saturday night.

"I am excited to finally open the doors to the public and reintroduce our visitors to the museum," Julian Raby, Director of Freer and Sackler Galleries, said on Wednesday.

"What began as a prosaic need to update mechanical systems in the Freer allowed us to reinstate this building to Freer's pristine vision," he said in a press preview.

"The Sackler is as playful, as theatrical, as the Freer is calm and contemplative. One provides a moment of hush, the other a rush," he noted, adding the renovated galleries "will encourage you to indulge in 'slow looking', to lose yourself in a reverie...to feel yourself refreshed like the doe at the fountain."

In his reopening speech, Ruby, who will retire next year after 15 years at Smithsonian, also highlighted the museums' efforts to promote a shared sense of beauty across different peoples and build up connections between Asia, America and the world.

Among the packed reopening programs are a grand outdoor weekend IlluminAsia festival of food, music and performance, a presentation of an animated artwork called "A Perfect Harmony" which will transform the Freer's facade into a vast canvas, as well as several long-anticipated art showcases with themes spanning from cats in ancient Egypt to bells in ancient China.

One of the major exhibitions, titled "Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice across Asia," will take visitors to linger at a Sri Lankan stupa, travel with an eight-century Korean monk, and discover remarkable Buddhist artworks from China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan.

"Here we can stand in awe at the varied imagination of people from another time and another place, and we can, like Freer, realize that for all the differences there was, there is a common urge for and often a shared vision of, beauty," he said.

The Freer was shut down in 2015 to refresh galleries so as to evoke their original neoclassical aesthetic and improve the visitor experience by improving infrastructure and digital access. The Sackler has been closed since July for a refresh of its galleries.

The Freer, founded in 1923 as the first Smithsonian museum to be dedicated to the fine arts, was joined by the Sackler in 1987.

Together they comprise the two national museums of Asian art in the United States, featuring more than 40,000 Asian artworks, with especially fine collections of Islamic art, Chinese jades, bronzes and paintings, and the art of the ancient Near East.
A woman leaves flowers at a makeshift memorial on the Las Vegas Strip for victims of the Route 91 music festival mass shooting next to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, US October 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

The mass shooting in Las Vegas has prompted broad discussion, both in the United States and the rest of the world, on gun control. In the US the constitutional right to gun ownership has become the enabler of the indiscriminative killing of innocent people. Claims that "guns don't kill people, people do" only serve to draw attention to the fundamental issue, which is the deadly potentiality of people with guns.

Discussing the mass shootings in the US requires an understanding of several key factors. Behind the widespread gun ownership in the US is the Anglo-American militia tradition and an attachment to Lockean liberalism. Gun rights in the US are often justified as being a "defense against tyranny." According to this notion of the state of nature, freedom is thorough and comprehensive, but at the expense of order and security, which are compromised.

The disagreements over gun control and gun ownership, and whether the latter is a collective or individual right, indicate tremendous tensions between Lockean liberalism and Rousseauian republicanism.

The Second Amendment, which provides the right to bear arms, was a collective right in the Anglo-American militia tradition, and a constitutional arrangement for states to organize militias to check the powers of the central government. It does not prioritize the individual's right to arm him or herself. However, the ambiguous wording of the Second Amendment has rendered it very difficult to reach a consensus on the specific nature of such a right, resulting in much heated debate over the past 200 years. However, the Supreme Court's rights-centered jurisprudence changed everything. Because of its rulings on the matter in 2008 and 2011, gun ownership has become a fundamental individual right that neither federal nor state governments can restrict.

Francis Fukuyama coined the term "vetocracy" to summarize US constitutional politics, which are characterized by the separation of powers, as well as partisan politics and the influence of interest groups and the mass media. Several different groups in the US have the power to effectively if not literally veto a piece of legislation, thus blocking any change. This happens especially with gun control. Most importantly, the Supreme Court's rulings have constrained federal and state governments' room to maneuver, greatly reducing the effectiveness of political action.

Gun ownership was originally meant to counter tyranny. However, it is the Constitution's system of checks and balances as well as other basic rights stipulated in the Bill of Rights, rather than gun ownership per se, that have guaranteed freedom and democracy in the US. Democracy is not "armed peace" between the people and their government, but rather the former's "institutionalized supervision" over the latter. The natural link between guns and constitutional politics has weakened. In the meantime, gun ownership is increasingly associated with violence in society.

The US is a country of immigrants. It would not have remained at the forefront of world culture and technology without being a melting pot for global talent. Frequent shooting incidents, however, have seriously damaged the soft power of US culture and institutions, undermined immigrants' sense of safety and their confidence in the capabilities of the government. When the government fails to effectively control gun violence, the specter of individuals arming themselves and a "war of all against all" can only grow.

The right to bear arms has already lost its significance as a means to counter tyranny, and has instead become a weakness threatening US democratic institutions and security. Modernizing governance is not only a question for developing countries, but also one for developed nations like the US.

The author is an associate professor at the Law School of Beihang University

Source: chinausfocus.com
SHI YU/CHINA DAILY

Over the last decade, China has been working to shift from a manufacturing-led growth model fueled by low-cost labor to an innovation-led, higher value-added model underpinned by strong productivity gains. Urbanization is critical to facilitate this shift, not least by enabling economies of scale.

Currently, although China is the world's most populous country and its second-largest economy, the country's urbanization rate remains well below the global average. Only half its population lives in urbanized areas, and less than 10 percent are permanent residents in its megacities.

It is China's megacities where the greatest potential to fuel future progress in productivityand thus GDP growthis to be found. So far, China has four "first-tier" cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

Given the size of China's population and economy, that is not a lot. And, in fact, there is no reason to believe that these megacities have reached their capacity, in terms of population or contribution to economic growth. Moreover, China has many dynamic second-tier citiessuch as Chengdu, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Suzhouthat are capable of reaching first-tier status, if given the chance.

But in order to maximize the potential of China's cities, the government will have to be much more adaptive and flexible, especially regarding its strict control of urban land-development ratios. Otherwise, urbanization will continue pushing up already-high housing costs, but not efficiently enough to power sustained development.

The good news is that local governments are already working to alleviate or even eliminate existing administrative constraints.

Local governments are now introducing so-called county-district conversions, in order to expand urban districts into rural jurisdictions. Such efforts may enable more housing construction and industrial and commercial expansion.

Another effective strategy for advancing China's transition toward a city-led growth model is to expand the role played by urban clusters that leverage the strength of first-tier cities to boost growth in less-developed areas. From an economic standpoint, the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas are undoubtedly the most important areas in this regard.

In March, Premier Li Keqiang announced a plan for the development of a city cluster in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area that covers nine cities, including Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as the special administration regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

From 2010 to 2016, the annual GDP of the Greater Bay Area soared from 5.42 trillion yuan ($82 billion) to 9.35 trillion yuan, making it the world's third-largest urban economy, after Tokyo and New York. Yet the population of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is growing fast, and its GDP per capita is less than half that of Tokyo, suggesting that its potential is nowhere near depleted.

Moreover, China's leaders seem to be eyeing a second greater bay area, centered on Hangzhou Bay, which, because it overlaps with the Yangtze River Delta, could go a long way toward integrating that already-prosperous region. Such a cluster could cover the coastal megacity of Shanghai, as well as about 10 more important cities in neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. It would include world-class ports, such as the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan (the world's busiest in terms of cargo tonnage), and it would cover two of China's 11 existing free-trade zones.

The pace of China's economic growth over the last four decades has been unprecedented. But China has yet to complete its rise to rich-country status. As it upgrades its economy to become more knowledge-based and technology-driven, it is again leveraging its strengths. There is no better example of this than the ongoing effort to tap the potential of megacities.

The author is professor of economics and director of the China Center for Economic Studies at Fudan University.
Photo taken on June 23, 2016 shows a container yard at the port of Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. [Photo/Xinhua]

One of China's biggest contributions to global governance in the past five years may be the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

President Xi Jinping was right when he said that we are living in an age of major development, changes and adjustments. Calculated according to purchasing power parity, emerging markets account for over half the global GDP, while Western economies account for 42 percent this year, down from 64 percent in 1980. And with many countries struggling to recover from the 2008 global financial crisis, widening wealth gaps have led to rise of populism and political extremism in Western countries.

The Belt and Road Initiative, which was first proposed by Xi in 2013, has actually pointed the way out of the present impasse, and its success in sustaining growth, stabilizing politics and improving social justice can serve as a source of inspiration especially to countries aspiring to reform their governance.

Progress has been made in bonding people across the world, an integral part of the initiative, through intensified cultural exchanges between China and the other participants involved in the initiative. By the end of last year, China had signed some 318 official cooperative deals and action plans on cultural exchanges with participating nations and established Chinese culture centers in 11 countries. At least 491 Chinese cities had become sister cities with foreign counterparts in 63 countries by the end of May.

Interaction on such a scale bodes well for future cooperation, from archaeological studies to submitting shared relics to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. It can also help lay the cultural foundation for settling geopolitical disagreements, territorial disputes and trade frictions by reducing misunderstandings between peoples. That is why the leaders of the BRICS nations enshrined cultural exchanges as the third pillar of the bloc after political security and economic cooperation during the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, Fujian province, in September.

Failures of governance have a lot to do with insufficient communication and integration between different cultures, as shown in the Western culture that features self-proclaimed supremacy, the refugee crisis emanating from the Middle East and the widening wealth gap between developed and developing economies. The West, in many cases, tends to consider other cultures and institutions inferior and tries to promote the Western model elsewhere, intensifying conflicts.

Enhancing cultural exchanges with the participants of the Belt and Road Initiative could help create a safer, more reciprocal world. Although, while emerging economies such as China are striving to build a partnership-based alternative open to wider participation and consultation, the US and its military alliances still dominate the global security system.

However, there are challenges facing the cultural exchanges between China and the other Belt and Road participants, from complex geopolitical situations and lack of strategic trust to different levels of economic development. For countries in the thick of economic transformation or struggling with energy shortages and natural disasters, there is little incentive to put much effort into cultural cooperation. Some regions on the Belt and Road routes are even subject to sectarian clashes and other nontraditional security threats.

Besides, cultural differences could stand in the way, not least when some Western media outlets keep hyping up a "China threat" to audience in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. These problems need to be addressed to lay the foundation for future cross-culture exchanges.

The author is former Chinese vice-foreign minister and co-chairman of the Center for China and Globalization.
Betrothal gifts are now an unbearable burden for many

A BRIDE in Handan, Hebei province, has caused a stir by refusing to solicit a betrothal gift from her husband. It is traditional for a man to offer money as a betrothal gift when asking a woman to marry him. Yanzhao Metropolis Daily commented on Wednesday:

The choice of the Handan newlyweds merits praise for their attempt to break with a marital tradition upheld in many parts of the country. Thanks to the "unorthodox" bride and her understanding parents, the groom is exempt from the financial burden that plagues many marriage proposals.

Many are tempted to take the moral high road and accuse brides and their families who request a betrothal gift of being "greedy". Hardworking husbands-to-be, they argue, deserve financial support rather than the weight of such burdens. Whether a marriage goes ahead should not be decided by some costly tradition, they say.

Admittedly, betrothal gifts cost much more than in the past, since viewing betrothal gifts as a key indicator of their prospective son-in-law's financial capabilities and loyalty to their daughter, some parents request large amounts of money from the groom.

In some rural areas where bachelors constitute the majority of the local population, betrothal gifts can be "priced" even higher than in the cities due to the intensified competition for a bride. It is not uncommon that young couples break up when a marriage is within reach, because they fail to reach a consensus on how much the betrothal gift should be.

The Handan bride has made a respectful decision to refuse to take a betrothal gift from her husband. Other brides-to-be should be encouraged to emulate her pursuit of romance and love rather than money.
ON SUNDAY and Monday alone, police in Jiangsu province dealt with 4,874 cases of drivers illegally using the emergency lanes on expressways. Thepaper.cn comments:

It should be noted that only a very small percentage of those who illegally use the emergency lanes are caught by the police, and it happens much more frequently than the number of cases might suggest.

Some have called for installing more cameras to monitor the expressways and for the information of those caught illegally using the emergency lanes to be put into a special database. Yet some provinces have already adopted these measures and they have still failed to curb the illegal use of emergency lanes.

It is the lack of effective penalties for those violators that encourages such behavior. According to the country's road safety law, those who illegally occupy emergency lanes on expressways will be fined 200 yuan ($30.4) and have six points deducted on their license.

Some say that penalty is heavy enough because it is the same as driving through a red traffic light. However, those who drive through red lights must pay compensation if they cause any accidents, and if the accident is serious they might even face criminal charges.

Those who illegally use the emergency lanes face no other penalties than the previously mentioned fine and points deduction. Yet the illegal occupancy of emergency lanes often leads to accidents as well as serious traffic jams.

It is advisable to increase the penalties. Actually, the fire prevention law sets a good example. It punishes those who block fire exits with fines of between 5,000 yuan and 50,000 yuan, and if their behavior or actions result in a serious accident they face criminal charges.

Those occupying the emergency lanes of expressways commit a similar wrong and they should face similar penalties.
China, a land of incessant development, has been continuously reaching the milestones deemed impossible by rest of the world. In the last five years, China has developed dramatically in all sectors under the leadership of President Xi Jinping. He has made China an economic powerhouse, fostered great social values, improved infrastructure, focused on environment, renovation of scenic areas, planned urbanization, agricultural revolution, huge investments especially in projects like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), developed stable diplomatic relationships with other countries, promoted education sector, healthcare, and many other fields. Moreover, Xi has also given China new Five-Year Plan which is a continuation of his last Five Year Plan.

China's Five-Year Plan [Picture provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

This article aims to provide a detailed analysis of prominent sectors targeted by the plan.

Financial services

This plan recognizes that there is still room for further growth and progress of Chinas financial services sector. The plan tackles the dual objectives of financial modification and sustaining financial constancy.

Healthcare

Chinas growing middle class is developing fast and is seeking improved quality health and elderly care services. Admitting that the government alone cannot fulfill the cumulative health and elderly care demands of its citizens, the plan supports the idea of "Healthy China" by encouraging the contribution of the private sector in the formation of an incorporated health and elderly care system.

Infrastructure

It has been the most salient sector in China's recent development and a huge investment has been carried out in this area. In line with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), developing urbanization and infrastructure remains a high investment priority with plans to synchronize regional development and road, rail and port infrastructure to tie the country together. The initiative also highlights focus on advanced infrastructure and green expansion.

Agricultural revolution

The plan for agriculture constructs on the preceding theme of revolutionizing the Chinese agricultural sector. It restates the purpose to streamline China's agricultural policies and announce upgraded technology innovation and active agricultural socialization service systems.

Internet Plus, Mass Communication & information technology

The government has pushed for mounting new industries based on the e-commerce and Internet. This plan seeks the incorporation of the internet with traditional sectors of the economy and endorses Internet-based modernizations.

Environment

This plan underlines a cleaner and greener economy, with a strong pledge to environmental management and safety, clean energy and emissions controls, environmental protection and security and the development of green industries.

Being a foreigner, I strongly support and appreciate China's last Five-Year plan and the new Five-Year Plan will be a harbinger of success, prosperity, innovation, creativity and the next economic superpower. The rest of the world should learn from China's last Five-Year Plan, especially the government's flexible policies, which should be considered as a benchmark.
Kobe Steel Ltd Managing Executive Officer Yoshihiko Katsukawa attends a news conference in Tokyo, Japan October 11, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING -- When it came to light recently that Japanese steel giant Kobe Steel had been falsifying data for a long time, it shook the business circles and society of a country that used to worship "shame culture", the concept that it is better to die with honor than live in dishonor.Some of Kobe Steel's aluminum and copper products with falsified technical specifications have been used not only in Japan's auto and aircraft manufacturing industries and the military sector, but also by foreign companies like Boeing.It should be noted that the latest business scandal, which originated 10 years ago, is not a solo act. Misconducts like concealment, falsification and distortion have begun to prevail in Japan's government, business and military circles in recent years.Last month, Nissan Motor Co., one of the three leading automakers in Japan, admitted that it employed a large number of uncertified personnel for the safety inspection of its products. Subsequently, Nissan was forced to announce last week that it was recalling 1.16 million vehicles which underwent flawed safety inspection.In May 2016, Suzuki, the second largest Japanese manufacturer of light vehicles, admitted that it had falsified the fuel-economy data regarding 16 types of vehicles sold in Japan, involving over 2.1 million vehicles.A month earlier that year, Mitsubishi Motors admitted that it had manipulated fuel-economy tests, which involved some 600,000 vehicles.Misconducts are also increasingly spreading in the Japanese government and political arena.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie's involvement in the Tsukamoto Kindergarten scandal is an example. According to media reports, the head of the school, which is said to promote racism, tried to open another school. The new project was given prime land at a fraction of the market price, triggering an outcry.Abe's office and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party struggled to hush up the scandal while the Finance Ministry reportedly hid, falsified and destroyed evidence.Almost at the same time, Japan's Defense Ministry and the Ground Self-Defense Forces were found to be involved in covering up logs that recorded the daily activities of Japanese ground troops deployed as U.N. peacekeepers in South Sudan. The logs, detailing the tense situation in the violence-torn African state, could have derailed the government's troop deployment plans.On historical and territorial issues, Japan is used to concealing, falsifying and wiping out any historical files or material evidence unfavorable to it.Going by these misconducts, the sense of shame for lies and falsification is apparently plummeting in Japan. On the other hand, practices like falsification and coverups are becoming more prevalent, triumphing over the traditional "shame culture".
The author poses at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 30, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

This is not a fairy tale. It is a true story of a long cherished dream being fulfilled by an unemployed man living in a small village in West Bengal, India. Yes, this is my seven days of real life being in China, which I will never forget.

I have been a loyal promoter of China Radio International (CRI) and India for more than 32 years. Impressed by my love and work for China and CRI, the Kolkata Chinese Consul General Ma Zhanwu sponsored me  along with my wife, Sudeshna, my son, Udit Sankar and my two radio club members  to take a free trip to China for seven days from June 26, 2016.

Visiting Kunming for two days, we disembarked at the imposing Beijing Capital International Airport at the crack of dawn, and the heavy rains welcomed us.

On our first day, we strolled on the Qianmen Street, and met a range of people from the exotic land. Undoubtedly, with its ancient palaces, temples and parks, Beijing is a very modern, cosmopolitan city. I think everything in the Chinese capital is colossal. Whether it's the Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven or the Great Wall, everything is outsized. Ancient historical buildings and the glitzy skyscrapers stand side by side in Beijing.

Walking along the Qianmen Street, I enjoyed bargaining with shopkeepers in English. However, it is rather difficult to converse with Chinese vendors in English as most of them cannot speak the language. Although, I did find Chinese people to be very honest and friendly.

On 28 June, we visited the China Radio International, and it is this CRI that made China feel like my second home. All the staff of CRI English and Hindi Service greeted us with warmth and candour, which made us feel so welcomed. I had an exclusive meeting with CRI Editor-in-Chief Ma Bohui, in presence of other CRI dignitaries. He was deeply moved on seeing my love for CRI and China, and appreciated my long association with CRI, while highly praising our blood donation campaigns for CRI. In a cordial atmosphere, we exchanged our views with him about the spreading of CRI broadcasting to the grassroots level in India. Tears rained down my cheeks when he called me as a true friend of CRI and China.

During our stay in Beijing, we also visited well-known historical sites of the capital city  the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We enjoyed an enchanting boat ride on the massive Kunming Lake. Standing on the complex of the Forbidden City, I realized how much the Chinese are associated with their great history and the pride they feel about what their ancestors left for them to enjoy.

We also visited the Bird's Nest stadium and Water Cube. I had seen the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on our TV at home. However, I had never imagined that one day I would be able to wander around the Bird's Nest Stadium. Sitting on the gallery chairs at the stadium, I was trying to catch the same pulse of the opening ceremony, which the spectators got during the Olympic Games, and by doing this, I felt proud and privileged.

On July 1, we went to see the Great Wall of China. We reached the Mutianyu Great Wall by cable car, and walked and ran on the Wall with excitement. My son and my wife told me climbing the Wall was like a dream come true. We climbed bravely to a few watch towers, and the views from the high watch towers are worth the knee-busting climb. Coming down from the Great Wall, we enjoyed a Toboggan ride. My visit to the Great Wall will remain as an unforgettable experience of my life.

We only spent five days in Beijing, and I knew we only scratched the surface on this city of the great nation of China. I was too impressed to see the modern facilities in the tourists' spots. The roads are also very clean and look like a highly systematic construction to regulate traffic, which shows the Chinese engineers skill.

Chinese people do not smoke in restaurants and on public transport, and smokers do not drop cigarette butts on the streets. The toilets in Beijing are among the cleanest public toilets I've ever seen. We saw lots of Beijingers ride electric bicycles in Beijing's streets.

I saw most of the Chinese young girls and ladies enjoy life with their boyfriends, while returning from work. It is widely seen that young couples and lovers have adopted the Western-style of kissing openly on the streets, parks and crowded restaurants. It's really fantastic!

Our brief stay in China ended on July 2. My visit to China was a short trip, but very impressive with sweet memories. When China Eastern Airlines flight took off from Beijing International Airport to India, looking down at Beijing from the blue sky, I murmured I left my heart in China.
The house where Xi had snacks during his visit.[Photo:Nanda Lal Tiwari ]

Going by every day news reports in the media an impression is made- that Chinese President Xi Jinping is much focused on reform, opening up, innovation and supply side...with regard to domestic affairs while in relation to the international affairs he has gained global prominence for emphasizing on fairer and more equitable global governance, trade liberalization, practical as well as win-win cooperation and community of shared destiny. These are only a few terms that directly refer to President Xi. No doubt, his emphasis on open market and against protectionism in his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos of Switzerland last year, the Belt and Road Initiative he projected some four years ago and the way he involved some 60 countries in the first conference of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in May this year in Beijing, his stance in solution to the Korean peninsula crisis and other conflict-hit regions in the world and the way he highlighted on giving voice to all the developing countries in the global governance issues in the recently held 9th BRICS Summit has injected a huge optimism around the world. And these all give an impression that the head of the state of the second largest economy has only the hot-spot economic and political policies of either global or national importance in his mind. This scribe was no exception to such an impression.

But a recent visit to a rural village in Jingangshan city of Jiangxi province of China changed my faulty or piecemeal impression about the Chines President.

Shen Shan hamlet [Photo:Nanda Lal Tiwari ] Shen Shan hamlet of Mao Ping village lies some 30 kilometers away from, and to the north of, Ciping town of Jingangshan city. The hamlet has 55 households and 331 people. Surrounded by forests, the settlement is situated in the middle of a high hill slope. Although the village looks like a settlement in the new clearing of the jungle, people have lived here for centuries. Many people in this village were under the poverty line until last year although poverty alleviation program was launched in the village and it was making a good progress.On a cold day, on February 2 last year, President Xi visited this impoverished village. In his three hours stay, he visited poor households, talking with the people about their life and challenges, eating the snacks the villagers provided and joining his hands in some of their everyday works such as beating of rice to make Da Gao, a small cake-sized sweet snack item made up of rice flour. Most probably the President reached there by road, at least 10 kilometers away in the mountainous narrow, one-way looking road from the provincial two-way road as no large area could be seen there for a helicopter to land. Peng Dong Lian, a shopkeeper in Shen Shang village, keeps the photo of the moment he talked with Xi. [Photo:Nanda Lal Tiwari ]

I asked a villager, Zuo Xiufu, 67, who had a chance to talk with his President Xi, about what he told President Xi during the meeting. He replied that he said to President Xi that he was happy and that villagers were working hard to get rid of poverty and the support of the government was good enough.

I looked around the village. Although it has all modern facilities such as electricity, mobile and internet and the road and running drinking water, it is a remote rural and poor village. And President Xi had spared time to come here and talk to people perhaps to gain first-hand knowledge of poverty alleviation program such as government support for education, health, interest-free loan, perhaps to experience the life of grass-roots rural people and perhaps to keep afresh his revolutionary spirit because Jingganshan is known for being the first base of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) during the initial revolutionary year of 1927.

After much reflection I concluded President Xi is determined, sincerely focused to eradicate poverty by 2020 in China. He attaches as much importance to the challenges of rural people in his country as much he does about the global issues. He has kept alive the revolutionary spirit, the struggle of the people and wants to live in the heart of the people, taking good care of them. And this conclusion I made there, I hope, has improved my impression of one of the most powerful leaders in the world, President Xi Jinping.
John McKinnon, New Zealand's ambassador to China [CHINA DAILY]

New Zealand expects to see China's continuous commitment to free trade and multilateralism at the 19th CPC National Congress this month, said John McKinnon, the country's ambassador to China.

Given China's position in the global economy, the signals sent by the congress for the nation's approach to its own economic situation as well as globally will be of considerable interest, McKinnon said.

"The congress provides a strong sense of direction to where it's going," he added.

President Xi Jinping's speech in January at Davos in Switzerland advocated China's commitment to multilateralism and the importance of globalized trade, McKinnon said.

"That's really important for New Zealand," he said. "We are an open economy. We rely on the trading system to be fair and equitable in terms of how to deal with different countries and different markets."

China is New Zealand's largest trading partner for goods. The countries signed a free trade agreement in 2008, and negotiations on upgrading the document started in April.

"Now, both China and New Zealand have engaged in the negotiations. We want to make sure the agreement is fit for 2017 and 2018 as well," he said. "The words China has been saying and the president has been saying are an important context that gives us confidence."

The ambassador noted United States President Donald Trump will visit China shortly after the congress, in November, and then meetings such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will be held in the region.

"These will be occasions shortly after the congress when what has been discussed and concluded at the Party congress will be addressed internationally," he said.

Meanwhile, McKinnon is keeping a close eye on how China's legal system works. In light of the major anti-corruption campaign of the past few years, New Zealand is interested in how China is governing itself, he said.

"It's interesting to see how the Party congress sums it up and what it might want to do in terms of taking the work forward."

The ambassador said he will also be interested to see how the congress addresses the issue of environmental protection. China has changed its attitude and policies and is focused on improving the quality of air, water and soil.

In December, New Zealand will host the second New Zealand-China Mayoral Forum, the theme of which is how to balance the economic development and protection of the environment.

"This is an area that we think about a lot in New Zealand, and we see China thinks about too," McKinnon added. "That's a basis for some interesting exchanges on how you deal with the fact that you want to grow the economy and protect the environment."
Jean-Jacques de Dardel, Swiss ambassador to China [CHINA DAILY]

Jean-Jacques de Dardel, the Swiss ambassador to China, believes that in the past five years China has advanced its efforts in global governance and is now starting to offer its own input.

He sees China as an active actor on all stages that is taking a leading role in some areas of multilateral cooperation, most notably by establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, proposing the Belt and Road Initiative, and hosting the BRICS Summit last month.

De Dardel first visited China in 1986, and has returned many times, giving him extensive experience of the country when he assumed his current role in early 2014.

"I started to get to know China at a time when the country was still rather reserved in its international relations," he said. "But in recent years, China has taken a more active, more visible role to the point that it aims to be one of the global leaders.

"Switzerland welcomes a more active role by China as a defender of free trade and in the field of climate change."

De Dardel sees this commitment to free trade and climate change as a good direction for China to take.

Bilateral relations are at the core of his engagement. More developed Sino-Swiss relations are what he hopes for and what motivates him to work hard every day, he said. "We have a lot to gain and learn from each other, especially in terms of innovation."

De Dardel believes China is catching up with the rest of the world in terms of innovation capacity, citing its ranking in the Global Innovation Index issued by INSEAD Business School.

China surged from 43rd place in 2010 to 22nd place this year. Switzerland has been ranked No 1 since 2010.

"The catch-up is fantastic. The evolution is extraordinary, because you now carry greater weight in international relations. This is not music to my ears, this is a symphony," he said.

Speaking about his first trip to China, the ambassador said his extensive travels left him with a positive impression.

"The most mesmerizing part was that people had the same humor as me; even if we could not communicate using language," he said.

An economist by training, De Dardel is aware of how China has worked to achieve its economic transformation and improve its innovation capacity.

"Innovation will not be limited to science and technology, but will extend to the economy," he said. "China has become a consumer-led economy rather than one that relies on industrial production."

Despite China's progress, he acknowledges there are challenges ahead; one of the biggest being how to handle the waves of massive transformation properly, with the aging population among the toughest to deal with.

Yet he remains optimistic. "The innate character of the Chinese people is their dynamism, which adds to the country's capacity to constantly reform itself," he added. "However, dynamism needs libertyan aspect that should not be neglected."
Juan Carlos Capunay, Peruvian ambassador to China [CHINA DAILY]

The 19th CPC National Congress has great significance for the world as the second-largest economy strives to boost interconnectivity and seek inclusive development, according to the Peruvian ambassador.

Juan Carlos Capunay said the Party is expected to focus on boosting regional integration through the Belt and Road Initiative during the high-profile meeting, to begin on Oct 18.

The initiative will "improve the regional areas that it physically covers", and "have a clear and pragmatic projection to other areas", he said.

"If the Chinese economy is affected, the world economy will be affected. If the Chinese economy improves, the whole world will improve," Capunay added.

The Belt and Road Initiative, put forward by President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to revive the ancient Silk Road trade routes and boost interconnectivity with a focus on infrastructure. In May, Beijing hosted the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which was attended by 29 foreign heads of state and government leaders.

Capunay, a veteran diplomat with a career spanning 47 years, said while it is impossible to build a road from China to Latin America, it is feasible to build a digital link.

"Peru believes the Belt and Road is an important process for Latin America because it is not a project that is trying to impose one single economic model. It is based on dialogue and mutual understanding," he said.

Noting that Peru is a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the ambassador said China has made a "remarkable contribution" to improving the global financial system.

"The most important thing is that the AIIB is an equal bank. In some other institutions, a member's importance depends on their contribution. In this bank, one member has one vote, so everyone is equal," he said.

Capunay expressed optimism about the development of Sino-Peruvian relations, as both sides are dedicated to the implementation of the consensus reached by the top leaders.

In November, Xi and his Peruvian counterpart, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, agreed to upgrade the free trade agreement signed by the countries in 2009 to open the market wider.

"President Xi and President Kuczynski agreed to improve trade. We are doing so now. We are opening the market on both sides," he said.

China is Peru's biggest trade partner, export market and source of imports. Trade between the two countries reached about $17 billion last year.

"We have the largest Chinese community in Latin America," he said. "A number of Chinese customs are celebrated, and some Chinese words have even entered the language.

"So we have a strong foundation. We have a long-standing history of relations, so we can share a bright future."
Ettore Francesco Sequi, Italian ambassador to China [CHINA DAILY]

Ettore Francesco Sequi, the Italian ambassador to China since 2015, said he often shows visiting Italian guests how to pay for goods and services with WeChat and Alipay. He views the development of online payment technology as part of what he calls the "digital transformation", which he said is the most impressive aspect of China's change over the past five years.

"I'd say the major strength of China is definitely the capacity to change, the flexibility to change," he said.

Impressed by China's innovation drive, Sequi said it is important for the world's second-largest economy to keep focusing on its manufacturing competitiveness.

In 2015, the nation put forward Made in China 2025, a national strategy aimed at upgrading its manufacturing industry by making it smarter, more efficient and more environmentally friendly.

"Italy is very interested in Made in China 2025. We have a similar program, Industry 4.0, and we see the efforts China is making in this field," Sequi said.

Another aspect of China's development that has impressed the diplomat is the nation's leadership capacity, its ability "to choose very important targets or objectives, and to deliver the plans that have been decided".

For Sequi, the fast pace of change is not only being seen in the country's development, but also in its role on the international stage. China "can and should play a big role" in global governance in a "time of big changes", he said.

The ambassador said China has shown it is ready to take on responsibility in global governance, citing as an example the concept of a "community of common destiny", which President Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has talked about on several occasions.

This concept "implies a higher degree of political cooperation worldwide on a global scale", Sequi said, adding that the "visionary and pioneering" Belt and Road Initiative also demonstrates China's willingness to play a part in global governance.

He said Italy is determined to be a strategic partner in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, as demonstrated by Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni's participation in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in May in Beijing.

"China's vision, which has always been a long vision, is getting deeper and wider," he said. "I believe this is very important for ensuring good global governance and an increasing level of responsibility."

Inclusive development, "one of the key issues that were discussed in the G20 under the Chinese chairmanship", proves that China is having "not only a long vision, but also a wider vision," the ambassador said.
The remains of the home of vintner Mike Sullivan lays in ruins in Santa Rosa, California, US, Oct 10, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

SONOMA, Calif. - Firefighters facing a resurgence of high winds on Wednesday struggled to halt wildfires that have killed at least 21 people, destroyed 3,500structures and left hundreds missing in chaotic evacuations across northern California's wine country.

Nearly two dozen blazes spanning eight counties have charred around 170,000 acres (68,797 hectares). Flames erupted on Sunday night when gale force winds toppled power lines across the region, possibly igniting one of the deadliest wildfire outbreaks in California history.

Flames were spread rapidly by hot, dry "Diablo" winds -similar to southern California's Santa Ana winds - that blew into northern California toward the Pacific on Sunday night.

The official cause of ignition has not been determined. But electric wires knocked down by those same winds may have sparked the conflagration, according to Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire).

"That is definitely a possibility, he told Reuters. "Power lines are a common cause of fires during wind events."

Berlant said some of the victims in northern California were asleep when the fast-moving fires broke out, igniting their homes before they could escape.

More than 20,000 people remained under evacuation as the fires raged largely unchecked for a third day, belching palls of smoke that engulfed the region and drifted south over the San Francisco Bay area, where some residents donned face masks.

More than 550 people were still reported unaccounted for in Sonoma County on Wednesday morning, said Jennifer Laroque, a county emergency operations center spokeswoman.

It was unclear how many of the missing might be actual fire victims rather than evacuees who merely failed to check in with authorities after fleeing their homes. Officials urged displaced residents to let their family members know they were safe.

OBLITERATED NEIGHBORHOODS

The Sonoma County town of Santa Rosa, the largest city in the wine country region, was particularly hard hit by one of the fiercest blazes, the so-called Tubbs fire. Block after block of some neighborhoods were virtually obliterated with nothing left but charred debris, broken walls, chimneys and the steel frames of burned-out cars.

"It's like driving through a war zone," J.J. Murphy, 22, one of thousands of evacuees, said of the area around his home in the Sonoma Valley community of Glen Ellen.

Murphy, five relatives, a bird, a dog and two cats piled into their camper van to flee on Monday, he said.

"It's crazy how in just a few hours a place I've recognized all my life I can't recognize," he said at a roadside food stop in the town of Sonoma.

In the town of Napa on the first night of a blaze dubbed the Atlas fire, nearly 50 people who were in danger of being overrun by flames were rescued by the crews of two California Highway Patrol helicopters working in tandem during a seven-hour aerial evacuation operation.

The weather gave firefighters a bit of a respite on Tuesday as cooler temperatures, lower winds and coastal fog enabled them to make headway against the flames. Fire crews labored on Wednesday to strengthen containment lines as winds picked up again.

"We're not out of the woods and we're not going to be out of the woods for a great number of days to come," Ken Pimlott, director of the Cal Fire, said at a news conference.

In addition to high winds, fires were stoked by an abundance of thick brush and other vegetation left tinder dry by a summer of hot, dry weather and months with little or no rainfall. The cause of the fires remained under investigation.

Matt Nauman, a spokesman for the region's main utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, acknowledged that fallen power lines were widespread during the "historic wind event," which he said packed some hurricane-strength gusts in excess of 75 miles per hour.

FIRES ENTER RECORD BOOKS

At least 11 people were killed by the Tubbs fire in Sonoma County alone, officials said. It is the deadliest single California wildfire since 2003, when the so-called Cedar fire killed 15 people in San Diego, according to state data.

The latest overall death toll of 21, including six fatalities in Mendocino County and two more each in Napa and Yuba counties, marks the greatest loss of life from a California wildfire event in 26 years, since 25 people perished in a firestorm that swept the Oakland Hills in Oct 1991.

The deadliest wildfire on record in California dates back to Oct 1933, when 29 lives were lost in the Griffith Park fire in Los Angeles.

Officials identified the dead in Napa County as 100-year-oldCharles Rippey and his 98-year-old wife, Sarah. His body was found outside where his wife's bedroom once stood, their son, Mike Rippey, told local television.

"He was trying to get from his room to her room," he said. "He never made it."

Wildfires have damaged or demolished at least 13 Napa Valley wineries, a trade group for vintners there said on Tuesday. But experts say smoke rather than flames may pose a greater risk to the delicate grapes still waiting to be picked.

California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in several northern counties, as well as in Orange County in Southern California, where a fire in Anaheim destroyed15 structures and damaged 12.

Reuters
White House chief of Staff John Kelly (R) walks with Kirstjen Nielsen, the chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, US, before his departure with President Donald Trump to Yuma, Arizona, August 22, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump will nominate Kirstjen Nielsen, an aide to White House chief of staff John Kelly, to be Homeland Security secretary, media reports said on Wednesday.

The announcement was expected to be made as soon as later in the day, according to US news outlet Politico.

Nielsen, 45, currently serves as the deputy White House chief of staff. She was Kelly's top aide when the former four-star Marine general led the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during the early months of the Trump administration.

She moved to the West Wing with Kelly who was appointed in July after former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus was pushed out.

An expert on national and cyber security, Nielsen enjoys an extensive background in homeland security missions, including stints at the Transportation Security Administration and on the White House Homeland Security Council under former President George W. Bush.

Elaine Duke is running the DHS on an interim basis. If Nielsen's appointment is confirmed by the Senate, she would become the first former employee to run the department established after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.

Nielsen holds degrees from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and the University of Virginia Law School.
United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit. TAYLOR CHRISTIAN PROFITA, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO; THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, a/k/a University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus; JOHN J. REILLY, JR., M.D., in his official capacity as Dean of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Defendants - Appellees. No. 17-1127 Decided: October 11, 2017

Before HARTZ, McKAY, and MATHESON, Circuit Judges.

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

After twice failing clinical rotations at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (the Medical School), Taylor Christian Profita was dismissed from the University's M.D. program in January 2013. He attributes his failures to his disabling physical and mental conditions. He later obtained treatment for these conditions, then sought to be readmitted to the M.D. program with full credit for the work he had performed before the rotations. The defendants denied him readmission, telling him he must reapply as a new student.

Mr. Profita brought this suit against the defendants under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C.  12132, seeking readmission to the M.D. program as a reasonable accommodation for his disability. The district court dismissed the action with prejudice, relying on cases from this circuit holding, in the employment context, that a request for retroactive leniency for  past misconduct  is not a request for a reasonable accommodation as a matter of law. Aplt. App. at 44 (internal quotation marks omitted). In this appeal Mr. Profita argues that the district court's rationale was flawed because he was not dismissed for misconduct; he is a student, not an employee; and the accommodation he sought was prospective, not retrospective. But because the district court properly determined that his proposed accommodationreadmission to the medical school program with full credit for work previously performed, after his dismissal on academic groundswas not a reasonable accommodation required by the ADA, we affirm the order of dismissal.

I.

In his complaint Mr. Profita alleges that he is an otherwise qualified individual with a disability protected by the ADA. Aplt. App. at 6 (internal quotation marks omitted). He identifies his disabling conditions as Major Depressive Disorder, moderate to severe and Unspecified Anxiety Disorder, mild to severe, along with complications of chronic insomnia/sleep apnea and hypothyroidism. Id. at 7. Despite these conditions, he was able to commence his studies at the Medical School in 2008 and he successfully completed his first three years there, including the first five of seven third year block clinical rotations. Id. at 8. But in 2011 and 2012 he failed the last two third-year clinical rotations, Hospitalized Adult Care and Women's Care. He attributes these failures to outside pressures, worsening depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance. Id.

As a result of failing these last two clinical rotations, Mr. Profita was placed on academic probation and put on a leave of absence for the 2012 spring semester. The Medical School's Student Promotions Committee notified him that to regain good academic status he would need to successfully remediate the two clinical rotations. The Committee also required him to obtain an evaluation from the Colorado Physicians Health Program.

The psychiatrist who conducted that evaluation indicated that Mr. Profita's symptoms would suggest a mood syndrome  disabling anxiety disorder  psychotic disorder. Id. at 9 (internal quotation marks omitted; ellipses in original). Mr. Profita denied these symptoms. He asserts that the psychiatrist made a critically inaccurate diagnosis of maladaptive personality traits, not recognizing [his Major Depressive Disorder] and anxiety disorders. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).

Mr. Profita was later permitted to retake the Women's Care rotation, which he again failed. He claims that by the time of the repeated Women's Care rotation his depressive symptoms had worsened. Because of his lack of success in the Women's Care rotation, he was not provided an opportunity to remediate the other rotation, Hospitalized Adult Care.

Acting on the Promotions Committee's recommendation, the Dean of the Medical School sent Mr. Profita a letter dismissing him from the M.D. program for unsatisfactory academic performance. Mr. Profita then obtained medical care for his psychological conditions, and nearly nine months after his dismissal he delivered a letter to the defendants asserting that his medical/psychological issues were now under control, well managed, and treated through therapy and correct medication. Id. at 12. The letter requested the defendants to reasonably accommodate his disability by

readmitting me to the M.D. program at the point where these issues first began to have significant impact upon my performance [and] being granted credit for those courses and clerkships that I have completed successfully, with reinsertion into the program at the point of entering the Internal Medicine and Women's Care clinical clerkships.

Id. at 11 (ellipsis and internal quotation marks omitted).

The defendants responded that the School of Medicine does not have a retroactive obligation under the [ADA] to readmit you to the School of Medicine as an accommodation. Id. at 13 (internal quotation marks omitted). They informed Mr. Profita that to obtain readmission their policy required him to reapply as a new student. Rather than reapply, Mr. Profita filed this action.

II.

A.

This court reviews de novo a dismissal under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim. Safe Streets All. v. Hickenlooper, 859 F.3d 865, 878 (10th Cir. 2017). We accept as true all well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint and view them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). We then determine whether the plaintiff has provided enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). But to the extent the complaint relies on legal conclusions, we review those conclusions de novo, affording them no presumption of correctness. See id.

B.

Title II of the ADA prohibits public entities from excluding qualified individuals with disabilities from participation in, or from enjoying the benefits of, an entity's services, programs, or activities, or from subjecting such individuals to discrimination. 42 U.S.C.  12132. To assert a viable Title II claim, a plaintiff must allege:

(1) that he or she is a qualified individual with a disability;

(2) that he or she was either excluded from participation in or denied the benefits of some public entity's services, programs, or activities, or was otherwise discriminated against by the public entity; and

(3) that such exclusion, denial of benefits, or discrimination was by reason of the plaintiff's disability.

J.V. v. Albuquerque Pub. Sch., 813 F.3d 1289, 1295 (10th Cir. 2016). A qualified individual with a disability is one who, with or without reasonable modifications to rules, policies, or practices,  meets the essential eligibility requirements for participation in a program or activity. 42 U.S.C.  12131(2).

Mr. Profita asserts that the defendants discriminated against him by failing to reasonably accommodate his disability. A public entity must provide a reasonable accommodation under the ADA when it knows that the individual is disabled and requires an accommodation of some kind to participate in or receive the benefits of its services. J.V., 813 F.3d at 1299 (internal quotation marks omitted). A reasonable accommodation is one designed to avoid discrimination based on a disability by permitting a qualified individual with a disability to obtain the same benefits made available to nondisabled individuals. Taylor v. Colo. Dep't of Health Care Policy & Fin., 811 F.3d 1230, 1236 (10th Cir. 2016). The accommodation must provide meaningful access to the program or service. See Chaffin v. Kan. State Fair Bd., 348 F.3d 850, 857 (10th Cir. 2003), overruled on other grounds as recognized by Muscogee (Creek) Nation v. Pruitt, 669 F.3d 1159, 1167 n.4 (10th Cir. 2012). Whether an accommodation is reasonable under the ADA is a mixed question of law and fact. Punt v. Kelly Servs., 862 F.3d 1040, 1050-51 (10th Cir. 2017) (internal quotation marks omitted).

III.

Mr. Profita seeks the opportunity to complet[e]  the last year of medical school given his now well managed disability. Aplt. Opening Br. at 8. He asserts that reinstatement at the point he left off is necessary for him to receive meaningful access to the M.D. program. But to provide this requested accommodation, the defendants would be required to ignore, override, or reverse his previous dismissal for unsatisfactory academic performance.

Under Title I of the ADA, which guides our determination of what constitutes a reasonable accommodation for purposes of Mr. Profita's Title II claim, an employer is not required to reasonably accommodate an employee's disability by overlooking his previous misconduct, even if that misconduct resulted from his disability. See, e.g., Dewitt v. Sw. Bell Tel. Co., 845 F.3d 1299, 1316 (10th Cir. 2017). In Dewitt a diabetic customer-service representative who had been placed on a last-chance agreement because of a prior disciplinary incident suffered a severe drop in blood sugar while at work. See id. at 1305. During this incident she experienced lethargy, disorientation, and confusion, and she committed further workplace misconduct by dropping two calls from customers. Id. Her employer terminated her employment for hanging up on the customers. See id. at 1306. She later alleged that her termination violated the ADA because the employer had failed to reasonably accommodate her disability by excusing the disconnected calls, which she claimed were caused by her disability. See id. at 1315. We rejected that argument:

Ms. DeWitt's accommodation claim fails because she did not request a reasonable accommodation to address concerns regarding the possibility of dropped calls; instead, she requested retroactive leniency for her misconduct. Specifically, Ms. DeWitt requested that [her employer] overlook that she hung up on at least two customers while on a Last Chance Agreement. Such retroactive leniency is not a reasonable accommodation as defined by the ADAAA

The ADAAA does not require employers to reasonably accommodate an employee's disability by overlooking past misconductirrespective of whether the misconduct resulted from the employee's disability. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]'s  Enforcement Guidance makes clear that the requirement to provide reasonable accommodations under the ADAAA is always prospective, and that an employer is not required to excuse past misconduct even if it is the result of the individual's disability.

Id. at 1316 (internal quotation marks omitted).

The question here is whether the rule applied in Dewittwhich excludes retroactive leniency from the reasonable accommodation that employers must provideapplies to Mr. Profita, a student who was dismissed from a university program for unsatisfactory academic performance. Mr. Profita offers several reasons to distinguish Dewitt. First, he argues that Dewitt's rule is limited to workplace misconduct. Second, he contends that the rule applies only when future adequate performance by the plaintiff could not be assured. Third, he claims that he seeks prospective, not retrospective, relief because the defendants' refusal to reinstate him continues to deny him meaningful access to the M.D. program. Finally, he asserts that decisions in other courts and the remedial purposes of the ADA and its 2008 amendments support his claim that reinstatement of a dismissed medical student may be required as a reasonable accommodation. Rejecting these arguments, we conclude that the district court properly applied the rule in Dewitt in dismissing this action.

IV.

A.

Mr. Profita faults the district court for expanding what he characterizes as a narrow rule designed to avoid excusing employee misconduct into a broad performance-based no second chance rule applicable to all reasonable-accommodation claims. Aplt. Opening Br. at 9. He attacks the expansion of this rule on two grounds: that it should be limited to affirmative misconduct, not including poor performance; and that it should apply only in the employment context.

Mr. Profita provides no good reason for limiting the rule to affirmative misconduct. In Dewitt we held that an employer is not required to accommodate either past misconduct or past poor performance. In response to the argument that the plaintiff had not violated a conduct rule but merely a performance standard, we said that [a]ccording to the EEOC,  the basic rule that an employer is not required to excuse past poor performance  holds with respect to [violations of] performance standards. Dewitt, 845 F.3d at 1317 (brackets and internal quotation marks omitted). This only makes sense. The purpose of the reasonable-accommodation requirement is not to exempt disabled employees from the consequences of past poor performance at work, but to enable them through reasonable accommodation to perform the essential functions of their job. See id. (Performance standards relate to the quantitative and qualitative requirements for performance of essential functions of a particular job.  [T]he ADAAA permits an employer to apply the same performance standards to an employee with a disability that it applies to employees without disabilities. (brackets and internal quotation marks omitted)).

Mr. Profita also provides no good reason why the rule should be applied only to employee claims. Although he argues that the doctrine emerges primarily in employment contexts, Aplt. Opening Br. at 11, he concedes that in at least one case it was applied to a dismissed medical student's unprofessional behavior. In Halpern v. Wake Forest University Health Sciences, 669 F.3d 454 (4th Cir. 2012), the Fourth Circuit characterized a medical student's proposed accommodationwhich included ongoing psychiatric treatment, participation in a program for distressed physicians, and continuing in the Medical School on strict probationas unreasonable because, among other things,

[b]y the time [the student] requested that the Medical School implement his special remediation plan, he had already engaged in numerous unprofessional acts that warranted his dismissal, including acting abusively towards staff, multiple unexcused absences, repeated failure to meet deadlines, and tardiness. Thus, [he] sought not a disability accommodation, but a second chance to better control his treatable medical condition.

Id. at 465 (brackets and internal quotation marks omitted).

Halpern is persuasive. Mr. Profita attempts to distinguish it on the basis that [u]nprofessional behavior obviously falls within the misconduct milieu. Aplt. Opening Br. at 11. But we have already explained that we do not distinguish between affirmative misconduct and deficient performance (including deficient academic performance) when either is a sufficient ground for termination.

Mr. Profita also argues that in the education context the no second chance rule is overbroad and inconsistent with the ADA's purposes because, for example, a student may not know if ADA accommodation is needed prior to examination yet the rule would not require an opportunity to retake the exam even if the student's disability caused the failing grade. Id. at 12-13. But Dewitt addressed this concern as well. The EEOC argued that sometimes, an employee may not know or be willing to acknowledge that there is a problem requiring accommodation until the employer points out deficiencies in performance. Dewitt, 845 F.3d at 1317 (brackets and internal quotation marks omitted). We responded that an employer is not obliged to apply the brakes on an ongoing disciplinary process based on past performance deficiencies simply because an employee requests an accommodation. Id. at 1317-18. Similarly, Mr. Profita's accommodation request, which came months after he had twice failed rotations and had been dismissed from the M.D. program, did not obligate the defendants to reinstate him simply because [he] purported to request, at the eleventh hour, an accommodation. Id. at 1318.

B.

Mr. Profita next argues that the rule should be applied only in cases where the plaintiff's future performance could not be assured. He relies on language in an unpublished district-court housing-discrimination decision, which said that a mentally ill tenant could be entitled to a second chance after committing a crime that disqualified her from a federal housing subsidy. Super v. J.D'Amelia & Assocs., LLC, No. 3:09CV831 (SRU), 2010 WL 3926887, at *6-8 (D. Conn. Sept. 30, 2010). But the district court's reasoning in Super is not binding on us and we do not find it persuasive, particularly given the analysis in Dewitt. Also, Mr. Profita's argument that decisions in second-chance accommodation cases do not turn on [the] timing of the requested accommodation but on the effectiveness of the accommodation, Aplt. Reply Br. at 1, is contrary to Dewitt, which stated that the employer was not  obligated to stay its disciplinary hand, 845 F.3d at 1318, merely because the employee requested a last-minute accommodation.

C.

Mr. Profita also argues that the rule against retroactive leniency should not apply to him because he in fact seeks a prospective accommodation: the opportunity to complete his medical degree now that he has obtained treatment for his disabling conditions. He contends that so long as the offending policy forbidding reinstatement back into his last year of medical school remains firmly in place he is denied meaningful public entity access currently and prospectively [as] a person with a disability. Aplt. Opening Br. at 19 (emphasis added) (footnote omitted).

He relies primarily on Dudley v. Hannaford Bros. Co., 333 F.3d 299 (1st Cir. 2003). In that ADA Title III case the disabled plaintiff sued a retailer whose cashier refused to sell him alcoholic beverages when he displayed symptoms mimicking intoxication, even after he explained to the store's manager that his symptoms were due to his disabling condition. See id. at 301-02. The manager told him that the store had a policy that he could not revisit the cashier's decision to refuse to sell alcoholic beverages to a customer. See id. at 302. The district court determined that the store's actions violated the ADA, and it enjoined the retailer from enforcing what it referred to as its refusal to reconsider policy at the store. Id. at 303. The First Circuit upheld this injunctive relief. See id. at 310-11.

The type of prospective relief Dudley authorized is easily distinguished from the relief Mr. Profita seeks here. In Dudley the plaintiff did not leave the store, then return nine months later insisting that he had been disabled during the earlier transaction and asking that the earlier transaction now be completed at the original price and on the original terms. Rather, the plaintiff was still in the store, attempting to purchase alcohol, when he disclosed to the manager that his disability had caused his inebriation-like symptoms; and the retailer unreasonably refused to consider his disability-based explanation. And the court approved only prospective injunctive relief applicable to future transactions at the store.

Nor has Mr. Profita convinced us of his broader point, that he seeks only a prospective accommodation. To permit this characterization of prospective accommodation would eviscerate Dewitt's no retroactive leniency rule. For example, a terminated employee who had never requested accommodation during his employment but who later obtained medical treatment that made him capable of performing his former job could always claim to be requesting only prospective relief when seeking to be rehired and even given seniority-based benefits he had earned at the time he was fired. That is not the purpose of a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. The disability statutes do not require that a disabled person properly terminated from a job or program be given a greater opportunity for reinstatement than that given to a terminated person who is not disabled. In this case all terminated medical students must apply for readmission; Mr. Profita was not treated differently.

D.

Mr. Profita also argues that cases from other courts support his claim. But we do not find those cases persuasive because none addressed the issue before us. Either the accommodation was requested before termination or the defendant had agreed to consider reinstatement.

E.

Finally, Mr. Profita argues that both the ADA and the ADAAA were enacted with a remedial purpose, to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities. He contends that a no leniency rule violates the congressional mandate reflected in these statutes. But such broad policy arguments cannot override statutory language or our precedents.

V.

We affirm the district court's order dismissing Mr. Profita's complaint for failure to state a claim.

Entered for the Court

FOOTNOTES

. After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.

. This case is governed by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, commonly known as the ADAAA. See Dewitt v. Sw. Bell Tel. Co., 845 F.3d 1299, 1303 & n.1 (10th Cir. 2017). We refer to Mr. Profita's claim, as the parties do, as an ADA claim, except where he specifically invokes the ADAAA's amendments.

. The complaint also asserts that the psychiatrist's inaccurate diagnosis misled the University Promotions Committee and allowed that University Committee to avoid the issue of accommodating Mr. Profita's illness. Aplt. App. at 10 (internal quotation marks omitted). But he does not explain why the alleged misdiagnosis would excuse his failure to make a timely request for accommodation or otherwise be relevant to his claim.

. The language of Title II is reasonable modifications, see 42 U.S.C.  12131(2); see also 28 C.F.R.  35.130(b)(7)(i) (agency regulation implementing Title II), which we have stated is essentially equivalent to Title I's term reasonable accommodation. See Robertson v. Las Animas Cty. Sheriff's Dep't, 500 F.3d 1185, 1195 & n.8 (10th Cir. 2007). In Title II cases, this Court has used the terms interchangeably.  Id. at 1195 n.8.

Harris L Hartz Circuit Judge
Brendt Christensen. [File photo]

URBANA, the United States - An American man pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the charge of kidnapping a University of Illinois scholar from China.

This is the first time for Brendt Christensen to appear in court after a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment on Oct 3 against the 28-year-old man accused in the kidnapping resulting in the death of Zhang Yingying.

US Magistrate Judge Eric Long read the main part of the superseding indictment, and Christensen replied that he fully understood the three counts of charges, namely kidnapping resulting in death and two counts of making false statements to FBI agents.

When Christensen entered the courthouse, Zhang's mother could not hold her sadness but cried out, trying to grab the defendant while shouting "give me back my daughter." She was helped out of the court before the hearing began.

Pre-hearing will be held on Feb 12, 2018, and the final ruling of the case will be on Feb 27, 2018, Judge Long said.

If convicted of the charge, Christensen faces the death penalty or mandatory life in prison.
Former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff (L) speaks during a media conference alongside Javier Miranda, President of Uruguay's ruling party Frente Amplio, at the party's headquarters in Montevideo, November 4, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

BRASILIA - Brazil's Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) on Wednesday blocked assets belonging to the former president, Dilma Rousseff, for her alleged role in a 2006 deal when oil giant Petrobras acquired a refinery in Pasadena city in the US state of Texas.

The move, approved by the TCU to last for a year, also froze the assets of former finance minister, Antonio Palocci, former Petrobras president, Jose Sergio Gabrielli, and other members of Petrobras' board.

Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.

According to the TCU, in 2006, Petrobras approved the acquisition of the refinery for a cost of $580 million, which was felt to be far too expensive given the "uneconomic criteria adopted to define the price of the refinery."

At the time Petrobras took control of 50 percent of the refinery, Rousseff was chief of staff to former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. She also chaired the Petrobras board of directors.

In 2014, when the scandal concerning the refinery first emerged, Rousseff said she only approved the deal due to having received "incomplete information" for a "technically and judicially flawed" report.

Last year, the former president was impeached by Congress in her second term for fiscal irregularities and replaced by her Vice-president Michel Temer.
The gate of UNESCO. [Photo/CGTN]

The US State Department said on Thursday that the country is withdrawing from UNESCO, the cultural and educational agency of the UN, noting that the move will take effect on Dec 31.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," the department said.

It added that the US would seek to "remain engaged ...as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise."

In response, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova voiced "profound regret" over Washington's decision to withdraw, saying the move marked a loss for multilateralism and for the UN family.

The US had canceled its substantial budget contribution to UNESCO in 2011 in protest at a decision to grant Palestine full membership.
The Last Christians: Priest Describes Horror, Courage of Christians Being Killed for Their Faith Christian Post Contributor | 12 October, 2017 by Stoyan Zaimov

German author and Catholic priest Andreas Knapp traveled to Iraq where he heard about a young boy who was brutally killed simply for his cross necklace.

"In Mosul, IS terrorists stopped a boy in the street because he was wearing a small cross around his neck. They ordered him to throw it away, and when he steadfastly refused, they buried him alive," Knapp wrote in his newly released book, The Last Christians: Stories of Persecution, Flight, and Resilience in the Middle East.

"Whenever I hear stories like this and meet Christians of such courage, I can't help but wonder: How much is my faith worth to me? How high a price would I be prepared to pay?"

The story is only one of the countless tragedies Knapp witnessed or heard about from survivors and church and human rights workers when traveling to Iraq to speak with Christians who are being wiped out for their faith.

He shares many of those shocking stories as well as accounts of incredible courage in his book.

"I never fail to be impressed by the deep faith displayed by Eastern Christians. For the sake of Jesus Christ, they have suffered all kinds of harassment and even given up their homeland. Friends and relatives  including children  have paid for their Christian beliefs with their lives," Knapp wrote.

Read more about persecuted Christians and Andreas Knapp at The Christian Post.
An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three children were rescued on Wednesday after five years in captivity with the Taliban.

Caitlan Coleman, 31, and her husband, Joshua Boyle, 34, were abducted while hiking in Afghanistans Ghazni province in 2012.

They were rescued in an exchange between Pakistani military and U.S. commandos on Wednesday in a secret operation.

According to counterterrorism officials, U.S. special operations forces had considered a raid to rescue the family, but the family was moved to another location before being rescued.

"They're in Pakistan and they are safe," an official told ABC News.

"We should all celebrate that they are out of the hands of the Taliban. We have secured their release," the official said.

In a video filmed by the captors and sent to the Coleman families last January, the film shows the couples 4-year-old son sitting on his fathers lap. Caitlan is shown with their second child, still an infant at the time. Since the video, a third child has been born.

Boyle says in the video that the conditions of their captivity had improved.

Caitlan added: I would also like to say to my father specifically, that I think you would like to know that my time inmarried, and my time as a mother, and my time in prison that Ive become more of a Belle than an Ariel.

Also Wednesday, President Donald Trump made a mention to the rescue when he spoke to a crowd in Pennsylvania.

"America is being respected again. Something happened today, where a country that totally disrespected us called with some very, very important news, Trump said. And one of my generals came in, they said, 'You know, I have to tell you, a year ago they would've never done that.' It was a great sign of respect. You'll probably be hearing about it over the next few days. But this is a country that did not respect us. This is a country that respects us now. The world is starting to respect us again, believe me.

Photo courtesy: Thinkstock/cyano66

Publication date: October 12, 2017
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP announced that Kristi Wilcox Arth, an attorney in the firms Nashville office, has received a 2017 Outstanding Committee Chair Award from the DRI Young Lawyers Committee.

Ms. Arth was recognized at DRIs Annual Meeting in October for her service as chair of the Wellness Subcommittee for the DRI Young Lawyers Committee over the last year.



We are proud of Kristis contributions to DRI, and we congratulate her on this award for her dedicated service to the organization and to the legal profession, said Bradleys Nashville Office Managing Partner Lela Hollabaugh.



A member of Bradleys Litigation Practice Group, Ms. Arth handles a wide variety of litigation and intellectual property matters for individuals, small and large companies, tax-exempt organizations and governmental entities. Her cases in federal and state court involve trademark infringement, trade secret misappropriation, governmental tort liability, government contracts, negligence, employment issues and shareholder disputes, among other issues.



Ms. Arths practice also involves handling transactional matters related to clients intellectual property portfolios. These include licensing deals; trademark prosecution before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board; international, federal and state trademark applications and maintenance; copyright registrations; and website development and use agreements.



Ms. Arth received her J.D. (magna cum laude) from Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University where she was named to The Order of the Coif. She also holds a Master of Arts from The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude) from the University of Alabama.

DRI  The Voice of the Defense Bar advocates for 22,000 defense attorneys, commercial trial attorneys and corporate counsel, and defends the integrity of the civil judiciary.


International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that families of the Copts killed by ISIS in Libya are preparing to place their deceased loved ones at the Church of the Martyrs of Libya in Aour village, Egypt, after they have received the bodies. According to ICC sources, neither the Egyptian nor the Libyan authorities have requested DNA samples from the families to confirm the identities of the martyrs. The families intend to personally verify the identities once they have received the bodies, after which the Church of the Martyrs of Libya will receive the Christians for burial.



Construction of the Church of the Martyrs of Libya began with the intention of memorializing the faith and courage of the 21 Coptic men who were brutally massacred by ISIS militants along the Libyan coast in February 2015. The militants buried the Christian men in a mass grave. Libyan authorities announced earlier this month that they discovered the grave's location after arresting the militant responsible for filming the massacre.



Thirteen of the men killed were originally from Aour village. Father Makar Issa, a priest at The Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Church in the village, told ICC, "Our Lord chose the right time for the appearance and return of the remains of the martyrs after the completion of the building of the Church of the Martyrs of Libya to receive the blessed bodies of the martyrs to be placed at the new church in the village. This church is now completed and it is ready to receive its martyred sons, the heroes who lifted the head of the church and Christians all around the world."



The brother of the two martyrs Bishoy and Samuel told ICC, "A great state of joy prevailed in our village [Aour] after the publication of pictures of the bodies. Our feelings are indescribable. They are mixed between crying and joy."



According to the families, the bodies of the men are currently in a Libyan morgue where they are being prepared for the return to the families. Social media has been the primary source of information for the families throughout the process, and they have received only limited communication from the authorities on the progress of the investigation.



The families' hearts are "hungry to see the remains of our martyrs," according to Malak Shokry Younan, the brother of the martyr Youssef. The mother of the martyr Mina Fayez Aziz shared with ICC, "Before the news of finding the bodies of our martyrs, I was comforted and blessed. But now, after hearing the news of finding the bodies of the martyrs, I'm comforted more than before. I will be very happy when I see them and will visit them every day at the church. We pray that God complete their safe return to us."



Claire Evans, ICC's Regional Manager, said, "For over two years, the families of these Christians have had to wait at home with no opportunity for closure. Both the Libyan and Egyptian authorities must do everything possible to ensure that the bodies are returned to their loved ones and buried with dignity according to their Christian faith. At the same time, we must not forget that these victims were originally in Libya because of a lack of opportunity in Egypt for Christians. We pray that these families will experience healing from this tragedy and for the safety of those Egyptian Christians who continue to risk their lives for the sake of their families' welfare."

To read more Christian persecution news, visit www.persecution.org.

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com

Publication date: October 10, 2017
The Supreme Court dismissed a major challenge to President Trumps travel ban on majority-Muslim countries because it has been replaced by a new version, sending the controversy back to the starting block.

The ruling Tuesday (Oct. 10) is a victory for the Trump administration, which had asked the court to drop the case after Trump signed a proclamation Sept. 24 that replaced the temporary travel ban on six nations with a new, indefinite ban affecting eight countries. That action made the court challenge moot, the justices ruled.

We express no view on the merits, the justices said in a one-page order.

The decision effectively wipes the record clean in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, one of two federal appeals courts that had struck down major portions of Trumps travel ban. That case began in Maryland.

A separate case from the 9th Circuit, based in California, remains pending because it includes a ban on refugees worldwide that wont expire until later this month. But the Supreme Court is likely to ditch that case, which began in Hawaii, as well.

The challengers in both cases already have renewed their lawsuits in the lower courts, starting the legal process anew. In Maryland, a federal district court has scheduled a new hearing for next week.

But the new travel ban and the Supreme Courts order vacating the 4th Circuit appeals court judgment puts the administration in a somewhat stronger position, at least for now.

The 4th Circuit case was brought by the International Refugee Assistance Project, which argued that banning travel from six majority-Muslim countries violated the First Amendments guarantee of freedom of religion.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the courts action. She would have dismissed the case but in a way that would have preserved the appeals court ruling against the ban, rather than vacating it.

Under its original schedule, the court would have heard the case Tuesday, but the court had delayed oral argument after Trump replaced his earlier order. The new version followed a three-month review of immigration procedures.

The latest travel ban targets five countries included in two previous versions  Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen  as well as Chad, North Korea and Venezuela. Unlike the earlier bans, it treats some countries and types of travelers, such as students or tourists, differently than others.

The administration told the justices last week that the new ban is based on detailed findings regarding the national security interests of the United States that were reached after a thorough, worldwide review and extensive consultation.

The bans challengers argued that the case against the last version should go forward because many of the same travelers and their families are adversely affected  not just for 90 days, but indefinitely.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the 4th Circuit challenge on behalf of the refugee group, had said charges of anti-Muslim discrimination still applied despite some new window dressing  a reference to the addition of North Korea and Venezuela.

Hawaii, which brought the 9th Circuit challenge, warned the justices that elements of the earlier ban still could be revived, since Trump has said he wants a much tougher version.

Courtesy: Religion News Service via USA Today

Photo: Travelers make their way up the arrival ramp at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport on June 29, 2017. After months of wrangling, tighter restrictions on travel to the U.S. from six mostly Muslim nations took effect in June after the Supreme Court gave its go-ahead for a limited version of President Trump's plans for a ban.

Photo courtesy: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Publication date: October 12, 2017
Religion has long figured prominently into Kenyan politics. But the great lengths presidential candidates and their supporters have gone to connect themselves to the Bible and its heroes in the lead-up to this months presidential election have disturbed many religious leaders and scholars.

Supporters of President Uhuru Kenyatta, the 56-year-old incumbent from the Jubilee Party and a Roman Catholic, compare him to David, as in the slayer of Goliath. They point out that he likes music and is left-handed, as many believe the biblical David to have been.

Kenyattas challenger, Raila Odinga  an Anglican who leads the opposition National Super Alliance  has referred to himself as Joshua, the Israelite who succeeded Moses and delivered the people of Israel to the Promised Land.

Politicians are trying to use this religious imagery to give force and legitimacy to their campaigns, but no one should be fooled, said the Rev. Wilybard Lagho, the Mombasa Roman Catholic archdiocese vicar general.

They want their supporters to believe this is a divine call, which is not. I think they are manipulating their supporters.

Electoral politics in Kenya  which is 80 percent Christian  have been particularly tumultuous lately, and the candidates may find it worthwhile to promise deliverance from the chaos.

The Supreme Court annulled the presidential election held on Aug. 7  which had been called for Kenyatta  over voting irregularities. The new national election is slated for Oct. 26. On Tuesday (Oct. 10), Odinga, 72, announced he was boycotting the new elections.

Before he announced the boycott, Odinga had warned his supporters of the difficult journey to Canaan.

Many will fall by the wayside. Many will fall for the good things in pharaohs backyard and forget that we leaving Egypt to Canaan, he said at a news conference in Nairobi on Monday.

He told his supporters that voting for the ruling party meant remaining in Egypt under bondage of poverty, corruption and ethnicity.

In May, Odinga, carrying a Bible, visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where he donned a kippah  the skullcap worn by Jews to show respect for God. Then he posted on Twitter: The site is sacred to all three Abrahamic religions  Judaism, Islam and Christianity  and to me it is a very strong symbol of strength and unity.

Some Odinga supporters have branded minibuses, cars and bicycles Canaan Express.

When they use these names of the Bible heroes, it bring peace to the people since religion is for peace, said Julia Oganda, 48, a Nairobi businesswoman. We are going to Canaan, she chanted during a short interview.

Joshua Bosire, 30, who attends a Seventh-day Adventist church in Nairobi, also appreciates Odingas references to Joshua and Canaan. I think he has a point. People are struggling. Corruption has increased, we are seeing more strike by workers, and the economy is not doing well.

Kenyatta, for his part, has been kneeling on church pews and receiving blessings from church leaders.

Early this year, in central Kenya, Kenyattas short prayer for rain was followed by a heavy downpour. His supporters praised him as a prophet.

Many scholars and religious leaders in Kenya reject the candidates and their supporters reliance on biblical imagery.

Religion and politics should not be mixed this way, said Jesse Mugambi, a professor of philosophy and religious studies at the University of Nairobi. The objectives of the two discourses are very different. This is worrying and misleading.

But the abuse of religion is common across the world and Kenya is not the first, he added.

Abdullah Kheir, a religious scholar at Umma Muslim University in the coastal city of Mombasa, said politicians are using what works. They know Kenya is a religious country and religion is one of the easiest ways to reach the people, Kheir said.

Courtesy: Religion News Service

Photo: Voters queue to vote on Aug. 8 at a polling station at an Anglican church in the Dagoretti area in Nairobi, Kenya.

Photo courtesy: Fredrick Nzwili

Publication date: October 12, 2017
The Trump administration has announced that it will be pulling the U.S. out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) due to the organizations alleged anti-Israel bias and other issues.

USA Today reports that the U.S. will pull out of UNESCO effective next year. According to an official statement released by the State Department: "This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO.

Although this may appear like a major change in world politics, as USA Today notes, it is actually mostly symbolic since the U.S. has not actually funded UNESCO since 2011, after the organization voted to include Palestine.

The history of the U.S.s involvement with UNESCO has been somewhat tenuous for several decades now. President Reagan withdrew the U.S. from the organization in 1984, but then President George W. Bush brought the U.S. back into the organization in 2002. Funding to UNESCO from the U.S. was cut off under the Obama administration.

A statement from Irina Bokova, the director general of UNESCO said: At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack.

Photo: In this handout photo provided by the Israel Government Press Office (GPO), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with US President Donald Trump prior to the President's departure from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv on May 23, 2017 in Jerusalem, Israel. Trump arrived for a 28-hour visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority areas on his first foreign trip since taking office in January.

Photo courtesy: Kobi Gideon/Getty Images

Publication date: October 12, 2017
Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, famously broke with the Roman Catholic Church, primarily over the doctrine of justification. Luther insisted salvation came through sola fide (faith alone), but Catholic leadership disagreed and excommunicated Luther for his views. So, it certainly would have surprised Luther to hear that his name would be mentioned with approval at St. Peters Basilica in the Vatican on Good Friday in 2016. On this day, sacred to all Christians, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the papal household, gave the Good Friday sermon to an audience that included the pope, cardinals, bishops, and thousands of the Catholic faithful. He said,

There is a danger that people can hear about the righteousness of God but not understand its meaning, so instead of being encouraged, they are frightened. Saint Augustine had already clearly explained its meaning centuries ago: The righteousness of God is that by which we are made righteous, just as the salvation of God [see Ps 3:8] means the salvation by which he saves us. Luther deserves the credit for bringing this truth back when its meaning had been lost over the centuries, at least in Christian preaching, and it is this above all for which Christianity is indebted to the Reformation, whose fifth centenary occurs next year. [Emphasis mine] The reformer later wrote that when he discovered this, I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.

Fr. Cantalamessa went on to quote immediately from Paul: When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy (Titus 3:45). Next, he referenced Pauls letter to the Ephesians: God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our own trespasses, made us alive together with Christby grace you have been saved. (Eph 2:45). Clearly, Fr. Cantalamessa was linking what had once been seen as an essentially Lutheran (and generally Protestant) understanding of justification with a biblical one, applying this view of justification to all Christians, including Roman Catholics, and most significantly the pope.

Recent Consensus

Though Luther surely would have been surprised to hear these words spoken in this context before such an audience, recently there is a history of ecumenical advances between the Catholics and Protestants pre-dating the papacy of Francis. Though there remain some significant differences regarding the understanding of the Eucharist/Communion, as well as church hierarchy, in 1999 Catholics and Lutherans signed the Common Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. This document was additionally signed by the World Methodist Council in 2006 and is also being considered now by the World Communion of Reformed Churches.

Additionally, anyone who has kept up with recent actions of Pope Francis or read his writings would not be surprised by Cantalamessas remarks. For example, the pope has made several gestures of reconciliation and fellowship to Lutherans and other Christian believers, as in his 2015 visit to the Lutheran church in Rome; his visit to Lund, Sweden, in October 2016 in honor of the Reformation; and his video appearance at Together 2016, a gathering of young evangelical Christians in the United States capital. Recently, Pope Francis spoke about the link between conversion and ecumenism to the annual ecumenical delegation from Finland: True ecumenism is based on a shared conversion to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Redeemer. If we draw close to him, we draw close also to one another.

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In Franciss writings, we see a theological emphasis on the mercy mentioned in Pauls writings and a key to a true comprehension of the doctrine of justification. In his book Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis clearly says, The salvation which God offers us is the work of his mercy. No human efforts, however good they may be, can enable us to merit so great a gift. God, by his sheer grace, draws us to himself and makes us one with him.

Similarly, in The Name of God Is Mercy, the pope states, Jesus forgave even those who crucified and scorned him. We must go back to the gospel.  No human sin, however serious, can prevail over or limit mercy. It is evident that Pope Francis wants to teach the church, once again, to recover a sense of the lavishness of Gods grace and mercy, not to be earned by legalistic works done out of fear.

Recovery Not Discovery

The popes teaching on this subject is not an innovation, still less a rejection of traditional Catholicism. It is essentially a recovery of a balance between grace and mercy on the one hand and obedience to Gods law on the other, going back to the early days of the church. This distinction is also important in understanding how Luthers emphasis on justification by faith was not a discovery, but a recovery.

On the one hand, going back to the Gospels, as Pope Francis suggests, we see that Jesus clearly illustrated in his actions and expressed in his words a consistent teaching that Gods love is available to sinners, something freely and lavishly given. The three parables in Luke 15 (the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the Prodigal Son or lost son) all testify to Gods seeking of the lost, who are welcomed back without earning anything. Jesus publicly forgave sinners who repented, such as the woman who knelt at his feet and washed them with her tears (Luke 7:3650) and Matthew/Levi, the tax collector (Matt. 9:9 and Luke 5:2732). Both examples caused Jesus to be criticized for associating with a known sinner.

The ultimate example of Jesus love and mercy is shown on the cross, where Jesus forgave his enemies and executioners, as well as another publicly known sinner, one of the two thieves crucified with him (Luke 23:3943). Though there is no explicit teaching about justification by faith in the Gospels, Jesus great mercy toward sinners, coupled with his denunciation of the self-righteousness of the Pharisees, implicitly and powerfully shows that legalistic striving is not the way to salvation.

However, it would be wrong to see in Jesus denunciation of the Pharisees a renunciation of the Jewish law or advocacy of immoral behavior. Jesus never says the Jewish law is bad or to be rejected. In fact, he says just the opposite in Matthew 5:19 and 23:112. The Pharisees were sinning, not by their devotion to the law, but through an emphasis on law over love, through trusting in their own righteousness. This tendency is critiqued in Jesus parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple, where it is the tax collector, not the Pharisee, who Jesus says would leave the temple justified before God (Luke 18:914). Experiencing this kind of forgiving love through faith leads to the love that fulfills the law. Self-righteously and proudly trying to earn Gods favor through legalism does not lead to love.

It was this tendency toward legalism within the church of his day, which Luther was countering in the Reformation. As Cardinal Walter Kasper says, The insight that Gods justice is not a punitive justice, but rather a justice that justifies the sinner, counts as the great Reformation discovery of Martin Luther, a discovery that also liberated him personally from anxiety about sin and from a troubled conscience.

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However, Cardinal Kasper says Luthers discovery is fundamentally a rediscovery. It has older roots in the common tradition of the early church. We find these roots in Augustine, for whom Luther had high esteem, and in Bernard of Clairvaux and, as we have seen, in the writings of Paul and the Gospels. Luther did not invent this doctrine of justification by faith; he simply redirected the churchs focus toward it. The saving death of Christ out of his great love is the root and source of our justification. Both Protestant and Catholic historians know that Luther himself saw his ideas as a rediscovery, but many lay people in both traditions might not realize the common roots of the doctrine of justification, going back to the earliest days of the church, and the more formal links among Catholic and Lutheran church leaders today.

However, we do not want to act as if there are no differences between Catholics and Protestants at all. Though I would argue that a clear understanding of Catholicism puts it very close, if not identical, to the Protestant view of justification by faith, Catholics do emphasize sacraments (seven in the Roman Catholic Church) as a means of participating in the grace available through Christs death and resurrection.

Most Catholics do not think of these sacraments as works, any more than most Protestant Christians consider baptism (one of the two sacraments kept by Luther) as a work either. Protestants see baptism as an outward sign of an inner spiritual reality. Similarly, according to the catechism, Catholics view each sacrament as an outward sign instituted by God to give grace. Though we emphasize them more than Protestants do, Catholics see sacraments not as actions that earn Gods favor, but as physical ways we can experience his grace in a particular and profound way. In both traditions, sacraments should not be understood as works righteousness.

The Heart of Christianity

But, does this liberating experience of justification through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus lead to such a relaxed conscience that we can slide into presumption, to the idea that it doesnt matter what I do because Im saved? This idea is strongly countered by Paul in the letter to Romans, where he asks one of many rhetorical questions: Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! (6:12). Rather, through the free gift of justification, we are saved for a life of good works, done in the Spirit, as Paul explains: Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace (Rom. 6:8, 14). This life of grace flows out of the justified soul, because it is Christ living in the soul, loving through him or her.

This truth makes up the essence of Augustines conversion. Just before his complete conversion, Augustine had a vision of Continence, personified as a loving and gracious woman, who reassures him: Why are you relying on yourself, only to find yourself unreliable? Cast yourself upon him, do not be afraid. It was this vision that prepared Augustine for the experience shortly following, in the Milan garden, where he takes and reads, from Pauls letter to the Romans: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in its lusts (13:1314).

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Putting on Christ is made possible only through justification by faith in Gods great and saving love, not through striving in ones own power, as Paul says, Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). Only Christ can perfectly fulfill the law of God, so we can only be fully justified when he lives it through us. Cardinal Kasper points out that God reconciles himself with us, But he does that so that we, as a result, become a new creation in Christ, referring to 2 Corinthians 5:1719. We are transformed by the grace of God working in our hearts.

Despite the recent affirmations of Catholic leaders, particularly Pope Francis, affirming the grace-filled teaching at the heart of the Christian faith, church teaching on this subject at the time of the Reformation was not always clear, and to some believers, the life of faith may have seemed like a series of rules. This was not the true teaching of the church, but for somelike the young monk Lutherthe teaching of mercy was getting lost. However, this problem can develop in believers at any time, if we are not careful.

Rules and customs develop, supposedly based on the Bible, even the Bible alone (sola scriptura), but any human institution and any human being can easily turn from grace to law. It is an easy temptation to fall into, the temptation of the elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. We work so hard that we miss the fact that the Father loves us and that all he has is ours. He longs to shower love on us, but we are so busy trying to earn it that we miss its many manifestations and the still small voice speaking to our hearts. When Catholic leaders today like Pope Francis and Fr. Cantalamessa speak positively of Luther, it shows a recovery of an emphasis on trusting in Gods grace and justification by faith that is at the heart of Christianity, whether Catholic or Protestant.

Nancy Enright is an associate professor of English and Catholic studies at Seton Hall University, where she serves as director of the core.
Several weeks after Lecrae dropped his latest album, the biggest name in Christian hip-hop joined the podcast Truths Table. The topic of conversation: the rappers musical and personal transformation since his last album, a three-year period during which Lecrae become increasingly vocal in speaking up about racial injustice. (Listen here.)

In response to a question about whether he divorced white evangelicalism, he said:

I spoke out very frequently throughout 2016 in many different ways and it affected me. I went from a show that may have had 3,000 there to 300 but that was the cost. But those 300 people were people who I knew loved Lecrae, the black man, the Christian, all of who Lecrae was, not the caricature that had been drawn up for them.

Lecraes decision to distance himself from evangelicalism is personally familiar to Carl Ellis Jr., a senior fellow at the African American Leadership Institute and a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary, who doesnt consider himself reflected in the movement.

I cannot identify with much of what evangelicalism identifies with, Ellis said. Yes I believe Scripture to be the inerrant, inspired, infallible Word of God and all of that, but on the other hand, theres so much baggage that goes along with it.

Like Lecrae, another obstacle for Ellis in connecting with the movement was its lack of emphasis on justice issues.

I was very active in the civil rights movement, said Ellis, who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. But when I got saved, I somehow got the subliminal message that I had to leave all of that behind. I think Lecrae was picking up on the fact that theres something wrong here.

Ellis joined assistant editor Morgan Lee and editor in chief Mark Galli to discuss the genesis of Lecrae and John Pipers relationship, what it means when someone stops identifying as evangelical, and what Lecraes actions and words suggest about where the church is on issues of racial justice.

What is Quick to Listen? Read more.

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Quick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee, Richard Clark, and Cray Allred
I had the privilege or reading a pre-release version of "God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church." Here are 20 quotes from the book, which you should pick up.
For the first time in 35 years, the United States will not take in more refugees than the rest of the world combined.

Since 1980, more than 3 million of the worlds refugees have settled in America, according to a new study released today by the Pew Research Center. Thats more than any other country in the world, in terms of resettlement (which is different than hosting people escaping conflict areas, who typically flood neighboring countries but are not officially resettled there).

In years when more people around the globe are displaced by conflict, violence, or persecution in their countries, the number of refugees resettled by the US has increased, researchers wrote. But in the last few years, the number of refugees annually resettled by the US has not consistently grown in step with a worldwide refugee population that has expanded nearly 50 percent since 2013.

The numbers reflect only the percent of refugees that are resettled, which is only a tiny amount of those who are displaced. For example, while 17.2 million people fled their homes in 2016, only 1 million of them were deemed eligible for resettlement by the United Nations. And of those, just 189,000 were resettled worldwideabout half of them in the US (51%).

Thats how America, which resettled an average of just 0.6 percent of the worlds refugees every year between 1982 and 2016, is still technically a refugees best shot for a stable new life. The US took in a whopping 69 percent of the worlds resettled refugees during that period, far outpacing Canada (No. 2 at 14%) and Australia (No. 3 at 11%).

Overall, the US numbers have reflected the trends of international events. When the number of refugees rose to 17.8 million in 1992, the number of those finding a home in the US rose to 132,000. When it fell in the early part of the 21st century, those resettled in the US fell to about 50,000 a year.

But American resettlement trends also reflect the national mood. After 9-11, the number of resettled refugees dropped off sharply as vetting ramped up. In response to ISIS, President Barack Obama raised limits (but still not as generously as the US had been in the 1990s). And after running an anti-immigration campaign, President Donald Trump cut the 2017 intake from Obamas planned 100,000 to 50,000.

Overall, half of refugees resettled in America over the past 15 years came from four countries: Burma (Myanmar), Iraq, Somalia, and Bhutan. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Cuba, Ukraine, Sudan, and Russia round out the top 10.

Most refugees in the last few years have come from the Middle East and Africa (up from 17% in 2002 to 68% in 2017) and speak Arabic (up from 3% in 2002 to 23% in 2017). A larger share are also Muslim (up from 23% in 2002 to 39% in 2017).

But that increase hasnt significantly cut into the number of Christians that are resettled. Their share dropped only slightly, from 52 percent in 2002 to 49 percent in 2017, according to the State Departments Refugee Processing Center. From 2002 to 2017, Christian refugees were resettled more often than any other religion.

Increasingly, refugees are settling in Americas most religious areas. Over the past 15 years, the number of refugees that settle in the South more than doubled, from 7,000 to 16,000. The Midwest tripled its resettled refugees, from 5,000 to 15,000.

The West (10,000 to 15,000) and Northeast (5,000 to 8,000) also grew, but less dramatically.

However, two of the three most hospitable states are on the coasts. California took in the most refugees between 2002 and 2017 (105,000), followed by Texas (84,000) and New York (55,000). Together, theyve taken in more than a quarter of all refugees (27%).

The Trump administration has capped refugees for fiscal year 2018 at 45,000the lowest since presidents were given the power to set limits back in 1980.

World Relief president Scott Arbeiter called the number very troubling, especially as the persecution of many religious minorities, including Christians, is on the rise globally.

The refugee program has been a lifeline of protection for persecuted individuals, in particular, persecuted Christians, around the world, he stated. We should take every opportunity to protect them, including through the strategic use of resettlement.
Andi Frances O'Rourke preparing one of the plant beds Mulch being delivered by Austin DeMaria of DeMaria's Home Improvements and Property Maintenance Members of the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps and their leaders digging the holes for the trees Dan Kehoe, James Cosey, and John O'Rourke completing the build of one of the plant beds Previous Next

Regent Stacy Kehoe of the Judge David Campbell, TSDAR organized a planting session for Sept. 19 at the newly developed Patriots Place on Veteran Way.

Buffalo Valley, Inc. case manager John ORourke and his wife Andi Frances ORourke, members of the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, and leaders and members of the community-at-large joined forces to plant eight crepe myrtle trees and dozens of plants after building four plant beds.

Some of the community members cleaned the inside of four homes to have them ready for occupancy.

Over sixty bags of mulch were donated in partial by HomeDepot, with the other half donated by DeMaria's Home Improvements and Property Maintenance. A special grant from HomeDepot provided all of the plants, trees and materials required to complete the project.

Residents at Patriots Place on Veterans Way are for homeless, disabled veterans and their family members.

"It is with great pride and a humble spirit that we all were here to participate in completing this task," a volunteer said.






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San Antonio and Bexar County officials are bowing out of the competition for Amazons proposed $5 billion second headquarters, reversing course from their initial plans to put together a competitive bid, officials said.

Blindly giving away the farm isnt our style, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg wrote in a joint letter sent Wednesday to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

The Seattle e-commerce giant invited cities last month to submit bids by Oct. 19 for the location of its second headquarters, HQ2, promising 50,000 new jobs that pay an average of more than $100,000 a year. The solicitation set off a feeding frenzy among cities across the U.S. as economic development directors scrambled to impress Bezos with unique perks and tax incentives. Tuscon, Arizona reportedly sent a 21-foot cactus to Bezos and a town in Georgia offered to rename some of its land the city of Amazon.

Its hard to imagine that a forward-thinking company like Amazon hasnt already selected its preferred location, Nirenberg and Wolff said. And if thats the case, then this public process is, intentionally or not, creating a bidding war amongst states and cities.

That sentiment was echoed by elected officials and business leaders.

Now Playing: Previously known for their expensive, organic food items Whole Foods picked up the nickname "whole check." But Whole Foods CEO John Mackey says that time is over. Business Insider reports that after Amazon's recent purchase of Whole Foods for 13.7 billion dollars, one of the first items on their to-do list was dropping Whole Foods' prices. Say goodbye to $80 dollar honey and hello to sharp markdowns. Business Insider says that items like Organic Fuji apples dropped from $3.49 to $1.99 a pound. Foursquare reveals that price reductions, after the first few days of the buyout, increased customer traffic by an average of 25 percent. Video: Wochit

Amazon is a very brilliant company for no other reason that they know that every city will fall over themselves to give the company what it needs because its a huge prize, District 4 Councilman Rey Saldana said. I suspect the company already knew where they were going before they made the announcement.

Amazons very public approach to soliciting bids from municipalities for their new headquarters is a completely new way of doing expansions and I believe its probably the way companies are going to seek incentives in the future, said Ramiro Cavazos, CEO and president of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

All it does it create an arms race for incentives that is really going to make it challenging for a city that has limited resources to compete, Cavazos said. We may not have the same per capita income and corporate base than other cities that we want to compete against will. And if we put everything on the table, that may hurt us for a future proposal down the road.

The decision not to bid changes course from last month when a team consisting of the city, the county and the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation said it was engaged and ready to pursue this opportunity, according to a statement released at the time by Erica Hurtak, spokeswoman for the foundation.

Hurtak said Wednesday that the city reviewed the bidding criteria and decided that it didnt have a chance at winning the bid.

As aspirational as we are about our communitys potential, we simply wouldnt be highly competitive from a real estate and incentives perspective, she said in a statement.

The news came one day after Nirenberg said the city needs a major international airport with nonstop flights to make the city a competitive, long-term air option.

But, the airports lack of nonstop flights wouldnt have been as big a factor in Amazons decision as citys workforce, said Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert.

The big one I think we need to overcome more than the airport is the pipeline of labor, Calvert said in an interview Wednesday. Our labor force is really our Achilles heel.

Saldana cast the decision not to pursue the campus as a chance for the city and county to reckon with shortcomings in transportation and education.

Were recognizing that the problems that we have to solve are not because Amazon told us we need to work on these problems, Saldana said. We recognized these are issues around transportation, around our airport, around our educational attainment levels that go back 40 years. Frankly, if Amazon was the spark, Ill take it.

Saldana later added, Economic development is not about dollars and free land anymore. Its also about how well a company feels that your community is able to carry forward the momentum of their companys ethos.

Calvert called the decision not to pursue the Amazon campus a big mistake.

Its almost like were trying to be second-tier, Calvert said. Were not even the little engine that could. We couldnt even be the Jamaican bobsled team. To be honest, were fourth-tier.

Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz asked Bezos to consider Texas for the second headquarters, saying San Antonio and other Texas cities are fast becoming global hubs for technology, data-driven business, and talent.

Bezos has some Texas ties. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, the 53-year-old Albuquerque native spent many summers on a 24,000-acre ranch in Cotulla with his grandfather. Bezos founded aerospace manufacturer Blue Origin, which conducts engine and flight testing at a range near Van Horn in West Texas.

And the Amazon CEO  currently valued at $84.6 billion by Forbes  has ponied up $42 million for the construction of a mechanical clock designed to tell time for 10,000 years to be built underneath land he owns in the Sierra Diablo mountain range in West Texas, according to Wired magazine. The clock is symbolic and intended to encourage long-term thinking.

Houston Chronicle staff writer Collin Eaton contributed to this article.

mailto:bchasnoff@express-news.net | Twitter: @bchasnoff  jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports
Ashley Gonzales used to work a not-so-great detail at the National Guard armory on Westheimer Parkway. She was trained as an intelligence analyst, but often found herself cleaning out Humvees.

She really wasn't sure what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. But doctors told her that no matter what she decided, if it involved having children, she needed to act fast. Gonzales was showing signs of a hormonal imbalance that could make conception impossible.

She was worried.

At 20 years old, she had moved in with her boyfriend, Jeff Sugura, whom she missed dearly while she was away at basic training for a year.

More Information Meet the family Ashley Gonzales and Jeff Sugura are sharing their young parenting lives with the world, one post at a time. Read about their adventures in Gonzales' blog, www.newmominanewera.com, or watch their chronicles on YouTube in their series "Fridays With the Fam." See More Collapse

The next part of her life story, most readers of her blog "New Mom in a New Era," might already know. The couple conceived, but not without some problems. Ashley needed an emergency C-section during birth, something she hadn't planned on. What followed was a bout of postpartum depression, and one day, while she was discussing her anguish at home, her mother encouraged her to share those thoughts with others in the form of a blog. That's how she began to share her experience on the internet.

Recently though, Gonzales and Sugura, 24, stepped into the world of vlogging, telling their stories about parenting as young Hispanics through videos. Still, it's the blogging that's the foundation of her budding career in online marketing that she does from home.

"I always just started out as a way for me to get over my postpartum depression," she says about the blogging. But she's created her own brand and built her own business around a form of internet marketing that reaches people through personal stories about life, and she opens up certain aspect of her daily life for public consumption with constant updates.

In their new video blog, or vlog, series "Fridays With the Fam," Gonzales and Sugura sit with their daughter Camila, 2, and discuss the issues in their life - home repairs, raising a child, reacting to the flooding from Hurricane Harvey.

The vlog is filmed by Sugura, who followed his partner into the blogging realm when he saw that she was making money for posts about motherhood, food and lifestyle. His focus, the couple decided would be style. He worked for a time at a salon and knew how to look good. But he was also interested in telling a story about how fatherhood has changed him. His "Daddy Style Diaries" has built a loyal following and scored him contracts from auto dealerships in the area.

"I'm a young dad who's sharing his point of view about being passionate about fatherhood," he says.

Being able to stop chasing a day job - they were both laid off from oil company jobs last year - has happened pretty quickly. Gonzales' first big contract came from the supermarket chain Aldi, which offered her a few hundred dollars to make her mom's arroz con leche dessert using products found in their stores. Later came more contracts, and now a check for several thousand dollars from Playtex, which capitalizes off all the posts showing Camila as she gets bigger.

Gonzales has been paid as much as $10,000 to provide what people in the ad industry call influencer marketing. It involves getting a product and telling a story around it, with video and pictures. The vlog she helps create is just an extension of putting her family's presence out in the world. She says it's not about how many followers you have or people who visit your blog, it's about how much your audience is into you and what you do, engagement, as it's called in the biz.

Juan Alanis, who runs Houston-based Big Oak Tree media firm, helped guide the couple after they came out to a local gathering called Houston Bloggers, in December 2015.

"From the very first moment we met Jeff and Ashley, (my wife) Anjelica and I knew they were serious about the business of blogging. They were young, passionate and very determined to have their voices heard," he says.

Still, Gonzales says, "We don't share everything. Some things we keep to ourselves."
Someone in Houston should really declare October 2017 as Oscar de la Renta month.

If you missed the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's fashion show and luncheon showcasing Oscar de la Renta's resort 2018 collection  or, your Grand Gala Ball invite got lost in the mail  don't fret.

The MFAH's Mixed Media bash celebrating "The Glamour and Romance of Oscar de le Renta" exhibition Friday night is an accessible way to experience the magic, and play dress up, too. And guests are encouraged to don de le Renta-inspired threads for the occasion.

Challenge accepted.

Now Playing: Tootsies store associates model Oscar de la Renta fashion for Previews new What to Wear section. Video: Dave Funchess, For the Houston Chronicle

Tootsies creative director Fady Armanious suggests a monochromatic look in a bright hue. Or pairing a dramatic asymmetrical blouse with cropped pants.

"That's the new silhouette, it's the Monse influence on Oscar de le Renta's more classic lines," he says of the brand's new creative directors, Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, who co-founded the fashion label Monse. "It's a fresh and modern take on cocktail. You don't always have to wear a sparkly little dress."

Here, Tootsies stylist Adrian Kreps and Farfetch manager Kate Kutchins suit up in de le Renta separates to prove his point. Disco neon and haute high-waters? The better to dance in, my dear.
A police chase that began before noon in Houston ended on Texas 73, south of Beaumont, Thursday afternoon, local television stations report.

The chase kicked off at about 11:40 a.m. in the 1600 block of Post Oak, said John Cannon, spokesman for the Houston Police Department.

Police initially trailed the vehicle because it was believed to be stolen.

The driver of the vehicle took off, speeding in excess of 100 miles per hour eastbound on Interstate 10, Cannon said.

At some point, the driver veered off of I-10 onto Texas 73, local television stations report.

By 1 p.m., the driver had gotten out of his or her car and was believed to be hiding in the brush off of the highway, according to local television stations.

Authorities took the driver into custody at about 1:30 p.m., local television stations report.
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A man and a woman were shot late Wednesday outside a gas station in south Houston.

The gunfire started about 11:25 p.m., as the 44-year-old man and 38-year-old woman stood outside the gas station at the intersection of Cullen and Ward, said Lt. Larry Crowson with the Houston Police Department.

A dark vehicle whizzed by the pair. At least one person inside the car fired a rifle at them multiple times.

The woman was hit in the chest. The man was shot in the leg.

Paramedics took both to area hospitals in stable condition.

Police did not immediately have a detailed description of the shooter or the car.

The investigation is ongoing.
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U.S. Small Business Administration chief Linda McMahon examined tubing as it was heated to 1,700 degrees, cooled and then reheated, a process that strengthens the steel. She was in a portion of a Tejas Tubular Products plant that had reopened after Hurricane Harvey. Other areas, however, remained unoccupied following the historic flooding.

One forge, the lab and some offices were inundated with three to four feet of water. The company, after years of a weak energy market, had to stop making tubing for oil and gas wells for about two weeks at its northeast Houston facility.

Tejas Tubular didn't stay down.

"It is so typical of entrepreneurs. They're not ever defeated," McMahon told the Chronicle after the Wednesday morning tour. "They just keep finding ways to get back in business, to build themselves back up again."

The SBA has so far approved 12,319 disaster loans worth more than $1 billion to homeowners and businesses affected by the storm and its historic flooding. All but 876 of those loans went to homeowners.

Tejas Tubular is waiting on approval for its loan application. Maximo Tejeda, whose family owns the company, said he was honored to show McMahon around the plant.

"It's not the prettiest thing out there, but it's very functional," he said during the visit.

Tejas Tubular was one of many stops McMahon made during her whirlwind trip to Houston. At the Governor's Business Forum for Women, presented by the Greater Houston Women's Chamber of Commerce, she discussed her experience creating WWE, the professional wrestling enterprise.

She recalled sharing a desk with her husband and questioning if they could afford the $12 monthly payment to lease a typewriter. Ultimately, WWE grew into a publicly traded global company with more than 800 employees.

But she's known failure, too. McMahon recalled an early business venture that caused the family to declare bankruptcy, lose their home and watch her car be repossessed in the driveway.

"Early in our lives we made some big mistakes," she said. "Trusting people we shouldn't have, and investing in an industry we knew nothing about."

McMahon, who said she is bringing an entrepreneurial perspective gained from successes and failures to Washington, said the Trump administration's small business initiatives focus on tax reform, regulatory cuts and workforce development.

She also said it's important to change the way people think about education. Not everyone has to go to college. For some people, it could be more beneficial to learn a trade or go into technology.

McMahon said it's a paradigm shift. She went to college and her children went to college. But what about her grandchildren?

"I look at my grandchildren and I'm wondering, you know, I don't know that this is the path they need to go down," she said.

Tejeda, with Tejas Tubular, also discussed difficulties finding skilled workers. He's exploring robotics to reduce the company's dependency on manual labor and to boost safety, though Tejas Tubular would need workers with higher skills and pay to operate the robotics.

Tejeda opened the northeast Houston facility in 1990 with $68,000 that he was saving for his children to go to college - they ultimately earned scholarships - and has since expanded to five plants with more than 350 employees.

During Harvey, the company paid employees a stipend for the three days they didn't work. Practices like that, McMahon said, keep talented, loyal employees with the company. Arturo Ruiz, for instance, has been with Tejas Tubular since it opened in 1990, and he previously worked at the same plant before the Tejeda family owned it.

"I have a feeling he's not going to let you go," McMahon told Ruiz as they shook hands. "He says you're the best in the business."
Luxury real estate brokerage John Daugherty, Realtors has acquired David Young & Co., a local boutique firm with agents who specialize in high-end neighborhoods in Memorial, the Energy Corridor and Katy.

John Daugherty Jr. said the deal will allow his 50-year-old company to expand its presence in west Houston and tap into new technological capabilities.

"(Young) has some technologies that no one else has in the Houston market," Daugherty said. "Part of what we're purchasing is this modern technology."

Daugherty's expansion into west Houston comes at a time when many of the neighborhoods there are in distress after Hurricane Harvey.

"This area was one of the hardest hit," Young said, citing neighborhoods that had never flooded before and were affected because the Addicks and Barker reservoir releases sent roaring rivers downstream.

Young said many families who are rooted to the neighborhoods through the schools are putting their homes back together. Some, however, are leaving.

"We're starting to see properties go on the market as-is," he said. "They've been remediated, but people are not going to rehab them themselves."

Young expects the westside housing market to stabilize over time as homes are repaired and rebuilt.

"I do think the values will come back for those areas even though they got flooded," he said. "They were not in the 100-year floodplain and they're in very good school districts."

The acquisition had been in the works for about four months, said Young, whose office on Memorial west of Kirkwood will become a branch of John Daugherty, Realtors. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Young's firm is only a couple of years old.

In 2015, he broke off from Coldwell Banker United, Realtors to start his own shop along with his wife, Carol Peyton Young, and several agents.

"We saw the industry changing dramatically and we wanted to be able to be in the forefront that's really advancing the digital experience, which includes not only photography and drone but also 3-D," Young said.

His son, David Michael Young, has joined his father in the Memorial office after several years at Coldwell Banker.
TUES/17 Reality Check - Hixson High School7:30 - 10:30 a.m.Hixson High School: 5705 Middle Valley Rd.Reality Check teaches 9th graders budgeting and emphasizes the connectionbetween education and income by allowing students to role-play as headsof household while trying to provide for their families on a set budget.To volunteer for this Chattanooga Chamber career readiness program, please contactchumble@chattanoogachamber.com.TUES/17 Red Bank Chamber Council MeetingNoon - 1 p.m.Red Bank Community Center: Tom Weathers Dr.$10WED/18 SouthSide Chamber Council Community Coffee8 - 9 a.m.Chattanooga Coffee Company: 2627 Broad St.WED/18 Ribbon Cutting for Inline Electric3 - 3:30 p.m.Inline Electric: 1080-A Duncan AveWED/18 Ooltewah/Collegedale Chamber Council Meeting9:15 - 10:30 a.m.Collegedale City Hall: 4910 Swinyar Dr.Speaker: Mayor CoppingerFreeWED/18 Hixson Chamber Council Meeting11:45 a.m.- 1 p.m.North River Civic Center: 1009 Executive Dr.Speakers: Marketing/Communications Panel$10THUR/19 Reality Check - Brainerd High School7:30 a.m. - NoonBrainerd High School: 1020 North Moore Rd.Reality Check teaches 9th graders budgeting and emphasizes the connectionbetween education and income by allowing students to role-play as headsof household while trying to provide for their families on a set budget.To volunteer for this Chattanooga Chamber career readiness program, please contactchumble@chattanoogachamber.com.THUR/19 North Hamilton County Chamber Council Meeting11:45 a.m. - 1 p.m.Budweiser: 200 Shearer St.Speaker: Chris Gregory, First Things First: Family Focus in Chattanooga$10THUR/19 Ribbon Cutting for Virginia College4:30 p.m.Virginia College: 721 Eastgate Loop, 37411FRI/20 2017 Spirit of Innovation Awards10 a.m. - 2 p.m.Chattanooga Convention Center: 1150 Carter St.Keynote Speaker: Leslie MileyMark your calendars for Friday, October 20th! The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to present the 2017 Spirit of Innovation Awards! This event is comprised of an awards luncheon from 11:30-1:00 and Innovation Fair (Miniature EXPO) from 10:00-11:30AM and 1:00-2:00PM for networking and brand exposure for Spirit of Innovation and Early Innovator finalists, previous winners, event sponsors, and innovative community partners.
The 'King of Country' George Strait sent a sweet message to Isabella "Bella" Gamboa, a terminally ill 10-year-old Midland girl with only a few weeks to live.

"I'm thinking about you and I'm praying for you," Strait said in the video, which was shared on Facebook Monday. "I hope you get better real soon. Remember I love you."

The video surfaced after Forth Worth Police Officer Damon Cole, who runs the non-profit organization, Heroes & Cops Against Childhood Cancer, posted a message on Facebook asking all of his followers to help get Bella noticed by her favorite artist.

"She listens to George Strait every night before she goes to bed." Cole said on Facebook." She would also listen to his songs before she would go into surgery."

The post acquired more than 13 thousand views and was shared 427 times. Just four days later, Officer Cole received the message from Strait.

In a heartfelt video, Cole can be seen holding back tears as he thanks Strait for taking time out of his day to send some kinds words to Bella.

"George Strait is an amazing man for doing this for my Hero Bella," Cole said.

On September 30th, Bella's family was told she only had around three weeks to live. A family friend contacted Cole asking if he would visit Bella dressed as a superhero, as he does for other kids suffering from illnesses. During his visit, Cole learned about Bella's wish to experience Disneyland in California. With the help of donations and his own money, Cole was able to send the family on what could be their final vacation together.

Bella has been fighting for her life since the day she was born. According to her GoFundme page, she has overcome 15 procedures and over the years was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, hydrocephalus with two shunts, brain malformation, osteoporosis, chronic intestinal pseudo obstruction, and neurogenic bowels.
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This week, popular fast-food spots get knocked and two Top 100 restaurants are in hot water with Houston health inspectors.

We all love Sonic ice - especially when it's blended into a cherry limeade slush.

Sadly though, inspectors found ice not safe for human consumption at the Sonic located at 3626 Old Spanish Trail. Slime residue was found on an interior panel of the ice machine.

FOOD NEWS: Houston's dog-friendly bars & restaurants to visit

Now Playing: These are some of the common reasons restaurants get cited and/or shut down by local health departments. Video: Houston Chronicle

At the Sonic located at 85 E Crosstimbers, cups were found stored in the restroom vestibule.

Houston Chronicle's Alison Cook's Top 100 includes Mala Sichuan and Weights & Measures - those establishments also happen to be on our list too.

Mala Sichuan (1201 Westheimer Suite. B) was cited for a critical infraction involving chicken. It's worth noting, inspectors handed out demerits to this restaurant back in February and March of this year.

MUST SEE: Readers' choice: Cane Rosso wins Houston's best pizza place

Also, Cane Rosso, recently voted by the readers of Chron.com as Houston's best pizza place didn't perform so well with the health department. Thirty five pounds of food were condemned.

And Whataburger (444 W. Little York), a favorite among most Texans, had 30 pounds of food deemed not safe for human consumption.

See what inspectors found wrong with Whataburger's food in the slideshow above along with the rest of this week's list of restaurants with violations (Oct. 2 - 10).

During health inspections, inspectors distribute violations that carry a weight between 1 and 25, increasing in severity. The term "demerit" is used by city health inspectors to describe the weighted value assigned to each violation. The Houston Chronicle obtained the results of routine health inspections throughout the city and tallied each restaurant's demerits for a comprehensive list of violations. To view inspection reports online or learn more about food inspections, visit the health department website.
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If you're going to be covered in ketchup for your first birthday photos, it had better be fancy ketchup.

One Houston baby threw out the traditional smash cake idea and went for smashing into a Whataburger meal, and the adorable photo shoot is now going viral.

The photos, posted on Facebook by Houston's Sweet Hazel Photography, feature baby Miguel Macias III, who lives in Aldine and turns 1 in November.

VIRAL AND ADORABLE: Meet the sheriff's deputy behind Selena-themed baby photos

His mom, Josephine Macias, said it's only fitting that good Texas parents would pay tribute to one of the state's most beloved institutions in their family photos.

"He always tried to take our Whataburger," Macias said.

"He always has loved to eat so one day I let him have some french fries and it was all over."

Miguel Macias Jr., Josephine's husband, had the idea to let the young fast food lover tear into a burger, chicken strips and fries during his photo shoot.

Photographer Kati Johnson said she started her business after gradating from San Jacinto College with photography degree in 2013.

She said she's done regular cake smash sessions and has even had clients hop on the adult cake smash trend that has been going around on social media.

But, nothing compares to Whataburger. "This has been the best so far," Johnson said.
Aging, mismatched firehoses on East Montgomery County Fire Department's apparatus will soon be replaced thanks to an $8,086 grant from Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, according to Fire Chief Howard Rinewalt.

The fire department applied for the grant earlier this year after learning about it at a Firehouse Sub restaurant in Humble. The department's public information officer, Eran Denzler, says he and other firefighters were enjoying lunch at the restaurant when he first learned the grant was available. Denzler says he suggested the department apply and then discussed with the department's leaders how the grant could be used.

"We wanted to concentrate on something that wouldn't normally be focused on," said Denzler.

With the recent hurricane and flooding, the first consideration was for items that could be used in swift water rescues.

"But we don't do swift water rescues that often and we usually see flooding only a couple of times a year. The rest of the time -- the largest portion of our time -- is spent fighting fires," Denzler said. "So it made more sense to spend the money on something that made that job easier, like firehoses."

The department's firehoses, used to equip around eight apparatus spread among its four current stations, are tested every year by the National Fire Protection Agency to ensure that firefighters have the ability to respond to a crisis, but some firehoses are nearing the end of their lifespan.

"We have hoses that are as old as 20 years. Some are 10 years old and others are five," Denzler said. "They are different manufacturers, colors and types."

The grant provides for sixty 50-foot hoses, enough to equip every apparatus and have some hose in reserve if one needs to be changed out.

"We will have one type of hose made by the same manufacturer. The new 1.75-inch in diameter hoses use new technology and are lighter, kink-resistive and double-jacketed, and all will be in the same color," he said.

Having color-coded hoses is important because it enables firefighters to immediately identify which hoses are being used to attack a fire and which are being used for supply lines, Denzler explained.

"If we hadn't gotten the grant, we wouldn't be able to replace the hoses. It's a big item for our department. We would have to mix and match the sections we have. We are to the point now where we are really low on hose and these hoses are a lifeline for firefighters," he said.

EMCFD's territory encompasses 144 square miles of Montgomery County, including the cities of Roman Forest, Patton Village, Woodbranch and Splendora. Each station is staffed with paid personnel 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"We have around 60-75 paid firefighters, 30 of which are full-time, and around 15 volunteers. We run about 4,500 calls a year," Denzler said.

As Montgomery County grows, so does the department. Currently the fire department has four stations: Station 151 on FM 1485, one mile west of US 59; Station 152 on Roman Forest Blvd., less than a mile east of US 59; Station 155 on old US 59 in Splendora; and Station 156 on Morgan Cemetery Road in the northernmost part of the county. Station 154, located at FM 1485 west toward FM 242, is under construction and should be completed by May 2018.

Since 2005, Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation has granted more than $29.5 million to fire departments in 46 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. Of that, more than $2 million was awarded to departments in Texas.

"Firehouse Subs is firemen-founded. Firefighters started the company," Denzler said. "But that's not the only reason we go there for lunch. They have great food and you know how firemen love to eat."
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry is observing National Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 8-14) by reminding citizens to follow simple safety practices to prevent wildfires. The official start of wildfire season in Tennessee is Oct.

Its important, and required by law from October 15, 2017 to May 15, 2018, that citizens call for a burning permit and follow outdoor burning safety recommendations, State Forester Jere Jeter said. Tennessee experienced a historic fall fire season last year due to exceptional drought conditions. Fortunately, that underlying condition does not exist this year, but were not going to let our guard down. The permit system helps us communicate to the public when and where it is safe to burn and focuses attention on safety. We need all Tennesseans to volunteer to prevent wildfire.





The online burn permit system is free, fast and simple. If you are burning a leaf or brush pile that is smaller than 8 feet by 8 feet in size, log on towww.BurnSafeTN.org for approval. More than 300,000 permits are issued each year, and the online system provides a quick and efficient way to apply.

For a larger burn, apply for a free permit by calling your local Division of Forestry burn permit phone number Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Phone numbers can be found by visiting www.BurnSafeTN.org.(***directory is also attached to this release***)

Burn permits are only issued when conditions are conducive to safe burning. If you live inside city limits, there may be additional restrictions. Check with your municipality before you burn.

To learn what materials may not be burned, check the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Open Burning Guidelines at https://tn.gov/environment/ article/apc-open-burning .



Burning without a permit is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and/or a fine. Wildfires caused by arson are a class C felony punishable by 3 to 15 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. Anyone with information about suspected arson activity should call the state Fire Marshals Arson Hotline at 1-800-762-3017. The hotline is answered 24 hours a day, and you may remain anonymous when providing information. Cash awards are offered for information leading to an arrest or conviction. To report illegal burning, please call 1-888-891-TDEC.

Visit www.BurnSafeTN.org for additional tips to burn safely and to protect your community.
Middle Valley Church of God announced that Pastor Mitch McClure will speak on the topic, "I Need To Know That I Know" in theservice on

Each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Sunday School classes are available for all age groupings.
Keith Baptist Church invites the community to our Fifth Sunday Singing on Sunday, Oct. 29, at 11 a.m., featuring Crystle Elam. Following the worship service, everyone is invited to join us for a free covered dish lunch in our fellowship hall.Keith Baptist Church is at 1573 Keith Road in the Ringgold / Tunnel Hill area. For more information, call Jeff Greer at 423 400-8761.
Chattanooga State Community College Nursing Faculty members Karrie Barnett and Michele McCarthy were recently named 2017-2018 Erlanger Chairs of Excellence. Ms. Barnett is an Assistant Professor in the nursing program, and Ms. McCarthy is a nursing instructor.

Dr. Jan Keys, senior vice president and chief nurse executive of Erlanger Health System, presented the Erlanger Nursing Chair of Excellence for Children to Ms.

We are honored to expand the Erlanger Nursing Chairs of Excellence program and recognize two outstanding nursing educators, said Dr. Keys. Nursing education is the foundation for developing a quality driven nursing workforce.

The Erlanger Nursing Chairs of Excellence program was established by Erlanger through the Chattanooga State Foundation in 2012 to recognize faculty excellence in nursing with a Chair of Excellence for five years. This year, Erlanger expanded the program to two Chairs of Excellence annually over the next ten years.

The Chattanooga State nursing program maintains state approval by the Tennessee Board of Nursing and national accreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. Graduates of the nursing program obtain an Associate of Applied Science degree and are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX-RN) to become a Registered Nurse (RN). The 2016 NCLEX pass rate for Chattanooga State nursing graduates was 96.7 percent.

For more information about the Chattanooga State Nursing Program, please visit: Chattanoogastate.edu/nursing.
Since moving to the Highlands more than three decades ago, Doyce and Rae Bobo have watched their neighbors die, one after another.

The Bobos don't think these deaths are from old age or natural causes. In fact, they're pretty sure it's related to the cancer-causing dioxins in the San Jacinto Waste Pits not far from their home.

And now that they both have cancer, they're left wondering when they might be next.

"If [dioxin] is in my drinking water, and I've been told that it is, how much water did I consume?" Doyce Bobo said Thursday. "How much dioxin did I consume?"

Despite their concerns, the couple were among a group of residents and environmental advocates who gathered for a Thursday news conference to celebrate the EPA's decision to permanently remove tons of toxics from the waste pits -- a Superfund site that was heavily flooded and began leaking dioxin into the river after Hurricane Harvey.

Standing outside the waste pits Thursday, the group popped champagne and sparkling cider, praising what they called a "victory" for the area.

"This is the most important single decision the United State Environmental Protection Agency has ever made with respect to Houston-Harris county," said Terence O'Rourke, a special assistant at the Harris County Attorney's Office. "When the work is done it will literally liberate the people here and in the Galveston Bay."

The decision comes two weeks after the EPA confirmed that a concrete cap used to cover the pits since 2011 had sprung a leak during Harvey's floods. Agency officials found dioxin in sediment near the pit at a level more than 2,300 times the EPA standard for clean-up.

The extent of damage still is unclear, but flooding at the site prompted EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to visit the area. He moved up a decision on the proposed clean-up plan that had been pending for about a year. The estimated cost is $115 million, the EPA announced.

Scott Jones, director of advocacy for the Galveston Bay Foundation, said he's elated with the decision.

"We don't need this threat anymore," he said. "Removal was the only option."

Jones added that he expected clean-up would not begin for another two years but is hopeful the parties responsible for the pits will work with the EPA to get the job done.

That may not be what happens, however. A spokesman for McGinnes Industrial Maintenance, one company responsible for the clean-up, announced Wednesday that it will oppose removal.

If the companies do not cooperate, Jones said, the EPA should move forward with the cleanup and seek restitution later.

Officials soon will begin the process of facilitating a settlement with the potentially responsible parties, according to an agency news release.

Those parties will have about two months to provide a"good-faith offer" to finance or conduct the clean up and reimburse the agency for all its expenses to date. This plan must be signed off on by the EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice. It also needs judicial approval, according to the release.

"If a timely settlement cannot be reached, EPA may take appropriate action at the site," the release stated, which could include "civil litigation against the recipients to require compliance."

The Bobos are incredibly happy that cleanup is on the horizon, mostly for their grandkids' sake.

"This is for the younger generation," Doyce Bobo said. "When this is over with, we'll have young people that have a safe environment."

Alex Stuckey is the science and environment reporter for the Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.
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A 19-year-old Houston man is charged in connection with the death of a Louisiana State University (LSU) fraternity pledge who participated in "Bible Study," an activity that forced potential members to drink excessive amounts of alcohol quickly.

Nicholas Taulli, of Cypress, Texas, turned himself in to Louisiana authorities Wednesday after he was charged with misdemeanor hazing after the death of 18-year-old Maxwell Gruver, a freshman from Roswell, Georgia. Taulli was a member of Phi Delta Theta, the fraternity Gruver was pledging.

Court documents obtained by Chron.com from the East Baton Rouge District Attorney's office provide grisly details into the hours leading up to Gruver's death Sept. 14.

Now Playing: Ten suspects face charges of hazing in the death of Louisiana State University freshman Maxwell Gruver, authorities announced Wednesday. Video: Time

CHARGED: Houston man arrested in drinking death of LSU frat pledge

The "Bible Study" began Sept. 13 after several pledges received a GroupMe message informing them of the event that night.

One of the first things the pledges were told to do was "get a Solo cup of lemonade, the lemonade would be used as a 'chaser'" before going upstairs to participate in the "Bible Study," the arrest warrant stated. As they went upstairs an active fraternity member threw mustard and hot sauce on the pledges.

"Once upstairs the pledges were told to line up in the hallway and place their nose and toes against the wall. The lights were off with a strobe light flashing and loud music playing," the arrest warrant added.

The pledges were then asked questions about the fraternity. If they got them wrong, they had to drink from a liquor bottle. The pledges also had to do wall sits while active fraternity members walked across their knees, according to the affidavit.

TURNED THEMSELVES IN: Police arrest 10 in drinking death of LSU fraternity pledge

"Throughout the investigation Nicholas Taulli was named as an active participant during the hazing event. Taulli was named as being upstairs participating in the 'Bible Study' by pledges and active members," the arrest warrant stated.

Gruver was taken home and checked on through the night. The last time someone looked on him was 9 a.m., Sept. 14, the arrest warrant stated. Several of the members checked Gruver's pulse at that time and found that it was weak and they could not tell if he was breathing. A witness advised they should take Gruver to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Nine other men connected to the hazing turned themselves into police Wednesday.
A top aide to former U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman claimed in federal court Wednesday that the congressman directly instructed him to write hefty checks from a charitable donor to himself, another aide and Stockman's own campaign funds.

Jason T. Posey, 46, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering in a hearing before Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal.

He is the second former Stockman aide to plead guilty to federal charges. Both admit they aided the former congressman in an alleged scheme to steal more than $1.2 million in charitable donations to finance Stockman's campaigns, as well as pay their own bills.

Posey set up a number of nonprofit shell companies that were used to solicit charitable donations from individuals and foundations. But instead, the money was diverted into bank accounts to pay for political and personal expenses, according to court records.

At the afternoon hearing, Posey, who also had served as Stockman's campaign treasurer, admitted he knew his actions violated both federal criminal statutes and federal election laws.

As part of the plea, Posey told the judge he followed Stockman's instructions to cover their tracks. He said he wrote a letter to a bilked donor and claimed one $350,000 donation was used to aid Third World countries. Posey also admitted that he and a second Stockman congressional employee in 2013 illegally funneled $15,000 in charitable donations into Stockman's campaign, falsely claiming the donations came from their parents.

Stockman fired Posey after the illegal donations came to light.

However, when Stockman, a fiery Republican, began campaigning to unseat U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in 2014, he again enlisted Posey's help in the campaign. Posey said he was instructed to misrepresent on campaign fliers where the lucrative contributions were actually going, according to the former aide's plea.

U.S. Justice Department prosecutors could dismiss nearly a dozen other charges and seek a reduced sentence for Posey if he cooperates with them in preparing for Stockman's trial, currently set for Jan. 29.

Stockman, who served two terms in congress - representing the 9th Congressional District from 1995 to '96 and the newly-created 36th district from 2013 to 2014 - has pleaded not guilty to all 28 counts of corruption and conspiracy against him.

"My guy was a player, but he's not the only player involved," said Philip Hilder, who represents Posey. "He's accepting early responsibility, he realizes that he has done misdeeds and is prepared to accept that responsibility and move forward becoming a productive member of society."

Lawyer attacks Posey

Stockman's defense attorney, Sean Buckley, countered that Posey turned on his former mentor to get a better deal for himself.

"Instead of accepting full responsibility for his own independent conduct, Mr. Posey has chosen to falsely implicate Congressman Stockman in return for favorable treatment by prosecutors," he said. "Mr. Posey's plea agreement is nothing more than the latest example of a federal defendant concluding he has everything to gain and nothing more to lose by giving federal prosecutors what they want."

Posey, 46, faces up to 45 years in federal prison and a fine of more than $4.8 million plus hundred of thousands of dollars in restitution, Rosenthal said. Posey remains free on bond and intends to return home to Tupelo, Miss., pending sentencing, Hilder said.

The government has accused Stockman of masterminding a scheme that collected $1.2 million from three U.S.-based foundations and individuals, laundering and misspending most of that money, spying on an unnamed opponent, accepting illegal campaign contributions, funneling money through bogus bank accounts and businesses and failing to pay taxes on his ill-gotten gains.

Some of that money went for trips to try to "secure millions of dollars from African countries and companies operating" in Africa, according to the allegations.

Stockman's other former aide, Thomas Dodd, pleaded guilty on March 20 to two related conspiracy charges and also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Posey was living in the Middle East when he, along with Stockman, were indicted in March. Posey ultimately turned himself into federal authorities May 23 to face multiple counts of mail and wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements as well as falsifying records and making excessive contributions.

Denies gult

Stockman claims he is innocent and is a victim of a so-called "deep state" conspiracy.

"The evidence will show that Steve Stockman did not defraud any donors. He spent the funds in a way that he thought furthered the donors' intentions. To the extent that (funds were diverted) he was either unaware of it or he misunderstood it," said Buckley, who added that Stockman's legal fees are being paid by anonymous individuals.

Posey's lawyer seemed unmoved by Buckley's allegations that his client duped Stockman.

"I do not know what a 'deep state conspiracy' is, but I do know what constitutes a criminal conspiracy," Hilder said.
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Two traffic stops led police to recover marijuana and methamphetamine in Texas.

According to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, police conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle with four people inside on Oct. 4. Police said they found 36.5 pounds of marijuana inside several backpacks.

BUSTED: Hundreds of marijuana plants seized in 4 Fort Bend, Harris drug busts

The discovery of marijuana led to the arrest of Daniel Regaldo, 30, Alfonso Cisneros, 30, Israel Sanchez, 32, and Frank Hernandez, 36. All of the men were charged with possession of marijuana and transported to the El Paso County Detention Facility.

On the same day, El Paso County sheriff's deputies conducted another traffic stop that led to the discovery of 25 grams of methamphetamine. Angel De La Rosa, 25, and Salvador Munoz, 30, were taken into custody.

Police conducted a follow up to Munoz and Rosa's last known location, executing a search warrant and made contact with Lorenzita Huerta, 26. Police seized drug paraphernalia, prescription pills, marijuana and counterfeit U.S. money.

Huerta and Munoz were booked with possession of a controlled substance and forgery of money. De La Rosa was booked with possession of a controlled substance. All three were booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility.

See each of the suspects arrest photos in the gallery above.
NOTICE: The Hamilton County Registers Office did not publish this data. All information in the Registers Office is public information as set out in T.C.A. 10-7-503. For questions regarding this report, please call Chattanoogan.com at 423 266-2325. GI numbers, listed when street addresses are not available, refer to the location of transactions (book number and page number) in Hamilton County Register Office records.
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A Medina County man accused of sexually assaulting five former foster children, including several in Bexar County, took in more than 180 young girls over a five year period, officials said.

That leads investigators to believe there could be numerous other victims who have yet to come forward.

"It's not a question about whether there are more," said Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown. "It's just about how many."

UPDATE: Former foster daughters react to arrest of S.A.-area man accused of sexually assaulting 5 girls

Now Playing: More than 80 children, including a 3-month-old girl, were rescued in a nationwide crackdown on child sex trafficking, federal authorities said Video: Time

One additional victim has already come forward since news broke Wednesday of 58-year-old Miguel Briseno's arrest, Brown said, bringing the unofficial total to six victims. A charge has not been filed in the sixth alleged case.

Briseno, who is currently being held in the Medina County Jail on a $500,000 bond, was a licensed foster parent from 2005 through 2010, Brown said. During that time he lived in both Bexar and Medina counties.

Over the course of the five years, more than 180 girls passed through his care, Brown said. At various times, Briseno was reportedly taking care of up to 12 girls at once.

Brown said Child Protective Services contracted with a third-party company, who has not yet been publicly identified, to place the girls in Briseno's home.

"Those girls were taken from some environment and then you have some jackass like him abusing these girls that already have troubles," Brown said. "I'm aggravated at the whole system. I'm aggravated at the company that placed these girls. It was a money-making deal, the way they were running those girls through there like livestock. It wasn't about making a better world for them. They were making a profit off them."

RELATED: Chief: Police pulled over Seguin teen, released him hours before he allegedly killed Texas Tech cop

Representatives of Child Protective Services could not immediately comment on the relationship with the company.

Two of the charges against Briseno are out of Medina County, and the remaining three originated in Bexar County. Brown said Briseno first became a foster parent while living in Von Ormy, where the alleged assaults occurred, and later moved to Devine, Texas, in Medina County.

Wednesday's arrest was not the first time Briseno was arrested on child sex abuse charges. In April 2013, the Medina County Sheriff's Office arrested him on a charge of solicitation to commit sexual assault of a child. The arrest came after one of Briseno's foster children said he had sexually assaulted her in August 2012, when he no longer had a foster license, Brown said.

It is not clear why Briseno did not have a license after 2010 and how Briseno still had foster children in his care two years later, though investigators discovered Briseno had attempted to move his foster parent license into his wife's name, Brown said.

"It's not a loophole, it's just downright wrong," Brown said.

RELATED: 26-year-old woman allegedly killed man after he slapped her mom

Briseno pleaded guilty in September 2015 to a reduced charge of attempted assault, a Class B misdemeanor. Brown said investigators and prosecutors had difficulty securing testimony against Briseno. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail, though county officials couldn't confirm how much time he was actually incarcerated.

Brown said his office, as well as other investigating agencies like the Texas Rangers, plan to look into the unnamed third-party company responsible for placing the children in Briseno's care. They're also working to determine whether his wife could be held criminally responsible.

All of Briseno's reported victims were teenagers at the time of the alleged abuse. They're now in their 20s. For investigators, the next step is to identify the dozens of remaining girls who were ever in Briseno's care.

"We don't know where they're at," Brown said.

"If you've stayed at that house, if you were a foster child [in Briseno's care], please contact us," he said. "Whether you feel something inappropriate happened or not, we'd still like to talk to you."

Victims are asked to call 210-335-8477 if they have any information on Briseno's alleged abuse.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns
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WASHINGTON  The U.S. House signed off Thursday on crucial disaster relief for people hit by storms and fires from Puerto Rico to California, overcoming concerns from Gov. Greg Abbott about a failure to earmarked money specifically for the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas.

Lawmakers voted 353-69 to provide $36.5 billion in aid for victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate, and for those fighting wildfires across California and other western states. The Senate is expected to act next week.

All the no votes - including six from Texas - were cast by Republicans, many of whom opposed what they called a "bailout" of the nation's bankrupt National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Congressional leaders promised more aid for Texas in the coming weeks.

Although Harvey victims were included in the new aid package, it does not specifically include some $18.7 billion that Abbott and nearly the entire Texas congressional delegation had sought specifically for the victims of Gulf Coast storm victims. Much of that would have been targeted for the Houston area.

The vote came amid Democratic criticism of President Donald Trump, who suggested on Twitter early Thursday that the government's commitment to Puerto Rico could end.

"We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!" Trump tweeted.

Abbott raised concerns about the aid package Wednesday, suggesting that the 36-member Texas congressional delegation was getting "rolled" on the requested Harvey aid package.

But the intervention of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, who called the governor amid a Wednesday night scramble, soothed nerves that had been rattled on the eve of the vote.

After a late night meeting with congressional leaders, members of the Texas delegation said they understood that up to $15 billion of the emergency funding would be slated for Texas, which suffered the first in a string of natural disasters starting in August. That includes $11 billion for anticipated flood insurance claims, and an estimated $4 billion in aid requests from Texans to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster relief fund, which can be used to cover direct housing assistance, home repairs, debris removal and public assistance grants.

"Texas was hit first and hardest," said Houston Republican John Culberson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. "They're due to be paid first."

Thursday morning, hours before the House vote, Abbott's spokesman Matt Hirsch issued a statement stepping back from the governor's criticism the night before:

"Governor Abbott was assured by House leadership that as soon as November, Texas will get the disaster assistance funding we're requesting for Army Corps of Engineer projects, Community Development Block Grants, and funding for dredging Texas ports, expanding bayous and critical flood mitigation projects, among other priorities," Hirsch said.

He also put Congress and Texas lawmakers in Washington on notice: "The Governor will hold House leadership to that promise on behalf of Texans whose lives were devastated by Hurricane Harvey," Hirsch added. "In the meantime, the Governor and the Texas delegation will continue working together as a team to help Texans recover and rebuild."

Houston-area Republican Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Thursday that the Texas delegation also received assurances from congressional leadership that another funding measure for Harvey victims would come within 30 days  not in December as initially envisioned.

McCaul said Abbott, who said Texas lawmakers in Washington needed to get a "stiff spine" the day before, supported both Thursday's vote and the plan for more funding.

"He's changed messaging quite dramatically since last night," McCaul said of Abbott.

"At the end of the day it was a good process to go through with our delegation, really flagging this to our leadership that you need to take care of Texas," McCaul said.

Backers of the bill argued that the measure was necessary to replenish FEMA's nearly-depleted coffers and help the debt-ridden National Flood Insurance Program, helping disaster victims in Texas and across the nation.

"The governor understood that this was essential to keep the flow of funding constant," Culberson said.

The bill includes $18.67 billion for FEMA's disaster relief fund  nearly $5 billion of which could be used to subsidize direct loans to Puerto Rico.

Another $16 billion is for the National Flood Insurance Program, which is nearly $30 billion in debt.

The six Texas Republicans voting against the aid package were Joe Barton of Arlington, Louie Gohmert of Tyler, Jeb Hensarling of Dallas, Kenny Marchant of Dallas-Ft. Worth, John Ratcliffe of Heath, and Roger Williams of Austin.

Barton, who co-chairs the congressional Harvey task force, has been an outspoken critic of the troubled flood insurance program, along with Hensarling and Williams.

"The NFIP urgently needs an overhaul," Williams said. "Until the House passes legislation that reforms this fractured program, I cannot support a $16 billion bailout that further kicks this problem to the future."

The flood insurance program is expected to run out of money within weeks  meaning Texas claims would not be paid. Backers of the aid package said FEMA funding would soon be exhausted as well due to the faster than expected draw-downs for Hurricanes Irma in Florida and Maria in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Floor debate on the aid package was marked by special pleas for aid from representatives of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which were hard hit by Hurricane Maria. Some echoed criticism of the administration's recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory where some political leaders have been exchanging barbs with Trump.

Houston Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee, citing Trump's tweet about ending aid to Puerto Rico, accused him of turning his back on the island, much of which is still without electricity and clean water. "Mr. President, how can you abandon the American people?" she said in a floor speech. "I am here to fight for those who have been impacted by Hurricane Harvey... We will fight, but I will not turn my back on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands."

The Texas allocations come on top of a $15 billion that Congress approved for Harvey relief efforts in September. State officials have said the total tab from the storm could reach $100 billion or more.

"Sadly, the damage far exceeds the money we've currently funded," said U.S. Rep. Randy Weber, a a Republican whose district running from Friendswood to Galveston . Our fellow Americans are dealing with a personal nightmare

U.S. Rep. Brian Babin of Woodville, whose Gulf Coast district was hit hard, called it a "second installment in critical relief for the people of Texas."

Other Houston-area lawmakers said they were assured Congress will target more money at the area soon.

"Within the last 24 hours, House leadership has committed to Governor Abbott and to the Texas delegation that it will bring up a third, targeted relief package in the coming weeks," said Humble Republican Ted Poe. "I will hold my colleagues in the House to their commitment."

-Mike Ward and Mihir Zaveri contributed to this report.
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AUSTIN -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott complained Wednesday that U.S. House leaders are poised to sidetrack the state's request for an additional $18.7 billion in Hurricane Harvey aid, and challenged the Texas congressional delegation to get a "stiff spine" and fight for the funding.

A bill scheduled for a House vote Thursday provides $36.5 billion in disaster aid for victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate, and for those fighting wildfires across California and other western states.

Although Harvey victims would be included in the aid package, it does not specifically include some $18.7 billion that Abbott and nearly the entire Texas congressional delegation had sought to earmark specifically for the victims of Hurricane Harvey in the Gulf Coast. Much of that was targeted for the Houston area.

HARVEY RESOURCES: Everything you need to know for the recovery

"I am disappointed that most members of the Texas congressional delegation have agreed to go ahead and vote for this bill, from what I know at this time, when Texas needs this money," Abbott said in an interview with the Chronicle. "It appears the Texas delegation will let themselves be rolled by the House of Representatives."

Now Playing: Not specified Video: Orlando Sentinel

Abbott said Texas' congressional delegation should vote against the bill unless it includes additional funding for Texas specifically.

The bill includes $18.67 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster relief fund  nearly $5 billion of which could be used to subsidize direct loans to Puerto Rico.

Another $16 billion is for the National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP), which is nearly $30 billion in debt.

No specific amount is targeted for Texas, and that's a key reason Abbott is lashing out. He wants the delegation fighting for the full $18.7 billion that Texas officials say they need -- and now.

Some members of the Texas congressional delegation said that while they share the governor's concerns, they expect more money in the future.

BUSINESS RELIEF: SBA approves more than $1 billion in disaster loans

"I certainly understand how the governor feels about this, but we're trying to do this for all the disasters that pretty much hit at the same time," said Laredo Democrat Henry Cuellar, who co-chairs a bipartisan task force on Harvey relief efforts.

"Is this the final appropriation?" he added, "No. We're going to be doing more."

A spokesman for Texas Republican Joe Barton, who co-chairs the congressional Harvey task force, said its mission is to cut red tape to help Texans get the relief they need. He said Barton has not been involved in negotiations on the current aid package.

Stop-gap measure

Houston Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee described the aid package as a "stop-gap measure" and defended the work of the Texas delegation in Congress.

"I understand the governor's disappointment, but the last thing that happened to the Texas delegation is getting rolled," she said. "We are known as strong fighters for the state, and we have a good success rate. But our success is bounded in our common sense caring for others impacted by disasters."

The money comes on top of a $15 billion that Congress approved for Harvey relief efforts in September. State officials have said the total tab from the storm could reach $100 billion or more.

Until Wednesday, Texas officials had appeared confident that the Texas aid package would be approved as requested.

On Oct. 5, all but three members of Texas' congressional delegation signed a letter asking $18.7 billion in additional recovery funding, including $10 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects and $7 billion for additional recovery block grants.

An additional $800 million was sought to rebuild and repair schools, $450 million for loans to help business rebuild and reopen, $300 million in assistance for local-government recovery initiatives and $150 million to repair and rebuild transportation infrastructure that was damaged in the storm.

Abbott, a Republican, called upon the GOP-dominated Texas House delegation to get "a stiff spine they need to fight for their fellow Texans." He insisted that time remains for Texas' congressional delegation to push to include the Texas funding in the bill to be debated Thursday.

Besides Cuellar, Texas, a large Republican state with plenty of clout in Congress, has three members serving on the House Appropriations Committee: Kay Granger of Fort Worth, John Carter of Round Rock, and John Culberson of Houston.

Culberson, whose district was directly hit by Harvey, did not return a call seeking comment on the governor's complaint.

Abbott aides said the revised bill may include only "as tiny little pot of money" for Texas, but not the amount needed to keep the recovery moving ahead.

"This is essential," Abbott said. "The least that Texans deserve is for their congressional delegation to stand with them on this funding. It is time for them to step up and do what they have power to do."

Abbott's public airing of the issue is unusual for a governor who typically tries to work out differences behind closed doors and through negotiated consensus.

Abbott said he planned to contact the White House for assistance in restoring the Texas funding to the bill.

Flood insurance

But Texas' funding woes are not the only headache for the Trump administration.

Conservative groups already have taken aim at the flood insurance money, calling it a bailout for those who continue to rebuild in flood-prone areas.

"The administration's request to treat a $16 billion bailout for the failing federal flood insurance program as an emergency is irresponsible," Heritage Action Vice President Dan Holler said in a statement. "There have been numerous efforts over the past decade to make the NFIP financially and structurally sound, but special interest pushback successfully blunted serious reforms."

The National Flood Insurance Program, which underwrites more than 95 percent of flood insurance policies in this country, currently does not have enough funding to cover what are expected to be billions of dollars in claims from the succession of hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

But under the legislation to be voted on in the house, $16 billion of the program's $30 billion in debt would be eliminated.

"That's going to give them room to write checks for folks down in Houston," said Craig Poulton, the CEO of Poulton Associates, a Utah-based insurance firm.

- James Osborne contributed to this story.
The 2017-18 Youth Leadership class of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce successfully raised $1,804 in funding support for Habitat for Humanity of Clevelands home construction fund this year as part of their annual service project.

The twenty-six juniors and seniors from Bradley Central, Cleveland and Walker Valley High Schools and Tennessee Christian Preparatory School will also volunteer sweat equity later this school year by painting and landscaping at Habitat homes.



At the summer Youth Leadership retreat, organizers challenged the youth leaders to brainstorm creative ideas to raise funds for Habitat and raise a minimum of $400 at their respective schools. Sherry Crye, coordinator of the Youth Leadership program said, We are pleased with this years efforts as they learn the importance of giving back to their community.



Youth Leadership is a workforce development program of the Chamber of Commerce designed to prepare young people for leadership in Cleveland and Bradley County.

For information about the program, contact Sherry Crye with the Chamber at 423 472-6587 or visit www.clevelandchamber.com.


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.
M.I.M.E. (moving to increase minority excellence) Leadership will send 24 high school students to help in the relief and rebuilding efforts of Hurricane Harvey and Irma.

For six years, M.I.M.E. leadership has traveled to Louisiana to continue the work of rebuilding the lower ninth ward of New Orleans affected by Hurricane Katrina. With the damaged caused by Harvey and Irma in Texas and Florida, M.I.M.E. students felt they needed to shift their focus this year on the hard hit areas in those states affected by the storms.

We love going to New Orleans to give back, but Texas and Florida really need our help, said Brian Allen Sr., executive director of M.I.M.E. Leadership. When the students you work with have a passion to give back to other communities and their ready to pull up their sleeves and get to work, I have to make it happen; I have to raise the funds for them to go!

Tax deductible donations can be given by texting GIVE to 423-763-7008 or http://www.youcaring.com/texasfloridahurricanevictims-948924.

M.I.M.E.'s mission is to empower at-risk and inner-city youth and young adults and serve as a catalyst for change throughout communities with leadership development, missions, and sports.

For more information about M.I.M.E. or how you can become involved with M.I.M.E. Leadership, call 423-708-2638 or email mimeleadership@gmail.com or visit its Facebook page at ww.facebook.com/mimechatn.
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Copiii cu nevoi speciale din Stefan Voda au conditii de reabilitare mai bune, datorita UE si Fundatiei Soros Moldova
Congressman Scott DesJarlais, released the following statement in support of President Donald Trumps most recent executive order. Thursdays order directs Departments of the Treasury, Labor and Health & Human Services to foster Association Health Plans for businesses and their employees, limited-term plans for Americans in need of temporary health insurance, and employer-based Health Reimbursement Arrangements similar to health savings accounts:Since its inception, Obamacare has failed Americas middle class, bearing the brunt of increased health care costs, fewer insurance options and a decline in the quality of medical care, as doctors and facilities disappear, particularly in rural districts like mine.Because of excessive taxes and regulations, employers are dropping coverage. At the same time, insurers have fled state exchanges, and millions remain uninsured.More federal interference, such as single-payer, is the wrong answer. Giving workers, families and small businesses more choice and flexibility is the right one. The Presidents order should help Tennesseans negotiate better prices, find inexpensive, short-term insurance, if necessary, and take advantage of tax-free accounts to purchase better health care. But ultimately, Congress must pass free-market reforms Republicans have advocated for years. The Senate must act.Rep. DesJarlais is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and GOP Doctors Caucus, who has voted to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a variety of consumer-centric solutions, such as Association Health Plans, interstate insurance markets, health savings accounts, and generic drug reform.
AKRON, Ohio -- A 26-year-old man was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for sexually abusing four girls over the course of five years.

Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Alison Breaux sentenced Joshua Martucci Thursday after she found him guilty in August of six counts of rape, six counts of gross sexual imposition and a single count of attempted rape, according to a news release from the Summit County Prosecutor's Office.

Martucci raped and sexually abused the four girls from 2005 to 2010, prosecutors say. They were all under the age of 13 when the sexual abuse took place.

Martucci knew the girls that he abused, Summit County Prosecutor's Office spokesman James Pollack said.

Martucci will have to register as a Tier III sex offender for the rest of his life if he is ever released from prison, the release says.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
AKRON, Ohio - An Akron man was shot in the leg Wednesday when he tried to break up an argument outside his home, police said.

The 48-year-old man's injuries from the shooting on Clara Avenue near South Arlington Street were not life-threatening, according to a police report.

No arrests have been made, the report says.

The resident heard a man and a woman arguing about 9 p.m. outside his home. He went outside to tell them to quiet down, and the man pulled out a handgun and shot him, the report says.

The resident went back inside and called his nephew, who gave him a ride to Summa Akron City Hospital.

He did not provide a description of the shooter or provide any additional information about the incident, the report says.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio - Detectives are searching for a Euclid man who is charged in a violent pistol-whipping that happened in Cleveland Heights.

Khalil Al-Amin, 29, is charged with felonious assault and aggravated menacing in the Sunday incident at a house on Montford Road near Northampton Road, according to a police report.

Al-Amin is not in custody but a warrant was issued for his arrest, police said Thursday afternoon.

Al-Amin is accused of beating a 43-year-old man with a pistol, punching his own girlfriend in the face and stripping off the man's pants during the incident, the police report says.

The man's eyes were swollen shut, his lip was swollen and bleeding, and he had several cuts and bruises on his face after the beating, the report says.

The man and a woman went to visit Al-Amin's girlfriend early Sunday. They were sitting in a living room about 4:30 a.m. when Al-Amin burst in and started threatening the man, the report says.

Neither the man nor the two women provided a motive for the attack.

Al-Amin grabbed the man and struck him in the face with the pistol, the report says. Al-Amin also threatened to kill him, the report says.

The two women pleaded with Al-Amin to stop, but Al-Amin punched his girlfriend in the face, the report says. Al-Amin tried to tear off the man's shirt and did strip off pants, the report says.

The man broke free and ran out the front door. He went across the street to a neighbor's house and asked her to call 911, the report says.

Al-Amin left in his Jeep, the two women told police.

The man told investigators that Al-Amin may have taken his wallet during the incident.

He also filled out paperwork to obtain a protection order again Al-Amin.

Al-Amin's criminal history includes a 2014 conviction for attempted trafficking in drugs, Cuyahoga County court records show.

If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- An Akron man will spend the rest of his life in federal prison for shooting a woman in the head at Cuyahoga Valley National Park during Fourth of July weekend 2016.

U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson told Dezay Ely that his history of violence led her to reason that taking away his freedom for the rest of his life is the only way to protect the public.

"Most people don't look into the face of their victim and then shoot the face of the victim," Pearson told Ely.

Ely shot Ayauna Bush, 19, in the head three times and left her for dead. The injuries left her blind.

The 28-year-oid Ely pleaded guilty in May to attempted murder, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of ammunition.

He apologized to Bush during the sentencing hearing. Bush said she forgave him but said she is still fearful for her life.

Ely has previous convictions in Summit County for involuntary manslaughter, aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon. He was on probation after being released from prison when he shot Bush.

Bush, who has described Ely as a boyfriend, told the FBI that she and Ely stayed at the pair's brother's house the night before the shooting. They woke up early on July 3, 2016 and Ely told her he wanted to test fire a gun.

The pair, along with a third man, drove to a small field off Akron-Peninsula Road in the national park. Ely questioned Bush on the way on whether she was going to tell anyone about a robbery that he planned, according to prosecutors.

When they got there, Ely and Bush got out of the car. Ely said the pistol jammed, and then he shot Bush twice in the face and once in the neck. Ely and the driver then left.

Bush had no identification when hikers found her and was identified through phone records after one of her family members called park rangers on July 4 and said she had been missing for several days.

A jury acquitted the driver, Raymond Terry Moore, of being an accomplice in July 2017, after he argued he did not know Ely planned to shoot the victim in the national park.

If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Thursday's crime and courts comments section.
Women's March On Chicago Organizers Announce Second Rally, For January

By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 11, 2017 8:46PM



Organizers who helped marshal January's Women's March on Chicago into the historic, thousands-strong event it became announced this week a second march, to take place early next year downtown. The second action, dubbed "March to the Polls," aims to galvanize support for midterm-election turnout "and beyond."

The march is scheduled for Jan. 20. "As we approach local, mid-term, and gubernatorial elections in 2018, it's even more critical that women are engaged and involved," said co-organizer Jessica Scheller in a release. "If we want to see progress in this city, state, and country we need women's votes, voices, and leadership."



Iliana Mora, of the organization Women Employed, speaks at a press conference announcing announcing another Women's March for 2018. Photo by Aaron Cynic/Chicagoist

Organizers haven't announced a location yet for the rally, which "will also serve as a kick-off for programming that empowers voters to support womens rights and social justice," according to the event website.

Co-organizer Jaquie Algee said that the fight for women's "is only becoming more crucial."

"In 2017, activists, new and seasoned, joined advocates in the fight for women's rights and social justice. In 2018 we celebrate that movement, and march our demands to the polls," said Algee in a release.

An estimated crowd of 250,000 people poured into Grant Park and downtown for the January rally earlier this year, one day after President Donald Trump was sworn into office. The march component of the rally was technically canceled, but crowds flooded streets nonetheless in peaceful protest. One component of the march brought up during and before the rally was maintaining the momentum evidenced by the turnout.

Be sure to hang onto your banners and posters for posterity.

Women's March on Chicago defines its support focus to include reproductive justice, affordable healthcare and childcare, racial justice, voting rights, LGBT rights, immigrant rights, fair wages, disability and environmentalism.

RELATED:

Photos: Over 250K Flood Historic Women's Rally, Take Streets Despite March Cancellation

Photos: 40+ Of Our Favorite Signs From The Chicago Women's March
Ald. Ameya Pawar Drops Out Of Governor's Race: 'We Simply Don't Have The Money'

By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 12, 2017 5:20PM



Alderman Ameya Pawar speaks at a rally against the National Rifle Association and gun violence in Federal Plaza. Photo by Aaron Cynic/Chicagoist.

Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) announced on Thursday that he has dropped out of the governor's race.

Pawar, who had run as a progressive alternative to much more heavily financed front-runners, said the campaign lacked sufficient funds to significantly maintain a full-state effort.

He said in his announcement:



"[W]e simply dont have the money to meaningfully scale this campaign statewide. Without more resources, the only choices for expanding the campaign to a scope that could earn the nomination were to take on more personal debt or to cut staff. I have a young family, and we decided not to take on more personal debt right now. As to cutting staff, I simply refuse. We raised $828k from 2,526 donors; that is amazing. But as you know, the race for Illinois governor will set a record as the costliest race in American history. For democracys sake, I hope we see this as a troubling trend. My donors did the best they could, Im the one who came up short, but I am not ashamed. Just know that while we didnt have the most money, we have the volunteers (3,200), the signatures (10,000), and the right message. Im sorry for the people who have stood with me that I dont have the extraordinary wealth or extraordinarily wealthy connections to make up the difference."

Money does indeed already seem poised to play a significant role in the campaigns ahead. Governor Bruce Rauner donated $50 million from his deep pockets to his own re-election bid in December; and Democratic candidate JB Pritzker, a billionaire investor, has pumped some $28 million of his money into his bid, according to Illinois Sunshine.

In his statement, Pawar, 37, also announced the launch of a new political action committee, called One Illinois, that intends to organize young people for progressive causes "and fight the false and bigoted divides around race, class, and geography." He said the organization will release more information in the weeks to come.

Today, I am ending my campaign for Governor. Here's why: https://t.co/RxzszcadBq  Ameya Pawar (@Ameya_Pawar_IL) October 12, 2017



Pawar declined to offer an endorsement for any of the remaining gubernatorial candidates in the Democratic field. State Senator Daniel Biss would seemingly be the most aligned with Pawar's agenda, but Biss also ruffled plenty of progressive feathers when he dismissed Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa from his ticket over his stance on policy related to Israel. Other Democratic candidates still in the mix include Bob Daiber, perennial runner Tio Hardiman and Chris Kennedy.

Pawar was elected alderman in 2011 when he handily defeated the heavily-favored Tommy ODonnell, despite the fact his opponent had the support of Rahm Emanuel and the political establishment. One can't help but wonder if he really has his eyes on a mayoral bid nowwhich has long been circled about the political rumor mill.
Burglars Have Crashed Cars Into A West Side Shoe Store Twice In One Week

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Oct 12, 2017 3:19PM



Shoes, via VILLA

A group of burglars crashed a car into an Austin shoe and fashion store early Thursday morning, making it the second time in one week that the West Side store has been burglarized.

The most recent crash was reportedly at 3:55 a.m. Thursday morning, when someone drove a Jeep Grant Cherokee into the storefront windows of VILLA, at 1506 N. Cicero Ave. Police say three to five men in a different car, a gray Honda CRV, went into the store, stole merchandise, and ran off.

The burglary was very similar to another one that took place on Friday, Oct. 6. Someone drove a black truck into the store's front window around 3:45 a.m. Then, three men ran into the store, grabbed some merchandise, and fled. Police say the black truck sustained serious damage.

[H/T ABC7]
Trump Dusts Off Tale Of Mystery Cop Who Claimed He Could Fix Chicago Crime 'Immediately'

By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 12, 2017 2:58PM



President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

While taking a jab at Chicago's "bad management" of crime, President Donald Trump invoked a familiar yarn on Wednesday night, bringing up the oft-referenced but still-unidentified cop who, according to his (sometimes shifting) tale, told the then-presidential candidate violence in the city could be stopped within one week.

Trump sat down with Sean Hannity of Fox for an interview and returned to the old hobbyhorse, which local law enforcement official last year said had been discredited.

Trump told Hannity, referencing the tale he first unveiled in August of last year:



Ill never forget I was in Chicago and a police officer there, it was a motorcycle deal to the plane and I was talking to police, I was taking a picture. I said, How do you stop this? We could stop it immediately sir, Trump said. I said, What do you mean? If theyd let us do our job, we could stop it immediately.'"



.@POTUS: "We have incredible police in this country. They could stop [high crime] if they were allowed to do their job." #Hannity pic.twitter.com/KWNRNHjZlg  Fox News (@FoxNews) October 12, 2017

Here's a clip of a portion of the exchange:



Trump also took aim at the city's government. He also said, via WGN:



Chicago is out of control. I dont know what theyre doing in Chicago to have this many shootings, this many killings and all of the different things that are going on. This is not like its the United States of America. And pure and simple, thats bad management. Thats bad politics. Its incredible. And then you talk to them, why arent you doing something?, and they dont even want to talk to you about it. Its really insulting to our nation."

As recently as late July, Trump had reiterated the tale about the unnamed officer, whom he then called "a rough cookie." As he did in July, mayoral spokeman Adam Collins threw cold water on Trump's account and reminded the president that much of Chicago's problems with illegal firearms stems from lax laws in neighboring states.

Collins said on Thursday in a statement, via NBC:



If the President has a name for this mystery person he continues to talk about, we're all ears. In the meantime, we live in the real world and if the president wants to build on the reductions in violence our hard working officers are achieving, if he wants to have an immediate effect on gun violence, he could do something to stop guns from flowing into our city from Indiana and Wisconsin."
A movie jointly made by five directors from five BRICS countries was previewed in north China's Shanxi Province on Wednesday afternoon.

The movie, named Where Has Time Gone, will be screened nationwide in China next Thursday, said Jia Zhangke, its Chinese director. It was previewed by film critics and mass media in Taiyuan, Shanxi's capital.

The other directors are Walter Salles from Brazil, Aleksey Fedorchenko from Russia, Madhur Bhandarkar from India and Jahmil X. T. Qubeka from South Africa.

Jia, a native of Shanxi, told the press that the movie is in five parts. The Brazilian part shows the aftermath of a dam collapse. The Indian part tells the friendship between an old man and an orphan. The Russian part depicts a couple living in a valley. The one from South African director is set in the future. Jia's story is about a couple who want a second child.

According to the Chinese director, the five BRICS countries are all rapidly developing and the lives of people have similarities. "But different cultural backgrounds and history result in different ways of thinking," he said.

"China is now in an era of international cooperation," Jia continued. "The film is a significant trial."
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CORNWALL, Ontario  This year, some of the proceeds made during the Seaway Food Festivals Restaurant Week will go to support the Agape Centre.

At participating Restaurant Week restaurants, $0.75 of every $10 meal sold will go to the Agape Centre. For $28 meals that is $1.50 and $2 of every $34 meal sold will go to Agape.

For the first year ever, there will also be a lunch menu at participating Restaurant Week establishments.

Another first is the swag. Seaway Food Festival will be selling T-shirts and hats for Restaurant week and a part of those proceeds will also be going to the Agape Centre.

Community is at the very core of what Seaway Food Festival is all about, said Sebastien Mani Manigat, Director & Founder of Seaway Food Festival. We are truly honored to form this partnership with such a remarkable local organization and lend our support in this manner. It goes without saying that our local restaurants are the backbone of every initiative that we do. Im very grateful that they embraced this event and in unison all decided to step up and give back for this cause,

Agape Centre Executive Director Diane Plourde was also excited at the announcement of this new partnership.

I see it as a win-win, she said. People will go out and support these local eateries while supporting a local charity at the same time.

Dave Petrynka, Owner and Chef at Eight Zero Zero also said that as a restaurant owner he said this as a great opportunity for Restaurant Week.

It makes us feel good, he said. It makes everything come together inside. Knowing that a charity is getting supported as well makes it that much more special.

Mani explained that this partnership fit with Seaway Food Festivals community vision.

Every restaurant Ive talked to are very enthusiastic about this, he said. There is no Seaway Food Fest without the people who make the food. This is a collective effort.

Restaurant Week is in its sixth year. Last year, nearly 5, 000 meals were sold during Restaurant Week.

Restaurant Week is running from Nov. 7 to 11.
CORNWALL, Ontario  Xplornet officially opened their new offices in the Cotton Mills in Cornwall on Oct. 12. They held a ribbon cutting event that day with most of their employees and local dignitaries.

The company had announced back in October 2016 that they would be investing upwards of $40 million to build a regional office in Cornwall.

The decision to invest in Cornwall actually goes back almost two years when Xplornet was originally scouting the location.

We realized when we came to Cornwall and toured the location, we realized it would fit our rural vision, said Xplornet Vice President Cathy MacDonald.

Xplornet moved into and renovated a space in the Cotton Mills large enough to fit their 130 employees and then some.

Xplornet has 335, 000 subscribers and their regional office in Cornwall will employee technical support workers for that client base.

English speaking support workers start work at $15.34 an hour and that increases to $17.34 an hour for billingual employees.

Xplornet President and CEO Allison Lenehan explained that the company has grown quickly since the move.

Were about out of space here and its a good indicator and Im going to have to talk to Mr. Mayor about bringing more jobs here in the near future, said Lenehan.

Cornwall Mayor Leslie OShaughnessy was impressed with the renovation at the Cotton Mills and with Xplornets committment.

I would love to have a home that looks like this, said OShaughnessy. This says a lot about our community. It recognizes their confidence in our community and their confidence in our workforce.

Xplornet has already been involved in supporting local causes in the community. They were sponsors at the United Ways Handbag for Heroes event and will be sponsoring their Wine & Cheese in November.

At the ribbon cutting ceremony Cathy MacDonald presented Lori Greer, Executive Director of the United Way with a $1, 500 cheque on behalf of Xplornet.
Speakers: Mr. Liu Yongfu, director of State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development Ms. Su Guoxia, head of the Comprehensive Department of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, as well as the offices spokesperson Chairperson: Xi Yanchun, vice director-general of the Press Bureau, State Council Information Office Date: Oct. 10, 2017

Xi Yanchun:

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to this press conference. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has always attached great importance to poverty reduction. To help you better understand China's progress in this regard, we have invited Mr. Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, to introduce developments since the 18th CPC National Congress was held. He will also answer some of your questions. We have also invited Ms. Su Guoxia, head of the Comprehensive Department of the office, as well as its spokesperson, to attend this press conference.

Now, let's welcome Mr. Liu Yongfu to give his briefing.

Liu Yongfu:

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to this press conference. Thank you for your long-term support and close attention to our work of poverty reduction.

Oct. 17 will mark the fourth National Poverty Relief Day of China, as well as the 25th International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Two days ago, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, issued important instructions related to the poverty reduction work. While recognizing the achievements and efforts made in this field so far, he urged all Party members, and indeed the whole society, to keep moving forward and win the battle against poverty. Premier Li Keqiang has also urged all-out efforts to be undertaken in this regard, so as to ensure the overall poverty reduction goals can be fulfilled according to plan.

Liu Yongfu:

On Oct. 9, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development held a seminar in Beijing to share some outstanding examples and experiences of poverty alleviation. The seminar conveyed and learned the significant instructions from the Party General Secretary and the premier, and presented awards to some excellent individuals for their efforts in poverty alleviation. Also yesterday, the Poverty Relief Office of the State Council and the United Nations' China branches co-organized the 2017 Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum, which was attended by delegations from 15 countries, envoys to China from 20 countries and representatives from 16 international organizations. Chinese and foreign representatives praised China's poverty alleviation achievements and targeted poverty alleviation plans. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asserted his belief that targeted poverty alleviation is the only way to help the poorest people and achieve the major goals set for the U.N.'s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In a few days, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be held in Beijing. China will begin a historic new chapter in its journey to carry out the great struggle, pursue the great undertaking, push forward the great cause and realize the great dream. We will work in full force to push forward poverty alleviation with the guidance of the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress.

Liu Yongfu:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has taken poverty elimination as the bottom-line, goal and landmark indicator for building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. Poverty elimination forms part of the country's "five-in-one overall strategy" of promoting balanced economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological progress, and the country's "four-pronged comprehensive strategy" of building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects, deepening reform, exercising law-based governance, and practicing strict Party self-governance. The central government has established the goal of nationwide poverty elimination by 2020, when the entire impoverished rural population living below current poverty standards will be lifted out of poverty and there will not be a single "poverty county."

The Chinese government is pushing ahead with the work of poverty elimination with unprecedented vigor. President Xi Jinping has assumed personal command of the work, and has inspected all the contiguous areas of extreme poverty in the country. Among his more than 50 domestic inspection tours, more than 30 have been related to poverty alleviation. During the five inter-provincial poverty elimination meetings in Fuping of Hebei Province, Yan'an of Shaanxi Province, Guiyang of Guizhou Province, Yinchuan of Ningxia Autonomous Region, and Taiyuan of Shanxi Province, President Xi repeatedly stressed poverty elimination and issued a series of important instructions.

All the members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee as well as comrades of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee attach great importance to the work of tackling poverty and continually give strong guidance on the issue. Governments at all levels have conscientiously implemented the central government's decisions and arrangements. People from all walks of life have actively participated in and made joint efforts in tackling poverty. Thus, it can be said that the work of poverty elimination has made some remarkable achievements.

Liu Yongfu:

First, we have established a series of systems of poverty elimination. The systems involve responsibilities, policies, funding, mobilization, supervision and assessment, providing a solid institutional guarantee for the work of poverty elimination.

Second, we have promoted the key work in tackling poverty. The work includes targeted poverty reduction, funds management and targeted policies tailored to local conditions.

Through joint efforts of governments at all levels and people from all walks of life, the number of people living in poverty has dropped by a great margin and the living conditions in the poverty-stricken areas has obviously improved.

During the last four years, the number of people living in poverty was accumulatively reduced by 55.64 million, an average of 13.91 million a year; this year the number is expected to stand at least 10 million. Therefore, during the past five years, a yearly average of more than 13 million people have escaped from poverty.

An immense poverty reduction program running from 1986 to 2000 lifted 6.39 million people out of poverty on average each year. And during the ensuing decade, the figure rose to 6.73 million. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the government has reduced the number of people living in poverty by more than 13 million each year, signaling an unprecedented achievement in our history.

Liu Yongfu:

Second, poor counties were defined throughout the country from 1986. This year, Jinggangshan in Jiangxi Province and Lankao in Henan Province took the lead in poverty alleviation. Another group of poverty-stricken counties will also announce their poverty elimination by the end of this year, signifying that the number of poor counties has been reduced for the first time in history. This is a remarkable achievement.

The poverty reduction drive has not only lifted people out of poverty, but also improved governance and management competency of rural grass-roots units, inspiring community-level officials to change their way of administration. A great number of young grass-roots workers and Party officials came to the fore in the drive. With the change in their work style, and the experiences gained from dealing with actual situations, they will become a treasure trove for the new great causes that will follow in due course.

Despite the remarkable achievements in the poverty reduction drive, there are still difficulties and problems that we cannot afford to underestimate or ignore.

The major difficulties at present are: the task of poverty elimination in the deeply impoverished areas is arduous and the problem of the people who become poor or sink back into poverty due to illness is very striking. The problems related to these areas and these people can only be solved at higher expense and with greater efforts.

At the same time, we also have some problems in our work, such as impractical approaches, superficial work style, inaccurate assistance, formalism and bureaucracy. Besides, the lack of motivation of the affected people is also a hindrance.

Liu Yongfu:

Guided by General Secretary Xi Jinping's strategic thinking on poverty relief and development, we should be fully aware of our problems, and keep to a problem-oriented approach to continue to implement the policies and instructions of the central government, making an all-out effort to win the battle against poverty. That's all I want to share with you. Ms. Su Guoxia and I are ready to take your questions. Thank you.

Xi Yanchun:

Thank you, Mr. Liu. Now let's move to the question session. Please identify your media outlet before stating your question.

Phoenix TV:

You just now mentioned some places with high incidence of poverty such as the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Tibetan area in Sichuan Province, and four prefectures in the south of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Do you have any poverty-relief measures focusing on those deeply impoverished areas? Thank you.

Liu Yongfu:

As I just said, the goal for alleviating poverty by 2020 will be definitely achieved. However, the difficulty lies in the deeply-impoverished areas in ethnic minority-dominated areas on China's borders, such as Tibet and south Xinjiang. Due to longstanding historical problems, those areas, with less desirable conditions, are more likely to be poor and distressed. Six provinces and provincial-level regions are home to over 3 million poor people, and five provinces or provincial-level regions have an incidence of poverty over 10 percent. According to the progress made in poverty alleviation in past years, without reinforced efforts, those areas will find it hard to achieve the expected goal. Therefore, the CPC Central Committee has hosted a seminar on poverty alleviation for deeply-impoverished areas and drawn up corresponding documents and measures to deal with the issue.

First, the CPC Central Committee will give top priority to those areas in poverty alleviation efforts and enhance various financing and policy measures.

Second, various departments and agencies are expected to play their specific roles in poverty alleviation. For example, the transport department needs to build more roads and the department responsible for water resources needs to solve problems with the supply of safe drinking water.

Third, provincial-level governments must take full responsibility in solving the specific problems facing the deeply-impoverished areas.

Each area has its own special conditions. Besides those poor areas I mentioned just now, each province and provincial-level region also have relatively serious impoverished areas. With provincial governments taking full responsibility, they can identify their own impoverished counties, towns and villages and work out new policy measures to deal with specific problems there. Thank you.

CGTN:

Last year, I visited some impoverished areas in southwest China to produce a special report about their poverty alleviation efforts. I've seen that people in those areas are now enjoying better housing, medical and education services, and have a stronger sense of achievement. However, I wonder how we can establish a long-term mechanism to avoid the people in those areas from sinking back into poverty again. Is there any mechanism in place to help those people become self-dependent and self-sufficient?

Liu Yongfu:

As you have said, remarkable progress has been made in education, medicine, housing, transportation and drinking water thanks to targeted poverty alleviation efforts. While committed to our current work, we should also consider establishing a long-term mechanism to meet any future problems that might occur. First, there should be firm leadership at the grass-roots level to lead poverty reduction and promote prosperity. Second, we need to bring into full play the role of the first Party chief and the task forces assigned to those areas for poverty alleviation, build a group of front-runners and attract local talents back to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development. Third, we should develop featured industries in accordance with local conditions to ensure sustainable development. Fourth, there has to be a long-term mechanism covering education and public health. For example, those areas should constantly improve medical security, advance pre-school education, compulsory education and higher education to nurture talents and skills. All these measures should be carried out simultaneously. Thank you.

China Daily:

During an interview in Tibet Autonomous Region, I heard that local people who used to live in Nagqu - a high altitude area- had been relocated this July to new houses with a hot spring courtyard. It's a new method of poverty alleviation to relocate people from inhospitable areas. Mr. Liu Yongfu, could you share more about other innovative measures which will be adopted in the future to help people shake off poverty and become prosperous?

Liu Yongfu:

The place you mentioned is Yambajan, which has hot springs. The local government of Tibet has made preparation to move residents living above 4,200 meters in altitude to areas of lower altitude. In the next step we will increase policy support to deeply impoverished areas.

For instance, in Tibet, combined with the development of urbanization and the improvement of the ecosystems and the environment, we can continue to relocate groups of people to low-altitude and river valley areas. While in deeply impoverished villages, where the poverty rate is above 20 percent, we will carry forward specific projects to promote their development, covering infrastructure, industrial development and grass-roots organizational construction. We will also implement new measures to lead local people to change their old ideas and outdated conventions. Thank you.

Reuters:

The poverty relief program seems quite narrowly focused on a certain population of the rural poor. Is there any room or need to expand the definition to maybe urban migrant workers who also struggle a lot with living in the big cities, or people who do not fit into that narrow definition; or maybe people who are slightly above the definition. There may be several hundred million people who are still struggling but not the most extreme poor. I know in Tibet and Sichuan there are some very difficult areas, but even a few hours from Beijing and Hebei, there are people who do not have good access to education and healthcare. Is there any need to expand the focus, maybe after 2020, after the goal is met? Will there be any expansion of the program? Are there any other ways that the government is looking at to help other impoverished people who are also struggling?

Liu Yongfu:

You know well about China. You are right that our poverty relief program does largely target the rural poor. It is true that there are also people living in poverty in urban areas. But as you may also know, we have different policies for urban areas. We rely on subsistence allowances and employment guarantees to relieve poverty in urban areas.

We will see to it that each family has at least one member in stable employment and therefore a stable income. Meanwhile, we will aid those entitled to subsistence allowances in a timely fashion. And the subsistence allowances granted to urban residents are higher than those for rural residents. Regarding migrant workers, this group is covered by the poverty relief program for rural areas.

Right now, we are focusing on wining the poverty reduction war before 2020. How to further address poverty after that? Do we need to come up with a holistic plan that coordinates efforts in urban and rural areas? How to resolve relative poverty after absolute poverty is eliminated? These are all questions we are now studying. You have raised a very good question. Thank you.

Xi Yanchun:

The reporter from Reuters not only focuses on the current progress of poverty reduction, but also its future.

The Beijing News:

My question is in relation to when people become poorer or return to poverty because of illness. I have previously reported on middle-class families becoming poor because their children were diagnosed with a tumor. They had to sell their cars and houses in order to seek care in Beijing since there is no medical care system to cover their basic needs under special cases. For these people, is there any policy or measures to meet their needs?

Liu Yongfu:

Su Guoxia will answer this question.

Su Guoxia:

Thank you very much. We will communicate and coordinate with relevant government departments about incorporating the medical treatment of some major diseases into medical security. Actually, you have raised a question concerning a deeply impoverished group of people. Among the remaining poor at the present time, the percentage of family members caught in or set back to poverty due to illness is on the rise, up from 42 percent two years ago to 44 percent now. So, the government is paying special attention to this problem, and also regards it as one of our next priorities. Together with the National Health and Family Planning Commission and other government departments, we have carried out poverty alleviation projects to help increase health standards in poor areas, and also established systems like basic medical insurance, major disease insurance and medical assistance, complemented by some commercial insurance, to address basic problems. Now, local governments are carrying out many policies as well. We believe that the current healthcare system for the poor in rural areas has been basically sound.

A specific issue you mentioned just now is some rare diseases. Diseases like pediatric congenital heart disease and leukemia have been incorporated into the special medical treatment of critical diseases. For the congenital heart disease relatively common in the Tibetan region, the government has not only offered assistance with national policies and systems, but also mobilized the community to help. Only a small number of certain individuals are afflicted by rare diseases, who need help from society, including NGOs. Next, we will cooperate with other departments including the National Health and Family Planning Commission to work on additional measures for helping with the treatment of major pediatric diseases.

I would like to further address the question raised by Reuters. As Mr. Liu just explained, our main strategies for helping the poor in cities are minimum living allowances and employment assistance policies. In fact, another major policy that was developed in recent years is to guarantee the housing security of the poor in urban areas. The government has invested a lot in transforming shantytowns and providing support for basic housing over the past few years, and addressed the housing of 80 million poor people in cities. Thank you.

Liu Yongfu:

I'd like to add more. In addition to what she had just talked about, the National Health and Family Planning Commission has jointly launched with us an action plan on serious disease treatment, the contracted treatment of chronic diseases and medical assistance for special and serious diseases. Now the work gets underway nationwide. Thank you.

China National Radio (CNR):

China has made huge achievements in poverty alleviation since the 18th CPC National Congress. What policy mix has been introduced during the period? How do different departments and regions collaborate in this regard? Are there any specific measures for tackling some long-standing problems of poverty alleviation? Thank you.

Liu Yongfu:

There are a lot of measures. In my view, current poverty alleviation measures share certain characteristics:

First, the goal of this campaign is to eradicate poverty. The former massive campaigns against poverty left a large number of impoverished people afterwards. The number stands at more than 20 million or even more than 30 million, who live in absolute poverty. Our aim is to get rid of absolute poverty and leave no poverty-stricken population behind. We have formulated many policies and formed a policy mix on the target populations by comprehensively deepening reform and in accordance with the strategy of taking targeted measures in poverty alleviation and the requirements of implementing classified policies.

The central government is responsible for making overall plan, the provincial governments taking the overall responsibility and the cities and counties carrying it out. The principal leaders of the Party and governments in 22 central and west provinces have signed with the central government letters of responsibility on poverty alleviation with stricter performance evaluations. Irregular change of positions of the Party leaders and magistrates of 832 counties should be avoided from 2015 to 2020. The major secretary and other staff working in villages are transferred from the Party and government offices and state-owned enterprises and institutions at the levels of the central government, provinces, cities and counties respectively. Nearly one million people are on duty, with nearly three million people transferred accumulatively. All these measures are unprecedented.

With regard to financial investment, the central government requires that investment be adapted for the poverty alleviation task. The special funds for poverty alleviation from the central finance were very poor before. Poverty alleviation tasks are reliant on this fund even though it only amounted to 40 billion yuan. The poverty-stricken regions can hardly receive the money. Since the campaign against poverty was launched, the funds have seen a year-on-year growth of more than 30 percent. The funds allocated by provinces, cities and counties have also substantially increased accordingly. Now, more than 80 billion yuan is allocated by the central government, more than 60 billion yuan allocated by the provincial government and more than 60 billion yuan allocated by the governments of city and county level, which are unprecedented.

Liu Yongfu:

In terms of financial input, in the past there was only fiscal input - the financial sector didn't participate much. Now the financial sector is involved and provides poverty alleviation microloans for registered poor households. The financial product (microloans) has reached 380 billion yuan, and can be characterized as "under 50,000 yuan, repaid within three years, with no need for guarantees and mortgages to get loan, only requiring the benchmark interest rate, while the poverty alleviation fund would fully pay the interest, and the rural counties will set up risk funds." For the leading poverty alleviation enterprises which provide jobs for registered poor individuals, the central bank will issue poverty alleviation reloans with a very low interest rate -- 2 percent for local governments and 5 percent for enterprises. For example, if they need to relocate 10 million people with a budget of 600 billion yuan, then 250 billion yuan will be capital funds provided by the government, and the remaining 350 billion yuan will be financial bonds.

Local debts will be partially used for poverty alleviation. In the past two years, the local governments were required to allocate 60 billion yuan every year. And we also integrated social funds into it. In the last year, we integrated more than 200 billion yuan. This year, the amount will increase further.

For land policies, impoverished areas will be guaranteed land for poverty alleviation projects. And the surplus quotas of linking the amount of urban and rural land granted for construction purposes to that of land returned to cultivation are allowed to be traded within the provincial scope. Recently, the policies regarding this issue have been expanded, such as the policy for building village-level photovoltaic power stations.

Land-use policies deal with tough problems, many of which have existed for a long time. We have so many challenges to address.

China Business News:

I have three questions, first for Mr. Liu and then for Ms. Su.

Mr. Liu, just now you talked about the deeply impoverished areas that pose difficulties and problems of poverty elimination, with the task of tackling poverty being very arduous from now on. So, what specific measures will be taken to complete the task of poverty elimination in these areas? Moreover, you also said that, while helping poor counties and poor villages to escape from poverty, we should also pay great attention to poverty elimination in non-poor counties and non-poor villages. Precisely, how should this be dealt with?

Ms. Su, regarding your answer to the previous question, could you please add one point, that is, concerning the people living in poverty, the proportion of the people who have become poor or have sunk back into poverty due to illness rose from 42 percent in 2014 to 44 percent in 2016. So, what is the reason for this? Moreover, during the National Poverty Relief Day in 2016, you said that a phenomenon of "undue haste" in the work of poverty relief had spread to some areas of the country. As the fourth National Poverty Relief Day is drawing near, is there any improvement in this phenomenon?

Liu Yongfu:

Actually, I have already mentioned some issues involving the deeply impoverished areas, but I can elaborate here. The deeply impoverished areas designated by the central government include Tibet, the four southern Xinjiang prefectures (Hotan, Aksu and Kashi prefectures, and Kizilsu Kirgiz autonomous prefecture), ethnic Tibetan areas in the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunan Province and Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. Now we are formulating a special plan for poverty alleviation in these deeply impoverished areas and also trying to work out more relevant policies and measures. As I mentioned earlier, the central government will increase its support for these deeply impoverished areas, and so should the various departments directly involved. All provinces are also required to develop their destitute areas that are not included in the deeply impoverished areas designated by the central government.

The second question is about villages and counties that are not on the country's list of impoverished villages and counties. There are certain prerequisites for counties or villages to be included in the list. Life there is indeed very hard, featured with an enormous poverty-stricken population, high poverty incidence and harsh living conditions. These impoverished villages and counties have been the focus of our work, and so are those deeply impoverished areas. This is one of the approaches of our work. However, now, when the poverty alleviation endeavor has reached a critical stage, we will never allow any counties or individuals to be left behind. Therefore, while alleviating poverty in the designated areas, we should in no way neglect the development of counties and villages that are not on the country's list of impoverished villages and counties. These counties and villages have a relatively stronger economy, better industrial facilities, improved governance, and lesser number of poor people. Hence, it is possible for them to alleviate poverty with their own efforts.

There might be some differentiated regional policies, but when considering impoverished villages and households, the policies are consistent. For example, there can be a poor village in a non-designated county or a poor individual in a non-designated village. The national policies adopted for them are no different. We have taken those issues into consideration while formulating policies. Of course, we'll continue to enhance our supervision to avoid any blind spots in our work.

Su Guoxia:

I will answer the question about "undue haste" in the work of poverty alleviation first. It is the result of officials' view on their political record -- Is it to be responsible for the people and the verdict of history or just their own political achievements? As the country recently stepped up efforts on examination and assessment, another tendency has emerged. Some places worried about failing to pass this process, so they slowed down the pace of the work on poverty alleviation. To settle the problem, we should guide cadres to adopt a correct view of political achievements -- our duty is to serve the people and our efforts on poverty alleviation should be responsible for a good historical judgement. At the same time, we will strengthen our efforts on examination and assessment, supervision and inspection to ensure full adherence.

Another question from you is about alleviating poverty by improving health. With the development of the rural economy and the increasing efforts for poverty alleviation, the economy in impoverished areas has been generally improved and the people's incomes have risen. Families with members capable and being willing to work have got rid of poverty with their own efforts along with government help. The proportion of these people is on the decline, yet the proportion of people whose poverty is due to illness is rising. We will increase our efforts to help them. Thank you.

Liu Yongfu:

I would like to add that, as for the progress and quality of poverty alleviation, we should adopt a practical and realistic way. Neither "undue haste" nor a slow pace is acceptable. Therefore, a reasonable and ordered timetable is needed. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has said, we should roll up our sleeves to work harder. So, we need to stick to the agreed standards and seek truth from facts on the issue of poverty alleviation. The pace could be faster or slower according to conditions in different areas; however falsification, bureaucracy and formalism are totally unacceptable. Thank you.

Reuters:

It is known that poverty reduction is a great issue in China. However, I have noticed that some local governments are sensitive about being interviewed by foreign media. What's the reason for that? That's maybe why some Western media is skeptical about the programs. We also want to go to these locations and report on the actual situation, but it's very difficult to get permission to go to these places and see these programs. Have you heard of this issue and know the reason for that? Another question is could you recommend some places that would be good to go visit? Thank you.

Liu Yongfu:

China remains committed to the policy of opening-up. The poverty reduction program will undoubtedly improve people's livelihood. We expect there will be more oversight from all sides. I have never heard about the situation you have mentioned. However, there are some places I would like to recommend to you for study. You could apply to the SCIO according to the regulations, and we will do our best to help.

Some local governments are afraid of its being exposed publicly that there are problems in their work. We sometimes have difficulties in inspecting their work, too. Of course, we have our own ways to resolve these difficulties, for example making unannounced visits. So, my suggestion will be that: firstly, we welcome media monitoring, including that from foreign countries; secondly, we will help the media contact the news and information departments of the local governments, if there is a need.

Xi Yanchun:

I would like to add a few more words on this point. It is a very important duty of the State Council Information Office to organize press conferences, briefings and collective interviews related to aspects of poverty alleviation, and that is what we have been doing. Previously, we organized press conferences and interviews related to poverty alleviation work with the strong support of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. We organized a fact-finding trip to Guizhou in September, in which the interviews that occurred about poverty relief received support from the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. We have also organized foreign journalists to conduct interviews in Inner Mongolia and Sichuan Province. If you have any requirements regarding any interviews, please feel free to mention it, and we can coordinate the arrangements. If you encounter any problem during the interview process, you are welcome to contact our local colleagues as well.

Lastly, I agree with Mr. Liu that poverty relief as an ongoing cause that can hardly be fulfilled without the support and help of our media friends, so we encourage you to continue following its progress.

Our press conference will end here. Thanks again to Mr. Liu and Ms. Su. Thank you all.

By Li Xiaohua, Guo Xiaohong, Wang Qian, Li Huiru, Xu Lin, He Shan, Huang Shan, Yuan Fang, Wang Wei, Chen Xia, Zhang Rui, Li Jingrong, Wu Jin, Zhang Liying, Zhou Jing, Guo Yiming, Cui Can, Zhang Jiaqi, Duan Yaying, Layne Flower, Christopher Georgiou, Geoffrey Murray
Managed services News

CRN Exclusive: ConnectWise Taps Ex-Tech Data CEO For Board Slot As Company Considers Outside Funding Options

Michael Novinson

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ConnectWise has appointed longtime Tech Data CEO Steve Raymund to its board of directors to in part help the company evaluates options for outside financing.

The Tampa, Fla.-based IT service management vendor said Raymund would help ConnectWise think through the pros and cons associated with an initial public offering, taking venture capital funds, or borrowing money from the banks, according to Arnie Bellini, ConnectWise's CEO. Raymund took Tech Data public back in 1986 and chaired the company's board of directors from April 1991 until this June.

"ConnectWise is on a tear," Raymund said. "They're growing. They have every avenue of finance available to them. And they're being courted by everybody and anybody from a capital-raising standpoint."

[Related: Here's What 9 Channel Champions Are Doing To Help Hurricane Harvey Victims]

ConnectWise is 100 percent employee-owned, with co-founders Arnie and David Bellini  currently president and managing director of ConnectWise International  each holding a significant stake in the firm. It is the only one of the major IT service management vendors not to be majority-held by a private equity firm.

Thoma Bravo has owned Continuum since June 2017; SolarWinds, the parent of SolarWinds MSP, has been owned by Thoma Bravo and Silver Lake since February 2016; Vista Equity Partners has held Autotask since June 2014; and Insight Venture Partners acquired a controlling interest in Kaseya in June 2013.

"When I look at our competitors, I believe that their venture capital is preventing them from being innovative and preventing them from doing the proper research and development to be relevant in the future," Bellini said. "Venture capital has different incentives and different focal points that create decisions in the board room that may or may not be the best long-term decisions for a company."

ConnectWise today has zero venture capital, zero debt and a monthly free cash flow in excess of $1 million that can be allocated toward investments, Bellini said. At the same time, Bellini said ConnectWise has $40 million to $80 million of bank financing that could be put in place, and has already assembled a syndicate that could take the company public at any time.

But Raymund (pictured) has helped ConnectWise realize that the company doesn't need to make a capital-raising decision right away since the company is generating its own free cash to the bottom line doesn't have a viable list of acquisition targets that would stretch the company past what it could finance on its own, according to Bellini.

"Access to capital is in no way, shape or form an issue impeding this company's growth," Raymund said.

Being employee-owned has enabled ConnectWise to focus its investments on what's best for the company over a time horizon of five-to-fifteen years, Bellini said. In contrast, Bellini said venture capital firms are typically looking to exit their investments within four years, and are therefore more focused on what companies are doing right now to create immediate value.

"Because we don't have to focus on that [venture capital], we're investing in the research and development and making bets that will be great for our customers," Bellini said. "And we never have any sort of gate that we have to go through to be able to do that."

Raymund and Stan Levy  a former senior leader at audit, tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton  will be the first non-employee directors to ever sit on ConnectWise's board. Since ConnectWise is employee-held, Raymund said he serves at the pleasure of the CEO in a primarily advisory capacity rather than selecting the CEO himself like he would as the director of a publicly-traded company.

"Arnie is completely unconflicted," Raymund said. "Everything that's good for the company is good for Arnie. Sometimes when you have a public CEO, it's different."

Raymund joined Clearwater, Fla.-based Tech Data back in 1981 when it was primarily a reseller of data processing supplies and grew it into a $21 billion global distribution powerhouse by the time his 20-year tenure as CEO concluded in 2006. Bellini credited Raymund for putting Tampa Bay on the map as a destination for companies and employees looking to work in technology.

"When Steve started Tech Data here, this was just a little bit more than a cowtown," Bellini said. "I call Steve the godfather of technology in Tampa Bay. He doesn't necessarily like it when I call him that, but it is the truth."
Storage News

Western Digital Hammers Down On MAMR, Not HAMR, For Spinning Hard Drives

Joseph F. Kovar

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Western Digital on Wednesday said it is investing in technology that will take spinning hard disk drives to 40 TBs and beyond in capacity as a way to meet big data and other large-capacity application needs going forward.

The San Jose, Calif.-based manufacturer of hard disk drives, flash storage, and systems featuring the two, demonstrated what it called the world's first MAMR, or microwave-assisted magnetic recording, hard drives, and discussed plans for bringing those drives to market.

While storage news, in general, is often more focused on flash and other non-volatile storage media, hard drives are still doing well, said Mike Cordano, Western Digital president and chief operating offer, during an event introducing the MAMR technology.

[Related: 30 New Storage Products Partners Can Use For Cloud Or Virtualized Environments]

Cordano, citing his company's own analysis of the storage market, said that by 2020, about 70 percent of the total storage capacity is expected to still reside on hard drives as opposed to flash or other media. "If you dig deeper, in the data center, that will be closer to 90 percent," he said.

Brendan Collins, vice president of hard drive product marketing for Western Digital, said that the demand for hard drives would continue to grow because flash storage costs about 15-times spinning drives on a cost-per-gigabyte basis.

To ensure that the cost difference between the two keeps hard drives competitive over time with flash storage in big data or other large-capacity requirements, the hard drive industry needs to find a good replacement for the current PMR, or perpendicular magnetic recording, technology which is starting to reach its limits in terms of capacity and data "writability," Collins said.

The storage industry is placing its hopes on HAMR, or heat-assisted magnetic recording, a technology that uses a small laser while recording data to heat the media as a way to increase data density. Western Digital is among those who are investing in HAMR, Collins said.

However, he said, HAMR technology is facing cost and reliability challenges because of the need to actually heat the media.

Western Digital's main focus going forward will be on MAMR technology, Collins said. With MAMR, a small microwave field is emitted by a spin torque oscillator located near the write pole of the disk read/write head. That microwave field lowers the magnetic field of the media at the point where data is being written. This allows the data writing to be done more densely without the need to heat the media.

That gives MAMR a 100-times better data writing lifetime than HAMR, letting Western Digital talk about hard drives with up to 40 TBs and more in capacity with 2.5 million hours of reliability and a five-year warranty, he said.

The MAMR-based drives fit in the same ecosystems as current PMR-based drives without the need for specific drive optimizations needed by HAMR-based drives, all while maintaining costs similar to those of PMR technology, Collins said. "With MAMR, you get all the gain without the pain," he said.

Western Digital on Wednesday demonstrated MAMR-based drives and expects samples to be available to customers in 2018. General availability is expected to start in 2019.

Lenny Sharp, senior director of enterprise hard drive product marketing for Western Digital, told CRN that MAMR-based hard drives would find a strong market despite the total cost of ownership and the higher performance benefits users get with SSDs and flash storage in general.

"The focus on hard drives is on cost-per-terabyte," Sharp said. "SSDs have a 15x cost-per-terabyte differential over capacity enterprise hard drives. Yes, you can now purchase 60-TB SSDs. But you need an American Express Black card to afford them."

Without MAMR technology, the cost-per-terabyte benefit of hard drives over SSDs would gradually fall over time, Sharp said. "MAMR is like hitting the rocket engine button on cost reduction," he said.

MAMR technology could eventually result in hard drives with capacities of 65 TBs to 80 TBs between 2027 and 2030, Sharp said. That capacity could rise if the storage industry moved away from today's standard 3.5-inch hard disk format to a larger standard, he said.

The demand for high-capacity spinning hard drives is definitely growing for certain use cases, said Dominic Daninger, vice president of engineering at Northern Computer Technologies, a Burnsville, Minn.-based custom system builder.

While client PCs and smaller servers are more and more likely to use SSDs than spinning drives, customers in the sciences and high-performance computing fields are storing the kind of capacities that keep spinning disks in demand, Daninger told CRN.

"Every once in a while, we will see an insatiable need for spinning drives," he said. "One of our clients is mapping the North Pole and the South Pole and needs a lot of capacity. Another client is the IceCube Neutrino Observatory project funded by the National Science Foundation which has sensors buried a half-mile under the ice. That chews up a lot of data."

There is clearly a need for spinning drives going forward, Daninger said. "I don't see any hard drive tombstones out there yet," he said. "Intel tells us their analysts are looking at big data, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing, all of which require a lot of analysis and crunching of bid data. And a lot of that is stored on rotating media."
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BRIDGEPORT  Its the same spectacular view of Long Island Sound that manufacturing titan William Grippin once enjoyed.

Wow, George Bauer of Wilton said of the first time he gazed out the large upper floor windows of a 19th century mansion that sits at the edge of Seaside Park on the University of Bridgeport campus. They picked this spot for a reason.

Bauer and his wife Carol were also deliberate in choosing the spot and working to make that view accessible to a new generation of entrepreneurs  digital ones.

A $2.3 million gift from the couple to UB will renovate the place that will now be called Bauer Hall, officials announced Thursday.

It is our hope that this new center for entrepreneurship will unleash the creative juices that spawn new enterprises, particularly students who want to get a head start, Bauer said.

UB has long had an incubation center, University President Neil Salonen said, but not the facility to support the ideas students are coming up with.

This incredible generosity will allow ideas to come to life, businesses to form and successful futures to be paved, Salonen said of the gift.

The four-story Innovation Center will include 8,600 square feet of brainstorming booths, an International Trade Center, a maker space, conference rooms and room for additional resources. It will become home to UBs existing venture programs, including the Student Entrepreneur Center and the UB Incubator.

Mark Halstead, the Fairfield architect in charge of the project, said he hopes to preserve and restore as much of the antique structures spirit and character as possible while giving some of the floors a 21st century open concept feel.

It will cost a little extra money, but the hope is this will generate a mind set," Bauer said.

Bauer has no personal ties to UB but knows Frank Zullo, co-chair of UBs Board of Trustees and a former mayor of Norwalk. Both served for years on the board at Norwalk Hospital, where the Bauers are big contributors.

When there is a need, they try to step in and solve the problem, Zullo said.

Zullo and other trustees introduced the Bauers to UB. The couple was impressed with not only the magnificent views but its cultural and economic diversity, they said.

Students from 81 countries are on the campus that was founded in 1927 as the Junior College of Connecticut.

I grew up in a very tough ZIP code in the Ozark mountains of Missouri, Bauer said. I know economic opportunity is possible.

Bauer went to Washington University in St. Louis and served in the military before spending 31 years at IBM. His second career was as an investment banker and he started a number of businesses related to computers and technology.

The couple has donated millions to Norwalk Hospital including a $2.5 million gift in 2016 that helped open the Bauer Emergency Health Care Center at the hospital. The pair has also given generously to Norwalks Stepping Stone Museum and created a I Have A Dream scholarship program for children in a Norwalk Housing project. Two dozen children in that program went on to college.

Bauer said he is very careful about where he invests his private assets and was impressed with how UB has grown under Salonens leadership.

His hope is that the center will support student-entrepreneurs as well as regional start-ups, he said.

Both, he said, are critical to spurring economic growth within the city and region of Bridgeport.

The new center is expected to be ready in the spring of 2018.
NORWALK  A Bridgeport man allegedly called officers the N-word and other expletives after he totaled his car while driving drunk Wednesday night, police said.

Norwalk police responded to multiple reports of a one-car accident on Ponus Avenue involving a possibly intoxicated individual around 10:14 p.m. Wednesday.

Eyewitnesses told police that the driver involved was traveling north when he lost control of his vehicle and swerved into oncoming traffic before crashing into a large rock on the side of the road.

Police said that the operator smelled of alcohol and was stumbling around the vehicle and trying to steady himself. The operator also had extremely glassy eyes and was slurring his words heavily while talking to officers, police said.

When police asked the man for his license and registration, the driver was non-compliant. When the driver was asked to put his hands behind his back so police could pat him down, police said the individual kept trying to pull away from the officers, wiggling his arms free and stuffing his hands into his pockets as if trying to grab something.

When police attempted to look at the drivers phone, the individual slapped the phone out of the officers hand, at which point he was promptly placed in handcuffs, placed inside of the cop cruiser and police began to search his car for signs of identification.

Though no identification, registration or insurance was found in the car, police did find a black-handled kitchen knife with a 7.5-inch blade and a 24-pack of Corona with only 10 full bottles, three empties and 11 beers unaccounted for. Police also found a miniature bottle of brandy.

As officers were bagging the items found in the vehicle as evidence, police said the driver began to kicking and banging his head against the police cruisers rear door with enough force to shake the entire vehicle. The man then began to call the arresting officer the N-word.

The arrested party, who police were still unable to identify at this point, continued his antics back at police headquarters, where he continued to rant and yell expletives, Sgt. Sofia Gulino, a police spokesperson, said.

The suspect also refused to answer any of the officers questions, repeatedly interrupted the telling of his Miranda rights, denied his right to an attorney and refused to submit to a breath test or to be fingerprinted.

Eventually, police learned that the man was 29-year-old Jose Benitez, of Bridgeport, who had a permanently suspended drivers license.

Benitez was charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence, operating a motor vehicle while under suspension, failure to comply with fingerprinting requirements, evasion of responsibility, failure to drive in the proper lane and failure to carry registration or an insurance card.

He was held on a $25,000 bond, and he is expected in court Oct. 20.

The 29-year-old was later transported to Bridgeport on a warrant stemming from a May 15, 2015 incident in which he was charged with first-degree criminal mischief and second-degree breach of peace.
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BRIDGEPORT  Police have released the name of the man killed yesterday in the citys 21st homicide.

Jeri Kollock, 18, of Bridgeport, was a week away from his 19th birthday when he was shot around 4:30 p.m. in the stairway of a building in the Green Homes housing project, police said.

The evidence indicates that Kollock was forced to strip naked and remove his jewelry, said Bridgeport Police Detective Lt. Christopher Lamaine, in a statement from a city spokesman. He was then shot multiple times. Kollock fled down the stairs to the basement, where he collapsed, but managed to drag himself over the next 45 minutes to the door, where he emerged yelling for help.

He died before medics arrived, police said.

Officers were called to the complex on Highland Avenue around 5:15 p.m. to find what Capt. Roderick Porter described as an expansive crime scene.

Residents of the complex and apparent family members of the victim stood on either end of the crime scene tape that blocked off the rear area of the building.

They need to have an officer in here day and night, said a woman who lives in the building and did not want to give her name.

Police responded to at least two shootings at the complex in May.

Screams from self-identified relatives, many of them begging to see the victims body, were heard while officers stood guarding the crime scene.

Wheres my nephew? one woman wailed, trying to duck under the crime scene tape, as officers held her back. Let me see my nephew!

Porter said other than the call for shots fired, police were not told of any dispute that led to the shooting and that they have not immediately identified any suspect.

Updates/Corrections: This article has been updated to include the name of the victim and additional statements from officials including the age of the victim, who was originally thought by officials to be older.
 Colorado will finish a four-match road trip with a pair of contests against the schools in the desert. On Friday, Oct. 13, the Buffs will face off against Arizona State at 8 p.m. MT in Tempe, Ariz. Then on Sunday, Oct. 15, CU will play Arizona at 2 p.m. in Tucson, Ariz.The match on Friday against ASU will be televised live on Pac-12 Mountain/Arizona, while the contest on Sunday vs. UA will be streamed on the Pac-12 Digital Network.Links to the live stats for both matches are available at CUBuffs.com.CU is currently 12-5 overall (2-4 Pac-12). The Buffs fell below .500 in conference play after suffering a pair of losses last weekend to Washington State (3-1) and then-No. 9 Washington (3-0). CU tied for seventh in the conference standings with WSU, California and Arizona.Juniorleads the Buffs and ranks fifth in the Pac-12 with 4.19 kills per set and is also second in the league in attacks (11.59 per set). Juniorhas the team's best hitting percentage at .343, which is seventh in the conference andis second for the Buffs with a .321 hitting efficiency.Colorado's offense is directed by freshman setter. She ranks third in the Pac-12 and is 22nd in the NCAA with an 11.26 assists per set average and has guided the Buffs to a .252 mark.Defensively the Buffs are led by Abu who is recording 1.31 blocks per set (seventh in the Pac-12 and 46th in the NCAA). Juniorranks seventh in the conference with a 3.66 digs per set mark.Arizona State enters this weekend with a 10-8 record and is 12in the Pac-12 with a 0-6 mark. Oluoma Okaro is the top attacker for the Sun Devils with 4.45 kills per set, the third highest in the conference and 16in the NCAA. As a team, they are recording 13.70 kills per set while hitting .238. ASU leads the league with 16.55 digs per set, thanks in part to Halle Harker's Pac-12 leading 5.41 digs per set, which also ranked 17in the NCAA.Arizona is 8-7 overall and is tied with the Buffs for seventh in the Pac-12 standings with a 2-4 mark. UA started Pac-12 play with a win over ASU before dropping four straight matches. The Wildcats rebounded in their most recent match, recording a 3-0 win over then-No. 15 Southern California. Kendra Dahlke has a team-best 3.16 kills per set, while Tyler Spriggs adds 2.78 kills per set. Kimberly Gutierrez is the team leader with 2.72 digs per set and at the net, Devyn Cross has posted 1.04 blocks per set.Colorado returns to Boulder for a pair of matches against the L.A. schools. The Buffs will face USC first on Oct. 20 and on Oct. 21, UCLA will be at the Coors Events Center.
Harvey Weinstein gave the middle finger to photographers in LA yesterday before later boarding a plane to Arizona. He is believed to be heading to The Meadows, a $40,000-a-month facility previously attended by Tiger Woods and Kate Moss.

As Kate Beckinsale joins the list of stars revealing an alleged encounter with Harvey, authorities are investigating him as a possible 'super predator.' Could his brother and business partner, Bob Weinstein, be the one who leaked the details that sparked Harvey's downfall?

DailyMail.com Editor-at-Large Piers Morgan knows Harvey and suggests his professional demise is creating a 'seismic shift' in Hollywood, and may empower more women to come forward and name other abusers.

Jennifer Aniston's husband Justin Theroux is in a brutal fight with his New York neighbor over noise complaints, leaks and barking dogs. DailyMailTV has an exclusive report inside the property that is causing all of their problems.

A hip footwear trend favored by Ryan Gosling and Orlando Bloom could actually lead to a health problem. The Doctors' Dr. Travis Stork is running through the latest health headlines to keep your feet in top shape, plus a warning about Halloween costumes and head lice.
With a crowd of hundreds of mourners, a custom-made coffin and a fleet of Rolls Royce cars, it was hailed as the largest gypsy funeral ever held.

Now a documentary reveals just what went into planning the lavish send-off for Simon Doherty, father of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Paddy Doherty.

Filmed as part of Channel 5 series Gypsy Kids, Paddy, 58, allowed cameras to follow him as the family prepared a final farewell for Simon, who was affectionately known as 'the father of all Travellers'.

In one moving moment reality TV star Paddy is seen holding back tears as he gazes at his father's coffin at the service at St Michael's Church in Ashtead, Surrey, in April, telling the cameras: 'My heart's ripped out of me.'

In another scene Paddy watches as the crowd of mourners in horse-drawn carriages shuts down a busy public road to allow the hearse to drive his father's coffin around Epsom Racecourse one final time. The journey, which took place en route to the burial, was Simon's final request.

Final farewell: A traveller in a horse-drawn cart leads the hearse carrying Simon Doherty's coffin around Epsom Racecourse ahead of his funeral in Surrey in April this year

Intimate look: Paddy Doherty, left during the burial of his father Simon Doherty (right), allowed cameras to follow him as he planned a fitting final farewell for his beloved father

Last request: Paddy ignores the authorities and closes down a road so that the special event can be held on the way to the burial

He cheered on his father's procession while non-Travellers stuck in traffic were left unimpressed by the commotion

A fleet of Rolls Royces transported the 15 children of Simon Doherty to and from his service held in Surrey, before burial in north London

Despite the mounting complaints from the non-Travellers stuck in their cars, an emotional Paddy, who had to hold back tears at the funeral, cheered from the roadside, and said he would do anything for his father.

'I dont care who they are or what they are, no one could have stopped that. The police couldnt have stopped that, thats our custom.

'We have to carry out our fathers wishes,' he said.

Simon Doherty - known as Simey - was a father of 15, and is understood to have had more than 150 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He died in hospital in Epsom earlier this year surrounded by his family after battling an ongoing illness.

Following the funeral each of his 15 children drove in a separate Rolls Royce to London, where their father was finally laid to rest.

When Paddy lays eyes upon his father's custom-made coffin decked out with jewels and painted in the Irish flag colour he is wrought with emotion

Hundreds of mourners came to north London today to pay tribute to the father of the reality TV star Paddy Doherty

Hundreds of mourners gathered by the graveside as the coffin was carried to the burial site in north London

Mourners at the graveside threw their red ties, flowers and dirt in tribute to Simey as he was buried

Simey's great-granddaughter Margaret, eight, is seen taking on an important role in the funeral preparations alongside her grandfather Paddy.

She is given the responsibility of ordering a special floral tribute for her great-grandfather, sketching her design and going to the flower shop herself to order it.

The show highlights how important it is for men in the community to appear tough and keep their emotions in check.

Paddy's own granddaughter Margaret, eight, helped to plan the funeral for Simey including designing her own floral tribute

The procession was followed by a series of identical silver Rolls Royce cars carrying Mr Doherty's family and friends

Paddy is again seen fighting back tears when he lays eyes upon his father's custom-made coffin embellished with a jewelled crown and the colours of the Irish flag.

'My mouth just dropped, I got a lump in my throat. I wanted to cry there and then,' he confesses on camera.

He admits he was heart-broken at the loss of his beloved father: 'My hearts ripped out of me. Worst ever beating Ive had in my whole entire life.'

His grandson Johnny, 11, explains that many of the men wear sunglasses at a funeral so that they can hide any signs of emotion.

Many of the Travellers pay their respects by kissing the casket, and it's also opened after the service has ended.

Margaret explains: 'I wasnt allowed [to see inside] because my mum didnt want me to see my granddaddy dead.'

Margaret is allowed to design he own floral tribute. She visits the flower shop to order and pay for it

Mr Doherty with his hand on his father's coffin. He said his mother is 'heartbroken' and 'devastated' at the death

Mourners gathered at the church from all over the UK. Some close family wore red, Mr Doherty's favourite colour, for the service

The coffin was driven to the cemetery in a horse and carriage and carried up a red carpet by pallbearers to the sound of bagpipes.

Close family members wore ties in the same shade of red - Mr Doherty's favourite colour - which they then threw into his grave at St Mary's Catholic Cemetery at Kensal Green, north London.

Floral tributes were laid at the grave in the shape of an Irish shamrock, horseshoes, bottles of whisky, a pint of Guinness and a Rolls Royce.

Green shamrock balloons and six white doves were released into the air as laments were sung at the graveside.

The final episode of Gypsy Kids: Our Secret World airs tonight on Channel 5 at 10pm and is available to watch on My5 player
A 32-year-old woman has opened up about how she was left in a near-vegetative state after being viciously attacked by her abusive boyfriend.

Angela Barker, from Victoria, was just 16 years old when she tried to end the toxic relationship with her then 20-year-old boyfriend.

But the young woman was brutally bashed, kicked, punched and stomped on in a park for refusing to get back with him.

She suffered severe brain damage after being left to die in a pool of blood in 2002.

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Angela Barker, from Victoria, was just 16 years old when she was left in a near-vegetative state after being viciously attacked by her abusive boyfriend

The now 32-year-old (right) struggles to talk and is now confined to a wheelchair. She tried to end the toxic relationship when she was bashed and left to die in 2002 (pictured left as a teen)

The man was convicted of intentionally causing serious injury for the assault on Angela. He was sentenced to a maximum of 10 and a half years behind bars.

Doctors thought the young woman would remain in a vegetative state for the rest of her life, but against all odds, she made a miraculous recovery.

She spent three years in hospital, rehabilitation and a nursing home before being able to return home, needing full time care.

Speaking to 9News, Ms Barker, who is confined to a wheelchair and struggles to talk, revealed the violence happened more than once during their relationship.

The young woman was told she would remain in a vegetative state for the rest of her life, but against all odds, she made a miraculous recovery (pictured second from right before attack)

Angela was bashed, punched and stomped on in a park for attempting to end the relationship

Fast forward 15 years, Ms Barker now wants to use her traumatic experience to help young Australians be aware of the dangers of toxic relationships

'He had abused me during our relationship, both verbally and physically and he had often humiliated me in front of my friends,' she said.

Fast forward 15 years and Ms Barker now wants to use her traumatic experience to help young Australians be aware of the dangers of toxic relationships.

'We need to build young people's self esteem, to stop them from thinking violent behaviour is acceptable and ending up in a violent relationship,' she said.

If you or someone you know is experiencing violence, you can call 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT.
When she was just 27 years old, Megan Overton was told that she would never be able to have children of her own.

Just a year later, the Sydney native had a dream that she was pregnant - one that turned out to be a premonition. She was expecting triplets.

But that happiness would later turn into heartbreak when two of Megan's daughters didn't survive.

'I was meant to have three babies, but I don't,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

Megan Overton, 29, and her partner Jesse kiss their newborn daughter Milo, a miracle baby after her mum was told she would never be able to have children

Mum found out after Christmas in 2016 that she was not only pregnant, but that she was expecting triplets (pictured in ultrasound)

Megan's struggles began in 2015, when she had a constant period for six months straight. A tumour was found and surgically removed.

Then, Megan didn't get her period for a long time. Tests found that she 'basically had no eggs left' and she was diagnosed with early menopause.

The news came as a shock to Megan, who had dreamed of having babies and never thought she might one day be unable to have her own children.

'You don't really worry about it, do you,' she said. 'You just assume that you can and when you're ready it'll happen.'

'I've got a large family, I'm one of four. And Jesse's one of seven, so we always wanted to have our own family.'

Doctors told Megan and Jesse their 'only chance' of having children was to try IVF. They got three eggs after one round, which didn't make it past the first day.

It was a devastating blow to the newly engaged couple, who began to look into egg donation and adoption.

But then one day, just after Christmas in 2016, Megan had a vivid dream that she was pregnant.

It was incredibly exciting news for Megan and Jesse, who had been told they would never have children of their own after she was diagnosed with early menopause

The couple began to plan logistics, like moving into a bigger house, and even named their three future daughters: Georgie, Estelle, and Milo

'I was looking down at my belly, and I had a big belly, and my hands were on my belly, and I knew I was pregnant,' she said.

Megan woke up and immediately told Jesse, who thought she was being 'ridiculous'.

She bought a pregnancy test that same day and the couple saw that very dark line.

'I kind of just laughed,' Megan recalled of the moment. 'I thought of it a bit as a joke, we thought it could be wrong.'

Jesse ran out and got a digital test which revealed Megan was two weeks pregnant. She continued to take tests every few days, still not quite believing it was possible.

Megan's doctor warned the couple not to get their hopes up, and they knew there was a high chance of miscarriage or a chemical pregnancy.

It wasn't until the ultrasound that Megan believed she really was pregnant - and found out just how many children she was expecting.

'The lady doing the ultrasound, I think she was a junior, she kept squinting at the screen. She said "You're definitely pregnant"', Megan recalled.

'But she kept squinting. I asked, "Is there a heartbeat?" and she said "Yeah, yeah". Then I asked if it was ecotopic, she said "No"'.

'Then she said, "I have to call my superior, I think there's more than one". I said, "How many more?" and she said "I think there's three"'.

But at 13 weeks doctors found that Estelle had fatal heart defects. She had to be medically terminated, and Georgie didn't survive the birth. Milo (pictured) spent nine weeks in the NICU

For weeks Megan didn't feel like a mother, having lost two children and having her surviving daughter in intensive care. She burst into tears the first time she got to breastfeed Milo

'I just started laugh-crying and Jesse went pale in the face.'

At first the couple, who lived in a one bedroom apartment with two dogs, were focused on figuring out logistical matters like moving house.

'How do you deal with three newborns? That was our main concern for the first few weeks,' Megan said.

But the couple were also excited, even deciding on names for their three future babies: Georgie, Estelle, and Milo.

'When we found out I was pregnant we thought it was going to be a boy and named it Milo,' she said. 'When we found out they were all girls, we didn't have the heart to change it.'

But at the 13-week ultrasound, doctors delivered crushing news that would soon take over the couple's world. Estelle had fatal defects.

'It's likely you're going to lose one, if not two,' they told the couple.

The doctors suggested selective reduction, which would terminate both Georgie and Estelle, early on so they could give Milo the best chance of survival.

Megan was just 28 weeks pregnant when she was rushed in for an emergency C-section as doctors rushed to save Georgie and Milo (pictured)

Jesse was the one who had to tell Megan that they had lost Georgie, bursting into tears after she asked him if she had made it

But Megan and Jesse pushed for palliative care 'for a very long time', hoping that when Estelle was born the anomalies wouldn't be as bad as first diagnosed.

'We were going to cardiologists to get ultrasounds on her heart, speaking to all types of specialists and neonatal surgeons and doctors to see what could be done and what kind of life she would have,' Megan said.

There was also the issue of Georgie, who shared a placenta with Estelle and was her identical twin.

'We tried to find any way we could to take home Milo and Georgie, and see if there was anything we could do to to save Estelle,' she said.

'But it was conclusive that Estelle wouldn't survive, and that it would be a slow and painful death for her.'

After meeting with ethics committees and consulting numerous doctors, the couple were told the only way to save Estelle from terrible pain and give Georgie a fighting chance at life was to medically terminate.

Megan went into surgery on July 5, but just after she was moved to the hospital's delivery suites to be monitored, Georgie's heartbeat started to drop.

The couple are putting they're all into raising little Milo, and plan to tell her about her sisters from the very start

The couple are currently in counselling to help deal with not only grief but guilt at feeling so happy to have Milo, despite their sadness at losing Georgie and Estelle

'Suddenly 50 people were in the room and they said "It's going to happen now" and they ran me down the hallway straight into surgery,' she recalled.

Megan, who was 28 weeks pregnant, was rushed into an emergency C-section.

'Someone was putting a catheter in me and another was putting on a blood pressure cuff while another put oxygen on me,' she said.

'I was so scared they were going to cut me open before I was asleep because they were going so fast, trying to get Georgie out.'

Doctors put Megan under and delivered Estelle and Milo, who they intubated and sent to the ICU, before delivering Georgie.

After 20 minutes of trying to save her life, they called time of death.

Megan woke up to see her doctor and Jesse standing at her bedside.

'I asked where the girls were. The surgeon was saying something and I didn't know what he was saying and I asked Jesse, "Did Georgie die?"' she recalled.

'He just started crying and said yes. Then they showed me pictures of Milo and said she was doing okay.'

Milo has made a full recovery since returning home from the hospital. Megan said the couple are slowly processing their grief, with more 'good days than bad'

Megan entered the hospital with three babies, and - as Milo was still recovering in the NICU - left with none.

'I came home with no babies with me, and it felt like a really horrible feeling,' she said. 'I felt like I wasn't a mother yet, even though I was.'

'My body bounced back very quickly, eight days postpartum I was back in my old jeans. You couldn't even tell I had been pregnant.'

But Megan was still having a new mum's sleepless nights, pumping milk for Milo and yearning to finally have the chance to breastfeed her baby girl.

'I sobbed like a baby the first time she breastfed. I think the nurses thought I was weird,' she said with a laugh.

It was Milo who kept Megan and Jesse strong as they struggled to cope with the loss of two children.

'From the second they were born, everything that we did was for Milo,' Megan said. 'It was all for her.'

The couple are currently in counselling to help deal with not only grief but guilt at feeling so happy to have Milo, who made a full recovery, despite their sadness at losing Georgie and Estelle.

Milo continues to bring the couple plenty of joy, especially when she 'farts like a champion' or stares adoringly at her father

'We haven't really figured it out yet,' Megan said. 'We're getting more good days than bad though.'

Milo continues to bring the couple plenty of joy, especially when she 'farts like a champion' or stares adoringly at her father.

'She's obsessed with Jesse,' Megan said. 'She can just stare at him all day. As soon as he walks in the room, she stares. They look exactly alike as well.'

A picture of Milo with her two sisters, taken after the birth, hangs on her bedroom wall and Megan said she plans to always keep them apart of the family's life.

'We're just going to always tell her that she had two sisters in mum's belly with her and they're not here anymore, but they're watching over her,' Megan said.

And Megan hopes that by continuing to share her story, people will realise that Georgie and Estelle were real people - not just memories in a photograph.

'The girls, they were real and they existed, they're not just in someone's head,' she said.

'To a lot of people that didn't see them or meet them they're nothing, but they're real.'
Princess Mary and her husband Prince Frederik don very similar two piece tailored numbers as they complete their final royal engagement in Japan.

The Australian-born royal is now back to basics as she stepped out in a simple tailored suit with one of her favourite designer heels.

The mother-of-four, 45, and her husband Prince Frederik, 49, were all smiles as they attended a Danish lifestyle and food exhibition at the Embassy of Denmark in Tokyo on Thursday.

Princess Mary and Prince Frederik don very similar two piece tailored numbers as they complete their final royal engagement in Japan

After a whirlwind tour of Japan Princess Mary's trip is coming to an end, and so are her inventive outfits

The classy brunette looked to be in good spirits as her paired back style for the day allowed her to glow.

She looked sensational as she balanced out this look with ostentatious footwear that has caused controversy in the past - her snakeskin Christian Louboutin heels, retailed at $1,400.

The Tasmanian beauty kept the muted colour palate running through the outfit and only wore a simple necklace and earrings.

The classy brunette looked to be in good spirits as the paired back style allowed her to glow

The mother-of-four, 45, and her husband Prince Frederik, 49, were all smiles as they attended a Danish lifestyle and food exhibition at the Embassy of Denmark in Tokyo on Thursday

Prince Frederik looked debonair in a pair of beige pants in a darker shade than his wife's and a stand out navy blue blazer.

The couple were seen taking in the exhibition and talking to those involved with the displays.

The Crown Princess was a fan of the lighter shades during this tour as this beige suit was not too dissimilar in colour to her previous outfits.

The Tasmanian beauty kept the muted colour palate running through the outfit and only wore a simple necklace and earrings

Prince Frederik looking debonair in beige pants in a darker shade than his wife's and a stand out navy blue blazer

She looked s-s-sensational as she balanced out this look with ostentatious footwear that have caused controversy in the past - her snakeskin Louiboutin heels

On Wednesday she wore a stunning floral coat dress featuring cherry blossoms when she attended a business seminar at the Hotel Gajoen Tokyo.

Princess Mary teamed the light peach cream-coloured dress with a navy clutch and a pair of nude stilettos which matched the tones of her outfit.

Keeping her accessories neutral, she completed her elegant ensemble with a pair of diamond earrings with tear drop orange crystals to finish her look.

The couple were seen taking in the exhibition and talking to those involved with the displays

The couple are visiting Japan in order to mark 150 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries

Meanwhile, her doting husband Frederik looked dapper in a dark navy suit with a white dress shirt and navy tie, which he wore with black shoes.

The couple are visiting Japan in order to mark 150 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

This visit comes after the Princess divided the fashion critics when she stepped out in an elegant kimono-inspired dress at Japan's National Archives.

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark looked chic in a stunning dress featuring cherry blossoms

The mother-of-four, 45, and her husband Prince Frederik, 49, were greeted by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono (far left) at a business seminar at the Hotel Gajoen Tokyo

Princess Mary completed her elegant ensemble with a pair of diamond earrings with teardrop orange crystals to finish her look

Some people took to the Internet, to write comments such as: 'Diplomatic dressing taken way too literally'.

During their trip to the National Archives, Princess Mary and Prince Frederik were greeted by Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito.

Together, the three Royals enjoyed a tour of the exhibition, 'Japan and Denmark: valuable records of the historical relationship'.

Princess Mary teamed the light peach cream-coloured coat dress with a navy clutch

The Danish royal couple are visiting Japan in order to mark 150 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries

The exhibition consists of more than 80 valuable documents and historically preserved materials, all documenting the 150-year diplomatic relations between Denmark and Japan.

For the illustrious occasion, Australian-born Princess Mary was fittingly dressed.

Opting for a wraparound pink silky dress, the mother-of-four completed her Japanese-inspired outfit with nude court shoes, pearl drop earrings and loose hair. Crown Prince Frederik, meanwhile, donned a smart black suit and tie.

The mother-of-four looked elegant for the occasion as she attended a business seminar

Princess Mary (pictured) took a trip to Japan's National Archives in Tokyo with Crown Prince Frederik

Not all of Princess Mary's followers were pleased with the outfit, however.

Some posted comments such as: 'I get the "dress-to-flatter-your-host" idea, I just don't think one should mimic their national dress (kimono, in this case), in too long and at least one size too large, as well...'.

Another wrote: 'It's almost kitschy. And the fact that it doesn't fit well is just so ironic, because Japanese tailoring is usually impeccable.'

For the occasion, the Danish Royal opted for an elegant kimono-inspired dress, which she paired with nude heels, drop earrings and loose hair (pictured)

The couple were joined by Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito, as they enjoyed the exhibition, 'Japan and Denmark: valuable records of the historical relationship' (pictured)

Others still thought the Princess was as impeccably dressed as ever, however.

'Wonderful choice to respect Japanese culture. I am sure this dress was even much better IRL [in real life] than in these pics,' one person wrote.

'CP Mary is ever so thoughtful! Her kimono-inspired dress is just wonderful,' another added.
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The Duke of Cambridge has given a poignant speech in memory of the New Zealand soldiers who bravely fought and died in one of the First World War's bloodiest battles.

William was given a warm Maori greeting as he arrived in Ypres to remember the servicemen who fought and died 100 years ago at the Battle of Passchendaele.

Today's commemoration marks the centenary of 12 October 1917, a date which became known at the 'darkest day' for New Zealand's armed forces.

Speaking at the service paying tribute to the actions, valour and commitment of the Kiwis, William said that while newsreels may have described them as ordinary men and women, 'there was nothing ordinary about their service or their sacrifice'.

William performs a Hongi - a traditional Maori greeting - after arriving in Ypres today to commemorate the servicemen who fought and died 100 years ago at the Battle of Passchendaele

The Duke of Cambridge has given a poignant speech in memory of the New Zealand servicemen who bravely gave their lives

The Duke, who represented the Queen at the event in Belgium, was joined by the county's Princess Astrid and delivered his speech at Tyne Cot cemetery, near the town of Ypres in Flanders, surrounded by thousands of headstones of Allied servicemen who died in the Great War

The Duke and Princess were greeted by the Maori cultural group of the New Zealand Defence Force, whose spiritual calls and chants rang out across the white headstones

'NOTHING ORDINARY ABOUT THEIR SERVICE' The Duke Of Cambridge gave an impassioned speech paying tribute to fallen New Zealand serviceman. He said: 'All too often the newsreels speak of 'ordinary' men and women. There was nothing ordinary about their service or their sacrifice. 'As we have heard, October 12th 1917 was the 'darkest day' in the military history of a proud and committed people. 'For New Zealanders, the loss of more than 840 men in just a few hours is seared into the national consciousness. All told, the Battle of Passchendaele would claim close to two thousand lives - a devastating toll for a country with a population of just over a million. 'Half a world away, news of the losses was felt like a shockwave. Every death here left a shattered family there. Entire communities were robbed of their young people. No part of New Zealand was untouched by loss.' Advertisement

On October 12, 1917 more than 840 Kiwis were killed fighting in a foreign land far from home - part of a huge toll of dead and injured suffered by both sides that summer.

Today's commemoration was held at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium's Western Front - the world's largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery.

Wearing a dark navy suit with a poppy pinned to his lapel, William is attending on behalf of the Queen.

The Duke met with representatives of the New Zealand Parliament and government at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Flanders, which is run by the War Graves Commission, which has responsibility for the burial space.

Before the service began, William and the county's Princess Astrid were greeted by the Maori cultural group of the New Zealand Defence Force, whose spiritual calls and chants rang out across the white headstones.

Tyne Cot cemetery is the largest Commonwealth burial ground in the world, with 11,971 servicemen buried and remembered there - 8,373 of whom are unidentified.

William gave an address on behalf of the Queen and laid a wreath at the New Zealand Memorial Wall to the Missing.

The Duke said: 'For New Zealanders, the loss of more than 840 men in just a few hours is seared into the national consciousness.

'All told, the Battle of Passchendaele would claim close to two thousand lives - a devastating toll for a country with a population of just over a million.

'Half a world away, news of the losses was felt like a shockwave. Every death here left a shattered family there. Entire communities were robbed of their young people. No part of New Zealand was untouched by loss.'

The Prince told those at the commemoration: 'Entire communities were robbed of their young people. No part of New Zealand was untouched by loss'

The Duke of Cambridge, representing his grandmother, and Princess Astrid of Belgium have both paid tribute

The Duke of Cambridge has told descendants of New Zealand soldiers who fought and died at the Battle of Passchendaele that although we may never truly understand the conditions they endured 'we can remember'

William said newsreels may have described them as ordinary men and women but 'there was nothing ordinary about their service or their sacrifice'

The Duke met with representatives of the New Zealand Parliament and government at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Flanders, which is run by the War Graves Commission, which has responsibility for the burial space

The ceremony had an added poignancy as Tyne Cot cemetery is close to the battlefields of Passchendaele, and it ended with a bugler sounding the Last Post and the guests observing a minute's silence.

After the service he took part in the unveiling of a Centenary Plinth to mark the occasion.

A tri-service band played during the event and the performers included New Zealand Army Band musician Corporal Chris Foster, who is originally from Wigan but emigrated to the Commonwealth country in 2006 and is now a tenor horn player.

He has followed in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, Thomas Foster, who was the regimental bugler for the Lancashire Fusiliers in Gallipoli and later fought in France and at the Battle of Passchendaele.

Cpl Foster said: 'He landed in Gallipoli, fought, was patched up and went to France, ended up coming through Belgium and was injured in Ypres, badly injured by a shrapnel shell and discharged on medical grounds.

'But to know that I'm standing on the same soil he did exactly 100 years ago is something pretty remarkable.'

Before leaving, William met youth leaders from New Zealand at the Tyne Cot cemetery visitors' centre and looked out over the Passchendaele battlefield as he chatted to a military historian.

The Duke of Cambridge gave a speech at the commemoration, which marks the centenary of 12 October 1917, a date which became known at the 'darkest day' for New Zealand's armed forces

The Prince was warmly greeted by Princess Astrid of Belgium at the event and the pair shared a joke before he addressed the crowds
A psychotherapist has slammed suggestions that disgraced Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is a sex addict - and said it does a 'disservice' to those who are struggling with the problem.

Paula Hall appeared on This Morning to discuss the stream of allegations against Weinstein made by at least 30 high-profile women in the film industry, who have accused the Miramax co-founder variously of rape, groping and sexual harassment.

It has most recently been reported that Weinstein was to Arizona rehab clinic The Meadows, which offers a focused 45-day inpatient program for sex addiction and related behavioural issues.

But Ms Hall said she was unhappy about the 65-year-old using sex addiction to justify and 'excuse [his] behaviour'.

Also appearing alongside the psychotherapist was a recovering sex addict, Colin Chapman, who told how his 'dirty secret' ultimately destroyed his marriage.

Psychotherapist Paula Hall believes that Weinstein is 'giving sex addicts a bad name' saying using the term is 'excusing [his] behaviour' and doing a 'disservice' to those really suffering

Recovering sex addict Colin Chapman spoke about his own journey and how his addiction ruined his marriage

Paula explained to hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, in reference to the still-growing scandal surrounding Weinstein: 'The vast amount of people with sex addiction are not accused of these things - this behaviour can not be excused by sex addiction.

'He may be a sex addict, he may not, we do not know that, it's up to the experts in Arizona to decide that. But even if that is the case it does not make it ok.'

Harvey Weinstein, 65, has been accused of sexual harassment by a number of actresses

Phillip asked whether using the term helped to put an 'acceptable label' on the scandal, despite the plethora of allegations against Weinstein.

'Potentially it does, it is a common misunderstanding that it excuses behaviour and it means you're not actually in control of what you do,' said Paula.

'But of course ultimately you do control what you do, it is up to you to make the decisions of what is right and what is wrong. People with addiction may struggle more but ultimately is their responsibility.'

'It does such a disservice to the thousands of people out there that are struggling with sex and porn addiction to have this kind of person talking about it, because it leaves the rest of population thinking, well, this is what a sex addict is like.'

Colin, a 48-year-old construction worker, also opened up about how his own sex addiction ruined his marriage, and said his problems stemmed from being bullied as a child.

The discussion comes after the sex scandal that has rocked Hollywood after movie mogul Weinstein has been accused of sexual harassment

'Sexual addiction is very closeted and inward and private. You go behind closed doors,' he said,

'For me it was a dirty secret, it made me feel shameful, weak and embarrassed.'

Paula claimed that a 'tiny percentage' of people who are sex addicts go on to be accused of sexual assault or abuse.

She said: 'The reality is there may be people with sex addiction who do offend. But of course there are lots of sex offenders who aren't sex addicts.

'This may be a predatory man who is doing this for reasons of power and because of his celebrity status or he may be a sex addict or he may be both of course.'



HARVEY WEINSTEIN SEX SCANDAL Weinstein's wife Georgina Chapman announced she is leaving him following the scandal Over 30 women have come forward at this time claiming they were victims of Harvey Weinstein's harassment and assault, with the alleged offenses he is accused of committing ranging from aggressive demands for massages to rape. The American film producer, 65, has been accused of sexual harassment by a number of actresses, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Ashley Judd, as well as assault and rape by three actresses including, indirectly, Rosie McGowan. Weinstein has admitted to some but not all of the allegations made against him. He has 'unequivocally denied' any allegations of non-consensual sex. The disgraced movie mogul was fired from his company on Sunday and on Tuesday his wife announced she is leaving him. Reports reveal that Weinstein's wife, Georgina Chapman, has now left him in the wake of the claims against him, with the star claiming he had 'encouraged' his love to 'follow her heart'. Meanwhile, stars of the movie industry have shared their thoughts on the disgraced director, with many condemning Weinstein for his actions. Advertisement

This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10.30am
The Spanish royals were out in force today to celebrate Spain's National Day amid ongoing political turmoil in the country.

King Felipe VI was joined by Queen Letizia and Princesses Leonor, 11 and Sofia, 10 at the annual military parade in Madrid.

The event is seen as a display of unity in what has been a turbulent year for the country, marred by a string of terrorist attacks and an ongoing independence row as the autonomous north-eastern region Catalonia threatens to break away from Spain.

The family were joined by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at the annual parade which falls on October 12 - the day that Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Americas in 1492 - and is also a national holiday.

Meanwhile, 300 miles away in Barcelona, thousands of Catalans who want their region to remain part of Spain marched through the city waving both Spanish and Catalan flags and shouting 'I am Spanish'.

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Queen Letizia walks with daughters Sofia (left) and Leonor as they join King Felipe VI for Spain's National Day in Madrid amid ongoing political turbulence

Show of unity: In Barcelona, thousands of Catalans who want their region to remain in Spain marched through the city waving both Spanish and Catalan flags and shouting 'I am Spanish'

In Madrid, throngs of people lined the pavement of the Paseo de la Castellana avenue for the military parade amid crisis over Catalonia's vote for independence in a referendum considered illegal by national authorities.

Last week, King Felipe gave a televised address to the nation where he accused Catalan authorities of deliberately bending the law with their 'irresponsible conduct' following violent clashes in towns and cities across the autonomous region.

Walking alongside her husband today, Queen Letizia looked demure in a grey wool skirt suit featuring delicate floral embroidery detail.

The former journalist opted for a belted peplum jacket, adding a feminine touch to her smart outfit with a pearl brooch, matching earrings and a satin clutch bag which matched perfectly to her navy courts.

Catalonia's bid for independence: The latest Spain is currently waiting for a response to a government request to Catalonia's leader to clarify by Monday if he has already declared independence. If so, Spain warns it may apply Article 155 of its Constitution and begin taking full or partial control of the region. In Barcelona, Catalonia's capital, thousands of people waving Spanish and Catalan flags marched to a central square, some with their faces in the red and yellow colours of both the Spanish and Catalan flags and shouting 'Viva Espana', or long live Spain. Thousands of Catalans who want the region to remain in Spain march through Barcelona today as they mark the Dia de la Hispanidad, or Spain's National Day Patriotic: Some marchers had their faces in the red and yellow colours of both the Spanish and Catalan flags and shouting 'Viva Espana', or long live Spain The slogan of the march was 'Catalonia yes. Spain, too', supporting autonomy for Catalonia, but within Spain as a whole. The protesters booed when passing groups of regional police, who are seen by the unionists as having done too little to stop separatist efforts to stage an independence referendum on October 1. Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont announced on Tuesday that he was using the claimed victory in the banned referendum to proceed with a declaration of Catalan independence. However, he proposed freezing its implementation for a few weeks to allow for dialogue and mediation with the national government in Madrid. Advertisement

Poignant: The event is seen as a display of unity after a turbulent year for the country, which has been marred by terrorist attacks and an ongoing independence row, with Catalonia threatening to break away

The Royal family look to the sky during an impressive air display, part of Thursday's National Day celebrations in the Spanish capital

Formal occasion: The family were joined by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at the parade which marks October 12, the day that Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Americas in 1492

Smart: Walking alongside her husband today, Queen Letizia looked demure in a grey wool skirt suit featuring delicate floral embroidery detail, and paired with navy court shoes

Despite the somewhat sombre nature of today's event, the queen consort - a former journalist and news anchor - appeared happy and relaxed as she shared a joke with her husband

Her two adorable daughters, just a year apart in age, could have passed for twins with their matching blonde side partings.

Sofia, 10, was dressed in in a tweed coat dress while her older sister Leonor, who is slightly shorter than her younger sibling, wore a pretty crimson dress and cardigan.

Their father, meanwhile, looked smart in his full military uniform.

Each year, some 3,000 troops and Civil Guard officers, plus military vehicles and planes, take part in the parade in the Spanish capital.

Family affair: The couple's two adorable daughters, just a year apart in age, could have passed for twins with their matching blonde side partings

Coming together: In Madrid, throngs of people lined the pavement of the Paseo de la Castellana avenue for the military parade amid crisis over Catalonia's vote for independence

The couple arrive for the event in a private car. Each year, some 3,000 troops and Civil Guard officers, plus military vehicles and planes, take part in the parade in the Spanish capital

Spanish Eurofighter planes fly during the Spanish National Day military parade in Madrid today. The country marks its national day today under growing political tension

Show of strength: The country is reeling from the biggest challenge to unity in a generation with its Catalan region threatening to break away from Spain

The holiday is known as Dia de la Hispanidad, or Spain's National Day. It celebrates Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World and is also Spain's armed forces day.

Spain's national day is held annually every October 12. To commemorate it, there is a parade performed by the military, which also typically features a display by the Spanish Air Force's aerobatics team.

It is chaired by the King and usually held in Madrid. An array of officials including foreign diplomats and members of the autonomous governments are invited to attend.

The royal family have made it a tradition to attend as a foursome, with the girls joining their parents at last year's event.
Two businesswomen claim they have been forced to add 'Mrs' to her name on LinkedIn in a bid to put off 'creepy' men who repeatedly try to use the networking site to 'hit on' her.

Alyssa Hill, 24, from San Diego, California, claims many men are using the employment-orientated social networking website like a dating app and says she has received numerous messages from would-be suitors calling her 'beautiful'.

The client engagement specialist says she is also often asked out to dinner by men who aren't even in the same industry as her.

Alyssa claims the flirty and vulgar messages are due to the 'current climate we are in' and are down to 'sexism' from men who do not see women in a professional manner.

Sexism: Alyssa Hill claims many men are using the employment-orientated social networking website like a dating app and says she has received numerous messages from would-be suiters

Alyssa said: 'People have asked me to go to dinner and say, "hey I live in San Diego too, let's meet up" when they are not in the same industry as me'

Not the only one: Online sexism a worldwide problem

Alyssa isn't the only one employing desperate tactics to ward off men online; chief operating officer and co-founder of her own company Karoyln Hart was compelled to put an open letter on LinkedIn last week to explain why she had felt forced to include Mrs in her name.

Karoyln, from Windsor, Canada, wrote: 'I just added the 'Mrs.' to my name on LinkedIn. Why? If we met in person you'd notice the wedding ring and unless you were a creep you'd respect it.

'In the virtual space, you can't see the wedding ring but you'll note the prominently displayed 'Mrs' in front of my name and respect that (unless your name is Mr. Creepy McCreepy).

'And before the statements start... yes, I fully realize that I shouldn't have to identify myself as married in a business environment'

'No, I don't feel 'put out' or offended that I needed to do this,...yes, I did this because of being approached on LinkedIn for dates.

Karolyn, from Windsor, in Canada, decided to make the LinkedIn post after receiving several messages from men with a romantic interest in her

Although the 42-year-old says the messages were not inappropriate and they were gentlemen, she wanted to make her relationship status clear.

'No, I am not offended of the inquiries they were all quite gentlemanly,....yes, I am happy to honour Mr. Hart who I've been married to 21 years.

'I'm happy to have an identifier to use like 'Mrs'. You poor guys all you got is Mr or Mister.'

Alyssa believes that some men don't think an attractive woman could be a client engagement specialist like her, which she claims mean they are unable to see her in a professional or business capacity.

Alyssa said: 'A lot of men are using LinkedIn to hit on people. They should know that it is not a dating site. They are putting everyone else in an uncomfortable situation.

'There was one message that said, 'hey beautiful'. As soon as you use the word 'beautiful' you are taking the conversation somewhere that isn't professional.

Alyssa claims the flirty and vulgar messages are due to the 'current climate we are in' and are down to 'sexism' from men who do not see women in a professional manner

Alyssa has been married for five years to her partner Robert Hill, 25, and has been on LinkedIn since 2011 but says that there has been a rise in receiving inappropriate messages in the last four years due to social media becoming more popular

Alyssa (pictured on her wedding day) says of her approach to unwanted advances: 'When I was younger I just didn't reply. I wanted to avoid that. Now I really give people the spiel that it is not a dating site. I'm here to make professional connections'

'Every time I go to connect with someone I'm like, please don't be a creep. It is horrible. It is not how it should be. You shouldn't have to feel that way. Sometimes people forget their manners.

'In the last year I have seen women receive some really vulgar messages. I think it is to do with the climate we are in. It feels like we're going back in time.

'I think it is to do with sexism. I think they do it because they don't see women in a professional way. It's sad. They are still not seeing us as people. It's awful but it is true.

'I know what I look like and for me it is like people can't possibly believe that there is an attractive woman in tech. Women are treated differently, especially in professions.'

Alyssa says of using LinkedIn: 'Every time I go to connect with someone I'm like, please don't be a creep. It is horrible. It is not how it should be. You shouldn't have to feel that way. Sometimes people forget their manners'

Alyssa has been married for five years to her partner Robert Hill, 25, and has been on LinkedIn since 2011 but says that there has been a rise in receiving these inappropriate messages in the last four years due to social media becoming more popular.

She is hoping that people will start to understand now that she has included Mrs in her profile name and so far the technique has worked as she hasn't had any new messages yet.

Alyssa said: 'People have asked me to go to dinner and say, "hey I live in San Diego too, let's meet up" when they are not in the same industry as me.

'The pet names just drive me crazy. That is not my name. It is so corny and weird.'

Alyssa, 24, is hoping that people will start to understand now that she has included Mrs in her profile name and so far the technique has worked as she hasn't had any new messages yet

Alyssa added: 'On social media it is very difficult. When I read her post, I completely understood and changed mine to Mrs too'

She added: 'When I was younger I just didn't reply. I wanted to avoid that. Now I really give people the spiel that it is not a dating site. I'm here to make professional connections.

'I haven't gotten any responses from that. I think it is because they are embarrassed. I'm sure someone will respond one day. I'm very open to putting people in their place.

'It is so much worse online, people have more confidence online. Most of my negative interactions with men take place online.

'I thought I would have to put up a horrible picture of myself to stop them from hitting on me.

'On social media it is very difficult. When I read her post, I completely understood and changed mine to Mrs too.

Stunning Alyssa (pictured on her wedding day) confessed: 'I thought I would have to put up a horrible picture of myself to stop them from hitting on me'

Alyssa, a client engagement specialist, says she is also often asked out to dinner by men who aren't even in the same industry as her

'When I make a connection on LinkedIn I am looking for people who are in a career field that I want to go in.

'I've been waiting to see if anything happens after I changed my name. I think it has been understood that if they were to say something after that, it is probably not a good idea.'

Karolyn, from Windsor, in Canada, decided to make the LinkedIn post after receiving several messages from men with a romantic interest in her.

Although the 42-year-old says the messages were not inappropriate and they were gentlemen, she wanted to make her relationship status clear.

Karolyn said: 'There are women who have had messages from people who were not respectful.

Alyssa, pictured, isn't the only one who's been inundated by 'creepy' messages online; fellow LinkedIn member Karolyn said: 'I'm not so naive to think that all of a sudden we are going to have this barrier of protection'

'One woman I know had to block someone and one even changed her profile picture to a cartoon. I can see why other women would be annoyed to get these messages on LinkedIn.

'I have spoken about the sexism in the industry I have worked in. I think it is one of those things where you sadly just learn how to manage it.

'I would like to hope and believe that we are in a society that you can respect that someone is putting out a pretty clear signal.

'I'm not so naive to think that all of a sudden we are going to have this barrier of protection.

'When you are interacting in a virtual place it is hard to recreate those signals you have when you meet in person.

'One of those signals is if I was wearing a wedding ring. It allows people to know how to interact with you and to see that I'm obviously in a relationship.

'It was a sign of respect to make it easier to understand how to address you. That was the intention of it.

'They were gentlemen and seemed quite sincere. I felt bad for them. They put a lot of effort into it.

'I thought, isn't that a shame, they have gone through that emotion of being vulnerable for nothing.

'The people who messaged me wouldn't have done that if they knew. For the good guys out there it will make a difference and I think they will be grateful but I can't speak for the rest of them.

'I have received a lot of messages from people thanking me. I thought that was interesting.'
The Queen returned to her royal duties in London today after spending the summer in Balmoral.

Elegant in a pale yellow dress, the monarch, 91, welcomed two ambassadors in private audiences at Buckingham Palace.

The meetings come a day after it was announced that the Queen has asked Prince Charles to take over some of her duties on Remembrance Sunday as she continues to handover responsibility to the future king.

The Queen greeted Belgian ambassador Rudolf Huygelen and his wife, Marianne Lecleu

The ambassador of Cambodia Dr Soeung Rathchavy received a document from the monarch

Charles, 68, will step in and lay Her Majesty's wreath to the fallen at the Cenotaph while she watches from the balcony above.

It will be the first time the Queen will be present at the service without laying a floral tribute.

Today the Queen carried out her royal duties with grace as she welcomed the ambassadors of Cambodia and Belgium to the palace.

For the occasion the Queen wore a long sleeved pale yellow and white dress with a pair of simple black leather shoes.

The Belgian ambassador looked smart for his private audience with the Queen on Wednesday

Dr Rathchavy and her husband, Vladimir Maximov, both wore traditional Cambodian dress

She smiled as she shook hands with Belgian ambassador Rudolf Huygelen and his wife, Marianne Lecleu, in one of the palace's grand reception rooms.

Ms Lecleu looked chic in a black and white dress and black cocktail hat.

The Queen also met with ambassador Dr Soeung Rathchavy and her husband Vladimir Maximov, both of whom wore traditional Cambodian dress.
Everyone knows someone who loves to put hot sauce on just about everything.

But even those spice addicts might be given pause by Tim Hortons latest limited edition product: the Buffalo Latte.

The creative concoction promises to combine a pair of cross-border flavors, mixing the addictive taste of Canada's favorite coffee with America's favorite hot wing topping.

Hot in more than one way: Tim Hortons have announced the release of a Buffalo latte, flavored with spicy Buffalo sauce

According to a press release about the product, it's made from 'freshly brewed espresso, steamed milk, mocha, and bold Buffalo sauce flavor.'

The whole thing is then topped off with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of 'zesty Buffalo seasoning.'

Buffalo wings were invented in a bar in Buffalo, New York, in 1964, so it's appropriate that the bizarre beverage will only be available at restaurants in the city.

On the side: The latte combines 'freshly brewed espresso, steamed milk, mocha, and bold Buffalo sauce flavor' and is dusted on top with more of the spice

American favorite: Buffalo wings were invented in 1964, the same year as Tim Hortons was founded in Canada

If you're in the area and looking to give the spicy latte a go, they will be on sale from $2.79 at 4849 Transit Road in Depew, NY and 3470 Main St in Buffalo, NY while supplies last.

'Tim Hortons and Buffalo sauce were both born in 1964, so why not take these two Buffalo staples and combine them?' says Tim Hortons US regional president Stephen Goldstein.

'The unlikely pairing of sweet mocha and tangy Buffalo sauce come together to create an unexpectedly delicious sweet and spicy treat we hope our guests will enjoy.'

In town: The lattes will only be available in Buffalo, New York, at two Tim Hortons locations

It was apparently created to help promote the launch of the brand's line of espresso drinks, including lattes, americanos and cappucinos, that are being rolled out nationwide in a variety of flavors.

The promo photos for the latte show the red powder-dusted drinks alongside a plate of the famous hot wings, which may or may not be a serving suggestion - although chicken wings are certainly not a staple of the Tim Hortons menu.

While the promotion will undoubtedly bring in the connoisseurs of curious culinary creations, the reactions to the news on social media so far have been less than favorable - 'yikes', 'gross' and 'nope' being the most popular so far.
They struck up a warm friendship on the global stage.

And the bromance between Prince Harry and Barack Obama shows no signs of waning.

Just two weeks after the former President attended the royal's Invictus Games in Toronto, Harry has been announced as a speaker at the inaugural Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago.

Bromance: Former President Barack Obama travelled to Toronto to support Prince Harry's Invictus Games last month. Harry will now return the favour by attending Obama's summit

Close: Prince Harry has struck up a friendship with Obama and former First Lady Michelle. Pictured, Harry with the Obamas, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge last year

Firm friendship: Prince Harry is also close to former First Lady Michelle, pictured last year

In a statement today Kensington Palace said that Harry will travel to the US ahead of the event on October 31 and November 1.

The event is the brainchild of President Obama and former First Lady Michelle, with whom Harry also enjoys a close relationship.

During the event Prince Harry will take part in a conversation about ways to support and encourage youth leadership to tackle both local and global challenges.

Harry will use the conversation in part to highlight the success of the Full Effect project he established in St. Anne's, Nottingham that is supported by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

Public support: Prince Harry and Michelle Obama appeared together at a 2015 event

Prince Harry and the Obamas are firm friends and have appeared in public together several times over the years.

Most recently Mr Obama and Harry were seen enjoying a warm, lively chat as they took their seats courtside for the wheelchair basketball at the Invictus Games.

It later emerged that the ex-President quizzed Harry about girlfriend Meghan Markle, the actress who stars in the TV series Suits, conveniently currently filming in the city.
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Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner enjoyed some extra time with their three children on Thursday as they headed to their local synagogue to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret.

The couple took advantage of the mild fall weather and opted to walk to the Friends of Lubavitch Synagogue in Washington D.C. while their two eldest children, Arabella, six, and Joseph, three, happily rode scooters down the sidewalk.

Ivanka, 35, and Jared, 36, both wore shades of blue for the holiday, and their one-year-old son, Theodore, donned a blue suit jacket with gold buttons that perfectly matched his mother's nautical-inspired coat.

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Ivanka, 35, and Jared, 36, were photographed walking their children to the Friends of Lubavitch Synagogue in Washington D.C. on Thursday

While the couple pushed their one-year-old son Theodore in a stroller, their eldest children, Arabella, six, and Joseph, three, road scooters

Ivanka looked elegant in a double-breasted navy coat featuring gold buttons and gray suede heels from her eponymous clothing line

The family is celebrating the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, which started on Wednesday evening

The mother-of-three looked sharp in a double-breasted navy coat featuring gold buttons, and she opted to pull her long blond hair back into a sleek bun.

Ivanka accessorized her fall outfit with gray suede heels from her eponymous clothing line and a pair of aviator sunglasses to protect her eyes from the morning sunshine.

Meanwhile, Jared looked dapper in a gray suit and royal blue tie, and Joseph looked like his mini-me in a navy sweater worn over a collared shirt and gray trousers.

Although her entire family wore some shade of blue, Arabella stood out in a pink and gray sweatshirt, a pink tulle skirt, knee-highs, and gray combat boots.

The family was photographed leaving the side gate of their home, which is located in the upscale Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

The family was seen leaving the side gate of their Washington, D.C. home on Thursday around 10:30 a.m.

The gate was covered with fake cobwebs in honor of Halloween, which is just a few weeks away

A Secret Service agent in plain clothes walked ahead of them as they made their way to the synagogue

Ivanka converted to Judaism in 2009 to marry Jared, an Orthodox Jew, and they are raising their children to be Orthodox as well

The couple's youngest son sucked his thumb in his stroller while his older brother road past him on his blue scooter

Arabella and Joseph both scooted past the rest of their family as their parents watched them carefully from behind

At one point, the parents gathered their children around them while Ivanka pointed to a construction crane above them

It seems as though the family has also been celebrating Halloween, as their gate was covered in fake cobwebs in honor of the spooky holiday.

Arabella was all smiles as she road her neon green scooter ahead of her parents, and Joseph followed close behind.

The brother and sister duo were both wearing helmets as they made their way to the synagogue with their parents, and they clearly were having a blast scooting ahead of the rest of their family.

Although Theodore has scooter just like his older siblings, he seemed perfectly content sucking his thumb in his stroller as his father pushed him along.

Ivanka and Jared smiled and chatted during the walk, and at one point they gathered their children together to point out a construction crane in the distance.

Two Secret Service agents in suits and ties accompanied the family during the walk, and they made sure to check out their surroundings before letting Arabella cross the street

Ivanka followed close behind Arabella, reaching her arm towards her eldest child's back as they crossed the street together

Jared followed behind his wife and eldest daughter while pushing Theodore's stroller across the street

Jared stopped and turned around to make sure that Joseph was still following close behind

Two Secret Service agents in suits and ties accompanied the family during the walk, and they made sure to check out their surroundings before letting Arabella cross the street.

When the coast was clear, Ivanka followed close behind Arabella, reaching her arm towards her eldest child's back as they crossed the street together.

Jared followed behind while pushing Theodore's stroller, but he stopped to wait for Joseph, who was lagging behind his family.

While they were safely on the sidewalk, Arabella turned around to speak to her mom, and Ivanka was photographed bending over to be eye level with her daughter.

Ivanka converted to Judaism in 2009 to marry Jared, an Orthodox Jew, and they are raising their three children Orthodox as well.

Although Ivanka typically wears longer hemlines to adhere to the Jewish religion's strict dress codes, she opted for a thigh-grazing dress and coat on Thursday

Ivanka had a bright smile on her face as Jared turned around to check on their Arabella and Jospeh, who were lagging behind

While her family all donned shades of blue for the outing, Arabella stood out in a pink and gray sweatshirt, a pink tulle skirt, knee-highs, and gray combat boots

At one point, Arabella turned herself around to look at her mother, who was walking towards her

While speaking with Arabella, Ivanka bent over so she could be eye to eye with her daughter

When the family left the synagogue, Ivanka was seen pushing Theodore's stroller while her eldest children headed back on their scooters. It appears as though Jared may stayed at the synagogue or possibly headed to work.

The day before, the first daughter was photographed leaving her home with Arabella, donning a purple skirt with slits for the morning school run.

She paired the purple number with a pair of black stilettos from her own fashion line as well as a black tank top, keeping cool amid the fresh fall temperatures.

Ivanka wore her long, blonde hair in a low ponytail, and finished off her outfit with discrete pearl earrings.

Arabella, who donned a light blue dress with a white Peter Pan collar, clutched a Frozen doll during the outing and hopped on the black SUV while carrying the toy, modeled after Queen Elsa from the 2013 Disney classic.

Ivanka was seen leaving the synagogue around 12:30 p.m. on Thursday as she headed back home with her three children

The first daughter pushed Theodore's stroller while her eldest children continued to ride their scooters

Although the family was still accompanied by their Secret Service detail, it appears as though Jared stayed at the synagogue or possibly headed to work

Ivanka's upscale Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. is filled with ivy-covered homes

Joseph looked just like his father in a navy sweater over a collared shirt and gray trousers

Arabella stayed close to her mom while she pushed Theodore's stroller across the street

Joseph, who is turning four this month, followed behind his sister and mother

Although Theodore has a scooter of his home, he didn't appear to feel left out while being pushed in his stroller

Ivanka kept a close eye on her children throughout the walk. While Arabella looked off into the distance, Joseph has his scooter resting on the curb behind them

Joseph also tagged along during the school run but hopped on the car before his mother and sister, and wasn't pictured with the rest of the family.

Meanwhile, Jared left earlier and thus didn't tag along on Wednesday morning.

The couple's youngest child, Theodore, wasn't seen either, and was probably still at home enjoying a bit more rest.

On Tuesday evening, Ivanka was all smiles as she enjoyed dinner next to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit and Gala in Washington, D.C.

Last week, Ivanka and Jared got to soak up some much-needed time with their children, as they enjoyed a quick break from their manic day-to-day lives as White House senior advisors in order to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

Taking full advantage both of their day off, and of the balmy October day, Ivanka and Jared strolled their way to the nearby Friends of Lubavitch Synagogue from their home, while their three kids all happily scooted alongside them.

Ivanka tried to keep a straight face while her eldest children hid behind a brick wall in the hopes of surprising her

Even little Theodore seemed amused by his siblings attempt to surprise their mom on their walk home

Ivanka went on a school run on Wednesday morning, boarding a Secret Service vehicle with her daughter Arabella

Family: Last week, Ivanka and Jared also walked to Friends of Lubavitch Synagogue with their children while celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot

Ivanka looked chic in a lacy black dress, giving a nod to fashion while also observing the religion's strict dress codes by covering her arms and legs in the frock, as well as her head with the addition of a green velvet hat

The mother-of-three incredibly chic in a long-sleeved black lace dress, paying mind to the religion's strict dress codes and covering her arms and her knees in the demure number, while also adding a green velvet hat to the ensemble in order to cover her hair.

Jared, meanwhile, stuck with his signature navy suit for the outing, pairing the smart outfit with a red-orange tie, and a pair of sunglasses to shield eyes against the bright D.C. day.

The outing was no doubt a welcome opportunity for Ivanka to soak up some time with her children, and comes just after the mother-of-three opened up about her ongoing struggle to balance her White House role with motherhood.

Speaking about how she juggles motherhood with 'such a demanding job', Ivanka admitted that she finds creating and maintaining that balance 'incredibly difficult', noting that 'some days I do a really good job' while 'other days, I don't'.

'It was much easier when I was my own boss, where I could set my own schedule, but working in the White House doesn't lend itself to that because of the gravity of the issues that you're dealing with,' she confessed.

'When you wake up in the middle of the night worrying about something - the things you're worrying about just have so much more consequence.'
The Queen made a glittering return to public life tonight as she made her first appearance since arriving back in London

Looking sensational in blue, the monarch was joined by her daughter Princess Anne at the Army and Navy Club in Pall Mall.

The event marked the Centenary of the Women's Royal Navy Service and the Women's Auxiliary Army Corp.

Following his retirement from public duties in July at the age of 96, the monarch was without her husband, Prince Philip.

The Queen and Princess Anne both appeared in good spirits as they chatted to guests

The Queen was greeted by members of the armed forces at the glamorous event

The Queen waved to photographers and well-wishers as she left the event on Thursday night

The Queen signed a visitor's book following the celebrations at The Army and Navy Club

The 91-year-old sovereign attended the reception just a few minutes drive from her official royal residence.

As a young woman, the Queen became the first female member of the Royal Family to join the Armed Services as a full-time active member when she became a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in 1945. During her service she learned to drive and maintain cars.

The ATS is now incorporated by the WRAC, of which she is patron.

Looking refreshed after three months at her Highland residence, Balmoral, during which was seen in public only a handful of times, the Queen was met on arrival by the Chairman of Army and Navy Club, Colonel Ian Paterson.

The Queen spoke to women who had Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) during the Second World War, just as she did

The Queen attended a reception at the Army and Navy Club in Pall Mall, her first public appearance since she returned to London

The Queen wore a floral blue dress with a matching blazer and carried a black handbag on her arm

The Queen looked deep in conversation at the event, which was just minutes from her home

Wearing a pretty turquoise dress and jacket with diamonds and aquamarines, she smiled broadly.

Inside she was greeted by Commander Rosie Wilson, Chairman of the WRNS100 Project Group and Colonel Alison K Brown, Vice-President of the WRAC Association.

The Queen and Princess Anne are due to meet Senior Naval and Army members alongside veterans who joined the ATS in 1941 and worked at Bletchley Park until VE Day during the 45-minute engagement.

She also met three sprightly ladies - aged 90, 92 and 94 - who, like her, served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) during the Second World War, the Queen, 91, smiled and remarked: 'You're looking well on it.'

Princess Anne seemed to be in high spirits as she walked her mother into the event

Colonel Ian Paterson, chairman of the Army and Navy Club, thanked the Queen for her support over the years in his speech

'And so, may I say, are you,' said Joan De-Val, a truly youthful-looking 92.

Among the ladies she met was Betty Ebb, 94, from Birmingham, who worked with the legendary code breakers at Bletchley Park.

The Queen, who has taken a keen interest in the work undertaken there, exclaimed: 'Bletchley Park!' when they were introduced.

Mrs Ebb worked registering the messages that came in for the code breakers and only found out two years ago that her department dealt with those referring to the Holocaust.

The Queen mingled with veterans, including one guest who worked at Bletchley Park

The Queen met three ladies all in their nineties who, like her, served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service

Princess Anne beamed for the cameras as the royal pair left the engagement

The Queen was accompanied into the building to sign the guest book

The Queen appeared fascinated and could be heard to say: 'And yes many have only found out recently, haven't they?'

Despite being a year older than Barbara Danter, 90, from Nottingham, who served in the ATS from 1941-44, she bent down to talk to her in her wheelchair, asking about what she did.

'She is such a remarkable woman,' said Mrs Danter.

'I told her about how I used to work in the post office, getting the letters, packages and parcels to the troops abroad. She seemed very interested.'

The Queen took a moment to leave some comments in the guest book at the event

The Queen waved to the crowds outside the glamorous event as she left her car

Joan De-Val, 92, who worked with the anti aircraft troops on the south coast, said of their meeting: 'When I told her what I had done she said 'you were busy'. She really is fantastic. There's not a lot of ladies who are still working in the way she is at the age of 90. Let's be honest, there are very few of us who would swap their lives for hers.'

All three ladies said they would be at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday and asked about her recent decision not to lay a wreath any more, Mrs De-Val said: 'I really don't blame her. She has to stand on her feet for such a long time. I think we are all very grateful for what she has done for us and is continuing to do. None of us could do it!'

In a speech, Colonel Ian Paterson, chairman of the Army and Navy Club, thanked the Queen for her support over the years.

Referring to some work that is being done on its historical Pall Mall building, he said they'll call on her in a few more years to officially re-open it, promoting the monarch to give a comical toss of her head and a snort.

The Queen and Princess Anne are welcomed into the event on Thursday evening

The London event marked the Centenary of the Women's Royal Navy Service and the Women's Auxiliary Army Corp

Princess Anne looked stylish in a mid-length green dress and matching green coat

Before she left, the Monarch signed a visitor's book before returning to nearby Buckingham Palace.

She also viewed a photographic display in the Wellington Room charting the progression of women serving in the Army from 1917 to the current day. The images have been chosen to reflect the changing roles and the widening of opportunities for women over the last 100 years.

WRNS 100 has been formed to celebrate the formation and history of the Women's Royal Naval Service and to recognize the role of women in the Royal Navy today.

It will celebrate the valuable work still done by the WRNS Benevolent Trust and the Association of Wrens.

The Queen looked refreshed after spending the last three months at Balmoral for her summer break

Her majesty wore a floral blue dress and matching jacket and carried her signature handbag

Buckingham Palace have confirmed that the Queen will not by laying a wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday

The Queen seemed relaxed at the event. She is expected to be attending more public appearances with her children

Some 116 National and regional events are planned culminating in a Service at Portsmouth Cathedral in November.

A Commemorative Stone marking the formation of the WRNS and all the women of the Naval Services will be dedicated as part of the Service.

Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, is Patron and supporter of the WRNS Benevolent Trust, Patron of the Association of Wrens and is also the Patron of the WRNS100 Project. She is Admiral and Chief Commandant for Women in the Royal Navy.

Last night Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Queen would not by laying a wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday - and is unlikely to ever do so again.

Inside the event the royals were greeted by Commander Rosie Wilson, Chairman of the WRNS100 Project Group and Colonel Alison K Brown, Vice-President of the WRAC Association

They will meet Senior Naval and Army members alongside veterans who joined the ATS in 1941 and worked at Bletchley Park until VE Day

Princess Anne and the Queen view a photographic display the Wellington Room charting the progression of women serving in the Army from 1917 to the current day

Instead she will watch the ceremony from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office building, along with her husband, Prince Philip.

Buckingham Palace said she had asked Prince Charles to lay a floral tribute to the nation's war dead on her behalf instead.

The sovereign's decision to take a back seat during one of the most significant dates in the nation's calendar  and one with enormous significance to her personally  is being seen as another sign that she is scaling down her official duties.

The Queen was joined at the event by Princess Anne following Prince Philip's retirement this year

The monarch was without her husband, Prince Philip following his retirement from public duties in July at the age of 96

Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, is Patron and supporter of the WRNS Benevolent Trust, Patron of the Association of Wrens and is also the Patron of the WRNS100 Project.

Her appearance comes after Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Queen would not by laying a wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday

She is already making small but significant changes to the pace of her diary, spending only three days a week at Buckingham Palace and conducting more engagements inside the royal residence.

The elderly monarch has missed laying a wreath at the Cenotaph on only six occasions in her 65-year reign, when she was pregnant or on official visits abroad.

In 2015 the ceremony was made shorter to limit the time that she and her husband would be forced to stand.
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Prince Harry joined a dazzling line-up of celebrities at the Attitude Awards in London on Thursday night.

The 33-year-old royal looked dashing in black tie as he joined stars including Kylie Minogue, Amanda Holden and Myleene Klass for the glittering ceremony at the Roundhouse in Camden, north London.

The prince was on hand to collect a posthumous Attitude Legacy Award on behalf of his mother, Princess Diana, and in doing so became the first member of the royal family to pick up an honour at a gay awards ceremony.

Diana was recognised for her significant work in drawing attention to HIV/AIDS.

Stepping on to the stage, Harry charmed the audience when he quipped flirtatiously: 'Don't we all look lovely? Can I stay?,' before praising his mother's tireless efforts.

In a heartfelt speech, he said his mother was only 25 and still finding her way in public life when she chose to shine a spotlight on Aids.

'She knew that the misunderstanding of this relatively new disease was creating a dangerous situation when mixed with homophobia. People were being ostracised from their communities - and sometimes from their families - simply for being ill.'

'When she shook the hand of a 32-year-old man with HIV in front of the cameras, she knew exactly what she was doing,' he said.

'She was using her position as Princess of Wales - the most famous woman in the world - to challenge everyone to educate themselves; to find their compassion; and to reach out to those who need help instead of pushing them away.'

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Dazzling: Prince Harry poses with his arms around Kylie Minogue as the pair attend the Attitude Awards in London

Proud: Prince Harry, left, receives a posthumous Attitude Legacy Award on behalf of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, from Ian Walker, right, and Julian La Bastide at the Attitude Awards in London on Thursday night

Hitting the right notes: Amanda Holden, left, and Louisa Johnson, right, led the glamour at the star-studded Attitude Awards

Pop princesses: Pixie Lott, left, and Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall, right, were among the celebrities who attended the ceremony

The ceremony, which was hosted by Tom Daley, recognises the 'inspiring stories and outstanding achievements' of key figures in the LGBT community.

Guests included Kylie Minogue, who received a 'legend' award, Matt Lucas, Sam Smith, Chris Robshaw, Beverly Knight and Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall.

Among the stand-out red carpet looks was X Factor singer Louisa Johnson, who turned heads in a plunging tangerine gown with a daring thigh-high slit.

As he walked on the stage Harry, whose appearance at the ceremony was a surprise to most of the audience, immediately won them over with his flirty quip.

Pioneer: Prince Harry tonight became the first member of the royal family to pick up an honour at a gay awards ceremony

Charming: Harry wowed the crowd as he delivered a speech praising his mother's pioneering work highlighting HIV/Aids

Left: Diana, Princess of Wales, shakes hands with an Aids victim as she opens a new Aids ward at the Middlesex Hospital on April 9, 1987. Right, Diana holds a young child at Febem Hostel For Abandoned Children, where many of them were HIV Positive, in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1991.

Prince Harry's tribute to Princess Diana in full Legacy: Harry paid tribute to his mother's work in a speech 'In April 1987, my mother was only 25 years old. 'She was still finding her way in public life, but already she felt a responsibility, to shine her spotlight on the people and issues that were often ignored. She knew that AIDS was one of the things that many wanted to ignore and seemed like a hopeless challenge. She knew that the misunderstanding of this relatively new disease was creating a dangerous situation when mixed with homophobia. 'People were ostracised from their communities  and sometimes from their families  simply for being ill. Staff who treated the ill, were themselves often turned away from local barbers and restaurants, even though it was proven that HIV could not be passed on from casual contact. 'And we faced the very real risk that thousands would die in the UK  including many young gay men of her generation  without making any progress towards treatment of the disease. 'So when that April, she shook the hand of a 32-year-old man with HIV, in front of the cameras, she knew exactly what she was doing. She was using her position as Princess of Wales  the most famous woman in the world  to challenge everyone to educate themselves; to find their compassion; and to reach out to those who need help instead of pushing them away. 'In the years that followed that famous handshake, her work continued, both in public and private. When she visited Mildmay Hospital and the London Lighthouse hospice, she wanted the world to learn the stories of those who were dying. She wanted people to demand action towards treatments that would save lives. And she wanted to get to know those who were dying not as statistics or patients, but as people. 'In the year before my mother's death, the first truly effective anti-retroviral treatments were developed for HIV and AIDS. She did not live to see this treatment become widely available and save countless lives in the UK and around the world. 'I often wonder about what she would be doing to continue the fight against HIV and AIDS if she were still with us today. 'I believe that she would be telling everyone across society  not just those most at risk  that with effective treatment being free and available in the UK, that we must all embrace regular testing  both for our own sake and for those that we love. 'She would be demanding that same access to treatment and testing for young people in Africa and across the world. And she would of course be standing alongside those who are living openly, as healthy, happy and HIV-positive. 'William and I are incredibly proud of what our mother achieved. And we thank you for awarding her the Legacy Award.' Advertisement

Standing out: The former X Factor winner was more than confident to show off her killer figure in her orange gown, which featured a daringly plunging neckline

Going for gold! Also representing the singers at the bash was Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall, who opted against the classic red carpet gown and instead slipped into a striking gold suit

Think pink: Joining her on the carpet soon after was Pixie Lott, who looked equally as glamorous in a pastel pink gown, adorned with sequin flowers all over

Racy in lace: Myleene Klass arrived next in a raunchy semi-sheer lace dress, which gave a flash of her black lingerie and displayed her envy-inducing figure underneath

Princess Diana is revealed as Attitude cover star Honoured: Princess Diana features on one of six limited edition covers of Attitude magazine's awards issue, available now Princess Diana will feature on the front cover of Attitude magazine after winning the publication's legacy award. The stunning limited edition cover - a black and white photograph of the former royal by Patrick Demarchelier - was unveiled during the magazine's annual awards ceremony on Thursday night. The posthumous award recognises the significance of Diana's work in challenging the stigma and fear that surrounded HIV and Aids in the 1980s and 1990s. The magazine cover adds to a long list that Diana amassed before her death at the age of 36, including the likes of Vogue and Vanity Fair. Darren Styles, managing director of Stream Publishing and publisher of Attitude magazine, said: 'Behind Diana's famous beauty and style, there was a radical firebrand driven by a passion for activism. 'Very few individuals had the power to change the mindset of millions of people at that time, but Diana knew that she was one of them - and she chose to wield her power to improve the lives of gay men suffering with HIV/Aids.' 'Without the expected mask, gown or gloves, she touched and embraced the sick and the dying, when the common misconception was (that) sharing cutlery or a public bathroom would see you infected. 'It changed understanding and it changed our world. 2017 may mark 20 years since the death of the princess, but it also marks 30 years since the start of her HIV activism, and her opening of the UK's first hospital unit dedicated to HIV/Aids.' Attitude's Diana artwork forms one of six limited edition winners' covers following Thursday's awards, which support the Elton John Aids Foundation. Advertisement

He went on: 'I often wonder about what she would be doing to continue the fight against HIV and Aids if she were still with us today.

'I believe she would be telling everyone across society - not just those most at risk - that with effective treatment being free and available in the UK, that we must all embrace regular testing - both for our own sake and for those that we love.' A video of the speech was shared on the Attitude Magazine Twitter account.

The appearance reflects Harry's desire to carry on his mother's work, and his commitment to campaigning on HIV/Aids. He has publicly taken an HIV test to emphasise the importance of testing, and set up a charity - Sentebale - to help children in Lesotho affected by the condition.

The award, which was marked by Diana featuring as one of six limited edition winners' covers, was introduced by two former health workers who both met Diana. Ian Walker was a senior occupational therapist at the London Lighthouse, the former Aids centre in west London which Diana often used to visit, and Julian La Bastide was a nurse at the Mildmay Hospital.

Commanding attention: Pulling into a sweetheart neckline to display the former Girls Aloud star's delicate decolletage, the dress then cinched in at her slim waist before cutting off high at her thigh, to leave her shapely pins on display

Classically chic: Keeping with the LBD theme was former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, who slipped into a simple black bodycon dress - featuring long sleeves but a thigh-skimming hem, to leave her leggy figure on show

All that glitters: Mel was also joined by actress Laverne Cox, who opted for a more glamorous black dress, embellished with chunky gems on one side

Ware-ing it well: Singer Jessie (L) was classically chic in a maxi gown patterned with spots, Sophie Ellis Bextor (centre) dazzled in a pink polka dot number, and Fleur East upped the glamour in a leather ruffled gown (R)

Let's hear it for the boys: Representing the men at the bash were Tom Daley (L), who was hosting proceedings, and Sam Smith (R) - who both cut impeccably suave figures in their respective suits

Mr Walker, who met Diana several times between 1993 and 1997, said: 'She filled the room and she gave off light. Everyone was immediately put at ease, and just the fact that she would come in, talk to someone, hold their hand, that would mean that maybe the next day they died happy because Diana had spoken to them.'

Recalling the pivotal moment when she shook hands with an Aids patient, he added: 'It seemed to break down a million barriers overnight with that one simple act. This was a time when people were terrified to touch people with HIV, people would glove, mask and gown up in regular hospitals. People were rejected by their families, people would feel really uncomfortable when they saw you walking around. She held that guy's hand and overnight this dispelled a lot of the stigma.'

Mr La Bastide, a nurse at the Mildmay Mission for 17 years, recalled the effect of Diana's work. He said: 'My patients and people I worked with felt that they were important, that someone was taking their cause  their fight  to another level. Diana wasn't making that distinction of 'these people are more important or less important'. It was, 'you are all important'. And she knew that every time she did an announced visit with the cameras there, that would go mainstream.'

A Kensington Palace spokesman said: 'Prince Harry was keen to do this as he has continued his mother's work on HIV/Aids and the awards are in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation who he has worked closely with.'
Actress Christina Applegate has revealed that she had both her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to decrease her chance of developing ovarian cancer.

Applegate, 45, was diagnosed with breast cancer nine years ago, and she had a double mastectomy to treat it. The same year she was diagnosed, her cousin was killed by ovarian cancer.

Since the star, who has a six-year-old daughter, is BRCA positive, which means a person is more likely to develop ovarian and breast cancers, she decided to have another procedure to decrease her chances of dying from cancer.

Applegate told NBC that taking control of the situation and getting the procedure provided her with a sense of relief.

Christina Applegate had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to keep from developing ovarian cancer, which her cousin died from in 2008. Applegate is pictured here at a cancer benefit event in August

EXPLAINED: OVARIAN CANCER There are three types of tumors that can result in ovarian cancer. Epithelial tumors: About 90 percent of ovarian cancer cases stem from these tumors, which originate in the tissue that covers the outside of the ovaries. Stromal tumors: These account for about seven percent of ovarian tumors. They are found in the tissue that contains cells that produce hormones and are usually detected earlier than the other two types of tumors. Germ cell tumors: These originate in egg-producing cells and, while rare, tend to be found in younger women. Advertisement

The fact that her daughter, Sadie, is likely BRCA positive weighs on Applegate, she told NBC. She said: 'The chances that my daughter is BRCA positive are very high. I look at her and feed her the cleanest foods.'

She added: 'I'm doing everything I can on my end knowing that in 20 years, she'll have to start getting tested. Hopefully by then there will be advancements.'

Applegate also shared that she visits her oncologist every six months and that she eats only organic foods. She does this to reduce the amount of pesticides, fertilizers and other harmful chemicals she puts in her body, as this has been shown to reduce one's chances of developing cancer.

'We grow our own vegetables. We're a 100 percent organic house. My daughter is a vegetarian and practically vegan. That's her choice,' Applegate said.

The procedure that she had done is called a salpingo-oophorectomy, and it is designed to remove a woman's ovaries and fallopian tubes at once.

The procedure that Applegate received is called a salpino-oophorectomy

The surgery decreases women's chances of developing both breast and ovarian cancer, which is the fifth deadliest cancer for women and kills more women than any other gynecologic cancer.

Ovaries are organs that sit on either side of a woman's uterus, and they contain eggs and regulate the production of hormones controlling their menstrual cycles. Fallopian tubes are what eggs travel through to get from ovaries to the uterus.

When a woman decides to have both removed to prevent a cancer diagnosis, the organs are typically taken out at the same time because they share a common blood supply.

Applegate's recent operation is performed one of two ways: through an abdominal incision that is six to 12 inches long or laparoscopically, which requires three to five incisions that are about one to one-and-a-half inches long.

The outpatient laparoscopic version of the operation is the most common, according to Ohio State University professor of gynecology Dr David Cohn.

He said that the main thing women who choose to have the operation need to be aware of is the fact that the surgery will induce menopause since their ovaries will be removed.

While recovering from either form of the surgery, women might experience pain and they should not lift anything more than 10 pounds for a couple of weeks, Dr Cohn said.

Additionally, following the procedure, a woman will not be able to conceive.

Christina Applegate was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. Here she is pictured before and after her double mastectomy surgery in 2004 (left) and last year (right)

Dr Leigha Senter-Jamieson, who is an associate professor of human genetics at Ohio State, said that doctors try to make sure that women who are considering the surgery have accepted the fact that they will no longer be able to have children.

She added that some women elect to have their eggs frozen prior to the surgery and that the patients she sees who are thinking about having the operation do not make the decision lightly.

Dr Senter-Jamieson explained that an average woman's chance of developing ovarian cancer is about one-and-a-half percent, but a BRCA positive woman has a 20 to 40 percent chance, which makes the procedure worth it for many of them.

'Once we explain the high likelihood, there's a feeling of helplessness,' she said. '[The surgery] is one of the few tools they can put in their toolbox.'

The feeling of relief that Applegate described experiencing after her operation is not uncommon among patients who choose to have the surgery, according to Dr Senter-Jamieson. 'You feel like you've put yourself in a position of power,' she said.

Certain women have higher chances of developing ovarian cancer than others, including middle-aged women, women who have previously had breast or colon cancer - such as Applegate - and some women who have trouble getting pregnant.

Additionally, some research suggests that women who take estrogen without also taking progesterone for more than 10 years have higher chances of developing ovarian cancer.

Other risk factors include smoking, polycystic ovary syndrome, using an intrauterine device and undergoing fertility treatments.

While no definite ways of preventing ovarian cancer are known, the CDC has said that women who take birth control pills for more than five years, have given birth, have breastfed or have had their tubes tied have lower chances.
Loneliness is as bad for your health as chronic medical conditions, Britains top GP will warn today.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, says family doctors spend so much time box-ticking that they no longer have time to properly talk to their patients.

Many older people go to their GP because they are lonely and want human contact, she says.

But doctors rarely have time to care because they are so focused on following medical guidelines, advising every patient about exercise and weight, and getting through people in the allotted ten minutes.

More than half of all people aged 75 and over in Britain live alone  and more than one million people are thought to be suffering from chronic loneliness

Professor Stokes-Lampard wants ministers to cut red tape to allow doctors to treat patients like human beings.

Addressing the RCGP annual primary care conference in Liverpool today, Professor Stokes-Lampard will say: Social isolation and loneliness are akin to a chronic long-term condition in terms of the impact they have on our patients health and wellbeing.

GPs see patients, many of whom are widowed, who have multiple health problems like diabetes, hypertension and depression, but often their main problem isnt medical, theyre lonely.

Family doctors are said to spend so much time box-ticking that they no longer have time to properly talk to their patients

The doctor, who practises as a GP in Staffordshire, will say: The guidelines say we should be talking to them about their weight, exercise and prescribing more medication  but really what these patients need is someone to listen to them and to find purpose in life. Trust us to be doctors so that we can treat our patients like human beings and tailor their treatment to their needs.

More than half of all people aged 75 and over in Britain live alone  and more than one million people are thought to be suffering from chronic loneliness.

Being lonely increases the risk of having a heart attack or a stroke by nearly a third, according to a study published by the universities of York, Liverpool and Newcastle last year.

Professor Stokes-Lampard will add: Lonely people consult their GP more often, and in many cases their GP is the professional they come into contact with most frequently. If nothing is done, loneliness will, inevitably, take its toll on the entire healthcare system.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: Loneliness can sometimes be the face of more serious underlying issues and should not be disregarded as a minor problem. GPs should be alert to underlying mental health problems such as depression.
A new 'smokeless' tobacco cigarettes has been hailed as a safer alternative to traditional smoking.

Now experts predict that heat-not-burn devices are set soar in popularity.

A study suggests they will overtake sales of e-cigarettes, which are used by an estimated 9 million adults in the US and around 2.9 million in the UK.

This has caused campaigners to warn there is an 'urgent need' for more research into the health effects of devices which heat tobacco as opposed to burning it.

The team from the US analysed Google search trends relating to the heat-not-burn devices in Japan, which was the first country to sell them.

Their findings showed a huge surge in demand for the items  rising by 2,956 per cent in the two years from 2015 to 2017.

It's now expected that the same could happen in other countries, after the first heat-not-burn device became available in the UK in November last year and products entered the FDA-approval process in the US in May.

Experts say they expect a huge surge in demand for heat-not-burn devices (stock image)

WHAT ARE HEAT-NOT-BURN E-CIGARETTES? Heat-not-burn e-cigarettes were originally created by tobacco giant Philip Morris International. They were behind a smokeless device known as IQOS, that is said to contain 90 per cent less toxins that ordinary ones. Different from e-cigarettes, the electronic device is used with mini tobacco sticks, in the form of Marlboro HeatSticks or others, as opposed to a nicotine-laced liquid. These are then placed into the device before being heated, which experts say makes them much less harmful because they aren't burning the tobacco. But experts argue that the innovative device will never be safer than e-cigarettes and doesn't appear to be a safe option. Advertisement

Study coauthor Mark Dredze, professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University, said: 'Heat-not-burn products have quickly become insanely popular.

'Two years ago, there were essentially no queries in Japan for heat-not-burn tobacco, but now there are between 5.9 and 7.5 million each month.'

Furthermore, the team found that interest in heat-not-burn tobacco in Japan is rising more rapidly than past interest in e-cigarettes when they were first introduced to market.

The study authors added: 'This suggests that as heat-not-burn tobacco is introduced in new markets, its popularity may even eclipse e-cigarettes.'

Throat-hit appeal

The new products gently heat tobacco to a balmy 260C to produce a tobacco vapour.

Co-author Dr John Ayers, an associate research professor at the San Diego State University, said heat-not-burn devices appeal to smokers who still demand the 'throat-hit' delivered by a regular cigarette.

This hit isn't obtained by most e-cigs, because they vapourise nicotine  the addictive part of a cigarette  but they don't contain any tobacco.

Independent research is needed

Tobacco kills up to half of its users  that's more than seven million people each year, according to the World Health Organization.

And while the jury is still largely out on the long-term effects of vaping, heat-not-burn devices are currently only on sale in a handful of places around the world and little is known about their credentials.

As with many e-cigs, the devices are produced and sold by the big tobacco companies, eager not to lose business as more and more people quit smoking.

Now public health officials who were 'caught off guard' by e-cigarettes, are being urged to get clued up now and set the agenda before the tobacco giants get their first.

'Tobacco companies try to outmaneuver public health protections by creating new products that make tobacco appear less dangerous and more appealing,' said Theodore Caputi, a Mitchell Scholar and the study's first author.

'People were caught off guard by e-cigarettes, for example. Our study is an early warning and a call to action for public health professionals to address heat-not-burn products now.'

Campaign group ASH said because of the tobacco industry's 'long record of deceit over the health risks of smoking', there is an 'urgent need' for independent research into these new devices.

Smoke released by these heat-not-burn e-cigarette devices contain 84 per cent of the nicotine found in traditional cigarettes, a previous study shows (pictured: the IQOS cigarette by Philip Morris International)

HOW MUCH SAFER ARE 'SMOKELESS' CIGARETTES? They've been touted as the safest way of smoking in recent years. But research in May suggests 'smokeless' cigarettes may contain more cancer-causing chemicals than believed. Smoking giant Philip Morris markets its IQOS device, which tobacco sticks can be placed into to be heated, as containing 90 per cent less toxins. However, a study found it contains some chemicals that are strongly linked to cancer in much higher concentrations than previously reported. These included carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, scientists said. While the smoke of this gadget still has 84 per cent of the nicotine found in traditional cigarettes. Advertisement

In the mean time, heat-not-burn products must face the same strict regulation as cigarettes said chief executive Deborah Arnott.

She told The Sun Online: 'From what we know so far, it is likely heat-not-burn products are less harmful than smoking, but more harmful than electronic cigarettes.

'However, unless and until independent evidence shows that these products are substantially less harmful than smoking, they should be regulated in the same way as other tobacco products.

'Fully independent research and assessment will be crucial if heat-not-burn tobacco products are to be accepted as useful in fighting the smoking epidemic.'

Dr Ayers said that tobacco control is 'at a new crossroads'.

'Leaders can reasonably respond to this new data and ready themselves by setting an agenda or wait for big tobacco to set the heat-not-burn agenda for them,' he explained.

The new findings are published today in the journal PLOS One.
Bupa revoked a woman's travel insurance after she declared she suffered from bipolar disorder.

Elizabeth Watson, 29, from London, was granted insurance from the company, which was then cancelled after she later mentioned she had the mental health condition.

Although Ms Watson was covered by another company, she claims she was forced to pay four times as much due to her disorder.

After starting a campaign, which has been sent to Jeremy Hunt, to prevent travel insurers from discriminating against mental health patients, Ms Watson says she has been inundated by people who have nearly been left bankrupt due to such insurance claims.

A Bupa spokesperson has apologised for any distress caused, adding the company screens for mental health conditions to ensure it can provide adequate cover.

This comes after recent research revealed 21 per cent of mental health sufferers travel without insurance due to its extortionate price, while 15 per cent are forced to avoid going overseas altogether.

Elizabeth Watson had her Bupa travel insurance revoked after declaring her bipolar disorder

She was initially granted insurance for her IBS and acid reflux, but it was later taken away

Ms Watson got insurance with another company, but was forced to pay four times as much

WHAT IS BIPOLAR DISORDER? Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that mainly affects sufferers' moods. It is characterised as periods of euphoric highs and depressive lows. These mood swings can be extreme and have a big impact on a patient's quality of life. The rate of bipolar episode cycling varies between sufferers. Bipolar's causes may include childhood trauma, stressful life events, genetics or brain chemistry. Treatment may include medication or therapy. Sufferers can practice self-care by staying physically healthy, maintaining a strong support network, sticking to a daily routine and avoiding known triggers, such as late nights. Source: Mind Advertisement

'Mental health should not be discriminated against'

Ms Watson, who also suffers from acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome, said: 'Before I mentioned bipolar they were absolutely happy to cover me, but as soon as I mentioned bipolar, no matter how much I paid, they just were not interested,' The Independent reported.

She also told the Wandsworth Guardian: 'People go on booze-filled holidays and are at a higher risk than someone with depression in my eyes.

'Mental health should not be discriminated against, full stop.'

Forced to pay four times as much

Ms Watson had already paid 21 for travel insurance for a one-week holiday to Spain.

After later declaring her mental health problems, Ms Watson was asked a series of questions before Bupa stated they would not be able to insure her for any of her conditions, even if she paid a premium.

Ms Watson filed a complaint against the company when the incident occurred back in August, but to date has only received a letter from Bupa saying it will be in touch.

She managed to secure travel insurance from another provider, but was forced to pay four times as much. According to the Bipolar UK website, only five UK travel companies cover bipolar disorder.

Richard Norris, director of consumer insurance at Bupa UK: 'We're sorry for the distress we have caused Ms Watson. We can and do cover mental health conditions such as bipolar through some of our travel insurance products.

'We aim to give our customers the most comprehensive cover possible, including mental health conditions where possible. We screen our Premier and Gold travel insurance customers for physical and mental health conditions to check whether we can provide coverage for any pre-existing conditions while they're abroad.'

She has started a campaign banning mental health discrimination among travel insurers

Sufferers driven to near bankruptcy

Ms Watson has launched a campaign to prevent travel insurance companies discriminating against mental health conditions.

She claims to have heard from thousands of people who have undergone similar experiences, including a couple who were nearly made bankrupt after the husband had a nervous breakdown while on holiday, despite suffering no mental health complaints for years. The insurer accused him of lying about his past conditions.

Another individual said they were quoted more than a 2,000 per cent higher price after they declared their mental health disorder.

To date, the campaign has received 56,161 signatures, and has been sent to Bupa, the Financial Conduct Authority and health secretary Jeremy Hunt with the aim of banning travel insurance companies discriminating against mental health disorders.

This comes after research by the charity Money and Mental Health Policy Institute last month revealed 21 per cent of people with mental health problems travel without insurance because it is too expensive, while 15 per cent have chosen not to travel at all because of such high costs.
A teenage One Direction fan screamed so much when she saw her favourite band play live that her lungs collapsed, doctors have revealed.

The 16-year-old, from Texas, who remains anonymous, became short of breath the next day and was rushed to A&E.

Concerned doctors conducted tests, only to discover her lungs had collapsed from the young girl singing along to the boy band's tunes.

The strange case has seen doctors jokingly call for 'forceful screaming during pop concerts' to be considered a risk factor for such symptoms.

Doctors have revealed that a teenage One Direction fan screamed so much when she saw her favourite band play live that her lungs collapsed (pictured: an X-ray of her lungs)

Concerned doctors conducted tests, only to discover her lungs had collapsed from the young girl singing along to the boy band's tunes (pictured without former member Zayn Malik)

Experts at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center revealed the bizarre case in The Journal of Emergency Medicine.

The girl, who had no history of any respiratory problems, found herself struggling to breathe almost immediately after the concert.

When her symptoms continued the following morning, her worried parents took her straight to the medical center.

Doctors performed tests to try and get to the bottom of her shortness of breath, but they heard 'no respiratory distress'.

COLLAPSED LUNGS: THE FACTS A pneumothorax is when air builds up between the outside of your lung and the inside of your chest wall (ribcage). The air can come from your lung or from outside your body if theres a serious injury to the chest. A pneumothorax caused by leaks of air from the lungs is more common in people with a lung condition such as asthma or cystic fibrosis. But it can occur in people who are otherwise completely healthy. A large pneumothorax can squash the lung causing it to collapse. Because this condition is rare, it may take some time to get a diagnosis. Your doctor will need to consider other possible causes of your symptoms. You may need to have a few tests and you might need to see a specialist. The treatment of a pneumothorax depends on its size and whether its expanding. If its small, no treatment may be needed. If its large, it will need to be drained using a syringe or a chest tube. Source: British Lung Foundation Advertisement

However, they were able to hear a crunching sound when they pressed their fingers on the girl's neck and chest.

This signalled she had a collapsed lung, known medically as pneumothorax, which occurs when happens when air escapes into the chest through a tear.

X-rays revealed the air reached the mediastinum (the space in the chest between the lung sacs). It is known medically as pneumomediastinum.

They were also able to diagnose her with pneumoretropharyngeum, as the air had reached this part of the body, just behind the pharynx.

Writing in the journal, the doctors said: 'The combination of all three diagnoses has yet to be described in medical literature.'

The girl was discharged the next day and made a quick recovery. She was given a booster oxygen supply in hospital.

Doctors were able to rule out the tear from being a complication from her diabetes, but their initial diagnosis was wrong.

Weight-lifting, diving and military flying were all mentioned as potential causes of spontaneous pneumothorax by the medics.

But singing had only appeared once in literature. They wrote: 'This particular case suggests that forceful screaming during pop concerts should be added to that list.'

One Direction, who are currently on a break, shot to fame after winning ITV talent contest The X Factor in 2010.

They have since attracted an army of followers, predominantly young girls, and have broken various musical achievements.
Traditional family doctors are at risk of dying out because so many GPs are leaving the NHS, Jeremy Hunt warned.

The Health Secretary said doctors who know every patient and their families are the 'best thing about the NHS'.

But he said it was becoming 'much, much harder' for doctors to deliver this 'continuity of care' because of staffing shortages, historic under-funding and Britain's ageing and growing population.

Mr Hunt, addressing the Royal College of GPs at its annual conference in Liverpool, also admitted ten-minute appointments do not meet patients' needs.

The minister said more GPs are needed  and announced plans to beef up training and recruitment schemes.

The Health Secretary said doctors who know every patient and their families are the 'best thing about the NHS'

But he also told doctors to take some responsibility for dealing with the pressure, pointing out every GP could save an hour a day if they simply reduced administration and filtered out the 26 per cent of appointments which could be avoided.

What did Mr Hunt say?

Mr Hunt said: 'For me the best thing about the NHS is having a doctor who knows you and your family.

'Continuity of care, which is the professional word you use, is incredibly important to us as patients. It's why we value our GPs and it's why we love the NHS.

'But the truth is that because we have under-invested in general practice over decades, we have made it much, much harder for you to deliver the continuity of care that I think is part of the magic of general practice.

'I want to turn it around and I recognise I can't do that unless we get more capacity into the system.'

Damning statistics

Official statistics published in July show only 56 per cent always manage to see their preferred GP, down from 65 per cent five years ago.

GOLDEN HELLOS FOR TRAINEE DOCTORS Jeremy Hunt will today offer trainee GPs a 20,000 golden hello in a desperate bid to get them to work in understaffed practices. The Health Secretary is to announce a one-off payment for junior doctors who move to rural and coastal areas. The bonuses  on top of starting salaries of up to 45,000  are part of an attempt to stem the growing GP crisis. Mr Hunt will tell the Royal College of GPs conference in Liverpool that the workforce is under considerable pressure. The 20,000 payments  given to those who do their three-year training in priority areas  are almost as much as a nurses 22,000 starting salary. GPs who become practice partners can expect to earn an average of 106,000 a year. But amid growing workloads, two in five experienced family doctors say they plan to leave the NHS within five years. Advertisement

Evidence shows having a single family doctor to deliver continuous care is hugely beneficial, particularly for older patients.

Richard Vautrey, chair of the British Medical Association's GP Committee, said last night: 'It is not inevitable, but there is a risk the traditional family doctor could die out if the underlying problems, such as funding and workloads, are not addressed.

'Patients do not want to see a doctor that does not know them and to whom they have to repeat their medical history each time they get an appointment.

'Doctors also want to build up a long-term relationship with their patients and their families, over ten, twenty, thirty years, and be a part of the local community.

'We don't want general practice to become part of gig-economy, like Deliveroo, where you request a consultation and get whichever doctor is available to take the job.'

Plans to recruit more GPs

Mr Hunt said he wanted to increase the number of GPs by 5,000 by 2022 by recruiting from abroad and increasing medical degree places.

But he admitted: 'The number of GPs who want to leave the profession is at the highest level it has been since 1988.

'If you just look at the GPs who are 50 or over who want to leave the profession, that now equates to 7,000 GPs. We can't afford to let that happen.

'Too many of the GPs that I meet are knackered, they are often feeling at the end of their tether. 'They feel that they are on a hamster wheel of ten-minute appointments, 30 to 40 of them every day, unable to give the care they would like to.

'You are seeing a lot more patients, with a greater acuity of care needs. That means the old model of ten-minute appointments doesn't really work for patients with multiple long-term conditions who may need 30, 40, 50 minutes to get to the bottom of all their needs.'

But Mr Hunt needs help...

But Mr Hunt said he could not turn the system around alone.

'There are things that I can do, that I want to do, that I have tried to do, in terms of capacity, in terms of funding, in terms of long-term solutions.

'But there are also things that you can do in your individual practices that can make a huge amount of difference.'

Studies have shown if GP practices cut avoidable appointments, by sending patients to pharmacies or consulting online, doctors can save up to 60 minutes a day.

Mr Hunt said: 'For our patients that is very important. It means you have more time to spend with vulnerable patients, you have time to have longer appointments for patients who need it, and you have energy to do your jobs in the way you need to.'
The number of patients waiting too long for routine operations is at its highest level in almost a decade, NHS figures reveal.

More than 400,000 patients have been waiting at least 18 weeks for procedures including hip and knee replacements and cataract surgery.

This is the highest number since September 2008 and prompting experts to warn that hospitals were going backwards.

Under the NHS Constitution, its rulebook, patients have a right to have an operation or procedure within 18 weeks of being referred by their consultant.

But figures for August show that 1 in 10 patients were waiting longer - only 89.4 per cent were treated within this 18 week target.

More than 400,000 patients have been waiting at least 18 weeks for procedures including hip and knee replacements and cataract surgery, NHS figures show

Earlier this year the head of the NHS Simon Stevens warned that waiting times would go up to enable the health service to focus its attention on cancer care and GP services.

'Waving the white flag'

Leading surgeons accused him of 'waving the white flag' and said the health service would return to the days of 'unacceptably long waits.'

A total of 409,342 people had waited longer than 18 weeks in August 2017, the highest number since September 2008 when 470,983 waited this long.

Professor Derek Alderson, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: 'Our concern is now that waiting times are starting to go in the wrong direction.

'With growing demand on the system and difficulties in moving patients from hospital to social or residential care, it's easy to see how quickly things could deteriorate.

'We cannot let all the good work we've done be so easily undone.

'As things stand, the NHS is not well prepared going into this winter to prevent mass cancellations of operations.'

Waiting times on the rise

AUSSIE FLU COULD IMPACT SURGERY... Concerned health chiefs are crossing their fingers that the NHS doesn't get bombarded with the major Aussie flu outbreak that is expected this winter. Routine operations could 'cease for several months' if the over-stretched health service falls victim to the bug that is on its way to the UK after blighting Australia, experts warn. They have already stressed that the H3N2 strain could pose the same threat to humanity as the Hong Kong flu in 1968, which killed one million people. And the under-prepared NHS will 'break' if Aussie flu does strike the nation as viciously as expected, the Society for Acute Medicine (SAM) claims. The number of people waiting for surgery on the NHS is already at its highest level in a decade. Dr Nick Scriven, president of SAM, which represents doctors who look after patients admitted as an emergency who do not need surgery, said a bad flu season could 'overwhelm' the NHS. Advertisement

A&E waiting times are also on the rise and only 89.7 per cent of patients were treated within the target four hours in September.

This is up from 90.6 per cent in September 2016 and the figure is likely to worsen over the winter months.

Hospitals and A&E units were extremely busy last winter and at one point the Red Cross charity warned of a humanitarian crisis.

Experts are worried that this winter will be even worse and they are particularly concerned about a severe flu virus on its way from the Southern Hemisphere.

Ruth Thorlby, assistant director of policy at the Health Foundation think-tank, said the statistics 'do not bode well for patients or staff.'

Continued pressure on the NHS

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association said: 'These figures point to an NHS under continued pressure.

'Staff across the NHS are gearing up again for the busy winter period and will remember the stress of enduring the worst winter on record last year, with patients facing unacceptable delays for care.

'We don't want to see a repeat of that, this year, which is why it's vital the entire health system is supported and working well - from our GP surgeries, to hospital wards, to social care.'

An NHS England spokesman said: 'While it's good to see that A&E 4-hour performance year to date has stabilised at 90.2 per cent - ending the annual declines seen in recent years  the whole of the NHS is mobilising for what could be a tough winter.

'Important new action on flu, on delayed hospital discharges, and on more A&E consultants is all being announced today.'
Mothers across the globe subconsciously change the tone of their voice when they talk to their baby to help them learn, a new study found.

Regardless of the language spoken, all mothers use a universal 'motherese' or 'baby talk' when they address to their infants, which is an exaggerated and somewhat musical form of speech.

While it may sound silly to adults, studies show it plays an important role in language learning, engaging infants' emotions and highlighting the structure of language to help babies decode the puzzle of syllables and sentences.

Now Princeton University researchers have found another unique feature of the way mothers talk to their babies, claiming they shift the timbre of their voice in a specific way.

A new study from Princeton University has found that mothers adjust their timbre when addressing their newborns (file photo)

A mother shifts the timbre, which is defined as the quality of a sound, in her voice so her newborn can recognize and pay attention to her from birth, the researchers explained, adding that the same could be true for fathers.

For the study, researchers recorded mothers while they played with and read to their seven- to 12-month-old infants and when they spoke to another adult.

The differences in timbre they noticed were strong enough to be reliably picked out by a machine learning algorithm, and researchers said that the shifts suggested there was a universal form of communication with infants.

Researcher Elise Piazza said her team had discovered 'a new cue that mothers implicitly use to support babies' language learning'.

WHY DO WE USE BABY TALK? A separate study recently revealed that baby talk evolved as a way to make parents seem less intimidating to their children. The researchers studied the movements that mothers make with their lips and tongue while talking to their babies to decipher the origins of baby talk. When mothers speak to their babies, which is formally known as infant-directed speech, they unconsciously adjust their voice box to speak in a higher pitch. The researchers suggest that our ancestors may have unconsciously raised their larynx to produce a squeaky voice that appears less aggressive to their offspring. Advertisement

The timbre shift was consistent across women who spoke 10 languages: English, Cantonese, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Mandarin, Polish, Russian and Spanish.

Professor Jenny Saffran who teaches psychology at the University of Wisconsin explained: 'We've known for a long time that adults change the way they speak when they are addressing babies.

'They speak more slowly, use shorter sentences, talk at a higher pitch and swoop their pitch up and down more often than when they are speaking to other adults.

'This is the first study to ask whether mothers also change the timbre of their voice, manipulating the kinds of features that differentiate musical instruments from one another.'

Piazza said: 'We found that mothers alter this basic quality of their voices when speaking to infants, and they do so in a highly consistent way across many diverse languages.'

The researchers suspect the unique timbre fingerprint mothers use when addressing newborns could help babies learn to differentiate and direct their attention to their mother's voice as soon as they are born.

Piazza also said that the report could lead to new types of speech analysis.

Specifically, she said the findings could allow speech recognition technology to quickly identify the speech mode that mothers use when addressing their babies across all languages.

'Our work also invites future explorations of how speakers adjust their timbre to accommodate a wide variety of audiences, such as political constituents, students and romantic partners.'

Future research will explore how the timbre shift helps infants learn. The study was published in the journal Current Biology.
Women are more sexually-fluid throughout their lives than men - and the physiological changes of middle age make them more open to exploring those feelings, a psychologist says.

More and more high profile women have been coming out about their relationships with women later in life, but research presented by this year's North American Menopause Society (NAMS) suggests it's not just a fad.

Far more women (as well as men) are attracted to both sexes than are attracted exclusively to people of the same sex, so later relationships don't mean that previous hetero ones should be dismissed.

University of Utah psychologist Dr Lisa Diamond says that more research is needed to understand how social and physiological factors interact to affect a middle aged woman's sexuality.

Sexual fluidity is becoming more socially acceptable. Psychologist Dr Lisa Diamond says that middle age may offer an opportunity for women, who tend to be more sexually fluid throughout life, to act on their same-sex attractions

Though research on the intersection of these factors is lacking, Dr Diamond hypothesizes that its a complicated dynamic between hormonal changes, physical experiences, and, certainly sexual desires.

In recent years, celebrities like Sex and the Citys Cynthia Nixon and American Horror Story actress Holland Taylor have been the subject of media attention and Hollywood gossip about their relationships with women.

The idea of so-called late-in-life lesbians has led to questions about why women enter these relationships during middle age.

Dr Diamond says that we dont know if fluidity is more likely at certain life stages than others. But one of the things we have observed is that individuals, but especially women, go through changes that give them a little more freedom around middle age.

She says that as a marriage ends and children leave home, a woman might have the opportunity to discover and act on [her sexual fluidity] as she gets older.

Through qualitative interview studies, Dr Diamond has found that many women report that sexual exploration is quite different later in life from what it was when they were younger.

A woman may be at a point where she can ask herself, '"what do I want, who am I?" Questions of sexuality come to the forefront, she says.

American Horror Story star Holland Taylor, 74 (right) has historically been very quiet about her relationships, but confirmed in 2015 that she was in a relationship with actress 42-year-old Sarah Paulson (left)

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 2011 and 2015, about 17 percent of women reported that they were sexually attracted to both men and women.

During the same period of time, only 5.6 percent of men felt desire for both sexes.

Sexuality really is a life span phenomenon, says Dr Diamond.

People are living longer, so when we talk about menopause and post-menopausal changes, were talking about a substantial portion of your life, so theres a lot to study about how sexuality evolves at that part of life.

She suggests that there may be physiological factors that shape the course of a persons sexuality, as well as normal developmental factors.

Many women choose to undergo hormone replacement therapy after menopause, which has been reported to increase libido by as much as 44 percent. However, there is not conclusive evidence on whether or not its linked to changes in sexual fluidity.

Cynthia Nixon (right) started dating women when she was 38 after 15 years with ex-boyfriend Danny Mozes. She married her wife, Christine Marinoni (left), in 2012

Dr Diamond says shed love to see that kind of research, but that she hasnt seen a huge interest from major funding bodies to understand sexual fluidity.

Non-heterosexuality has also become far more openly socially accepted in recent years than it was 25 years ago, when women who are now post-menopausal were in their twenties.

Now, you see more discussion of same sex sexuality in general in the media, which allows women to even have a language to talk about it, Dr Diamond says.

The fact that they werent talking about it before doesnt mean that middle-aged women were not attracted to women before, and the capacity to express same sex attractions doesnt invalidate previous hetero relationships, Dr Diamond stresses.

She worries that if women go through these changes at a later stage [in life], they might think oh my god, was I just repressed, was I living fake life? Its important for them to know that it doesnt mean that they were repressed.

But being fluid doesnt require that you pick a new identity and commit to it, Dr Diamond says.

Embrace the questioning process and dont feel pressured to figure out who you are and what you want right now.
Pimple popping is out, and it has been replaced with something just as graphic: videos of ingrown hairs being removed.

Japanese Instagram account Tweezist has amassed more than 18,000 followers who subscribe to watching nothing more than ingrown hairs being pulled out of people's skin.

The up close images of the precision with which tweezers remove people's ingrown hairs are both highly satisfying and deeply disturbing.

Here, we've gathered a preview of what you will find on the account and explained how you can avoid ingrown hairs in the first place.

Scroll down for video

An Instagram account called Tweezist shows nothing but ingrown hairs being removed

An ingrown hair forms when either a tweezed or shaved hair grows back into one's skin instead of out of it, and it can result in pain, inflammation and a rash.

The condition is common, and those most at risk are black men who shave their facial hair and people with tightly curled hair that they shave, wax or tweeze.

Ingrown hairs can develop anywhere where someone has hair follicles, but for men they are most common on the cheeks, neck and chin. For women, they are most likely to pop up in the armpit or pubic hair areas or on the legs.

Symptoms of ingrown hairs include small rounded bumps around the inflamed follicle; blister-like, pus-filled lesions; a skin darkening side effect called hyperpigmentation; itching and pain.

A number of things can make you susceptible to ingrown hairs, including pulling your skin taut while shaving. This makes it easy for a freshly cut hair to reenter the skin via your hair follicle before growing out if it.

Ingrown hairs can cause some minor complications including bacterial infections - which arise from scratching - permanent scarring and razor bumps.

Tweezist has more than 18,000 followers

The condition often disappears on its own without treatment, and developing an ingrown hair every now and then is not a cause for concern that should lead you to see a doctor.

However, if ingrown hairs prove to be a chronic condition for you, you may want to consider seeing a specialist such as a dermatologist who can help you manage them.

To avoid ingrown hairs, you should avoid removing hair from your body as much as possible. In areas where you must remove hair, refrain from pulling the edges of your skin tight when you shave.

Dermatologists also recommend using exfoliating skin products that will clear dead skin cells to avoid ingrown hairs.

But if you develop one, do not remove any hair in the area where it has formed until it has been removed or it disappears on its own.

Certain drugs and topical creams can help people avoid ingrown hairs, including retinoids. Examples are tretinoin, Renova and Retin-A.

A doctor could also prescribe a cream that reduces inflammation, such as a steroid cream, to treat an ingrown hair.

Lastly, pills or creams that target infections could be useful in treating an ingrown hair. For a mild infection that arises because of scratching an antibiotic ointment might be able to treat it. However, for severe infections, doctors might prescribe oral antibiotics.
A womans brain gets more active, not less, as she approaches orgasm, a new study finds.

Researchers from the Rutgers University in Newark, New jersey performed more detailed brain scans of women leading up to, during and after orgasm than have ever been done before.

While the study confirmed earlier findings about pain levels, it overturned previous research that suggested that parts of a womans brain turn off when she orgasms.

Instead, the Rutgers research found a slow build of activity in the parts of womens brains associated with memory, movement and emotion that peaked when her physical pleasure did.

A new study shows that areas of women's brains become increasingly active as she approaches an orgasm, contrary to prior research

Dr Nan Wise asked 10 women to donate their orgasms to science, as she is fond of saying.

The women were asked to orgasm twice, in whatever order they preferred, by stimulating themselves and by being stimulated by their partners, all while in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine.

Studying the brain while a woman orgasms presents a number of challenges, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machines arent exactly sexy, Dr Wise says.

But this kind of machine is exactly what enabled the researchers to see new information about what happens in a womans brain as she orgasms, so long as she stays still.

So Dr Wise and the research team developed a contraption that she calls the happy helmet to support and stabilize the womens heads so that the fMRI could take accurate images while the rest of their bodies were more free to move.

She made sure that even in a clinical room, the experience was as positive as possible, giving the women 'nice bathrobes and comfy socks,' to help them 'access their erotic energy.'

Dr Wise said the women felt like they were doing some thing empowering, akin to 'burning their bras as a kind of sexual liberation thing.'

The participants 'felt really good that they got to a place in their sexuality and bodies' that they could participate in the study, she says.

No matter who was bringing them to climax, Dr Wises study found that, contrary to popular belief, womens brains do not need to turn off in order for them to get turned on enough to orgasm.

In fact, as a woman approaches orgasm, a lot of different areas [of the brain] start ramping up: sensation and integration of sensation, motor areas - orgasm involves a lot of muscle tension in the body - and areas that come online when we are experiencing something rewarding, says Dr Wise.

Her observations were essentially opposite to the findings of a 2005 study done in the Netherlands by Dr Gert Holstege - the only other lunatic crazy enough to do orgasm studies - at the University of Groningen.

Dr Wise says that the differences in the methods of each study likely explain their contrasting outcomes.

In the first, done by researchers at the University of Groningen researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) scanning technology to take a snap shots of womens brains. The study participants were also only brought to orgasm by their partners, not by themselves.

Dr Wise says that while PET scans are effective for many things, her fMRI scans allowed her to see how the brains activity changed over time.

The University of Groningen studys images showed that activity in the frontal cortex of womens brains fell below their normal resting levels.

In her study, we didnt have any indication that the frontal regions went below baseline, says Dr Wise.

fMRI scans of women's brains showed that there was more activity in women's brains during orgasm (pictured) related to motor tension, sensation and the brain's reward system than there was before orgasm

The ability to have an orgasm is probably related to the ability to pay attention to your sensations, she says. Your mind will work when you pay attention, and the frontal cortex comes on in evaluating rewards and participating in them.

The frontal regions of the brain have hedonic hotspots, parts of the reward system of the brain that is activated during orgasm. The study found that orgasm also leads to the release of dopamine and endogenous opioids in the brain.

These natural opioids help to explain the increases in both pain detection and tolerance, that women experience during orgasm, says Dr Wise.

Leading up to orgasm, a lot of regions get online to reach some sort of critical mass, then you go over, which apparently creates a lot of oxygenation of brain, good thing like brain exercise.

Dr Wise is shocked by the limited research on orgasms and sex, and concerned by the fact that young people are having less sex in the US.

We need to know more about the sexual brain, like, hello?

Her research also revealed how just thinking about sexual stimulation could light up these areas of the brain, and she says that in 2011 she published the first study systematically mapping connections between the genitals and the brain.

She hopes that research into how the brain responds to sexual pleasure can open a window into the pleasure brain.

Dr Wise says that we are living in an age of anhedonia, an inability to experience pleasure, and need to understand how to harness healthy hedonism so that we dont need external things to try to jack up our sense of pleasure and satisfaction.
FASHION

THE DANDY AT DUSK

By Phillip Mann (Head of Zeus 25)

To dandies, clothes are the very essence of existence.

The width of a turn-up, the angle of a breast pocket, an extra eighth-of-an-inch on the heel of a shoe: deliberating such matters with ones tailors could take many hours of concentration, says Phillip Mann in this study of the ramifications of coat buttons and lapel-lengths.

The pioneer dandy, the father of modern costume, was Beau Brummell, an Old Etonian who resigned a military commission when his regiment was posted to Manchester. Brummell refused to be seen dead there.

A friend of the Prince Regent, he went on parade instead in Mayfair gentlemens clubs, decking himself in lace-trimmed, lavender-coloured velvet, patent leather shoes, silk stockings and knee breeches.

The pioneer dandy, the father of modern costume, was Beau Brummell, an Old Etonian (pictured)

Sometimes he gave the impression he had impossibly long legs by wearing skin-tight pantaloons fastened around the foot with a strap. This was a forerunner of the trouser, which came in after Waterloo in 1815.

Beau lost heavily at the gaming tables and fled to France. Showing symptoms of syphilis, he was carted off to an asylum.

Mann makes the point that many a dandy declines and falls dramatically, as the euphoria of fashion has its counterpart in dereliction, depression and existential anguish.

An addiction to fancy dress can be a disguise for neurosis. The mania for fabrics and collars may never be appeased, particularly if the wearer doesnt actually much like himself. As Mann observes, a perfectly fitting suit cant satisfy us if there are physical faults to correct or hide.

Edward VIIs tailors had their work cut out camouflaging the monarchs girth  the tradition of leaving the bottom waistcoat button undone began because of Edwards fondness for pies.

Portly or not, however, he was a style icon, the king of fashion. Edward was responsible for the Homburg hat, shooting tweeds, cream flannels and the single-breasted blazer. He also insisted on a side-crease in his trousers.

His grandson, the future Duke of Windsor, provides Mann with his richest chapter. David, as his family called him, went in for loud checks and strident tweeds. Wishing to annoy his severe and starchy parents, George V and Queen Mary, he saw dandyism as a means of subverting the role that had been assigned him.

David wore double-breasted check suits and suede shoes in town, belts instead of braces and dinner jackets instead of tails. He had extra padding in his ties, to create the bulbous Windsor knot. He liked striped and coloured shirts. His exasperated father deemed all of this an offence against decency.

THE DANDY AT DUSK By Phillip Mann (Head of Zeus 25)

As Duke of Windsor he was proud to retain his slim Peter Pan figure into old age, but he never stopped being a dandy. His valet had to iron each shirt the moment before it was put on, to obviate any wrinkle. He wore midnight blue, never black.

Nancy Mitford said he fussed about his clothes because, in exile, there was nothing else requiring his attention.

Banished from Britain, the Duke had a surprising parallel in Quentin Crisp, who felt himself an embattled outsider because of his sexuality, which he expressed through gold sandals, a floppy hat and purple hair.

Crisp spent his 91 years perfecting a regal image. I never did for long anything I didnt want to do  except grow old, he stated. When he fell fatally ill, on tour in Beau Brummells hated Manchester, he said, Ive outlived my wardrobe. Im ready to die.

Crisp did his utmost never to be mistaken for a businessman or an office worker, and in that respect resembled the best dressed man of the 20th century, Bunny Roger, upon whom the character of Steed in The Avengers was based.

Bunny was one of the Bright Young Things who, when offered a reward for getting into the rugby team at school, asked for a dolls house, which his father promptly provided.

Bunny was sent down from Oxford for impersonating Gloria Swanson at parties. He was far more beautiful than I ever was, said the real Swanson, when shown a photograph.

He never left the house without a skirted top-coat, gloves, mauve carnation, bowler hat and a tightly furled umbrella.

When a cabbie had the cheek to say:  Ere, you dropped your diamond necklace, luv, Bunny sniffed: Never with tweeds.

He died in 1997 and his hundreds of candy-coloured bespoke suits were auctioned at Sothebys. His 29in waist meant they were of no use to me.

The dandy survives in old movies. The dapperness of Fred Astaire and Cary Grant was inspired by the Duke of Windsor. No one looked better in a snap-brim fedora than Alain Delon.

In real life, however, dandies are anachronisms, smart figures from a more gracious age. The best anecdote in this book concerns Guy Burgess. Isolated for eternity in Moscow, his nostalgia for Old England was assuaged by clothes. He continued to order suits from Savile Row. He might be a traitor, said his tailor, but hes still a gentleman.
THE VISITORS by Catherine Burns (Legend Press 14.99)

THE VISITORS

by Catherine Burns (Legend Press 14.99)

Marion Zetland is a socially withdrawn single woman in her 50s who lives with her brother, John, in a dilapidated townhouse. She has no friends, no job, but fills her waking hours with TV.

The occasional cry for help or sob drifts up from the cellar, where John spends much of his time, but Marion is in denial about whatever it is hes up to down there  but we, the readers, can guess.

When John has a heart attack, Marion has to face the truth  with devastating results. With its two unsympathetic main characters, chilling atmosphere and grim denouement, this is an insightful study of loneliness and evil.

THE CHICKEN SOUP MURDER

THE CHICKEN SOUP MURDER by Maria Donovan (Seren 9.99)

by Maria Donovan (Seren 9.99)

Written in the voice of 11-year-old Michael, who suspects a murder committed by a neighbour, this novel inevitably evokes Mark Haddons The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time.

But it quickly establishes an identity and panache of its own, vividly painting the immediate social world of a prickly, precocious boy brought up by his nan, but with emotional ties to the neighbouring adults and children.

The plot is firmly rooted in its setting (a town close to Dorsets Jurassic Coast) and time (2012), but the theme of a childs dawning awareness of the lives of adults, and the beginning of his own transition away from childish things, is universal.

Handled with great sensitivity, this has great comedy, exciting developments and very moving moments, right through until the nicely worked solution to the mystery.

THE VISITORS by Catherine Burns (Legend Press 14.99)

THE VISITORS

by Catherine Burns (Legend Press 14.99)

As a child, Chizuru Akitani is bullied until she fatally stabs a fellow pupil and is institutionalised for the next seven years. Estranged from her father, a world-class violinist, she is then sent to resettle in America, where she changes her name to Rio Silvestri.

From that moment, her former identity becomes secret even from her husband and child. However, when her father dies, Rio returns alone to Japan for his funeral.

At the funeral home, she meets her old teacher and, together, they embark on a strenuous 88-temple pilgrimage.

As her relationship with her teacher changes, and more history is disinterred, Rio is forced to confront who she really is.

Japan provides the stunning backdrop to this intriguing story, which questions whether or not we can escape our past.
She had first love affair at 18, with headmistress of her French finishing school

BOOK OF THE WEEK

MANDERLEY FOREVER

by Tatiana de Rosnay (Allen & Unwin 18.99)

What a peculiar, slightly seedy, febrile family the du Mauriers seem to have been.

We may not be startled by its members attitude to morality if you look at the raw ingredients.

Descended from French aristocrats (although this was later discovered by Daphne, the subject of the book, to have been a background upgrade, faked by her rackety ancestor), there were artists, actors and writers in the family including J. M. Barrie; the parents were friends with the likes of Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence; and there was alcoholism, exacerbated by the familial black ribbons of depression.

Still, one reels at the description of Sunday evenings in the grand Cannon Hall family home in Hampstead, where celebrated stage actor Gerald du Maurier would regale his three young daughters around the dining table with stories of his imaginary stable, in which the young actresses in his company became fillies for him to break in, selected according to a league table of looks.

From a young age, Daphne du Maurier (pictured in 1930) felt herself to be a boy trapped in the body of a girl

Meanwhile, his wife upstairs  a former actress herself, Muriel Beaumont  would bang her foot on the floor when the laughter became too raucous.

Unhealthy, one would think, to snare your children into being complicit in your infidelities and in such an outrageous way. Gerald wished all three of his girls had been born boys. In fact, everyone in this book seems to be besotted by boys, and none more so than his middle daughter, his favourite, Daphne.

She grew up revelling in his obvious partiality towards her (later finding it oppressive, almost incestuous), but was aware that this contributed to her mothers coldness towards her, and her favouritism to the youngest daughter, Jeanne.

One begins to think Angela, the oldest, got off lightly (by dint of not being good-looking enough), escaping the attentions of either parent.

As soon as Daphne could decipher the alphabet, she read voraciously, from Peter Rabbit to the Romantic poets and the novels of her paternal grandfather, artist, writer and Paris-dweller, George du Maurier. Dickens, Scott, Wilde and the Brontes followed. Then her ultimate writers pash  Katherine Mansfield.

From a young age, Daphne felt herself to be a boy trapped in the body of a girl. Whenever she was called upon to be dashing or brave, or to seduce, she summoned her childhood male alter-ego  Eric Avon. It was Eric also who unleashed her creative energy.

Her marriage suffered from husband Tommys absence during World War II. From the moment he came home the couple (pictured together in 1940) appear to have become strangers

Years after her first love affair at 18, with the headmistress of her French finishing school, Daphne  by now a married woman of 40, with three children  fell passionately for Ellen Doubleday, the wife of her powerful U.S. publisher. Her ardour, to her dismay, was not returned; in letters to Ellen, Daphne explained that she was loved not by a woman  she had no Sapphic tendencies (or Venetian, in the lingo of the du Maurier family)  but by her other-half, Eric Avon.

On this point, she is quite adamant: By God and by Christ, if anyone should call that sort of love by the unattractive word that begins with L, Id tear their guts out.

It was when her family visited Cornwall that Daphnes life really began. Here she could be Eric every day, dressing like a sailor, in a Breton striped pullover, cap and  always her preferred attire  trousers.

The du Mauriers bought a house in Fowey, built into a cliff and previously used for boat-building. They called it Ferryside.

For her 20th birthday, Daphnes parents allowed their daughter to spend a month in Ferryside on her own so she could write. She also learnt how to sail and fish and was eventually given her own boat as a present. She explored the craggy coastline with her dog, Bingo, by her side, relishing her solitude, the wild sense of freedom and the chance to write uninterrupted.

Du Maurier saw her future husband, Major Boy Browning (Eton, Sandhurst, DSO and recipient of the French War Cross, in 1917, when he was only 19) as he sped by Ferryside in his white motorboat, back and forth, on consecutive days.

MANDERLEY FOREVER by Tatiana de Rosnay (Allen & Unwin 18.99)

As a mating ritual, it worked. Boy, also known as Tommy, proposed. Daphne accepted, and her heart-broken father wailed: It isnt fair! She was 25, Tommy was ten years her senior.

On their honeymoon, on a boat in Frenchmans Creek, she wrote the last words in a journal she had kept since she was 12. Bad luck for her biographers.

The marriage, which started out so well, suffered from Tommys absence during World War II; and despite outward urbane appearances, he had been traumatised by his experience in The Great War. From the moment he came home the couple appear to have become strangers, with separate bedrooms and no further shared intimacy.

Du Maurier had a fling with her friend, actress Gertrude Lawrence, frolicking in the waves in Florida, while Tommy had his own affairs.

But the most enduring love of her life was for a house, Menabilly  immortalised in Rebecca with that unforgettable, entrancing opening: Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.

It was an old Cornish manor house, long left empty, but still owned by a member of the original family, a Dr Rashleigh.

The story of the house and Daphnes pursuit of it is fascinating.

At the age of 36  by now wealthy from the huge global sales of Rebecca  she got her lawyer to contact the doctor and ask if he would consider renting her Menabilly. To her delight, he agreed.

It would be her family home for the next 25 years and she was heartbroken when she eventually had to give it back to the doctors family.

De Rosnay is a novelist and uses a fictional technique to address her subject, placing the narrative in the present sense.

Initial fears this might be irksome and mannered gave way as the vivid, dreamlike quality of the book took over, although the romanticism of the style and language suffers from a number of anachronisms and Americanisms at odds with the fastidious intent of the biographer.

Daphnes sisters throw up; her grandfather sketches the hassles of family life; the family eat in an upmarket restaurant; something which irritates her is a downer.

There have been so many terrific film adaptations of du Mauriers works  from Hitchcocks The Birds and Rebecca to Dont Look Now, which du Maurier thought so good she wrote to the director, Nic Roeg, and asked him if hed like to adapt any more of her work. So it is hard to recall: did one first discover her stories in print or on the screen?

The strength of de Rosnays biography is that it makes me want to visit (or revisit) her subjects books to find the answer to the question.

Du Maurier did not receive the critical acclaim she craved in her own lifetime. But her dark, brooding imagination seems more and more contemporary. Isnt that the very hallmark of a classic?
NATURE

ISLANDER: A JOURNEY AROUND OUR ARCHIPELAGO

by Patrick Barkham (Granta 20)

Being British, we are all islanders, whether we realise it or not.

I realised it one day when I was in Austria on holiday, and I thought, with a ferocity that surprises me still: Wheres the sea?

Several hundred miles in every direction, it turned out. And I cant really explain it, but I felt ridiculously claustrophobic all of a sudden, in the magnificent, wide-open spaces and blissful fresh air of the Austrian countryside. Wheres the sea?

From large islands, of course, its just a small step to small islands, and from there, to islands that are barely more than large rocks poking out of the ocean.

Nature writer Patrick Barkham has taken this path before with his splendid book Coastlines, which dipped its toe in island life while concentrating on the beaches, cliffs and harbours of the British mainland.

Nature writer Patrick Barkham's new book explores 11 different British islands. The essence of the book is the deep eccentricity of all the people he meets along the way

This book is pretty much what it says on the tin: it explores 11 British islands, of hugely varying sizes, populations and histories, and discovers that for every sort of person, theres an island somewhere that will suit you.

I think mine would have to have a pub and a second-hand bookshop, so its probably one of the larger ones for me.

Barkham, a lovely, fluid writer, takes his lead from a short story he once read by D. H. Lawrence about a man who keeps buying islands and eventually drives himself mad.

This story, it turns out, was about Compton Mackenzie, author of Whisky Galore and roughly 100 other now unread books, who moved from island to island, searching for something he probably never found.

Barkham visits Barra, the Hebridean island where Mackenzie lived for a decade in the Twenties, and Mackenzies story, which is both hilarious and oddly tragic, provides an entertaining counterpoint throughout the book to Barkhams own.

The essence of the book, though, is the deep eccentricity of all the people Barkham meets along the way. On the Isle of Man, now an agile, sharp-eyed home to financial services experts, the old islanders still venerate hares. A few years after the war, a woman went to a fish shop and bought a hare. Later, she showed it to an old Manxwoman who said: Youd never catch me eating my own grandmother.

ISLANDER: A JOURNEY AROUND OUR ARCHIPELAGO by Patrick Barkham

Barkham, not surprisingly, is fascinated by the fauna and the flora he finds on these places. Small islands, he says, are vivid laboratories for the study of evolution. Darwin discovered his many and hugely varied finches on the Galapagos Islands.

On St Kilda, there are supersized wrens; on Soay, there are tiny sheep. Madagascar has the smallest chameleon on the planet, and until recently, St Helena had a three-inch-long earwig.

Everyone he meets seems to work incessantly, because these are, in the main, hard lives. And they have long memories. You cant really have a present without a past here, says a Barra resident.

Writers crop up with remarkable frequency. Life on a small island restores human dignity, wrote Mackenzie. The individual is not overwhelmed by his own unimportance.

Robert Louis Stevenson, J. M. Barrie and George Orwell all lived in the Hebrides at one time or another.

On Eigg, everyone waves at everyone else. Every car looks decrepit and sounds sick, emitting gravelly bass notes, wheezes and death rattles.

On one island, Barkham hears birdsong he doesnt recognise, and it turns out to be a corncrake, once plentiful, now as rare as rubies. The RSPB is hoping to entice corncrakes back to Rathlin, off the northern Irish coast. One landed in 2014 and spent ten days there, calling for a mate who never came. Then some yuppies came in a helicopter and more or less landed on the birds head, says the warden. We never heard from him again.

And Barkham has a wonderful eye for detail. In the midst of telling us the terrible tale of Alderney in the Channel Islands, which its inhabitants voted to abandon en masse at the beginning of World War II, with just an hour to pack one suitcase each, he has room to give us a list of the wild flowers that grow on the clifftops in summer: Thrift, squill, prostrate broom, Portland spurge, Alderney cranesbill, bastard toadflax.

This is poetry, of a type. Id like a bouquet of Portland spurge, please, and throw in some bastard toadflax while youre about it.
CARS IN CUBA

By Kim Buddee (New Holland 16.99)

Tourists return from Cuba talking of cigars, cocktails and cars  and why wouldnt they?

Its roads are crammed with 1950s Americana, because U.S. sanctions have made buying a new car in Cuba virtually impossible.

This fabulous book by photographer Kim Buddee catalogues and documents the huge array of iconic motors that thunder through the streets of Havana - before they disappear

But as the political climate changes, will the kooky cars survive?

This fabulous book by photographer Kim Buddee catalogues and documents the huge array of iconic motors that thunder through the streets of Havana  before they disappear.
The International Monetary Fund has long been regarded as a capitalist tool imposing unfriendly orthodoxy on borrowing countries. In Latin America and other parts of the world, arriving IMF staff often are greeted with demonstrations amid concerns of tough cuts in public spending.

Post-crisis political changes in the West have led to some serious rethinking about policy.

Brexit, the rise of Donald Trump, the emergence of Macron, the success of the right-wing AfG in the German elections, the Catalan uprising and much else are partly a response to what its chief economist Maurice Obstfeld refers to as wealth inequalities.

The IMF has a solution which flies in the face of tax policies fashionable since the 1980s when supply-side economists embraced lower tax bands as means of unleashing growth.

New thinking: The central tenet of the IMF's latest Fiscal Monitor is that 'progressive' taxation, the wealthier you are the more you pay, is a good thing and can unleash prosperity

The central tenet of its latest Fiscal Monitor is that progressive taxation  the wealthier you are the more you pay  is good and can unleash prosperity. It wants more income tax and taxes on wealth in the advanced countries and more indirect taxes, such as duties in carbon fuels, in the less well-off states.

The fund rejects tax extremism of the kind seen in Britain in the 1970s. It also thinks it is time to remove from tax codes the privileges granted to the better-off. These include deductions for all manner of things ranging from mortgage interest (not relevant to the UK) to some medical costs.

The fund also thinks it is time to raise capital gains taxes to meaningful levels so they redistribute wealth, not allowing it to accumulate with individuals and families.

Much of this is almost certainly aimed at the Trump tax reforms which critics argue will increase inequalities in the US.

The timing of the IMFs release is embarrassing for its biggest shareholder, the US, in that it coincided with a Trump speech in Pennsylvania designed to win support for personal and corporate tax reforms.

Radical changes in the thinking at the IMF will be seen as manna from heaven from an unexpected source for Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. The Labour opposition is determined to tax the rich until the pips squeak.

Experience in Europe shows raising income taxes to exceptional levels can have hugely negative effects. Former president Francois Hollandes assault on the rich in France sent professionals and the wealthy scurrying to London and other locations.

When George Osborne lowered the highest rate of tax from 50 per cent to 45 per cent, a Treasury study suggested there was no loss of revenues because tax avoiders rejoined the system and the higher paid had an incentive to take more of their earnings in the UK.

The IMF is in the firing line of conservatives with its progressive tax campaign. Big shareholders in Washington and London  at the core of free market Anglo-Saxon capitalism  are unlikely to be impressed.

Cyber threat

Some 400,000 British consumers on the Equifax credit data base need no reminding of the danger of cyber attacks. There is still much which is unknown about the data leaks from even bigger attacks on Yahoo.

In its global stability report the IMF weighs in, noting that the assaults on financial institutions can be motivated by profit or the simple destruction of carefully built IT systems.

The economic loss from a major incident could be as high as $53billion (40.1billion), the IMF says.

The fund worries that the impact on the stability of the whole financial system could be substantial because of the high reliance on technology.

The solutions? More global co-operation in tracking the sources and risks, increased resilience and focus on prevention, and more information sharing.

I have an alternative: a return to old fashioned branch banking.

Yoghurt pioneer

Breakfast in Washington includes Chobani Greek yoghurt. Founder Hamdi Ulukaya was the star guest here at a forum hosted by World Bank president Jim Kim.

He is embraced by the development lobby for creating a $1billion (760million) turnover enterprise by using refugee labour and handing out equity to employees.

The sooner Ulukaya comes to Britain, the better.
Japan is one of the most interesting places in the world, with its unique culture, history and high level of technological advancement.

The nation's stock market is reflective of this, making it a compelling asset class to look into for an investor.

As has been extensively documented though, Japan's economy has been stuck in the slow lane for well over 20 years with very limited or even non-existent growth. There are some signs however that it has picked up pace this year and is worth a fresh look for investors.

Japan's economy has been stuck in the slow lane but there are some signs that it has picked up pace of late.

The latest of which came this week as upbeat sentiment sent Japan's best known stock index the Nikkei 225 up to a 21 year peak of 20,881 on Wednesday.

Following an extensive stimulus effort by the central bank, deflation has been fended off and economic growth is coming through in Japan again.

Perhaps more importantly in the long run as far as share prices go, companies are reforming their governance standards in order to run themselves more in the interest of shareholders rather than of the management, and increase transparency.

On the downside, the elephant in the room is North Korea.

The volatile dispute between the rogue state just across a narrow sea from Japan and the United States over the former's nuclear missile programme could yet spill over into armed conflict.

North Korea has already fired test missiles over Japan's territory.

Related to this, and adding more uncertainty to the pot, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called a snap general election for this month as he seeks to renew and strengthen his mandate.

Paul Green, an investment manager in BMO Global Asset Management's multi manager team noted the governance reforms underway as an important factor.

'Japan as an equity market is often viewed with suspicion by foreign investors, often citing cross shareholdings, inefficient company balance sheets and demographics as reasons not to invest.'

'There is now much more of a focus on improving the company's return on equity along with the total shareholder return via increased dividends and share buybacks. Share prices have responded as a result. Improvements are slow but ongoing.'

Looming in the background is the ongoing dispute over North Korea's missile programme which could derail Japan's nascent economic recovery.

'Despite the market's strong performance since Abenomics, company fundamentals look attractive and are improving, albeit gradually,' Green continued.

'The market looks cheap relative to other developed markets, particularly the US. It should be remembered that despite the improvements we are seeing at the company level, Japan remains a global economy and will be at the mercy of the strength of global growth and any geo-political events.'

Head of the RWC Japanese Focus strategy Corinna Arnold said investors should expect more bouts of volatility in the near term, but agreed there is a 'valuation opportunity' in Japan when compared with other developed markets.

'Macroeconomic and geopolitical risk factors abound and we expect the absolute and relative performance of our portfolio to be volatile in coming months,' she said.

'However, Japan remains an interesting equity market for active managers as restructuring and an ongoing focus on shareholder value underpin a corporate earnings expansion against a backdrop of global economic growth.'

'Net profit margins in Japan are still lower than they are in the US and Europe, leaving plenty of room for improvement,' Arnold added.

'Valuations in Japan remain less stretched than in either the US or Europe, especially when one considers that there are no signs of any shift in the Bank of Japan's position on quantitative easing.'

Patrick Thomas, an investment manager at Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management played down the rise in Japanese shares seen this week and the prospects for the asset class given the risk presented by North Korea.

'We cannot get as excited about Japan as we do about some of the faster growing areas of our portfolio,' he said. 'Japan is very much the tortoise in comparison with the hare of emerging markets. That said, we do hold a modest position on Japan in portfolios and continue to see this as an attractive way of diversifying equity exposure.'

'North Korea is geopolitically a Japan issue, but really, a broader risk assets issue. Japan is the textbook risk asset. As we enter the final months of the year, the backdrop is fluid and no one can second guess Kim or Trump.'

'There is a narrative that is developing on the premise that cool heads will prevail - the North Korea issue going away, core yields stabilising, a 'goldilocks' [scenario] persisting and Japan and other risk assets performing very strongly into the year end,' Thomas added.

'There is also a path that is more unsettled and explosive with core yields rising sharply and risky assets like Japan underperforming,' he cautioned.

With the election set for 22 October and the diplomacy over North Korea continuing, we may get some answers to these big questions soon.
Heathrow Airport is developing a match-making app for trucking firms so they can share lorries to deliver cargo and curb pollution.

It has promised that no extra airport-related traffic  including lorries carrying freight  will be generated by a third runway.

This is despite forecasts that it will be able to carry twice as much cargo by 2025, when it hopes to open the new runway.

Heathrow's plans to reduce their carbon footprint have been met with criticism so they are developing a new app for trucking firms so they can share lorries

The ambitious targets have been dismissed as impossible by environmental campaigners and MPs opposed to expansion.

They say the airport already breaches air quality limits.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said last month that Labour will oppose the third runway, predicting it will not meet the partys environmental tests.

But, at the British Chambers of Commerces international trade summit in Birmingham, Heathrows chairman Lord Deighton will today lay out a ten-point plan to cut freight emissions and boost its cargo capacity.

He will say: Through innovation, partnerships and our unwavering commitment to be a better neighbour, we are showing an expanded Heathrow is not a choice between the environment and the economy  we can deliver benefits for both.

The most eye-catching measure is an app, called Heathrow CargoCloud, which it hopes will cut the number of half-empty lorries delivering cargo to the airport.

The idea is that hundreds of companies based near the site can buy and sell space in lorries.

Many receive freight from third party haulage companies. They then sort and prepare it before delivering it to the airport.

By downloading the app on a smartphone or tablet device they will be able to find out whether any other firms are taking a delivery from a lorry that has space in it and pay that haulage company to pick up their goods. The aim is to launch the tool this year.

Other proposals include building a huge cargo village to allow more freight to be processed at the airport and reduce the need for it to be shuttled to warehouses in the surrounding area.

Giant warehouses will also be built away from the airport to sort cargo before delivery to Heathrow. Money will also be spent on adapting and widening roads too narrow for freight lorries. Heathrow said it will introduce an ultra-low emission zone, in addition to the one planned for the capital by London mayor Sadiq Khan.

It intends to try using electric or hybrid lorries to carry freight, with plans to install more electric-charging points.

The airport handles more than 30pc of the countrys exports to outside the EU, by value, and will outline its plans in a consultation to be published soon.

MPs still have to vote next year on a final national policy statement to give final approval to the runway proposal.

Last night one prominent environmental campaign group said the plan did not go far enough.

ClientEarth lawyer Alan Andrews said: Air pollution around Heathrow is at illegal levels, so its right that effort is going into reducing freight emissions.

However, this should be happening regardless of expansion ambitions. In fact, unless they urgently get a grip on the air quality problem, expansion is a non-starter.
A gingerbread shop in the heart of the Lake District has hired a Cantonese speaker to talk to the booming numbers of Chinese tourists in the region.

Mother-of-three Joanne Hunter, 50, who runs the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop with her husband Andrew, said: We see huge amounts of Chinese, and wants to make them feel more welcome.

The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop has hired a Cantonese speaker to talk to a growing number of Chinese visitors

Visit Britain yesterday said there were a record 23.1m overseas visits to the UK in the first seven months of 2017  up 8 per cent on the same period last year.

The tourism body expects nearly 40m visits to Britain this year  up 6 per cent on last year and an all-time high.

Visit Britain also said British families are holidaying at home.

From January to June, domestic holidays in England rose 7 per cent to 20.4m.
Today marks the 25th birthday of the FTSE 250, and the UK mid-cap index celebrated in style, reaching a record high of 20,167.78.

One business which may not still be on the mid-market for its next birthday, however, is Provident Financial. With shares having halved since a second profit warning in August, the latest blow to the lender came as a downgrade from analysts at Barclays.

The bank is cautious about the lack of confidence in a turnaround of the business and concerned about the unquantifiable size of potential redress which could be imposed by the regulator.

This week Provident's subsidiary Vanquis was also fined 75,000 for sending emails and texts to promote its credit cards.

Barclays is cautious about the lack of confidence in a turnaround at Provident and concerned about the unquantifiable size of potential redress which could be imposed by the regulator

With all that in mind, Barclays is worried Provident won't meet a debt obligation due on October 19. Yesterday, shares fell a further 4.3 per cent, or 36p, to 800.5p.

A profit warning sent shares in Mondi tumbling. The paper and packaging group blamed rising costs and a weaker dollar as it warned full-year performance would be 'modestly below market expectations'.

Mill closures are also set to cost the group 81million. but there was an 8 per cent rise in operating profit to 219million in its third-quarter figures. Shares dropped 7.8 per cent, or 163p, to 1926p, making it the greatest faller on the FTSE 100, which was down 4.46 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 7533.81.

While hundreds of thousands of Equifax users were still reeling, investment bank Macquarie pointed out the investment opportunity created by the firm's data breach. This is a chance for rival Experian to gain market share. Shares at the credit-scoring business have dipped on its competitor's woes but Macquarie says it's a short-term fall and a buying opportunity.

STOCK WATCH - ULTRA ELECTRONICS Ultra Electronics edged up after a 9million baggage management software contract win at Heathrow Airport. The business provides software for the defence, aerospace, security, transport and energy markets. The five-year deal, which starts in 2018, will see Ultra's Airport Systems business provide baggage tracking and reporting software to the airport. It's the fourth time Ultra has secured a contract with Heathrow since 2003. Shares rose 0.6 per cent, or 10p, to 1833p.

The investment bank said Experian should see higher demand for its ID monitoring services in light of the Equifax breach, which is believed to have affected more than 145m records  and analysts estimate it could affect revenue by as much as 15 per cent.

Equifax shares have already plunged more than 20 per cent since the breach was revealed and yesterday fell a further 1pc as the US stock market opened.

Macquarie has a target price on Experian shares of 1900p and yesterday they climbed 0.1 per cent, or 1p, to 1551p.

The promise of 'exceptionally exciting products' could not keep Character Group shares in the black. The Aim-listed toy maker has had success with successful brand licences, including Peppa Pig, Minecraft and Ben & Holly.

But it said markets were challenging and, while domestic sales were holding up, overseas business had not been so successful.

The group has also been hit by the recent bankruptcy of Toys R Us and performance for the year to August 2018 is expected to be significantly below expectation. Shares fell 13 per cent, or 57.5p, to 388p.

Analysts slashed their target prices for Vertu Motors despite the company revealing record pre-tax profits.

The autos retailer recorded pre-tax profit of 24.2million in the six months to August 31, up 29.4 per cent on a year ago.

Revenues were steady at 1.45billion and the group's margin fell 10 basis points to 11 per cent.

Vertu said used car values were strengthening because of reduced supply and added that full-year profits should be in line with expectation.

Yet Liberum cut its target price on the stock to 60p from 90p, and Canaccord Genuity reduced its from 75p to 67p.

Shareholders will see their dividend hiked 10 per cent to 0.55p. Shares finished flat at 47p.
A 'hard Brexit' will plunge the UK into a two-year recession and wipe nearly 18 per cent off its economic growth potential by 2030, an investment bank based in the Netherlands has warned.

Rabobank said the cost to Britain's economy would amount to 400billion, and leave each British worker 11,500 worse off.

Even if Britain does not see a hard Brexit, a 'soft' Brexit or free trade deal will still leave the UK's working population worse off by an average of 7,500 to 9,500 each, the report claimed.

Shockwaves: A 'hard' Brexit would cost Britain's economy 400million and wipe 18 per cent off its GDP, Rabobank said

Rabobank claimed that previous studies had underestimated the economic costs of Brexit had said: because they had 'focused on trade and investment',and failed to address structural factors like 'innovation, competition, knowledge and human capital'.

'By looking at dynamics such as how they will change and what effects this will have on the structural make-up of the UK and European economy, our research shows that the long-lasting impact of Brexit is likely to be more severe than initially anticipated,' said Hugo Erken, senior economist at Rabobank.

The report claims that hard Brexit would cause a jump in unemployment from 4.6 per cent in 2018 to 6.2 per cent in 2020, but this would only be temporary and quickly return to 'long-term structural unemployment levels'.

What does it all mean? - Hard Brexit - Britain exits the single market, meaning barriers like tariffs will be imposed on UK goods and services - Soft Brexit - Britain exits the customs union, but remains part of the European internal market - No deal - This happens if the current negotiations come to nothing. No deal is made. It is possible Britain could exit the EU on 29 March 2019 with no deal in place. In the long run, certain agreements, for issues like trade and security, would still need to be made up - Bilateral Free Trade Agreement - Tariffs on products are expected to remain zero, but the increase in non-tariff barriers will be larger than in the soft scenario. Services will no longer be able to move freely For more information on what a hard Brexit, soft Brexit or no deal means, read Adrian Lowery's article.

A hard Brexit would also trigger consumer prices to be 30 per cent higher than if Britain remained in the EU, Rabobank said.

In the event of a hard Brexit, net migration to the UK is predicted to drop by 44 per cent.

In response to the findings, a Government spokesman said: 'We are committed to securing a new economic relationship with the EU that can deliver prosperity for people across our country.

'To lock in strong future growth, we are investing 23billion in infrastructure, research and housing alongside an ambitious industrial strategy.'

Prime Minister Theresa May this week confirmed the Government was setting aside funds for a potential no-deal scenario.

The Prime Minister told the Commons 250million had already been committed this year for preparations, with funds split between HM Revenue & Customs, the Department for the Environment, Department for Transport and the Home Office.

The announcement came after her Chancellor Philip Hammond infuriated Brexiteers by telling them he was not ready to unlock billions for no deal contingencies.

If a hard Brexit goes ahead without any transitional period, Britain would immediately fall into a two-year recession, Rabobank warns, and wipe 2.4 per cent off Britain's GDP immediately.

Downgrade: The IMF, led by Christine Lagarde, pictured, has dropped the UK's estimated growth rate

If a free trade agreement is negotiated by 29 March 2019 or a soft Brexit goes ahead, the investment bank believes the UK will still fall into recession, but that this will be short-lived.

A soft Brexit would still cause Britain's GDP to dip by 0.3 per cent, while a free trade agreement deal would trigger a 1.1 per cent decrease, the research claims.

Rabobank said that even if the UK negotiates a new free trade agreement, like Switzerland has, it would cost Britain 12.5 per cent of GDP growth by 2030.

A soft Brexit, where the UK would remain part of the European internal market but exits the customs union, would result in a 10 per cent hit, Rabobank said.

Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund singled out Britain as a 'notable exception' to the ongoing trend for global economic growth.

The IMF cut the UK's projected annual economic growth rate from 1.9 per cent to 1.7 per cent. For this year, the UK's growth rate has been dropped by 0.3 percentage points to 1.7 per cent.

Over the next five years, the IMF expects Britain's economy to grow by 10.3 per cent, while Greece's is projected to swell by 11.5 period over the period.

Moving on: Today, Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed the Government was setting aside funds for a potential no-deal scenario
Media commentator Peta Credlin forced a Sky News host to awkwardly cut to an ad break as she pointed at fellow panellists and described them all as 'p*** and wind'.

Tony Abbott's former prime ministerial chief-of-staff became annoyed on Paul Murray Live as Sky News political reporter Laura Jayes suggested Immigration Minister Peter Dutton would take over as Liberal Party leader.

Ms Credlin, who has worked for three federal Liberal leaders, suggested she knew more about internal party machinations than the other panellists, who included former Labor adviser Nicholas Reece.

Peta Credlin (centre) pointed at Sky panellists Laura Jayes and Paul Murray on live television

The media commentator who has worked for three Liberal leaders was annoyed on Sky News

'Can I just be really frank here,' she said, interrupting Jayes.

'Journos, journos, journos and a Labor outsider, no one is going to tell you in the Liberal Party what is really going on.

'They are more likely, the conservatives, to tell me and I think you are all p*** and wind. Because I tell you what. This ...'

Murray took exception and abruptly ended her rant this week.

Isn't she bright: Peta Credlin berated Sky News panellists for lacking her Liberal Party insights

'Thank you, let's take a break here on Paul Murray Live,' he said, before awkwardly sipping from a coffee mug.

Credlin, a paid Sky News commentator, looked on with a surly expression.

Her mood had soured when Jayes suggested Mr Abbott, a conservative in the Liberal Party, was undermining Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

A Sky News reporter's suggestion about Tony Abbott put Peta Credlin in such a black mood

Ms Credlin lost her job as a prime ministerial chief-of-staff in September 2015 when her former boss was rolled as Liberal Party leader, after losing 30 consecutive Newspolls.

As Mr Turnbull now also struggles in the polls, Mr Abbott, as a Liberal backbencher has made speeches contradicting the prime minister on climate change policy and is leading the 'No' campaign against same-sex marriage.

He notably did this in London earlier this week, suggesting global warming was beneficial because it would save people from dying of cold snaps.
Beijing sent a warship, fighter jets and a helicopter to chase off a US Navy destroyer after it sailed past disputed islands in the South China Sea, it has emerged.

Chinese military chiefs said the USS Chafee had infringed on the country's sovereignty and security with its 'provocation' as it neared the Paracel Islands.

America's operation was the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing's efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters.

China, angered by the mission, responded immediately on Tuesday by dispatching its own navy and air force to warn the US ship to leave, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

Beijing sent a warship, fighter jets and a helicopter to chase off USS Chafee (pictured) after it sailed past disputed islands in the South China Sea

Chinese military chiefs said the USS Chafee had infringed on the country's sovereignty and security with its 'provocation' as it neared the Paracel Islands. A US Navy ensign practices firing a machine gun from the vessel in September

America's operation was the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijing's efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters. Pictured is one of the atolls that make up the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea

It comes as President Donald Trump's administration seeks Chinese cooperation in reining in North Korea's missile and nuclear programs.

Hua said: 'The US vessel action violated Chinese laws and relevant international laws, undermined China's sovereignty and security interests.

'China is firmly opposed to that and has lodged stern representations with the US,' Hua added, using the term for official diplomatic protests.

China's defence ministry warned it would now further strengthen its naval and air defenses.

Patrol: Electronics Technician 3rd Class Drake Sierra, assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee, mans a machine gun as the ship arrives in Hong Kong on October 2

China, angered by the mission, responded immediately by dispatching its own navy and air force to warn the US ship (pictured in March) to leave, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said

If confirmed by the United States, it would be the fourth 'freedom of navigation' operation (FONOP) carried out by the US Navy since President Donald Trump took office in January.

A US defence ministry spokesman refused to confirm the manoeuvre.

But he said all operations are conducted in accordance with international law and 'demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows'.

'We are continuing regular FONOPS, as we have routinely done in the past and will continue to do in the future,' Lieutenant Colonel Chris Logan said in a statement.

The US Navy regularly carries out such operations to challenge China's vast claims to the South China Sea, where Beijing has turned reefs into militarised artificial islands.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim territory in the vast sea.

The US Navy regularly carries out such operations to challenge China's vast claims to the South China Sea, where Beijing has turned reefs into militarised artificial islands.

However, Hua said: 'The Chinese government will continue to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime entitlements. We urge the US to respect Chinese sovereignty and security interests.'

The latest US sail-past was not as provocative as previous ones carried out since Trump took office in January.

Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Chafee, a guided-missile destroyer, carried out normal maneuvering operations among a string of islets, reefs and shoals over which China has territorial disputes with its neighbors.

Next month, Trump makes his first visit to Asia as president, including a stop in China, which he has been pressuring to do more to rein in North Korea. China is North Korea's neighbor and biggest trading partner.

Unlike in August, when a U.S. Navy destroyer came within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built up by China in the South China Sea, officials said the destroyer on Tuesday sailed close to but not within that range of the islands.

Twelve nautical miles mark internationally recognized territorial limits. Sailing within that range is meant to show the United States does not recognize territorial claims.
North Korea's nuclear weapons development is spooking most Americans, and two-thirds of them say President Donald Trump's war of words with the isolated nation's leader is making the situation worse. Less than 1 in 10 thinks Trump's comments are making it better.

Those are the findings of a poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, as tensions between the adversaries escalate and North Korea comes closer to its goal of having a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the continental U.S.

The poll was conducted about a week after Trump intensified rhetorical exchanges with his counterpart Kim Jong Un, dubbing him 'Rocket Man' and threatening in a Sept. 19 speech at the U.N. to 'totally destroy' North Korea if the U.S. is forced to defend itself and its allies. Kim responded with dire threats and insults of his own, calling Trump 'deranged' and a 'dotard.'

A new poll finds that North Korea's nuclear weapons development is spooking most Americans, and they say President Donald Trump's war of words with the isolated nation's leader is making the situation worse

Just 8 per cent of Americans think Trump's comments are making the North Korea crisis better

'The instability of it all makes me very nervous,' said Diana Egan, 34, of Los Angeles. She described herself as a moderate Republican but voiced anxiety about how North Korea might respond to Trump's tough talk and tweets. 'You don't know where the line is for them, and where they say, 'I'm going to push this button.''

The poll found that 65 percent of Americans think Trump's comments have made the situation between the U.S. and North Korea worse, including 45 percent who think he's made the situation much worse. Only 8 percent think he's making the situation better.

Eighty-nine percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents and 38 percent of Republicans think Trump's comments have made things worse.

Trump defended his tough approach on Wednesday as he conceded differences on North Korea with his own top diplomat, Rex Tillerson, who advocates keeping open the possibility of negotiations with Kim's authoritarian government.

'I think perhaps I feel stronger and tougher on that subject than other people,' Trump said in the Oval Office. 'But I listen to everybody and ultimately I will do what's right for the United States and really what's right for the world,' he said, adding, 'it's a problem that has to be solved.'

Although North Korea's ability to wed a nuclear warhead with a long-range missile and strike a target in the U.S. remains uncertain, most of the poll respondents are worried about Kim attacking America. In July, North Korea tested for the first time a missile that could potentially strike most of the continental U.S.

Trump has used Twitter to complain that past foreign policy failures have allowed Pyongyang to develop nuclear weapons

Some 67 percent of Americans are very or extremely concerned about the threat North Korea's nuclear weapons program poses to the United States. Four in 10 are concerned about the threat posed to where they live specifically, more so if they live in urban areas.

'He (Trump) will be somewhere safe. We got nowhere to go,' said Anthony Leroy Waters, 61, of Wilmington, North Carolina. He said he lives 30 miles from a nuclear power plant and fears the impact an attack could have on his locality. 'It's scary,' he said.

According to the poll, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to be concerned about where they live, 50 percent to 32 percent.

Overall, 68 percent of respondents say they are concerned about the threat posed to U.S. territories like Guam, and 69 percent are concerned about the threat to U.S. allies, such as Japan and South Korea - North Korea's neighbors. That concern registered higher among older Americans than younger ones.

Some 75 percent of Americans also think comments made by North Korean leaders have made the situation between the two countries worse. Eighty-three percent of Democrats and 70 percent of Republicans agree.

75 percent of Americans also think comments made by North Korean leaders including dictator Kim Jong-Un have made the situation between the two countries worse

North Korea has carried out several missile test-launches and underground atomic detonations

Mui Baltrumas, 67, of Evanston, Illinois, dissented. He said the North Korean threat is being blown out of proportion and Kim is more calculating and 'not nearly as crazy as everyone thinks he is.' Baltrumas, who leans Democratic, said he was more concerned by the 'John Wayne-style machismo coming out of the White House.'

'So long as we're looking at North Korea, we're not looking at problems in our own backyard. I think it's a nice, cheap political diversion,' he said.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,150 adults was conducted Sept. 28-Oct. 2 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Respondents were first selected randomly using address-based sampling methods, and later interviewed online or by phone.
A military father returning home to Ireland was greeted with excitement as his young daughter ran over to him shouting, 'Daddy, Daddy!'

But his young son was too overcome with emotion to even move.

Captain Ian Gavagan arrived home in Dublin after spending six months in the Golan Heights, on the Israel-Syria border.

Video shows the emotional scenes as UN peacekeeper Gavagan is welcomed by his family, including his new wife, Maria.

But his son, Sean, is not found amid the hugging and kissing - he had stopped a few metres away, head down and in tears at the first sight of his beloved father.

Ian Gavagan's family, pictured, prepares to meet him as he arrives home after a six-month tour in the Golan Heights, on the Israel-Syria border

His family - including his new wife, Maria - were seen warmly embracing the UN peacekeeper

Captain Gavagan was one of 100 soldiers stationed at Casement Aerodrome military base who returned home last week.

He had flown back earlier during his deployment to marry Maria and then headed straight back out to the region.

The adorable scene starts with his daughter rushing over to him. There are hugs and kisses until the reunited family realises that little Sean is nowhere to be found in the warm embrace.

Looking back, the family sees Sean where they left him before running - he's in tears after getting a first glance at his returning dad.

A man, assumed to be a colleague of Captain Gavagan, walks over to Sean, bending down to see if he's alright and eventually leads him over to greet his father.

Casement Aerodrome is a military airbase to the southwest of Dublin, in Baldonnel.

It is the headquarters and only airfield of the Irish Air Corps.

But little Sean doesn't join in the hug as he is too overcome with emotion

A man walks over to Sean, pictured, and tries to comfort him as it's all too much for him

Sean holds his hands to his face to cover the tears while he is comforted by a man, possibly a colleague of his father

The man convinces little Sean to stop crying and go and see his dad

Captain Gavagan had flown back earlier during his deployment to marry Maria and then headed straight back out to the region

Young Sean is seen here dressed in military uniform in proud homage to his father

Maria on her wedding day; and with Ian, who is finally back home in Ireland

UN peackeepers have been monitoring a 1974 ceasefire between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights.

Hundreds of UN troops withdrew from the Syrian-held side of the Golan to the Israeli-occupied sector in September 2014 after Al Qaeda-linked rebels kidnapped dozens of peacekeepers.

In late August 2014, rebels on the Syrian side including Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front kidnapped more than 40 Fijian UN troops and released them two weeks later.

Israel seized 1,200sq km (460 square miles) of the Golan during the Six-Day War of 1967, then annexed it in 1981.

Some 510sq km of the Golan remain on the Syrian side of the ceasefire line, with the peacekeepers overseeing a buffer zone stretching 70km from Lebanon in the north to Jordan in the south.
A Mississippi woman who was set on fire in a car told firefighters before she died of her burns that someone called 'Eric' was responsible, the first responders testified on Wednesday.

Defendant Quinton Tellis, 29, has pleaded not guilty to capital murder in the death of 19-year-old Jessica Chambers on December 6, 2014, in Courtland, Mississippi.

Chambers, who authorities say was found with burns on 93 per cent of her body, died hours later at a Memphis hospital.

Prosecutors say Tellis set Chambers and her car on fire in a rural back road and left her to die.

But defense attorney Darla Palmer maintained in opening statements Tuesday that Tellis has been falsely accused, and that Chambers' dying statement to firefighters shows the killer was someone else.

Defendant Quinton Tellis (left), 29, has pleaded not guilty to capital murder in the death of 19-year-old Jessica Chambers (right) on December 6, 2014, in Courtland, Mississippi

Ben Chambers, father of Jessica Chambers, lowers his head while listening to testimony during the trial

Firefighters who responded to the scene wrapped Chambers in blankets to keep her warm.

She was wearing nothing but underwear when she was found, and she had trouble saying more than a few words at a time, firefighters said.

One of the first firefighters on the scene, Daniel Cole, said Chambers had soot around her nose and mouth. Cole said he asked her: 'Who did this?'

Cole said he heard her say: 'Eric set me on fire.'

Prosecutors say Tellis set Chambers and her car (pictured) on fire in a rural back road and left her to die

Chambers, who authorities say was found with burns on 93 per cent of her body, died hours later at a Memphis hospital. This is the spot in Courtland where Chambers was found dead

The horrific circumstances surrounding the former high school cheerleader's death garnered national attention.

The trial has been emotional, with witnesses breaking down on the stand and spectators crying when jurors were shown graphic photos of Chambers' burned stomach and face.

Citing statements Tellis made to investigators, prosecutor John Champion said in his opening statement that Tellis and Chambers had sex in her car the evening she was found burned.

Champion said he believes Tellis suffocated Chambers and thought he had killed her.

Firefighters who responded to the scene wrapped Chambers in blankets to keep her warm

Defense attorney's Alton Peterson (left) and Darla Palmer (right) chat with lead prosecutor John Champion, center, during the trial

One of the first firefighters on the scene, Daniel Cole (left), said Chambers had soot around her nose and mouth. Cole said he asked her: 'Who did this?' Cole said he heard her say: 'Eric set me on fire'

Tellis then drove Chambers' car with her inside it to the back road, ran to his sister's house nearby, jumped in his sisters' car, stopped to pick up gasoline from a shed at his house and torched Chambers' car and her, Champion said.

Firefighter Shane Mills said he was horrified to see her condition. Mills said he knew Chambers, but did not recognize her at first.

'One of the worst things you could imagine,' Mills said. 'I can't picture it for y'all. Her hair was, you know, beautiful blonde. You look at it at the time, her hair is just fried.'

Tellis faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Champion said he believes Tellis (pictured) suffocated Chambers and thought he had killed her

Firefighter Shane Mills said he was horrified to see her condition. Mills said he knew Chambers, but did not recognize her at first. Pictured, Judge Gerald Chatman

Deputy Seth Cook (pictured) testifies during the trial of Quinton Tellis, 29, on Wednesday

He also faces a murder indictment in Louisiana, where he's accused in the torture death of Meing-Chen Hsiao, a 34-year-old Taiwanese graduate student at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. No trial date has been set in that case.

Relatives earlier described Chambers as friendly and outgoing. She had been a cheerleader and softball player at South Panola High School.

Lisa Chambers has said her daughter liked to smile and playfully stick out her tongue at people. She was trusting of others, making her mother wonder if her outgoing personality had gotten her into trouble.

'She didn't think anybody could harm her or would want to,' Lisa Chambers has said.
The House Intelligence Committee said on Wednesday that it is ready to release a trove Russian-linked Facebook ads from the 2016 election season shortly after meeting with one of the company's top executives.

Reps. Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), leaders of the committee's Russia probe, announced the decision following a meeting with Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.

The House Intelligence Committee announcement ends an impasse between the social media giant and US lawmakers.

The leaders of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas (R) and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. after speaking with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (Pic: Oct. 11, 2017)

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (Pictured: April 2017) headed to Capital Hill before a scheduled hearing with America's three largest tech companies on November 1

Facebook initially balked at the prospect of having to make the more than 3,000 ads they traced back to a Russian internet agency public, citing company privacy concerns.

During the closed door meeting, Sandberg told lawmakers that Facebook is working hard to ensure Americans 'understand what the propaganda is that they may or may not be reading,' Conway told reporters after their discussion.

Facebook initially balked at the prospect of having to make the more than 3,000 ads they traced back to Russia (Pictured: Facebook CEO Oct 2017)

Facebook said last month that the ads focused on divisive political messages, including LGBT issues, immigration and gun rights, and were seen by an estimated 10 million people.

The meeting came ahead of a Nov. 1 House Intelligence Committee hearing at which Facebook, Twitter and Google are expected to testify.

The Senate Intelligence Committee is also holding an open hearing with the three companies that day.

Sandberg held an additional meeting with Schiff, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

Sandberg said, according to Schiff, that Facebook is 'determined to take whatever steps are necessary to ferret out foreign actors creating fake identities and using their platform.'

He said Sandberg also indicated the company wants the help of the intelligence community to identify who may be using Facebook for those reasons.

That's a break from the Senate intelligence committee, which had said it won't release them. Facebook has also declined to make the ads public.

The House Intelligence Committee is looking into whether the Russian government meddled in the 2016 presidential election (Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin October 2017)

'My personal bias is that we'll do that as quickly as we can,' Conaway said, adding that they probably wouldn't release the ads before the Nov. 1 hearings.

Both men said that in the end, voters need to be more aware of the type of information they are seeking out.

'You and I as voters are responsible for where we get information and how we trust it, and whether we trust it,' Conaway said.

A data mining and analysis company that worked on President Donald Trump's campaign confirmed that it will also turn over information to the House intelligence committee to 'provide it with information that might help its investigation' on Thursday.

'We believe that other organizations that worked on the campaign have been asked to do the same,' Cambridge Analytica said in a statement, adding that there was no 'suggestion of wrongdoing.'
The search for three sisters who went missing from their foster home has revealed that more than 70 foster children are missing in the state of Kansas.

Officials say that number is in line with the national average, but lawmakers in the state are expressing outrage.

Foster care contractors provided the information during a meeting of an oversight panel Tuesday at the Statehouse in response to questions about the disappearance of three sisters from a northeast Kansas foster home, The Kansas City Star reports.

Police say the missing girls Emily Kay Lynette Utter, 15, Aimee Lynn Utter, 14, and Christin Nicole Utter, 12, ran away from their foster home in Tonganoxie, Kansas, in August. Their foster parents Terry and Debbie Miller are still searching for them.

Emily Kay Lynette Utter, 15, Christin Nicole Utter, 12, and Aimee Lynn Utter, 14, are pictured above from left to right. Police say they ran away from their foster home in August

Flyers like the one above have been posted around the northeast Kansas area

The girls' foster parents Terry and Debbie Miller are pictured above. They made flyers that say 'your family loves and misses you' with photos of their faces

Sen. Laura Kelly, a Topeka Democrat, said she was 'flabbergasted' when she asked the Kansas Department for Children and Families about the missing children on Tuesday and the agency knew nothing.

The agency's chief, Phyllis Gilmore, said after the meeting that she can't discuss the missing sisters.

She said in a statement Wednesday that the department has long had policies in place to attempt to find missing foster children quickly and that many are returned to their foster homes swiftly.

'These children who run away are not under lock and key; they are generally in family foster homes, older youth, who attend school and activities, and they often miss their biological families,' she said.

She also said that some of the missing children who are considered to be on the run are with a parent attempting to keep them out of foster care.

Kansas Department for Children and Families chief Phyllis Gilmore, said that she can't discuss the missing sisters in a statement on Wednesday. She is pictured in a file photo from 2016

The Kansas Department for Children and Families is shown above. Kansas had almost 7,100 children in foster care in August, so the number of those missing is about 1 percent

KVC Kansas, one of the foster care contractors, said it has roughly 38 missing children.

The other company, Saint Francis Community Services, said 36 in its system are missing.

Chad Anderson, chief clinical officer at KVC Kansas, told the child welfare task force that the number of missing represented about one percent of the foster care population and is in line with the national average.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that during the federal government's 2015 fiscal year, about 4,600 children in foster care were listed as runaways, or 1.1 percent of the nearly 428,000 total.

Kansas had almost 7,100 children in foster care in August, so the number of those missing is about 1 percent.

Still, Anderson acknowledged the contractors could do a better job.

'I don't know that we as contractors have shared as much in terms of missing youth and the day to day as we probably should,' Anderson said, adding that contractors update DCF every 30 days on the missing children.

Rep. Linda Gallagher, a Lenexa Republican, said she was shocked at the number of missing children.

Even if the number missing is in line with the national average, she said, it is still too many.

Rep. Steve Alford, a Ulysses Republican who chairs the task force, said after the meeting he wasn't really surprised.

'There's a break between DCF and the contracting,' he said. 'Once the children ... (go from the court) into the possession of the secretary, she hands them off to the contractors and it's their responsibility, you know, it's kind of like out of sight, out of mind in a lot of aspects.'
An Australian man evaded Balinese police for 10 hours by allegedly escaping from a toilet window as they watched TV after he was arrested at the airport.

Joshua James Baker, from Mt Isa, Queensland, was detained by police after they allegedly caught him trying to bring antidepressants into the country.

Police say the 32-year-old managed to borrow a staff member's phone at a nearby mini-market before he got a taxi to visit a friend, The West reported.

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Joshua James Baker (pictured) allegedly escape police in Bali by jumping out of the toilet window while the guards were 'too excited watching television'

The 32-year-old is reportedly being held by police in Bali after marijuana and antidepressant pills were allegedly found in his luggage earlier this week

Mr Baker, who reportedly escaped custody while the police 'were too excited watching television', caught the taxi to a fake home address to throw off police.

However, the Queenslander's freedom was short-lived as he was caught by authorities while he was having lunch at a hotel in Kuta, a two-and-a-half hour drive from the airport.

'Apparently Baker is smart ... he pretended it was his house, like trying to open the gate, but apparently he went away once the taxi was gone,' the deputy director of the narcotics directorate at Bali police, Sudjarwoko, told the publication.

Mr Baker, who was stopped by customs in Bali on Sunday for a holiday, reportedly told police he took the drugs from Australia and believed he is not guilty because it is legal to use marijuana in Australia.

The Queensland man is in custody at a Balinese police hospital but has not yet been officially declared a suspect.

Ngurah Rai Customs and Excise chief Budi Harjanto told the publication his officers became suspicious of Mr Baker after his luggage was scanned.

Inside his bag officers allegedly discovered 36 grams of marijuana mixed with loose tobacco and 37 Diazepam anti-depressant pills, Mr Harjanto said.

Police claim the 36 grams of marijuana was found in Mr Baker's bag when he arrived from Thailand on Sunday

Mr Harjanto claimed the marijuana tested positive in a narcotic test.

'He said he brought it only for individual use, for himself. He said the drugs were planned to be used by himself. But we don't know the truth,' Mr Harjanto said.

Customs officers handed Mr Baker over to police on Monday to be interviewed but the 32-year-old allegedly escaped after asking to visit the toilet.

Mr Baker, from Mt Isa in north Queensland, has not yet been officially declared a suspect

Police claim they also discovered 37 Diazepam anti-depressant pills in Mr Baker's luggage

Police are still conducting tests on the Diazepam, Deputy Director of the Narcotic Directorate of Bali Police, Suwardjoko, told News.com.au.

'He said that it is an antidepressant. He said he is sick, that he got depression, so he needs the medicine,' he said.

'We haven't conducted intensive interrogation of him. We will check it in the lab first, after that, we will conduct intensive interrogation.'
This is the shocking moment armed police officers took down the driver of an allegedly stolen semi-trailer that rammed into a pub and burst into flames.

Rodney Johnson, 29, allegedly stole the semi-trailer from a service station at Murrurundi about 7.30am on Wednesday when the driver was paying for fuel.

The rig crashed and burst into flames more than 100 kilometres away on George Street in the NSW town of Singleton after taking out five cars and damaging buildings including the Royal Hotel and an antique store.

Last night, Johnson was loaded into the back of a police van to be taken in for questioning after a mental health assessment at Singleton Hospital.

A video captured the moment armed police took down the driver of a truck after it crashed

That morning, police had initiated a pursuit and deployed road spikes as the truck approached Singleton.

The semi continued for a few kilometres after hitting the spikes before colliding with the cars and buildings about 8.45am.

One man is in a serious condition and eight people were treated at the scene, including five who were taken to hospital, according to the Daily Telegraph.

A 67-year-old man suffered head and chest injuries and was airlifted to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. He is in a serious but stable condition.

A 62-year-old woman with pelvic and hip injuries and a 64-year-old man with neck, chest and back pain are both in a stable condition.

One man is in a serious condition and eight people were treated at the scene, including five who were taken to hospital

Rodney Johnson was loaded into the back of a police van to be taken in for questioning after a mental health assessment at Singleton Hospital

Johnson, 29, allegedly stole the semi-trailer from a service station at Murrurundi about 7.30am on Wednesday when the driver was paying for fuel

It comes after a man allegedly stole a truck and erratically drove it through Singleton before the truck burst into flames

Debbie Anderson, 59, was on her way to work but was stuck in standstill traffic for at least ten minutes when she saw the semi-trailer (pictured) coming towards her

The driver was arrested at the scene and taken to hospital with minor injuries and underwent mandatory tests.

He faces eight charges, including stealing the truck, leading police on a pursuit and malicious damage.

Johnson has been refused bail to front Singleton Local Court on Thursday.

On Wednesday, one witness described her terror as she sat in traffic and saw the truck hurtling towards her at high speed.

'[The truck] was ploughing [the cars] like it was ploughing a field,' Debbie Anderson, 59, told Daily Mail Australia.

'I'd been thrown sideways ... all I could see was smoke.'

The truck was seen driving erratically through the main street as it hit a number of buildings

At about 7.30am on Wednesday, the stolen truck crashed into a number of cars and buildings before catching fire in Singleton, north of Sydney.

'It was like something that you'd see on the movies,' Ms Anderson said.

'I don't even know how fast he was travelling, he was absolutely flying.

'I was in complete disbelief.'

After the 'wavering' truck crashed into her car, along with several others, the 59-year-old said she forced the car door open and went to safety at a nearby cafe.

'I could see dust and didn't know if it was smoke,' Ms Anderson said.

'Obviously you could see the flames and the popping.'

Debbie Anderson said the stolen truck crashed into a car which crashed into her car

The horrific incident took place in Singleton, about 200km north of Sydney, NSW (pictured)

HOW THE INCIDENT UNFOLDED IN SINGLETON'S MAIN STREET 7.30am - Reports a semi-trailer is stolen from a service station at Murrurundi in the Hunter Valley. 8.47am - Triple-zero call made to NSW Ambulance alerting them to a major multi-vehicle crash on George Street in Singleton, 110km from Murrurundi, after a truck came crashing through the main street at high speed hitting five cars and several buildings. 8.55am - First ambulance arrives at the scene attending to several distressed people and treating eight patients. 9.15am - Westpac Rescue Helicopter sent to the scene with reports of multiple people injured. 10.18am - A second helicopter summoned from Sydney as a 67-year-old male was airlifted to Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital in a critical condition. 1pm - Police confirm a 29-year-old man arrested at the scene is expected to be charged after he allegedly recklessly drove the stolen truck from Murrurundi to Singleton during which a police pursuit was initiated and road spikes were deployed to stop the truck. Source: AAP Advertisement

Escaping with bruises to her forearms and legs after the 'full on jolt', Ms Anderson said the truck ended up about 100 metres away from her car before it burst into flames.

The grandmother described the cars in standstill traffic as 'sitting ducks' with no where to escape.

'There's only one way in and one way out over that bridge,' Ms Anderson told Daily Mail Australia.

'If they knew what was coming why didn't they sit us in the side streets.'

The grandmother was taken to hospital for X-rays and has since been discharged, making her feel pretty lucky she wasn't worse off.

Ms Anderson was one of at least eight injured in the terrifying crash, which has left two people in a critical condition in hospital.

Other witnesses described seeing the semi-trailer travelling at 100km/h down the main street of the country town before ploughing into four cars and bursting with thick black smoke.

The semi-trailer crashed into a number of cars (pictured) and buildings Wednesday morning

Meri Basci told Daily Mail Australia she was on her way to work when she saw the truck being driven 'erratically' over the bridge before it crashed and burst into flames.

'I saw a lot of dust under his wheels ... it all happened so fast,' Ms Basci said.

'I couldn't even understand how he could drive that fast over the bridge without hitting anyone or anything.

'A second later all I could hear was a big bang and a lot of black smoke.'

Another witness, Daniel Storey, told Australian Associated Press that he heard 'crash after crash after crash'.

The truck burst into flames (pictured) after police stopped truck with road spikes

Ms Anderson was one of at least eight injured in the terrifying crash on Wednesday morning

'Some cars have been taken out by the truck,' Mr Storey said.

'He's caused it all. When he crashed, he got out of his truck and tried to get into another truck.'

NSW Ambulance Inspector Luke Wiseman said it was 'chaotic' when they first arrived before 9am with a number of 'distressed people'.

'The scale and suddenness of the incident and the fact that is has happened in a smaller community means a lot of people are in shock, so it was a challenging scene,' Mr Wiseman said.

Huge blankets of black smoke could be seen and one witness reportedly said there was a 'huge fireball' with cars 'all over the road'.

A critical investigation has been launched following the incident.
This is the moment a mayor stood up and pushed far-right protesters away after they stormed a council meeting carrying a coffin.

Activists rushed into a Moreland City Council meeting shortly after 8pm on Monday protesting the inner-north Melbourne authority's decision to change the date of Australia Day celebrations.

Footage posted of the incident shows demonstrators storming the meeting shouting 'traitor to your nation' before Mayor Helen Davidson is seen taking a swing at one of the protesters.

'Get out, get out,' Mayor Davidson shouted in the footage released by 3AW.

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In the footage, protesters draped in the Australian flag unfurled a sign with the words 'save the date' (pictured) and carried in a coffin scrawled with the letters 'RIP'

Moreland City Council Mayor Helen Davidson

In the footage, protesters draped in the Australian flag unfurled a sign with the words 'save the date' and carried in a coffin scrawled with the letters 'RIP'.

They also shouted 'you are traitors, each and every one of you'.

'We're fed up with the division you're causing people. You're supposed to be harmonious people and you just cause divide,' they said.

'This is the death of Australia Day in this council.'

The protesters accused councillors of stripping Australians of their right to celebrate their heritage.

'This council have no right to change the date of Australia Day. They've cancelled any reference to Australia Day because they are traitors,' one man said.

'Are you happy to give away your heritage?'

Neil Erikson, a supporter of the United Patriots Front, joined far-right group Patriot Blue on Wednesday night to storm the council meeting.

He told AAP he would not press charges against the Moreland mayor for allegedly shoving him because she's 'pretty good looking'.

Footage posted of the incident shows demonstrators storming the meeting shouting 'traitor to your nation' before Mayor Helen Davidson is seen taking a swing at one of the protesters

'Get out, get out,' Mayor Davidson (centre left) shouted before she pushed them out

'We're fed up with the division you're causing people. You're supposed to be harmonious people and you just cause divide' a protester shouted as they carried in a coffin (pictured)

Protesters brought a coffin painted as the Australian Flag scrawled with the letters 'RIP'

The protesters left voluntarily shortly before police officers arrived at the building.

The Moreland City Council voted to drop all references to January 26 as Australia Day in September, over fears it offended Aboriginal people.

It became the third Melbourne council to ditch the celebration.

Councillor Sue Bolton likened Australia Day on January 26 to 'celebrating the Nazi holocaust'.

The decision prompted outrage from citizens and politicians alike.

Wednesday night was the second time the council meeting was ambushed by activists protesting the council decision.

Moreland City Council building was previously stormed on September 28 following the council decision to axe the celebration

Protesters ambushed a council meeting on September 28, with some draped in the Australian flag and others waving neo-Nazi signs.

The Federal Government also expressed its opposition to the council decision.

Assistant Immigration Minister Alex Hawke slammed the decision as 'divisive'.

He also condemned Councillor Bolton's comparison of Australia Day to the Nazi Holocaust.

'The Turnbull Government strongly condemns comparisons of Australia Day with the Nazi Holocaust as deeply offensive to all Australians,' he said.

Yarra Council, in Melbourne's north-east, voted to stop holding citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day in August.

The decision prompted backlash from the Turnbull government.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull stripped the council of its right to hold citizenship ceremonies altogether.

While he acknowledged January 26 represented tragedy for Aboriginal people, Mr Turnbull said Australia Day was about celebrating the 'greatness of our achievements'.

He said the council decision to scrap the event was 'utterly out of step with Australian values'.
An Aboriginal war hero will be given proper recognition 50 years after he was buried in an unmarked grave.

Lance Corporal Charles Tednee Blackman was one of the first indigenous men to enlist to fight in World War I.

He spent four years fighting on the Western Front  killing 10 Germans - but when he returned to Australia he was committed to a mental asylum.

Lance Corporal Charles Tednee Blackman was one of the first indigenous men to enlist to fight in World War I

He will finally be given a proper recognition 50 years after he was buried in an unmarked grave

He died in 1966 and was buried in an unmarked grave, but he will finally be recognised for his heroism at a ceremony in Charters Towers, North Queensland on Thursday according to the ABC.

Kate and Chris Bull have researched Mr Blackmans history, and Ms Bull said a lack of respect for Aboriginal soldiers was commonplace decades ago.

Anyone who puts a uniform on deserves at least a proper burial, she said.

He never got the proper burial he deserved, he was just a lonely broken man by the time hed finished.

She said there were another 10 soldiers who were buried in unmarked graves and deserved to be recognised.

Mr Blackman's descendants, as well as Victoria Cross recipient Keith Payne and Major General Mark Kelly will be attending Thursdays ceremony.
Throughout her 65-year reign, she has regarded it as her most sacred duty. But next month, for the first time, the Queen will attend Britains Remembrance Sunday commemorations as a spectator.

Buckingham Palace has announced that she will watch the traditional 11am service at the Cenotaph alongside the Duke of Edinburgh on a Foreign Office balcony while the Prince of Wales lays a wreath to the fallen on her behalf.

The decision is part of a gradual process of delegating certain regal responsibilities to the younger generations, mindful of the monarchs advancing age. But this will be regarded as the most symbolic transfer of duties to date.

Stepping down: The Queen has requested Prince Charles lay the floral wreath at the Remembrance Sunday service in November in her place (above, the queen in 2016)

Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph is the day that combines so many aspects of the Queens great office  Head of State, Head of the Armed Forces, Head of the Commonwealth, Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

So her decision to be an observer rather than the central figure at the national service of remembrance will not have been taken lightly. Yet it will be regarded as an eminently sensible move, and one with a rather poignant footnote.

Despite announcing his retirement from public duties earlier this year, the Duke of Edinburgh was determined to be at the Cenotaph. However, at the age of 96, he had decided the time had come to watch from a balcony rather than be part of the parade. It was then that the Queen decided she would do the same, in order to stand with the Duke. She, therefore, asked the Prince of Wales to lay her wreath on behalf of the nation.

The Queen wants to be at the Dukes side, said a Palace spokesman last night. The Dukes wreath will be laid by an equerry.

Sources in September were forced to deny reports the Prince of Wales was demanding a more prominent role for himself in Royal affairs

The Prince of Wales has taken on a number of extra duties at the Queens request in recent years, particularly those involving long-distance travel and major Commonwealth events.

He and other members of the Royal Family now regularly undertake duties such as investitures on the Queens behalf as officials continue to adjust the pace of the monarchs schedule.

No one in royal or military circles will fail to appreciate the magnitude of this decision, however. As the daughter, wife, mother and grandmother of members of the Armed Forces and someone whose formative years were shaped by war, the Queen regards Remembrance Sunday as the most important day in the calendar.

On the six occasions when she has not laid a wreath at the Cenotaph, she was either paying her respects at a Commonwealth war memorial in another part of the world or she was expecting a child. This will be the first time since succeeding to the throne that she has viewed the proceedings from the balcony where the late Queen Mother watched the service for the best part of a century.

The Queen is the only head of state in the world today who served in uniform during the Second World War.

She and the Duke are among the last and certainly the best-known members of that heroic generation still active in public life today. So their absence from the Whitehall line-up will, inevitably, be a source of sadness for many of those in the crowd and watching on television around the world. Yet anyone attending this occasion in recent years will have found themselves wondering how much longer it was reasonable to expect two nonagenarians to take part in this parade.

It was not the standing around in cold weather that was the issue. It was the fact that, having laid their wreaths, the Queen and the Duke were then expected to walk backwards and down the step from the Cenotaph to the road.

It might not sound a great challenge for a couple so familiar with every second of this unchanging event that they can recite every prayer  and every word of Oh God Our Help In Ages Past  without even glancing at the order of service. But the consequences of a single misplaced footstep at such a solemn moment  and on live television  were too ghastly to contemplate. At one point in last years service, the Queen did appear to lose her footing for a split-second. For the Duke, wreath-laying was not made any easier by the need to wear a sword with his uniform.

These will all have been factors in the Queens decision to ask the Prince of Wales to take her place next month.

Other elements of her weekend remain unchanged. She will still attend the Royal British Legions Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 11, though it is not known whether the Duke will join her.

Less than two weeks later, the Queen and the Duke will celebrate the first platinum wedding anniversary in royal history.
A plan to merge the University of Wisconsin Systems 13 two-year colleges with the UWs four-year institutions next summer has the chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie concerned about losing prospective students.

The plan would transform the systems 13 two-year schools into regional branches of the 13 four-year schools. Students would still be able to earn associate degrees, but they would bear the name of the four-year school. Students would get a wider range of courses to choose from and be able to take third- and fourth-year courses at the branch campus.

For example, two-year school UW-Barron County would cease to exist. Its buildings, faculty and staff would become a branch of UW-Eau Claire. Students who attend the branch campus would earn associate degrees from UW-Eau Claire and could complete four-year degrees through UW-Eau Claire.

I...will do everything possible to maintain our historical link to UW-Barron County and remain a top choice for students who start their education there and continue to a four-year degree, UW-Stout Chancellor Bob Meyer said in a press release.

In 2015-16, for example, more than a quarter of the UW-Barron County students who transferred to UW System institutions chose UW-Stout, and we must preserve that transfer pipeline.

UW System enrollment figures show UW-Barron County has fallen in full-time equivalent student enrollment from 484 in 2010 to 315 in a preliminary count from fall 2017. Thats a drop of 169 students, or 35 percent.

Cross said the merger would be done effective July 1, 2018. Essentially, there will be no change this fall or spring, and we look forward to seeing how to best leverage UW-Eau Claire to expand access to higher education by offering more general education and upper-level courses, as well as identify and reduce barriers to transferring credits within the UW System, Cross said in an email to the UW-Eau Claire.

Chancellor James C. Schmidt said in an email to facility, staff and UW-Eau Claire students: While it is too soon to identify all the opportunities this new structure could bring to students here and in Barron County, we do know that meeting the needs of students at both campuses will be our highest priority.

Schmidt continued in the email: UW-Eau Claire and UW-Barron County long have enjoyed an excellent relationship, with many students beginning their college careers in Rice Lake and completing their degrees in Eau Claire.

Schmidt said he will talk in future weeks with faculty students and community leaders in the Chippewa Valley and Barron County to find ways to move forward.

Besides pairing UW-Barron County with UW-Eau Claire, the proposal would bring each UW Colleges campus under one of six other four-year public universities:

The Rock County college would join UW-Whitewater

The Baraboo/Sauk County and Richland colleges would join UW-Platteville

The Manitowoc, Marinette and Sheboygan colleges would join UW-Green Bay

The Washington County and Waukesha colleges would join UW-Milwaukee

The Marathon County and Marshfield/Wood County colleges would join UW-Stevens Point

The Fond du Lac and Fox Valley colleges would join UW-Oshkosh

UW-Stout and UW-River Falls would not be linked to a UW college.

Cross said in a statement that the merger will help the UW address declining enrollment at its two-year colleges, make it easier to transfer credits within the UW System and better address the challenge of Wisconsins aging population.

UW Extension programs would also come under new administration as part of the sweeping restructuring plan.

UW Extensions Broadcasting and Media Innovations division  which includes Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio  would be brought under UW System Administration, along with the Business and Entrepreneurship Division, continuing education, outreach and UW Flexible Option programs. Cooperative Extension and conference centers owned by UW Extension would be merged with UW-Madison.

Cross said in a statement that the merger will help UW address declining enrollment at its two-year colleges, make it easier to transfer credits within the UW System and better address the challenge of Wisconsins aging population.

Change often produces uncertainty, but we cannot be afraid to pursue needed reforms, he said. Our goal is to expand access and provide more educational opportunities for more students, while ensuring our faculty are appropriately organized and supported. We are committed to making the transition as smooth as possible for students, faculty, and staff.

Its not immediately clear what the restructuring would mean for programs and jobs in the UW Colleges and Extension.

Cross will bring the proposal to the UW Board of Regents for approval in November, officials said.
The US airline embroiled in a trade war threatening 14,000 British jobs has refused to pay exorbitant tariffs for a new aircraft order  risking the wrath of Donald Trump.

Delta Air Lines has a 3.8billion deal to buy at least 75 partly UK-built C-Series passenger jets from manufacturer Bombardier.

But US authorities have said they will impose import duties of 300 per cent on the planes, after lobbying by Bombardiers American rival Boeing.

The aircraft are part-built in Northern Ireland, meaning 4,200 Bombardier jobs in Belfast and another 10,000 in the supply chain could be lost if the order is cancelled.

Delta Air Lines, pictured, has a 3.8billion deal to buy at least 75 partly UK-built C-Series passenger jets from manufacturer Bombardier

It is thought Delta could delay delivery until a solution is found, leaving the workforce in limbo.

Speaking to investors yesterday, chief executive Ed Bastian said he was contemplating various other plans if the duties come into force. He did not explain what this could mean.

Mr Bastian said: We will not pay those tariffs, and that is very clear. We intend to take the aircraft.

The boss called the decision to impose the duties nonsensical and added: Were not going to be forced to pay tariffs or anything of the ilk.

US authorities have said they will impose import duties of 300 per cent on the planes, after lobbying by Bombardiers American rival Boeing

Investors in Canadian firm Bombardier saw it as a vote of confidence, with shares in the business up 5.9 per cent in Toronto.

Mr Bastians determination not to hand over the cash could provoke President Trump, who has made protectionism a cornerstone of his administration.

It is unclear exactly how the business could avoid paying the bill while still accepting the planes, and a spokesman declined to elaborate.

There are fears Prime Minister Theresa May might be forced to respond to the US tariffs by raising import duties of her own, sparking a round of tit-for-tat reprisals which would harm both sides.

It is particularly sensitive because the Conservatives are relying on Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party to keep them in power.

If Mrs May is accused of not fighting hard enough to save the Belfast factory, it could trigger a damaging split and put the Governments future at risk.

The original US tariff decision drew an immediate sharp rebuke from ministers.

Mrs May said she was bitterly disappointed, while Defence Secretary Michael Fallon warned that Boeings lobbying could jeopardise its chances of winning public sector contracts.
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Ash that resembles snow covers streets and houses in Northern California in overhead images that make clear the devastating destruction caused by wildfires that have been ripping through the area since Sunday night- burning through more than 170,000 acres of land.

Photos taken on Wednesday show the huge plumes of smoke rising from communities ravaged by the fires across California, which have killed 23 people so far in the north and left nearly 300 unaccounted for - as an additional 20,000 across the state have been told to evacuate their homes.

Three days after the fires began firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes which have left behind apocalyptic scenes: entire neighborhoods reduced to ash, 3,500 homes and businesses completely destroyed, and some of the worst air pollution the area has ever seen.

Firefighters started to contain the blazes earlier in the week - before gusts of 20 to 40mph winds and extremely dry conditions joined forces on Wednesday, threatening to spread the flames even further.

Among the tens of thousands of properties that have been damaged are Napa's wineries, causing wine to flow life a river under smoldered debris after escaping charred barrels.

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Ash that resembles snow covers streets and houses in Northern California in overhead images that make clear the devastation caused by wildfires that have been ripping through the area since Sunday night- burning through more than 170,000 acres of land

Photos taken on Wednesday show the huge plumes of smoke rising from communities ravaged by the fires across California, which have killed 23 people so far in the north and nearly 150 are unaccounted for, and forced 20,000 across the state to evacuate their homes

Pictured is one of the communities that was destroyed in the fires, which started on Sunday and have yet to be fully contained

Satellite images using a Very Near Infrared show the damage form the wildfire - with healthy vegetation appearing red and the burn scar dark brown

Satellite imaging shows the huge devastation caused by the wildfires in northern California. This infrared imaging shows damage in brown, and healthy devastation in red

On Wednesday Cars of evacuees raced away from the flames while countless emergency vehicles raced toward them, sirens blaring. Pictured is an inmate crew headed to clear brush on Wednesday

More than 3,500 homes and businesses were ruined in the fires. A car destroyed by the Tubbs Fire sits on the street on Wednesday as people are just now being allowed back into the area

Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed at least 3,500 homes and businesses and polluted air quality in the region

Among the dead are a married couple, aged 100 and 99, who were unable to evacuate in time. A deaf-blind woman is also believed to be among the dead.

On Wednesday more than 20,000 had been ordered to evacuate their homes. They were told they should bring 'ready-to-go' bags packed with medicines and important documents in case they have to flee quickly or, once the flames subside, don't have a home to go back to.

Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Napa, Sonoma, Yuba, Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Nevada and Orange counties and requested a presidential major disaster declaration to help battle at least 18 blazes burning throughout the state.

President Trump has yet to say anything about the matter.

In Sonoma County, which has been one hit the hardest, Sheriff Rob Giordano said they have gotten 600 reports of missing people. They were able to locate 315 of those individuals, and believe many of the 285 unaccounted for will be located once telecommunications are fixed.

However - he also worries how many more bodies he will finds in the days to come.

The series of fires are among the deadliest in the state's history - and caused ash to snow over the Sonoma Valley, covering windshields, as winds begin picking up toward the potentially disastrous forecast speed of 30 mph.

On Wednesday Cars of evacuees raced away from the flames while countless emergency vehicles raced toward them, sirens blaring. Residents manhandled canvas bags into cars jammed with possessions or filled their gas tanks to escape the fires - not knowing when they will be able to return to their homes.

Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Napa, Sonoma, Yuba, Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Nevada and Orange counties and requested a presidential major disaster declaration to help battle at least 18 blazes burning throughout the state. Pictured are burned homes in the Coffey Park area on Wednesday night

'We're seeing the worst air quality ever recorded in many parts of the Bay Area,' Tom Flannigan, PIO for the Bay Area Quality Management District told SFGate . 'The entire Bay Area population is likely being affected by the smoke.' Pictured residents wear face masks and wait for police to escort them in and out of their homes so they can attempt to salvage ruined belongings

Governor Jerry Brown said at a news conference on Wednesday that the entire state is in for a long recovery period

Whole neighborhoods were leveled, with only brick chimneys and charred appliances to mark sites that were once family homes. Pictured are burnt homes in Santa Rosa California

Flames have raced across the wine-growing region and the scenic coastal area of Mendocino farther north, leaving little more than smoldering ashes and eye-stinging smoke in their wake

Homes have been completely destroyed in the flames engulfing Northern California this week. Governor Jerry Brown asked for a presidential major disaster declaration to help battle at least 18 blazes burning throughout the state. President Trump has yet to say anything about the matter

Governor Jerry Brown said at a news conference on Wednesday that the entire state is in for a long recovery period.

'We've had big fired in the past,' he explained. 'This is one of the biggest, most serious. It's not over.'

They said 8,000 firefighters and other personnel were battling the blazes and more resources were pouring in from Oregon, Nevada, Washington and Arizona.

Flames have raced across the wine-growing region and the scenic coastal area of Mendocino farther north, leaving little more than smoldering ashes and eye-stinging smoke in their wake.

Whole neighborhoods were leveled, with only brick chimneys and charred appliances to mark sites that were once family homes.

'We're seeing the worst air quality ever recorded in many parts of the Bay Area,' Tom Flannigan, PIO for the Bay Area Quality Management District told SFGate.

'The entire Bay Area population is likely being affected by the smoke.'

Fire consumes two cars but spares a home on Keiser Road southwest of Kenwood, California on Tuesday

A raging wildfire can be seen over the crest of a hill on Tuesday night. Firefighters in California say they have battled over a dozen blazed burning in the region but that they aren't slowing down

Ben Pederson sorts through the ashes to find a school yearbook in the remains of his bedroom after his family's home was destroyed in the Northern California wildfires

Some of the largest of more than a dozen blazes burning over a 200-mile region were in Napa and Sonoma counties, home to dozens of wineries that attract tourists from around the world. They sent smoke as far south as San Francisco, about 60 miles away. Pictured is smoke rising netweem from one of the wildfires still burning Wednesday

A row of chimneys stand in a wildfire-damaged neighborhood. Governor Jerry Brown said at a news conference on Wednesday that the entire state is in for a long recovery period

Prisoners from the McCain inmate crew from San Diego, clear brush from a road on Wednesday in Calistoga, California. Crews from the south were brought up north due to the inadequate man-power to put out the fires and clear up the region

The main building at Paras Vinyards burns in the Mount Veeder area of Napa in California on Tuesday as firefighters fight blazes across the country

A boiling river of wine flows underneath smoldering debris at the Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa, California on Tuesday

Burned wine barrels are seen at a destroyed Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa, California, on Tuesday. Firefighters battled wildfires in California's wine region on Tuesday as the death toll rose to 23 and thousands were left homeless in neighborhoods reduced to ashes

In Southern California, most evacuation orders have been lifted as firefighters successfully battle a wildfire that destroyed 14 buildings, most of them homes.

Thousands of people in Tustin, Orange and Anaheim were allowed to begin returning home Tuesday evening, a day after the blaze erupted in northern Orange County.

Some of the largest of more than a dozen blazes burning over a 200-mile region were in Napa and Sonoma counties, home to dozens of wineries that attract tourists from around the world. They sent smoke as far south as San Francisco, about 60 miles away.

'It looks like a bombing run here,' said winemaker Joe Nielsen of Santa Rosa's Donelan Family Wines, speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle. 'Just chimneys and burnt-out cars and cooked trees.'

'We are literally looking at explosive vegetation,' said Ken Pimlott, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

'It is very dynamic. These fires are changing by the minute in many areas. Make no mistake, this is a serious, critical, catastrophic event.'

The fires have burned through a staggering 265 square miles (686 square kilometers) of urban and rural areas. High winds and low humidity made conditions ideal for fire on the start virtually anywhere on ground that was parched from years of drought.

Damaged wine making vats and tanks due to a wildfire stand in ashes and debris at the production house of Paradise Ridge Winery on Tuesday in Santa Rosa, California

Some of the largest of more than a dozen blazes burning over a 200-mile region were in Napa and Sonoma counties, home to dozens of wineries that attract tourists from around the world. Pictured above, wine making vats at Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa

A rack of burned bottles of wine are seen at the Signorello Estate winery in Napa, California, after wildfires hit the region this week
Feminist writer Clementine Ford's father is running as a One Nation in Queensland - but he has declared he is proud of her work.

Steven Ford confirmed his link with the left-wing firebrand when asked on Facebook by an anti-feminist group if the two were related.

'Yes, Clementine is my daughter and I am very proud of what she has achieved as a writer,' he replied.

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Steven Ford (with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson) is running in the Queensland election

Feminist Clementine Ford opposes One Nation but is the daughter of a One Nation candidate

To underline the point, Steven Ford made an announcement on his political Facebook page, next to a picture of him with right-wing One Nation Senate leader Pauline Hanson and the party's sole MP in the Queensland parliament, Steve Dickson.

'She is a very intelligent woman and she was not raised to parrot my ideas and politics,' he said on Wednesday as One Nation's candidate for Nicklin on the Sunshine Coast.

'Christmas dinner, which we always celebrate, is full of love and robust conversation.'

Steven Ford removed that Facebook post on Thursday and declined to elaborate when contacted by Daily Mail Australia, except to confirm Clementine is his daughter.

Steven Ford told an anti-feminist group on Facebook that he is in fact Clementine Ford's father

'Yes, I have said that and that's fine. I'm not talking about my family. I'm sorry,' he said.

He had also declined to tell an anti-feminist Facebook group about his daughter's controversial views on men or her previous Twitter messages condemning One Nation.

In February 2011, Clementine Ford chastised then Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce during an appearance on the ABC's Q&A program.

'Actually Barnaby, someone who says even hello to a person from One Nation is a pariah,' she said.

One Nation's candidate for Nicklin on the Sunshine Coast is proud of his feminist daughter

Clementine Ford has previously tweeted her hatred of One Nation, which her dad belongs to

Clementine Ford is declining to say she is with Steve Ford when it comes to political issues

Two years later, she slammed former New South Wales One Nation MP David Oldfield for suggesting then prime minister Kevin Rudd and his deputy Anthony Albanese were 'worse than' characters in Hogan's Heroes.

'I don't think someone with connections to One Nation has any business dictating who's 'worse',' she said.

Despite her dislike of One Nation and her father's politics, Clementine Ford, who hails from Adelaide, said they remained close, especially since her mother died in 2007.

Steven Ford confirmed to his Facebook followers he is the father of feminist Clementine Ford

'If you're lucky enough to have a good relationship with both parents, as I did and do, they keep you anchored and they also allow you to fly,' she told ABC Radio National in January.

'So it's almost like we have had one cut off now and with the loss of the other one next, then you are completely alone.'

Steven Ford is contesting the Sunshine Coast hinterland seat of Nicklin, where independent MP and Speaker Peter Wellington is retiring after 19 years.

The engineer has remarried and moved to the Sunshine Coast with his wife Carole in 2010.

Queensland Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is tipped to call an election by the end of 2017.

Polls show the Liberal National Party picking up Nicklin with Labor preferences, as the ALP puts One Nation last on how-to-vote cards under a revived system of compulsory preferential voting.
North Korean diplomats owe more than 250,000 in congestion charges and 4,500 in parking fines, the foreign secretary said yesterday.

Foreign diplomats have racked up debts on unpaid congestion charge totalling more than 100million in total, since the levys introduction in London in 2003, Boris Johnson disclosed.

More than one tenth of the 105,419,835 total is owed by the US Embassy, which has 96,274 outstanding congestion charge fines worth more than 11.5million.

Meanwhile, diplomatic missions also failed to pay more than 1million in business rates in 2016, even though they are exempted from 94 per cent of the charge.

Boris Johnson hs said that North Korean diplomats owe more than 250,000 in congestion charges and 4,500 in parking fines

The figures were disclosed in a written statement to Parliament by the Foreign Secretary, who said his officials regularly press embassies to pay debts and fines.

Many embassies refuse to pay the congestion charge on vehicles travelling in central London, on the grounds that they are exempt from most local taxes under the 1961 Vienna Convention.

In a written ministerial statement, Boris Johnson said the Foreign Office had held meetings with a number of missions about the outstanding debts.

The embassy of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea owes 4,565 in parking fines and 2,221 congestion fines, totalling 255,675, it was noted.

Other large outstanding bills for congestion charge include Japan (7.6million for 63,869 fines), Nigeria (6.5million on 54,237 fines) and Russia (5.6million for 47,760 fines).

Largest debts for business rates were owed by the embassies of Sudan (109,599), Bangladesh (107,427) and Iran (104,688).

Some 4,311 parking fines totalling 430,126 were incurred in London by diplomatic missions and international organisations in 2016, of which less than a quarter has been paid or waived, leaving 327,962 owing.

The biggest outstanding bills for parking tickets were owed by South Sudan (83,215), Nigeria (30,024) and Saudi Arabia (19,202).

It was also revealed that, in 2016, 12 serious and significant offences had allegedly been committed by people entitled to diplomatic immunity.

These were defined as crimes that could carry at least a 12 month prison sentence.

Eight of the 12 offences were driving related, including drinking and driving and driving without insurance.

Three offences - actual bodily harm, possession of a Class B drug with intent to supply, and possession of an offensive weapon - were allegedly committed by a Libyan diplomat.
A defiant Harvey Weinstein was pictured giving a huge 'f*** you' to the world on Wednesday, hours before he headed to rehab believed to be in Arizona.

The embattled movie mogul looked bedraggled as he entered the offices of his lawyer Patty Glasser flanked by stern-faced and suited male members of his entourage.

As he walked in through the doors, the disgraced 65-year-old flipped the bird, appearing unrepentant in the face of a slew of shocking allegations of rape and sexual assault from at least 30 Hollywood actresses.

Indeed, Weinstein has found himself isolated and alone as the sexual assault allegations have piled up, leading him to complain that he has been abandoned by his Tinsel Town friends.

Dressed in a leather jacket and black t-shirt that showed off his portly frame, the former movie exec later flew out of LA to The Meadows center, where celebrities including Tiger Woods sought treatment following his DUI bust earlier this year.

Before he left he spoke to photographers and admitted, 'I'm not doing okay but I'm trying, I gotta get help.'

Again the mogul wished for a 'second chance' and then appeared to attack Hollywood A-listers in the clip obtained by TMZ, saying, 'And you know I've always been loyal to you guys, not like those 'f*****g p****s who treat you like s**t. I've been the good guy.'

That capped the end of a torrid day for Weinstein, after he had a public meltdown at his daughter's house on Wednesday morning which had prompted her to phone 911 and report him as 'suicidal'.

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Harvey Weinstein gave a resounding f*** you to the world as he was seen out in LA at his lawyer's offices

The Meadows treatment facility in Arizona is potentially Weinstein's final destination as it is said people on his team wanted him to seek treatment there

The apparent decision by Weinstein to seek treatment in Arizona and not Europe - as he had previously indicated - is believed to have been suggested by his brother, Bob Weinstein.

This comes after a DailyMail.com exclusive which revealed the FBI had opened an investigation into the movie mogul.

The fear in some quarters would have been a Roman Polanski-style situation where Weinstein managed to dodge a prosecution in the United States by remaining in Europe.

Polanski has managed to avoid US officials since he plead guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old in 1978 and left the country.

It is unclear if the FBI investigation relates in any way to Weinstein's decision to remain in the United States.

However, it is believed that Weinstein had booked flights to Switzerland to attend treatment there, meaning his choice of Arizona could have been a last minute change.

The under-fire movie exec was photographed in a black SUV heading to Van Nuys Airport in LA on Wednesday evening and boarded a private jet heading to Wickenurg, Arizona, where The Meadows center is based.

The Meadows has a focused 45-day inpatient program for sex addition and related behavioral issues and has been attended in the past by celebrities such as Selena Gomez and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Weinstein was flanked by a full entourage on his trip to his lawyer Patty Glaser's offices. The disgraced producer skipped out on his sex rehab trip Tuesday over frustrations he would not be allowed to have his cellphone in treatment

Weinstein became angry over not being allowed his mobile device as he is concerned he will not be able to keep in contact with business associates and his wife, who announced she is leaving him on Wednesday

A private jet was scheduled to take him to rehab on Tuesday, but as of Wednesday afternoon Weinstein was still in LA

Weinstein was fired from his company on Sunday and on Tuesday his wife announced she is leaving him.

It was crystal clear from the start of Wednesday that Weinstein had not left Los Angeles for a European rehab as police were called in the morning over fears he was 'suicidal' at his daughter's home.

He was seen chasing down a random driver to see if he could get a ride in their car after arguing with his daughter.

TMZ reports that the disgraced movie mogul was heard screaming out just before he tried to flag down the vehicle: 'You're making it worse.'

Walking off: Harvey Weinstein tried to flag down a passing motorist and flee his daughter Lily's home after the two argued on Wednesday (Weinstein above in streets outside the home on Wednesday)

Self-harm: Once he returned to the house, Lily reportedly called authorities to say her father was 'suicidal and depressed'

Weinstein in the street outside Lily's Los Angeles home, hours after claiming he was on his way to Europe for treatment and rehabilitation

Weinstein was at the Los Angeles home of his daughter, who was eventually able to persuade her father back inside the house.

Members of the Los Angeles Police Department arrived a short while after that, and said they were responding to a report from Lily that her father was 'suicidal and depressed.'

Weinstein then fled the house just before LAPD responded to Lilly's call on Wednesday, at around 10:30am.

Lily subsequently told the officers her father was not a risk and would not harm himself, despite the statements she made earlier when she alerted authorities.

Before he flew to Arizona, rumors surrounding where he bound for rehab included staying in California.

Indeed, there will be a hearing to decide whether or not he should be removed from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this weekend - which he is not thought to be attending now.

He has even said that he hoped to reclaim his position at the company he founded and reconcile with his wife Georgina Chapman after receiving treatment.

Chapman announced her decision to end the pair's marriage in a statement to People, saying: 'My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband.

'Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time.'

That prompted Weinstein to give his own thoughts on the matter to Page Six.

'I know she has to do what is best for the children, for herself and her business, she employs 130 people,' said Weinstein.

'I dont want her or my children to be hurt any more than they already have. I truly love Georgina, and I hope one day we can reconcile, although right now I dont know if that could possibly happen.'

Chapman is keeping a low profile still, and cancelled a fashion preview for her brand Marchesa that had been planned for Thursday just 24 hours before the event.

After leaving the property, Weinstein was persuaded back in but then left before LAPD arrived

Weinstein has his own work problems, which he seemed to be aware were coming based on an email he fired off just before he was fired on Sunday.

'My board is thinking of firing me. All I'm asking is, let me take a leave of absence and get into heavy therapy and counseling,' wrote Weinstein in the email.

'Whether it be in a facility or somewhere else, allow me to resurrect myself with a second chance.'

He went on to state that 'a lot of the allegations are false' before asking that the men and women he contacted send an email to his personal account backing him, which he could in turn present to the Weinstein Company board.

'I need you to send a letter to my private gmail address,' wrote Weinstein.

'The letter would only go to the board and no one else.'

He continued: 'We believe that what the board is trying to do is not only wrong but might be illegal and would destroy the company.

'If you could write this letter backing me, getting me the help and time away I need, and also stating your opposition to the board firing me, it would help me a lot.'

The letters, if any were sent, did little good in the end, with the board of directors at Weinstein Company announcing on Sunday that they were terminating their founder in the wake of what they claimed were newly discovered allegations.

'In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged int the past few days, the directors of the Weinstein Company - Robert Weinstein, Lance Maerov, Richard Koenigsberg and Tarak Ben Ammar - have determined an have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately,' the board wrote in a statement.

It was a sudden move for the board, who on Friday said that Weinstein had taken an indefinite leave of absence.

Questions remain however about how the board was so in the dark given the number of settlements that have been paid out, with the first going back to an incident that happened in 1991 according to the Times.

Weinstein responded in a statement by saying that he was getting help, but then shortly after threatened to sue the paper for $50 million.

Board member Lance Maerov spoke to the The New York Times after the decision to terminate Weinstein on Sunday and that said that the executive had also violated the company's code of conduct in the past week.

He did not offer any additional details.

Maerov also revealed that there was much concern after Weinstein and his attorney Lisa Bloom met with the board on Thursday night, during which time the lawyer told the group that they could expect 'more and different reporting' that included 'photos of several of the accusers in very friendly poses with Harvey after his alleged misconduct.'

'I dont want her or my children to be hurt any more than they already have. I truly love Georgina', said Weinstein on Tuesday, before saying he was on his way to Europe for treatment. Wednesday's dramatic events proved otherwise

Off again: Weinstein, 65, fled again before LAPD arrived on the scene, and soon after Lily had a change of opinion, saying her father was not at risk of self-harm (They are pictured together in 2014)

No fly list: He said on Tuesday that he was boarding a plane to fly to rehab in Europe so that he could treat his sex addiction

When LAPD officers turned up, Lily reassured them that her father had, in fact, no intention of self-harming

That same night a handout photo of Weinstein and a smiling Judd appeared in the New York Post alongside a statement from the Oscar-winning producer.

'This is not the time for Harvey or TWC to appear defiant or indignant,' wrote Maerov in an email to Bloom.

'It is time to repair, heal, accept responsibility and recover.'

He also wrote that Bloom had a potential conflict of interest given that Weinstein had agreed to develop a book she wrote into a series.

In another email to Bloom, Harvey's brother and partner Bob wrote: 'Perhaps, Harvey as he stated in the NY Times, to the world, should get professional help for a problem that really exists.'

On Friday, one-third of the nine-man board resigned in protest, 24-hours after the sexual harassment report threw the firm into chaos.

The company also stated that they were launching an internal probe into the claims against their disgraced co-founder.

Over 30 women have come forward at this time claiming they were victims of Weinstein's harassment and assault, with the alleged offenses he is accused of committing ranging from aggressive demands for massages to rape.

WEINSTEIN'S ACCUSERS Gwyneth Paltrow: The star told the New York Times that Weinstein touched her and suggested having joint massages in the bedroom before she started shooting the 1996 film Emma. She said she told her then boyfriend Brad Pitt about the incident and he confronted the mogul. Angelina Jolie: Jolie told the Times she had to turn down advances from Weinstein in 1998 and chose never to work with him again. She said she warned other women about him Cara Delevigne and Angelina Jolie are both among the many women accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault Cara Delevigne: 'As soon as we were alone he began to brag about all the actresses he had slept with and how he had made their careers and spoke about other inappropriate things of a sexual nature. He then invited me to his room. I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside. She said it wasn't and wouldn't be for a bit and I should go to his room. At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didn't want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation. When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately I was safe. He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction. I swiftly got up and asked him if he knew that I could sing. And I began to sing....i thought it would make the situation better....more professional....like an audition....i was so nervous. After singing I said again that I had to leave.He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room'. 'Everyone knew what Harvey was up to', actress Lea Seydoux was attacked in Paris Lea Seydoux: 'We were talking on the sofa when he suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. He tried more than once. This was never going to be about work. He had other intentions  I could see that very clearly. All throughout the evening, he flirted and stared at me as if I was a piece of meat. It was hard to say no because hes so powerful. Im an actress and hes a producer. We are in the same industry, so its impossible to avoid him. Ive seen how he operates: the way he looks for an opening. The way he tests women to see what he can get away with. Thats the most disgusting thing. Everyone knew what Harvey was up to and no one did anything. Its unbelievable that hes been able to act like this for decades and still keep his career. Asia Argento: The Italian actress has accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was 21. 'He terrified me, and he was big. It wouldn't stop. It was a nightmare.' She said she went on to have consensual sex with him over the years that followed. She documented the alleged attack in her 2000 film Scarlet Diva. Zoe Brock: 'Harvey left the room, but not for long. He re-emerged naked a couple of minutes later and asked if I would give him a massage. Panicking, in shock, I remember weighing up the options and wondering how much I needed to placate him to keep myself safe. I told him I was uncomfortable and that I was angry that I had been tricked into this position. He pleaded with me to let him massage me and I let him put his hands on my shoulders while my mind raced. Harvey chased me, d**k, b**ls and all, and banged on the door with his fists, pleading with me to come out.' Former model Zoe Brock says Weinstein chased her naked in a hotel room Louisette Geiss: Actress was called to a late night meeting with Weinstein in 2008. He allegedly emerged in a bathrobe and told her he would green light her script if she watched him masterbate. She left the meeting. Judith Godreche: The French actress says Weinstein tried to massage her and pull off her sweater after asking her up to his Cannes suite to see the view in 1996. Dawn Dunning: Aspiring actress says she was called to a meeting about future film projects in 2003. When she arrived Weinstein presented her with three scripts for his next three movies which he would let her star in, only if she had three-way sex with him. She fled the hotel. Tomi-Ann Roberts: Weinstein met her when she was serving tables as a college junior in 1984 and told her to meet him at his home. When she arrived, she says, he was naked in the bath and told her she would give a better audition if she was nude. She says she refused and left. Katherine Kendall: The Swingers actress was told Weinstein had to stop off in his apartment to pick something up after a screening in 1993. He changed into a bathrobe and told her to massage her. When she resisted she said the mogul returned naked and chased her. Lucia Evans: The actress, formerly known as Lucia Stoller, claims Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004. Speaking to the New Yorker, she said that she suffered years of trauma after the incident which occurred in a 'casting meeting' in a Miramax office in Manhattan. He reportedly called her late at night after the incident. Gwyneth Paltrow revealed that Weinstein attempted to get her into a hotel bedroom and massage her when she was 22 Mira Sorvino: The Mighty Aphrodite actress told the New Yorker that Weinstein tried to massage her in a hotel room at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival. He then went to her home in the middle of the night but she called a male friend to protect her, she claimed. She said turning down the mogul adversely affected her career. Rosanna Arquette: The actress also said her career suffered after she rebuffed Weinstein's advances in the early 1990s. At a hotel meeting he tried to put her hand on his erect penis, she claims. Rose McGowan: The actress, who made her breakthrough in 1996 in the Weinstein-produced slasher revival movie Scream, reportedly sued Weinstein after he assaulted her in 1997 at the Sundance Film Festival. She signed a non-disclosure agreement at the close of the suit and has only referred to him obliquely in social media since. On Sunday she referred to being abused by a 'monster' and has previously referred to being raped by a studio head. Career suicide: Mira Sorvino revealed how her career nose-dived after she turned down Weinstein's advances Ashley Judd: Judd's film roles include the 1997 thriller Kiss the Girls - and says that during the filming of that movie Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower. She was one of the women who spoke out to The New York Times this week, saying: 'Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it's simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.' Emma De Caunes: French actress Emma de Caunes said that she met Weinstein in 2010, soon after he told her he had a script he was producing based on a book with a strong female character. Weinstein offered to show her the script, and asked her up to his hotel room, where he began to take a shower. He then emerged naked and with an erection, asking her to lay down with him on the bed and telling her that many had done so before. 'I was very petrified,' said de Caunes. 'But I didnt want to show him that I was petrified, because I could feel that the more I was freaking out, the more he was excited.' Zelda Perkins was 25 when, as an assistant of Weinstein's in London, she reportedly confronted the mogul for harassing her and 'several' other women; she later settled out of court Lauren O'Connor: A former employee of The Weinstein Company, she told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was 'a toxic environment for women at this company' after one of her colleagues told her that Weinstein had pressured her into massaging him while he was naked, the NYT said. Ambra Battilana: An Italian actress and model, she told the NYT that in March 2015 Weinstein invited her to his New York office. There, she said, he asked if her breasts were real before grabbing them and putting his hands up her skirt. She reported the alleged incident to police, but they did not press charges. According to the NYT, Weinstein later paid her off. Jessica Barth: Weintein reportedly pressured Barth, an actress, to give him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel from 2011 onwards. Laura Madden: An ex-employee, she told the NYT that Weinstein had asked her to give him massages from 1991 onwards, while they were both in London and Dublin. 'It was so manipulative,' she told the NYT. 'You constantly question yourself - am I the one who is the problem?' Weinstein denied knowledge. Emily Nestor: Nestor was a temporary employee of the Weinstein Company for just one day in 2014 when Weinstein approached her and offered to boost her career in exchange for sex, the NYT reported. Zelda Perkins: An assistant of Weinstein's based in London in 1998; then 25, she reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and 'several' others were harassed and later settled out of court. Elizabeth Karlsen, an Oscar-winning producer, said a female executive told her almost 30 years ago that she had found Weinstein naked in her bedroom in a Miramax-rented property Elizabeth Karlsen: The Oscar-nominated producer of Carol and The Crying Game, among others, told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday that almost 30 years ago, an unnamed young female executive who had worked at Miramax with Weinstein had found him naked in her bedroom one night. The exec was in a house rented by Miramax at the time to cut its overheads. Liza Campbell: A freelance script reader, she told the UK's Sunday Times that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London before telling her to get in the bath with him. Lauren Sivan: The former Fox news host said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007. He took her to a closed restaurant beneath a club she had visited and attempted to kiss her, then when she refused he cornered her and made her watch him touch himself, according to The Huffington Post. Jessica Hynes: The British actress, best known for her roles in the Bridget Jones movies and for co-creating and co-writing the sitcom Spaced, said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 - in a bikini. Hynes, formerly known as Jessica Stevenson, said she refused to wear the skimpy item - and lost the job. Romola Garai: British actress Romola Garai said she felt "violated" following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18 in which he was in a bathrobe. Garai, best known for her role in "Atonement", said she had already been hired for a part but was told to audition privately with the Hollywood mogul because 'you had to be personally approved by him'. "Like every other woman in the industry, I've had an 'audition' with Harvey Weinstein," she told The Guardian. 'So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it'. Unnamed assistant: Weinstein allegedly behaved inappropriately toward a woman employed as his assistant in 1990. The case was settled out of court. Another unnamed assistant: In 2015, Weinstein reportedly pressured another assistant into giving him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel, where he is also said to have pressured Barth. Unnamed Miramax employee: At one point in the early 1990s, a young woman is alleged to have suddenly left the company after an encounter with Weinstein. She also settled out of court. Unnamed woman: A woman who did not wish to be named because she feared Weinstein's connections told The New York Times that the producer had summoned her to his hotel at an unknown date and raped her. Advertisement
A Queensland couple are mourning the death of their 18-month-old son who tragically drowned in his family's backyard pool just days after they moved in.

Phoenix Rodgers was discovered in the pool at his family's new home in Hervey Bay, north of the Sunshine Coast, on October 6.

He was rushed to Hervey Bay Hospital in critical condition around 4pm but later died.

Phoenix's mother and father, Stacy Sharrad and Blair Rodgers, told the Sunshine Coast Daily this week they are struggling to cope.

A Queensland couple are mourning the death of their 18-month-old son (pictured) who tragically drowned in his family's backyard pool just days after they moved in

They described their son as a 'loving big brother' who loved to kiss and cuddle his six-month-old sister and spend time with Ms Sharrad's two older children.

'He was full of energy from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep,' Blair said.

Mr Rodgers said Phoenix had been playing with his siblings inside the house on the day he died.

The heartbroken dad said the toddler was out of his sight for two minutes before he was discovered in the water.

'He never went near the pool,' Blair said.

The family had moved from an apartment at the Ramada to the Craignish home a week prior.

The couple, who are staying with family, said they don't know if they can return to the house to live following the tragedy, according to the publication.

'Stacy walked through the front door, saw some of his stuff and just collapsed,' Blair said about the couple's visit to pick up clothes earlier this week.

Phoenix Rodgers was discovered in the pool at his family's new home in Hervey Bay, north of the Sunshine Coast, on October 6. He was rushed to Hervey Bay Hospital (pictured) in critical condition around 4pm but later died

The Ramada has created a Go Fund Me page to help raise money for Phoenix's funeral.

'Phoenix was a beautiful blue eyed, blonde haired, cheeky and mischievous 18-month-old little boy who resided in our apartment complex with his mother and three siblings,' the fundraiser page reads.

'The family were long term tenants of our apartment complex and we had the opportunity to watch Phoenix grow into a beautiful little boy.'

'All funds will be donated directly to the funeral home of the parents choosing.'

So far, $510 out of $2,000 has been raised.
Hes a wonderful human being and a good man; a man of profound passion and commitment; even, jokingly, God.

Who is this paragon of virtue who has been so lavishly praised? Step forward serial sexual abuser and multi-millionaire alleged rapist, Mr Harvey Weinstein.

And who are those who have been fawning over him for the past 30 years while he carried on with his depraved personal life?

The luvvies who make up Hollywoods finest, as well as their close friends and allies on the political Left. People who are forever flaunting their liberal values in our faces.

Co-Chairman of The Weinstein Company Harvey Weinstein (left) and daughter, Lily Weinstein, attend The Weinstein Company & Netflix's 2014 Golden Globes After Party

Weinstein has been lauded and sucked up to in a staggering 34 different Oscar acceptance speeches. It was former First Lady Michelle Obama herself who hailed this bloated, bullying, sexually perverted film mogul a wonderful human being and a good man.

He is known to have dined at least ten times at the White House during Barack Obamas tenure  once in the company of our own smoothie schmoozer of the rich and powerful, David Cameron.

In return, Weinstein donated millions to the Democrats  one estimate reckons some $2 million in the past 15 years.

Oh, and the Obamas 18-year-old daughter worked for a year as an intern at Weinsteins company. How very cosy it all was.

So this story isnt just about one mans sleazy private life, his horrible attitudes towards women, and his spectacular fall from grace.

Its about how the entire jet-setting Hollywood Establishment  its holier-than-thou stars, its moneymen, the gushing Liberal political class and media  did nothing to stop the grotesque behaviour of one of its most powerful moguls.

Jennifer Lawrence and Harvey Weinstein attend an awards ceremony in 2013

The hypocrisy, the moral depravity, the culture of lies of that Establishment have never been so starkly exposed to the disgusted public gaze as it is today. For Weinstein, it doesnt mean he is repenting in sackcloth and ashes, of course. It means he is flying off in his private jet to check into rehab in Europe.

Because apparently its Weinstein himself who is in need of expensive help here  not the young women he has been bullying and abusing for decades.

In the meantime, those who previously danced attendance upon him or were photographed with him, are desperately trying to preserve their own careers, by scrabbling to distance themselves from him like rats in a terrier pit.

One by one theyre lining up to condemn the man they worked with, dined with and lauded to the starry skies at the Oscars.

Oxfordshire girl Emma Watson, who has addressed the UN itself on gender equality, professes herself horrified at the revelations. So too does anti-rape campaigner Angelina Jolie, along with Gwyneth Paltrow, Rosanna Arquette and Mira Sorvino, all of whom have now said he made approaches to them some years ago  yet chose to keep quiet about it.

We have to take other stars at their word when they say they knew nothing of his shocking behaviour, even though Weinsteins habit of routinely forcing himself on young women was said to be common knowledge in the film industry.

We must assume too that the BBCs former creative director and arch-luvvie Alan Yentob, who partnered Weinstein on several projects, had no idea of the monsters proclivities, despite him being one of this countrys highest-paid and longest- serving journalists.

No fly list: He said on Tuesday that he was boarding a plane to fly to rehab in Europe so that he could treat his sex addiction

For the British Establishment must take its share of the blame. Weinstein was awarded a CBE, made a fellow of the British Film Institute and a member of Bafta.

Can it really be the case that no one in any of these institutions had heard of his predatory behaviour?

Did Tina Brown, New Yorks publishing queen and wife of former Sunday Times editor Sir Harold Evans, not know about Weinsteins reputation?

After all, she was poached from the New Yorker by Weinstein and his brother Bob to edit their magazine Talk in the 1990s  but only now has she publicly turned against her former boss, declaring: Honor [sic] to the brave women who spoke . . .

Indeed, it is only those brave women who initially blew the whistle on Weinstein, such as actress Ashley Judd, knowing that it could ruin their careers for ever, who emerge with any credit here.

Others come out of this ugly story with no credit at all. And what makes their festering sanctimony so much worse is the way Hollywoods tolerance of Weinsteins activities contrasts so dramatically with its hysterical condemnations of Donald Trump for his sexism and dubious record on women.

Film producer Harvey Weinstein attends the premiere of House of Z hosted by Brooks Brothers with The Cinema Society at Crosby Street Hotel on September 7, 2017

True, Trumps record is hardly unblemished, but if Hollywoods luvvies are so upset by him, why was Weinstein allowed to get away with it for so long?

YouTube commentator Paul Joseph Watson has wittily dubbed this Trump Derangement Syndrome: the tendency of Lefty luvvies to be so blinded by their foaming hatred for the current President that they can so no evil anywhere else.

Let us not forget the ceremony when actresses including Patricia Arquette, winner of the best supporting actress award, used their speeches to champion womens rights at what became know as the feminist Oscars in 2015  the same year Weinstein allegedly pushed a female assistant into giving him a massage while he was naked, leaving her crying and very distraught , according to the New York Times.

Hollywoods rank hypocrisy over the Weinstein affair is echoed among the luvvies good friends on the political Left. Another ardent campaigner for women, Hillary Clinton, remained silent for five whole days after the scandal broke before condemning her generous political funder.

Barack Obama, usually so full of high-flown words, and his wife Michelle, also took days to condemn Weinstein, although Michelle was only too happy recently to aim a sharp speech at Donald Trump about wealthy and powerful men abusing women.

Most egregious of all, perhaps, is that queen bee of Hollywood herself, Meryl Streep. She spent nearly her entire recent Oscar speech attacking the President, and saying she had spent much of her time lately in screaming and lamentation  while simultaneously referring adoringly to Harvey Weinstein as God.

Mamma Mia! Hows that for feminist values?

Speaking out: Meryl Streep has released a lengthy statement four days after a bombshell report detailed Harvey Weinstein's decades of sexual harassment (pair above in 2012)

With breathy and weepy delivery, Meryl declared: When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.

She also claimed that by attacking Trump like this, she was setting herself up for attack by what she called the brownshirts  Hitlers stormtroopers. Does she mean that anyone who dares to criticise or disagree with Meryl Streep is a Nazi?

But if Streep is so concerned with bullying and womens rights, where was she all those years when Weinstein was forcing himself on powerless young actresses and goodness knows who? She was as silent as the grave, and insists she knew nothing  although many people certainly appeared to know.

There are disturbing allegations about how, back in 2004, male actors Matt Damon and Russell Crowe  both of whom worked with Weinstein  personally phoned Sharon Waxman, a reporter working on an expose of the Miramax producer for the New York Times, to get her to drop the piece.

This week Waxman tweeted: Hey Matt Damon whats it like to be a spineless profiteer who stays silent? Damon has denied he helped suppress the story.

Meanwhile one of Weinsteins alleged victims, actress Rose McGowan, was infuriated by Batman star Ben Afflecks belated statement calling Weinsteins behaviour unacceptable. In a tweet, she suggested Affleck must have known what Weinstein was accused of.

Self-harm: Once he returned to the house, Lily reportedly called authorities to say her father was 'suicidal and depressed'

Self-harm: Once he returned to the house, Lily reportedly called authorities to say her father was 'suicidal and depressed'

The Weinstein Companys board has hurriedly issued a statement condemning Weinsteins actions as antithetical to human decency.

Human decency? Hollywood knows all about that, doesnt it? It has always really cared about womens safety and courteous treatment, hasnt it? The hell it has.

Today the public is sick to death of Hollywoods overpaid superstars, their identikit politics, their bleating, herdlike behaviour, their cliched and predictable pronouncements on everything from feminism to global warming, their utter incapacity for independent thought, their shameful lack of courage and their moral vacuity.

They may play dauntless superheroes and feisty kick-ass heroines on screen, but the Weinstein affair has exposed them  for the way they flaunt their moral credentials  to be nothing more than amoral, money-grabbing cowards.
MPs could stop Brexit by ignoring the referendum and cancelling the countrys exit from the European Union, John Bercow said last night.

The Commons Speaker, who has previously boasted about voting Remain, said politicians had the power to reject any Brexit deal in a bid to scupper our departure.

He argued that Parliament can do what it wants and suggested MPs were free to vote against the will of their constituents.

The Commons Speaker, who has previously boasted about voting Remain, said politicians had the power to reject any Brexit deal in a bid to scupper our departure

Mr Bercows provocative remarks come after he faced accusations earlier this year that he has failed in his duty of impartiality by revealing that he voted against Brexit in the EU referendum.

Speaking at a Hansard Society event in Speakers House, he said MPs were not bound to follow the wishes of voters.

Of course, Members of Parliament are subject to pressures from their parties, from their parties whips offices, and possibly their parties in their constituencies, but ultimately they decide how they vote, he said.

Most of them do indeed decide how they vote and they, of course, recognise they may well have to take the consequences of that vote.

Of course in the light of the referendum, there are actors on the stage who are very strongly supportive of Brexit who will tend to say, The absolute responsibility now of Members of Parliament is simply to vote this through, but that is an opinion rather than a constitutional fact. Mr Bercow said he expected MPs to be given the opportunity to vote on a Brexit deal at the end of negotiations in Brussels, and suggested some could use the moment to try to cancel leaving altogether.

In March, Theresa May invoked Article 50, starting the formal exit process that will see Britain leave the EU in 2019. But Mr Bercow argued that this could be cancelled

He said: My sense is there will be a lot of people in Parliament who will want to be able to vote on the deal  and there may well be people who say they are simply voting Yes or No to a particular agreement.

There may well be other colleagues who say well, they want to be able to vote in such a way as to achieve another outcome. So there will be some Members of Parliament who say, I want to be able at the end of all this if Im not satisfied, to say No, to try to persuade other Members of Parliament to say No, and to hope that No might delay Brexit or prevent Brexit.

Do they have a right to argue that point of view, they absolutely do. Am I advocating that point of view? Absolutely not.

Mr Bercow said the referendum was not a glorified opinion poll, but argued that it was not legally binding.

Mr Bercow said the referendum was not a glorified opinion poll, but argued that it was not legally binding

He added: My position has always been to say, the outcome is legitimate under the rules. Parliament then has every right to scrutinise the Brexit process, and Parliament can do what Parliament wants in terms of actions at the end of the process.

In March, Theresa May invoked Article 50, starting the formal exit process that will see Britain leave the EU in 2019. But Mr Bercow argued that this could be cancelled.

He added: Parliament is there to be part of the action, and Parliament as far as I can see can do what it wants.

That is something that should really be welcomed, though it might not be music in the ears of those who advocated taking back control.

Mr Bercow also suggested that MPs could have their holidays shortened so Parliament can pass all the necessary legislation for Brexit.
People say history doesnt repeat itself. Sometimes thats true. But it certainly isnt the case so far as immigration to Britain from other EU countries is concerned.

We all know how, in 2004, the Labour government opened the door to immigration from Poland and seven other Eastern European states, while other countries such as Germany and France imposed restrictions.

The Blair government forecast a relatively small annual influx  of between 5,000 and 13,000. Within five years, nearly a million had arrived.

Following that gigantic miscalculation, one might have expected a little more caution would be shown at the beginning of 2014 when immigration restrictions from Romania and Bulgaria were lifted by the Coalition government.

The Blair government forecast a relatively small annual influx  of between 5,000 and 13,000 in 2004 (Blair and John Prescott pictured that year). Within five years, nearly a million had arrived.

With an eye on the cock-up over Poland, prime minister Cameron refused to release official projections.

The Mail warned that history would repeat itself. So did a small number of other organisations such as Migration Watch, a think-tank run by a respected former British ambassador.

This did not prevent many  most notably the BBC  from predicting that anxieties over the number of migrants would turn out to be misplaced.

In fact, they were utterly justified. Yesterday, the Office for National Statistics estimated there are 413,000 Romanians and Bulgarians living in the United Kingdom, equivalent to the population of Bristol.

Of these, roughly 150,000 were already living in the country before 2014. But since then, more than a quarter of a million more migrants from Romania and Bulgaria have settled here.

How misguided the BBC has been. In January 2014, it carried an uncritical interview with the then Romanian ambassador in London, Dr Ion Jinga.

With an eye on the cock-up over Poland, prime minister Cameron refused to release official projections

He said the number of citizens coming from his country to the UK would be fewer than in recent years. It wasnt.

But the Beeb was adamant that those expressing concern about a new wave of migration were guilty of scare tactics.

Even before the gates were opened, BBC2s Newsnight carried a report in April 2013 which suggested that only 1 per cent of Romanians and 4 per cent of Bulgarians were actively considering work in the UK.

Where are all the Romanian and Bulgarian immigrants, asked an item on the BBCs website at the end of January 2014. It claimed some parts of the UK have reported very few arrivals so far.

This echoed a visit to Luton airport on January 1, 2014, by the publicity-seeking Labour MP Keith Vaz, which was celebrated by the BBC.

The BBC celebrated a visit to Luton Aiport by Keith Vaz, who ound a single Romanian immigrant  the inference being that there wasnt going to be anything resembling a stampede

He found a single Romanian immigrant  the inference being that there wasnt going to be anything resembling a stampede.

In May 2014, after official figures suggested (wrongly) that very few Romanians and Bulgarians were coming here, the then BBC political editor, Nick Robinson, scoffed: So much for those predictions of a flood of immigrants coming from Romania and Bulgaria once the door to the UK was opened.

As late as December 2014, Mark Easton  the supposedly authoritative BBC home editor, who over the years has been relaxed about EU immigration  told Radio 4 listeners there were probably 100,000 Romanians and Bulgarians working in Britain. It took John Humphrys to point out that there were already 189,000.

In short, the all-powerful BBC has been spectacularly wrong. If more than 400,000 people from two countries come to live here in the space of a few years, that surely amounts to some sort of flood.

The BBC was reporting what it thought would happen  not what actually did.

The dependably Leftist Channel 4 News was equally awry. In 2014, it published a fact check which declared: Predictions of a mass influx of immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania have failed to come true.

The explanation for such superciliousness is hardly obscure. Even the BBCs former director-general, Mark Thompson, admitted in 2011 that there were some years when the Corporation was very reticent about talking about immigration.

Even the BBCs former director-general, Mark Thompson, admitted in 2011 that there were some years when the Corporation was very reticent about talking about immigration

Nothing much has changed. Auntie, and others, should hang their heads in shame.

One organisation (long shunned by the BBC and the Left-wing media) did predict what has happened.

In 2013, Migration Watch estimated that between 30,000 and 70,000 Romanians and Bulgarians a year would come to the UK. Its higher figure has proved almost exactly correct.

All this matters because it shows how the preconceptions of our national broadcaster prevented it from telling the truth about an issue which, as the Brexit referendum illuminated, is important to millions of people.

Much of the political Establishment also colluded. Well probably have to wait until 2044 under Whitehalls secretive 30-year rule to know what level of immigration the Government envisaged from Romania and Bulgaria. But didnt David Cameron have a duty to tell us?

It was partly because millions of people thought they had been deceived and betrayed by politicians and parts of the media that they voted in June last year to leave the EU.

They didnt  and dont  dislike Poles, Romanians, Bulgarians or any other foreigners.

Millions of people thought they had been deceived and betrayed by politicians and parts of the media that they voted in June last year to leave the EU. They didn't

They simply realise that, when the number of migrants rises so quickly, there is bound to be pressure on school places, hospitals and GP surgeries.

Many of them know that migrants sometimes undercut indigenous workers.

They also realise, though politicians seldom admit it, that the housing shortage is to a significant degree the result of uncontrolled immigration.

Migration Watch, whose record entitles it to be trusted on such matters, estimates that nearly half of housing demand is attributable to migrants.

Inevitably, there is a fight-back from those who assert that the British economy will grind to a halt post-Brexit if it cannot sustain existing high levels of immigration.

On the Left, there are those who stubbornly insist on untrammelled immigration as a universal entitlement, even if it disrupts the lives of working people, many of whom are natural Labour voters.

On the Right, there are businessmen who relish mass immigration because it provides a huge pool of cheap, compliant and usually competent labour.

Reactionary forces in the government, led by Chancellor Philip Hammond, are intent on ensuring that as little as possible changes

In this respect, the Office for National Statistics report on Romanian and Bulgarian migrants offers a fascinating insight.

It says that while the average national hourly earnings of UK workers are estimated at 11.30, citizens from these two EU countries receive only 8.33 an hour.

In other words, Romanians and Bulgarians will work for less than their British counterparts because the average wage in their own countries is about a fifth of what it is here.

There will be a need for foreign labour post-Brexit. But every time a business leader belly-aches about a shortage of workers, remember he has an interest in continuing to pay Eastern Europeans less than the home-grown variety.

Only yesterday this paper reported that a former senior Home Office official has admitted Britain is home to at least a million illegal immigrants. They are also part of this huge pool of cheap labour that is so alluring to some businesses.

One wonders whether the much-lamented lack of productivity growth in recent years may be a consequence of companies employing cut-price labour instead of investing in new plant.

We stand at a crossroads over Brexit, with reactionary forces in the government, led by Chancellor Philip Hammond, intent on ensuring that as little as possible changes.

But for the good of this country  its workers, its public services, its businesses, not to mention social cohesion  we have an opportunity to end wildly uncontrolled immigration, whether the BBC and the Establishment like it or not.
A prison plagued by appalling levels of violence is tackling the problem by bringing in hundreds of sex offenders.

Convicted and suspected rapists, molesters and paedophiles had been transferred to the volatile Category B prison in a bid a stabilise it, said a watchdog.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Peter Clarke said it was a deliberate policy introduced to cut the number of attacks at HMP Doncaster.

But the speed of the move meant that there were inadequate programmes in place to reduce the risk posed by the sex offenders when they were eventually released.

A door being closed by a prison guard. Staffing levels in many jails are too low to maintain order and run a decent regime, the prisons watchdog has warned. (file photo)

Because of the nature of their nauseating crimes, the fact they are aware they are targets for other inmates and they are generally older, sex attackers tend to be more compliant members of the prison population.

Housed on a separate wing to other inmates, it means they are less likely to become involved in violence blighting the jail system in England and Wales, be placed on lockdown in their cells or need to be monitored by more guards.

In October 2015, HM Inspectorate of Prisons raised serious concerns about levels of violence at privately-run HMP Doncaster, a 1,115-capacity local and resettlement prison accommodating youth and adult male inmates.

In the six months up to that damning inspection there had been a shocking 365 assaults  around two every day.

In a desperate attempt to get to grips with the problem, jail chiefs reshaped the profile of the population behind bars.

The number of alleged or convicted sex offences at the South Yorkshire prison soared from around 100 to just over 300 at the time of the inspection in July.

Mr Clarke said: Over the course of the previous year, the number of men on remand for, or convicted of, sex offences had trebled, and many of them were longer-term, high-risk offenders.

I was told that this was a deliberate policy in order to help to stabilise the prison in light of the serious problems with violence that had been identified.

But he warned that the support, offender management and programmes intended to reduce the risk both in custody and on release presented by this population were not present.

He added: In effect, this large cohort of men was being denied the opportunity to make progress.

While it is perhaps understandable that, as a matter of policy, it might be decided that a prison should have a particular population profile, this should not be done in such a way that offender management of those prisoners is neglected.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed that HMP Doncaster, which is operated by private firm Serco, was chosen as a suitable prison to hold an increased number of sex offenders.

The department insisted this was not national policy and the prison was using the move as part of a local strategy to reduce violence.

Michael Spurr, chief executive of Prison and Probation Service, said: The leadership team at Doncaster are managing an increase in sex offenders and have created a specific houseblock dedicated to providing the right regime to support their rehabilitation as part of our wider population strategy to manage sex offenders effectively.

Inspectors found levels of violence at the establishment had reduced sharply but remained high.

The report said poor behaviour from inmates too often went unchallenged, adding that prisoners gathered in cells, smoked on the landings, walked around partially clothed and ignored staff instruction without fear of reprimand.

A prison plagued by appalling levels of violence is tackling the problem by bringing in hundreds of sex offenders. Convicted and suspected rapists, molesters and paedophiles had been transferred to the volatile Category B prison in a bid a stabilise it, said a watchdog (file photo)

Government plans to shut down old and dilapidated prisons in England and Wales have been shelved because of a sudden surge in the jail population.

Michael Spurr, head of the Prison and Probation Service, said no closures were planned in the next five years.

Speaking to the Prison Governors Association conference, Mr Spurr said it had been an incredibly difficult summer after an unexpected rise in inmate numbers.

But he said plans to provide 10,000 new prison places were still on track.

The Conservative Party election manifesto had promised that old Victorian-era jails would close. It said: We will invest over 1bn to modernise the prison estate, replacing the most dilapidated prisons and creating 10,000 modern prison places.

Hindley young offenders institution and prison, in Wigan, and Rochester jail, in Kent - both of which had been earmarked for closure pending redevelopment - are to remain open.

The Home Office has also announced that the Verne Immigration Removal Centre, in Dorset, will be turned back into a prison next year.
States from Louisiana to Florida braced Friday for Tropical Storm Nate, forecast to pound the Gulf Coast this weekend as a hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center on Friday upgraded the tropical storm warning for New Orleans to a hurricane warning. It extends from New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain and Grand Island, Louisiana, eastward to the Alabama-Florida border.

The storm is expected to make landfall around midnight Saturday east of New Orleans, which was devastated 12 years ago by Hurricane Katrina. It would be the third hurricane, after Harvey and Irma, to hit the US mainland in six weeks.

A storm surge warning was put in place from Morgan City to the western part of the Florida Panhandle, as well as along the northern and western shores of Lake Pontchartrain.

"Residents in these areas should heed any evacuation instructions given by local officials," the hurricane center said.

Nate killed at least 21 people as it passed Thursday over Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras, where it caused widespread flash flooding and mudslides, officials said.

Over the warm waters of the northwestern Caribbean Sea, Nate was forecast to gain strength as it approaches the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico later Friday and become a hurricane by the time it reaches the northern Gulf Coast, the hurricane center said.

Nate packed maximum sustained winds of 65 mph Friday evening and was moving north-northwest at 22 mph, the hurricane center said. It was about 90 miles northeast of Cozumel, a Mexican island near the Yucatan Peninsula.

New Orleans gearing up

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu ordered a mandatory evacuation of the Venetian Isles, Lake Catherine and Irish Bayou areas of the city after having already declared a state of emergency Thursday.

"We remain focused on vulnerabilities in Venetian Isles, Lake Catherine and Irish Bayou because these areas are outside of the levee system, and because one of the greatest threats to this storm is not necessarily interior rain, but storm surge. It is a serious concern to us," Landrieu said Friday. "The projections are that we could see six to nine feet of surge."

He said residents must evacuate by 12 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) Saturday, when the nearby flood gates will be closed. The New Orleans Fire Department and Neighborhood Engagement Office will be conducting outreach through Saturday to coordinate the evacuation effort, he added.

With the majority of the storm's impact and storm surge expected to occur overnight, Landrieu also announced a mandatory curfew will take effect Saturday at 6 p.m. and end Sunday morning. In preparation for overnight flooding, he said the city's police department will put up barricades and close underpasses once the curfew is in effect.

"If we all stay informed, if we all stay alert, if we all stay prepared, ultimately, we will all be safe, which is our No. 1 priority," Landrieu said.

Gov. John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency for all of Louisiana. The storm will "make landfall in the close vicinity of New Orleans," the proclamation noted, adding that six parishes have declared emergencies and others would do so soon.

New Orleans, much of which lies below sea level, was gearing up for a hit, and Landrieu urged people who live "outside the city's levee protection system or in low-lying area" to seek higher ground.

Residents have been wary since the city's unique drainage system experienced critical deficiencies during heavy summer rainstorms, leading to the flooding of several hundred properties.

Of the city's 120 main drainage pumps, three major and nine smaller ones were offline Thursday night, city records show. Also, all 24 major pump stations had backup generators, records show, as only three of five turbines that help power the city's oldest, most powerful pumps were available for service, a city water utility spokeswoman told CNN.

"Residents who live inside the levee system should prepare to take shelter with essential supplies including food, water and medications," the mayor said Thursday.

Edwards authorized 1,300 National Guard troops to mobilize ahead of the storm, with some headed to New Orleans to help monitor the pumps, he said.

Storm to move through quickly

Nate would be the first hurricane to hit Louisiana since Hurricane Isaac in 2012 as a Category 1 storm.

"It will still be fairly strong when it makes landfall, but it will be a quicker moving storm than the last few we have had," CNN meteorologist Haley Brink said. "It's supposed to be in and out pretty quickly."

The storm could drop 3 to 6 inches of rain, with 10 inches possible in some areas, from the central Gulf Coast north through Tennessee and the southern Appalachians through the weekend, possibly spawning flash floods, the hurricane center said.

The last hurricane to hit the Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama region in October was Hurricane Lili in 2002. The last time three hurricanes hit the mainland in the same year was 2008, when Dolly, Gustav and Ike came through.

Gulf Coast states prepare

Hurricane, tropical storm and storm surge watches were issued late Friday from Florida's border with Alabama east as far as Indian Pass, the hurricane center said. The tropical storm watch was later expanded to include most of Central Alabama and several counties in northwest Georgia, according to local National Weather Service offices.

With parts of Florida still reeling from Hurricane Irma, Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for 29 counties.

"Based on the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center, (Tropical Storm Nate) will continue in the Gulf of Mexico and we expect it to become a hurricane and bring severe weather to the Florida panhandle this weekend," Scott said Friday. "To be clear, Florida is now in the cone."

He told residents to anticipate evacuation zones, warning that bridges will close once wind speeds get to 30-40 miles per hour and people won't be able to evacuate.

"In Florida, we know to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best, but we don't take any chances," Scott said, urging people to get their medications and have three days of food and water. "Please stock up on supplies today, the storm is ... fast-moving."

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said in a news conference that Tropical Storm Nate is "moving in this direction" but that the state was well-prepared.

Bryant said he had signed an emergency order for a state of emergency in six southern counties.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency director Lee Smithson said residents should "ride out the storm in the safest place possible" and listen to any evacuation orders.

"We can see a storm surge of up to 10 feet, tornadoes, inland flooding and flooding of low-lying areas. This storm will impact the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast," he said.

Smithson said people needed to prepare for 80 mile per hour winds, "widespread power outages and be prepared to be on your own for 72 hours with no electricity, no running water, no stores open for food."

In Alabama, a statewide emergency declaration signed by Gov. Kay Ivey went into effect Friday morning. The move "frees up personnel and resources in case there is a need to respond to any storm related activity."

Mayor Sandy Stimpson of Mobile, Alabama, warned residents Friday about storm surge.

"We encourage citizens in low-lying areas to pay special attention to newscasts," he said at a news conference. "There is a projected 4- to 7-(foot) storm surge. It will happen to coincide with high tide, which will give you additional water levels."

Mobile officials were checking storm drains for debris, taking measures to avert power outages and deploying critical equipment. Shelters were prepared to open, if necessary, Stimpson said.

"Don't wait 'til Saturday after dark to decide what you have to do in case things with the storm change," he said.

Deadly storm slams Central America

Of the 21 dead in Nate's passage through Central America, 11 died in Nicaragua, eight in Costa Rica and two in Honduras, officials said. Several people also were reported missing after the storm hit.

Hundreds were rescued from floodwaters, and many lost power and running water in Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica, officials said.

The main threat for Central America was heavy rainfall, which triggered life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides.

Costa Rica President Luis Guillermo Solis declared a national state of emergency to assist those affected by the storm.

Rain will continue to fall through Friday night in parts of Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Belize, with "life-threatening flash flooding and mud slides possible," forecasters said.

This story has been updated to reflect the latest death toll from authorities.

CNN's Carma Hassan, Alaa Elassar, Michelle Krupa, Matt Wotus, Brandon Miller and Julia Jones contributed to this report.
The police chief in charge of the Sir Edward Heath inquiry told MPs he thought the former Prime Minister was eight out of 10 guilty before publishing a report on abuse claims, it was claimed last night.

One of Sir Edward Heaths closest advisers, Lord Armstrong of Ilminster, claimed Wiltshire Police chief constable Mike Veale had privately assured MPs that he thought Sir Edward was guilty of sexual abuse allegations.

In a meeting with MPs and Heath supporters called by Mr Veale in December last year while the 1.5million two-year probe was still ongoing, the chief was asked whether he thought the late Tory was a child abuser on a scale of one to 10.

Mr Veale is said to have replied: Eight out of 10 guilty.

But a Wiltshire Police spokesman said Mr Veale categorically denied making the comment.

Former Conservative prime minister Sir Edward Heath, pictured, in the 1960s is thought to have been guilty of sexual abuse allegations

Yesterday Lord Armstrong revealed the extraordinary remark as he called for an independent judge-led inquiry into the police investigation.

The Conservative leaders principal private secretary during his time as prime minister from 1970 to 1974, said Mr Veale comments were made in front of him and a room full of MPs.

He said: I remember it was towards the end of a meeting that he was asked to say on a scale of one to ten, he said that he thought that Heath was eight out of 10 guilty.

He did not go into anything further. He was concerned at that moment to justify the investigation.

He was not challenged at the time, we were all so astonished.

The spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: 'Throughout this investigation, the Chief Constable briefed a number of relevant different stakeholders as appropriate, to ensure that he maintained his position of public accountability.

'It is important to state that these briefings did not, at any stage, disclose any operational detail of the investigation.

'Each of these briefings were tailored specifically to the audience and at all times were carried out under the strictest of confidence.

We have a full record of notes from this meeting and can categorically state that this comment was not made.'

Yesterday there were calls for an independent review of what was described in the House of Lords as a sham investigation following a summary report published last week which concluded police would have interviewed Sir Edward, had he been alive, over seven sex abuse claims detectives consider credible.

Despite the finding, the report did not address the question of Sir Edwards guilt or innocence and Mr Veale was at pains to stress that no inference of guilt should be drawn from the decision that he would have been questioned.

Since then doubts have emerged about his accusers after it was revealed that the most serious claim of rape on an 11-year-old boy was made by a convicted sex offender who is a habitual liar and has previously falsely confessed to murder.

Yesterday Lord Armstrong told the House of Lords: Edward Heaths reputation has been under a cloud of suspicion since August 2015, when an officer of the Wiltshire Police made an ill-judged public appeal outside Sir Edwards house for victims of child abuse - by Edward Heath and others - to come forward and make themselves known to the police.

The report of the investigation published more than two years later does nothing either to justify or to dispel that suspicion.

Calling on the Home Office to launch an independent review, he added: As he is dead, the normal provisions and processes of the law are not available to resolve the matter and the cloud of suspicion remains hanging in the air indefinitely.

My Lords, justice delayed is justice denied, the dead deserve justice no less than the living.

He was backed by Lord Lawson, who called for an audit into the grotesque misuse of large sums of public money by Operation Conifer.

Former Scotland Yard Commissioner Lord Blair also suggested that the case could be looked at by Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Police boss Mike Veale, pictured, is said to have said former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath was 'eight out of ten guilty' for sexual abuse claims

Home Office minister Baroness Williams of Trafford criticised the forces decision to appeal for victims outside Sir Edwards home, saying this was probably ill-judged, but she said it was not up to the Government to investigate operational matters.

Baroness Williams said: On the first questions about the police officers comments outside the home of Sir Edward Heath, those comments I think were probably ill-judged.

It would be a matter to refer any matters of misconduct to the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission), and I understand that the Sir Edward Heath Trust has in fact referred matters to the IPCC.

Last night a spokesman for the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation said: Operation Conifer has not been an objective search for truth.

It is clear from recent developments that Wiltshire police have relied on information for one of the six credible accusations supplied by a paedophile who is serving an extended prison sentence for sex offences against a teenager.

Throughout, the police have conducted the inquiry in a prejudicial manner.

At a meeting with parliamentarians the chief constable, when asked whether he thought Sir Edward was a child abuser on a scale of one to 10, he replied eight.

It is not for a police officer to judge the guilt or innocence of a suspect and the remark was highly prejudicial.

He added: These very serious concerns form part of the basis of our request to the Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner that a reference to the Independent Police Complaints Commission is required.
Sir Richard Branson has said that Britain will never leave the European Union because Brexit voters are dying off.

The tycoon said that he believed that there would be a second referendum and that the British people would absolutely vote Remain.

Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTE, the billionaire said Brexit was the saddest thing that ever happened to what was Great Britain.

The 67-year-old told the radio station: The older generation is dying off. So whether theres a second referendum before Brexit happens - Im sure the Tory party will do their best not to allow that to happen - but I think within five years there will be a government in power in Britain that will ask Europe for a chance to let Britain re-enter.

Sir Richard Branson has said that Britain will never leave the European Union because Brexit voters are dying off

Because there will be so many young people who will be a little bit older by then, and so many of the older grandparents who voted for Brexit will have died off, I think that Britain will become part of Europe again.

During the interview yesterday, he said that his heart sank when Britain decided to leave the European Union last year.

I think it was the saddest thing that has ever happened to Europe and the saddest thing thats ever happened to what was Great Britain and it was as if the older group of British people took a gun in their hand and just shot it at their seat, he said.

The billionaires comments come after former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg also said there should be a second referendum because Leave voters are dying off.

Sir Richard said the British people were misled horribly by one or two politicians, naming Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

There was a ghastly misrepresentation of reality. A picture was painted that was completely unreal, he added.

Nick Clegg also said there should be a second referendum because Leave voters are dying off

Britain was doing really well before the Brexit announcement. Since the Brexit announcement, weve dropped to the bottom of all European countries as far as growth is going to happen and this is just a taste of whats going to happen.

He added that it was a pity that time, energy and money was being wasted on Brexit, adding that Britain was going to go on sliding down and thats very sad.

Its just a pity that all this time and energy and money and effort is all being spent on such a wasteful thing as Brexit which could be spent on so many more positive things and I think Britain is just going to go on sliding down and down and down and thats very sad.

He said that as the older generation died off, younger people would replace them as voters, adding: Young people overwhelmingly want to be part of Europe, they want to be able to live in 28 countries they want to be able to work in 28 countries, they want to be able to travel to 28 countries without having to have passports everywhere.

They are Europeans. They want to be able to embrace Europe.

Sir Richard has previously called for a second referendum to give Britain a chance to cast its votes again.

Following the vote, the Virgin founder urged Parliament to take a second look at the result, after saying he was deeply concerned about Brexit.

Virgin Group pulled the plug on the acquisition of a UK firm employing 3,000 staff after the results were announced.

Following the Brexit vote, Sir Richard sold off a multimillion-pound major stake in Virgin Atlantic to Air France-KLM

Earlier this month, the tycoon, whose fortune is estimated at 3.8billion by Forbes, revealed that Brexit has cost his business tens of millions of pounds.

Following the vote, he sold off a multimillion-pound major stake in Virgin Atlantic to Air France-KLM.

He is partly-funding a group to fight Britains exit from the European Union.

The Virgin founder runs an empire which includes airlines and record stores under his Virgin brand, and owns a Caribbean island.

In March 2000, Sir Richard was knighted at Buckingham Palace for services to entrepreneurship.

During yesterdays interview, he also spoke about being caught up in one of the most horrific hurricanes in history on his Necker island last month.

It was like a nuclear bomb had gone off, he said. He also spoke about the environment, education and Brexit and Obama visiting his island.
President Donald Trump ripped into his predecessor's administration on Wednesday for sending Iran 'plane loads' of cash after Tehran agreed to end its nuclear weapons program.

Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired this evening that the Iran nuclear agreement 'was one of the most incompetently drawn deals' because the United States 'got nothing' out of it.

'They got a path to nuclear weapons very quickly,' Trump said in a transcript provided by Fox News. 'Think of this one - $1.7 billion in cash - this is cash out of your pocket. You know how many airplane loads that must be?' Trump asks.

President Donald Trump ripped into his predecessor's administration on Wednesday for sending Iran 'plane loads' of cash after Tehran agreed to end its nuclear weapons program

The former reality TV star and businessman with an estimated net worth himself of $3.5 billion conjured up the image of a promotion 'where they have a million dollars in $100 bills.'

'It's a lot. This is $1.7 billion,' he observed. 'You'd almost say who would be authorized to do it, and who are the people who deliver it? You may never see them again, right? Just plane loads.

'So this is the worst deal. We got nothing. We got nothing,' he added.

The Obama administration did deliver a total of $1.7 billion in frozen assets and interest to Iran after the international agreement went into effect.

Payments of $400 million and $1.3 billion were made to Tehran last year, it has been reported.

The smaller sum of money was always Tehran's. It's been under U.S. control since the 1970s. It was returned last year in the first of a series of payments.

That money came in the form of two wooden pallets stacked with cash. The second and third payments were actually interest on the original debt. They were also paid in cash.

Prior to a report in the Wall Street Journal describing the pallets of cash, the administration had refused to say how it delivered the money to Iran. U.S. sanctions on Tehran prevented financial institutions from processing the transaction.

The Journal said the U.S. airlifted pallets covered in $400 million worth of Swiss francs, euros and other currencies into Iran on the same day the deal was implemented. Iran also released four American prisoners that day, leading to charges from the Obama administration's critics that the money was actually a hostage payment.

A Treasury Department spokesperson acknowledged to the Associated Press a month after the Journal's report that the other $1.3 billion the U.S. paid Iran was also a cash payment using non-U.S. currency.

CBS News reported that the U.S. made 13 separate payments of $99,999,999.99 and final payment of nearly $10 million to wipe out the interest.

Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired this evening that the Iran nuclear agreement 'was one of the most incompetently drawn deals' because the United States 'got nothing' out of it

The U.S. kept the money from an arms deal with Iran in the '70s prior to the country's revolution that it decided not to honor.

Trump railed against the deal on Wednesday evening in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania during an interview with Hannity before his tax speech.

He suggested once again that he would decertify Iran's compliance with the agreement in the next 90-day review while stopping short of fully committing to it.

'I know exactly what I'm going to do, but I can't give it away tonight. But I'm going to be announcing it very shortly,' Trump said.

The president went on to access that 'the people of Iran are great people and they want freedom and they want to be sort of friendly with us. I really believe that.

'But they're dancing in the streets and they're singing death to America, and [John] Kerry's out there negotiating a deal, and giving up every single point,' he said, taking a slap at Obama's final secretary of state.

'It's the worst deal I've ever seen. Whether it's country-wide or any other wide, there is no worse deal,' Trump proclaimed. 'So we will see what happens pretty soon. A lot people are guessing, but maybe there's not so much guessing.'

Reiterating his displeasure with the agreement Trump said, 'It's a horrible, horrible embarrassment to our country.

'We did it out of weakness, when actually we had great strength.'
Many were young, powerless and afraid to speak out in case their careers were ruined.

For nearly three decades their accusations remained bottled up, some suppressed by pay-offs.

More than 30 women have now come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the man once described as 'God' of the film industry.

The accusations, including from some of the world's most famous actresses, range from inappropriate massages to rape.

Here is a list of those who have come forward so far.

Gwyneth Paltrow

The star said that when she was 22, Weinstein touched her and suggested having joint massages in a hotel bedroom before she started shooting the 1996 Jane Austen adaptation Emma. She told the New York Times: 'I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified'.

Paltrow (pictured with Weinstein in 2002) told the New York Times that when she was 22 Weinstein touched her and suggested having joint massages in the bedroom

She said she told her then boyfriend Brad Pitt about the incident and he confronted the mogul. She said Weinstein then told her not to tell anyone and she feared getting fired.

Gwyneth Paltrow, 45, is an American actress, singer, and food writer who made her name starring in Seven (1995) and Emma (1996).

Angelina Jolie

The actress told the New York Times she had to turn down advances from Weinstein in 1998 and chose never to work with him again. She said she warned other women about him.

She said: 'I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did.'

Angelina Jolie, 42, is cited as Hollywood's highest-paid actress. She made her screen debut as a child alongside her father, Jon Voight, in Lookin' to Get Out (1982).

Jolie (pictured speaking ahead of a screening of her new film In the Land of Blood and Honey) told the New York Times she had to turn down advances from Weinstein in 1998

Cara Delevigne

The model wrote on her Instagram page about a meeting with Weinstein in which he 'asked her to kiss another woman.'

She wrote: 'As soon as we were alone he began to brag about all the actresses he had slept with and how he had made their careers and spoke about other inappropriate things of a sexual nature. He then invited me to his room. I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside. She said it wasn't and wouldn't be for a bit and I should go to his room.

Delevigne wrote on her Instagram page about a meeting with Weinstein in which he 'asked her to kiss another woman.'

'At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didn't want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation. When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately I was safe. He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction. I swiftly got up and asked him if he knew that I could sing. And I began to sing....i thought it would make the situation better....more professional....like an audition....i was so nervous. After singing I said again that I had to leave.He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room'.

Cara Delevigne, 25, is an English fashion model and actress. She signed with Storm Model Management after leaving school in 2009.

Lea Seydoux

The French actress accused the mogul of jumping on her and trying to kiss her.

She wrote in The Guardian: 'We were talking on the sofa when he suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. He tried more than once. This was never going to be about work. He had other intentions  I could see that very clearly. All throughout the evening, he flirted and stared at me as if I was a piece of meat.

The French actress (pictured in Spectre) accused the mogul of jumping on her and trying to kiss her

'It was hard to say no because hes so powerful. Im an actress and hes a producer. We are in the same industry, so its impossible to avoid him. Ive seen how he operates: the way he looks for an opening. The way he tests women to see what he can get away with. Thats the most disgusting thing. Everyone knew what Harvey was up to and no one did anything. It's unbelievable that hes been able to act like this for decades and still keep his career.'

Lea Seydoux, 35, starred in Bond film Spectre and was nominated for the Cesar Award for Best Actress for her role as a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette in the film Farewell, My Queen (2012).

Asia Argento

The Italian actress has accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was 21.

Asia Argento (left with Weinstein during 2004 Cannes Film Festival) accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was 21

She told the New Yorker: 'He terrified me, and he was big. It wouldn't stop. It was a nightmare.' She said she went on to have consensual sex with him over the years that followed. She documented the alleged attack in her 2000 film Scarlet Diva.

Asia Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model, and director, best known for the role of Yelena in the action film xXx (2002).

Zoe Brock

Model Zoe Brock was 23 when she allegedly had to lock herself in a hotel bathroom to escape Weinstein's advances.

She wrote on Medium: 'Harvey left the room, but not for long. He re-emerged naked a couple of minutes later and asked if I would give him a massage. Panicking, in shock, I remember weighing up the options and wondering how much I needed to placate him to keep myself safe.

Model Zoe Brock was 23 when she allegedly had to lock herself in a hotel bathroom to escape Weinstein's advances

'I told him I was uncomfortable and that I was angry that I had been tricked into this position. He pleaded with me to let him massage me and I let him put his hands on my shoulders while my mind raced. Harvey chased me, d**k, b**ls and all, and banged on the door with his fists, pleading with me to come out.'

Zoe Brock is a model and actress who was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and raised in Australia.

Louisette Geiss

The actress said she was called to a late night meeting with Weinstein in 2008. He allegedly emerged in a bathrobe and told her he would green light her script if she watched him masterbate. She left the meeting.

Geiss made her accusations in a press conference with high-profile attorney Gloria Allred on October 10.

The star was born in Miami, Florida. She is an actress and producer, best known for Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell (2001).

Geiss was called to a late night meeting with Weinstein in 2008. He allegedly emerged in a bathrobe

Judith Godreche

The French actress says Weinstein tried to massage her and pull off her sweater after asking her up to his Cannes suite to see the view in 1996, the NYT reported.

Judith Godreche, 45, is a French actress and author. She has appeared in more than 30 films and will soon star in an HBO comedy about a French woman moving to Los Angeles.

Judith Godreche (pictured at the premiere of Nasty Baby in 2015) says Weinstein tried to massage her and pull off her sweater after asking her up to his Cannes suite to see the view in 1996

Dawn Dunning

The actress says she was called to a meeting about future film projects in 2003 aged 24. When she arrived she says Weinstein presented her with three scripts for his next three movies which he would let her star in, only if she had three-way sex with him. She fled the hotel, she told the NYT.

Dunning is a former actress turned costume designer best known for her role in Alias: The Roughest Cut (2006).

Tomi-Ann Roberts

The aspiring actress was 24 when she met Weinstein while serving tables as a college junior in 1984. She says he told her to meet him at his home. When she arrived, she says, he was naked in the bath and told her she would give a better audition if she was nude. She says she refused and left, reports the NYT.

Tomi-Ann Roberts was 24 when she met Weinstein while serving tables

Katherine Kendall

The Swingers actress was told Weinstein had to stop off in his apartment to pick something up after a screening in 1993.

He changed into a bathrobe and told her to massage her, she said. When she resisted she said the mogul returned naked and chased her, reports the NYT.

Kendall, 48, is an American actress from Tennessee. She made her name in Doug Liman's Swingers (1996).

Kendall, 48, was told Weinstein had to stop off in his apartment to pick something up after a screening in 1993

Lucia Evans

The actress, formerly known as Lucia Stoller claims Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004. Speaking to the New Yorker, she said that she suffered years of trauma after the incident which occurred in a 'casting meeting' in a Miramax office in Manhattan. He reportedly called her late at night after the incident.

Mira Sorvino

The Mighty Aphrodite actress told the New Yorker that Weinstein tried to massage her in a hotel room at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival.

He then went to her home in the middle of the night but she called a male friend to protect her, she claimed. She said turning down the mogul adversely affected her career.

Sorovino, 50, is an American actress who came to prominence after winning the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as a hooker with a heart of gold in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995).

Mira Sorvino (pictured starring in Intruders in 2014) said Weinstein tried to massage her in a hotel room

Rosanna Arquette

The actress also said her career suffered after she rebuffed Weinstein's advances in the early 1990s. At a hotel meeting he tried to put her hand on his erect penis, she claims in the New Yorker.

Rosanna Arquette, 58, is an American actress, film director, and producer. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the 1982 TV film The Executioner's Song.

Rose McGowan

The actress, who made her breakthrough in 1996 in the Weinstein-produced slasher revival movie Scream, reportedly sued Weinstein after he assaulted her in 1997 at the Sundance Film Festival.

She signed a non-disclosure agreement at the close of the suit and has only referred to him obliquely in social media since. On Sunday she referred to being abused by a 'monster' and has previously referred to being raped by a studio head.

Producer Harvey Weinstein (left) and actress Rose McGowan arrive to the premiere of "Grindhouse" at the Orpheum Theatre on March 26, 2007 in Los Angeles

Ashley Judd

Judd says that during filming for 1997 thriller Kiss the Girls Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower.

She was one of the women who spoke out to The New York Times this week, saying: 'Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it's simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.'

Judd says that during filming for 1997 thriller Kiss the Girls Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower

Emma De Caunes

French actress Emma de Caunes said that she met Weinstein in 2010. Soon after he told her he had a script he was producing based on a book with a strong female character. Weinstein offered to show her the script, and asked her up to his room at the Ritz in Paris, where he began to take a shower.

He then emerged naked and with an erection, asking her to lay down with him on the bed and telling her that many had done so before, she told the New Yorker. 'I was very petrified,' said de Caunes. 'But I didnt want to show him that I was petrified, because I could feel that the more I was freaking out, the more he was excited.'

French actress Emma de Caunes said that she met Weinstein in 2010 and he invited her to his room

Lauren O'Connor

The former creative executive at The Weinstein Company, told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was 'a toxic environment for women at this company' after one of her colleagues told her that Weinstein had pressured her into massaging him while he was naked, the NYT reported.

A former creative executive at The Weinstein Company told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was 'a toxic environment for women at this company'

Ambra Battilana

The Italian actress and model, 24, told the NYT that in March 2015 Weinstein invited her to his New York office. There, she said, he asked if her breasts were real before grabbing them and putting his hands up her skirt. She reported the alleged incident to police, but they did not press charges. According to the NYT, Weinstein later paid her off.

Italian actress and model Ambra Battilana, 24, alleges that Weinstein grabbed her breasts and put his hand up her skirt

Jessica Barth

Weinstein reportedly pressured Jessica Barth (pictured) to give him a naked massage

Weinstein reportedly pressured the actress to give him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel in 2011.

Jessica Barth, 39, is an American stage and film actress, known for portraying Tami-Lynn McCaferty in the film Ted and its sequel.

Laura Madden

A former production assistant and the Weinstein company, she told the NYT that Weinstein had asked her to give him massages from 1991 onwards, while they were both in London and Dublin. 'It was so manipulative,' she told the NYT. 'You constantly question yourself - am I the one who is the problem?' Weinstein denied knowledge.

Emily Nestor

Nestor was a temporary employee of the Weinstein Company for just one day in 2014 when Weinstein approached her and offered to boost her career in exchange for sex, the NYT reported.

Zelda Perkins

Perkins was an assistant of Weinstein's based in London. Aged 25 in 1998, she reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and 'several' others were harassed and later settled out of court.

She said she was subjected to inappropriate requests or comments in hotel rooms.

Zelda Perkins reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and 'several' others were harassed and later settled out of court

Elizabeth Karlsen

Produced Karlsen told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday that almost 30 years ago an unnamed young female executive who had worked at Miramax with Weinstein had found him naked in her bedroom one night. The exec was in a house rented by Miramax at the time to cut its overheads.

Karlsen, 57, is the Oscar-nominated British producer of Carol and The Crying Game.

Liza Campbell

A freelance script reader, she told the UK's Sunday Times that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London before telling her to get in the bath with him.

Campbell, 58, is an artist, calligrapher, columnist and writer, born in the north of Scotland and currently living in London, England.

Campbell, 58, (pictured in 2004) said that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London

Lauren Sivan

The former Fox news host said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007.

He allegedly took her to a closed restaurant beneath a club she had visited and attempted to kiss her, then when she refused he cornered her and made her watch him touch himself, according to The Huffington Post.

Sivan is now a TV reporter in Los Angeles and was a local journalist in New York 10 years ago when her encounter with Weinstein allegedly occurred.

Former Fox news host Lauren Sivan said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007

Jessica Hynes

Hynes said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 - in a bikini. She said she refused to wear the skimpy item - and lost the job.

British actress Hynes, 44, formally known as Jessica Stevenson, is best known for her roles in the Bridget Jones movies and for co-creating and co-writing the sitcom Spaced.

Jessica Hynes said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 - in a bikini. She said she refused to wear the skimpy item - and lost the job

Romola Garai

British actress Romola Garai said she felt 'violated' following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18 in which he was in a bathrobe.

Garai, best known for her role in Atonement, said she had already been hired for a part but was told to audition privately with the Hollywood mogul because 'you had to be personally approved by him'.

'Like every other woman in the industry, I've had an 'audition' with Harvey Weinstein,' she told The Guardian. 'So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it'.

Garai, 35, is an English actress, writer, and director. She is known for appearing in the films Amazing Grace, Atonement, and Glorious 39.

British actress Romola Garai said she felt 'violated' following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18

Florence Darel

French actress Florence Darel has claimed that she was harassed by the producer in 1993.

Darel, 49, who first came to notice in Eric Rohmer's 'A Tale of Springtime' in 1990, told French media that Weinstein had promised to help make her big in America if she became his 'part-time' mistress.

She said she first had to beat off his advances after Weinstein's company Miramax bought the 1993 fashion industry comedy 'A la mode' in which she appeared.

The following year, pushed by her agent, she agreed to meet Weinstein in a Paris hotel, where he he asked her to be his mistress 'a few days a year'.

Actress Florence Darel, 49, revealed on Thursday to French media that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein had promised to help make her big in America if she became his 'part-time' mistress

Unnamed assistant

Weinstein allegedly behaved inappropriately toward a woman employed as his assistant in 1990. The case was settled out of court.

Another unnamed assistant

In 2015, Weinstein reportedly pressured another assistant into giving him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel, where he is also said to have pressured Barth.

Unnamed Miramax employee

At one point in the early 1990s, a young woman is alleged to have suddenly left the company after an encounter with Weinstein. She also settled out of court.

Unnamed woman

A woman who did not wish to be named because she feared Weinstein's connections told The New York Times that the producer had summoned her to his hotel at an unknown date and raped her.
A bishop has threatened to not register any marriages if same-sex marriage is legalised.

The Western Australian Anglican bishop said it all came down to protecting religion, and if it failed then he would not approve marriages, including straight couples.

The Bishop of North West Australia Gary Nelson said the Australian government didn't handle the same-sex marriage postal vote sufficiently and more information should have been given to the public before survey forms were sent out, according to The West Australian.

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Bishop of North West Australia Gary Nelson (pictured) has threatened to not register any marriages if same-sex marriage is legalised

The Western Australian Anglican bishop said it all came down to protecting religion, and if it failed then he would not approve marriages, including straight couples (stock image)

'If we are in a situation where there isn't enough religious exemptions regarding marrying same-sex people, then we'd have to pull out from being celebrants, so just withdraw all the approvals for everyone,' Mr Nelson said.

The bishop said the legislation around same-sex marriage had to be made clearer so they could better understand if they had 'a right to say no' to the use of their buildings for same-sex weddings.

Immigration minister Peter Dutton said he wanted to protect religious freedom if same-sex marriage is legalised and that it was the Parliament's responsibility he told 2GB Thursday.

'There will be a bill before the parliament and my argument, and others have argued, is there should be adequate protections in there,' Mr Dutton said.

Immigration minister Peter Dutton said he also wanted to protect religious freedom if same-sex marriage is legalised (stock image)

However, Liberal senator Eric Abetz said nobody knows what the religious protections should be or how far they should go, according to ABC News.

The Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed about 10 million citizens had returned their same-sex marriage postal surveys earlier this week.

Australians still have until November 7 to submit their postal surveys.
The parents of a boy born with an extremely rare condition that makes his skin red have revealed they are often accused of abusing their child by people who think he's sunburnt.

Three-year-old Chaz Weightman was diagnosed with Netherton Syndrome just a few months after he was born.

His parents Casey and Justin, from Ballarat, Victoria, told Today Tonight that they are often subjected to 'humiliating' accusations by strangers  and have even had the police called to their home twice.

'We had the police called on us twice to a severely sunburnt child,' Ms Weightman said.

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Three-year-old Chaz Weightman (pictured) has Netherton Syndrome which leaves his skin inflamed, dry and scaly

'That was the hardest thing I've ever dealt with and I hope I never have to deal with it again.'

Ms Weightman added: 'I just burst into tears. The first thing they said to me is, 'we're getting medical'. I said, 'he is OK.'

'A member of the public was concerned that he was severely sunburnt.'

She added: 'We can just go down to the shops and have people just stare, some people do make comments, I'm quick to defend.'

Parents Casey and Justin say they are often subjected to 'humiliating' accusations by strangers

Ms Weightman added that she is concerned about her son's future and what strangers will say to him, describing it as 'every parent's worst nightmare.'

'I hope we teach him to be resilient and strong so he can stand up for himself,' she said.

However, Chaz's disorder  which makes his skin inflamed, scaly and extremely dry  is not as painful as it appears.

The Weightmans revealed they've had the police called to their home on two occasions

His parents give him a daily salt bleach bath to kill staph on his skin and he is then covered in Cetaphil cream, which is reapplied when needed throughout the day.

Only one in 200,000 babies are born with Netherton Syndrome, a genetic condition that children only have if both parents possess a certain gene.

'It's quite rare that me and my husband found each other and we had it and passed it onto Chaz,' Ms Weightman added.
A Michigan judge has reduced the child custody rights of a woman who was jailed for five days for not following through on an agreement to vaccinate her 9-year-old son.

Oakland County Judge Karen McDonald ruled Wednesday that Rebecca Bredow will no longer have primary custody of the boy, but will have joint custody with her ex-husband, James Horne.

Bredow, from suburban Detroit, agreed to immunize her son last November during a custody battle with her husband, the judge noted in court last Wednesday.

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A Michigan judge has reduced the child custody rights of a woman after being found in cotempt of court and jailed for five days

Rebecca Bredow, a mother-of-two from suburban Detroit, is going to spend a week in jail after being found in contempt of court for not immunizing her son, who she is pictured with, despite signing a legal document in court stating she would do so

Bredow, who is from suburban Detroit, agreed to immunize her son last November during a custody battle with her husband, the judge noted in court on Wednesday. However, she went back on that agreement, which landed her in jail

But after months of failing to the comply with the court's ruling, Judge McDonald held Bredow in contempt and jailed her for five days.

'It's clear to me that you don't care about orders even if you agree to them, which you did,' Judge McDonald explained during proceedings last week. 'Your attorney signed that order.'

Bredow said she takes 'full responsibility' for not following court orders, saying that vaccinations go against her religious beliefs and that she should have made her objections to them sooner.

'I'm a passionate mother who cares deeply about my children, their health, and their well-being,' she said.

'If my child was forced to be vaccinated, I couldn't bring myself to do it.'

Bredow said she takes 'full responsibility' for not following court orders, saying that vaccinations go against her beliefs and that she should have made her objections to them clearer sooner. Her nine-year-old son, who is not named, is pictured

Rebecca Bredow was handcuffed and booked into jail for a week after refusing to take her nine-year-old son to be vaccinated, despite agreeing to do so in a custody battle with her son's father

Bredow claims that she and her ex-husband initially decided to complete the shots over a period of time, but that she later decided to go against that decision without talking to him.

In the state of Michigan, schools require students to receive vaccinations before entering Kindergarten and up until 7th grade, while transfer students are required to be administered vaccines into their high school years.

According to Michigan.gov, the vaccines include: Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio, Measles, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Hepatitis B, Meningococcal Conjugate and Varicella (Chicken Pox).

However, Bredow told WXYZ she was permitted to delay her son's shots for personal, medical or religious reasons.

While the family had the option to wait, the child's father showed concerned about their son's well-being and took the matter to court when he lost power.

The judge said the mother frequently makes decisions about how to raise their children without speaking with her ex-husband.

Bredow told reporters Wednesday she was 'in shock' by the court's decision. Her attorney plans to appeal.

Bredow's nine-year-old son received four immunizations on Monday.
Striking miners have threatened to rape the daughter of a worker who refused to protest, and called another child a 'f***ing w***e', but the men's union continues to defend them.

Glencore workers at Oaky North mine have hurled abuse at workers who continued to work during a three-month siege at the central-west Queensland mine.

A protester left a sickening comment on a young girl's photo of herself with her siblings and parents, who chose to continue working through the protest.

'F***ing w***e and the family of scumbags,' the man said according to The Courier Mail.

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The men could be heard yelling sexual innuendos at non-striking workers as they left work

In footage taken in August this year, protesters could be heard telling workers to 'crash your car into a tree on the way home' as they drove from the mine after a day's work.

'Give yourself an uppercut, soft c**t,' one man said.

The men could also be heard making sexual innuendos.

Australian Council of Trade Unions president Ged Kearney said she did not condone the workers' behaviour, but refused to apologise after the footage emerged.

Instead, the union boss shifted blame to Glencore for putting its workers in a difficult position.

'We wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for Glencore's behaviour,' she said.

She also claimed some protesters were not members of the CFMEU.

In footage taken in August this year, protesters (pictured) could be heard telling workers 'crash your car into a tree on the way home' as they drove from the mine after a day's work

'We wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for Glencore's behaviour,' Australian Council of Trade Unions president Ged Kearney (pictured) said

However, the behaviour was condemned by both sides of politics.

Federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash called the workers' threats 'sickening'.

'Threats to a person's family and threats to rape their children they are absolutely disgusting and quite frankly, un-Australian,' she told Nine News.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she did not support the behaviour.

Despite Labor's close union ties, Premier Palaszczuk refused to speak to the union, the Courier Mail reported.

Federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash called the workers' threats 'sickening' (protesters pictured)

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull condemned the protesters' bad behaviour on Wednesday.

'Workers have the right to go to work without fear of intimidation and bullying. Enterprise bargaining should be conducted respectfully and in a way that improves productivity securing sustainable jobs into the future,' he told The Courier Mail.

'The thuggery and abuse engaged in by the CFMEU towards GLencore workers is sickening. All Australians will be disgusted by this behaviour.'

The Queensland Police force confirmed they were investigating.
An Ohio death row inmate scheduled to be executed next month for murdering a teenage boy is begging the governor of the state to spare his life claiming he is too ill to be put to death.

Convicted killer Alva Campbell uses a walker, relies on an external colostomy bag, requires four breathing treatments a day for asthma and emphysema and may have lung cancer, his attorneys said in a filing with the Ohio Parole Board.

Campbell, 69, was also the product of a violent, dysfunctional and sexually abusive childhood and continued to suffer abuse after he was placed in foster homes, the lawyer argued.

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Condemned man: The undated mugshot on the left shows death row inmate Alva Campbell, 69, convicted of fatally shooting 18-year-old Charles Dials (right) in 1997

'Alva's development suffered, and the chances of him becoming a responsible adult withered,' wrote lead attorney David Stebbins, a federal public defender.

Campbell's attorneys argue his case is similar to that of Joseph Murphy, spared by Republican Gov John Kasich in 2011 ahead of his scheduled execution for slashing a woman's throat during a robbery.

The parole board recommended mercy for Murphy, noting his childhood growing up in West Virginia in which he was beaten, starved and sexually abused.

The board planned to hear arguments for and against clemency on Thursday. A decision is expected to be reached within a week. Kasich has the final say. Campbell is scheduled for execution on November 15.

Lawyers for Campbell, a career criminal, want his life spared, claiming he is too ill to be executed on November 15

'He's in pretty bad shape,' Stebbins told ABC6 of his client. 'He really looks terrible and can barely get around.'

Campbell was in a wheelchair feigning paralysis when he overpowered a Franklin County sheriff's deputy on the way to a court hearing on April 2, 1997, on several armed robbery charges, records show.

Campbell took the deputy's gun, carjacked 18-year-old Charles Dials and drove around with him for three hours before shooting him twice in the back of the head as Dials crouched in the footwell of his own truck, a red 1992 Chevy S-10, according to court records.

Dials had dropped out of Groveport High School and got a job at a warehouse to help support his mother and two younger siblings, brother Joseph and sister Kayela.

On the day of his killing, Charles arrived at the Franklin County Courthouse to pay a traffic ticket when he was attacked by Campbell.

At his trial, prosecutors played for the jury Campbell's taped confession, in which he talked candidly about the killing.

'I lied to him. I told him I wasnt going to hurt him,' Campbell told police. 'The kid had a whole life in front of him, and he told me his mom and dad were divorced. Now, his mom is without a son.'

In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch in 2013, Dials' brother expressed frustration that it was taking too long for the state to put Charles' convicted killer to death and bring closure to the family.

Faker: Campbell was in a wheelchair feigning paralysis when he overpowered a sheriff's deputy on the way to a court hearing on April 2, 1997, on several armed robbery charges

Liar: At his trial, prosecutors played for the jury Campbell's taped confession, in which he admitted that he lied to Dials, telling him he would not hurt him

Joseph Dials also said he wished to witness Campbell's execution.

'I hate to say Id want to watch a man die, but I have to do it,' he said at the time.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien opposes mercy for Campbell, who he calls 'a career criminal from youth to old age.'

O'Brien said it was ironic Campbell was raising health concerns to avoid execution given that he faked paralysis to carry out his crime.

'As judgment day nears he again resorts to ill health as a reason to enable an escape from his capital sentence - and should not be permitted to do so,' O'Brien said in a Tuesday filing with the parole board.

Campbell served two decades in prison for murdering William Dovalosky, a Cleveland bartender and Vietnam War veteran, in 1972. He was arrested in 1997 after a series of armed robberies in Columbus.

'It is easy to blame deceased parents or a childhood for mistakes or even crimes - but not for two separate murders committed decades apart,' O'Brien said.

A tombstone marking the grave of Charles Dials depicts his pickup truck, in which he was shot to death during the 1997 carjacking

In 2008, Ohio executed double killer Richard Cooey after he unsuccessfully argued that his obesity would prevent humane lethal injection because viable veins in his arms were hard to find.

In March, an appellate court ruled Alabama cannot execute a 66-year-old inmate with stroke-induced dementia because he doesn't understand his death sentence or remember the killing

In 2007, Oklahoma executed death row inmate Jimmy Dale Bland who was dying from cancer that had consumed his lungs and spread to his brain and hip bone.

In 2006, California executed multiple killer Clarence Ray Allen minutes after his 76th birthday. Allen was blind and mostly deaf, suffered from diabetes and had a near fatal heart attack before he was revived and returned to death row.

Ohio also executed death row inmates in July and September.
A man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter over the death of his four-year-old stepson laughed as he left court after being set free.

But his family claimed Matthew Scown was laughing at an a cameraman who fell over trying to film him, not because he was paroled with time served.

The 34-year-old grinned and laughed when questioned by reporters on Wednesday after the Supreme Court in Brisbane suspended his sentence.

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Matthew Scown (pictured) who watched his four-year-old stepson die laughed as he left court a free man, despite pleading guilty to manslaughter

Australian Associated Press confirmed that he was actually laughing at a cameraman falling over, saying their photographer witnessed the scene

His family told Seven News they felt he'd been 'depicted as a monster' in media coverage of his sentence.

Australian Associated Press confirmed the family's version of events, saying their photographer witnessed the scene.

'The cameraman walked backwards into a bin and Scown laughed at that,' AAP Brisbane bureau chief Evan Schwarten wrote on Twitter.

Scown was sentenced to four years' jail for the manslaughter of his stepson Tyrell Cobb, and released having already spent two years and eight months in custody.

The little boy had 53 bruises and 17 abrasions from head to legs when he died, the court heard.

Tyrell Cobb, 4, (pictured) was allegedly 'covered in bruises' and vomiting 'green slime' before he was found unconscious in a Gold Coast home in 2009

Tyrell's biological mother, and Scown's former de-facto, Heidi Strbak, 33, (pictured) will face trial in three weeks' time also charged with his manslaughter

Tyrell's biological mother, and Scown's former de-facto, Heidi Strbak, 33, will face trial in three weeks' time also charged with his manslaughter.

The Australian Army will face a two-week trial in the Queensland Supreme Court on November 6.

Hetty Johnston, founder of children's charity Bravehearts, accused prosecutors of going soft on Scown to speed up the case, The Courier Mail reported.

She said offenders are 'laughing' after a series of cases in which child killers have had charges reduced, including a man who tortured his infant daughter to death.

'They're doing all these plea bargains just to move cases through ... [it's] expedition at the cost of these kids,' she said.

'I think if the DPP had the resources and the backbone they should have gone for him [Scown].'

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk also slammed Scown's laughing as 'completely insensitive' and said she was considering appealing the sentence.

'I'm angry too. How insensitive for this man to be laughing after the death of his stepson,' she said.

'Absolutely unacceptable and I think everybody is feeling it today.'

Matthew Scown (pictured), 34, grinned and laughed when questioned by reporters on Wednesday, after the Supreme Court in Brisbane suspended his sentence

Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath asked the Director of Public Prosecutions for a brief on a possible appeal.

'The public was rightly disturbed by the response of Mr Matthew Scown as he left court yesterday after sentencing,' she told Parliament.

Ms D'Ath said the government asked the Sentencing Advisory Council to look into the issue of child death sentences.

'Once the terms of reference are released, I encourage the community to have their say on this important issue,' she said.

'When the death of a child occurs, we are all heartbroken, but when these deaths occur at the hands of another person, we all want to ensure that the community's expectations are being met in the justice system.'

Justice Martin Burns said Scown was not responsible for the injuries that killed Tyrell but failed in his duty of care.

Tyrell died in May 2009 from internal bleeding and stomach injuries caused by blunt force trauma.

Scown was sentenced to four years in jail over the death of Tyrell Cobb (pictured), but was released due to having spent almost three years in custody

While Scown did not cause the injuries he did not contact authorities or seek medical help, even when Tyrell was vomiting green bile the night before his death.

'You ought to have acted,' Justice Burns said.

'From the time of injury until death every movement including breathing and vomiting would have caused extreme pain.'

Scown called Triple-0 in distress and performed CPR on the boy as paramedics made their way to the Gold Coast home where the pair were staying.

'Looks like he's going to die on me,' Scown told a Triple 0 operator, the court heard.

When paramedics arrived Scown told them to hurry to the boy as he wasn't breathing.

'He's turning blue,' he said.

Scown (pictured) was initially charged with murder over the death of his stepson but pleaded to the lesser charge at the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday

This, Justice Burns found, was evidence of Scown's 'extreme concern' for Tyrell.

'Clearly you were very worried about the little boy,' he said.

Scone was initially charged with murder but pleaded guilty to lesser charge ahead of sentence on Wednesday.

'The basis for your plea of guilty is an acceptance by you that you owed to Tyrell a duty of care, in particular to obtain medical assistance for him when you observed him to be so obviously and severely unwell,' Justice Burns said.

'Your failure to obtain medical assistance for him renders you criminally negligent for his death.'

Justice Burns stressed that Scown had not harmed Tyrell and did not have knowledge or suspicions of the attacks that caused his fatal injury.

During submissions, crown prosecutor Phil McCarthy said Scown had offered 'considerable co-operation.'
Sex-Change Surgery Regrets on the Rise

SACRAMENTO, Oct. 11, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- A world-leading genital reconstruction surgeon is alarmed by the increase in his patients seeking reversals of so-called "gender reassignment surgery."

According to a report in The Telegraph , Professor Miroslav Djordjevic has seen a high number of "transgender" people who have undergone sex-change surgeries later express regrets and experience crippling depression and suicidal thoughts. Djordjevic cites two reasons: a lack of robust research on the topic and a lack of psychiatric evaluation and counseling before the surgeries. While Djordjevic requires his patients to undergo a year or more of psychiatric evaluation followed by hormone evaluation and therapy, some patients seeking reversals have told him that they were only asked if they had the money for the surgery beforehand.

Djordjevic said the average age of his patients has dropped from 45 to 21 since he first started more than 20 years ago, with some in the medical community advocating for allowing minors to get sex-change surgeries. Djordjevic believes that to be dangerous ground and said he personally will not do those surgeries.

"I'm afraid of what will happen five to ten years later with this person," Djordjevic said of patients younger than 18 who may eventually have the surgery.

James Caspian, a psychotherapist at Bath Spa University in Southwest England, tried to do research on so-called "detransitioning," but his proposal was rejected after his preliminary findings revealed that an increase of young people, particularly women, were regretting "gender reassignment surgery," according to The Guardian.

Liberty Counsel has been instrumental in defeating proposed laws in numerous states which sought to prohibit counselors -- including pastors, teachers, and parents -- from providing counsel to any minor (including a parent's own child) about the child's unwanted same-sex attractions or gender confusion.

Walt Heyer struggled with gender dysphoria as a result of being sexually abused as a boy by a family member, combined with his grandmother's decision to secretly clothe him as a girl. Heyer had "gender reassignment surgery." However, after he experienced restoration and healing from a relationship with Jesus Christ, Heyer reverted back to his biological gender as a man.

"I see the tragic consequences of polices to expand gender/sex beyond male and female, in the desperate letters I receive from those who regret gender transitioning and from the families of those who are still caught in the transgender delusion," said Heyer.

"To suggest that people can change their sex like they change clothes or dye their hair is dangerous," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "People's discontentment with their birth sex cannot be solved by hormones and body mutilation," said Staver.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
Police hold grave fears that a missing elderly woman may have been eaten by a large saltwater crocodile after a pile of her clothes were found next to an infested creek.

Anne Cameron, 79, was last seen in Port Douglas, in Queensland's tropical far north, near an OzCare Aged Care facility on Tuesday afternoon.

A Police spokesman said they have found 'what appears to be human remains' and are running tests on them.

'We believe she's wandered in there [a crocodile infested area] and gotten lost, it's our theory that she's become disorientated and walked through that area,' he said.

The forensic tests may be completed by late Thursday or Friday morning, and police and SES are continuing to search for the missing woman, ABC News reported.

Police hold grave fears that missing elderly woman Anne Cameron (pictured) may have been eaten by a large saltwater crocodile. Her clothes were found near a crocodile-infested river in Queensland's tropical far north

State Emergency Service area controller Sean McGuinness said the search was challenging.

'The search area is relatively flat, however the environment with the mangroves and the swamp area, it is quite hard to get through that area,' he said.

'The teams are persevering, they understand what we need to try and achieve and basically try and assist police to get some information about the situation.'

Police confirmed they found a pile of clothing next to a small creek connected to Mowbray River, believed to be less than two kilometres from the aged care facility.

Three enormous saltwater crocodiles are said to live in Mowbray River, according to the Cairns Post.

Police and SES have been searching for Ms Cameron for the last two days.

Three enormous saltwater crocodiles are said to live in Mowbray River (pictured)

Anne's son Craig Eggins said his mother was in the early stages of Alzheimer's, took regular short walks and would ask for assistance if she got lost.

'She's very mobile and could have walked a fair distance,' he wrote on Facebook.

She has a medical condition that requires her to take daily medication, which she has been without for the past 48 hours, police said.

Mr Eggins wrote there were no family feuds and Anne loved the staff at her aged care facility.

'We as a family are very concerned about her and are actively searching with the search parties,' he wrote.

Anne's granddaughter Isabella Higgins said her grandmother was new to the area, having recently moved in to the aged care facility.

Ozcare facility manager Daniel Robinson told Daily Mail Australia: 'Our thoughts and prayers are with Anne's family and we hope for her safe return.'
A volcano expert says an eruption could happen in Melbourne at any time.

Australian National University professor Richard Arculus said an eruption could theoretically happen in Melbourne or Auckland, New Zealand  but there's no way of pinpointing exactly where or when.

'In terms of Melbourne and Auckland, there's every chance another volcano could blow,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'You could see lava flowing down Bourke Street.'

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Professor Richard Arculus of Australian National University said lava could flow down Bourke Street (pictured) in Melbourne

MELBOURNE'S VOLCANIC FIELD Research from Monash University found there is a volcanic field in Melbourne, and a volcano could theoretically spring up and erupt at any time. The research analysed an 'intra-plate basaltic volcanic field' in south-east Australia. Scientists currently have no way of knowing exactly where or when a volcanic eruption in Melbourne could occur. Advertisement

He cited research from Monash University which pointed to a volcanic field existing in Melbourne.

The research analysed an 'intra-plate basaltic volcanic field' in south-eastern Australia.

Mr Arculus said a similar field exists in Auckland, a city built on and near 52 volcanoes.

New eruptions can take place at spots where volcanoes have not previously existed.

Mr Arculus said scientists were unable to tell when or where a new volcano would sprout.

A chilling video created as part of research into the effect of volcanoes in Auckland shows the effects of an eruption on the city.

The creators of the video said the projected video was intended to simulate the view from an Auckland lounge.

It shows a massive explosion before rubble and ash soar into the sky, and a huge wave hits the coast and wipes out everything in its path.
A man who stabbed his ex-wife and her Tinder date as they dined has been jailed.

Alexander Villaluna was sentenced to at least 30 years in jail on Thursday, 9News reports.

The 45-year-old previously pleaded guilty to murdering Keith Collins, 53, and wounding nurse Jovi Pilapil, 39, with intent to cause her grievous bodily harm on the evening of March 30, 2016.

Alexander Villaluna (pictured left) was sentenced to at least 30 years in jail on Thursday

Mr Collins, a divorced father of four children and three step-children, was on his first date with Ms Pilapil at the Kangan restaurant, at the Hornsby Westfield shopping centre, when he was stabbed 12 times.

Villaluna had been very possessive and jealous in his relationship with Ms Pilapil, which ended in November 2015, two months before she was granted an interim Apprehended Domestic Violence Order.

On the night of the murder, he had gone looking for Ms Pilapil, armed with a hunting knife and wearing a camouflage backpack.

Finding her at the restaurant with a man, Villaluna asked him: 'What are you doing with my wife?'

Keith Collins (left) was on his first date with Jovi Pilapil (right) when he was stabbed 12 times

'The offender grabbed at his neck with his left arm and began stabbing into his right lower abdomen with vigorous underhanded thrusts,' the agreed statement of facts said.

After Mr Collins fell to the ground, Villaluna stabbed Ms Pilapil twice before returning to Mr Collins and knifing him again.

Later, when asked if he wanted to write a letter of apology to the dead man's family, his initial reaction was: 'I could never do it because I am still angry at what happened to me'.

On the night of the murder, he had gone looking for Ms Pilapil, armed with a hunting knife and wearing a camouflage backpack

Villaluna is seen being taken into custody in the Kangan restaurant inside the Hornsby Westfield shopping centre

'I can't even read my devotional books for the lord,' he continued in his statement, which was read out by his barrister Angus Webb at his sentence hearing in the NSW Supreme Court last month.

In his written 'apology', Villaluna cited passages from the Bible, saying he had forgotten to love God with all his heart and offered his 'deepest sympathy and condolences' for 'the family of the slain'.
One the top executives at UBS investment bank has been stabbed in the arm and back during an attempted robbery outside his luxury home on Sydney's north shore.

Kevin Bush, 50, was walking along the footpath towards his $6 million Mosman home on Wednesday night when he was approached by two men with a knife.

Police said Mr Bush was stabbed in the arm and back during an 'altercation' with the two men.

Kevin Bush (pictured with his children) was walking along s footpath outside his Mosman home on Wednesday night, when he was approached by two men and allegedly stabbed with a knife

Bloodied items (pictured) could be seen on the road outside Mr Bush's home after the stabbing on Wednesday night. He was rushed to Royal North Shore Hospital and released on Thursday

He was rushed to Royal North Shore Hospital for urgent treatment.

His wife Jane told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Bush had been released from hospital on Thursday afternoon and was 'doing OK'.

'He's home and doing OK,' Mrs Bush said.

Mr Bush, originally from Auckland, New Zealand, is the managing director of financial solutions for Australia and the Pacific and has worked for the investment bank for almost 20 years.

A spokeswoman for UBS said Mr Bush was 'recovering at home' after his ordeal, and hoped he would be 'back at work soon'.

Items can be seen strewn across the street where the attack happened late on Wednesday

Kevin Bush, the managing director of UBS Investment Bank, is recovering at home after the attack

A neighbour who witnessed the aftermath of the stabbing, which happened about 10.40pm, said the two alleged attackers fled the scene down an alleyway between some houses on the street.

Michael Randall was retrieving a bag from his car parked on the street moments before the alleged stabbing took place.

'Police told us they ran up our side laneway just after, and moments earlier I was out at my car getting my gym bag,' he said.

'I've got two kids and I guess you worry about what might have happened if I'd been out there a bit later.

'It's normally a pretty tame and nice neighbourhood.'

Mosman is home to some of Australia's most exclusive real estate, with a medium house price of $3.8 million.

Mosman (above) is home to some of Australia's most exclusive real estate, with a medium house price of $3.8 million

Blood could be seen splattered on the road outside Mr Bush's home on Thursday

'It's normally a pretty tame and nice neighbourhood,' one shocked resident told Daily Mail Australia

Several hours after the alleged stabbing, police stopped a hatchback in Miller St at North Sydney and arrested four men.

Two of the men were taken to Chatswood Police Station where they were charged over Mr Bush's attack.

A 30-year-old man from Lurnea in Sydney's south-west was charged with two counts of robbery armed with an offensive weapon causing wounding, robbery and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

A 23-year-old man was charged with assault with intent to rob, causing wounding and robbery with an offensive weapon.

Both men were refused bail and are due to face Manly Local Court on Thursday afternoon.
Police in Florida said a man, 26, googled 'how to rob a bank' just hours before executing a heist at a local credit union

Police in Florida said Wednesday that a convicted criminal googled the phrase 'how to rob a bank' just hours before executing a heist in Largo.

William Johnson, 26, was charged with robbery after stealing a little more than $2,000 from the Achieva Credit Union, according to a court affidavit.

Johnson, according to local authorities, went into the financial institution and handed teller Teresa Forrest a note stating: 'give me money, no bait, I have gun.'

Forrest told police that Johnson entered the Achieva Credit Union at approximately 10.30am, describing him with 'short brown hair' and 'wearing a blue plaid long sleeve shirt.'

A man matching that description was later spotted at nearby supermarket where he purchased several lottery tickets and a beverage, according to The Smoking Gun.

William Johnson was charged with robbery after stealing a little more than $2,000 from a bank in Largo, Florida

Police later tracked down Johnson to an Express Inn in Pinellas Park using tips from the public who saw a picture of Johnson after his image started circulating on Facebook

Authorities received several tips of suspect's whereabouts after seeing surveillance footage uploaded to Facebook identifying Johnson.

Police later tracked him down to an Express Inn in Pinellas Park, were they executed an arrest for the suspect Monday evening.

During questioning, 'Johnson admitted to the bank robbery,' according to a statement posted to the Pinellas County Sheriff's website.

Johnson (pictured allegedly robbing the credit union) said that he used the money to pay rent and go on a 'drug binge'

Johnson told investigators that he was in need of money so he googled 'how to rob a bank,' the Sheriff website notes.

'Johnson said he originally planned to rob the Wells Fargo Bank located at 10500 Ulmerton Road, but changed his mind after he entered the Wells Fargo and saw the teller was a large male,' it added.

Johnson said that he used the $2,000 stolen from the bank to pay 'for rent, utilities, and a drug binge.'

Investigators say that Johnson planned to rob another bank the following day.

He is currently being held at the county jail with a bond set for $100,000.

Johnson has had numerous run-ins with the law in the past, being arrested for grand theft, dealing in stolen property, probation violation and felony battery.
A number of ambulance vehicles and police cars surrounded Wynyard Station in Sydney's CBD ahead of the peak-hour rush.

At least four ambulance vehicles were spotted out the front of Wynyard Station.

NSW Ambulance spokesman said the number ambulances that were on the scene was 'pretty standard' because each ambulance has different paramedics with different specialties.

A man had a suspected cardiac arrest at Wynyard Station (pictured) just after 3pm Thursday

NSW Police spokeswoman said the man had a medical episode just after 3pm Thursday.

The man suffered a suspected cardiac arrest, had some head injuries and was taken to St Vincent's Hospital.

NSW Ambulances spokesman said they received a number of calls to help the one man.

The scene has since been cleared.


Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner were spotted taking their son to school together for the second time this week.

Weiner is apparently trying to spend much of his time with his five-year-old son, Jordan, before he heads to prison to serve 21 months for an underage sexting case.

The disgraced congressman will report to a federal prison that has yet to be determined by the Bureau of Prisons on November 6.

Weiner, 53, and his estranged wife, 41, each held one of five-year-old Jordan's hands during the school run in New York City.

While they started the trip together as a family of three, Weiner stopped at one point to say goodbye, before turning away and leaving Abedin and Jordan to complete the rest of the walk together.

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Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner were spotted taking their son to school together for the second time this week

Weiner is apparently trying to spend much of his time with his five-year-old son, Jordan, before he heads to prison to serve 21 months for an underage sexting case

At one point, Weiner stared down at the ground as the trio continued walking down the street. Weiner will report to a federal prison that has yet to be determined by the Bureau of Prisons on November 6

While they started the trip together as a family of three, Weiner stopped at one point to say goodbye, before turning away and leaving Abedin and Jordan to complete the rest of the walk together

Little Jordan was sporting a New York Yankees t-shirt, as he held hands with his dad, who is a Mets fan.

Abedin wore a royal blue striped blouse with matching pants, shielding her eyes behind oversized sunglasses.

She and Weiner also took turns carrying their son's Lego bag.

Weiner, meanwhile, looked casual in grey shorts, a green T-shirt, and blue sneakers with which he has been photographed numerous times since his sentencing.

At one point, Weiner stared down at the ground as the trio continued walking down the street.

As part of his sentence, Weiner has agreed to register as a sex offender, meaning he will be prevented from going within a certain distance of schools.

As part of his sentence, Weiner has agreed to register as a sex offender, meaning he will be prevented from going within a certain distance of schools

Abedin and Jordan eventually finsihed the journey to his school on their own. They are seen crossing a New York City street as Abedin carries his Lego bag

The family was also spotted on Tuesday morning. During that outing, Jordan wore camo shorts that matched his mother's camouflage pants.

Abedin paired the skinny jeans with a flowy green jacket and beige ballet flats, shielding her eyes behind oversized sunglasses.

The couple, who are currently in divorce proceedings after seven years of marriage, were seen together on Tuesday for the first time since Weiner's sentencing last month.

On that occasion too, they took Jordan to school together, each holding his hand as they crossed a New York City street.

The longtime Hillary Clinton aide has been pictured several times since her husband's sentencing, taking Jordan to school on her own several times.

Last month, she was seen walking down the street in New York City after dropping Jordan off at school.

Abedin filed for divorce from Weiner in May on the same day he pleaded guilty to sexting with a minor.

The mother was also seen the day after her husband's sentencing when she took Jordan to school.

She looked glum on the occasion, yet well put-together, wearing embroidered jeans with a white pussy-bow blouse and hoop earrings.

Weiner, meanwhile, sat in a car nearby and the pair weren't pictured together on that occasion.

Abedin was also pictured last month, the day after Weiner's sentencing, taking her son to school

The mother-of-one wore a pair of embroidered Alice and Olivia flared jeans for the trip, pairing the vibrant pants with a more elegant pussy bow blouse

Before Weiner was sentenced, Abedin wrote a letter as part of the case, asking for mercy as she begged for the judge's sentencing not to have a 'negative impact' on their son.

In the missive, she told authorities she was 'devastated' by the actions of her husband of seven years, and pointed out she was writing this letter for the benefit of their son, whom she called 'the light of our life'.

'As would any parent, if there has to be any negative impact on [redacted], I would like to be as small as possible,' Abedin wrote.

Although she asked the court be lenient during Weiner's sexting case, the former congressman's wife was not present when he was sentenced a week ago.

Weiner cried as Judge Denise Cote imposed a jail sentence of nearly two years, followed by three years of supervised release.

He walked free immediately after the sentencing and was seen out in Manhattan the following day, but he will have to surrender to a designated prison facility on November 6.

Earlier last month, when he and Abedin took their son Jordan to his first day of school, the father once again turned back halfway through the walk, leaving Jordan and his mother to complete the rest of the trip together.

Weiner was pictured the day after his sentencing leaving his apartment in New York City, wearing the same hat, shorts, and shoes as the previous day

His history of sexting with the underage girl involved in the charges, whom he asked to strip naked and to touch herself on Skype, was first revealed by DailyMail.com a year ago and resulted in a federal investigation.

During his sentencing hearing, the former politician said he had betrayed his son's 'amazing mother', Abedin, and referred to the boy as his 'salvation'.

'I focus on how I live my new, smaller, healthier life one day at a time,' he said. 'I was a very sick man for a very long time. I have a disease but no excuse.'

He added that he understood the prosecutors' skepticism about whether he had changed. 'I blamed others,' he said. 'I convinced myself that I wasnt the problem.'

'I'm an addict', he went on, referencing how he had seen the qualities in his late brother, Seth, who passed away in 2000.

The disgraced congressman said that he was going to therapy twice a week and attending meetings every day.
The respective families of a victim and his killer have clashed violently outside court after a man was convicted of murder.

Sydney man Diego Carbone was found guilty of killing father-of-two Bradley Dillon after luring him to an underground car park to discuss a $2000 debt.

The NSW Supreme Court jury on Thursday found Carbone, 26, murdered Mr Dillon, 25, who the trial heard was shot and stabbed after being lured to a Leichhardt car park in 2014. The jury had begun deliberating on Tuesday.

The families of the two men clashed outside court after the verdict was read.

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The respective families of a victim and killer have clashed violently outside court after a man was convicted of murder

They pulled the fingers, yelled and swore at each other and men had to be restrained

They pulled the fingers, yelled and swore at each other and men had to be restrained.

'Stop it, stop it,' a woman could be heard yelling, while another said 'piss off'.

'Got one brother on death row and the other one locked up the f**king maggot,' one woman screamed as she walked away from court.

Some of the family members tried to stop others from engaging, saying 'come here mate, it's not worth it man'.

Sydney man Diego Carbone was found guilty of killing father-of-two Bradley Dillon (pictured) after luring him to an underground car park to discuss a $2000 debt

A woman walking away after police got in the way of the families shouted 'you're a f**king piece of s**t all of you'.

The confrontation spilled out onto the street before police got involved and separated the groups.

Another jury - discharged in September after a witness and a juror realised they were neighbours - had been told Mr Dillon had been chasing repayment of $2000 his sister lent to a member of the Saint Michael Fight Club.

A phone used only once sent a message to Mr Dillon to head to the car park under the TAB in Leichhardt

A phone used only once sent a message to Mr Dillon to head to the car park under the TAB in Leichhardt.

Soon after, a passerby heard five loud bangs and saw two men - one wearing a green jersey - running down the street.

Mr Dillon then stumbled out of the car park and collapsed on the street outside Leichhardt's MarketPlace about 5.30pm on August 11, 2014.

The confrontation spilled out onto the street before police got involved and separated the groups

DNA from the victim and Carbone was found on a piece of green cloth at the scene, which the Crown had argued was consistent with Carbone having his shirt grabbed by Mr Dillon.

Carbone's DNA was also found under one of Mr Dillon's fingernails.

Carbone will be sentenced at a later date.
The driver accused of causing a fiery crash with an allegedly stolen truck in the NSW Hunter Valley town of Singleton is 'not a monster' but suffers from mental illness, his sister has declared.

Stephani Johnson took to social media to say her brother Rodney Johnson was a caring father who had been working 18-hour days, six days a week, in an effort to see his children.

'Rod is not a monster,' Ms Johnson wrote. 'He's a kind, caring, hard-working man who unfortunately has been taken over by this devil mental illness!'

'When Rod wakes up out of his "bad dream" the hate and anger he is going to have on himself for the chaos and hurt he has caused is going to be far worse than the negative and nasty comments about him all over [Facebook].'

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The sister of Rodney Johnson (pictured) has said her brother was suffering from a mental illness when he allegedly stole a semi-trailer and crashed it into parked cars at Singleton

Rodney Johnson has been charged with stealing a semi-trailer, leading police on a pursuit and causing malicious damage after he allegedly crashed a truck into parked cars at Singleton

Stephani Johnson (pictured) has taken to Facebook to declare her brother Rodney is 'not a monster' and had been working 18-hour days six days a week so he could seen his children

Ms Johnson has expressed her sympathy for those injured in the crash, including one man left in a critical condition.

Johnson has been charged with stealing a semi-trailer and leading police on a pursuit which ended in 'absolute carnage' on Wednesday morning.

The 29-year-old allegedly stole a semi-trailer from a service station at Murrurundi - more than 100 kilometres away - about 7.30am when the truck's driver was paying for fuel.

Police initiated a pursuit and deployed road spikes as the truck approached Singleton but the vehicle continued for several kilometres.

The rig crashed and burst into flames on George Street about 8.45am after taking out five cars and damaging buildings including the Royal Hotel and an antique store.

One man was in critical condition and eight people were treated at the scene, including five who were later taken to hospital.

Rodney Johnson was allegedly behind the wheel of a rig which crashed and burst into flames in Singleton after taking out five cars and damaging buildings including the Royal Hotel

The driver who stole a fertiliser truck (pictured) and crashed into a number of cars and buildings before it burst into flames has been seen leaving hospital under police guard

The 29-year-old man left hospital with a white sheet covering his body before being loaded into the back of a police van

Johnson's sister wrote that 'despite his mental state' what her brother had allegedly done was 'far from okay'.

'I'm just as angry with the monster inside Rod's head,' Ms Johns wrote. 'I pray for the man fighting for his life and the people hurt to come out of this and I send all my love.

'And to them, we are sorry more than words can explain.'

A 67-year-old man suffered head and chest injuries and was airlifted to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. He was in a critical but stable condition on Wednesday night.

A 62-year-old woman with pelvic and hip injuries and a 64-year-old man with neck, chest and back pain are both in a stable condition.

It comes after the truck driver, who is reportedly 29-years-old according to NBN News , stole a truck and erratically drove it through Singleton before the truck burst into flames

The driver was arrested at the scene and taken to hospital with minor injuries and underwent mandatory tests.

He faces eight charges, including stealing the truck, leading police on a pursuit and malicious damage.

Johnson has been refused bail to front Singleton Local Court on Thursday.

On Wednesday, one witness described her terror as she sat in traffic and saw the truck hurtling towards her at high speed.

'[The truck] was ploughing [the cars] like it was ploughing a field,' Debbie Anderson, 59, told Daily Mail Australia.

'I'd been thrown sideways ... all I could see was smoke.'

The truck was seen driving erratically through the main street as it hit a number of buildings

At about 7.30am on Wednesday, the stolen truck crashed into a number of cars and buildings before catching fire in Singleton, north of Sydney.

'It was like something that you'd see on the movies,' Ms Anderson said.

'I don't even know how fast he was travelling, he was absolutely flying.

'I was in complete disbelief.'

After the 'wavering' truck crashed into her car, along with several others, the 59-year-old said she forced the car door open and went to safety at a nearby cafe.

'I could see dust and didn't know if it was smoke,' Ms Anderson said.

'Obviously you could see the flames and the popping.'

Ms Anderson said the stolen truck crashed into a car which crashed into her car, throwing her sideways and all she could see 'was smoke' (pictured)

The horrific incident took place in Singleton, about 200km north of Sydney, NSW (pictured)

Escaping with bruises to her forearms and legs after the 'full on jolt', Ms Anderson said the truck ended up about 100 metres away from her car before it burst into flames.

The grandmother described the cars in standstill traffic as 'sitting ducks' with no where to escape.

'There's only one way in and one way out over that bridge,' Ms Anderson told Daily Mail Australia.

'If they knew what was coming why didn't they sit us in the side streets.'

The grandmother was taken to hospital for X-rays and has since been discharged, making her feel pretty lucky she wasn't worse off.

Ms Anderson was one of at least eight injured in the terrifying crash, which has left two people in a critical condition in hospital.

Other witnesses described seeing the semi-trailer travelling at 100km/h down the main street of the country town before ploughing into four cars and bursting with thick black smoke.

The semi-trailer crashed into a number of cars (pictured) and buildings Wednesday morning

Meri Basci told Daily Mail Australia she was on her way to work when she saw the truck being driven 'erratically' over the bridge before it crashed and burst into flames.

'I saw a lot of dust under his wheels ... it all happened so fast,' Ms Basci said.

'I couldn't even understand how he could drive that fast over the bridge without hitting anyone or anything.

'A second later all I could hear was a big bang and a lot of black smoke.'

Another witness, Daniel Storey, told Australian Associated Press that he heard 'crash after crash after crash'.

The truck exploded into 'fireball' flames (pictured) after police stopped truck with road spikes

Ms Anderson was one of at least eight injured in the terrifying crash, which has left two people in a critical condition in hospital

'Some cars have been taken out by the truck,' Mr Storey said.

'He's caused it all. When he crashed, he got out of his truck and tried to get into another truck.'

NSW Ambulance Inspector Luke Wiseman said it was 'chaotic' when they first arrived before 9am with a number of 'distressed people'.

'The scale and suddenness of the incident and the fact that is has happened in a smaller community means a lot of people are in shock, so it was a challenging scene,' Mr Wiseman said.

Huge blankets of black smoke could be seen and one witness reportedly said there was a 'huge fireball' with cars 'all over the road'.

A critical investigation has been launched following the incident.
A Melbourne man has been accused of nearly biting off his mother's thumb before setting her house on fire and stabbing two random strangers at a bar.

Damen Stephens was arrested at Cheltenham on Monday following a two-day police manhunt.

His 66-year-old mother is recovering in the Alfred Hospital after allegedly being punched and choked by her son last Friday night.

Police say the woman suffered swelling and bruising to her body and is 'extremely fearful' of her 43-year-old son.

In May he posted to his Facebook account that he had been behind bars for eight months because of a 'slight cyber-stalking incident/misunderstanding/love-story' and was out on bail 'looking for new Friends/Victims'.

Damen Stephens was arrested at Cheltenham on Monday following a two-day police manhunt

He was wanted over a violent incident with a 'large knife' that occurred in St Kilda on Saturday night that put two men in hospital

According to court documents, police allege Stephens caused $400,000 worth of damage when he returned to smash up his mother's house and set it on fire in the early hours of Saturday.

By the time police and firefighters arrived, prosecutors say the house was destroyed and Stephens was nowhere to be seen.

Police also claim to have videos of Stephens smashing up his mother's home and photos of him starting the fire.

Neighbours say Mr Stephens and his mother got in a heated argument on Friday evening before he returned to the home later that night and began smashing her windows.

'We are all scared of him,' an anonymous neighbour told The Age.

Mr Stephens' 66-year-old mother is recovering in the Alfred Hospital after allegedly being punched and choked by her son last Friday night

Mr Stephens was a person of interest after a double-stabbing occurred on Fitzroy Street after 9pm, leaving two men in hospital

Mr Stephens' mother's house suspiciously burned down just after midday on Saturday

Later on Saturday, Stephens was allegedly drinking at a St Kilda bar when he randomly stabbed two strangers aged 44 and 29.

Police claim he produced a large kitchen knife and tried to stab one of his victims in the chest and back, with the man suffering a stab wound to the left triceps and cuts to the left of his chest, his hip and back.

A friend of the victim then attempted to help by grabbing Stephens but was stabbed to the left triceps when the accused turned on him, prosecutors added.

Stephens has been charged with 18 offences including arson, stalking, intentionally and recklessly causing injury, and assault with a weapon.

He briefly appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday and did not apply for bail.

He has pleaded guilty to at least some of the charges.

He was remanded in custody to reappear in court on February 12 next year before a plea hearing in the County Court on March 8.
After ten days lost in the bush, a mother and her nine-year-old son have been found in the Hunter Valley.

Michelle Pittman and her son Dylan were located on Mount Royal Road within the Mount Royal National Park about 12.30pm on Thursday.

Both mother and son were sustained through their ordeal by drinking water from a rock pool, 7 News reported.

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Mother Michelle Pittman (pictured) went missing in the Mount Royal National Park with her nine-year-old son 10 days ago

Son Dylan (left) was also found when the pair made it to the side of Mount Royal Road. The pair survived off water from a nearby rock pool and were found in good condition, but dehydrated and covered in insect bites (right)

The pair had been missing for 10 days, after first setting out on a bush walk on Monday, October 2.

They were reported missing by family members on October 4 when they failed to return and a large-scale search was launched on Monday, when their car was found .

Police, SES, paramedics and National Parks and Wildlife rangers all lent a hand in the desperate quest to find the mother and child.

Eventually, they were picked up by police after making their way onto Mount Royal Road.

NSW Police Inspector Joanne Schultz told 7 News the pair were found in good condition.

'They're both very well, obviously very relieved, very hungry but otherwise they're quite good,' she said.

Michelle and Dylan have been taken to Singleton Hospital to receive treatment for dehydration and insect bites.
These are the horrific injuries suffered by a man in an 'unprovoked' attack in London.

Callum Wade, 22, was punched and kicked to the ground by four men in Islington, leaving him with fractures to the face and permanent damage in his eye.

He had been with two friends on Charterhouse Street when his attackers launched the assault. His friend, a man in his 20s, was also assaulted but not seriously injured.

Horrific injuries: Callum Wade, 22, was punched and kicked to the ground by four men in Islington, leaving him with fractures to the face and permanent damage in his eye

Mr Wade, from the Maidenhead area of Berkshire, sought help at the nearby Fabric nightclub following the incident at 3am on Saturday, April 1.

Staff provided first aid and called a taxi which took him to hospital.

Subsequent investigations revealed CCTV footage of three of the four men believed to have been involved in the attack on Mr Wade, but no arrests have been made.

Detective Constable Mark Pinder from the Metropolitan Police is leading an investigation into the 'brutal assault'.

Scotland Yard issued these images of three people they want to trace following the assault

He said: 'This was a violent assault which appears to have been launched with no provocation and has left Callum with injuries that will affect him for the rest of his life.

'The level of violence used was shocking and those who carried it out need to be traced before they commit a similar offence.

'I am appealing to anyone who recognises these men to contact police and help bring these violent thugs to justice.'

Anyone with information should contact police on 0208 345 0119 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A farm worker who killed 79 piglets by belly flopping on them has been jailed for 15 months, along with a work colleague who filmed the sickening 'prank'.

A court in Spain ruled the man's actions were 'unjustifiable and cruel' and banned both of them from being involved in any profession connected to animals for three and a half years.

They were also ordered to pay compensation of 4,470 euros, 60 euros for each piglet, to the company that owned the animals.

The man's triple dive on the pigs in a farm in Huercal-Overa in Almeria was circulated on Whatsapp and the social networks by the friend who filmed the episode on his mobile phone.

A farm worker who killed 79 piglets by belly flopping on them has been jailed for 15 months, along with a work colleague who filmed the sickening 'prank'

A court in Spain ruled the man's actions were 'unjustifiable and cruel' and banned both of them from being involved in any profession connected to animals for three and a half years

Animal campaigners had campaigned for a longer prison sentence because of the outrage it caused.

The two men, identified only as D.A.A. and MR, were aged 18 and 22 at the time, the court in Almeria was told.

They were working with a large number of piglets aged between 19 and 27 days old when D.A.A got inside their pen and belly-flopped on top of them three times.

The court was told he treated it like a 'swimming pool'.

In custody: The two men, a Lithuanian and a Spaniard, aged 19 and 22, were arrested over the twisted prank

The second man, MR, stood by filming it all and was criticised by the judge for accepting what was happening and not intervening.

Reporting on the court case in Almeria, Spanish newspapers say 19 piglets died at the scene and the others were seriously injured by crushing and either died or had to be put down.

The judge said the 21 second video was 'repulsive' and that D. A. A had been recognised.

He told the court it was a joke and he had acted like a clown but disputed that so many pigs had died and claimed a police photograph afterwards of the dead animals did not show the original piglets.

The judge said the images 'spoke for themselves' and that MR should immediately have stopped filming after the first jump.
Bidhya Sagar Das, 33, attacked the toddlers at a flat near Finsbury Park, North London

A killer who regularly smoked cannabis told his wife they were going to have a 'special night' together minutes before he beat their one-year-old son to death with a hammer, a court heard today.

Bidhya Sagar Das, 33, stormed into baby Gabriel's bedroom and bludgeoned him with a large clawhammer as his wife Christinela Datcu showered at their flat in Finsbury Park, North London.

Ms Datcu rushed out of the bathroom to discover 'a scene that was the stuff of nightmares' after hearing her child crying at around 11pm on March 18.

She screamed for help from neighbours after finding her son's blood-soaked body with a visibly fractured skull - but by then, Das had fled and dumped the weapon in a nearby skip.

The hotel worker had plotted to kill Ms Datcu and Gabriel because he wrongly believed she had been sleeping with other men in the child's bed.

He told local taxi driver Avraam Kyriakou he was going to 'kill Christina, because she f***s men in the bed' a day earlier.

The boy, Gabriel Bibekdas Sonu, died in the early hours of the next morning after the attack

Minutes before the chilling attack Das gave his wife a foot massage as they watched television together after putting Gabriel to bed, the Old Bailey heard.

Zoe Johnson QC, prosecuting, said: 'The defendant then made her a cup of tea, and the two of them sat down to relax in front of the television.

Das told his wife Christinela Datcu (pictured together) they would have a 'special night' together minutes before he killed their son

'He gave her a foot massage and told her 'it's going to be a special night'. Ms Datcu thought this was strange and questioned what he meant.'

Gabriel suffered multiple skull fractures as Das hammered him to death. He was pronounced dead within hours of the attack.

When Ms Datcu rushed out of the shower she discovered Gabriel 'covered in blood' and screamed for help.

'In a panic she ran downstairs to one of her neighbours, screaming that her partner had killed her baby,' said Ms Johnson.

Das also left a one-year-old girl in a critical condition before he threw the claw hammer away in a nearby street, but she survived the attack.

He was arrested in Hackney, East London, on March 19 after calling the police and saying: 'Saturday night I did very bad, honestly.'

Das cried 'I am sorry for what I did, I am sorry' when he was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Police were called to the property near Finsbury Park following the incident in March this year

Das has admitted manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility and one count of attempted murder.

The Bangladeshi killer regularly smoked cannabis and was so paranoid he thought Ms Datcu was hiding other men in the house.

Ms Johnson said: 'Things got so bad that on the occasions when they spent the night together, when he wasn't at work, he removed his shoe laces and tied Ms Datcu's underwear to his own, to ensure that she could not get up without him knowing.'

How the mother's life was ripped apart A mother has described how her wonderful life was ripped apart when her partner killed their 'miracle' baby. Christinela Datcu was in the shower at home when Das killed Gabriel and badly injured a little girl. In a moving witness statement read at the Old Bailey, she said: 'It is almost impossible for me to find words to express my feelings in relation to what happened on March 18. 'My life changed irreversibly since and I will have to live with the pain for the rest of my life. When I buried Gabriel I realised in earnest that I had lost him forever.' Ms Datcu had been told by doctors in her home country Romania and the UK that she would never be able to conceive, or it would be very difficult. She said: 'When I fell pregnant ... it was like a miracle, I felt I had a reason to live. The future seemed wonderful. The father was supporting me and we were happy. Both I and the father were happy. There is nothing more beautiful to me than being a mother. 'He was supportive and he accompanied me everywhere. This was a beautiful period in my life. I will never be that happy again.' In the wake of the attack, Ms Datcu, who had been with Das for five years, said she was 'living like a robot, I was listening and doing what I was told to'. The hotel cleaner told how she became sick and depressed and could hardly sleep. She said: 'Recently, after 40 days, Gabriel started to appear in my dreams and I sleep better.' On the future, she said: 'I am afraid and I live with the thought that if he (Das) is ever free, he would come to finish what he started that day and to kill me and (the girl).' Advertisement

Das, a night receptionist at the Pembury Hotel in Finsbury Park, started to leave work 'to see what Ms Datcu was doing and to search for men he believed were hiding in the flat'.

The court heard Das repeatedly assaulted Ms Datcu, from Romania, while he wrongly accused her of cheating.

He called Mr Kyriakou and told him he was planning to kill her on March 17, but the taxi driver 'said he had not believed him', the court heard.

In a witness statement, Ms Datcu said: 'It is almost impossible for me to find words to express my feelings in relation to what happened on March 18.

'My life changed irreversibly since and I will have to live with the pain for the rest of my life. When I buried Gabriel I realised in earnest that I had lost him forever.'

She added: 'I am afraid and I live with the thought that if he (Das) is ever free, he would come to finish what he started that day and to kill me and (the girl).'

Das was charged with murder and attempted murder following the incident.

Prosecutors later accepted his guilty pleas to one count of manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility and one count of attempted murder.

He appeared in the Old Bailey dock today flanked by mental health workers.

Das could be sent to a mental hospital for treatment and released in the future under strict conditions, the Old Bailey heard.

Colin Aylott, QC, defending, revealed that the child killer 'hasn't accepted that he suffers from any mental disorder'.

Mr Aylott argued that the hotel worker shouldn't be sent to prison because he might not take his medication and could become delusional again.

'The real issue for the court is the potential for relapse and indeed the way in which the progress of Mr Das - should he ever be released - could be monitored,' he added.

The barrister asked judge Spencer to consider imposing section 37 and 41 orders under the Mental Health Act, which would mean Das is held and treated in a mental hospital.

Das could potentially be discharged under such an order if his responsible clinician got permission from the Secretary of State for Justice.

But Mr Aylott said it would be the best option because doctors would ensure the killer takes his medication and would be 'able to identify hallmarks of the delusional disorder he suffers from'.

He claimed keeping Das in a mental hospital 'removes the risk that he doesn't take his medication in the prison system and relapses potentially without the ability of those in that system of spotting the warning signs'.

Mr Aylott said section 37 and 41 orders would be 'far preferable' to a section 45A order under the Mental Health Act, which would mean Das is treated at a mental hospital and then transferred to prison.

Judge Spencer also has the option of just giving Das a prison sentence when he sentences him at the Old Bailey tomorrow at 12pm.
Police weren't called until six minutes after Stephen Paddock (pictured) started shooting into the crowd, despite hotel security knowing he was armed and dangerous, authorities have said

Federal agents are in a heated battle with MGM resorts after confirming that Mandalay Bay hotel security didn't notify police about a guard being shot by Stephen Paddock until after he opened fire on civilians, despite hotel officials insisting that is not the case.

The federal official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, claimed that Mandalay Bay did not call police until after Stephen Paddock opened fire, despite security guard Jesus Campos calling down to alert them that he'd been shot.

Thursday's confirmation would mean there was a delay of at least six minutes in notifying the police of what turned into the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

But MGM studios, which owns Mandalay Bay, refuted that claim on Thursday. The company said it is 'confident' that the timeline presented by federal police is inaccurate.

'We know that shots were fired at the festival lot at the same time as, or within 40 seconds after, the time Jesus Campos first reported that shots were fired over the radio,' the company said in a statement, according to the LA Times.

Over the past week, Las Vegas police have worked with the Mandalay Bay's corporate parent MGM Resorts international to put together the most precise timeline possible - but still have not yet worked out why Paddock opened fire that night, killing 59 people and wounding nearly 500.

ORIGINAL TIMELINE This is the original timeline of events given out by police last Wednesday. 10:05pm: Paddock fires his first shots on the crowd, as seen on CCTV. 10:12pm: First two officers arrive on the 31st floor and announce gunfire is coming from directly above them. 10:14pm: Guard Jesus Campos approaches Paddock's room and is shot, but only injured. 10:15pm: The last shots are fired from the suspect, per bodycam, due to Campos' intervention. 10:17pm: The first two officers arrive on the 32nd floor from the 31st. 10:18pm: Campos tells the cops he was shot and gives them the exact location of the suspect's room. 10:26-10:30pm: With Paddock quiet, eight additional cops arrive and they decide to evacuate the rooms on the floor. 10:55pm: Eight officers arrive in the stairwell next to the suspect's room and find the door tampered with and a camera on a room service cart outside; they decide to hold off. 11:20pm: Paddock's room is breached and police enter the room to find him dead. Advertisement

NEW TIMELINE This is the new timeline given out on Monday. 9:59pm: Campos approaches Paddock's room looking for an alarm going off at a door nearby - likely from the stairwell. He is shot at and injured. He immediately notifies hotel security. Stephen Schuck appears to back up this account 10:05pm: First shots fired by suspect. 10:12pm: First two officers arrive on the 31st floor. 10:15pm: The last shots are fired from the suspect for reasons unknown. 10:17pm: The first two officers arrive on the 32nd floor from the 31st. 10:18pm: Campos, who has been stricken for almost 20 minutes, tells police about Paddock's room. 10:26-10:30pm: With Paddock quiet, eight more cops arrive and they decide to evacuate the rooms on the floor. 10:55pm: Eight officers arrive in the stairwell next to the suspect's room and find the door tampered with and a camera on a room service cart outside; they decide to hold off. 11:20pm: Paddock's room is breached and police enter the room to find him dead. Advertisement





Guard Jesus Campos approached Paddock's room down the corridor, investigating an alarm - likely due to Paddock tampering with the doorway to the stairwell next to his suite. Paddock then fired on him at 9:59pm, and opened fire on people below at 10:05pm

Windows of the Mandalay Bay hotel room from where Stephen Paddock launched his assault on concert goers

In the most recent timeline presented by investigators Paddock shot 200 rounds into the hallway of the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay.

He hit an unarmed security guard, Jesus Campos, who quickly called down to his officials to tell them what happened. Six minutes later Paddock unleashed his barrage of bullets on the festival crowd, killing 59 people and injuring nearly 500.

On Wednesday, an anonymous source revealed that new phone records show that Mandalay Bay hotel workers didn't call police until after Paddock opened fire on the concert-goers below, despite knowing Campos had been shot.

Additionally, security staffers apparently didn't call police when a different Mandalay Bay maintenance engineer, Stephen Schuck, called down to tell them Paddock was firing at him.

'Call the police, someone is firing a gun up here. Someone is firing a rifle on the 32nd floor down the hallway,' Schuck can be heard saying on new audio tapes released by the hotel on Wednesday.

Schuck told told NBC News that he was checking out a report of a jammed fire door on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay when he heard gunshots and hotel security guard, Jesus Campos, who had been shot in the leg, peeked out from an alcove and told him to take cover.

'As soon as I started to go to a door to my left the rounds started coming down the hallway,' Schuck said. 'I could feel them pass right behind my head.

'It was kind of relentless so I called over the radio what was going on,' he said.

'As soon as the shooting stopped we made our way down the hallway and took cover again and then the shooting started again.'

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, pictured, special agent in charge for the FBI in Nevada, discusses the Route 91 Harvest festival mass shooting on Monday

Engineer Stephen Schuck (pictured) said he was checking out a report of a jammed fire door on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay when he heard gunshots and saw shot security guard Jesus Campos, who told him to take cover

Over the past week, Las Vegas police have worked with the Mandalay Bay's corporate parent MGM Resorts international to put together the most precise timeline possible. Pictured a group of people carrying someone who had been injured by gunfire in the October 1 shooting

In the most recent timeline presented by investigators Paddock shot 200 rounds into the hallway of the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay. He hit an unarmed security guard, Jesus Campos, and six minutes unleashed his barrage of bullets on the festival crowd, killing 59 people and injuring nearly 500. Pictured are some of the wounded after the shooting stopped that night

Chad Pinkerton, attorney for Paige Gasper, a California college student who was shot under the arm during in the attack, has said that if this new timeline is accurate those six minutes could have made all the difference.

'These people that were killed and injured deserve to have those six minutes to protect them,' Pinkerton said.

'We lost those six minutes.'

But Ron Hosko, a former FBI assistant director who has worked on SWAT teams, said the six minutes wouldn't have been enough time for officers to stop the attack.

Rather than rush in without a game plan, police would have been formulating the best response to the barricaded gunman, he said.

'Maybe that's enough time to get the first patrolman onto the floor but the first patrolman is not going to go knock on that customer's door and say 'What's going on with 200 holes in the door?'' Hosko said.

MGM would not answer questions about whether the hotel called the police about the hallway shooting in the few minutes before the massacre began. Pictured are victims lying on the ground during the gunfire

Investigators have yet to figure out what drove Paddock to mass murder, or what made him stop firing

Las Vegas shooting victim Kurt Fowler embraces his 10-year-old daughter Timori Fowler during a country music performance at Sunrise Hospital on Wednesday in Las Vegas

The timeline given by police earlier this week differed dramatically from the one they gave last week - that Paddock shot through his door and wounded the guard, Jesus Campos, after he had opened fire on the crowd

Investigators have yet to figure out what drove Paddock to mass murder, or what made him stop firing.

The 64-year-old high-stakes gambler and real estate investor began his 10-minute attack on the crowd at 10.05 pm, firing more than 1,000 rounds from his bashed-out windows, police said.

Police didn't arrive on the 32nd floor until 10.17pm., two minutes after he had stopped shooting.

The timeline given by police earlier this week differed dramatically from the one they gave last week - that Paddock shot through his door and wounded the guard, Jesus Campos, after he had opened fire on the crowd.

Also Thursday, a funeral was held for Erick Silva, a 21-year-old security guard at the festival who was shot in the head while helping people climb over a barricade to escape the gunfire.

Dozens of fellow 'yellow shirt' security guards were among the hundreds of mourners at the service, where Silva was hailed as a hero.

'We counted on him, and he didn't let us down,' said his boss, Gina Argento.
Chris McNabb (pictured in a mugshot) was charged with murder after police found his 15-day-old daughter in the woods

A father whose infant daughter was found dead inside a duffel bag in Covington, Georgia has been charged with murder, the Newton County Sheriffs Office confirmed Wednesday.

Christopher McNabb, 27, was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery and concealing the death of his 15-day-old baby Caliyah after she was found in the woods behind Eagle Point Trailer Park on Sunday.

Authorities arrested McNabb later that day after he was named a person of interest and fled when the baby was discovered by volunteer searchers wrapped in a blue cloth.

Police said they received a report from McNabb and the baby's mother, Courtney Bell, who claimed Caliyah went missing after she was put back to bed following a feeding inside their home at Eagle Point Mobile Park.

The baby, Caliyah McNabb, was found dead in the woods near Eagle Point Trailer Park in Covington on Sunday

The mother of the dead baby - Courtney Bell (pictured here in tears) has not been named a person of interest in the case

The parents told officials that Caliyah was fine when they fed and changed her at 5 a.m. Saturday but five hours later when they went into her bedroom, she was gone.

Police said the situation was 'suspicious,' according to WSBTV and the case went from a missing child incident to a homicide.

Chris McNabb called police claiming his daughter disappeared Saturday morning

A passerby shows the scene of the crime where Caliyah was found dead in the woods

Pictured here is the crime scene where the 15-day-old girl was left in a duffel bag

'A fifteen-day-old child obviously didn't leave by themselves,' Newton County Sheriff's Dept. Capt. Keith Crum said.

Volunteers were searching a wooded area near the family home Sunday when they discovered the infant's body under a log.

Police went looking for McNabb Sunday evening, as according to Crum, McNabb was in his girlfriend's car when he found out that his daughter's body had been found.

He allegedly jumped out of the car at the intersection of Highway 36 and Covington By-Pass Road and ran away.

She told police that her daughter was absolutely fine Saturday morning at 5 a.m. but then when they went to her bedroom at 10 a.m. she was nowhere to be seen

Volunteers (pictured here) were searching a wooded area near the home of the family Sunday when they discovered the infant's body under a log

Officials then found him at a gas station car wash where they arrested him immediately on a probation violation.

A distraught Bell was taken to police headquarters where she gave a statement, and was later released - while the child's father was missing.

The infant's body is currently being held at a coroner's office where an autopsy will take place.

It will be conducted at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation headquarters so officials can determine the child's identity and exact cause of death.
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Smiling for the camera, smoking a cigarette, relaxing with friends and even taking part in a wedding - war seems to be the last thing on the minds of these North Korean soldiers.

But these are the conscripted men and women that Kim Jong Un will rely on to fight America and its allies should war break out on the Korean Peninsula.

The fascinating pictures were captured by photographer Pedro Marcel who has travelled to the hermit kingdom seven times in order to capture the lives of its citizens.

These are the faces of North Korean conscripts who will be forced into fighting for Kim against America should the war of words between the two countries spill over into actual conflict

North Korea has one of the largest standing armies in the world, with more than 1 million personnel in active service and another 6 million reservists ready to be called up

Most men and some women are conscripted into the North Korean military for 10-year terms. Serving in the military is viewed as a great honour, and shows loyalty to the regime

What North Korea's military has in numbers, it lacks in technology and equipment, with much of it dating from the 1940s and 50s when the army was first formed, or bought on the cheap from neighbouring countries

These pictures were taken by Pedro Marcel, a photographer from Cornwall, who has visited the hermit kingdom seven times in order to capture the lives of its citizens

Both men and women of fighting age are expected to serve in the North Korean military, with defense of the country written into the constitution as the primary duty of citizens

Men of the North Korean military parade with AK-47 rifles slung over their shoulders. Much of the army's hardware, including planes and tanks, is bought from Russia

A wedding party makes its way across the main square in Pyongyang which is filled with two giant statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and monuments to the country's founding

A soldier and his new bride walk through the centre of Pyongyang after tying the knot. The date on the wall in the background is a reminder of the last time the Korean Peninsula went to war

A wedding party is escorted by members of the country's military in front a monument remembering the country's Socilaist revolution. The figures depicted are of workers and soldiers

North Korea has one of the largest standing armies in the world, with more than a million soldiers believed to be on active duty and six million more in reserve, it ranks just behind America in terms of size.

Kim achieves this by conscripting most men and some women into the armed forces for 10 year terms, during which they will not only help to man outposts and guard the demilitarized zone with the South, but also run factories and provide manual labor in rural parts of the country.

However, what the North achieves in size it lacks in capability, with technology and vehicles dating back decades to when the military was first formed.

The majority of its tanks and planes are decommissioned Russian models, some of which date back to the Second World War, though China has also sold vehicles to the North.

Construction workers gaze at a female member of the North Korea military as she makes her way to work through the main square in Pyongyang, where only those most loyal to the regime are allowed to live

While life for many North Koreans, especially those in rural areas, can be tough - becoming a member of the military allows them to earn a modest salary and makes basics easier to afford

While members of the military will be called upon to protect the country from invaders, a large number are put to work providing much needed manual labour across the country

Farming, cutting wood, transporting goods and running factories are all jobs carried out be members of the armed forces

Young conscripts in the North Korean military parade in Pyongyang in front of a statue of the country's founder, Kim Il Sung

A soldier cracks a smile in an unusually candid portrait captured near the demilitarized zone, which marks the border between North and South Korea

Soldiers stationed at the DMZ are more camera-friendly than elsewhere in the country, because of the number of visitors they get. Here, one soldier allows his service ribbons to be photographed

As well as providing manual labour, a large part of a soldier's life will be spent on guard duty. Here, a member of the military stands to attention in front of the monument to the founding of the Worker's Part of Korea

Huge bronze statues of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, and Kim Jong Il, his successor, dominate the main square in Pyongyang, where members of the military are often seen

A young soldiers guards another of the communist monuments in Pyongyang with an AK rifle slung over his shoulder

A female conscript examines a floral display in Pyongyang, complete with the symbol of the Worker's Party of Korea, the country's ruling - and only - political party

There are an estimated 11 frigates in the North Korean navy, one of which is pictured at anchor here in Pyongyang

The uniforms are also modeled after old Soviet outfits and are a common sight around the country, especially in parts that visitors are allowed to see because the North believes this reinforces their image as a powerful, war-ready nation.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been running high following a series of provocative missile tests and a nuclear detonation carried out by Kim's regime.

President Trump has threatened to 'totally destroy' the country in response, should the US or its allies be directly threatened, which promoted an unprecedented personal response from Kim who branded him a 'mentally deranged dotard.'

While few experts believe either side is ready to engage in a war, warning that it would be the most bloody seen since the Second World War, there are fears that the inflated rhetoric of both sides could accidentally boil over into conflict.
A female sex worker who was arrested for possessing illegal drugs has dodged two years behind bars after a judge found it 'not unreasonable' she used the illicit substances to deal with her life.

Sydney woman Cherie Mollica, 29, was parked on the side of the road in March 2016 when police conducted a search of her vehicle, News.com reports.

A bag with a syringe, a large stained glass bottle, a small bag of white crystals and a wallet containing almost $8000 in cash was discovered inside.

The bottle contained 970ml of Gamma-Butyrolactone, or GBL, which converts into Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate, GHB, when dissolved in the body.

Crystals inside the bottle also tested positive for 1.385 grams of methamphetamine.

Cherie Mollica, 29, (pictured) avoided jail time over drug charges on Thursday after a judge ruled her use of illicet substances 'reasonable' because she was employed as a sex worker

Acting Judge Anthony Garling handed down a two year suspended jail sentence in the Sydney District Court on Thursday for her supply of GBL and for methamphetamine possession, she was fined $500.

Ms Mollica claimed the drugs were all hers and she used them to help her cope with her job as a sex worker.

She denied she was a dealer and said she had only ever supplied drugs to her friend, who was with her in the car the day of her arrest.

The woman said the hefty sum of cash had not come from drug sales, but from the generous wage she earned as a sex worker.

A co-worker defended her claims in court saying the pair earned up to $7000 a week in the industry and sometimes 'a lot more'.

She said during her time as a sex worker she had consumed large amounts of drugs and earned large amounts of money.

At one point, she overdosed on drugs and was admitted to hospital, but said she was now focusing on reconstructing her life away from drugs and sex work.

Ms Mollica (left) was handed a two-year suspended sentence for her supply of GBL and for her methamphetamine possession, she was fined $500

Now working in a sales role, Ms Mollica said she had lied to police in an earlier interview because she was 'nervous and didnt want to get in trouble.'

While the Crown believed parts of her story were 'consistent with drug supply', he concluded that evidence 'had not reached the required level' to prove her guilty of his suspicions.

He said the woman's possession of the wad of cash was consistent with the life she lived and it was 'not unreasonable to suggest she needed drugs to get on with her life.'

The judge told court Ms Mollica was now drug free and living with her parents, and he hoped she would stay clean.

'Hopefully she will not (return to drugs). When she is drug-free her life is much better,' he said.

Judge Garling warned Ms Mollica should not feel she had gotten away with her crime with a 'slap on the hand'.


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President Trump officially announced his nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security Thursday, introducing Kirstjen Nielsen, most recently a White House aide dubbed Chief of Staff John Kelly's enforcer.

'Kirstjen plays a crucial role in managing White House functions and coordinating with federal agencies and with Melania, who has got  really, she's done some great work for a lot of different groups,' Trump said at a ceremony in the East Room.

'And she is the one that will very much miss you in your current position, I can tell you,' the president continued.

He looked for his wife in the crowd. 'Is that a correct statement?' he asked. 'She was a little disappointed to hear this news,' Trump said to laughs.

Nielsen who worked under Kelly at DHS before coming to the White House  only to go back to DHS in Kelly's old role  has earned a reputation of being tough to work with, as Kelly worked to narrow the flow of information and people into the Oval Office.

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Kirstjen Nielsen, President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next secretary of Homeland Security, speaks during an event in the East Room of the White House on Thursday

President Donald Trump congratulates Kirstjen Nielsen, his nominee to be secretary of Homeland Security, in the East Room

First lady Melania Trump attended an East Room ceremony at the White House Thursday announcing her husband's new DHS pick

First lady Melania Trump (left) greets Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (right) at President Trump's announcement that he's chosen Kirstjen Nielsen to be DHS head

First lady Melania Trump is photographed entering a ceremony for President Trump's nominee for DHS head Kirstjen Nielsen, who the president said the first lady would miss, as Nielsen's been working at the White House for the past couple months

That has included limiting access to the president to some who had formerly enjoyed near-unimpeded access.

On Thursday, however, Trump called attention to Nielsen's previous work at the Department of Homeland Security.

'There will be no on the job training for Kirsten. She is ready on Day One,' Trump said.

Trump called on Congress to 'put politics aside' and confirm deputy White House chief of staff Nielsen by a 'strong, bipartisan vote.'

But even before Trump formally announced Nielsen's appointment during an East Room ceremony that was attended by much of the Cabinet and senior members of the White House staff, the top Democrat on a key committee signaled that he had questions about Nielsen's background.

Her nomination must be confirmed by the Senate.

Nielsen told the president she was 'humbled by the trust you are placing in me.'

If confirmed by the Senate, she will become the sixth secretary of a department that was created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

She'll be the first who formerly worked at the agency.

An expert in homeland and national security policy, Nielsen previously served as a special assistant to President George W. Bush and worked for the Transportation Security Administration.

The White House said Wednesday in a written announcement that Nielsen 'has extensive professional experience in the areas of homeland security policy and strategy, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and emergency management.'

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Homeland Security, said Wednesday in a statement he was pleased the president had made a decision on filling the post 'after letting the critical national security position remain vacant as the nation faced multiple major hurricanes and a domestic terrorism attack.'

Thompson said he had questions about Nielsen's background, including her past work for the Bush administration.
Theresa May's DUP allies warned today that a border in the Irish Sea after Brexit 'cannot happen' and is a 'red line' that could crash the Government.

DUP leader Arlene Foster - whose 10 MPs in Westminster prop up Mrs May on vital votes - is also determined to avoid a hard border inside Ireland.

Working out how to make the only land border between the UK and EU work is one of the biggest challenges of the Brexit negotiations.

Mrs May has insisted she wants an open border between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

But this has prompted claims of customs controls between Northern Ireland and the British mainland or a wave of new physical infrastructure within Ireland.

DUP leader Arlene Foster (pictured yesterday on ITV) warned today that a border in the Irish Sea after Brexit 'cannot happen' and is a 'red line' that could crash the Government

Mrs Foster's 10 MPs in Westminster prop up Theresa May on vital votes and she is determined to avoid a hard border inside Ireland.

Mrs Foster told ITV News: 'The Prime Minister understands the needs of Northern Ireland and we of course welcome the fact that she has been very clear in relation to the fact that there cannot be a border down the Irish Sea.

'There has been some currency given to that recently, particularly from the European Union side.

'But of course she very clearly understands that that would be a disaster for Northern Ireland and would be a red line for us in the Democratic Unionist Party.'

Mrs Foster refused to guarantee her party would continue to take part in a 'confidence and supply' agreement that is propping up the Tories.

The deal between the Conservatives and Mrs Foster's party guarantees the support of 10 DUP MPs on Brexit, the Budget and other confidence votes. It is the only way Mrs May has a majority of the Commons on her side.

Losing the 10 MPs could see Mrs May lose votes serious enough to collapse the Government.

Asked if she was threatening the agreement, Mrs Foster said: 'What I am saying is she understands very clearly that that cannot happen for Northern Ireland.

'What has driven us in relation to our confidence and supply agreement is to give stability to the United Kingdom as a nation.'

The deal between the Conservatives and Mrs Foster's party guarantees the support of 10 DUP MPs on Brexit, the Budget and other confidence votes (pictured are top MPs on both sides signing the deal in June)

Chancellor Philip Hammond yesterday admitted to MPs that new cameras would 'certainly' be needed on the Irish border to monitor crossing traffic.

There are concerns even number plate recognition cameras could be vetoed by people determined to avoid a border control for fear of damaging the peace process.

Mr Hammond told the Treasury committee: 'Number plate recognition requires cameras, not necessarily at the border, but it will certainly require cameras to be installed.

'The challenge in Ireland is that those who don't recognise the border will see any physical manifestation of a border as a legitimate target and that infrastructure will need protecting.

'What we don't want to do is go back to the days when we had a hard protected infrastructure on the border, because that would undo much of the progress that's been made since the Good Friday Agreement.'
The front-line of the stuggle to take out ISIS' most deadly fighters and recruiters like the infamous 'White Widow' Sally Jones isn't waged on the battle fields of Syria or Iraq but from an air-conditioned trailer in the middle of the Nevada desert.

Seven thousand miles from the war in Syria, pilots sit in a sun-bleached desert base 45 miles north of the bright lights of Las Vegas guiding the lethal Predator drones that have revolutionized modern combat.

From cool, dark booths at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada, pilots and sensor operators work closely with large teams of intelligence analysts who sift streams of real-time data transmitted by the drones on the other side of the planet.

The front-line of the stuggle to take out ISIS' most deadly fighters and recruiters isn't waged on the battle fields of Syria or Iraq but from an air-conditioned trailer (pictured) in the middle of the Nevada desert

From cool, dark booths at Creech Air Force Base (pictured) in Indian Springs, Nevada, pilots and sensor operators work closely with large teams of intelligence analysts who sift streams of real-time data transmitted by the drones on the other side of the planet

And it is a pilot at this base who is said to have remotely taken out the British ISIS recruiter Sally Jones.

Jones, from Chatham in Kent, fled to Syria with her son in 2013 before becoming a recruiter for the terror group.

The so-called 'White Widow' was killed near the border of Iraq and Syria four months ago by a drone from the base as she tried to flee the group's stronghold in Raqqa.

Jones, 50, a grandmother, was considered Britain's most wanted woman.

The Muslim convert fled Britain to join ISIS back alongside toyboy lover Junaid Hussain, taking her then-nine-year-old son JoJo with her.

And it is a pilot at this base who is said to have remotely taken out the British ISIS recruiter Sally Jones. Pictured, a US drone near the Nevada base (file photo)

'When it comes to fighting our nation's wars I think it would be hard to find a base in the United States Air Force in the continental United States that is more engaged defending America every single day,' said commander Case Cunningham (pictured)

Since 2001, Creech Air Force base (pictured) has become the hub for remotely piloted combat missions in the Middle East and crews there handle nearly half of all the Air Force's global drone flights on any given day

Since 2001, Creech has become the hub for remotely piloted combat missions in the Middle East and crews there handle nearly half of all the Air Force's global drone flights on any given day.

'When it comes to fighting our nation's wars I think it would be hard to find a base in the United States Air Force in the continental United States that is more engaged defending America every single day,' commander Case Cunningham told the Review-Journal earlier this year.

'The amount of territory that's been taken back overseas from terrorist organizations is absolutely remarkable.'

But many of the pilots who fly the drones have said they face burnout from the long hours of flying missions.

Sally Jones (pictured), from Chatham in Kent, fled to Syria with her son in 2013 before becoming a recruiter for the ISIS terror group

The Muslim convert fled Britain to join ISIS back in 2013 alongside toyboy lover Junaid Hussain (pictured), taking her then-nine-year-old son JoJo

One pilot was part of a team that spent 600 hours watching Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of al Qaeda in Iraq, before he was killed.

'For us it's anything but a video game,' said Captain Tim, a pilot based at the site, addressing one of the main criticisms levelled at the drone programme.

'From here you're having an impact on the battlefield.'

Drone pilots also face the added stress of going to war during the day but returning home at night to their families unlike usual military deployments where servicemen and women are away for up to six months at a time.

Indeed, a Pentagon study two years ago found that drone pilots experienced similar mental problems such as post traumatic stress disorder at the same rate as pilots of combat aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many of the pilots who fly drones have said they face burnout from the long hours of flying missions. Pictured, an Air Force pilot conducting training at the base

And the base is not without its critics.

Just last week, two demonstrators were arrested at the site for blocking an entrance gate during a protest.

Codepink and Veterans for Peace were among the groups that gathered at the entrance to Creech Air Force Base to protest the use of unmanned aircraft in military actions.

Veterans for Peace spokesman Toby Blome, from California, blasted the death toll of 'thousands of innocent children who have been killed by drone warfare.'
The Shooters party has returned fire at former prime minister John Howard, calling his open letter attacking them a desperate cheap shot.

John Howard accused the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party of wanting to dilute the tough gun laws he introduced after the Port Arthur massacre 21 years ago.

Mr Howard and his deputy at the time, former Nationals leader Tim Fischer, penned the letter to voters in Murray and Cootamundra in regional New South Wales.

'It's a cheap shot, they [the coalition] are desperate,' Murray Shooters candidate Helen Dalton said of the latest move in the Nationals' campaign.

The Shooters party has returned fire at former prime minister John Howard, calling his open letter attacking them a desperate cheap shot (pictured is Shooters candidate Helen Dalton)

John Howard (pictured) accused the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party of wanting to dilute the tough gun laws he introduced after the Port Arthur massacre 21 years ago

'Really this election has nothing to do with guns, it's to do with all of the services we're fighting for hospitals, improved water management and the unlocking of national parks for sustainable logging.'

Mr Howard's comments drew the ire of Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Robert Brown who said there's 'a hell of a lot more' to the party.

'The party was not formed to weaken gun laws but to protect firearm owners from absolutely idiotic levels of bureaucracy,' he said on Thursday.

'Mr Howard is drawing a very long bow. The real story here is that these couple of tiny by-elections in rural NSW are shaking the very foundations of political inertia.'

The Berejiklian government, which has already endured three by-elections in 2017, faces three more tests on Saturday in Cootamundra, Murray and Blacktown.

Mr Howard warned voters in the two hotly contested regional seats not to back the Shooters party and referenced both Port Arthur and the recent Las Vegas shooting.

Mr Howard and his deputy at the time, former Nationals leader Tim Fischer, penned the letter (pictured) to voters in Murray and Cootamundra in regional New South Wales

'The Shooters' first priority is to fundamentally weaken our existing firearms laws, introduced by the Howard-Fischer government after the Port Arthur tragedy,' the open letter to voters said.

'We can't take a risk on a party with such dangerous policies.'

Mr Howard says his government got the balance right when it introduced laws that banned automatic and semi-automatic weapons but allowed farmers and sporting shooters access to firearms.

His letter was co-signed by Nationals stalwart Tim Fischer who was deputy prime minister when the Howard government introduced the strict gun controls after gunman Martin Bryant killed 35 people in Tasmania in 1996.

Mr Fischer said the Shooters party was beginning to spruik policies 'straight out of the playbook of the National Rifle Association' in the US.

'It's a cheap shot, they [the coalition] are desperate,' Murray Shooters candidate Helen Dalton said of Mr Howard's (pictured) letter

'Australia does not need the poisonous and deadly politics of the NRA and ultimately that's where the Shooters party is heading,' Mr Fischer told 2GB radio.

NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro defended the letter on Thursday while conceding his office helped compose it.

'The letter has, of course, had the contribution of Mr Howard, of course my office, to make sure that we got a letter that was correct, a letter that was factual and a letter that actually spoke to the Australian people,' Mr Barilaro told reporters.

'Mr Howard offered his support and we worked on a letter.'
When the police told teacher Dr Sue Hills and her husband Professor Clive Ruggles that their 24-year-old daughter Alice had been murdered, they instinctively knew the name of her killer.

Although they had no inkling that Alice's ex-boyfriend, soldier Trimaan Dhillon, would brutally slit her throat in her own home, they had watched in despair as he spiralled out of control, blackmailing her, threatening her and hacking into her Facebook page.

Now, in an interview with MailOnline, the grieving parents recall the moment they were told Alice had died and how they have tried to create something positive from her death.

'As soon as the police told us, we knew that it was Dhillon,' said Dr Hills, 56, sitting at a table in their homely kitchen.

Sue Hills and Clive Ruggles, the grieving parents of Alice (above), recall the moment they were told their daughter had died and how they have tried to create something positive from her death

When the police told them that 24-year-old daughter Alice had been murdered, Dr Hills (above with Alice) and her husband instinctively knew the name of her killer

Although they had no inkling that Alice's ex-boyfriend, soldier Trimaan Dhillon, would brutally slit her throat in her own home, they had watched in despair as he spiralled out of control, blackmailing her, threatening her and hacking into her Facebook page

The couple feels feel so regretful that they did not spot the 'warning signals' that they have set up a trust in their daughter's name to educate other young people and their families about the dangers of coercive behaviour

'No other thought crossed our minds. He had been stalking our daughter and wouldn't leave her alone.'

Now they rue the day that they welcomed Dhillon, a Lance Corporal and signaller with the 2 Scots regiment, into their home, inviting him to spend a week on holiday with them in a cottage off the coast of Cornwall in the week before the break-up.

They feel so regretful that they did not spot the 'warning signals' that they have set up a trust in their daughter's name to educate other young people and their families about the dangers of coercive behaviour.

'We had no idea that he was dangerous - that the coercive behaviour he displayed before they split up and the stalking afterwards - were warning signs,' said Dr Hills. 'That is why we set up The Alice Ruggles Trust, to prevent this happening to anybody else.'

The Alice Ruggles Trust aims to 'provide education and training, lobby for legal measures and support relevant research' into stalking as well as raise money for charities such as Women's Aid and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust.

At first glance this mild-mannered middle-class couple, who live in the quintessentially-British village of Tur Langton, on the outskirts of Market Harborough, in Leicestershire, are not the obvious figureheads for such a gritty campaign.

But it is precisely their ordinariness which makes their appeal  launched to coincide with the anniversary of Alice's death today and a pioneering ITV documentary tonight - so compelling.

While others craved fame and fortune, the Ruggles were content with the simple pleasures in life; walking their golden retriever, holidaying in Ireland and Scotland, sailing on the Norfolk Broads, cooking and watching Bake Off.

'As soon as the police told us, we knew that it was Dhillon,' said Dr Hills. No other thought crossed our minds. He had been stalking our daughter and wouldn't leave her alone.' Pictured: Alice on CCTV leaving work shortly before her murder

The couple rue the day that they metaphorically welcomed Dhillon, a Lance Corporal and signaller with the 2 Scots regiment, into their home, inviting him to spend a week on holiday in the week before the break-up. Pictured: Dhillon on his way to confront Alice

This mild-mannered middle-class couple, from Leicestershire, have set up a trust to highlight stalking and have spoken out to coincide with the anniversary of Alice's death and a pioneering ITV documentary about her murder being screened tonight

The Alice Ruggles Trust aims to 'provide education and training, lobby for legal measures and support relevant research' into stalking as well as raise money for charities such as Women's Aid and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. Pictured: Alice (left) with two school friends

'I wouldn't have said Alice was a keen cook,' smiled her mother, 'but she loved cookery. She was really into healthy meals.

'I remember the best thing she made was a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe. It was an amazing chocolate mousse made from avocado, honey and cocoa powder.'

Everything changed the moment that Alice was murdered. She was the glue that cemented the family together. 'It has been really difficult for the family because Alice was such a central point,' said her mother.

'We kept in touch a lot by social media and she would post something funny every other day. We have all got a good sense of humour but she was a natural.

'She was very quick-witted and humorous - she was one of the few people at school who ever did a stand-up routine.

'But she never made fun of people. She was very empathetic and concerned about people's feelings. She was very popular and had a massive circle of friends dating from nursery school to university. She collected friends wherever she went.

'She was the peacemaker in our family: if there was an argument she would be the go-between. We didn't realise that until she wasn't there anymore.

'Now nobody is around to make the jokes and lighten the mood. Our life has changed completely. We can never go back.'

Born on Christmas Eve, 1991, Alice was the third of four children of Professor Clive Ruggles, 65, an expert in archaeoastronomy (prehistoric knowledge of the skies) and his teacher wife Dr Sue Hills, who is head of maths at the 11,600-a-year Leicester High School for Girls.

'It has been really difficult for the family because Alice was such a central point,' said her mother. 'She was the peacemaker in our family: if there was an argument she would be the go-between. We didn't realise that until she wasn't there anymore'

Popular: 'Alice was very quick-witted and humorous,' said her mother. 'She was very popular and had a massive circle of friends dating from nursery school to university. She collected friends wherever she went.'

Born on Christmas Eve, 1991, Alice was the third of four children of Professor Clive Ruggles, 65, an expert in archaeoastronomy (prehistoric knowledge of the skies) and his teacher wife Dr Sue Hills, who is head of maths at the 11,600-a-year Leicester High School for Girls

It was a typical middle-class upbringing going to Brownies, having ballet and swimming lessons, learning to fence at a PGL 'Parents Get Lost' holiday and enjoying singing and drama. Pictured at the age of six with her older brother Nick

After gaining A levels in maths, physics and chemistry  she inherited her skill in maths from her parents  Alice went up to Northumbria University to study product design and engineering

Like her siblings, Emma, 29, who is in the British Army, Nick, 28, a software developer, and Patrick, 21, who is at university, she went to Church Langton primary school and Kibworth High School before she joined her mother at Leicester High.

It was a typical middle-class upbringing going to Brownies, having ballet and swimming lessons, learning to fence at a PGL 'Parents Get Lost' holiday and enjoying singing and drama.

'I remember her singing the Snowman one year and it was absolutely beautiful,' said Dr Hills. 'That's the first time I really heard her sing.

Another year she and a friend sang Fairy Tales from New York. When she suddenly came out with: 'You scumbag, you maggot,' I thought: 'Oh my God. What is she doing?' But she was really good.'

After gaining A levels in maths, physics and chemistry  she inherited her skill in maths from her parents  Alice went up to Northumbria University to study product design and engineering.

There she became an accomplished fencer, captaining the university fencing club and winning the 2012 Leeds Open Fencing Tournament. She even had two boyfriends who were fellow fencers.

Her love of the sport has been recognised by Leicester University which is holding the annual Alice Ruggles Memorial Fencing tournament in December.

However, Alice's life began to unravel the moment she came across Dhillon in November 2015. Then working as an office co-ordinator at Sky Television in Newcastle, she went on holiday with a friend to Sri Lanka.

Dhillon spotted a holiday photograph of her on Facebook and noted: 'She is the most naturally beautiful woman I've ever seen.' Flattered by the compliment, and letting her guard down because he was a friend of her friend, Alice responded to his comment and the couple began to exchange messages and video chat.

'She was really careful about Facebook,' said Dr Hills. 'She and her sister used to sit here together, stop being friends with each other, and then have a look at each other's profiles to ensure they were private.'

Alice's life began to unravel the moment she came across Dhillon in November 2015, via a friend's Facebook account. Flattered by a compliment he wrote about her, Alice responded to his comment and the couple began to exchange messages and video chat

The couple finally met in January last year but their relationship was fraught from the start as Dhillon tried to alienate her from her friends. Alice white water rafting with her mother

By the time he went on holiday with the Ruggles that August, the writing was on the wall. 'We look at photographs of that holiday now and she was clearly unhappy. She wasn't her normal self. She looks as if she were haunted.' Pictured: Alice celebrating her fencing success

The couple finally met in January last year but their relationship was fraught from the start as Dhillon tried to alienate her from her friends. By the time he went on holiday with the Ruggles that August, the writing was on the wall.

'She did ring me up prior to the holiday and say: 'Mum I've got no friends anymore,' recalled Dr Hills.

'When you think back to what a popular happy girl she was, you realise there was something really wrong then. But I didn't really see it at the time.

'I just thought that it was normal angst. Now I would know immediately that it was a warning sign.

'Even when he came on holiday with us we wouldn't have said he was a potential murderer. He was a bit immature and self-centred and kept saying what he thought we wanted to hear, that he was going to look after Alice.

'It is only in retrospect that we realised that was weird. We look at photographs of that holiday now and she was clearly unhappy. She wasn't her normal self. She looks as if she were haunted.'

After they returned from Cornwall, Alice discovered that Dhillon had been messaging other women on Tinder. 'A woman had looked up his name, found his Facebook profile and discovered he was in a relationship with Alice,' said Dr Hills.

'So, she messaged Alice saying: 'Do you know what your boyfriend is doing?' When Alice spoke to him about it, he completely denied it, but she didn't believe it and ended the relationship.

Three months after they broke up, Dhillon (pictured in custody), relentlessly pursued Alice, blackmailing her over intimate photographs, bombarding her with phone calls and hacking into her social media accounts. She complained about him twice to the police

Dr Hills has relived the moths leading up to her daughter's death: 'When you think back to what a popular happy girl she was, you realise there was something really wrong then. But I didn't really see it at the time. Now I would know immediately that it was a warning sign'

Eleven days before her murder Alice phoned police and the haunting call can be heard in the ITV documentary, An Hour to Catch a Killer, which followed the officers and detectives in their initial response to the killing

'She knew underneath that things weren't right. At one stage, she told me: 'I don't even think he knows what the truth is.' He would change his story every time he got found out.'

For the next three months, Dhillon, who was in training for the SAS, relentlessly pursued their daughter, blackmailing her over intimate photographs, bombarding her with phone calls and hacking into her social media accounts.

He even sent a rambling message to her mother, asking her to persuade Alice to take him back.

When she got a new boyfriend, Mike Thaibsyah, who was an army colleague of her sister, Dhillon was infuriated. He hacked into Alice's Facebook page and sent Mike messages claiming that she was unfaithful.

Finally, 11 days before her murder, Alice telephoned police after Dhillon made a 240-mile round trip from his barracks in Edinburgh and knocked on her window.

The call, which can be heard in the ITV documentary, An Hour to Catch a Killer, is haunting because of Alice's reticence.

'Hi there,' she said. 'I just need a bit of advice really more than anything. I split up with my boyfriend about three months ago and since then I know that he has hacked into my Facebook and also my phone.

'Then tonight I had a knock at my door and there was no one there. Then it happened again two or three times and he had like left some flowers and chocolates on the outside window sill and I'm concerned.

Dhillon (pictured above with David Cameron) was infuriated when Alice got a new boyfriend, Mike Thaibsyah, who was an army colleague of her sister. He hacked into her Facebook page and sent Mike messages claiming that she was unfaithful

Alice felt 'palmed off' by the police, telling her sister: 'They'll respond when (Dhillon) stabs me.' Her words proved tragically prophetic.

'My friends have been telling me to call the police. I feel a bit shaken up tonight.'

Tragically, although officers warned Dhillon, who had an existing restraining order for harassing his ex Eniko Nemeth, to leave Alice alone, the fact that she had called the police exacerbated his rage.

The following day, he posted her a package containing letters and photographs of them together. Again, she called the police, saying she felt 'harassed, alarmed and distressed'.

Again, they failed to arrest him, leaving Alice to choose their course of action, which her family bitterly resents.

'If you ask someone who is vulnerable and scared, to decide whether to arrest someone who is scaring them, it is very different from saying: 'We are going to arrest him',' said Dr Hills. 'I imagine she felt as if she were wasting their time.'

Certainly, Alice felt 'palmed off', telling her sister: 'They'll respond when he stabs me.' Her words proved tragically prophetic. At 6.01pm on October 12 she had a final text message conversation with her boyfriend Mike.

'What were you thinking of doing on Friday?' he wrote. 'Anything alcohol related?' 'Well is anything in life really not alcohol related?' Alice replied.

Thirty minutes later she was dead. The Ruggles found out in the early hours of the following morning.

They arranged for Emma, who was in Germany, to be notified, drove to Nick's house to let him know, then to Sheffield University to tell Patrick and finally to Birmingham Airport to pick up Emma.

Dhillon was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years' jail in April but the Ruggle family (pictured outside court after Dhillon was convicted) said they will never recover emotionally

'I still haven't had time to grieve properly,' said Dr Hills. 'The trouble is that every time I think I can't cope with this and want to cry, somebody else needs to cry more. So, I have to be the tough one. Once a mother, always a mother.' Pictured: Outside court after the trial

'We were concerned for the safety of the rest of the family because we knew that Dhillon had sent covertly threatening messages to or about both Emma and me,' said Dr Hills.

However, while they are now physically safe  Dhillon was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years' jail in April  the Ruggles will never recover emotionally.

'I still haven't had time to grieve properly,' said Dr Hills, who does not like to appear vulnerable. 'I've felt that I had to be quite strong throughout - not that I haven't felt like crying inside.

'The trouble is that every time I think I can't cope with this and want to cry, somebody else needs to cry more. So, I have to be the tough one. Once a mother, always a mother.'

:: An Hour to Catch a Killer is screened at 9pm on Thursday on ITV1. For the trust go to www.aliceruggles.trust.org
Terror plotters could be jailed for six years even if they do not carry out an attack under tough new sentencing guidelines published today.

The new advice has been drawn up to combat the changing threat of extremism which has seen jihadis radicalised online and quickly escalate their deadly plans.

Rather than plot in large groups, these jihadis quickly and quietly come up with plans to use a knife or a car to murder people - like in the Westminster attack this year.

Judges are being issued with fresh advice to encourage them to hand out longer jail terms to stop plotters before they can strike on Britain's streets.

While using encrypted services like Whatsapp to draw up deadly plans can be seen as an 'aggravating factor' under the new guidelines.

Justice Minister Dominic Raab said the new guidelines 'will help ensure we have the most rigorous and robust sentencing in terrorism cases'.

The Council is proposing the sentencing range for the lowest level crimes is set at three to six years - higher than the current 21 months to five years.

The tougher sentencing advice has been fast tracked in the wake of the deadly wave of terror attacks which have been carried out on Britain's street this year.

Hate preacher Anjem Choudhary - who was finally jailed for five and a half years last year for urging the support of terror group Isis - has been blamed for radicalising many Brits who went on t become terror plotters. Under new sentencing guidelines, those who plot crimes and do not carry them out face tougher sentences

Five attacks have been carried out in London and Manchester, killing dozens and injuring hundreds more.

The advice also aims to take account of the risk of 'self-radicalisation' through extremist content online.

The Sentencing Council today published a draft of the first comprehensive guidance for a host of terrorism offences in England and Wales.

The main change applies to offences under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006, which covers the preparation of terrorism..

Last year, the Court of Appeal issued guidance for sentences imposed under the section, which can be used to prosecute individuals who plan terrorist acts or those who help others in the plotting.

The existing guidance has worked effectively to now, but the 'changing nature of offending' means it needs to be reconsidered, according to the Council.

It noted a trend for 'less sophisticated' methods, as opposed to 'big plot' cases involving bomb-building, cells of several members and months or years of planning.

Offenders are 'taking less time to prepare, and their acts are less sophisticated but are equally as deadly', a consultation document setting out the plans says.

It adds: 'Offenders are more frequently using knives and vehicles as weapons, which are readily available so involve limited or no preparation to obtain.'

The new guidelines will keep the same maximum sentence of life with a minimum term of 40 years.

But the plans are expected to see punishments increase for cases at the bottom end of the scale.

Cases that could fall into this category include those where preparations are not well developed, or where an offender offers a small amount of assistance to others.

Justice Minister Dominic Raab said the new guidelines 'will help ensure we have the most rigorous and robust sentencing in terrorism cases' (file pic)

The Council said it determined that 'when considering these actions in the current climate, where a terrorist act could be planned in a very short time, using readily available items as weapons, combined with online extremist material on websites which normalise terrorist activity, and create a climate where acts of terrorism can be committed by many rather than a few highly-organised individuals, these offences are more serious than they have previously been perceived'.

Ninety adult offenders were sentenced for section 5 offences between 2006 and 2016, with 81 given immediate prison terms. The average sentence length was eight years and five months.

Other offences covered by the new guidelines include collecting or sharing extremist material, raising funds for terrorism, glorifying terrorist acts and joining or supporting a banned organisation.

Sentencing Council chairman Lord Justice Treacy said: 'We want to ensure that courts have comprehensive guidance for dealing with these extremely serious cases.

'Offences vary greatly and could include someone who tries to make a bomb, another who urges others to join a terrorist organisation or a group plotting a murderous attack on the public.'

Terrorism sentences are being examined under a review launched by the Government earlier this year.

The Council's proposals, which will be subject to a six-week consultation, reflect the position under existing legislation but could be adjusted to take account of any future changes to maximum sentence levels allowed by law.
A market stall holder has been banned from having a stand in a town centre because she was selling 'offensive' Knights Templar coffee mugs.

Tina Gayle has been prohibited from having a stall in Loughborough Market after someone complained about the mugs.

She said the complainant had told the council the 6 Knights Templar mugs were offensive to Muslims and so she was asked to remove them from her stall.

When she refused to do so she was sent a letter and informed she had been given an outright ban.

Tina Gayle, 56, has been banned from having a market stall in Loughborough after someone complained about her selling Knights Templar mugs

The offending mugs feature a drawing of a knight and are branded with the Latin motto which translates to: 'Not to us Lord, not to us, but to Your Name give the glory'

Speaking to MailOnline Miss Gayle, 56, said: 'It's very unfair. The council told me about the complaint about the mugs and them being offensive to Muslims. They asked me to remove them. I said that was ridiculous and told them "no".

'They then printed off a letter on Friday at 4pm and said I'm banned. You're meant to have three written warnings before expulsion and they didn't do that. It was apparently something so bad they were banning me completely.'

She added: 'They have only given me three days to appeal which is nowhere near long enough.'

Miss Gayle, who lives in Didcot, has been travelling to Loughborough and selling rare books there for the last three years.

She started selling the Knights Templar mugs to try and make more money, as she pays the council 22 to rent the stall.

She said: 'I provide a service no one else provides. I find books that people can't find and are out of print...I make a lot of people very happy. People know I am there and that I can find books they can't find anywhere.

'My customers think it's terrible what's going on and that the council are saying what they can and can't buy.'

Tina Gayle described the decision to ban her from Loughborough Market as 'ridiculous' and 'very unfair'

Referring to the mugs she said: 'The complainant said they were offensive because the Knights Templar killed Muslims in the crusades 710 years ago.

'The Knights Templar were fighting monks, used to protect pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem. They stopped them being robbed...they weren't an army who were killing.

'It's a very important week for the Knights Templar as October 13 is when all the Knights Templar were arrested by the King of France and then slowly slaughtered.

'That's where the saying 'unlucky for some' comes from.

'A lot of my customers are Knights Templar, it's a Christian Masonic Order. It's about swearing a vow to protect the Christian faith.

'Richard the Lionheart killed thousands of Muslims and I've had items relating him, and the Romans, and no one has ever complained.

'No Muslims have ever complained...in fact I don't think I've ever sold a book to a Muslim.

'If I only sell books on people who haven't killed someone, I'd be reduced to Alan Titchmarsh.'

Miss Gayle, who lives in Didcot, has been travelling to Loughborough and selling rare books there for the last three years

The market trader has been banned from trading after selling these coffee mugs

Miss Gayle had previously been warned by the council for selling Nazi memorabilia.

She said many of her customers are actors who take part in WWII re-enactments and explained how items she sells, such as a book that shows detailed descriptions of soldiers' uniforms, can help them accurately portray characters.

Speaking at the time she said: 'It will be such a shame if they take away the chance for an ordinary citizen to research whatever historical information they wish. You're taking away an individual's rights.'

She claimed the complainant was the same person who was angry about the mugs.

Miss Gayle had previously been warned by the council for selling Nazi memorabilia

A spokesman for Charnwood Borough Council said: 'We received a complaint in August about the trader selling Nazi memorabilia.

'We want the public to have a safe and enjoyable experience when visiting our markets and we have a duty to ensure that items sold do not cause public offence, a threat to safety or that could bring the market into disrepute.

'We visited the trader at her stall and found that some of the items being sold were modern mugs with Nazi symbols, and not historical or vintage items.

'We spoke to the trader and advised that she would need to remove the mugs from the stall.

WHO WERE THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR? The Knights Templar was a religious order that fought in the Crusades. The order's full name was the 'Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon'. It was founded around 1119 by French nobleman Hugh de Payens along with eight of his companions in Jerusalem. The group of knights originally protected Christian pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land against attack from brigands and Saracen pirates after the crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099. They gradually transformed into a chivalric order of warrior-monks who fought bravely in the Crusades. The history of the Templars in England began when Mr de Payens travelled to the country in 1128 to gather men and money for the Crusades. King Henry II (11541189) granted the group land across England where they built several churches and other headquarters. Advertisement

'The trader agreed to remove the mugs and stop selling new items or items which could be offensive to customers.

'We sent a letter on August 18 to the trader to confirm this decision.'

She added: 'On Friday, October 6 we received a further complaint that the trader was selling contemporary Knights of the Templar mugs.

'We visited the stall and spoke to the trader again to ask her to remove the mugs.

'It's not for us to comment as to why the mugs were offensive to the complainant, however we had previously asked the trader not to sell contemporary mugs or items which could cause offence so we asked for them to be removed.

'The trader refused to remove the mugs from the stall so we issued a second letter which excludes the trader from all Loughborough markets.

'This decision is in line with our market regulations which state that if a trader has displayed serious misconduct, they can be immediately excluded from trading, with no further warnings required.

'Serious misconduct includes bringing the market into disrepute and selling items which could be offensive.

'The trader can appeal this decision, and we would ask her to write to us to confirm she wishes to do so.'
An alarm will be triggered if pensioner Thomas Kirsop (pictured) approaches any of the five buildings

A retired policeman subjected his sleepy Scottish village to a two-year campaign of harassment.

Thomas Kirsop, 76, from Onich in Inverness-shire, tormented his neighbours, including intimidating the headteacher of a primary school and swearing at the owners of the village tearoom.

He also shouted and swore at the owners of the village tearoom, and stared at his neighbours while swinging a chainsaw.

Now, homes, a shop and a school will be electronically tagged to stop the father-of-four, in one of the first orders of its kind in Scotland.

An alarm will be triggered if pensioner Kirsop approaches any of the five buildings.

The boxes will be installed at the addresses in and around the village of Onich, near Fort William, Inverness-shire, by G4S in the coming days.

They will be linked to a traditional electronic device shackled around the 76-year-olds ankle.

Kirsop was convicted at Fort William Sheriff Court of six charges of harassment  including one involving a child  earlier this year. They include an incident in which he intimidated the headteacher of a primary school.

He was also found guilty of sending an anonymous letter created out of newspaper clippings to the same next-door neighbour, and of putting an offensive sign on the boundary fence.

Kirsop, a former policeman for the area, was convicted of the offences in June and released on bail  but on Tuesday Sheriff William Taylor ordered that the extra security measures, to last for two years, be put in place.

The move came after Kirsop broke his bail conditions by continuing his campaign of intimidation.

One local, who did not wish to be named, said: Kirsop is a menace. He has caused misery for this community and he deserves what he gets. There are a lot of people are frightened of him because of the way he was been acting.

According to court papers, Kirsop started misbehaving in September 2014, when he shouted and swore at hotelier Roger Niemeyer, 51, the owner of the luxury Glencoe House. A box will be fitted to his home in Onich.

Kirsop then started intimidating his next-door neighbours, Karen Wyatt, 54, and her husband David, 58, between New Years Day 2015 and May 29 last year.

He followed her motor car, pulled alongside her [and] smiled  an act designed to cause fear and alarm, the court heard.

The court previously heard that between January and October 2015, Kirsop repeatedly parked outside Onich Tearooms and stared into the shop.

The boxes will be installed at the addresses in and around the village of Onich, near Fort William, Inverness-shire, by G4S in the coming days

A fourth charge shows that in August 2015 the pensioner swore at father-of-two Duncan Middleton, 50, in nearby Glenachulish.

Yesterday, Mr Middleton said: Im happy to have a box fitted at my house if it keeps him away. We have already had the company around to speak with us and they are making the arrangements.

There is no real reason for him to be over here except to see us, so Im glad this means he cant.

Mr Middletons wife, Brenda, 46, added: Hes a menace.

Kirsop was also reported to police in April 2016, after intimidating and staring at Susan Kemp, 59, and a youngster in nearby North Ballachullish, the court heard. That same month, in the same street, the pensioner intimidated John Wyatt.

When a person wears an electronic tag, the box monitoring it is usually kept in their own house.

The court heard that between January and October 2015, Kirsop repeatedly parked outside Onich Tearooms (pictured) and stared into the shop

But in the case of Kirsop, the boxes will be in the houses of his victims so that if he approaches the properties, an alert will be set off at the G4S office in Clydebank. The tag does not alert the police.

Sheriff Taylor also imposed a community payback order on Kirsop, plus a requirement that he does not approach eight adults and a child who were targeted by him. He also issued a restriction of liberty order and a non-harassment order, all for two years.

Sheriff Taylor told him: You have behaved badly. You have ignored court orders in the past and a number of people are intimidated by you. I am following recommendations and properties in Onich will be fitted with these devices so that if you approach them, an alert will be set off.

There will be a report from the official who installs them and this will reveal if you have approached the properties.

According to court papers, Kirsop started misbehaving in September 2014, when he shouted and swore at hotelier Roger Niemeyer, 51, the owner of the luxury Glencoe House (pictured). A box will be fitted to his home in Onich

Kirsop, who is staying at an address in Inveraray, Argyll, was not available last night.

Speaking from his home in Onich, his wife Mairi, 76, said: My husband has been through a lot.

A spokesman for the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service said: This is unusual as it is the reversal of the more common use of a tagging device.

Instead of the box monitoring the tag being located in the house of the offender, it is located in the house or houses specified by the court and works in the same way.

If the tagged person approaches the property, an alert is registered.

A feasibility study on the locations has to be carried out before this sanction is applied. The technology works on radio frequency and is administered by G4S, which has the contract for tagging.
Boris Johnson tonight called on Brussels to 'put a tiger in the tank' and get the Brexit negotiations moving after EU negotiator Michel Barnier sent the pound plunging.

Mr Barnier claimed the 'deadlocked' talks were 'very disturbing' as the fifth round of negotiations ended in stalemate this morning.

The incendiary intervention prompted the Prime Minister to call for on EU leaders to trigger trade talks and end the standstill.

Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson piled on the pressure at a press conference with his Polish counterpart, insisting Britain had made 'helpful suggestions' and could see 'no reason' for the impasse.

Currency markets reacted sharply as Mr Barnier used 'deadlock' to describe the news as the pound fell against the euro and the dollar.

Mr Barnier blasted Britain for failing to give more ground on settling its financial obligations to the EU.

At a joint press conference, Brexit Secretary David Davis admitted there were 'points of tension in any negotiation' but the important thing was where the talks, which have been in a stalemate for months, concluded.

The EU is demanding Britain honours all of its financial obligations agreed as a full member - some of which will last for decades. Britain wants to pay only up to the end of the current budget in 2020.

Theresa May (pictured today in Liverpool) demanded trade talks get underway after Michel Barnier sent the pound plunging by claiming the 'deadlocked' talks were 'very disturbing'

Boris Johnson (pictured tonight at the Foreign Office) called on Brussels to 'put a tiger in the tank' and get the Brexit negotiations moving after EU negotiator Michel Barnier sent the pound plunging

Michel Barnier (pictured in Brussels today) said there was still a 'common goal' to reach an orderly withdrawal that included a framework for the future relationship 'when the time comes'

Following the press conference, Mrs May said: 'There has actually been good progress made in these talks and Michel Barnier himself has recognised that over the the coming weeks we will be able to make constructive progress as well.

'I know that there has been a lot of work put into this and many issues on which we are very close to agreement such as on citizen rights, for example, which is important because we want EU citizens to stay here in the UK, but we also want to ensure that we get into the business of talking about the future relationship and the future partnership we are going to have with the EU.

'That's what I set out in my Florence speech, a positive agenda for the future.

'We look forward to moving on to being able to talk about that.'

Speaking at the Foreign Office tonight, Mr Johnson added: 'We think we've made some very helpful suggestions to get the great ship moving down the slipway onto the open seas.

'We see no reason why that can't take place. We are looking for some urgency.

'It is time to put a tiger in the tank and get this thing done.'

Opening the regular joint press conference, Mr Barnier said the EU and UK 'share the same objectives' to protect the rights of citizens, preserve the Irish peace process and resolving budget issues.

The chief negotiator said these remained the EU's conditions for trade talks.

But he blasted: 'Let me be absolutely frank, we need to settle the accounts and we are in a position of deadlock at the moment.

'But I am sure with the political will on the basis of the commitments entered into by Theresa May in her Florence speech, we can find a way forward.'

Mr Barnier's use of the word 'deadlocked' shortly before noon today prompted a sharp plunge in the value of the pound against the Euro (left) and the Dollar (right)

Brexit Secretary David Davis said the Government wanted a deal but was planning for the contingency of failure

Mr Barnier (pictured at today's press conference) blasted Britain for failing to give more ground on settling its financial obligations to the EU

He added: 'This week, however, the UK repeated that it was still not ready to spell out these commitments.

'There have therefore been no negotiations on this subject. We confined ourselves to technical discussions - useful discussions, but technical discussions.

'On this question we have reached a state of deadlock which is very disturbing for thousands of project promoters in Europe and it's disturbing also for taxpayers.'

Mr Davis hit back to insist Britain had studied the EU demands for cash line by line and would only consider them further once trade talks were underway.

He said: 'We have undertaken a rigorous examination of the technical details. This is not a process for agreement on specific commitments  this can only come later.

'But it is also important when the time comes we can reach an agreement quickly.'

He said 'progress;' has been made on the financial issues relating to Britain's withdrawal but that 'these issues are related to discussions on our future relationship.'

He added: 'We are ready and well prepared for those future negotiations.'

Mr Davis and Mr Barnier greeted each warmly at the start of their regular press conference (pictured) before swapping barbs

Mr Davis admitted at the press conference there were 'points of tension in any negotiation' but the important thing was where the talks concluded

The press conference with David Davis (pictured) came at the conclusion of the fifth round of Brexit negotiations in Brussels

Mr Barnier warned 'no deal will be a very bad deal, we will be ready to face any and all eventualities'.

He said there was still a 'common goal' to reach an orderly withdrawal that included a framework for the future relationship but insisted talks would only begin 'when the time comes'.

On citizens' rights, he said there remained outstanding questions over rights of family reunion and the use of the European Court for EU citizens living in Britain after Brexit.

Mr Barnier continued: 'There is no question of making concessions on the thousands of European investment projects around Europe.

'These are complex and difficult negotiations. We have shared obligations, we also have shared duties.'

He added: 'There is a new momentum and I remain convinced today that with the political will decisive progress is within our grasp within the next two months.'

Amid a furious debate in London about Britain's preparations for a no deal Brexit, Mr Davis said the Government still wanted a broad deal.

But he urged EU leaders to help deliver it.

He said: 'The Prime Minister's speech set out the scale of our ambition for our deep and special partnership with the European Union.

'And also laid out the case for a simple, clear and time-limited period of implementation on current terms.

'As I said when I stood here last time, I hope the leaders of the 27 will provide Michel with the means to explore ways forward with us on that.'

The Prime Minister told Brussels the 'ball is in your court' and urged the EU to help forge a 'dynamic, creative and unique' relationship as she dismissed the prospect of further concessions before trade talks begin as she updated Parliament about Brexit on Monday

Ahead of today's press conference, Theresa May had urged Brussels to move on to trade talks in the Brexit negotiations - telling EU leaders earlier this week that the 'ball is in your court'.

The PM has tried to unblock to talks by setting out her Brexit offer in her landmark address in Florence last month.

She has said the UK wants a two year transition in which we would stay in the single market, customs and union and still be subject to rulings from EU judges.

Earlier this week she told Brussels 'ball is in your court' and dismissed the prospect of further concessions before trade talks begin.

But Eurocrats have been refusing to move on to trade talks in a row over the Brexit divorce bill.

They also insist that 'sufficient progress' must be made on EU citizens rights and the Irish border question before the next phase of talks can kick off.

It comes as fresh Cabinet splits emerged over the preparations for Brexit, with relations between the PM and her Chancellor plunged into a deep freeze.

Philip Hammond infuriated many of his colleagues yesterday by saying he would only release the billions of pounds needed to prepare for no deal at the last possible moment.

His stance contradicts Mrs May who has repeatedly insisted Britain is prepared to walk away if Brussels cannot agree a good deal.

Mrs May slapped down her chancellor yesterday by telling the Commons that money has been pumped into preparing country for a possible 'no deal' option.
A Russian woman has died in the Dominican Republic after a car accident which involved her hanging out of the window on the passenger side while the driver recorded her on a mobile phone.

Natalia Borodina, 35, from Moscow, had taken her bikini off and was playing up to the camera, hauling her top half out of the car window while a friend was driving.

The shocking video sees the mother-of-one letting her upper body hang out of the window of the moving car, before she hits a lamp post.

Scroll down for video

Deadly game: Natalia Borodina, from Moscow, is filmed by her friend as she leans out of the window of a moving car in the Dominican Republic

High risk: The 35-year-old can be seen with her upper body hanging out of the passenger side

The video was recorded on a highway near Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic.

It was filmed by Ms Borodina's friend Ivanna Boirachuk, 32, who is believed to have been driving the car.

Ms Borodina is naked, bar a pair of bikini bottoms, when she decides to hang out of the window.

She playfully sticks her finger in her mouth and laughs at the camera, but within seconds, the video shows impact.

Impact: She lets her upper body and arms hang free as the car drives down the highway, and is seen hitting a lamppost

Shocking: Ms Borodina was rushed to hospital and died there of 'serious injuries'

Tragedy: Ms Borodina, seen in a photo posted on her social media page, died in hospital

Russian media reports that Ms Borodina was rushed to hospital and died there of 'serious injuries'.

'The woman was having fun demonstrating her naked breasts while her companion drove the car,' reported Moskovsky Komsomolets.

It is understood Ms Borodina's child, a boy aged around eight, was on holiday with her in the Dominican Republic.

Ms Borodina is originally from Zlatoust, an industrial city in the Urals, but then moved to regional capital Chelyabinsk, before relocating to Moscow

The 35-year-old had allegedly been working as an estate agent in Cannes, France

Glamour: Ms Borodina's social media account paints a picture of a fun-loving woman

Ms Borodina is originally from Zlatoust, an industrial city in the Urals, but then moved to regional capital Chelyabinsk, before relocating to Moscow.

Recently she had been working in Cannes, France as an estate agent, selling properties to wealthy Russian buyers.

Friends said that her family is aware of her appalling death.
When former President Barack Obama finished his term in the White House last January, his wife and First Lady, Michelle, exclaimed 'We're free', according to Richard Branson's new autobiography.

The former US leaders traveled down to the billionaire Virgin executive's Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands shortly after Obama handed the White House over to President Donald Trump.

Upon greeting Branson on the Caribbean island, Michelle Obama told him, 'We're free', and told his staff to call her and her husband by their first names rather than their formal titles.

After the Obamas handed the White House over to President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, Michelle reportedly said 'We're free'

The former US leaders traveled down to the billionaire Virgin executive's Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands shortly after Obama handed the White House over to Trump. The Obamas are pictured above in 2014 with their daughters, Sasha (front right) and Malia (back center)

'It's so nice to have my name back after eight years', Branson recalled Michelle Obama saying in his new book, Finding My Virginity, which also mentions his other famous friends including Bill Gates and the late Nelson Mandela.

Branson said that at the end of their ten-day trip, the Obamas treated his staff to a thank you party.

They were 'dancing with us, getting the party going, making everybody feel at home and welcome', Branson wrote in the book.

The vacation also marked Obama's return to his love of watersports, activities he couldn't participate in while he served as president.

He learned how to kite surf while on the island and challenged Branson to see who could stay up the longest. The president won the challenge.

Michelle Obama spoke out about what life was like in the white house during a tech conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, last month.

The Obamas, pictured on inauguration day in 2009, asked Branson's staff to call them 'Barack and Michelle', instead of the formal names they had used in the White House for eight years

Branson said that at the end of their ten-day trip in January, the Obamas treated his staff to a thank you party. Pictured above, Branson and Obama during the vacation

The vacation also marked Obama's return to his love of watersports, activities he couldn't participate in while he served as president

Barack and Michelle Obama touched down in the Caribbean just days after leaving the White House

'It's like being shot out of a cannon while drinking from a fire hydrant blind,' she explained as she told of how she got used to her new way of living. 'You have to tell The White House what kind of toilet paper you like. You don't know where your forks are.'

The couple spent eight years in the White House as Obama served as the 44th US president.

Mrs Obama said that the biggest challenge was raising two young daughters, Sasha and Malia, 'under the glare of one of the harshest and biggest lights'.

She told those present how she and the former president Barack Obama would go to parent-teacher conferences with a 20-car presidential motorcade in tow.

As the world's most famous parents they would often be asked to take photos in the school stands at sporting events.

Meanwhile their daughter's would require Secret Service protection at proms and even first dates.

Mrs Obama said that the biggest challenge of the White House was raising two young daughters, Sasha and Malia, 'under the glare of one of the harshest and biggest lights

During her time as first lady, Mrs Obama focused on improving education and encouraging kids to take up more exercise and eat healthier lunches.

But, according to the Salt Lake Tribune which watched the open discussion, she also appeared to show relief that she was no longer in the White House: 'Freedom! I'm out,' she said with a smile.

When Mrs Obama was asked how she views the world 'right now,' she didn't answer with words but rather cringed and groaned before remarking, 'I don't have much of a poker voice.'

Although she never once mentioned Donald Trump by name, she admitted that 'things were tough right now'.

'We are looking at two different administrations,' she said, referring to her husband's administration versus President Trump's. 'One administration was built on hope, while the other administration leads with fear', she said.

Mrs Obama said she 'continues to be hopeful' that the political climate will improve.
Many were young, powerless and afraid to speak out in case their careers were ruined.

For nearly three decades their accusations remained bottled up, some suppressed by pay-offs.

More than 30 women have now come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the man once described as 'God' of the film industry.

The accusations, including from some of the world's most famous actresses, range from inappropriate massages to rape.

Here is a list of those who have come forward so far.

Kate Beckinsale In an Instagram post the Underworld star said Weinstein made a move on her when she was just 17.

'When I arrived reception told me to go to his room. He opened the door in his bathrobe. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. A few years later he asked me if he had tried anything with me in that first meeting.I realized he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not.'

Teen assault: Kate Beckinsale says Weinstein tried to ply her with alcohol and met her in his bathrobe when she was just 17

Gwyneth Paltrow

The star said that when she was 22, Weinstein touched her and suggested having joint massages in a hotel bedroom before she started shooting the 1996 Jane Austen adaptation Emma. She told the New York Times: 'I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified'.

Paltrow (pictured with Weinstein in 2002) told the New York Times that when she was 22 Weinstein touched her and suggested having joint massages in the bedroom

She said she told her then boyfriend Brad Pitt about the incident and he confronted the mogul. She said Weinstein then told her not to tell anyone and she feared getting fired.

Gwyneth Paltrow, 45, is an American actress, singer, and food writer who made her name starring in Seven (1995) and Emma (1996).

Angelina Jolie

The actress told the New York Times she had to turn down advances from Weinstein in 1998 and chose never to work with him again. She said she warned other women about him.

She said: 'I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did.'

Angelina Jolie, 42, is cited as Hollywood's highest-paid actress. She made her screen debut as a child alongside her father, Jon Voight, in Lookin' to Get Out (1982).

Jolie (pictured speaking ahead of a screening of her new film In the Land of Blood and Honey) told the New York Times she had to turn down advances from Weinstein in 1998

Cara Delevigne

The model wrote on her Instagram page about a meeting with Weinstein in which he 'asked her to kiss another woman.'

She wrote: 'As soon as we were alone he began to brag about all the actresses he had slept with and how he had made their careers and spoke about other inappropriate things of a sexual nature. He then invited me to his room. I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside. She said it wasn't and wouldn't be for a bit and I should go to his room.

Delevigne wrote on her Instagram page about a meeting with Weinstein in which he 'asked her to kiss another woman.'

'At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didn't want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation. When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately I was safe. He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction. I swiftly got up and asked him if he knew that I could sing. And I began to sing....i thought it would make the situation better....more professional....like an audition....i was so nervous. After singing I said again that I had to leave.He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room'.

Cara Delevigne, 25, is an English fashion model and actress. She signed with Storm Model Management after leaving school in 2009.

Lea Seydoux

The French actress accused the mogul of jumping on her and trying to kiss her.

She wrote in The Guardian: 'We were talking on the sofa when he suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. He tried more than once. This was never going to be about work. He had other intentions  I could see that very clearly. All throughout the evening, he flirted and stared at me as if I was a piece of meat.

The French actress (pictured in Spectre) accused the mogul of jumping on her and trying to kiss her

'It was hard to say no because hes so powerful. Im an actress and hes a producer. We are in the same industry, so its impossible to avoid him. Ive seen how he operates: the way he looks for an opening. The way he tests women to see what he can get away with. Thats the most disgusting thing. Everyone knew what Harvey was up to and no one did anything. It's unbelievable that hes been able to act like this for decades and still keep his career.'

Lea Seydoux, 35, starred in Bond film Spectre and was nominated for the Cesar Award for Best Actress for her role as a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette in the film Farewell, My Queen (2012).

Asia Argento

The Italian actress has accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was 21.

Asia Argento (left with Weinstein during 2004 Cannes Film Festival) accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was 21

She told the New Yorker: 'He terrified me, and he was big. It wouldn't stop. It was a nightmare.' She said she went on to have consensual sex with him over the years that followed. She documented the alleged attack in her 2000 film Scarlet Diva.

Asia Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model, and director, best known for the role of Yelena in the action film xXx (2002).

Zoe Brock

Model Zoe Brock was 23 when she allegedly had to lock herself in a hotel bathroom to escape Weinstein's advances.

She wrote on Medium: 'Harvey left the room, but not for long. He re-emerged naked a couple of minutes later and asked if I would give him a massage. Panicking, in shock, I remember weighing up the options and wondering how much I needed to placate him to keep myself safe.

Model Zoe Brock was 23 when she allegedly had to lock herself in a hotel bathroom to escape Weinstein's advances

'I told him I was uncomfortable and that I was angry that I had been tricked into this position. He pleaded with me to let him massage me and I let him put his hands on my shoulders while my mind raced. Harvey chased me, d**k, b**ls and all, and banged on the door with his fists, pleading with me to come out.'

Zoe Brock is a model and actress who was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and raised in Australia.

Louisette Geiss

The actress said she was called to a late night meeting with Weinstein in 2008. He allegedly emerged in a bathrobe and told her he would green light her script if she watched him masterbate. She left the meeting.

Geiss made her accusations in a press conference with high-profile attorney Gloria Allred on October 10.

The star was born in Miami, Florida. She is an actress and producer, best known for Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell (2001).

Geiss was called to a late night meeting with Weinstein in 2008. He allegedly emerged in a bathrobe

Judith Godreche

The French actress says Weinstein tried to massage her and pull off her sweater after asking her up to his Cannes suite to see the view in 1996, the NYT reported.

Judith Godreche, 45, is a French actress and author. She has appeared in more than 30 films and will soon star in an HBO comedy about a French woman moving to Los Angeles.

Judith Godreche (pictured at the premiere of Nasty Baby in 2015) says Weinstein tried to massage her and pull off her sweater after asking her up to his Cannes suite to see the view in 1996

Dawn Dunning

The actress says she was called to a meeting about future film projects in 2003 aged 24. When she arrived she says Weinstein presented her with three scripts for his next three movies which he would let her star in, only if she had three-way sex with him. She fled the hotel, she told the NYT.

Dunning is a former actress turned costume designer best known for her role in Alias: The Roughest Cut (2006).

Tomi-Ann Roberts

The aspiring actress was 24 when she met Weinstein while serving tables as a college junior in 1984. She says he told her to meet him at his home. When she arrived, she says, he was naked in the bath and told her she would give a better audition if she was nude. She says she refused and left, reports the NYT.

Tomi-Ann Roberts was 24 when she met Weinstein while serving tables

Katherine Kendall

The Swingers actress was told Weinstein had to stop off in his apartment to pick something up after a screening in 1993.

He changed into a bathrobe and told her to massage her, she said. When she resisted she said the mogul returned naked and chased her, reports the NYT.

Kendall, 48, is an American actress from Tennessee. She made her name in Doug Liman's Swingers (1996).

Kendall, 48, was told Weinstein had to stop off in his apartment to pick something up after a screening in 1993

Lucia Evans

The actress, formerly known as Lucia Stoller claims Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004. Speaking to the New Yorker, she said that she suffered years of trauma after the incident which occurred in a 'casting meeting' in a Miramax office in Manhattan. He reportedly called her late at night after the incident.

Mira Sorvino

The Mighty Aphrodite actress told the New Yorker that Weinstein tried to massage her in a hotel room at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival.

He then went to her home in the middle of the night but she called a male friend to protect her, she claimed. She said turning down the mogul adversely affected her career.

Sorovino, 50, is an American actress who came to prominence after winning the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as a hooker with a heart of gold in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995).

Mira Sorvino (pictured starring in Intruders in 2014) said Weinstein tried to massage her in a hotel room

Rosanna Arquette

The actress also said her career suffered after she rebuffed Weinstein's advances in the early 1990s. At a hotel meeting he tried to put her hand on his erect penis, she claims in the New Yorker.

Rosanna Arquette, 58, is an American actress, film director, and producer. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the 1982 TV film The Executioner's Song.

Rose McGowan

The actress, who made her breakthrough in 1996 in the Weinstein-produced slasher revival movie Scream, reportedly sued Weinstein after he assaulted her in 1997 at the Sundance Film Festival.

She signed a non-disclosure agreement at the close of the suit and has only referred to him obliquely in social media since. On Sunday she referred to being abused by a 'monster' and has previously referred to being raped by a studio head.

Producer Harvey Weinstein (left) and actress Rose McGowan arrive to the premiere of "Grindhouse" at the Orpheum Theatre on March 26, 2007 in Los Angeles

Ashley Judd

Judd says that during filming for 1997 thriller Kiss the Girls Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower.

She was one of the women who spoke out to The New York Times this week, saying: 'Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it's simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.'

Judd says that during filming for 1997 thriller Kiss the Girls Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower

Emma De Caunes

French actress Emma de Caunes said that she met Weinstein in 2010. Soon after he told her he had a script he was producing based on a book with a strong female character. Weinstein offered to show her the script, and asked her up to his room at the Ritz in Paris, where he began to take a shower.

He then emerged naked and with an erection, asking her to lay down with him on the bed and telling her that many had done so before, she told the New Yorker. 'I was very petrified,' said de Caunes. 'But I didnt want to show him that I was petrified, because I could feel that the more I was freaking out, the more he was excited.'

French actress Emma de Caunes said that she met Weinstein in 2010 and he invited her to his room

Lauren O'Connor

The former creative executive at The Weinstein Company, told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was 'a toxic environment for women at this company' after one of her colleagues told her that Weinstein had pressured her into massaging him while he was naked, the NYT reported.

A former creative executive at The Weinstein Company told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was 'a toxic environment for women at this company'

Ambra Battilana

The Italian actress and model, 24, told the NYT that in March 2015 Weinstein invited her to his New York office. There, she said, he asked if her breasts were real before grabbing them and putting his hands up her skirt. She reported the alleged incident to police, but they did not press charges. According to the NYT, Weinstein later paid her off.

Italian actress and model Ambra Battilana, 24, alleges that Weinstein grabbed her breasts and put his hand up her skirt

Jessica Barth

Weinstein reportedly pressured Jessica Barth (pictured) to give him a naked massage

Weinstein reportedly pressured the actress to give him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel in 2011.

Jessica Barth, 39, is an American stage and film actress, known for portraying Tami-Lynn McCaferty in the film Ted and its sequel.

Laura Madden

A former production assistant and the Weinstein company, she told the NYT that Weinstein had asked her to give him massages from 1991 onwards, while they were both in London and Dublin. 'It was so manipulative,' she told the NYT. 'You constantly question yourself - am I the one who is the problem?' Weinstein denied knowledge.

Emily Nestor

Nestor was a temporary employee of the Weinstein Company for just one day in 2014 when Weinstein approached her and offered to boost her career in exchange for sex, the NYT reported.

Zelda Perkins

Perkins was an assistant of Weinstein's based in London. Aged 25 in 1998, she reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and 'several' others were harassed and later settled out of court.

She said she was subjected to inappropriate requests or comments in hotel rooms.

Zelda Perkins reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and 'several' others were harassed and later settled out of court

Elizabeth Karlsen

Produced Karlsen told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday that almost 30 years ago an unnamed young female executive who had worked at Miramax with Weinstein had found him naked in her bedroom one night. The exec was in a house rented by Miramax at the time to cut its overheads.

Karlsen, 57, is the Oscar-nominated British producer of Carol and The Crying Game.

Liza Campbell

A freelance script reader, she told the UK's Sunday Times that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London before telling her to get in the bath with him.

Campbell, 58, is an artist, calligrapher, columnist and writer, born in the north of Scotland and currently living in London, England.

Campbell, 58, (pictured in 2004) said that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London

Lauren Sivan

The former Fox news host said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007.

He allegedly took her to a closed restaurant beneath a club she had visited and attempted to kiss her, then when she refused he cornered her and made her watch him touch himself, according to The Huffington Post.

Sivan is now a TV reporter in Los Angeles and was a local journalist in New York 10 years ago when her encounter with Weinstein allegedly occurred.

Former Fox news host Lauren Sivan said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007

Jessica Hynes

Hynes said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 - in a bikini. She said she refused to wear the skimpy item - and lost the job.

British actress Hynes, 44, formally known as Jessica Stevenson, is best known for her roles in the Bridget Jones movies and for co-creating and co-writing the sitcom Spaced.

Jessica Hynes said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 - in a bikini. She said she refused to wear the skimpy item - and lost the job

Romola Garai

British actress Romola Garai said she felt 'violated' following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18 in which he was in a bathrobe.

Garai, best known for her role in Atonement, said she had already been hired for a part but was told to audition privately with the Hollywood mogul because 'you had to be personally approved by him'.

'Like every other woman in the industry, I've had an 'audition' with Harvey Weinstein,' she told The Guardian. 'So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it'.

Garai, 35, is an English actress, writer, and director. She is known for appearing in the films Amazing Grace, Atonement, and Glorious 39.

British actress Romola Garai said she felt 'violated' following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18

Florence Darel

French actress Florence Darel has claimed that she was harassed by the producer in 1993.

Darel, 49, who first came to notice in Eric Rohmer's 'A Tale of Springtime' in 1990, told French media that Weinstein had promised to help make her big in America if she became his 'part-time' mistress.

She said she first had to beat off his advances after Weinstein's company Miramax bought the 1993 fashion industry comedy 'A la mode' in which she appeared.

The following year, pushed by her agent, she agreed to meet Weinstein in a Paris hotel, where he he asked her to be his mistress 'a few days a year'.

Actress Florence Darel, 49, revealed on Thursday to French media that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein had promised to help make her big in America if she became his 'part-time' mistress

Unnamed assistant

Weinstein allegedly behaved inappropriately toward a woman employed as his assistant in 1990. The case was settled out of court.

Another unnamed assistant

In 2015, Weinstein reportedly pressured another assistant into giving him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel, where he is also said to have pressured Barth.

Unnamed Miramax employee

At one point in the early 1990s, a young woman is alleged to have suddenly left the company after an encounter with Weinstein. She also settled out of court.

Unnamed woman

A woman who did not wish to be named because she feared Weinstein's connections told The New York Times that the producer had summoned her to his hotel at an unknown date and raped her.
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The family of Formula One tycoon Bernie Ecclestone have told of their relief after his daughter's acrimonious divorce finally ended at a five-minute court heard.

Petra Ecclestone and her businessman husband James Stunt have been back and forth to court this year as they geared up for a bitter fight over their estimated 5.5billion fortune.

But when their heavyweight legal teams came before a judge again today it emerged the warring pair have agreed what will be one of Britain's biggest ever divorce settlements.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Ecclestone told MailOnline: 'I'm just glad it's over. Petra is too. She has been very tolerant and has been concerned about James.

'Now we are going for a family meal, but we were doing that anyway. No champagne, no big celebration. Just Petra and her sister, me, her mother and the family.'

Ms Ecclestone's sister Tamara also posted her support online, with an Instagram message reading: 'You're a diamond dear, they can't break you.'

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Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone (left) and her husband James Stunt (pictured, left in right image, earlier this year) have agreed what will be one of Britain's biggest divorce settlements ahead of a planned court battle today

The couple, pictured together in 2015, married in Italy six years ago and had homes in Los Angeles and London's Chelsea

Tamara posted this picture on Instagram this afternoon in an apparent message to her sister that the worst was now over

Neither Ms Ecclestone, 28, or Mr Stunt were in court for the short hearing, and details of how their assets will be split have not been made public.

Mr Stunt said after the hearing: 'I am devastated that my marriage has broken down. I love Petra and our children.'

He said the couple's 'most important responsibility' was now 'being mother and father to our wonderful children'.

Despite a bad-tempered court hearing earlier this year, at which Mr Stunt clashed with Ms Ecclestone's father, a representative for the 35-year-old said he wants to remain 'firm friends' with his now-ex-wife.

At the heated court hearing earlier this year, a judge heard how Mr Stunt had been abusive, violent and took overdoses during his marriage to the glamorous heiress.

The judge warned the pair that being locked in long-running litigation over the split would only make matters worse for all involved.

On being told the parties had come to an agreement today, Judge Robin Tolson QC said: 'I'm delighted about that and I congratulate both parties.'

Philip Cayford QC, representing Mr Stunt, said: 'Clearly both parties have come to agreement which is an extremely desirable outcome.'

Ms Ecclestone's famous father, Bernie, had attended a previous divorce hearing after heavyweight lawyers were brought in to battle the big-money case. He said his family were relieved the legal battle had finally come to an end today

The tycoon's family have planned a meal together tonight as they recover from a difficult year while the feud bubbled on

Mr Stunt was forced to move out of the couple's Chelsea mansion following a court hearing earlier this year

From a blind date to a London courtroom: How couple's relationship unfolded 2006: The couple go on a blind date after being set up by friends 2007: James 'meets the parents' and spends time with Bernie Ecclestone on days out including the races and Formula One events 2009: The couple are frequently spotted out and about on the socialite scene with Petra's sister Tamara 2011: They wed in a 12million ceremony at an Italian castle surrounded by pop stars and celebrities 2013: Daughter Lavinia is born 2015: Two more children follow when Petra gives birth to twin sons James Jr and Andrew 2017: Judge approves first stage of divorce. Advertisement

The out-of-court settlement meant a two-day public hearing to decide who should get what after their split was avoided.

Ms Ecclestone and Mr Stunt had been expected to fight over their 158million mansion in Los Angeles and a Grade II-listed home in London's Chelsea, worth up to 100million.

At a hearing earlier this year, the family court was told Mr Stunt had signed a prenuptial agreement worth 16million.

The pair had hired some of the country's most high profile divorce lawyers to represent them as they fought over how to divide their wealth.

Ms Ecclestone's legal team included Baroness Fiona Shackleton, who represented Sir Paul McCartney in his divorce battle with Heather Mills.

Ms Ecclestone's lawyers instigated an earlier hearing to force her estranged husband to move out of their 14-bedroom home in Chelsea so she and their three children could live there.

The said Stunt was seeking to hijack divorce proceedings 'for a wholly improper collateral purpose'.

Speaking earlier this year, Mr Ecclestone said his daughter had 'suffered an awful lot' and that he 'couldn't bear for her to suffer any more'.

He added: 'She left there a few months ago when she couldn't take any more. He is refusing to leave. The judge told him to leave by Friday. I am sure he will because, if not, it is an order of the court and the police will make sure he goes'.

Among the couple's homes is this lavish 10million mansion in Chelsea, west London

They also had a 65million property in Los Angeles, called The Manor, pictured, which was said to have been put up for sale last year for 150million

Mr Stunt was later pictured smoking a cigarette and clutching two blue china cats as a cavalcade of cars swept him away from the property.

A Lamborghini, one of a fleet of luxury cars he owns, was driven behind by one of his entourage.

The businessman, who runs an international gold bullion firm, assets were also said to include a wine collection worth up to 15million and two Chelsea properties worth up to 4million each, a previous hearing was told.

The couple are believed to have first met on a blind date in 2006. They married six years ago at a multi-million-pound ceremony at Odescalchi Castle, Rome, when they and 350 guests were entertained by an array of pop stars. They have three children together, aged between four and two.

The signing of the decree nisi means the couple will be able to apply for a decree absolute in six weeks, officially ending the marriage.
A brazen thief has robbed a Melbourne primary school of two of its beloved pet chickens, Fluffy and Nugget.

The heartless overnight heist occurred on September 29; leaving students and remaining chickens at Fawkner's St Mark's Primary School outraged and upset.

The burglar made two trips to the school, busting through the locked coop for the first time at 1am and then later at 6am.

Security footage of the senseless act shows the man jumping the school's fence before chicken-napping the much-loved feathery creatures and high tailing it across the lawn.

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Students were distraught over the callous robbery of Fluffy and Nugget, with seven-year-old Ruby (pictured), threatening the thief with a 'kick in the butt' if he doesn't return them

The heartless overnight heist occurred on September 29; leaving students and remaining chickens at Fawkner's St Mark's Primary School outraged and upset

Seven-year-old student, Ruby, has labelled the bandit 'rude' for clearing out half of the school's chook population.

'(He is) rude, weird, and why would he steal chickens? How could he break through a lock which is very strong and powerful,' she told Seven News .

Adding: 'bring back our chickens or I'm gonna kick you in the butt!'.

Students were left distressed at the news of their playmates being stolen, with one youngster describing the perpetrator's actions as a crime against animals.

'It was animal cruelty because they were breaking into the school property, and they stole and they damaged the lock,' the disgruntled pupil told Nine News.

Students were left distressed at the news of their playmates being stolen, with one youngster (above) describing the perpetrator's actions as a crime against animals

The burglar made two trips to the school, busting through the locked coop for the first time at 1am and then later at 6am

Another pleaded for the sooky bantom and ostrolaugh to be returned, saying: 'give them back please because they're not your chickens, they're ours.'

The hens help teach children how to take care of animals and their eggs are donated to a local cafe to help feed the needy.

Preparatory student Hovsep called the robber 'dumb' and said he hated him for his audacious actions.

Security footage of the senseless act shows the man (circled) jumping the school's fence before chicken-napping the much-loved feathery creatures

The remaining two chickens, Pom Pom and Bulbasaur, have stopped laying eggs and have gone off their food, the network reports.

The school has handed over CCTV footage of the event to police, who have commenced an investigation into the mugging.

Meanwhile, principal Peter Wilson appealed for the man to return the school property, saying the community would be willing to offer him forgiveness if he did.
A businessman who landed a Briton in prison in Dubai over claims of being indecently touched has dropped his complaint - but prosecutors are still going ahead with the case, it emerged today.

Jamie Harron, 27, from Stirling, Scotland, has been stripped of his passport and faces a three-year sentence over allegations he touched a leading businessman's leg in a bar.

Emad Tabaza called the police and claimed Mr Harron had been 'very drunk' and 'repeatedly' touched him during the incident in July.

It has now emerged that the businessman dropped the complaint after realising the punishment Mr Harron is facing - but prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates are still taking the case forward.

Businessman Emad Tabaza (left) who landed Briton Jamie Harron (right) in a Dubai jail over claims of being indecently touched had dropped his complaint, it emerged today

Mr Tabaza, the managing director of global technology firm Neuman & Esser, is said to have received death threats following the incident.

Mr Harron has already been sentenced to a month in prison and fined 2,000 dirhams (412) for drinking and making a rude gesture.

He is due to be sentenced on another charge of public indecency, in which he claims to have touched Mr Tabaza's hip to avoid spilling his drink.

Mr Harron will appear in court on October 22 and could face three years in prison if found guilty.

A spokesman for Neuman & Esser confirmed Mr Tabaza has dropped the complaint.

Jamie Harron (pictured), 27, from Stirling, Scotland, has been stripped of his passport and faces a three-year sentence over allegations he touched a leading businessman's hip in a bar in the UAE

In a statement issued on behalf of the businessman, he said: 'With a certain distance from the incident and the punishment to be expected for the suspect, our employee decided to withdraw the complaint despite the harassment having been confirmed by several witnesses.

'However, according to the typical laws for the country, this does not automatically result in the termination of the proceedings as, for example, very likely in England or Germany.'

Mr Harron claims to have placed his hand on Mr Tabaza's hip in a crowded bar to stop his drink being spilled. But Mr Tabaza has given a different account of the incident.

The company spokesman said: 'During a private visit to a club in Dubai, one of our employees was touched by the suspect on the thigh several times.

'As opposed to contrary descriptions, this was not in a crowd and on the hip, but actually at around 7.30pm - therefore at a time when the club was not highly frequented by visitors. This is confirmed by several witnesses.

Emad Tabaza called the police and claimed Mr Harron had been 'very drunk' and 'repeatedly' touched him during the incident in July

'Our employee emphatically, but politely, requested the clearly drunk suspect to refrain from this.

'The security staff which observed the incident, played down the incident and did not undertake any further measures against the very drunk guest who continued to behave aggressively towards our employee.

'Following this, our employee requested to see the manager in order to safeguard his interests as a club guest. The security staff informed him that the manager was not available.

'On strength of this, our employee deemed it necessary to call the police who then took corresponding measures.

'The situation would not otherwise have been controllable, particularly as the drunk suspect still took an aggressive stance. Calling the police served de-escalation of the situation.

'After the police arrived, the suspect repeated the process several times (touching our employee's thigh ) in front of both police officers and explained that such conduct is commonplace in Europe. As a result, the police arrested him.'

Mr Harron (pictued on his travels) has revealed the case has cost him his job and left him in debt

Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained In Dubai, the NGO who is leading the campaign to help Mr Harron, described the statement as an 'exercise in public relations.'

She said: 'This response is far from the statement of fact that I have received from the respondent.

'While legally it is possible that the complaint could proceed in the absence of the support from the complainant, this is highly unlikely.

'Jamie's breathalyzer test indicated that he had only consumed three beers and was not acting in a drunken manner.

'He has a further four witnesses to confirm his behaviour, including the bar's own security staff.

'This response appears that it is designed to protect the reputation of the company who is currently under Twitter fire and unlikely to represent reality. It is an exercise in public relations.'

The incident occurred at the Rock Bottom Bar in Dubai - a popular venue for young people in the Tecom area of Dubai.

Mr Harron has spent over 32,000 in expenses and legal fees trying to resolve the matter, lost his job, and has also been stripped of his documents.

The electrician was in Dubai on a two-day stopover as he was flying back to work in Afghanistan in July.

He spent five days in prison, is currently out on bail, but is facing a three-year sentence.

Ms Stirling added: 'It is surprising that they would take such a position, considering the fact that their employee himself has already sought to drop the charges in this case.

'It is clear to all parties that this got blown out of proportion, and it is only the Dubai Public Prosecutor's office that is insisting on pursuing it as a criminal matter.

'Neumann & Esser would be better advised to support a de-escalation of this dispute rather than dig their heels in on a matter which both sides "appear to want dismissed".'
Confronting footage has emerged of the moment an Australian pensioner is knocked out with a sickening coward punch.

Colin Gerrard, 72, was involved in a traffic dispute with a local man outside his daughter's school in Pattaya, Thailand at 4pm on Wednesday.

As the two spoke to a police officer the Thai man appeared to be walking away before suddenly turning around and hitting the elderly man with a powerful blow.

The unexpected punch left Mr Gerrard out cold for about one minute before he came to on the ground, blood pouring from a gash in his face.

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Confronting footage has emerged of the moment an Australian pensioner (pictured, left) is knocked out with a sickening coward punch

Colin Gerrard (pictured, left), 72, was involved in a traffic dispute with a local man outside his daughter's school in Pattaya, Thailand at 4pm on Wednesday

The attacker, 28-year-old Sumet Rungratanapan, runs a jewellery store and was wearing a large gold ring when he hit Mr Gerrard.

The pair were involved in a minor traffic accident before Mr Gerrard took a machete from his car and smashed the windows of the Thai man's vehicle.

'I was driving my car and I wanted to overtake but the foreigner didn't want me to go in front of him. He moved the car in front of me,' Mr Rungratanapan said.

''After that I said sorry because I scratched his car but then the foreigner was shouting and swearing at me. It made me angry and I started to talk bad back to him.

The pair were involved in a minor traffic accident before Mr Gerrard took a machete (pictured) from his car and smashed the windows of the Thai man's vehicle

'Then I walked over to him and he took the knife and he attacked my car (pictured) with it. I was so angry and I just punched him,' said the Thai man

'The foreigner was shouting to stop the car and come outside. Why was he talking to me, a young person, saying come here, come here, so strongly?

'Then I walked over to him and he took the knife and he attacked my car with it. I was so angry and I just punched him.'

Mr Gerrard can be heard in the video telling the officer he used the machete.

'I bash[ed] his car,' he tells the officer.

'Basically I held the knife to stop him. I said "stop, stop". He attacked me.'

Moments before the punch Mr Rungratanapan says 'I have [a] clip' and appears to watch footage of Mr Gerrard smashing his car before losing his temper.

Mr Gerrard (pictured) can be heard in the video telling the officer he used the machete

A woman holding a child and filming the encounter - believed to be Mr Rungratanapan's wife - says 'How dare you? You cannot use [a] knife.'

The Australian was treated for a cut to the left side of his face, and both men attended Pattaya City Police Station on Thursday for questioning.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Nakhonrat Nonsilad, deputy leader of investigations, said: 'We have to hear both sides of the story and the injured man must get a medical certificate from the hospital as evidence of his injuries.

'Neither man has been charged. We have to wait for the interrogation of all parties, interviews with witnesses and check CCTV footage.'
A 16-year-old boy high on LSD shot himself dead on Thursday morning after firing on cops called by his grandmother who was left terrified by his paranoid trip.

West Melbourne police announced the teen's death in a tweet at shortly after 6:30am Thursday.

The teen has been identified as 16-year-old Michael Proctor.

His grandmother, who was inside the home at the time of the incident, said he had used LSD hours before he killed himself.

'He was a good kid; he did good in school,' Gregory Proctor, the teen's father, told Florida Today.

Michael Proctor, a 16-year-old boy who had taken LSD, was found dead after he likely shot himself inside a Florida home Thursday morning

Proctor's body was found hours after he fired shots at police officers who had responded to a 911 call from his grandmother

His grandmother, who was inside the home at the time of the incident, said he had used LSD hours before he killed himself

Proctor's grandmother said he was an honor roll student who took music classes and once built a computer on his own

Proctor's father said that the LSD made him violent, while his grandmother said that he was scared

'He was on drugs, and it made him violent.'

Lorene Powers, the boy's grandmother, said it was the first time he had used LSD.

'He just got scared,' she said.

Officers arrived at the home just before midnight after the grandmother called 911, telling dispatchers her grandson was throwing things inside the home.

Powers, her daughter Libby Morey, and her son, who is deaf, were in the home with Michael Proctor at the time of the incident.

Proctor killed himself after an hours-long standoff with police, according to authorities. Investigators are seen outside of his home on Thursday

Officers arrived at the home just before midnight after the grandmother called 911, telling dispatchers her grandson was throwing things inside the home

Powers, her daughter Libby Morey, and her son, who is deaf, were in the home with Michael Proctor at the time of the incident

Libby told Florida Today her deaf brother was woken up by police hours after the shots were fired

Libby told Florida Today her deaf brother was woken up by police hours after the shots were fired.

Police went to the neighborhood and were interviewing residents of the house when Proctor came out of a back bedroom and started firing a gun, according to a police report.

The officers retreated toward the front door with three other residents of the home as he kept firing.

No one was injured and police did not return fire.

A 16-year-old boy was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a Florida home Thursday morning, hours after he fired shots at police officers who had responded to a 911 call from his grandmother, according to police

A SWAT team surrounded the house all night and several nearby homes were evacuated.

Police said on Twitter on Thursday that neighbors were being allowed back in, but roads in the neighborhood will be restricted to local traffic as investigators continue to process the scene.

Powers said her grandson was an honor roll student who took music classes and once built a computer on his own.

She said that on the night of the incident, he ingested LSD which made him paranoid and disoriented.

'He kept saying to me, "I'm going to die",' Powers said.

She said he had brought in a gun from outside the home.

Power said her grandson purchased LSD from a classmate with the $20 she gave him for lunch money.

Michael Proctor was on probation after a run-in with the police in April that was not drug-related, she said.

As per the terms of his probation, he was required to be home from 7pm to 7am.

'He was always on time,' Powers said.

'When he got home, he told me about [the drugs].'

Melbourne is on Florida's Atlantic Coast.
A tights firm has slammed rules on the London Underground after they were ordered to change their planned advert to pass Transport For London's strict rules.

Heist Studios were warned by Transport for London's advertising agency that they would have to cover up a topless model in the planned advert - even though the woman was photographed from the back.

The advert features a topless female dancer striking an aerial pose while only wearing a pair of black tights. She has been photographed from the rear and it is not possible to see her breasts.

Heist Studios wanted to use the image, left, on their new Tube advertising campaign, but were told the photograph was unacceptable because it was clear that the model used was topless

In April 2015 Protein World caused controversy with this advertisement for their products

However, before the advert could be displayed at London Underground stations, the company were warned they would need to cover up a section of the model's back.

Transport for London's advertising is managed by Exterion Media, who emailed Heist Studios about the need to alter their planned poster before it could be displayed.

According to the Standard, an email to the company warned they could not accept an advert which shows a 'topless model'.

The email said: 'Whilst I know this is only showing a bare back, it still depicts a "topless" model. If we could add a boob tube around the back I think this would be passed.'

Ellie Howard from Heist told the Standards: 'We were told to cover up the offending area  her back. Its bonkers.

'We were very excited about sharing our image of a strong, female dancer wearing our tights, especially since womens underwear ads are usually so heavily sexualised, but it seems that the back of a female dancer is unacceptable.'

A TfL spokesperson said: 'We were not sent the advert which is being referred to. Every advertisement is reviewed by our agents against our advertising policy to make sure it is compliant. In cases where an advertisement is deemed not to be compliant, we work with the advertiser to amend it.'

MailOnline has contacted Heist Studios, and Exterion Media for a comment.
Danish police have recovered a saw that may have been used to dismember Swedish journalist Kim Wall, whose body parts were found after she interviewed an inventor aboard his homemade submarine.

The saw was found in Koge Bay, south of Copenhagen, the same place where Miss Wall's headless torso was found 11 days after her August 10 disappearance, and where divers recovered her head and legs in plastic bags on October 6.

Peter Madsen, 46, charged with Miss Wall's murder, has ceased to co-operate with police after it was revealed that the 30-year-old had been stabbed 15 times in her ribcage and genitals 'around or shortly after her death'.

Victim: The headless torso of Kim Wall, a 30-year-old freelance journalist who was researching a story on inventor Peter Madsen, washed up in August

'The saw is now being examined by our forensic technicians to determine whether it is the saw police have been looking for in connection with the submarine case,' Copenhagen police inspector Jens Moller Jensen said in a statement.

Wall was last seen on board the submarine on the evening of August 10 as she and Madsen, a self-taught engineer and inventor, sailed in waters off Copenhagen.

In custody since August 11, Madsen early on told police that Wall died when a 154lbs hatch door fell on her head, and in a panic, he threw her body overboard.

He insisted her body was intact at the time.

But the recovery of her head contradicts his version of events, as police said an autopsy showed 'no sign of fracture on the skull and there isn't any sign of other blunt violence to the skull.'

Accused: Peter Madsen, 46, pictured moments after he was rescued from his sinking submarine, faces preliminary charges of manslaughter and indecent handling of a corpse

Jens Mller Jensen (left), Deputy Police Officer at Copenhagen Police, said at a press conference: 'We found a leg and shortly after a head'

Locating Wall's head has been crucial to investigators, as the final autopsy on the torso was unable to establish the cause of death.

Jens Mller Jensen, Deputy Police Officer at Copenhagen Police, said at a press conference last week: 'We found a leg. An hour after, another leg. And shortly after a head also lay in a bag that was weighed down by several pieces of metal.'

Speaking this week, Mller Jensen told The Associated Press that Madsen 'doesn't want to talk now.'

Police also found some of Miss Wall's clothes and a knife in one of the bags. Her underwear was found on the submarine.

Prosecutors believe Madsen killed Wall as part of a sexual fantasy, then dismembered and mutilated her body.

Wall, a 30-year-old freelance journalist who was researching a story on Madsen, went missing after he took her out to sea in the 17-metre (56-foot) craft in August

Earlier, prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen told a court custody hearing that a hard disk found in Madsen's workshop contained fetish films in which real women were tortured, decapitated and burned.

'This hard drive doesn't belong to me,' Madsen insisted, saying numerous people had access to his workshop.

Madsen has insisted there was no sexual relationship between him and Wall, and their that contacts had been purely professional.

Madsen has also denied amputating her limbs, saying he tried to bury her whole body at sea.

The pair went to sea on August 10 in Madsen's 40-tonne submarine, UC3 Nautilus.

Miss Wall's torso was found in Koge Bay on August 21  ten days after Madsen was arrested. Madsen will be detained for another four months while police continue to investigate.
Mercenaries from Russia are 'buying' Syrian virgins for 75 as sexual partners as they fight a secret war against jihadists in support of Damascus dictator Bashar al-Assad, it has been reported.

These clandestine Russian forces also decapitate captured jihadists receiving a bounty of 13 for each beheaded ISIS fighter, claimed a veteran hired gun.

Moscow has denied deploying mercenaries in the country but in recent days two members of these unofficial private armies were seized by ISIS and are believed to have been beheaded.

Now an ex-Russian army man serving as a mercenary has revealed secrets of the deployment, often at the frontline facing jihadist forces.

Mercenaries from Russia (file picture) are 'buying' Syrian virgins for 75 a year as sexual partners as they fight a secret war against jihadists in support of Damascus dictator Bashar al-Assad, it has been reported

Clandestine Russian forces also decapitate captured jihadists receiving a bounty of 13 for each beheaded ISIS fighter, claimed a veteran hired gun (file picture shows a Russian mercenary)

Asked about rest and relaxation in war-ravaged Syria, he said the Russian fighters bought virgins to act as 'wives' either for a year for 75 or 'forever' at a cost of 1,130 to 1,500.

A succession of Russian showbusiness stars have flown in to entertain Vladimir Putin's official troops stationed in the country.

But the mercenary fighters are not even officially acknowledged as being there, and not permitted to attend or socialise with the regular armed forces, said Sergey from Donetsk, a former lawyer in his 30s, who has been a mercenary for four years first in eastern Ukraine - where Russia also denied deploying such forces - then Syria.

'It is boring sometimes. But you can buy a wife,' he said. 'A virgin from a good family costs $100 for a year. If you take her forever, then it's $1,500-2,000.

'It's easier to buy than to search for one. I know guys who got papers sorted for such brides and later took them back to Russia with them.

Russian mercenary fighters are not even officially acknowledged as being in Syria, and not permitted to attend or socialise with the regular armed forces, it has been claimed (file picture)

'But it's mainly officers who can afford them.'

He revealed that private army mercenaries like him receive no Russian medals - and if they are killed in action, their bodies will not be flown home.

They call Syria the 'sandbox' and know that 'if something happens, no one will rescue them', revealed Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

'Their contract states that freight-200 (corpses) are not returned. Too expensive.'

Sergey said: 'We are not given awards.....Our trip's aim is salary. Without patriotism.'

Many were fooled into thinking their tours would not be too dangerous, he said.

'Our recruiters were telling us: "You'll be protecting communications, checkpoints, oil derricks, rebuilding plants. And when we arrived - surprise! - it's the assault battalion".'

Contracts specify that mercenaries do not speak about their work, indeed they are urged not even to tell their families where they are going.

'I signed an agreement,' he said. 'There is a list of thing that we need to do, responsibilities, but no rights.

'If you violate some article, for example, drinks at the front, you are fined. The whole unit is fined. But [people] drink little, it's too hot. But vodka in Syria is good.'

He is paid 1,960 a month - 'my wife is pregnant, I have two children, a son and daughter, my parents are old.

'I wouldn't earn it even in a year. Even if I am fooled and paid less, it's still better than nothing.'

Recent reports highlighted how jihadists captured bearded father of two Roman Zabolotny (right), 39, and his comrade Grigory Tsurkanu (left), 38

Tsurkanu (pictured) and his comrade are believed to have been executed by beheading in a town square as fanatics cheered

Roman Zabolotny is believed to have been beheaded along with his colleague in a town centre execution

Two such private armies are operating now in Syria, he said, one called Wagner, the other Turan, and officially 'they have no relation to Russia's official military institutions', although on the ground work in tandem are essential for the success of Putin's military operations.

When they flew by charter plane to Lattakia they were told to say there were 'peacemakers'.

'We had those with jail terms, those who couldn't find a job at home, had no money, former volunteers who came to military training in Rostov, militants, even ethnic Ukrainians, including those who were fighting against us in Donbas (eastern Ukraine),' he said.

'When the very first combatants were sent there, selection was strict, some say there even was competition.

'Now they are taking everyone. I personally have seen an amputee, a person with no arm, he is a machine gunner. How can he shoot?

'It seems to me that recruiters are lately paid for a number of recruited, not for the quality. That's why there are so many stupid losses.'

Recent reports highlighted how jihadists captured bearded father of two Roman Zabolotny, 39, and his comrade Grigory Tsurkanu, 38, - both are believed to have been executed by beheading in a town square as fanatics cheered.

The pair were said to have refused to give up their Orthodox faith and become ISIS-backing Muslims.

Wagner - or Vagner - is the nickname of an ex-Russian special forces officer called Dmitry Utkin (circled) who runs the private army

Utkin is shown on the far right of a picture of Wagner chiefs with Putin (centre) at a Kremlin ceremony

'They were from the group who came in May,' he said. '150 arrived here then, and in the first fight there were 19 freight-200s (killed). Numbers are simply hidden.

'The media are getting minimal information about what's happening. The latest who arrived... their training was such that it was clear, they'll be dead.'

Asked if he saw the pair who died as heroes, he said: 'Don't make me swear. They got cold feet. Because normal guys wouldn't allow to be captured alive.'

He claimed the Russian mercenaries are also beheading jihadists.

'Ours also cut them off. Why should I drag a whole body across the desert? At first their heads were paid at 5,000 roubles each (65) for an ISIS man.

'Our guys brought bunches of them. This is why the price was dropped - it was necessary to stop scaring locals. Lately they were paid 1,000 roubles (13).

'I don't know exactly because I am not doing it myself.'

Families get compensation of around 39,000 for mercenaries killed in action, and 11,700 is paid for the wounded.

'It is clear no-one will drag your corpse to the motherland because it's too expensive and there isn't much sense in it.

'Three million roubles paid for the dead, a living person will only earn in two years.

Earlier this year mercenary Ivan Slyshkin, 23, was fatally shot in the head after joining Wagner's private army to earn money for his wedding to girlfriend Kristina Gainutdinova, 20

Slyshkin's comrades raised money for his corpse to be returned to Russian for a funeral

'But if you are injured while not wearing bulletproof vest or helmet, you might not be paid anything. And the vest weighs 18 kilograms. Who'll be dragging it on him in such heat? You are also fined for it.

'But the families of those two whose heads were cut off will receive all the payments for sure - because the media made a noise.'

He complained that the mercenaries are issued dud weapons.

'Equipment is old, exhausted, produced long time ago,' he said. 'Chinese machine guns are given to us.'

Earlier this year mercenary Ivan Slyshkin, 23, was fatally shot in the head after joining Wagner's private army to earn money for his wedding to girlfriend Kristina Gainutdinova, 20.

His comrades raised money for his corpse to be returned to Russian for a funeral.

Ruslan Leviev, founder of Conflict Intelligence independent investigation group, said: 'Our experience of watching this conflict tells us that Wagner private army mercenaries are the first to fight.

'We think it is a strategy of the Defence Ministry of Russia: sending mercenaries to the hottest places, we avoid losses among official soldiers and keep the image of a successful combat operation.'

RBC news agency claimed earlier this year that the Wagner forces had cost Russia 145 million during the Syrian conflict.

Wagner - or Vagner - is the nickname of an ex-Russian special forces officer called Dmitry Utkin who runs the private army.

He is reported to be the ex commander of the famous Pskov special forces brigade.

He is shown on the far right of a picture of Wagner chiefs with Putin at a Kremlin ceremony.

Other leaders include decorated former senior Russian army personnel.

The force enabled Russia to deploy in Crimea, other areas of Ukraine and Syria, while denying its soldiers were on the ground.

The funding for the secret army is believed to come from Russia's military budget.
Ruam Mota, right, gave evidence at the acid attack trial of Arthur Collins today and denied getting into a row with Collins

A clubber whose jacket melted off his back when Towie star Ferne McCann's ex threw acid across a dancefloor has denied being armed with the corrosive fluid.

Arthur Collins, 25, burnt 16 people at the packed Love Juice event at the Mangle nightclub in Hackney, east London over the Easter Weekend.

The 25-year-old, who is the father of Ms McCann's unborn baby, admits throwing the liquid but claims he didn't realise it was acid.

His lawyer has suggested he and co-accused Andre Phoenix got into an argument with a group of men over claims of drink spiking.

Ruam Mota, who suffered burns to his face and neck, told the court he did not have an argument at the club and denied his group of friends were 'aggressors'.

He told Wood Green Crown Court he knew nothing about a bottle allegedly snatched by Collins from his friend Makai Brown.

Collins is the ex-boyfriend of Towie star Ferne McCann, who is now pregnant with his child

Emergency services outside the Mangle club after the incident in which 16 people were hurt

George Carter-Stephenson QC, defending Collins, said Mota was lying to the jury to hide that his group were the aggressors.

Mr Carter-Stephenson told the court the CCTV showed Mr Mota coming down the stairs and that he and Mr Brown were talking about spiking a girl's drink.

'If I was to put it to you that your group said 'no you spike her, you do it,' what would you say?' Collins' barrister asked.

'That wasn't said,' Mr Mota replied. 'I definitely didn't say anything like that.'

Sophie Hall, who was injured in an acid attack allegedly carried out by Arthur Collins, arrives at Wood Green Crown Court today

The barrister claimed the stand off was 'animated' and 'intense' after Collins took a bottle he believed contained a date rape drug but was actually full of acid.

'Are you trying to hide the fact that your group were the aggressors on that night, and you had gone to that club armed with something?' the barrister asked.

Mr Mota repeatedly denied the claims.

He admitted he has a previous conviction for carrying a knife and another for robbery as a 16-year-old in 2012 when he snatching an iPhone.

'You are not afraid to use violence if the need arises are you,' Collins' lawyer said to Mr Mota.

'Your group was aggressive and threatening and were trying to get something back that Mr Collins had snatched from Mr Brown,' said Mr Carter-Stephenson.

Mr Mota told him he was wrong.

Collins and co-defendant Andre Phoenix, 21, both deny five counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and 11 counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on 17 April.

The trial continues.
Emma Thompson: 'I dont know about those things but they dont surprise me at all and theyre endemic to the system anyway.

'I dont think you can describe him as a sex addict, hes a predator'

Emma Thompson blasted the idea Weinstein is a 'sex addict' and insisted 'he's a predator'

Jane Fonda: 'I found out about Harvey about a year ago. I'm ashamed that I didn't say anything right then. I guess it hadn't happened to me, and so I didn't feel that it was my place. Let's not think this is some unique, horrific [incident]. This goes on all the time. It's this male entitlement - in Hollywood, and everywhere. In offices and businesses all over the world, in bars, and restaurants and stores, women are assaulted, abused, harassed and seen for just being sexual objects, there for a man's desire, instead of as whole human beings.'

'I'm ashamed I didn't say anything', Jane Fonda said

Tom Hanks: 'Look, I dont want to rag on Harvey but so obviously something went down there. You cant buy, Oh, well, I grew up in the 60s and 70s and so therefore. ... I did, too. So I think its like, well, what do you want from this position of power? I know all kinds of people that just love hitting on, or making the lives of underlings some degree of miserable, because they can.

Ewan McGregor: 'It's about time this came to light and he is getting [his] just desserts . Heard rumours over the years but this is awful. Bye Bully!'

Matt Damon: 'As the father of four daughters, this is the kind of sexual predation that keeps me up at night. This is the great fear for all of us. I did five or six movies with Harvey. I never saw this. I feel horrible for these women and its wonderful they have this incredible courage and are standing up now. We can all feel this change thats happening, which is necessary and overdue.'

Jennifer Lawrence stated although she had not witnessed Weinstein's inappropriate acts herself, she still condemned the producer

Ryan Gosling: 'I want to add my voice of support for the women who have had the courage to speak out against Harvey Weinstein. Like most people in Hollywood, I have worked with him and Im deeply disappointed in myself for being so oblivious to these devastating experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. He is emblematic of a systemic problem. Men should stand with women and work together until there is real accountability and change.'

Emma Watson: 'I stand with all the women who have been sexually harassed, and am awestruck by their bravery. This mistreatment of women has to stop.'

Olivia Wilde: 'What Harvey Weinstein did to those women was nothing short of abuse. I am disturbed, and disgusted. Its appalling. Though I never witnessed it, I stand in solidarity with his victims, and hope their bravery sends a loud message to all abusers of power. The victim blaming needs to stop. As does the shaming of women who didn't come forward earlier. They spoke, and we are here to listen.'

Jessica Chastain, pictured left with Weinstein and actress Jess Weixler said: 'I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an environment for it to happen again'

Ben Affleck: 'I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades'

Supportive: Emma Watson said she stands behind Weinstein's accusers

Leonardo DiCaprio: 'There is no excuse for sexual harassment or sexual assault  no matter who you are and no matter what profession. I applaud the strength and courage of the women who came forward and made their voices heard.'

Cate Blanchett: 'Any man in a position of power or authority who thinks its his prerogative to threaten, intimidate or sexually assault any woman he encounters or works alongside needs to be called to account. It is never easy for a woman to come forward in such situations and I wholeheartedly support those who have.'

Charlize Theron: 'The women who have spoken about their abuse are brave and heroic and although I didnt have a personal experience like this with Harvey Weinstein, I unfortunately cannot say Im surprised period. This culture always existed, not just in Hollywood but across the world. And many men in positions of power have gotten away with it for far too long. We cannot blame the victims here. A lot of these women are young, just starting out in their respective fields, and have absolutely no way to stand up to a man with some much influence, greater than theirs.'

Bye bully! Ewan McGregor said the mogul was getting what was owed to him after years of rumors

Nicole Kidman: 'As Ive stated before publicly, I support and applaud all women and these women who speak out against any abuse and misuse of power  be it domestic violence or sexual harassment in the workforce. We need to eradicate this behavior.'

George Clooney: 'I suppose the argument would be that its not just about Hollywood, but about all of usthat every time you see someone using their power and influence to take advantage of someone without power and influence and you dont speak up, youre complicit.'

Jennifer Lawrence: 'I was deeply disturbed to hear the news about Harvey Weinstein's behavior. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting.'

Kate Winslet: 'His behaviour is without question disgraceful and appalling and very, very wrong. I had hoped that these kind of stories were just made up rumours, maybe we have all been naive.'

Meryl Streep: 'The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed, and those whose good and worthy causes he supported.'

Kate Winslet said Weinstein's behavior was appalling and very wrong

Glenn Close: 'I'm angry, not just at him and the conspiracy of silence around his actions, but also that the "casting couch" phenomenon, so to speak, is still a reality in our business and in the world: the horrible pressure, the awful expectation put on a woman when a powerful, egotistical, entitled bully expects sexual favors in exchange for a job.'

Judi Dench: 'Whilst there is no doubt that Harvey Weinstein has helped and championed my film career for the past 20 years, I was completely unaware of these offences which are, of course, horrifying, and I offer my sympathy to those who have suffered, and wholehearted support to those who have spoken out.'

Mark Ruffalo said it was a 'disgusting abuse of power'

Romola Garai: 'Like every other woman in the industry, I've had an "audition" with Harvey Weinstein. So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it.'

Ashley Judd: 'Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it's simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.'

Mark Ruffalo: 'To be clear what Harvey Weinstein did was a disgusting abuse of power and horrible. I hope we are now seeing the beginning of the end of these abuses.'

James Gunn: 'If even 1/10th of the stories about Harvey Weinstein are true (and I believe they are), then good f***ing riddance. That s***'s gotta stop.'

Lena Dunham: 'Easy to think Weinstein company took swift action but this has actually been the slowest action because they always always knew.'

Susan Sarandon: 'Huge respect for Ashley Judd and all the women who broke their silence for the article on Harvey Weinstein. Brave.'

Julianne Moore: 'Coming forward about sexual abuse and coercion is scary and women have nothing to be gained personally by doing so. But through their bravery we move forward as a culture, and I thank them. Stand with Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan and others.'

Jessica Chastain: 'I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an environment for it to happen again.'

Jeff Bridges: 'I wish him the best struggling with his demons, but his behavior was terrible. And I wish him - just as being a fellow human being - we are all struggling with different things. And he can struggle with his and come out the other side.'

'The disgraceful news about Harvey Weinstein has appalled those of us whose work he championed,' Streep said

Benedict Cumberbatch: 'I am utterly disgusted by the continuing revelations of Harvey Weinsteins horrifying and unforgivable actions. We need to collectively stand up and support victims of abuse such as the brave and inspiring women who have spoken out against him and say we hear you and believe you.'

Kevin Smith: 'He financed the first 14 years of my career - and now I know while I was profiting, others were in terrible pain. It makes me feel ashamed.'

Paul Feig: 'There is no excuse for monsters like Harvey Weinstein. It's up to all of us, men and women, to speak up against sexual harassment and abuse.'

Michael Keaton: 'H Weinstein -yikes! Disgusting and creepy. So is "leader of the free world", by the way.'

Heather Graham is one of a number of actors to speak out against Weinstein

Emmy Rossum: The "old dinosaur" explanation doesn't cut it. Decades of using power to intimidate women for sexual gain is reprehensible and inexcusable.'

Heather Graham: 'Women speak out about sexual harassment and Harvey Weinstein gets fired. This is the best and most inspiring news story I have seen in a while.'

Judd Apatow: 'What Harvey Weinstein did was abhorrent. He admits he did it. Why should anyone be silent in their disgust and support for his victims?'

Amber Tamblyn: 'Heed the mantra and never forget: Women. Have. Nothing. To. Gain. And. Everything. To. Lose. By. Coming. Forward.'

Scott Derrickson: 'I expect the Hollywood elite will remain largely silent about Weinstein. Me, I give zero f***s about any repercussions for condemning him.'

Brooklyn Decker: 'We condemn "grab them by the p***y" and we condone this.'

Patricia Arquette: 'If there is a way to cure yourself of being a predator than I hope harvey learns what it is & shares it with the world. It's an epidemic.'

Ryan Murphy: 'In this society, most women have a Harvey Weinstein in their life. There is always a minefield you navigate when you're a woman and go through the system of Hollywood. Sometimes you are lucky enough to have champions or people who aren't interested in taking advantage of you, and sometimes you do not. I know my way around an Oscar-winning lady or two, and whenever he would come up in conversation, there was always this "ick" or "ugh" type of reaction. All of the women I spoke to would say that. All of them. I wondered what was up with that.'
A seven-year-old boy missing after three people were killed in a shooting has been found dead as a manhunt for the killer continues in southern Ohio.

Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless says Devin Holston was shot and his body apparently hidden in the home where three adults were found dead Wednesday evening.

The suspect, 23-year-old Aaron Lawson, is being sought on warrants for charges including aggravated murder.

Officials are hunting for 23-year-old Aaron Lawson who is believed to have murdered four people in the attack including Devin William Andrew Holston, 7, who was found shot dead

The sheriff says deputies spotted Lawson driving around 12:30 a.m. Thursday but lost him when he crashed and ran into woods in Ironton, about 110 miles south of Columbus.

Authorities haven't publicly identified the other three adults found dead at an Elizabeth Township trailer. A fourth adult who was stabbed was flown to a West Virginia hospital.

Deputies found the bodies of three adults in a house trailer in an unincorporated area of Lawrence County at about 7:30pm Wednesday, the sheriff's office said.

The youngster, Devin Holston, also lived at the home and his body was discovered hidden away.

One of two Ironton, Ohio, homes where relatives were found shot and stabbed

Lawrence County Sheriff Jeffery Lawless told the Ironton Tribune that all those involved were 'related in some way.'

Around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, deputies spotted Lawson in a blue truck in Ironton, about 15 miles south of where the victims were found, the sheriff said.

Deputies chased Lawson before he crashed his vehicle into a ditch and ran into the woods, the sheriff said.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is assisting Lawrence County in the investigation.

Lawless said schools in the Rock Hill district are closed Thursday because of the attacks.

The initial report about the slayings - violence against multiple people found at trailers belonging to related residents - recalled details from a still-unsolved homicide case that rattled rural southern Ohio last year.

A spokeswoman for the Ohio attorney general's office said Thursday that investigators have no indication of a connection between the cases.

The deaths on Wednesday occurred roughly 40 miles southeast of the Piketon area, where eight people from the Rhoden family were found shot to death in four homes in April 2016.
Bogdana Mobley has been charged with international parental kidnapping after fleeing to Russia with three children

A Russian-born woman accused of fleeing Kansas and taking her children to her homeland amid a divorce has been charged with international parental kidnapping.

A grand jury on Wednesday indicted 37-year-old Bogdana Alexandrovna Mobley.

She was arrested on September 29 in Wichita after returning to the U.S. but investigators believe her three children remain in Russia.

Her second husband Brian Mobley had filed for divorce in March 2014 while she was pregnant.

During the proceedings, she allegedly fled to Russia with her two children. One child, Ian, was from her first marriage, born in 2004, and the second, Sophia, born in 2013, was from her second marriage to Brian Mobley.

She gave birth to a third child about two months after returning to Russia.

In December 2014 a judge granted Mobley's ex-husband full custody of the two children and ordered her to return.

Bogdana's ex-husband Brian has not seen his daughter Sophia (pictured) since she was a one-year-old. She is now four

Brian (bottom left) is the father of Sophia (center) and Isabella (right). He was granted full custody of the girls but their mother took them to Russia. He is seen Skyping them above

Prosecutors say she refused to return but she allowed Brian Mobley to communicate with the children online via Skype.

He flew to meet her on the border of Poland and Russia in 2015 to see them but she refused to show up.

Brian Mobley says he has not seen his daughter Sophia since she was one-year-old, and has never met his second daughter Isabella despite being given full custody.

His new wife Melissa Mobley wrote on Facebook: 'He was in an abusive marriage and when he tried to divorce her she left to use the kids as leverage over him. She is all kinds of evil.'

Sophia and Isabella are believed to still be in Russia, even though their mother is in the U.S.

Isabella Mobley (left) has been missing since April 4, 2014. She is now three years old. Sophia Mobley (right) is now four

Brian and Melissa Mobley have created a GoFundMe to help with legal expenses to try and bring his girls home.

'It has been over 3 years since I have seen my children,' Brian wrote. 'Sophia was a little over one when she was taken and Isabella I have yet to meet and hold in person.

'Their mother came back to the US and the FBI arrested her. She did not bring the children with her to the U.S.'

Bogdana Mobley emigrated to the U.S. in 2003 and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

If convicted, she faces up to three years in federal prison and a fine of $100,000.
U.S. officials have told The Associated Press on Thursday that the United States is pulling out of UNESCO, after repeated criticism of resolutions by the U.N. cultural agency that Washington sees as anti-Israel.

The U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011, but the State Department has maintained a UNESCO office at its Paris headquarters and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes.

The withdrawal was confirmed Thursday by U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to be publicly named discussing the decision. It comes as UNESCO is voting to choose a new director.

Out: The U.S. will not be a member of UNESCO from December 31, it was announced Thursday, after years of tensions over Palestinian membership and resolutions calling Israel an 'occupying power'

We're off: Rex Tillerson ordered the U.S. out of UNESCO on Thursday, a dramatic move which will be seen as part of growing skepticism towards the United Nations

In a statement, the State Department said it notified UNESCO director Irina Bokova on Thursday of the decision.

The U.S. will seek to have a 'permanent observer' status instead.

It says the withdrawal will take effect December 31, 2018. The United States suspended its UNESCO funding in 2011 over its vote to include Palestine as a member, and now owes about $550 million in back payments.

U.S. officials said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the decision and that it was not discussed with other countries but an internal U.S. government deliberation.

The officials, who were not authorized to be publicly named discussing the issue, said U.S. is notably angry over UNESCO resolutions denying Jewish connections to holy sites and references to Israel as an occupying power.

The move is likely to be seen as part of the Trump administration's skepticism about the United Nations more broadly.

UNESCO Director-general Irina Bokova said in a statement that the departure is a loss for 'the United Nations family' and for multilateralism.

She said the U.S. and UNESCO matter to each other more than ever now because 'the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security.'

A native of Bulgaria, Bokova defended UNESCO's reputation, noting its efforts to support Holocaust education and train teachers to fight anti-Semitism.

She traced the decades-long U.S. ties with UNESCO, and noted that the Statue of Liberty is among the many World Heritage sites protected by the U.N. agency.

Bokova's two terms as director have been deeply scarred by the 2011 UNESCO vote to include Palestine as a member, funding troubles and repeated resolutions seen as anti-Israel.
The mother of a 15-year-old girl who has been missing for a week in Texas fears she may have been kidnapped by sex traffickers.

Isabella McCarble was last seen at her home in a gated Houston community when her mother said goodnight to her before they went to bed on October 3.

Since then her phone has been off and there hasn't been any activity on her social media accounts.

Isabella McCarble, 15, was last seen at her home in a gated Houston community when her mother said goodnight to her before they went to bed on October 3

Isabella's mother Christina McCarble says her daughter doesn't drive a car and fears she may have been lured by sex traffickers.

'I feel like somebody has her, I feel like she's being held against her will,' McCarble told KHOU.

'I just want her to come home.'

Isabella is a sophomore at Memorial High School.

The family's private investigator is looking into a new group of friends Isabella was hanging out with prior to her disappearance.

Isabella's mother Christina McCarble says her daughter hasn't used her phone and social media since she went missing and fears she may have been lured by sex traffickers

'She's definitely been off the grid, she's hanging out with some bad elements and people that are involved with prostitution, some sexting, drugs,' Brad Perkins of with Your Eye Investigations said.

Houston Police are also trying to track the girl down.

Isabella was wearing a blue and green polo shirt with black shorts when she was last seen. She is 5 feet 3 inches with brown eyes and brown hair.

Friends and family of Isabella are sharing news of her disappearance on social media in the hope of tracking her down.
Donald Trump hinted Thursday morning that his government's all-in response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico could have limits, and Americans there will ultimately have to start digging themselves out of trouble.

'We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!' the president wrote on Twitter.

Puerto Rico's government reports that only about 16 per cent of the island's 3.4 million people have seen their electricity restored since the Category 5 storm barreled through the Caribbean.

More than one-third still have not seen running water restored.

President Donald Trump seemed to say Thursday that his government's post-hurricane assistance to Puerto Rico came with an expiration date

'We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders ... in P.R. forever!' the president wrote on Twitter

Trump tweeted that the U.S. territory's pre-storm financial crisis sprang from 'a total lack of accountability,' attributing that sentiment to Gov. Ricardo Rossello.

'Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes,' he added. 'Congress to decide how much to spend.'

He also quoted investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson from a recent TV report, saying: 'Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making.'

Trump's pronouncement limiting his administration's commitment to Puerto Rico stands in stark contrast to words Vice President Mike Pence said last week when he visited the devastated island.

'I say to all of you gathered here today to the people of Puerto Rico: We are with you, we stand with you, and we will be with you every single day until Puerto Rico is restored bigger and better than ever before,' he said then.

Aluminum roofing is seen twisted and thrown off buildings as recovery efforts continue following Hurricane Maria near San Jose, Puerto Rico

Tons of relief supplies have made it to Puerto Rico but the island still suffers from infrastructure problems that are slowing down deliveries to the hardest-hit

Trump made his own pledge last month, saying as he began a speech to a manufacturers group in Washington: 'We will not rest ... until the people of Puerto Rico are safe.'

'These are great people. We want them to be safe and sound and secure, and we will be there every day until that happens.'

He touted a 'massive federal mobilization' of 10,000 relief workers and other personnel  the same resources he is now hinting will have an expiration date.

But 'ultimately,' he cautioned then, 'the government of Puerto Rico will have to work with us to determine how this massive rebuilding effort ... will be funded and organized, and what we will do with the tremendous amount of existing debt already on the island.'

'We will not rest ... until the people of Puerto Rico are safe,' Trump said two weeks ago in Puerto Rico (he's shown flipping rolls of paper towels to people gathered at a church in Guaynabo

Vice President Mike Pence has pledged to Puerto Ricans that 'we stand with you, and we will be with you every single day until Puerto Rico is restored bigger and better than ever before'

Trump has defended his White House's responses to the storm against Democrats' complaints that the hardest hit were left high and dry.

Puerto Rico had $72 billion in debt before Maria hit, setting up the island with severe resource shortages and financial challenges.

Many of the island's residents are still coping with food and water shortages, a scarcity of business open and selling basic building materials, and even pharmaceutical shortages in hospitals.
President Donald Trump grandly promised consumers that they would soon see 'such low prices for such great care' thanks to an executive order he signed today directing his administration to begin an Obamacare shake-up.

'The competition will be staggering. Insurance companies will be fighting to get every single person signed up, and you will be hopefully negotiating, negotiating, negotiating,' Trump said during a White House event.

Trump failed to mention in the remarks that the reforms would take months to implement. They're subject to public review and ultimately up to the Department of Labor to enact.

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President Donald Trump grandly promised consumers that they would soon see 'such low prices for such great care' thanks to an executive order he signed today directing his administration to begin an Obamacare shake-up

He nearly forgot to sign the executive order in the first place.

Trump had just finished a set of remarks on the order in the Roosevelt Room and was making his way toward the exit when he was stopped by the vice president.

'Mr. President. Mr. President, you need to sign it,' Vice President Mike Pence reminded Trump, tugging at his shoulder to get his attention.

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta also tapped Trump and signaled that he should turn around.

Attendees of the event burst into laughter. A small business owner in the room commented that it was the 'most important thing' as Trump hustled over to the desk to sign the document.

'I'm only signing it because it costs nothing,' Trump declared before he sat down, sparking more laughter.

President Donald Trump nearly forgot to sign an executive order today directing his administration to begin an Obamacare shake-up

Trump had just finished a set of remarks on the order in the Roosevelt Room and had begun to make his way toward the exit when he was stopped by the vice president

'Mr. President. Mr. President, you need to sign it,' Vice President Mike Pence reminded Trump, tugging at his shoulder to get his attention

Trump ultimately signed the executive order, paving the way for his administration to ease restrictions on the purchase of health insurance plans.

The administration is moving to allow consumers to buy short-term health care plans that last as long as a year and can be renewed. Trump is also directing the Department of Labor to give small businesses permission to band together to buy better health plans for their employees.

Today's order directs Labor to allow small businesses in the same state, the same line of business or same trade association should be able to buy in to a plan together.

But it is up to the Labor Department to make the final decision, and only after the standard regulatory review period, meaning it will take months for the changes to go into effect, assuming that all of them do.

A White House official admitted Thursday during a call with a reporters that it could be six months or more before the proposed changes go into effect. At the very least, the official said, it will be the top of 2018, when most of next year's plans are already locked in.

Speaking before Trump at today's event, Sen. Rand Paul said the order would be the 'biggest free market reform of healthcare in a generation'

White House Domestic Policy Council director said these are the 'beginning of the actions' the administration will take to help Americans harmed by Obamacare.

'You should expect to see add actions from from the administration in the months to come,' he said.

Speaking before Trump at today's event, Sen. Rand Paul said the order would be the 'biggest free market reform of healthcare in a generation.'

'If it works,' he tacked on, 'and goes as planned.'

A spokesman for Paul told DailyMail.com after the speech, 'Senator Paul believes this is one of the first times in decades that the government is actually deregulating towards a free market solution.

'In all recent administrations there had been nothing but mandates and new rules, this is the first time we have moved towards a free market solution,' said Sergio Gor.

Republican lawmakers like Paul, pictured today at the White House, have long plugged the proposal as a way to increase consumer choice and lower costs

Health plans are generally required to include 10 health benefits that are deemed essential that include maternity and newborn care, prescription drug coverage, mental health treatment and addiction services, and the White House says it doesn't expect the administration's rule changes to have an effect on that.

'We don't know how the rule making would end up,' an official offered, saying the plans 'presumably those would all meet requirements' currently in place.

It is unclear whether individuals will be able to join the association plans. That will also be left to rule makers.

Individuals will have more opportunities to purchase short-term plans that are less costly because they provide fewer benefits, though. Trump will move to lengthen the amount of time for coverage under these terms from three months to 12.

Trump promised yesterday that his executive order would allow consumers to purchase 'incredible' health insurance plans. The White House made it clear in the Thursday call that the president was merely providing guidance to to federal departments, though. His order is not a mandate.

'We're going to have great healthcare across state lines...It will cost the government nothing,' Trump said in an interview on Fox News with Sean Hannity. 'You'll go out, private insurers are going to give you incredible healthcare.

'And I can sign it myself. I don't need anybody,' the president said.

In the interview, conducted yesterday afternoon in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the president claimed his order will help as many as 50 percent of the people who have struggled under Obamacare.

'I don't know, people say 30 percent, some people say 25 percent and some people say it could be 50 percent. It's going to cover a large percentage of the people that we're talking about,' Trump asserted.

Trump is taking the executive action to assist consumers who live in states where Obamacare has either gone belly up or premiums skyrocketed.

'They'll be able to cross state lines. And they will get great competitive healthcare, and it will cost the United States nothing,' Trump told reporters on Tuesday morning. 'Take care of a big percentage of the people that we're talking about, too,' he said.

He said then that he was taking unilateral action because repeal and replace stalled in the Senate.

'With Congress the way it is, I decided to take it upon myself,' Trump declared. 'So we'll be announcing that soon, as far as the singing is concerned, but it's largely worked out.'

On Thursday Trump said he's not giving up on a total Obamacare overhaul.

'We're going to also pressure Congress very strongly to finish the repeal and the replace of Obamacare once and for all. We will have great healthcare in our country,' he said.

The move is sure to be challenged by Democrats. Just as Republicans sued Barack Obama's administration for executive overreach in Obamacare, Democrats are likely to challenge the current administration for working to undercut the federal health law.

Republican lawmakers like Paul and Ted Cruz have long plugged the plan as a way to increase consumer choice and lower costs. They wanted to include it in repeal and replace legislation, but that would have run afoul of the Senate rule they were relying on as a vehicle for their proposed reforms.

Trump said he last month that he may loosen a restriction on where insurance plans can be sold through fiat. He previewed the move again in a Tuesday morning tweet that said, 'Since Congress can't get its act together on HealthCare, I will be using the power of the pen to give great HealthCare to many people - FAST'.

Paul said weeks ago, on the heels of the Senate's last Obamacare repeal failure, that Trump would be taking action in the near term.

'I think there's going to be big news from the White House in the next week or two, something they can do on their own,' he told MSNBC in a Sept. 27 interview.

The Kentucky Republican added, 'I believe that President Trump can legalize on his own the ability of individuals to join a group or a health association across state lines and buy insurance.'

That same day Trump affirmed his interest in an executive action that encompasses Paul's proposal.

The president told reporters, 'I am considering an executive order on associations and that will take care of a tremendous number of people with regard to healthcare, and I'll probably be signing a very major executive order where people can go out, cross state lines, do lots of things and buy their own healthcare.'

Trump has long said that he would sign an order freeing up consumers to purchase health care from providers outside the state they reside in. It was billed as part two of his administration's three-step Obamacare repeal plan.

Trump confirmed his intention to sign the measure easing health insurance regulations at the top of a meeting with Henry Kissinger, a secretary of state to two previous presidents, on Tuesday

The administration argued earlier this year that it could not ease regulations like this one until the House and Senate passed Obamacare repeal.

Procedural rules in the Senate prevented the measure from being inserted directly into a healthcare bill because lawmakers were relying on a process called reconciliation that applies only to budgetary items.

Through reconciliation, the GOP could use its simple majority to pass a repeal bill. The party was ultimately unable to swing enough senators its way before an end-of-September deadline.

As lawmakers like Paul argued that the measure should be in the GOP's legislation, regardless of the rules, Trump said in a tweet, 'Dont worry, getting rid of state lines  will be in phase 2 & 3 of healthcare rollout.'

The executive order Trump will sign today may help him win over lawmakers like Paul who will make or break a future health reform vote.

'I think Rand will be there for us,' Trump recently told reporters.

Trump envisions a new vote to repeal and replace Obamacare at the beginning of next year. Vice President Mike Pence has promised reforms by the end of next year.

The president has said that he's talking to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer about a short-term fix to Obamacare, also.

'We're going to have to do something with Obamacare because it's failing,' Trump said Tuesday. 'And it's actually getting worse; it's getting worse by the minute. So we're going to have to do something with Obamacare and that will work out.'
Circulation of Jamie magazine has plummeted from more than 75,000 in 2009 to just 47,000 this year. Jamie is pictured launching the magazine at Westfield, London, in December 2008

Jamie Oliver is pulling the plug on his Jamie food magazine nearly ten years after it started.

It is the third blow to hit the celebrity chef this year after he was forced to shut some of his Jamie's Italian restaurants and then close down his Union Jacks pizza chain.

Circulation of Jamie magazine has plummeted from more than 75,000 in 2009 to just 47,000 this year.

Industry insiders said the magazine, which began in 2008, was failing to attract enough advertisers to make it profitable.

It was also selling much less than other food magazine rivals such as Sainsbury's Magazine on 166,000 and BBC Good Food magazine on 186,000.

While circulation rose by four per cent in the first half of 2017, last year it was down ten per cent.

Publishing sources say the wealth of food recipes available on the internet lead to a fall in sales of Jamie magazine.

This turned off advertisers who were unwilling to pay.

In January this year Jamie Oliver closed six of his 42 Jamie's Italian restaurants in Aberdeen, Cheltenham, Exeter, Tunbridge Wells, Richmond and Ludgate Circus in London.

He blamed tough trading conditions and rising Brexit cost pressures.

Two months later in March Jamie closed the last of his four Union Jacks pizza restaurants, which launched in 2011 in a partnership between Oliver and Arizonian pizza expert Chris Bianco.

A spokesman for magazine group Hearst, which publishes Jamie magazine, said: 'After careful consideration, the Jamie Oliver Group has taken the decision to close Jamie magazine to focus on serving its audience needs via digital platforms.

Jamie Oliver, pictured in August 2017 with his wife Jules and children, Daisy Boo Pamela, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear Maurice, Poppy Honey Rosi and their baby, River

'We will work closely with the Jamie team to ensure we deliver a well-managed closure process.'

In a statement the Jamie Oliver Group said: 'Hearst UK and Jamie Oliver Group announce that Jamie Magazine will close at the end of the year as audience shifts to digital platforms to find recipe inspiration and content.

Jamie's business flops 2013: Pulls the plug on his Jme artisan biscuits, sauces and jams amid poor sales and criticism from suppliers. 2014: Shuts two Recipease cookery schools-cum-cafes in Clapham and Brighton to focus on the flagship Notting Hill branch. 2015: Recipease in Notting Hill also closes. 2017: January - Weak demand at Jamie's Italian forces sale of restaurants in Aberdeen, Exeter, Cheltenham, Richmond, Tunbridge Wells and Ludgate Hill. March - The last branch of Union Jacks pizza chain closes. This was launched in 2011, and featured British-style flatbreads, which were rebranded as pizzas following confusion among customers. October - Jamie Magazine shuts after nine years in print. Advertisement

A spokesperson for Jamie Oliver Group said: 'We are incredibly proud of Jamie Magazine, which won International Consumer Media Brand of the Year in 2015, and our hugely talented editorial staff.

'We've conducted extensive research into our audience needs and while Jamie's books are more popular than ever - 5 Ingredients Quick & Easy Food is the fastest selling Jamie book - our audience is increasingly also looking to digital platforms to find content.

'This behaviour shift presents a continued opportunity to develop exciting and innovative ways to deliver trusted food content to our engaged audience, at scale.

'With thousands of recipes now available online, jamieoliver.com takes the essence of the magazine - tried and tested recipes that always work, together with full nutritional information to help our audience make better food choices.'

This week Jamie was involved in a bizarre war of words with fellow celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

The duo squabbled over comments made by Jamie months after Gordon's wife's miscarriage.

The 50-year-old accused Jamie of judging him for having four children, compared with the Naked Chef star's five.
A British tourist arrested in Dubai after allegedly flicking his middle finger at a motorist who was tailgating him has been allowed to return to the UK.

Jamil Mukadam, 23, who owns an IT company and claims to work at Number 10, was in Dubai along with his wife in February when the alleged incident occurred.

Mr Mukadam, from Leicester, was arrested when he returned to Dubai earlier this month, and has been held for five weeks.

Jamil Mukadam, pictured, was arrested after returning to Dubai over an alleged road rage incident during a previous visit to the UAE in February when he was driving a hire car

Mr Mukadam has today had his passport returned to him and will fly back to Britain with his brother tonight.

In a statement relayed to his representative Radha Stirling of law firm Stirling Haigh, who is assisting him via the Detained in Dubai organisation, Mr Mukadam said his accuser failed to turn up.

'The complainant did not turn up to court and was uncontactable. My lawyer plead the case today and argued furiously for the prompt return of my passport'.

'I arrive at Heathrow tomorrow morning and my family is in tears. I can't wait to see them.

I have spent over 15,000 in legal fees alone and it will take time for us to recover from this injustice. I am stunned at how little support I received from the British government and how many other people are in this situation.

Mr Mukadam said he was going to the airport with his wife when someone started tailgating him prompting him to flick his finger at the other motorist who reported it to police

When Mr Mukadam returned to Dubai earlier this month, he was arrested at passport control

The incident took place in February, during Mr Mukadam's last visit to Dubai.

He was driving a hire car in the city and admits to making the rude gesture to another driver who who tailgated him and started flashing his lights, but that he never thought it would land him in jail.

'It's the kind of thing that happens in England all the time. You don't go to jail for it,' he told The Sun last month.

'When I came back last week for a holiday with my wife I went through passport control in Dubai and when they took a scan it started beeping loudly.

'Within seconds I was surrounded by police and taken off to jail.'

Mr Mukadam, who works for the UK government, is facing jail over the road rage incident

Ms Stirling said that after potentially facing months in prison, Mr Mukadam is now overwhelmed that he is free.

She added: 'It is unusual for the passport to be returned so quickly but we imagine the international spotlight on Dubai influenced their swift action'.

'The UAE government needs to urgently revise its judicial system to end the wrongful detainment of foreign nationals. The country right now, seems to only care about marketing itself as an international tourist destination and investment hotspot but has no legal protection for visitors and expats.

'Until serious change is underway, foreign nationals are apprehensive about visiting the country and many have cancelled their flights in light of the recent highly publicised cases.

'We have received innumerable messages from people in the same situation in the UAE and are having to hire additional staff to assist with the influx of new cases.'

This comes as another Briton is facing a three-year sentence over allegations of public indecency.

Jamie Harron, 27, from Stirling, Scotland, has been stripped of his passport after a Jordanian businessman accused him of touching his hip in a bar.

It has now emerged that the businessman dropped the complaint after realising the punishment Mr Harron is facing - but prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates are still taking the case forward.

Mr Harron has already been sentenced to a month in prison and fined 2,000 dirhams (412) for drinking and making a rude gesture.

Mr Harron will appear in court on October 22 and could face three years in prison if found guilty.
A Goldman Sachs banker will have to pay his ex-wife more cash after she appealed her 2 million divorce settlement despite being set to inherit 100 million from her Saudi father.

The High Court ruled that Hayat Alireza, 38, was left in a 'straitjacket' and still beholden to her 'extremely wealthy' former husband, Hossam Radwan, 46.

Having almost nothing of her own, no account was taken of her right to 'personal autonomy', said Lady Justice Gloster.

Hossam Radwan, left, will have to give his ex wife Hayat Alireza more money following their 2013 divorce after the High Court ruled the 2m settlement left her in 'a straight jacket'

Ms Alireza is entitled under the original divorce deal to remain in Mr Radwan's 5million apartment in this building, pictured, until she remarries or her father in Saudi Arabia dies

Former Goldman Sachs financier, Mr Radwan is worth up to 17 million, earning 350,000-a-year in the City, and the judge ruled that 2m for his ex was not enough.

Her contribution to their 14-year marriage, and her caring role for their three children, the youngest aged six, had simply not been recognised.

Ms Alireza stands to inherit up to 100 million from her 'truly remarkably wealthy' industrialist father, Youssef Alireza, when he dies, the court heard.

And Mr Radwan's lawyers said that, although 'very wealthy', he 'much much poorer' than his former father-in-law and that ought to be taken into account.

But the judge rejected claims that Mr Alireza, said to be worth 500 million, owes 'some moral duty' to help Mr Radwan support his ex-wife and children.

Although she would 'undoubtedly be a very wealthy woman' when her father died, forcing him to continue supporting her was unacceptable.

If the 2m ran out before she inherited, Ms Alireza would be 'left with no capital of her own for many years to come', the judge added.

Although she had been allowed to stay on in the couple's 5m Kensington home, she would have to move out if her father died or she remarried.

Mr Radwan had 'long since remarried and started a second family', but if Ms Alireza remarried before her father died 'she would have nothing'.

She had 'no earning capacity and three children to care for' and the least she deserved was enough money to buy a home of her own, the judge ruled.

Stay-at-home mother, Miss Alireza, and her children still live in the ex-couple's plush penthouse flat in Albert Hall Mansions, a stone's throw from the Albert Hall.

The ex-couple, both British citizens, married when she was just 21 and, despite their luxury lifestyle, she had almost nothing she could call her own.

A divorce judge accepted last year that Ms Alireza's glittering inheritance prospects from her father should be taken into account.

But her barrister, Robert Peel QC, told the Appeal Court: 'In practice, the judge is placing on the wife's father an obligation to ensure that the wife is provided for.

'There is no principle of law that a wife should become the responsibility of her birth family upon divorce.'

Agreeing, Lady Justice Gloster ruled that Mr Alireza bore 'no duty' to support his adult daughter when her ex-husband was also worth millions.

Under Saudi law, she will receive a fifth of her father's fortune when he dies and will be a 'multi-millionaire in her own right', the court heard.

Mr Alireza, described as 'truly remarkably' rich, is in his 70s and and his fortune derives from one of Saudi Arabia's oldest business dynasties.

He lives in a 32,000 square foot house with nine permanent staff in Jeddah but also owned a 20m residence in Kensington Church Street.

The Court of Appeal heard that Ms Alireza receives a 4,000-a-month allowance from her father who has also spent 2 million on bills for the mother-of-three's divorce lawyers

Since his daughter's divorce, he has paid her a 4,000-a-month allowance and stumped up for divorce lawyers' bills totalling more than 2 million.

But the judge said that, whatever her legal rights under Sharia law might be, Ms Alireza's case had to be decided under 'English law alone'.

'The father has no duty under English law to support his daughter', she ruled.

The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Lewison and Lady Justice King, said Ms Alireza was entitled to the 'security and stability' of a home of her own.

The amount of cash she will get on top of the 2m will now be decided by a High Court judge, but she is claiming 5.5m.

Lady Justice Gloster said Ms Alireza's 2m divorce payout 'sits uncomfortably with contemporary mores and significantly impacts upon her personal autonomy'.

She had been left with no assets of her own and, if she remarried, she and her three children would be forced to move out of their Kensington home.

Mr Radwan would 'no doubt be wholly opposed to a 'new' husband moving into 'his' flat,' but he would just have to live with that, she ruled.

He enjoyed 'complete autonomy' and, since their separation in 2013, had remarried and started a new family, the court heard.

'The wife, however, living in a property owned by her husband and his family, continues to be tied to her former husband,' said the judge.

'That has an inevitable impact on her life, including on any new relationship'.

In particular, if she remarried before her father died, she would lose her home and be left without any capital to buy a new one.

Ms Alireza had a duty to care for her children and that could be 'lifelong' as her eldest, aged 17, has learning difficulties.

The children had endured 'a perfect storm of litigation' since their parents separated and more than 2m in legal bills had been run up.

But her role as mother and home-maker simply 'did not feature' in the divorce judge's decision to give her 'no capital at all' of her own.

'The judge made an order which denied this wife any recognition in the form of a capital settlement to reflect her contribution to the marriage,' said Lady Justice Gloster.

The 2m was only expected to last for 14 years and, if it ran out before her father died - he is in his 70s - she would be left with nothing.

And the judge said it was 'hard to see' how it could be fair to deny Ms Alireza enough money to buy a home of her own.

Her ex-husband was worth 14-17m, much of it inherited, and had an earning capacity of 350,000-a-year.

Mr Radwan's lawyers argued that, under Saudi law, the divorce was 'a problem' for both him and his ex-wife's father.

She was certain to inherit a fifth of Mr Alireza's estimated 500 million fortune and he had 'both a legal and moral obligation' to support her.

But the judge said: 'English law alone applies and the father has no duty under English law to support his daughter.'

He was not under 'some moral duty either to relieve or to share the husband's obligations to support his wife and the mother of his children.'
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A picture of the White Widow Sally Jones' last Christmas, before she and her son Jojo became ISIS jihadis in Syria, has emerged today.

Onetime punk rocker Jones, from Chatham in Kent, fled with JoJo in 2013 before becoming a recruiter for ISIS.

Jones, who was Britain's most wanted female terrorist, was killed by a US drone strike this week.

A picture of her and Jojo enjoying their family Christmas dinner in 2012 has surfaced, as her ex-boyfriend said he was 'glad' she had been killed by a US drone attack.

The photograph shows Jones and Jojo enjoying their traditional festive meal of turkey, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings.

Pictured is White Widow Sally Jones in family photo enjoying her last Christmas dinner in Britain in 2012

Sally Jones, the 'White Widow', was pictured in the local paper cradling newborn JoJo with his father Darren Alfred Dixon, following his birth at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, just a week before Christmas in 2004

Darren Dixon was in a relationship with Sally, dubbed the 'White Widow', and is believed to be the father of Jojo, the 12-year-old son she took with her to Syria.

Speaking outside the tower block where he lives with his new partner in Kings Norton, Birmingham, He ranted: 'I'm f****** glad she's dead.'

Mr Dixon refused to give any further details about his son, when asked by MailOnline.

Meanwhile Joness older son Jonathan Wilkinson, 21, said: 'I dont know anything about it. Its all bulls***.'

Earlier this year a friend said Jones, who went by the name of Umm Hussain Britaniyah, was desperate to return to the UK but was apparently forced to stay by her husband's comrades, as well as her brainwashed son.

JoJo had been used in sickening propaganda videos for the evil group. A nine-minute ISIS video issued last year appeared to show the boy executing a captured prisoner in a firing squad.

It was claimed JoJo was refusing to leave the terror group having been brought to Syria by Jones and her toyboy lover and jihadi hacker Junaid Hussain in 2013.

A friend of Jones said: 'Jo-Jo was just an ordinary kid when she took him away from his home in Kent. She ruined all of that by fleeing with him.'

JoJo (left, in an ISIS propaganda video) is believed to be the son of Darren Dixon (right), who now lives in Birmingham

The father of JoJo, Darren Alfred Dixon, said: 'He was brilliant, just a normal boy  always chasing bugs, going down the park. I have had to block it out. It's been hard, we just have to carry on. It's disgusting he's been brainwashed'

CIA officials told their UK counterparts that a US Air Force Predator killed 50-year-old Jones in June as she tried to flee the group's stronghold in Raqqa.

It is not known if her son was with her. US intelligence chiefs say they cannot be 100 per cent certain the strike killed Jones as there was no attempt to recover any of her DNA.

British commanders were informed of the hit by the US but it is understood they did not disclose what happened in case her son had been killed.

It is thought he could have been used as a human shield and killed in the strike.

News reports of Jones' death have been celebrated by the family of those she recruited.

A man who said his sister was brainwashed by the White Widow, told ITV: 'I have had a mixture of emotions today. I am sad but also happy. Happy that Sally Jones will not be able to hurt more families like she has hurt ours and sad that she was able to enter the life of my sister. Sally Jones was an evil woman who has destroyed our family and I hope she rots in hell.

'My sister was a nice and caring person until she met Sally Jones online and within months she radicalised her and then she changed and without us being able to have the chance to talk to her she left for Syria to join I.S.

'I am sad these people have used my beautiful religion to bring hatred.'

The onetime punk rocker from Kent went to Syria with her son in 2013. A former L'Oreal saleswoman, she lived in a council house in Chatham before fleeing to Syria in 2013, after falling for hacker jihadi Junaid Hussain online. Now she has reportedly been 'zapped' by an American drone. Pictured: A composite image of Jones, which first appeared on her Twitter account, showing her dressed as a nun while pointing a gun at the camera and holding a dog  a direct copy of the front cover of the novel Divorcing Jack

According to the report, the CIA told the Government in June that the 50-year-old had been killed by a Predator drone that same month. Pictured: How the terrorist was killed in Syria

Jones, from Chatham, Kent, was understood to be on a hit list of foreign fighters who US-led coalition forces were trying to wipe out amid fears they presented a threat to the West.

A Whitehall source told how she was 'zapped' as she tried to get away from Raqqa.

The PM's spokesman said: 'I've seen the reports, I don't have any comments to make in relation to this specific case. More broadly the UK advises against all travel to Syria.

'As all UK consular services are suspended in Syria it is extremely difficult to confirm the whereabouts and the status of British nationals there.'

'Anyone who does travel to Syria for whatever reason is putting themselves in considerable danger - particularly if they are fighting for our enemies.'

Asked if he would have preferred that Jones had been prosecuted, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: 'I think that people who have committed crimes ought to be put on trial.

'That way of course when you interrogate someone you get more information about the background to it.'

Asked if he would have given the order for a drone strike if British troops were at risk from Jones, he said: 'I think it is difficult to give an answer to that question which is hypothetical.

'I think we have to look at very carefully the effects on the civilian population of any bombing that takes place before such a decision is made.'

Amnesty International today demanded an investigation into the reported death of JoJo.

A spokesman told MailOnline: 'Sally-Anne Jones' reported role as a 'recruiter' for ISIS would doubtless have meant her facing serious criminal charges if she'd returned to the UK, but the manner of her reported killing gives rise to some very serious questions.

'Was the UK aware of any US military operation to target Ms Jones, and if so on what grounds did the UK authorities believe it justified to carry out the attack?

'Given the reported death alongside Ms Jones of her 12-year-old son, we also need to know whether the UK or US authorities made any assessment of the dangers of killing or injuring others present at the time of the drone strike.

'In Syria and Iraq, the US has a very worrying record of using drones and other weapons to carry out apparently disproportionate attacks which have killed hundreds of civilians.

'The attack on Ms Jones is another worrying example of a drone strike carried out in circumstances of questionable legality leading to summary killings, including that of a child. We need a full investigation into this and other US drone and missile attacks in Syria and Iraq.'

She was believed to have been heading toward the Syrian border settlement of Mayadin as the ISIS capital is besieged by coalition forces. In the early 1990s she was the lead guitarist in an all-girl rock band called Krunch who played a series of gigs in the South East

Considered Britain's most-wanted woman, Jones - known as the White Widow - was a recruiter for Islamic State

She was believed to have been heading toward the Syrian border settlement of Mayadin as the ISIS capital is besieged by coalition forces.

Sources said the strike would have been abandoned if it was known the boy, who is not deemed a combatant, would be killed. It remains unclear if he survived the hit.

The pilot of the drone was controlling the aircraft remotely in the US and it is not known if Jones was in a vehicle or a building when she was targeted.

Shiraz Maher, deputy director at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, told MEE that if the reports of her death are true, it was a significant development.

'If these reports are true, it means Sally Jones was targeted [by] a drone strike.

'That would be the first woman I know of who's been specifically targeted in this way.'

Major General Chip Chapman, the former MoD head of counter terror, said Jones would have been a 'significant' target as a result of her alliance with Hussain and her role in recruiting IS fighters.

Referring to reports her son was killed in the strike, he added: 'It is a difficult one because under the UN Charters he is under the age of what we would classify as a soldier.'

He continued: 'Even if he got up to really bad things, he shouldn't have been targeted.

'We don't know for sure whether he was with her or not.'

The 50-year-old, one of the terror group's top recruiters, fled Britain in 2013, taking JoJo, who was nine at the time, with her.

Her other son Jonathan, 21, who himself has a three-year-old child, was left behind.

MailOnline contacted several members of Jones's extended family today and all of them declined to comment on reports she had been killed.

Her brother Patrick, 55, refused to comment today at his 500,000 home in Oxted, Surrey.

The Muslim convert fled Britain to join ISIS back in 2013 alongside toyboy lover Junaid Hussain (pictured), taking her then-nine-year-old son JoJo with her

Jones was a high priority on the Pentagon's 'kill list' because she was believed to have masterminded dozens of terror plots.

She was believed to head the women's section of Isis's Anwar al-Awlaki battalion, training European female recruits in weapons and tactics.

The Muslim convert fled Britain to join ISIS back in 2013 alongside Birmingham jihadi hacker Junaid Hussain, taking JoJo with her.

The 12-year-old boy, now named Hamza, is believed to have been forced to execute prisoners during his time there after being brainwashed by jihadis. A nine-minute ISIS video issued last year appeared to show the boy executing a captured prisoner in a firing squad.

Jones' husband Hussain, who was leader of the ISIS 'digi-jihad' computer hacking brigade, was killed in 2015 aged 21 in a US drone strike.

After her lover's death, it was thought she received a monthly salary from ISIS of 520, plus a bonus of more than 200 every couple of months for being the widow of a 'shahid' or martyr.

She is believed to be the sixth Briton killed by drones in Syria, following the likes of Mohammed Emwazi known as 'Jihadi John'.

Others killed by drones include Ruhul Amin, from Aberdeen, and Reyaad Khan, from Cardiff, as coalition forces conducted over 500 airstrikes over the summer.

Last year JoJo's father, Darren Alfred Dixon, said his son appeared in an ISIS video showing young boys murdering men in orange jumpsuits.

Jones was a high priority on the Pentagon's 'kill list' because she was believed to have masterminded dozens of terror plots. Pictured: The propagandist with her son JoJo

Mr Dixon said: 'He was brilliant, just a normal boy  always chasing bugs, going down the park. I have had to block it out. It's been hard, we just have to carry on. It's disgusting he's been brainwashed.'

While in Raqqa, JoJo was believed to have been brainwashed by ISIS and taught lessons in martial arts training, firearms and radical Islam.

His name was changed to Hamza and he was forced to call Hussain, his mother's husband, 'dad'.

The boy, also known as Joe, had apparently told his grandmother he was concerned his mother was planning to take him out of the country.

'He was having difficulty sleeping,' said a family friend last year.

'The grandmother discovered that the thing that was worrying him was that his mother was planning a trip.'

When challenged, Jones insisted he had made a mistake and they were merely going on holiday to Turkey.

It was previously claimed Jones was using her son as human shield in an attempt to stop the US from carrying out a similar strike on her

Friends and relatives spoke of their utter grief at being separated from Joe when he vanished with Jones and the trauma of discovering what he was forced into doing.

They told how the little boy once called them from Syria, but was prevented from speaking freely by his mother who stood beside him.

They spoke under condition of anonymity for fear, not only of what Jones and her ISIS cohorts might do to them, but of reprisals closer to home from extreme right-wing nationalists.

'I felt sick to the stomach,' his grandmother told a friend after seeing the barbaric images of her grinning grandson moments before he shot the prisoner in the back of the head.

'If there is a God, why can't he stop it?' she added.

Relatives described JoJo as a happy little boy who loved reading encyclopaedias and adored animals so much that 'he'd never even tread on an ant'.

'It's worse than being in mourning,' said the family friend who spoke to the Mail.

'They love Joe and miss him but are scared of the forces that have turned him. His grandmother has lost her grandson.

'She doesn't think she can do anything to get him back, and even if he does come back he's not the same boy who went out there.'

Speaking in an interview in September last year after the footage emerged appearing to show JoJo executing a prisoner in Raqqa, stepfather Terry Lynch said: 'I brought her up since she was a little. She was my daughter. 'She's a nutter. She's a crank.

'She has been so selfish. She was a beautiful and very intelligent woman  she could pick things up that people take weeks to learn and unfortunately she lost it all to drugs. It's a terrible waste.

Asked how he felt when he saw the images of JoJo holding a gun, he added: 'I couldn't believe it. I feel so sad and so upset and so sorry. That is a wasted life. That boy's life is finished. There is no way he can come back to the normal world. He has probably been told this is a new game you are going to play. It's terrible, absolutely terrible. Unbelievable.'

The making of the 'White Widow' who was a former punk beautician Sally Jones was a former punk rocker who became one of the most high-profile figures in the Islamic State terror group. A former L'Oreal saleswoman, she lived in a council house in Chatham before fleeing to Syria in 2013, after falling for hacker jihadi Junaid Hussain online. Born in South-East London, she was the only daughter of a greengrocer turned lorry driver and her older brother runs a business in the Home Counties. Jones was still a girl when her parents divorced and was 10 years old when her father committed suicide after taking an overdose. She was raised as a Catholic and attended Christian youth groups in her teens and early twenties. She left school at the age of 16 to work as a beautician and later became interested in punk music, joining the all-girl band Krunch, for which she played bass guitar. However her music career was put on hold when she fell pregnant with her on-off boyfriend, labourer Jonathan Wilkinson. But two years after their son was born in 1996, 29-year-old Wilkinson died from liver cirrhosis. Her eldest son Jonathan, now 21, from Kent, become a father in September 2014. A chaotic and self-destructive lifestyle that ensued led her to an online dating site, where she first met Hussain, whose mother was a Birmingham school dinner lady. Then a mother-of-two, Jones fled to the Middle East in 2013 with Hussain and her younger boy JoJo, now 12, leaving her elder son behind. The former benefits claimant went on to be put in charge of the female wing of an IS battalion of foreign fighters. Her and her husband became notorious for their involvement in ISIS and were nicknamed 'Mr and Mrs Terror'. The pair were accused of plotting terror attacks across three continents and were even linked to a plot to blow up the Queen and Prince Philip during VJ celebrations two years ago. Jones became known as the White Widow after Hussain was killed in a drone strike in August 2015. Since then she is believed to have risen through the ranks of the terror group. Following Hussain's death, she tweeted that she was proud her 'husband was killed by the biggest enemy of Allah' and that she would 'never love anyone but him'. In 2015 it emerged that Jones was grooming British teenage girls online under the Islamic name Sakinah Hussain. Jones then tried to persuade the young girls to travel to the Middle East and become jihadi brides. A known ISIS recruiter, her name was added to a US kill list, but she has continued to post threatening anti-Western messages online. In one 2016 post she wrote: 'I just wanna sayhave a nice summer. I wouldn't go into central London through June or July. Well, to be honest, I wouldn't go there at all by Tube.' In July a friend described Jones as being desperate to return to the UK, but she was apparently being forced to stay by her husband's comrades. A petition which called for a ban on the mother ever returning to Britain was signed by more than 18,000 people. Advertisement

Jones had used her Twitter account to spread propaganda for the group, and tweeted of her wish to behead a Western prisoner in Syria and behead Christians with a 'blunt knife'.

In May 2016 an account claiming to be Jones posted: 'To be honest I wouldn't go into Central London through June. Or even July. Well to be honest I wouldn't go there at all, especially by Tube.'

According to the Counter-Extremism Project, Jones issued terror threats against Britain as recently as May 2016.

She has previously called on Muslim women to launch attacks during Ramadan in London, Glasgow and Wales.

Jones even threatened one of the Navy SEALs who helped kill Osama bin Laden.

It is believed that Jones lived on benefits in Chatham, Kent before converting to Islam. She had previously worked as a L'Oreal saleswoman.

The Government last night said it did not comment on national security operations.
Ryan Sharpe, 36 has been arrested and charged in connection with four shootings - three of them fatal - since July in Louisiana

A 36-year-old Louisiana man has been arrested and charged in connection with four shootings since July in the same area, including a Boy Scout employee who was shot and killed Monday near the camp where he worked.

Ryan Sharpe of Clinton has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder, after confessing to police about the crimes he is accused of, The Advocate reported.

East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux would not comment on a motive in the drive-by shootings in East Feliciana and East Baton Rouge Parishes or say whether the suspect knew the victims.

He is accused of killing Thomas Bass, 62, on July 8, Carroll Glynn Breeden, 66, on September 19 and Brad DeFranceschi, 48, on Monday. Buck Hornsby, 47, was wounded on September 12 in a shooting that took place roughly 10 miles down Louisiana Highway 63 from DeFranceschi's home.

Breeden, a former Baton Rouge parks official, and Hornsby both were near a road, but Bass was shot on his property.

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Sharpe (above being arrested) is accused of killing Thomas Bass, 62, on July 8, Carroll Breeden, 66, on September 19 and Brad DeFranceschi, 48, on Monday. Buck Hornsby, 47, was wounded on September 12

Sharpe (above being arrested) confessed to police that he committed the crimes during interrogation, authorities say.

Authorities developed Sharpe, who owned and operated Sharpe Plumbing, LLC, as a person of interest in the shootings and were conducting surveillance on his home.

They began to pursue him Wednesday around 2.50pm when he left his house in a white Nissan Altima, WBRZ reported.

That car matched the description of the shooter's vehicle involved in the fatal incident at DeFranceschi's home on Monday.

Sharpe then led police on a high speed chase across several parishes after not pulling over outside of his home in East Baton Rouge, authorities say.

According to his arrest report, he was eventually stopped and found to be armed with a lever action rifle on the passenger seat.

In the most recent shooting on Monday, DeFranceschi (above) was shot multiple times about 11.15am Monday in front of his house on camp property, East Feliciana Parish Sheriff Jeff Travis said. DeFranceschi was a former Navy submarine cook

Travis said that Hornsby (above) was shot while exercising near the roadside of his property on La. 63 on September 12

East Feliciana Parish Sheriff Jeff Travis said investigators have physical evidence that show Sharpe was behind the shootings. They did not reveal what that is.

But a bullet found near Breeden's body on Pride-Port Hudson Road matched on found in the wall of DeFranceschi's home, according to his arrest report.

In the most recent shooting on Monday, DeFranceschi was shot multiple times about 11.15am Monday in front of his house on camp property, Travis said.

The Avondale Scout Reservation website lists DeFranceschi as a camp ranger - someone who maintains the camp, which is located outside Clinton and about 29 miles north of Baton Rouge.

'He was the face of Avondale,' Nolan Reynerson, 34, who has worked and volunteered with Boy Scouts for much of his life, told The Advocate.

A week later, Carroll Glynn Breeden (right) was killed while he sprayed weeds near the road in the front yard of his home in Pride, which is located over the parish line from Clinton

At the time, police said that a vehicle drove by Breeden (right) and the shooter gunned him down

Courtesy of WAFB

He said DeFranceschi had worked there for 17 years and was a community cornerstone: 'He put a smile on and wore his uniform proudly and was there for every event.'

Reynerson said DeFranceschi went beyond maintenance of the 1,600-acre campground, volunteering with his son's and daughter's scout troops, and used his experience as a Navy submarine cook to transform the camp food, improving the meals and opening a fruit and salad bar.

'He's become a staple in the camp,' Reynerson said. 'He did whatever was needed, whether it was fixing something at the camp, teaching kids merit badges ... he was willing.'

Bass (right) was fatally shot while outside a house on Highway 63

Travis said that Hornsby was shot while exercising near the roadside of his property on La. 63 on September 12.

A week later, Breeden was killed while he sprayed weeds near the road in the front yard of his home in Pride, which is located over the parish line from Clinton.

At the time, police said that a vehicle drove by Breeden and gunned him down.

Then, on the morning of July 8, Bass was fatally shot while outside of house on Highway 63.

Travis said that Bass was found dead closer to his home, unlike the other shootings - which implies that the gunman would have had to walk onto the property.
Actor James Van Der Beek is the latest Hollywood big name to reveal that he, too, was groped by a movie executive when he was just starting out in the industry

Actor James Van Der Beek is the latest Hollywood big name  and the second prominent male actor  to reveal that he, too, was groped by more than one movie executive when he was just starting out.

The former Dawsons Creek star tweeted early Thursday morning that he has had [his] ass grabbed by older, powerful men.

He said he empathized with women who hesitated for years to go public with allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who now stands accused of harassing or sexually assaulting more than two dozen victims.

Ive had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when I was much younger, the 40-year-old Van Der Beek tweeted on Thursday.

I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness, and inability to blow the whistle, Van Der Beek tweeted.

Theres a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome.

The former Dawsons Creek star tweeted early Thursday morning that he has had [his] ass grabbed by older, powerful men

Van Der Beek gained national fame in the late 1990s, when he starred as the lead in the WB networks teen cult hit Dawsons Creek.

The much-loved show also helped ignite the careers of Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson and Michelle Williams, during its successful six-season run, before it culminated in 2003.

Van Der Beeks stunning revelation was made nearly two days after another male star, Terry Crews, opened up on Twitter about how he was inappropriately grabbed by a 'high-level Hollywood executive' in front of his wife.

Fearing that retaliation would not only land him in jail but also destroy his career, the actor chose to stay silent - which he said is 'par for the course when the predator has power and influence'.

'This whole thing with Harvey Weinstein is giving me PTSD,' Crews wrote on Twitter. 'Why? Because this kind of thing happened to ME. '

Van Der Beek gained fame in the late 1990s, when he starred as the lead in the WB networks teen cult hit Dawsons Creek. The much-loved show also helped ignite the careers of Katie Holmes (far left), Joshua Jackson (far right) and Michelle Williams (second from right)

Crews, 49, said the incident occurred last year at a Hollywood event he was attending with his wife, Rebecca King-Crews, 51, when a 'high-level Hollywood executive' groped his privates.

'Jumping back I said, "What are you doing?!"' he wrote. 'My wife saw everything and we looked at him like he was crazy. He just grinned like a jerk.'

'I was going to kick his ass right then,' he continued, 'but I thought twice about how the whole thing would appear.

'"240 lbs. Black Man stomps out Hollywood Honcho" would be the headline the next day. Only I probably wouldnt have been able to read it because I WOULD HAVE BEEN IN JAIL.

'So we left.'

He said he spoke to all of their mutual working acquaintances about the incident, and that the mogul - who is not named in the story - called him to apologize.

But the executive never explained why he thought it was appropriate to grab Crews' crotch, the actor said. And despite his 6ft 3 frame, Crews felt powerless to pursue it.

Van Der Beeks stunning revelation was made nearly two days after another male star, Terry Crews, opened up on Twitter about how he was inappropriately grabbed by a 'high-level Hollywood executive' in front of his wife

'I decided not to take it further because I didn't want to be ostracized - par for the course when the predator has power and influence,' he wrote.

'Who's going to believe you? (few) What are the repercussions? (many) Do you want to work again? (yes) Are you prepared to be ostracized? (no).'

Crews said that he let the matter go - and that he understands why many women, who don't even have the advantage of physical strength, do the same.

Allegations against Harvey Weinstein by two dozen women has shone spotlight on the issue of sexual assault by Hollywood executives

'I understand and empathize with those who have remained silent. But Harvey Weinstein is not the only perpetrator,' he concluded.

'Hollywood is not the only business where this happens, and to the casualties of this behavior - you are not alone.

'Hopefully, me coming forward with my story will deter a predator and encourage someone who feels hopeless.'

The same day Crews told his story, more celebrities came forward to accuse Weinstein of hurting them.

Gwyneth Paltrow said that Weinstein had harassed her in a hotel suite when she was 22, while Angelina Jolie claimed he did the same to her in another hotel room.

Meanwhile, Italian star Asia Argento told the New Yorker that Weinstein raped her in 1997 at a party hosted by Miramax; aspiring actress Lucia Evans and another unnamed woman said they had also been raped by him.

And Rosanna Arquette and Mira Sorvino said that their careers suffered after Weinstein forced himself upon them and they fought him off.

Weinstein's wife, Georgina Chapman, announced on Tuesday that she is leaving him.

Weinstein himself has reportedly boarded a plane to Arizona to stay at a sex addiction clinic.
Brent Christopher Allsup (pictured), a Kennesaw State University professor, was discovered by police passed out and intoxicated in the student center

A Kennesaw State University professor was found passed out and intoxicated by police last week.

According to a police reports Brent Christopher Allsup had consumed three to five beers before driving to the campus in Georgia, AJC states.

Police say they found him asleep inside the schools student center around 10pm on October 5.

Officials also searched the teacher's car where they found Hydrocodone, Xanax and amphetamine salts.

Allsup worked in the business college's school of accounting part-time, however he isn't currently working there due to the investigation, Tiffany Capuano, a University spokeswoman, confirmed.

He had worked at the Georgia based university for 10 years, from August 2007.

Allsup (pictured here with an unnamed woman) had his car searched where police found Hydrocodone, Xanax and amphetamine salts

He is also an accounting manager at Quikrete, the largest manufacturer of packaged concrete and cement mixes in the US.

He was a university student at Kennesaw State from 2000-2004 where he received a Bachelor's degree in business administration and accounting.

He also did a masters at the same school in business administration.
Philip Hammond is facing calls for hi to be sacked as chancellor after he made a series of gloomy warnings over Brexit

Philip Hammond's position as Chancellor came under fresh pressure today after a Tory grandee called for him to be sacked for his gloomy Brexit warnings.

Former Chancellor Nigel Lawson said Mr Hammond's predictions are 'very close to sabotage' and that he should be axed from the Cabinet.

Meanwhile, a business chief accused him of being too 'negative' while even Mr Hammond's aide admitted he has a 'temperament' problem.

The Chancellor has been branded an 'Eeyore' and accused of talking Britain down after he made a series of gloomy predictions about Brexit.

He was slapped down by the Prime Minister yesterday for saying he would refuse to spend money to prepare Britain for a 'no deal' option until the very last moment.

Asked whether he should remain as Chancellor, Lord Lawson told BBC2's Daily Politics: 'I fear not. I fear that he is unhelpful.

'He may not intend it but in practice what he is doing is very close to sabotage.'

Meanwhile Marcus Dolman, the British Exporters Association, said Mr Hammond is being too 'negative'.

Mr Dolman, who is also an executive at Rolls-Royce, said a deal between the EU and the UK was in the 'best interest' of both sides.

Asked about the Chancellor's approach, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think he is probably speaking a little negatively. I think we need to positive about this.

Chancellor's charge sheet Yesterday was not the first time the Chancellor has undermined the Prime Minister, or Brexit: July 12, 2016 Within days of the referendum, Philip Hammond claims it could take six years to leave the EU. October 4, 2016 He warns the Tory Party conference of a 'roller coaster' ride and 'turbulence' as Britain leaves the EU. October 19, 2016 The Chancellor is slapped down by Mrs May for suggesting international students could be taken out of the Government's net migration target. November 20, 2016 He warns that Britain faces higher inflation, slower growth and 'unprecedented uncertainty' because of the Brexit vote. April 4, 2017 Straying again from government policy, Mr Hammond says that leaving the EU without a deal is 'ridiculous'. June 22, 2017 The Chancellor warns businesses are not investing in the UK because they fear a 'cliff edge' Brexit. July 27, 2017 He enrages Number 10 by claiming 'literally nobody' wants migration to fall sharply after Brexit. July 28, 2017 While Mrs May is abroad, Mr Hammond announces the Brexit transition period will last three years. September 25, 2017 He refuses four times to say Mrs May should fight the next election. Advertisement

'Businesses are resilient. They will be planning for eventualities. If there is a hard Brexit, then businesses will find a way around it.'

And Tory MP Kwasi Kwarteng, an aide to the Chancellor, admitted Mr Hammond has a 'temperament' issue which can make him appear gloomy.

He told the BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'A lot of it is an issue of temperament. He is someone who is very clear-eyed, he has a very clear view intellectually of where we are.

'He is not going to exaggerate possibilities or diminish some of the challenges.

'Temperamentally he has got a very realistic view of where we are and he's got the intellectual honesty to describe what he sees and I think that's the best we can expect.'

The Prime Minister's spokesman today attempted to bat off questions about tensions between the No10 and No11.

Asked whether Mrs May would agree with characterisations of Mr Hammond as an 'Eeyore' figure, the spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister thinks the Chancellor and the Cabinet are working well together in all areas and on securing that smooth Brexit which everybody wants to see and is in the interests of the UK and the EU.

'We will spend whatever is necessary to make Brexit a success and that includes planning for a no-deal scenario.'

Relations between Mrs May and her Chancellor were plunged into the deep freeze last night.

The Prime Minister dramatically slapped her Chancellor down after he undermined her Brexit strategy.

Mr Hammond had said he was not ready to release the billions of pounds needed to prepare for leaving the EU without a deal. He also insisted any spending should be delayed until the last possible moment.

His stance contradicts Mrs May's attempt to convince Brussels that Britain is ready to walk away if trade talks are dragged out. Mr Hammond also risked angering Eurosceptic MPs who have rallied round the Prime Minister after a difficult fortnight.

Tory grandee Lord Lawson called for Philip Hammond to be sacked as Chancellor over his bleak Brexit warnings - saying they come close to 'sabotage'

In the Commons yesterday, Mrs May directly contradicted her Chancellor, saying: 'Where money needs to be spent, it will be spent.'

The pair sat side by side on the front bench for the 45 minutes of Prime Minister's Questions yesterday but barely exchanged a word.

Mrs May revealed the Government had signed off an extra 250million for Brexit preparations this year, including money for 'no deal' contingency plans.

And she said the Treasury would be writing to ministries to release further cash for measures such as border controls.

The row, which sparked fresh talk that the Chancellor could be sacked in an autumn reshuffle, came as:
An illegal immigrant accused of decapitating his mother in North Carolina had the murder charges dropped against him after a judge ruled he is not mentally competent to stand trial.

Oliver Mauricio Funes-Machado, 18, was charged with the gruesome murder of his 35-year-old mother, Yesenia Funes Beatriz Machado in Franklin.

He called 911 to tell police he had just killed his mother at their home and a deputy responding to the call saw the teen walking out of the house holding the woman's head in one hand and what appeared to be a butcher's knife in the other on March 6.

Inside the home, deputies found the 35-year-old's body.

District Attorney Michael D. Waters released a statement Wednesday about dropping the charges against the teen, WRAL reported.

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Oliver Mauricio Funes-Machado (left), an illegal immigrant accused of decapitating his mother, Yesenia Funes Beatriz Machado (right), in North Carolina, had the murder charges dropped against him after a judge ruled he is not mentally competent to stand trial

The 18-year-old called 911 on March 6 to tell police he had just killed his mother (above) at their home. A deputy responding to the call saw the teen walking out of the house holding the woman's head in one hand and what appeared to be a butcher's knife in the other

Waters said that it was determined the teen does not have the mental capacity to stand trial after his office reviewed a report by mental health professionals who evaluated him.

'Specifically, could he appreciate the charges against him and participate in his defense and the mental health professionals there determined he could not at this time,' Waters said.

The teen will now be committed to Central Regional Hospital for mental health treatment.

'Should the defendant's capacity to proceed be restored, he would be returned to the custody of Franklin County Sheriff Ken Winstead, and the District Attorney's Office will reinstate the charges against Machada,' the statement read.

The district attorney said that it was determined the teen (above) doesn't have the mental capacity to stand trial after his office reviewed a report by mental health professionals

The district attorney said: 'Should the defendant's capacity to proceed be restored, he would be returned to the custody of Franklin County Sheriff Ken Winstead' (crime scene above)

Following his arrest, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed an ICE detainer on the teen.

The detainer would no longer apply if Machada is being treated at a mental health facility, an ICE spokesperson told WRAL.

'At this point, he is not going to be deported until this matter is resolved,' Waters said.

At the time of the murder, the teen's two young sisters were at home but were unharmed, and a fourth child was at school.

The teen's father and the victim's husband arrived to the home to find the scene and had to be led away by cops as we was overcome with grief.

Other older relatives were pictured being comforted at the scene of the crime.

The victim's husband and alleged killer's father was overcome with grief and was taken from the scene by relatives and officers at the time of the shocking incident

The shocking crime happened in Franklin County, which is just east of Raleigh

Neighbor Ryan Reader told WBTW: 'Complete and utter shock. This whole area is a quiet area and I didn't know what to expect when I got home and saw police cars and everything around.'

Winstead added: 'It's a terrible situation for the family, a terrible situation for the neighborhood and this county.

'I'm just glad things worked out the way they did and no one else was hurt in taking the suspect into custody.'

'I can't tell you how many stab wounds or cuts. We just haven't gotten that far in the investigation.'
A man who laughed as he left court after walking free over the death his four-year-old stepson says he was released because he 'did the right thing'.

Matthew Scown, 34, sparked national outrage when he chuckled outside the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Wednesday after his sentence was suspended.

Scown was handed four years jail for the manslaughter of his stepson Tyrell Cobb, who had 53 bruises and 17 abrasions from head to legs when he died.

When asked on Thursday if he thought he was fortunate to be released after two years and eight months in custody, he said: 'No I don't, I've the right thing'.

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Matthew Scown (pictured), who laughed as he left court after walking free over the death his four-year-old stepson, says he was released because he 'did the right thing'

Scown was handed four years jail for the manslaughter of his stepson Tyrell Cobb, who had 53 bruises and 17 abrasions from head to legs when he died

'I've already spoken with my lawyers and I've spoken with the other family, so what youse (sic) need to do now is leave me alone,' Scown said on Thursday

'I've already spoken with my lawyers and I've spoken with the other family, so what youse (sic) need to do now is leave me alone,' he told Nine News.

He explained that he burst into laughter as he left court the previous day because 'the cameraman ran into the back of the bin, that's what was funny.'

Earlier his family told Seven News they felt he'd been 'depicted as a monster' in media coverage of his sentence and backed up his story about the cameraman.

Australian Associated Press confirmed the family's version of events, saying their photographer witnessed the scene.

Tyrell Cobb (pictured) was allegedly 'covered in bruises' and vomiting 'green slime' before he was found unconscious in a Gold Coast home in 2009

'The cameraman walked backwards into a bin and Scown laughed at that,' AAP Brisbane bureau chief Evan Schwarten wrote on Twitter.

Tyrell's biological mother, and Scown's former de-facto, Heidi Strbak, 33, will face trial in three weeks' time also charged with his manslaughter.

Hetty Johnston, founder of children's charity Bravehearts, accused prosecutors of going soft on Scown to speed up the case, The Courier Mail reported.

She said offenders are 'laughing' after a series of cases in which child killers have had charges reduced, including a man who tortured his infant daughter to death.

'They're doing all these plea bargains just to move cases through ... [it's] expedition at the cost of these kids,' she said.

'I think if the DPP had the resources and the backbone they should have gone for him [Scown].'

Tyrell's biological mother, and Scown's former de-facto, Heidi Strbak, 33, (pictured) will face trial in three weeks' time also charged with his manslaughter

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk also slammed Scown's laughing as 'completely insensitive' and said she was considering appealing the sentence.

'I'm angry too. How insensitive for this man to be laughing after the death of his stepson,' she said.

Justice Martin Burns said Scown was not responsible for the injuries that killed Tyrell but failed in his duty of care.

Tyrell died in May 2009 from internal bleeding and stomach injuries caused by blunt force trauma.

While Scown did not cause the injuries he did not contact authorities or seek medical help, even when Tyrell was vomiting green bile the night before his death.

'You ought to have acted,' Justice Burns said.

'From the time of injury until death every movement including breathing and vomiting would have caused extreme pain.'

Scown (pictured), 34, grinned and laughed when questioned by reporters on Wednesday, after the Supreme Court in Brisbane suspended his sentence

Scown (pictured) was initially charged with murder over the death of his stepson but pleaded to the lesser charge at the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday

Scown called Triple-0 in distress and performed CPR on the boy as paramedics made their way to the Gold Coast home where the pair were staying.

'Looks like he's going to die on me,' Scown told a Triple 0 operator, the court heard.

When paramedics arrived Scown told them to hurry to the boy as he wasn't breathing.

'He's turning blue,' he said.

This, Justice Burns found, was evidence of Scown's 'extreme concern' for Tyrell.

'Clearly you were very worried about the little boy,' he said.

Scone was initially charged with murder but pleaded guilty to lesser charge ahead of sentence on Wednesday.
Violence broke out on Spain's national day this afternoon, with dozens of people clashing on the streets of Barcelona during a march protesting Catalan independence.

Footage shows thugs grabbing chairs, tables and bottles from an outdoor seating area on Barcelona's popular Plaza Catalunya, and using them as weapons.

The incident took place on the fringes of a demonstration in the main Catalan city on Thursday.

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All out war: A small group of protesters holding Spanish and Catalan flags clash on the fringes of a demonstration in Barcelona

Thugs: The men can be seen picking up chairs from an outdoor seating area of a restaurant, and using them as weapons

An officer was injured when local police intervened to separate them, Barcelona's urban guard said.

It was unclear what sparked the violence or who was involved, but the main demonstration, led by several activist groups opposing Catalan independence, was not disrupted.

The demonstration saw far-right activists protesting the bid for independence, and burning the region's flag as they marched through the streets of Barcelona.

There were also reports of fights as protesters let off flares and threw chairs at each other before local police separated them.

Spain's is gripped by its most serious political crisis for decades after Catalonia held an illegal independence referendum on 1 October.

Big fight: The footage shows chairs flying through the air as local police try to intervene

Attacks: An officer was injured when local police intervened to separate the fighters

Demonstrators from Spanish far right groups watch on after burning a Catalan flag after marching from Plaza Espanya

There were also reports of fights as protesters let off flares and threw chairs at each other before local police separated them

It comes after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed Catalan's independence bid as a 'fairy tale' and warned it would not be recognised by Europe.

Yesterday he rejected talks to resolve the crisis and told parliament: 'There is no mediation possible between democratic law and disobedience, illegality.

Catalonia's separatist leaders on Tuesday signed an independence declaration but said they were suspending it in the hope Madrid would negotiate.

Rajoy hit back, calling Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont's autonomy plan a 'fairy tale' and giving him until October 16 to confirm whether or not he has declared independence.

Today protesters demonstrating against Catalan independence burnt the region's flag as they marched through the streets of Barcelona

Protesters hold flares and burn 'Esteladas' Catalan pro-independence flags during an ultra-right wing anti-separatist demonstration

A man performs the fascist salute during an ultra-right wing anti-separatist demonstration for the unity of Spain called by Falange Espanola

Demonstrators from Spanish far right groups chant slogans after marching from Plaza Espana in Barcelona

Protesters wave Spanish pre-constitutional flags as they march during an ultra-right wing anti-separatist demonstration

Catalan police watch on as demonstrators from Spanish far right groups march from Plaza Espanya square

Rajoy added: 'It is not peaceful, it is not free, it will not be recognised by Europe and now everyone knows it will have costs,' he added.

He was referring to several big companies which have moved their headquarters outside of Catalonia in recent days.

Puigdemont has repeatedly called for mediation since he pushed ahead on October 1 with an independence referendum in Catalonia that was deemed illegal by Madrid and the Spanish courts.

Earlier on Wednesday he proposed during an interview with CNN that a mediator be named to settle the crisis.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (pictured yesterday) demanded that the Catalan President clarify whether or not he has declared independence

Tuesday: Catalan regional President Carles Puigdemont signs an independence declaration document after a parliamentary session in Barcelona

'Maybe, it could help (us) to talk if two people representing the Spanish government and two people representing the Catalan government just simply agree on one thing, for instance, naming a mediator,' he said.

Puigdemont announced in the regional parliament Tuesday that he had accepted the mandate for 'Catalonia to become an independent state' following the contested referendum.

Earlier today, a Spanish fighter jet pilot died when he crashed his plane into the ground while returning from a national day parade.

Borja Aybar lost control of his Eurofighter and crashed before he was able to eject near an airbase in Llanos de Albacete, southern Spain.

A Spanish fighter jet pilot died today when he crashed his plane into the ground while returning from a national day parade

Pictures showed smoke rising from the scene of the crash at at airbase in the south of Spain

Borja Aybar lost control of his Eurofighter and crashed before he was able to eject in Llanos de Albacete, southern Spain

He was returning from flying above crowds in Madrid to celebrate the day explorer Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Americas in 1492.

One unconfirmed local report said his wife and their baby were waiting for him at the airbase he was due to land at and witnessed the crash. There were no other casualties.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the causes of the crash are under investigation.
Video footage from the 1970s shows CS gas being tested on Army volunteers sheds light on a practice that continues in the US military today.

Footage shows soldiers entering a gas chamber without any facial protection, where a small amount of the tear gas is released for approximately 30 seconds of exposure.

The soldiers can be seen coughing, rubbing their eyes and retching after they are released from the chamber.

Gas exposure helped military officials at the time see how people would be affected during combat missions, and the testing is still done today as part of a soldier's training.

US soldiers exposed to CS gas, or tear gas, in 1972 can be seen coughing and rubbing their eyes

The US Army first started testing CS gas on volunteer soldiers in the 1970s, but the practice still continues today

The volunteer soldiers were exposed to the gas for 30 seconds in a chamber before a similar test took place outside

The video, which recently resurfaced, was made by the Department of Defense in 1972.

Later in the video, several soldiers are shown out in the field as a cloud of CS gas is released on their position, with the men being told they are allowed to put on gas masks when they feel it is appropriate.

Several fail to do this in time, though, again resulting in an adverse reaction to the chemical.

But while the video may seem like an outdated practice from a bygone era, the truth is in fact the exact opposite.

New recruits to all branches of the US military still have to take part in CS gas training today, though it is done in a far more controlled environment.

Footage shows soldiers entering a gas chamber without any facial protection, where a small amount of the tear gas is released for approximately 30 seconds of exposure

The video of the soldiers, which recently resurfaced, was made by the Department of Defense in 1972

During initial training, refresher courses and equipment maintenance exercises members of the armed forces are exposed to CS gas tablets melted on a hotplate.

Following exposure to the gas while wearing masks, troops are told to take off their protective gear and endure the exposure.

The training demonstrates the importance of properly fitting protective gas masks.

Developed by two students in 1928 at an American university, CS gas was first tested by the British in the 1950s and 60s before being picked up by the Americans toward the end of the 1960s.

The compound 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile is the main component of CS gas, and it is used by domestic police forces around the world as a crowd control device, despite its use in warfare being banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997.

The compound 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile is the main component of CS gas, and it is used by domestic police forces around the world as a crowd control device, despite its use in warfare being banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997

The gas was notably used in Ferguson, Missouri during the recent disturbances there in 2014

The American Library of Medicine says of its effects: 'The eye is the most sensitive organ in riot control because CS causes epiphora, blepharospasm, a burning sensation, and visual problems.

'Coughing, increased mucous secretion, severe headaches, dizziness, dyspnoea, tightness of the chest, difficulty breathing, skin reactions, and excessive salivation are common.

'The onset of symptoms occurs within 20 to 60 seconds, and if the exposed individual is placed in fresh air these findings generally cease in 10 to 30 minutes.'

The tear was used in Berkeley, California, on May 21, 1969, what is now known as Bloody Thursday.

Later in the video, several soldiers are shown out in the field as a cloud of CS gas is released on their position, with the men being told they are allowed to put on gas masks when they feel it is appropriate

Developed by two students in 1928 at an American university, CS gas was first tested by the British in the 1950s and 60s before being picked up by the Americans

New recruits to branches of the US military still have to take part in the exercise to this day, though it is done in a far more controlled environment

During a memorial for student James Rector, who was shot and killed by police, CS gas was dropped directly on a trapped crowd.

With no escape possible, dozens of people, including children, were injured during the panic.

It was notably used in Ferguson, Missouri, during protests in 2014, and was also used by police in Pittsburgh in 2009 to disperse crowds gathered outside the G20 summit in the city.

In Britain its use is far less frequent, with very few instances of police using it on the public.

It was used in the Iranian embassy siege in 1980 and during the Toxteth riots in Liverpool in 1981.
Many were young, powerless and afraid to speak out in case their careers were ruined.

For nearly three decades their accusations remained bottled up, some suppressed by pay-offs.

More than 30 women have now come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the man once described as 'God' of the film industry.

The accusations, including from some of the world's most famous actresses, range from inappropriate massages to rape.

Here is a list of those who have come forward so far.

Kate Beckinsale In an Instagram post the Underworld star said Weinstein made a move on her when she was just 17.

'When I arrived reception told me to go to his room. He opened the door in his bathrobe. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. A few years later he asked me if he had tried anything with me in that first meeting.I realized he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not.'

Teen assault: Kate Beckinsale says Weinstein tried to ply her with alcohol and met her in his bathrobe when she was just 17

Gwyneth Paltrow

The star said that when she was 22, Weinstein touched her and suggested having joint massages in a hotel bedroom before she started shooting the 1996 Jane Austen adaptation Emma. She told the New York Times: 'I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified'.

Paltrow (pictured with Weinstein in 2002) told the New York Times that when she was 22 Weinstein touched her and suggested having joint massages in the bedroom

She said she told her then boyfriend Brad Pitt about the incident and he confronted the mogul. She said Weinstein then told her not to tell anyone and she feared getting fired.

Gwyneth Paltrow, 45, is an American actress, singer, and food writer who made her name starring in Seven (1995) and Emma (1996).

Angelina Jolie

The actress told the New York Times she had to turn down advances from Weinstein in 1998 and chose never to work with him again. She said she warned other women about him.

She said: 'I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did.'

Angelina Jolie, 42, is cited as Hollywood's highest-paid actress. She made her screen debut as a child alongside her father, Jon Voight, in Lookin' to Get Out (1982).

Jolie (pictured speaking ahead of a screening of her new film In the Land of Blood and Honey) told the New York Times she had to turn down advances from Weinstein in 1998

Cara Delevigne

The model wrote on her Instagram page about a meeting with Weinstein in which he 'asked her to kiss another woman.'

She wrote: 'As soon as we were alone he began to brag about all the actresses he had slept with and how he had made their careers and spoke about other inappropriate things of a sexual nature. He then invited me to his room. I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside. She said it wasn't and wouldn't be for a bit and I should go to his room.

Delevigne wrote on her Instagram page about a meeting with Weinstein in which he 'asked her to kiss another woman.'

'At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didn't want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation. When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately I was safe. He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction. I swiftly got up and asked him if he knew that I could sing. And I began to sing....i thought it would make the situation better....more professional....like an audition....i was so nervous. After singing I said again that I had to leave.He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room'.

Cara Delevigne, 25, is an English fashion model and actress. She signed with Storm Model Management after leaving school in 2009.

Lea Seydoux

The French actress accused the mogul of jumping on her and trying to kiss her.

She wrote in The Guardian: 'We were talking on the sofa when he suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. He tried more than once. This was never going to be about work. He had other intentions  I could see that very clearly. All throughout the evening, he flirted and stared at me as if I was a piece of meat.

The French actress (pictured in Spectre) accused the mogul of jumping on her and trying to kiss her

'It was hard to say no because hes so powerful. Im an actress and hes a producer. We are in the same industry, so its impossible to avoid him. Ive seen how he operates: the way he looks for an opening. The way he tests women to see what he can get away with. Thats the most disgusting thing. Everyone knew what Harvey was up to and no one did anything. It's unbelievable that hes been able to act like this for decades and still keep his career.'

Lea Seydoux, 35, starred in Bond film Spectre and was nominated for the Cesar Award for Best Actress for her role as a lady-in-waiting to Marie Antoinette in the film Farewell, My Queen (2012).

Asia Argento

The Italian actress has accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was 21.

Asia Argento (left with Weinstein during 2004 Cannes Film Festival) accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was 21

She told the New Yorker: 'He terrified me, and he was big. It wouldn't stop. It was a nightmare.' She said she went on to have consensual sex with him over the years that followed. She documented the alleged attack in her 2000 film Scarlet Diva.

Asia Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model, and director, best known for the role of Yelena in the action film xXx (2002).

Zoe Brock

Model Zoe Brock was 23 when she allegedly had to lock herself in a hotel bathroom to escape Weinstein's advances.

She wrote on Medium: 'Harvey left the room, but not for long. He re-emerged naked a couple of minutes later and asked if I would give him a massage. Panicking, in shock, I remember weighing up the options and wondering how much I needed to placate him to keep myself safe.

Model Zoe Brock was 23 when she allegedly had to lock herself in a hotel bathroom to escape Weinstein's advances

'I told him I was uncomfortable and that I was angry that I had been tricked into this position. He pleaded with me to let him massage me and I let him put his hands on my shoulders while my mind raced. Harvey chased me, d**k, b**ls and all, and banged on the door with his fists, pleading with me to come out.'

Zoe Brock is a model and actress who was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and raised in Australia.

'Ducked and dived': Claire Forlani said she refused Weinstein on multiple occasions

Claire Forlani

The Meet Joe Black actress appeared in the 2000 Miramax film Boys and Girls. She says she escaped Harvey's advances five times.

'I had two Peninsula Hotel meetings in the evening with Harvey and all I remember was I ducked, dived and ultimately got out of there without getting slobbered over, well just a bit.

'Yes, massage was suggested. The three dinners with Harvey I don't really remember the time period, I was 25.

'I remember him telling me all the actresses who had slept with him and what he had done for them.'

I wasn't drinking the cool aid [sic], I knew Harvey was a master manipulator.

'He also announced to me at the last dinner I had with him at Dominic's that his pilot knew to be on standby because he could never get me to sleep with him, to which I did what I always did, make light of the situation, a joke here or there and moved on.'

'I'd had a fair amount of experience. Sometimes I got angry, really angry. I wondered why I had Prey stamped on my forehead but this I kept to myself.'

Louisette Geiss

The actress said she was called to a late night meeting with Weinstein in 2008. He allegedly emerged in a bathrobe and told her he would green light her script if she watched him masterbate. She left the meeting.

Geiss made her accusations in a press conference with high-profile attorney Gloria Allred on October 10.

The star was born in Miami, Florida. She is an actress and producer, best known for Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell (2001).

Geiss was called to a late night meeting with Weinstein in 2008. He allegedly emerged in a bathrobe

Judith Godreche

The French actress says Weinstein tried to massage her and pull off her sweater after asking her up to his Cannes suite to see the view in 1996, the NYT reported.

Judith Godreche, 45, is a French actress and author. She has appeared in more than 30 films and will soon star in an HBO comedy about a French woman moving to Los Angeles.

Judith Godreche (pictured at the premiere of Nasty Baby in 2015) says Weinstein tried to massage her and pull off her sweater after asking her up to his Cannes suite to see the view in 1996

Dawn Dunning

The actress says she was called to a meeting about future film projects in 2003 aged 24. When she arrived she says Weinstein presented her with three scripts for his next three movies which he would let her star in, only if she had three-way sex with him. She fled the hotel, she told the NYT.

Dunning is a former actress turned costume designer best known for her role in Alias: The Roughest Cut (2006).

Tomi-Ann Roberts

The aspiring actress was 24 when she met Weinstein while serving tables as a college junior in 1984. She says he told her to meet him at his home. When she arrived, she says, he was naked in the bath and told her she would give a better audition if she was nude. She says she refused and left, reports the NYT.

Tomi-Ann Roberts was 24 when she met Weinstein while serving tables

Katherine Kendall

The Swingers actress was told Weinstein had to stop off in his apartment to pick something up after a screening in 1993.

He changed into a bathrobe and told her to massage her, she said. When she resisted she said the mogul returned naked and chased her, reports the NYT.

Kendall, 48, is an American actress from Tennessee. She made her name in Doug Liman's Swingers (1996).

Kendall, 48, was told Weinstein had to stop off in his apartment to pick something up after a screening in 1993

Lucia Evans

The actress, formerly known as Lucia Stoller claims Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004. Speaking to the New Yorker, she said that she suffered years of trauma after the incident which occurred in a 'casting meeting' in a Miramax office in Manhattan. He reportedly called her late at night after the incident.

Mira Sorvino

The Mighty Aphrodite actress told the New Yorker that Weinstein tried to massage her in a hotel room at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival.

He then went to her home in the middle of the night but she called a male friend to protect her, she claimed. She said turning down the mogul adversely affected her career.

Sorovino, 50, is an American actress who came to prominence after winning the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as a hooker with a heart of gold in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995).

Mira Sorvino (pictured starring in Intruders in 2014) said Weinstein tried to massage her in a hotel room

Rosanna Arquette

The actress also said her career suffered after she rebuffed Weinstein's advances in the early 1990s. At a hotel meeting he tried to put her hand on his erect penis, she claims in the New Yorker.

Rosanna Arquette, 58, is an American actress, film director, and producer. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the 1982 TV film The Executioner's Song.

Rose McGowan

The actress, who made her breakthrough in 1996 in the Weinstein-produced slasher revival movie Scream, reportedly sued Weinstein after he assaulted her in 1997 at the Sundance Film Festival.

She signed a non-disclosure agreement at the close of the suit and has only referred to him obliquely in social media since. On Sunday she referred to being abused by a 'monster' and has previously referred to being raped by a studio head.

Producer Harvey Weinstein (left) and actress Rose McGowan arrive to the premiere of "Grindhouse" at the Orpheum Theatre on March 26, 2007 in Los Angeles

Ashley Judd

Judd says that during filming for 1997 thriller Kiss the Girls Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower.

She was one of the women who spoke out to The New York Times this week, saying: 'Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it's simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.'

Judd says that during filming for 1997 thriller Kiss the Girls Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower

Emma De Caunes

French actress Emma de Caunes said that she met Weinstein in 2010. Soon after he told her he had a script he was producing based on a book with a strong female character. Weinstein offered to show her the script, and asked her up to his room at the Ritz in Paris, where he began to take a shower.

He then emerged naked and with an erection, asking her to lay down with him on the bed and telling her that many had done so before, she told the New Yorker. 'I was very petrified,' said de Caunes. 'But I didnt want to show him that I was petrified, because I could feel that the more I was freaking out, the more he was excited.'

French actress Emma de Caunes said that she met Weinstein in 2010 and he invited her to his room

Sophie Dix

The British actress was 22 when she was invited up to his room at The Savoy after being cast in The Advocate alongside Colin Firth. Weinstein tried to massage her and started pulling at her trousers before he started masturbating.

Harvey Weinstein is accused of accosting Sophie Dix in a hotel room

'As soon as I was in there, I realized it was a terrible mistake. I got to the hotel room, I remember talk of a massage and I thought that was pretty gross. I think he showed me his big back and I found that pretty horrid.

'Then before I knew it, he started trying to pull my clothes off and pin me down and I just kept saying, No, no, no. But he was really forceful. I remember him pulling at my trousers and stuff and looming over me and I just sort of  I am a big, strong girl and I bolted  ran for the bathroom and locked the door.'

'I was in there for a while, I think. He went very quiet. After a while I remember opening the door and seeing him just there facing the door, masturbating, so I quickly closed the door again and locked it. Then when I heard room service come to the door, I just ran.'

She said the incident left her bed bound with depression for six months and she decided to end her movie career.

'I decided if this what being an actress is like, I dont want it.'

Lauren O'Connor

The former creative executive at The Weinstein Company, told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was 'a toxic environment for women at this company' after one of her colleagues told her that Weinstein had pressured her into massaging him while he was naked, the NYT reported.

A former creative executive at The Weinstein Company told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was 'a toxic environment for women at this company'

Ambra Battilana

The Italian actress and model, 24, told the NYT that in March 2015 Weinstein invited her to his New York office. There, she said, he asked if her breasts were real before grabbing them and putting his hands up her skirt. She reported the alleged incident to police, but they did not press charges. According to the NYT, Weinstein later paid her off.

Italian actress and model Ambra Battilana, 24, alleges that Weinstein grabbed her breasts and put his hand up her skirt

Jessica Barth

Weinstein reportedly pressured Jessica Barth (pictured) to give him a naked massage

Weinstein reportedly pressured the actress to give him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel in 2011.

Jessica Barth, 39, is an American stage and film actress, known for portraying Tami-Lynn McCaferty in the film Ted and its sequel.

Laura Madden

A former production assistant and the Weinstein company, she told the NYT that Weinstein had asked her to give him massages from 1991 onwards, while they were both in London and Dublin. 'It was so manipulative,' she told the NYT. 'You constantly question yourself - am I the one who is the problem?' Weinstein denied knowledge.

Emily Nestor

Nestor was a temporary employee of the Weinstein Company for just one day in 2014 when Weinstein approached her and offered to boost her career in exchange for sex, the NYT reported.

Zelda Perkins

Perkins was an assistant of Weinstein's based in London. Aged 25 in 1998, she reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and 'several' others were harassed and later settled out of court.

She said she was subjected to inappropriate requests or comments in hotel rooms.

Zelda Perkins reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and 'several' others were harassed and later settled out of court

Elizabeth Karlsen

Produced Karlsen told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday that almost 30 years ago an unnamed young female executive who had worked at Miramax with Weinstein had found him naked in her bedroom one night. The exec was in a house rented by Miramax at the time to cut its overheads.

Karlsen, 57, is the Oscar-nominated British producer of Carol and The Crying Game.

Liza Campbell

A freelance script reader, she told the UK's Sunday Times that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London before telling her to get in the bath with him.

Campbell, 58, is an artist, calligrapher, columnist and writer, born in the north of Scotland and currently living in London, England.

Campbell, 58, (pictured in 2004) said that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London

Lauren Sivan

The former Fox news host said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007.

He allegedly took her to a closed restaurant beneath a club she had visited and attempted to kiss her, then when she refused he cornered her and made her watch him touch himself, according to The Huffington Post.

Sivan is now a TV reporter in Los Angeles and was a local journalist in New York 10 years ago when her encounter with Weinstein allegedly occurred.

Former Fox news host Lauren Sivan said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007

Jessica Hynes

Hynes said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 - in a bikini. She said she refused to wear the skimpy item - and lost the job.

British actress Hynes, 44, formally known as Jessica Stevenson, is best known for her roles in the Bridget Jones movies and for co-creating and co-writing the sitcom Spaced.

Jessica Hynes said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 - in a bikini. She said she refused to wear the skimpy item - and lost the job

Romola Garai

British actress Romola Garai said she felt 'violated' following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18 in which he was in a bathrobe.

Garai, best known for her role in Atonement, said she had already been hired for a part but was told to audition privately with the Hollywood mogul because 'you had to be personally approved by him'.

'Like every other woman in the industry, I've had an 'audition' with Harvey Weinstein,' she told The Guardian. 'So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it'.

Garai, 35, is an English actress, writer, and director. She is known for appearing in the films Amazing Grace, Atonement, and Glorious 39.

British actress Romola Garai said she felt 'violated' following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18

Florence Darel

French actress Florence Darel has claimed that she was harassed by the producer in 1993.

Darel, 49, who first came to notice in Eric Rohmer's 'A Tale of Springtime' in 1990, told French media that Weinstein had promised to help make her big in America if she became his 'part-time' mistress.

She said she first had to beat off his advances after Weinstein's company Miramax bought the 1993 fashion industry comedy 'A la mode' in which she appeared.

The following year, pushed by her agent, she agreed to meet Weinstein in a Paris hotel, where he he asked her to be his mistress 'a few days a year'.

Actress Florence Darel, 49, revealed on Thursday to French media that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein had promised to help make her big in America if she became his 'part-time' mistress

Unnamed assistant

Weinstein allegedly behaved inappropriately toward a woman employed as his assistant in 1990. The case was settled out of court.

Another unnamed assistant

In 2015, Weinstein reportedly pressured another assistant into giving him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel, where he is also said to have pressured Barth.

Unnamed Miramax employee

At one point in the early 1990s, a young woman is alleged to have suddenly left the company after an encounter with Weinstein. She also settled out of court.

Unnamed woman

A woman who did not wish to be named because she feared Weinstein's connections told The New York Times that the producer had summoned her to his hotel at an unknown date and raped her.
Jeremy Hunt today admitted family doctors are at risk of dying put because of long-term under investment in general practices.

The Health Secretary also said the controversial ten-minute appointments are not working and have left GPs feeling like they are stuck on a 'hamster wheel'.

He made the comments as he unveiled a slew of lucrative financial incentives designed to keep doctors in the profession.

Speaking at the Royal College of GPs annual conference in Liverpool today, Mr Hunt admitted many doctors are at the 'end of their tether' and dropping out of the profession.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, pictured at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital in Liverpool today, admitted doctors are leaving the profession because they are knackered

He said: 'Too many of the GPs I meet are knackered, they are often feeling at the end of their tether.

'They feel that they're on a hamster wheel of 10 minute appointments, 30 to 40 every day, seem never ending.

'They don't feel able to give the care that they would like to to their patients and increasing numbers of them are choosing to work part-time and at worst to leave the profession.

'We have to think really hard about how to stop that happening if we're going to use the magic of general practice to do what we need it to do for the NHS.'

He told GPs there was no 'silver bullet' to the problems facing them but the Government was 'absolutely committed' to increasing funding and capacity.

And he warned that the age-old practice of several generations of the same family visiting the same friendly GP who would know about their medical history and lives risks dying out.

Jeremy Hunt and Theresa May, pictured speaking to patients in Liverpool today. Mr Hunt today unveiled a series of financial incentives to keep GPs in the profession

He said: 'For me, the best thing about the NHS is having a doctor who knows you and your family.

'Continuity of care, which is the professional word that you use, is incredibly important to us as patients and it's why we value our GPs and it's why we love the NHS.'

He added: 'As GPs you are generalists and you are having to make judgments, principally the judgment is to how ill someone is and whether they need hospital treatment.

'Knowing the context of someone's family circumstances, indeed knowing other people in their family, can be very helpful in making those judgments

'The truth is because we have under invested in general practice over decades we have made it much, much harder for you to deliver the continuity of care which I think is at the heart of the magic of general practice and I want to turn that around.'

The PM and her Cabinet minister, pictured in Liverpool today, said they are determined to try to stem the departure of GPs from Britain's doctors surgeries

He announced plans to offer lucrative financial incentives to keep doctors in the profession.

But he faced a tough grilling from delegates who confronted the Cabinet minister over the pressures frontline doctors are facing.

One delegate told him two primary care workers in a peer support group she was involved in had committed suicide.

Another urged him to acknowledge 'how bad the situation is' and asked for more cash to be pumped into the NHS.

Mr Hunt said: 'I did not say when I was here before that we were going to solve these problems overnight.'

He told the conference that GPs a 20,000 'golden hello' if they move to priority areas where there are a shortage of doctors.

The bonuses  on top of starting salaries of up to 45,000  are part of an attempt to stem the growing GP crisis.

The 20,000 payments  given to those who do their three-year training in 'priority areas'  are almost as much as a nurse's 22,000 starting salary.
Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said Thursday that her company's lax attention to Russian political advertisers wasn't responsible for Donald Trump's victory of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

She insisted that the social media giant is combating 'fake news'  and denied that self-selected groups of online 'friends' contribute to Americans seeing limited points of view.

Facebook is under fire for hosting Moscow-linked political ads last year that were intended to undermine Clinton and help Trump. The company has shared the ads  along with information about who purchased them and the Web pages they led to  with Congress.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says that Facebook's lax attention to Russian political advertisers wasn't responsible for Hillary Clinton's loss in the 2016 election

Hillary Clinton lost in a shocking election which Democrats fear was aided by 'fake news' ads on Facebook and other platforms that were paid for by Russian interlopers

'Things happened on our platform in this election that shouldn't have happened,' Sandberg said to Axios on Thursday. 'Especially  and very troubling  foreign interference in a democratic election.'

'And we know that we have a responsibility to do everything we can to prevent this kind of abuse on our platform.'

But ultimately, she said, Facebook wasn't responsible for Clinton's defeat.

'It was hugely important to me to see ... Hillary Clinton elected, and that didn't happen,' Sandberg lamented.

'But the role Facebook plays in elections goes beyond any one campaign, any one country. We are a platform where people come to express themselves every day.'

'The role we play, to make sure people can express themselves freely and keep our platform as free of abuse as possible, is one we take really seriously, not just here but around the world.'

Sandberg appeared in an interview with Axios in Washington, D.C., where she was visiting to share information about the suspect ads with Congress

Congress is investigating the role of Russian state actors in the election, and Sandberg said she is in favor of publicly releasing all the suspect advertisements and related information

Asked if Facebook owes Americans an apology for unwittingly hosting divisive political ads paid for by foreign interlopers, Sandberg said 'it's not just that we apologize. We're angry, we're upset, but what we really owe the American people is determination.'

Congress is investigating the role of Russian state actors in the election, and Sandberg said she is in favor of publicly releasing all the suspect advertisements and information related to them.

Many of the Russia-linked ads that ran on Facebook's platform in 2016 have been classified as 'fake news' based on false information they contained.

Sandberg, though, hedged on whether her company is responsible for vetting the accuracy of the ads that provide billions in revenue.

Accuracy, she suggested, is in the eye of the beholder, and some 'fake' news is merely 'stuff that someone thinks is wrong or controversial, but represents the other side.'

'"Fake news" is things that are false. Hoaxes. ... What we're trying to go after is the false news, the fake news, the hoax,' she said.

Flagging articles as 'fake news,' she said, diminishes how often they are shared.

'We don't check the information posted on Facebook before people post it, and I don't think people should want us to,' Sandberg said, explaining that the ocmpany uses third-party fact checkers instead.

Sandberg also denied that Facebook is responsible for giving Americans political tunnel-vision, polarizing voters by exposing them only to like-minded people who share their opinions.

'On Facebook 23 percent of your friends have a stated ideology that's opposite from yours. So it's not 50, but 23 is pretty good,' she said.

'Compared to what you would see going to news outlets, or what you would see without Facebook, people see, on average, broader views.'

'Now what that doesn't mean is that you can go to your news feed and it's perfectly balanced on both sides. It's not,' she conceded. 'But compared to what you would otherwise see, Facebook broadens the views.'
As President Trump and Republicans pivot to tax reform, GOP lawmakers are already wavering on the White House's 20 percent 'red line,' the proposed new corporate tax rate.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that there's already talk on Capitol Hill that it may slip to 22 percent or 23 percent, sources close to negotiations told the paper.

'That's the one part of the bill that's not negotiable,' Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC Thursday morning, responding to the LA Times' reporting.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appeared on CNBC Thursday morning and drew a line in the sand saying the tax plan must push the corporate tax rate down to 20 percent, calling it 'not negotiable'

President Trump told truckers and others gathered in Harrisburg Wednesday that the corporate tax rate would be slashed by 20 percent and his tax plan, overall, would give Americans 'so much money'

The White House has very little room for error with such a slim majority in the Senate and will have to get traditional fiscal hawks like Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky. (left), and Ted Cruz, R-Texas (right), on board

The White House has Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., to worry about as well. A fiscal hawk, Corker and President Trump have been feuding all week, with Corker labeling the White House an 'adult day care center' and saying Trump could put the U.S. on the path toward 'World War III'

'The president has made it clear he wants 20 percent,' Mnuchin also said. 'We want 20 percent on corporate taxes, that's what we need to make America competitive,' the treasury secretary said.

Currently the statutory corporate tax rate is 38.9 percent, though deductions and credits decrease that percentage for many U.S. companies.

Trump had originally pushed for a 15 percent corporate tax rate, as he's pledged to Americans to give them the largest tax cut in history.

'You're going to have so much money to spend,' he said at his pro-tax reform rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, yesterday, trying to make the case that even the corporate cuts would help average Americans, giving each household as much as $4,000 a year.

A senior official couldn't say how the White House arrived at that number on a call with reporters previewing the trip Monday.

White House economics adviser Kevin Hassett said the figure came from companies returning 71 percent of their foreign profits back to the U.S. over the course of eight years, a revenue boost that comes from another aspect of the Trump tax plan.

Actual legislation hasn't dropped yet, with one LA Times source from the lobbying world saying, 'Everything is fluid right now.'

At that same rally Wednesday, Trump told the crowd that the corporate tax rate would be 'no more than 20 percent.'

But even at 20 percent, Republicans are running into resistance from both lawmakers and lobbyists who want to keep some of the pre-existing loopholes and deductions on the books.

Negotiators told the LA Times that the White House may have to be flexible with this number if the president plans to only get Republicans on board.

In the Senate, the president can only afford to lose two GOP senators.

Trump has more wiggle room in the House where he can lose about 20 Republican members and still push legislation through.

This summer's Obamacare skinny repeal defeat happened when Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., cast a surprise no vote, after Republicans had already lost the votes of Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

This time around the Trump White House will have to court fiscal hawks, worried that cutting the corporate tax rate will add to the deficit.

The GOP tax plan has been estimated by outside groups to add about $2 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

CNBC host Joe Kernen specifically brought up Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Ted Cruz, R-Texas and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., as potential troublemakers for the administration.

Cruz and Paul are two senators traditionally concerned about the nation's debt.

So is Corker, but the president has made things more personal in recent days, going on a Twitter tirade about the retiring Tennessee senator Sunday, setting off a feud.

'It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center,' Corker responded. 'Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.'

Later that day, Corker talked to the New York Times and said he worried that Trump was setting the U.S. on the path toward 'World War III.'

Since then, the White House and Corker have sparred over the senator's role in the Iran deal, elongating the tiff for several more days.
Captain Imelda Comer penned a hard-hitting letter to Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary (pictured)

A current Ryanair pilot has slammed the company in an extraordinary open letter to CEO Michael O'Leary where she accuses the airline of refusing to listen to its staff.

Captain Imelda Comer is the first pilot to use her name when criticising the airline and penned the letter which she delivered to their headquarters in Dublin.

She has accused the firm - which has cancelled flights affecting 715,000 customers - of not listening to the pilots' voice.

Captain Comer said their way of interacting with staff members is 'not in line with the normal practices of any of the companies to which our colleagues have gone in increasing number'.

The firm's crisis started after a miscalculation of pilots' holiday dates and the news sparked outrage and a wave of negative media coverage across Europe.

Captain Comer also said the company has 'missed the point of what pilots require' if they are to help resolve the airline's difficulties.

She started the letter 'Dear Michael' and wrote: 'The old model has brought us to the current difficulties.

'Repeating the mistakes of the past will not help anyone to move beyond or resolve these difficulties to find future solutions.

'I have been requested by my colleagues, both inside and outside our interim EERC group, to communicate this message to you, and to offer earliest negotiations in which pilots and their advisors can sit as equals at the table, to find the best solutions to enable all of us to look forward to a brighter future.'

It comes as the firm confirmed it will not be meeting with the new interim representative group for Ryanair pilots, which is known as the European Employee Representative Committee (EERC).

Captain Comer said Ryanair has ignored EERC communications in the past or argued that they were not from legitimate pilot representatives, reports RTE.

But she revealed that the group was made up exclusively or Ryanair pilots from 'several countries'.

In her letter, she also listed seven points the pilots are demanding, which includes new 'properly negotiated' contracts by next year.

She added: 'Pilots want Ryanair to succeed and thrive. They want to minimise cancellations and will support as much as possible every effort to achieve this stability.

'Pilots will surrender some of their leave to help resolve the current problems, but only in the context of the changes outlined above.'

Her letter went on: 'Your insistence on only negotiating with pilots, and only dealing with individual bases, is clearly not in the interests of pilots.

'Your continued insistence on both approaches move everyone further away from a sustainable solution.

She has accused the airline of not listening to its staff and said 'repeating the mistakes of the past will not help anyone'

'It may deliver you a short term fix in a handful of bases, but it will not resolve the deep seated issues that have been imposed on pilots over the last ten years, and have cumulatively given rise to our most recent difficulties.

'To date, the company has refused to acknowledge the right of the pilots to engage as a collective group.

'The company insists that you will only engage one base at a time. I respectfully suggest that this approach has failed the company, as evidenced by the shortage of pilots that has led to the cancellations crisis.

'It has also failed the pilots, as evidenced by the departure of so many colleagues and the short average length of pilots serving in Ryanair, as reported in Ryanair's annual reports.'

Ryanair has said reports it had a pilot shortage were false and that less than 260 of its 4,200 pilots had left so far this year amid some being poached by rival Norwegian Air Shuttle.

A Ryanair spokesman said: 'This letter from the so-called "EERC" is entirely disingenuous and is signed by a contractor pilot who has already resigned and is leaving Ryanair on October 31 as she confirmed she is moving to Asia.

'We will not be corresponding with, or replying to, the false claims made by this so-called "EERC"/RPG/REPA or any other front set up by competitor pilot unions.

'If Ryanair pilots wish to negotiate pay increases of up to 22,000 p.a. or anything else with the airline, they are free to do so at all times through the existing base ERC structures, which have been validated by by the Supreme Court of Ireland and have operated successfully for over 25 years without any invented claims about pilot "security".

'Ryanair wishes Ms Comer every success with her planned move to Asia.'
A pregnant 15-year-old American girl says she was coerced into joining ISIS in Syria by her radicalized father who made her marry a miltant.

The young girl, who is six months pregnant with the ISIS fighter's child, spoke to CBS News after escaping ISIS-held areas near the northern Syrian town of Raqqa.

She says that she was forcibly brought to Syria by her father.

I'm from Kansas. I've been in Syria for five years, she told CBS News in a clear American accent.

My father, of course, didn't tell us that we were coming to Syria.'

A 15-year-old American girl says she was coerced into joining ISIS in Syria by her radicalized father

The young girl, who is six months pregnant with the child of an ISIS fighter, spoke to CBS News after escaping ISIS-held areas near the northern Syrian town of Raqqa

I'm from Kansas. I've been in Syria for five years, she told CBS News in a clear American accent. My father, of course, didn't tell us that we were coming to Syria.' The girl is seen above with her father in an undated photo

She says she misses her old life back in Kansas. She also believes that her mother is alive and well in the United States. Hi Mom, if you see this video, please contact me, she said. The mother had written a blog campaigning for her daughter's release and repatriation

The girl says her father was killed in an airstrike in Syria. After his death, she was left to fend for herself

When it was time to get out of the car, and cross the border, he was like you're going to Syria, and, yeah, it was a really big shock.

Her identity has not been released by the media due to her being a minor.

She says that her father was killed and that she was left to fend for herself.

A devout Muslim, she says she hated being in ISIS-held areas.

We were prisoners. We were just quiet. Shut up, sit down you're in the house, you have nothing to say," she said.

She says she misses her old life back in Kansas and is looking forward to returning home. There's a restaurant called Texas Roadhouse, they have steak there, she said. A Texas Roadhouse restaurant is seen above in Kansas

Be glad your head isn't chopped off.

She says she misses her old life back in Kansas. She also believes that her mother is alive and well in the United States.

Hi Mom, if you see this video, please contact me, she said.

The mother had written a blog campaigning for her daughter's release and repatriation.

She says she is looking forward to returning home.

There's a restaurant called Texas Roadhouse, they have steak there, she said.

Having lived in a gruesome war zone for the last five years, the 15-year-old girl has seen more than others her age.

When you walk outside there's intestines on the street. There's a head cut off from the shrapnel. There's a leg, she said.

The young girl said that the father of her unborn child is dead. He died in an airstrike.

Nonetheless, she is looking forward to motherhood.

'I still have hope, hope to go to school, hope to be a normal person, hope to be a mother to my child,' she said.

ISIS fighters in Raqqa are expected to fight to the death, but some local militants have surrendered recently as US-backed forces close in on their last strongholds. Raqqa is seen above on September 21, 2017

ISIS fighters in Raqqa are expected to fight to the death, but some local militants have surrendered recently as US-backed forces close in on their last strongholds, a US coalition spokesman said on Wednesday.

Colonel Ryan Dillon said officials in the Raqqa Civil Council, which is to govern the city after ISIS has been driven out, were working to negotiate the safe passage of thousands of civilians being held hostage.

But the coalition would not support any negotiated withdrawal of fighters, he said.

The coalition would not be party to a negotiated settlement. (But) were jumping ahead of anything thats being discussed right now ... as (the council) try to get civilians out, he told Reuters by phone.

Up to 400 militants are believed to remain in a small part of Raqqa surrounded by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, he said.

The foreign fighters (in IS), we fully expect them to fight till the end - theres a hard core of (foreign) fighters.

But we have seen a rate of four to five ISIS fighters surrendering a week, including emirs - local leaders within Raqqa - over the past month, Dillon said, using another acronym for Islamic State.

The SDF said on Sunday it expected Raqqas capture to be announced within days.

ISIS took over the city in 2014 as it seized swathes of Syria and Iraq.

Raqqa served as the groups de facto Syrian capital, from where ISIS plotted deadly attacks abroad.
Specsavers is facing a backlash after the winner of its public 'Spectacle Wearer of the Year' award was revealed to be an actor and model.

Thousands of people across the UK entered the annual competition and the bash on Tuesday was attended by celebs including X Factor judge Louis Walsh, Bake Off presenter Prue Leith, presenter Lisa Snowden and model Twiggy.

The winner, chosen by a panel of judges, was revealed to Alex Miller, 27, from Essex, who pocketed 10,000 in cash and 1,000 Specsavers voucher after being crowned the champion by former Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle.

But as soon as it was announced that he was the winner, grumpy 'normal' entrants said it was 'typical' that he was a handsome model and actor, with hundreds of comments - many critical - on Specsavers' Facebook page.

The winner, chosen by a panel of judges, was revealed to Alex Miller (left), 27, from Essex, who pocketed 10,000 in cash and 1,000 Specsavers voucher after being crowned the champion by former Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle. Pictured (right) is actor Rob Mulholland who said he should have won

Emma Whyte wrote: 'Next time give us uglys a chance! I'm a fantastic sight when I've rolled out of bed and slid my glasses on, bed hair really completes the look'

David Dingvean wrote on Specsavers Facebook page: 'I'm glad they picked an everyday person to win. Not some model type... Oh wait.'

He then included a link to Alex Miller's StarNow page, which has since been deleted, revealing that he is an 'actor and model based in London'.

Emma Whyte posted: 'Next time give us uglys a chance! I'm a fantastic sight when I've rolled out of bed and slid my glasses on, bed hair really completes the look.'

James Buckley wrote: 'He's not my representative of the myopic public, I don't identify with square jaws with haircuts attached.'

Melaine Mills said: 'What an absolute con, I definitely won't be entering again. Every year the winner turns out to be a stunner. Not real life. Give someone else a chance.'

And Rob Densham added: 'Other contestants bemused as good looking man with perfect teeth wins glasses wearer of the year, despite collecting the award in the worst frames in Christendom.'

Specsavers is facing a backlash after the winner of its public 'Spectacle Wearer of the Year' award was revealed to be an actor and model

Stacey Knight wrote: 'Of course anybody can enter and attractive people can't be discriminated against purely because they look like models but many are saying that each year it is a model type who wins.

'If this is what Specsavers are actually looking for, I do feel they need to be honest from the outset so the rest of us regular folk realise we can't really 'win'.'

Love Island winners Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies at the Specsavers event

Comedian Rob Mulholland even claimed he should have won as he got 959 social media votes.

He posted a photo of himself wearing thick-rimmed specs and wrote: 'I didn't actually win but I should have.'

Speaking after being crowned the winner, Alex Miller - who also works as a glazier - said: 'I am absolutely thrilled to bits - I wasn't expecting to win at all so it was a huge surprise and honour.

'Having gone from being called four-eyes at school, to now becoming the Spectacle Wearer of the Year is just amazing, and goes to show how wearing glasses is something to be really proud of.'

Bosses at Specsavers said the winner of the bash - which has been running for 22 years - was chosen by its judging panel, which whittled down entrants through a series of regional finals and age categories.

Writing on Facebook, Specsavers said that more than 120,000 was raised for any-bullying charity Kidscape, adding yesterday: 'Last night we celebrated glasses wearers at our annual Spectacle Wearer of the Year awards.

'We've raised 120,000 in total for anti-bullying charity Kidscape Here's our overall winner Alex Miller with our LoveGlasses ambassador Nadine Coyle.'
Four men broke into the ground floor apartment of Waldiman, 91 (left), and Ethlin Thompson, 100 (right), Wednesday afternoon

A 91-year-old man died after he and his wife were tied up by four men in a home invasion Wednesday afternoon.

Waldiman, 91, and Ethlin Thompson, 100, were inside their ground-floor apartment in Brooklyn, New York around 3:30pm when four men broke in.

The men attacked Ethlin first. They sneaked up behind her, put a pillowcase over her head and then tied her up with cord. They then proceeded to do the same thing to her husband.

Ethlin eventually managed to untie herself and ran out onto the street to get help.

Neighbor Paul Paterson, 55, says Mrs Thompson came running up to him and he noticed rope burns on her legs.

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The robbers tied the couple up and then ransacked the home

PIX 11 reports that the group was after rent money that the couple collects from tenants, but it's unclear if they found any cash

'I come walking up the block from work and she came running out the house screaming,' Paterson told the New York Post. This was the first time I ever saw her screaming. She said, 'They robbed me and my husband and tied us up, they came in from the back. My husband laying there and might be dead.' I said I can't go in there because it would be a crime scene.'

By the time paramedics arrived at the Bedford-Stuyvesant home, the intruders were gone, and Waldiman was found unresponsive on the floor of his home, still tied up. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. NY1 reports that he died of a heart attack.

Ethlin was also taken to the hospital for minor injuries, including rope burns.

Ethlin managed to untie herself and ran out onto the street for help

Paramedics found Waldiman tied up and unresponsive on the floor of the apartment and was pronounced dead at the hospital

Investigators say the home was ransacked but it's unclear if anything was stolen.

The Thompsons were landlords and PIX 11 reported that the intruders may have been after money the couple collected from their tenants.

According to the Post, residents said they saw at least two men walking up and down the street before the home invasion.

The suspects were reportedly caught on surveillance tape and one of the men appeared to be carrying a small box, while another one had a backpack.

Police are still trying to figure out how the men got into the house since there did not appear to be evidence of a break in. It's possible that the intruders knew the couple, since the invasion does not appear to be random, they said.

A nephew was at the home 30 minutes before the invasion and has since been questioned by police but he is not believed to be a suspect.

NY1 reports that he died of a heart attack. Ethlin was treated for minor injuries including rope burns

The couple had been married for decades and moved to the U.S. from Jamaica when they were younger. Mrs Thompson worked as a nurse before retiring.

Mr Thompson's niece Karlene Grose says she saw her uncle last Sunday, when he visited her to say goodbye to her terminally ill mom.

'He came to see his sister because my mom is critically ill and he wanted to see her before she died, and now he died before her,' Grose told NY1.

'To see my uncle go like this, someone has to be punished,' Grose added.

Anyone with information is being asked to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577- 8477, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com
A fast food restaurant manager has been arrested on suspicion of enslaving and abusing a mentally disabled black employee for five years.

Bobby Paul Edwards, 52, has been accused of abusing 39-year-old John Christopher Smith at his fast food restaurant J&J Cafeteria in Conway, South Carolina, over a period of five years.

Prosecutors say Edwards and his brother Ernest, who owns the restaurant but who has not been arrested, forced Smith to work 18 hour days and paid him less than $3,000-a-year between 2009 and 2014.

They allegedly made him live in a cockroach-infested apartment behind the restaurant so that he could be at their beck and call.

Smith has been diagnosed in the past with mild delayed cognitive development, a condition that results in intellectual functioning significantly below average.

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Bobby Paul Edwards, 52, left, is accused of enslaving 39-year-old John Christopher Smith, right, over a period of five years

Other staff are said to have been aware of the sickening abuse but were too afraid to speak out against their bosses.

In a lawsuit which Smith filed against the brothers in 2015 but dropped in favor of having the case pursued criminally, his attorneys told how he was often taken to the industrial freezer to be beaten.

On one occasion, Edwards allegedly lashed him with a belt several times because he believed he had not taken food out fast enough to customers.

Smith's lawyers said other employees heard him crying: "No, Bobby, please!".

They said he was forced to work 18 hour days during the week and had to work 11 hours on Sundays.

The brothers allegedly told him they were keeping all of his earnings in a bank account but never gave him access to it.

Video courtesy of WPDE

The alleged abuse took place at the J&J Cafeteria in Conway, South Carolina, which Edwards managed and where Smith worked

During shifts, they beat him with belt buckles, frying pans and their fists, and repeatedly called him the N word, the lawsuit alleged.

Smith was rescued by social services in 2014 after they received a tip from the mother of another waitress who said she was aware of the abuse but was too afraid of her boss to speak out.

Smith now lives and works on his own. He has been diagnosed with mild delayed cognitive development in the past. Image courtesy of WMFB News

Smith was taken into the care of adult protective services and Edwards was charged with assault and battery.

Edwards was released on bail pending further court action. The following year, Smith filed a lawsuit against him and his brother.

The charges against Edwards have since intensified and he now faces a charge of attempting to establish peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude or human trafficking.

It carries a 20 year sentence and maximum fine of $250,000.

At the time of the lawsuit, Smith's lawyers said: 'The conduct in this case is as troubling as anything I h ave seen in almost 20 years of practicing law, attorney W. Mullins McLeod Jr. said.

David Aylor, another of his attorneys, said: 'We will fight for justice for Christopher and are sending a message that we will not sit idly by while one of our own is forced to endure such outrageous abuse.

'This lawsuit cannot change the past but hopefully it will bring about a positive change in the future.'

It is not clear how Smith came to be separated from his family. He was not reunited with them after being removed from the position at J&J Cafeteria in 2014.
A wakeboarding lesson resulted in an epic fail when the student went flying off the board, up the water slide and crashed straight back down into the exasperated instructor.

In the video, Eliane Beliveau stood with determination on her board, holding the instructor's hands at the Moon Palace Resort in Jamaica.

But then the rushing water toppled her off the board and she was forced up the water slide by the fast moving water.

The instructor, who looked like hed seen it all one million times before, does not bother to look after her and just gazes straight ahead into space.

The board comes shooting back down the slide first and almost whacks him the legs but he catches it with his feet just in time.

As he bends down to pick it up the board, his errant student comes flying back down the water slide.

Her head charges between his bent, open legs and she wipes him out.

The video is a salutary warning about the necessity of concentrating at work, and never losing sight of the job in hand, no matter how safe and mundane it may seem.

Eliane Beliveau stood with determination on her board, holding the instructor's hands

The instructor, who looked like hed seen it all one million times before, does not bother to look after her and just gazes straight ahead into space while she comes crashing back down behind
A Maryland man has died after he was struck by a car while trying to save an injured dog.

Clifford Lee Staley, 49, was walking two dogs on Saturday night on Pennsylvania Avenue in Hagerstown, Maryland. The bulldog belonged to him, and the other dog was a Shiba Inu.

Staley was south on the southbound shoulder of the road and talking to the two dogs to keep them in tow when the incident happened, a press release states.

Clifford Lee Staley, 49, lost his life while trying to help a dog that had been struck by a car. The dog died of its injuries, and Staley's bulldog (pictured) is now in the care of the Humane Society of Washington County

Pictured: Burkholders Flooring, 13412 Pennsylvania Avenue, where Stanley was struck by a car

The Shiba Inu suddenly walked into the travel portion of the lane and was struck by a minivan. The impact threw the dog to the median and it laid near the northbound lane.

Staley immediately ran into the roadway to tend to the dog, and was then hit by a car.

Police were already at the scene and had spoken to Staley just moments before he was killed.

A person had called cops to report that Staley was bothering him by knocking on a his door and walking around his property.

When police arrived they agreed Staley had done nothing wrong.

He had only made it about 60 feet away from the home when the dog was hit.

One of the deputies went to assist the dog, and the other went to talk to the driver of the minivan.

The officer helping the dog told Staley to stay out of the road for his own safety several times, but he ignored the orders and was subsequently hit by a car.

Staley lost his life trying to tend to an injured Shiba Inu. The dog died of its injuries (file photo)

Staley was taken to the Meritus Medical Center with critical injuries and died the next day.

The dog struck by the minivan also died. Staley's bulldog is now at the Humane Society of Washington County.

There will be no service for Staley, but family members will receive friends at a later date.
Three students were taken to hospital - none of the injuries are life-threatening

The hive is believed to be off-campus and crews were searching for the source

Students at Quince Orchard High School were stung by bees on their way in

More than 30 students at a Maryland high school were attacked by bees on their way to school.

Students were stung after 8am Thursday as they were headed to Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg.

Ambulances and safety trucks were lined up flashing their lights in front of the school as they treated the students.

Crews were looking for the source of the bees as it was not immediately clear where they came from.

More than 30 students were strung by bees on their way to Quince Orchard High School in Maryland

Three of the students were taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries

Montgomery County Fire spokesman Pete Piringer said crews believe they came from a hive that was off-campus.

A total of 32 students were checked, but only three were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

Fire officials said they received reports that some students may have had allergic reactions to the bees.

Allergic reactions to bee stings are potentially life-threatening so officials took extra precaution in evaluating the teens.
An attempted armed robber got more than he bargained for after his victim pulled out a weapon of his own and fired back.

Detroit police said Sanchez Quinn, 29, tried to rob two men at gunpoint outside a supermarket in Detroit on Sunday evening.

In the CCTV footage, Quinn can be seen pulling out a weapon on one of the men walking by a dark red vehicle.

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An attempted armed robber got more than he bargained for after his victim pulled out a weapon of his own and fired back

But what he didn't realize was that his chosen victim was an armed Concealed Pistol License holder.

The victim, who has not been identified, quickly pulled out his gun and opened fire on Quinn.

'I turned and looked and saw the other gentleman had a gun pointed at my face,' the unidentified man told FOX2 Detroit.

Detroit police said Sanchez Quinn, 29, tried to rob two men at gunpoint outside a supermarket in Detroit on Sunday evening

In the CCTV footage, Quinn can be seen pulling out a weapon on one of the men walking by a red vehicle

'I was able to knock his hand down and the gunfire rang out.'

A third man, the victim's cousin, was also wounded in the crossfire.

The victim, who has not been identified, quickly pulled out his gun and opened fire on Quinn (pictured)

Quinn, who is recovering in hospital, was arrested by police.

In Michigan, Concealed Pistol License holders must be 21 years old, a legal resident of the state and have never been convicted of a felony.

Detroit regained the title as the most violent big city in America in 2016, witnessing more murders last year than Los Angeles, according to the Detroit Free Press.

According to the FBI's 2016 Uniform Crime report, 13,705 violent crimes - including murders, rapes, assaults and robberies - were reported in Detroit last year.

The figure represents 15.7 per cent increase from the year before, which saw 11,346 violent crimes in the city.
A Florida sheriff's deputy shot and wounded a woman and then fatally shot himself early Thursday morning.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that the shooting took place shortly after 8am at the Inlet Harbor Club in the 2000 block of North Federal Highway, located in a gated Boynton Beach neighborhood.

The names and races of those involved have not been released. The sheriff's office said the woman was taken to Delray Trauma Center, where she was listed in critical condition.

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A Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputy shot and wounded a woman at this gated Boynton Beach community early Thursday

The woman survived but the deputy was pronounced dead at the scene at the Inlet Harbor Club in the 2000 block of North Federal Highway

The Palm Beach County deputy was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials did not disclose the nature of his relationship with the female victim.

A local resident told Sun Sentinel he heard multiple gunshots and later learned about she shooting from his neighbors.

No further details were immediately available about the incident, believed to be an attempted murder-suicide. Officials were in the process of notifying family members of the victims, reported CBS12.

A shot from a chopper video shows police cruisers at the scene of the attempted murder-suicide at 8am Thursday
A soap opera star brought the drama off the screen and onto the red carpet when he slapped a reporter who was interviewing him.

Mexican telenovela star Eduardo Yanez, 57, slapped Univision reporter Paco Fuentes on the Hollywood red carpet on Tuesday.

According to TMZ, he is now under criminal investigation after the reporter filed a report with the LAPD claiming assault and battery.

Paco is seen in the video asking questions about Eduardo's son's GoFundMe page when things take a turn.

Mexican soap opera star Eduardo Yanez slapped a reporter on Tuesday

The reporter asked questions on the red carpet about Eduardo's son and Yanez hits out

The Univision report Paco Fuentes ended his night in a hospital as a precaution

The reporter filed charges with the LAPD against the actor claiming assault and battery

He tweeted an apology but added that his personal life 'is not for sale'

Eduardo's son set up a GoFundMe page to pay for a car he had recently crashed.

He and his son have a strained relationship that became public back in June after the son accused his famous father on Twitter of being a drug addict, racist and woman abuser.

During the interview, Paco asks Eduardo why his son doesn't just ask his father for the money.

Eduardo responded in Spanish: 'If you're so worried about my son, you send him the money.'

The actor was at an event for Sprint in Los Angeles on Tuesday

The reporter responds that he's just doing his job and reminds Eduardo the press is the link between public figures and the people.

That's when the soap star accuses the Paco of just trying to make a big deal out of the situation, calling the reporter and 'pure a**' and saying, 'You're not the link between anything and stop disrespecting me.'

The reporter is mid-sentencing saying he never disrespected the star when Eduardo lunges forward and slaps him.

After the slap, Eduardo stands tall with his chest out while Paco puts his arms up in a motion of surrender.

Paco Fuented is the reporter for the Univison show El Gordo y La Flaco who was slapped

The GoFundMe was started by the actor's son who was raising money for a new car

The actor's son, pictured, said in the fundraiser that he was embarrassed to ask for money but didn't know what to do

The moment has gone viral, sending fans in a frenzy calling for Paco to sue the actor.

Eduardo tweeted an apology in Spanish that reads: 'I want to ask a sincere apology to the public and the person affected by my action. It was not correct. My personal life is not for sale.'

Twitter users are saying that Eduardo has a history of violence with reporters.

If Yanez is charged and convicted, he could face a maximum of six months in jail.

Another user tweeted at Sprint to ask if the company will continue to sponsor the actor after acting out at the cellular company's event.

Eduardo is a spokesman for the company appearing in ads in Latin America. He was at company-sponsored event when he lashed out at the reporter.

Twitter users were furious with the actor and tweeted that the reporter should sue

Another user doesn't accept the actor's apology and reminds him that he is a public figure

One Twitter user tweeted at Sprint to ask if the company is going to cut ties with the actor

Another reporter, Lupita Hererra, was on the red carpet and witnessed the whole thing.

She said she interviewed Eduardo immediately before and asked him the same question about his son which also made him angry.

'In my opinion,' Lupita said, 'Fuentes was just doing his job. And Eduardo needs anger management.'

Paco appeared on the Univsion morning show El Gordo y La Flaca to talk with his co-workers and hosts about the incident.

He appeared with a small bruise under his right eye and said his night ended in the hospital to make sure his ear and eye were okay.

Paco told them there is no justification for Eduardo's actions.
Madihah Taheer, 21, allegedly tried to help her husband prepare for a terror attack

A heavily pregnant woman bought a hunting knife and a 'life size training dummy' to help her husband prepare for a deadly terror attack, a court heard.

Madihah Taheer allegedly paid 275 for a plastic torso, commonly used as a 'training opponent' by martial arts practitioners and a 120 Cold Steel Leatherneck knife online for her husband Ummariyat Mirza, 21.

Woolwich Crown Court heard Mirza promised to launch a knife attack as a wedding present for his wife and the pair argued about who was more radical.

Jurors heard Mirza has admitted preparing to commit terrorist acts while his 21-year-old wife denies the offence.

Two years before they bought the knife, Taheer told Mirza that she was desperate to travel to Syria after reading a woman's account of life with ISIS, adding: 'OMG man. She made me want it so bad.'

They bickered about who was more radical on March 12, 2015 and Taheer wrote: 'I saw a pic of our khalifa [leader] months before u did therefor I am more radical,'

Mirza protested: 'I'm more radical than u, I took u in. I introduced u to dawla and Twitter and jihad. Ur my student.'

Taheer sat in the dock dressed in a white gown with a black hijab as prosecutor John McGuinness QC told jurors she married Mirza in April 2016.

Her husband was arrested on 29 March this year and Taheer was at home at their home in St Agatha's Road when police visited the address.

When he wanted to spend 300 on a knife, she complained that they had bills to pay and needed to buy clothes for their baby.

As Taheer got into an argument on Facebook with another couple on September 5 2015, he responded: 'I would end up killing everyone. Imagine if we were married man.'

Taheer wrote: 'Can we get married already ffs I want u to kill ppl for me, I have a list.'

Ummariyat Mirza, 21, has admitted preparing to commit terrorist acts while his 21-year-old wife denies the offence

He told her: 'The day of nikkah [wedding], I'll kill em all. Give me the list, the only thing that stops me is we are not married. I will defo, I'm not joking.'

She responded: 'Lool, u can't have it til u put a ring on it.'

On October 1 Mirza commented about the same person: 'I legit want to stab him 27 times, like really fast ones, like brutal an fast. Trust me.'

She responded: 'Sounds so satisfying.' He added: 'It's my dream, the method.'

'OMG mine too,' she responded, adding: 'Not stab 27 times but to hurt/kill him in some way.'

Mirza explained: 'Stabbing kuffar [non-believers]/munafiq [hypocrites] fastly and brutally is my dream. I have a knife I want u to buy me.'

Taheer said she did not have the money but she used her mother's money to buy him a dummy made of neoprene, asking on May 31: 'Has my gift come?'

When he hurt his hand punching it, Mirza complained he wanted one made of plastisol.

'I'm telling you wallah [I swear to god], I know I won't use this one as much as the other. I know the difference in feeling. Same way I like hitting u. It's fun, it feels nice to hit skin, to feel flesh contort under the force.'

By January 12, Mirza was pressing to buy a knife, writing that he was 'just chilling gunna order my knife today inshaAllah [god willing]' adding: 'What weapon shall I get? I don't need ur suggestions actually.'

But Taheer, who was pregnant, complained: 'It's so much money Ummar, is it really necessary to spend that much? We've got bills to pay man, baby's thing to get. Have to be sensible and think with a straight head. Can u not use any dishum [knife]. It doesn't have to be bloody state of the art.'

'This isnt a fantasy, its real. Wallahi [I swear] its real as it gets,' Mirza replied.

'Its just going to sit at home Ummar, Ur not gonna carry it around with u all the time. Imagine if u get caught with it, or it falls out, 300 is not a joke Ummar. Is there not a cheaper one u could buy? They all do the same friggin thing Ummar, u don't need to spend 300 on one.'

He responded: 'K.'

Mr McGuiness told the jury: 'She's not complaining about the fact that he is buying a knife or what it is for, but at a time when money is tight she is asking if it's necessary to spend so much money on the knife.'

Taheer, from Birmingham, denies one count of preparation to commit acts of terrorism at Woolwich Crown Court (pictured)

Chemical analysis proved that marks on the dummy came from the plastic training knife.

'The prosecution suggest that the expert evidence is consistent with the plastic knife being used to thrust and stab at the training dummy and at what, for a real person, would be vulnerable parts of the body,' Mr McGuiness said.

Mr McGuinness told the court Taheer was not initially arrested in March.

He said: 'She was not arrested at that stage as the police had no reason then to suspect that she had committed a criminal offence.

'She was also at the time seven months pregnant. The police took possession of her black iPhone 5.

'Following the arrest of the defendant's husband, the police set about examining the contents of the phones and the Apple iPad that the defendant and her husband used.

'As a result of their examination of these devices, the police decided they would need to arrest this defendant as well.

'She was of course heavily pregnant and so by arrangement on 24 April Mrs Taheer attended a police station in Birmingham with her solicitor and was arrested at the counter.

'She is charged on a single count. The allegation is that between 12 February and 30 March she committed an offence linked to terrorism.

'The prosecution say that her husband, intended to commit terrorist acts in the UK and he engaged in conduct in preparation for carrying out his intention.

'There is no doubt that Mirza did intend to commit terrorist acts in the UK and that he engaged in conduct in preparation for carrying out his intention.

'He conducted online research on potential targets and victims of terrorist acts and on the means of committing such acts.

'He did this by using his mobile phone, using the internet and visiting websites.

'Second, he purchased a training knife and then a real, and lethal knife.

'Withing three months before his arrest, be bought first a plastic training knife - the reason for this, was to practise on a life size training dummy he had bought in 2016.

'Having acquired the practice knife, they then bought the real thing - a large steel knife that cost over 120.

'He then bought an item called a paracord, from which he could make a harness that he could attach to the knife, with the idea of concealing it on his person, to bring it out for quick use.

'The prosecution say that Madiha Taheer intended to assist her husband to commit acts of terrorism within the UK.

'The prosecution alleges that she assisted her husband to purchase the large steel knife that cost over 120 by using her credit card to buy the knife.

'Not only did she know what her card was being used to buy, but she also knew why her husband wanted the knife.

'It is anticipated that Mrs Taheer does not dispute she bought the knife for her husband.

'Indeed not only did she buy the steel knife on her card, she had also bought for him in 2016 the life-size training dummy, and also the plastic training knife.'

Taheer, from Birmingham, denies one count of preparation to commit acts of terrorism.

The trial continues.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon believes President Donald Trump only has a 30 per cent chance of making it through a full four-year term, according to a new report.

Bannon reportedly warned Trump earlier this year that the biggest threat to his presidency was the 25th Amendment, which would allow his Cabinet to vote him out of office.

The amendment allows the Cabinet to remove a president if physical or mental health impairs him or her from performing the daily duties of the office.

Steve Bannon reportedly warned Donald Trump earlier this year that the biggest threat to his presidency was the 25th Amendment, which would allow his Cabinet to vote him out of office

Trump reportedly asked Bannon what the 25th Amendment was after the former chief strategist made his claim

Bannon told Trump, who fired the chief strategist in August, that the 25th Amendment could be more of a threat than impeachment by Congress, sources told Vanity Fair.

Trump responded by asking, 'What's that?' the insiders said.

Bannon has since left the White House and returned to the helm of Breitbart News.

The Constitution's 25th Amendment created a system for replacing the president and vice president in case of death, removal, resignation or incapacitation.

It also states that, if the vice president 'and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide' declare that the president is unable to perform his duties, the vice president will assume powers as an acting president.

Bannon's comments were revealed shortly after Rep Sen Bob Corker said on Twitter that the White House had turned into an 'adult day care'

The amendment was formed after the assassination of President John F Kennedy in 1963.

Bannon's comments were revealed shortly after Rep Sen Bob Corker said on Twitter that the White House had turned into an 'adult day care'.

Trump then erroneously blamed the senator for the Iran nuclear deal and dismissed him as "liddle'" Corker.

White House insiders also told Vanity Fair that Trump was 'unstable', 'losing a step' and 'unraveling'.

He recently told security chief Keith Schiller, 'I hate everyone in the White House! There are a few exceptions, but I hate them!' the insiders said.

A White House official denied that Trump had made the statement.
An army worker today told a court how he searched for vital pieces of equipment missing from a woman's parachute, which is alleged to have been tampered with by her husband before a 4,000ft jump.

Emile Cilliers, of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court for two charges of attempting to murder his former Army officer wife Victoria Cilliers on Easter Sunday, April 5 2015.

The 37-year-old is also accused of a third charge of damaging a gas valve at their home a few days earlier, in the second allegation that he attempted to kill his 40-year-old wife.

Alan Westley, chief rigger of the Army Parachute Association said in a brief inspection of the parachute, club members noticed there were two missing slinks - soft links which connect the parachute's lines from a jumper's harness.

Army sergeant Emile Cilliers, left, is on trial accused of trying to murder wife Victoria, pictured right with her husband, by sabotaging her parachute before a skydive

Mark Bayada, chief instructor at Netheravon Airfield where the incident occurred, told Winchester Crown Court he 'did not think' Cilliers would have had room to tamper with the parachute in a toilet cubicle where it allegedly took place

The site near to Netheravon Airfield in Wiltshire where Victoria Cilliers landed

In a bid to find the missing equipment, Mr Westley, who is in charge of inspecting and packing parachutes at the base, joined several others who went out to search for them.

But the search of a field where she had plummeted to the ground proved fruitless.

Army sergeant Emile Cilliers is accused of trying to murder his wife Victoria by removing two of four slinks from her reserve parachute.

Mrs Cilliers, 40, jumped from a plane at 4,000ft but spun helplessly to the ground when her main and reserve parachute did not work.

She miraculously survived the fall at Netheravon, Wilts, thanks in part to a freshly ploughed field and her light weight but broke her pelvis, ribs and fractured her vertebra.

Mr Westley said: 'We all went out at the end of the day to find the slinks. We did not find them.

Cilliers is said to have started an affair with Stefanie Goller (above) after meeting her on Tinder and allegedly tried to kill his wife for 120,000 insurance money

'We all looked in the north field, which is the area between where the drop happened and where Vicky landed.'

Mr Westley was in the plane with Mrs Cilliers before her jump on April 5, 2015, but would have been the first to jump out of the plane as his parachute is smaller and faster.

He said: 'I do not recall her being nervous before the jump.

'When I heard the emergency Tannoy [which sounded after Mrs Cilliers was seen spinning to the ground] I was inside the hangar.'

Jurors were given a tour of the men's toilets at Netheravon Airfield, Wiltshire, where the alleged tampering took place on Easter Sunday, 2015

The court heard Mr Westley got into a car and drove to where Mrs Cilliers had fallen.

When he arrived Mrs Cilliers was being cared for by others who were medically trained.

Winchester Crown Court heard that days before her fall, Cilliers, 37, had tried to kill his wife at their home by damaging a gas valve in a bid to cause an explosion after he started an affair with a woman he met through dating app Tinder.

The court previously heard Cilliers, who had around 22,000 of debts and started an affair with Stefanie Goller as well as ex-wife Carly, believed he would receive 120,000 life insurance in the event of Mrs Cilliers' death.

The boss of the parachute club, Mark Bayada, told a court Cilliers 'would not have had room' to carry out sabotage in the toilet cubicle where it allegedly took place.

Trial judge Mr Justice Sweeney, right, and prosecution barrister Michael Bowes, QC, left, are pictured inspecting a 149 reserve parachute similar to the one used by Mrs Cilliers

When asked about how the knots, found high up the lines closer to the canopy, might have occurred, Mr Bayada said: 'I absolutely do not know and it's the first thing I found to be very unusual about the whole thing.

'To have the knots created deliberately above the sliders when the parachute is packed, that would need you to open the reserve container, undo the lines, pull them through the slider and restart it.

'You wouldn't need to unfold the material but you would need to deploy all the lines; quite a lengthy process.'

He added: 'One, the hook is very weak, it's a soft metal hook, I'm not sure if it would take the weight of the equipment, the other one is the weight of the kit itself, it's very difficult to work on a set of kit.'

Mr Bayada said that the kit store at Netheravon, where the parachute that Mrs Cillers' hired for her jump was kept, was never left 'unlocked and unmanned'.

Mr Westley told the court that reserve parachutes are required to be checked and re-packed every six months and he kept a spreadsheet to organise when each parachute was due to be checked.

Describing the process, he said: 'I take it up to my rigging room, which is a sterile environment, and then I go through a complete check of the whole equipment, every single component gets checked prior to the reserve being repacked.'

Jurors and defence barrister Elizabeth Marsh QC, left, also inspected a similar main parachute and Mrs Cilliers' locker, where the parachutes were kept before the jump

The jury was shown a video of Mr Westley checking and repacking a reserve parachute.

Mr Westley, who joined the Army Air Corps in 1998, said that of the 500 reserve parachutes he had checked before May 2015 which had slinks, he had never found one with a missing slink or with a slink undone or not properly done up.

Describing Mrs Cilliers, with whom he has jumped 100 times, Mr Westley said: 'She was a very competent, capable jumper, she was an accelerated free-fall instructor.'

He said that her own parachute, which was sent away for inspection at the time of her near-fatal jump, was smaller and 'more high performance and sporty' than the one she hired.

Inspection of Victoria Cilliers parachute following the incident.

Mr Westley said that on Saturday April 4 2015, the day before the jump, he authorised the kit store at Netheravon to issue a 149 parachute to Mrs Cilliers because he knew she was experienced to use it.

Describing the defendant's jumping ability, he said that he had 'fairly low experience' and was an 'infrequent jumper'.

He said that Cilliers was qualified to pack main parachutes but not reserve parachutes, and carried out paid work packing parachutes at Netheravon.

Mr Westley said that Cilliers had completed a four-day reserve packing course and he had previously supervised the defendant packing his wife's own personal reserve parachute.

The court heard that the Safire 149 parachute used by Mrs Cilliers was last used on March 25 2015, with a previous use in that March and another 38 flights in 2014.

The reserve, which was bought as a new rig in July 2007, was last inspected by Mr Westley on February 4 2015.

He confirmed that he checked all four risers of the reserve parachute for slinks on that inspection and said that all of the slinks were in a 'fully serviceable' condition.

The court heard that of the approximately 25,000 jumps a year at Netheravon in 2013, there were 33 deployments of reserve parachutes, of which 19 were APA kit.

In 2014, 35 reserves were deployed, of which 16 were club kit, in 2015 there were 26 reserve deployments, of which eight were club kit, and in 2016 there were 26 deployments with seven by club kit.

The court previously heard Cilliers tried to murder his wife to get 120,000 from insurance after starting an affair, a court heard today.

The jury was told Cilliers, who serves with the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, had started an affair with Miss Goller after meeting her on Tinder.

Cilliers, of the Royal Physical Training Corps who is currently living in Aldershot barracks, Hants, denies two charges of attempted murder and criminal damage reckless as to endanger life

In Whatsapp messages to her, he lied that Victoria, a physiotherapist who had previously served as an officer in the British Army, had given birth to a child that was not his but the result of an affair, the court was told.

The jury also heard that Cilliers was involved in a sexual relationship with his ex-wife Carly Cilliers.

South African-born Cilliers, who in 2015 had debts of around 22,000, allegedly believed he would receive 120,000 from an insurance policy in the event of his current wife's death.

But, in December 2014, Victoria had changed her will, cutting her husband out, as she 'did not have faith Cilliers would be able to manage the money himself' - something he was 'unlikely' to have known about, the court was told.

Jurors yesterday toured the airfield where the incident took place and were shown the room where parachutes were kept as well as the men's toilets the sabotage allegedly took place in.

They were shown the kit store and mats where the parachutes are packed ready to be used during the jumps as well as a wall of photos depicting different types of parachute malfunctions.

The jurors were then taken to a set of toilets where the prosecution allege the defendant took the parachute to tamper with it before storing it in a locker overnight after poor weather prevented her jumping on the Saturday.

They were also shown a packed Safire 149 parachute, similar to that used by Mrs Cilliers and were given a chance to pick it up to feel its weight as well as take it into the toilets with them.

The trial previously heard Cilliers was 'unemotional and bewildered' when he visited the airfield the following day.

The court was told that the day after the incident, Cilliers visited the airfield and met Mr Bayada, who has been chief instructor of the Army Parachute Association at Netheravon since 2013.

In his third day of giving evidence to the court, Mr Bayada said he had said in his police statement that Cilliers had appeared 'unemotional' and 'bewildered' during the visit.

Mr Bayada added that Cilliers had seemed 'very quiet' and 'in shock', but added that he did not know him very well personally.

He said that after further investigations by his staff, a decision was made later that afternoon to contact the police about the parachute malfunction.

Cilliers, of the Royal Physical Training Corps who is currently living in Aldershot barracks, Hants, denies two charges of attempted murder and criminal damage reckless as to endanger life.

The trial continues.
A doctor at a Florida surgery was caught on camera yelling and swearing at a female patient in the waiting room.

Patient Jessica Stipe was annoyed by the lengthy wait time at the Gainesville After Hours Clinic on Monday and wanted a refund after being 'severely sick' and 'throwing up in the trash can'.

She confronted Dr. Peter Gallogly saying her appointment was at 6.30pm and it was now 7.45pm and the entire argument was videoed by Stipes daughter.

Jessica Stipe (pictured here) was disappointed by the lengthy waiting time at the hospital and wanted a refund after being 'severely sick' and 'throwing up in the trash can'

Dr. Gallogly released a statement Wednesday with regards to the incident as he said: 'it was heavily edited and taken out of context', according to CBS.

In the video the doctor can be heard angrily saying to Stipe: 'Do you want to be seen or not?' to which she says she wants to go home and get into bed.

He then fires back with: 'Then fine, get the hell out, get your money and get the hell out, see you later.'

The dispute continues as Stipes daughter reassures her mom that it's okay and she had been filming the whole thing as she says to the doctor: 'Okay you can get out of her face.'

Dr. Peter Gallogly (pictured left) repeatedly asks the woman to get out of his office

He continues to yell at Stipe as he screams: 'get the f*** out of my office. Now.'

After the daughter points the camera directly to him and says: 'What's your name?' the doctor aggressively slams the phone out of her hand and takes it away from her.

In a statement released by Gallogly he said: 'Ms. Stipe had been increasingly belligerent and abusive to the office staff, cursing and threatening them with violence, because she was unwell and had been waiting to see me for more than an hour.'

'I went to the front desk only because after Ms. Stipe received her refund, she refused to leave the office, and continued her abusive behavior towards staff.'

The doctor (R) gets increasingly angry as he says the the Stipe (L) 'get the f*** out of my office'

He then said when he finally came to the waiting room Stipe and her daughter continued hurling abuse where they 'cursed and threatened him.'

He doesn't defend his behavior but claims he lost his temper: 'While not an excuse for my behavior, a basic reason for my reaction is that I simply regard my staff as family, and I over-reacted to defend them.'

In the video the doctor also says that Stipe was seen to and even had a urine sample taken.

Stipe stands by her story as she said: 'I dont want anybody else in my community or any other community to receive that type of care or behavior towards them.'

The daughter then points the camera directly to him and says: 'What's your name?' to which the doctor aggressively slams the phone out of her hand and takes it away from her (pictured)

Gallogly (pictured here) said: 'Ms. Stipe had been increasingly belligerent and abusive to the office staff, cursing and threatening them with violence, because she was unwell and had been waiting to see me for more than an hour'

She said in a Facebook post, which has been shared 2.3k times: 'I asked for my co pay back so I could leave and go back home to bed and try to be seen elsewhere tomorrow because I'm just that miserable.'

'The Dr was mad I wanted my co pay back and was unhappy with having to wait so long and proceeded to cuss me out.'

Gallogly said the situation continued even after Stipe received her refund, however she still would not leave, according to The Gainesville Sun.

Officer Ben Tobias, a spokesman for the Gainesville Police Department, said an investigation has been launched into Galloglys actions.

Stipe said on Facebook: 'Gpd is here now but says we cant press assault charges even though its all on tape because she has no injury .. wtf .. he took her phone and shoved her she is a minor,' she angrily wrote.

Stipe (pictured here) stands by her story as she said: 'I dont want anybody else in my community or any other community to receive that type of care or behavior towards them'
President Donald Trump thanked the government of Pakistan for assisting in the release of a U.S. hostage and her family held in held in captivity for five years  and said the nation was beginning to 'respect' the U.S.

American Caitlan Coleman, 31, was freed Wednesday night along with her husband Joshua Boyle, 34, and their three young children in an exchange facilitated by Pakistan.

Coleman and her husband had been kidnapped traveling in Afghanistan and had been held for five years.

'The Pakistani Government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wish that it do more to provide security in the region and I want to thank the Pakistani government,' Trump said at the White House before signing an executive order to try to roll back Obamacare.

President Trump praised Pakistan for its help in freeing an American and her family held hostage for five years, saying: 'I believe they're starting to respect the United States again'

'I want to thank Pakistan. They worked very hard on this,' Trump said. 'And I believe they're starting to respect the United States again. It's very important.'

The president added: 'A lot of countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again.'

The praise comes after years of tensions between the two nations that have flared up on numerous occasions.

The Pakistani government has chafed at the U.S. drone program targeting terrorists and militants hiding out in lawless tribal areas. Top terror target Osama Bin Laden held out inside Pakistan for years before he was killed in a Navy SEAL operation.

The U.S. has pushed Pakistan to do more to confront the Haqqani terror network as Trump steps up the U.S. military role in Afghanistan.

Trump alluded to the news Wednesday night at a Pennsylvania speech on tax cuts, again discussing Pakistan's assistance in terms of 'respect.'

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: The president said at the White House that 'a lot of countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again'

'Something happened today, where a country that totally disrespected us called with some very, very important news,' Trump said before it was made public.

'And one of my generals came in. They said, 'You know, I have to tell you, a year ago they would've never done that.' It was a great sign of respect.'

'You'll probably be hearing about it over the next few days,' Trump forecast. 'But this is a country that did not respect us.'

'This is a country that respects us now. The world is starting to respect us again, believe me,' Trump said.

Caitlan, who grew up in Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, was allowed to write letters to her family during her captivity. She told them how she had changed in prison and as a mother

When they were abducted, the couple's relatives said they were innocent but naive adventure seekers. They had been married for a year when went to Afghanistan

Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle were released along with three of the children they welcomed in captivity on Wednesday night. They are seen in a video filmed in 2016 with two of their children

Pakistan's former petroleum minister and prime minister designate Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (C) leaves with his party leaders after a meeting at Parliament House in Islamabad on August 1, 2017.

Pakistan's parliament was set to elect a new prime minister on August 1, after the Supreme Court ousted Nawaz Sharif following an investigation into corruption allegations against his family

THANKS FOR HELPING! The house where Osama bin Laden was finally hunted down is large but rather ordinary-looking, set in a compound in an affluent suburb of Abbottabad, only about a mile from the Pakistan Military Academy, Pakistan's most prestigious military training center. The 3-story house is white with a little brick structure on the roof. The red cloth screen erected on one side of the compound, is where the helicopter is said to have crashed

In this handout image provided by The White House, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House May 1, 2011 in Washington, DC. Obama later announced that the United States had killed Bin Laden in an operation led by U.S. Special Forces at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan

Coleman, an American, her Canadian husband and the three children they had in captivity have been released after spending five years as hostages of a Taliban-linked terrorist network.

The woman and her husband were abducted in October 2012 by the Haqqani network as they traveled through Afghanistan, a country they traveled to without telling their families.

On Wednesday night, President Trump alluded to the family's release during a speech in Coleman's home state of Pennsylvania (above)

Friends say Boyle, who was previously married to terror suspect Omar Khadr's sister, was 'passionate' about the country.

On Thursday, President Trump revealed that the pair have been held in Pakistan ever since and that it was the country's government which helped secure their release after years of failed attempts by the Obama administration.

Caitlan, who grew up in Pennsylvania, was pregnant with their oldest son when she was captured. She has since welcomed another little boy and a girl who was born a few months ago.

In hostage videos filmed in 2016, she alluded to other children she had given birth to or carried but who did not survive.
Equifax Inc said on Thursday it has taken one of its customer help web pages offline as its security team looks into reports of another potential cyber breach at the credit reporting company.

The move came after an independent security analyst on Wednesday found part of Equifax's website was under the control of attackers trying to trick visitors into installing fraudulent Adobe Flash updates that could infect computers with malware, the technology news website Ars Technica reported.

'We are aware of the situation identified on the equifax.com website in the credit report assistance link,' Equifax spokesman Wyatt Jefferies said in an email.

Equifax Inc (file above) said on Thursday it has taken one of its customer help web pages offline as its security team looks into reports of another potential cyber breach at the credit reporting company

'Our IT and security teams are looking into this matter, and out of an abundance of caution have temporarily taken this page offline.'

This latest incident comes after the company disclosed back in September a hack compromised the sensitive information of 145.5million people.

The Atlanta-based company, which has faced seething criticism from consumers, regulators and lawmakers over its handling of the earlier breach, said it would provide more information as it becomes available.

Equifax disclosed on September 7 that its systems had been breached between mid-May and late July.

This comes after the company disclosed back in September a hack compromised the sensitive information of 145.5million people forcing the company to part ways with its chief executive Richard Smith (above)

Earlier this week, the company said 15.2million client records in Britain were compromised in the massive cyber attack it.

The company said 14.5million of the records breached, which dated from 2011 to 2016, did not contain information that put British consumers at risk.

In the fallout, the company has parted ways with its chief executive, Richard Smith, chief information officer and chief security officer.

The breach has prompted investigations by multiple federal and state agencies, including a criminal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice.

As a credit reporting agency, Equifax keeps vast amounts of consumer data for banks and other creditors to use to determine the chances of their customers' defaulting.
A 32-year-old woman who had broken up with her boyfriend of seven years took her own life after struggling to cope with the break-up.

Rebecca Fox, from Southborough, Tunbridge Wells, who was described as 'creative' and 'intelligent' in court, killed herself in June this year after separating from Tim Fowler.

She had felt as if her ex-boyfriend 'had been stringing her along and playing with her emotions' prior to her death.

The court heard how Ms Fox became aware that Mr Fowler had been on a date with another woman and was messaging an ex-girlfriend.

Detective Sergeant Suzanne Basford told the court: 'Kent Police was called at 6.22pm on Saturday June 10 by Miss Uma Hooton, as recorded on police record.

'The report details a concern for welfare from her sister that Becky Fox had split from Tim Fowler.

Rebecca Fox, from Tunbridge Wells, had struggled to cope following her break-up with her boyfriend Tim Fowler

'She said that Tim had been stringing her along and playing with her emotions.

'Tim was concerned over the text messages that she had been sending him.

'Tim forwarded these messages to Rebecca so she could get in contact with her and check she was okay.'

After friends and family tried to get hold of Ms Fox by calls and text, police were called to her house at 9pm on June 10 where they forced entry.

She was found unresponsive under the covers in her bedroom. Despite paramedics best efforts, she sadly passed away.

Sergeant Basford said: 'Rebecca was in a relationship with Tim for seven years.

'They lived in a rented property in Tunbridge Wells, with their three cats and Rebecca worked in a nearby cafe and salon.

'Rebecca had recently finished a floristry course. She enjoyed photography and poetry and was very creative.

'She had been travelling to India and Australia, she was intelligent and would do anything for anyone.'

Ms Fox had been struggling with depression and body dysmorphia prior to her death and had been talking to her sister about wanting to get help from a doctor.

Sgt Basford added: 'Rebecca found out that he had been e-mailing an ex-girlfriend and had been on a date with another woman.

'Rebecca had not left any suicide notes, but sent her sister a number of text messages detailing how low she was feeling and how she wanted to get help from the doctor.'

Senior Coroner, Rodger Hatch, said: 'The officer confirmed there was no note or indication that she wished to take her own life, but looking at the circumstances, one is drawn is to the conclusion that it was her intention to end her life.'

An inquest at the Archbishop's Palace ruled the cause of death was asphyxiation and the coroner concluded suicide.

For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch
A student plunged 200ft to her death after jumping in the air for a photograph on a crumbling clifftop, an inquest was told.

Hyewon Kim, 23, had asked a stranger to take her picture but lost her footing as she landed and toppled over the Seven Sisters cliffs in East Sussex.

The South Korean, who had come to Britain to improve her English, suffered catastrophic head injuries in the fall.

Photographs found on her mobile phone showed the student happily posing with her back to the cliff-edge in the seconds before her death.

South Korean student Hyewon Kim, 23, plunged 200ft to her death after jumping in the air for a photograph on a crumbling clifftop, an inquest was told

Hyewon Kim had asked a stranger to take her picture but lost her footing as she landed and toppled over the Seven Sisters cliffs (pictured, sightseers pose by the cliffs today)

The site in East Sussex has become a hot-spot for thrill seekers and despite numerous signs warning of the dangers, tourists regularly teeter on the edge for photographs. Above, people taking risky selfies today at the cliffs

The cliffs at Birling Gap have experienced possibly the worst coastal erosion in the UK. In 2005 it was noted they had retreated nearly 300 feet from where they had stood in 1873. Above, another person seems oblivious to the danger

More than 350,000 people visit the cliffs at Birling Gap and Seven Sisters cliffs each year.

The site has become a hot-spot for thrill seekers and despite numerous signs warning of the dangers, tourists regularly teeter on the edge for photographs.

Detective Sergeant Tod Stewart from Sussex police told an inquest in Eastbourne: 'There were six photos of her close to the cliffs.

'They were showing her jumping in the air extremely close to the edge.

Her concentration is not on anything other than what she is doing. The expression on her face shows nothing but enjoyment.

Coroner Alan Craze said: She landed with one foot beyond the cliff edge and only her other foot landing on the cliff edge.

'Every one of the photos shows her looking away from the cliff edge.

'A lot of South East Asians like to visit because the Seven Sisters refer to the seven daughters of the Chinese deity, the Jade Emperor.

If people do things which put them in extreme and obvious danger, there is a limit to which they can be stopped.

A statement by witness Young Choi, 24, said: I went to the Seven Sisters for tourism. Another Korean girl, who I did not know, was there and she asked me to take photos.

Over the years, several cottages have disappeared as the cliffs have gradually been eroded. Earlier this month the steps leading down to the beach below the iconic chalk cliffs were closed due to a recent increase in cliff falls

As I was taking photos, she fell down. We all tried to find someone to call 999. After the 999 call, I called the Korean Embassy. Jin Gyeong Jang, another witness, said: I saw her standing then heard sound of a bang, then she was not there. At the space where she was standing, there was just a bag.

Fireman Richard Harrison revealed what he saw when he attended the scene. He said: We discovered the body of a young female, face down. I estimated the cliffs to be between 150 to 200ft high.

A post-mortem examination concluded that Miss Kim died from catastrophic head injuries on June 22.

The death came a day after a major rock fall further along the Sussex coast.

Mr Craze said: This is a very poignant and sad case. I want to express my profound sympathy and condolences to her family. No family members or embassy staff attended the inquest.

The coroner said he would welcome further research into methods of preventing further deaths at the tourist spot.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, Mr Craze said: This death is not unique.

The South Korean, who had come to Britain to improve her English, suffered catastrophic head injuries after falling from these cliffs (tourists walk by the cliff edge, today)

Very sadly, whatever is done by way of signage, we should be lucky if this is the last one.

He said he would encourage the National Trust, who own the stretch of cliffs, to look into improved warnings and fencing along the edge.

The cliffs at Birling Gap have experienced possibly the worst coastal erosion in the UK.

In 2005 it was noted they had retreated nearly 300 feet from where they had stood in 1873.

Over the years several cottages have disappeared as the cliffs have gradually been eroded.

Earlier this month the steps leading down to the beach below the iconic chalk cliffs were closed due to a recent increase in cliff falls.

It was hoped the step leading down to the beach at Birling Gap, near Beachy Head - which were completed just four years ago - would provide access for the visitors for decades to come.

But a mixture of storms and high seas has seen the chalk face cliffs disappear beneath the waves.
A North Carolina State University student who wanted to keep her emotional support cat in her dorm room has reached a settlement with the university.

Last year Laura Auman asked the university to allow her to keep her cat, Kifree, in her residence hall, saying that the assistance animal constitutes a reasonable accommodation for a disability.

The university refused her request, so Auman filed a federal discrimination complaint on the grounds that it was a violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Last year Laura Auman asked the university to allow her to keep her emotional support animal in her residence hall, saying that it constitutes a reasonable accommodation for a disability

The cat named Kifree is pictured above. Auman's disability hasn't been specified

The school agreed Wednesday to pay Auman a $3,000 settlement and to train staff on the federal Fair Housing Act.

The university will also publicize its policy on assistance animals, one that allows students with disabilities to keep animals in university housing for therapeutic benefits.

Auman wasn't available for an interview. Her disability wasn't specified.

A university spokesperson didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

When the university declined her request, Auman filed a federal discrimination complaint on the grounds that it was a violation of the Fair Housing Act

The school agreed Wednesday to pay Auman a $3,000 settlement and to train staff on the federal Fair Housing Act
The ex-girlfriend of canal killer John Sweeney correctly predicted she would be his next target before she knew of his murderous past when she found a 'body disposal kit'.

Delia Balmer was hacked to within an inch of her life by sadistic Sweeney, who also murdered two other women and is suspected of causing further deaths.

Prior to the attempt on her life, he had held her captive and repeatedly raped her for in a week-long ordeal, for which he was arrested but released on bail, and he immediately tracked down Ms Balmer.

Delia Balmer was hacked to within an inch of her life by John Sweeney (pictured together), who she had dated for three years

The serial killer murdered Melissa Halstead (left) and Paul Fields right), both of whom were dumped in the canal

Sweeney's only surviving victim has written a book about her experiences, but admitted she wishes she had died on that fateful 1994 evening.

Retired nurse Ms Balmer, now 67, had first met Sweeney at a pub in Camden, north London, and the two became close after sharing a love of travelling.

At that time, she had no idea that he had already murdered one former partner, Melissa Halstead, and also would go on to kill Paula Fields.

Ms Halstead knew she would likely suffer the same fate as Miss Halstead when she found gloves, a ground sheet, rope, a saw and masking tape.

She told the Mirror it was: 'A body disposal kit meant for me.'

Sweeney is now serving life behind bars for the two murders

Her relationship with Sweeney, from Merseyside, turned sour as possessive behaviour turned to death threats and assaults.

This culminated in Ms Balmer being tied down to their bed and sexually abused for seven days, with Sweeney threatening to cut off her tongue if she screamed for help.

During this sickening campaign on abuse, he confessed to killing Miss Halstead and dumping her body in a Rotterdam canal in 1990.

However, she did eventually inform police of what had happened and Sweeney was remanded in Pentonville Prison, only to be allowed out on bail and immediately track her down.

Sure enough, when Sweeney found her he brutally attacked her with an wooden axe and a blunt hammer, in which she lost a figure and sustained several other injuries, but revealed she was devastated to wake up in intensive care.

'On the doorstep, I saw this finger fly through the air, and I thought:, "Thats it. I dont want to live anymore. I dont want to live in this anger and pain",' she said.

'So I wasnt happy when I woke up in an intensive care unit. I thought, "Oh no, I am alive. Now what hell?"'

Sweeney's only surviving victim has written a book about her experiences, but admitted she wishes she had died on that fateful 1994 evening

Sweeney went on the run for six years and killed 31-year-old mother Paula Fields, whose body was found in Regent's Canal, London.

Three other women who Sweeney was known to have dated have never been found.

The fact he was locked up for life for a double murder conviction in 2011, 21 years after his first killing, is of no consolation to Ms Balmer.

She said: 'He wanted me to die in pain, and hes got his wish. I am going to die in pain, mentally and physically.'
Photos of the attack went viral, as did pictures of blood streaming down Harris' face

Two men were arrested in August for the attack, and a third man was arrested on Wednesday

Harris turned himself into police on Thursday on a count of unlawful wounding

But on Monday, a warrant was issued for his arrest when an unnamed person complained that Harris had hit them in the brawl

DeAndre Harris, 20, was left blooded after a group of white men attacked him at a white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia in August

DeAndre Harris (pictured), a 20-year-old black man who was beaten at a white nationalist rally in August, turned himself into police Thursday morning after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection to the brawl

A black man who was beaten at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has turned himself in to police after being charged in the confrontation.

Charlottesville police said in a statement that 20-year-old DeAndre Harris turned himself in Thursday morning and was served a warrant charging him with unlawful wounding.

The statement says Harris was taken before a magistrate and released on an unsecured bond.

Photos and video that were widely shared online showed Harris being beaten by a group of men inside a parking garage. In addition to Harris, three men have been charged in the attack.

Harris' attorney has said that Harris did nothing wrong and that authorities don't have probable cause to charge him.

The Charlottesville Police Department issued a statement on Monday, saying that the unnamed victim went to the magistrate's office and complained of being beaten by Harris in the brawl.

The magistrate's office called the police department to confirm the facts, and they then issued the warrant.

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The attack was caught on video and by photographers. Harris is seen on the ground as multiple white men attack

An arrest warrant was released after a victim complained that Harris had attacked him in the brawl

Pictures of Harris' bloodied face went viral after the march in August

Harris' attorney called the warrant 'clearly retaliatory' and the fact the victim went to the magistrate shows that they likely tried and failed to complain to police first. His head wound is pictured left.

Harris attorney, S. Lee Merritt, told the Washington Post that the warrant is 'clearly retaliatory'.

He described the victim as a member of a white supremacist group and maintained that his client did not instigate the fight.

Merritt said it was 'highly unusual' for a victim to go to the magistrate instead of the police, suggesting he tried and failed to convince cops to arrest Harris first. The police dont have sufficient probable cause to charge Harris, his lawyer said.

'We find it highly offensive and upsetting, but whats more jarring is that hes been charged with the same crime as the men who attacked him,' Merritt said.

Harris was left with a concussion, abrasions and contusions across his body, as well as a head laceration that required 10 staples, a knee injury and a fractured wrist after the clash, Merritt said.

In September, two men - 33-year-old Alex Michael Ramos and 18-year-old Daniel Borden - were charged with malicious wounding in the attack against. Both are being held without bond.

Two men - 33-year-old Alex Michael Ramos (left) and 18-year-old Daniel Borden (right) - were charged with malicious wounding in September in the attack against Harris

On Wednesday, a third man - 22-year-old Jacob Scott Goodwin - was arrested for the beating as well

A third man was arrested in connection to the beating on Wednesday.

Jacob Scott Goodwin, 22, of Ward, Arkansas, was arrested Tuesday night on a warrant from Charlottesville police by U.S. marshals near his hometown, according to Lt. Matthew Edwards, spokesman for the Lonoke County Sheriff's Office in Arkansas.

Lt. Steve Upman, a spokesman for police in Charlottesville, said Goodwin is charged with malicious wounding in the Aug. 12 beating.

Goodwin is awaiting extradition to Virginia, Edwards said.

Former classmates at Mason High School in Ohio said he expressed anti-Semitic views.

Harris was protesting the march in August when he was attacked

Ramos was identified after posting about the attack on Facebook.

In a television interview, he said that he was only acting in self defense and denied being a white supremacist.

'I was there because, pretty much, Im a conservative,' he said. 'There were some non-racist members who were going to a free speech rally.'

At a September court hearing, Ramo's lawyer alleged that Harris may have been the one to throw the first punch.

Upman refused to identify the alleged victim or provide any other details about the alleged assault.

At the rally, 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed when a car struck a crowd of counter protesters. James Fields Jr. has been charged with murder in Heyers death.
A remarkable letter written the day before the Titanic disaster by a victim who stated 'if all goes well we will arrive in New York on Wednesday' has been uncovered 105 years later.

The poignant note by a wealthy first class passenger has been initially valued at a whopping 80,000 but is being tipped to break the record for a Titanic letter of 119,000.

Over three pages on White Star Line headed notepaper, tragic Alexander Oskar Holverson described to his mother the luxurious surroundings of the infamous ship.

Over three pages on White Star Line headed notepaper, tragic Alexander Oskar Holverson described to his mother the luxurious surroundings of the infamous ship

He wrote on April 13, 1912 'this boat is giant in size and fitted up like a palacial hotel. The food and music is excellent'.

The letter is also the only one of its kind to reference the Titanic's most famous and richest passenger, John Jacob Astor, who was on a par with Bill Gates in terms of his wealth.

Mr Holverson, who was aged 42, wrote how he sat out on deck with the American businessman who 'looks like any other human being even tho he has millions of money'.

Ominously, the author told his mother: 'So far we have had very good weather. If all goes well we will arrive in New York on Wednesday A.M'.

Tragic: Alexander Holverson leaving New York en route to Europe in 1911 with his wife Mary (who survived the sinking)

The next day the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank within three hours with the loss of 1,522 passengers and crew.

Despite being a first class passenger Mr Holverson perished in the disaster, as did John Astor who had said it was safer to remain on the sinking ship than in a flimsy lifeboat.

Mr Holverson's body was recovered from the Atlantic days later and his personal effects were sent back to his brother in Minnesota, US.

These included a pocketbook in which was folded the letter that was heavily water stained.

The letter remained in the Holverson family for years and is now being sold at auction in Devizes, Wilts, via a third party.

Most Titanic letters than come on the market had been posted in Cherbourg in France or Queenstown, Ireland - the last port of call for the ill-fated liner.

The letter is also the only one of its kind to reference the Titanic's most famous and richest passenger, John Jacob Astor (left), who was on a par with Bill Gates in terms of his wealth. Pictured right: Lady Astor

Holverson mentions how the Astors, at the time the wealthiest couple in the world, 'sit out on deck like the rest of us'

THE 'UNSINKABLE' TITANIC - BY THE NUMBERS Construction timeline: 1909-1912 Cost: $7.5million (1.5million) Maiden voyage: April 10, 1912 Passengers: 2,223 Crew: 885 Length: 882ft 9in Height: 174ft Lifeboat capacity: 1,178 Decks: 9 Maximum speed: 24 knots Construction company: Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast Advertisement

Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge and Son Auctioneers, said the one now for sale is the last known letter written on board by a victim.

Two years ago a letter written on April 14, 1912, by passenger Esther Hart, who survived the sinking, sold for a record 119,000.

Accompanying the Holverson letter is a sad note written be his grieving mother, Rachael, describing her loss.

There is also a touching photograph of Mr Holverson and his wife Mary taken in New York before they embarked on a trip to Europe. Mary survived the disaster which happened as they returned to the US.

Mr Aldridge said: 'Since this one was recovered from Mr Holverson's body he obviously had hoped to send it on to his mother from New York.

'While the ink and wording has not run, the letter displays some colourful stains to the last page which was the page mostly exposed to the water evident from the way the letter had been folded by Holverson.

'The stains give testament to the acid-rich paper with salt water.

The poignant note by a wealthy first class passenger has been initially valued at a whopping 80,000 but is being tipped to break the record for a Titanic letter of 119,000

'If this letter was virtually unreadable it would still rank amongst the most desirable. Yet the content takes it to another level.

'It is the only letter to be written on April 13 that has been recovered and the only letter written on board Titanic stationary to have been recovered from a victim.

'It is also the only letter to mention John Jacob Astor, one of the richest and most powerful men in the world at the time.

'Holverson's description of him paints him in a very good light, you can gauge a lot about Astor from it. Holverson called him 'democratic' and gave the impression there were no airs and graces about him.

'It is also gives us an unparallelled snapshot into life on board this liner for first class passengers.

A letter from the grieving mother (Rachael Holverson) to Alexander's brother Walter after the tragic news

Pictured: The Titanic departs Southampton, England on its maiden Atlantic voyage

'But the saddest element to the letter is about the anticipated arrival in New York which of course never happened. It is as if he knew that things may not have gone well.

'Together with his mother's letter, it paints a sad picture of a real personal tragedy.'

In her letter to her youngest son Walter, Rachael Holverson wrote: 'You have seen in the papers what has happened to my dear son Oskar. It was a dreadful shock to us all.'

Mr Holverson's father was Norwegian but emigrated to America. He married an American woman and they had six children and lived in Rushford in Minnsota..

Oskar Holverson became a salesman and moved to Boston and then New York. He married his wife in 1905 and the couple enjoyed a long holiday at the end of 1911 to South America and then on to Europe.

They stayed in London in April 1912 and embarked in the Titanic for her maiden voyage to New York on April 10.

On the night of the sinking, Mr Holverson was wearing a black overcoat over his pyjamas.

Being sold alongside the letter is a black and white photo of Mr and Mrs Holverson taken in New York in December 1911 just as they left for South America.

The auction takes place on October 21.
The U.S. Board of Geographic Names voted to rename 'Negro Bill Canyon' to Grandstaff Canyon after William Grandstaff, whose cattle grazed there in the 1870s

After years of debate, a U.S. government board has voted to rename Utah's Negro Bill Canyon, overruling a recommendation by Utah officials to keep the name.

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names decided Thursday to rename it Grandstaff Canyon to get rid of an offensive name, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. The vote was 12-0, with one member declining to vote.

The new name honors black rancher and prospector William Grandstaff, whose cattle grazed there in the 1870s.

'His name was Grandstaff; it was not Negro Bill,' said Wendi-Starr Brown, a member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe and who represents the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the board. 'I'm pretty sure that's not how he wanted to be addressed in life.'

The Utah Committee on Geographic Names had recommended keeping the name, citing a lack of consensus from state minority groups.

The NAACP said the name is not offensive and preserves the history of the site, while the Utah Martin Luther King Jr. Commission called the name 'blatant racism.'

The canyon is home to a popular hiking spot in Moab, Utah, leading to stunning rock formations

The canyon is home to a popular hiking spot in Moab, the gateway to stunning, massive red rock formations.

Local officials and business owners have long said the name generates frequent complaints and outcry from tourists who come from around the world, lured by the red-rock landscapes in nearby national parks.

Until the 1960s, the canyon was officially named N****r Bill Canyon. The renewed movement to change the name to Grandstaff Canyon began in 2015 after the Charleston church shooting.

A sign at the entrance of the trailhead in Moab, Utah, before the name was changed

A proposed name change in 1999 failed after it received little government support.

Spurred by complaints from tourists, the Grand County Council voted in January to change the name after refusing to do so in 2013 and 2015.

A year ago, the federal Bureau of Land Management changed signs to say 'Grandstaff Trailhead' instead of 'Negro Bill' trailhead.

'I think we have to look forward,' said federal board member Elizabeth Kanalley, manager of National Geospatial Services at the Forest Service.

She said keeping the old name would not recognize that it is hurtful to people.

Until the 1960s, the canyon was officially named N****r Bill Canyon. The renewed movement to change the name to Grandstaff Canyon began in 2015 after the Charleston church shooting

Local officials and business owners have long said the name generates frequent complaints and outcry from tourists

'Negro Bill (William Grandstaff) was one of the first settlers of this area. Our commission and the majority of longtime residents feel it is necessary to retain the name as a tribute to Grand County history,' wrote commission board member Donna Jordan.

'History needs to be recognized and preserved; not changed to appease the current whims of a politically charged social concept.'

Grandstaff was most likely born a slave in Alabama in 1840. A few years after he ran cattle and prospected in the canyon, he was chased out after he was accused of selling whiskey to Native Americans.

'Today it [the word 'Negro'] is no longer is an appropriate designation  particularly since it is meant to honor the man for which it was named, Mr. William Granstaff, who happened to be African-American,' a letter from the MLK commission written in June reads.

'To remove the racially offensive descriptor from the official title of the popular geographic feature would express to the world that Utah has progressed to a place where such flagrant insensitivity is no longer tolerated or acceptable in our community.'
Justin Theroux's elderly New York neighbor has given DailyMailTV an exclusive tour of their apartment building while lashing out at the actor over his million dollar home renovations and for taking over the building's basement with 'junk' he has collected off the street.

Norman Resnicow and Jennifer Aniston's husband have been embroiled in a heated legal battle over their neighboring apartments in Greenwich Village.

The 69-year-old lawyer was left fuming when Theroux sued him for $350,000 for interfering in his renovations through bullying and intimidation.

Resnicow then filed his own lawsuit against Theroux in August for harassment, bad construction and his yowling dogs, demanding he pay to soundproof his apartment.

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Norman Resnicow, 69, (above in his Greenwich Village home) has been embroiled in a heated legal battle with Justin Theroux in relation to their neighboring New York apartments

Resnicow claims Theroux has become cavalier about the whole building and even now takes up the building's basement storage with what he calls 'Justin's junk' (pictured above)

The battle went into another round last week after Theroux filed a response, in which he included a photo of what he claims shows a pyjama-clad Resnicow harassing builders on his property.

In an interview with DailyMailTV that aired Thursday, Resnicow said he and Theroux used to be friends years ago but their relationship soured when the actor stopping giving a 'damn about the people who live downstairs'.

'I had been particularly close to Justin in the building,' he said.

But Resnicow claims Theroux has now become cavalier about the whole building and even now takes up basement storage with what he calls 'Justin's junk'.

He showed DailyMailTV multiple storage boxes stacked up in the basement labeled with Theroux's name.

'Justin has said he likes to collect things off the street for his apartment - why he keeps it here, I can't imagine,' Resnicow said.

Theroux, however, has denied all the allegations leveled against him by his disgruntled neighbor.

In the latest court documents, Theroux's lawyer said: 'Resnicow is observed compulsively involving himself in his neighbors' business, including just days ago when he literally climbed out of his second-floor window wearing pajamas and brazenly trespassed onto Mr Theroux's property to confront Mr Theroux's workers.'

Resnicow said he and Theroux, who is married to Jennifer Aniston, used to be friends until their relationship soured when the actor stopping giving a 'damn about the people who live downstairs'

Resnicow showed DailyMailTV multiple storage boxes, artwork and cushions stacked up in the basement that he claims belongs to Justin

He claimed multiple storage boxes stacked up in the basement labeled with Theroux's name contained junk that Justin had collected off the street

Resnicow has also taken issue with Theroux making noise in the early hours of the morning and for letting his dogs yowl.

'Here he is walking around in his biker boots that he seems never to take off and he stomps around in these things at three in the morning,' he said.

'He had some dogs upstairs... when the dogs were here there was a lot of loud yowling. I don't want to hear them and you don't want to hear me... have all the dogs you want, just do the right thing.'

Theroux's lawyer, however, said that was Resnicow's pathetic attempt 'to exploit the fact that Mr Theroux is deeply committed to promoting awareness of sheltered animals.'

It is understood Theroux's dogs have not been at his New York apartment since at least 2011.

The bitter dispute between the neighbors is said to have escalated when Resnicow asked his famous neighbor to soundproof his Greenwich Village apartment (white building above) due to the noise

Caught in the act? In court documents filed last week, Justin included a photo which he says shows a pyjama-clad Resnicow harassing builders on his property

Resnicow claims he has suffered from leakage and mold ever since Theroux started his apartment renovations (above)

The bitter dispute between the neighbors is said to have escalated when Resnicow asked his famous neighbor to soundproof his apartment in his million dollar renovation due to the noise.

'When someone is doing a million dollar plus renovation and you've been hearing stuff for years, come on,' Resnicow said.

Resnicow had demanded that Theroux provide funds of up to $30,000 for sound-proofing, according to court documents.

He claims he has suffered from leakage and mold ever since Theroux started his apartment renovations.

While Resnicow admits he has never spoken to Jennifer, he claims she looks miserable every time she is pictured leaving the apartment.

He added that he hoped her love of Los Angeles would keep them both away.

Mr. Theroux' spokesperson was not pleased with the house tour, telling DailyMailTV, 'Norman Resnicows continued attempts to badger Mr. Theroux are disturbing. Inviting a television crew into a residential building that is home not just to Mr. Theroux, but to a number of other private residents, further validates why Mr. Theroux had to bring this nuisance lawsuit in the first place. In the end, Mr. Resnicows campaign of harassment makes the rope of liability for him even longer.'
A Louisiana sheriff went on an epic rant against the new criminal justice reforms complaining that it will release many good behavior prisoners who are needed for everyday work in jail.

Steve Prator, the Sheriff of Caddo Parish in Louisiana, is upset with the new laws that will see many inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses released earlier than expected.

Prator argued how keeping 'good' prisoners in jail is fundamental for a smooth operating jail system.

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Steve Prator (pictured) went on epic rant against the new criminal justice reforms as he complains it will release many good behavior prisoners who he argues are needed for everyday work in jail

He said these particular prisoners were capable of labor work that more violent and dangerous prisoners were less competent at.

In the conference earlier this week he said: 'The [prisoners] that you can work, the ones that can pick up trash, the work release programs - but guess what? Those are the ones that theyre releasing!'

Prator continued to blast the new reforms: 'In addition to the bad ones theyre releasing some good ones that we use every day to wash cars, to change the oil in our cars, to cook in the kitchen well, theyre going to let them out!'

The states criminal justice reforms are aiming to reduce its total prison population by 10 percent, according to The Advocate.

The Louisiana sheriff (pictured) is upset with the new laws that will see many inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses released earlier than expected

'About 16,000 inmates - some 40 percent of the current prison population - will soon meet the qualifications for early release under the new law.' they said.

Prator said: 'The Legislature and the Governor have made a huge mistake,' KSLA reports.

'Many of those scheduled to be released have not been properly vetted and are a danger to our safety and property. Seasoned multiple offenders are getting a break at our expense,' he concluded.

The legislation was signed by Gov. John Bel Edwards in June as he wants to change Louisianas reputation as being the most imprisoned state in the country.

Prator (pictured here) said these particular prisoners were capable of labor work that that more violent and dangerous prisoners were less competent at
A cigar half-smoked by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill has sold for just over $12,000 during an online auction.

An anonymous collector from Palm Beach, Florida won the Wednesday auction for the four-inch cigar, which the British prime minister smoked during a 1947 trip to Paris.

Boston-based RR Auction says Churchill smoked the cigar on May 11, 1947, at Le Bourget Airport.

The company says a British airman, Corporal William Alan Turner, kept the cigar after his crew flew Churchill and his wife to and from Paris.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is seen with his trademark cigar in 1939. A cigar he half-smoked in 1947 on a trip to receive France's highest military honor has sold for $12,000

During the trip, two years after VE Day, Churchill went to the Palace des Invalides where he was awarded France's highest military honor, the Medaille Militaire.

Included in the auction was a photo signed by the prime minister that shows him with the cigar in his hand at the airport.

Corporal Turner's pencil annotation on the rear of the photograph reads: 'A photograph I took from the doorway of York MW101 at Le Bourget airport, Paris, on 11th May 1947 just before we flew black to Northolt. He is surrounded by French ex-servicemen with whom he had been chatting. He stubbed out his cigar in an ashtray when he came aboard, and I took the remains into protective custody.'

The label on the La Corona cigar from Havana, Cuba, includes Churchill's name.
A pair of skinny-dippers gave a wedding reception at a scenic Massachusetts restaurant more of a view than they party were expecting.

Zachary Tomko, 29, tells WHDH-TV he didn't realize there was a restaurant nearby when he and his friend Holly O'Neil, 20, jumped naked into the water at Salisbury Beach on Saturday.

The Seaglass Restaurant has stunning views of the ocean, but guests were distracted by something else that was making quite the splash and called the cops.

Salisbury Police Chief Thomas Fowler tells the Boston Globe his department received several calls about the nude swimmers from both beachgoers and members of the wedding party.

Bare-faced cheek! Zachary Tomko, 29, and Holly ONeil, 20, were arrested in Massachusetts after stripping down for a skinny dipping session in front of nearby wedding guests

Come on in the weddings lovely: Leah Allen, the bride, said the sight of two skinny dippers made for 'a really interesting wedding day'

'Some people called from the beach that were offended, and then a gentleman who was the father of the bride called as it was offensive to some people in the wedding party,' Fowler said.

Police said Tomko and O'Neil were in full view of both people walking on the beach and the wedding reception at the Seaglass.

'It sits very high over the ocean and the back wall is all glass,' Fowler said of the venue. 'Theres really good views of the ocean, and, in this case, two naked swimmers,' he continued.

Fowler says police ended up charging Tomko and O'Neil, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, with disorderly conduct. The incident also cost the pair about $275 in court fines.

The Seaglass Restaurant has stunning views of the ocean, but guests were distracted by something else that was making a splash

Naughty nuptials: Zachary Tomko, 29, and Holly ONeal, 20, appeared in court charged with disorderly conduct. The incident also cost the pair about $275 in court fines

He said in his five years on the job he has never had to deal with a similar incident on Salisbury Beach, which is public, and hoped others wouldnt be inspired by the bare-skinned antics.

Im sure there are beaches that encourage this elsewhere, he said.

Bride Leah Allen says the swimmers made for a 'really interesting wedding day' and she applauded them for braving the cold water.

'It's not the middle of the summer, it's not warm but good for them for braving the cold water,' Leah said.

Nude-lyweds: Tomko was one half of the uninvited couple who stripped down next to the reception venue and then hit the water

'I didn't know that building was a restaurant. I just saw it was a pier, and I thought, "Oh, here's a spot where we can hide and take our clothes off,"' said Tomko to 7News.

Tomko assumed that he and his friend might not be noticed if they stripped off quickly and then dashed into the ocean, but they weren't quick enough.

'Come to find out the cops said, "Yup, there's a restaurant right here and there's a wedding going on," I said, "Oh,"' he added.

'I'm glad I made her night, hope it was a special night and glad it gave her a good memory,' said Tomko.
A girl who was enjoying a birthday night out has spoken how she heard a sound 'like a can of coke opening' when she was sprayed with acid.

Lauren Trent revealed the immense pain she experienced when her skin began to blister after Arthur Collins, 25, allegedly entered the Love Juice event at Mangle nightclub in Hackney, east London and injured 16 people with acid on Easter Weekend.

Ms Trent, who had come to London for the night to celebrate her birthday, told Wood Green Crown Court: 'I bent down to get my bag it was like when you open a can of coke, you hear this sissing, hissing sound, a sound like an aerosol.

'The liquid touched my neck and it instantly started burning my skin and my skin was coming off in my hands.

Lauren Trent (pictured) was enjoying a birthday night out at Mangle nightclub in Hackney, east London, when she was doused with acid

'I knew it was acid, I have been to clubs before where there was pepper spray, nothing blisters that quickly other than acid.'

Ms Trent was also extremely critical of security staff at the venue, saying they were 'appalling' and 'didn't have a clue'.

After the attack, she was escorted to a private room with other victims. She told the court that the event had carried on despite the attack.

'I came in and everything was just normal and I was like, really, how has nobody realised what has just happened,' she added.

She told jurors: 'Security was appalling, I can't remember many checks being done at all.'

Ms Trent told jurors it was over an hour before paramedics arrived.

She had been sat at a table near the stairs with her friend Sophie Hall when the violence broke out.

Lauren Trent had been sitting down with friend Sophie Hall (pictured) when the attack took place

'It happened very quickly there was nothing to indicate anything was about to happen,' she said.

Another victim of the attack, Phoebe Georgiou, broke down in tears as she recalled the attack. At first she believed the liquid was water but quickly felt the burning on her arms and chest.

Ms Georgiou said that a 'toxic smell' had engulfed the club and that revellers started to 'choke on the fumes' as they made their way for cover.

A member of staff at the club tried to refuse her entry into a toilet where she began to douse herself in water in an attempt to limit the burning.

An ambulance was called but it failed to show up so a friend drove her to Homerton Hospital. She was in 'agony' as she was taken to the hospital and had to be transferred to the specialist burns unit at St Andrews Hospital due to the severity of the burns.

Collins, of Pemberly Ash, White Stubbs Lane, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire and co-defendant Andre Phoenix, of (36) Fairweather Close, Clyde Road, Tottenham both deny all the charges against them.

The trial continues tomorrow.

Arthur Collins, who used to date Towie star Fearne McCann, has denied the charges against him
When the Women's Convention kicks off in Detroit later this month, it will be Bernie Sanders - the 76-year-old male senator from Vermont - who will take center stage to deliver the keynote address.

The controversial decision to have a man, rather than a woman, address a crowd of more than 3,000 progressive activists at the event, billed as a continuation of the Women's March on Washington DC that was staged a day after President Donald Trump's inauguration in January, sparked a furious backlash on social media.

Will & Grace star Debra Messing on Thursday emerged as an early critic of Sanders' pick, questioning the organizers' reluctance to choose a prominent female leader for the job.

Curious choice: When the Women's Convention kicks off in Detroit later this month, it will be Sen Bernie Sanders who will take center stage to deliver the keynote address

Women's Convention will run from October 27-29 in Detroit, offering workshops, forums and strategy sessions, with a focus on the 2018 midterm elections

'Incredibly disappointed @womensmarch,' she tweeted. 'You couldnt find any inspiring, powerful, woman to give the opening speech? I can give u a long list.'

In a follow-up message, Messing went a step farther in her withering critique, writing: 'Its Marching backwards. We dont need a man to delineate our mission. Men have spoken for us for eons.'

According to the Women's Convention's official website, the event that will run from October 27-29 at the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit 'will bring thousands of women, femmes and our allies...for a weekend of workshops, strategy sessions, inspiring forums and intersectional movement building to continue the preparation going into the 2018 midterm elections.'

Of the 39 speakers chosen so far to take part in the conference, only two are men, including Sanders. Other participants include actresses Amber Tamblyn and Piper Perabo; Rep Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California; and Ohio politician Nina Turner, among others.

Vocal critic: Will & Grace star Debra Messing on Thursday hit out at the event organizers, questioning their reluctance to choose a prominent female leader for keynote speaker

Holding nothing back: In a follow-up message, Messing went a step farther in her withering critique of the pick

Tamika Mallory, one of the organizers of the upcoming conference, told The Detroit Free Press in an interview Wednesday night that Senator Sanders was the right choice to headline the first day of the convention.

'He is really in line with the principles of the Women's March,' she told the paper.

Sanders, who unsuccessfully ran agaisnt Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primaries in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, said he was 'honored to join the women' in their struggle.

'Now more than ever, we must support the leadership of women across the country and fight together to advance our progressive agenda,' he told the Free Press.

But not everyone welcomed the decision to give a prominent role to a man at a women's conference with the motto 'Reclaiming Our Time.'

April Reign, an activist who helped launch the #OscarsSoWhite movement in 2016, hit out at the organizers of the convention, saying she was 'stunned' that a man was picked to open the first women's convention in 40 years.

MSNBC political analyst Joan Walsh remarked sarcastically: 'Might just be me, but I'd have loved to see a woman keynote the Women's Convention.'

Peter Daou, a former adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign, was not impressed

Not feeling the Bern: April Reign, an activist who helped launch the #OscarsSoWhite movement in 2015, lashed out at the board of the conference

Sarcastic: MSNBC political analyst Joan Walsh injected a dose of sarcasm into the conversation

Many social media users were left frustrated and enraged boy Sanders' pick

Some Twitter users put together a list of high-profile female politicians and activists who could have delivered the keynote speech instead of Sanders, among them Harvey Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan; former first lady Michelle Obama; US Supreme Court justices Sonya Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Hillary Clinton and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris.

As the firestorm over Senator Sanders continued spreading on social media throughout the afternoon, the Women's Convention put out a statement on its Instagram page, suggesting that the organizers' hand was forced, in part, by scheduling conflicts.

'We all know how busy women leader are, and we are grateful for the support of women like Secretary Clinton along with Senators Harris, Warren and Gillibrand,' the press release read, in part. 'Although their schedules did not allow them to join us in Detroit the weekend of October 27, they will be fighting for our shared values, as they do every day.'
Jeffery Samuel Picklesimer, 26, was allegedly found with heroin in his possession on October 2 while he waited for his girlfriend to be released from prison

A 26-year-old man was found with heroin in his possession while he waited for his girlfriend to be released from jail, police said.

Jeffery Samuel Picklesimer was arrested on charges of delivery/manufacture of narcotics less than 50 grams.

A deputy spotted a 2003 Buick with all windows rolled down in the east parking lot of the Livingston County Jail at about 11.40pm on October 2, according to reports.

Picklesimer was reportedly found 'passed out' in the fully-reclined driver's seat of the vehicle.

The deputy shined his flashlight into the car but there was no response until he activated the flashlight's strobe function.

'He appeared to be sweating, despite (temperatures) below 60 degrees,' Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy told the Detroit Free Press.

A deputy spotted a 2003 Buick with all windows rolled down in the east parking lot of the Livingston County Jail, pictured above, at about 11.40pm. Picklesimer was reportedly found 'passed out' in the fully-reclined driver's seat of the vehicle

Picklesimer's vehicle was searched and officials found several empty 'bindles' of heroin in the car and five full bindles in the man's wallet

Picklesimer told the deputy he was 'just sleeping in the lot waiting to pick up his girlfriend, who was going to be released from jail', Murphy said.

The vehicle was searched and officials found several empty 'bindles' of heroin in the car and five full bindles in the man's wallet, according to Murphy.

A bindle is a small packet made from folded paper used to hold powdered drugs.

Picklesimer is being held at Livingston County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

He is scheduled to appear in court on October 17.
The hunt is ongoing for the 'Putney pusher', who shoved a woman in front of a bus, as a third man is released without charge after being arrested in Aberdeen.

A 49-year-old man was arrested today in connection with the incident but was released later in the day with no further action.

The 33-year-old victim was pushed in front of the number 430 bus in south west London, which narrowly avoided hitting her as she fell into its path on Putney Bridge on May 5 at around 7.40am.

About 15 minutes after the assault, the jogger came back the other way across the bridge and ignored the woman who tried to speak to him.

The jogger is described as a white man in his 30s, with brown eyes and short brown hair. He was wearing a light grey T-shirt and dark blue shorts with grey trainers at the time of the incident.

Bus driver Oliver Salbris, who narrowly avoided crushing the woman's head, told MailOnline: 'She was in complete shock and crying. She said things like 'What happened' and 'Why? Why? Why?' She asked me ' Why me?'

He said he didn't realise how close she had come to falling under his 12-tonne bus and believed his victim did not know either.

Shock: Oliver Silbris, the bus driver who swerved to avoid the 'Putney Pusher's' woman victim told of her screams afterwards

Mr Salbris said: 'It was only when I saw the video in August that it hit me. Luckily she is OK, but if she had died it would have destroyed my life as well. It was terrible.'

The incident was captured on the security camera of a bus in front of the one being driven by Mr Salbris, but images were only revealed by police three months after the jogger attacked her.

There has since been speculation that the victim may have known her attacker or had been stalked by him.

But Mr Salbris said he did not hear anything from her that would have led him to believe she knew who he was.

He said: 'I don't agree with that or if it can be treated as attempted murder, but maybe assault, I don't know.

'He (the jogger) could have had a bad day and his wife had been upset with himso the first woman he comes across he pushed her.

'She fell on the pavement  did he mean to push her into the road?

'All I can say is that I saw him push her and it was deliberate.

'I can't say or calculate what he wanted to do. I don't know if he meant (to kill) or not.

'But I don't think she even saw him coming. I heard she was probably on her mobile phone and reading something, and minding her own business.'

Probe: Mr Salbris took split second evasive action to avoid crushing the 33-year-old woman to death as he drove his 430 London bus over Putney Bridge. Picture: CCTV images released by police of the 'Putney Pusher' who shoved a woman into a bus on May 5

Hunt: Mr Salbris told MailOnline that he didn't realise how close she had come to falling under his 12-tonne bus and believed his victim did not know either. Pictured: CCTV of the mystery jogger approaching the woman on Putney Bridge

Attack: The incident on May 5 was captured on the security camera of a bus in front of the one being driven by Mr Salbris, but images were only revealed by police three months after the jogger attacked her

Two men, both aged 41, have previously been arrested in connection with the investigation but have since been released without further action.

Detective Sergeant Chris Griffith, leading the investigation, said: 'We are continuing to investigate this incident and follow up leads as and when we receive new information about possible suspects.

He added: 'We are grateful to those who have called in so far. I am also appealing for anyone who recognises the man in the CCTV stills, or with any information that might assist the investigation to contact police or Crimestoppers.'

Anyone with information should call detectives from Wandsworth CID on 020 3276 2606 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Colin Farrell has spoken of his horror at the allegations of sexual harassment and assault made against Harvey Weinstein, and his hope that changes will be made.

The actor, who will next be seen in dark drama The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, described the accounts of abuse as 'atrocious'.

Arriving at the film's premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, he told the Press Association: 'It's horrific, it's just mad.

Colin Farrell, who will next be seen in dark drama The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, described the accounts of abuse as 'atrocious'. Pictured: Farrell on the red carpet at the film's premiere

'I'm just watching it unfold and then tearing myself away from it and realising the horribleness of it all and the wrongdoing, fundamentally, around the whole thing and just wish healing for everyone and that changes are made.

'I hope anyone who was hurt that they have healing, it's just atrocious really.'

In his new film, Farrell plays a surgeon and father to two children who is forced to make a horrific decision after inviting a teenage boy into his home.

The film, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos - who Farrell worked with on The Lobster, took its toll on the star.

More than 30 women have now come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein (pictured), the man once described as 'God' of the film industry

He said: 'I was a bit depressed by the end of this one.

'If you scream into the wind for 14 hours you'll feel insane for at least another seven after that, it will take a while to calm down.'

'If you do this kind of material, that's as bleak as this, I don't want to say the mood on the set was sombre, Yorgos creates an environment that's quite calm, more quiet than any other film set I've worked on, but it's just the tone of the character.

'We shot quite a lot of it in continuity so the story unfolded in you and by the end of it there's a fairly bleak choice that has to be made, and the onus was on my character to make that choice so you bring a little bit of it home with you.'

Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell at The Killing of a Sacred Deer premiere

Asked how he coped with the subject matter, he said: 'I smoked many cigarettes at 3 or 4 in the morning in my pyjamas outside the hotel in Cincinnati.

'Literally I would come out of the hotel and go down this little lane down the side of the hotel to have a cigarette in my pjs and slippers.'

More than 30 women have now come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein, the man once described as 'God' of the film industry.

The accusations, including from some of the world's most famous actresses, range from inappropriate massages to rape.

Weinstein strongly denies the accusations on non-consensual sex against him.

The Killing Of A Sacred Deer is released in UK cinemas on November 2.
Rose McGowan managed to speak out and help take down a powerful executive who, the actress claims, refused to believe that she had been raped because she could not provide him with any proof.

Amazon announced on Thursday evening that Roy Price is 'on leave of absence effective immediately' from the company, less than three hours after McGowan took aim at the 51-year-old executive on Twitter.

The 44-year-old actress, who is one of Harvey Weinstein's more than 30 victims, stated on Twitter that Price had said her rape claims were not credible when she tried to advise him against bailing out Weinstein's company.

He responded by killing the project she was developing for the streaming giant claims McGowan.

Soon after that revelation, a lesbian producer came forward to share her story, stating that in 2015 Price made a number of inappropriate remarks to her while on a business trip at Comic Con, even telling the woman at one point: 'You will like my d***.'

That woman immediately reported his actions and said she has not seen him since, but this appears to be the first time his is being placed on leave by Amazon.

Scroll down for video

New claims: Rose McGowan (above with Amazon studio head Roy Price in June 2016) posted a series on Thursday claiming that Amazon Studio killed her TV series over statements she made about her rapist 'HW'

Getting started: McGowan directed all her tweets at Jeff Bezos, the head of Amazon

Not approved: 'I had already sold a script I wrote to your studio, it was in development. When I heard a Weinstein bailout was in the works,' said McGowan

Manchester madness: That 'dirty Oscar' seems to be a reference to Casey Affleck's Best Actor win for 'Manchester by the Sea' earlier this year

Taking a stand: When McGowan got to work trying to get her script back she learned that the project had been killed, ending her chances of continuing on the series

Positive message: McGowan urged Bezos to 'be the change he wants to see in the world'

Isa Hackett said that she first met price in July of 2015 when the two attended an event at Comic Con, telling The Hollywood Reporter that Price invited her to a party later that evening and they shared a cab to the venue.

It was during that cab ride when Price began to proposition Hackett and speak about how much she would appreciate his genitalia she claims, at which point she informed her co-worker that she was happily married to another woman and had a child.

Then, once they arrived at the party, Hackett, 50, claims that she was talking to executives from the company while Price, who is 51, ran over and loudly said: 'Anal sex.'

Hackett, whose father is famed author Philip K. Dick, said that she told an Amazon executives what happened almost immediately, and since that time has never seen Price at one of her events.

The studio currently produces an television adaptation of her father's series 'The Man In High Castle.'

She also said that an investigation was carried out, but she is unsure what came of it in the end.

'I told the head of your studio that HW raped me. Over & over I said it. He said it hadnt been proven. I said I was the proof,' said McGowan on Thursday in a tweet directed at company founder Jeff Bezos.

'I had already sold a script I wrote to your studio, it was in development. When I heard a Weinstein bailout was in the works.'

She then added: 'I forcefully begged studio head to do the right thing. I was ignored. Deal was done. Amazon won a dirty Oscar.'

Shock: Isa Hackett (above on Friday) said that she first met price in July of 2015 and he harassed her within hours

'HW' is apparently a reference to Harvey Weinstein, whose representative Sallie Hofmeister has said that he client 'unequivocally denies ... any allegations of non-consensual contact.'

Price was by Bezos' side at the Academy Awards in February, so this is a swift fall from grace for the executive.

That is when Amazon won the 'dirty Oscar' McGowan wrote about, which seems to be a reference to Casey Affleck's Best Actor win for 'Manchester by the Sea' earlier this year.

He took home that award despite two women accusing him of sexual harassment, with a clearly perturbed Brie Larson making no effort to hide her displeasure when she was forced to handover the hardware to Casey per tradition as the previous year's recipient of the Best Actress award.

McGowan did not identify Casey by name, but the only other Oscars that Amazon has won are the Best Original Screenplay award for Kenneth Lonergan and Best Foreign Language Film for the Iranian drama 'The Salesman.'

Amazon picked up 'Manchester by the Sea' at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival for a near-record $10 million, and the film ultimately ended up netting the movie industry upstart six Oscar nominations and two wins.

Those accolades came in addition to the impressive worldwide box office of over $75 million, an impressive feat given the very adult subject matter at the center of the film.

Laying low: Bezos (above in 2013) and Amazon have yet to respond to a request for comment on McGowan's tweets

Voicing disgust: McGowan said that she then 'begged studio head to do the right thing' but was ignored, and soon after Amazon won 'a dirty Oscar' (Michelle Williams and Casey Affleck in 'Manchester' above)

It is unclear what role Weinstein played in the funding or sale of Manchester, but he has worked frequently with the film's two leads - Casey and Michelle Williams - as well as the executive producer of the picture Matt Damon.

He did not however have a credited part in the production, and spent last awards season championing his own picture, 'Lion.'

Weinstein Company is developing two new series with Amazon however, one produced by Oscar-winning director and writer David O. Russell and 'The Romanoffs,' which will be Matt Weiner's follow up to his critically acclaimed series 'Mad Men.'

The disgraced executive's name is already being removed from the series.

Amazon said that the studio was 'reviewing our options for the projects we have with The Weinstein Company' earlier this week.

There is a chance that Russell's series could even be cancelled or indefinitely shelved in light of recent events.

Accused harassers: Affleck (rigth) and Price (left) have both been accused of sexual harassment by women they worked with

Winners still: Affleck (left) with his Oscar; Price and Bezos at the 2017 Golden Globe Awards (right)

McGowan did not name the executive she was referencing in her Twitter thread.

The deal between herself and Amazon was never confirmed, but in June 2016 Price did post a photo of himself with McGowan.

'You come talking that trash we'll pull your card. Tough face contest lost to @rosemcgowan #eazye #rosearmy,' wrote Price.

He is now finding himself at the mercy of the #rosearmy himself after the actress' tweets.

'I called my attorney & said I want to get my script back, but before I could, #2 @amazonstudios called to say my show was dead,' claimed McGowan.

That move meant that she was no longer able to take her screenplay to another studio or network in an attempt to develop her work elsewhere, and that Amazon would forever hold the rights.

'I am calling on you to stop funding rapists, alleged pedos and sexual harassers. I love @amazonstudios but there is rot in Hollywood.'

She closed out by stating: 'Be the change you want to see in the world. Stand with truth. #ROSEARMY #Amazon.'

Just a few minutes before she bust out her Twitter thread, McGowan posted a photo of a female samurai and wrote: 'It's on.'

Keeping it covered: Weinstein's daughter was seen arriving back at her home on Thursday

Worries: Lily called authorities after fearing her father might be suicidal on Wednesday

McGowan revealed that she had sold her show to Amazon last September, with the series supposedly an account of her youth growing up as a member of the Children of God.

The actress is not done fighting yet either, and no sooner was Price gone then she took aim at Ryan Gosling, who finally commented on Weinstein's harassment and assault of women on Thursday, one week after the release of the first New York Times story.

'I want to add my voice of support for the women who have had the courage to speak out against Harvey Weinstein,' wrote Gosling on Twitter.

'Like most people in Hollywood, I have worked with him and Im deeply disappointed in myself for being so oblivious to these devastating experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. He is emblematic of a systemic problem.'

He then added: 'Men should stand with women and work together until there is real accountability and change.'

Weinstein Company released Gosling's 2010 film 'Blue Valentine' with Michelle Williams.

McGowan wrote back to Gosling after reading his statement: 'You could at least do us the courtesy of saying our names.'

She later added: 'How will you stand for change? #BEBRAVE'

Selma Blair also took to Twitter on Thursday to throw her support behind McGowan.
Tiffany Cordes, 27, pleaded guilty Thursday to a count of sexual imposition, which under Ohio law is defined as the touching of another persons erogenous area'

A former teacher at an Ohio high school faces up to a year-and-a-half in prison after she admitted to hooking up sexually with a student, it was reported on Thursday.

Tiffany Cordes, 27, pleaded guilty Thursday to a count of sexual imposition, which under Ohio law is defined as the touching of another persons erogenous area.

She was fired from her job as a teacher at Union Local High School in Belmont County, Ohio.

As part of her guilty plea, she is required to register with authorities as a sex offender, according to WTOV-TV.

Cordes was busted after the mother of the victim, an 18-year-old boy, caught him texting with the teacher and contacted police.

The boy told investigators that Cordes admitted to him that she had hooked up with another student.

When police interviewed the other boy, he acknowledged that he and Cordes had hooked up sexually at least once.

The incident took place after the student helped her haul prom supplies in his pickup truck, according to 7News.

Cordes faces up to a year-and-a-half in prison after she admitted to hooking up sexually with a student

She was fired from her job as a teacher at Union Local High School (above) in Belmont County, Ohio

Despite the student being 18 years old, Belmont County Prosecutor Dan Fry said that Cordes violated a position of trust by engaging in sexual behavior with him.

After school administrators became aware of the charges, she was fired and banned from school property.

Cordes is due to be sentenced on October 27.
A former Arkansas death row inmate is a free man after spending more than 16 years in prison for murder.

Rickey Dale Newman was released from the Crawford County jail, after a special prosecutor dropped charges in a 2001 killing, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

Newman was convicted of first-degree murder in the mutilation slaying of Marie Cholette, 46, a fellow transient, at a camp in Van Buren.

Arkansas prosecutors dropped a murder charge against a former death row inmate, Rickey Dale Newman, after courts ruled they couldn't use incriminating statements the man had made in a police interview

Newman was released from Crawford County jail on Wednesday

Arkansas' Supreme Court in 2014 overturned Newman's conviction, citing his intellectual disability and finding that he was incompetent at the time of his trial, and ordering a new one.

Last month the court rejected an attempt by prosecutors to use the police interview in a new trial.

Special prosecutor Ron Fields wrote to the court that, without the confession, there was insufficient evidence against Newman.

'The Supreme Court's opinion will prevent all these incriminating statements from being introduced into evidence at any new trial,' Fields said in his request.

'Without this evidence, it is my belief that sufficient evidence does not exist at this time to retry the case.'

Judge Gary Cottrell granted Fields' request to drop the case on Wednesday.

Newman's lawyer said police took advantage of the man's mental disability despite his saying he couldn't remember killing the woman.

Arkansas' Supreme Court in 2014 overturned Newman's conviction, citing his mental defects, and last month rejected an attempt by prosecutors to use the police interview in a new trial.

Attorney, Julie Brain of Philadelphia, earlier this month had asked the murder charge be dismissed based on Newman's mental incompetency at the time of this trial.

'Mr. Newman has now been incarcerated for over 16 years for a murder that he did not commit,' Brain wrote in an October 2 letter to Crawford County Circuit Court Judge Gary R. Cottrell.

It has been almost five years since the Arkansas Supreme Court found that he was mentally incompetent at the time when he was originally tried and when he gave incriminating statements to police  statements that were the only meaningful evidence against him.

Brain wrote that her letter was in response to a letter from appointed Prosecuting Attorney Ron Fields.

Newman said he's a bit nervous to be free because he has no 'idea what this world is all about.'

Newman said he doesn't know where he'll go, but says he won't stay in the area.
British jihadi Sally Jones was not trying to flee Syria when she was killed by a US drone strike, it has been revealed.

Reports emerged that the White Widow was slain by a predator missile attack on the ISIS capital of Raqqa last night.

The onetime punk rocker from Chatham in Kent, fled to Syria with her son JoJo, now 12, in 2013 before becoming a recruiter for ISIS.

US armed forces chiefs say they will target ISIS 'regardless of origin' amid calls for an investigation into the drone attack that reportedly killed British jihadi Sally Jones

Earlier this year a friend said Jones, who went by the name of Umm Hussain Britaniyah, was desperate to return to the UK but was apparently forced to stay by her husband's comrades, as well as her brainwashed son.

JoJo had been used in sickening propaganda videos for the evil group. A nine-minute ISIS video issued last year appeared to show the boy executing a captured prisoner in a firing squad.

However, it has emerged that the jihadi, 50, had no intention of getting back home and was in fact planning fresh carnage with her ISIS comrades.

An intelligence source told The Sun: 'She was not fleeing anything. She was still very much in the middle of it all.

'There is no evidence at all to suggest she had any interest in coming home.'

The revelation comes after US armed forces chiefs say they will target ISIS 'regardless of origin'

Considered Britain's most-wanted woman, Jones - known as the White Widow - was a recruiter for Islamic State

JoJo, son of British jihadi Sally Jones, was seen executing captured prisoners in a sickening ISIS propaganda video

The joint task force, Operation Inherent Resolve, has refused to confirm whether Jones had been killed in the coalition strike.

Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, Spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), wrote on Twitter: ''Cannot confirm the death of ISIS propagandist Sally Jones as a result of a Coalition Strike. Combined Joint Task Force pursues ISIS, regardless of origin.'

The message of defiance by the OIR comes hours after Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon told Britons fighting for ISIS in Syria they could be hit 'every hour of every day' by an RAF missile.

Mr Fallon issued the stark warning after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn refused to confirm he would have ordered the drone strike which killed the 'White Widow' terrorist.

According to the report, the CIA told the Government in June that the 50-year-old had been killed by a Predator drone that same month. Pictured: How the terrorist was killed in Syria

Mr Cobyn said he wanted terrorists to be apprehended and face trial rather than be subjected to bombing.

Experts tonight warned him he was being 'naive' about the chances of extracting Jones alive from the Syrian war zone.

Speaking at the Foreign Office tonight, Sir Michael said he could not comment on the CIA-ordered hit.

But he said: 'I can confirm that if you are a British national in Iraq or Syria and if you have chosen to fight for Daesh (ISIS), an illegal organisation preparing and inspiring terrorist attacks in our streets, then you have made yourself a legitimate target.

'You run the risk every hour of every day of being on the wrong end of an RAF or US missile.'
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John Bennett has lived at the Barns Farm property in Brotton, Saltburn by the Sea, North Yorkshire, for the past 25 years although he has been unable to sell the 1.3million house after moving to Majorca with his wife Antoinette.

He is now aiming to sell 28,000 raffle tickets at 50 a go, with the winner becoming the new house owner.

Barns Farm in North Yorkshire is being raffled away and anyone can buy a ticket to win the property for just 50

The three-bed property also has eight stables, a barn, a workshop and sits in 18 acres of land

John Bennett (pictured) has lived on the property for 25 years but has moved to Majorca with his wife Antoinette

The 63-year-old businessman said: 'It's nothing for the prize you can win.

'I've had a lot of interest in the property, but it is expensive.

'People from as far as Edinburgh and the Thames Valley have been looking at it for various uses, including a kennels and a glamping site.

'But nobody seemed to be able to get the money together.'

Talking about the property, he said that one of the best features include the coastal and country views.

Mr Bennett said: 'The best thing about the house is the views - from the window you've got both country and sea views - and lots of peace and quiet.

The property has been valued at 1.3million but Mr Bennett has struggled to find a buyer so has now started a raffle

Raffle ticket buyers will have to wait until March to find out whether they have won. The winner will be chosen by a random automated number generator

Mr Bennett said that the views surrounding the property are its best feature. The property is surrounded by country and coastal views

'The most exciting thing is, this could change someone's life for just 50.'

Those hoping to win the property will first have to answer the question: which town on the North East coast has the last remaining pier in Yorkshire?

'There has to be an element of skill involved, so there's a question to answer,' John said.

The lucky winner won't just be getting the three bedroom property, but will also bag themselves 18.6-acres and equestrian facilities comprising of a block with eight stables, a barn and a workshop.

The living room has two sofas and has been finished with an off-white carpet and patterned wallpaper

There is a games room in the house which comes complete with a snooker table

The draw closes in March but can be extended if Mr Bennett does not sell the amount of tickets required.

A local Animal Rescue charity and Children with Cancer will both receive 5,000 from the raffle.

Mr Bennett has decided to pay the solicitor fees to, meaning the cut-price property really is he bargain it appears to be.

The winner will be decided by a random number generator, with second and third place bagging themselves 65 inch and 55 inch TVs.

To enter the competion, click the link here.

There are three bedrooms in the property and are all of a good size. Pictured is one of the guest bedrooms

This is one of the other guest rooms, which has two windows that allow the room to fill up with natural light
They got the bug when the biggest business in their historic market town was threatened with closure.

Then, the doughty residents of Hawes got together, bought out the firm and, 25 years on, its a major success story.

With the undoubted help of Wallace and Gromit, the Wensleydale Creamery hasnt looked back since the day the local management bought out the dairy.

In the intervening years, families in the quaint Yorkshire Dales market town have found that when the authorities want to cut their basic services, they roll up their sleeves and do it themselves.

HawsThe Yorkshire Dales market town of Hawes has been forced to take over running the basic community services to save its rural way of life

A local fills up her car at a petrol station in Hawes, which is being ran by a community group

First they took over the library, then they set up a bus service to replace rural services being axed, and three years ago the Post Office and mail sorting office came under their wing too.

The police station in Hawes shut down almost 20 years ago but the force still has a physical presence in town  thanks to a room in the community building.

And the latest threat to the timeless existence in this idyllic location was the fear that the only petrol station for miles around could be sold to a property developer.

This week the Upper Dales Community Partnership, a not-for-profit company now controlling all these services, stepped in again to secure the lease and ensure residents and tourists can fill up with fuel seven days a week.

The model of community stepping in where private enterprise has failed is being hailed as one for others to follow across rural Britain.

. Locals get on the bus service that is ran by Terry Billingham, a local voluntee

Kathy Haygarth, who is part of a community group, running the library in Hawes

The community partnership employs 18 paid staff as well as 40 volunteers and has an annual turnover of around 350,000.

The Little White Bus service began in May 2011 with one clapped out vehicle and one volunteer driver  John Blackie, a county councillor.

Now it has ten minibuses and one Land Rover and carries 60,000 passengers, both locals and tourists a year.

Hawes Post Office was threatened with closure in 2014 and so the community provided the service in its main library building and took charge of the sorting office.

If we didnt run the sorting office people would have to drive 17 miles to Leyburn if they werent in when a parcel was delivered, said Abbie Rhodes, the community office manager.

Jill McMullon, who is part of a community group, serving a local customer in the post office

The Wensleydale Creamery was facing closure 25 years ago but was bought out by the locals

With the undoubted help of Wallace and Gromit, it hasnt looked back since the day the local management bought out the dairy

Commenting on their success, she said: Everyone is a winner. Services are maintained, employment is created and people dont suffer from losing something important. We are used to looking after ourselves in Yorkshire. If we dont do it no one will do it.

Hawes, which has a population of 1,500, still has a small supermarket and a variety of mainly tourist-related shops and businesses.

The Wensleydale Creamery, which has a turnover of 27million, 200 staff and uses the animated characters on many products, only survived thanks to the DIY approach.

In 1992 Dairy Crest closed the creamery and six months later four ex-managers and a local businessman completed a buy-out.
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A wildlife enthusiast has snapped several once-in-a-lifetime photographs of more than 10,000 birds swooping down to an Alice Springs water hole on Friday morning.

Steven Pearce had less than ten minutes before the murmuration of budgerigars split up into smaller groups and dispersed, but in that small amount of time he managed to snap dozens of images.

He described the stunning view as 'rare [and] unique', and his photographs showcase the agility and the stunning contrast between the bright green feathers and the sandy desert.

A huge flock of thirst budgerigars swoop down to a body of water in the Alice Springs desert before quickly taking flight again

Budgerigars are highly nomadic and respond to heavy rain that brings grasses and abundant seeds, as well as place to drink

Budgerigars are social birds and are most often seen in small groups, although at times they will fly together in huge flocks

Budgies dart across the sky twisting and turning, and making a lot of noise so that they are usually heard before they are seen

Mr Pearce told The Guardian that over the course of the morning, he had seen more than 10,000 birds.

The event was all the more rare because it came after a rare dry spell, and a bird-watching tour guide had told Mr Pearce that a group of birds had been steadily building up in the wet area for days.

It only takes each bird a few seconds to re-hydrate before they fly away quickly to avoid becoming the prey of falcons or kestrels.

'Water is always the limiting factor for all life in the desert, and in dry conditions as the smaller water holes dry up, the budgies are forced to fly to larger water holes,' Mr Pearce explained.

As long as there is enough rain and water for them to drink, budgerigars tend to inhabit the interior of the Australian mainland

After a particularly heavy rainfall, photographer Steven Pearce was lucky enough to see a flock of up to 10,000 budgerigars

After a rare dry spell, thousands upon thousands of budgies formed a flock and all congregated around the same water hole

The sky was thick with bright green as waves of budgerigars flew to the water hole in Alice Springs early on Friday morning

According to the Australian Museum, flocks usually contain between three and 100 birds - making the group of 10,000 photographed by Mr Pearce a hugely rare occurrence.

Budgerigars eat herbs and grass native to the Australian desert such as saltbush, and only gather in larger groups after abundant rainfall.

Mr Pearce saw a similar sight more than five years ago, when he caught the event on video.

Although it is rare, Mr Pearce has seen two occurrences of huge flocks drinking from a desert water hole after a big rainfall

Budgerigars are common and the most numerous parrot species in Australia - they are usually heard before they are seen

'It's also unique because budgies are not exotic, they are such as central part of our culture and even our lingo  budgie smugglers and so on  and this really is peak budgie, the most spectacular form you can see them in,' Mr Pearce said.

He added that larger groups are uncommon because it requires excellent communication and coordination skills to keep a flock of that size together.

Mr Pearce described to The Guardian the noise of thousands of birds swooping and diving in unions as the 'most spectacular' part of the event.

Budgerigars tend to flying flocks of up to a hundred, but do rarely form groups containing thousands if there has been rain

Each bird only drinks from the water hole for a few seconds before flying away again so they are not hunted by larger birds

The twisting, undulating motion of a flock of budgerigars is confusing to their predators, such as the falcon and the kestrel

Budgerigars shelter in trees hollows and bushes during the heat of the day, but they find food and water early in the morning

Mr Pear added that the sound made by the plethora of birds is the most unique part of the experience, considering that the middle of the desert is usually so silent.

And although the photographs make the event look synchronised and smooth, Mr Peace said that some of the birds inevitably crashed into each other.

'It's a pretty unique place to be, not every bird species congregates like this  it requires good communication to gather in large groups,' Pearce said. 'They are cool little things for sure.'

It requires great communication and coordination for so many birds to all drink from the same water hole at the same time

Mr Pearce said that sometimes the budgerigars crashed into trees or each other, because of the sheer size of the huge flock
A state museum in central China has caused an outcry after setting up an exhibition which shows African people in comparison to wild animals.

The hugely popular 'This is Africa' exhibition is being shown in the Hubei Provincial Museum Wuhan, which mainly displays significant relics of historical importance.

The controversy began after one visitor, Edward Duke, posted on Instagram earlier this week a video he recorded while visiting the museum. The user claimed he is Nigerian.

Popular: Gallery exhibit in museum in central China shows Africans alongside wild animals

Comparison: A monkey was framed alongside a man who appears to have a similar expression

Expression: Animal photos were shown alongside with people displaying similar facial poses

Mr Duke wrote: 'The Hubei Provincial Museum put pictures of a particular race next to wild animals why?' Are they the only race to have impoverished looking?'

The video shows the gallery had photos of wild animals, framed alongside those of black-skinned people.

A photo of a lion which appeared to be roaring in the photo was framed alongside the photo of a man with a similar expression.

Another photo shows a chimpanzee with its mouth opened wide and framed alongside a child who appears to have a similar expression.

Many comments on the visitor's post condemned the racist nature of the exhibition although the post has now been taken down from Instagram.



However, it has been re-uploaded on other social media sites including Youtube and Chinese site Weibo.

Instagram post: The video was originally uploaded by Nigerian Instagram user Edward E. Duke

Side-by-side: This gallery photo shows that the child on the left is compared to a wild elephant

Museum display: 'This is Africa' exhibit was intended to provide an artistic interest to visitors

Since the exhibit opened prior to last week's national holidays, it has managed to attract thousands of visitors daily. It portrays the works of Chinese photographer Yu Huiping.

According to Shanghaiist, the museum's director, Fang Qin, commented the 'exhibit is a way of providing a wider range of knowledge to visitors, while enhancing the museum's mission of social education and enriching the cultural life of the masses.'

Yu Huiping intended for the exhibition to highlight his travels in Africa and for visitors to learn about African culture.
Increasing emissions of harmful chemicals are threatening the recovery of the ozone layer, undoing decades of progress.

The new threat comes from chemicals that are predominantly being emitted by China, as the country's industry and economy continues to grow.

The substances are used for everything from paint stripping and agriculture, to the production of pharmaceuticals and PVC.

Researchers say their continued use could delay the closing of the ozone hole by up to 30 years.

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Increasing emissions of harmful chemicals are threatening the recovery of the ozone layer, undoing decades of progress. The new threats come from chemicals that are predominantly being emitted by China, as the country's industry and economy continues to grow (stock)

DICHLOROMETHANE Emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals in places like China are especially damaging. Cold-air surges in East Asia can quickly carry industrial pollution into the tropics, where they are uplifted into the stratosphere. One of the new threats is dichloromethane, a substance with uses varying from paint stripping to agricultural fumigation and the production of pharmaceuticals. The amount of this substance in the atmosphere decreased in the 1990s and early 2000s, but over the past decade has become around 60 per cent more abundant. The team set out to measure air pollution in East Asia to find out where the increase in dichloromethane was coming from and if it could affect the ozone layer. Scientists collected air samples on the ground in Malaysia and Taiwan, in the region of the South China Sea, between 2012 and 2014, and shipped them back to the UK for analysis. Dichloromethane was found in large amounts, and so was dichloroethane, an ozone-depleting substance used to make PVC. Advertisement

Researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) revealed the unexpected and growing danger in a new study, which raises the alarm over ever-increasing emissions.

Thirty years ago, the Montreal Protocol was agreed to phase-out the production of substances destroying the ozone layer.

Chemicals not regulated by the treaty are responsible for the impending environmental disaster.

The substances in question were not considered damaging before as they were generally thought to be too short-lived to reach the stratosphere in large quantities.

But the team's paper shows how they can be carried up into the stratosphere and deplete the ozone layer over time.

Lead researcher Dr David Oram, from UEA's school of Environmental Sciences, said: 'Ozone depletion is a well-known phenomenon and, thanks to the success of the Montreal Protocol, is widely perceived as a problem solved.

'The treaty has helped the layer begin the slow process of healing, lessening the impact to human health from increased exposure to damaging solar radiation.

'But our research shows that increasing emissions of ozone-destroying substances are threatening this recovery.'

Emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals in places like China are especially damaging because of cold-air surges in East Asia, that can quickly carry industrial pollution into the tropics.

Experts collected air samples in Malaysia and Taiwan, in the region of the South China Sea, between 2012 and 2014, and shipped them back to the UK. Dichloromethane was found in large amounts, as shown in this graphic, with darker colours indicating higher concentrations

Thirty years ago, the Montreal Protocol was agreed to phase-out the production of substances destroying the ozone layer. Chemicals not regulated by the treaty are responsible for the impending environmental disaster. This Nasa image shows the growing hole in the ozone layer

It is here that air is most likely to be uplifted into the stratosphere, reaching the ozone layer before they degrade and while they can still cause damage.

One of the new threats is dichloromethane, a substance with uses varying from paint stripping to agricultural fumigation and the production of pharmaceuticals.

The amount of this substance in the atmosphere decreased in the 1990s and early 2000s, but over the past decade has become around 60 per cent more abundant.

The team set out to measure air pollution in East Asia to find out where the increase in dichloromethane was coming from and if it could affect the ozone layer.

The team's paper shows how these chemicals can be carried up into the stratosphere and deplete the ozone layer over time. This image shows a research station in Malaysia whose measurements were used in the study

Data collected from a passenger aircraft that flew over Southeast Asia between December 2012 and January 2014 showed that the substances weren't only present at ground level, shown here coloured by date

Scientists collected air samples on the ground in Malaysia and Taiwan, in the region of the South China Sea, between 2012 and 2014, and shipped them back to the UK for analysis.

They routinely monitor around 50 ozone-depleting chemicals in the atmosphere, some of which are now in decline as a direct consequence of the Montreal Protocol.

Dichloromethane was found in large amounts, and so was dichloroethane, an ozone-depleting substance used to make PVC.

China is the largest producer of PVC, which is used in many construction materials, and its production in the country has increased rapidly in the past couple of decades.

Data collected from a passenger aircraft that flew over Southeast Asia between December 2012 and January 2014 showed that the substances weren't only present at ground level.

The full findings of the study were published today in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
The Canary holiday island of La Palma has recorded dozens of mini-earthquakes over the weekend, scientists report.

More than 40 tremors were recorded in just 48 hours, all between 1.5 and 2.7 on the Richter scale, although they took place at such depth under the sea that residents on the island did not feel them.

It has raised fears the islands' huge Cumbre Vieja volcano could erupt, which some scientists have warned could then collapse into the sea, causing a a mile-high tidal wave that would hit Spain, Britain and the east coast of the US - although leading experts describe this theory as 'rubbish'.

Shaken: More than 40 tremours were recorded in just 48 hours, all between 1.5 and 2.7 on the Richter scale, by seismologists on La Palma in the Spanish Canary Islands

THE QUAKE SWARM The largest of the tremors, which took place at 1pm on Saturday hit 2.7 on the Richter scale and was located at a depth of 17.4miles. In the following hours, another ten tremors were recorded, taking the total of mini-earthquakes until Tuesday to 50, according to the National Geographic Institute (IGN). La Palma is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, and is home to some 86,000 people - a population which increases significantly during tourist season. Like the other Canary Islands, La Palma is volcanic and is considered the most 'active' in the archipelago. The most recent eruption on the island, which saw the Cumbre Vieja - 'Old Summit' - volcano erupt, took place in 1971. Advertisement

The controversial 2013 study by Dr Steven Ward, of the University of California, and Dr Simon Day, of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre at University College London, claimed that if the Cumbre Vieja  an active but dormant volcano  were to erupt, the western flank of the mountain could tumble into the sea.

Writing in Geophysical Research Letters, they said a build-up of groundwater could destabilise a block of rock up to 500 cubic km in size, which could break off, smashing into the sea at up to 350 km an hour (220 mph).

This eruption could cause the landslide, which will unleash a deadly wall of water, initially almost 3,000ft high and several miles wide, to hurtle at speeds of up to 800 km an hour (500 mph).

However, experts have slammed the study as a 'scare'.

'This scare should be consigned to the garbage can once and for all,' wrote Dave Petley in a post for the American Geophysical Union.

He said the phenomenon the researchers studied, known as a flank collapse, would only have generated small waves.

'Previous flank collapses have occurred as a series of distinct events rather than as a single coherent block,' he wrote.

'Each of these could have been able to generate a very large wave, and even a local tsunami. However, they would not have generated a megatsunami.

'There is no reason to believe that a future event will behave differently.'

Professor Iain Stewart the director of the Sustainable Earth Institute at Plymouth University, told Devon Live: 'I'm not going to say it's rubbish - but it hasn't happened since the beginning of civilisation.

Rare: Such seismic activity is not usual on Palma but, experts say, not abnormal

'The short answer is that it's not happened in the last 10,000 years.

'At the moment there is definitely nothing to be disturbed about.'

The largest of the tremors, which took place at 1pm on Saturday hit 2.7 on the Richter scale and was located at a depth of 17.4miles.

In the following hours, another ten tremors were recorded, taking the total of mini-earthquakes until Tuesday to 50, according to the National Geographic Institute (IGN).

La Palma is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, and is home to some 86,000 people - a population which increases significantly during tourist season.

Like the other Canary Islands, La Palma is volcanic and is considered the most 'active' in the archipelago.

The most recent eruption on the island, which saw the Cumbre Vieja - 'Old Summit' - volcano erupt, took place in 1971.

The current event has been dubbed a 'seismic swarm', and while unusual, large numbers of these smaller tremours are not abnormal, the director of the IGN in the Canary Islands, Maria Jose Blanco, told Canarias7.

However, she added that they had 'never recorded a similar swarm' since monitoring began on La Palma.

The IGN and the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands (Involcan) have increased surveillance on the island to monitor the increase in seismic activity.

HOW COMMON ARE MEGATSUNAMIS? In the early 2000s, other researchers started publishing evidence that the Cape Verdes could generate large tsunamis. Others have argued that Spain's Canary Islands have already done so. Simon Day, a senior researcher at University College London has sparked repeated controversy bywarning that any future eruption of the Canary Islands' active Cumbre Vieja volcano could set off a flank collapse that might form an initial wave 3,000 feet high. This, he says, could erase more than nearby islands. Such a wave might still be 300 feet high when it reached west Africa an hour or so later he says, and would still be 150 feet high along the coasts of North and South America. So far, such studies have raised mainly tsunamis of publicity, and vigorous objections from other scientists that such events are improbable. A 2013 study of deep-sea sediments by the United Kingdom's National Oceanography Centre suggests that the Canaries have probably mostly seen gradual collapses. Part of the controversy hangs not only on the physics of the collapses themselves, but on how efficiently resulting waves could travel. In 1792, part of Japan's Mount Unzen collapsed, hitting a series of nearby bays with waves as high as 300 feet, and killing some 15,000 people. On July 9, 1958, an earthquake shook 90 million tons of rock into Alaska's isolated Lituya Bay; this created an astounding 1,724-foot-high wave, the largest ever recorded. Two fishermen who happened to be in their boat that day were carried clear over a nearby forest; miraculously, they survived. These events, however, occurred in confined spaces. In the open ocean, waves created by landslides are generally thought to lose energy quickly, and thus to pose mainly a regional hazard. However, this is based largely on modeling, not real-world experience, so no one really knows how fast a killer wave might decay into a harmless ripple. Advertisement

A spokesperson for Involcan told Canarias7 that 'seismic swarms' are 'absolutely normal' for an active volcano such as Cumbre Vieja.
An asteroid estimated to be up to 100 feet wide made a close shave with Earth today, as it soared past at a distance of just 27,000 miles above the surface  or, as some scientists have put it, 'damn close.'

The house-sized space rock, dubbed asteroid 2012 TC4, is about 30-100 feet (10-30 metres) in size, and flew by at just one-eighth of the distance between Earth and the moon at 06:42 BST (01:42 EST) today.

During its journey, the asteroid narrowly missed communications satellites orbiting 22,236 miles above Earth.

The asteroid will pass 172,000 miles (277,000 km) from the moon later today at 20:19 BST (15:19 EST).

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 were able to assure it made a safe pass today.

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An asteroid estimated to be up to 100 feet wide made a close shave with Earth today, as it soared past at a distance of just 27,000 miles above the surface  or, as some scientists have put it, 'damn close'

NASA'S PLANETARY DEFENSE SYSTEM During the pass, Nasa hoped to use its international network of observatories to recover, track and characterise asteroid 2012 TC4. As it started to approach Earth in the coming months, large telescopes were 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 had the opportunity to test its network of observatories for its planetary defense system, in the event an asteroid did actually hit Earth.

The space agency is yet to confirm that it was able to test the system this morning.

Speaking before the asteroid passed by, Dr Michael Kelly, a scientist working on the Nasa TC4 observation campaign, said: '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 characterise and learn as much as possible about it.

'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.'

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)

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. It is is estimated to be between 10 and 30 metres in size, or nearly the size of a Boeing-737. Following today's pass, 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

ESA scientists tracked the house-sized space rock using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile this summer.

They 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 would pass within one eighth of the moon's distance from the planet.

During the pass, it shaved past Earth at a distance of around 44,000 kilometres (27,300 miles) - far enough out to just miss our geostationary satellites, according to calculations.

'It's damn close,' said Rolf Densing, who heads the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.

This animation depicts the flyby of asteroid 2012 TC4. While scientists are yet to confirm how close it approached, they know for certain it came no closer than 4,200 miles (6,800 kilometers) from Earth. Credit: Nasa/JPL-Caltech

'The farthest satellites are 36,000 kilometres (22,400 miles) out, so this is indeed a close miss,' he said.

'As close as it is right now, I think this prediction is pretty safe, meaning that it will miss.'

If the asteroid did hit Earth, it could have 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.

The asteroid 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

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)

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.'

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).

If it had made impact with Earth's atmosphere, scientists predicted the space rock would burn up before hitting the surface.

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 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

During the pass, Nasa hoped 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.'




Dogs really can smell emotions like fear and happiness in humans, a new study has confirmed.

The research also showed that canines use odours to attune themselves to their owner's mood.

When their owner smells happy, dogs are calmer and more inquisitive around strangers, the study found.

But when their owner gives off a fearful smell, dogs become wary of new people and stick close to their master.

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Dogs can smell emotions like fear and happiness in humans, a new study has found. Research also showed that canines use their noses to attune themselves to their owner's moods (stock image)

THE SWEAT STUDY To test whether a dog's smell can affect its relationship with humans, the researchers, from Naples University in Italy, stored sweat samples from men. Some of the samples were taken while men had watched a happy movie, the Jungle Book, while others were taken while they watched a scary movie - the Shining. The team then separated 40 dogs out into rooms with one of the sweat samples, their owner and a stranger. The 'happy' smell meant dogs were more likely to sniff inquisitively at the stranger in the room. When dogs were placed in a room with the fearful smell, they were more likely to stay close to their owner and show signs of stress. Advertisement

The researchers suggest that dogs are more likely to be happy with a situation if they feel their owner is, while they are more likely to be cautious if their owner is unsettled.

'Dogs have an extraordinary ability to detect airborne odours and not surprisingly their olfactory system is a significant contributor to the regulation of their social relations,' the researchers wrote in the journal animal cognition.

To test whether a dog's smell can affect its relationship with humans, the researchers, from Naples University in Italy, took sweat samples from men.

Some of the samples were taken while the men watched a happy movie - the Jungle Book.

Other samples were taken while the men watched the Shining, a scary movie.

The team then separated 40 dogs out into rooms with their owner, one of the sweat samples and a stranger.

While a fearful person's sweat went largely unnoticed by the humans, it had an intense effect on the behaviour of the dogs, the researchers found.

'The dogs were not only able to detect human emotional chemosignals, but they also affected their behaviour,' study lead author Professor Biagio D'Aniello told the Times.

The 'happy' smell meant dogs were more likely to sniff inquisitively at the stranger in the room.

When their owner smells happy, dogs are calmer and more inquisitive around strangers, the research found. But when their owner gives off a fearful smell, dogs become wary of new people and stick close to their master (stock image)

When dogs were placed in a room with the fearful smell, they were more likely to stay close to their owner and show signs of stress.

Few animals are as highly tuned to the emotions of another species as dogs.

It is still unknown whether this skill is thanks to domestication or if dogs have always had it.

Professor D'Aniello told the Times he is now interested in finding out why the fearful smell makes dogs wary rather than producing an attack or other response.

'We only tested labrador and golden retrievers, which rank very high in sociability and low in aggressiveness,' he said.

'It is possible that other breeds could react differently upon fearful signals.'
The horseshoe-shaped string of active volcanos bounding the Pacific Ocean has lived up to its 'Ring of Fire' name in the past month, sparking mass evacuations in Indonesia and Vanuatu and now setting parts of southwestern Japan on edge.

The 450 or so volcanos that make up the 'Ring of Fire' are an outline of where the massive Pacific Plate is grinding against other plates that form the Earth's crust, creating a 40,000-kilometer (25,000-mile) -long zone prone to frequent earthquakes and eruptions.

Now, the Shinmoedake volcano in southwestern Japan started erupting Wednesday for the first time in about six years.

The horseshoe-shaped string of active volcanos in the Pacific Ocean has lived up to its 'Ring of Fire' name in the past month. Pictured from left to right: Shinmoedake volcano in southwestern Japan on Oct. 12, ; Mount Agung in Bali on Oct. 8,; Manaro volcano on Vanuatu on Oct. 1,.

JAPAN

According to Japanese broadcaster TBS, an ash plume rose 1,700 meters (5,580 feet) from the crater Thursday and ash fell on cities and towns in Miyazaki prefecture.

Videos showed students wearing helmets and masks on their way to an elementary school at the foot of Shinmoedake.

The Japan Meteorological Agency is warning that hot ash and gas clouds known as pyroclastic flows could reach 2 kilometers (1 mile) from the crater.

It raised the volcanic alert level from 2 to 3 on a scale of 5.

Level 3 warns people to not approach the volcano.

Volcanic smoke rises from the Shinmoedake volcano after its eruption in the border of Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, southwestern Japan

BALI

More than 140,000 people fled Mount Agung on the Indonesian island of Bali after its alert status was raised to the highest level on Sept. 22.

Hundreds of tremors daily from the mountain indicate magma is rising inside it, prompting authorities to warn a powerful eruption is possible.

The volcano spewed lava and deadly fast-moving clouds of boiling hot ash, gas and rocks when it last erupted in 1963, killing more than 1,100 people.

A new eruption is likely to kill fewer people because officials have imposed a large no-go zone around the crater but it could paralyze tourism, which many Balinese rely on for their livelihoods.

Above, children play at a beach with Mount Agung volcano seen in the background during sunset in Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia

THE 'RING OF FIRE' The Ring of Fire is a horse-shoe shaped seismic region stretching along the Pacific Ocean coastlines, where the Pacific Plate is grinding against other plates that form the Earth's crust. It loops from New Zealand to Chile, passing through the coasts of Asia and the Americas on the way. And, roughly 90 percent of the worlds earthquakes occur in this belt. The Ring of Fire is also home to roughly 450 volcanoes. In total, the loop makes up a 40,000-kilometer (25,000-mile) -long zone prone to frequent earthquakes and eruptions. Advertisement

Indonesia has more than one tenth of the world's active volcanos and another two are currently erupting.

Sinabung in northern Sumatra is shooting plumes of ash high into the atmosphere nearly daily and Dukono in the Maluku island chain is also periodically erupting.

VANUATU

The entire population of a Pacific island was evacuated in the space of a few days in late September and early October to escape the belching Manaro volcano.

The 11,000 residents of Ambae island were moved by every boat available to other islands in Vanuatu, a Pacific archipelago nation, where they're living in schools, churches and tents.

Officials have since downgraded the volcano's danger level but say the population must wait at least two more weeks to return.

An aerial view of the volcanic cone that has formed in Lake Vui near the summit of Ambae Island, Vanuatu can be seen above

The island's water supply and crops have been affected by volcanic ash and acid rain but most villages were spared major damage.

Previous eruptions of the volcano have lasted a month to six weeks.

The eruption fears come just weeks after a series of powerful earthquakes rocked several locations along the Pacific, one by one in the span of just 24 hours, along the path of the Ring of Fire.

The events had many regions wondering if they could be next.

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit New Zealand late September, followed by temblors off the coasts of Japan (6.1), Vanuatu (6.4), and Indonesia (5.7), experts admitted the Pacific is experiencing 'unusual' seismic activity.
It was first released in 2004, and quickly became the must-have phone thanks to its innovative flip-open screen.

Now, Motorola is reviving its iconic RAZR phone, joining forces with British firm, Binatone, to create the Binatone Blade.

Like the RAZR, the Binatone Blade features a flip-open screen, but costs just 50 ($66)  significantly cheaper than the RAZR, which cost 450 ($600).

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Motorola is reviving its iconic RAZR phone, joining forces with British firm, Binatone, to create the Binatone Blade. Like the RAZR, the Binatone Blade features a flip-open screen, but costs just 50 ($66)  significantly cheaper than the RAZR, which cost 450 ($600)

BINATONE BLADE - Classic apps including alarm and calculator - Games including Snake and Tetris - MP3 player - Support for dual sim cards - Internet access (unclear if 2G, 3G or 4G) - Costs 50 ($66) Advertisement

Binatone, a British telecommunications firm, has been licenced by Moto to create the Binatone Blade based on the Motorola RAZR.

The device is fairly basic, and while it features classic apps including an alarm and calculator, it does not feature social media apps like Facebook or Instagram.

It also has some retro games, including Snake and Tetris.

Other key fetaures include an MP3 player, support for dual-sim cards, and internet access  although it is unclear whether this is 2G, 3G or 4G.

The Motorola Razr was first released in 2004, and quickly became the must-have phone thanks to its innovative flip-open screen

A RECORD-BREAKING PHONE Because of its striking appearance and thin profile, the Razr was initially marketed as an exclusive fashion phone, but it was not until a year later when the price was dropped it became a huge success, selling over 50 million units by July 2006. Over the Razr's four-year run, the V3 model sold more than 130 million units, becoming the best-selling flip-phone in the world to date. Advertisement

In terms of price, the Binatone Blade is significantly cheaper than its predecessor, and costs 50 ($66).

This puts it in direct competition with Nokia's recently-revived 3310, which costs 41 ($54).

Binatone sees the phone being used by people hoping to get away from social media.

Speaking to Sun Online, Dino Lalvani, Binatone's chairman said: 'It's a fact of life that most of us now carry two mobile phones.

'Whether it's a work/home split, a second phone for holidays and festivals or just a temporary device to give to the kids for sleep-overs, we just don't have a single mobile anymore.

Because of its striking appearance and thin profile, the Razr was initially marketed as an exclusive fashion phone, but it was not until a year later when the price was dropped it became a huge success, selling over 50 million units by July 2006

The phone is in direct competition with Nokia's recently-revived 3310, which costs 41 ($54)

'We developed the Blade with this in mind, making sure it was a small, slim and light as possible, without compromising on battery life.'

The Binatone Blade is expected to be available in November.
It was the romantic match that captured the hearts of the nation but, for Jeremy the lefty snail, the days of chasing love are sadly over.

A rare mutation meant Jeremys shell coiled from left to right - making sex with a common snail impossible because his genitals were on the wrong side.

The gallant 'lefty' gastropod, however, finally found another 'lefty' to start a family with a former love rival, becoming a father to around 100 tiny snail babies.

But the news was tinged with sadness as scientists, fascinated by his discovery in a London compost heap last year, said the snail died shortly afterwards.

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It was the romantic match that captured the hearts of the nation but, for Jeremy the lefty snail, the days of chasing love are sadly over. The gallant gastropod (pictured) with a one in a million genetic anomaly has died

SNAIL LOVE Snails are hermaphrodites so can reproduce on their own without the need for another mate. But the molluscs only do this in the absence of a suitable mate, preferring to hook up with another snail. Researchers say the data from offspring of two lefty snails would also be far more valuable for genetic studies. Advertisement

In June, researchers at the University of Nottingham had almost given up on Jeremy's chances for children, after he was bested in a love triangle in June.

Jilted Jeremy was matched with two other rare snails, Lefty and Tomeau in hopes that they would create babies with the same swirls.

Despite some initial interest between Jeremy and Lefty, he ended up taking on the role of uncle to her offspring with Tomeau instead.

Last week, however, a group of tiny youngsters hatched after, in a plot twist worthy of a soap opera, the lovelorn mollusc finally found a mate in his former love rival Tomeau.

The shells of Jeremy's progeny were right-coiled, but the Nottingham team say that is to be expected.

A further six further 'sinistrals', or 'lefties', have been located as part of public search for the rare creatures, since the original trio were matched.

It is believed old age killed the two year old Jeremy.

Speaking to MailOnline Jeremy's minder, Dr Angus Davison, an evolutionary geneticist at the university, said: 'The scientist in me has tried to remain dispassionate about the saga of Jeremys lovelife, because I am mostly interested in the underlying science.

'I was still quite disappointed and shocked yesterday when I found that Jeremy had died, especially coming so soon after the offspring had hatched.

'On the other hand, if it had not been for the help of the public, then we would not have got this far and Jeremy would likely never have found a mate.

'Now that Jeremy has finally produced offspring, we can get on with the slow process of finding out what it is that makes lefty snails, why they are so rare and whether this can tell us anything about our own internal organ asymmetries.'

Jeremy was rescued from a compost heap in London.

Researchers at the University of Nottingham had almost given up on Jeremy's (pictured top) chances for children, after he was bested in a love triangle in June this year. Jilted Jeremy was matched with two other rare snails, Lefty and Tomeau, who instead mated with each other

All is not lost, however, as Jeremy left behind a healthy 'escargatoire' - that's a group of snails, for the uninitiated - of offspring to preserve his genetic legacy. In plot twist worthy of a soap, the former love rivals then went on to mate together (pictured)

After discovering his shell swirled the 'wrong' way compared to other snails, scientists put out a call in October 2016 to find the mollusc a mate to preserve his genetic legacy.

The search turned up Lefty in Ipswich and Tomeau, who was flown into the UK from a snail farm in Majorca.

The threesome was given to the University of Nottingham, who believe that studying the genetic variations which cause the unique shell formations may shed light on a rare heart condition in humans.

The shells of Jeremy's progeny (pictured) were right-coiled, but the Nottingham team say that is to be expected. They are hopeful that future generations will share their parents unique genetic inheritance

A further six further 'sinistrals', or 'lefties', have been located as part of public search for the rare creatures, since the original trio were matched. This image shows the offspring in closeup, their tiny size highlighted by a nearby ballpoint pen

Lefty and Tomeau began to produce eggs in April, although none of the offspring so far has shared the left-swirls of their parents.

The Nottingham team are hopeful that left-coiled offspring will be produced in future generations.

Scientists believe the snail's unique swirls are related to a condition called dextrocardia, in which patients have their heart on the wrong side of their chest.

The same genes are believed to cause snails' shells to twist round the wrong way.

Lefty and Tomeau began to produce eggs in April (left) and have already had 170 babies (hatching right), although none of the offspring so far has shared the left-swirls of their parents

DEXTROCARDIA Scientists believe the snail's unique swirls are related to a condition called dextrocardia, in which patients have their heart on the wrong side of their chest. The same genes are believed to cause snails' shells to twist round the wrong way. They hope is that by mating two 'left-handed' snails, scientists can zero in on the genes responsible for their altered body plan. This may also shed light on the heart condition, which is thought to affect one in 10,000 people. Advertisement

They hope is that by mating two 'left-handed' snails, scientists can zero in on the genes responsible for their altered body plan.

This may also shed light on the heart condition, which is thought to affect one in 10,000 people.

Snails are hermaphrodites so can reproduce on their own without the need for another mate.

But the molluscs only do this in the absence of a suitable mate, preferring to hook up with another snail.

Researchers say the data from offspring of two lefty snails would also be far more valuable for genetic studies.

Speaking at the time, Dr Davison said: 'Ultimately, if the difference is due to an inherited condition, we would try to find the gene responsible and to see if the same gene is also present, and perhaps has the same function, in other animals, including ourselves.'
Human skin colour varies hugely, and it is often used define race.

But this is a dated notion, according to the first large-scale study of the genetics of skin colour in Africans.

The study found eight genetic variants in four regions of the human genome that strongly influence skin colour.

Humans around the world share these genes, and they were even present in our ancient ancestors at least 900,000 years.

According to one researcher involved in the study, the research'dispels a biological concept of race' that is now outdated.

The findings could also help to explain why some people are more prone to skin cancer, and could even be used to develop new treatments for the disease.

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The study found 8 genetic variants in four regions of the human genome that influence skin colour. Humans around the world share these genes, and they were even present in our ancient ancestors at least 900,000 years. This graphic shows three of the main ones

HOW WAS IT DONE? To capture the range of skin pigmentation in Africa, the researchers used a colour meter to measure the light reflectance of the skin. They did this for more than 2,000 Africans from ethnically and genetically diverse populations. They took the measurement from the inner arm, when sun exposure is minimal. The measurements can be used to infer levels of the skin pigment melanin. They obtained a range of measurements; the darkest skin was observed in Nilo-Saharan pastoralist populations in eastern Africa, and the lightest skin was observed in San hunter-gatherer populations in southern Africa. The researchers also obtained genetic information from nearly 1,600 people, examining more than 4 million single nucleotide polymorphisms across the genome. These are places where the DNA code may differ by one 'letter.' From this dataset the researchers found four key areas of the genome where variation closely correlated with skin color differences. Advertisement

While the average diversity is higher in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else, few DNA studies have been carried out in the region.

Instead, most previous studies have focused on skin variation among Europeans.

Now, researchers from the National Human Genome Research Institute in Maryland have sequenced the genomes of over 1,600 people from the region, shedding new light on human evolution.

They also used a colour metre to measure the light reflectance of the skin from 2,092 participants.

Measurements were taken from the inner arm, where sun exposure is minimal, and can be used to infer levels of the skin pigment melanin.

Professor Sarah Tishkoff, one of the researchers who worked on the study, said: 'We have identified new genetic variants that contribute to the genetic basis of one of the most strikingly variable traits in modern humans.

'When people think of skin colour in Africa most would think of darker skin, but we show within Africa there is a huge amount of variation, ranging from skin as light as some Asians to the darkest skin on a global level and everything in between.'

The research dispels a biological concept of race, D. Tishkoff said told the New York Times.

Researchers found genetic variants and mutations influencing light and dark skin have been around since before the origin of modern humans.

Senior research scientist Alessia Ranciaro measures the skin reflectance of a man from a Nilo-Saharan group. Members of this population tend to have very dark skin pigmentation

The gene associated with light skin colour (SLC24A5) was common in populations in Ethiopia and Tanzania which is also known to play a role in light skin colour in European and some southern Asian populations.

The results suggest the gene, which is more than 30,000 years old, was carried into Africa from those regions.

The gene associated with dark skin pigmentation (MFSD12) was present at high frequencies in populations of Nilo-Saharan ancestry as well as across sub-Saharan populations, except the San, who tend to have lighter skin.

They also identified these variants, as well as others associated with dark skin pigmentation, in South Asian Indian and Australo-Melanesian populations, who tend to have the darkest skin coloration outside of Africa.

Mutations behind dark pigmentation were common among those with Nilo-Saharan ancestry as well as across sub-Saharan people - except the San. Pictured is a man with Nilo-Saharan ancestry who was not involved in the study

Human skin colour varies hugely, and a new study suggests that our wide-ranging tones are caused by mutations that date back millions of years (stock image)

'The origin of traits such as hair texture, skin colour and stature, which are shared between some indigenous populations in Melanesia and Australia and some sub-Saharan Africans, has long been a mystery', Dr Tishkoff said.

'Some have argued it's because of convergent evolution, that they independently evolved these mutations, but our study finds that, at genes associated with skin colour, they have the identical variants associated with dark skin as Africans.'

This data is consistent with the proposed early migration event of modern humans out of Africa along the southern coast of Asia and into Australo-Melanesia.

However, it is also possible that there was a single African source population that contained genetic variants associated with both light and dark skin.

Researchers believe the variants associated with dark pigmentation could have been maintained only in South Asians and Australo-Melanesians and lost in other Eurasians due to natural selection

WHAT DID THEY FIND? Scientists look at the skin colours and genomes of almost 2,000 ethnically and genetically diverse Africans living in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Botswana. The study found eight genetic variants in four regions of the human genome that strongly influence skin colour. Here are some of the main ones: SLC24A5 - the gene associated with light skin colour The region with the strongest associations was in and around the SLC24A5 gene. This one variant of which is known to play a role in light skin colour in European and some southern Asian populations. It is believed to have arisen more than 30,000 years ago. This variant was common in populations in Ethiopia and Tanzania that were known to have ancestry from southeast Asia and the Middle East. The results suggest it was carried into Africa from those regions. MFSD12 - the gene associated with dark skin pigmentation This gene was present at high frequencies in populations of Nilo-Saharan ancestry, who tend to have very dark skin, as well as across sub-Saharan populations, except the San, who tend to have lighter skin. They also identified these variants, as well as others associated with dark skin pigmentation, in South Asian Indian and Australo-Melanesian populations, who tend to have the darkest skin coloration outside of Africa. OCA2, and HERC2 - gene variants associated with light skin This was at highest frequency in the African San population, which has the oldest genetic lineages in the world, as well as in Europeans. One additional takeaway from this work is a broader picture of the evolution of skin colour in humans. Most of the genetic variants associated with light and dark pigmentation from the study appear to have originated more than 300,000 years ago, and some emerged roughly 1 million years ago, well before the emergence of modern humans. The older version of these variants in many cases was the one associated with lighter skin, suggesting that perhaps the ancestral state of humans was moderately pigmented rather than darkly pigmented skin. Advertisement

The team also found genetic variants at MFSD12, OCA2, and HERC2 associated with light skin pigmentation were at highest frequency in the African San population.

This has one of the oldest genetic lineages in the world and is also found in Europeans.

The older version of these variants in many cases was the one associated with lighter skin, suggesting that perhaps the ancestral state of humans was moderately pigmented rather than darkly pigmented skin.

'If you were to shave a chimp, it has light pigmentation so it makes sense that skin colour in the ancestors of modern humans could have been relatively light', said Dr Tishkoff.

It is likely that when we lost the hair covering our bodies and moved from forests to the open savannah, we needed darker skin.

'Mutations influencing both light and dark skin have continued to evolve in humans, even within the past few thousand years.'

A Ju/'hoansi individual of the San who was not part of the study. The lightest skin was observed in San hunter-gatherer populations in southern Africa

The darkest skin was observed in Nilo-Saharan pastoralist populations in eastern Africa, and the lightest skin in San hunter-gatherer populations in southern Africa. Pictured is a San hunter-gatherer man who was not involved in the study

ANCESTORS OF MODERN HUMANS HAD FAIRER SKIN THAN THOUGHT Most of the genetic variants associated with light and dark pigmentation from the study appear to have originated more than 300,000 years ago, and some roughly one million years ago, well before the emergence of modern humans. The older version of these variants in many cases was the one associated with lighter skin. Professor Tishkoff explained: 'If you were to shave a chimp, it has light pigmentation, so it makes sense skin colour in the ancestors of modern humans could have been relatively light. 'It is likely when we lost the hair covering our bodies and moved from forests to the open savannah, we needed darker skin. 'Mutations influencing both light and dark skin have continued to evolve in humans, even within the past few thousand years.' Advertisement

They also found that in most cases the genetic variants associated with light skin arose in Africa.

Darker skin helps prevent damage caused by the sun, while lighter skin is better able to promote synthesis of vitamin D in regions where exposure to ultaviolet light is low.

Professor Tishkoff said: 'Skin colour is a classic variable trait in humans, and it is thought to be adaptive.

'Analysis of the genetic basis of variation in skin colour sheds light on how adaptive traits evolve, including those that play a role in disease risk.'

One of the key genes that the researchers identified, known as DDB1, is involved in repairing DNA after exposure to UV light.

Professor Tishkoff said: 'Africans don't get melanoma very often.

'The variants near these genes are highest in populations who live in areas of the highest ultraviolet light intensity, so it makes sense that they may be playing a role in UV protection.'

The mutations identified by the team play a key role in regulating expression of DDB1 and other nearby genes.

Professor Tishkoff said: 'Though we don't yet know the mechanism by which DDB1 is impacting pigmentation, it is of interest to note that this gene, which is highly conserved across species, also plays a role in pigmentation in plants such as tomatoes.'

This is a Mursi woman of Nilo-Saharan ancestry. Nilo-Saharan pastoralist populations possess some of the darkest skin in Africa

Genetic information was also gathered from nearly 1,600 of the participants, examining more than four million mutations (stock image)
The mystery of how Easter Island came to be inhabited looks set to remain unsolved, after DNA analysis revealed Native Americans did not help to populate the island.

Archaeologists have suggested that sea travel between Polynesia and the Americas was plausible, leading to the intermingling of these cultures in its early history.

The latest study suggests that European explorers who arrived at the island, known indigenously as Rapa Nui, in the 18th century brought South Americans with them.

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The mystery of how Easter Island came to be inhabited looks set to remain unsolved, after DNA analysis revealed Native Americans did not help to populate the island. Archaeologists have previously suggested people from Polynesia and the Americas intermingled in its early history

DNA EVIDENCE OF INTERMIXING Questions surrounding Pacific islanders' contact with South Americans are hotly debated among anthropologists. An earlier study found genetic traces of early inhabitants of the Americas in present-day indigenous residents of Easter Island. Those researchers posited that the intermixing most likely occurred between 1280 and 1425 AD. This is the first study to use paleogenomic analysis to directly test that hypothesis, with the results placing the date of intermixing after 1722 AD. Each sample, which had been used in a previous study, yielded less than 200 milligrams of usable material. Three of the individuals lived prior to European contact, and two lived after. Advertisement

Researchers from UC Santa Cruz analysed bone fragments from the ancient skeletal remains of five people, which were excavated in the 1980s and became part of the Kon-Tiki Museum's collection in Oslo.

Some experts believe the island was inhabited from 300 to 400 AD onwards, while others put this date closer to 700 to 800 AD.

Ethnographers, including 20th Century Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, have noted the similarity between the Rapa Nui people and Native American tribes on the landmass' southern continent.

And DNA from South American tribes can be found in the island's modern population.

But, by comparing the five samples, the team now believes this was introduced with the arrival of Europeans on the island in 1722 AD.

Lars Fehren-Schmitz, associate professor of anthropology at the university, said: 'We were really surprised we didn't find anything.

'There's a lot of evidence that seems plausible, so we were convinced we would find direct evidence of pre-European contact with South America, but it wasn't there.'

'This study highlights the value of ancient DNA to test hypotheses about past population dynamics.

'We know the island's modern populations have some Native American ancestry, and now we know that early inhabitants did not. So the big questions remain: Where and when did these groups interact to change the genetic signature of Easter Islanders?'

Exactly who the people were that originally travelled to the island, located nearly 1,300 miles (2,100 km) from the nearest inhabited island and 2,200 miles (3,500 km) from central Chile on the nearest continent of South America, remains a mystery.

Polynesian tribespeople are believed to be responsible but nothing more, other than the islander's legends and stories, is known about them.

Questions surrounding Pacific islanders' contact with South Americans are hotly debated among anthropologists.

An earlier study found genetic traces of early inhabitants of the Americas in present-day indigenous residents of Easter Island.

Those researchers posited that the intermixing most likely occurred between 1280 and 1425 AD.

This is the first study to use paleogenomic analysis to directly test that hypothesis, with the results placing the date of intermixing after 1722 AD.

DNA from South American tribes can be found in the island's modern population. The latest study suggests that European explorers who arrived at the island, known indigenously as Rapa Nui, in the 18th century brought South Americans with them

Researchers from UC Santa Cruz, including Lars Fehren-Schmitz (pictured) analysed bone fragments from the ancient skeletal remains of five people to make the discovery

Each sample, which had been used in a previous study, yielded less than 200 milligrams of usable material.

Three of the individuals lived prior to European contact, and two lived after.

Slavery, whaling, mass deportations, and other activities that followed European contact gave rise to opportunities for intermixing that likely left the genetic imprint seen in islanders today.

'The most likely scenario is that there wasn't a single episode,' Dr Fehren-Schmitz added, acknowledging that his results answer one question but leave many others unanswered.

'The story is simply more complicated than we expected.'

The full findings of the study were published todya in the journal Current Biology.

As well as their origins, there are also conflicting theories on what caused the downfall of the Rapa Nui civilisation.

WHAT ARE THE MOAI? The Moai are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island, between 1,250 and 1,500 AD. All the figures have overly-large heads and are thought to be living faces of deified ancestors. The 887 statues gaze inland across the island with an average height of 13ft (four metres). All but 53 of the Moai were carved from tuff , compressed volcanic ash, and around 100 wear red pukao of scoria. In 1979 archaeologists said the statues were designed to hold coral eyes. The figures are believed to be symbol of authority and power. They may have embodied former chiefs and were repositories of spirits or 'mana'. They are positioned so that ancient ancestors watch over the villages, while seven look out to sea to help travellers find land. But it is a mystery as to how the vast carved stones were transported into position. Advertisement

Some claim the first Dutch ship to arrive in 1722 brought illness and that, as they died in huge numbers, the islanders lost their faith in the protection of the Moai and knocked them over.

What we do know is that ships passing between 1862 and 1864 kidnapped up to 3,500 Rapa Nui from the already-dwindling population.

These included all the elders who could read glyphs known as Rongorongo and who passed on the tradition.

They were used as slaves in Peruvian mines and just two survived long enough to return to the island, bringing yet more disease with them.

By 1868, there were just 111 Rapa Nui left.

Today's population of about 4,000 Rapa Nui stems from those 111 people.

As well as their origins, there are also conflicting theories on what caused the downfall of the Rapa Nui civilisation (Easter island pictured)
Google is to kill off a key feature of its new $49 smart home speaker after it was revealed a design flaw meant that the gadget was constantly monitoring and recording some user's speech.

The Home Mini is meant to bring the convenience of the firm's smart assistant to any room at an affordable price, but it may have been doing more than just that.

Android Police founder Artem Russakovskii first uncovered the bug, which relates to the long-press gesture function built into the Home Mini.

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Privacy is a growing concern in an increasingly connected world and a design flaw with Google's latest smart speaker may ring alarm bells for some. Users have uncovered a quirk in some models which means that the gadget is constantly monitoring their speech (stock)

HOME MINI SPEAKER Google launched the Home Mini, along with a raft of new products, at an official unveiling event last week. The 49 ($49) speaker is made out of fabric which Google says it developed itself. It has four hidden LED lights used to communicate, and users can also tap it to pause music. It has a 360 degree speaker, and will come in three colours - coral, grey and charcoal. It is 60 ($80) less than the original Home speaker, and the same price as Amazon's Echo Dot. Advertisement

Google initially planned to fix the issue, but has now decided to kill the switch off.

"We take user privacy and product quality concerns very seriously,' a spokesperson said.

'Although we only received a few reports of this issue, we want people to have complete peace of mind while using Google Home Mini.

"We have made the decision to permanently remove all top touch functionality on the Google Home Mini.

'As before, the best way to control and activate Google Home Mini is through voice, by saying 'Ok Google' or 'Hey Google,' which is already how most people engage with our Google Home products.

'You can still adjust the volume by using the touch control on the side of the device.'

The switch had let users bring up the smart assistant with the touch of a button, activating voice commands.

Mr Russakovskii found that, due to what Google has called 'phantom touches', the Home Mini was in a constant state of anticipation, listening for and awaiting verbal instructions.

While this in itself is a fairly minor inconvenience, it has major implications for the privacy of users and could, in theory, let Google monitor everything that is said in your home.

This information is also transmitted to the Mountain View firm's servers, raising the possibility of the information being recorded.

The Home Mini (pictured) is meant to bring the convenience of the firm's smart assistant to any room at an affordable price, but it may have been doing more than just that

Writing in Android Police, he said: 'Without fail, every time a new listening device comes to market, some tinfoil hat-wearer points out how perfect they would be as modern-day Trojan horses for any of the three-letter acronym organizations - NSA, CIA, FBI - you name it.

'I didn't give too much thought to these privacy concerns because they all sounded theoretical and unlikely.

'[But[ the Mini was behaving very differently from all the other Homes and Echos in my home.

'It was waking up, recording, then sending those recordings to Google.

'All of this was done quietly, with only the four lights on the unit I wasn't looking at flashing on and then off.'

Android Police founder Artem Russakovskii first uncovered the bug, which relates to the long-press gesture function built into the Home Mini. A flaw led to what Google called 'phantom touches', with the device constantly monitoring and recording voice activity (pictured)

Google was quick to address the problem and has since issued a software update disabling the device's touch button, until a more permanent solution can be found.

This means the Home Mini will effectively ship without a touch function.

Speaking to MailOnline, a spokesman said: 'We learned of an issue impacting a small number of Google Home Mini devices that could cause the touch mechanism to behave incorrectly.

'We rolled out an update on October 7 to mitigate the issue, before Google Home Mini is shipped to anyone in the UK.'

Google launched the Home Mini, along with a raft of new products, at an official unveiling event last week.

Speaking at the event Isabelle Olsson, a senior industrial designer for Google, said: 'It's small enough to be placed anywhere in the home.

'The home is a special intimate place, form and size really matter, and you should never have to think about how you interact with it.'

The 49 ($49) speaker is made out of fabric which Google says it developed itself.

It has four hidden LED lights used to communicate, and users can also tap it to pause music.

It has a 360 degree speaker, and will come in three colours - coral, grey and charcoal.

It is 60 ($80) less than the original Home speaker, and the same price as Amazon's Echo Dot.
Ukrainian military officials have unveiled an adaptable war robot that can switch up its mode of travel, and even the type of weapons it carries.

The Phantom ground robot can be fitted with tank-like treads, or move about on six wheels  and, it can carry anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers, or machine guns, according to DefenseOne.

The robot was demonstrated on Monday at the Association of the US Army show in Washington, D.C., and could hit the battlefield as soon as next year.

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Ukrainian military officials have unveiled an adaptable war robot that can switch up its mode of travel, and even the type of weapons it carries. According to its creators, it could be used to transport ammunition, perform combat missions, or even rescue wounded soldiers

Phantom, also sometimes referred to as Fantom, can drive up to 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) at a time, at a maximum speed of 38 kilometers per hour.

The multipurpose vehicle is remotely operated, and has day and night sighting systems that can fire up to a distance of over a kilometer (.6 miles).

It can be operated remotely using a secure radio channel, or using a 5 kilometer-long fiber cable.

According to its creators, it could be used to transport ammunition, perform combat missions, or even rescue wounded soldiers from the battlefield.

'Unmanned multipurpose tactical vehicle 'Phantom' is a response to the challenges of technological era, pressing its demands to creating entirely new armament types: unmanned, multi-functional and capable of performing tasks that are now performed by soldiers only, endangering their lives,' Roman Romanov, head of the SC 'UkrOboronProm,' said of the technology last year.

'These are the characteristics demonstrated by 'Phantom.'

Phantom, also sometimes referred to as Fantom, can drive up to 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) at a time, at a maximum speed of 38 kilometers per hour.

The Phantom ground robot can be fitted with tank-like treads, or move about on six wheels  and, it can carry anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers, or machine guns, according to DefenseOne

According to officials at the demonstration this week, the new ground bot could be used in combat against Russian-backed forces, Defense One reports.

Russia also has ground robots  but, they've not yet indicated that it is ready to deploy the machines.

'What's interesting about the Ukrainian conflict is that it's the Ukrainian side that is developing unmanned systems it thinks will help it fight,' Samuel Bendett, an associate research analysed with the center for Naval Analyses' International Affairs Group, told DefenseOne.

'Phantom is one such machine.'

US ARMY TESTING SELF-DRIVING MILITARY TRUCKS The US Army plans to test the trucks in automated mode along the Blue Water Bridge in Michigan. 'We also want the Army vehicles to drive themselves,' Paul Rogers, head of research for the Army, told CBS Detroit . 'You're crossing a steel girder bridge and you look for the different radar reflections, whether or not your system gets confused or not,' Mr Rogers said. The US Army is thought to be keen to make use of autonomous trucks to help free up its personnel for other roles while also allowing it to send unmanned vehicles into dangerous areas. Attacks on vehicles and convoys are a common cause of casualties in war zones while accidents also contribute to military fatalities. According to the Times Herald of Port Huron, the test on the Interstate 69 highway in Michigan will be the first time the army has taken its self-driving vehicles onto public roads. Advertisement

The US has also tested weaponized ground robots in recent years.

This past spring, it was revealed that researchers have quietly been testing roughly 50 robots at the Navy's Camp Pendleton base in California.

Using high-tech drones and weaponised robots on the front line could help protect the lives of soldiers, the US Navy said.

Among the new weapons are robots armed with machine guns that can storm beaches as a first line of assault.

The Navy is also testing speedboats that can transform into stealthy submarines to hide from threats.
The 'king of horses' has been born in America leaving veterinarians horrified at the increase of extreme breeding where horses are bred to have concave faces, creating 'cartoon-like' animals.

El Rey Magnum, an Arabian show horse, is said to be at risk of breathing problems because of his unnatural face. His parents have similarly concave faces.

Owners have said he is worth millions of pounds, but pedigree horses bred to have a concave face has been described as horrific by veterinary experts.

The colt is the latest example of extreme breeding, more usually seen in cats and dogs, and is the subject of an article in a British journal condemning the practice.

El Rey Magnum's father Basilio, pictured, also has an unnatural look. Arabian show horses must have a dished, or concave, face as well as a long, arching neck and high tail

Pedigree horses bred to have a concave face, pictured, has been described as horrific by veterinary experts.

An annual Arabian horse auction is held in Poland where horses, pictured, can be sold for 1.4million euros

Equine expert Tim Greet said: The deformity is even more significant for a horse than for a dog.

Dogs, like man, can mouth-breathe, but horses can only breathe through their nose. I suspect exercise would definitely be limited for this horse.

The owners of El Rey Magnum, at a specialist horse farm in the US, have defended the appearance of their nine-month-old colt, which resembles cartoon horses in Disney films Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin.

However, Jonathan Pycock, president of the British Equine Veterinary Association, said: This is incredible  its almost cartoon-like. Quite freakish.

The Arabian horse pedigrees, pictured, dates back around 3,000 years. Devon, pictured, was also bred on Regency Cove Farms

Example of extreme breeding, more usually seen in cats and dogs, can often be seen in the Arabian horse pedigree like Apalo, pictured, grandfather to El Rey Magnum

An Arabian Class 9 Mare, pictured, is paraded during the Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship

Writing in the Veterinary Record, the horse reproduction expert added: The problem comes when you breed for particular looks and when those looks are detrimental to the horses health. In my book, that is fundamentally wrong. This is a worrying development.

The Arabian horse pedigrees dates back around 3,000 years. Horses must have a dished, or concave, face as well as a long, arching neck and high tail.

The Arabian horse pedigrees, pictured, dates back around 3,000 years. Horses must have a dished, or concave, face as well as a long, arching neck and high tail

Veterinarians say that extreme breeding, typically seen in cats and dogs, are making horses look like cartoon characters

Doug Leadley, manager of Orrion Farms in Washington, which owns the horse, said he had no breathing problems, adding: We think he is the most beautiful Arabian in the world  we think he is a king.

Regency Cove Farms, in Oklahoma, which bred the horse, said he had been bred to be a very unique animal which was a little bit different.

But Roly Owers, an equine vet and chief executive of the World Horse Welfare charity, said: In a word, this looks horrific.

This appears to be breeding in a weakness that could severely affect future generations  and if there is not a restriction to the airway in this animal already, then there will be in future generations.

However, Wayne McIlwraith, director of the musculoskeletal research programme at Colorado State University, said there was no evidence that the skull shape caused breathing problems.
A radical new 'negative emissions' power plant has begun operations in Iceland.

The EU-backed project at one of the world's largest geothermal power plants in Hellisheidi, Iceland, will capture CO2 from ambient air for permanent storage underground.

Although still at pilot scale, researchers hope the scheme could be scaled up across the globe.

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One of the worlds largest geothermal power plants in Hellisheidi, Iceland, where CO2 is currently injected and mineralized at an industrial scale in a groundbreaking trial

The CO2 reacts with the basaltic bedrock and forms solid minerals, creating a permanent storage solution.

The team behind it this week confirmed a testing phase has started during which the CO2 is captured from ambient air, bound to water, and sent to more than 700 meters underground.

Currently the pilot system captures only 50 metric tons CO2, each year, about the same emitted by a single US household.

The finished product: Basalt core containing carbonates

However, its inventors hope it can be scaled up.

'The potential of scaling-up our technology in combination with CO2 storage, is enormous,' said Christoph Gebald, Founder and CEO at Climeworks.

'Our plan is to offer carbon removal to individuals, corporates and organizations as a means to reverse their non-avoidable carbon emissions.'

Edda Sif Aradottir, CarbFix project leader at Reykjavik Energy said: 'We have developed CarbFix at a unique location here in Iceland and proved that we can permanently turn this greenhouse gas into rock.

'By imitating natural processes this happens in less than two years.'

HOW CO2 IS TURNED INTO STONE CO2 is captured from ambient air, bound to water, and sent to more than 700 meters underground. There the CO2 reacts with the basaltic bedrock and forms solid minerals, creating a permanent storage solution. Climeworks' technology draws in ambient air and captures the CO2 with a patented filter. The CO2 reacts with the basaltic bedrock and forms solid minerals, creating a permanent storage solution The filter is then heated with low-grade heat from the geothermal plant to release the pure CO2 which then can be stored underground. During the trial Climeworks will test how its technology works with the specific weather conditions at the location in the South West of Iceland. Advertisement

The firm is also pursuing other projects.

In the countryside near Zurich, Swiss company Climeworks began to suck greenhouse gases from thin air in May with giant fans and filters in a $23 million project that it calls the world's first 'commercial carbon dioxide capture plant'.

Worldwide, 'direct air capture' research by a handful of companies such as Climeworks has gained tens of millions of dollars in recent years from sources including governments, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and the European Space Agency.

If buried underground, vast amounts of greenhouse gases extracted from the air would help reduce global temperatures, a radical step beyond cuts in emissions that are the main focus of the Paris Agreement.

Climeworks' technology draws in ambient air and captures the CO2 with a patented filter.

Climeworks reckons it now costs about $600 to extract a tonne of carbon dioxide from the air and the plant's full capacity due by the end of 2017 is only 900 tonnes a year.

That's equivalent to the annual emissions of only 45 Americans.

And Climeworks sells the gas, at a loss, to nearby greenhouses as a fertiliser to grow tomatoes and cucumbers and has a partnership with carmaker Audi, which hopes to use carbon in greener fuels.

Jan Wurzbacher, director and founder of Climeworks, says the company has planet-altering ambitions by cutting costs to about $100 a tonne and capturing one percent of global man-made carbon emissions a year by 2025.

'Since the Paris Agreement, the business substantially changed,' he said, with a shift in investor and shareholder interest away from industrial uses of carbon to curbing climate change.

Scientists are sucking carbon dioxide from the air with giant fans and preparing to release chemicals from a balloon to dim the sun's rays as part of a climate engineering push to cool the planet.

In the countryside near Zurich, Swiss company Climeworks began to suck greenhouse gases from thin air in May with giant fans and filters in a $23 million project that it calls the world's first 'commercial carbon dioxide capture plant'.

Backers say the risky, often expensive projects are urgently needed to find ways of meeting the goals of the Paris climate deal to curb global warming that researchers blame for causing more heatwaves, downpours and rising sea levels.

The United Nations says the targets are way off track and will not be met simply by reducing emissions for example from factories or cars - particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the 2015 pact.

CONTROVERSY OVER GEO-ENGINEERING The Paris Agreement seeks to limit a rise in world temperatures this century to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), ideally 1.5C (2.7F) above pre-industrial times. But U.N. data show that current plans for cuts in emissions will be insufficient, especially without the United States, and that the world will have to switch to net 'negative emissions' this century by extracting carbon from nature. Riskier 'geo-engineering' solutions could be a backstop, such as dimming the world's sunshine, dumping iron into the oceans to soak up carbon, or trying to create clouds. But, some research has suggested that geo-engineering with sun-dimming chemicals, for instance, could affect global weather patterns and disrupt vital monsoons. And many experts fear that pinning hopes on any technology to fix climate change is a distraction from cuts in emissions blamed for heating the planet. Advertisement

But penalties for factories, power plants and cars to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere are low or non-existent.

It costs 5 euros ($5.82) a tonne in the European Union.

Climeworks reckons it now costs about $600 to extract a tonne of carbon dioxide from the air and the plant's full capacity due by the end of 2017 is only 900 tonnes a year

RISING GLOBAL TEMPERATURES Year Temperature increase (C relative to average temperature 1961-1990) 2016 0.77 2015 0.76 2014 0.58 2013 0.51 2012 0.47 2011 0.42 2010 0.56 2009 0.51 2008 0.39 2007 0.49 2006 0.51 2005 0.54 2004 0.45 2003 0.51 2002 0.5 2001 0.44 2000 0.29

And isolating carbon dioxide is complex because the gas makes up just 0.04 percent of the air.

Pure carbon dioxide delivered by trucks, for use in greenhouses or to make drinks fizzy, costs up to about $300 a tonne in Switzerland.

Other companies involved in direct air capture include Carbon Engineering in Canada, Global Thermostat in the United States and Skytree in the Netherlands, a spinoff of the European Space Agency originally set up to find ways to filter out carbon dioxide breathed out by astronauts in spacecrafts.

The Paris Agreement seeks to limit a rise in world temperatures this century to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), ideally 1.5C (2.7F) above pre-industrial times.

But U.N. data show that current plans for cuts in emissions will be insufficient, especially without the United States, and that the world will have to switch to net 'negative emissions' this century by extracting carbon from nature.

Riskier 'geo-engineering' solutions could be a backstop, such as dimming the world's sunshine, dumping iron into the oceans to soak up carbon, or trying to create clouds.

Among new university research, a Harvard geo-engineering project into dimming sunlight to cool the planet set up in 2016 has raised $7.5 million from private donors.

In the countryside near Zurich, Swiss company Climeworks began to suck greenhouse gases from thin air in May with giant fans and filters in a $23 million project that it calls the world's first 'commercial carbon dioxide capture plant'

It plans a first outdoor experiment in 2018 above Arizona.

'If you want to be confident to get to 1.5 degrees you need to have solar geo-engineering,' said David Keith, of Harvard.

Keith's team aims to release about 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) of sun dimming material, perhaps calcium carbonate, from a high-altitude balloon above Arizona next year in a tiny experiment to see how it affects the microphysics of the stratosphere.

'I don't think it's science fiction ... to me it's normal atmospheric science,' he said.
They have been busy promoting their new biographical drama Breathe, over the last few weeks.

And Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield proved their close friendship as co-stars on Wednesday, as they embarked on a playful BUILD Series talk in NYC.

The British actress, 33, jokingly gushed that Andrew, 34, was 'very charming and really handsome' like his character - causing him to blush, and quip that he had paid her to shower him with praise.

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Firm friends: Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield proved their close friendship as co-stars on Wednesday, as they embarked on a playful BUILD Series talk in NYC

Leading lady: The British actress, 33, jokingly gushed that Andrew, 34, was 'very charming and really handsome' like his character - causing him to blush

The pair appeared at the studio alongside director Andy Serkis to promote their new film Breathe - which follows married couple Robin and Diana Cavendish, who are struck by tragedy when he falls ill with polio.

When asked by a fan if she felt similar to her character, Claire admitted she simply looked up to her - before gushing that Andrew was both 'handsome and charming' like his.

She explained: 'I wish I was more like Diana in a lot of ways.

Dream team: The pair appeared at the studio alongside director Andy Serkis (R) to promote their new film Breathe - which follows a couple struck by the tragedy of polio

Playful: Claire admitted she looked up to her character - before gushing that Andrew was both 'handsome and charming' like his, making him blush

'There was an understanding between us and the characters in the sense that, if we were doing a technically perfect replica of these people, I'm not sure anyone would want to watch it.'

However, she then added playfully: 'I can talk about Andrew and his similarities with Robin though... he's very charming, really handsome! Very gregarious and giving..,' causing Andrew to blush.

Met by laughter from the audience, the actor cut in with a laugh: 'Alright, alright, that's enough!' before quipping: 'Twenty dollars was all she wanted for that, can you believe it!'

Discussing the film further, Andrew added that the strong love between their two characters was what made the film so special to watch.

'Wouldn't it be wonderful to be this wonderful?': Discussing the film further, Andrew added that the strong love between their two characters was what made the film so special to watch

He explained: 'When I read the script I thought, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful to be this wonderful? And to have lives this rich and connected and full of life and love?'

'That's what great story-telling does. It reveals what is dormant in us, when we see others living in a way we didn't think possible.'

Keeping the affair light-hearted however, he then joked: 'And also, Claire is really lovely!' before warning playfully: 'No, I will get you back at another interview, don't worry.'

Retro: Claire continued her fashion parade at the event, as she arrived in a striking white Oscar de la Renta blouse and retro flared trousers

Stunning: She tied her look together with barely-there heeled sandals, and pulled her hair back into a subtly chic braided up-do - to keep all eyes on her stylish look

Claire continued her fashion parade at the event, as she arrived in a striking white Oscar de la Renta blouse and retro flared trousers.

The Crown star was the picture of sophistication in the chic top, which cut into stylish open shoulders, secured by feminine ribbon ties on each shoulder.

Maintaining the retro feel from head to toe, Claire tucked the blouse into navy flares - which cinched in at her slim waist, before skimming her long legs to their bell bottom hem.

Slick: The British actor meanwhile was his typically trendy self in a festive Fair Isle jumper, layered beneath a thick tweed blazer

Busy: The pair, alongside Andy (R), have been very busy promoting the new film in both the UK and the States

She tied her look together with barely-there heeled sandals, and pulled her hair back into a subtly chic braided up-do - to keep all eyes on her stylish look.

Adding a soft smoky eye and a bright pink lip, the actress proved her striking natural beauty and radiant complexion to all as she posed with Andrew at the event.

The British actor meanwhile was his typically trendy self in a festive Fair Isle jumper, layered beneath a thick tweed blazer.

The pair appeared at the NYC studios to promote their new biographical drama film Breathe.

Heartbreaking: The film follows the duo as couple Robin and Diana Cavendish, who refuse to give up when Robin falls ill with polio and is paralysed (pictured at the NYC premiere)

The flick tells the true story of Robin and Diana Cavendish who are madly in love and refuse to give up when Robin falls ill with polio and is paralysed from the neck down.

Set in the 1950's, the couple are tasked with the challenges of the devastating disease and against all odds are fight for disability rights.

Claire slips into the shoes of the devoted lover, while Andrew takes on the part of her poorly other half.

It is the directorial debut of Andy Serkis, famed for his roles in Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes, and will hit cinemas in 2017.
She is best known for her role as Monica Geller on Friends.

And almost 20 years later, Courteney Cox, who has also had hit show Cougar Town since then, looked ageless as she was spotted leaving a hair salon in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The actress, 53, was seen sporting her fresh trim while holding a script in her hand.

Fountain of youth: Courteney Cox looked ageless as she was spotted leaving a hair salon in Los Angeles on Tuesday

Courteney cut a casual figure as she stepped out in jeans and a floral long-sleeve blouse.

The Friends actress opted out of traditional fall-footwear and went with tan sandal instead.

Court accessorized with hoop earrings, a necklace, and a black leather handbag that she slung over her shoulder.

Her hair appeared to still be wet from the salon, while she hid her make-up free face behind a pair of sunglasses.

New project? The actress, 53, was seen sporting her fresh trim while holding a script in her hand

So far in 2017 (Cougar Town aired its final episode in 2015 after six years on air), the actress has not decided to take on anymore projects.

Her last movie and TV appearance was back in 2016, which might be a big indication that she's ready to get back on set.

As for her personal life, the actress has been keeping busy thinking about expanding her family.

Courteney is currently engaged to Snow Patrol rocker Johnny McDaid, 40.

Courteney told People in June that she is open to having an other baby: 'I would love to have a baby now, I would. I know its crazy, but I would.

'I mean, I could carry someone elses egg. I may be one of the older people doing it, but I would love to, with Johnny that is.'

Courteney is a mom to 13-year-old daughter Coco, who she co-parents with ex-husband actor David Arquette.

Love birds: Courteney is currently engaged to Snow Patrol rocker Johnny McDaid

She also revealed that she stopped getting filler injections- despite dating a man 13 years younger than her.

Courteney said: 'Things are going to change. Everythings going to drop. I was trying to make it not drop, but that made me look fake. You need movement in your face, especially if you have thin skin like I do.'

She also mentioned how Johnny is supportive of her aging: 'Hes younger than me, and with any other guy that would be the hardest thing in the world, but looks are not that important to him or his family.'

She ended: 'External beauty isnt even on his radar. I used to worry about the age difference, but I dont think it matters. He appreciates beauty, but its deeper than that.'
DJ Rukus - real name Gregory Andrews - surprised his fiancee Shanina Shaik by proposing to her on a beach in The Bahamas in 2016.

But on Wednesday, the Australian model gave him a special surprise for his 34th birthday.

The 26-year-old took to Instagram to share a snap of herself hiding inside a large cake creation ready to jump out of it.

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'He want that cake!' Shanina Shaik surprised fiance DJ Rukus for his 34th birthday by jumping out of a cake box for his party at the Avenue in Los Angeles

Celebrating at the Avenue in Los Angeles, the 26-year-old can be seen crouching down inside the large empty box.

'He want that cake cake cake,' she wrote in the caption, referring to the Rihanna song Cake.

'Birthday surprise for @djruckusofficial last night,' she continued in the post.

Love birds: 'He want that cake cake cake,' she wrote in the caption, referring to the Rihanna song Cake. 'Birthday surprise for @djruckusofficial last night,' she added in the post

Fans of the Melbourne-born stunner complimented her on the surprising, romantic gesture, including one who wrote: 'This is so cute'

Stunning: The catwalk queen was seen showing off her posterior as she surprised her man

Fans of the Melbourne-born stunner complimented her on the surprising, romantic gesture, including one who wrote: 'This is so cute.'

Shanina's special surprise comes after she shared a photo of herself and her man at the Marquee Club in Las Vegas as he performed birthday set on Tuesday.

She dressed for the night out in a saucy sheer top teamed with a pair of leather leggings, while her husband-to-be was all smiles behind the DJ decks.

Spectacular: Confetti fell during the big moment

Wow: All eyes were on her during the spectacular moment

'Pictures to show the kids': Shanina posted a photo of herself and her man at the Marquee Club in Las Vegas as he performed a birthday set on Tuesday

'Pictures to show the kids....one day Happy Birthday babeee,' she wrote tagging her DJ Rukus.

She also shared a sweet birthday tribute, posting a throwback snap of the DJ as a baby.

Shanina wrote in the caption: 'I love you so so much!! May all your birthday wishes come true my love !!!! Your still sooooo cute.'
The Apprentice (BBC1)

Rating:

Billion Dollar Deals (BBC2)

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Of all the many reasons for detesting The Apprentice (BBC1), surely the most disturbing is the fanfare arrival of Lord Sugar at the outset of each weeks task.

Auntie Beeb loves a man with a big ego, but the pandering to Alan Sugars bloated self-esteem on a reality show is beyond sycophancy.

He is announced with a build-up worthy of a Wall Street titan. Its TVs biggest anticlimax when the Baron appears, rubbing his hands like a pawnbroker at Christmas.

Last week he stepped smirking from a Rolls-Royce. This week, he went one better, turning up at a luxury country hotel in a helicopter.

Lord Sugar, pictured, on the latest episode of The Apprentice (BBC1) is the source of the one of the main reasons to detest the programme, writes Christopher Stevens

Its easy to imagine Lord Sugar as the sort of fussy man who keeps the plastic covers on his vehicles seats, lest greasy marks spoil the leatherware.

Alans minions, Karren Brady and Claude Littner, stood solemnly to attention as the chopper touched down.

The apprentices were gathered at Stoke Park, which the adulatory voiceover told us was the setting for the 1964 Bond movie Goldfinger.

That narrator, Mark Halliley, can at least be assured that, if the BBC ever dumps him, he could walk straight in to a job singing the praises of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.

Clue of the night: Dr Ellingham (Martin Clunes) solved a troublesome patients loneliness in Doc Martin (ITV) by giving her a stray dog. Pets ought to be prescribed on the National Health  wed all be a lot better off. Advertisement

Lord Alan of Tat expects adoration from all, so he reacted with horrified disbelief when one of the apprentices told him to shut up in the boardroom.

Im trying to actually explain, preferably not to be rude, but uninterrupted would be really nice, just so I can get something across, snapped a geeky competitor called Ross, who describes himself as a digital product consultant.

Kim Jong-Un would strap such an offender across the muzzle of a cannon and test a nuclear missile on him. No doubt something similar will happen to Ross in the near future.

Hell deserve it, as would any of his rival halfwits. This years bunch, as ever, are treating the show as a stupidity contest, and theyve all got the credentials to win.

A stand-out candidate was Jeff, who boasted: How many bankers do you know who can breakdance? before showing off some moves that would embarrass Strictlys Rev Richard Coles.

Jeff was trounced, though, by marketing manager Joanna, who heard someone talking about fir trees and asked in puzzlement, Is there such a thing as a tree with fur?

Journalist Jacques Peretti in Billion Dollar Deals And How They Changed Your World (BBC2), pictured, looks at the third of British jobs being handed to machines

In Billion Dollar Deals And How They Changed Your World (BBC2), investigative journalist Jacques Peretti presses ahead with the confident assertion that its business, not politics, which really shapes our lives.

The documentary series predicted that no government policy could prevent around a third of British jobs being handed to machines within a couple of decades.

It was chilling to see that software already exists to replace teachers and doctors with talking computer tablets.

We probably wont even notice because, as Peretti points out, our mobile phones are turning all of us into robots anyway.

He met one businessman who was recovering in hospital from a stroke, brought on by stress. The chap was already back at work, answering emails on his phone. Perhaps hell get a gravestone with a touchscreen.

The interviews concentrated on silver-haired business gurus who delivered supposedly inspirational soundbites about the war for talent and living our values.

Peretti seemed oblivious to the danger that, in the real world, these ideas are mangled by greedy dimwits who apparently believe mink coats quite literally grow on trees.
She is counting down the weeks until she gives birth to her second child with her jailbird beau Daniel Harris.

And Cara Kilbey proved pregnancy suited her down to the ground on Wednesday, as she shared a stunning sun-soaked snap from her Ibiza babymoon break to Instagram.

The former TOWIE star, 30, let her blossoming stomach take centre stage as she posed in nothing but a striped pastel pink bikini for her followers.

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Bumping along: Cara Kilbey proved pregnancy suited her down to the ground on Wednesday, as she shared a stunning sun-soaked snap from her Ibiza babymoon

Already a doting mother to daughter Penelope Blu, the expectant mum sweetly rested her hand on her growing bump - left on display by her skimpy two-piece.

Embracing the sunny Spanish climes, Cara then teamed her bikini with a trendy fedora hat and mirrored Aviator shades, as she beamed widely for the camera.

Clearly excited at the prospect of her new arrival, she simply captioned the shot, shared with her 356,000 followers: 'Baby bump #30days.'

The reality personality - who left the show after four seasons in 2012 - announced she was expecting her second child back in June.

Big announcement! The reality star - who left the show after four seasons in 2012 - announced she was expecting her second child back in June with a sweet Instagram post (above)

The tot will be her second child with beau Daniel - who recently served a year in Wandsworth prison, after he was found guilty of stashing 116,000 in ill-gotten gains in his daughter's bedroom.

However, he was cleared of allegations that he was the mastermind behind a drugs empire.

Meanwhile Cara's excitement about her pregnancy has only been heightened by the fact that her best pal and former TOWIE co-star Billi Mucklow, is also expecting her second child.

On Sunday the blonde beauty, 28, shared a sweet selfie with fiance Andy Carroll, as they count down the final seven weeks to her due date.

'7 weeks to go!': Cara's best pal and former TOWIE co-star Billi Mucklow is also expecting her second child - and shared a sweet selfie of fiance Andy Carroll cradling her bump (above)

Posing in her underwear for the shot, Billi was effortlessly gorgeous as she proudly flaunted her blossoming bump, which Andy cradled.

She penned her excitement in the caption, which read: 'Countdown.....#BabyCarroll #BabyNumber2 #Pregnancy #BumpPic #BumpyLove #7WeeksToGo'

Cara has remained tight-lipped over the sex of her baby, while Billi hinted she is expecting a boy in a cryptic Instagram post last month.

The TV personality showed off her pregnancy curves and glowing complexion as a mother-to-be in her blue striped bikini, as she beamed for the stunning mirror selfie.

Countdown: The beauty is expecting her baby around mid November

'Blue for a...': The star has already hinted at the sex at her impending little bundle of joy - by posting an Instagram snap with a cryptic caption last month

Teasing at the baby's sex however, she captioned it: 'Blue For A......  #BabyNo2 #BabyCarroll #MyLittleBubba #Bumpy #Pregnancy #23Weeks'

MailOnline has contacted a representative of Billi for comment.

Earlier this week, the beauty continued to flaunt her blossoming baby bump as she revealed she is 'almost halfway' through her pregnancy.

Billi updated fans with a slew of sweet snaps to Instagram on Friday, as she continued to holiday in Hawaii with her family.

Bumpy love: Billi proudly flaunted her baby bump as she posed alongside her fiance Andy Carroll in a sweet Instagram snap she uploaded on Friday

In one photo, Billi was seen taking a selfie with her beau - making sure her baby bump was on full display.

She was clad in a leopard-print bikini and flaunted plenty of side-boob, along with her 'A' initial tattoo that is etched along from her ribs, as she cuddled up to Andy.

He was seen planting a kiss on her cheek, while resting his hand tenderly on Billi's stomach.

She placed a hand over his and was seen beaming from ear-to-ear as the duo cuddled up together.

Billi scraped her blonde tresses up into a topknot and hid behind a pair of round-framed Ray-Ban shades, as she soaked up the sunshine.

Smile! Billi posted a sweet tribute about her son as they marked his second birthday while on holiday - she wrote, 'You're the absolute light of my life... I love you unconditionally'

Alongside her photo, she penned: 'Bumpy Love #AlmostHalfWay #Pregnancy #BabyNo2.'

The duo are currently enjoying a family trip in Hawaii with their two-year-old son Arlo, and couldn't have looked happier while spending the day at the beach.

In another snap, Billi was seen holding Arlo on her hip while both she and Andy smothered him in kisses. She wrote: 'Sun, Sea, Sand And Love #PerfectDay.'

While away, Arlo had celebrated his second birthday, prompting his mother to share a gushing post on the photo-sharing site in honour of her baby boy.

Alongside a treasured photo of herself and Arlo, Billi said: 'H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y My Baby Boy! Your The Absolute Light Of My Life Apple Of Your Dads Eye Your The Most Beautiful Little Soul. I Love You Unconditionally Arlo Thomas Carroll #ArloThomasCarroll #LittleAC #HBD #MyBabyIsTwo.'

The doting mum is soon to add to her brood, as her latest holiday snaps come after Billi revealed she is now pregnant again.

The yoga instructor announced her exciting news at the end of May by sharing a sweet snap of herself and Arlo placing their hands on her stomach.

They had been soaking up the sun on a previous trip to Italy, but paused to take the photo for Billi to reveal: 'Suns Out Bump Out #BabyCarrollOnTheWay #BabyOnBoard.'

Before announcing her baby news, Billi had revealed that she and Andy were planning to wed in the summer of this year.

Happy couple: Billi and Andy had planned to wed in the summer of 2017, but it's not known whether their nuptials will still go ahead now she is pregnant again

Speaking to OK! magazine, she said: 'I wanted to spend a few months enjoying Arlo as a baby before we started getting busy with wedding stuff.

'I definitely want a massive wedding, though.'

The couple had announced their engagement in November 2014, after Andy had popped the question during a romantic mini-break in Rome, Italy.

While their new addition will be his second child with Billi, Andy is also dad to daughter Emilie Rose, six, and son Lucas, four, from previous relationships.
Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon were the headliners at a special screening in New York Wednesday night for the Netflix documentary Joan Didion: The Center Cannot Hold.

The couple joined the film's director Griffin Dunne, Didion's nephew, and other famous faces including Julianna Marguiles and Gina Gershon.

Major Crimes star Sedgwick, 52, looked gorgeous with her blonde hair in ringlet curls and wearing a black dress with a cross halter neck and a peek-a-boo bodice.

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Couple goals: Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon were the headliners at a special screening in New York Wednesday night for the Netflix documentary Joan Didion: The Center Cannot Hold

The actress's frock fell in a wide skirt to below her knees and had a wide waistband.

She added a pair of black heels with straps at the ankle.

She held hands with her actor husband of 29 years as they made their way along the red carpet at the New York Film Festival.

Bacon, 59, was more casually dressed wearing a blue jacket over an open neck white shirt and a pair gray corduroy pants with black shoes.

Stylish star: Sedgwick, 52, looked gorgeous with her blonde hair in ringlet curls and wearing a black dress with a cross halter neck and a peek-a-boo bodice

Relaxed look: Bacon, 59, was more casually dressed than his wife of 29 years, wearing a blue jacket over an open neck white shirt and a pair gray corduroy pants with black shoes

Julianna Marguiles, 51, put on a stylish display pairing a tight black leather jacket with wide flared black pants.

The Good Wife Beauty left her short-sleeved jacket half unzipped and wore her dark hair scraped back from her forehead.

She added color with bright red lipstick and carried a matching red purse.

Julianna Marguiles, 51, put on a stylish display pairing a tight black leather jacket with wide flared black pants. She added color with bright red lipstick and carried a matching red purse

Showing support: Like Marguiles, actress Gina Gershon posed for photos with the documentary's director Griffin Dunne as she arrived at the festival event

Cool: Gina Gershon, 55, showed off her slim figure in black skinny jeans tucked into white ankle boots. She wore a black blouse and a white jacket to complete her monochrome look

Gina Gershon, 55, showed off her slim figure in black skinny jeans tucked into white ankle boots with pointy toes.

She wore a black blouse and a white tailored jacket to complete her monochrome look.

Her shoulder-length hair was tousled and she kept her make-up light with a touch of blush and some pale pink lip gloss.

Also on the V.I.P. guest list was Ray Donovan star Liev Schreiber, 50, looking dapper in a dark gray check suit with gray shirt and black tie.

Chiseled: Also on the V.I.P. guest list was Ray Donovan star Liev Schreiber, 50, looking dapper in a dark gray check suit with gray shirt and black tie

Family: Dunne, who is Didion's nephew, was accompanied to the screening by his daughter Hannah Dunne, 27, an actress

Didion, now 82, is a celebrated essayist and writer famous for her books Slouching Towards Bethlehem, The White Album and The Year Of Magical Thinking.

She was married to screenwriter John Gregory Dunne from 1964 until his death in 2003.

Dunne's brother was the TV host and writer Dominick Dunne, Griffin's father.

The documentary features Didion talking for the first time at length on camera about her life and career as well as archival footage. It will be released on Netflix on October 27.
Channel Nine officially announced they would be producing the Australian version of the hit reality show at their Up Front event.

And on Thursday, the show's producer Alex Mavroidakis has shared details about the reality show.

Speaking to Nova 96.9's Fitzy And Wippa show, he explained they are looking for sexy singles, genuinely looking for love to travel to Spain for the show.

Looking for love, a good suntan, a free trip to Spain? Alex Mavroidakis, producer of the Australian version of Love Island, has shared details about the show after opening the casting call for contestants was opened (pictured Love Island UK third runners up Chris and Olivia)

'It's people with hot bodies, doing hot stuff in a hot place. It's huge in the UK and Germany, absolutely massive,' he continued.

Producer Alex also denied that they were looking for people with an established TV profile such as former Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants.

'(It's a) free trip to Spain, you're gonna find love, you're gonna get a good sun tan, you're gonna become a superstar.

'I mean why on earth would you not do it?'

'Single and up for the hottest summer ever?' The network also recently took to Instagram to share a post promoting the application for the saucy reality show

Hot, hot, hot! Producer Alex told the Fitzy And Wippa Show, '(It's a) free trip to Spain, you're gonna find love, you're gonna get a good sun tan, you're gonna become a superstar. I mean why on earth would you not do it?'

'What we forget is that hot people need love too. You know the poor, poor people with their high cheekbones and their bangin' bodies.

'It's time they get a shot at love and we give that to them,' he sarcastically added.

Love Island Australia's official Twitter account even got in on the action, spruiking the casting call link and tweeting: 'Single & up for the hottest summer ever?'

Alex also revealed the show will have a high turn around, similar to Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity giving audience the power to vote off anyone they don't like.

'Do you currently blog and/or vlog?' The casting application for Love Island Australia seems more interested in social media fame than applicants' personalities

This comes after the application page for the reality show was revealed to be brief, with a bigger focus on potential contestants' social media pull rather than their psychological profile.

Questions including whether they blog or vlog, the numbers of followers, a handful of relationship related questions and if potential contestants have ever found love with 'the one.'

After requesting a few photos of applicants, the process ends.

Detailed: The Love Island application is drastically shorter than The Bachelor and Australian Survivor

The Love Island application is drastically shorter than the one for The Bachelor, which asks for everything, including mental health history and number of sexual partners.

Australian Survivor has similarly in-depth questions and requests for information on drug history, criminal record, personal enemies and much more.

The raunchy series sees a group of promiscuous young-at-hearts put on an exotic, luxury island where they party and form relationships with each other.

Applications are currently open, with the series looking for applicants aged between 18 and 35, and will air on the Nine Network next year.
They confirmed their romance last November and have been inseparable ever since.

And Professor Green and Fae Williams looked as smitten as ever on Wednesday as they attended the launch The Great Eight Guacamoles at Cantina Laredo in London.

The 33-year-old rapper flashed a smile as he cosied up his stunning model girlfriend, who looked chic in a plush fur coat and silver boots.

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Cute couple: Professor Green and Fae Williams looked as smitten as ever on Wednesday as they attended the launch The Great Eight Guacamoles at Cantina Laredo in London

Fae kept the rest of her chic look understated, rocking a simple white blouse and frayed blue jeans under her opulent outerwear.

Styling her icy-blonde hair in a glossy middle-parting, she framed her features with a sweep of mascara and a slick of rosy lipstick.

Meanwhile Pro Green kept his look casual, opting for a bold colour-block raincoat and black chinos teamed with black trainers- which saw guests sipping on Casamigos Tequila.

The event also saw fashion designer Pam Hogg take to the DJ decks for an exclusive 80s-inspired set, celebrating the launch of Londons first dedicated Guacamole and Tequila Bar in association with Casamigos Tequila.

Smitten: The 33-year-old rapper flashed a smile as he cosied up his stunning model girlfriend, who looked chic in a plush fur coat and silver boots

Stylish: Fae kept the rest of her chic look understated, rocking a simple white blouse and frayed blue jeans under her opulent outerwear

Fae and Pro Green are believed to have started dating last October, which came after he released a new track One Eye On The Door which fans believed contained some thinly-veiled jibes at ex-wife Millie Mackintosh.

Since the duo went public with their romance, Pro Green has been posting regular updates of the pair's outings.

In April he credited his girlfriend for helping him through a dark time as he battled health complications.

Taking to social media, he wrote: 'The respect I have for this lady is unparalleled.

Preened to perfection: Styling her icy-blonde hair in a glossy middle-parting, she framed her features with a sweep of mascara and a slick of rosy lipstick

Keeping it casual: Meanwhile Pro Green opted for a bold colour-block raincoat and black chinos teamed with black trainers at the bash which saw guests sipping on Casamigos Tequila

'All jokes aside I'm having the worst time of my life and she's doing all she can to stop me disappearing into a deep and very dark depression. Thank you.'

Reports soon followed that he had well and truly moved on from their short-lived union and was allegedly dating model Fae.

According to The Sun, the recently-divorced rapper had been 'practically inseparable' from his rumoured new love and believes their romance is the 'real deal'.

Support: In April he credited his girlfriend for helping him through a dark time as he battled health complications

A source told the site: 'She was absolutely smitten and theyve been practically inseparable ever since.'

'Hes even been fobbing his mates off for her and for Pro that means its the real deal.

'Hes been on loads of casual dates with various girls since splitting with Millie but this is serious. Hes really into Fae and doesnt want to mess it up.'

Professor Green - real name Stephen Manderson - split from wife Millie last February after a three-year marriage.

Social butterfly: Pro Green also mingled with model of the moment Winnie Harlow at the launch party
Fifteen years have passed since Dudley Moore died, aged just 66, but the mere mention of his name is still guaranteed to raise a smile.

Yes, Peter Cook cracked the best jokes in their BBC comedy series Not Only... But Also. But it was Dudleys clowning that made Pete and Dud irresistible.

Everyone loved Cuddly Dudley, the 5ft 2in Dagenham sex thimble, which is why the story of his final years seems so cruel.

His fourth marriage had broken down, the film offers had dried up and he contracted a horrid degenerative disease, progressive supranuclear palsy (PNP), which eventually killed him.

The great consolation of his last decade was his friendship with a kind couple, Rena Fruchter and Brian Dallow, who helped revive his musical career and eventually nursed him.

Fifteen years have passed since Dudley Moore (right with his carer Rena Fruchter) died, aged just 66, but the mere mention of his name is still guaranteed to raise a smile

Rena and Brian are both classical musicians. Rena studied in London at the Royal College of Music before returning to the U.S. Brian was born in Surrey, went to America on a graduate scholarship and never came back.

They met at university in Massachusetts and had four children.

I first met them in 2002, not long after Dudley died. Peters widow, Lin Cook, had asked me to compile a book of her late husbands best sketches.

A lot of Peters great sketches were written with Dudley, and I soon learnt that Dudley had left the copyrights to these works in Renas care. He had done this to help fund the charity Rena runs with Brian, Music For All Seasons, which takes music into places including prisons and hospitals.

Because we worked together on that book and its sequel, I got to know Rena and Brian pretty well.

Rena first met Dudley 30 years ago when she was working as a music columnist for the New York Times. Dudley was giving a piano recital with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. She had been sent to interview him.

Dudley had always been a brilliant pianist but, since he became a star in the Oxbridge sketch show Beyond The Fringe, music had taken second place. Now he was trying to revive his classical career.

Rena Fruchter, who was Dudley Moore's carer

He had some catching up to do, but Rena enjoyed the concert. Dudley liked Renas article. They stayed in touch and became good friends. They never discussed Dudleys personal life  all they talked about was music.

Raised on a council estate in Dagenham, East London, Dudley, who was born with club feet, had gone on to win an organ scholarship to Oxford University.

He was working as a jazz musician when, in 1960, he was booked to appear in Beyond The Fringe. A satirical show that was scheduled for a brief run at the Edinburgh Festival transferred to the West End, then Broadway. Out of that show evolved his partnership with Peter Cook, on TV and in films, and then Dudleys years as an unlikely Hollywood sex symbol.

Now, with his movie career on the wane, he was returning to his first love, classical music. For him, Renas interest in his musicianship was a breath of fresh air.

Dudleys relationship with Rena was platonic, and Brian soon became an equally close friend.

When Rena set up Music For All Seasons, Dudley suggested playing the Grieg piano concerto as a fundraiser, at Carnegie Hall in New York. Rena travelled to Dudleys home in Los Angeles to rehearse with him, playing the orchestral part on one of his three grand pianos.

After years of neglect, his classical technique was rusty. Rena helped him make up for lost time.

He pulled it off, she says. He was determined.

The concert led to lots more bookings. They toured the U.S. and Australia together.

Around this time, he started experiencing a strange stiffness in one of his fingers. He was also becoming unsteady on his feet.

The grave of actor, comedian and musician, Dudley Moore in the Hillside Cementary in Watchung, Plainfield , New Jersey, USA

The media assumed he had a drink problem (though he wasnt a big drinker), inviting comparisons with Peter Cook, who had died in 1995 of a haemorrhage brought on by heavy drinking.

No one could work out what was wrong with Dudley, and he found no respite in his domestic life. He had been married four times, initially to the actress Suzy Kendall, then Tuesday Weld  with whom he had a son  and Brogan Lane. His fourth marriage, to Nicole Rothschild, who was half his age, was stormy. Now things had gone from bad to worse.

In 1997, Dudley asked Rena and Brian if he could come to stay for a month or two, to sort out his health problems and get away from Nicole for a while.

He ended up living with them for two years. He didnt have many close friends, says Rena. He was part of our family by then.

The Beyond the Fringe team (clockwise from bottom), Dudley Moore (1935-2002), Peter Cook (1937-1995), Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller pictured in 1961

Dudley loved spending time with Rena and Brians children and grandchildren. He had never been that close to his two sons. Here, he was like a favourite uncle.

But his medical problems prevailed. It took more than a year to find out what was wrong, but eventually PSP was diagnosed.

There was no cure, nor even any effective treatment. He would lose his co-ordination, then his motor skills, then his speech. Finally, PSP would impair his breathing, resulting in pneumonia. At best, he might live for another eight years. He lasted four.

Dudley spent the next year living with Rena and Brian in Plainfield, a New Jersey town. He felt more at home there than in LA.

The area reminded him a little bit of England, Brian says. His home life in LA had been superficial and chaotic. Rena and Brians home life was more humdrum but far more nurturing and rooted.

Dudleys co-ordination grew worse and worse. One day, he lost his balance and toppled over the banisters. He could no longer manage the stairs. Luckily, the same day, a bungalow next door came up for sale. Dudley moved in straight away, with his pianos.

He still came round for meals, until his illness rendered him housebound. He died in his New Jersey home in 2002, surrounded by his adoptive family, and was buried in their local cemetery.

Rena and Brian still live in the same house today, with Dudleys pianos in the living room.

Everyone loved Cuddly Dudley, the 5ft 2in Dagenham sex thimble, which is why the story of his final years seems so cruel

So what sort of a man was Dudley? What was he really like?

He was a deep thinker, says Rena. He liked discussing serious topics. According to Brian, if celebrity hadnt intervened, he would probably would have ended up as a music professor.

But would he have been any happier? Rena is not so sure.

He liked a lot of variety, she says. He was up for adventure.
She has worn her fair share of heels over the years.

But it appears one particular pair of Sophie Monk's shoes prove problematic for The Bachelorette star.

Alongside one of her recent Instagram snaps, fans pointed out that Sophie's feet looked incredibly painful crammed into a pair of sky-high heels.

'Your poor toes': Fans left shocked by The Bachelorette star's feet as she crams them into painful-looking stilettos

In the image, Sophie is seen wearing a pair of strappy sandals teamed with a top and mini skirt. She captioned the snap: 'Stripe a pose'.

The footwear appeared to be a tad too tight for the reality star's feet, with her toes sticking out of the sides of the shoes.

Taking to the comments section, Sophie's followers commiserated with the blonde beauty.

Ouch! Fans pointed out Sophie's painful-looking feet in one of her recent Instagram snaps

'Your little toes look uncomfortable,' one remarked.

'Your poor toes,' another added.

Others were not so helpful, with one follower encouraging fans to 'zoom in on the toes', while another wrote 'Lots of toe over the shoe action happening here.'

One user made a joke in relation to Sophie's caption, writing 'When your toe doesn't wanna stripe a pose'.

Meanwhile on Thursday, it was reported that Sophie plans to adopt a child.

This week, friends of Sophie, 37, reportedly told OK! magazine that she is hell-bent on becoming a mother, 'with or without the support of her number-one suitor.'

'[becoming a mother] was the logical next step for her and I doubt if for whatever reason it didn't work out on the love front, she'd change a thing when it comes to her wanting to start a family,' one source told the glossy publication.

Indeed, when previously quizzed by OK! on whether she would consider adopting a child, Sophie responded with a firm 'yep!'.

Poor thing! Taking to the comments section, Sophie's followers commiserated with the blonde beauty

'Lots of toe over the shoe action happening here,' one wrote

Ouch! Others pointed out that the reality star looked like she was in pain

That's not funny: One made a joke in relation to her caption

'I reckon I would do it [motherhood] by myself, to be honest- if it got to that time,' she said.

While it has been rumoured that publican Stu Laundy is set to win Sophie's heart on the show, various reports have surfaced this week claiming the couple have already called it quits- causing Sophie to flee to Thailand.

According to New Idea, a 'well placed insider' said that she has 'called time' on her romance with the $500million pub heir due to his 'partying lifestyle and female admirers'.

The insider claimed that while Sophie is currently holidaying in Thailand, Stu has been spotted 'getting cosy with a Sydney socialite'.

That's better: Sophie poses on the red carpet in more comfortable footwear
He famously described himself as an 'entrepreneur and investor' on The Bachelorette, but failed to mention his career as a fridge and air-conditioning mechanic.

And Blake Colman's curriculum vitae may have landed him in some hot water, with an insider claiming publican Stu Laundy had initially agreed to set Blake up with a job before deciding to retract the offer.

'Stu was going to set him up with a huge property redevelopment job in Sydney. It included things like redeveloping the Steyne Hotel in Manly, which Stu's family owns,' the insider said.

'Blake's job offer was gone': Blake Colman's curriculum vitae may have landed him in some hot water, with an insider claiming publican Stu Laundy had initially agreed to set Blake up with a job before deciding to retract the offer

'That was, until Stu got out of the mansion and actually looked Blake and his portfolio up,' the insider said.

'When Stu looked into Blake's qualifications and realised he had none, Blake's job offer was gone,' they added.

'Blake wants to move to Sydney but can't afford it. He was hoping that another star on The Bachelorette will hook him up with a job.'

Not the whole story? Blake famously described himself as an 'entrepreneur and investor' on The Bachelorette, but failed to mention his career as a fridge and air-conditioning mechanic

The father-of-four is the son of pub king Arthur Laundy, an heir to his $400 million fortune and manager of the family company.

Meanwhile, Daily Mail Australia recently revealed Blake once worked as a fridge and air conditioning mechanic.

'He isn't an "entrepreneur" - he is a refrigeration mechanic that lives with his parents,' a well-placed source exclusively told Daily Mail Australia.

High-flyer: Father-of-four Stu is the son of pub king Arthur Laundy, an heir to his $400 million fortune and manager of the family company

Ice cold! Meanwhile, Daily Mail Australia recently revealed Blake worked as a fridge and air conditioning mechanic

According to his LinkedIn page, Blake stopped working as a fridge and air conditioning mechanic in January this year, around the time he would have been auditioning for The Bachelorette.

'He thinks he's destined for Hollywood... he's not. Blake was trying to be the villain character so he could be remembered on The Bachelorette,' the anonymous source said.

'He wanted fame and thought Sophie was his ticket.'
She's the ex-model and shoe designer that went public with Karl Stefanovic in February, following his shock split from wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn.

And Jasmine Yarbrough, now a red carpet regular, attended BMW's Caulfield Cup in Melbourne on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old flaunted her trim pins in a bizarre shapeless black frock with puffy sleeves.

Karl's tick of approval? Stefanovic's girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough, 33, flaunted her trim pins in a bizarre buttoned frock, at BMW's Caulfield Cup Carnival in Melbourne on Wednesday

Jasmine cut a content figure as she posed for photos in front of the media wall.

The frock made from neoprene fabric, covered her petite upper frame, placing the focus on her slender legs.

Accessorising with a pair of pointy-toed white heels, the personality carried her belongings in a patent handbag with a large clasp at the front.

Jasmine's signature blonde locks were slicked back into an elegant style at the nape of the neck, and her makeup palette consisted of a dewy complexion, defined brows, lashings of mascara, a touch of bronzer and a glossy nude lip.

Overall look: The frock's design placed the focus on the former model's lean legs, while a structured bag and delicate jewels worked as accessories

'LA, you will always be in my heart': The sighting comes shortly after Jasmine hinted on Instagram that she's possibly leaving Los Angeles and moving back to Australia

The sighting comes shortly after Jasmine hinted that she's possibly leaving Los Angeles and moving back to Australia.

Taking to Instagram on Monday, the budding businesswoman shared a candid snap of her laughing poolside with friends at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

'LA, you will always be in my heart,' Jasmine wrote in the caption.

Friends of the starlet took to the comments section to mourn Jasmine leaving the United States, with one asking the blonde beauty to keep 'Sydney warm for me.'

Headlines: Karl, 43, split from his wife of 21 years, journalist Cassandra Thorburn, in September last year

The post comes as her boyfriend Karl, 43, moved out of his bachelor pad rental and snapped up a $7 million North Sydney mansion last month.

Prior to that, the Today show co-host had been renting a $1980-a-week bachelor pad in the nearby suburb of Cremorne.

Karl split from his wife of 21 years, journalist Cassandra Thorburn, in September last year.

He was spotted canoodling with Jasmine in February, after the two met on a Sydney boat party in December.

Sighting: The Today show co-host was spotted canoodling with Jasmine in February, after the two met on a Sydney boat party in December

Making it work: The couple have maintained their long-distance romance with a series of holidays, spending time together in Mexico in April and catching up on board billionaire James Packer's super yacht in June

The couple have maintained their long-distance romance with a series of holidays, spending time together in Mexico in April and catching up on board billionaire James Packer's super yacht in June.

Last month, Jasmine confirmed she would move back to Australia eventually although she did not specify when she would return.

She told The Daily Telegraph that the spotlight around her relationship with Karl had been difficult to cope with at times.

'I don't think anyone expects this or prepares to have this much attention, it's been very hard.'
Mischa Barton was sued Wednesday for damage caused to a condominium complex by a moving truck.

The 31-year-old actress in February crashed a U-Haul truck into the roof of a carport at The Park Wellington condo complex in West Hollywood, California.

The condominium group was seeking $26,991.55 for significant repairs, according to an article by TMZ.

Moving lawsuit: Mischa Barton, shown in July in New York City, was sued Wednesday over damage to a carport that occurred when she was moving in February

The top of the moving truck slammed into the overhead support beam and remained stuck.

Barton told the condo complex that her ex-boyfriend Adam Spaw had rented the moving truck, according to court documents.

Reimbursement for the damages was sought through Spaw's insurance but the claim was denied.

Barton was listed in the police report as the driver of the U-Haul truck, prompting the condo complex to sue her.

Major damage: The carport is shown damaged in February after being struck by a U-Haul truck

Barton earlier this year was granted restraining orders against Spaw and another ex-boyfriend John Zacharias blocking sale of a sex tape of her.

The moving accident occurred after Barton had a meltdown in January at the condo complex that prompted worried neighbors to call 911.

A neighbor reported that Barton was screaming and threatening to kill herself.

TV star: Mischa is shown competing in July on Battle Of The Network Stars on ABC

Barton was hospitalized after paramedics arrived and she later claimed that she had been given the date rape drug GHB.

The London-born actress is best known for playing Marissa Cooper in the Fox series The O.C. from 2003 to 2006.

Barton competed last year on season 22 of Dancing With The Stars with pro partner Artem Chigvintsev.

She was the second celebrity to be eliminated from the ABC dancing competition show on April 4, 2016.
The Block is nearing its 2017 finale, with each fabulously renovated home officially on Melbourne's property market.

And this weekend, potential buyers and investors can inspect the Regent Street, Elsternwick, homes.



As Blockheads eagerly await the auction date set for Saturday 28th October, experts suggested buyers should be prepared to spend up to $3 million.

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Who will be a winner with the buyers? The Block's Josh and Elyse are tipped to secure up to $3 million for their abode as inspections for the finished homes begin this weekend

With its ratings success with Australian television viewers, contestants will be no-doubt be hopeful fans of the show will also turn into prospective buyers.

Long-time Block buyers advocate Tayla Dowling told Nine Honey 'if the competition is strong come auction day' the properties could fetch in the high $2million to $3million mark.

He also claimed the contestants have allowed their renovations to be suitable for a wide audience: 'I expect these homes will have a broad appeal for both young families, professional couples who are looking down the track to start a family and also families with older children; the appeal will be wide.

'Not to mention the houses have triple garages! A feature that not many mansion in Elseternwick have.'

'Josh and Elyse are the front runners without a doubt': The Block's interior design expert Shayna Blaze backs the young couple to take out the biggest profit on auction day

' The appeal will be wide!': While long-time Block buyers advocate Tayla Dowling told Nine Honey he thought the winner could sell for up to $3 million, he believed each property had its own unique selling point for the Melbourne market (Pictured: Josh and Elyse's kitchen)

However, while interior design expert Shayna Blaze put her support behind Josh Barker and Elyse Knowles as winners of the show, Tayla was more reluctant to pick a winner.

Shayna said: 'Josh and Elyse are the front runners without a doubt... Sometimes people come out really fast and hard and put all their big moves at the beginning, but Josh and Elyse have really settled into their style over time.'

Tayla has insisted each property has its unique selling point in the Melbourne property market, but Josh and Elyse were likely to benefit from having their home promoted on the Domain magazine cover.

Selling advantage? Tayla admitted Josh and Elyse were likely to benefit from having their home promoted on the Domain magazine cover and praised the young couple's winning kitchen design (pictured) as their stand-out feature

Nice! Tayla also claimed Sarah and Jason's home would be a hit with buyers for their welcoming hallway

He praised the young couple's winning kitchen design as their stand-out feature.

The front-runners took home first place for their deluxe gourmet kitchen which looks out onto a lavish outdoor entertaining area that features an app-controlled spa pool.

Tayla also claimed Sarah and Jason's home would be a hit with buyers for their welcoming hallway and Jack and Jill bathroom with hydronic heating.

Top notch! He also praised the luxurious master bedrooms and ensuites in Ronnie and Georgia's (L) home and Sticks and Wombat large ensuite (R) for convenience and flexibility for couples and growing families

Family-friendly! Tayla praised Clint and Hannah for their children's rooms

He also praised the luxurious master bedrooms and ensuites in Ronnie and Georgia's home and Sticks and Wombat large ensuite for convenience and flexibility for couples and growing families.

He also added: 'Clint and Hannah have a very beautiful main bathroom and children's wing, specifically targeting family buyers.'

The Block airs on Sunday from 7.00pm and Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine
The hunky fan favourite was 'blindsided' by Bachelorette Sophie Monk's shock rose ceremony elimination on Wednesday night.

And now Luke McLeod has addressed the potential of a romance with former Bachelor star Elora Murger.

While speaking to TV Week, the 33-year-old appeared flattered the fitness trainer had taken an interest and said: 'She seems like a very lovely girl.'

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Second chance at love? Bachelorette reject Luke McLeod praises Tahitian Goddess Elora Murger after the fitness trainer claimed they'd make a 'great match' ahead of Bachelor In Paradise

The pair both live in Sydney and share a passion for a healthy lifestyle.

Luke continued: 'Ive never actually met her but from what Ive read about her, she seems nice. Thats all I can really say right now.'

Only last week, Elora stated she already had her eyes set on the business culture consultant.

The pair don't appear to follow each other on social media.

'Thats all I can really say right now': Luke admitted he hadn't yet met the brunette stunner, despite living in the same city, but added she 'seems like a very lovely girl'

'I think Luke would be a great match': Elora admitted she had a crush on Luke last week and believed they shared 'similar perspectives on life'

She also told TV WEEK: 'I think Luke would be a great match.'

'We seem to share similar perspectives on life,' Elora added.

Meanwhile, she also claimed she was 'keen' to appear on Network Ten's anticipated new dating show, The Bachelor In Paradise.

Hinting at return to TV? And on Monday, it was revealed former contestants Tara Pavlovic and Elora Murger could be gearing up for their second shot at love on The Bachelor In Paradise

And on Monday, it was revealed former Bachelor contestants Tara Pavlovic and Elora could be gearing up for a second shot at love on the series.

With filming believed to be starting soon the 27-year-olds told TV Week they were both 'keen' to appear on the island-based dating show.

'I would definitely consider it if I was asked,' said Tara.

'I would definitely consider it if I was asked' The Bachelor reject Tara is keen for a second shot at finding love on reality TV

Match made in heaven? Elora revealed she already has her eye on one of Sophie Monk's current Bachelorette suitors, Luke McLeod (pictured)

According to the magazine, the Matty J reject would love to see former villain Keira McGuire make her way onto the show too.

Other fan favourites tipped to appear on the show include Blake Garvey's Louise Pillidge, Courtney Dober and Michael Turnbull.

Not evil? Elora said she would love to see former villain Keira McGuire make her way onto the show - rumoured to be being filmed on a Fijian island - too

Will he return? Other hotly-tipped Bachelor in Paradise contestants include Blake Garvey's Louise Pillidge, Courtney Dober (above) and Michael Turnbull

Last week, Osher Gunsberg also shared who he'd like to see make it onto the show.

When a fan said she'd love to see Blake's season villain Laurina Fleure make her return and the 43-year-old agreed.

The current season of The Bachelorette continues to air on Wednesday and Thursday nights from 7.30pm on Ten
She starred in Demi Lovato's most recent music video.

And Paris Hilton was back out supporting her friend again on Wednesday night at the premiere of her new documentary.

The 36-year-old put on a teasing display at the Fonda Theatre in LA in a sexy - and completely see through - blue lace gown.

Babe in blue! Paris Hilton put on a teasing display in a see-through gown and nude slip at the Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated premiere at the Fona Theatre in LA on Wednesday night

Just a perfectly-matched nude slip beneath covered the heiress's perfectly sculpted figure.

She strode the red carpet in a pair of glistening, diamond studded silver heels, and carried a faux crocodile skin clutch.

Her luxuriant blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders, while she accessorized in a solitary white gold chain.

Style: She strode the red carpet in a pair of glistening, diamond studded silver heels, and carried a faux crocodile skin clutch, finishing in a plush blue-grey fur bolero

The DJ's look was finished in a plush blue-grey fur bolero.

Paris was one of the luminaries to star in Demi's Sorry Not Sorry music video, partying alongside the likes of Jamie Foxx and Wiz Khalifa.

Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated will air exclusively on Demi's YouTube channel on October 17.

Coming soon: Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated will air exclusively on Demi's YouTube channel on October 17

It details her past struggles with drug abuse and depression, and she has also hinted it will shed some light on her sexuality.

A new trailer unveiled on Wednesday shows the the 25-year-old songstress reflecting on some of her most troubled times including an incident when she punched one of her backing dancers in 2010.

'I was not easy to work with,' Demi confesses in the clip. 'I went on like a bender for like two months, where I was using daily,'
She conquered the world of acting as a child star and is now a fashion designer.

And Mary-Kate Olsen can add arts patron to her resume as she was spotted at the New York Academy of Arts Take Home A Nude gala on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old wunderkind dazzled in a black couture number as she linked arms with her 48-year-old husband Olivier Sarkozy.

Arts patrons: Mary-Kate Olsen, 31, was spotted at the New York Academy of Arts Take Home A Nude gala with husband Olivier Sarkozy, 48, on Wednesday

Daring to impress, the Full House star draped her diminutive frame in a black zi pup gown that had white fringe on the hemline.

Her husband of two years cut a dapper figure in a classic tailored grey suit with a dark tie and pair of black loafers.

John Alexander will be honored at the Take Home a Nude galathe only benefit that accentuates its silent auction with naked model and stilt walkers.

The event, held at Sothebys, features more than 200 works, with the proceeds benefiting the Academy.

Daring to impress: The Full House star draped her diminutive frame in a black zi pup gown that had white fringe on the hemline

Mary-Kate lives with the French banker in a $6.25 million townhouse in New York.

The duo married in November 2015 after dating for three years.

'They are so normal and super happy!' an insider told Us Weekly.

In an interview with The Edit magazine, Mary-Kate opened up for the first time about her marriage and low-key life with the financier.

'They are so normal and super happy': The couple, pictured in 2014, live together in a $6.25 million townhouse in New York

She told the publication: 'I think were lucky [working hard] comes quite naturally for us. We dont need so much time to sit and think and ponder.

'But then I have a husband, two step-kids and a life; I have to go home and cook dinner. I run on the weekend.'

Olivier's children are from his relationship with Charlotte Sarkozy who he was married to from 1997 and 2011.
He was the fan-favourite booted off The Bachelorette in a shock elimination on Wednesday night.

And after having time to reflect, Luke McLeod told Mamamia that he now understands exactly why he was sent home.

'I've put the pieces of the puzzle together,' the 33-year-old business culture consultant told the publication.

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'I've put the pieces of the puzzle together': Luke McLeod, 33, revealed to Mamamia, the REAL reason Sophie Monk booted him off The Bachelorette, on Wednesday night's episode

Luke shared his thoughts on the shock elimination, saying: 'I've had time to reflect on things, and now that I have, I've put the pieces of the puzzle together.

'I can see that after the single date, which was amazing, I probably got fairly quiet and reserved with sharing my emotions while some of the other guys were a lot more forward about how they felt about her.'

Luke also told the publication that he never thought of himself as the front-runner, and considers intruder Stu Laundy, 44, to be Sophie's perfect match.

'You could see the obvious connection with (Sophie) and Stu, he's a good bloke and he ticks a lot of the boxes of the things she said she was looking for.'

Reflection: Luke shared his thoughts on the shock elimination, saying: 'I've had time to reflect on things, and now that I have, I've put the pieces of the puzzle together.'

'You could see the obvious connection': Luke also told the publication that he never thought of himself as the front-runner, and considers intruder Stu Laundy (pictured), 44, to be Sophie's perfect match

On the promotional rounds following his elimination, Luke reflected once again on his Bachelorette experience in an interview with Nova's Fitzy & Wippa on Thursday.

'After our single date, because that was such an awesome day, I was fairly controlled with my emotions, I think.

'Because I'm a pretty chilled guy and I don't talk about my emotions a lot, so I was trying to be as patient as possible and wait for my second time to open up.

Surpise exit: On Wednesday night, Sophie Monk, 37, left fans reeling when she sent Luke and Mackane Reid home from the mansion

What went wrong? The hunky silver fox had been a favourite of fans, and was originally tipped by betting agencies as the series winner

'But then these other guys came in and I think that frustrated me a bit,' the Manly-based star confessed.

Wednesday night's dramatic episode saw Luke and Mackane Reid, 35, booted off the reality series.

Stu remains in the mansion with five other remaining suitors, including magician Apollo Jackson, 24, and voiceover artist Sam Cochrane, 31.

The Bachelorette Australia airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7.30pm on Network Ten
They've found themselves in a bit of healthy competition, starring in rival superhero films.

And proving that the banter is still alive, Hugh Jackman, couldn't help but drop in Ryan Reynold's name during a chat with Triple M's Grill Team on Thursday.

Calling in on his 49th birthday to reveal his plans, Hugh joked of the Deadpool actor: 'I'll go out tonight to a nice steak restaurant with my buddy, with my best mate.'

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'I'll go out with my buddy': Hugh Jackman (left), 49, joked of his birthday plans with 'best mate' Ryan Reynolds (right), 40, on Triple M's The Grill Team on Thursday as the actors continue their superhero 'feud'

The Grill Team's Emma Freedman quizzed Hugh on how he plans on celebrating his birthday.

The Wolverine star replied: 'Working in Atlanta doing a movie here, and then I'll go out tonight to a nice steak restaurant with my buddy, with my best mate out here - Ryan Reynolds. He flew in especially.'

After the Grill Team questioned Hugh on whether he was working on a film with Ryan, he quipped sarcastically: 'No he's just flown in, you know because he's my best mate and he said I want to be there on your big day.'

How it all began: Diehard superhero fans would be up-to-date on the friendly banter between Hugh and Ryan. In March, a hilarious Twitter feud erupted while Hugh was in Beijing to rpomote his latest X-Men movie Logan

Diehard superhero fans would be up-to-date on the friendly banter between Hugh and Ryan.

In March, a hilarious Twitter feud erupted while Hugh was in Beijing to promote his latest X-Men movie Logan.

It started with a simple Tweet from Hugh saying: 'Thanks for an amazing visit Beijing!' with a photo of him posing gleefully with some adoring fans.

Online: Hugh accidentally sparked the Twitter debate after posting this photo of him with fans at the Logan premiere in Beijing

Hilarious: Ryan couldn't resist the temptation of a witty comeback to Hugh, saying his fans were actually 'protesters'

Speechless: Hugh was left speechless by Ryan's bold claim and left the debate simmer down

Ryan then seized his moment for a witty comeback, replying to Hugh: 'Pretty sure those are protesters.'

The comeback rendered Hugh speechless while he replied with a simple yet effective 'Really?...Guy?...Really?!'

The banter between the two Hollywood stars was also evident after the trailer for Ryan's movie Deadpool 2 dropped just days before Hugh's Logan premiere.

Iconic red suit: Ryan stars as Wade Wilson in superhero film Deadpool

The trailer saw the 'anti-hero' Deadpool trying to save a man but because it takes him over two minutes to change into his iconic red suit, the man inevitably dies.

Ryan then used the opportunity to take a dig at Hugh's Australian accent by saying 'How the other guys do it so quickly, you probably wouldn't be dead if it was Logan!'

And last December when Ryan revealed he would be getting his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Hugh jumped at the opportunity to get his own back at Ryan.

Hugh posted a video to Twitter using a giant cardboard cutout of Ryan's head and mocked the American actor by saying: 'Ryan Reynolds here...how could a guy, who failed his high school drama class be this talented? I have no answer for that.'

Popular franchise: While Hugh has become synonymous with his Logan character in Wolverine

The trailer saw the 'anti-hero' Deadpool trying to save a man but because it takes him over two minutes to change into his iconic red suit, the man inevitably dies.

Ryan then used the opportunity to take a dig at Hugh's Australian accent by saying 'How the other guys do it so quickly, you probably wouldn't be dead if it was Logan!'

And last December when Ryan revealed he would be getting his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Hugh jumped at the opportunity to get his own back at Ryan.

Hugh posted a video to Twitter using a giant cardboard cutout of Ryan's head and mocked the American actor by saying: 'Ryan Reynolds here...how could a guy, who failed his high school drama class be this talented? I have no answer for that.'
She recently disclosed a bad experience with disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein.

But the ugly allegations against the powerful movie executive seemed far from Angelina Jolie's mind as she attended a film premiere in LA on Wednesday night, dressed in an oversized cape.

The 42-year-old looked carefree as she posed with the directors of Faces Places, Agnes Varda and JR, at the Pacific Design Center.

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Laid back: Angelina Jolie looked carefree at the Faces Places premiere in LA on Wednesday night

The actress put on a relaxed display in a floor-length black gown, wrapped in a beige fringed cloak.

She posed up a storm with her fellow directors, and cosied up to 89-year-old Agnes while JR, 34, snapped away.

The French documentary, which currently holds a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, sees the duo travel around rural France creating portraits of the people they come across.

Chic: The actress put on a classy display in a floor-length black gown

Class: She finished her look wrapped in a beige fringed cloak, with matching pumps

A vision in white! Jennifer Lawrence looked lovely as ever at the premiere

Smile: She joined the film's directors Agnes Varda and JR, at the Pacific Design Center

The light nature of the film screening was in start contrast to the dark cloud cast over Hollywood this week with the revelations of mega producer Weinstein's sordid past.

Dozens of women have been coming forward recounting their sexual abuse at the hands of the 65-year-old since the New York Times' grim expose last week.

Jolie disclosed this week that she was but one of his many intended victims, although she appeared to have escaped unscathed.

Cheese! She shared a laugh posing for selfies with her fellow directors

Still going: She cosied up to 89-year-old Agnes while JR, 34, snapped away

Perfect: The French documentary currently holds a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Plot: It sees the duo travel around rural France creating portraits of the people they come across

She revealed was promoting her film Playing By Heart in 1998 when Weinstein made unwanted advances on the then 23-year-old in a hotel room.

'I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did,' Jolie told the New York Times.

'This behavior towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable.'

Elephant in the room: The light nature of the film screening was in start contrast to the dark cloud cast over Hollywood this week with the revelations of mega producer Weinstein's sordid past
She is one of Hollywood's great beauties, with her blonde hair, stunning features and statuesque 5ft 8" height.

And it was Jennifer Lawrence's height which truly stood out at the premiere of the film Faces Places in West Hollywood on Wednesday, as she came face-to-face with director Agnes Varda - who she was seen to tower over.

The Mother! starlet turned heads in the semi-sheer cream frock which dipped low to reveal her full chest and along with a cameo necklace and bold lips as she joined the diminutive director in putting on an animated display on the red carpet.

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Warm welcome! It was Jennifer Lawrence's height which truly stood out at the premiere of the film Faces Places in West Hollywood on Wednesday, as she came face-to-face with director Agnes Varda - who she was seen to tower over

Jennifer, 27, looked ethereal in the plunging lace frock which featured an empire waist and delicate lace bodice. The Academy Award winner accented her cleavage with jewelry, layering a gold chain over another gilded necklace with vintage cameo.

The Kentucky-born beauty let her locks hang to one side in textured curls while lining her eyes in black and donning a bold berry pout.

Though Jennifer is one of Hollywood's biggest names she was the one starstruck while meeting filmmaker Agnes Varda at the premiere.

Varda - who is renowned for creating boundary-breaking documentaries for the past six decades - held out both hands to embrace the statuesque blonde, who appeared over a foot taller than the filmmaker.

A legend! The Mother! starlet turned heads in the semi-sheer cream frock which dipped low to reveal her full chest and along with a cameo necklace and bold lips as she joined the diminutive director in putting on an animated display on the red carpet

A vision in white! Jennifer Lawrence looked lovely as ever on Wednesday, donning a gauzy gown to the premiere of the film Faces Places in West Hollywood

Choice cameo! The Academy Award winner accented her cleavage with jewelry, layering a gold chain over another gilded necklace with vintage cameo

Lacey lady: The 27-year-old's plunging lace frock featured an empire waist and delicate lace bodice

Berry nice! The Kentucky-born beauty let her locks hang to one side in textured curls while lining her eyes in black and donning a bold berry pout

The kooky director looked stylish in a floral ensemble with a clashing scarf and top while her two-tone hair was styled into a sharp bob.

Agnes and JLaw were joined by the Belgian-born film vet's creative collaborator JR, who looked sharp in a navy suit and chic chapeau.

The French artist helped the fantastic femmes take a selfie while he lavished his film partner with attention.

Sheer wonder! The Mother! starlet turned heads in the semi-sheer cream frock which dipped low to reveal her full chest

Icon: Though Jennifer is one of Hollywood's biggest names she was the one starstruck while meeting filmmaker Agnes Varda at the premiere

Faces Places won the top honor for documentaries during Cannes Film Festival in May, and is already considered a strong Oscar contender.

Lawrence has been garnering award-season whispers for her role in beau Darren Aronofsky's Mother!

If Jennifer earns a nod for the controversial film, it will mark her fifth Oscar nom in under a decade.

Who R you? Agnes and JLaw were joined by the Belgian-born film vet's creative collaborator JR

Well suited! Varda's co-creator looked sharp in a navy suit and chic chapeau as he helped the duo take photos
It is nicknamed The Happiest Place On Earth.

And Braith Anasta and pregnant girlfriend looked completely smitten as they took their children to Disneyland in California on Tuesday.

The former NRL player tenderly cuddled the brunette beauty as they strolled around the theme park with Braith's daughter Aleeia, who he shares with ex wife Jodi Gordon, and Rachael's son Addison, who she shares with her former partner.

It really is the happiest place on earth! Smitten Braith Anasta cuddles his pregnant girlfriend Rachael Lee as the couple take their children to Disneyland

Rachael was glowing as she showed off her burgeoning baby bump in a white mini dress.

The 30-year-old teamed her chic dress with silver sandals, oversized sunglasses and a mini Louis Vuitton shoulder bag.

All smiles as she strolled through the theme park, Rachael carried four lollipops - one for each family member.

Beautiful: Rachael was glowing as she showed off her burgeoning baby bump in a white dress

Glowing: The 30-year-old teamed her chic maternity look with silver sandals, oversized sunglasses and a mini Louis Vuitton shoulder bag

The mother-to-be cradled her baby bump while she chatted to three-year-old Aleeia who looked adorable in a ballerina-inspired outfit.

Rachael's seven-year-old son Addison also touched his mother's growing tummy.

Seemingly excited to be a big brother, he gave her bump a big hug and kiss.

Gorgeous: The mother-to-be cradled her baby bump while she chatted to three-year-old Aleeia who looked adorable in a ballerina-inspired outfit

Excited: Rachael's seven-year-old son Addison also touched his mother's growing tummy. Seemingly excited to be a big brother, he gave her bump a big hug and kiss

Chilling out: The family, including Rachael's mother, took a break from the sunshine and enjoyed some cold drinks

Break time: Braith and Rachael also indulged in some Disneyland specialty snacks

After strolling around the theme park in the sun the family, took a break and sat down to enjoy some cold drinks.

They also indulged in some Disneyland specialty snacks, but soon appeared ready to get back to the fun of the theme park.

Let's get back to the fun! Rachael filled her beau's backpack with the family's unfinished drinks

Getting close: Braith and Addison appeared to bond and have fun together in the theme park

Buddies: Rachael even captured a snap of Braith and Addison in Disneyland

Mummy's boy: Addison was lucky enough to be carried by his mother at Disneyland

Meanwhile, Addison and Braith also appeared to be bonding on the family trip.

The two walked side-by-side and posed for photos together, mostly taken by Rachael.

The former NRL star dressed for the activity-filled day in a black tank top and grey board shorts, with a pair of flip flops.

Wearing sunglasses, he also carried a back pack, which was filled with family essentials for the day out.

Relaxed: The former NRL star dressed for the activity-filled day in a black tank top and grey board shorts, with a pair of flip flops

Sticking together: Rachael and Braith waited patiently in line together for an attraction

Braith split from ex-wife Jodi in 2015 and he began dating Rachael last year.

The pair moved in to Braith's Sydney home earlier this year, and announced they were expecting their first child in August.
She is preparing to welcome a second - this time, without her husband Amir Khan.

And Faryal Makhdoom has made a heart-breaking confession about mothering three-year-old daughter Lamaisah during her acrimonious divorce.

The working mum, who returned to 'hustling' on her eponymous beauty business on Sunday, posted some insight on Instagram, not long after he reunited with the parents who disowned Faryal, in Pakistan.

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My hardest role: Faryal Makhdoom, who's expecting her second child with Amir Khan, has said that parenting during her split has been the hardest thing to do (here with their three-year-old daughter Lamaisah)

She wrote: 'To be a good mother while my heart was breaking was one of the hardest roles I've ever had to play.'

British boxer Amir, who is said to be worth 23million, shares one daughter with Faryal but she dropped her second baby bombshell in August, just weeks after their separation was announced.

Faryal was keen to show off her independence on Sunday as she got back to work during her pregnancy.

It's over: Faryal began her beauty business after gaining attention from her lavish wedding to boxer Amir Khan in 2013 (pictured, in July that year)

Back to hustling: Faryal got to work on her beauty brand on Sunday, as she returned to work during her pregnancy

Captioning some behind the scenes shots for a campaign for her self-made beauty brand, Faryal simply wrote: 'Back to hustlin''

A 'hustle' is generally considered to mean doing anything in order to make money.

Glamorously dressed in a red fluffy coat for the beauty shoot, Faryal found the humour in working during her pregnancy, as she was dressed in jogging bottoms just out of the shot.

She captioned one shot, 'Lol at my pants' as the photographer captured portrait shots of her beautiful features.

Hiding her bump: The brunette dressed her baby bump in a pair of jogging bottoms

Faryal launched her eponymous beauty line in June 2015, 'after gaining attention from her highly publicized glamorous wedding', her personal website states.

The beauty married Amir at New York's fabled Waldorf Astoria hotel in 2013, where the building was transformed into a scene from the Arabian Nights.

She made a firm statement about the baby last week when she stepped out alone, carrying the ultrasound and deliberately flashing her ring-free hand.

Dressed up: Glamorous up top in fur jackets, the brunette was comfortable out of shot in her leisurewear

Hustling: Faryal has returned to work to make some money for her two children

Now Amir has dealt her the ultimate blow by reuniting with his parents in Pakistan, a year after the family fell out with Faryal about the way she dressed.

Amir's dad Shah told Geo News in December 2016: 'Faryal was adopting a dress code which in the Islamic faith was not acceptable.

He added: 'We kept asking Amir to tell her not to adopt such a dress code. And even if she had to wear such dresses, please don't post it on social media.'

Amir's mother Falak said: 'I asked her not to wear such dresses and to take the dupatta (scarf), but he never listened.'

After inititally defending his wife, Amir seems to have been welcomed back into the family.

He posted a picture with his mother and father with the caption: 'Lovely time in Pakistan with Mom & Dad. Taking off shortly to England. Had a lovely time here. See you all soon.'

It is believed that Faryal could stand to gain at least half of Amir's estimated 30million fortune when the divorce is finalised.

#Family: Amir reunited with mum Falak (right) and dad Shah (left) this weekend in Pakistan
Sophie Monk shook the Bachelorette mansion to its core on Wednesday night's episode when she sent frontrunner and fan favourite Luke McLeod home.

And she didn't pull any punches on Thursday night's episode either as she stopped the rose ceremony and evicted all those she's awarded flowers to so she could grill Sam and Blake. A move that caused the dark-haired investor to exclaim: 'What the f*** is happening?'

After questioning their intentions for being on the show, Sophie sent the smooth-talking Sam home.

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'What the f*** is happening?' Shocking scenes as Sophie Monk STOPS The Bachelorette rose ceremony to grill Blake and Sam

Even before the rose ceremony began, Osher left the men shaken as he revealed that two of them would be leaving.

After giving roses to Jarrod, Stu, James and Apollo, Sophie asked them to leave the rose ceremony.

'Sorry, AJ, this rose isn't for you,' Sophie said, and the likable chef left.

Surprise: Thursday night's episode of The Bachelorette was equally shocking, with Sophie Monk stopping the rose ceremony to grill Sam and Blake

'Sorry, AJ, this rose isn't for you': Sophie eliminated AJ before turning her attention to Blake and Sam

How wrong they were: Earlier, the two men had predicted they would be in the top two

Turning to Blake and Sam, Sophie asked: 'Do I know the real you, Sam?'

'You do. But there's a lot more,' Sam said.

'I've been very lucky to get my Double Delight rose. I haven't had to continue to put myself in front of you and be aggressively approaching... I'm freaking out right now.'

As Sam sweated, Sophie asked Blake whether he really liked her.

'I'm freaking out right now': As Sam sweated, Sophie asked Blake whether he really like her,

'I messed up. But you're amazing. And... I don't want to go home. Like, I already see you and me together. I fell for you,' Blake said.

'All I want to do is take care of you. And, like, I would take a bullet and do whatever I have to.'

In the end Sophie chose Blake, letting a shocked Sam leave the mansion.

Was he more convincing? In the end Sophie chose Blake and a shocked Sam left the mansion

Devastated: In his exit interview, Sam said he had believed he and Sophie would have fallen in love

In the limo ride home, a devastated Sam revealed he genuinely believed he had a connection with Sophie.

'I didn't see it coming. I'm definitely sad. What could have been - Sophie meeting the family,' he said.

'Sophie being more part of my life - I think that's something she would have fallen in love with, and I would have fallen in love with her.'

Meanwhile, earlier in Thursday night's episode of The Bachelorette, Sophie Monk left the house 'shell-shocked,' when she gave Apollo a second single date.

Shocked: In the limo ride home, a devastated Sam revealed he had genuinely believed he had a connection with Sophie

The decision left the other boys fuming, with Blake furious he was still yet to have a single date with Sophie.

'Shell-shocked. Apollo is not only a dark horse now, he's a genuine contender. This is a big statement from Sophie,' Sam said.

But Apollo is unconcerned with hurting feelings in the house, heading on his second date to 'play with puppies' alongside Sophie.

'A day with cute puppies, hanging with a beautiful woman I can't wish for anything more,' Apollo gushed.

'We could have a frontrunner here': Apollo leaves the Bachelorette SHELL-SHOCKED after he scores a second single date with Sophie Monk

Excited: On Thursday night's episode of The Bachelorette, Sophie Monk left the house 'shell-shocked', giving Apollo a second single date

Not happy: Blake was not pleased that Apollo had scored a second date while he was still waiting

Sophie was equally complimenting, adding: 'I was watching Apollo play with the puppies and I realised he's strong but he's so sensitive and so soft, and then funny. He's got it all going.'

After getting to know their furry friends, Sophie revealed the two would be doing a session of dog yoga.

'When I think romantic, couples doga doesn't immediately come into mind, but I'm sure in some way, this will be romantic,' Apollo said.

Happy: Apollo is unconcerned with hurting feelings in the house, heading on his second date to 'play with puppies' alongside Sophie

'A day with cute puppies, hanging with a beautiful woman I can't wish for anything more': Apollo was overjoyed with their date

'This is probably the weirdest thing I've done this far.'

The couple couldn't stop laughing during their date, with Apollo's puppy going to sleep while the other bit Sophie's foot.

But things got serious when the sun went down, with the two bonding while roasting marshmallows over an open fire.

As they chatted, Sophie revealed she was wary about dating Apollo because he was an entertainer like her.

Bonding time: After getting to know their furry friends, Sophie revealed the two would be doing a session of dog yoga

Will ego get in the way? Sophie revealed she was wary about dating Apollo because he was an entertainer like her

'All I want is someone to experience something with that's actually on my side and not competing with me. But you, you love being in the industry?' Sophie asked.

'I'm happy doing it for it. Like, it's not a competition. In the last few years, I've stopped comparing myself to other people and just started running my own race,' Apollo replied.

As they shared similar stories about their childhood, talk flowed into Sophie giving Apollo another rose and a passionate kiss.

'I'm happy doing it for it. Like, it's not a competition': Apollo revealed he wasn't interested in competing with her

Connection: As they shared similar stories about their childhood, talk flowed into Sophie giving Apollo another rose and a passionate kiss

After their date, Apollo confessed he had grown 'strong feelings' for Sophie.

Meanwhile back at the mansion, and all the boys except Apollo would be going on a group date with Sophie.

Blake was hopeful it would mean at least some alone time with the blonde bombshell.

As they arrived at their group date, host Osher Gunsberg revealed they would be competing in the first ever 'Bachelorette regatta'.

Group date: As they arrived at their group date, host Osher Gunsberg revealed they would be competing in the first ever 'Bachelorette regatta'

Let the best team win! The team which won would have one of its contestants score one on one time

Racing in teams, Jarrod, Sam and Blake were on the red team, while James, AJ and Stu were on the blue team.

Competing for alone time with Sophie, Jarrod immediately jumped into competition mode.

But while Jarrod was running around on deck, Blake took some time to get time with Sophie, offering her a back massage.

Furious, Jarrod later fumed: 'I turn around to talk tactics and Blake's massaging Sophie. I thought, "You've got to focus on winning this race, "and massaging isn't part of a race''.'

Working hard: Competing for alone time with Sophie, Jarrod immediately jumped into competition mode

Barking orders: Jarrod quickly took the lead bossing around the rest of the team

Stu was equally annoyed, saying: I saw Blake over on the other boat giving Soph what I reckon he would call a massage... it might be getting towards desperation stakes for Blakey.'

After the red team won the first race it was time for Sophie to join the blue team, where it was a completely different experience.

'The blue team have a completely different energy. They're so relaxed,' Sophie explained, as the blue team sailed their way to a second victory.

Getting hands on: While Jarrod was running around on deck, Blake took some time to get time with Sophie, offering her a back massage

'Massaging isn't part of a race': Both Jarrod and Stu slammed Blake over his sneaky tactics

With both teams tied, Sophie picked Blake to spend one on one time with her because of his excellent back massage.

As they bonded over a bottle of champagne, Sophie questioned whether Blake thought he was 'too cool' for the competition.

But Blake rubbished Sophie's concerns, saying: 'Maybe I was playing it a little bit cool. I didn't want to be that guy who comes in consistently and just grabs you out of everyone.'

Relaxed: The blue team were much more low key, less focused on winning than having fun

Winner: Sophie picked Blake to spend one on one time with her because of his excellent back massage

While their one on one time went well, Sophie rebuffed Blake's attempt at a kissing, laughing when he revealed he wanted to lock lips.

Meanwhile Sophie took Sam on his promised second date, admitting she had doubts about his intentions on the show.

On their car ride over, Sophie appeared unimpressed as he offered her music and acting advice.

'Whatever happens here but I could teach you,' Sam said.

Got a grilling: As they bonded over a bottle of champagne, Sophie questioned whether Blake thought he was 'too cool' for the competition

'I can even send you, like, chords, stuff that I've written. I help a lot of my friends write, help them come up with ideas. If I hear an instrumental I'll have 30 melodies go straight into my head.'

As they played board games, Sophie questioned Sam about his relationships and intentions for being on the show.

When they sat down for a glass of wine, Sophie got down to asking the hard questions.

Unsure: Meanwhile Sophie took Sam on his promised second date, admitting she had doubts about his intentions on the show

Say what? On their car ride over, Sophie appeared unimpressed as he offered her music and acting advice

But while Sophie appeared more doubtful about their connection, Sam wasn't feeling the heat.

'I'm confident in where I'm going with Sophie, with the competition. I'm the top gun. I'm one of the top guns,' he said a voiceover.

Back at the mansion, the boys were shocked when Sam didn't return to the mansion with a rose.

But Sam wasn't bothered, telling Blake he believed they would both make it to the final two.

What are his goals? Sophie questioned Sam about his relationships and intentions for being on the show

'I'm confident in where I'm going with Sophie': While Sophie appeared more doubtful about their connection, Sam wasn't feeling the heat

Frontrunners? Sam wasn't bothered, telling Blake he believed they would both make it to the final two

Meanwhile, Jarrod excitedly told Sophie that both their love plants were growing strong.

Earlier, the vineyard manager had accused Blake of urinating in his pot plant.

'We have a plant together and we're finally growing it and it's actually forming a circle,' an elated Jarrod told Sophie.

It's growing: Jarrod excitedly told Sophie that both their love plants were growing strong
Jim Davidson is facing a furious backlash after he said the accusations surrounding Harvey Weinstein were 'unpleasant'.

Weighing in on the sexual harassment scandal surrounding the Hollywood producer, Davidson told Good Morning Britain: 'I'm afraid men take advantage of women and women take advantage of men, that's life.'

The comedian was arrested in 2013 facing claims he sexually assaulted 10 women up to 25 years ago before the investigation was dropped.

However his comments sparked outrage among some viewers including socialite and F1 heir Tamara Ecclestone who called the comic 'deplorable'.

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'It's unpleasant': Weinstein has been accused of sexual harassment, assault and rape by several actresses, with comedian Jim claiming that the Hollywood stalwart will be haunted by the claims, as the 'stigma' attached to sexual offences doesn't go away

Hitting back: Tamara Ecclestone has lashed out at Jim Davidson hours after he spoke out on the scandal surrounding disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein and claimed the accusations surfacing about the star are 'unpleasant'

The comments made by the comedian on Good Morning Britain sparked outrage among some viewers

Davidson said allegations of sexual harassment, assault and rape against the film producer by several actresses would haunt him, as the 'stigma' attached to sexual offences doesn't go away.

Jim himself had faced sex accusations four years ago and was accused of sexual assault, but protested his innocence and no charges against him were ever made and the investigation subsequently dropped.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Thursday morning, former Celebrity Big Brother Jim told the show he intends to use the allegations made against him his as inspiration for new stand-up show 40 Years On.

He said. 'I have a laugh about it. It's gallows humour.'

He was also asked to share his thoughts on the allegations Weinstein is facing.

He told hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shepherd: 'It's not very nice the stories that are coming up, there are allegations - it's trial by television, I'd like to see if he is arrested and if he is charged.'

He said: 'It's not very nice, all these things are very unpleasant,' before seeming to reflect on his own experience, as he added: 'It's a stigma that doesn't go away, I tell you.'

Jim was then asked whether he thinks the showbiz industry has become renowned for those in a position of power abusing their position, but he was quick to respond: 'I'm afraid men take advantage of women and women take advantage of men, that's life.'

Tamara Ecclestone took to Instagram to post a note to her 279,000 followers

Speaking of Weinstein, Jim said: 'It's not very nice, all these things are very unpleasant,' before seeming to reflect on his own experience, as he added: 'It's a stigma that doesn't go away, I tell you'

Disgraced: Weinstein has been accused of sexual harassment, assault and rape by several actresses, with comedian Jim claiming that the Hollywood stalwart will be haunted by the claims, as the 'stigma' attached to sexual offences doesn't go away

Keen not to discuss the topic further, Jim concluded: 'I'd like to see how this story plays out.'

Back in 2013, Jim faced claims he has sexually assaulted 10 women up to 25 years ago.

He was arrested in the January of that year, and again in March, as part of Operation Yewtree, the inquiry launched in the aftermath of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

However after his interview, Tamara Ecclestone took to Instagram to post a note to her 279,000 followers.

She wrote: 'Deplorable. When your so thirsty for your few minutes on TV that you stoop low enough to say this this or even more worryingly you truly believe it.

'I think Mr Davidson is confused about what truly is unpleasant.'

Having his say: Jim was accused of sexually assaulting 10 women up to 25 years ago back in 2013, but protested his innocence and the investigation against him was subsequently dropped without charges

Refelective: Recalling what he had gone through on Good Morning Britain, Jim admitted he had thought the worse, despite consistently denying the allegations and credited the police for their help

In 2013, Davidson had protested his innocence throughout the inquiry and the investigation was later dropped as the Crown Prosecution Service had decided the women's allegations were not strong enough for there to be a realistic prospect of securing a conviction.

When he heard the news, Davidson said: 'I'm very pleased that it has now all blown over.'

He had later described the ordeal as 'nine months of murder' on returning to the stage for his first live performance in the wake of the investigation.

Recalling what he had gone through on Good Morning Britain, Jim admitted he had thought the worse, despite consistently denying the allegations.

'I thought it was a done deal, it doesn't matter if I'm guilty or innocent... but the police were brilliant,' he said.

Explaining how he has since moved on from the claims, Jim admitted: 'I have a laugh with it... when you're really low you laugh your way through it.'

Moving on: Explaining how he has since moved on from the claims, Jim admitted: 'I have a laugh with it... when you're really low you laugh your way through it'

A spokesperson for Rape Crisis England & Wales said: 'Sexual violence, sexual abuse, rape, sexual harassment - these acts are more than 'unpleasant'; they're serious, abhorrent crimes that cause trauma and can have wide-ranging, long-term impacts on those that survive them.

'Sexual assault is not just 'life', it's something we as a society must stand up against and refuse to tolerate.'

American film producer Weinstein, 65, has been accused of sexual harassment by a number of actresses, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Ashley Judd, as well as assault and rape by three actresses including, indirectly, Rosie McGowan.

Weinstein has admitted to some but not all of the allegations made against him. He has 'unequivocally denied' any allegations of non-consensual sex.

Weinstein has been pictured for the first time since accusations against him surfaced.

He was seen in Los Angeles entering the offices of his lawyer Patty Glasser, with the embattled movie mogul appearing to raise his middle figure.

He is believed to be heading to a rehab centre in Arizona, following reports his daughter had phoned 911 to report him as 'suicidal'.

WEINSTEIN'S ACCUSERS Angelina Jolie said she had to turn down Weinstein's advances as a young actress Gwyneth Paltrow: The star told the New York Times that Weinstein touched her and suggested having joint massages in the bedroom before she started shooting the 1996 film Emma. She said she told her then boyfriend Brad Pitt about the incident and he confronted the mogul. Angelina Jolie: Jolie told the Times she had to turn down advances from Weinstein in 1998 and chose never to work with him again. She said she warned other women about him. Louisette Geiss: Actress was called to a late night meeting with Weinstein in 2008. He allegedly emerged in a bathrobe and told her he would green light her script if she watched him masterbate. She left the meeting. Judith Godreche: The French actress says Weinstein tried to massage her and pull off her sweater after asking her up to his Cannes suite to see the view in 1996. Dawn Dunning: Aspiring actress says she was called to a meeting about future film projects in 2003. When she arrived Weinstein presented her with three scripts for his next three movies which he would let her star in, only if she had three-way sex with him. She fled the hotel. Tomi-Ann Roberts: Weinstein met her when she was serving tables as a college junior in 1984 and told her to meet him at his home. When she arrived, she says, he was naked in the bath and told her she would give a better audition if she was nude. She says she refused and left. Asia Argento: The Italian actress has accused Weinstein of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was 21. 'He terrified me, and he was big. It wouldn't stop. It was a nightmare.' She said she went on to have consensual sex with him over the years that followed. She documented the alleged attack in her 2000 film Scarlet Diva. Katherine Kendall: The Swingers actress was told Weinstein had to stop off in his apartment to pick something up after a screening in 1993. He changed into a bathrobe and told her to massage her. When she resisted she said the mogul returned naked and chased her. Lucia Evans: The actress, formerly known as Lucia Stoller, claims Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004. Speaking to the New Yorker, she said that she suffered years of trauma after the incident which occurred in a 'casting meeting' in a Miramax office in Manhattan. He reportedly called her late at night after the incident. Gwyneth Paltrow revealed that Weinstein attempted to get her into a hotel bedroom and massage her when she was 22 Mira Sorvino: The Mighty Aphrodite actress told the New Yorker that Weinstein tried to massage her in a hotel room at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival. He then went to her home in the middle of the night but she called a male friend to protect her, she claimed. She said turning down the mogul adversely affected her career. Rosanna Arquette: The actress also said her career suffered after she rebuffed Weinstein's advances in the early 1990s. At a hotel meeting he tried to put her hand on his erect penis, she claims. Rose McGowan: The actress, who made her breakthrough in 1996 in the Weinstein-produced slasher revival movie Scream, reportedly sued Weinstein after he assaulted her in 1997 at the Sundance Film Festival. She signed a non-disclosure agreement at the close of the suit and has only referred to him obliquely in social media since. On Sunday she referred to being abused by a 'monster' and has previously referred to being raped by a studio head. Career suicide: Mira Sorvino revealed how her career nose-dived after she turned down Weinstein's advances Ashley Judd: Judd's film roles include the 1997 thriller Kiss the Girls - and says that during the filming of that movie Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower. She was one of the women who spoke out to The New York Times this week, saying: 'Women have been talking about Harvey amongst ourselves for a long time, and it's simply beyond time to have the conversation publicly.' Emma De Caunes: French actress Emma de Caunes said that she met Weinstein in 2010, soon after he told her he had a script he was producing based on a book with a strong female character. Weinstein offered to show her the script, and asked her up to his hotel room, where he began to take a shower. He then emerged naked and with an erection, asking her to lay down with him on the bed and telling her that many had done so before. 'I was very petrified,' said de Caunes. 'But I didn't want to show him that I was petrified, because I could feel that the more I was freaking out, the more he was excited.' Zelda Perkins was 25 when, as an assistant of Weinstein's in London, she reportedly confronted the mogul for harassing her and 'several' other women; she later settled out of court Lauren O'Connor: A former employee of The Weinstein Company, she told executives there in the fall of 2015 that there was 'a toxic environment for women at this company' after one of her colleagues told her that Weinstein had pressured her into massaging him while he was naked, the NYT said. Ambra Battilana: An Italian actress and model, she told the NYT that in March 2015 Weinstein invited her to his New York office. There, she said, he asked if her breasts were real before grabbing them and putting his hands up her skirt. She reported the alleged incident to police, but they did not press charges. According to the NYT, Weinstein later paid her off. Jessica Barth: Weintein reportedly pressured Barth, an actress, to give him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel from 2011 onwards. Laura Madden: An ex-employee, she told the NYT that Weinstein had asked her to give him massages from 1991 onwards, while they were both in London and Dublin. 'It was so manipulative,' she told the NYT. 'You constantly question yourself - am I the one who is the problem?' Weinstein denied knowledge. Emily Nestor: Nestor was a temporary employee of the Weinstein Company for just one day in 2014 when Weinstein approached her and offered to boost her career in exchange for sex, the NYT reported. Zelda Perkins: An assistant of Weinstein's based in London in 1998; then 25, she reportedly confronted Weinstein after she and 'several' others were harassed and later settled out of court. Elizabeth Karlsen, an Oscar-winning producer, said a female executive told her almost 30 years ago that she had found Weinstein naked in her bedroom in a Miramax-rented property Elizabeth Karlsen: The Oscar-nominated producer of Carol and The Crying Game, among others, told The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday that almost 30 years ago, an unnamed young female executive who had worked at Miramax with Weinstein had found him naked in her bedroom one night. The exec was in a house rented by Miramax at the time to cut its overheads. Liza Campbell: A freelance script reader, she told the UK's Sunday Times that Weinstein had summoned her to his hotel room in London before telling her to get in the bath with him. Lauren Sivan: The former Fox news host said that Weinstein trapped her in a closed restaurant and masturbated in front of her to completion in 2007. He took her to a closed restaurant beneath a club she had visited and attempted to kiss her, then when she refused he cornered her and made her watch him touch himself, according to The Huffington Post. Jessica Hynes: The British actress, best known for her roles in the Bridget Jones movies and for co-creating and co-writing the sitcom Spaced, said she was invited to audition for Weinstein when she was 19 - in a bikini. Hynes, formerly known as Jessica Stevenson, said she refused to wear the skimpy item - and lost the job. Romola Garai: British actress Romola Garai said she felt 'violated' following a meeting with Harvey Weinstein in his London hotel room when she was 18 in which he was in a bathrobe. Garai, best known for her role in 'Atonement', said she had already been hired for a part but was told to audition privately with the Hollywood mogul because 'you had to be personally approved by him'. 'Like every other woman in the industry, I've had an 'audition' with Harvey Weinstein,' she told The Guardian. 'So I had to go to his hotel room in the Savoy and he answered the door in his bathrobe. I was only 18. I felt violated by it'. Unnamed assistant: Weinstein allegedly behaved inappropriately toward a woman employed as his assistant in 1990. The case was settled out of court. Another unnamed assistant: In 2015, Weinstein reportedly pressured another assistant into giving him a naked massage in the Peninsula Hotel, where he is also said to have pressured Barth. Unnamed Miramax employee: At one point in the early 1990s, a young woman is alleged to have suddenly left the company after an encounter with Weinstein. She also settled out of court. Unnamed woman: A woman who did not wish to be named because she feared Weinstein's connections told The New York Times that the producer had summoned her to his hotel at an unknown date and raped her. Advertisement

Reports reveal that Weinstein's wife, Georgina Chapman, has now left him in the wake of the claims against him, with the star claiming he had 'encouraged' his love to 'follow her heart'.

Weinstein said that he 'supports' Georgina's decision and hopes that after he undergoes therapy for sex addiction and behavioral issues, he and his wife can 'rebuild' their relationship. He has since flown to Europe by private jet, where he will submit himself to a live-in facility in hopes of cleaning his act.

In a statement released by his spokesperson, Weinstein said: 'I support her decision, I am in counseling and perhaps, when I am better, we can rebuild.

'We discussed the possibility of a separation and I encouraged her to do what was in her heart. I understand, I love her and I love our children and hopefully, when I am better, I will be in their lives again.'

Speaking out: American film producer, Harvey Weinstein, 65, has been accused of sexual harassment by a number of actresses, including Gwyneth Paltrow (L) and Angelina Jolie (R)

Chapman cited the alleged 'unforgivable actions' of her husband as a reason for leaving Weinstein.

'My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband,' she told People.

Meanwhile, stars of the movie industry have shared their thoughts on the disgraced director, with many condemning Weinstein for his actions. Among them, Jennifer Lawrence had said: 'I was deeply disturbed to hear the news about Harvey Weinstein's behavior. This kind of abuse is inexcusable and absolutely upsetting.'

Titanic star Kate Winslet added: 'His behavior is without question disgraceful and appalling and very, very wrong. I had hoped that these kind of stories were just made up rumors, maybe we have all been naive.'

Accused: Weinstein has admitted to some but not all of the allegations made against him - recent reports reveal his wife Georgina Chapman has now left him

However, Mean Girls star Lindsay Lohan has shown her support for Weinstein and suggested he is being unfairly treated.

In a video she shared to Instagram, she took aim at Weinstein's wife Georgina and insisted the star had 'never done anything wrong' to her personally.

Lindsay said: 'Hi, this is Lindsay Lohan. I'm in Dubai, I'm home, and I feel very bad for Harvey Weinstein right now, I don't think it's right what's going on.

'I think Georgina needs to take a stand and be there for her husband. And he's never harmed me or did anything wrong to me. We've done several movies together, and so I think everyone needs to stop. I think it's wrong. So stand up.'
Victoria's Secret Angels Josephine Skriver and Lais Ribeiro brought their model looks to a worthy cause in New York on Wednesday night.

Josephine, 24, flashed her famous cleavage in a plum-coloured tiered dress with a plunging neckline.

It featured black lace paneling on the shoulders and under the bust and fell to her ankles.

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Statuesque: Her fellow VS Angel Brazilian Lais Ribeiros, 27, looked super slim in a rose pink round-neck dress with cut out sleeves with her dark tresses in a bun on top of her head

Hot: Victoria's Secret Angels Josephine Skriver flashed her famous cleavage in a maroon tiered dress with a plunging neckline and black lace panels on the shoulder and under the bust

The Danish stunner added black sandal heels and she wore her hair styled back from her flawless face with some pink lip colour and a dusting of blush.

She toted a black leather clutch bag and matched it with a thin black belt.

Brazilian beauty Lais, 27, looked super slim in a rose pink round-neck dress with cut out sleeves.

She wore her dark tresses in a bun on top of her head and rocked chandelier goal earrings.

Stars come out: The New York Academy of Art was hosting an auction and after party honoring artist John Alexander, at Sotheby's

Natural beauty: The 24-year-old Danish stunner wore her hair styled back from her flawless face with some pink lip color and a dusting of blush

Brazilian beauty: Lais, 27, looked super slim in a rose pink round-neck dress with cut out sleeves

The New York Academy of Art was hosting an auction and after party at Sotheby's.

Stars like Brooke Shields, Helena Christensen and Naomi Watts turned up in support of the event.

The event marked the the 26th year for the annual Take Home A Nude auction bringing together over 750 guests from the worlds of media, fashion, business and the arts to raise scholarship funds for the Academys roster of talented artists.

Celebrity art collectors, enthusiasts, artists, and creatives alike joined the fun at the event that honored artist John Alexander.
Anne-Marie Duff has lashed out at ITV's Lorraine show for misquoting her as saying she was 'terrified' of movie boss Harvey Weinstein, on Thursday morning.

The former Shameless actress was in conversation with host Lorraine Kelly about about allegations of sexual harassment, assault and rape made against the producer when the tagline below her image was changed to: 'I Was Terrified Of Weinstein.'

While Lorraine viewers were quick to point out that they weren't words that Anne-Marie used, the actress, 47, later confirmed it was 'misleading and inaccurate' representation of her comments about disgraced Harvey, 65.

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Terrified? Anne-Marie Duff was quoted as saying that she was 'terrified' of movie boss Harvey Weinstein on Thursday morning, but viewers argue that she did not say it

A representative for Anne-Marie told MailOnline after the show: 'I can confirm she has been misquoted. It was a false statement made by ITV.

'It was misleading and inaccurate to include this tagline while discussing the Weinstein story.'

A spokesperson for ITV's Lorraine said: 'We have apologised to Anne-Marie for the on screen caption used during her interview this morning which was an error.'

While Anne-Marie branded the movie boss's behaviour 'disgraceful' and spoke about his power over the industry, she did not suggest that she was 'terrified' of him.

'We are all talking about it,' she said on the show, as the topic was delicately broached by host Lorraine, 'As we should be - because it's disgraceful behaviour.

Power: She said: 'You have to understand how powerful this man has been, and that's the issue really'

'I've worked on a couple of films that Harvey's company was responsible for distributing in America so you have to understand how powerful this man has been, and that's the issue really.'

She added: 'Ultimately, you're looking at a man responsible for getting movies into cinemas so for a lot of young actors and actresses, if somebody says: "If you don't do this for me, then the whole film's future can be affected" and that's an awful weight of responsibility.

'We often talk about parity in pay - especially in our industry - between men and women but unless we address core issues like, respect for your very existence in the movie industry, then we cannot yet look at things like financial issues.'

And then the star concluded: 'As soon as you lift the big old rock, out crawls all the nastiness but it's good we only get rid of it by naming it.'

Acting worlds: The actress was commenting on accusations of sexual harassment lodged against Weinstein in Hollywood

American film producer Harvey, 65, has been accused of sexual harassment by a number of actresses, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Ashley Judd, as well as assault and rape by three actresses including, indirectly, Rosie McGowan.

Weinstein has admitted to some but not all of the allegations made against him. He has 'unequivocally denied' any allegations of non-consensual sex.

Anne-Marie worked with The Weinstein Company on 2010's Nowhere Boy, while her ex-husband James McAvoy starred in their film, The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby in 2013.

Words in her mouth: Viewers defended the actress as a tagline appeared to quote her as saying something she didn't

Misquoted? The actress said that the 65-year-old's behaviour was 'disgraceful' but she did not use the word 'terrified'

Having a chat: The former Shameless star worked with The Weinstein Company on 2010's Nowhere Boy

The acting pair divorced at the start of this year after meeting on the set of Shameless and continue to co-parent their seven-year-old son.

Viewers similarly felt like the actress had been misquoted.

One outraged viewer pointing out: 'Anne Marie duff didnt say she was terrified of Harvey Weinstein like the caption said ??? #ITVLorraine'

Another concurred with the observation, saying: '@ITVLorraine at not one point did she say that!!'

Lost love: Anne-Marie's ex-husband James McAvoy (pictured here together in 2004 for Shameless) also worked with the movie boss on The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby in 2013

While one more comment read: '@ITVLorraine watching AMD [Anne-Marie Duff] interview, talking about HW [Harvey Weinstein], then all of a sudden the headline she was terrified of him'

The amicable one-to-one covered parenting, her new play and her Hollywood career and producers quickly changed the tagline to 'Homegrown Hollywood Talent' as talk turned to her son.

During the interview, she said she was not sure whether their son would follow them into the movie industry, and would secretly rather he was guaranteed work.

Moving on: Anne-Marie and James split in 2016 but they share a seven-year-old son, who she would rather not follow them into acting

'I would like him to be a plumber,' she conceded. 'You know, where there's guaranteed work but he will be, who he will be.

'At the moment, I think he wants to be a rockstar but it's more about who he wants to be.'

Though she did not shed light on their amicable post-divorce relationship, she said: 'We have this beautiful boy, and that's something to be very proud of.'

James shared similar insight, during an interview with Mr Porter magazine in January: My life has changed massively. At the same time so much has stayed the same.

He added: 'Me and Anne-Marie, when we were together, it was our policy not to speak about each other in public.

Unlikely love: Now, she is portraying an unlikely love affair between a 40-something and a 70-something in Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle (pictured alongside co-star Kenneth Cranham)

'We rarely broke that and if we did, it was for tiny things  "Yes, we are cooking turkey this Christmas"  and that policy still stands. Even separated, were still respectful of each other and committed to doing that publicly and personally.

Anne-Marie is due to star in 'funny, moving and unique play' Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle.

From Shameless to science, the actress now explores an unlikely relationship between a 40-something and a 70-year-old man.

She said: 'It's a play about an unconventional love affair and what the writer does brilliantly is he takes physics and relates it to real life relationships.'

New work: The blonde describes the play as a 'funny, moving and unique play' about love

Anne-Marie added: 'It's about a chance encounter between a woman in her forties and a man in his seventies, and they develop a relationship and it's about being lonely and how easy it is to become separate to the rest of the world.

'About how we really crave connection with other people. And I think that's really a problem for us now, we're in big cities, we work very hard. We don't get the chance to just sit back and look at what's around us.

On her co-star Kenneth Cranham: 'He's a wonderful actor and a lovely man, so I'm very luck to be able to share the stage with him.'
Minka Kelly put on a stunning sartorial display when she stepped out in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The Friday Night Lights star flashed a hint of her cleavage in a black fitted tank top and a navy split maxi skirt which had a revealing thigh-split.

The 37-year-old American actress strutted the streets in style and looked stunning as she proves her fitness regime with her personal trainer is paying off.

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Brunette beauty: Minka Kelly, 37, flaunted her cleavage and toned legs in a fitted tank top and split maxi skirt as she takes a sunny stroll in LA on Wednesday

In all the details: The Friday Night Lights star accessorised with some flat strappy sandals, a cross body bag and a trilby style hat

The brunette beauty's accessories brought some serious autumnal vibes.

She wore a black cross body bag and black trilby style hat to finish.

Her day look is complete with minimalist jewellery for that subtle touch of glamour.

The fitness fan looked great and is proving her workout regime with her personal trainer Gunnar Peterson is paying off.

The gym goer told Self that exercise is like mediation for her and she enjoys working on her mind as well as her body.

She said: 'I've been working out with Gunnar Peterson and it's completely changed my body, my life, everything. I cannot live without it now.

'When you have such a good workout, it clears everything up mentally, physically, and you just have a better day.'

Looking good: The American actress showed off her toned body and tiny waist as the gym goer proves her hard work exercising is paying off

'Exercise is like meditation for me': The fitness fan said she enjoys working out with her personal trainer and she looks stunning

The Charlie's Angels stunner has just signed up to DC comics project Titans, cast as Dove in the live action series.

Meanwhile, her romance with Jesse Williams is believed to have been getting strong since July, months after he filed for divorce from his wife Aryn.

The pair worked together on the same video game, the David Cage project Detroit: Becoming Human.
Last week Lionel Richie opened up about his daughter's controversial romance for the first time, admitting: 'Have I been in shock?! I'm the dad, come on.'

But Sofia Richie appeared unfazed as she took to Instagram on Thursday to share a racy post as she posed in a $135 Fleur du Mal 'Chat Noir' lace tank.

The 19-year-old model, who is 15 years Scott's junior, showed off her enviable figure in the steamy snap.

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Angelic? Sofia Richie appeared unfazed as she took to Instagram on Thursday to share a racy post all-white as she posed in a $135 Fleur du Mal 'Chat Noir' lace tank

Making the most of her ripped abs and shapely hips, she sported a pair of loose fitting white jeans.

She teamed the high-waist trousers with a semi-sheer lace bustier, showing off a glimpse of her tanned decolletage.

Completing the angelic all-white ensemble with an oversized white shirt-presumably not that of 34-year-old boyfriend Scott, she shared the racy post to her Instagram story.

Unfazed? The 19-year-old model, who is 15 years Scott's junior, showed off her enviable figure in the steamy snap, after her father Lionel admitted he's in shock

Her post comes after a string of holidays and besotted Instagram posts with her partner Scott.

As well as enjoying a recent holiday to Miami, where the teenager visited Liv club despite being underage, the duo have been enjoying regular date nights shared with their fans online.

On Sunday TMZ reported Kourtney had 'no problems' with her ex dating someone else, 'because if he's happy she's happy,' a source claimed.

Can't get enough: Her lone appearance comes after a string of holidays and besotted Instagram posts with her partner Scott

According to the site, Kourtney, who shares children Mason, 7, Penelope, 5, and 2-year-old Reign with her long term ex, isn't bothered about his relationship with 19-year-old Sofia 'because she thinks it's genuine and feels good that he's moving on'.

Meanwhile Kourtney is also dating someone younger as well- model Younes Bendjima, 24, who she has been linked with throughout the summer.

Coincidentally, Younes and Sofia used to be friends, but sources report the two have stopped talking since he embarked on a relationship with Kourtney.

Besotted: The duo have been enjoying regular date nights shared with their fans online

Moving on: On Sunday TMZ reported Kourtney had 'no problems' with her ex dating someone else, 'because if he's happy she's happy,' a source claimed (pictured boyfriend Younes right)

Meanwhile Sofia's father appeared to express his disdain at his daughter's relationship with Scott.

Talking to US Weekly on at the American Idol auditions in New York where the 68-year-old will serve as a judge on the singing competition show, he said: 'Have I been in shock?! I'm the dad, come on.'

Sofia and Scott went public with their romance in late September, however they were linked as far back as May.
He is one of Hollywood's most sought after movie stars.

So naturally Idris Elba attracts attention wherever he goes, as illustrated when he hit the red carpet alongside his girlfriend Sabrina Dhowre, 29, before later chatting to Boris Becker at the International Day Of The Girl Charity Gala sponsored by CIROC Vodka on Wednesday.

The 45-year-old Luther star looked extremely dashing as he posed with American actress and model Sabrina, after which he spotted Boris - who is currently embroiled in a financial crisis after being declared bankrupt in June.

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Stunner: Naturally Idris Elba attracts attention wherever he goes, as illustrated when he hit the red carpet alongside his girlfriend Sabrina Dhowre, 29, while later chatting to Boris Becker at the International Day Of The Girl Charity Gala sponsored by CIROC Vodka on Wednesday

Idris was hitting the red carpet in style as he sported a slim-fitting white shirt with a thin black tie and smart trousers while rocking a smattering of facial hair.

Looking slick, he was matched in stylish flare by his girlfriend who looked chic in a navy pinstripe shirt dress paired with slouchy black boots.

Her make-up was kept dewy and natural while she wore chic over-sized hoops to provide the ensemble with a touch of glitz.

Within the bash, he spotted Boris and embraced the sportsman in a warm embrace while they enjoyed an up close chat in the midst of the festivities.

The BARDOU Foundation hosted their first International Day of the Girl in support of The Princes Trust.

Hey there! The 45-year-old Luther star looked extremely dashing as he posed with pinstripe-clad Sabrina, who is an American actress and model, while he later spotted Boris - who is currently embroiled in a financial crisis

Busty babe: Idris was hitting the red carpet in style as he sported a slim-fitting white shirt with a thin black tie and smart trousers while rocking a smattering of facial hair

Happy days: Her make-up was kept dewy and natural while she wore chic oversized hoops to provide the ensemble with a touch of glitz

The event was sponsored by Ciroc and Ombra Di Pantera and saw The Housekeeping Collective DJing throughout the night, with guests leaving in Starr Luxury Cars.

Boris' outing comes after lawyers dealing with the Wimbledon legend's mountain of debt are understood to have written to TV companies employing him, telling them not to pay him a penny more.

London insolvency administrators Smith & Williamson have reportedly written to all Boris' employers, including Eurosport and the BBC, saying fees he earns will in future have to be paid to them directly.

Boris, 49, was declared bankrupt in June after a private London bank claimed he owed them almost 10million, but it is alleged that his debts are several times this amount.

Troubles: London insolvency administrators Smith & Williamson have reportedly written to all Boris' employers, including Eurosport and the BBC, saying fees he earns will in future have to be paid to them directly

Together forever: Looking slick, he was matched in stylish flare by his girlfriend who looked chic in a navy pinstripe shirt dress paired with slouchy black boots

Dashing: The TV hit was cutting a sharp figure in the star-studded party

Simon Seddon of Smith & Williamson told Germany's Bild newspaper: 'We try to satisfy the creditors, of course. But we cannot say whom we are approaching in detail.'

Another German newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine, said anyone who pays Boris for his services is now allowed to do so only through the insolvency administrator  otherwise they run risk of paying twice; once to him and once to the insolvency administrator.

'Boris Becker is insolvent in the whole of Europe,' ran the newspaper's headline, reporting that Cologne lawyer Jan Gross, examining claims and assets in the Becker case in Germany, scoffed at Becker's assertion that he is 'only' insolvent in the UK.

Gross, who has been hired by the London administrators to pick over his remaining assets on the continent said: 'The bankruptcy in an EU state is valid throughout Europe.'

He also told the paper that his firm is also charged with investigating whether Becker still possesses real estate assets.

Handsome: Idris kept his look simple yet suave as he ditched a suit jacket
Ryan Thomas' blossoming romance with Lucy Mecklenburgh has been gaining momentum ever since they first hooked up at the start of summer.

Yet the duo's relationship could possibly be in jeopardy as the Coronation Street actor has now scooped an incredible new role on Australian soap Neighbours, with news of his bad boy part being announced on Thursday.

The 33-year-old hunk, who is set to play Rafael Humphreys a loner, with dark secrets, discussed his delight at news of his role yet remained quiet on the subject of the fate of his romance with the TOWIE star - who has also stayed silent in wake of the news.

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Happy days! Ryan Thomas has scooped a role on Neighbours, in news which comes hot on the heels of his confirmation of his relationship with Lucy Mecklenburgh

Ryan soared to fame playing Jason Grimshaw on Corrie for a whopping 16 years, having kicked off the part in 2000 before departing last year when he confessed to making the 'difficult' decision to seek other pursuits.

Clearly succeeding in his brave mission to search for other projects, news was confirmed that he would jet Down Under to star on the long-running show.

Speaking of the career move, Ryan, whose brother Adam stars in Emmerdale, said: 'I grew up watching Neighbours so to get the chance to join the cast is amazing.I was on holiday with my daughter when I got a phone call...

'(It was) my agent asking if Id like to play this part...I spoke to the producer and found out more - it was very different from anything Id played before - it was quite a dark story, that interested me.Its a new challenge and I cant wait to start filming.'

Stunner: Ryan Thomas' blossoming romance with Lucy Mecklenburgh has been gaining momentum ever since they first hooked up at the start of summer

New job: The 33-year-old hunk, who is set to play Rafael Humphreys a loner, with dark secrets, discussed his delight at news of his role yet remained quiet on the subject of the fate of his romance with the TOWIE star - who has also stayed silent in wake of the news

Way back when Ryan soared to fame playing Jason Grimshaw on Corrie for a whopping 16 years, having kicked off the part in 2000 before departing last year when he confessed to making the 'difficult' decision to seek other pursuits

Channel 5's Commissioning Editor, Greg Barnett added: 'With his good looks and Corrie years under his belt, Ryan is the perfect handsome devil. His arrival in Erinsborough marks darker times for a Ramsay St favourite. Prepare to be gripped.'

While the promise of a glittering new career move is no doubt a joy for the star, it is sure to be a bittersweet move given his relationship with Lucy, which the couple confirmed with a very public outing to Wimbledon in July.

In June, Lucy and Ryan enjoyed idyllic trips to both Panama and Mykonos, during which they shared near identical snaps on their Instagram feeds throughout the whole holidays - yet never posed together.

Loved-up: In June, Lucy and Ryan enjoyed idyllic trips to both Panama and Mykonos, during which they shared near identical snaps on their Instagram feeds throughout the whole holidays - yet never posed together

Moving on: In June, Lucy and Ryan enjoyed idyllic trips to both Panama and Mykonos, during which they shared near identical snaps on their Instagram feeds throughout the whole holidays - yet never posed together

Happy days! Clearly succeeding in his brave mission to search for other projects, news was confirmed that he would jet Down Under to star on the long-running show

When fan speculation reached fever pitch, they were eventually snapped together London City airport while waiting for their bags and enjoying a steamy smooch.

It was claimed that Lucy and Ryan had managed to strike up a romance in the midst of water shortages, extreme hunger and tropical storms while filming for Bear Grylls' survival show.

The Daily Star first reported that the two TV stars have got close during filming for the new series of the Channel 4 programme.

Stunner: Lucy's romance with Ryan could be in jeopardy if he is to make his move to Oz

Ryan and Lucy have apparently got very close very quickly after landing in Panama last week for training for the show.

A show source told the paper: 'There's definitely a mutual attraction which is getting everyone excited. The crew are going to do everything they can to try to make it happen between them.'

With their romance seeming smooth sailing, it will undoubtedly rock the boat given Ryan's relocation - meaning their love could either end of go long-distance.

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Lucy and Ryan for comment.
He couldn't stop crying after witnessing the birth of his first daughter, Willow Wendy Wood.

And Sam Wood has now revealed more details of the arrival of his first child with fiancee Snezana Markoski.

Speaking to KIIS FM's Hughsey and Kate on Thursday, the former Bachelor star said he had taken Snezana on a Macca's run as she went into labour.

'If your wife is in labour and she wants a cheeseburger then you get her a cheeseburger!' Sam Wood reveals he and Snezana Markoski went on a Maccas run as she went into labour

After arriving at the hospital, Snezana was famished and the only eatery that was open nearby was a McDonald's.

'If your wife is in labour and she wants a cheeseburger then you get her a cheeseburger,' Sam explained.

'So we went across the road, grabbed some Maccas, came back across the road and the obstetrician said, "Oh, you're not going home tonight! You're five centimetres dilated, you're having the baby tonight".'

Not just a food baby: After arriving at the hospital, Snezana was famished and the only eatery that was open nearby was a McDonald's

After a 'couple of hours' of labour and Sam was nursing more than just a food baby, welcoming his newborn daughter.

'So one minute we're eating Maccas and watching The Block and about two hours later it was all happening and my life will never be the same again,' he exclaimed.

The couple confirmed Willow's birth this week via the private Facebook group 28 By Sam Wood Community.

Congrats! The couple confirmed Willow's birth this week via the private Facebook group 28 By Sam Wood Community

'I also haven't been able to stop crying': Sam revealed he was overwhelmed by the arrival of his first child

'This is Willow Wendy Wood. And she's pretty damn perfect,' Sam gushed in the online post.

'I have fallen in love with the most perfect little girl and fallen further in love with the most beautiful Mum,' he later wrote.

'I also haven't been able to stop crying,' Sam added.

The hunk shared a picture of himself in tears after he witnessed the birth of his first child.

'Mumma you were amazing and I love you more than ever': Sam also praised Snezana for giving birth to their new addition

'She's pretty damn perfect': The former Bachelor star and new father gushed over the adorable newborn

'Willow Wendy Wood you make our hearts explode. Mumma you were amazing and I love you more than ever. Eve, you look so natural holding your little sister. Dad - stop crying...Willow you are simply perfect,' the personal trainer said.

Sam and Snezana met and fell in love in 2015 on the third season of The Bachelor, they were engaged in the December of that year.

The reality TV sweethearts live together in Melbourne with Snezana's daughter Eve, who is from a previous relationship.
She lit up the West End Stage for three months when she starred in theatre show Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.

And Sienna Miller, 35, was spotted grappling with Cat In The Hat author Dr Seuss book and a doll for her daughter, Marlowe, one, on Wednesday in New York.

Returning to her motherly duties, the English American actress made multi-tasking look easy as she juggled with toys for her little girl.

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Multi-tasking mother: Sienna Miller, 35, was spotted with a doll and Dr Seuss book for her daughter Marlowe, on Wednesday in New York

Looking casual yet stylish, the actress and mother wears blue jeans and a relaxed fit shirt with a lilac and white striped design.

She accessorised with a black baker boy hat, round sunglasses and tan cross body bag.

Sienna has been praised as the 'slinky and seductive' feline of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.

Looking good: The 35-year-old put on a stylish display of blue jeans and a relaxed fit striped shirt during a casual walk in the New York City streets

Looking good: On Thursday, Sienna looked equally as chic as she stepped out in a pair of skinny jeans and an oversized cardigan worn over a striped T-shirt

Low-key look: Sienna accessorised with wayfarer shades and a small orange handbag

When the critics' reviews were published last week, Sienna came up trumps above co-star Jack O'Connell.

The Tennessee Williams play has been reinvented for The Apollo Theatre this summer with acting duo in a husband and wife portrayal.

The Benedict Andrews' directed play centres around the sexual tension between Maggie (Miller) and her alcoholic husband Brick (O'Connell), who some believe is denial about his homosexuality.

Stunning: Sienna Miller as Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in a glamorous black sequin number

Hot acting duo: Jack O'Connell as Brick (left) and Sienna Miller as Maggie (right) in Tennesse Williams play reinvented for The Apollo Theatre

Sienna gave birth to her daughter Marlow Ottoline Layng Sturridge in July 2012.

She shares her little girl with her former fiance Tom Sturridge, whom she split from in 2015.

The actress met her latest boyfriend Bennett Miller on the set of the 2014 wrestling film Foxcatcher.

Adorable: Mother of one gave birth to her daughter Marlow Ottoline Layng Sturridge in July 2012. She shares her little girl with her former fiance Tom Sturridge, whom she split from in 2015

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF REVIEW BY QUENTIN LETTS

This will lose me points with the Leveson-supporting class but the chief reason for catching the new West End version of Tennessee Williamss Cat On A Hot Tin Roof is seeing Sienna Miller remove her kit. In these egalitarian times the lead man, Jack OConnell, also parades his full Monty. It is rather more impressive than his Mississippi accent. Benedict Andrewss production, set in the modern day rather than in Williamss 1950s, is overdone. There is much shouting and smashing of furniture, a vast cake is destroyed and the stage is reduced to a terrible mess. This once again proves my pet theory that a messy stage is evidence of a struggling director. There is more drama in repression  in violence checked  than in rampant destruction. But the set is striking: a vast, semi-reflective back wall of golden metal (tin?). Miss Miller plays Maggie the cat, sexually frustrated wife of sometime sports hero Brick (OConnell) who has turned to drink. They are at the home of Bricks millionaire redneck parents, Big Daddy and Big Mama. The core plot material about disapproval of homosexuality (Brick is secretly gay), which would have made sense in the 1950s, is hobbled by the modern setting. Of the supporting cast, several seem distinctly un-American. Lisa Palfreys Big Mama, hiding her mobile in her deep cleavage, is a successful creation, as is Hayley Squiress Mae, but a visiting clergyman (Michael J. Shannon) resembles a West Country solicitor and Colm Meaney, though a gifted performer, is in no way a Mississippi plantation owner. The family is unremittingly miserable. This is standard Williams. He is the laureate of undeserved unhappiness: rich people brimming with self-pity. Where is the joy in life? Where is the humanity of love? He wanted us all to share his glumness. Miss Miller likes to complain about newspapers coverage of her life, insisting that she is more than a mere celebrity pin-up. I am not sure this performance quite clinches her case. She is a reasonable but hardly first-rate actress. Her voice is echoey to the point of inaudibility. Her Maggie keeps smiling weakly, which hardly seems feline. Would she really have been cast had she not been a gossip-column celeb? In the first half she strips to her underpants as Maggie tries to lure Brick. At the end, her disrobing may have less to do with the plot than it does in giving the audience a box-office boosting eyeful, her slender curves being silhouetted against the metallic backdrop almost like the credits for a James Bond film. Advertisement
She's the former Bachelor contestant, known for her free spirited nature.

And on Thursday Elora Murger, 27, certainly showed off her individuality when she wore a very unusual yellow ensemble.

The self-described 'Tahitian goddess' wore a Bee Gees inspired satin outfit to the Paco Rabanne perfume launch at The Ivy in Sydney.

That's different! The Bachelor's Elora Murger wears a VERY quirky satin outfit as she attends Paco Rabanne perfume launch

Elora, who was dumped by Matty 'J' Johnson after she tried to kiss him at a rose ceremony, was a ray of sunshine as she posed for photos at the exclusive event.

The personal trainer wore a matching yellow blouse and pants, which seemed to be inspired by both the 1970s and sleepwear.

The brunette beauty showcased her taut stomach, tying the canary yellow blouse around her midriff.

Retro inspired: The personal trainer wore a matching yellow blouse and pants, which seemed to be equally inspired by the 1970s and sleepwear

Elora's trousers clung to her pert posterior, while her flared trousers were a little too long.

Elora was in high spirits at the event, which came after the reality TV star was reunited with her mother.

Earlier on Thursday Elora had greeted her mum Christiane at Sydney airport. The pair she shared a warm embrace before Elora presented her mother with a bouquet of flowers.

Booted: Elora was dumped by Matty 'J' Johnson after she tried to kiss him at a rose ceremony

Interested: After being dumped by Matty on The Bachelor, Elora has expressed interested in another reality TV contestant - Luke McLeod

The reunion was all the more emotional as Christiane had finally been given the green light to fly, after battling cancer earlier this year.

The cancer survivor had kept her diagnosis and treatment a secret from Elora, only revealing the truth when she accidentally facetimed her daughter.

After being dumped by Matty on The Bachelor, Elora has expressed interested in another reality TV contestant - Luke McLeod.

'I think Luke would be a great match,' she told TV Week. 'We seem to share similar perspectives on life.'

Luke also appears keen on Elora, telling the magazine she seems like a 'very lovely girl'.
She's the proud recipient of not one, but two Brazilian bum lifts.

And Jemma Lucy drew on her expert knowledge of plastic surgery, as she accused Lauren Goodger of lying after she denied undergoing a bum lift.

The inked Ex On The Beach star, 29, didn't hold back as she offered her opinion on the former TOWIE star's curvaceous derriere - revealing it wasn't an 'achievable perception.'

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'It's not achievable naturally!' Jemma Lucy, 29, drew on her expert knowledge of cosmetic enhancements, as she accused Lauren Goodger of lying after she denied undergoing a bum lift

Lauren has been dedicated on honing her figure in the gym with gruelling workouts after admitting that she fluctuates between a size 8 and 14.

And Jemma, who underwent her second bum lift in September, just four months after her first, has revealed that she thinks the Essex based star has undergone surgery in the quest for the perfect derriere.

Lauren, who regularly flaunts her curvaceous form in skimpy ensembles, has revealed that she's been working hard on building her behind in the gym.

However Jemma didn't seem convinced as she told The Sun: 'Oh she's had it. There's nothing wrong with that, but you can't put a perception out that ain't real to younger people.

'Not an achievable perception': The inked Ex On The Beach star didn't hold back as she offered her opinion on the former TOWIE star's curvaceous derriere

Bottoms up! Lauren, who regularly flaunts her curvaceous form in skimpy ensembles, has revealed that she's been working hard on building her behind in the gym

'It's not achievable to get something that is not naturally in your genetics."

'They've all had it done,' she continued to allude that she had a bum lift.

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Lauren for further comment.

Lauren has drawn attention for her impossibly perky posterior before, with fans speculating that she may have undergone a bum lift.

Hitting back at the rumours, however, Lauren insisted her more apparent behind was due to her gruelling workouts.

She said in her column for new! magazine: 'I have been training my a**e off, literally, ahead of TOWIE filming. I've definitely noticed a difference too.

'I love it! My bum is the main part of my body I work on in the gym. I'm doing more weight lifting and I've definitely noticed a difference.'

Jemma recently went under the knife and had fat transfer from her stomach to her bottom to create a shapely rear.

Has she? Has she not? Lauren has drawn attention for her impossibly perky posterior before, with fans speculating that she may have undergone a bum lift

'I have been training my a**e off': Hitting back at the rumours, however, Lauren insisted her more apparent behind was due to her gruelling workouts

Undert the knife: Jemma recently went under the knife and had fat transfer from her stomach to her bottom to create a shapely rear

Before jetting off to Turkey for the procedure, Jemma told The Sun Online she had always dreamed off having a bigger rear, despite having her first bum lift just four months ago.

She said: 'Ive always had an obsession with having a bigger bum. I only had the last fat transfer four months ago but as soon as I woke up from the surgery I knew I wanted a second one.'

Revealing that she hopes to emulate Khloe Kardashian's curvaceous shape, she admitted she couldn't wait to have another bum lift.

Jemma said: 'Really Ive only just recovered from the last one as it takes about three months before you can sit and lie down properly but Im ready to go back in.'
His girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough is rumoured to be moving back to Australia as their relationship gets more serious.

And on Thursday Karl Stefanovic was on the move too, leaving Sydney for the Gold Coast, where Jasmine's family lives.

The 43-year-old Today host went casual in an all-black ensemble of shorts and T-shirt as he made his way through the airport terminal.

Going casual! Karl Stefanovic ditches his suit for a T-shirt and shorts as he jets out of Sydney for the Gold Coast

Karl had his hands full as he made his way through the airport, juggling a duffle bag on each shoulder.

Dressing for the humid Sydney day, Karl kept cool in a pair of shorts and a breezy cotton T-shirt.

As he waited to board his flight, Karl could be seen checking his phone and making a call in an airport cafe.

Hands full! Karl had his hands full as he made his way through the airport terminal, juggling a duffle bag on each shoulder

Climate control: Dressing for the humid Sydney day, Karl kept cool in a pair of shorts and a breezy cotton T-shirt

It's likely Karl has flown to the Gold Coast to film Friday's episode of Today, which is being shot from nearby Tweed Valley. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel Nine for clarification.

Meanwhile, evidence is mounting that Jasmine is departing her home base of Los Angeles for Australia.

Taking to Instagram on Monday, Jasmine shared a candid snap of her laughing poolside with friends at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

'LA, you will always be in my heart,' she wrote in the caption.

Work trip? It's likely Karl has flown to the Gold Coast to film Friday's episode of Today, which is being shot from nearby Tweed Valley

Engrossed: As he waited, Karl was completely absorbed in his phone

Friends of the model-turned-shoe-designer took to the comments to mourn Jasmine leaving the United States, with one asking the blonde beauty to keep 'Sydney warm for me.'

Last month Karl purchased a $7million five bedroom pad, located in the affluent suburb of North Sydney.

Prior to that he had been renting a $1,980 a week bachelor pad in the nearby suburb of Cremorne.

Checking in with Jasmine? As he waited to board his flight, Karl could be seen checking his phone and making a call in an airport cafe

Long distance: The couple have maintained their long distance romance with a series of holidays

Karl split from his wife of 21 years, journalist Cassandra Thorburn, in September last year.

He was spotted canoodling with LA-based Jasmine in February, after the two met on a Sydney boat party in December.

The couple have maintained their long distance romance with a series of holidays, spending time together in Mexico in April and catching up on board billionaire James Packer's super yacht in June.

Is Jasmine Yarbrough moving to Sydney to live with Karl Stefanovic? Ex-model says goodbye to LA

New romance: He was spotted canoodling with LA-based Jasmine on a boat in February, after the two met on a Sydney boat party in December

Last month, Jasmine confirmed she would move back to Australia eventually although she did not specify when she would return.

She told The Daily Telegraph that the spotlight around her relationship with Karl had been difficult to cope with at times.

'I dont think anyone expects this or prepares to have this much attention, its been very hard,' Jasmine said.
They're bringing gangster back as they collaborate for 2019-scheduled Netflix movie The Irishman.

And old pals Robert De Niro and Al Pacino looked beyond thrilled to have reunited, alongside director Martin Scorsese whom De Niro has worked with on mob projects in the past.

The film is based on real-life hitman Frank 'The Irishman' Sheeran - written about in the book I Heard You Paint Houses.

Goodfellas on Heat: Old pals Robert De Niro [R], Al Pacino [L], Joe Pesci and Martin Scorsese shared a joke as they returned to their gangster movie roots on the set of drama The Irishman in New York

Colleagues: De Niro has joined forces with Scorsese on Goodfellas, Casino and Raging Bull

De Niro, 74, has worked with Pacino, 77, on both Heat, 1995, and Righteous Kill, 2008, while he has joined forces with Scorsese, 74, on Casino in 1995, GoodFellas in 1990 and Raging Bull in 1980.

Joe Pesci, 74, also appeared with De Niro the same trio of Scorsese films and is also appearing in The Irishman.

The true crime drama is based around the Charles Brandt written book, which centers around the disappearance of mob boss Jimmy Hoffa.

It also stars Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin and Jack Huston.

Timeless trio: Old pals Robert De Niro and Al Pacino looked beyond thrilled to have reunited, alongside director Martin Scorsese whom De Niro has worked with on mob projects in the past

He's arrived: Pacino was seen shooting a scene that saw he arriving to a house in a red car

Larking around: De Niro fiddled with his director's head-wear

Funny guys: The old friends and colleagues were spotted chuckling with each other

De Niro and Pacino were seen shooting the scenes outside a New York property, appearing to have a tiff outside on the porch.

Scorsese waded onto the front lawn in a straw hat to give direction, with De Niro fiddling with the head-wear, leaving the old friends and colleagues chuckling with each other.

On Monday crews were spotted on New York's Randall's Island filming an assassination scene for the mob movie but none of the stars seemed to be present.

It was recently revealed that De Niro will earn $775,000 per episode of an upcoming Untitled David O. Russell TV project for Netflix's rival Amazon, according to Variety.

The man in charge: Scorsese looked thrilled to be directing the gangster legends

Old pros: De Niro and Pacino appeared in 2008 in Righteous Kill

Gangsters: De Niro and Pesci appeared in 1990s Goodfellas

Getting serious: De Niro starred as Jimmy Conway, one of the most respected men in organised crime - pictured here with Goodfellas director Scorsese

Scorsese was attached to direct The Irishman from as far back as 2014 when Pacino confirmed that the film was in development.

He said that it would be Scorsese's next project after Silence.

Originally, the movie was looking to shoot in 2016 with Steve Zaillian penning the adaptation, but it was pushed back.

In May 2016, it was announced that the film's rights would be offered at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, while Mexican producer Fabrica de Cine had offered $100 million to finance the film.

On a break: There was plenty of time for laughs between takes

On the road: De Niro then hopped into a car for his next scene, overseen by Scorsese

True crime: The film is based on real-life hitman Frank 'The Irishman' Sheeran - written about in the book I Heard You Paint Houses

Freindly fued: De Niro and Pacino were seen shooting the scenes outside a New York property, appearing to have a tiff outside on the porch

Grump: Pacino was seen seeing De Niro off the property in front of a vintage car

He later dropped out thanks to the movie's constantly climbing budget which led to the distributing company, Paramount, dropping their involvement.

Netflix then bought the film for $105 million and agreed to finance the film's hefty $125 million budget with a release date set for next year.

It's rumoured that Pesci turned down the offer to be in the movie 50 times before agreeing to take part.

The movie is set to wrap filming in December 2017.

Instructions: Scorsese waded onto the front lawn to give direction
She is known for dazzling both on and off the red carpet.

And choosing to forgo her usual Hollywood glamour, Lily Collins appeared to go make-up free while running errands in LA on Thursday.

The actress, 28, was dressed in casual gym gear for the low-key outing, and displayed her striking natural beauty while picking up her dry cleaning.

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Beauty: Make-up free Lily Collins, 28, flaunted her striking beauty while picking up her dry cleaning in West Hollywood on Wednesday

Lily was both sporty and stylish as she stepped out in West Hollywood, pairing together a plain white tee with grey leggings and complementing trainers.

The To The Bone star threw a chic collarless black coat atop her active wear and despite her laid-back ensemble, she still managed to catch the eye thanks to her pared back beauty look.

Lily - who is the daughter of English musician Phil Collins - left her glossy brunette tresses into tousled waves, and displayed her flawless complexion by going make-up free.

Keeping it casual: Clad in her sporty ensemble, Lily still made for a stylish display, as she paired together a plain white tee with grey leggings and complementing trainers

Lily was seen juggling her car keys in one hand while toting her dry cleaning in the other.

Her outing comes after the Golden Globe nominee recently declared her admiration for Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar on Instagram.

She posted a photo with him at Paris Fashion Week with the caption: 'What an absolute honor to meet this legend #PedroAlmodovar in Paris last week! Who knew he was so fashionable?...'

Her post however came in light of news Amazon have reportedly cancelled her old Hollywood drama The Last Tycoon - which also starred Matt Bomer and Kelsey Grammer - after just nine episodes.

'What an absolute honor': declared her admiration for Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar on Instagram during Paris Fashion Week

End of the era: Her sighting comes after news that Amazon reportedly cancelled her old Hollywood drama The Last Tycoon - which also starred Kelsey Grammer (above)

The show, which was based on the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald, was set in the 1930s and focused on the studio system tug-of-war between show biz execs Monroe Stahr (Bomer) and Pat Brady (Grammer), with Collins in the role of Celia Brady.

Amazon picked up the Billy Ray-created show in 2016 and started streaming it in July this year, but has since decided to end the series after it appeared to receive 'lukewarm' reviews.

Lily last appeared in the Netflix action-adventure film Okja that also starred Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Steven Yeun and South Korean child actress Ahn Seo-hyun.

She can next be seen on the big screen in the drama Halo Of Stars due out next year.
She's been behind the Today desk for more than a decade.

And Channel Nine is launching a 'secret plan' to land Lisa Wilkinson the Gold Logie in 2018, The Daily Telegraph has reported.

According to the publication, the network has 'decided to take matters into their own hands,' with potential 'magazine covershoots' and 'high-profile partnerships' in the works to boost her chances of winning.

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'Everyone at Nine is on board to get Lisa the Gold': Network 'launch secret plan' to help Today host Wilkinson land the top Logie

A media insider told News Corp that everyone at the network was on board to help Lisa score the Gold Logie.

They hoped to mimic the success of similar campaigns at Network 10, which helped The Project's Carrie Bickmore and Waleed Aly win Gold Logies in previous years.

'Nine's promotions team have ensured that Lisa is the number one Nine talent in the public eyes during the voting period,' the source revealed.

Secret project? A media insider told News Corp that everyone at the network was on board to help Lisa score the Gold Logie

Winning fomula: They hoped to mimic the success of similar campaigns at Network 10, which helped The Project's Carrie Bickmore win a Gold Logie

'Everyone at Nine is on board to get Lisa the Gold.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine for comment.

In May, Lisa celebrated 10 years at Today with a stream of tributes from fans and her colleagues.

Her Today co-host Karl Stefanovic previously took home a coveted Gold Logie in 2011.

Already won: Her Today co-host Karl Stefanovic previously took home a coveted Gold Logie in 2011

Meanwhile, this year's Gold Logies were criticised after only one female media personality was put forward for the top gong.

Actress Jessica Marais was the only woman out of six nominees, the award eventually going to Samuel Johnson.

Speaking to News Corp in August, Jessica said the lack of other women nominated was troubling.

'There is an abundance of really talented working women in the industry and I think the fact they are less popular in terms of nominations is sad,' she said.
News of their romance emerged last month.

And Tara Reid proved she was truly smitten with her new man Ted Dhanik as she attended the premiere for TBS's Drop The Mic and The Joker's Wild at The Highlight Room in Los Angeles, California.

The 41-year-old American actress showed off her slender frame in a sheer floral dress as she kept her new man close by.

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Loved-up: Tara Reid proved she was truly smitten with her new man Ted Dhanik as she attended the premiere for TBS's Drop The Mic and The Joker's Wild in Los Angeles, California

Daring: The American actress, 41, showed off her slender frame in a semi-sheer floral dress

Tara made her signature sexy display in the figure-hugging semi-sheer dress, which covered her assets with aptly placed floral detailing.

She added to her exposed decolletage with a dangling heart necklace - complementing her blonde locks which were half tied into a bun.

Her number, which boasted a white laser-cut hem, fell at a saucy thigh-skimming length, putting focus on her toned legs.

Strutting along in a pair of towering red heels, which added to her petite 5 ft 4 in frame, Tara looked to be in high spirits as she fussed over her beau Ted.

Saucy: Tara made her signature sexy display in the figure-hugging semi-sheer dress, which covered her assets with aptly placed floral detailing

Glamorous: Her number, which boasted a white laser-cut hem, fell at a saucy thigh-skimming length, putting focus on her toned legs

Ted looked undeniably trendy for the glamorous event, as he donned a heart-print shirt, black biker jacket and a matching fedora hat.

The handsome new boyfriend of Tara is a successful tech entrepreneur, and the pair have kept their blossoming relationship relatively low-key, claiming that they were 'casually dating' when news emerged of their romance last month.

The pair sparked romance rumours when he accompanied her to pal Christina Milian's birthday party in late September.

Her new man: Ted looked undeniably trendy for the glamorous event, as he donned a heart-print shirt, black biker jacket and a matching fedora hat

At the time they were said to be enjoying casually dating, a source divulged to Page Six.

It's something of a comeback for the star, who currently has nine movies on the way and three in pre-production.

Moreover, the Sharknado actress has just landed a movie opposite John Travolta that will film in Europe early in the new year.
Britney Spears was back on stage on Wednesday night, performing for the first time since the horrific shooting massacre in Las Vegas on October 1.

The 35-year-old songstress dazzled in a variety of sexy costumes as she performed her numerous hits at The Axis at Planet Hollywood.

Shortly after the tragedy last week Britney took to Instagram to tell her fans 'We'll get through this together'.

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Show must go on: Britney Spears was back at it on Wednesday night, performing for her Piece of Me residency for the first time since the Las Vegas mass shooting on October 1

Showstopper: The songstress but on a raunchy display at The Axis at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada

The singer dazzled in a variety of outfits as she wowed the crowd, which included some of the first responders from the night of the shooting.

During the night she made sure to pay tribute to the hard working emergency professionals with a huge round of applause.

In the wake of the shooting Jennifer Lopez postponed three dates of her residency which were meant to take place on October 4, 6 and 7.

She's a star! Britney rocked a 'Vegas Strong' cap to show her support for the city

Skimpy wardrobe: The 35-year-old Toxic hitmaker showed off a variety of dazzling costumes

Pop royalty: The songstress showed off her fit physique in a sparkly green number

Professional: The pop icon made sure she didn't let her fans down after 58 people lost their lives in the shooting tragedy

Putting on a show: Brit rocked a skimpy lingerie inspired outfit with fur shrug

However, Celine Dion returned to the stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on October 3 and dedicated the proceeds of her performance to the victims and their loved ones.

'We dedicate tonight's show to all of the victims and their families, and to the first responders, and to the doctors and nurses who are working around the clock to save lives, and to so many heroes who did whatever they could to help complete strangers in a time of desperate need,' Dion said during the concert.

58 people lost their lives when a gunman opened fire on thousands of attendees at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival.

In the wake of the shooting Jennifer Lopez postponed three dates of her residency and Celine Dion dedicated one of her shows to the victims

Spectacle: The star put on a very raunchy show for her audience as she got close to her backing dancers

Treat for the eyes: Britney also had some rather hunky male dancer on her team

'Completely heartbroken over the news this morning. Keeping the victims of last night's tragedy in Las Vegas in my prayers ' Britney wrote the day following the incident.

Britney's Piece of Me residency will be coming to a close on New Year's Eve after four years and a colossal 249 dates.

Meanwhile, Britney spent over $200,000 on her appearance last year.

She loves her fans: Shortly after the tragedy last week Britney took to Instagram to tell her fans 'We'll get through this together'

Better than ever: The star also sizzled in a skimpy top and tiny fringed mini skirt during the set

Giving thanks: Britney made sure to pay tribute to the first responders in the crowd by giving them a massive round of applause

Fan favorite: The beauty has been performing in Vegas for four years

The Circus hitmaker spent $10,956,873.91 in 2016, meaning she managed to put some money into her savings account, as legal documents filed by her conservatorship and obtained by E! News show she earned almost $16 million in 12 months.

Among the pop star's outgoings were $120,000 on massages, grooming and nails, $69,000 on wardrobe and almost $25,000 on hair and make-up, a much bigger splurge than her pampering expenditure the previous year, which came in at $68,000.

And Britney - whose property and assets are valued at more than $55 million - also splashed out around $30,000 caring for her beloved pet dogs, $8,000 less than she spent on her pets in 2015.

Wowing the crowds: Britney's Piece of Me residency will be coming to a close on New Year's Eve after a colossal 249 dates

Performer: The mother-of-one changed into a slinky bodysuit and thigh-high stockings and boots

A true angel! Britney reportedly invited first responders from the night of the shooting to watch her show
They split acrimoniously earlier this year.

So Lottie Moss' ex Alex Mytton was undoubtedly seeing just what he was missing on Thursday as she shared a sizzling bikini snap, just hours after he was living it up with her good pal and Scott Disick's ex Ella Ross in London on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old sister of supermodel Kate looked incredible in a scanty white two-piece which showed off her stunning frame, appearing worlds away from her ex-beau, who kept things casual for their night out.

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Wow! Lottie Moss' ex Alex Mytton was undoubtedly seeing just what he was missing on Thursday as she shared a sizzling bikini snap, just hours after he was living it up with her good pal and Scott Disick's ex Ella Ross in London on Wednesday

Lottie and Alex were first rumoured to be an item in October last year when it was reported they shared a tryst in the toilets of a top London club, amid reports they were in the throes of a steamy new romance.

Soon after they confirmed their romance yet things remained on/off as Alex's partying and self-confessed immaturity often drove a wedge between them.

After months of being single, Lottie showed any potential suitors what she had to offer as she sizzled in swimwear for the stunning new snap.

As she reclined by a pool, she was flaunting her curves in all their perfection while pulling up the string bottoms and tossing her head back into the sun.

Out and about: The 19-year-old sister of supermodel Kate looked incredible in a scanty white two-piece which showed off her stunning frame, appearing worlds away from her ex-beau, who kept things casual for their night out

Way back when: Lottie often parties with Ella (pictured together in London in August)

Ring, ring! Seemingly borrowing style from Lottie, Ella toted the same phone case which the superstar relative often boasts - a Moschino case in the shape of a cigarette pack

Chatting it out: Ella and Alex kept their distance in the smoking area yet partied together

Elsewhere, Alex was hitting the town with Ella who is a pal of Lottie from the London scene - as the duo were feeling playful outside the club.

Seemingly borrowing style from Lottie, Ella toted the same phone case which the superstar relative often boasts - a Moschino case in the shape of a cigarette pack.

Rocking double denim, she wore a baker boy cap with her hair in loose waves falling over her shoulders in a natural look.

In July, Lottie appeared to confirm her split with Alex on social media. Confusing things further, a week later the star painted her initials on Alex's torso with her initials and captioned a video: 'Psycho ex girlfriend.'

Denim diva: Elsewhere, Alex was hitting the town with Ella who is a pal of Lottie from the London scene - as the duo were feeling playful outside the club

Out and about: The blonde beauty was larking around outside the club as she sported double denim

It was previously reported that Lottie and Alex had called it quits after nine months. The couple split after a 'rocky few months', following on from 'cheating claims' - as said by The Sun.

Alex and Lottie are believed to have ended things after spending time apart while the Made In Chelsea star filmed for the TV series's Ibiza special. Lottie, who returned from the Spanish island early, recently shared a throwback snap of Alex pining for his return.

However, it seems like the time spent apart during their nine month together, couldn't salvage their relationship.

A source told the Sun: 'They havent spent as much time together as they would have liked to but things have been rocky for a few months now.
She juggles a busy career as an actress, former beauty queen and dedicated philanthropist.

And Priyanka Chopra was hard at it once again as she got to work on the set of ABC's Quantico 3 in Montepulciano, Italy, on Wednesday.

The actress, 35, looked utterly stunning as she displayed her enviable form in a summery ensemble while shooting the show's third season.

Busy bee: Priyanka Chopra was hard at it once again as she got to work on the set of ABC's Quantico 3 in Montepulciano, Italy, on Wednesday

The former Miss World showed some skin in a tie-up cropped cream shirt, which she teamed with a patterned floral midi-skirt, featuring a daring thigh-high slit.

The Indian actress wore towering beige strappy wedges, which added height to her frame.

Priyanka kept cool under the sun with a straw floppy-hat, and a pair of black sunglasses.

The star wore her glossy dark locks in curls, while wearing natural make-up to accentuate her stunning beauty queen features.

Top of the crops: The actress, 35, looked utterly stunning as she displayed her enviable form in a summery ensemble while shooting the show's third season

Abs-olutely fabulous: The former Miss World showed some skin in a tie-up cropped cream shirt, which she teamed with a patterned floral midi-skirt, featuring a daring thigh-high slit

Priyanka seemed to have nailed the street-chic style, while she was roaming the streets of Italy alongside a member of the show's crew.

During her long day on set, she was seen buying fruit from multiple local vendors in the Italian town square.

Priyanka - the winner of Miss World 2000 - will be returning as the lead role of Alex Parrish, a young crime fighting FBI agent.

It seemed to be a whistle-stop couple of days of filming, with the star spotted arriving at Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, to catch a flight back to Los Angeles on Thursday.

Beauty queen: The star wore her glossy dark locks in curls, while wearing natural make-up to accentuate her stunning features

Girl about town: The Indian actress wore towering beige strappy wedges, which added height to her frame while buying fruit from multiple local vendors in the Italian town-square

Flashing a peace sign as she strolled through the terminal, the talented actress kept casual in a black leather jacket, dark hoodie and skinny cropped jeans.

The star injected a touch of A-list glamour to her look with towering beige heels and a pair of blue tinted sunglasses as she headed off to catch her flight.

While also busy filming her ABC TV series, Priyanka has just finished filming the rom-com film Isn't It Romantic.

The movie marks her second Hollywood film in her career, and will also star Liam Hemsworth and Rebel Wilson among others.

The film is due for release in 2019.
Blake Lively has broken her silence on the Harvey Weinstein sex abuse scandal, insisting it's 'important that women are furious right now'.

The actress, 30, has known the disgraced Hollywood mogul, 65, for some time, notably appearing together on a panel workshop for high school students about careers in the movie industry alongside Michelle Obama in November 2013.

At least 30 women in the film business have accused Weinstein of rape, groping and sexual harassment, but the Green Lantern star has spoken about her time working alongside him, insisting she 'never' experienced anything inappropriate.

Speaking out: Blake Lively was seen arriving at New York's JFK Airport on Thursday morning as she broke her silence on the Harvey Weinstein sex abuse scandal

Speaking in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Blake said: 'That was never my experience with Harvey in any way whatsoever.

'I think that if people heard these stories I do believe in humanity enough to think that this wouldnt have just continued. I never heard any stories like this - I never heard anything specific - but its devastating to hear.'

Blake - who raises daughters James, two, and Ines, 13 months, with actor husband Ryan Reynolds, 40 - insisted it's 'important for women to be furious' and also detailed her own experiences of sexual misconduct.

She added: 'It happens to women all over the place, all the time, to the point where women dont even think that this is a real assault.

Shamed: The actress, 30, has known the disgraced Hollywood mogul, 65, for some time (pictured at the 2017 TIME 100 Gala in New York City in April)

'It's devastating to hear': The pair appeared together on a panel workshop for high school students about careers in the movie industry alongside Michelle Obama in November 2013

'I've had plenty of things happen to me whether it be trying on a dress for prom at some clothing store, to a director being inappropriate, to a guy walking down the street where you dont think, "Oh well, that wasnt actually sexual assault".

'It's important that women are furious right now. It's important that there is an uprising.'

The former Gossip Girl star implored society to look at the larger picture in the wake of the scandal and realize that sexual assault 'happens in every single industry'.

More than 30 women have now come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Hollywood producer Weinstein, the man once described as 'God' of the film industry.

Disgraced: At least 30 women in the film business have accused Weinstein of rape, groping and sexual harassment over a three-decade period (pictured with Blake in September 2009)

The accusations, including from some of the world's most famous actresses, range from inappropriate massages to rape over a three-decade period.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevingne, Kate Beckinsale, Lea Seydoux, Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd and Rosanna Arquette are among the high-profile names to have come forward.

Weinstein is currently believed to be heading to The Meadows, a treatment facility in Arizona with a focused 45-day inpatient program for sex addiction and behavioral issues.

The movie mogul was fired by the board of his production company, The Weinstein Company, on Sunday.

'That wasn't my experience': The Green Lantern star has spoken about her time working alongside Weinstein, insisting she 'never' experienced anything inappropriate

Doting mother: As Blake released her comments on the sex scandal, she was pictured arriving at JFK Airport on Thursday morning with her daughters James, two, and Ines, 13 months

Low-profile: The star appeared to be attempting to go incognito, covering up in sunglasses and a felt fedora

His wife of 10 years, English fashion designer Georgina Chapman, 41, announced she was leaving him on Monday, deeming his actions 'unforgivable'.

On Tuesday, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) suspended his membership from the organization, while a DailyMail.com exclusive revealed the FBI had opened an investigation into the producer.

As Blake released her first comments on the sex scandal, she was pictured arriving at New York's JFK Airport on Thursday morning with her young daughters James, two, and Ines, 13 months.

The star appeared to be attempting to go incognito, covering up in sunglasses and a felt fedora.

Jet-setter: Blake wore head-to-toe black, in a sweater, coat and cropped jeans, completing her look with a pair of black leather embroidered Gucci loafers and a large quilted bag

Under the radar: The former Gossip Girl star was pictured arriving at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday to board her flight to New York

Blake wore head-to-toe black, in a sweater, coat and cropped jeans, completing her look with a pair of black leather embroidered Gucci loafers and a large quilted bag.

The actress has spent the last few days promoting her latest movie, thriller All I See Is You, in Los Angeles.

In All I See Is You, Blake stars as Gina, a blind woman who lost her sight at a young age and who now lives with her doting husband James (played by Australian actor Jason Clarke, 48) in Bangkok, Thailand.

When a medical procedure returns her sight, Gina is ecstatic to be able to live a fuller life with the man who's always stayed by her side.

But the gift of sight also opens the couple's eyes to a new truth; their marriage isn't quite what it always seemed to be.

Blake shot to fame a decade ago, portraying privileged Manhattan teen Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl.

Talented: The actress has spent the last few days promoting her latest movie, thriller All I See Is You, in Los Angeles
Gwyneth Paltrow shared a sweet message for her daughter Apple on Wednesday.

Marking International Day of the Girl, the 45-year-old actress posted a selfie with her eldest child, 13, and wrote a heartfelt caption paying tribute to the teen.

'Everything I do in my life I do for this girl (and her brother),' the mother-of-two wrote.

International day of the girl: Gwyneth Paltrow has paid tribute to her daughter Apple, 13 in a sweet Instagram which she shared on Wednesday

Gywneth shares Apple and 11-year-old Moses with ex-husband Chris Martin.

Speaking about her daughter for her Harper's Bazaar cover story in 2016, Gwyneth gushed about her daughter's confidence.

'I actually dont need to encourage her to take risks. She likes to push herself; she wants to see how far she can get,

'Its really inspiring to see that in a young woman.' the Avengers star said.

The Goop founder is one of dozens of women accusing film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct after an investigation uncovered three-decades of allegations of sexual assault and harassment against the Hollywood exec.

In May Gwyneth shared this pretty snap of Apple writing 'Happy 13th birthday, you gorgeous human. You light up every room, my heart, the world. You. Are. Everything.'

Gwyneth was 22-years-old and had just been signed up to play Emma Woodhouse in the 1996 Jane Austin drama Emma when she encountered the Hollywood exec.

The New York Times reports the actress was asked to meet with Weinstein at his suite at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for a work meeting.

While the meeting started uneventfully the film producer ended up putting his hands on her suggesting they head to his bedroom for a massage.

'I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified,' Gwyneth recalled.

She confided in her boyfriend of the time Brad Pitt who angrily confronted Weinstein at a Hollywood party.

United: The 45-year-old star shares Apple and 11-year-old Moses with ex-husband Chris Martin. The family are pictured in LA in May

After the confrontation Weinstein called the actress and threatened her not to speak to anyone else about it.

'I thought he was going to fire me,' she told the paper. 'He screamed at me for a long time. It was brutal.'

Gwyneth went on to win a Best Actress Oscar for Shakespeare In Love.

The Iron Man star says she feels relieved to finally have been able to speak out about it.

The actress is one of dozens of women accusing movie exec Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct. She has revealed the 65-year-old made unwanted advances when she was 22

'I was petrified,': Gwyneth said she was scared Weinstein would fire her from her movie Emma because she refused his advances

In response to the numerous accusations from actresses and former employees of the Miramax bigwig reported in the New Yorker and The New York Times, Weinsten, 65, said via a spokesperson: 'Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.

'Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.

'Mr. Weinstein obviously cant speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual.

'Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance.'
She's received widespread praise and acclaim for her role as Bethany Platt on Coronation Street's harrowing grooming storyline.

So Lucy Fallon had undoubtedly earned herself a holiday and seemed to be making the most of her relaxing getaway with boyfriend Tom Leech.

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the 21-year-old actress shared snaps from their trip to St Lucia - including a plethora of sizzling swimsuit snaps.

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Loving life: Lucy Fallon had undoubtedly earned herself a holiday and seemed to be making the most of her relaxing getaway in St Lucia

Clad in a plunging leopard print one-piece, the pretty blonde showed off her incredible figure as she posed on a sea swing.

Crossing her legs over the water, Bethany also offered a glimpse at the giant skull tattoo she has inked across her thigh.

In another sultry snap, the soap starlet showed off her enviably peachy posterior as she posed coquettishly facing away from the camera.

Swim-suits you! Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the 21-year-old actress shared snaps from their trip to St Lucia - including a plethora of sizzling swimsuit snaps

Lucy's holiday came after Coronation Street bosses apologised that her character Bethany Platt was drawn by a court artist during her grooming trial on the soap.

Bosses at ITV have now apologised for the gaffe - admitting it was not a 'true representation of court procedure'.

Corrie is currently facing an Ofrom probe, after scenes showed grooming victim Bethany being drawn in court.

Cute couple: Lucy has been enjoying her holiday with boyfriend Tom Leech

Court artists observe, buy may not sketch during court proceedings: All sketches are made immediately after the hearing.

Acknowledging the blunder, a spokesperson for ITV told The Sun:'In last night's episode we showed a court artist at work sketching Bethany during her trial.

'We accept this wasn't a true representation of court procedure and we apologise for including it.

Taking it easy: Lucy's holiday came after Coronation Street bosses apologised that her character Bethany Platt was drawn by a court artist during her grooming trial on the soap

'The artist was solely used to illustrate the passing of time and we devoted multiple scenes to the fact that Bethany's anonymity is a priority for the court.'

Bosses went on to assure viewers that creating realistic story lines, which support those who have gone through the same, is their main priority.

They added: 'We repeatedly focused on details regarding screens and video links, and support for victims throughout the court process, which we hope would encourage anyone watching to recognise the fact they would be in a safe place when giving evidence.'
Kim Kardashian was trashed for looking fuller in bikini photos taken during her Mexico vacation in May.

And soon afterwards the 36-year-old wife of Kanye West started to feel bad about her body, it's revealed in a teaser for Sunday's new episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. It is also assumed she has developed body dysmorphia.

'Kim is normally not this insecure,' said Kourtney, 38, during a confessional.

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Sad times: Kim Kardashian has developed body dysmorphia from being shamed over bikini photos in Mexico in May, it's revealed on a KUWTK teaser

But she wears a sexy outfit anyway: Her sisters note that though she is flashing her midriff, she has become 'insecure' about her shape

She added that she feels the problem has to do with pressure online.

'If she just didnt have access to social media or just stopped looking at the blogs, I think that she would start to feel better,' said the mother of three.

'I feel like one of the best things she did for herself after her Paris incident was she really detached herself from the internet and social media,' said Khloe, who is reportedly pregnant.

Thoughtful: Khloe, left, and Kourtney, right, say they are worried about Kim, 36

Her thoughts: Khloe, 33, says they should wipe clean all of Kim's social media apps

'I think we kind of need to step in and do something like that so she realizes this does not matter, and we take that bulls*** out of her life.'

So Khloe and Kourtney come up with a plan to help Kim.

While Kim visits Khloe's Calabasas mansion, Kourtney will take Kim's phone and delete her social media apps.

Hey girl: Khloe then hatched a plan with Kourtney while they are all at Khloe's Calabasas mansion

It takes time: Kim can be seen with a microphone in her back as she follows Khloe to the closet

The clothing den: Khloe asks Kim to help her clean out her walk-in closet

When the Vogue cover model walks in, Khloe asks her to help her with her closet.

'Oh, you look gorgeous. Look at that bod. Hot and naughty,' Khloe began as a way to bolster Kim's confidence.

Kim then suggests that Khloe's makeup looks bad, a subtle attack on her younger sibling.

And once Kim enters Khloe's closet, the mother to North and Saint tortures Khloe, making it seem as if she has an ax to grind with the girlfriend of Tristan Thompson.

Uh-Oh: Kim starts criticizing Khloe's choices and even says some items are like Jersey Shore

Chaos: Meanwhile, Kourtney takes all the social media apps off Kim's cell phone

'[Youre getting] rid of this stuff?' said Kim.

She is looking at a pile of clothes on the floor. 'I think those red thermals are the coolest thing you have in this closet.'

At she doesn't stop. 'So youre keeping this?' barks Kim. She is seen holding a blue jacket with shimmers in it.

'I like sequins,' said Khloe, Later she said she regrets offering to let Kim in her closet.

Struggle: Khloe gets annoyed with Kim who walks down the stairs but Kourtney is not done

'This is Jersey Shore on another level,' Kim said about another item.

Khloe is not happy: 'Its probably the worst idea Ive ever had, because now Im being tortured.'

It's not clear why Kim is so rude to Khloe.

She then later asks Kourtney: 'And like, what the f*** is taking you so long? Like, I cant handle being alone with her in the closet.'

Yikes: Kim walks down the kitchen and asks Kourtney for her phone back. 'Hold on, Im not done,' said the eldest sister. 'What are you doing?' Kim screamed

Kim walks down the kitchen and asks Kourtney for her phone back. 'Hold on, Im not done,' said the eldest sister.

'What are you doing?' Kim screamed.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians airs Sundays (9 p.m. ET) on E!

Wine not? In another clip Kris Jenner is seen getting tipsy with Khloe. And they start crank calling various people

In another clip Kris Jenner is seen getting tipsy with Khloe. And they start crank calling various people.

'Hey Siri! Siri!' said Kris, 61. 'Siri, could you please call the hotel?' She wants Khloe's room.

'I dont see that I have her registered as a guest here at the hotel,' said the operator.

Say what? 'Hey Siri! Siri!' said Kris, 61. 'Siri, could you please call the hotel?' She wants Khloe's room

Tee hee: 'Oh my God. Your prank calls, honestly, are the best. You have me crying,' said Khloe later

'Oh, thats wild. I think shes under another name, I think its something like Funny Bunny. Or Fred Flintstone. Thats the two that I know she normally goes under,' said Kris.

She then calls a bakery to talk about rhubarb pie and said she buys strawberries all year long. She then asks the bakery how to spell rhubarb.

'Oh my God. Your prank calls, honestly, are the best. You have me crying,' said Khloe later.

Stream & download new episodes of KUWTK, in the UK & Ireland, Mondays on hayu & airs Sundays at 9pm on E!
They welcomed their twin daughters, Alice Rose and Gracie Jane, in May last year.

And Ronnie Wood and Sally Humphreys appeared more besotted with their tots than ever on Thursday, as they headed out with the girls in Stockholm, Sweden.

The famous Rolling Stone, 70, could not contain his beaming smile as he left the Grand Hotel alongside his wife, 39 - with both pushing one of their baby daughters in a pram, as they enjoyed a stroll around the capital.

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Rock 'n Stroll! Ronnie Wood and Sally Humphreys appeared more besotted with their twins than ever on Thursday, as they headed out with Alice and Gracie in Stockholm, Sweden

The famous rocker kept things casual for the outing, as he stepped out in a typically bright shirt and black jeans, layered beneath a chunky winter coat.

Never without a hint of his rock star style however, Ronnie also added mirrored Aviator shades as he sweetly pushed one of his daughters along in a pram.

Despite an undoubtedly tiring tour schedule, the songwriter beamed from ear to ear as he headed out for the day - proving to be a doting dad to his young twins.

Papa is a Rolling Stone! Despite an undoubtedly tiring tour schedule, the songwriter beamed from ear to ear as he headed out for the day - proving to be a doting dad to his young twins

Ronnie was joined by his glamorous wife Sally, who turned heads in a vibrant trench coat of emerald green.

Leaving her hair in loose, tousled waves and opting to forgo make-up however, the brunette showcased her radiant complexion as she smiled and cooed at one of the twins in her pram, and headed out after her husband.

Ronnie married Sally, the owner of a theatre production company, in 2012, before announcing they had twins on the way in December last year.

Stunning: Ronnie was joined by his glamorous wife Sally, who turned heads in a vibrant trench coat of emerald green

Motherhood suits her: Leaving her hair in loose waves and opting to forgo make-up however, the brunette showcased her radiant complexion as she smiled at one of the twins in her pram

Sally previously discussed the attraction she felt towards Ronnie and how their romance works so well.

She told The Telegraph: 'Hes on my level completely. Hes a very nice and caring person. Oh God, dont use the word "nice", its so boring. Hes very funny, kind and affectionate and welcoming.'

Discussing their age gap, she said: 'Um, well, I know (the age gap's) there. And I wish it wasnt, but it is. I think I had to say: "I cant do this because of the age",

Loved-up: Ronnie married Sally, the owner of a theatre production company, in 2012, before announcing they had twins on the way in December last year (pictured in 2013)

'Or I just had to let it go and take it all on board. At no point, years ago, did I say to myself: "I think Ill go out with someone twice my age", but that is what has happened.'

Ronnie is father to six children. He shares his eldest son musician Jesse Wood, 40 - who is married to Fearne Cotton - with his first wife Krissy, whom he had married in 1971 before the duo later split in 1978.

Ronnie is also father to daughter Leah, 39, and sons Jamie, 43, and Tyrone, 34, from his second marriage to Jo Wood in 1985. The pair's divorce was later finalised in 2009.

'He's on my level completely': Sally previously discussed the attraction she felt towards Ronnie - revealing he is 'affectionate and welcoming' and admitting the age gap does not bother her

He and the rest of the Rolling Stones - Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Keith Richards - kicked off their European tour at the start of September in Germany, with no sign of slowing things down for the veteran rockers.

They wowed 82,000 fans at the Stadtpark stadium in Hamburg, with Ronnie receiving what could only be described as a hero's welcome after his cancer battle - having had an operation in May to remove a cancerous lung tumour.

The band are set to hit the stage in the Swedish capital on Thursday night, before they head to Netherlands, and finish off the tour in France.
She recently had to deny accusations of Photoshopping after a preview snap of her 2018 calendar seemed too good to be true.

But regardless of whether the snap was genuine or not, Kylie Minogue can still nail Parisian chic, photo or not.

The 49-year-old pop princess looked amazing in a simple ensemble as she exited a Chelsea studio in London on Thursday.

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Chic: Popstar Kylie Minogue looked far younger than her 49 years in a fabulous but casual ensemble as she stepped out of a Chelsea studio in London on Thursday

Kylie rocked a Parisian-style red neck scarf which she teamed with an oversized ivory jumper.

Adding to the look's casual nature, Kylie teamed her jumper with cut-off black jeans and heart-toed trainers as she headed out into the capital.

Kylie carried a simple black shoulder bag for her essentials, with her flicked blonde locks tied back in a chic updo.

Fashion lover: Kylie went Parisian chic in stylish red neck scarf which she teamed with an over-sized ivory jumper

Stylish: Kylie teamed her casual look with black cut-off jeans and heart-toed trainers

Pop princess: Kylie carried a simple black shoulder bag for her essentials and accessorised with silver hoop earrings

The Can't Get You Out of my Head songstress kept her eyes out of the sun with cat-eye sunglasses, and a simple pair of silver hoop earrings perfectly accompanied the look.

Kylie recently had to deny accusations that images from her 2018 calendar had been photoshopped, after fans spotted a strange error in a preview snap posted on her Instagram.

Floods of comments stated that the picture taken at Los Angeles' Chateau Marmont hotel had a curved wall in the background.

'Kylie, the cover's awful photoshop shows :/ please fix that,' one wrote, while another added: 'Why is the wall curved?'

'Hey Kylie! You look great and sexy! But what is wrong with the chair and the wall behind you?' a third penned.

Real deal: Kylie recently had to deny accusations of Photoshopping when a snap from her upcoming 2018 calendar was posted on Instagram

'Wonky walls:' The picture from the Los Angeles Chateau Marmont hotel seemed to have a curved wall in the background, which fans were quick to point out

Kylie was quick to deny the accusations, claiming the curved wall was supposed to be like that.

'Lovers you have eagle eyes,' she said. 'I'll ask the Chateau Marmont (hotel) to straighten their walls but it's part of the charm!! Wonkywalls.

'However, thanks for being on it!'
They both dated Made In Chelsea star Alex Mytton.

But Lottie Moss, 19, and Jess Woodley, 23, proved there was no animosity between them as they partied together in London on Thursday night.

Cuddled up close, the pair seemed in great spirits as they posed for snaps at the Notion Magazine 77 launch party together, before heading onto yet another bash that saw the relaunch of Tonteria Bar in Sloane Square.

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Leggy: Lottie Moss (pictured here at Sloane Square haunt Tonteria) sizzled in a leopard print co-ord as she partied in London with fellow Alex Mytton ex Jess Woodley on Thursday

Opting for a stylish ensemble, Lottie dazzled in a leopard print co-ord that ensured she'd stand out on the night, as she party hopped across town to Tonteria.

Sloane Square haunt Tonteria opened its doors to VIP guests George Lineker, Emily Blackwell, Liv Bentley, Harry Baron, Tiffany Watson and Steph Pratt.

Showing off her toned abs and cleavage, the younger sister of Kate Moss donned a tiny bralet that also offered a glimpse of her underboob tattoo.

She teamed the garment with a thigh-grazing skater skirt that offered a look at her enviably tanned and toned pins, whilst she shunned heels in favour of patent black boots.

BFFs: Lottie, 19, and Jess Woodley, 23, proved there was no animosity between them as they attended the Notion Magazine 77 Launch Party in London - which was sponsored by Zubrowka and saw the guests treated to a range of Zubrowka vodka cocktails through the night

Leggy lady! Opting for a stylish ensemble, Lottie dazzled in a leopard print co-ord that ensured she'd stand out on the night and offered a look at her enviably lean legs

All about the accessories: Putting a quirky spin on her outfit, Lottie layered up with a leather jacket and donned a PVC baker boy cap over her golden curls

Putting a quirky spin on her outfit, Lottie layered up with a leather jacket and donned a PVC baker boy cap over her golden curls.

Jess also looked stylish at the Notion bash - which was sponsored by Zubrowka and saw the guests treated to a range of Zubrowka vodka cocktails through the night, as she showed off her lean figure in a skimpy pink crop top that she teamed with blue camouflage trousers and an aviator jacket.

The girls have remained firm friends despite their mutual connection to Made In Chelsea star Alex Mytton - who dated them both.

Bizarrely, the trio all headed on holiday over the summer whilst Lottie and Alex were still dating, proving that Jess was an amicable ex-girlfriend of the star.

Working the camera: Lottie proved her model prowess as she posed seductively for cameras inside, Sloane Square haunt Tonteria

Sipping pretty: Lottie enjoyed a cocktail at the Tonteria party

Oops: Lottie's ensemble appeared to falter slightly as she exited the do with Olivia Bentley

Home time: After the party, the girls grouped into a cab and headed home

Co-stars: Liv was also joined by MIC's Emily Blackwell

Going strong: Steph Pratt and new boyfriend Jonny Mitchell nipped into the event too

Jess and Alex dated previously, with Jess eyeing up Alex when she first appeared on the E4 reality show in it's ninth season back in 2015.

At the time, he was dating co-star Nicola Hughes - and this caused much drama on the popular series.

Alex began dating Lottie in November 2016 but the couple called an end to their romance in July amid cheating claims.

Lottie is now dating rugby fullback Elliott Clements Hill, whilst Jess is believed to be single.

Three's company: The girls have remained firm friends despite both dating Made In Chelsea star Alex Mytton . Bizarrely, the trio all headed on holiday over the summer
She's set to take on the role of the first ever female Doctor on Christmas Day upon the departure of Peter Capaldi.

But Jodie Whittaker was focused on promoting a different picture on Thursday as she attended a screening of her new film Journeyman at the BFI London Film Festival on Thursday.

The 35-year-old Broadchurch star looked sensational in a plunging black and red dress as posed ahead of the screening, along with co-star Paddy Considine.

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Stylish: Actress Jodie Whittaker, 35, sent temperatures rising in a black and red fitted dress as she attended a screening of her new film Journeyman at the BFI London Film Festival on Thursday

Jodie's dress showed off her fabulous figure, showcasing her flawless decolletage as well as a hint of cleavage.

The screen starlet teamed her dress with blue and red strappy heels, and with her blonde bobbed hair simply styled with voluminous flicks.

Jodie's co-star and producer Paddy looked casual in a jeans and denim jacket combo, as the pair talked about their upcoming picture.

Starlet: Jodie kept her blonde bobbed hair in a natural wave, and the sensational dress showed off her decolletage and a hint of cleavage with no jewellery other than her Chupi bracelet

Screen partners: Jodie was joined by her co-star and producer Paddy Considine (L) for the screening

New project: Jodie talked about her new picture ahead of taking on the mantle of the first ever female Doctor on Christmas Day

Jodie was also spotted earlier on in the day attending a photocall for the film, donning a quirky black jumper with colourful stars, with simple jeans and loafer pumps.

Jodie will soon take on the iconic role of The Doctor in BBC's Doctor Who, the first female actress to take on the role.

Soon-to-be former show-runner Steven Moffat joined a slew of stars defending the decision to cast a female Doctor, after backlash towards the announcement in July.

Comfy: Jodie rocked a quirky black jumper with coloured stars as she attended a Journeyman photo-call earlier in the day

Partners in (screen) time: Jodie promoted her new flick alongside Paddy, who was equally casual for the appearance

Backlash: Jodie has faced both euphoria and disappointment from Doctor Who fans over the decision to cast a female Doctor for the first in the shows 54 year history

'Amazing': Jodie was defended by soon-to-be former showrunner Steven Moffat, who said 'they're going to have the best time of all'

Challenge: Jodie will soon prove the haters wrong in her new role when she makes her debut on Christmas Day, in Peter Capaldi's last episode

Steven, who has been the show's head writer since 2010, told The Daily Star: 'The best way to fall in love with a new Doctor is to believe it can't possibly work.

'My message to fans who don't like the idea of a female Doctor is that they're going to have the best time of all.

'Jodie's an amazing actor and that's what is required for that part.'

He added: 'It can be underestimated how much difficulty and skill there is in a role like that.

'You have to turn on a sixpence emotionally and you have to be exciting.'
They welcomed their first child, a daughter called Willow Wendy Wood, on Sunday night.

But Sam Wood has hinted that he and Snezana Markoski recently celebrated another relationship milestone.

The fitness trainer hinted he may have tied the knot with his fiancee, referring to her as his 'wife' during an interview with KIIS FM's Hughesy and Kate on Thursday.

Have they secretly tied the knot? The Bachelor hunk Sam Wood seemingly lets slip that Snezana is now his 'wife' following birth of couples baby Willow

New arrival: The engaged Bachelor pair welcomed their first child together on Sunday night; daughter Willow Wendy Wood

The new father gushed about his Macedonian-born beauty when discussing the arrival of his bundle of joy on Thursday, adding she was named after his mother.

And during his emotional recall of the special day he affectionately called Snezana his 'wife' with ease.

Sam said after arriving to the hospital on Sunday night, they were told to have a walk and get something to eat while they waited for the obstetrician to arrive.'

'And Snez is like "I want McDonalds!"... If your wife is in labour and she wants a cheeseburger then you get her a cheeseburger,' he said without hesitation.

However, a spokesperson for Sam Wood has since told Daily Mail Australia: 'I can confirm there has not been a secret wedding, this was simply an incorrect reference. The wedding is on the backburner as they enjoy this special time with baby Willow.'

'If your wife is in labour and she wants a cheeseburger then you get her a cheeseburger': During Sam's emotional recall of the special day he affectionately called Snezana his 'wife' with ease

The couple, who fell in love on the 2015 season of The Bachelor, became engaged three months after the series ended in December 2015.

The brunette beauty, who revealed at the very first cocktail party that she had a daughter from a previous marriage, also got the first kiss on the show and was a firm favourite to steal Sam's heart.

Adorable! The new father gushed about his Macedonian-born beauty when discussing the birth of his bundle of joy, adding she was named after his mother

In January, Sam insisted that their wedding was planned for mid-year and would happen outside of Australia.

Sam and Snez sent tongues wagging when they hinted they had secretly married while on their 'babymoon' holiday in Hawaii in July.

Posting a photo on a beach with the caption, 'you may now kiss the...', fans went into overdrive believing they had eloped.

'You may now kiss the...': Sam and Snez set tongues wagging when they hinted they had secretly married while on their 'babymoon' holiday in Hawaii in July

Not long after the loved-up pair claimed the upload was a hoax and they didn't plan to tie the knot until after their baby was born.

Snezana previously told New Idea their pregnancy was 'a bit of a surprise', and Sam admitted it was the reason they'd decided to put their wedding plans on hold.

After meeting on the reality show, the couple became engaged in December 2015 when Sam proposed during a romantic getaway to Wineglass Bay in his home state of Tasmania.

Engagement: The couple became engaged in December 2015 when Sam proposed during a romantic getaway to Wineglass Bay in his home state of Tasmania

The following month, the couple moved quickly to purchase a $1.4 million home in Melbourne.

Sam and Snezana, plus her daughter Eve, finally moved into their new pad in July.

The couple confirmed the birth of their new addition Willow this week via the private Facebook group, 28 By Sam Wood Community.
You can never say Penelope Cruz is going to be typecast, as in her next movie she plays a buttoned-up missionary.

But for the one currently out, she strips naked  although in this photoshoot for Esquire's November issue her modesty is maintained by a velvet blue drape.

Cruz, 43, plays dour evangelist Pilar Estravados in the forthcoming adaptation of Agatha Christies 1934 novel Murder On The Orient Express.

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Opening up: Penelope Cruz, 43, strips naked  although in this photoshoot for Esquire's November issue her modesty is maintained by a velvet blue drape

Playing in an all-star cast including Kenneth Branagh she is a prim and proper cardigan-wearing matron in the film which is out next month.

However the Spanish star is also promoting her current film Loving Pablo  in which she co-stars with her husband Javier Bardem.

She opened up about stripping off aged 18 in her first film with Javier, the 1992 comedy drama Jamon Jamon.

Asked if the nudity had put her off acting, she said: I thought, there is a character there, there is a style, the material is really good.

Bum's the word: The Spanish actress showcased her incredible figure in a lacy bodysuit in the photoshoot

Candid: She opened up about stripping off aged 18 in her first film with Javier, the comedy drama Jamon Jamon (pictured)

Of course I was not looking forward to those scenes but I did it. Everyone was really respectful, aware of the fact that I was 18.

'I remember the last day of filming, I was crying, saying, What if I never shoot a movie again? The feeling was devastating. '

It comes after the Spanish siren revealed she experienced a 'deep change' when she welcomed her first child with actor Javier Bardem seven years ago.

Memories: She said: 'I remember the last day of filming, I was crying, saying, What if I never shoot a movie again? The feeling was devastating '

Now she cares less what people think of her, the 43-year-old beauty told longtime friend Gwyneth Paltrow during a chat for Interview magazine.

Paltrow and Cruz worked together on the 2007 film The Good Night and have stayed close. Cruz said when she first met Paltrow, they bonded immediately.

The full interview appears in the November issue of Esquire, on sale October 17.

'We were alone and talking about our deepest secrets, as if we had known each other for 20 years,' said the Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides star.

'And even though we live so far away and dont spend nearly enough time together, when I see you, its like it was only yesterday.'

And the Volver actress said she is always impressed by what a great cook Paltrow is.

'When you cook, its like Im eating in the best restaurant in the world.

'And you do it with such ease, like, Oh, Ill just put this gigantic chicken that has 25 different flavors in the ovenIve been working on it for the last five hours.

'Your house is like a three-Michelin-star restaurant.'

The full interview appears in the November issue of Esquire, on sale October 17.
A handout picture from the Sputnik news organisation on October 10, 2017 shows Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (C-L) with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (R)

Ailing Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who rarely appears in public, received Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday, the APS news agency reported.

Russian and Algerian state media published pictures of the meeting, which was closed to other news outlets.

Bouteflika, who is 80 and has held office since 1999, suffered a mini-stroke in 2013 that affected his speech and mobility.

He has since used a wheelchair and is occasionally featured in state media receiving foreign dignitaries.

In September, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro paid a 24-hour visit to Algeria without officially meeting Bouteflika, despite intense speculation that he would do so.

Before Medvedev, the last senior foreign visitor officially received by Bouteflika was his Congolese counterpart Denis Sassou Nguesso, on March 28 in Algiers.

Critics have questioned Bouteflika's ability to govern since his stroke, but the president's inner circle has insisted he has fully exercised his powers.
Imtiaz Cajee, the nephew of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol, holds a portrait of his uncle at his home in Pretoria. Details of Timol's death in custody in 1971 have revived traumatic memories of the apartheid era

A South African court will rule Thursday on whether the suspicious 1971 death of an apartheid-era activist in custody was suicide, as police officers claimed, or actually a regime killing.

For many, the case -- the culmination of a relentless campaign by the activist's family -- has brought back raw memories of apartheid.

Ahmed Timol, a 29-year-old campaigner against white-minority rule, was arrested in Johannesburg and after five days in detention he died after plummeting from the city's police headquarters.

Officers at the time said he took his own life -- a verdict endorsed by an inquest.

But his family fought the ruling and have campaigned hard to secure the review that finally began in June.

During the review, a Pretoria court has heard from pathologists, former security officers and victims of apartheid brutality.

Their evidence has triggered emotional responses from the public gallery of court 2D -- including from the family who have been present at every hearing, and from struggle-era icons like George Bizos.

A remorseful former officer who served in the feared security branch which held Timol spoke out about his squad's brutal techniques.

The court also confronted the last security branch officer thought to have seen Timol alive.

Joao Rodrigues was challenged by forensic questioning over apparent holes in his testimony.

Rodrigues could face prosecution if the court finds that he played a role in the death, judge Billy Mothle warned him repeatedly.

- A long fight for justice -

"This entire story of a suicide is a fabrication and it's always difficult to maintain consistency in a fabrication," the Timol family's lawyer said during a hearing in August.

The landmark case has revived memories of the apartheid-era police methods probed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which concluded its work in 1998.

It has also given hope to families who lost loved ones in circumstances similar to the Timol family.

In 1977, 23-year-old Matthews Mabelane, another anti-apartheid activist, plunged to his death from the same floor of the John Vorster police station.

Now a victim support group is championing his case, giving his 95-year-old father hope that he will learn the truth at last.

Between 1963 and 1990, human rights activists say 73 people died in police detention, sometimes in circumstances strikingly similar to Timol and Matthews.

For the families looking for justice, the process has been an uphill struggle.

"The government and the (ruling) African National Congress have not done anything for 20 years," Yasmin Sooka, of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa, which has helped finance the Timol family's campaign, told AFP recently.
An aerial view of fire damage in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa, California, where Michael Desmond's home and hundreds of others were destroyed

Michael Desmond held firm to a scorched mailbox and wept as he vowed that his childhood home -- turned to cinder by wildfire -- would rise anew.

Along with a plate and a mug, the mailbox was all he recovered Wednesday from ruins of his house in the Wine Country city of Santa Rosa.

"That's the house where I grew up," the 63-year-old retired US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officer said.

"I feel violated; like a thief came in."

Desmond sobbed as he surveyed the rubble. The house, along with hundreds of others, was destroyed by an inferno that blew through the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa.

Coffey Park was one of the communities laid waste by fires that ripped through Northern California Sunday night, and sprang to life with renewed vigor due to strong winds on Wednesday.

Desmond shared precious memories stored as pictures on his smartphone, swiping through images showing a pretty, salmon-pink one-story home surrounded by lawn and rose bushes.

Across the street from his house was Coffey Park itself, where a children's playground had miraculously escaped the flames.

Desmond gestured to where the entrance to the garage once stood, overlaying memories on rubble that provided scant clues to which rooms were which.

His small aluminum boat was partially melted by the intense heat.

"I had my life here; family moments," he said, choking up.

"All the memorabilia; all the souvenirs, the photo albums... they're gone. They will never return."

His gaze turned to blackened ruins stretching as far as the eye could see, forming a desolate landscape.

- A wallet and a dog -

Homes destroyed by wildfire in Santa Rosa, California

"It is like Hiroshima here; everything is destroyed," said Desmond's 21-year-old nephew, who traveled from San Francisco to help his uncle.

"I've never seen anything like that."

The younger man's hand was slightly injured from digging in the rubble without gloves or tools.

The reward for their efforts were meager, but Desmond managed a smile as he looked at his mug, which bore the phrase "It's wiser to be in Ireland."

Sadness returned as he looked up anew at the ruins of his house.

"All my clothes are there; my suits, my ties; my nice shoes. I had cash in my drawer too," Desmond said.

"I just took my wallet and my dog."

He proudly showed the gilded badge he keeps in his wallet as a momento from his career in law enforcement.

He recalled hearing noise outside his home late Sunday, then peering out a window to see people rushing to cars.

"It took me 10 to 15 seconds to realize something serious was happening," Desmond said of the night he joined the panicked exodus from Coffey Park.

Freighters and police darted onto streets, sirens blaring and shouting warnings of an approaching blaze and telling everyone to "get out."

"Then I saw the red sky, a big bright red," Desmond said, recalling the wicked wind that drove the inferno.

"It glowed like a bright sunset."

His trousers and sweatshirt covered with soot and dust, Desmond turned his thoughts to the future.

He felt lucky to have insurance coverage that gets him lodging for a time while his home is rebuilt.

He said his insurance company expected it to take two to three years for the neighborhood to get "kind of back to normal."

"There's nothing I can do now, I have to move on," Desmond said with resignation.

"I have to grieve my loss and move on. At least I have my life."
On the outskirts of the model village, farmers still live in ramshackle homes and move along rutted lanes

When President Xi Jinping last came to central China's Lankao county, it was famous for two things: poverty and the government official who reputedly died trying to end it.

Three years later, the hardscrabble area has undergone a Cinderella-like transformation, waltzing across the national poverty line just in time for the Communist Party's twice-a-decade congress on October 18.

With its freshly paved roads, modern community centre and memorial to Xi's visit, Lankao's Zhangzhuang village has become a showpiece for the president's ambitious and politically critical campaign to wipe out rural poverty by 2020.

But a drastically different picture emerges on the outskirts, where farmers still live in ramshackle homes and move along rutted lanes.

The contrast highlights the difficulty of spreading the wealth of the world's second-largest economy, a central mission for Xi as he prepares to accept a second five-year term as general secretary of the Communist Party.

Success is crucial for the credibility of the party, which came to power promising a radical redistribution of the nation's wealth, and would help solidify Xi's stature as the most powerful leader in decades.

- 'A bubble economy' -

In the three years since Xi's visit, Lankao's official poverty rate dropped from 12 percent to under two, making it just the second county to be removed from a national registry of almost 600 poor areas.

Officials attribute the success to better directed aid and low-interest micro-loans that have helped needy families increase their income by buying livestock and farming equipment.

But Xi also took personal responsibility for the area of more than 760,000 in 2014 as part of a programme that paired top party leaders with local governments.

A billboard celebrates President Xi Jinping's visits to the once-hardscrabble Zhangzhuang village

He chose Lankao -- and Zhangzhuang specifically -- for its association with Jiao Yulu, an official who became a national hero after famously working himself to death helping farmers eke out a living along along the flood-prone Yellow River five decades ago.

The president's visit "gave us encouragement and inspiration," said local official Wang Qifu, speaking by a massive monument to Jiao in the bustling county seat. After the leader came, "doing poorly wouldn't do."

But life in Xi's dream village is surrounded by another reality.

While everyone agrees Lankao has changed enormously since Xi's visits in March and May 2014, those on Zhangzhuang's outskirts complain the gains have not been equitable.

The backs of houses along the road to the village have been whitewashed to give the appearance of wealth, but on the other side, narrow, muddy streets run past homes with broken windows and crumbling bricks.

"We haven't seen any changes here," said one elderly woman, a farmer who declined to give her name.

"The people with connections to the village government have all shaken off poverty. Those without connections haven't."

Many residents still feel poor, complaining there is little money in farming and earning more means moving to urban areas.

To tackle the problem, the county has encouraged cooperatives to grow more profitable crops such as melons, established industrial parks, and also dedicated several large memorials to Jiao -- and its own Xi-fuelled success -- hoping "red tourism" will create much-needed jobs.

A statue commemorates Jiao Yulu who became a national hero after working himself to death helping farmers eke out a living

A busload of foreign ministry employees sporting Communist Party lapel pins recently made the pilgrimage, stopping at Jiao's memorial hall and a village that has prospered by making traditional Chinese instruments.

In May, 27-year-old Peng Biao -- a village official -- and his wife turned their family home near the Yellow River into a small, stylish restaurant, hoping to cash in on the tourism boom.

Three dishes cost about 40 yuan ($6.50), almost a week's income for one of the 23 households still on the village's poverty list.

Lankao has made good progress, Peng said, but if the county cannot create more jobs "it's just a bubble economy. On the surface, people may seem well-off, but actually, they won't have even a single yuan in their wallet."

- 'A bottleneck' -

Ahead of the party congress, state media have heavily promoted the "Lankao Model" and the "Jiao Yulu spirit" to combat poverty.

According to official figures, around 700 million have escaped poverty since China began its economic reforms in 1978.

But the gap between rich and poor "has become quite alarming" for Beijing, said Cheng Li, an expert on Chinese leadership at Washington's Brookings Institution.

"The whole thing about China's economic rise is you see the economic disparity has become a bottleneck."

One village has prospered thanks to a project to make traditional Chinese instruments

In 2016, around 43.3 million rural residents still lived below the country's official poverty line of 2,300 yuan ($346) a year at 2010 prices, according to official statistics.

The threshold changes based on location but Lankao's $460 is still well below the $694 that the World Bank considers "extreme poverty".

Achieving Xi's goal of "moderate prosperity" by 2020 could prove difficult even for a county that has benefited from the president's support.

"In other places, it might not be a big problem, but we just shook off poverty," Wang said, "our foundation is pretty bad."
Floods and landslides in central and northern Vietnam have killed at least 37 people, with dozens more missing

At least 37 people were killed and another 40 are missing as floods and landslides ravaged northern and central Vietnam, disaster officials said Thursday.

Heavy rains lashed swathes of the country this week, with northern Hoa Binh province the hardest hit with 11 dead and 21 missing.

"We are mobilising all forces to search for the missing," a disaster official in the province told AFP by phone.

At least 37 people were killed across six provinces, Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said, as authorities scrambled to find dozens of people still missing.

A journalist from Vietnam News Agency was swept away as an overflowing river cut through a bridge in northern Yen Bai province Wednesday. Authorities were still looking for him Thursday.

Images on state media showed people wading through waist-deep waters and tracts of forests wiped out by landslides in several regions.

At least 18 people were buried in an overnight landslide in Hoa Binh province, with 15 people still missing Thursday, according to state media.

Vietnam floods

A terrified resident described severe flooding in other parts of the province, where a state of emergency was declared.

"The flash flood was terrible. Water poured down from the hill, like a surge three metres (10 feet) high. Traffic has been blocked because of the floods," Phan Ba Dien told state-controlled VNExpress news site.

Eight people were reported dead in both Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces, the disaster agency said, while hundreds of soldiers and militia were deployed for rescue efforts.

At least 400 millimetres (16 inches) of rain has pounded northern and central Vietnam since Sunday, the disaster agency said.

Vietnam has been hard hit by severe weather this year.

In September typhoon Doksuri slammed into central Vietnam, killing 11 people and destroying thousands of properties.

Nearly 170 people are dead or missing from natural disasters this year, which have caused $36 million of damage, according to official figures.
US President Donald Trump speaking at the Harrisburg International Airport, Pennsylvania, on October 11, 2017

President Donald Trump again dismissed the Iran nuclear accord as terrible for America, as he prepares to announce a key decision on whether to certify Iran's compliance with it.

"This is the worst deal. We got nothing," Trump told Fox News in reference to the 2015 accord negotiated with Iran by the United States and five other world powers.

It gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program in a bid to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

"We did it out of weakness when actually, we have great strength," said Trump.

"We will see what happens pretty soon," said Trump, who must announce his decision on whether to certify Iran's compliance by the end of the week.

Every 90 days the president has to notify Congress as to whether he believes Iran is complying with the accord and if the lifting of sanctions is in the interest of the American people.

So far Trump has certified the accord but said the next deadline on Sunday is the crucial one.

Several US officials have said Trump might this time choose not certify the accord.

If he chooses not to certify, Trump would be defying the opinion of some of his top advisers, European countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A decision by Trump to decertify the deal would leave it at grave risk, with the US Congress having 60 days to decide whether to re-impose specific sanctions on Tehran that were lifted because of the diplomatic pact.
US President Donald Trump has until the end of this week to announce whether he considers Iran to be in compliance with the 2015 accord curbing its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief

As President Donald Trump prepares to decide on certifying the Iran nuclear deal, the White House has come to see a rapidly escalating standoff with North Korea as both a complicating factor and a cautionary tale.

By the close of business Friday, Trump is expected to declare that a landmark agreement curbing Iran's nuclear program is no longer in the US interest.

That would not kill the deal outright, but it would pass that decision on to Congress -- a gambit full of risk for the greater Middle East.

During months of debate about regional repercussions from Aden to Kabul, indeed, since the hours after Trump was elected, a gathering storm with North Korea has weighed heavily.

- The weight of office -

When Trump met president Barack Obama for the first time on November 10, 2016, the outgoing leader had an ominous warning for the president elect.

Sitting feet from each other in the storied Oval Office, Obama told Trump he would face a fateful decision on North Korea in the first months of his presidency.

Trump would have to decide whether to allow Kim Jong-Un to develop the capability to nuke almost any city in the continental United States.

Presidents from Obama back to George Bush Sr. had tried inducements and coercion to prevent North Korea from breaking through a series of ominous proliferation thresholds.

But year after year, as the Kim dynasty passed through three generations, North Korea marched ever closer to mastering what Winston Churchill once called the "lights of perverted science."

Pyongyang covertly separated plutonium, withdrew from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and developed a medium-range ballistic missile that could hit Alaska or Hawaii. It perfected an atomic bomb.

By November 2016, US intelligence believed that Pyongyang would -- in a matter of months rather than years -- be able to marry intercontinental ballistic missile technology with the ability to produce a miniaturized thermonuclear device, putting the United States within reach.

The United States had three basic choices: military action, diplomacy or acceptance.

According to aides familiar with the Oval Office conversation last November, Obama felt he had conveyed the gravity of the situation to the neophyte president.

Trump came away feeling like such a serious a situation should have been dealt with long ago.

"Look, this should have been taken care of by four or five previous administrations," Trump told Forbes recently. "I feel strongly you cannot allow him to have nuclear weapons."

Under Trump's tough-guy doctrine, an unbending message to Iran would make North Korea take notice.

But several White House officials described the choice in more historical terms.

They have come to believe that tackling Iran today offers an opportunity akin to that which was squandered with North Korea a decade or more ago.

Getting tough on Tehran, they argue, affords Trump a chance to prevent a foe from developing nuclear weapons and jamming the next president with a litany of bad choices.

- Walking away from talking? -

Proponents of the deal argue there is no evidence Tehran is breaching the deal, so it remains the best way to prevent an Iranian bomb.

For them too, North Korea looms large.

"There would be no more crippling a blow to the prospects for a peaceful outcome with North Korea than walking away from the Iran deal," Ned Price, a spokesman for Obama's National Security Council who spent a decade at the CIA, recently wrote.

They argue that Washington's willingness to risk an agreement it signed barely two years ago -- which Iran seems to be adhering to -- and which is still strongly supported by longstanding European allies, sends a terrible message to Pyongyang.

One of the deal's diplomat-architects, Wendy Sherman, argued North Korea would conclude it is futile to talk to Washington.

"We are likely to lose any possibility of dialogue with North Korea because Pyongyang will assume the United States will not honor its commitments, even on multilateral agreements," she wrote.

Whether supporters of the Iran deal or its detractors are correct, Trump's decision looks set to reverberate beyond the Middle East and all the way to the Korean Peninsula.
Rohingya Muslim refugees wait for food at the Nayapara refugee camp in Bangladesh's Ukhia district

The media has "exaggerated" the number of Rohingya refugees fleeing an army crackdown, Myanmar's commander-in-chief said Thursday, in a brash rebuttal of accusations of ethnic cleansing by his forces.

Some 520,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar's western Rakhine state since August 25, when the military launched a sweeping campaign against militants from the Muslim minority.

The crackdown has been so intense that the UN on Wednesday accused Myanmar of trying to purge its entire Rohingya population.

A new UN report released Wednesday described the army-led crackdown as "well-organised, coordinated and systematic, with the intent of not only driving the population out of Myanmar but preventing them from returning to their homes".

Half of Myanmar's Rohingya have bolted over the last seven weeks, fleeing incinerated villages to join what has become the world's largest refugee camp in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Thousands more are still trying to escape, massing on beaches and hoping to cross the Naf River before their food runs out.

But in a Facebook post on his official page on Thursday, army chief Min Aung Hlaing was unrepentant, describing the military response as proportionate and playing down the scale of the exodus.

It is an "exaggeration to say that the number of Bengalis fleeing to Bangladesh is very large," the post quoted him as saying, using a pejorative term for the Rohingya that classifies them as illegal immigrants.

Instead, he blamed "instigation and propaganda" by the media, who have become a punching bag for anger inside Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority country where there is little sympathy for the Rohingya.

The humanitarian needs of the refugees who have made it to Bangaldesh are immense with limited food, shelter and the threat a disease outbreak deepening by the day.

But Min Aung Hlaing, who rights groups say carries personal responsibility for the crisis, insisted the Rohingya are merely returning to their motherland.

"The native place of Bengalis is really Bengal," he said. "They might have fled to the other country with the same language, race and culture as theirs by assuming that they would be safer there."

Hungry Rohingya Muslim refugees try to grab candies given by an NGO in Teknaf, Bangladesh

He also reiterated the army's view on the contested history of the Rohingya, saying they were moved in from Bangladesh by British colonialists and have no legitimate claim to lineage on Myanmar soil.

While immigration increased under British rule, historians say Muslim communities were recorded living in the Rakhine region long before the colonial era.

His comments followed a meeting with US Ambassador Scot Marciel, who according to the post "expressed concern" over the half million refugees and offered to help aid efforts.

This week an AFP reporter on a rare government-steered trip to the conflict-hit Rakhine heard testimony from Rohingya villagers who are scared and fast running out of food.

They said ethnic Rakhine Buddhist villagers are trying to starve them out of their homes.

Authorities are providing supplies to the Rohingya left behind, Min Aung Hlaing, glibbly adding food is plentiful in Rakhine where "fish can easily be caught" in its waterways.

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A Gazan flashes a victory sign behind a large Palestinian flag as he and others await the arrival of prime minister Rami Hamdallah on a visit that has raised hopes of an end to a decade-long split

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have reached agreement on aspects of their reconciliation bid during talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo this week, Hamas said on Thursday.

"An agreement was reached today between Hamas and Fatah under Egyptian sponsorship," a statement from Hamas leader Ismail Haniya's office said, without giving further details.

Fayez Abu Eita, a Fatah spokesman and member of the partys delegation in Cairo, told AFP details would be announced at a press conference later on Thursday.

The two sides had been meeting in the Egyptian capital since Tuesday, with the aim of ending a crippling decade-old split between the rival factions.

A party to the negotiations, who asked not to be identified, said the agreement would see forces of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by Fatah, take control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

He added that all Palestinian factions would begin wider negotiations on the formation of a national unity government in the coming two weeks.

Hamas seized Gaza from Fatah in a near civil war in 2007 and the two factions have been at loggerheads ever since. Multiple previous reconciliation talks have failed.

Egypt has been keen to improve security in the Sinai Peninsula which borders Gaza and where jihadist rebels have fought a long-running insurgency.

Last month, Hamas agreed to cede civil power in Gaza to the Palestinian Authority but the fate of its vast military wing remains a significant issue for the two sides.

An Egyptian source close to the talks said intelligence chief Khaled Fawzi had followed the talks closely.

Islamist movement Hamas is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.

It has fought three wars with Israel since 2008 and the blockaded Gaza Strip has faced deteriorating humanitarian conditions.
Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission slapped Qualcomm with a fine of Tw$23.4 billion ($774 million) for harming market competition and manipulating prices following an investigation launched in 2015

Taiwanese authorities have imposed a record fine of nearly $800 million on Qualcomm for antitrust violations in the latest of a string of setbacks for the US computer chip giant.

Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission slapped Qualcomm with a fine of Tw$23.4 billion ($774 million) for harming market competition and manipulating prices following an investigation launched in 2015.

"Qualcomm's illegal actions have seriously affected the (market) competition... to ensure, maintain or enhance its dominance in the market," the commission said in a statement late Wednesday.

According to the commission, Qualcomm had violated fair trade rules for at least seven years by refusing to offer licenses that are essential for manufacturing chipsets to rival manufacturers and had imposed unfair contracts on smartphone makers.

Qualcomm earned more than $13.33 billion in royalty fees and $30 billion in baseband chip sales to local companies during that period, it added.

The world's biggest handset chip supplier said Thursday it would appeal the fine.

"Qualcomm disagrees with the decision... and intends to seek to stay any required behavioural measures and appeal the decision to the Taiwanese courts," the company said in a statement.

Last year, Qualcomm was hit with a record fine exceeding $850 million by South Korea's antitrust watchdog for abusing its dominant market position as a maker of baseband chipsets used in mobile phones.

It was also fined nearly $1 billion by Chinese antitrust authorities in 2015 for violation of competition rules.

In the United States, Qualcomm is locked in contentious patent battles with fellow tech giant Apple, which filed a lawsuit in January accusing the chip maker of abusing its market power to demand unfair royalties.

Apple has also joined efforts in other countries where Qualcomm faces probes from antitrust authorities.

Qualcomm in turn has sued Apple for allegedly using the chip maker's technology without paying for it.
Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-Yong (R) was found guilty in August of bribery, perjury and other charges relating to payments made by Samsung to South Korea's ousted president Park Geun-Hye's secret confidante Choi Soon-Sil

Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong was back in court Thursday to appeal his five-year sentence for bribing South Korea's ousted president Park Geun-Hye, with prosecutors arguing for a longer jail term.

Lee, vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, was found guilty in August of bribery, perjury and other charges relating to payments made by Samsung to Park's secret confidante Choi Soon-Sil, but the 49-year-old's lawyers argue he is innocent.

"The evidence-only principle was pushed aside," lead counsel, lawyer Lee In-Jae, said at the appeal trial at the Seoul High Court.

The original verdict found that a total of 8.9 billion won ($7.9 million) was paid in return for favours including government support for Lee's succession at Samsung after his father was left bedridden by a heart attack in 2014.

Wearing a dark suit and white shirt with no tie, Lee looked gloomy in the courtroom as his lawyers argued that the payments were not bribes but donations to support athletes -- which happened to include Choi's equestrian daughter.

Lawyer Lee In-Jae said there was no material evidence to back charges that Lee asked for policy favours when he met Park in 2014.

Four other Samsung executives convicted on the same charges and given sentences ranging from four years to suspended terms were present at the appeal hearing.

Prosecutors are also appealing part of the original verdict, which found Lee innocent of some of the bribery charges, and are calling for harsher sentences for all the five.

The lower court should have included as bribes another 20.4 billion won that Samsung funnelled into two dubious foundations controlled by Choi, prosecutors claim.

The lower court said Park was aware that Lee wanted state approval for a controversial merger of two Samsung units in 2015, seen as a key step to ensuring his accession.

The deal was opposed by shareholders who said it wilfully undervalued shares of one of the firms. But it eventually went through after the National Pension Fund -- a major Samsung shareholder -- approved it.

A prosecutor said the five-year jail sentence was "too light" when taking into account the damage inflicted upon millions of subscribers to the National Pension Fund.

"The operations for Lee's succession were maximizing Lee's gains by sacrificing... shareholders' and pensioners' interest", Prosecutor Park Ju-Seong said.

A verdict on the appeal is expected by February 2018.

Park, the first female president in South Korea, was impeached and arrested in March and indicted in April on a total of 18 charges including corruption and power abuse. She is being held in solitary confinement.

The lower court's verdict on Park is likely to come next month.
This handout from the World Solar Challenge 2017 taken and received on October 11, 2017, shows the Nuon Solar Team vehicle "Nuna9" from the Netherlands speeding towards Coober Pedy during the fourth day of racing

Dominant Dutch team "Nuon" Thursday won an epic 3,000-kilometre (1,860-mile) solar car race across Australia's outback for the third-straight year in an innovative contest showcasing new vehicle technology.

The World Solar Challenge, first run in 1987 and last held in 2015, began in the northern city of Darwin on Sunday morning with 41 competing cars, with Adelaide in South Australia state the final destination.

Cheers and chants of "Nuna" roared from the large Dutch contingent as the "Nuna 9" car -- travelling at an average speed of 81.2 kilometres per hour (55.5 mph) -- crossed the finish line mid-afternoon.

"Welcome to #Adelaide @NuonSolarTeam, winner of the @bridgestone #BWSC17 Schneider Electric Challenger Class," race organisers tweeted.

The US' University of Michigan "Novum" was on track for second place ahead of Belgium's Punch Powertrain.

This handout from the World Solar Challenge 2017 taken and received on October 10, 2017 shows Nuon Solar Team vehicle "Nuna9" from the Netherlands arriving in Alice Springs on the third day of racing

The event has become one of the worlds foremost innovation challenges with teams looking to demonstrate designs that could one day lead to commercially available solar-powered vehicles for passengers.

Google co-founder Larry Page and Tesla co-founder J B Straubel are past competitors who credit the event in influencing their careers

The win is the seventh for Nuon, with their car overcoming cloudy skies as they took the lead early and stayed ahead in the elite Challenger class, which features slick, single seat aerodynamic vehicles built for sustained endurance and total energy efficiency.

The team's winning time was 37 hours, 10 minutes and 41 seconds. When their team finished first in 2015, it took them 33.03 hours.

Team manager Sander Koot said they changed their strategy and driving style to cope with weather conditions that included wind gusts of up to 60 kmh.

They also positioned the car so it could benefit from the windy conditions like a sailing ship, the team's aerodynamics expert Jasper Hemmes told organisers.

There is also a Cruiser class which aims to showcase solar technology for mainstream vehicles that are more practical for day-to-day use.

Another Dutch team, Eindhoven, is on track to finish Friday and win that class, with Germany's HS Bochum tracking second.

This handout from the World Solar Challenge 2017 shows team members of Nuon Solar Team from the Netherlands preparing their vehicle "Nuna9" to catch the first morning sun near Dunmarra on the second day of racing

The vehicles are powered by the sun and mostly developed by universities or corporations, with teams hailing from Australia and across the world including the United States, Malaysia, India and South Africa.

They are allowed to store a small amount of energy but the majority of their power has to come from the sun and their vehicle's kinetic forces.

The crews drove between 8am and 5pm each day with seven checkpoints along a route cutting through the heart of Australia's central desert region, to get updates on their standings, the weather, and do basic maintenance.
Palestinians wave flags as they gather in Gaza City to celebrate after rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement on ending a decade-long split following talks mediated by Egypt on October 12, 2017

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement Thursday on ending a decade-long split following talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo, with president Mahmud Abbas calling it a "final" accord.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly condemned the deal, saying it would make peace with his country "much harder to achieve".

Under the agreement, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) is to resume full control of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip by December 1, according to a statement from Egypt's government.

Abbas welcomed the deal and told AFP he considered it a "final agreement to end the division" -- though many details remain to be resolved and previous reconciliation attempts have repeatedly failed.

Israel says Islamist movement Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, must disarm and recognise the Jewish state as part of any Palestinian reconciliation deal.

US President Donald Trump is currently seeking to restart frozen peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel.

"Reconciling with mass murderers is part of the problem, not part of the solution," Netanyahu said in a statement.

Fatah's Azam al-Ahmad (R) and Saleh al-Aruri (L) of Hamas sign a reconciliation deal at the Egyptian intelligence services headquarters in Cairo on October 12, 2017

The agreement was signed in Cairo by new Hamas deputy leader Salah al-Aruri and Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah delegation for the talks, at the headquarters of Egypt's intelligence service, which oversaw the negotiations.

Celebrations broke out in the Gaza Strip after the announcement of the deal, with residents waving flags of Egypt, Palestine, Fatah and Hamas.

"We hope they won't disappoint our people and break the joy," said Rahaab Kanaan, 55.

Negotiations are now expected to be held on forming a unity government, with the various Palestinian political movements invited to another meeting in Cairo on November 21.

- Sanctions to end -

A man holds a portrait of the Palestinian president among Palestinians waving flags as they gather in Gaza City to celebrate after rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement on ending a decade-long split on October 12, 2017

An official from Abbas's Fatah movement said the Palestinian president was planning to soon travel to the Gaza Strip as part of the unity bid, in what would be his first visit in at least a decade.

Sanctions taken by Abbas against Gaza will also soon be lifted, the Fatah official said.

The deal includes 3,000 members of the West Bank-based PA's police force redeploying to Gaza, a member of the negotiating team told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The figure is however a fraction of the more than 20,000 police officers employed separately by Hamas.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres spoke to Abbas to congratulate him on the deal and said the United Nations "stands ready" to support the PA "take up its responsibilities in Gaza", a UN statement said.

Guterres also underlined the "continuing need to urgently address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, particularly with regard to the electricity crisis, and improved access to and from the territory".

One of the key issues has been punitive measures taken by Abbas against Gaza in recent months, including reducing electricity payments that left the territory's residents with only a few hours of power a day.

"All the measures taken recently will end very shortly," Zakaria al-Agha, a senior Fatah leader in the Gaza Strip, told AFP.

The Arab League also hailed the agreement saying it represented an "essential guarantee" toward achieving the aspirations of the Palestinian people to set up their own state.

- Egypt's role -

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip watch a television broadcast of the signing of a reconciliation deal in Cairo between rival factions Hamas and Fatah on October 12, 2017

The two sides began meeting in Cairo on Tuesday with the aim of ending the crippling split between the rival factions.

Hamas seized Gaza from Fatah in a near civil war in 2007 and the two factions have been at loggerheads ever since.

Egypt has been keen to improve security in the Sinai Peninsula which borders Gaza and where jihadist rebels have fought a long-running insurgency.

An Egyptian source close to the talks said intelligence chief Khaled Fawzi had followed the negotiations closely.

Last month, Hamas agreed to cede civil power in Gaza to the PA but the fate of its vast military wing remains a significant issue for the two sides.

Hamas is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.

The blockaded Gaza Strip has seen deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

Faced with increasing isolation and a severe electricity shortage, Hamas has reached out to Cairo for help, hoping to have the Rafah border with Egypt -- largely closed in recent years -- opened.

Azzam al-Ahmad said that, as part of the deal, Gaza's border crossings with Israel will be handed back to the PA by November 1 with Rafah to follow shortly afterwards.

Egypt has also agreed to provide fuel to the Gaza Strip for electricity generation.

In return, Cairo pressed Hamas to move forward on reconciliation with Fatah.

- Fate of armed wing -

Previous attempts at reconciliation have repeatedly failed, and many analysts are treating the latest bid with caution, waiting to see if actual change will occur on the ground.

Last week, PA prime minister Rami Hamdallah visited Gaza for the first time since 2015 and his ministers took formal control of government departments in the territory.

The future of Hamas's 25,000-strong armed wing is one of the key sticking points in Palestinian reconciliation talks

But the move was seen as mainly symbolic, with Hamas still effectively in charge in the Palestinian enclave of two million people.

One of the key sticking points will be the fate of Hamas's 25,000-strong military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Pope Francis will visit Myanmar and Bangladesh in late November

Pope Francis will talk peace on his to visit Myanmar, a Catholic church representative said Thursday, a potentially highly charged trip during a refugee crisis that has seen 520,000 Rohingya Muslims pushed out of the country.

The late November visit comes as western Rakhine state is devoured by communal violence that has sent unprecedented numbers of Rohingya fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh.

Myanmar's army is accused of using a crackdown on militants to expel its Muslim Rohingya population -- a persecuted minority the Pope has previously called "brothers and sisters".

Any comments seen to support the Rohingya could provoke a strong reaction from hardline Buddhist clerics and a Buddhist-majority public aggrieved at global support for the Muslim group.

Myanmar has a small roughly half a million Catholic population, mainly in the remote north. The same goes for Muslim-majority Bangladesh -- where the Pope will travel on to.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Myanmar said it was unclear whether the Pope would address the Rakhine crisis during his November 27-30 trip.

"We don't know yet what will be his speech... but he is coming for the sake of the country and he will be talking about peace," Father Mariano Soe Naing, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishop's Conference of Myanmar, told AFP.

"There won't be any interfaith meetings because of the lack of time," he said, although he will meet with the main Buddhist authority.

Some 200,000 people are expected to attend a mass led by Francis in Kyaikkasan Grounds, a stadium in Yangon, he added.

Myanmar and the Vatican only established full diplomatic relations in May, shortly after de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Pope Francis during a European tour.

That visit was overshadowed by her country's treatment of the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship by the state and have previously been displaced in huge numbers by communal violence and army campaigns.

Only weeks before his meeting with Suu Kyi, Francis described the Muslim minority as "brothers and sisters" who were were being tortured and killed for their faith.

Rohingya Muslim refugees take shelter from the rain at a camp in Bangladesh

He added they were "good and peaceful people who have suffered for years".

Any repetition of that stance will put Francis at odds with many inside Myanmar, where authorities have denied committing atrocities and tried to cast the Rohingya as the villains.

Buddhist nationalist hardliners have previously vowed to protest the papal visit because of his support for the Muslim group.

This week Myanmar's government called for unity with a large inter-faith rally in Yangon, the first since the Rakhine crisis.

According to an itinerary released by the Vatican, Francis will travel to the capital Naypyidaw and the country's largest city Yangon before heading to Bangladesh -- a country that had to absorb the more than 520,000 Rohingya who have fled the Myanmar army's campaign since August 25.

There will be no stops in Rakhine -- the epicentre of the unrest -- or meetings with Muslim clerics, according to the schedule.

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A Rohingya Muslim refugee takes shelter from the rain at the registration center in Teknaf in Bangladesh's Ukhia district on October 6, 2017

Bangladesh has banned three Islamic charities from working with Rohingya refugees, a lawmaker said Thursday, amid concerns displaced Muslims in camps along its border could be radicalized.

Mahjabeen Khaled, an MP from the ruling Awami League, said the international charities Muslim Aid and Islamic Relief, and Bangladesh-based Allama Fazlullah Foundation, had been blacklisted from the Rohingya refugee camps in southernmost Cox's Bazar district.

Khaled, who sits on the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs, said no specific allegations had been levelled at the charities.

But authorities were "scrutinising and screening" all aid agencies wanting to contribute to the massive relief effort in Cox's Bazar, where more than half a million refugees had fled to squalid camps since August.

"We want to monitor who is giving aid, and why, for security reasons. Who are funding them, and what they are going to do with the money?" Khaled told AFP.

A Rohingya Muslim refugee takes shelter from the rain at the registration center in Teknaf in Bangladesh's Ukhia district on October 6, 2017

"They (Rohingya) are vulnerable. A lot can be done with this Rohingya people. We want to be careful," she said, adding it would be "easy" to lure the refugees to militancy.

Waseem Ahmed, a director of Islamic Relief, said any allegations of misconduct by the charity were "baseless and misguided".

"Since we are still awaiting approval from the government and haven't started any projects yet in the camps, it would be completely unwarranted to tag us with any activities that we haven't conducted," he said.

Bangladesh has heavily curtailed access to the Rohingya camps in recent years, but eased restrictions last month after more than 520,000 new refugees poured across the border.

The government's NGO Affairs Bureau approved 30 local and global aid groups to meet "emergency needs" in the overwhelmed camps, which already housed about 300,000 Rohingya before the latest influx.

Before that, just four international charities -- including Doctors With Borders (MSF) and Action Against Hunger (ACF) -- were permitted to operate in the sensitive border district.

Khaled said Muslim Aid had also been banned from working in the refugee camps in 2012, when tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled a separate surge of violence in neighbouring Myanmar.

Bangladesh authorities are reluctant to discuss their reasons for curbing access to the camps, but fears prevail that anger among the displaced Rohingya could be exploited by extremist networks.

Young starving Rohingya Muslim refugees try to grab candies given by NGO in Teknaf, Bangladesh's Ukhia district on October 6, 2017

Bangladesh is fighting its own battle against homegrown Islamist radicals, who have claimed responsibility for the brutal murder of progressive bloggers, secular activists and foreigners in recent years.

Even those charities given the green light last month can only work for two months, and must restrict activities to providing healthcare, sanitation facilities and shelter for the Rohingya.
Palestinian Fatma Mosabah, 21, takes pictures for social media to give followers a different view of her native Gaza Strip from what much of the world may be used to

They may not be able to leave Gaza without Israeli or Egyptian permission, but their photos can.

The two women are among a small number of Instagram stars in the blockaded Palestinian enclave, showing followers a different side of their homeland from what much of the world may be used to hearing or seeing.

"I see Instagram as a window," says Kholoud Nassar, 26, wearing a pink hijab and fiddling with a toy car that features in many of her pictures.

Fatma Mosabah, 21, agrees, saying that "when I open the internet I can talk to people across the world."

Both have more than 100,000 followers on the social platform and say they get recognised multiple times a day in the tiny territory that is home to two million people.

In the enclave sealed off by Israel to the east and north, Egypt to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, it is impossible for Gazans to leave without permission.

Neither of the women has left Gaza in more than a decade.

Israel also refuses to give permits for tourists to visit the strip, leaving most people outside to imagine life there.

And with three wars since 2008 between the strip's rulers Hamas and Israel, many people's ideas of Gaza centre on devastation, poverty and suffering.

Palestinian Kholoud Nassar, 26, takes pictures in her native Gaza City, shuttered from most of the world by a decade-long Israeli blockade

The women use Instagram, with its focus on pictures over text and political arguments, to show another side.

"War is a part of Gaza, but it is not all Gaza. I wanted to show there was more to Gaza -- as in any country," Nassar tells AFP in a cafe near the coast in Gaza City.

"Take America: there is poverty, there are destroyed homes, but at the same time there are beautiful places. Gaza is the same."

"Through these pictures I want people to see Gaza, how people live, eat and work."

Nassar's pictures range from young children to harvests, all bathed in a range of colours, while Mosabah shows all sides of daily life.

Both women feature heavily in their own pictures, with wide smiles.

Mosabah agrees that the aim is to "change the perception of Gaza" away from political matters.

"To show its beautiful side, that's the most important thing. Far from the destruction, blockade and the wars."

- 'Trying to live' -

A United Nations official recently said the strip may already be "unlivable".

Despite Gazans receiving only a few hours of electricity a day in recent months, social media outlets remain popular.

Ali Bkheet, president of the Palestinian Social Media Club, estimates that around 50 percent of Gazans have Facebook, though numbers on Instagram and Twitter are significantly smaller.

He said the decade-long Israeli blockade had made Gazans particularly keen to use social media "to express ourselves and communicate our voice".

Nassar started before the last war in 2014 and documented the human toll of the conflict.

"Trying to live". Palestinian Kholoud Nassar, 26, takes pictures for her social media account of how Gazans are trying to put their lives back together after three wars with Israel since 2008

In the three years since, she has sought to focus on how Gazans struggle through terrible conditions -- including creating a "trying to live" hashtag to show how people were putting their lives back together after the war.

The toy car, an old Volkswagen Beetle Nassar carries in her bag at all times and which features in dozens of her photos, has become a trademark helping her connect with others.

People from across the Arab world now send her pictures of the real cars, which she posts on her page.

For Mosabah, Instagram is also a source of revenue -- making between $300 (255 euros) and $400 a month from e-marketing and adverts on her page.

In a region where 60 percent of young people are unemployed and the average salary is a couple of hundred dollars, she has carved out a niche for herself.

Sheldon Himelfarb, CEO of US-based PeaceTech Lab which has researched how social media impacts political awareness, said social media can help break down barriers between people across the globe.

But he warned researchers were still trying to assess whether the selective nature of what is published helps or hinders efforts to gain a fuller picture.

"I believe in my conversations with university students. They seem to imply they are more aware about parts of the world than certainly their parents were. But whether or not they are more accurately informed I don't know."

- Fighting the trolls -

Instagram is of course a selective version of life, with the women taking dozens of pictures before deciding on their favourite to show the world.

But despite the thought that goes into their selections, they aren't protected from the bane of social media -- trolls.

Islamist group Hamas has conservative attitudes towards women, as do many Gazans.

Mosabah says she blocks between five and 20 people a day on Instagram who make inappropriate comments.

Palestinian Fatma Mosabah, 21, says she takes pictures with anyone in a bid to show a different side of life in Gaza, sometimes at the cost of antagonising conservatives

"Maybe I take a picture with someone, they say the picture is shameful because I was with a man. I do a lot of blocking," she laughs.

For Nassar, it has even strayed into the real world.

Once she was taking pictures in Beit Lahia, one of Gaza's most conservative areas, when women started screaming at her.

"There are people here who criticise me -- they say 'you are going out, taking pictures. You should stay at home and cook'," Nassar says.

"Maybe because I wear a hijab they criticise me more."
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas recites a prayer in 2014 in memory of those killed during that year's war in Gaza before announcing an informal truce has been reached with Israel

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will visit Gaza for the first time in a decade within a month, a top official in his Fatah party said on Thursday, after reconciliation talks with rivals Hamas.

Abbas "will be in Gaza within less than a month," Zakaria al-Agha, a senior Fatah leader in the Gaza Strip, told AFP after a breakthrough in talks between the two sides in Cairo.

Abbas has not visited the enclave since his forces were pushed out in 2007 by Islamists Hamas, who have controlled it ever since.

Earlier on Thursday, the two sides announced they had reached agreement on aspects of their decade-long split during talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo.

Details of the agreement have not yet been released and a press conference is expected at 1000 GMT in the Egyptian capital.

One of the key issues has been punitive measures taken by Abbas against Gaza in recent months, including reducing electricity payments that left the territory's residents with only a few hours of power a day.

"All the measures taken recently will end very shortly," Agha added.

Since the near civil war in 2007, the two Palestinian factions have been at loggerheads -- complicating any potential peace talks with Israel.

Multiple previous reconciliation talks have failed.

Last month, Hamas agreed to cede civil power in Gaza but the fate of its vast military wing is a significant stumbling block and the Islamist group remains effectively in charge in the enclave.
A kangaroo stands next to a rare waterhole as sheep gather as they look for food on a station near White Cliffs, 19 July 2002, which is one of the outback areas hit badly by drought in the state of New South Wales

A woman and her son, 9, survived a 10-day ordeal with no food in rough Australian bushland by using leaves to collect water and removing ticks and leeches from each other, reports and authorities said Thursday.

The 40-year-old and the boy planned a two-hour walk in Mount Royal National Park in the Hunter region some 240 kilometres (149 miles) north of Sydney, but became disoriented, New South Wales state police told the Newcastle Herald.

Police added in a statement that they were taken to a local hospital with dehydration and insect bites.

NSW Ambulance Inspector Andrew Steenson said "it was really good to find them in such good physical shape".

"The search terrain was really quite hostile in some areas," he told the Herald, adding that rescuers had been searching for the pair for four days after their car was sighted at the park's carpark on Monday.

"There are some steep slopes and thick scrub, and it drops off by about 500 metres in some parts of the search area."

He added that the mother and son had stayed alive by using leaves to collect water, removing ticks and leeches from each other, sharing one pair of shoes and tying grass around trees to mark where they were.

Mount Royal National Park, part of Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage area, is described by the National Parks and Wildlife Service as having "challenging walking tracks" that take visitors to the summit of scenic rock features.
Florence Darel was told by Harvey Weinstein he would make her big in the US if she became his "part-time mistress"

The French actress Florence Darel became the latest star Thursday to reveal that she was harassed by disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Darel, 49, who first came to notice in Eric Rohmer's "A Tale of Springtime" in 1990, told Le Parisien newspaper that Weinstein had promised to help make her big in America if she became his "part-time" mistress.

She said she first had to beat off his advances after Weinstein's company Miramax bought the 1993 fashion industry comedy "A la mode" in which she appeared.

The following year, pushed by her agent, she agreed to meet Weinstein in a Paris hotel.

"He talked to me about a film he wanted to make about World War II and then he began to tell me that he found me very attractive and wanted to have an affair with me," Darel told the paper.

"I told him I was very much in love with my partner, but he said that that didn't worry him and he wanted me to be his mistress for a few days a year.

"That way we could work together. Basically, he said that if I wanted to make it in America, it would be through him," the actress said.

Bond star Lea Seydoux had earlier written her own account of her run-ins with Weinstein and others in an industry that she said turned a blind eye to abuse.

"That's the most disgusting thing. Everyone knew what Harvey was up to and no one did anything," "Spectre" star Seydoux wrote in the Guardian.

Two other French actresses, Judith Godreche and Emma de Caunes, had earlier said they had also suffered at his hands.

De Caunes, who starred in the Oscar-nominated "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and the comedy "Mr. Bean's Holiday", said she was "petrified" when Weinstein emerged naked from the bathroom at the Ritz hotel in Paris where they were having a meeting.

Weinstein has denied all charges, according to a statement from his spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister.
France's President Emmanuel Macron will attend a summit to launch a solar power alliance in India in December, authorities announced

France's President Emmanuel Macron will attend a summit to launch a solar power alliance in India in December, authorities announced Thursday.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is also expected to attend the event organised by India's leader Narendra Modi in New Delhi on December 8-9, officials said.

"I am pleased to confirm that President Macron will be alongside Prime Minister Modi in Delhi to open the summit," the French ambassador Alexandre Ziegler told reporters.

India's Renewable Energy Ministry said that Guterres was "likely" to attend.

The international meeting will see the "founding ceremony" of the International Solar Alliance which is to have its headquarters in India.

The solar alliance, to promote the global use of sun power, was proposed by Modi ahead of the 2015 Paris climate conference.

More than 100 countries are backing the alliance, which aims to set international standards and support research and development.

The French ambassador told AFP that Macron will be in India from December 8 to December 10 and would probably visit places outside Delhi, but the programme is not finalised.
"There is no time for us to be silent any more," says Manal al-Sharif

For Manal al-Sharif, the self-described "accidental activist" who spearheaded the campaign against the ban on female drivers in Saudi Arabia, the time for women to be silent is over.

Overjoyed by a royal decree last month allowing women to finally get behind the wheel in the ultra-conservative kingdom, the eloquent 38-year-old has now set her sights on the next battle: abolishing the system of male guardianship.

"There is no time for us to be silent anymore," Sharif told AFP at the Frankfurt book fair, where she presented the German translation of her bestselling memoir "Daring to Drive".

"Speak up, that is the only way to bring awareness and change things in Saudi Arabia."

In a country that adheres to strict gender segregation and an austere vision of Islam, the guardianship system requires Saudi women to get permission from a designated male family member on anything from travel to enrolling at university.

Like the driving ban, the male guardianship "has stopped a lot of women from pursuing their dreams", said Sharif, who has drawn comparisons with the late US civil rights activist Rosa Parks.

To show how serious she is about her new campaign, Sharif rolls back her sleeve to reveal a plastic blue bracelet that reads "I am my own guardian", alongside a picture of a car.

"We are not minors. We are capable of driving our own lives," she said, smiling at the pun.

- 'Driving while female' -

In her book, Sharif charts her unexpected journey to rebellion, culminating in her arrest after she filmed herself driving and posted the video on YouTube as part of the "Woman2Drive" campaign in 2011.

Charged with "driving while female", she spent nine days in jail in a case that sparked global uproar.

With unflinching honesty, Sharif recounts the hardships she faced growing up in relative poverty in Saudi Arabia's holiest city Mecca and the struggles she encountered later on as a divorced single mum.

She credits her strict parents with pushing her to excel academically, but also expresses anger over the painful female genital mutilation she had to endure as a child and the domestic abuse she suffered at home, as well as at the hands of her first husband.

She admits to succumbing to radicalism in her youth, even burning her brother's Backstreet Boys cassettes in what she calls her "extremist days", because she believed they were "haram" or forbidden under Islam.

"In this book I was very open, I tried to break every single taboo that I could," Sharif said.

Manal al-Sharif spent nine days in jail for driving

Her top grades eventually led her to become the first female information security specialist at the Saudi national oil company Aramco, where women are allowed to drive within the firm's compound.

But trying to get around outside as a woman "who had no man in her life" was a constant battle, forcing her to rely on her brother, colleagues or taxi drivers.

One day, after failing to find a ride after a doctor's appointment, she decided to walk home alone. But a car followed her along the way, leaving her terrified -- and fed up.

Emboldened by the Arab Spring sweeping through the region at the time, she decided enough was enough. It was time to drive.

"So it was really a personal struggle," Sharif said.

"It was really from the fear of being helpless in my own country."

- 'New Saudi Arabia' -

The memoir ends before the ban is lifted, but Sharif is more than happy to update the epilogue.

"I cried, I was so excited," she said about hearing the news of King Salman's decree.

"The first thing I tweeted was 'Saudi Arabia will never the same again', I call it the new Saudi Arabia for women," said Sharif, a prolific social media user.

The decree comes into effect next June, and Sharif is already looking forward to getting in the driver's seat, legally this time.

"I think it will be the most liberating thing," she said.

Her book is due to appear in Arabic in November, and Sharif -- who divides her time between Saudi Arabia and Australia, where her new husband works -- is bracing for the reaction in her home country.

"I know the personal price I will pay for speaking up will be high," she said.

"Women in my country are always told to be quiet," she added. "This has led to so many injustices when it comes to women's rights."

But the mother-of-two says she has been encouraged by recent changes in the Gulf kingdom.

Men and women danced in the streets of Riyadh last month after they were allowed to celebrate the country's national day together for the first time, and Sharif excitedly talks about the prospect of women being allowed to study engineering soon.

The changes, which risk upsetting religious hardliners, come as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is introducing economic and social reforms as part of his "Vision 2030" programme aimed at diversifying the kingdom's oil-dependent economy.

And that includes getting more women into the work force.

"So many things are happening right now that people are saying: 'Has Saudi Arabia been hacked?'" Sharif said with a smile.
Opposition leader and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia is currently on a visit to London where her son lives

Two courts in Bangladesh issued warrants Thursday for the arrest of the opposition leader and former premier Khaleda Zia, a move her party said was politically motivated ahead of elections expected next year.

The move came after the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched a crackdown on the opposition, arresting leaders and supporters of Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

One of the warrants relates to a failure to respond to a court summons in a defamation case, Dhaka's chief prosecutor Abdullah Abu told AFP.

The second was issued by a special anti-graft court after Zia failed to attend a hearing in a long-running case relating to the alleged embezzlement of funds meant for an orphanage, Abu said.

Earlier in the week, another court had ordered Zia's arrest on charges she incited the firebombing of a bus in 2015.

It is not the first time that a court has issued orders to arrest Zia, currently on a visit to London where her son lives, but police have not acted on previous warrants.

Political scientist Ataur Rahman said he believed this time could be different.

"There are several reasons. One is to derail the party as it tries to step up protests and build momentum for the next polls," he told AFP.

"Secondly, to deprive it of its leadership and third is that the government is sending a message that it is very much in control."

Bangladesh is widely expected to hold a general election next year, the first since polls in 2014 which the BNP boycotted over fears they would be rigged.

That allowed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party to win without even contesting most of the parliamentary seats.

Since then opposition officials say tens of thousands of their activists and supporters have been arrested and prosecuted by the government.

Hasina's secular government has faced criticism from opposition politicians for its handling of the Rohingya crisis, which led to a huge influx of refugees into the impoverished country.

Pro-opposition lawyers have also accused her of pressuring the chief justice, a major critic of the government, to go on a long leave of absence that some say he may never return from.

The warrants come days after police arrested the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party and a key BNP ally, on charges of planning an act of sabotage.

Jamaat called a nationwide strike on Thursday to protest the arrests of its leaders, but it was not widely observed and passed off peacefully.
An employee of Careem, a car booking service, talks during a training session for new female drivers at their Saudi offices in Khobar City on October 10, 2017

Hunched over platters of dates and Arabic coffee, Saudi women raring to drive once a government ban ends next June signed up for another revolution -- to be the kingdom's first female cab drivers.

King Salman last month decreed that women will be allowed driving permits, a historic reform that could put not just millions of women behind the wheel but potentially many more into the workforce.

Sensing a lucrative opportunity, ride-hailing company Careem says it plans to hire up to 100,000 female chauffers to lure new clients in the gender-segregated kingdom.

This week, the company invited AFP to its first recruitment session in the coastal city of Khobar, which attracted a diverse crowd -- from housewives to working women -- who already have foreign driving licences.

"For years I felt helpless. My car would be parked outside and I could not drive," said Nawal al-Jabbar, a 50-year-old mother of three, sipping coffee from a thimble-sized cup.

A chorus of hoots and claps erupted in the auditorium as the women, who learned about the recruitment by word-of-mouth, watched news footage on a projector screen of last month's royal decree.

"It felt like we had woken up in a new Saudi Arabia," Jabbar said.

An instructor stood next to the screen, holding up a smartphone to show the inner workings of the app.

The firm plans to add a new "Captinah" button to the app next June that would allow customers to choose women chauffeurs. The option will only be available to other women and families, Careem spokesman Murtadha Alalawi said.

Around 30 women registered for the event in Khobar.

Many arrived unaccompanied by men, something not commonly seen in a country where male "guardians" have arbitrary authority to make crucial decisions on behalf of women.

- 'Rite of passage' -

"This is a rite of passage for women," said Sarah Algwaiz, director of the women chauffeurs program at Careem, referring to the reform.

"For women to drive their own cars signals autonomy, mobility and financial independence."

The Gulf kingdom was the only country in the world to ban women from taking the wheel, and it was seen globally as a symbol of repression.

For decades, hardliners cited austere Islamic interpretations to justify the ban, with some maintaining women lack the intelligence to drive and that allowing them to would promote promiscuity.

"Society portrays women to be strong when it's convenient and weak when it's convenient," said trainee Jabbar.

"I say if you can depend on a female doctor to deliver a baby, then you can depend on a woman to drive a car."

A Saudi woman registers to take part in a training programme for new female drivers at Careem, a car booking service, at their Saudi offices in Khobar City on October 10, 2017

The lifting of the driving ban has been widely credited to 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who styles himself as a moderniser in the conservative kingdom, where more than half the population is aged under 25.

Prince Mohammed has cracked down on dissent while also showing a rare willingness to tackle entrenched Saudi taboos such as promoting more women in the workforce.

Becoming a chauffeur would mean "extra income", said Banain al-Mustafa, a 24-year-old medical lab technician who obtained her license while she was studying in West Virginia in 2015.

"I drove for two-and-a-half years," she said, including once on her own in a nine-hour road trip from New York to West Virginia.

"If I can drive there, why not in my own country?"

- Cultural backlash -

The reform is in line with the kingdom's Vision 2030 programme that seeks to elevate women to nearly one-third of the workforce, up from about 22 percent now.

Authorities have highlighted the economic benefits of the reform as the kingdom reels from a protracted oil slump; Saudi families would no longer need foreign chauffeurs, often a major source of financial strain.

Riyadh is moving to bring female driving instructors from abroad, local media reported, and Princess Nourah University said it will inaugurate a women's only driving school.

Authorities this week warned against violations of the ban until it is formally lifted after a woman was filmed driving out of a luxury hotel in Riyadh.

Sarah Algwaiz, director of the women chauffeurs programme which trains new female drivers at Careem, a car booking service, at their Saudi offices in Khobar City, on October 10, 2017

Careem said it would wait for government regulations to be formally announced before putting female recruits behind the wheel.

Its rival Uber is reportedly planning a similar initiative to recruit female drivers.

The new Careem recruits in Khobar were seemingly unperturbed by pockets of resistance from men or sexist comments on social media over women driving.

"Look at how women's abayas have evolved -- different styles and colours -- despite strong resistance," Jabbar said, referring to the traditional black gown.

"After a while, even women drivers will become a new normal."
In the latest sensational twist of a case that has divided India and inspired a movie and a book, an affluent, middle-class couple won their appeal against a life jail term for the murder of their daughter and a servant.

The Allahabad high court acquitted dentists Rajesh and Nupur Talwar after ruling there was insufficient proof that they slit the throats of 14-year-old daughter Aarushi and their Nepalese servant Hemraj Banjade in May 2008.

The couple were not in the packed court for the hearing. They are in jail near New Delhi. Media reports said Rajesh Talwar hugged jail officials after hearing the verdict.

Indian lawyer Tanveer Ahmed Mir (C) leaves Allahabad high court after the acquital of his clients Rajesh and Nupur Talwar over the 2008 double murder of their daughter Aarushi and servant Hemraj Banjade in Allahabad

Tanveer Mir, a lawyer for the Talwars, told reporters outside the Allahabad court that the couple would be freed on Friday.

'The High court observed that they have been punished wrongly. They are not guilty,' he said.

'They were only present at home that night as parents and were punished. It was entirely wrong and an injustice against my clients.'

Picture of Arushi Talwar, 14, in Noida, a suburb of New Delhi

'The court observed that the case against the Talwars was baseless. The evidence was weak,' declared the lawyer.

India has been riveted by the case ever since the first details of the double murder in the affluent New Delhi suburb of Noida emerged.

The Talwars were convicted by a lower court in 2013 and sentenced to life in prison.

The film 'Talvar' based on the murder packed cinemas in 2015 while journalist Avirook Sen published a bestselling book 'Aarushi' the same year.

The couple had always denied carrying out the killings, insisting they are victims of police incompetence and a media witch-hunt.

Aarushi, their only child, was found on her bed in a pool of blood on the morning of May 16, 2008.

Her successful middle-class parents told police they were asleep in the next room when the murder was committed.

Police initially blamed the missing servant Banjade, only to find his body on the terrace a day later with a similarly cut throat and head wounds.

Investigators then said the Talwars killed Aarushi in a fit of rage after finding her with the 45-year-old servant in an 'objectionable position', suggesting the double murder was an honour killing.

The prosecution in 2013 admitted there was no material evidence against the parents, basing their case on the 'last-seen theory' which holds that the victims were last seen with the accused.

Since the parents' first appearance in court, every development has been given wall-to-wall and often voyeuristic coverage by the media.

The case spawned a nation of armchair detectives debating every twist of the investigation for or against the Talwars who have become household names.

Aarushi verdict: How not to do an investigation

By Shashank Shekhar

The country's most sensational double murder case has become a 'whodunnit' yet again after the Allahabad High Court overturned the conviction of Noida dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar for the killings of their teenage daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj.

While announcing the acquittal, the judges said the evidence against the Talwars was circumstantial and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probed the case, had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.

Aarushi, who was soon to turn 14, was found with her throat slit at the family home in Noida on May 16, 2008.

The Talwars were convicted by a court in 2013 and sentenced to life in prison

Police initially named missing Hemraj as the prime suspect, until his body was found a day later on a terrace above the girl's room.

His throat was also slit and he had suffered injuries to his head.

Suspicion soon fell on the Talwars with cops saying the murders had been committed with 'surgical precision' and they even cited 'honour' killing as a possible motive.

The case saw a series of twists and turns since the investigation was started by Noida police and later transferred to the CBI. Over the years, roles of suspects, accused and guilty kept changing.

Dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar

A string of acquittals, starting with Rajesh Talwar's assistant Krishna and two domestic helpers, Rajkumar and Vijay, has ended for now with the parents.

The HC decision, however, has left questions unanswered about who committed the double murder.

The CBI could now consider the option of appealing in the Supreme Court while, emotionally drained after nine years of trial, the Talwar family thanked the judiciary for the acquittals.

The parents had repeatedly denied the charges against them and insisted that they were victims of shoddy probes and unfair media coverage.

'I am grateful to the judiciary for the verdict,' said BG Chitnis, retired IAF officer and Nupur's father.

'They have really suffered. They are emotionally drained. At my age it was very trying to see my daughter behind bars.'

A division bench of the high court comprising justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra upheld the Talwars' appeal against the CBI court order sentencing them to life imprisonment on November 26, 2013.

Nupur and Rajesh Talwar have been serving their sentence in Ghaziabad's Dasna jail.

Pronouncing the verdict in a packed courtroom, the judges said it is a fit case where benefit of doubt can be given to the appellants.

The Police take away Rajesh Talwar (left) and Nupur Talwar (right) to Dasna Jail in 2013

'From the facts and evidence on record, we find neither the circumstances nor evidence are consistent and circumstances did not complete a chain showing involvement of appellants in the incident,' the bench said.

The CBI court had relied on circumstantial evidence to convict the couple in the absence of any motive.

The couple's lawyer Rebecca John said the evidence presented by the central agency 'did not stand judicial scrutiny and that is the end of it'.

The case has been made into a bestselling book and a blockbuster movie

Pinaki Misra, another defence counsel, said the (earlier) judgement of the CBI court was 'absolutely perverse and the high court has set it aside correctly'.

In his judgement, additional sessions judge Shyam Lal had cited rulings of the SC to say that the mere fact that the prosecution had failed to translate that mental disposition of the accused into evidence did not mean that no such mental condition existed in the mind of the assailant.

The CBI judge had said that in a case of circumstantial evidence, motive did not have extreme significance.

The order, however, failed to bring closure to the case and the public opinion remained divided, even after years of legal trial and investigation by the country's premier probe agency  CBI.

Social media erupted after Thursday's verdict, blaming the investigating agencies for failing to find out who committed the crimes and also criticised the justice system for punishing people whom it could not prove to be guilty.

However, the CBI did not immediately say if it would appeal against the high court judgement. The agency said it would study the order and decide the future course of action.

Dadhiram Maurya, the jailor of the Dasna prison where the Talwars are lodged, said the couple felt they have got justice.

After having breakfast they were praying and their schedule was normal, he said. 'They got justice and had tears of joy.

Any person after spending this amount of jail (time) will feel happy to get freedom. So they were happy after they were told about the news,' Maurya said.
Kenya's election saga has been fraught with drama, some of which has been violent

Two months after Kenyans lined up to vote for a president, the election is still far from over.

A dramatic series of twists and turns has seen the first result annulled and a new election scheduled that opposition leader Raila Odinga is now refusing to take part in.

Here are five questions to help untangle the political crisis that has plunged east Africa's biggest economy into uncertainty.

- What does Odinga want? -

A free and fair election and to finally be president: two things he believes go hand-in-hand.

The 72-year-old flag bearer for the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition believes the August 8 election was rigged, causing him to lose what was widely seen as his last shot at the presidency after three previous failed efforts.

To the shock of many, he won a Supreme Court petition on September 1 to have President Uhuru Kenyatta's victory overturned.

In its ruling, the court cited "irregularities" in the counting process and mismanagement by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

On Tuesday, Odinga said the IEBC had failed to make the vital reforms he demanded ahead of a re-run on October 26, and he was thus withdrawing from the race.

He had wanted top IEBC officials sacked, and for new firms to take control of election technology and the printing of ballot papers -- demands the commission said were impossible to fulfil in the 60-day period legally allowed for a new election.

Odinga believes his withdrawal forces the IEBC to start the whole process again from scratch, leaving more time for reforms.

In the meantime, his party has called for daily protests from next week to maintain the pressure for reforms.

- What does Kenyatta want? -

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has said the election re-run will go ahead, whether his challenger Raila Odinga participates or not

To remain president, which he believes will happen if the election goes ahead on October 26.

The 55-year-old son of Kenya's first president was infuriated by the invalidation of his 54 percent victory, slamming the Supreme Court judges as "crooks" and vowing to "fix" the court if re-elected.

He insists the election take place, with or without Odinga.

"He said it is his democratic right not to participate, we tell him also, it is the people's right to participate in an election, to chose their leaders," Kenyatta said.

- What does the IEBC say? -

Not much.

After widespread expectation the commission would clarify the way forward, it said little in a statement Wednesday, noting only that Odinga had yet to submit the required form to pull out of the race.

It appears to be pushing forward as if the election will happen on October 26, saying that all eight original candidates would be allowed on the ballot following a High Court order on Wednesday.

The electoral body had initially said only Odinga and Kenyatta should take part, prompting a third candidate to complain to the court which ruled in his favour.

The IEBC has said once Odinga submits the required form, it will be processed "in accordance with the required provision of the law".

- What does the law say? -

Election law in Kenya is extremely complex.

Rules and regulations are laid out in the 2010 Constitution and the Elections Act, and the guidelines were further fine-tuned in 2013 when the Supreme Court dismissed a previous request by Odinga to overturn that year's election result.

And it is that 2013 ruling that Odinga is betting on to have the upcoming election cancelled and the whole process started anew.

The Supreme Court ruled that in the case of a fresh election following the invalidation of a poll if a candidate who took part in the original vote dies or withdraws, the ballot should be cancelled and a new one held.

- Will there be a vote on October 26? -

That is the $100 million question.

The IEBC says logistical preparations are in place to hold the new election.

However, as it has not given its interpretation of what will happen if a candidate formally withdraws, anything is possible.

The commission -- or any other party -- could turn to the Supreme Court for clarification on the law, leading to more court battles.

Or the commission could push forward with the election, risking the wrath of the opposition on the streets.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, seen here earlier this month, threatened Thursday to expel European ambassadors, accusing their governments without citing evidence of plotting to get Manila expelled from the United Nations.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened Thursday to expel European ambassadors within 24 hours, accusing their governments without citing evidence of plotting to have Manila expelled from the United Nations.

Duterte signalled in a fiery speech he would not tolerate European criticism of his drug war, which has seen police kill at least 3,850 people since he took office 15 months ago and led rights groups to warn of a potential crime against humanity.

Duterte accused the European Union of interfering in the Philippines' domestic affairs, and alleged it wanted to get the country removed from the UN.

"Just like that you tell us: 'You will be excluded in the UN'. Son of a whore go ahead," Duterte told reporters, adding European nations were taking advantage of the Philippines being poor.

"You give us money then you start to orchestrate what things should be done and which should not happen in our country. You bullshit. We are past the colonisation stage. Don't fuck with us."

Duterte said he was prepared to kick European ambassadors out of the country if their governments tried to expel the Philippines.

"You think we are a bunch of morons here. You are the one. Now the ambassadors of those countries listening now, tell me, because we can have the diplomatic channel cut tomorrow. You leave my country in 24 hours, all, all of you."

The EU has made no public comments about wanting to remove the Philippines from the United Nations, and Duterte did not explain his reasons for suspecting they were.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella later said Duterte's comments were an "expression of outrage" to criticisms by a small group of European lawmakers and aides who held a press conference in Manila on Monday to condemn the drug war.

Abella said in a statement the group, from the Progressive Alliance and the Party of European Socialists, had "falsely portrayed" itself as an EU mission.

- 'Integrity, dignity' -

But Abella nevertheless insisted the group's condemnations justified Duterte's expulsion threat against the EU ambassadors.

"This delegation's irresponsible statements protesting the alleged killings under the Duterte Administration demean our status as a sovereign nation," Abella said.

"For so long has our president tolerated these undue interferences in our domestic affairs, and he has decided that these must stop if only to preserve the integrity and dignity of our State as a sovereign nation."

A statement released by EU delegation to the Philippines on Thursday night also said the group that came to Manila was not a European Union mission.

It emphasised the EU wanted to work with the Philippines at the UN, rather than expel it.

"The EU and the Philippines work constructively and productively together in a close partnership in many contexts and areas, including, of course, in the UN context," the statement said.

However the EU parliament issued a resolution last year expressing concern over the "extraordinarily high numbers killed during police operations" in the drug war.

It urged Duterte to "put an end to the current wave of extrajudicial executions and killings".

Duterte won elections last year after vowing to eradicate the illegal drug trade in six months, and vowing that 100,000 people would be killed in the process.

Many Filipinos continue to support the crackdown but a survey last month showed the first major drop in Duterte's popularity.

Aside from the nearly 4,000 people police have confirmed killing in anti-drug operations, thousands of others have died in unexplained circumstances.

Rights groups say those deaths are partly due to police or gunmen-for-hire killing suspected addicts and traffickers as they follow Duterte's repeated calls for deaths.

Duterte said last year he would be "happy to slaughter" three million addicts.
Some half a million Rohingya have crossed the border into Bangladesh in recent weeks as their villages were burned in what the UN says is a systematic attempt by the Myanmar military to drive them out

Bangladesh's home minister said Thursday he will travel to Myanmar on October 23 for talks on the crisis that has seen more than half a million Rohingya refugees cross into his country in just six weeks.

Asaduzzaman Khan confirmed the dates of his visit as the United Nations said at least 14,000 new refugees had entered Bangladesh from Myanmar in the past two days after a brief lull in arrivals.

"We'll ask them to take action so that no more people from this community from Myanmar enter Bangladesh," said Khan of the crisis, which has strained ties between the two neighbours.

"We'll also ask them to take back those who've already come in."

Khan said the talks would also cover border security including along the Naf river, which acts as a frontier between Bangladesh and Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state.

Nearly a million Rohingya refugees are now crowded into packed refugee camps near the border where most live in desperate conditions with limited access to food, clean water or proper sanitation.

Bangladesh said earlier this month that a senior Myanmar minister had agreed during a visit to Dhaka to set up a working group to discuss taking back the Rohingya, a Muslim minority.

But no details were given, and experts have questioned the likelihood of the refugees being able to return to mainly Buddhist Myanmar any time soon.

The Rohingya have faced decades of persecution in Myanmar, which regards them as illegal immigrants.

In recent weeks large numbers of Rohingya villages have been burned to the ground in what the UN says is a systematic attempt by the military to drive them out.

The UN says 536,000 have fled since Rohingya militant attacks on police posts on August 25 triggered military reprisals, joining hundreds of thousands already there.

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been severely criticised for her failure to curb the military crackdown, said last month that her country 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.
Caroline Wozniacki appeared on centre court just after her second-round match against Lizette Cabrera had been due to start to announce she had injured her elbow in practice

Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki and world number four Elina Svitolina both withdrew from the Hong Kong Open with injuries Thursday, leaving the WTA event devastated after a spate of pre-tournament pullouts and early big name exits.

A tearful third seed Wozniacki appeared on centre court just after her second-round match against Lizette Cabrera had been due to start to announce she had injured her elbow in practice.

"I want to apologise to everyone who came out today to watch this match," said an emotional Wozniacki, who won the title on the same court 12 months ago.

"I did everything I could possibly to get ready for today," she told the crowd.

"But unfortunately I hurt my elbow during practice and there's just no way I could perform my best out here today.

"Unfortunately I have to withdraw from the tournament," she added choking back tears.

Top seed Svitolina earlier withdrew from her last-16 match against Nicole Gibbs citing a right groin strain sustained during a mammoth, 3hr 21min quarter-final defeat in Beijing last week to the eventual champion there, Caroline Garcia.

"I picked up the injury a little bit in Beijing," she said. "It's the groin. All the time when I go for wide shots or stretch I feel it.

Ukraine's Svitolina and Denmark's Wozniacki both have one eye on this month's lucrative WTA Finals in Singapore where the top eight will battle it out for a massive $7 million prize fund.

"I will probably do some scans now to see how it is, because you know I have Singapore," admitted Svitolina. "It's a tough decision because I really wanted to play here."

- Big name no-shows -

The tournament, which has just two seeds left standing at the last-eight stage, was rocked even before it started by the pullouts of three other big names.

US Open champion Sloane Stephens cried off with an injury after losing in the first round in both Wuhan and Beijing, her only appearances since her Flushing Meadows triumph.

British world number 10 Johanna Konta also cancelled her trip because of a foot problem, while France's 13th-ranked Kristina Mladenovic opted out with a knee injury.

Of the star players that did show up at Victoria Park, number two seed Venus Williams was sent packing in her second-round match in straight sets on Wednesday by Japanese teen sensation Naomi Osaka.

And she was swiftly followed by fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, beaten in three sets by the resurgent former US Open champion Sam Stosur.

In the little action that did take place on court Thursday, China's eighth seed Zhang Shuai was ousted by American Jennifer Brady 6-3, 6-4 who will face Gibbs in an all-American quarter-final.

It left Wang Qiang as the sole Chinese representative in the draw after she breezed past Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum 6-4, 6-4.

Wang will face Australia's Stosur in Friday for a place in the semi-finals and Cabrera, the world number 155, has an all-Australian last-eight match against Daria Gavrilova, the seventh seed.

The only other seed remaining, number six Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, will play Osaka.

Big-hitting American Brady, ranked 70, easily overcame an out-of-sorts local crowd favourite Zhang 6-3, 6-4 in just over an hour.

Brady smacked down seven aces to overpower the world number 31, whose inconsistent serve was broken three times in the second set alone.

"I started strongly with the first break and was aggressive," said Brady. "So I'm happy with the win."
Nearly half of all girls in South Asia marry before 18 years of age, according to a UNICEF report released in 2014

A young Indian woman has proved in court she was illegally married off as a minor after submitting evidence from her husband's Facebook page, a child rights activist said Thursday.

Sushila Bishnoi, 19, appealed to a court in Rajasthan state to dissolve her underage marriage, an illegal but rife tradition in many parts of rural India.

But her husband denied the couple were ever betrothed, threatening to scuttle her case.

The teenager, aided by an activist, trawled her husband's Facebook accounts until they found the smoking gun that proved their marriage occurred when she was underage.

"Many of his friends had posted congratulatory messages on his Facebook page," said Kriti Bharti, an activist whose Sarathi Trust charity has annulled many child marriages in Rajasthan.

"The court accepted the evidence and declared the marriage invalid," she said of the ruling Monday.

The couple were married at a secret wedding ceremony in Barmer district in 2010 when both were just 12 years old.

Girls married off in Rajasthan often remain with their parents after the wedding ceremony until reaching 18 years of age, when they are sent to live their husbands.

Bishnoi said her parents were forcing her to move to her husband's house and consummate the marriage.

"I wanted to study but my family and my in-laws wanted me to live with a drunkard," Bishnoi told AFP.

"It was about life and death, and I chose to live."

She ran away from home to a shelter where she met Bharti, who helped her begin legal proceedings to dissolve the union.

India's highest court Wednesday declared sex with a minor akin to rape even if the couple was married, a landmark ruling that closed a legal loophole around child marriage.

Nearly half of all girls in South Asia marry before 18 years of age, according to a UNICEF report released in 2014.
The family was freed after an operation in Pakistan's Kurram tribal district along the Afghan border

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that US and Pakistani officials had secured the release of a American woman, her Canadian husband and their three children from Taliban captivity.

The US leader identified the kidnapped couple as Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle, and said their release was a "positive moment" for US relations with Pakistan.

"Ms Coleman gave birth to the couple's three children while they were in captivity," Trump said, in a White House statement. "Today, they are free."

Trump said that the family had been held hostage by the Haqqani network, "a terrorist organization with ties to the Taliban."

Earlier, the Pakistani military had said that the hostages had been rescued in the Kurram district of the semi-autonomous tribal belt on Pakistan's Afghan border.

Boyle and Coleman were kidnapped by the Afghan Taliban during a 2012 backpacking trip to war-torn Afghanistan, and they appeared in a hostage video in December last year pleading for their release.

"This is a positive moment for our country's relationship with Pakistan. The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region," Trump said.

"We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations."
The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization expressed "profound regret" over Washington's decision to quit the body

The United States and its ally Israel said Thursday they were pulling out of the UN's culture and education body, in a move that underlined Washington's drift away from international institutions.

The US decision, announced in Washington, follows years of tension at the organisation which it accused of having an "anti-Israel bias".

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

The United States has walked out of the 195-member organisation once before under ex-president Ronald Reagan, who quit in 1984 over alleged financial mismanagement and claims of anti-US bias in some of its policies.

President George W. Bush announced America's return in 2002, but relations soured again in 2011 when Barack Obama pulled the plug on funding to the body after its members voted to admit Palestine as a full member.

Washington opposes any move by UN bodies to recognise the Palestinian territories as a state, believing this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.

But President Donald Trump's administration is also reviewing many of its multilateral commitments, pursuing what he calls an "America First" policy that has allies in Europe worried.

"UNESCO is about promoting our ideals and values through culture, education and science," France's UN ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters in New York, adding that "we need an America that stays committed to world affairs."

But Nauert said that the cost to the United States of remaining a member had also influenced the decision.

"As many of you know, we were in arrears to the tune of $550 million or so. And so the question is, you know, do we want to pay that money? And do we want to pay more money going forward," she said.

Nauert noted that there is a US law which forbids the government to pay membership dues to any organisation that recognises Palestinian statehood.

"So that's part of it, financially, OK? Second part of it is we'd like to see overall UN reform," she added.

In a statement announcing its own withdrawal, Israel called the Trump administration's decision "courageous and moral" accusing the the UN body of becoming a "theatre of the absurd" after a series of resolutions condemning the Jewish state.

Trump had already dismayed European partners by saying last June he would withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, while later this week he is set to deal a blow to the Iran nuclear deal, which the European Union is desperate to uphold.

The outgoing head of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, called the US withdrawal a "loss to multilateralism", while UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said through a spokesman that he "regrets this development deeply".

Russia's foreign ministry said it "regretted" Washington's decision.

- 'Observer mission' -

UNESCO was once a low-profile UN agency best known for producing a list of World Heritage sites including tourist favourites such as the Grand Canyon or Cambodia's Angkor Wat, as well as running science, media and cultural programmes.

But in addition to the controversial decision to admit the Palestinians in 2011, it has been the scene of repeated diplomatic flare-ups after efforts led by Arab countries to pass resolutions critical of Israel.

In May, Israel was infuriated by a resolution identifying Israel as "the occupying power" in the divided city of Jerusalem and calling on it to rescind any move changing the city's "character and status".

In July, another resolution declared the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank an endangered World Heritage site.

Despite cutting its funding to the agency the US has continued to cooperate with UNESCO since 2011 on programmes of interest to Washington, such as combatting extremism and perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust.

The double withdrawal by the US and Israel comes as board members are voting to elect a new director-general, with Arab candidates from Qatar and Egypt vying with a French competitor.

"The worst news is the withdrawal of the United States which has overshadowed the election," defeated Lebanese candidate Vera El Khoury told AFP on Thursday. "Every time a member leaves it weakens the organisation."

Washington's withdrawal is set to take effect on December 31, 2018, when it will establish an "observer mission" to replace its representation at the agency.

"It has nothing to do with the director-general race," a spokesman for the US mission told AFP.

Francois Heisbourg, chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the decision was probably motivated by Trump's desire to send a message of support to Israel and underlined his "America First" policies.

"UNESCO is an easier target than others: it's relatively small, it doesn't concern vital interests, and UNESCO has gone much further than other UN organisations in recognising the Palestinian authorities," he told AFP.
The USNS Comfort hospital ship was sent to Puerto Rico in support of a hurricane relief effort led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Donald Trump warned Thursday that his willingness to help hurricane-battered Puerto Rico was not unlimited, prompting a furious backlash with the major of San Juan branding the US president a "Hater in Chief."

Puerto Rico is struggling to recover after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island, leaving 44 people dead and cutting power and running water to much of its population, and its governor this week appealed to Trump for billions in additional federal aid.

"We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!," Trump tweeted, in one of a series of morning posts expressing frustration with the situation in the US territory of 3.4 million people.

Trump has pushed back hard at criticism of his administration's initial response to the disaster, accusing the media of exaggerating the devastation and minimizing relief efforts led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with support from the Defense Department.

Earlier Thursday, the president quoted a journalist with the conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group as suggesting the island shared in the responsibility for the plight of its citizens.

"'Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making,' says Sharyl Attkisson," Trump posted. "A total lack of accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend," he added.

Maria slammed into Puerto Rico as the island was already struggling with a severe financial crisis, which forced the government to file for bankruptcy in May.

Carmen Yulin Cruz, mayor of the island's capital San Juan who has publicly feuded with Trump in recent weeks, pushed back hard at the president's apparent threat to withdraw federal aid, charging that he was incapable of "fulfilling the moral imperative to help" Puerto Ricans.

"@POTUS your comments about Puerto Rico are unbecoming of a Commander in Chief they seem more to come from a 'Hater in Chief'," she tweeted.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined the criticism, tweeting: "It's truly sad to see @POTUS dismiss the suffering of Americans in #PuertoRico & #USVI. We must give more help, not less!"

- Aid still flowing in -

Last week, after visiting the island to view relief efforts, Trump had asked Congress to approve an emergency aid package of $29 billion for Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico remains in crisis three weeks after Hurricane Maria struck as a Category Four storm

With over 5,700 people still in shelters and much of the territory still without electricity and running water, Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rossello this week asked Congress for more help.

Rossello said he has asked Trump for an additional $4.9 billion under the Community Disaster Loan program.

The governor's office did not respond to queries about the total amount of aid requested, which is now equivalent to around half of Puerto Rico's debt of some $73 billion.

Trump's warning prompted Rosello to tweet back: "The U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico are requesting the support that any of our fellow citizens would receive across our Nation."

Captain Scott Miller, a spokesman for the US military's Northern Command, which is overseeing Puerto Rico relief operations, said there had been no instructions to dial back aid.

"Our focus has continued to be in supporting FEMA and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in deployment of logistical support forces, commodities and medical capabilities, and we certainly still have air missions that are moving food and water and other vital capabilities into Puerto Rico," Miller told AFP.
Hamas's new deputy leader Salah al-Aruri (seated L) and Fatah's Azzam al-Ahmad (seated R) sign a reconciliation deal in Cairo as the two rival Palestinian movements aim to end a decade-long split following negotiations overseen by Egypt

Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas signed a unity deal in Cairo on Thursday aimed at ending their decade-long dispute.

After a series of previous failed attempts at reconciliation, could this bid succeed?

- What happened? -

The deal was signed after two days of negotiations overseen by Egypt, which has pushed the Islamist movement Hamas to reconcile with Fatah in exchange for help in easing a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it seized it from the PA in a near civil war following a dispute over elections won by the Islamists. Multiple previous reconciliation attempts have failed.

Thursday's deal says the Palestinian Authority, dominated by Fatah, is to resume full control of Gaza by December 1. Talks on a unity government are also now expected to be held.

- What is at stake? -

The most immediate issue is the suffering of the two million Gazans, who have faced three devastating wars with Israel since 2008 as well as crippling blockades by both Israel and Egypt.

They suffer from desperate shortages of electricity and high unemployment.

The decade-long division has also been a key obstacle to peace talks with Israel.

Gaza and the West Bank are supposed to form a future independent state but president Mahmud Abbas, long the negotiating partner for Israel, has been undermined by Hamas's control of Gaza.

"The division cripples the Palestinians from being able to move forward in a constructive manner in achieving the goal of returning back to negotiations and implementing a two-state solution," UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov recently told AFP.

- Are there reasons for belief? -

Past failures have inevitably sparked scepticism about the latest reconciliation effort, but some analysts believe Hamas may now be forced to make further concessions.

Last week, Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah's ministers symbolically took the keys to government offices in Gaza.

Nour Odeh, a political analyst based in the West Bank, contrasted this with the previous reconciliation attempt in 2014, when ministers of a unity government were often not allowed to leave their hotels by Hamas.

"These things are important -- they help to create an atmosphere that is a snowball that can continue rolling," she told AFP.

- What now? -

Following Thursday's deal, the various Palestinian political factions have been invited to another meeting in Cairo on November 21.

Some 3,000 Palestinian Authority (PA) police officers are also due to redeploy to the Gaza Strip, according to a source involved in the talks.

That figure is however far below the more than 20,000 police officers employed separately by Hamas.

Control over the Gaza Strip's crossings with Israel will be handed over to the Palestinian Authority by November 1, according to a Fatah negotiator, while the Egyptian border will need more time.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing with an estimated 25,000 members, remains a key stumbling block and there was no mention on Thursday of how it will be resolved.

Senior Hamas officials have said that dissolving the armed wing is out of the question, but Abbas insists the PA must have full control.

Hamas could not "copy or clone Hezbollah's experience in Lebanon", he warned recently, referring to a situation where an independent armed group exerts major influence on national politics.

A second major sticking point will be the fate of tens of thousands of government employees recruited by Hamas since 2007.

The agreement foresees that issue being resolved by February, Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV reported.

A third issue is a series of punitive measures taken by Abbas against Hamas in recent months, including cutting electricity payments for Gaza.

A Fatah official said Abbas will soon lift the measures and visit the Gaza Strip for the first time in a decade.

- What is the international reaction? -

Reconciliation between the Palestinian rivals will likely complicate international efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

Hamas has not recognised Israel, unlike the Abbas-led Palestine Liberation Organisation, nor has it renounced violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already warned his government will not accept any reconciliation deal unless Hamas disarms and recognises Israel's right to exist.

Washington, which is seeking to relaunch the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, has welcomed the return of the PA government to Gaza.

But it has warned any Palestinian government must accept Israel's right to exist.

The United Nations has so far welcomed the reconciliation steps, stressing Gaza's humanitarian crisis must be tackled.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder of Bharti Enterprises, said the company's acquisition of Tata Teleservices is a step towards "further consolidation"

Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel is to acquire rival Tata Teleservices's struggling mobile business, the companies said Thursday, the latest move towards consolidation in the country's hyper-competitive phone market.

In a joint statement the pair said Bharti would take on Tata's 40 million subscribers, boosting its customer base, and add network coverage as it tries to fend off the rise of Reliance Jio, owned by India's richest man.

"This is a significant development towards further consolidation in the Indian mobile industry," Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said in the statement.

"(It) reinforces our commitment to lead India's digital revolution by offering world-class and affordable telecom services through a robust technology and solid spectrum portfolio," he added.

India's multi-billion-dollar telecoms industry has been rushing to consolidate since Mukesh Ambani launched Jio in September 2016, sparking a price war by offering free voice calls for life and drastically reduced tariffs.

Its arrival left competitors scrambling to match the deep pockets of Jio which is backed by Ambani's hugely wealthy energy-to-chemicals conglomerate Reliance Industries.

In March, British mobile behemoth Vodafone announced the merger of its India unit with Idea Cellular in a long-expected move that saw it overtake Bharti as the South Asian nation's largest telecoms operator.

It came a month after Bharti declared that it was buying the local operations of Telenor to enhance its spectrum coverage as the Norwegian firm decided to exit the Indian market.

The Bharti-Tata deal -- which requires regulatory approval -- will be done on a "debt-free cash-free basis", Thursday's statement said.

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran -- who is working to trim the portfolio of the tea-to-steel Tata Group conglomerate, of which Tata Teleservices is a part -- welcomed the latest deal.

"We believe today's agreement is the best and most optimal solution for the Tata Group and its stakeholders," he said in the statement.

Tata Teleservices, in a tie-up that turned sour with Japanese mobile carrier NTT Docomo, became the first to offer 3G data services in India.

The agreement, signed in 2008, failed to attract enough customers and Docomo triggered an option to sell its stake six years later after incurring losses.

A court case followed and in June 2016 an international arbitration court ordered Tata to pay $1.17 billion in damages. In February this year, Tata said it had reached an agreement to pay Docomo.
Ahmadis, who were legally declared non-Muslims in Pakistan decades ago, have long been persecuted and their mosques attacked

Three men from an Islamic minority sect have been sentenced to death by a Pakistani court for blasphemy, lawyers said on Thursday, as renewed controversy swirls over the country's treatment of the group.

Four Ahmadi men were arrested in 2014 in remote Bohi Wal village in central Punjab province after they clashed with residents over the posting of anti-Ahmadi posters near a shop.

One of the members of the group Khalil Ahmad was later shot dead by a young boy while under police custody.

Religious leaders of the area accused the group of committing blasphemy against Islam.

"A local judge... handed down the death sentence to three Ahmadi men, Muhammad Ehsan, Mubashir Ahmad and Ghulam Ahmad on Wednesday over blasphemy," their lawyer Umar Farooq told AFP.

Prosecutor Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry also confirmed the convictions.

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can stir beatings and mob violence.

Ahmadis were legally declared non-Muslims in Pakistan decades ago for their belief in a prophet after Mohammed, and have long been persecuted in the deeply conservative country.

A recent report from a US government advisory panel said Pakistan used blasphemy laws more than any other country in the world, listing 14 people on death row and 19 others serving life sentences for insulting Islam.

Hardline Islamic scholars denounce the Ahmadis as heretics, describing their belief in a prophet after Mohammed as blasphemy.

The death sentence comes as controversy erupted in Pakistan this week after former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's son-in-law, Muhammad Safdar, went on a tirade against the community during an address to the National Assembly.

He accused Ahmadis of working against the country's interest, saying its members should be restricted from joining the government or military while calling for Pakistani Nobel laureate Abdus Salam's name to be removed from a university physics department that was renamed in his honour. Salam was an Ahmadi.
Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, said the United States' decision to pull out of UNESCO marked "a new era" at the UN

Israel's UN ambassador on Thursday said Washington's decision to pull out of the world body's culture and education agency showed there was a "price to pay for discrimination against Israel".

Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement the decision marked "a new era" at the United Nations, after the US State Department said the United States had decided to leave UNESCO, in part due to "continuing anti-Israel bias".

UNESCO, which is best known for producing the list of World Heritage sites that includes the Grand Canyon and other US attractions, has been the scene of diplomatic flare-ups in recent years after Arab countries succeeded in passing a number of resolutions critical of Israel.

In May, Israel was infuriated by a resolution identifying it as "the occupying power" in the disputed city of Jerusalem and calling on it to rescind any move changing the city's "character and status".

The text denounced "all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem".

Danon said: "Today's decision is a turning point for UNESCO. The organisation's absurd and shameful resolutions against Israel have consequences."

Washington opposes any move by UN bodies to recognise the Palestinians as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.

US President Donald Trump's administration is reviewing many of its multilateral commitments, pursuing what he calls an "America First" policy.
A previous attempt to amend the marriage bill last year was scuttled by a religious body which branded it 'blasphemous' and against Islam

Pakistani senators have rejected a bid to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 16 to 18, a senator told AFP, declaring it "un-Islamic" in a decision condemned by human rights activists.

The senate body tasked with examining the amendment decided against it unanimously earlier this week, government senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi told AFP Thursday.

"According to Islamic traditions, it's understood that a girl becomes adult in between 12 to 16 years of age, so how can we define an age for marriage," Abbasi said.

Child marriage remains common in some areas of deeply conservative Pakistan, where woman have sought their rights for decades.

A previous attempt to amend the marriage bill last year was scuttled by a religious body which branded it "blasphemous" and against Islam.

The Council of Islamic Ideology said there was no specific age limit for marriage in sharia law as an individual can marry when he or she reaches puberty and puberty cannot be defined by age.

On Thursday human rights activists slammed the latest decision.

"Those who blocked this amendment should be ashamed of themselves," said activist Hina Jilani.

"Their interpretation is wrong," she said, adding that doctors clearly advise against the marriage of young girls for health reasons.

"We will confront this extremist and fundamentalist ideology and will launch protest," she said.
President Donald Trump has kicked the fate of the landmark Iran nuclear deal to the US Congress, ignoring the advice of worried allies as he vowed to confront the "fanatical regime" in Tehran.

Trump defended his decision to "decertify" Iran's compliance with the 2015 agreement in a speech Friday that evoked US grievances dating back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

He railed against the "Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world."

And he warned he could rip up the 2015 agreement curbing Iran's nuclear program "at any time," saying it had failed to address Iranian subversion in its region and its illegal missile program.

- Sharp reactions -

Reaction to the US move came fast and furious, with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declaring the United States was "more than ever against the Iranian people."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, seen here in a handout picture from his office, spoke out angrily against Trump's decision in a state TV broadcast

Former US secretary of state John Kerry, who negotiated the nuclear deal, accused Trump of "creating an international crisis" and called on the US Congress to stand in the president's way.

"It endangers America's national security interests and those of our closest allies," Kerry said.

In a cautious but unmistakable rebuke, the leaders of Britain, France and Germany said the deal remained in "our shared national security interest."

"We encourage the US administration and Congress to consider the implications to the security of the US and its allies before taking any steps that might undermine" the deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron later said he was considering visiting Iran after speaking by phone with his Iranian counterpart.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which was awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, also denounced the move, saying it makes proliferation more likely.

- Hand-off to Congress -

Trump stopped short of scrapping the deal outright, however, leaving Congress and US allies some room for maneuver.

The Republican-controlled Congress now has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Iran -- a step that if taken would almost certainly doom the accord.

The US president said he supports efforts in Congress to work on new measures to address the broader threats posed by Iran without immediately torpedoing the nuclear deal.

US President Donald Trump made his much-anticipated address on his new Iran strategy in the Diplomatic Reception room of the White House in Washington

"However, in the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated," Trump said, in a televised address from the Diplomatic Room of the White House.

Proposals by Republican Senators Tom Cotton and Bob Corker to introduce "trigger points" for new sanctions and extend sanctions beyond a pre-agreed deadline have spooked allies, who believe it could breach the accord.

But it remains unclear if their proposals can garner the 60 votes need to pass the Senate.

Trump also backed away from designating Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terror group, a move that would have triggered sanctions and almost certain Iranian retribution.

Apart from running swaths of Iran's economy and Iran's ballistic missile program, the Revolutionary Guards are accused of guiding proxy forces across the region, from Hezbollah in Lebanon, to the Huthis in Yemen and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria.

"We have considered that there are particular risks and complexities to designating an entire army, so to speak, of a country," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

Instead, the US Treasury said it had taken action against the Islamic Revolutionary Guards under a 2001 executive order to hit sources of terror funding and added four companies that allegedly support the group to its sanctions list.

- 'The worst deal' -

Trump has repeatedly pledged to overturn one of his predecessor Barack Obama's crowning foreign policy achievements, deriding it as "the worst deal" and one agreed to out of "weakness."

The agreement stalled Iran's nuclear program and marginally thawed relations between Iran and what Tehran dubs the "Great Satan," but opponents, and even some supporters, say it also prevented efforts to challenge Iranian influence across the Middle East.

The Iranian nuclear agreement

Since coming to office, Trump has faced intense lobbying from international allies and much of his own national security team, who argue the nuclear deal should remain in place.

Both the US government and UN nuclear inspectors say Iran is meeting the technical requirements of its side of the bargain, dramatically curtailing its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Trump claimed support for his move in a tweet late Friday, while suggesting that his critics among US allies were placing trade profits ahead of security.

"Many people talking, with much agreement, on my Iran speech today. Participants in the deal are making lots of money on trade with Iran!" he wrote on Twitter.
Palestinians wave the flags of Egypt and Palestine as they gather in Gaza City to celebrate after rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement on ending a decade-long split

Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza on Thursday to celebrate as the leaders of rival political factions signed a deal to end a decade-long split.

Leaders of the secular Fatah and Islamist movement Hamas signed the deal more than 200 miles away in the Egyptian capital Cairo, but thousands of Palestinians poured out onto the streets of the impoverished enclave.

In a square in Gaza City, they chanted songs about national unity, while people distributed celebratory sweets.

Large signs bearing the faces of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Hamas leader Ismail Haniya were held aloft by the crowd.

Jihad Seaam, 23, said the announcement had brought new hope.

"Young people today are filled with unemployment, poverty and frustration," he told AFP in Gaza.

"Their hope was renewed today with the reconciliation agreement," he said. "The most important thing now is the implementation of the agreement and not to let us down."

Hamas has ruled Gaza since seizing it in a near civil war in 2007 and have been at loggerheads with Fatah, based in the occupied West Bank, ever since.

Living conditions for the two million Gazans have worsened in the past decade, and the UN says the territory is rapidly becoming "unlivable".

Hamas has fought three wars with Israel since 2008, and the Gaza Strip has faced an Israeli blockade and a border with Egypt that has also remained largely closed in recent years.

In the West Bank, too, people welcomed the agreement, though there were no major celebrations in Ramallah, the base of the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority.

"We hope that it will be a real agreement and that (officials from the two movements) will eliminate the obstacles that are hindering it," said Siam Nouwwara, a social worker.

"Gaza residents are tired, like the residents of the West Bank. There was a feeling of two separate peoples. People weren't saying 'Palestine' any more, but rather 'Gaza and the West Bank.'"

Gaza suffers from high levels of unemployment and poverty.

In recent months, residents have received only a few hours of electricity per day.

Under the terms of Thursday's agreement, the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority will resume control of the strip by December 1.

- Lingering doubts -

Previous reconciliation agreements between Hamas and Fatah have failed, and many Gazans remain sceptical that this time will be different.

A man hoists a portrait of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as revellers wave the flags of Egypt, Palestine, Fatah and Hamas in Gaza City after rival factions Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation deal

Rehaab Kanaan, 55, said she was hoping the politicians would not "disappoint our people who are showing their joy at this Palestinian marriage. That was what happened in the past."

If the agreement is successfully implemented, Egypt is expected to open its border with Gaza to allow people to travel, while the slashing of some government employees' salaries could be reversed.

Ahmad Atta, a 35-year-old government employee in Gaza, also had nagging doubts.

"I am happy but still worried. I won't be completely happy until our salaries are returned, the electricity crisis is solved and the borders are opened.

"Then it will be a real reconciliation."
UNESCO has been the scene of diplomatic flare-ups in recent years after Arab countries succeeded in passing a number of resolutions critical of Israel

Israel will withdraw from the UN's cultural and education body after a United States decision to do the same on accusations of bias against the Jewish state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday.

"The prime minister instructed the foreign ministry to prepare Israel's withdrawal from the organisation alongside the United States," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Netanyahu "welcomes the decision by President (Donald) Trump to withdraw from UNESCO. This is a courageous and moral decision because UNESCO has become the theatre of the absurd and because instead of preserving history it distorts it."

The premier's decision came hours after the US State Department said the United States would pull out from the UN body, in part due to "continuing anti-Israel bias".

Washington's withdrawal is set to take effect on December 21, 2018, and Israel is expected to pull out at the same time.

In July, the UN's cultural and education body declared the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank an endangered World Heritage site, infuriating Israel

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman called the US move "an important, right, principled and moral step by our great ally, the United States".

UNESCO, he said in a statement, is "an anti-Semitic and politically biased organisation that has turned lying into a standard practice and lost its way and relevance".

Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said Washington's decision showed there was a "price to pay for discrimination against Israel" and marked "a new era" at the United Nations.

"Today's decision is a turning point for UNESCO. The organisation's absurd and shameful resolutions against Israel have consequences," he said in a statement.

"UNESCO has become a battlefield for Israel bashing and has disregarded its true role and purpose," he said.

UNESCO, which is best known for producing the list of World Heritage sites, infuriated Israel and the United States by granting full membership to Palestinians in 2011.

It has been the scene of diplomatic flare-ups in recent years after Arab countries succeeded in passing a number of resolutions critical of Israel.

In July, the UN body declared the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank an endangered World Heritage site, delighting Palestinians and angering Israel.

In May, Israel was infuriated by a UNESCO resolution identifying it as "the occupying power" in the disputed city of Jerusalem

Netanyahu announced a $1-million cut in funding to the United Nations, saying the UNESCO vote ignored Jewish ties to the site.

In May, Israel was infuriated by a resolution identifying it as "the occupying power" in the disputed city of Jerusalem and calling on it to rescind any move changing the city's "character and status".

The text denounced "all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem".

At the time, Netanyahu said the "absurd" vote denied the Jewish connection to the city.

Washington opposes any move by UN bodies to recognise the Palestinians as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.

The Trump administration is reviewing many of its multilateral commitments, pursuing what he calls an "America First" policy.
The Pakistani military, seen here in a handout picture released by the Inter Services Public Relations in July 2014, helped secure the release of US-Canadian couple Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle

She was a small-town American woman yearning to explore. He once married a Guantanamo inmate's sister.

Together they backpacked into war-ravaged Afghanistan, were taken hostage, and bore three children in captivity before their shock rescue.

Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle's ordeal has remained largely a mystery, and one of the strangest hostage dramas since the day they were snatched by a Taliban-affiliated group in 2012 and spirited away to a hideout in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt.

Five years after their capture, during which a 2016 hostage video showed Coleman pleading for an end to "the Kafkaesque nightmare in which we find ourselves," the family is free, according to statements Thursday by the Pakistani military and the White House.

But little is known of the couple's reasons for striking out to Central Asia in the first place, with seemingly no end game in focus.

"Only God knows exactly where it will lead or what all can be accomplished, seen, experienced or learned while we travel," Caitlan wrote in an email in July 2012 on the eve of her departure, according to Caitlan's neighbor Holly Otterbein, who wrote an article for Philadelphia magazine last year.

"So we put ourselves in His hands."

Their adventures took them to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan, where they befriended locals in the countryside and joined caravans with other travelers. They sent postcards home chronicling their adventures.

But they reportedly did not tell their parents they were going into Afghanistan.

- 'Hippy child' -

Coleman grew up in the tiny community of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania. She is described by friends as soft-spoken, individualistic, an all-American sweetheart.

In September 2012, one month before her capture, she wrote to friends to describe her joy in "getting to know some of the most unique, quirky people I have ever met, and learning from them. It really gives you a different perspective on the world."

Boyle was raised in Ottawa. They met as teenagers online, shared a passion for science fiction and the Star Wars movies, and got married in 2011 during a trip to Central America, according to Canadian press reports.

"How did a self-described 'pacifist Mennonite hippy-child' from rural Canada end up as a prisoner of the most brutal terrorist group in Central Asia? Not even his family is sure," Boyle's friend Alex Edwards wrote in a blog post in 2015.

"He was a rebel, an iconoclast, a Robin Hood. I hope he still is."

Boyle was drawn to politics, extremist personalities, and justice issues surrounding the detentions in Guantanamo, according to Edwards.

He closely followed the case of Canadian-born Omar Khadr, a Muslim who at age 15 was taken to Afghanistan by his father, an associate of Osama bin-Laden. Khadr was captured in battle and detained for a decade in the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay. He was repatriated to Canada in 2012.

During Khadr's detention Boyle grew close with his sister Zaynab Khadr, herself a controversial figure who once defended the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

They married in 2009 but divorced about a year later. Even so, the ties between the son of a Canadian judge and a woman with extremist sympathies stirred controversy.

- 'Fat and healthy' -

Boyle's parents were given occasional glimpses of their son's and daughter-in-law's life in captivity, in correspondence delivered through intermediaries.

Boyle recounts in one letter how he helped deliver his second son in the darkness, with a flashlight between his teeth.

"Ta-da!" he wrote his parents, according to a September 2016 report in the Toronto Star. "The astonished captors were good and brought all our post-partum needs, so he is now fat and healthy, praise God."

In two videos from last December and January that the hostages' families shared this year, the couple's two sons appear healthy but disheveled. Caitlan's smile has disappeared, her wavy brown hear covered by a black headscarf.

According to the Toronto Star, Boyle called his parents on Thursday to say they had been rescued, that their third child, a girl, was born two months ago, and that plans were underway for their return to North America, ending the most agonizing journey of their lives.
A landmark nuclear deal with Iran is under threat from US President Donald Trump

Under US President Donald Trump, Washington's doubts about the virtues of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have risen back to the surface of policy debate.

The accord still has many fierce supporters, particularly among veterans of Barack Obama's former administration, but the views of anti-Iran hawks have gained ground.

Washington's European allies and even some of Trump's most senior American advisers still think the deal is the best way to curtail Iran's nuclear ambitions.

But Trump's willingness to cast aside Washington foreign policy orthodoxy and denunciate the accord as an "embarrassment" have opened space for counter arguments.

These are the main concerns of the deal's critics:

- The 'sunset clause' -

For US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the relatively short timeframe of the accord is its most "glaring flaw."

From 2025, technical controls on Iran's ability to refine nuclear fuel will begin to fall away. Deal critics fear that will leave Iran on the threshold of building a bomb.

Even French President Emmanuel Macron, who wants the underlying deal preserved at all costs, admits that the "sunset" should be addressed in a supplemental accord.

- Limited inspections -

Washington's outspoken ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, has pushed hard on the question of inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The UN watchdog is responsible for reporting to the signatories of the deal -- Iran and six world powers -- on whether Tehran is in technical compliance.

So far, it has confirmed that it is, apart from a small number of infractions that have been remedied, but Haley has suggested Iran is barring access to secret sites.

Iran has refused to allow access to military bases not declared as part of its nuclear program, but the US has not provided evidence that Tehran has a covert operation.

- Deal 'too big to fail' -

Another Haley turn of phrase, this encapsulates the idea that the Obama administration was so concerned to preserve the deal that it refused to press Tehran on its other sins.

And by reopening economic and financial ties, the deal created potential costs in terms of lost contracts for European banks and exporters if it was to collapse.

Thus nervousness about offending Tehran and collapsing the accord has made the West reluctant to call out Iranian meddling in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon, hawks argue.

- Rocket men -

Architects of the accord insist today that it was only meant to halt Iran's nuclear program, even if some then sold it as part of a rebalancing of Middle East ties.

So it does not tackle Iran's ballistic missile program, which continues apace, despite separate US Security Council sanctions and condemnations.

"The JCPOA represents only a small part of the many issues that we need to deal with when it comes to the Iranian relationship," Tillerson recently said of the accord.

"And I've said many times we cannot let the Iranian relationship be defined solely by that nuclear agreement."

UN Security Council resolution 2231 adopted the Joint Comprehensive plan of Action (JCPOA) into international law, but went further, calling on Iran "not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons."

Washington therefore argues that even if the JCPOA did not deal with the ballistic threat, UN members intended a missile ban to be within the "spirit" of the broader deal.

- Regional troublemaker -

The spirit of the deal, Trump's administration argues further, was that it would not only halt Iran's nuclear ambition but stop it from destabilizing its neighbors.

The preamble says the signatories "anticipate that full implementation of this JCPOA will positively contribute to regional and international peace and security."

Supporters of the deal insist the preamble is not legally enforceable, but Tillerson and other US officials have cited it to criticize Iran's ongoing subversive role.
The family was freed after an operation in Pakistan's Kurram tribal district along the Afghan border

An American-Canadian family that spent years in Taliban captivity was released following a Pakistani operation, officials said Thursday, but refused to immediately board a US-bound jet over concerns about the husband's past links to a former Guantanamo Bay inmate.

US President Donald Trump hailed the couple's freedom after five years held in the lawless Afghan-Pakistan border region by the notorious Haqqani network.

And he suggested the rescue was the result of his tougher diplomatic stance against Pakistan, which Washington has been pressuring over its support for some militant groups.

"The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wish that it do more to provide security in the region," Trump told reporters.

"They worked very hard on this, and I believe they're starting to respect the United States again," he said, adding that "a lot" of other nations were also showing greater deference to the US.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis meanwhile praised the release as a positive step in often rocky US-Pakistan ties.

"This is a very positive moment and the Pakistan army performed well. We will hopefully see it being a harbinger for the future," he told reporters on Thursday afternoon, without offering details about the nature of the operation.

- Concern over Guantanamo links -

Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle were kidnapped during a backpacking trip in Afghanistan in 2012, and had three children while in captivity.

A US military official said American forces were not involved in any rescue, but that a medical team had been able to meet the family and stood ready to fly them home if needed.

Another military official told AFP the couple was hesitating to board a US military jet in Pakistan over the Canadian husband's concerns he could face American scrutiny for links to a former Guantanamo captive.

In 2009, Boyle was briefly married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of Canadian-born Omar Khadr, who spent a decade at Guantanamo.

But the official said Boyle did not risk any US repercussions.

"It is not in our intention to do anything like that. We are prepared to bring them back home," the official said. Trump identified the captors as the Haqqani group, whose head, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is also the Afghan Taliban's deputy leader.

Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland added that Boyle was not being investigated by Ottawa.

"Let me be very clear and as we have been with the Boyle family," she said in a televised statement from Mexico where she was traveling. "Joshua Boyle is not the subject of any investigation."

- High-profile attacks -

The Haqqani network has long been suspected of having links with Pakistan's shadowy military establishment.

In 2011, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, admiral Mike Mullen, described the Haqqani as a "veritable arm" of Pakistani intelligence.

Pakistan has been under increased pressure from Washington to crack down on alleged militant sanctuaries inside its borders after Trump lambasted the country in a televised address in August.

During the speech, Trump accused Islamabad of sheltering "agents of chaos" and suggested ties with Pakistan would be adjusted immediately but offered few details.

Defense Secretary Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are expected in Pakistan in the coming weeks on separate visits, according to US and Pakistani sources, to maintain pressure on a country that was designated a major non-NATO ally by former president George W. Bush.

The Haqqani network has been accused of masterminding several high-profile terrorist attacks in the Afghan capital, including a massive truck bomb on May 31 that killed some 150 people.

They have been known to kidnap Western hostages and smuggle them across the Afghan border into Pakistan, as appears to have been the case with Coleman and Boyle.

The Pakistani military said the hostages had been "recovered... from terrorist custody through an intelligence-based operation by Pakistani troops."

- 'Horrible ordeal' -

They were found in Kurram district, part of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt, where militants such as the Haqqanis operated with impunity until the army intensified an operation there in 2014.

"US intelligence agencies had been tracking them and shared their shifting across to Pakistan on 11 Oct 2017 through Kurram Agency border," the Pakistani military said.

Boyle and Coleman appeared in a hostage video in December last year with two of their children pleading for their release.

The video was released after rumors swirled in Kabul that the government was planning to execute Anas Haqqani, son of the Haqqani network's founder, who has been held since 2014.

Freeland expressed relief at the release.

"Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years," she said.

Afghanistan is rife with militants and organized criminal gangs who stage kidnappings for ransom, targeting wealthy Afghans and foreigners, who have been ferried over the border.

The Taliban are also thought to be holding American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weekes, professors at the American University of Afghanistan who were dragged from vehicles in Kabul by gunmen.
Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila's second and final mandate ended December 20 last year with no sign of him stepping down

Hopes the Democratic Republic of Congo could end months of crisis and reach a deal on holding presidential elections have faded after the poll was delayed to at least early 2019.

President Joseph Kabila's second and final mandate ended December 20 last year with no sign of him stepping down.

Elections were due to be held this year under a deal aimed at avoiding fresh political bloodshed but after repeated delays the Independent National Electoral Commission announced Wednesday it will take until 2019 to prepare a vote.

Following is a timeline of the crisis in the vast African country of 70 million people:

- 2015 -

On January 17, parliament adopts a bill that would enable Kabila, who has been in power for 14 years, to extend his term beyond 2016.

January clashes between police and anti-Kabila demonstrators erupt in Kinshasa and several other towns. They turn into riots and looting and leave dozens dead.

Belgium-based opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi calls on citizens to force a "dying regime" from power.

December sees UN concerns over a government crackdown on opponents, including "arbitrary arrests and detentions".

- 2016 -

On May 11, the Constitutional Court says Kabila can remain in office when his mandate expires, even without being re-elected.-

In July, veteran opposition leader Tshisekedi returns to Kinshasa to demand an election by year's end and Kabila's departure. But September demonstrations turn violent and several dozen people are killed.

On October 17, the parliamentary majority and an opposition fringe minority sign an accord pushing the election back to April 2018 and keeping Kabila in place until his predecessor takes over.

New clashes in Kinshasa and other cities erupt on the last day of Kabila's mandate, December 20, leaving at least 40 people dead, according to the UN.

- 2017 -

Tshisekedi returns to Brussels for medical treatment in January and dies there on February 1.

In June, Catholic bishops urge citizens to demand an election by year's end. But on July 7, the electoral commission says that won't be possible, prompting fresh protests.

Late September 2017 sees a UN demand for an electoral calendar to be published as soon as possible.

On October 11, the electoral commission says it needs at least 504 days to organise the vote once a census is completed, pushing the poll into 2019.
-

A couple freed from the Taliban did not immediately board a US-bound plane from Pakistan on Thursday over the Canadian husband's concerns he might face American scrutiny for links to a former Guantanamo Bay captive, an official said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the US military official told AFP that Joshua Boyle and his American wife Caitlan Coleman, along with their three children, were hesitating to get on the US military jet.

In 2009, Boyle was briefly married to Zaynab Khadr, the sister of Canadian-born Omar Khadr who spent a decade at Guantanamo.

The official said Boyle did not risk any repercussions by boarding an American plane.

"It is not in our intention to do anything like that. We are prepared to bring them back home," the official said.

Boyle and Coleman were kidnapped during a backpacking trip in Afghanistan in 2012 and were held for five years, during which time they had three children.

US President Donald Trump identified their captors as the Haqqani group, whose head, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is also the Afghan Taliban's deputy leader.
Joshua Wong (C), with fellow activists Nathan Law (L) and Alex Chow (R), was jailed in August over the protest that sparked the Umbrella Movement demonstrations in 2014

Jailed Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong spent his 21st birthday in court Friday where he was found guilty of contempt for obstructing the clearance of a major encampment during the city's 2014 mass Umbrella rallies.

Wong, who had already pleaded guilty to the charge, and 19 other activists were all found guilty, but the judge, who is also handling the corruption trial of the city's ex-leader Donald Tsang, did not set a date for sentencing.

According to a defence lawyer, there is no maximum penalty for contempt of court but other activists previously sentenced on contempt charges have received punishments of up to three-months.

Supporters in and outside the courtroom sang "Happy Birthday" prompting the 21-year-old Wong to smile and thank them.

Wong and two other student leaders were jailed in August for six to eight months for their roles in the initial protest that sparked the months-long Umbrella Movement demonstrations and street blockades in 2014, convictions rights groups have called politically motivated.

Joshua Wong's father Roger Wong earlier told AFP he was surprised by the prison term and shocked by the reaction of Hong Kong's legal community, with two powerful organisations releasing statements defending the judicial system and judges.

"The elites in law were congratulating each other. I find that disgusting," he said.

"I thought the statements would come with comprehensive legal analysis, but there was none of that... just brown-nosing," he added.

- 'Innocent heart' -

The elder Wong, a retired IT professional, and his wife have been visiting their son in prison, and say he is putting on a brave face.

"If I was in his position, in front of my parents, I would say positive things too and not want them to worry," said Wong, 53, speaking to AFP at the family's compact apartment filled with photos, books and printed bible verses.

"I think the biggest pain for him is not being able to go on the internet," he said.

Unlike most middle-class parents in education-obsessed Hong Kong, Wong senior said he was open-minded about his son's studies and future path -- they always knew he was politically minded.

When he was small, "he would have a bottle in his mouth but still continue to speak. Of course, we didn't know what he was saying... (but) he always enjoyed expressing himself," Wong said.

Roger Wong, looking at shelves in Joshua's room, says he was open-minded about his son's studies and always knew he was politically minded

"His academic record would not be good enough for Oxford or Cambridge, but they have invited him over as a speaker -- it's just a different role," he said.

Roger Wong has recently become active in his staunch anti-LGBT campaigning, which is a point of tension in the family as his son's political party Demosisto supports legalising same-sex marriage.

But he said he would still have supported his son's political career if he ran for office. Wong's prison term now bars him from running for the next five years.

As Beijing and local authorities tighten the screws on political activism in the semi-autonomous city, Wong says he is not worried about this difficult path his son has chosen -- he just wants him to stay strong.

"I hope he will keep his innocent heart to do what is right, and remain happy," Wong senior said.

"Some things don't show their results immediately, but you can persist."
ST. JOHNS, Fla. (AP) - A third-grade student in Florida was sent home from school on picture day because he broke the dress code by sporting blue hair.

Dana Sinno told TV station News4 Jax her 8-year-old son Luca didn't get to have his picture taken Monday at his elementary school near Jacksonville. The principal pointed to a school district handbook which bans "extreme hairstyles."

The mother argues that the word "extreme" is up for interpretation.

She says Luca wanted a bold look for school pictures. Thus they bleached out his hair, dyed it blue, and the youngster donned a suit before heading to school.

Later, Dana Sinno got a call from the principal's office asking her to pick up her child.

School district officials told the station that the principal was within her right.

___

This story has corrected the spelling of Dana Sinno.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):

6:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump is hailing truckers as heroes at a Pennsylvania event promoting his tax plan.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson leaves the White House after having lunch with President Donald Trump, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump tells truckers assembled in an airplane hangar that, under his plan: "You're going to make more money. You're going to do better than ever before. And we truly admire you. You are our heroes, believe me."

Trump also says he's working on an infrastructure plan that will benefit truckers with "a special focus on roadways and highways."

He says friends in the industry complain that potholes badly damage their vehicles. But he predicts that, in the future, "American trucks will glide across along highways."

He says "they will be smooth, beautiful highways again."

___

6 p.m.

President Donald Trump says his tax overhaul plan will be a boon to truckers as he kicks off a tax speech in Pennsylvania.

Trump says in a Middletown, Pennsylvania, airplane hangar that "America first means putting American truckers first."

Trump is speaking in front of a big rig emblazoned with the words "Win Again."

Trump opened his remarks with a tribute to the people affected by the mass shooting in Las Vegas, as well as the wildfires ravaging California and the recent hurricanes.

He says "no destructive force on earth" is more powerful than the strength and resilience of the American people.

__

3:30 p.m.

A GOP lawmaker says Republicans who are balking at supporting President Donald Trump's big tax plan need some "accommodations" on its proposed repeal of the federal deduction for state and local taxes.

Rep. Chris Collins of New York says a cap on the amount of state and local taxes that could be deducted, as opposed to a total elimination of the deduction, could bring the fractious Republicans on board.

Collins says repealing the deduction "would impact too many middle-income people."

Republican lawmakers from high-tax states controlled by Democrats, especially New York, New Jersey and California, contend that eliminating the deduction would make people be taxed twice. The deduction is claimed by an estimated 44 million Americans. Administration officials say it forces the federal government to subsidize states and wealthy households.

___

2:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump says he's never discussed increasing the U.S. nuclear arsenal despite a news report to the contrary.

Trump says increasing the nuclear arsenal is "totally unnecessary," but he wants "modernization" of the nuclear force. He says it "needs to be in tiptop shape."

He's reacting to an NBC report that said he suggested this summer that he wanted to increase the U.S. nuclear force tenfold. Trump says the report is "fake news." The president adds that he knows the capabilities of the U.S. nuclear force "and it is awesome." Trump says he wants the nuclear arsenal to be "in perfect shape."

In a statement, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the report was "absolutely false."

____

10:30 a.m.

President Donald Trump is renewing his feud with NBC News, and this time he's raising the possibility of challenging broadcasting licensing for broadcast outlets.

Trump writes on Twitter that with all the "Fake News" coming out of "NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License?"

The Federal Communications Commission oversees the renewal of licenses for broadcasters.

Trump has been pushing back against a recent NBC News story that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson considered resigning during the summer and that Tillerson had called Trump a "moron."

___

6:50 a.m.

President Donald Trump is charging that congressional Democrats "want MASSIVE tax increases & soft, crime producing borders."

He says in a series of tweets that Republicans will press for "the biggest tax cut in history & the WALL."

That's a reference to the U.S.-Mexico border wall that Trump's long pushed.

Trump also says "it would be really nice if the Fake News Media would report the virtually unprecedented Stock Market growth since the election. Need tax cuts."

He says if Congress delivers on the tax overhaul he's seeking, the Wall Street and economic indicators such as new hiring in America "will grow by leaps and bounds."

___

3:46 a.m.

President Donald Trump will pitch his tax plan as a boon for truckers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania - the latest stop on a cross-country tour.

The White House says Trump will speak before roughly 1,000 people, including lots of truckers, against a backdrop of big rigs at an air plane hangar. Trump is promoting a plan that would dramatically cut corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 20 percent, reduce the number of personal income tax brackets and boost the standard deduction.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United Nations said Wednesday that a teenage girl alleged she was sexually abused by a U.N. peacekeeper in Central African Republic, a conflict-torn country that has seen widespread allegations of sexual misconduct by U.N. troops charged with protecting civilians.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the alleged incident took place on Sept. 30 in the central mining town of Bambari and involved a 16-year-old girl.

He said she was immediately referred to humanitarian organizations "for appropriate medical and psychological assistance," and the U.N.'s internal watchdog is carrying out an inquiry to verify information and "has preserved evidence."

Amnesty International reported that its on-the-ground research revealed that one or more Mauritanian peacekeepers allegedly drugged and raped a 19-year-old woman adjacent to a checkpoint manned by the soldiers in Bambari in the evening of Sept. 30.

The rights group said its senior crisis response manager, Joanne Mariner, was in Bambari last week and an Amnesty researcher interviewed the woman and 10 others with direct knowledge of the case, including local medical and law enforcement officials who carried out a formal criminal investigation of the case.

"We have uncovered compelling evidence suggesting that at least one Mauritanian peacekeeper, and possibly more, raped a young woman," Mariner said. "The public authorities in the town of Bambari have confirmed the rape, and the U.N. is investigating it."

According to Amnesty, the young woman said she was walking home from a funeral and because she was feeling ill she accepted tea offered by the soldiers. She said she passed out soon after drinking the tea, woke up on the ground several hours later, nearly nude, and was found in the middle of the night by a guard and a health care worker from a medical clinic adjacent to the checkpoint, "seeming quite ill and sedated."

The rights group said the guard and health worker put her in bed, treated her with intravenous fluids. When she recovered enough to speak coherently in the morning, she told the health care worker she thought she had been raped and a local hospital found evidence of drugging and sexual violence, including semen, Amnesty said.

During the night, Amnesty said the guard and health care worker told them a Mauritanian soldier from the checkpoint twice visited the clinic to ask where the woman was.

Dujarric wouldn't confirm the details in the Amnesty International report but told the AP: "We take the allegations very seriously. Preliminary action was taken as soon as we found out about them, including securing evidence."

He said the U.N. has asked the peacekeepers' home country, which it did not disclose, to quickly investigate the allegation. He said the U.N. stands by the fact that she's a minor, though Amnesty said its staff saw her birth certificate showing she is 19-years-old.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic, which arose from a regional force in September 2014, has been marred by allegations of sexual misconduct by troops from a wide array of countries. Last year, it had the highest number of misconduct allegations in the world.

The Republic of Congo withdrew all its troops from CAR in June and the much larger neighboring nation of Congo repatriated contingents after a U.N. report in May found they "had committed sexual violence while deployed in Bambari between Sept. 14 and Dec. 14, 2015."

The Code Blue campaign, a watchdog group, reported last month that leaked case files show "egregious mishandling" of sexual misconduct allegations against U.N. peacekeepers in CAR. Code Blue said 14 cases were investigated last year to determine whether the allegations could be substantiated and found that in eight cases the alleged victims were not even interviewed.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who took office in January and is expected to visit CAR later this month, has made tackling sex abuse by U.N. peacekeepers and staff a top priority. He asked the four peacekeeping operations where the highest numbers of cases of sexual exploitation and abuse have been reported - Central African Republic, Congo, Haiti and South Sudan - to appoint a victims' rights advocate.

Dujarric said the advocate in CAR is ensuring that the alleged victim of the Sept. 30 attack "remains safe and receives the assistance that she needs."

The United Nations cannot prosecute peacekeepers for alleged crimes. But it can provide evidence for their home countries to take action.

"This is a crucial test case for U.N. peacekeeping," Amnesty's Mariner said.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Enbridge Energy disputed a state agency's recommendation against the company's proposal for replacing its aging Line 3 oil pipeline across northern Minnesota, insisting in filings Wednesday that the project is needed to ensure adequate crude supplies for Minnesota and other Midwestern refineries for decades to come.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is considering whether to grant a certificate of need for the project, which has aroused opposition from environmental and tribal groups because of the potential impacts on climate change and pristine waters where Native Americans harvest wild rice. The state Commerce Department surprised both sides last month when it concluded that the project isn't needed and that it won't benefit Minnesota enough to justify the risks.

Enbridge officials asserted in rebuttal filings with the PUC that the $7.5 billion project is necessary and that Minnesota will benefit because it will make its pipeline network safer across the state and more reliable, and because the state is part of a broader regional market in which products from refineries in nearby states flow back to Minnesota.

"This is an essential project for Minnesotans that will ensure environmental protection of our important natural resources, as well as ensure the safe transportation of crude oil to refineries in Minnesota and neighboring states," Guy Jarvis, an Enbridge executive vice president in charge of liquid pipelines, told reporters on a conference call.

Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge wants to replace Line 3, which was built in the 1960s, because it now runs at just over half its original capacity of 760,000 barrels per day and the costs of maintaining it are growing. The pipeline runs from Hardisty, Alberta, through the northeast corner of North Dakota, and crosses Minnesota on its way to Enbridge's terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. Construction is already underway in Canada and Wisconsin.

But the Minnesota portion still requires approval from the PUC, which is scheduled to decide in April whether it's needed and whether it should follow Enbridge's referred route or some alternative. The Commerce Department said it would be better if Enbridge simply shuts down the old line.

"In light of the serious risks of the existing Line 3 and the limited benefit that the existing Line 3 provides to Minnesota refineries, Minnesota would be better off if Enbridge proposed to cease operations of the existing Line 3, without any new pipeline being built," Kate O'Connell, manager of the department's Energy Regulation and Planning Unit, said in a Sept. 11 filing.

To back up its claim that the project isn't needed, the Commerce filings included a consultant's comments asserting that refineries in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest are already operating close to capacity, indicating that they aren't short on supplies of crude oil and have little room for refining more of it. And they said Minnesota's demand for transportation and heating fuels is unlikely to increase in the long term. They suggested that Gulf Coast refineries would see the most benefit.

Enbridge called that analysis flawed. Jarvis said its pipeline network already can't move all the oil that shippers would like.

"This system is essentially full today, and demand for pipeline capacity is expected to grow, even under the most conservative crude production forecast," Jarvis said.

Enbridge isn't out to change the minds of Line 3's tribal opponents, said John Swanson, an Enbridge vice president for U.S. major projects. But he said the company is ready to consult with tribes along the route about their needs and explain the steps that Enbridge has taken to minimize the impact on them.
CAIRO (AP) - Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas reached a preliminary agreement Thursday that could return the Gaza Strip to President Mahmoud Abbas' control and ease a decade-old Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the coastal territory, but past attempts at unity have foundered on key issues that remain unresolved.

The deal was announced at a news conference in Cairo, where negotiators have been meeting, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said it was reached under "generous Egyptian auspices," without elaborating. Egypt has been eager to show progress in unity talks, and both Palestinian factions face pressure to resolve their differences.

The sides have tried, and failed, to reach reconciliation several times before, but even with such skepticism Palestinians celebrated Thursday's announcement.

Senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad, center right, and Hamas' representative, Saleh al-Arouri, center left, sign a reconciliation agreement during a press conference at the Egyptian intelligence complex in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Thursday's signing came after two days of negotiations in the Egyptian capital on the governing of the Gaza Strip as part of the most serious effort to date to end the 10 year rift between the rival Palestinian groups. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

"This is the dream and the ambition of every patriotic and honorable Palestinian, to reach unification," said Ramallah resident Jawad Abu Shaikha.

In Gaza, residents took to the streets to rejoice. "I hope there will be implementation on the ground for the issues agreed upon, because we are truly tired from the division and poverty," said Waed Mesameh.

A senior Palestinian official said Abbas, the leader of Fatah, might visit Gaza in the coming weeks, depending on the successful implementation of the agreement. The official spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement.

The Western-backed Abbas hasn't set foot in Gaza since 2007, when the Islamic militant Hamas, his main ideological rival, seized the territory after days of factional street battles. The Hamas takeover left Abbas in control of autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Over the past decade, each side deepened control over its territory, making it increasingly difficult to forge compromises, and repeated attempts at reconciliation failed.

Under the emerging agreement, Hamas would hand over responsibilities of governing Gaza to the West Bank-based government of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.

Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah delegation, said Abbas' Palestinian Authority would assume control of the crossing points between Gaza and Israel by Nov. 1. He said Abbas' presidential guard would assume control of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, but did not specify a timetable.

"The Rafah crossing needs some measures to improve and renovate the buildings," al-Ahmad said during the announcement of the deal.

A permanent opening of the Rafah crossing would mean an end to the crippling Israeli and Egyptian blockade imposed on Gaza after the Hamas takeover, which prevents free trade and bars the vast majority of Gaza's 2 million people from leaving the territory.

Israel, which has fought three wars with Hamas since the takeover, has been cool to the idea of Fatah partnering with Hamas, which it along with most of the West considers to be a terrorist group. It also fears that opening Gaza's borders would help Hamas expand its arsenal and rebuild its military infrastructure.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas is required to recognize Israel, cease its militant activities, release Israeli hostages it holds and abide by international agreements, demands the Islamic militant group has always rejected.

"Israel objects to a reconciliation that does not include these elements," he said in a statement. "So long as Hamas does not disarm and continues to call for the destruction of Israel, Israel sees it as responsible for all terror emanating from Gaza."

Only one of Gaza's four commercial crossings to Israel, Kerem Shalom, is currently operating. A small number of people, mainly medical patients, business people and aid workers, use the Erez crossing to enter Israel, usually bound for the West Bank.

Officials close to the talks said the sides agreed to set up committees to work out the outstanding details. In the past, such mechanisms quickly led to deadlock.

One committee would have four months to determine who among thousands of Hamas civil servants would be able to join the new government. Another committee would merge 3,000 Palestinian Authority loyalists into Gaza's Hamas-run police force.

Saleh al-Arouri, the head of the Hamas delegation in Cairo, said "we in Hamas are determined, serious and sincere this time and every time to end the division."

"We have adopted the strategy of one step at a time so that the reconciliation will succeed," he added.

Palestinian political analyst Ghassan Khatib said just reaching an agreement was "not good enough" and it was too early to judge the chances of implementation. "I don't think that they have a chance of success when it comes to security and political issues," he warned.

A major sticking point has been the Hamas military wing and its weapons, which Hamas has said are not up for discussion. Hamas officials have assured the Fatah negotiators that the military wing would maintain a low profile as part of any deal. It's not clear if this will satisfy Abbas, or if the dispute will re-emerge later on.

Various factions aim to meet next month to discuss other issues, such as holding long-overdue parliamentary and presidential elections.

Struggling with the fallout from the border blockade, Hamas has found it increasingly difficult to govern or provide basic services, such as electricity. The 82-year-old Abbas, meanwhile, might be thinking about his legacy. The political split has been a major stain on his rule, and there have been no negotiations with Israel since the peace process last collapsed in 2014.

Abbas heads the political camp that seeks to establish a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 war.

Hamas suggested in a new political manifesto earlier this year that it might consider a state in pre-1967 lines as an interim option, but also endorses an Islamic state in historic Palestine, including what is now Israel.

___

Akram reported from Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Karin Laub and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

Senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad, right, and Hamas' representative, Saleh al-Arouri, kiss after signing a reconciliation deal at a short ceremony at the Egyptian intelligence complex in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Thursday's signing came after two days of negotiations in the Egyptian capital on the governing of the Gaza Strip as part of the most serious effort to date to end the 10 year rift between the rival Palestinian groups. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

A boy stands next to a big Egyptian flag hanged by Palestinians celebrate the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah in Egypt, in Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Rival groups Hamas and Fatah have reached a preliminary, partial agreement that could pave the way for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume governing the Gaza Strip, a decade after Hamas overran the territory, officials close to Egyptian-brokered negotiations said on Thursday. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

Palestinians one holding a poster of the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, celebrate signing the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah in Egypt, in Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Rival groups Hamas and Fatah have reached a preliminary, partial agreement that could pave the way for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume governing the Gaza Strip, a decade after Hamas overran the territory, officials close to Egyptian-brokered negotiations said on Thursday. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

Palestinians wave National and Egyptian flags celebrate the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah in Egypt, in Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Rival groups Hamas and Fatah have reached a preliminary, partial agreement that could pave the way for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume governing the Gaza Strip, a decade after Hamas overran the territory, officials close to Egyptian-brokered negotiations said on Thursday. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

Palestinians wave National and Egyptian flags celebrate the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah in Egypt, in Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Rival groups Hamas and Fatah have reached a preliminary, partial agreement that could pave the way for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume governing the Gaza Strip, a decade after Hamas overran the territory, officials close to Egyptian-brokered negotiations said on Thursday. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

A Palestinian Hamas supporter presents sweets celebrating the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah, in Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Rival groups Hamas and Fatah have reached a preliminary, partial agreement that could pave the way for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume governing the Gaza Strip, a decade after Hamas overran the territory, officials close to Egyptian-brokered negotiations said on Thursday. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

Palestinians one holding a poster of the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, celebrate signing the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah in Egypt, in Gaza City, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Rival groups Hamas and Fatah have reached a preliminary, partial agreement that could pave the way for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume governing the Gaza Strip, a decade after Hamas overran the territory, officials close to Egyptian-brokered negotiations said on Thursday. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)

Hamas' representative, Saleh al-Arouri, speaks after signing a reconciliation deal with senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad, during a short ceremony at the Egyptian intelligence complex in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Thursday's signing came after two days of negotiations in the Egyptian capital on the governing of the Gaza Strip as part of the most serious effort to date to end the 10 year rift between the rival Palestinian groups. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad, signs a reconciliation deal during a press conference with Hamas' representative, Saleh al-Arouri, at the Egyptian intelligence complex in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Thursday's signing came after two days of negotiations in the Egyptian capital on the governing of the Gaza Strip as part of the most serious effort to date to end the 10 year rift between the rival Palestinian groups. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Fatah and Hamas officials pose for a photograph before a reconciliation deal is signed during a short ceremony at the Egyptian intelligence complex in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Thursday's signing came after two days of negotiations in the Egyptian capital on the governing of the Gaza Strip as part of the most serious effort to date to end the 10 year rift between the rival Palestinian groups. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Fatah and Hamas officials pose for a photograph after a reconciliation deal is signed during a short ceremony at the Egyptian intelligence complex in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Thursday's signing came after two days of negotiations in the Egyptian capital on the governing of the Gaza Strip as part of the most serious effort to date to end the 10 year rift between the rival Palestinian groups. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia has deported dozens of Chinese citizens accused of extorting money from women in their homeland over social media.

Gen. Ouk Haiseila, chief of the Immigration Investigation Bureau, said the 74 suspects left the Cambodian capital Thursday on a plane sent by the Chinese government.

Online-based scams by Chinese gangs that operate from foreign countries and target mainland Chinese are common throughout Southeast Asia. Indonesia deported more than 140 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals in August who were accused of scamming businesspeople and politicians in China out of millions.

The general said the gang in Cambodia contacted women over social media and tricked them into sending nude or erotic photos. Members of the gang, which included 14 women, then extorted money by threatening to circulate the images online.
PARIS (AP) - French President Emmanuel Macron is launching Step 2 in his pledged labor market overhaul, focusing on unemployment benefits and job training.

Macron met Thursday with France's main workers' and employers' unions to start negotiations that will last for months.

The discussions come as workers and unions are still protesting a first set of labor measures that Macron signed last month, aimed at making it easier for firms to hire and fire and reducing the power of national collective bargaining.

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, accompanies FO union leader Jean-Claude Mailly, after his meeting with France's main workers and employers unions to start negotiations at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Thursday, Oct.12, 2017. President Macron is launching step two of his campaign to rethink French labor law, this time focusing on unemployment benefits and job training. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Far-left activists staged a violent protest Thursday near a human resources conference in Paris' Bois de Boulogne forest, where Labor Minister Muriel Penicaud was due to speak about Macron's economic policies.

Penicaud cancelled her speech, invoking a "schedule problem".

A statement from Paris police said about 80 people, including 30 wearing hoods, burned three cars and threw projectiles at police. It said 41 people were detained and that no police officers were hurt.

The French government wants to extend unemployment benefits to independent entrepreneurs, farmers and merchants who go bankrupt. Employees who voluntarily quit would also be entitled to unemployment benefits under strict conditions, to encourage workers to change jobs more easily.

At the same time, unemployment benefits' amount and duration could be capped to help finance the new system.

The French government also wants to make changes to job training programs in order to help unemployed people acquire the new skills needed in a rapidly changing global economy.

The leader of hard-left CGT union, Philippe Martinez, warned "it's not an option for us to reduce the rights of people without jobs," following his meeting with Macron.

The CGT union opposes the first set of labor measures and is organizing a new round of strikes and street protests next week across the country.

Macron, elected in May on a pro-business platform, says his economic policies aim to boost growth and job hiring and attract more French and foreign investors to the country.

The unemployment rate in France has been hovering around 10 percent for years.

The government wants to pass the new labor measures by summer 2018.

French President Emmanuel Macron Macron, right, accompanies FO union leader Jean-Claude Mailly, after his meeting with France's main workers and employers unions to start negotiations at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Thursday, Oct.12, 2017. President Macron is launching step two of his campaign to rethink French labor law, this time focusing on unemployment benefits and job training. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, attends a meeting with French CGT (Working General Confederation) labor union leader Philippe Martinez at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Macron is launching step two of his campaign to rethink French labor law, focusing on unemployment benefits and job training. Macron meets with France's main workers and employers unions to start negotiations that will last for months. (Pascal Rossignol, Pool via AP)

Pierre Gattaz, head of the French employers' union MEDEF, left, shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron after their talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris Thursday, Oct.12, 2017. Macron is launching Step 2 of his labor law overhaul, focusing on unemployment benefits and job training. Macron met with France's main workers' and employers' unions to start negotiations that will last for months. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
MADRID (AP) - Thousands of Catalans who want their region to remain in Spain marked the country's national day Thursday, marching through Barcelona waving both Spanish and Catalan flags and shouting "I am Spanish," as the region's threats of independence have left the country in crisis.

Meanwhile, in the national capital Madrid, troops and police paraded in front of King Felipe VI, accompanied by national and regional politicians. Thousands of people waving Spanish flags lined the sidewalk of Madrid's Paseo de la Castellana avenue for the military parade.

The pilot of a fighter jet taking part in the Madrid parade died when the plane crashed while landing at a base in Albacete, some 300 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of the Spanish capital, authorities said.

A man wears a hat with the coat of arms of the Spanish flag while people celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

In Barcelona, Catalonia's capital, a crowd of people that local police said numbered 65,000 marched to a central square, some with their faces in the red and yellow colors of both the Spanish and Catalan flags and shouting "Viva Espana" - "Long live Spain."

"We are now feeling that years of threats by separatists have turned into an attempt to normalize social division," said Juan Jose Garde, a 63-year-old retired civil servant who was joining a national day march for the first time after years of enjoying the holiday by taking his family to the beach.

For many others, Thursday's march in central Barcelona was also a first.

Montse Sanchez, a 56-year-old Catalan bank clerk, said she only felt the urge to protest when the separatists' bid recently became "an imposition of thought."

"They want to impose on us the ideas of one, but in Catalonia we are more than one, we are many people with very different feelings toward nationality," she said.

The slogan of the march was "Yes to Catalonia. Spain, too," supporting Catalan autonomy, but within Spain as a whole.

Two small groups of protesters clashed as the unionists' demonstration was getting underway, throwing chairs and bottles taken from a cafeteria terrace at each other. An officer was injured when local police intervened to separate them, Barcelona's urban guard said.

It was unclear what sparked the violence or who was involved, but the main demonstration led by civil society groups opposing the separatist bid in Catalonia wasn't disrupted.

A separate protest of around 200 supporters of far-right and Spanish nationalist groups ended at Barcelona's Montjuic hill with speeches and the burning of an "estelada" the unofficial flag that has become a symbol for Catalan separatists.

Catalan regional President Carles Puigdemont announced Tuesday that he was proceeding with a declaration of Catalan independence, but proposed freezing its implementation for a few weeks to allow for dialogue and mediation with the national government in Madrid.

Speaking in the national parliament Wednesday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy asked Puigdemont to clarify whether or not he had actually declared independence, adding that the Catalan leader's response would be crucial in deciding "events over the coming days." He hinted that Spain could take control or partial control of Catalonia under an article of the Spanish constitution.

In a tweet later, Puigdemont reacted: "We demand dialogue and the response is to put article 155 on the table. Message understood."

Puigdemont's deputy, Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras, also tweeted: "A sincere dialogue is what the international community wants and what Catalonia expects, not confrontation and new threats."

Opposition Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, who is backing Rajoy's government in its response to the separatist's defiance, said Thursday that the crisis "has solution and there is hope."

"We want dialogue, dialogue about how Catalonia remains in Spain and not about how it leaves Spain," Sanchez said in an interview with Cadena Ser radio.

Thursday's holiday is known as Dia de la Hispanidad, or Hispanic Day. It commemorates Christopher Columbus' arrival in America and is also Spain's armed forces day.

Regional leaders are invited to attend the Madrid parade but for many years officials from the Basque and Catalan regions, where independence sentiment runs high, have boycotted it.

Several town halls in Catalonia have said they will ignore the holiday and work as normal.

About 2.3 million Catalans - or 43 percent of the region's electorate - voted an independence referendum Oct. 1 even though it was banned. Catalonia said 90 percent favored secession and it declared the results valid. Opponents boycotted the vote.

The day was marred by violence as police under court orders tried to prevent voting taking place. A Human Rights Watch report released Thursday said Spanish police used excessive force when they faced peaceful protesters on the day.

Polls indicate that Catalonia's 7.5 million residents are evenly divided over secession. The region contributes a fifth of Spain's 1.1 trillion-euro ($1.3 trillion) economy.

_____

Parra contributed from Barcelona, Spain.

People wearing the colors of Catalonia and Spain celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

EDS NOTE : SPANISH LAW REQUIRES THAT THE FACES OF MINORS ARE MASKED IN PUBLICATIONS WITHIN SPAIN. A man carries a child as people waving flags of Catalonia and Spain celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

People carry a Spanish flag above their heads as they celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

People hold the flags of Spain, left, and Catalonia, right, as they celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A woman wearing the Spanish colors gestures as she joins others celebrating a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A woman waves a Spanish flag while celebrating a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

People wear heart-shaped stickers with the flags of Catalonia, Spain and the European Union as they celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A person holds a pole with the flags of Catalonia and Spain as people celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A woman hugs a Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra regional police officer as people celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A man wearing a Spanish flag around his waist shakes hands with a Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra regional police officer as people celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A woman hugs a Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra regional police officer as people celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A woman wearing a Legionaries Brotherhood shirt and a Spanish flag joins others celebrating a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

People carry giant flags of Catalonia, foreground and Spain as they celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Spanish military personnel react as they prepare for a military parade during the national holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. King Felipe VI is to preside over the annual colorful parade Thursday as Spain awaits a response to a government request to Catalonia to clarify by Monday if it has already declared independence, in which case Spain warns it may begin taking control of the region. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A Spanish military personnel shouts out in a military parade during the national holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. King Felipe VI is to preside over the annual colorful parade Thursday as Spain awaits a response to a government request to Catalonia to clarify by Monday if it has already declared independence, in which case Spain warns it may begin taking control of the region. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Spain's King Felipe, Queen Letizia and Crown Princess Leonor and Princess Sofia attend a military parade during a national holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. King Felipe VI is to preside over the annual colorful parade Thursday as Spain awaits a response to a government request to Catalonia to clarify by Monday if it has already declared independence, in which case Spain warns it may begin taking control of the region. (AP Photo/Paul White)

A young boy, draped in the Spanish flag, stand amongst Spanish military personnel as they prepare for a military parade during the national holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. King Felipe VI is to preside over the annual colorful parade Thursday as Spain awaits a response to a government request to Catalonia to clarify by Monday if it has already declared independence, in which case Spain warns it may begin taking control of the region. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Spanish military personnel march in a military parade during the national holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. King Felipe VI is to preside over the annual colorful parade Thursday as Spain awaits a response to a government request to Catalonia to clarify by Monday if it has already declared independence, in which case Spain warns it may begin taking control of the region. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Spain's King Felipe and Queen Letizia attend a military parade during a national holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. King Felipe VI is to preside over the annual colorful parade Thursday as Spain awaits a response to a government request to Catalonia to clarify by Monday if it has already declared independence, in which case Spain warns it may begin taking control of the region. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Spain's King Felipe, center, salutes as troops march past during a parade to mark the national holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. King Felipe VI is to preside over the annual colorful parade Thursday as Spain awaits a response to a government request to Catalonia to clarify by Monday if it has already declared independence, in which case Spain warns it may begin taking control of the region. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Spanish military personnel march in a military parade during the national holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. King Felipe VI is to preside over the annual colorful parade Thursday as Spain awaits a response to a government request to Catalonia to clarify by Monday if it has already declared independence, in which case Spain warns it may begin taking control of the region. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Military personnel prepare for a military parade during the national holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Hispanic Day, in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. King Felipe VI is to preside over the annual colorful parade Thursday as Spain awaits a response to a government request to Catalonia to clarify by Monday if it has already declared independence, in which case Spain warns it may begin taking control of the region. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A woman waves flags of Catalonia and Spain as people celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)

People hold banners and Spanish flags as they celebrate a holiday known as "Dia de la Hispanidad" or Spain's National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Spain's celebrates its national day amid one of the country's biggest crises ever as its powerful northeastern region of Catalonia threatens independence. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) - Family members have been searching for Ellen and Bob Pearson since they were last seen fleeing their mobile home in California wine country, preparing to leave in their purple Pontiac as flames lurked in the distance.

Five days later, no one has heard from the couple, both in their 70s. Loved ones are growing frustrated with the Sonoma County sheriff's office, where phones lines are busy or out, and with other agencies that seem to have different databases of the missing.

"It's been challenging trying to figure out which agency or which number to call," said the couple's granddaughter, Tiffany Couto. "People are trying to help so much, but it's a chaotic time, and so it's a challenge to understand exactly how to handle this."

Chrystal Couto holds a poster of her grandmother as Aaron Austin looks on in Santa Rosa, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. The couple from Redway, are searching for Couto's grandmother and her husband, who haven't been heard from since a wildfire tore through the older couple's Santa Rosa neighborhood. They are hanging flyers in evacuation centers with photos of the older couple. (AP Photo/Paul Elias)

Tiffany's sister Chrystal Couto and her husband Aaron Austin drove four hours Thursday from their Humboldt County home to join the search. They distributed flyers of the missing couple at several evacuation centers and plan to do the same Friday. The missing couple was seen leaving their house.

"It's just so weird that no one has heard from them," Chrystal Couto said.

Confusion has marked the disastrous wildfires spanning several counties and cities, adding to the frustration of hundreds of people searching for loved ones. Getting information is disjointed, with the public relying partly on separate media updates throughout the day that are broken out by county and agency.

In Sonoma County, the sheriff's office said Thursday it is searching for missing people and for bodies. Napa County, meanwhile, continued to direct people to search through a website hosted by the American Red Cross.

"It really calls into question a better response," state Sen. Bill Dodd of Napa said about the handling of missing-person reports. "Maybe there's some best practice when we're done with this that we can try to make sure that there is a better clearinghouse."

The Governor's Office of Emergency Services also was directing people to the Red Cross website rather than any state database. Director Mark Ghilarducci said in an interview Thursday that all agencies were coordinating well in a large-scale disaster that is going to have "zigs and zags."

"But there is an organization in the chaos, and that's how we are facilitating response to this, that's how we're adding additional resources, that's how we know where to place those resources and to address all the needs in the shelters," he said.

Gov. Jerry Brown has kept a low profile, speaking at one press briefing but otherwise letting state emergency officials take the lead.

"Our focus is on getting resources where they're needed most, not pulling them away for photo ops with the governor," Brown spokesman Evan Westrup said Thursday. Brown will visit some of the fire sites, which have ravaged parts of Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Yuba counties, "when the time is right," he said.

Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, described the Democratic governor as "very engaged in what is going on" and providing support.

Pimlott also said it's the job of local coroners - not the state - to account for the missing and dead.

While authorities focused on evacuations this week, families were left to search on their own. Many turned to social media with plaintive cries for help. They went to hospitals and evacuation centers, hoping their missing loved one was simply lacking a working cellphone or recovering from injuries.

Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said about 400 people were on his list of missing people Thursday, although it was unclear how many are duplicates or even people who are actually safe.

Rick and Leslie Howell were some of those found unharmed. Family located the couple Wednesday after they fled their Santa Rosa home in a hurry a day earlier. They do not own mobile phones, which made it difficult to let friends and family know they were safe.

Still missing is Norma Zarr, whose Santa Rosa neighborhood was evacuated Tuesday evening. None of her family has seen or heard from the 61-year-old woman since.

Charlene Baumunk Allen said sheriff's deputies visited her mother's house Wednesday, finding no damage and no sign of her or her silver Honda CRV.

The sheriff's office has been helpful, says Allen, who lives in Eagle Mountain, Utah.

"I don't know if she's under a rock or if she's OK," she said. "This is a trying time."

Couto said her family reported her grandparents' distinctive purple Pontiac, but she doesn't know whether officers ran the license plate numbers in their search for missing people.

"I'm at a loss, and I'm not sure what steps to take to find them," she said. "We're all confused. We're not sure how to be productive."

___

Nguyen reported from San Francisco. Associated Press reporters Sudhin Thanawala and Janie Har in San Francisco and Don Thompson in Sacramento also contributed to this report.

A swimming pool lies among the charred remains of a home destroyed by wildfires in Santa Rosa, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Gusting winds and dry air forecast for Thursday could drive the next wave of devastating wildfires that are already well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) - Residents who evacuated from wildfires raging in California's wine country are thankful they survived or kept their homes, but gnawed by guilt about the fate of their neighbors.

Jeremy Adams said Thursday that shifting winds, a little water from his hose and some luck spared his home in Santa Rosa from the inferno. Most of the other homes in the area were destroyed.

Drive past his corner house, and nothing remains for almost a mile.

Resident Ryan Nelson goes through the ruins of his house to try to find his grandfather's rifles in Santa Rosa, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. As his house filled with smoke from one of California's devastating wine country fires, Nelson's thoughts went to his elderly neighbors, one of whom has multiple sclerosis. He ran over and pounded on their doors and windows, but wasn't able to get their attention. Now he fears they didn't make it out and wonders whether he could have done more to help. (AP Photo/Jonathan Copper)

"That first night it was just a horrible feeling. Like why me?" Adams said. "I still feel that. That guilty feeling. Why do we get spared and them not? To see them come back to what they have, or don't have, was pretty horrifying."

Adams and his wife walked around what's left of their neighborhood early Monday, but now they stay away.

"It's just too sad," he said.

Ryan Nelson lives in the same neighborhood and fears his elderly neighbors, one of whom has multiple sclerosis, didn't make it out of their home. He wonders whether he could have done more to help.

As his house filled with smoke, Nelson ran over to his neighbors' house and pounded on their doors and windows but wasn't able to get their attention. He didn't kick the door down, thinking he'd have time to come back and help them.

"We're in the middle of the city, so that's never crossed anybody's mind here in terms of everything being a total fire loss," Nelson said.

Nelson was going through the ruins of his house on Wednesday to try to find his grandfather's rifles, including an M-1 carbine from World War II, that he kept in a gun safe.

He found only pieces. His neighbors' home was also a total loss.

Nelson knows the man only as Manjeet and said he has never met or seen his wife, who had multiple sclerosis. Manjeet, who was in his 70s, has no car and is fairly "reclusive," Nelson said, seen occasionally walking to the nearby Trader Joe's or elsewhere in the neighborhood in a blue or white turban and sandals. He rarely answered the door if Nelson knocked.

"Nobody ever sees him or talks to him, but when you do see him he's got everything in the world to talk about," Nelson said.

Nelson said he awoke to the sound of a frightened dog scratching at the door.

The dog followed him as he went to alert neighbors, but he lost track of her and doesn't know whether she survived and was rescued.

Nelson said he underestimated the fire.

"My regret isn't doing more to try to save anything, it was more I feel like I could've forced entry into their house and pulled them out of bed or done something more to help him get out," Nelson said.
BERLIN (AP) - Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Thursday that the airline will sign an agreement to buy large parts of the bankrupt carrier Air Berlin, the German news agency dpa reported.

Spohr said that both airlines will sign the agreement later in the day in Berlin.

"Today is a big day, which we will seal in a few hours with a signature," he said.

An airplane of the German airline 'Air Berlin' arrives at the Tegel airport in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Thursday that the airline will sign an agreement to buy large parts of the bankrupt carrier Air Berlin, the German news agency dpa reported. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Lufthansa would reportedly take over 81 planes from Air Berlin for its main brand and lower-cost Eurowings operation. Air Berlin said that Lufthansa would pay 210 million euros for Air Berlin assets, enabling it to repay a 150 million credit from the German federal government that had allowed it to keep flying.

Air Berlin declared bankruptcy in August following years of losses and the decision of its biggest shareholder, Gulf airline Etihad, to cease financing.

It had been in talks for weeks with Lufthansa and easyJet about selling parts of its business.

Air Berlin had been Germany's second-biggest carrier after Lufthansa. The airline carried some 80,000 people a day mostly on short-haul destinations. It made a loss of about 782 million euros last year.

Earlier this week, dpa reported that the airline said in a letter to employees that flights under the airline code AB "according to the current state of things, will no longer be possible after October 28 at the latest."

The sale still needs approval from creditors and European Union anti-trust authorities to take effect.

FILE - In the Sept. 21, 2017 file photo an Air Berlin plane sits behind a Lufthansa plane in Tegel airport in Berlin. (Wolfgang Kumm/dpa via AP)

An airplane of the German airline 'Air Berlin' lifts off at the Tegel airport in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017.Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Thursday that the airline will sign an agreement to buy large parts of the bankrupt carrier Air Berlin, the German news agency dpa reported. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Justin Thomas collected the Jack Nicklaus Award as the U.S. PGA Tour player of the year a couple of days before heading to Malaysia in a bid to win his third successive CIMB Classic.

Little wonder then the two-time defending champion was slightly off his game in the first round on Thursday, managing only a 2-under-par 70 to sit six strokes behind leader Cameron Smith of Australia.

Smith opened with a blemish-free 8-under 64 and leads a U.S. PGA Tour event after the first round for the first time in 64 starts.

Keegan Bradley, Xander Schauffele and Poom Saksansin of Thailand were tied for second at 7 under.

Brendan Steele, coming off a victory last week at the Safeway Open, had an opening 67 to be three shots off the lead.

Thomas has barely had time to catch his breath after winning the FedEx Cup and playing in the Presidents Cup. He won his first tour title here two years ago. He successfully defended it last year, and has had a transformative 2017 in which he's won five titles and his first major, the U.S. Open.

He's aiming to be the first player to win the same tournament three years in a row since Steve Stricker at the John Deer Classic from 2009-11.

Schauffele, the U.S. tour rookie of the year, said he was taking plenty of notice of how Thomas approaches this course and is trying to keep it simple.

"The rough has been up apparently compared to last year, that's what Justin told me," he said. "I pretty much tried to copy everything that he did because I figured he's a good guy to imitate out here."

Thomas mixed five birdies with three bogeys. Schauffele and Poom made seven birdies to go into early contention, while Bradley eagled the 12th hole to make amends for his sole bogey.

Smith, an Australian, posted a blemish-free round of eight birdies, including five on the front nine for a 64.

"The putting was easy actually," Smith said.

He's chasing his second title of the year after winning the Zurich Classic in April.

The American trio of Kevin Na, Gary Woodland, and Pat Perez were also in contention in the Asian Tour event after carding 66s.

Hideki Matsuyama, the 2016 runner-up, faltered with two bogeys to sit with Thomas in a tie for 23rd place.
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's Mission Control says the launch of an unmanned Russian cargo ship to the International Space Station has been postponed.

The Mission Control didn't immediately give the reason for the postponement of Thursday's launch, which was announced minutes after the designated launch time at 12:32 Moscow time (0932 GMT). It said the launch is now set for Saturday.

The Progress MS-07 ship, carrying 2.5 metric tons (2.75 tons) of supplies, was to blast off from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch complex in Kazakhstan and dock at the station three hours later.

The ship is to deliver water, food and scientific equipment, among other items.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Australia's top diplomat visited the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas on Thursday and said her government hopes there will be no need for military action against North Korea over its weapons programs.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop made the comments in an interview with The Associated Press after her visit to the Korean border village of Panmunjom with Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne. The two are in South Korea for talks with top officials on Friday.

Bishop said North Korean border guards came out of their building and took many photographs of her and other Australian officials during their Panmunjom visit. The North Koreans "seemed to have a great deal of interest in who we were and what we were doing," she said.

Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne, left, speaks as Foreign Minister Julie Bishop listens during their press conference at the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The foreign and defense ministers of South Korea and Australia will hold talks on Friday expected to discuss North Korea, bilateral cooperation and regional security issues. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

It's not unusual for North Korean soldiers to photograph or use binoculars to watch high-profile visitors at Panmunjom, which is inside the 248-kilometer (154-mile) -long heavily mined Demilitarized Zone that serves as a de facto border between the Koreas.

"It's always a tense situation, I understand," Bishop said. "The Korean War is still alive in the minds of many people." The 1950-53 war ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty, and the two Koreas remain technically still at war.

Worries about a possible military clash between North Korea and the United States have grown recently among many in South Korea and elsewhere, with U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un trading insults and threats of attack over the North's nuclear weapon and missile programs.

North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in September and test-launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July. It was subsequently slapped with tougher U.N. sanctions. North Korea has vowed not to back off, and outside analysts say it is a matter of time until it achieves its long-stated goal of possessing nuclear missiles capable of striking anywhere in the mainland United States.

Bishop said she knows the United States has long put all options, including military ones, on the table in response to the North Korean threat. She said Australia is working with other nations to place maximum pressure on North Korea but that "we hope there will be no need for a military option."

Bishop said Australia supports what she called "the tough sets of comprehensive sanctions" against North Korea, saying the North "will be deterred from carrying out any further illegal test" and "will be compelled to return to the negotiating table."

North Korean army soldiers march during a visit by Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

North Korean army soldiers look at the South side during Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's visit to the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A North Korean army soldier looks at the South side through field glasses as a South Korean army soldier, right, stands guard during Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's visit to the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
BRUSSELS (AP) - Brexit talks have made little progress, the European Union's chief negotiator said Thursday, meaning they cannot yet be broadened beyond the terms of Britain's exit to include key issues like future trade relations.

Michel Barnier said that despite the "constructive spirit" shown in this week's fifth round of talks, "we haven't made any great steps forward." On the question of how much Britain has to pay to settle its financial commitments, he said: "We have reached a state of deadlock, which is disturbing."

Barnier said he would not be able to recommend to EU leaders meeting next week that "sufficient progress" has been made to broaden the talks to future EU-British relations, including trade.

British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis left, and European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier participate in a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The EU's Brexit negotiator says that the two sides have made little progress in a fifth round of talks on Britain's departure from the EU in March 2019. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

The leaders meet in Brussels on Oct. 19-20, and with time short to seal a deal it had been hoped they would agree to widen the talks.

The EU says this can only happen when there has been progress on the issues of the financial settlement, the rights of citizens affected by Brexit and the status of the Northern Ireland-Ireland border.

Many businesses are worried that Britain could leave the EU without a trade deal in place, which would mean tariffs on exports from both sides, reams of red tape and chaos at ports. The pound fell Thursday on news of the slow progress, trading 0.6 percent lower at $1.3142.

Britain says its exit terms are closely intertwined with those on future relations like trade and must be discussed together.

"I hope the member states will see the progress we have made and take a step forward" next week, British Brexit envoy David Davis told reporters.

"We would like them to give Michel the means to broaden the negotiations. It's up to them whether they do it. Clearly I think it's in the interests of the United Kingdom and the European Union that they do," Davis said.

Despite the lack of progress, Barnier said the two would work to achieve "sufficient progress" in time for a subsequent meeting of EU leaders in December.

Around one third of the negotiating time has already elapsed. Britain must leave the EU on March 29, 2019, but the talks must be completed within about a year to leave time for EU states' national parliaments to ratify the Brexit agreement.

European estimates on the size of the divorce bill have varied from around 60 billion euros to 100 billion euros ($70-120 billion), but Prime Minister Theresa May's government has rejected such numbers without clearly explaining how the amount should be calculated.

"The U.K. repeated that it was still not ready to spell out these commitments," Barnier said. "There have therefore been no negotiations on this subject."

The negotiations appear to be moving at a snail's pace, and each round leaves a sense of deja vu, with Barnier lamenting the lack of movement, and Davis appealing for more European flexibility. Thursday's news conference, though, was brightened briefly by an unexpected visitor dressed as a superwoman promoting her book on why Europe needs one.

Mindful that the clock is ticking, Barnier reaffirmed that parting with "no deal will be a very bad deal."

"To be clear, on our side, we will be ready to face any eventualities, and all the eventualities," he said.

The British government is under pressure from euroskeptic lawmakers to increase planning for a "no deal" Brexit, without a trade agreement.

Pro-Brexit lawmakers are urging May's government to set aside money for new customs posts and other infrastructure that would be needed in the event of no deal. Some even say Britain should walk away from the negotiations if the EU does not agree to start the next phase by the end of the year.

The Brexit spokesman for Britain's opposition Labour Party, accused the government of risking a collapse in the talks with its infighting.

Keir Starmer said crashing out without a deal "would be catastrophic for jobs and living standards and must be rejected as a viable option."

He urged Davis to ask for an emergency round of talks before next week's EU summit in an attempt to unblock the logjam.

___

Lawless reported from London.

European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier gestures as he participates in a media conference with British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis at EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The EU's Brexit negotiator says that the two sides have made little progress in a fifth round of talks on Britain's departure from the EU in March 2019. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

Madeleine Kay presents her book explaining why Europe needs a Superwoman prior to European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis participate in a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The EU and Britain have concluded a fifth round of Brexit negotiations. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis pauses during a media conference with European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier at EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Brexit talks have made little progress, the European Union's negotiator said Thursday, meaning he cannot yet recommend broadening the negotiations beyond the focus on the terms of Britain's exit to include key issues such as future trade relations. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis left, and European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier participate in a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The EU's Brexit negotiator says that the two sides have made little progress in a fifth round of talks on Britain's departure from the EU in March 2019. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier makes his point as he participates in a media conference with British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis at EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The EU's Brexit negotiator says that the two sides have made little progress in a fifth round of talks on Britain's departure from the EU in March 2019. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian opposition activists say government troops are pushing deeper into an Islamic State stronghold in the country's east, the town of Mayadeen.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says clashes with militants intensified in the morning hours on Thursday in the town, as government forces advanced into the western and northern neighborhoods of Mayadeen, which lies on the Euphrates River.

The Observatory says troops were able to cut off the road linking Mayadeen and the town of Boukamal on the border with Iraq.

Opposition activist Mozahem al-Salloum says the fighting is fierce and that it will likely take time to rid Mayadeen of the Islamic State group.

Syrian troops reached Mayadeen on Saturday, after pushing south along the eastern banks of the Euphrates.
NEW YORK (AP) - Researching the life of Leonardo da Vinci left Walter Isaacson in a playful mood.

"He's the most fun, joyous person I can imagine," says the best-selling biographer, whose "Leonardo da Vinci" comes out Oct. 17. "And that was the big surprise. I thought he was going to be this brooding genius."

Isaacson, 65, sees the da Vinci book as the culmination of his biographies about innovators that include works on Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein. Long fascinated by those who wedded logic and creativity, he says da Vinci left us with dazzling works of art and scientific breakthroughs and was also a model for a more joyous and spontaneous way of life. Isaacson spent extensive time with Jobs, but his book on da Vinci, who died in 1519, seems more personal. Isaacson doesn't just describe the "Mona Lisa" and other paintings, but adds analysis and reflection. Basing much of his book on Leonardo's thousands of notebook entries, with a given page often including sketches and thoughts on anything from human anatomy to his household budget, he became so caught up in da Vinci's limitless curiosity that the book's "coda" is his own brief, admittedly random, report on the tongue of a woodpecker.

FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2014 photo, author Walter Isaacson poses before an interview at his home in New York. Isaacson's latest book, "Leonardo da Vinci," comes out Oct. 17. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

"It's nothing the readers have to know. It's not going to be useful to their lives, but I thought that everybody, just like me at the end, would want to know out of pure curiosity," he explains. "I wanted to go hand in hand with the reader as we jointly discover the joys of Leonardo. I wanted to say, 'Hey, stop for a moment and imagine him seeing a swill of water as he's about to paint the curl of the angel in 'The Virgin of the Rocks.' Stop for a moment and marvel at the geological precision of the rock formations."

Isaacson intends the book as a da Vinci tribute, right down to its design: "Leonardo da Vinci" is printed on 80 stock paper with high-definition illustrations. And in the spirit of blending art and technology, Isaacson spoke to museum curators and technology leaders. Bill Gates, who in the 1990s purchased Leonardo's scientific writings, otherwise known as the Codex Leicester, gave Isaacson special access to the notebooks. Art historian and da Vinci scholar Marco Cianchi, who consulted with Isaacson on the manuscript, calls the book a "biography with a special point of view," one that joins Leonardo with the "innovators of our technological age."

"As an Italian who's always worried about the fictional way the Renaissance is represented, I find Walter's 'Leonardo' an important contribution for a better understanding not only of our past but also of our present time," Cianchi told The Associated Press in a recent email.

Countless works have come out on da Vinci and many more are expected as the 500th anniversary of his death approaches. Leonardo DiCaprio, himself named for the artist, is expected to star in a film version of Isaacson's book. Isaacson, interviewed at the offices of Simon & Schuster, spoke of everything from the "Mona Lisa" to Leonardo and the internet.

WHY EVERYTHING MATTERS

"Others have criticized Leonardo for getting distracted and doing scientific experiments when we should have been painting 'The Battle of Anghiari' or the 'Adoration of the Magi.' But every passion that he had deepened his appreciation for the patterns of nature. So even if he was devising an engineering scheme to divert water, and spending page after page of his notebook looking at how water spirals when it hits an obstacle, you later see that in the river flowing at the back of the 'Mona Lisa,' or the spirals of her curls."

LEONARDO AND STEVE JOBS

"Steve Jobs had difficulty letting go of a product until he had it perfected. He held up shipping the original Macintosh because the circuit board inside, which nobody will ever see, wasn't beautiful enough. Eventually Jobs retreated from this obsessive perfection and embraced a new maxim, which his team taught him, which is, 'real artists ship.' Leonardo never fully embraced that real artists shipped. He held on to the 'Mona Lisa,' 'St. Jerome in the Wilderness,' 'St. John the Baptist.' He believed in holding on to the product, and one of the lessons he teaches us is that, yes, real artists ship. You should try to finish the project, but every now and then, every once in a while in life, you should let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

ON THE 'MONA LISA'

"You don't get to paint the 'Mona Lisa' unless you spend a lifetime appreciating the connections of patterns across from nature's disciplines. ... Right to the end of his life, he's adding the tiniest layers of glaze stroke, so that it catches the light more perfectly. And it is the ultimate combination of all of his passions, from water to anatomy to art. He wanted to know everything that could possibly be known about everything there was to know about our cosmos, including how we fit into it. And the 'Mona Lisa' is the culmination of that quest."

ON DA VINCI AND THE INTERNET AGE

"Leonardo da Vinci was extraordinarily lucky to be born the same year (1452) that Gutenberg opened his first commercial printing shop. And so a kid like Leonardo, with no formal education, could teach himself anything he was interested in by searching out books. And we go through Leonardo's notebooks and he keeps a list that gets bigger and bigger, grows to 400-500 books on everything from math to poetry, because the printing press has come around. He would be overjoyed at the concept of being alive at the time of the internet, where any topic that pricked your passion you could drill down on. Because that's what he did; he geeked out, he drilled down."
WASHINGTON (AP) - Five years after they were seized by a terrorist network in the mountains of Afghanistan, an American woman, her Canadian husband and their children - all three born in captivity - are free after a dramatic rescue orchestrated by the U.S. and Pakistani governments, officials said Thursday.

The U.S. said Pakistan accomplished the release of Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Canadian Joshua Boyle, who were abducted and held by the Haqqani network, which has ties to the Taliban. The operation, which came after years of U.S. pressure on Pakistan for assistance, unfolded quickly and ended with what some described a dangerous raid, a shootout and a captor's final, terrifying threat to "kill the hostage." Boyle suffered only a shrapnel wound, his family said.

U.S. officials did not confirm the details.

Linda and Patrick Boyle, parents of Joshua Boyle, speak with the media outside their home in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman, and their three young children have been released after years held captive by a group that has ties to the Taliban and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

"Today they are free," President Donald Trump said in a statement, crediting the U.S.-Pakistani partnership for securing the release. Trump later praised Pakistan for its willingness to "do more to provide security in the region" and said the release suggests other "countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again."

The couple were kidnapped in October of 2012 while on a backpacking trip that took them to Russia, the countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan. Coleman was several months pregnant at the time, "naive," but also "adventuresome" with a humanitarian bent, her father James told The Associated Press in 2012.

The Pakistani military said early Thursday the family was "being repatriated to the country of their origin." But as of Thursday evening, it was not known when they would return to North America. They were together in a safe, undisclosed location in Pakistan, according to a U.S. national security official, who wasn't authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Pakistani military said the family had been freed in "an intelligence-based operation by Pakistan troops" after they'd crossed the border from Afghanistan.

Boyle and the High Commissioner for Pakistan to Canada described a scene in which gunshots rang out as Boyle, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the trunk of their captors' car. Boyle told his parents there was a shootout in which some of his captors were killed and said the last words he'd heard from the kidnappers were, "kill the hostage," his father, Patrick told reporters after speaking with his son. The younger Boyle also told his father he'd been hit by shrapnel in the leg. Three intelligence officials said the confrontation happened near a road crossing in the Nawa Kili area of the district of Kohat in northwest Pakistan.

The high commissioner, Tariq Azim Khan, said, "We know there was a shootout and Pakistan commandos carried out an attack and rescued the hostages."

A U.S. military official said a military hostage team had flown to Pakistan Wednesday, prepared to fly the family out. The team did a preliminary health assessment and had a transport plane ready to go. But sometime after daybreak there, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board.

Boyle's father said his son did not want to board the plane because it was headed to Bagram Air Base, a site associated with accusations of prisoner abuse, and Boyle was philosophically opposed to going to there. Another U.S. official said Boyle was nervous about being in "custody" given his family ties.

He was once married to Zaynab Khadr, the older sister of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter of a senior al-Qaida financier. Her father, the late Ahmed Said Khadr, and the family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy.

The Canadian-born Omar Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight and was taken to the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Officials had discounted any link between that background and Boyle's capture, with one official describing it in 2014 as a "horrible coincidence."

The U.S. Justice Department said neither Boyle nor Coleman is wanted for any federal crime.

The couple told U.S. officials and their families they wanted to fly commercially to Canada.

Boyle's father called the rescue a "miracle." Coleman's parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, meanwhile, posted a statement on the door of their Pennsylvania home expressing joy. Lyn Coleman said "I am in a state of euphoria, stunned and overjoyed," in an interview with ABC News.

The developments came rapidly Wednesday afternoon - nearly five years to the day after Coleman and Boyle lost touch with their families while traveling in a mountainous region near the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Coleman's parents last had a conversation with their son-in-law on Oct. 8, 2012, via an email sent from an internet cafe he'd described as being in an "unsafe" part of Afghanistan. From then on, there were only desperate, hostage videos released by their captors and hand-scrawled letters mailed home.

"I pray to hear from you again, to hear how everybody is doing," read one letter the parents shared with the online Circa News service in July 2016, in which Coleman revealed she'd given birth to a second child in captivity. It's unclear whether they knew she'd had a third.

Boyle's parents say their son told them in a letter that he and his wife pretended to the children that their signs of captivity were part of a game being played with guards.

U.S. officials call the Haqqani group a terrorist organization and have targeted its leaders with drone strikes. But the group also operates like a criminal network. Unlike the Islamic State group, it does not typically execute Western hostages, preferring to ransom them for cash.

The Haqqani network had previously demanded the release of Anas Haqqani, a son of the founder of the group, in exchange for turning over the American-Canadian family. In one of the videos released by their captors, Boyle implored the Afghan government not to execute Taliban prisoners or he and his wife would be killed

The U.S. has long criticized Pakistan for failing to aggressively go after the Haqqanis. In recent remarks on his Afghanistan policy, Trump noted billions paid to Pakistan "at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. But that will have to change, and that will change immediately."

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said her country was "greatly relieved" the family was safe, and she thanked the U.S., Afghan and Pakistani governments for their efforts.

U.S. officials have said that several other Americans are being held by militant groups in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

They include Kevin King, 60, a teacher at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul who was abducted in August 2016, and Paul Overby, an author in his 70s who had traveled to the region several times but disappeared in eastern Afghanistan in mid-2014.

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This story has been corrected to remove double-negative in paragraph relating to whether the couple was wanted on any charges.

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad, Gillies from Toronto. Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann and Matthew Lee in Washington, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Lolita C. Baldor in Tampa, Florida, contributed.

In this image from video released by Taliban Media in December 2016, Caitlan Coleman talks in the video while her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle holds their two children. U.S. officials said Pakistan secured the release of Coleman of Stewartstown, Pa., and her husband, who were abducted five years ago while traveling in Afghanistan and then were held by the Haqqani network. Coleman was pregnant when she was captured. The couple had three children while in captivity, and all have been freed, U.S. officials said. (Taliban Media via AP)

Members of the media make images of a posted note on the front door of Jim and Lyn Coleman's home in Stewartstown, Pa., Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The Coleman's daughter Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years held captive by a group that has ties to the Taliban and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

A Pakistani channel broadcasts a report about western couple, seen at a local electronic shop in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years of being held captive by a network with ties to the Taliban, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)

A message from Jim and Lyn Coleman is posted on their home in Stewartstown, Pa., Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The Coleman's daughter Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years held captive by a group that has ties to the Taliban and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
LONDON (AP) - Oil company Shell has signed an agreement to buy electric vehicle charging firm NewMotion. It did not disclose terms.

The company, which will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, operates more than 30,000 private electric charge points for homes and businesses in the Netherlands, Germany, France and the U.K.

Shell's Vice President for New Fuels, Matthew Tipper, says Thursday that the deal will give customers "flexibility to charge their electric vehicles at home, work and on the go."

Shell has insisted it is planning for the day when demand for oil starts to fade. CEO Ben van Beurden has promised to look at "very aggressive scenarios" to remain competitive in a world that gets more of its energy from renewable sources and less from crude oil.
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) - Police in northern Greece have rescued 54 migrants found squashed into a van, and arrested two Bulgarian alleged members of a smuggling ring paid to carry them through the country.

A police statement says the van was stopped Wednesday on a road in the northeastern Rodopi province.

It said the 52 Syrian and 2 Somali nationals - including 13 minors - were crammed into the 4-by-2.5-meter (13-by-8-foot) back of the van, which lacked ventilation and was locked from the outside.

The two Bulgarians, aged 36 and 38, were charged with illegally transporting migrants and endangering lives.

Police said Thursday that each of the adults had paid 1,500 euros ($1,700) to be taken from Greece's land border with Turkey, which they had crossed illegally, to the northern city of Thessaloniki.
PARIS (AP) - The Latest on the U.S. decision to pull out of UNESCO (all times local):

6:50 p.m.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel plans to pull out of the United Nations' cultural agency following the "brave and moral" decision by the United States to withdraw from UNESCO.

FILE - In this Monday Oct. 17, 2016 file picture, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization logo is pictured on the entrance at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris. U.S. officials have told The Associated Press that the United States is pulling out of UNESCO, after repeated criticism of resolutions by the U.N. cultural agency that Washington sees as anti-Israel. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

Netanyahu said Thursday that UNESCO has become a "theater of the absurd because instead of preserving history, it distorts it."

He says he has ordered Israeli diplomats to prepare Israel's withdrawal from the organization in concert with the Americans.

The United States announced on Thursday that it is pulling out of UNESCO because of what the Trump administration sees as its anti-Israel bias and a need for "fundamental reform." It says the withdrawal will take effect Dec. 31, 2018.

The United Nation's education, cultural and scientific agency has passed several resolutions against Israel. It extended membership to Palestine in 2011.

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6:45 p.m.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says the "extreme politicization" of UNESCO - the U.N.'s cultural, education and scientific agency - has become "a chronic embarrassment."

Nikki Haley called the agency's designation of Hebron's Old City and the Tomb of the Patriarchs as Palestinian territory the latest of many "foolish actions" that led to the United States' decision to pull out of UNESCO.

Haley says the U.S.'s view from 1984 when President Ronald Reagan also withdrew from UNESCO holds true today: "U.S. taxpayers should no longer be on the hook to pay for policies that are hostile to our values and make a mockery of justice and common sense."

She said: "The United States will continue to evaluate all agencies within the United Nations system through the same lens."

In addition to the actions in Hebron, Haley singled out "keeping Syrian dictator Bashar Assad on a UNESCO human rights committee even after his murderous crackdown on peaceful protesters."

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6:00 p.m.

Israel's U.N. ambassador is calling the United States' withdrawal from UNESCO "a turning point."

Danny Danon said in a statement that the United Nation's education, cultural and scientific agency now knows that its "absurd and shameful resolutions against Israel have consequences."

Danon said: "Today is a new day at the U.N., where there is a price to pay for discrimination against Israel."

The United States announced Thursday that it is pulling out of UNESCO because of what the Trump administration sees as its anti-Israel bias and a need for "fundamental reform."

Danon praised the U.S. decision. He says: "The United States stands by Israel and is a true leader for change at the U.N."

Danon added: "The alliance between our two countries is stronger than ever."

UNESCO extended membership to Palestine in 2011.

Danon said: "UNESCO has become a battlefield for Israel-bashing and has disregarded its true role and purpose."

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5:35 p.m.

The decision by the United States to exit the United Nations' cultural agency is rattling other countries who say the move will harm the struggling UNESCO.

France's ambassador to the U.N., Francois Delattre, said UNESCO's ideals are "part of America's DNA" and that "we need an America that stays committed to world affairs."

Tatiana Dovgalenko, Russia's deputy permanent representative to the agency, told The Associated Press that the departure of "one of the countries that founded the U.N. system" is "a shock and a pity."

However, Dovgalenko insists there won't be a power vacuum.

She said: "Countries like us and China have our influence already."

Washington says it is withdrawing because of what it sees as anti-Israel bias in UNESCO resolutions and the agency's need for reform.

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3:30 p.m.

The director of UNESCO is expressing "profound regret" at the U.S. government's decision to pull out of the U.N. cultural agency because of what's seen as longstanding anti-Israel bias.

Director-general Irina Bokova said in a statement that the departure is a loss for "the United Nations family" and for multilateralism. She said the U.S. and UNESCO matter to each other more than ever now because "the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security."

A native of Bulgaria, Bokova defended UNESCO's reputation, noting its efforts to support Holocaust education and train teachers to fight anti-Semitism. She traced the decades-long U.S. ties with UNESCO, and noted that the Statue of Liberty is among the many World Heritage sites protected by the U.N. agency.

Bokova's two terms as director have been deeply scarred by the 2011 UNESCO vote to include Palestine as a member, funding troubles and repeated resolutions seen as anti-Israel.

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3:15 p.m.

The State Department says the U.S. is pulling out of UNESCO because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias and need for "fundamental reform" of the U.N. cultural agency.

In a statement, the State Department said it notified UNESCO director Irina Bokova on Thursday of the decision. The U.S. will seek to have a "permanent observer" status instead.

It says the withdrawal will take effect Dec. 31, 2018. The United States suspended its UNESCO funding in 2011 over its vote to include Palestine as a member, and now owes about $550 million in back payments.

U.S. officials said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the decision and that it was not discussed with other countries but an internal U.S. government deliberation.

The officials, who were not authorized to be publicly named discussing the issue, said U.S. is notably angry over UNESCO resolutions denying Jewish connections to holy sites and references to Israel as an occupying power.

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2:40 p.m.

U.S. officials have told The Associated Press that the United States is pulling out of UNESCO, after repeated criticism of resolutions by the U.N. cultural agency that Washington sees as anti-Israel.

While the U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011, the State Department has maintained a UNESCO office at its Paris headquarters and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes. The withdrawal was confirmed Thursday by U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to be publicly named discussing the decision. It was not clear when the move would be formally announced.

The decision comes as the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is voting to choose a new director this week, in tense balloting overshadowed by the agency's funding troubles and divisions over Palestinian membership.

Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari, Qatar's candidate for the election of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization new leader, smiles at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. UNESCO's executive board is choosing a new leader to replace departing director Irina Bokova, whose tenure was marred by funding troubles and tension over its inclusion of Palestine as a member. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Demonstrators hold placards as they stage a protest against Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari Qatar's candidate of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization new leader outside the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. UNESCO's executive board is choosing a new leader to replace departing director Irina Bokova, whose tenure was marred by funding troubles and tension over its inclusion of Palestine as a member. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Demonstrators hold placards as they stage a protest against Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari Qatar's candidate for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization new leader outside the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. UNESCO's executive board is choosing a new leader to replace departing director Irina Bokova, whose tenure was marred by funding troubles and tension over its inclusion of Palestine as a member. Placard reads, "we do not negotiate with the terrorist". (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Federal judges who struck down North Carolina legislative districts for illegal racial bias are holding court before ruling whether new boundaries approved by Republicans over the summer fixed or retained the problem.

A three-judge panel is scheduled to meet Thursday in Greensboro with lawyers for legislative leaders and voters as it decides if the General Assembly's redistricting must be performed again. The judges also could sign off on the boundaries for the 2018 elections.

The Republican-controlled legislature approved new maps in August because the judges struck down nearly 30 districts drawn in 2011 as illegal racial gerrymanders.

Lawyers for GOP leaders say problems with race have been cured with the new boundaries. But attorneys for the voters who initially sued over the 2011 maps still find fault with 12 districts.
ISLAMABAD (AP) - The Latest on the release of an American woman, her husband and their three children after being held for years by a group with ties to the Taliban (all times local):

6:50 a.m.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has thanked Canada's allies around the globe for their work in achieving a positive resolution to the five-year hostage situation involving Canadian citizen Joshua Boyle, his American wife, Caitlan Coleman, and their three children.

FILE - In this June 4, 2014, file photo, from left, Patrick Boyle, Linda Boyle, Lyn Coleman and Jim Coleman hold photo of their kidnapped children, Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman, who were kidnapped by the Taliban in late 2012, Wednesday, June 4, 2014, in Stewartstown, Pa. Pakistan's military says soldiers have recovered five Western hostages held by the Taliban for years. Pakistan's army did not name those held, only saying it worked with U.S. intelligence officials to track down the hostages and free them after discovering they had been brought into Pakistan. (AP Photo/Bill Gorman, File)

Trudeau, speaking during a visit to Mexico, asked that the family's privacy be respected. Officials announced Thursday that the family was freed in a rescue orchestrated by the U.S. and Pakistan governments.

Boyle and Coleman were kidnapped in 2012 while travelling in Afghanistan.

Trudeau says, "We're pleased that the ordeal that they've been through these past years has finally come to an end."

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12:07 a.m.

The High Commissioner for Pakistan to Canada says Pakistani commandos carried out a raid and there was a shootout before they safely rescued the hostages from a van.

Tariq Azim Khan said Thursday that Canadian Joshua Boyle and his family were then flown by helicopter to the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan where they remain.

He says Boyle and his family are fit to travel and it's undecided whether they will fly to Canada or to the U.S. from there.

He says they don't know how many of the suspects were killed. He says one or two escaped and there is a search for the suspects.

He says he exchanged emails with the father of Joshua Boyle to tell them they had been rescued.

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11:23 p.m.

President Donald Trump's chief of staff is welcoming the release of the family rescued from captivity in Pakistan.

John Kelly tells reporters at the White House that Caitlan Coleman, her husband Joshua Boyle and their three young children have been essentially "living in a hole" for five years. He added, "I mean that's the kind of people we're dealing with over there."

Kelly credited Pakistan with playing a key role in their rescue.

He also says the family is "being cared for now as we speak."

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11:15 p.m.

Canadian Joshua Boyle spoke to his parents and told them that he was in the trunk of the kidnappers' car with his wife and children, when Pakistani forces rescued them.

The Toronto Star reported there was a shootout and Boyle said the last words he heard from the kidnappers were, "kill the hostages."

The paper reports all five kidnappers were then shot dead and Boyle was injured with shrapnel.

His mother, Linda Boyle, says they spoke to him for the first time in five years. She calls it amazing and says he told them his children are looking forward to meeting their grandparents. All three kids were born in captivity.

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10:53 p.m.

The parents of Caitlan Coleman are elated at the release of their daughter, her husband and their children. Jim and Lyn Coleman have placed a note on the door of their home in Stewartstown, Pennsylvania. It says they appreciate "all the interest and concern being expressed at the joyful news that Caity, Josh and our grandchildren have been released after five long years of captivity."

They also ask people to respect their privacy and not knock on their door.

American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were abducted five years ago while traveling in Afghanistan and held by the militant Haqqani network. The couple had three children while in captivity.

U.S. officials say Pakistan secured their release.

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9:45 p.m.

A small Pennsylvania town is rejoicing over news that a young woman and her family have been released after being held captive for years by a Taliban-linked group.

U.S. officials say Pakistan secured the release of Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, and their three children, who were born in captivity.

Neighbors of Coleman's parents say they can't imagine how thrilled the couple must be about meeting their grandchildren.

Family members remain inside the house in rural Stewartstown, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Baltimore, where Coleman grew up.

Neighbor Karen Nycum says it must have been hard for her parents "maintaining that hope."

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9 p.m.

President Donald Trump says Pakistan's release of an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children is a sign that "a lot of countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again."

U.S. officials say Pakistan secured the release of Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Canadian Joshua Boyle, who were abducted five years ago in Afghanistan and had been held by the Haqqani network. Coleman was pregnant when she was captured. The couple had three children while in captivity, and U.S. officials say all have been freed.

Trump praises Pakistan for its willingness to "do more to provide security in the region." He says the release suggests other "countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again."

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8:35 p.m.

Canada's foreign minister says her government is greatly relieved to learn that after five years of being held hostage, Canadian Joshua Boyle and family have been released and are safe.

Chrystia Freeland says Canada has been engaged with the governments of the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and she's thanking those countries for helping with the release.

The operation was taking place as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Washington meeting with President Trump on Wednesday, and the two leaders had discussed it.

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7:45 p.m.

An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children - just released in Pakistan - aren't yet in U.S. custody. They are in what a U.S. national security official says is a safe but undisclosed location in Pakistan.

The family - an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three children - were abducted five years ago while traveling in Afghanistan and held by the militant Haqqani network.

The official says the family is free, but the husband didn't want to board a U.S. transport plane. The official wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.

-Associated Press writer Jill Colvin

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6:45 p.m.

President Donald Trump is praising the release of a family long held by a group with ties to the Taliban. Trump calls Thursday's development a "positive moment" for U.S. relations with Pakistan.

He says in a statement that the Pakistani government's "cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region."

Trump says the U.S. hopes "to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations."

U.S. and Pakistani officials say an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years of being held by the Haqqani network in Pakistan.

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5:20 p.m.

Pakistan's military says soldiers have recovered five Western hostages held by the Taliban for years.

Pakistan's army did not name those held, only saying it worked with U.S. intelligence officials to track down the hostages and free them after discovering they had been brought into Pakistan.

However, two army officials who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday identified the hostages as Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman and their children who were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release the information.

Caitlan Coleman had told her family she gave birth to two children in captivity.

-Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed.
PARIS (AP) - The United States announced Thursday it is pulling out of the U.N.'s educational, scientific and cultural agency because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias and a need for "fundamental reform" in the agency. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel plans to follow suit.

While the Trump administration had been preparing for a likely withdrawal from UNESCO for months, the timing of the State Department's statement was unexpected. The Paris-based agency's executive board is in the midst of choosing a new chief - with Qatar's Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari leading the heated election heading into Friday's final vote.

Outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova expressed "profound regret" at the U.S. decision and tried to defend UNESCO's reputation. The organization is best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions, but also works to improve education for girls, promote understanding of the Holocaust's horrors, and to defend media freedom.

FILE - In this Monday Oct. 17, 2016 file picture, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization logo is pictured on the entrance at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris. U.S. officials have told The Associated Press that the United States is pulling out of UNESCO, after repeated criticism of resolutions by the U.N. cultural agency that Washington sees as anti-Israel. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

Bokova called the U.S.'s planned departure a loss for "the United Nations family" and for multilateralism. The U.S. and UNESCO matter to each other more than ever now with "the rise of violent extremism and terrorism," she said.

The U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011, but the State Department has maintained a UNESCO office and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes. The U.S. now owes about $550 million in back payments.

In a statement, the State Department said the decision will take effect Dec. 31, 2018, and that the U.S. will seek a "permanent observer" status instead. It cited U.S. belief in "the need for fundamental reform in the organization."

Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel also plans to withdraw from the agency, saying it had become a "theater of the absurd because instead of preserving history, it distorts it."

Israel has been irked by resolutions that diminish its historical connection to the Holy Land and have instead named ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites.

Praising Trump's decision as "brave and moral," Netanyahu said he has ordered Israeli diplomats to prepare for Israel's withdrawal from the organization in concert with the Americans.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also praised Washington's move as heralding "a new day at the U.N., where there is a price to pay for discrimination against Israel."

"The United States stands by Israel and is a true leader for change at the U.N," Danon said. "The alliance between our two countries is stronger than ever."

U.S. officials said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the decision and it was not discussed with other countries. The officials were not authorized to be publicly named discussing the issue.

Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, called UNESCO's July designation of Hebron's Old City and the Tomb of the Patriarchs as Palestinian territory the latest of many "foolish actions" that had made the agency "a chronic embarrassment."

Haley also criticized UNESCO for "keeping Syrian dictator Bashar Assad on a UNESCO human rights committee even after his murderous crackdown on peaceful protesters"

The United States has pulled out of UNESCO before. The Reagan administration did in 1984 because it viewed the agency as mismanaged, corrupt and used to advance Soviet interests. The U.S. rejoined in 2003.

The State Department informed Bokova it intends to stay engaged at UNESCO as a non-member "observer state" on "non-politicized" issues, including the protection of World Heritage sites, advocating for press freedoms and promoting scientific collaboration and education.

"We will be carefully watching how the organization and the new director-general steers the agency," Charge d'Affaires Chris Hegadorn, the ranking U.S. representative to UNESCO, told The Associated Press. "Ideally, it steers it in way that U.S. interests and UNESCO's mandate will converge."

UNESCO's 58-member executive board plans to select Bokova's successor from among three finalists remaining from the field of seven candidates under consideration at the beginning of the week.

Along with al-Kawari, Qatar's former culture minister, the finalists are Audrey Azoulay, a former culture minister in France, and former Egyptian government minister Moushira Khattab. The board's pick then goes to the full UNESCO general assembly next month for final approval.

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Lee reported from Washington. Edith M. Lederer in New York, Aron Heller in Jerusalem and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

U.S. Charge d'Affaires to the UNESCO Chris Hegadorn speaks to the Associated-Press during an interview at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The United States is pulling out of UNESCO because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias and a need for "fundamental reform" of the U.N. cultural agency. (AP Photo/Masha Macpherson)

Demonstrators hold placards as they stage a protest against Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari Qatar's candidate of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization new leader outside the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. UNESCO's executive board is choosing a new leader to replace departing director Irina Bokova, whose tenure was marred by funding troubles and tension over its inclusion of Palestine as a member. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Demonstrators hold placards as they stage a protest against Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari Qatar's candidate for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization new leader outside the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. UNESCO's executive board is choosing a new leader to replace departing director Irina Bokova, whose tenure was marred by funding troubles and tension over its inclusion of Palestine as a member. Placard reads, "we do not negotiate with the terrorist". (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari, Qatar's candidate for the election of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization new leader, smiles at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. UNESCO's executive board is choosing a new leader to replace departing director Irina Bokova, whose tenure was marred by funding troubles and tension over its inclusion of Palestine as a member. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump's tax overhaul plan (all times local):

12:05 p.m.

President Donald Trump is pushing Republican Sen. Rand Paul to support his tax overhaul.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., smiles at President Donald Trump during an event to sign an executive order on health care in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump says Thursday he expects to pass "massive tax cuts" and that he believes "even Sen. Rand Paul" will be with him.

Paul is a Kentucky senator who's expressed concerns about the tax overhaul. The GOP can't afford to lose more than two votes from their 52-member majority.

Trump spoke as he signed an executive order on health care. He's seeking a tax overhaul that would dramatically cut corporate tax rates, reduce the number of personal income tax brackets and boost the standard deduction.

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10:35 a.m.

House Speaker Paul Ryan is lashing out at states like California, New York and New Jersey, saying the federal deduction for state and local taxes has forced the rest of the country to prop up their high taxes and reckless spending.

Ryan was defending the new Republican tax proposal to eliminate the popular state-local tax deduction, a move that's angered GOP lawmakers from those states and made them balk at supporting the tax plan. The deduction is claimed by around 44 million people and costs the government an estimated $1.3 trillion in lost revenue over 10 years.

Ryan says, "States that got their act together are paying for states that didn't." The Wisconsin lawmaker was speaking to the conservative Heritage Foundation. He says the rest of the country is "propping up profligate, big-government states."

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4:24 a.m.

President Donald Trump's tax overhaul package is getting resistance from an unusual alliance of interests opposed to his plans to scrap the federal deduction for state and local taxes.

Republican lawmakers from high-tax states such as New York, California and New Jersey, labor unions and business groups like Realtors are pressing the Trump administration to reconsider plans to eliminate the deduction. They're wary of the financial pinch that their constituents could feel.

The future of the $6 trillion plan is threatened by Republican defections even though the GOP is looking for a big legislative win ahead of next year's elections.

One Trump ally in Congress, Rep. Chris Collins, says states like New York, New Jersey, California and Illinois will need some "accommodations" to go along with the plan.

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., waves to a person in the audience as he is introduced to speak at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
HONOLULU (AP) - Southwest Airlines is planning to offer flights between Hawaii and the mainland and expects tickets to go on sale next year, airline officials said.

The Dallas-based airline made the announcement on Tuesday in a joint address by Southwest President Tom Nealon and Hawaii Gov. David Ige to thousands of employees at a company party, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported . The airline will soon begin the public application process to obtain the Federal Aviation Administration certification that allows aircraft to operate between the mainland and Hawaii.

Though the airline has not indicated what routes it will offer to the state, airline officials said they are evaluating the possibility of offering flights between the islands as well.

Southwest Chief Revenue Officer Andrew Watterson said the airline can't give a date for when its planes will start flying over the Pacific Ocean as it depends on when it receives the FAA certification.

"We know we'll get through the FAA process in time to sell tickets next year, but until the FAA gives us better indications of the authorization timeline, we're not going to speculate and put a date out there," Watterson said. "This has been a long time coming so there's no particular reason for us to rush it. For us, it's more important to do it properly than doing it a certain date."

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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - A police chief says a Texas Tech University student accused of killing a campus police officer was searched at some point but still managed to have a gun on him while being booked on a drug charge.

Lubbock police Chief Greg Stevens said during a news conference Thursday that 19-year-old Hollis Daniels III was searched after Texas Tech police officer Floyd East Jr. came to his dorm room Monday on a welfare check. He didn't explain how Daniels could have had a gun on him after being taken to the campus police station.

Police say Daniels wasn't in handcuffs while East was booking him on a drug possession charge and that Daniels pulled a handgun, fatally shot East and escaped. He was captured within two hours and is charged with murder.

Online jail records don't indicate whether Daniels has an attorney.
DETROIT (AP) - The president of the Canadian auto workers union says General Motors is threatening to move production of the Chevrolet Equinox small SUV to Mexico as a strike continues at an Ontario factory that makes the same vehicle.

Unifor President Jerry Dias says GM has declared war on Canada with the threat. A GM official with knowledge of the bargaining says they're still talking but are at impasse over job security.

About 2,500 workers at the plant west of Toronto went on strike Sept. 17. The union wants GM to designate the plant as the main Equinox producer.

Here's what you need to know about the strike:

- GM told the union on Wednesday that it's ramping up production of the hot-selling Equinox at two Mexican plants, according to Dias. Production at the plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, will wind down if Unifor Local 88 continues its 25-day-old strike, he said.

- The GM official said the company is preparing to make more of the SUVs at two factories in Mexico but hasn't made a final decision. It has invested $800 million at the Ingersoll plant to make a new version of the Equinox, which is an assurance that GM is serious about keeping work there, he said. He requested anonymity because GM doesn't normally speak publicly about negotiations.

- GM doesn't want to designate one plant as the main producer of a vehicle because it needs flexibility in case market conditions change, the official said.

- Dias said GM is taking advantage of low pay in Mexico, and he blamed the spat on the North American Free Trade Agreement: "Mexican workers are being exploited and, as a result of that, we're losing hundreds and hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in Canada and the United States."

- Dias has reason to fear that production could be moved. GM shifted production of the Chevrolet Camaro sports car from Oshawa, Ontario, to Lansing, Michigan, two years ago. The United Auto Workers union in the U.S. generally is seen as being more cooperative with companies than Unifor.

- GM is running short of supply on the Equinox, which is the hottest-selling part of the U.S. market right now. Sales are up 22 percent through September and GM has only enough of the SUVs on dealer lots to supply 41 days of sales, according to Wards Automotive. Automakers like to have 60 days' worth on hand to satisfy demand and give customers a variety to look at.

- The two Mexican factories take away leverage from Unifor, which is trying to solve problems with NAFTA in contract talks, said Kristen Dziczek, director of the Industry, Labor & Economics Group at the Center for Automotive Research, a think tank in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "The problems of NAFTA are not problems that can be solved at a local union bargaining negotiations," she said.

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CINCINNATI (AP) - The University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University said Thursday they weren't ready to announce decisions on a demand they allow white nationalist leader Richard Spencer to speak on campus.

Attorney Kyle Bristow earlier wrote emails to UC and Ohio State saying they had until Friday to agree to make campus space available for Spencer to speak or face a lawsuit.

UC spokesman Greg Vehr said university officials are considering "safety and logistical issues" associated with an appearance by Spencer, who attended a Virginia white nationalist rally at which a woman was killed in August. Vehr spoke after UC's board of trustees met for about 90 minutes in closed session Thursday.

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2016 file photo, Richard Spence speaks at the Texas A&M University campus in College Station, Texas. An attorney for associates of white nationalist leader Spencer says he'll sue Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati if they don't agree by Friday, Oct. 13, 2017 to make campus space available for him to speak. A Georgia college student contacted both schools recently about renting space in the latest effort to have Spencer speak on college campuses. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said the Columbus-based university also is reviewing the request from a Georgia college student, Cameron Padgett.

Padgett contacted both universities last month about renting space. He asked the University of Cincinnati in late September to provide an auditorium to accommodate 800 people for Spencer to speak later this month.

Bristow said Thursday he will be ready to file a lawsuit this Sunday.

"I imagine similar reviews are not required of politically left-wing events on campus, and your 'review' is therefore unconstitutionally discriminatory in and of itself," he wrote earlier to the universities.

The Ohio universities are the latest targeted for appearances by Spencer since he participated in the August white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that led to deadly violence.

Spencer is scheduled to speak Oct. 19 at the University of Florida. That university's president is urging students to stay away from Spencer's appearance and to speak out against "hate and racism."

UF says it expects to spend $500,000 on security for the event. It said as a public institution it is legally obligated to allow the expression of many viewpoints by external groups, such as Spencer's National Policy Institute.

Padgett, who attends Georgia State University, submitted a second request to Ohio State after the first was denied.

OSU said it was considering whether Spencer can be "accommodated without substantial risk to the safety of our students, faculty, staff and guests."

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Follow Dan Sewell at http://twitter.com/dansewell
WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) - Former President George W. Bush will be honored with an award at West Point.

The U.S. Military Academy's Association of Graduates will present the Thayer Award to the 43rd president on Oct. 19.

The award is given to citizens whose service in the national interest reflects the academy's motto of "Duty, Honor, Country." Past recipients include Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bob Hope and Tom Brokaw. Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, received the award in 1994.

This will be the first time a father and son have received the Thayer Award.

Last year's recipient was former FBI Director Robert Mueller.

The award is named for Col. Sylvanus Thayer, a revered early leader of the academy.

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This story has been corrected to show the former FBI director's last name is Mueller, not Muller.
CAIRO (AP) - Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church says a priest has been killed in a knife attack in a poor Cairo district, the latest deadly assault on members of the country's Christian minority.

The church says the attack took place Thursday.

Security officials say the attacker struck the priest's head with a cleaver and fled the scene, but was later arrested. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The motive was not immediately known.

Attacks on Egypt's Christians, who account for about 10 percent of the country's 94 million people, have surged in recent months, with a series of suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group killing more than 100 since December.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A prominent Greek lawyer who is the son of a deceased politician has been shot and killed at his office in central Athens.

Police officials said 52-year-old Michalis Zafiropoulos was slain late Thursday. He was the son of late conservative lawmaker and Athens Bar Association head Epaminondas Zafiropoulos, who died in 2006.

Police say anti-terrorism investigators are not currently involved in the case.

The Greek government and its conservative opposition swiftly condemned the slaying.

Judicial officials and politicians in Greece were frequent targets of shootings and bombings carried out by armed anarchist and far-left groups in the past, but there have been fewer attacks in recent years.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump plans to deliver a broad and harsh critique of Iran in a speech Friday declaring that the landmark Iran nuclear deal is not in America's national security interests, according to U.S. officials and outside advisers to the administration.

Trump's speech from the White House will outline specific faults he finds in the 2015 accord but will also focus on an array of Iran's troubling non-nuclear activities, four officials and advisers said. Those include Tehran's ballistic missile program, support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and other groups that destabilize the region.

Under U.S. law, Trump faces a Sunday deadline to notify Congress whether Iran is complying with the accord that was painstakingly negotiated over 18 months by the Obama administration and determine if it remains a national security priority. Although Trump intends to say Iran is living up to the letter of the agreement, he will make the case that the deal is fatally flawed and that its non-nuclear behavior violates the spirit of the regional stability it was intended to encourage, the officials and advisers said.

President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order on health care in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The officials and advisers, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly preview the speech, said Trump will not call for a re-imposition of nuclear sanctions on Tehran. He will urge lawmakers to codify tough new requirements for Tehran to continue to benefit from the sanctions relief that it won in exchange for curbing its atomic program. And he'll announce his long-anticipated intent to impose sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps by designating it a terrorist organization under an existing executive order, according to the officials and advisers.

In addition, Trump will ask Congress to amend or replace outright the legislation that currently requires him to certify Iranian compliance every 90 days. Officials have said that Trump hates the requirement more than the nuclear deal itself because it forces him to take a position on what he has denounced as the worst deal in American history every three months. That frequency has also irritated aides who have complained that they are spending inordinate amounts of time on certification at the expense other issues.

At the White House, Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, confirmed the president would announce the results of his Iran policy review on Friday but declined to offer any detail. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was calling foreign minister colleagues from the other parties to the deal to brief them on what to expect, the State Department said.

But in a possible preview of Trump's announcement, CIA Director Mike Pompeo blasted Iran during a speech at the University of Texas, calling Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Revolutionary Guard "cudgels of a despotic theocracy."

The IRGC, which is responsible for external operations, is expanding its power across the Middle East, Pompeo said. "Unlike ISIS and its mirage of a caliphate, Iran is now a powerful nation-state that remains the world's largest state sponsor of terror."

White House aides initially sought a venue for Trump's address that would project American power and determination. The shuttered former Iranian embassy in Washington was briefly considered before being deemed inappropriate. Officials also considered the Iwo Jima Marine Corps Memorial, which was ruled out because it is currently being renovated.

American allies, who have pressed the White House to remain in the nuclear accord, will be closely watching the president's address. Trump wants to impress on the European parties to the accord - Germany, France and Britain - the importance of fixing what he sees as flaws in the nuclear accord and addressing malign behavior not covered in the agreement.

The Europeans, along with the other parties, Iran, Russia and China, have ruled out reopening the deal. But some, notably France, have signaled a willingness to tackle unresolved issues in supplementary negotiations. Among those issues are the expiration of several restrictions on advanced nuclear activity under so-called "sunset clauses" that will allow Iran to begin ramping up its enrichment capabilities after 10 years, the end of an arms embargo and the eventual easing of demands for a halt to its missile program.

In the speech, Trump hopes to "recruit" the Europeans into joining his broad strategy, particularly by punishing the Revolutionary Guard, which he and his national security team believe is fomenting instability, violence and extremism throughout the Middle East and beyond, according to one official.

In anticipation of Trump's announcements, Republican legislators have drawn up new versions of the law replacing the current 90-day timetable with "semi-annual" certifications, according to two drafts seen by the Associated Press this week.

Both drafts, one from Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker., and one from committee member and harsh deal critic Sen. Tom Cotton, expand the U.S. certification criteria to include items that are also the province of the U.N. nuclear watchdog and require the U.S. intelligence community to determine if Iran is carrying out illicit activity in facilities to which the International Atomic Energy Agency has not had access.

The certification would also demand that the intelligence community produce judgments on Iranian behavior not covered by the nuclear deal, including missile testing and development, backing for Hezbollah and Assad and threats to Israel and the Mideast more broadly, according to the drafts.

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Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.
Smoke from wildfires is causing airline flights to be delayed or canceled in Northern California.

More than 80 flights were canceled by late Thursday morning at San Francisco International Airport, said airport spokesman Doug Yakel.

He says delays on other flights average 30 to 45 minutes. The Federal Aviation Administration says some arriving flights are delayed more than three hours.

Several flights are canceled at Charles M. Shulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, near the epicenter of fires in the wine country. Airport director Jon Stout says United and Alaska each plan a flight later, and a Sun Country flight is expected if smoke is not too bad.

Wildfires have killed at least 23 people and destroyed more than 3,500 homes and businesses north of San Francisco.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - The Latest on a federal court hearing on whether redrawn North Carolina legislative districts can be used for the 2018 election or must be altered again (all times local):

3:15 p.m.

Federal judges in North Carolina have critiqued arguments made by lawyers for Republican lawmakers and for voters over whether redrawn state legislative districts can be used in the 2018 elections.

The three-judge panel held a hearing Thursday in Greensboro on the new House and Senate boundaries, and whether they cure problems that the judges cited last year while declaring 28 districts illegal racial gerrymanders. The panel listened to more than three hours of arguments but didn't immediately rule.

GOP legislative leaders say they specifically avoided racial data when drawing the latest maps, but U.S. Circuit Judge Jim Wynn questioned how that's possible given the outside expert who helped draw the boundaries is the same person who drew the previous maps in 2011.

Lawyers for the voters who successfully sued over the earlier maps argue there are still problems with a dozen districts.

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10 a.m.

Federal judges who struck down North Carolina legislative districts for illegal racial bias are holding court before ruling whether new boundaries approved by Republicans over the summer fixed or retained the problem.

A three-judge panel is scheduled to meet Thursday in Greensboro with lawyers for legislative leaders and voters as it decides if the General Assembly's redistricting must be performed again. The judges also could sign off on the boundaries for the 2018 elections.

The Republican-controlled legislature approved new maps in August because the judges struck down nearly 30 districts drawn in 2011 as illegal racial gerrymanders.

Lawyers for GOP leaders say problems with race have been cured with the new boundaries. But attorneys for the voters who initially sued over the 2011 maps still find fault with 12 districts.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Latest on a string of attacks in Louisiana that left three people dead and a fourth wounded. (all times local):

2:30 p.m.

A neighbor of a Louisiana man charged in the slayings of three people in a string of attacks dating back to July says she never felt uncomfortable around him.

The entrance to Ryan Sharpe's home is shown in Clinton, La., Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Sharpe, a 36-year-old plumbing company owner, was charged in the killing of three people and the wounding of another in a string of attacks that authorities said started in July in a rural area north of Baton Rouge and ended this week with the death of a Boy Scouts employee. (AP Photo/Michael Kunzelman)

Traci Andes has lived next door to Ryan Sharpe for roughly a dozen years. Their homes are set back in a wooded area off a rural road in Clinton. Andes said Thursday that they chatted occasionally, and she last saw him a week ago when he stopped by to borrow her husband's welding helmet.

Authorities say four days later, Sharpe shot a Boy Scouts employee while he trimmed weeds in front of his house in Clinton.

Andes said after that shooting, she told her husband she would bring her gun outside the next time he cut their grass and stand watch over the street that runs past their home. She says everyone has been on high alert because of the shootings.

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7:30 a.m.

Authorities in Louisiana have arrested a man in connection with four shootings since July in the same area, including a Boy Scout employee who was shot and killed Monday near the camp where he worked.

The Advocate reports that authorities announced during a news conference Wednesday night that 36-year-old Ryan Sharpe of Clinton will be charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux would not comment on a motive in the shootings or say whether the suspect knew the victims.

In the most recent shooting, 48-year-old Brad DeFranceschi was shot multiple times about 11:15 a.m. Monday in front of his house on camp property, East Feliciana Parish Sheriff Jeff Travis said.

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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) - A potentially groundbreaking treatment for a rare form of blindness moved one step closer to U.S. approval Thursday, as federal health advisers endorsed the experimental gene therapy for patients with an inherited condition that gradually destroys eyesight.

The panel experts to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously in favor of Spark Therapeutics' injectable therapy, which aims to improve vision by replacing a defective gene needed to process light.

The vote amounts to a recommendation to approve the therapy. The FDA has until mid-January to make its decision and does not have to follow the panel's recommendation, though it often does.

Dr. Barry Byrne listens to testimony concerning the approval of a potentially breakthrough drug for a form of blindness during a meeting of the The Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies advisory committee, Thursday, Oct. 12. 2017, at the FDA in Silver Spring, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

If approved, Luxturna would be the first gene therapy in the U.S. for an inherited disease and the first in which a corrective gene is given directly to patients. While the therapy from Spark Therapeutics targets a small group of patients - about 2,000 in the U.S. - experts say it could pave the way for other genetic treatments for a variety of inherited conditions.

Panelists debated several specifics of the treatment, splitting on whether to require a minimum age for treatment; the company says the drug is intended for those 3 years and older. Panelists concluded that the science behind the drug - based on research from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia - was remarkably strong with few serious side effects.

Several patients attended the meeting to urge panelists to support the drug, relating experiences of seeing snow, stars and the moon for the first time. In most cases, the patients' travel expenses were paid for by the drug's developer.

Katelyn Corey, 24, described her life before the treatment as "a black and white film."

"Within days of the first treatment I could see vibrant colors again," Corey said. "I could see the clock tower of Philadelphia City Hall at night when mere days before I thought it was the moon."

Ashley Carper, a mother of two children with the disorder, said treatment has allowed her 11-year-old son Cole to read large-print books and write his own homework. Previously he could only read with Braille. Cole said the improvements extend beyond schoolwork.

"I can stay out later when my friends are outside playing and now I feel like part of the group," he said. "My vision is not perfect, but what I do have is still really important to me."

Researchers tested the treatment by recording patients' ability to complete an obstacle course at varying levels of light, simulating real-world conditions like navigating a dark stairwell. A hallmark of the inherited disorder is difficulty seeing a night. Patients with the mutation generally start losing their sight before age 18, almost always progressing to total blindness.

One year after treatment 18 out of 20 patients who received the injection showed the maximum improvement in completing the obstacle course, and 13 completed the task at the lowest level of light. None of the patients in a comparison group did.

Doctors deliver the therapy with an injection in each eye that inserts a replacement gene into the retina via a modified virus.

Philadelphia-based Spark Therapeutics hopes to use its technology to treat other retinal disorders, including one called choroideremia, which affects about three times as many people as the condition currently under FDA review. The company is also investigating therapies to treat the blood disorder hemophilia and diseases of the nervous system.

As a potential breakthrough therapy for a rare disease, much of the discussion around Luxturna has focused on its cost. Drugmakers often price similar drugs at $250,000 or more. Spark has not given an estimated cost, which companies usually announce only after approval. But the company's stock ticker symbol "ONCE" reinforces the company's hope that this will be a one-time treatment - and expense.

"It is the aspiration," Spark Therapeutics CEO Jeff Marrazzo told The Associated Press prior to the meeting.

Pharmaceutical analyst Michael Yee estimates the drug will be priced between $350,000 and $450,000 per injection. He expects sales of $40 million to $50 million in 2018, growing to as much as $100 million in 2019.

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AP Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione contributed to this story.
VIENNA (AP) - Austria is asking the European Court of Justice to declare planned highway tolls in Germany illegal, arguing that the charges discriminate based on nationality.

Austrian Transport Minister Jorg Leichtfried turned to the court on Thursday. He called the levies "a foreigners' toll" that the European Commission approved with its eyes "firmly closed."

The autobahn tolls are to take effect in 2019. All motorists would have to pay, but German taxpayers could file for refunds.

Under the plan, highway tolls would vary according to a vehicle's size and engine type.

The European Commission rejected an earlier version of the toll scheme on the same grounds Austria is citing in its court challenge. The commission approved an amended version that was intended to address its concerns.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A federal civil rights lawsuit in Ohio alleges police mishandled the arrest of a man on drugs who later died in a hospital.

The complaint filed Thursday by Jaron Thomas' estate says Columbus police were improperly trained and supervised in handling individuals suffering mental health crises. The lawsuit says Thomas was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

The complaint says police punched, body-slammed and kneed the 36-year-old Thomas on Jan. 14, causing him to lose consciousness.

The lawsuit alleges actions by police led to Thomas' death nine days later. The filing says Thomas had called 911 because of hallucinations and an adverse reaction to cocaine.

The lawsuit seeks at least $2 million in damages and would require updated training for officers dealing with mentally ill individuals.

City officials declined to comment.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina's redrawn legislative districts were debated Thursday before a panel of three federal judges who had struck down previous district maps for racial bias.

The judges must decide whether to force another redrawing of the boundaries approved by Republicans over the summer or allow them to be used in the 2018 elections.

Lawyers representing GOP legislative leaders and dozens of voters who successfully sued to throw out previous districts were subjected to 3 hours of questioning by the judges, who did not immediately rule. Later Thursday, the judges opened wider the door to choosing an outside expert to make map changes on their behalf. Candidate filing starts in February.

The judges had ordered the GOP-dominated legislature to approve new maps by Sept. 1, in keeping with their decision last year that 28 House and Senate districts drawn in 2011 were unlawful racial gerrymanders. Nearly all of the districts challenged by North Carolina voters in a lawsuit had majority-black voting age populations. Critics of the 2011 maps contend black voters were packed in certain districts so that surrounding districts would be more white and Republican. Republicans counter that they believed they could avoid voting rights litigation by creating majority-black districts whenever possible.

The previous maps were first used in the 2012 elections. They helped the GOP expand and retain veto-proof majorities in the two chambers, which in turn implemented a conservative agenda. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's 2016 election has done little so far to stop it.

The voters' attorneys still found fault with 12 House and Senate districts in the new maps and want them redrawn again. Four districts still have problems with racial bias, they argue, while eight others violate the North Carolina Constitution's prohibition against mid-decade redistricting and a rule designed to minimize district boundaries crossing county lines.

"They have exceeded the authority that this court has ordered for a remedy," said Anita Earls, a lawyer representing the voters who sued.

Thursday's questioning focused largely on the Republicans' decision to ignore racial data about the state's population during the latest round of redistricting. During legislative debate, Republicans said leaving out racial considerations would fix the problems that the judges previously found.

"Basically, the map drawer started with a clean slate," Phil Strach, a private attorney representing the GOP leaders, told the judges. Strach said all of the districts now "clearly comply with the court's judgment, and the legislature did exactly what it was told to do."

But some judges were skeptical that race could have been left out of the equation for the new maps, which Earls said looked similar to the 2011 maps. The new maps were drawn with the help of Tom Hofeller, the map expert who helped the GOP during the 2011 redistricting.

"There is certainly evidence that he knew (racial data) in the first instance," U.S. Circuit Judge Jim Wynn asked Strach. "In drawing, the second map, you're saying he didn't know this?"

Strach said there's been no evidence presented that Hofeller had access to the racial data for this most recent job. Strach also asserted that the new House and Senate boundaries are markedly different from the 2011 maps and were drawn based on common redistricting criteria - protecting incumbents among them.

U.S. District Judges Catherine Eagles and Thomas Schroeder questioned Earls and an allied lawyer about how much the legislature should have considered race in drawing the new maps. Eagles pressed for specifics when Earls said racial data should be considered to ensure the districts are fair.

"Why is it not good enough that they just started over, and did not consider race?" Eagles asked. Earls responded that the legislature's new maps can't be presumed to be constitutional, given that lawmakers already failed once drawing lawful maps.

The plaintiffs represented by Earls want the judges to replace the districts they still find unlawful with alternatives they offered to legislators, or to send the job to a third-party expert known as a special master. Republicans wants the court to sign off on their maps and object to the alternative maps they say favor Democrats.

In a written order late Thursday, the panel asked lawyers to offer by next week names of at least three possible special masters to avoid delays should the panel favor the voters.
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Romania's prime minister says two ministers named in a land transfer criminal inquiry have resigned after weeks of tensions within the government's ruling party.

Prime Minister Mihai Tudose said late Thursday he had accepted the resignations of Deputy Prime Minister Sevil Shhaideh and Rovana Plumb, minister for European funds, following a six-hour meeting of the Social Democratic Party.

Both ministers are aides of party chairman Liviu Dragnea, who is ineligible to be prime minister due to a 2016 vote-rigging conviction. Dragnea backed the ministers, but Tudose threatened to quit if they did not resign.

Shhaideh and Plumb are suspected of transferring land near the River Danube to a local council that was then illegally leased to a private company. They have denied wrongdoing.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota's oil industry is opposing some proposed rule changes.

The Mineral Resources Department is taking public comments on potential administrative rules, including one in response to a law change approved earlier this year that no longer requires spills under 10 barrels to be reported.

The department proposes that oil companies still file a document after cleanup of any spill that wasn't reported. It would include details about the spill and an explanation of how the spill volume was found.

The North Dakota Petroleum Council opposed the proposal, calling it a "backdoor reporting requirement" that goes far beyond what the Legislature intended. They also opposed a new proposed rule that would require a full environmental assessment at a well site if there was uncertainty about spills or possible contamination.

The Northwest Landowners Association supported the proposal, The Bismarck Tribune reported. The industry group objected to two other proposed rules. One would require a full environmental assessment at a well site if there was uncertainty about spills or possible contamination. Another makes changes to royalty statements.

"It's still our property, and we want to know about every spill," Chairman Troy Coons has said.

Brady Pelton, government affairs manager for the Petroleum Council, said the proposal won't provide meaningful information to royalty owners and will cost companies an estimated $500,000 to $1 million to create the software necessary to comply.

"The burdens on operators in North Dakota resulting from these changes could conceivably make the state a less competitive environment in which to operate," Pelton said.

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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com
A 42-year-old man who spent 15 years in prison for the murder of a 34-year-old disabled woman whose battered body was found in a forest on the Waukegan-North Chicago border in 1999, has won a $9million settlement after he was exonerated.

Jason Strong reached the astonishing settlement with investigators in northern Illinois Tuesday, after being released from Menard Correctional Center on May 28, 2015, two years ago.

Officials agreed to release Strong after pathologists' reports suggested prosecutors had initially been wrong about the the nature of Mary Kate Sunderlin's wounds and the time she died - essential elements to the case.

Scroll down for video

Jason Strong (pictured here) from Illinois, who was accused of killing a woman in 1999 and spent 15 years in prison for it, has been exonerated of the deadly crime

Speaking about his release, Strong, who was 24-years-old at the time he was convicted, said: 'I'm very, very happy to finally get to go home. I am extremely grateful to the people that made that possible,' reported The Chicago Tribune.

'I couldn't even speak I was so overwhelmed with emotions. Fifteen and a half years has been a long time coming,' he continued.

'So I'm just extremely happy and grateful and I can never thank these people enough,' Strong concluded.

Forensic evidence in 2015 'indicated Strong's innocence; none has suggested his guilt,' according to The Chicago Tribune.

Ten days after Sunderlin's body was discovered, the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force questioned Jeremy Tweedy, Jason Johnson, and Strong.

The trio admitted to beating the victim in Strongs room and van, however the three retracted their confessions shortly after.

The van and the room were searched by officials but no physical evidence connected them to the crime or the victim.

Speaking about his release (pictured here) Strong said: 'I'm very, very happy to finally get to go home. I am extremely grateful to the people that made that possible'

Strong's conviction was purely executed because of his, Tweedy's and Johnson's false confession and also the now incorrect assumptions made by the States forensic pathologist, Dr. Mark Witeck, who had been wrong about the nature of Sunderlin's wounds and the time of her death.

Tweedy's account of the situation changed multiple times over the years but he claims that was only because he felt pressured by authorities and he wasn't sure whether to tell the truth or not.

He once condemned Strong for the murder and claims he saw him do it, however later on he also said: 'I know for a fact that Jason had nothing to do with it because that entire confession that we gave was fictitious and was fed to us by the police.'

'A man lost ... years of his life for something that he didn't do just so they could put a conviction on their record,' he continued.

Strong looks overjoyed pictured here after it was revealed he made $9 million settlement with investigators in northern Illinois following his exoneration

Strong (pictured here) said: 'I'm just extremely happy and grateful and I can never thank these people enough,' after being released from Menard Correctional Center on May 28, 2015

Strong was convicted around five years before the victim had even been identified as 34-year-old Mary Kate Sunderlin, a mentally disabled Kane County woman.

Strong was convicted in 2000 of killing Carpentersville resident Sunderlin, however Lake County prosecutors dropped the charges in 2015, citing evidence contradicting trial testimony.

Strong received a certificate of innocence from the Lake County court in June 2016.

The lawsuit alleged that law enforcement officials from Waukegan and other members of the Lake County Major Crime Task Force conspired to wrongfully convict him, violating his due process rights and coercing a false confession through an 'unconstitutional interrogation.'

Strong now lives in Tennessee. He'll get $6 million from the city of Waukegan, a suburb of Chicago, while the remaining $3 million will be come from nine agencies that were part of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, which investigated the killing.

'Jason is remarkably strong, remarkably resilient and very determined ... about putting this behind him and moving on,' said Locke Bowman, the executive director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, which handled Strong's lawsuit.

Strong (above) was convicted in 2000 of killing Carpentersville resident Mary Kate Sunderlin. Her badly beaten body was found in a forest preserve near North Chicago in 1999
After being held for more than five years by a group with ties to the Taliban, an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been rescued.

Caitlan Coleman, of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Joshua Boyle, were abducted while traveling in Afghanistan in 2012. Coleman gave birth to her three children while in captivity.

U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday they were rescued by an "intelligence-based operation by Pakistan troops" after they'd crossed the border from Afghanistan.

FILE - In this June 4, 2014, file photo, from left, Patrick Boyle, Linda Boyle, Lyn Coleman and Jim Coleman hold photo of their kidnapped children, Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman, who were kidnapped by the Taliban in late 2012, Wednesday, June 4, 2014, in Stewartstown, Pa. Pakistan's military says soldiers have recovered five Western hostages held by the Taliban for years. Pakistan's army did not name those held, only saying it worked with U.S. intelligence officials to track down the hostages and free them after discovering they had been brought into Pakistan. (AP Photo/Bill Gorman, File)

A look at what we know and what we don't know about the couple, their rescue and what happens next:

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WHY THEY WERE IN AFGHANISTAN?

Exactly why the couple chose to enter Afghanistan is unclear.

Sarah Flood, a hometown friend of Coleman's, told the York Daily Record that Afghanistan wasn't on the couple's original itinerary. Jim Coleman, Caitlan Coleman's father, told the newspaper in 2014 that while they were in central Asia, the couple met people who spoke highly of Afghanistan.

A fellow traveler who met the couple in a hostel in Kyrgyzstan wrote on his blog that Boyle had been talking up the idea of traveling to Afghanistan, saying it was a place for true explorers and the window to visit was closing since it would only get less secure once U.S. forces withdrew.

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WHO WAS HOLDING THEM?

Members of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, kidnapped the couple near Kabul.

The network is believed to command thousands of fighters.

U.S and Afghan intelligence agencies say Pakistan's intelligence network has allowed the Haqqanis to live freely for decades in Pakistan's tribal regions, a claim Islamabad denies.

The network was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a one-time ally of the United States who achieved fame fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s and who developed close ties to the slain al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. After his death, his son Sirajuddin Haqqani took over.

The elder Haqqani aligned his group with the Taliban after the insurgents were driven from power in the U.S.-led invasion that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

___

HOW WERE THEY RELEASED?

Pakistani commandos carried out a raid when the family and their captors crossed the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan.

Boyle described being in the trunk of the kidnappers' car with his wife and children when the Pakistani forces rescued them, said his father, Patrick Boyle. He recounted the captors were killed and the five hostages survived, with him being hurt by shrapnel, the father said.

Coleman's father told ABC News he was tipped off Wednesday that good news would be coming about his daughter and she was in safe hands.

No ransom was paid, according to a Canadian official.

The family was flown by helicopter to the U.S. embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan.

___

WHO ARE THEY?

Coleman grew up a devout Catholic in tiny Stewartstown. Boyle attended a Mennonite school in Canada. The two, described as well-meaning but naive adventurers, were introduced by a friend and started their relationship online.

Boyle was once married to Zaynab Khadr, the older sister of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter of a late senior al-Qaida financier.

Her father, Ahmed Said Khadr, and the family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy. Khadr's Egyptian-born father was killed in 2003 when a Pakistani military helicopter shelled the house where he was staying with senior al-Qaida operatives.

The Canadian-born Omar Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight at a suspected al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of an American special forces medic, U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Christopher Speer.

Khadr, who was suspected of throwing the grenade that killed Speer, was taken to Guantanamo and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission. He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody.

___

WHAT DON'T WE KNOW?

It's unclear why Pakistani forces acted to free the couple and their children. The family's whereabouts were unclear as of Thursday evening, and it was unknown when they would return to North America. The family was not in U.S. custody.

Earlier Thursday, Boyle refused to get on a U.S. transport plane that was prepared to take him and his family out of Pakistan. A U.S. official said Boyle was nervous about being in "custody" given his background.

The family plans on returning to Canada, Boyle's father said.

A Pakistani channel broadcasts a report about western couple, seen at a local electronic shop in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years of being held captive by a network with ties to the Taliban, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)

In this image from video released by Taliban Media in December 2016, Caitlan Coleman talks in the video while her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle holds their two children. U.S. officials said Pakistan secured the release of Coleman of Stewartstown, Pa., and her husband, who were abducted five years ago while traveling in Afghanistan and then were held by the Haqqani network. Coleman was pregnant when she was captured. The couple had three children while in captivity, and all have been freed, U.S. officials said. (Taliban Media via AP)

Linda and Patrick Boyle, parents of Joshua Boyle, speak with the media outside their home in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman, and their three young children have been released after years held captive by a group that has ties to the Taliban and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)
BALTIMORE (AP) - A fourth Baltimore police officer has pleaded guilty to robbing and illegally detaining residents and billing for overtime hours not worked.

Federal prosecutors say 34-year-old Momodu Gondo pleaded guilty Thursday to racketeering conspiracy. He entered the plea in federal court in Baltimore.

Gondo was among eight officers on an elite gun squad who were indicted on racketeering charges alleging that they unlawfully arrested and robbed people, and participated in an overtime fraud scheme.

The case has had a profound impact on criminal cases in Baltimore. Prosecutors have dropped more than 100 cases involving the indicted officers.

Gondo faces a minimum mandatory of five years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - After years of debate, a U.S. government board has voted to rename Utah's Negro Bill Canyon, overruling a recommendation by Utah officials to keep the name.

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names decided Thursday to rename it Grandstaff Canyon to get rid of an offensive name, The Salt Lake Tribune reports . The vote was 12-0, with one member declining to vote. The decision comes 16 years after the board voted to keep the name.

The new name honors black rancher and prospector William Grandstaff, whose cattle grazed there in the 1870s.

FILE - This undated file photo shows a sign at the entrance of the Negro Bill Canyon Trailhead in Moab, Utah. After years of debate, a U.S. government board has voted unanimously to rename Utah's Negro Bill Canyon, overruling a recommendation by Utah officials to keep the name. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names decided Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, to rename it Grandstaff Canyon to get rid of an offensive name. The new name honors black rancher and prospector William Grandstaff, whose cattle grazed there in the 1870s. (John Hollenhorst /The Deseret News via AP, File)

"His name was Grandstaff; it was not Negro Bill," said Wendi-Starr Brown, a member of the federal board who is Native American. "I'm pretty sure that's not how he wanted to be addressed in life."

Brown is a member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe who represents the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the federal board.

The Utah Committee on Geographic Names had recommended keeping the name, citing a lack of consensus from state minority groups.

The NAACP said the name is not offensive and preserves the history of the site, while the Utah Martin Luther King Jr. Commission called the name "blatant racism."

The canyon is home to a popular hiking spot in Moab, the gateway to stunning, massive red rock formations. Local officials and business owners have long said the name generates frequent complaints and outcry from tourists who come from around the world, lured by the red-rock landscapes in nearby national parks.

A proposed name change in 1999 failed after it received little government support.

Spurred by complaints from tourists, the Grand County Council voted in January to change the name after refusing to do so in 2013 and 2015.

A year ago, the federal Bureau of Land Management changed signs to say "Grandstaff Trailhead" instead of "Negro Bill" trailhead.

"I think we have to look forward," said federal board member Elizabeth Kanalley, manager of National Geospatial Services at the Forest Service.

She said keeping the old name would not recognize that it is hurtful to people.

Mary McGann, a member of the Grand County Council, said she's very happy with the decision.

"It needed to go because it was enabling," McGann said. "It was the right thing to do."

But Moab resident Donna Jordan, a member of the Grand County Historic Preservation Commission, said she disagrees with the decision.

Why do we need to change the historic canyon name? This is similar to removing historic statues to appease a few," Jordan said. "History is history. If we hide those lessons and are not reminded of them, we do not learn from them."

___

This story has been corrected to show that Wendi-Starr Brown is Native American, not black.

___

Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
Theresa May has admitted she cannot guarantee the status of an estimated 1.2 million UK nationals living in other EU countries if Britain fails to reach a withdrawal deal with Brussels.

And she warned that rights held by more than three million EU nationals in the UK could fall away if the hoped-for agreement is not sealed by the date of Brexit in March 2019.

Answering questions from callers on an LBC radio phone-in, Mrs May was challenged by a woman from north London called Nina, who has been in the UK for 30 years, over whether the PM could guarantee her right to stay following Brexit.

Mrs May said she wanted people like Nina to be able to remain and was seeking agreement with the remaining 27 EU states on reciprocal rights for Britons living on the continent.

But she said: The point is that there are certain rights that pertain to somebody who is an EU citizen here in the UK by virtue of being an EU citizen  things like benefits they are able to access in relation to their home country and in relation to the UK.

Some of those issues would fall away if there was no deal because there wouldnt be agreement between us and the EU about how those things would be looked at, so we would have to look at these issues separately in a no deal scenario.

And on the status of British nationals in Europe if no deal is reached, Mrs May said: We dont know what would happen to them. The EU member states would have to consider what their approach would be to those UK citizens.

By definition, if there isnt a deal we wont have been able to agree with the EU what happens to UK citizens currently living in countries like Spain and Italy and other members of the EU.

(PA Graphics)

Mrs May made clear on Monday that the Government is making active preparations for a no deal scenario, publishing policy papers setting out how Britain would deal with trade and customs arrangements if no agreement is reached.

But European Council president Donald Tusk said that Brussels was making no plans for what would happen if talks fail and Britain crashes out without a deal.

Mrs May insisted: I am not the one who keeps talking about no deal. We have teams of people working on every possible outcome. You would expect the Government to prepare because we dont know what will happen. We are working really hard to get a really good deal.

The PM said the UK and EU were very close to agreement on citizens rights following her speech in Florence last month.

And she said her overall message for EU nationals in Britain was I want EU citizens to stay here in the UK, I want to be able to guarantee these rights, we are not going to be throwing EU citizens who are here in the UK out of the UK in the future.
Hollywoods ongoing saga involving disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein continues to feature prominently in Thursdays papers.

Since allegations of sexual harassment were first published last week, a string of showbiz stars and high-profile figures have come forward to make further accusations or condemn the movie moguls behaviour.

The latest celebrity to speak out is actress and supermodel Cara Delevingne, the Daily Mirror reports, who claims Weinstein made advances towards her in a hotel room.

A selection of British newspapers

The paper brands the award-winning producer a sex beast, and says Delevingne told how she felt powerless and scared by the encounter.

Tomorrow's front page: Hollywood sex beast lured me to hotel for threesome#tomorrowspaperstoday https://t.co/18DtEd9NZM pic.twitter.com/kPiinc6uzr  The Mirror (@DailyMirror) October 11, 2017

The i takes a different angle to the story, reporting on Prime Minister Theresa Mays attack on Weinstein.

Mrs May released a strongly-worded statement calling the allegations deeply concerning, the paper reports, as senior politicians demanded the film boss be stripped of his CBE.

Meanwhile, The Guardian features a first-person piece by actress Lea Seydoux, star of the film Spectre, who describes an encounter with Weinstein in his hotel room.

She claims she had to defend herself when the producer jumped on her and tried to kiss her.

Away from Weinstein, the paper also reports on claims by the International Monetary Fund that higher income tax rates for the rich could help reduce inequality without having a negative impact on economic growth.

Guardian front page, Thursday 12 October 2017: Time to tax the rich to help the poor, says IMF pic.twitter.com/VvjQOdxtjY  The Guardian (@guardian) October 11, 2017

Political matters also dominate many of the other front pages, with the Daily Telegraph reporting on the revival of the dementia tax row.

Social care minister Jackie Doyle-Price said pensioners should not regard their homes as an asset to give to their offspring, the paper says, and that it was unfair for younger taxpayers to prop up people to keep their property when it could be sold to help pay for their care needs.

The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph: 'Homes aren't an asset to give to your children, says minister' #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/2kLDV2owOX  The Telegraph (@Telegraph) October 11, 2017

In a turbulent time for the Conservative party, tensions appear to be reaching breaking point between Mrs May and Chancellor Philip Hammond, the Daily Mail reports.

The paper says relations between the pair were plunged into the deep freeze as Mrs May dramatically slapped her Chancellor down after he undermined her Brexit strategy.

Elsewhere, The Times says US President Donald Trump looks set to meet the Queen next year in a downgraded visit to the UK, while the Daily Express reports that the monarch will no longer lay the wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday as Prince Charles takes over the duty.

Tomorrow's front page: Trump set to meet Queen in downgraded UK visit #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/kUg1C0rGHZ  The Times and The Sunday Times (@thetimes) October 11, 2017

reports that British IS recruiter Sally-Anne Jones, dubbed the White Widow, has been killed in a US drone strike.
Jeremy Hunt was asked to admit how bad the situation was for doctors as he faced questions from GPs.

The Health Secretary took two questions from delegates after speaking at the Royal College of GPs annual conference in Liverpool.

Despite enormous pressure, GPs are delivering outstanding patient care a high satisfaction rate - @Jeremy_Hunt #RCGPAC  RCGP (@rcgp) October 12, 2017

He told GPs there was no silver bullet to the problems facing them but the Government was absolutely committed to increasing funding and capacity.

One delegate told him two primary care workers in a peer support group she was involved in had committed suicide.

Another urged him to acknowledge how bad the situation is and asked for the 350 million which it was claimed would be saved after Brexit to be pledged to GPs.

We have pledged to increase number of GPs from 34,000 to 39,000 by 2020 says @Jeremy_Hunt #RCGPAC - committed to this  RCGP (@rcgp) October 12, 2017

Mismatch between amount of work we're asking GPs to do with number of GPs to do it @Jeremy_Hunt #RCGPAC  RCGP (@rcgp) October 12, 2017

Mr Hunt said: I did not say when I was here before that we were going to solve these problems overnight.

He told the conference: You can make a big difference in your own practices.

This isnt going to be something that the Health Secretary solves for you, its going to be something that we solve together.

 for general practice has been falling since 2005 but it is rising and by 2020/21 will be highest says @Jeremy_Hunt #RCGPAC  RCGP (@rcgp) October 12, 2017

.@Jeremy_Hunt acknowledges GPs report not feeling impact of more investment into general practice on the ground #RCGPAC  RCGP (@rcgp) October 12, 2017

In his speech, he said: There isnt a silver bullet to the problems and challenges facing GPs but we do have a plan and we are implementing that plan.

There was laughter in the hall as chairman of the RCGP Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard introduced Mr Hunt and asked delegates to give him a professional and respectful welcome.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt

He told delegates: Too many of the GPs I meet are knackered, they are often feeling at the end of their tether, they feel that theyre on a hamster wheel of 10 minute appointments, 30 to 40 every day, seem never ending.

They dont feel able to give the care that they would like to to their patients and increasing numbers of them are choosing to work part-time and at worst to leave the profession.

We have to think really hard about how to stop that happening if were going to use the magic of general practice to do what we need it to do for the NHS.

DB - quality is being maintained despite challenging circumstances 55% NHS acute hospital services rated good, 89% GP practices good. pic.twitter.com/bFh30jp4E3  Care Quality Commission (@CareQualityComm) October 10, 2017

The breakdown of Good and Outstanding services by CCG area https://t.co/58BzU3jHex #StateofGP pic.twitter.com/eRdMX6sHwX  Care Quality Commission (@CareQualityComm) September 26, 2017

#StateofGP overall GP ratings



4% Outstanding

86% Good

8% Requires Improvement

2% Inadequatehttps://t.co/58BzU3Bi65  Care Quality Commission (@CareQualityComm) September 26, 2017

During the speech Mr Hunt pledged a package of measures to help GPs.

They included a one-off payment to try to entice 200 GPs who are beginning their careers to work in areas struggling to secure family doctors  such as rural practices and those by the seaside.

We surveyed GPs and CCGs and asked what they thought the future held for general practice. Read the results here > https://t.co/p6NqN1AL5i pic.twitter.com/tXKup82AGF  Nuffield Trust (@NuffieldTrust) October 10, 2017

From 2018, surgeries in hard to recruit to areas will benefit from the new 4 million scheme.
The Duke of Cambridge has told descendants of New Zealand soldiers who fought and died at the Battle of Passchendaele that although we may never truly understand the conditions they endured we can remember.

Speaking at a centenary service commemorating the actions, valour and commitment of the Kiwis, William said newsreels may have described them as ordinary men and women but there was nothing ordinary about their service or their sacrifice.

Today The Duke of Cambridge is attending the New Zealand National Commemoration for the Battle of Passchendaele on behalf of The Queen. pic.twitter.com/OtSNaYwhCk  The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 12, 2017

The Commemoration marks the centenary of 12 October 1917, a date which became known at the 'darkest day' for New Zealand's armed forces.  The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 12, 2017

On this day in 1917, during the Battle of Passchendaele, New Zealand lost 843 men. More than 100 others died later of their wounds.  The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 12, 2017

The Duke, who represented the Queen at the event in Belgium, was joined by the countys Princess Astrid and delivered his speech at Tyne Cot cemetery, near the town of Ypres in Flanders, surrounded by thousands of headstones of Allied servicemen who died in the Great War.

October 12 1917 has become known as the darkest day of the war for the New Zealand Division, which suffered heavy loses when they were ordered to take an area called Bellevue Spur but were bogged down in shell holes under enemy fire.

The Duke meets representatives of the New Zealand Parliament and government at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Flanders, which is run by @CWGC pic.twitter.com/SqSlk8KGuf  The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 12, 2017

On that day, more than 840 Kiwis were killed fighting in a foreign land far from home  part of a huge toll of dead and injured both sides suffered that summer.

The Duke said: All too often the newsreels speak of ordinary men and women. There was nothing ordinary about their service or their sacrifice.

As we have heard, October 12th 1917 was the darkest day in the military history of a proud and committed people.

King George V visited Tyne Cot Cemetery in 1922, and many members of The Royal Family have returned since, including The Queen in 2007. pic.twitter.com/pjSb1o8sl8  The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 12, 2017

For New Zealanders, the loss of more than 840 men in just a few hours is seared into the national consciousness. All told, the Battle of Passchendaele would claim close to two thousand lives - a devastating toll for a country with a population of just over a million.

Half a world away, news of the losses was felt like a shockwave. Every death here left a shattered family there. Entire communities were robbed of their young people. No part of New Zealand was untouched by loss.

At the National Commemoration Service The Duke gave an address of behalf of The Queen. pic.twitter.com/FWeXBvaLj1  The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 12, 2017

David Carter, speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, earlier told how Kiwi soldiers described devastating scenes amidst a porridge of mud and a place that stamps itself on ones mind and memory  like a red iron.

William went on to say: The fight in these fields was of a magnitude and ferocity that is difficult for us, today, to fully comprehend. But while we may never truly understand, we can remember.

Before the service began, William and Astrid were greeted by the Maori cultural group of the New Zealand Defence Force, whose spiritual calls and chants rang out across the white headstones.

The Duke shared the traditional Maori greeting with Willie Apiata

The Duke also shared the traditional Maori greeting  a hongi  with Willie Apiata, the first and so far only recipient of the Victoria Cross for New Zealand.

The ceremony had an added poignancy as Tyne Cot cemetery is close to the battlefields of Passchendaele, and it ended with a bugler sounding the Last Post and the guests observing a minutes silence.

William, who was dressed in a suit and wore a poppy and his medals, laid a wreath in recognition of the sacrifices of the fallen.
Barcelona are preparing to launch a fresh attempt to sign Philippe Coutinho during the winter transfer window after being thwarted by Liverpool over the summer.

Coutinho handed in a transfer request in an effort to engineer a move to the Catalan giants, who had three bids rejected as the Reds made clear they were unwilling to part with their star man at any price.

The 25-year-old has since been eased back into the first-team picture following a back injury and has underlined his importance to Liverpool with goals in each of his last three outings.

Philippe Coutinho was the subject of three bids from Barcelona in the summer

Barca are unwilling to concede defeat in their pursuit of the Brazil midfielder and are set to test Liverpools resolve in January  although any new arrivals must be offset by departures.

Chief executive Oscar Grau said in quotes reported in several national newspapers: We are ready to buy Coutinho in the winter market or any player the technical staff request. But it is important to adjust ourselves, so if there are to be arrivals, there must be exits as well.

Barca sold Coutinhos international team-mate Neymar to Paris St Germain for a world record 222million euros (200.6million) fee in August.

But Grau added: We must forget about the price paid for Neymar last summer. After taxes we received about 188million euros in income and a direct financial impact on the clubs treasury of 144million euros.
The United States is pulling out of Unesco after repeated criticism of resolutions by the UN cultural agency that Washington sees as anti-Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel plans to follow suit.

While the US stopped funding Unesco after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011, the state department has maintained a Unesco office at its Paris headquarters and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes.

Unesco

The withdrawal was confirmed on Thursday by US officials.

Unesco director-general Irina Bokova, who is Bulgarian, expressed profound regret at the decision and said the departure was a loss for the United Nations family and for multilateralism.

She said the US and Unesco matter to each other more than ever now because the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security.

Today, US notified @UNESCO Director-General @IrinaBokova of the US decision to withdraw from the organization. https://t.co/JA9WirHMLE  Department of State (@StateDept) October 12, 2017

US indicated to Director Gen. @IrinaBokova its desire to remain engaged with @UNESCO as a non-member observer state. https://t.co/JA9WirHMLE  Department of State (@StateDept) October 12, 2017

Ms Bokova defended Unescos reputation, noting its efforts to support Holocaust education and train teachers to fight anti-Semitism.

She traced the decades-long US ties with Unesco, and noted that the Statue of Liberty is among the many World Heritage sites protected by the UN agency.

Mr Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel will also withdraw from the agency, which had become a theatre of the absurd because instead of preserving history, it distorts it.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has instructed the @IsraelMFA to prepare Israel's withdrawal from UNESCO in parallel with the US.  Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 12, 2017

He said he has ordered Israeli diplomats to prepare Israels withdrawal from the organisation in concert with the Americans.

Israels ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, praised Washingtons move as heralding a new day at the UN, where there is a price to pay for discrimination against Israel.

He said: Unesco has become a battlefield for Israel bashing and has disregarded its true role and purpose. The organisations absurd and shameful resolutions against Israel have consequences.

. @UNESCO became an Israel-bashing battleground, disregarding its true purpose. Now its shameful anti-Israel resolutions have consequences  Danny Danon    (@dannydanon) October 12, 2017

Ms Bokovas two terms as director have been deeply scarred by the 2011 Unesco vote to include Palestine as a member, funding troubles and repeated resolutions seen as anti-Israel.

Many saw the vote to include Palestine as evidence of long-running, ingrained anti-Israel bias within the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.

Unesco is best known for its World Heritage programme to protect cultural sites and traditions around the world.

Today is a new day at the @UN. There is a price to pay for discrimination against Israel.  Danny Danon    (@dannydanon) October 12, 2017

The US stands by Israel, leading true change at the @UN. The alliance between our two countries is stronger than ever.  Danny Danon    (@dannydanon) October 12, 2017

The agency also works to improve education for girls in desperately poor countries and in scientific fields, to promote better understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust and to defend media freedom, among other activities.

The Trump administration has been preparing for a likely withdrawal for months, and a decision was expected before the end of the year, according to US officials.

Several diplomats who were to have been posted to the mission this summer were told that their positions were on hold and advised to seek other jobs.

In addition, the Trump administrations proposed budget for the next fiscal year contains no provision for the possibility that Unesco funding restrictions might be lifted.

The lack of staffing and funding plans for Unesco by the US have been accompanied by repeated denunciations of Unesco by senior US officials, including US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

The US pulled out of Unesco in the 1980s because Washington viewed it as mismanaged and used for political reasons, then rejoined it in 2003.
The number of American tourists visiting Scotland has soared over the last year.

Official figures show there were more than 707,000 visits from North America in the year to the end of June, up 38% on the previous 12-months.

Visitors from North America also spent more, with figures showing a 48% rise over the period, from 495 million to 732 million.

WOW!!  This is the view of the Aonach Eagach in the Highlands!  #ScotSpirit  IG/suilven_731m pic.twitter.com/0C44j0vC1s  VisitScotland (@VisitScotland) October 11, 2017

Across all international markets visits to Scotland were up 11% and spending increased by 19% to more than 2 billion.

Tourism Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: The continued rise in overseas tourists is encouraging. They are spending more too, particularly those coming from North America.

It is great news for our economy. Scotland offers an memorable visitor experience for people that choose our country as their holiday destination.

Here are a few quirky ways to get around #Scotland. Which one will YOU choose?  https://t.co/qTFylwt3ts pic.twitter.com/CJf8LJFp7M  VisitScotland (@VisitScotland) October 10, 2017

VisitScotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead said: It is magnificent to see such spectacular growth from international markets in what has been a busy year for tourism in Scotland.

Across the board from accommodation provider to CalMac Ferries to Edinburgh and Glasgow airports, we have heard from many who have had a record-breaking year.

Such major growth from our international markets can be attributed to increased, targeted marketing activity in key North American and European countries, favourable exchange rates, increased capacity on flights and the Outlander effect which has taken the country by storm since the release of the popular TV series.

Loch Achray and Ben Venue, on a late autumn morning   FB/Karl Williams Photography @lomondtrossachs pic.twitter.com/8JTkHuT7Ew  VisitScotland (@VisitScotland) October 10, 2017

Of course with great numbers comes great responsibility, and it is imperative the countrys tourism industry remains sustainable.

This includes looking at how we can share the tourism windfall with lesser known parts of Scotland and outside of peak season, alongside ensuring that infrastructure meets current and future demand.
A Westminster debate on emergency Northern Ireland legislation could be held on Monday.

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire has repeatedly warned he will pass a budget to run public services if political negotiators cannot find agreement.

If a resolution is found over the weekend, lawmakers could provide for restored devolution at Stormont but Mr Brokenshire has said clear differences remain between the parties.

James Brokenshire

Sinn Fein and the DUP have been engaged in intensive discussions about the prospects of resurrecting devolved powersharing.

Mr Brokenshire said: I want to be in a position to legislate to form an Executive as soon as possible but to do so I would need to be satisfied that there is agreement between the parties.

Whilst this remains possible, and some progress has been made, clear differences still remain between the parties and agreement has yet to be found.

Sinn Fein leader Michelle O'Neill on speculation powersharing deal has been reached with DUP- still very real challenges to be addressed" pic.twitter.com/qZShxhOSTo  Siobhan Fenton (@SiobhanFenton) October 12, 2017

If this cannot be resolved quickly, I will need to legislate for a budget for Northern Ireland by the end of this month and consider next steps.

The Secretary of State said he would be reluctant to see more political decisions made at Westminster rather than Belfast.

He added: Now is the time for the parties to look beyond their differences, harness a spirit of compromise and reach agreement.

If a deal was not reached imminently, greater intervention from London risked becoming inevitable, he said.

This would be a big step backwards, a step I do not want to have to take. But I will not shirk from my ultimate responsibility for good governance and political stability in Northern Ireland.

The Executive has been in cold storage for most of the year after a major fall out between the DUP and Sinn Fein over a botched green energy scheme.

DUP leader Arlene Foster, Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire and Sinn Finn leader Michelle O'Neill (Owen Humphreys/PA)

It prompted the resignation of late deputy first minister Martin McGuinness and collapse of the institutions.

Disputes over the place of the Irish language and other identity issues have bedevilled efforts to rebuild a consensus.

The British Government has made parliamentary time available to reinstate Stormont powersharing next week should a deal be clinched, it emerged on Thursday.

The Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom said she was hopeful of good news.

Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom (Alastair Grant/AP)

Sinn Feins northern leader Michelle ONeill said: We have been engaged over recent days in intensive talks to get the political institutions up and running with equality, respect and integrity at their core.

A new Executive can only be sustainable if there is an end to the denial of rights which citizens enjoy everywhere else across these islands.

There are still very real challenges to be addressed in the talks if we are to have political institutions which deliver for, and enjoy the confidence of all citizens.

The two governments have a responsibility to ensure previous agreements and commitments are implemented.
The Queen met a Bletchley Park veteran as she helped mark the centenary of the Womens Royal Naval Service (WRNS) and the Womens Army Auxiliary Corps.

The visit to the Army and Navy Club was the Queens first public event in London since her Balmoral summer break.

It comes a day after the announcement she will not lay a wreath at the Cenotaph this year as part of the annual Remembrance Sunday ceremony.

Queen Elizabeth II

The Queen and The Princess Royal meet Charlotte Webb MBE, 94, who worked at Bletchley Park during World War Two. pic.twitter.com/SgiOpF4X73  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) October 12, 2017

Accompanied by the Princess Royal, the Queen was given an insight into the work of the WRNS100 project, which is celebrating the formation and history of the organisation and recognising the role of women in the Royal Navy today.

The Queen, who is patron of the WRAC Association, met senior naval and army members alongside veterans who joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in 1941 and worked at Bletchley Park until VE Day.

Betty Webb, 94, of Birmingham, was with the ATS from 1941 until 1946.

Her Majesty views an exhibition that charts the progression of women serving in the Army from 1917 to the present day. pic.twitter.com/Zn5pNbYRym  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) October 12, 2017

She worked at Bletchley Park registering the messages which came in and said she felt very privileged after meeting the Queen.

The Queen will watch the Remembrance Sunday ceremony on November 12 in Whitehall from the balcony of the Foreign Office and the Prince of Wales will take her place in laying the floral tribute on behalf of the nation.

Mrs Webb said: It is saddening but I think it is wise because all that standing for that length of time  it would frighten me to death. Just knowing that she will be there will be important.

In 1945, aged 18, The Queen joined the ATS & became the first female member of The Royal Family to join the Armed Services full-time. pic.twitter.com/Zn7F6vFkD2  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) October 12, 2017

We were both in the ATS at the same time. The Queen was younger than me  she was serving as a mechanic when I was serving in Bletchley Park.

After meeting the Queen, Mrs Webb said: It was absolutely wonderful.She was so sweet. She is such a gracious lady.

The Queen asked a small group of ATS veterans  all aged between 90 and 94  where they served.

Joan De Vall, 92, of Leicestershire, was in the ATS from 1943 until 1946.

Joan De-Vall aged 92 and Barbara Danter aged 90, both served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. pic.twitter.com/h5UW0Z0EMs  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) October 12, 2017

After speaking to the Queen, Mrs De Vall said: She (the Queen) said I was looking very well and I said so are you maam.

She added that being part of the ATS had made her feel that every soldier to me is (like) my brother.

WRNS100 in 2017 is celebrating the valuable work still done by the WRNS Benevolent Trust and the Association of Wrens.

There are about 116 national and regional events planned, culminating in a service at Portsmouth Cathedral in November, during which a commemorative stone marking the formation of the WRNS and all the women of the Naval services will be dedicated.
Prince Harry has been invited by former US President Barack Obama and his wife to attend the inaugural summit of the statesmans foundation.

Harry has developed a firm friendship with the Obamas and has agreed to take part in the event being held on October 31 in Chicago.

When her husband was in office, then First Lady Michelle Obama attended the opening ceremony of Harrys Invictus Games for wounded and injured service personnel when it was staged in Orlando, Florida, last year.

Barack Obama and Prince Harry. (Danny Lawson/PA)

Prince Harry will attend the inaugural @ObamaFoundation summit in Chicago on 31st October. pic.twitter.com/wWQxWmc5pK  The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) October 12, 2017

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the prince hosted Mr Obama and his wife at Kensington Palace when they travelled to the UK for the last time before he left his post.

The official website of the former American leader says the mission of his foundation is to inspire and empower people to change their world.

Kensington Palace said: During the event Prince Harry will take part in a conversation about ways to support and encourage youth leadership to tackle both local and global challenges.

His office said the prince would use part of the discussion to highlight a project in Nottingham, supported by his Royal Foundation, that aims to deter youngsters from becoming involved in youth violence and gang-related activities.
Johanna Konta has not given up hope of appearing at the WTA Finals, despite not being able to qualify outright.

The British number one has pulled out of next weeks Kremlin Cup in Moscow with an injury to her left foot, meaning in-form Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia has taken the final spot for the end-of-season showpiece in Singapore.

However, Konta is hoping to recover in time to take an alternate place, which would see her claim the spot of any player forced to pull out.

Johanna Konta in action at Wimbledon

If she does not make it in Singapore, she hopes to be fit to compete in the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai  a tournament for the ninth to 16th best players of the year.

Konta said on Instagram: As you all might have seen, Ive needed to withdraw from Moscow.

I am obviously sad that I couldnt continue my battle to make it to Singapore, however its a massive congratulations to all the girls that have qualified.

I am working hard to recover well and still make it to Singapore as an alternate and to be competing in Zhuhai.

Thank you everyone for the continued support and Ill be seeing you guys soon on court.

It is the second year in a row that the 26-year-old has narrowly missed out on reaching the WTA Finals.

Twelve months ago, she travelled to Singapore and took part in all the pre-tournament publicity only for Svetlana Kuznetsova to usurp her at the final moment by winning the Kremlin Cup.

Garcia, whose brilliant run of recent form has seen her overtake Konta in the race, joins Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza, Karolina Pliskova, Elina Svitolina, Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Ostapenko in the field.
An influential committee of MPs is ramping up pressure on Britains financial watchdog to publish details of misconduct at Royal Bank of Scotland and has threatened to use formal powers to demand publication of a leaked report.

Nicky Morgan, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, has written to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief executive Andrew Bailey proposing to appoint Andrew Green QC as an independent legal adviser to compare the regulators impending summary with the underlying report into the scandal at RBSs controversial restructuring unit.

The FCA has so far refused to publish the report in full, claiming that it would reveal confidential information about individuals, instead offering a detailed summary.

Treasury Select Committee chair Nicky Morgan said "formal powers" may be used. (PA)

In the latest twist in the saga, Ms Morgan said if the FCA refuses the proposal for independent legal scrutiny of the summary, or if the legal adviser does not provide the necessary assurances, the committee may look to force the FCA to publish.

She said: The committee wants the maximum possible transparency to be brought to this long-standing issue.

With that in mind, it has proposed an arrangement under which it appoints an independent legal adviser to provide assurances that the FCAs summary closely reflects the underlying GRG (Global Restructuring Group) report.

If the FCA declines this proposal, or if the legal adviser cannot provide the committee with the assurances it needs, the committee may use its formal powers to require the FCA to produce the report.

The threat comes after the committee called last month for publication of the report into mis-treatment of small business customers at the RBS restructuring unit following a leak to the BBC in August.

Mr Bailey pushed back, saying that publishing the skilled persons or Section 166 review  which collects insight about a firms activities from third parties  would mean revealing confidential information about the individuals who contributed to it.

He said the FCA would provide a summary and has asked external lawyers to ensure it is a fair and balanced account of the reports findings.

The FCA also has yet to decide whether the case requires a formal investigation.

In her latest letter to Mr Bailey, Ms Morgan said the FCA has lost the confidence of many former GRG customers by so far failing to disclose key details in initial summaries of the report.

She said the committee understands the need for so-called section 166 reports, which are not normally published, adding the proposal for an independent legal adviser takes that into account.

An FCA spokesman said the regulator welcomes further dialogue with the committee on providing assurance about the publication of the summary.

He added: The FCA has committed to publishing a detailed summary of the GRG report.

To provide assurance on the summary, we previously asked an independent external counsel to confirm that it is a fair and balanced account of the full reports findings.

The committees calls for publication have echoed those by the SME Alliance and lawyers suing RBS on behalf of businesses affected by the scandal  which allegedly saw RBS turnaround unit GRG intentionally push businesses towards failure in hopes of picking up their assets on the cheap.

The study was commissioned by the regulator almost four years ago as part of its inquiry into its GRG, and while the FCA pledged last November to publish a full account from the skilled persons report, it has so far refused to make it public.
By Reem Shamseddine

MANAMA, Oct 10 (Reuters) - A new 350,000-barrels-per-day oil pipeline between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain will be completed next year to serve the planned expansion of Bahrain's refinery capacity, while construction of a gas pipeline is being considered, Bahrain's oil minister said.

Bahrain is in final negotiations with a preferred bidder to expand its only oil refinery and a contract is expected to be awarded before the year-end, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Khalifa said in an interview.

He did not identify the bidder, but sources told Reuters in August that a consortium including TechnipFMC, Samsung Engineering and Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas had submitted the lowest bid.

The kingdom is also building its first liquefied natural gas terminal, which will allow it to import LNG for domestic use. Saudi Aramco could potentially use the terminal as part of a wider scheme to connect Gulf Arab countries with a gas pipeline, Sheikh Mohammed said.

"With flexibility like that, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and others will have access to LNG infrastructure in Bahrain, for example. The idea is to eventually have everybody linked up by gas. That is a concept under consideration," he said.

"But I think the interesting part is that if there was a line between us and Saudi, Aramco can start using the LNG terminal, the one we are building."

Saudi Arabia does not currently import gas, but its energy minister said last year that it might eventually do so to increase the use of gas in its energy mix.

"If Saudi Arabia opts to use the LNG project, the project could easily be expanded to allow larger LNG imports and a portion of the re-gasified fuel gas would flow by pipeline to Saudi," said Sadad al-Husseini, a Saudi energy analyst and former executive vice-president at Saudi Aramco.

Bahrain's gas terminal, expected to be completed in 2019, will have a capacity of 800 million standard cubic feet per day. Bahrain has not yet made a deal to buy gas, but the minister said his country had been talking with Russia.

The project is jointly owned by Bahrain's Oil and Gas Holding Co (Nogaholding) and a consortium of Teekay LNG Partners, Gulf Investment Corp and Samsung C&T.

Sheikh Mohammed said Bahrain was talking with Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Co about the possibility of installing an aromatics plant with the refinery expansion.

Any plans to expand the Abu Safa oilfield, which Bahrain shares with Saudi Arabia, will depend on oil markets, but for the time being there are no such plans, he said. Bahrain now produces 200,000 bpd of oil including output from Abu Safa.

Instead, authorities are looking to increase output from Bahrain's own oilfield by tapping pre-khuff gas, which is gas located in deep deposits, Sheikh Mohammed said.

Bahrain also has long-term plans for offshore gas exploration. "We are open to it - we are waiting for the market to be right. Now there is a depressed market and you don't get the best deals ... so we are doing a lot of internal work to prepare."

Sheikh Mohammed said Bahrain, a small non-OPEC oil producer, would support any decision that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries took on production policy. He praised the current agreement on production restraint.

"I think the deal was positive - it has brought prices from the 40s to the 50s (dollars per barrel). What we see now is a reduction of inventories ... The unknown is how quickly shale adapts." (Editing by Andrew Torchia and Dale Hudson)
MILAN, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Italian bioplastics multinational Mossi Ghisolfi is considering selling its Italian business in the biofuels sector as part of a restructuring deal, a source close to the matter said.

The company, Italy's second-biggest chemicals business behind that of oil group Eni, has hired Mediobanca to run the process, the source said.

Mossi Ghisolfi (M&G), founded by the Ghisolfi family in 1953, is famous for introducing in Italy and across Europe PET, a plastic used for soft drink bottles like those of Coca Cola and Pepsi.

In 2013, it considered listing its M&G Chemicals unit in Hong Kong but then pulled plans as market conditions worsened.

The unexpected death of former managing director Guido Ghisolfi in 2015 and, more recently, big cost overruns at its Corpus Christi PET plant in the United States have hit business.

Last year M&G Finanziaria, the holding owned by the Ghisolfi family, saw its operating profit fall 90 percent to 6.9 million euros on revenues of 1.7 billion euros. It reported an overall net loss of 92 million euros.

In Italy, M&G Finanziaria controls Beta Renewables - the first plant in the world to produce second-generation ethanol.

"A series of private equity and industrial players have expressed an interest," the source said, but added no decision to sell had yet been made.

Rothschild is handling the group's restructuring process in the United States, the source added.

M&G declined to comment. (Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Silvia Aloisi and Mark Potter)
By Anthony Boadle

BRASILIA, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal audit court on Wednesday ordered a freeze of former President Dilma Rousseff's assets as well as those of Jose Sergio Gabrielli, ex-head of state-run oil company Petrobras, over a $580 million loss in the 2006 purchase of a Texas refinery.

The order also covered former Finance Minister Antonio Palocci and three members of the board of directors of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, who approved the controversial purchase.

The court, known as the TCU, said it detected "irregularities" in the purchase of the refinery in Pasadena, Texas, a move that it considered made no business sense.

Rousseff said in a statement that there was no evidence any crime was committed by Petrobras board members who approved the deal.

Petrobras paid $360 million for half of Pasadena Refining in 2006, more than eight times what its previous owner, Astra Oil, a unit of Belgian-controlled Astra Transcor Energy, paid for the 112,000-barrel-a-day refinery a year earlier.

By 2012, Petrobras had sunk $1.18 billion into it including the cost of buying out Astras remaining half after a legal dispute between both firms.

Rousseff, who was impeached last year for breaking budget rules, was chief of staff for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the time of the refinery purchase and chaired the Petrobras board of directors. She succeeded Lula in 2011.

Federal prosecutors investigating overpriced Petrobras contracts in the country's largest ever corruption scandal centered on the oil company said in 2015 that they uncovered evidence that $15 million in bribes were paid as part of the initial purchase of 50 percent of the refinery. They said Petrobras overpaid for the facility and alleged it was in terrible condition.

Rousseff said the purchase was decided based on incorrect financial and legal information provided by a director who has since been convicted of corruption. She added that the TCU has in previous rulings exempted board members of responsibility for the losses incurred.

The TCU said the freeze would last one year and cover assets that could guarantee the return to public coffers of the losses run up by Petrobras in buying the refinery.

It was not clear how the $580 million could be recovered.

Rousseff's assets declared before her 2014 re-election included three apartments, two land lots and a house in the southern city of Porto Alegre, plus cash and savings, totaling 1.75 million reais ($551,754). (Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu and Anthony Boadle; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)
By Nate Raymond

BOSTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - A Brazilian whose arrest led U.S. authorities to discover $17 million hidden under a mattress is expected to plead guilty next week after being charged with trying to launder funds tied to one of the largest pyramid schemes ever.

Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, who prosecutors said tried to help get money out of the United States that a co-founder of TelexFree Inc left behind when he fled the country, had been set to enter his plea in federal court in Boston on Wednesday.

Due to an issue with an interpreter, the hearing was rescheduled for Oct. 19. Rocha, 28, faces conspiracy and money laundering charges. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Rocha's case stemmed from an investigation of TelexFree, a Massachusetts-based company that sold voice-over-internet telephone service and was founded by James Merrill, a U.S. citizen, and Carlos Wanzeler, a Brazilian.

Prosecutors said TelexFree was a pyramid scheme, making little to no money selling its service while taking in millions of dollars from thousands of people who paid to sign up to be "promoters" and post ads online for it.

TelexFree collapsed in 2014, inflicting more than $3 billion in losses on nearly 1.89 million people worldwide, prosecutors said.

Merrill was arrested in 2014. He was sentenced in March to six years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges.

Wanzeler in 2014 fled to Brazil, where he cannot be extradited from, prosecutors said. They say that in the process, Wanzeler left behind tens of millions of dollars he laundered from TelexFree accounts.

In mid-2015, Leonardo Casula Francisco, Wanzeler's nephew, asked a cooperating witness to help transfer cash hidden in the greater Boston area out of the United States, an indictment said.

The pair agreed someone would be sent to the United States to deliver the money in increments to the witness, who would send it to accounts in Hong Kong where it would be transferred to Brazil, prosecutors said.

In December, Casula sent Rocha to the United States to deliver money to the witness, an indictment said.

Prosecutors said that following a Jan. 4 meeting in a parking lot where Rocha gave the witness $2.2 million in a suitcase, federal agents followed Rocha to a Westborough, Massachusetts, apartment complex.

After Rocha was arrested, he helped agents locate the apartment, leading them to find $17 million hidden under a mattress, prosecutors said. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Leslie Adler)
By Clyde Russell

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Oct 12 (Reuters) - With spot Asian iron ore having fallen back below $60 a tonne, the price of the steelmaking ingredient appears to be heading toward a level more in line with supply and demand fundamentals.

However, as usual the risk when a rally reverses as quickly as the current decline in iron ore is that prices overshoot to the downside.

The Asian spot price <.IO62-CNO=MB> fell to $59.65 a tonne on Wednesday, the lowest level in 3-1/2 months and a drop of 25 percent since the recent peak of $79.65 in late August.

Iron ore is now well below the $78.87 it fetched at the end of 2016, and it is proving to be a volatile year, with two strong rallies being followed by sharp reversals.

Both the surge to the 2017-high of $94.86 a tonne in late February and the August-peak were driven by optimism over robust steel output in China, which buys about two-thirds of global seaborne iron ore shipments.

The latest drop in iron ore prices has come as some of the optimism over Chinese steel production and demand fades, especially in the light of ongoing mill closures as part of efforts to improve air quality ahead of the major conference of the ruling Communist Party, which starts on Oct. 18.

While prices have been volatile, China's import demand has been remarkably stable.

Imports for the first eight months of the year were 714 million tonnes, a gain of 6.7 percent from the same period last year, according to customs data.

While official numbers for September are yet to be released, vessel-tracking and port data compiled by Thomson Reuters suggest another steady month.

Seaborne iron ore imports were 87.2 million tonnes in September, slightly down from August's 88.6 million, according to the data.

The vessel-tracking data and the customs numbers don't tally exactly, given differences as to when cargoes are assessed as having been cleared. The ship data also doesn't account for imports that arrive via rail or truck from countries such as Mongolia.

There is the risk that iron ore imports may be somewhat lower in the last quarter of this year, given the expected closure of steel mills and China's ample port inventories, which rose to 133.8 million tonnes in the week to Oct. 6.

Inventories <SH-TOT-IRONINV> are lower than the record 141.4 million tonnes, reached in late June, but they are also well above the 114 million tonnes recorded at the end of 2016.

If iron ore demand is curtailed by curbs on steel production in the next few months, it should result in lower imports or a further build-up of port stocks, both of which should be bearish for prices.

POLLUTION CONTROLS

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection released a plan in August that outlined pollution abatement measures in 28 northern cities from October to March, and reports suggest that shutdowns of steel mills and other heavy industries such as aluminium smelting have already commenced.

The enforced curbs on steel raise the possibility that sentiment toward iron ore will be hit, driving the price below the $53.36 a tonne low so far this year, reached on June 13.

However, the futures curve of Singapore Exchange contracts , which are based on the Steel Index spot price, has been flattening as prices have declined since the recent August-peak.

The curve usually trades in backwardation, with front-month contracts commanding a premium over those dated further out.

The premium of the front-month contract over the six-month was $2.58 at the close on Wednesday, down from $3.71 on Aug. 21, the day prior to the start of the current slide in prices.

While not a huge shift in the structure of the curve, it does illustrate that the market probably believes the current reversal in prices is unlikely to become a rout.

There may be some justification in that thinking, although much will depend on the tone and substance of the upcoming policy meeting of China's rulers.

If it appears likely that the authorities will keep the infrastructure and construction spending pump primed in 2018, iron ore will likely get a boost along with other industrial commodities.

Certainly, China's steel industry is still relatively bullish, with the industry association expecting demand to rise 3-4 percent this year, and output to rise from 808 million tonnes in 2016 to 840 million this year.

If this optimism is retained going into 2018, it may make any drop in spot iron ore prices below $50 a tonne short-lived.

(Editing by Joseph Radford)
KIEV, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Naftogaz imported 7.1 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas imports in the first nine months of this year, by about 53 percent from a year earlier, Ukraine's state-run energy firm said on Thursday.

Ukraine, which previously imported gas from Russia, has been buying from European states instead since halting Russian imports in November 2015 following Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Naftogaz said almost all of its imported gas came from Slovakia.

It said it bought gas from 12 European suppliers including Germany, Switzerland, France, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Poland and Italy.

The company said others Ukrainian companies had imported an additional 3.6 bcm of gas including 1.9 bcm from Hungary, 0.9 bcm from Poland and 0.8 bcm from Slovakia.

Ukrainian gas transport monopoly Ukrtransgaz said on Thursday that gas in storage had risen to about 16.7 bcm by Oct. 10 in preparation for winter.

Ukraine is likely to accumulate about 17 bcm of gas in underground storage to prepare for winter, the energy ministry has said.

For the last heating season, which runs from October to April, Ukraine had 14 bcm of gas in reserve.

Ukraine, which produces about 20 bcm of gas per year, consumed 32.4 bcm in 2016, of which 11.1 bcm was imported. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; editing by Jason Neely)
MOSCOW, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The following are some of the stories in Russia's newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- The Moscow housing renovation fund set up by the city authorities to support the project of replacing Soviet era buildings with modern homes will be granted tax concessions, according to a draft government document.

- The subsidiaries of state controlled companies will be ordered to coordinate their plans on importing goods and services with the government, the daily says. The move is to encourage state companies to purchase goods made in Russia, the daily says.

KOMMERSANT

www.kommersant.ru

- A court in St Petersburg has given a suspended sentence to a businessman accused of stealing 200 million roubles ($3.47 million)from a fund the defence ministry was planning to spend on building up its infrastructure in Russia's Arctic zones, the daily says.

IZVESTIA

www.izvestia.ru

- Valentina Matviyenko, head of the upper chamber of Russia's parliament, criticizes the Economy Ministry for forecasting slow social and economic development of Russia by 2020 which will lag behind the targets outlined by President Vladimir Putin.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA

www.ng.ru

- Fifty two percent of Russians surveyed by Levada-Center pollster are ready to support Vladimir Putin as Russia's next president. At the same time, 41 percent of people said they saw no reason to vote as the result was predictable, the daily says. ($1 = 57.7025 roubles) (Reporting By Tatiana Ustinova)
MOSCOW, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Thursday of illegally building up its forces in Poland and the Baltic region, saying it had quietly deployed an entire armoured division in breach of the main pact that governs Moscow's relations with NATO.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the alleged breach had occurred when Russia was conducting large-scale military exercises called 'Zapad-2017" with ally Belarus last month.

Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the ministry, said in a statement that troops from the U.S. 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team were meant to have rotated out of the region leaving their equipment to be manned by colleagues from the U.S. 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team.

Instead, Konashenkov said, the 2nd Armored Brigade had quietly deployed to Poland with its own armoured vehicles, while tanks and armoured vehicles from the 3rd Brigade had stayed and could be manned within 2 hours by bringing in troops from the U.S. Ramstein Base in Germany.

"So despite declarations from NATO and the U.S. about 'the insignificant nature' of troops concentrated along the Russian border a mechanised division, rather than a brigade, has been deployed," said Konashenkov. (Reporting by Andrew Osborn/Polina Devitt; Editing by Dmitry Solovyov)
CAIRO/BEIRUT, Oct 12 (Reuters) - A ceasefire deal for a Syrian rebel enclave south of Damascus was reached on Thursday, brokered by Cairo and Moscow, Egyptian state media said.

The agreement, which includes the Jaish al-Islam rebel faction, went into effect at midday on Thursday (1000 GMT), Egyptian state television said.

"We announced a preliminary agreement over the will to enter into a ceasefire and de-escalation deal for the area," Jaish al-Islam political leader Mohammad Alloush said in televised comments. Details would be worked out in the near future, he said.

The announcement did not name the exact area or towns covered by the ceasefire, and did not mention the Syrian government. There was no immediate comment from Damascus.

Rebel factions hold a small pocket of territory south of Damascus, bordered to the west by an Islamic State enclave and surrounded from the other sides by Syrian troops and allied forces.

Backed by Russia, Iran and Shi'ite militias, the Syrian government has pushed back rebels over the past year, shoring up its rule over the main urban centres.

Through a series of military offensives and evacuation deals, the government has snuffed out several opposition pockets around the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Thousands of rebels and civilians have poured into the insurgent-held Idlib province in northwest Syria, transferred out of towns and cities that the Syrian army retook.

In recent months, a string of ceasefire deals has eased some of the fighting between government forces and rebels in western Syria, including a truce in the southwest brokered by Russia and the United States. (Reporting by Omar Fahmy in Cairo and Beirut bureau; Editing by Gareth Jones and Andrew Heavens)
By Carolyn Cohn and Emma Rumney

LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group has agreed to buy Zurich Insurance's UK workplace pensions and savings business as it expands its retirement business, the bank said on Thursday.

Life insurers and asset managers in Britain have been refocusing their businesses to capitalise on rule changes giving pensioners more freedom on how to spend their pension pots.

The deal "is a clear signal of Lloyds Banking Group's commitment to the financial planning and retirement segment", said Antonio Lorenzo, Lloyds' director of insurance and wealth and chief executive of its life insurance business Scottish Widows.

Zurich Insurance is in the middle of a major strategy overhaul, which involves simplifying the group's structure, cutting $1.5 billion in costs and shaping up its underperforming general insurance unit.

Earlier this year, Zurich merged its UK life and general insurance businesses into one division, which it said would lead to a reduction of 240 mainly back-office jobs.

"We are...focusing on markets where we have strong assets and can best serve our customers and distributors," said Tulsi Naidu, chief executive of Zurich UK.

The Zurich UK pensions and savings business has 15 billion pounds ($19.8 billion) in assets under administration and around 500,000 customers, Lloyds said in a statement.

Scottish Widows has more than 124 billion pounds of funds, of which 35 billion pounds are in workplace pensions.

Lloyds has not disclosed the price for the deal.

As part of the deal, Zurich will gain distribution rights for group life protection to some of Lloyds' corporate clients, the bank said.

Around 200 Zurich employees, mainly based in Cheltenham, in the west of England, are expected to transfer to Lloyds.

Bankers have also speculated that Scottish Widows and Standard Life Aberdeen could form an insurance tie-up. Lloyds is a major shareholder in Standard Life Aberdeen.

A Lloyds spokeswoman declined to comment on market speculation.

"In line with our stated strategic aims, Lloyds Banking Group would consider opportunities where we are under-represented," she said in an emailed statement. ($1 = 0.7569 pounds) (Additional reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi in Zurich; Editing by Rachel Armstrong/Keith Weir)
SANTIAGO, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Chilean President Michelle Bachelet welcomed more than 60 Syrian refugees to the country's capital of Santiago on Thursday, as Chile joined other Latin American nations in offering safe harbor to families fleeing Syria's civil war.

At a ceremony at the country's airport in Santiago, Bachelet greeted 14 newly arrived Syrian families, who will be resettled in furnished homes with social benefits, including monthly stipends, schooling, healthcare and language classes.

"We know you have struggled and what we hope is that, in our country, you will find a place to rebuild your lives," Bachelet said.

More than 2 million people fleeing wars or persecution have joined the ranks of the world's refugees in 2017, according to the United Nations, even as the United States and countries in Europe have begun to implement ever more restrictive asylum policies.

The humanitarian crisis has prompted several South American nations, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia, to begin accepting small numbers of refugees from Syria. (Reporting by Antonio de la Jara; Writing by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Bill Trott)
By Dominique Vidalon and Pascale Denis

PARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Business travellers to France are in the sights of online rental marketplace Airbnb, according to a senior official on Thursday at the company best known for hosting holidaymakers.

Airbnb For Business was launched in 2015 for companies looking for new and cheaper ways to accommodate staff on business trips and for Airbnb to keep up its rapid expansion.

Business travel is growing faster than leisure travel and corporate customers now account for some 15 percent of rental nights booked on Airbnb. The goal is to lift that ratio to 30 percent by 2020.

"We think there are very good prospects for Airbnb in business travel and France is definitely a market we are looking at," Jon Liebtag, Airbnb's head of business travel for EMEA told Reuters, mentioning Germany and Britain too.

In France last year the number of stays booked on Airbnb by business travellers grew four-fold.

With over 400,000 listings, France is Airbnb's second largest market after the United States, and Paris, the most visited city in the world, is its biggest single market, with 65,000 homes listed.

AMBITIONS UNCHECKED

Founded in San Francisco in 2008, Airbnb, which matches people wishing to rent out all or part of their homes to temporary guests, has become a mainstay for holidaymakers.

Liebtag, who moved from San Francisco to London in April to spearhead the European push, was in Paris on Thursday to meet potential corporate clients.

"Right now we focus mostly on Paris but we will expand elsewhere in France," he said.

Initial corporate clients include tech-focused groups like BlablaCar, Europe's biggest ride-sharing start-up, but Airbnb is seeing larger more established firms joining, such as Morgan Stanley and Ernst & Young.

Worldwide, business travel spending reached $1.3 trillion in 2016 and is estimated to grow by 6.1 percent in 2018 and 7 percent in 2019 and 2020, according to the Global Business Travel Association.

In France, business-travel spending was $38.6 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach $56.2 billion in 2021.

Airbnb has launched "Business Travel Ready", through which users can select accommodation which fulfil requirements such as Wi-Fi, 24-hour check-in and a laptop-ready workspace.

NOT ALL PLAIN SAILING

The firm has clashed with hoteliers and authorities in cities from New York to Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris which in some cases are limiting short-term rentals. Critics accuse it of exacerbating housing shortages and driving out lower-income residents.

Its push into business travel may attract further ire from traditional hotel groups, which see Airbnb as unfair competition. Some 48 percent of bookings at hotels in France are for business travel in France. That ratio is as high as 60 percent for AccorHotel, Europe's largest hotelier.

Liebtag played down those concerns.

"I do not look at hotels as a competition for this type of travel. We are not going after the road warriors who are travelling 100 days a year," he said.

An estimated 60 percent of Airbnb customers are tech-savvy "millennials".

"Business travel is the loneliest type of travel away from your family and friends. You want to feel at home and the ability to live like a local," Liebtag said.

Privately-held Airbnb raised $1 billion in its latest round of funding in March, valuing the company at $31 billion. The company which operates in more than 65,000 cities worldwide turned profitable in the second quarter of 2016. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; editing by Luke Baker and Elaine Hardcastle)
BEIRUT, Oct 12 (Reuters) - A first convoy of the military operation that Turkey is carrying out in Syria's Idlib province crossed into the area late on Thursday, two rebels and a witness said.

The convoy included about 30 military vehicles, said Abu Khairo, a commander in a Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel group based in the area, and it entered Syria near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, according to a civilian witness.

It was heading to Sheikh Barakat, a hilltop that overlooks large areas of rebel-held northwestern Syria, but also the Afrin area held by the Kurdish YPG militia.

The convoy was escorted by fighters from Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance of jihadist groups including the former al Qaeda affiliate previously known as the Nusra Front, Abu Khairo said.

"The Turkish army convoy is entering under the protection of Tahrir al-Sham to take positions on the front line with the YPG," another FSA official in the area said.

Turkey said on Saturday it was carrying out a military operation in Idlib and surrounding areas as part of a deal it reached with Russia and Iran last month to enforce a "de-escalation" zone in northwest Syria.

The zone is one of several set up around Syria to reduce warfare between rebels, including groups backed by Turkey, and the government, which is supported by both Russia and Iran.

Tahrir al-Sham opposes the de-escalation deal with the government, but its role in escorting the Turkish reconnaissance team on Sunday indicated there might not be any direct military confrontation between its fighters and Turkey.

The Turkish military operation in Idlib will also include Syrian rebel groups involved in the Euphrates Shield operation that Ankara launched in Syria last year further to the east, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

Tahrir al-Sham and Euphrates Shield rebels have fought previously and the jihadist alliance has this year battled other insurgents in Idlib and surrounding areas in an effort to consolidate its control.

Turkey's decision to launch the Euphrates Shield campaign a year ago was aimed partly at pushing Islamic State from its border, but also at stopping the Kurdish YPG from gaining more sway.

Backed by the United States in its battle against Islamic State, the YPG has seized much of northeastern Syria and was trying to link that territory up with its canton in Afrin.

Turkey regards the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that it is fighting at home, and by gaining a presence in Sheikh Barakat, its forces would surround Afrin on three sides.

Several Turkish military vehicles, ambulances and tankers were visible in photographs published by Turkey's Anadolu news agency late on Thursday stationed at a village near Turkey's Reyhanli border gate opposite Bab al-Hawa. (Reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman; additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; writing by Angus McDowall in Beirut; editing by Toby Chopra and Jonathan Oatis)
Credit is due to this young film maker for making an intelligent movie. The challenge now is to find an intelligent audience

The acting is excellent. Sasithas victims are played by Veena Jayakody, Damitha Hemachandra, Sulochana Withanachchi and Geetha Alahakoon

Malaka Devapriyas debut feature Bahuchithavadiya (The Undecided) could do with another title. Smooth operator would aptly describe the films main character, a young delivery rider called Sasitha. He has affairs with four women, ranging from young to middle-aged, and director/script writer Devapriya makes an entertaining, highly intelligent comedy about this universal character.



The discussion which followed the screening at the Tharangani cinema on Sunday was interesting, but those among the audience who voiced their views missed the main point about the film. One said this was the second turning point in Sri Lankan cinema, the first being Dharmasena Pathirajas Ahas Gawwa. Others spoke of how it captured the frustrations of youth, speaking out for an entire generation as Ahas Gawwa did.

But Bahuchithavadiya is nothing of the kind. What it does is to introduce a new type of anti-hero as its main protagonist, a type new to Sri Lankan cinema. Whether this is a turning point or not is matter of debate. Incidentally, there is rarely any talk, if ever, if Battleship Potemkin was a turning point in Soviet Cinema or Citizen Kane was that for the Americans, or Pather Panchali transformed Indian cinema or if Rashomon was a turning point for the Japanese. But Sri Lanka is obsessed with turning points. It looks as if we are spinning or turning once every decade or so. At any rate, our cinema does.

Bahuchithawadiya is about the frustrations of a particular youth. Sasitha (Kalana Gunasekara) isnt just a womaniser. He has picked up the not-so-fine art of living off women, several at a time, and here we have a universal character which occurs in all ages, countries and cultures. It perpetuates the myth that women are more gullible than men. As anyone who has successfully gotten through Kindergarten knows, it isnt just women who are gullible when it comes to being conned. Confidence tricksters find their victims without any gender bias. In this context, though, women end up with both their purses and bodies preyed upon.

Malaka Dewapriya winning the Best film Cinema of Tomorrow award for his film Bahuchitawadiya at the 5th Derana Sunsilk Film Awards 2017.



In the film, four women are being tricked and fleeced by this predator. Ultimately, hes the biggest victim, because the women have different motives for selecting him for their favours, from genuine love and affection to sexual gratification and companionship in their lonely lives. Thats the principal difference between Malaka Devapriyas principal character and Pathirajas down-and-out dreamers. They are decent young men. They dont prey upon lonely women just because they are sexually frustrated. Instead of preying upon widows, divorcees and spinsters, they start smuggling watches from the harbour due to sheer desperation. Because of that innate sense of decency, a generation of young men could identify themselves with Pathirajas characters.

But Sasitha in Bahuchithavadiya is different. He has no sense of decency (unless Pathirajas characters, he has a job). If viewers could identify themselves with that character, then what we have would be a deeply troubled society in need of rehabilitation. Thats why Bahuchithavadiya cant be the voice for any generation. In this context, as it was the case in mine, most young men focus on finding one suitable partner to share ones life with. It was hard enough then and its still hard despite most people now having 300 or 600 or 3000 notifications on Face Book. Decency is still a valued, but rare quality. Thats why Face Book is just a game of cards with smiling faces imprinted on them, and winners are rare. Its all about shuffling without results. Occasionally, though, con artists like Sasitha score because thats how Murphys Law works in such cases.



Those who made a living out of snaring women have always been exotic curiosities in any generation. But they are universal characters, with inherently more dramatic value than the long-suffering husband who raises a family on moonshine jobs and loans, worrying about heart attacks all the time and eventually dying of cirrhosis of the liver or type two diabetes (nowadays from thirty plus).



This is where this films success lies. Sasitha is an original character in Sri Lankan cinema. Thats a real breakthrough. There have been conmen before, but not on this scale and intensity. Sasitha is an intelligent young man who is inherently lazy. He is too lazy to support his struggling sister and her home-based dressmaking business. His voice is lazy. So are his body, his gaze and his movements. In one scene, he gives in to an uncharasteristic, frenetic tribal dance. Then it vanishes from his character, like a deluge in the Sahara. Hes smart enough to figure out how to dupe women and live off them. He isnt smart enough to know that his only way out is to marry one of them before hes found out. His confusion lies in an impossible dream  to marry a white woman and live off her in the West (even Cyprus is OK, he concedes to his middle-aged mistress, and he doesnt mind someone mind 20-30 years old). His tragedy is that, while an attractive dark-skinned woman whos well off offers him everything  a visa to Dubai and a job, a home, love and marriage  he rejects her for a white woman hell never find. People blinded and destroyed by their utopias while the reality they reject offers survival, even a shot at happiness, are all around us. It can happen to the most intelligent of people. The director has succeeded here in taking a very ordinary type and making an utterly believable, and tragic, figure out of that. Thats a very intelligent piece of script writing and direction.



Hes a new type of anti-hero in Sri Lankan cinema. Examples of precedents can be found in Handagamas films, or in Dharmasiri Bandaranaikes Thunveni Yamaya, or even from the 60s or 70s commercial cinema. But such anti-heroes  Gamini Fonseka, Senadheera Rupasinghe or Wally Nanayakkara were dashing crooks and conmen. They were also more ethical and morally upright. They were loyal to their friends and faithful lovers and husbands to their wives. They were in fact heroes.



But Sasitha isnt a dashing screen figure. Hes neither handsome nor ugly, neither tall nor short, and has absolutely no charm. Hes physically a coward. He talks of serious crime (robbing a bank) but opts for the softer crime of conning women. In the one scene where hes threatened with physical violence, he backs out. Hell never be a hero.



But hes a smooth talker when it suits his purpose, and succeeds in getting money as well as sex from all his partners, an astounding rate of success. But this is not a profound study of what makes such people so good at conning women (they appear regularly in the news, having wed or bedded anything from four to forty partners while ripping them off. Instead, its an amusing, but ultimately tragic, study of one such characters self-destructive path. It isnt a study of inner psychology but of outer mechanisms, and it works because here is a character straight off the street or office of anyones experience  everyone knows someone who looks and talks like Sasitha. He could be a technician, driver, lawyer or company executive. Hes everyman. As an anti-hero, hes more fully rounded than any other Sri Lankan cinematic character one can think of, and its a bold, mature director who can cast such a type in the main role of his debut feature.



Why do women find him so attractive? The film doesnt try to explain that. Another problem with this film is that all the characters are without any redeeming quality (a factor mentioned earlier when reviewing Motor bicycle), unless we take the character of Damitha Hemachandra and think of her love for Sasitha as a redeeming quality. His nameless friend in the film (Rajitha Hewathanthirige) is having an affair with his friends sister behind his back. Sasithas employer is a former leftist whos exploiting the only employee he has. Sasithas girl friend (Sulochana Withanachchi) becomes the employers mistress after dumping him. The present generation of film makers, one can conclude, have a very harsh view of the world. Its their privilege. Pathirajas characters didnt live in paradise but theres a charm about them totally lacking in contemporary cinema.



The acting is excellent. Sasithas victims are played by Veena Jayakody, Damitha Hemachandra, Sulochana Withanachchi and Geetha Alahakoon. Prasadini Atapattu plays the role of Sasithas friends ex-wife. Chintaka Somakirthis cinematography is dark and moody, and the superb opening sequence hints at the mentally unstable and predatory nature of the main character. Chithral Somapalas score is unobtrusive, leaving the drama to unravel without propping it up.



Credit is due to this young film maker for making an intelligent movie that is (intentionally or not) very funny at times. The challenge now is to find an intelligent audience. Tharangani cinema was packed and most of the crowd could not get in. But distributors live in mortal fear that these festival films will not bring in a return. This film was made five years ago, but still hasnt found a distributor. The distribution system is chronically ill and the film corporation cuts a pathetic figure in this context.



There is too, a lengthy kissing scene in the film (perhaps the longest kiss in Sri Lankan cinema, and there have been very few to date) which the censors have failed to notice. Or they may not have seen it yet. Dinosaurs cant be made to dance the tango, but they can at least look the other way when those who can, try it.
It was not clear as to whether Mr. Rajapaksa was serious when he said that President Mahinda Rajapaksas Government was to allow commemoration of LTTE leaders such as Thileepan, had they been in power another one year

This is an admission that the lands have not been released by the Yahapalana Government as well merely for political reasons - for fear of criticism by the Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalists

The media coverage of controversial issues, especially ethnically sensitive issues is sometimes strange with some media institutions or journalists preferring to suppress certain stories, despite their significance being high in a national perspective.

Two recent Supreme Court verdicts can be cited as cases in point.



In a landmark ruling the Supreme Court declared that Advocating for a federal form of Government within the existing state could not be considered as advocating separatism and that the Illankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) does not, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State.

The ruling was given dismissing the petition filed by H. K. Don Chandrasoma of Kelaniya who sought a court order declaring that ITAK is a political party which has as one of its aims and objects the establishment of a separate State.



One would have felt bitter with the courts decision.

I have a special attachment with the North. I took steps to remove land mines and facilitate agriculture. I changed the face of the north, which then had houses without roofs and provided 24 hour electricity supply. We sent the Yal Devi train again to the north.

But it was no doubt an important ruling, as it rejects the notion held by many Sinhalese political parties, organisations and individuals that federalism is synonymous with separatism.

Nevertheless, the story failed to find space or air time in Sri Lankan media.

Also the Supreme Court had given a similar verdict on the highly controversial and ethnically sensitive Wilpattu land issue in August this year.

The court observed that the resettlement in Wilpattu area had taken place according to the law and civilians were resettled on the original lands of the settlers, which they had inhabited before the evacuations took place during the 30-year war against the LTTE.

Again, except for one or two newspapers, other media outlets deemed it insignificant for publicity.

Rajapaksas had totally ignored the minority votes after their landslide victory at the 2010 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections that were held fresh from the war victory against the LTTE.



The story of raping a Rohingya refugee girl by a Police Constable a few weeks ago wouldnt have come to light unless a group allegedly led by some monks barged into the UNHCR safe house for Rohingya refugees in Mount Lavinia on September 26.

Media again seems to have thought it fit to suppress the story.



The Tamil media quoted Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Chief Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera as justifying at a press conference in Colombo last month the erection of a monument for the slain leader of the LTTE Velupillai Prabhakaran in Nandikkadal lagoon. Sinhala and English media did not publish the story.

Northern people are well aware that the JO, has been attempting to scare the southern people by claiming that the Government was releasing the lands endangering national security

Only the State media other than a few Tamil newspapers were interested in carrying the speeches made by former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa in Jaffna days ago, where he had touched upon the ethnically sensitive land issue in the north, the issue of people missing during the war, commemorating LTTE leaders and war crimes.

It is not clear whether it is their audience or themselves that the media was careful not to hurt by not publishing these nationally important stories.



We thought that it is pertinent to discuss this matter before taking up some of the issues Mr. Basil Rajapaksa had dealt with during his tour in Jaffna.



Rajapaksas visit to the North before visiting many southern parts of the country seems to point to his understanding of the vitality of the minority votes in future elections.

Rajapaksas had totally ignored the minority votes after their landslide victory at the 2010 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections that were held fresh from the war victory against the LTTE.



Many ministers including Champika Ranawaka had told then that the minority votes no longer worth in deciding election results.

If they can do so, it would be a great step towards winning minority support, as it would instill confidence in Muslims and Christians as well that they would not be let down as happened earlier in case of threats during a future government led

by Rajapaksas



However, they were proven wrong at the very next Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in 2015 where President Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated by Maithripala Sirisena after a sober campaign, thanks mainly to the BBS and other anti-Muslim groups.



Basil Rajapaksa had elaborated further the controversial points he had touched on during the membership drive of his party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in the north in an interview with a Tamil newspaper over the weekend. Here are some of the points he had made during the interview:



I have a special attachment with the North. I took steps to remove land mines and facilitate agriculture. I changed the face of the north, which then had houses without roofs and provided 24 hour electricity supply. We sent the Yal Devi train again to the north.



Jaffna University students had told me that they were allowed to commemorate Thileepan, the former LTTE leader in Jaffna. In fact, had we been in power for another year, we too would have given permission for such commemorations. We were giving such rights step by step. It was we who removed first the road blocks put up during the war and instituted the Northern Provincial Council It was during our time that more lands were released to their original owners. There are more lands which could be released even now. If they are not released the owners must be compensated. We even shifted the Army Headquarters in order to facilitate development activities. Therefore lands in the north must be given back to their owners. Why are these people still holding back the fisheries harbours without giving them to the fishermen?



No war crimes had been committed during the war. But, if anybody had committed any, they must be investigated. We have to look into the missing peoples issue with compassion. We had appointed the Paranagama Commission to sort out this problem. Government has to take immediate action in this regard. Thus goes on the interview.

Rajapaksas observation on many issues including the land issue in the North is clearly an exposure of hypocrisy on the part of major political parties in the south including the SLPP.



He says that the lands occupied by the Army should be released to their rightful owners. But northern people are well aware that the Joint Opposition, including the SLPP, Wimal Weerawansas NFF and Udaya Gammanpilas PHU has been attempting to scare the southern people by claiming that the Government was releasing the lands occupied by the security forces endangering the national security.



Minister Rajitha Senaratne has stated that the obstacle to the release of lands had been removed with Rajapaksas remarks on the matter made during his Jaffna tour.

This is an admission that the lands have not been released by the Yahapalana Government as well merely for political reasons - for fear of criticism by the Mahinda

Rajapaksa loyalists.



Basil Rajapaksa tells the northerners that the problem on the missing people must be resolved forthwith. At the same time his party and the Joint Opposition incite the southerners against the establishment of an Office of the Missing

Persons (OMP).



Their stand in the south is that taking action on the issue of missing persons was tantamount to sending the armed forces personnel to

the guillotine.



That itself is an indictment against the armed forces. Neither do they demand action upon the report of the Paranagama Commission, which Rajapaksa was boasting about.

On the allegation of war crimes, Rajapaksa tells the people in the north that the allegations, if any, should be investigated. Is this the stand that his party and the Joint Opposition take in the south?



Northerners do make allegations of war crimes, such as those on the killing of Prabhakarans younger son Balachandren, LTTE journalist Isaipriya and the outfits Batticaloa leader Ramesh.



Is that the position of the SLPP, NFF and PHU that these allegations should be investigated?



It was not clear as to whether Mr. Rajapaksa was serious when he said that President Mahinda Rajapaksas Government was to allow commemoration of LTTE leaders such as Thileepan, had they been in power another one year.



People might be interested to know the response to this remark by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa and leaders of the NFF and the PHU. We do not know if the SLPP/Joint Opposition abides henceforth by the Basil Rajapaksas Jaffna Declaration.



If they can do so, it would be a great step towards winning minority support, as it would instill confidence in Muslims and Christians as well that they would not be let down as happened earlier in case of threats during a future government led

by Rajapaksas .



Besides, had President Mahinda Rajapaksa had the political will to take his brothers current stand fresh from the end of the war, he might most probably have won the Nobel Peace Prize, considering the fact that President Maithripala Sirisena had been shortlisted for it, eight years after the end of the war.
What does Patali know about politics that Harini doesnt know?

Sri Lanka is going through great pains to get its economy in order after the
The Nobel Committee by awarding this years Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has reiterated the danger nuclear weapons pose to life on earth. The message is timely, given the fact that the world is at the brink of a nuclear war over the North Korean issue.



ICAN won the Nobel for drawing attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons and for its efforts to work out a nuclear ban treaty. Yet, total nuclear disarmament is still an elusive dream of an idealist. Anything short of total nuclear disarmament is only a charade.



Take the story of a baby left in the wolves lair. Whether the den is inhabited by one wolf or a pack of thousand wolves, the infant will be devoured. To save the baby, we need to eliminate all the wolves. To save the planet and its billions of people, we need to dismantle all nuclear weapons. At present nine countries are said to possess some 15,000 nuclear weapons, each weapon 30 to 3,000 times more powerful than the atom bomb fell on Hiroshima. The actual number is much more and increasing. All nuclear powers continue research to take their nuclear weapons to the next destructive level.

The possession of nuclear weapons enhances a countrys military power. Some say nuclear weapons deter invasions. North Koreas nuclear weapons have deterred the US from unleashing what President Donald Trump described as the fire and fury the likes of which this world has never seen before. On Monday, Trump tweeted to say Our country has been unsuccessfully dealing with North Korea for 25 years, giving billions of dollars [and] getting nothing. Policy didnt work! He was warning of a military response, but all what he could do was to send two B-1B bombers on Wednesday close to North Koreas borders as part of a joint military exercise with South Korea and Japan.



The argument that nuclear weapons deter invasions condones such weapons and promotes proliferation and, therefore, is the anti-thesis of total nuclear disarmament. Nuclear weapons and the perverted mind of a popular leader form a calamitous combination.



No one knows how many millions or billions will die immediately if a full scale nuclear war takes place. Even if we were fortunate enough to survive the immediate impact of the nuclear holocaust, the secondary effect will make us walking dead or crawling dead. Dying of cancer, we will be facing fire storms, a prolonged nuclear winter and extreme starvation. There will be total breakdown of our social and economic life, as we plunge headlong into extinction. Sick and feeble, we wont be able to inscribe our story on rocks before we die to let any intelligent alien, who will be on a transit through this destroyed planet in the future, know that nuclear weapons are evil and we brought our own destruction.



Despite the warnings the dreaded nuclear holocaust holds out and the efforts of organisations such as ICAN to create a nuclear-weapons free world, most human beings blinded by humanism-killing patriotism take pride in their nuclear weapons. In the United States, a country of more than 300 million people, the support for the use of nuclear weapons during a war is still high, 70 years after the country dropped two atomic bombs on the highly populated Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. A Stanford University study released in August this year says a majority of Americans would support the use of such weapons to kill millions of civilians if the US found itself in a similar wartime situation.



Professor Scott Sagan, who co-authored the study with Benjamin A. Valentino, noted, The most shocking finding of our study is that 60 percent of Americans would approve of killing 2 million Iranian civilians to prevent an invasion of Iran that might kill 20,000 US soldiers.



The professors conducted a similar survey in India, a country of 1.3 billion people, and the results were equally shocking. When presented with a hypothetical case where the terror group Lakshar-e-Taiba holed up in a secret bunker in Lahore, Pakistan, is preparing to launch a nuclear attack on India, a majority of the Indians who generally supported the governments no-first-strike doctrine prefer the use of nuclear weapon to destroy the terrorists bunker even if it meant that some 50,000 Pakistani civilians will die.



The support for nuclear weapons is also high in neighbouring Pakistan, which figuratively ate grass to produce its first nuclear bomb. China, like India, has made a no-first-strike declaration. One can presume that the public support for nuclear weapons in this country of 1.5 billion people should be overwhelming; given the security threats it is facing over multiple territorial disputes in the South China Sea and across its borders.

It is also the same story in other nuclear weapon states -- Russia, France, Britain, Israel and North Korea. One can assume that more than half the worlds people want nuclear weapons to defend themselves.



But when asked in general terms, a majority of the earthlings will call for the elimination of nuclear weapons. In Japan, which ironically takes shelter under the nuclear umbrella of the US, only 5 percent of the people back nuclear weapons. They rejected Trumps campaign trail proposal that Japan and South Korea should develop their own nuclear weapons to counter the threat from North Korea.



Why cannot nuclear powers follow the example of Nelson Mandelas South Africa and do away with the weapon of the wicked. The ex-Soviet nations Kazakhstan and Ukraine have also done this, but there was no altruism. Instead of dismantling the weapons, they handed them over to Russia, soon after they became independent.



Probably sooner than later, there will come a time, when nuclear powers themselves will rush to dismantle their nuclear arsenals. That is when nations master the technology to hack into each others the nuclear power systems and destroy rival nuclear arsenals. It is not science fiction. In 2010, Stuxnet, believed to be an American-Israeli cyberweapon, sabotaged Irans nuclear programme.



Until such time, no nuclear power wants to see a nuclear-weapons-free world. Last month, ICAN realised one of its objectives when leaders of 120 nations signed a United Nations treaty to ban nuclear weapons. None of the nine nuclear power states was among them. Understandable! But why was Sri Lanka, which supported the resolution for the treaty, not among them? Sri Lankas absence was mysterious and conspicuous. After all, the country in the 1970s spearheaded a campaign to declare the Indian Ocean a peace zone, free of nuclear weapons. Did Sri Lanka wilt under the pressure from nuclear powers? Certainly, the failure to sign the treaty amounts to a serious omission and a crime against humanity. In an apparent attempt to mitigate the blame, the Government last week published regulations declaring Sri Lanka a nuclear-weapons free country. A lame act!
Defence Secretary Kapila Waidyaratne said the present threats and the geo-strategic importance of Sri Lanka has warranted the establishment of a Naval Air Force Wing to secure our waters with greater surveillance and striking capabilities.

Mr. Waidyaratne who delivered the key note address at the Colombo Air Symposium said today, Sri Lankan armed forces have been supplied with a number of naval crafts with high facilities.It is also under the same rationale that a Joint Naval Command with the Air Force has been recommended along with a Joint Communications Network that would seek to build air and maritime capabilities, the secretary said.

He said such a network would work hand in hand with the Air Forces Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems that will be modernized to better improve maritime domain awareness.This would also lead to a better centralised command, control and intelligence structure to develop enhanced situational awareness., Mr. Waidyaratne said.

He said air assets remained a prime choice when responding to security threats, due to its inherent advantages of height, speed and reach. It has become the number one choice to call upon by many governments. As seen during our conflict and natural disasters, the first response were from our air assets. It is under this rationale that we wish to develop our air capabilities both in traditional and non-traditional spheres, the secretary further added.

Sri Lanka Air Forces 3rd key annual international defence conference, 'The Colombo Air Symposium - 2017' yesterday commenced at the Eagles Lakeside Banquet and Convention Hall .

Chief of Defence Staff, Tri Forces Commanders, IGP, retired senior Air Force Officers, senior state officials, members of the diplomatic corps graced the occasion. This year, 250 invitees including 24 international participants from 17 countries are taking part in the event.

Air Force Commander Kapila Jayampathy said the shifting paradigms of modern security threats will be the focus of the forum and the main theme "Addressing Asymmetric Threats" will be profoundly examined through 12 research papers under six sessions.

The Commander said that Air Symposium is the prominent international event that brings together global expertise on air-power to a common platform that discusses national, regional and global issues of the future marked by common security threats both man made and natural.(Darshana Sanjeewa)
For tourists the paediatric ward resembled a supermarket

When a DNA database is created it was certain that our papers were fraud, because through DNA we have the proof of family ties.

Sometimes these contact persons say I have located your mother, but they dont reveal the address.

The adoption agencies from western countries treated me as a profitable thing, instead as a person.

Nobody can tell me, that Sri Lanka or India cant take care of its children.

Another child has been shown a fake mother and the association has continued for 6 years.

Adoption isnt a transaction and therefore parents cant accept money.

A child has a right to know its biological parents.

The biological parents lose the right for a child if it was given for adoption voluntarily.

A recent documentary by Zembla, a Dutch current affairs programme, brought to light an adoption fraud during the latter part of the 19th century. Previously in 1983 a documentary was made based on the adoption scandal by Flash, a Dutch adoption organization that made massive profits by selling children. News reports from 1987 highlight that a baby farm had been raided and the police found 20 newborns and 22 women. The report further revealed that the babies had been purchased for about $30 and was sold abroad for about 30 times that value. However neither the Sri Lankan Government nor the receiving Governments have taken any worthwhile steps to address the issue, until recently when Health Minister, Dr. Rajitha Senaratne admitted to the revelations of the documentary makers that there had been baby farms and that he will investigate into the issue and take the initiative to set up a DNA bank.

It is claimed that around 11 000 babies had been sold during this period. Children had been stolen from the arms of their biological mothers. One woman, who requested anonymity, said that her child was stolen at the Ratnapura Hospital. This was during the JVP insurrection. The hospital didnt give me my child. There was no one to inquire from because the doctors were on strike. The baby was stolen, she said.



In certain instances fake mothers have handed over the child and now the adopted children have the information of this mother who is acting as their biological mother. In certain other instances the birth mothers had been deceived or coerced into giving the babies for adoption. There is also concern that women have been raped for the adoption market. Further, sources told Dailymirror that during the time referred to in the documentary the practice of tourists walking into the hospital and picking babies for adoption had existed.



Most mothers have given their children for adoption due to lack of support in raising the children on their won. Gallaguruge Sirimawathie said that she had to give her child for adoption because she was helpless. My husband and his family were abusive. I had nowhere to go and I had to give the child up for adoption, said a weeping Sirimawathie. I dont want anything from the child. I only want to see the child before I die, she grieved.



Further, though agents from adoption agencies, help children locate their mothers and vice versa, mothers and adopted children told us that they werent trustworthy and were money-minded. Sirimawathie has traced her child through the birth certificate and knows that the child lives in Sweden. However, the agent who had located the whereabouts of the child had refused to provide her with further information claiming that the child didnt want to meet the mother. Sirimawathie is suspicious of the agents trustworthiness.

Another woman, W.P. Leelawathie from Homagamasaid that when she gave up her son for adoption the agent promised her that the son would return to her one day. But she has received no news of him to date.



Renuka Abeysinghe from Matugama, who had given her daughter for adoption voluntarily, said that she only wanted to see the child, but added that she has no information about her whereabouts. I was given a letter thanking me and the letter also said that I will receive photographs. But I have received nothing. The child must be big now. I only want to see her, she pleaded.



The documents that were prepared, such as the birth certificate, contain erroneous details which are misleading. A 40-year-old adoptee, who is currently living in Belgium and didnt wish to be named, said that his family name, mothers name and the birth date were false in the adoption papers and in the hospital register. However he has succeeded in locating his biological mother from Wellawatte.



When asked about the difficulties he had to endure as a result of the irregularities in his adoption he said that when he wanted to marry he didnt have a birth certificate, but only adoption papers. He added that these papers were inadequate when dealing with the local Government. Basically, I had to prove that I existed. After living here, attending school, playing sports, and becoming a world champion, I wasnt allowed to marry because I didnt have the necessary documents, he said.



Shirani van den Berg, living in the Netherlands, said that her adoptive mother was unstable, alcoholic and often made her feel unwanted. A mother has the right to know where the child is living and the child has the right to know its biological mother and its medical history, she asserted. In the light of the recent revelations the Dailymirror spoke to some concerned parties.

Women were raped for the adoption market

The filmmaker of the Dutch documentary made by Zembla, Sanne Van Rossen is Sri Lankan born and was adopted by Dutch parents.

-Sanne Van Rossen

Filmmaker of the Dutch Documentary

There were a lot of false things in the papers regarding the adopted children. For instance, when they did the DNA Test the mother they traced through their papers werent really the biological mothers. Sometimes the birth place would be wrong. That is why I did the research, the 32-year-old told Dailymirror in a skype interview

Women had been picked up from the street and had been raped to produce children for the adoption market. Some women had been paid while some werent. The story that revolved around these adoptions suggests that adoption was illegal. You can consider it to be legal because of the papers which had been documented by lawyers or very powerful people. These were court adoptions. But these adoptions are illegal because women were raped for the adoption market. They had to give their babies away either because they were forced or they were made to believe the children would return later with money, she said.



I have documented an incident involving the Flash adoption organization where the mother refuses to give the baby away. Instead they gave her money and asked her to shut up, she said referring to the documentary she had made. In another incident involving a twin brother and sister, one baby had died, but the corpse was replaced by another, so that they appeared to be twins, she said.

I have documented an incident involving the Flash adoption organization where the mother refuses to give the baby away. Instead they gave her money and asked her to shut up



Flash, was an adoption agency back in the 80s and the 90s. They were selling babies. Flash would arrange a baby in 3 or 4 months. There were around 4 or 5 such adoption organizations with the history. They did the same thing, she said. According to her the cost of an adoption was as much as 15 000 at that time. Flash no longer exists.

Everyone is saying that he or she didnt know or that it is not his or her fault, she said.

Now that these adopted children are in search of their mothers the people who were previously involved in the adoption market have offered root searching which again seems to have become a lucrative business. We do root searching through people from Sri Lanka who were involved with Flash back in the 80s. We need to pay a lot of money and its not trustworthy. Its better to go by yourself and search for yourself. Sometimes these contact persons say I have found your mother, but they dont provide the address, she said.



She started her own search for her biological mother in 2010. Her birth certificate states that she had been born at the Rathnapura Hospital. Accordingly she traced her birth mother and a DNA Test proved the biological connection. However her mother had given birth to her at the Karawanella Hospital.

Children were turned into commodities

The Executive Director of Against Child Trafficking(ACT), Arun Dhole, said that though this scandal was reported in the media in the 1980s neither the Government in Sri Lanka nor the Governments in the receiving countries had addressed it. ACT is a child rights NGO established in 2008 at the suggestion of the European Commission.

According to Dhole, children were manufactured not just in Sri Lanka, but also in South and Middle America, India, Nepal, Thailand, Romania etc.

-Arun Dohle

Executive Director of Against Child Trafficking (ACT)

Theres a demand for children, so supply is created. In a market- even when regulated- its forces are stronger than the interest of the children and their families, he explained.

The problem regarding these adoptions is that some children appear to be bought, the paperwork is fabricated and there is no information about consent being given etc.Essentially children were turned into commodities, he added. He suggested that the Government of Sri Lanka should open a full-fledged investigation into the adoption practices from the past. The biological families as well as the adult adoptees need assistance in tracing each other and there should be compensation. For todays children, Sri Lanka should just stop Inter-country Adoption and strengthen the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, he said.

Article 21(b) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that inter-country adoption may be considered as an alternative means of childs care, if the child cant be placed in a foster or an adoptive family or cannot in any suitable manner be cared for in the childs country of origin. Nobody can tell me, that Sri Lanka or India cant take care of its children, he said.

The problem regarding these adoptions is that some children appear to be bought, the paperwork is fabricated and there is no information about consent being given etc



Dhole was born in India and was adopted by German parents in 1973.

The biological mothers from Sri Lanka do not have the financial means to participate in the DNA bank

When asked about the progress to set up a DNA database, so that the DNA of the biological parents, relatives and the adoptees could be stored to trace one another, one of the pioneers of the Sri Lanka Family Project, Rowan Van Veelen, said that though most European adoptees were rich enough to participate in the process, the biological parents didnt have the finances to do the DNA test on their own.

-Rowan Van Veelen

An adoptee and pioneer of the Sri Lanka Family Project

They dont have the financial means to participate in this DNA bank. This makes locating family members nearly impossible, he said.



If the biological family from Sri Lanka cant join this DNA bank, we are left with the only option of locating brothers and sisters in the west, he added.



Therefore the main goal of the Sri Lanka Family Project is to get the DNA of the biological parents, so that they dont incur expenses.



Through our organization we focus on bringing families together. Its important to remember that it is not only the adopted children who have the urge to locate their biological families, the same goes for the families back in Sri Lanka who gave up their children for adoption either willingly or after being forced. When the database is created it will no longer be a hassle to know whether there was fraud in connection with our papers, because the DNA Test will provide proof of family ties, he explained.

Through our organization we focus on bringing families together



The adoption system is based on making a financial profit per baby. For me, as an adoptee, the worst thing about being adopted through this system is that when I was most vulnerable and dependent no one involved seemed to care about me and my well-being. The adoption agencies from western countries treated me as a profitable thing, instead as a person. So many terrible human rights violations were made and are still being made, he claimed.

People would come, buy and go. She used to take money from these people.

Consultant Pediatrician, former Chairman of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) and the Presidential Task Force on Child Protection, Prof. Harendra De Silva said that when he was an intern medical officer back in 1975 the paediatric ward was more like a supermarket for tourists.

-Prof. Harendra De Silva

Former Chairman of the NCPA

They came in couples, walked across and somebody would be showing the kids. Then the couple would say I want this one. This was the practice at that time, he reminisced.

He recalled an incident where a baby, who was just a few days old, who had been abandoned in a train, was brought to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital by a policeman. Later he (The policeman) was coerced by the Director of the hospital to handover the baby to a European couple, which he had refused to do. A European couple visited the ward. We werent even bothered about going behind them because it was routine for people to come and take children. This couple wanted the baby. I refused to handover the baby. The Director of the Hospital insisted that the child be handed over to the couple though I didnt have any document, he said. The Director had threatened to penalize him for disobeying orders of a superior.

This couple wanted the baby. I refused to handover the baby. The Director of the Hospital insisted that the child be handed over to the couple though I didnt have any document



An Australian woman had been managing a house in Pamankada which was full of children at the time. Prof. De Silva had volunteered to examine the children. Today, looking back, he realizes that this place would have been a baby farm. People would come, buy and go. She used to take money from these people. There were lots of young Australian boy volunteers who were in their twenties or late teens who had come to work in this place. There were also orphaned girls who fell into the age rage between16-18. I realized that there was something odd going on. Then I decided not to visit the place. This would have been a baby farm, he said.

They have coerced the mothers to handover their children saying that children will be brought up in a better place

Andrew Silva is a tour guide who drives tourists around in his van. In year 2000 he was asked by a Dutch family to look for the biological parents of their adopted child. The search had been successful and gradually Silva was asked by several other adoptees to look for their parents. He is 60 years old and hasnt been involved in the adoption fraud. He helps children and mothers locate each other as a social service. So far he has been able to reunite about 40 children with their mothers. Around 125 mothers, in search of their children, have approached Silva. When the met him in Negombo he explained the adoption fraud in detail referring to information he possessed of biological mothers and the adopted children. Holding out a birth certificate Silva said that though the certificate claimed that the baby had been born in Kalutara, the mother had said that the baby was born in the Karawanella Hospital in the Sabaragamuwa Province.

-Andrew Silva

Volunteer Root Searcher

There have been brokers at the Karawanella Hospital. They have coerced the mothers to handover the children saying that the children will be brought up in a better place with luxuries. He further said that a broker at the Karawanella Hospital had offered mothers Rs.1000 to handover their children.



In another case the birth certificate had been prepared claiming that the baby was born at the Kalubowila Hospital. But this information isnt mentioned in the registers at the Kalubowila Hospital.



In some birth certificates the name would be correct, but not the hospital. If there are three names one would be correct. Or the fathers name would be incorrect, he explained. Some mothers dont know where the child had been taken to nor the childs name,he said.

In some birth certificates the name would be correct, but not the hospital. If there are three names one would be correct



In another instance a woman was traced to be the mother of twins who had been given away for adoption. However the mother claimed she had given birth to only one child. Accordingly a DNA Test was done and the results proved that the two children werent twins. Further, it was found that the woman wasnt the mother of either of the children.

Another girl, who was searching for her biological parents, contacted the adoption agency which had directed her to a person who was presented to her as the biological mother. However after few years this woman couldnt be located. Then Silva had been asked to make inquiries. He got an article published with the name of the biological mother. Then the real biological mother had contacted him. Later a DNA Test was done and the results had been conclusive.



Similarly in another case, a woman claimed to be the mother of the child, but when requested to undergo the DNA Test had admitted that she wasnt the mother. Another child had been deceived for 6 years and made to believe that the fake mother was the actual mother. In another case the intermediary connected with an adoption organization has promised to handover money to the biological mother. The adopted child had asked Silva to make the inquiries independently and after a series of events the woman who had been presented had admitted to Silva that she wasnt the mother and that she had been asked to act as the mother by the intermediary.



Silva stressed that the Ratnapura Hospital was a hub where adoption fraud took place.

In 2007 a child was kidnapped, by the midwife, and taken in a paper bag, from the Godakawala Hospital in Ratnapura. She was nabbed, but the mother saved herself from prosecution saying that she had given her consent,he said.

Pic by Pradeep Pathirana

Adopted children have a right to know about their biological parents

M.A.M Hakeem, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Public and International Law, Faculty of Law, Colombo said that once the child is adopted there is no relationship between the biological parent and the child.

-M.A.M Hakeem

Legal expert

So the birth certificate is amended. If a proper procedure is adopted then the consent of parents is present. They know to whom they have given their children. So they know where the children are,said Hakeem.



Referring to baby farms he said if women had been abducted, raped or their children were stolen, then it is a criminal act and criminal prosecution should take place. In such situations the biological mother has a right to know because she had been kept in the dark and doesnt know what happened to her child, he said.

The Ministry of Justice can advise the Attorney General to take necessary steps to prosecute and expose who were the culprits behind these baby farms



He added that the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can get together to investigate into such issues.



The Ministry of Justice can advise the Attorney General to take necessary steps to prosecute and expose who were the culprits behind these baby farms, he said.

Under Section 360c of the Penal Code Amendment of 1995, buying, selling, bartering people for money or any other consideration is considered trafficking and is punishable.

If there are no local parents willing to adopt the child, the request is referred to a foreign adoption

Probation and Child Care Services Commissioner Chandima Sigera said that if an adopted child was searching for the biological parents the department would assist. However, if the biological parents sought assistance the Department wouldnt assist because the child had been given away voluntarily.

-Chandima Sigera

Commissioner of the Department of Probation and Child Care Services

She pointed out that it was only after 1992, when the Adoption Ordinance was amended, that a proper procedure was introduced. However she added that during adoptions, prior to 1993, there could be instances where the birth certificate contained erroneous details. The department cant take the responsibility for the authenticity of the information in birth certificates. If the children have birth certificates with wrong details we cant trace the parents, she said.



There cant be such errors today because the adoption takes place following proper legal proceedings. We obtain the information through the provincial probation commissioners. We take children from childrens homes for adoption,she said.



Under the 13th Amendment, the childrens homes come under the purview of the Provincial Probations Commissions. When a request to give a child for adoption comes from a home, it is placed before several placement committees, so that local couples can adopt the child. If there are no local parents willing to adopt the child, the request is referred to foreign adoptions. If there are local parents then there wont be a foreign adoption.
The Locomotive Operating Engineers Union has decided to call off their strike temporarily following discussions with the Presidents Secretary Secretary Austin Fernando this evening.

The Union said Presidents Secretary Austin Fernando had agreed to provide solutions to their demands pertaining to the recruitment of trainee staff. During the meeting a committee was appointed by the Presidents Secretary who ordered that a report be submitted on or before November 20, the Union said.

Earlier in the day, the union representatives held discussions with Transport Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, but the talks had failed.

Transport Ministry Media Secretary Viraj Abeysinghe said the Minister had explained to the Union members about the ongoing court case relating to the the recruitment of railway employees and the decision was to be given on October 25 and thus until then the authorities could not take any decision in this regard.

He said, the union did not agree with the Minister and decided to continue their strike and also said there was information that the union might decide to launch a work to rule campaign today. During the discussion Minister Silva said, if the train strike continued, President Maithripala Sirisena would be compelled to declare train services as an essential essential service, he said. (Chaturanga Pradeep)

Video by Buddhi
The US is pulling out of the UN's cultural organisation UNESCO, accusing it of "anti-Israel" bias, the BBC reported a short while ago.

Quoting the US state department, the article said the US was also concerned about mounting financial arrears at UNESCO and that the agency needed to be reformed.

Meanwhile, UNESCO Head Irina Bokova has said the withdrawal was a matter of "profound regret".

The withdrawal represented a loss to the "UN family" and to multilateralism, Ms. Bokova said.

The US will establish an observer mission at the Paris-based UNESCO to replace its representation, the state department said.

The decision follows a string of UNESCO decisions that have drawn criticism from the US and Israel.

In 2011, the US cancelled its budget contribution to the agency in protest at its decision to grant full membership to the Palestinians.

And last year, Israel suspended cooperation with UNESCO after the agency adopted a controversial resolution which made no reference to Jewish ties to a key holy site in Jerusalem.

Then earlier this year, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned UNESCO for declaring the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank a World Heritage site.

The US withdrawal is also motivated by a desire to save money, Foreign Policy magazine reported.

US President Donald Trump has criticised what he sees as a disproportionate contribution by the US to UN institutions.

The US funds 22% of the UN's regular budget and 28% of UN peacekeeping.
Coca-Cola Youth Speak Forum, powered by AIESEC, will be held on October 14 at Trace Expert City in Colombo 10 from 8.30 am onwards.

October 14 at Trace Expert City in Colombo 10 from 8.30 am onwards



The forum is organized by AIESEC of University of Moratuwa. The forum is a premier event of the YouthSpeak Global Youth Movement. Similar events are being held worldwide throughout the year.



This event provides a platform for senior and young leaders to come together and devise solutions for todays global matters that are outlined by United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.



Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) comprise a universal set of targets to be achieved by humankind over the next 15 years. These were agreed upon by the United Nations with the hope of creating a better world for the next generation. SDGs form a key aspect that frames the agendas and policies of all the major international organizations. It will be vital for any person to have a clear idea about this framework to survive in any industry.

The forum consists of keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops and action spaces through which delegates can inspire, engage and plan how to act on ideas and solutions. Also, delegates will be supervised by the finest leaders of the previous generation and also get to work alongside the best and the brightest individuals belonging to their generation.



The primary focus of the forum will be on SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth, and SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. The aim of the forum is to discuss how youth can influence the achievement of these two goals.



The rough outline of the forum is as follows:



Keynote Speeches: Set of prolific speakers will share their expertise and insights with delegates



Panel Discussion: A panel of specialists will conduct an interactive discussion to clarify the topic further.



Workshops: Delegates will be grouped and will be mentored by a specialist on how they can actively devise solutions for the key problems outlined by topics.

More information on the forum can be obtained by logging onto www.facebook.com/youthspeakLK/ or by contacting Archanath Dickwella  0779996411 (archanathdickwella@gmail.com)

Action Space: Delegates will plan a method to overcome a determined problem using the knowledge they gained from the forum.



Keynote speeches will be delivered by: Dr. Harsha Subasinghe  CEO Codegen International, and Prof. Rangika Halwatura  Senior lecturer of University of Moratuwa who was awarded with The World Academy of Science Young Scientist Award - 2017.
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Square-dancing at local VFW

COLUMBUS -- Harold's Squares Square Dance Club of Columbus will be dancing 5:30-7:30 Sunday at the VFW, 2720 23rd St.

The caller will be Dean Dederman. There will also be lessons from 4:30-5:30 p.m., preceding the dance.

For more information, call Sam or Donna at 402-564-0966.

NFB holding monthly meeting

COLUMBUS -- The National Federation of the Blind will hold its next meeting 3-4 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Eagles Club.

Meetings will be held the first Thursday of each month.

For more information, contact Chapter President Linda Mentink at 402-563-8138.

Register for nursing program

COLUMBUS -- Registration is open for a nursing assistant class that will be held Monday-Nov. 13 at Central Community College-Columbus.

Students must attend a mandatory orientation session, but class hours are flexible. Class is limited to the first 15 individuals who register. The cost is $395, which includes in-state tuition, fees and books.

For more information or to register, contact the CCC Extended Learning Services Office at 402-562-1225; toll-free at 1-877-222-0780, ext. 1225; or email brendasmejkal@cccneb.edu.

Oktoberfest dinner at church

COLUMBUS -- St. Johns Lutheran Church, 39452 205th Ave., will host an Oktoberfest German dinner from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sunday. Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m.

The menu includes traditional German food, including bratwurst, eisbein, German meatballs, potato salad and desserts. Cost is $12 for adults, $5 for children ages 5-10 and free for kids 4 and younger. Tickets are available at the door, or call 402-910-1653 for advance tickets. Takeout will also be available by calling 402-285-0335. Proceeds will support various church and school projects.

For more information, call Pastor Brad Birtell at 402-285-0498.

AG's mobile office in town

COLUMBUS -- The Nebraska Attorney Generals Mobile Office will be in Columbus from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 30 at the Columbus Community Center, 3111 19th St.

Attorney General Doug Peterson is expected to visit the mobile office during the day. Staff will be available to assist consumers with requesting free credit reports, registering for the national do not call/do not mail registries, requesting a security freeze, blocking scam calls and reporting scams, among other information.

For more information, call 402-471-2656 or email Suzanne.Gage@nebraska.gov.

Group holding clothing drive

SCHUYLER -- The Women of Divine Mercy will sponsor the annual community clothing drive on Oct. 27-28 at St. Augustine Hall, 604 Chicago St.

Donations of clean, gently used clothing will be accepted from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 26. Hours for the sale are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 27 and 8-11 a.m. Oct. 28. All clothing will be 50 cents and coats will cost $1.
The Pakistani army has asserted this Thursday that it has released the Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman and his three children, after receiving information from the United States that they had been transferred to Pakistan from Afghanistan, where they were Kidnapped by the Taliban in 2012. "All the hostages have been recovered safely and will be repatriated to their country of origin," the Pakistani Military Communication office (ISPR) said in a statement. The military claimed that American intelligence informed them that the abductees had been transferred to Pakistani territory on 11 October through the Khurram tribal zone, bordering Afghanistan. "Success underscores the importance of sharing intelligence and Pakistan's commitment to combating this threat through cooperation between the two forces (Americans and Pakistanis) against the common enemy," said ISPR. Boyle and Coleman were abducted in 2012 in Afghanistan, where they had traveled as part of a journey through several Asian Soviet republics, including Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The Taliban published in December 2016 a video of the couple accompanied by two of their children born in captivity in which they asked for help to the then President of the United States, Barack Obama, and his successor, Donald Trump. The release of Boyle, Coleman and his children occurs at a time of tension between Pakistan and the USA, after Trump asserted on August 21 that Islamabad had "much to lose" if it continues to "harbor" terrorists. Islamabad denied the allegations and postponed several official trips between the two countries, including the foreign minister, Khawaja Asif, who traveled to Washington seven weeks later. The Pakistani Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution proposing the closure of supply routes to Afghanistan for US and NATO forces on 30 August.
COLUMBUS  A 62-year-old Columbus man pleaded not guilty to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and an aggravated driving under the influence charge stemming from an Aug. 22 incident.

After entering his pleas, James Chollar Jr. was scheduled for a Dec. 4 jury trial in Platte County District Court.

The weapon charge is a Class 1B felony, punishable by 20 years to life in prison. The DUI, aggravated by a high blood alcohol content reading, is a Class I misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Chollar is accused of firing a handgun at a city residence before racing down U.S. Highway 30 toward Duncan while following a family member who was reporting their location to law enforcement.

According to Platte County Sheriffs Sgt. Roger Wemhoffs probable cause arrest statement, Chollars silver S10 pickup would not pull over before heading back toward Columbus and stopping at the junction of highways 30 and 81 south of the Loup River bridge.

I observed a handgun on the front seat of the vehicle, which I removed, Wemhoff wrote in his statement.

The handgun was a .22-caliber, nine-shot revolver with eight spent shells and one full round, the sergeant said.

Chollar agreed to a preliminary breath test, which showed a blood alcohol content reading of 0.170, more than twice the legal limit for driving.
Eight months is a long time, at least in the state of Tamil Nadu where the political tide turns faster than the sea waves. So when VK Sasikala, the woman considered to be former CM J Jayalalithaa's shadow, came back to Chennai after eight long months, it became an occasion for celebration for AIADMK members from her camp.

For the uninitiated, Sasikala was out on a five-day emergency parole to visit her ailing husband in Chennai. The 61-year-old leader is serving a four-year sentence at Bangalore Central Prison after being held guilty in a disproportionate assets case.

Even though the jailed leader and her family is largely blamed for the infightings within the AIADMK - which led to three factions within the party and a lot of political twists and turns - she still seems to enjoy considerable fan following.

While her parole ended on Wednesday, Sasikala found a long line of people waiting outside the residence of Krishnapriya in Chennai's T Nagar, where she stayed during those five days. Krishnapriya is the daughter of Sasikala's sister-in-law and jail mate Ilavarasi.

Even at the Gleneagle Global hospital, where her husband Natrajan is undergoing treatment, the euphoria witnessed at her arrival goes on to say that Sasikala still holds control over a section of the party.

The 61-year-old leader is serving a four-year sentence at Bangalore Central Prison after being held guilty in a disproportionate assets case. (File photo)

It certainly wasn't what people were used to see with Amma's arrival to any venue, but the sight of people jostling to catch a glimpse of Sasikala despite the police discouraging the crowds says a lot about her clout.

At the end of the five-day parole when she started her journey back to Bangalore's Parapanagrahara prison, the roads were filled with AIADMK party workers who had come to give a send-off to their Chinamma. Within the first few kilometres from Krishnapriya's residence, Sasikala's vehicle was stopped by women supporters who organised an "aarti" and broke coconuts in front of the car.

Tear-eyed women were seen rushing to the front seat and screaming, "Chinnamma, we will be waiting for you. Don't worry you will be the one to always win."

If that was not enough, just metres ahead of the Raj Bhavan in Chennai, the convoy was stopped by a small group of people with the party flag in their hands raising slogans of Chinnamma.

Sasikala, unlike Jayalalithaa, never enjoyed a god-like stature among people. But it was fascinating to see how the party cadres wanted to bid a grand farewell to their leader.

A few couples, in fact, wanted their children to be named by Sasikala. One of those proud parents told me: "How many children have the good fortune to be named by Chinnamma?"

The sloganeering continued till Sasikala and her convoy crossed the Tamil Nadu border leaving one to wonder if she and her family still enjoy so much popularity among party cadres, or was it just a show of strength made possible by nephew TTV Dhinakaran. It's difficult to say anything at the moment.
A few days ago Indian media reported that women over 45 years of age maybe allowed to go on haj without a mahram (an adult, male blood relative or husband) from next year immediately sparking a heated debate on TV channels and newspapers. Venerable white-bearded maulanas and some not-so-white bearded ones screamed that sharia was in danger and that this government was determined to erode Islamic values.

The secretary of the Jamiat-e-Ulema even made the ridiculous argument that "if everyone wants equality on the basis of gender, then why men and women don't carry pregnancy for four-and-half months each".

I wish they would at least read that these rules have been made by Saudi Arabia and not Indian government. Indeed this government is the new-found ally of the Muslim woman. After the abolition of the instant triple talaq, news came in that it has allowed women over 45 years to travel in groups of four without a mahram. In this case, however, credit must be given where it is due. As per the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's guidelines: "Women over the age of forty-five (45) may travel without a mahram with an organised group. They must, however, submit a no-objection letter from her husband, son or brother authorising her to travel for haj with the named group. This letter should be notarised."

"And proclaim the pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways," Quran Surah Al-Haj 22:27

There are some 25 ayats or verses in the Quran that refer to haj as the pilgrimage that is a pillar of Islam. They spell out the rules of what is lawful during the pilgrimage. However, not one of them mentions that a woman needs to have a mahram with her. But since this is the rule that has been prevailing in Saudi Arabia where Kaaba is situated, one has to obey the law of the land.

According to hadith (record of the traditions or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad), the Prophet ordained this for reasons of safety since travel was risky and one needed protection from attacks of robbers and thieves. Travel through waterless deserts was also tough. With modern amenities, security and travel ease that is no longer a concern.

Some theologians such as the famous Egyptian scholar, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, feel that we must amend these rules to bring them more in tune with modern age. He has written innumerable books including The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam and is a much respected scholar.

In a fatwa issued in response to a question on whether women could travel alone for haj, he quoted many medieval Islamic scholars. He quotes what Ibn-Muflih, a 14th century Muslim theologian, said in al-Furu, "A woman could perform haj without a mahram as long as she is safe," and that, "This applies to all kinds of travel (for good cause)."

We have to move with the times and hopefully now that the Saudi Arabian government has allowed women to drive inside the kingdom they will relax the travel with a mahram rule too. After all, women hold top positions all over the world, live successful lives and of course travel alone.

Let us now examine the haj subsidy, which has always been a stick to beat Muslims with, and comes very high on the Muslim appeasement card.

Every year the Saudi Arabian government allots a quota for the number of pilgrims who can come from each country - including theirs - to limit pilgrims to manageable proportions.

Of India's quota of 1,70,000 pilgrims, the majority travel via the Haj Committee of India (HCOI) and about 45,000 go via private tour operators, who are approved by the HCOI.

Till 1995, Indian pilgrims went via air and sea. Sea travel took time and often resulted in sea sickness, so the number of pilgrims was dwindling. The fleet was ageing and oil prices were rising. In this background, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1973 announced the subsidy to bridge the gap between the two modes of travel. Post 1995, everyone had to travel by air and that too the government air carrier, Air India. The prices of Air India tickets which enjoy a monopoly on this route are very high. The reasoning is that it has to charter planes and come back without fliers one way. If this route was to be opened to private airlines, the competition would result in cost-effective fares and the haj pilgrims would really not need subsidy or sea routes, which too, the government is thinking of opening from next year.

Many Muslim politicians and citizens have opposed the subsidy and called for open air routes. The Supreme Court had in 2012 ruled that by 2022 haj subsidy should be stopped.

While we cannot impose rules on other countries such as Saudi Arabia to relax rules on women travellers, we can definitely deal with issues in our domain. By opening up the skies we will ensure that no Muslim has to bear the taunt of appeasement, no political party has to cater to vote banks and haj becomes affordable for many more Indians. Since this government does not believe in appeasements and vote banks, we look to them to open up the skies.

While we are at it, we should also allot more numbers to private operators as there are many complaints of overcrowding in the rooms allotted to the pilgrims in Mecca and Medina, unhygienic conditions, being put up in hotels very far off which makes travelling to the holy places difficult and unpalatable food.

Most Muslims save for a greater part of their lives to be able to afford the haj. Let's make it as easy for them as possible.
COLUMBUS  This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Loup Valley Gem and Mineral Society.

The group started in 1972 when students took a gem cutting and polishing class at Central Community College taught by George Chic Cihacek. Many of the students had been collecting rocks since they were young and the course fueled their love of geology, which led to the club's creation.

Five years passed before the society held its first gem, jewelry and artifact show. The 40th will be held this weekend at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

Dr. Ben Vrana, an original member who is still active in the group, said some things have changed while others remain the same.

We write and mail out a newsletter called the Loup Scoop," Vrana said. It tells whats going on and who is doing what. We also put on a show every year. We used to go on annual fossil searches in a local stream, but we havent done that as much as Id like. Time has become an element.

Rose Ternes joined the society in 1973. She took Chics class and learned how to hone the craft of gemstone polishing.

He taught us how to polish the cabochon and it came out beautiful, Ternes said. It was my first one and Im still excited about it.

Cheryl Barnholdt has been a member of the Loup Valley Gem and Mineral Society since 1977.

As a kid I was interested in rocks, and that interest hasnt stopped, Barnholdt said. The club is a mix of people who know a little bit of everything, so some people can join and not know that much about rocks and meet someone in the club who can teach them all they want to know.

Barnholdt acquired most of her rock knowledge from running the cash register at Wall Drug in South Dakota, where she worked for a rock store.

The local group has expanded beyond just rocks.

The club right now likes Indian artifacts and bones, so theyre more of an artifact club, Barnholdt said. But there are still a few of us old rock hounds that are in there. Its definitely a mixture of different people with different collections that like different things.

There is one characteristic they all share. They have loved geology since childhood.

My mother had to make sure my jean pockets were clean of rocks before washing them, Ternes said.

Barnholdt said her love of geology was encouraged by a family member.

I grew up by the Blue River, she said. My aunt would come down to visit us and wed go looking for rocks.

Vrana took a different path to learning about geology.

Paleontology is my passion in life, he said. I worked with UNL on fossil digs in South Dakota, where we looked for ancient plants and, of course, dinosaurs.

The four charter members of the Loup Valley Gem and Mineral Society, including Ternes husband Dick, also have a common goal. They want to keep the club going into the next generation.

We really want younger people to get interested in this stuff, Ternes said. The best part of our meetings is when we get together and make each other jealous about what weve dug up recently. We want kids to learn how to dig and learn from history.

"Working with the younger people keeps us young, too.
COLUMBUS  Vegetables were chopped while hamburger was browning in a pan on the stove.

It was a bit of prep work for an Italian meal young cooks are whipping up for a fundraiser.

They're serving the spaghetti dishes topped with meat or chicken Alfredo sauce to support clubs at Youth for Christ.

The local nonprofit started a Healthy Hearts and Souls program last year to teach youths about exercise and cooking meals from scratch. It's been popular and now the participants are branching out to make food for others.

They already tested their cooking skills by making meatballs to serve 250 people at the Youth for Christ annual banquet. Now they are preparing a meal the public can purchase for $10 by calling the organization at 402-564-3700. The meals, which also include a salad and garlic bread, will be put in to-go containers for takeout or people can eat at the nonprofit at 2809 13th St.

Meals will be served from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Delivery is also available in Columbus.

Katie Loseke, executive director of Youth for Christ, said the goal is to serve 200 people. Leftovers will be used to teach the youths how to can and preserve food.

Participants say they're learning about more than just cooking through the Healthy Hearts and Souls program.

It is a great way to get to know people. Its a really fun thing to do and its good bonding time. You learn a lot of skills and new recipes, said Savanna Denton, a junior at Lakeview High School.

The program is held weekly in the summer and at various times during the school year to accommodate different schedules. In the kitchen, youths work together while cooking.

Aside from learning how to make new food, it is a good way to make friends, said Columbus High School freshman Matthew Brandenburg.

The food has been used to feed others at Youth for Christ or is eaten by the cooks themselves.

Loseke said the skills they are developing will remain useful.

We want them to learn how to cook healthy meals from scratch so they arent so dependent on boxed meals or fast food. We want them to have skills later in life, she said.

Some, like Brandenburg, already had some cooking experience. He said he often helps his parents prepare dinner.

Others, though, are new to the culinary world.

There are a lot of kids who the most theyve done is stick a cup of macaroni in the microwave, Denton said. Its fun to help them out.

Lakeview senior Dominique Parra is using what hes learned in the program at home to prepare meals for his family of six.

I cook every day for my family. I did simple stuff, but now I do everything, he said.

The fundraiser is a way to earn money for materials and games for programs at Youth for Christ. It is also a chance for the young people to show supporters of the nonprofit some of the skills they are gaining.

Another reason why the kids wanted to do this is they know people provide food for us every night for our programs. There are people on a food list who feed them. They want to be able to show them that they are learning how to do this by themselves, Loseke said.
HASTINGS  When you think about it, the minister said, church and beer have a few things in common.

Brewing does, after all, require certain virtues: patience (for the weeks required for the beer to ferment) and faith (that a host of unknowns won't spoil a batch).

But most importantly, beer brings people together much the way that church does. It's a reason for people to meet, to talk, to support each other. Still, when the Rev. Damen Heitmann goes to work in the brewery, he leaves the robe and stole at home.

In August, Heitmann, 35, and his two business partners celebrated the grand opening of Steeple Brewing Co. in Hastings. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Heitmann has infused the brewery with a clerical touch.

Inside, angled wooden beams create the effect of a vaulted chapel ceiling, and visitors sip their brews while seated in old pews. An ornate Communion rail divides the taproom, known as the Fellowship Hall.

"I like to say we play around with church culture and the weird little things that happen in church communities," said Heitmann, who serves as chaplain at Hastings College and associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church.

Heitmann, a native of Victor, Iowa, learned to brew from friend and Steeple co-owner Thomas Kluver while Heitmann and Kluver's wife, Lindsey, were attending seminary in Minnesota. After graduating, Heitmann served as pastor of a church in Little Falls, Minnesota.

While there, Heitmann said, he watched the growth of craft beer nationwide. And he had an idea.

Over the years he'd come to know the quirky personalities that populate many church communities: the eccentric trustees, the obstinate potluck hosts, the guy who falls asleep every week. What if, he thought, he started a brewery that paid homage to these characters?

About four years ago the Kluvers, both Hastings College graduates who had moved back to the area, encouraged Heitmann to apply for the college's open chaplain's position. If he took the job, Heitmann told the couple, he was enlisting their help in opening a brewery.

Shortly after Heitmann moved to Hastings, they got to work.

The partners scoured the state for old church furniture they could use in the taproom. After a successful crowd-funding campaign, which attracted out-of-state as well as local donors, the brewery opened in a former gun shop in downtown Hastings.

The owners were encouraged by an entrepreneurial spirit that's wafting through the city's downtown district these days, Heitmann said.

Over the past decade the area has become a stronghold for new business ventures targeting a younger crowd, said Corey Stutte, mayor of Hastings. Craft breweries are part of that.

Last year another brewery, First Street Brewing Co., opened just a short walk from where Steeple is now.

"We're able to show that we're able to thrive in a millennial-driven society," Stutte said. "(Young) people are out there spending money, and they would like to be able to go do unique things that are socially more exciting for them."

At Steeple, Anthony May, 33, handles marketing. Thomas Kluver, 33, runs the brewery operations. And Heitmann, as head brewer, makes the beer. Personality and all.

There's the Wayne Fell Asleep (Again) Porter, a bold beer named for a man from Heitmann's home church in Iowa who was "bold enough to fall asleep every week" during services.

There's the Kitchen Kerfuffle Cream Ale, inspired, Heitmann said, by the tendency of some stubborn churchgoers to work out territory issues when preparing food for special occasions.

And, of course, there's the Lighten Up, Keith Pale Ale, inspired by the guy who sits at the back of the room every week with his arms crossed, upset about one thing or another.

(Though inspired by a real, very grumpy person, Heitmann said, "Keith may or may not be his real name.")

"I think anybody who lives in a small town is going to relate to some of the stories that Damen's come up with. To small churches. To the colorful characters that frequent those churches," Kluver said.

But running a church-themed brewery requires a delicate touch. There's a risk of alienating religious insiders, who might feel their faith is being trivialized, as well as religious outsiders, who don't necessarily want a sermon with their beer.

"Having a pastor on the team, he was a wonderful guide for me," said May, the marketing director. The brewery, he said, is in a way teasing, lovingly, the human element of the church experience, not the religion itself.

"We're talking about people, the cast of characters that fill the church and put on potlucks, that sort of thing. Not the rituals and practices of the church. We just make sure we're on the correct side of that."

On the other hand, Heitmann said, the brewery isn't looking to convert or preach to customers.

"We call this place a Fellowship Hall. That's what we're here to do: to offer a place of fellowship," he said.

It's the same sort of approach Heitmann applies to his work as a chaplain. At Hastings, his job is to build relationships with students. He opens his office to walk-ins and hosts monthly lunch discussions, in which he challenges students and faculty to tackle big questions like "What is connection?" and "How should we live our lives?"

The goal of his chaplaincy, he said, is to provide a welcome ear to the students when they need it.

But sometimes, he said, it's nice to spend time in the quiet brewhouse.

Heitmann, who describes himself as a "card-carrying introvert," enjoys the solitude of beermaking. Like almost anything done with conviction, it can be a spiritual experience, he said.

And though he sometimes withdraws into his own head, Heitmann understands that life is meant to be shared. He became a pastor because of relationships he built growing up in a church. It was the people, he said, who made him feel cared for and supported.

And hopefully, he said, Steeple can provide a bit of that to all who walk through the door. Because, after all, it's not all about drinking beer.

Just read the statement posted behind the bar:

"More than that, drink in this moment, these people, this time and this place, for such things may never be again and such things are the true sustenance upon which we live."
LINCOLN  Gov. Pete Ricketts remained laser-focused on state budget constraint and reduced taxes during a luncheon speech Wednesday to a Lincoln Chamber of Commerce audience.

That's his "top priority," the governor said.

But, he suggested, there is "a lot more work to do (in obtaining) fiscal restraint at the local level."

Citing past increases in local school spending following state school aid hikes that were designed to "help reduce the property tax load," Ricketts said he's engaged in talks now about new efforts to encourage spending constraint at the local level.

In addition to continued state budget restraint, the governor said, he will push next year for a comprehensive income and property tax reduction package that currently is trapped by a filibuster on the floor of the Legislature.

Ricketts pointed to Sen. Burke Harr of Omaha as the leader of that filibuster.

"Nebraska is known as a high-tax state," the governor said. "We need to reduce taxes. The only way is to control spending."

Ricketts said he also is determined to "reduce barriers for job creators" by streamlining state government processes, reforming occupational licensing requirements, and reducing rules and regulations.

During his speech at the Lincoln Country Club, the governor centered on recent trade missions that he said are important for Nebraska agriculture and the state's manufacturing sector.

In answer to questions, Ricketts said the state is "looking at a number of things," including investments in technology, to increase security at the State Capitol and he indicated he is not close to naming a successor to former Sen. Joni Craighead of Omaha, who resigned from her seat in the Legislature last month.
UPDATED: 12 p.m. Oct. 12

DeAndre Harris turned himself in to the Charlottesville Police Department at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday on his unlawful wounding charge. He has been released on an unsecured bond.

The man making claims against DeAndre Harris, who was charged Monday with felony unlawful wounding in relation to a violent incident during the Aug. 12 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, is the leader of a neo-Confederate hate group, according to multiple sources.

Attorney S. Lee Merritt issued a statement on Tuesday evening asserting that Harold Ray Crews, chairman of the League of the Souths North Carolina chapter, is the complainant in the charge against Harris and has led a campaign to manipulate the Charlottesville judiciary and further victimize Harris by providing incomplete video evidence that led to a warrant being issued for Harris.

Mr. Crews was not injured in any way by DeAndre Harris, the statement reads.

On Monday night, the Charlottesville Police Department announced that the victim of the alleged attack, said to have taken place near the Market Street Parking Garage during the chaos of the violent Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12, had obtained a warrant for Harris arrest from a city magistrate. The attack is said to have preceded the beating of Harris inside the garage.

At the time, police said a city detective had verified the alleged victims story. However, a sergeant with the Charlottesville Police Department clarified Tuesday that the warrant was based solely on the alleged victims testimony and that the department only confirmed with the magistrate that they had previously heard the alleged victims evidence and created a police report.

We were just verifying that we received that information, said Sgt. Jake Via. My plan was to conduct an investigation, like we would in any other situation.

Via could not verify whether Crews was the complainant, but he did state that city police did not issue the warrant and that the alleged victim jumped the gun by obtaining the warrant ahead of a police investigation. That notion was iterated by Merritt in his statement.

Charges likely would have not been filed had the Charlottesville Police Department been allowed to follow the normal investigative procedures when an individual makes a criminal complaint, the statement reads. Instead, Mr. Crews was allowed to exploit the judicial system by bypassing CPD and presenting incomplete and misleading evidence directly to a magistrate judge who in turn issued the warrant for Mr. Harris arrest without a proper investigation.

The League of the Souths public relations chief, Brad Griffin, confirmed Tuesday night that Crews and the League were responsible for obtaining the arrest warrant after growing sick of waiting for police to act on evidence theyd been previously provided.

Crews, 48, is identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a chairman for the League of the South and the operator of the Leagues Facebook page, website and podcast. Calls to his Kernsville, North Carolina, law practice were not answered Tuesday evening.

In his statement, Merritt states that video evidence confirms Crews was not injured by Harris during their brief interaction, but instead in a later fight that was a completely separate subsequent incident not involving Mr. Harris whatsoever.

During Harris and Crews encounter, caught on video and widely shared in the aftermath of the violent rally, Harris observed Crews appearing to spear an associate with the sharpened end of a Confederate flag pole. Harris then swung a flashlight toward Crews and the flag pole but failed to make significant contact before the brief scuffle ended, Merritt writes.

Crews injuries came from a later clash between at least four white males which was also recorded on video, Merritt alleges.

In the video, you can clearly see Crews struck in the head by an object wielded by an unidentified white male causing him to fall and strike the pavement, the statement reads.

When reached, Griffin contradicted Merritts statement, saying that Harris and his associates followed members of the League to the Market Street Parking Garage and instigated the scuffle. He alleged that Harris had in fact hit Crews with a flashlight and that an unidentified white male Antifa attacked Crews sometime later.

Both Via and Merritt said that Harris, of Suffolk, had not been served the warrant as of Tuesday evening but had been in contact and cooperated with Charlottesville police. He is not considered at-large, according to Merritt.

Harris himself was attacked by a swarm of people during the chaos at the Market Street Parking Garage, and several individuals have been charged in the beating.

Last month, a judge denied bond for Alex Michael Ramos, 33, of Jackson, Georgia, who is charged in the felonious assault of Harris, who said he suffered a concussion, a broken ulna and had eight staples to close a scalp wound. He also said he had cuts across his eyebrow, a chipped tooth and abrasions on his knees and elbows.

Daniel Patrick Borden, 18, of Mason, Ohio, also is charged with malicious wounding in the Harris assault. He was arrested in the Cincinnati area on Aug. 25 and held in Ohio, initially indicating he would fight extradition. On Sept. 15, he waived extradition and was sent to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. On Sept. 21, he was denied bond.

At a hearing for Ramos in September, Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Nina Antony said Harris ran into the Market Street garage after a scuffle with white supremacists and was beaten by at least five people.

Ramoss attorney, John Joyce, said Harris had been involved in scuffles during the rally and told a judge it may have been Mr. Harris who struck the first blow in that fracas.

Ramos and Borden are due back in Charlottesville General District Court on Thursday, as is Richard Wilson Preston, a Baltimore Ku Klux Klan leader who is accused of firing a gun during the rally.

Anger over the warrant against Harris also impeded a Charlottesville Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday. Local members of Solidarity Cville and Standing Up for Racial Justice, upset over affordable housing issues and racial injustice, interrupted the meeting, which ended after about an hour in recess.
OMAHA  The DEA and Nebraska State Patrol made a record-setting fentanyl seizure  15 kilos  during routine surveillance at the Amtrak Train Station in Omaha on Wednesday morning.

"This fentanyl seizure is the largest-ever in Nebraska and one of the largest in the nation," Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Stuart said Thursday in a press release.

Edgar Navarro-Aguirre, a 27-year-old California man, has been charged with possession with intent to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl, an opioid said to be 40 to 50 times more potent than heroin.

Law enforcement officials believe he was taking the drug from Sacramento to the New York and New Jersey area, according to the press release.

In court documents, a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration said she noticed a newer-looking black suitcase, without an ID tag, tucked in the far back of the self-storage luggage shelves behind another bag.

As the agent and a Nebraska State Patrol investigator were asking people on the train car if the bag belonged to them, Navarro-Aguirre walked up and said it was his friend's.

He previously said it wasn't his.

According to the affidavit for Navarro-Aguirre's arrest, he told the State Patrol investigator he was traveling from Colorado, which didn't match a ticket that said he boarded at Sacramento, California.

Navarro-Aguirre denied there was anything illegal in the bag and told law enforcement officials they could search it, the DEA agent said. Inside, they found 15 vacuum-sealed bundles of white powder ultimately found to be fentanyl, according to the affidavit.

The total weight of one of the packages was 1.2 kilos, or roughly 2.7 pounds.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says the fentanyl had a potential street value of up to $15 million.
Albemarle County and the city of Charlottesville have declared a drought warning and mandatory restriction enforcement will begin Thursday.

On Wednesday, both the county Board of Supervisors and the City Council approved requests by the Albemarle County Service Authority and the city utility to enact mandatory water restrictions.

Mandatory restrictions include the prohibiting of washing of cars except in licensed commercial vehicle wash facilities; limiting outdoor watering; limiting restaurants from serving drinking water except upon request; and limiting the daily changing of washable linens and towels for commercial lodging establishments, among other restrictions.

The main concern has been the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir, which had been declining for a few weeks and is now stabilizing at about 44 percent full.

Thats because the demand has dropped through the voluntary restrictions, the declaration of the Rivanna board asking for the mandatory restrictions, as well as we shifted our operational production, said Bill Mawyer, executive director of the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority.

With the rain over the last two days, the levels of the reservoirs have increased by about 30 million gallons.

Also on Wednesday, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality issued a drought watch advisory for the Middle James, Roanoke River and Shenandoah drought evaluation regions.

Albemarle and Charlottesville are in the in the Middle James drought evaluation region. Other localities in that drought evaluation region include Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, Nelson, Powhatan and Prince Edward counties, and the cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Lynchburg, Petersburg and Richmond.

The drought watch advisory DEQ previously issued for the Northern Piedmont drought evaluation region remains in effect.

***

Water from the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir is treated at the South Rivanna Water Treatment Plant, which is the largest water treatment plant in the system. The RWSA has shifted more operation to the Observatory Water Treatment Plant, which treats water from the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.

Currently, the Observatory Water Treatment Plant does not have the capacity to service the whole area.

There is also a minimum in-stream flow release requirement from the DEQ and the RWSA has received approval from that agency to cut back on that release. The RWSA now must release 10 percent of the inflow to the streams, whereas 70 percent of the inflow is released typically.

Its a share-the-resource concept  the community gets to use some of the water but we cant take it all away from the river and the environment, Mawyer said.

Lauren Hildebrand, director of city utilities, said proposed capital projects would expand the regions ability to treat the water in area reservoirs. She said part of the problem is that the areas largest water treatment plant is not receiving enough raw water.

The Ragged Mountain Reservoir specifically feeds the Observatory Water Treatment Plant, she said. Right now, it has maximum capacity to treat between 5 [million] and 6 million gallons of water per day. We need for this urban area about 10 [million] to 12 million gallons per day. The South Rivanna Treatment Plant has that capability to treat up to 12 million gallons per day.

Increasing that capacity will cost between $10 million and $15 million, Mawyer said.

Hildebrand said the RWSA currently is working to gain easements to build a water pipeline between the Ragged Mountain and South Fork Rivanna reservoirs.

The 9-mile-long pipeline is part of a long-term water supply plan that was adopted in 2006 by the RWSA and formally adopted by the localities in 2012.

The preliminary route for the pipeline followed the proposed Western Bypass, but the road project was suspended in 2014. Preliminary work on a more detailed routing study for the pipeline began last month.

***

Mawyer said that it will take between three and four years to get the alignment finalized and the property easements acquired. The RWSA board approved $528,030 in September for engineering services for the pipeline right-of-way. The overall project will cost between $60 million and $100 million, including new pump stations at both ends and a pretreatment facility at the Rivanna end.

Its very likely that the Observatory Water Treatment Plant improvements would be completed before the Rivanna-to-Ragged pipeline construction is started, Mawyer said.

We do not have a specific timeline of when we are going to construct the pipe because theres some intent that we would build it when the demand requires it, he said.

Gary OConnell, executive director of ACSA, said the authority has sent letters about the drought to all of its customers.

He said the authority has traffic sign boards going up in areas that have a lot of irrigation to tell people to turn it off. The ACSA has about 1,000 irrigation customers.

Then, we physically are going to turn them off next week, he said, regarding the irrigation meters. Thats probably the biggest user at this time of year where people have a choice.

OConnell said more enforcement activity will take place next week. Customers can be fined if they do not follow the restrictions.

With the City Council action and with the emergency action from this board, that puts us in sync with the city and county, so all the population in the community thats served on public drinking water will be under the same set of rules and requests, he said.

Daily Progress staff writer Chris Suarez contributed to this story.
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The European Union should respond to the terrible loss of life caused by earthquakes in Italy this year by embracing a long-term policy of helping the renovation of vulnerable buildings and infrastructure, the European Committee of the Regions says in a set of policy recommendations adopted on 11 October. Among the proposals, the EU's assembly of local and regional authorities emphasise that the European Union and EU member states should increase funding for renovation work, arguing that the investment would pay economic dividends and could reduce climate emissions, as well as reducing death tolls.

The report  " A European policy on the seismic requalification of buildings and infrastructure "  was drawn up at the instigation of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) itself, and its adoption was timed to coincide with the International Disaster Risk Reduction Day on 13 October. The CoR is working with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) to encourage local and regional authorities across Europe to protect their communities against damage caused by natural disasters.

The CoR's rapporteur, Vito Santarsiero (IT/PES), a member of the regional council of Basilicata in southern Italy, warns: "A dangerous natural event does not need to result in disasters on the scale that we have seen this year in Italy. Vulnerable buildings make the difference between a problem and a disaster. We need to make our buildings resilient. That will cost money, but we can also combine this renovation  'requalification'  with efforts to increase energy efficiency, which would save money and help the climate. And, of course, we must also remember the costs of inaction: over the past 50 years, Italy has lost 100 people and about 3 billion every year as a result of earthquakes, often depressing local economies for years and also endangering future development. The EU has good technical building standards against earthquakes and the EU is always very supportive financially in clearing up the effects of earthquakes; but it should invest more in prevention, by bearing in mind the risks of earthquakes when deciding where EU regional funds should be spent and by requiring all infrastructure built with EU funds to be disaster-resilient. Moreover, these measures would also help us cope with other natural events, such as flooding and heat waves, which are becoming more common with climate change."

Mr Santarsiero continued: "Our recommendations are about much more than money. Prevention means having accurate information, capable local administrations, responsive communities, and effective emergency services  and in all of these areas local administrations are crucially important. We have proposals that could help on all those fronts, including the adoption of an EU-level action plan to a call for more research into earthquakes."

Mr Santarsiero said that there is a particular challenge in persuading older house-owners to take preventative action, and noted that, while Italy, Greece and Romania are at particular risk, earthquakes pose a "moderate" danger in parts of Portugal, Spain, and France. Earthquakes also have the potential to trigger tsunamis across the Mediterranean, from Lisbon to Crete.

In May 2017, the president, first vice-president and leaders of the five political groups in CoR went on a fact-finding mission to the Italian regions of Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo and Marche to grasp the damage caused by earthquakes.

On 12 October, at a conference co-organised by the CoR and the UNISDR , Mr Santarsiero will chair discussions on managing disaster risks with representatives of the European Investment Bank, the World Bank, and the Zurich Insurance Group.

In 2016, the European Committee of the Regions and the UNISDR signed a five-year action plan with the aim of increasing the number of European cities and regions taking steps to reduce disaster risks. The UNISDR manages the United Nations' Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, which emphasises the linkages between natural hazards, climate action and sustainable development. The Sendai Framework is voluntary; to date, 3,678 municipalities have signed up to the UNISDR's bottom-up initiative with local governments, Making Cities Resilient .

Contact:

Andrew Gardner

Tel. +32 473 843 981

andrew.gardner@cor.europa.eu
RICHMOND  Academic leaders and public officials gathered Wednesday in Richmond to discuss how best to turn higher education investment into economic output in Virginia.

The Virginia Business Higher Education Council and Growth4VA, the councils campaign to help grow the states economy, hosted the 2017 Virginia Summit on Higher Education and Economic Competitiveness.

Over the course of the day-long summit, business leaders, higher education administrators and members of state government, including the major-party gubernatorial candidates, talked about the role of higher education in the commonwealths economic competitiveness.

Higher education is a crucial economic engine for Virginia, said Gilmer Minor, chairman of the Virginia Business Higher Education Council.

Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, the Democratic candidate for governor, and Ed Gillespie, the Republican candidate, both spoke at the summit.

The two candidates, speaking less than a month before Election Day, highlighted the importance of keeping students taught at Virginia schools in the state to contribute to the economy.

A talented workforce is a linchpin for substantive economic growth, said Gillespie, who attended the Catholic University of America in Washington.

Northam, a Virginia Military Institute alumnus, said its important to focus on all parts of the state as officials work to improve the ties between higher education and the economy.

If were going to lift up the economy of all Virginia, we need to pay attention to rural Virginia, Northam said.

***

Wednesdays summit also featured two panels, one on talent and the other on innovation, and a keynote address by Del. M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, the speaker-to-be in the House of Delegates.

Panelists said theres a need to create more experiential learning opportunities, such as internships, for students and added that the pipeline, starting in high school, needs to be strengthened to get students ready for the jobs in demand.

Post-secondary access differs across the state, according to a report commissioned by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and distributed Wednesday.

About half of working-age Virginians have a degree or workforce credential, according to the report, but that rate is below 30 percent in about 40 percent of the states 133 localities.

Meeting the growing demand for post-secondary education requires the commonwealth to identify the gaps in educational attainment needs across the state and to implement strategies to support greater access to and completion of post-secondary education, the report said.

Compared with other school divisions, a total of 40 divisions  about 30 percent  have fewer students going to college and more students in lower-income families, according to the report.

***

Peter Blake, director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, updated summit attendees on Virginias progress toward its goal of being the best-educated state by 2030. Part of that goal is increasing the percentage of Virginians with degrees or credentials.

The state currently ranks sixth in the United States, said Blake, adding that the commonwealth is on track to add 100,000 additional degrees as part of the plan. A total of 32,219 additional degrees were added this year, according to a slideshow he presented.

With more degrees comes more talent, speakers said, and its important to keep them in Virginia. The state has 16 four-year higher education institutions and 23 community colleges.

If we win on talent, we win period. If we have the best talent in America, we will have the most healthy economy in America, said Stephen Moret, president of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.

Everyone must continue to work together in pursuit of the 2030 goal and Virginias desire to regain the No. 1 ranking for business, said Dennis Treacy, chairman of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.

The business community cant do it alone. The university community cant do it alone. The General Assembly cant do it alone, he said. When all those entities gather together and pull toward the same direction, maybe we can do it. And Im very optimistic we can do it.
Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier

"When you shake a veteran's hand today, look them in the eye and give them a heartfelt thank you," said USAF Ret. Col. Jen Fullmer, parade grand marshal, who spoke at the event.
Mumbai: Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla while breaking his silence over India's ailing telecom sector has said in years to come only a few "fittest" mobile operators will survive in the business as according to him the price war is going to further escalate.

"The telecom sector is undergoing a very turbulent and difficult phase," Birla said in an interview this week. "Probably the fittest three will survive," business news portal Bloomberg quoted him as saying.

Birla's Idea Cellular will become largest telecom operator in India after merger with Vodafone India, British headquartered company's India arm. The unified entity as per a rough estimate will have some 400 million customers, a number much larger than incumbent market leader Bharti Airtel's which is over 225 million.

With players falling "like nine pins," Birla predicts that "the tariffs should stabilise at some point." It's still hard to say when prices will stop falling, and Idea won't rule out share sales or bond issues to raise funds, according to the Bloomberg report.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index puts Birla's net worth at $8.2 billion.

The telecom sector has seen an aggressive price war raging among telecom operators since September last year when Reliance Industries led by India's richest person Mukesh Ambani launched its own telecom company Relaince Jio.

For the first six months or 180 days of its advent on India's telecom landscape, Jio offered free unlimited 4G data and made its free voice calling service from its network a lifetime windfall.

The aggressive pricing by Jio, as has been alleged, has caused huge revenue losses to incumbent players including Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone that have taken up the issue with country's regulatory authorities. However, Jio in its defence has blamed the business model adopted by these companies as the real culprit.
New Delhi: PVR Cinemas has marked its twentieth year in business and the multiplex chain has introduced PVR PRIVILEGE, a class-leading loyalty program for its ever-growing patron base.

The loyalty program aims at offering its members an enriched array of first-class redemption opportunities and enhanced benefits.

The 'PVR Privilege' program is India's first fully digital cinema loyalty program and offers the consumers umpteen privileges and benefits, including reward points on each purchase of tickets or food and beverages, bonus points during special occasions, personalized offers and services, and an automated conversion of reward points into vouchers that can be used to pay for tickets and F&B.

An easy to use, QR-code based virtual card in the app, website, and at the cinemas will also be provided to patrons.

"PVR privilege card is a strategic move to delight, create and retain loyal customers. We are targeting a brisk growth for the PVR Privilege program over the next 2 years," said the chief of strategy PVR Ltd., Kamal Gianchandani at an event where Bollywood actor Aamir Khan was the guest of honour along with Dangal girl Zaira Wasim.

"By being an early mover in offering a loyalty program, PVR continues to enhance the movie-going experience for PVR's valued guests," said joint managing director PVR Ltd., Sanjeev Kumar Bijli.

The 'PVR Privilege' program promises to make the movie-going experience hugely rewarding for its customers. By earning points and auto-generated vouchers, all from first-time visitation to subsequent transactions; PVR customers are in for a treat.
RBI came out with the third set of reforms in PPI to make it interoperable with all existing payment instruments.

New Delhi: The contribution of Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) will rise to 30-40 per cent over 5 years from less than 10 per cent now on the Reserve Bank push, PCI said on Thursday.

RBI came out with the third set of reforms in PPI on Wednesday to make it interoperable with all existing payment instruments, on par with acceptance of debit/credit cards in a phased manner, Payments Council of India (PCI) said in a statement.

"This would ensure that PPIs contribution to digital payments from current share of less than 10 per cent can move to 30-40 per cent in the next 5 years," it said.

The Council praised the regulator for a "progressive and positive" set of guidelines. It however said a concern is that even the low usage wallets with limited merchant transaction functionality are required to do a KYC beyond 12 months.

"This adds friction to customers and costs to issuer. In line with international guidelines, a framework of proportional KYC could have been adopted," it said. PCI is the representative body of PPI issuers.

Bhavik Vasa, Chief Growth Officer of ItzCash Ebix said the RBI guidelines mark the 10 year anniversary to the industry and seem to be a true reflection of a collaborate approach for the industry.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the DGP of Maharashtra to hand over possession of the Aamby valley project in 48 hours to the Official Liquidator of the Bombay High Court, if the Pune police had taken possession of it, to facilitate the auction of the properties. A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ranajn Gogoi and A.K. Sikri passed this order after Sebi informed the court that Sahara had informed the Pune Police that it had declared a lock of all activities in Aamby valley project following the decision to auction the property and thereby preventing the auction.

The Court asked the Company Law Judge to assist the Official Liquidator in conducting the auction and Justice A.S. Voka would also work in unison with them. The court warned that anyone putting impediment in the auction process would be hauled up for contempt of court and sent to jail. Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi for Sahara refuted Sebis allegations and it was not behaving as a regulator.

We have no objection for the auction but there are no buyers. The property has not been handed over to the police, he said. The Bench, however, refused to hear him at this stage. Senior counsel Arvind P. Datar for Sebi said the police had taken possession of the property and auction could not take place on October 3, as there were no buyers. The Saharas had orchestrated this to prevent auctioning of the properties as directed by the apex court.
Mumbai: Milind Soman, who is defying age with his perfect physique, recently shared a picture where he is posing with his rumoured girlfriend, Ankita Konwar, on Instagram. As expected, many hearts were broken, as his female fans envied the lucky girl, some just could't digest the fact that former actor is dating a girl half his age.

Milinds relationship with Ankita came to the forefront a few months ago when he openly started expressing his affections for the lady on Instagram.

Reportedly, Ankita is 18 years old and an air hostess. As soon as the reports about Milind dating a girl younger than him started making rounds on the internet, people flooded the comment section on their selfie, asking whether the girl is "his daughter".

Here's the picture that caught everyone's attention.

Here are few other pictures that Milind had posted on Instagram.

Love this person :) A post shared by Milind Usha Soman (@milindrunning) on Apr 21, 2017 at 12:29am PDT

Forever :) A post shared by Milind Usha Soman (@milindrunning) on Apr 25, 2017 at 4:56am PDT

No other place I'd rather be A post shared by Milind Usha Soman (@milindrunning) on May 21, 2017 at 5:07am PDT

Heaven in a selfie. A post shared by Milind Usha Soman (@milindrunning) on Oct 4, 2017 at 2:55am PDT

As it seems, the two have known each other for years now before making their relationship public.

Milind first shared Ankita's picture in year 2014, when he joined the social networking site.
Mumbai: After the poster being unveiled at Cannes Film Festival earlier, Majid Majidi's film Beyond The Clouds will now premiere at the BFI London Film Festival in the competition category. Starring Ishaan Khatter and Malavika Mohanan in the lead roles, Beyond The Clouds celebrates the triumph and adoration of life against the Mumbai backdrop showcased through the eyes of the maestro Majid Majidi.

This film is well considered Majidi's first ode to India and is undoubtedly a true 'Make in India' celebration of path-breaking Indian talent and technique all under one roof.

Sharing his thoughts about his film's world premiere at the festival, Mr Majidi said, "This is the first feature film I have made out of my country Iran, an experience which I waiting for years to happen. Beyond The Clouds is an extension of my cinematic beliefs, the roots of which lie in human values, love, friendship and family bonding. Beyond The Clouds is a story of a brother and sister like Children of Heaven, with the difference being that the siblings are grown ups and tackle greater conflicts with the backdrop of the bustling city of Mumbai."

Talking about the world premiere of Beyond The Clouds at London Film Festival, festival director Clare Stewart said, "Acclaimed Iranian director Majid Majidi brings a powerful outsider eye to Mumbai in this compelling, visually stunning film driven by an extraordinary debut performance from Ishaan Khattar. Anil Mehta's breathtaking cinematography and the evocative score by Oscar-winning composer A R Rahman bring additional depth to Majidi's visionary filmmaking and we are very proud to present its World Premiere in Official Competition at the BFI London Film Festival".

Beyond The Clouds is the official selection in the competition category that will take place on the 13th & 14th of October. The lead cast Ishaan and Malavika, along with Mr. Majidi himself will be present in London for their World Premiere.

The film is produced by Zee Studios and Shareen Mantri Kedia and Kishor Arora of Namah Pictures.
Mumbai: Rajkumar Hiranis Ranbir Kapoor starrer Dutt biopic is one film that everyone is looking forward to watch in 2018. Ranbirs miraculous transformation to look like Sanjay Dutt has generated huge curiosity amongst fans. While everyone is excited for films release theres one person who is worried about something related to the film, its Sanjay Dutts wife Maanayata. As per reports in Mumbai Mirror, the star wife is worried about her part in the film. She is not sure about how much importance has given to her character in the story. The reports further stated that director Rajkumar Hirani has not bothered to inform Maanayata about her character.

A source reveals in interaction with Mirror, A nervous Maanyata has been calling all and sundry (including Ranbir Kapoor), trying to get more info on the movie.

Ironically, Dia Mirza, who is playing Maanayatas character in this Ranbir Kapoor starrer has great things to say about her role. I believe Manyata is someone who has a strong sense of self. Ranbir has transformed himself into Sanjay totally but I dont think others need to do the same. I have interacted with her over the years and I think she is the anchor in Sanjays life. But I have perceived Manyata through the wonderful writing (by Abhijat and Raju) thats been written about her., Dia said when she was asked about playing Maanyata in the Dutt biopic, a few months back.

Maanayata and Sanjay Dutt got married in year 2008 and have twins together. Sanjay have always mentioned his wifes importance in his life.

This Rajkumar Hirani directed film is currently in its last schedule and is gearing up for a March 2018 release. Apart from Ranbir Kapoor and Dia Mirza it also stars Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Manisha Koirala, Paresh Rawal, and Vicky Kaushal.
The court said the Talwars could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record. (In Photo: Vishal Bhardwaj)

Mumbai: Filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj andMeghna Gulzar, the duo behind the critically-acclaimed 'Talvar' on the 2008 Aarushi and Hemraj murder case, today hailed the Allahabad High Court verdict acquitting the parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

The court said the Talwars could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record, thus ending the nine-year ordeal of the parents who were found guilty by a CBI court of murdering 14-year-old Aarushi.

Bhardwaj was the producer and the writer of the 2015 thriller while Meghna directed the movie that presented alternative narratives of what happened on the night of May 16, 2008, when Aarushi was found murdered in her Noida home.

The body of the Talwars' family help Hemraj was found several hours later.

"Justice delayed is NOT justice denied. Overwhelmed and deeply relieved upon hearing the news of the acquittal. #AarushiVerdict #Talwars," Bhardwaj tweeted. Meghna called the verdict a "triumph of justice".

"I just feel that the truth has finally prevailed. It is a triumph of justice. I can only imagine what the parents must have gone through," she told PTI.

"I did not do that film to tell the story of a particularside. Our intention all along was to see that all the versions of the case are out in the open. I think this is what has happened in this appeal. The facts and testimonies were examined very carefully and rationally," she added.

Bhardwaj, in a statement, said they faced a lot of questions while making the movie "though we didn't take any sides in presenting the story and maintained as neutral a viewpoint as possible".

He said it was painful to imagine the mental trauma that the parents went through for nine years.

"I am overwhelmed and relieved to hear of the Talwars' acquittal and this strengthens my faith in the Indian judicial system. However, it still pains me when I think about the precious years lost in prison and the emotional trauma that the parents had to go through, so much so that they couldn't even mourn their own daughter's demise," the "Haider" director said.
It looks like the Telangana government is keen to rope in Telugu celebrities for their development programmes. In the same light, they recently announced actress Rakul Preet Singh as the brand ambassador for the states Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao programme.

Expressing her excitement about the new role, the actress tweeted, Extremely honoured to b d brand ambassador of Telangana 4 d #Betibachaobetioadhao campaign. Let the change begin (sic).

Interestingly, the government had also named actress Samantha Akkineni as the brand ambassador of Telangana Handlooms earlier this year. And, even for the Telangana chapter of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the state appointed actress Manchu Lakshmi as its brand ambassador in January this year.

It is quite commendable that the government is banking on the celebrities fame to create a better India.
New research finds Tai Chi could help heart attack patients to recover.

The ancient Chinese martial art could be an option to traditional rehab. Not actively taking part in rehabilitation can be dangerous and increases a patients risk of dying by 18%, according to a report by the Daily Mail.

For the study, 29 people who suffered a heart attack reported they had enjoyed participating in a Tai Chi class. The slow pace of Tai Chi encourages people to continue with the exercise, researchers have found. The only notable side effect they experienced was minor muscular pain.

Brown University experts feel it could help immensely. "We thought that tai chi might be a good option for these people because you can start very slowly and simply," lead author of the study Dr Elena Salmoirago-Blotcher told the Daily Mail. "As their confidence increases, the pace and movements can be modified to increase intensity. Tai Chi exercise can reach low-to-moderate intensity levels," she added.

However, the researchers warned it is not to replace conventional rehabilitation, as it did not help the patients aerobic fitness, the report revealed. Professor Salmoirago-Blotcher told the Daily Mail: "On its own, Tai Chi wouldn't obviously replace other components of traditional cardiac rehabilitation." Adding, "If proven effective in larger studies, it might be possible to offer it as an exercise option within a rehab centre as a bridge to more strenuous exercise."

The study was originally published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
John says, "You'll never make it in this business". Lisa always finds a way to throw her weight around. Wendy takes credit for my ideas.

Whether it is the job of your dreams or a means of putting food on the table, working with people can be a rough challenge sometimes. You encounter people who, for whatever reason, can drive you up the wall and hinder you from thriving in the workplace to reach your full potential.

In such moments, you'd think this type of toxic co-worker was invented in your office, but this is a worldwide phenomenon experienced by millions on a daily basis. What is a toxic co-worker? Kevin Kelloway, Professor of Management and Psychology at Saint Mary's University describes them as "people who do things that affect our well-being.

"So behaviours such as negativity, making fun of people, intimidating others are all characteristic of toxic workers," Professor Kelloway revealed.

Not everyone is going to be your best friend and that is okay. But when it bleeds into your work and starts affecting your psyche, you know you have a problem. Suddenly going to work becomes more about the dreadful task of dealing with someone insufferable rather than the actual job.

A recent survey by Fierce Conversations, a training company that teaches one how to have effective conversations, found 40% of people believe their organisation does nothing once made aware of toxic individuals and negative attitude is cited as the most detrimental to employees. Stacey Engle, EVP at Fierce Conversations revealed, "Over two-thirds wish their employers were less tolerant of these individuals".

But quitting isn't an option in many cases. Jamie Gruman, Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour at the University of Guelph feels difficult people are almost inevitable, so learning how to deal with them is a better solution than running away from the situation.

Understanding the motive for such bad behaviour is the first step in reducing the toxicity in a working environment. "Sometimes people are difficult because they have needs or desires they're trying to satisfy," Professor Gruman shared. Engle agrees and feels the effect of a toxic employee can trickle down throughout a team. "All of the distraction this type of employee causes affects productivity," Engle explained.

Experts weigh in on the motive of a toxic co-worker and provide helpful strategies you can use when dealing with them.

MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: WHY SO TOXIC?

So before you decide to turn your negative circumstance into a positive one, we always ask why? Why does he/she behave this way? Why do I attract these types? Well, it may not be you. Professor Gruman believes such people are "manipulative and strategic", while Professor Kelloway said they have a high sense of self-importance. "Moreover they often have a sense that they are untouchable  that organisational rules and norms dont apply to them and that they can get away with these behaviours because of their position or contribution to the company, he explained.

Getting worked up about the individual is playing right into their hands as Professor Kelloway points to two motives. "First, toxic individuals might actively sabotage or undermine your efforts  this is a typical bullying behaviour with the intent of impeding your productivity (e.g., so that you will be in trouble or disciplined)," he explained.

"Second, the more time you spend worrying about or pre-occupied with the individual and their behaviour the less time you are spending at your tasks  this is a form of presenteeism  you are at work but not really focused on work - again resulting in decreased productivity, he added.

TYPES OF TOXIC CO-WORKERS

Tom Anastasi, Adjunct Assistan Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Boston University describes the type of toxic type of co-workers you may have encountered:

HOW TO COPE AND THRIVE IN THE WORKPLACE

Professor Anatasi assures that difficult people can be managed and suggests strategies for two scenarios in the workplace. If the person dominates a meeting and is always using force of will to advocate their ideas, get everyone's opinion on the topic being discussed. If the toxic person tries to interrupt, then say: Hold on  we want to hear from everyone.

The toxic person will hate having everyone talk, but that will lead to a much more productive meeting  its an effective use of the power of the group," Professor Anatasi explained. When the toxic co-worker tries to throw their weight around or say something unproductive, say: "Really? Do you really mean we should do that or is that a conversation starter?"

Professor Gruman recommends the strategy of containment. You develop strategies that target the co-worker's toxic behaviour and try to limit their influence, he advises. For example, contain overbearing and domineering colleagues by employing a rule where nobody speaks unless they are holding the 'speaking pen'.

Professor Kelloway suggests surrounding yourself with supportive individuals and avoids getting trapped into interactions with the toxic person. It's really a strategy of active avoidance and self-protection," he elaborated.

CONFRONTING THE INDIVIDUAL

When it comes to confronting a toxic co-worker, Engle believes you should have a straightforward and honest conversation with them. "If an employee is dealing with a toxic employee, the first thing they should do is address them directly, she said.

However, Kelloway feels it will only add fuel to the fire and wouldn't recommend it due to the individual's behaviour: "Unfortunately there is little truth to this strategy as often the perpetrators have a very strong ego and that is why they behave badly in the first place," he believes.

Nevertheless, all the experts agreed, if things get worse it is important to get management involved and provide facts about how this individual is affecting your ability to do your job. The most important thing to remember is to put the focus back on you and your goals. "You cannot control other people, only how you react to them," Engle added.
According to a recent study, traumatic events take a toll on the heart, especially after the menopause transition. (Photo: Pixabay)

Researchers warn that enduring up to three traumatic events could be all it takes for a woman to end up with heart disease.

The risk increases after menopause, and suffering a car crash, the death of a child, being physically abused or experiencing an earthquake could be the last straw to push the woman over the edge.

The study headed by scientists from the University of Pittsburgh revealed that such women had poorer endothelial function, which means blood struggles to pass through major arteries easily, and can lead to hypertension or high blood pressure.

Poor endothelial function is a well-known risk factor of heart diseases and the world's leading killer.

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in women. To date, little research has been done to study the impact of traumatic experiences on vascular health as a precursor to heart disease.

Even less work has focused on this relationship during the menopause transition when the risk of heart disease is naturally increasing, along with deteriorating endothelial function. (The endothelium is the inner lining of the heart and blood vessels.)

In this study of 272 pre-menopausal and post-menopausal non-smoking women, researchers tested whether a greater number of lifetime traumatic experiences was related to poorer endothelial function, independent of demographic characteristics, other heart disease risk factors, estradiol, and childhood abuse history.

The result was that women reporting a higher number of traumatic experiences (three or more) had poorer endothelial function which can make them more susceptible to a cardiac incident.

For purposes of this study, traumatic experiences were defined as events such as sexual harassment, death of a child, being in a car accident, experiencing a natural disaster, or being beaten or mugged.

"These findings underscore the importance of psychosocial factors, such as trauma exposure, in the development of heart disease risk in midlife women," says Dr. Rebecca Thurston, lead author of the study from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine.

"Given the large percentage of postmenopausal women affected by heart disease, this is an important study that should remind healthcare providers of the need to thoroughly discuss a woman's history beyond simply asking about her physical health," says Dr. JoAnn Pinkerton, NAMS executive director."
Bengaluru: India is poised to become the osteoarthritis capital of the world with 60 million cases by 2025 and whats more, the disease is now being reported among 30 to 50 year olds, whereas in the past it mainly affected the elderly.

These facts were revealed by People Tree Hospitals CEO, Dr Chandrashekar Chikkamuniyappa, who is also a senior joint replacement surgeon, at an awareness drive conducted by the hospital on the occasion of World Arthritis Day on Thursday in the city.

Dr Yogesh Singh, HoD and consultant rheumatologist, Manipal Hospitals, when contacted, held out hope, saying early diagnosis in cases of rheumatoid arthritis could be helpful. Delay can only cause degeneration of joints, bones and tissues, he warned.

Some of the symptoms are redness, swelling, and pain in the joints, tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles. Over a 100 types of rheumatic disease have been discovered and their treatment focuses on managing the condition, he added.

Meanwhile, HOSMAT Hospital conducted a free arthritis consultation to mark the World Arthritis Day. And Apollo Spectra Hospitals recently held a Health Day Clinic to spread awareness on joint pains and issues related to the disease.
Blood tests carried out in the health camps revealed the presence of the parasite (Photo: Pixabay/ Representational Image)

Hyderabad: Thirteen cases of asymptomatic malaria were detected during health camps in Hyderabad recently. In these cases, the usual symptoms of malaria, such as fever and chills, are not there, but the parasite is present in the body. Blood tests carried out in the health camps revealed the presence of the parasite.

Of the 50 people who were tested, 13 proved positive for malaria. Dr K Seshi Kiran, senior general physician at Yashoda Hospital, explains that the symptoms of fever and chills are missing in cases of asymptomatic malaria because the person is healthy and the immune system is strong in fighting the parasite.

Asymptomatic infection is an important obstacle in eliminating malaria. More research is required to understand how frequently latent infection can get converted to acute infection. At present, an asymptomatic person is a potential reservoir for malaria. The parasite is in the bloodstream of the human and when the mosquito bites such a person and then goes and bites another person, the parasite is transferred. If the immune system of that person is weak, a full-blown case of malaria will be presented. Those who have asymptomatic malaria have recurrent episodes of fever and chills, which subside after taking the prescribed medication.

Dr Hari Kishan B, senior general physician, says people who harbour reserves of this parasite will suffer from two to three episodes of fever in a span of six months.

Since medication is given, these people do not visit clinics and get tested for malaria, he said.

The presence of the parasite in the body leads to chronic anaemia, and maternal and neonatal mortality in pregnant women.

Dr Suneetha Narreddy, consultant for infectious diseases, strikes a note of caution on treatment for this type of malaria: Treatment of these reservoirs of malaria infections has tremendous implications. Risks include adverse events of the drug chosen to treat them. There could also be increased pressure of drug resistance to therapies for acute clinical cases. But there are benefits, too, like decreased morbidity and mortality from chronic and acute malaria infection. There is also the possibility of eliminating the parasite completely from the system.

To tackle these asymptomatic cases it is very important to have an accurate diagnosis, and create a climate of health-seeking behaviour so people have confidence in reporting to healthcare centres.

The government is carrying out malaria tests in health camps as it has to eliminate the parasite from the Indian populace by 2030.

To achieve this target, government has to tackle the cases of asymptomatic malaria, which pose a potential threat.
Chennai: Blue Cross of India on Tuesday filed a police complaint against a private university near Vandalur and Tambaram municipality officials alleging illegal capture of dogs and suspected killing by municipality officials.

The Thalambur police have acknowledged the complaint by Blue Cross general manager Dawn Williams and have issued a community service register (CSR).

The issue was brought to light after a video of two Tambaram municipality workers catching a dog on university campus went viral on social media. Union minister Maneka Gandhi came across the video and alerted the Blue Cross personnel who filed a police complaint.

A senior official with Tambaram municipality said that their office has received communication from the Union ministers office and they have terminated the services of the two contract workers seen in the video. Further, we have also issued memos to two of our staff for their involvement, an official told DC. The university is not in the Tambaram municipality limits and the workers went out of their way to catch the stray dogs, about 11 of them on the campus. Further investigations are on.
SALISBURY, Mass: A pair of skinny-dippers gave a wedding reception at a scenic Massachusetts restaurant more of a view than expected.

Zachary Tomko tells WHDH-TV he didn't realize there was a restaurant nearby when he and Holly O'Neil jumped naked into the water at Salisbury Beach on Saturday.

Salisbury Police Chief Thomas Fowler tells The Boston Globe his department received several calls about the nude swimmers from both beachgoers and members of the wedding party.

Fowler says police charged 29-year-old Tomko and 20-year-old O'Neil, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, with disorderly conduct.

Bride Leah Allen says the swimmers made for a "really interesting wedding day," and she applauded them for braving the cold water.
Soon, it was found that the guard had escaped with the cash bag, after which the branch manager, Dinakaran approached the Pondy Bazaar police (Photo: Representational Image)

Chennai: City police on Wednesday sought custody of the security guard of a jewellery showroom in T Nagar who fled with Rs 50 lakh a month ago. Ayodhyanath Yadav (48), a native of Uttarakhand searched by the Pondy Bazaar police for over a month, surrendered before the Saidapet metropolitan magistrate court on Tuesday.

Magistrate J. Angaleshwari sentenced Yadav to be remanded to judicial custody. We have submitted a petition for police custody, a senior police officer told DC. Police are unaware where he had stashed the cash.

On September 5, a cashier of the Velachery branch of the showroom, Radhakrishnan, had transported the cash bag from their head office in Bengaluru.

He was told to hand over the cash to the showroom manager in T Nagar.When Radhakrishnan went to the T Nagar branch, he met Ayodhyanath there.

The duo had reportedly worked together earlier and Yadav was transferred to T Nagar recently. The guard enquired Radhakrishnan about his visit and when he told about the cash, the guard offered to collect and hand it over to the account manager, Murugesan. Since he has been with the company for a long time, the cashier didnt suspect anything and handed over the cash bag to him, a police officer said.

However, a few hours later, Radhakrishnan called up T Nagar branch to check if they had received the cash and was shocked to hear that they didnt get the bag.

Soon, it was found that the guard had escaped with the cash bag, after which the branch manager, Dinakaran approached the Pondy Bazaar police.
KALABURAGI: A 70-year-old woman from Taj Sultanpur village on the outskirts of the Kalaburagi city died on Thursday, a day after hearing about the shocking news of the brutal murder of her son, who was kidnapped by assailants a week ago.

The septuagenarian Lalitabai died due to heart attack after hearing the news of her son Monappas (42) death.

According to police, Monappa, a contract employee at Gescom, was kidnapped on October 7, and the same day the kidnappers called up the family and demanded a ransom of Rs 6 lakh.

The family members managed to arrange for the said amount and handed it over to the gang members at the said location after they assured that he (Monappa) would be freed unharmed.

However, the payment of a kidnappers ransom failed to save the life of Monappa, who was bludgeoned to death despite the ransom.

The police recovered the decomposed body of the victim from an isolated area between Syed Chincholli and Narona village in Aland taluk of district on Wednesday. They suspect that he may have died four to five days back. A case has been registered in rural police station.
K Sai Durga Mounika family members claimed that she was depressed due to family issues, which forced her to take this extreme step (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad: Nowadays, I am afraid to be happy. I dont know y ppl dnt want to look at me ven Im happy in ma life (sic). Every moment in my life is gng sooo worst (sic), wrote 19-year-old K. Sai Durga Mounika on her WhatsApp status before hanging herself to death on Wednesday.

Sai Durga Mounika, a final year engineering student, committed suicide at her residence in Dundigal. Her family members claimed that she was depressed due to family issues, which forced her to take this extreme step.

Sources said that she committed suicide after her mother admonished her over her excessive use of smart phones and spending time on social media.

According to the police, Sai Durga was staying at her maternal uncles house along with her mother and brother in Suraram under the Dundigal police station. Her father Chandrashekar left them a decade ago.

On Wednesday afternoon, she had an argument with her mother over a gold chain and a ring. After the argument, when her mother and brother went out, she hanged herself to death.

When her family members returned late in the evening, they rushed her to a nearby hospital, but she was declared brought dead.

According to her family, she was sensitive and often threatened them of committing suicide over petty issues. On Wednesday, her mother questioned her about the gold jewellery, due to which she felt offended and took this extreme step, said Mr M. Pavan from the Dundigal police station.

 We will recover her mobile phone and verify her social media posts. Based on the evidence, the probe will proceed. added the SI.
Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti also imposed a blanket ban on the possession of arms and weapons by civilian in the wake of the upcoming Gujarat Assembly Elections. (Photo: ANI)

Gandhinagar: The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Achal Kumar Jyoti on Tuesday announced that assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in December this year.

"The term of the Gujarat assembly ends on January 22, so the election will have to be completed in December. Assembly elections will mostly be conducted in the December," Jyoti said at a press conference in poll-bound Gujarat.

He, however, not informed that whether the state will see a one or two-phased election and said that they are still assessing various aspects.

The Election Commission also imposed a blanket ban on the possession of arms and weapons by civilian in the wake of the upcoming Gujarat Assembly Elections.

"License holders will have to deposit their licensed weapons with concerned SHO or police station," he said.

All licensed weapons will be returned to the licensed owners after the polling is over, the Chief Election Commissioner said.

The Commission also asked the State authorities to provide cashless facilities to all polling staff.

The fourteenth legislative assembly election will be held this year to elect members of the 182 constituencies in Gujarat.

Eyeing the assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress have begun rigorous election campaign for the western state.
The L&T Metro Rail is carrying out all the finishing works from Paradise to Ameerpet station areas (Photo: Representational image)

Hyderabad: The HMR will be conducting the Mettuguda to Begumpet trial run as the electric wiring energisation has been completed. Engineers, after inspection, have allowed trial runs which will start soon.

A senior engineer from the Government of India inspected the complete overhead electric traction and the incoming electric feed. This step will now allow Metro train designs to be tested and issue satisfactory certificates so that the trial runs can start.

Mr Shivanand Nimbargi, managing director of L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited explained, The completion of electric testing will allow us to move ahead and conduct the other statutory tests before we commence the trail runs. We are going to bring the services of Metro Rail to the people at the earliest.

Metro rail from Nagole to Ameerpet and Miyapur to Ameerpet are announced to be starting from November. The L&T Metro Rail is carrying out all the finishing works from Paradise to Ameerpet station areas.
New Delhi: A Wagon R car, used by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till the 2015 assembly polls, was stolen outside the Delhi Secretariat on Thursday, the police said.

The humble Blue hatchback, which became synonymous with Kejriwal's 'Aam Aadmi' image, was being used by an AAP functionary these days.

"The car was parked outside the Delhi Secretariat. It went missing around 1 am," a senior police official said.

The car was donated to Kejriwal by Kundan Sharma, a software enginner, in January 2013.
BJP leaders and supporters locked the BBMP office in Bengaluru on Wednesday against failure to fill potholes in the city (Photo: DC)

Bengaluru: Angered and frustrated with pothole ridden roads and innocent motorists losing their precious lives, the BJP workers protested against the BBMPs ineptness in handling the situation.

The protesting BJP workers also locked up the BBMP head office gates symbolically and shouted anti-Congress slogans.

Former deputy chief minister R. Ashok, who spearheaded the protest, attacked Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and squarely blamed him for recent pothole related deaths.

There is no guarantee whether a person who takes out his bike in the morning returns home safely. Safety is something that has become totally elusive due to the negligence and shoddy work by the BBMP authorities, Ashok said. A whopping Rs 22 crore has been spent on filling potholes, but there is no sign them getting filled. This is nothing but squandering public money, he added.

Mr Siddaramaiah has been making tall claims about spending Rs. 4,000 crores for Bengaluru development. Where is the development happening? It has become invisible and he is answerable to this present condition of Bengaluru, Mr Ashok said.

He also attacked Bengaluru Development Minister K. J. George and said that he has been making irresponsible and inhuman statements on the pothole related deaths.

How can Mr George say that people are dying due to negligence while riding even when they have lost their lives while trying to avoid potholes, he questioned. The fact that police have been filling pothles in some areas is a shame on BBMP and the state government.

The protesters burnt an effigy of Mr George and raised slogans against the government and BBMP. They also alleged that the problems were caused by irregularities and corruption in the BBMP. Police and BBMP staff tried to prevent the BJP workers from besieging the BBMP and locked up the four entry gates from inside.

There was a heavy deployment of police personnel to ensure that there was no law and order problem.

Protest to continue

The protest against the BBMPs maladministration will continue under the leadership of BJP state president B.S. Yeddyurappa. The BBMP office will be locked up to get them to work and to make Bengaluru pothole free, the activists said.
Karnataka Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah on Thursday said that the death of four people in Bengaluru were not because of potholes but were accidents. (Photo: File)

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah on Thursday said that the death of four people in Bengaluru were not because of potholes but were accidents.

Four people have died in accidents in October because of the battered condition of some of the city roads.

The Karnataka government and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city civic body, came under sharp criticism following the incident.

The recent death was of G Veena, 21-year-old, resident of Kundana in Devanahalli, who was returning home riding pillion with her elder sister G Lakshmi, 24 on Tuesday.

Veena died after she was flung from a scooter and crushed by a truck near Devanahalli.

The incident happened at the Shettarahalli gate, while trying to negotiate a pothole, Lakshmi slowed down the two-wheeler when a truck hit them from behind, police said.

Read: Bengaluru woman tries to avoid pothole, dies after running into truck

As the women fell off their vehicle, the truck ran over Veena, killing her instantaneously. Lakshmi too sustained serious injuries and was admitted to a hospital.

On Sunday, a 52-year-old woman Radha was run over by a lorry after she fell off the scooter when the rider lost control while negotiating a pothole. The incident was reported near Nayandahalli Junction on Mysuru Road.

On October 3, a couple, Anthony Joseph, 55, and his wife Sagai Mary, 52, died on the spot after a Tamil Nadu government bus ran over them when they fell off the bike while avoiding a pothole on Sirsi Flyover on Mysuru Road near Nalanda theatre.

Siddaramaiah on Monday gave a 15-day deadline to fill all the potholes in Bengaluru and declared that his government will not hesitate to initiate disciplinary action against engineers and contractors who fail to meet the deadline.

During the high level meeting with state officials, the chief minister also blamed torrential rains for the potholes in the city and has promised to rid the city of potholes in a fortnight.

The CM on Monday had decided to release Rs 700 crore to fill potholes as well as develop good roads in the city.

Siddaramaiah said the condition of roads in the city has deteriorated as Bengaluru received heavy rains for the last 42 days.
The Election Commission of India is likely to announce the exact polling dates in the evening on Thursday. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are poll-bound end of this year and the Election Commission is likely to announce the exact dates later today.

Gujarat and Himachals legislative tenures end in January, 2018.

This is Gujarats fourteenth Assembly election to send 182 members to office. Himachal Pradesh has 68 constituencies.

Himachals 68-member Assembly is ruled by the Congress which has 36 seats to BJPs 26. Since 1985, the state has never re-elected an incumbent and the Congress and BJP have exchanged power. Before BJPs first win in 1990, Congress lost once  to Janata Party in 1977.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) A K Joti had said Tuesday that the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) will be used in over 50,000 booths in Gujarat. VVPAT was first used in the Goa polls earlier this year.

He informed the Election Commission has set up at least one all-women poll centre in each of the 182 seats in Gujarat.

In 2012, the BJP led by Narendra Modi, had won 116 seats, while the Congress won 60. BJP has been in power in Gujarat since 1995.

An opinion poll earlier this year has given BJP 144 to 152 seats, and 59 per cent of the voting share in Gujarat. Congress got 26 to 32 seats and 29 per cent.
Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. (Photo: PTI | File)

New Delhi: Former CBI chief A P Singh said, on Thursday that there was "insufficient evidence" to prosecute dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the 2008 murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi.

He said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had also stated it in its "closure report" filed before a special trial court in Ghaziabad.

"The Allahabad High Court has, I believe, given them benefit of doubt which is precisely what we had said in our closure report. There was insufficient evidence to prosecute the Talwars hence we had filed the closure report," he said.

The investigation in the case was almost complete when Singh became the CBI chief to head it between 2010 and 2012.

"The investigation was almost complete when I took over and I had to take a decision whether to file a charge sheet or a closure report," he said.

Singh said that there were several constraints before the CBI when it took over the investigation, and the most crucial one was the crime scene which was severely compromised after the Uttar Pradesh Police's initial probe.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008.

The suspicion initially fell on 45-year-old domestic help Hemraj, who at the time was missing. But his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.

As the Uttar Pradesh Police drew flak over shoddy investigation into the case which was making national headlines, the then chief minister Mayawati recommended a probe by the CBI.

The case was handed over to the CBI on June 1. The agency had filed its closure report in the Ghaziabad court on December 29, 2010.
Bengaluru: Seeing the success of the Indira Canteens in Bengaluru, the state government has decided to start 246 more of these outlets serving highly subsidised food to the poor in all district and taluk headquarters from January 1 next year.

The state Cabinet, which met here on Wednesday, approved the proposal to open more canteens mainly at the district hospitals, bus stands and railway stations, which have a large floating population, at a cost of around Rs. 185 crore. The government is expected to incur expenditure of Rs. 9 crore every month to provide the subsided food at the canteens.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, T.B. Jayachandra, who spoke to reporters after the meeting , said the Cabinet had instructed the district administrations to identify the locations for the canteens and kitchens by November. Each of the 246 canteens will be expected to serve one lakh people.

Giving in to pressure from people of Mudalgi , Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi and BJP MLA, BalaChandra Jarkiholi, the Cabinet decided to give taluk status to the town.

In other decisions it approved extending the CM's Anila Bhagya scheme to 28 lakh beneficiaries , who will each receive a two-burner gas stove , two refill cylinders, one litre kerosene and one rechargeable LED bulb. It's targeted to bring 10 lakh people under the CM's Anila Bhagya Yojana by March 2018. With each kit costing Rs 4040 the scheme will cost Rs 1137 crore.
Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said, 'With a belligerent India on our East and an unstable Afghanistan on our West, the region remains captive due to historical baggage and negative competition.' (Photo: AP | File)

New Delhi/Karachi: Pakistan has shown "genuine desire" to have peaceful relations with its "belligerent" neighbour India but it takes two to tango, the country's army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a seminar in Karachi on 'Interplay of Economy and Security', Gen Bajwa also said that Pakistan needed a comprehensive effort to pursue the National Action Plan and remove vulnerabilities well before they turn into threats.

"Our external front which continues to remain in a flux. With a belligerent India on our East and an unstable Afghanistan on our West, the region remains captive due to historical baggage and negative competition," Bajwa said.

"But on our part, we are making a deliberate and concerted effort to pacify the western border through a multitude of diplomatic, military and economic initiative, not to mention the phenomenal boost to human security that we have provided in FATA and surrounding areas. We have also expressed and demonstrated our genuine desire to have normal and and peaceful relations with India, however, it takes two to tango," Bajwa said.

Bajwa also expressed concerns over the country's "sky high" debts, saying the abysmally low tax to GDP ratio must change if the country has to "break the begging bowl".

"Growth has picked up but the debts are sky high. Infrastructure and energy have improved considerably but the current account balance is not in our favour," he said.

According to figures released by the finance ministry, Pakistan's foreign debt and liabilities are around USD 58 billion.

"In order to secure our future, we have to increase our tax base, bring in fiscal discipline and ensure continuity of economic policies," he said, adding that economy remained one of the highest concerns during National Security Council meetings.

Bajwa also said when enemies of Pakistan wanted to damage it, they targeted financial hub Karachi and tried to destabilise it.

He said the authorities had put peace a top priority in Karachi and want the city to return to its old economic growth.
Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India, and Vinay Dube, CEO, Jet Airways, announce the launch of Jet Airways Chennai-Paris, non-stop flight during a press briefing in the city on Wednesday (Photo: DC)

Chennai: Envisaging tremendous potential for tourism and corporate travel and also the option of exploring European destinations from France, Jet Airways announced the launch of the ChennaiParis-Charles de Gaulle airport, non-stop flight on Wednesday.

The services of the direct flight, which will commence from October 29, five days a week, will complement the airlines existing direct flight from Paris to Mumbai.

The addition makes Jet Airways the only airline to offer a non-stop flight between Paris and Chennai, offering the guests seamless connectivity to cities across south India. Welcoming forthcoming Jet Airways Chennai-Paris non-stop flight, Ambassador of France to India Alexandre Ziegler said, its a positive step to improve connectivity and attract more Indian visitors.

Assuring that all digital visas would be issued within 48 hours, Ziegler said France is keen on attracting more and more Indian travellers. The launch of direct flight service would facilitate corporate travel from the French and Indian industries, he said.

We are delighted to be the first airline to operate a non-stop service to Paris with our codeshare partners-Air France, KLM and Delta Air Lines, Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube has said. This flight will connect guests to as many as 50 destinations in Europe and 20 onwards in North America, highlighting our continued focus to expand connectivity from South India to meet the growing demand for travel from the region, he said.

According to Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau, Managing Director, Nicolas Lefebvre, it (the new flight connectivity) gives Paris new opportunities to welcome more Indian visitors and present them with its diverse offering.

France is a stepping stone and transit point for various European destinations, we have been awarded the best honeymoon destination and also the second city of preference after London. Yes, Indians love Paris. And this year we received the award for being the most indulged destination. France is number one tourist destination and the country, which is a honeymoon destination, is also attracting families offering them even vegan food options. France is also a wedding destination for Indians, claimed Director-India of Atout France, Sheetal Munshaw. During 2016, France received 5.52 lakh tourists while it was 3.60 lakh in 2014.

Jet Airways 9W 128 will depart Chennai at 0145 (local time) and arrive in Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 0810 (local time). The flight duration is 9hr 35min. Jet Airways 9W 127 will depart Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 2210 (LT) and arrive in Chennai at 0015 (LT).
V.K. Sasikala greets a child on Wednesday on her way back after visiting her ailing husband Natarajan in the hospital (Photo: DC)

Chennai: Dismissing reports that a few ministers spoke to sacked party general secretary V.K. Sasikala after she came out on parole, fisheries minister D. Jayakumar on Wednesday said the entire AIADMK is resolute in the decision taken to keep her and her family out of the government and the outfit.

I cannot reply to such questions which are based on speculation. No one will ever do the act (of talking to Sasikala) and no one even has such intentions. Everyone is adhering and will adhere to the decision taken (to keep Sasikala and her family out of government and party), Jayakumar told reporters here.

He was responding to questions on reports that more than half a dozen ministers had contacted Sasikala over phone after she came out on paro-le on Friday. Jayakumar also said the government headed by Edappadi K. Palaniswami was strong and none can destablise the dispensation.

The minister also rejected the Opposition charge that the government has protected health minister C. Vijayabhaskar and top police officials by not naming them in a FIR filed by DVAC officials in the gutka scam. The 17 people who have been named in the FIR had some role in the scam and they have been named. There is no cover up or eyewash. There is no need to hide anything, he said.

Responding to questions on rebel leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran threatening to drag Speaker P. Dhanapal to courts on the disqualification of 18 MLAs owing allegiance to him, Jayakumar said Dhinakaran should not spread canards against someone who is holding a constitutional post.

He should not speak in a rude manner about the Speaker. Dhinakaran should remember that he is speaking about a person who is holding constitutional post. Dhinakaran should show respect towards him, Jayakumar said.

Dhinakaran had on Monday attacked Speaker Dhanapal for disqualifying 18 MLAs supporting him without any basis and said though Speaker enjoys absolute powers inside the House, he should respect courts and law since he is also citizen of the country.

Sasikala to be back in Bangalore jail today

Sacked AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala will report back to Parapana Agrahara jail authorities by Thursday evening after her five-day parole ended on Wednesday. Sasikala, currently serving four-year jail term in the disproportionate assets case, was released on parole on Friday to meet her husband M. Natarajan, who has undergone liver and kidney transplantations.

The long-time aide of late J. Jayalalithaa was asked to report back at the jail by Thursday 5 pm. Sasikala had been meeting her husband Natarajan at the ICU of the Gleneagles Global Health City here since Saturday.
Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The nine-year trial in the murder of their daughter Aarushi had left the Talwar couple emotionally drained, Nupur Talwar's father said, on Thursday, thanking the judiciary for acquitting them.

B G Chitnis, a former group captain in the Indian Air Force, said it was very trying for him to see his daughter, Nupur and her husband Rajesh behind bars.

"I am grateful to the judiciary for the verdict. They (the Talwar couple) have really suffered. They are emotionally drained. At my age it was very trying to see my daughter behind bars," he said.

Vandana Talwar, Aarushi's aunt, said the entire family had suffered for nearly a decade as the case dragged on.

"It was very exhausting and trying...," she said. She refused to go into the merits of the case and the judgement, saying the couple's lawyers would answer questions on who killed Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj.

"We are deeply grateful to the judiciary and relieved over the verdict. I would like to thank all the supporters who supported us through the long ordeal," she said.

The Allahabad High Court, on Thursday, acquitted the Talwar couple, saying they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record.

The verdict ends the ordeal of the parents who were found guilty by a CBI court in the sensational double murder case.

A division bench of the court comprising justices B K Narayana and A K Mishra upheld the appeals by the Talwars against the Ghaziabad CBI court order sentencing them to life imprisonment on November 26, 2013.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008.

The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.
A press release issued from the mayors office the other day had claimed that around 30 dogs were caught on Monday and Tuesday for ABC from the coastal areas. (Representational image)

Thiruvananthapuram: Animal rights activists have alleged that the city corporations Animal Birth Control (ABC) project might be a facade for illegal culling of dogs. The dogs which the corporation claims to have caught after the reported attack of stray dogs in Kottappuram area are not there at government veterinary hospital, Pettah. This is the only ABC facility that the corporation has.

A press release issued from the mayors office the other day had claimed that around 30 dogs were caught on Monday and Tuesday for ABC from the coastal areas. However, the Pettah hospital did not have more than 20 dogs on Wednesday. If the corporation has been regularly conducting the ABC programme, there would have been at least some dogs in addition to the 30 which were supposedly caught.

The corporations claims concerning ABC surgeries do not tally with reality, according to I. Latha, trustee, People For Animals (PFA) Thiruvanantha-puram chapter.

We have visited the hospital and found that the surgeries have not been happening at the rate claimed by the corporation. There has to be better monitoring, she says.

An official told this newspaper that 320 surgeries were completed since the programme was announced in July.

Mayor V.K. Prasanth told DC that he will inquire into report on the missing dogs. Though he had announced that there would be a drive to catch dogs from coastal areas for ABC, so far the corporation has not asked the Animal Husbandry for additional facilities. At the Pettah facility, dogs have been kept in wired cages with limited space, violating the Dog Breeding Rules notified this year.

The mayor said new facilities will be ready through the corporations ABC project as soon as the ABC nodal officer, who had gone on training, takes charge this month. Though he has already returned, the official in-charge continues to be in office.
Bengaluru: Although Karnataka is keen on buying 30 acres of land in Goa to provide houses to Kannadigas evicted from near its Baina beach, its plans are unlikely to succeed, according to a senior Goan bureaucrat.

Goas Department of Town and Planning may not accept Karnatakas application for permission to buy 30 acres of land to rehabilitate the Kannadigas evicted from near the Baina beach. The state may not want to encourage settlement of migrants, the bureaucrat told DC.

CM Siddaramaiah had announced a few days ago that Karnataka would buy land in Goa and build houses for the displaced Kannadigas on 20 ftx30 ft sites. He had also instructed the chairman of the Border Development Authority, Baburao Chinchansur, to prepare a detailed report in three days on the number of families involved, the land required for rehabilitation and the availability of land in Goa.

Responding to Karnatakas plans, the Goan bureaucrat claimed no land was available in and around Baina beach and even if it was, it would cost around Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,500 per sq.ft. When our government is short of land even for its own projects, it may not be possible for it to find land for Karnataka to rehabilitate the displaced Kannadigas, he maintained, adding that if Karnataka was scouting for land near Baina bench, it had to obtain a No Objection Certificate from the Coastal Zone Management Authority to build houses in an eco-sensitive zone.

The authority has denied permission for many projects of the Goa government in the area to protect the marine life along its coastline. Moreover, Goa being a small state, it cannot be expected to provide basic amenities like electricity, roads, drinking water and underground drainage to the hundreds of houses that Karnataka plans to build near its beach, he said.
Bengaluru: In a shocking incident, a City Armed Reserve constable was held after he was trying to smuggle two smartphones along with the warrant copy to supply it to a terror suspect lodged at the Bengaluru Central Jail in Parappana Agrahara.

It is said the two phones were meant to be given to Thadiyantevide Nasir alias Ummer Haji, an accused in the 2008 Bengaluru serial bomb blast case and a close aide of jailed PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani.

The constable, identified as Dinesh, has been detained by the Parappana Agrahara police in this connection. He joined the police department in 2012 and is aged around 25 years.

According to the police, the incident took place on Wednesday morning. Dinesh, who escorts Madani and other terror suspects from jail to the court for trial, had come to issue warrant to Nasir.

But the security personnel grew suspicious when they noticed that the cover that had the warrant copy was big and checked it. They found two new smart phones in it and immediately confiscated it and alerted the jurisdictional police.

He has confessed that he was asked to give the phones to Nasir from a person at the court. We are questioning Dinesh about that person and are trying to know why Nasir wanted a phone, an official said.

However, it is learnt that the police are yet to register an FIR as they have to follow some procedures, as it involves a police personnel. The police are likely to register an FIR soon and arrest Dinesh.

Similar case last year

This is not the first such incident where a mobile phone was being smuggled into a prison for a terror suspect. It may be recalled that in February 2016 an abandoned mobile phone was found in the corridor of the high-security block in the prison during a routine check by the prison staff.

As the phone was found near the room in which Mohammed Fahad alias Koya was lodged, it was suspected that he was using the phone. Fahad, a Pakistan national, is a suspected member of Al-badr terror outfit and was arrested in Mysuru in 2006.

A few years ago, intelligence agencies had found that he and his associate Mohammad Ali Hussein were using mobile phones inside the prison to keep in touch with their associates in Pakistan.
Bengaluru: The state government has decided to counter the Centres claim that there is no drought in Karnataka owing to the heavy rainfall it has received over the last few weeks and send a report to it about crop loss suffered by its farmers in 61 taluks.

Speaking to reporters here after a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee on natural disaster, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, T B Jayachandra said the state had suffered heavy crop loss till the end of August before the rains started in September. In fact, the recent rain had only helped provide drinking water and fodder to cattle, he explained.

While the Centre believes that the rains should have failed till September for an area to be declared drought-hit, the sub-committee has decided to calculate the crop loss and send a report to it, the minister added. The deputy commissioners of the respective districts have been told to send in their assessments and they will be compiled in the next ten days, he said. The crop loss has been heavy among ragi and jower growers as their fields have been infested with an insect that is eating away their standing crop, going by the minister. The government is supplying these farmers a monopestocide at a 50 per cent discount to help save their crops.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday decided to put in place a regulatory regime for making public transport authorities, including app-based taxi services like Uber and Ola accountable for breach of women safety.

A bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta accepted the suggestions of amicus curiae and senior advocate Indira Jaising for creating such a regime to check sexual harassment of women when they travel in public transport buses or app-based taxis like Uber and Ola.

Ms Jaising pointed out that Uber was banned in London after it refused to subject to court jurisdiction.

A similar provision should be in India so that such companies cant evade legal action if incidents of rape, sexual harassment take place in cabs and by drivers.

She said there was no uniformity among states to deal with sexual harassment in public transport. She also wanted a proper victim compensation scheme. The bench asked the Centre to respond to the suggestion and to come out with a mechanism so that the court could pass appropriate orders to ensure the safety and protection of women.

In the last hearing the court had expressed concern that crores of rupees allotted for fitting GPS and high security plates in all public transport vehicles are not being spent.

No steps are being taken for maintenance of a logbook, creating awareness, recruitment of more cops and providing them with sophisticated security gadgets and installing CCTV cameras in sensitive places. The court asked the National Legal Services Authority to suggest a model victim compensation scheme, which could be put in place in all States to provide relief to victims of sexual harassment.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by a law student Nipun Saxena and advocate Ankita Chaudhary expressing concern over the rising rate of crime, particularly rape incidents across the country. They submitted that the first measure should be that all public and transport vehicles should be fitted with GPS system, all vehicles should carry information of the owners, drivers, conductors, cleaners on the back side of the vehicles.
A file photo of Veerashaiva-Lingayat leaders Shamanur Shivashankarappa, N. Thippanna and Eshwar Khandre at a meeting on religion tag for Veerashaiva-Lingayat community in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru: With the Veerashaivas and Lingayats failing to resolve their differences at the meeting on Thursday, the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha (ABVM) has decided to constitute an expert committee to look into their demand for an independent religious tag.

We will constitute the committee in three days and it will give its report in another 10 days, which will be accepted by all. We will all go by the committees views on this issue, Mahasabha president, Shamanoor Shivashankarappa said.

The committee will decide the nomenclature of the community for demanding a minority status.

The four options before it are Veerashaiva-Lingayats, Lingayat Veerashaivas, Lingayats and Veerashaivas.

While the meeting saw former IAS officer, S.M. Jamdar enter into an argument with Mr Renuka Prasad, a Veerashaiva community leader, former police officer, Shankara Bidari and vice -president of the ABVM, N. Thippanna stressed that there was no difference between the Veerashaivas and Lingayats.

Mr Bidari pointed out that the debate on the status of the two communities was not new as it had been raging since 1957.

In 2013 we agreed that we are Hindus. So instead of discussing the differences between Veerashaivas and Lingayats, we need to talk about getting a seperate religious status, he insisted.

But Minister Vinay Kulkarni fiercely argued that Veerashaivas were different from Lingayats and only the latter were eligible for the separate religion tag, and walked out of the meeting in a huff. Another point of controversy was Mathe Mahadevis statement on the issue. While some at the meeting took objection to it, others defended her.
BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday sentenced notorious criminal Mohan Kumar alias Cyanide Mohan Kumar, to simple life imprisonment.

However, the court has made it clear in its order that the convict shall never be released at any cost, and that he shall serve the sentence until the end of his life. His criminal acts should not be pardoned in future too, the order stated.

The High Court passed the orders after commuting the death sentence passed against the convict by a lower court in the murder of one Anitha in Bantwal

in 2009.

The lower court had sentenced him to death for killing three women in three separate case, and the High Court on Thursday held him guilty in one of the three cases, and sentenced him to simple life imprisonment. The High Court is expected to take up the hearing of the other two cases in the coming weeks.

By profession Mohan was a teacher, but later quit his job and took to crime. He is a threat to the society, especially women and girls. Hence, as per Supreme Courts order in Srinivasans case, he is sentenced to life imprisonment, court ordered.

The prosecution had strongly argued citing that the convict was involved in multiple cases wherein he has robbed innocent women after raping and killing them by using cyanide.

Masthigudi: Verdict reserved

The High Court on Thursday reserved its judgment on the petitions filed by Kannada film Masthigudi producer Sundar P Gowda, its director Nagashekar, two other assistant director of the film along with stunt choreographer Raviverma, seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against them in connection with the death of two actors.

All of them are accused in the tragic death of two actors during the shooting of the film Masthigudi, at TG Halli reservoir.

In a tragic turn of events, two Kannada actors  Uday and Anil died after a stunt went horribly wrong at Tippagondanahalli Lake in November 2016. The actors, along with the hero Duniya Vijay, were filming the stunts.

As per the scene, Vijay and the two actors jumped into the lake from a helicopter. While the lead actor swam ashore, the other two did not surface for a long time. Later after an extensive search for two days their bodies were recovered.
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday directed the TS government not to grant licence to establish liquor retail outlets in the scheduled areas without the resolution of the gramsabha. A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice M. Ganga Rao gave the direction while disposing of an appeal by Mr Podem Ratnam challenging an order of a single judge.

Mr Ratnam had moved a writ petition against the government notification to grant licence to sell liquor in 17 villages in the scheduled areas of Jayashankar Bhupalapally district.

A single judge on September 21 issued an order directing the Prohibition and Excise department to adhere to the provisions of the Excise Act, 1968, Telangana (Grant of licence of selling by shop land conditions of licence) Rules, 2012 and the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Rules, 2011, while granting the licences. Mr Prabhakar Chikkudu, counsel for Mr Ratnam, said that no notification was issued so far in the tribal villages to conduct gram sabhas. He contended that PESA Rule 8 mandates holding a gramsabha only on whose approval licence to run a liquor shop in a village can be granted.

The bench said that it would not be proper to grant the licence in anticipation of resolution in gram sabha for having a liquor outlet within 30 days of the notification.
Mysuru: Home Minister, Ramalinga Reddy seemed confident on Thursday that the killers of senior journalist/activist, Gauri Lankesh,who was gunned down outside her home a few weeks ago, would soon be caught.

The police investigation has made good progress, but the details cannot be divulged as this could hamper police work. We will shortly nab the culprits, he told reporters here.

The Minister added that security had been provided to some writers and others who had asked for it.

Denying that his advisor, Kempaiah meddled in his affairs as alleged, he said, There is absolutely no interference from him in my work. We take his suggestions whenever needed. He is only doing his duty.

As for the Supreme Courts recent ruling calling sex with a minor wife , rape, he said he would direct his officers to strictly implement the laws on child marriage.

The Minister, who was in the city to attend a meeting of police officers of the southern range, claimed there was no law and order problem in the state.

We have asked the police officers to emphasise on 30 points, including protection of women and children, and gaining 100 per cent conviction in cases of dowry deaths and child abuse. We have told them to show zero tolerance against national highway crimes, book cases under the Goonda Act against rowdies, strictly enforce timings of wine shops, bars and live bands and curb sale of drugs like ganja near schools and colleges. They have also been instructed to intensify night beats, and streamline traffic, he added.

Mr Reddy revealed that the government was considering establishing a state police university in Mysuru city and could make an allocation for it in the coming budget.

Once the concept note for a police university is ready, the proposal could be included in the coming budget, he assured, adding that there were plans to set police public schools in Mangaluru, Gulbarga and Raichur.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced at a public meeting in Suryapet on Thursday that two new medical colleges will be established in Nalgonda and Suryapet.

The government will allocate the required funds for the colleges in the 2018-19 budget.

Mr Rao said that with the Centrally-funded All India Institute of Medical Sciences coming up in Yadadri district, the erstwhile Nalgonda district will have three medical colleges.

Andhra shifted NS dam: KCR

He took the opportunity to belittle the previous Congress government by alleging that it had manipulated the site selected for the construction of the Nagar-junasagar project to benefit Andhra.

The original name of Nagarjunasagar project was Nandikonda project. It was to be constructed at Yeleswa-ram. But the site was changed to benefit And-hra at the cost of Telan-gana. Even the project name was changed, Mr Rao said.

He alleged that the Congress government in undivided AP had discriminated against Telangana.

The Congress government had agreed to bear the expenses of maintenance and power charges to supply irrigation water through right canal which falls under the Andhra region but imposed a burden on us to supply water through the left canal which falls under the Telangana region. Is this not discrimination, Mr Rao asked.

He accused Telangana Congress leaders of being hypocrites. TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy now raises hue and cry over land acquisition for projects and compensation. He remained silent when the Congress government acquired thousands of acres in Kham-mam and Nalgonda districts for the Pulichin-tala project, which benefits Andhra, and paid a paltry compensation to farmers. We are now giving compensation as per market rates but still he is trying to obstruct our projects, Mr Rao said.

The CM vowed to complete the Kaleshwaram project, which would provide a permanent solution to drought in the erstwhile Nalgonda district and provide irrigation water to farmers for two crops on four lakh acres.

He said Nalgonda will be completely transformed once the 4,000 MW ultra power plant in Damacherla commences operations in the next two years.
L&T has been asked to submit fare proposals this month, which will be finalised in November.

Hyderabad: The state government wants Hyderabad Metro Rail fares to be lower than in other cities. The maximum fare in Mumbai is Rs 110, Chennai, Rs 70, while in Delhi and Bengaluru it is Rs 60.

TS wants the maximum fare to be Rs 50 when the first phase of operations is launched next month.

TS government is of the view that the project developer L&T-HMRL can recover losses from realty projects for which 269 acres has been allotted in prime locations in the city.

L&T to submit fare proposal soon

Hyderabad Metro Rail is a unique model in the country being taken up in PPP mode along the lines of the Singapore Metro, wherein the metro project has been aligned with real estate development.

Since metro rail projects over the world are running in financial losses as project costs could not be recovered solely on ticket fares, the state government has allowed the project developer to construct shopping malls and commercial complexes along the metro rail corridors to generate revenue and mitigate losses, and for this 269 acres of land has been allotted.

L&T has been asked to submit fare proposals this month, which will be finalised in November.

In 2011, the then Congress government had fixed the Hyderabad Metro ticket price band at Rs 8 to Rs 19.

However, in March 2016, municipal minister K.T. Rama Rao told the Legislative Assembly that the price band would be Rs 13 to Rs 25.

At a more recent meeting that Mr Rama Rao held with senior officials from municipal administration department and HMR to discuss the fare structure a price band of Rs 20 to Rs 50 was favoured, according to sources.

This would be for the first phase of operations starting in November and could be revised every year.

We have requested L&T to submit metro fare proposals this month. We are in favour of Rs 20 to Rs 50 price band. However, we will wait for their proposals before taking a final decision by mid-November, said a senior official.

The construction of shopping malls has been going on at a brisk pace at various locations along the metro corridors.
KOCHI: Kochi police is clueless as new reports emerge linking the parents of missing three-year-old Indian girl child in Texas, United States, to Ernakulam as their base. Agency reports quoting US media reports said the FBI searched the home of the child who is missing since Saturday when her foster father reportedly sent her outside around 3 am as punishment for not drinking her milk.

Sherin Mathews, who has developmental issues and limited verbal communication skills, was last seen outside her familys backyard in Richardson, Dallas. Richardson police along with an FBI evidence recovery team entered the house of Wesley Mathews to execute a search warrant.

The search was part of the "natural rogression" of the investigation, a police officer was quoted as saying by the Dallas Morning News. Police went door-to-door in the neighbourhood and used search dogs and helicopters to look for Sherin. Back in Ernakulam IG of Police P. Vijayan told DC on Thursday that he has no communication or information regarding the parents. Assistant commissioner of city special branch and rural special branch DySP also said that they have no information linking the parents of the child to Ernakulam and presence of their relatives in the district.

Sherin's father, Mathews, 37, was arrested on Saturday on a charge of abandoning or endangering a child. He was released from custody on Sunday after posting a $250,000 bond. Mathews told police that he put Sherin outside and told her to stand next to a large tree. The tree was behind a fence, about 100 feet south of the family's home and across an alley. Mathews admitted to police that he knew coyotes had been seen in the alley, the affidavit said.

Mathews told the police that he checked on Sherin about 3:15 am and she was gone, the affidavit said. After looking around for her, he said he then went inside to do laundry and decided to wait until morning to continue searching or for her to return on her own. Police were not alerted to her disappearance until about five hours later. The girl's mother does not face any charges.
KOCHI: Air India Express, Indias first international budget carrier, is expanding its wings to Coimbatore International Airport, with the introduction of non-stop connectivity to Singapore and Delhi. The services on the Delhi  Coimbatore and Coimbatore  Singapore sectors will begin on November 18. There will be three services per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays on Delhi- Coimbatore sector.

The flight will depart from Delhi at 7.00 pm and arrive in Coimbatore at 10.00 pm. In the return direction, the flight will depart from Coimbatore at 02:05 pm and arrive in Delhi at 05.05 pm on Wednesdays, Fridays & Sundays. AIEs Coimbatore- Singapore service will be available thrice weekly, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The flight is scheduled to depart from Coimbatore at 11:15 pm and will arrive in Singapore the next day at 06:15 am. In the return direction, the days of operation will be on Wednesdays, Fridays & Sundays.
BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan, along with (from left) BJP Assam state president Ranjit Kumar Das, Rajendra Agarwal, MP, Union minister Giriraj Singh and BJP national spokeperson Meenakshi Lekhi, leads the Janaraksha Yatra in Kochi on Wednesday. (Photo: ARUN CHANDRABOSE)

Kochi: The Union Government will extend full support to fight Islamic terrorism in Kerala, said Giriraj Singh, Union minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises.

Speaking after inaugurating a reception to the Janaraksha Yatra led by BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan in Ernakulam on Wednesday, the minister said an attempt is being made by forces based in Malappuram district to convert Kerala into an Islamic state.

The minister also mentioned about a conspiracy regarding the the population growth in Malapuruam district. Referring to the threat posed by Love Jihad to Kerala, he said this is a strategy of the IS.

Repeating the series of rhetorical statements associated with the right wing Hindutva propaganda, the minister alleged that apart from Hindu women, 1,500 Christian women were also missing from the state. As per data, Hindu and Christian population in the state has been declining for the past 10 years, he added, though it was not clear which data he was referring to.

Equating the present ruling regime with the totalitarian North Korea, he said except for the CPM, it has become impossible for other parties to function in the state.

BJP leaders P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, A.N. Radhakrishnan, M.T. Ramesh, K. Surendran and several others attended the reception.
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New Delhi/Bhopal: RSS leaders, including its chief Mohan Bhagwat, on Thursday made their stand clear on the allegations against BJP president Amit Shahs son Jay.

The RSS said charges against Mr Jay Shah can be probed if there is prima facie evidence but added that it is for those who allege a scam to prove it.

On the sidelines of a meeting in Bhopal, the organisation said the allegations have to be evidenced for them to be worth investigating.

RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said: If there are corruption allegations against anyone, necessary inquiry should be done and action can be taken accordingly. But there has to be prima facie evidence of wrong-doing.

After some media reports suggested that the RSS was mulling to allow women to participate in activities of its shakhas or units, the RSS clarified that the Rashtriya Sevika Samiti works with women.

The Congress vice presidents recent remarks when he had asked a gathering of students during his election campaign in Gujarat, why there are no woman in RSS shakhas, apparently to target the outfit for not promoting women.

The meeting will see RSS leaders discussing on expansion and strengthning the organisation and its affiliates, review of ongoing progmamme as well as planning for new programme for next three years.

Discussion on political and econmic issues will be part of the agenda. Mr Hosabale was briefing the media about the first day.
New Delhi: Exuding confidence that the Congress will retain power in Karnataka, CM Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the ruling party will not solely rely on failures of Opposition to secure a victory in the 2018 assembly polls.

The Congress will win the election on the development plank and get a comfortable majority, he said after discussing its poll strategy at a meeting here called by party Vice President Rahul Gandhi. He said tickets will be distributed to candidates early this time and the party will give opportunity to youth, sitting MLAs and even first-timers who can secure victory, he added. "We are not dependent on failures of Opposition to win elections. We have confidence in our strength. We will not fight (elections) on failures of Opposition, Siddaramaiah told reporters after the meeting with Gandhi. The party will return to power with "comfortable majority in 2018, he said and added: We will get seats more than 121 out of 223 that we got in the previous poll. We will get (them) on our own strength.

Asserting that the election will be fought under his leadership, Siddaramaiah said there is no confusion anymore within the party. On poll preparedness, he said out of the 54,000 booths in the state, the party has set up booth committees for 51,000 and the rest will be done shortly. Siddaramaiah said a programme has been initiated to take the state government's work and achievements to doorstep of citizens, and about 1.5 crore booklets highlighting this will be distributed.
He sat at the head of a long dining table, donning the grandest headgear, a combination of turban and hat, with neat, cascading pleats. Grand Mufti Ahmed Bader Eddin Mohammad Adib Hassoun, Syrias highest religious authority, held the ambassadors and a sprinkling of journalists in his thrall. It was an unstoppable torrent. Unable to get a word in edgeways, the guests attended, with dedication, to the sort of elaborate feast which has gone out of fashion in this era of spartan hospitality even in diplomatic circles. That the Mufti was not on a mission of religious sightseeing alone was clear from his itinerary. He had quality time with home minister Rajnath Singh and travelled to Srinagar to meet chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti. The office of the National Security Council discussed in some detail West Asia and Rohingya refugees. According to him, the running Rohingya-Buddhist conflict is being aggravated by the US-Saudi combine to serve their interests  to transform the moderate, Sufi-inclined Rohingyas into Salafi groups. These would help destabilise a country neighbouring China. Evidence of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmars Rakhine state since the 7th century is not accompanied by a narrative of harmony with the Buddhist majority in that country throughout this period. But since 1970-80, increased repression, economic deprivation and denial of citizenship rights could possibly be because of the reverberations following the Iranian revolution in 1979.

Saudi Arabia, particularly shaken by the emerging, bipolarity in the Muslim world, took the lead in drumming up an anti-Shia hysteria. Over time, Sufi Islam was also in the line of fire. Riyadh had an interest in diverting the worlds attention towards Iran because a much bigger danger had reared its head within Saudi society. An anti-monarchy, radical, Islamic group had occupied Islams most important mosque in Mecca for weeks almost at the same time as the Iranian revolution. The Saudis needed to create Wahabi enclaves wherever they could. This brief background is essential to understand the antecedents to the current exodus of over 400,000 Rohingyas. Americans no longer deny that they have from time to time fallen back on militants or terrorist groups as tactical assets. In an interview to Christiane Amanpour, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov made exactly that allegation. Neither could Amanpur risk a counter-allegation, nor ask a followup question on that subject. Heaven knows what beans Lavrov might spill on live TV. Since the Muftis visit, a disturbing narrative circulating in some circles suggests that the present crisis was precipitated from outside.

The story begins in 2012 when Prince Bandar bin Sultan, former Saudi ambassador to the US (nicknamed Bandar Bush because of his close friendship with then President George W. Bush), who had then been given the Syrian portfolio by the late King Abdullah, invited a Rohingya named Hafiz Taha to his office in Riyadh. Taha was given the task of developing Islamist sleeper cells in Rakhine. The idea was to promote Islamism of the Wahabi variety among a people who were otherwise inclined towards a folksy form of Sufism. In her study on the Rohingyas for the Council on Foreign Relations, Eleanor Alberts version tallies with the Muftis narrative on how the trouble started in Rakhine in August. Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army claimed responsibility for attacks on police and army posts. Is it any surprise that the government declared ARSA a terrorist organisation? It was then that the military mounted a brutal campaign that destroyed hundreds of Rohingya villages and forced more than 500,000 Rohingya to leave Myanmar, approximately half of the Rohingya population out of the country.

Military brutality on a scale never seen in history was then unleashed: the security forces allegedly opened fire on fleeing civilians and planted landmines near the border crossings used by the Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh. A long-simmering conflict, intensifying over the past decade, was custom-made for outsiders to ignite and cause an explosion. This precisely is what appears to have been precipitated in Rakhine state two months ago. But why would sleeping cells be activated now? Well, one lesson learnt from manufactured terrorist groups is this: groups reared on lethal Islam cannot be destroyed. They have to be relocated. The defeat of militant groups in Syria has, ironically, created another kind of problem. Trained with Western and Saudi help, these trained terrorists cannot be exterminated or sent to the gas chambers. They have to be given work elsewhere.

In the Syrian whodunit, the Americans have actually been admitting their mistakes with endearing docility. Remember former secretary of defence Ashton Carter, his face distinctly in the lower mould, being grilled by a US congressional committee, then by the media, for the clumsiness of US special operations in Syria? The moderates they were training had left their weapons with the Al-Nusra Front and sought safe passage. Mr Carter announced, on live TV, that a $500 million training programme had been discontinued. Remember Gen. Lloyd Austin admitted to the Senates armed services committee that only four or five fighters trained by the Americans were in the fight. In an interview to Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in 2015, former President Barack Obama admitted that he had not bombed ISIS when it first reared its head because that would have relieved pressure on Iraqs Shia Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki whose departure, and not ISIS elimination, was a US priority.

The cake for flaunting terrorism as an asset goes to Bandar bin Sultan, who promised a terrorism-free Sochi Olympics in February 2014 to President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin if only the Russians helped him show Bashar al-Assad the door out of Damascus. The plight of the Rohingyas in the exodus is even more heartbreaking as they have no clue of the Kafkian script which has maliciously affiliated then with the externally-financed Rohingya Salvation Army, a group most of the refugees know absolutely nothing about.
The PM has made very tall promises

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is famous for renaming and repacking most of the policies and welfare programme initiatives of the previous government and then spend several hundred crores of rupees in advertisements and publicity to claim credit and earn political brownie points for the same. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a case in point. The Swachh Bharat mission is not the first sanitation programme of its kind. Since 1954, a rural sanitation programme has been under implementation in India. Rajiv Gandhi significantly expanded the programme in 1986, when his government launched the Central Rural Sanitation Programme. Then the Atal Behari Vajpayee government in 1999 launched the Total Sanitation Campaign. The UPA government led by Manmohan Singh implemented the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, which is now rechristened as Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan.

In October 2014, Mr Modi in his flamboyant style inaugurated the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by sweeping the police station premises in central Delhi. From then on he made use of every platform available to glorify the mission and show that this is his governments most prestigious flagship programme. He has involved every arm of the government from Union ministers to village panchayat administration in promoting the mission and also imposed 0.5 per cent cess on all taxable services and set up the Swachh Bharat Kosh to attract donations to fund the campaign. The PM has made very tall promises and that too to achieve all within the deadline of October 2019. While the missions major objective is to completely eliminate open defecation in India, it also promises to deliver door-to-door collection of garbage and processing all inorganic trash to generate energy. It also has three sub-missions, namely ensuring latrines in countrys schools, all anganwadi centres, and to build latrines as part of other government programmes. In addition, the government also has pledged sanitary treatment of sewage.

However, the greatest challenge is the promise to eradicate the practice of manual scavenging. These are enormous goals and admirable ones. The success or failure of this mission has to be viewed from the achievement of all these objectives and so far it is obvious that it has failed in almost all its objectives. The World Bank in its appraisal report in November 2015 also cautioned and said that the campaign is technically sound, but going by the past experience, its targets were vastly unrealistic. The mission has completely failed so far to end the employment of manual scavengers and they continue to work in sewers and septic tanks. The missions budget is estimated around Rs 2.23 lakh crores and grand official pronouncements and crores spent on advertisements have generated great deal of attention. Hence, it is the duty of every Indian to start seeking answers on the expenditures, implementation and performance of the mission.

However, there is lack of transparency in the governments data on spending of campaign funds and accounts made public so far does not disclose proof of how these funds have been used, or if they have been used at all. Second, no information is available if third-party evaluation of results to be conducted by independent project review and monitoring agencies has been carried out. As time goes by, it is becoming clear that the zeal and enthusiasm displayed by the government is less for proper implementation and more for drawing attention to the campaign and chest-thumping. The Swachchh Bharat mission fits well in his scheme of lots of sound but void of substance. While the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has failed to achieve its stated objectives, the worry is whether it will become Swachchh Khazana Abhiyan of the exchequer.

S.V. Ramani is the AICC communications department secretary

The mission has struck a chord with the people

Picking up from where Mahatma Gandhi left his appeal for cleanliness, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, 2014. Gandhi Jayanti is perhaps one which as of today resonates with many Indians as not only a day to commemorate the Mahatmas memory, but to a day to follow his thoughts regarding cleanliness in true earnest. To think of it, in over seven decades of Indias freedom, no government had ever bothered to give requisite importance to improving the basic standard of living of millions of Indians. The rustic reality of India brings to mind the unawareness and unwillingness of not only the majority rural population living in unhygienic and thus inhabitable conditions, but of the executive/power-centre which for incomprehensible reasons thought it better to let the poorest of the poor die a slow death in their ignorance and obscure lives.

Rightly citing unhygienic living conditions, unclean provisions of sanitation, and importantly safety of rural women who went to open fields to relieve themselves only to never return as well as for tourism promotion, the Prime Minister launched this campaign by picking up a broom and leading by example. Many well-known faces from across professions have followed suit knowing well that this is perhaps the quickest way to educate all Indians about the hazards of being unhygienic and health benefits of living in a clean environment. This all encompassing campaign takes within its ambit not only the goal to make India open defecation free (ODF), but also incentives on construction of individual toilets, construction of community/public built toilets as well as waste management, that is, waste to energy and waste to compost production. Since October 2, 2014, five crore-plus household toilets have been constructed under this mission in urban and rural India. As of now, six states, nearly 220 districts and 2.6 lakh villages across India have declared themselves ODF, out of which 1.5 lakh villages have also ranked themselves on village swachchhta index based on solid/liquid waste management. Quality Council of India has recently put out a survey citing dramatic improvement in coverage and usage of toilets and behavioural change, specially in rural India, three years after launch of the campaign.

The QCI report further states that as per Census 2011, over five out of 10 households did not have a toilet, that is, almost 50 per cent and as on date less than three on 10 households or only 26.75 per cent households are without a toilet today. The drastic change is in rural areas where the coverage has more than doubled. From 69 per cent households without a toilet, the number has fallen to 32.5 per cent with nine on 10 or 91.29 per cent of these rural households actively using toilets. From stories regularly reported in the media, the spearheaders of this drive are the millions of young schoolchildren and college-going adults who have come up with unique ideas of promoting the drive, from waste collection to waste management techniques to collecting friends and heading out on a cleaning mission in their local areas. With many private media houses promoting this campaign on their own volition, movies being made carrying the message of importance of proper sanitation and likes of Bill Gates lauding the success of Swachchh Bharat in April 2017, we have ample reason to believe this campaign has rightly struck a chord with the people and is a successful step in the right direction for the betterment of India. The naysayers must know the governments job is not simply to administer and execute policies; it is also to spread awareness and educate the people for their own welfare. The mission is, after all, cleaning up their environment too.

Nupur Sharma is a BJP spokesperson
The camera utilizes the XAVC S codec, recording video at a high data rate of up to 100Mbps depending on shooting mode.

Sony has announced its Cyber-shot RX10 IV digital camera in India. The fixed lens camera is claimed to have the worlds fastest autofocus system for a digital camera and retails for a price of Rs 1,29,990.

Sony claims that the RX10 IV features the worlds fastest autofocus time of 0.03 seconds with 315 focal-plane phase-detection AF points. The camera also offers continuous high-speed shooting at up to 24 fps with full AF/AE tracking.

The RX10 IV comes with the 24-600mm ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T lens with a large aperture of F2.4-F4.0. The company claims that this will aid in high levels of optical zoom. The lens also has built-in Optical Image Stabilisation that will help to reduce camera shake and image blur. Sony says that upon activation, it is equivalent to an approximate 4.5 steps shutter speed improvement.

The RX10 IV also features a tiltable LCD screen with Touch Focus and Touch Pad function for quick and smooth focusing operation. It can also do 4K (3840 x 2160) movie recording, with its Fast Hybrid AF system.

The camera utilizes the XAVC S codec, recording video at a high data rate of up to 100Mbps depending on shooting mode. It also features Super-slow-motion video recording with an extended duration of about four seconds (in quality priority mode) and seven seconds (in shoot time priority).

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Qualcomm faces an antitrust fine in Taiwan, the latest in a years-long streak of regulatory setbacks to its business model that comes as it also fights US regulators and iPhone maker Apple in court over many of the same legal issues. The Taiwan Fair Trade Commission said on Wednesday it would fine Qualcomm T$23.4 billion ($774.14 million) for anti-trust violations of its chip technology.

The Commission said in a Chinese-language statement that Qualcomm had a monopoly over the chip market for several so-called modem technologies, which provide wireless data connectivity for mobile phones, and refused to licence its technology to other industry players.

In Taiwan, Qualcomm is required to submit a progress report on the matter every six months to the Commission on negotiations with related parties. In a statement, Qualcomm said it disagreed with the decision. Once the final decision is issued in the coming weeks, Qualcomm said it will challenge the decision in court.

The fine bears no rational relationship to a number of Qualcomms revenues or activities in Taiwan, and Qualcomm will appeal the amount of the fine and the method used to calculate it, Qualcomm said.

The Taiwanese decision is the latest challenge to Qualcomms business model, which involves selling chips and also licensing a suite of patents related to how those chips are put into a phone to provide mobile data to the device. While the regulatory and legal attacks differ in some details, a key theme is the allegation that Qualcomm uses its dominant position in the market for modem chips to charge unfair royalty rates for its patents.

Last December, Korean regulators fined Qualcomm $854 million for violating its competition laws, a ruling that followed an $975 million fine from Chinese regulators in 2015. European regulators have also expressed antitrust concerns over Qualcomms $38 billion bid to buy NXP Semiconductors.

The US Federal Trade Commission is also suing Qualcomm over its licensing practices. Those regulatory challenges are playing out as Apple is waging a global legal battle on Qualcomms long-held practice of charging a percentage of the total price of iPhones and other Apple devices as a licensing fee for its patents.

After those lawsuits were filed, Qualcomm brought an action against Apple before the US International Trade Commission seeking to ban imports of some iPhones. Qualcomm filed a separate civil lawsuit accusing Apple of infringing the patents at issue in that action.

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60 firefighting crews from other states were on their way to California to provide assistance, officials said.

Santa Rosa: More than 200 fire engines and firefighting crews from around the country were being rushed to California on Wednesday to help battle infernos which have left at least 23 people dead and thousands homeless.

"This is a serious, critical, catastrophic event," California fire chief Ken Pimlott told reporters. "We're not going to be out of the woods for a great number of days to come."

Pimlott said that after a respite on Tuesday winds kicked up again on Wednesday and the winds and dry conditions were hampering efforts to contain the blazes.

"We are still impacted by five years of drought," the director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.

"These fires were driven by the critically dry fuel bed," he added. "We are literally looking at explosive vegetation."

Pimlott said the death toll from the fires, among the deadliest ever in California, could be expected to go up further.

Thirteen of the deaths have occurred in Sonoma County, a wine-producing region which has been particularly hard hit, while six people have died in Mendocino County. There have been two deaths in Napa County and two in Yuba County.

Entire neighborhoods in Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 which is the county seat of Sonoma County, have been reduced to ashes.

Thousands of people have been left homeless and 25,000 people have evacuated their homes in Sonoma County alone, according to officials.

- 285 missing -

More than 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed including several wineries in Sonoma and Napa counties, the heart of the state's wine production.

Six hundred people have been reported missing in Sonoma County, but more than half of them have been located, Sheriff Robert Giordano told reporters.

"There are still 285 on our missing list that we're looking for," he said.

Pimlott said firefighters were battling a total of 22 wildfires that have burned over 170,000 acres (68,800 hectares) and that reinforcements had been requested.

He said 170 fire engines had been ordered from the neighbouring states of Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington and another 154 engines from elsewhere around the country.

In addition, 60 firefighting crews from other states were on their way to California to provide assistance, he said.

"Our primary goal is to get these resources into the fires," Pimlott said.

He said 73 helicopters, 30 air tankers and nearly 8,000 firefighters were currently taking part in the effort to extinguish the blazes.

President Donald Trump has declared a major disaster in California, freeing up federal funding and resources to help fight the fires. And Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in eight counties.

Bob Nelson, 53, stopped in his black pickup truck at a police roadblock near Santa Rosa, said he fled his home on Sunday and returned on Tuesday.

- 'Like a thief came in' -

"There was no damage," he said. "But then we got evacuated again.

"We don't know about our house now," Nelson said. "I've got no idea. It's in the middle of two fires."

Michael Desmond, 63, does know, and the news is bad: his home was one of hundreds destroyed by the blaze in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa.

"I feel violated; like a thief came in," said Desmond, who sobbed as he surveyed the rubble of the house where he grew up.

Much of the damage in Santa Rosa can be seen from US Route 101, the north-south highway which runs from California through Oregon to Washington State.

The Sonoma County Hilton perched on a hill overlooking Route 101 is a ruin of charred wood and twisted metal, as is the nearby Fountaingrove Inn.

Among the wineries which reportedly suffered damage were William Hill Estate Winery in Napa, Signorello Vineyards, Stags' Leap and Chimney Rock.

Forest fires are common in the western United States during dry, hot months but, with 23 deaths so far, this year's California fires are among the deadliest ever.

The Griffith Park fire in Los Angeles County in 1933 killed at least 29 people and 25 people died in the 1991 Oakland Hills fire.
Mexican jails are often rocked by riots, killings and escapes, especially those controlled by drug gangs.

Mexico City: The death toll from a major prison riot in northeast Mexico has risen to 16, authorities said on Wednesday.

Unrest at the prison in Cadereyta in Nuevo Leon state broke out on Tuesday morning and was put down, but flared again later as inmates started fires that sent up huge columns of black smoke.

One prisoner died in the blaze. Prisoners then took three guards hostage, and when talks with them went nowhere, security forces were sent in.

"Sixteen people were killed, most of them convicted of serious crimes," said Bernardo Gonzales, the state prosecutor on Wednesday.

"The bodies have various injuries, it is not possible to determine whether their deaths were due to bullets" before autopsies are performed, added Aldo Fasci, a government spokesman.

He added that authorities used lethal force to prevent the violence from escalating and that the clash was a result of gang rivalries.

Twenty-six people were also injured in the unrest, including two police and three security guards.

Cadereyta is on the outskirts of Monterrey, the third-largest city in Mexico.

Mexican jails are often rocked by riots, killings and escapes, especially those controlled by drug gangs. Most are overcrowded.

In 2016, a vicious fight between rival gangs left 49 dead in the Topo Chico jail, also in Nuevo Leon.
Speaking to reporters at the White House during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump said the report was not true. (Photo: AFP)

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied a report from NBC News that he told his national security advisers in July he wanted to increase the countrys nuclear arsenal by nearly tenfold, saying he argued for its modernization.

NBC News said the president called for the increase after he was shown a chart indicating the stockpile of US nuclear weapons had slid from a high of 32,000 in the 1960s. Trump said he wanted to have that same number now, NBC reported.

Speaking to reporters at the White House during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump said the report was not true.

I never discussed increasing it. I want it in perfect shape. That was just fake news by NBC, he said. We dont need an increase. But I want modernization and I want total rehabilitation. Its got to be in tip-top shape.

The presidents denial was buttressed by a statement from his defense chief.

Recent reports that the president called for an increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal are absolutely false. This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said.

Although US presidents have modernized weapon stockpiles over the years, any meaningful addition to the nuclear arsenal would violate treaty agreements. The Federation of American Scientists says the United States currently has about 4,000 nuclear warheads earmarked for use in its military stockpile.

After the meeting in July, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson referred to Trump as a moron, according to NBC. US news reports have painted the relationship between Trump and Tillerson as tense.

The NBC report comes during a time of high tension between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyangs nuclear weapons and missile programs, and just ahead of an expected announcement from Trump on whether to decertify the international deal on Irans nuclear program.

Trump told Reuters in February that he wanted to ensure that the US nuclear arsenal was at the top of the pack.

MSNBC reported in 2016 that as a candidate, Trump asked a foreign policy adviser three times in a one-hour meeting why the United States could not deploy its nuclear weapons.
So far Trump has certified the accord but said that the next deadline on Sunday is the crucial one.

Washington: President Donald Trump again dismissed the Iran nuclear accord as terrible for America, as he prepares to announce a key decision on whether to certify Iran's compliance with it.

"This is the worst deal. We got nothing," Trump told Fox News in reference to the 2015 accord negotiated with Iran by the United States and five other world powers.

It gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program in a bid to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

"We did it out of weakness when actually, we have great strength," said Trump.

"We will see what happens pretty soon," said Trump, who must announce his decision on whether to certify Iran's compliance by the end of the week.

Every 90 days the president has to notify Congress as to whether he believes Iran is complying with the accord and if the lifting of sanctions is in the interest of the American people.

So far Trump has certified the accord but said that the next deadline on Sunday is the crucial one.

Several US officials have said Trump might this time choose not to certify the accord.

If so, Trump would be defying the opinion of some of his top advisers, European countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A decision by Trump to decertify the deal would leave it at grave risk, with the US Congress having 60 days to decide whether to re-impose specific sanctions on Tehran that were lifted because of the diplomatic pact.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington would establish an 'observer mission' to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency. (Photo: AFP)

Washington: The United States announced Thursday that it is to withdraw from the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization, accusing the body of "anti-Israel bias."

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington would establish an "observer mission" to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.

The head of UNESCO Irina Bokova voiced "profound regret" over the decision by the United States and called it a "loss to multilateralism".

"I wish to express profound regret at the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO," Bokova said in a statement.

The United States was angered in 2011 when UNESCO members granted Palestine full membership of the body, despite opposition from its ally Israel.

Washington opposes any move by UN bodies to recognize the Palestinians as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.

But US President Donald Trump's administration is also reviewing many of its multilateral commitments, pursuing what he calls an "America First" foreign policy.

Nauert said the State Department had notified UNESCO's outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of their decision earlier Thursday.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," she said in a statement.

"The United States indicated to the director-general its desire to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organization, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms and promoting scientific collaboration and education."
Metz (France): Greenpeace activists set off fireworks inside a nuclear plant in eastern France early Thursday after breaking into the facility to underline its vulnerability to attack, the environmental group said.

"Our activists launched a firework in the perimeter of a French nuclear plant. These installations are vulnerable," the group said on Twitter, along with a video of the stunt at the plant in Cattenom, near the border with Luxembourg.

Shortly after the pre-dawn infiltration, the EDF energy company that operates the plant said the protesters were detained before they reached the nuclear zone, and that the plant's safety was not impacted.

EDF tweeted: "Greenpeace activists on site. Stopped by police. No access to the nuclear area. No impact on the safety of installations."

Greenpeace said the fireworks were set off at the foot of a spent fuel pool (SFP) -- where nuclear plants store highly radioactive fuel rods that are removed from reactors after their use.

Roger Spautz, a Greenpeace official in Luxembourg, said that at around 5:30 am (0330 GMT), about 15 activists entered the site and crossed two security barriers to reach the building containing the SFP.

Spautz said that the action was aimed at drawing attention to the "fragility" of SFPs "that are not protected, unlike the reactor buildings".

On Tuesday, Greenpeace warned about security shortcomings at French and Belgian nuclear plants that make them vulnerable to attack, citing an expert report commissioned by the group.

It stressed the "even more pronounced (dangers) in the case of spent fuel pools", which are not encased in confinement buildings like reactors, despite containing hundreds of tonnes of highly radioactive fuel.

EDF immediately refuted the report, saying in a statement that its nuclear plants were "safe, properly monitored and very well protected" and that it was constantly evaluating their resistance to criminal acts or terrorism.

France has a total of 63 spent fuel pools at its 58 nuclear reactors, which provide 75 percent of the country's electricity.
North Korea announced that it has successfully conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb that is meant to be loaded into an intercontinental ballistic missile. (Photo: AFP)

Moscow: US President Donald Trump has lit the wick of war with North Korea and his country will be made to pay with a hail of fire, a Russian news agency quoted North Koreas foreign minister as saying on Wednesday.

Tensions between North Korea and the United States have risen in recent weeks over Pyongyangs nuclear weapons and missile programs.

North Korea has test-fired several missiles and conducted what it said was a test explosion of a hydrogen bomb as it advances toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland.

Speaking to Russias state-run TASS news agency, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said his countrys nuclear program guaranteed peace and safety in the region and would not be a matter of discussion.

With his bellicose and insane statement at the United Nations, Trump, you can say, has lit the wick of a war against us, TASS quoted Ri as saying. We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words.

Ri has previously called Trump President Evil and his comments are likely to fuel an escalating war of words between the U.S. President and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

We have almost reached the last point on the journey toward our final goal - to achieve a real balance of power with the United States, he said.

Our principal position is that we will never agree to any talks in which our nuclear weapons will be the subject of negotiations.
Army chief Min Aung Hlaing was unrepentant, describing the military response as proportionate and playing down the scale of the exodus.

Yangon: The media has "exaggerated" the number of Rohingya refugees fleeing an army crackdown, Myanmar's commander-in-chief said Thursday, in a brash rebuttal of accusations of ethnic cleansing by his forces.

Some 520,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar's western Rakhine state since August 25, when the military launched a sweeping campaign against militants from the Muslim minority.

The crackdown has been so intense that the UN on Wednesday accused Myanmar of trying to purge its entire Rohingya population.

A new UN report released Wednesday described the army-led crackdown as "well-organised, coordinated and systematic, with the intent of not only driving the population out of Myanmar but preventing them from returning to their homes".

Half of Myanmar's Rohingya have bolted over the last seven weeks, fleeing incinerated villages to join what has become the world's largest refugee camp in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Thousands more are still trying to escape, massing on beaches and hoping to cross the Naf River before their food runs out.

However, in a Facebook post on his official page on Thursday, army chief Min Aung Hlaing was unrepentant, describing the military response as proportionate and playing down the scale of the exodus.

It is an "exaggeration to say that the number of Bengalis fleeing to Bangladesh is very large," the post quoted him as saying, using a pejorative term for the Rohingya that classifies them as illegal immigrants.

Instead, he blamed "instigation and propaganda" by the media, who have become a punching bag for anger inside Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority country where there is little sympathy for the Rohingya.

The humanitarian needs of the refugees who have made it to Bangladesh are immense with limited food, shelter and the threat of a disease outbreak deepening by the day.

"The native place of Bengalis is really Bengal," he said. "They might have fled to the other country with the same language, race and culture as theirs by assuming that they would be safer there."

He also reiterated the army's view on the contested history of the Rohingya, saying they were moved in from Bangladesh by British colonialists and have no legitimate claim to lineage on Myanmar soil.

While immigration increased under British rule, historians say Muslim communities were recorded living in the Rakhine region long before the colonial era.

His comments followed a meeting with US Ambassador Scot Marciel, who according to the post "expressed concern" over the half million refugees and offered to help aid efforts.

This week an AFP reporter on a rare government-steered trip to the conflict-hit Rakhine heard testimony from Rohingya villagers who are scared and fast running out of food.

They said ethnic Rakhine Buddhist villagers are trying to starve them out of their homes.

Authorities are providing supplies to the Rohingya left behind, Min Aung Hlaing, glibbly adding food is plentiful in Rakhine where "fish can easily be caught" in its waterways.
The solar scam returned to haunt the Congress party in Kerala on Wednesday after the CPM-led state government ordered a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) investigation against former chief minister Oommen Chandy.



Investigation by the VACB and a newly constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) will also be initiated against former ministers and Congress veterans Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and Aryadan Mohammed.



The Congress hit back by alleging political motives behind the probe, announced while polling of votes was on for the Vengara by-election.



Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the investigations here, two weeks after the Justice G Sivarajan Commission, which investigated the scam, submitted its findings.



The solar scam pertains to charges that the two prime accused  Biju Radhakrishnan and his former partner Saritha S Nair  cheated investors, luring them into non-existent solar energy projects citing contacts in the office of the then chief minister Oommen Chandy. The scam hit headlines after the duos arrest in mid-2013. Vijayan said the state government, acting on the commissions findings, would register a vigilance case against Chandy for having accepted bribes directly and through others.
Astrologer Narendra Babu Sharma of Brahmanda fame on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have a perilous journey ahead and JD(S) state President HD Kumaraswamy will become chief minister of Karnataka. The astrologer was speaking at the opening ceremony of Haasanamba Temple in Hassan.



Speaking to the media, Brahmanda Guruji said, "It's really bad time for the people, who have Scorpion as their zodiac sign. There is a real threat for their life, especially who are famous in the society like film stars and politicians. As Modi's zodiac sign is Scorpion, there is a threat to his life too."



He also added that Modi is facing threat from Venus planet as he is away from his mother and wife. "Modi will be admired from a Gujarat based woman, which will add more risk to his life," he said.



When asked about the solution for the threat, Brahmanda Guruji said, "First Modi should come out of dictatorial attitude. He should pray at Six Lord Subramanya temples in South India."



Talking about the future of Karnataka, Brahmanda Guruji said that the state will witness another coalition government and HD Kumaraswamy will be the next CM or the kingmaker in the upcoming election. "Kumaraswamy should overcome the mistakes that he has done in the past. He should listen to his father HD Deve Gowda and also there is a huge support for Kumaraswamy across Karnataka, " he added.
Mississippi Limes mine rescue team finished first place overall at the 35th Annual Mine Rescue Competition held at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla in mid-September. In addition to earning first overall, the rescue team also earned Best in Missouri, first place in the bench man contest and first place in the field competition.

Mississippi Lime Companys mine rescue team competed against 24 other rescue teams from companies and universities in events ranging from written tests to disaster simulations. Five of these teams have experience competing at the national level.

Im incredibly proud of our accomplishments, especially considering the experienced teams we were up against, said captain Kyle Clark, who has represented Mississippi Lime for more than a decade. We knew this year would be the toughest year yet.

Clark added, In the end, this competition isnt really about the medals and achievements. One of our main goals is to look out for our fellow employees and rescuers and keep them safe in times of emergency.

Mississippi Lime Companys mine rescue team is a group of volunteer employees at the Ste. Genevieve site who are specially trained to recover employees in the event of a mining incident.

Bill Ayers, president and CEO of Mississippi Lime Company, congratulated the mine rescue team. This competition was an outstanding success not just for our mine rescue team. Our teams accomplishments speak to our companys commitment to safety in the workplace.

Maricell Frazier, director of safety for Mississippi Lime, brought attention to the mine rescue teams camaraderie: A successful mine rescue team takes not only dedicated and skilled employees, it also takes a special team chemistry to execute under times of extreme stress. This team has that special chemistry.

Mississippi Limes team includes: Kyle Clark, Mike Wolf, Charlie Gegg, Zack Duncan, Jared Boland, Pat Nichols and John Miller. The trainers are Ed Staffen, Alan Schilli and Jesse Gegg, alternate.

During the closing awards ceremony, veteran Mississippi Lime mine rescuer and trainer Ed Staffen was inducted into the Missouri Metal and Nonmetal Mine Rescue Hall of Fame. Staffen spent many years working and training with the mine rescue team to help make it the team it is today.

To say it is an honor to be inducted into the Missouri Mine Rescue Hall of Fame would be an understatement, said Staffen, who is retiring after 40 years. There are many people in the hall of fame who I look up to and who inspire me. To be a part of the hall of fame with these individuals is a privilege.

The Missouri Metal and Nonmetal Mine Rescue Hall of Fame was created in the 1990s to honor and highlight the achievements of exceptional mine rescuers. Staffens name will be inscribed on a trophy and displayed at national mine rescue contests.

Mississippi Lime Company (MLC), based in St. Louis, has been providing the nation with high-calcium lime products for more than a century.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday opened a two-day conference of governors and lieutenant governors, urging them to be pro-active in pushing the development agenda in the light of challenging goals for "new India by 2022."



Inaugurating the 48th conference of governors and the first under his tenure, Kovind said the governors can provide a new dimension to the development of their states by communicating with legislators, and "inviting them to Raj Bhavan to deliberate on subjects related to public well-being."



The conference is being attended by 27 governors and three lieutenant governors. The administrators of the UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu as well as of Lakshadweep are also participating as special invitees.



Kovind said the governors play the role of a bridge between the Union government and the states. "The obligation of Governors to preserve and uphold the Constitution and commit themselves to the service and welfare of the people is even more pronounced in the current paradigm of co-operative federalism."



The President told the governors that critical milestones and national goals have been set in the context of the completion of 75 years of Indian Independence in 2022. "This period is only five years away, and the government of India has resolved to build a society that is safe and secure, prosperous, ensures opportunity for all, and is a leader in science and technology," he said.



Kovind said, given the magnitude of this task, it is necessary that the entire country works unitedly and is on the same page. "Governors should inspire and connect with all relevant stakeholders in their respective States."



Kovind reminded the governors that they could could help raise the quality of discussion and debate and provide an impetus to society and the State government by engaging vice-chancellors, academicians, social workers and student and youth groups in this regard.



He pointed out that 69 per cent of universities in the country will fall under the purview of state governments where 94 per cent of all college and university students study.



Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior Union ministers are attending the conference. NITI Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar and CEO Amit Kant made a presentation on "New India." After which, the governors and the Union ministers went into huddle on ideas that should be vigorously pursued for India to achieve those goals.



The governors split into two groups for detailed deliberations on Infrastructure for New India 2022 and Public Services for New India 2022. The second session saw the subjects of Higher Education in States and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to Make Youth Employable being taken up for discussion.



In the third session scheduled for Friday the governors would make remarks on any special issues pertaining to their respective states and union territories. They will also highlight key achievements or initiatives started in their respective Raj Bhavans, which can be adopted or replicated elsewhere.




A soldier and a porter working with the army were killed as Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.



An army official said Pakistani troops resorted to heavy shelling and firing on Indian forward areas and border hamlets in KG sector from 10:35 am on Thursday which was strongly and effectively retaliated by the Indian army. In the exchange of fire, one Army jawan and a civilian porter working with the Army were killed, he said.



The ceasefire violations and sniper attacks along the LoC and the International Border (IB) by Pakistani troops have been on rise in the last few months. Three army personnel were killed along the LoC in Poonch on October 3 in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan. A day earlier, two minors died and 12 civilians were injured in cross-border shelling.



On September 20, an Army solider was killed and three others injured in sniper fire from the Pakistani side along the LoC in Keran sector of north Kashmir's Kupwara district.



Meanwhile, sources told DH Army and BSF has been put on high alert throughout the Jammu and Kashmir on the LoC and IB. Active deployment has been beefed up along forward posts and high alert has been sounded along the LoC and IB to foil designs of infiltration. Additional security has been put on the job, they said.



India shares 745-km long LoC and 198-km long IB with Pakistan in J&K. While the LoC is being manned by the army, the BSF patrols the IB. The relentless shelling along the LoC and the IB in recent months from across the border has forced hundreds of frightened villagers to shift to safer places.



The schools along the border had to be closed several times this year due to Pakistani shelling, forcing thousands of students to stay away from the educational institutions.
An asteroid the size of a school bus flew remarkably near Earth on Thursday, providing scientists with an opportunity to test the warning systems that would kick in if a space collision was coming.



Asteroid 2012 TC4 came close -- passing Earth at a distance of only around 44,000 km (27,000 miles), which is nothing in Universe terms.



There was no actual risk of a hit, although the asteroid did come well inside the orbit of the Moon and that of some human-made satellites.



"Basically, we pretended that this is a 'critical' object with a high risk of impacting Earth ... and exercised our communication channels and used telescopes and radar systems for observations," Detlef Koschny of European Space Agency said in a blog post on the agency's website.



The results were mixed. Koschny said one big radar system in Puerto Rico did not work due to damage from Hurricane Maria but that another U.S. based radar system was used instead.



"This is exactly why we do this exercise  to not be surprised by these things," he said.

Radar images showed the asteroid was about 10 to 12 metres (yards) wide, roughly the size of an asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013, leaving more than 1,000 people injured by flying glass and debris.



Koschny said the ESA now needed to update its predictions for how close 2012 TC4 will come to Earth on its next flyby, which has so far been forecast for 2079.
BJP leader and Union minister Uma Bharti today claimed the Congress "benefited" from the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi as he had talked about disbanding the party after Independence.



She was responding to a question on the Supreme Court's recent observations while hearing a plea seeking reopening of the investigation into the assassination.



"This matter is going on since the time Godse killed Gandhiji. Today I ask the country through you (the media) as to who benefited from the murder of Gandhiji?" Bharti asked.

She said while the Sangh and Jan Sangh faced damage and the country suffered losses "only the Congress benefited from the assassination of Gandhiji".



"Because Gandhiji had suggested that the Congress be dissolved (after Independence). In fact, he had already announced the Congress shall be disbanded," the minister of drinking water and sanitation claimed.



She was speaking to the media during the BJP's 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' in Banaskantha district of north Gujarat.



Gandhi was shot dead at point blank range in New Delhi on January 30, 1948 by Godse, a right-wing advocate of Hindu nationalism.



The plea in the SC, filed by Mumbai-based Pankaj Phadnis, a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat, has sought reopening of the probe on several grounds, claiming it was one of the biggest cover-ups in history.



Bharti is one of the ministers taking part in the ongoing yatra of the BJP that aims to galvanise support for the ruling party ahead of the assembly elections.



During the yatra, she addressed public meetings in Deodar, Tharad, Vav and Radhanpur constituencies.
The Supreme Court on Thursday took serious view of the Sahara group sending a communication to the police, raising law and order issue in the on-going auction process of Aamby Valley properties at Pune.



The apex court warned that anybody obstructing the process would be sent to jail. A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice Dipak Misra directed the official liquidator to proceed with the auction under the direct supervision of the Company Judge and take guidance from Bombay High Court judge Justice AS Oka.



Senior advocate Arvind Datar, representing Sebi, contended in view of the communication of September 28, by respondent contenmor Subrata Roy, the holding of auction has not been fructified. As a consequence of the communication, the police have taken custody of the property, he said.



In our considered opinion, the respondent-contemnor could not have entered into correspondence with the Superintendent of Police when this court had directed for auction of Aamby Valley, the bench, also comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and A K Sikri, said.



The court also directed Maharashtras Director General of Police to ensure that the property was handed over to the official liquidator within 48 hours.



Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the group, claimed wrong statements were being made to prejudice the court as no bidder came forward.
Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, cased their colors September 26, for the first time since relocating to Fort Bliss, Texas, in preparation for their upcoming deployment to the Middle East.

The brigade commander, Col. Charles Lombardo, of Park Hills, and brigade command sergeant major, Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin DaGraca cased the historic colors at Strike Field in anticipation for the brigades first deployment since 2011.

The Mission to Operation Spartan Shield is one that the Iron Brigade is honored to serve in, said Lombardo about the Iron Brigade mission to Kuwait.

The colors casing ceremony was the last step in the brigade's deployment to Kuwait to support combatant commander mission requirements for Operation Spartan Shield. The deployment colors casing ceremony, is an Army tradition that symbolizes the movement of a unit to a new theater of operation.

For the past six years, the Iron Brigade served as the Armys Experimental Task Force and provided first class assessment for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and the Armys Joint Modernization Command mission during several Network Integration Evaluation and Army Warfighting Assessment related exercises at Fort Bliss.

Since the end of 2016, the brigades training for Operation Spartan Shield, has been all encompassing, said Brig. Gen. Mark Landes, 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss Deputy Commanding General. They have worked since day one to prepare to fight and win.

Upon completion of AWA, the brigade rapidly transitioned back to the U.S. Forces Command (FORSCOM) ready pool as the Iron Brigade trained in preparation for the National Training Center.

The hardship of executing a train-up on a truncated calendar was made tolerable by the love and support provided by the Soldiers and their families, said Chuck Lombardo, 2nd Brigade Combat Team commander.

That role ended last fall, and the brigade and its battalions have been transitioning to be fully deployable since then.

The deployment is expected to last nine months with soldiers slated to return in the summer of next year.

Approximately 3,500 Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team will be replacing 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Calvary Division out of Fort Hood.
Tata Teleservices will merge with Bharti Airtel as the Tata group firm looks to tide over its financial woes by exiting the mobile telephony business.



The companies said the deal is on a no-debt, no-cash basis, implying Airtel is not taking over any of the about Rs 40,000 crore debt with Tata Teleservices and is neither paying any cash.



Even 70-80 per cent of the Rs 9,000-10,000 crore deferred payments for spectrum that TTSL holds, will be paid by Tatas.



The deal, subject to regulatory approvals, will see over 40 million customers of Tata Teleservices (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra (TTML) joining Bharti Airtel and mark further consolidation in one of the world's largest telecom markets.



The merger will be on a debt-free, cash-free basis and all past liabilities and dues to be settled by Tata, the companies said in a statement.



"This is a significant development towards further consolidation in the Indian mobile industry... The acquisition of additional spectrum made an attractive business proposition," Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said.



The transaction will create substantial long-term value for shareholders given the significant synergies, he said.



Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said the agreement is the "best and most optimal solution" for the Tata Group and its stakeholders.



"We have evaluated multiple options and are pleased to have this agreement with Bharti," he added.



In March this year, Airtel's rivals -- Vodafone India and Idea Cellular had announced merger plans to create India's largest telecom firm.



As part of the agreement, Bharti Airtel will absorb Tata CMB's operations in 19 telecom circles (17 under TTSL and 2 under TTML). It will also assume a small portion of the unpaid spectrum liability of Tata towards the Telecom Department, which is to be paid on deferred basis, the statement added.



The merger will bolster Bharti Airtel's spectrum pool with significant additional 178.5 MHz spectrum in 1800, 2100 and 850 MHz bands, all widely used for 4G.



"The proposed merger will include transfer of all the customers and assets of Tata CMB to Bharti Airtel, further augmenting Bharti Airtels overall customer base and network," the statement said.



Tata and Bharti Airtel will work together to further explore other mutual areas of cooperation, that will be value accretive for both the groups.



"The employees of Tata will be demerged on the lines of the two businesses ie CMB and EFL (Enterprise and Fixed Line and Broadband), and post an optimal manpower planning will be moved accordingly," it added.



Tata is also in initial stages of exploring combination of its enterprise business with Tata Communications and its Retail Fixed Line and Broadband business with Tata Sky.



Any such transaction will be subject to respective boards and other requisite approvals.

Tata will also retain its stake in Viom, and will take care of the liabilities associated with it.



The Boards of Bharti Airtel, Tata Sons, TTSL and TTML have approved the transaction.

Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Private Limited is financial adviser to Tata.
The first diesel-electric locomotive built by US conglomerate General Electric as part of a USD 2.5 billion deal to supply 1,000 such engines to the Indian Railways has arrived in India.



The project, a joint venture between the Indian Railways and GE to supply and maintain modern diesel electric locomotives of 4,500 HP and 6,000 HP to the public transporter, was announced in November 2015.



GE clarified that the work on a diesel locomotive factory in Bihar's Marhowrah is on track, days after Railway Minister Piyush Goyal ruled out any changes in the deal.



But with government's thrust on electrification of tracks to combat pollution, there was a buzz, and some media reports that it could exit the contract.



"The first of 1,000 diesel-electric evolution series locomotives has already arrived at India's Mundra Port," Vishal Wanchoo, President and CEO, GE South Asia told PTI on the sidelines of the International Rail Conference and the 12th edition of the International Rail Equipment Exhibition (IREE) held here today.



"The work in our diesel factory in Bihar is on track and as the minister has said there are no changes in the contract," he said, adding GE was actually ahead of schedule.



The plan is to deliver 100 locomotives per year on an average. The first fiscal year will be little bit more. We plan to deliver the 1,000 locomotives to the Indian Railways over 11 years, he said.



"Our partnership with the Indian Railways is a best-in- class bilateral example of how entities can work together to create jobs and drive economic development in a region," said Wanchoo.



"Through this project, we're creating a robust supply chain ecosystem in India, and will localize more than 70 per cent of all content. We're proud of the more than 6,000 jobs that have been created by GE in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and remain committed to our work in the country," he said.



Goyal had last month said there would be no changes in the Marhowrah factory set up.

But, the railway minister had also said he had discussions with top executives of GE to explore how the objectives of reducing pollution, bringing down overall cost and honouring agreements with the global conglomerate be met.



Wanchoo said GE has no plans to manufacture electric locomotives at the Marhowrah factory.



"GE bid for diesel locomotives and our Bihar plant can manufacture only diesel locomotives. Two contracts were floated and we bid for the diesel plant.



"However, we support the government's electrification process. In every country that we operate in, we supply these locomotives. Most countries wherein we operate have an electrification program, which makes a lot of sense, but the diesel locomotives also co-exist for various reasons as they are efficient and affordable," Wanchoo said.
The West Bengal police has served a notice on expelled CPI(M) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Banerjee, after a woman filed a complaint with the police authorities accusing the MP of sexually exploiting her and also threatening her if she made the matter public.



Additional Director General of Police, CID, Rajesh Kumar said, Banerjee has been served with a notice where he has been asked to appear before the Criminal Investigation Department officers tomorrow.



Kumar said CID has taken up the case after assessing the gravity of the complaint and the nature of allegations made against an MP by the woman.



The woman, a software engineer by profession and a resident of Balurghat in north Bengal, has already lodged a complaint with the local police station in South Dinajpur district alleging that Ritabrata Banerjee had established physical relationship with her by promising marriage.



She has also claimed that Banerjee had travelled with her abroad during her stay in the Netherlands and they were engaged in a physical relationship since 2016.



The Rajya Sabha MP has accused the woman of alluring him and threatening him and then squeezing Rs 5 lakh from him on two occasions.



He has said that when he found out about the trap and denied any further payment, the woman came up with these false accusations.



Banerjee has filed a counter FIR with the Garfa police station in the city against the woman for maligning him and levelling false allegations against him, but has remained silent on what sort of allure and threats prompted him to pay Rs 5 lakh to the woman.



The CPIM had expelled Ritabrata Banerjee from the primary membership of the party after a party fact-finding commission found him guilty of grave anti-party activities, including moral degeneration in relation to women.
The United States and Israel announced on Thursday they were quitting the UNs cultural agency UNESCO after Washington accused it of anti-Israeli bias.



The withdrawal of the US, which is meant to provide a fifth of UNESCOs funding, is a major blow for the Paris-based organisation, founded after World War Two to help protect cultural and natural heritage around the world.



UNESCO is best known for designating World Heritage Sites such as the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and the Grand Canyon National Park.



This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti-Israel bias, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would quit too, calling the US decision brave and moral.
The medical fraternity today hailed the Allahabad High Court verdict clearing the Talwars in the Aarushi-Hemraj killing, but domestic helps here feel that the dentist couple got away with murder thanks to their affluence.



The high court today said neither the circumstances nor the evidence was enough to hold Nupur and Rajesh Talwar guilty in the 2008 murder of their teenage daughter and Nepalese domestic help.



The Talwars' neighbours appeared guarded in their reaction, with most avoiding comment.



One of residents near their Sector 25 home, D Singh, said, "If not the Talwars, then who killed Arushi? However, we are happy that they have been acquitted."



Indian Medical Association president Dr K K Aggarwal simply said, "The Talwars got justice."



A representative of the Association of Medical Clinics of Noida, Dr K C Sood, expressed happiness that the couple was given the benefit of doubt.



"Unless there is conclusive evidence one should not be punished. However, now it will remain a mystery. It has cast aspersions on CBI investigations," he said.



The verdict ends, at least for now, the nine-year ordeal of the Noida couple who were sentenced to life by a Ghaziabad CBI court on November 28, 2013 for the double murder that not only transfixed but also shook the nation with its element of filicide.



Nepalese doemestic helps here, however, made no bones of where their sympathies lay.

"The rich can get themselves acquitted. In the Nithari case too, (Moninder Singh) Pandher was acquitted. The poor cannot expect justice," said one.



Another said, "Hemraj's relatives should challenge the acquittal at the Supreme Court."

At the Parsvnath Mall at Sector 27, where the Talwars ran their dental clinic, the shopkeepers supported the acquittal.



"They have suffered too much due to their daughter's murder. With the acquittal by the high court, they have got justice," said Harkesh, one of the shopkeepers.
A group "concerned citizens", including former Home Minister P Chidambaram and ex-Home Secretary G K Pillai, on Monday urged the government not to deport Rohingya Muslims from India, saying it will be against its own humanitarian principles and traditions.



In an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the group of 51 people urged the government to lead a global response to the crisis and exert its diplomatic clout to pressurise Myanmar to end the security crackdown in Rakhine and ensure eventual safe and unhindered return of those Rohingya who wish to go home.



"As an aspiring global leader of the 21st century, India cannot afford to adopt a short-sighted approach to what has now become a monumental, global crisis. Our actions must now align with our ambitions. In the absence of strong, international leadership, India has the opportunity to craft a bold, new approach and pave the way for a new kind of global leadership," it said.



The letter, also signed by MPs Shashi Tharoor, D P Tripathi and Majeed Memon, reminded Modi that he often refers India as the land of 'Gandhi and Buddha' and they look up to him to honour the principles that they upheld. "We stand ready to support your leadership," it said.



The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had told the Supreme Court that Rohingyas are a security threat and the government could not allow their stay in the country.



Arguing for allowing Rohingyas to stay, it said deportation would go against its obligations under international law as well as its own constitutional provisions.



"These people of course possess the right to return home in safety and dignity, but the present situation is far from safe for them to return. Until the extra-judicial killings, gang-rapes, arson and other forms of violence have ceased in Myanmar, the Rohingya, under the established principles of international law, enjoy the right to stay in India," the letter said.



India must recognise and acknowledge that massive human rights abuses, including extra-judicial killings, burning of villages, massacres, rape and attacks by Myanmar's security forces is the primary reason why the Rohingya have been forced to flee their homes, cross borders and seek sanctuary in other countries, it said.



"It is in Indias national interest to ensure that all hostilities against the Rohingya community come to an immediate halt. Moreover, Indias credibility as a net security provider for our neighbours in the region would be severely compromised if we fail to act on behalf of our broader interests in the region," it said




A family of five Western hostages, including three children, were recovered after five years of their abduction by terrorists with ties to the Afghan Taliban in an operation based on intelligence shared by the US, the Pakistan Army said today.



They were captured by terrorists from Afghanistan in 2012 and kept as hostages there.



"Pakistan Army and ISI recovered 5 Western hostages including 1 Canadian, his US National wife and their three children from terrorist custody through an intelligence based operation by Pakistan troops and intelligence agencies," the Army said in a statement.



It said the US intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and shared their location when they were shifted to Pakistan through border of Kurram tribal district yesterday.



The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from US authorities, was successful and all hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin, it added.



In Washington, US President Donald Trump hailed the release of the hostages from Taliban and identified the kidnapped couple as Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle.



He said their release was a "positive moment" for US relations with Pakistan."Coleman gave birth to the couple's three children while they were in captivity," Trump said in a White House statement. "Today, they are free."



The Pakistan Army said the success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan's continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy.The hostages "are being repatriated to their country of origin."



Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 while on a backpacking trip.



Coleman, 31, was pregnant at the time of abduction. All the children are believed to have been born in captivity.



The Afghan Taliban last year released a video that showed the family, including two young boys.
Representatives from Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft's office attended the Tuesday morning St. Francois County Commission meeting to briefly go over the state's new Show It 2 Vote program.

Brandon Alexander and Chrissy Peters, directors of election, were introduced to the commission and those in the gallery by County Clerk Mark Hedrick.

"We're just going to talk to you real quick about the changes under Missouri's new voter ID law," Alexander said. "Last November, 63 percent of Missourians voted for photo ID to go into effect and we're here to talk about the implementing legislation that puts that into place."

According to Alexander, anyone who is a registered Missouri voter who goes to the right polling place on election day can vote by using one of three options:

Option 1  The voter presents one of any of the following forms of photo ID at the poll: Drivers license; non-drivers license; passport; military ID; or a non-expired identification issued by the U.S. Government or state of Missouri that contains a photograph and signature. With this option, the voter receives a regular ballot.

Option 2  The voter appears at the poll without a photo ID but has one of the following forms of acceptable identification: Voter registration; ID from a Missouri university, college, vocational or technical school; utility bill; bank statement; government check; paycheck; other government document showing the voter's name and address.

With this option, the voter signs a statement indicating they know a photo ID is needed to vote and that the state will provide one for them at no cost. The voter then receives a regular ballot.

Option 3  In a case where the voter appears at the poll with no form of identification and is registered, they will receive a blue provisional ballot envelope. After voting, they will place the ballot in the envelope.

"A type of provisional ballot is something that has been available in federal and state elections previously," Alexander said. "This is a new kind of provisional ballot that will be available in every election for someone who is a registered voter that walks into their polling place, 'Hi, I'm John Doe and I'm here to vote. I don't have any ID on me.

"John Doe can go ahead and vote because he is in the poll book. He'll fill out the provisional ballot envelope and the ballot will go into the envelope and it will stay there until either John Doe comes back with his photo ID on election day or, say John Doe doesn't have a photo ID, that provisional ballot envelope comes back to the clerk's office at the end of the election.

"On that envelope is a place where the voter will sign their signature. If the clerk can mark the signature on the envelope to the signature that's on file for that voter  the same type of signature matching process that currently goes on for the initiative petition process  that ballot can then count."

Other action during the commission meeting included the opening of bids for conducting the annual county audit and for the purchase of records management software for the sheriff's department; rejecting a request by the county treasurer to promote two department employees; and approving a bid of $13,763 from CP Sealcoating & Striping for parking lot resurfacing and striping at the courthouse annex and Weber Road Facility.

The commissioners also approved a request to begin the process of vacating Myers Street in the Blackwell area of the county; turned down a pay adjustment request made by the county collector; approved a Grant Oversight Policy; and selected Smith & Company Engineers for the cleanup of the county's Maple Street facility through the Brownfield Voluntary Cleanup Program.
Senior lawyer Rebecca John, who was part of the legal team that argued for the Talwar couple, today hailed the Allahabad High Court judgement, saying the case against them was based on "innuendos" and "assumptions".



She hoped that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who have been in sharp media spotlight for over nine years, will be allowed privacy after their release from jail.



"The fact is that the entire case was based on innuendos and assumptions. There was no credible evidence against the couple. The CBI conducted it in a manner which is not becoming of a probe agency," John told PTI.



She said there was no credible evidence against the dentist couple, who were accused of killing their daughter Aarushi, something which she has been maintaining from the very beginning.



John said the Talwar couple has been in the eye of a "media storm" for nearly a decade and they should now be allowed to lead their lives as private citizens.



"It has been a very, very long fight and it has been an emotionally wrenching fight. The team of lawyers in Allahabad comprising Tanveer Ahmed Mir and Dileep Kumar did an absolutely amazing job," she said.



Radhika Chadda, a friend of the Talwars, said the couple has been holding together very well because they are "innocent and have faith in the truth".



"I have been in touch with them over the years and their belief in the legal system kept them going. They maintained sanity by practising dentistry that they are so skilled at.



"They have been operating a clinic from the jail, which I believe, is the best clinic in the entire Ghaziabad district," she said.



The Allahabad High Court today acquitted the Talwar couple, saying they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record.



The verdict ends the ordeal of the parents who were found guilty by a CBI court in the sensational double murder.



A division bench of the court comprising justices B K Narayana and A K Mishra upheld the appeals by the Talwars against the Ghaziabad CBI court order sentencing them to life imprisonment on November 26, 2013.



Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old domestic help Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.
Exuding confidence that the Congress will retain power in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today said the ruling party will not solely rely on "failures of Opposition" to secure a victory in the 2018 assembly polls.



The Congress will win the election on the development plank and get a "comfortable majority", he said after discussing its poll strategy at a meeting here called by party Vice President Rahul Gandhi.



He said tickets will be distributed to candidates early this time and the party will give opportunity to youth, sitting MLAs and even first-timers who can secure victory, he added.



"We are not dependent on failures of Opposition to win elections. We have confidence in our strength. We will not fight (elections) on failures of Opposition," Siddaramaiah told reporters after the meeting with Gandhi.



The party will return to power with "comfortable majority" in 2018, he said and added: "we will get seats more than 121 out of 223 that we got in the previous poll. We will get (them) on our own strength".



Asserting that the election will be fought under his leadership, Siddaramaiah said there is no "confusion" anymore within the party.



On poll preparedness, he said out of the 54,000 booths in the state, the party has set up booth committees for 51,000 and the rest will be done shortly.



Siddaramaiah said a programme has been initiated to take the state government's work and achievements to doorstep of citizens, and about 1.5 crore booklets highlighting this will be distributed.



"Also in the coming days, I will travel to each of the 224 constituencies to share our achievements. I plan to tour in December and January," he said.



The chief minister also dismissed allegations of corruption levelled by the BJP against his government, saying, "We need to talk responsibly."
A City Armed Reserve (CAR) constable has been arrested by the Parappana Agrahara police after he was caught red-handed by the security staff of the central jail while trying to smuggle in two smartphones for a prisoner accused in a terror case.



The arrested has been identified as Dinesh, a CAR south constable who is serving in the department for the last five years.



The prisoner in question has been identified as Nazir, an accused in the 2008 Bengaluru serial bomb blasts, the police said.



According to police, at around 9.30 am on Wednesday, Dinesh arrived at the central prison with a warrant for another prisoner. He deposited his mobile phone and other belongings at the entrance and easily passed through Gate-1 with the smartphones hidden in the trouser pockets of his uniform and the warrant papers in his hand.



At Gate-2, the guards grew suspicious and frisked him to find two Samsung Galaxy-2 smartphones without SIM cards.



The guards informed their higher-ups who, in turn, informed the jurisdictional Parappana Agrahara police. The latter rushed to the prison, seized the phones and took him into custody.



Upon questioning, the police learnt that Dinesh had tried to smuggle in the phones for a bribe of Rs 5,000 from the associates of the terror suspect. Dinesh used to escort Nazir to the court and back to prison, after hearings, over the last three years.



DCP (Southeast) Boralingaiah and his team had conducted raids on the central prison around three weeks ago.



The team had seized small packets of ganja along with four SIM cards, after which cases were registered. The jurisdictional police had launched an investigation.


The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the Karnataka High Courts order quashing investigation by the Lokayukta police into illegal quarrying of granite in Koppal and Bagalkot districts, causing huge loss to the exchequer.



A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and U U Lalit allowed a special leave petition filed by the Karnataka government, represented by Joseph Aristotle, against the March 28 judgement. The Lokayukta police were probing collusion of state officers with some private persons to allow quarrying.



We find that at the stage of investigation there was no bar as allegation contained the offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the bench said.



The court rejected the plea by senior advocate Jayant Bhushan, representing the accused, that under the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, only authorised person can file a complaint while in the present case, the Lokayukta police itself registered the case on a complaint by deputy superintendent of police.



The counsel also contended that the Special Investigation Team set up by the Lokayukta police could not investigate into the offences as it was to take up only those cases referred to it.



Bhushan also claimed that the Lokayukta police is not a police station to register a FIR and start investigation.



Aristotle, however, countered him saying, It is a case of fence eating the crop as certain officers colluded with private persons to allow quarrying. The Lokayukta SIT can investigate cases relating to illegal mining and quarrying. In this case, some FIRs were transferred to the SIT.



Agreeing with his submission, the court observed, Wherever there is complaint of cognisable offence, the police are bound to investigate. Jurisdiction and other issues can be decided by the court competent.



Environmental hazard



The state claimed pattadars of the lands in which the mineral was available will go on excavating without converting the land for non-agricultural purpose and without obtaining environmental clearance and working permission, thereby causing environmental hazard.



Working permission was required for quarrying under the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules.



The court had earlier issued notice to Linganagouda, Venkateshbabu, Premchand Jain, Mallikarjuna and Shekarappa, who were being investigated by the SIT after registering cases against them in 2014 for illegal quarrying in Koppal.



Others, who were investigated, included Sharanappa, Sangappa and Bhadrappa, for the offence of granite extraction in Bagalkot district in 2014.
Sources said the meeting could see a vertical divide over the issue and if there is no compromise on the outline, the Central Committee in January next year to finalise the draft resolution would address the question.



Factions led by Sitaram Yechury and Prakash Karat will lock horns once again at the three-day CPI(M) Central Committee beginning Saturday on whether to keep its doors "tactically open" for an understanding with Congress to counter BJP.After the Polit Bureau failed to reach a consensus despite two meetings in the past one month, the Central Committee would now debate the outline for the draft political resolution that would be placed before the Party Congress in Hyderabad next April.While the factions led by General Secretary Yechury and former General Secretary Karat have now arrived at a consensus on ousting BJP government as party's primary task, the difference is over how to achieve this objective.The Central Committee would debate the lines of both the factions though the Polit Bureau, where Karat faction has majority, had expressed its vociferous opposition to the idea of having any links with Congress. Sources claimed the Karat faction wants an explicit mention against Congress in the draft resolution that will be finalised by January.While the Karat faction, which has the support of Kerala unit, argue that tie-ups or understanding with Congress had never helped the CPI(M), the Yechury supporters, predominantly from the Bengal unit, argue that the party should hold hands with all non-Left secular parties, including Congress, to counter the BJP.The Yechury faction believes that they are being unnecessarily branded "pro-Congress" when they do not insist on forming a political front with Congress.Sources said their argument is that "why one should tie your hands" by singling out Congress when there were past experiments along with Congress on cooperating with Fronts "from outside" in the case of United Front and UPA governments. They argue that one cannot take anti-Congressism to "logical absurdity".While "not entering" into a political front with non-Left parties, the Yechury faction argues that "a degree of understanding to achieve the objective of ousting and defeating BJP must be forged". They cite the example of allowing Andhra Pradesh unit to enter into a seat "adjustment" with Congress in 2004 elections as well as similar exercise in Punjab, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
Upset with JD(S) youth leader Prajwal Revannas bucket culture comment, the JD(S) leadership is learnt to have advised him to exercise restraint while making public speeches.



No sooner than Prajwals statements on the prevalence of sycophancy in the JD(S) were widely reported on Wednesday, than JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda telephoned his grandson and reprimanded him.



According to sources, Gowda is learnt to have told Prajwal that he had already issued a notice to the youngster for his suitcase culture statement recently, and that he should stop repeatedly embarrassing the party.



Sources in the party said Prajwal has been mounting pressure on the party to let him contest the Assembly election. He is planning to contest the election from Rajarajeshwarinagar constituency in Bengaluru.



Both Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy have stated that only two members from the Gowda family will be fielded  Kumaraswamy and his brother H D Revanna. Meanwhile, Gowda on Thursday said Prajwal had not participated in the Rajarajeshwarinagar party workers meeting on October 10 as an aspirant.



Gowda told reporters in Bengaluru during the partys legal cell meeting that the party core committee will finalise the candidate list.
The Supreme Court on Thursday decided to examine the issue of womens safety in app-based taxis and other public transport systems.



After being told that the regulation of internet-based taxi operators and other public transport systems was criticial in the view of December 16, 2012 incident of gang-rape in a moving bus in Delhi, a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta agreed to look into the matter.



The issue of regulating public transport, including internet-based taxi services, will be taken up on December 7, 2017, the bench said.



Senior advocate Indira Jaising, assisting as amicus curiae, contended that none of the internet-based taxi operators has its offices in the country.



Those having offices are only for name-sake and there is no data available in this regard. In London, one of the prominent operators has been banned. We need some regulations here, she said.



The counsel, appearing on a petition filed by advocate Nipun Saxena after the infamous Delhi gang-rape case, also raised the issue of victim compensation in sexual offences and acid attacks, saying there should be a uniform scheme in all states.



She also sought direction for setting up a sex offenders registry, mandatory reporting in such offences and in preparing media guidelines.



The court directed Alok Agrawal, member secretary, National Legal Services Authority to set up a committee that can prepare model rules for compensation for sexual offences and acid attacks.



Jaising also sought direction to the trial court in Chandigarh to dispense with the recording of the statement of a 10-year-old rape victim who recently gave birth to a boy, in view of her formal statement and DNA reports indicting her uncle. The court declined this request.
Nearly a year after a legislature committee recommended a CBI probe into various aspects of implementation of the Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Entreprise (NICE), nothing much has happened on the ground.



Law Minister T B Jayachandra, who headed the House panel, told reporters on Thursday that the pros and cons of the recommendation are being studied by the law department as 40 cases pertaining to BMIC are pending in various courts. As there are many cases pending both in the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court, we have to consider all aspects before giving effect to the panels recommendation, Jayachandra said.



The panel, in its report tabled in the legislature in December last, had recommended that the government should take over the project from NICE and take back 11,660 acres of land from the acquisition process besides recovering Rs 1,350-crore toll collected since 2008.



Jayachandra said the government has appointed Sunil Yadav as its counsel for handling all cases pertaining to NICE.



The minister said NICE had obtained a stay on a recent notice issued to it by the Public Works Department seeking its response on why toll had been hiked without the approval of the state government.


The state government is likely to announce a medical and wellness tourism policy soon.



There are 19 NABH-accredited hospitals in Bengaluru alone. Karnataka is home to 56 medical colleges and offers the highest number of MBBS seats in India. Considering this, we will shortly come out with a medical and wellness tourism policy for Karnataka. It proposes to set up a marketing fund for promoting the state as a medical value travel destination and give financial assistance to entrepreneurs for wellness tourism, announced Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary, Department of IT, Biotechnology and Tourism, government of Karnataka.



I congratulate the Karnataka government for its medical and wellness tourism policy. We would also like to bring out a similar policy at the Central level next year, said Satyajeet Rajan, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.



The announcements were made at the Advantage Healthcare India 2017 event organised in Bengaluru from October 12-14. As of 2015, the countrys medical travel market was estimated to be around $3 billion and is expected to touch $9 billion by 2020, according to FICCI-QuintilesIMS knowledge paper on Medical Tourism in India, which was released at the event.



The three-day event is witnessing the participation from over 70 countries and 700 hosted buyers from across the world.



Addressing the gathering, Rita Teaotia, Secretary, Dept of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said, While the size of the Indian medical value travel industry is currently $3 billion, the scale of the entire Indian healthcare industry is $110 billion. It creates a value chain that creates jobs for Indians and broadens the scope of other sectors, including tourism, education, etc.


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The Carmel Valley Recreation Council has taken a strong stance against the citys proposed changes to recreation council operations.

The changes could come before San Diego City Council for approval as soon as Oct. 24, but the Carmel Valley Recreation Council members have requested a postponement as they said they have not had significant time to review or respond to changes in the fee schedule that they believe will eliminate their revenue source and local control.

This has come about very quickly, said Marilee Pacelli, chair of the Carmel Valley Recreation Council at its Oct. 3 meeting. It seems like this is happening very, very fast without the opportunity for any of the recreational councils to weigh in on this.

According to a document that went to the citys Park and Recreation Board on Sept. 21, the city attorney has determined that the money in the local park and recreation councils accounts, about $4 million, is not the recreation councils money but is actually city money.

Proposed changes to the fee structure would take away the surcharge that recreation councils get, taking away Carmel Valley Recreation Councils basic revenue. If the changes are approved, surcharges would instead be deposited into a city special revenue fund.

By January 2019, all 52 local recreation councils may cease to exist or exist only in an advisory capacity with no more revenue coming in to spend on the community, Pacelli said. Everything would be managed by a centralized Parks and Recreation Council downtown  One San Diego, One San Diego Rec. According to the report, with a centralized department, programs could also be standardized throughout the city and four full-time staff members would be hired to control programming for all centers in the city.

Currently, Carmel Valley Recreation Council has about $417,000 and is one of the top performing councils in the city, Pacelli said. The council uses those funds to keep its recreation center open longer, enhance park maintenance, fund special events and activities, and provide quality programming tailored to the communitys needs. The council also offered $12,000 in financial assistance last year.

In late September, Pacelli attended a Parks and Recreation briefing about the proposed changes with Ginny Barnes, the longtime Carmel Valley resident who founded the recreation council back in 1988.

There were a lot of questions and a lot of angry people from a lot of other rec councils, Pacelli said.

Pacelli said one of the frustrating things was that questions were raised and the standard answers were: I dont know, Im not sure, We dont know yet and I dont have an answer.

Pacellis biggest question was what is meant by standardizing programming and if that meant that the same programs would be offered to every rec center. Would gymnastics be as important at other rec centers in the city as it is in Carmel Valley, where it is one of the biggest programs? Will they still be able to hold fall festivals or movie nights or is all of that money going to go to the special fund? And will it take forever to get their hands on funding for small maintenance projects?

Barnes also voiced concern that many independent contractors rely on the ability to have contractual relationships with rec councils and the changes could affect that.

Its a huge economic impact to independent contractors. Thats a huge piece, that this will affect peoples livelihoods, Barnes said. Dont take away the funding source without understanding the consequences.

Barnes, who spent 12 years on the citys Park and Recreation board, said that in the past they reviewed standard operation procedures and bylaws to make sure the documents were in line with municipal codes and nothing has changed since that time.

The bottom line is the current system is functional, its efficient, it works, it provides for customized activities and support in the communities where the funds are raised with programs that are wanted by the community. The ulterior motive is not efficiency, its not trying to make it more responsive to the communities, I think its another objective, rec council member Luca Pacelli said. Theres some things we can tweak and some things we can do to help the other rec councils in the city that dont have the funds that others do but to dismantle the whole thing and change it totally overnight without the real understanding and reasons behind it, doesnt make any sense.

Steve Hadley, representative for District 1 Councilmember Barbara Bry, said that Bry is not on board with the proposed change.

She is not happy that there has not been proper notice and an opportunity to be heard, Hadley said, noting typically these types of changes go through a council committee. (Councilmember Bry) wholeheartedly supports local control. We dont do planning one-size fits all in the city, we have planning boards that reflect the character of the community.

Hadley said Bry could be supportive of operational changes that help the city keep track of money coming in or to ensure equal opportunity contracting, but not to give up local influence in deciding what programs are offered or the discretionary authority on what money is spent on.

To relinquish that authority to others downtown somewhere and be an advisory group that may or not be taken into account, thats not whats intended with our park and rec councils, Hadley said.
By Luis Ferre-Sadurni

11 October 2017LUQUILLO, Puerto Rico (The New York Times)  When you looked up, you could once see nothing but the lush, emerald canopy of tabonuco and sierra palm trees covering El Yunque National Forest.

That was before Hurricane Maria obliterated the only tropical rain forest in the United States forest system. Left behind was a scene so bare that on a recent visit, it was possible to see the concrete skyline of San Juan about 30 miles west  a previously unimaginable sight.

El Yunque, pronounced Jun-kay, has been an enormous source of pride in Puerto Rico and one of the main drivers of the islands tourism industry. The 28,000-acre forest on the eastern part of the island has over 240 species of trees; 23 of those are found nowhere else. Over 50 bird species live among the forests crags and waterfalls.

But sunlight now reaches cavities of the forest that have not felt a ray of light in decades, bringing with it a scorching heat.

Hurricane Maria was like a shock to the system, said Grizelle Gonzalez, a project leader at the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, part of United States Department of Agriculture. The whole forest is completely defoliated.The hardest hit areas at the top of the forest might take a century to recover, Ms. Gonzalez, who has worked at El Yunque for 17 years, said.

Tree trunks that still stood were left brown, stripped of their leaves and dark-green mosses. Landslides have scattered the forest with mounds of displaced soil and boulders.

The billions of gallons of water that rain every year on the eight major rivers that originate here supply 20 percent of the drinkable water in Puerto Rico.

Whats going to happen if the ecosystem has less capacity to capture that water, get it into the streams, and into the municipal water systems? Sharon Wallace, the forest supervisor for El Yunque, said. [more]
By Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Kristine Phillips, Joel Achenbach, and Herman Wong

12 October 2017

SANTA ROSA, California (The Washington Post)  The winds fanning wildfires in Northern Californias wine-country have calmed, for now, giving firefighters a badly needed break from the red flag conditions that have made this menacing arc of flames so deadly and destructive.But for localities facing relentless fires and a mounting death toll that has already reached historically grim heights, any reprieve appears remote.As the destruction entered its fifth day, officials focused their efforts on finding the missing and the dead. Authorities continue to search for the hundreds of people who remain unaccounted for, using cadaver dogs to sniff through scorched rubble.Twenty-nine people have died, more than half of them in Sonoma County alone. The infernos burning across the region are now the states deadliest wildfires on record, their collective death toll equaling the 1933 Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles that killed 29 people.Weve found bodies that were almost completely intact; weve found bodies that are nothing more than ashes and bones, Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said at a news conference Thursday.In some cases, bodies were only identified through ID cards or the serial number of medical devices found nearby. []About 1,000 people have been reported missing in Sonoma County, of whom 400 remained unaccounted for as of Thursday afternoon. Giordano said search and rescue teams go to specific houses, if its safe, to find missing persons only after theyve exhausted other ways to contact them. []
By Phil Willon, Paige St. John, Louis Sahagun, Chris Megerian, and Alene Tchekmedyian

12 October 2017

SANTA ROSA, California (The Los Angeles Times)  The death toll rose to 23 from the rapidly spreading firestorm in California wine country as officials issued more evacuations Thursday morning across the region.

With winds picking up, it was a tense night and early morning with an army of firefighter worked to keep the flames away from communities. Red-flag fire warnings were in place through Thursday afternoon.

All residents of Calistoga and Geyserville were ordered to leave their homes, two of numerous evacuation orders across the North Bay.

Napa city officials issued evacuation advisories for neighborhood s along the eastern edges of the city, warning residents to be prepared to leave. Just before 9 p.m., Santa Rosa police also issued an evacuation advisory for neighborhoods in the citys eastern end, while other neighborhoods along the north end of the city are under mandatory evacuation orders.

The fire is not an imminent threat, but the conditions may change quickly, police said.

In Sonoma County alone, 25,000 people have evacuated, county spokesman Scott Alonso said late Wednesday.

If theres been a mandatory evacuation, you cannot go home, Alonso said. The area is unsafe.

Meanwhile, Sonoma County sheriffs deputies are working to track down 285 out of 600 people reported missing. The rest  315 people  have already been found safe. Alonso asked people to notify officials if they have found their missing loved ones.

Power remained out at 40,000 homes across the county. []Were not going to be out of the woods for a great many days to come, said Cal Fire director Ken Pimlott. The state is still feeling the effects of the drought despite a recent wet winter, and theres explosive vegetation fueling the blazes.Weve had big fires in the past, Gov. Jerry Brown said. This is one of the biggest. []This is nowhere near over. This is still very dangerous, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said Tuesday night. [more]
Junga Team To Head To Bulgaria And Austria To Shoot Few Songs
A group of MPs have relaunched an inquiry into improving air quality across the UK because of links to dementia and type 2 diabetes.

Four Commons committees have pledged to mount a campaign to look at how air quality across the country, especially in London. The relaunch of this super inquiry comes following research published in June led by the University of Leicester which found a possible link between air pollution and the rise in type 2 diabetes.

The original super inquiry was launched in March after the High Court ruled that the governments proposal to slash nitrogen dioxide air pollution were not sufficient  but postponed until this month because of the snap general election in May.

Chair of the health committee Dr Sarah Wollaston MP said: There is an increasing amount of evidence showing the impact of nitrogen dioxide and invisible particulates on human health.

Many people are aware of their impact on our lungs and hearts, but new evidence suggests that they could also contribute to diseases as disparate as dementia and diabetes.

Air pollution has been more and more associated with type 2 diabetes in recent years, and while the exact mechanisms behind this link are not understood, scientists hypothesise where people live and their income could be salient factors.

The politicians will now examine the governments approach to anti-pollution and its ability to deliver the plans, including moves to create clean air zones and put a stop to petrol and diesel cars from 2040.

Transport select committee chair Lilian Greenwood MP said: Real change is possible if Government leads from the front to coordinate an effective response to one of the biggest issues of our time.

Mary Creagh MP, who leads the final committee involved, the environmental audit committee, added: Ministers will now face unprecedented scrutiny in Parliament to ensure they are doing everything necessary to protect people from filthy air.
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How tax plan would alter mortgage deduction

This is the government's primary form of direct housing assistance: The U.S. distributes three times more money this way than in vouchers for impoverished renters.



By JOSH BOAK

AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON  Each year, taxpayers subsidize America's homeowners by roughly $70 billion, with the benefits flowing disproportionately to coastal areas with high incomes and pricey homes, from New York and Washington to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Even though the Trump measure would preserve the mortgage interest deduction, it's confronting resistance from the real estate industry because it would likely reduce the number of people seeking the deduction.

The subsidy for homeowners comes in the form of a deduction from their taxes for the interest they pay on their mortgages. An affluent New Yorker, for example, would have saved an average of $3,694 in 2015, according to an analysis of IRS data released Wednesday by the real estate company Apartment List.

In metro Los Angeles, the deduction was worth an average of $4,568, in San Francisco still more: $5,500.

But under President Donald Trump's tax proposal, some Americans would likely be steered away from this tax break. Here's why: Trump's plan would double the standard deduction, which taxpayers can take if they don't itemize deductions. The doubled standard deduction could exceed the savings many receive now from itemizing their expenses for housing, state and local taxes and related costs.

But the Trump plan would also eliminate many existing itemized deductions, including those for state and local taxes, so that some people who now itemize might end up paying more.

The president's proposal would essentially marginalize the use of the mortgage interest deduction, which is the government's primary form of direct housing assistance: It distributes three times more money this way than it does in the form of vouchers for impoverished renters.

Trump administration officials say their tax plan is designed to benefit the middle class. Yet it's not clear from the scant details of the framework released so far how many families would enjoy lower tax bills and how many would face higher bills.

Even though the Trump measure would preserve the mortgage interest deduction, it's confronting resistance from the real estate industry because it would likely reduce the number of people seeking the deduction.

Estimates by the real estate firm Zillow suggest that someone buying a home worth at least $305,000 today would still qualify for the deduction. But under the Trump plan, only homes worth $801,000 or more would receive the deduction.

This has led the industry to push back against the plan.

We don't want to go backwards  we don't want to lose what incentives that we have, said Jamie Gregory, deputy chief lobbyist for the National Association of Realtors.

The National Association of Homebuilders says it might be open to eliminating the mortgage interest deduction so long as homeownership was protected elsewhere in the tax code through the use of a possibly more generous tax credit. (A credit, which is subtracted from the amount of tax someone owes, is more generous than a deduction, which reduces the amount of income to be taxed.)

The advantage of moving to a credit is that more homeowners would be eligible to claim it than the 34 million who receive the mortgage interest deduction, said Rob Dietz, the homebuilder association's chief economist. But there are no signs that the idea of a credit has gained traction within Congress or the White House.

Trump proclaimed in June that his tax plan would accelerate economic growth to ensure that hard-working Americans enjoy a fair chance at becoming homeowners.

Chris Salviati, a housing economist at Apartment List, noted that the main effect of the mortgage interest deduction is to enable people to spend more on homes rather than to increase ownership, which is near a 51-year low.

Though the benefits of tax breaks for housing skew most toward people in the top 20 percent of income, they also tend to help middle class Americans. Roughly half the households in metro Washington with incomes between $74,000 and $112,000  a group that could be considered middle class in that area  take the mortgage interest deduction and saved an average $2,530 in 2015. The average home price in the Washington area is just below $400,000.

Areas with lower home values tend to benefit less from the deduction. A similar group of middle-income households in Indianapolis  where the average home cost around $140,000  saved only $655 on average in 2015, and just 19 percent of them took the deduction. The savings for middle-income households are just $691 in Cleveland, $666 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and $673 in Memphis, Tennessee.

Yet the Apartment List analysis also indicates that Trump's tax plan would do little for lower-income households. A mere 11 percent of households with income below 80 percent of the national median qualify for the mortgage interest deduction or rental housing vouchers.




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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  A 26-year-old man who used front-end loaders to steal ATMs from Alaska banks has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

Adrian Turnbow of Anchorage also was ordered to pay nearly $453,000 in restitution to three banks and two businesses from which heavy equipment was stolen.





. . .
Theres more comedy when one of stand-ups coolest customers, Reginald D. Hunter, returns to An Grianan Theatre, Letterkenny with his new show, "Some People vs Reginald D. Hunter".

Reg is a regular visitor to the Letterkenny venue and one of their most recognisable repeat acts. A native of Atlanta, Georgia hes been based in the UK for nigh on 20 years and is a familiar face on many TV comedy shows, such as Have I Got News For You, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

Hes famous for his hard-hitting comedy routines, tackling with aplomb subjects such as race and sexuality that other comedians give a wide berth. Searingly honest, controversial, raw  pick your own adjective - Reg spares neither feelings nor sacred cows.

Hes not for the faint-hearted, so dont go if youre easily offended. If youre made of sterner stuff, one of comedy's top performers awaits you.

Reginald D. Hunters, "Some People vs Reginald D. Hunter", is at An Grianan Theatre, Letterkenny tomorrow, Friday, October 13th, at 8pm. Tickets are available from An Grianan on 074 9120777 or online at www.angrianan.com
A councillor has blasted as ridiculous an answer from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) that they have no plans to replace a culvert on a road that floods.

Councillor Patrick McGowan was speaking at a meeting of Stranorlar Municipal District in Lifford on Tuesday said he he did not accept the answer to his motion from the transport authority.

The motion he submitted was that Stranorlar MD calls on the county council and TII to urgently deal with the flooding on the N15 in the centre of Castlefin and construct a new storm drain culvert across the busy national Primary Road, which regularly floods local houses dan business.

He asked if the works can be planned and tendered in collaboration with Irish Water as a sewerage main crossing is also required at the location.

A response to his motion stated: The TII does not have plans to replace the storm drain at the N15. An extensive length of culvert is located on private property and falls outside of TII remit. The OPW has recommended flood defence works for the River Finn in Castlefin under the CFRAMS study and it is expected that issues relating to capacity or backflows with this culvert/pipe would be addressed through this programme.

Cllr McGowan said the problem should be number one priority as the flooding forces the closure of the road and also affects homes and business and that he he was deeply unhappy with the tone of answer provided.

He said he was seeking to know who signed of on the answer relayed to him by the local area manager for roads.

I dont accept it. It is a lazy answer, he told the meeting.

He said he will be seeking that representatives from the National Roads Authority (NRA) meet with them on the matter as there was quite a few issues to raise.

Roads Engineer for the area, Claire McGeever, said the matter was complex as there was a number stakeholders to included in the proposal, including the TII, OPW, County Council and Irish Water adding it was difficult to get a detailed response to his motion.
There has been a mixed reaction from Donegal TDs to a deal that will see the Killybegs-based mackerel sector catch almost 61M of the 70M Irish quota.

The deal was agreed in London in negotiations between the European Union, Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland. The negotiations were aimed at the sustainable management of the 1billion annual mackerel fishery in the northeast Atlantic. The deal was announced by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed.

This is good news for the fishing fleet along the west coast and which fishes out of Killybegs,Donegal TD and government chief whip Joe McHugh said.

I am also satisfied that Minister Creed will be lobbying hard for a larger quota when current arrangements expire at the end of 2018. As everyone in the industry knows I worked hard for the Killybegs-based sector to retain its share of the quota and they did so when the department review was completed. Mackerel is an extremely important part of our fishing industry, particularly for Killybegs where so many other jobs in processing and engineering rely on this quota.But the agreement has been attacked by Fianna Fail TD Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher. The Leas Cheann Comhairle said the deal will see a fall of 17,200 tonne or a full 20% reduction in their catch. He said this will have devastating effects on the sector and employment of the area.

 I am shocked at the naivety of the government chief whip who this morning has welcomed this measure and announcement  there is no disguising the fact it simply means less catch, less employment and less opportunity for the northwest, and for any government representative to welcome this, demonstrates how out of touch they are with the sector.

The Killybegs-based fishing fleet will be able to catch 60,000 in 2018, that is a full 20%

reduction on the 2017 quota when our allocation was 74,000 tonnes, this is a very

worrying reduction for the sector and allowing for the massive reduction will have

massive implications on the sector in the year ahead.

Independent TD Thomas Pringle welcomed the decision not to change the allocation of mackerel quotas for fishing vessels in the industry.

While minor changes were made to excess quotas, the decision not to change the share-out is good news for fishing ports like Killybegs heavily dependent on mackerel for employment and which the existing allocation of quotas helps facilitate.

Sixty-five percent of Irelands mackerel quota is caught in the UK so if we end up with a hard Brexit, our access to British fishing waters could be restricted which would have a devastating impact on our mackerel fleet. My concern is that this would lead to massive job losses and increased unemployment for processing workers in the sector explains Pringle.
Maths Week celebrations kicked off early on Arranmore Island, with more than 60 students from Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada enjoying a performance by renowned mathematician and master of cards, Colm Mulcahy.

During a mind-boggling performance, Colm entertained and revealed the maths behind some of the worlds best-known card tricks to the students of Arranmore.

Maths Week Ireland officially kicks off on Saturday, October 14th, and runs nationwide until Sunday, October 22nd.

Shannon Gallagher Keller, Hannah Duffy and Dara Conlan, pictured with Colm Mulcahy, professor of mathematics at Spelman College, Atlanta, in the United States, who was a guest on Arranmore Island as part of national Maths Week. Photo: Brian McDaid

Professor Mulcahy is recognised as an authority on the mathematical principles and effects on which most card tricks are based. Recently, he published a book, Mathematical Card Magic: Fifty-Two New Effects, which offers an entertaining look into the magic behind 52 self-working magic creations that require only maths.

Having earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from University College Dublin, Colm then attended Cornell University in New York state, in the United States, where he received his PhD. He later moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he has been lecturing at Spelman College in mathematics since 1988.

Eoin Gill, Maths Week Ireland co-ordinator, called Maths Week, "a true partnership of people working together for a common aim, promoting mathematics for all.

"With events up and down the county, this event in Arranmore with Professor Colm Mulcahy was just a glimpse of whats on offer once Maths Week kicks off on the 14th October," he said.

Schools across Donegal have so far registered 921 students to take part in Maths Week Ireland 2017, with many more expected to register in the coming days. Schools can register at www.mathsweek.ie, where details, updates and activities are listed.

Students arriving by ferry from Burtonport to Arranmore Island for a National Maths Week event at Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada secondary school. Photo: Brian McDaid
The stunning Inch Wildfowl Reserve on the shores of Lough Swilly now boasts ten times more annual human visitors than the magnificent wild birds who flock to the important ecological site each year, the launch of a new book on the area heard on Sunday.

An Grianan Hotel in Burt was the venue for the official launch of a new book titled A Guide to the Bird of Inch Wildfowl Reserve, a childrens book that details the stunning array of bird and wildlife in the reserve.

Wildlife ranger for the area, Lee McDaid, told the guests that while there can be well in excess of 10,000 birds migrating to the site year year, they now have up to 120,000 people visit the area annually as well.

Mr McDaid stated: Visitor numbers continue to increase at the site and the most recent records show 120,000 visitors to the site each year. Some of the visitors will come to walk the site, some to enjoy the beautiful countryside, some to run or enjoy the wildlife. What these visitors numbers show is that we have 120,000 opportunities each year to educate people as to why this site is so important and why we must protect this reserve and our native wildlife.

He added that the book is another step on the development of the area and, with continued support of the local community, they can achieve great things at the site.



The new book project was led by the education staff from Glenveagh National Park, who had previous experience and over 10 years' expertise in designing and creating resources for schools and families.

Claire Bromley, from the Glenveagh National Park education division said the reserve area is unique and they hope to develop it for all ages in the future.

The story of the area and the landscape here is a fascinating one. The challenge of how we use, and yet continue to protect the site for the future, is a big one. It is a working farm; a place of international importance for wetland bird life and a growing visitor attraction right on the Wild Atlantic Way. Great opportunities exist, and building and nurturing relationships with all involved will be essential going forward, she explained.

She said the book was a partnership project from the outset.

The new book features a host of stunning illustration from Eadain Madigan and the story of the reserve is told through the eyes of Inch resident Dippy the Damselfly who explains the history of the of the area and all other wildlife who share the famous wetland.

It offers tips for getting the most out of your visit to the reserve including tips for bird watching, maps of the walks and various viewing points, details of the bird life and the rangers duties at the reserve.

As part of the launch there was a host of music and educational games and activities at the hotel and also at the reserve.

Ranger, Lee, says the area is teeming with wildlife at the minute: In a sense this book represents everything that is good about Inch Wildfowl Reserve. The entire book has been created through partnership and cooperation, not only between the various writers but also between the State agencies and the local community. This echoes how the entire site has developed, in partnership, and because of this it is so much stronger and better. The common thread joining all these agencies and dedicated volunteers together is their passion for the site and their belief in the sites potential.

In recent days Whooper swans from Iceland have begun to arrive at their winter grounds in Inch, again marking the change in seasons. It is with a great sense of excitement we hear from iceland that the birds have left and that we can soon expect their arrival. During the winter over 10,000 birds will gather at Inch to create this winter spectacle. These are from Greenland, Iceland, Europe, the Baltic and eastern Russia. Inch truly is an international site and of international importance and we are lucky enough to live beside it, he stated.

The book tells the story of six key species of bird present at Inch, along with interesting aspects of the site, its history, conservation work and activities for children to complete.

In 2001 National Parks and Wildlife Services entered into a 30 year lease of Inch Lough and the surrounding wet grasslands.
Sheephaven divers were the guests of the Irish Coast Guard at their Malin Head Radio Station on Saturday morning.

During a two-hour tour, Divisional Controller Derek Flanagan told the divers about the facility's past history and its current activities.

Malin Head has been a strategic communication centre since the early 1800s, when Lloyd's of London established a semaphore station nearby at Bambas Crown to observe and report on shipping coming and going across the Atlantic.

With Marconis invention of the radio, communication changed completely. After he conducted his first transmission experiments between Portrush and Rathlin Island, he moved the kit to Bambas Crown in 1902 and the worlds first radio station was born, when they communicated as call sign GH ship-to-shore with the SS Ontario.

In 1910 the station was taken over by the Post Office and the following year it moved to its current location and operated as a commercial activity, charging for ship-to-shore communications and onward traffic by the word.

During both World Wars, Malin Head Radio Station was considered to be a vital military strategic resource and staffed accordingly. Subsequently it reverted to its commercial activities, while providing its humanitarian obligations when distress calls were detected and subsequently relayed to the appropriate civilian and military authorities.

In 1990 the service underwent radical change when, as result of the Doherty Report, the Irish Marine Emergency Service (IMES) was established and was itself renamed the Irish Coast Guard in 2000. The Coast Guard currently runs the service in conjunction with radio stations in Valentia, County Kerry; and in Dublin.

In 1988 the last Morse code transmission took place from Malin Head, which today has the call sign EJM. Valentia is EJK, while Dublin has none.

The station tour was as fascinating as its history, with Derek taking the divers to the wonderfully called Dirty Room, resplendent with the station ghost. We were told by Station Engineer Gerry Keenan that it is not dirty in a naughty sense, but because the sophisticated transmission equipment produces so much radiation laptops and other sensitive computers cannot work in the room.

The ghost is less well defined but nonetheless a part of the story of the radio station, along with the unique shape of the room, which had to be specially vented - the original valve operated equipment electrical sparking caused a build-up of dangerous gases, possibly ozone, which had to be constantly ventilated from the areas.

In the operations room, divers were introduced to the radio operators on duty, who were brothers Patsy and Neil Canning and Sean Diver, all from Greencastle.

While Patsy has been a radio operator for many years, he was originally a fisherman and has a fascinating link with Sheephaven: He had built the last 75-foot trawler out of Mevagh Boatyard, the Alenga II, in 1980. Today Sheephaven SAC regularly use the boatyard slipway to launch and recover their boats, when diving on sites in Mulroy Bay and Melmore Head.

Patsy fished the Alenga II for more than 20 years, after which he took up a new career with the Irish Coast Guard at Malin Head Radio Station.

Sheephaven SAC's Caroline McGee reads the weather forecast.

The radio operators' duties involved monitoring radio traffic, electronically observing shipping movements, detecting and responding to reports of maritime pollution and most importantly for mariners, coordinating search and rescue missions in their area of operations, which could be beyond the Irish economic zone in times of emergency.

The range for radio transmissions during the day is around 220 miles, but at night-time the signals can bounce across the upper reaches of the atmosphere, clear across the Atlantic and as far south as Bermuda.

Malin Head Coast Guard work in conjunction with their UK counterparts to provide an unbroken chain of search and recovery response to Mayday calls around these islands, and can call on both their own ICG volunteers and other civilian and military personnel and equipment to respond to calls of distress, should the need arise.

Another vital service the station provides is the weather forecast broadcast every four hours to mariners on behalf of Met Eireann, and the Sheephaven divers were privileged to be asked if one of the visitors would care to read the 1pm forecast.

So mariners at sea heard Caroline McGee read the weather forecast and were no doubt wondering if they had inadvertently strayed onto a Scottish channel as Caroline delivered the broadcast in her Glaswegian accent, certainly a memory for all to savour.

Sheephaven SAC wish to thank Derek and his colleagues for a fascinating tour of the Malin Head Radio Station, but more importantly for being there 24 hours a day to provide the most essential of emergency services that those at sea, divers included, can rely upon.

From Sheephaven SAC's Sunday Morning Dive, at Melmore Head.

Sheephaven SAC diving activities continued on Sunday morning led by Ryan Ward, with a one-boat dive conducted in two sticks at Melmore Head.

Sea conditions were a bit lively and along with the ebbing spring tide a decision was made to dive from Ravenny Island towards Melmore Head, keeping the rock wall on the left.

Maximum depth was over 20 metres, with a surface-to-surface time of around 40 minutes. In-water conditions were good, with a temperature greater than 12 degrees Celsius and visibility of nearly 10 metres horizontally. Large fish life is still quite abundant, which added to a lovely morning of diving.
Awareness of slavery has been part of my consciousness since a child. With half of my family from the Caribbean, I knew it was highly likely that my ancestry was among the millions of Africans forcibly taken to faraway lands to provide labour for the social and economic benefit of others.

What I was less aware of until I started working on the issue of human trafficking is that slavery is not just a dark part of history but something operating today, with an estimated 40 million people living as slaves around the world.

Wednesday, 18th October, marks EU Anti-Human Trafficking Day, a day to reflect on our response to human trafficking. Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Its a crime and a violation of human rights.

A situation can be regarded as trafficking when all of these three elements take place: 1) The Act  a person is recruited, transported, transferred, harboured or received; 2) Means  a person is threatened, forced or coerced in some way, through abduction, fraud, deception, the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or through the giving or receiving of payments; and 3) Exploitation  a person is exploited.

Theres also a gender disparity in its victims. EU reports highlight that more than 71 per cent of victims are women and girls. In other regions its reported to be up to 80 per cent, while in Ireland, stats from 2015 show its over 66 per cent.

This summer I developed new insight into human trafficking when I travelled to Serbia and visited the organisation Nvo Astra in Belgrade, who work to support victims and raise awareness through training and policy work. I spent the afternoon talking with staff who explained that originally it started out as a project developed by a feminist group during the 2000s, because the majority of trafficking victims were women. Today, it has developed into a leading anti-human trafficking NGO in Serbia, with working connections across Europe.

They highlighted the fact that since the expansion of the EU and neighbouring countries joining, they have seen a change in victims. Serbian nationals now are the majority of victims, when before they saw high levels of non-nationals being transported through Serbia, to reach European countries.

Poverty is interlinked too. In Serbia theres often a blurring of lines in the area of trafficking for labor exploitation - due to the strong black-market economy, work exploitation has become part of a work culture in the country. Its the most vulnerable of people who find themselves victims, and poverty feeds this vulnerability. People can feel powerless to challenge exploitation when they are in survival mode and there are no other economic opportunities open to them.

The organisation has developed a hotline, which offers support for victims and also acts as a service for Serbians offered jobs abroad - through a network of contacts, the organisation can help people confirm whether job offers are legitimate.

Seeing the efforts of this small NGO made me think: Every day we have the potential to come into contact with a victim and not even realise it. Our communities are key resources in the fight against human trafficking, and developing a grassroots community response is therefore vital in the fight against this crime, from helping to reduce the risk of a person being a victim to providing support to a person who finds themselves in a situation.

Ive heard people ask, But what can I do? I understand this response. Human trafficking is a massive issue and its a dark and dangerous criminal activity. But what we have to remind ourselves is that its a crime that happens for a reason and we could be unwittingly supporting it. Supply and demand drives human trafficking. Research shows victims are forced to work in diverse areas such as the sex trade, construction, restaurant and hotel work, domestic work, agriculture and clothing manufacturing. We can have connections to these, from the food and clothes we buy to the services we engage. As such weve a moral responsibility to ensure that these are not using labour sourced from human trafficking.

Community efforts can start from the smallest of things, like making yourself aware of what human trafficking is, creating awareness, supporting charities that work with people impacted, lobbying the government to make sure they are implementing anti-human trafficking policies and supporting victims.

At a personal level, making an effort to buy Fairtrade and other ethically sourced products helps to ensure the people working or involved in the making of a product have been treated fairly, work in safe conditions and received a fair wage. These are all small actions that can help reduce and prevent human trafficking.

Preventing human trafficking requires collective action, from the government, judicial and law enforcement, civil society and members of the community we all have a role to play in ending and preventing this crime.

Danielle Bonner, second from left, pictured with staff members of Nvo Astra, a leading anti- human trafficking NGO in Serbia.

Understanding what human trafficking involves is a first step in developing a community response. Over the past year Ive delivered a number of awareness workshops for the Donegal Changemakers project to community groups and libraries across Donegal, and now in schools and youth groups through the NCCWN-Donegal Womens Network funded by Donegal Local Development Company. The response to the workshops has been very positive and people have been keen to learn and support prevention.

If youre interested in understanding the issue of human trafficking, awareness workshops are available and can be delivered to groups across Donegal for free. For further details, please get in touch at equalityaware@gmail.com.

If you suspect someone is a victim of trafficking, please contact Crimestoppers on 1800 25 00 25 or email blueblindfold@garda.ie
Alex Ward got her start working on automobiles by helping her stepdad. By the time she was 16, she was rebuilding her 1987 Chevy Silverado pickup.

For Ward, the automotive technology class at Houston County Career Center was a natural fit.

Its fun to teach other people if they dont know something, she said. And you get a sense of accomplishment from learning and doing something yourself.

A donation to the program by Toyota of Dothan and OReilly Auto Parts will help Ward and other students learn more about the high tech aspects of auto repair. The two businesses partnered to donate an OTC Encore diagnostic scanner to the school. The device interacts with computerized components of the vehicle and allows mechanics to pinpoint potential problems.

Bob Schoenfeld, fixed operations director for the Mitchell Automotive Group, which includes Toyota of Dothan, said the business donated the device to help the school create a skilled labor pool from which Toyota of Dothan and other local car dealers and auto shops can draw.

Were trying to help them so some of these kids can come work for us, he said.

Ricky Lowery, district manager of OReilly, said the automotive industry has a shortage of skilled labor as the current generation of workers ages and retires with few younger workers to replace them. Schoenfeld said that while the popular perception of the job isnt glamorous, auto mechanics and technicians who advance in their careers can command high salaries.

There are master technicians who can earn $100,000 a year or more, he said.

Monty McCullough, automotive technology instructor, said contributions by local businesses like Toyota of Dothan and OReillys were essential to helping his program stay current with technology in the industry. McCullough said the device donated by the businesses was now an industry standard, but it would have taken him a long time to obtain the $2,000 piece of equipment through regular channels.

If I wanted something like this, I would have had to plan it one year in advance, he said.

McCullough said partnerships with local businesses also help him find job shadowing and apprenticeship opportunities for his students.

Matthew Danford, of Rehobeth, is a student in McCulloughs class. Danford said that hes studying automotive technology as a back-up career, and that hes primarily interested in it as a way to save money. Danford said he enjoys working on vehicles and that the new device will help him have a better understanding of how auto shops work.

I enjoy it, he said. I like anything where you can work with your hands.
Rabbi Mark Winer says getting people of differing faiths to coexist and cooperate boils down to one simple concept  mutual respect.

Once mutual respect is there, theres nothing you cannot do, he said.

Winer, who helped negotiate a treaty between Israel and the Vatican, successfully lobbied for the immigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel and aided in the re-establishment of Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union after the collapse of communism, will visit Dothan Oct. 20 for an interfaith event.

Winer said some of the same principles used in his previous endeavors have applications for communities like Dothan. Winer said that every community has conflicts among different religious, ethnic or interest groups  its how those conflicts are resolved that is important.

It says in the Talmud that one who makes peace in his neighborhood is viewed as one who is making peace in the world, he said. Everyone should think of themselves as living in their own world and making peace.

The event is sponsored by Temple Emanu-El, Evergreen Presbyterian Church, and the Muslim Community of the Wiregrass. The event will include a 7 p.m. Shabbat service on Oct. 20 at Temple Emanu-El, a Saturday morning message at the Muslim Community of the Wiregrass on Oct. 21, a Saturday evening fundraiser event, and a Sunday service at Evergreen on Oct. 22.

Stephanie Butler, one of the events organizers, said the Interfaith Weekend event would help people of differing faith communities network and find common interests and goals.

We all know each others business in a small town, she said. Its good to be able to relate to one another.

Butler said Winers experience in working with small faith communities will also be of interest to members of minority faiths in the area.

To RSVP or learn more, contact stephanieb@lbaproperties.com.
Dundalk Chamber of Commerce held their annual 'Budget Breakfast' in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dundalk on Wednesday and the event was a sell out with over 200 in attendance.



Sponsored by Paypal, the breakfast had attendees from financial, professional and the wider business community, who came out early to hear speaker Enda Jordan, Tax Director with Ernst & Young, unravel the complexities of this years budget.



Paddy Malone PRO of Dundalk Chamber commented that The Chamber welcomes the general features of the budget and in particular the fact that neither diesel nor alcohol saw changes to their tax. He also noted that the sugar tax will be coordinated with UK to ensure no smuggling of soft drinks. He welcomed the finance plan to support SME in light of Brexit. However he asked that this include retail and other businesses and not just exporters.



He noted that the Chambers call for Living City Initiative, general rates support and other proposals were NOT acted on.



Paddy took the opportunity to thank Rodd Bond and Pat McCormick for assisting him in our submission on National Development Plan. This has resulted in Dundalk being reinstated as a primary town for Investment and IDA support



President of Dundalk Chamber Michael Gaynor also asked all attendees to consider buying the new Shop Local Gift Vouchers if they are considering giving Christmas bonus or other one off payment. There is no better cost effective way of putting up to 500 in an employees hand, with no PAYE, USC or PRSI cost. The Chamber is meeting ALL administration costs and as a result a 100 voucher costs the employer 100 and the retailer gets 100 back from the Chamber. This was endorsed by Enda Jordan.



The voucher which can be spent in Gift shops, Butchers, Wine, hairdressers, beauticians, car parts, gyms, clothes shops, toy shops, video game shops restaurants, travel agents and much more He would also encourage members of the public to buy them as they are the ideal Christmas, wedding or Birthday gift.



This scheme means cash will be spent locally assisting Dundalk businesses and thereby increasing employment. This is a win win deal.

Pictured: Paddy Malone PRO Dundalk Chamber, Emer Higgins PayPal, Michael Gaynor President Dundalk Chamber, Joan Martin Chief Executive Louth County Council and Enda Jordan Ernst & Young
On-demand dry cleaning pick-up and delivery service Laundromap has now launched in Perth and Sydney, with the founders of the New Zealand tech startup in the midst of planned $3-4 million capital raise to service further capitals across Australia.

Since launching in New Zealand last year, Laundromap has grown at a rate of 30% month-on-month. Meanwhile, the startups app, which facilitates home or office laundry/dry cleaning pickup and delivery for users while providing them with real-time updates via a GPS tracking system, has been downloaded 15,000 times across iOS and android devices.

CEO Hayden Foster, who co-founded Laundromap with Adam Plowman, spoke to Dynamic Business about the startup, including its plans for Australia.

DB: What is the elevator pitch for Laundromap?

Foster: Essentially, were bringing your dirty clothes into the 21st century with a service offering that is truly customer centric. The 2016 Census data found that Australians spend between five and 14 hours a week on domestic housework and the Laundromap app can reduce time spent on Laundry to just a few minutes. In a few clicks and taps of an iPhone or tablet  the entire job is done, from your home. Just as you no longer need to queue for your morning coffee or a cab, thanks to us, youll never need to queue for your dry-cleaning again.

DB: How did the startup come into existence?

Foster: The Laundromap concept was born when Adam grew tired of taking his dry cleaning in to work each day. He thought there must be a better way  a way to wipe the dry cleaning off the to-do list forever. After doing some research, he discovered that while on-demand dry cleaning did exist, there was no one in the ANZ region doing it. Once we knew there was a gap in the market we jumped at the opportunity to provide a truly customer-centric offering and after completing market testing and validation we launched in early 2016.

DB: What prompted the Australia rollout?

Foster: Given the similarities between the markets in New Zealand and Australia it made sense to launch into the latter so we could add scale to the business. There are a lot of cross overs from an industry perspective and a consumer perspective. Both markets are highly fragmented, with an absence of a nationally trusted retail dry cleaning brand, and thus ripe for disruption. In terms of consumers, both Kiwis and Aussies have similar habits and are looking for ways to save time on the chores and spend more time doing the things they love.

DB: Why commence with Perth and Sydney?

Foster: Perth was chosen as the first launch destination given its a smaller city and we could iron out any initial logistics issues before rolling out on a larger scale. Once wed learnt the market in Perth, it made sense to launch to Sydney given it has the largest population and is the biggest market in Australia.

DB: Has it been a smooth transition from NZ?

Foster: Pretty smooth. Obviously, a lot of work needs to go in before we launch in a specific city, and we take our time in doing this, but thanks to some careful planning and a great team there was nothing unexpected. However, we never stop learning and each city has its own nuances and things that keep it interesting!

DB: What ambitions do you have for Laundromap?

Foster: Our goal is to become the first standardised and trusted dry-cleaning brand across ANZ operating all major cities, before looking at potential opportunities in Asia. Just like consumers say, Ill Facebook it, LinkedIn them or get an Uber, we want them to say Ill Laundromap that.
GAVL, the real estate tech startup led by Ex-AFL player Joel Smith, has kicked off a planned $6m Series A round with an initial $1.8m in funding from existing investor Harris Capital, the investment office of Flight Centre co-founder Geoff Harris.

Launched in December 2016, GAVL is an auction livestreaming and analytics platform that enables people to watch auctions in real-time or on demand using the companys app. To date, GAVL has been employed by 200 Australian real estate agencies to broadcast 3,500 auctions, which have attracted 2.5 million views across 47 countries. It counts Ray White, McGrath, Belle Property, Harcourts and LJ Hooker amongst the agencies using its platform to live stream auctions.

The early growth and adoption of our product by real estate agencies and consumers alike validates the business, Smith said. I guess we were always confident it was terrific idea but the last 6 months being in market have proven that.

Smith and his co-founders Leith Donaldson and Michael Artup plan to use funding from their now-underway Series A round to enable app users, worldwide, to remotely bid on auctions in real-time using one of eight major currencies. The founding team will also put proceeds towards expanding their sales team and rolling out further platform enhancements such as digital contract signing, AI integration, 360-degree camera and deposit transfer facilitation between buyer and seller via the agent.

Smith, who spoke to Dynamic Business about GAVL in March, caught up with the publication to discuss the startups Series A round and why its an exciting time for the real estate market.

DB: How are your plans for remote bidding tracking  where is the tech at?

Smith: As far as the technology is concerned, weve built the functionality to allow someone to place bids via the Gavl app and communicate them to the agent and auctioneer at the auction  so were ready to go. Its just now a matter of working with agencies to facilitate a buyer using the platform to place their bids remotely, making sure all parties are comfortable.

DB: Aside from injected $4.3m into GAVL, what does Harris Capital offer?

Smith: Harris Capital have provided us with so much more than just capital  between them, Geoff and his son Brad, who the managing director of Harris Capital, have decades of experience taking startups global. In the same way, as we seek to raise our next $4.2m, to complete our Series A round, well be considering more than just the money. Were looking for investors that bring knowledge, expertise and/or networks to the company. This might be from within the real estate industry or other relevant sectors such as technology, communications, marketing, etc.

DB: What are your thoughts on the startups popping up in real-estate?

Smith: With any fairly traditionally operated industry, there are going to be digital businesses knocking on the door to try and offer solutions to industry challenges more efficiently and effectively as technology allows them. This makes for a very exciting time for the real estate market. With so much innovation and change happening in all facets, I think it can only improve the experience of the consumer and the ability of the key stakeholders within to engage their customers.

DB: Are other startups your rivals or are they too busy with their own niches?

Smith: As you rightly point out, there are a lot of niches for a startup to tackle. In our case, whilst we dont think any competitor is directly offering our full suite of products and services, were not naive to think that wont change, so were constantly looking to improve, add features, add technologies that better our product and the experience of our customers.

See also: Gavls Joel Smith on his tech start-ups recent success, bringing real estate into digital age
The ECB at Sibos 2017

When, where

16 October to 19 October 2017

Toronto, Canada

Agenda

Sessions hosted by the ECB

Monday, 16 October, 09:30-10:30  conference room 5

Riding the wave of integration, the European Central Bank is reshaping its market infrastructure services. Under the brand TARGET Services, it will offer new, advanced opportunities for instant payment settlement (TIPS), enhanced real-time gross settlement and centralised liquidity management. This will bring significant benefits for users across Europe. Our session will take you through the functional aspects of the new TARGET Services.

Speakers:

Marc Bayle de Jesse, European Central Bank

Mehdi Manaa, European Central Bank

Sylvain Debeaumont, European Central Bank

Thursday, 19 October, 10:45-11:15  Open Theatre Session OT1

Instant payments  is the European market ready?

The launch of the SCT Inst scheme in November 2017 will lay the groundwork for the use of harmonised instant payments throughout Europe. The Eurosystem has announced a new service for processing payments in central bank money within seconds across Europe: TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS), to be launched in 2018. But is the market ready to offer instant payment solutions to customers in Europe?

We asked three representatives of the clearing industry to discuss how their business is getting ready to offer new services for the growing European instant payments market and the possible challenges they see.

Speakers:

Moderator: Francisco Tur Hartmann, European Central Bank

Jose Beltran, STET

Hays Littlejohn, EBA Group

Michael Steinbach, equensWorldline

ECB speakers at other Sibos sessions

Monday, 16 October, 9:30-10:30  conference room 3

Blockchain in the cash and securities settlement space: utopia or reality?

Cash and securities settlements are ripe for innovation. While the combined use of technology and standards has certainly increased automation, it has also led to an increase in the volume of data that needs to be exchanged and reconciled between intermediaries, which increases operational risk and inflates costs. Maybe that is why distributed ledger technology (DLT)  with its promise of a single immutable record accessible by all parties simultaneously  is advanced as the next generation technology to solve existing inefficiencies. In this session, a series of live DLT solutions will be showcased, and tested for workability, resilience, capacity, adoption and regulatory acceptability.

Speakers:

Moderator: Andreas Park, University of Toronto

Dirk Bullmann, European Central Bank

Tom Casteleyn, BNY Mellon

Andrew McCormack, Technology Payments Canada

Monica Singer, Independent FinTech Expert Blockchain Consultancy (Pty) Ltd

Alexis Francis Thompson, BBVA

Monday, 16 October, 15:30-16:30  conference room 1

How to manage a cyber-security crisis: what market infrastructures can learn from each other?

Financial market infrastructures (FMIs) play a crucial role in the maintenance of stability in national and international financial systems. This is why they build redundant capacity, disperse their people and facilities, and replicate data in real-time. But they are not invulnerable, and the rise of cyber-attacks has added a new dimension to a longstanding range of physical threats FMIs face. Could pooling knowledge, experience and intelligence across industries help manage crises more effectively when they occur? In this session, experts from a range of industries will share their experience of how to plan for, manage, take decision and mitigate the effects of a crisis, with a view to drawing up a list of best practices critical infrastructures can follow.

Moderator: Marc Bayle de Jesse, European Central Bank

Ali Arasteh, FireEye-Mandiant

Vas Rajan, CLS

Michelle Howard, U.S. Navy

Patrick Mana, Eurocontrol

Tuesday, 17 October, 9:30-10:30  conference room 2

In conversation with Marc Bayle and Lieve Mostrey

Join us for an exclusive conversation with Lieve Mostrey, Chief Executive Officer of the Euroclear Group and Marc Bayle, Head of the Directorate General Market Infrastructure and Payments of the European Central Bank. In this session, both will step back and discuss insights into their extensive agendas and address themes such as market infrastructure evolutions, opportunities for greater levels of efficiency and market harmonisation, the impact of geopolitical changes in the post-trade space, the role of FinTech, cyber and much more. The conversation will be led by Christian Sarafidis, Head of Marketing and member of the Executive Committee, SWIFT.

Tuesday, 17 October, 16:30-17:15  SWIFT auditorium

Instant payments over SWIFT

Everyone wants to be able to pay who they want, when they want  increasingly while they are on the move; instant payments make this possible. With our unique position at the heart of the industry, SWIFT has unparalleled experience of working with its banking community to build strategic instant payment solutions that can be replicated across multiple markets. In this session, we will share our experiences of building and delivering a new instant payments platform for Australia and discuss how our new instant payments connectivity solution can help us support the European banking community in their journey to offer instant payments. We will listen to testimonies from these communities on the challenges and opportunities ahead, and hear about their vision and ambition for the new payment platforms they are building.

Speakers:
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Delores Locke McClain to be Crowned Ms. Alumni 2017-18

Theres so much to celebrate during the Elizabeth City State University Homecoming, but for returning alumni, aside from happy trips down memory lane, perhaps honoring one of their own tops the list, and that means crowning Ms. Alumni.

For the 2017 ECSU Homecoming celebration, Delores Locke McClain has been named Ms. Alumni 2017. Ms. McClain is a member of the ECSU Class of 1970.

Raised in Oak City, North Carolina, Ms. McClain graduated from ECSU with a degree in math and science. That degree led to a masters degree from the University of District of Columbia, and more than 40 years as a dedicated educator, teaching science and math in the District of Columbia and Prince Georges County, Maryland public schools.

During her long career as an educator, she received numerous awards and honors. Among those is the United States Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science, one of the highest awards given to an educator by the White House. She has received the Growth Initiative for Teachers Award, the Fortitude Image Award in the Field of Community Service in Education, and has been included in the Whos Who Among Americas Teachers.

Ms. McClain is also a small business owner and a recipient of the Woman of the Year Award from the American Business Womens Association.

But for all of the accomplishments and all of the recognition Ms. McClain has earned over the years, she has said that her first love is ECSU, and her work for her alma mater bears out that fact.

Ms. McClain is the past President of the William T. Bowser, Sr., Alumni Chapter of Elizabeth City State University National Alumni Association. She has worked over the years to inspire, encourage, and recruit students for ECSU, supporting student tours with the goal of increasing enrollment.

The Ms. Alumni coronation happens Thursday, Oct. 12, at 6 p.m., inside the K.E. White Center.
In the not-too-distant past, the kindergarten classrooms at Pleasant Grove Elementary in Heflin, Ala., looked much the same as classrooms for older children.

Desks were arranged in rows. Children worked on worksheets. There wasnt a lot of differentiation in your instruction, said Kristi Moore, a kindergarten teacher at the school, located halfway between Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta. Most of all your children were taught the same way.

But in recent years, the school has tried to shift instruction in a way that they say works better for young children. And they credit the use of a comprehensive method of evaluating kindergarten students, called kindergarten entry assessment, as one of the tools that allowed them to do that.

Kindergarten entry assessments, which some states call kindergarten readiness assessments or kindergarten entry inventories, are intended to guide a teachers instructional practice. They may include direct assessment of childrens skills, teacher observations, or both. Theyre intended to give teachers a well-rounded picture of the whole child, including his or her academic, social, and physical development.

While these assessments are becoming more widespreadboosted by federal support during the Obama administrationtheyre offering mixed results for teachers and for school districts.

Supporters say theyre useful in supporting all elements of a childs development during their important early school days.

Others have criticized the assessments as an additional burden that doesnt let teachers know what they should do with all the data theyre expected to collect. And the assessments also raise concerns for some that theyll be used for high-stakes purposes, like evaluating teachers or sorting children into educational tracks.

One Schools Experience

Even as that debate continues the assessments are a reality in most states.

Schools such as Pleasant Grove Elementary offer an example of how these assessments can be used well, teachers there say. Moore and other educators said the assessment prompted them to put aside pacing guides and highly structured instruction that didnt allow time for other parts of child development, which the kindergarten entry assessment outlined as important.

The state department of education and its department of early-childhood education have given grants to seven Alabama schools, including Pleasant Grove, to continue this work.

And the teachers say they appreciate being able to adjust their methods as well. Now youre free to differentiate your instruction all during the day, Moore said, incorporating reading, math, and other academics into more active, developmentally appropriate learning.

As Pleasant Grove demonstrates, We clearly have found pockets of teachers and of schools where they really understand how to use these resources, said Richard Lambert, a professor in the department of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

Lambert, who also serves as the director of the universitys Center for Educational Measurement and Evaluation, has studied the use of kindergarten entry assessments in North Carolina and other states. He is also a consultant to the company Teaching Strategies, which created one of the most widely used assessment of this type, Teaching Strategies Gold. Nine states use this measure to evaluate kindergarten students, or as part of their state measure.

Lambert has conducted surveys of teachers in North Carolina and in other states. Getting teachers to use the information the tests yield and then to modify their teaching based on it is no small task, he said. Teachers are sometimes seeing these tests the way they see end-of-the-year tests, rather than as measures that are supposed to be capturing a childs growth over time.

Theres also more variability among teacher evaluations of child skills than could be explained by just differences among children, Lambert said. That suggests that while some teachers understand how the measurement tool is supposed to work, others need more assistance in knowing just how to evaluate children.

Kindergarten entry assessments or inventories are not new, but they received a big push through the federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grants, which required applicants to outline a plan of how they were going to use these assessments to promote school readiness. The assessments were required to measure language and literacy, cognition and general knowledge, approaches to learning, physical well-being and motor development, and social-emotional development, the grant said.

The U.S. Department of Education also had a different grant program just to support state creation of kindergarten-entry assessments.

Researchers have raised questions about whether the assessments meet one goal of providing an academic boost for students. In 2016, the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands wrote a report saying that using kindergarten entry assessments did not produce statistically significant improvements on students early reading or math skills.

But the students in that study would have started school well before the Education Department started giving money to states to create or improve their entry assessments.

Piloting Programs

In Virginia, about half of the states school divisions are piloting a program called the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program. The state already requires incoming kindergartners to be measured on preliteracy skills. The kindergarten-readiness program adds evaluations of childrens math, social, and self-regulation skills.

It also provides tools for teachers if children show that they are lagging in those areas, said Amanda Williford, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, who developed the measure and is working with districts in implementing it.

Self-regulation and social skills are just as important, and its the same kind of skill as reading and math, Williford said. Its learned in school, just like reading and math are. If a kid was struggling to read, we would never say they dont belong in our classroom.

Melita Ring, a kindergarten teacher at Amelon Elementary in Madison Heights, Va., said she likes having the one-on-one time with her students, and having resources to help students right at her fingertips.

Theyre giving you that opportunity to not only teach the children who are struggling, but to learn other ways of doing so, Ring said.

Karma Hugo, the director of early learning for Washington state, said this fall marks the first statewide use of a kindergarten entry assessment, called Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills, or WaKIDS. The rollout has been rocky, she acknowledged, as teachers learned how to make meaningful use of the information.

But it has already borne useful results, Hugo said. For example, the findings helped some teachers realize they were asking more in terms of social-emotional growth of their young students than is appropriate for kindergarten-age students. Other findings have helped schools realize that their incoming students needed more math support.

Many of the bumps that weve encountered have ultimately shined lights on opportunities for improvement, Hugo said.
San Juan, Puerto Rico

When Hurricane Maria struck, Aida Diaz hid in her bathroom with four other family members, including her mother and sister. When she emerged, water had come into her home through the roof.

After she tended to more immediate concerns in her home, Diaz, the head of the 40,000-member Asociacion de Maestros de Puerto Rico, had thousands of members of her teachers union to think about.

Since the storm hit the island Sept. 20, Diaz has been pushing to track down and get basic aid to teachers. Her union headquarters in downtown San Juan is packed to the gills with water, diapers, tampons, mosquito repellent, rice, and other supplies. The early days following the hurricane were a struggle for the union48 hours after the storm, only three AMPR staff members could make it to the union offices.

Diaz is trying to make long-term plans about how schools can recover and help provide students with an education. But those efforts arent as important right now as supplies and trying to help students get back on their feet emotionally.

We have students that cant sleep after the hurricane, Diaz said. We have students that see rain and start crying. We have to work with all of them.

That goes for her teachers as well. On a supply run Diaz made this week to Comerio, a town about an hour southwest of San Juan during good traffic conditions, she met with Edmarie Diaz, a teacher at the Ines M. Mendoza Elementary School whose home was destroyed by the hurricane. When Edmarie Diaz began talking about her experience, she broke down crying and had to stop.

Work Gets Done

Even the schools that are in decent enough condition to host activities right now are far from back on track with regular academics and schedules. They are holding events such as read-alouds to try to provide students with emotional support and to show that, as a key hub for many communities, schools can be a stabilizing force.

In addition to the supplies it is receiving, organizing, and distributing, the teachers union is distributing money in amounts of up to $500 each to help teachers who need assistance finding new places to live. Separately, Puerto Rico Secretary of Education Julia Keleher is granting teachers hardship waiversthey have until Jan. 8 to come back to work and maintain their jobs.

See Also: In Puerto Rico, a Daunting Effort to Reopen Schools, Headed by a Determined Leader

But of course, teachers, like everyone else on the island, have lost more than just their homes. The storm has made at least one teacher a widow, Diaz said, after the womans husband died in a mudslide. The teachers leg was injured and eventually had to be amputated.

Diaz also acknowledged that she must bow to the inevitable migration to the U.S. mainland of at least some teachers who decide that they must leave the island to seek better opportunities elsewhere.

Those who stay will still face a great deal of disruption. Some schools will not open for months. Diaz said students whose schools are still shuttered will have to scatter to the closest available school thats open. Teachers will have to adjust to students theyve never taught before from outside their normal feeder system. And teachers will also have to collaborate in new ways to help each other as they get their classrooms up and running again.

However, Diaz said theyre already doing that as they assess the damage to their schools.

They are willing to start doing something, Diaz said. They are cleaning the schools. They are cutting trees. They are doing anything just to reopen those schools. No matter what they have in their private lives, they are doing whatever they can.
Photo: Foundation for California Community Colleges



Lance Izumi is a Koret senior fellow in education studies and senior director of the Center for Education at the Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank. He is a regular opinion contributor to edweek.org where he trades views with Bruce Fuller, on the other side of the political aisle. Read Bruce Fullers response to this essay .

In their August opinion essay on the Philadelphia Inquirers website, law professors Amy Wax of the University of Pennsylvania and Larry Alexander of the University of San Diego decried the loss of universally accepted bourgeois values in America , from marriage to patriotism to getting an education necessary for gainful employment. The ebbing of consensus values can be seen in the nations schools, where officials, teachers, parents, and students have clashed. This conflict, which often occurs because parents are not included in the decision-making process, argues for giving students and parents more schooling options through choice tools such as education savings accounts, vouchers, or tax credits.

Curricula has been a big source of this conflict. Curricula decisions come down from on high, whether from state capitals or from school district central offices, and these decisions have a big impact on how subjects are taught in the classroom.

In Cupertino, the home of Apples headquarters in Californias Silicon Valley, The Mercury News, a San Jose-based publication, reported that the school district formed a task force that recommended a curriculum called Teen Talk Middle School, which met a state requirement that students develop healthy attitudes concerning adolescent growth and development, body image, gender, sexual orientation, relationships, marriage, and family.

Yet, who decides what healthy attitudes are? The district task force was made up mostly of school personnel, without significant parent representation. The curriculum chosen by the task force included graphic descriptions of vaginal, oral, and anal sex. Local parents exploded. According to The Mercury News article, More than 150 parents came out to a Tuesday night school board meeting to oppose a controversial new sexual health education curriculum that many said was too graphic and not age appropriate for their Cupertino Union School District seventh-graders.

Parent Muni Madhdhipatla said that the curriculum was too graphic and descriptive, and its leading kids in a certain way, even though he didnt dismiss the idea of offering age-appropriate curriculum to students. He asked, My best question to [the district] is whether we are teaching to perform or inform.

The Cupertino brouhaha goes beyond the simple question of whether a curriculum on sex education is too explicit or not. It goes to the heart of who makes decisions in a time of cultural relativism, where there is no longer a set of consensus values and views on basic issues.

Who makes decisions in a time of cultural relativism, where there is no longer a set of consensus values and views on basic issues?"

Professors Wax and Alexander note that basic cultural precepts, such as getting married before having children and staying married for the childrens sake, reigned for decades. While they acknowledge that there are always rebels, even those who deviated from the widely accepted cultural norms rarely disavowed or openly disparaged the prevailing expectations. Now, however, there is open warfare over what should be basic cultural precepts.

Cupertino teacher Kristina Everhardt told the local CBS television affiliate that she was shocked that the school formerly showed a movie to 7th graders that implied, she said, that girls needed to protect their virginity. Parent Sri Sarma, complained that the new curriculum was written with too much suggestion. Who should get the last word on these divergent views?

The same question applies to issues of race. Well before what happened two months ago in Charlottesville, Va., focused attention on how race is addressed in the nations classrooms, numerous school districts had hired outside consultants to run training seminars on race

In Minnesota, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that at one such seminar in 2013 teachers were given a primer on race theory, focusing on issues such as Thomas Jeffersons views on white superiority. The terms white privilege and whiteness were used often in the training session.

As it can over the topic of sex education, the actions and goals of the public education system can clash with students and parents who are on the receiving end of changing classroom philosophies.

After a Norman, Okla., teacher commented on the inherent racism of whites according to an audio recording, a biracial student told a local television station: Half my family is Hispanic, so I just felt like, you know, him calling me racist just because Im white. ... I mean wheres your proof in that? The student worried, I felt like he was encouraging people to kind of pick on people for being white.

So where does all this leave parents? I recently asked a homeschool mom why she decided against putting her son in a public school. She replied: Why go through all the drama? Its this drumbeat for the day with made-up injustices. In her view, public schools offered her son more drama than learning.

Thus, in a time of cultural relativism, with divergent views on basic issues and values, some significant proportion of parents and students will clash with the one-size-fits-all approach of public school authorities. Unless one adheres to a my way or the highway attitude, this clash argues for giving parents greater choices in schooling options outside the public system. And as recent national and state polls show, rising percentages of parents and the public want that choice.
Photo: Craig Sherod Photography



Bruce Fuller, a sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley, works on how schools and civic activists push to advance pluralistic communities. He is a regular opinion contributor to edweek.org where he trades views with Lance Izumi, on the other side of the political aisle. Read Lance Izumis response to this essay .

Teachers suffer no shortage of teachable moments as Americas cultural fabric continues to fray, norms of basic civility tattered daily by our political leaders.

Fellow educators gunned down in Las Vegas. Immigrant families villainized. The right of youths to choose their bathroom hotly debated.

Ripe moments for re-writing lesson plans, yes? Dont these times cry out for bold educators who fashion safe spaces for students, a place to reveal their fears and confusion, teachers who help anchor our kids amidst the cultural vertigo?

Yes, say many, like Rachel Caldwell, who teaches 4th grade in Charlottesville, Va. After witnessing the swarm of club-wielding white nationalists, one killing a 32 year-old counter-protestor, Caldwell told me she had to rethink the traditional curriculum, move beyond just meeting the learning standards.

Yet, many teachers seek to shelter kids from the storm outside, sanitizing their classroom with dispirited curricula, rather than engaging human variety and contention. On race, fellow teachers dont want to bring it up, because it would point to injustice, or parents might feel bad, Caldwell said.

But her kids still struggle to explain the violence. Caldwell overheard one pairhuddled in the gym one recent stormy dayspeculating over whos the KKK? A biracial girl approached her in this richly integrated school asking, Are you white?

After summoning the courage, how can teachers gently invite kids to place feelings and fright on the table, to mull over essential questions of human difference? Tess Krovetz, another teacher from Charlottesville, works with colleagues to design read-alouds, ways of structuring class meetings, art or media projectsactivities that prompt students to express their worries. Teachers must help give them the language, the words, Krovetz told me, to bring forth their barely submerged worries percolating just below the surface.

And whose vantage point should educators privilege or discount as they struggle to explain the cultural kaleidoscope that America has become? Which voices to amplify or tacitly muffle is not an abstract question for, say, Latino students whose parents now fear deportation, or a wider swath of kids miffed by why the grown-ups have become so angrily divided. How to delve into gun control when nearby parents hold the Second Amendment so sacred?

Liberal learning requires perspective taking: Why are many working-class whites alienated from urban America? Why do many parents now aim to raise their children in bilingual fashion? To walk in the shoes of others remains central to our humanist ideals, that cosmopolitan bias about which the White House now complains.

Many teachers seek to shelter kids from the storm outside, sanitizing their classroom with dispirited curricula."

Perhaps its the shades of gray that befuddle teachers most, how to portray in ones classroom the nations boiling brew of cultural tenets and political stances. Californias new history standards have jettisoned a long-sacred assignment for 4th graders: constructing a miniature Franciscan mission, typically from sugar cubes and popsicle sticks.

This institutional cruciblewhere the clash of religion and race yielded subjugation and violence, along with a hybrid Latino culturehas lost its cache. Recast by state officials as sites of conflict, conquest, and forced labor, the curricular document reads, the old missions have become offensive to many. So much for that teachable moment, unearthing the roots of Americas contemporary pluralism.

Many teachers do show courage, placing questions of human difference and unequal power front and center. Tanness Walker weathered de-politicized civics in her Los Angeles high school, where they only taught a unit on slavery. She now teaches in a Freedom School where young teens delve into critical history, emphasizing the powerful roles played by Malcolm X, MLK, and Rosa Parks, she told me when I visited her classroom.

Woven into Walkers Powerpoint were stark images of white police officers setting German shepherds on black protesters. No shying away from this a-ha moment: Parents tell me how glad they are that Im covering all this, she told me later. Meanwhile, the L.A. city council voted to disappear Columbus from this months holidaybetter to acknowledge indigenous people, not a questionable Italian-Latino, in southern California?

This is certainly no time for educators to be timid. White nationalists, even the utterances of a U.S. president, serve to clarify what beliefs and behaviors are simply not acceptable in a democratic society.

But how to glue together transcendent ethics in a society where identity politics and individual differences trump that dusty notion of a collective good? We need institutions like schools to bind communities and families, to hold atomization and despair at bay, as commentator Ross Douthat puts it .

Educators must boldly engage and learn from this cultural maelstrom, rather than dodging prickly issues because they prompt discomfort or spotlight divergent values. Sometimes we think school is not a place to ask these big questions, Caldwell said. But it should be.






Neovia strengthens presence in Vietnam through investments in projects

Neovia has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire a feed production site in Quy Nhon, located in the Binh Dinh province in central Vietnam.

The company wants to consolidate its position and improve coverage of its activities in the country, thus affirming Neovia's goal of strengthening business in Asia.

Neovia has operations in Vietnam for over twenty years. In all its seven key activities, the company operates mainly in complete feed production, aquaculture, and pet care. It currently employs 850 people and has five production sites, two research centres, six logistics platforms, two technical centres and one laboratory in the country.



With a population of nearly a hundred million and 18.7 million tonnes of feed production, Vietnam is the world 14th biggest feed market, mainly for swine, poultry and aquaculture. Neovia has increased its investments in the country to bolster industrial and commercial engagements as well as supporting the growth of the Vietnamese market, which grew over 20% in 2016.



The acquisition of the Quy Nhon production site will help Neovia to raise its production capacities by 50,000 tonnes per year and consolidate its position in central Vietnam. This region is strategically located to effectively supply a growing market estimated at over three million tonnes of feed while also helping to expand the company's export activities to South East Asia.



Furthermore, Neovia will make additional investments in the factory to modernise its facilities, improve production capacities and offer products in line with the requirements of livestock farming customers and distributors in the area.



In addition to this major project, Neovia is enhancing its industrial tools and service offering by building a new factory in Ha Nam, thereby creating a new production line at the Dong Thap site, and expanding its storage capacities in Binh Duong.



"These new investment projects in Vietnam illustrate our commitment to consolidate our historical positions and to pursue targeted external growth operations," H. de Roquefeuil, CEO of Neovia, said.



"Through these projects and acquisitions we have made in Asia over the past two years, Neovia is strengthening its coverage in Asia for its seven activities, in order to provide innovative and competitive solutions that locally respond to the growing needs of populations."



- Neovia
You claim "Why" he was running away is relevant.

HOW do you justify that claim?



You really don't seem to grasp that THE REQUIREMENT IS ON THE SHOOTER to justify why shooting somebody is valid.

Instead, you ask mindless questions and pretend that not answering them somehow means the other side is wrong.



If he was being a threat to the cop, the cop has a right to defend himself.

That's one justifiable use of force.

If he was being a threat to others, that would be another reason justifiable use of force.







Are hypotheticals somehow an argument now?

Is that what actually happened?

No.



So how about you make an actual argument instead of this b.s. pretense that asking a question that I think you yourself probably don't know somehow is an argument...



It would be a profoundly screwed up society if we put the impetus on the victim to justify their actions while getting shot by the cops.

If you haven't figured out by now (or can't) that this is NOT how our government or society work, then I don't know what could be done for you...
An afternoon of discussion about Gender Equality to celebrate one year of adoption of the EIB Group Gender Strategy

You may not be the first, but you can be the best, Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson told the audience at the Mind the Gap! Gender in Financing - the new normal event held at the EIB headquarters on Tuesday 10, October 2017, when congratulating the EIB on its first Strategy on Gender Equality and Women's Economic Empowerment in its investment operations. This event was followed by a session on female leadership featuring Rania Ekaterinari CEO of the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations speaking to EIB Vice-President Alex Stubb, former Finnish Prime Minister, now leading gender policy at the EIB. It was intended to help plot the next steps - a Gender Action Plan for EIB group operations and a renewed strategy for ensuring diversity and inclusion in-house as well.

Minister Andersson is one of the EIBs 28 Governors, and part of what she calls the worlds first feminist government. This, she said, is about making sure that every decision is seen through a gender perspective, not just for governments but international financial institutions too, because, it's just smart economics. Minister Andersson alongside EIB President Werner Hoyer was speaking ahead of a debate on the cost of gender inequality and the opportunities that a greater focus on gender can bring to the EIB Groups operations, in terms of business evolution, economic gains and social impact.

It is important for women to understand their capacity to create value for others

Rania Ekaterinari, CEO of the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations

Ethical, social and economic benefits

President Hoyer said there was a clear link between what the EIB, as the worlds largest multilateral lender and borrower does in its operations and what it does at home, I stand firmly behind gender equality in our business and within our house, he said. I am convinced of the ethical, social and economic benefits that accompany the principles of fairness and justice enshrined in gender equality.

The clear business case, how to reconcile different priorities, the need for evidence and sex-disaggregated data and the lingering gender inequality in Europe itself were all key issues addressed by leading figures in industry and policy with an extensive experience of mainstreaming gender considerations into financing and investments. Joining the EIBs Director General of Operations Jean Christophe Laloux were Inez Murray, CEO of the Global Banking Alliance for Women; Diana van Maasdijk, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Equileap; and Helena Morais Maceira, Research Manager from the Vilnius-based European Institute of Gender Equality (EIGE). They brought their experience of tracking inequality and working with banks and investors to a debate on how the EIB might move forward with implementing its strategy.

"I stand firmly behind gender equality in our business and within our house"

Werner Hoyer, President of the EIB

Add value, be yourself

Turning to the matter of gender equality in the EIB itself, all agreed there could be no complacency. Vice-President Alex Stubb asked Rania Ekaterinari, CEO of the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations, what conditions female leadership needed to thrive. It is important for women to understand their capacity to create value for others, she said. You need to be able to be yourself was her overriding message. As the EIB prepares to approve new measures to encourage diversity and a greater number of senior female executives, this deceptively simple statement may sum up the challenge ahead."
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The water situation is so dire, the Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release Wednesday, that residents on the island have reportedly been trying to obtain water from Superfund sites -- which are bodies of water contaminated by hazardous waste. The EPA advised against "tampering with sealed and locked wells or drinking from these wells, as it may be dangerous to people's health."

Donald J. Trump  @realDonaldTrump

Nobody could have done what Ive done for #PuertoRico with so little appreciation. So much work!

Puerto Rico: US officials privately acknowledge serious food shortage



 US government providing 200,000 meals a day to meet needs of 2m people

 There is no urgency in the government response to this humanitarian crisis



...Federal officials privately admit there is a massive shortage of meals in Puerto Rico three weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.



Officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) say that the government and its partners are only providing 200,000 meals a day to meet the needs of more than 2 million people. That is a daily shortfall of between 1.8m and 5.8m meals.



We are 1.8 million meals short, said one senior Fema official. That is why we need the urgency. And its not going away. Were doing this much today, but it has to be sustained over several months.



The scale of the food crisis dwarfs the more widely publicized challenges of restoring power and communications....



...On its website, Fema says it has provided millions of meals and millions of liters of water.



In fact many of those meals are military ready-to-eat meals that civilians find hard to digest if consumed for more than a few days.



Now the biggest provider of cooked meals says Fema is putting its operations at risk of closure.



World Central Kitchen, founded by chef Jose Andres, cooks and distributes 90,000 meals a day through a network of local chefs and kitchens.



Its Fema contract, to provide just 20,000 meals a day, ended on Tuesday. Fema insists it is bound by federal rules that mean it will take several weeks for a new contract to emerge to feed more Americans.



There is no urgency in the government response to this humanitarian crisis, Andres said. They have all the officials and armed guards at headquarters, but they have no information about the island. They dont even have a map they can share about who needs food. Fema is over-paying and it is under-delivering.



According to Donald Trump, his own response to the disaster in Puerto Rico has been exceptional.



Nobody could have done what Ive done for Puerto Rico with so little appreciation. So much work! he tweeted on Sunday. The tweet was posted along with a White House video of helicopters and trucks in Puerto Rico, and a title card saying, What the fake news media will not show you in Puerto Rico.

Trump's true colors are on full display regarding Puerto Rico. As he tweets that we can't help PR "forever," just under 90 percent of the islanders remain without power. Worse, serious food and water shortages exist, a slow-moving but inexorable crisis in the making.And while admonishing PR that disaster assistance won't last "forever," he tweets:It's always all about Donald, who is in the process of seriously degrading what it means to be an American.More: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/11/puerto-rico-food-shortage-hurricane-maria
Police urge public to check home visitors' ID

The Island's police are urging Manx residents to be careful and check for ID when letting strangers into their homes.

The Isle of Man Constabulary issued the advice to help members of the public spot scammers.

The police advise checking ID, using a chain or spyhole to see who is at the door and to keep doors locked even when someone is at home.

Officers also want the public to keep an eye on vulnerable neighbours who may make easy targets.

Unwanted or suspicious callers can be reported to the police on 631212.
THURSDAY

TRIAD, Oregon State University's Faculty and Staff Club, noon, Room 211, Memorial Union, 2501 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis. Monique Udell, assistant professor of animal and rangeland sciences, will present "Exploring the Human-Dog Bond." Guests can attend free, and pay $13 if they have lunch. Reservations: jeannine.cropley@oregonstate.edu.

THURSDAY

"The Bohemian Reformation," 7 p.m., Construction and Engineering Auditorium, LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis. Lecture by David Luft, Horning Professor of History at Oregon State University. The Bohemian Reformation occurred 100 years before the German Reformation. Lufts lecture is part of the Reformation 500 Corvallis series and the first lecture in this years Horning lecture series on Other Reformations.

FRIDAY

Library Faculty Association Seminar, 10:15 a.m., Willamette Rooms, Valley Library, 201 SW Waldo Place, Corvallis. Speakers from Oregon State University Libraries will talk about copyright education and undergraduate students (Jane Nichols); a project to enhance access to resources on tribal history and culture (Richard Sapon-White); and the situation of linguistic diversity on the internet (Laurie Bridges).

Oregon State University Anthropology Lecture Series, noon, Room 201A, Waldo Hall, 2250 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis. Jessica Piekielek, associate professor of anthropology at Southern Oregon University, will present "Cattle Contagions and Border Anxieties: Disease, Ecological Conservation and Insecurities on the U.S.-Mexico Border in the 1940s." This event is part of the Anthropology Program's "Tan Sack" Lecture Series. Information: drew.gerkey@oregonstate.edu.

Oregon State University Disability Network, noon, Room 301, Milam Hall, 2520 SW Campus Way, Corvallis. This group of OSU community members is interested in discussing disability studies teaching and research in general, and the development of a DS curriculum at OSU in particular. "Developing an Accessible Research Design Checklist," lecture by Katie Linder.

Homecoming Showcase, 1 to 6 p.m., lobby, Gill Coliseum, 660 SW 26th St., Corvallis. Pick up a copy of A School for the People: A Photographic History of Oregon State University and The Peoples School: A History of Oregon State University from OSU Press, explore the Oral History Project and get a chocolate coin from the OSU150 table. Information: OSU150.org.

Speech Communication Colloquium, 4 p.m., Room 110, Strand Agriculture Hall, 170 SW Waldo Place, Corvallis. Shannon Cruz will present The Politics of Environmental Attitudes: Synthesis and New Directions. Two studies will be reviewed: the first synthesizing historical trends in environmental attitudes that have culminated in the current political divide, the second exploring options for attempting to overcome it.

Author reading, 7:30 p.m., Black Box Lab Theatre, Withycombe Hall, 2921 SW Campus Way, Corvallis. Fiction writers Jaclyn Watterson and Michael Shou-Yung Shum will read from their respective new books, Ventriloquisms and Queen of Spades. A question-and-answer session and book signing will follow. The event is part of the School of Writing, Literature and Films 2017-18 Visiting Writers Series.

SATURDAY

Homecoming Showcase, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., lobby, Gill Coliseum, 660 SW 26th St., Corvallis. Pick up a copy of A School for the People: A Photographic History of Oregon State University and The Peoples School: A History of Oregon State University from OSU Press, explore the Oral History Project and get a chocolate coin from the OSU150 table. Information: OSU150.org.
Now the Kardashian sister Kourtney Kardashian is also reportedly pregnant with her boyfriend Younes Bendjima's baby says sources InTouch Weekly and Life & Style magazines on Oct. 11.An insider has said that she has only broken this news to her family and her best friends. The insider also mentioned that the 38-year-old wants at least six kids. Kourtney now joins her other siblings in the race of giving birth and is bewildering fans in a big way as Kylie Jenner, Khloe Kardashian, and Kim Kardashian are also expecting.

The source added that she is ecstatic about the news and always loved being a part of a big family with so many siblings apparently she said that she wants the same for her kids Penelope, Mason, and Reign. Talking about Bendjima she said that he will make a great a dad. The source said that Kourtney at this point needs a man who should be both sober and present and Bendjima is all that.

Kourtney and Younes are both madly in love with each other and have often been spotted cozying up together. As per reports, the couple began dating in October. They met at Paris Fashion Week and this was when Kim's apartment was ransacked by burglars. The former boxer was by the side of the sisters Kourtney and Khloe.They were also pictured together leaving a hotel in Paris in December.At that time a source had said that it was too early but the duo seems to be enjoying each other's company.ever since the couple has been together and are spotted on various occasions.

Earlier Kourtney was with Scott Disick whom she met in 2006 at friend Joe Francis' house party in Mexico. They have had an on and off relationship but were never married. The duo have three kids together. Disick was an alcoholic which was one of the major reasons that the couple split. But there were other reasons like his perpetual involvement with various women. However, Kourtney seems to have left that all behind her and has moved on happily with her new beau and of course her new baby is on the way.

On Oct. 9, Kourtney and Kim were seen together getting down to some shopping at the Buy Buy Baby store in Los Angels. Although no one can tell as to what or for whom they were buying things but apparently Kourtney was wearing a loose black top perhaps covering up the bump?

Check out the video below:
SWEET HOME  City Council members learned Tuesday evening that renovating the former Forest Service building into a new City Hall will likely cost upwards of $1 million, although City Manager Ray Towry cautioned that figure is based on prevailing costs in the Portland metro area.

The estimate was prepared by R & H Construction Co. and Scott Edwards Architecture.

The city purchased the building at 3225 Highway 20 in July 2016 for $750,000 cash, and has about $304,000 set aside, plus another $80,000 annual payment toward the project.

That still leaves about $600,000 to fund, although the city plans to dedicate the proceeds from the sale of the former water treatment plant at 1730 9th Ave. toward the project.

The property is on the market with an asking price of $349,000. So far, the city has received only one offer and Finance Director Pat Gray said it was low.

The 13,000-square-foot building was constructed in 1985 and housed the Sweet Home Ranger District until 2006. It has sat empty since then.

The building had been for sale for $1.5 million, although its assessed value at the Linn County Assessors Office was $757,000.

The interior of the building was gutted after water pipes burst during a winter freeze.

The fact that winter is approaching and there is no operable heating system in the building bothers councilman Dave Trask.

Trask would like for the city to at least install a modern heating and air conditioning system so heat could be kept in the building this winter to avoid further damage.

Towry said the project cost estimates presented Tuesday were high, which provides the city with some financial cushion.

We will use this as the starting point for construction drawings and then go out for bids, Towry said. We will then know the exact costs and we can decide on a contractor. We can also decide if we want to proceed with the project in phases or all at once.

The new property has room to develop ample parking space for staff, community members and tourists who may be traveling with large RVs.

The property also includes enough space for development of a community park, which is a long-term city council goal for that area of the city.

Development of the building will likely include an open office area in the center of the building, so staff can communicate freely, two large conference rooms and upgrading of technology so staff can access information from those rooms without having to go to their offices.

The goal is to design a building that creates ease of use for the public.

City Council chambers will be on the east side of the building and include partitions to allow the space to be divided into three separate areas.

There also will be plenty of space left undeveloped for future expansion.

The current City Hall was constructed in 1954 and has several maintenance issues, including rotting walls, floors that are settling, a leaky roof, peeling plaster, mold and a finicky elevator.

The basement area had been the city jail until the flood of 1996 filled it with several feet of water, creating unsafe working conditions. A modular building was set up behind City Hall and used until a new public safety building was constructed.

Since then, the modular has been used as the City Council chambers and until recently for municipal court, which has now moved into the public safety building.
Investment and development should follow conflict resolution, Arif Husain, Chief Economist of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said during his visit in Brussels where he attended a special session of the European Parliaments Committee on Development (DEVE), dedicated to food security. Mr. Husain is also WFPs Director of the Food Security Analysis and Trends Service and an author of a number of flagship reports highlighting the links between hunger, conflict, migration and climate change.

He also highlighted the latest UN report on world food security, according to which hunger is on rise again, affecting about 815 million people worldwide. This number represents 38 million more people than the previous year. About 80% of the WFPs resources are used in the countries going through conflicts. That is one of biggest messages. If we want to get to zero hunger by 2030, which is the second Sustainable Development Goal, we must regress conflict first, he said.

The WFP holds that two conditions must be met to fully help people in conflict-ridden countries  full humanitarian access and enough resources  the right benefit at the right time in a sustained way. The biggest humanitarian challenges are currently faced by Yemen, North-East Nigeria, South Sudan and Somalia. But if the conflict doesnt go away, we will have to continue to do this, Mr. Husain added.

In 2016, $27 billion was allocated to humanitarian assistance worldwide. This was a fourth annual consecutive increase but despite that, this assistance was still only 40% short of what was needed. Moreover, about half of this amount went to five countries, namely Syria, Yemen, Iraq, South Sudan and Ethiopia. The other half went to 43 countries, but in those 43 countries, compared to what was needed, some countries got 5%, some countries got 95%, he said. For example, in Yemen, there were 17 million people in need of assistance this year while the international donors provided only 7 million. The point is that money is coming in, but because conflicts are not going away, it is not enough, he repeated.
The European Union will withhold the last tranche of loans to Moldova over justice reform hold-up. The final installment is worth 28 million euros but because the Moldovan authorities did not fulfill the required conditions to support justice reforms, the EU will not redistribute the final amount. The EU is Moldovas largest external donor, but payments have been frozen in the past due to slow reform progress. Brussels has reminded that a basic precondition for the financial assistance is a respect for the democratic process and the rule of law.

The EU has closely observed the reform process and noted that the Moldovan authorities showed insufficient commitment to reforming the justice sector, the EU delegation in Moldova said. The Moldovan authorities have not fulfilled the EUs conditions for receiving the last financial transfer under the justice reform program, which amounts to 28 million euros, it said. The disbursement of other EU funding, including a 100 million euro macro-financial assistance package for 2017-2018, has also been on hold. Moldovas Prime Minister Pavel Filip said last week that the country would not get any financing under the agreement this year. Despite this, Kisinev has this year introduced a new electoral law that the EU says could make the system more vulnerable to vested interests.

The Moldovas economy grew 4.1 percent in 2016, recovering from a contraction of 0.4 percent in 2015 due in part to an economic crisis in Russia that impacted exports and remittances from Moldovans working there. Moldova, Europes poorest country, has been also hit by a corruption scandal that saw the equivalent of an eighth of its GDP stolen from three largest banks over the period of two years.
MUNSTER, Germany, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Comprehensive cooperation in terms of technology development, localized production and commercialization

COMPO EXPERT GmbH (COMPO EXPERT), a leading manufacturer of specialty fertilizers for commercial use and portfolio company of the London-headquartered global private equity firm XIO Group, is entering a strategic partnership for the brands Blaukorn(R) and NovaTec (R) with Hubei Xinyangfeng Fertilizer Co., Ltd (Xinyangfeng), a leading fertilizer manufacturer in the People's Republic of China. In the future, the two companies will engage in close and comprehensive cooperation in technology development, localized production and joint commercialization of highly efficient, environmentally friendly fertilizers for the growing Chinese market.

- Comprehensive cooperation in terms of technology development, localized production and commercialization for highly efficient and environmentally friendly fertilizers under the brands Blaukorn(R) and NovaTec(R) - Strengthening product series of nutrients for cash crops and high value crops that deliver considerable benefits for Chinese farmers - COMPO EXPERT with significantly extended access to growing Chinese market - Efficient local production with improved ecological footprint - COMPO EXPERT CEO Thomas H. Ahrens: "This strategic partnership is a key milestone in the consistent implementation of our global growth strategy." - Xinyangfeng President Bin Huang: "Xinyangfeng's decades of experience and our extensive distribution network in China are perfectly complemented by the great technology and production expertise of COMPO EXPERT."

Thomas H. Ahrens, the CEO of COMPO EXPERT said: "China is a key building block on our way to become the leading manufacturer of specialty fertilizer for commercial use worldwide. Xinyangfeng is an outstanding fit for us as a strategic partner and the partnership agreement we signed today is a key milestone in the consistent implementation of our global growth strategy. I am firmly convinced that our cooperation will be a success and will create value for both companies as well as Chinese agriculture as a whole."

Through the cooperation, Xinyangfeng will become COMPO EXPERT's exclusive partner for the brands Blaukorn(R) and NovaTec(R) in China. With its extensive nation-wide distribution network through 30 sales offices and approximately 4,100 wholesalers and 60,000 retailers, Xinyangfeng has a very strong position in the Chinese fertilizer market, which will benefit COMPO EXPERT. Both companies will offer a product series of nutrients for cash crops and high value crops that meet the rising expectations of Chinese farmers in terms of crop yields and sustainability. For that purpose, Xinyangfeng will establish a local manufacturing facility in Zhonglin in the Hubei province. The resulting short transport routes will ensure efficient and environmentally friendly production.

Bin Huang, the President of Xinyangfeng: "We are pleased with our strategic partnership with COMPO EXPERT. It combines two outstanding companies that are an excellent fit for one another. Xinyangfeng's decades of experience and our extensive distribution network in China are perfectly complemented by the great technology and production expertise of COMPO EXPERT. Together we are now well positioned to meet the growing demand of Chinese farmers for modern fertilizers."

COMPO EXPERT, Europe's leading manufacturer of special fertilizers, offers a broad portfolio of high-quality innovative fertilizers for commercial use. The strategic partnership is centered around two products: granular NPK branded as Blaukorn(R) and stabilized, granular NPK under the NovaTec(R) brand. The Chinese market offers great growth potential especially for high quality and environmentally friendly fertilizer products with high efficiency. While China accounts for about ten percent of the world's cropland, the fertilizers used there represent almost one third of global consumption.

Murphy Qiao, Partner and Head of Asia of the XIO Group, the London-headquartered owner of COMPO EXPERT: "Since the beginning of 2015 we have been supporting the management of COMPO EXPERT in the development and implementation of a value-generating global growth strategy. The company has expanded its leading position in Europe as well as in Latin and South America. The strategic partnership with Xinyangfeng is a win-win-cooperation for both companies. It provides COMPO EXPERT with extended access to the growth market of China, while Xinyangfeng will significantly expand its production know-how and product range."

Joseph Pacini, CEO and Partner of XIO Group added: "COMPO EXPERT's strategic partnership with Xinyangfeng exemplifies XIO Group's strategy to identify and invest in market-leading and high-performing businesses located across Europe and North America and to help these companies in capitalizing on untapped opportunities in fast growing markets, particularly those in Asia."

About COMPO EXPERT COMPO EXPERT GmbH, with headquarters in Muenster in the German region of Westphalia, is an international company with locations in Europe, North and South America, Asia and South Africa. The Company produces and sells special fertilizers and biostimulants for all areas of plant cultivation. COMPO EXPERT offers a broad range of high quality, innovative special fertilizers for commercial use. Its product range includes innovative slow-release fertilizers, special mineral fertilizers, coated fertilizers, nutrient salts, liquid fertilizers, trace nutrients and soil treatments. With those products, COMPO EXPERT is a market leader in Europe. COMPO EXPERT was acquired in 2015 by XIO Group, a global alternative investments company, and now has approximately 600 employees. For more information, visit: http://www.compo-expert.com.

About XIO Group XIO Group is a global alternative investments firm headquartered in London with more than $3.2 billion of committed capital that employs an international team of more than 70 professionals. Representing more than 15 nationalities among its employees and its network of advisors, the firm has operations in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong and mainland China. With a seasoned international investment team that includes professionals with experience working at many of the world's leading private equity firms, XIO Group seeks to deploy its capital for global transactions. XIO Group's strategy is to identify and invest in market-leading businesses located across North America and Europe and help these companies to capitalize on untapped opportunities in fast growing markets, particularly in Asia. XIO Group is led by its four founders: Athene Li, Joseph Pacini, Murphy Qiao and Carsten Geyer. For more information, visit: http://www.xiogroup.com.

(CONTINUA)


European citizens living or moving to the UK are being turned away when they try to rent accommodation with some letting agents advertising specifically for British citizens, it is claimed.According to findings by the EU citizens rights campaign group, Europeans are being turned away by landlords and letting agents, which is making it difficult for them to find a home.The findings also show that some advertised rental properties have specified UK citizens only, or outlined different terms for EU nationals. This also extends to jobs, with a dossier showing evidence of more than two dozen housing, employment and other adverts, many of which invite applications only from those with UK, or Irish citizenship.The Guardian newspaper spoke with a number of EU nationals who recalled recent instances of discrimination. Natasha, a 42 year old Polish teaching assistant, said she and her friends are afraid to move from rented accommodation because landlords dont know if they will make them secure tenants after March 2019.As a result the Governments equalities office is examining growing evidence that EU nationals in the UK are being illegally prevented from renting or buying properties, getting jobs and booking holidays.Jeremy Robinson, managing director of Housing Hand, which currently acts as a guarantor for over 50,000 tenants from 141 countries, said that there is a lot of confusion. Many landlords and letting agents who are deeply unsure of the new requirements to rent to foreign individuals, which is leading them to turn away non UK passport holders, he explained.The Governments introduction of Right to Rent has led to landlords and agents discriminating between applicants on the basis of their background, with some prepared to turn away tenants, just because they have a foreign accent. Legitimate tenants who cannot easily identify themselves using a British or EU passport are finding it harder to secure somewhere to live, he pointed out.He believes that landlords and agents face a dilemma as they want to be fair to prospective tenants, but many are nervous of renting a property to a tenant who does not have a right to rent.It is understandable why some landlords and agents are turning down international tenants, before any checks are made and are concentrating on tenants that will be able to provide a UK guarantor, he added.The firm helps international students, graduating university students, professional school students entering the workforce, employed UK nationals and non-UK nationals, self-employed people and British students with responsible parties to secure rental accommodation.
San Antonios Fourth Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a court ruling in favor of iHeartMedia Inc. after company debtholders tried to push the company into bankruptcy.

The court affirmed a May 2016 court ruling by Bexar County State District Judge Cathleen Stryker that blocked debtholders from filing default notices against the giant radio and billboard company.

In December 2015, San Antonio-based iHeartMedia made an intercompany transfer of $516 million worth of stock in its billboard unit, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc., to another unit.

In March 2016, iHeartMedia filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a group of debtholders from issuing default notices. The debtholders, mainly hedge funds, said the transfer violated contract terms of the debt because the transfer did not meet a profit-seeking requirement.

After reviewing the four corners in the indentures, we conclude that the pertinent language in the indentures is not ambiguous, the appellate judges wrote in the courts opinion, adding that seeking a profit was not required for a transfer of assets.

The appellate ruling came from Chief Justice Sandee Bryan Marion and judges Karen Angelini and Patricia Alvarez.

Were pleased with the courts decision, an iHeartMedia spokeswoman said in an email Wednesday.

iHeartMedia still faces daunting debt problems. Total company debt, as of June 30, stood at nearly $20.4 billion, the company said.

Much of iHeartMedias debt stems from 2008 when 70 percent of the company, then called Clear Channel Communications, was sold to two Boston-based private equity firms, Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners. About 30 percent of the company remains publicly traded.

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.

In March, iHeartMedia issued a debt-exchange offer totaling $14.6 billion in an effort to reach a pre-bankruptcy agreement with bondholders and lenders, some of whom had tried to issue default notices in 2016.

The debt-exchange offer deadline has been extended numerous times since March as the company negotiates behind the scenes with bondholders and lenders.

About $324 million in bonds and loans come due in 2018 and $8.4 billion in 2019.

The company, which owns about 850 U.S. radio stations, has warned several times this year it might not be able to meet debt payments in 2018.

dhendricks@express-news.net
Being semi-retired, I wont be taking a boss to lunch today, if Boss Day is still celebrated that way. But being an elder, I remember bosses Ive never taken to lunch.

I also remember that when I left the two office jobs described below, I wasnt replaced. Apparently, I was so incompetent that I didnt actually leave vacancies. My college prep high school classes prepared me for college, not jobs for the unskilled, and I needed a job after I quit school.

My favorite boss story is about an underboss, for lack of a better word. He was the main boss brother-in-law. As the least senior and least competent employee in the office, I worked on some of his projects. I say least competent because I had no secretarial skills, couldnt type accurately, and knew nothing about office machines. But I worked cheap.

Also, I didnt mind making coffee, going to the drug store for the bosss after-lunch antacid pills or brushing ashes off my desk and myself when they fell from brother-in-laws cigars whenever he emerged from his lair to lean over me and toss reports into my file box. I should add here that my nickname was Miss File.

I could never figure out why underboss could bring various papers and reports out to my desk, but when he wanted anything like mail or main bosss antacids, hed buzz my phone to ask me to bring them to him.

Then I heard him telling The Guys that he liked to watch my apple-shaped tush walk back to my desk after I delivered stuff he requested.

Today, even a 19-year-old like I was at the time would call that sexual harassment. But, in the olden days, although it made me uncomfortable, I said nothing. I needed my job. I do wonder what hed say about my apple-shaped tush now that its shaped more like an apple-dumpling. I dont recall taking any of The Guys to lunch; we couldnt afford it on our salaries.

Still, working in a cloud of cigar smoke and ash was more interesting than the job in which it seemed the companys owner never ever left his office. I must admit that my job, sorting shipping receipts by number and alphabet, was so boring and the building was so dark, old and dreary that I often fell asleep with my head upon the sorting board. Maybe I missed seeing him escape while I was napping.

In that office, nobody took anybody to lunch, ever. We ate sandwiches from home and drank water from the cooler.

It seemed right to quit shortly after I convinced the secretary we should make lemonade in the water cooler. The boss didnt appreciate the idea, especially when he had to buy the new drinking water system.

Who knew lemonade could erode an ancient coolers copper tubing so badly? Even when replaced by water, thirsty sandwich-eating peoples mouths would burn and pucker, causing them to say bad words.

Perhaps I should have taken everybody in that office to lunch?

Write to Marcy Meffert at P.O. Box 680262, Leon Valley, TX 78268 or e-mail mameffert@yahoo.com Subscribers can go online for current and previous columns at www.expressnews.com/author/marcy-meffert
LEBANON  If youve always wanted to have a park named after yourself or a loved one, nows your chance.

For a $25,000 donation, you can name the proposed Lebanon Dog Park, according to project chairman Warren Beeson. The money will be used to install a chain link fence.

By next spring, Beeson hopes to be able to take Buddy, his 104-pound black Labrador retriever, to the new dog park next to the Bob Smith Memorial Park on South Main Street.

The retired businessman and civic booster has taken on the challenge of raising $50,000 to develop the park, based on those he has seen on trips to visit his daughters in Nashville.

I was in Nashville in April and I know its a big city, but there are at least three really nice dog parks, he said.

Beeson took his idea to the citys parks committee and his concept was well-received.

Of course, my friend Ronn Passmore, who chairs the committee, then put me in charge of coming up with the funds to make it happen, Beeson said.

He added that the city will contribute some cash, assist with the parks development and then maintain it once it is constructed.

We hope to raise at least $25,000, but really, we think it will take about $50,000, Beeson said. We would like to have enough money left over so that after a year or so, we could evaluate what is working and where we might need to add something to the park.

Assisting Beeson with the project are committee members Sally Morgan, Nancy Charlson, Bob Gordon and Connie Schmidt-Walling.

The plan is to develop the park area south of the ballfields. There will be an area for small dogs and a separate area for larger dogs.

All donations of $100 or more will be recognized on a donor board, Beeson said. Anyone who donates $250 now and pledges another $100 per year for the next two years, will be recognized with a banner.

And, Beeson noted, for a $25,000 donation, the donor can name the park.

Other suggested donations and what they will purchase include: $500, fire hydrant (3); $800, bench (10); $1,000, picnic table (23); $1,000, shelter (2); $1,500, water station (2); $1,500, waste disposal station (2); $25,000, fence, and donor picks name of the park.

For more information, or to donate, email dogparklebanon@yahoo.com, or send donations to the Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, 1040 Park St., Lebanon, OR. 97355.

Call 541-258-7164 to make a credit card or debit card donation.
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Even now, they call him the great dissenter.

More than 100 years after the Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court case, which legalized racial discrimination in public accomodations for more than 50 years, the only justice who dissented was celebrated Wednesday at the dedication of a new San Antonio campus.

Harlan High School, named after Justice John Harlan, opened in August in the Northside Independent School District, which has a long tradition of naming its high schools after Supreme Court justices

Harlans great-great-granddaughters, prominent in their own right, were invited from New York and Boston to attend the dedication and spoke to students interested in their respective career fields: journalism and music.

At 475,000 square feet, the $110 million high school is the largest in Northside, which is San Antonios largest school district and the fourth largest in the state.

Youre not just naming a school, or a building, youre naming an institution that will serve generations, said Northside spokesman Barry Perez. Were celebrating because we are beginning a true community here.

Amelia Newcomb, a managing editor at the Christian Science Monitor, said she named her daughter Harlan after her great-great grandfather  and her grandfather, John Marshall Harlan II, also a Supreme Court justice a generation later.

To see the name in large letters when we rolled up to the school, it was pretty exciting, I have to say, she said.

Newcomb said she has drawn on the inpiration and values of the Great Dissenter in her work in journalism and she hoped Harlan High School students would as well.

He was, without question, a man of integrity and in journalism we know how important integrity is. Striving to be accurate and thoughtful and having a point of view of integrity, not a personal point of view, those are values in much need of reinforcement today, she said.

As Newcomb spoke to journalism students, another Harlan descendant, Kate Dillingham, a professional classical cellist, had 250 students snapping to a beat in the school auditorium as she spoke about making a career in music.

We have to project what we feel about that music all the way to row y, row z, she told them.

To pick the schools name, its four feeder middle schools asked students to write essays about their preferred justices. Katerina Clukey, now an OConnor High School student, advocated for Harlan in the winning essay out of 115 entries. Newcomb and Dillingham each received a framed copy Wednesday.

Harlan never failed to stand up for what he believed and knew was right, no matter what his contemporaries thought, Clukey wrote.

In the evening, the great-great-granddaughters were given a police escort onto the campus for an evening of music, cheerleading, pep squads and dance teams  a community celebrating the bravery of a lone dissenter.

I can personally say Ive seen many cases where my fellow students, as well as myself, have failed to stand up for someone in need, Clukey wrote. By naming the new high school after John Marshall Harlan you would be giving the incoming students a role model to look up to and someone who can encourage them to not just be a bystander.

sfosterfrau@express-news.net
AUSTIN  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, angered by an anticipated move by U.S. House leaders to sidetrack Texas request for an additional $18.7 billion in Hurricane Harvey aid, on Wednesday blasted the Texas congressional delegation for not fighting against the reduced amount.

A bill scheduled for a House vote Thursday provides $36.5 billion in disaster aid for victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate, and for those fighting wildfires across California and other Western states.

Although Harvey victims would be included in the aid package, it does not specifically include some $18.7 billion that Abbott and nearly the entire Texas congressional delegation had sought to earmark specifically for the victims of Hurricane Harvey in the Gulf Coast. Much of that was targeted for the Houston area.

I am disappointed that most members of the Texas congressional delegation have agreed to go ahead and vote for this bill, from what I know at this time, when Texas needs this money, Abbott said in an interview with the Houston Chronicle. It appears the Texas delegation will let themselves be rolled by the House of Representatives.

Abbott said Texas congressional delegation should vote against the bill unless it includes additional funding for Texas specifically.

The bill includes $18.67 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agencys disaster relief fund  nearly $5 billion of which could be used to subsidize direct loans to Puerto Rico.

Another $16 billion is for the National Flood Insurance Program, which is nearly $30 billion in debt.

Some members of the Texas congressional delegation said that while they share the governors concerns, they expect more money in the future.

I certainly understand how the governor feels about this, but were trying to do this for all the disasters that pretty much hit at the same time, said Laredo Democrat Henry Cuellar, who co-chairs a bipartisan task force on Harvey relief efforts.

Is this the final appropriation? he added, No. Were going to be doing more.

A spokesman for Texas Republican Joe Barton, who co-chairs the congressional Harvey task force, said its mission is to cut red tape to help Texans get the relief they need. He said Barton has not been involved in negotiations on the current aid package.

Stop-gap measure

Houston Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee said the latest aid package will not meet many of her priorities, including aid to displaced public housing residents.

This really is just a stop-gap measure, she said. It doesnt move us forward.

The money comes on top of a $15 billion that Congress approved for Harvey relief efforts in September. State officials have said the total tab from the storm could reach $100 billion or more.

Until Wednesday, Texas officials had appeared confident that the Texas aid package would be approved as requested.

On Oct. 5, all but three members of Texas congressional delegation signed a letter seeking $18.7 billion in additional recovery funding, including $10 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects and $7 billion for additional recovery block grants.

An additional $800 million was sought to rebuild and repair schools, $450 million for loans to help business rebuild and reopen, $300 million in assistance for local-government recovery initiatives and $150 million to repair and rebuild transportation infrastructure that was damaged in the storm.

Abbott, a Republican, called upon the GOP-dominated Texas House delegation to get a stiff spine and they need to fight for their fellow Texans. He insisted that time remains for Texas congressional delegation to push to include the Texas funding in the bill to be debated Thursday.

In addition to Cuellar, Texas, a large Republican state with plenty of clout in Congress, has three members serving on the House Appropriations Committee: Kay Granger of Fort Worth, John Carter of Round Rock and John Culberson of Houston.

Culberson, whose district was directly hit by Harvey, did not return a call seeking comment on the governors complaint.

Abbott aides said the revised bill may include only a tiny little pot of money for Texas, but not the amount needed to keep the recovery moving ahead.

This is essential, Abbott said. The least that Texans deserve is for their congressional delegation to stand with them on this funding. It is time for them to step up and do what they have power to do.

Abbotts public airing of the issue is unusual for a governor who typically tries to work out differences behind closed doors and through negotiated consensus.

Abbott said he planned to contact the White House for assistance in restoring Texas funding to the bill.

Flood insurance

But Texas funding woes are not the only headache for the Trump administration.

Conservative groups already have taken aim at the flood insurance money, calling it a bailout for those who continue to rebuild in flood-prone areas.

The administrations request to treat a $16 billion bailout for the failing federal flood insurance program as an emergency is irresponsible, Heritage Action Vice President Dan Holler said in a statement. There have been numerous efforts over the past decade to make the NFIP financially and structurally sound, but special interest pushback successfully blunted serious reforms.

The NFIP, which underwrites more than 95 percent of flood insurance policies in this country, currently does not have enough funding to cover what are expected to be billions of dollars in claims from the succession of hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

But under the legislation to be voted on in the house, $16 billion of the programs $30 billion in debt would be eliminated.

Thats going to give them room to write checks for folks down in Houston, said Craig Poulton, the CEO of Poulton Associates, a Utah-based insurance firm.

Ward wrote from the Austin bureau; Diaz from the Washington bureau.
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A five-year safety study of dams along the U.S.-Mexico border done at the behest of the International Boundary and Water Commission has revealed disturbing conditions.

The safety inspection yielded urgent and high-priority deficiencies at five of the six dams, reads a section of the State Departments 2018 Congressional Budget Justification report, which singled out Amistad Dam in Val Verde County for special comments.

The report also notes that again this year, no money is allotted to the IBWC to repair the defective dams.

The safety study was done by the Joint Technical Advisors, which includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The IBWC is a binational agency that deals with treaty and water issues, including boundary demarcation, water quality, flood control on the border and national ownership of waters.

It also oversees the Morelos Dam on the Colorado River in California, and five dams on the Rio Grande, from Retamal Dam east of McAllen to the American Dam in El Paso. Among them are Amistad and Falcon Dams, which create large binational water reservoirs.

But exactly which dams have what problems remains largely unknown. Nor is it clear if any pose a public safety risk.

Citing security and agency confidentiality reasons, an IBWC official declined to make the safety report available or allow a reporter to speak to an engineer about the dams.

The agency has also refused to release the safety report and related documents in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

There is nothing I can give you. Its exempt from FOIA, IBWC spokeswoman Lori Kuczmanski said.

We cant release our vulnerabilities. Thats really what it comes down to. These are binational dams, she added.

The five Texas congressmen whose districts include the Rio Grande also did not respond to email requests by the San Antonio Express-News for comment on the safety report.

The congressional report also notes problems with the American Dam and American Canal, which provide irrigation water for El Paso.

It is in very poor condition and requires replacing before it collapses, reads the report, apparently referring to the canal.

In discussing Amistad Dam, north of Del Rio, the report described specific problems.

The final project design for the sinkhole remediation works at Amistad Dam is projected for December 2017, notes the report, while adding that the beginning of repair work lies somewhere in the uncertain future.

The initiation of the construction phase  continues to be deferred until future years. The cost of these improvements is expected to be quite significant. Since it is a binational project, the Mexican International Boundary and Water Commission is technically and financially participating, the report notes.

An earlier version of the story incorrectly reported the nature of the American Canal in El Paso. It provides irrigation water.

jmaccormack@express-news.net
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In 2012, Stefano de Stefano, a Houston energy lawyer and self-described old-school Republican, voted for Sen. Ted Cruz. Five years later, hes running to supplant Cruz in the Senate, calling his opponent a poster child of congressional dysfunction.

An economic Reaganite and political unknown, de Stefano wants free trade, low taxes and to reform or eliminate business regulations. In challenging Cruz in the Republican primary, de Stefano said hes running against the extremism that shuts Washington down, behind an agenda that focuses on immigration, energy and jobs  areas in which he believes theres room for compromise.

On every one of the issues that Im talking about  infrastructure, immigration  these are places where you can do deals, de Stefano, 36, said Wednesday.

After launching his campaign in July and focusing initially on fundraising, de Stefano has begun to travel around the state, meeting with constituents and conservative community leaders. During his trip through San Antonio this week, he got lunch with members of the Alamo Pachyderm Club and attended a summit on free trade at the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute.

Cruz, with broad name recognition and a significant fundraising edge over de Stefano, remains to most political analysts the odds-on favorite to win the Republican primary on March 6. Dan McQueen, a former mayor of Corpus Christi, is also challenging Cruz.

So far, U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke of El Paso is the only Democrat aiming to unseat Cruz.

Though he didnt mention ORourke by name, de Stefano downplayed Cruzs money advantage, saying the senator would have to preserve some of his war chest for what limited polling numbers indicate could be a narrow general race.

With almost $6.4 million on hand, according to a Wednesday news release, Cruz has more than double ORourkes $2.8 million on-hand total. De Stefano raised roughly half a million during the recent quarter, said campaign manager Winston ONeal.

De Stefano had an answer for Cruzs broad public recognition, too.

His name recognition cuts both ways, de Stefano said. Either you love him or you hate him. Theres a lot of anybody but Cruz that Ive been getting. So that in and of itself helps me, the fact that he is such a polarizing figure.

Cruzs campaign declined to comment on de Stefanos campaign.

Aside from Cruzs political style, de Stefano cites immigration as the biggest difference between the two candidates.

In January, around the time de Stefano decided he wanted to run for the Senate, Cruz said he supported President Donald Trumps temporary travel visa ban. He had previously hardened his stance on legal immigration, reversing his position last year on H1B immigration visas.

Cruz calls immigrants names and thinks theyre bad for the country, and I have the opposite view on that, de Stefano said. I really want to do immigration reform.

De Stefano opposes amnesty and said he wants to avoid having what he called an underclass of illegal immigrants in the U.S., though he supports a system that would provide a road map for undocumented immigrants to become documented.

Painting himself as an outsider, de Stefano said he has no long-term political ambitions, pledging to serve no more than two terms. He decided to run only after securing approval from his wife, Jeanine, a Democrat, and employer Diamond Offshore, a deep-water drilling contractor.

Im doing this because I feel like the country is at a crossroads, he said. We havent been this divided since the Civil War.

Part of de Stefanos pitch to voters also centers on his experience brokering large negotiations in the energy sector, which he said has prepared him to make legislative deals.

With these megadeals, two companies dont agree, de Stefano said. They have different interests.  How is that any different from what you have to do to get a deal on immigration or infrastructure? There (are) disagreements and you work through them.

jscherer@express-news.net | Twitter: @jaspscherer
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SEGUIN  A New Braunfels couple initially charged with murder over the shooting death last year of Felix Tony Nieves, the wifes son, avoided prison time under plea deals finalized Wednesday that were faulted by some as too lenient.

Nieves, 17, was slain on Easter by his stepfather, George Alex Coryell, during an altercation at the family home in New Braunfels with his mother, Jennifer Coryell, in which she claimed hed used a stun gun on her and hit her with a bat.

Two younger children of Jennifer Coryell, 44, also were home when the shooting occurred.

With defense attorneys arguing the shooting was self-defense, special prosecutor Heather McMinn negotiated sentencing agreements in August under which Alex Coryell, 49, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and Jennifer Coryell pleaded guilty to attempted manslaughter.

Approving the plea deals Wednesday, state District Judge Gary Steel sentenced Alex Coryell to 10 years probation and ordered him to pay a $4,000 fine and to undergo substance abuse treatment at a secure facility.

Jennifer Coryell received eight years probation, a $1,500 fine and also was ordered into a secure substance abuse treatment program.

McMinn noted afterward that gaining convictions was far from certain had the cases gone to trial, citing inconsistencies in witness statements.

There was some very strong evidence that Alex was in fear of Felix, she said, noting Nieves was on probation at the time for a family violence charge after a 2015 attack on Alex Coryell.

Stephanie Hoover, Jennifer Coryells sister who took custody of Coryells younger children soon after Nieves death, complained in a victim impact statement that her sibling had gotten off too easily.

Not only was justice not served for Felix or his family, she won! She gets to spend the rest of her life with the man she wants instead of her children, Hoover said in the message read in court by McMinn, whod initiated the prosecutions before stepping down as district attorney here last year.

Hoover, reached Wednesday by phone at her New Jersey home, said the accounts of the shooting provided by Coryells children differed from the defense version, with Felix pleading for his life before Alex Coryell fired the second, fatal shot.

James Milan, the court-appointed defense attorney for Jennifer Coryell, disputed the kids accounts, saying they were downstairs when the shooting occurred upstairs.

He said he wanted to go to trial, but his client took the plea deal even though shes not going into this with a guilty mind.

Attorney Dick DeGuerin, who represented Alex Coryell, said after the hearing, Alex was trying to protect Jennifer, his wife. This kid was tasing her and beating her and Alex did what he had to do.

From the very beginning, hes been troubled greatly by the fact that he had to take his stepsons life, said DeGuerin, Its a tragedy for everybody.

The only other victim impact statement in the cases was made by Heather Austin, Alex Coryells ex-wife, who quoted their own two children, who were friends with Nieves, as saying, They believe you should go to jail, pay restitution  go to the doctor for help and stay away from all children.

Austin, a Schertz resident, described her former spouse afterward as extremely violent, and said of the absence of prison time for the defendants, Were not happy with it.

zeke@express-news.net
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Ten people, including one from the San Antonio area, were arrested Wednesday on hazing charges in the death of a Louisiana State University fraternity pledge whose blood-alcohol content was more than six times the legal limit for driving, officials said.

One of the 10  Matthew Alexander Naquin, 19, of Fair Oaks Ranch  also faces a felony negligent homicide charge in the death of freshman Maxwell Gruver, who was trying to join Phi Delta Theta. Naquin is the only one facing a felony charge; the hazing charges are misdemeanors.

Both fraternity members and pledges felt Naquin was taking it too far and had specifically targeted Gruver, 18, of Roswell Georgia, during the Sept. 13 hazing ritual, according to an arrest affidavit, which was released Wednesday.

About 18 to 20 pledges, including Gruver, had received text messages calling them to the home around 10 p.m. Sept. 13 for Bible Study. During the ritual, according to the affidavit, active members quiz pledges on details about the fraternity and force them to drink if they answer the questions incorrectly.

When the pledges arrived, Naquin yelled, are you ready for Bible Study, according to the affidavit.

The pledges were allegedly sent upstairs, where another fraternity member threw mustard and hot sauce on them. With a single strobe light flashing and loud music playing, the pledges were told to line up against the wall, police said.

Naquin is accused of forcing pledges to drink 190-proof liquor. Active members told Naquin and the other member to cut it out because their actions were getting out of hand, according to the affidavit. One fraternity member said he warned Naquin and the other member to slow it down several times, to no avail.

Naquin seemed to target Gruver, whom he was upset with for being late to events, pledges told police. In addition, Gruver kept messing up the Greek alphabet and that Naquin forced him to drink each time he made a mistake, one member told police. While most pledges only had to take three to four swigs of the powerful liquor, Naquin allegedly forced Gruver to take 10 to 12 drinks.

During the course of the interviews, the recurring statement was that Naquin was the most aggressive and in charge of the hazing event, the affidavit said.

On the morning of Sept. 14, Gruver, an aspiring sportswriter, was taken by two fellow students to a Baton Rouge hospital, where he was declared dead. He had passed out on a couch at the fraternity house around midnight. Several fraternity members said they had checked on Gruver throughout the night, police said. But in the morning, when friends returned to the house, he was unresponsive and they couldnt tell if he was breathing. Thats when the friends decided to take him to the hospital.

A toxicology report on Gruver revealed that his blood alcohol content was 0.495 percent, more than six times the legal limit for driving, and that he had aspirated vomit into his lungs. The cause of death was acute ethanol intoxication with aspiration, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroners Office.

A lawyer for Naquin, John McLindon of Baton Rouge, declined to comment on these charges out of respect for (Gruvers) family.

Lets just wait until the evidence comes in, he said.

The ramifications of hazing can be devastating, LSU President F. King Alexander said in a statement. Maxwell Gruvers family will mourn his loss for the rest of their lives, and several other students are now facing serious consequences  all due to a series of poor decisions.

Negligent homicide is punishable by up to five years in prison in Louisiana, the report said. Hazing is punishable by up to 30 days in jail.

A student accountability office also is conducting an investigation that could lead to disciplinary action, according to Ernie Ballard III, LSUs media relations director. Under Louisiana law, any student convicted of hazing must be expelled.

The death resulted in the national office closing the LSU chapter and a temporary hiatus on all Greek life activities at LSU. On Oct. 4, fraternities and sororities were permitted to resume activities but with new limits. The university also convened a task force to study Greek life.

All the suspects were associated with Phi Delta Theta; one left school after Gruvers death, and eight are still active students, university spokesman Ernie Ballard said. All 10, ages 18 to 21, turned themselves in to LSU police on Wednesday.

The other nine suspects are Louisianians Zachary Castillo of Gretna, Sean-Paul Gott of Lafayette, Sean Pennison of Mandeville, Hudson Kirkpatrick of Baton Rouge, Elliott Eaton of New Orleans; Patrick Forde of Westwood, Massachusetts; Nicholas Taulli of Cypress; Zachary Hall of Charlotte, North Carolina; and Ryan Isto from Canada.

East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore said his office will present evidence to a grand jury and could seek additional charges.

Investigators are studying text messages sent and received by the fraternity members and pledges, have learned of possible videos and have seized a duffel bag filled with beer cans, bottles of liquor, a glass smoking pipe and a pledge test, according to search warrant requests and results.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards asked the states higher education leaders to review campus policies on hazing, alcohol and drugs.

Gruvers death followed several other highly publicized deaths in recent years, also leading to criminal charges and the closure of fraternity chapters.

Timothy Piazza, an engineering student at Pennsylvania State University from Lebanon, New Jersey, died Feb. 4 after a night of hazing. That led to strict new regulations on Greek life, including a prohibition on liquor, kegs and all-day parties. In May, 18 students were charged in Piazzas death  including eight with voluntary manslaughter  but the more serious charges were thrown out by a judge.

Also in May, four men pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in connection with the 2013 death of Chun Hsien Deng, a student at Baruch College in Manhattan who was knocked out and killed during a hazing ritual that occurred on a fraternity trip to Pennsylvania.

Staff Writer Fares Sabawi, the Associated Press and the New York Times contributed to this report.
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AUSTIN  House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, is not questioning Alamo City leaders decision to drop out of the contest for Amazons second headquarters, even as he launches a new committee aimed at keeping Texas economically competitive.

Its such a mad scramble that theres only going to be one winner, Straus said. So, if San Antonio is focused on other opportunities where theres a much better chance of winning, I think thats a smart decision.

Straus on Thursday announced the new Select Committee on Economic Competitiveness in light of Amazons hunt for a new location and recent furor among the business community over the so-called bathroom bill.

We cant just assume that jobs are destined to come to Texas if we continue to spend so much time talking about bathroom bills or whatever wedge issue gets manufactured next, he said at an Austin Chamber of Commerce meeting.

We will surrender our well-earned reputation as a pro-business, pro-growth state, just ask North Carolina, he added, making reference to major economic losses the state experienced after passing a similar bill legislating the bathrooms transgender people can use.

Leading the new committee will be Rep. Bryon Cook, R-Corsicana, who played a role in defeating the bathroom bill during the special session this year, when he refused to schedule a hearing on the legislation in the House State Affairs Committee he chairs.

Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who championed the bill requiring people to use the public bathroom matching the gender on their birth certificate, did not immediately respond to comment. Business leaders and advocates lobbied against the bill, which many considered discriminatory.

Straus, who often aligns with business interests, has been making a statewide tour of chambers of commerce since the end of session, urging members to stay engaged at the Legislature.

Straus said the new committee isnt coming around to lure Amazon, though that would be nice. Its to take stock of where we are and where we stand.

San Antonio may be out of the Amazon competition, but Dallas and Austin are among the Texas cities still vying for the companys proposed $5 billion second headquarters. Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz recently wrote the Seattle-based company, urging a move to the Lone Star state.

Cook, in a recent letter to the Dallas Morning News, warned the bathroom bill could hurt Texas chances because Amazon seeks to avoid states with discrimination policies.

The Select Committee on Economic Competitiveness will solicit feedback from businesses about what motivated their decisions to move. And it will look at issues ranging from workforce development and infrastructure, to local economic development tools, before reporting back findings in mid-December.

Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, will be vice chair of the committee. Other members include Reps. Angie Chen Button, R-Richardson; Sarah Davis, R-West University Place; Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth; Joe Moody, D-El Paso and Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville.

amorris@express-news.net
CORVALLIS  A conversation Wednesday night regarding renaming the Arnold Dining Center at Oregon State University began with a participant saying that former OSU President Benjamin Lee Arnolds service in the Confederate Army had pretty clear implications, even if no documentation that he held white supremacist views exists.

I think its pretty clear Arnold was willing to die to uphold slavery, said Andrea Haverkamp, a second-year doctoral student in environmental engineering.

There were disagreements in the conversation that followed, but no personal attacks. There was emotion, but no vitriol or shouting. Participants generally listened silently and attentively as others spoke.

The facilitated discussion was one of about ten at a university-sponsored discussion session that discussed Arnolds life, legacy and whether a campus building named for him should be renamed.

The event was attended by more than 70 people and consisted of more than an hour of information about Arnolds life and the process the university is following to consider renaming Arnold Dining Center and three other campus buildings possibly named for racists: Avery Lodge, Benton Hall and Gill Coliseum.

Haverkamp said Arnold's move to Oregon after the Civil War also was suggestive, since state law at the time barred black people from even entering the state.

Justin Nielsen, a senior in philosophy, said to students of color, its not a secret what serving in the Confederacy meant.

He had an option not to serve, he said.

Nielsen said in his time at OSU hes seen open racism on campus, including fliers for white nationalist organizations and racist stickers placed on campus.

A Corvallis resident and OSU alumnus at the table said since there wasnt documentation of Arnold holding racist views, the students seemed to be holding Arnold guilty for just being from the South at that time.

He came here as president at a critical time in its life and he did a good job, thats not in dispute, the alumnus said.

Later, he added that he thought the name of the dining center should not change because he doesnt want to see culture and history erased.

I think from his time here, he served (then) Corvallis College well, and he deserves to be honored, the alumnus said.

Nielsen, however, said just serving in the Confederacy was evidence Arnold was overtly upholding racism.

It seems to me there was good reason, after the South lost, to not express his views, Nielsen said.

He never denounced his service in the Confderate Army or his studies of slavery, said Haverkamp.

Owen Hatch, a sophomore in political science, pointed to Arnold earning a credential in the study of domestic slavery before the Civil War as another piece of evidence of his views.

You go to college to further your career, and he decided to study slavery, Hatch said.

Nielsen said in the conversation that last year he was part of a group of students to protest Arnold Dining Centers name and the other building names. He asked the group to imagine what it would feel like for a person of color to have to walk by the dining center.

Racism is (at OSU) and its explicit and to honor Arnold over students who are here now. ... it would say we value him over the students who feel that he fought to oppress and enslave them.

As the discussion wound down, Haverkamp said she hopes that in 50 years if anyone has a problem with a name chosen to replace Arnold or any of the other buildings, or if new evidence comes to light about another building namesakes history that people dont like, that the people then change those names.

Nielsen, who is in his last term at OSU, added that seeing younger students like Hatch in the conversation made him feel hopeful.

Im glad to see other undergraduates who care about this and are willing to take this up, Nielsen said.

Each discussion group had a facilitator and a note-taker; notes from the meeting will be submitted to Ed Ray, OSU's president, to use in making his decision on renaming buildings, which is expected in late November or early December.

Discussions on the other three building names are scheduled for next week:

 The Avery Lodge discussion is set for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 16.

 The Benton Hall discussion is set for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 17.

 The Gill Coliseum discussion is set for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 19.
Wheat: Net sales of 492,300 metric tons for delivery in marketing year 2017/2018 were up 13 percent from the previous week and 37 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were for the Philippines (87,800 MT, including 80,000 MT switched from unknown destinations), China (68,100 MT), Japan (61,800 MT), Taiwan (33,300 MT), and the United Arab Emirates (30,000 MT). Exports of 715,500 MT were up 68 percent from the previous week and 88 percent from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations were the Philippines (115,500 MT), China (115,500 MT), Mexico (92,800 MT), Taiwan (88,300 MT), and Chile (67,900 MT).

Corn: Net sales of 814,100 MT for 2017/2018 were reported for Mexico (190,600 MT), South Korea (119,600 MT), Colombia (116,700 MT, including 95,000 MT switched from unknown destinations), unknown destinations (115,300 MT), China (76,100 MT, including 65,000 MT switched from unknown destinations), and Honduras (65,300 MT, including 12,300 MT switched from unknown destinations). Reductions were reported for the French West Indies (8,300 MT). Exports of 966,000 MT were primarily to Mexico (401,500 MT), Japan (154,600 MT), Colombia (137,100 MT), South Korea (72,300 MT), and Peru (69,400 MT).

Optional Origin Sales: For 2017/2018, the current optional origin outstanding balance is 168,000 MT, all unknown destinations.

Barley: Net sales of 400 MT for 2017/2018 were reported for Taiwan. Exports of 400 MT were reported to South Korea (300 MT) and Japan (100 MT).

Sorghum: Net sales of 116,000 MT for 2017/2018 were reported for unknown destinations (66,000 MT) and China (50,000 MT). Exports of 300 MT were reported to Mexico.

Rice: Net sales of 47,700 MT for 2017/2018 were up 9 percent from the previous week and 30 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for Mexico (18,900 MT), Japan (14,500 MT), Jordan (8,800 MT), Ghana (2,000 MT), and Canada (1,300 MT). Reductions were reported for Haiti (500 MT). Exports of 23,700 MT were down 64 percent from the previous week and 56 percent from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations were Mexico (14,200 MT), Canada (2,300 MT), Jordan (2,100 MT), Haiti (1,300 MT), and Saudi Arabia (700 MT).

Exports for Own Account: The current outstanding balance of 300 MT is for Canada.

Soybeans: Net sales of 1,016,100 MT for 2017/2018 were reported for China (608,900 MT, including 254,000 MT switched from unknown destinations), Thailand (93,600 MT), Portugal (70,700 MT, including 65,000 MT switched from Spain), Vietnam (70,500 MT, including 60,000 MT switched from unknown destinations), and the Netherlands (66,600 MT, including 66,000 MT switched from unknown destinations). Reductions were reported for Spain (65,000 MT) and unknown destinations (56,500 MT). Exports of 986,000 MT were primarily to China (547,900 MT), Mexico (99,200 MT), Portugal (70,700 MT), Vietnam (70,200 MT), and the Netherlands (66,600 MT).

Optional Origin Sales: For 2017/2018, options were exercised to export 55,000 MT to China from other than the United States. The current optional origin outstanding balance is 110,000 MT, all China.

Exports for Own Account: The current outstanding balance of 14,000 MT is for Canada.

Soybean Cake and Meal: Net sales of 12,000 MT for 2016/2017 were down noticeably from the previous week, but up 20 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for Canada (7,800 MT), El Salvador (6,500 MT, including 3,800 MT switched from Guatemala, 1,500 MT switched from Nicaragua, and 500 MT switched from Honduras), Honduras (6,200 MT), Saudi Arabia (5,000 MT), Guyana (2,400 MT, switched from the French West Indies), and South Korea (1,800 MT). Reductions were reported for Japan (7,600 MT), unknown destinations (5,800 MT), the French West Indies (4,200 MT), and Guatemala (3,800 MT). For 2017/2018, net sales of 328,500 MT were reported primarily for unknown destinations (121,500 MT), Canada (79,000 MT), the Philippines (45,000 MT), and Honduras (27,100 MT). Reductions were reported for Ecuador (6,000 MT). Exports of 132,100 MT were down 30 percent from the previous week and 10 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were primarily Canada (25,000 MT) the Dominican Republic (24,600 MT), Colombia (17,400 MT), Mexico (10,600 MT), Malaysia (10,600 MT), El Salvador (9,600 MT), and Peru (9,600 MT).

Soybean Oil: Net sales of 2,600 MT for 2016/2017 were down 54 percent from the previous week and 39 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases reported for Mexico (3,400 MT) and Canada (100 MT), were partially offset by reductions for Honduras (1,000 MT). For 2017/2018, net sales of 14,600 MT were reported primarily for South Korea (10,000 MT), the Dominican Republic (1,500 MT), and Colombia (1,500 MT). Exports of 11,400 MT were down 19 percent from the previous week, but up 9 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were primarily Guatemala (4,000 MT), Jamaica (3,500 MT), and Mexico (3,300 MT).

Cotton: Net sales of 161,000 RB for 2017/2018 were down 17 percent from the previous week, but up 8 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for Vietnam (43,200 RB, including 700 RB switched from Japan and 300 RB switched from Taiwan), Turkey (36,900 RB,), China (35,600 RB), Indonesia (20,300 RB, including 1,800 RB switched from Japan), Peru (8,800 RB), and Bangladesh (4,400 RB, including 2,200 RB switched from Turkey). Reductions were reported for Venezuela (2,200 RB), Japan (2,100 RB), and Thailand (1,500 RB). For 2018/2019, net sales of 28,600 RB were reported for Pakistan. Exports of 114,900 RB were down 13 percent from the previous week and 21 percent from the prior 4-week average. Exports were reported primarily to Vietnam (29,300 RB), China (15,100 RB), Mexico (14,000 RB), Indonesia (10,200 RB), and South Korea (9,800 RB). Net sales of Pima totaling 23,600 RB for 2017/2018 were up 51 percent from the previous week and 16 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported primarily for Vietnam (12,200 RB), China (6,700 RB), India (2,000 RB), and Peru (1,300 RB). Exports of 4,900 RB were down 17 percent from the previous week, but up 5 percent from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations were India (2,300 RB), China (900 RB), Pakistan (900 RB), and South Korea (700 RB).

Optional Origin Sales: The current optional origin outstanding balance of 16,500 RB is for Indonesia.

Exports for Own Account: New exports for own account totaling 11,100 RB were reported for Indonesia (8,200 RB), Vietnam (2,200 RB), and Thailand (700 RB). Exports to South Korea (1,000 RB), Indonesia (800 RB), Thailand (700 RB), and Bangladesh (100 RB) were applied to new or outstanding sales. Decreases of 1,700 RB were reported for Indonesia. The current outstanding balance of 80,800 RB is for Indonesia (56,200 RB), Taiwan (13,100 RB), India (3,800 RB), Vietnam (3,400 RB), Bangladesh (2,700 RB), South Korea (1,100 RB), and Pakistan (500 RB).

Hides and Skins: Net sales of 471,000 pieces reported for 2017 were down 42 percent from the previous week and 9 percent from the prior 4-week average. Whole cattle hide sales totaling 471,100 pieces were primarily for China (313,200 pieces), Mexico (75,600 pieces), South Korea (52,000 pieces), Hong Kong (11,600 pieces), and Turkey (7,800 pieces). Reductions were reported for Taiwan (300 pieces). Exports of 391,600 pieces reported for 2017 were down 42 percent from the previous week and 15 percent from the prior 4-week average. Whole cattle hides exports of 383,300 pieces were primarily to China (260,600 pieces), South Korea (62,200 pieces), Thailand (24,900 pieces), Mexico (18,300 pieces), and Taiwan (7,900 pieces).

Net sales of 170,400 wet blues for 2017 were up 17 percent from the previous week and 45 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for China (39,700 unsplit and 14,700 grain splits), Italy (30,900 unsplit and 12,000 grain splits), Hong Kong (39,000 grain splits), and Vietnam (9,300 grain splits and 4,700 unsplit). Exports of 121,200 wet blues for 2017 were down 39 percent from the previous week and 24 percent from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations were Italy (46,100 unsplit and 4,000 grain splits), Vietnam (17,200 unsplit and 8,300 grain splits), China (19,600 unsplit), and Thailand (9,300 unsplit). Net sales of splits totaling 34,400 pounds for 2017 were reported for South Korea. Exports of 131,100 pounds for 2017 were down 39 percent from the previous week and 45 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destination was South Korea.

Beef: Net sales of 20,800 MT reported for 2017 were up 30 percent from the previous week and 70 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for Japan (7,700 MT), Hong Kong (5,100 MT), South Korea (2,500 MT), Taiwan (2,000 MT), and Canada (1,100 MT). For 2018, net sales of 1,900 MT were reported primarily for Hong Kong (800 MT), Japan (700 MT), and Canada (300 MT). Exports of 15,900 MT were down 6 percent from the previous week, but up 2 percent from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations were Japan (5,100 MT), South Korea (3,400 MT), Hong Kong (2,200 MT), Mexico (1,800 MT), and Canada (1,100 MT).

Pork: Net sales of 21,200 MT reported for 2017 were down 42 percent from the previous week and 13 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for South Korea (5,300 MT), Mexico (5,100 MT), Colombia (2,500 MT), Canada (2,300 MT), and Japan (1,700 MT). Exports of 20,200 MT were down 2 percent from the previous week, but up 1 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were primarily Mexico (8,700 MT), Japan (3,700 MT), South Korea (2,300 MT), Canada (1,500 MT), and Colombia (900 MT).

Source : USDA
The rush is on to create more laws concerning firearms. Emotional cries are rampant and secondary to any logic or common sense. A recent D-H article just reported on 76 pounds of methamphetamine being confiscated. I remember when a law removed Sudafed from over the counter purchase to eliminate the manufacture of meth. We currently have laws against the manufacture, distribution and sale of this illegal and destructive drug. Do we need more laws?

Remember the woman from Oregon who in 2015 drove her car onto a sidewalk in Las Vegas killing one and injuring 37? Do we need background checks before issuing drivers licenses? Should you have to pass multiple government tests before you can purchase an automobile? If you suffer from depression should the government confiscate your car? Maybe the government should place speed governors on each vehicle produced to limit their speed to 65 miles per hour. Why should anyone be able to purchase a vehicle with the capability to drive it at 120 miles per hour when there are no roads available to drive that fast and it is against the law? Perhaps we should ban all automotive aftermarket speed and performance parts.

Think about the near future, they are designing self driving cars and semi-trucks. There are no self shooting firearms.

As you can clearly see all the discussions about further laws and restrictions on firearms could also be had for automobiles. The plain and simple fact is that laws do not stop the truly evil people that live among us from doing what they want. More laws will not create utopia. Life is inherently dangerous.

John Robinson

Albany (Oct. 8)
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The nation collectively gasped last week when the media reported that the IRS awarded Equifax a $7.25 million sole source contract to verify taxpayer identities and help prevent fraud.

Yes, that Equifax. The same company that suffered a colossal security breach that likely exposed the personally identifiable information of over 145 million Americans.

The IRS claims that it had to award the tax fraud prevention contract to Equifax, which held the previous contract, because it was set to expire on September 29th, and Equifaxs protest of the new contract award (to Experian) would not be decided until October 16th.

The IRS has explained that its hands were tied because it would either have to stop service (and shut down all online access to taxpayer accounts) or do a bridge contract with Equifax until GAO decides on the protests and we move forward.

GAO has correctly disputed this rationale, noting that the IRS could have allowed Experian to begin work on the contract if the agency determined that it was in the best interest of the United States, or there were urgent and compelling circumstances that significantly affect interests of the U.S.

As GAO Spokesman, Chuck Young, explained Congress gave agencies, like IRS in this case, the tools to move forward under appropriate situations. They appear to be electing not to use it.

Lawmakers are incensed by this award, and at least one  Senator Sherrod Brown  has called for Equifaxs debarment. Senator Brown has asked the Treasury Department to debar Equifax because its negligent security practices allowed their system to be breached. He also faults the company for failing to notify regulators and the public about the breach until weeks after it was discovered.

Citing to FAR 9.406-2(c), Senator Brown notes that a debarring official may debar [a] contractor or subcontractor based on any other cause of so serious or compelling a nature that it affects the present responsibility of the contractor or subcontractor. Brown argues that Equifaxs actions  before and after the breach  meet this standard.

At first glance, Senator Brown makes a pretty compelling argument. Equifaxs security protocols were, at best, negligent and its handling of the matter post-discovery has been abysmal. There is little information in the public domain that provides a sense of comfort regarding the companys security practices.

But does this warrant debarment? If the U.S. Governments discretionary debarment process was a sanctioning mechanism used to punish malfeasance, debarment would be a very enticing tool. However, as I have noted several times on the FCPA Blog (e.g., here and here) debarment is not a form of punishment and its illegal to treat it as such.

Instead, debarment is a means to protect the government from corrupt, untrustworthy, irresponsible or simply incompetent contractors. When a Suspension & Debarment Official (SDO) looks at a contractor like Equifax, he or she not only considers the companys misdeeds, but the proactive steps the company has taken since the incident to mitigate the problems and prevent future transgressions from occurring. This is a two-step analysis that an SDO must undertake to comply with the law  he or she cannot simply base a debarment decision on the companys misconduct.

Although Senator Browns letter acknowledges that an SDO must consider the FARs mitigating factors (a marked improvement over past calls by members of Congress to debar certain contractors), his application of the factors is rather incomplete. Indeed, given the information in the public domain, it would be difficult for most individuals to conduct a thorough analysis of the factors.

If the Treasury Department (or some other agency) decides to look into Equifaxs present responsibility, they will have far more information to consider when conducting the full debarment analysis. And that thorough analysis should provide clarity as to whether Equifax poses an ongoing threat to taxpayer dollars.

Although the idea of cutting off Equifaxs government revenue streams sounds pretty good to the millions of Americans impacted by the breach, debarment isnt necessarily the answer.

_____

Jessica Tillipman is a Senior Editor of the FCPA Blog and Assistant Dean at The George Washington University Law School. You can follow her on Twitter at @jtillipman
Annette Bening felt "safe" shooting intense age gap romance 'Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool' with Jamie Bell

Annette Bening

The 59-year-old Academy Award nominee stars as real life actress Gloria Grahame who meets the unknown actor Peter Turner (Bell) in 1978 and the two start a vibrant love affair despite their age difference, and Bening admitted she loved working with the 'Billy Elliot' actor because he was a very supportive co-star.

Speaking on 'This Morning' on Thursday (12.10.17), Bening said: "I felt safe with him and you become so close when you work on something like this. I felt very supported by him and I hope he felt the same way. He's a real professional, maybe because he started when he was young.

"He's a great guy and he's just a very solid guy and he really helped me. He was a doll. I loved it."

The film is based on Turner's memoirs about his affair with the B-Movie actress and Bening revealed he was part of the filmmaking process.

She said: "Peter has very much been a part of making the movie. He is a very beautiful man and when you meet him you completely understand why Gloria fell in love with him. She had a very difficult life. She was here doing theatre because she couldn't really get any other jobs so she is one of those people that, after the 1950s, she couldn't find work.

"Barbara Broccoli, one of our producers, was friends with Peter and she knew him when he was with Gloria so this was a long-time coming and I talked with Barbara about making the movie years ago. It means a lot to Peter. It was a very complicated period of his life and he was very much involved in any moment."

Although Bening - who is married to Hollywood legend Warren Beatty - has been nominated for an Oscar on four occasions she has yet to win one but there is already Academy buzz about 'Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool', however, she won't allow herself to be distracted by it.

She said: "People ask me about it [the Oscars] and I do talk about it. It's a part of life and a part of my business. It's exciting but then sometimes it doesn't happen. I love what I do. It's a labour of love for everyone, for each of us. We put everything we had into it. It means a lot to all of us."
Douglas Booth has praised Helen McCrory for being a "formidably talented actress".

Douglas Booth

The 25-year-old actor is appearing alongside the 'Harry Potter' star in the haunting 'Loving Vincent', which looks at the troubled life and work of Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, and Booth admitted he loved working with the all-star cast, but in particular McCrory.

Speaking to FlickeringMyth.com, Booth said: "I had a really good time with Eleanor Tomlinson, we had some really nice scenes so I really enjoyed working with her, but also everyone, Saoirse (Ronan), Aidan (Turner), Helen McCrory - I mean I think she's just one of the most formidably talented actresses of her generation, she'd come and she would just do something different on every take.

"So many options and she's just great. Chris O'Dowd - very dry, very funny, so yeah, it was a pleasure, all of it."

The film features around 6,500 frames all hand-painted on canvas in the style of the iconic artist and Booth stars as Armand Roulin, who was famously painted by Van Gogh who wore a bright yellow jacket, as he attempts to deliver the artist's final letter to his brother following his suicide.

Due to the complete uniqueness of the film it took seven years to make altogether but Booth - along with the rest of the cast - were only brought in two years ago.

He said: "I was brought on board - it took seven years to make this movie, from conception to the final project, I got brought in two years ago.

"They got a casting director and they said, 'We have these Van Gogh paintings, who looks like them?' And then they approached me. They approached Saoirse, Helen, Chris, Eleanor, Aidan and we came on and we shot it in about three and a half, four weeks, very quickly, [we] didn't have much money, in three studios and we shot a little bit in Poland."

'Loving Vincent' is slated for release this October.
President Donald Trump will not meet the Queen when he visits Britain next year.

President Donald Trump

The 71-year-old US leader is set to head across the pond in January in a "scaled-down working trip" but he won't be staying at Buckingham Palace nor will he cross paths with the monarch this time around, according to the Telegraph newspaper.

Trump is reportedly being lined up to jet to the UK in order to open America's new embassy in London and are expected to take place as soon as possible.

A source told the publication: "There are plenty of chances to get the President over here. We are opening our new embassy soon."

But, even if the President doesn't head to London, the US embassy - based near Battersea Power Station - will still open at the beginning of 2018.

However, although he won't get to meet the 91-year-old royal in January, it's believed the queen has invited him and his wife Melania Trump to Windsor Castle.

A source said: "Discussions between British officials and Trump's team are expected to begin soon to ensure that a date can be agreed for June or July next year."

It was also reported last year that Trump had discussed a visit to the UK to see Queen Elizabeth and that his mother was a big fan of the monarch.

An insider said "He's looking forward to it. He's a massive Anglophile. He was really, really keen. His late mother, Mary, [who was born in Scotland] loved the Queen. He said, 'I'm going to meet her, too. I can't wait to come over to England. My mother would be chuffed to bits when I meet the Queen.' "
The Oregon Department of Education has not brought back overall ratings for individual schools on the latest round of school and district report cards, made public this morning.

The ratings, based on a 1-5 scale, were last used in 2013-14. They were left off subsequent report cards, first because the state had changed assessment tests and then because Oregon began making the transition to new requirements under the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act.

The state will release redesigned school and district report cards next fall to reflect the new ESSA requirements. The design is still in the works, with the goal "to provide more clear, relevant information for parents and the greater community about the whole education being offered at their schools," said Tricia Yates, ODE's director of communication.

"We will have a multiple measures dashboard for people to use, as well as an at-a-glance version for parents, families and communities," she said.

The 2016-17 report cards released today do continue to include "like-school average" comparisons for scores on state math, English and science assessment tests, both for schools as a whole and for various student demographic categories.

Linn and Benton school districts reported mixed results when it came to similar districts. Most outperformed their counterparts at the high school level, but struggled at lower grades, particularly in English Language Arts.

Full results can be seen on the Oregon Department of Education's website, http://www.oregon.gov/ode/schools-and-districts/reportcards/reportcards/Pages/default.aspx.

The 2016-17 report cards continue to offer a wide variety of information, including dropout rates, graduation totals, the percentage of freshmen on track for a four-year diploma and the demographic breakdowns of each school.

The numbers provide some context about recent changes in state testing methods but don't necessarily reflect all mitigating factors. For instance, most mid-valley four-year graduation rates rose on this most recent report  which, unlike the rest of the data, lists only 2015-16 figures*  but up until that year, those same schools had been encouraging students to put off receiving their diplomas so they could participate in a fifth-year college program, which has now ended.

Some low figures may not represent the whole story, either, said Brian Gardner, superintendent of the Central Linn School District.

At Central Linn High School, only 52.9 percent of last year's freshmen were considered "on track" to graduate in four years, according to the district's report card.

But until this year, all students studied math and Humanities  a combination of English and social studies  through individually-paced labs, moving on to new material only after they had mastered a standard. That means freshmen scores may not be measured as "on track," depending on when they're taken.

The district added some teacher-led math classes this year, which has become an option for about 40 percent of the high school, in Gardner's estimate. But the overall philosophy is still to focus on individual student needs, which means official scores may remain low.

"Were going to tweak some things around the edges, but the general principal of, 'Students go on to the next thing when they've mastered what theyre working on' is not going to change," he said.

Gardner said he objects to the idea that students should be able to master any particular standard based solely on a calendar. It would be as if, he said, an assembly-line employee were charged with putting tires on a car because it was Tire Day, regardless of whether anyone had first attached wheels.

"We're just trying to pause long enough to make sure weve got wheels before we're putting on tires," he said, adding: "If it takes a kid five years to get through high school, its not the end of the world. As long as they get through."

* Editor's note: This story has been corrected from the print version, which listed the incorrect date for the most recent figures associated with four-year graduation rates.
The Queen will not lay a wreath during this year's Remembrance Sunday ceremony.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip

The 91-year-old monarch will not place the floral arrangement at the Cenotaph on Whitehall in London this year and, instead, will watch from the balcony of the Foreign Office with her husband Prince Philip, while their son Prince Charles - who has taken over some of her duties - lays the tribute on behalf of the nation on November 12.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman told the BBC: "The Queen wishes to be alongside the Duke of Edinburgh and he will be in the balcony."

BBC Royal correspondent Peter Hunt said the change was "another sign of the Royal Family in transition", as well as "an acknowledgment of the fact the Queen is 91."

This will be the seventh time she hasn't laid the wreath since her coronation.

She previously missed out in 1959 and 1963 during her pregnancies with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward and then when she was on visits abroad - Ghana in 1961, Brazil in 1968, Kenya in 1983 and South Africa in 1999.

Charles, 68, laid the wreath on her behalf when she was in Kenya and was reportedly her first choice when deciding who should take her place this year.

Her decision to stand with her husband on the balcony this time around comes just months after he announced his retirement from his royal duties.

Despite his decision to step down, the 95-year-old royal - who has battled with ill-health over the past few years - is still allowed to attend "certain public events from time to time" if he chooses to.

A statement said at the time: "Although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time."
Global unions IndustriALL and UNI have called on fashion brands to sign the second Bangladesh Accord for Building and Fire Safety, a platform of European retailers that extends the legally-binding commitment to factory safety in Bangladesh for three more years. The brands were urged to sign by 7 October, the World Day for Decent Work, but many are yet to.Geneva-based IndustriALL Global Union and Nyon-based UNI Global Union feel the extension of the Accord is currently the only credible way to prevent life-threatening hazards in garment factories in the country, according to a press release from IndustriALL. Many brands not singing it shows their lack of commitment to staying the course to prevent another Rana Plaza tragedy, it said.

Global unions IndustriALL and UNI have called on fashion brands to sign the second Bangladesh Accord for Building and Fire Safety, a platform of European retailers that extends the legally-binding commitment to factory safety in Bangladesh for three more years. The brands were urged to sign by 7 October, the World Day for Decent Work, but many are yet to.#

Around 50 brands, which use 1,173 readymade garment factories in Bangladesh, have committed to signing the 2018 Accord.The first Bangladesh Accord, which expires next May, was launched following the Rana Plaza collapse in April 2013 that killed 1,134 workers. The 2018 Accord builds on the achievements of the first agreement.Until there is a reliable system of regulation in place in Bangladesh, it is tough to believe that all the good work of the past four years will not be undone, Jenny Holdcroft, assistant general secretary of IndustriALL, said.It would be irresponsible to abandon the progress that the Accord has made, said UNI deputy general secretary Christy Hoffman. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Mayer & Cie. (MCT), a leading manufacturer of circular knitting machines headquartered in Germany, is celebrating 30 years of operation of Relanit textile machine. Relanits anniversary year starts on October 13, 2017. Relanit uses relative technology, the circular knitting machine manufacturers proprietary development, launched at ITMA in 1987.In its current version the Relanit 3.2 HS is one of the most productive single jersey machines on the market. At the same time, its energy consumption is 30 per cent below that of a conventional knitting machine. Relanit is also part of Mayer & Cie.s latest innovation, its spinitsystems technology.Conventional knitting machines usually work with horizontal sinkers. That means the needle moves up and down while the sinker works horizontally. With relative technology, the sinker too moves up and down. Relatively speaking, it shifts towards the needle. In this movement lies relative technologys biggest advantage: In comparison to conventional technology, the yarn only has to travel half the number of deflection points to form a stitch. Each deflection means less stress on the yarn. That is why Relanit can process difficult yarn or inferior qualities without a hitch. Not only to form a fabric of a certain quality but also without making amends in terms of production speed or machine downtimes. Both would be the case if inferior quality yarn were to be processed on a conventional machine. Because yarn is the key cost factor in knitting, Relanit can help the knitter to save a lot of.

While relative technology in itself has remained unchanged, it has grown to keep pace with technological development. The lines current flagship is the Relanit 3.2 HS. It is one of the most productive single jersey machines in the market, both for open width as well as tubular. At 50 rpm it works with elastomeric yarns just as well as with cotton, the machines traditional speciality. Furthermore, the Relanit 3.2 HS uses up to a third less energy than a conventional circular knitting machine.



In addition to the Relanit 3.2 HS, the current Mayer & Cie. portfolio comprises a further eight Relanit machines, with striping machines, electronic, and mechanical types among them. Every year, around 300 Relanit machines find their way to clients all around the globe. The specialists in cotton yarn are most popular in Turkey, followed by Brazil and China. Overall, Mayer & Cie. has sold 10,000 units, delivered to about 90 countries worldwide. (GK)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
More than 600 delegates are attending the trade event by International Cotton Association (ICA) in Singapore. From ginners and growers to spinners and merchants, the event has brought together the major players in the cotton industry, offering all delegates the chance to network, meet colleagues and attend lectures by international speakers.

The two-day event that is being held at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore will conclude on October 13.

The annual event is an opportunity for delegates to gain insights at a macro level from the speakers who will cover topics as diverse as the global economy and the rise of blockchain.

"We are pleased that ICA has chosen Singapore for its annual cotton event. It clearly signifies the growing importance of Asia in the world cotton industry. Singapore is one of the worlds largest agri-commodities trading hubs, and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore is committed to working with the sector to ensure Singapore continues to be a leading trade hub that stays relevant for its needs," said Amreeta Eng, IE Singapores group director for trade promotion. (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The restructuring committee of the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) met for the first time recently to discuss its restructuring plan to improve performance. The meeting, chaired by National Assembly member Chaudhry Asad-ur-Rahman, discussed ginning, fibre improvement and research aspects to produce quality products to attract international buyers.The committee took stock of crop varieties and technologies for better and more yield. It was appraised of the development of new areas and situation of existing crop and outreach activities, a Pakistani news agency quoted cotton commissioner Khalid Abdullah as saying.

The restructuring committee of the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) met for the first time recently to discuss its restructuring plan to improve performance. The meeting, chaired by National Assembly member Chaudhry Asad-ur-Rahman, discussed ginning, fibre improvement and research aspects to produce quality products to attract international buyers.#

The restructuring committee comprises four members of the National Assembly, ministry of textile industry secretary and two members of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), he said.The committee felt the need for technology transfer to private firms by activating the applied research departments in government sector and enhancing outreach of services departments for marketing, he added. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
The Uster Group, a leading high-technology instrument manufacturer of products for quality measurement and certification of the textile industry headquartered in Switzerland, has announced that the accuracy of yarn count measurement has been tested at various mills with the new Sensor FA of Uster Tester 6 equipment for yarn trading and processing.The classic manual method of count measurement requires two instruments: a yarn reel and a balance. The procedure is slow, labour-intensive and subject to human error. The automatic option, using the Uster Tester 6 with the Sensor FA for automatic fineness, is fast  with testing speeds of 800 m/min. It also needs only one operator and there is no risk of human error. These advantages of automatic count measurement are immense, but the accuracy of the results is the all-important issue. This was the challenge taken up at two spinning mills.

The Uster Group, a leading high-technology instrument manufacturer of products for quality measurement and certification of the textile industry headquartered in Switzerland, has announced that the accuracy of yarn count measurement has been tested at various mills with the new Sensor FA of Uster Tester 6 equipment for yarn trading and processing.#

Wolfram Soell, textile technologist within Uster Technologies executed the trial on the accuracy of the Uster Tester 6 in a spinning mill in Europe. This customer has a reference yarn, which was tested every week for a long-term observation of the yarn count accuracy in the mills laboratory. The trial ran from January to August 2017, and during the first month the tests were carried out at speeds of both 400 m/min and 800 m/min. It was quickly seen that the measurement results were independent of the testing speed, so the tests continued only at 800 m/min. During the testing period, results for the 100 per cent combed cotton Ne 30 ring yarn showed minimal variation.Expert analysis of these results demonstrated the excellent accuracy of the Sensor FA for yarn count measurement. The ideal proof of its reliable accuracy, however, would come from a direct comparison with the standard manual method. With respect to count variation, the Sensor FA had much lower variation than the standard method in almost every test.All the parties involved were well satisfied with the conduct and outcome of these trials. The spinners in the trials appreciated the integration of international standards for selection of the predefined yarn length for the tests. This ensured the most accurate yarn count determination, without error-prone human interaction, while also giving the option of customised setting of the predefined yarn length. (GK)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Global competition for solutions to climate challenges for future generations

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, today announced at the Computing Conference in Hangzhou China that it will organise a data mining contest with the Met Office, the United Kingdom's national meteorological service. Data experts from around the world will be invited to use Tianchi, Alibaba Cloud's global big data crowd intelligence platform, to develop solutions relating to a potential future world in which deliveries by unmanned balloons must be optimised to navigate the variabilities of the UK weather.

The contest will be set in 2050, in a world where the invention of "anti-gravity engines" has led to the creation of unmanned balloons as the preferred logistics solution. However, because of the UK's complex meteorological conditions, the balloons are occasionally delayed, damaged or even destroyed by extreme weather conditions causing disruption and loss. The contestants will be challenged to create algorithms that can plan flight routes for these balloons to navigate the endless variation and changeable nature across the UK to optimise their delivery schedules and costs. The team which comes up with the best solution will win USD10,000 cloud credits and an internship opportunity at the Met Office.

Contestants will utilise public meteorological data provided by the Met Office in categories including rainfall and wind speed. Changing temperatures, rainfall, wind speed in area grids of four square kilometres and five-minute time intervals will be selected to challenge the resilience of the balloons. This will be overlaid with data for the balloons such as take-off and landing locations, maximum fly time and speed, as well as a set of limiting factors such as collision avoidance parameters. Participants will be able to test their algorithms and modify their models accordingly.

"We are excited about hosting the competition with the Met Office. We share a vision to develop solutions that can solve real-life problems of global interest. This competition will challenge the participants in a scenario with real-life factors to test both their technological capability and creative thinking. We look forward to receiving innovative solutions from data talent around the world," said Wanli Min, Chief Machine Intelligence Scientist, Alibaba Cloud.

"Since our foundation in 1854, the Met Office has been striving to continuously improve the accuracy and usefulness of weather forecasting. We are excited that data from our forecasting systems is part of this challenging competition. We hope all contestants will enjoy the British weather as much as we do, even if it pushes them to the limit," said Alberto Arribas, Head Informatics Lab, Met Office.

There are more than 100,000 developers and 2,700 academic institutes and businesses from 73 countries and regions in the Tianchi community. Through hosting big data competitions, such as this, Tianchi pools the wisdom of data experts from around the world and leverages the expertise of the Alibaba Cloud data scientists to develop professional solutions for various verticals including smart manufacturing, aviation, transportation and logistics. The Tianchi scientists' creativity will help entities in different sectors to address real-world challenges. An example of this is the successful KDD Cup 2017 competition, deemed the "Data Mining Olympics", in which 3,582 teams participated to develop solutions to predict the traffic flow of highway tollgates.

The contest will open for registration on 30 October. For more information, please visit the Tianchi website from 30 October.

About Alibaba Cloud

Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com), the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, is among the world's top 3 IaaS providers according to Gartner1, and the largest provider of public cloud services in China, according to IDC. Alibaba Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of cloud computing services to businesses worldwide, including merchants doing business on Alibaba Group marketplaces, start-ups, corporations and government organisations. Alibaba Cloud is the official Cloud Services Partner of the International Olympic Committee.

1 Source: Gartner, "Market Share: Public Cloud Services, Worldwide, 2016", 19 September 2017"

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171011006383/en/

Contacts:

Alibaba Group

Sindy Shi, +86 150 2192 5635

ruoyun.sry@alibaba-inc.com

or

Yinan Qian, +86 186 0004 0770

yinan.qyn@alibaba-inc.com


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The following are some of the biotech stocks that made their way onto the Day's Gainers & Losers' list of October 11, 2017.



GAINERS



1. Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AERI)



Gained 16.17% to close Wednesday's (Oct.11) trading at $64.30.



News: The briefing documents posted by the FDA staff ahead of the panel meeting to review the Company's glaucoma drug candidate Rhopressa looks positive.



The briefing documents are used as the basis for discussion by the FDA panel members. The Company is seeking approval of Rhopressa for the treatment of patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.



Open-angle glaucoma, which is the most common form of glaucoma, is caused by the slow clogging of trabecular meshwork - the drainage canal of the eye, resulting in increased eye pressure, and is characterized by a wide and open angle between the iris and cornea.



Near-term catalysts:



The FDA panel meeting to review Rhopressa is slated for October 13, 2017. The FDA's final decision on Rhopressa is expected to be announced by February 28, 2018.



2. Voyager Therapeutics Inc. (VYGR)



Gained 15.61% to close Wednesday's trading at $24.00.



News: No news



Recent event:



On September 6, 2017, the Company announced positive results from its ongoing Phase 1b trial of VY-AADC01 in advanced Parkinson's disease.



Near-term catalysts:



-- Initiation of pivotal phase 2-3 program of VY-AADC for advanced Parkinson's disease expected during late 2017. -- Filing of an investigational new drug application for VY-SOD101 for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis caused by mutations in the superoxide dismutase 1 gene during late 2017 or early 2018.



3. Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CATB)



Gained 13.78% to close Wednesday's trading at $2.56.



News: No news



Recent event:



On October 4, the Company reported positive results from open-label extension of Phase 2 MoveDMD trial evaluating Edasalonexent in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.



Near-term catalysts:



Catabasis plans to initiate a single global Phase 3 trial with Edasalonexent in patients with DMD regardless of mutation type in the first half of 2018 with top-line results expected in 2020.



4. aTyr Pharma Inc. (LIFE)



Gained 11.50% to close Wednesday's trading at $6.30.



News: No news



Pipeline:



The Company's most advanced drug candidate is Resolaris which is being developed for adult Limb girdle muscular dystrophy 2B; adult Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) and early onset FSHD, which has completed phase IB/2 study. Also in the pipeline is iMod.Fc for interstitial lung diseases and ORCA programs, which is expected to move into phase I testing later this year.



5. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (MACK)



Gained 8.23% to close Wednesday's trading at $14.21.



News: the Company has reached a settlement agreement with Wolverine Flagship Fund Trading Limited, 1992 MSF International Ltd. 1992 Tactical Credit Master Fund, L.P. and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association to resolve the previously disclosed lawsuit captioned Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., et. al. v. Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. pending in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware.



The agreement resolves outstanding litigation associated with Merrimack's asset sale to Ipsen. Merrimack has agreed to commence tender offer to purchase outstanding convertible notes with potential to eliminate all remaining debt.



6. Seattle Genetics Inc. (SGEN)



Gained 6.51% to close Wednesday's trading at $61.47.



News: The Company has announced additional clinical collaborations to evaluate SGN-LIV1A in triple negative breast cancer.



SGN-LIV1A administered in combination with Merck's Keytruda will be evaluated in a phase 1b/2 clinical study in patients with locally advanced or metastatic TNBC. SGN-LIV1A followed by standard chemotherapy (doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide) will be evaluated as a neoadjuvant treatment (prior to surgery) for women with newly diagnosed, locally advanced Stage 2 or 3 HER2-negative breast cancer in the I-SPY 2 TRIAL.



7. Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc. (PTI)



Gained 6.28% to close Wednesday's trading at $2.20.



News: No news



Pipeline:



The Company's drug candidates include PTI-428, PTI-801 and PTI-808 for cystic fibrosis. PTI-428 and PTI-801 are in phase 1/2 clinical development and PTI-808 is under phase I testing.



Near-term catalyst:



-- Initial data from phase 1/2 clinical trials of PTI-428 and PTI-801 are expected in Q4 2017.



LOSERS



1. MannKind Corporation (MNKD)



Lost 18.48% to close Wednesday's trading at $5.47.



News: The Company has announced a registered direct offering of an aggregate of 10.16 million shares of common stock at an offering price of $6.00 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $61 million. The offering is expected to close on or about October 13, 2017, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.



2. Chiasma Inc. (CHMA)



Lost 12.07% to close Wednesday's trading at $2.55.



News: No news



Chiasma's lead product candidate is Mycapssa. The NDA for Mycapssa capsules for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with acromegaly was turned down by the FDA last April. The company needs to conduct another clinical trial before Mycapssa could be approved.



Recent event:



The Company initiated a new Phase 3 clinical trial of Mycapssa, dubbed CHIASMA OPTIMAL, last month. The top-line data from the trial are expected by the end of 2019.



A phase III clinical trial to investigate the non-inferiority of Mycapssa to once-a-month injectable somatostatin analogs, dubbed MPOWERED, is underway. The results of this study are expected to support the filing of a Marketing Authorization Application with the European Medicines Agency.



3. Endocyte Inc. (ECYT)



Lost 7.47% to close Wednesday's trading at $4.83.



News: No news



Recent event:



-- On October 2, 2017, the Company announced a deal with ABX GmbH, in-licensing its proprietary ligand PSMA-617. The transaction provides Endocyte with 177Lu-PSMA-617, a phase III-ready prostate cancer drug. The news sent the stock soaring over 157% that day to $3.63, and it gained another 80% to touch a high of $6.55 the following day.



Endocyte plans to seek regulatory approval to initiate a phase III registration trial of 177Lu-PSMA-617 in early 2018. If all goes well as planned, the Company expects to complete the trial as early as 2020.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oculus announced its newest and most affordable VR headset, called Oculus Go. The standalone device will ship in early 2018 starting at $199. Oculus also showcased updates to its Santa Cruz prototype, including new positionally tracked controllers with six degrees of freedom that bring the power of Rift and Touch to the standalone category. The Rift Bundle is now available at a new permanent price of $399. The company revealed Thor as the latest in the cast of playable characters for MARVEL Powers United VR, launching for Rift in 2018. Meanwhile, Pixar's first VR experience, Coco, is coming to Gear VR and Rift November 15. The company opened the Explore API for Gear VR, so developers can create custom stories to boost discoverability of their content. Explore is coming to Rift in 2018. The company offered a sneak peek into Oculus Venues, a new experience coming next year that lets people watch live concerts, sports, and movie premieres with thousands of other people around the world. 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.
SINGAPORE -- (Marketwired) -- 10/11/17 -- Chubb announced today that Edward Rayfield has been appointed as Head of Casualty in Singapore. In his new role, he reports to Liam Burrell, Division Head of Property & Casualty (P&C).

Mr. Rayfield brings with him strong Casualty underwriting and industry experience. Most recently, he held the position of Casualty Manager, Global Broker Unit NSW & ACT for Chubb in Australia, overseeing the performance and growth of the business portfolio. Mr. Rayfield has deep underwriting expertise for both local and international risks, having spent a large part of his career as a Casualty Underwriter in Chubb's operations in Europe, prior to moving to Australia.

In his new role, Mr. Rayfield will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Casualty and Work Injury Compensation portfolios in Singapore, including all underwriting and market-facing functions. In addition, he will spearhead product development as well as underwriting initiatives to achieve sustainable growth.

On Mr. Rayfield's appointment, Mr. Adam Clifford, Country President for Chubb in Singapore said, "I am excited about the enthusiasm, passion and drive Edward will bring to the Casualty team and the Singapore business. Given his global industry experience, strong technical underwriting expertise and proven ability to effectively engage our brokers, I am confident that he is an excellent candidate to lead and drive the expansion in our Casualty business."

About Chubb in Singapore

Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London and other locations, and employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide.

More information can be found at www.chubb.com/sg

Media Contacts



Juliana Lim

Email Contact



Chubb Insurance Singapore Limited

138 Market Street

#11-01 CapitaGreen

Singapore 048946




KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/11/17 -- Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: ARW) is exhibiting a wide range of ready-to-deploy IoT solutions at National Innovation and Creative Economy Expo 2017 (NICE'17), which runs from 12-16 October at Technology Park Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mr. Natarajan MM, vice president of Sales for South Asia of Arrow Components Asia-Pacific business will deliver a keynote speech on day 1 of the expo at 2:55pm covering how things have evolved with IoT and sensing technologies.

Sensing technology is at the heart of IoT innovation today. As a global technology company, Arrow plays a key role in building a robust technology framework and infrastructure with the "Sensor to Sunset" IoT product lifecycle capabilities that enable startups to bring IoT and sensory solutions to market quickly and cost effectively, guiding today's innovators to a smarter and more connected tomorrow.

IoT developers and makers can tap into Arrow's comprehensive sensor product portfolio of more than 14,000 components available for measuring everything from air, water, soil, motion, movement and chemical composition and 300 ready-to-deploy IoT solutions and applications for a range of end-market solutions from smart city, industrial 4.0, medical, automotive, and robotics.

At the conference, Arrow will also showcase the following IoT solutions, such as:-

Connected vehicle device

Smart patient care system

Smart waste management

Power monitoring solution for manufacturing facilities

Arrow-built DragonBoard 410c - a high-performance and low-cost development board with sensors designed to support rapid software development and prototyping for IoT device

Stop by the Arrow booth #9 and 10 at NICE'17 to learn more about Arrow's "Sensor to Sunset" IoT offerings or visit iot.arrow.com

About Arrow Electronics

Arrow Electronics is a global provider of products, services and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. Arrow serves as a supply channel partner for more than 125,000 original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers and commercial customers through a global network of more than 465 locations serving over 90 countries.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3174397



Media Contact

Arrow Electronics

Grace Kung

Tel: (852) 2484 2682

Email: Email Contact




SINGAPORE -- (Marketwired) -- 10/12/17 -- Chubb today announced the launch of a suite of value-added services for leisure travelers. Known as Chubb Connect, these services include complimentary Wi-Fi and SOS Alerts as a start. Piloted in Australia since May this year, Chubb Connect is now also available in New Zealand and Singapore. The app will be launched progressively to other countries in the region in due course.

Jon Ford, Head of Partnership Distribution for Chubb Asia Pacific, said, "We know that when our customers are traveling, access to Wi-Fi connectivity is considered highly valuable and important to enhance their travel experience. With the Chubb Connect app, not only do customers stay connected but they can also opt to receive SOS alerts informing them of travel disruptions as and when these happen. Delivered in real-time via the app, SMS and email, our customers can make informed decisions before and during their travels. The app also connects travelers to our 24/7 Emergency Hotline if they require help in a foreign land."

"With the rise of the middle class in Asia Pacific, the number of overseas trips continues to increase substantially. In addition, smartphone connections in Asia now account for more than 50% of mobile connectivity globally(1). Operating in such a highly connected and mobile region, Chubb recognizes the need to provide our customers with value-added services in additon to insurance protection and assistance. Chubb Connect will represent significant additional value to our leisure travel customers and partners," added Alex Blake, Chubb's Global Head of Travel Insurance.

Chubb Connect is powered by United Networks, an Australian-owned global telecommunications provider offering telecommunications, data and value added services since 2009.

About Chubb

Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London and other locations, and employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide.

(1) The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2017 produced by https://www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/asiapacific/. GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.

Media contact

Michele Anne Minjoot

Email Contact

+65 6398 8708

Chubb Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.

138 Market Street

#12-01 CapitaGreen

Singapore 048946




TOKYO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Prosch, Inc. is thrilled to announce its newest release of the online multiplayer puzzle game "2048WARS" for iPhone and Android. "2048WARS" is the most evolved version of the worldwide smash hit puzzle game "2048" and is now available as an ultimate online multiplayer game.

(Image1: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/img/201710046454-O1-G16J92M5)

(Image2: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/img/201710046454-O2-secP17vR)

(Image3: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/img/201710046454-O3-L2Uqj8GM)

Download URL

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/app/2048wars-pvp-puzzle/id1216584611

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.mashloop.puzzle2048wars

YouTube

Basic play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAq5oFNQLYs

High-speed play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFo0rF2DWXg

"2048WARS" is a multiplayer online puzzle game that Prosch has developed with its own new ideas, based on the worldwide smash hit open-source game "2048" for computers. Keeping its simplicity, it has become even more addictive with snap judgement required in the new multiplayer mode. Compete against your friends and family, or even the best players in the world. Even if you have never played 2048 before, not to worry. The "2048 mode" for a single player is also available to learn what it is all about.

* The original open-source version of 2048 was created by Gabriele Cirulli.

Description

Easy to navigate just with one finger and simple rules:

You can play this game whenever you get in-between times.

New feature - the thrilling "Blocker Panel":

The timing of attacking the opponent with your blocker panel can be the final clincher for your win. On top of that, you could also use your opponents' blocker panels that were sent to you to attack them back.

Play with players from all over the world:

Compete against thousands of other players for a higher worldwide ranking. Even if you lose, if you keep playing with other players, you will be able to reach the ultimate master level.

Recommended for those game lovers who:

want a game that is easy to play to kill time or as in-between activities just for a few minutes.

like not-too-complicated but thrilling and fast-paced puzzle games.

have got addicted to 2048 before.

Information

Name of the app: 2048WARS

Price: Free

OS: iOS 8.0 or later, Android 4.0.3 or later

URL:

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/app/2048wars-pvp-puzzle/id1216584611

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.mashloop.puzzle2048wars

YouTube:
Regulatory News:

Eurofins (Paris:ERF):

Eurofins Scientific (EUFI.PA), a European leader in Forensic DNA and Toxicology testing in France, Germany and Belgium, announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire the Forensics and Security division of LGC ("LGC Forensics"), the largest player in the UK forensics market, a European pioneer in this field and a significant forensic DNA testing provider in Germany, from LGC Group. The transaction is expected to close in the coming weeks, upon fulfillment of customary closing conditions.

LGC Forensics provides the most comprehensive range of forensic science services including casework, DNA testing, digital forensics, drugs and toxicology and firearms. The company has over 120 accredited methods, significantly more than any of their competitors. LGC Forensics completes over 34,000 casework investigations per annum. LGC Forensics is one of the most trusted forensic services providers in the world, benefitting from strong customer relationships with major police forces in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. The company employs over 650 staff in eight locations, seven in the UK and one in Germany, and generates annual revenues in excess of EUR 45m.

The acquisition of LGC Forensics is an opportunity for Eurofins Forensics to reshape the European forensic market, thanks to the combination of Eurofins and LGC Forensics' capabilities and industry-leading delivery performance. Eurofins' offering in the forensic market is now unique, with its scientific consulting, expert witness services, strengthened DNA testing (more than 500,000 samples processed annually) and toxicology testing. This market has significant growth opportunities stemming from regulator's increased focus on quality standards and accreditation, as well as growing outsourcing trends. Additionally, LGC Forensics' digital forensic services will provide Eurofins with new, state-of-the-art, skills and technologies including: computer and mobile phone forensic services, cell site analysis, imagery and audio analysis. Digital forensics is a clear development path for the future of the forensics market, which is characterized by an increasing prevalence of cyber-crimes.

Comment from Dr. Gilles Martin, Eurofins' CEO: "We are pleased to welcome LGC Forensics, a highly renowned laboratory group, to Eurofins' family of businesses. In addition to the large volume of DNA testing it carries out, LGC Forensics adds another spectrum of new advanced services that Eurofins can now offer to its clients. In return, LGC Forensics will gain access to the Group's entire portfolio of competencies, logistics and clients, which should help reinforce their leadership in the UK and German forensics markets and expand their offering to other European countries. This transaction is another demonstration of Eurofins' commitment to acquire advanced technologies to expand its state-of-the-art portfolio of analytical services."

Dr. Mark Pearse, Managing Director, LGC, Forensic and Security Division: "I am delighted that we will soon be part of Eurofins. This news follows the division's recent commercial successes, both in the UK and abroad, and is testament to the team's commitment to develop innovative operational models, working in close partnership with the UK forces. As we begin to see greater stability in the funding and delivery of forensics in the UK, Eurofins will continue to provide leadership long in to the future, building on the expertise of our world-renowned employees."

Tim Robinson, CEO LGC, said: "We are proud to have played a crucial role in the UK forensics landscape in the last two decades. During that time, LGC has invested significantly in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of delivering forensic evidence, with a very strong focus on quality and innovation. I am confident that the business is set for a successful and exciting future under the global reach and scientific expertise of Eurofins."

For more information, please visit www.eurofins.com

Notes for the editor:

Eurofins a global leader in bio-analysis

Eurofins Scientific through its subsidiaries (hereinafter sometimes "Eurofins" or "the Group") believes it is the world leader in food, environment and pharmaceutical products testing and that it is also one of the global independent market leaders in certain testing and laboratory services for agroscience, genomics, discovery pharmacology and for supporting clinical studies. In addition, Eurofins is one of the key emerging players in specialty clinical diagnostic testing in Europe and the USA. With over 30,000 staff in 375 laboratories across 41 countries, Eurofins offers a portfolio of over 130,000 analytical methods for evaluating the safety, identity, composition, authenticity, origin and purity of biological substances and products, as well as for innovative clinical diagnostic. The Group objective is to provide its customers with high-quality services, accurate results on time and expert advice by its highly qualified staff.

Eurofins is committed to pursuing its dynamic growth strategy by expanding both its technology portfolio and its geographic reach. Through R&D and acquisitions, the Group draws on the latest developments in the field of biotechnology and analytical chemistry to offer its clients unique analytical solutions and the most comprehensive range of testing methods.

As one of the most innovative and quality oriented international players in its industry, Eurofins is ideally positioned to support its clients' increasingly stringent quality and safety standards and the expanding demands of regulatory authorities around the world.

The shares of Eurofins Scientific are listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ISIN FR0000038259, Reuters EUFI.PA, Bloomberg ERF FP).

LGC

LGC is an international leader in the extended life sciences sector, including human healthcare, agri-food the environment. LGC provides a comprehensive range of reference materials, proficiency testing schemes, genomics reagents and instrumentation, as well as research and measurement services. Its scientific tools and solutions enable organisations to advance research, develop new products and form an essential part of their quality and compliance procedures.

LGC's 2,000 employees include internationally-recognised scientists who are experts in their field. Headquartered in London, it operates out of 19 countries worldwide and is extensively accredited to quality standards such as GMP, GLP, ISO 13485, ISO 17034, ISO 17043, ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 9001.

LGC has been home to the UK Government Chemist for more than 100 years and is the UK National Measurement Laboratory and Designated Institute for chemical and bio measurement. LGC has been privately-owned since 1996 and has diversified through internal investment and acquisition to be an international leader in its chosen niche markets. LGC is now owned by funds affiliated with KKR.

For more information, please visit www.lgcgroup.com

Important disclaimer:

This press release contains forward-looking statements and estimates that involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements and estimates contained herein represent the judgement of Eurofins Scientific' management as of the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees for future performance, and the forward-looking events discussed in this release may not occur. Eurofins Scientific disclaims any intent or obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements and estimates. All statements and estimates are made based on the information available to the Company's management as of the date of publication, but no guarantee can be made as to their validity.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171011006395/en/

Contacts:

Investor Relations

Eurofins Scientific

+32 2 766 1620

ir@eurofins.com
Orava Residential REIT plc



Stock Exchange Release 12 October 2017 at 8:35 a.m.





Board of Directors of Orava Residential REIT plc supports continuation of independent operations and further investigation of Orava Funds plc's indicative offer



NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, HONG KONG, SOUTH AFRICA, SINGAPORE, NEW ZEALAND OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.



The Board of Directors of Orava Residential REIT plc ("Orava Residential REIT" or the "Company") announced on 4 October 2017 that it does not recommend the acceptance of Investors House Oyj's exchange offer because, among other reasons, the consideration offered by Investors House Oyj is low in relation to the net asset value of Orava Residential REIT's share.



As previously announced, the independent members of Orava Residential REIT have surveyed possible alternatives and the development of Orava Residential REIT's independent operations in order to achieve the best possible outcome for all shareholders.



Based on the information currently at its disposal, the Board of Directors of Orava Residential REIT deems as the best alternative that Orava Residential REIT continues as an independent tax exempt REIT or AIF fund and that its operations are developed further. The Company's Board of Directors deems that the indicative offer by Orava Funds plc ("Orava Funds") announced yesterday is interesting and will investigate its feasibility.



Continuing as a tax exempt, liquid residential REIT or AIF fund and development of independent operations



1. The listed REIT or AIF form allows for tax benefit and liquidity



Orava Residential REIT is, in accordance with the Act on the Tax Exemption of Certain Limited Liability Companies Engaging in Apartment Rental Operations (299/2009) (the "Tax Exemption Act") and with exceptions mentioned therein, exempt from income tax for its operations, since it is a so-called REIT. As a residential REIT operating under the Tax Exemption Act, it is possible for Orava Residential REIT to achieve higher profit than as a housing investment company subject to tax, which pays a corporate tax of 20 per cent for its result. According to the Board of Director's understanding, a voluntary shift from single taxation (taxation of dividends) to double taxation (taxation of dividends and of the Company profit) is not in the interest of Orava Residential REIT's shareholders.



Operating as a residential REIT and benefitting from the Tax Exemption Act will require, also in the future, that the REIT is managed by an entity that holds an authorisation in accordance with the Act on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (7.3.2014/162, the "AIFM Act") or that the Company itself applies for a corresponding authorisation. Currently, Orava Residential REIT's manager with the AIFM authorisation is Orava Funds.



According to the Board of Director's understanding, the share of Orava Residential REIT has been liquid, since taking into account its size, Orava Residential REIT is one of the most traded companies in the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Liquidity is generally measured by turnover velocity, which is the ratio of the stock exchange turnover of a share in a listed company to its market value. Based on its turnover velocity, the share of Orava Residential REIT has been the 16th most traded share in the Helsinki Stock Exchange during the last twelve months.



According to the Board of Director's understanding, the above-mentioned benefits of a REIT would be lost in a situation in which Orava Residential REIT would be combined with Investors House Oyj or the Company's housing assets would be transferred into a fund referred to in Elite Varainhoito Oyj's ("Elite") offer. Due to this, after having considered the alternatives at hand, the Board of Directors deems it most appropriate that the operations of Orava Residential REIT be developed as an independent company, either under the current REIT provisions or by converting Orava Residential REIT into a publicly listed, tax-exempt AIF fund.



2. The Board of Directors has decided on following development measures



Purchase of the Company's own shares - Divestment of apartments at balance sheet values and purchase of the Company's own shares at the prevailing price level, which is significantly below the balance sheet value, would give a possibility to benefit from the current undervaluation of the share of Orava Residential REIT. In the Board of Director's understanding, purchase of the Company's own shares would be appropriate as long as the valuation of the share in the Company would be approximately 90 per cent of the net asset value per share. The Company's reserve for invested unrestricted equity currently amounts to approximately EUR 24 million, and if necessary, could be used in its entirety for the purchase of the Company's own shares, while taking liquidity and capital adequacy requirements of the Company into account.



The Tax Exemption Act that Orava Residential REIT complies with does not currently allow for the purchase of the Company's own shares without putting the Company's income tax exemption at risk. The Company has already for a long time actively promoted a legislative change allowing for the purchase of the Company's own shares. The Board of Directors intends to propose to the Company's General Meeting that it authorise the Board of Directors to decide on the purchase of the Company's own shares immediately after it has been confirmed that the Company will not, as a consequence of the purchase of its own shares, permanently lose the tax exemption referred to in the Tax Exemption Act.



Estimated cost savings of EUR 0.5 million in 2018 - The cost savings programme that has already begun will continue. As regards maintenance and repair costs and costs for rental operations, competitive tendering of housing managers is underway. As to financial expenses, competitive tendering of housing loans is nearly finished, and cost savings achieved through the tendering will become fully visible during 2018. As to administrative expenses, savings will be achieved, among others, through the rearrangement of financial administration and value calculation. In sum, the impact of the cost savings in 2018 is estimated at approximately EUR 0.5 million when compared to 2017.



In accordance with the study commissioned by the Company's Board of Directors, the management fees paid by Orava Residential REIT are competitive when compared with fees of other companies managing residential funds, varying between 0.89 and 1.5 per cent (when calculated based on GAV). The fee charged by Orava Funds is 0.6 per cent of GAV.



Based on information currently at its disposal, the Board of Directors deems that the continuation of the Company's independent operations will be the best alternative among those now at hand. The Company's Board of Directors continues measures that aim at making the Company's operations more efficient and achieving cost savings.



Indicative offer made by Elite and indicative offer made by Orava Funds



The Company's Board of Directors has decided not to continue preparing the indicative offer made by Elite. Even though the consideration for the net asset value of the housing portfolio received by shareholders of Orava Residential REIT as a result of the arrangement would be higher than the consideration offered by Investors House Oyj, this would mean from the perspective of the shareholders a change in the Company's legal structure that would result in a loss of an estimated 8-11 per cent of the net asset value of the Company's housing portfolio in transaction fees and in the Company's listed, liquid share being converted into a less liquid fund unit.



Due to time restraints, the Company's Board of Directors has only had the opportunity to preliminarily assess the indicative offer made by Orava Funds and its feasibility. However, in accordance with the preliminary assessment of the Company's Board of Directors and its financial advisor HLP Corporate Finance Ltd, the indicative offer made by Orava Funds is as to its financial terms more favourable than that made by Elite. The Company's Board of Directors deems the offer interesting and continues the preparations of the offer. In the understanding of the Board of Directors of Orava Residential REIT, the realisation of the offer is still subject to significant uncertainties that are described in more detail in the indicative offer of Orava Funds announced yesterday.



Helsinki, 12 October 2017





Orava Residential REIT plc



Board of Directors





Additional information:



Deputy Chairman of the Board Patrik Hertsberg, tel. +358 50 555 0185



Disclaimer



The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration of such shares, exemption from registration requirement or any other qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdictions. This release is not a tender offer document and as such does not constitute an offer or invitation to make a sales offer.



The content of this release must not be published or distributed, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa or the United States. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, and the securities must not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, except in accordance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 (as amended) or an exemption therefrom. The distribution of this release and offering or selling of shares possibly offered may be restricted in certain jurisdictions. The company is not liable for obtaining appropriate information on such restrictions or for compliance with them. The company disclaims all legal responsibility for violation of such restrictions.

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LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Sky plc (BSY.L, SKY.L) reported that its EBITDA for the first-quarter rose 11% to 582 million pounds, and increased 15% when excluding the cost of investing in two new lines of business - Sky Mobile and Sky Espana.



Jeremy Darroch, Group Chief Executive, said, 'Looking ahead, despite the uncertainty in the broader consumer environment, we remain on track with our plans and enter the busy Q2 trading period focused on delivering our clear strategy for growth.'



Group like-for-like revenues increased 5% to 3.296 billion pounds in the first three months of the year, with good growth across all territories despite headwinds from a decline in the UK advertising market and pressure on consumer spending across Europe.



The company added 160,000 new customers, up 51% on the prior year helped by strong campaigns in all markets around Game of Thrones 7. We grew well in Germany & Austria adding 90,000 new customers, up 84% and added 70,000, up 100%, in the UK & Ireland. In Italy, customer base remained flat versus the fourth-quarter.



The company said it has a well established loyalty programme in Italy, with over 2 million members to date, and this is helping us to achieve one of the lowest rates of churn in Pay-TV. In August, it launched a similar programme in the UK & Ireland, rewarding customers with a range of benefits based on their tenure, which get better over time. In just a few weeks, it has signed up over 1 million customers and plan to launch a similar scheme in Germany & Austria during calendar year 2018.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2017 / 360 Blockchain Inc. ("360" or the "Company") (CNSX: CODE - FSE: C5B) now trading under the symbol CODE on the CSE, as of October 10th, is a publicly listed company that invests exclusively in blockchain-based technology.

"At 360 Blockchain Inc., we believe blockchain technology will radically transform how business is conducted - delivering security, cost savings and efficiencies at unprecedented scale," noted Mr. George Tsafalas, President & CEO.

By investing capital and expertise, we accelerate the development and application of public and private blockchain technologies. The company is completing its due diligence relating to several technologies in the blockchain and cryptocurrency fields. As 360 seeks to "Empower the Blockchain Revolution" its leadership is focused on early-stage opportunities.

One key area of interest is eSports. Already wildly popular around the world, eSports will be a $1.5 billion business by 2020.* 360's team includes veterans of traditional live events (sports, concerts) who are invested heavily in this booming business. We're seeking blockchain-based advances that improve live-streaming, ticketing, betting and fraud prevention.

The leadership team will also be participating in the Monaco Growth Forums' Blockchain Summit taking place in London and Monaco next week. 360 Blockchain Inc. is a sponsor of the Summit.

Monaco Growth Forums' (MGF) Blockchain Summit, to be held October 17-19, 2017 in London and Monaco, is an exclusive, invitation-only event designed to give high-growth companies unparalleled global exposure and the rare opportunity to network with preeminent international investors.

The company will be making Board and Management announcements in the near future.

*Newzoo Research

About 360 Blockchain Inc.

Our Mission:

To empower blockchain technologies with capital and experience to create exponential value.

Company Description:

360 Blockchain Inc. has an all-round view to accelerate the development and application of revolutionary blockchain technologies by investing capital and expertise. We are founded on the belief that blockchain technology, essentially a distributed ledger which is transparent and incorruptible, has the potential to transform the way business is conducted, delivering security, cost savings and efficiency gains not seen before in our internet connected world. 360 Blockchain will be focused upon identifying and empowering blockchain technologies applying to crypto-currencies, smart contracts, eSports, data management, the internet of things, equity trading, privacy applications and beyond.

For further information, please contact:

George Tsafalas

President & CEO

Telephone: 604-343-2977

E-mail: corporate@360capital.ca

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans," "expects," "is expected," "budget," "scheduled," "estimates," "forecasts," "predicts," "intends," "targets," "aims," "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may," "could," "should," "would," "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company 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 as required by securities laws.

SOURCE: 360 Blockchain Inc.
ISTANBUL, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tissue World Istanbul is set to take place at the Istanbul Congress Center (ICC), Turkey from 4 - 6 September 2018.

Part of the international Tissue World portfolio established since 1993, Tissue World Istanbul is the 2nd edition of Tissue World trade show and conference in Turkey. Took place for the first time as a fully-fledged trade show in 2016, Tissue World Istanbul 2016 was a resounding success and welcomed a total of 1,602 participants from 65 countries across the 3 show days.

Strongly supported by the local and regional tissue industry, the show floor featured leading tissue manufacturers and industry suppliers which accounted for over 40% of the regional tissue business. Here are some of the leading players that the show is hosting: Aktul KaAYit, Cellynne Converter, Lee & Man, Hayat Kimya, ICM, Ipek KaAYit, KahramanmaraAY KaAYit , Mediterannean Tissue Mill, Lila KaAYit, Parteks KaAYit and Point Makina.

Trade visitors included key decision makers from a diverse range of profiles including traders, distributors, retailers, finished product manufacturers, jumbo roll producers and many more.

Being a huge tissue producer with a leading role in the MENA region mainly thanks to its strategic location, Istanbul is the ideal meeting point for the local and international players from Eastern Europe, Russia, the CIS, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

New addition in 2018: Hygiene Nonwoven Machinery Suppliers introduced on the Show Floor

The hygiene nonwovens sector in Turkey shows a growing process in the manufacturing segment of the industry. According to figures collected and compiled by EDANA, the overall production of nonwovens in Europe grew by 3.6% in 2015, despite an environment of slow economic growth. Turkey continues to recorddouble-digit growth in nonwoven production. Over the course of 2014-2017, the production has increased by 16%.

In addition, the Turkish retail market size in 2017 for wet wipes, nappies/diapers/pants and sanitary protection is estimated at US$1,006 billion, according to Euromonitor International.

Against this backdrop and in view of the compatibility with the business profiles of Tissue World exhibitors, the hygiene nonwoven machinery suppliers will be introduced on the 2018 show floor, all set to welcome a broader landscape of buyers from the manufacturing and converting side as well as traders, distributors and retailers.

For more details on Tissue World Istanbul, please visit www.tissueworld.com/istanbul/.

About Tissue World

Tissue World is the leading global event series serving the tissue industry worldwide since 1993. With events in Istanbul, Milan, Miami and Sao Paulo, it offers an integrated and intertwined platform consisting of exhibitions, conferences and a magazine providing an unmatched offline and online meeting place to do business, exchange ideas and learn, all year round.

Contact:

Yew Lei Ching

Phone Number: +65 6592 0888 ext 873

Email: leiching.yew@ubm.com

Logo- https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582276/Tissue_World_Istanbul_Logo.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582277/DH1A5039.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582282/UBM_Logo.jpg
Wolters Kluwer's Finance, Risk Reporting business is the winner of Wealth & Finance International's Integrated Regulatory Compliance Reporting Platform of The Year Award, 2017. The publication has awarded the firm's OneSumX finance, risk and reporting solutions the global accolade as part of its inaugural FinTech Award Series, based on evidence of market share, excellence and innovation.

OneSumX is used by financial services firms to manage a broad array of regulatory reporting, finance and risk obligations globally. Global and local regulators are demanding ever-greater integration across business processes, more invasive and broader scope in management and reporting, and faster reaction to change of regulations. Wolters Kluwer's OneSumX offers integrated regulatory compliance and reporting solutions for managing these ever more complex finance, risk and regulatory reporting obligations.

In the past few months leading banks across the world have implemented the OneSumX solution for Regulatory Reporting, Risk and Finance. Major financial services firms that have recently announced their use of Wolters Kluwer's finance, risk and reporting solutions include: Nordea, BBVA, CIBC, Australia's Queensland Treasury Corporation and The Swedish Export Credit Corporation.

"This award is further independent global recognition of our leading position when it comes to providing integrated finance, risk and regulatory reporting solutions," commented Clive Pedder, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Wolters Kluwer's Finance, Risk Reporting business. "Wolters Kluwer continues to place a strong emphasis on product development and evolution and such awards provide independent verification that this strategy is welcomed by our clients."

Chartis Research recently named Wolters Kluwer a Category Leader for IFRS 9 solutions, for the second year running, as well as a Category Leader in its Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) Report. At the end of last year Chartis Research named Wolters Kluwer #1 for Regulatory Reporting in its RiskTech100 report. Notably, this is the sixth year running that Wolters Kluwer has achieved this honor, with 2016 also seeing the company win a plethora of other accolades for its dominant position in regulatory reporting from the likes of FinTech Finance and Data Management Review and Corporate Vision magazine. Wolters Kluwer's OneSumX was also named Best Risk Management System by Banking Technology magazine at the end of 2016.

Wealth Finance International provides global financial news across both traditional and alternative investment sectors. Published in the U.K. it has a monthly readership of more than 130,000.

About Wolters Kluwer Governance, Risk Compliance

Wolters Kluwer Governance, Risk Compliance (GRC) is a division of Wolters Kluwer which provides legal, finance, risk and compliance professionals and small business owners with a broad spectrum of solutions, services and expertise needed to help manage myriad governance, risk and compliance needs in dynamic markets and regulatory environments.

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. 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.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005044/en/

Contacts:

Wolters Kluwer

Paul Lyon

Director of International Corporate Communications

Governance, Risk Compliance

Office +44 20 3197 6586, Mobile +44 77 6539 1824

Paul.Lyon@wolterskluwer.com
The global environmental organization's 'Go Solar' campaign urges the European Commission to introduce EU policies designed to usher in 100% renewable energy era, with solar at the forefront of change.Greenpeace, the global environmental organization, has ramped up its calls for the European Union (EU) to adopt greater renewable energy deployment targets through its new 'Go Solar' campaign. The most visceral step taken by the eco-activists came this week in Brussels, when 65 Greenpeace members etched a giant sun on the city's Schuman roundtable with biodegradable yellow paint. The stunt, which occurred directly outside the headquarters of the European Commission, was one of seven eye-catching actions taken by Greenpeace across many of Europe's largest cities over the past few days. Large suns were also unfurled in Budapest, Barcelona, Ljubljana, Sibiu, Zadar and Pernik. Greenpeace says that the campaign has been timed to remind Europe's MEPs that the continent has an abundance of renewable energy that is waiting to be harnessed. The European Union is currently deciding the future of Europe's energy system and will vote on a series of wide-ranging policies and legislation on November 28. A reform of Europe's electricity market rules is due on December 11, with a full Parliament vote expected in early 2018. "Ordinary people, cooperatives and small businesses are all ready to take part in the energy revolution, making electricity from wind, water ...

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.
LONDON, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

A third of private vehicle journeys could be made with new technology, forecasts Addison Lee -led MERGE Greenwich consortium

Research indicates that one in seven of London ' s overall journeys, by any form of transport, could be made by autonomous ride-sharing within eight years

Consortium wins Innovate UK funding to develop plans for London pilot where Autonomous Vehicles integrate with public transport

Autonomous ride-sharing services could account for a third of all trips by private drivers in London by 2025, according to a consortium investigating ways to integrate new technology into the city's public transport network.

Experts predict that 34 per cent of private drivers' journeys could be replaced, while up to 30 per cent of taxi and private hire journeys could also be served by Autonomous Vehicle (AV) ride-sharing.

The figures - extrapolated from studies carried out in Los Angeles and Boston, together with the London Travel Demand Survey - are contained in initial research from the MERGE Greenwich consortium, a group of six partners undertaking a year-long project to study how autonomous vehicle ride-sharing can work and connect with London's transport network.

The consortium is backed by funding from Innovate UK - an agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Overall, an AV ride-sharing service could serve up to one in seven of all trips within London within eight years, equivalent to 2.5m trips per day, and take up to 25 per cent of the total transport market by value - worth around 3.5bn at today's rates.

"The idea that one-in-three London car journeys could be replaced by autonomous vehicles by 2025 shows the huge potential in the sector," said Andy Boland, Addison Lee's CEO.

The MERGE Greenwich consortium is led by Addison Lee Group and involves mobility experts Ford, TRL, Transport Systems Catapult, DG Cities and Immense Simulations.

Paul McCabe, Addison Lee Group's Director of Mobility, said: "With some of the brightest British automotive and ground transport brains involved, the MERGE Greenwich partnership will pave the way for autonomous vehicles on the streets of London at scale, to provide significantly improved transport.

"This will put London at the forefront of mobility development, globally."

It comes as an exciting future of autonomous cars on British roads moves a step closer with the Addison Lee-led MERGE Greenwich consortium securing funding from the Government's national innovation agency to help take the country to the forefront of mobility innovation.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also put the need to reduce the number of cars on the capital's roads at the heart of his transport strategy.

So, what exactly will the project deliver?

A plan on how autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing will integrate into public transport systems, focused on the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Advanced simulation and analysis to demonstrate how this integrated solution can benefit consumers, society and the environment.

Ideas on how to improve the efficiency of the way we travel around cities and how to reduce total vehicle journeys and reduce emissions.

Key requirements for a vehicle which will be optimal for an AV ride-sharing service.

A review of customer barriers to adoption and design considerations to overcome them.

A detailed commercial and business model to show how this service and AV technology can be brought to market.

Working from the Smart Mobility Living Lab: London, the project will develop a future business and operating model to integrate AVs, ride-sharing and existing transport into truly multi-modal transport system. From this, the next stage could be conducting real-world testing to see how AV ride-sharing services could contribute to and enhance the new mobility vision for London.

Trevor Dorling, Director of DG Cities explained: "With the advent of connected and autonomous vehicles, there is now an opportunity to redefine transport in our cities and towns. Offering modern, flexible and responsive mobility services that can be shared by the public is likely to reduce the cost to the consumer, reduce the number of journeys and vehicles on our roads - helping the environment and improving road safety. DG Cities looks forward to being a part of this project and sharing the key lessons learnt with other cities in the UK and overseas."

Innovate UK's Chief Executive Ruth McKernan added: "Successful industry-led R&D projects will further spearhead UK development of low emission, and connected and autonomous vehicle technology. This builds on our world-leading research and innovation capability in this area and the significant strength of UK businesses both large and small in this field."

The consortium partners bring a crucial and complementary set of assets and knowledge to the MERGE Greenwich programme:

Addison Lee Group provides real world commercial knowledge of operating a large fleet on a global scale, which enables the MERGE Greenwich project to accelerate the validation of the AV ride-sharing model beyond any previous project.

Ford brings expertise to develop vehicle requirements fit for purpose in an AV ride-sharing model and DG Cities will ensure that the AV model is compatible with the Borough's needs and objectives, and will explore how services can be integrated with the city and existing public transport.

The operating model, vehicle requirements and city-integration know-how will be combined with the extensive simulation and modelling capability of Immense Simulations, TRL and Transport Systems Catapult.

MERGE Greenwich will develop a world first, custom-designed blueprint which showcases the UK's cutting edge mobility capability.

Anticipated uptake of Autonomous vehicle ride-sharing[1]

Estimated AV Forecast AV Potential value of ride-share Market ride-share trips per the AV ride-share Year 2024/25 penetration (2025) day (2025) market (2025) Underground/ DLR 5% 109,646 GBP116,060,694 Bus/tram 5% 159,796 GBP87,488,571 Taxi/ Other 30% 100,856 GBP865,094,976 Car driver 34% 1,369,603 GBP1,895,591,907 Car passenger 34% 771,004 GBP559,352,079 Motorcycle 5% 3,234 GBP3,134,520 Cycle 0.5% 3,904 GBP1,002,384 Walk 0.5% 29,580 GBP1,483,054 TOTAL 14% 2,547,623 GBP3,529,208,186

About MERGE Greenwich

MERGE Greenwich is a project to investigate how to improve the way we travel around cities, reduce total vehicle journeys and reduce emissions, using new and future developments in electric and autonomous vehicles. The project will focus on the social, commercial and infrastructure challenge of autonomous vehicles, and will consider safety, ride-sharing, security, accessibility and environmental factors of an autonomous ground transport service. The MERGE Greenwich consortium will simulate the way the Royal Borough of Greenwich moves today and how it could move with an autonomous ride-share system which is integrated with public transport. Consumer and city-level research will also be carried out in order to understand how this new mobility system could be applied to the real world. The resulting report will provide a blueprint for an optimal operating model, to give the UK a first-to-market global advantage in next generation ground transportation systems.

The 12-month project will be delivered by a consortium led by Addison Lee Group, and will use the London Borough of Greenwich to model, test and assess options. The consortium's membership comprises of:

Addison Lee Group: apply booking, allocation and dispatch technology to pair ride-sharing journeys in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and coordinate with the broader transport network.

Ford: developing electric and autonomous vehicle requirements and feasibility.

DG Cities: brings experience of developing strategic and scalable smart city innovation initiatives. They will lead on work to ensure that the business model is compatible with the needs of the Borough.

TRL: will utilise significant experience from the Smart Mobility Living Lab: London to help analyse and develop the business case for autonomous ride-sharing.

to help analyse and develop the business case for autonomous ride-sharing. Transport Systems Catapult: bringing existing data and modelling expertise relating to ride-sharing and AVs.

Immense Simulations: Enabling the consortium to assess the commercial viability of alternate strategic AV deployment scenarios by using large scale, agent based simulations driven by Immense's unique mobility insight prediction tools.

About Innovate UK

Innovate UK is the UK's innovation agency.Innovate UK works with people, companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy - delivering productivity, new jobs and exports. Our aim at Innovate UK is to keep the UK globally competitive in the race for future prosperity.

1. Data extrapolated from TfL London Travel Demand Survey and from Chen, TD & Kockelman KM (2016), Management of a Shared, Autonomous, Electric Vehicle Fleet: Implications of Pricing Schemes, University of Texas at Austin
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - German shares were subdued on Thursday, with banks declining ahead of third-quarter earnings from U.S. banking giants due this week. Also, ECB President Mario Draghi and several other ECB members are set to speak at the IMF's annual meeting in Washington D.C. The benchmark DAX was down 12 points or 0.09 percent at 12,958 after rising 0.2 percent in the previous session. Commerzbank slid 0.2 percent and Deutsche Bank shed 0.6 percent after the European Commission proposed new measures to strengthen the EU banking sector against future crises. BASF declined 0.4 percent after saying it is recalling around 5,000 tons of its chemical precursor TDI. Energy firm Innogy rose 0.4 percent after it bought Statkraft's 50 percent share in the Triton Knoll offshore wind project. Lufthansa was up more than 3 percent. The airline said it would sign an agreement to buy large parts of the bankrupt carrier Air Berlin. 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.
LONDON, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

New report measures UK's research performance (2010-2014) against nations including France, Germany, U.S., and China

Data analysis commissioned by the UK's Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and provided by information analytics business Elsevier, shows that the UK continues to excel as a research nation: despite representing only 0.9% of the global population, it produces 15.2% of the world's most highly cited research.

While the UK produces research that ranks above the world average for quality, its leading position is being eroded by other countries: the UK's field-weighted citation impact is 1.57, compared to a global average of 1.0, however its annual growth has dropped from 1.3% (2008-2012) to 0.6% (2010-2014) and in 2014 China overtook the UK in global share of highly cited articles. Worldwide the UK's share of the share of articles has also dropped from 6.4% to 6.3%.

These are some of the key findings presented in the report International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base 2016

This report examines the UK's performance during the period 2010-2014, comparing it with seven other research-intensive countries (Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.S.), four other fast growing nations (Brazil, India, Russia, and South Korea), as well as looking at regional research strengths within the UK.

Data in the report suggests that emerging countries such as China, and developed countries such as Italy, could threaten the UK's leadership position in the longer-term.

Measures of research performance analysed include: research quality, research investment and commercialisation, research mobility, and international collaboration.

Five key findings from the report are:

The UK remains a highly productive research nation, but competition from other countries is increasing

The UK's engineering, physical science and mathematics research levels are below the global baseline - not because UK output has dropped, but because other nations have increased their own shares

Competition from emerging markets (especially China ) is eroding the UK's global share in key research indicators: China overtook the UK in global share of highly cited articles in 2014

The UK is a key partner for global research collaboration and researcher mobility

The UK attracts the very best researchers from across the globe. These researchers are highly productive and contribute heavily to the UK's overly large share of highly cited publications

Nearly half the UK active researcher population is transitory. These transitory researchers (i.e. less than two years in the same country) are, on average, the most productive

To maintain the UK's leadership position on the global research stage, continued investment in its national research base is needed

UK's level of R&D spending has remained flat as a proportion of GDP

UK's R&D intensity is lower than that of China , France , Germany , and the U.S.

Commercialization of UK research

UK's income from intellectual property has grown since 2010, but the number of spin-off companies has reduced significantly

Although the UK accounts for a small proportion of global patenting activity (2% of global total) a high proportion of UK research is cited in patents (9.1% share)

UK's regions have distinct research strengths

UK regions show diverse strengths in different fields, but Greater London and South East England had the highest shares of the total of all UK publications in most research fields

Dr. Nick Fowler, Managing Director Research Networks at Elsevier said: "The UK will need to make strong policy decisions to maintain its attractive research climate. With our data and analytical capabilities, Elsevier aims to help UK academia and government track and measure key success factors such as collaboration and researcher mobility, which contribute to the country's scientific excellence. As was the case with previous reports we have produced for BEIS, this level of data analysis provides a unique window into the UK's research sector."

This is the third consecutive report in this series by Elsevier: the first was published in October 2011 and the second in December 2013. The reports analyses data derived from sources including Elsevier's Scopus database, the OECD, and WIPO.

For a copy of the report, go to: http://www.elsevier.com/research-intelligence/beis-pdf

For interviews please contact Sacha Boucherie s.boucherie@elsevier.com

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a global information analytics business that helps institutions and professionals progress science, advance healthcare and improve performance for the benefit of humanity. Elsevier provides digital solutions and tools in the areas of strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and professional education; including ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath. Elsevier publishes over 2,500 digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell, more than 35,000 e-book titles and many iconic reference works, including Gray's Anatomy. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a global provider of information and analytics for professionals and business customers across industries. http://www.elsevier.com

Media contact

Sacha Boucherie

Global Communications, Elsevier

+31-20-485-3564

s.boucherie@elsevier.com


Industry Leaders to Focus on Increasing Liquidity on Market-Leading Platform, Expanding Market Data Products

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) today announced that James Reilly has joined State Street as global head of Currenex, a market-leading technology provider offering the FX community high-performance technology and access to deep pools of liquidity for anonymous and disclosed trade execution. Reilly will focus on expanding the business and creating new partnerships. Additionally, Stephen Dispenza has been promoted to global head of sales for Currenex, reporting to Reilly. Dispenza previously served as North American head of sales for the platform.

Reilly joins State Street from Cantor Fitzgerald, where he was most recently global head of Foreign Exchange Sales and Trading. He reports to David Newns,who assumes a newly-created role as global head of GlobalLink Execution Services.

State Street also announced that Beverley Doherty has been appointed global head of FX Connect, a market-leading FX execution venue that helps firms efficiently manage multiple portfolios, connect with brokers and streamline global operations. Doherty was most recently the chief operating officer and North American head for GlobalLink, State Street's suite of e-trading platforms, technology, data and workflow solutions. Prior to that she held various roles in Currenex including Business Development and corporate sales. Doherty will also report to Newns.

"I'm very pleased to welcome James to our team as well as announce the promotions of David, Stephen and Beverley," said Martine Bond, head of GlobalLink. "David's expanded role will allow him to focus on leveraging technology across platforms and creating synergies in GlobalLink's core execution and trading platforms, and will help us better meet our clients challenges in the FX industry. I'm also excited to have James on board as his reputation as a leader and innovator gives me great confidence in his ability to bring our business to the next level."

FX Connect and Currenex were recently honored with three awards from Profit & Loss including 'Best Platform for Hedge Funds' and 'Best FX Multi-dealer Platform' for Currenex and 'Best Platform for Asset Manager's' for FX Connect. FX Connect was also ranked two in multibank and independent platform market share by Euromoney Magazine, up 6.5 percentage points from 2016.

About State Street Corporation

State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $31.0 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $2.60 trillion* in assets under management as of June 30, 2017, State Street operates in more than 100 geographic markets worldwide, including the US, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. For more information, visit State Street's website at www.statestreet.com.

* AUM reflects approx. $34 billion (as of June 30, 2017) with respect to which State Street Global Markets, LLC (SSGM) serves as marketing agent; SSGM and State Street Global Advisors are affiliated.

State Street Corporation One Lincoln Street, Boston, MA 02111-2900.

2017 State Street Corporation All Rights Reserved

CORP-3299

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005151/en/

Contacts:

State Street Corporation

Brendan Paul, +1-617-662-2903

BPaul2@StateStreet.com

@StateStreet
CAMBRIDGE, England, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

On Dec 5 to 7 IDTechEx will host six half day business intelligence forums covering the latest innovations with sensors, flexible electronics, human machine interface technology and the Internet of Things.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140310/673848 )



(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582337/Insight_Forums_Cambridge.jpg )



Each forum is delivered by IDTechEx analysts who have researched their respective fields globally, providing impartial information appraising technologies, players, status, outlook, market pull and market forecasts.

The forums are an ideal way to train staff on these topics and for attendees to learn the latest insights to assist them in making informed business decisions, in a time efficient manner. Attendees have the chance to network with other attending companies, sponsors and question analysts in order to take away a clear idea of the status of each topic area and potential areas of opportunity for each specific attendee.

The following topics are covered in half day sessions over the course of the three days:

Innovations in sensors and Actuators

Biometric Identification

Flexible and Stretchable Electronics

Biosensor for Health Diagnostics

Next generation Human Machine Interaction Technologies

IoT: Wireless Sensors, Industry 4.0 and the Digitization of Things

In each forum, IDTechEx analysts take the complex technology and market landscape involved and provide a clear breakdown including technology assessment; market forecasts; case studies and application trends; key players; industry structure; value chain; unmet needs and opportunities.

Attendees can attend one or more sessions, with discounts available for booking more than one session.

The forums will be held in Cambridge at Wolfson College, part of the University of Cambridge on December 5, 6 and 7 2017.

Each forum is carefully structured with a detailed contents and timing list to ensure that all the key aspects are covered. These can be seen at the event website http://www.IDTechEx.com/Cambridge17.

About IDTechEx

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research and Events services, helping you profit from emerging technologies. IDTechEx Events provide an analytical, commercial outlook, taking into account market requirements, competitive technologies and development roadmaps. Attendees are presented with the full, diverse range of technologies but the main thrust is always on end user needs and commercialisation strategies. For more information see http://www.IDTechEx.com

Contact

Chris Clare

Event Director

+44(0)1223 810270

c.clare@IDTechEx.com


To:

From:

LEI Number:

Date: RNS

F&C UK Real Estate Investments Limited

2138001XRCB89W6XTR23

12 October 2017

F&C UK Real Estate Investments Limited ('FCRE')

Purchase of Unit K60, Lister Road, Basingstoke

IRP Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of FCRE, has purchased a 59,000 sq ft distribution unit in Basingstoke for 9.56 million, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.2 per cent. The property is let to one tenant, Bunzl UK Ltd, on a lease expiring 2027, at a rent of 525,300 per annum. The purchase was funded out of the company's existing cash reserves. Following the purchase, net gearing was 30.3 per cent.

Commenting on the purchase, Fund Manager Peter Lowe said 'industrial and distribution warehouses remain a favoured sector, and the acquisition complements the portfolio's existing south east holdings, providing secure income, backed by a solid financial covenant while delivering an attractive yield. The property itself is freehold, well configured and fit for purpose, benefits from the tenants long standing and ongoing commitment to the site, and also offers good re-letting prospects '.





All Enquiries:



The Company Secretary

Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited

Trafalgar Court

Les Banques

St Peter Port

Guernsey

GY1 3QL



Tel: 01481 745001

Fax: 01481 745051





Peter Lowe

Scott Macrae

F&C Investment Business Ltd



Tel: 0207 628 8000

Fax: 0131 225 2375


TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/12/17 -- Editors Note: There are two photos associated with this press release.

QMX Gold Corporation ("QMX" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: QMX) is pleased to report assay results from the second hole in a 4,500-meter drill program targeting the Bonnefond South Tonalite Plug on the east side of QMX Gold's extensive land package in Val d'Or, Quebec (Figure 1).

Highlights include:

-- The second hole, intersected the Tonalite Plug from the bedrock interface at 71.8 meters, down to a hole depth of 155.6 meters. The entire interval demonstrated alteration and veining typical of the mineralized zone and assayed 1.9 g/t gold over 83.8 meters (core length); -- Within this interval, a sheared mafic dyke returned 4.9 g/t gold over 10.2 meters from 95.8 meters to 106.0 meters; -- Four shear zones were also intersected within the footwall volcanic rocks below the Bonnefond South Plug. The shears are similar to those encountered in the first hole of this program (Press Release: September 13, 2017) with assay results of up to 7.0 g/t gold over 2.8 meters; -- Eight holes for 3,807 meters have been completed to date, assays for holes 3 through 8 are pending.

"Drilling on our Val d'Or Mining Camp property continues to yield strong results. Combining these initial results on Bonnefond South with the discoveries announced earlier in 2017, our team is proving its ability to successfully identify, evaluate and target prospective areas across our large land package in the heart of the Val d'Or mining district," commented Brad Humphrey, President and CEO. "The Bonnefond South drill program is successfully achieving its three primary goals, i) confirm AUR Resources' results within the plug, ii) allow us to use down-hole core-orientation tools, and iii) test for the extension of mineralization outside of the plug. The results to date have exceeded our expectations."

"The first two QMX drill holes confirm good continuity in widths and grades between the wider spaced historical holes. Further drilling and the use of oriented drill core will allow us to better define the potential for extensions of both the Tonalite Plug and mineralization," stated David Rigg, Senior VP Exploration.

Result from Second Hole - 17315-17-026

The casing of the second hole was secured in bedrock at 71.8 meters. The hole entered directly into a shear zone interpreted to be at the north contact of the Bonnefond Tonalite Plug. The south contact of the Bonnefond Plug was intersected at 155.6 meters and is also a shear zone. The entire 83.8 meter interval, from 71.8 to 155.6 meters, is cut by a system of millimetric to decametric, auriferous quartz-tourmaline veins with associated alterations and minor Pyrite. The entire section assayed 1.9 g/t gold over 83.8 meters (Figure 2 and Table 1). The geological environment is very similar to that of the first hole of the program, 17315-17-25 (Press Release: September 13, 2017). The broad intersection of tonalite in the second hole is also cut by a sheared and mineralized mafic dyke from 95.8 to 106.0 meters that assayed 4.9 g/t gold over 10.2 meters. Both of the shear zones delimiting the tonalite, the North Shear and the South Shear, are mineralized and assayed 0.80 g/t gold over 4.0 meters and 5.2 g/t gold over 6.6 meters, respectively.

Results from the second hole are consistent with the results from historic drilling completed by AUR Resources. AUR hole 315-22, 50 meters bellow the second QMX drill hole, intersected the Tonalite Plug and returned 2.0 g/t gold over 54.7 meters (Figure 2). The AUR intersection cut two sheared mafic dykes returning 4.2 g/t gold over 5.1 meters and 10.8 g/t gold over 3.2 meters. The alteration and veining described in the historical drill logs is very similar to that in QMX Gold's hole 17315-17-025 and -026.

Within the footwall volcanic rocks underlying the plug to the south, four distinct zones of shearing were intersected. QMX believes these metric wide zones result from focused high strain deformation with associated alteration and anomalous gold values and are similar to those encountered in the first hole of the program. The best gold intersection from the second hole associated with these shears is 7.0 g/t gold over 2.8 meters.

Table 1: Technical Parameters and Assay Results - Hole 17315-17-026 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MTN Zone 9, Nad MTM Zone 9, Azimuth Dip Hole Hole Number 83 Nad 83 Length Easting Northing ( degrees )( degrees ) (meters) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17315-17-026 232100 5330438 180 -55 402 ---------- Including Including Including ---------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table 1: Technical Parameters and Assay Results - Hole 17315-17-026 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From To Length(i) Au(ii) Description Hole Number (meters) (meters) (meters) (g/t) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17315-17-026 71.8 155.6 83.8 1.9 Tonalite ------------------------------------------------------------ North Shear 71.8 75.8 4.0 0.8 Zone Sheared Mafic 95.8 106.0 10.2 4.9 Dyke South Shear 150.4 155.6 5.2 6.6 Zone ------------------------------------------------------------ 193.8 197.0 3.2 1.0 Shear Zone 210.7 214.2 3.5 1.7 Shear Zone 277.8 280.8 3.0 0.5 Shear Zone 372.8 375.6 2.8 7.0 Shear Zone ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (i) Reported length are measured along the hole. (ii) Au uncut.

Hole 27325-27-026 was drilled with an azimuth of 180 degrees and a dip of -55 degrees to validate the geometry and the extension of the sheared mafic dykes. A detailed review of the geology and a description of the current drilling program is available in a press release dated September 13, 2017.

At this stage in the program, it is too early to define the direction and dip of all the individual structures and components that combine and contribute to the overall shape and plunge of the tonalite plug and mineralized zone(s). All drill holes are NQ-sized and will be surveyed at the end of the program using the Optical and Acoustic Imaging tool from PanPacific Wireline Services. Prior drilling was AQ-sized, which is not amenable to the survey equipment.

Qualified Persons

The scientific and technical content of this press release has been reviewed, prepared and approved by Mr. David Rigg, P.Geo, Senior Vice President Exploration, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

About QMX Gold Corporation

QMX Gold Corporation is a Canadian based resource company traded on the TSX-V under the symbol "QMX". The Company was recently restructured and is now systematically exploring its extensive property position in the Val d'Or mining camp in the Abitibi District of Quebec. QMX is currently drilling on the Bonnefond South Plug and is evaluating its recent discoveries on the Southwestern and Beacon Zones in order to develop follow up drill programs. In addition to its extensive land package, QMX owns the Aurbel gold mill.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information:

This press release contains or may be deemed to contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding future plans, operations and activities, projected mineralization and obtaining necessary financing, and the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company, its properties and/or its projects to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to those risks described in the disclosure documents of the Company filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR. Although the Company 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 statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the photos associated with this press release, please visit the following links:

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1103422_Figure1.jpg

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1103422_Figure2.jpg

Contacts:

QMX Gold Corporation

Brad Humphrey

President and CEO

(416) 861-5887



QMX Gold Corporation

Louis Baribeau

Public Relations

(514) 667-2304



QMX Gold Corporation

Toll free: +1 877-717-3027

info@qmxgold.ca

www.qmxgold.ca






CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Canadian dollar weakened against its major opponents in the European session on Thursday, as oil prices dropped after an industry data showed a surprise build in crude inventories last week.



Crude for November delivery fell $0.41 to $50.89 per barrel.



Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed late Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies rose by 3.1 million barrels to 468.5 million barrels for the week ended October 6.



Analysts had expected the oil inventories to have fallen by 1.8 million barrels.



Gasoline inventories fell by 1.575 million barrels, while distillates were up by 2.029 million barrels.



The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release official crude inventory data later in the day, which has been delayed by a day due to the Columbus Day holiday.



In its monthly report, the International Energy Agency said that the global crude supply rose by 90,000 bpd to 97.5 million barrels of oil per day in September



'Taking 2018 as a whole, oil demand and non-Opec production will grow by roughly the same volume and it is this current outlook that might act as the ceiling for aspirations of higher oil prices,' the agency said.



Investors awaited third-quarter earnings from U.S. banking giants due this week for direction.



Also, ECB President Mario Draghi and several other ECB members are set to speak at the IMF's annual meeting in Washington D.C.



The loonie was trading mixed in the Asian session. While the currency rose against the yen and the greenback, it held steady against the euro. Against the aussie, the loonie dropped.



The loonie declined to 1.2470 against the greenback, off early nearly 2-week high of 1.2433. If the loonie extends decline, 1.26 is possibly seen as its next support level.



The loonie, having advanced to a 2-day high of 1.4750 against the euro at 3:20 am ET, reversed direction and eased back to 1.4783. The next possible support for the loonie is seen around the 1.49 area.



Data from Eurostat showed that Eurozone industrial production growth accelerated to a nine-month high in August.



Industrial production climbed 1.4 percent month-on-month in August, faster than the 0.3 percent rise seen in July. This was the biggest growth since November 2016, when output grew 1.6 percent.



Reversing from an early weekly high of 90.35 against the yen, the loonie edged down to 90.07. Continuation of the loonie's downtrend may see it challenging support around the 89.00 mark.



Data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry revealed that Japan's tertiary activity contracted unexpectedly in August.



The tertiary industry activity dropped 0.2 percent month-on-month in August, reversing a 0.1 percent rise in July. Economists had forecast an increase of 0.1 percent.



The loonie weakened to 0.9753 against the aussie, following more than a 4-week high of 0.9695 hit at 5:00 pm ET. The loonie is seen finding support around the 0.985 level.



Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia home loans rose a seasonally adjusted 1.0 percent on month in August, coming in at 57,161.



That beat forecasts for a gain of 0.5 percent following the downwardly revised 2.8 percent increase in July.



Looking ahead, U.S. producer prices for September and weekly jobless claims for the week ended October 7 as well as Canada new housing price index for August are set for release in the New York session.



At 10:30 am ET, the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard participate in a panel discussion about monetary policy at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, in Washington DC.



Simultaneously, Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell will give a speech titled 'Prospects for Emerging Market Economies in a Normalizing Global Economy' at the Institute of International Finance Annual Membership Meeting, in Washington DC.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 12, 2017) - True Leaf Medicine International Ltd. (CSE: MJ) (FSE: TLA) (OTCQB: TRLFF) ("True Leaf"), a company involved in the hemp and cannabis-based product industry, has filed a preliminary offering circular with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") pursuant to the Regulation A framework, which is open to both accredited and unaccredited investors.

True Leaf has engaged Boustead Securities, LLC Member: FINRA/SIPC ("Boustead"), as lead underwriter. "Boustead looks forward to working with True Leaf's team to bring their Regulation A+ offering to investors," commented David Dobkin of Boustead.

"We are pleased to have Boustead leading the effort," said True Leaf CEO Darcy Bomford, "their expertise in Regulation A has proven successful in the past."

The purpose of the filing is to issue new shares of common stock to raise gross proceeds of up to $10 million CAD to help grow the True Leaf Pet division, and to advance the efforts of the True Leaf Medicine division with the goal of becoming a licensed producer of medicinal cannabis in Canada. Once its Regulation A+ offering has been qualified by the SEC, the offering will be made available to the general public to invest in True Leaf.

About True Leaf

True Leaf Medicine International Ltd., through its wholly owned subsidiary 'True Leaf Pet', has entered the global pet industry, forecast to reach $117 billion US in 20211, with a line of hemp-focused pet supplements in Canada, the United States and Europe. The company has also filed an application under Health Canada's Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) to become a Canadian licensed producer of medical cannabis through its 'True Leaf Medicine' subsidiary. It has passed through the preliminary and enhanced screening process of Health Canada's review and has recently received approval to build its facility.

www.trueleaf.com

Media Contact:

Paul Sullivan

Director, Public Relations

Paul@trueleaf.com

O: 604-685-4742

M: 604-603-7358

Investor Contact:

Kevin Bottomley

Director and Corporate Relations

Kevin@trueleaf.com

M: 778-389-9933

About Boustead Securities, LLC Member: FINRA/SIPC

Boustead Securities, LLC is an investment banking firm that advises clients on IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, capital raises and restructuring assignments in a wide array of industries, geographies and transactions. Our core value proposition is our ability to create opportunity through innovative solutions and tenacious execution. With experienced professionals in the United States and around the world, Boustead's team moves quickly and provides a broad spectrum of sophisticated financial advice and services. For more information, visit www.boustead1828.com.

SEC Legends

An offering statement regarding this offering has been filed with the SEC. Once the SEC has qualified the offering statement True Leaf Medicine International Ltd. may make sales of the securities described by the offering statement. It does not mean that the SEC has approved, passed upon the merits or passed upon the accuracy or completeness of the information in the offering statement. You may obtain a preliminary copy of the offering circular that is part of that offering statement HERE. You should read the offering circular before making any investment.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. Such written and oral disclosures are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although we believe our expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that they will be realized. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results, and therefore we refer you to a more detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission when available. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made only as of today, and True Leaf Medicine International Ltd. is under no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements.

1 http://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/6458-pet-care-market-forecast-to-hit-us117-billion-in-2021?v=preview
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - October 12, 2017) - Tombstone Exploration Corporation (OTC Pink: TMBXF), a fully reporting company, announced today that Mr. Donald Rauch has been appointed to the TMBXF Board of Directors.

Mr. Rauch graduated in 1969 from Michigan State University cum laude in Business Administration. Donald was President and CEO from 1995-2007 of M & C Specialties Co, a leading global fabricator/converter of pressure sensitive materials. He grew the business from a one plant operation in Philadelphia to an international business with plants in Ireland, Mexico, China and California. M & C Specialties was sold to ITW in June of 2007. His Board experience is extensive being M&C Specialties 1973 through 2007, Creative Financial Group Advisory Council, Warminster Hospital, Gasket Fabricators Assoc., Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center, Laminators Inc., and Airline Hydraulics Inc.

Alan M. Brown, President of TMBXF, stated, "We would like to welcome Donald to TMBXF's Board of Directors. Donald has been a loyal and interactive investor in our Company for the last 8 years. His extensive depth in regards to business management acumen and his vast experience with both private and capital market companies from a investor perspective will be greatly beneficial to our Board in helping to form and execute future strategies."

Tombstone Exploration Corporation is a gold silver copper exploration company based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Company's goal is to maximize shareholder value through focused exploration, testing and development of high quality mineral targets in the prolific mineral producing areas in S.W. USA. This goal will be achieved in part through the application of the best mineral exploration practices and techniques available to the Company's experienced exploration and management team, including adherence to the highest possible standards of corporate responsibility, governance and conduct.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements appear in a number of places in this release and include all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Tombstone Exploration Corporation, its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) financing plans; (ii) trends affecting its financial condition or results of operations; (iii) growth strategy and operating strategy. The words "may," "would," "will," "expect," "estimate," "can," "believe," "potential" and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are Tombstone Exploration Corporation's ability to control, and actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. More information about the potential factors that could affect the business and financial results is and will be included in Tombstone Exploration Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CONTACT:

Tombstone Exploration Corporation

Alan M. Brown, President

480-588-8920

abrown@tombstonemining.com

www.tombstonemining.com
MUNSTER, Germany, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Comprehensive cooperation in terms of technology development, localized production and commercialization

COMPO EXPERT GmbH (COMPO EXPERT), a leading manufacturer of specialty fertilizers for commercial use and portfolio company of the London-headquartered global private equity firm XIO Group, is entering a strategic partnership for the brands Blaukorn and NovaTec with Hubei Xinyangfeng Fertilizer Co., Ltd (Xinyangfeng), a leading fertilizer manufacturer in the People's Republic of China. In the future, the two companies will engage in close and comprehensive cooperation in technology development, localized production and joint commercialization of highly efficient, environmentally friendly fertilizers for the growing Chinese market.

Comprehensive cooperation in terms of technology development, localized production and commercialization for highly efficient and environmentally friendly fertilizers under the brands Blaukorn and NovaTec

Strengthening product series of nutrients for cash crops and high value crops that deliver considerable benefits for Chinese farmers

COMPO EXPERT with significantly extended access to growing Chinese market

Efficient local production with improved ecological footprint

COMPO EXPERT CEO Thomas H. Ahrens : "This strategic partnership is a key milestone in the consistent implementation of our global growth strategy."

: "This strategic partnership is a key milestone in the consistent implementation of our global growth strategy." Xinyangfeng President Bin Huang: "Xinyangfeng's decades of experience and our extensive distribution network in China are perfectly complemented by the great technology and production expertise of COMPO EXPERT."

Thomas H. Ahrens, the CEO of COMPO EXPERT said: "China is a key building block on our way to become the leading manufacturer of specialty fertilizer for commercial use worldwide. Xinyangfeng is an outstanding fit for us as a strategic partner and the partnership agreement we signed today is a key milestone in the consistent implementation of our global growth strategy. I am firmly convinced that our cooperation will be a success and will create value for both companies as well as Chinese agriculture as a whole."

Through the cooperation, Xinyangfeng will become COMPO EXPERT's exclusive partner for the brands Blaukorn and NovaTec in China. With its extensive nation-wide distribution network through 30 sales offices and approximately 4,100 wholesalers and 60,000 retailers, Xinyangfeng has a very strong position in the Chinese fertilizer market, which will benefit COMPO EXPERT. Both companies will offer a product series of nutrients for cash crops and high value crops that meet the rising expectations of Chinese farmers in terms of crop yields and sustainability. For that purpose, Xinyangfeng will establish a local manufacturing facility in Zhonglin in the Hubei province. The resulting short transport routes will ensure efficient and environmentally friendly production.

Bin Huang, the President of Xinyangfeng: "We are pleased with our strategic partnership with COMPO EXPERT. It combines two outstanding companies that are an excellent fit for one another. Xinyangfeng's decades of experience and our extensive distribution network in China are perfectly complemented by the great technology and production expertise of COMPO EXPERT. Together we are now well positioned to meet the growing demand of Chinese farmers for modern fertilizers."

COMPO EXPERT, Europe's leading manufacturer of special fertilizers, offers a broad portfolio of high-quality innovative fertilizers for commercial use. The strategic partnership is centered around two products: granular NPK branded as Blaukorn and stabilized, granular NPK under the NovaTec brand. The Chinese market offers great growth potential especially for high quality and environmentally friendly fertilizer products with high efficiency. While China accounts for about tenpercent of the world's cropland, the fertilizers used there represent almost one third of global consumption.

Murphy Qiao, Partner and Head of Asia of the XIO Group, the London-headquartered owner of COMPO EXPERT: "Since the beginning of 2015 we have been supporting the management of COMPO EXPERT in the development and implementation of a value-generating global growth strategy. The company has expanded its leading position in Europe as well as in Latin and South America. The strategic partnership with Xinyangfeng is a win-win-cooperation for both companies. It provides COMPO EXPERT with extended access to the growth market of China, while Xinyangfeng will significantly expand its production know-how and product range."

Joseph Pacini, CEO and Partner of XIO Group added: "COMPO EXPERT's strategic partnership with Xinyangfeng exemplifies XIO Group's strategy to identify and invest in market-leading and high-performing businesses located across Europe and North America and to help these companies in capitalizing on untapped opportunities in fast growing markets, particularly those in Asia."

About COMPO EXPERT

COMPO EXPERT GmbH, with headquarters in Munster in the German region of Westphalia, is an international company with locations in Europe, North and South America, Asia and South Africa. The Company produces and sells special fertilizers and biostimulants for all areas of plant cultivation. COMPO EXPERT offers a broad range of high quality, innovative special fertilizers for commercial use. Its product range includes innovative slow-release fertilizers, special mineral fertilizers, coated fertilizers, nutrient salts, liquid fertilizers, trace nutrients and soil treatments. With those products, COMPO EXPERT is a market leader in Europe.

COMPO EXPERT was acquired in 2015 by XIO Group, a global alternative investments company, and now has approximately 600 employees. For more information, visit: http://www.compo-expert.com.

About XIO Group

XIO Group is a global alternative investments firm headquartered in London with more than $3.2 billion of committed capital that employs an international team of more than 70 professionals. Representing more than 15 nationalities among its employees and its network of advisors, the firm has operations in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong and mainland China. With a seasoned international investment team that includes professionals with experience working at many of the world's leading private equity firms, XIO Group seeks to deploy its capital for global transactions. XIO Group's strategy is to identify and invest in market-leading businesses located across North America and Europe and help these companies to capitalize on untapped opportunities in fast growing markets, particularly in Asia. XIO Group is led by its four founders: Athene Li, Joseph Pacini, Murphy Qiao and Carsten Geyer. For more information, visit: http://www.xiogroup.com.

About Xinyangfeng

Established in 1982, Hubei Xinyangfeng Fertilizer Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Jingmen, Hubei Province and Beijing, People's Republic of China. After more than three decades' development, the Company has an asset of 7 billion Chinese Yuan in fertilizer main business, and 7,000 employees in total. With a production capacity of 2.6 million tons phosphate compound fertilizer per year, the Company has developed into a large scale phosphate chemical company publicly listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (Stock Code: 000902) and a State-level high and new technology company, integrating the research, production and distribution of high density phosphate compound fertilizer and new-type fertilizers. During the "13th National Five-Year Plan" period, the Company will stick to the innovation-driven development concept and open synergy spirit, focus on two major business units of fertilizer and modern agriculture, further explore two types of key resources from technology and distribution channels, form four platforms of internationalization, industrial cooperation, finance and investment, as well as digitalization, so as to realize a strategic transformation and upgrade of the Company, becoming a leading modern agricultural solution provider. For more information, visit: http://www.xinyf.com.

MediaContact

FTIConsulting

MariettaWeiss

Tel.: +49(0)-699-2037-118

marietta.weiss@fticonsulting.com

SteffiSusanKim

Tel.:+49(0)-699-2037-115

steffi.kim@fticonsulting.com
BRISTOL, England, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Digital publisher Hybrid today launched a progressive new look for Tech Wire Asia, the company's online content platform for technology news and insights for Asian enterprises.

The launch, which follows Hybrid's rebrand in July, represents yet another major milestone for the ambitious company, which has taken bold moves in recent years to make its mark on the global media landscape.

This year, fuelled by rapid growth over the last 18 months, Tech Wire Asia boasts 1.5 million monthly unique visitors and expects to generate over 1.1 million in advertising and branded content revenues. In 2018, the site's unique readership is projected to hit a monthly average of 4 million.

James Craven, Hybrid's founder and managing director, says Tech Wire Asia's new look was designed with its audience in mind: mobile-friendly as 70 percent of the site's readership comes from mobile.

"In the digital age, you must be adaptive to stay relevant. Tech Wire Asia knows this because we are who we write for," Craven explains.

He adds that in line with the relaunch, Tech Wire Asia has sharpened its editorial focus to provide greater clarity and value for its target audience; instead of reporting the news on and about technology, the site's expanding team of writers produces in-depth stories on the 'hows' and 'whys' of technology and its impact on the growing business.

This, Craven says, is in recognition of the marked shift in Asia's media consumption habits in recent years, a trend driven by an impressive growth in the region's overall digital adoption rates.

According to recent data, digital connectivity in the Asia Pacific has reached 47 percent penetration with an estimated 1.9 billion Internet users, an 8 percent increase from last year. Craven says these numbers make Asia's digital landscape for media and business ripe with potential, and investors and innovators have taken notice.

With an editorial team based in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, and advertising teams in Bristol, UK, and Sydney, Australia, the site has charted remarkable audience growth.

On top of high quality independent content, Tech Wire Asia also creates bespoke campaigns for its clients via a variety of formats, from branded content to display ads, video, and audio. Some of its key advertisers include Sage, Exact, Oracle, Adobe and SAP.

Craven attributes Tech Wire Asia's success to Asia's robust SME market and its appetite for relevant and insightful content on technology and its uses. "Across Asia there is massive growth in the entrepreneurial start-up scene through to maturing mid-size businesses," he says. "Our editorial team writes real stories that offer actionable insights to our audience."

On Hybrid's future plans for growth, Craven says the company expects to open a global technology site for the SME market in December 2017. The website, he explains, will be run and operated from a new office space in the US.

Apart from Tech Wire Asia, Hybrid's current websites include Asian Correspondent, Travel Wire Asia and Study International. In October 2017, traffic to the combined portfolio exceeded 8.5 million unique visitors.

Available for immediate comment:

James Craven (Managing Director), UK: +44-117-244-3750 (GMT +1)

Clara Chooi (Editor-in-Chief), Malaysia: +60-327-123-150 (GMT +8)

Christopher Cammann (Chief Digital Officer), UK: +44-117-244-3752 (GMT +1)
Accenture, the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, the Global Apprenticeship Network and ETH Zurich/KOF Swiss Economic Institute publish "Jobs Now" report to help U.S. organizations bridge the skills gap

Accenture (NYSE: ACN), the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, the Global Apprenticeship Network (GAN) and ETH Zurich/KOF Swiss Economic Institute today released a new report that examines best practices for creating and sustaining apprenticeship programs, which are gaining momentum as a strategy for narrowing the skills gap.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005143/en/

The new report, "Jobs Now," aims to help U.S. organizations tap new sources of talent for in-demand skills that will help drive growth and innovation (Graphic: Business Wire)

The report, "Jobs Now," aims to help U.S. organizations tap new sources of talent for in-demand skills that will drive growth and innovation which is particularly important given that 95 percent of U.S. corporate leaders say finding the talent they need is problematic.1

"Jobs Now" presents key elements of Switzerland's successful apprenticeship model, along with case studies of successful programs and profiles of CEOs who started their careers as apprentices. Nearly 70 percent of Swiss citizens participate in an apprentice program, which has helped the country achieve the top global ranking in innovation (INSEAD Global Innovation Index, 2016) and competitiveness (WEF, 2016).

"The U.S. faces a skills shortage that threatens our competitiveness," said Julie Sweet, Accenture's CEO for North America. "People are our country's greatest strength, and apprenticeship programs, particularly at the local level, can play a critical role in developing new sources of talent while creating additional opportunities for our citizens to participate in some of the most dynamic parts of our economy."

In the United States, Accenture recently initiated technology-based apprenticeship programs in San Antonio and Chicago, which are providing new job opportunities while bringing needed skills to Accenture's business in these markets. These programs along with others from leading companies including The Adecco Group, Nestle and Zurich are featured in "Jobs Now."

"With this report, we are accelerating a movement that has already shown great promise," said Martin Naville, CEO of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce. "The vocational education and training system in Switzerland is considered the global gold standard due to its positive impact on the nation's economic success, rich employer engagement, and low youth unemployment. We are thrilled to share our learnings with the United States."

Among the best practices identified in the report:

Involve key partners and stakeholders early. Apprenticeship systems in Switzerland are one of the oldest public-private partnerships in the world. For the U.S., key partners include community colleges; industry groups; local, state and federal governments; and social partners.

Apprenticeship systems in Switzerland are one of the oldest public-private partnerships in the world. For the U.S., key partners include community colleges; industry groups; local, state and federal governments; and social partners. Create buy-in within the organization. Not all decision-makers within companies are sold on the positive ROI argument. Pointing to the benefits can play a key role in changing mindsets.

Not all decision-makers within companies are sold on the positive ROI argument. Pointing to the benefits can play a key role in changing mindsets. Allow flexibility in designing the program. Each employer should design a program tailored to the specific needs of its business and the communities it serves.

"The vocational education and training system in Switzerland prepares a broad cross-section of young professionals including high achievers for their careers in almost all occupational fields," said Dr. Ursula Renold, head of Division Comparative Education Systems at KOF/ETH Zurich. "A major strength is the intensive cooperation between employers and educators. Some U.S. states, such as Colorado, have shown a pioneering initiative in adapting elements of the Swiss approach. We are eager to continue to share our best practices through this important report."

Shea Gopaul, founder and executive director of the Global Apprenticeship Network, said, "There are many lessons to be learned from the Swiss model, and we are optimistic that it can be adapted to the United States. The three keys are ensuring that apprenticeship is employer-driven, that it is accessible by all, and that the model promotes lifelong learning."

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 Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce

The Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce promotes and facilitates better business relations between the US and Switzerland; provides essential information about doing business in these markets; brings business leaders together to facilitate contacts and provide platforms for networking in both countries; represents the mutual interests of members; promotes both countries as advantageous places to do business; and fosters good corporate citizenship to benefit the communities in which members do business.

As the largest association of multinational companies in Switzerland (Swiss and foreign, large and small), the Swiss AmCham addresses all issues of concern to this sector for the long-term success of the Swiss economy.

The Swiss AmCham, the second largest AmCham in Europe, is a private organization with 2,000 members representing 1,600 internationally active companies. Twenty-five percent of the members are located in the US (with organizations in Boston, New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles) and 75 percent are distributed throughout Switzerland. The Swiss AmCham covers all areas of the private sector and does not accept any subsidies from any government entity. A very prominent group of Directors -CEOs of the largest Swiss companies and European headquarters of the largest US companies-oversees the direction of the Swiss AmCham.

About Global Apprenticeship Network

The GAN is a business-driven alliance created in 2013 with the overarching goal of encouraging and linking business initiatives on skills and employment opportunities for youth notably through apprenticeships and work-readiness programs. Following our mission 'skills for business, jobs for youth', we work with companies, governments, international organizations and employers' federations to promote the apprenticeship model and work-readiness programs as a tool to increase employability and combat skills mismatch.

While the GAN provides a global strategic platform, we have also launched GAN National Networks (GNN) in 9 countries (France, Spain, Turkey, Indonesia, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Malawi and Tanzania), with over 180 company members and have committed to over 9 million opportunities for youth.

About ETH Zurich/KOF Swiss Economic Institute

ETH Zurich regards itself as an institution with regional and national roots that is fully integrated in the international academic community. The ETH has more than 19,000 students from 120 countries. It measures itself in all respects against the world's leading universities-from its education and research to its management. KOF Swiss Economic Institute, which is part of ETH Zurich, is the leading institute for research in applied economics in Switzerland. KOF has been providing independent and high-quality contributions both to international research and to economic policy for more than 75 years. The institute focuses on research relating to innovation, internationalization, national regulatory frameworks and education systems. Its forward-looking research is sustained by national and international cooperation with scholars, institutions and economic operators.

1 2016 Business Roundtable Education and Workforce Survey

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005143/en/

Contacts:

Accenture

Rachel Frey, +1-917-452-4421

rachel.frey@accenture.com

or

Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce

Martin Naville, +41 79 240 0500

CEO

martin.naville@amcham.ch

or

Global Apprenticeship Network

Cristina Gueco Martin, +41 22 929 00 11

gueco@gan-global.org

or

KOF Corporate Communications

Anne Stucker, +41 44 632 40 61

stuecker@kof.ethz.ch
MIDLAND, VA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/12/17 -- Easi-Set Worldwide, a subsidiary of Smith-Midland Corporation (OTCQX: SMID) recently hosted four technical representatives from the Bazis Group of Kazakhstan in Midland, VA to discuss the licensing of its SlenderWall panelized precast concrete cladding system. Kazakhstan borders Russia, China, and several former USSR republics and is the world's sixth largest country by landmass.

The Bazis Group, located in Almaty, Kazakhstan's second largest city, is the country's largest construction company and developer. This multi-faceted organization, with nearly 9,000 employees, designs, constructs, and manages residential, office, and mixed-use buildings in Kazakhstan and abroad. The company also produces construction materials and rents construction equipment.

Currently, Bazis manufactures 500,000 square feet of external cladding, annually, for use on their in-country residential buildings. SlenderWall panels were of particular interest because of their lightweight and inherent ability to reduce cost and speed construction of their multi-story buildings; thereby, giving them a competitive advantage in the market.

The Bazis technical team: Mr. Alexandr Bogatyrev, Director, Concrete Products LLC; Mrs.Yuliya Dvoruk, Wall Panel Production Manager, Concrete Products LLC; Mrs. Nadezhda Kim, Structural Engineer, Bazis Design Institute; and Mrs. Mereke Khaidarova, Architect, Bazis Design Institute spent two days observing SlenderWall production at Smith-Midland and performing site visits to several high-profile SlenderWall projects in the Washington, DC metro area.

Easi-Set Worldwide licenses the production and sale of Easi-Set products and provides diversification opportunities to the precast industry worldwide. Easi-Set currently works with 67 licensees in 42 States and 7 countries to manufacture six different lines of precast concrete products. For more information about precast product licensing opportunities, contact Easi-Set by calling 800-547-4045 or visiting www.EasiSet.com.

Discover more about SlenderWall and its network of precast concrete licensed producers by visiting www.SlenderWall.com.

Smith-Midland Corporation

Easi-Set Worldwide

800-547-4045

www.EasiSet.com




SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/12/17 -- Generation NEXT Franchise Brands (OTCQB: VEND), whose Reis & Irvy's frozen yogurt robot franchise launched in April of 2016, completed the First Quarter of fiscal 2018, with bookings aggregating approximately $5.5 million, adding to its existing deferred revenue of approximately $25.0 million.

Other highlights and updates from fiscal 2017 and the first quarter of fiscal 2018 are as follows:

Reis & Irvy's total franchise network aggregates 186 franchises;

The company has raised proceeds totaling $4.4 million in the form of an equity offering;

We repaid $622,500 in debt principal during the first quarter of Fiscal 2018;

The company completed September 2017 with $1.8 million in available cash;

Receivables increased by over $10.5 million from $2.4 million to $12.9 million during fiscal 2017;

Our deferred revenue increased from $8.1 million to $25.0 million representing an increase of $17 million during fiscal 2017;

We acquired all the intellectual property in the form of four separate utility and design patents from Robofusion Inc. We now own all IP related to the robot. This increased our fixed assets by $2.4 million in fiscal 2017;

We spent $1.6 million on research and development expenses during fiscal 2017, thus rebuilding our next generation frozen yogurt robot;

During fiscal 2017, we used $340,000 in cash from operations, compared to using $556,000 in fiscal 2016. Furthermore, in fiscal 2017, we increased total cash by $1.1 million compared to generating $200,000 in fiscal 2016;

We selected Flex, Ltd. as our exclusive contract manufacturer and now have a production schedule that allows for approximately 1,000 units to be manufactured for installation by June 30, 2018. With approximately $24 billion in annual revenue and 200,000 professionals across 30 countries, Flex, Ltd. provides innovative design, engineering, manufacturing, real-time supply chain insight and logistics services to companies of all sizes in various industries and end-markets;

Our prototype frozen yogurt vending robot developed by Lancer Corporation underwent and has now completed the Intertek - UL and NSF design review phase which means all that is left is the final testing; the final testing will take place over the next few weeks, with Intertek testing to verify the robotic arm meets their safety standards and that our procedures meet all health and food safety regulations. Note: We have independently verified that it does meet their standards and we are confident UL will achieve the same results in their testing;

We have developed a "burn-in-test" that will ensure all frozen yogurt vending robots are performance tested prior to shipment; This process verifies that the robot is communicating with each sub-system during normal operations and that our control system and components/sensors are functional;

Our frozen yogurt vending robots have been through rigorous performance testing and have performed extremely well in various humidity and ambient temperature routines including over a million cycles of the robotic arm without fail; in addition to the robotic arm and soft-serve machine testing, we have been validating software communication and integration on the entire unit to ensure all sub-systems are communicating and are functional;

We engaged Pitney Bowes as our national service network partner to deliver, install and provide on-site training for our robots; backed by a team of over 16,000 dedicated professionals, Pitney Bowes has more than 1.5 million clients in approximately 100 countries around the world that rely on products, solutions and services from Pitney Bowes;

On August 9th, we announced an $875,000 Licensing Agreement within the Nation of Oman. This is the second international license agreement signed, the other being for the exclusive rights to Israel, which was licensed for $3,637,500 over a five-year period;

Our first robots will be delivered in November 2017;

We are excited to announce that our first franchise training begins November 6, 2017 at the Generation Next Corporate Office in San Diego, CA. Each franchisee will spend 2 days learning about their robots and franchise business. Franchisees that attend this inaugural training will be also the first to receive their robots. Representatives from our partners Flex Ltd, Pitney Bowes and Spaceman will be in attendance at this training.

"As we prepare our business for continued growth, we have officially solidified our infrastructure by finalizing key relationships with our manufacturing and logistics partners, Flex Ltd and Pitney Bowes. These strategic alliances combined with the sales and marketing platform we have proven, will allow us to deliver all products with the scale we require, the most highly regarded service network not just nationally but internationally, support for our customers and professionalism on all levels," said Nick Yates, Chairman and Founder. "Additionally, we will continue our expansion plans next month, which will see the official launch of both the Generation Next Vending Robots program, as well as our corporate-owned operations program, allowing for two new and very promising revenue streams to take affect well before the end of fiscal 2018."

For more information on the revolutionary Froyo Robots or to learn more about how you can own your own Reis & Irvy's Froyo Robot franchise, visit the Reis & Irvy's website at reisandirvys.com. To learn more about Generation NEXT Franchise Brands or their family of brands, including Reis & Irvy's, Fresh Healthy Vending or 19 Degrees, please visit www.gennextbrands.com or call toll free 888-902-7558.

This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. No Reis & Irvy's franchises will be sold to any resident of any state until the offering has been exempted from the requirements of, or duly registered in and declared effective by, such state and the required FDD (if any) has been delivered to the prospective franchisee before the sale in compliance with applicable law. Currently, the following states in the United States regulate the offer and sale of franchises: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you reside in one of these states, or even if you reside elsewhere, you may have certain rights under applicable franchise laws or regulations.

Generation NEXT Franchise Brands

Generation NEXT Franchise Brands, based in San Diego, California, is a publicly traded company on the OTC Markets trading under the symbol: VEND. Generation NEXT Franchise Brands is parent company to Fresh Healthy Vending LLC, the market's leading healthy-choice vending machine franchise, Reis and Irvy's, Inc., the world's first robotic frozen yogurt vending robot, 19 Degrees, a corporate-focused frozen yogurt robot brand and Generation NEXT Vending Robots, our newly established owner/operator model. The Company has sold over 600 franchises throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, and continually looks to partner with like-minded entrepreneurs who share its vision.

Cautionary note on forward-looking statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements concerning our future financial performance, including statements regarding our manufacturer's ability to maintain the production schedule for our Froyo Robots and our ability to timely launch delivery of our Froyo Robots. The Company bases these forward-looking statements on its current expectations, estimates and projections about future events and the industry in which it operates using information currently available to it. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as "believe," "anticipate," "propose," "expect," "intend," "plan," "will," "may," "estimates," variations of such words and other similar expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are set forth in our fillings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2017, and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. Be advised that developments subsequent to this press release are likely to cause these statements to become outdated and the Company is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Media Contact:

Generation NEXT Franchise Brands

info@gennextbrands.com




VANCOUVER, British Columbia, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Glance Technologies Inc. (CSE: GET.CN) (OTCQB: GLNNF) (CSE: GET.WT) (FKT: GJT) is pleased to announce that Cannapay Financial, a significant subsidiary of Glance, has acquired an Ayurvedic wellness product line. Cannapay will develop new products and a supporting lifestyle app to distribute content that will enable customers to realize the beneficial properties of Cannabis and THC.

Ayurvedic medicine treats Cannabis as an ancient holistic plant. This acquisition is the second acquisition of Ayurvedic products Cannapay has made this quarter. Cannapay intends to partner with licensed producers to create cannabis infused products to sell in Canada and distribute internationally where legal to do so.

"We are working to develop a meaningful, insights-driven brand and the supporting content with the underlying goal of educating cannabis consumers about how to most effectively utilize these products to achieve their health and wellness goals. Just as the practice of Ayurveda is based on the science of life, we are building a brand centered on the science of people," says Penny Green, Glance Technologies President.

Products will include items such as: soap bars, massage oils, candles, bubble bath, bath bombs, body sprays, moisturizer, bath salts and more. These will be created with essential oils and herbs, salts, hemp and other ingredients and will be used for skin rejuvenation, relaxation and overall rejuvenation, pain relief, stress reduction, skin repair, deep cleaning and more.

The lifestyle app will focus on wellness practice, guide users through exercises and meditations, as well as help them to understand what various wellness products do and which ones are right for them.

Cannapay has acquired the products, formulas relating to the development and composition of the aforementioned products, the results of all market and product research and all other intellectual property related to the products as well as the right to reformulate the products to include THC.

Cannapay has also appointed Bhavna Solecki as its Director of Products and Digital Content. Ms. Solecki is an Ayurvedic Holistic Practitioner and is the sole founder of Inner Evolution Healing Center Ltd. She is a recognized speaker and workshop facilitator for health and wellness events. She has been involved in research and development for pain and stress management for acute and chronic illnesses for the past fifteen years working with plant medicine and ancient therapies.

Cannapay is investing significant resources into developing trusted brands that can be distributed internationally, marketed and sold through its mobile payment cannabis lifestyle app.

"We are now engaging industry leaders in branding, product development, digital educational content production, regulatory experts and application user experience artists to create brands that will have tremendous impact on the international Cannabis community, and translating to significant revenues for Cannapay," says Green.

About Glance Technologies Inc.

Glance Technologies owns and operates Glance Pay, a streamlined payment system that revolutionizes how smartphone users choose where to dine, order goods and services, make payments, access digital receipts, redeem digital deals, earn great rewards & interact with merchants. Glance is building a valuable network of merchants and consumers, and offers targeted in-app marketing,geo targeteddigital coupons, social media marketing, customer feedback, in-merchant messaging and custom rewards programs. The Glance Pay mobile payment system consists of proprietary technology, which includes user apps available for free downloads in IoS (Apple) and Android formats, merchant manager apps, a large scale technology hosting environment with sophisticated anti-fraud technology and lightning fast payment processing. Glance Pay has entered into significant licensing agreements to access the cannabis and fitness and wellness industries through Active Pay Distribution Inc. andCannapayFinancial Inc.

About Cannapay Financial Inc.

Cannapay is a partially owned subsidiary of Glance Technologies. Cannapay combines traditional financial services with innovative technology to provide enhanced digital financial services to legally operating businesses in the cannabis industry. Cannapay currently has an app in development leveraging the Glance Pay mobile payment system for the cannabis industry. The app is available for international licensing. Cannapay is also producing a cannabis infused wellness line and lifestyle app.

For more information about Glance, please go to www.glance.tech.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward- looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward- looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potentially" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Glance cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by Glance is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Glance's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

For more information, contact:

Christina Rao

Vice President, Investor Relations

+1-(604)723-7480

investors@glancepay.com


Quarterly Dividend Payment Declared; 26th Consecutive Profitable Quarter; 22nd Consecutive Quarterly Dividend

Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 12, 2017) - C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. (TSXV: CMI), a leading global provider of mobile auto-deploying satellite antenna systems, announced today financial results for its third quarter ended August 31, 2017.

The company has generated revenues of $2,341,016 and a net after tax profit of $130,183 or 0 cents per share. This compared to revenues of $2,094,710 and a net after tax profit of $29,579 or 0 cents per share as reported in Q3 2016, representing an increase of 11.8% and 340.1% respectively.

The working capital of the Company has decreased by 1.7% to $19,245,884 at August 31, 2017 as compared to $19,574,436 at August 31, 2016.

The Company also announced the payment of its quarterly eligible dividend in the amount of $0.0125 per common share payable on November 13, 2017 to all shareholders of record as of October 30, 2017. Based on the closing price of $1.07 per share on October 11, 2017, this dividend represents a yield of 4.67% on an annualized basis. This is the Company's 22nd consecutive quarterly dividend and its 26th consecutive profitable quarter.

"The third quarter results indicate continued worldwide customer acceptance in our growing and innovative product line of mobile antenna systems", said Leslie Klein, President and CEO of C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. The sales of our legacy and new generation products continue to grow. We are investing a significant amount into research and development for our highly ambitious and revolutionary flat panel antenna project, which is a joint effort with the University of Waterloo," Klein continued.

C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. is a world leader and pioneer in the development, manufacture and design of commercial grade, mobile satellite-based technology for the delivery of Broadband Internet to any location via Satellite. C-COM has developed proprietary, one-button, auto-acquisition controller technology that allows the user to find satellite with just the press of a button and deliver and receive Broadband Internet where terrestrial infrastructure is lacking, or simply don't exist. The company has sold almost 8,000 systems into over 100 countries around the world in vertical markets such as Oil & Gas Exploration, Military Communications, Disaster Management, SNG, Emergency Communications, Cellular Backhaul, Telemedicine, Mobile Banking, and others. The Company's iNetVu brand is synonymous with high quality, reliability and cost-effectiveness.

C-COM is also involved in the design and development of a new generation of Ka-band (communications on the move) antennas, which will deliver satellite broadband solutions into vehicles while in motion. More information is available at: www.c-comsat.com

iNetVu is a registered trademark of C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.

###

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements. New orders anticipated by C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. may not be received and current orders may be cancelled. New products and services released may not gain market acceptance. Any of those events could have an effect on future performance and C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.'s ability to achieve the results mentioned above. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and C-COM Satellite Systems Inc. does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.

Contact:

Investor Relations

C-COM Satellite Systems Inc.

Tel: (613) 745-4110 ext. 4950

Fax: (613) 745-7144

lklein@c-comsat.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 12, 2017) - Bearing Lithium Corp. (TSXV: BRZ) (OTCQB: BRGRF) (FSE: B6K1) ("Bearing" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Jonathan Lee to the Advisory Board.

Mr. Lee is currently president of JGL Partners LLC, which provides consulting services on credit restructurings, municipal workouts, strategy, and capital allocation. Prior to this, Mr. Lee was a Senior Investment Analyst for a Boston based investment fund, Geologic Resource Partners LLP. In his role Mr. Lee determined suitable investments for the fund in both public and private mining and metals opportunities. Prior, Mr. Lee was an equity research analyst with a Toronto based investment bank. Additionally, Mr. Lee has advised a number of clients in the public markets sector on project due diligence, structuring, capital allocation, and strategic options. Prior, Mr. Lee was an environmental engineer for Camp, Dresser & McKee, Inc., where he designed, constructed and managed treatment facilities for EPA projects listed under the National Priorities List. Mr. Lee holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and a BSc degree in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University where he graduated cum laude.

Jeremy Poirier, Bearing's president and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are excited to have Jonathan Lee join Bearing's Advisory Board. Jonathan brings a wealth of experience on the capital markets and valuation side which complements the skill set of our other board members."

In connection with his appointment, Mr. Lee has been granted 50,000 incentive stock options ("Options"). Each Option allows him to acquire one common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.86 for a period of four years.

About Bearing Lithium Corp.

Bearing Lithium Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company, primarily focused on lithium. Its primary asset is a free-carried 17.7% interest in the Maricunga lithium brine project in Chile. The Maricunga project represents one of the highest-grade lithium brine salars globally and the only pre-production project in Chile. Over US$30 million has been invested in the project to date and all expenditures through 2018, including the delivery of a Definitive Feasibility Study in H1/18, are fully-funded by their earn-in joint-venture partner. Bearing also holds a portfolio of grass-roots exploration projects in the gold district of the Yukon, which are currently optioned to Golden Predator, and a lithium project in Nevada, which is currently optioned to First Division Ventures Inc.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD



Signed "Jeremy Poirier"

Jeremy Poirier, President and CEO



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Jeremy Poirier-- President and CEO Bearing Lithium - Telephone: 1-604-262-8835



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.



Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information

This press release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating the future operating or financial performance of the Company, are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this press release relate to, among other things: completion of a Prefeasibility Study, and completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study. Statements concerning mineral resource estimates may also be deemed to constitute forward-looking information to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered if the Maricunga Project is developed. Actual future results may differ materially. 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. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Bearing, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: the occurrence of unexpected financial obligations, fluctuations in the price of lithium or certain other commodities; fluctuations in the currency markets; changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding); the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining and employee relations. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these times. Except as required by law, Bearing does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.
CHICAGO, IL -- (Marketwired) -- 10/12/17 -- Epazz, Inc. (OTC PINK: EPAZ), a leading provider of cloud-based business software solutions, announced today that the company's new cannabis payment system, Zenapay, will be released on or before November 1, 2017, subject to approval from the App store. We will release the Android version of the app on or before December 31, 2017. Zenapay is free to download and use; it requires a flat 1% transaction fee.

Epazz developed Zenapay to solve the largest issue cannabis-related businesses face: getting paid. Traditional banking systems do not allow 420 industries access to their payment systems. Zenapay is offering clients a cutting-edge payment solution that allows consumers to buy cannabis online or in stores using bitcoin. The new payment system offers a unique cannabis payment software, allowing consumers to use the digital currency to make a purchase at the store with ease. Additionally, the process is anonymous because all transaction details are encrypted through bitcoin. This process allows stores to accept digital currency in addition to cash.

Some of the chief advantages of the payment system:

Cash-only merchants can accept a more reliable form of payment.

Anonymity - The customer does not have to share his or her name or personal details.

Shaun Passley, Ph.D., CEO of Epazz, stated, "We are filling a large need in the cannabis community for a payment system for merchants due to the stringent limitations by the standard banking systems. Zenapay is our solution, and we expect to start realizing revenues from it later this year. We have the ability to license the software to numerous merchants in many states."

Future Feature Releases

Point-of-Sale

Zenapay is developing an iPad point-of-sale app to be integrated with the merchant app. We will release the POS version of the merchant app in the first quarter of 2018. Additionally, the new system has been designed to be seamlessly integrated with merchants' store flow.

Vendor and Payroll Payment Solution

Additionally, the Zenapay development team is working on a vendor payment solution to allow cannabis businesses to pay vendors and employees using cyrco currencies.

Other future features:

E-commerce store

Seed-to-store tracking

Sales reporting and compliance

For more information about the Reg CF offering or to receive a prospectus, please go to http://investors.epazz.com or investors@epazz.net.

About Zenapay (www.zenapay.com)

Epazz is developing Zenapay to solve the largest issue cannabis-related industries face: getting paid. Traditional banking systems do not allow 420 industries access to their payment systems. Zenapay will offer a cutting-edge payment solution that offers consumers a way to buy cannabis online or in stores using bitcoin. The new cannabis payment software will allow consumers to use the digital currency to make online or in-store purchases with ease. Additionally, the process will be anonymous because all transaction details are encrypted through bitcoin. This will allow stores to accept digital currency as well as cash.

About Epazz, Inc. (www.epazz.com)

Epazz, Inc. is a leading cloud-based software company that specializes in providing customized cloud applications to the corporate world, higher-education institutions and the public sector. Epazz BoxesOS version 3.0 is the complete business web-based software package for small- to mid-size businesses, Fortune 500 enterprises, government agencies and higher-education institutions.

SAFE HARBOR

"Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain statements contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking statements such as "may," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe" and "continue" (or the negative thereof) or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results or those implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Epazz, Inc. assumes no obligation and has no intention of updating these forward-looking statements, and it takes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties that is not paid for by Epazz, Inc. Investors are encouraged to review Epazz, Inc.'s public filings on SEC.gov, including its unaudited and audited financial statements as well as its Form 10-Ks, and Form 10-Qs, which contain general business information about the company's operations, results of operations, and risks associated with the company and its operations.

CONTACT:

For more information, please contact:

Investor Relations

investors@epazz.net

(312) 955-8161

www.epazz.com




SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- (Marketwired) -- 10/12/17 --The Alkaline Water Company Inc. (OTCQB: WTER), with products bottled under the trademark Alkaline88 (the "Company"), is pleased to announce that Publix Super Markets Inc. (Publix), the world's largest employee-owned company, headquartered in Lakeland, Florida, has begun making Alkaline88's one (1) gallon premium water available to its customers in the southeastern USA.

"Publix is considered one of the top companies in the United States and was recently named the 2017 Retailer of the Year by Store Brands Magazine. Including Alkaline88 in its product mix is another milestone in increasing our national brand awareness," states Ricky Wright, the Alkaline Water Company Inc.'s President and CEO.

"We are honored Publix chose Alkaline88's one (1) gallon premium water as a 'new product' offering to its customers. We know its customers will appreciate that our smooth-tasting premium Alkaline88 water is created using no buffers. We continue to work diligently to enhance our brand name and shareholder value. With over 50 million consumers in its marketplace, the presence of Alkaline88 on Publix shelves is another major step in fulfilling our mission to be the nation's best-selling alkaline water," concludes Mr. Wright.

About Publix Super Markets Inc. (Publix)

Publix, with headquarters in Lakeland, Florida, is the 10th-largest-volume supermarket chain in the country and ranked #87 on the Fortune 500. The chain employs over 191,000 people with 1,146 store locations across the Southeast, and had total retail sales of $34 billion in 2016. It was recently named Retailer of the Year by Store Brands Magazine (2017) and was recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the most admired companies for the 23rd year in a row (1994-2017). Publix is a mission-driven company striving to be the premier quality food retailer in the world. For more information visit http://corporate.publix.com/.

About the Alkaline Water Company Inc.

The Alkaline Water Company Inc. (OTCQB: WTER) has developed an innovative, state-of-the-art, proprietary electrolysis process that produces healthy alkaline water for a balanced lifestyle. The company is focused on the business of distributing and marketing for retail sale of its cost-effectively packaged Alkaline88 water beverage products. Visit www.thealkalinewaterco.com.

About Alkaline Water Products

Alkaline88's premier alkaline water is an 8.8 pH balanced bottled alkaline drinking water enhanced with trace minerals and electrolytes. The product offers consumers the unique opportunity to purchase alkaline water in conveniently packaged 500ml, 700ml, one-liter, three-liter and one-gallon sizes. The Alkaline Water Company Inc. is currently in the midst of a national mass-market expansion program, in which its product is becoming available for consumer sales at a growing number of major retail locations across the United States. Learn more about the science behind alkaline water by visiting www.thealkalinewaterco.com.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements." Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future, including "The presence of Alkaline88 on Publix's shelves is another major step in fulfilling our mission to be the nation's best-selling alkaline water." Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products and operating as a development stage company, our ability to raise the additional funding we will need to continue to pursue our business and product development plans, competition in the industry in which we operate and market conditions. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in the reports and other documents we file with the SEC, available at www.sec.gov.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3174373



The Alkaline Water Company Inc.



WTER Investor Relations



IRTH Communications

Robert Haag

Managing Partner

866-976-4784

investors@thealkalinewaterco.com




PORTLAND, Oregon and PUNE, India, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research titled, "OLED Materials Market by Type, Application, and End User: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023," the global OLED materials market was valued at $5,932 million in 2016, and is expected to reach $25,731 million by 2023, registering a CAGR of 26.3% from 2017 to 2023. Asia-Pacific dominated the global market, accounting for over two-thirds market share in 2016.

OLED materials comprise substrates, encapsulation, cathode, anode, hole injection material (HIL), electron transport material (ETL), emissive material (EML) and others (HTL and EBL). Substrates holds a major share in the global OLED materials market in 2016. The demand for OLED materials is driven by changes in lifestyle of people and increase in population. In addition, surge in demand for smartphones is expected to boost the market growth in the near future. The major companies operating in the global OLED materials market have collaborated with major service providers & retailers to expand their outreach.

Do Enquiry for Sample Report@ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2961

The substrates segment is expected to dominate the global market during the forecast period. However, the cathode segment is anticipated to gain traction in the near future. In 2016, the cathode and substrates segments collectively accounted for more than one-third share of the global OLED materials market.

The display segment accounted for a significant share in 2016, and is anticipated to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. The smartphones and television & monitors sub-segments contributed to over three-fifth share in the display segment in 2016. This is attributed to the increase in demand for smartphones worldwide. Rise in offline sales channels and aggressive advertising campaigns by the key players in the smartphones industry are expected to augment its demand further.

Do Enquiry before purchasing Report@https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/2961

KEY FINDINGS OF OLED MATERIALS MARKET STUDY:

In terms of value, the cathode segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 31.9% during the forecast period.

LAMEA is anticipated to witness the highest growth, registering a CAGR of 30.8% in terms of value.

The substrates segment accounted for more than one-fourth share of the global market in 2016.

China and India are expected to occupy approximately three-fourths share of the total Asia-Pacific OLED materials market by 2023.

and are expected to occupy approximately three-fourths share of the total Asia-Pacific OLED materials market by 2023. India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25.6%, in terms of value, from 2017 to 2023.

In 2016, Asia-Pacific accounted for the highest share, and is expected to continue its dominance during the forecast period. The LAMEA OLED materials market is anticipated to grow at a significant CAGR due to growth in adoption of OLED in smartphones and televisions.

The key players profiled in the report are Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC., DuPont, Novaled GmbH, Merck KGaA, LG Chem, TCI America, Sumitomo Chemical, Universal Display, The Dow Chemical Company, and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.

Most Popular Reports by Allied Market Research:

Bio-polylactic Acid (PLA) Films Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023

Abrasives Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023

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About Us:

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.



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Providing Investor Relations, Public Relations, Corporate Communications and Capital Markets Advisory Services to Greater Boston and Cambridge Life Sciences Companies



NEW YORK, 2017-10-12 14:30 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LifeSci Advisors, an investor relations and corporate communications firm focused on the life sciences sector ("LifeSci"), today announces the opening of an office in Boston, enhancing its presence in the Greater Boston and Cambridge communities. The office will be managed by Hans Vitzthum, managing director with LifeSci Advisors.



"Massachusetts has long been a hub for groundbreaking biotech research and drug development in the life sciences industry, so it was a natural decision to expand our local presence to the Boston area," said Michael Rice, President and co-founder of LifeSci Advisors. "Our Boston-based team has long-standing relationships within the local investment and life sciences communities and looks forward to more efficiently delivering our extensive service offering to the Greater Boston and Cambridge biotech and pharma communities."



In addition to its Boston location, LifeSci has a physical presence in New York, where the firm is headquartered, Chicago, Philadelphia, London, Geneva and Tel Aviv. The firm's capabilities include global corporate access through non-deal roadshows and targeted investor and KOL events, corporate communications, and corporate governance consulting. Through its affiliates, LifeSci also provides its clients capital markets solutions, equity research coverage, and public relations services.



Vitzthum has more than 25 years' experience in institutional sales and healthcare research product management at Leerink Partners, Cowen & Co., and Lazard Capital Markets. He spent 12 years running the morning research call at two investment banks and has served as the "Deal Captain" on more than 100 healthcare IPOs and secondary offerings. Vitzthum has worked in healthcare research product management for the past 15 years and has developed extensive and long-standing relationships within the institutional investment community. He has an Applied Baccalaureate from Columbia College.



LifeSci Advisors, LLC (www.lifesciadvisors.com) is the largest investor relations consultancy in the life sciences industry, founded to provide companies with a multi-faceted approach to investor communications and outreach. With a global focus and reach, the firm provides the highest quality service for its clients through its deep sector specialization. LifeSci's team of MDs and PhDs enables the firm to better understand clients' R&D, regulatory and commercial strategies, and its team of financial services, investor relations and public relations specialists helps clients effectively communicate to the marketplace. This combination of life sciences, financial services, and investor relations competencies allows LifeSci Advisors to provide an invaluable and unique service offering to clients.



LifeSci Partners (www.lifescipartners.com) is the leading provider of consulting services in the areas of investor relations, public relations, corporate communications and capital markets advisory. Combining deep domain expertise in the life sciences with decades of experience in capital markets and public relations, LifeSci Partners delivers unparalleled services to life sciences companies globally.



For further information, please contact:



Michael Rice LifeSci Advisors 646-597-6979 mrice@lifesciadvisors.com

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GORLESTON, GREAT YARMOUTH, England, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --TricorBraun Limited, the European subsidiary of TricorBraun, is celebrating the one-year anniversary of formally organizing its office in the United Kingdom, according to Joe Mazzilli, Sales Director - Europe.

"We've had a presence in the UK and Europe for more than five years," said Mazzilli. "But establishing roots with the opening of our facility shows commitment to a longer-term strategy. We continue to expand our customer base in Europe and revenue is up."

A global, packaging solutions company, TricorBraun is focused on providing innovative, custom solutions for its many customers throughout the world. TricorBraun operates from more than 40 locations throughout North America and Internationally from London, England: Guangzhou, China; Hong Kong, Mexico City, Mexico, Bogota, Colombia, and Mumbai, India.

Mazzilli said that TricorBraun's UK office is growing and the future looks very bright. "With TricorBraun's global support network of design, engineering, marketing, supply chain, warehousing, and more- we are in a great position to support our customers' needs on a daily basis."

"Our company ethos is well-received by customers; our knowledge and flexibility create an incredible level of support," he said.

Keith Strope, President and CEO, of TricorBraun, said that the company's UK office is a key element in its global presence and the hub for its European expansion. "Through the UK office, we are able to bring our world-class resources to more customers in more countries."

Strope said that TricorBraun continues to position itself to more efficiently help customers bring their new and existing products to market with localized access to our expertise in package design, engineering, and mold building. "Our UK office is an important part of our growth strategy and we're excited about its future role."

About TricorBraun

TricorBraun (www.tricorbraun.com) is a packaging solutions company, focused on providing innovative, custom solutions for its many customers. An industry leader in glass and plastic containers, closures, dispensers and tubes, TricorBraun operates from more than 40 locations throughout North America and internationally from London, England: Guangzhou, China; Hong Kong, and Mumbai, India.Our award-winning Design & Engineering Center provides forward-thinking service driven by consumer insight, market understanding and creative solutions. TricorBraun's advisory services range from preliminary planning and manufacturing oversight to warehousing and logistics programs.

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A world leading energy provider, Shell signs agreement to buy leading electric vehicle charging provider NewMotion

Shell, one of the world's largest energy providers, has signed an agreement to buy NewMotion in a deal that will enable both companies to accelerate the transition to low-carbon transport. Drake Star Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor to NewMotion's shareholders in this transaction.

Under the terms of the deal, NewMotion will remain focused on accelerating its mission in Europe by delivering more innovative smart-charging solutions to homes, businesses and public parking spaces. The acquisition will help NewMotion enhance its electric vehicle (EV) charging services turning more parking spaces into charging stations as well as improving users' charging experience across Europe.

Based in Amsterdam, NewMotion was launched in 2009 by a group of entrepreneurs on a mission to contribute to a cleaner world. Today, NewMotion operates more than 30,000 electric charge posts in the Netherlands, Germany, France and the UK. It also provides access to a network of more than 50,000 public charge points across 25 European countries, serving more than 100,000 registered charge cards.

"We are very pleased to have such a strong investor that fully supports our mission, enabling us to further expand across Europe at a time when the transition to electric vehicles is gathering pace," said Sytse Zuidema, CEO of NewMotion. He continued: "We are excited that our ongoing mission and belief in a transition towards less-polluting transport source has been endorsed so strongly by Shell, one of the world's leading energy companies."

"Today's announcement is an early step towards ensuring customers can access a range of refuelling choices over the coming decades, as new technologies evolve to co-exist with traditional transport fuels." Shell's Vice President for New Fuels, Matthew Tipper, said. "This move provides customers the flexibility to charge their electric vehicles at home, work and on the go. When you add this customer offer to our current roll out of fast charging points on Shell forecourts, we believe we are developing the full raft of charge solutions required to support the future of EVs."

Commenting on the acquisition, Frank Verbeek, Managing Partner of Drake Star Partners Netherlands, said: "As part of the Shell New Energies portfolio, NewMotion has a unique opportunity to expand its services to the level of ambition the founders, shareholders, management and staff worked so hard for. We are proud to have played our role in ensuring Dutch company NewMotion can execute their international strategy." Mr. Verbeek continued: "We believe that within the mobility segment, EVs will prove to be an extremely dynamic sector with many more companies looking for opportunities. As such, Drake Star Partners is well-positioned to support companies operating in the ever-dynamic EV space along with their growth ambitions."

Drake Star Partners team: Frank Verbeek, Sherief Rahim and Bas Hendriks

Legal/Fiscal advisors: Vriman M&A Lawyers (target's legal advisor), Amstone Tax Lawyers (target's fiscal advisor)

About NewMotion

NewMotion is the market leader in offering charging solutions for electric vehicles in Europe. The company currently has more than 30,000 private charge points across the Netherlands, Germany, France and the UK. The company also provides access to a network of more than 50,000 public charge points across 25 countries in Europe for more than 100,000 registered drivers charge cards. NewMotion and Shell will utilise the synergies and opportunities that this deal provides to further develop and enhance the leading-edge services and products NewMotion offers existing and future EV drivers. NewMotion has been active in the market since 2009, fulfilling a pioneering role in the industry.

https://newmotion.com

About Drake Star Partners

Drake Star Partners is a global investment banking firm serving the technology, media and communications sectors (TMC) with offices in New York, London, Paris, Munich, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berlin, Amsterdam, Geneva and Tokyo. The firm focuses on M&A and corporate finance for its clients worldwide. Drake Star Partners completed over 300 transactions since 2004, 70% of which are cross-border.

Drake Star Partners is the marketing name for the global investment bank Drake Star Partners Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries and affiliates. In the USA, all securities are transacted through Drake Star Securities LLC. In the USA, Drake Star Securities LLC is regulated by FINRA and is a member of SIPC.  2016 Drake Star Partners.

www.drakestar.com

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005811/en/

Contacts:

Drake Star Partners Netherlands

Frank Verbeek

Managing Partner

Frank.verbeek@drakestar.com

+316 5383 9013

or

Sherief Rahim

Senior Associate

Sherief.rahim@drakestar.com

+316 4395 1155
SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN -- (Marketwired) -- 10/12/17 -- Tarku Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: TKU) (the "Company" or "Tarku") is pleased to announce the launch of its new corporate website at www.tarkuresources.com, and the availability of its updated corporate presentation.

The new website features up-to-date information on Tarku's projects as well as quick and easy access to in-depth information regarding its management and board of directors, news releases and corporate presentations as well as other relevant corporate information. The new corporate presentation, found on Tarku's website, outlines the Company's focus and strategy for its gold and base metals exploration projects within the Quebec and Saskachewan provinces.

About Tarku Resources Ltd.

Tarku Resources Ltd. is an exploration company focused on generating sustainable projects for precious and base metals by conducting exploration in areas with strong geologic potential and high levels of social acceptability. Tarku holds 100% of the interests in all its projects. Project generation is the foundation of mining development and the vision of Tarku is to generate exploration projects with excellent potential for partners or buyers to build into mining properties. The foundation of the Company is based on an experienced management team with a track record of success. The goal of Tarku is to provide success for its shareholders through the implementation of strategic property acquisition, the use of innovative exploration techniques and the exploration of fertile ground. Management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the Company's properties.

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 contains forward-looking statements regarding our intentions and plans. The forward-looking statements that are contained in this news release are based on various assumptions and estimates by the Company and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from results forecasted or suggested in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We caution you that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, as discussed in the Company's filings with Canadian securities agencies. Various factors may prevent or delay our plans, including but not limited to, contractor availability and performance, weather, access, mineral prices, success and failure of the exploration and development carried out at various stages of the program, and general business, economic, competitive, political and social conditions. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward- looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Sylvain Laberge

CEO

+1 (514) 702-9841

slaberge@tarkuresources.com



Julien Davy

President

+1 (514) 618-7287

jdavy@tarkuresources.com




RALEIGH, NC -- (Marketwired) -- 10/12/17 -- Leading the way for the more than 650 Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) in the nation that make the real estate market work by providing the data that fuels nearly 6 million home sales annually, three leading MLSs are among the first to be awarded RESO Data Dictionary 1.6 Platinum Certification, RESO's highest level of certification on the most recent version of the Data Dictionary Standard, the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) announced today. California Regional MLS (CRMLS), the nation's largest MLS, MetroList, the largest MLS in Northern California, and High Desert Association of REALTORS Multiple Listing Service (HDAR MLS) will bring the most advanced features of the RESO Data Dictionary to more than 100,000 Realtors throughout California.

The RESO Data Dictionary serves as the real estate industry's "Rosetta Stone" by creating a common language that allows real estate data to be more easily understood and shared across all technology systems. The recent 1.6 update released on August 4, 2017, is the largest in the history of the Data Dictionary and added hundreds of new data elements and expanded capabilities, including Accessibility, Showing Data, Saved Searches, Prospecting, Internet Tracking, Structure Types, standardized Universal Identification of Organizations and more. RESO Certifications verify that MLSs meet the proper industry standards and empower MLSs to improve the data they provide to their subscribers.

"CRMLS is a proponent of reducing the costs associated with the creation of quality software solutions that benefit our membership," said Rob Larson, Chief Information Officer at CRMLS, which serves 85,000 subscribers, and who also Chairs the RESO Data Dictionary Workgroup. "We also recognize that standardized data improves understanding and reliability of MLS data, as it is utilized across the products and services used by our members. It is by way of our adoption of the RESO Data Dictionary not only in our RETS and API services, but also in our MLS systems that we are doing our part to deliver this promise of best in class solutions for our members."

Larson notes that CRMLS technology, known as CRIB (California Regional Information Base), has long been the vehicle for its data share activities throughout California. He says that as the RESO Dictionary adoption has grown, CRMLS has realized a reduction in its setup costs, as well as an improved ease of understanding among data share partner's data. CRMLS is also experiencing greater consistency. "As the RESO Dictionary is being adopted throughout the industry, you can see a consistency in ancillary products, IDX sites, etc., that are now more closely matching our RESO Dictionary based MLS Listing Input, Search and Display," Larson added.

Rapattoni, the MLS technology firm that helped both MetroList and High Desert Association of REALTORS MLS achieve Platinum level Certification, drew praise from both its MLS partners. Rapattoni recently received RESO Web API Certification, which will enable all of Rapattoni's customers to receive RESO's most advanced data system that is replacing the widely-adopted RESTful (REpresentational State Transfer) technology in use by many industries today.

Rick Trevino, Vice president, Information Technology, at MetroList and Chair of the RESO Payloads Workgroup, said, "We're continuing our leadership position with Rapattoni to support the Industry's innovation in establishing cutting-edge MLS system standards across all platforms. Being among the first MLSs to achieve RESO Data Dictionary 1.6 Platinum Certification demonstrates MetroList's commitment to advanced technology and setting the standard for accurate, state-of-the art data exchange protocols."

MetroList has been at the forefront of achieving RESO certification since its inception, and was the first MLS organization in the country to receive the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) Data Dictionary 1.3 Certification in 2015. As the largest MLS in Northern California, MetroList acts as a seamless real estate information network serving more than 18,500 real estate professionals in seven counties: Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced and Yolo.

High Desert had high praise for Rapattoni as well, and the benefits the highest RESO Certification will deliver. "Our goal is to provide the most advanced level of service and technology to our members and to the High Desert population that we serve -- this achievement helps us continue to meet this goal," said Karen Sanchez, President of HDAR. "We are very excited that our High Desert Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service has achieved the Platinum designation. Big thanks to our staff, our Realtor volunteers and Rapattoni, our MLS vendor, for their diligence and hard work."

Jeremy Crawford, CEO of RESO, describes the achievements of these three California MLSs as "blazing a path for more of the best to follow," he said. "We keep improving the Data Dictionary to help brokers and agents build more business opportunities by providing more -- and much wanted information -- to consumers," said Crawford.

"Being awarded the RESO Data Dictionary 1.6 Platinum Certification is a high honor, but more importantly, it will pave the way to unleashing the power of Big Data in real estate. CRMLS with MetroList and High Desert and their MLS technology partner Rapattoni are moving the market forward, and we hope more great MLSs will strive to achieve that same Platinum Certification."

Next week the nearly sold-out RESO 2017 Fall Conference -- "Getting Down to Business Utilizing Data Standards" -- will be held in San Diego at The Pendry Hotel, October 17-19, 2017. More information, including registration details, can be found at https://www.reso.org/fall-mtg.

About California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS)

California Regional MLS is the nation's largest and most recognized subscriber-based MLS, dedicated to servicing over 85,000 real estate professionals from 32 Associations, 3 Boards of REALTORS and 1 MLS. CRMLS is the industry powerhouse and thrives on providing the most relevant products and services to its subscribers. For more information on CRMLS, visit www.crmls.org.

About MetroList Services, Inc.

MetroList Services Inc. is the largest multiple listing service in Northern California, headquartered in Sacramento, the state's capital. Formed in 1985 by the Sacramento Association of REALTORS, the Placer County Association of REALTORS and the El Dorado County Association of REALTORS, MetroList's ownership group has grown to include the Lodi Association of REALTORS, the Yolo County Association of REALTORS, and California Real Estate Brokers, Inc. MetroList acts as a seamless real estate information network serving more than 18,500 real estate professionals in seven counties: Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced and Yolo.

About High Desert Association of REALTORS Multiple Listing Service (HDAR MLS)

High Desert Association of REALTORS MLS is owned and operated by the High Desert Association of REALTORS, whose original charter was May 22, 1948. Originally named Mojave Valley Board of REALTORS, in 1958, it became the Victor Valley Board of REALTORS. In 2014, the Victor Valley and Barstow Association of REALTORS merged to form the new High Desert Association of REALTORS.

About Rapattoni

Rapattoni Corporation has been serving the real estate industry for over 47 years. The company provides integrated products and services for real estate associations and MLS organizations, including an internet-based MLS and association management software, along with hosting and technical support for each product. Rapattoni's association management customers represent more than 80% of the nation's REALTORS. Rapattoni's headquarters are in Simi Valley, California.

About RESO

The mission of the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) is to create and promote the adoption and utilization of standards that drive efficiency throughout the real estate industry. RESO was incorporated in November 2011 as an independent, not-for-profit trade organization that was previously a section of the National Association of REALTORS. RESO has more than 730 active members, including NAR, multiple-listing services, real estate associations, brokerages and industry technology providers. For more information, visit www.reso.org. Contact RESO via email at info@reso.org.

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Media contacts:

Kevin Hawkins

WAV Group for RESO

kevin@wavgroup.com

206-866-1220




BOISSY L'AILLERIE, France, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Groupe Sebbin announces that it has reached a broader agreement with Revitacare, following the success of their Spanish partnership.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/558818/Sebbin_Logo.jpg )

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582350/Revitacare_Logo.jpg )



Since 2008 Groupe Sebbin has been partnering with Revitacare in Spain. Today, the partnership will be extended to other European Countries including Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg.

This agreement will allow Sebbin to establish a firmer foot by reinforcing its strength into the aesthetic market and become a bigger player in the non-invasive product market with top products for face and hair by using its direct network in Europe of almost 50 sales representatives.

The products:

Cytocare 532/516/502 is a range of resorbable implant composed of Hyaluronic acid + for skin rejuvenation for every age and skin type. It treats fine lines and wrinkles, dehydrated skin and lack of density and radiance of the skin.

Cytocare S- Line is a complex for skin lightening and rejuvenation. It fills fine lines, attenuates wrinkles and loss of densification, restores skin hydration and radiance.

Haircare is a unique product composed of Hyaluronic acid to treat and attenuate scalp and hair problems for both women and men:Hair loss, scalp dehydration presence of dandruff, and hair breakage.

The launch of this cooperation is scheduled to start Q4 of 2017.

Diederik Van Goor , CEO of group Sebbin states :

"This partnership is a win-win agreement for both Sebbin and Revitacare and a great opportunity for Sebbin to accelerate its European expansion and offer noninvasive products to the aesthetic industry. We, at Sebbin, are very excited about this agreement"

Martine Buzon, Chairwoman of Revitacare states:

"This agreement could not come at a better time for Revitacare, it consolidates the successful investment in the current partnership and will help to boost our sales covering additional countries where Revitacare was not present. We are then very pleased to extend our partnership with Sebbin and I am expecting to be a success for everyone involved."

A bout Sebbin :

Groupe Sebbin is a global medical device company headquartered in France established for more than 30 years. It creates, develops, manufactures and markets high quality implants, expanders and other solutions for aesthetic and reconstructive surgery.

All products are manufactured with the upmost care and attention at its cutting-edge facility close to Paris. Strict quality control over 100% of their silicone implants ensures optimum safety for the patient.

patient safety is thE number one priority at all times.

Group Sebbin uses only long-term implantable medical grade silicone registered by the FDA (Food & Drugs Administration). The application of ISO 9001 and 13485 standards ensures full compliance with the requirements of European Directive 93/42.

About Revitacare:

REVITACARE is a French Laboratory specialized in cutting-edge research, development and manufacturing of anti-aging highly elaborated formulas. Thanks to its specific knowledge and expertise, REVITACARE has been recognized as a pioneer in delivering specific complex with ingredients combined with Hyaluronic acid. Their range is dedicated to medical aesthetic and cosmetology markets, to treat aging effects, aesthetic and various cosmetic concerns. Their products are distributed in over 40 countries thanks to a wide international distribution network.

REVITACARE was honored with several awards for their products including CYTOCARE as  Best Mesotherapy product  and HAIRCARE as "Best hair beauty product". These awards are the recognition of their high performance and represent their conviction to develop efficient and safe products. It scored REVITACARE as a key player in manufacturing of sophisticated formulas.

Since 2003, their focus is to develop innovative products to comply with the highest safety standards to meet practitioners and patients' expectations.

Contacts:



Groupe Sebbin

39-43 Parc d'Activites des Quatre Vents

95650 Boissy l'Aillerie - France

Tel: +331-3442-1328

Email: contact@laboratoires-sebbin.fr

Website: www.sebbin.com



Revitacare

Heliparc, 6 rue saint Simon

95310 Saint-Ouen-l'Aumone

Tel: +33-130373145

Email: contact@revitacare.fr

Website: www.revitacare.com


Soil Samples Include High Gold Values Up to 2.33 Ppm and 2.1 Ppm Gold

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2017 / Endurance Gold Corporation (TSX-V: EDG) ("Endurance") is pleased to report encouraging results from a soil and rock sampling program (the "Program") completed in August on the Trout Target. The Trout Target is located on the Trout property which was acquired earlier this year to expand and enhance the exploration potential of the Company's Elephant Property. The Elephant Mountain Project, which includes the Elephant, Trout and Wolverine Properties, can be easily accessed by the all-weather Elliott Highway located 76 miles (123 kilometres ("km")) northwest of Fairbanks within the Rampart-Eureka-Manley Hot Springs placer gold mining districts near Eureka, Alaska.

The Trout Target is located approximately nine km northeast of the Elephant Property. Prior exploration had defined a 1,000 metre ("m") by 300 m gold-in-soil anomaly with values in excess of 100 parts per billion ("ppb") gold which is centered on an interpreted northeast striking shear zone which transects the syenomonzonite intrusive ("Trout Anomaly"). The best assay results reported from prior sampling included a 1,880 ppb gold-in-soil sample and a gold-in-rock grab sample which assayed 9.64 grams per tonnes ("gpt") gold associated with a quartz veining within the shear. The Trout Anomaly has never been tested with drilling.

"We are pleased that the Trout Anomaly has advanced to become our fifth high priority drill target at Elephant," commented Robert Boyd, President and CEO of Endurance. "This 2017 soil survey has identified gold-in-soil values over 1 ppm along an encouraging strike length within the 1000 metre long +100 ppb soil anomaly. These are the highest gold-in-soil values that the Company has identified to date on the Elephant Project."

The Program evaluated the central portion of the Trout Anomaly with the collection of a total of 31 power auger soil samples and 12 rock samples with the objective of increasing the density of sampling and upgrading the Trout Anomaly to a drill target. Mapping identified an iron-oxidized intrusive-hosted shear zone which was observed over a variable 8 to 23 m width with a northeast trending strike length.

Coincident with the observed shear zone, the 2017 soil sampling has defined a 50 m wide (+100 ppb) gold-in-soil anomaly with a strike length of 170 m in the central part of the larger Trout Anomaly. Within this anomaly is a 10 to 15 m wide (+500 ppb) gold-in-soil anomaly with an open strike length of approximately 130 m. Peak values within the +500 ppb gold contour include 2,330 ppb gold and 2,100 ppb gold, and up to 4.14 ppm silver. The higher gold-in-soil results are associated with higher arsenic-in-soil. Due to oxidation and recessive weathering, there is no outcrop within the shear zone but frost boils in the area of the highest gold-in-soil have yielded oxidized quartz veining with grab samples assaying up to 1.26 ppm and 1.065 ppm gold, and up to 16.4 ppm silver. The shear zone and the +500 ppb gold-in-soil anomaly are open in both directions.

Plan maps showing the location of the Trout soil sample grid and rock samples with analytical results to date are available at www.endurancegold.com.

The Elephant Mountain Project which hosts at least six km-scale gold targets associated with a Cretaceous aged intrusive complex and hornfels alteration that extends over a strike length of about 12 km. Five of these gold targets are associated with greater than +100 ppb gold-in-soil and multiple +1 gpt gold in rock samples. A map showing the location of the three properties and targets is also available at www.endurancegold.com.

Next Steps - With the identification of this compelling Trout Target, the Company has now identified five drill targets supported by chargeability anomalies and gold-in-soil at the Elephant and Trout Properties. The objective of the 2017 sampling program is to also advance at least one other target to drill stage. Soil and rock sample results are still pending on the South Fork and Wolverine targets and will be reported over the next few weeks. Due in part to a prolonged delay in receiving analytical results, the Company has deferred the implementation of a drill program until the spring.

About Endurance

Endurance Gold Corporation is a company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of highly prospective North American mineral properties with the potential to develop world-class deposits. The company also owns a significant shareholding in Inventus Mining Inc. (IVS), which controls the entire Pardo paleoplacer gold district near Sudbury, Ontario, and shares in GFG Resources Inc. (GFG), which controls the entire Rattlesnake Hills gold district in Wyoming, USA.

ENDURANCE GOLD CORPORATION

Robert T. Boyd

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Endurance Gold Corporation

(604) 682-2707, info@endurancegold.com

www.endurancegold.com

Robert T. Boyd, P.Geo. is a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 and supervised the compilation of the information forming the basis for this release. The grab samples from the 2017 sampling program were analyzed at ALS Minerals using Au-ST43, Au-ICP21, and ME-MS41. The auger soil samples from the 2017 sampling program were also analyzed at ALS Minerals using Au-ST43, Au-AROR43 (>100 ppb), and ME-MS41. Both Endurance and ALS Minerals inserted standards with each shipment analyzed. Bedrock grab samples mentioned in this release are selective by nature and are unlikely to represent average grades within the bedrock when drilled.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results.

SOURCE: Endurance Gold Corporation
DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/12/17 -- Apto, the leading web-based commercial real estate software for brokers, today announced that it has hired Angela Tucci as chief executive officer. Tanner McGraw, Apto's founder and former CEO, will continue as chairman of the board and will take on a new role as the company's chief strategy officer.

Tucci was most recently at CA Technologies, where she served as general manager of the Agile Management business unit. She was one of the pioneers of the CRM industry in the early 1990s, and brings decades of experience as a proven leader in public and private software companies spanning a wide variety of industries. Her leadership and vision enabled those companies to boost innovation, profitability, and employee engagement.

"We're very excited for Angela to bring her experience scaling software companies to Apto," said McGraw. "She brings a lot of unique skills and insights that will help us accelerate innovation and implement processes to achieve the ambitious goals we've had in our sights since our founding." In his new role as CSO, McGraw will be responsible for Apto's long-term strategy and vision. "I'm looking forward to refocusing my attention on how to best serve brokers' needs both now and in the future."

Tucci joins Apto during a period of record growth and dramatic enhancements to its product offerings. Apto's three-year growth rate places it #30 among software companies in Inc. magazine's recently released 2017 Inc. 500 rankings. Apto has also reaffirmed its commitment to product innovation that makes brokers more efficient, releasing a new mobile app, a redesigned user interface, integrations with leading software partners, and Apto Prospect & Nurture in just the last few months.

"This company has the potential to completely transform how brokers capture new business and work their deals," said Tucci. "I'm thrilled to join Apto during such an exciting and pivotal time for the business and the industry. With our incredible people and our unwavering focus on building the best software for brokers, I have no doubt that Apto will fulfill its promise and its ambitions."

Prior to CA Technologies, Tucci held executive positions at Rally Software, Symantec, and NEON. A veteran start-up entrepreneur, she also founded two venture-backed technology companies with successful exits. She is a trustee for the Anita Borg Institute, a non-profit organization focused on the advancement of women in computing and technology. Tucci earned a master's degree in business from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree in physics from Princeton University.

"We believe Apto has assembled one of the strongest SaaS executive teams in Colorado," said Blair Garrou, managing director of Mercury Fund, and a venture investor and board member of Apto. "Adding an executive with the track record and reputation of Angela to lead this team positions us well for continued rapid growth and success in the future."

About Apto:

Created by and for commercial real estate brokers, Apto is the leading web-based software for managing customer relationships, properties, listings, deals and commissions. Apto serves nearly 10,000 commercial brokers and is the CRM of choice for 6 of the top 8 CRE brands. Apto's world-class software is optimized to meet the needs of CRE brokers, and can be further customized to brokerage workflows and business requirements. Apto is the only platform that allows brokers to manage the full lifecycle of a deal anywhere, from any device.

Interested in Apto, our customer success stories or working for us? Visit www.apto.com, call 888-633-6424 or email info@apto.com.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2017 / In Ovations Holdings, Inc. (OTC PINK: INOH) is pleased to acknowledge the formation of a New Cannabis Industry Focused Advisory Board to assist in guiding INOH's business forward. All procedures required for formation of this Board, including a full legal review, have begun by the Company, Dr. Kenneth Hughes, and Gary Williams.

Dr. Hughes stated, "The Formation of this Advisory Board is an important step forward in building In Ovations Holdings' business in the fast-growing Cannabis Industry. This Industry is dynamic with rapidly changing regulations and operating requirements. I look forward to working with the new members of the Advisory Board as that have been selected."

The Advisory Board's first tasks are focused on implementing Aquarius Brands Air-to-Water generators in Cannabis grow rooms, which have been tested in various grow operations. These water generators are being specially redesigned for grow rooms and will be manufactured and specifically designed for grow rooms. These generators will be an added model to the present inventory Aquarius Brands presently has. The inclusion of advanced water treatment technology in these systems provides a superior source of water for these types of operations.

Mr. Williams noted, "The creation of this Advisory Board will launch INOH deeper into the Cannabis market and will help establish the company as a serious player in the Industry. The opportunity to help guide our technology and Industry partners through the early years of this industry and through the pitfalls they face on a daily basis will help propel INOH into the future."

Dr. Hughes is a business and technical specialist with broad experience in translating complex chemical and biological technologies into Industrial, Consumer, and Military commercial products and strategically building businesses around these products and technologies. He has many years in the Venture and Private Equity space matching investors to these new businesses and has served as the principal investigator on programs supported by the DOD, EPA, NSF, and USDA. He is currently developing technologies that are strategic to the burgeoning Cannabis Industry including organic fertilizer production using vermiculture, environmental controls focused on HVAC and indoor air quality, and devices that generate gases capable of controlling microbial contamination. Dr. Hughes has numerous patents granted or pending, with many others in development related to indoor agriculture. Dr. Hughes received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Purdue University and is a former Chemistry and Biochemistry professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mr. Gary Williams joined the company in the Summer of 2017 as the Lead Advisor of our Cannabis and Hemp Division and brings to In Ovations Holdings more than 20 years of experience in global operations. His experience includes coordinating the operations of large-scale companies and being responsible for their end-to-end supply chain management and product delivery.

Mr. Williams began his journey into the cannabis/hemp arenas in Colorado when Bill 1284 Cannabis Regulations were put into place. Entrance into the industry was defined in a compliance and security role which helped clients understand and live by the regulations that defined the industry at that point in time.

Mr. Williams was a team leader on a proposal team for the Nevada Medical Marijuana Program and the team won a total of 7 licenses in Nevada under the new regulations. The team has also won licenses in Colorado, Washington State, Oregon, and is now working on California and Florida.

He was involved in a partnership as the owner of a Medical Dispensary in McMinnville Oregon, which became the first successful Cashless Dispensary in the US. Mr. Williams has been an Operations Manager for a Grow Operation, as well as Concentrate manufacturer.

Mr. Williams is currently working on licensing in 5 states and is dedicated 100% to the cannabis and hemp industries.

ABOUT

In Ovations Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary, Electro Verde Inc., entered into a marketing distribution agreement with Seychelle Water Environmental Technologies, Inc., which manufactures and supplies revolutionary water filtration systems featuring breakthrough technology, most notably, Ionic Adsorption Micro Filtration. Seychelle is a prominent company in the fast-growing water filtration industry, who markets a complete line of top-quality portable water filtration products and brands in North America and worldwide. The company is a minority owner of Atmospheric Water Aquarius Brands, a company involved in water purification. The Company is also engaged in identifying and engaging in other business opportunities for purposes of diversification and revenue generation

FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER

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 and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the statements made herein.

In Ovations Holdings, Inc. does not grow, process, sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act (US.CSA).

In Ovations Holdings

Email: inovationsholdingsinc@gmail.com

Website: www.inovationsholdings.com

Facebook: InOvationsHoldings

Twitter: @inohotc

Aquarius Brands

The Conservation Company

12260 SW 53rd Street, Suite 603

Cooper City, Florida, 33330, USA

Office Phone - (954) 306-6763

Email: RGoldstein@AquariusBrands.org

www.AtmosphericWaterSolutions.com

Seychelle Environmental Technologies, Inc.

http://www.seychelle.com

Dr. Kenneth Hughes

ken@miltonhvac.com

Gary Williams

spydoctorgary@gmail.com

Authorized Message Board

www.investorshangout.com

SOURCE: In Ovations Holdings, Inc.
Regulatory News:

Total (Paris:FP) (LSE:TTA) (NYSE:TOT) has entered into an agreement with GASORED, a group of service station owners, to rebrand a network of around 250 service stations in and around Mexico City under the Total brand.

Present in Mexico since 1982, Total is aiming to capitalize on the deregulation of the country's fuel sales and supply market to significantly expand its activities there. "We are pleased with this commercial agreement with GASORED. Strengthening our presence in Mexico, Latin America's second-largest market for petroleum products, is in line with our strategy of enlarging our network in growth regions," commented Momar Nguer, President of Marketing Services at Total.

The first Total-branded stations will open by the end of the year, with deployment continuing in 2018 and 2019. The Total-branded outlets will offer consumers and business customers the company's full lineup of fuels and lubricants, as well as a broad range of products and services.

Total in Mexico

Total has been present in Mexico since 1982. With 6,000 employees, the Group is involved in specialty chemicals and markets lubricants, additives, special fluids and related services there. Total also has interests in four exploration blocks, two of which it operates, in the Gulf of Mexico.

About Total

Total is a global integrated energy producer and provider, a leading international oil and gas company, a major player in low-carbon energies. Our 98,000 employees are committed to better energy that is safer, cleaner, more efficient, more innovative and accessible to as many people as possible. As a responsible corporate citizen, we focus on ensuring that our operations in more than 130 countries worldwide consistently deliver economic, social and environmental benefits.

www.total.com

About GASORED

Founded in 2004, GASORED is a network of 30 partners operating more than 250 service stations in Mexico City and the surrounding region. Led by Victor Suarez, GASORED offers premium services to customers and meets the highest safety and business ethics standards.

Cautionary note

This press release, from which no legal consequences may be drawn, is for information purposes only. The entities in which TOTAL S.A. directly or indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. TOTAL S.A. has no liability for their acts or omissions. In this document, the terms "Total" and "Total Group" are sometimes used for convenience where general references are made to TOTAL S.A. and/or its subsidiaries. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" may also be used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them.

This document may contain forward-looking information and statements that are based on a number of economic data and assumptions made in a given economic, competitive and regulatory environment. They may prove to be inaccurate in the future and are subject to a number of risk factors. Neither TOTAL S.A. nor any of its subsidiaries assumes any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information or statement, objectives or trends contained in this document whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005852/en/

Contacts:

Total

Media Relations: +33 1 47 44 46 99

presse@total.com

@TotalPress

or

Investor Relations: +44 (0)207 719 7962

holding.communication-financiere@total.com
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Facebook has banned US rapper Lil B from the social media platform for 30 days for allegedly violating its hate-speech policies. Media outlets reproduced the banned posts that Facebook deleted from the rapper's account, and they remain on Twitter. They read: 'White people are the only ones who really love they guns U can tell they are violent people! I don't live in fear I don't need a gun - Lil B.' 'White people so scared they the reason why guns are a problem if white people put down the gunze we all be safe but nope! They violent - Lil B.' Lil B's another related post still remains on Facebook: 'Do the white nationalists or the KKK or Neo Nazis really hate me? I don't believe it and I love them! I'm serious I love all humans.' Lil B, also known as the BasedGod, responded to the restriction on Twitter: 'Found out Facebook banned me for 30 days because I was talking about white people. got it.' The 28 year-old musician, who is known for his outspoken views on social media, discussed the intersection of white nationalism and gun violence in America after 59 people were killed in a mass shooting by a white man in Las Vegas. Prominent black activists like DiDi Delgado have accused Facebook of preventing them from talking about systemic racism on the social network. In an interview with tech website Motherboard, a Facebook spokeswoman defended the decision saying that the site's hate speech policies apply equally to all races and are 'race-neutral.' This is not the first time that Lil B is denied entry to the application. In 2004, he was debarred for posts related to racial issues and sex trafficking. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The "Turkey - Telecoms, Mobile, Broadband and Digital Media Statistics and Analyses" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.

Turkey's operators look firmly towards developing 5G

Turkey is proving to be one of the more progressive mobile markets in the Middle East with revenue from mobile data services growing quickly. This has not gone unnoticed by the operators, with Turk Telekom, Turkcell and Vodafone Turkey all looking towards a future where 5G will become increasingly important. In preparation, the operators have formed various partnerships with solution providers and in 2017 Turk Telekom established a 5G Centre of Excellence which will focus on the research and development of 5G in Turkey.

Interestingly, as a result of the three major mobile operators all launching 4G LTE services in April 2016; Turkey has witnessed a dramatic decline in 3G mobile subscriptions. In contrast, subscriptions to 4G services have risen quickly. The operators are forging ahead and developing additional solutions for the LTE network, with for example, Vodafone Turkey creating a Licensed-Assisted Access (LAA) network in early 2017, in conjunction with Huawei and Qualcomm.

While mobile broadband becomes increasingly popular in Turkey the fixed broadband network is also progressing sharply with a clear direction now towards fibre broadband. While Turk Telekom continues to dominate this sector, Turkcell's Superonline is also growing its fibre broadband customer base. By Q1 2017 it had increased its fibre broadband customers by 16%, year-on-year. In total there are now around 300 kilometres of fibre length deployed throughout Turkey, covering more than 80 cities.

Turkey also has excellent international infrastructure with links to many of international cable networks due to its geographic location between Europe and Asia. While the civil upheaval in the region has impacted upon Turkey's economy and stability; in 2017 the telecoms sector is still showing promising signs of progress.

Key developments:

Turkey is producing its own domestic communication satellite with qualification testing expected to begin in 2018.

Pre-paid mobile subscriptions are in decline while post-paid are growing.

Millions of homes have now been passed by the fibre broadband network in Turkey.

Mobile penetration in Turkey is close to reaching 100% in 2017.

Turkey is positioning itself as an important node for data traffic on a global scale.

Turkey is very proactive in the development e-government services and solutions.



Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive summary

2. Key statistics

3. Country overview

4. Telecommunications market

5. Regulatory environment

6. Fixed network operators

7. Telecommunications infrastructure

8. Fixed broadband Market

9. Digital Economy

10. Digital media

11. Mobile Market

Companies Mentioned

Turk Telekom (formerly Avea)

Turkcell

Vodafone Turkey

Turksat

Superonline.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7xft83/turkey

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012006002/en/

Contacts:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

Related Topics: Telecommunications and Networks, Mobile Networks
BAAR, Switzerland, 2017-10-12 17:30 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascom (SWX:ASCN.SW) and GE Healthcare announce a strategic distribution partnership in Europe of Digistat Patient Watch solution. Designed specifically for Intensive Care Units and released by Ascom, this innovative solution helps healthcare professionals gain instant visibility to patient status.



Based on Ascom's connectivity, clinical workflow and mobility expertise, the Digistat Patient Watch solution provides clinicians throughout Europe with an innovative solution to address the needs of Intensive Care Units (ICUs). This partnership further expands the existing global relationship between GE and Ascom.



In traditional ICUs, each patient is wired to up to ten medical equipment - from monitoring devices to ventilators or infusion pumps. These high-end technologies provide clinicians with critical information and alert them when staff intervention is required. But this can sometimes lead to alarm fatigue, with care givers being exposed to up to 1,000 alarms per shift1, even though up to 99% of those do not even require clinical intervention2.



The new alarm management solution called Digistat Patient Watch, collects data from a variety of devices connected to the patient providing a holistic view at the patient bedside level and at the ICU level. Clinicians gain visibility on patient status, highlighting alarms and warnings occurring on any connected device. This critical data can also be displayed on a handheld mobile device, such as the Ascom Myco 2 which is designed specifically for clinical staff. The benefits for healthcare professionals may include helping improve staff efficiency, supporting better organization of patient care and implementing procedures to reduce the number of alarms.



"Digistat Patient Watch helps clinicians leverage patient data to increase situational awareness and align priorities. It has the potential to change their practice and improve workflow efficiency," says Andre Neu, Head of Platform Solutions for Ascom.



"Digistat Patient Watch is an important addition to GE Healthcare's portfolio of solutions for the Intensive Care, and we are delighted with this expanded collaboration with Ascom," adds Olivier Bosc, General Manager of Life Care Solutions Europe at GE Healthcare.



For more information on the Digistat Patient Watch solution, as well as on Ascom's innovative clinical care solutions, please visit: www.ascom.com.



ABOUT ASCOM



Ascom is a global solutions provider focused on healthcare ICT and mobile workflow solutions. The vision of Ascom is to close digital information gaps allowing for the best possible decisions - anytime and anywhere. Ascom's mission is to provide mission-critical, real-time solutions for highly mobile, ad hoc, and time-sensitive environments. Ascom uses its unique product and solutions portfolio and software architecture capabilities to devise integration and mobilization solutions that provide truly smooth, complete and efficient workflows for healthcare as well as for industry and retail sectors.



Ascom is headquartered in Baar (Switzerland), has subsidiaries in 15 countries and employs around 1,200 people worldwide. Ascom registered shares (ASCN) are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich.



______________________________



1 Alarm fatigue: impacts on patient safety, Ruskin KJ, Hueske-Kraus D. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2015; 28: 685-690. 2 Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goal: Alarm Management |ECRI top 10 Health Technology Hazard



Ascom Group Media Office, Daniel Lack, Company Secretary & CCO +41 41 544 78 10, daniel.lack@ascom.com

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PARIS, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Areas, the global concession catering brand of Elior Group, announces that it has been awarded a 10-year catering concession contract to manage 15 restaurants at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Together with AERO Service Group and Innovative Retail Group, Areas has designed an innovative catering offering based on a balanced mix of internationally renowned brands and emblematic regional chains that promote local cuisine.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353501LOGO )



Areas CEO Pedro Fontana declared: "We are very proud of our consolidation of the American airport market. After Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Newark, Washington, Indianapolis, Orlando and Detroit, this contract underscores our ability to attract major international airports thanks to our portfolio of brand franchises as well as our expertise in appealing to local brands that are in vogue. With our in-depth knowledge of travel catering trends our goal is to provide international travelers with excellent service and innovative catering concepts. "

Areas' offering provides a variety of complementary brands ranging from the relaxed coffee shop format to take-away vendors and the most upscale restaurants, all strategically installed in the various terminals to accommodate the natural flow and needs of travelers as they pass through the airport.

In terminal A, Areas will be proposing a variety of catering solutions, including: Leann Chin, an Asian restaurant; People's Organic, a local brand specialized in organically grown food produce; The Cook & the Ox, a meat and seafood restaurant run by chef Jack Riebel, as well as a Bruegger's Bagels, a Chick-Fil-A, a Panda Express and The Blue Door Pub, famed for its classic Minnesota burger.

Moving on to terminal B, passengers will be able to discover the City Point Bar , a bar-cum-restaurant specially designed by Areas.

Finally, at Terminal F, Areas will be installing a food court which offers travelers a choice of menu between Chick-Fil-A, Wendy's, Panda Express, People's Organic, Auntie Anne's & Cinnabon, Buffalo Wild Wings, the Mexican restaurant Zona Cocina, and Minneapolis' own iconic restaurant, Hi-Lo Diner.

The first points of sale will open in 2018 and the complete offering should be installed and up and running by 2019.

For more information about: Areas / Elior Group
Regulatory News:

Areas, the global concession catering brand of Elior Group (Paris:ELIOR), announces that it has been awarded a 10-year catering concession contract to manage 15 restaurants at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Together with AERO Service Group and Innovative Retail Group, Areas has designed an innovative catering offering based on a balanced mix of internationally renowned brands and emblematic regional chains that promote local cuisine.

Areas CEO Pedro Fontana declared: "We are very proud of our consolidation of the American airport market. After Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Newark, Washington, Indianapolis, Orlando and Detroit, this contract underscores our ability to attract major international airports thanks to our portfolio of brand franchises as well as our expertise in appealing to local brands that are in vogue. With our in-depth knowledge of travel catering trends our goal is to provide international travelers with excellent service and innovative catering concepts.

Areas' offering provides a variety of complementary brands ranging from the relaxed coffee shop format to take-away vendors and the most upscale restaurants, all strategically installed in the various terminals to accommodate the natural flow and needs of travelers as they pass through the airport.

In terminal A, Areas will be proposing a variety of catering solutions, including: Leann Chin, an Asian restaurant; People's Organic, a local brand specialized in organically grown food produce; The Cook & the Ox, a meat and seafood restaurant run by chef Jack Riebel, as well as a Bruegger's Bagels, a Chick-Fil-A, a Panda Express and The Blue Door Pub, famed for its classic Minnesota burger.

Moving on to terminal B, passengers will be able to discover the City Point Bar, a bar-cum-restaurant specially designed by Areas.

Finally, at Terminal F, Areas will be installing a food court which offers travelers a choice of menu between Chick-Fil-A, Wendy's,Panda Express, People's Organic, Auntie Anne's Cinnabon, Buffalo Wild Wings, the Mexican restaurant Zona Cocina, and Minneapolis' own iconic restaurant, Hi-Lo Diner

The first points of sale will open in 2018 and the complete offering should be installed and up and running by 2019.

About Areas

Areas is one of the global leaders in the travel catering and retail industry, generating 1.668 billion in revenue in 2016. A global brand of Elior Group, Areas welcomes 330 million customers each year in 2,000 restaurants and points of sale in 13 countries, throughout Europe as well as in the USA, Mexico and Chile. As the caterer of choice in the travel and leisure markets, focusing on quality for 45 years, Areas is present in transportation hubs large and small across the world (airports, train stations, motorway service plazas), as well as in exhibition centers and leisure parks. Building upon a culture of operational excellence, Areas draws on its in-depth understanding of travelers' needs and the most extensive range of catering concepts on the market to offer the perfect blend of ingredients for each of its 900,000 daily customers to savor.

For further information: http://www.areas.com Areas on Twitter @Areas / @Areas_FR / @Areas_ES / @AreasUSA

About Elior Group

Founded in 1991, Elior Group has grown into one of the world's leading operators in the catering and support services industry,and is now a benchmark player in the business industry, education, healthcare, and travel markets. Now operating in 15 countries, the Group generated 5,896 million in revenue through 23,000 restaurants and points of sale in FY 2015-2016. Our 120,000 employees serve 4.4 million customers on a daily basis, taking genuine care of each and every one by providing personalized catering and service solutions to ensure an innovative customer experience. We place particular importance on corporate social responsibility and have been a member of the United Nations Global Compact since 2004. The professional excellence of our teams, as well as their unwavering commitment to quality and innovation and to providing best in-class service is embodied in our corporate motto: "Time savored".

For further information please visit our website: http://www.eliorgroup.com or follow us on Twitter: @Elior_Group

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005968/en/

Contacts:

Elior Group

Press contacts

Anne-Isabelle Gros, 1 1 71 06 70 58

anne-isabelle.gros@eliorgroup.com

or

Anne-Laure Sanguinetti, +33 (0)1 71 06 70 57

anne-laure.sanguinetti@eliorgroup.com

or

Investors contact

Marie de Scorbiac, +33 (0) 1 71 06 70 13

marie.descorbiac@eliorgroup.com
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/12/17 -- Volcanic Gold Mines Inc. ("Volcanic") (TSX VENTURE: VG) is pleased to report further results of close-spaced air core ("AC") drilling at its Mandiana Project in Guinea. The drilling, immediately adjacent to Volcanic's existing Inferred Mineral Resource ("Resource") at Yagbelen (as reported on November 6, 2016), now shows the mineralized target area surrounding and along strike from the Resource to be over 3km in length, up to 500m in width and consisting of multiple parallel zones, as shown in red on Figures 1 and 2. This mineralized area is considerably larger than the surface projection of the Resource (1km by up to 200m; shown in magenta on Figure 1), thereby indicating the potential to significantly increase this Resource. Note that the maximum downhole depth from collar of AC drilling is 40m for the entire Yagbelen program. AC results therefore likely represent the surface expression of underlying mineralization.

Highlights of the AC drilling program are as follows:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From To Interval Gold Grade (g/t) Hole (meters) (meters) (meters) (at a cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t Au) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17YAC0030 24 28 4 2.27 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17YAC0076 8 28 20 6.43 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17YAC0088 20 24 4 2.08 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17YAC0095 8 20 12 1.67 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17YAC0133 36 40 4 10.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17YAC0153 12 16 4 2.25 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17YAC0184 0 12 12 6.34 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17YAC0205 28 32 4 3.14 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17YAC0244 32 36 4 1.92 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air core drilling is a technique that allows rapid, low-cost exploration beneath cover with the objective of providing targeting information for further mineralization. It has been used very effectively by Volcanic in the identification and refinement of resource targets for subsequent reverse circulation ("RC") and diamond drilling. Volcanic's near-term plan is to conduct such drilling within the target area identified by air core drilling, with the objective of defining an expanded resource.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Drill chip sampling at Mandiana followed a standardized protocol to ensure the collection of representative and unbiased quantities of material from each sample. Samples were collected from Volcanic's Mandiana field operations by SGS Mineral Services of Bamako, Mali, and were transported directly to the assay facilities thereof, at which they were analysed for gold by means of fire assay, in accordance with analytical method FAA505. In this procedure, a 50g sample is fused with a litharge based flux; the resulting prill is then dissolved in aqua regia, from which gold content is then determined by flame AAS at a detection Limit 0.01 ppm. Volcanic routinely inserted appropriate standards and blanks into its sample stream at Mandiana, and additionally collected regular field duplicate samples.

Qualified Person

Mr. Simon Meadows-Smith is a Qualified Person as defined by "National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" and has approved the disclosure of the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Mr. Meadows-Smith holds a BSc degree in geology from Nottingham University, England, and has been involved in mineral exploration since 1988, including 20 years of experience working in West Africa. He is a Fellow in good standing of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining in London.

About Volcanic

Volcanic brings together a deeply experienced and successful mining, exploration and capital markets team focused on building a multi-million ounce gold resource in the underexplored West African country of Guinea and its neighbouring countries. Through the strategic acquisition of mineral properties with demonstrated potential for hosting gold resources, and by undertaking effective exploration and drill programs, Volcanic is seeking to become a leading junior gold resource company.

For further information, contact Alex Langer, the Company's VP Capital Markets, at 604-765-1604, or visit our website at www.volgold.com.

Volcanic Gold Mines Inc.

Jeremy Crozier, President and CEO

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 Company's exploration work at the Mandiana 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, whether the Company's exploration work on the Mandiana Project will proceed as intended; 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 Company's exploration work on the Mandiana 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.

To view Figures 1 and 2 please click the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/VGMinesFig1-2.pdf

Contacts:

Alex Langer

VP Capital Markets

604-765-1604

www.volgold.com




ORANGE COUNTY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2017 / Because the US economic performance is consistently ranked #1 internationally by the IMD World Competitiveness report, businesses atop this highly-competitive marketplace must consistently adapt and evolve their sales and marketing strategy to ensure profitability. Veteran entrepreneur Nick Kohlschreiber advises small, medium and large-scale business operators to consistently assess emerging trends, communications channels, and technologies and other industry player behaviors with an aim to convert this data knowledge into "refreshed" and highly targeted marketing campaigns.

In 2017, small business technology spending in North America topped $658USD - an 18% increase from levels reported in 2010. A majority of this investment is diverted towards IT services, which can vary from bespoke customer relationship management platforms or mobile apps to subcontracted specialist firms. Nick Kohlschreiber explains that innovative service-providers such as AdBoom.io can revitalize client business marketing solutions through the application of proprietary technologies and software infrastructure designed specifically for their defined task and relevant consumer base. Kohlschreiber urges forward-thinking companies to anticipate disruptive technologies (such as the introduction of smartphones) by engaging as much as possible with current trends and technologies, or by enlisting the services of professional marketing solution suppliers who have far-reaching industry perspective.

Business Insider reports that customer loyalty is a critical component of increased sales, with 95% of a retailer's future revenue being generated by as little as 5% of its existing customer base. This indicates that a highly important part of a company's strategy is to target marketing for repeat customers (and not only for new leads). Nick Kohlschreiber recommends a multichannel, personalized approach that suggests relevant purchases (according to demonstrated personal interests), rewards loyalty (through tiered or VIP programs) and engages clients with alternatives if they are not satisfied with initial transactions. An important part of this approach is to regularly test and research new methods in limited locations (to reduce cost) before expanding a wide scale strategy based on collected data. According to Market Force, 81% of U.S. online consumers are influenced by social media posts by their friends (even more than by those directly posted by followed brands). This statistic points to the undoubtable power of social media influencers and brand ambassadors - in other words, customer referrals. Nicholas Kohlschreiber sees this factor as a key to developing an effective marketing campaign and sales increases.

Nicholas Kohlschreiber is a California-based media company owner and serial entrepreneur, overseeing hundreds of employees and providing invaluable insight and guidance to thousands of clients. Having spent three years in the esteemed Martin Paul Executive Research Program prior to developing and expanding a consortium of lucrative businesses (including solar energy, customer logistics, and marketing solution agencies), Kohlschreiber is an avid businessman recognized for his ingenuity and ability to generate organic success. In his spare time, he is a dedicated philanthropist and mentor to those who can benefit from his knowledge and acumen.

Nick Kohlschreiber - Expert in Modern Marketing: http://www.nickkohlschreibernews.com

Nick Kohlschreiber - The Relationship Between Marketing and Modern Technology: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nick-kohlschreiber-relationship-between-marketing-012100851.html

Nick Kohlschreiber (nkohlschreiber1) on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nkohlschreiber1/

Contact Information

NickKohlschreiberNews.com

www.NickKohlschreiberNews.com

contact@nickkohlschreibernews.com

SOURCE: Nick Kohlschreiber
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 12, 2017) - Pancontinental Gold Corporation (TSXV: PUC) ("Pancon Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement financing of up to 10,000,000 units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.05 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to $500,000 (the "Offering").

Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share"), and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant") entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.07 for twenty-four (24) months from the date of issuance, provided that the expiry date can be accelerated in the event the Common Shares trade at $0.15 or more for at least twenty (20) consecutive trading days following the expiry of the statutory four month and one day resale restriction. The Company may pay certain finder's fees with respect to gross proceeds raised. The Common Shares and Warrants comprising the Units will be subject to a resale restriction for four months and a day from the date of issuance.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to explore and advance its 100% owned Jefferson Gold Project ("Jefferson Project") and for working capital purposes.

Pancon Gold's next phase of exploration at the Jefferson Gold Project will be two-fold. Phase one is completing a comprehensive data compilation of the various sampling, trenching, drilling and geophysical analysis results conducted by multiple companies at and around the Jefferson Project over the past three decades. This will provide a complete foundation of data and analysis in order to direct future phases of exploration. Phase two is conducting additional geophysical analyses over select areas at the Jefferson Project.

Layton Croft, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pancon Gold, commented: "Based on the drilling results and our interpretation of all available geophysical data, we have determined that the potential of the Jefferson Gold Project is much better than we previously thought. Our strategic land position, approximately 1,455 acres on the Carolina Gold Belt trend near the Haile gold mine and adjacent to the former Brewer gold mine, makes us the best positioned junior explorer in the region to discover a new Haile-type deposit as well as porphyry-related mineralized systems. In addition, we have been talking to potential strategic partners who could bring expertise, new technology and capital to assist us in achieving our objectives and increasing shareholder value."

About Pancontinental Gold Corporation

Pancontinental Gold Corporation (www.pancongold.com) is a Canadian-based mining company focused on the exploration and development of the Jefferson Gold Project, located in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, USA, and on acquiring additional prospective properties. The Company's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, trading under the symbol PUC. The Company also retains a 1% gross overriding royalty on future production from a rare earth element property in Australia.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Layton Croft

For further information, please contact:

Layton Croft

President and CEO

Tel: 1-416-293-8437 or 1-980-498-7688

Email: laytoncroft@pancongold.com

For additional information please visit our web site: www.pancongold.com, and our Twitter feed: @PanconGold.

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.

Cautionary Language and Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, including those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws.
TORONTO, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. ("First Quantum" or the "Company", TSX Symbol "FM") will publish its third quarter 2017 financial and operating results on Thursday October 26, 2017 following the close of the TSX. The Company's President, Clive Newall, will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the results on Friday October 27, 2017.

Conference call and webcast details are as follows:

Date: October 27, 2017 Time: 9:00 am (Eastern); 2:00 pm (British); 6:00 am (Pacific) Webcast: http://www.first-quantum.com Dial in: North America: (toll free) 1 877 291 4570 North America and international: 1 647 788 4919 United Kingdom: (toll free) 0 800 051 7107 Available from noon (Eastern) on October 27 until 11:59 pm (Eastern) on Replay: November 10, 2017 North America: (toll free) 1 800 585 8367 North America and international: 1 416 621 4642 Passcode: 1057757

For further information visit our website at http://www.first-quantum.com

North American contact: Sharon Loung, Director, Investor Relations, Tel: +1-647-346-3934 Fax: +1-604-688-3818 Toll Free: +1-888-688-6577 E-Mail: sharon.loung@fqml.com; United Kingdom contact: Clive Newall, President, Tel: +44-140-327-3484 Fax: +44-140-327-3494 E-Mail: clive.newall@fqml.com
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.
BizVibe, a smart B2B networking platform for global B2B buyers and suppliers, announced today the next generation of its platform for the automotive industry in Canada

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012006459/en/

Automotive Industry in Canada New B2B Networking Platform for Canadian Auto Parts Manufacturers by BizVibe (Graphic: Business Wire)

With the update, establish a faster and more efficient path from company discovery to getting better quotes and building long-lasting profitable business partnerships with Canadian auto parts manufacturers.

Canada is currently one of the world's top auto parts manufacturing countries and the 4th largest auto parts exporter in the global market. BizVibe's latest business networking platform connects businesses to the top auto parts companies and helps users discover thousands of opportunities daily. BizVibe aims to innovate with the modern networking platform to make the process faster, smarter, and more hassle-free. Connect and network with the top auto parts manufacturers, suppliers, and exporter from the automotive industry in Canada.

View more about the auto parts industry in Canada: How BizVibe is helping buyers connect with leading Canadian auto parts manufacturers, suppliers, and exporters.

Company discovery and selection is completely free on BizVibe's B2B networking platform.

Why auto parts manufacturers from the automotive industry in Canada?

The booming automotive market in Canada has significantly boosted the growth of Canada's auto parts industry. Canada is now the second largest automotive producer and also the second largest auto market in North America. In 2016, Canada produced over 2.3 million vehicles, ranking as the world's 9th largest automobile manufacturing country. The total contribution of Canada's auto parts industry to its national economy is expected to increase at an annualized rate of 3.2% by 2022. Both revenue and industrial value added (IVA) in Canada's auto parts industry is expected to increase even further going forward.

Looking for more information on this market? BizVibe's detailed breakdown of auto parts manufacturing in Canada

Not only does BizVibe's networking platform introduce businesses to verified auto parts companies in Canada, the intelligent B2B networking platform also connects global trade professionals with over 7 million prospecting and sourcing candidates in over 700+ industries BizVibe cuts research time, allowing you to go after the real opportunities.

Network with the Top Canadian Auto Parts Manufacturers

BizVibe connects like-minded buyers and suppliers to help companies keep up with the market demand. Join for free today to find your next big opportunity in a community of more than 10,000 Canadian car parts suppliers, manufacturers, and exporters.

Top Canadian auto parts companies on BizVibe:

EESTOR CORPORATION

Bombardier Recreational Products

New Flyer Industries Inc

Construzione Automobili Intermeccanica

Increase your company's exposure.Add your company to the BizVibe network and get discovered by over 150,000 exporters, suppliers, manufacturers, and buyers of auto parts globally.

BizVibe's new networking platform helps you find

Leading auto parts manufacturers from Canada.

Product quotes that convert.

Relevant business chatter in the automotive industry in Canada.

Browse news related to the automotive industry in Canada:

Auto Parts Manufacturing in Canada Expecting Big Growth

Top 10 Auto Parts Manufacturers in the US

Top 20 Automobile Manufacturing Countries

Connecting on BizVibe

BizVibe has been specifically designed to help industry professionals connect with like-minded businesses, providing them with a seamless, efficient, and easy-to-use platform. Using cutting-edge technology and advanced match-making algorithms, BizVibe has launched the smartest networking platform on the planet, something that can truly help companies find the right matches.

With extensive feedback from communities across multiple industries, BizVibe was able to identify the core problems and uncertainties when finding potential trade partners. Using this feedback, BizVibe developed an efficient networking platform dedicated to buyers, sellers, importers, exporters, manufacturers, and suppliers, helping thousands of users to connect, engage, and make business deals daily.

About BizVibe

The single-minded focus of BizVibe's platform is to make networking easier. Over the years, we've searched far and wide to figure out how businesses connect and enable trade. That first interaction is usually fraught with the uncertainty of finding a potential partner vs. a potential nightmare. With this in mind, we've designed a robust set of tools to help companies generate leads, shortlist prospects, network with businesses from around the world and trade seamlessly.

BizVibe is headquartered in Toronto and has offices in London, Bangalore, and Beijing. For more information on the BizVibe network, pleasecontact us.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012006459/en/

Contacts:

BizVibe

Sony Gomes

Media Marketing Executive

media@bizvibe.com
NEW YORK, Oct. 12,2017 /PRNewswire/ --Coyote Ugly - the rowdy, western-themed bar that celebrates the wild side of American culture - has signed a franchise agreement that will bring 12 bars to major cities throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The agreement - Coyote Ugly's second in the United Kingdom - was awarded to Steve Lewis who currently has the franchise rights in Wales and opened the company's first UK bar in Cardiff in December of 2016. All 12 bars are expected to open within the next five years, with the first slated to open in bustling nightlife area of Liverpool.

The original bar in New York City founded by Liliana Lovell inspired the blockbuster 2000 film, starring Tyra Banks and John Goodman.The new Liverpool venue will carry on those the traditions of female bar tenders (Coyotes) dancing on the bar, and interacting with patrons in a fun, wild, party atmosphere.

"Finding the right franchise partner is key for the success of Coyote Ugly Global Expansion," says Vice President of Global Development Justin Livingston.The brand found that in Steve Lewis, Coyote Ugly Franchisee, and owner of Coyote Ugly Saloon in Cardiff.

"Customers have been travelling to our Cardiff Coyote Ugly location from all over the UK, Ireland and throughout Europe. Many patrons have been disappointed on not being able to book tables or booths as many key dates sell out weeks or months in advance. The perfect answer to this problem is to expand and open other venues throughout the UK," says Lewis.

"It's thrilling to be opening these international bars.It gives us a chance to learn what makes these amazing cultures special as well as bring the Coyote Ugly Culture to the markets!" says Owner and Founder Liliana Lovell. "It's amazing to see how far we've come from a small (but awesome), single bar in New York City."

About Coyote Ugly Saloon

Founded in 1993 in New York City's East Village, Coyote Ugly has become widely recognized as the most famous bar on the planet. The music is loud, the liquor is hard, and the female bartenders, known for their dance routines on top of the bar, serve a little bit of attitude with the drinks. The company currently has 26 locations operating in seven countries - the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, and Kyrgyzstan. The company is seeking to continue their global expansion by attracting qualified franchise owners. For more information on the Coyote Ugly franchise opportunity, visit http://www.coyoteuglysaloon.com/franchising/.

Logo -http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582084/Coyote_Ugly_Saloon_Logo.jpg
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 12, 2017) - Accend Capital Corporation (the "Company") (TSXV: ADP.H) is pleased to announce that it has completed its acquisition of the Silverside cobalt property (the "Property") which constitutes the Company's "Qualifying Transaction" in accordance with TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") Policy 2.4 - Capital Pool Companies (the "Transaction").

The Property consists of a series of mineral claims covering approximately 384 hectares in Lundy Township, approximately 30 kilometers' northeast of Cobalt, Ontario. In consideration for the Property, the Company has paid $200,000 and issued 200,000 common shares to the underlying vendors. The Property will remain subject to a two (2.0%) percent net milling returns royalty, one-half of which may be purchased by the Company in consideration for a cash payment of $1,000,000.

The Transaction also includes the right to acquire an additional 2,400 hectares surrounding the Property for a period of ninety days. This right can be exercised by completing cash payments totaling $175,000 and issuing 250,000 common shares of the Company, of which the Company has paid $25,000 and issued 50,000 common shares to date.

In connection with the Transaction, the Company has completed a non-brokered private placement of 10,000,000 units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.20 per unit for gross proceeds of $2,000,000 (the "Financing"). Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company, and one-half-of-one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to acquire a further common share of the Company at a price of $0.40 per share for period of twenty-four months, subject to accelerated expiry in the event the common shares of the Company trade on the Exchange at a price of $0.75 or higher for ten consecutive trading days. All securities to be issued by the Company pursuant to the Transaction and the Financing are subject to a four-month statutory hold period.

Following completion of the Transaction, and the Financing, the Company has appointed Graham Harris to its board of directors, and has appointed Simon Clarke as Chief Executive Officer. The board of directors of the Company now consists of Andy Edelmeier, Simon Clarke, Michael Kobler and Graham Harris. Mr. Edelmeier will continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of the Company.

Historic exploration on the Property dates back to the early 1900s. In 1985 Silverside Resources Inc. conducted extensive geological mapping of the Property and completed approximately 1,312 meters of diamond drilling in eight drill holes. The exploration target at that time was vein-hosted silver mineralization, similar to that at the Cobalt, Ontario camp. Past exploration results indicated high silver and notable cobalt values associated with vein-hosted chalcopyrite mineralization on the Property. Past geological mapping also indicates that the area is underlain by the Nipissing Diabase and Cobalt Group sedimentary rocks, including argillite, siltstone and quartzite. Past records also note the doming of the Nipissing Diabase, a structural feature associated with the Ag-Co veins surrounding Cobalt, Ontario.

Recent field work, including airborne magnetic and VLF-EM surveys as well as geochemical sampling, has helped identify certain anomalies and structures (including vein-hosted cobalt) and has corroborated some of the historic exploration work done on the Property. Based on the recent and historic exploration work carried out on the Property, the technical report commissioned by the Company in connection with the Transaction recommends a phased approach to further exploration. Phase 1 envisages additional survey and mapping work including trenching and initial drilling to further corroborate and target zones of cobalt mineralization on the Property. Based on the results of this initial phase, a more extensive drilling program is envisaged as Phase 2.

For further information regarding the Transaction and the Property, readers are encouraged to review the filing statement related to the Transaction, and the technical report prepared for the Company in respect of the Property, both of which are available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Following completion of the Transaction, the Company will be listed on the Exchange as a Tier 2 Mining Issuer and trading in its common shares will resume at the open of markets on October 16, 2017, under the ticker symbol "ADP".

The Company also announces that it will grant 2,507,500 incentive stock options to certain directors, officers and consultants of the Company. The options vest upon grant and are exercisable at a price of $0.20 for a period of thirty-six months. Completion of the grant of options remains subject to the approval of the Exchange.

Simon Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, "we are delighted to complete this Transaction which enables us to focus the Company on cobalt exploration with the goal of discovering significant new cobalt deposits. Cobalt is a critical element in lithium ion batteries. With the rapid adoption of electric battery technologies new sources of cobalt supply are urgently needed to address growing supply shortages.

Currently it is estimated that over 60% of global cobalt supply originates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo which faces significant child labour and 'conflict minerals' issues. The Company is focused on discovering new cobalt deposits in areas of the world which do not utilize child labour and where cobalt production is 'conflict free'. The Silverside Property is situated close to the town of Cobalt, Ontario where cobalt has been mined historically and significant cobalt exploration is currently underway."

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed by Adrian Smith, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

For further information, contact Simon Clarke at 604.551.9665 or simonclarke@telus.net.

On behalf of the Board,

Accend Capital Corporation

Simon Clarke, Chief Executive Officer

The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to future prices of commodities, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, regulatory or government requirements or approvals, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure, fluctuations in the market for cobalt and certain precious metals, changes in exploration costs and government regulation in Canada and the Province of Ontario, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
ELKO  As the weather begins to change in northeastern Nevada, Great Basin College continuing education is offering classes that are perfect for the indoor hobby-enthusiast or busy people who want to learn something new.

Upcoming courses include the art of eggery, paralegal studies, QuickBooks, blogging, glass bead-making, basic life support and driver education. For a full list of upcoming classes and events, and to register, visit www.campusce.net/gbcnv.

Creative Classes

Students are always uncertain what the art of eggery is, said Angie de Braga, director of continuing education. Imagine creating a shadow box out of a large egg. Students who enroll in the art of eggery course will be designing a winter snowman scene inside a rhea egg, as well as a unique holiday ornament in a goose egg.

Shandry Jarell will be instructing the eggery course from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 21 in the Greenhaw Technical Arts building, Room 122. Cost is $125 and includes all materials.

Art enthusiasts may also be interested in registering for glass bead-making: Italian glass with Kristen Frantzen Orr.

Italian glass beads are made by carefully melting glass over an oxygen-propane torch. The class is suitable for first-timers and experienced bead makers.

The class is 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 4 and Nov. 5 in the Arts Annex, Room 103. Cost is $265 and includes all materials.

For those interested in expressing themselves via the worldwide web, Blogging for Fun and Profit I & II will be offered 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 in the High Tech Center, Room 110.

Julie Robinson will instruct the classes via interactive video from Pahrump. Cost is $44 for each class.

Paralegal Studies

Community members interested in pursuing the continuing education certificate in paralegal studies may also sign up for paralegal classes offered throughout the year. Paralegal classes beginning soon include Legal Research and Writing I and Legal Ethics and Communication Skills.

Both classes count towards the paralegal certificate, de Braga said. Students dont necessarily need to sign up for paralegal studies at the traditional start of the semester. The program accepts students at midterm when the new classes begin.

She explained that the schedule is modeled after successful executive business programs. It is very attractive to adults to study fewer subjects in a more concentrated format of eight weeks, versus a 16-week semester.

This certificate program is a noncredit program taught in Elko and offered via interactive video in Battle Mountain, Ely, Pahrump, Wendover and Winnemucca.

Legal Research & Writing I begins Oct. 24 and is in GTA 128. Legal Ethics and Communication Skills begins is on Oct. 25 at the High Tech Center, Room 139.

Courses cost $219.50 and are approximately eight weeks long. In addition, students are required to purchase a subscription to Westlaw for a discounted rate through GBC.

Free Community Event

The community is also invited to attend GBC Arts and Cultural Enrichment committees free art and science event, titled Dirty Ar, Oct. 17.

Dirty Art: The Emergence of Visual Art as a Scientific Method is led by special guest Jay Noller, Ph.D.

Professor Noller is the department head of crop and soil science at Oregon State University. During the workshop, Noller will instruct participants on how to paint with our local soils beginning at 4 p.m. in the GTA building, Room 122.

Participants artwork will be displayed at the lecture afterthe workshop at 7 p.m., in the GTA building, Room 130.

His lecture will describe how painting and land art has reinvigorated his research on the origins of soils and peoples of different landscapes, and how it has expanded his soil science outreach.

Noller has a connection to GBC through geology professor Carrie Bruno-Meisner. He was her graduate school adviser at Oregon State University and they worked together in the Eastern Korinthia, Greece, on an interdisciplinary archaeology survey, investigating changes in climate using geologic clues preserved in soils and substrates over the past 300,000 years.

Dr. Jay Noller is an engaging, charismatic soil scientist and soil artist. With two degrees in geology, a Ph.D. in soil geomorphology, and research involving soil development, art and linking landscape to culture, his talk will appeal to a broad audience, Bruno-Meisner said.

Noller authored the book, Field to Palette, and it will be published this year.
KIMBALL, NE/ ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2017 / GEORGE RISK INDUSTRIES, INC. (OTC PINK: RSKIA) (the "Company"), a diversified and leading American manufacturer of a wide variety of products in the security industry, announced today that it has acquired the assets and the business of Labor Saving Devices, Inc. ("LSDI"). LSDI is headquartered in Commerce City, Colorado, and is engaged in the business of wire installation tool design and manufacturing. The acquired business primarily serves the audio/visual, electrical, communications and security alarm markets.

In announcing the transaction, Stephanie Risk-McElroy, President and CEO of the Company, stated: "We are excited about adding the LSDI line to the GRI family. Over the years we have looked at a variety of companies but when Roy Bowling presented the offer to acquire, the two product lines seemed to be a natural fit. The LSDI product line complements our existing product line and will allow GRI to expand into other industries, including cable, communications, etc. We are both home grown companies with a strong commitment to quality and customer service. Mr. Bowling was an early member of the board of directors at GRI and an industry innovator. We look forward to expanding our product line and markets both state side and internationally."

Roy Bowling, Owner and Chairman of LSDI, added: "I am pleased and proud to hand over the 35-year legacy of Labor Saving Devices, Inc. to such a high-quality company. As a former board member, I have great respect for the history and tradition of George Risk Industries, Inc. I would not have sold my business to anyone else. I predict great things will happen as we transition to GRI's larger scale, publicly held platform."

The transaction was signed and closed on October 10, 2017. The purchase price and other details of the transaction were not immediately disclosed.

ABOUT GEORGE RISK INDUSTRIES, INC.

George Risk Industries, Inc. is engaged in the design, manufacture and sales to distributors and OEM manufacturers of custom computer keyboards, push button switches, burglar alarm components, pool alarms, thermostats, E-Z wire cover, and hydro sensors. The company has representation in the United States, Canada, Asia and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa).

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995; All forward-looking statements made by the Company involve material risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on factors which may be beyond the Company's control. Accordingly, the Company's future performance and financial results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied therein will not be realized.

CONTACTS

STEPHANIE M. RISK-McELROY, PRESIDENT/CEO/CFO

308-235-4645

800-523-1223

SOURCE: George Risk Industries, Inc.
Andy Slavitt, former Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the former Group Executive Vice President at Optum, will become a Special Advisor to global growth equity firm General Atlantic.

He will bring a focus on healthcare investments in underserved populations.

Mr. Slavitt served as Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under President Obama from 2015 through 2017. In this role, he spearheaded programs that provided access to quality healthcare for 140 million Americans, including Medicaid, Medicare, the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Health Insurance Marketplace.

From 2003 to 2013, Mr. Slavitt worked at UnitedHealth Group, eventually serving as the Group Executive Vice President for Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, where he oversaw the delivery of clinical, technological, and operational solutions to healthcare clients and consumers.

Prior to this, Mr. Slavitt founded and served as CEO of HealthAllies, a venture backed technology-based consumer healthcare company, which he sold to UnitedHealth Group in 2003.

Prior to HealthAllies, he was a consultant with McKinsey & Company and an investment banker with Goldman Sachs.

He received his M.B.A. with distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Business as well as his B.A. in English with honors and B.S. in Economics from The College of Arts & Sciences and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

General Atlantics team of special advisors is comprised of senior executives from around the globe who share deep company-building expertise and best practices to support the firm in its goal of adding strategic value to growth companies. Special advisors deliver strategic, practical, and support in the areas of revenue generation, operational excellence, and human capital to enable and sustain growth for the firms portfolio companies.

FinSMEs

12/10/2017
HomeToGo, a Berlin, Germany-based metasearch engine for vacation rentals, secured another sizeable investment in a Series C funding round.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The round was led by Insight Venture Partners with participation from Acton Capital Partners, DN Capital, and Global Founders Capital. In conjunction with the funding, Harley Miller, Vice President at Insight Venture Partners, joined HomeToGos board of directors.

The company intends to use the funds for further expansion plans and product development.

Founded in 2014 by Patrick Andrae, Wolfgang Heigl and Nils Regge, HomeToGo HomeToGo provides a metasearch engine for vacation rentals providing over 11 million offers from more than 250 providers worldwide including Booking.com, VRBO, HomeAway, TripAdvisor and Tui, among others. Smart filtering allows users to find their ideal vacation rental by sorting according to their preferred destination, travel dates, budget and amenities.

The company, which has launched localized websites and apps in Europe, North America, Australia and Russia, currently employs more than 150 employees and operates local sites in 12 European countries.

FinSMEs

12/10/2017
SecurityScorecard, a NYC-based security ratings company, raised $27.5m in Series C funding.

The round was led by Nokia Growth Partners (NGP) with participation from Moodys Corporation, AXA Strategic Ventures, and Intel Capital and existing investors Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures (GV), Boldstart Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, and Evolution Equity Partners. In conjunction with the funding, Upal Basu, Partner at NGP, will be joining SecurityScorecards board of directors,

The company intends to use the funds to bring new solutions to the market.

Founded in late 2013 by Dr. Aleksandr Yampolskiy and Sam Kassoumeh, SecurityScorecard provides CISOs, security practitioners, risk management professionals, and boards of directors with a platform featuring a comprehensive outside-in view of the security posture of their entire ecosystem, including their own IT infrastructure as well as their third and fourth-party vendors.

The platform continuously monitors the security posture of more than 200,000 enterprises and government agencies across the globe and evaluates them based on hundreds of indicators of compromise. It then assigns an A to F rating and provides security professionals with actionable intelligence that enables them to remediate security vulnerabilities.

FinSMEs

12/10/2017
Musement, a Milan, Italy-based travel tech startup that lets users discover and book local tours and attractions, acquired Triposo, an Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based travel content platform.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

With over 10 million downloads of its apps, Triposo is a smart travel content platform that uses machine learning algorithms to browse millions of websites and reviews, centralizing them in one platform. The company, which raised venture capital from InterWest Partners and others, aggregates travel content for 200 countries, 50,000 destinations and 5 million points of interest.

The deal brings together more than 12 million travelers across both platforms and strengthens Musements global presence. Triposos technology integration is expected to be completed in the next few months and will allow Musement to offer a more personalized experience to its users in real time. The integration means Musement will offer personalized travel content and booking options to its users across multiple verticals  from guided tours and museums, to food & wine and spa & wellness options  and also across multiple touch-points.

Following the acquisition, Triposo CEO Nishank Gopalkrishnan will maintain his role and join Musements leadership team to oversee the companys strategic B2B partnerships.

Triposo will continue operating from Amsterdam, adding an extra location to Musements existing offices in Milan, London, Barcelona, New York and Dubai. As part of the deal, InterWest Partners has joined the company as a shareholder.

Founded in 2013 by Paolo Giulini, Claudio Bellinzona, Alessandro Petazzi and Fabio Zecchini, Musement is a travel discovery and booking service that allows users to get local tours and attractions to discover and book. Its range includes temporary, exclusive, hidden-gem and even free activities.

The company raised a total of $18m from 360 Capital Partners, P101 and others.

FinSMEs

12/10/2017
New Delhi/San Francisco: Indian taxi company Meru Cabs has stepped up its legal challenge against local competitor Ola and US rival Uber, alleging the firms are abusing their market position, and believes that planned investments in both by Japans SoftBank underscore its view.

The head of Meru Cabs said the company has filed four new complaints with the countrys antitrust watchdog, claiming that Uber and Ola are abusing their dominance in four different cities by burning vast sums of investor funds to distort the market.

Even before there is any merger or alliance between the two through global investors, there is already a unified monopoly, Merus CEO Nilesh Sangoi said.

Though Meru lost an earlier antitrust suit versus Ola, lawyers and industry sources said that moves by SoftBank - already a major investor in Ola - to pour some $10 billion into Uber along with other investors could strengthen the local cab services case.

Sangoi told Reuters that Uber and Ola have been altering driver incentives and passenger fares in tandem.

Our existing cases get strengthened with the SoftBank investment, he said, but added the Japanese firms plans werent cited in the latest complaints.

Ola, Uber and SoftBank declined to comment for this article. The new Meru complaints have not previously been reported.

Ola on Wednesday said it has raised $1.1 billion from investors led by Chinas Tencent Holdings and SoftBank.

Ola operates in over 100 Indian cities and Uber in about 30, and both firms have burnt millions of dollars to lure riders and drivers in a bid to outdo each other.

Dominance test

Meru was the only major organized player until a few years ago and currently operates in 24 cities. But it has no direct backing of large foreign investors and it has previously filed anti-competitive cases against Uber and Ola.

In July, the Competition Case of India (CCI) ruled against Meru on its allegations that Ola was abusing its dominance in Bengaluru citys taxi market. It ruled Uber too was a significant market player and there was no concept in current law to establish collective dominance of companies.

A Meru source said a SoftBank investment in both Uber and Ola may change that scenario.

Not everyone agrees, however.

Mohit Saraf, a senior partner at Indian law firm Luthra & Luthra, said while SoftBanks Uber investment would spark antitrust issues in India, the CCI would need to assess whether Uber and Ola dominate the overall taxi market which is replete with local operators of yellow-and-black coloured cabs.

Another source aware of the legal challenges said the CCI would need to delve into how much control SoftBank has at Ola and Uber, if the deal goes through, and the extent to which the Japanese firm has a say in their operations.

The antitrust cases in India, nevertheless, are set to further intensify the showdown between ride-hailing firms and local players in Indias $12 billion taxi market.

Uber is already bogged down by anti-monopoly concerns in neighbouring China, where the commerce ministry last year began investigating its deal with Didi Chuxing that created a roughly $35 billion giant dominating the China car-hailing market.

Chinese media in July said the probe was ongoing.

Softbank's ride hailing plans

SoftBank is poised to take two board seats at Uber should plans succeed to buy up shares from both existing investors and current and former employees in the coming weeks.

People close to the firm are divided on whether SoftBank wants to consolidate rivals or simply cross-pollinate lessons among the group. SoftBank aims to do one or the other, said an Uber investor who has held discussions with SoftBank.

SoftBank has previously failed to consolidate investments in India with its attempt to fold Snapdeal into Flipkart earlier this year falling apart in July.

SoftBank Vision Fund CEO Rajeev Misra recently told Indias Economic Times he hopes to make peace between Uber and Ola in the country.

A Singapore-based banker said SoftBank was playing a high risk strategy which could turn out to be very profitable if it works out.

The losers will be the old-style cab companies.
Dear Annie: I need your advice. My very musically gifted high school senior appears to want to go to college and major in music performance. But he is refusing to visit colleges. He wont discuss why; he just gets very belligerent when the subject comes up and wont expand on any reasons. Should I let it be or make the contacts for him and force him to go?

 Music Mans Mom

Dear Music Mans Mom: Its possible that your son is afraid to leave home  which would show his intelligence; its a big scary world out there. Courage arises not when we suppress our fears but when we find something so worthwhile we temporarily forget them. So do what you can to help him find exciting possibilities. There are many amazing colleges that specialize in music, which you can research together. See whether any schools within a short driving distance have solid music programs. In the end, though, this is his search process, and he should take the lead. Its the first step hell take as an independent adult, and its healthy for him to take ownership of the decision.

Dear Annie: I read your advice column every day and love it. I am 64 years old and have been very happily married for 45 years.

I read about the grumpy old dad whom Hurt Daughter in New Hampshire has to deal with. I am part of a local association mostly made up of older men. We tend to be grumpy. Why? We hurt. We have health issues. We see changes in the world around us that we dont appreciate. We didnt realize that retirement was going to make us feel unneeded. We are not attractive anymore. Many have been hurt from previous failed marriages and relationships, so they dont trust anyone anymore.

This is what I have learned about how to stop a grumpy old man in his tracks and, if not change, at least realize how hes acting. I first empathize, telling him I feel his pain, and then I encourage him to not take his pain out on other people. That friendliness and kindness breeds more of the same. But grumpiness and meanness will only make things worse.

When that doesnt work (and it usually doesnt), then I go at him by confronting his hypocrisy: You are angry with everyone else for all kinds of things, but by being that way, you are acting like a spoiled brat who needs discipline. Get over it! You are a grown man who knows how to act maturely and friendly. Show love even if you dont feel it. Change or get used to being rejected.

This works for most guys. Its the language they understand. They will probably dislike the one who says it to them, but everyone else around them will begin to see the change and appreciate it. I do not let my pain and discouragement affect my actions.

 Father, Grandfather, Husband, Pastor

Dear FGHP: Empathy and honesty are great virtues and useful tools. Thank you for your tips.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.
Ever since its inception in the early 1960s, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) has had a long tradition of letting students have a say in what they learn. But the interactive nature of one of the worlds handful of state-sponsored film schools has continually declined. In the mid-1990s it reached to a point of standoff between students and the administration following a major restructuring of the course.

Since then strikes and protests have been a common sight.

Post mid-1990s nearly everything that happens at FTII is met with some form of disapproval primarily from the students, who for a while now believe that the system comes up with something or someone to keep a check on them. In fact, following a strike in 2000, Abhijit Majumdar, the then general secretary of the FTII Students Association expressed that it was unfair to have fixed minds judging us constantly.

Barely 12-hours since the action of his appointment as the new chairman of FTII, Anupam Khers elevation is being met with disapproval from the students of the institution on grounds both expected and bizarre.

American stand-up comedian Steven Wright felt that every action has an equal and opposite criticism. In Khers case, on the face of it, the students expressed how could Kher, who already runs a private acting school, Actor Prepares, head FTII? But more than that, Khers political leanings also seem to be a cause for their displeasure.

In a newspaper report Harishankar Nachimuthu, who headed one of its longest strike in the premier film institutes history (139-days), to oppose the outgoing chairman Gajendra Chauhans appointment, said that for the students there is no difference between Chauhan and Kher, who is known to be to be a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Khers credentials  a multi-faceted stage and acting career spanning nearly forty-years and over 500 films across India and the west with 8 Filmfare Awards and 2 National Film Awards besides numerous more  make him an ideal choice to head FTII. But they now seem forgotten, overlooked or brushed aside just because he praises the current Prime Minister.

No one cited the late writer UR Ananthamurthys ideology when he was appointed the chairman in 2005. Ananthamurthy had unsuccessfully contested for Lok Sabha in the 2004 elections and had expressly stated that his prime objective was to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Even when he was given a second term as the FTII Chairman in 2008 his political affiliations never came up for discussion.

The FTII is an autonomous institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India, which appoints the chairman of FTIIs Governing Council, the apex body of the FTII. In its early days, secretaries of the Ministry Anwar Jamal Kidwai and S.M.H. Burney held the post of the chairman of the governing council and the former went on to establish the Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC) at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, which is now called AJ Kidwai Mass Communication Centre.

During their opposition to the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman, FTII students had cited the examples of both Kidwai and Burney and had expressed that an I&B ministry secretary could be the chairman instead of Gajendra Chauhan.

But its not like Chauhan, who was arguably the worst choice to head the prestigious institute, was the only one to have a tumultuous tenure. Even seemingly great choices in the form of Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Mahesh Bhatt or Mohan Agashe, who was the director of FTII in the early 2000s, met strife in some form or the other during their stints. It was Gopalakrishnan who had first suggested a revision of the syllabus that can be attributed as the fount of all troubles in FTII in the last two decades.

The suggestion to reduce the duration of all the specialisations (direction, cinematography, and sound recording) from three to two years in order to make the Institute more contemporary led to unrest that continued long after Gopalakrishnan left. He was succeeded by Mahesh Bhatt by the time the changes the implemented and the students went on a strike as they felt the two-year course was not good enough (they were supported by the teachers). Bhatts appointment was greeted with euphoria as it was felt that filmmaker would take things to the next level but after a brief period, he resigned in disgust when the students opposed changes and a suggested hike in the fee. Bhatt went on to label FTII as a breeding ground for hostile attitudes against mainstream cinema.

When Mohan Agashe was appointed Director in April 1998, once again things looked up, but when he proposed some structural changes in the course and even a bold one-year integrated course, the students went on a strike and demanded his head. Agashe felt chairman or directors were like bulbs going off one after another and instead of changing the bulb he felt the faulty wiring needed to be addressed. It is said that it was the students once again, who led to the ouster of the late Tom Alter, alumni heading FTIIs acting department in 2016.

The constant battlefield that the Film and Television Institute of India has come to resemble must be changed.

The person heading FTII can have great influence on how things function. In the past people like Shyam Benegal, Mrinal Sen, Girish Karnad, Vinod Khanna and Saeed Akhtar Mirza have headed FTII and so has someone like an RK Laxman, who might not have had any direct connection with cinema, and in both cases, its their vision that rubbed off on students.

In an article that appeared in India Today in 1998, film critic Anupama Chopra wrote how RK Laxman in his speech to graduating students in 1976 said  The problem is that good films make bad money and bad films make good money. So make good films that make good money.

Similarly, had it not been for a Girish Karnad the institute would have rejected Om Puri based on his looks.

Irrespective of who is appointed there would be some joy and some disapproval but the fact remains that the students who pass through the gates end up becoming the measure to gauge the quality of any educational institute. In that aspect, FTII remains a premier institution thanks to its alumni, which includes some of the best talents in Indian cinema and television.

In the simplest terms Anupam Kher is a great choice to head FTII and the irony of him being a graduate of the National School of Drama (NSD), the institution because of which FTII decided to shut down its own acting course in 1978 before it was revived in the early 2000s, couldnt have been scripted better.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has suspended Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's membership "in light of recent very serious" multiple sexual assault allegations against him.

"Whilst BAFTA has previously been a beneficiary of Mr Weinstein's support for its charitable work, it considers the reported alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTA's values," read a statement on behalf of the organisation, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"This has led to Mr Weinstein's suspension, and it will be followed by a formal process as laid out in BAFTA's constitution. We hope this announcement sends a clear message that such behaviour has absolutely no place in our industry.

"BAFTA will continue to work with the film, games and television industries to improve access to rewarding and fulfilling careers in safe, professional working environments," the statement further read.

Besides others, actresses like Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevingne and Gwyneth Paltrow have said that they were sexually harassed or assaulted by Weinstein at different times.
As the grim scope of the allegations surrounding Harvey Weinstein continued to expand 11 October, the organization that bestows the Academy Awards moved to distance itself from the film mogul, Ben Affleck was forced to defend his own previous actions, and scrutiny fell on who knew what about the Weinsteins behavior over the decades it allegedly took place.

A key and potentially volatile component of the 10 October New Yorker expose was the claim that a culture of complicity has existed at both The Weinstein Co and his previous film company, the Walt Disney-owned Miramax. Numerous people throughout the companies (were) fully aware of his behavior but either abetting it or looking the other way, the magazine reported.

Further scrutiny has followed the contention that Weinsteins conduct was an open secret in Hollywood. Focus has turned, in part, to not just the workplace environments Weinstein operated in, but the stars who may have had some knowledge of Weinsteins alleged behavior but who failed to raise any alarms.

Ben Affleck was called out by actress Rose McGowan. In a tweet, McGowan accused Affleck of lying after issuing a statement that he was saddened and angry about the Weinstein revelations. McGowan, who The New York Times reported reached a $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, suggested Affleck knew decades ago about Weinsteins behavior.

Here's what Affleck had tweeted:

And McGowan said:

Actress Hilarie Burton also renewed an earlier allegation that Affleck groped her during a visit to MTVs TRL, which she was hosting in 2003. Affleck on Wednesday tweeted an apology, I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also announced Wednesday that its Board of Governors will hold a special meeting Saturday to discuss the allegations and any actions warranted by the academy.

Weinstein has long been a major figure at the Academy Awards, where his films have regularly won Oscars, including five best picture-winners. Weinstein personally shared in the best-picture Oscar for Shakespeare in Love. The film academy called Weinsteins alleged conduct repugnant and antithetical to the high standards of the Academy and the creative community it represents.

The ongoing fallout poses potentially severe legal issues for the companies involved, The Weinstein Co, which fired its co-chairman on 8 October, has moved to continue forward with plans to change its name. In a statement released on 10 October, the Weinstein Co board of directors strongly denied that it knew about Weinsteins behavior.

These alleged actions are antithetical to human decency. These allegations come as an utter surprise to the board. Any suggestion that the board had knowledge of this conduct is false, the four-member board said in a statement. We are committed to assisting with our full energies in all criminal or other investigations of these alleged acts, while pursuing justice for the victims and a full and independent investigation of our own.

The board, however, includes Weinsteins brother, Bob, the companys other co-chairman. And several board members earlier resigned in the wake of the initial allegations of sexual harassment. That report, published by the New York Times, also detailed hundreds of thousands of dollars in alleged settlements. Its not known if Weinstein made the payments personally or if either The Weinstein Co or Miramax did.

Legal experts are skeptical The Weinstein Co could have been unaware given the volume of allegations.

Given all the information thats coming out now, I would find it highly implausible that the board was not aware, said Angela Reddock-Wright, an attorney specializing in employment and labor law who has represented businesses in harassment suits. There are just too many allegations here. Unless there were settlements paid out by Weinstein from his own personal money, settlements over a certain dollar value would have presumably been approved by the board of directors.

Veteran employment attorney Ann Fromholz said that given Weinsteins position at the company, The Weinstein Co would be liable over sexual harassment claims even if they werent aware. Between the potential lawsuits and the likely loss of business, Fromholz considers it unlikely The Weinstein Co will survive under any name.

Representatives for both companies didnt respond to questions.

Michael Eisner, who was Disneys chief executive during Harvey Weinsteins tenure at Miramax, said he had no idea he was capable of these horrible actions. Disney purchased Miramax in 1993; the Weinstein brothers departed in 2005 to create the Weinstein Co.

Fired (the) Weinsteins because they were irresponsible, and Harvey was an incorrigible bully, said Eisner on Twitter.

Disneys current chief, Bob Iger, also responded in a statement, Harvey Weinsteins reported behavior is abhorrent and unacceptable, and it has no place in our society, said Iger.

Three women accused Weinstein of raping them, The New Yorker reported, including the Italian actress and filmmaker Asia Argento and a woman, Lucia Evans, who was an aspiring actress in college when he allegedly sexually assaulted her at Miramaxs Manhattan offices in 2004. The magazine also cited a third, unnamed accuser. A growing number of actresses, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Rosanna Arquette, have also made allegations of sexual harassment.

Any allegations of non-consensual contact are unequivocally denied by Mr Weinstein, Weinstein representative Sallie Hofmeister said Wednesday. Mr Weinstein is taking the time to focus on his family, on getting counseling and rebuilding his life. These are his top priorities.

More women continue to come forward. On 11 October, both French actress Lea Seydoux and model and actress Cara Delevingne said they had been sexually harassed by Weinstein.

We were talking on the sofa when he suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me, Seydoux wrote for the Guardian. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted. I wasnt afraid of him, though. Because I knew what kind of man he was all along.

Everyone could see what he was doing, Seydoux continued, saying she had witnessed other incidents.

Thats the most disgusting thing, wrote Seydoux. Everyone knew what Harvey was up to and no one did anything. Its unbelievable that hes been able to act like this for decades and still keep his career. Thats only possible because he has a huge amount of power.
Matt Damon has denied that he helped kill a 2004 New York Times expose on Harvey Weinstein's alleged history of sexual abuse. Weinstein's downfall has been swift since the New York Times article exposed decades of alleged sexual abuse by Weinstein.

The Wrap founder Sharon Waxman recently accused the New York Times of backing down from a similar story in 2004 due to intense pressure from high-profile people such as Damon and Russell Crowe.

Waxman said her piece revolved around an executive at the Italian branch of Miramax who had supposedly been paid just to facilitate Weinstein's alleged sexual misconduct.

NYT has already issued a rebuttal to Waxman's account and now Damon too has spoken out.

Damon, in an interview to Deadline, said Weinstein had asked him to call Waxman to vouch for Fabrizio Lombardo, who ran Miramax's Italian office, the distribution company for Weinstein, and Damon agreed to call the reporter.

The actor said he had no knowledge about the subject of Waxman's story. He said Weinstein only told him that the paper was doing a "hit job" on Lombardo.

"Harvey said, Sharon Waxman is writing a story about Fabrizio and it's really negative. Can you just call and tell her what your experience with Fabrizio was. So I did, and that's what I said to her. It didn't even make the piece that she wrote.

"As I recall, her piece just said that Russell and I had called and relayed our experience with Fabrizio."

The actor said being a father to daughter, he was disgusted by the revelations against Weinstein and if he knew about it, he would have tried to stop it.

"We know this stuff goes on in the world. I did five or six movies with Harvey. I never saw this. This morning, I just feel absolutely sick to my stomach."

Acknowledging the closed-doors "predation" that takes place in Hollywood, Damon said, "If there was ever an event that I was at and Harvey was doing this kind of thing and I didn't see it, then I am so deeply sorry, because I would have stopped it.

"And I will peel my eyes back now, further than I ever have, to look for this type of behaviour. Because we know that it happens. I feel horrible for these women and it's wonderful they have this incredible courage and are standing up now.

In another update, NBC News defended itself on 11 October after questions were raised about whether it had fumbled an explosive story about Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinsteins alleged sexual assaults that network contributor Ronan Farrow broke instead in The New Yorker magazine.

It was the same day NBC came under withering attack from President Donald Trump for a story the network DID report, about whether the president sought in a summer meeting to greatly increase the nations nuclear stockpile.

Farrows story, released by the magazine Tuesday, offered new details about Weinsteins alleged behavior with women that followed an investigation published last week in The New York Times. The Times story led to Weinsteins firing from the film company that bears his name.

Farrow, who had a short-lived daytime show on MSNBC, had been working on the Weinstein story for NBC News. He told MSNBCs Rachel Maddow that earlier this year, he had a woman who granted an on-camera interview about Weinsteins behavior. NBC News President Noah Oppenheim said Wednesday that the network reached a point this summer where it didnt feel all the elements were in place to air a story and didnt stand in Farrows way when he wanted to take his reporting elsewhere.

Farrow said on MSNBC that he walked into The New Yorker with an explosively publishable piece that should have been reported earlier and immediately The New Yorker recognized that. He said there were multiple determinations at NBC News that he had a story ready to report.

Oppenheim, in remarks he made at a town hall meeting Wednesday that the network released publicly, said that Farrow had greatly expanded the scope of his reporting after taking it to The New Yorker.

The stunning story, the incredible story that we all read yesterday, was not the story that we were looking at when we made our judgment several months ago, he said.

Farrow said that he had personally been threatened with a lawsuit by Weinstein. Many news organizations that cover Hollywood have faced questions about why it took so long to report on conduct that had allegedly been occurring over many years. Yet it was a difficult story that took bravery for women to come forward with details against one of the most powerful men in their industry.

Oppenheim said the notion that we would try to cover for a powerful person is deeply offensive to all of us, noting other news organizations that had tried but failed to get the story.

Also, the New York City prosecutor who chose not to charge Harvey Weinstein two years ago after he was accused of groping a young woman says the decision wasnt influenced by campaign contributions.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has taken thousands of dollars in donations over the years from David Boies, a top lawyer in New York whose clients have included Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election. Boies has also done work for many years for The Weinstein Co.

The lawyer and Vance both say Boies had no involvement in 2015 when police investigated a models accusation that Weinstein grabbed her breasts during a meeting in New York.

In another shocking development, model and actress Cara Delevingne is joining the long list of Harvey Weinstein accusers.

She says in a lengthy Instagram post that Weinstein brought up sexual subjects during more than one business meeting and also tried to get Delevingne to kiss a woman in front of him.

She says she did not participate and left the room. She says she subsequently appeared in a Weinstein Co. film and adds that she felt awful that I did the movie. She says she was afraid to speak out at the time of the incident because she feared she may have somehow been responsible and didnt want to hurt his family.

Delevingne says in a second post Wednesday that abuse of women by powerful men happens in every industry. She urged victims to speak out.
Every edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival gives cinephiles the opportunity to watch different kind of films every day for over a week. But if you want to take a break or indulge in discussions about cinema, these events will seem very tempting:

Go on a multimedia archaeological journey that traces Dadasaheb Phalke's life

30 years ago, when Kamal Swaroop decided to take a break from filmmaking, he undertook a project to trace Dadasaheb Phalke's missing biography. What started out as a scrapbook resulted in a book and screenplay filled with stories, pictures and cutouts from the legendary filmmaker's works and life.

Watch Anupama Chopra chat with Netflix VP Erik Barmack

The Vice President of International Originals at Netflix is visiting the city, and he will be speaking to Anupama Chopra at an event called 'Hero or Villain'.

Watch live CCTV footage that captures the spirit of a Mumbai neighbourhood

CAMP, a group of Mumbai-based artists, will be giving viewers a look into the 200-year-old history of the city through live footage of the neighbourhood of Lower Parel shot by a camera installed at PVR Phoenix. It will give a glimpse into the various changes that the city has undergone over the years reclamation, industrialisation and even neo-liberalism and will be presented as a virtual reality experience.

Meet the members of India's first women-only documentary collective

Mediastorm, a first-of-its-kind women-only and women-driven documentary collective which was started in 1985 by six students of Jamia Millia Islamias AJK Mass Communication Research Centre. Over the years, they have made three noteworthy films: In Secular India (1986), From the Burning Embers (1998) and Whose Country is it Anyway? (1991).

All details of MAMI 2017's special events can be found here.
So what do you think? As the silent partner inside Elliot Aldersons head, do you know anything you want to share as season 3 of Mr Robot kicks off? Do you think Mr Robot is just the Mr Hyde to Elliots Jekyll or might there be more to it? And surely, Elliots still alive; I mean, he may have been shot, but Mr Robot is still the shows titular antihero. So yeah, Im sure hell pull through. But what about Darlene? Or Trenton and Mobley, are they going to be okay? Will the American public be okay? Or what about the US government, now at the mercy of a $2 trillion bailout by China?

I know it all looks and sounds a bit too confusing  like a noob trying to understand a complex code or programme written by Elliot/Mr Robot or any of the hackers of fsociety. You can call Mr Robot any of these things  cyber crime caper, anti-capitalist thriller, nihilistic harbinger of doom  but the one thing you cant deny, is that its a complex and often confusing show. The conspiracies, FBI investigations, vivid delusions and hallucinations, and the ever-growing hacker plot are all woven together so well and so intricately, that youll be forgiven for being a bit unclear about where the show stands right now. Heres a quick refresher of all the remaining major players and the overall state of affairs in the the dark-but-somehow-very-relatably-real world of Mr Robot.

Explaining the title: Elliot Alderson and Mr Robot

Elliot Alderson is Mr Robot, as the unexpected season 1 finale made clear to those of us who were intently following the lives of this genius hacker (Elliot; played by Rami Malek) and the mysterious Mr Robot played by Christian Slater, who we now know is just a figment of Elliots imagination  a figment that takes on the look, form, and shape of Elliots dead father. Elliot feels a rage against the corporate conglomerate that is E Corp (or, in Elliots sometimes addled and glitchy worldview, Evil Corp) for its role in the untimely death of his father.

Season 1 pretty much set the stage for Mr Robots anarchist, militant revolution against corporate America, culminating in a massive cyber attack called the Five/Nine Hack. We see Slater as Mr Robot executing his plan with the help of Darlene and the other members of fsociety, only to be stunned (at least I was!) in the final episode with the revelation that Mr Robot is just Elliots alter ego taking over his body and furthering his rage-filled militant agenda while leaving Elliot in the dark. The others, including Darlene (who we found out is Elliots sister) only see Elliot  switching back and forth between his nervous and distressed Elliot persona, and the totally-in-control rage machine that is Mr Robot.

In season 2, we found out that Elliot as Mr Robot has set in motion the next stage of his plan, which is matter-of-factly called Stage 2 (but then again, who needs a colourful name for the next step of your hack when theres already so much colour and chaos in your head!). Turns out, Mr Robot has been colluding with the enigmatic and sinister hacker organisation called the Dark Army, which, lets face it, means that any semblance of control that Elliot, Darlene and the others thought they had is just a cloak of misfortune shrouded over them by the Dark Army, which can pull it off anytime to expose them all for what they truly are  unfortunate pawns in a scheme the scope of which is bigger and wilder than anything Elliot dreams of in his drug-fuelled state. And boy does he dream some crazy sh*t!

Season 2s other big story arc revolved around Elliots routine  a minute-by-minute account that he logs in his journal while he lives with his mom, keeps himself offline, and spends an awful lot of time hanging out and just listening to his friend Leon ramble on about his new-found love for Seinfeld. All of this to keep tabs on himself and to keep Mr Robot from wreaking havoc. Its only in episode 7 that we find out that all of this is a false reality that Elliot has dreamed up to protect himself while hes in prison on a minor charge post-the Five/Nine Hack. It turns out that his mom is in fact a prison guard, his bedroom his prison cell, and Leon is a fellow inmate (Leon was exploring the prison TV library and was making his way through the 90s when he stumbled upon Seinfeld, and realised that the shows nothingness was really messing with him!).

Oh, the tangled web Mr Robot weaves: Darlene, Angela, Tyrell

While Elliot is in prison, Darlene has taken up the mantle of leader of fsociety and their exploits, in a rather disastrous attempt that has now, at the end of season 2, landed her in the FBIs grasp. Her on-again, off-again boyfriend Cisco was killed by the Dark Army (who, we now know, will stop at nothing to ensure Stage 2 proceeds as planned).

Angela Moss (Elliots childhood friend who lost her mom to E Corps environmental hazard that was their Washington Township power plant) spent a lot of Season 1 trying to bring down E Corp, but is now working for the company. Angela now has a corner office on the 20th floor, a posh modern company-provided apartment, and the personal interest of E Corps CEO Phillip Price. Why? Were not quite sure, but suffice to say theres more to it than an aging CEO taking a young up-and-comer under his corrupt wing.

And then of course, theres Americas most wanted man himself  Tyrell Wellick. Thought to be dead in Elliots head, killed by him during a three-day amnesiac state immediately after setting the Five/Nine Hack in motion (this is what Mr Robot tells Elliot), we find out that Tyrell is alive, well, and working on the implementation of Mr Robots Stage 2.

Tyrell was once on course to become the youngest CTO of E Corp. When that didnt pan out, he tracked down Mr Robot and teamed up with Elliot/Mr. Robot to carry out the Five/Nine Hack against his former employer E Corp. He then disappeared, only showing up towards the end of season 2; Elliot believes Tyrell is dead, so when Tyrell appears, Elliot assumes its just his imagination.

When Elliot figures out that Stage 2 involves hacking into a storehouse which serves as the place where all of E Corps paper backup records are stored, blowing it up, and destroying E Corp along with killing everyone who may be in the building, he tries to shut down the programme. Still believing what Mr Robot told him (that Tyrell is dead, and just a figment of his imagination), he dismisses Wellicks threat of shooting him (Wellick is following Mr Robots instructions to carry out Stage 2 by any means necessary).

Left with no choice, Wellick shoots Elliot, at which moment Elliot knows that Tyrell is real. The gun is real, he has been shot for real. Mr Robot had been lying to him all along!

The rose and the thorn: Whiterose and Dominique DiPierro

Whiterose, a Chinese transgender woman whos the leader of the Dark Army, is perhaps the most compelling character on Mr Robot. Played by the Tony Award-winning BD Wong, his turn as Whiterose (whos obsessed with the concept of time) in private and as Mr Zhang (the public-facing Chinese Minister of State Security) is remarkable, enigmatic, and bone-chilling  just as the sinister and sometimes downright violent actions of the Dark Army are.

Not only was Whiterose helping Elliot and fsociety pull off the Five/Nine Hack, shes also the reason why E Corp secures a $2 trillion bailout from China. Of course, its her secret male identity, Zhang, that makes this possible.

Whiterose has her minions kidnap Angela in a straight-up nightmare inducing sequence that involves a Twin Peaks-ish interrogation scene. During this, she tells Angela that her mother and Elliots father dying wasnt an accident  that they were sacrificed for a greater good. Its starting to seem more likely that Whiterose and Phillip Price have been working on their project for decades; the Washington Township plant, just like the people it impacted (including Elliot and Angela) are all just important-yet-disposable pawns in their grand scheme. At the end of her interrogation, Angela has decided to side with the Dark Army.

On the other hand, we have Dominique DiPierro (or Dom). As the lonesome FBI agent investigating the Five/Nine Hack, who happens to be at the receiving end of two separate machine gun attacks by the Dark Army, DiPierro could have seemed a bit sad and depressing. Especially given that her character does seem lonely, an insomniac, and more-than-a-bit depressed (asking Alexa if shes her friend, or when the end of the world would be!). But Doms a kickass investigator, ahead of everyone else in the Bureau who refuses to see the pattern thats so clear to her  that Wellick isnt the real culprit, and that this is a conspiracy that goes way the hell up! So we root for her, despite our affinity to Elliot and fsociety!

At the end of season 2, Dom has Darlene in custody, where she shows the mouthy hacker her investigation board  on it are photographs of everyone involved in the Five/Nine Hack, including fsociety, the Dark Army, Elliot, and Wellick  all connected together with the infamous red thread. Other than Whiterose (whose true identity remains a mystery to many) , Dom has pretty much cracked the entire case. Too bad nobody at the Bureau is willing to believe/help her!

There are, of course, plenty of loose ends  with Tyrells wife Joanna and the incriminating evidence she has convinced her bartender-boytoy to give against E Corps CTO in the murder of his pregnant wife (who, we all know, was killed by Tyrell Wellick himself!). Theres Trenton and Mobley, the fsociety members who went into hiding and were last seen being approached by the Seinfeld-obsessed Leon. Theres the question of everyones motives (including Mr Robot, Angela, and Whiterose). Plenty to speculate, but we'll watch the just-released first episode of season 3 before saying anything more. Bobby Canavale is going to be on Mr Robot this season  as a sort of fixer for the Dark Army, so theres that. Hopefully, well see a lot more of Elliot besting Mr Robot this season.

As the show creeps uncannily close to real-life, heres hoping season 3 will be a dark but fun ride!
In a major relief for Nupur and Rajesh Talwar, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday overruled the trial court judgment in the Aarushi Talwar murder case and declared them both innocent. The court acquitted them, saying no conviction can stand on the basis of mere suspicion.

#BREAKING | Judges say Talwars can't be convicted on the basis of suspicion, they must be given benefit of doubt #WhoKilledAarushi pic.twitter.com/KhmVndZ9hk  News18 (@CNNnews18) October 12, 2017

Rajesh and Nupur Talwar had filed an appeal challenging a CBI court order convicting them in the murder of Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj in 2008. The couple was awarded life sentence by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad on 26 November 2013, a day after their conviction. The Allahabad High Court judges said that the CBI failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Talwars are guilty. "The chain of evidence they have showcased is inconclusive."

Their lawyer Rebecca John said the evidence presented by the CBI "did not stand judicial scrutiny and that is the end of it".

After the verdict, Aarushi's grandfather talked to CNN-News18 and said that he is grateful for the "positive" judgment and he always knew that Nupur and Rajesh were innocent. He also thanked the media for their support.

#TalwarsAcquitted  Thankful for positive verdict. Dont want to hold anyone responsible at present: Aarushis grandfather to CNN-News18 pic.twitter.com/bfXNhVxfGd  News18 (@CNNnews18) October 12, 2017

The Talwars saw the verdict from a TV placed in their barracks, sources in Dasna prison told CNN-News18. They did not have breakfast as they were anxious about the outcome of the case.

The Dasna jail superintendent relayed the reaction of Nupur and Rajesh Talwar after the verdict to the media. He said both are very emotional and happy that they have got justice. He added that once the jail gets a direction from the court, they will be released.

It remains to be seen what will happen next. The CBI said that they are waiting for a copy of the judgment and will decide the next course of action after studying it.

The Special CBI court in Ghaziabad had previously sentenced the Talwars to rigorous imprisonment for life.

"The accused Dr Rajesh Talwar and Dr Nupur Talwar are convicted under sections 302 read with section 34 and section 201 read with section 34 IPC. Dr Rajesh Talwar is also convicted under section 203 IPC. Both the accused are sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life under section 302 read with section 34 IPC with a fine of Rs 10,000 each and in default of payment of fine to undergo six months simple imprisonment and to five years rigorous imprisonment under section 201 read with section 34 IPC."

Fourteen-year-old Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house two days later.

As the Uttar Pradesh Police drew flak over a shoddy investigation into the case which was making national headlines, the then chief minister Mayawati handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

With inputs from agencies
In the year 1935, the Bristol Azzizes convicted 21-year-old Reginald Woolmington of the murder of his wife. He claimed that the death was accidental. He was sentenced to be hanged by the neck till dead. The court reasoned that the case was so strong against him that he had the burden to prove that he had not committed murder and it was an accident. He took the case on appeal to the English Court of Appeal, which refused to grant him leave to appeal. They reasoned that a charge of murder presumed malice and therefore if he claimed that the killing was an accident, the burden was on him to lead sufficient evidence to prove it. He managed to appeal the order of the Court of Appeal to the UK House of Lords, then the highest court in England. It was there where he was acquitted three days prior to his execution. In the case of Woolmington v DPP [1935] UK HL 1 a substantive principle of common law was first established. It is often referred to as the golden thread of British justice and this term was based on what Lord Sanky said when he delivered the unanimous verdict of the Court. The judgment went something like this:

Throughout the web of the English Criminal Law one golden thread is always to be seen that it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the prisoner's guilt subject to... the defence of insanity and subject also to any statutory exception. If, at the end of and on the whole of the case, there is a reasonable doubt, created by the evidence given by either the prosecution or the prisoner... the prosecution has not made out the case and the prisoner is entitled to an acquittal. No matter what the charge or where the trial, the principle that the prosecution must prove the guilt of the prisoner is part of the common law of England and no attempt to whittle it down can be entertained.

This principle is also found in the law of India, which incorporates the common law principle. It is a fundamental principle in International Human Rights law as well. We call it the presumption of innocence. The prosecution in every criminal case must prove the charge beyond all reasonable doubt. If there is doubt at the end of the trial, then the prisoner is entitled to an acquittal as a matter of right.

On Thursday afternoon the Allahabad High Court set aside the conviction of the parents of Aarushi Talwar who had earlier been convicted of her murder. The trial court had said the circumstantial evidence pointed to the crime being an honour killing and since she was the last seen with her parents, and there was evidence that her parents may have found her in a compromising position with the house help Hemraj, there was sufficient evidence for the conviction to be sustained. The relationship with the house help gave them motive and the last seen principle was applied to sustain circumstantial evidence that they killed her.

The high court disagreed and said that there was insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction. One of the key failures in the CBI's case was that they failed to establish a clear chain of events that were backed up by evidence. They failed to establish how the murder could have been committed and also failed to establish the links between the inception of the motive for the murder and the actual act. There was nothing but circumstantial evidence to prove that they saw Aarushi and the house help in a compromising position.

The CBI in December of 2010 had told the trial court that there was no evidence in the case but it suspected Rajesh Talwar of the murder. The court refused to close the case and since the CBI found no evidence of the home being broken into, they started working on the theory that this was an inside job.

Circumstantial evidence is as the name suggests at best circumstantial, so unless you can establish the circumstances, it doesn't carry much sway. It was vital for the CBI to establish a clear sequence of events that night that such that the chain would only point to the parents as being the only possible people who could have committed the act. The CBI failed to do so.

In order to fully appreciate the goof-ups of the CBI during the investigation a detailed analysis of the high court judgment is required. But one thing is for sure, the burden is on the state to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that a person is guilty. The number of goof-ups by the CBI in this matter probably made that difficult. Indian law is black and white. You can either be guilty or not guilty. But there can be no declaration of innocence. The shadow of this trial will follow the parents for life. The prosecution still needs to toe the line set by the golden thread.
New Delhi: The nine-year trial in the murder of their daughter Aarushi had left the Talwar couple emotionally drained, Nupur Talwar's father said on Thursday, thanking the judiciary for acquitting them.

BG Chitnis, a former group captain in the Indian Air Force, said it was very trying for him to see his daughter, Nupur and her husband Rajesh behind bars.

"I am grateful to the judiciary for the verdict. They (the Talwar couple) have really suffered. They are emotionally drained. At my age it was very trying to see my daughter behind bars," he told reporters.

Vandana Talwar, Aarushi's aunt, said the entire family had suffered for nearly a decade as the case dragged on.

"It was very exhausting and trying...," she said.

She refused to go into the merits of the case and the judgement, saying the couple's lawyers would answer questions on who killed Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj.

"We are deeply grateful to the judiciary and relieved over the verdict. I would like to thank all the supporters who supported us through the long ordeal," she said.

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted the Talwar couple, saying they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record.

The verdict ends the ordeal of the parents who were found guilty by a CBI court in the sensational double murder case.

A division bench of the court comprising justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra upheld the appeals by the Talwars against the Ghaziabad CBI court order sentencing them to life imprisonment on 26 November 2013.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.
Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Thursday the police made a "total dog's breakfast" of the investigation in the Aarushi murder case.

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj in 2008, saying they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record.

In a series of tweets, Abdullah wrote that the police had made a total 'dogs breakfast' of the investigation, suggesting that the probe was a complete mess.

Dont know who killed #Arushi & will probably never know but what I do know is the police made a total dogs breakfast of the investigation.  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 12, 2017

"The law presumes innocence until guilt is established beyond reasonable doubt. Innocent till proven guilty is bedrock of criminal law," he said in another tweet.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008.

The needle of suspicion initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing, but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house two days later.

The high court verdict on Thursday ends a nine-year ordeal of the parents who were found guilty of murdering 14-year-old Aarushi by a CBI court.
ELKO  The Elko Regional Interfaith Christmas Creche Exhibit begins in less than two months under the direction of Sandy Ballard.

Ballard was recently named as the as new director and committee chairman of the event, replacing James R. Cooper, who had served as both assistant chairman and chairman since the beginning of the event in 2005.

Although relatively new to the area and the exhibit, Ballard is very excited to be involved in Creche Exhibit and hopes to continue growing what has become a tradition in the community and throughout the region.

Ballard is from St. George, Utah, and moved to Elko with her husband, Tim, and two children in 2013. She has been a business owner  two photography studios and a craft store, and also enjoys music, playing sports, DIY projects, and crafts.

Since high school, Ballard has had many opportunities to be involved in community events, musical performances, and volunteer programs.

I feel that serving and learning can be continual lifetime fulfillments, she said.

My family and I have enjoyed attending the exhibit and amazing music performances ever since we moved here four years ago. We love seeing the new Nativities each year, and try to locate our favorites we saw from the year before.

We also enjoy meeting people from the community who are attending for the first time, and to see their faces light up when they see the number and uniqueness of the Nativities displayed. Its a beautiful way to begin the Christmas season, says Ballard.

Ballards vision for the Creche this year is to see more of the community attend and participate in the exhibit and the performances. She encourages those who have attended or participated in the exhibit before to personally invite friends and neighbors, especially those who have recently moved to the area, or havent attended yet.

When the Ballards moved to Elko, it was the week before the exhibit and they received personal invitations from those who helped them move into their house. Their first experience of the exhibit was a performance by the Elko Handbells, which was so beautiful it moved members of her family to tears. From that time forward, she and her family became fans of the exhibit.

Ballard welcomes all volunteers who would like to be a part of the Creche Exhibit, to share their talents, assistance, or time to help make this another great year.

Its the little things, like helping and including others, that really bring people and neighborhoods together, she said.

Those wishing to help may volunteer through justserve.org.

The highlighted feature of this years exhibit will be the Star of Bethlehem, which is often depicted as an eight-pointed star with a tail.

I really felt that the Star was not only the sign given for Christs birth, but it was the one thing that was shown to everyone around the world, as a guide for all to come unto Christ, Ballard said.

Along with Nativities and Nativity-themed items and artwork, the exhibit is looking for the community to bring items that depict the Star of Bethlehem either on its own, or as part of their Nativity display. The Nativities and Star of Bethlehem could be figurines, tree toppers, artwork, quilts or banners, ornaments, family keepsakes, or hand-crafted items. Anything that depicts part of the Christmas story is welcome.

Set up of Nativities is Nov. 29. Those wishing to share and display Nativities and Stars of Bethlehem at the exhibit may do so by bringing their items to the church anytime from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The 13th Annual Exhibit opens Nov. 30, at 11 a.m. and runs through Dec. 3, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3001 N. Fifth St. The Spring Creek High School High Expectations Choir kicks off the live musical performances Thursday evening at 5 p.m.

Additional information about the exhibit and a complete musical performance schedule are available at www.elko.creche.org, facebook.com/elkocreche, or by contacting Sandy Ballard at 435-680-0978.
A bench of justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case. The Bench arrived at the judgment, giving the benefit of doubt to the Talwar duo.

The appeal to the high court involved major arguments on the motive for the murder, which is a little unusual. The motive in criminal cases is not relevant for determining the guilt of the accused, it is only relevant to decide the quantum of punishment.

The case previously saw three full investigations. One was by the Uttar Pradesh Police and the other two by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Only the second investigation exonerated the couple and the rest two charged them with double murder. It was indeed strange that the third investigation, which was the second one by CBI had charged the Talwar duo for the double murder when it was only them who had opposed the filing of the closure report by the same agency, in its initial investigation, before the Allahabad High Court and also the Supreme Court.

The criminal justice system of India is an accused-centred process and not a victim-centred one. This means that the focus of the judicial process is only the determination of the guilt of the accused and not finding the actual perpetrator of the criminal act. This means that after this verdict, unless and until there is again a fresh investigation, the murderer of Aarushi and Hemraj will remain unknown.

The investigation in this case also involved modern forensic techniques like narco-analysis tests, etc. Unfortunately, the evidence produced by such techniques remains controversial in the eyes of the Indian courts and consequently, the court refused to admit such evidence.

This verdict is a sad metaphor for the current state of the Indian criminal justice system too. Where in a very high-profile case, after three investigations, of which two were done by the nations premier investigative agency CBI, and almost a decade later, the perpetrator of the offence remains at large.

It certainly requires some bit of reflection as to why the state with all its might, including both the Central and state investigative agencies, couldn't solve a double murder case, or the investigation remained shoddy and their charges didnt cut any ice with the courts.

Its high time the government undertook a serious reform in the criminal justice system and start by doing away some aspects of the adversarial judicial system, which makes the process accused centric. Malimath Committee in 2003 recommended incorporation of some aspects of an inquisitorial system to make the system more efficient. Such recommendations definitely deserve a thought in light of the sad situation of the system today.

The author is a research fellow with the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay. He can be reached at raghav10089@gmail.com. He tweets @raghavwrong
The Aarushi Talwar murder case, among the most sensational whodunits of recent times, divided public opinion as the trial coursed its way to a conclusion. Everybody professed to know who killed Aarushi, the 14-year-old girl who was found murdered in her Noida house in May 2008, especially the media which led a wild, uninformed, bumbling and amateurish armchair investigation.

Well before the Ghaziabad trial court could pronounce its verdict, Aarushi's parents, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, were painted as the likely culprits, sometimes over such flimsy grounds as "the conduct displayed by Mr and Mrs Talwar appears a bit too calculated, even cold-blooded", as put forth by author Shobhaa De, who wrote a blog piece titled 'Aarushi's Monster Parents'.

Such was the nature of coverage at times that the Supreme Court had to come down heavily on the media, saying the coverage lacked "sensitivity, taste, and decorum".

Among the worst culprits was Arnab Goswami, editor of Times Now, who ran a campaign to paint the Talwar couple as the culprits. Sonorita Chauhan, who was on the news desk at Times Now at the time, had said the media was complicit in changing the narrative.

Recalling her experience with her then boss Arnab Goswami, Sonorita observed: "Nupur's exclusive interview to NDTV has been quoted by many as the reason they think the Talwars are guilty, because she did not cry. But the media helped shape the guilty verdict against them as well. (The then) Times Now editor-in-chief (Arnab Goswami) (was) infuriated with the fact that Nupur Talwar had decided to give an interview to one of his nemesis  NDTV. He (Arnab) asked me to find holes in her version of events, even as she was giving the interview. Her story was juxtaposed with the idiot Gurcharan Singh's (IG, Meerut Range) mind-numbingly stupid press conference, where he insisted on calling Aarushi 'Shruti'. How could he have been taken seriously after that, I don't know."

However, in 2015, the Meghana Gulzar film Talvar was released. Based on Avirook Sen's book, Aarushi, the film was produced by Junglee Films, the films division of the Times Group. The movie, like the book it was based on, took an unabashedly pro-Rajesh and Nupur Talwar line. Following the release of the film, the Times Group, its publications and TV channels also appear to have changed their stance.

The day of the release, The Times of India carried a report wherein people impacted by the incident and its ensuing investigation spoke to the newspaper about the film and the case. Titled 'Talvar: The film that will shake your beliefs', the report spoke of the quest to know the truth.

The next day, it carried another set of interviews with people impacted by the sensational whodunit. Titled 'Talvar fills you with horror, sympathy, disgust, and anger', the report spoke to people acquainted with the couple, neighbours and Aarushi's friends.

The coverage continued for the next day as well, as the publication carried a report titled 'Even as we live together, our world and that of the people who work for us are poles apart'. The makers of the film spoke about the need to "educate" domestic help.

Times Now, which initially tried to portray the Talwars as the culprits, also ran a Twitter hashtag #TalwarDebate, perhaps suggesting the case wasn't as cut and dry as they had initially appeared to portray.

Were these reports attempting to paint the "other" side of the picture? Was it a calculated move on the part of the media group to get the Talwars' side of things out to the public, or was it simply to drive up public interest in the film?

On Thursday, after the Allahabad High Court pronounced its verdict, for instance, Times Now's coverage appeared decidedly toned down and measured. It lambasted the CBI for having botched up the investigation and asked if there will never be justice for Aarushi.

Much of the day's coverage focussed on the events of the last nine years, starting from how the crime scene was contaminated, how the probe agencies offered one verdict and then another, and how the other suspects will now be back in the spotlight. The lawyers representing the Talwar couple were also offered much screen time and given their say. A marked difference from the coverage of nine years ago.

Was it the departure of Arnab Goswami, who quit the channel 12 months ago to start his own venture Republic TV, or was it the release of their in-house movie Talvar which forced them to think along different lines? Or was it something else entirely? The nation does want to know.
On Thursday afternoon, a bench of justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra at the Allahabad High Court acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case. The bench gave judgment giving Aarushi's parents, who are currently lodged in Ghaziabad's Dasna jail, the benefit of the doubt.

Previously, the case saw three full investigations: One by the Uttar Pradesh police, and the remaining two by the CBI. Only the second probe pointed to the Talwars' innocence in the murder of their daughter Aarushi, while the other two charged them with double murder.

In all this, the key turning point in the case which led to a full-blown trial and pointed towards the Talwars' innocence was when the two pillow covers were recovered: One was Hemraj's pillowcase from the Talwars' flat, and the second, a purple pillow cover belonging to Krishna  one of Hemraj's three Nepali friends  with Hemraj's blood on it seized from Krishna's house who lived in L-14, Jalavayu Vihar, a few houses away.

As Avirook Sen details in his 2015 book Aarushi, the presence of Hemraj's blood on Krishna's pillow cover pointed to an outsider's involvement in the murder, disputing CBI's claims of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar being responsible for the murders.

Rajesh's brother Dinesh Talwar found the evidence hidden in Document 48 in a handful of files handed to them by the CBI. Dinesh informed the Talwars' lawyer Rebecca John immediately who filed an application based on it in the Allahabad High Court.

Strangely, days after Rebecca John filed the affidavit, two photographs of the exhibits materialised on 10 March, 2011. Each of the photographs showed two pillow covers, one belonging to Hemraj and other to Krishna's, with scraps of paper having handwritten markings labelling them. However, these did not resemble any stationery from Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad, which tested the two pieces of evidence.

In the initial report submitted in 2008, Hemraj's pillow cover was labelled as Z-14 and Krishna's Z-20. But in the photographs shown in 2011, the labels were interchanged which meant that Hemraj's DNA was found on his own pillow cover and nothing on Krishna's. The court was shown these photos and told it was a result of "a typographical error". Moreover, the photograph was not submitted to the court as evidence but merely waved in front of the judge.

However, the unexplained part in all this is how the two pillowcases were photographed without a court order and when they were under seal. The pillow covers must have been kept in sealed envelopes with CDFD's seal. Somebody, not from the CDFD, opened them and took the photos, wrote Sen. On 17 March, the Allahabad High Court said that it was 'clear' from the photographs that it was a "typographical error".

Incidentally, the sealed packages were under CBI or CDFD's care at the time. One of the scientists from CDFD Madhusudan Reddy told Sen that the photographs were not taken at the lab. The labels shown in the photograph were undated and unsigned, and whoever swapped the exhibit numbers added a serial number where none existed. Additionally, the CDFD, which prepared the original report, was never contacted to confirm if it was indeed a "typographical error".

The CDFD issued a brief clarification and called it a typographical error only after the court declared it so and CBI investigator AGL Kaul travelled to the lab in Hyderabad. This alleged "error" also came to light after the Talwars' filed the affidavit in the court.

Sen writes in the book, "What the Talwars hadnt realised at the time was that a trial was inevitable. Had they kept the secret of Document 48 to themselves, all they would have had to do was ask a CDFD scientist if he stood by the report during the trial. That would have authenticated the document. And by then, it would be too late for anyone to turn Z-20 into Z-14."
New Delhi: The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Thursday announced a big rally on 11 November in Thiruvananthapuram to protest the "cold blooded murders" in Kerala it alleged were being committed by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM).

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliated students wing said that it expects to see nearly 25,000 students at the rally.

Addressing reporters, Vinay Bidre, national general secretary of ABVP, said that in last one year alone the state has seen killings of 14 "nationalist workers".

"It is not just the Sangh activists but even ordinary people are also in fear of the Communists (CPM) in the state. We agree that there will be ideological differences but the communists have become expert in murdering people in the name of ideology," Bidre said.

The group claimed that in Kannur district alone five Sangh activists have been murdered since Pinarayi Vijayan came to power in May last year.

Kerala state secretary Shyam Raj told the media about the "one party, one ideology" rule prevalent in the state. He said that the student wing of CPM, Students' Federation of India (SFI), doesn't allow any other group to put its posters in any of the colleges campuses, including those belonging to other Left parties.

"The Communists here in Delhi demand for such evil things as freedom to raise anti-national slogans in the name of freedom of expression. While there in Kerala we do not even have the right to life. The rally is to claim this right to life," ABVP leader Saket Bahuguna said.

However, the Communist party has also levelled similar charges against the Sangh and allied groups for the killings of its workers.
New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday asked Chief Secretary MM Kutty to direct the Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) to examine issues related to recent Delhi metro fare hike and also assess whether it could have been avoided.

The increased metro fares came into effect on Tuesday.

In his note to Kutty, Kejriwal wrote, "The steep hike in metro fares has caused considerable distress to the people of Delhi. The hike could not have come at a worse time."

"The economy is in recession, medium and small scale businesses are facing losses and unemployment is soaring high," the chief minister, who is also the chairman of the DDC, wrote.

Kejriwal also sought to know if the Delhi Metro was operating at its optimum capacity and whether the hike in fares is "justified".

He said since the Delhi government is an equal partner in the DMRC, it is "deeply concerned" about the impact of the hike on common people.

Kejriwal asked Kutty to direct the DDC to find out if the hike could "have been substantially offset by efficiency improvements as well as real estate exploitation" and "if the representations of GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi) were effectively present in its viewpoint in Committee/board."

While allowing the DDC to examine officers of both DMRC and Delhi government for the matter, the chief minister said, "DDC may, therefore be directed to examine these and all other related matters."

"For this purpose, it may call for relevant records and meet with the concerned officers of the DMRC and GNCTD. It may also engage such experts and consultants as may be necessary to undertake the task," he wrote in the note to Kutty.

The AAP government has been opposing the metro fare hike. The party has launched "Metro kiraya Satyagraha" at several stations to protest against the increase in fares.
Editor's note: The people of Assam have been affected to varying degrees by the floods. This is the third in a three-part series on how various people in the state are coping with the floods. Even after water level goes down life doesn't become easy for farmers as the raging waters end up covering farm plots with sand.

Guwahati: While floods in Assam are infamous for their unforgiving nature as it is, they have compounded the miseries of farmers in particular. Many have rivers gobbling up parts of their farmland and many more have their farms laden with sand. Owing to their predicament, many have quit farming and are now daily wage labourers.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, the floods this year displaced 56 lakh people and left about four lakh hectares of agricultural land inundated. Roughly, this is 2.7 times the area of Delhi.

Hamid Ali of Chirang district told Firstpost he was making more than Rs 1 lakh per harvesting season from peanut cultivation. Now, he works in a brick kiln and collects daily wages.

He had to resort to growing peanuts in 2012 because rice couldn't thrive on his land after floods deposited sand on it. Three years later, he had to quit farming as unseasonal floods began to occur, especially during the harvesting time, washing away the crops.

"How can we continue farming if nature itself is not on our side!" he exclaimed.

For the same reason as Ali, Suhail Ahmed of Odalguri village in Chirang district had to switch to growing peanuts two years ago. He had been growing rice for 15 years. Ahmed said that for four years now, the river Aie has been regularly leaving behind sand on the farmland after floods. Earlier, the river would deposit fertile silt, which would help grow rice, he recalled.

The aftermath of the floods has not only forced his hand into switching his crop but also caused him a substantial loss. He said every year, the raging rivers take away a part of his land. He said he used to own 21 beeghas of land but has lost more than a third of it to erosion. Now, he's left with only 13 beeghas.

In Odalguri village, one can easily spot farmlands that were once lush with fertile soil but now are filled with coarse, sand-like soil, making it unsuitable for rice. Ahmed said the ratio of fertile land has been decreasing as more and more farmlands are turning into a mini desert. According to Uttaran, an NGO working for flood victims in Assam's Barpeta district, at least 400 acres of agricultural land in 181 villages of Baghbor revenue circle has turned into a desert.

Barpeta district's Matiur Ali, whose three generations of family have been rice cultivators, stopped growing the crop in 2015. He used to grow rice on 30 acres of land. He told Firstpost he hasn't been making much profit of late as flood affects his land multiple times a year. Farmers from the districts of Dhubri, Dhemaji, Majuli and Lakhimpur in the eastern part of the state  where most of the population is settled along river banks  shared similar stories. In Naobaicha, North Lakhimpur and Dhakuakhana, farmlands are buried under heaps of sands deposited by Ranganadi, a tributary of the Brahmaputra flowing down from bordering Arunachal Pradesh.

Shah Alom, councillor of Puthimari panchayat in Dhubri district, confirmed that out of the 18 villages in his panchayat jurisdiction, nine are laden with sand brought in by the rivers Champawati and Brahmaputra. He said people are scared of cultivating anything as there are signs of heavy rains again. He said farmers have been leaving their villages and going to towns and cities in search of work.

Man-made disaster

Partha Jyoti Das, head of the Water Climate and Hazards Programme of the NGO Aaranyak, said the main reason behind the river water bringing in the sand instead of fertile silt is haphazard urbanisation and construction activities near the river bed.

He said if there is enough forest cover around the upper catchment area of a river, it will not deposit sand in the lower catchment areas. He explained that when it rains heavily, the exposed rock surfaces break, the particles mix with river water and result in the sand being deposited in the lower catchments areas. He said construction activities along the Brahmaputra in Arunachal Pradesh and near river beds in Meghalaya were depriving these ecologically sensitive areas of the crucial green cover, putting Assam at a huge risk.

A fact-finding team led by Hiren Gohain, a social scientist, which did a survey in flood-ravaged districts of Assam showed two possible reasons for deposition of sand: construction of the Ranganadi dam in Arunachal Pradesh (responsible for the flood woes of eastern Assam) and deforestation in Meghalaya (responsible for western Assam).

Government still contemplating

The Brahmaputra Board, set up under the Ministry of Water Resources, for the planning and integrated implementation of measures for the control of floods and bank erosion in Assam, stated that to address the issue, they were "contemplating" updating the master plan that was chartered in 1986.

Secretary of the Board, Iltaf Hussain, said the master plan is old and they have to redraw it, taking into the account the changing weather patterns, ecological differences, and projects. He said they might update it in the next two-three years.

Also read

Assam floods aftermath Part 1: Displaced sections of minority community fear being termed as illegal citizens

Assam floods aftermath Part 2: Hapless farm families in Dhubri take to beedi rolling for survival

The author is a Guwahati based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.
Rampur: Former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan claimed that the Indian Army "gifted" a battle tank to his private university.

Khan, the chancellor and founder of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, said he has requested the Army to provide more sophisticated weaponry to his university so that the students can acquire knowledge of weapons used by the army.

Efforts to elicit a comment from the army did not fructify as the spokesperson of the Central Command based in Lucknow did not reply to SMS queries, nor take the calls.

Khan hit out at his critics, saying they were indulging in a propaganda that he did not enjoy good relations with the army.

"My relations with the army are quite cordial and more weaponry has been requested from them," Khan said.
New Delhi: The opposition BJP in the Delhi Assembly on Wednesday hit out at the department related standing committees (DRSCs) of the house alleging that they were "violating" constitutional provisions.

During a discussion in the assembly, over Lt Governor Anil Baijal's 'message' regarding withdrawal of powers to the departmental committees formed by it, leader of opposition Vijender Gupta alleged that the panels were enjoying powers that were not available even to those of parliament.

The Delhi assembly constituted a nine-member committee that will look into the "unconstitutionality" of the message by Baijal. It will also examine the L-G's "concerns" regarding functioning of the departmental committees of the house.

The BJP legislators staged a walk out as the motion about constituting the nine-member committee was being adopted by the House. "The DRSCs violate constitutional provisions. They have been given more powers then the Lok Sabha committees," Gupta said.

Citing the government of national capital territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act, the BJP leader backed the L-G's message saying he has the "right to exercise his discretion". He said, "Rule 41 of GNCTD Act lays down that the L-G will act in his discretion in matters which fall outside the purview of the powers conferred on the assembly or in which he is required by or under any law to act in his discretion or to exercise any judicial functions."
New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday questioned the Election Commission's (EC) decision not to announce the poll schedule for Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat simultaneously and alleged that the government had put "pressure" on the poll panel.

The party alleged that the "delay" in announcing Gujarat Assembly election schedule was to enable prime minister Narendra Modi to act as a "false Santa Clause" to offer sops and use "jumlas" (rhetoric) during his 16 October visit to his home state.

Reason is that PM is visiting Gujarat on 16rh Oct as a false Santa Claus to announce soaps & jumlas that he didnt implement for 22 yrs. 2/  Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) October 12, 2017

The model code of conduct would have come into immediate effect in Gujarat had the poll schedule been announced, it said.

"It is now clear that the Modi Government and the BJP are putting pressure on the EC to defer announcement of Gujarat election along with Himachal, to suit their political ends," Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala alleged in a video message posted on his Twitter account.

"The reason is that the PM (prime minister) is visiting Gujarat on 16 October as a false Santa Claus to announce sops and 'jumlas' that he did not implement for 22 years," he said on Twitter.

The Congress leader said that the "onus lies on the EC to ensure level playing field by announcing Gujarat election dates and imposing Code of Conduct immediately".

"The question is that can the Election Commission buckle under such pressure from the government. Is this the right tradition and the Election Commission should give an elaborate answer to the people of the country in this regard," he said.

Surjewala claimed that Modi is "sensing defeat" in his home state after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi "exposed the failures" of the BJP government for 22 years.

The BJP is fearing losses and wants to lure voters in the last minute, he claimed.

"We demand that the elections be held in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in November and the model code come into effect immediately. This is the demand of the people of both the states as well as the constitutional obligation," he said.

"Whatever you may do and try, the people of the state have made up their mind and will defeat the BJP," Surjewala said.

Congress secretary incharge for Himachal Pradesh Ranjeet Ranjan also raised questions over the EC delaying the announcement of outcome of the assembly polls in the hill state by over a month till Gujarat elections are held.

She claimed that the BJP "fears" that Gujarat may "slip away" from its hands given that the opposition party is "gaining support".

Welcoming the announcement of Himachal polls, she said her party is in "full campaign mode" and is banking on the performance of the Virbhadhra Singh government.

She also praised the decision to use Voter Verifiable Paper Trail (VVPAT) in Himachal for the first time.

"We are in full campaign mode and fully prepared. You can say the BJP on the other hand is hit by factionalism and has 4-5 candidates for the chief-ministerial post," she told reporters.

Ranjan also dismissed reports that Singh and Congress' Himachal unit chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu were not on the same page.

"They are not contradicting each other," she said.

"Given the (better) situation the Congress is in Gujarat and the way it is getting support there, not announcing Gujarat polls thus underlines BJP's fear," she claimed, echoing Surjewala on the issue.
New Delhi: The lawyers of all six district courts in the national capital will go on a day-long strike on Friday to protest against alleged misconduct of some judges.

"The reasons for calling a complete strike are misconduct of judges with litigants and huge corruption in the judiciary. We have already given the names of erring judges to the High Court but no action has been taken so far," advocate Jaiveer Singh Chauhan, Secretary General of the coordination committee of Delhi bar associations, said.

In a unanimous resolution adopted by the Coordination Committee of all District Court Bar Associations, it was alleged that some judges were repeatedly misbehaving with the lawyers by treating them as subordinates.

The strike is likely to paralyse work in all six district courts at Patiala House, Rohini, Saket, Tis Hazari, Dwarka and Karkardooma.

On Wednesday, the lawyers at the Tis Hazari Court had also gone on a strike to protest against the alleged "rude behaviour" of a magistrate.

Extending the strike to all district courts tomorrow, the coordination committee unanimously "resolved to observe complete strike on 13 October in all the district courts of Delhi to draw the attention of judicial administration to take action against the erring judges so that the judges act in a judicious manner and not treat lawyers as their subordinates."
ELKO  Elko police are warning the public about telephone scammers who are bilking people by pretending to represent the Internal Revenue Service.

Weve had some people get taken for a considerable amount of money on it, said Lt. Mike Palhegyi.

An Elko woman lost $5,400 when someone claiming to be from the IRS called her and told her she was wanted on a warrant for tax evasion and needed to send that amount in gift cards or she would be arrested.

Palhegyi said IRS agents dont deal in gift cards or demand money over the phone.

Similar scams have been pulled recently on local residents by people claiming to represent certain charities.

They tend to prey on the elderly he said.

Scams involving people claiming to represent the IRS have been reported by Elko residents multiple times over the past few years, with slight variations.

Anyone receiving scam telephone calls may contact police at 777-7310.
Chennai: French president Emmanuel Macron will visit India from 8 to 10 December and discuss with the leadership various issues including strategic and economic ties, France's Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said on Wednesday.

He said a nuclear plant in France will go on stream next year, which will be a reference site for India to decide on buying French nuclear reactors for the Jaitapur site in Maharashtra.

"There will be discussions on economic, strategic, smart cities, renewable energy and other aspects," Ziegler told reporters on the sidelines of an event to announce commencement of direct flights to Paris from Chennai by Jet Airways this month.

According to him, bilateral trade was good and so were French companies' investments in India and vice versa.

Ziegler said French automotive group PSA will start constructing its own car plant near here next year and start production from 2019.

The PSA is partnering with India's CK Birla Group and has announced an investment of around 100 million euros in setting up a 100,000 units per annum car plant.

The PSA group is the second French automotive group to set up base after Renault.

As for the status of discussions with the Indian government on the supply of nuclear reactors, Ziegler said it was progressing smoothly.

He said the Indian stipulation of reactor supplier having a running reactor as a reference site was perfectly fine with the French government.

India had earlier announced its plans to buy nuclear power reactors from French company Areva for the Jaitapur project.

Ziegler said a new nuclear plant similar to what is being planned to be supplied to India is coming up at Flamanville in France and is expected to be operational next year.

Speaking about Indian visitors to France, Ziegler said last year around 600,000 Indians visited France which was higher than the previous year.

He said a consular office has been opened in Chennai and visas will be issued within 48 hours for visits to France.
15:42 (ist)

EC indicated Gujarat polls may be held in December

The Election Commission on Monday indicated that Gujarat may go to polls in December.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AK Joti also said that voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) system will be used in over 50,000 booths in Gujarat. VVPAT was first used in Goa polls earlier this year.

"Elections will have to be held in December as the term of the current Gujarat Assembly is coming to end in the third week of January next," Joti said in response to a query on media reports and some politicians claiming that polls are going to be held in December.

Read more here
New Delhi: Assembly polls in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh will be held on 9 November, the Election Commission announced on Thursday, but gave no dates for BJP-governed Gujarat whose Assembly term also ends in January 2018.

The results for the election in Himachal Pradesh will be announced on 18 December.

Announcing the schedule, Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti said the filing of nominations will open on 16 October and the last date will be 23 October. Scrutiny will be done the next day and the last for withdrawal of candidates will be 26 October.

Polling will be held on a single day on 9 November and the vote count will be taken up on 18 December after completion of the election process in Gujarat, which the BJP has ruled for almost 20 years.

Joti said the model code of conduct in Himachal Pradesh comes into effect immediately under which the state government cannot take policy decisions. Similarly, the central government cannot announce policy decisions regarding Himachal Pradesh.

The term of the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly ends on 7 January, 2018 and that of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly on 22 January. In Himachal Pradesh Assembly, 17 seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste while three are for people from Scheduled Tribe.

For the first time ever, the Election Commission will set up 136 all-woman managed polling booths in Himachal Pradesh, with each constituency having two of them.

In the 68-member Assembly, the ruling Congress has 35 members while the strength of opposition BJP is 28. There are four independents while one seat is vacant.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will fight for a seventh term. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi last week declared Virbhadra Singh as the partys next chief ministerial face, saying he will be chief minister for the seventh time.

The BJP will be fighting out on the back of a sweeping Lok Sabha victory in 2014 in the state too and landslide wins in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly polls in March.

Reporters plied the Chief Election Commissioner with questions about why election dates for Gujarat were not announced on Thursday.

Joti cited some office memorandums issued earlier to justify the delay in the announcement regarding Gujarat, saying the Election Commission had a statutory 21 days to carry out elections that can extend up to 45 days. He also said elections to the two states  Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat  were announced separately in the past too including in 1993, 1994 and 2002. He said besides availability of central forces and festive season, the Gujarat government had told the Commission that several relief and rehabilitation works were on in the state following the July floods.

He said the election process in Gujarat will be completed before the vote count in Himachal.

"The basic principle is that the voting pattern in one state should not affect the results of another state that goes to polls in a short period. Prior to Himachal results, the voting process will be over in Gujarat," he said.

The poll process in Himachal Pradesh will start with the issue of the gazette notification on October 16 when candidates can start filing their nominations.

Joti, who was flanked by Election Commissioners O P Rawat and Sunil Arora, said the last date for filing of nominations is October 23.

The Chief Election Commissioner said VVPAT machines will be used in all constituencies in Himachal Pradesh because of which a voter will be able to see to which party, symbol and candidate his vote has gone to.

Himachal Pradesh will be the second state after Goa with 100 percent VVPAT (paper trail of votes) coverage. The paper trail machines will be deployed along with EVMs in all the 7,521 polling stations, including 42 auxiliary polling stations at remote places.

It said VVPAT machines from one polling booth in each of the 68 assembly constituencies will be tallied with EVM results to check the vote count.

The Commission has also increased the size of the VVPAT paper trail screen, where voters can see for whom they have voted.

Joti said photo electoral rolls will be used for Himachal polls and photo identity cards have been issued to all voters.

He said voter slips will be distributed to each and every voter in the state seven days before the polls along with a voter guide brouchure in the local language of Hindi.

The chief election commissioner said voter assistance booth will also be set up and the size of the standardised voting compartment will also be increased from 24 inches to 30 inches, keeping in mind the introduction of paper trail machines.

Each candidate contesting the poll will have to maintain a separate account of poll expenses, which have been capped at a maximum of Rs 28 lakh for Himachal Pradesh. However, the candidate will have to submit the election expenses to the returning officer within a period of 30 days after the declaration of results.
New Delhi: The next course of action by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage, will be decided after Pakistan submits its memorial or written pleadings, a senior official said on Thursday

"As you are aware, we had submitted our written memorial to the ICJ on 13 September, 2017," Ravish Kumar, spokesperson of the external affairs ministry, said in his weekly media briefing.

"ICJ has given time to Pakistan till 13 December, 2017, to submit its own memorial," he said. "After the submission of the two memorials, ICJ will decide on the next course of action."

The court had fixed 13 June, 13 September and 13 December as dates for India to file its documents and for Pakistan to file counter-documents. The order was made after taking into account the views of the parties, an ICJ statement said.

After Jadhav was awarded capital punishment by a Pakistani military court in April this year, India challenged the verdict in the top UN court, accusing Islamabad of violating the Vienna Convention by failing to provide Jadhav with consular access which it said was in breach of international human rights laws.

New Delhi also appealed to the court to impose emergency measures for Jadhav's execution to be suspended until the legal battle in The Hague concludes.

On 18 May, the ICJ ruled that Jadhav must not be put to death by Islamabad until the ICJ has had enough time to pass the final judgment in the case, and ordered a stay against the execution.

Pakistan says Jadhav was arrested during a counter-intelligence raid in Balochistan in March 2016.

He purportedly "confessed" to being a spy for India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in a video released by Pakistan.
New Delhi: The armies of India and Sri Lanka will hold a 13-day joint exercise in Pune beginning Friday with a focus on enhancing interoperability in counter-terror operations.

The 'Mitra Shakti 2017' will be the 5th edition of the joint excerise between the armies of the two countries.

The exercise will take place in Pune from 13 October to 25 October, a senior defence ministry official said.

The Mitra Shakti series of exercises has been one of key defence cooperation initiatvies between the two countries since 2013.

The exercise is taking place at a time when the region faces evolving security dynamics.

The 4th edition had taken place in Sri Lanka last year.
Jammu: Pakistani troops on Thursday fired from small arms at forward areas along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

There are no reports of any casualty in the firing.

A senior police officer said Pakistani troops opened fire at forward areas in Khadi Karmara along LoC in Poonch sector on Friday morning.

The Pakistani Army had targeted the Poonch sector by initiating unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars on 4 October. Three army jawans had suffered injuries in the incident.

On 3 October, an army jawan was killed when the Pakistani Army violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Poonch.

Pakistani troops have opened fire on Indian territories more than 600 times till 30 September killing eight civilians and 16 security personnel.

There were nearly 450 ceasefire violations in 2016 in which 13 civilians and as many security personnel were killed.
Thane: The district administration has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the death of a Chinese national in judicial custody in Thane last month.

The Thane sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) will conduct the inquiry into the death of Jiang Changquing in the district jail on 2 September, an official release said on Thursday.

The 48-year-old was lodged in the jail under judicial custody in a diamond theft case.

Jiang and another Chinese national Deng Xiaobo (45) were arrested on 1 August for allegedly stealing two diamonds worth Rs 36.5 lakh from an exhibition centre in Mumbai suburb of Goregaon.

Both of them were subsequently remanded in judicial custody and lodged in the Thane jail.

On 29 August, while having lunch with Deng in the prison, Jiang collapsed all of a sudden, jail superintendent Nitin Waychal had then told reporters.

He was rushed to the jail hospital and then taken to the Thane Civil Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead on 2 September, he had said.

The duo had arrived in Mumbai on 30 July and later visited the jewellery exhibition.

The CISF personnel had nabbed Jiang and Deng at the Mumbai international airport minutes before they were to board a flight to Osaka, Japan on 31 July, the police had said.
Lucknow: After a long gap, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav were seen together at a public event in Lucknow on Thursday. The occasion was an event observing the death anniversary of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia at the Lohia park in Lucknow where they had come to pay tribute to the socialist leader.

The father-son duo later posed before photographers. Akhilesh Yadav (44) also publicly touched the feet of the 77-year-old Samajwadi Party patron and later said he had his blessings.

The senior Yadav had earlier on Thursday morning visited the Lohia Trust office and paid tributes to the leader with his brother Shivpal Yadav. Later, addressing media persons at the SP headquarters, Akhilesh Yadav said that the "projects initiated by him are now being inaugurated by the BJP by removing his plaques". On Mulayam, he said, "If a father glosses over his son's mistakes, he becomes misguided. There is fight of ideologies in every family."The former chief minister, however, did not elaborate.

Asking party workers to gear up for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the SP chief said, "We have nothing to lose now. We will only gain. The people of the state are waiting for an opportunity to bring the SP back." "We have to prepare for 2022 Assembly elections too. This government is not doing any development and people have understood that," he said.

The SP chief also attacked the Centre for implementing the

GST "without any preparations", causing hardship to the trader community.
Militants hurled a grenade at a beauty parlour in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, injuring one girl, according to reports.

#BREAKING - Grenade attack at a beauty parlour in Pulwama, J&K. 1 girl injured pic.twitter.com/69IwVfTuVF  News18 (@CNNnews18) October 12, 2017

The explosion reportedly caused damage to the windows of the beauty parlour. A police officer said that suspected militants attacked the 'Rani beauty parlour' at around 3:45 pm near Rajpora Chowk, The Daily Excelsior reported.

A girl, identified as Shubeena, received minor injuries and has been hospitalised, the police official said.

Soon after the attack, the police, army and CRPF arrived on the spot and launched a hunt to nab the attackers.

This comes after three civilians were killed and 30 others, including policemen and paramilitary troopers, were injured in a grenade attack in Pulwama district in south Kashmir last month. Police said militants hurled a grenade near a bus stand in Tral town of Pulwama district.
Continuing the grand tradition of political parties leaving behind symbols associated with their ideology, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh flagged off saffron-coloured buses in the state, said media reports.

The 50 public buses will connect interior areas, where the government is planning to build "gaurav paths" (link roads to villages of fallen soldiers), reported Hindustan Times. The project for better road connectivity begins in Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Allahabad, Bareilly and Moradabad. Run by the UP State Road Corporation, the service will be called Sankalp and be part of the government's plan to provide public transport to 40,000 villages in the next four years.

The report quoted Adityanath as saying that his government is committed to ensure safe and comfortable transport to the people.

The Indian Express noted that what started with a saffron towel being put on Adityanaths chair at his official residence and his car seat, has now moved on to government booklets, school bags and buses. The list of official saffron things in the state now includes certificates for sportspersons, booklets with details of awardees, certificates for beneficiaries of crop loan schemes, booklets to mark achievements of the government, information department's diary of contact details of officials, and identity cards at the Secretariat.

The government said that it did not take any conscious decision to switch to saffron and it was merely a coincidence, said the report.

Uttar Pradesh joins Gujarat and Maharashtra in the saffronisation drive, according to Catch News. In Gujarat, bus stops have been painted saffron while the Maharashtra Transport Corporation has decided to acquire saffron and white coloured buses for its fleet. Other political parties too have followed this strategy in the past as Samajwadi Partys red and green and Bahujan Samaj Partys blue were ubiquitous colours when these parties were in power.

The news of the saffron buses comes only a day after the Adityanath government had proposed to build a 'grand statue' of Lord Ram on the banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya. It is being planned as part of the Navya Ayodhya project which is seen as an initiative by the Uttar Pradesh government to promote religious tourism.

The BJP government at the Centre too has been busy with a self-promotion drive as it has sought to promote its ideology and itself through textbooks. Having faced flak for trying to saffronise the syllabus initially, the Centre is tried to include the positive aspects of its flagship programmes in textbooks. The Indian Express had reported in August that the government's pet projects like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Abhiyan, Digital India campaign and demonetisation are likely to be included in NCERT textbooks for the next academic session.
ELKO  Of the 32 known metals and minerals in Elko County, 19 have been produced commercially since 1859.

That is how Nevada Mining Association President Dana Bennett began her address to the Rotary Club of Elko on Oct. 11. She then delved into the history of local mining, naming the areas early top mining districts and comparing the production of yesteryear to today.

Bennett has served as the NvMA president since 2014 and is the former regional director of the Nevada Governors Office of Economic Development. She holds a doctorate in history from the University of Arizona and authored A Century of Enthusiasm: Midas, Nevada about the mining town where she spent some of her childhood. The book is available at the Northeastern Nevada Museum.

The history of mining in this region began before the northeastern part of the state became Elko County in 1869. Coal was discovered in 1859 near Carlin, copper in 1862, gold in 1867 and silver in 1869.

In the early years, mining was sporadic, Bennett said, but production from Mountain City, Rio Tinto, Tuscarora, Jarbidge, Aura, Railroad and Gold Circle soon put mining on the Elko County map. Midas, part of the Gold Circle Mining District, was the biggest gold and silver producer in Elko County from 1933-1935.

Like other districts in Elko County, this mine is still producing, Bennett said.

Companies attempted to produce coal commercially, but it was not high enough quality to be economical. Other commodities mined historically include turquoise, mercury and oil.

Over 110 years  until 1969  mining in Elko County produced $91 million. Gold production ceased because of World War II, as the nation focused on producing industrial minerals.

It stops at World War II, Bennett said, explaining that there was just one gold mine operating in Nevada in 1965. That had a tremendous impact on mining.

After 1969, improvements in the process, such as open pit and heap leach mining, as well as the government allowing gold prices to fluctuate, increased production.

In 2015, the gross proceeds of minerals  namely gold, silver, barite and limestone  in Elko County totaled $486 million, according to NvMA statistics.
With China acquiring its first African naval base in Djibouti and mulling more overseas bases along the Indian Ocean, India is trying to counter this growing presence by engaging with Seychelles to further its development plans. New Delhi sent Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on a visit to Seychelles on Tuesday to smooth out differences over the development of infrastructure on Assumption Island.

According to The Indian Express, there has been a sharp increase in the number of Chinese visitors in Seychelles over the last six years, ringing alarm bells in New Delhi. Seychelles and China are also exploring new ways to expand their cooperation in defence.

Seychelles reportedly wants to take a relook at the agreement signed between India and the island nation to build military infrastructure on Assumption Island. Jaishankar is expected to scale up India's relationship with Seychelles to a more strategic partnership and remove all hurdles in the development of New Delhi's infrastructure.

The agreement was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Seychelles in March 2015. The Indian government then bagged infrastructure development rights for two islands in the Indian Ocean region  Agalega from Mauritius and Assumption.

A plot of land on the Assumption Island was leased to India to construct its first naval base in the Indian Ocean region. Seychelles News Agency quoted Lieutenant Colonel Michael Rosette, chief of staff of the Seychelles People's Defence Forces (SPDF), as saying, "the agreement would enable the Indian government to help Seychelles through the SPDF to build military infrastructures on Assumption."

Speaking on security cooperation between the two nations, Modi said, "our security partnership is strong. It has enabled us to fulfil our shared responsibility to advance maritime security in the region. It is a privilege to be a partner of Seychelles in the development of its security capabilities."

Why is it important for India?

The Indian Express report quoted a source as saying that there are elements within the Seychelles government who have been trying to pose challenges to India's plans to develop infrastructure on Assumption Island but since it is of immense strategic significance for India, proactive voices and decision-makers must be brought on board.

The significance is for India to assume greater control in the Indian Ocean region in the face of expanding Chinese presence, specifically after the announcement of the military base at Djibouti.

The two islands  Agalega and Assumption  were considered India's strategic assets in the Indian Ocean region. According to India Today, both the islands add to an Indian listening post on Madagascar, off the coast of Africa, commissioned in 2007 to monitor activities of foreign navies in the Indian Ocean region.

A senior naval officer said that it is part of India's approach to enhance the capabilities of the Indian Ocean countries and keep out the extra regional players. Indian ships have also been active in fighting piracy in the waters around the island.

As part of the counter-piracy efforts, India also gifted two patrol vessels to Seychelles  the Tarmugli in 2006 and the Tarasa in 2014. New Delhi also hopes to draw Mauritius and Seychelles into a trilateral regional security forum comprising Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives, according to The Diplomat.

India has provided a Dornier aircraft, two Chetek helicopters (1981 vintage) and a fast attack craft to Seychelles besides training the SPDF. During his visit in Mach, Modi handed over one more Dornier aircraft to the island nation.

Assumption Island is also seen as an ideal location by the SPDF which will allow the Seychelles military to better undertake surveillance of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The island will also help India limit China's footprint in the region. With Beijing eyeing additional overseas bases, Paksitan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and the Seychelles are the possible candidates for another Chinese facility, The Diplomat report said.

In the face of resistance from within the Seychelles government over the infrastructure development agreement, India's priority should be to engage with the island nation and counter any economic advantage that China can offer. It also needs to limit the use of Seychelles as a refuelling base for China's navy by neutralising the commercial benefit that Beijing can provide.
The Supreme Court has yet again in an historic judgement in the case of Independent Thought vs Union of India, has now criminalised sex between a man and his minor wife. This has resulted in the partial criminalisation of marital rape. The court was hearing a petition filed by an NGO Independent Thought, argued by advocates Gaurav Agarwal and Abhikalp Pratap Singh.

In effect, this now means that the offence of rape will be made out even if the perpetrator is the husband of the victim, but only if the victim is less than 18 years of age. It is pertinent to highlight that a complete strike down of Exception 2 to Section 375 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) is necessary to make a husband criminally liable for raping his wife, for all age groups. This did not happen; the court only read down the provision to increase the age of wife from 15 to 18 years. This exception is literally known as the marital exception to rape.

The court on multiple occasions in the judgement, has stressed the fact that it is refraining from making any observations on marital rape in general. The instant case was very specific in dealing with the issue of marital rape of a minor, primarily because the petition didnt seek that remedy. Even so, the court quoted a line from the decision of the European Commission of Human Rights, a rapist remains a rapist regardless of his relationship with the victim, suggesting that the relationship can be that of a husband and a wife.

However, this verdict has certainly laid down the ground for recognition of marital rape as an offence under Indian Law, in its entirety.

The decriminalisation of marital rape in various legal regimes is due to a very outdated rule known as Hales principle. This principle lays down that the husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband which she cannot retract. This was propounded in 1736 by Sir Matthew Hale. There was even a right to whip the wife, which was exercised by the husband at that time. Obviously, the substance of this principle holds no water today. Even the English language in which this principle was propounded has changed since then, but Indian law still sticks to it.

There was also a preposterous doctrine of coverture under English Common Law, at that time, which regarded women as chattel or property of the husband. It laid down, that the rights and obligations of a woman, subsequent to marriage, are subsumed by that of her husband.

It is strange that our criminal law, which has been framed on the principles of English Common Law, still gives force to these rudimentary doctrines in some form or the other, when they have been abolished in England itself. The House of Lords of England in the famous case of R v R in 1991, has already recognised the offence of marital rape there, as have most other modern jurisdictions too. It is only through the application of such doctrines, that the decriminalisation of marital rape can be sustained in any legal system.

However, radical changes in law only seldom happen. The law typically evolves very gradually. It is these small steps, in the form of the current judgement, that the law relating to the complete criminalisation of marital rape will develop. The apex court has given a very positive indication that it is not averse to this as well. It refrained from going into this question merely because it wasnt raised by the petitioner, and no other reason.

It is now imperative that the union government takes up the issue proactively and frames adequate laws regarding the criminalisation of marital rape. The courts alone should not be expected to bring about progressive changes in the laws every time. This is even more important for the issue at hand, that is marital rape.

Having said that, the criminalisation of marital rape needs to be accompanied by relevant changes in the procedural laws as well. It needs to be stressed that marital rape cant be tried with the same rules of evidence and procedure as is applicable to the usual cases of rape. For instance, the testimony of the rape victim in most cases is sufficient to convict the accused and needs no corroboration. This, when applied to a case of marital rape will necessarily widen the scope of misuse of the law to a great extent.

Even in cases of marital discord, marital rape can be alleged, since there is no corroboration needed, the word of the woman within the four walls of a marital home will be sufficient to convict the husband for marital rape. It is, therefore, very necessary that a corroboration of the testimony of the marital rape victim be required. It can only be done through pertinent amendments to the procedural and evidence law by the legislature.

It is not for a moment being suggested that the courts shouldnt criminalise marital rape at the first available opportunity. It is, indeed, sooner the better, that the law accords criminal liability to a married man for raping his wife. The transition will certainly be smoother and durable if it is done by the legislature.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court judgement criminalising sexual intercourse by a man with his minor wife can attract a jail term of 10 years under the India Penal Code or even a life term under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The apex court's landmark decision to amend exception 2 of section 375 (definition of rape) of the IPC, which had earlier exempted husbands from being tried for rape for having sexual relations with wives of 15 to 18 years of age, would now make such males liable for prosecution and stringent punishment.

The amended provision now reads: "Sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under eighteen years of age, is not rape."

The court highlighted the inconsistencies in two penal laws saying as per the exception 2 to section 375 of IPC, a man's sexual intercourse with his wife between the age group of 15-18 was not rape but at the same time it is an offence of aggravated penetrative sexual assault and punishable under section 6 of the POCSO Act.

The bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said that as per section 42 A of POCSO Act, if there was any inconsistency between IPC and POCSO, the latter would prevail.

"Exception 2 to section 375 of IPC, which makes sexual intercourse or acts of consensual sex of a man with his own wife not being under 15 years of age, not an offence, is not found in any provision of POCSO.

"Therefore, this is a major inconsistency between POCSO and IPC. As provided in section 42A, in case of such an inconsistency, POCSO will prevail. Moreover, POCSO is a special act, dealing with the children whereas IPC is the general criminal law. Therefore, POCSO will prevail over IPC and exception 2 in so far as it relates to children, is inconsistent with POCSO," the bench also comprising Justice Deepak Gupta said.

The bench also observed that the exception 2 of the section 375 of IPC creates a distinction between a married girl child and an unmarried girl child with no real rationale.

"Such an unnecessary and artificial distinction if accepted can again be introduced for other occasions for divorced children or separated children or widowed children," the bench said.

It opened the doors of criminal courts for minor wives to lodge complaints against their spouses if they resort to sexual intercourse.

"It is also clarified that section 198(6) of the Code (of Criminal Procedure) will apply to cases of rape of 'wives' below 18 years, and cognizance can be taken only in accordance with the provisions of section 198(6) of the Code," Justice Deepak Gupta who wrote concurring judgement, said.
Sixteen children, including 10 infants, died at the Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in Gorakhpur during the last 24 hours, authorities said on Monday.

Of the children who died, ten were admitted in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) while six were in the paediatric ICU.

According to reports, 20 patients  including six from Deoria, two from Kushinagar, four each from Gorakhpur and Maharajganj, and one patient each from Basti and Balrampur  afflicted with encephalitis have been admitted to the hospital in the last 24 hours.

As many as three dozen patients, mostly affected by encephalitis, were being treated at BRD Medical College. Five patients from Bihar were also being treated there, doctors said.

Officials said that 1,470 patients have been admitted to the BRD Medical College since January this year, adding that a total of 310 have died.

The BRD Medical College hit the headlines earlier in August when 63 children, including infants, died within a span of one week due to disruption of oxygen supply by the vendor.

As the news of the deaths broke, opposition political parties had slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for the health crisis. While Congress president Sonia Gandhi remarked that innocent children fell prey to gross negligence on the part of the authorities, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi held the BJP government responsible for the deaths. Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh had called for the sacking of the health minister and concerned officials in the wake of the tragedy.

After the Gorakhpur deaths, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh had been placed at the receiving end of searing questions for the first time after the NDA won the election in March 2017 with a thumping majority.

Yet, this has not stopped Adityanath from playing up Uttar Pradesh's health indicators in Kerala, a state which leaves all other Indian states far behind on that front. He claimed that while Uttar Pradesh effectively countered dengue and chikungunya, Kerala saw over 300 deaths due to dengue, as per a report by Business Standard. Adityanath claimed that the state government in Kerala has failed to provide basic necessities to people in the state.

The following statistics give an idea of the disparity between Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. If Kerala were a country, its infant mortality rate (6) would be comparable to the United States, while if Uttar Pradesh were a country, its infant mortality rate (64) would be the same as the strife-torn African country of Mauritianaaccording to an IndiaSpend analysis.

The irony of such a situation would have been laughable had it not been so tragic. The fact that Gorakhpur is a constituency nurtured by Adityanath for five terms only makes it worse. For instance, a report by the National Health Mission of Uttar Pradesh shows that in Gorakhpur, only 11 Public Health Centres (PHCs) out of 64 are functioning on a 24x7 basis. Further, while there were 23 full-time sanctioned posts for medical officers on 31 December, 2015, only four of these were functioning.

Clearly, the Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh has little to show in terms of health indicators when compared to Kerala. While the saffron leader's recent visit to the southern state was high on election rhetoric, the aggressive political posturing had little backing in terms of data.

With inputs from IANS
Mumbai: American media company Vice is set to launch An Insignificant Man  a biographical film on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Directed by Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla, An Insignificant Man is a non-fiction political thriller that chronicles the rise of Kejriwal from a social activist to a politician.

Terming it a "masterpiece", Vice has announced that it will now be partnering with producer Anand Gandhi's Memesys Lab in releasing the film widely, in India and internationally.

"I first saw An Insignificant Man at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2016, and I came away thinking it was the best documentary about street-level politics since Marshall Curry's Street Fight," Jason Mojica, Executive Producer, Vice Documentary Films, said in a statement.

The film had locked horns with the Central Board of Film Certification, under the former chief Pahlaj Nihalani. He had asked the filmmakers to get a no-objection certificate from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit and Kejriwal himself, to get a go-ahead for release.

Finally, the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal cleared the film.

"We at Vice closely followed the filmmakers and the censorship battle over the film over the past few months. Vice will always champions independent filmmakers fighting for freedom of expression," said Mojica.

"We're bringing An Insignificant Man to our audience around the world because we think it's a highly relevant film for anyone who sees problems in their own political systems and has the impulse to get personally involved in trying to change things."

Though the terms of the deal weren't disclosed, the acquisition means the film will be shown in over 22 countries in theatres, on television and digitally.

"For the first time ever in the history of Indian cinema, a film will show exactly what goes on behind closed doors of a political party. Vice has led the content market when it comes to serious non-fiction work," said Anand Gandhi of Memesys Lab, the studio behind the film.

It will be releasing on 17 November in India.
Mumbai: Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar on Thursday said the party's victory in the BMC bypoll was an endorsement by voters of development agenda being pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The BJP on Thursday won the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) bypoll from Bhandup. Its candidate Jagruti Patil won the seat after beating Shiv Sena nominee Minakshi Patil by 4,792 votes.

In a series of tweets posted after the result was announced, Shelar also took potshots at the BJP's bickering ally the Shiv Sena.

The Shiv Sena leaders had ridiculed the BJP during the Bhandup by-election campaign.

Shelar, while thanking the voters, said, "Tall claims were made in the Bhandup by-election but voters voted in favour of BJP. The result is a mandate in favour of development drive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis."

The by-election in ward number 116 was necessitated by the death of sitting Congress corporator Pramila Patil on 25 April.

But her daughter-in-law Jagruti Patil decided to contest the election on a BJP ticket. The Sena fielded Meenakshi Patil, wife of MLA Ashok Patil, against her. The voting took place on Wednesday.

Jagruti Patil secured 11,129 votes as against 6,337 bagged by Meenakshi Patil.
The Election Commission belied initial expectations by not announcing dates for Gujarat Assembly election on Thursday. It was one of its kind press conference by the Chief Election Commissioner where the commission chose not to announce dates for one state (Gujarat) and announce dates only for the other state (Himachal Pradesh) where the elections were otherwise to be held simultaneously.

What makes Election Commissions move even more interesting is the schedule for Himachal Pradesh elections  while 68 seats of the hill state will go to the polls on 9 November, the poll results wouldnt be declared in a hurry. The state will have to wait for another 39 days (until 18 December) to know who wins and who loses, whether it would be BJP or Congress ruling the state for the next five years.

Five years ago, when elections in these two states  Gujarat and Himachal  were held, the Election Commission on 3 October 2012, had announced poll schedule for both the states in one ago. While a single phase election was held in Himachal on 4 November 2012, Gujarat underwent two-phased election on 13 December and 17 December; the results for both the states were declared on 20 December.

This time around, however, the Election Commission in its collective wisdom decided to split the announcement of the poll schedule for these two states. The big question is why is the Election Commission now doing it differently.

Chief Election Commissioner AK Jotis response was amusing. He said that in a letter to the Election Commission, the Gujarat government had asked for additional time as the relief and rehabilitation work following July floods was yet to be completed properly. Since the roads in parts of the state were washed out, the rehabilitation work could begin only in September and thus the state sought for some more time for the announcement of the poll schedule and model code of conduct coming into force.

Jotis response is interesting. The model code of conduct only restricts the state and the central government from making new announcements that could impact the electorate in the state concerned, it does not put any restriction on work already in progress.

What makes the ECs move even more curious is the fact that now the nation knows (well, almost) when would the results for the Gujarat election be announced. It could be 18 December when Himachal Pradesh poll results are announced and thus the election in Gujarat (to be carried out in two phases) could be anytime between 10 to 16 December. Remember, Himachal would have a lame duck government for around a month-and-half and that could be without any reason other than the logic that the early announcement of results for Himachal might impact Gujarat polls.

It would be bizarre on part of the Election Commission, if it so chooses, to split the counting of votes for these two states. If that happens, it would again be one of its kind decision, at least in the recent decades.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to Gujarat on 16 and 17 October and it is now expected that the Election Commission might announce the poll schedule for the state immediately after Diwali.

Last week, the Election Commission had made a surprise announcement that by September 2018, the commission would be logistically capable to hold the simultaneous elections for all Indian states Assemblies and the Parliament. The question now arises is: if the EC is mulling simultaneous elections in times to come why did it look the other way given that it had the opportunity to have simultaneous polls in at least few states, whose terms end in a succession of two months time.

Consider the scenario  Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly term gets over almost around the same time; Himachal Pradesh Assembly term ends on 7 January 2018 and the Gujarat Assembly term ends on 22 January.

Immediately after Gujarat and Himachal elections are over (results are announced and governments are formed), the Election Commission would announce the poll schedule for three other states  Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura. This means that except for a gap of 10-15 days (from the end of December 2017 to the first week of January 2018), the model code of conduct would be in force from now onwards until the end of February and early March 2018. The terms of the assemblies in these three north-eastern states end in the first and second week of March 2018.

Modi has been, for quite some time, advocating simultaneous Assembly and Parliament polls. That was the right time to make a small beginning in that direction if the larger goal is to be achieved in due course.

But here is a situation when neither the Election Commission nor the Modi government chose to take a step forward in that direction. The varied election dates and Model Code of Conduct stretching for five months (October to February) mean two things: first, the top political leaders of ruling BJP would be mostly occupied in campaigning, and second, each time the government announces a new scheme or project, the opposition parties would try to create a controversy alleging violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Last time, the election process in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh had got over on 20 December 2012, and, on 11 January 2013, the Election Commission had announced the poll schedule for Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland.

October 12 should be taken as a date of missed opportunity in the Election Commissions calendar when it failed to live up to the simultaneous poll hype created by it and by the prime minister.
New Delhi: Exuding confidence that the Congress will retain power in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the ruling party will not solely rely on "failures of Opposition" to secure a victory in the 2018 assembly polls.

The Congress will win the election on the development plank and get a "comfortable majority", he said after discussing its poll strategy at a meeting called by party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.

He said tickets will be distributed to candidates early this time and the party will give opportunity to youth, sitting MLAs and even first-timers who can secure victory, he added.

"We are not dependent on failures of Opposition to win elections. We have confidence in our strength. We will not fight (elections) on failures of Opposition," Siddaramaiah told reporters after the meeting with Gandhi.

The party will return to power with "comfortable majority" in 2018, he said and added, "We will get seats more than 121 out of 223 that we got in the previous poll. We will get (them) on our own strength".

Asserting that the election will be fought under his leadership, Siddaramaiah said there is no "confusion" anymore within the party.

On poll preparedness, he said out of the 54,000 booths in the state, the party has set up booth committees for 51,000 and the rest will be done shortly.

Siddaramaiah said a programme has been initiated to take the state government's work and achievements to doorstep of citizens, and about 1.5 crore booklets highlighting this will be distributed.

"Also in the coming days, I will travel to each of the 224 constituencies to share our achievements. I plan to tour in December and January," he said.

The chief minister also dismissed allegations of corruption levelled by the BJP against his government, saying, "We need to talk responsibly.
Since the October 2014 Maharashtra Assembly election, BJP has won countless elections in corporations, councils, zilla parishads, panchayats and gram panchayats.

But the BJP juggernaut has come to a shuddering halt in Nanded, where the Congress retained power.

The credit for this goes entirely to senior Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Chavan.

The Nanded Waghala Municipal Corporation (NWMC) has been a Congress stronghold for the past two decades.

It is the home constituency of Ashok Chavan, who is an MP.

As per early results, the Congress will continue its hold on the 81-seat corporation.

The votes began being counted at 10 am.

By 6.30 pm, the Congress won 69 seats, whereas the BJP and Shiv Sena won six and one seats respectively. One seat was won by an independent candidate. The results have been declared for 77 out of 81 seats.

This election is a matter of pride for both Ashok Chavan and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and a high stakes battle between the Congress and BJP.

Fadnavis was the BJP's star campaigner in Nanded, attended a rally before the end of the campaign where he attacked Chavan and the Shiv Sena. Fadnavis accused the Shiv Sena of being the Congress' B team in Nanded and urged the voters to entrust him and the BJP with the development of Nanded.

The BJP told voters that voting for the Shiv Sena was akin to a vote for the Congress as the two parties ruled the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation polls.

But it seems as if the voters decided to stick with Chavan.

MLA DP Sawant, close aide of Ashok Chavan, told Firstpost that there was anger on social media against the BJP, which the Congress was able to tap into.

"The Muslim community, which seemed to shy away from us during the last election, has returned to the fold," he said.

In the 2012 Nanded election, Congress won 41 out of 81 seats and the Shiv Sena secured 12 seats. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) won 11 seats, the NCP won 10 seats and the BJP won only two seats.

But these results, which are a setback for the BJP and the Shiv Sena are especially painful for the NCP and the AIMIM. NCP and AIMIM could not open their account.

It looks like the AIMIM, which tied up with Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), failed to even nab one seat, despite Muslims and Dalits making up more than 40 percent of Nanded's urban population.

But urban voters, including Dalits and Muslims, seemed to flock to the Congress.

The BJP, the ruling party in the state and Centre, attempted to use all tactics to gain control of the corporation: From deploying Fadnavis to lead their election campaign to using local Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Patil Chikhalikar, who switched to the BJP and was seen openly campaigning for the saffron party.

Ashok Chavan told Firstpost that the Congress victory meant that voters decided to stand with development instead of empty promises.

"I am thankful to the voters who trusted the Congress. We will never betray their confidence. The results will boost the morale of the party and workers, who will continue to toil hard for future elections," Chavan said.

"Voters have seen through the BJP's promises of achche din. I am very happy that we've stopped the BJP in its tracks," Chavan added.

While these results are a setback for the BJP and Fadnavis, they can take heart from the by-elections in Mumbai, Kolhapur and Nagpur won by BJP candidates.

Five hundred and seventy-eight candidates contested the NWMC election. Sixty percent of 3.96 lakh voters turned out to vote on Wednesday.
17:44 (ist)

BJP wins all four civic body seats

The BJP won all the four municipal corporation by-elections in the state. The by-elections for the four seats in Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur and Nagpur civic bodies were held on Wednesday.

Of the four, one seat in Kolhapur Municipal Corporation was bagged by an outfit, which has a tie-up with the BJP at the local level. Read more here.
The latest excitement in the Trump-Russia investigation is a set of Facebook ads linked to Russia, about 3,000 in all, that some of the presidents adversaries hope will prove the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.

A number of Russian-linked Facebook ads specifically targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, two states crucial to Donald Trumps victory last November, CNN reported recently. Some of the ads, the network continued, appeared highly sophisticated in their targeting of key demographic groups in areas of the states that turned out to be pivotal to Donald Trumps victory.

In addition, the report noted, the ads seemed tailor-made for the Trump campaign. The ads employed a series of divisive messages aimed at breaking through the clutter of campaign ads online, including promoting anti-Muslim messages, sources said, CNN reported, suggesting that anti-Muslim content could have been designed to complement candidate Trumps message.

Put aside whether Michigan and Wisconsin were in fact crucial to Trumps victory. (He would still have won the presidency even if he had lost both.) The theory is that Russians could not have pulled off such highly sophisticated targeting by themselves and therefore may have had help from the Trump campaign or its associates.

But is that the whole story? Not according to a government official familiar with the Facebook ads, who offers a strikingly different assessment. What follows is from the official and from public statements by Facebook itself:

1) Of the group of 3,000 ads turned over to Congress by Facebook, a majority of the impressions came after the election, not before. Indeed, in an Oct. 2 news release, Facebook said 56 percent of the ads impressions came after the 2016 vote.

2) Twenty-five percent of the ads were never seen by anybody. (Facebook also revealed that in the news release.)

3) Most of the ads, which Facebook estimates were seen by 10 million people in the U.S., never mentioned the election or any candidate. The vast majority of ads run by these accounts didnt specifically reference the U.S. presidential election, voting or a particular candidate, Facebook said in a Sept. 6 news release.

4) A relatively small number of the ads  again, about 25 percent  were geographically targeted. (Facebook also revealed that on Sept. 6.)

5) The ads that were geographically targeted were all over the map. Of those that were targeted, numerous other locales besides Michigan and Wisconsin, including non-battleground states like Texas, were targeted, the government official familiar with the ads said, via email.

6) Very few ads specifically targeted Wisconsin or Michigan. Of the hundreds of pre-election ads with one or more impressions, less than a dozen ads targeted Michigan and Wisconsin combined, the official said.

7) By and large, the ads targeting Michigan and Wisconsin did not run in the general election. Nearly all of these Michigan and Wisconsin ads ran in 2015 and also ran in other states, the official said.

8) The Michigan and Wisconsin ads were not widely seen. The majority of these Wisconsin and Michigan ads had less than 1,000 impressions, the official said.

9) The Michigan and Wisconsin ads (like those everywhere else) were low-budget. The buy for the majority of these Michigan and Wisconsin ads (paid in rubles) was equivalent to approximately $10, the official said.

10) The ads just werent very good. The language used in some of the ads clearly shows the ad writer was not a native English speaker, the official said. In addition, the set of ads turned over by Facebook also contained clickbait-type ads that had nothing to do with politics. And in general, the officials view is that the ads simply were not terribly sophisticated, contrary to how they have been portrayed.

None of this proves anything about the Facebook part of the Trump-Russia affair. It doesnt prove there was no collusion, and it certainly doesnt prove there was. But it does suggest this particular set of ads might not be a very big deal.

In an Oct. 4 news conference, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Republican Sen. Richard Burr, did not play up the Facebook angle. I think if you look from 10,000 feet, the subject matter of the ads was  seems to have been to create chaos in every group that they could possibly identify in America, Burr said.

Burr elaborated, adding, If we used solely the social media that we have seen, theres no way that you can look at that and say that that was to help the right side of the ideological chart and not the left. Or vice versa. They were indiscriminate.

Burr noted that he has no objection to Facebook releasing the ads publicly. Certainly doing so would go a long way toward clearing up the publics understanding of the issue. Like everything else in the Trump-Russia affair, people need to know what happened.

Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner.
Patna: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay foundation stones of four water treatment plants in Patna and a six-lane bridge, parallel to existing one between Mokamah and Begusrai, on river Ganga during his visit on 14 October.

The prime minister will also participate in the centenary celebration of Patna University where he will share the dais with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar among other alumni including Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Upendra Kushwaha, JP Nadda, Ashwini Choubey, Ram Vilas Paswan, Prakash Javadekar and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

The prime minister's visit has gained political significance for two reasons. He is coming to Bihar for the first time after Nitish's return to NDA fold and the occasion will also mark the presence of Lalu Prasad Yadav who started his political career as students' union leader of the university among others.

However, BJP leaders are trying to divert political attention being attached to his visit and trying to connect Modis visit with his increasing focus on development.

Senior party leader and state's Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav told CNN-News18 that the prime minister has always been kind to the state and even when his party was not in the power the state got maximum possible assistance from the Union government.

"The prime minister will lay foundation stones of four road and bridge projects. It includes six-lane bridge on river Ganga, Mokama-Bakthiyarpur four-lane road, the four-lane bridge on river Koshi between Birpur and Bihpur section in Supaul, two-lane road between Maheshkut and Purnia and four sewage treatment plants (STP) in Patna," he said.

The STPs of a total capacity of 140 million litres daily (MLD) are estimated to cost Rs 738.14 crore.

Nand Kishore Yadav told that out of Rs 1.25 lakh crore of the package announced by the prime minister, around Rs 55 crore are for road and rail projects. There is no shortage of money, he claimed there will be 16 bridges on river Ganga in the next five years which was only four till a few years ago.

However, all eyes are on Nitish whose party and he himself has been demanding special status for the state. The chief minister, a few days ago, argued that Bihar was a landlocked state which prevents it from being a favourite destination for private investors thus the state requires special attention.
New Delhi: Tamil Nadu deputy chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Thursday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, triggering speculation of differences between him and chief minister K Palaniswamy, but he asserted that they were working unitedly.

"There are no hard feelings in me. And there will be no hard feelings because of me. It has been an unconditional merger (between the factions headed by Panneerselvam and Palaniswamy) at the end of the 'dharma yudham'," he said.

"The functiniong of the government is good and brilliant. The chief minister is consulting me and all other ministers before taking decisions," he told reporters after meeting Modi.

Journalists plied Panneerselvam with questions about the reported differences between him and Palaniswamy and that he had complained to the prime minister about them.

He said there was no basis for such speculation, adding that both he and the chief minister have come together to ensure the proper functioning of the government for realizing the ideals of the late MGR and J Jayalalithaa.

When a reporter asked him about the "saffronisation" of Tamil Nadu, Panneerselvam shot back: "The media questioning has now gone off the track."

About the purpose of the meeting with Modi, Panneerselvam said he had given a memorandum seeking allotment of coal for electricity production because of its shortage.

The prime minister assured him that whatever coal was required for power production would be made available to the state, he said.

He also discussed the situation in the wake of the spread of dengue in Tamil Nadu. The prime minister promised him that a central team would study the situation and take remedial steps.
Limkheda: Sometimes, it is bang in the middle of a tough fight that a politician discovers his direction and designs his discourse. The evidence of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi raising the ruling BJPs heckles in Gujarat came when it drafted Amit Shah, Smriti Irani and Yogi Adityanath to speak of the neglect of Amethi just when he was drawing cheers and whistling at his jibes on the Narendra Modi government.

There is no election in Amethi, but there is one in Gujarat.

It is not just about Rahul drawing crowds that has pushed a panic reaction in the BJP. Of course, that itself is news, given that this is happening in Narendra Modis prized state carefully nurtured over 22 years. But it's also because he is hitting at the very vitals of the prime ministers decisions and policies, and in the process, delineating and fine-tuning the Congress partys long term direction towards a welfare state with shades of Nehruvian socialism. And he is finding a connect, that too in Gujarat.

It is again not just a reaction to what Modi is doing and not doing, he also expands on his theory in his various interactions with students, youth, farmers, women attached to milk cooperatives, health ASHA workers.

This is besides Rahul's own take on free speech and democratic values. Criticising the RSS for its patriarchal attitude of keeping women quiet, he said at an interaction with youngsters in Vadodara city, known for its vibrant academic values, I am too much on the other side, personally. All kinds of criticism should be allowed and welcome, even if it is unpleasant and has mistakes. I dont believe in suppressing anyone. He said he was for a free flow of all opinions, even if it was the harshest.

Albeit, while making this point, Rahul went overboard and asked the crowds if they had seen women wearing shorts going to RSS shakhas and may have given away an issue to the BJP on a platter. He took a moral democratic high to say, again at another interaction in Vadodara, that the BJP might speak of a Congress-free India but he would never say something like that about the BJP since both the political parties are ideologies born in the same country and that this had nothing to do with him fighting the BJP politically.

He meant these and several other things when he said the following words at one of the public meetings during the last three days:

BJP ne meri bahut madad ki. 2014 polls jo hum haare usse faaydemand cheez aur nahi ho sakti. Meri pitai kar-kar ke unhone meri aankhen khol di (BJP helped me a lot. Nothing could have been more beneficial for us than our defeat in the 2014 polls. By continuous ridicule, the BJP opened my eyes).

The direction that Rahul seems to be discovering for the future was evident from his views against privatisation in the crucial education and health sectors, which, according to him, were the responsibility of the state.

He was surprised that there was capitation fee in Gujarat when a homoeopathy student said he paid Rs 4 lakh as off the record donation besides his regular fees of an equal amount in a self-financed private college. Rahul had a similar experience both in the upmarket Vadodara city and the tribal Chhota Udaipur region on self-financed private colleges.

At both places, he asked if they got jobs after spending on capitation fees and the reply was in the negative.

Not just in Gujarat. This is happening everywhere, privatisation of education, making it tough for the poor to avail. Rahul pointed out that after paying huge fees, there arent adequate jobs. He made a candid admission here that the performance of the UPA was much better than the present government on the job front, but was still not adequate and needed to be much better. Rahul has similar views on the health sector, where Gujarat has adopted a public-private-partnership for the upgrade of government hospitals.

The first such medical college attached to a government hospital in Palanpur in North Gujarat has been handed over to a public trust where Gujarat Health Minister Shankar Chaudhary is the main trustee. The Aam Aadmi Party has raised this issue with all documents. There are five more such medical colleges in the pipeline.

Rahul also clubbed this issue with the Gujarat governments policy, which was introduced by Narendra Modi when he was chief minister, to outsource many government jobs including that of teachers, aanganwadi and ASHA workers. Rahul said the Congress party would reverse all this when it comes to power.

On employment generation and overall sense of prosperity, Rahul said Gujarat could show the way forward to the country but not by the oft-touted Gujarat model of pampering a handful of five to 10 industrialists, but by recognising the strength of the states small and medium businesses, including SMEs.

He said, It is the small and medium businesses which can generate employment and bring about prosperity. I am not saying the large industry should be completely ignored, but it cant be ceded the complete space as is happening in the name of Gujarat Model, Rahul said, promising that all this would change under a Congress rule.

Our Gujarat model is the old model of Amul, of Gandhiji and of Sardar, he said, speaking to women of milk cooperatives and various other places. We will listen to your mann ki baat and not impose on you, he repeated at several places.

The Congress president-in-waiting indeed gave good indications of what is in his mind.
New Delhi/Kolkata: The West Bengal Police on Wednesday referred to their Delhi counterpart a case registered against expelled CPM leader Ritabrata Banerjee on a woman's complaint that he had established physical relationship with her by promising marriage, a Delhi police official said.

The woman had filed a complaint with the West Bengal police where a zero FIR was registered and the matter was referred to the Delhi Police, he said, adding her complaint is being examined.

Earlier in the day, the West Bengal police served a notice on Banerjee following the womans complaint.

The notice asked Banerjee to turn up before CID officers on Friday, Additional Director General of Police, CID, West Bengal, Rajesh Kumar had told PTI.

The woman, a resident of Balurghat, had lodged a complaint at Balurghat police station in South Dinajpur district of West Bengal alleging that Banerjee had established physical relationship with her at his New Delhi residence.

"We have taken up the case and a notice has been served to Ritabrata. The case is quite important because of the nature of allegation made by a woman. This was the reason why we have taken up the case", Kumar had said.

Last week, she had tweeted that Banerjee had promised to marry her before getting physical.

In another tweet addressed to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, she had sought her help in "fighting" her "battle" against Ritabrata Banerjee.

The Delhi police said that the woman, claimed that Ritabrata Banerjee called her to his New Delhi residence and got intimate on multiple occasions on the pretext of marriage.

She alleged that he went back on his promise and got into another relationship, they said.

Ritabrata Banerjee has claimed the womans allegations were false and he has lodged a complaint at Garfa police station in Kolkata, demanding action against her for "maligning" his image, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.

The CPM had recently expelled Ritabrata Banerjee, who was the party's Rajya Sabha MP, for "gross anti-party activity" and breaking the partys discipline.
IANS

With India planning to roll out a new data protection regime following the landmark Supreme Court judgment upholding right to privacy as fundamental right, experts have cautioned that the new law should not limit collection and use of data.

"The new data protection law should have data-driven innovation at its core," said Kamlesh Bajaj, Founder-CEO, Data Security Council of India (DSCI).

"It should not limit data collection and use, but limit harm to citizens," Bajaj added at a seminar on "Data Protection and Privacy" organised by non-profit industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

In a major boost to individual freedom, the Supreme Court in August declared that right to privacy was a fundamental right and protected as an intrinsic part of life and personal liberty and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

"The Supreme Court judgment calls for production of a new law," said Sunil Abraham, Executive Director of Bangaluru-based research organisation, Centre for Internet and Society (CIS).

The experts noted that the Supreme Court judgment remains meaningless for digital Indians without a proper data protection law in place as all other existing laws, such as the Information Technology Act, 2000, do not adequately address the question of right to privacy.

Recognising the importance of data protection and keeping personal data of citizens secure and protected, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on 31 July, constituted a Committee of Experts under the chairmanship of its former judge Justice BN Srikrishna to study and identify key data protection issues and recommend methods for addressing them. The committee will also suggest a draft Data Protection Bill.

"While the regulator should be given tools to make companies behave better, it should not start with harsh punitive actions," Abraham noted, adding that big fines could challenge the very logic of regulation.

In a question to whether a robust data protection regime should come in conflict with issue such as national security, he said that lawmakers should find a way to maximise both imperatives.

"Surveillance is like salt in cooking. It is necessary, but in limited quantity," he added.

Participating in a chat with Google's Public Policy Director Chetan Krishnaswamy at the event, MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, however, said that regulation should start with the process of data collection itself and consumers cannot be expected to demonstrate harm or inappropriate use of their data to enjoy the right to privacy.

"It should not be a free run for companies to mine consumer data," the independent Rajya Sabha member said.

He emphasised that the process of formulating a data protection law is as important as the law itself and all stakeholders should be able to openly put forward their views and apprehensions and it is only with such a consultative process that the opportunities for the technology space can be safeguarded.
Reuters

Dozens of companies including Alphabet Incs Google, Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, and Viacom Inc have asked the US Supreme Court to address whether a law banning sex discrimination in the workplace provides protections to gay employees.

A group of 76 companies submitted a brief to the court saying a split among lower courts on that question had created uncertainty for employers and gay workers.

The companies asked the Supreme Court to take up the case of Jameka Evans, a former security guard at a Georgia hospital who says she was harassed and forced to quit her job because she is gay.

The companies said the lack of a federal law clearly prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has hindered recruitment in the 27 states that have not adopted their own such laws.

And the uncertainty and vulnerability LGBT workers face results in diminished employee health, productivity, job engagement, and satisfaction, wrote the companies lawyers at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

A federal appeals court in Atlanta in March dismissed Evans case, saying her claims were foreclosed by prior decisions that said discrimination against gay employees is not a form of unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Supreme Court will likely decide by the end of the year whether it will take Evans case.

In April, a different appeals court in Chicago became the first to rule in favor of a gay worker under Title VII. And in June, about 50 of the same companies involved in Wednesdays brief asked an appeals court in Manhattan to do the same. In that case, the US Department of Justice urged the court to rule that Title VII does not protect gay employees. That was a reversal of the Justice Departments stance under the Obama administration.

Gay rights are the latest issue to cause a rift between the business community and the Trump administration.

Some companies and executives in August resigned from White House business councils and repudiated President Donald Trumps comments about a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. And business groups have clashed with the president over issues including immigration, and, this week, the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The Trump administration says Congress did not intend for Title VII to apply to LGBT workers, and courts do not have the power to change the meaning of the law.
tech2 News Staff

Huaweis Honor in a media invite has announced that it would be releasing another bezel-less smartphone on 5 December in London.

The media invite titled 'Max Your View', shows an almost bezel-less smartphone which is rounded at the edges. It looks close to a thin line. The device looks somewhere in between a smartphone and a phablet. Its edges look too sleek. On the invite two smartphones are pictured close to each other with a contiguous and a sharp view of the London Eye.

According to the GSMArena, the company has also shared the hashtag which is #IOOI. The two Os seem to be signifying a dual camera setup. The second O seems to be the head of a droid with antennae. It hints towards a possible indication of having some sort of artificial intelligence connection  most likely in the chipset.

The artificial intelligence aspect becomes interesting since the Kirin 970, the latest chipset was introduced at this years IFA in Berlin. In fact, the Kirin 970 is the first SoC by Huawei to pack a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU).

Since it is releasing close to the end of the year, by the looks of the invite it could be their flagship phone. It is expected to be called the Honor Note 9 which would be the successor to Honor Note 8, which was released last year in September. It is not known whether it would be a release of one phone or two since the image shows two device outlines. And both are tipping to bezel-less category on their sides.

Recently, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer had released Honor 7X and Honor 9i. Both came with an 18:9 full aspect ratio with a dual camera setup. Honor 7X which was launched recently in China comes with a bezel-less display. It had Kirin 659 chipset powered with Android Nougat.
tech2 News Staff

Samsung has filed a patent for Environmental sensors according to the Patent Office of South Korea.

According to a report in GSMArena, the Patent Office has revealed that the South Korean smartphone giant plans to build environmental sensors. These sensors will detect the amount of particles as well as the change of resistance.

It would be providing data about the air quality. The sensor is supposed to come in smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches.

It is not known as yet how the technology will work since it is still in the patent stage.

It is not known whether this will be sent for mass production. Also, it will not take the screen space, rather it would be built into the display.

The waste from discarded electronic gadgets and electrical appliances has reached severe levels in East Asia, posing a growing threat to health and the environment. Safe disposal of these discarded gadgets is yet to see the light of the day. Among all nations, China's electronic waste was touted to be the highest according to a study by the United Nations University.

Meanwhile, when it comes to sensors, there has been an increasing demand for fingerprint sensors to smartphones. By keeping up with the trend and the demand the shipment for fingerprint sensor-enabled smartphones is expected to cross over a billion units. Within this spectrum, the Korean smartphone giant is touted as the forerunner where it has contributed up to 12 percent of the market share.
tech2 News Staff

Kaspersky Lab as a company needs no introduction. The companys cybersecurity offerings are used by companies, governments and individuals globally, and till recently, it was among the more favoured anti-malware operators around.

A damning report published in The Wall Street Journal has, however, now put the companys credibility and livelihood on the line. The report alleges that Kaspersky Lab played a role in helping Russias spy agency, the FSB, gain access to top-secret data and tools belonging to the US National Security Agency (NSA) and that it was involved in large-scale espionage.

Various reports on The New York Times and The Washington Post back up these claims with quotes and reports from numerous unnamed sources. These various reports suggest that Kaspersky Lab either directly or indirectly colluded with the FSB in enabling a global spy program involving Kaspersky Lab software.

Following these reports, and an internal investigation, the US government issued a directive ordering government agencies to stop using Kaspersky Lab software. The US governments reaction is understandable given the mounting evidence that suggests extensive Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.

That said, Kaspersky Lab is adamant that it shares no inappropriate ties to any government, including Russia, and that the company is simply caught in the middle of a geopolitical fight.

In a statement to the press, Kaspersky Lab says, Kaspersky Lab has not been provided any evidence substantiating the companys involvement in the alleged incident reported by the Wall Street Journal on October 5, 2017, and it is unfortunate that news coverage of unproven claims continues to perpetuate accusations about the company.

Its just as likely that the NSA is pushing the blame for its own incompetence on Kaspersky Lab as it is that Kaspersky Lab has no ties at all to the Russian government. Whatever the case, here are all the facts as we know them.

Israel hacks Kaspersky Lab

At some point in 2014, Israel targeted and hacked Kaspersky Lab networks with a highly sophisticated attack that allowed hackers to surreptitiously snoop on Kasperskys networks and steal data.

At the time, Kaspersky Lab wasnt focussing on state-sponsored attacks, which are usually expensive to orchestrate, and didnt detect the intrusion.

By the time the intrusion was finally detected in 2015, when Kaspersky Lab started work on tools to detect such sophisticated, state-sponsored attacks, the damage had already been done.

While in Kaspersky Labs computers, Israeli hackers discovered that the company had access to classified hacking tools belonging to the NSA. More damning was the discovery that Russian hackers were in Kaspersky Labs network as well and that they were using Kaspersky Lab software to look for classified data and for hacking into various computers globally.

Kaspersky Lab, for its part, publicly disclosed the hack (PDF) and apparently gave out all the information they had on it. In its report, Kaspersky did not single out Israel, only hinting that the attack signature resembled that used by the American-Israeli sponsored Stuxnet and Duqu attacks.

Explaining the situation, Kaspersky stated that the attack used zero-day vulnerabilities in Windows and other software to infiltrate Kasperskys systems and that the attacks were designed to be extremely stealthy. Since Kaspersky wasnt focusing on APT (advanced persistent threat) attacks, Kaspersky didnt discover the threat. The attack was eventually discovered in 2015, but only after Kaspersky developed a prototype APT detection tool.

Interestingly, Kasperskys report bears no mention of the presence of Russian hackers in its systems.

NSA contractors PC hacked

Israel reported these findings to the NSA. The NSA, launching its own investigation, later discovered that a computer of an NSA contractor using Kaspersky software was hacked. The contractor had sneaked classified NSA tools onto his home PC and these were stolen from his device by Russian hackers.

According to this NYT report on the 2015 hack of the NSA contractors PC, Russian hackers repurposed a silent signatures tool to snoop for sensitive data on the contractors PC.

The tool is like the one used by many antivirus companies. It is used to scan files for malware signatures and it does so surreptitiously to avoid alerting the malware. Unfortunately, this tool can also be used to surreptitiously scour a PC for specific information. The Russian hackers apparently used a modified version of the tool to look for documents labelled top secret, names of covert CIA programs, etc. Kaspersky Lab software allegedly flagged the software for Russian hackers, allowing them to target the contractor's computer.

The discovery of this hack, and Israels allegations placed the spotlight on Kaspersky Lab.

The case against Kaspersky Lab

While no media house has seen any hard evidence to back any of the allegations made against Kaspersky Lab, several pointers indicate that Kaspersky Lab is directly or indirectly involved in state-sponsored espionage on behalf of Russia.

Israel did hack Kaspersky Labs network and claims to have real-time data of Russian hackers modifying Kaspersky Lab software and using its software to search for and steal sensitive information. Israel claims to have submitted this data to the NSA and anonymous sources of The Washington Post claim to have verified the data.

Kaspersky Lab did disclose that it was hacked and hinted at Israels involvement in its report, but made no mention of a simultaneous Russian hack within its networks.

The NSA claims that the contractors PC was protected by Kaspersky AV, which revealed the presence of classified material to Russian hackers, allowing them to target said PC.

Data collected by Kaspersky Lab software is transmitted via Russian servers. Russias FSB controls the flow of information and is likely to have had access to all data sent to Kasperskys servers.

Despite Kasperskys claims that the data so transmitted is encrypted, and so, impossible to read. Russian surveillance expert Andrei Soldatov tells The Washington Post that even if the data was encrypted, Kaspersky Lab wouldnt have been able to do so without the blessing of the FSB, which comes in the form of a license permitting the use of encryption.

The requirements for the license havent been specified, but it is very likely that the FSB has decryption keys, making the use of encryption redundant.

Russians obtained some NSA hacking tools in 2015 and both Israel and the NSA claim that these were acquired via Kaspersky Lab software.

The case for Kaspersky Labs innocence

The media and public havent seen any hard evidence that Kaspersky Lab or its products were involved in any form of state-sponsored hacking.

Kaspersky Labs senior executives may have been oblivious of Russian government involvement.

There is no evidence that Kaspersky Lab was actively involved in any sort of espionage activities.

Kaspersky AV must have just been doing its job when it discovered the stolen NSA malware on the contractors PC. It may have detected and classified said tools as malware. This malware may have been uploaded to Kaspersky Lab servers for analysis as standard operating procedure, inadvertently making it appear that Kaspersky Lab was stealing data from the US government. Russian hackers may have hacked into Kaspersky Labs servers and then stolen the data from there.

Germanys BSI federal cyber agency has given the company a clean chit, telling Reuters that it found no evidence to back media reports that Russian hackers used Kaspersky Lab antivirus software to spy on US authorities. The BSI made it clear that it found no evidence of misconduct by the company or of any weakness in the software, reports Reuters.

In fact, the BSI is quoted as saying that there is no indication that the hacking process occurred as described in the media. The German government has placed no restrictions on the use of Kaspersky Lab products.

All software used by governmental agencies needs to be vetted before use. Its possible that a US federal governmental agency actually gave Kaspersky Lab a clean chit or that the vetting process wasnt followed. The NSA contractor should not have been able to sneak off with classified NSA hacking tools. Given this information, its possible that Kaspersky Lab is simply being used as a scapegoat to cover up governmental incompetence.

The NSA, CIA and various US governmental agencies have suffered massive data breaches in the past, indicating an inherent problem at the "secretive" agencies.

What can Kaspersky do?

Kaspersky Lab is a Russia-based cybersecurity company that sells its products globally. As a company that originates from a country which aims for absolute control over the flow of information and is not on friendly terms with the US, Kaspersky Lab is in a very unfortunate situation.

The case against Kaspersky Lab is very strong. If the company did indeed collude with the Russians to spy on the rest of the world, it can never be trusted again and deserves to be banned from use. If the company is innocent of all charges, it was unfortunate enough to have been thoroughly infiltrated and hacked not once, but twice (separately by Russia and Israel). Thats poor showing for a cybersecurity company that claims to offer the best defence for every device and doesn't do the company's reputation any favours.

Either way, Kaspersky Lab is, as the saying goes, between a rock and a hard place, and there appears to be little it can do about it.

Note: We've reached out to Kaspersky for comment and will update the story with their response when it's made available to us.
Jerusalem: Israel will withdraw from the UN's cultural and education body UNESCO after a United States decision to do the same on accusations of bias against the Jewish state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

"The prime minister instructed the foreign ministry to prepare Israel's withdrawal from the organisation alongside the United States," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Netanyahu "welcomes the decision by President (Donald) Trump to withdraw from UNESCO. This is a courageous and moral decision because UNESCO has become the theatre of the absurd and because instead of preserving history it distorts it."

Israel's UN ambassador on Thursday said Washington's decision to pull out of the world body's culture and education agency showed there was a "price to pay for discrimination against Israel".

Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement the decision marked "a new era" at the United Nations, after the US State Department said the United States had decided to leave UNESCO, in part due to "continuing anti-Israel bias".

Washington opposes any move by UN bodies to recognise the Palestinians as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.

US president Donald Trump's administration is reviewing many of its multilateral commitments.
We were greatly saddened and angered by the October 1 attack launched by a terrorist from MGMs Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas on the Route 91 Harvest Festival 2017 music concert.

The people we know who were at the concert all had left prior to the attack or managed to get away unharmed. But we have friends who lost people in this horrendous attack. And even folks who did not know anyone directly affected by this mass murder are rightly shocked, angered and troubled by it.

However, the reaction to this event by politically correct liberals and their media amen corner is nothing but a version of the classic film Groundhog Day. Thats the movie in which the main character must relive the same day over and over again until, as one online summary says, he gains some karmic and comic insight into his life.

Unfortunately, the left and media show no signs of karmic insight or any other kind. Instead, each event such as this one presents them an opportunity to rehearse yet again their tired gun control litany. As Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says: Never let a serious crisis go to waste.

So, they have demanded and gotten all kinds of measures passed over the years to apparently no effect at all. Theyll do it again by banning bump stocks, which the shooter in Las Vegas used. And again, it will make no difference of any consequence.

Why? As long as there are individuals willing to trade their lives for the lives of their victims to make whatever point they are trying to make, they will have some degree of success. Indeed, there seems to be an endless supply of such demented persons. And no amount of new gun control laws will stop most such events.

People who plan to perpetrate violence are not people who follow the law in the first place. So, new laws will not deter them, regardless of how restrictive they are. Murdering 58 people is already against the law, whether you do it with a gun or a bomb or a vehicle.

If laws were effective against such insanity, the terrorist would have decided to take all of his guns and go home when he recognized the Mandalay Bay Resort was a gun free zone. He would have scotched his plan entirely because he was violating resort policy even bringing one gun onto the property.

As John Lott noted on Fox News: All four of the 2015 mass shooting public events (in France) involved machine guns  Yet, they are illegal, just as they are in the United States. So, how did those gun laws save any victims?

In the Paris attack in November 2015, 89 people were executed in the Bataclan theatre. The terrorists had automatic weapons, and the unarmed concert goers in the theatre were simply lambs that were slaughtered.

The law will not stop the lawless.

Gun owners also realize the stakes. Bump stock sales have gone through the roof since the attack. Why? Because people wont be able to obtain a bump stock except on the black market after a new law is passed. Most did not even know what one was until this event.

So a new law will cause this minor effect but have no effect on safety of the American people. The gun control lobby knows this, and what they really want is the elimination of all guns in private hands. And thus the elimination of the peoples inherent and essential right to self-defense.

But that wont happen  thank goodness. And so theyre reduced to doing something purely symbolic to demonstrate their alleged virtue on the issue and con themselves into believing theyve done something about the real problem  which they have not and will not.

Mass murder and the mayhem caused by events like the one in Las Vegas is a serious problem we need to address. But we dont yet know the answer and we may not know it for a long time. Just doing something ineffectual and purely symbolic is not a reasonable substitute but is instead a waste of time and resources.

Whats needed is an adult approach to the issue.
Brasilia: Brazil's Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) has frozen former president Dilma Rousseff's assets for her alleged role in a 2006 deal when oil giant Petrobras acquired a refinery in Pasadena in the US state of Texas.

The move on Wednesday, approved by the TCU to last for a year, also froze the assets of former finance minister, Antonio Palocci, former Petrobras president, Jose Sergio Gabrielli, and other members of Petrobras' board, Xinhua news agency reported.

Petrobras is a semi-public Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.

According to the TCU, in 2006, Petrobras approved the acquisition of the refinery for a cost of $580 million, which was felt to be far too expensive given the "uneconomic criteria adopted to define the price of the refinery".

At the time Petrobras took control of 50 per cent of the refinery, Rousseff was chief of staff to former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. She also chaired the Petrobras board of directors.

In 2014, when the scandal concerning the refinery first emerged, Rousseff said she only approved the deal due to having received "incomplete information" for a "technically and judicially flawed" report.

Last year, the former President was impeached by Congress in her second term for fiscal irregularities and replaced by her Vice-president Michel Temer.
London: A British member of the Islamic State terrorist network, dubbed as the "White Widow" by UK media, has been killed along with her minor son in a US drone strike in Syria, media reports said on Thursday.

Sally Jones, known for a her prolific pro-Islamic State propaganda on social media and often described as the world's most wanted terrorist, is believed to have been killed along with her 12-year-old son Jojo.

The 50-year-old was a punk rocker from the county of Kent in England before she converted to Islam and went on to become one of the most notorious recruiters for Islamic State.

"The premise that Sally Jones and her son are dead is probably accurate," a UK government source was quoted as saying by The Times.

Jones' husband, 21-year-old Junaid Hussain who was a computer hacker from Birmingham and also an Islamic State member, was killed in a drone strike in the terrorist group's former stronghold of Raqqa, northern Syria, in August 2015.

British intelligence had assisted in that operation.

MI6 spies were reportedly tracking the movements of Jones, who travelled with Jojo to Syria in 2013 to marry Hussain.

The husband and wife were since on a US "kill list" of high-value targets.

Jones' death brings to at least six the number of known British Islamic State terrorists to have been killed in drone strikes in Syria.

The true number is likely to be higher as it is often difficult to verify the identity of jihadists killed from the air.

According to The Sun newspaper, a US Air Force Predator drone was used to kill Jones, who had adopted the Islamic nom de guerre of Umm Hussain al-Britani.

She had been attempting to flee Raqqa as it came under increased bombardment from the US, British and other coalition aircraft as well as American-backed local forces on the ground in the long-running campaign against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Jones grew in notoriety during her four years in the war zone of Syria.

She attempted to brainwash young girls to travel to Syria to become jihadist brides and also took to social media to threaten attacks on Britain.

Her husband ran a hacking unit for Islamic State.

Jones also allowed son Jojo to take part in a propaganda video in which he was seen shooting a hostage in the back of the head alongside other young boys.

Other high-profile British jihadists killed in drone strikes include Mohammed Emwazi, dubbed Jihadi John, who beheaded a number of western hostages on video.

He died in a joint US-British operation in November 2015.
London: British Islamic State recruiter Sally-Anne Jones, nicknamed the "White Widow", has been killed in a US drone strike, a media report said.

Jones was said to have been killed in June in a US strike close to the border between Syria and Iraq, the Sun newspaper reported citing CIA officials.

Previously a punk musician, Jones was the world's most wanted female terrorist for more than three years.

Muslim convert Jones fled to Syria from Kent in 2013 and married computer hacker Junaid Hussain, an Islamic State fighter from Birmingham, and took her then 11-year-old son, Joe Dixon, with her.

A Whitehall source told the Sun: "The Americans zapped her trying to get away from Raqqa. Quite frankly, it's good riddance."

CIA officials told their UK counterparts that a US Air Force Predator killed 50-year-old Jones. But news of the death was kept quiet over fears her son might have also been killed in the strike.

It is not known if her son was with her, the newspaper said.

Reports said Jones was last seen alive fleeing the carnage in Raqqa and heading towards the Syrian border town of Mayadin.

Jones regularly used her son as a human shield, the report said.

Jones was called the "White Widow" after her husband Hussain was killed by a drone in 2015.

Jones used to recruit Western girls to the group and posted threatening messages to Christians in the UK. She used her Twitter account to provide practical advice on how to travel to Syria.
Beijing: Chinese president Xi Jinping began final consultations with top party leaders ahead of next week's key congress of the ruling Communist Party which is expected to further reinforce his powers on par with party founder Chairman Mao Zedong.

The Plenary Session of the outgoing Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) which was elected during 18th Congress five years ago started its last meeting today to make final preparation for the upcoming 19th national congress which would begin here on 18 October, official media reported.

The agenda of the plenum included a draft report to be submitted to the 19th congress of the work done in the last five years and more significantly a draft amendment to the CPC Constitution, Xinhua news agency reported.

The meeting will also discuss the draft work report of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), headed by 64-year-old Xi's close confidant Wang Qishan, who carried out the massive anti-corruption campaign against some of the top leaders of the previous administration like security czar Zhou Yongkong and top military Generals.

Besides massive purges of Zhou and his men down the ranks, the recent CCDI report said over 1.34 million officials were punished in the anti-graft campaign initiated by Xi, which also established his absolute leadership over the party.

That included over 40 top Generals of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) and 13,000 personnel of the various ranks. While the results of the deliberations of the powerful Central Committee, which included the top leadership including Premier Li Keqiang, were yet to be released, speculation is rife about the constitutional changes.

During the week-long congress, 2,287 delegates from across China will gather to formalise the selection of the top leaders and to endorse Xi's second five-year term.

The 89-million-strong CPC which ruled the country since 1949, the longest party in power, has a constitutional structure but much of its leadership hierarchy is based on conventions like two five-year terms for the top leaders and 68 as their retirement age.

Since the convention was evolved in 2002, all the leaders including the Xis predecessor Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao followed it as an unwritten rule and retired. Another widely followed convention is the identification of a successor in the second term.

While the next week's Congress is expected to further reinforce the power base of Xi, who has already been named by the party as a "core leader" like Mao and his successor Deng Xiaoping, speculation is rife whether he will break the convention and pave the way for a third term.

For that, all eyes are on Wang, who keeps a low public profile but is often described as Chinas second most powerful man. If Wang, who is 69, continues for another term it will pave the way for Xi in 20th Congress to continue in power.

Also, the national and international attention will be on who the party is going to pick for the seven member Standing Committee which literally rules the country and whether there will be a hint for a successor.

Xi, who is the Party General Secretary and the president, is also the Chairman of the Central Military Commission - the high command of the country's military. He is the only civilian in the 11-member committee.

He was nominated to the committee during the second term of his predecessor Hu. Observers say the hints to be watched in the 19th Congress will be whether any of the party leaders will be projected as Xi's successor.

Also, Xi is speaking of political control of the leadership over the military as well as institutional changes to the CPC which were expected to be reflected in the proposed

constitutional changes.

Xinhua reported that opinions have been solicited on the draft documents within certain groups. Li Chengyan, head of Peking University's Centre for Anti-Corruption Studies, told the China Daily that the plenary session is of great importance, as it will make preparations for the party's 19th congress.

"The plenary session will discuss the reports to be delivered at the party's 19th national congress," he said. The congress will also thoroughly examine the current international and domestic situation and draw out guidelines and policies that respond to the call of the times, it said.

"The 19th congress will be a milestone. It will not only wrap up the experience of building the economy, society and the party in the last five years but also draw up a blueprint for the next five years, and even longer," Wang Manchuan, secretary-general of the China Society of Administrative Reform, told the state-run CGTN TV.
New York: Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that she would donate the money Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein contributed to her political campaigns after multiple sexual assault allegations were levelled against the powerful media mogul.

In a CNN interview on Wednesday night, Clinton said she was "sick" and "shocked" when she found out about the allegations, first revealed in a report by The New York Times and then a more detailed report by The New Yorker.

"I was appalled. It was something that was just intolerable in every way...And, you know, like so many people who've come forward and spoken out, this was a different side of a person who I and many others had known in the past."

On her donations, Clinton added that it was not possible to give the money back but that she would donate it to charity.

"What other people are saying, what my former colleagues are saying, is they're going to donate it to charity, and of course I will do that," she said.

Clinton said she had no idea that Weinstein acted that way in private, despite some in Hollywood saying that people close to him had known. "I certainly didn't, and I don't know who did," she told CNN.

Weinstein has long been a top Democratic donor and throughout Clinton's political career, the Hollywood mogul helped raise around $1.5 million for the party and associated groups by bundling donations.

Clinton also headlined multiple fundraisers hosted by Weinstein.

According to the Times expose, the powerful film producer had faced many accusations of sexual harassment spanning decades. He reached at least eight settlements with women between 1990 and 2015.

Actress Ashley Judd was among the accusers who spoke to the Times for the story.

When the story came out on 5 September, Weinstein denied some of the allegations, but also admitted that he had behaved improperly at times during his career. He apologised for causing pain.
Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant (NBW) against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan after he failed to appear before it in a contempt of court case.

The case was filed against Khan by PTI dissident and one of the party's founding members, Akbar S Babar, reports Dawn News.

The PTI is set to challenge the warrants in the Islamabad High Court.

On 14 September, the ECP had issued a bailable arrest warrant against Khan following his failure to show up for the proceedings, which were later suspended by the court on the PTI's petition.
Arbil (Iraq): Kurdish peshmerga forces on Thursday blocked roads from Iraqi Kurdistan to the country's second city Mosul in response to Iraqi troop movements, a senior Kurdish military official has said.

"The two main roads connecting Arbil and Dohuk to Mosul were cut off on Thursday with sand embankments as a precautionary measure after we detected an increase in deployments and movements of Iraqi forces near the front line with the peshmerga," he said.

The move came after Kurdish authorities said late on Wednesday they feared Iraqi government forces and allied paramilitary units were preparing to launch an assault on the autonomous northern region.

"We're receiving dangerous messages that the Hashed al-Shaabi (paramilitary forces) and federal police are preparing a major attack from the southwest of Kirkuk and north of Mosul against Kurdistan," the Kurdistan Regional Government's Security Council said.

The warning came amid spiralling tensions between Iraq's Kurds and central authorities in the wake of last month's Kurdish independence referendum.

In the oil-rich region of Kirkuk, which is disputed between the Kurds and Baghdad, a local commander told AFP there were no immediate signs of movement.

"We have seen no unacceptable movement on the part of Iraqi forces," Wasta Rasul, the commander of peshmerga forces in southern Kirkuk, told AFP.

He said the peshmerga were in meetings with the US-led coalition that has intervened in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State group and that "its aircraft are monitoring the situation carefully".

The coalition has worked with the peshmerga, as well as Iraqi pro-government forces, in the battle to oust Islamic State from areas it seized in Iraq in mid-2014.

Security sources said that Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) and Rapid Response Force had deployed more forces near Rashad, a village some 65 kilometres south of Kirkuk, near peshmerga positions.

Asked by AFP, the spokesman for Iraq's Joint Operations Command, refused to confirm or deny any preparations for an offensive.

"What I can say is that our forces in Hawija have accomplished their duty and have started to clear the region of explosives and restore the law in order to allow people to go home," said the spokesman, Brigadier General Yahiya Rassul.

Iraqi forces last week retook control of Hawija, one of Islamic State's last enclaves in the country, which is close to Kurdish majority areas.

Baghdad and Arbil have been locked in a stand-off since voters in Kurdistan overwhelmingly opted two weeks ago for independence in a referendum that the central government slammed as illegal.

Iraq has cut Kurdistan off from the outside world by severing air links to the region, while neighbouring Turkey and Iran have threatened to close their borders and block oil exports.
Rome: Two prisoners who were invited to meet Pope Francis for lunch on his recent visit to Bologna took advantage of the occasion to escape, local media reports said Wednesday.

The two men, who were being held in a rehabilitation facility for drug addicts and prisoners, were reportedly among 20 prisoners who were due to meet Francis on 1 October.

They disappeared either just before or just after the lunch and have not been seen since, according to reports that local authorities have not confirmed or denied.

Francis has made mercy one of the themes of his papacy and regularly meets prisoners on his trips outside the Vatican.
Washington: US president Donald Trump has said that he has a different approach on North Korea's recent missile and nuclear tests, asserting that the problem has reached a point where "something has to be done".

North Korea has fired 22 missiles, including two across Japan, during 15 tests since February this year, drawing a sharp reaction from the US and its allies.

"I think I might have a somewhat different attitude and a different way than other people. I think perhaps I feel stronger and tougher on that subject than other people, but I listen to everybody," Trump told reporters in a joint media appearance with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau at his Oval Office on Wednesday.

"Ultimately, I will do what is right for the United States and really, what is right for the world. Because that is really a world problem; that is beyond just the United States," he said.

Responding to a question, the US president said it is a problem that has to be solved.

Later at night, Trump told Fox News that the world has reached a situation on North Korea where something has to be done.

"This should have been handled 25 years ago, it should have been handled 20 years ago, and 10 years ago, and five years ago," he said.

"It should have been handled by numerous  not just (former US president Barack) Obama, but certainly president Obama should have taken care of it. Now it is at a point where it is very, very far advanced. Something has to be done. We can not allow this to happen," Trump said.

Meanwhile Republican Congressman Ted Yoho told CNN that the goal is to put sanctions on North Korea, have the world buy into it, bring them to the negotiating table, and get a diplomatic end to this.

"All North Korea has to do is look at the satellites at night and compare South Korea to North Korea. You can see what a democracy and a market economy does, and you can contrast that with Vietnam, who we were at war with, with the Vietnam War. They embraced market economies.

"They are a communist state, but they are our 16th largest trading partners," Yoho said.

"Neither country has a nuclear weapon. So nuclear weapons is not the answer. Economic trade and let's work on those things that we can agree on and then put the nuclear weapons away," he added.

The Trump administration along with the UN has been at the forefront of a drive to impose economic sanctions on the globally isolated North Korean regime for its nuclear ambitions which have threatened the world peace.

Trump has engaged in an escalating war of words with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un amid rising tensions between the two countries. Trump has even said that diplomatic efforts have not worked in dealing with North Korea.
Islamabad: Pakistan recommended former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani as an ad-hoc judge to the International Court of Justice to hear the case of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for "subversive activities".

"The government of Pakistan has communicated to the International Court of Justice its designation of Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, a former Chief Justice of Pakistan, to be its Judge Ad hoc in the Jadhav Case," the Foreign Office said in a statement. Officials had earlier said that names of Jillani and senior lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan were sent to the office of the prime minister for final approval. The procedures of the ICJ allow a party to nominate an ad-hoc judge in circumstances where there is no judge of the court that has that party's nationality.

Currently, there is no judge of the court that has Pakistani nationality; whereas Justice Bhandari from India sits as a judge of the court. Justice Jillani served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 2004 to 2013 and subsequently as the 21st Chief Justice of Pakistan from December 2013 until July 2014. He was among the judges who refused to take oath of allegiance to former dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf after he imposed emergency on 3 November, 2007.

Jillani was kept in illegal confinement by Musharraf, who is currently facing a criminal case for illegally confining the judges. The decision to appoint Jillani as an ad-hoc judge came as Pakistan started the process to file its plea in response to Indian memorial submitted with the International Court of Justice on September 13 against the conviction of Jadhav. The ICJ had asked Pakistan to submit its response or memorial by 13 December before the court could start further proceedings.

On Thursday, the Pakistan Army had said it is close to a decision on the mercy petition of Jadhav. Pakistan, which announced the death sentence on Jadhav on 10 April, claims its security forces arrested him from restive

Balochistan province on 3 March last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the navy.

Jadhav had filed an appeal with the army chief to seek clemency, which is still pending. After India approached the ICJ, a 10-member bench on 18 May restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.

Jadhav's sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction in India. India has warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the "premeditated murder" was carried out.

In its application, India had also informed the ICJ that it learnt about the death sentence against Jadhav from a press release. India acknowledges that Jadhav had served with the Indian Navy but denies that he has any connection with the government. It also said that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran. India has also handed over to Pakistan an appeal by Jadhav's mother, initiating a process to get his conviction overturned.
Ucoms mobile customers will benefit from the best internet roaming rate of 8 AMD/MB when travelling to Georgia, Egypt or the UAE

Ameriabank Launches Google Pay and Google Wallet Support for Card Users in Armenia

Karen Vardanyan donated 112 million drams for the medical equipment for National Center for Infectious Diseases.

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

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Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

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
Islamabad: Pakistan's Senate passed a resolution against a person holding a party post after being disqualified from public office, a move aimed against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's re-election as the chief of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz).

The resolution, presented by Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Aitzaz Ahsan, stated that a person who is not eligible to become a member of the parliament or has been disqualified cannot lead any political party.

The Senate or the upper house of the parliament passed the resolution with 52 senators voting in its favour and 28 voting against it. The step was taken against the approval given to Sharif to head the ruling party after amendments were made to the Elections Bill, 2017.

Sharif, 67, had to step down as PML-N chief after he was disqualified as the prime minister by the Supreme Court on 28 July in the Panama Papers scandal. The PML-N took full advantage of its position as the

ruling party as President Mamnoon Hussain signed the controversial Election Act 2017 into law after it was bulldozed through the National Assembly amid pandemonium on the Opposition benches.

Under The Representation of Peoples Act 1976, a disqualified person could not hold office of a party. The law was passed to allow the party to re-elect Sharif as its head.

Ahsan said that after the new law, even someone who has given up Pakistani citizenship, who is declared to be of an unsound mind or otherwise disqualified from holding public office by a court now can become the head of a party.

"The parliament is exposed to becoming hostage to a person who himself is barred from entering it," the resolution said. Law Minister Zahid Hamid opposed the resolution when put forward for debate and said that every party has the right to choose its leader from one of its members.

The resolution is non-binding and of no legal value and hence just symbolic.
Gaza City: Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have reached agreement on aspects of their reconciliation bid during talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo this week, Hamas said on Thursday.

"An agreement was reached between Hamas and Fatah under Egyptian sponsorship," a statement from Hamas leader Ismail Haniya's office said, without giving further details.

Fayez Abu Eita, a Fatah spokesman and member of the partys delegation in Cairo, told AFP that details would be announced at a press conference later on Thursday.

The two sides had been meeting in the Egyptian capital since Tuesday, with the aim of ending a crippling decade-old split between the rival factions.

A party to the negotiations, who asked not to be identified, said the agreement would see forces of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by Fatah, take control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

He added that all Palestinian factions would begin wider negotiations on the formation of a national unity government in the coming two weeks.

Hamas seized Gaza from Fatah in a near civil war in 2007 and the two factions have been at loggerheads ever since. Multiple previous reconciliation talks have failed.

Egypt has been keen to improve security in the Sinai Peninsula which borders Gaza and where jihadist rebels have fought a long-running insurgency.

In September, Hamas agreed to cede civil power in Gaza to the Palestinian Authority but the fate of its vast military wing remains a significant issue for the two sides.

An Egyptian source close to the talks said intelligence chief Khaled Fawzi had followed the talks closely.

Islamist movement Hamas is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.

It has fought three wars with Israel since 2008 and the blockaded Gaza Strip has faced deteriorating humanitarian conditions.
Vatican: Pope Francis on Wednesday called for categorical opposition to capital punishment to be written into an update of the most important guide to Catholic teaching.

His comments, which will be controversial with many fundamentalist Christians and some Catholics, came in a speech to clerics attending a conference in Rome to mark the 25th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The catechism is a question and answer guide to what Catholics should think about a wide range of moral and social issues.

Acknowledging that the Vatican itself had historically had "recourse to the extreme and inhuman remedy" of judicial execution, Francis said past doctrinal errors should be put aside. "We have to restate that, however grave the crime that may be committed, the death penalty is inadmissible because it attacks the inviolability and the dignity of the person," he said.

The execution of a human being was fundamentally against the teachings of Christ because, by definition, it excluded the possibility of redemption, he argued.

The Catholic church has steadily increased the strength of its opposition to the use of capital punishment in recent years. Pope John Paul II made an appeal for a global consensus on abolition in 1999 and Francis's predecessor, Benedict XVI issued a similar call in 2011.

The 1992 text of the catechism says authorities should take appropriate measures in the interest of the common good without excluding the use of the death penalty in extremely grave cases.

More recent updates say justifying circumstances are now rare if not practically non-existent. And a version of the catechism aimed at younger people now includes a question, "Why is the Church opposed to the death penalty?"

Francis has made clear his own personal opposition to the death penalty on numerous occasions.

"It doesn't give justice to victims, but it feeds vengeance," he said in June 2016, arguing that the biblical commandment "thou shall not kill," applied to the innocent as well as the guilty.
Yangon: Pope Francis will talk peace on his to visit Myanmar, a Catholic church representative said on Thursday, a potentially highly charged trip during a refugee crisis that has seen 520,000 Rohingya Muslims pushed out of the country.

The late November visit comes as western Rakhine state is devoured by communal violence that has sent unprecedented numbers of Rohingya fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh. Myanmar's army is accused of using a crackdown on militants to expel its Muslim Rohingya population  a persecuted minority the Pope has previously called "brothers and sisters".

Any comments seen to support the Rohingya could provoke a strong reaction from hardline Buddhist clerics and a Buddhist-majority public aggrieved at global support for the Muslim group.

Myanmar has a small roughly half a million Catholic population, mainly in the remote north. The same goes for Muslim-majority Bangladesh  where the Pope will travel on to.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Myanmar said it was unclear whether the Pope would address the Rakhine crisis during his 27-30 November trip.

"We don't know yet what will be his speech... but he is coming for the sake of the country and he will be talking about peace," Father Mariano Soe Naing, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishop's Conference of Myanmar, told AFP.

"There won't be any interfaith meetings because of the lack of time," he said, although he will meet with the main Buddhist authority. Some 200,000 people are expected to attend a mass led by Francis in Kyaikkasan Grounds, a stadium in Yangon, he added.

Myanmar and the Vatican only established full diplomatic relations in May, shortly after de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Pope Francis during a European tour. That visit was overshadowed by her country's treatment of the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship by the state and have previously been displaced in huge numbers by communal violence and army campaigns.

Only weeks before his meeting with Suu Kyi, Francis described the Muslim minority as "brothers and sisters" who were were being tortured and killed for their faith. He added they were "good and peaceful people who have suffered for years".

Any repetition of that stance will put Francis at odds with many inside Myanmar, where authorities have denied committing atrocities and tried to cast the Rohingya as the villains.

Buddhist nationalist hardliners have previously vowed to protest the papal visit because of his support for the Muslim group.

This week Myanmar's government called for unity with a large inter-faith rally in Yangon, the first since the Rakhine crisis.
Yangon: Myanmar's de faco leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called for speeding up measures for humanitarian aid, rehabilitation, resettlement and development in the conflict-torn Rakhine state.

Citing Myanmar News Agency, Xinhua reported on Thursday that at a coordination meeting held at the National Reconciliation and Peace Center in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday, Suu Kyi laid down the priorities for the government for effective implementation of the measures.

The move came one day after the government organised a trip of ambassadors of five neighbouring countries to conflicted areas of Rakhine state, led by minister for the Office of the state Counselor U Kyaw Tint Swe.

Rakhine state chief minister U Nyi Pu also said the government is pushing for the implementation of the tasks of rehabilitation in three areas - compilation of list, food supply for refugees and improvement of communication and transport.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army launched fresh attacks on police outposts in Rakhine on 25 August, displacing residents from a number of areas in Maungdaw district.
Dhaka: Bangladesh has banned three Islamic charities from working with the Rohingya refugees, a lawmaker said on Thursday, amid concerns that displaced Muslims in camps along its border could be radicalised.

Mahjabeen Khaled, an MP from the ruling Awami League, said the international charities, Muslim Aid and Islamic Relief, and Bangladesh-based Allama Fazlullah Foundation, had been blacklisted from the Rohingya refugee camps in southern-most Cox's Bazar district.

Khaled, who sits on the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs, said no specific allegations had been levelled at the charities.

But authorities were "scrutinising and screening" all aid agencies wanting to contribute to the massive relief effort in Cox's Bazar, where more than half a million refugees had fled to squalid camps since August.

"We want to monitor who is giving aid, and why, for security reasons. Who are funding them, and what they are going to do with the money?" Khaled told AFP.

"They (Rohingya) are vulnerable. A lot can be done with this Rohingya people. We want to be careful," she said, adding it would be "easy" to lure the refugees to militancy.

Bangladesh has heavily curtailed access to the Rohingya camps in recent years, but eased restrictions last month after more than 520,000 new refugees poured across the border.

The government's NGO Affairs Bureau approved 30 local and global aid groups to meet "emergency needs" in the overwhelmed camps, which already housed about 300,000 Rohingya before the latest influx.

Before that, just four international charities  including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Action Against Hunger (ACF)  were permitted to operate in the sensitive border district.

Khaled said Muslim Aid had also been banned from working in the refugee camps in 2012, when tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled a separate surge of violence in neighbouring Myanmar.

Bangladesh authorities are reluctant to discuss their reasons for curbing access to the camps, but fears prevail that anger among the displaced Rohingya could be exploited by extremist networks.

Bangladesh is fighting its own battle against homegrown Islamist radicals, who have claimed responsibility for the brutal murder of progressive bloggers, secular activists and foreigners in recent years.

Even those charities given the green light last month can only work for two months, and must restrict activities to providing healthcare, sanitation facilities and shelter for the Rohingya.
Washington: The United States announced on Thursday that it will withdraw from the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization, accusing the body of "anti-Israel bias".

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Washington would establish an "observer mission" to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.

The United States was angered in 2011 when UNESCO members granted Palestine full membership of the body, despite opposition from its ally Israel.

Washington opposes any move by UN bodies to recognize the Palestinians as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.

But US president Donald Trump's administration is also reviewing many of its multilateral commitments, pursuing what he calls an "America First" foreign policy.

Nauert said the State Department had notified UNESCO's outgoing director-general Irina Bokova of their decision earlier Thursday.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," she said in a statement.

"The United States indicated to the director-general its desire to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organization, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms and promoting scientific collaboration and education."
Garo Yegnukian send an open letter to the EU Ambassador

Garo Yegnukian, who was arrested on charges of supporting the members of the Sasna Dzrer group, sent an open letter to the head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Piotr Switalski. Dear Mr. Switalski, Generally, I am a strong propagandist of Armenias western orientation and more specifically in joining the European Union (EU) family in the nearest possible future. The Comprehensive Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that the EU intends to sign with Armenia in November is a strictly limited and toothless version of the European Union Association Agreement (EUAA) that was supposed to have been entered into in 2013 when Serzh Sargsyan made a unilateral, personal and a haphazard decision to ditch it in favor of an unknown and untested Eurasian Economic Union composed of countries which all have autocratic and dictatorial regimes. To believe that Serzh Sargsyan will not do the same this time around is naive to say the least, regardless how well the EU is prepared with paper and ink. Fortunately, CEPA apparently still retains most of the political aspect of the EUAA and I intend to draw your attention to a fundamental issue of political prisoners. EU as the vanguard of human rights and fundamental freedoms should never enter into an agreement with a regime that has political prisoners. The purpose of my letter is not only to inform you how I feel nor what Serzh Sargsyan will or will not do, but rather to clarify your position in official capacity and the EUs justification by extension, on the decision to go into an agreement with an autocratic regime that unabashedly and in broad daylight continuously and methodically violates the human rights and fundamental freedoms of its undesirable political opponents thus subjecting them to political persecution. I am one of those politically persecuted and prosecuted opponents of the regime who along with over 70 others have been arrested and incarcerated on unsubstantiated charges. The abuse of pretrial detention has been prevalent through all of the political cases in Armenia. The use of false or contradictory testimony and non-existent or inadmissible evidence are tools that Sargsyans regime uses to silence any voice of dissent. A politically persecuted person who is deprived of his freedom by being incarcerated automatically becomes a political prisoner when the arrest and incarceration were politically motivated. When political persecution before the arrest and political prosecution after the arrest are apparent; then the trumped up and unsubstantiated criminal charges that the political prisoner is charged with are irrelevant excuses for punishing an opposing view. As you know most countries (except for a few like Turkey and Azerbaijan) do not have politically motivated laws in their criminal code, therefore in those countries, like Armenia, political prosecution is camouflaged under false criminal charges. For that reason one has to scrutinize the underlying factors prior to the arrest and how due process is being violated during pretrial period in order to determine whether that person is a political prisoner. Political persecution and prosecution as well as the definition of who is a political prisoner are political evaluations and not legal terms that laws can regulate or courts can adjudicate, therefore, I was greatly dismayed at your position regarding the existence of political prisoners in Armenia during the September 14, 2017 press conference. You, responded by saying that you and by extension the EU, are aware of the claims by Human Rights (HR) organizations and NGOs of the existence of political prisoners in Armenia and that you have discussed this issue with the Armenian authorities, however the EU not always shares the opinion of HR organizations and NGOs and mostly bases its opinion on decisions made by European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). You further added that as is well known the ECtHR has not determined that there are any political prisoners in Armenia. Your statement begs two questions: 1. Does ECtHR have a mandate to determine who is a political prisoner? 2. Has the ECtHR ever made such a decision in its 58-year history? The answer to both of these questions is no . As you know, the Council of Europe (CE) in 1953 created the International Treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms otherwise known as European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In its turn the ECHR established the ECtHR in 1959, where any person who feels a state party has violated his/her human rights of fundamental freedoms under the ECHR can take a case to the ECtHR. Please note that the ECHR by definition cannot and does not have the legal framework based on which it can dictate the ECtHR to adjudicate as to who is a political prisoner, since as I mentioned above, that is a political decision and not a legal one, therefore courts cannot pass such adjudications. Theoretically, the ECtHR could make a political statement in its decision by stating for example that Garo Yegnukians human rights and fundamental freedoms have been violated and those violations were politically motivated , therefore Garo Yegnukian is a political prisoner. However, the part of the decision that states that I am a political prisoner would be non-binding, unenforceable and as the 58 year history of ECtHR proves, it is also with no precedent. It is quite telling that the CE encountered this problem of defining the term political prisoner for the first time in 2001, when Armenia and Azerbaijan were applying for membership in CE. Their acceptance was put on hold due to claims of existence of political prisoners. Finding the necessity to resolve the issue of defining the term political prisoner, the CE mandated the independent experts of the Secretary General to define the term political prisoner and assess cases of alleged political prisoners in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Subsequently both States released all their political prisoners and were admitted to the CE. The next time the issue of political prisoners was revisited was in 2012 when the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) had a comprehensive debate and explicitly approved and reaffirmed in Resolution 1900  The definition of political prisoner. Five separate criteria were established, based on which it can be determined who is a political prisoner. PACE had invited and encouraged in that resolution for the competent authorities of all the Member States of the CE to reassess the cases of any alleged political prisoners by application of the above-mentioned criteria and to release or retry any such prisoners as appropriate . As in 2001, when the CE set a precondition to release political prisoners prior to being accepted to the CE, the EU should also demand from the Armenian authorities to do the same prior to entering into any agreement as a precondition before signing it in November. Human rights and fundamental freedoms are the cornerstone of EUs values, while the violation of those rights on political grounds results in the creation of political prisoners as defined by PACE criteria. The EU cannot and should not under any circumstances cooperate, enter into agreements, finance government programs and institutions or provide any other support to a regime that has over 70 political prisoners and countless others who are politically persecuted. Any form of cooperation between the EU and this regime should be conditioned at least by the immediate release of all political prisoners. I and the other political prisoners along with numerous HR organizations and other NGOs have declared and substantiated the fact of the existence of political prisoners in Armenia. The only guide that the EU has available to determine the veracity of those claims and make judgment is the criteria established by PACE, based on which you and the EU can only make a political decision of the existence of political prisoners. Below are the 5 criteria provided by PACE where only 1 is sufficient for determining political prisoner status. The Assembly reaffirms its support for these criteria, summed up as follows: A person deprived of his or her personal liberty is to be regarded as a political prisoner: a. if the detention has been imposed in violation of one of the fundamental guarantees set out in the European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols (ECHR), in particular freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression and information, freedom of assembly and association; b. if the detention has been imposed for purely political reasons without connection to any offence; c. if, for political motives, the length of the detention or its conditions are clearly out of proportion to the offence the person has been found guilty of or is suspected of; d. if, for political motives, he or she is detained in a discriminatory manner as compared to other persons; or, e. if the detention is the result of proceedings which were clearly unfair and this appears to be connected with political motives of the authorities.  If you cannot determine based on information available to you or if you do not want to rely on the claims by the political prisoners and the NGOs, then at least for my part I can provide you with voluminous additional information on how I was politically persecuted for the past 5 years, how I was illegally arrested without any legal basis, how I have been politically prosecuted and illegally incarcerated on pretrial (and during trial) detention for the past 15 months and finally how point by point 4 out of 5 PACE criteria apply in my case, keeping in mind that only 1 is enough to prove the status of a political prisoner. I look forward to your favorable reply and if needed await your request for additional information regarding my case. Sincerely yours, Political Prisoner Garo Yegnukian, Esq.
Qualcomm is in the news again for all the wrong reasons. The company has been fined $773 million by the Taiwanese Fair Trade Commission for violating laws by licensing its patents unfairly.

Qualcomm is having a rough time trying to defend its intellectual property business against regulators and other legal battles such as the on-going lawsuit with Apple and the companies it has contracted.

This is actually not the first time the chip maker has been fined as the South Korean Fair Trade Commission had fined Qualcomm $853 million for antitrust violations in 2016. Also, the company had earlier said that it would pay $975 million fine in China along with agreeing to modify its licensing practices.

Even though Qualcomm is a very dominant silicon supplier, the companys licensing and royalty revenues accounted for roughly 80% of the companys profits last year.

As one can expect, Qualcomm disagrees with the decision by the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission and intends to seek a stay and appeal the order. You can find the full statement below 

Qualcomm today announced that the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) has reached a decision in the TFTCs investigation, stating in a press release that certain of the Companys business practices are in violation of Taiwanese competition law and imposing a fine of approximately $23.4 billion Taiwan dollars (approximately $773 million US dollars at current exchange rates).Qualcomm disagrees with the decision summarized in the TFTCs press release and intends to seek to stay any required behavioral measures and appeal the decision to the Taiwanese courts after receiving the TFTCs formal decision, which is expected in the next several weeks. The fine bears no rational relationship to the amount of Qualcomms revenues or activities in Taiwan, and Qualcomm will appeal the amount of the fine and the method used to calculate it.
Renders of an upcoming flagship Nokia 9 smartphone has surfaced thanks to popular tipster OnLeaks. The phone had already surfaced in benchmarks and other reports earlier this year.



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The renders offer a clear look at the phone from all sides. It has thin bezels around the display and is expected to measure 140.9 x 72.9 x 7.5mm. The phone has dual rear camera setup at the back, similar to the Nokia 8. The camera resolution is not known as of now, but it will likely come with OIS along with Carl Zeiss optics.

A fingerprint sensor is seen just below the camera. It looks like another flagship will come without a headphone jack, as the Nokia 9 in the renders does not sport one. The phone is tipped to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and will feature 4GB RAM. It is said to feature a 5.5-inch display and come with Android Oreo.

The right side of the phone houses the power button and volume rockers while SIM card slot is present on the left. The bottom of the phone has USB Type C port, microphone, loudspeaker grill and an antenna band cutout. There is no word when Nokia plans to announce the phone.

Source
Passionate Tango on Yerevan Stage (video)

It is said that during the last century's Argentinean crisis, tango came out of schools and dance floors and brought numerous tourists to Buenos Aires. Bandoneon player Pablo Mainet remembers those bad times. "I'm not a politician or an economist in order to evaluate this, but as a musician and a tango fan, I would say that tango is not just a dance, it's really strong art and why not, maybe it has played a role on the aforementioned," he says. The Argentinean Tango Week, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Argentina, has started with a screening of films, and today, Argentinean bandoneon player Pablo Mainet will perform at Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall. Jorge Mendes and Cecilia Masses dance couple will take part in the concert. They will do the works of Mainet and Astor Piazzolla. This is my first visit to Armenia. I really loved Yerevan, I loved the orchestra, and I was impressed with yesterday's attempt with the orchestra. It is important that besides the music, it will be a dance during the music. It's more spectacular for the audience,says the bandoneon player. The last act of the Argentinean Tango Week will be the open-air tango show. On Saturday, at 4 pm, the Tango fans will enjoy the bandionist Pablo Maintet, and those who want can also take a master class from Jorge Mendes and Cecilia Masses.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will release its first citrus production forecast for Floridas 2017-2018 Thursday after Hurricane Irma swept the Sunshine State more than a month ago, wiping away a majority of its treasured crop.

Initial reports indicated that 50-70% of citrus crops have been washed away due to the storm.

Floridas Department of Citrus told FOX Business that farmers across the state are reporting anywhere from 30-70% crop loss over the last few weeks.

Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus, said that the Florida Citrus industry as a whole has taken a heavy hit this hurricane season.

Before the hurricane, we were expecting more than 75 million boxes of oranges on the trees this season. Sadly, thats no longer the case. This may, temporarily, mean less Florida Orange Juice on grocery store shelves and a corresponding price increase, she said, without elaborating on how much the price hike will be.

Yet, Floridas Department of Citrus says despite the massive setback and soon-to-be price jumps, it is confident that no shortages will happen.
Ucoms mobile customers will benefit from the best internet roaming rate of 8 AMD/MB when travelling to Georgia, Egypt or the UAE

Ameriabank Launches Google Pay and Google Wallet Support for Card Users in Armenia

Karen Vardanyan donated 112 million drams for the medical equipment for National Center for Infectious Diseases.

UCOM HAS INTRODUCED FUTURE NETWORK WI-FI 6E ROUTERS

Google Ad

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

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Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

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
It's hard to satisfy investors -- even a strong performance can just lead us to want more. Case in point: Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). Though the healthcare giant's stock has posted a solid double-digit percentage gain during the year -- outperforming the broader market -- in the past three months, it has essentially stalled.

So shareholders are hoping that when J&J releases its third-quarter financial report on Oct. 17, it will offer some upbeat news that supports its fundamental growth story. And they're also looking for reassurance that the company's recent strategies are paying off.

Right now, those following the stock expect to hear that Q3 brought continued modest gains in revenue and earnings. Yet the bigger question will be what new opportunities J&J might be exploring that could accelerate its expansion in the years to come. Let's look more closely at the healthcare conglomerate's prospects, and what investors should expect from its pending financial report.

Stats on Johnson & Johnson

Can Johnson & Johnson surprise investors?

Investors have been guardedly hopeful that Johnson & Johnson will report earnings growth that was stronger than it had previously anticipated. Analysts' forecasts for Q3 have improved by about 1% in the past few months, and they've also boosted their expectations for 2017 and 2018. Yet is up just 1% since mid-July, and is trading with increased volatility.

Back in July, Johnson & Johnson's Q2 earnings report gave investors reason to be cautious. Weak results from its key pharmaceutical division included a decline in U.S. sales and a tepid 3% increase in its bottom line. Johnson & Johnson's medical device business picked up some of the slack, posting solid gains thanks largely to acquisitions. However, organic revenue from J&J's consumer business was down almost 1%, reflecting a retail environment in which growth has been hard to come by.

Johnson & Johnson hopes that its $30 billion acquisition of Actelion will start to pay off in the near future. That price left many industry watchers feeling that J&J overpaid, but the move will add a pipeline of potential blockbusters to its already impressive arsenal of candidate treatments. Investors shouldn't expect huge initial contributions to the conglomerate's performance, but it did boost its guidance last quarter based on its outlook for Actelion.

Signs that J&J is getting more selective about where it deploys capital have also been encouraging. Last month, the company ended its partnership with Achillion Pharmaceuticals to develop a hepatitis C therapy. Given that its pharmaceutical rivals have already brought a number of new therapies to that market, and considering the shrinking opportunities for any future arrivals, Johnson & Johnson was wise not to chase a return on its sunk costs. With this decision, the company should save considerable amounts of money that it can use to better effect elsewhere.

In addition, simple changes in perception might turn investors more positive on the stock. Easier comparisons against year-earlier results will make growth rates appear to increase, and attacks from politicians in Washington over excessive drug prices have faded. Between the improving consumer environment, the potential for breakthroughs in research, and the possibility of new acquisitions, Johnson & Johnson has a lot going for it.

Investors will want to look closely at Johnson & Johnson's earnings report to see where it's focusing its attention. Despite its size, from the healthcare conglomerate needs to drill down on its best opportunities for growth. That way, it will be in a better position to capitalize on favorable conditions when they come.

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All four of the nation's biggest banks report earnings this week, kicking off a third-quarter earnings season that isn't expected to showcase any major increases or decreases in banks' bottom lines.

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) is slated to report earnings on Friday. Here's what investors can expect from the San Francisco, California-based bank.

Wells Fargo 3Q earnings preview

Wells Fargo is the only one of the four big banks to report earnings this week that analysts believe could see its bottom line drop compared to the year-ago period. The consensus estimate is for the nation's third biggest bank by assets to earn $1.03 per share, which is right in line with the year-ago period. However, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) think its earnings could actually drop to $1.00 per share, which is about 3% lower than the consensus.

KBW lowered its forecast for Wells Fargo's earnings recently, down from $1.01 per share, based on its expectations that the bank's net interest income could come in lower than originally expected as a result of decelerating loan growth.

Slower loan growth is expected to hit all banks, but it's anticipated that Wells Fargo will see the largest impact. Out of the big four banks, it's the only one that analysts at KBW believe will actually see loan growth tip into negative territory.

You can see this in the table below. It's anticipated that JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) will report that its loan portfolio grew by 5.5%, followed by Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) at 3.7% and 1.1%, respectively. Wells Fargo, meanwhile, is expected to see its loan portfolio contract by 0.5%.

This is an issue for banks because loans are the principal product they sell. Consequently, slower loan growth should translate into slower revenue growth.

The catalyst for the industrywide decline that is now in its fourth consecutive quarter appears to be uncertainty in the business community around tax and regulatory relief, which had been promised by Donald Trump on the presidential campaign trail last year, but which has yet to materialize. The net result is that owners and operators at businesses appear to be waiting to increase their investments, which would spur loan demand, until more clarity is offered around policymaking in the nation's capital.

Additionally, in Wells Fargo's case, the bank continues to deal with fallout from revelations last year that employees at its branches had been opening accounts for customers without customers' authorization for years. They did so to meet the bank's now-eliminated overly aggressive sales goals.

The impact on Wells Fargo's reputation has been significant, though the actual cost of the scandal to date has been relatively small, adding up to a few hundred million dollars in legal fines and settlements.

Either way, the one-time industry darling has seen a throttling of the momentum it felt in the years after the financial crisis, which it emerged from in excellent shape thanks to its decision to steer clear of the most toxic corners of the subprime mortgage market during the housing bubble.

Given this, the most important thing that investors should watch for in Wells Fargo's third-quarter earnings is the bank's commentary around this issue. It's now been over a year since the illicit sales practices were revealed by regulators, which is just about the length of time that one would expect the bank to begin switching from defense to offense.

10 stocks we like better than Wells FargoWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

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John Maxfield owns shares of Bank of America and Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
What happened

Shares of Chico's FAS, Inc. (NYSE: CHS) were heading lower after Bank of America downgraded the upscale women's fashion retailer to "underperform" from "neutral." Analyst Lorraine Hutchinson said the company's earnings multiple was unwarranted.

The stock finished the day down 7.2%.

So what

Hutchinson noted the general malaise in the apparel retail industry, especially for mall-based outfits such as Chico's, and said the promotional activity was picking up ahead of the holiday season.

Like other apparel retailers, Chico's has struggled to overcome declining mall traffic and the broader shift in consumer shopping toward e-commerce. In its second-quarter report, the company said overall revenue declined 9% on an 8.4% drop in comparable sales. Still, the company is managing that decline better than many of its peers, as earnings per share rose modestly in the period.

Now what

It's not often that an analyst downgrade pushes a stock down 7%, but Hutchinson's downgrade seems to echo broader investor sentiment. Shares are down 45% this year, as the stock collapsed in the run-up to and following its first-quarter earnings report in May.

In the August report, CEO Shelley Broader said trends were improving in the third quarter, so investors may want to give the company another chance. At a P/E of just 11, the stock is affordably priced. However, there's no question that the challenges the industry is facing won't be easy to overcome.

10 stocks we like better than Chico's FASWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

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Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Alphabet's Waymo sought at least $1 billion in damages and a public apology from Uber Technologies as conditions for settling its high-profile trade secret lawsuit against the ride-services company, sources familiar with the proposal told Reuters.

The Waymo self-driving car unit also asked that an independent monitor be appointed to ensure Uber does not use Waymo technology in the future, the sources said.

Uber rejected those terms as non-starters, said the sources, who were not authorized to publicly discuss settlement talks. The precise dollar amount requested by Waymo and the exact time the offer was made could not be learned.

Waymo's tough negotiating stance, which has not been previously reported, reflects the company's confidence in its legal position after months of pretrial victories in a case which may help to determine who emerges in the forefront of the fast-growing field of self-driving cars.

The aggressive settlement demands also suggest that Waymo is not in a hurry to resolve the lawsuit, in part because of its value as a distraction for Uber leadership, said Elizabeth Rowe, a trade secret expert at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Waymo recently persuaded a San Francisco federal judge to delay a trial to decide the dispute from October to early December, citing the need to investigate evidence Uber had not disclosed earlier.

No further settlement talks are currently scheduled, the sources said. The judge overseeing the case mandated that the companies enter mediation with a court-appointed magistrate.

Amy Candido, a Waymo attorney, declined to comment on any settlement talks, but said the company's reasons for suing Uber are "pretty clear."

"Waymo had one goal: to stop Uber from using its trade secrets," she said. "That remains its goal."

An Uber spokesperson declined to comment.

DISRUPTIVE

Waymo sued Uber in February, claiming that former engineer Anthony Levandowski downloaded more than 14,000 confidential files before leaving to set up a self-driving truck company, called Otto, which Uber acquired soon after.

Uber denied using any of Waymo's trade secrets.

Waymo's lawsuit has been disruptive for Uber. U.S. District Judge William Alsup granted Waymo's request for a pretrial injunction in May, which prohibited Levandowski from working on Lidar, a key sensor technology for self-driving cars that is the crux of the current litigation.

Uber later fired Levandowski, regarded as a visionary in autonomous technology, after he refused to return Waymo documents at the heart of the case. Levandowski has asserted his constitutional right against self-incrimination and declined to answer questions from Waymo lawyers.

Meanwhile, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick stepped down as chief executive in June after allegations of widespread misconduct at the company became public. Kalanick has since become embroiled in a boardroom fight with fellow Uber investor Benchmark Capital.

Benchmark cited Waymo's allegations of trade secret theft in separate litigation aimed at forcing Kalanick off Uber's board. A Delaware judge put that lawsuit on hold and sent it to private arbitration.

On Sunday Oct. 1, the day before Kalanick was scheduled to give a deposition in the Waymo case, Kalanick's lawyers called Waymo and asked to postpone the deposition, lawyers for both companies said in court last week.

Kalanick's lawyers said he was in the middle of a fight to appoint new board members and was therefore too busy, Waymo attorneys said in court. Waymo refused the request, forcing Kalanick to attend the deposition.

DISTRACTING A COMPETITOR

Causing such distractions for a competitor are a clear benefit to Waymo, Rowe said. Uber has hired three law firms to litigate the case and devoted thousands of hours to probe Uber servers for Waymo confidential information.

"I'm counting all those as good reasons to keep the lawsuit going," Rowe said.

Waymo has estimated damages in the case at about $1.9 billion, according to court filings, which Uber disputes. Despite that figure and the big settlement demands, Waymo views winning a permanent injunction against Uber using any Waymo intellectual property as the main priority, another source familiar with the company's thinking said.

Much of the technical evidence in the case has been filed under seal, making it impossible for outside observers to independently assess the strength of each side's arguments. In court last week, Alsup said Uber's product was "dissimilar" from Waymo's.

Even if a jury finds that Uber stole Waymo trade secrets, Uber says in court filings that its engineers have designed around the Waymo technology at issue in the case. If that is true, that would lessen the impact on Uber in the event of a defeat in court.

Waymo is skeptical of Uber's claim, however. In a court filing on Monday, it requested an order forcing Uber to disclose its source code, or underlying software, for its Lidar products.

The Alphabet subsidiary said in the filing that it recently learned that former employees took Waymo source code when they went to work at Uber, "including software related to the 'brains' of the vehicle that determines how the car moves."

(Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Bill Rigby)
Austria is asking the European Court of Justice to declare planned highway tolls in Germany illegal, arguing that the charges discriminate based on nationality.

Austrian Transport Minister Jorg Leichtfried turned to the court on Thursday. He called the levies "a foreigners' toll" that the European Commission approved with its eyes "firmly closed."

The autobahn tolls are to take effect in 2019. All motorists would have to pay, but German taxpayers could file for refunds.

Under the plan, highway tolls would vary according to a vehicle's size and engine type.

The European Commission rejected an earlier version of the toll scheme on the same grounds Austria is citing in its court challenge. The commission approved an amended version that was intended to address its concerns.
Kobe Steels CEO said on Thursday the firms data-fabrication may have spread beyond Japan, as he was ordered by the government to report on how the misconduct occurred and address safety concerns that have sparked a scare along global supply chains.

Hiroya Kawasaki told reporters the cheating scandal has left Kobe Steels credibility at zero, underscoring the deepening crisis at the steelmaker and the sweep of quality problems besetting Japans once-vaunted manufacturing sector.

The credibility of Kobe Steel has plunged to zero. We will make efforts to regain trust as soon as possible, Kawasaki, 63, told reporters after meeting government officials.

A senior government official said managers at Kobe Steel were involved in fabricating data on products used in planes, trains and automobiles, but Kawasaki said his current priority is to deal with safety checks with its clients. The official did not elaborate.

The company has found possible further cases of tampering, the CEO said, including in overseas operations.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ordered Kobe Steel to report on the results of safety checks within about two weeks and the reasons for the tampering, along with prevention measures in under a month.

He said he was not expecting to see recalls of cars or airplanes for now and none of the companys customers have canceled orders. Kobe Steel has no plans to sell assets at the moment, Kawasaki said.

Shares in Kobe Steel stabilized on Thursday after investors, worried about the financial impact and potential legal fallout, wiped about $1.6 billion off its market value in two days.

The shares were up 0.9 percent by around 0424 GMT, compared with an 0.5 percent gain in the Nikkei 225.

The cost of insuring against default on Kobe Steels debt has risen sharply this week as the scandal unfolded. Five-year credit default swaps were at 57 basis points on Oct. 5 and last traded at 305 basis points on Wednesday. They were indicated at between 200 and 260 basis points on Thursday.

General Motors

In the U.S., General Motors (NYSE:GM) said it is checking whether its cars contain falsely certified parts or components sourced from Kobe Steel, the latest major automaker to be dragged into the widening scandal.

General Motors is aware of the reports of material deviation in Kobe Steel copper and aluminum products, spokesman Nick Richards told Reuters. We are investigating any potential impact and do not have any additional comments at this time

GM joins automakers including Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE:TM) and as many as 200 other companies that have received parts sourced from Kobe Steel.

The steelmaker admitted at the weekend it had falsified data about the quality of aluminum and copper products used in cars, aircraft, space rockets and defense equipment.

Late on Wednesday it said it had found 70 cases of tampering with data on materials used in optical disks and liquid crystal displays at its Kobelco Research Institute Inc, which makes and tests products for the company.

It also found one case of falsified data on iron powder products - material used for car parts such as gears - that were shipped to a customer.

The company has said it was examining possible data falsification going back 10 years - a familiar echo of a string of other cheating scandals involving Japan inc.

The corrosive business practices have raised broader questions over corporate governance in Japan, and cast doubt on the integrity of a manufacturing industry once the envy of the world.

Previous cases in Japan involving falsified data included Nissan Motor, Mitsubishi Motors and Takata, which filed for bankruptcy this year over faulty airbags that were blamed for 17 deaths and scores of injuries.

In 2015, it was revealed that Toyo Tire & Rubber fabricated data to secure government approval for materials to absorb shocks from earthquakes. Conglomerate Toshiba Corp is still battling the fallout of a scandal over reporting inflated profits.
Police detectives in New York City and London are taking a fresh look into sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein now that some 30 women have accused the Hollywood film producer of inappropriate conduct.

New York Police Department spokesman Peter Donald said Thursday that investigators are reviewing police files to see if anyone else reported being assaulted or harassed by him.

So far, no filed complaints have been found, he said, other than one well-known case that prompted an investigation in 2015, but authorities are encouraging anyone with information on Weinstein to contact the department.

London police were also looking into a claim it had received from the Merseyside force in northwest England, British media reported Thursday. Merseyside police said the allegation was made a day earlier and concerned "an alleged sexual assault in the London area in the 1980s."

Some 30 women  including actresses Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow  have spoken out recently to say Weinstein had sexually harassed or sexually assaulted them. Rose McGowan, who has long suggested that Weinstein sexually assaulted her, tweeted Thursday that "HW raped me."

The initials were an apparent reference to Weinstein, and The Hollywood Reporter said the actress confirmed to them that she was referring to the disgraced film mogul. The New York Times earlier reported that Weinstein paid a financial settlement of $100,000 to McGowan in 1997 over an incident in a hotel room at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

"Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein," Weinstein's representative Sallie Hofmeister said Thursday.

Weinstein was fired Sunday by The Weinstein Co., a studio he co-founded with his brother.

Some of the allegations involved conduct at hotels in Beverly Hills, but police there didn't return calls on whether they were investigating any possible crimes. The Los Angeles Police Department has no open investigations.

The Summit County Sheriff's Office, which shares a records system with Park City Police, had no reports or calls involving Weinstein or McGowan in the past 30 years, sheriff's spokesman Lt. Andrew Wright said.

Detectives in the NYPD's special victims unit were instructed to identify and speak with any potential victims, including the women who spoke about their encounters with Weinstein in a recent New Yorker article, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

In The New Yorker expose, a former actress, Lucia Evans, said Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex in 2004 when she was a college student.

At least one other unnamed woman said she was raped by Weinstein, but the article did not disclose when or where it happened. A third woman, actress Asia Argento, told the magazine that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 1997 at a hotel in France.

Under New York law, making someone engage in oral sex by physical force or the threat of it is a first-degree criminal sexual act. There's no legal time limit for bringing charges.

Weinstein, through a spokeswoman, has denied any nonconsensual sexual conduct with any women.

The media mogul has long been a major figure at the Academy Awards, where his films have regularly won Oscars.

He reappeared briefly on Wednesday outside a Los Angeles home, telling the paparazzi he's "not doing OK," but he's hoping for a "second chance," according to video posted by celebrity website TMZ. He also told the photographers he needs to "get help" and "we all make mistakes."

New York detectives already investigated Weinstein once, the 2015 probe when an Italian model said the studio executive grabbed her breasts and groped her. Detectives set up a sting where they recorded a conversation between the woman and Weinstein while he tried to persuade her to come into his hotel room.

"Why yesterday you touch my breast?" the 22-year-old asked on the recording, published by The New Yorker.

"Oh, please, I'm sorry, just come on in. I'm used to that. Come on. Please," Weinstein responded.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said prosecutors decided there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute the case.

"I, like they, were very disturbed by the contents of the tape," Vance said. "But at the end of the day we operate in a courtroom of law, not the court of public opinion. And our sex crime prosecutors made a determination that this was not going to be a provable case."

Police investigated that allegation as a case of forcible touching, a misdemeanor with a two-year time limit for bringing charges. The statute of limitations has since expired.

On Thursday, actress Kate Beckinsale recounted that she was 17 when Weinstein greeted her in his bathrobe. Years later, Beckinsale said, she met Weinstein again and he asked if he had tried anything at their first meeting. She said she realized "he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not."

The actress said she rejected several offers over the years to work with Weinstein, and he would often respond with anger, profanity and threats. She called for industry changes to be made to "stop allowing our young women to be sexual cannon fodder."

The Eastern branch of the Writers Guild of America pledged to take action to prevent future abuse, noting that "sexual harassment and assault have long been hallmarks of the entertainment industry."

Fallout from the numerous allegations against Weinstein, 65, continued Thursday, with the leaders of the Cannes film festival expressing dismay at the accusations.

"These actions point to a pattern of behavior that merits only the clearest and most unequivocal condemnation," said festival president Pierre Lescure and general delegate Thierry Fremaux.

Hachette Book Group, one of the country's top publishers, also announced it has "terminated" Weinstein Books.

___

Associated Press Film Writer Jake Coyle in New York and Associated Press Writer Michelle Price in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump pitched his tax plan as a boost for truckers at an event Wednesday in Pennsylvania, saying, "America first means putting American truckers first."

Trump appeared before about a thousand cheering people at an airplane hangar dramatically draped with American flags. Two big rigs were in the background.

"It will be rocket fuel for our economy," Trump said of a plan that would dramatically cut corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 20 percent, reduce the number of personal income tax brackets and boost the standard deduction.

Trump said a cut to business taxes would help truckers because there will be "more products to deliver and more contracts to fill." He also said his plan would benefit middle-class families by lowering rates, creating new jobs and making it easier for business owners to pass companies on to their children.

"So many people have come up to me and said give it to the middle class, give it to people who need it," Trump said.

Trump is diving back into the tax fight after weeks in which his attention has shifted to rapidly emerging crises  including the mass shooting in Las Vegas and the hurricane recovery effort in Puerto Rico  as well as dramas of his own making, such as his escalating feud with Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and public tension with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Taxes are the chief legislative priority for Republicans hungry for a major legislative achievement. With the 2018 campaign year looming, GOP lawmakers want something to show for their time as the majority party, and tax legislation remains their best hope.

Trump has left it up to Congress to fill in many specifics of his plan, which omits details such as the income levels for his new tax brackets. The outreach to truckers in Pennsylvania is an attempt to give a blue-collar appeal to a framework that outside tax analysts say would largely favor the wealthy.

About two-thirds of trucking firms are structured as small businesses in which the profits double as the owners' income, what's commonly known as "pass-through" companies, said Chris Spear, president of the American Trucking Associations.

The framework would cut the tax rate for these firms to 25 percent from 39.6 percent.

"It's pretty critical for our membership," Spear said.

But the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said few truckers would benefit from this preferential rate because the majority of truck drivers are employees rather than pass-through business owners, based on its analysis of Census data.

Republicans in Congress aren't solidly behind Trump, with some from high-tax states balking because the framework calls for eliminating the federal deduction for state and local taxes. That deduction is claimed by an estimated 44 million people and costs the government an estimated $1.3 trillion in lost revenue over 10 years.

Fractious Republican lawmakers, especially those from New York, New Jersey and California, are wary of the potential financial hit to their constituents. They contend repealing the deduction would subject people to being taxed twice.

"They need our votes" on the tax plan, said Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., a member of the group.

Discussions with House leaders on a possible compromise took place last week but are on hold, Collins and other lawmakers in the group said Wednesday. They said they were confident of a compromise.

Trump highlighted the tax plan's provisions aimed at encouraging international companies to bring back, or repatriate, cash that they've kept overseas. All told, there's more than $1 trillion in cash held abroad by S&P 500 companies, according to Deutsche Bank.

"We will totally eliminate the penalty on returning future earnings back to the United States and we will impose a one-time low tax on money currently parked overseas so it can be brought back home to America, where it belongs and where it can do its job," he said. He added that his Council of Economic Advisers estimates that the change, along with a lower tax rate, "would likely give the typical American household a $4,000 pay raise."

"Could be a lot more than that, too," he said.

The $4,000 in additional income estimate comes from a back of the envelope calculation by White House economics adviser Kevin Hassett based on companies returning 71 percent of their foreign profits over the course of eight years.

This estimate appears to assume that the returned profits would flow to workers in the form of higher wages. But many economists say much of it would likely be returned to investors in the form of stock dividends and buybacks.

___

By Catherine Lucy and Josh Boak. Marcy Gordon and Jill Colvin contributed to this report.
The Trump administration announced its intention to withdraw from UNESCO on Thursday, the United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organization, due to mounting debts and a perceived anti-Israel bias.

The United States cut payments to the organization in 2011 when it admitted Palestine as a member, pursuant to laws dating back to the early 1990s. At the time, the U.S. contributed about $80 million, or 22%, of the groups budget, while Israel, which also cut off funding, gave about 3%.

The United States has participated as a member of UNESCO in the years since, however it lost its right to vote after two years of failing to fulfill payment obligations.

U.S. debts have surpassed $500 million, according to a Foreign Policy study released on Wednesday.

The U.S. is not the only major global power that has not paid its dues to the United Nations-sponsored group. Britain, Japan and Brazil have all yet to pay their financial obligations for the current year, according to Reuters. Behind the United States, Japan is the second-largest contributor to the United Nations overall funding, at nearly 10% of its complete budget. It is also one of the largest contributors to UNESCO.

The U.K. is the fifth largest contributor to the U.N.s overall budget at more than 4%, followed by Brazil at more than 3.8%.
During President Trumps speech at a rally in Harrisburg, Pa. he touted a one-time tax holiday as part of his overall tax plan. National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn weighed in on the tax holiday telling the FOX Business Networks Stuart Varney on Varney & Co., What the president was talking about last night which is something very important, it's a catch up for the money thats still offshore. So the president is going to force companies to bring that money back to the United States so it can be spent and invested in the United States.

When Varney asked how much of the $2.5 trillion U.S. companies have parked overseas the administration realistically hopes to repatriate, Cohn responded, Well Stuart, its all coming back because were going to deem it. In the rules that were writing were going to force you to pay the tax on it whether you bring it back or not, were going to have deemed that you brought it back.

Varney questioned the strategy, asking, Thats kind of strong-arm tactics, Mr. Cohn, isnt it?

Cohn explained Well, were leveling the playing field, were going from a worldwide system to a territorial system.

According to Cohn, the administration sees the tax plan as paying for itself with the potential boost to the economy.

We know what a 1% growth does to GDP. We know thats about $3 trillion, so if people are scoring this as a $1.5 trillion deficit, 0.5% will pay for it.
Harvey Weinstein was spotted at his lawyer's office Wednesday afternoon holding up his two middle fingers as he was photographed entering the building. The disgraced movie exec then jetted off to Arizona for rehab.

The Daily Mail published images of Weinstein holding up his middle fingers, as a TMZ report surfaced claiming that Weinstein took off in a private jet Wednesday evening from Van Nuys Airport bound for Wickenburg, Arizona. The outlet noted that the destination is very close to the Meadows rehab center, which is uniquely equipped to deal with sex addiction issues, but theres no word yet on specifically where the 65-year-old will receive treatment.

Previous reports indicated that he was going to leave the country for treatment amid recent revelations that hed been using his position of power within The Weinstein Company to sexually proposition, harass and assault women in show business. However, TMZ reports that those plans were scrapped as his team wanted him to receive inpatient treatment within the country.

Weinstein was caught by papparazzi outside his daughter's house on Wednesday afternoon and he stated he was "not doing OK."

"I gotta get help guys," he told the paparazzi as he got into a car. "You know what? We all make mistakes -- second chance, I hope."

He then took a jab at Hollywood A-listers, many of whom have turned on him in recent days.

"And you know what? I've always been loyal to you guys," he told the photographers, adding "not like those f--king pricks who treat you like s--t. I've been the good guy."



In addition to the firestorm of negative press surrounding Weinstein, his wife of 10 years, Georgina Chapman, announced that shes leaving him on Wednesday.

My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband. Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time, her statement to People read.
Actor Matt Damon appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Tuesday night and remained silent on the reports that he helped cover up a story about disgraced producer Harvey Weinsteins sexual misconduct years ago.

Damon crashed Kimmels interview with Chris Hemsworth, who was on the show to promote his new film Thor: Ragnorak.

Kimmel, who has a fake feud with The Martian actor, said, Its the mighty Thor not the muddy bore, so maybe take a walk!

Hemsworth joked along and insisted he did not ask Damon to accompany him in the interview.

I mean, Im friends with him, but 

Why are you friends with him? Kimmel asked.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN ACCUSED OF RAPING 3 WOMEN, SEXUALLY HARASSING GWYNETH PALTROW, ANGELINA JOLIE

I feel sorry for him, Hemsworth said. He has nothing; he has nothing. I saw a friend in need and I just thought to extend a handshake.

Kimmel did not ask Damon any questions regarding Weinstein or the allegations.

The segment aired hours after Damon came forward to address reports that he helped cover up a story about Weinstein.

Sharon Waxman, former New York Times writer and current CEO and editor-in-chief of TheWrap, was working on an article for the Times in 2004 that traced sexual misconduct allegations to Weinstein.

Waxman claimed Fabrizio Lombardo, Miramax Italys head in 2004, was there to ensure women were available to Weinstein at all times. The story was shot down to remove any mention of sexual misconduct after associates of Weinstein, which reportedly included Damon and Russell Crowe, called to vouch for Lombardo at the behest of Weinstein.

My recollection was that it was about a one-minute phone call. Harvey had called me and said, theyre writing a story about Fabrizio, who I knew from The Talented Mr. Ripley. He has organized our premiere in Italy and so I knew him in a professional capacity and Id had dinner at his house, Damon told Deadline.

Harvey said, 'Sharon Waxman is writing a story about Fabrizio and its really negative. Can you just call and tell her what your experience with Fabrizio was?' So I did, and thats what I said to her. It didnt even make the piece that she wrote.

HILARIE BURTON: BEN AFFLECK GROPED ME ON TRL WHEN I WAS A KID

Damon said he was not aware of the content of the story he was commenting on and affirmed he was not among the number of celebrities claiming they knew about Weinsteins actions prior to the expose by the New York Times and The New Yorker.

"I did five or six movies with Harvey. I never saw this. I think a lot of actors have come out and said, everybodys saying we all knew. Thats not true," Damon told Deadline. "This type of predation happens behind closed doors, and out of public view. If there was ever an event that I was at and Harvey was doing this kind of thing and I didnt see it, then I am so deeply sorry, because I would have stopped it."

Last week, The New York Times reported Weinstein had paid off women who accused the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment for decades. On Tuesday, the New Yorker released its own expose of Weinstein that included three accusations of rape.

A number of actresses, including Hollywood A-list stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, have accused the disgraced producer of inappropriate behavior.
Thursday nights episode of the TV comedy series "Great News," which revolves around the staff of a cable-news show, tackles sexual harassment in the workplace by a network executive.

But the episode's storyline seems to bear similarities to the real-life Harvey Weinstein scandal playing out in Hollywood.

In the TV version, however, the gender roles are flipped, with Tina Fey starring as Diana St. Tropez, a boss who sexually harasses men and women following her promotion to head the company, Deadline reported.

In the episode, a rising young producer is faced with dilemma about whether to come forward regarding St. Tropezs inappropriate behavior, USA Today reported.

The show draws similarities to bombshell reports by the New York Times and the New Yorker magazine, accusing Hollywood executive Weinstein of sexually harassing women.

But NBC, the network that airs "Great News," says the plot of its show is nothing more than a coincidence with the Weinstein scandal, given the fact that the episode was written last summer and never mentions Weinstein, USA Today reported.

The episode title, Honeypot! however, was referenced in the New Yorkers report on Weinstein. The term referred to the 65-year-old executives assistants who would attend a meeting, then leave Weinstein alone with a woman, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Fey's old show, "30 Rock," made a crack about Weinstein in a 2012 episode, when Jenna (Jane Krakowski) said she turned down intercourse with Harvey Weinstein on no less than three occasions."

Weinstein plans to undergo rehab in Arizona, TMZ reported.
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain bashed Hillary Clinton on Twitter Wednesday calling her interview on CNN about Harvey Weinstein uninspiring, shameful and disingenuous.

The Parts Unknown host is dating actress Asia Argento, one of the women who came forward and accused Weinstein of raping her. Bourdain tweeted his praise and support of his girlfriend on Tuesday, stating he was proud and honored to know you.

Clinton appeared on Fareed Zakarias CNN show Wednesday and addressed the Weinsteins allegations. Weinstein has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Clinton Foundation and contributed $46,350 to her 2016 presidential campaign.

ASIA ARGENTOS BOYFRIEND ANTHONY BOURDAIN SPEAKS OUT FOLLOWING HARVEY WEINSTEIN RAPE ACCUSATION

I was  I was just sick, Clinton told Zakaria. I was shocked. I was appalled. And, you know, like so many people whove come forward and spoken out, this was a different side of a person who I and many others had known in the past.

Clinton told Zakaria she was not aware of Weinsteins actions.

"I certainly didn't, and I don't know who did. But I can only speak for myself, and I think I speak for many others who knew him primarily through politics," Clinton said.

Weinstein and his family have given more than one million dollars in political contributions to Democratic lawmakers, candidates and their allies, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics reported.

Clinton said she would donate the money she was given by Weinstein to charity.

Bourdain took to Twitter to share his thoughts in a series of tweets.

And I have to say, Hillary's interview with Fareed Zakaria was shameful in its deflection and its disingenuousness, Bourdain tweeted.

Know what Hillary Clinton is NOT? Shes not stupid. Or unsophisticated about the world. The Weinstein stories had been out there for years, Bourdain continued.

He added, "Secretary Clinton was one of the most intelligent, well prepared, well briefed politicians ever. So, yes. Id hoped for a better response."

HILLARY CLINTON BREAKS SILENCE ON HARVEY WEINSTEIN: I WAS SHOCKED AND APPALLED

However, Bourdain, whose show is broadcasted on CNN, also tweeted he admired Clinton but felt the interview was a real disappointment. He also reiterated that Clinton was not responsible for anything Weinstein has done.

"I can assure you that the victims of Mr. Weinstein's three decades of predatory behavior are disappointed too. I'm sitting next to one, Bourdain said of his girlfriend, Argento.

Bourdain concluded: This Weinstein story is deeply personal to me -- and far far far more personal and painful to people I love and people I care about.

While the former Democratic presidential nominee did not respond to Bourdain, her former campaign spokesman Brian Fallon did, inviting the TV chef to "eat a scorpion."

Clinton was criticized earlier this week for remaining silent following the expose released by The New York Times last week that claimed Weinstein had settled sexual harassment lawsuits with at least eight women. The New Yorker followed up Tuesday with more allegations.

Clinton released a statement through her spokesman Nick Merrill on Twitter Tuesday following the New Yorkers bombshell report.

I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein," she stated. "The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Harvey Weinstein is being investigated by police in New York and Londn for alleged incidents of sexual assault.

In New York, police are looking into a 2004 incident, and the NYPD is are searching for anyone who may have been victimized by the movie exec, an NYPD spokesperson told Fox News on Thursday.

Based on information referenced in published news reports the NYPD is conducting a review to determine if there are any additional complaints relating to the Harvey Weinstein matter," stated J. Peter Donald, of the NYPD's DCPI. "No filed complaints have been identified as of this time and as always, the NYPD encourages anyone who may have information pertaining to this matter to call the CrimeStoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Meanwhile, London's Metropolitan police force said it had received an allegation of sexual assault from the Merseyside force in northwest England.

Merseyside police says the allegation was made Wednesday and concerns "an alleged sexual assault in the London area in the 1980s."

In recent days, women have been speaking out to accuse the former Miramax exec of sexual assault, rape and harassment.

I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont.Hes a big guy. He overpowered me  Lucia Evans

Among the allegations is Lucia Evans, who claims she met Weinstein in New York in 2004 while she was a college student. She told the New Yorker she first encountered the mogul at the club Cipriani Upstairs and later went to a meeting at his office with the promise of being in one of his films.



Evans claims that Weinstein quickly became aggressive towards her, forcing her to perform oral sex on him.



I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont.Hes a big guy. He overpowered me, the 34 year old told the New Yorker.

The NYPD is investigating an allegation of sex assault from 2004," the NYPD told Fox News.

New York State does not have a statute of limitations against sex crimes.

The Hollywood Reporter claims Weinstein has retained criminal defense attorney Blair Berk. Berk has not return Fox News' request for comment.
French actress Florence Darel is the latest to lay claims of sexual harassment on disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

The star came forward about an event that she says happened in the 1990s that saw Weinstein relentlessly proposition her for sex while his wife at the time, Eve Chilton, was in the next hotel room over.

I was in shock. I was in shock, the star , 49, told People. I was astonished. When you have someone so physically disgusting in front of you, continuing and continuing as though this was all perfectly normal What happened to me may not be illegal, but it was inappropriate. Very inappropriate.

The star elaborated on her encounter with Weinstein in the French publication, Le Parisien, in which she alleges that the Hollywood mogul repeatedly called her to meet with him when her career was on the rise. She suspected he wanted more than a business meeting, and even went as far as to fake a relationship to avoid potential advances. In 1995, she says he put in a call to her at her parents house in France and asked her to meet. Feeling pressure from her agent, she agreed to the meeting, which she says started off normal and professional.

He started to tell me that he found me very attractive and wanted to have relations with me, Darel told the French-language publication. I told him I was very in love with my companion. He replied that didnt bother him at all and offered to have me be his mistress a few days a year. That way we could continue to work together. Basically, it was If you want to continue in America, you have to go through me.

Weinstein and Chilton divorced in 2004. In 2007, he married Georgina Chapman, who announced that she was leaving him soon after allegations about sexual assault surfaced.

The star went on to explain that she was able to then leave the meeting, but that there was nothing to be done about it as he hadnt broken any laws.

Darel is the latest in a slew of women who have come forward to share their story about Weinstein. Following allegations of abuse that surfaced in exposes by The New York Times and The New Yorker, stars such as Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cara Delevingne and many more have come forward with stories of their own about the 65-year-old producers misconduct.
Stars want the world to know that Harvey Weinstein isnt the only one.

As many women have come forward in recent days with claims the movie mogul sexually harassed or assaulted them, other stars are feeling empowered to share their stories of harassment in Hollywood, pointing out that there are other predators plaguing those in the industry.

Late Thursday, Amazon Studios President Roy Price was suspended after "Man in the High Castle" producer Isa Hackett accused him of repeatedly propositioning her during a company party in July 2015. Hackett, a married lesbian with children, told the Hollywood Reporter that Price told her she would "love my d--k" and at one point leaned close to her and loudly said, "anal sex!" in her ear.

Westworld actress Evan Rachel Wood is the latest to speak out about the culture in show business that allowed someone like Weinstein, who has been accused of using his position at the powerful Weinstein Company to harass and proposition women, to operate unchecked for so long. Wood shared a 15-minute video on her YouTube channel in which she freely discussed the allegations against Weinstein and shared advice on what she believes needs to change.

Speaking as a sexual assault survivor... what we should be doing is asking the right questions, talking about rape culture, talking about abuses of power, talking about the patriarchy and we should be viewing this as an opportunity to come together.

Wood has said in the past she was raped on two separate occasions by two different people. She has not named her attackers or clarified if they had Hollywood connections. The star spoke about the fears she believes many women feel about not being believed, retaliation from their perpetrators or traumatizing themselves again.

And she isnt the only star coming forward with non-Weinstein allegations in recent days.

Some Hollywood men have spoken out in recent days, proving women arent the only ones who have suffered in the industry. Both Terry Crews and James Van Der Beek alleged men in the industry mistreated them.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine star, Crews, posted a series of tweets earlier this week to reveal that a Hollywood executive, who he refused to name, once groped him at a party. He said he decided to let the incident go because he didnt want to risk ruining his career.

He knows who he is. But [sometimes you have to] wait & compare notes w/ others whove been victimized in order 2gain a position of strength, he wrote. I understand and empathize with those who have remained silent. But Harvey Weinstein is not the only perpetrator. Hollywood is not the only business were this happens, and to the [casualties] of this behavior - you are not alone. Hopefully, me coming forward with my story will deter a predator and encourage someone who feels hopeless.

On Tuesday, Dawsons Creek star James Van Der Beek followed suit and posted a Twitter thread explaining that he too is no stranger to feeling objectified by Hollywoods power dynamic and how difficult it is to come forward.

Ive had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men, Ive had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when i was much younger he wrote. I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness & inability to blow the whistle. Theres a power dynamic that feels impossible to overcome.

The question remains as to whether or not celebrities coming forward en masse will affect real change in, what many are calling, Hollywoods systemic sex abuse problem. However, many are optimistic in light of the public outcry surrounding Weinstein.

Scott Berkowitz, president of Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), which calls itself the largest anti-sexual violence organization in the country, likens the outpouring of stars coming forward with their own story to similar assault scandals such as at college universities.

They routinely thought that, because no one was reporting any assaults, that meant that their campus was completely safe and this wasnt happening. It wasnt until this problem started to be talked about and people started coming forward that the rush of people came. Theres safety in numbers, he told Fox News. The environment has changed. What were seeing is that the community, your friends and family are going to believe you. Theyre going to be welcoming and understanding and theres nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about. I know its hard to talk about, but dont be afraid. If youve experienced it, theres a good chance that somebody you know has experienced something similar.
Georgina Chapman, Harvey Weinsteins wife, announced this week that she is leaving the Hollywood producer, amid the fallout from reports detailing Weinsteins alleged sexual misconduct toward multiple women.

My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband. Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time, she told People in a statement Tuesday.

Chapman, 41, is an English former model who has done modelling work for Head and Shoulders, according to Metro.

Chapman founded the luxury brand Marchesa, which is known for its red carpet gowns, with design partner Keren Craig in 2004 -- the same year Chapman met Weinstein at a New York City party.

The couple began dating that year after the mogul left his wife, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Chapman and Weinstein later tied the knot in 2007. They have two children: 7-year-old India Pearl and 4-year-old Dashiell.

The Weinstein Company, among other film and television projects, produces Project Runway and Project Runway All Stars. Chapman has been a guest judge and regular judge, respectively, on the programs, and has also acted in movies produced by her husband, the report said.

Weinstein has also reportedly assisted in getting celebrities to wear Chapman's fashion label.

HARVEY WEINSTEINS WIFE GEORGINA CHAPMAN ANNOUNCES SHE IS LEAVING THE HOLLYWOOD MOGUL

When the scandal broke last week in the New York Times, Weinstein told Page Six that Chapman stands 100 percent behind me.

But by Tuesday Chapman announced she was leaving.

I support her decision, I am in counseling and perhaps, when I am better, we can rebuild. Over the last week, there has been a lot of pain for my family that I take responsibility for, the producer told People in a statement on Tuesday.

Weinstein later told Page Six on Wednesday, "I am profoundly devastated. I have lost my wife and kids, whom I love more than anything else."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This may never end.

Harvey Weinstein has another Hollywood actress claiming he sexually harassed her. Kate Beckinsale said her career suffered for rejecting Weinsteins advances when she was still a minor.

The 44-year-old star posted a lengthy note to Instagram detailing a story that she alleges took place when she was 17 years old.

That's right: 17.

She says she was invited to the Savoy Hotel for a meeting with Weinstein but was told to go to his room upon arrival.

He opened the door in his bathrobe. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him," she wrote. "After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed.

The stars account is in line with several others detailed recent exposes from The New York Times and The New Yorker in which several women have come forward with similar stories about the 65-year-old Hollywood mogul.

The plot thickens as she describes an occasion years later in which Weinstein asked her if he had tried anything when they first met.

I realized he couldnt remember if he had assaulted me or not, she wrote.

Beckinsale says that she rejected him professionally for many years, which often resulted in verbal tirades from Weinstein. She claims he would scream at her, call her a c--t and make threats. He allegedly would laughingly tell people that she lived to say no to him.

It speaks to the status quo in this business that I was aware that standing up for myself and saying no to things, while it did allow me to feel uncompromised in myself, undoubtedly harmed my career and was never something I felt supported by anyone other than my family.

The actress went on to share a story in which, sparked by her account of Weinsteins actions, a male friend warned a female actress about meeting with Weinstein. However, the male friend later received a call from Weinstein saying hed never be in another Miramax film after the actress allegedly began sleeping with Weinstein and had told him about the warning.

Lets stop allowing our young women to be sexual cannon fodder, and lets remember that Harvey is an emblem of a system that is sick, and that we have work to do, she concluded.
The lawyer who represented Al Gore in the Supreme Court case that decided the 2000 U.S. presidential election says Harvey Weinsteins company knew about his cash settlements in sexual harassment cases in 2015.

The disclosure by attorney David Boies, who says he represented Weinstein in contract negotiations in 2015, contradicts what the New York Times says the Weinstein Company told it Tuesday  that the company had no knowledge of such payments until this week.

According to a Times interview with Boies, the board of the Weinstein Company was told about three or four of the settlements that Weinstein negotiated with women.

The Hollywood production company that bears Weinsteins name fired him this week after disclosures of the payments and lurid allegations about the 65-year-olds past personal conduct.

Now, according to the Times, the company is not only reeling from the public disclosure of Weinsteins settlements and the allegations against him, but is embroiled in an internal struggle to determine whether other executives with the company responded appropriately to the matter.

In the wake of the scandal that erupted this week, Weinsteins wife has announced plans for a divorce, Hillary Clinton said she would donate to charity any campaign money she received from Weinstein, and stars such as Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow have added to the allegations of sexual harassment.

Reports said Weinsteins daughter described him as suicidal and depressed, and he was preparing to enter a rehab program in Arizona.
The owners of the New Mexico house that appeared on Breaking Bad have reached their "breaking" point, because they're sick of people tossing pizza on their roof.

The homeowners of the Albuquerque home that appeared in the popular AMC series reportedly endured years of people visiting their house and throwing pizza on the roof, mimicking a scene when drug kingpin Walter White angrily threw a pie on top of the garage.

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The also say many visitors attempting to steal a rock from the property as a souvenir.

Joanna Quintana, the daughter of the homeowner, told KOB4 on Tuesday she lost count of the tourists that come to the house.

"They feel the need to tell us to close our garage, get out of the picture, you know  tell us what to do on our own property," Quintana told the news station.

Frank Sandoval, who runs Breaking Bad RV Tours in the area, said hes taken pizza pies off the roof.

"We hear about it on a daily basis, so much so that we've gone up on the roof to pull pizzas down," Sandoval said.

Quintana said her mother has finally reached her breaking point, and is now installing a six-foot high iron fence to keep the unruly fans off the property.

"We feel like we can't leave because when we do, something happens and that's ridiculous," Quintana said, adding that visitors have already attempted to go around the construction to get a better picture.

Paul Siddell, who drove to the house from Tuscon, Ariz. just to see the former movie set , told KOB4 he enjoys seeing it in person.

"This is almost like this stuff really happened in these houses," he said.

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The house appeared in Breaking Bad as the Whites residence. The infamous pizza-throwing scene became such an issue for the homeowners that the show's creator, Vince Gilligan, begged fans in 2015 to stop recreating the scene.

Were hearing from her that folks are wandering onto her property and they are being rude to her when she comes out when she basically says to them, Youre on my property, Gilligan said on the Better Call Saul Insider podcast. And theyre throwing pizzas on [the] roof and stuff like that.

There is nothing original or funny or cool about throwing a pizza on this lady's roof," Gilligan said. "We love our fans, but we don't love those fans. I don't even consider them fans."
An environmental activism group based in Bellingham, Wash., is hoping its Cup Monster will scare Starbucks into using more sustainable drinkware.

Earlier this week, activists with Stand.earth arrived outside of GeekWire's annual summit at the Seattle Sheraton, where Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson had taken the stage to discuss Starbucks transition into a tech-savvy company at the annual GeekWire summit, GeekWire reports. The group was reportedly protesting the companys use of certain harder-to-recycle materials in its drink cups, and order to drive their point home, they brought along the aforementioned Cup Monster, which was cobbled together from used Starbucks cups.

STARBUCKS RELEASES CAMO CUPS IN HONOR OF VETERAN EMPLOYEES

If Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson is serious about transforming his company into a tech leader, he must first solve his companys biggest environmental liability: the 8,000 [plus] cups that go into landfills every minute of every day, said Stand.earth spokesperson Ross Hammond in a statement to GeekWire.

We hope Seattles tech leaders will join us in calling on Starbucks to stop serving 21st century coffee in a 20th century cup.

According to the Seattle Times, Starbucks cups contain a plastic lining on the inside, which prevents it from being easily recyclable in certain areas.

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Starbucks, however, has maintained that the cups are completely recyclable in many major cities including Seattle, Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington. D.C., but added that what is recyclable" is different from place to place in a statement obtained by Fox News.

In response to the most recent protest, a Starbucks spokesperson tells Fox News that Starbucks cups are some of the most recyclable in the industry," and that the company is proud if its initiatives to develop a greener cup.

"Since 2006, our hot cups have contained 10 percent post-consumer fiber  its the first of its kind approved by the U.S. FDA. This year, we replaced our hot cup lids so they can be recycled in more communities. We also have offered a cup discount since 1985 and spent millions to encourage reusable mugs and tumblers since 1985.

"Its important to note that what is recyclable varies significantly by municipality and sometimes even by store. We pay local private haulers across the country to collect and recycle hot cups along with our other recyclable products, compost and trash. We can always do better and we certainly encourage efforts to convince others across the industry and communities to work together towards a solution," writes Starbucks in its statement.

This isn't the first time Stand.earth has utilized its Cup Monster to taunt Starbucks. In March, the group brought the creation to the company's annual shareholders meeting at the Seattle Center, reports The Seattle Times.

At the time, Todd Paglia, the executive director of Stand.earth, told Seattles KOMO news that Starbucks agreed to develop a completely recyclable cup back in 2008, but never did so.

"They can't be recycled, and that costs the world a million trees every single year, said Paglia, whose Stand.earth organization has rallyied against the coffee chain's choice of cups in the past.

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The Seattle Times reports that Paglia attended the question-and-answer portion of the Starbucks shareholders meeting in March, where he was invited by Johnson to discuss his concerns at another time.

The group had originally planned to construct a 90-foot-tall coffee wall outside the shareholders meeting in March as well, but police stopped them, according to KOMO.
Americas worsening opioid epidemic is prompting calls for a serious look at a form of therapy some people say helped them overcome their addiction when all else failed.

The treatment revolves around ibogaine, a plant-derived substance that long has been used in African shamanistic rituals but which is not recognized as bona fide medicine in most of the world.

With ibogaine illegal in the U.S., a number of Americans with opioid addictions travel to other countries, often Canada or Mexico, where it is legal and unregulated, for ibogaine.

Many who have received ibogaine treatment say they stopped feeling a desire for opioids and, in some cases, even drinking or smoking.

Also noticeably different from other anti-addiction treatments is the fact that ibogaine usually causes an intense psychedelic experience that can last from a few hours to a couple of days.

That, many experts agree, is what has made the substance so controversial.

There was tremendous reaction against any drug that affected perception or behavior, said Gary Rudnick, a professor of pharmacology at Yale University, who has studied ibogaine and serotonin. It was classified by the DEA as a Schedule I drug, which means it has no medical use. It had a huge stigma.

A lot of serious psychiatrists who wanted to use drugs  like ecstasy  to augment psychiatric treatment were shot down brutally. They could not get support or funding.

To be sure, ibogaine has triggered seizures and heart-related complications. Reports that mention those side effects link them to possible underlying heart conditions or taking an excessive amount of the substance.

All drugs have targets that theyre designed for, Rudnick said. The best drugs dont interact with other molecules in the cell that theyre not designed for. Ibogaine is on the other end of the scale  it interacts with lots of other proteins, some of them are pretty important ones. Its a really dirty drug, its not very selective. Its hard to tease apart how its working.

Some ibogaine treatment facilities outside the United States screen prospective patients for cardiac problems or other variables that would make them high-risk.

U.S. citizens who attribute their successful battle against opioid addiction to ibogaine, and medical and pharmacology experts who have seen or heard enough instances of its unparalleled effects on combating cravings for the drugs, say the U.S. government and drug industry should take a serious look at the substance through clinical trials.

Its seen as counterculture, said Dr. Kenneth Alper, professor of psychiatry and neurology at the New York University School of Medicine, and an expert on ibogaine. True innovation is sometimes opposed by people who have a stake in the status quo. Theres pressure toward intellectual conformity.

Alper, who in 1999 organized the first conference on ibogaine to be held in the United States, said he is not advocating for the use of the substance, but  echoing many experts  feels that it should undergo serious controlled studies to at least understand why it seems so effective.

Trevor Millar, who founded an ibogaine treatment center, Liberty Root, four years ago in Canada and has treated more than 250 people under medical supervision, says he plans to devote more of his time to pushing assertively for clinical trials.

Millar said that between half to three-quarters of his clients see a 100 percent detox from opioids.

Hes ready for battle, he said.

Pharmaceutical companies arent going to make a lot of money on something you give people once and they dont need again, Millar said.

Theyre not lining up to fund clinical trials. My life mission is to make sure clinical trials get done in Canada.

The National Institutes of Health, which funds research, looked into ibogaine in the early 1990s because of its promising qualities, but decided against clinical trials on the suggestion of a team of advisors it assembled.

In a statement to Fox News, the agency said: Anecdotal evidence suggested that ibogaine might be a potential interrupter for opiate, cocaine, and other types of drug addiction. ... While some members of the consultant group endorsed supporting the development project, most of the members did not endorse the idea. Based on this recommendation, [NIH] decided not to pursue the ibogaine development program.

Several years ago, NIH funded a preclinical study of a chemical that is derived from ibogaine and, thus far, seems to have its anti-addiction components without the risky ones. The chemical, known as 18-MC, may stand a better chance of overriding the resistance that ibogaine has met with because it does not appear to have the psychedelic effect that many say has stigmatized the plant-based substance.

As a candidate for drug development, in the United States, for sure, 18-MC is preferential, Alper said, adding that nonetheless, as with ibogaine, [NIH] has not funded further work.

Its been an amazing experience, he said. It was very uplifting. It gives people a great opportunity to start their life over again. I havent had a desire for painkillers since.  U.S. client of Canadian ibogaine clinic

And so, further development of 18-MC is stalled by lack of funding.

In a Wall Street Journal editorial last year, Alper noted: The NIH ... supports the development of medications to treat addiction with less than $100 million annually, while the cost of developing a single drug to final FDA approval can exceed $1 billion.

At no time, experts say, has it been more pressing than now  when the opioid epidemic is claiming tens of thousands of lives each year  to move with urgency toward substances that hold promise.

Its astounding to me that given whats happening in this country, were not close to a clinical trial or the development of new drugs, Alper said to Fox News.

Liberty Root has seen its share of U.S. citizens who have turned to it, desperate to fight their opioid addiction after failed attempts through conventional means. One-third of the 250 people who have been treated there are U.S. citizens.

One of those U.S. clients, a businessman who spoke to Fox News on condition of anonymity, said he had six hip replacements, and surgeries for 12 herniated discs after a 1993 accident involving a truck. One doctor told him he had never seen his degree of spinal cord damage, except on a corpse.

Like many doctors did before the scale of addiction risks of painkillers was better understood, his physicians liberally prescribed opioids, telling him that they simply would be a lifelong companion.

He tried tapering off the painkillers, he said, but went through hellish withdrawals. He tried rehabilitation centers, but experienced withdrawals that he said the staffs did not respond to adequately, and began opioids again after a short while.

Desperate, he embarked on an exhaustive search, with the help of a sympathetic U.S. physician, and learned about ibogaine. He went to Liberty Root, in Vancouver, where he stayed for 10 days. For the first time, he tapered off opioids without withdrawals, he said, and stayed off them.

Its been an amazing experience, he said. It was very uplifting. It gives people a great opportunity to start their life over again. I havent had a desire for painkillers since.

He said he also no longer has needed antidepression or anti-anxiety medication for conditions that arose from the stresses and pain after the accident.

After being treated with ibogaine, it was really miraculous and depression lifted, he said.

Another Liberty Root patient, a young woman from the state of Washington who had been on opioids and then heroin, using every day for four years, had a hard time in treatment, and for a few months afterward.

The woman, who asked not to be identified, said she and her husband  who was not on drugs and supported her as she struggled with her addiction  looked into ibogaine in the spring of 2014 after several unsuccessful rehabilitation facility stays.

They said it would be easier than it was, she said. The withdrawals I had were so bad, they thought it was because the heroin Id taken was laced with something like fentanyl.

For several months after she left treatment, she experienced insomnia, which she handled with melatonin.

But even with all that, she told Fox News, the most significant part of her ibogaine treatment is that she has stayed clean since then.

Once you get through [the withdrawal], youre completely fine, she said. Im enjoying my life now. I enjoy vacations. I have a healthy [baby] son. I want to make sure he never goes through what I did.

Millar, like others who are heartened by ibogaine's impact on addicts, says it is not a magic wand, nor does it work the same way for everyone.

Some people, he said, find they can sustain being clean without any formal assistance. Others, he said, might benefit from attending support group meetings after they stop using.

And as with any effort to fight addiction, it's crucial to get away from a toxic environment, notably sources of temptation.

Another U.S. citizen addicted to opioids who treated himself and his wife with ibogaine, which they obtained in Canada, and said it eliminated their dependence on the drugs, said even with the concerning factors, he hopes that what gave him a new lease on life gets studied and  in some safer form  developed for mass distribution.

Its better than certain death from opioid overdoses, he said.
A Florida doctor who was caught on video telling a woman Monday to get the hell out after she questioned her wait time is under criminal investigation.

The Gainesville Sun reported that Gainesville Police have opened a criminal investigation into Peter Gallogly, a doctor at Gainesville After-Hours Clinic, following the viral video.

WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE

Gainesville Police spokesman Ben Tobias confirmed to the media outlet that an investigation was pending.

Jessica Stipe, 38, posted the video of the incident on Facebook and wrote that she asked Gallogly how much longer she had to wait to be seen. Stipe said she made an appointment at 6:30 p.m. and by 7:45 p.m., she was still waiting.

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By 7:45 was not seen still in severe pain and throwing up in the trash can. All they had me do was pee in a cup to see if I'm pregnant, Stipe wrote.

The woman said she asked for her co-pay money back so she could rest at home but Gallogly became furious that she asked to be reimbursed. Her daughter caught the interaction on video.

The video showed Stipe asking for her money back and Gallogly telling her that she would be waiting longer if she had gone to an emergency room.

Are you kidding me? the doctor said. Weve already been working on you. Weve done a urine test on you. Ive seen you.

Stipe said she was miserable and wanted to go home before the doctor replied: Then fine. Get your money and get the hell out.

Stipes daughter, who was filming, was heard saying: Mom, I got it on video, it doesnt matter. Whats your name (doctor)?

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Gallogly appeared to grab the girls phone after she asked him the question. Stipe claimed the doctor also shoved her daughter.

However, Gallogly appeared to have a different story, the Miami Herald reported. The clinic posted a statement from Gallogly who apologized and told his side of the story.

Ms. Stipe had been increasingly belligerent and abusive to the office staff, cursing them and threatening them with violence, because she was unwell and had been waiting to be seen by me for more than an hour, Gallogly wrote.

I went to the front desk only because after Ms. Stipe received her refund, she refused to leave the office, and continued her abusive behavior towards staff.

At the end of the events, I most regrettably lost my temper, and spoke to the women in a most unprofessional manner, Gallogly continued. I make no excuses for my unacceptable behavior. But please appreciate that the video is but the last minute or two of a very abusive tirade against my office staff by the two women.
Detroit police were finishing up a call for a felonious assault when a woman in labor flagged them down from her porch nearby. Katie Schoetzow had been in labor for nearly 24 hours and had sent her midwife home, expecting that her baby would not come until the next morning, Fox 2 Detroit reported.

Our midwife had gone home, we were planning on just sleeping through the night, Schoetzow, whose first childs birth took even longer, told the news outlet. And it hit us pretty hard.

Schoetzow and her partner, Gunnar, had moved to their front porch after it grew too hot inside the house, and called over to the officers who were headed back to their patrol cars.

BILLBOARD FEATURING CHEMO BELL TO RING EVERY TIME CHILD FINISHES TREATMENT

The one woman police officer kind of asserted herself a little bit, Gunnar told the news outlet.

The couple said the officers body camera captured the birth of Olympia Groesbeck, who weighed six pounds, 4 ounces.

Theres a page in the baby book that says who was present at your birth, Schoetzow said. Most say, My grandma was there, my aunt was there, my midwife. Nope, that would be eight strangers in police uniforms helping you be born into this world.

While the officers were not identified, Police Chief James Craig applauded their efforts.

It doesnt happen every day that a police officer gets to deliver a baby, he told Fox 2 Detroit. Our female officer was actually the receiver of this new baby, a healthy baby girl, so we just want to applaud the officers for a job well done.
From the runway to the red carpet, animal fur products from Gucci are set to be a thing of the past.

The storied Italian fashion house announced on Oct. 11 that it will no longer use, promote, or publicize animal fur in its collections beginning with its Spring 2018 line, CEO Marco Bizzarri said.

Gucci further confirmed it will be joining the Fur Free Alliance in addition, and was supported by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in the decision.

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"Being socially responsible is one of Gucci's core values, and we will continue to strive to do better for the environment and animals," Bizarri said at the London College of Fashion. "With the help of HSUS and LAV, Gucci is excited to take this next step and hopes it will help inspire innovation and raise awareness, changing the luxury fashion industry for the better."

Technology is now available that means you dont need to use fur. The alternatives are luxurious. There is just no need, the CEO divulged to Vogue UK.

The luxury brand, valued at $12.7 billion by Forbes, is banning the use of mink, coyote, raccoon dog, fox, rabbit, and karakul, as well as all others species "specially bred or caught for fur," according to a press release.

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Nevertheless, the Humane Society called Guccis pledge a "huge game-changer" for the fashion world. The fashion house is in good company, joining leading brands Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Yoox Net-a-Porter and Stella McCartney in the crusade.

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Naturally, PETA lauded the news, with a congratulatory message on Twitter.

Moving forward, the brand will waste no time capitalizing on old fur items in its inventory. Gucci is set to auction off any remaining fur items with proceeds to benefit the Humane Society and the Italy-based animal-rights organization LAV.
Chip and Joannas new Target home goods brand, Hearth and Hand with Magnolia, doesnt hit shelves until November 5, but the retailer just released a sneak peek of the highly-anticipated collection.

Coming just in time for the holiday season, the Fixer Upper couples Hearth and Hand line features over 300 affordable pieces, including tabletop, home decor and giftable items that reflect a modern take on Magnolias signature aesthetic with modern, classic, industrial and vintage touches, Target described in a blog post announcing the items last month. And the best part? Most of the items are under $30.

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Joanna said the items were inspired by moments that bring families together. The idea that we can help make someones home feel even more lovely and inviting for the holidays and beyond is something really special, she told Target.

Not everyone was excited when news broke about the collaboration between the Gaineses and Target. The conservative Christian couple was blasted on social media for choosing to partner with Target because of the store's liberal-leaning views, especially their transgender bathroom policy.

Last year the retailer announced that transgender people can use the bathrooms and fitting rooms that best align with their gender identity, which many argue is against Christian values.

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In a blog post, Chip Gaines shared his excitement for their new partnership with Target. Despite our initial insecurities about partnering with a large retailer, Target has exceeded our expectations every step of the way, he wrote. With our friends, our family and with the people we do business with, we are serious about continually finding common ground. We are thankful to get to work side by side with the people at Target.
There was always a basic problem with the so-called Iran nuclear deal inked back in 2015 that was never going to be resolved: Washington and Tehran have vastly different interests across the Middle East. It was never going to be easy to somehow compartmentalize the relationship, to in some way come to terms over Irans nuclear program but not resolve countless other issues that have always driven these two nations apart. And it could someday tear the deal to shreds.

But sheer necessity dictates that now is not the time for such an action. In fact, I would argue a move by President Trump to decertify the agreement is against Americas national interests.

To be brutally honest, The Islamic Republic of Iran is no friend of the United Statesperiod. Its regional aspirations are nothing short of an attempt to become the dominant power in the Middle East and displace America from the region. The regime is a state-sponsor of terror that will use whatever brutal and violent means it can to achieve its objectives. And its no secret that Iran is a human rights-abuser of the worst kind, even working with fellow pariah-state North Korea to develop advanced missile platforms that could someday target U.S. forces in the region.

But the deal that President Obama made with Tehran back in 2015wrinkles and allis worth keeping for a very pragmatic, realistic reason: the Trump Administration has much bigger problems on its plate.

Decertifying the deal nowwith the danger of Tehran building nuclear weapons that are now pushed out at least a decade or more under the dealwould take away much needed bandwidth from confronting much bigger challenges Team Trump must address that are of much more critical domestic and international importance. And considering the very real possibility that decertifying the deal could very well put both nations on the path towards potential conflictif Tehran attempts to make a run towards nuclear weapons, fearing an eventual U.S. move towards regime changePresident Trump must make the hard choice to stay the course.

I would identify five core problems Team Trump needs to tackle right nowall that could be in jeopardy of being marginalized if tensions with Iran were to come to a head thanks to decertification. These include:

A Stalled Domestic Agenda: President Trump is unstoppable when he hammers away at his opponents on the issues that turned him from a 150/1 underdog to our nations 45th president. Americans voted for Donald Trump because he promised to end our illegal immigration crisis and secure the border, to repeal ObamaCare once and for all, to modernize the tax code and rebuild our badly neglected infrastructure. He needs to press ahead to enact that agendaperiod. A confrontation with Iran now could very well use up all the vital political capitol he will need to expend to make his promises the law of the land. And nothing could be more importantand go a long way to seeing him reelected. Getting mixed up in a crisis with Iran could doom this agendaforever.

North Korea: Now armed with nuclear weapons that our own military commanders are assuming have the capability to hit the U.S. homeland, North Korea is an existential threat President Trump needs to make his top foreign policy priority. There is nothing more importantnothing.

Any move to decertify the Iran deal will take away the momentum needed to confront this clear and present danger. The administration is already in the process of trying to build a global coalition to isolate Pyongyang economically, financially and diplomatically. Team Trump will also likely need to move more offensive military assets into Northeast Asia over the long-term, increase its missile defense capabilities in Asia and at home, as well as convince China to enforce all sanctions and bring the Kim regime to the bargaining table. A self-created crisis with Iran could very well endanger these efforts, and ensure North Korea is a nuclear weapons state for many years to come.

A Rising China: While the world might be rightly transfixed over the North Korea crisis, over the long-term, America will also need to formulate a grand strategy to deal with a rising China. Beijing now has the second largest economy in the world and a military machine to match. With Chinas President Xi Jinping pushing his nation's influence into all corners of Asia -- from parts of the former Soviet Union to essentially turning the South China Sea into its own Lake Beijing -- China is on the cusp of superpower status. With countless issues between us and a big presidential visit to Asia coming in the next few weeks, taking on Iran now would once again reinforce a narrative Asian diplomats here in Washington constantly repeat over and overthat Washington is slowly losing Asia to China and is obsessed with the Middle East.

ISIS: While defeat of the Islamic State seems a near certaintyand a national interest we share with Iranwe must keep our focus on destroying the caliphate as our number one objective in the Middle East. As the Islamic State morphs from dying nation-state into a terror network flung all over the globe, America must continue to press forward in making sure ISIS never regains any ground. Needlessly confronting Iran now would endanger such a goal.

Trade: President Trump was speaking truth to power when he argued that America needed fairer trade practices that put our nation's workers first. The administration is working hard to modernize NAFTA, partnering with Asian nations like South Korea and Vietnam to correct job-crushing trade imbalances, and potentially working towards new Free Trade Agreements with some of our closest allies like Japan. All of these goals will require a focused administration that will need to drive some very hard bargains, bargains that will take much time and energy. If Washington were to decertify the deal with Iran and a crisis were to ensue, not only would it have an impact on our Asian allies, but there simply might not be any political bandwidth to make these deals a reality.

Smart foreign policy is always keeping in mind prioritization, ensuring that Americas national interests are front and center. And that is the key promise President Trump madeto make America first again. And that means keeping America in the Iran deal.
In the movie "Forrest Gump," the vulnerable character Jenny is violently smacked by her unlikable and smug hippie boyfriend Wesley, the fictitious head of the Berkeleys Students for a Democratic Society. Thankfully Forrest, resplendent in full military dress and wearing his fresh Medal of Honor, intervenes and pummels Wesley, stopping the abuse. Wesley later half-apologizes to Jenny saying things got a little out of handits just this war, and that lying son of a bitch [President] Johnson!

Talk about misdirection! This scene came to mind when I read Harvey Weinsteins inane explanation on Thursday, October 5 of his past abuse of women. He had the temerity to blame shift away from his own behavior towait for itthe NRA. Perhaps I shouldnt be surprised as Hollywood liberals love to castigate Americas largest and oldest civil rights organization. But Harveys statement took the scapegoating to a new level. He wrote I am going to need a place to channel that anger so Ive decided Im going to give the NRA my full attention. I hope [NRA CEO] Wayne LaPierre will enjoy his retirement party.

What on earth does the NRA have to do with Weinstein's mistreatment of women?

Incredible. First, why, pray tell, do you have any right to be angry, Harvey? If myriad reports are credible, then at the least, you serially abused women psychologically and used your position of incredible Hollywood power to sexually harass them -- and perhaps even much worse. Second, what on earth does the NRA have to do with your mistreatment of women?

If anything, the NRA empowers women as it consistently defends their right to bear arms so that they are NOT victimized by male assailants who may use physical strength to abuse women. Its hard to exaggerate the hypocrisy of Weinstein in attacking the NRA as somehow germane to his personal problems.

To that point of hypocrisy, Chris Cox, the director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, told me the NRAs spent millions teaching safe and responsible gun ownership while Harveys made a fortune off of movies that many find grotesquely glamorize gun violence. At the same time, hes reportedly spent decades assaulting women and now he wants to lecture us about morality.

To be fair, Weinstein is hardly alone in this hypocrisy. Rosie ODonnell once said I dont care if you want to hunt. I dont care if you think its your rightyou are not allowed to have a gun. Shortly after this statement, her bodyguard applied for a concealed gun permit. More recently, Jimmy Kimmel has regularly scolded Americans who believe in the Second Amendment, and yet his show has reportedly ramped up its security detail of off-duty police, presumably armed.

Memo to Hollywood: tens of millions of working class Americans cannot afford professional security. They enthusiastically embrace their Constitutional right to bear armsfor protection, for sport, for collecting  and we neither need nor appreciate the condescension and disrespect from elites.

To Harvey Weinstein: like Wesley in Forrest Gump, your misdirection wont get you off the hook for your own misdeeds against real-life Jennys.
A day after she voiced her shock at sexual assault allegations against Hollywood producer and Democratic donor Harvey Weinstein, Hillary Clinton said she would donate Weinsteins political contributions to charity.

In an interview with CNN Wednesday, Clinton said it wasnt possible to donate her contributions from Weinstein back, but she would donate it to charity.

HILLARY CLINTON BREAKS SILENCE ON HARVEY WEINSTEIN: 'I WAS SHOCKED AND APPALLED'

"What other people are saying, what my former colleagues are saying, is they're going to donate it to charity, and of course I will do that," she said. "I give 10% of my income to charity every year, this will be part of that. There's no -- there's no doubt about it."

On Tuesday, Clinton said she was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein in a statement released on Twitter. The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior.

The former presidential candidate was questioned after she remained silent for five days after the accusations were reported in The New York Times last week.

OBAMAS SAY THEY'RE 'DISGUSTED' BY HARVEY WEINSTEIN ALLEGATIONS IN STATEMENT

Weinstein contributed $46,350 to Clinton during her 2016 presidential candidacy, as well as to HILLPAC, a committee Clinton used to support other Democrats while she was a senator, according to the Associated Press.

Weinstein has also donated to the Clinton Foundation. The foundation says on its official website that Weinstein gave in the range of $100,001 to $250,000 through June 2017.
President Trump Wednesday nominated White House Deputy Chief of Staff Kirstjen Nielsen to be the new Secretary of Homeland Security.

The White House said in its announcement that Nielsen "has extensive professional experience in the areas of homeland security policy and strategy, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and emergency management." She is also the first nominee for the position to have previously worked for DHS, they said.

If confirmed by the Senate, Nielsen would replace White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. Kelly served as Trump's DHS chief for just over six months before replacing Reince Priebus as chief of staff July 31.

Elaine Duke has been filling in as acting secretary in the meantime, leading the department through a series of back-to-back hurricanes, including one that devastated most of Puerto Rico. But she raised eyebrows when she described that storm's aftermath as a "good news story."

Nielsen would be the first former DHS staffer to lead the department, which was created by former President George W. Bush in 2003.

Nielsen had served as Kelly's deputy at DHS and followed him to the White House when he replaced Priebus. Her departure leaves Kelly looking to fill another crucial administrative vacancy.

Neilsen is an expert in homeland and national security policy. She previously worked as a special assistant to George W. Bush and for the Transportation Security Administration.

In a New York Times profile last month, Nielsen was described as "brusque" and "no-nonsense." The piece claimed that some in the administration had "chafed under a woman asserting power -- and made her a target for the anger that they can not express at [Kelly]."

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., the ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security, said in a statement he was pleased the president had made a decision on filling the post "after letting the critical national security position remain vacant as the nation faced multiple major hurricanes and a domestic terrorism attack."

But Thompson said he had questions about her background, including her past work for the Bush administration.

Fox News' John Roberts and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
With just 30 months to go before the Census Bureau kicks off its constitutionally mandated count of every living soul in America, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told House lawmakers on Thursday that the bureau needs $15.6 billion to get it done  $3 billion more than the cost in 2010.

Ross cited declining response rates, heightened privacy concerns, widespread mistrust of government and the integration of new IT infrastructure  the cracks in which Ross learned about soon after he assumed office.

Only two months into my tenure, the Census Bureau suddenly announced a 40 percent cost overrun in one component, Ross told House lawmakers. Namely, the Census Enterprise Data Collection and Processing.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a budget hawk, questioned why appropriators should increase the Census Bureaus budget when the agency has not reformed its troubled relationship with contractors and sub-contractors.

Of the IT systems that are out there, there's some 43 IT systems that need to be implemented, Meadows said. And yet today, only four have actually been fully implemented. Another 31 are only partially done and 18 have not been delivered in any form or fashion.

Georgia Republican Rep. Jody Hice, another Freedom Caucus member, asked about the bureaus cybersecurity measures.

In today's world, you can't be sure of anything in terms of cybersecurity, but I can assure you the systems we're putting in are far more robust than anything that has ever been done before in census, Ross said.

When Hice demanded to know how the secretary can be certain the new cyber-measures are the most robust in history, Ross cited conversations with the experts implementing it.

"Conversation is not enough to give us the assurance that this information is protected," Hice countered. "... Now we have cybersecurity promises, commitments, the most robust thing we've ever seen before. But it's simply based on conversation, not on tests."

Democrats were equally displeased with Rosss proposal, but for the opposite reason.

You're spending request of $187 million, I think it's a good start, said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. But I don't think it's good enough.

The complicated financial picture for the Census Bureau appeared more optimistic five months ago, when the Obama-era bureau director, now departed, appeared before House appropriators.

At the time, then-director John Thompson testified he was very confident they would achieve significant savings for the 2020 Census.

Fox News James Rosen contributed to this report.
Confusion reigned on Wednesday over the practicality of legally carrying a gun in Washington, D.C., even with a permit to do so as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) disputed a researcher's claim that total gun-free zones extend over most of the city.

John Lott, head of the Crime Prevention Research Center, said in a report that a provision in the city's gun-carry law creating a 1,000-foot gun-free zone around a number of public buildings, schools, parks, video arcades, youth centers, libraries, or public housing may apply to those with vaild gun-carry permits. "As we have previously noted, prohibiting concealed handguns within 1,000 feet of a school can in some states essentially amount to a concealed carry ban," Lott wrote in his report. "Technically, D.C. allows permitted concealed carry, but the law is written in such a way that it would ban permit holders from carrying in virtually the entire District. Even the 124 people who are legally permitted to carry are really currently banned from carrying virtually everywhere."

Lott said the legality of carrying in these areas hinges on the interpretation of a confusing section on exceptions to the gun-free zones in question. "The provisions of this section shall not apply to a person legally licensed to carry a firearm in the District of Columbia who lives or works within 1,000 feet of a gun-free zone," the code reads.

Lott said it's unclear who this section exempts from the disputed gun-free zones but "the most likely interpretation of the law is that you can carry in gun-free zones that include your home or business, but not in other gun-free zones that are spread across the District."

Lott created a map of the areas covered by the 1,000-foot gun-free zones combined with the other areas where guns are prohibited under the law like stadiums, anywhere that serves alcohol, hospitals, polling places, and elsewhere. In his estimation, the gun-free zones cover most of the city.

Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon.
The House of Representatives Thursday approved a $36.5 billion disaster aid package, which includes assistance for hurricane-hit Puerto Rico.

The vote took place hours after President Donald Trump warned on Twitter that the federal government "cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders ... in [Puerto Rico] forever!"

The bill passed 353-69, with all 69 "no" votes coming from Republicans. The package also includes assistance for those rebuilding after hurricanes in the Southeast and wildfires in the West. Congress is expected to approve at least three more bills in the coming months to cover natural disasters.

Forty-five deaths in Puerto Rico have been blamed on Maria, about 85 percent of Puerto Rico residents still lack electricity and the government says it hopes to have electricity restored completely by March.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the government needs to ensure that Puerto Rico can "begin to stand on its own two feet" and said the U.S. has "got to do more to help Puerto Rico rebuild its own economy." He planned to visit the island on Friday.

Both Trump and Vice President Mike Pence visited the island last week to offer the U.S. commitment to the island's recovery. But in a series of tweets Thursday morning, the president blamed Puerto Rico for its looming financial crisis and "a total lack of accountability." Trump added that "electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes."

The tweets conflicted with Trump's past statements on Puerto Rico. During an event last week honoring the heritage of Hispanics, for example, the president said, "We will be there all the time to help Puerto Rico recover, restore, rebuild."

Democrats said Trump's attacks were "shameful," given that the 3 million-plus U.S. citizens on Puerto Rico are confronting the kind of hardships that would draw howls of outrage if they affected a state. One-third of the island lacks clean running water and just 8 percent of its roads are passable, according to government statistics.

"It is shameful that President Trump is threatening to abandon these Americans when they most need the federal government's help," said House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

After years of economic challenges, Puerto Rico was already in the process of restructuring much of its $74 billion in debt before the hurricane struck. The financial situation is more complicated than Trump's tweets suggest.

Puerto Rico lost population and jobs after Congress eliminated special tax breaks in 2006, making it more difficult to repay its debts. Yet lenders continued to extend credit to Puerto Rico despite its economic struggles, while pension costs strained Puerto Rico's government and its infrastructure deteriorated.

The aid package approved Thursday sticks close to a White House request. For now, it ignores huge demands from the powerful Florida and Texas delegations, which together pressed for some $40 billion more.

A steady series of disasters could put 2017 on track to rival Hurricane Katrina and other 2005 storms as the most costly set of disasters ever. Katrina required about $110 billion in emergency appropriations.

The bill combines $18.7 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency with $16 billion to permit the financially troubled federal flood insurance program pay an influx of Harvey-related claims. An additional $577 million would pay for western firefighting efforts.

Up to $5 billion of the FEMA money could be used to help local governments remain functional as they endure unsustainable cash shortfalls in the aftermath of Maria, which has choked off revenues and strained resources.

"It's not easy when you're used to living in an American way of life, and then somebody tell you that you're going to be without power for six or eight months," said Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, who represents Puerto Rico as a nonvoting member of Congress. "It's not easy when you are continue to suffer  see the suffering of the people without food, without water, and actually living in a humanitarian crisis."

Fox News' Chad Pergram and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Few clues emerged from President Donald Trumps meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday about the uncertain future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"We're negotiating a NAFTA deal. It's time after all of these years and we'll see what happens. It's possible we won't be able to make a deal and it's possible that we will," Trump said.

Negotiations have struggled to gain momentum as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce cautioned that the Trump administrations impractical requests could harm the talks.

But despite the U.S. threatening to withdraw from the agreement thats been in effect since 1994, Trudeau remained optimistic that the U.S., Canada and Mexico can reach a "win-win-win" solution. Still, he said Canada would be "ready for anything."

The fourth round of NAFTA negotiations began Wednesday in Arlington, Va., and will continue through Tuesday.

NAFTA eliminated trade barriers between the U.S., Canada and Mexico to generate trade growth. But critics argue it also led to the downfall of U.S. manufacturing as companies moved across the southern border to take advantage of cheaper labor.

In order for the tri-lateral trade agreement to remain past its 23rd year, Trump has requested an increase in U.S auto production, more American companies securing government contracts in the NAFTA bloc, and for the agreement to be abolished altogether unless countries agree every few years to extend it. In addition, the administration is seeking eliminating dispute resolution processes.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue detailed some of the main issues with NAFTA, specifically where Canada is reaping more of the benefits than the U.S.

The irritants that we have are primarily with Canada over their dairy management supply program. They are overproducing, creating depressing world prices for milk solids, Perdue told FOX Business Trish Regan on The Intelligence Report. There is also a wine issue in British Columbia where they are not letting our wines out front where their customers can choose.

Perdue added that there are also issues with poultry access.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue called Trumps proposals poison pills for Canada and Mexico, which could result in the death of the agreement, Reuters reported.

Donohue co-chaired the U.S.-Mexico CEO conference Wednesday alongside Fedex Freight's CEO Michael Ducker. Guillermo Vogel, a steel company executive, co-chaired the event in Mexico, which included closed-door talks regarding NAFTA with Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and Economy Minister Idelfonso Guajardo, who are responsible for Mexicos involvement in the negotiations, Reuters reported.

Vogel emphasized the importance of negotiating a good deal, and told Reuters a bad agreement would be far worse than with no NAFTA, but recognized the end of the pact would be a lose-lose situation.

Farm groups and agricultural lobbies have urged the Trump administration to keep NAFTA, because if the U.S. were to leave the agreement, the agricultural industry would be slapped with potentially steep tariffs from Canada and Mexico.

If negotiations fail to reach a solution, Trump alluded to the possibility of having separate deals with Canada and Mexico.

It's possible we won't be able to reach a deal with one or the other. But in the meantime, we'll make a deal with one," the president said.

In addition, during an interview with Forbes magazine published Tuesday, Trump appeared to favor eliminating the deal and said he likes bilateral deals."

"I happen to think that NAFTA will have to be terminated if we're going to make it good. Otherwise, I believe you can't negotiate a good deal," Trump said.

Trudeau will head to Mexico on Thursday to continue talks regarding NAFTA.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Obama Foundation is taking an unconventional approach to the presidential center and library being planned in Chicago. It's opting to host a digital archive of President Barack Obama's records, but not keep his hard-copy manuscripts and letters and other documents onsite.

That means no thumbing through the ex-president's correspondence on the health care fight or first drafts of his State of the Union addresses.

The decision has historians scratching their heads.

All archivists are waiting to see how this will work, because we are all struggling with how to make things available digitally, Peggy Glowacki, a manuscripts librarian at the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago, told the Chicago Tribune.

The Tribune reported that while Obama's physical records are currently in a private facility in Illinois, they will likely be shipped to locations in and around Washington, D.C. One upside for organizers to keeping documents out of the presidential center, according to the report, is that officials could skirt certain federal standards for construction.

But the foundation is casting its approach as simply keeping pace with the times.

The foundations goal is to create, with NARA, a new model for the next generation of presidential centers that reflects the way people access information in this digital age, an Obama Foundation spokesperson told Fox News, referring to the National Archives and Records Administration. The Obama Foundation will be funding through private funds the digitization of all non-classified presidential records in order to help facilitate better access to these documents to a broader audience.

Presidential libraries typically attract historians and students from across the nation who are eager to sift through records, speeches, documents and letters.

But without the artifacts physically at the center, some experts have questioned the process.

I think in this case its such a massive amount of material that it will be important to see how they are able to deliver it and make it easy to search, Glowacki told the Tribune.

CLINTON, OBAMA RETURN TO PUBLIC EYE WITH NEW VENTURES

It will be at least four years until the Obama Presidential Center opens.

NARA told the Tribune that the classified documents from Obamas presidency will be stored in an existing facility in Washington, while the non-classified documents probably will be stored in a NARA facility outside the district.

The foundation reported in July that total fundraising for the Center amounted to at least $8 million toward the projected $500 million cost of the library-museum. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2021.

Planners for months have made clear that Obama's post-presidency project will be different from other presidential centers.

Back in May, Obama described it as more like a campus, with plans to position it as a premier institution for training young people in leadership.

Dean of William J. Clinton School of Public Service James "Skipp" Rutherford, who oversaw the development of the Clinton Presidential Library in Arkansas, told the Tribune the setup can still be valuable to researchers.

Heres how it will be attractive: through the forums, workshops and programs they conduct, Rutherford said, noting the presence of paper records is less important now.

But one presidential historian, Gil Troy, disagrees.

When you view the collection, you meet the people around the president, not just the president. That comes from being there, not just logging on, Troy told the Tribune.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.


Samantha Power, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is expected to be questioned on Capitol Hill on Friday by House investigators looking into the unmasking of Trump associates under the Obama administration, two sources close to the matter tell Fox News.

The questioning will happen behind closed doors, and will involve House Intelligence Committee investigators. Some lawmakers are expected to be present.

Power is among the Obama administration figures who made requests to identify Americans whose names surfaced in foreign intelligence reporting, known as unmasking.

As reported by Fox News last month, sources have said Power was unmasking at such a rapid pace in the final months of the Obama administration that she averaged more than one request for every working day in 2016.

SAMANTHA POWER SOUGHT TO UNMASK AMERICANS ON ALMOST DAILY BASIS, SOURCES SAY

Two sources, who were not authorized to speak on the record, said the requests exceeded 260 last year.

Last month, a Power spokesman provided this statement to Fox News challenging the claims:

"The anonymously sourced reports about Ambassador Powers intelligence requests are false. Ambassador Power looks forward to engaging the bipartisan Committee in the appropriate classified forum."

Three of the nation's intelligence agencies received subpoenas in May explicitly naming three top Obama administration officials: Former national security adviser Susan Rice, former CIA director John Brennan and Power.

Fox News Catherine Herridge, Chad Pergram and Bret Baier contributed to this report.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared a crisis Thursday over the surge in asylum claims being made by border crossers, blaming the Obama administration and saying the system is being gamed.

Sessions, speaking at the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review, took aim at policies that allow people to effectively get asylum if they claim to have a "credible fear" of returning home.

Sessions said the Obama administration expanded this by allowing many who passed an initial review to be released from custody into the U.S. pending a hearing. He said the claims, many of them false, are now skyrocketing.

The system is being gamed. There is no doubt about it. The credible fear process was intended to be a lifeline for persons facing serious persecution, Sessions said. But it has become an easy ticket to illegal entry into the United States.

Sessions revealed startling figures showing an overwhelming surge.

'The system is being gamed. There is no doubt about it.'  Attorney General Jeff Sessions

In 2009, he said, the Department of Homeland Security conducted more than 5,000 credible fear reviews. By 2016, that number rose to 94,000.

Sessions said the increase in claims has been especially pronounced and abused at the border. From 2009 to 2016, the credible fear claims at the border rose from approximately 3,000 cases to more than 69,000.

Sessions said, in total, the Executive Office for Immigration Review has more than 600,000 cases pendingtriple the number since 2009.

The previous Administration began to allow most aliens who passed an initial credible fear review to be released from custody into the United States pending a full hearing, Sessions said. These changesand case law that has expanded the concept of asylum well beyond Congressional intentcreated even more incentives for illegal aliens to come here and claim a fear of return.

Many of the previous requests were approved. Sessions noted that in their review, DHS found "credible fear" in 88 percent of cases.

This is a compassionate country  and lawfully admits more immigrants than any country in the world, Sessions said. But we must recognize that our generous system is being terribly abused.

Under U.S. policy, immigrants who have an actual, legitimate fear of returning to their home countries are able to seek asylum in the United States. The longstanding policy is meant to protect those who cannot live in their homelands due to fear of persecution based on religion or nationality.

The responsibility and review of the asylum program is shared by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.

DHS is responsible for the affirmative asylum process, which applies to aliens who initially file an application for asylum before being detained. DOJ is responsible for defensive asylum process, which applies to aliens who are in removal proceedings and move to request asylum from an immigration judge.

The Department of Homeland Security does not yet have new statistics from the early months of the Trump administration.

Sessions called on Congress to pass immigration reforms, including to the asylum system, that President Trump pushed for earlier this week.

President Trump understands this is a crisis. And so do the American people, Sessions said.
The United States is pulling out of UNESCO after repeated criticism of resolutions the Trump administration says demonstrate the U.N. cultural agency's "anti-Israel bias."

The State Department announced the decision on Thursday.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said.

The U.S. indicated to UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova the desire to remain engaged with the organization as a non-member observer state "to contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise," she said.

The withdrawal will take effect on Dec. 31, 2018, and the U.S. will continue to remain a full member of UNESCO until that time.

UNESCO is best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions around the world. The agency also works to improve education for girls in desperately poor countries and in scientific fields, to promote better understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust and to defend media freedom, among other activities.

While the U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011, the State Department has maintained a UNESCO office at its Paris headquarters and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes.

The U.S. previously pulled out of UNESCO in the 1980s because Washington viewed it as mismanaged and used for political reasons, then rejoined it in 2003.

The decision by the Trump administration comes as the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is voting to choose a new director this week, in tense balloting overshadowed by the agency's funding troubles and divisions over Palestinian membership.

Many saw the vote to include Palestine as evidence of long-running, ingrained anti-Israel bias within the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.

The Trump administration has been preparing for a likely withdrawal for months, and a decision was expected before the end of the year, U.S. officials previously told the Associated Press. Several diplomats who were to have been posted to the mission this summer were told that their positions were on hold and advised to seek other jobs.

In addition, the Trump administration's proposed budget for the next fiscal year contained no provision for the possibility that UNESCO funding restrictions might be lifted.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Trump issued a warning Thursday to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, saying the U.S. territory's infrastructure was a mess before the storm and warning that federal officials cannot stay on the island "forever."

The president made the comments in a series of early-morning tweets.

Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making. Says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of accountability say[s] the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes, Trump said.

Congress to decide how much to spendWe cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!

The presidents comments come just one week after he visited the U.S. territory that is struggling to recover from the devastation left by Hurricane Maria, the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in nearly a century.

Trumps trip to Puerto Rico was criticized, for among other things commenting on how the storm's death toll was far lower than that of a real catastrophe like Katrina in 2005.

Sixteen people versus in the thousands, Trump said. You can be very proud of all your people.

The president has repeatedly called for more help on a local level from Puerto Rico and has had an intermittent feud with the San Juan mayor, who also has faced criticism for engaging in political combat when other officials on the island are not.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., shot back Thursday at Trump's latest tweets.

"Why do you continue to treat Puerto Ricans differently than other Americans when it comes to natural disasters?" Schumer tweeted.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, earlier this month, there were more than 10,000 federal officials on the ground on the island.

On Friday, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., plans to lead a small bipartisan group, including the chairman and top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee that signs off on spending legislation, to visit Puerto Rico.

Ryan plans to meet with local officials and emergency personnel.

The House is expected to vote this week on an emergency spending package including billions of dollars more in relief for Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida in the wake of deadly storms Maria, Harvey and Irma this hurricane season.

The president asked Congress this week for a $4.9 billion loan to help Puerto Rico pay its bills from the storm. The island faced more than $70 billion in debt prior to the storm, and declared bankruptcy in May.
Arizona State University researchers have analyzed minerals around the supervolcano at Yellowstone National Park and have come to a startling conclusion. It could blow much faster than previously expected, though any talk of it potentially wiping out life as we know it is incorrect.



According to National Geographic, the researchers, Hannah Shamloo and Christy Till, analyzed minerals in fossilized ash from the most recent eruption. What they discovered surprised them  the changes in temperature and composition only took a few decades, much faster than the centuries previously thought.

We expected that there might be processes happening over thousands of years preceding the eruption, said Till said in an interview with the New York Times.

NASA WANTS TO PREVENT THE YELLOWSTONE SUPERVOLCANO FROM DESTROYING THE US

Despite some sensationalist claims seen in the media, the supervolcano is not expected to erupt anytime soon and if it did, the events would not be catastrophic. "There's no reason to think it could impact mass transport the way the Iceland eruption did nor would it have any effect on crops," Till told Fox News. "There is no evidence to suggest it could destroy mankind."

The supervolcano last had a major eruption about 630,000 years ago, Till added. Prior to that, the last major eruption was 1.3 million years ago, per a report from ZME Science. A smaller eruption, the most current on record, occurred 70,000 years ago.

The researchers looked for the events that led up to the last major eruption 630,000 years ago and noted that if the supervolcano were likely to erupt, it would likely be of the smaller variety, similar to the one that happened 70,000 years ago. "It would most likely be one of the smaller ones," Till said, while adding, "If we were looking for warning signs, that's what would we be looking for."

The new discovery, which was presented in August after a previous version of the study, comes after another study in 2011 which found the magma reservoir in Yellowstone has moved considerably, gaining about 10 inches in seven years.

"It's an extraordinary uplift, because it covers such a large area and the rates are so high," the University of Utah's Bob Smith, an expert in Yellowstone volcanism, told National Geographic six years ago.

'UFO' SPOTTED OVER YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO?

The super volcano is one of the best monitored volcanoes in the world, being monitored constantly in real-time by The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Currently, it has a reading of green, indicating no threat is imminent, Till added.

Despite the concerns about an eruption happening relatively soon, Shamloo told The Times that more research needed to be done before a definite conclusion could be drawn.

In June, the supervolcano was hit with more than 400 earthquakesin one week, though researchers cautioned it was nothing nothing to be alarmed about.

For its part, NASA is working on a way to prevent the supervolcano from destroying mankind, including trying to cool the magma before it spills over.

Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia

This story has been updated from Oct. 12 because the original findings of the research were misstated. The story has been updated to reflect these changes.
Robots will soon be serving alongside soldiers in the U.S. Army, but not the sort of humanoid robots seen in "Terminator"  these robots could be more like thinking ATVs.

The U.S. Army launched a revolutionary SMET initiative that aims to integrate robots into brigades.

While top brass walked the floors of AUSA exploring innovation for future combat in Washington D.C., in Georgia at Fort Benning, robot selection to join the troops is in an intense final week.

AUSA 2017: THIS NET MAKES US SPECIAL OPERATIONS VEHICLES 'DISAPPEAR'

Many companies had thrown their robots in the ring for selection to serve and the Army narrowed down those invited to the Benning phase that began back on Sept. 11 and is expected to conclude Oct. 14. The final four robots will be chosen and the Army will ask the companies to begin production.

The jungle drums at AUSA have it that the selected robots may be integrating and working alongside soldiers in brigade combat teams (BCTs) as soon as early next year.

Why enlist robots to join the infantry?

What will these robot soldiers be able to bring to the fight?

American soldiers are required to carry a great deal of weight on missions, as much as over 100 pounds of gear. The SMET robot will play a key role in lightening the load for soldiers.

The aim is for a SMET robot to be able to carry 1,000 pounds across more than 60 miles in 72 hours.

The robot needs to operate autonomously, but also be compatible with a human manning it. It needs to be smart enough to follow the soldiers as they move.

In doing so, it also needs to be able to manage the wide range of terrains  and often tough terrains  that U.S. soldiers travel through. Wherever a soldier goes, a SMET will ideally be able to go too.

The robot will therefore need to have the right balance of being big enough to carry at least 1,000 pounds, while small enough to navigate through narrow areas in between trees in a forest or jungle, for example.

Soldiers dont always walk to their missions, they often fly. So the SMET should be able to join them and fit inside a helicopter or the slung load.

If soldiers are under attack, they can defend themselves, so perhaps the robot will be equipped with advanced sensors to process and understand the threat and armed with weaponry to defend itself and fellow human soldiers too.

PODCAST: LEARN HOW THIS SPECIAL FORCES GUY BUILT A FORMIDABLE BUSINESS FROM NOTHING

What else could it be used for?

SMET is not just about the strength in terms of weight it can carry, ideally SMET will also enhance power for soldiers. The Army has set the goal that while on the move, the robots need to be able to generate 11kW of power and 3 kW while stationary.

This requirement could produce promising new battery technology, new methods of power generation and new ways to use alternative fuels.

SMET may also have potential to perform other roles like patrolling. At a base, it could be deployed for perimeter security or running re-supply missions through dangerous areas to reduce the risk to soldiers.

Early SMETs have even established they could tow soldiers on skis and follow soldiers in jungles, neither of which are easy tasks.

PODCAST: WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO LEAD A GREEN BERET TEAM AND BATTLE BACK FROM THE IMPOSSIBLE? LISTEN TO THIS INCREDIBLY INSPIRING STORY

Adding brains to extreme off-roading ATVs

Autonomy is extremely difficult. Autonomy on a platform that can go where a soldier can go and can tackle off road and tough terrain is even more difficult.

Polaris makes popular ATVs that are driven throughout the states America for fun. But they also make vehicles for the Armed Forces and the ultra-light MRZRs have long been a US military favorite for their outstanding off-road mobility.

In fact, U.S. special operations forces and the wider military regularly rely on the advanced capabilities MRZR 2 and MRZR 4 for their work downrange.

The company teamed up with robot experts Applied Research Associates and Neya Systems to turn their wildly popular MRZR into the MRZR X  a smart MRZR that integrates advanced robotics so it can drive without a human at the wheel.

At AUSA, there was a steady stream of Army personnel looking to examine the MRZR-X  the companys submission for SMET selection. Still under close wraps, only the MRZR that provides the basis of X was available.

AUSA 2017 IN PICTURES

The mysterious MRZR-X

So what can we expect the under-wraps MRZR-X can do? We can expect the smarts laid out in the Army requirements combined with the MRZRs capabilities.

This SMET robot would have the SOF-grade MRZR feature of on-demand, advanced all-wheel drive. When more traction is needed, the vehicle already has the smarts to automatically engage all four wheels and return to two-wheels when appropriate.

Both variants also reach a max speed of around 60 miles per hour and sport engines that have 88 horsepower, designed for extreme performance in the toughest terrains. For ensure maximum agility, the ATVs are built with a low center of gravity. In part, this is achieved by cunning placement of key components like the engine. These capabilities will provide an advantage in the MRZR-X being able to travel wherever a Soldier goes.

The MRZR 2 already meets the SMET weight requirement. It can carry 1,000 pounds, while the MRZR 4 can carry an additional 500 pounds.

For the versatility of SMET manned or unmanned, the MRZR vehicles are already designed with keyless ignition, which makes it easy for a human to jump in and instantly go. The vehicles can also be endlessly adapted for different mission configurations and requirements.

One very important option the MRZR-X could bring to a war zone is the litter configuration. Theoretically, the MRZR-X could drive a team out of harms way by itself while carrying wounded soldiers and freeing up the driver to also help treat the wounded.

Important for keeping a low profile, avoiding detection and not compromising the humans it would travel alongside, the vehicle can black out instantaneously.

Definitely air transportable, the MRZRs regularly catch flights with CV-22 tiltrotor military aircraft to support teams gaining access to targets.
A Texas woman whose husband and son were killed last summer in the Bastille Day terror attack in Nice, France, is suing Google, Facebook and Twitter, alleging the tech giants played a role in aiding and abetting and providing material support to the terrorist.

Sean Copeland, 51, and his 11-year-old son Brodie were among the more than 80 people killed when a truck, whose driver was linked to Islamic State (ISIS), smashed through a crowd of people gathered last July for the Bastille Day fireworks along a popular promenade. The father and son were in Europe on vacation with Seans wife, Kim, and his two other children from a previous marriage.

Kim Copeland is filing this lawsuit hoping that there will be no more funerals where ISIS and others continue to conduct terrorist operations using social media as a tool, Keith Altman, one of the lawyers representing Kim Copeland, told Fox News in an email. She also wants to see Google, Facebook, and Twitter change their behaviors and act reasonably and responsibly by taking active steps to disrupt ISIS and other nefarious groups ability to use their sites to cause death and destruction.

The complaint, filed Thursday in the northern district of California, argues that the three Silicon Valley-based companies have knowingly and recklessly provided the terrorist group ISIS with accounts to use its social networks as a tool for spreading extremist propaganda, raising funds, and attracting new recruits.

Without Defendants Twitter, Facebook, and Google (YouTube), the explosive growth of ISIS over the last few years into the most feared terrorist group in the world would not have been possible, the complaint states.

Copelands lawsuit is just the latest in a series of legal actions leveled against the three tech companies by Altman on behalf of the families of terror attack victims.

Earlier this month, the family of California man killed in Augusts terror attack in Barcelona filled suit against Google, Facebook and Twitter and, in June, Altman brought a case against the companies on behalf of a Jordanian citizen killed in the New Year's Eve terror attack by ISIS at an Istanbul nightclub that left 39 dead.

To date, Altman has leveled seven lawsuits against the three tech giants  alleging that Google, Facebook and Twitter have allowed their social media platforms to be used as a tool to recruit jihadists and that these companies have even profited from advertisements on terrorist propaganda.

Altman and others have begun to argue that social media sites may be violating the provision with their heavily guarded algorithms and that these companies have the resources to monitor any terror activity on their platforms.

I want to show that there is no social benefit to letting terrorists use social media, Altman said.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says Congress should release the ads Russian operatives purchased on Facebook to the public, while noting that Facebook owed the country an "apology."

In an interview with Axios' Mike Allen at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., Sandberg said the American public should see the ads that were purchased by Russian operatives to try and influence the 2016 U.S. election. "Absolutely ... we think it's important they get the whole picture," Sandberg said during the interview.

Sandberg added that Facebook is working with Congress on this, giving them information to the suspicious organic posts, which were not related to advertising.

FACEBOOK WILL RELEASE RUSSIAN-LINKED ADS TO CONGRESS, MARK ZUCKERBERG SAYS

The tech exec, a noted supporter of Hillay Clinton's campaign, also said that Facebook owed the country an apology for the role it played in letting these ads end up on their platform. "Not just apology," Sandberg said. "We owe the American people determination."

Last month, Facebook disclosed that it found $100,000 in fraudulent advertising on its platform, posted by fake accounts. Roughly 3,000 ads were purchased and approximately 10 million people saw the ads.

When asked if Facebook was confident it had found everything, Sandberg said Facebook has done a "thorough job" from this particular Russian actor (which she declined to name), but asked for more help from intelligence agencies. "We're doing everything we can to follow up on every lead," Sandberg added.

Sandberg skirted the issue of when Facebook first found out about the Russian interference, but did reference Facebook's 2017 security white paper on the issue. She also attempted to skirt the question whether there was an overlap in ad targeting between the Trump campaign and the Russian accounts, but said that the targeting information would eventually be released.

In a Facebook Live chat last month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the social network would hand over to Congress the political ads purchased by Russian operatives and the company would "strengthen our ad review process for political ads."

FACEBOOK WORKS TO IMPROVE AD TRANSPARENCY AFTER SUPPOSED RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN 2016 ELECTION

Freedom of expression and fake news

The tech exec was repeatedly pressed on whether or not Facebook was a media company and should be regulated as one. She attempted to hammer home the point that it is a platform company, but that it still has responsibilities.

"Facebook is a new kind of platform, we're not a media company," she said. "We're a technology company at heart, but we do have responsibilities and we take them seriously."

Freedom of expression has become a hot button issue on social media over the past several months, most recently with Twitter, which disallowed anti-abortion ads from Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn.

Sandberg, despite her support of Planned Parenthood (Blackburn has fought against it, saying "we stopped the sale of baby body parts"), said the ads should have been allowed to run.

She also attempted to define fake news, something President Trump has railed against repeatedly.

"Fake news are hoaxes...It's actually financially motivated," Sandberg said.

Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @chris_ciaccia. Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Joseph Daniel Hudek IV has issued an excuse for why he lost control on a Delta flight this summer: He was super high.

Hudek, who was arrested in July for trying to pry open an exit door on his flight from Seattle to China, and also for assaulting the passengers and flight attendants who tried to restrain him, told a federal magistrate judge on Tuesday that he consumed edible marijuana before the flight, which caused his outburst.

ESCAPED POODLE DELAYS 14 FLIGHTS AT TOKYO AIRPORT

"My understanding is that it was legal to buy and consume marijuana in [Washington] state," Hudek wrote in an affidavit, per the Tampa Bay Times. "After purchasing the edible marijuana, I ate it."

"I have never had a remotely similar incident in all my times of flying on an airplane," he added.

Hudeks doctor, too, attested in an affidavit that cannabis could induce "paranoia, confusion, hallucinations and combativeness" in users.

This, along with other statements from Hudeks friends, family and two more physicians, was evidently enough to persuade Magistrate Judge James Donohue, of Washington, to release Hudek, 23, to the custody of his mother in Tampa, reports The Seattle Times.

Theres a catch, however. Hudek is not allowed to fly back to Tampa, and must instead drive or travel by train. He is also not allowed to use marijuana.

PICS: AMERICAN AIRLINES CANCELS FLIGHT AFTER CARGO CATCHES FIRE ON TARMAC

Hudek first made headlines this summer, after causing a disturbance aboard a July 6 flight from Seattle to Beijing. Authorities say Hudek left his seat about an hour into the flight, while the plane was over the Pacific Ocean, just northwest of Vancouver Island. He then entered the restroom, exited to ask a question of the flight attendant, re-entered the restroom, and later re-emerged with his shirt off, according to documents obtained by the Tampa Bay Times. He then lunged for the exit door, screaming, I want to get out!

Flight attendants and passengers tried to subdue Hudek as he actively fought them off, punching a flight attendant and hitting another passenger on the head with a wine bottle. A crew member also claimed to have broken a wine bottle over Hudeks head, which apparently didnt faze the 23-year-old.

"Hudek did not seem impacted by the breaking of a full liter red wine bottle over his head, and instead shouted, 'Do you know who I am?' or something to that extent," remembered a flight attendant shortly after the incident.

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Hudek was eventually restrained by several passengers and crew. He was handed over to police at the Port of Seattle upon landing back at Seattle Tacoma International Airport, and charged with interfering with a flight crew.

Hudek is due back in court for a trial on Feb. 22, 2018. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison for assault, and up to 10 years for other charges, reports The Seattle Times.
Traveling with small children can be a challenge in itself, but the patience of one Los Angeles couple was put to the test when Southwest Airlines unexpectedly booted their young family of four off a flight on Oct. 9.

That evening, Erin Gatling and Craig Schilling took to Facebook Live to share the details of the traveling nightmare. Situated in Chicagos Midway International Airport, with their 3-year-old son Gunner and 16-month-old daughter Paige, Schilling reports that the airline told the family that their next flight was canceled because their kids were noisy and rowdy on the initial flight.

He added that they were waiting to speak to a dozen police officers, who brought along a crime dog, about what happened.

PASSENGER TRIES TO STAGE A SIT-IN PROTEST ON PLANE AFTER FLIGHT IS CANCELED

We dont even know what we did wrong, he says.

Describing her family as very frequent world travelers, Gatling shared Schillings video with her own Facebook post, pointing out that her son has been on 70 flights, and her daughter has been on about 30. Between 30-90 percent of those have been Southwest, she said. She was appalled that the plane staffers said her children were being a disturbance, thought they did not scream or cry at all during the trip.

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES OFFERING $42 FLIGHTS FOR LIMITED TIME

The only further explanation was running up and down the isle and jumping on tray tables, the mother wrote, although she doesn't believe that's a valid explanation, either. Further, she noted that they never opened the tray table and only got up once to use the restroom. As Paige followed her mother to the restroom from their near-rear seats, Schilling said a flight attendant stepped on his wifes previously sprained ankle, making her cry in pain.

Lastly, Schilling said he was arrested for making physical contact with a supervisor while on board, for bumping someone with their stroller, which he also denies. Detained for six hours, Gatling and the kids waited at the airport until Schilling was released at 1 a.m. Ultimately, Gatling told Yahoo Lifestyle that her husband was charged with battery for the incident, and that a November court date is set.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Likewise, Southwest offered a statement to the site, saying they were disheartened by the way the situation unfolded.

In addition to providing legendary customer service to each customer onboard, our flight attendants are responsible for enforcing regulations as well as our policies to ensure the safety of those traveling with us. Our reports indicate customers traveling onboard flight 102 were not following inflight instructions, they said.

A Southwest supervisor met the customers upon arrival at their connecting city, Chicago, to discuss the events that occurred onboard. The customers were unwilling to be approached by our employees in the airport and when the situation escalated, local authorities became involved," they added.

The airline furthered noted that they refunded the Schilling-Gatlings trip. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and employees is of the utmost importance to all of us at Southwest Airlines, they said.

Gatling declined a request to comment for Fox News.
Glass sky bridges always test peoples threshold for how much they can stand looking down at jaw-dropping heights, but one bridge  in Hebei, China  is really pushing it with panels of glass made to look like theyre cracking under peoples feet.

The glass bridge, on the eastern face of the Taihang Mountain, hangs 3,871 feet above sea level, which would probably be a thrilling (or terrifying) height even without novelty cracking glass.

But for some people, the possibility of near and imminent death is how you spell fun. Apparently. For tourists, not so much. In videos posted by visitors, some respond with excitement, while some respond with out-and-out terror.

According to Mashable, the East Taihang administration has released an apology, explaining that the look of the near-shattered glass was meant to be provocative.

Some of the panels also had shattered fragments of glass placed between the layers so that when you walk over them, the glass sounds and looks as if its breaking. Not exactly the most welcome noise at 3,000 feet.

It doesn't help that in recent years there have been previous reports of China's popular glass bridges and walkways actually shattering.

Although the administration has apologized, there are no plans to replace the panels.

Many users on the Chinese social media site Weibo have been outraged by seeing people being frightened on the glass bridge. Some said that the effects could even trigger heart attacks, according to Mashable.
A frantic Jessica Tunis had been calling hospitals and posting on social media when her family's search ended up back at the charred ruins of her mother's Santa Rosa house on Wednesday, looking for clues in the debris as to where she might be.

Linda Tunis had last called Jessica from her burning house at Journey's End mobile home park early Monday, saying "I'm going to die" before the phone went dead. Her home was destroyed in wildfires that swept Northern California's wine country.

"She's spunky, she's sweet, she loves bingo and she loves the beach, she loves her family," said Jessica Tunis, crying. "Please help me find her. I need her back. I don't want to lose my mom."

DEATH TOLL IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE RISES TO 21

Hours later Tunis texted an AP reporter to say that her brother, Robert, had found her mother's remains among the debris. Authorities put the remains of the 69-year-old woman in a small white plastic bag and strapped it to a gurney before taking it away.

Hundreds of people remained unaccounted for Wednesday as friends and relatives desperately checked hospitals and shelters and pleaded on social media for help finding loved ones missing amid California's wildfires.

As of Wednesday, 22 wildfires were burning in Northern California, up from 17 the day before. The blazes killed at least 21 people and destroyed an estimated 3,500 homes and businesses, many of them in California's wine country.

How many people were missing was unclear, and officials said the lists could include duplicated names and people who are safe but haven't told anyone, whether because of the general confusion or because cellphone service is out across wide areas.

BOILING RIVER OF WINE FLOWS THROUGH BURNED DOWN CALIFORNIA WINERY

"We get calls and people searching for lost folks and they're not lost, they're just staying with somebody and we don't know where it is," said Napa County Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht.

With many fires still raging out of control, authorities said locating the missing was not their top priority.

Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano put the number of people unaccounted for in the hard-hit county at 285 and said officers were starting limited searches in the "cold zones" they could reach.

"We can only get so many places and we have only so many people to work on so many things," he said. "When you are working on evacuations, those are our first priority in resources."

As a result, many people turned to social media, posting pleas such as "Looking for my Grandpa Robert," "We are looking for our mother Norma" or "I can't find my mom." It is an increasingly familiar practice that was seen after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the Las Vegas massacre.

A sobbing Rachael Ingram searched shelters and called hospitals to try to find her friend Mike Grabow, whose home in Santa Rosa was destroyed. She plastered social media with photos of the bearded man as she drove up and down Highway 101 in her pickup.

Privacy rules, she said, prevented shelters from releasing information.

"You can only really leave notes and just try and send essentially a message in a bottle," she said.

Ingram said she hopes Grabow is simply without a phone or cell service.

"I've heard stories of people being relocated to San Francisco and Oakland. I'm hoping for something like that," she said. "We're hearing the worst and expecting the best."

Grabow's name was among dozens written on a dry erase board at the Finley Community Center in Santa Rosa, which the Red Cross had turned into an evacuation center with dormitories, cold showers and three meals a day. Dozens of evacuees hung about, waiting for word for when they could return to their homes.

Debbie Short, an evacuee staying at the Finley Center, was a good example of a person listed as missing who was not. She was walking past the dry erase board when she noticed her name on the board, likely because a friend had been looking for her.

A Red Cross volunteer erased her name off the board.

Frances Dinkelspiel, a journalist in Berkeley, turned to social media for help finding her stepbrother Jim Conley after tweeting authorities and getting little help. But it was a round of telephone calls that ultimately led her to him.

A Santa Rosa hospital initially said it had no record of him, but when the family tried again, it was told he had been transferred elsewhere with serious burns.

It was a frustrating experience, Dinkelspiel said, but "I'm glad he's in a hospital and isn't lying injured on the side of the road."


A college of Oxford University banned a student Christian group from appearing at a freshman fair out of fear it would lead to "alienating" students who practice other religions.

The Christian Union of Oxfords Balliol College was initially banned by an event organizer who felt students might feel unwelcome due to what he calls the Christian religion being an excuse for homophobia and neo-colonialism, The Times of London reported.

We recognise the wonderful advantages in having CU representatives at the freshers fair but are concerned that there is potential for harm to freshers who are already struggling to feel welcome in Oxford, Frederick Potts, vice president of the undergraduate student body, reportedly said in an email to the Christian group.

Potts added: Christianitys influence on many marginalised communities has been damaging in its methods of conversion and rules of practice, and is still used in many places as an excuse for homophobia and certain forms of neo-colonialism.

FLORIDA PASTOR VOWS TO TEAR DOWN TEACHER'S SATANIC HOLIDAY DISPLAY

Potts, according to The Daily Telegraph, said that event organizers initially wanted the fair to be a secular space because they were unsure if every major belief system would have a spot at the student fair.

Many students, especially students of colour and of other faiths, may already feel alienated and vulnerable in Oxford, a university with a reputation for racism and lack of diversity, and a city with barely any appropriate places of worship for non-Christians," Potts said, according to The Telegraph.

Event organizers eventually agreed to allow the event to have one "multi-faith" stall that would permit religious groups to display brochures, according to The Guardian. The Christian Union reportedly "boycotted" that as an option.

A spokesperson with the Church of England told The Times that the ban was not in line with freedom of religion and belief, and is at odds with the kind of society we are all seeking to promote.

Leaders of the Balliol student body reportedly condemned the ban, and passed a motion calling the ban a "violation of free speech, a violation of religious freedom, and sets dangerous precedents regarding the relationship between specific faiths and religious freedom, according to The Daily Telegraph.

CANADIAN PASTOR, WIFE FACE SERIES OF SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGES

The motion prohibits officers from banning religious societies from future freshman fairs, the Evening Standard reported.

A Balliol College spokesperson told The Telegraph the school is "pleased" that the students worked the issue out among themselves.

"We are pleased to see that the students themselves have now resolved this matter. Following last night's JCR motion, the Christian Union will be offered a stall at future freshers' fairs," the spokesperson said. Junior Common Room (JCR) is the undergraduate group at Balliol in question.

"Balliol is a tolerant, friendly college where students of all faiths and none are free to worship and express their beliefs openly," the spokesperson concluded.
Federal agents said there was a small explosion in the vehicle of a suspect after he fled from an attempted traffic stop in Washington County on Wednesday afternoon.

According to officials, FBI agents working with other partner agencies served a federal search warrant related to possible explosives at an apartment located in the 18000 block of Northwest Rock Creek Circle.

Just before 4 p.m., the agents and officers with the Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Oregon State Police attempted a traffic stop near Northwest 185th Avenue and Northwest Rock Creek Boulevard involving a suspect believed to live at the home being searched.

The suspect fled from the traffic stop, leading the officers on a brief chase. Officers said during that time there was a small explosion in the vehicle. Agents said the suspect then got out of the vehicle and he was taken into custody for a probation violation.

A Washington County deputy who was approaching the vehicle when the explosion happened was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation and later released.

The suspect, identified as 26-year-old Jason Paul Schaefer, was also taken to the hospital. Deputies said once he is medically stable, he will be booked into the Washington County Jail.

Schaefer was previously convicted in April on the charge of felon in possession of body armor. He was sentenced to 18 months probation.

FBI agents said that there is no known threat to public safety in connection with this case.

Traffic was blocked in the area of Northwest Rock Creek Boulevard from Northwest Columbia Avenue to Northwest Park View Boulevard for the investigation. Deputies also closed northbound traffic on Northwest 185th Avenue at Highway 26, with traffic diverted onto westbound Highway 26.

Administrators with the Beaverton School District said students from two nearby schools, Rock Creek Elementary and Westview High School, had already been released at the time of the incident and that it had no impact on after-school activities.

Federal officials said the Portland Police Bureau, Metropolitan Explosive Disposal Unit (MEDU), Oregon State Police, Washington County Sheriff's Office, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Environmental Protection Agency and Washington County Animal Control were all involved in the investigation Wednesday.

Read more from FOX 12 Oregon.
A doctor in Florida, recorded on video yelling at a patient in the waiting room, released a statement on the incident on Wednesday.

Dr. Peter Gallogly was recorded on video yelling at a woman who complained of long wait times in the Gainesville After Hours Clinic while she was severely sick and throwing up in the trash can.

The patient, Jessica Stipe, who posted the video on Monday, said she was looking for a refund when the doctor came out and started screaming and cursing at her, according to her Facebook post. She said Gallogly also grabbed her daughters phone, who was recording the incident, and pushed her when she tried to get the phone back.

But Gallogly claimed the video was heavily edited and taken out of context, in a statement obtained by CBS 4 Gainesville.

THE DANGERS OF USING HOME REMEDIES FOR SERIOUS ILLNESSES

Ms. Stipe had been increasingly belligerent and abusive to the office staff, cursing and threatening them with violence, because she was unwell and had been waiting to see me for more than an hour, Gallogly wrote. I went to the front desk only because after Ms. Stipe received her refund, she refused to leave the office, and continued her abusive behavior towards staff.

When he went to the waiting room, Gallogly said the two women cursed and threatened him, after which he lost his temper and spoke to them unprofessionally.

While not an excuse for my behavior, a basic reason for my reaction is that I simply regard my staff as family, and I over-reacted to defend them, he said.

In the video, the patient can be heard saying that the office should advise patients that they might not be seen in a timely manner, to which the doctor responded by saying that she had been seen and he had collected a urine sample.

When Stipe said she wanted to go home instead of being seen, the doctor replied, Then fine, get the hell out! Get your money and get the hell out.

MOM LOSES FINGER IN FREAK INJURY AT SON'S BASEBALL PRACTICE

The pair continue to argue before the doctor yelled, "Get the f--- out of my office!," and opened the door for the mother and daughter to leave. When the doctor realized he was being recorded, he appeared to grab the girls phone out of her hand and walk away with it.

Stipe said she believes the doctor tried to delete the video before giving the phone back, CBS 4 Gainesville reported.

Stipe reportedly called the police after the incident but according to a police report, the responding officer didnt see anything to indicate that Gallogly had pushed the daughter.

Regarding the doctors statements, Stipe said they were absolutely not true. She asked why hed taken the cell phone and tried to delete the video if he hadnt done anything wrong, CBS 4 Gainesville reported.

Stipe said she has spoken to an attorney because Gallogly needed to be held responsible.

"I don't want anybody else in my community or any other community to receive that type of care or behavior towards them, she said.
Lawmakers are expressing outrage after learning more than 70 foster children are missing in Kansas, a number that officials say is in line with the national average.

Foster care contractors provided the information during a meeting of an oversight panel Tuesday at the Statehouse in response to questions about the disappearance of three sisters from a northeast Kansas foster home, The Kansas City Star reports. Police believe the missing girls -- ages 15, 14 and 12 -- ran away in August.

Sen. Laura Kelly, a Topeka Democrat, told a child welfare task force meeting that when she asked the Kansas Department for Children and Families about the missing children on Tuesday, the agency knew nothing. She said after the meeting that she was "flabbergasted."

The agency's chief, Phyllis Gilmore, said after the meeting that she can't discuss the missing sisters. She said in a statement Wednesday that the department has long had policies in place to attempt to find missing foster children quickly and that many are returned to their foster homes swiftly.

"These children who run away are not under lock and key; they are generally in family foster homes, older youth, who attend school and activities, and they often miss their biological families," she said.

She also said that some of the missing children who are considered to be on the run are with a parent attempting to keep them out of foster care.

KVC Kansas, one of the foster care contractors, said it has roughly 38 missing children. The other company, Saint Francis Community Services, said 36 in its system are missing.

Chad Anderson, chief clinical officer at KVC Kansas, told the child welfare task force that the number of missing represented about 1 percent of the foster care population and is in line with the national average.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that during the federal government's 2015 fiscal year, about 4,600 children in foster care were listed as runaways, or 1.1 percent of the nearly 428,000 total. Kansas had almost 7,100 children in foster care in August, so the number of those missing is about 1 percent.

Still, Anderson acknowledged the contractors could do a better job.

"I don't know that we as contractors have shared as much in terms of missing youth and the day to day as we probably should," Anderson said, adding that contractors update DCF every 30 days on the missing children.

Rep. Linda Gallagher, a Lenexa Republican, said she was shocked at the number of missing children. Even if the number missing is in line with the national average, she said, it is still too many.

Rep. Steve Alford, a Ulysses Republican who chairs the task force, said after the meeting he wasn't really surprised.

"There's a break between DCF and the contracting," he said. "Once the children ... (go from the court) into the possession of the secretary, she hands them off to the contractors and it's their responsibility, you know, it's kind of like out of sight, out of mind in a lot of aspects."


The shooter arrested on the campus of Texas Tech University after he allegedly murdered a police officer may face additional federal charges for using a stolen gun.

Hollis Daniels, 19, was indicted on Wednesday by a federal grand jury for possession of a stolen firearm, according to everythinglubbock.com. The young college student also has been charged with capital murder of a peace officer.

The incident occurred on Monday when Texas Tech campus police brought Daniels to the campus police station after finding evidence of drugs and drug paraphernalia in his dorm room. At the station, the freshman pulled out a gun and allegedly shot an officer in the head before fleeing on foot. Daniels was later apprehended by campus police near the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum.

Officials with Texas Tech confirmed to KXAS 5 that Daniels did not use a police department gun in the shooting. Original reports suggested that he may have stolen the gun from a police officer while he was detained at the station.

Officers originally were called to Daniels' dorm room to conduct a welfare check after they received complaints that a student was acting erratic and may have had a weapon. While they found the drug contraband, cops did not find a weapon on Daniels until he pulled it out and opened fire at the station.

Under Texas recently implemented campus carry law, Daniels was too young to even possess a handgun in the state  let alone on a college campus.

Signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in 2015 and going into effect in August 2016, the campus carry law mirrors state policy that stipulates that applicants for a concealed carry permit must be at least 21 years old and have no felony convictions, among other conditions.

Texas is one of 10 states in the country that permits the carrying of concealed weapons on college campuses. When the state law went into effect in 2016, it immediately raised concerns among some students, faculty, and activists in the Lone Star State over the safety of having firearms on campus.

Fox News Andrew OReilly contributed to this article.
A 7-year-old boy was shot dead and his body apparently hidden in a home where three adults were found fatally shot and a fourth was stabbed, a sheriff said Thursday as a manhunt for the suspect focused on a wooded area near Ohio's southern tip.

Authorities had issued a missing-child alert after the slayings and spent hours searching for Devin Holston only to find the child dead Thursday at the same house trailer where the bodies were found.

The suspect, 23-year-old Arron Lawson, is being sought on warrants for charges including aggravated murder, Lawrence County Sheriff Jeffery Lawless said.

Deputies spotted Lawson around 12:30 a.m. Thursday in a blue truck in Ironton, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of where the victims were found, but they lost him after a brief chase when he crashed into a ditch and ran into the woods, Lawless said.

Lawless told the Ironton Tribune that all those involved were somehow related.

Three adults were found dead in a house trailer in an unincorporated area further north on Wednesday evening, and a fourth adult who came upon the scene after work was stabbed there and fled to seek help, the sheriff said. The wounded person was later flown to a hospital in Huntington, West Virginia.

None of the dead adults or injured victim has been identified. The sheriff's office said releasing further information would compromise the investigation.

Agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, including crime-scene and cybe-unit investigators, are assisting Lawrence County with the case, said Jill Del Greco, a spokeswoman for BCI and the state attorney general's office.

Lawless said schools in the Rock Hill district were closed Thursday because of the attacks.

The initial report about the slayings  violence against multiple people found at properties of related residents  recalled details from a still-unsolved homicide case that rattled rural southern Ohio last year. But investigators have no indication of a connection between the cases, Del Greco said.

The deaths on Wednesday occurred roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of the Piketon area, where eight people from the Rhoden family were found shot to death in four homes in April 2016.

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Associated Press writer Mark Gillispie in Cleveland contributed to this report.

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Find Kantele Franko on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/kantele10 and her work at http://bit.ly/2qEaebN .

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This story has been corrected to show the sheriff now says the boy was 7, not 8.

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This story has been corrected to show the sheriff now says the spelling of the suspect's first name is Arron, not Aaron.
An attempted prison break in North Carolina left two people dead and 10 people injured as fires broke out inside the facility.

North Carolina Department of Public Safety tweeted Thursday afternoon that there was an attempted escape at Pasquotank Cl in Elizabeth City. Fires set in prison sewing plant. Several employees injured.

Two prison employees were killed in the attempted escape at Pasquotank Correctional Institute, but state prison spokesman Keith Acree wouldn't say how.

The department later tweeted the facility "is currently under lockdown. Fires extinguished. Situation under control." No inmates escaped during the incident, the Department of Public Safety tweeted.

The high-security prison has the capacity to hold around 900 inmates, but currently has 729, according to a tweet by the Department of Public Safety. The security fence around the facility has "a built-in electronic intrusion detection system" that "alerts armed correction officers."

Officials said 10 people were transported to two hospitals after the fire. Several of them were prison employees.

Schools in the area reportedly went on lockdown, but were later lifted.

Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools sent a message Thursday afternoon that due to an incident that is taking place at the local jail north of town, Northside Elementary, Elizabeth City Middle School and Pasquotank County High School have been placed on lock down at the advice of Emergency Management, according to WAVY.

In April, one Pasquotank inmate stabbed another after a fight broke out between the two, WAVY reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A black Minnesota teacher is fighting back against the St. Paul Public School district, which he said has discriminated against him for questioning race-based educational programs, according to a federal lawsuit.

I filed the lawsuit because the EEOC found probable cause that I was retaliated and racially discriminated for speaking up, Aaron Benner, who taught fourth grade and now is a Dean of Students (9th Grade) at Cretin-Derham Hall, told Fox News.

The irony is the racial discrimination charge. My district always talks about racial equity, and then they got caught going after the only black teacher in the school. I had five frivolous investigations opened up on me."

The district allegedly targeted Benner after he publicly criticized the schools race-based policies, which, according to EAGNews.org, a non-profit organization that promotes education reform, were a direct result of an Obama administration initiative that forced school districts to address disproportionate percentages of minority students being suspended for bad behavior.

Benner  an independent  said its not about politics, but rather right and wrong.

My main problem was that data was being manipulated to keep the numbers low for behavioral referrals when in reality they were going up, Benner said. Thats fraud and unethical.

Benner told Fox News in 2015 that he was punched by a student, and the student was sent back to the classroom within minutes, without any disciplinary action taken.

Benner blamed the San Francisco-based consulting firm Pacific Educational Group, hired by the district in 2010, for conducting some sort of social experiment on the students.

PEG makes no secret of the fact that its prescription for closing the gap is based on the Critical Race Theory, he wrote in a 2015 op-ed. This theory argues that racism is so ingrained in the American way of life  its economy, schools, and government  that things must be made unequal in order to compensate for that racism.

He added: PEG pushes the idea that black students are victims of white school policies that make it difficult or impossible for them to learn. So, when a black student is disruptive, PEG, as I see it, stresses that its not their fault.

We dont have any disciplinary policies that we incorporate in any district whatsoever, PEG spokesman Kevin Cartwright told Fox News.

St. Paul NAACP Vice President Joel Franklin called it very disturbing that the district would go after Benner for simply voicing concern about the program, according to the Star Tribune.

This is going to hamper any efforts to recruit other African-American teachers, Franklin said.

Saint Paul Public Schools told Fox News they do not comment on pending litigation.

Although U.S. District Judge Susan Nelson indicated the case may be ending soon in a settlement, Benner said hes willing to go as long as it takes.

Im confident that justice will prevail, Benner said. Im in it for the long haul.
The boyfriend of a slain pregnant high school teacher in Maryland was reportedly indicted Thursday on one count of murder.

Tyler Tessier, 32, was indicted by a grand jury after being accused in September of killing his girlfriend, Laura Wallen, 31, Fox 5 reported.

Police found Wallens body buried in a shallow grave in Damascus on Sept. 13. Autopsy reports showed that she died after being shot in the back of the head.

The remains were discovered more than a week after she was first reported missing, when she didnt show up for the first day of school. She was four months pregnant with Tessiers baby.

JURY RECOMMENDS DEATH IN OKLAHOMA BEHEADING CASE

Days before the body was found, Tessier stood hand-in-hand with Wallens parents at a news conference, pleading for her to come home.

There is nothing we cant fix together  myself and your family we are just looking or praying that you are safe, Tessier said at the time.

Tessier was arrested in connection to the murder the day Wallens body was found. Her father, Mark, referred to him as a monster and a liar, and said the family had suspicions that hed committed the crime.

After his arrest, Tessier admitted to police that he was engaged to another woman at the same time that he was dating Wallen.

Police suggested that Tessiers motive for killing Wallen was due to the love triangle he created between himself and the two women, Fox 5 reported.

Tessier is reportedly expected in court on Friday.
The raging, out-of-control wildfires across Northern California have now killed at least 31 people, marking the deadliest week of wildfires in state history, officials said late Thursday.

Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said Thursday night that two more people have been confirmed dead there. That raises the statewide death total from 29 to 31. While no one fire currently burning has killed that many, collectively this is the deadliest series of simultaneous fires in the state since records have been kept.

The fires, most of them in wine country, broke out almost all at once on Sunday night and have exploded to cover more than 300 square miles, an area as large as New York City.

The flames may have been sparked by downed power lines and blown transformers, according to emergency radio traffic.

State officials have not yet officially said what caused the blazes that have destroyed at least 3,500 homes and businesses. But dispatch audio obtained by KTVU Fox 2 News reveal firefighters in Napa and Sonoma Counties called in more than a dozen reports of downed power lines, live wires, and blown transformers late Sunday in the first hours of the wildfire outbreak.

Multiple fires were reported by firefighters near the sites of downed power lines and fallen trees.

In one radio exchange between firefighters in Napa County, crews called in downed lines and a blown transformer around 9:15 p.m. Sunday. About 15 minutes later, crews also reported a fire in the same area. It was unclear if that particular fire grew into a larger blaze or was contained, according to KTVU FOX 2.

The owner of the power equipment, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, said in a statement Wednesday "hurricane-strength winds in excess of 75 mph," and "millions of trees weakened by years of drought and recent renewed vegetation growth from winter storms, all contributed to some trees, branches and debris impacting our electric lines across the North Bay."

FIRE SURVIVOR GNAWED BY REGRET OVER ELDERLY NEIGHBORS

"In some cases we have found instances of wires down, broken poles and impacted infrastructure. Where those have occurred, we have reported them to our state utility regulator and CalFire," the company said. "Our thoughts are with all those individuals who were impacted by these devastating wildfires. We want our customers, families and friends to know that we will stand beside them and work together throughout this restoration process."

The company, just like all utility companies in California, is required to keep vegetation more than 10 feet away from its power poles and towers, and to remove flammable debris from around the surrounding ground, according to KTVU Fox 2.

Utility companies in California have previously been found responsible for major wildfires due to inadequate maintenance of their power infrastructure.

The state Public Utilities Commission fined PG&E for $8.3 million in April for failing to maintain a power line that sparked a fire in September 2015 that killed two people and destroyed 549 homes, according to the East Bay Times.

CalFire announced last year that it will seek to force PG&E to pay $90 million in firefighting costs for that blaze, the newspaper reported. A spokesperson for the company told the East Bay Times questions about maintenance of the lines in relation to the current wildfires were highly speculative.

While authorities work to figure out an official cause of the fires, the blazes could expand Thursday because the area is expecting wind gusts up to 45 mph, with nearly non-existent humidity in areas north of San Francisco.

"It's going to continue to get worse before it gets better," state fire Chief Ken Pimlott said Wednesday.

The 22 fires spanned more than 265 square miles, many of them completely out of control. Modern, strategic attacks that have kept destruction and death tolls low in recent years just haven't worked against its ferocity.

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES MAKE SEARCHING FOR MISSING TOUGH

"We are literally looking at explosive vegetation," Pimlott said. "Make no mistakethis is a serious, critical, catastrophic event."

Gov. Jerry Brown said the fires were "one of the biggest, most serious, and it's not over."

Helicopters and air tankers were assisting thousands of firefighters trying to beat back the flames. Until now, the efforts have focused on "life safety" rather than extinguishing the blazes, partly because the flames were shifting with winds and targeting new communities without warning.

Giordano said hundreds of people were still reported missing, but officials believe many of those people will be found. Chaotic evacuations and poor communications over the past few days have made locating friends and family difficult.

But the sheriff said he does expect the death toll to climb.

"The devastation is enormous," he said. "We can't even get into most areas."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Police in Charlottesville, Va., have ramped up security efforts at the city's schools following a lockdown Wednesday over a threat from an alleged admirer of the Las Vegas gunman.

The FBI notified local authorities Wednesday about the existing threat to the citys schools, forcing officials to place the schools on a modified lockdown, where students must stay inside the premises all day and are not allowed to leave for outdoor activities, including recess or gym class.

Police said the individual who threatened the schools had expressed admiration for Stephen Paddock, who killed nearly 60 people and injured hundreds more Oct. 1, in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. modern history, WSET reported.

The person making the threat was unidentified, but was said to be located out of state and no longer a safety threat, police said.

The individual was also disgruntled over local police issuing an arrest warrant for a black man who was beaten bloody during the violent aftermath of a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in August. That black man, DeAndre Shakur Harris, 20, is a suspect in an assault during the rally. Detectives say Harris was beaten in retaliation for his attack, Fox News reported.

The FBI said there was no longer any immediate threat to school students, but additional police coverage will be provided to ensure safety.

We took the information very seriously because he apparently referenced being displeased with the events in Charlottesville and then expressed admiration for the recent events in Las Vegas, said city police Lt. L.A. Durrette, according to the Daily Progress.

We decided to put police officers in all of the city schools [on Wednesday] and most of the private schools as a precaution. We reallocated our staff to make it work with the manpower we had.
Walking across Sproul Plaza on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, it is hard to discern Jonathan Chow from any other student at the school.

In his UC Berkeley water polo shirt, cargo shorts and sneakers, the 21-year-old history major seems like any other undergrad rushing to class or sipping coffee in the plaza.

But Chow is not like most of his fellow students. Hes part of a small minority of seemingly marginalized students at one of the largest universities in the U.S. Hes a conservative.

I came here to conduct my own social experiment, Chow told Fox News. The idea was to see if there was any way of convincing people or having a dialogue with really radical people. It has not been as successful as I wanted it to be.

While UC Berkeley does not keep statistics on its students political leanings, the school has long been known as one of the countrys centers for liberal and progressive thought, and now  following a slew of high-profile, violent protests against conservative speakers on campus  Chow and other like-minded students say that life has become more difficult for anyone whose politics lean toward the right.

Its certainly not easy, Steven Hayward, a conservative commentator and resident scholar at UC Berkeleys Institute of Governmental Studies, told Fox News. There are not many conservative students -- and those that are conservative are, many times, afraid to speak for fear of being mocked or trolled by their fellow students.

Chow and other conservatives on campus say that while harassment by fellow students isnt new  theyve been yelled at, sent hate mail, had their signs stolen when tabling and even spat upon  the animosity aimed in their direction has ratcheted up over the last year.

In February, 150 leftist black-clad protesters rampaged through Berkeleys campus, where they caused $100,000 worth of damage, beat students and forced the University of California to cancel a planned speech by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.

There were over 100 Antifa members on campus causing trouble, Rudraveer Reddy, a conservative sophomore at UC Berkeley and a member of the Berkeley College Republicans (BCRS) and the Berkeley Patriot website, told Fox News. My friend was there and he was beaten by Antifa and the police did nothing.

Since then, violence by Antifa, a far-left group whose name means anti-fascist, has continued on Berkeleys campus and throughout the college town, with controversial conservative writer Ann Coulter canceling a speech at the school in April after the Young Americas Foundation pulled its support for the event amid threats of violence.

In August, a group of around 100 hooded members of Antifa stormed what had been a largely peaceful rally for free speech in the town of Berkeley and attacked at least five people, including the leader of a politically conservative group that had canceled an event a day earlier in San Francisco to avoid potential violence.

Along with actual acts of violence, Berkeleys contingent of conservative students have also had to deal with less direct threats.

Graffiti has appeared in restrooms and on school signs that read Kill the BCRS and Behead the BCRS, while the Berkeley Antifa Twitter account tweeted out the names of some BCR members and alleged that the members were meeting at a local bar with Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson and right-wing activist Kyle Based Stickman Chapman. BCR members and students in the conservative Young Americas Foundation have said Antifa members have stalked them while they hung posters around campus.

Conservatives in Berkeley are routinely targeted, harassed, and stalked, BCR External Vice President Naweed Tahmas said in an email to the Daily Californian, the campus newspaper. It has become socially acceptable in Berkeley to physically beat someone for being a conservative.

Officials at UC Berkeley have vehemently denied that they condone any threats or violence directed at conservatives and said they have diligently worked to protect their students while also protecting free speech.

Were not going to play games when it comes to the safety of our guests and the members of the campus community, Dan Mogulof, a UC Berkeley spokesman, told Fox News.

The university last month shelled out $600,000 in security for an on-campus appearance from conservative pundit and former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro. Further, it is estimated that UC Berkeley spent close to $1 million on security ahead of the planned Free Speech Week hosted by the conservative Berkeley Patriot group and Yiannopoulos.

While administration members said they are doing all they can to protect and defend free speech, the Berkeley College Republicans targeted by Antifa dont feel the same way.

The universitys response has been pathetic, at best, Matt Ronnau, a BCR member, told Fox News.

Free Speech Week was canceled at the last minute amid a dearth of speakers and problems with the organizers, but the event galvanized both conservatives in Berkeley and those opposed to them.

It also highlighted a divide among the schools conservatives that some blame for the ramping up in the harassment aimed at the group.

Chow, who has been a member of BCR for two years, said the organizations new leadership is taking the group in a different direction  now it focuses on bringing in provocative speakers with far-right views and creating pet projects like the Berkeley Patriot. He said the group now seems more interested in sparking controversy than making positive changes.

They are all about creating outlandish remarks and trying to pull off these outlandish events, Chow said,  there is hypocrisy on both sides.
Lawyers for a death row inmate are asking Ohio Gov. John Kasich to spare their clients life, arguing that the 69-year-old killer of an 18-year-old man is in such poor health that he should be spared.

Alva Campbell uses a walker, relies on an external colostomy bag, requires four breathing treatments a day for asthma and emphysema and may have lung cancer, the lawyers said in a filing with the Ohio Parole Board.

Campbell was also the product of a violent, dysfunctional and sexually abusive childhood and continued to suffer abuse after he was placed in foster homes, the attorneys said.

"Alva's development suffered, and the chances of him becoming a responsible adult withered," wrote lead attorney David Stebbins, a federal public defender.

"Alva's development suffered, and the chances of him becoming a responsible adult withered."  David Stebbins, federal public defender

Campbell's attorneys argue his case is similar to that of Joseph Murphy, spared by Kasich in 2011 ahead of his scheduled execution for slashing a woman's throat during a robbery.

The parole board recommended mercy for Murphy, noting his childhood growing up in West Virginia in which he was beaten, starved and sexually abused.

The board planned to hear arguments for and against clemency on Thursday. A decision is expected in about a week. Kasich has the final say. Campbell is scheduled for execution Nov. 15.

Campbell was in a wheelchair feigning paralysis when he overpowered a Franklin County sheriff's deputy on the way to a court hearing on April 2, 1997, on several armed robbery charges, records show.

Campbell took the deputy's gun, carjacked 18-year-old Charles Dials and drove around with him for several hours before shooting him twice in the head as Dials crouched in the footwell of his own truck, according to court records.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien opposes mercy for Campbell, who he calls "a career criminal from youth to old age."

O'Brien said it was ironic Campbell was raising health concerns to avoid execution given that he faked paralysis to carry out his crime.

"As judgment day nears he again resorts to ill health as a reason to enable an escape from his capital sentence -- and should not be permitted to do so," O'Brien said in a Tuesday filing with the parole board.

Campbell served two decades in prison for a fatal bar shooting in Cleveland in 1972. He was arrested in 1997 after a series of armed robberies in Columbus.

"It is easy to blame deceased parents or a childhood for mistakes or even crimes -- but not for two separate murders committed decades apart," O'Brien said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
At least 50 American flags were torched when a container at a Los Angeles-area veterans memorial park was set on fire late Sunday morning.

The container was set up at the park last year to collect worn and torn American flags that needed to be properly retired by the Boy Scouts. The youth organization holds symbolic ceremonies to retire old or damaged flags, which is done in a methodical and respectful matter, according to the Boy Scouts.

But investigators with the Los Angeles Fire Department believe an arsonist deliberately set fire to the container at Granada Hills Veterans Park. A suspect has been taken into custody, Fox 11 reported.

Barbara Wright, whose son Ronald set up the container as part of his Eagle Scout Project before joining the Army, told the news station that it was appalling to see the burnt flags. Deliberately burning or damaging a flag without the ceremony is considered desecration.

It was just appalling that somebody would do such a thing to our flag, our nations symbol, it was devastating, she said. [My son] was very upset about it and he just wants to see it restored to its original status.

She said the container, placed at the park last August, has been popular among those who want to properly dispose of old or damaged flags.

We have collected so many flags from within the first week of it being placed here, she added, estimating at least 1,000 flags have been collected over the past year.

Erik Scott, captain with the LAFD, told the news station that his department will take over the task of properly retiring the torched flags.

It was important for firefighters to ensure that those American flags have the proper ceremonial disposal, he said. Thats exactly what the local firefighters are doing for those flags.
FBI agents in Puerto Rico have been receiving calls from "across the island" with residents complaining local officials are "withholding" or "mishandling" critical FEMA supplies -- with one island official even accused of stuffing his own car full of goods meant for the suffering populace.

The accusations come in the aftermath of deadly Hurricane Maria, which devastated the U.S. territory last month.



The complaints were hearing is that mayors of local municipalities, or people associated with their offices, are giving their political supporters special treatment, goods theyre not giving to other people who need them, FBI Special Agent Carlos Osorio told Fox News.

Osorio, an agent with the FBI in San Juan, said the bureau was investigating the allegations.

The U.S. attorney has made it clear if anyone is caught mishandling FEMA supplies, they will be prosecuted and could end up facing anywhere from five to 20 years in prison," Osorio said.

Some of the claims have come by phone and others have poured in over social media, but the allegations stretch across the island.

Osorio told of one allegation where a party official is accused of pulling his own car around the back of a government building and driving off after loading it full of FEMA supplies.

Were going out and investigating these claims, Osorio said. We dont know yet if theyre accurate or not...but yes we have received many similar allegations from people in many different parts of the island.

The allegations of misconduct come amid a pitched back-and-forth between island officials and President Trump over the federal response to Maria.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, a frequent Trump foil, reportedly accused Trump on Thursday of genocide for not doing more to aid in the relief efforts.

Cruz sent the accusation in a text message to Rep. Luis V. Gutirrez, D-Ill., who is of Puerto Rican heritage, The Washington Times reported.

Trump on Twitter has accused Cruz of poor management.

"...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..." Trump wrote.

The president raised eyebrows Thursday morning by tweeting that federal agencies, military officials and first responders couldn't stay "in P.R. forever!"

Earlier Thursday, the Daily Caller reported the FBI was aware of misappropriation allegations in six of Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities.

Rosa Emilia Rodriguez, a U.S. federal prosecutor on the island, told a local Puerto Rican radio station Monday she was investigating officials in the government -- including mayors -- regarding the misappropriation of supplies. Rodriguez, however, declined to name the government officials being looked at.

Anybody that engaged in that kind of action whether civilian or representative should be looked at seriously because thats unforgivable," Rep. Adriano Espillat, D-N.Y., a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, told The Daily Caller.

Fox News' Madeline Farber contributed to this report.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lodged detainers on five people charged in connection with the death of a young Maryland woman.

ICE announced Wednesday that it delivered the detainers for Francisco Ramirez-Pena, 22, Ervin Arrue-Figuero, 18, of Annapolis, Darvin E. Guerra-Zacarias, 25, of Silver Spring, Ronald Adonay Mendez-Sosa, 19, of Edgewater and Brenda Y. Argueta, 18, of Silver Spring.

All five were being held without bond after they were arrested and charged with murder, FOX45 reported.

Detainers are used to apprehend suspected noncitizens in the criminal justice system (CJS), transfer them into immigration custody, where they will face removal (a.k.a. deportation) proceedings, according to the national immigration project.

ICE focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security, a statement by the agency said.

MS-13 GANG MEMBERS CHARGED IN SERIES OF MURDERS, DRUG CRIMES, AUTHORITIES SAY

The body of Jenni B. Rivera Lopez, 21, was found on Sept. 20 in a secret grave after she vanished in June. Lopezs death was considered a homicide but her exact cause of death was not immediately known. Charging documents stated she had suffered significant trauma, FOX45 reported.

Lt. Ryan Frashure, a spokesperson for Ann Arundel County police, which made the arrests, said the office believed Rivera Lopezs death may have been gang-related.
A man accused of killing a South Carolina high school student had been protected from deportation under the DACA program, U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News Thursday evening.

Daniel De Jesus Rangel-Sherrer, 19, is accused of murder, kidnapping and possession of a weapon during a violent crime in connection with the death of 18-year-old Diana Martinez-Gonzalez.

Martinez-Gonzalez, a junior at Greenville High School, was found dead in a wooded area Oct. 4. Officials said she had been forced into the woods and shot multiple times in the head.

"Immediately upon contact, [Rangel-Sherrer] confessed to one of the deputies," Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis told reporters.

Investigators said a friend of Martinez-Gonzalez was also held against her will by the suspect, but she managed to escape and contact authorities. It's not clear how Rangel-Sherrer and Martinez-Gonzalez knew each other.

The day after Rangel-Sherrer's arrest, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a detainer order for the suspect, who was in the U.S. illegally from Mexico. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) later confirmed that Rangel-Sherrer was a DACA recipient.

DACA was created by former President Barack Obama in 2012 and protected an estimated 800,000 undocumented youths from deportation. Recipients were able to request "deferred action" for two years if they were 30 years old or younger on June 15, 2012 or came to the U.S. before turning 16 and had continuously lived in the country since June 15, 2007.

Last month, the Trump administration announced plans to wind down the program by March 5, 2018 and put pressure on Congress to find a legislative fix for the issue.
There was no chance Jessica Chambers could survive her injuries when she was airlifted to a hospital with second and third-degree burns covering 93 percent of her body, a nurse testified Thursday.

Mary Beth Hall, the burn unit nurse who treated Chambers before she died, said the young Mississippi woman was burned so badly her chest could not expand enough to allow air into her lungs.

"The burns on her chest were so deep ... the tissue couldn't stretch and move," Hall told jurors. "Every time you tried to give her air, it just wouldn't go."

"It was not a survivable injury," she said.

Hall spoke Thursday at the capital murder trial of Quinton Tellis, who is accused of intentionally setting 19-year-old Chambers on fire on Dec. 6, 2014, in Courtland, Mississippi.

Chambers, a former high school cheerleader, was wearing nothing but underwear when she was found along a rural Mississippi road next to her burning vehicle. The teenager, who had been doused with a flammable liquid and set ablaze, died hours later at a Memphis hospital.

Tellis has pleaded not guilty to murdering Chambers, and several firefighters testified Wednesday that the woman said someone named Eric set her on fire when they found her, severely burned and barely able to speak.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, claim Tellis, 29, repeatedly lied to investigators about spending time with her in the hours before she was found.

Prosecutor John Champion said that Tellis had repeatedly asked Chambers for sex, and she had told him no.

Champion said cellphone records show that Chambers and Tellis  who had met about two weeks before her death and had become friends  were together twice on the day she was burned.

Chambers and Tellis rode around in her car for a while that morning before Chambers dropped off Tellis at his house and she went home to take a nap, prosecutors said. Chambers then picked up Tellis at about 5:30 p.m. and they went to a fast food restaurant, Champion said.

Citing statements Tellis made to investigators, Champion said Tellis and Chambers had sex in her car later that evening. Champion said he believes Tellis suffocated Chambers and thought he had killed her.

Tellis then drove Chambers' car with her inside it to the back road, ran to his sister's house nearby, jumped in his sister's car, stopped to pick up gasoline from a shed at his house and torched Chambers' car and her, Champion said.

But several first responders testified Wednesday that Chambers said "Eric" when questioned about who had set the fire.

"I asked who did this to you. She replied, 'Eric,'" firefighter Brandie Davis told jurors at the trial in Batesville, Mississippi, about 50 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.

Dr. Erin Barnhart, who performed an autopsy of Chambers, also took the stand Thursday, telling jurors the young woman had third-degree burns covering her face, scalp, neck, chest and back.

Barnhart's testimony came after jurors spent the morning visiting the location where Chambers was found burned as well as other locations mentioned during the trial, which began on Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A jury Thursday recommended the death penalty for an Oklahoma man convicted of beheading a co-worker in 2014.



Jurors convicted Alton Nolen, 33, on Sept. 29 of killing 54-year-old Colleen Hufford and trying to kill another co-worker at a food processing plant in Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City.



Jurors agreed on Oct. 2 that Nolen should serve three life sentences plus 130 years in prison on assault and battery charges stemming from his attack on the co-worker who survived. Jurors took less than three hours Thursday to recommend the death penalty on the first-degree murder charge.



Investigators said Nolen had just been suspended from his job at the Vaughan Foods plant when he walked inside the company's administrative office and attacked his co-workers.



During the trial, prosecutors played recordings of Nolen confessing to the stabbings while he was hospitalized following the attack. In the recordings, Nolen says he doesn't "regret it at all" and that "oppressors don't need to be here."



Nolen's attorneys argued that he is mentally ill and that he believed he was doing the right thing because of his delusional misinterpretations of the Koran. But prosecutors said Nolen knew right from wrong before he attacked Hufford.



Nolen had repeatedly tried to plead guilty and asked to be executed, but Cleveland County District Judge Lori Walkley declined to accept his plea. One of Nolen's attorneys had questioned whether his client was mentally competent to enter a guilty plea.



At a 2016 hearing, Nolen told the judge that he would only accept a death sentence, not life in prison with or without the possibility of parole. The judge repeatedly reminded Nolen that if he pleaded guilty and waived his right to a jury trial, the decision to sentence him would be up to a judge, not him.
A Kentucky man was arrested last week after he allegedly turned the pick-up line at an elementary school into an drug marketplace, according to police.

The Lancaster Police Department said Bobby Shumaker, 63, parked his car at the Lancaster Elementary School last Wednesday during pick-up, then got out and walked on the street.

Officers then witnessed him made a drug deal behind a service station before he returned to his car.

When police approached the 63-year-old, he then threw 10 Hydrocodone tablets into the school parking lot. Hydrocodone is an opioid pain medication.

The next day, police served a search warrant and seized about 2,300 pills from his home, in addition to over $8,000 in cash.

Shumaker is charged with trafficking in a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school, first-degree possession of a controlled substance and second-degree wanton endangerment.
The Latest on wildfires in California (all times local):

6:15 p.m.

Northern California's wildfires have now killed 31 people  making this the deadliest week of wildfires in state history.

Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said Thursday night that two more people have been confirmed dead there. That raises the statewide death total from 29 to 31.

The Oakland Hills fire of 1991 killed 25 people by itself, and the Griffith Park fire in Los Angeles in 1933 killed 29.

While no single fire currently burning has killed as many as those, state fire Deputy Director Daniel Berlant says collectively this is the deadliest series of simultaneous fires in the state in recorded history.

The blazes, most of them in wine country, broke out almost all at once on Sunday night.

___

4:10 p.m.

California's deadly wildfires have claimed the home of 'Peanuts' creator Charles Schulz but his widow has escaped the flames.

Schulz's son, Monte Schulz, says a fire on Monday torched the Santa Rosa homes of his stepmother, 78-year-old Jean Schulz, and his brother, Craig Schulz.

She's staying with other relatives.

Schulz says he's been told the home where his famous cartoonist father died and all the memorabilia in it are gone.

However, most of his father's original artwork is in the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, and so far that's escaped the flames.

___

2:40 p.m.

Authorities in Northern California say at least four people were killed by a wildfire burning in California's Sierra Nevada foothills, bringing the state's death toll to 29.

Yuba County Sheriff Steve Durfor confirmed Thursday that the four have died since a blaze ignited there Sunday night.

The fire is burning 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of several blazes in wine country that also broke out Sunday night and that have killed 25 people.

The blaze in the foothills has destroyed more than 100 homes and displaced 2,500 people.

Fire officials say it has charred 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) but fire crews overnight made significant progress and it's 45 percent contained.

___

12:50 p.m.

Officials say progress is being made in some of the largest wildfires burning in Northern California but that the death toll is almost sure to surge.

Fire Chief Ken Pimlott says the number of dead is 26 as of Thursday.

Pimlott says crews have made significant progress against blazes in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and they're being redirected to wine country.

He says the fires blackening California's wine country are threatening dozens of communities and larger cities and that erratic wind gusts are expected in the area starting Friday.

More than 8,000 firefighters are battling the blazes and additional manpower and equipment was pouring in from across the country and as far as Australia and Canada.

___

11:15 a.m.

California fire officials are investigating downed power lines and other utility equipment failures as possible causes of massive wildfires sweeping through wine country.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Janet Upton says it's unclear if downed power lines and live wires resulted from fires or started them.

She said Thursday that investigators are looking into that and other possible causes.

Jennifer Robison of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. says the utility is focused on restoring power and maintaining safety. She says they will not speculate about the causes of the fires.

She says PG&E will support reviews by any regulator or agency.

___

10:15 a.m.

Officials say recovery teams, some with cadaver dogs, will start searching for bodies in some areas devastated by wildfires raging in California wine country.

Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano says officials are investigating hundreds of reports of missing people and that recovery teams will start doing targeted searches for bodies Thursday. He warns that identification may be difficult and take some time.

He says officials have found some bodies almost completely intact but other remains are "nothing more than ash and bones."

Giordano says at least 14 people have been killed Sonoma County, raising the death toll to 24.

___

9:30 a.m.

One of the California counties hard hit by wildfires this week chose not to use one type of emergency alert service to warn residents of possible danger.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Larocque says Sonoma County considered but did not use the Wireless Emergency Alert which sends a widespread message to cell phones and is sometimes likened to an Amber Alert.

Larocque says because of its broad reach officials concluded the message could panic people who were not in danger and trigger unnecessary evacuations that would snarl traffic and delay emergency vehicles.

Sonoma County did use another emergency alert service that texted thousands of warnings to residents to flee Sunday night. However, nearly 80 cellphone towers were knocked out or badly damaged.

___

7:55 a.m.

Officials say fire crews have made progress on one of 22 fires burning in Northern California.

Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said Thursday a blaze burning in Napa and Sonoma Counties is 10 percent contained.

But he warns that potential gusty winds forecast to hit the area later in the day could hamper firefighting efforts.

Blazes burning in three other Northern California counties have killed 10 people.

Entire cities have evacuated in anticipation of the next round of flames, their streets empty and the only motion coming from ashes falling like snowflakes.

___

7:15 a.m.

A fire official says blazes burning in Northern California grew a bit overnight but it was not as dramatic as prior days.

However, that could change Thursday as winds gusting to 45 mph (72 kph) and dry air are expected to pummel areas north of San Francisco where at least 23 people have died and at least 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Scott McLean told Oakland television station KTVU that winds were calm early Thursday and firefighters had made some gains overnight.

Thousands of firefighters are battling at least 22 fires spanning more than 265 square miles (686 square kilometers) for a fourth day.

___

6:10 a.m.

Officials believe at least 111 rural homes have been destroyed in a wildfire that is chewing through brush and timber on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in California.

It's one of more than 20 deadly and destructive fires burning across California.

Yuba County spokesman Russ Brown said Thursday that damage estimates are preliminary and crews have had a hard time getting into mountain communities to survey burn areas.

Brown says overnight winds lessened somewhat, giving firefighters an edge as they beat back the fire that broke out Sunday north of Sacramento.

The blaze that has consumed nearly 19 square miles (49 square kilometers) was 20 percent contained Wednesday night.

At least 23 people have died and thousands of homes have been destroyed in other fires north of San Francisco.
Eight MS-13 gang members in the notorious crew's "Sailors Clique" faction participated in a violent racketeering conspiracy in and around Maryland, engaging in a terrifying campaign of murder, drug trafficking and extortion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

The men were named in a superseding indictment returned last month by a federal jury, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office. The indictment alleged the eight men were members or associates of the MS-13 gang with ties to El Salvador.

Branches of the gang were known to exist and function throughout Prince Georges County and Montgomery County, Md., prosecutors said.

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND STUDENT ATTACKED WITH BASEBALL BAT

According to the indictment, crimes committed included the planning and carrying out of killings, extortion of business owners and trafficking in guns, marijuana and cocaine. It added the killings included a slaying last March in Bedford County, Va.

The attorneys office identified the eight men in custody as:

Carlos Robert Tejada Cruz, also known as Krusty, 20, of Beltsville, Md.

Kevin Alexis Hernandez-Guevara, also known as Stop, 20, of Landover Hills, Md.

Rolando Aristides Juarez-Vasquez, also known as Virus or Daffy, 22, of Hyattsville, Md.

Jeffry Rodriguez, also known as Hyper, 21, of Beltsville, Md.

Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno, also known as Insolente or Trankilo, 20, of Landover, Md.

Michael Eduardo Contreras, also known as Insoportable, 22, of Silver Spring, Md.

Luis Fernando Orellana-Estrada, also known as Pinguino, 18, of Hyattsville, Md.

Donald Roberto Mendez-Lopez, also known as Chuckie, 18, of Hyattsville, Md.

Alvarado-Requeno was specifically named as ordering the killing of a person believed to be part of a rival gang in June 2016 in Gaithersburg.

In July 2016, Hernandez-Guevara, Tejada-Cruz and other members of the gang planned another murder by luring the victim to a secluded place before Tejada-Cruz tried to shoot the person. Tejada-Cruz and other gang members then stabbed and killed the victim, the statement said.

Contreras planned for Sailors Clique members to travel to Virginia to murder a person in Bedford County in March 2017.

MARYLAND MAN CLINGS TO SCHOOL BUS HOOD, ARRESTED AFTER STUDENT ALLEGEDLY THROWS BOTTLE

Alvarado-Requeno, Hernandez-Guevara, Tejada-Cruz, and Juarez-Vasquez could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

Hernandez-Guevara and Tejada-Cruz also face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, the statement said.

Orellana-Estrada, Rodriguez, Contreras and Mendez-Lopez could receive twenty years in prison for conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A break-in turned deadly Wednesday when a 91-year-old man died in front of his 99-year-old wife after the couple were tied up by several people who entered their New York home.

Police said the couple, identified by family members as Waldiman and Ethlin Thompson, were sitting in their Brooklyn home around 3:30 p.m. when four masked men stormed in, FOX5 reported.

After tying up the couple, the men rummaged through the apartment.

Ethlin was able to somehow free herself during the ordeal, and she got away and called 911.

"The officers entered her apartment and found her 91-year-old husband tied up and lying on the floor," NYPD Deputy Chief Michael Kemper said at a press conference Wednesday. "He was unresponsive."

Waldiman was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead about an hour later, police said.

A neighbor who was outside at the time of the incident told the New York Post he saw Ethlin right after she managed to free herself.

I come walking up the block from work and she came running out the house screaming, Paul Paterson said. This was the first time I ever saw her screaming. She said, They robbed me and my husband and tied us up, they came in from the back. My husband laying there and might be dead. I said, 'I cant go in there because it would be a crime scene.'

Paterson described the couple as loving people, and said he saw rope burns on the woman's legs while speaking to her.

They were like a grandmother and grandfather to me, he said. Everyone on this block knew them and loved them.

The couples niece, Karlene Grose, told NBC New York she was watching the news, saw her aunt and uncles home on the screen and realized her uncle had been killed by the burglars.

To see my uncle go like this, someone has to be punished, Grose said.
A former Ohio teacher pleaded guilty Tuesday after she admitted she hooked up sexually with a teenage student.

Tiffany Cordes, 27, who worked at Union Local School, appeared before a judge and pleaded guilty to sexual imposition, WTOV9 reported. She is required to register as a sex offender.

Officials began investigating the former teacher when a mother caught her son texting Cordes, WTOV9 reported in February. The mother contacted police about the incident and the boy said during an interview Cordes admitted to him she had hooked up with another student.

Investigators eventually found the 18-year-old boy, who also said he and Cordes had hooked up sexually at least once.

The incident occurred after the student helped haul prom supplies in his pickup truck for Cordes, 7News reported.

Belmont County Prosecutor Dan Fry said that, though the student was 18 years old, Cordes violated a position of trust by engaging in sexual activity with him. She was banned from the school property shortly after school administrators became aware of the charges.

Cordes is expected to be sentenced Oct. 27 and faces up to 18 months in prison.
An Oklahoma man has been accused of stealing a ring off a dying womans finger and hawking it to a pawn shop, authorities said.

Marvin James Johnson Jr., a family acquaintance, is accused of taking the ring off Carlus Grays finger while he was helping care for her in her final days of an aggressive battle with cancer, police said.

Johnson faces charges for financial exploitation of an elderly/disabled adult and making a false declaration of ownership to a pawnbroker.

The ring went missing this summer and Gray accused Johnson of taking it, KFOR reported.

I guess when I had my back turned when he was lifting her out of the bed, thats the only opportunity to slide the ring off her finger, Grays daughter, Marquesha, said.

Her daughter said she showed up at Johnsons home and confronted him.

He denied stealing it, but she said in his house she found the receipt for $400 from the pawn shop. She was able to confirm the ring at the pawn shop was her mothers.

You don't think that someone's going to come into your home and take from someone who's not able to defend themselves, she said.

She was able to get it back just before her mother passed away.

[My mother] told me, Im learning, daughter, on this journey that Im on, people will take from you even when you're on your resting bed, and you must forgive them, Marquesha said. But I know that you're going to get it back, and I'm not worried about it because it's in God's hands.
The parents of a former high school student in Mississippi, who is black, are suing a school district after a substitute teacher allegedly said their son should be hanged.

Carlos Moore, the attorney for parents Tony and Kayla Lindsey, says the incident took place in April of this year at Northwest Rankin High School in Rankin County, Miss. The student who is referred to as T.L. in the lawsuit, was involved in a verbal spat with a white student when the substitute teacher interjected.

Basically he told the white student to stop messing with him or he was going to lay him out, Moore told Fox News. The teacher overheard this, so she told the white student to let him hit him so they could hang him. She said this in front of a class full of students.

Moore says the substitute teacher involved was suspended for two days and the school district offered what he describes as hush money following the incident.

A Rankin County School District (RCSD) spokesperson provided a statement to Fox News calling the case meritless.

This matter was investigated, discussed with parents, and resolved the week of April 7, 2017, Kristen Windham, the director of public relations for RCSD, said in a statement. The allegations in this case were taken out of context for the purpose of gain. We will defend this meritless case vigorously.

Windham also says substitute teachers with the district are employed by Kelly Services. She went on to say the company has an excellent track record of providing quality workers.

Moore adds the parents arent looking to gain from the lawsuit, and are seeking damages for their sons emotional distress. He noted the amount of compensation would be decided by a jury.

If the school district really believed it was an egregious act, they would have done more than ratify her act by giving her a two-day suspension, Moore said.
A white restaurant manager in South Carolina has been indicted for allegedly enslaving a black worker with development delays for five years and using physical abuse to force him to work as a buffet cook.

The indictment unsealed Wednesday charged Bobby Paul Edwards, a 52-year-old manager at J&J Cafeteria in Conway, S.C., with one count of forced labor.

Federal authorities accused Edwards of using force, threats and physical restraints to compel Christopher Smith, 39, to work at the restaurant from September 2009 to October 2014, the New York Post reported.

An attorney for Smith filed a federal lawsuit in 2015 against Edwards, the restaurant and its owner, Ernest Edwards, who is the accuseds brother.

According to WMBF, Smith began working at the restaurant when he was 12 years old as a bus boy and doing some cooking. Smith  who suffers from mild delayed cognitive development  claims the abuse began in 2010.

He would beat me with belts and all that, he told the news station in 2015. Take the tongs to the grease on my neck.

Additional, Edwards allegedly choked, slapped, punched and called Smith the N-word repeatedly, his attorney claims. Additionally, Smith earned less than $3,000 per year.

Geneane Caines, whose daughter-in-law worked at the restaurant at the time, told WMBF that employees feared telling authorities of the abuse. She became an advocate for Smith.

Customers that were going in there would hear stuff and they didnt know what was going on, and they would ask the waitress, and the waitresses were so scared of Bobby, they wouldnt tell them then what it was, she said.

In late 2014 Edwards was arrested on a state charge of second-degree assault and battering, which is still pending, the Post and Courier reported.

On Wednesday, Edwards pleaded not guilty to one count of forced labor and was ordered held without bail.

Smith said he wants Edwards punished.

I want him to go to prison, and I want to be there when he go, Smith told WMBF.

If convicted of forced labor, Edwards faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and mandatory restitution.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department received an unexpected package this week.

A visitor to Enchanted Rock sent back a stone she took claiming it had supernatural powers.

I'm returning this rock to its owner, Enchanted Rock. I've had nothing but bad luck since I took it. Sorry I did it. P.S. not able to do it in person, the note from a visitor identified only as Maria read.

It's the first time Texas Parks and Wildlife staff have had someone return a stone to them.

It's definitely unusual. It's one of those stories that are probably going to stick around with us for a while, said Texas Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Stephanie Garcia.

If any stone were to have supernatural powers, Enchanted Rock would be the first place park staff would look.

We've had Native Americans living here for over 11,000 years, so, of course there's some legends of the mystical powers of Enchanted Rock, said Doug Cochran, park superintendent at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.

As for Marias gem, Cochran said he already has plans for it.

Were going to put it in a very special place where nobody knows it except me and one other person, Cochran said.

Read more from Fox 7 Austin.
The daring plan to bring home an American woman and her family from Afghanistan, where they were held captive by a Taliban-affiliated group, appeared to hit a snag Thursday, with officials telling Fox News the woman's husband is refusing to board a plane out of the Middle East.

Caitlan Coleman, 32, was seven months pregnant when she and her husband, Josh Boyle, were abducted in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Haqqani network. The couple and their three children -- all of whom were born in captivity -- were freed Thursday in a "negotiated release," an official told Fox News.

The family has "been essentially living in a hole for 5 years," White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told reporters Thursday.

But Boyle is refusing to board an American military plane in Pakistan waiting to take them home, fearing he'll be arrested, a U.S. official said. Some officials say Roberts is fearful of perhaps being sent to Guantanamo Bay, based off his background.

Boyle was previously married to the sister of Omar Khadr, a Canadian man who spent 10 years at Guantanamo Bay after being captured in 2002 in a firefight at an Al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan.

The Canadian-born Khadr was 15 in 2002 when he tossed a grenade in a firefight that killed U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, a special forces medic.

TRUMP RAMPS UP PRESSURE ON PAKISTAN IN SPEECH

Other officials had discounted any link between that background and Boyle's capture by the Haqqani network, with one describing it to The Associated Press in 2014 as a "horrible coincidence."

The family was still in Pakistan Thursday afternoon and details of their departure are being worked out, a source told Fox News.

The Pakistani military confirmed the release and said the family was "being repatriated to the country of their origin."

Please dont become the next Jimmy Carter  Caitlan Coleman in a 2016 plea to former U.S. President Barack Obama

The couple has told U.S. officials that they wanted to fly commercially to Canada, according to an official who spoke to The Associated Press.

The operation that set Coleman, Boyle and their children free remains somewhat mysterious. Pakistan's armed forces said in a statement an operation was undertaken by Pakistani forces based on actionable intelligence provided by U.S. authorities. U.S. intelligence agencies had reportedly been tracking the hostages and shared the location with Pakistani counterparts when the hostages shifted into Pakistani territory Wednesday.

But a source told Fox News that U.S. officials had been working on the release for a long time and had been placing pressure on the Pakistani government -- the Haqqani network has ties to Pakistan's intelligence services. The U.S., however, did not pay for the hostage release and no other hostages were released in a quid-pro-quo, sources said.

"Today they are free. This is a positive moment for our country's relationship with Pakistan," President Trump said in a statement Thursday. "The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region."

It is believed the family's captors are holding two other American hostages: Kevin King, a university professor who taught in Kabul and was captured in August 2016, and Paul Overby, a Massachusetts writer, who vanished in May 2014, the source said.

Trump appeared to hint at the news of Coleman's release during a speech in her home state of Pennsylvania a day earlier.

"Something happened today, where a country that totally disrespected us called with some very, very important news," Trump said Wednesday. "And one of my generals came in. They said, 'You know, I have to tell you, a year ago they would've never done that.' It was a great sign of respect. You'll probably be hearing about it over the next few days. But this is a country that did not respect us. This is a country that respects us now. The world is starting to respect us again, believe me."

Coleman and Boyle were last seen in a hostage video in December 2016 pleading for their governments to intervene.

The two vanished after setting off in the summer of 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan.

Coleman's parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, had previously last heard from their son-in-law on Oct. 8, 2012, from an Internet cafe in what Josh described as an "unsafe" part of Afghanistan.

The news of the release comes a month after President Trump announced a new strategy to deal with Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying the Taliban and other militant groups would no longer find safe haven in Pakistan.

Defense Secretary James Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford told Congress last week Pakistan would no longer be a sanctuary for terrorism.

"I applaud the innumerable lines of effort from across the U.S. government," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday in reaction to the family's release.

TRUMP APPROVES SENDING 4,000 MORE TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN, SENIOR OFFICIAL SAYS

In the 2016 YouTube video, Coleman refers to "the Kafkaesque nightmare in which we find ourselves" and urges "governments on both sides" to reach a deal for their freedom. She then adds: "My children have seen their mother defiled."

Two young children appear in the video with them, and Coleman has told her family that she gave birth to two children in captivity. It was revealed Thursday that Coleman had a third child.

Please dont become the next Jimmy Carter, Coleman said in the 2016 video, reading a prepared statement and making a plea to former President Barack Obama. Just give the offenders something so they and you can save face so we can leave the region permanently.

The Haqqani network has orchestrated a vast array of brutal attacks in Afghanistan in recent years, against both locals and the U.S. military, but unlike their Taliban associates, they are deemed to be more motivated by money than faith.

In that interview with Circa News in 2016, Jim Coleman issued a plea to top Taliban commanders to be "kind and merciful" and let the couple go.

Fox News Jennifer Griffin, Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
American Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their three children were all released last week in Pakistan, after spending five years held by the militant Haqqani network, which has ties to the Taliban.

President Trump said in a statement last week that the U.S. and Pakistani governments worked together and "secured the release of the Boyle-Coleman family from captivity in Pakistan."

"Today they are free," Trump said of the family, calling it "a positive moment for our country's relationship with Pakistan."

Boyle told the AP in an email that Coleman was admitted to a Canadian hospital on Monday and remained there through Wednesday. He did not specify why she was taken to the hospital.

"My wife has been through hell, and she has to be my first priority right now," Boyle wrote.

What do we know about Caitlan Coleman and her family?

The 32-year-old is a native of York County, Pa., Philly.com reported.

Coleman and her husband were abducted in 2012 while traveling in Afghanistan. Coleman was pregnant at the time, and their children were born in captivity.

Boyle told the AP that their children are now 4, 2 and "somewhere around 6 months."

After landing at Toronto's airport, Boyle said that the Taliban-linked Haqqani network killed their infant daughter and raped his wife during the years they were held. In an email exchange with the AP, Boyle did not respond to a question about the fourth child. The Taliban said in a statement on Sunday that it was a miscarriage.

Boyle, a former call center worker, said in an earlier statement that he had gone to Afghanistan with Coleman to help villagers "who live deep inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan where no NGO, no aid worker and no government has ever successfully been able to bring the necessary help."

He was once briefly married to Zaynab Khadr, the older sister of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter of a senior Al Qaeda financier who had contacts with Usama bin Laden.

Coleman and Boyle were most recently seen in video from December 2016.

Please dont become the next Jimmy Carter, Coleman said to then-President Barack Obama in the clip while reading a statement. Just give the offenders something so they and you can save face so we can leave the region permanently.

"My children have seen their mother defiled," Coleman said in the clip.

AMERICAN CAITLAN COLEMAN, FAMILY FREED FROM AFGHANISTANT CAPTORS

What has the reaction to the family's release been?

"It's a great day. They've been held a long time," FBI Director Christopher Wray said, according to NBC.

"I applaud the innumerable lines of effort from across the U.S. Government," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.

Tillerson said he is "particularly proud of" U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale, along with "his Mission Islamabad team for their engagement with Pakistan. These efforts reflect the best of what America can accomplish."

Canada's foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, said in a statement that her government is greatly relieved to learn that after five years of being held hostage, the family has been released and is safe.

She said that Canada has been engaged with the governments of the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan. She thanked those countries for helping with the release.

"Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years. We stand ready to support them as they begin their healing journey," she said.

The operation took place as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with President Trump in Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):

4:10 p.m.

Egypt's state media and a representative of a Syrian rebel group are saying that three Syrian opposition factions have reached a cease-fire deal for a southern part of Damascus that has been the scene of recent violence.

The state-run MENA news agency and Mohammed Alloush of the rebel group Jaysh al-Islam, or Army of Islam, said the deal was reached under Egyptian and Russian auspices.

MENA says the deal was signed at the intelligence's headquarters in Cairo on Thursday and went into effect at noon.

Alloush told The Associated Press by telephone that the three parties to the deal are Army of Islam, Jaysh al-Ababil and Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, which is linked to the Palestinian Hamas group.

The deal would also open humanitarian access and prevent displacing its residents inside Syria.

___

3:50 p.m.

Syrian opposition activists say government troops are pushing deeper into an Islamic State stronghold in the country's east, the town of Mayadeen.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says clashes with militants intensified in the morning hours on Thursday in the town, as government forces advanced into the western and northern neighborhoods of Mayadeen, which lies on the Euphrates River.

The Observatory says troops were able to cut off the road linking Mayadeen and the town of Boukamal on the border with Iraq.

Opposition activist Mozahem al-Salloum says the fighting is fierce and that it will likely take time to rid Mayadeen of the Islamic State group.

Syrian troops reached Mayadeen on Saturday, after pushing south along the eastern banks of the Euphrates.
The Latest on the release of an American woman, her husband and their three children after being held for years by a group with ties to the Taliban (all times local):

6:15 p.m.

President Donald Trump is praising the release of a family long held by a group with ties to the Taliban. Trump calls Thursday's development a "positive moment" for U.S. relations with Pakistan.

He says in a statement that the Pakistani government's "cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region."

Trump says the U.S. hopes "to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations."

U.S. and Pakistani officials say an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years of being held by the Haqqani network in Pakistan.

___

5:50 p.m.

Pakistan's military says soldiers have recovered five Western hostages held by the Taliban for years.

Pakistan's army did not name those held, only saying it worked with U.S. intelligence officials to track down the hostages and free them after discovering they had been brought into Pakistan.

However, two army officials who spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday identified the hostages as Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife Caitlan Coleman and their children who were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release the information.

Caitlan Coleman had told her family she gave birth to two children in captivity.
Two key officials involved in North Koreas nuclear and missile program were reportedly nowhere to be seen during public events this week, fueling speculation that another missile launch or nuke test could be imminent.

Ri Man-gon, supervisor of the department for the nuclear and missile development, and Kim Rak-gyom, the head of the strategic rocket forces, were noticeably missing at a Saturday mass rally in Pyongyang and a Tuesday celebration for the anniversary of the Workers Party of Korea, according to South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

NORTH KOREA SAYS TRUMP 'LIT THE WICK OF WAR,' VOWS 'A HAIL OF FIRE'

A government-funded organization staff member told the publication there was little chance the top officials were removed from their positions because they were praised for [recent] major achievements.

"It's highly likely that they were absent because they'd been given an important assignment, the individual said.

The discovery was based on recently released photos of celebrations and rallies on Saturday and Tuesday. Ri and Kim have been present at previous public events.

On Thursday, a 2.9-magnitude earthquake was detected in Sungjibaegam, near the site were previous nuclear tests were conducted, U.S. Geological Survey reported. It's not thought to be caused by a nuclear bomb test. The Sept. 3 nuclear test yielded a 6.3 magnitude quake.

NORTH KOREA COULD USE HOLIDAY AS EXCUSE TO PROVOKE US, EXPERTS SAY

Officials have warned that North Korea could use special holidays to launch a new missile. Monday marked the anniversary of the countrys first nuclear bomb test carried out 11 years ago. North Korean citizens also continued to celebrate the Workers Party anniversary throughout the week.

The Hermit Kingdom has carried out its previous nuclear tests during Memorial Day Weekend, Lunar New Year celebrations in China and Kim Jong Uns birthday.

Pyongyang carried out its last missile launch in September. That missile flew over Japan before splashing into the Pacific Ocean. The missile reached a height of 480 miles and flew 2,300 miles out, putting Guam in range for a possible strike that Kim Jong Un has threatened in recent months.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho continued his scathing attack on Wednesday after President Trumps speech at the United Nations General Assembly, saying the U.S. president lit the wick of war with his words.

We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words, Ri said to Russias state-run TASS news agency.
Egyptian officials say an attack on a checkpoint in the northern Sinai Peninsula has killed six police.

Security and hospital officials confirmed the toll from Thursday's attack on the outskirts of the city of el-Arish and said another four people were wounded. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Egypt has been battling an insurgency in the northern Sinai that has been led by an Islamic State affiliate since 2014.

In July, Islamic State militants killed 23 soldiers in a remote checkpoint in northeastern Sinai  the deadliest assault on the military in the turbulent region in two years.
Serbia's defense minister has reaffirmed his support for a convicted war criminal, denouncing the U.S. ambassador to Belgrade for his critical tweet.

Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin has praised former Gen. Vladimir Lazarevic, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison by a U.N. war crimes tribunal for atrocities committed by Serb troops in Kosovo during the 1999 crackdown against ethnic Albanians.

U.S. Ambassador Kyle Scott tweeted that months of work to improve Serbia's image in the United States can be "undermined with a single statement." He was referring to Vulin's public praise of Lazarevic.

Vulin told the pro-government Pink TV on Thursday that "Gen. Lazarevic is an honorable and brave man and there is no army (in the world) that would give him up."
Syrian opposition activists say government troops are pushing deeper into an Islamic State stronghold in the country's east, the town of Mayadeen.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says clashes with militants intensified in the morning hours on Thursday in the town, as government forces advanced into the western and northern neighborhoods of Mayadeen, which lies on the Euphrates River.

The Observatory says troops were able to cut off the road linking Mayadeen and the town of Boukamal on the border with Iraq.

Opposition activist Mozahem al-Salloum says the fighting is fierce and that it will likely take time to rid Mayadeen of the Islamic State group.

Syrian troops reached Mayadeen on Saturday, after pushing south along the eastern banks of the Euphrates.
Sally White Widow Jones  one of the most notorious Islamic terrorists born in Britain  has been killed in a U.S. strike in Syria, U.S. authorities told their British counterparts.

Jones, 50, a mother of two, who used to be a punk rock artist but later converted to Islam and fled to Syria to become a top recruiter for the Islamic State group, was reportedly killed in June during a drone strike near the border between Syria and Iraq.

The Americans zapped her trying to get away from Raqqa. Quite frankly, its good riddance, a British source familiar with the strike told the Sun, which first reported Jones' death.

Jones followed the same fate as her husband, Junaid Hussain, who died in an airstrike in 2015 as part of a larger campaign against ISIS. She and her husband were occasionally called Mr. and Mrs. Terror and were linked to numerous terror plots.

Jones 12-year-old son Jojo was also believed to have been killed in the strike. The premise that Sally Jones and her son are dead is probably accurate, an unnamed British official told the Times of London.

The woman reportedly used her son as a human shield during skirmishes with anti-ISIS forces. She was last seen fleeing Raqqa following the liberation by U.S-backed military forces, the Sun reported.

Jones was top ISIS recruiter of female jihadists and was reportedly high on the U.S. kill list as she was considered a high-value target. She targeted young girls, trying to lure them into Syria to become jihadi brides, and used social media to threaten attacks on Britain.

Her son was not targeted by the U.S. military strike and was not considered a combatant. According to the Times, his mother, however, used him in a propaganda video, where he was seen shooting an ISIS hostage in the back of the head.
A grim discovery was made Thursday in the search for a 79-year-old woman who wandered away from a senior facility in Australia and went for a swim in a crocodile-infested creek.

Queensland Police said they found human remains, in addition to clothing and a walking stick belonging to Anne Cameron, who was reported missing Tuesday from a facility in Port Douglas, Sky News Australia reported.

"Because of the proximity of these items and this unknown material located near this creek bank, we cannot rule out the possibility of a croc attack," Acting Inspector Ed Lukin told reporters at a news conference.

Police said the remains found at Port Douglas have been sent for further testing, but there is no indication of foul play.

Cameron is believed to have removed her clothing before going into the creek, authorities said.

The 79 year old has dementia and had only been at the facility for a few weeks, according to police.

The woman's son, Craig Eggins, wrote on Facebook his mother took regular short walks and would ask for help if she got lost, according to the Australian Associated Press.

"She's very mobile and could have walked a fair distance," Eggins wrote.

The woman's disappearance caused lawmakers to consider a crocodile cull, including egg harvesting and the immediate removal of animals considered a threat.

"In north Queensland we face the risk and sometimes the ultimate price because governments are weak on this issue," Australian MP Robbie Katter said Thursday while urging the state government to support the proposal for stricter crocodile management.
Of the four options architects presented for a new King George Courthouse, the one preferred by everyone who works in the facility, described as crowded and outdated, happens to be the least expensive.

The stars must be aligned, joked Circuit Court Clerk Vic Mason.

Moseley Architects of Richmond estimates it will cost $29.5 million to build a 63,140-square-foot courthouse off State Route 3 next to the King George County Sheriffs Office. The firms rendering of the building shows a stately two-story brick facility with an entrance framed in white columns and a roof adorned with a white cupola.

Its so nice, its beautiful, said Cedell Brooks Jr., a member of the King George Board of Supervisors.

Building a new facility on Government Center Boulevard, in front of the animal pound and near the King George YMCA, was the unanimous option of county officials who use the courthouse. That includes judges, the commonwealths attorney and the sheriff, Mason told the supervisors Oct. 3.

Its by far what everyone thought was the best option, he said, adding it addresses the needs of a 21st-century facility in terms of space, security, technology, acoustics, work and traffic flow and proximity to the Sheriffs Office. All positives, no negatives.

Other options the architects offered include two versions of an expansion at the current courthouse or renovating the old middle school on Dahlgren Road. None were considerable suitable, Mason said, because they didnt offer the right dimensions or solve existing parking and security problems.

In recent years, Mason has highlighted ongoing needs at the King George Courthouse, the oldest part of which was built in 1922. He remembers when workers had to go outsidenot to use the bathroombut to enter a different part of the building where the facilities were.

COMPLETELY INADEQUATE

While he references other potty mishaps, like the time the ceiling fell in on the bathroom in the judges chamber, Mason makes it clear the situation is no laughing matter.

Or, as Commonwealths Attorney Keri Gusmann said in May, after members of the King George Board of Supervisors toured the courthouse: It is completely inadequate for the current practice of law.

Mason said the old building doesnt provide adequate security for judges who sit on the bench, deputies who protect them or residents who appear before them. The courtrooms arent a suitable size for the proceedings held in them, and theres not enough space in the hallways to separate people who may be testifying on separate sides of a criminal case or involved in a contentious divorce dispute.

Thats one of the biggest problems of the building, the lack of space for the public, Mason said.

And for operations. Current courthouse operations take up 24,274 square feet, according to Moseley. Thats less than half of the 58,119 square feet required under the Virginia Courthouse Family Guidelines.

With the current setup, a judge leaving court could be in the hallway the same time as a defendant he just sentenced, Mason said.

Circuit Court Judge Joseph Vance IV said thats happened to him, and while he feels well-protected by county deputies, its an opportunity for something to happen that shouldnt exist.

DESIGN PHASE IS NEXT

County officials have set aside $25.2 million in their five-year capital improvement program to pay for a new courthouse. Over the summer, when supervisors rated the 29 projects presented by all county departments, the new courthouse was the only one deemed a priority by all five members.

On Oct. 3, representatives from Moseley Architects presented the four options, which differed a lot in scope and size, but not that much in price. The most expensive choice was renovating the old middle school, and its cost was $31.3 million.

The architects echoed the comments by Mr. Mason, said Christopher Yago, project manager, as he discussed each option.

The next step for the project is the architectural design phase, which should cost between $2 million and $3 million, said County Administrator Neiman Young.

If the design cost is approved in the next CIP cycle and supervisors vote to proceed with the construction, Young said we can expect to see groundbreaking on the project within the next two to two and a half years.
A man was arrested at gunpoint early Tuesday after he wrecked a vehicle that he is accused of having just stolen from a Stafford County residence, police said.

According to sheriffs spokeswoman Amanda Vicinanzo, police were called to a residence in southern Stafford at 12:22 a.m. for a report of a stolen vehicle. The victim told a deputy that she left her keys in her blue Jeep Cherokee and the doors unlocked after returning from the store.

Deputy Justin Forman had just turned onto Leeland Road when he saw a blue Jeep Cherokee pulling out of the 7-Eleven parking lot.

Forman made a U-turn and followed the vehicle, which accelerated and turned onto Dawson Drive.

Forman had just activated his emergency lights when the Jeep ran off the road and into a fire hydrant before flipping and landing on its roof.

A man climbed out of the passengers-side window and began running from the scene.

Forman was following on foot when the suspect tripped and fell.

The deputy held the suspect at gunpoint until help arrived to take him into custody. The vehicle owner was contacted and told police she did not know the suspect, 31-year-old Jordan Alexander Mason of Partlow.

Vicinanzo said Mason claimed he was not the driver, but Forman saw no one else in the vehicle after it crashed. Marijuana and spice were found in the wrecked vehicle.

Mason was charged with a bevy of offenses, including eluding police, grand larceny, destruction of property, DUI, driving on a revoked license, possession of controlled substances and resisting arrest.

He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at Mary Washington Hospital before being placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.
Developer Jeff Caruso did not get favorable feedback from the Culpeper County Planning Commission this week regarding the rezoning of 121 acres along Nalles Mill Road on which his company proposes to build a 300-unit subdivision.

Unfortunately, the commissions major concern is something the developer has no control over: the width of a bridge over the NorfolkSouthern Railway tracks.

During the second work session on the proposed community Wednesday night (the first was held in January), Carusos attorney, John Foote of Manassas, said plans now call for a signal to be installed on the Nalles Mill Road bridge that will stop vehicles to allow pedestrians to walk from one end of the bridge to the other. The bridge has no sidewalk.

But walkers would still have to cross Nalles Mill Road once they traverse the concrete bridge, which the commission said would present another safety concern.

Such a situation struck almost every commissioner as extremely dangerous while also adding to traffic congestion less than a quarter-mile from Walmart and the busy commercial district along James Madison Highway.

I dont know what you can do about that bridge to make it safe, commission Chairman Sanford Reaves said.

Culpeper attorney Bruce Clark, also representing Caruso, said he contacted NorfolkSouthern and got nowhere.

Railroads will not work with private developers, Clark said. They will only deal with governments.

Foote said that an R-cut intersection would help create a safe left turn onto James Madison Highway and assured the commission that the subdivision would have minimal impact on the county school system.

He added that the county could seek proffers from the developer because the rezoning application was made before July 1, when the state law changed.

While the bridge and pedestrian safety was the main concern of the commissioners, street width and a lack of parking were also discussed.

Commissioner Cindy Thornhill said she thought 30-foot-wide streets were too narrow, especially if residents would be parking on the streets.

Foote said that while the land is now in the county, the streets proposed meet town standards because the subdivision will almost certainly be annexed when finished. Clark echoed those sentiments.

This is not a rural area, Clark said, noting that the proposed development is less than 300 yards from the most intense commercial area in the town.

Still, Commissioner Laura Rogers questioned how long it would be before annexation actually took place.

Commissioner Lou Price also argued that a proposed playground was too near Nalles Mill Road and would present a danger for children.

The land, which borders the railroad track to the west, is now zoned Rural Area, which allows only three-acre lots. Caruso is seeking an R3 zoning (residential) that would more than triple the density.

The Maryland-based developer proposes to build townhouses in the $200,000 range and single-family dwellings on 6,000-square foot lots that will start at about $300,000.

After hearing the commissions comments, the developer and the county staff will now attempt to make adjustments to the plan.
The multiuse path and sidewalk on either side of Fall Hill Avenue end at Carl D. Silver Boulevard, but that could change.

Fredericksburg City Council voted 50 Tuesday to apply for $175,000 from the states Highway Safety Improvement Plan to add sidewalks for 1,000 feet on either side of Fall Hill Avenue. This would allow people living in the 188 townhouses at Riverside Manor on the north side of the road and the eight houses on its south side to ride or bicycle along Fall Hill Avenue to get downtown or to Central Park.

This will be so useful for our residents who live in that neighborhood. Some of my students at WalkerGrant will now have better access to the rest of our city, said Councilman Tim Duffy, who is the middle schools assistant principal.

(Two other council members, Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw and Matt Kelly, were in Nepal on a Sister City visit and unable to attend the meeting.)

The overall design for Fall Hill Avenue when it was widened included a 10-foot wide, multi-use path on its north side and a 5-foot wide sidewalk on its south side. Extending them will meet goals in the citys comprehensive plan, as well as a City Council initiative, which call for connecting neighborhoods in ways that reduce vehicular traffic.

The sidewalks would extend from Carl D. Silver Boulevard to Riverside Manor Boulevard on the north side of Fall Hill Avenue and to Vidalia Street on the south side. Two on-demand pedestrian signals would be installed across both sides of the intersection of Fall Hill Avenue and Carl D. Silver Boulevard. A third on-demand pedestrian signal is proposed to be installed across Fall Hill Avenue, at Riverside Manor Boulevard.

The full cost of the pedestrian improvements would be covered by the Highway Safety Improvement Program. Funds would be available in 2023 or earlier.

City Council also voted 50 to approve four ordinances covering small cells, equipment located in public rights-of-way that add additional wireless bandwidth to existing tower networks. A small cell is typically enclosed in a relatively unobtrusive cabinet mounted on an existing infrastructure such as a street sign, streetlight or telephone pole. The council will take the second and final vote on the ordinances at a future meeting.

The amendments were developed in response to three events: new legislation from the General Assembly, City Councils priority to be the fastest city in the state for broadband, and a franchise application from Mobilitie, a provider of wireless communications infrastructure, said City Attorney Kathleen Dooley.

Among other things, the ordinances will permit small cells in all zoning districts, provide for administrative review of applications for small cells that would be installed on private property, and consolidate management of telecommunications facilities in the public rights-of-way with the Public Works Department director. Theyll also bring definitions of small cells and collocation of telecommunications facilities in line with the new state law.

City Council also approved on first vote a 10-year, non-exclusive franchise to Mobilitie LLC to install small cells in the citys public rights-of-way. The franchise has three options for five-year renewals upon mutual agreement. Last year it granted ExteNet a license to install 14 small cell facilities on existing utility poles around the University of Mary Washington campus.

Additional changes to ordinances governing small cells may be coming. The Federal Communications Commission is considering changes to the classification of broadband as a telecommunications service, and the General Assembly is expected to consider additional changes in 2018.

Council member Chuck Frye Jr. asked City Manager Tim Baroody to check if the corner of Charles and William streets where the controversial slave auction block is located is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The corner has a wheelchair ramp, but doesnt align with the ramp on the opposite side of Charles Street due to the auction block location.

In other business, City Council also voted 50 to:

Amend a Unified Development Ordinance covering density requirements within the portion of the 100-year floodplain within the Citys Old and Historic Fredericksburg Overlay District and outside the federally designated floodway. This will permit residential redevelopment in the Historic Fredericksburg District in a manner consistent with the historic pattern by removing the reductions in maximum residential density that currently apply in that area.

Designate Ficklen Island as riparian land in the city code, which will help law enforcement and other city staff better manage the 4.8-acre property. The island is located off Riverside Drive and is accessible from the Rappahannock River Heritage Trail. It is often used by the community for picnics and other group gatherings, which has occasionally created issues with trash and vandalism. Jane Shelhorse, the citys Parks, Recreation & Public Facilities Department director, said this will enable officers to cite one ordinance instead of various codes to suspected violators.

Approve an amendment that says bicycles and other objects such as benches cant be secured by a lock, chain or cable to trees, streetlights, traffic-signal poles or other publicly owned facilities in the public right-of-way. Assistant City Manager Doug Fawcett said the change codifies what the Public Works Department has been doing for years to maintain the public right-of-way and protect city property.
The driver of a van headed the wrong way on Interstate 95 died in an early morning crash, according to the Virginia State Police.

Troopers responded to the crash at 2:30 a.m. on southbound I95, just north of Centreport Parkway in Stafford County.

Police said a Dodge van exited from Centreport Parkway and headed north in the southbound lanes of the interstate and crashed head-on into a Peterbilt tractor-trailer in the center lane.

Both drivers were taken to Mary Washington Hospital.

The driver of the van died of his injuries.

State police did not release the name or age of the van driver.

No information was released concerning the truck driver.

State police did not provide any information on why the van was going the wrong way, saying only that the crash remained under investigation.

The crash closed the south side of the interstate until around 7:15 a.m.
THERE ARE two kinds of math in the world: regular math and the political kind.

In regular math, addition involves the increase of something: Johnny has three apples in a basket. Billy adds three more. Now there are six apples in the basket. Six is more than three. The number of apples has increased.

Political math is different. In political math, addition is often called subtraction. When the Trump administration proposed increasing Medicaid spending from $378 billion to $524 billion a decade from now, critics screamed at the top of their lungs that he was planning to slash Medicaid.

This is because baseline spending for Medicaid was slated to reach $688 billion. So because Trump wanted to raise Medicaid spending, but by less than other people wanted to raise it, he was accused of trying to cut it.

Virginians recently saw political math in action when the Virginia Education Association criticized Ed Gillespies tax plan. The GOP candidate for governor has proposed cutting income tax rates by 10 percent. He also has made two stipulations.

The first is that the tax cuts will be financed through revenue growth. Analysts expect the states budget to grow roughly $3.4 billion over the next four years. Gillespie would take $1.4 billion of that for tax cuts, leaving $2 billion to raise state spending.

The second is that the tax cuts are conditional: If state revenue grows too slowly, the tax cuts will not happen.

But the VEA tore into Gillespies proposal, claiming it would slash funding for Virginia public schools by $404 million. The group said such a funding cut would be a major blow to education. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney predicted that it would be a disasterlet me repeata disaster.

The VEA distributed a fact sheet contrasting current estimates for state spending on local schools in 2021 and estimates under Gillespies tax plan. Sure enough, if you look at just those two numbers, Gillespies plan could result in lower state support for local schools.

For instance, Richmond can expect $169.6 million in state aid for schools in 2021 under current estimates. Under Gillespies planassuming the VEA has run the numbers correctlyRichmond can anticipate only $160.3 million. Thats a $9 million cut!

But not really. Because this year, the state is giving Richmond $150.8 million in aid to schools. So aid to the city will grow, by either 12 percent or 6 percent. You might think state aid should grow more than 6 percent, but that doesnt make a 6 percent increase a cut.

Its the same for many localities: Aid to, say, Arlington would grow from $69.5 million to either $83.4 million or $78.9 million. Statewide, aid to localities would grow from $6.8 billion this fiscal year to either $7.4 billion or $6.9 billion.

True, some localities could lose money, using the VEAs figures. For instance: According to the VEA, Wythe County is getting $25 million in state aid this fiscal year. In 2021 it will get $26.3 million, or $24.9 million if Gillespie has his way. Note, however, this pertinent fact: Wythes school population is expected to decline from 4,041 students to 3,945.

Team Gillespie insists the VEA is just plain wrong, and a Gillespie administration would not cut school spending one red cent.

But the whole debate might be beside the point.

Thats because the whole debate is predicated on an unstated premise: More spending means better schools. And that premise is, at the least, flawed.

By coincidence, The New York Times ran an article on Mayor Bill de Blasios boldest education initiative. That is his Renewal Schools program, which pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to turn around the citys most troubled schools.

After four years, the 78 schools in question have received $582 million. But, reports The Times, researchers ... who have looked at the programs results so far say they ranged from mixed to disappointing.

When the newspaper analyzed Renewal test scores by comparing their progress with growth of the citys scores over all, it found that most schools failed to narrow the gap between their test scores and the city average. (Thats coming from The New York Times, mind you. Not some right-wing propaganda organ.)

This should not be surprising. The link between spending and performance is so loose as to be nearly nonexistent. A Cato Institute study of spending and academic performance in the 50 states shows that while spending on schools has soared in recent decades, standardized test performance has scarcely budged.

The same holds true in state after state, and nationwide.

So maybe the real question isnt who would put the most into Virginias schools. Maybe the real question is who could get more out of them.

A. Barton Hinkle is a columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
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A Pinch of Salt: The election is over, I think, so what now?
Benton County school districts generally outperformed districts with similar demographics on key performance measures such as graduation rates, rates of freshmen on track to graduate and rates of students going to college, according to district report cards released by the Oregon Department of Education Thursday.

The data also included report cards for individual schools with similar data.

The reports compile a lot of data already available, but add the dimension of comparing schools and districts to schools and districts with similar demographics, such as the rate of students learning English, economically disadvantaged students and students who are part of an underserved racial or ethnic group.

The Corvallis School District performed better than comparable peers on measures including its four-year graduation rate, its five-year high school completion rate, its rate of freshmen on track to graduate, its dropout rate and its rate of students going to college.

Ryan Noss, Corvallis superintendent, said the district finds the like-schools comparison more useful than comparisons to state averages because it accounts for varying demographics in districts.

The area in which the Corvallis district held the biggest edge over similar districts was in the rate of students going to college after completing high school: after the 2015-16 school year, more than 75 percent of Corvallis graduates started at a community college or four-year college within 16 months of graduating. The number in similar districts was just under 60 percent of graduates.

The district also had a high rate of freshmen on track to graduate: over 91 percent were rated on track in the 2016-17 school year, while in similar districts the rate was 86 percent. Freshmen are considered on-track if they earn at least 25 percent of the credits necessary for a diploma.

Noss said the rate of students on track to graduation was one of his takeaways in the data, and hes pleased that the district has shown continuous growth in the rate in recent years.

Its a good indicator of future success, he said.

At Corvallis High School, more than 95 percent of freshmen met this measure, continuing a trend of growth in that area. Corvallis High's comparison schools posted an 88 percent mark.

Crescent Valley High Schools rate of 87 percent of students on track for graduation trailed the 92 percent average at its comparison schools.

Philomath School District also outperformed its peers on key measures across the board.

Like Corvallis, and all of Benton County, the rate of students going onto higher education after graduating from Philomath was better than its peers. The 72 percent of Philomath graduates who went to college after the 2015-16 school year was better than the 54 percent in its comparison districts.

Philomaths rate of freshmen on track to graduate in 2016-17 was about 94 percent, while in its peer districts the rate was about 84 percent.

Monroe School District also generally compared well to its peer districts, except for its five-year high school completion rate, which at 83 percent in 2015-16 was 2 points lower than its comparison districts.

Monroes rate of 52 percent of graduates enrolling in college after 2015-16 was lower than the state average of 57 percent, but it was ahead of its comparison districts, where less than 50 percent of students enrolled in college.

The 88 percent of Monroe freshmen on track to graduate in 2016-17 was also better than the rate of 82 percent in its comparison districts.

Alsea School Districts graduation rate of 50 percent in 2015-16 was 22 points lower than its comparison districts. However, its 73 percent five-year completion rate in the same time frame was about a percent better than its peers.

Alseas dropout rate of more than 7 percent was about a percent higher than its peers.

Alseas rate of 90 percent of its freshmen being on track to graduate in 2016-17 was better than the 87 percent in its comparison districts.
Twenty-two firefighters from Linn and Benton counties arrived in Santa Rosa, California, Wednesday afternoon and will battle fires that have destroyed some 2,000 homes and caused at least 23 deaths.

Albany Fire Chief John Bradner said the local firefighters composed one of 10 strike teams that answered a call for assistance put out by the state of California. Some 22 fires are burning in the Napa Valley and other fires are burning in southern California.

California asked for 50 engines each from Oregon and Arizona, he said. Locally, we sent five Type I engines and Oregon made its 50 unit commitment. They are not in good shape down there.

Bradner said the local strike team left the mid-valley about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and arrived in the Napa Valley early Wednesday afternoon.

The Type 1 engines are city-type vehicles, he said. It is likely they will be protecting neighborhoods and subdivisions, not going off road with these vehicles.

Bradner said the strike team could be deployed for up to two weeks.

He added that California firefighters assisted Oregon a month ago when fire season was in full force  including the 140,000-acre Chetco fire in southern Oregon  and Oregon is reciprocating.

The local task force is composed of firefighters and equipment from the Sweet Home Fire & Ambulance District, Lebanon Fire District, Albany Fire Department, Philomath Fire and Rescue and Corvallis Fire Department.

Two teams are from Lane County, plus teams from Washington County, Multnomah County, Marion County, Clatsop County, Jackson/Josephine counties, Yamhill County, and Klamath/Deschutes counties.

California made the request through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact a national state to state mutual aid system. The EMAC request is sent directly to Oregon Emergency Management who contact and coordinate with the appropriate Oregon agency to fulfill the requests.
The conversation started with one of the participants saying that former Oregon State University President Benjamin Lee Arnolds service in the Confederate Army had pretty clear implications, even if no documentation that he held white supremacist views exists.

I think its pretty clear Arnold was willing to die to uphold slavery, said Andrea Haverkamp, a second-year doctoral student in environmental engineering.

The conversation that followed held disagreements, but no personal attacks. There was emotion, but no vitriol or shouting. Participants generally listened silently and attentively as others spoke. There was little small talk.

The facilitated discussion was one of about ten at a university-sponsored discussion session Wednesday night that discussed Arnolds life, legacy and whether a campus building named for him should be renamed.

The event was attended by more than 70 people and consisted of more than an hour of information about Arnolds life and the process the university is following to consider renaming Arnold Dining Center and three other campus buildings possibly named for racists: Avery Lodge, Benton Hall and Gill Coliseum.

Haverkamp said Arnold's move to Oregon after the Civil War also was suggestive, since state law at the time barred black people from even entering the state.

Justin Nielsen, a senior in philosophy, said to students of color, its not a secret what serving in the Confederacy meant.

He had an option not to serve, Nielsen said.

Nielsen said in his time at OSU hes seen open racism on campus, including fliers for white nationalist organizations and racist stickers placed on campus.

A Corvallis resident and OSU alumnus at the table said since there wasnt documentation of Arnold holding racist views, the students seemed to be holding Arnold guilty for just being from the South at that time.

He came here as president at a critical time in its life and he did a good job, thats not in dispute, the alumnus said.

Later, he added that he thought the name of the dining center should not change because he doesnt want to see culture and history erased.

I think from his time here, he served (then) Corvallis College well, and he deserves to be honored, the alumnus said.

Nielsen, however, said just serving in the Confederacy was evidence Arnold was overtly upholding racism.

It seems to me there was good reason, after the South lost, to not express his views, Nielsen said.

He never denounced his service in the Confderate Army or his studies of slavery, said Haverkamp.

Owen Hatch, a sophomore in political science, pointed to Arnold earning a credential in the study of domestic slavery before the Civil War as another piece of evidence of his views.

You go to college to further your career, and he decided to study slavery, Hatch said.

Nielsen said in the conversation that last year he was part of a group of students to protest Arnold Dining Centers name and the other building names. He asked the group to imagine what it would feel like for a person of color to have to walk by the dining center.

Racism is (at OSU) and its explicit and to honor Arnold over students who are here now. ... it would say we value him over the students who feel that he fought to oppress and enslave them.

As the discussion wound down, Haverkamp said she hopes that in 50 years if anyone has a problem with a name chosen to replace Arnold or any of the other buildings, or if new evidence comes to light about another building namesakes history that people dont like, that the people then change those names.

Nielsen, who is in his last term at OSU, added that seeing younger students like Hatch in the conversation made him feel hopeful.

Im glad to see other undergraduates who care about this and are willing to take this up, Nielsen said.

Each discussion group had a facilitator and a note-taker; notes from the meeting will be submitted to Ed Ray, OSU's president, to use in making his decision on renaming buildings, which is expected in late November or early December.

Discussions on the other three building names are scheduled for next week:

 The Avery Lodge discussion is set for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 16.

 The Benton Hall discussion is set for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 17.

 The Gill Coliseum discussion is set for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 19.
This log includes incidents in which there might have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from the Corvallis Police Department and the Benton County Sheriffs Office. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents might change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise.

Corvallis Police Department

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10

INJURY CRASH: 9:29 p.m., Northeast Highway 99W and Northeast Circle Boulevard, Corvallis. Police responded to a traffic crash and determined a driver, Dean Moravec, had reportedly failed to maintain his lane and collided with another car. Officers cited Moravec for failure to maintain lane. The driver of the second car sustained injuries to his leg and arm and was taken to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11

POSSESSION OF BURGLARY TOOLS: 12 a.m., 2700 block of Western Bouelvard, Corvallis. An officer responding to a report of loud music encountered a man, David Gilpin, 35, walking around the Shadow Hills Apartments. Upon learning Gilpin lived in Lebanon, the officer searched Gilpans backpack and reportedly found bolt cutters, a flashlight and shards of porcelain. Gilpan reportedly admitted to intending to break into cars. The officer arrested Gilpin for possession of burglary tools and attempted unlawful entry into a motor vehicle.

METH: 1:49 a.m., 500 block of Northwest Harrison Boulevard, Corvallis. An officer stopped a car for a violation. The officer used a K-9 to search the car and reportedly found a small amount of methamphetamine, a small meth pipe and several used syringes in the car. The officer issued the driver, Christopher Kosack, a citation.

Benton County Sheriffs Office

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10

ROAD RAGE: 6:08 a.m., 2300 block of Northwest Springhill Drive, Albany. Deputies responded to what appeared to be a road rage incident that resulted in a traffic crash. Deputies could not determine which driver was more at fault than the other, so no citations were issued. The drivers were uninjured.

SCAM: 3:30 p.m., 23800 block of Jamestown Avenue, Monroe. A woman reported she received a phone call from a man who identified himself as David New and told her she had won a 2017 Mercedes Benz. The man asked the woman to provide him credit card information to pay taxes on the car. The woman said she did not give the man any information.

FUGITIVE ARREST: 7:45 p.m., Highway 34 and Highway 34 bypass, Corvallis. A deputy stopped a car for failing to signal. The deputy learned the driver, Augustin Michael Holguin, 53, had a warrant for meth possession. The deputy searched Holguins car and reportedly found a stun gun, as well as a mountain bike that had been stolen from a home in Corvallis in 2015. The deputy arrested Holguin on the warrant, as well as first-degree theft and being a felon in possession of a weapon.
Controversy over public display of the Confederate flag has flared up again recently. Even in liberal Oregon someone put one up at a privately owned cooperative residence, in a window clearly visible from the nearby Oregon State University Black Cultural Center. The OSU student newspaper recently fulminated about this flag for a whole page. Nobody called for outlawing its display, though some would probably like to. But while reading their comments, I got an idea.

Although banning the Confederate flag would violate the First Amendment, it would be legal, possible, and highly satisfying to destroy its usefulness for white supremacists. This could be done while leaving it intact as a symbol for those who just want to remember history or their great-grandfather.

Expressions originally intended to disparage or humiliate some person, group, or idea have sometimes been taken up by the intended targets as a badge of pride to describe themselves or their ideas. Some of these words include Yankee, suffragette, Jesuit, queer, prime minister, Methodist, and Obamacare (as shorthand for the Affordable Care Act).

Neatly turning the tables should work equally well with physical symbols. Organizations combating racism could formally embrace the Confederate flag as a symbol reminding people of the terrible things done to black people by slave traders and plantation owners, largely in areas which rebelled against the federal government under that very flag. Just as Christians adopted the cross, the especially cruel and humiliating method employed by Rome to execute Jesus, as a vital symbol, so too could people urging the brotherhood and sisterhood of all Americans appropriate the Confederate flag as their symbol.

Just imagine: Black and white and other Americans marching forward arm in arm under the Confederate banner and holding up mutually reinforcing signs proclaiming that "Black lives matter!" and "All lives matter, and we do mean all!"

Cultural appropriation isn't always bad!

Our history has included many slogans reminding us about some enemy: "Remember the Alamo!" "Remember the Maine!" " Remember Pearl Harbor!" The Confederate flag, if appropriated by people protesting racism, could be a reminder, too: "Remember slavery!" "Remember how a large group of human beings was considered property and treated like animals!"

If civil rights supporters appropriate the Confederate flag and turn it to their own purposes, it will destroy its utility for white supremacists seeking to express racial hostility. Bigots will fear to display it, fearing that fellow bigots might think they are endorsing legal equality and humane treatment of all people. Ideally, white supremacists might become unable to bear the sight of this flag.

Understandably, black Americans might hesitate to associate themselves with this flag. But their pain would be temporary, mitigated by understanding the permanent frustration that will be felt by bigots who no longer can use this symbol. Stealing a powerful symbol from those who would keep them down should have strong appeal.

Some of my best ideas have been stimulated by people who had no intention of doing any such thing. A comment by the arch-reactionary Ayn Rand, for example, convinced me that in an ideal economy all land and other natural resources would be owned by the public rather than privately or by government. It would be ironic if the person who displayed this flag at Oregon State University is remembered for setting off events which destroyed that flag as a racist symbol.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
GA film corner October 12-18 : Happy End and more: Our cinema tips for Bonn

Bonn Friends of the European cinema get spoiled this week with European Art Cinema Day - and theres an overview of the movies in the cinemas in Bonn.

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Pre-Crimeand the new Haneke

Pre-Crimeand the new Haneke

Solving crimes before they happened: Thats the vision in the sci-fi film Minority Report with Tom Cruise. But that future vision is - albeit not in this shape - reality already, as the documentary Pre-Crime shows. With the Predective Policing method it is possible to prognosticate, when and where a criminal attacks. The film describes this procedures and asks experts about the analysis of Big Data. Freedom, security and the business with algorithms are also part of the subject.

Pre-Crime is shown at these times.



It sounds like a romantic comedy: Happy End - but Michael Haneke, who directed Funny Games and The White Ribbon, looks at a upper-class family and the Bourgeoisie. Behind the facade of the family Laurent, who runs a booming building business, there are many problems and lies. The foundation of success is crumbling when a court case threatens the family business, the patriarch tries to kill himself and a fight over the managing directors job breaks out.



These cinemas show Happy End in German, these in the original language.

Two new action movies

A crime already committed is the central story of American Assassin. When the girlfriend of a US student gets killed during an attack on Ibiza, he wants to take revenge. He trains to be a contract killer and gets hired by a secret US organisation. While investigating several attacks, he finds a Ghost, who might be behind the crimes. But the mysterious figure seems to stay a step ahead all the time.



American Assassin is shown here in German, and here in English.



In a future when families are only allowed to have one child due to dramatic overpopulation on Earth, the movie plot of What Happened to Monday? starts. One family manages to let their septuplets appear as one person over may years. Every child is only allowed to leave the house on one particular weekday. But one day, Monday does not come home anymore.

The film is shown in English and in the dubbed version.

An animation and a DDR comedy

This week, a new superhero film starts in the Bonn cinemas. But Captain Underpants is not a Marvel or DC character. In the the animation adventure two fourth year students create a superhero with this name. But they want to let their idea come to life and transform the arrogant school principal by hypnosis - and he turns into Captain Underpants. Together they experience adventures.



This film is shown in 3D here, and in 2D here.



Vorwarts immer! Is a comedy, placed in the time of October 1989. A theater cast from East Berlin plans to revise a firing order by Erich Honecker on the Monday demonstrations in Leipzig. But the circumstances get worse and worse, which makes the faults of the plan even more difficult.



All times of Vorwarts immer!" here.



Beside Pre-Crime there is another documentary in the cinemas in Bonn: Maleika. A leopard mother and her six young were followed in the Kenyan nature reserve Masai Mara by film maker Motto Barfuss for three years. Besides the fight for survival the film also shows moments of sheer joy of the big cats.



Maleika is shown here.

Everything you need to know about European Art Cinema Day

This week is all about the European film - in its second year the European Art Cinema Day happens on October 15. More than 1,000 cinemas are taking part, and show previews, childrens movies and milestones of movie history. In Bonn, the Rex, the Neue Filmbuhne and the Brotfabrik cinema take part.

The Rex shows The march of the penguins 2 at 1.30pm and The square at 3.15pm. The Neue Filmbuhne shows The invisibles - we want to live at 2pm, a documentary drama about four teenagers during the NS times. At 4.15pm the cinema shows Lady Macbeth. The Brotfabrik cinema shows the Italian film "La Tenerezza at 1pm, The Wine and the wind at 5pm and "Whiskey Galore" at 7pm.

Films from all over Europe

The Neue Filmbuhne shows The invisibles - we want to live at 2pm, a documentary drama about four teenagers during the NS times. At 4.15pm the cinema shows Lady Macbeth.



The Brotfabrik cinema shows the Italian film "La Tenerezza at 1pm, The Wine and the wind at 5pm and "Whiskey Galore" at 7pm.

"Cinema Italia 2017"

From Thursday, October 12 until Sunday October 15, the Brotfabrik cinema also shows many different productions as part of the "Cinema Italia 2017". Beside "La Tenerezza" on Thursday, the satire "LOra legale will be shown at 8.30pm, and "La Ragazza del Mondo" on Friday at 9pm. On Saturday at 9pm, "Indivisibili" will be shown.

Presale for Star Wars kicked off

Its still two months until the premiere of The last Jedi, the eight episode of the Star Wars"-Saga. But fans can order already for the midnight premieres and the first week of the movie (from Dec 14).

Filmfair-Reihe geht zu Ende

Until October 15, there will still be a few different documentaries and movies shown at the Wokis Filmfair 2017 festival. On Thursday, the Cannes winner of 2015 Dheepan will be shown, with Not without us the film festival ends on Sunday.

Sneak Previews

If you fancy a surprise movie - take your chance at one of the sneak previews. One film will be shown in the Stern cinema a week before its release (Monday, Oct 16, 8pm). At 8.30pm the Woki offers a sneak preview in the original language with subtitles. The Kinopolis surprises its customers on Tuesday, October 17, at 8.30pm and the Woki ends the cinema week with a preview on Wednesday at 8.30pm and 10.30pm.
Changes in the city centre : Bonns jeweller of 111 years closes

Bonn Online trading affects the jewellers business in the Sternstrae. The popular chimes will stay though. And what else is happening in Bonn?

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Again, its the end of an era in Bonn: Oliver Hoffmann will close his jewellery business in the Sternstrae probably at the end of the year. He and his wife bring the 111-year-old business to a close, which was founded in 1906 in the Acherstrae and which moved to the Sternstrae in 1919.

But there are other changes in the city centre too. The premises at the Hof 26 address, in which the popular Cafe Gold-Braun was formerly located, are now rented out to a new gastronome.

With the closure of our business, we mainly accommodate the development of society, explains Oliver Hoffmann. Online trading and other changes in the peoples daily life - like a longer commute to work and all-day schools - led to the drop in customer numbers. Businesses like his with a mid range price level feel this development strongly. Another problem: Customers ask for product consultation, and then shop online, says Hoffmann.

Hoffmanns parents took over the business from the jeweller family Schmidt in 1978. Oliver and Doris Hoffmann managed the shop since 1998. This step is not easy for me after all these years, says the goldsmith and bachelor of business administration. The final trigger was the lease agreement which was up for renewal for another ten years.

I am 52 years old now and didnt want to commit to something this long in the face of the economical risks, explains Hoffmann, who used to be involved in the City-Marketing and who was chairman of the retail committee of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce until recently. I stepped down from this post now, obviously.

The famous chimes (glockenspiel) at the Sternstrae building will be heard still and play well-known tunes at noon, 3pm and 6pm.

The chimes are part of the building, of course, says Hoffmann. He does not say what he wants to do occupationally in the future, the father of two lives with his family in Friesdorf.

The retail organisation (EHV) has news too. The building at Hof 26 and 26a, where the EHV branch is located, has been purchased. A burger restaurant will open on the ground floor, and the Austrian chain Voodies will open a vegetarian restaurant next door in February, according to managing director Adalbert von der Osten. On the first floor, the City Parkraum will open a customer service center in the next few weeks. Also, the primary control units will all be under one roof there and ensure safety in the garages via monitors around the clock from there.

Just a little bit further on, around the corner at the Remigiusplatz, a Danish company named Sostrene Grene will open its doors in the former Coffee House Bonn where Zara-Home used to be for a while. Sostrene Grene sells office supplies and school stationery as well as modern living accessories.
Cisco Advances Intent-based Networking for Data Center and Private Cloud Environments with New ACI Capabilities

October 2017 by Patrick LEBRETON

Cisco announced updates to its Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco

ACI)<https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solut...> ,(tm) the industry leading Software-Defined Networking (SDN) solution that makes it easier for customers to adopt and advance intent-based networking for their data centers.

With the latest software release (ACI 3.0), more than 4,000 ACI customers can

increase business agility with network automation, simplified management, and

improved security for any combination of workloads in containers, virtual machines

and bare metal for private clouds and on-premise data centers.

The transitions occurring in the data center are substantial. Enterprises experience

an unrelenting need to accelerate speed, flexibility, security and scale across

increasingly complex data centers and multi-cloud environments.

The new ACI 3.0 software release is now available. New features include:

 Multi-site Management: Customers can seamlessly connect and manage multiple

ACI fabrics that are geographically distributed to improve availability by isolating

fault domains, and provide a global view of network policy through a single

management portal. This greatly simplifies disaster recovery and the ability to

scale out applications.

 Kubernetes Integration: Customers can deploy their workloads as

micro-services in containers, define ACI network policy for these through

Kubernetes, and get unified networking constructs for containers, virtual machines,

and bare-metal. This brings the same level of deep integration to containers ACI has

had with numerous hypervisors.

 Improved Operational Flexibility and Visibility: The new Next Gen ACI User

Interface improves usability with new consistent layouts and simplified topology

views, and troubleshooting wizards. In addition, ACI now includes graceful insertion

and removal, support for mixed operating systems and quota management, and latency

measurements across fabric end points for troubleshooting.

 Security: ACI 3.0 delivers new capabilities to protect networks by

mitigating attacks such as IP/MAC spoofing with First Hop Security integration,

automatically authenticating workloads in-band and placing them in trusted security

groups, and support for granular policy enforcement for end points within the same

security group.

Cisco customers worldwide derive value from ACI:

Tiger Resorts, Okada Manila

Okada Manila, the new luxury resort by Tiger Resorts, relies on its IT

Infrastructure to run the critical applications that deliver a world-class

experience for its customers, including hotel booking and phone systems, casino

gaming applications, retail applications, and administrative applications. The IT

team selected best-in-breed technology for the new resort, including an integrated

solution combining Cisco ACI with Citrix NetScaler.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, a multinational banking group and the second

largest bank in Spain, provides financial solutions to 70 million customers

globally.

Hutchinson Networks

Hutchinson Networks, a leading IT solutions provider of high-end automated cloud

solutions and network services, helps its customers manage todays complex data

center environments.

World Wide Technology

WWT is an award-winning technology integrator and supply chain solutions provider,

bringing collaborative, innovative and proven approaches to evaluate, architect and

implement solutions.
Concise letters  250 words or fewer  on topics of local interest will receive first consideration for publication. All letters are subject to editing for language and clarity.

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One doctors desire to update the emergency department at SOVAH Health-Danville has spurred a petition.

Dr. Gary Miller, a local cardiologist, is collecting signatures in an effort to convince LifePoint Health, which owns the Danville hospital as well as 70 others, to renovate the facility.

Millers petition notes that the emergency department has not been renovated in 22 years and is woefully short of beds to accommodate [an increasing number of] patients, up eight percent in the past year alone.

His petition also calls out the layout of SOVAH Health-Danvilles emergency department as inadequate to treat the number of patients that use it, with many of the rooms out of sight from the nurses station.

Miller, also a Danville city councilman, recently told his fellow council members he had visited the LifePoint-owned hospital in Martinsville, SOVAH Health-Martinsville.

Ambulance access to the emergency room also needs improvement, Miller said, though he admitted he doesnt have a solution to that problem since there is no room to expand that in that location.

Its pretty landlocked, Miller said. I got to the hospital the other day and there were seven ambulances parked in the street  they had the whole street blocked, and you had to weave your way through them to get into the hospital. Thats just not safe.

That Martinsville emergency department was renovated two years ago, he pointed out, and has more rooms for fewer patients.

The Danville emergency department has 21 beds, Miller said, while Martinsville has 34. Danville sees 25-percent more patients, on average. Patients are sometimes parked in beds and on stretchers in the hallways, Miller said, because there simply isnt a room available.

Calls to hospital CEO Alan Larson and Chief Operating Officer Spencer Thomas for comment on the emergency department were not returned, and a request for a tour of the emergency department was denied.

Elizabeth Harris, marketing director for both the Danville and Martinsville hospitals, released the following on behalf of Larson, who was out of town:

SOVAH Health is proud to serve the health care needs of our communities, and we are continuously looking for ways to enhance access to care, improve the level of care that we provide, and ensure that every person who enters one of our facilities has an excellent experience. One way we aim to do this is through regular facility upgrades and improvements, and we are fortunate to have benefited from more than $18 million in capital investments in the past year alone. We will continue prioritizing facility needs and working to ensure that our physical space and the services we offer best meet the needs of those we serve.

I also want to express my sincere thanks for the hard work and dedication of our physicians, nurses and other members of our clinical staff who provide outstanding care to our community members, day in and day out. Our employees and medical staff are the heart and soul of SOVAH Health, and we are so appreciative of their continued commitment to making our communities healthier.

Miller said the doctors, nurses and other staff do a great job, despite the space limitations. Still, he would like to see their lives made a little easier by having a better layout, enough beds and easier access for ambulances.

There have been improvements made in the time people wait to get medical care.

While the Centers for Disease Control website says the average wait time in a hospital emergency room is about an hour, SOVAH Health-Danville boasts that it has cut that time in half, sometimes better.

The hospitals website lists its wait time to see a medical professional, with that time updated every 15 minutes to reflect the average wait over the past four hours. Times checked in the last two weeks ranged from a low of five minutes to 25 minutes.

Miller had nothing but praise for efforts to reduce the wait, but still hopes for an overall renovation.

They made plans 10 years ago, and shelved them, they did that again five years ago, and just did it again, Miller said. I know they have to prioritize, but this has been festering for a long time. Just putting down new flooring and paint would help, and it would improve the image of the hospital.

So far, Miller said, he has gotten 531 signatures, and not all from hospital personnel, who have supported his drive to bring attention to the emergency departments needs.

Ive got steel workers, ministers, people who have been in the emergency room  a cross-section of the whole population, Miller said.

It may be starting to work, he said. There is some discussion about being able to add six beds by stealing some space from the waiting room  but even that is a short-term fix, Miller said.

We need to have an emergency room that works and is something for people to be proud of, Miller said.
MARTINSVILLE  The New College Foundation stopped paying NCIs lobbyists in Richmond last December, saying they were unclear about the schools direction. By June, the group, created to raise money for the school, said they had budgeted nothing for the institute for the upcoming fiscal year and only set aside $1,000 toward its own fundraising efforts. Then in August, NCF Executive Director Deborah Kaufman sent a letter to Del. Chris Jones, chairman of the state House Appropriations Committee, saying the institutes board of directors had adopted an adversarial relationship with the foundation.

The letter mentioned that earlier this year, the foundations board did not take action on a funding request by NCIs board due to the belief that it would be fiscally irresponsible to provide funding without accountability.

The foundations concern comes from issues surrounding both the school and its direction. At the end of January, NCI lost its grant funding from The Harvest Foundation. Harvest put forth a $50 million challenge grant to the state in 2004, to encourage NCI to launch a baccalaureate degree-granting school in Martinsville or Henry County. Out of that $50 million, the foundation had provided $23.7 million through January. In late 2016, Harvest officials said that 12 years was enough time to show progress toward that goal. They gave a deadline of Jan. 31, 2017 and if NCI didnt have an agreement in place or have proof of sufficient progress toward that goal, the grant funding would be terminated. With no agreement in place or any deal on the horizon, foundation officials withdrew the remaining dollars at the end of January.

That led NCI officials to reconsider the schools purpose. In April, the board of directors adopted a new framework for the school, focusing on offering bachelors degrees in four career fields

 engineering/advanced manufacturing; technology/cybersecurity, health care and education/community leadership  based on the needs of Southern Virginia businesses, industries and organizations having a hard time filling job vacancies. Students seeking four-year degrees will take their first two years of classes at a community college and then transfer into a university program at NCI, the framework shows.

But the changes caused confusion for the foundation, whose board members argued that they couldnt effectively raise money for an operation without knowing the direction and more about it.

During a meeting of the NCI board on Tuesday, Kaufman explained her group in August did establish a fundraising committee. Before a fundraising campaign is launched, she said, the foundation wants to understand NCIs needs and priorities so it can make a compelling appeal to the public for donations.

Matters that the foundation wants to know about, she said, include NCIs strategic plan and direction for the future, enrollment and degree/certificate completion data and, if the institute relocates, whether its new location actually will be in Martinsville-Henry County or elsewhere.

Discussing differences

Speaking at Tuesdays meeting, NCI board member and state Del. Danny Marshall, R-Danville, said the lack of information goes both ways. He said there is a lot of information that NCI has requested from the foundation and has not received. An example, he said, is why NCFs board removed a provision from its bylaws for an NCI board member to serve on the panel.

Each board should have one member from the other, Marshall said.

Kaufman pledged to make sure that NCI officials are provided more information about the foundations actions.

She offered to facilitate a private meeting between the chairmen of the two boards and the two executive directors of the organizations.

NCI Board Chairman and state Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, added that Kaufmans August letter frustrated him.

Instead of working together, holding hands with NCI, he said, foundation officials seem to be more concerned about the eggs in their own basket than those in the communitys basket, so to speak, he said.

NCI officials already were irked at the foundations recent decision not to sell the state the building that the institute occupies on the Baldwin Block in uptown Martinsville.

It seems like we may be seeing more of a one-way street than a two-way street in terms of the relationship between the institute and the foundation, Stanley said.

Stanley indicated that other state lawmakers did not look favorably upon Kaufmans letter.

In the letter, Kaufman told Jones, R-Suffolk, that because of concerns presented by the state attorney generals office, the foundation now has staff and office space separate from the institute to maintain the independence of the two. The separation, she said, better defines the responsibilities of NCI and the Foundation and clarifies who is an employee of which entity.

However, the past year has been a transition period for New College Foundation, Kaufman wrote, as we have been working to establish our infrastructure, develop administrative and operating policies, and organize and structure the complex financial records while providing financial and other support to NCI. Such support includes janitorial services and facilities support for three buildings used by NCI, administration of certain grants, use of a lecture hall at the Baldwin Block building and participation in events sponsored by the institute, she wrote.

While the reorganization of the Foundation placed an emotional strain on the relationship between the two entities, it was not until a change in NCIs board leadership in December 2016, she continued, that the Foundation began to be repeatedly publicly berated by board members in newspaper articles.

Foundation board members were taken aback, Kaufman wrote, at an article that spoke of a rift, of which we were unaware, between the Foundation and NCI and the budget amendment to allow for negotiating an agreement for the state to buy the Baldwin Block building, NCIs main facility.

Until then, no one with the Foundation was cognizant of NCIs interest in staking claim to or purchasing the building, she wrote.

The adversarial relationship that the NCI board has adopted is not beneficial to creating a thriving educational facility, obtaining community support, or achieving the goals of improving the college-going rate of residents in the region and growing the local economy, Kaufman wrote.

The Foundation wants to see NCI succeed and to assist in this effort, we must know the extent of their challenges and have an accurate assessment of its (the institutes) current state, she wrote.

Funding for lobbyists

Also during Tuesdays meeting, NCI officials learned that the foundation had stopped paying their lobbyists in December 2016. NCI was established in 2006. Charlie and Morgan Guthridge have lobbied for the institute since around 2003 when it was in its planning stages. In an interview after Tuesdays board meeting, they said the foundation has paid them an average of $3,000 to $4,000 a month each year to represent the institute in dealings with legislators, but they have not been paid since December. They said they had not been given a reason why.

During the meeting, Kaufman said the reason stemmed from policy established that the foundations funds should not be used for political purposes.

Stanley asked if the foundation will provide NCI funding for its legislative advocates in the future.

I would not say that the (NCF) board would not reconsider, Kaufman replied, explaining that board members use their discretion as to how the foundation uses its funds wisely.

Does that mean yes or no, Marshall asked.

Kaufman did not reply either way.

NCI board member Bob Burger encouraged the foundation to reconsider funding the lobbyists.

Weve had excellent results from our lobbyists in the past, Burger said, adding that having lobbyists is a legitimate cost of doing business for public higher education institutions.

Some higher education centers such as NCI have lobbyists while others dont, according to Kaufman. She said that some may be willing to share the cost of having the same lobbyists work for them.

Noting that he has made financial contributions to NCF, Charlie Guthridge indicated it is important for the institute to retain the services of himself and his son so as not to lose momentum in Richmond.

I believe in this place, he said. Im the senior person on this ship. Ive been with it since before its creation.

Working for other clients as well, the Guthridges pledged to devote as much of their spare time to NCI as they can until they somehow get paid for their services again.

Weve spent a lot of time (over the years) on this endeavor, Morgan Guthridge said. Wed like to see it succeed and prosper in the future.

Its a labor of love, said Charlie Guthridge.

But the labor cannot continue forever without compensation.

Morgan has to support his family, Charlie Guthridge said, noting that his son now is spearheading the lobbying efforts.

Here are both parts of the letter sent to the Appropriations Committee by the New College Foundation

Relocation plans

NCI, meanwhile, is moving full steam ahead in its efforts to find a potential place to relocate.

Those efforts stem from the foundations refusal to sell the state the building where the institute is headquartered  a building built several years ago specifically for the school.

Stanley announced Tuesday that board members will be able to tour at least three potential area locations on Oct. 16.

As of Tuesday afternoon, though, NCI officials had not yet found out from the Virginia Department of General Services (DGS) where those locations are. One may be the former American National University building on Memorial Boulevard, Stanley speculated during the meeting.

The institute moved into its three-story, 53,527-square-foot building on the Baldwin Block in uptown Martinsville in 2014. The state leases the ultramodern building from NCF for $383,000 a year.

An offer of $7.76 million from the state to buy the building recently was rejected by the foundation. Kaufman has said that its board believes the community wants the building to stay under local control.

The offer states that the buildings purchase price actually will be the lesser of $7.76 million or the total direct costs and expenses incurred by the seller in connection with acquisition and construction minus all amounts contributed by the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the Appalachian Regional Commission, a Community Development Block Grant, other federal monies or local government or private donations.

In a phone interview Tuesday afternoon, Kaufman said that if the foundation was to sell the building, NCF would end up losing money after it pays for studies and approvals that would be necessary as part of the sale, plus closing costs.

As a result of no longer owning the building, the foundation also would have to return to a donor $600,000 in a capital campaign account, Kaufman said. Before deciding to reject the states offer, the foundations board deliberated on the matter carefully and thoughtfully, she said, adding that board members have given her no indication they might ponder changing their minds.

Budget legislation adopted by state lawmakers earlier this year reads that NCIs board is authorized to seek an agreement with the New College Foundation and other non-governmental parties to acquire the building. If an agreement is not reached, the legislation says, NCIs board, with help from the DGS, is further authorized to plan for the construction or acquisition of a new facility.

We are to take this directive seriously because the General Assembly funds the institute, Stanley told NCI board members.

Acting on behalf of the DGS, Divaris Real Estate of Richmond in August issued a request for proposals for commercial space in Martinsville or Henry County which NCI could lease for its operations. The DGS has declined to release to the Martinsville Bulletin any proposals received, citing provisions of Virginias Freedom of Information Act that exempt from release appraisals and cost estimates of real property subject to a proposed purchase, sale or lease, prior to the completion of such transactions.

Kaufman pledged that the foundation will continue to support NCI no matter where the institute is located in the future.
CALGARY, Oct. 12, 2017 /CNW/ - PRIZE MINING CORPORATION ("Prize" or the "Company") (TSXV:PRZ) (OTCQB:PRZFF) (MQSP:GR:FRANKFURT) is pleased to announce that it has secured DTC Eligibility for its OTCQB-listed common shares (PRZFF).

Feisal Somji, Chief Executive Officer of Prize, stated: "Achieving DTC eligibility will greatly simplify the process of trading and exchanging our common shares in the United States, which should benefit all shareholders. We believe being listed and tradeable in the U.S. is highly complementary to the growth trajectory of the Company. This approval will broaden the Company's appeal to U.S. investors and allow brokers and professional advisers previously unable to follow or recommend the Company's stock, to become engaged with the Prize story at this pivotal stage of development. We look forward to keeping our shareholders up to date with the progress on our Q4 discovery focused drill program in southeastern B.C."

The Depository Trust Company (DTC) is a subsidiary of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation DTCC, and manages the electronic clearing and settlement of publicly traded companies. Securities that are eligible to be electronically cleared and settled through the DTC are considered "DTC eligible." This electronic method of clearing securities speeds up the receipt of stock and cash, and thus accelerates the settlement process for investors.

In addition to the OTCQB, shares of Prize will also continue to trade on the TSX Venture and Frankfurt stock exchanges.

About Prize Mining

Prize is a Calgary-based junior mining issuer with offices in Calgary, Alta., and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. Prize is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mining properties.

Follow Prize Mining Corp. on Facebook

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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.

Reader Advisory

Forward-Looking Statements. This news release contains forward-looking statements. More particularly, this document contains statements concerning the benefits of both DTC eligibility for Prize's shares and the listing of Prize's shares on OTCQB . Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "potential", or other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "should" or "could" occur. The forward-looking statements are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by Prize, including expectations and assumptions concerning market awareness and liquidity and. Although Prize believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because Prize 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. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable by the Company at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speaks only as of the date hereof. The Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking information contained herein to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Prize Mining Corp.
Senior VP Engineering & Project Director Stephen Hodgson and VP Permitting James Fueg join Pebble team

VANCOUVER, Oct. 12, 2017 /CNW/ - Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the "Company") announced today that the Pebble Limited Partnership ("Pebble Partnership" or "PLP") has filled two senior technical positions to lead engineering design and regulatory permitting for southwest Alaska's Pebble Project.

Senior Vice President of Engineering and Project Director Stephen Hodgson (P. Eng.) will lead Pebble's engineering and project development team, with responsibility for all aspects of project design, engineering and financial studies and regulatory compliance. He will be supported by Vice President of Permitting James Fueg (PMP, CPG), who assumes responsibility for all aspects of the project's regulatory permitting team and process, including management of environmental and socioeconomic studies, liaison with federal and state agencies and active management of Pebble's forthcoming Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") process under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA").

"I couldn't be more pleased with the technical leadership we have assembled to finalize our permit applications and lead Pebble into and through the NEPA and EIS permitting process beginning later this year," said Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier. "In Stephen and James, not only do we gain decades of experience working with the world's leading mining companies on many of the most significant projects around the globe, we benefit from their long-standing experience in Alaska.

"We now have a dedicated leadership team in place in Anchorage that is not only committed to the financial and permitting success of the Pebble Project, but one that shares Alaskans' interests in ensuring our project protects clean water, healthy fisheries and traditional ways of life, while making a profound positive contribution to the people and economies of the region and the state."

Stephen Hodgson is a professional engineer with more than 40 years of experience in consulting, project management, feasibility-level design and implementation, and mine operations at some of the most significant mineral development projects in the world  including the Pine Point zinc mine in northern Canada, the Red Dog zinc mine in Alaska, Antamina in Peru, and the Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia. Hodgson has led the engineering group at Northern Dynasty and Hunter Dickinson Inc. since 2005, has played a central role on the engineering team for Pebble for more than a decade, and was part of the Cominco team that evaluated the Pebble deposit in the early 1990s.

James Fueg is a geologist and a geophysicist with more than 25 years of experience in mineral exploration and resource development, including more than 20 years working in Alaska. He was most recently seconded from Barrick Gold Corp. to serve as Technical Services Manager for the Donlin Gold Project in western Alaska, where he played a leadership role managing the EIS and NEPA permitting process for a project expected to receive a final Record of Decision in 2018.

"We have a great deal of confidence in both the technical capabilities of the project's leadership team and their commitment to the project and to the State of Alaska," NDM President & CEO Ron Thiessen said. "These are major pieces of the first-class team we are assembling to lead this world-class project into permitting."

About Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.

Northern Dynasty is a mineral exploration and development company based in Vancouver, Canada. Northern Dynasty's principal asset, owned through its wholly-owned Alaska-based US subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership and other wholly-owned subsidiaries, is a 100% interest in a contiguous block of 2,402 mineral claims in southwest Alaska, including the Pebble deposit. The Pebble Partnership is the proponent of the Pebble Project, an initiative to develop one of the world's most important mineral resources.

For further details on Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Project, please visit the Company's website at www.northerndynasty.com or contact Investor services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114. Review Canadian public filings at www.sedar.com and US public filings at www.sec.gov.

Ronald W. Thiessen

President & CEO

Forward Looking Information and other Cautionary Factors



This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in its forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way construed as guarantees of the ultimate size, quality or commercial feasibility of the Pebble Project or of the Company's future performance or the outcome of litigation.

Assumptions used by the Company to develop forward-looking statements include the following: the Pebble Project will obtain all required environmental and other permits and all land use and other licenses, studies and development of the Pebble Project will continue to be positive, and no geological or technical problems will occur. The likelihood of future mining at the Pebble Project is subject to a large number of risks and will require achievement of a number of technical, economic and legal objectives, including obtaining necessary mining and construction permits, approvals, licenses and title on a timely basis and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, the final outcome of any litigation, completion of pre-feasibility and final feasibility studies, preparation of all necessary engineering for surface or underground mining and processing facilities as well as receipt of significant additional financing to fund these objectives as well as funding mine construction. Such funding may not be available to the Company on acceptable terms or on any terms at all. There is no known ore at the Pebble Project and there is no assurance that the mineralization at the Pebble Project will ever be classified as ore. The need for compliance with extensive environmental and socio-economic rules and practices and the requirement for the Company to obtain government permitting can cause a delay or even abandonment of a mineral project. The Company is also subject to the specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as general economic and business conditions. For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com

SOURCE Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.
When you see homeless people in the movies, they're usually part of a funny interaction or serve as a quick, somber reminder of just how hard life can be. Rarely are they -- or their stories -- given more than a few minutes of screen time.That's partially what makes "The Florida Project" -- which film critics are already comparing to last year's Best Picture, "Moonlight" -- stand out.The movie's main character is a six-year-old girl, Moonee, and her single mom, Halley, who live in an Orlando-area budget motel. Moonee and Halley are the "hidden homeless," Americans who don't have enough money to secure permanent housing but manage to avoid sleeping in shelters or on the streets.The story mostly follows Moonee as she and her friends entertain themselves one summer with wandering adventures through the neighborhood. But the movie has a gloomier subplot where Halley can't find a job, faces the threat of eviction, relies on food donations to get by and is forced to deal with child protection services.Although the protagonists are perpetually in a financial crisis, their plight is not the film's sole focus. It is as much about how they manage to form bonds with their neighbors, have fun and be happy.spoke with Sean Baker, the director and co-writer, about the making of the film and what he wants audiences to take away from it. The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.When I was doing research, speaking to the residents of these motels, their circumstances were very difficult, but they were still living their lives. They were still able to laugh. There was still joy. This is, you know, what makes us human.So, when I see films that are covering this sort of subject matter and theyre weighed down in melodrama, it comes across to me as 100 percent untruthful and slightly condescending. It was very important to me to approach this in a way where there was comedy. Im asking audiences to laugh along with these kids. Im doing this because I want to reach a greater audience. If it reaches a greater audience, perhaps more people will be aware of this issue of the hidden homeless.Chris Bergoch [a co-writer] and I took the time to interview and befriend people in the community -- residents at the motels, managers, local business owners and the agencies that provide social services to the homeless. It was really just about collecting as many stories and details as possible so that we felt comfortable writing a fictionalized screenplay. We had to get to the point where we felt we understood the world enough where we felt we were representing it in a proper way.Yes, definitely. Its, of course, very subjective. We really dont know how much a child absorbs or is aware, but that balancing act that we took while making this film was always about playing with exactly how much she would be aware of.Thats exactly what we wanted: conflict. Ive heard audience members say, Best mother ever. I wish my mom gave me this love. This is an injustice whats happened. Ive heard the extreme on the other side, which is, Thank god, child protection has shown up. They needed to get her out of there.Im not trying to sway opinion one way or the other because thats why we made her character flawed. Were not sanctifying her; were making her human.But I hope audiences will at least be mature enough to be empathetic. If they look at Halleys situation, she was probably 15 years old when she had Moonee -- no formal education, no family support whatsoever, no father figure for Moonee, so no child support. Shes unemployable. She has a criminal record. So, shes basically in a place where she has no choice but to turn to the underground economy, and shes unfortunately a kid who had a kid. She might be street smart, but thats it. She has no other choices, and shes never had the opportunity to mature.As long as people can see this, and then say, "I dont condone her actions," perhaps "I cant even comprehend her actions, but I at least understand why shes been driven to this point," thats my goal.Its about putting that human face on the issue and removing the stigma. What were hoping audiences will do, if they love Moonee, is think about the real Moonees and the real Halleys out there and the fact that its not just the Orlando area that needs help. Its a nationwide issue. Look into your own community because it could be happening under your nose, and you dont know it.If awareness is brought to it, stigma starts to be removed, and then hopefully people will be motivated to help. Thats all I can really do.
Gov. Charlie Baker has unveiled what he's calling a "first-in-the-nation set of educational core principles" for social workers on the front lines of the battle against opioid abuse, which has claimed thousands of lives in Massachusetts.The Republican said Tuesday that nine schools of social work have agreed to use the principles in their curriculum.He said that will help ensure that the more than 4,000 social work students enrolled in Massachusetts are equipped with the skills needed to confront the problem of addiction to opioids like heroin and fentanyl.The agreement comes two years after Massachusetts became the first state to also require that medical and dental schools train students in substance misuse prevention.
Description

GIS  12 October 2017: The Minister of Health and Quality of Life, Dr Anwar Husnoo, announced a shift in mental health care from long-term institution to community-based care through the implementation of community psychiatric care. He made this announcement yesterday at the Brown Sequard Mental Health Care Centre (BSMHCC) in Beau Bassin during the launching of activities to mark World Mental Health Day 2017.

Community psychiatric care will contribute to improve mental health care delivery as well as bring society to integrate people who suffer from mental disorders within the community, said the Minister. He added that the provision of community-based mental health care will enable people to access treatment in primary care settings while reducing stigma and discrimination about mental disorders. He highlighted that in a bid to increase mental health care delivery, three psychiatrists are posted in each of the five Regional Hospitals and that p eople with severe mental disorders will still be treated at the BSMHCC. The Minister also announced that an early dementia diagnostic clinic will soon be opened on a pilot basis at Victoria Hospital in Candos. The objective is to enable early detection and offer better treatment thereby supporting and improving the lives of people with dementia.

Speaking on the theme chosen by the World Health Organization (WHO) to mark this years World Mental Health Day that is Mental Health at the Workplace, Dr Husnoo highlighted the necessity to attend to the psychological welfare and wellbeing of the staff of the BSMHCC. He urged the BSMHCC personnel not to neglect their own mental health in light of the risk for mental health outcomes due to workplace stress. The Minister moreover invited them to be patient and compassionate in performing their duties and provide the relevant psychological comfort and security to patients.

For his part, the WHO Representative in Mauritius, Dr Laurent Musango, underlined the impact of negative working environment on the overall wellbeing of employees. He added that with many people spending a large proportion of time at work, depression and anxiety are on the rise, which in turn results in absenteeism and lost productivity. According to Dr Musango, despite effective treatments for mental health problems, lack of information and cultural barriers prevent people from seeking proper mental health care.

World Mental Health Day 2017

World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October annually to raise awareness on mental health issues and mobilise efforts in support of mental health.

To commemorate World Mental Health Day 2017, a series of events were held at the BSMHCC yesterday, comprising an official ceremony and a cultural programme with songs and sketches by the nursing staff and the inpatients of the institution. An exhibition on products and items manufactured by inpatients of the Centre to highlight their creative talents was also organised .

Moreover, a solidarity walk from Promenade Roland Armand in Rose Hill to the BSMHCC is scheduled on 14 October 2017 to raise awareness on mental health so as to better fight against stigma, prejudice and discrimination.
From Oregon v. Oracle. This is their "off the shelf" software that is so superior to "custom software using OSS" pic.twitter.com/XPsfgEhQeD  Yehuda Katz (@wycats) Oct. 4, 2017

Very sad to see Oracle spreading FUD about @TheASF like this. They know better; they are trying to get Trump's business though. https://t.co/YPNvUFYSFI  Simon Phipps (@webmink) Oct. 4, 2017

There are grains of truth in what @Oracle says sometimes, but thats lost in all their BS (and bad proprietary tech) https://t.co/Mz9PkFWy7X  Seamus Kraft (@seamuskraft) Oct. 4, 2017

Oracle: 1) got paid by govt to develop code. 2) Marked it proprietary. 3) Held govt hostage for decades 4) now say this is capitalism.  Randy Hart (@Randy22401) Oct. 10, 2017

If one finds themselves in a discussion about how to fix government IT, the conversation begins with the assumption that something is wrong with it.So when the White Houses American Technology Council (ATC) asked the public for how to modernize federal IT and move past practices that have stood in the way , one of the largest, most entrenched government IT vendors responded with a bit of acid.Oracle, well known for its government work and its database and enterprise resource planning software, drew fire from some influential voices in the world of public tech recently when it submitted its comments to the ATC.We respectfully suggest the government has not gone far enough in articulating a plan that will result in significant change and instead seems to be driving the government in the opposite direction, Oracle Senior Vice President Kenneth Glueck wrote. Many of the reports recommendations and current modernization efforts seem out of sync with the best technology practices deployed in a Fortune 50 company today.Glueck went on to say that open sourcing is an unsafe, outdated and unsustainable approach to setting up government systems, that the government should be pursuing commercial-off-the-shelf software instead of custom coding, and that agencies should be focusing on program management and not on developing technological expertise.Mainly, he called on the federal government to foster competition the traditional way  through competitive bidding.The (governments) initiatives to recruit engineers from private vendors has resulted in the predictable outcome of creating favoritism for those vendors solutions, and seems to replace presumed technical expertise with the more complex task of procuring, implementing, maintaining, and securing systems over the long term, Glueck wrote.He also specifically called out 18F and the U.S. Digital Service for foisting false narratives and damaging practices, such as an emphasis on open source code and custom development, on the rest of the federal government.A few on the projects GitHub repository praised the Oracle submission, such as John Weiler of the IT Acquisition Advisory Council.The entire COTS industry has been under anti-commercial attack from efforts established under the Obama administration, he wrote in a comment.Gluecks comments made their way to Mike Masnicksblog, where he called Gluecks submission curmudgeonly and suggested the company is fighting against open sourcing because it cuts against Oracles proprietary tech-dependent bottom line.Looking at historical IT implementations pre-USDS and 18F, and you see example after example of it being the outsourced, private, large government contractor companies whose work results in massive unplanned maintenance costs, Masnick wrote . Seriously, this entire filing by Oracle is one giant false narrative of people living in denial about how the world works these days.Jennifer Pahlka, founder of Code for America, published her own blog calling the company out for clinging to a status quo that has resulted in giant IT implementation failures, including Oracles own debacle setting up Oregons health-care marketplace. She took particular issue with Gluecks thoughts on government IT hiring.If Oracle is coming out strong against in-house technology talent, its simply because so many more talented technologists with higher expectations for the technology they build or buy are coming into government, many of them through Code for Americas fellowship program or talent initiative, and ending in up places like city halls, 18F and USDS, Pahlka wrote. Theyre having a positive impact there on behalf of taxpayers and everyone who needs to interact with government, and Oracle doesnt like it.Gluecks words were particularly striking for Luke Fretwell, who is the chief executive for a government-serving company built on open-source software: ProudCity.When taxpayers are paying the government money, everybody should have access to the results, and in this case its code, Fretwell said.He said Glueck was wrong about where the costs in government are coming from, too. Glueck pinned it on labor costs tied to custom code and long-tail maintenance. Fretwell put it on companies like Oracle selling proprietary technology that locks public-sector workers into dependence.For example, he said, cities build employee teams around those proprietary solutions. In theory, they could always use the competitive bidding process to find another vendor. But in practice, doing so would mean retraining those employees, reassigning them new roles and generally disrupting the agencys workflows.Not to mention the expense of setting up a whole new system.It could be a few million to tens of millions if youre rebuilding it, he said. Thats the reality, government doesnt have the luxury of continuously investing in large-scale projects, so they just get sucked into maintaining a really bad one.Here are some others in the tech industry who took to Twitter in opposition to Oracles comments:
One of Chicagos most prominent civic tech groups, Chi Hack Night , has invited candidates in the Illinois gubernatorial race to sign a pledge to support open data in the event that they win, subsequently posting a checklist of who has done so on its Website

The group issued the invitation in early October via Twitter , and so far, two of the 10 candidates in the race have signed, with two others indicating they will soon. Derek Eder, lead organizer of Chi Hack Night, said the invitation is part of an ongoing effort to improve open data practices at all levels of government in the state  practices that are in much need of improvement.

We have over the years become a bigger part of the political and tech communities here in Chicago, and weve done things to push for more transparency here at the local level, Eder said. Last year, we decided to push more for open data at other government levels.

Eder praised Chicagos city government for making strides in the area and beginning to release new data sets on a regular basis. Chi Hack Night, which boasts a membership of thousands of designers, researchers, data journalists, activists and developers, initially focused on improving open data practices for Cook County, within which Chicago is located. To do so, they invited candidates in the 2016 states attorney race to sign an open data pledge similar to the one posited at those running for governor. The eventual winner, Kim Foxx, signed and has made good, creating a new chief data officer position within her office and releasing data sets that were previously unavailable to the public.

Currently, Illinois has an open data portal and some open data legislation , both of which Eder described as wanting and often ignored. On the existing site, many state agencies  including the board of elections, the commerce commission, the department of corrections, the office of the governor and the state board of education, among others  have not released any data sets. And releases from other state departments are scant. The Illinois State Police, for example, have three data sets on the portal, one of which is a list of the addresses and phone numbers of its offices throughout the state, while the two others are 10-year histories related to firearm ownership, last updated in 2011.

As a point of comparison, nearby Ohio has extensive open data on its government website , including an interactive budget tool that provides financial info at a near-granular level, detailing annual reports on the states rainy day fund, as well as exact payments to specific suppliers and subsidies. Indiana also has a comprehensive digital information portal , one with an accessible design that makes it easy to find the most popular sets.

The pledge that Chi Hack Night is inviting candidates to sign is largely symbolic and doesnt legally require the eventual victor to do anything. The idea, Eder said, is to get the states leadership committed to open data while also spreading public awareness.

The benefits of enhancing open data at the state level are potentially wide-spanning. For technologists like Eder and the more than 100 others who regularly attend Chi Hack Nights weekly meetup, it opens far more possibilities for them to develop projects that benefit communities.

We see the open data that governments release as a raw resource, and the more of it there is, the more possibilities there are, Eder said. There are a lot of data sets that the state has that are really hard to get.

There are also benefits for the general public and civil servants. Improved open data means government that is more transparent and accountable. It also means that state agencies would have a centralized resource to find information that is presented in a clear manner.

Illinois is a largely troubled state, one that recently concluded a two-year stretch wherein the legislature failed to agree with the governor on a budget. Concerns about whether Illinois will be able to afford government pensions have been ongoing for even longer. Illinois faces the nations worst budget deficit, and there have been recent reports of billions in unpaid bills. This is all to say that Illinois is, indeed, a state sorely in need of better governance.

This is an issue some folks might think is kind of a pet issue, or, given all the other things going on in Illinois, theyre wondering why were spending time on this, but I think this is a system-changing pledge, Eder said. It has the potential of having real system-wide change, change for the better. Ive seen it happen in Chicago and Cook County, and I want to see it happen for the state of Illinois too.

The two candidates who have officially signed are 37-year-old Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar, and State Sen. Daniel Biss, a former mathematics professor. Pawar has since announced that he is leaving the race The two other candidates whove said they will sign soon are Chris Kennedy and Alex Paterakis. The remaining six candidates have not said whether they would either way. Emails to the campaign of Gov. Bruce Rauner were not immediately returned for this story, nor were those to J.B. Pritzker, arguably Rauners most prominent challenger.
On Sept. 13, a flurry of civic-minded technology was on display in San Jose, Calif., where a host of technologists showed their wares in the hopes of attracting government attention. At the same time, the city announced its own innovation  a direct pathway for technologists' ideas to reach City Hall.

The 3rd Annual Civic & Gov Tech Showcase , presented by Innovate Your State, brought the latest in nascent technology solutions with public-sector potential  but a live demonstration from a high-flying, anti-graffiti drone made the crowds enthusiasm soar.

Unleash Your Geek GRAD Winner Steals the Show

Audience members heard 16 showcase pitch presentations on everything from making mental health data available in-app to law enforcement to helping citizens engage with their governments.Presenters prowled the stage of the Hammer Theatre Center, asked the audience questions, showed video clips and brought PowerPoint presentations to life. But city officials had an announcement of their own in the launch of Pitch San Jose , a website that connects entrepreneurs directly with City Hall.In one pitch, Neighborly Chief Product Officer Rodrigo Davies explained how his startup is working to democratize access to municipal bonds and transform how cities finance projects. In another, RideAlong Chief Operating Officer Meredith Hitchcock explained how her company's platform integrates with 911 dispatch systems to give officers real-time tips to work more effectively with people suffering from mental illness.Then the Y Combinator Research lab has plans around assessing the impact of a basic monthly income trial in the U.S., an initiative that is similar to programs in Kenya and Finland, said Alex Nawar, Y Combinator's basic income research manager. Another pitch came from GreatNonprofits.org CEO Perla Ni, who discussed CitizenInsights, a program aimed at understanding and connecting with some of the nations poorest neighborhoods, and the significant reach of texting in low-income communities.The late-morning announcement of Graffiti Removal by Automatic Drone (GRAD) as the grand prize winners of the citys Unleash Your Geek competition stole the show as it painted over a portion of a wall emblazoned with graffiti.The solution, an enhancement of a pre-existing drone, was engineered by San Jose-based husband-and-wife team Chris Farmer and Candace Marbury to paint over hard-to-reach graffiti  the kind found on freeway overpasses.Covering up obscure graffiti was the subject of the challenge, which was first announced in May 2016. The city announced four semi-finalists from a field of 140 in January 2017, offering connections and $5,000 from partner Microsoft, plus testing and development assistance from ProspectSV Startup Support Services.The idea is, we identify a problem, we put out the question to our innovation community and ask them to help solve it with technology, said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo.Farmer said the duo took advantage of San Joses assistance to meet with City Manager Norberto Duenas and Caltrans officials to learn first-hand the challenges they face in eradicating graffiti on bridges and other remote places.The pairs drone equipment is already patent-pending, but as grand prize winners, they have pilot contracts with San Jose and Caltrans, as well as an additional $5,000.Liccardo said that given Californians' constitutional right to freeway driving and the inherent danger in employing staffers to repaint bridges, closing highways can be costly and difficult. As a result, GRAD may have a bright future.I imagine they might suspect what I suspect: When this thing works really well, were going to see cities throughout the country wanting to buy this product and theyre going to be billionaires and were all going to be famous. Or at least theyre going to be famous, Liccardo said.The demonstration  powering the drone, lifting off the stage and spraying a portion of the demonstration wall  went seamlessly as audience members watched closely and took cellphone photos.Farmer said they started with an existing high-end cinema drone and designed an attachment that would hold and operate a standard-issue can of spray paint. But it also had to overcome the challenges of load balancing during flights, and finding a golden channel of clear airspace where propellers wouldnt blow away the paint.Thanks to our two young boys, we raided their piggy banks and used coins to have a definitive unit of weight, Marbury told the audience.Farmer said the team is currently at work on what he called Platform 2 with Japanese company Prodrone, which has an office in Mountain View, enhancing a larger six-propeller drone to paint over larger graffiti more quickly. He praised the Unleash Your Geek competition as a unique motivator for their project.I think its definitely a model. I think San Jose has created something amazing, because they can take the next discreet problem that the city can address and see what people do with it," he said. "Youve created private investment, youve inspired innovation. This is awesome."In talking withat the event, San Jose Chief Innovation Officer Shireen Santosham elaborated on that sentiment.I think what events like this do is, they really bring together all that creative capacity," she said, "and we can find each other and work together."And while past events have been held in California cities, Alexandra Klun and Caroline Bruister of Innovate Your State said that organizers also have had interest from New York and Washington, D.C.Innovate Your State is open to conversations with interested regions both in and outside of California who would like to bring a Civic & Gov Tech Showcase to their region, Bruister said via email.As for whether this event could foster the advent of technology in other regions, GreatNonprofits.org's Ni saw it differently.I think theres pockets of government innovation throughout the country," she said, "and its events like this that help spotlight where those are.
(TNS) - As weary fire crews began to make progress against a firestorm that has killed at least 24 people in Northern Californias wine country, local officials said Thursday that they have begun a grim search for more bodies amid the ashes of burned communities.At a morning news conference, Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano told reporters that a 14th person was found dead in his county as search crews and cadaver dogs began sifting through debris for the first time Thursday.Were moving into a recovery phase, Giordano said.Giordanos department has received 900 reports of missing people. Of those, 437 people have been located and are safe.At the same time Thursday, state and local officials expressed optimism that milder-than-expected winds and additional firefighting crews from across California were allowing them to make progress against the worst of the fires.We need to hit this thing hard and get it done, Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tom Gossner told hundreds of firefighters battling the devastating Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa. Its time to finish this thing.Fire authorities had feared that 40 mph winds predicted for early Thursday morning would further stoke flames and carry embers to residential areas that had so far escaped fire.But those winds never materialized in the vicinity of Calistoga, where mandatory evacuation orders had forced 5,000 residents from their homes that afternoon. Cal Fire spokesman Richard Cordova said the lull allowed crews to establish 10 percent containment around the 34,200-acre Tubbs fire.Crews also managed to start a containment line for the 43,000-acre Atlas fire  good news for Napa residents who were warned Wednesday afternoon that they might have to evacuate eastern sections of town closest to the fire.Additional resources are starting to give us the upper hand, said Cal Fire deputy incident commander Barry Biermann in Napa.Despite continuing red flag conditions, forecasts called for cooler daytime temperatures and relatively light winds Thursday. Fire authorities were predicting a generally productive day.While that forecast may give firefighters hope, tens of thousands of residents throughout the region were still reeling from the devastation.Beneath choking smoke-filled skies that made the morning sun appear deep orange, upscale neighborhoods on the northern edges of Santa Rosa were in ashes, along with gas stations, big box stores and vineyards. Charming country towns of little more than a few antique shops, the post office and a grocery store remained emptied by evacuation orders.Road closures are turning routine drives into long, circuitous routes across a landscape with fires burning and columns of smoke rising in almost every direction.It may be several days or more than a week before people whove been displaced can start the process of healing and rebuilding, said Cal Fire spokesman Richard Cordova. That cannot happen until we remove all the hazards out there: downed power lines, toppled trees, smoldering hot spots and power outages.Thousands of people forced from their homes remain gathered in Red Cross shelters, and some of them still dont know whether they have a home to return to.Throughout the region, major highways and country lanes were packed with PG&E trucks aggressively working to restore communications by repairing downed power lines and replacing destroyed telephone poles.The weaker winds also aided firefighters on the 9,500-acre Partrick fire, but the danger of its pushing into Sonoma and Vineburg remained Thursday.Firefighters were warned Thursday morning that critical red flag conditions remain, with strong winds, low humidity and extremely receptive fuels, according to Thursday mornings Cal Fire incident management plan for the Atlas and neighboring fires.Forecasted gusts of up to 40 mph are expected to ease Thursday afternoon, diminishing the risk of a runaway fire.The winds can reignite embers and send them hurtling through the air. If they land in areas not yet burned, there would be little that firefighters could do to stop them from setting off new conflagrations, officials said.Every glowing ember is a ticking time bomb, said Stephen Warren, a Cal Fire apparatus engineer.In addition to Calistoga, residents of Geyserville, in Sonoma County, were ordered to leave their homes Wednesday night, and some in the northeast portion of Santa Rosa were advised to evacuate voluntarily.Calistoga, in the upper Napa Valley, remained untouched by the encroaching Tubbs fire on Thursday, according to Mayor Chris Canning. However, he said the community was not yet in the clear and that residents and gawkers should stay away.Those who return are on your own, he said, warning residents not to expect personal fire protection.If you are trying to visit Calistoga, you are not welcome, Canning said. To the Calistogans out there, stay strong.Sonoma County also ordered Rio Lindo Adventist Academy, a boarding school on the outskirts of Healdsburg near the edge of the Tubbs fire, to prepare to evacuate if necessary.The school is up a very long, narrow, two-lane road, said Sonoma County Sheriffs Deputy Brandon Jones Logistically its a nightmare to evacuate.Authorities said that with communications hobbled by downed cellphone towers and people making hasty escapes, they were hopeful that most, if not all, of the others would turn up safe.The fires have consumed an estimated 160,000 acres and 3,500 structures.Weve had big fires in the past, Gov. Jerry Brown said Wednesday at a briefing with state and federal fire officials. This is one of the biggest.Statewide, 30 air tankers, nearly 75 helicopters and 550 fire engines with several thousand firefighters have already been pressed into service. State officials have requested more than 300 additional engines from other states and the federal government.Napa city officials issued evacuation advisories for neighborhoods along the eastern edges of the city, warning residents to be prepared to leave. Just before 9 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Rosa police also issued an evacuation advisory for neighborhoods in the citys eastern end, while other neighborhoods along the north end of the city are under mandatory evacuation orders.Not everyone was listening.Im not leaving, said Calistoga resident Dennis DeVilbiss, a former police officer and firefighter.Why should I? the 60-year-old said, standing on the wooden front porch of his cul-de-sac home on the south end of the resort town as smoke wafted over nearby forests. Im in a good spot. Im monitoring all the radio bands. I just put a sprinkler on my roof. Oh, and Ive got goggles, heavy gloves and a respirator.He paused, and added with a smile, Im not stupid. If its time to run, Ill run like hell.2017 Los Angeles TimesVisit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS) - As firefighters make progress containing one of the largest wildfires burning in Northern California, the death toll and number of missing continues to climb.Thursday, authorities announced four more fatalities, two in Mendocino County and two in Sonoma County, bringing the overall death toll related to the wildfires burning in Northern California to 26.Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said the number of people killed in his jurisdiction climbed to 14 as of Thursday morning. Giordano said 463 people remain missing in Sonoma County, and search-and-rescue teams are now using cadaver dogs for targeted searches of missing persons.Were moving into a recovery phase, Giordano said. Were working the missing persons through their families, through conventional contacts, phones, other addresses. As that case leads us to no further information, our next step is going to that persons house in the fire zone and trying to find them.Were doing targeted searches. Thats how a majority of the recoveries have been made.Giordano warned that identifying the deceased could take some time, saying they have already found bodies that were nothing more than ash and bones. One identification was made through an ID number on a prosthetic hip replacement.That is what were faced with in this fire, Giordano said.Thursday Cal Fire reported progress containing one of the largest blazes, the Tubbs Fire in Napa County, which is now 10 percent contained. Despite the news, evacuations remain in effect for thousands of residents in several counties in Northern California, including Napa and Sonoma.More than 182,000 acres have burned in wildfires throughout Northern California, the bulk of that damage in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties.Although a red flag warning remains in effect for the North Bay through Thursday afternoon, experts with the National Weather Service said wind speeds should diminish by late Thursday morning, which should help the estimated 8,000 firefighters battling wildfires in Northern California.The diminishing wind speeds will be a positive, said Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the weather service. That said, diminishing winds could allow smoke to settle down in the valley as well.Smoke blown from the North Bay fires filled skies Wednesday as far away as the Delta, and the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, pushing through the East Bay and South Bay, recording the highest smoke concentrations seen in the region in modern times. Many schools called off outdoor activities, and even the Oakland Raiders cut short practice because the air was so bad.Gass does not foresee air quality improving throughout the Bay Area anytime soon.Winds from the north are expected to grow stronger again Friday and perhaps push more smoke south through the Bay Area. Gass said there might be periods of better air quality through Sunday, followed by stretches of poor air quality.The reality is were not going to see a strong onshore flow that will push smoke out of the area at least through the weekend, Gass said.Gass did offer a dose of possible good news for firefighters battling the numerous blazes in the North Bay: a chance of rain Wednesday into Thursday.Its something were going to keep a close eye on, Gass said. It doesnt look like a widespread event. If anything, light precipitation.But it would definitely be good news for the firefighting effort.Wednesday, fire and police officials expected the number of deaths to rise as they continue to search for more than 250 people reported missing and struggle to get a hold on out-of-control blazes that threatened the Napa County resort town of Calistoga and crept toward western Fairfield in Solano County.The destruction of more than 3,500 homes and businesses and death toll combined put the fires among the most catastrophic in the states history. About 4,400 people remain in shelters, thousands more either lost homes or cannot return to them.Hot spots and fires that shifted and grew by the minute continued to slow home-by-home searches, particularly in the neighborhoods of Santa Rosa wiped off the map. Officers in Sonoma County  where 14 deaths have occurred  have received 600 reports of missing people, but located 315 of them as of Wednesday evening.When the fires first ignited Sunday night in Sonoma County, emergency officials considered sending a mass alert to cell phones in the region to warn of the rapidly spreading flames, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. If utilized, the Wireless Emergency Alert would have notified tens of thousands of residents of Petaluma, Cotati, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol and Sonoma, according to the Chronicle.County officials decided against it, worried it might create widespread panic and hinder the ability of first responders to combat the blazes, according to the Chronicle. Instead, emergency officials targeted residents who specifically needed help via radio broadcasts, robo-calls to residents, email and text alerts and physically knocking on doors or announcing orders through P.A. systems.The mood grew increasingly intense in the picturesque town of Calistoga as residents waited to see whether the wildfire will come raging into town, as it has so many structures in nearby cities. At 2:45 p.m., evacuations were ordered in the town of about 5,200 residents.Mayor Chris Canning said the fire was coming back over Mount St. Helena with enough speed to possibly double back on his town.We no longer have a choice in this matter, and were not willing to take chances with our residents, the mayor said.After 8 p.m., Sonoma County Sheriffs Office issued a mandatory evacuation order for eastern Sonoma Valley along Castle Road north of Lovall Valley Road and 7th Street East north of Lovall Valley Road.Residents in western Fairfield were also encouraged on Wednesday to evacuate.In Calistoga, Ricardo Vera, 41, was throwing a tent, backpack and jackets into the trunk of his white sedan Wednesday morning, as smoke clouded the air and tiny pieces of ash began to swirl in the breeze. He packed up his wife and two daughters and fled to his sister-in-laws home in Vallejo around 2:30 a.m., after a friend texted him and warned him that the blaze was coming closer.But he forgot a few items and returned to his home at Lincoln Avenue and Lake Street later in the morning to grab them.I came to get little Stella because we couldnt find her, Vera said, gesturing to a small, gray cat in his driveway, near where two Oakland police officers held a checkpoint, warning drivers away from the approaching blaze.At 11 a.m., a few hours before the mandatory evacuation order was issued, the fate of Veras home and the one next door belonging to his brother were out of his hands.Weve been praying, he said.By Wednesday evening, the wind had pushed the flames north of Calistoga into a hilly area that was nearly inaccessible, making the situation even more difficult for firefighters.Cal Fire Captain Joshua Duport, of Santa Rosa, was waiting with his crew Wednesday evening on the side of State Route 29, trying to figure out how to get to the fire burning in the hills below him. From the road, multiple columns of thick smoke could be seen rising from the trees, while helicopters towing buckets flew to and fro, attempting to douse the blaze from the air.Theres no roads to it right now, Duport said.The challenging terrain made an already difficult situation worse. The strong winds that have fueled the many Wine Country fires are a firefighters worst nightmare, Duport said.The fires are too big, he said. Theres not enough resources.Though air district officials said ocean breezes helped clear up the air, ash reportedly rained down in West Contra Costa, and 80 flights were canceled at San Francisco International Airport.Statewide, 21 fires are burning. At an afternoon news conference, Cal Fire, the head of the states Office of Emergency Services, and Gov. Jerry Brown said out-of-state help from Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Nevada was on the way, as are additional soldiers and airmen with the California National Guard. A total of 100 aircraft, 500 engines and 8,000 firefighters are also being brought in from fighting a Southern California fire.Two California Highway Patrol helicopters rescued 44 people, five dogs and two cats.Brown called the fire one of the most serious in Californias long history in battling wildfires.Thats the way it is with a warming climate, dry weather and reducing moisture, Brown said. These kinds of catastrophes have happened, and they will continue to happen.Staff writers Jason Green, Joseph Geha and Denis Cuff contributed to this report.2017 the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)Visit the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS) - Congress was on track to pass disaster funds for Puerto Rico after the House on Thursday approved a $36.5 billion package that also includes additional money for other hurricane hit areas, flood insurance and wildfires in the West.The vote, 353-69, was not without some difficulty after conservative groups balked at the spending and President Donald Trump lashed out at Puerto Rico, criticizing its pre-hurricane fiscal crisis in a series of morning tweets. The package now moves to the Senate. It is the first round of aid for Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria and is still largely without electricity.Last month, Congress approved an initial $15 billion package for Texas, Florida and other areas hit by an unusually destructive hurricane season.In Thursdays package, about half the money, $18.7 billion, will go to replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agencys Disaster Relief Fund, which is being rapidly depleted by recovery operations. Another $16 billion will shore up the National Flood Insurance Program that is also running out of money to cover losses. The package also provides $576.5 million for wildfires that have left dozens killed and hundreds of homes and structures burned in the West. Congress provided $4 billion more money for FEMA than the White House requested.House Speaker Paul D. Ryan sought to downplay Trumps criticisms of Puerto Rico, though he shared some of the presidents complaints about the island territorys fiscal crisis. Yes, we need to make sure Puerto Rico can stand on its own two feet, said Ryan, who will be visiting the island Friday. But at the moment, theres a humanitarian crisis.Others in Congress, however, criticized Trumps slow response to the crisis in Puerto Rico, mocking his visit when he tossed paper towels to victims as insufficient. We dont need the president tossing paper towels to storm victims like he was tossing a ball to a dog, said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., who has been calling for federal evacuation aid for the elderly, sick and other particularly vulnerable people. We need airplanes, ships and helicopters to get people the hell out.2017 Los Angeles TimesVisit Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS) Thousands of firefighters battled through another tense night on the fire lines across Northern California, officials said early Thursday, and increasing winds prompted authorities to evacuate entire towns as flames descended.The massive Atlas Peak fire in Napa and Solano counties grew to 43,000 acres, burning the eastern hills surrounding Napa, Napa County spokeswoman Nikki Lundeen said Thursday morning. The Tubbs fire, which burned much of Santa Rosa and prompted Napa County officials to evacuate the entire town of Calistoga, reached about 35,000 acres, she said. The Patrick fire has burned around 9,500 acres, and the Nuns fire has consumed about 8,400 acres.The dry, wind-whipped conditions that sparked one of the worst firestorms in California history returned to a lesser degree Wednesday night and were expected to continue through at least Thursday morning.With winds picking up, it was an anxious night and early morning for area residents as the army of firefighters worked to keep the flames away from communities. Red-flag fire warnings were in place through Thursday afternoon.The winds can reignite embers and send them hurtling through the air. If they land in areas not yet burned, there would be little that firefighters could do to stop them from setting off new conflagrations, officials said."Every glowing ember is a ticking time bomb," said Stephen Warren, a Cal Fire apparatus engineer.In addition to Calistoga, residents of Geyserville, in Sonoma County, were ordered to leave their homes Wednesday night.Sonoma County also ordered Rio Lindo Adventist Academy, a boarding school on the outskirts of Healdsburg near the edge of the Tubbs fire, to prepare to evacuate if necessary.The school is "up a very long, narrow, two-lane road," said Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy Brandon Jones "Logistically it's a nightmare to evacuate."The death toll from the fires rose to 23 late Wednesday, and Sonoma County officials have received 600 reports of missing people. Of those, 315 have been found safe.Authorities said that with communications hobbled by downed cellphone towers and people making hasty escapes, they were hopeful that most, if not all, of the others would turn up safe.The fires have consumed an estimated 160,000 acres and 3,500 structures."We've had big fires in the past," Gov. Jerry Brown said Wednesday at a briefing with state and federal fire officials. "This is one of the biggest."Statewide, 30 air tankers, nearly 75 helicopters and 550 fire engines with several thousand firefighters have already been pressed into service. State officials have requested more than 300 additional engines from other states and the federal government.Napa city officials issued evacuation advisories for neighborhoods along the eastern edges of the city, warning residents to be prepared to leave. Just before 9 p.m. Wednesday, Santa Rosa police also issued an evacuation advisory for neighborhoods in the city's eastern end, while other neighborhoods along the north end of the city are under mandatory evacuation orders.Not everyone was listening."I'm not leaving," said Calistoga resident Dennis DeVilbiss, a former police officer and firefighter."Why should I?" the 60-year-old said, standing on the wooden front porch of his cul-de-sac home on the south end of the resort town as smoke wafted over nearby forests. "I'm in a good spot. I'm monitoring all the radio bands. I just put a sprinkler on my roof. Oh, and I've got goggles, heavy gloves and a respirator."He paused, and added with a smile, "I'm not stupid. If it's time to run, I'll run like hell."___(Times reporters Alene Tchekmedyian and Chris Megerian contributed to this story.)___(c)2017 Los Angeles TimesVisit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
But dont worry, there will still be a person in the truck for your dog to bark their head off at.The United States Postal Service (USPS) released a report last week stating that the agency plans to integrate self-driving tech into its fleet of 228,000 vehicles. In partnership with the University of Michigan, USPS plans to build an Autonomous Rural Delivery Vehicle and start using it on 28,000 rural routes as early as 2025.Autonomous delivery trucks would be largely beneficial to the postal service because it would free up drivers for other tasks such as sorting mail while the truck drives itself in between stops. Additionally, drivers would not have to deal with the extra time of repeatedly parking, turning off and restarting the vehicle, which the report says would create small but cumulatively significant time savings.
Ferrari has appointed a Spanish woman to help "fix" car reliability problems that have marred the team's push for the 2017 title.

In the Sepang-Suzuka double header, Sebastian Vettel suffered car problems that now strand him a whopping 59 points behind Lewis Hamilton with four races go go.

"We need to renew our commitment to the quality of the components we use for F1," Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne said afterwards.

"On at least three occasions it has had a devastating impact on the Scuderia's performance. We will fix it," he promised.

La Repubblica newspaper is now reporting what that "fix" is.

Her name is Maria Mendoza, who has been promoted by Marchionne from elsewhere in the Fiat Chrysler parent company.

The Italian newspaper said Spaniard Mendoza has been in charge of a 25-person quality control group at Fiat for the past five years.

Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda said Ferrari's troubles in Malaysia and Japan were "unbelievable".

"(At Suzuka) we had the same problem in the morning and with the permission of the FIA we changed the spark plug," he revealed to Auto Motor und Sport. "But I think with Vettel it was more than just a spark plug."

Indeed, Ferrari's technical boss Mattia Binotto admits the Maranello team has been struggling with "some quality issues with parts" recently.

(GMM)
Embattled team boss Maurizio Arrivabene says Ferrari will "never give up".

After a horror three-race tour of Asia, Sebastian Vettel has slumped to a 59 point deficit to Lewis Hamilton with just four races to go.

Ferrari's title campaign collapsed with a crash in Singapore and reliability problems in Malaysia and Japan, prompting the Italian broadcaster Canale 5 to deliver a huge, satirical Tapiro d'Oro (golden Tapir) award to Maranello this week.

The programme presenter awarded the prize to Arrivabene for Ferrari's "repeated disasters".

Asked about the crisis, the Ferrari team boss responded: "Things happened, they were not pleasant, but we never give up.

"To win against Mercedes - and this year we have already beaten them - you just have to push even more.

"We are not inferior to them," Arrivabene insisted. "Our car has proved to be very, very good."

(GMM)
Nico Rosberg is considering a more regular job in the F1 paddock.

The newly retired reigning world champion attended a pre-season test in Spain early this year as well as the grand prix in Monaco, where he lives with his young family.

But at Suzuka, German Rosberg was on hand as a paid pundit for British television Sky, whose veteran commentator Martin Brundle praised him.

"Nico is an asset for any broadcaster," he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

"He knows these hybrid cars, all the drivers, all the circuits. And he's the reigning champion."

Rosberg, who suddenly quit just days after winning the title last year, hinted he might now be looking for a regular TV punditry job, perhaps with Germany's RTL.

"I believe I can bring a new level to the expert opinion role," he said.

"If I enjoy it, I'll come back. Perhaps this year. But I'm not tied to any (TV) station yet," Rosberg insisted.

(GMM)
On the development side, Volkswagen Truck & Bus is pooling its brands resources with the aim of leveraging synergies and incorporating the strengths of the individual brands. As one key example, Volkswagen Truck & Bus is working on electric solutions for use in both medium- and heavy-duty distribution transport and city buses. The jointly developed e-drivetrain will form the basis of any electric architecture in the future. This electric powertrain is designed in a way that means that it can be used to drive future distribution trucks and city buses manufactured by the Volkswagen Truck & Bus brands as a universal modular element.

At its Innovation Day in Hamburg, Volkswagen Truck & Buswhich includes the MAN, Scania, Volkswagen Caminhoes e Onibus, and RIO brands outlined its technology roadmap to transform the logistics chain in a sustainable way. Volkswagen Truck & Bus is focusing on automated driving, connectivity, and alternative drive systems.





We chose exactly the right time to bundle our expertise and pool our resources. Today, we are one of the leading companies when it comes to developing technology and products for the future of transportation. We have the potential to advance transportation to the next level of development. Andreas Renschler, CEO of Volkswagen Truck & Bus and Volkswagen AG Board Member responsible for commercial vehicles

Alternative drive systems. In light of the increasing exchange of goods, expanding cities and booming online sales, alternative drive systems that help to improve the quality of air in metropolitan areas are acquiring more and more importance. Significant progress is currently being made in the area of alternative drive systems. Last mile transportation services, i.e., the delivery of parcels to end customers, are becoming electric.

The Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand portfolio includes the eCrafter van, a conventional but electrified transporter van, which is capable of up to approx. 200 km on a single charge. It will soon go into series production. As a 3.5-tonne van, the eCrafter offers a load capacity of 1 tonne, but with a total permitted weight of 4.25 tonnes, it will probably be allowed to be driven with a car license thanks to a change in the driving license law.

The eCrafter is a high-performing van with a range of up to about 200 km (124 miles). The vehicle will be shipped to selected customers by the end of 2017. The VW I.D. Buzz Cargo, a compact van that runs on electricity, is also being developed, its design and suitability for day-to-day life reminiscent of those of the classic VW Bulli. Dr. Eckhard Scholz, CEO of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles

The VW I.D. Buzz Cargo is set to be launched in 2022.

Navistar, Volkswagens strategic partner in the US, will also use the common electric platform to offer electric distribution trucks from 2019 onwards. MAN is already well on its way to developing an electric distribution truck, the eTGM, which is scheduled to go into series production in 2021.

We plan to deliver the first nine fully electric trucks to our customers in Austria by the end of 2017  including large supermarket chains, breweries and haulers. Electric drives and distribution are a match made in heaven: The drives are quiet, do not produce any emissions locally, and are a perfect fit for customers requirements. Equally, demand for these types of vehicles has been on the rise. We will be launching the first small set of vehicles on the market at the end of 2018. Joachim Drees, CEO of MAN Truck & Bus

With the fast-growing emerging economies in mind, Volkswagen Truck & Bus has developed another electrically powered distribution truck: the Volkswagen e-Delivery. The e-Delivery is a modern truck for urban logistics designed to improve sustainability in the delivery of goods. It will be built at Volkswagen Caminhoes e Onibus in Brazil in 2020.

Both MAN and Scania will be testing the electric platform on pre-series production versions of a city bus that runs on electric batteries (BEV) under everyday conditions in several European cities. Series production of these electric buses is due to start before 2020. Both brands can already offer comprehensive advice on introducing electric mobility solutions, along with the necessary charging requirements for electric buses, to bus operators and communities. As part of this endeavor, the focus is on being able to offer a variety of options, such as charging the buses overnight in depots or charging mid-route at bus stops.

As far as heavy-duty trucks are concerned and when it comes to long-haul transportation, modern-day battery technology still has a serious hurdle to overcome: Meeting the necessary energy requirements would disproportionately reduce load capacity. However, alternatives do exist. These include combustion engines powered by gas or biodiesel. Running engines on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is a solution that holds great future potential for long-haul transportation. Scania presented the first LNG truck in EURO VI back in 2014. An LNG campaign was launched in September 2017 in cooperation with Volkswagens Group Logistics.

Initiatives are also under way to find a different way to electrify heavy-duty trucks to make sure that their range and load capacity can become suitable for long-haul traffic. One area of investigation is the e-road, which focuses on the use of overhead power lines, as in the rail sector. Trucks powered by overhead lines can run with zero emissions, and any batteries can be charged depending exactly on how many emission-free kilometers still lie ahead. A test route for electric Scania trucks already exists in Sweden. Test routes have also been announced in Germany.

Drive systems of the future will not be uniform, since their aim is to achieve an intelligent transition from diesel engines to alternative drive systems and fuels.

Volkswagen Truck & Bus has announced its aim of becoming number one in the field of alternative drive systems. The company already has a broadly diversified portfolio, which offers the best possible foundation for this endeavor. Andreas Renschler

Automated driving. A large number of stages have to be reached before trucks that navigate congested urban areas autonomously can become reality: from automated protection vehicles in highway road maintenance and autonomous dump trucks in mines, all the way to driverless tractors in port terminals and platoons for long-haul transportation on the highways. Volkswagen Truck & Bus is working on all these applications.

Meanwhile, MAN and Scania truck platoons are being tested across the whole of Europe. In this respect, the concept of platooning describes a convoy of connected trucks that partly run autonomously, with the driver of the lead vehicle determining the route and the speed. Fuel consumption on the highways is significantly reduced due to slipstream driving. There is a lower risk of accidents and drivers of the vehicles behind the lead truck have time to perform other activities, while still being able to take control of their own vehicle at any time.

Working in cooperation with DB Schenker, MAN will start testing the first platoons on the digital test track on the A9 highway between Munich and Nuremberg in spring 2018. Scania is involved in a platooning project in Singapore, where the plan is to have platoons run on public roads between two port terminals.

Platooning is the first step towards automated driving on public roads. The next step will involve enabling truck convoys comprising different brands to operate in platoon formation. As part of this process, Scania and MAN will join forces under the Volkswagen Truck & Bus umbrella to pioneer technology and develop standards that will shape the future of the entire industry. Andreas Renschler

Volkswagen Truck & Bus is working closely together with Volkswagen Group Research to make automated driving a viable option on public roads, all the way up to Level 5 functionality. The Fellow Truck project, for example, gradually integrates artificial intelligence modules into the vehicles. The aim is for Volkswagen to be in a position to offer specific products that enable the fully autonomous transportation of goods and people on public roads in a few years time.

However, for autonomous driving to become reality on public roads, changes need to be made to the legal framework and the requisite infrastructure needs to be built. Volkswagen Truck & Bus is counting on the support of policymakers in this respect. This is already possible in specially delineated areas:

Fully autonomous Scania vehicles are ready to be used in mines, while the first commercial vehicle will be shipped to its owner within the next few weeks.

In cooperation with seven partners from industry, research, and administration, MAN has participated in the BMWI-subsidized research project aFAS. This involves a driverless MAN truck driving autonomously as a safety vehicle for mobile road maintenance works for the first time in German history.

Digitization. Continuing digitization is set to change fundamentally the world of logistics. Volkswagen Truck & Bus is actively advancing connected driving in transportation along the entire value creation chain and across all modes of transport. Its mission is to connect the entire supply chain, so that the greatest possible efficiency can be achieved.

RIO, the open cloud-based platform of the Volkswagen Truck & Bus Group, connects all players across the value creation chain. (Earlier post.) Algorithms will process the data that has emerged as a result of countless process steps in real time, serving as the basis for making better decisions. The RIO platform and digital RIO services will be available before the end of this year.

Tests are currently being carried out with 20 MAN customers with mixed fleets, including Volkswagens Group Logistics service providers. A total of more than 100 vehicles from Germany, France, Denmark, the UK, and Poland are involved in the testing.

The platform serves as the foundation of the services offered by the brands, the partners from the logistics ecosystem, and the RIO digital brand. It connects services such as vehicle tracking, driver communication, driving and efficiency analyses, digital maintenance management and tachograph data, as well as other advanced logistics services, making these available on the online RIO marketplace. MAN is the first OEM partner to equip its EURO VI vehicles ex works with RIO connectivity, which it has been doing since August.

Scania has always played a leading role in fleet connectivity. Together with MAN and Scania, Volkswagen Truck & Bus is currently in a position to build on more than 300,000 connected trucks. By working together with US partner Navistar, the company will use this as the basis on which to develop a total of 650,000 connected vehicles worldwide in the future. The vehicles will also be able to use the RIO platform to call upon the in-house OEM services of their respective brand, as well as services offered by third-party providers.

Use of the platform will be particularly suitable for the ever-growing number of innovative start-ups, for example Loadfox, a freight exchange platform with algorithms that optimize truck capacity. This, in turn, will ensure fewer empty runs and higher margins for customers, while lowering the consumption of resources. sennder is another startup which specializes in same-day parcel delivery. sennder manages to get by without the traditional hubs that still tend to form the backbone of classic modern-day logistics. A key aspect from a social perspective is that transporting goods more efficiently will help improve the flow of traffic and lower emissions. This is the only way that cities will be able to manage transport volumes that continue to grow rapidly.

In 2016, Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbHs brands sold around 184,000 vehicles in total.
What to do with the Carnegie Library was something the Sweetwater County Commissioners discussed last week.

During the commissioners meeting last week, they spoke with a representative from Alliance for Historic Wyoming.

The alliance has been around for 12 years and is funded through membership fees and federal and state grants, Alliance executive director Carly-Ann Anderson said.

We were originally founded to do national historical trails protection across the state of Wyoming of Wyoming, working with groups like the Oregon/California Trail Association, she said.

Wyoming is stil...
Jackson is the most viable for closure

Facing another round of budgetary cuts from the Wyoming Legislature and declining enrollment in its elementary schools, a Green River school was recommended for closure Tuesday evening.

Superintendent Donna Little-Kaumo recommended closing Jackson Elementary School to the Sweetwater County School District No. 2 board, saying a combination of the buildings condition and the lower student population make it the best candidate for closure. A final decision wont occur until November, with the district planning to host two public feedback meetings about the potential closure in the meantim...
A pair of poached elk discovered on Little Mountain has resulted in the Wyoming Game and Fish Department seeking help to identify the culprits.

The elk were poached in Hunt Area 31 on Little Mountain sometime between Oct. 4-6.

The first elk discovered was a cow that was shot and left on the east side of Little Mountain, south of Rock Springs, Game Warden Gary Boyd said in a media release. The cow elk had a GPS collar on it and was collared as part of the D.E.E.R. Project going on in the area.

Boyd thinks the hunter shooting the elk may have noticed the radio collar and got scare...
Irene Richardson, Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater Countys interim CEO since February, was officially promoted to the position Wednesday after a unanimous decision by the hospitals board of trustees.

Richardson, a Green River native, has worked at the hospital since 1985, originally starting as a cash posting clerk. She became the senior budget and cost accountant two years later. In 2008, she was promoted to materials management director. She later became the hospitals controller before taking over as the hospitals CFO. Richardson was moved to an interim CEO position after the h...
Sometimes all one has to do is ask.

Thats how all of this started, Doug Uhrig, Wyoming Veterans Commission member and Commissioner for District No. 3, said, as he tapped the card-covered book in his hand.

Uhrig said the formation of the book They Served with Honor: Stories from Wyoming Vietnam Veterans, started because Wyoming Veterans Commission Director Col. Larry Barttelbort asked the Casper Star-Tribune a question.

According to the book, Barttelbort asked them this question I wonder if the Star-Tribune could do something to help thank Wyomings Vietnam veterans for their s...
For one 10-year-old Green River, completing her schooling online is something that seems to work.

Tranquilla Button, a fifth-grade student at Wyoming Connections Academy, started the online program at the end of last year and decided to continue this year because of the family's schedule.

"She has a sister who has a lot of doctor's appointments in (Salt Lake City) and they were missing a lot of school," Tranquilla's mom, Tiffany Kennah, said.

Before Kennah decided to enroll Button in an online school, she researched what was even available. This led her to the the WYCA's website where she w...
If novelty's your thing  and hell, even if it isn't  then you should probably buy a ticket to "Brawl in Cell Block 99," a veritable feast of images you don't see every day: heads being divested of faces, necks and limbs getting crushed underfoot, Vince Vaughn giving a master class in self-restraint.

But if forced to single out the most original moment, I'd point to a sequence barely five minutes in, not long after Vaughn's character  a 6-foot-5 human refrigerator named Bradley Thomas  gets laid off from his auto-mechanic job and returns home to find that his wife, Lauren (Jennifer Carpenter), is having an affair.

One look at Bradley's strongman physique and bald, cross-tattooed scalp, and you can guess what's probably coming next: a screaming match, a few slaps and punches, and one of the two spouses getting thrown out of the house. Except none of that happens.

Instead, Bradley finds a more constructive physical outlet for his rage  I won't spoil the fun, but let's just say he manages to vent his personal and professional grievances with impressive two-birds-one-stone economy  and then begins an even-keeled discussion with Lauren about the state of their marriage, their lack of communication and a tentative plan for reconciliation.

It's a tense but tenderly played scene, and it immediately tells us something essential about the character: Bradley (never Brad) may have a violent temper, but he crucially knows how to control that temper, modulate his emotions and communicate with his words rather than his fists.

As borne out by the plain-spoken witticisms that roll easily off his tongue  the writer-director, S. Craig Zahler, has a playful but incisive way with dialogue  there is more to this man than the deadly wall of muscle that meets the eye.

Something similar could be said of "Brawl in Cell Block 99," a grimly mesmerizing pulp powerhouse that, by the end, makes the word "brawl" seem like the mother of all understatements. (The amusingly blunt title is a riff on "Riot in Cell Block 11," a 1954 prison picture directed by Don Siegel, one of several genre masters to whom the film tips its hat.) But while a face-stomping, bone-breaking jailhouse rumble may be this movie's advertised destination, it never feels like its reason for being.

Zahler, a novelist, musician and cinematographer who made his feature filmmaking debut with the exquisitely grisly 2015 western-horror-comedy "Bone Tomahawk," is in no rush to get to the payoff. (Both features clock in at a leisurely but gripping 132 minutes.)

He is both an unapologetic grindhouse aficionado and a painstakingly methodical storyteller, and it's the tension between these seemingly oppositional sensibilities that gives his work its peculiarly bruising impact.

When we catch up with Bradley 18 months after that initial introduction, he and Lauren are expecting a child and living somewhere in New York state, in a conspicuously nicer house than before. Faced with few other options after losing his job, Bradley now runs drugs for a suave crime lord named Gil (Marc Blucas), who remunerates him handsomely for his coolly efficient work.

When some ill-advised backup causes an important pickup to go violently south, the cleanup duty falls to Bradley, who, always seeking to protect his boss and minimize bloodshed, submits to a seven-year prison sentence.

That willingness to sacrifice himself makes Bradley an even more intriguingly sympathetic antihero. But as the movie follows him behind bars, it becomes painfully clear that his honor comes at a steep price  not least because he's about to become a father, a detail that ups the stakes in memorably squirm-inducing fashion.

It's not long before he receives his first unexpected visitor, who makes it clear to him that he has far less hard time on his hands than he thought. There is work to be done, and mere days, even hours, in which to do it.

There have been exceptional prison pictures in recent years, Steve McQueen's "Hunger" and David Mackenzie's "Starred Up" not least among them. But there is still something revelatory about the way Zahler ushers us into the cold, clammy world of the incarcerated.

Bradley's movement is constricted not only by armed guards, handcuffs and two-sizes-too-small prison shoes but also by the dim, static images composed by the cinematographer Benji Bakshi, in contrast to the wide-angle lenses and tracking shots employed in the film's earlier scenes. At times "Brawl in Cell Block 99" plays like the most austere exploitation movie ever made, steeped in chiaroscuro and purged of sensationalism; it's a maximum-security Dante's "Inferno."

The radical deliberation of Zahler's approach nonetheless allows for a few self-conscious flourishes that testify to the eclecticism of his enthusiasms. The flavorsome soundtrack abounds with classic soul tunes, though the most memorable song here may be the high-pitched drone of the stun belt that Bradley is forced to wear when things takes a decidedly medieval turn. The delectable supporting cast  the standouts include Fred Melamed, Mustafa Shakir, Don Johnson and (of course) Udo Kier  feels like a winking confirmation of the film's B-movie bona fides.

But the most persuasive evidence of this movie's single-minded skill  and the most powerful weapon in a story with little use for conventional firepower  is Vaughn himself.

The actor has shown signs in recent years ("True Detective," "Hacksaw Ridge") of shrugging off the comic-loudmouth persona that has overly defined him for much of his career. But this is the first time I've been reminded that his towering physical stature  which at times makes him look like a walking exclamation point  might serve something other than a strictly comedic purpose.

Vaughn's performance is riveting in its containment, and he honors his character's ethos by making sure that every word, glance, gesture and silence counts.

By the time Bradley reaches the point of no return and sends the movie hurtling toward its Grand Guignol climax, you realize he isn't cutting loose or being driven over the edge. He's simply a man with a job to do, reacting precisely and intelligently as the circumstances dictate.

Cell Block 99 may be Bradley Thomas' new home, but it turns out to be Vince Vaughn's liberation.
Thurgood Marshall, a titan of 20th-century law and a civil rights pioneer, has until now largely eluded Hollywood's notice. Despite its title, "Marshall," too, is wary of taking on the Supreme Court justice in full, sticking to a minor case from Marshall's early career as counsel for the NAACP.

That makes, for better and worse, a sometimes slight, sometimes serious courtroom drama, shot through with bright certainty in the coming triumphs for Marshall and the civil rights movement. It's a superhero-style origin story: Thurgood, pre-"Brown v. Board of Education," pre-black robe.

And there's something bulletproof about Marshall, as played by Chadwick Boseman, in Reginald Hudlin's film. Boseman has launched himself as a leading man with an ambitious trio of historical African-American figures: Jackie Robinson, James Brown and now Marshall. His gift isn't in connecting deeply to these characters but in capturing an innate and unstoppable swagger. His icons are forward-moving forces of talent and charisma that no bigotry could hope to contain.

In "Marshall," the attorney is sent to Bridgeport, Connecticut, to represent a black chauffer, Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown), who has been accused by his wealthy, white Greenwich socialite employer (Kate Hudson) of rape and attempted murder. Marshall, then 33, is an out-of-state attorney who needs a local lawyer to help try the case, turning to the reluctant insurance lawyer Sam Friedman (Josh Gad).

The suburban New England setting differs greatly from the Southern terrain where most civil rights battles were fought, and where Marshall tried many of his early landmark cases. But it roils with much of the same racism. Marshall is barred from speaking in court by a judge (James Cromwell) little impressed by the NAACP's mandate to ensure black defendants get a fair trial.

But from the moment Marshall breezes into the New Haven train station and hands his bags to Friedman to carry, he oozes an untroubled belief in his cause and his tactical prowess at trial.

He needs no assistance, and he gives no quarter to prejudice, telling Friedman to object over every racial bias. Where others stay mum, he proudly declares from the courthouse steps:

"The Constitution was not written for us. We know that. But no matter what it takes, we're going to make it work for us. From now on, we claim it as our own."

He's an undeniably empowering and inspirational figure, and "Marshall" is a smooth and straightforward package. That the stakes for justice are high is never in question, especially once Spell  and the extreme poise of Brown  takes the stand. But "Marshall" doesn't go for the kind of gravity echoed, say, in the one-man play "Thurgood," which James Earl Jones performed on the stage and Laurence Fishburne on the screen. There's a light comic interplay between Boseman and Gad. Marshall sorts the case out without cracking a book or breaking a sweat.

And, well, Connecticut has never exactly had the dramatic pull of other, more explosive states when it comes to civil rights battles or, well, most anything else. Currently in development is a film adaptation of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner "Devil in the Grove," which chronicles a 1949 case of Marshall's in Groveland, Florida. That, perhaps, will be a richer, more evocative tale.

But not all civil rights battles need to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. That will fall to future installments of Marshall's exploits  and upcoming films for Boseman, who'll soon star as the Marvel hero in "Black Panther."
I had the privilege of a private tour at the Library of Congress this summer while attending the Daughters of the American Revolutions national conference.

Beforehand, I was asked if there was anything in particular I would like to see. Dr. Sung, who had extended the invitation, knows my passion is early American History, so I left the tour completely to her.

To my delight, she took my friend and I to the public exhibits first. I had no idea how accessible the Library of Congress building was to the public. Of course, on first entering you go through a security check. But once inside, you are free to view each exhibit at your own pace.

After the main building, we walked through a tunnel underneath the ground to the new James Madison building directly across the street from the LC. We were led in a private room with row after row of books, boxes and old ledgers.

This room held valuable irreplaceable original papers signed and referenced to our presidents of the United States, systematically stored according to the years of service of each president.

The first presidents papers were astounding. We saw early survey records written by a very young George Washington, inventory sheets of Mount Vernon, letters to Washington from his generals during the Revolutionary War, commissary lists signed by the general himself, expenditure sheets and more. Seeing his actual signature on many of the preserved pages in the red-leather volumes will always be burned in my memory.

We walked past more volumes and boxes and then we stopped at the Thomas Jefferson papers.

I saw the farewell address of Andrew Jackson, possibly written by his secretary but including a small paragraph added with Jacksons signature.

We moved among the rows and saw the last page of Abraham Lincolns inaugural address along with his signature scrawled below the closing statement. Then on to the Roosevelts. This actually proved to be my favorite papers to view.

Inside numerous folder boxes labeled Manuscript Division: The Papers of Teddy Roosevelt, Jr. were dozens of letters written from President Theodore Roosevelt to his beloved son Teddy Jr., who years later gave the priceless collection to the Library of Congress.

Roosevelt enjoyed being surrounded by his children, saying they were the key to a fulfilled life. In his letters, you can feel the passion and love he has for his children while he was away from them on many occasions. One of the letters he tells a story to the children and includes hand sketched illustrations of each animal. One of the pages read: A letter for Ted from his loving Father. A cow, a calf, a pony and a big dog all lived very happily together in a barn yard in Texas.

We read through more of the letters. I was especially moved by his knowing the name of the stuffed animals his children slept with. The page read, What Ted takes to bed with him. Dinah. What Kermit takes to bed: the cotton pig, and the dilapidated bunny. Your loving Father.

One letter touched on the topic of American Indians, not so much a political statement but a fact of life in the late 1890s, when the letter was written. It read: Now I am going to see some Indian tribes; because we wish to have things so that they do not hurt white people and bad white people do not hurt them. Your loving Father

I also see as a father who educated his children and kept them up on the real world, teaching them in his letters what he believed and what he stood for, thus planting a seed for children to grow up with strong convictions.

The last letter could be simply stated as a scene we see daily on reruns of old western movies. I love the way Roosevelt goes into great depth of his hunt and the way the cook might prepare their dinner as he wrote: and sometimes I would shoot an antelope or some prairie chicken, so that we might have meat, and the man who was teamster and cook, would cook it over the camp fire in the evening in a frying pan or a big iron pot. Then scrawled below you see an illustration of a hunter aiming his gun at an antelope. He gives the illustration a caption: Father shooting an antelope.

What joy these children had in their lives as they looked forward to their fathers letters so eloquently written on their level. What a legacy he left to all of his children, who seemed to prosper as adults. Did the senior Roosevelts influence through letter writing and education play this most important role?

This reminds me of how important it is for parents today to take the time to read to their young children daily. Plant the seed of the love of words to them while they are still within your grasp. And teach them the art of letter writing, whether it is in a mere thank-you note or notes of appreciation left through the house.

Let them see YOU read and YOU express feelings with pen and ink. Texting, emails and the convenience of the cell phone have replaced so many of these dying expressions.

I cherish the private letters my father wrote to my mother during World War II.

Texting in the 40s would have replaced all the cherished keepsakes that many of us hold dear.

The written word can express over and over, yet the verbal word is gone after it is spoken.
GREENSBORO  Greensboro police officers and firefighters ran into a burning hotel after having been told that terrorists armed with bombs and C4 plastic explosive were inside the building.

That seemingly unlikely scenario was the reality for first responders answering a call from the Battleground Inn in the predawn hours of Nov. 9, 2014.

Jurors watched video after video taken from surveillance cameras and officers body-worn cameras on Thursday, during ninth day of the first-degree murder trial of Garry Gupton.

Gupton, 29, is accused of killing Stephen Patrick White, 46, by assaulting him and then setting him on fire in Room 417 that night. If he is found guilty, he faces a possible death sentence.

Guptons outburst first became evident to Battleground Inn night clerk Jerrold Wheeler, who testified that he called 911 after Gupton came to the lobby, knocking over computer monitors and paperwork. Gupton also was screaming, Wheeler said, but in the chaos the only phrase that Wheeler could recall Gupton shouting was, (Expletive) the Israelis.

Video surveillance showed Gupton as he left the building and put his gray sweatshirt and a neon green-and-blue-stripped T-shirt on a hedge. Wearing only pants he walked back toward the doors that Wheeler just had locked to protect his other customers without knowing a man was on fire upstairs.

Gupton thrust his hands into the air as if surrendering. He knelt on the ground, with his hands interlocked behind his head, before bowing in a prayer-like position, where he remained for about seven minutes.

Jurors watched on body-camera video recorded by five Greensboro police officers, who arrived and approached Gupton. He screamed as he bawled: Im a Sunni. Theyre all over the place. Theyre going to attack. Please sir, please. There are Jihadi in there.

Then the hotels fire alarm sounded.

Its a trap, Gupton screamed. Its a (expletive) trap.

An officer handcuffed Gupton.

If you kill me, please shoot me in the back of the head, Gupton said. Can I smoke a cigarette before I die?

Officers tried to calm him.

Its the same people from 9/11, Gupton said. Theyre inside. Please, sir, theyre going to blow up the place.

Meanwhile, Wheeler testified that he went through his hotel to make sure someone had pulled the fire alarm because of Guptons behavior and not because of real flames.

When he reached the fourth floor he saw smoke pouring out of Room 417, the room Gupton and White had checked into less than two hours before. The men had met earlier at the Chemistry Night Club and had taken a cab together to the hotel, where witnesses say their sexual tryst turned violent.

Wheeler ran to police and told them there was a real fire. That only agitated Gupton further.

Its a trap, Gupton said on the video. Its the (expletive) Jihadi. Its the Jihadi.

Police immediately evacuated the lobby and took Gupton, still handcuffed, to a patrol car.

Video showed officers running door to door and floor to floor as they tried to evacuate guests from the building.

Greensboro police. Fire. Get out now, they shouted while banging on each door. Patrol officers on the ground radioed the searchers when they saw hotel guests looking out the windows at the commotion below.

Officers grabbed a master key and began opening each door, forcing guests to leave the building.

On the ground level Greensboro Police Officer T.D. Dell listened as Gupton continued to scream about ISIS, bombs and C-4 being inside the hotel. Gupton repeatedly banged his head on the window of a patrol car.

Theyre going to hurt you and anyone who gets in their way, Gupton shouted. Please make sure you and your fellow officers stay safe. Theres a bomb.

Keep your eyes open, Dell radioed to officers inside the hotel. Hes rambling about a bomb.

Gupton yelled back at Dell, Im not crazy. Youll see there is C-4. Im not crazy.

Paramedics tried to check Guptons blood-sugar levels.

Its not my sugar man, please, Gupton said. I love America. I love my dad. I love my mom. Its a trap, sir, sir!

Video showed several of the dozens of officers on the scene passing each other in the hotels stairwell.

Be careful, an officer is heard saying on camera. Hes down there rambling about a bomb.

On the fourth floor Officer O. Izaguirre tried to make his way into Room 417. He kicked the door repeatedly until it gave way. He, Officer K.C. Hilchey and Officer N.A. Hartley tried to see inside, but the smoke was too thick. The officers left the fourth floor as it filled with smoke.

Moments later, Hartley is on video in the parking lot, coughing from the smoke he just had inhaled while checking the hotels master list of guests, making sure every person was out of the building. An officer approached him and asked about the body in Room 417.

Hartley said he knew nothing about it. He turned the corner of the hotel and saw a man on a stretcher, covered in black soot.

He looked back at the other officer.

He doesnt look good, Hartley said on the video.
GREENSBORO  A firefighter crawled on hands and knees through the thick smoke filling Room 417 until his hand touched a human foot.

That was the first indication to emergency responders that more was going on than they anticipated.

The firefighter had found 46-year-old Stephen Patrick White buried from the waist up under a burning pile of furniture and appliances.

Outside, Greensboro police tried to calm a second man, Garry Gupton. Gupton screamed at officers to evacuate the hotel because members of the Islamic State terrorist group had bombs inside.

Garry believed ISIS and terrorists were in the hotel, said Wayne Baucino, Guptons attorney. He believed there were three masked men in the hotel coming to rape and kill him.

The details of the Nov. 9, 2014, fire at the Battleground Inn at 1517 Westover Terrace in Greensboro came out Wednesday morning during opening statements of the first-degree murder trial of Gupton in Guilford County Superior Court.

If he is convicted, jurors will have to decide if the 29-year-old should face the death penalty.

Gupton sat in the front of Courtroom 4C between his Greensboro attorneys, Baucino and Ames Chamberlin. Despite being described by Baucino, the prosecutor and witnesses as socially awkward, sexually confused, sexually aggressive and psychotic, Gupton never seemed fazed, taking in every element of the trial. He had many family and friends behind him in the courtroom, as did White.

Baucino told the court that Gupton has struggled with health issues since early childhood, having received diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism and diabetes.

His mother also suffered from health problems and Gupton was her caretaker. When she died while Gupton was in high school, he blamed himself, Baucino said.

Baucino told jurors that Gupton was bullied at Southeast Guilford High, never was in a significant relationship and had limited sexual experience.

He struggled in school, graduating with a 1.6 GPA, but developed an interest in European policy and the Middle East.

Gupton hadnt lived on his own long when he met White. His father had moved to Connecticut, leaving Gupton to get a job with the city of Greensboros water resources department so he could support himself. When his dad came back to town on Nov. 8, 2014  a day before White was attacked  they spent time together and Gupton was happy, Baucino said.

But when his father left, Gupton didnt want to be alone. So he decided to go to Chemistry Nightclub, a gay bar and lounge in Greensboro.

A patron, a bartender, the clubs owner and two people hired as dancers testified Wednesday that the more Gupton drank, the more sexually aggressive he became.

He performed oral sex on one employee in a bathroom.

He grabbed the clubs owner inappropriately.

He made unwanted sexual advances on a patron.

Then he met White.

White frequented Chemistry and was a well-liked patron.

He had grown up being fascinated with the military and eventually joined the Army. Later, he joined a private security group that contracted with the government and was sent to Iraq. While there, his unit was struck by a mortar attack that shattered the left side of Whites body.

In court, surveillance footage from the club showed White and Gupton talking for 20 minutes. During the video, Gupton cries and falls into Whites arms.

Chemistry bartender James Jim Olive testified that White told Gupton that its OK to be who you are.

They then left the bar together and got into a cab.

Guilford County Assistant District Attorney Robert Enochs said friends tried to stop White from leaving with Gupton, but he insisted.

A cab driver drove the men to a gas station so they could buy condoms and then on to the Battleground Inn.

Baucino told the jury that Gupton trusted White and thought they were going to Whites house to sleep off the alcohol. He didnt expect to go to a hotel.

According to Baucino, Gupton and White mutually agreed to perform oral sex on one another at the hotel.

But things escalated beyond what Gupton wanted. And he tried to break free.

The next thing he remembers, he was screaming about Sharia law, Baucino said.

The two men began to fight.

According to Baucino, White grabbed a telephone cord and headed toward Gupton. Gupton took the phone and struck Whites head, then wrapped the cord around Whites neck, the attorney said.

Gupton started throwing appliances and furniture at White, including a table and a TV.

He then lit a comforter on fire with a cigarette lighter and threw it on top of White.

Gupton burst into the hotel lobby, shirtless, and began to yell at a hotel manager.

According to Baucino, Gupton tried to call his dad multiple times before dialing 911, where he told a dispatcher that there were bombs and terrorists inside the hotel.

He then got on his knees, put his hands on the ground in front of him and waited for police to arrive.

In the meantime, the fire alarm went off and smoke poured out of Room 417.

 Im going to die tonight,  said Baucino, quoting Guptons statement to police.

Baucino said his clients system had a mix of the stimulant Adderall and a blood alcohol content of 0.19  more than twice the legal limit. A diabetic, his blood sugar was so high he was going into organ failure.

Both men were taken to hospitals.

Gupton was arrested a day later after being stabilized.

White died on Nov. 15, 2014  six days later  after undergoing treatment for burns on 54 percent of his body and having both arms amputated.

Baucino said that as the trial continues  its expected to last three to five weeks  jurors will learn more about Guptons psychotic breakdown.
Updated at 8:32 a.m.

LEXINGTON  A man who had been charged in a string of armed robberies in the past week is facing more charges.

The newest charges for Jason Dewan Williams, 41, of 313 Carter Drive, Thomasville, are in connection to a Sunday armed robbery at the China One restaurant, at 10479 N. N.C. 109, Suite 101, Winston-Salem, according to a Davidson County Sheriff's Office news release.

Authorities say Williams entered the restaurant with a handgun while it was occupied by three employees and two customers. He demanded money and then fled the scene with an undetermined amount of cash.

Williams was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon and five counts of second-degree kidnapping. He faces similar charges in Thomasville and High Point. He is currently in Guilford County jail with bail set at $1 million because of those robbery charges.

HIGH POINT  A Thomasville man has been charged in a string of armed robberies this week.

Jason Dewan Williams, 41, was arrested after police responded to two robberies Tuesday night that happened about 30 minutes apart, according to a police news release.

Officers responded at 7:47 p.m. to an armed robbery at Dominos Pizza at 2310 S. Main St. A little while later, about 8:15 p.m., police responded to ABC Store #6 at 2806 W. English Road to another armed robbery.

The ABC Store robbery suspect's clothing and weapon descriptions matched that of the suspect in the Domino's robbery, according to the release.

Police also received information that descriptions of the suspect and vehicle, a white Chevrolet Traverse, were similar to other robbery cases in Thomasville and other areas.

After the ABC Store robbery, Thomasville officers saw the suspect vehicle near a sweepstakes business at 375 Scenic Way in Thomasville.

Officers detained the driver, Williams, who was arrested and taken to High Point to be interviewed by investigators. Officials seized several items from the vehicle, including the weapon they said was used in the robberies, as well as the suspected stolen money, according to the release.

Williams was charged with two counts of armed robbery in High Point and placed in the Guilford County jail with bail set at $350,000.

Evidence gathered by authorities linked Williams to recent robberies in Thomasville, High Point, Davidson County and Kernersville, according to the release.

Williams was charged by Thomasville police in connection with the Friday robbery at China Wok, 900-C W. Cooksey Drive, and the Sunday robbery at China City, 1447 National Highway.
GREENSBORO  Starting next year, girls can become Cub Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America, and older girls will be able to become Eagle Scouts.

The momentous change is the latest for the organization. Just in the past five years the group has agreed to accept openly gay youth members and adult volunteers, as well as transgender boys.

Cecelia Shaw of Greensboro took offense to the news that the Boys Scouts of America opened its doors to female members.

Shaw, who has more than 40 years of service with the Girl Scouts of the USA, said luring young girls with the idea they could become Eagle Scouts diminishes the legacy of the Girl Scouts highest honor, the Gold Award.

The award is a seven-part project that the Ambassador, which is the highest level of the Girl Scouts, must complete. The Ambassador must create a community program and work with a business or agency that promises to continue the program over the years.

The thing that bothers me most is they have not looked at how important the Girl Scouts Gold Award is, said Shaw, who is the leader of Troop 4085 at Providence Baptist Church in Greensboro.

Girl Scout officials have suggested the BSAs move was driven partly by a need to boost revenue, and they contended there is fiscal stress in part because of past settlements paid by the BSA in sex-abuse cases.

In August, the president of the Girl Scouts, Kathy Hopinkah Hannan, accused the Boy Scouts of seeking to covertly recruit girls into their programs while disparaging the Girl Scouts operations. On Monday, Latino civic leader Charles Garcia, just days after being named to the Girl Scouts national board, wrote an opinion piece for the Huffington Post calling the BSAs overture to girls a terrible idea.

The Boy Scouts house is on fire, Garcia wrote. Instead of addressing systemic issues of continuing sexual assault, financial mismanagement and deficient programming, BSAs senior management wants to add an accelerant to the house fire by recruiting girls.

Instead of recruiting girls, Garcia said the BSA should focus on attracting more black, Latino and Asian boys  particularly those from low-income households.

On Wednesday, the Boy Scouts of America Board of Directors unanimously voted to allow girls into the all-male organization. The vote came after the organization researched the feasibility of adding girls after several requests from girls and parents. Girls would be allowed to enter the Cub Scout program and work their way to Eagle Scout status. Girls can begin signing up to join the Boy Scouts beginning in the 2018 program year.

The organizations announcement comes a week after the Girl Scouts national convention.

Shaw said there was no mention that their scouting counterparts were considering making this announcement.

I dont see it as something that will draw hundreds of girls, Shaw said.

Adding girls to something traditionally for boys doesnt bother Lisa Fowler.

For the last four years, Fowler has served as assistant Cub Scout master for Troop 396 in Anderson, N.C. She said there are already several women in leadership roles in local and national scouting.

Fowler, the mother of an Eagle Scout, said its not something new to bring boys and girls together in the name of scouting. Boys and girls ages 14-20 have participated together in Venture Scouting since 1971. She said they usually work with local police and fire departments on projects and earn the same merit badge in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Bringing them together for a longer period wouldnt be unusual.

According to the AP, some international scouting organizations already allow co-ed participation.

Its not a big deal to me, Fowler said.

Under the Boy Scouts plan, existing troops could either allow girls to join them or separate troops would be created.

Some parents have expressed concerns about overnight camping trips, the AP reported. An already existing ban on mixed-gender overnight trips would still be enforced, according to the AP. That rule is in place for co-eds 11 to 14.

The Girl Scouts have 1.8 million youth members between the ages of 5 to 18, according to the groups website. On their website, the Boy Scouts say they have about 2.3 million youth members between 7 and 21.

Shaw said she hopes the Boy Scouts board made the decision based on its research and not anything else.

Both organizations are great, but I dont want them to pit the two against each other for membership numbers, she said.
HIGH POINT  A majority of North Carolinians favor the U.S. taking an active role in world affairs, with ISIS, North Korea and Russia their top concerns for major threats to U.S. security, the latest High Point University Poll found.

The poll, released Wednesday, found 78 percent rated the Islamic militant group ISIS a major threat along with North Koreas nuclear program (77 percent) and cyber attacks from other countries (76 percent). The percent who found Russias power and influence to be a major threat dropped from 61 percent in February to 54 percent in the latest poll.

The view of climate change as a major threat has also lessened, with 49 percent seeing it as a major threat in this poll compared with 55 percent in February.

The telephone poll of 404 people was conducted Sept. 28Oct. 6. The margin of error is 4.9 percentage points.
Three people with knowledge of the investigation say the NCAA infractions committee panel handling North Carolina's multi-year academic case plans to release its ruling Friday.

The people say the NCAA notified parties involved in the case Thursday morning. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the school nor the NCAA have commented publicly on the release.

The ruling comes roughly eight weeks after UNC appeared before the panel in August in Nashville, Tennessee, for a two-day hearing. The school faces five top-level charges, including lack of institutional control.

The oft-delayed case is focused on years of irregular courses in a department requiring a research paper or two. Those courses typically offered high grades and featured significant athlete enrollments.
WALKERTOWN  The N.C. Department of Transportation will hold two open houses this month to seek input on a project aimed at improving traffic flow along U.S. 158, or Reidsville Road, between north of U.S. 421/Interstate 40 Business in Winston-Salem and U.S. 220 in Stokesdale.

The public can view maps displaying the location and design of the project as they become available online at http://ncdot.gov/projects/publicmeetings/default.html.

The meetings will be held:

 Tuesday, Oct. 24, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Gospel Light Baptist Church (Bobby Roberson Fellowship Hall), located at 890 Walkertown-Guthrie Road in Walkertown.

 Thursday, Oct. 26, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Stokesdale Town Hall (Community Rooms), located at 8325 Angel Pardue Road.

Interested citizens may attend at any time during the meeting. NCDOT representatives will be available to answer questions and receive comments regarding the proposed project. No formal presentation will be made. Attendees will also have the opportunity to submit written comments and questions until Friday, Nov. 10.

Anyone desiring additional information may contact NCDOT Project Manager Karen S. Reynolds at 1548 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699, kreynolds@ncdot.gov, or 919-707-6038.

NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this meeting. Anyone requiring special services should contact 919-707-6091 or by e-mail at ceridge1@ncdot.gov as early as possible so that arrangements can be made.

Persons who speak Spanish and have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English may receive interpretive services upon request prior to the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494.
CULLOWHEE  The first family of Western Carolina University said they will give $1.23 million to the school to support its upcoming capital campaign.

Chancellor David Belcher and wife Susan Brummell Belcher announced the pledge today at a donor luncheon. Their gift  a combination of cash, previous commitments and a portion of their estate  will be used for student scholarships.

Belcher has said increasing the number of scholarships is one of his top priorities. Since he became chancellor in 2011, Western Carolina has established more than 200 endowed scholarships.

This is worthy work, and our students deserve no less, Belcher said in a statement.

The Belchers previously established scholarships for students in the College of Fine and Performing Arts and the Honors College at Western Carolina.

Their gift will be part of the Western Carolina's ongoing capital campaign. The university won't announce fundraising goals until early next year.

The Belchers aren't the only university leaders in North Carolina to give back to their schools. In 2015, N.C. State University Chancellor Randy Woodson and his wife, Susan, set up a scholarship fund at State with a $1.15 million pledge.
NEW YORK  British media say London police are investigating a sexual assault allegation against Harvey Weinstein.

London's Metropolitan Police force says it has received an allegation of sexual assault from the Merseyside force in northwest England. It says the claim will be assessed by detectives from the sexual offenses team.

Merseyside Police says the allegation was made Wednesday and concerns "an alleged sexual assault in the London area in the 1980s."

British police do not identify suspects who have not been charged. British media including Sky News, The Guardian and the BBC identified the alleged assaulter as Weinstein.

New York City police said Thursday that detectives are taking a fresh look at sexual assault allegations against Weinstein.

___

12:27 p.m.

Actress Kate Beckinsale says she was 17 years old when Harvey Weinstein greeted her in his bathrobe for a meeting in a room at the Savoy Hotel. In an Instagram post Thursday, Beckinsale says she left the meeting uneasy but unscathed.

Beckinsale recalls that a few years later Weinstein asked her if he had tried anything with her at the first meeting. She says she realized "he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not."

The actress says she said no to Weinstein professionally many times over the years, and that Weinstein would often respond with anger, profanity and threats.

Beckinsale calls for a new paradigm in the industry and says "let's stop allowing out young women to be sexual cannon fodder."

___

12:15 p.m.

Twitter says that Rose McGowan's account was suspended because of a tweet that included a phone number and has announced that the actress's account is now unlocked.

In a statement, Twitter said Thursday it was a tweet by McGowan with a personal phone number that violated its service terms. The company said it will "be clearer about these policies and decisions in the future."

McGowan's suspension caused an enormous backlash on social media, with many criticizing Twitter for a move that would silence an alleged victim of sexual harassment by Harvey Weinstein on its service.

McGowan has been among the most vocal in Hollywood about sexual abuse in the industry.

___

11:50 a.m.

Hachette Book Group, one of the country's top publishers, says that it has "terminated" its deal with Weinstein Books.

Hachette and the book publishing arm of the Weinstein Company had a co-publishing arrangement that included works by Dick Van Dyke, Larry King and Tim Russert.

According to Hachette, titles under the Weinstein imprint will be published through the Hachette Books imprint. The staff of Weinstein, which had released around 10 books a years, will be folded into Hachette Books.

___

10:55 a.m.

New York City police detectives are taking a fresh look into sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

Police spokesman Peter Donald said Thursday that investigators are reviewing police files to see if any women previously reported being assaulted or harassed by the media mogul.

So far, no past complaints have been found, other than one well-known case that prompted an investigation in 2015.

The department is also encouraging anyone with information to come forward.

A law enforcement official says detectives also plan to contact women who spoke about their encounters with Weinstein in a New Yorker article this week.

The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly on an ongoing probe and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Weinstein has denied any nonconsensual sexual conduct with any women.

___

9:49 a.m.

Rose McGowan's Twitter account has been suspended, temporarily muting a central figure in the allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

McGowan says that Twitter had suspended her from tweeting after the social media company said she broke its rules. On her Instagram account, McGowan says "there are powerful forces at work" and pleads for others to "be my voice."

Representatives for Twitter declined to comment Thursday.

The New York Times earlier reported that McGowan was among the numerous women sexually harassed by Weinstein, who paid McGowan a financial settlement in 1997. McGowan on Tuesday tweeted "now I am allowed to say rapist."

McGowan also recently called Ben Affleck "a liar" on Twitter and suggested the actor knew about Weinstein's conduct. Representatives for Affleck haven't responded to messages regarding that allegation.

___

9:43 a.m.

Film mogul Harvey Weinstein says he's "not doing OK" in a video posted on TMZ, but he is hoping for a "second chance" amid the fallout surrounding allegations of widespread sexual abuse.

Weinstein spoke in front of media Wednesday as he emerged from a Los Angeles home and got into a vehicle.

In remarks captured on video, he says he needs to "get help" and "we all make mistakes."

He concludes with an obscenity-laced remark.

___

5:11 a.m.

Cannes film festival officials say they have been "dismayed" to learn about the accusations of sexual violence against Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein.

Pierre Lescure, the festival president, and general delegate Thierry Fremaux, wrote in a joint statement: "These actions point to a pattern of behavior that merits only the clearest and most unequivocal condemnation."

Weinstein attended the world-famous festival many times and several movies he produced have been selected in the competition.

"Our thoughts go out to the victims, to those who have had the courage to testify and to all the others," Fremaux and Lescure said. "May this case help us once again to denounce all such serious and unacceptable practices."

___

3:46 a.m.

The Harvey Weinstein sex abuse scandal has entangled a former president, a former presidential candidate and now a former presidential adviser.

Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House chief strategist and current head of Breitbart News, is the latest politico touched by the scandal.

Bannon, whose website has hammered Democrats for accepting Weinstein's political donations, himself profited from a relationship with the movie mogul, in an ill-fated joint venture more than a decade ago. Bannon served as chairman of a small company that distributed DVDs and home videos, and went into business in 2005 with The Weinstein Co., led by Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob.
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Yes, hes childish and incompetent. Is that really news by now?

But of course, it wasnt that assessment of Failed President Trump that made jaws drop over the weekend so much as it was the person making it.

Meaning Sen. Bob Corker, who unleashed an extraordinary barrage of contempt on Twitter and in a New York Times interview.

The Tennessee Republican referred to the White House as an adult day care center, accused the failed president of treating his office like a reality show and fretted that he was steering the nation into World War III with his reckless behavior.

Significantly, Corker, who is a lame duck, said that almost every Republican in the Senate realizes this, though they wont say it openly.

And this was only one of two recent headlines about Trump being blasted by friendly fire. The Corker story broke just days after NBC News reported that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called him a moron following a meeting in July.

For the record, a spokeswoman belatedly denied Tillerson used that word, but NBC is standing by its report and CNN later verified the quote independently.

Once again, the opinion is less striking than the person offering it. But whatever satisfaction one might derive from hearing Trump hammered by his own troops is insufficient to blunt the anger that rises close behind.

Its all well and good to hear these men acknowledge Trumps unfitness, but heres the thing:

He did not suddenly become unfit overnight.

He didnt morph into an overgrown toddler with his finger on the nuclear trigger over the weekend.

Moronity did not blind-side him when Tillerson had that meeting in July.

To the contrary, his defectiveness was obvious the moment he rode that golden escalator down to the microphone and pronounced Mexican immigrants rapists. It went from obvious to glaring over the course of the most bizarre political campaign in history, a filthy slog through menstruation jokes, sexual organ size bragging, sexual assault boasting, calls for violence, 24/7 lies and breath-taking ignorance about well ... pretty much everything.

Yet none of that stopped Tillerson from agreeing to be his secretary of state or Corker, during the campaign, from proffering his support. None of it has since stopped their party from insisting, with straight faces and admirable imitations of sincerity, that Trump knows what hes doing, has it all under control.

None of it has stopped them from rationalizing and excusing his awfulness.

Nine months in, we live in a state of enveloping chaos  nuclear tensions on the rise; social tensions tearing at the thin fabric of national unity; Puerto Rico drowned, in the dark, and ignored; American kids facing mass deportation, and all of it presided over by a Twitter-holic ignoramus who has more beefs than a cattle rancher.

This is not a presidency  it is a national emergency.

So one cannot help but be angry at this revelation removing all doubt  not that there was much left  that Republicans do, indeed, know how bad their guy is, how dangerous he is.

They know, theyve always known, but they went along with it, prioritizing their party over our country  an act of craven partisanship that would have been foreign to the brave and principled Republicans who stopped President Richard Nixon in 1974.

Until and unless it evolves that sort of moral backbone, that sort of patriotism, the GOPs tardy willingness to kinda, sorta admit the obvious is just so much useless, self-serving noise.

Donald Trump is a lousy excuse for a president?

Gee, tell me something I dont know.
A young man died in the early morning hours of Oct. 8 in Greensboro. Tragically, he lost his life in a fight at an apartment complex on the west side of town, the victim of a gunshot wound.

The death of John Cook, 22, of Charlotte was reportedly the 36th homicide in Greensboro this year. We feel a deep sadness in his passing and for the horrible aftermath that his family and friends are unfortunately dealing with now.

In disclosing news of the crime to media, the Greensboro Police Department (GPD) quickly identified John as a former student of N.C. A&T. Given the timing of the incident, Piedmont Triad media outlets rushed to connect the tragedy to homecoming festivities at N.C A&T.

Cook had not been a student at N.C. A&T since 2014. Neither GPD nor any media outlet called the university to confirm his former-student status. The resulting rash of coverage, which continued through the following day, led many to believe, falsely, that Johns senseless murder had taken place at an A&T homecoming event or perhaps even on the universitys campus.

One particularly egregious report on Spectrum News breathlessly claimed, This shooting makes the fifth consecutive year of gun violence surrounding homecoming weekend. In conversation with representatives of the media outlet, we have yet to find any basis for that false claim.

Rather, this is the reality: As GPD itself notes through its communications office, This year, as in years past, there has been very little crime at any sponsored A&T (homecoming) event, a point underscored by the chief of University Police.

Nevertheless, the statement released by GPD served as the basis for media to irresponsibly connect the dots between a tragedy on the west side of town and a full calendar of homecoming events safely enjoyed by thousands of alumni and students, as well as many unaffiliated visitors, in east Greensboro. As one prominent A&T alumnus exclaimed about the coverage on social media, I really wish that someone there would just make it STOP!

We have asked ourselves in similar episodes over the years, why is this such a persistent dynamic in media coverage as it relates to A&T? Also, why is crime in the general vicinity of East Greensboro too often reported to have happened near the A&T campus?

In circumstances like these, we are often reminded of our identity as Americas largest historically black college or university. We are just as often reminded of how differently similar circumstances are described when they take place in the vicinity of campuses with different demographics.

The residue left behind by such thoughtless accounts creates a lasting and undeserved reputational stain.

Violent crime statistics filed by A&T with the FBI (all U.S. higher-education campuses are required to file such data annually) show that our university is just as safe as any large, public university in North Carolina  actually, safer than some. Crime is unacceptable in any circumstance, and it occurs no more commonly at A&T than elsewhere.

We all have a shared responsibility to make Greensboro a safer place to live, work and play. We call on our friends in the media and the law enforcement agencies that help keep the Piedmont Triad safe, to bring those unfortunate crime-reporting habits to an end and to begin thinking more critically about how they frame such reports.

Do details included prominently in such incidents serve to illuminate and enlighten? Or do they simply feed toxic memes that unfairly stigmatize certain places and people, with lasting, damaging reputational effects?

As we remember this young man, who years ago sought to find his place at A&T, we are reminded of other fallen Aggies, who were also taken from family and friends by violent crimes long before their time.

We pray for justice for all of them.
My 90-year-old mother resides in Eden. Not unlike most of her generation, she is fiercely independent but could use a little help. I contacted every agency recommended by Gov. Roy Coopers office, to no avail. Every service is fee-based.

This silent generation endured a depression and World War. My father was a decorated war hero. They have worked and contributed to this country all their life, and they just need a little help. Social Services indicated they are underfunded.

The politicians could allocate a few bucks for an assistance program, without endangering their salaries. This silent generation will soon be very silent ...

Dreena Birdsall

Kill Devil Hills
A white restaurant manager accused of enslaving and abusing a mentally disabled black man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in South Carolina on a charge of forced labor.

Federal prosecutors say Bobby Paul Edwards used "force, threats of force, physical restraint, and coercion" to compel John Christopher Smith to work as a buffet cook at J&J Cafeteria in Conway, South Carolina, for more than five years.

Edwards, 52, was arrested this week and pleaded not guilty in open court on Wednesday, shortly after prosecutors announced the indictment, records show.

The full title of the charge is "attempt to establish peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude or human trafficking." It carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. If convicted, Edwards will have to pay restitution to Smith.

Edwards' attorney Scott Bellamy didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Though the indictment was unsealed, it remained inaccessible to the public as of Thursday morning. But details about Smith's alleged enslavement were documented in a federal lawsuit civil attorneys filed on his behalf in late 2015.

Smith, a 39-year-old with a mild cognitive disability, had worked for more than two decades without issue at the J&J Cafeteria, washing dishes, busing tables and later cooking food at the folksy small town diner. But when Edwards' boss took over as manager in 2010, Smith said, the job turned into a nightmare, the lawsuit said.

Edwards would force Smith to work dawn until late into the night, seven days a week, with little or no pay, no benefits and no vacation time, Smith alleged. Some days he would leave so exhausted and weak he had to be carried home and"physically fed drink and food."

Smith described Edwards like a slave driver. He said the manager would call him racial slurs, and threaten to "stomp" his throat and beat him "until people would not recognize him."

Edwards also assaulted him regularly, the lawsuit said.

In one instance, Smith said, Edwards dipped a pair of tongs into hot frying grease and scalded the back of his neck. On another occasion, when Smith didn't bring food out to the buffet fast enough, Edwards took Smith into the back of the restaurant and whipped him with a belt buckle, according to the complaint.

"Plaintiff was heard crying like a child and yelling, 'No, Bobby, please!' After this beating, Defendant Bobby forced Plaintiff to get back to work," the complaint reads.

All the while, Smith lived in squalor behind the restaurant in a roach-infested apartment owned by Edwards, according to the complaint.

The combination of threats and actual abuse made Smith so afraid, the lawsuit says, "that he felt coming forward would be fruitless" and bring about "more aggravated abuse or even death."

Edwards allegedly told Smith that he had a bank account with more than $30,000 of his earnings, but Smith said he was never paid any of that money or given access to the account. The restaurant reported that Smith earned less than $1,000 per quarter, even though he was regularly working 18-hour days, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit accused Edwards and his brother, Ernest J. Edwards, the owner of the restaurant, of slavery, discrimination and labor violations. Both have denied wrongdoing.

Like Smith, waitresses at the J&J Cafeteria were reluctant to come forward because they feared Bobby Paul Edwards, according to Geneane Caines, an advocate for Smith who said her daughter-in-law worked at the restaurant.

"Costumers that were going in there would hear stuff and they didn't know what was going on, and they would ask the waitresses, and the waitresses were so scared of Bobby they wouldn't tell them then what it was," Caines told WMBF last year.

In October 2014, Caines reported the alleged abuse of Smith to authorities. Local police, the South Carolina Department of Social Services and the NAACP got involved soon after. When social workers checked on Smith, they found scars on his back. He was immediately placed in the custody of Adult Protective Services.

Edwards was arrested and charged with second-degree assault. That case is pending in state court.

In February of last year, attorneys for Smith dismissed Edwards from the lawsuit "without prejudice," indicating that they were considering amending their complaint or seeking remedies in criminal court. Edwards's brother and the restaurant are still named as defendants, records show.

In Wednesday's announcement, prosecutors alleged Edwards held Smith Captive from September 2009 and October 2014, an even longer period than Smith's attorneys outlined in their lawsuit.

"Our client is very appreciative of the efforts put forth by the U.S. government in its investigation," David Aylor, an attorney for Smith, told the Post and Courier Wednesday. "And he believes that ultimately, justice will be served."

In an interview with WMBF, Smith said he was 12 years old when he started working at J&J Cafeteria, a squat brick building on a sleepy thoroughfare in Conway that serves Southern comfort food and traditional diner fare. He liked the job until Edwards took over, he told the station.

"I want him to go to prison," he said, "and I want to be there when he go."

scarolina-slavecase

Washington Post News Service (DC)

10/12/2017 5:10:21 AM Central Daylight Time
Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang. (Photo: VNA)



Spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry Le Thi Thu Hang made the statement during the ministrys regular press conference in Hanoi on October 12th while fielding a question on the Cambodian administrations plan to re-grant legal papers to expatriates in Cambodia, including the Vietnamese.

Vietnam and Cambodia have had the traditional sound neighbourly friendship. The Vietnamese-Cambodian community in Cambodia has made contributions to Cambodias development as well as fostering the tradition and friendship between the two countries, Hang said.

We hope that during the process of completing their legal papers, these people are helped to maintain their stable life to continue contributing their part to Cambodias socio-economic life, thus cementing the traditional friendship and all-faceted cooperation between the two countries, the spokesperson said./.
It is my favorite time of year, the wonderful crisp weather, although lately it has been more like mid-summer. I do think about, while sitting at my desk this time of year, how I miss fox hunting.

It is difficult to do in this area, but a group of us used to get together about four in the morning and drive to meet up-country. Many believe, especially in Great Britain, that fox hunting is an elitist sport. Nonsense. On the hunting field everyone is considered on their ability to ride and their hound sense rather than their social background. In England all sorts of folk hunt and there are always farmers, electricians, lords and ladies who all share their love of hunting.

Using scent hounds to track prey dates back to Assyrian, Babylonian and Egyptian times. In England hunting was popular before the Romans arrived, and the earliest attempt to hunt a fox with hounds was in Norfolk, England in 1534. As one might remember there was a to-do in England about the killing of foxes. Drag hunting, or the laying of scent for the hounds to follow, is allowed.

Fortunately, when the English came to America, they brought fox hunting with them, and since that time there have been many hunts in this country. Virginia is the place known for the sport, although hunting takes place in many other states.

Whenever I view the beautiful fall weather, I think of the view one finds of the hunt going by. Whether it be in England or our country, it is a sight to see, with the hounds (one does not refer to them as dogs) and the colorful riders - the men in their pink jackets (I know they look red) named after the tailor who first made them, and the ladies who were clothed in black jackets not nearly as glamorous. Ones clothing is most important in the hunt field, and be sure you know how to tie a stock, also used as a bandage in the field.

By 1900 hounds of various types were brought from England, Ireland and France. The oldest hunt in this country is the Piedmont hunt established in Virginia in 1840. It was in 1650 when Robert Brooke arrived in Maryland with his family, 28 servants and his hounds that fox hunting took off, slowly at first, but George Washington enjoyed the sport. The difference between England and our country is that the emphasis is on the chase in America, rather than the kill.

A fine hunt ends in the country when the fox goes to a hole in the ground. The hounds are called off and the fox lives to be chased another day. One reason why the kill is wanted is to keep the foxes out of the barnyard, as chicken is a favorite food of the foxes.

Obviously there are far fewer farms than before, but thank goodness the horn will continue to blow.

Greenwich native Norma Bartol, a former Greenwich Time reporter and columnist, lives in the backcountry.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is throwing a bomb into the insurance marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act, choosing to end critical payments to health insurers that help millions of lower-income Americans afford coverage. The decision follows an executive order on Thursday to allow alternative health plans that skirt the law's requirements.

The White House confirmed late Thursday that it would halt federal payments for cost-sharing reductions, although a statement did not specify when. According to two people briefed on the decision, the cutoff will be as of November. The subsidies total about $7 billion this year.

Trump has threatened for months to stop the payments, which help eligible consumers afford their deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses, but held off while other administration officials warned him that such a move would cause an implosion of the ACA marketplaces that could be blamed on Republicans.

Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post.

Health insurers and state regulators have been in a state of high anxiety over the prospect of the marketplaces cratering because of such White House action. The fifth year's open-enrollment season for consumers to buy coverage through ACA exchanges will open in less than three weeks, and insurers have said that stopping the cost-sharing payments would be the single greatest step the Trump administration could take to harm the marketplaces - and the law.

Ending the payments is grounds for any insurer to back out of its federal contract to sell health plans for 2018.

The cost-sharing reductions have long been the subject of a political and legal seesaw. Congressional Republicans argued that the sprawling 2010 health-care law that established the subsidies does not include specific language providing appropriations to cover the government's cost. House Republicans sued HHS over the payments during former President Barack Obama's second term. A federal court agreed that they were illegal, and the case has been pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

"The bailout of insurance companies through these unlawful payments is yet another example of how the previous administration abused taxpayer dollars and skirted the law to prop up a broken system," a statement from the White House said. "Congress needs to repeal and replace the disastrous Obamacare law and provide real relief to the American people."

For months, administration officials have debated privately about what to do. The president has consistently pushed to cut them off, according to officials and advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. Some top health officials within the administration, including former Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price, cautioned that this could exacerbate already escalating premiums on the ACA market, these Republicans said.

But some government lawyers also argued that the payments were not authorized under the existing law, according to one administration official, and would be difficult to keep defending in court.

While the administration will now argue that Congress should appropriate the funds if it wants them to continue, such a proposal will face a serious hurdle on Capitol Hill. In a recent interview, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing HHS, said it would be difficult to muster support for such a move among House conservatives.

One person familiar with the president's decision said that HHS officials and Trump's domestic policy advisers had urged him to continue the payments at least through the end of the year.

The cost-sharing payments are separate from a different subsidy that provides federal assistance on premiums to more than four-fifths of the 10 million Americans with ACA coverage.

Word of the president's decision, which was first reported by Politico, came just hours after he signed the executive order intended to circumvent the ACA by making it easier for individuals and small businesses to buy alternative types of health insurance with lower prices, fewer benefits and weaker government protections.

The White House and allies portrayed the president's move as wielding administrative powers to accomplish what congressional Republicans have failed to achieve: fostering more coverage choices while tearing down the law's insurance marketplaces. Until the White House's announcement late Thursday, the executive order represented Trump's biggest step to date to reverse the health-care policies of the Obama administration, a central promise since last year's presidential campaign.

Critics, who include state insurance commissioners, most of the health-insurance industry and mainstream policy specialists, predict that a proliferation of these other kinds of coverage will have damaging ripple effects, driving up costs for consumers with serious medical conditions and prompting more insurers to flee the law's marketplaces. Part of Trump's action, they say, will spark court challenges over its legality.

The most far-reaching element of the order instructs a trio of Cabinet departments to rewrite federal rules for "association health plans" - a form of insurance in which small businesses of a similar type band together through an association to negotiate health benefits. These plans have had to meet coverage requirements and consumer protections under the 2010 health-care law, but the administration is likely to exempt them from those rules and let such plans be sold from state to state without insurance licenses in each one.

In addition, the order is designed to expand the availability of short-term insurance policies, which offer limited benefits as a bridge for people between jobs or young adults no longer eligible for their parents' health plans. The Obama administration ruled that short-term insurance may not last for more than three months; Trump wants to extend that to nearly a year.

Trump's action also is intended to widen employers' ability to use pretax dollars in "health reimbursement arrangements" to help workers pay for any medical expenses, not just for health policies that meet ACA rules - another reversal of Obama policy.

In a late-morning signing ceremony in the White House's Roosevelt Room, surrounded by supportive small-business owners, Cabinet members and a few Republicans from Capitol Hill, the president spoke in his characteristic superlatives about the effects of his action and what he called "the Obamacare nightmare."

Trump said that Thursday's move, which will trigger months of regulatory work by federal agencies, "is only the beginning." He promised "even more relief and more freedom" from ACA rules. And although leading GOP lawmakers are eager to move on from their unsuccessful attempts this year to abolish central facets of the 2010 law, Trump said that "we are going to pressure Congress very strongly to finish the repeal and replace of Obamacare."

The executive order will fulfill a quest by conservative Republican lawmakers, especially in the House, who have tried for more than two decades to expand the availability of association health plans by allowing them to be sold, unregulated, across state lines. On the other hand, Trump's approach conflicts with what he and GOP leaders in Congress have held out as a main health-policy goal - giving each state more discretion over matters of insurance.

Health policy experts in think tanks, academia and the health-care industry pointed out that the order's language is fairly broad, so the ensuing fine print in agencies' rules will determine whether the impact will be as sweeping or quick as Trump boasted - his directive will provide "millions of people with Obamacare relief," he said.

Significant questions that remain include whether individuals will be able to join associations, a point that could raise legal issues; whether the administration will start to let association health plans count toward the ACA's requirement that most Americans carry insurance; and whether such plans can charge higher prices to small businesses with sicker workers - or refuse to insure them.

The president issued the directive less than three weeks before the Nov. 1 start of the fifth open-enrollment season in ACA marketplaces for people who do not have access to affordable health benefits through a job. Trump noted that about half of the nation's counties will have just one insurer in their exchange, and he claimed that "many will have none." However, the most recent canvass shows that there will be no "bare" counties in 2018.

A senior administration official, speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity shortly before Trump signed the order, said that the policy changes it sets in motion will require agencies to follow customary procedures to write new rules and solicit public comment. That means new insurance options will not be available in time for coverage beginning in January, he said.

Even so, with a shortened sign-up period and large cuts in federal funds for advertising and enrollment help already hobbling the marketplaces, "if there's a lot of hoopla around new options that may be available soon, it could be one more thing that discourages enrollment," said Larry Levitt, the Kaiser Family Foundation's senior vice president.

Other aspects of the executive order include commissioning a six-month study, to be led by federal health officials, of ways to limit consolidation within the insurance and hospital industries. Trump also directed agencies to find additional means to increase competition and choice in health care to improve its quality and lower its cost.

The order produced predictable reactions in Congress, with Republican leaders praising the move and Democrats accusing the White House of sabotaging the law.

Among policy experts, critics warned that young and healthy people who use relatively little insurance will gravitate to association health plans because of their lower price tags. That would concentrate older and sicker customers in ACA marketplaces with spiking rates.

Mike Consedine, chief executive of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) said Thursday that the group has long opposed such plans and is concerned that the administration will allow ones that can bypass state licenses and have such weak financial underpinnings that some will collapse, leaving customers stranded and state insurance regulators "picking up the pieces."

Short-term health insurance makes up a tiny fraction of the policies sold, with fewer than 30 companies covering only about 160,000 people nationwide at the end of last year, according to NAIC data.

Experts could not point to figures for how many association health plans exist or how many people they insure. Such arrangements have existed for decades, and scandals have on occasion exposed "multi-employer welfare arrangements" started by unscrupulous operators who took members' money and either did not have enough reserves to cover hospital bills or absconded with premiums.

The National Federation of Independent Business, a small-business lobby, has pressed Congress to allow use of association plans, arguing that they can be less expensive and give workers more insurance choices. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has promoted the idea, and he stood just behind Trump at the morning ceremony. After nearly walking out of the room without signing the order, the president returned to affix his signature to the document and then hand Paul the pen.

Selling health plans from state to state without separate licenses - the idea underlying much of the president's order - has long been a Republican mantra. It has gained little traction in practice, however.

Half a dozen states - before the ACA was passed in 2010 as well as since then - have passed laws permitting insurers to sell health policies approved by other states. And since last year, the ACA has allowed "compacts" in which groups of states can agree that health plans licensed in any of them could be sold in the others. Under such compacts, federal health officials must make sure the plans offer at least the same benefits and are as affordable as those sold in the ACA marketplaces.

As of this summer, "no state was known to actually offer or sell such policies," according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. A main reason, experts say, is insurers' difficulty in arranging networks of doctors and other providers of care far from their home states.

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Video: Trump promises 'Obamacare relief' with new executive order.

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President Trump's executive order on health care could have ripple effects throughout the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces. Here's what you need to know.

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The Prime Minister has approved a project on organizing the event to encourage the study and teaching of physics in schools, thus seeking and nurturing talented students in the subject.

A National Steering Committee for APhO 2018 led by Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha has also been formed.

Vietnamese students participating in the APhO 201 7

The Committee is tasked to coordinate with Ministries, sectors and localities in preparing and organising the competition, while directing and supervising the implementation of the work. The Hanoi University of Science and Technology will act as the chair of the event.

Main activities of the APhO 2018 will include: organising the reception, parting ceremonies for delegations and visitors; instructing and supporting delegations to go through the immigration process; setting up the examinations and related processes; announcing the results and awarding medals, merit certificates for students in accordance with APhO regulations; and training and recruiting qualified personnel in accordance with requirements of the APhO./.
Pieology, a California-based fast-casual pizzeria chain, is expanding its Northeast presence with the upcoming opening of its first Connecticut eatery in Stamford.

No opening date has been announced yet for the 230 Tresser Blvd. site, which will be the region's only Pieology. The company is also planning to open locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but has no plans for the Westchester or Hudson Valley markets; the nearest East Coast locations are in Bethesda and Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Are you looking to jumpstart your creative juices? You might want to try playing around in a different tuning, such as open D. This particular tuning has been hailed as []
Bernie Ecclestone believes Robert Kubica's place is back in Formula 1, with the former supremo convinced the Pole can come back even stronger than before.

Kubica has ramped up his comeback efforts this year, putting himself through his paces and to the task during various tests.

The former Renault driver joined the French team in Hungary over the summer at the post-GP test organized at the Budapest track, and ran for a full day yesterday with Williams, which has short-listed the Pole for 2018 along with Paul di Resta and incumbent Felipe Massa.

Ecclestone has no doubts about Kubica's ability to perform at the top level.

"If Robert had not have had his accident, then I think by now he would have been world champion anyway," Ecclestone told Autosport.

"I think he can come back even stronger than before.

"Mentally, I think probably he will be more aggressive than he was then: so I can only see good, good things for him.

"I don't think his injury will hold him back."

Kubica's comeback efforts are supported by Nico Rosberg's management team, and while many in F1 love the 'feel good' story his return embodies, it would also generate quite a marketing buzz, according to Ecclestone.

"If he does what I think he is going to do - be even better than before - then people will get behind him," said Ecclestone.

"He will be good to have for Formula 1. If I were Williams, I would definitely try to persuade him to join.

"Maybe they are going to lose Felipe Massa at the end of the year, I should think he has probably had enough, and if Robert is on board then he might wake up a lot of people there.

"The team hasn't been performing as well as it should have done, and whether it is because of drivers or the team in general, I don't know. Nobody knows.

"So it would be nice to get a guy who should be quick in the car to find out."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter




Haiti - DR : Haitian drug carrier arrested at the border





Tuesday, members of the Specialized Corps of Terrestrial Border Security (CESFRONT) in collaboration with agents of the Intelligence Department of Intelligence Operations at the Border (DOIF) arrested a Haitian on the binational bridge of Dajabon.



The arrested man, who identified himself as Wilson Fasin, had no identification papers on him. He was going to cross the bridge in a tricycle where 3 packs wrapped with tape of an approximate weight of 15 lbs concealed under coconuts were discovered. Pending confirmation of the type of narcotic, the Dominican authorities suspect that it could be marijuana.



A certain amount of money, a cell phone in Fasin's possession, were also seized with the tricycle and narcotics. Fasin and the seized items were handed over to the National Directorate of Drug Control (DNCD) in Dajabon for legal follow-up.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Diplomacy : Accreditation of the new Ambassador of Mali





Wednesday at the National Palace, the President of the Republic, Jovenel Moise, received the credentials of the new Ambassador Toure Abdoul Kader of the Republic of Mali.



Ambassador Kader renewed his country's commitment to maintain close ties of friendship and strengthen cooperation between Haiti and his country



The Head of State also reassured the new Ambassador of Mali of his willingness to work by common agreement to the harmonious development of relations between the two friendly countries.



Subsequently, the new Ambassador of Mali made a floral offering in the Haitian National Pantheon in memory of the Fathers of the Haitian Fatherland. Following this offering, Michele Frisch, the Director General of the Museum of the National Haitian Pantheon (MUPANAH) invited the Malian diplomat to visit the permanent and temporary exhibition halls of the museum so that he can discover the history and culture of Haiti.



Ambassador Abdoul Kader Toure welcomed this visit through the history of Haiti "which represents a part of the history and heritage of the Malian people," he said.



S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politics : Head of State met political parties on dispute background





Wednesday at the National Palace, President Jovenel Moise following a first meeting on the financing of political parties in Haiti on September 14 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22119-haiti-politics-jovenel-moise-met-political-parties.html held accompanied by the Prime Minister, a second meeting with the representatives and leaders of a few dozen political parties around the institutionalization of political life, the funding of the parties and the mechanisms to be put in place to give force to the law, the mobilization of an important mire of the opposition which demands moreover the resignation of the Head of State https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22377-haiti-politics-the-opposition-knows-where-it-is-going-dixit-j-c-moise.html



During the exchanges, the positions between the leaders of the Parties were divided. Some advocated public funding in the short term, while others wanted to delay the application of the law when the state has the financial capacity to meet this legal and constitutional obligation.



Another topic of interest was to find an inclusive and representative formula on the formation of a 7-member committee to continue the discussions. In conclusion, the parties agreed to meet on Friday to agree on a formula for the implementation of an institutionalization policy appropriate to the entire political sector.



The FUSION Party, which had rejected the first meeting, had sent two representatives this time.



Moise Jean Charles says he has received no invitation and believes that this meeting is a new attempt at diversion to divide and curb the mobilization of the opposition.



Fanmi Lavalas was also absent from the second meeting. For Lavalas this meeting is a strategy, a dialogue in trompe l'oeil, to weaken the mobilization of the opposition. The Lavalas Party confirms that with its allies the mobilization for the departure of the power of the Head of State will continue...



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22377-haiti-politics-the-opposition-knows-where-it-is-going-dixit-j-c-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22119-haiti-politics-jovenel-moise-met-political-parties.html



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politics : Better tomorrows for our daughters beyond beautiful speeches





Wednesday, as part of the launching of activities marking the celebration of the International Day of the Girl, Regine Lamur the Minister of Youth in her speech advocated for better living conditions for our young girls and appealed to all actors from all sectors working on the supervision and promotion of the rights of the girl.



"Beyond the fine speeches that will last only the space of their reading, I appeal to concrete actions on all sides: private sector, public sector, civil society even only for the elaboration of a specification, the essential aim of which will be to trace clearly the challenges of the Haitian girl, as well as strategies to overcome them and hence lead to better tomorrows for this class at the center of the debate today."



This day celebrated in Haiti around the theme "Tifi gen pouvwa" was aimed at putting the needs of girls in the spotlight and responding to the challenges they face. Minister Lamur invited the young girls to take the opportunity of this international day to take charge of their destiny through arguments "Young girls of Haiti, you have rights, duties and responsibilities, stand up, claim them because no one will be better able to do it for you."



In addition, the Minister recalled that her Ministry was sparing no effort to achieve the full integration of girls in all areas.



First Lady Martine Moise spoke to the opening of the workshop on social dynamics impacting girls in the presence of Minister Lamur, Eunide Innocent, Minister for Women's Affairs, Arielle Jeanty Villedrouin, Director General of the Institute of Social Welfare and Research (IBESR), Olivier Pierre Sterne, Youth and Insertion Director of MJSAC, Representative of "Kay Fanm" Danielle Magloire, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Marielle Sander, and representatives of the Youth Government of Haiti (GJH).



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





The Transport Sector wants a drop in fuel

Following the fall in the price of oil on the international market, Transport Associations are calling for a 17% reduction in fuel prices, following the decline in petroleum products on the international market. On Wednesday, Marcelin Garcon, Secretary General of the National Platform of Unions of Transport Faithful (PNSTF) called on authorities to respect the agreement signed last May.



Inauguration of the General Intelligence Directorate

On Wednesday, Michel-Ange Gedeon, the Director General of the National Police of Haiti (PNH), inaugurated the General Intelligence Directorate (Direction des Renseignements Generaux - DRG) . This mission is to contribute to public order, to combat clandestine immigration and the search for operational information.



A Haitian Deputy Premier of Quebec

Dominique Anglade, a Haitian-Canadian MP from Saint-Heni-Sainte-Anne, (born in Montreal of Haitian-Quebec parents Georges Anglade and Mireille Neptune) , following a ministerial reshuffle in Quebec, retaining her post as Minister of Economy and was appointed Deputy Premier of Quebec.



An opaque transfer of $ 43 million ?

The deputy of Kenscoff Alfredo Antoine, recommends the opening of an investigation into the opaque transfer of US $ 43 million from the National Bank of Credit (BNC) for the rehabilitation of the International Airport Toussaint Louverture during the transition.



Customs: 10-day truce

Friday, October 6, after two days of warning strike, the striking trade unions of the Haitian Customs Association (ADH) and the government, at a meeting in which they reached an agreement in principle, decided to observe a truce https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22349-haiti-politics-customs-officers-accept-a-truce.html until Thursday, October 19, 2017. This truce is observed in order to facilitate the negotiations precise the Trade Unions.



Monitoring Committee of Political Parties

Following the second meeting of Jovenel Moise with the political parties https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22380-haiti-politics-head-of-state-met-political-parties-on-dispute-background.html a monitoring committee was set up consisting of representatives of 7 parties, including the Fusion of Social Democrats, the Verite Platform, OPL, LAPEH and PHTK was established. The next meeting is scheduled for Friday at the Kinam Hotel, according to Mathias Pierre and Line Baltazar, respectively representatives of LAPEH and of PHTK.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















McWilliams Wines moves to Enotria&Coe

By Jo Gilbert

Australian producer McWilliams Wines Group (MWG) is taking up Enotria&Coe in the UK.

The family-owned Australian producer will be leaving behind current importers Sogrape UK in November bringing across its flagship McWilliams brand and Mount Pleasant labels.

Enotria&Coe, which has a focus on premium wines from Down Under, was the right choice for MWG to continue building the momentum of our portfolio, Scott McWilliam, sixth generation winemaker and company director said.

We needed to find a partner who would understand both the provenance of our brands, and the elegant wine styles my family has been perfecting for over 140 years. We feel that Enotria&Coe has the right strategic thinking, drive and reach to share with the market our vision for an elevated expression of Australian wines, he added.

The McWilliams portfolio consists of quality cooler climate wines sourced from across the Riverina and Hunter Valley.

The producer has been based in the region since founding father, Samuel McWilliam, planted his first vines back in the 19th century.

JJ McWilliams who made strides to establish Riverina in the early 20th century as an area for winemaking production and a partnership with winemaker, Maurice OShea, who brought the wine making techniques and styles of the Old World to Mount Pleasant in the Hunter Valley have helped to establish a reputation for innovative, contemporary winemaking.








OHA Board Rebuffs Efforts to Appoint a Middleman for Charter Schools Grant

Trustee Kelii Akina praises Board for exercising leadership over finances

UPDATE October 19, 2017: Today the full OHA Board of Trustees gave final approval to the action the Resource Management Committee took last week. No change. That action was to order that no middleman will be used in the distribution of the funds awarded for 17 Hawaiian focused charter schools over the next two years. The OHA Trustee Board has ordered its CEO to administer these funds directly to the schools and not to take any portion out of the $3 million over the next two years for overhead, thus providing greater funds for the schools.

PBN Oct 20, 2017: "Kanu o ka Aina Learning Ohana was receiving about $150,000 a year in administrative fees to administer our charter school funds previously."

News Release from Office of Trustee Kelii Akina, October 11, 2017

HONOLULU, HI- The Office of Hawaiian Affairs Resource Management Committee today voted against appointing a middleman to disburse a $3 million grant to Hawaiian focused charter schools over two years.

In a 6-0 vote (Trustees Dan Ahuna, Lei Ahu Isa and Robert Lindsey were excused), the Resource Management Committee opted to instead give the grant funds directly to the charter schools, instead of to the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement for administration purposes. Of concern to several Trustees was the fact that OHA Administration had not obtained approval from the Board before awarding the grant to CNHA.

In response to a motion made at todays meeting to award grant administration to CNHA, the Trustees entertained an amendment to instead have OHA administer the grant in-house so that the funds could go directly to the charter schools.

According to Trustee Akina, This issue was not about who receives the grant but the fact that the OHA Administration exceeded its authority in communicating a grant award. I commend my fellow Trustees for restoring the proper balance of authority within OHA.

It is tragic that the failure to seek Board approval embroiled OHA in a conflict within the Hawaiian community, Trustee Akina continued. Personally, I believe OHA owes an apology to CNHA, which has appeared to have acted in good faith. I am saddened that, through no fault of its own, CNHA was caught up in a failure of OHA.

OHA must now focus on two immediate objectives. First, ensure that grant funds for Hawaiian-focused education are effectively distributed to the charter schools. Second, OHA Trustees must take steps to assert Board leadership over the finances of the organization. Ultimately, steps must be taken to restore the credibility of OHAs grants administration.

The RM Committee action will now proceed to the Board of Trustees for ratification on October 19.

####

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this news release are the personal views of Trustee Akina and may not reflect the views of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs or its Board of Trustees.

Kelii Akina, Ph.D., is a community leader who is known for the phrase he has coined, "E Hana Kakou" - Let's work together! Over the past several years as a public policy adviser at the legislative, congressional and international levels, Dr. Akinas mission has been to preserve the Aloha Spirit by which native Hawaiians and people of all races are welcomed and encouraged to work together for a better future for all Hawaiis keiki. He is president and CEO of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a nonprofit, independent public policy think tank.

* * * * *

HAWAI`I CHARTER SCHOOLS WIN CNHA LOSES AT OHA

From FreeHawaii.Blogspot.com October 12, 2017

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs Resource Management Committee today voted against appointing a middleman to disburse a $3 million grant to Hawaiian focused charter schools over two years.

In a 6-0 vote (Trustees Dan Ahuna, Lei Ahu Isa and Robert Lindsey were excused), the Resource Management Committee opted to instead give the grant funds directly to the charter schools, instead of to the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement for administration purposes. Of concern to several Trustees was the fact that OHA Administration had not obtained approval from the Board before awarding the grant to CNHA.

In response to a motion made at todays meeting to award grant administration to CNHA, the Trustees entertained an amendment to instead have OHA administer the grant in-house so that the funds could go directly to the charter schools.

According to Trustee Akina, This issue was not about who receives the grant but the fact that the OHA Administration exceeded its authority in communicating a grant award. I commend my fellow Trustees for restoring the proper balance of authority within OHA. The RM Committee action will now proceed to the Board of Trustees for ratification on October 19.

* * * * *

OHA Board approves $3 million to go directly to charter schools

News Release from OHA

HONOLULU (October 19, 2017)  The OHA Board of Trustees today approved distributing $3 million directly to Hawaiian-focused charter schools over the next two years, changing the way OHA provides its longstanding support to the schools to maximize the amount of funds that go to the students.

More than a decade ago, the leaders of the charter school community first came to OHA to ask for our kokua because of the substantial financial challenges they faced, said OHA Chair Colette Y. Machado. Todays board action represents the continuation of our longstanding commitment to these schools, and most importantly to their keiki.

These schools are educating our next generation of Native Hawaiian leaders who will guide our lahui into the future, said OHA Chief Executive Officer/Ka Pouhana Kamanaopono Crabbe. Providing more funds directly to these schools and students will help ensure that our alakai (leaders) of tomorrow are grounded in both traditional and western perspectives.

Since 2006, OHA has provided $18.6 million to support 17 Hawaiian-focused charter schools located throughout the state. These schools provide innovative culture-based education to more than 4,200 students, nearly three quarters of whom are Native Hawaiian.

For the last eight years, OHA contracted with a third-party entity to administer OHAs funds to each of the schools. The third party entity has historically retained a fee to cover the administrative cost related to distributing the funds, and ensuring compliance and reporting from the schools.

The OHA boards decision today eliminates the use of the third-party entity and directs the OHA administration to directly disburse funds to each of the 17 schools, meaning that the administrative fee will be distributed to the schools. The board approved providing $1.5 million for each of this school year and next school year.

The 17 Hawaiian-focused charter schools are:

Hakipuu Learning Center, Kaneohe, Oahu

Halau Ku Mana, Makiki, Oahu

Ka Waihona o ka Naauao, Waianae, Oahu

Kamaile Academy, Waianae, Oahu

Ke Kula o Samuel M Kamakau, Kaneohe, Oahu

Malama Honua, Waimanalo, Oahu

Ka Umeke Kaeo, Hilo, Hawaii

Kanu o ka Aina, Waimea, Hawaii

Ke Ana Laahana, Hilo, Hawaii

Ke Kula o Nawahiokalaniopuu, Keaau, Hawaii

Kua o Ka La, Pahoa, Hawaii

Waimea Middle School, Waimea, Hawaii

Kawaikini, Lihue, Kauai

Kanuikapono, Anahola, Kauai

Ke Kula Niihau o Kekaha, Kekaha, Kauai

Kula Aupuni Niihau A Kahelelani Aloha, Kekaha, Kauai

Kualapuu Elementary, Kualapuu, Molokai

Coverage:

Related:
Blue States Obstruct Requests On How Much Taxpayer Funds Are Being Spent Fighting Trumps Travel Ban

by Jonah Bennett, Daily Caller, 10/12/2017

Blue states involved in litigation against the Trump administrations travel ban have consistently blocked public records requests about the amount of taxpayer funds being spent in the ongoing legal fight against the travel ban.

The Immigration Reform Law Institute filed numerous Freedom of Information Act Requests back in March to the state attorneys general in Hawaii and numerous other states, whove been fighting the travel ban since February.

The response has been little more than obstruction.

Hawaii, which is fighting the third rendition of the travel ban unveiled Sept. 24 , has been more than reticent to release figures on the costs of carrying on litigation for months. IRLI submitted a FOIA on email communication between attorneys in the Hawaii v. Trump case for words like racist, Muslim ban and Trump. In response, the Hawaii AG office denied the public interest fee waiver request and charged $28,396.30 to complete the document search. An appeal of the costs was unsuccessful.

Additionally, IRLI requested litigation costs for the case. The AG office stated in response to this query that the info had to be withheld because of attorney-client/work product privilege, which is an odd response for taxpayer cost requests.

Minnesota and New York, two more blue states, have been non-responsive to similar FOIA requests about how much taxpayers are having to front for the legal fight and attorney-hours spent on the project. Even the latter, attorney hours, would be sufficient for at least a rough estimate, as average billing rates can be applied to the hours to come up with a figure. Minnesotas release of figures did not include attorney hours or costs per hour.

Massachusetts only released two cost items relating whats called pro hac vice, which refers to showing up at a court in a jurisdiction where one does not have a license to practice. The costs for pro hac vice in the case of Massachusetts amounted to $231 and $462, but the state otherwise refused to release third-party counsel costs, public relations costs, hours of workers in the attorney generals office and so on.

Oregon is one state, however, that has released some information on the subject of costs, though its not nearly as involved as the other states in fighting the travel ban. Oregon only joined the Washington v. Trump case as an intervenor. Even with the status of intervenor, up until May 31st, Oregon generated 303 hours in work for state attorneys and $52,972.50 in costs.

Its unclear when the litigation will end. After an attorney for Hawaii informed the U.S. Supreme Court that the state planned to challenge the Trump administrations third travel ban, a federal judge ruled Friday that Hawaii could make the case that it should be allowed to present this challenge. This third rendition of the travel ban excludes Sudan, adds Chad and North Korea to the list and also bans numerous officials from Venezuela.
Why will the current pyramid structure of companies likely face disruption?



Because Artificial intelligence (AI) will begin taking over the repetitive, mundane tasks from everyones job, according to the lead researcher at Reventure, Dr Lindsay McMillan.



There will also be changes to what organisations in the professional services look for in candidates and technological aptitude will be high on that list, he said.



Indeed, AI is expected to cause organisational restructuring amongst firms in the professional services, according to the latest report from Reventure.



The Industry Insights report found organisations in the legal, accounting, management and engineering services are just some of the sectors that will be impacted by AI.



Dr McMillan added that AI would likely start by replacing entry level work in the professional services, however millennials will not be the only ones impacted.



The research also found that business leaders were struggling to keep up with inherent issues in their workplaces, leading to 49% of Australian workers considering themselves likely to look for a new job over the coming year.



Dr McMillan said that despite the inevitable technological changes, purpose and meaning are still at the forefront of importance for organisations.



It is also likely that if employees dont have purpose and meaning in their work, the AI revolution will impact them the hardest, he added.



But many of the jobs thought of as unimportant in professional services have an important function in the organisational machine, leaders simply have to communicate that importance.



Sometimes it can be as easy as making the connection to an employee with their everyday tasks and how it contributes to the overall goals of the organisation.



The report also stated that education and training is an area of significant growth. In fact, the industry is expected to grow 12% in the next five years, employing 1,084,700 people, according to the Federal Government.



It said that it is vital that the foundation of this sector is grounded in effective workplace habits.



Moreover, it argued that carefully selecting teachers within a team for projects means that employees collaborate and learn from others with different skills sets, or encourage workplace huddles which allows for short bursts of creative internal input to solve problems.



This will facilitate engagement including developing a listening culture, said the report.



The feedback received by teachers and staff should always be heard, even if it cannot necessarily be actioned.



A lack of trust and understanding between teachers and executives can create an environment where more vocal measures are called upon to gain attention, which to a more extreme end of the spectrum can include strikes.






A J.P. MORGAN LIFER

Supriya Doshi proudly describes herself as a J.P. Morgan lifer. She started as a summer intern with the firm in 1999 and then converted into a full-time analyst role following graduation from university in the US. She then went through the firms corporate analyst development program, which rotated across multiple functions in the corporate business.



After a number of rotations she placed into the investment bank technology group. During those four years she was involved in HR-related activity  recruiting on her campus, diversity events, mentoring  and it piqued her interest. Ultimately in 2004, she transitioned into HR and worked in L&D and as a business partner.



She also undertook a six-month assignment in London. She made the move to Singapore just under two years ago. My first HR job was actually doing technology training, she says. This is the advice I give a lot of people. If you have a competency in something  for me at that time I knew technology systems  and you want to get somewhere else, find that anchor and then try to get to where you need to go. Supriya Doshi proudly describes herself as a J.P. Morgan lifer. She started as a summer intern with the firm in 1999 and then converted into a full-time analyst role following graduation from university in the US. She then went through the firms corporate analyst development program, which rotated across multiple functions in the corporate business.After a number of rotations she placed into the investment bank technology group. During those four years she was involved in HR-related activity  recruiting on her campus, diversity events, mentoring  and it piqued her interest. Ultimately in 2004, she transitioned into HR and worked in L&D and as a business partner.She also undertook a six-month assignment in London. She made the move to Singapore just under two years ago. My first HR job was actually doing technology training, she says. This is the advice I give a lot of people. If you have a competency in something  for me at that time I knew technology systems  and you want to get somewhere else, find that anchor and then try to get to where you need to go.

A focus on innovation

Technology tends to go hand-in-hand with innovation and J.P. Morgan is taking steps to ensure the creative ideas of employees are not neglected. The firm recently held its global innovation week, involving different innovation themed events around the world. In Singapore, for example, the company invited guests from New York and Hong Kong, as well as fintech experts and specialists involved in cloud and robotics technology, to take part in panel discussions and webcasts. In addition, the companys employees tackled real business challenges by holding a hackathon. I was a judge for the Singapore hackathon, says Doshi. We had a tonne of great ideas. Its been a while since I was fully involved in technology but I was able to follow what was happening and listen in. They were literally building prototypes and demonstrating them. Many of these will be implemented and go into production.

Doshi says one great example was an idea for a virtual assistant  and while most of the innovations are intended for internal use, some may make their way into enhancing the client customer experience.

In September, the firm will be taking the hackathon concept to the next level by hosting the Code for Good challenge  a firmwide recruitment event whereby undergrads compete in a day-long hackathon, coding to solve challenges for non-profit organisations.

TECH INVESTMENT IN NUMBERS



$9.5 billion

In 2016, J.P. Morgan spent more than $9.5bn in technology firm-wide, of which approximately $3bn is dedicated toward new initiatives.



$600 million

Of that amount, approximately $600m was spent on emerging fintech solutions  which include building and improving digital and mobile services and partnering with fintech companies.



32%

Attracting, retaining and developing top talent is a priority and the firm casts a net far and wide to find the best and the brightest. In 2016, 32% of senior hires in technology globally came from non-financial services firms. J.P. Morgans employee training programs cover new skill sets, such as cloud and agile development.

Future priorities

A key focus for Doshi and her team, as well as the firm in general, is ensuring its attracting the right diverse talent mix into the company. We definitely make an effort to make sure when were recruiting that were hiring the best and most qualified candidates but also keeping in mind the elements of diversity, she says. In Singapore, we want to hire local talent and we want to ensure were hiring women into tech.

Its significant that J.P Morgan was deemed a top performer in the diversity & inclusion category of HRDs own Employer of Choice Awards in 2016, as this is a priority for the company. As just one example of progress in this area, each year regional diversity councils run internal leadership development programs specifically aimed at diverse talent. These diversity councils are supported by business resource groups which are composed of over 20,000 J.P. Morgan employees. For example, the Womens Interactive Network (WIN) holds conferences and invites guest speakers into the firm. WIN also provides access to the tools that enable the successful development, advancement and retention of women at all levels of the firm. New hires are also introduced to the firms approach to D&I during induction.
(Reuters) Investors are betting Alan Howard can reclaim his touch as a star macroeconomic trader, helping Brevan Howard Asset Management amass more than $3 billion (2.4 billion pounds) for a hedge fund he alone will control. Howard, one of Britains best known money managers, has raised more than $700 million from outside investors for the new AH Fund, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. That will be supplemented by around $400 million or $500 million from Howard personally, one of them said, and another roughly $2 billion transferred from Brevan Howards flagship hedge fund, according to two of the people.

To read this article:
Sipila told MTV on Wednesday that the employers demands for waiving wage increases for another year are unreasonable.

Prime Minister Juha Sipila (Centre) has gone back on his word by commenting on the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations between the Finnish Forest Industries and the Finnish Paper Workers Union.

My personal opinion, even though I promised not to get involved in this, is that a zero [wage increase] is unreasonable, he commented before voicing his hope that both parties to the gridlocked negotiations adopt a patient and practical approach to the process.

The Finnish Forest Industries has proposed employee representatives that the current collective bargaining agreement for paper workers be extended by one year.

Harri Merlin, a professor of sociology at the University of Tampere, says he was not surprised that a leading policy maker decided comment on the demands of forest industry employers.

I was actually waiting for an influential minister to say something to speed up the negotiations, he said to Kauppalehti on Wednesday. The economy is growing against the backdrop of a growth and employment pact that effectively saw wage earners consent to lowering their wages. A wage freeze is unreasonable in these circumstances.

Petri Vanhala, the chairperson of the Finnish Paper Workers Union, has warned that unless the employers revise their offer the union is likely to organise a strike.

We havent made a decision on striking, but if we get out of this situation without any disruptions to industrial peace, I think itd be a small miracle, he commented in an interview with Talouselama on Friday.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Vesa Moilanen  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
The Communist Party of China (CPC) is ready to hold its 19th National Congress this month, when new guidelines will be issued to further develop socialism with Chinese characteristics.Since its founding in 1921, the CPC has overcome great hardships. However, by remembering its roots and progressing with innovation, the Party has established China firmly on the world stage. more>>
Fine Gael TD Noel Rock, who represents the Dublin North-West constituency, described An Post's plan to close the branch as "completely wrong".

A petition has been launched to prevent An Post from closing one of its branches in north Dublin.

It has emerged that the organisation intends to close its post office in Finglas East in the coming weeks due to the retirement of its postmistress.

A number of local politicians have criticised the imminent move, and a petition against the closure has so far been signed by more than 1,000 people in the area.

Fine Gael TD Noel Rock, who represents the Dublin North-West constituency, described An Post's plan to close the branch as "completely wrong".

Retirement

"It's an unwelcome development," he said.

"It's opportunistic on the part of An Post to close this post office based on the retirement of the postmistress, who has decided to end her service there.

"It's clear that this isn't related to any strategy at all."

Mr Rock added that a petition against the plan was available for residents to sign, and that more than 1,000 people had already been attracted to the cause.

Sinn Fein councillor Noeleen O'Reilly described the move as "unacceptable", while adding that elderly people would be most affected by the closure.

"It is not acceptable that An Post have taken the decision to close such a busy post office, simply because the postmistress is retiring," said Ms O'Reilly.

"Senior citizens and those most vulnerable will be affected the most.

"The decision to close the post office is a bad decision for those in the community that rely on it and need it."
Kernel to invest $130 mln in construction of oilseed crushing plant in Khmelnytsky region by 2020

Kernel to invest $130 mln in construction of oilseed crushing plant in Khmelnytsky region by 2020

KYIV. Oct 12 (Interfax-Ukraine)  Kernel, a large agroholding in Ukraine, seeks to invest $130 million in construction of an oilseed crushing plant in Khmelnytsky region.

The company said in a press release on Wednesday that the commissioning of the plant is scheduled for 2020.

The installed processing capacity of the plant will be 1 million tonnes of sunflower seeds per year.

"The construction site is in the western part of the country, near Starokonstiantyniv in Khmelnytsky region, next door to Kernel's silo The project will be financed from the Eurobond proceeds raised in 2017," the company said.

The memorandum on construction of the new plant was signed on October 11 by representatives of the company and the governor of Khmelnytsky region.

Kernel said that Western Ukraine has a significant potential to increase sunflower seed production.

The new plant will be the most modern plant in Ukraine in its segment. The enterprise will boost tax payments to the local budget, create new jobs and allow local companies to participate in tenders for providing labor and services, Kernel said.

Kernel is the world's largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil, the leading producer and supplier of agricultural products from the Black Sea region to the world markets. The vertically integrated structure of the company is built on closely interrelated business segments: production, export and domestic sales of sunflower oil, plant growing, grain exports, providing grain storage and transshipment services at elevators and port terminals. Since 2007 the company's shares have been traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE).
BRISTOL, Va.  City Council members were sharply divided Wednesday about ways to address the citys debt.

The council heard a detailed presentation from Davenport & Co., its Richmond-based financial advisers, about potential paths to refinance $50.5 million in debt tied to The Falls commercial center  the citys public-private shopping center.

David Rose and Roland Kooch, both senior vice presidents of the firm, outlined four potential scenarios  two that address just The Falls notes and two that also include refinancing additional long-term debt.

Council doesnt have to act immediately but could realize interest savings if it refinances soon, the advisers said. If council does nothing for the next two years, $41 million of those notes tied to The Falls would come due in fiscal 2020-21 and the remaining $10 million would be due the following two years.

Scenario one would require the city to come up with an additional $5.2 million a year for debt service payments  effectively doubling its present payments of $5.4 million per year  to about $10.6 million from fiscal 2019-20 until fiscal 2026-27. Scenario two would require an additional $4.4 million in annual debt service over that same period.

Both received vocal support from Mayor Kevin Mumpower and Councilman Doug Fleenor.

Scenarios one and two, you better roll up your sleeves, Mumpower told the council. Im not saying it cant be done. Im saying it can be done. We just have to figure out a way to do it.

Mumpower said he prefers not to refinance the citys other long-term debt, as included in scenarios three and four, because it keeps that option open if the city encounters additional trouble in the future.

Fleenor predicted either scenario one or two would require a real estate tax hike and a reduction in services.

Is this council going to make the tough decisions and bear the pain, or are we going to kick it down the road? It would be easy for us to not make the hard decisions and do what every [former] council has done for the last 30 or 40 years, Fleenor said. Ive heard if you raise real estate taxes people will move. Well, move. Its time to be men instead of mouses. Im on scenarios one or two, not bump the can and put the interest on future generations.

Vice Mayor Kevin Wingard considers either of those options impossible.

It will cripple this town, Wingard said. You are talking about a roughly nine percent annual increase on our budget. We are in the 50s [the citys budget is around $55 million per year] and youre talking about an additional $5 million on top of what were already looking at for seven or eight years. Thats $10 million [annually] for seven or eight years to get us on the backside of this.

Hubbard, who authored the citys recent plan to build up city reserves by incremental tax increases, was surprised to hear support for tax hikes.

I will say the whole time Ive been on council with you guys all Ive heard is were not raising property taxes. Thats the easy way out, Hubbard said. Im glad to see the reality is thats going to have to happen. Nobody likes it, but it has to happen.

Interim City Manager Randy Eads said the difference might not be that much since the Davenport analysis is very conservative and included no new revenues from phase two of The Falls. Eads said the city may be able to count about $4.4 million in new revenues before the first payment would come due in a couple of years, if they vote to refinance.

Were projecting new real estate taxes from new developments. With those new developments would be some increases in lodging tax revenue  from the two hotels downtown [projects underway], Eads said. We are anticipating increases in the machine and equipment tax on a potential new business, and there are three cost-saving measures I havent discussed with council yet; plus the $1.1 million [annual appropriation] we consider debt reserve.

Mumpower directed Eads and Chief Financial Officer Tamrya Spradlin to develop a detailed analysis of how the city could fund those multi-million-dollar gaps through increased revenues and cost-cutting measures. That analysis is expected to be completed within the next two weeks.

After the meeting, Mumpower said the council should tackle the problem head-on.

We got handed a bad situation, but you can hand somebody else a worse situation. At some point, youve got to say, weve got to take the pain now and get through this and see the light at the end of the tunnel. So thats what weve got to do, Mumpower said. Weve got to figure out a plan to close that gap on one of those two scenarios, have the revenues to cover it and execute it.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said that investment is required to have larger GDP growth than 3% growth announced in the draft national budget for 2018.

The press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine reported that on Thursday the prime minister met with representatives of business circles of Canada.

"The Ukrainian government is interested in development and success of international and local business in Ukraine and it is open for any proposals that would help to step up the process," the press service said.

Groysman said that Canada is a credible partner of Ukraine, and deep and strong political and economic ties historically unite our countries.

"The free trade agreement is a good chance of deepening cooperation, fill it with concrete steps through the implementation of joint projects and attraction of investment," the press service said.

The prime minister said that improvement of business and investment climate in Ukraine is a key priority of the Cabinet of Ministers.

"We plan 3% of GDP growth for next year. We understand that this is not enough, and we are ready to improve the figure. The question of attracting investment arouses," the press service said, citing Groysman.
Bryon Simoras 11-year-old daughter has joined two different Girl Scout groups in Bristol.

Both have disbanded because of low attendance numbers.

So Simora said he wouldnt mind if she decides she wants to join her younger brothers Cub Scout pack in Bristol, Tennessee.

She comes to a lot of our events and does the same stuff as the boys, Simora said. If she does the same stuff, why shouldnt she get a merit badge?

On Wednesday, the Boy Scouts of America announced plans to allow girls into the Cub Scouts starting next year and to establish a new program for older girls using the same curriculum as the Boy Scouts.

Under the plan, Cub Scout dens  the smallest unit  will be single-gender, either all-boys or all-girls. The larger Cub Scout packs will have the option of remaining single gender or welcoming both genders. The program for older girls is expected to start in 2019 and will enable girls to earn the coveted rank of Eagle Scout.

The decision received unanimous approval by the organizations board of directors.

Brandon Hart, a senior district executive with the Sequoyah Council, which serves about 7,000 Boy Scout families in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, said young girls and families have made inquiries about girls participation for some time.

I think families have spoken enough that they want it, Hart said. Were going to reach more young people to provide a quality program, more leadership training and more skills training.

Brandon Mann is the Cub scoutmaster of Pack 121, which meets at Holston View Elementary School in Bristol, Tennessee. Its the pack to which Simoras son belongs.

Mann said many sisters of the boys come to meetings and other events, learning what the boys learn in the process.

I see it as only fair that they earn the same things that their brothers are doing, Mann said.

Manns son Bret, 11, said he has fun when girls attend the events.

The sisters go with the brothers a lot of time on the camping trips, Bret said.

One group has criticized the initiative: The Girl Scouts of the USA.

In August, the president of the Girl Scouts accused the Boy Scouts of seeking to covertly recruit girls into their programs while disparaging the Girl Scouts operations.

I formally request that your organization stay focused on serving the 90 percent of American boys not currently participating in Boy Scouts ... and not consider expanding to recruit girls, wrote GSUSA President Kathy Hopinkah Hannan in a letter to the BSAs president, AT&T Chairman Randall Stephenson.

Girl Scout officials have suggested the BSAs move was driven partly by financial problems and a need to boost revenue.

The move comes on the tails of other changes in scouting. In the past five years, the Boy Scouts have agreed to accept openly gay youth members and adult volunteers, as well as transgender boys.

Bristol businessman John Tickle said Wednesday that all organizations need to adapt over time to thrive. Tickle knows a thing or two about running large organizations: Hes the chairman of the board of directors of Strongwell Corp.

Tickle also has deep roots in scouting.

Were in a different world, Tickle said. Times change and any organization has to be willing to change or you die.

Tickle completed his Eagle Scout requirements at age 13 in Bristol. During his career, Tickle has partnered with the Scouts on a number of projects.

He was the force behind the establishment the John D. Tickle National Leadership Center at the Summit Bechtel Reserve near Beckley, West Virginia. The reserve, which opened in 2013, is the home of the National Scout Jamboree.

In 2016, the Sequoyah Council bestowed him with the Silver Buffalo Award, the highest commendation given by the Boy Scouts of America.

Tickle said he supports the decision.

We have a great program and maybe its a shame we havent offered it to another gender for a long time, he said. [Young girls] have the same needs as young boys.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The third and final debate in the governors race produced one clear, unmistakable winner: The University of Virginias College at Wise.

The states westernmost college won unprecedented publicity by hosting the first gubernatorial debate ever held in the coalfields.

It also secured a promise that no matter who wins in November, the next governor will support expanding the school and adding graduate programs. UVA-Wise is one of just two state-supported colleges in Virginia that doesnt offer graduate programs  Virginia Military Institute is the other, and its always a special case.

Democrat Ralph Northam had previously made expanding UVA-Wise a centerpiece of his plan for rural Virginia. On Monday, Republican Ed Gillespie matched his offer, and actually added more details  pledging to double the enrollment of 2,099.

That exchange offered a microcosm of the race  with Northam offering broad themes (UVa-Wise as a center for studying renewable energy) while Gillespie weighed in with more specifics.

The debate probably did nothing to change the dynamics of the campaign, which we suspect is a lot closer than the recent polls suggest. Neither candidate landed a knock-out blow; neither committed a gaffe. The only real gaffe this year belongs to Jill Vogel, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, who last week said that Democrat Justin Fairfax could not talk intelligently about certain issues. She innocently meant that he was, in her view, ill-informed but the sight of a white candidate saying a black candidate cannot talk intelligently is cringe-worthy. Vogel handed Fairfax a free talking point.

This gubernatorial debate was easily the most substantive of the three. The debate was thankfully free of tangents about President Trump or Confederate statues, two distractions from the real work of the governorship that both candidates have engaged in previously. Instead, the debate at Wise easily achieved its purpose of forcing a conversation about the economy of rural Virginia. In many ways, the debate was notable for two things that didnt happen:

n Northam didnt make a dramatic bid for rural votes. Democratic strategists have been torn in recent years about whether to make a play for rural votes. Hillary Clinton made zero effort and paid for it when Donald Trump ran up record margins in rural areas. Democrats wont win rural areas, but if shed run just a little better in rural North Carolina and Florida, shed be president today.

Northam would seem to be the type of Democrat who could reclaim some rural votes. He grew up on the Eastern Shore, went to Virginia Military Institute, served in the Army. Hes also paid more attention to rural issues than previous Democrats. The Wise debate offered a perfect opportunity to champion those  yet Northam, strangely, didnt even mention one of his most interesting ideas, to waive certain taxes on start-ups in rural areas. This was a missed opportunity.

Gillespie, by contrast, used the debate to roll out a regional plan for Southwest Virginia. Parts of it simply repeat things hes said previously, but also added new details  such as doubling UVa-Wise enrollment and hosting a red carpet tour of Southwest Virginia to show off the region to economic development site selection consultants.

Gillespie emphasized his support for industrial hemp, which he said could create a new industry sector in rural Virginia. Northam never mentioned that he supports the same thing. Gillespie hammered Northam for skipping every meeting of the Center for Rural Virginia, on whose board he serves. Northam never responded. The official explanation later was that he sent staff to represent him.

n Gillespie didnt pander about coal. He talked about his support for coal. So did Northam, for that matter. But Gillespie didnt indulge in Trumpian fantasies about bringing back coal. He acted like a grown-up who understands that coal is never coming back. Instead, Gillespie warned that Northams energy plan  the Democrat wants 30 percent of the states energy by 2030 produced by renewables  risks raising electric rates. This is a legitimate concern. Its also not an inevitable one.

Northams goal is admittedly ambitious. Right now, Dominion  the states largest utility  produces just 3 percent of its power from renewables (although its biggest source of power, at 32 percent, is nuclear, which isnt renewable but isnt carbon-based, either). Appalachian produces 7.1 percent of its power from renewables.

Gillespie  speaking on a day when the Trump administration announced it would repeal the Obama-era Clean Power Plan that limits carbon emissions  warned that Northam wanted to impose a Virginia version. Heres the catch: Utilities are moving to renewables anyway. Theyre not moving as quickly as environmentalists would like but they are moving.

Dominion has previously said it didnt matter whether the Clean Power Plan stayed or went; it had to make decisions that would last for decades, and couldnt be influenced by government policies that might last just four or eight years. The reality is that the price of renewables is dropping. Already, renewables are sometimes cheaper than fossil fuels. We simply dont know what theyll cost in the future. We also dont know what new technologies will emerge. Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is working on batteries that could store renewable energy. If they work, that changes a lots of assumptions about the reliability of green power.

Gillespies question about higher electric rates is a good one, but its also possible his fears may never be realized. We simply dont know. For Gillespie, this is a reason for a caution. For Northam, its a reason for optimism. Take your pick.

The real takeaway is that Gillespie didnt dredge up the traditional Republican specter of a war on coal, when the real war on coal these days is being waged by the marketplace, not the federal government. Gillespies unwillingness to engage in populist rhetoric may leave some Trump supporters cold but is actually one of his most appealing characteristics.

What Virginians saw in the debate were two serious-minded men. Theyd both do things the other side would object to, of course, but thats what elections are about. This time around, Virginians actually have two good candidates to choose from. You can watch the debate at http://tinyurl.com/yd2gmrjc and make what might be called a Wise choice.
Auchan Retail Ukraine, part of France's Auchan Group managing the Auchan hypermarket chain in Ukraine, has sold a 20% stake in the Furshet supermarket chain in Ukraine to VI2 Partners Investment Company.

"The decision is in line with the global strategy of Auchan Retail Ukraine envisaging the development of the multi-formats under the unified brand. The recent purchase of Karavan stores that would gradually switch to the Auchan brand, is direct proof to this," the press service of Auchan Retail Ukraine said on Thursday.

The sum of the deal is not disclosed.

Auchan and Ukrainian Furshet retail group signed a partnership agreement in 2007.

The agreement said that Auchan will buy 20% of shares in Furshet.

At the moment of the deal Furshet was the second largest retail chain in Ukraine with 58 supermarkets.

The Furshet supermarket chain as of October 12, 2017 had 81 stores in all regions of Ukraine.

As reported, in June 2017, Auchan Retail Ukraine said that the company signed an agreement with the Ukrainian distributor Karavan on the purchase of its assets, including nine hypermarkets in Ukraine, which employ 3,300 people.

The total area of Karavan hypermarkets is 58,000 square meters.

Auchan Retail is part of Auchan Holding. The holding is present in 17 countries. It consists of three enterprises: Auchan Retail, Immochan and Oney Banque.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a draft agreement with the Swiss Federal Council on the implementation of paid activity by persons accompanying employees of diplomatic missions, consular offices and permanent missions to international organization, an Interfax-Ukraine reporter has said.

The respective decision was made at a government meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday, October 11. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman read out this decision among those adopted by the government without any discussion.

In particular, the issue concerns the employment of spouses of employees of embassies, persons in union with them similar to marriage, and unmarried children under the age of 25 years.
Social Policy Minister of Ukraine Andriy Reva has said that the funded obligatory pension system should be non-public system and employees should pay contributions, but employers.

"The today's law says that the obligatory public pension system should be public. If the requirement is left, people who are to pay contributions are to be included in this public funded system. Many experts and lawmakers, and I personally believe that these should be non-public funds," Reva said at a roundtable in Kyiv on Thursday.

He said that the funded system should be obligatory, while citizens should select themselves non-public pension fund.

The minister said that the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension system is the issue of social provision, while the funded pension system is a financial issue, as the funds accumulated in it should be invested smartly.

"If these are non-public funds, the question who is to pay arouses. Today employers pay social security tax to the PAYG system. If we speak about funding, I think that there could be various thoughts  employees should pay from their salaries, as these are the funds that he is to accumulate," he said.

Reva said that this is his personal opinion and the final model of the funded pension system will be presented in the relevant bill.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has approved by a majority of votes a resolution aimed at lifting political sanctions from Russia, the European Pravda news website reported.

Almost all the amendments proposed by the Ukrainian delegation were rejected.

The text of the resolution still contains the provision that PACE and the Committee of Ministers (the Council of Europe's executive agency) should "harmonize the rules of participation and representation of member states in both statutory agencies."

According to the website, this decision will ban PACE from extending the restrictions imposed on Russia without the consent of its member states. In fact, it calls into question the approval by PACE of any sanctions against Russia. Given that sanctions should be renewed annually, restrictions may be lifted already in January.

"Translating from the diplomatic language into the human language, this means that all restrictions imposed on the Russians by PACE should be abolished because there are no sanctions against Russia in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe," the European Truth reported.

This provision was supported by the overwhelming majority of PACE members, all the amendments proposed by Ukraine were voted down, and the votes were divided in the proportion of 60 to 30.

A concrete mechanism for implementing the new provisions can be developed by the PACE governing bodies in the coming months.
HICKORY  Will Locke is planning the next steps of his campaign as Lou Wetmore has officially requested a recount in his close race for second-place with Hank Guess.

Locke finished Tuesday night comfortably in first place with 33 percent of the vote, while Guess finished less than 1 percent, or 23 votes, ahead of Wetmore.

Guess garnered 26.4 percent of votes compared to Wetmores 25.7 percent.

In total, 3,922 ballots were cast for the four candidates, according to the unofficial results from the Catawba County Board of Elections (CCBOE).

The Tuesday night results are unofficial. The official results will be certified during canvassing Monday. The top two finishers will compete in the Nov. 7 election.

Wetmore said Tuesday he would seek a recount, and he has submitted his request to the North Carolina Board of Elections and the CCBOE.

A machine recount of all ballots except provisional ballots will take place Thursday at 9 a.m., CCBOE Director Amanda Duncan said.

Duncan said recounts for municipalities are rare.

For a state race, yes, but for a municipality, no, its not common, Duncan said.

In a phone interview, Wetmore discussed the close race and his decision to call for a recount.

In one sense, the defeat would be a lot easier to take if the gap was much larger, simply because youre always asking yourself is there anything else that we could have done? Wetmore said.

Wetmore said he is pursuing the recount because he feels he owes it to the people who worked on his campaign.

Well, in reality, if it were left completely up to me, I probably would not have asked for a recount because it does put a strain on the BOE, and it is not a common thing that the results are changed as the result of any recount, Wetmore said. I really am not expecting it to change anything, quite frankly.

Wetmore added he still plans to advocate for Hickory and be engaged in civic activity even if the result is unchanged.

Guess was cautious in his assessment of the race and whether or not he would face Locke in the November election.

Well, I dont want to be too confident, Guess said in a phone interview. I think that thats a very likely scenario, but like I said, I want to wait until the BOE have officially said that it will be me and Will.

Locke said he has already shifted his focus to the November election.

The campaign is preparing to continue its primary strategy in the November election, regardless of who Lockes eventual opponent is.

At this point, the very clear strategy that Im working with my campaign committee since the beginning of the campaign and intend to continue using that strategy moving forward, which basically lies in identifying supporters and getting them to the polls, Locke said.

Ultimately, it was Lockes message and the relationships he forged in the community that contributed the most to the victory, Locke said.

I think what made the difference is that I as a candidate have been actively engaged in the types of projects and building the types of partnerships, working with the types of partnerships that contribute to Hickorys vision for growth and that that message resonated with our voters and allowed them to identify me as their candidate and got them excited about the process of voting, Locke said.

Locke again expressed gratitude for the voters and volunteers who helped during the campaign.

Hamilton Ward finished a distant fourth, with 14.7 percent of the vote.

I just want good things for Hickory, Ward said via a text message Wednesday.
HICKORY  North Carolina Woodturners Club will meet at Klingspors Woodworking Shop at 856 21st St. Drive, Hickory, at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 14.

Octobers meeting will feature Bob Baucom of Chapel Hill. Baucom has been a member of the North Carolina Woodturners Guild and is a founding member of the Chapel Hill Woodturners Club of AAW. He has demonstrated at the North Carolina Woodturners Symposium, John C. Campbell and many woodturning clubs. He teaches an ornaments class at John C. Campbell. His hot air balloon ornament article is in the AAW Journal September 2013 issue. Baucom enjoys trying new ideas, solving problems and sharing information. He will be sharing lantern ornament turning in the morning and turning small bowl with Ride the Rainbow cut and texturing in the afternoon.

Members will have an opportunity to enter the monthly challenge event  Boxes. Members and guests can also bring and display their current turnings at the gallery table.

This organization meets the second Saturday of each month at Klingspor Woodworking Shop in Hickory from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a lunch break. Visitors are welcome. The organization is 100-plus turners from novice to professional. There are various programs by noted turners and/or club members. More information about the club is available at http://www.ncwoodturners.com/, Facebook, by phone (828-244-9512) or email (ncwoodturners@live.com).
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The invisible hand of economists often --- and repeatedly --- has decided who the poor in India are. The latest being the committee set up in January by the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation (MoHUPA), headed by economist Bibek Debroy, which has recommended a different methodology for ascertaining which households would be automatically included or excluded for certain welfare benefits in urban areas.

The committee was set up to refine the earlier method recommended by another economist SR Hashim in 2011, to calculate poverty figures from the Socio-Economic and Caste Census. The previous method used three criterion to count the poor - some households would be included automatically, some households would be excluded automatically and all households would be ranked based on a scoring index.

If the government accepts the methodology recommended by the Debroy panel, then the urban households eligible for automatic inclusion in government-funded welfare schemes will come down substantially. The Hashim committee formula was similarly resulting in counting substantially lesser number of rural households eligible for automatic inclusion.

Who is eligible for State benefits

The formulae to calculate poverty is incomprehensible to the public because there is an excessive reliance on sophisticated statistical methods to define an imaginary line, which divides the poor and non-poor and often is the basis for including or excluding one from being targeted for welfare benefits.

Poverty in India has officially been calculated on information collected from households on asset ownership, consumption spending, type of housing and access to electricity, water etc. This is then used to derive a poverty figure, which in simple terms means that one has to identify a cut-off criterion  this is the poverty line that differentiates the poor from the non-poor. The problem starts when one ties this calculation to eligibility for welfare benefits. Successive governments often use these figures as a report card of their regimes performance.

So the households availing of these benefits can then become a proxy of how many poor households are there  this is often the economists sleight of hand.

First, households dont self select themselves for these benefits rather it is the economists criteria that are used to ascertain who is eligible. Second, from these criteria comes out a figure or a target number of households for availing a certain benefit. So eligible households are beneficiaries and beneficiaries are an indicator of vulnerability. Hence, eligibility defines vulnerability of the population.

This method of identifying the poor achieves three results for most governments: First, is to say that it has reduced poverty faster.

Second, the government of the day can claim that it has reached its targets faster by demonstrating that it has reached out to a larger percentage of the poor even if the actual number of beneficiaries remains the same (i.e. including the excluded in less time).

And most important, the government can claim that the earlier regime had more poor people.

Lets say, there are 20 households, which are identified to be poor by one formula and so the policy measure is to provide housing to these 20.

If one manages to provide housing to 10 households in one year, then it could be claimed that I have met 50% of my targets or conversely I have reduced poverty by half!

Now, suppose the previous formula shows 40 households as below poverty and I manage to provide the same in one year, i.e. housing to 10 households  the reduction would be only 25%.

All that is needed then, is to refine the methodology.

Kaustav Banerjee is an economist who teaches at the Centre for the Study of Discrimination and Exclusion, JNU

The views expressed are personal
The capacity utilization of enterprises operating in the Ukrainian rocket and space industry in the first half of 2017 amounted to 30.9%, or 3.2% less than in the same period in 2016, the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU) has told Interfax-Ukraine.

SSAU said in an official response to the agency that the biggest difficulties with capacity utilization in the first half of the year were faced by the Makarov Pivdenny Machine Building Plant (Dnipro), which was only 12.4% loaded, and also the state-run Arsenal Plant - 15.2%.

At the same time, the volume of production (in comparative prices) of enterprises operating in the sector in January-June 2017 grew by 35.1% year-over-year, and sales rose by 37.9%. Production and sales in the first half of the year amounted to about UAH 1.87 billion, and gross output reached about UAH 2.23 billion, SSAU said.

In the total volume of sales, the share of exports was 60.5%, or 39.7% than in January-June 2016. Export growth was provided by export-oriented enterprises of the industry. It was 177.6% at the Makarov Pivdenny Machine Building Plant, 83.6% at the Arsenal Special Device Production State Enterprise (Kyiv), 33.4% at Pavlohrad Chemical Plant (Dnipropetrovsk region), 25.1% at Pivdenne Design Bureau (Dnipro), and 18.7% at PJSC Hartron (Kharkiv).

In the structure of exports, 92.2% of products were supplied to the EU countries, the United States, and other countries. The share of exports to Russia shrank by 17.2%, to 7.6%.

SSAU currently manages 26 enterprises and organizations of the space industry. The state budget for 2017 envisages UAH 2.91 billion for financing the space industry, or 14.2% less than in 2016. In the total amount of financing, 61.5% of the funds from the state budget's general fund are envisaged for the fulfillment of debt obligations on previously attracted loans for the implementation of international industry projects.
The film Bhool Bhulaiya, starring actors Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Shiney Ahuja and Paresh Rawal released in 2007, but is one of those rare films which have stood the test of time. It still remains one of the most hilarious films Bollywood has ever produced, mainly due to the top-notch comic acts put up by the cast. An official remake of the 1993 Malayalam film, Manichitrathazhu, starring Mohanlal and Shobana, the story revolves around a house which is believed to be haunted, but it is revealed that the truth is far from what the audience expected.

While the horror elements were very effective, the comedy scenes from the film still find many takers. Here are 5 such scenes from the film that are bound to leave you in splits:

In this scene featuring Akshay with Ameesha Patel (whom he is in love with), the domestic help complains to Ameesha about his flirtatious nature. Ameesha, meanwhile is unimpressed with Akshay.

The bathroom scene, due to the misunderstanding, proves that Akshay Kumars comic timing is impeccable.

Akshays entry scene is clearly one of the best in the film. Shiney Ahuja has called Akshays character, Aditya, from United States to examine Ameesha, who, he believes, is mentally challenged. Paresh Rawal, who believes that the supposed ghost is everywhere in the house, plays the part brilliantly.

This scene reinstates the fact that Rajpal Yadav is genuinely one of the funniest men in the business. His comic timing is so bang on, that he shines even in small roles.

Bonus for all Rajpal Yadav fans out there!

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Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who turned 75 on Wednesday, had written in his blog that he did not want to celebrate his birthday this year. Perhaps, it was for this very reason that he left the country ahead of it -- the family had planned a quiet holiday in Maldives. However, when you are with family, you cannot escape celebrations!

Abhishek Bachchan gave us a sneak peek into the surprise celebration that was held for his dad in Maldives. He shared a picture on Instagram wrote, 75 and still stylin!!! Happy birthday Pa. The photo shows a calm beach at night with HAPPY BIRTHDAY written in lights. Portions of Amitabhs side profile are also visible in the image and we can see he is wearing shades.

75 and still stylin!!! Happy birthday Pa. A post shared by Abhishek Bachchan (@bachchan) on Oct 11, 2017 at 9:24am PDT

Amitabh celebrated his landmark birthday with his family in Maldives, while his colleagues and fans flooded social media platforms with congratulatory messages. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to old friends like Shatrughan Sinha and Rishi Kapoor, everyone greeted him on his birthday.

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Amitabh Bachchan, who turned 75 on Wednesday, had tweeted early Monday that he would not celebrate his birthday this year. After thousands of online wishes and a quiet family holiday in Maldives, the actor explained in a long blog late Wednesday why he decided to skip the celebrations.

Meanwhile, a picture from the family time in Maldives -- where Bachchan is holidaying with wife Jaya, daughter Sweta Nanda, son Abhishek, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai and granddaughter Aaradhya -- came out on social media. In fact the photo was tweeted by Abhishek but still took Big B by surprise. In fact, after he saw the photo on Twitter, he asked his fan club how they got it.

how did you get this .. https://t.co/FuMh0dRnLW  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) October 11, 2017

His blog reflected his state of mind. After 75 years, you run away from it all .. there is apprehension and embarrassment of celebration .. of what expression to be worn and where .. to what must there be celebration of gift .. and the list of guests to be in proper shades of etiquette .. the care and hospitality, the personal touch of host formality, the  Many objects and lists and meetings later .. it merely succumbs to the ultimate argument .. all this for getting a year closer to the final closure, he wrote on his Tumblr blog.

And today as I sit by myself in elated company of the near and the dear .. listen and read and get enveloped by the reams of praise and effects that my presence has supposedly created .. there is fear .. A fear of losing myself, he added.

Mumbai: Actors John Abraham and Amitabh Bachchan at Rashtriya Swachhta Diwas in Mumbai on Oct 2. (IANS)

Amitabh began with the initial excitement for ones birthday: October 11 .. for years and years this date has remained with me at endless moments .. its description its presence its significance, valued and absorbed through 75 years of existence, brought great expectation and prize .. as the young we waited for the moment to arrive to wear those newly stitched clothing, that special attention, the special food and by the end of the day that party where the birthday boy would walk up to his invited guests and ask : what present have you brought for me ..? It was the ultimate innocence of those childhood years.

When I read and listen and see .. the accolades disturb me .. the analysis frightens me .. you mean that is what I meant to all that have spoken .. you mean that is how I behave in company and without .. you mean that is what is going on in the minds of those that work with me or around me ..DAMN .. that is ridiculous .. for in one fell stroke an entire personal property and persona, has been evacuated from its moorings and now there is no vacant slot to bind the ropes again to this rather large vessel created by all of them that have come aboard .. for now when I behave I am justified in thinking, that so and so attitude is coming alive and that the other kind of bearing is under some pressure of kind and matter, he further wrote.

It has all been played out by them that have spoken and spent time with and around me .. and I am distraught .. I will never be able to be me again .. So does it really matter, or do we have an opportunity here to defeat what has been observed by the one around .. no buddy you have it all wrong .. I am far removed from what has been observed by people who work with me .. there description caters to what they feel and describe .. it cannot surely be what the intent of the main is .. can it .. .. it could all have been a facade, played out to perfection .. nothing that was recorded or noticed by the other was even remotely correct.

Yes that could be one way of slipping away from the situation .. but then .. if that is the fear .. there has to be an antidote for its reversal .. and the reversal is to be what one is and let the others be of test to find that whatever they had imagined or paid great attention to and sealed the observation in the mightiest of non combustible products, is in fact the biggest fraud committed .. the reality is something else .. unknown unseen and unheard .. that would surely throw everyone in a tizzy .. I am in some conciliation .. I am still the self I was and am .. what others may have thought seen or believed is really their issue, not mine .. I shall still have the liberty to my own behaviour, without those elastic fasteners, that were designed to pull things together .. to allow it the flexibility of freedom, yet pulled back with some dexterity, when matters went out of control, he added.

Read the entire blog here.

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Film and TV actor Kapil Sharma has tweeted the motion poster of his next Firangi. The poster shows the Union Jack, Britains national flag. The poster zooms out and then we see a British soldier bending and looking into something.

We then meet Kapil Sharma in a soldiers uniform who is angry about something. Suddenly he kicks the English soldiers back and the name of the film appears.

The poster gives clear indication about the central idea of the film. It seems Firangi will be a film with patriotic flavour.

Kapil Sharma, who made his Bollywood debut with Kis Kis Ko Pyaar Karoon (2015), has been shooting for Firangi for more than six months now. In fact, when he took a break from his reality show The Kapil Sharma Show, he said he wants to concentrate more on his film. The last few months have been tough on the comedian with many of his shows cast members leaving him after a mid-air spat and his show going off air after speculation that he forced many of Indias top stars waiting. The show finally went off air last month but is expected to return to television screens. Kapil has said it was due to his ill health.

Firangi, which is directed by Rajiv Dhingra, also has Ishita Dutta and Monica Gill in important roles.

Kapil came into limelight when he won The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 3. After that he went on to do shows like Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6 and Comedy Circus before starting his popular show Comedy Nights with Kapil, under his home production.

Firangi will hit the screens on November 24, 2017.
The nation was shocked when Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar, a doctor couple, were pronounced guilty of murdering their 14-year-old daughter, Aarushi in 2008. The verdict was given by a CBI Court in 2013. However, the Allahabad High Court acquitted the couple today, and their release seems to have brought an air of relief among a large section of people, including Bollywood celebrities.

While filmmaker Shekhar Kapur tweeted, Nothing worse than parents accused of their own daughters murder. And then horrible sordid made up stories lapped up by media #ArushiVerdict (sic). Actor Kabir Bedi wrote, ACQUITTED!!! Rajesh and Nupur Talwar not guilty of #Aarushis murder. Finally, justice prevails, nightmare ends. #AarushiVerdict.

Its not just the 4 years. Its the accusation of killing your child. How does one live that down? The real killer/s must be found  kunal kohli (@kunalkohli) October 12, 2017

Im actually fascinated as to how various investigating agencies botched up the #AarushiMurder case.

Surely all d evidence was in d house?  atul kasbekar (@atulkasbekar) October 12, 2017

Meghna Gulzar, who had made a film on this double murder case titled, Talvar (2015), also voiced her support towards the verdict. I do not know if this is the final verdict in the case or not, but it is definitely the correct verdict. No one can be kept in jail on murder charges without adequate evidence against them, she was quoted as saying, by Zee News.

Justice delayed is NOT justice denied. Overwhelmed and deeply relieved upon hearing the news of the acquittal. #AarushiVerdict #Talwars  Vishal Bhardwaj (@VishalBhardwaj) October 12, 2017

Director Vishal Bhardwaj, who wrote and composed the music of the film, issued an official statement that said: We were questioned by a lot of people when we made Talvar, even though we didnt take any sides in presenting the story and maintained as neutral a viewpoint as was possible. I am overwhelmed and relieved to hear of the Talwars acquittal and this strengthens my faith in the Indian judicial system. However, it still pains me when I think about the precious years lost in prison and the emotional trauma that the parents had to go through, so much so that they couldnt even mourn their own daughters demise.

14-year-old Aarushi Talwar was found murdered inside her bedroom in her Noida house on May 16, 2008. (HT File Photo)

Aarushi (14), a resident of L-32 Jalvayu Vihar in Noida was found dead in her bedroom with her throat slit on May 16, 2008. Two days later, the body of Hemraj, their domestic help, and the initial suspect of the case, was recovered from the terrace of the same flat. And the door of the terrace was locked from inside. CBI took over the case from Noida Police, after it was badly criticised for a botched up investigation.

Some reports suggest that CBI may challenge the verdict of the Talwars acquittal.

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Actor Sanjay Dutt, who made his comeback after three years, with the film Bhoomi, is now shooting is Bikaner, Rajasthan, for his next film Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3, and the actor shares a strong connect with the state. In the past also, Dutt has shot for various films there, the last one being Rajkumar Hiranis Aamir Khan starrer PK (2014) in which he had a cameo, but he never really got the chance to explore the beautiful state.

This time, Dutt made the most of the spare time he got in between his shoot. Hence, as soon as he finished the first schedule of the film, without wasting any time, he took the opportunity and decided to explore the place. Besides exploring the states beautiful architecture, Dutt also visited popular temples including Karni Mata Mandir and Kal Bhairav Mandir to seek blessings.

Confirming the news, the actors spokesperson says, Sanjay loved paying visit to these temples. In fact, he was very excited to explore the city around this time, as he never had this opportunity in the past despite visiting the city a few times over for his films shoot.

Though completely engrossed with work, its evident that Dutt takes out time for himself and also balances his family life brilliantly.

Earlier this month, Dutt had flown his twins down from Mumbai to Bikaner during their long weekend off from school, to spend time with him on the sets of his film. He had even put up an adorable video of him playing badminton with his kids.
Years of struggle for Germanys second-ranked airline Air Berlin appeared close to an end Thursday, as airborne behemoth Lufthansa announced plans to buy more than half the bankrupt carriers planes.

The deal has sparked controversy in the European aviation sector, with the German government facing accusations it helped steer the process under a plan to build the Frankfurt-based carrier into an all-conquering juggernaut.

Germanys largest airline will snap up some 81 of Air Berlins 144 aircraft and take on 3,000 of its 8,500 staff, Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said in Berlin, hailing it as a great day for his company.

Lufthansa is set to sign its deal with Air Berlin at noon local time (1000 GMT).

Air Berlin is continuing to negotiate today with Easyjet, the other bidder chosen for exclusive takeover talks with a Thursday deadline, a spokesman told news agency DPA.

Spohr said that Easyjet was interested in between 20 and 30 of Air Berlins medium-range aircraft.

Lufthansa has yet to say how much it will pay under the deal, but Spohr told newspaper Rheinische Post Thursday that the group would invest 1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) related to the takeover.

He added that 80 aircraft was the largest addition to Lufthansas fleet that competition authorities would accept.

European authorities must now decide whether to give Thursdays deal a green light, in a process that could take several weeks or months, Air Berlin chief executive Thomas Winkelmann said last week.

In the meantime, the carrier will operate flights as a subcontractor for the buyers, as insolvency rules forbid it from operating flights on its own account after October 28.

Stitch-up

Air Berlin triggered bankruptcy proceedings in August after losing a cash lifeline from its biggest shareholder Etihad Airways.

Its aircraft have been kept aloft by a 150 million ($178 million) emergency loan from the German government while details of the breakup were worked out.

A crowd of German and international investors and competitors lined up after the bankruptcy was announced, with an eye not only on Air Berlins aircraft but also its coveted takeoff and landing slots at the countrys crowded airports.

In the race for exclusive talks, Lufthansa and Easyjet reportedly beat out IAG -- owner of Iberia and British Airways -- and three bids of between 500 million and 600 million apiece from private investors.

Irish low-cost airline Ryanair stayed out of the bidding as its outspoken chief Michael OLeary denounced a German stitch-up designed to favour Lufthansa.

And Bavarian businessman Hans Rudolf Woehrl claimed the government was favouring the creation of a Lufthansa monopoly by rejecting out of hand offers to take over Air Berlin whole.

Its right that carriers who havent been able to make ends meet are disappearing from the market, Spohr told Rheinische Post, pointing to Britains Monarch, Italys Alitalia and now Air Berlin.

Nevertheless, competition will intensify in Europe and worldwide, he said, adding that he expects falling prices for passengers in future.

Spohr also stressed that its in the German interest to have a strong national airline with worldwide connections.

Lufthansa also used a briefing paper earlier this month to take a swipe at Ryanair, arguing its complaints were an attempt to distract from their own problems.

The Irish companys chief operations officer stepped down this month after Ryanair was forced to slash thousands of flights up to March, mainly owing to a shortage of pilots.

As bosses wrangle over their grand strategies for the sector, unions complain that many of Air Berlins staff face an uncertain future.

Winkelmann dangled good job prospects for around 80 percent of our colleagues with Lufthansa and Easyjet when the exclusive talks began.

Air Berlin pilots called in sick en masse in September in a protest against the lack of information, but they will benefit from a stripped-down recruitment process at Lufthansa -- hungry for aircrew for low-cost subsidiary Eurowings.

The company has organised job fairs for other staff in cooperation with local governments, other big German firms and the federal employment agency.
The recent hike in Delhi Metro fares, the second such increase this year, is not a one-off case.

Such revisions would now be done at regular intervals and for all networks across the country, a government official told Hindustan Times on Tuesday, citing the new Metro policy.

Cleared by the Union cabinet in August, it allows states to draw up rules and set up a fare fixation committee (FFC) for periodic revision of fares.

The policy says that fares have to be revised at regular intervals to make the Metro rail viable, the government official said.

In 1984, Kolkata, then Calcutta, became the first Indian city to get the Metro, which has changed the face of public transport and the way people commute.

The Delhi Metro is the longest network that carries around 2.8 million people every day.

The Metro is also operational in cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. In most places, it is a joint venture between the union and the state governments with loans also coming from foreign governments such as Japan for the Delhi Metro.

At present, temporary FFCs are set up by the Centre for states whenever the metro rail corporations request a fare hike. The fares are revised on the recommendations of an FFC, which is set up for three months.

For instance, the FFC for the Delhi Metro was set up in June 2016. In its report submitted in September, the committee recommended a staggered hike.

On May 8, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation approved the recommendation that said fares be increased in two rounds. The first round was on May 10 when minimum ticket costs were raised from Rs 8 to Rs 10 and the maximum from Rs 30 to Rs 50.

The second hike kicked in from October 10, triggering a political slugfest and a round of protests.

Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal termed higher fares as anti-people, pointing fingers at the Centre. The Delhi assembly has set up to examine the logic behind the hike.

Metro fares are revised to help the public transporter meet operational costs and provide world-class service, transport sector experts say.

The London tubes fares are revised every year. In countries like Singapore the Metro fares are revised periodically. In Delhi, the last time the fares were increased was way back in 2009, a housing ministry official said.

The FFC set up for the Mumbai Metro last year recommended the maximum fare be raised to Rs 110 from Rs 40. The Bombay high court is hearing a petition by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority against the hike.

Fare revision is also due for Namma Metro, or the Bengaluru Metro, that was inaugurated in 2011.

Use our Delhi Metro Fare calculator to check how much more you will have to pay for your daily ride:

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An iconic blue Maruti WagonR car that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal drove around in his early political career and even camped in during an agitation in 2014 was stolen from outside the Delhi Secretariat on Thursday, police said.

The car was being used by Vandana Singh, the Aam Aadmi Partys in-charge of youth wing and the partys media coordinator, and was often seen parked at the party office at Central Delhis Deen Dayal Upadhya Marg.

Anto Alphonse, additional DCP (central), said the theft occurred around 1 pm and was captured by a CCTV camera installed outside the secretariat.

But the footage is blurred, said Alphonse, adding the vehicle remains untraced.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal takes shelter in his blue Wagon R as it rains on the second day of his dharna near Rail Bhavan in New Delhi on September 9, 2014. (PT File Photo)

Once nicknamed AAP Mobile  a take on the Popemobile used by the head of the Catholic Church  the hatchback shot to limelight in January 2014 when Kejriwal used it to camp and sleep in during a protest against the Delhi Police at the Rail Bhawan.

The vehicle was synonymous to Kejriwals posturing as a peoples chief minister. From the days of campaigning during his first election in 2013 to becoming the CM, the car remained his choice of commute.

Partys UK-based volunteer Kundan Sharma, a software engineer, had donated the car to Kejriwal in January 2013. Upset over the removal of party founders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, Sharma had sought the car back in April 2015. Later he said it was an attention seeking gesture.

After using it during his famous 49-day-stint, Kejriwal gave it to Naveen Jaihind, the partys Haryana incharge. Jaihind used the car for campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in Rohtak before Vandana took possession of the car.

The incident also highlighted the growing menace of car thefts in the national capital where 112 vehicles are stolen everyday on an average

This year till September 30, more than 30,000 vehicles have been stolen in Delhi.

Less than 10% of the stolen vehicles are recovered.
Three weeks after the Ukraine ambassadors mobile phone was snatched near Red Fort, an MLA from Bihar too became a victim of street crime in Delhi.

Jibesh Kumar, a 44-year-old BJP legislator from Jalley constituency in Darbhanga, lost his iPhone to two bike-borne snatchers in Rohinis sector-23 on Tuesday evening.

The police quickly swung into action but have been unable to find the phone 60 hours after the crime. Residents of this locality go for evening walks on the street where the snatching happened. I did not know it was notorious for street crimes, Kumar said on Thursday.

Kumar was in Delhi to meet his children who study here and live at Shanti Apartment in sector 23. I received a call and walked out of the apartment to talk. I had barely spoken for a few minutes when I felt a slight tap on my hand and phone, he said.

He said he could not read the number plate of the bike as it all happened swiftly. In less than a second, they had snatched my phone and were speeding away. They were gone in no time, Kumar said, denying TV news reports that he was threatened.

He shouted for help a couple of times, but it was too late. Locals told me later that there have been many cases of snatching around this apartment. A month ago, a young working womans new phone was snatched barely 100 metres away. Another womans handbag was snatched while she was getting off an auto, he alleged.

Senior police officers of the district were unavailable for comment on this incident and the previous ones. When HT tried to contact DCP (Rohini) Rishi Pal on phone, he disconnected the call and sent a text message saying he was not in a position to immediately answer.

The MLA, meanwhile, said he was shocked by the audacity of the crime. Snatching incidents are not the same as big crimes. They occur due to negligence of the authorities, he said. Kumar has now shot off a letter to the lieutenant governors secretary in this regard.
First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleh Hladkovsky and Ambassador of Kuwait to Ukraine Rashid Hammad al-Advani have discussed cooperation between the two countries in defense industry, the NSDC's press office reported.

"I believe that the current level of cooperation between our countries in the field of defense industry needs a boost. I specially want to emphasize the importance of stepping up joint efforts to launch projects with a practical component. I believe Ukraine's defense potential may become the foundation for a mutually beneficial and long-term partnership," Hladkovsky said.

The two also discussed cooperation in the aircraft industry, armored vehicles engineering, as well as the development of anti-tank missile systems.

Also, during the meeting, one of the managers of Ukraine's special exporter companies has offered the ambassador to assist in organizing and holding tests of Ukrainian military equipment in Kuwait.
The Supreme Court may have banned the sale of firecrackers in the national capital region (NCR) in the run-up to Diwali, but that neednt necessarily mean that this festive season will be any less colourful  or polluted  than the last.

Street vendors in Old Delhi continue to sell phooljhadis, anars and chakris with gay abandon, caring little for the environment or the khaki-clad policemen patrolling the area. The moment these small-time traders are alerted to an impending raid, their wares are hastily whisked away to a hiding place far away from probing eyes.

When an HT team visited Esplanade Road near Jama Masjid on Thursday, it beheld firecracker shops with shutters closed tight and dozens of businessmen complaining about how the ban had cost them their livelihood. Until last year, this area used to host wholesalers feeding the high demand for fireworks that usually precedes the days leading up to the festival of light.

However, a different reality presented itself at another area in Chandni Chowk about a few hundred feet away. The bustling street was lined with vendors openly peddling everything from sparklers and rockets to high-decibel sutli bombs despite clear orders from the apex court that the sale of all such products be banned in NCR until November 1.

Incidentally, this was also the same place where HT had found banned China-made fireworks last year.

One of the vendors described how they take evasive action in the event of a police raid. We are warned about an impending raid much before the police make an appearance. So we just pack our stuff and run. What are we to do? We had stocked up on firecrackers much before the ban was announced, the man said, adding that he has stocks worth Rs 2.5 lakh to sell off.

HT came across at least nine other hawkers of the kind during its visit to the area.

Sometimes, however, even their best-laid plans go awry.

The Delhi Police conducted a raid in Bhagirath Palace area on Thursday night, and nabbed two firecracker vendors. Two cases have been registered under Section 286 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 9b(b) of the Explosives Act. The duo, Israeel and Kaleemuddin, were not even issued temporary licences, said deputy commissioner of police (North) Jatin Narwal.

Police said they are leaving no stone unturned to curb the illegal sale of firecrackers in their jurisdiction. We will identify anybody illegally selling or purchasing firecrackers, and take appropriate action. We have teams on the ground to monitor the situation and enforce the Supreme Courts order, said spokesperson Madhur Verma.

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It is yet another twist in one of the most sensational murder cases of recent times - the Aarushi Talwar-Hemraj double murder case. Dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were on Thursday cleared by the Allahabad High Court of the charges of murdering their 14-year-old daughter and domestic help Hemraj in 2008.

In the absence of any clinching evidence against the couple, the high court gave them the benefit of doubt saying the Talwars cannot be convicted solely on the basis of suspicion.

The Talwar couple who were convicted by a trial court in 2013 have always maintained that they have no role in the double murder of their daughter and domestic help.

This case has from day one not only captured the imagination of the people but also shaken the conscious of the nation, because here was a case where parents were accused of murdering their only child days ahead of her 15th birthday.

Besides, this case has also been a sorry tale of botched up investigation from day one from the Noida police to the CBI. First, the Noida police floated a theory that Aarushi was found in an objectionable position with Hemraj and the father in a fit of rage killed both. The Noida police drew criticism for making such claims and the case was transferred to the CBI.

Just a month into the investigation the CBI made another revelation that turned the case around. It said there is no evidence against the Talwars. Instead, it turned the heat on the three domestic helps who knew the Talwar family. The theory the CBI worked on was that the three men tried to assault Aarushi and when Hemraj intervened they killed them both.

Again the CBI was not convinced, the case was reinvestigated, and it came to the same conclusion.

But the trial court believed otherwise, put the Talwars on trial and convicted them on circumstantial evidence.

After four years in jail, the Allahabad High Court applied another legal principle to the case  in the absence of definite evidence, benefit of doubt needs to be given to the accused. Thus the Talwars are set free.

This case has also seen the public take sides  a book and a movie were made on this incident, where attempts were made to highlight the shoddy investigation in the case.

But Thursdays court verdict is not the end of the road for Talwars  as the case will now travel up to the Supreme Court where once again the Talwars will have to prove their innocence.
It is a scathing indictment of negligent school owners. The Supreme Court on Monday emphasised the need to implement safety guidelines for children in schools across India that will make school authorities liable to face punitive action in the event of violations. The court was hearing a petition filed by the father of the seven-year-old boy who was found murdered on the premises of Gurugrams Ryan International School on the morning of September 8.

On September 14, in the wake of the outrage that followed the boys murder, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the countrys largest education board, had asked schools to conduct a security audit within two months. The advisory included directives such as installing CCTVs, psychometric evaluation for staff, constitution of a parent-teacher body, and controlled access to school premises. It also asked schools to constitute committees to redress the grievances of the parents, staff and students and set up panels to prevent sexual harassment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence) Act, 2012. Details of these panels along, with contact details, should be displayed on the notice board and the school website.

Appearing before a bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar said the Centre had also made modifications to the National Disaster Management guidelines, specifically focusing on the safety of schoolchildren, to prevent such tragic incidents happening in the future. The guidelines should be followed with absolute strictness. The action plan should highlight accountability and the visitation of adverse consequences, Chief Justice Misra said.

The apex courts intervention could not have come at a more appropriate time. The CBSE had recently filed an affidavit stating that the Gurugram incident took place owing to severe irregularities and security lapses on the school premises and that the event could have been averted had the school authorities not been negligent and allowed its administration, drivers, conductors to use washrooms meant only for students and teachers. The affidavit noted that the authorities had also failed in their duty of reporting the murder to the police. It also pointed to the absence of sufficient CCTV cameras and flouting of fire safety laws and non-renewal of fire safety certificates.

Can simply increasing the number of CCTVs make the school premises safer for our children? Do we also need other steps such as police verification of all staff, including teachers? The accused in the Gurugram case, for instance, happened to be a contractual employee with little institutional loyalty. It is time the judiciary put the fear of the law into callous school authorities who are cutting corners and putting commerce before student safety.
New Delhi The Centre on Wednesday apprised the Supreme Court that it has issued guidelines and advisories to all states on safety and security of school children after the brutal killing of a seven-year-old boy at Ryan International School at Gurugram.

The human resource development ministry, in an affidavit, assured the top court that it was willing to take further measures in view of emergent requirements to ensure safety of children in schools across the nation.

Responding to the PILs including one filed by Barun Chandra Thakur, father of the deceased child, the Centre, however, said it had a limited role as its guidelines had to be enforced by the states.

It is pertinent to mention that this department has taken cognisance to ensure safety and well-being of children in schools. Guidelines and advisories on safety and security of children have been issued as and when needed, the Centre said.

The government has also circulated the policy guidelines of National Disaster Management Authority to all the Principal secretaries/Secretaries (Education) of all state governments and UTs, the governments affidavit said.

It also apprised the court that guidelines were issued to ensure quality, safety and hygiene under the mid-day meal scheme.

The role of the answering respondents department (HRD) is limited to issuance of policy and various guidelines which are required to be enforced by various states and other authorities under which these educational institutions/schools runs their administration and daily operations, the affidavit said.

The Centre also said that school management committees would be empowered with the participation of all stakeholders including parents to secure the school campus in all respects.

The apex court had on October 9 asked all the state governments to ensure that the Centres guidelines on safety and security of children were implemented in reality in every school of the country.

The Centre had earlier told the apex court that it has been issuing guidelines on safety of children to state governments.

The bench had posted the matter for further hearing on October 30.

Earlier, the CBSE said the gruesome killing of a minor boy of Gurugrams Ryan International School took place due to the negligence of institutions administration as drivers and conductors were allowed to use washrooms meant only for kids and staff.

Thakur, through his lawyer Sushil Tekriwal, had sought framing and strict adherence of guidelines to ensure that no other child meets the fate of his son.

Pradyuman, a class II student of the high-profile school, was found dead with his throat slit on September 8. It was alleged that he was killed by 42-year-old bus conductor Ashok Kumar inside the toilet.

The boys father, in his plea, has sought laying down of guidelines by which liability, responsibility and accountability of the management of the schools across the country can be fixed in matters relating to safety and security of children at educational institutions.
It was a fashion show which defied age, fitness and expectations. Supermodel-actor Milind Soman (51) attended the Spring-Summer 2018 edition of the Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW) on Wednesday evening in Delhi, where he walked the ramp for designer Nida Mahmoods brand Deivee.

But, for once, Soman wasnt the hunk the audience was rooting for on the ramp. Instead, the two women walking besides him - 101-year-old Mann Kaur from Chandigarh, who won a 100m race at the World Masters Games held in Auckland, New Zealand, in May this year, and Coimbatores V. Nanammal, a 98-year-old yoga teacher, who stole the show.

The enthusiasm of the two senior citizens on the ramp was so infectious that the audience kept rooting for them long after theyd finished their routine. Mann Kaur even sprinted across the ramp with Soman, who had to stop her just in time before she ran over the edge. After running back, she refused to go backstage and continued dancing on the side.

Nanammal is known for performing age-defying yoga poses, some of which she put on display during the show. She was given the Nari Shakti Puraskar Award by the President on International Womens Day on March 8 this year.

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Having clear skin is considered the epitome of beauty, but acne is one irritant almost everyone has to deal with. Whether its in the form of that annoying, stray zit, or more extreme breakouts. Either ways, it is so hush-hush and shamed in society that sometimes it can be tough to get comfortable talking about it. But one woman decided to Instagram her acne journey, sharing her good skin days as well as the bad ones, winning her Instagram fame.

According to Cosmopolitan, 22-year-old Instagrammer Kali Kushner, a student from the US state of Ohio, began to get noticed on social media when she documented her acne treatments over time. Shes been sharing her acne- or, rather, her truly shocking before-and-after photos throughout her Accutane treatment on her Instagram account, @myfacestory, for almost two years now, amassing more than 28,000 followers in the process.

Accutane is a form of vitamin A, which helps skin renew itself more quickly, and often works for acne when nothing else will. According to Dr Sanjay Chatterjee of Pearl Skin Clinic, Delhi, It works by reducing oil secretion in the skin and is seen as the only choice for severe, scarring, nodular acne.

Kushner is an Instagram sensation, but not for undergoing some weird, botched surgery, or starting an insanely crazy eyebrow trend. It is because of her acne. (Instagram)

In 2014, Kushners acne went full-force crazy, covering her entire face. She told Cosmopolitan that she tried everything: the oil cleansing method (where you wash your face with oil), the caveman method (where you dont put anything on your face at all) and the creams, potions, and antibiotic her dermatologist prescribed her. But nothing worked.

So, after a year of feeling constantly embarrassed and upset, Kushner worked with her dermatologist to get on Accutane, which began clearing her skin within the first few weeks. It was honestly like magic, she says.

Although Accutane is touted as a miracle drug by derms and hailed as the permanent cure for acne, its not without side effects.

The only downside was the side effects, which, for me, made me dry literally everywhere, and made me feel achey all over, all day long, every single day. Itd take me ten minutes just to get out of bed in the morning, because my back was so sore, Kushner told the publication about her Accutane use.

Though Kushner has been off Accutane for more than a year, she still posts regular selfies to track the progress in her skin, which was left with mottled scars from the severity of her acne. (Instagram)

Dr Pallavi Mishra, head of the dermotology department at Delhis Shanti Mukand Hospital, warns that this permanent cure for acne can come at a huge price. If you have a history of depression or are of sensitive disposition, where you get rattled easily, it may do more harm to your mind than any good it will do to your body and face, she said.

Though most side-effects disappear after you finish the medication, Dr Mishra adds that theres still a risk for chronic, long-term effects, which is why its imperative that you chat with your dermatologist thoroughly before starting. Below are some side effects of using Accutane:



1. The most dangerous side effect is birth defects in an unborn child if pregnant women take Accutane. If you are planning to start a family soon or are pregnant already, Accutane is not worth the risk. Though it should be cleansed from your system after a month of last use, there is no guarantee. If there are resides in the system, it could harmful for the foetus. Also, the harmful side-effects are not limited to women of child-bearing age. It could be harmful for men too.

2. Accutane could also cause anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, hallucinations. These side effects can range from a bad mood to full-blown psychosis.

3. It could lead to gastrointestinal bleeding, Inflammatory Bowel disease.

4. Liver toxicity due to Hypervitaminosis A.

5. Body ache, muscle pain.

6. Excessive hair loss.

7. If you are taking Accutane, you cannot donate blood for one month after your last dose.

8. It may affect your hearing and eyesight.

9. Regular blood tests are needed to check for problems (not commonly done in India)

10. Not really a permanent cure. Acne can come back after a year or so.

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For the new season, designer Vera Wang (who has dressed many celebrities including Michelle Obama) has created a series that conjures up a dreamy elegance, veering away from the elaborate styles of her previous, bohemian collection. I am seeing that girls today are ready for a return to classicism; there is a wanting for something simpler...its not necessarily traditional, but with more restraint, the US designer told Harpers Bazaar.

This seasons lookbook is set in Paris, on an autumnal day in the Jardin des Tuileries, with the models holding umbrellas and crunching fallen leaves underfoot. Fashion photographer Patrick Demarchelier captures the designs, which are a modern play on the classical ball gown, featuring details such as silk corsets, hand applique macrame lace panels, and French tulle overlays. The traditional bridal veil has been replaced by free-spirited feather hair accessories, beaded headbands or three-dimensional floral headpieces, while feather boas add a luxurious element to the aesthetic.

It is not the first time Wang has honoured the French capital in her work - last year saw the designer Autumn/Winter 2017 ready-to-wear collection via a video titled It was Paris from the start.

The designs are a modern play on the classical ball gown. (Courtesy Vera Wang)

The traditional bridal veil has been replaced by free-spirited feather hair accessories. (Courtesy Vera Wang)
A study published on October 9 in The Lancet Psychiatry warns of the risks of over diagnosing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in school-age children who are the youngest in the year. Such children can be several months younger than peers in the same class.

Primary school children who are several months to a whole year younger than their same-year classmates are more likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to research from the UKs University of Nottingham and the University of Turku in Finland.

The scientists studied data from children born in Finland between 1991 and 2004 who were diagnosed with ADHD from age seven onwards -- the age they start school. In Finland, school starts in mid-August. Therefore, the oldest children in a school year are born in January, and are seven years and seven months old, and the youngest are born in December, and are six years and seven months old.

The studys authors suggest that parents, teachers and clinicians involved assessing children for ADHD should bear in mind the childs relative age within their school year.

Around 5% of school-age children are affected by ADHD worldwide. On average, they are diagnosed around the age of six or seven  the age they generally start primary school  where the school environment requires them to concentrate, focus their attention and stay calm.

The study found that younger children were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than their older peers in the same school year -- boys by 26% and girls by 31%.

The study also found that for children under 10 years old, this association got stronger over time. Between 2004 and 2011, children born between May and August were 37% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than those born between September and December, and 64% more likely than oldest children, born between January and April.

The studys authors suggest that parents, teachers and clinicians involved assessing children for ADHD should bear in mind the childs relative age within their school year.

With an age variation of up to 12 months in the same class, teachers and parents may misattribute a childs immaturity. This might lead to younger children in the class being more likely to be referred for an assessment for ADHD, explains Kapil Sayal, lead author of the study and Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Nottingham School of Medicine and the Institute of Mental Health in Nottingham, UK.
Life in the lap of Aravallis used to be simple, says 80-year-old Chandi Pehalwan, a resident of Pali village in Faridabad. People from villages in Yamuna catchment area would send their cattle here before monsoon and get wheat and jaggery in return, he recalls.

In the last two decades,however, Pehalwans village, like many others in the region, has undergone a sea change. Large tracts of Aravallis, that once provided villagers necessary means of sustenance, now stand barren. Village economies that thrived on exchange of cattle, grains and forest produce have collapsed and the age-old ecological balance of the region stands shaken.

Around 240 villages in the Aravalli range, mainly inhabited by clans of Gujjars, abandoned cattle grazing and agriculture in favour of mining in the 90s. Though the business brought money and prosperity, it was banned by the Supreme Court in 2002 due to its disastrous ecological imprint. Dr Gopal Krishan from National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, said mining caused considerable damage to the ecology of Aravallis as it resulted in heavy deforestation and decline in water quality.

The built up area increased in the Aravallis. The lakes that were filled with water in about 45 hectares vanished. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The built up area increased in the Aravallis. The lakes that were filled with water in about 45 hectares vanished. Agricultural land was diverted to mining and reduced along with vegetation, said Dr Krishan, who along with Naval Kishore and Deepa Nathalia, conducted a survey in 2015 about the ecological impact of mining. The survey found that the symbiotic relationship of the villagers with the Aravallis was shattered with the advent of mining and the consequent ban on it crushed the villagers.

The transformation

There are around 90 villages in Gurgaon and Faridabad that are located in core Aravalli hills and another 150 in the foothills and catchment areas. During nearly one-and-a-half decades of mining, villagers turned into transporters, contractors, and labour suppliers. Village economies changed overnight and every family in the core mining area developed a stake in the industry.

Before the onset of mining, around 30% of the population was engaged in animal husbandry, according to the survey in 2015. During our growing up days I recall people taking cattle daily to the hills. There was plenty of grass, tree leaves, and other forest produce, said Jitender Bhadana, founder Save Aravallis, an NGO.

After the government banned mining and the Haryana forest department took control of the forest land, imposing strict controls on economic activities in the hills. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The region supplied milk to Faridabad, and even as far as Delhi. The sale of forest produce, comprising Dhak, Ber and Krail, was widely undertaken. Chandi Pehlawan said that everything coming from Pahar was once utilized. All these things have now vanished, he said.

As their wealth increased with the mining business, villagers scaled-up their lifestyle. Most of the youth left education for a job or contract in the mining sector. People built swanky houses, bought trucks, took huge loans, every house had a luxury car, said Gajraj Bhadana, a resident of Pali. Bhadana lost his job after government banned mining and the Haryana forest department took control of the forest land, imposing strict controls on economic activities in the hills.

A survey in 2015  titled Socio-Economic change impact after the closure of mining activities; A case study of Aravalli Hills of Faridabad District, Haryana  revealed that in 2002 almost 35 to 40% people were engaged in mining in core areas. The study was conducted by Dr Gopal Krishan, Deepa Nathalia and Naval Kishore from National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, and Department of Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Almost 90% village youth did not study beyond Class 10th during this period. Less than 1% youth were found to be graduates in core mining villages, whereas only 5% had cleared Class 12, the survey revealed.

Many villagers had even taken loans to buy dumpers and mining equipment. The loans have now turned a liability as the work has stopped and incomes have dwindled, the survey found.

Post mining era

Ban on mining had a major fall out as incomes dropped and sources of employment dried up.

Families that had gained power and pelf during the mining boom saw a sharp decline in fortunes. The Mercedes cars are gathering dust and the SUVs are difficult to service, but who will bell the cat and change the mindset, said Bhadana.

Over 300 youth in Pali and Pakhal villages alone are now struggling to get married as there is no sustainable source of income. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

Over 300 youth in Pali and Pakhal villages alone are now struggling to get married as there is no sustainable source of income, says Bhadana. The boys did not focus on education, their parents never thought that mining could stop one day. The situation is same across the hills, said Horam Singh Bhadana, a retired school principal, who lives in Pawta.

Landholding, considered a big source of income in Delhi-NCR, also suffered due to mining ban as people had to sell off their land to finance their lifestyle. The 2015 survey revealed that almost 48 per cent villagers had a holding of 2 acres to 5 acres in 2002, which dropped by 30 per cent in 2015.

Less than 18% now earn more than 15,000 per month, a number that was much higher during the mining years, according to the survey. The number of people who owned four wheelers in 2002 also went down in 2015 indicating that the sources of income have largely dried up.

The ban on mining has, however, somewhat stemmed the degradation of Aravallis. Some also claim that a number of health ailments  such hearing loss, lung diseases, respiratory issues, asthma, tuberculosis, and skin allergies  have gone down. But water pollution caused by mining has ensured that water borne diseases like malaria, cholera, bone problems and gastric problems continue. There has been considerable increase in diseases caused by water pollution. Air pollution also continues due to operation of crushing zone, said Horam Singh Bhadana.

The solution to these problems, locals say, is in not treating the Pahar as source of endless income. This hill is our mother and it should be treated with respect. It needs to be saved if Delhi, Gurgaon and Faridabad have to survive as it is a storehouse of oxygen and water. It also protects us from desertification, said Jitender Bhadana.

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Hollywood star Ben Affleck has apologised for an incident in 2003 in which he acted inappropriately towards actor Hilarie Burton. She has claimed that Affleck, 45, groped her when she was a host of MTVs TRL in 2003.

I acted inappropriately toward Ms Burton and I sincerely apologise, Affleck tweeted.

I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize  Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) October 11, 2017

The incident on TRL resurfaced when Affleck condemned Harvey Weinstein in the face of mounting sexual assault claims against the sacked movie mogul. Affleck said he was saddened and angered by the incident.

After a fan suggested that Affleck should have kept quiet, another Twitter user wrote, He also grabbed Hilarie Burtons breasts on TRL once. Everyone forgot though.

The 35-year-old actor soon responded about the alleged 2003 incident, I didnt forget.

The One Tree Hill alum then shared a clip of TRL outtakes in which she says, He comes over and tweaks my left b**b, apparently speaking about Affleck. Later in the video, the actor is shown asking her, How old are you - 19?

https://t.co/wh2MpJVQzl



Girls. I'm so impressed with you brave ones. I had to laugh back then so I wouldn't cry. Sending love.  Hilarie Burton (@HilarieBurton) October 11, 2017

Girls. Im so impressed with you brave ones, Burton, who is expecting her second child with The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan, wrote in the tweet. I had to laugh back then so I wouldnt cry. Sending love.

Social media users also compared the incident with another interview of Affleck conducted in 2004 by Montreal TV host Anne-Marie Losique.

In the clip, the actor pulls Losique into sitting on his lap, proposes she take her top off, and compliments her on her firm breasts. The interaction was filmed while Affleck was dating Jennifer Lopez.

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A man who drew anti-Ukrainian inscriptions on a wall of the building of Ukraine's honorary consulate in Rzeszow (Poland) was detained on Friday, October 6, charges were brought against him, and he was released home, the local newspaper Rzeszow News has reported.

"The 35-year-old resident of Rzeszow was charged with a public appeal for hatred on ethnic grounds. This is a crime punishable by up to two years in prison. The man was released home after the interview. The prosecutor's office did not apply any preventive measures against him. The police detained Mateusz C with the help of a surveillance camera, which recorded how a man painted insulting inscriptions on the building of Ukraine's Honorary Consulate on Mochnackiego Street in Rzeszow on Saturday, September 30," the newspaper reported.

The detainee has already confessed that he drew the inscriptions.

"The man gave an explanation and declared his readiness to suffer a punishment. It will be determined during the trial. Why did the man make such inscriptions? He stated about emotional motives, driven by reflections on Polish-Ukrainian relations, especially since the Second World War," said Piotr Pawlik, deputy head of the Rzeszow district prosecutor's office prosecuting crimes motivated by racism and xenophobia.

The prosecutor's office is studying whether the detainee should be charged with material damage. Everything depends on the assessment of losses, the newspaper writes.

Earlier, the media reported that inscriptions written with red paint on a wall of the consulate appeared in the afternoon of Saturday, September 30. In particular, vandals wrote "Ukraina = OUN - UPA, Waffen SS Galitzien," the German word "Raus" (Out), and drew gallows with a swastika.

The incident was immediately reported to a representative of the consulate, who called the police. Polish law enforcers are conducting an investigation under the article "incitement to hatred."

Ukraine's consulate in Rzeszow was closed September 19.
Model and actress Cara Delevingne and actor Lea Seydoux have joined the long list of women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment. Weinstein was fired from his firm, Weinstein Company, after New York Times published the accounts of over eight women, including actor Ashley Judd, who claimed they were harassed by the producer. Since then, many other women including actors Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow, have added to the claims.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Delevingne has said that Weinstein brought up sexual subjects during more than one business meeting and also tried to get Delevingne to kiss a woman in front of him. She said she did not participate and left the room. She later appeared in a Weinstein Co. film.

When I first started to work as an actress, i was working on a film and I received a call from Harvey Weinstein asking if I had slept with any of the women I was seen out with in the media. It was a very odd and uncomfortable call....i answered none of his questions and hurried off the phone but before I hung up, he said to me that If I was gay or decided to be with a woman especially in public that Id never get the role of a straight woman or make it as an actress in Hollywood. A year or two later, I went to a meeting with him in the lobby of a hotel with a director about an upcoming film. The director left the meeting and Harvey asked me to stay and chat with him. As soon as we were alone he began to brag about all the actresses he had slept with and how he had made their careers and spoke about other inappropriate things of a sexual nature, she wrote.

He then invited me to his room. I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside. She said it wasnt and wouldnt be for a bit and I should go to his room. At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didnt want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation. When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately I was safe. He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction. I swiftly got up and asked him if he knew that I could sing. And I began to sing....i thought it would make the situation better....more professional....like an audition....i was so nervous. After singing I said again that I had to leave. He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room. I still got the part for the film and always thought that he gave it to me because of what happened. Since then I felt awful that I did the movie. I felt like I didnt deserve the part. I was so hesitant about speaking out....I didnt want to hurt his family. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong. I was also terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear, she added.

Delevingne said in another post that abuse of women by powerful men happens in every industry. She urged victims to speak out.

Actor Lea Seydoux wrote an essay in Guardian writing how she was the recipient of unwanted advances from Weinstein. He invited me to come to his hotel room for a drink. We went up together. It was hard to say no because hes so powerful. All the girls are scared of him. Soon, his assistant left and it was just the two of us. Thats the moment where he started losing control... We were talking on the sofa when he suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted. I wasnt afraid of him, though. Because I knew what kind of man he was all along, she wrote.

The Blue is The warmest Colour star added that everyone was aware of what Weinstein was up to. Everyone knew what Harvey was up to and no one did anything. One night, I saw him in London for the Baftas. He was hitting on a young woman. Another time, at the Met Life ball, I saw him trying to convince a young woman to sleep with him. Everyone could see what he was doing, she wrote.

A message sent to a Weinstein spokeswoman was not immediately returned.

The University at Buffalo is moving to have alumnus Harvey Weinsteins honorary degree revoked in response to multiple accusations of harassment and sexual assault against the Hollywood mogul. The university said it is well aware of the allegations against Weinstein, who was an English major there from 1969-1973. The university said it has begun the process for revoking the honorary degree it bestowed on him in 2000. The decision lies with the State University of New York board of trustees.

In awarding the honorary SUNY doctorate of humane letters, the university noted that Weinstein and another student started a concert promotion company in 1972 called Harvey and Corky Productions, which became a fixture on Buffalos music scene.

Multiple women have accused Weinstein of wrongdoing. He denies non-consensual activity.

Britains film academy has also said it has suspended producer Harvey Weinstein over the multiple accusations of harassment and sexual assault against him that recently became public. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts said that Weinstein was informed that his membership has been suspended, effective immediately.

The organisation added Weinstein had supported its charitable work, but called his alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTAs values. The British academy has about 7,500 members who work in film, television and games. It offers training and support for people in the industry and organizes annual movie, TV and games awards.

One of Hollywoods most powerful producers, Weinstein has been fired by the company he co-founded after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment and assault. He denies non-consensual activity.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie earlier said they endured harassment from Weinstein. The accounts published in The New York Times came hours after The New Yorker reported that three women have accused Weinstein of raping them.

Weinstein has been silent on the accusations, but many in Hollywood were not. Condemnation rained down Tuesday from one-time Weinstein collaborators Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and numerous other Hollywood actors and executives.

Actress Lindsay Lohan has said she feels very bad for Harvey Weinstein, who was fired by the company he co-founded amid decades of allegations of sexual harassment. Lohan made the comments in a since-deleted Instagram video Tuesday. The video was captured by followers who posted it to social media. In it, she says that she has done several movies with Weinstein and he never harmed her.

Lohan also called on Weinsteins wife Georgina Chapman to take a stand and be there for her husband. Chapman said Tuesday that she plans to divorce Weinstein. An emoji with a halo under the name Harvey was displayed on screen during the clip. Lohan has been sharply criticized on social media over the video. Her representative didnt immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.

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The Allahabad high court acquitted on Thursday Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the 2008 murder of their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, giving the benefit of doubt to the accused in the face of insufficient evidence.

A bench of judges BK Narayana and AK Mishra set aside the life sentence given to the dentist couple by a special CBI court in 2013 and ordered that the two be released immediately from jail. (Live updates)

Circumstantial evidence was not adequate for a conviction beyond doubt, the court said, adding that neither the circumstances nor the evidence on record established the couples involvement in the crime.

The judgment brings down the curtains on one of Indias most sensational murder trials that sparked numerous conspiracy theories with many accusing the police of bungling the probe.

We are grateful to everyone... I have seen them (Rajesh and Nupur) suffer, said Aarushis grandfather BG Chitnis.

On May 16, 2008, Aarushi was found murdered inside her bedroom in the Talwars flat in Noidas posh Jal Vayu Vihar  her throat slit with surgical precision. The police initially suspected the missing house help from Nepal, Hemraj, but his decomposed body was found a day later from inside a locked room on the terrace of the building.

The police then began to suspect the Talwars and said Rajesh, the father, had murdered the two after finding them in an objectionable position. The case was later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

We are satisfied with the judgment and are greatly relieved. We believe justice has been done as the court has set aside the trial courts order for the lack of sufficient evidence, said defence counsel Dilip Kumar, who represented the Talwars.

The HC also pointed out various shortcomings in the lower courts judgment, while ruling in favour of the defendants who had challenged the verdict.

Jail officials at Dasna said the couple were praying since the morning and burst into tears as soon as the judgment was announced.

When we went to Rajesh, he hugged me and burst into tears. He said that justice has been delivered, said DR Maurya, jail superintendent. He said the couple was likely to be released on Friday after the prison authorities received a copy of the court order.

Sources in the CBI said they would decide the next course of action after studying the verdict.

The high court verdict caps a series of twists and turns in the trial of a case that gripped the nation. Within weeks of the murder, the Uttar Pradesh police drew flak for doing a shoddy job and allegedly tampering evidence. Then chief minister Mayawati then handed over the case to the CBI.

Two CBI investigators reached differing conclusions on the basis of more or less the same evidence.

The first team led by Arun Kumar claimed a breakthrough on the basis of scientific evidence, primarily narco-analysis test reports, and arrested three men Talwars compounder Krishna and two domestic helps working in the neighbourhood, Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal. But the agency eventually failed to build a case against them.

Another team probed the parents but it too failed to build a case, filing a closure report in 2009 that named Rajesh Talwar as the sole suspect based on circumstantial evidence but refused to charge him due to lack of evidence.

But a special CBI court rejected the federal agencys claim that there was not enough evidence, and ordered proceedings against the Talwars.

In a 208-page order on November 25, 2013, CBI judge Judge Shyam Lal pronounced the Talwars guilty of both murders and destruction of evidence. That verdict was reversed on Thursday.

(with inputs from Prawesh Lama)
It has been nearly four years for both Nupur and Dr Rajesh Talwar at Dasna jail in Ghaziabad. And in these four years, the dentist couple helped revive the near defunct dental department at the jail hospital.

After they arrived, we requested them to consider serving the inmates. Our dental department at the jail hospital was almost shut and there were growing number of complaints from inmates about dental issues. We could not send most of them to government hospitals outside as it meant deploying police personnel each time, said an officer from Dasna jail.

Once they took up the job, jail officials procured more equipment. Other doctors also started arriving. Now, no inmate from the jail is sent outside for the treatment of dental problems. Nupur Talwar treats women while Rajesh is assigned to treat male inmates. They have done their job with utmost professionalism, he added.

Their family members, especially Dinesh Talwar (brother of Rajesh), often come to meet them. The families share a strong bond, the officer added.

The couple are in jail for the murders of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj Banjade. A CBI court had held them guilty and awarded them life imprisonment.

The verdict was delivered nearly five-and-half years after Aarushi and Hemraj were found murdered at Talwars Jalvayu Vihar residence at Noida on the intervening night of May 15/16, 2008.

A judgment on their appeals is likely on Thursday.
Aarushi Talwar murder case: Allahabad high court likely to deliver verdict today

The Allahabad high court is likely to pronounce its judgment on Thursday in the murder case of 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar in Noida, four years after her parents were convicted for the sensational killing that shook the country. A high court bench comprising justice BK Narayana and justice AK Mishra reserved its verdict in September in the appeal filed by Aarushis parents, Rajesh and Nupur, who were sentenced to life in jail by a CBI court in Ghaziabad. They were convicted for the double murder of Aarushi and their house help, Hemraj. Read the story here.

About 8 lakh teachers of central, state universities to get 7th Pay Commission benefits

Ahead of the festive season, there is some good news for the nearly 8,00,000 teachers and staff working in colleges, universities and institutions run by the Centre and state governments. The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved a pay hike, which will result in a 22%-28% in their salaries. The pay revision is based on the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission. HT had on July 10 reported that the hike will be in this range. The approved pay scales would be applicable from January 1, 2016. The annual central financial liability on account of this measure would be about Rs 9,800 crore. Read the story here.

Sex with minor wife is rape, says Supreme Court

A man can be charged with rape if he has sex with his underage wife, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, a landmark order that removed discrepancies in various statutory laws to fix the age of consent at 18. The court was hearing a petition that sought scrapping of a provision in the rape law that allowed a man to have sex with his underage wife without her consent. A bench of justices MB Lokur and Deepak Gupta said a girl child cannot be treated as a commodity having no say over her body or someone who has no right to deny sexual intercourse to her husband. It ruled that a man can be prosecuted if his underage wife registers a complaint within a year of the offence. Read the story here.

It takes two to tango: Pakistan Army chief says his country wants normal ties with India

Pakistan wants normal and peaceful ties with a belligerent India but it takes two to tango, army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Wednesday against the backdrop of strained relations between the two countries. Bajwa made the remarks at a seminar in the port city of Karachi while referring to Pakistans external front, which he said continues to remain in a flux. We have also expressed and demonstrated our genuine desire to have normal and peaceful relations with India, however, it takes two to tango, Bajwa said in his speech at the seminar on interplay of economy and security. With a belligerent India on our east and an unstable Afghanistan on our west, the region remains captive due to historical baggage and negative competition, he added. Read the story here.

Ex-TMC leader Mukul Roy quits Rajya Sabha, suspense over next move

Suspended Trinamool Congress MP Mukul Roy, once a confidant of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, today quit the party and the Rajya Sabha, intensifying speculation about his possible induction into the BJP. Parting ways with the TMC that he helped build with Banerjee, Roy, 63, fired a stinging salvo at Banerjee accusing her of running a one-man show and propagating dynastic politics. I feel in a party everybody is a comrade and not a servant. And this kind of behaviour is common in every one-man political outfit. One-man politics is bad for every political party in the country, Roy told reporters in Delhi. His exit from the TMC marked the end of his 20-year-long ties with West Bengals ruling party. Read the story here.

Honeypreet conspired to build up crowd for Panchkula arson, gave money: Police

Honeypreet, the adopted daughter of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was responsible for the violence that swept four states and killed 38 people in August after the controversial sect leaders rape conviction, police claimed on Wednesday. Haryana police say Honeypreet, whose real name is Priyanka Taneja, headed a crucial meeting of top Dera functionaries at the Sirsa headquarters of the sect on August 17 when it was decided to send hordes of people to Haryanas Panchkula, where a CBI court convicted Singh for raping two women disciples. A careful plan to spread arson and violence in case of an adverse verdict was also laid out at the meeting, police claimed. Read the story here.

For first time, IAF commandos killed in Kashmir combat; two militants shot dead

For the first time in Kashmirs nearly three-decades-long insurgency, two Indian Air Force (IAF) commandos were killed in a fierce gunfight with militants in the regions Bandipora district on Wednesday. Air force personnel have been attacked and killed by insurgents in the troubled region but they were not participating in ground combat. They were training with the army for operational experience, army spokesman Rajesh Kalia said, referring to Wednesdays shootout in which two militants were also killed. The IAF commandos belonged to its elite special forces unit, Garud. Read the story here.

Dont deviate from fiscal consolidation exercise: PMs Economic Advisory Council

An advisory group of economic experts constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday warned against breaching the fiscal deficit, potentially ruling out the possibility of a stimulus package to revive the sputtering economy. The fiscal consolidation exercise should not be deviated from, economist Bibek Debroy who leads the EAC said on Wednesday after the first meeting of the body. The EACs stance contradicts NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumars views who said last Wednesday that the economy will do well with a fiscal stimulus and there will be no harm if the deficit target is missed. Though the government aims to keep the fiscal deficit  the gap between the revenue earnings and expenditure  at 3.2% of the GDP, it is facing renewed calls from the industry for a booster dose to encourage investments, crucial for creating jobs. Read the story here.

Pro-Pak separatist Asiya Andrabi in Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao poster in J-K

Kashmirs hardline separatist woman leader is a role model on a poster for Prime Minister Narendra Modis signature Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, a social campaign for girls to arrest the skewed child sex ratio in the country. The government poster has the image of a burka-clad Asiya Andrabi, founding leader of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, an all-woman outfit, who is behind bars since May this year. It also features chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, Mother Teresa and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, among others. The poster was unveiled at an event organised by the state tourism department at Kokernag in south Kashmir on Wednesday, which senior ministers and bureaucrats attended. Read the story here.

Pakistan poll panel bars Hafiz Saeed-linked group from contesting elections

Pakistans electoral commission on Wednesday barred from contesting elections a new political party that is backed by Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed who has a $10 million US bounty on his head, a government official said. Haroon Khan, a spokesman for the commission, said a four-man panel rejected the registration of Milli Muslim League (MML) as an official political party. Khan said Muhammad Raza Khan, chief of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), told MMLs lawyer at the final hearing of the registration that the new party has links with militant groups and as such We cant enlist you. Read the story here.

Spanish PM gives Catalan leader 5 days to clarify independence stand

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday gave Catalonias separatist leader five days to clarify his position on whether or not he was declaring independence. Speaking in parliament Rajoy said Carles Puigdemont has until Monday at 10 am (1200 GMT) to say if he declared independence before suspending Catalan autonomy. It is very important that Mr Puigdemont clarify for the rest of Spaniards if he declared independence yesterday or not, he added. If Puigdemont confirms his region had split from Spain, the central government would give him an additional five days, to October 19 at 10 am, to reconsider before suspending Catalan autonomy, Rajoy added. Read the story here.
Leaders of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party launched an attack against the Congress government in Karnataka after four people died in state capital Bengaluru while trying to manoeuvre around cratered roads since the beginning of October.

On Tuesday, 21-year-old G Veena, a resident of Devanahalli, was killed after the two-wheeler she was riding pillion on was hit by a truck when the rider swerved to avoid a pothole.

On Sunday, 47-year-old Radha Ajanappa was run over by a truck near Nayandahalli. Her nephew, too, had tried to avoid a pothole when they were hit. On October 4, Anthony Joseph, 55, and his wife Sagai Mary, 52, died in a similar road accident on the Mysuru Road flyover.

On Wednesday, the BJP held a large protest in the city condemning the incidents and criticising the Congress for failing to ensure proper infrastructure.

Former chief minister and BJP state unit president BS Yeddyurappa tweeted that he was saddened by the deaths. While (the Karnataka chief minister is) busy in corruption, innocent people paying with their lives for (Siddaramaiahs) incompetency.

Chief minister Siddaramaiah has blamed heavy monsoon rains for the damaged roads.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has been given 10 days to fill over 15,000 potholes in the city.

Bengaluru urban district has received 45% excess rainfall since the beginning of the southwest monsoon, according to the Karnataka state natural disaster monitoring centre.

But BJP leader and former minister KS Eshwarappa said this was no excuse. The state government is making irresponsible statements. If the quality of the work is good it will be able to withstand such rain. If even after that there are potholes it is the duty of the civic authorities to fill these potholes, he said.

The local administration has also come in for criticism from the traffic police department. Roopa D Moudgil, the inspector general of police and commissioner for traffic and road safety, said the department proposed amendments to the Indian Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act.

Some of the amendments we have proposed are making the civic construction agency criminally liable for lapses, Moudgil said, about the suggestions she has sent to Parliamentary select committee.

Despite repeated attempts, Bengaluru development minister KJ George could not be through phone calls and messages. He has tweeted that work on filling potholes has been expedited.

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Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Thursday met the ruling Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) farmer wing leaders, as well as parliamentarians and agriculture ministers of Haryana and Bihar, to chalk out a strategy to reach out to farmers.

The meeting comes amid growing criticism of the government over the agrarian crisis and farmers agitations in different parts of the country this year.

Several farmers organisations and political opponents have attacked the BJP for not implementing the National Farmers Commission recommendation that farmers be paid 50% profit on their input costs as remunerative price for their produce.

Farmers are not able to avail of the benefits of the policies and schemes. It is also the duty of the field level workers to ensure that these benefits reach the farming families, Singh told BJP leaders at the meet jointly chaired by party general secretary P Muralidhar Rao. Rao is in charge of the BJPs expansion plan in the southern states, where farm distress is among the worst.

The BJP Kisaan Morcha announced the launch of what it has dubbed as the worlds largest training programme for farmers  an ambitious campaign to train its workers in 1,100 blocks across the country on farmers issues and schemes of the Centre that benefit the farmer. It eventually aims at reaching out to famers families in each of these blocks.

This programme will continue for three years in all states, including Kerala and West Bengal, to make farmers aware of the work that the BJP government is doing, Morcha vice-president Shailendra Sengar told HT.

A number of farmers agitations have broken out this year, severely attacking the government for not doing enough for the agriculture sector. Farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra took to the streets earlier this year demanding remunerative prices for their produce.

The agitations forced the governments in these states to announce loan waivers for distressed famers. With a poor monsoon this year, experts say famers are possibly in for another round of hardships.
The child development project officer (CDPO) of Anantnags Breng block has been suspended after a banner on Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign featured separatist leader Asiya Andrabi as an achiever alongside chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and other personalities.

In a major embarrassment for the Jammu and Kashmir government, the banner aimed at highlighting the women achievers of the country was hoisted at a function held to promote education for girls in south Kashmirs Kokernag area.

It also featured tennis star Sania Mirza, legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar and Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi among others.

The CDPO, Shamima, has been placed under suspension and an inquiry has been ordered into the incident, deputy commissioner Anantnag Mohammad Yunus Malik told PTI.

Andrabi, who is currently detained under the Public Safety Act, heads Dukhtaran-e-Millat (daughter of nation) outfit which openly calls for merger of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan.

She has several cases registered against her, including some for hoisting Pakistani flag on August 14 and March 23-- the independence day and national day of Pakistan respectively.
The CBI has begun probe into allegations of bribery by US consultancy firm Louis Berger for securing Assam government contracts.

The CBI took over the case after the Gauhati High Court had on September 2 said Assams criminal investigation department was going slow on the case and purportedly trying to shield the accused.

A CBI team on Thursday questioned the three persons who had filed a case in the bribery scam  Bhaben Handique, Abdul Wahid and Jayanta Gogoi  at the CBIs office here.

The probe agency did not disclose what transpired. The three petitioners too chose to speak when the time comes.

The case dates back to July 2105 when the US department of justice under Foreign Corrupt Practices Act filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey-based Louis Berger. The case involved water management projects in Assam and Goa.

Soon after the US lawsuit, Handique filed a police case in Guwahati alleging Louis Berger had paid Rs 6 crore to Assam officials and politicians to secure a water supply project in Assam worth Rs 1,452 crore.

The Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) had awarded Louis Berger a contract in 2010 to manage three water supply projects. These projects, funded by Asian Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency, are yet to be completed.

The case was handed over to CID, but Handique went to the high court seeking a CBI probe as he felt the state agency was trying to shield influential people involved.

Former chief minister Tarun Gogoi and Himanta Biswa Sarma, then a Congress leader and minister for Guwahati Development Department under which GMDA functions, blame each other for giving the contract to Louis Berger.

Sarma switched over to BJP in 2015 to eventually become a minister in the BJP-led coalition government handling key portfolios such as finance, health and education.

A 40-page FIR that the CBI filed in New Delhi on October 4, however, is against unnamed officials of GMDA and of Louis Berger.

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A CRPF jawan who hit the headlines with a Facebook rant against Union home minister Rajnath Singh after a Maoist ambush in April has questioned the political leadership again over service conditions in a fresh post.

In a Facebook video post on October 7, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) constable Pankaj Mishra said he was posted in Jorhat, Assam, and had started a hunger strike.

For last four months, I am suspended and caged in this camp, he told HT over phone on Thursday.

A home ministry spokesperson said they had not seen the video and would respond after verifying it.

Mishra, who surrendered before a senior officer of the force in Delhi in May following directions of the Delhi high court, said no one had come to him to discuss the grievances he was airing.

His demands include call for jawans be treated the way officers are, fixed work hours, weekly offs, end of physical punishments, and same quality of food for all.

After I surrendered, a top officer told me to list my grievances. I gave him a list of demands of CRPF personnel and problems we face across the country. The officer said all the demands would be addressed. I was posted here (Jorhat) and started my duty, but two months later, I was told about my suspension, he added.

Mishra alleged that some men from the force assaulted him for speaking against the home minister.

He said seniors took away his phone and he shot his latest video by borrowing one from a friend. When I uploaded the video, they thought they would be questioned and returned my phone, Mishra added.

Mishras relative Abhay Kumar was among 25 CRPF personnel killed in the Maoist attack at Sukma in Chhattisgarh on April 24.

A native of Bihars Shahpur in Ara, about 50 km west of Patna, Mishra was posted at Durgapur in West Bengal when he came out with the Facebook rant against Singh in April.

Mishras video is the latest addition to the growing tribe of security personnel who have spoken out against alleged government apathy via social media platforms.

In January, a video posted by BSF trooper Tej Bahadur Yadav about poor quality of food served to jawans, set the social media afire.

Later, a CRPF constable  Jeet Singh  asked why paramilitary personnel were not being accorded facilities on a par with their counterparts in the Army while they were performing similar tasks.

In another social media video that surfaced earlier this year, Army lance naik Yagya Pratap Singh alleged harassment by superiors for writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over problems faced by soldiers.

Yadav has been dismissed from service.

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A woman working as a domestic help at a Congress MPs residence in New Delhi has accused Haryana Congress vice-president Subhash Chaudhary of rape, according to police.

The woman has said she was assaulted by Chaudhary thrice between September 15 and 23, 2015  a period when the Rajya Sabha member was away.

Chaudhary, who headed the partys youth wing in early 1980s, was unreachable for a comment but his mother told HT over a phone call that the woman was trying to blackmail her son.

HT is withholding the identity of the parliamentarian since attempts to contact her failed.

We have so far not arrested the accused. The investigation is on. It is a sensitive matter. I cannot divulge whether we have summoned the accused for questioning or not, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) BK Singh told HT.

According to the womans complaint at the Tughlaq Road police station, Chaudhary offered to buy a piece of land worth Rs 25 lakh that she owned in Telangana. The woman said Chaudhary sent his relative, Sewa Chaudhary, who allegedly got thumb impressions of her mother on land papers without paying any money.

He used to harass me whenever I asked for money. In September 2015 when madam was not in town, he called me to his room... and raped me... Subhash Chaudhary threatened that if I spoke about the incident, he would kill me, she said, according to the FIR.

Chaudhary used to work as a manager at the MPs residence at the time. He left on September 23.

Chaudhary had unsuccessfully contested elections from Ballabhgarh constituency of Haryana on a Congress ticket in 2000. He was the president of the NSUI, the Congress students wing, in 1980s.

The Delhi police have invoked charges of rape and criminal intimidation in the FIR.

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The conclusion of the Venice Commission regarding the Ukrainian law on education should be made in December, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze has said.

"I suspect that not all steam will be let off even if we receive the Venice Commission's opinion in December. I am convinced that there will be further attempts to inflate this story from one side or the other," she said in an interview with Channel 5 late on Wednesday, October 11.

As reported, on September 28 the law "On Education" came into force. The law holds that the national language, Ukrainian, is the language of the educational process in educational institutions, but in accordance with the educational program, one or more subjects can be taught in two or more languages, namely in the national language, English, or other official languages of the European Union.

Persons belonging to national minorities are guaranteed the right to learn in their native language along with the Ukrainian language in separate classes (groups) of municipally owned institutions of preschool and primary education.

On September 28, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry sent the law "On Education" for examination by the Venice Commission.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said at a plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on October 11 that he hoped the conclusions of the Venice Commission would help remove all contradictory interpretations of this law.
Five Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on Thursday when they were allegedly fishing off Neduntheevu in their territorial waters.

The naval men also seized the boat used by the fishermen from this town and took them to Mannar naval camp in Sri Lanka, assistant director of fisheries, Manikandan said.

Another group of fishermen, who were fishing near Katchatheevu were chased away at gun point by the island nation authorities following which over 50 boats returned to the shore without their catch, president of the Rameswaram Fishermen Association, S Emiret said.

Ten fishermen from Nagapattinam district were arrested on October 8 by the Lankan Navy for allegedly fishing near Neduntheevu.
Seasoned diplomat Gautam Bambawale, Indias high commissioner to Pakistan, was today appointed as the countrys next envoy to China.

This was announced on Thursday by the external affairs ministry.

A 1984 India Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Bambawale is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the ministry said. He will replace Vijay Gokhale.

A deft hand in Sino-India relations, Bambawale opted to learn Mandarin Chinese as his foreign language and served in Hong Kong and Beijing between 1985 and 1991.

He was first the desk officer for China in the Ministry of External Affairs and served as director in the Americas Division of the ministry, responsible for relations with the US and Canada (1993-94).

He has also functioned as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy in Beijing.

His appointment comes at a time when India and China are trying to put behind the Dokalam standoff, and work on a forward-looking approach in their ties.
Rajesh Talwar did not hold back his tears. Nor did his wife, Nupur.

As the Allahabad High Court pronounced its verdict in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case at 2:45pm on Thursday, the dentist couple broke down in their cells at the Dasna Jail, officials told Hindustan Times.

When we went to Dr Rajesh (Talwar), he hugged me and burst into tears. He said that justice has been delivered, said DR Maurya, superintendent of Dasna Jail, who broke the news to the couple.

Dr Nupur remained silent but she was also in tears, he added.

The Talwars were awarded life sentence by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad on November 26, 2013, a day after their conviction in the murder of their only daughter Aarushi (14) and their domestic help Hemraj in 2008.

The couple had challenged the lower court verdict.

Jail officials said the couple were praying in their respective barracks before the judgment.

Nupur Talwar, assigned inmate number 9343/13, was reading a religious book since 2pm when the judgment was first scheduled. Later, the judgment rescheduled at 2:45pm.

The couple are, however, likely to be released on Friday after the judgment documents are delivered to the jail administration.

In the morning, Rajesh attended to an inmate at the jail hospital which the couple  both dentists  had revived.

Since the time the dentist couple were confined to Dasna Jail, Rajesh Talwar has not stepped out of jail, though Nupur had gone out four times after she was granted short term bail to tend to her ailing parents.

Jail officials said that the Talwars were anxious since Wednesday but had normal food for dinner, breakfast on Thursday and even had their normal jail lunch  dal, chapati, rice, vegetable, daliya and tea.

Dinesh, Rajeshs brother, had come to visit them around 5-6 days ago. On the day of the judgment, no family members or relatives arrived. We have come to know of the judgment only through news reports and are awaiting the official delivery of the order copy, Maurya added.

During the past four years, the Talwars have taken up the responsibility of treating prisoners, teaching children inside the jail complex.

It is because of them that our dental department, once shut, has started functioning. Dr Nupur also teaches children of inmates. Both have been popular among inmates due to their cordial behaviour, said Anand Pandey, pharmacist at the jail hospital.

They have been spending their free time reading literature, English novels, medical journals and also books on international history and economics, Pandey added.

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Elections to pick a new legislative assembly for Himachal Pradesh will be held on November 9, the Election Commission announced on Thursday. Results will be declared on December 18.

Chief election commissioner AK Joti said assembly polls in Gujarat will be held before December 18 but he did not announce the dates.

Results for both the states are likely to be declared on the same date.

The polls are seen as a barometer of support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a time when a sputtering economy has handed the opposition Congress party a possible opening to regain political ground.

In particular, the contest in Gujarat, Modis home state where the BJP has been in power for 22 years, will be keenly watched for signs of voter reaction to some of his radical economic policies that made doing business far more complicated, especially for small and medium companies.

However, the BJP will take heart from the fact that Modis public approval remains as high as ever, evident from the partys stunning victory in the bellwether state of Uttar Pradesh early this year.

The Congress trained its guns on the BJP government, accusing it of putting pressure on the poll panel to defer announcement of election dates in Gujarat to suit its political ends. The party said implementation of the code of conduct has been deferred to allow Modis rally in the state.

Joti said the commission had received a representation from Gujarat seeking more time before the model code of conduct is enforced, which is from the date of announcement of elections till the results are announced. Governments are barred from making any announcements that can impact election outcome.

Joti quoted the state administration as saying it was in the process of completing relief and rehabilitation works in the aftermath of Julys floods that killed more than 200 people and necessitated relocation of 45 villages.

5 key poll issues in Himachal Pradesh Law and order In videos, the BJP has alleged crime is rising after the gangrape-murder of a Class 10 student and the death of a forest guard this year, accusing the Himachal government of sheltering culprits. The Congress party-led state goverment has also been facing flak for the rising drug menace, deforestation and illegal mining. Economy and employment The government claims the industrial sectors share in the state economy has risen although agriculture sector has declined from 10.4% in 2014-15 to 9.4% in 2015-16. Himachals debt is on the rise and the BJP has accused the government of availing loans without generating more revenue. According to the state government, nearly 70,000 people have been employed in public sector jobs. Agriculture Farmers in Himachal, a major producer of apple, have been demanding a policy to protect their interests as they dont get sufficient price for their crops. Both the Congress and BJP have not fulfilled their promises of increasing import duty on apple to help domestic farmers. Delay in susbsidies is another contentious issue, with farmers waiting for relief since their subsidy claims of 2013-14. Development and infrastructure The Congress and BJP have pitted their achievements and blamed each other of not undertaking adequate development. The Centre has said Congress expediture on roads, educational institutions and health facilities has been wasteful. The BJP, which had announced construction of 61 national highways, also claimed state ministers did not prepare detailed plans for the projects. Demonetisation and GST Like the rest of the country, demonetisation and GST are major poll issues in Himachal Pradesh. The scrapping of high denomination notes in November last year and the tax reform has hit the small traders and migrant workers in the state. The traders could tilt the vote in the ruling Congress favour as the Sonia Gandhi-led party continues to target the government.

In the last round of assembly elections in five states, especially in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP had projected the results as a vindication of the NDA governments demonetisation gambit. However, the elections for the 68-member Himachal assembly and the 182 member Gujarat assembly could become a test of public support for the goods and services tax (GST) that triggered protests by traders in Gujarat.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has given indications of the partys poll planks, attacking the NDA government over an economic slowdown, lack of employment opportunities, hasty rollout of the GST and the plight of farmers, labourers and small traders and businessmen.

Also, talk has gathered pace about Rahul Gandhi taking over as the president of the Congress after Diwali. Should that happen the two states will be his first formal leadership test.

The BJP has put up a brave front citing how the Indian economy is the fastest-growing in the world and obliquely hinted at its return to old themes.

Victories for the BJP could embolden the Centre to stick to its fiscal consolidation path and go for other bold reforms, especially in the labour sector, an adverse poll outcome could put pressure on the government to opt for populism, especially with eight states going to polls next year that would set the momentum for 2019 general elections.

In Himachal, the odds are stacked against the Congress, with chief minister Virbhadra Singh facing charges of corruption and a recent incident of rape of a minor girl on the outskirt of Shimla raising questions about the governments handling of the law and order situation.

The grand old party has a more daunting task in Gujarat where it won its last assembly elections in 1985. The party suffered a big jolt recently when Sankarsinh Vaghela, a powerful regional satrap, quit the Congress recently to launch a third front in the state.

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Honeypreet, the adopted daughter of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was responsible for the violence that swept four states and killed 38 people in August after the controversial sect leaders rape conviction, police claimed on Wednesday.

Haryana police say Honeypreet, whose real name is Priyanka Taneja, headed a crucial meeting of top Dera functionaries at the Sirsa headquarters of the sect on August 17 when it was decided to send hordes of people to Haryanas Panchkula, where a CBI court convicted Singh for raping two women disciples.

A careful plan to spread arson and violence in case of an adverse verdict was also laid out at the meeting, police claimed. Honeypreet, who is said to be in her 30s, also arranged for Rs 1.25 crore that reached Panchkula through an aide and was used to fund the massive build-up of crowd that topped 200,000 the morning of the verdict on August 25.

Honeypreet has denied all charges and said she was never present at the meeting but police say they have proof against her, based on their interrogation of other top functionaries of the sect.

We have clinching evidence to prove that she was main handler of cash in Dera and she sent the money through Dera chiefs personal assistant Rakesh Kumar, said Panchkula police commissioner AS Chawla. We have verified she headed the important meeting from testimonies of other arrested Dera members.

Minutes after Singh was convicted on August 25, his hysterical supporters ran riot across Haryana and Punjab, clashing with security forces, and burning down buildings, vehicles and railway stations. The violence singed even Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Outnumbered in many places, policemen were seen fleeing from mobs that were armed with sticks and stones.

The violence has been widely blamed on the build-up of crowds in Panchkula ahead of the verdict. Honeypreet was arrested from a highway in Punjab last week after absconding for more than a month.

No conspiracy meeting took place and no followers of the sect were involved in the violence, which was orchestrated by outsiders, said Honeypreets counsel, SK Garg Nirwana who is also the Dera chiefs lawyer.

But police say they are sure Honeypreet is to blame, and are pointing at the testimonies of two arrested sect members  Deras Panchkula unit coordinator Chamkaur Singh and Rakesh Kumar.

Both Rakesh Kumar and Chamkaur Singh are are in judicial custody after their arrest last month. The police have now summoned Dera chairperson Vipassana Insaan to cross check with her the details of the August 17 meeting.

But the worry is that Honeypreets laptop and mobile phone, which apparently contains a trove of information about the sect, havent been recovered. Her police remand lapses on Friday.

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The role of Dera Sacha Sauda chairperson Vipassana Insan in connection with Panchkula violence is getting murkier with each passing day. Sources in the police department confirmed to Hindustan Times on Thursday that Honeypreet, the adopted daughter of jailed dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, had handed over her mobile phone to Vipassana before leaving the dera on August 27, two days after violence erupted in Panchkula.

Police are making desperate attempts to trace Honeypreets mobile as it believed to have crucial details about her involvement in spreading violence. Police also believes that Honeypreets laptop, which is likely to have important information about the conspiracy, is with Vipassana.

Honeypreet told police that she had left her laptop in her room and added if it wasnt found there, it must be with Vipassana since is the administrative head of the dera, said a senior official on the condition of anonymity. We also checked with the court commissioner appointed by the Punjab and Haryana high court to search the dera, but there was no trace of her laptop, he added.

In its recent remand paper submitted before the local court, police claimed that Honeypreets mobile and laptop have crucial information her involvement as a conspirator. Police claim that laptops has details of fielding of the dera members in Panchkula and mapping of the city. It further claimed that Honeypreet had posted a video of Panchkula violence from her mobile, which further nailed her role as a conspirator in the violence. However, Honeypreets defence counsel has denied her involvement in any manner in inciting Panchkula violence.

STAYED IN RAJASTHAN FOR 17 DAYS

Honeypreet reportedly stayed in and around Sri Gursar Modia, the dera in Rajasthans Ganganagar district for 17 days, police officials have said. Sources said she stayed in nearby Ladhuwala, Gill Ki Dhani and Kaur Ki Dhani villages. She has agreed to have been living in Rajasthan, said police sources.

The police have taken pictures and sketches of places where Honeypreet took shelter. It will be used as evidence to corroborate her hideouts.

Honeypreet will be produced in the court on Friday. Police have not ruled out seeking an extension of her remand. The local court has already granted her nine days of remand on two different occasions.

(The story has been updated)

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With a dream to become an army officer, 20-year-old Manali girl Ravina Thakur, defying gender stereotypes, took up taxi driving to sustain her familys livelihood, while also becoming the first women taxi driver in Himachal Pradesh.

Ravina obtained her commercial driving license this year, three years after she got trained. Her father, who too was a taxi driver and Ravinas first driving trainer, died three years ago. After his death, the taxi was lying unused at their home.

I want to join the army and after completing my graduation, will devote all efforts in it, she said, adding, Right now my family needs me and I am happy to support them.

Ravina lives with her mother and two younger siblings in Manali. I am enjoying my job and right now, I have no other source to sustain our livelihood, she said. The family originally hails from Jogindernagar.

Her mother Shanta Devi had a tea stall in Manali that was demolished in four-laning of national highways. Our financial condition never weakened me and taking up taxi driving has only added to my personality and made me bolder and braver, she said.

Ravina was trained by her father, who died three years ago. After his death, the taxi was lying unused at their home. (HT Photo)

FACED RESISTANCE FROM RELATIVES

Ravina has a firm will power and did not give in to social pressures to take up the job. She faced resistance from locals and relatives. People said many things when my father taught me how to drive. There was never a thought that it would become a source of our livelihood, she said.

People still taunt us but who cares! I have a family to look after and my dreams to fulfil. I dont find anything wrong in being a taxi driver, Ravina told HT, adding, Peoples comments wont help my family earn a living.

She further said, My mother supports me in this decision even though many people tried to influence her against allowing me to drive a cab.

Her mother, Shanta Devi said, I support my daughters decision. She learnt driving from her father. I am happy and will always stand by her dream.

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The CBI on Thursday said it had no role to play on the plea by the Army for release of body bags and caskets lying in an army warehouse in Kanpur for 17 years in connection with its probe into the case that was widely known as coffingate.

The assertion by the CBI comes in the light of reports that the Army has sought early handing over of 900 body bags and 150 caskets procured in 1999 lying in the warehouse after allegations of kickbacks in the USD 4 lakh deal and subsequent CBI probe into it.

Only one casket and one body bag was seized to be used as evidence during the trial by a CBI court, the official said.

The official said the seized property could be released only after a court order and the army completing the required formalities.

The Armys renewed pitch for getting custody of the body bags and caskets comes at a time when images of bodies of seven military personnel wrapped in plastic sacks and tied up in cardboard triggered outrage last week. The military personnel were killed in an Mi-17 helicopter crash in Tawang last Friday.

Official sources said on Wednesday the Army has requested the CBI again to facilitate the handing over of the body bags and caskets as the probe into their procurement was over and the case was closed in 2013.

A Patiala House court had ordered that the documents should be given back to the army on July 21, 2016 following which on October 3, the army wrote to the CBI for the release of documents and the body bags and aluminum caskets, the official said on Thuesday.

The agency wrote to army on February 7, 2017 saying that it was not agitating discharge of the items as the same were no longer required to be produced in any court further,

The CBI had asked the army to take permission from the Additional Sessions Judge of the special court to get those items released, the official said.

The army approached the Additional Sessions Judge on July 10, 2017 with a Lt Col level officer asking for court directions to release the body bag and the casket along with the necessary documents. A copy of the letter was sent to the CBI also.

However, the CBI official said it was not aware about the decision of the court to the armys application.

The CBI had filed chargesheet in August 2009 against then military attache in the Indian Embassy in the US, Major General (Retd) Arun Roy, Col (Retd) S K Malik, Col S D Singh and US based private person Victor Baiza of Buritrol and Baizarces, the vendor which supplied the casket.

However, in 2013 all of them were discharged by the special CBI court and two years later the proceedings against the US national were also dropped.
A day after Guna MP and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia attended a programme and addressed a gathering of students at a government degree college in his parliamentary constituency, the state government suspended the college principal.

In its order dated October 11, 2017, the higher education department attributed the suspension of BL Ahirwar, principal of the Government Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Degree College, Mungawali, to holding of NSS programme under a banner bearing politics party, assembly of politics party workers, putting up banner of politics party on the degree college premises, giving advice to lure students with money to vote for any politics party and conducting activities to vitiate educational atmosphere while getting involved in party politics.

The order, a copy of which is available with Hindustan Times, says the above mentioned activities amount to a clear violation of The MP Civil Service Conduct Rules, 1965.

Since Mungawali is to witness a by-poll for the assembly seat in the coming months after the death of its representative, Mahendra Singh Kalukheda, the action against the principal smacks of a political vendetta in the Oppositions eyes.

In a scathing attack on the government, Scindia tweeted: By placing under suspension Dalit principal Dr Ahirwar without any notice or concrete ground, the government stands exposed for its anti-Dalit mindset.

     ,.        ,             Jyotiraditya Scindia (@JM_Scindia) October 11, 2017

Its a dictatorial order of an insensitive government which is biased and deserves strong condemnation.

He sought to know from the government, Is inviting the local MP to a degree college in his constituency amounts to such a big crime as principal be suspended for this?

Despite repeated attempts, the minister and principal secretary higher education couldnt be contacted.

Justifying the action, state BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said college premises should not be used for furthering any political agenda by a party or politician

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The village of Mohad in Narsinghpur district seems unremarkable today, but at the turn of the century it attracted curiosity from across the country and around the world. According to residents and media reports from the time, in a single year Mohad became one of the only places in India where most residents spoke Sanskrit.

Mohad was an inspiring example for all of us in the area, said Radheyshyam Narolia, 75, a retired deputy director from Madhya Pradeshs agriculture department. The way they brought a dead language to life was a rare feat.

Interviews late last month with more than 50 families in the village showed that Sanskrit is becoming a dead language in Mohad once again. The swayamsevak who initially popularised Sanskrit died without leaving behind a similarly effective successor; alleged caste discrimination has made Sanskrit seem pointless to many Dalits and OBCs, who make up half the population of Mohad; and the state government, which promised to build a Sanskrit school eight years ago, has yet to do anything concrete.

The push for Sanskrit began in 1996. The initial results were swift and startling. According to Vikram Chouhan, the member of the RSS who oversees Mohad, within a year enough residents were fluent in Sanskrit for it to become the first language of the village. That also meant that the villagers could read and write, a significant feat for a state with a literacy rate of only 70%.

HT reported on the improbable success of this endeavour in 1997. Back then, Sanskrit classes were held at the village choupal late in the evening, after the women had finished their chores. The sessions continued well into the night. When HT visited, there were 200 people at a single class. There were a lot of laughs, but Hindi was strictly forbidden. In the morning, kids learned the language in school.

As a result, Mohad gained a bit of fame. When the fervour was at its peak, people from Switzerland and many other countries visited the village, said Beni Prasad Patel, the sarpanch of Mohad.

It was Sanskrit Bharti, an offshoot of the RSS, which introduced Sanskrit to the village. The effort was led by Surendra Singh Chouhan, whose education at the Benaras Hindu University and large landholdings in Mohad made him a dominant figure locally. Vikram, the RSS member, is his son, and has tried to continue Surendras legacy. But "the enthusiasm decreased after the death of Surendra Singh Chouhan, the crusader, said Patel.

Now only a fading memory of the language lingers: asked tvam nam kim? (what is your name?), most residents understand and reply accordingly, but conversation cannot proceed much further. According to Patel, only 150 people of the 5,000 in Mohad can still speak Sanskrit fluently.

Learning Sanskrit might once have seemed an opportunity to move up in society, but people from oppressed castes said theyd come to find the language useless. There was a time when everybody loved to speak in Sanskrit, said KS Chandoliya, a 45-year-old Dalit. Now, we have realised that even if we learn Sanskrit, the language of the brahmins, the upper caste will never accept us as equals.They have problems in making a Dalit a purohit (priest), so why should we support them in popularising their language?

Among more than two dozen Dalits in Mohad whom HT spoke to, young people were despondent about the prospects of Sanskrit. I know Sanskrit and I learned it in school, said Ganesh Jatav, a student in class 11. I loved the language, but slowly I realised that the language will not help me in getting a job. Also, it is not our language, but that of the upper castes. No one would accept a Dalit as an astrologer or a pandit. We will have to bow down before the upper caste, whatever skills or knowledge we might have.

Vikram Chouhan has a different explanation for the decline of Sanskrit. "Villagers might feel that caste discrimination led to Sanskrits decline, but to me the passion died because of the state governments indifference. The government announced construction of a Sanskrit school eight years back. It exists only on paper."

The state government says it is dedicated to promoting Sanskrit, and gives scholarships and other cash incentives to people teaching or studying the language. Yet the Maharishi Patanjali Sanskrit Sansthan (MPSS), which is in charge of implementing the governments Sanskrit policy, still officially recognises Mohad as a Sanskrit Gram (a Sanskrit-speaking village).

PR Tiwari, the director of the MPSS, expressed surprise at HTs findings. "We didn't know that people have stopped speaking Sanskrit, he said. We are putting a lot of effort to promote the language everywhere. We will check this."

Anil Soumitra, a state-level member of the RSS and a spokesman for the BJP, echoed Tiwaris comments. "If it is happening in a model village like Mohad, it is very unfortunate. We will visit the village and try to rectify the problem."
U.S.

Ambassador to Ukraine Valeriy Chaly has met with members of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressmen Duncan Hunter and Doug Lamborn, the Ukrainian Embassy to the U.S. reported on its Facebook page.

At a meeting with Hunter, the Ukrainian ambassador asked the congressman to support enhancing the assistance for Ukraine in the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2018, having emphasized the importance of including in the document of a new provision promoting a greater access of Ukrainian wounded soldiers to treatment at U.S. medical facilities, as well as enhancing Ukraine's air and coastal defense capabilities, the statement reads.

The same day, Chaly met with a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, Doug Lamborn.

Chaly asked Lamborn to support legislative initiatives aimed at boosting the U.S. assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including a new authority promoting a greater access of Ukrainian wounded soldiers to treatment in the U.S. medical facilities, as well as supporting Ukraine's Naval forces capabilities.

Ukroboronprom State Concern Roman Romanov and Hero of Ukraine and First Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Airborne Forces Major General Andriy Kovalchuk also took part in the meetings.
How bad is the braid-chopping scare in Kashmir? Here are three instances that will help you judge the situation for yourself:

* On the intervening night of October 9 and 10, Pampore residents brutally assaulted a mentally challenged person after branding him a braid chopper. The 30-year-old from Budgam was among three people assaulted by a mob before being handed over to the police.

* A mob of locals beat up rag-pickers in Nowgam on Monday. Residents believed they were braid choppers in disguise.

*Early last week, a resident of Khalmulla in central Kashmir was mercilessly beaten after being mistaken for a braid chopper. Muzaffar Ahmad Wani was rushing after his girlfriend to give her a SIM card when youngsters in the locality thought he was stalking her to chop her hair. When the girl refused to identify him (for other reasons), they began thrashing him mercilessly. It may be noted that Wani did not disclose till the very end that the two were in a relationship.

Needless to say, none of the individuals mentioned above were found to be involved in the alleged braid-chopping cases that have taken the Valley by storm. After each incident of the kind, the police ended up registering FIRs against vigilantes for rioting, rumour-mongering, assault and use of criminal force, among others. Repeated appeals to residents, asking them to cooperate with the authorities to maintain the peace and not fall prey to rumour mongering, have fallen on deaf ears.

Director general of police SP Vaid told Hindustan Times that all the people assaulted for allegedly chopping off braids have turned out to be innocent civilians who simply happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. We have not nabbed a single person so far. The incidents of braid-chopping here have followed a pattern similar to that in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Even there, nobody was apprehended, he said.

According to Vaid, no victim of braid chopping has been able to provide any clue on her alleged attacker. And yet, Kashmir continues to witness incidents of innocent people being branded as braid choppers and assaulted every other day.

Unlike other states, the braid-chopping phenomenon in Kashmir has the potential to open a Pandoras box of political controversies. While some blame intelligence agencies for the alleged crime, others have accused the Mehbooba Mufti government of failing to protect women in the state. Road blockades, incidents of stone pelting and political agitations over the issue have become commonplace. The entire state came to a standstill on Monday, after separatists called for a shutdown to denounce such incidents.

The protests reached the corridors of power on Tuesday, when women employees of the civil secretariat slammed the state governments inability to contain incidents of braid chopping.

In an attempt to calm frayed nerves, the Jammu and Kashmir police have formed a special investigating team to probe braid-chopping incidents and announced a Rs 6-lakh reward for those willing to provide information. They also recommended the formation of a multi-disciplinary team  including doctors, police officers and administrators  to jointly review such cases in each district.

DGP Vaid said while Jammu witnessed as many as 180 cases of the kind, Kashmir accounts for 40 until now. A majority of such incidents were reported from densely populated urban areas and rural zones, and the victims were mostly young girls or middle-aged women.

The victims provided conflicting statements. While most women said the alleged attacks took place while they were home alone, incidents of braid chopping in the presence of family members have also cropped up. Some even reported waking up from their sleep to find their hair snipped off.

The incidents of alleged braid chopping started in volatile South Kashmir, and later spread to the entire Valley. While governments in the rest of India were quick to blame public hysteria, the Jammu and Kashmir administration is treading cautiously.

A senior doctor said no victim was bought for evaluation to either of the two mental health hospitals in Kashmir. Several cases were reported, but all the people handed over to the police turned out to be innocent. If something is actually happening, the real culprit is yet to be caught, said Nayeem Akhtar, government spokesman and senior minister in the state cabinet.

Nayeem claimed that his government does not necessarily believe in the hysteria theory, but insisted that Rajasthan had projected a worse scenario earlier this year. I met somebody from Rajasthan who told me that over 9,000 braid-chopping cases were reported there. Personal animosity or the girls desire to cut her own hair was found to be the reason in most such instances, he said, adding that the cases will have to be properly investigated.

Both separatists and the National Conference (NC)  the main Opposition party in the state  blame the Mufti regime for the cases. The NC womens wing staged a protest in Srinagar on Tuesday to condemn the governments alleged failure to prevent braid-chopping incidents in the state. It is the governments responsibility to provide security to everyone, including women, one of the agitators said, adding that women were feeling unsafe even in the confines of their homes.

Separatists have termed the braid-chopping scare as a well thought-out ploy by the government to divert peoples attention from Kashmirs freedom struggle.

The alleged incidents have created panic, with women being advised against venturing out alone. I am not allowed to go by myself to the market on my Scooty anymore... my brother has to accompany me, said a woman post-graduate student on the condition of anonymity. I am scared to venture outdoors too.

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Haryana State Women Commission has sought action against Vishwas Gupta, the ex-husband of Honeypreet Insan, for defaming her character in public by levelling allegations against her without any proof. BJP leader and chairperson of the women commission, Pratibha Suman, has written a letter to Haryana DGP BS Sandu, requesting him to book Gupta in suitable sections and send a compliance report to the commission within seven days.

Suman said the letter was sent after lawyers of a human rights group met her with a complaint against Gupta. They complained that Gupta held a press conference in Chandigarh in which he openly insulted Honeypreet for having illicit relationship with her father-figure Ram Rahim. The news of his claim was widely circulated in print and electronic media, but he did not back it up with any proof. When he had divorced Honeypreet in 2009, who is he to defame her now by making such statements? the complaint stated.

After their complaint, the commission wrote a letter to DGP. It also asked the top cop to send them details of all the police cases between Honeypreet and Gupta so the commission could take further action against him at its own level. Honeypreet is accused of causing violence in Panchkula. But still, being the chairperson of women commission, I cannot let anyone defame her character like this by making wild allegations. That is why I have written the letter to DGP, Suman told HT.

Honeypreet, who is the adopted daughter of Ram Rahim, had denied allegations of having an impure relation with him in several interviews she had given prior to her arrest.
A three-year-old boy was abducted, murdered and then thrown into a well by a relative in Baran districts Kawai region.

Police said that a team from the Kawai police station was on night patrol in the region on Wednesday when a man, Shubraj Meghwal (35), approached them at midnight and said that his three-year-old son, Rohit Meghwal (3), was missing.

Later, the police went to the Salpur village, where the boys body was found floating in a well, said station house officer (SHO), Kawai police station, Dalbeer Singh Foujdar.

A postmortem has been conducted on Thursday through a medical board and the body has been handed over to the family members, he said.

The accused who is Shubrajs brother-in-law  reportedly had a spat with his wife and she then returned to her parents home a few days ago.

The police said that the accused abducted the boy when he was sleeping with his father in the house in Salpur village on Wednesday night and killed him.

The accused lives in Kota and has been missing since the murder, Foujdar said.

We have lodged a FIR regarding the abduction and murder and a search is on for the accused, he said.

When asked about the motive, Foujdar said that the murder appears to have been committed following strained relations between the families of the deceased and the accused.
Two boys were beaten up, their heads shaved and paraded naked by villagers in Nagaur district allegedly after they were caught talking to a minor girl, police said Thursday. One of the boys allegedly had an affair with the girl and wanted to marry her.

The incident took place on Wednesday and came to light only after a video went viral on social media. One of the two boys humiliated by the villagers has come forward to lodge a complaint with the police, said Om Prakash, circle officer (CO), Nagaur.

As per the police, the two boys were had gone to drop a girl outside her village when the locals caught them. On finding that the girl was a minor, they thrashed the two boys who are from nearby villages. They were beaten and heads were shaved, said a villager, requesting anonymity. The two boys were also made to lie naked on hot sand, the villager added. They were garlanded with shoes and made paraded naked in the village. The boys were allowed to go only after they promised to never to enter that village, he added.

Meanwhile, no case had been registered in the case till the time of the filing of this report.
A Border Security Force (BSF) official in Barmer received three phone calls from a man, who introduced himself as a squadron leader of India Air Force and asked for strategic sensitive information about operational preparedness.

The BSF official, however, snubbed the caller for seeking sensitive information over the phone. The BSF also alerted the local IAF authorities, and the police.

Local officials suspect that it were spoof calls, which are usually place through internet and where caller id displays the call as having originated from a place other than the true originating station.

As per the BSF, of the three calls he received on October 9, two showed originating from Andhra Pradesh and one from Delhi. In all the calls, a man, who introduced himself as Squadron Leader Abhishek and claimed that the BSG and IAF are planning a joint exercise for which he needs some information.

The BSF official refused to share the information and instead asked the caller to send the local officer to BSF office with authorized letter. At this the caller disconnected the call.

We have shared the matter with the local IAF authorities, police and district administration. We are also investigating the matter, said local BSF office.

Superintendent of police, Barmer, Gagandeep Singla, confirmed that on Wednesday BSF officials met him and given him in writing a complaint against the spoofing calls.

SP said that they contacted the IAF headquarters in Delhi and inquired about the number from which BSF official had got the call. The Delhi IAF officials said that no call was possible from that number.

Asked if the call could have been made by someone working for Pakistan, Singla said, We have got the complaint and launched the probe. Such calls are made through internet, which makes it difficult to track them. We are trying to get more details from the BSF.

According to Singla, in the past too Pakistan-based intelligence operatives had many made such calls to the various departments and tried to track the strategic sensitive information. Considering the past history we are not ruling out the possibilities of a Pakistan connection in this matter. Detailed investigation would reveal more facts, the SP said.

Not the first such case

In February 2016, former Barmer SP Paris Deshmukh received a phone call --- from 7065327011 --- from a man who introduced himself as a DGP-rank IPS officer of 1961 batch of J&K cadre. The man asked for some sensitive strategic information. The caller also asked the SP to ask the IAF stations wing commander to call him. When SP refused to do the bidding, the caller said that he knew Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan DGP Rajasthan and will ensure that Deshmukk gets suspended.

In February 2016, state Intelligence Agency and Barmer police arrested four postal department employees --- two from Balotra in Barmer and two from Pokhran in Jaisalmer --- for spying for Pakistans intelligence agency. During investigation, it came to fore that these employees had received calls from a man who introduced himself as an Indian army officer and asked them for some information through e-mail. The postal department employees, taken in by the call, had shared the information related to an Army exercise.

In December 2015, an employee at Jaisalmer BSNL office received a call from a man who introduced himself as an Army officer and asked for some India Army related details. That attempt too was successful as the employee shared information pertaining to an Army exercise over phone. It was later revealed that the caller had hacked a Delhi number and called the BSNL employee.

In June 2014, a man introducing himself as an Indian Army officer called up Barmer deputy conservator of forests from a Pakistan number and tried to extract information of forest land near army and air force establishments. However, at that time Laxman Lal, deputy conservator of forests, suspecting it to be fake a call, had refused to share the information.
The deadline set by Union home minister Rajnath Singh for the Union home secretary to convene a meeting to discuss all related issues pertaining to the agitation in the north Bengal hills is over, but neither the West Bengal government nor Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has received any communication from the Centre for a dialogue.

On September 27, after a record 104 days of total shutdown, the bandh was called off by GJM chief Bimal Gurung only after express assurance by Singh that the meeting will be held within a time frame.

Read: GJM calls off 104-day Darjeeling strike after Rajnath calls meet on Gorkhaland

In a democracy, dialogue is the only way out to resolve any problem. I have been pained immensely by what has happened in Darjeeling hills. I have asked the home secretary to convene an official level meeting in the home ministry within a fortnight to discuss all related issues, Singhs statement read.

Bengal chief secretary Malay De told HT that the state government is yet to receive any communication from the Centre in this regard.

Neither of the two factions of the GJM, too, has got any invitation to attend any meeting in Delhi.

Read: Its advantage Mamata in the hill politics of Bengal

Though Singhs statement did not specify whether the meetings will be bipartite (Centre and agitators) or tripartite, GJM has always insisted on a tripartite issue. The Centre, too, earlier washed off its hand from the contentious issue of carving out a separate state from Bengal and told the agitators to negotiate only with the Mamata Banerjee administration.

But surely an issue that involves the question of a separate state cannot be resolved without involving the state government concerned, argued a senior member of the Bengal cabinet.

On September 11, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said at a public meeting some people are trying to create tension in the hills again. But those who are trying to create fresh disturbance will be dealt strongly, she said.

However, even if the tripartite talks are held, the process may not be smooth. GJM is split between a faction led by Binay Tamang and one led by Bimal Gurung. While Mamata Banerjee is propping up Tamang, she is against the idea of the government holding meeting with Bimal Gurung, who is facing UA(P)A charges and is on the run for several weeks. GJM is the principal political force in the hills.

Mamata Banerjee has already vowed not to allow another partition of Bengal.
The record 104-day-long bandh and political uncertainly have triggered extreme uncertainty in the schools of north Bengal hills as many educationists have started looking for greener pasture elsewhere.

With its cool climes, the picturesque Darjeeling hills host an education hub with many residential schools, some of which are well over 100 years old. Some like St Pauls School was set up in 1864 and St Josephs School in 1888. Hill schools continue to attract students from different parts of the country and even from Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Read: Bengal govt and GJM yet to get any communication from the Centre for meeting on Darjeeling

Authorities of schools in the hills are worried after some students did not return to the hills after the bandh was withdrawn and the puja holidays were over. Authorities of reputable schools in Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong told HT that they are worried about how to rebuild the damaged image and find ways for survival.

File picture of agitators throwing stones at the police in Darjeeling. Education in the hills have suffered as scenes like this became common in the hills of north Bengal between June and September. (HT Photo)

Though the immediate impact of the bandh and political uncertainty is negligible, we are worried about the long term impact, said Chetan Tewari, principal of St Anthonys School, Kurseong. He disclosed six of his day scholars have already taken admission in Siliguri while 10 out of 380 boarders did not return when classes resumed.

Bobby Chachan, the proprietor of Bethany School in Kurseong said, Two percent of the students did not return. Though the figure is negligible, many parents are scared to send their children to the schools of Darjeeling hills as political uncertainty prevails.

Read: Darjeeling will remain in India; Bengal must dump opposition to Gorkhaland

Prakash Pradhan, director of Rockvale Academy, Kalimpong said political uncertainty was the biggest uncertainty.

Now parents would think 10 times before admitting their kids in the schools of the hills, Pradhan said pointing to the growing alternatives elsewhere.

Sources said around 25 boarding students have not returned to St. Josephs School, Darjeeling after the bandh. Of these 25, seven are from Thailand.

The rest are from Sikkim, Kolkata, Bihar and other parts of the country, stated Father Shajumon, rector, St. Josephs school popularly known as North Point. The school has 485 boarders and 540 day scholars. We are anticipating more withdrawals in the next academic session, he remarked.

Read: Darjeeling unrest: Schools start off-site classes for pupils facing board exams

The first chapter of Gorkhaland agitation took place in 1986-88. Educationists pointed out there were not many reputed schools elsewhere, but the scenario is different now. Good schools have also come up in neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan from where a number of students used to study in Darjeeling.

The authorities are unanimous in the opinion that unless confidence building measures are taken up immediately, the school industry in the hills is going to suffer irreparably.

Pradhan also informed that many school owners have started planning to diversify into other businesses elsewhere as their fear about the future.

The schools most affected are in proper Darjeeling, which is ground zero of the Gorkhaland movement during which 12 people were killed since June 15, when the indefinite bandh began.

The Himal Boarding School, Kurseong that has about 1,200 students including 60 foreign students from Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand and Singapore has suffered 26 dropouts.

Father Kinley, a renowned educationist stated This strike will go down in history as the death knell of the boarding schools in the hills.

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The Yogi Adityanath governments crop loan waiver scheme faced a bumpy ride in none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi .

So much so that Varanasi district magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra had to write to higher ups in New Delhi complaining about the lackadaisical attitude of the officials of a nationalized bank. Officers of a nationalised bank did not take desired interest in implementation of the scheme. I tried to get in touch with senior officers of the bank and they remained inaccessible. So, I wrote to joint secretary (banking) of the union finance ministry. This intervention from the centre helped in expediting implementation of the scheme now, said Mishra on phone.

Disbursal of loan to nearly 400 farmers hung in a balance due to the banks delay in completing necessary formalities as desired under the rules of the scheme. The state government proposes to transfer most of the loan waiver amount to banks by October 16 (before Diwali) and third phase of distribution of loan waiver certificates to farmers is scheduled to begin on October 23 .

In some other districts, the implementation of scheme faced hurdles from its own revenue officials. In August 2017, the district magistrates of Mathura and Gonda placed six revenue officials under suspension and ordered filing of a criminal case against them when they demanded bribe from farmers for verification of their accounts. A decision to lodge a criminal case against those seeking bribe in these districts apparently had positive results and the scheme saw smooth implementation in most other districts.

The Yogi governments crop loan waiver scheme is expected to cause a financial burden of about Rs 36000 crore (including the NPAs) on the state exchequer. The state government is funding the scheme from its own resources. It is expected to benefit nearly 86 lakh small and marginal farmers of Uttar Pradesh.

Read more| Maharashtra loan waiver: 12 lakh rich farmers excluded from benefit owing to norms

On Monday, the state cabinet had approved one time settlement (OTS) scheme to write off Non Performing Assets (about Rs 1893 crore) of cooperative banks . Under the OTS, the state government will provide 75 percent amount while banks will waive the remaining 25 percent to write off the NPAs. The state government will now send the OTS to commercial banks for approval to write off their NPAs of about Rs 2506 crore. We hope commercial banks will approve the OTS soon, said Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC) Anoop Chandra Pandey who is associated with implementation of the crop loan waiver scheme.

Pandey said all the loan waiver amount will be transferred to the banks by October 16. We will transfer all the loan waiver amount of third phase to the banks by October 16. The state government will thereafter expedite action to writing off the NPAs of commercial banks as well, said

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A visual treat is in store for 2019 Ardh Kumbh pilgrims in Allahabad. The sandy banks leading to Sangam, the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers, will have a magnificent kalash (urn) shaped three-storey museum to greet them.

Apart from a holy dip and the parikrama of the Hanuman temple, pilgrims can visit the museum that will come up adjacent to the historical Akbar Fort at a cost of Rs 220 crore.

Giving details about the project, regional tourist officer, Allahabad, Anupam Srivastava told Hindustan Times, The first floor of the museum will be dedicated to Sangam city where visitors will get information about its glorious past, its literature and philosophy, music and art, historical places and sites of tourist importance on a big digital screen. The second floor will be dedicated to great leaders, seers and personalities of country and their wax statues will be kept there while the third floor will have a big conference hall.

Uttar Pradesh tourism department has planned to build this unique museum on the concept of a Kalash, a first in the state in view of the mega religious congregation. Five acres of land has already been identified for the project out of which the museum will be constructed on 2 acres while the remaining will be kept free for further development.

The tourism department has also completed a proposal in coordination with a private agency for the project, which has also been approved by UP tourism minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi with some amendments during her last visit to Allahabad.

Read more| Will make Ardh Kumbh a unique event: Yogi Adityanath

Instruction has also been issued to senior tourism department officials to send the proposal to the Centre so that it could get approval from there, further clearing a way for the budget required to complete the mega project, informed Srivastava and added further that construction would begin as soon as the fund for the project is released by the Centre.

Since completion of the project before Ardh Kumbh is on the top priority list of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the department has made efforts to complete all formalities so that the project is finished on time.
A patient attempted to rape a 25-year-old woman attendant of another patient on the King Georges Medical University (KGMU) campus in Chowk area on Tuesday-Wednesday intervening night.

ACCUSED NABBED The accused, Pradeep Shukla, 35, was nabbed by the womans family members when she raised an alarm. He was handed over to the Chowk police. Shukla, a native of Hardoi, had come to the KGMU for treatment of a parasitic disease, Filariasis and was staying in the open on the KGMU campus, said police. According to the victim, the incident occurred around 2am when she along with her family members was sleeping on the pavement near gate number 2.

The accused, Pradeep Shukla, 35, was nabbed by the womans family members when she raised an alarm. He was handed over to the Chowk police who registered an FIR of attempt to rape against him on Wednesday.

Shukla, a native of Hardoi, had come to the KGMU for treatment of a parasitic disease, Filariasis and was staying in the open on the medical universitys campus, said police.

According to the victim, the incident occurred around 2am when she along with her family members was sleeping on the pavement near gate number 2. The family from Gonda had come to the KGMU for treatment of a woman and halted on the campus to get the doctors appointment on Wednesday morning.

The victim told police that the man, who was in an inebriated state, made advances and started touching her while she was asleep. She woke up and shouted for help after spotting an unidentified man lying close to her. The woman alleged that the accused first tried to gag her and then tried to flee. In the mean while, the womans kin sleeping nearby woke up after hearing her screams.

The man was nabbed by the womans family members and beaten up. The womans kin said the accused even posed as a policeman to escape from the spot.

Vikas Chandra Tripathi, ASP (west), said the accused was arrested and an FIR of attempt to rape was registered against him. The police also recorded the statements of the woman and her family members.

He said a letter would also be sent to the KGMU authorities to ensure safety of thousands of women attendants staying on the campus in the open during night hours.

In five months, this was the second such incident with women attendants on the KGMU campus.

On June 1, a 42-year-old woman, who had come to the KGMU for her husbands treatment, was gang-raped by three persons on the hospitals premises. Two security guards, Shiv Kumar and Santosh Kashyap, at the Shatabdi Hospital of KGMU, and a liftman, Vinay were arrested in the case. Shiv Kumar allegedly took along the woman to a lift room, where she was gang-raped by the trio.

SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS ON CAMPUS TO BE REVIEWED

The KGMU administration, however, distanced itself from the incident.

Chief proctor Prof RAS Kushwaha said the incident took place at gate number 2 of KGMU and the woman was not registered as a patient with the medical university. An FIR has been lodged on the basis of the complaint of the woman, he said.

Dr Sudhir, spokesperson, KGMU, said: Security arrangements on the campus will be reviewed.

Read more| Rape of 10-yr-old in Chandigarh: Both uncles assaulted girl, DNA test proves younger fathered baby

As KGMU is the only medical university offering speciality services, hence people from other districts come here for treatment. Patients often come here a day before their in the hope that they get the doctors appointment the next day.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe indicates that the provisions of the Ukrainian law "On Education" do not ensure a balance between the official language and the languages of national minorities and recommends that Ukraine should fully comply with the forthcoming conclusions of the Venice Commission and modify this document accordingly.

On Thursday, an urgent debate took place in Strasbourg regarding the Law on Education, adopted in Ukraine, in particular on Article 7 concerning the language of teaching, which resulted in the adoption of a resolution with recommendations for Ukraine.

According to the results of the vote, out of a total 110 delegates, who took part in the vote, 82 delegates of the PACE supported the document, 11 voted against it, 17 abstained.

In particular, the Parliamentary Assembly is seriously concerned about the adoption on September 5, 2017 of a new law "On Education" by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and its signing by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on September 27, 2017. According to it, the law does not ensure the right of ethnic minorities to study in their native language and significantly reduces their rights.

PACE also requests that the conclusions of the Venice Commission be fully implemented.

In addition, the Assembly deplores the fact that there was no real consultation with representatives of national minorities in Ukraine on the new version of Article 7 of the law.

PACE believes the new law 'do not appear to strike an appropriate balance between the official language and the languages of national minorities' not encompass the concept of 'living together', the new legislation does not comply with the principle of 'living together', which underpins Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

"These national minorities, who were previously entitled to have monolingual schools and fully fledged curricula in their own language, now find themselves in a situation where education in their own languages can be provided (along with education in Ukrainian) only until the end of primary education. For the Assembly, this is not conducive to 'living together'," PACE said

The Assembly recommends that Ukraine examines best practice in Council of Europe Member States in the field of teaching official languages, with special learning methods designed for schools using regional or minority languages as the language of education

The Assembly believes that it is important to fulfill the commitments based on the European Convention on Human Rights, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and to help re-establish a constructive dialogue between the different parties concerned.

"Where States take measures to promote the official language, these must go hand in hand with measures to protect and promote the languages of national minorities. If this is not done, the result will be assimilation, not integration," the document reads.

In addition, the Assembly recommends ensuring flexibility in the implementation of the reform.

The rapporteur on this issue was a member of the delegation of Estonia, a member of the PACE Committee on Culture, Andres Herkel.
Students of a government-run primary school in Jaitwardeeh village, Soraon block, located around 22 kms from Allahabad, have joined hands with teachers to bring out a handmade fortnightly newspaper. The children would report on various school activities. This would not only enable them to learn reporting, team work, planning but also strengthen editing and writing skills.

While school newspaper or a magazine may be a routine affair for private and convent schools, this initiative by children of rural areas in the Hindi heartland is grabbing eyeballs. Senior government officials now want other government-run primary and upper primary schools to follow suit.

It all started as a creative experiment aimed at keeping kids busy and helping them learn new skills. From July 2017, we started taking out a daily newspaper with a class 5 student Shalini Jaiswal as head of the committee of students managing the newspaper. It soon caught the fancy of all students with each and everyone eager to report even the minutest of happenings on school campus, shared Shweta Srivastava, an assistant teacher at government primary school, Jaitwardeeh, who kick-started this initiative.

Dubbed Chahak, the newspaper saw all 269 students from class 1 to 5 of the school under supervision of their five teachers vigorously jotting down developments like water being wasted due to carelessness of students, menu of the mid day meal, number of teachers present on a day, birthday and anniversary celebrations to even flowers and leaves being plucked by fellow students from plants on the school campus.

Another assistant teacher Archana Gupta started chipping in with subbing and proof reading the reports of students. Ideally students report various matters to Shalini who then writes the reports and then post subbing, the layout is decided. Students along with teachers suggest visual elements and then draw appropriate pictures. Then other teachers join in to finalise the final page layout. The product is a labour of love that gives makes everyone here immensely proud, Shweta said.

Secretary, Basic Education Board, UP Sanjay Sinha welcomed the initiative and said other government primary and upper primary schools should also embrace the initiative for benefit of students.

From September, Chahak turned into a fortnightly newspaper with an aim to improve both content and quality. The first fortnight edition of the newspaper (September 17 to October 2) has recently been brought out. It has articles on Dussehra, cleanliness fortnight observed in the school besides Gandhi and Shastri jayanti celebrations. The next edition would be a Diwali special with poems, jokes and short stories with good moral lessons taking centre stage, shared Archana with pride.

Before the school ends, the students queue up to hear Shalini read out days developments as part of news reports with special mention of kids who were extraordinarily mischievous as well. Only the best make it to the fortnight newspaper, added Shalini.

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A parking dispute in Agra, involving a Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, led to violence on Tuesday night. The incident occurred in the busy market area of Phulatti, under Kotwali police station. VHP organisational secretary Manoj Kumar claimed he had parked his car in front of a marriage band outlet and was attacked by the owner. This led to retaliation by VHP workers, after which shops were hurriedly closed.

Later, a VHP member, Raman Singh, lodged an FIR against the owner of Sudhir Band and his sons at the Kotwali police station. They were charged under various sections of the IPC for attempting to kill Kumar, opening fire and committing dacoity. All the accused are absconding, said cops, adding that no cross-FIR was filed.

We have received complaint only from one side. A case has been registered against the band owner and efforts are on to nab the accused. Meanwhile, other facts related to the case, including retaliation by VHP activists, are also being investigated, said PN Sharma, in-charge Kotwali police station.

Apart from band owner Sudir Kumar, the others named in the FIR are his son Rikki and two others -- Sunny and Bittan.

Reportedly, when Kumar parked his car in front of Sudhir Band, the shop staff asked the driver to move the vehicle. The VHP leader claimed that the staff also manhandled him and his driver. Soon, activists at VHPs office in the neighbourhood rushed to the spot and, despite police presence at a nearby chowki, damaged the shop.

Amid the chaos, two sounds of gunfire were also heard. It has been alleged that these were fired by the band owner and damaged a police vehicle. The violence caused panic in the area and shopkeepers quickly brought down shutters on their outlets, rushing to safer places.

Led by SSP Agra, Amit Pathak, and SP (city), Kunwar Anupam Singh, heavy police force rushed in and controlled the situation.

Meanwhile, VHP activists condemned the attack on their leader and justified their aggressive stand.
Haunted houses tell us a lot of stories. But those stories are not just about ghosts. Colin Dickey , the author of Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places, went around the country visiting haunted houses to see if they could tell us something about who we are as a people, or how we understand the past.

In an interview for the AP Travel podcast Get Outta Here, Dickey said ghost stories help us talk about things in the past we might not otherwise have confronted. It might be a place with a violent or brutal history like a prison or asylum, or a just an old building with creaky stairs and dark hallways where someones life took a tragic turn due to the death of a child or an unrequited love.

Examples of places with a disturbing past that bill themselves as haunted attractions include the LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans, where slaves were treated with extraordinary brutality, or Philadelphias Eastern State Penitentiary , an abandoned prison. Dickey describes Eastern State as a broken-down castle with stone crenellated towers where its easy to imagine a history of atrocities and violence. Ghost stories in many ways are a way for us to approach our own history, Dickey said, and our own history is complicated.

Something is here. A post shared by Winchester Mystery House (@winchestermysteryhouse) on Oct 2, 2017 at 8:37pm PDT

Dickey also noticed that haunted stories sometimes revolve around women who never married or who were widowed young. Sometimes these women were viewed as having been frozen in time, living out their lives in a decaying house. But he says the facts often tell a different story, suggesting that these individuals may have been viewed as odd or even spooky because their lives as single women didnt fit cultural norms for marriage and childrearing.

The Winchester Mystery House , a 161-room mansion in San Jose, California, which Dickey visited often growing up, is a good example. Sarah Winchesters father-in-law developed the Winchester rifle, so she and her husband were wealthy heirs. Their only child died in infancy, and Sarahs husband died soon after. Dickey says stories often paint her as having lived out her life in perpetual grief, haunted by the ghosts of everyone whod ever been killed by a Winchester rifle, and building this labyrinth to keep them at bay, Dickey said. But Dickey says the truth differs from the legend. She got on with her life as a widow, but all things considered, a relatively happy widow, he said. The ghost stories came about, he speculates, because a woman living alone happily just doesnt fit in our culture.

On display: white linen day dress, ca. 1835, with appropriately named leg-o-mutton sleeves (#alltherage) With its 21-inch waist this dress was likely teen daughter Elizabeth's. The exhibition The Changing Silhouette of 19th Century Fashion highlights dresses from the Tredwell Costume Collection. A post shared by Merchant's House Museum (@merchantshouse) on Jul 24, 2017 at 1:08pm PDT

Dickey also points out that the haunted house industry has become important as a way to raise money to preserve old buildings. Many historic sites have embraced haunted tours as a fun way to engage visitors who will gladly pay for a ghost tour, but who might not sign up to learn about 19th century customs or antiques. Take for example the Merchants House Museum on East Fourth Street in Manhattan. The 1830s row house was home to the family of Seabury Tredwell. Five of the eight Tredwell children never married. Seven people died in the house, the last of them Gertrude Tredwell in the 1930s. Regular tours of the Merchants House carefully stick to the facts, telling visitors only what is known from Census records and other research about who lived in the house and when, or what can be gleaned from physical evidence, like dents left in the floor by furniture routinely laden with heavy plates of food.

But the Merchants House also advertises haunted tours. The theme is especially popular during the Halloween season. Through Oct. 30, the site hosts an exhibition called Truly We Live in a Dying World: A 19th Century Home in Mourning with displays of mourning clothes, a coffin covered with lilies and a mannequin of Seabury Tredwell laid out on his deathbed. You can even take a selfie in a coffin. For decades, Merchants House staff members were warned against repeating ghost stories, according to spokeswoman Emily Hill-Wright. But in the last 10 or 15 years, the museum has embraced the opportunity to use ghost stories as a wonderful way to bring in new audiences. People will come in because they hear that were haunted. Once we get them inside, they realise what a special place this is.

She said the museum has no qualms about using the interest in ghosts and morbid things in order to educate the public. Its not just that were raising money because of ghosts and having fun with that. There is an educational component. We do feel were fulfilling our mission.

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Victoria & Abdul

Director - Stephen Frears

Cast - Judi Dench, Ali Fazal

Rating - 1.5/5

Have you ever been on the receiving end of an utterly tragic fake smile? Or, do you remember, with creeping shame, having given one yourself? No matter who you are  the grinning buffoon, or the incredulous spectator  in this scenario, there can be no winners, only endless shame. It is an act of mutual deception, with both parties trying, and failing spectacularly at the most basic levels of human interaction.

Once initiated, there is little a person can do but nod quietly, avoid making eye contact, and after entertaining a few judgmental thoughts, carry on with their insignificant life.

Victoria & Abdul, it pains me to report, is the cinematic equivalent of a fake smile. It bounds up at you, elbowing others out of its way, exuding a false sense of cheer. Obnoxiously, it slaps you on the back, barks some nonsense about the good old days, and laughs loudly at its own jokes. But behind those sparkling white teeth, there is a snakes tongue. Beneath that immaculate exterior, there lies a bitter heart.

In this image released by Focus Features, Judi Dench appears in a scene from Victoria and Abdul. (AP)

On the surface, Victoria & Abdul is the charming true story of the Queens unlikely friendship with an Indian servant, and how this friendship stirred tremendous jealousy among her closest aides. But behind every look of slavish adoration, behind every act of self-sacrifice, behind every scoffing display of ignorance and behind every entitled, narcissistic demand  there is centuries of subtext; of oppression, murder, and the deeply flawed belief that one sort of human being is better than the other.

And this horrid miscalculation is apparent from the very first scene. Abdul, a man who spends his days performing the most menial of tasks for a government that is not his, is selected on a whim and sent to England  two months away by boat  to present Queen Victoria with a piece of gold that does not belong to her. He will enter the dining hall quietly, present the mohar as a token of appreciation for killing thousands of his countrymen, and looting his country so mercilessly, that it would never be able to recover  and then, he will back out of the room, under no circumstances looking the Queen directly in the eye.

In this image released by Focus Features, Judi Dench, from left, Ali Fazal and Tim Pigott-Smith appear in a scene from Victoria and Abdul. (AP)

But this is not how the movie sees it. There are always two sides to history, it is said. It is also said that history is written by the victor.

And not only does Victoria & Abdul blindly ignore history, and the very real, (and very extensively documented) horrors of British colonialism, it does so with such carelessness that Abdul  who, for all we know, might have been a very nice man  comes across like Samuel L Jacksons turncoat character from Django Unchained.

In he trots, dressed in tailor-made clothes, teaching the Queen to write lies about herself in Urdu, serving her jelly and sandwiches, kissing her feet  while his people die of poverty and hunger back home.

In this image released by Focus Features, Judi Dench, left, and Ali Fazal appear in a scene from Victoria and Abdul. (AP)

Going in, the only real fear I had was that the film would make the same mistakes as Gurinder Chadhas monumentally misjudged Viceroys House, a film that reduced the Independence struggle to an episode of Downton Abbey. But boy, does Victoria & Abdul lower the bar. At least Viceroys House had the decency to know what sort of film it was.

The blame, as it should, rests squarely on the shoulders of director Stephen Frears, who, in my opinion, directs too many films. And not in the adorable way that Woody Allen and Clint Eastwood direct too many films  at least their movies are unmistakably theirs  but in a way that either produces legitimate brilliance (such as Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity, The Queen, and Philomena), and utterly baffling stuff (this, and the weird Lance Armstrong biopic no one saw).

Presented with the opportunity to make intelligent statements about the controversial practices of the British Raj and class divide  which is, even today, a source of great embarrassment for both our countries  Frears film, instead, chooses to make a dick joke.

In this image released by Focus Features, Judi Dench, right, and Ali Fazal appear in a scene from Victoria and Abdul. (AP)

Perhaps I am reading too much into it. Perhaps it was always meant to be a harmless piece of fluff. Certainly, Judi Dench (who interestingly played the same character in another film based on an eerily similar premise) still commands the presence most A-list Hollywood stars would overthrow governments for. And against all odds, Ali Fazal delivers (at least partially) a restrained performance, in a film that pretends the word doesnt exist.

But dont let that fool you. Dont be taken in by the delightful sight of Queen Victoria speaking in broken Hindi, and dont fall for a dreamy-eyed Ali Fazal reciting the decadent history of the Taj Mahal. Victoria & Abdul is a shameful attempt to normalise evil. Everyone involved could, and should, have done better.

Watch the Victoria & Abdul trailer here

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The author tweets @RohanNaahar

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Ice used to preserve food will now be dyed blue to distinguish it from ice that is safe to consume. The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has asked manufacturers to dye inedible ice so it is not used to chill drinks. While edible ice is usually made from potable water, inedible ice  often used to store products  is made using non-potable or contaminated water, said an industry expert.

Sample surveys conducted by the FDA and civic body in April found that 70% of the ice samples found in the city were contaminated.

A senior FDA official said the decision was taken earlier this month, during a meeting with civic officials and owners of ice factories. Officials said it was difficult to prevent the consumption of contaminated ice as ice meant to preserve fish and other products was being used in drinks and other food items.

After speaking to the stakeholders, we sent a proposal to the government for approval. Once approved, edible ice will remain transparent, but the commercial ice will be dyed blue, said Pallavi Darade, FDA commissioner.

Separate surveys done by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and FDA had found that most ice samples collected from street stalls across 24 wards were contaminated with E Coli bacteria.

Doctors said that E Coli bacteria causes diarrhoea, urinary tract infection, anaemia and even kidney failure.

Civic officials said more than 916 cases of gastroenteritis  an intestinal infection marked by diarrhoea, cramps, nausea, vomiting and fever  were reported in April, of which 97 were reported from Govandi alone.

These cases were largely due to the consumption of contaminated water and ice.

If this proposal is approved, then it will be easier for citizens to distinguish ice meant to be eaten from industrial ice. Mumbai will be the first city to have ice of two colours, Darade added.

However, even after the ice is colour coded, officials will still need to keep an eye on the mushrooming of ice factories during summer and the quality of water used to make edible ice.

Former FDA commissioner Dr Harshdeep Kamble told HT that the problem lies with factories and wholesale stores where ice is stored in unhygienic conditions.

These ice factories come up during the four months of summer. They make edible and inedible ice. While our officers are trying to find these factories, they are difficult to regulate owing to the sheer number, said Dr Kamble.
Chhota Rajan henchman Ravi Mallesh Vora alias D K Rao was arrested from his Dharavi residence by the Mumbai police on Wednesday for allegedly extorting Rs50 lakh from an slum rehabilitation authority (SRA) consultant.

Rao was produced in court on Thursday morning and was remanded in police custody till October 18. Mumbai crime branch officers said Rao, who has been in and out of jail the past few years, allegedly made extortion calls through his gang members to the consultant.

According to the police, there is an SRA project at Antop Hill with around 1,000 tenants. The consultant was approached by a developer to get the project cleared in 2013. All the legal formalities were completed and the slum got approved under the SRA scheme, said an official. But then Raos men approached the consultant to stop the project and told him any further work will be carried out only after the gangsters permission.

After coming out from jail in July 2016, Rao allegedly threatened the consultant and demanded a ransom of Rs50 lakh from him and also asked to him leave the project, said deputy commissioner of police Dilip Sawant. Initially, the consultant avoided paying the money, but this year, in June, Rao called him to Dharavi and threatened him, said Sawant.

The consultant then approached the police and a case was registered at Dharavi police station under section 387 (putting a person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (2) Punishment for criminal intimidation and 34 (Common intention) of the Indian penal code (IPC) against Rao. We verified the fact and after investigation Rao was picked from his residence on Wednesday by CIU (criminal intelligence operation unit of the crime branch) and was arrested for extortion, said Sawant.

According to the preliminary investigation, it appears that more people are involved along with Rao, but if we find evidence against them they will be arrested, added an official. The police said it seems as though after Chhota Rajan was arrested, Rao began forming his own gang. If people come forward to register a complaint against Rao, we will probe further, added Sawant.

Read more:

Iqbal Kaskar extortion case: Mumbai police arrest matka operator
With 57 seats in its kitty and a lead in another 10 seats, the Congress registered a sweeping victory in the Nanded-Waghala municipal corporation elections, the home turf of state party chief Ashok Chavan. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged four seats, while the Shiv Sena has won one seat so far.

The counting for the election held on Wednesday is in progress at counting stations in Nanded and is expected to end by 5pm.

The polls, which registered 64.82% voting, were fought closely between the Congress and NCP. Although the results were unexpected for the ruling BJP, it is more shocking for the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party, which had 14 and 10 sitting corporators respectively.

Chavan said people voted in favour of development. The BJP got candidates without verifying their credentials. This has cost them dearly, he said.

The municipal corporation of Nanded, the home turf of state Congress chief and former chief minister Ashok Chavan, has been ruled by the Congress, since it came into existence two decades ago.

Chavan had put all his might in the polls ensuring a three-way fight, and avoiding a split in minority votes.

The Congress has 41 members in the outgoing civic body that has a total of 81 seats, followed by 14 corporators of the Shiv Sena, 11 of the AIMIM and Nationalist Congress Partys 10.

The campaign for the polls witnessed a bitter war of words between the Congress, BJP and Shiv Sena.

The BJP had won 12 of the 16 civic bodies for which polls were held this year, expanding its footprint over the states urban areas at the cost of the Opposition and its ally, the Shiv Sena.

However, its victory run stopped in Nanded.

The BJP, meanwhile, won by-polls in Bhandup, Koregaon Park, Pune and Kolhapur held on Wednesday.

BJPs Jagruti Patil defeated Shiv Senas Meenakshi Patil in Bhandup by a vote margin of 4,892, while Himali Kamble defeated Nationalist Congress Partys Dhananjay Gaikwad in Pune by 4,483 votes.

The BJP had joined hands with Republican Party of India in Pune. In Kolhapur by-poll, BJPs Ratnesh Shirolkar was declared the winner.
People exposed to firecrackers, which commonly have copper, sulphur and charcoal in them, are at a higher risk of suffering from diseases that can lead to cancer, while the presence of nitrates can cause developmental disorders in unborn babies and children, a study by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has revealed.

The CPCBs study, which came out last month, analysed various firecrackers available in the market for their chemical composition and health impact. The findings were submitted in the form of an affidavit in September to the Supreme Court, which has since banned the sale of firecrackers in Delhi.

For the study, commonly used firecrackers were selected on the basis of four main categories set by the Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organization (PESO): atom bomb, Chinese crackers (not related to the country), maroons and garland crackers. We studied their combustive features, broke down crackers on the basis of common ingredients and checked for their effects post combustion, said D Saha, additional director, in charge of air quality, CPCB.

Key Ingredients In Firecrackers Fuel: Charcoal is the most common fuel used in fireworks. Oxidising agents: The function of an oxidising agent is to produce the oxygen needed in order to burn the mixture in the cracker. Reducing agents: It needs to burn the oxygen provided by the oxidising agents. Regulators: Metals are often added to regulate the speed of the reaction. Binders: This paste-like mixture is used to hold the firecracker mix together. Colourings agents: Different chemicals and metals are used to produce different colours.

Six primary ingredients were identified in these firecrackers: fuel (charcoal is most commonly used); oxidising agents such as nitrates and chlorates; reducing agents such as sulphur; colouring agents such as calcium, barium, copper, sodium, strontium, lithium and aluminium; and binders such as dextrin (for glue and paper).

Nitrates and chlorates can lead to bio-accumulation [increase in the concentration of a chemical in a biological organism over time] as the chemicals remain airborne for days after combustion. They pose a developmental danger for children and unborn babies, and are poisonous for plants and animals as well, the study said.

Other unsafe ingredients include charcoal, which releases toxic dust and is a carcinogenic sulphur-coal compound. Colouring agents such as copper that releases a blue colour on combustion can also lead to bio-accumulation and causes cancer risk. Green colour released from barium is poisonous as its fumes can irritate the respiratory tract, the study said. Dextrin on combustion forms glycogen, which can irritate the respiratory tract, and cause headaches. It can also damage the liver, kidneys, the central nervous system, and is carcinogenic.

All these firecrackers have metallic oxides and are dangerous. These chemicals can cause permanent damage to the lungs, especially in children, said Saha. With the rise in population in megacities like Mumbai and Delhi, the use of firecrackers is increasing year on year. Ten years ago, the use of firecrackers was an average of 50 grams per family, and this has risen significantly. The environment does not have enough carrying capacity to handle this much combustion, so regulations are a must for all megacities.

The solution may be for people in big cities such as Mumbai to celebrate Diwali by bursting firecrackers as a community event, rather than every family buying and bursting them separately.

As reported in HTs October 5 edition, a pre-Diwali firecracker testing operation conducted in Mumbai on October 4 revealed that explosives being sold this year have higher noise and air pollution levels. Weve found that a tremendous amount of chemicals is being released from a few crackers this year. Directions have been issued to the department to analyse them. Once their chemical components are studied, we will send our recommendations to the Controller of Explosives in Nagpur, said VM Motghare, joint director, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB).

Activists believe that the sale and use of firecrackers should be banned in India. It is in the interest of the environment and peoples health that firecrackers are banned across the country, said Sumaira Abulali, convener, Awaaz Foundation. The issue of firecrackers is becoming increasingly politicised, and their impact on peoples health is not being considered. It is very important to involve citizens to decide what is right for them.

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The State Election Commission (SEC), on Wednesday, used the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) mechanism for the first time in Maharashtra during the municipal elections in Nanded. Although the overall reaction of the voters was satisfactory, around 25% of the machines used developed technical snags, raising questions about the technical preparations of the system.

Of the 20 wards which went to polls for 81 seats in Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation, the VVPAT was used in 37 polling booths in Ward 2. Ten machines developed technical snags, forcing the election commission to junk the idea of using them at four polling booths. Two machines were used partially, while four others were successfully repaired before the voting began.

Due to the technical difficulties, the SEC had to change its mandate of preference while counting votes. The SEC had earlier decided to assume the VVPAT machine count as authentic, over the count in the electronic voting machine (EVM). Since they faced technical snag at six booths, they have now decided to consider the EVM count as authentic.

The state had recently allocated Rs92 lakh to purchase 400 machines for the Nanded elections. We wanted to use the VVPAT devices at 400 polling stations, but since the Electronic Corporation of India Limited, the manufacturer, was not able to provide us machines with multi posts voting, we had to restrict it to just one ward. The machines were used by the ECIL on experimental basis. The decision about using them full-fledged will be based on the reports in Nanded-Waghela civic polls, said Shekhar Channe, secretary, SEC.

Mrudul Nile, associate professor at Mumbai Universitys civic and politics department conducted a study of the mechanism during the polls on Wednesday. We conducted the study in two phases, first before voting day, about the perception among voters, and then after voting. Most of the 2,000 voters we interviewed were satisfied, Nile said.

Meanwhile, the Congress and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) are set for a close fight in Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation. With more than 15 sitting corporators defecting to BJP from Congress and Shiv Sena, the ruling saffron party is hoping to gain big from the existing tally of just two corporators. The Congress, which has been ruling the civic body for 15 years, is banking on the likely shift of Muslim votes after 9 of the 11 All India Majlis-e-Muslimeen corporators joined its fold ahead of the elections.

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The government is working towards installing sewage treatment plants (STP) across the state, CM Devendra Fadnavis, told officials from Scania Group, which is working on a biogas plant in Nagpur, in Sweden on Wednesday.

Fadnavis, who is on two-day visit to the country to participate in Make In India conclave, met Mathias Carlbaum, senior vice-president, Scania Group at Stockholm. Scania is a leading Swedish automotive industry manufacturer of commercial vehicles. The Group expressed their desire to provide biogas solutions to more cities in Maharashtra.

Emphasising on the need to bring down the cost of biofuel for vehicles, Fadnavis said, We will ensure the STPs in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur produce 97% methane, which can be used as a bio-fuel for municipal transport system.

The CM also met executives of Svenska Aeroplan AB (SAAB), a Swedish aerospace and defence company, and invited them to invest in Maharashtra. Hakan Buskhe, president and CEO of the firm, promised to work closely in Maharashtra.

Officials of SAAB visited Nashik and Nagpur last week, and are impressed by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a cleanliness drive initiated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said an official from the chief ministers office, adding, The CM has promised to cooperate with the firm.

Mats Palonberg, vice-president, industrial partnership, SAAB, and Maharashtra industries minister Subhash Desai were also present.
Detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) have finished a pretrial investigation in a criminal case related to causing loss of over UAH 48.5 million to state-owned enterprise (SOE) Chervony Zemlerob.

The NABU said on its website that on October 11, 2017, five persons were notified that they are suspected of committing the crime. Defense received access to the materials of the case.

The investigators established that the director of the SOE in collusion with top managers of two private companies organized a criminal scam due to which Chervony Zemlerob lost grain for over UAH 23 million in July-November 2015.

"According to the plan of the law breakers, grain belonging to the SOE was transferred to storage to one private company. Another private firm had to sell it under the guise of own-produced grain and thus legalize assets obtained through a crime, which was done," the NABU said.

As a result, according to a similar scheme in November-December 2015, the law breakers illegally seized the grain of the SOE for more than UAH 25 million. The deputy director of the state enterprise and individual entrepreneur were also attracted to the scam.

The investigation into these facts was started by the NABU detectives in April 2016.

In January-October 2017, the organizers of the scam were notified that they are suspected of committing crimes under the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Look suave and use a few old tricks -- this is what a 26-year-old from Ratnagiri did to stay at three five-star hotels near Mumbais domestic and international airports without paying bills amounting to Rs1.38 lakh. The mans fourth such attempt on Tuesday, however, pushed him from his suite straight into a jail.

The accused, Shoaib Modak alias Siraj Modak, reached the hotel on September 29 and said he wanted a room for three days. When the hotel staff asked for money, Modak showed a fake message on his mobile phone stating Rs38,000 has been transferred to their account. Believing him, the staff let him check into the room.

On October 2, Modak told the hotel staff he wanted to extend his stay. On being asked for additional payment, Modak said he would get his ATM card from his room, and fled. Finding it suspicious, the staff checked the hotels bank account details and realised Modak hadnt transferred any money. The bill for his stay had run up to Rs60,000.

The manager spread the word among other hoteliers. Modak then moved into another five-star hotel, but aware of his moves, the staff got him arrested the day he checked in.

During questioning, Modak confessed to using a similar trick at two other hotels. The amount he owed the hotel where he was arrested is not known yet, said police.

An officer from Sahar police station said, Modak has been booked under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidiation) of IPC. He has been remanded in police custody until October 13.
Even as thousands of students continue to suffer owing to the results mess, the academic council of the University of Mumbai (MU) on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution to congratulate vice-chancellor (V-C) Sanjay Deshmukh for his leadership in adopting on-screen marking (OSM) for all its exams.

The council said the resolution was recognition of Deshmukhs contribution towards replacing traditional pen-and-paper assessment method with the on-screen one. The decision to adopt the method was taken under the leadership of Deshmukh. The council believes it was a good decision, as the governor [Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who is also the chancellor of all universities] and the state government have endorsed it and decided to implement it in the next exam too, said a university official, who was present at the council meeting.

The council, one of the statutory bodies of the university, takes decisions on academic matters. Except for the universitys office-bearers, all members of the council were appointed by Deshmukh, as the government had put an embargo on elections for statutory bodies.

Deshmukh had suggested the switch to bring in transparency and prevent malpractices in the evaluation process. While MU bodies such as the academic council and management council approved the decision, government representatives in the council had suggested a gradual implementation of the new system.

The roll-out of the new process was full of hiccups -- teachers had a hard time assessing papers owing to technical glitches, while students had to wait for more than six months for their results.

The governor has forced Deshmukh to go on an indefinite leave, after the university failed to meet the July 31 deadline for results. Devanand Shinde, V-C of Shivaji University, Kolhapur, is now serving as the acting V-C at the MU.

A member of the academic council said, Everyone says it [on-screen marking] is a good system. There are some lacunae from our side, more so from the information technology service provider.

The university, however, plans to extend their contract with MertiTrac, the service provider, for another two-and-a-half years.

Sachin Pawar, president, students law council, a city-based student group, said, I think the entire academic council should be sacked as they are responsible for the mess. Students dont think Deshmukh deserves any kudos.

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The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) workers union have threatened an indefinite strike if employees do not receive their Diwali bonus. BEST buses are the citys second largest public transport system. It has cumulative losses of Rs 2,500 crore.

Employees received bonus last year, but this time nothing has been stated yet. If they do not receive bonus by October 20 then we will go on a strike. said Shashank Rao, president of BEST workers union. In a BEST committee meeting held recently, all members supported employees demand for a bonus. However, the management was reluctant to implement owing to fund crunch. Anil Kokil, chairperson of the BEST committee, said, I will meet the mayor to discuss the issue on Friday.
A month on, Andheri police are still on the hunt for a man who allegedly posed as a police officer and molested a nurse on a skywalk. The accused had also threatened to falsely implicate the woman in a theft case, said police.

Police said the 31-year-old woman, who works at a private hospital in Andheri (East), was on her way home around 9.45 pm on September 21 when the man blocked her path.

He showed her a police ID, covering the photograph with his finger. The woman said the man accused her of stealing a laptop and ordered her to come to the police station with him.He touched my chest and back, states the first information report (FIR).

The woman said she told the man to stay away. By the time she called her relative, the man fled, said police.The woman approached the Andheri police, who filed a case under section 170 (impersonating a public servant) and 354 (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code.

We checked the CCTV cameras in the vicinity, but have not got any leads. We also showed the woman photographs of criminals matching the description she gave us, but she said she did not spot the man who molested her, said an officer from the Andheri police sation.Investigations are ongoing, said police.
The principal sessions judge on Thursday sentenced Vijesh Sanghavi, 33, convicted for the kidnap and murder of 13-year-old Aditya Ranka in Khetwadi on May 13, 2013, to 30 years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs9lakh.

Aditya was kidnapped by Sanghavi who demanded Rs30 lakh from Aditya s father to release him. During investigation, the burnt body of Aditya was recovered near Amba river.

The court imposed life imprisonment on two counts, murder and kidnapping for ransom, while it sentenced him to seven years jail term each for extortion and destruction of evidence.

But unlike other cases, where the convict serves his sentences under multiple charges at one go, the court has ordered that Sanghavi would undergo the sentence of each charge one after the other.

Justice SB Agarwal observed, It is desirable that the accused ought not be released before he completes the actual term of 30 years in jail. I propose that the term of the two 7-year sentences would run consecutively and after the end of these terms, the life sentence shall begin.

A friend of Adityas father, Jitendra, a diamond merchant, Sanghavi was convicted on Monday. The court however, acquitted Rankas cousin Himanshu Ranka for want of evidence.

According to the prosecution, Sanghavi and Himanshu had hatched a conspiracy to kidnap Aditya for ransom as they both had suffered huge losses in IPL bets. The prosecution said that Himanshu and Sanghavi were together at the time of kidnapping..

The court, however, observed that though prosecution had succeeded in bringing cogent evidence against Sanghavi,there was nothing against Himanshu. No doubt, there is a needle of suspicion that points to the involvement of Himanshu along with Sanghavi, but then it is a settled position of law that suspicion, however strong, cannot take place of conviction, observed Agrawal.

While sentencing Sanghavi, the court rejected the demand of the prosecution for death penalty as the court held that the case does not fall under the category of rarest of the rare case.

The court has said that in case of default of fine amount, Sanghavi will have to undergo further imprisonment. The fine amount the court said, if paid, would go to Rankas mother as compensation.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) have arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly molesting a 34-year old lawyer at Kurla station on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Kurla GRP police officers, the 34-year-old lawyer, who is also the member of the committee against woman harassment, was standing on the Kurla railway platform when the accused came and stood next to her. The lawyer, who lives in Santacruz, was on her way towards Borivli at 3.25pm when the incident took place. The woman in her complaint said that the accused whispered lewd words in her ear, following which he grabbed her hand.

The lawyer then raised an alarm and alerted the GRP and Railway Police Force officials patrolling the platform. The police officers nabbed the accused then, who was identified as Gautam Kamble, a daily wage worker.

The lawyer then approached the Kurla GRP and registered a complaint against the man who was arrested on the charges of molestation under section 354 of the Indian Penal Code.

The accused was produced before court on Wednesday where he was remanded in judicial custody for seven days. We want more women to speak up like the lawyer and register a complaint against people like Kamble, said Mahesh Balwantrao, senior police inspector of Kurla GRP.

Official data revealed that at least one woman is molested daily on railway premises daily. To help women come forward and help the officials to get to the accused faster, the GRP have now started a helpline 1512, so that help reaches the victim faster. The helpline have started getting calls. In a day, we receive at least 200 calls, mostly from women. We are now trying to create awareness about this helpline so that instead of 10 other numbers, the callers can contact us through one number, said Niket Kaushik, commissioner, railway police.
With less than one month left for the winter session exams, the University of Mumbai (MU) has decided to conduct training sessions for teachers to prevent the repetition of problems with online assessment.

The exams begin after Diwali vacations, on November 8.

The university, which is working on several changes to smoothen the online assessment process for its under-graduate and post-graduate courses, will be conducting a series of training workshops for teachers across Mumbai, Thane and Ratnagiri, after experts pointed out that the lack of training and coordination caused major problems and led to last times chaos.

However, the training is scheduled to start from October 25, bang in the middle of Diwali vacations for colleges affiliated to the university, and college principals are worried that their teachers will not show up. The first lesson the university needs to learn is to understand the academic schedule that they themselves have planned, and figure out the holiday schedule. Teachers must have planned their vacation in advance; how do we force them to change it? asked the principal of a south Mumbai college, on condition of anonymity.

As per the academic schedule released by MU at the start of this academic session, Diwali holidays are from October 14 to November 8. Earlier, the university was planning to conduct exams during the vacations, but they decided to postpone it after we protested. Now they want to conduct training. How is this fair to teachers? the principal asked.

Last month, a series of meetings was held between the university staff, college principals and experts to discuss the future of the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. Most experts suggested that only the self-financed courses, such as BMM, BMS, etc., and engineering exams, should be assessed online; the rest should be assessed manually. This was also being considered to prevent overloading the assessment software. However, at another meeting held at Raj Bhavan in the last week of September, it was decided to continue the OSM system for all courses. This meeting was convened by the governor and university chancellor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, and attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Weve been assessing papers since May, even though it is our designated vacation period. Now, the university is eating into our Diwali vacations. To make matters worse, MU has also scheduled exams during Christmas holidays. We will not accept this, said a teacher, who did not wish to be named.

The university is yet to declare the dates for training, and meetings are being held with Merit Trac, the agency managing online assessment for MU, to chart out a schedule for teachers so that they are well-trained for assessments for the upcoming exams.

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Sajjad Mogul, the security guard convicted for the 2012 murder of advocate Pallavi Purkayastha and who had jumped parole in February 2016, made sure the Mumbai police would not have it easy before they captured him from Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

According to sources, Mogul had managed to convince the locals that he had been framed in a false case by the Mumbai police as he was poor. Consequently, the special team that was on the trail of Mogul for the past 18 months had to face hostility in the valley that even saw them caught in the middle of local residents pelting stones.

Earlier, the Nashik police had gone in search of Mogul in his native place and were surrounded by locals before the police there intervened and got them out safely from the village, said police officer.

The special police team, led by police inspector Sanjay Nikam, head constable Dayanand Kamble, police naik Sandeep Kamble and Sandeep Talekar, first began their probe by visiting Nashik central jail. After questioning the inmates who lived in Moguls barrack, the police learnt that he planned his escape for a long time. Mogul told other inmates that he would not return once he would go out, said Nikam.

In the teams first three visits to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) they got a feel of the state and posed as tourists. We could not get inside his village as tourists are banned and the government issues temporary residence passes (TRP) for others to enter there. We spent time in the nearby areas and managed to get an informant, said Nikam.

The informant told the police that Mogul visited his house only once in three months and he used to live in his uncles place in Habad village, 4km away from his house, to avoid suspicion. He was working as a daily wage labourer and earned Rs250 a day.

Mogul used to change jobs and houses regularly to evade the cops. He had recently picked up a job in Gagangir village, 300km from his house, where the government was building a tunnel. He was hired by a contractor on a monthly salary of Rs12,000 and he was also provided accommodation nearby area, added Nikam.

As soon as the police got a tip-off that Mogul was in the village, they left for the place last week. They kept watch for two days and posed as tourists.

On Tuesday morning, when Mogul reported for work, the team stood a few metres away from him. After the police were convinced that he was the man they were looking for, he was arrested.

I asked Mogul if he recognised me. He stared for a few seconds before nodding his head, said Nikam, who had first arrested Mogul from Mumbai Central when he was about to board a train for J&K after the murder.

I told him he will get more leaves to visit his family once he is in prison, so he should not create any problem. When we were bringing him to the airport, the locals started pelting stones because of some issues and we were in the middle of the crowd. We were scared as we thought that it would be trouble if Mogul screamed, said Nikam, adding that the local police fired a few rounds in the air to control the situation and they soon left from there
Referring to the recent killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh, the Bombay high court on Thursday said the trend of killing people who believe in liberal principles is dangerous.

Not just thinkers but any person or organisation that believes in liberal principles can be targeted, said the division bench of Justice SC Dharmadhikari and Justice Bharati Dangre. This trend is dangerous.

Lankeshs murder came up during the hearing of petitions regarding the killings of rationalists Dr Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare. Their families have approached the HC complaining about the lack of seriousness in the investigation of the murder cases.

Responding to the petitions, additional solicitor general Anil Singh said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has done its best to trace the wanted accused in the Dabholkar murder case and the central agency has now secured some cyber inputs which may lead it to the absconding accused.

But, in between one more person has been targeted, one more precious life has been lost, the judges interrupted him. Will more people be targeted? they sought to know from Singh and observed that the central agency cannot take this (killings of people with liberal principles) lightly.

There has to be some respect for liberal values and opinions but tehre is none, the bench said, adding, it is like: if I oppose a persons view, I can get that person eliminated.

During the hearing, the bench also sought to know if the CBI had changed its line of investigation as suggested by the court earlier. The HC had earlier asked the central agency to follow the money trail to nab the accused saying a person cannot remain in hiding for a long period without institutional and financial support.

On Thursday, the bench repeated it advice. The judges said they do not doubt the efforts made by the central agency, but those efforts had not led to any concrete results.

Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune on August 20, 2013, while Pansare was shot in Kolhapur on February 16, 2015 and he succumbed to his injuries four days later. While the CBI is probing the Dabholkar murder, a special investigating team of the state CID is investigating Pansares murder.

Journalist-cum-activist Gauri Lankesh was killed in similar manner  bike-borne assailants fired at her outside her house in Bangalore on September 5, and this is suspected to be the handy work of the same right-wing group which is also suspected to be involved in the two rationalists murders.
Around half -a -dozen armed criminals on Thursday looted more than Rs 22 lakh from a nationalised bank located in the heart of Sheikhpura town, 124 km southeast of Patna, police said.

As the branch of the Indian Bank ,located at Katra Chowk, opened in the morning, the criminals barged into the premises and held manager Pankaj Kumar and other staff captive before decamping with Rs 22.67 lakh from cash counter, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Amit Sharan said.

READ| Criminals loot Rs 45 lakh from bank cash van after injuring security guard in Patna

The criminals also thrashed the branch manager and a customer, the SDPO said, adding that they also locked the main gate of the bank branch from outside before decamping with the looted money.

The borders of the district had been sealed and police teams were conducting raids to nab the criminals, he added.
The so-called Freedom March demanding decriminalization of small quantities of marijuana possession and calling for medical use of cannabis will be held in Kyiv on October 28.

Freedom March press coordinator Taras Ratushny at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday said the march participants want changes to the Health Ministry's order that makes possession of five or more grams of marijuana for personal use a criminal offense. Ratushny said it was the smallest amount among European countries.

Ratushny said most court sentences for drug offenses involve possession for personal use, while organized drug trafficking crimes are rarely heard of.

A lawyer for the Single Space organization Hennadiy Shabas said human rights defenders have studied the use of cannabis for medical purposes abroad and harassment for possessing small doses in Ukraine. He said his NGO has sent a letter to the government asking how its drug trafficking policy is being realized. Shabas said the letter was answered by the anti-naroctic crimes department. It said the Health Ministry would take part in a working group to discuss improving drug laws.

"We received a response from the ministry saying such a group was created in March 2017 but no one knows what it has done since then," he said.
The GoAir will introduce a new flight, connecting Patna with Chennai, beginning Thursday. The new service will be available till October 28.

The aircraft (G8-761 and G8-762), to operate daily, will connect the two state capitals via Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad.

With the new GoAir flight, Patnaites will have an alternate option to fly to south India, without having to change the aircraft. At present, the SpiceJet operates a Patna-Chennai flight via Hyderabad.

READ | Airlines eye to tap Diwali rush of passengers, propose to add new flights to Patna in winter

The GoAir plane (G8-761) will leave Chennai at 7.20am and reach Patna at 2.45pm. It will hop at Hyderabad to reach at 8.30am and leave at 9.05am for Bhubaneswar, where it will reach at 10.50am and leave for Kolkata at 11.30am. It will reach Kolkata at 12.55pm and leave at 1.35pm for Patna, where it is scheduled to reach at 2.45pm.

On its return, the aircraft (G8-762) will leave Patna at 3.15pm to reach Kolkata at 4.25pm and leave at 5.20pm for Bhubaneswar, where it will arrive at 6.20pm. It will then leave at 6.50pm for Hyderabad, where it will reach at 8.25pm and leave at 9pm for Chennai, where it will reach at 10.15pm.

Airline sources said the aircraft, with changed timings, was likely to be retained in the winter flight schedule, beginning October 29.

With this, the total number of daily scheduled flights, operating from Patna airport will go up to 37. GoAir will also add one more flight to its existing tally of seven aircraft, which it currently operates from Patna daily. Of these, four are to Delhi, two to Mumbai of which one is via Ranchi, one to Bangalore via Ranchi and one to Chennai via Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Hyderabad.
A demand by the Sikh cell of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeking representation in gurdwara bodies has rattled its alliance partner Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

While leaders of the saffron party say the demand is as per the pact to contest all elections in alliance, some leaders in the Akali Dal see it as an attempt by the BJP to enter the Sikh bastion and breed leaders representing the community.

Both the bodies have crores of rupees of donation received annually at their disposal and run a number of educational and health institutions.

The demand was raised at a public function in national capital Delhi 10 days ago. Kuldeep Singh, president of the BJP Sikh cell, termed it genuine and said he was only talking as per the coalition arrangement. BJP and Akali leaders have been contesting parliamentary and assembly polls in Delhi and Punjab together, so why not in gurdwara bodies? Of course, only, after reaching a consensus on the seat-sharing, said Kuldeep, who says hes with the BJP for 40 years now. The BJP and Akalis have a political alliance, but the Akalis never allow the BJP to enter religious elections despite the partys help from outside.

We are Sikhs. Why cant we become members of the SGPC and DSGMC? he asked. The SAD has majority in both the bodies.

The Amritsar-headquartered Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) manages historical gurdwaras in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, including the Golden Temple, and takes decision on appointments at three of the five Takhts (temporal seats). The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) manages gurdwaras in the national capital, and its president is seen as representing Sikhs living outside Punjab.

Both the bodies have crores of rupees of donation received annually at their disposal and run a number of educational and health institutions. Recently, the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, a wing of the BJPs parent Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), had demanded audit and scrutiny of SGPC funds, which had received sharp reaction from Akali leaders.

The question (of BJP contesting) doesnt arise. It is our religious matter, and we wont let anyone enter. All are welcome in our gurdwaras, but they cant take over its management, said DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK of the SAD.

BJP national secretary RP Singh justified the demand: Whats wrong in it? When the two parties have been together for many years, then whats the wrong in contesting gurdwara polls the same way? It must, however, be underlined that in Haryana the SAD went with the Indian National Lok Dal against the BJP citing family ties between the SADs Badals and the INLDs Chautalas.

SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar simply said, The matter is of the level of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal  whether he wants to give representation to the BJP in religious bodies or not.

Sikh radical bodies, which have for many years been alleging direct and indirect interference of BJP and RSS in Sikh affairs, are not impressed. Dal Khalsa spokesman Kanwar Pal Singh Bittu said, No Sikh will tolerate BJPs presence in Sikh religious institutions. This demand is a fresh move towards BJPs straight inroads into Sikh affairs. The SADs alliance with BJP has already damaged prospects of Sikhs. We will oppose any further damage.

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The National Green Tribunal on Wednesday asked the Punjab government to produce before it 21 farmers whom it claimed to have helped by giving incentives and infrastructural facilities to prevent them from burning crop stubble in a bid to check air pollution.

Agricultural stubble  millions of tonnes  is burnt by farmers in northern India every October, triggering heavy pollution in Delhi-NCR before the onset of winter.

Though the NGT banned crop burning in 2015, implementing the order had been difficult. Farmers set crop residue afire mainly because of cost concerns and the short gap between summer and winter crops. Lack of incentives and equipment to cut the stubble are other issues.

Over a hundred farmers had gathered outside the NGT premises here on Wednesday to attend the hearing on the issue and put forth their submissions and grievances through a lawyer before a bench headed by NGT chairperson justice Swatanter Kumar.

The bench took exception to the fact that even after more than two years, nothing substantial has been done with regard to stubble burning. For two years, we waited for you (Punjab) to comply with our direction. We asked you to come up with an action plan for at least one district. What steps did you take in this regard?

Over a hundred farmers gathered outside the NGT premises to attend the hearing on the issue and put forth their submissions and grievances.

Can you produce a single farmer in entire Punjab, whom you can produce before us and say that you have given him any kind of assistance? This is not a political issue but this issue relates to the environment. You should think as a human being why this is taking so long, the bench, also including Justice RS Rathore, said.

It directed the Punjab government to produce the 21 farmers before it on October 13.

During the proceedings, advocate IG Kapila, appearing for the farmers, referred to a newspaper report and said the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and a few biomass power units have expressed their intent to purchase crop residue from farmers in surrounding states.

He said the NTPC and representatives of other companies were willing to cut and buy crop residue from the fields. The NGTs order had come on a plea by environmentalist Vikrant Tongad who had sought a ban on burning of agricultural waste and remnants in open fields.

On the last date of hearing, the green court had asked the state government to look into the problems faced by the farmers and directed its counsel to seek instructions whether compensation could be provided to them for disposing their agricultural residue while giving them liberty to engage any agency of their choice.
Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has directed the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia to save a Punjabi woman who was seen crying for help in a video on social media recently.

Sangrur MP Bhagwant Manns had drawn Swarajs attention to the video in which around 25-year-old woman claims she has been kept in a locked room and has not eaten anything for several days. She appeals to Mann to bring her back to Punjab.

In a video, a woman in her twenties claims she has been kept in a locked room and has not eaten anything for several days.

The victim says she has been held captive by two men, but has neither identified her captors nor given any details about them. The victim has now been identified as Reena Rani, a resident of Boparai village in Jalandhar, who was married in Hoshiarpur district.

In the video, she says, I came here (Saudi Arabia) to earn some money but am living in miserable conditions. Though I approached the local police, the cops did not help me. I am stuck at Dawadmi city

Observing that Mann has been helping Punjabis living in other countries in the past, she urges him to help her as well. On Tuesday, Mann uploaded her video on his facebook page and sought her contact number or address or passport details from his fans and friends in Punjab and abroad.

I got her passport number last night and sent it to Sushma Swaraj immediately. In a Tweet, Swaraj asked the Indian embassy to help the woman in distress. She will be brought to Punjab soon, Mann told HT on Wednesday.

In her tweet, Swaraj asked the Indian embassy to reach her at the earliest.

When I put this video on social media, a large number of people came forward from across the world to help her. But I appeal to all Punjabis if they want to go in these countries, they should first enquire about their working conditions and other necessary things. Mann advised people in a live facebook address.
During a late-night raid in Sector 39B, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested a scientist of the Central Ground Water Board, a technician of the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) and a middleman for seeking a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh from a Gurgaon-based industrialist to issue a no-objection certificate (NOCs) for industrial use of ground water.

Sanjay Pandey, a scientist-B on the post of assistant hydrologist in the board that works under the Union ministry of water resources and has its office in sector 27; technician Chander Prakash Midda of the IMTECH, a body under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in sector 39; and Dinesh Kumar, the suspected middleman, were arrested during the raid at Middas house on Tuesday night.

The CBI also recovered Rs 1.5 lakh that was allegedly delivered by Kumar on behalf of Gurgaon-based businessman Savraj Kandoi to get an NOC for a bottling plant. The three were produced before a special CBI court on Wednesday, which sent them to two days remand. The CBI has also issued notice to Kandoi to join the investigation.

Foreign currency, property documents seized

The CBI raided Middas house acting on a tip-off. The money was recovered from an almirah. The searches were also conducted at Pandeys house. Rs 4 lakh besides $500 (Rs 32,000) and 36,000 Japanese Yen (Rs 21,000) along with other property documents were recovered from there.

Sources said earlier Pandey had demanded Rs 2 lakh, but the deal was struck at Rs 1.5 lakh. Kandoi runs a bottling plant  Vrishti Beverages Private Ltd  in Gurgaon, for which he required an NOC. Central Ground Water Board is responsible for regulating the use of ground water and issuance of NOCs to various private and government institutions.

The accused have been booked under Section 7 (public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) read along with Section 12 (abetment) besides Sections 13(1)(d), 13(2) (criminal misconduct by a public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The FIR says the two government officials connived to get money from industries in Haryana and Punjab. The applications were allegedly forwarded through a regional board officer along with recommendations for issuing the NOC to use ground water for industrial purposes, the FIR said. Even as the CBI demanded their remand for seven days to uncover the larger conspiracy and zero in on other people involved in the case, the court gave them a two-day remand.
Police have booked an 80-year-old man for allegedly setting his daughter-in-law afire at Punjabs Burj Poohla village, 30 km from the district headquarters of Tarn Taran.

Harjinder Kaur, 45, wife of a constable with the Indian Reserve Battalion police, received 85% burns and succumbed to her injuries at an Amritsar hospital on Thursday.

In her statement at the Patti civil hospital, the victim said her husband Gursahib Singh is posted in Amritsar and she had been living with her father-in-law Arjun Singh and two children.

On Wednesday morning, a minor quarrel ensued between her and the accused over some domestic issue. In the afternoon, I was alone in the courtyard of the house, when he came, poured petrol and set me afire, the woman said.

The victim fell unconscious and was rushed to hospital by the neighbours.

Owing to her severe burn injuries, the doctors referred her to an Amritsar hospital, said Harike police station sub-inspector Surinderpal Singh.

We have added Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the case against the accused, who is absconding, he said.
New buildings, major departments but low maintenance as the grass around the hostels is unkempt and there is always the fear of encountering snakes on the south campus of Panjab University in Sector 25.

If compared to the north campus, one will find the students and professors listing the similar problems but making an addition to it. From poor landscaping to the wild growth, from garbage disposal to filthy washrooms are some of the highlights of the south campus.

WHAT CAN BE DONE Adequate dustbins should be placed in each of the building and long open stretches Taps in the hostel washrooms should be replaced with the showers to save water The cleaning staff and manpower, especially for the washrooms in each department Pruning of the wild grass should be regular instead of waiting for a particular season Infection control at the BDS department is required

The south campus houses three main departments--the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), Dr Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, and the University Institute of Hotel management and Tourism. It has one boys hostel and two girls hostel along with an International students hostel. Now, another girls hostel number 10 on the name of Neerja Bhanot is coming up.

In the past four years, six new buildings have come up on the south campus, including three half finished blocks, two finished blocks and one international hostel and accordingly the requirement of manpower has increased.

MAINTENANCE NEED OF THE HOUR

One of the major advantages of the south campus is that it has a larger area with not many buildings and blocks but the drawback is that it has low maintenance. According to the chairpersons, the manpower is a problem on the campus. The new buildings, where the walls are adorned with the tiles need regular maintenance but the tiles are popping off already in some departments.

FILTHY WASHROOMS A PAN UNIVERSITY ISSUE

Student Centre, departments, hostels and now the south campus, finding a cleaner washroom will be a difficult task. Broken seats and doors, missing latches, broken windowpanes, water shortage, water leakage, muddy toilet seats, blocked urinals and no soap for hand wash in the washrooms. Students said they keep a hand wash and a sanitiser in their bags.

Students residing in hostel number 8, on the south campus, said that the situation of the hostels there was no different. Similar problems of ill-maintained washrooms, littered corridors and water shortage and even the leakage troubles the students.

One of the students, Anuradha Singh, said, The washrooms are all new, they have English seats and white tiles in all washrooms but who is responsible to clean them. There are no soaps or even a toilet paper in the washrooms and the water shortage is a major problem.

ADJACENT SECTOR-25 COLONY

Students complain that since the Sector-25 colony is adjacent to the south campus, the cleanliness takes a back seat as the children from the colony keep roaming around littering. Especially at the time of school hours, when they go back home, they are found littering on the campus and having their tiffin boxes in the open grounds.

POOR LANDSCAPING

Not only the students but the professors also have complained about poor landscaping on the south campus with ill-maintained drainage system.

INADEQUATE GARBAGE BINS

Students leader and some professors on the south campus said that the garbage disposal system is not implemented rightly as the dustbins available here are much less than compared to the north campus.There are certain paths and stretches where one can see the garbage dumped.

WILD GROWTH

A professor from the biotechnology department said the wild growth of grass around the department invites small snakes. Overgrown grass could be seen around the biomedical sciences department, near the incubation centre, connecting path of the canteen and the UIET department and also behind the BMS Block 2.

Also, the pigeons have made their homes around the BMS block 2, leading to a stench and unhygienic surroundings for the students. There is no infection control here as well, thus dengue cases are also reported.

LOW-LYING ROADS

The students of departments on the south campus complain of having low-lying roads at the entrances, where water gets accumulated during the rain, making it difficult to enter the department, especially the biomedical sciences department.

Karanvir Singh, vice-president of the Panjab University campus students council (PUCSC) said, We have observed that to get a particular work done on the campus, one has to go through long processes. First a memorandum will be submitted to the vice- chancellor; then the V-C will suggest us to talk to the executive engineer (XEN), who will further delay the work. Same is the case with the cleanliness work.

Professor Rajat Sandhir from the department of biotechnology, said, Considering the new building of our department, more manpower is required for the upkeep of the building. Landscaping needs to be done and then the basic amenities for the students need to be in place.

STUDENTSPEAK

The cleanliness level of the south campus is better but in terms of hygiene, it stands nowhere. We put up notices on washrooms everyday for the students to maintain hygiene but when the cleaning staff is not regular, students are not to be blamed, UIETs Manish Choudhary said.

Pankaj Dhaka, also from UIET, said, The area between the parking and the UIET entrance becomes a trouble for students during the rain because it gets filled with water and that leads to diseases because it takes three days to dry up. Also, food in the canteen is not hygienic as it gives us stomach ache.

It becomes difficult at times to stay back in departments because of the filthy washrooms. Why cant the authorities take charge and see to it by themselves. Why dont the departmental representatives complain to the authorities and prioritise the issue, Apoorva from the biotechnology department said.

The BDS department has a lot of cleanliness issues. The patients visiting the department are largely from a neighbouring colony in Sector 25. The department needs additional manpower to maintain the cleanliness and make it infection free, Shivan Narang, BDS, said.

THE BUCK STOPS HERE

Chairpersons and directors of the departments are responsible. While the responsibility of the hostels is of the wardens under the headship of the dean students welfare. The chairpersons believe that the departments on the south campus are cleaner than the north campus but admit that adequate manpower required for the upkeep of the departments and other new buildings.

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Police on Wednesday arrested Shiv Sena (Hind) leaders Rohit Sawhney and Sanchit Malhotra along with their four accomplices for cooking up stories of threat from Khalistani elements to seek more security.

The police also claimed that the accused were hatching a conspiracy to create a rift between Hindus and Sikhs using social networking sites.

While Sawhney is the national general secretary of the outfit, Sanchit is his brother-in-law and district president of the outfit. Maninder Singh alias Goldy of Meharban village, Prem Sagar of Baldev Nagar and Gurpreet Singh alias Sonu of Golden Avenue Colony are the other accused. One of their accomplices Baljit Singh is on the run.

Sanchit had shown fake threat messages to the police to get more security for himself and his brother-in-law, said Ludhiana police commissioner RN Dhoke.

On August 12, Sanchit lodged a complaint stating that he and Rohit were receiving threats from Sikh radicals. They claimed that two suspects had thrown pamphlets at the house-cum-office of Sanchit in Sardar Nagar.The CCTV footage of the incident was also submitted to police, said Dhoke.

Sanchit had shown fake threat messages to the police to get more security for himself and his brother-in-law, said Ludhiana police commissioner RN Dhoke.

On September 27, Sanchit told police that he had received a message on his WhatsApp from an unknown number wherein radicals had threatened to kill him and Rohit within 10 days. Thereafter, police provided temporary security cover to Sanchit while Sawhney already had gunmen since 2015.

Dhoke said he asked additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, city 1) Ratan Singh Brar to look into the case. When police started tracing the mobile phone number from which Sanchit was receiving threats, the conspiracy came to the fore.

First Sanchit, Rohit and their friend Baljeet Singh got the threat pamphlets printed. Then Prem Sagar and Goldy wore turbans, covered their faces and threw the pamphlets outside Sanchits house. Sanchit also gave money to Goldy to purchase a phone and a SIM to send threat messages on his WhatsApp number, said Dhoke.

Goldy purchased a phone from a shop in Vardhaman Nagar for Rs 1,000 and got a SIM card using fake ID proof. Since Goldy is an illiterate, he asked his friend Gurpreet Singh alias Sonu to type and send the messages on Sanchits number, he added. After this, Rohit appointed Goldy as the president of the east constituency of the outfit.

In another complaint, Rohit alleged threats from gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who is currently in Amritsar jail. However, so far, these allegations have also not been proved.

A case under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 177 (furnishing false information), 182 (false information, with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 193 (false evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC has been registered against them.
Air quality of the city is getting worse due to rise in concentration of particulate matter (PM) 10 and 2.5 and situation is expected to worsen after Diwali. Whats more worrying is that the state is not properly equipped to measure its air quality and its deterioration is fast emerging as a major health hazard.

Last year, the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) had purchased three devices to measure concentration of particulate matter (PM) 2.5. But all the three devices are gathering dust due to lack of filter papers required for reading the pollutant levels and measuring the air quality.

Of late, it has been observed that the air pollution across the state capital breaches the safety level during Diwali. But the JSPCB has been able to measure air quality at just one place, i.e. Albert Ekka Chowk, due to lack of infrastructure. Experts say tiny particulate matter reaches deep into lungs, at times leading to diseases such as Asthma and Tuberculosis.

JSPCB has eight machines to measure PM 10 but only five are in a working condition. Out of the five, one was installed at Albert Ekka Chowk, two were on stand-by and the remaining two were used for surprise checking in industrial areas, officials said.

The officials, however, said the level of PM 2.5 had never been measured in any part of the state during Diwali due to absence of filter paper.

Such condition prevails at a time when it has been observed even in other parts of the country, including national capital, that the level of harmful pollutants in air increases drastically during Diwali due to bursting of firecrackers coupled with foggy weather conditions.

Taking cognisance of the high pollution level during Diwali, the Supreme Court earlier this week banned sale of firecrackers in the Delhi-NCR region till Diwali.

In Ranchi, the recorded data on Diwali last year at Albert Ekka Chowk showed respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM 10) had escalated to 199% from the permissible limit of 100 micrograms per cubic metre (mg/m3).

The only automatic ambient air quality monitoring display installed in the city is at Doranda, where pollution level is considerably lower than other parts of the city, which has witnessed concentration of PM 10 and PM 2.5 above the permissible limit many times.

Concentration of PM 10 was recorded highest at 985 micrograms per cubic metre in Doranda, 10 times higher than the permissible limit, on World Environment Day on June 5 this year.

Kirti Abhisek, a professor of environment studies at Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, said, With rising number of vehicles, PM 2.5 level has also increased in the capital city and it needs to be monitored for peoples awareness.

He said proper monitoring would help people and planners introduce preventive measures as PM 2.5 invites several health problems, mainly related to the respiratory system.

Indian Medical Associations, Jharkhand chapter president, AK Singh said over 15% rise in number of Tuberculosis and Asthma patients had been recorded in the state over the past 10 years, which could be attributed to the rising air pollution.

JSPCB member secretary SK Suman, however, said air quality in the city was still safe. We have been monitoring noise and air pollution levels in Ranchi and other cities of Jharkhand under guidance of CPCB, he said.

Suman said order to procure filter paper to read PM 2.5 had been placed.

JSPCB analyst RN Kashyap said, We have ordered for Whatman filter paper from UK to measure PM 2.5. All procedure to import it has been completed. We are expecting to get the filter by end of this month.

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Gangster Akhilesh Singh, currently in custody of Gurugram police, had tried to wear many hats over the last one and half decades, including donning khadi and becoming a politician, but the police foiled all his ambitious endeavours.

In 2014, while in jail in connection with a couple of murder cases, Singh made a surprise announcement of joining AJSU Party with scores of his associates. AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahato had then travelled to Jamshedpur from Ranchi to induct Singhs associates in the party. The gala function held at Agrico ground near chief minister, Raghubar Das residence saw a large gathering of people from Jamshedpur East constituency.

The gangsters men pumped in lakhs of rupees putting up his huge, larger-than-life hoardings and cut-outs across all major thoroughfares of the steel city and at the venue to make the event a grand success. However, police wasted no time bringing down the hoardings and cut-outs. They further enhanced the vigil around him in jail and days later shifted him to Dumka jail to spoil his political ambitions.

When he came out of jail on bail, the police banished his entry into Jamshedpur fearing his presence would threaten law and order situation in the city. The gangster was forced to make Ranchi his home where he floated an organisation called Jharkhand Kshatriya Sangh and became the self-claimed president. However, all through this period, he and his men continued the extortion and ransom racket, bullying traders, businessmen of the steel city.

The youngest son of a retired policeman, Akhilesh had earlier tried his hands in transport business in his early 20s but could not focus on it for long.

Initially he started transport business in association with one Ashok Sharma, but soon got drawn into crime one. In fact, his life took turn after joining classes of martial art trainer, Vikram Sharma, known as his guru, a senior police official said.

The urge to make quick and easy money propelled him to enter the crime world and he went deeper and deeper into it with each passing day.

His tryst with the crime world began in 2001 when he allegedly kidnapped businessman Om Prakash Kabra for ransom.

He surrendered before the police in the case, but escaped later from the Jamshedpur court premises while appearing in a related hearing. He allegedly killed Kabra in November 2002, blaming him for getting the abduction case framed against him, a source in the Jharkhand police said. Soon he had over 50 cases registered against him.

The checkered history of Akhilesh is peppered with dramatic events: He had surrendered before the court once, escaped from jail once, jumped parole once and was arrested thrice from different areas in different states.

Akhilesh, a former student of Tube Baridih High School, exploited his father, Chandragupta Singhs contacts in the police department, who was general secretary of Jharkhand Police Mens Associationpretty well to strengthen his base in the underworld. A Rajput, he also played his caste card nicely.

Sources said Akhilesh got support from a section of police personnel, mostly of his caste, while another group within the force tried to rein in him.

He hit the headlines when he killed the then jailer of Sakchi jail, Uma Shanker Pandey, at Sakchi, in Jamshedpur in 2002. Akhilesh accused Pandey of torturing him while he was lodged in the jail.

With this, he emerged as one of the dreaded names and formed the underworld A company.

Taking his count further, Akhilesh allegedly killed shoe businessman-cum-owner of Sreeleathers, Ashish Dey, in November 2007; fired at ex-judge of Jamshedpur court, RP Ravi at Sakchi in March 2008. He has been convicted in some of these cases, including the jailors murder, in which he has been awarded life imprisonment.

In November 2016, his rival and JMM leader, Upendra Singh allegedly implicated him in a shootout incident at Sonari. The victim, Amit Rai, who escaped miraculously in the incident, was the JMM leaders close aide. It is alleged that Upendra planned the shootout to shift the blame on Akhilesh so that he never got permission to enter Jamshedpur.

Agitated, Akhilesh got both Upendra and Rai killed within 20 days gap. The police had since been chasing him. Early this year, the cops recently seized immovable properties of Akhilesh worth crores of rupees in several cities of Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh.

CRIME HISTORY

-Kidnapping of businessman Om Prakash Kabra in 2001.

-Om Prakash Kabra murder in November 2002

-Murder of Ghaghidih jailor Uma Shankar Pandey at Sakchi in 2002

-Sreeleathers owner Ashish Dey murder at Sakchi in November 2007

-Firing on ex-judge in Jamshedpur court RP Ravi at Sakchi in March 2008

-Firing on Paramjeet Singh at Sakchi in September 2008

-Murder of Tata Steel security officer Jairam Singh at Sakchi in October 2008

-Transporter Ashok Sharma murder at Bistupur in 2008

-Murder of JMM leader Upendra Singh and his associate Amit Rai in November 2016

VAULTING AMBITION The youngest son of a retired policeman, Akhilesh had earlier tried his hands in transport business in his early 20s but could not focus on it for long
Ukraine's Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection and the Veterinary Service of Angola are planning to sign a memorandum of cooperation in the near future.

The document will become the legal framework for facilitating trade of goods inspection between the states, the Ukrainian regulator said in a press release.

The parties agreed to promote the development of practical and scientific cooperation in the field of veterinary and animal health within their competence and in accordance with the current legislation.

The meeting took place in the framework of summing up the results of a visit of delegates from Angola, who visited Ukraine under a program for the exchange of experience of specialists in veterinary medicine.

Cooperation between the authorities of Ukraine and Angola is given impetus in pursuance of agreements reached when Ukrainian delegates visited Angola in May 2017.
In the weekly column for the a popular Tamil magazine, Kamal Haasan explained why his friendship with Rajinikanth is above misunderstanding. He wrote, The friendship between me and Rajini is not something that could go south due to third persons understanding.

At the Sivaji Ganesan memorial in Chennai, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan were seen together on October 1. It was here that Rajinikanth, while speaking about Sivajis failed political career said that money and fame alone cannot lead to victory in politics. This statement was considered by many as an indirect jibe at Kamal Haasan who had announced that he would be entering politics. At a time when two huge superstars have announced their impending political entry, each of their statements is looked at through a magnifying glass.

Kamal continued in his column for Vikatan, To people asking why this clarification couldnt be made on a phone call to him, I would say, it is not for him. It is for people who do not understand.

Kamal explained what Rajinikanth said at the memorial: At the memorial, what was said was, Sivaji sir has not just taught us lessons in cinema, but also in politics. He floated his own party, stood for an election and lost in his own constituency. To be victorious in politics, it is not enough for one to be famous, rich and influential. There has to be something more. People can identify this factor, I do not know what it is. I think Kamal Haasan knows this, but he will not reveal it to me. When I said, I am like your little brother in cinema, and asked him to tell me what this factor was, Kamal said that he would reveal it if I joined him.

This means that Kamal is open to collaborating with Rajini, but not in coalition with any existing parties. He also wrote that he has a few questions to ask Rajini. He asked, What is victory in politics exactly? Is to float an individual party, win the upcoming elections with members in maximum places, to go on to become a chief minister, prime minister? If it is that, shouldnt the victory symbolise growth for people at large without the people losing their self respect by begging for the said growth?

He explained that people who are remembered in politics are - Gandhi, who hasnt competed in elections and our elder,Periyar. He also added, BR Ambedkars first election was not a failure, but the beginning of a history about to be made.

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NASA is using an asteroids close flyby to test Earths warning network for incoming space rocks.

The small asteroid was on track to pass within 43,800 kilometres of Antarctica early on Thursday.

Program scientist Michael Kelley said thats pretty close as these things go. But he stressed theres no chance it will hit us. Future space rocks might, though  thus this first-of-its-kind cosmic fire drill.

You never expect your office building to catch fire and to be trapped in there, but you have fire drills anyway, he said Wednesday. Thats what Ive been using as kind of an analogy to what were doing here.

Observatories worldwide  part of the International Asteroid Warning Network  have been zooming in on the asteroid called 2012 TC4 for weeks to test communication and coordination. Kelley said its gone well.

Until now, researchers relied on tabletop tests, simulations with no actual asteroids involved. The exercise will continue for another week, as observatories keep tracking the asteroid as it departs Earths neighbourhood.

First spotted in 2012 and then disappearing from view until this past July, the asteroid is estimated to measure 14 to 30 metres.Kelley said astronomers should have a better handle on the shape and size of the rock  which they believe is oblong, like a potato  in coming days and weeks, as more observations pour in.

Scientists picked this particular asteroid because they knew it did not threaten Earth, yet had some uncertainty in its path. That uncertainty is what provided the challenge for observers, all volunteers in this project. They are using major telescopes in Hawaii and Arizona, among other places. Puerto Ricos Arecibo Observatory got knocked out by last months Hurricane Maria and could not take part.

Backyard astronomers have little chance of seeing the asteroid, according to Kelley, given its speed and faintness. It wont be visible with the naked eye.

The communication lines for the test have extended all the way to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and even the White House, according to Kelley, whos leading the effort for NASAs Planetary Defense Coordination Office.

Another test  using another actual asteroid headed harmlessly our way  is planned in the next few years.
Firefighters struggled overnight to halt the spread of wildfires known to have killed 23 people in North California, preparing for winds to shift after one town threatened by flames evacuated all residents.

The edge of the deadly Tubbs fire was less than two miles (3km) from Calistoga, a Napa Valley community whose 5,000 residents left their homes on Wednesday.

Whether the town burns is going to depend on the wind, its Fire Chief Steve Campbell told Reuters early on Thursday. High winds are predicted, but we have not received them yet.

Tubbs is one of nearly two dozen fires spanning eight counties that, raging largely unchecked since igniting on Sunday, have left hundreds of residents unaccounted for.

They have also charred around 170,000 acres (69,000 hectares) of land and destroyed some 3,500 buildings since.

Firefighters protect a vineyard in Santa Rosa, California, October 11, 2017 as the toll from Northern California wildfires continues to grow. (AFP)

While their cause has not been conclusively determined, they are thought to have been sparked by power lines toppled by gale force winds, and fanned by hot, dry Diablo winds that blew into northern California toward the Pacific.

New advisory evacuations were also issued in Sonoma County late on Wednesday for parts of Santa Rosa, the largest city in the states world-renowned wine country, and Gesyerville, an unincorporated town of 800 people.

The winds are predicted to be very erratic, said country spokesman Barry Dugan. There will be burst of high gusts that can be ... very unpredictable and difficult when you are fighting a fire and also for residents who we are trying to keep posted.

Wildfires have damaged or demolished at least 13 Napa Valley wineries, a vintners trade group said on Tuesday.

Around 25,000 people remained under evacuation on Wednesday as the fires belched smoke that drifted south over the San Francisco Bay area, where some residents donned face masks.

In this Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, photo, the Fountain Grove Inn burns in the distance as the devastated Journey's End mobile home park smolders in Santa Rosa, Calif. (AP)

STILL MISSING

More than 285 people were still missing in Sonoma County late on Wednesday night, the sheriff said on Twitter. It was unclear how many might be fire victims rather than evacuees who not checked in with authorities.

In Santa Rosa, blocks in some neighbourhoods resembled war zones, with little left but charred debris, broken walls, chimneys and the steel frames of burned-out cars.

The 23 recorded deaths make the fires the deadliest in the state since 1991, with Tubbs, which has accounted for 13 fatalities, the worst single blaze since 2003, according to state data.

In addition to high winds, the fires have been stoked by an abundance of thick brush left tinder dry by a summer of hot, dry weather.

Prisoners from the McCain inmate crew from San Diego, Calif., walk on a back country road prior to clearing brush on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Calistoga, Calif. (AP)

Matt Nauman, spokesman for the regions main utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, said many power lines had fallen during gales that packed gusts in excess of 75 miles (120km) per hour.

California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in several northern counties, as well as in Orange County in Southern California, where a fire in Anaheim destroyed 15 structures and damaged 12.
Bangladesh has banned three Islamic charities from working with the Rohingya refugees, a lawmaker said on Thursday, amid concerns that displaced Muslims in camps along its border could be radicalised.

Mahjabeen Khaled, an MP from the ruling Awami League, said the international charities, Muslim Aid and Islamic Relief, and Bangladesh-based Allama Fazlullah Foundation, had been blacklisted from the Rohingya refugee camps in southern- most Coxs Bazar district.

Khaled, who sits on the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs, said no specific allegations had been levelled at the charities.

But authorities were scrutinising and screening all aid agencies wanting to contribute to the massive relief effort in Coxs Bazar, where more than half a million refugees had fled to squalid camps since August.

We want to monitor who is giving aid, and why, for security reasons. Who are funding them, and what they are going to do with the money? Khaled told AFP.

They (Rohingya) are vulnerable. A lot can be done with this Rohingya people. We want to be careful, she said, adding it would be easy to lure the refugees to militancy.

Bangladesh has heavily curtailed access to the Rohingya camps in recent years, but eased restrictions last month after more than 520,000 new refugees poured across the border.

The governments NGO Affairs Bureau approved 30 local and global aid groups to meet emergency needs in the overwhelmed camps, which already housed about 300,000 Rohingya before the latest influx.

Before that, just four international charities -- including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Action Against Hunger (ACF) -- were permitted to operate in the sensitive border district.

Khaled said Muslim Aid had also been banned from working in the refugee camps in 2012, when tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled a separate surge of violence in neighbouring Myanmar.

Bangladesh authorities are reluctant to discuss their reasons for curbing access to the camps, but fears prevail that anger among the displaced Rohingya could be exploited by extremist networks.

Bangladesh is fighting its own battle against homegrown Islamist radicals, who have claimed responsibility for the brutal murder of progressive bloggers, secular activists and foreigners in recent years.

Even those charities given the green light last month can only work for two months, and must restrict activities to providing healthcare, sanitation facilities and shelter for the Rohingya.
Bangladesh has banned three Islamic charities from working with Rohingya refugees, a lawmaker said on Thursday, amid concerns that displaced Muslims in camps along its border could be radicalised.

Mahjabeen Khaled, an MP from the ruling Awami League, said the international charities, Muslim Aid and Islamic Relief, and Bangladesh-based Allama Fazlullah Foundation had been blacklisted from the Rohingya refugee camps in southern-most Coxs Bazar district.

Khaled, who sits on the parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs, said no specific allegations had been levelled at the charities.

But authorities were scrutinising and screening all aid agencies wanting to contribute to the massive relief effort in Coxs Bazar, where more than half a million refugees had fled to squalid camps since August.

We want to monitor who is giving aid, and why, for security reasons. Who are funding them, and what they are going to do with the money? Khaled told AFP.

They (Rohingya) are vulnerable. A lot can be done with this Rohingya people. We want to be careful, she said, adding it would be easy to lure the refugees to militancy.

Bangladesh has heavily curtailed access to Rohingya camps in recent years, but eased restrictions last month after more than 520,000 new refugees poured across the border.

A Rohingya refugee looks out of her tent in Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on October 12, 2017. (Reuters)

The governments NGO Affairs Bureau approved 30 local and global aid groups to meet emergency needs in the overwhelmed camps, which already housed about 300,000 Rohingya before the latest influx.

Before that, just four international charities - including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Action Against Hunger (ACF) - were permitted to operate in the sensitive border district.

Khaled said Muslim Aid had also been banned from working in the refugee camps in 2012, when tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled a separate surge of violence in neighbouring Myanmar.

Bangladesh authorities are reluctant to discuss their reasons for curbing access to the camps, but fears prevail that anger among the displaced Rohingya could be exploited by extremist networks.

Bangladesh is fighting its own battle against homegrown Islamist radicals, who have claimed responsibility for the brutal murder of progressive bloggers, secular activists and foreigners in recent years.

Even those charities given the green light last month can only work for two months, and must restrict activities to providing healthcare, sanitation facilities and shelter for the Rohingya.
A draft amendment to the constitution of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which will possibly enshrine President Xi Jinpings doctrine in it by his name, has been taken up for discussion at a closed-door meeting in Beijing.

The meeting of the CPC Central Committee, one of the top decision-making bodies of the 89-million-strong party, is being held in the run-up to the 19th National Congress that begins on October 18. Its a key meet where large-scale changes to the party are expected.

The draft amendment, kept a secret so far, is widely being seen as a way to incorporate Xis thoughts  distilled as four comprehensives  in the CPC charter.

President Xis thoughts will likely be incorporated as guidelines for the CPC, a Chinese academic told Hindustan Times.

So far, the CPC charter only has Mao Zedongs Thoughts and Deng Xiaopings Theory included in it by their names.

If the amendment is made, it would be the latest sign of Xis rapid rise in the country of 1.4 billion as one of the strongest Chinese leaders in decades. He took over as CPC chief in 2012.

Its not clear what exact words could be used to include Xis thoughts in the charter; the specific amendment to the party constitution will only be revealed at the end of the Congress.

Xi is already the CPC general secretary, the chairperson of the Central Military Commission and the core of the party, which he was anointed as in October last year. He also heads an economic group overseeing reforms and is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

The CPC has often been accused of forwarding and promoting jargon but that they didnt stop the state media from widely publicising Xis thoughts when they were first put forward in 2015.

Broadly, the four comprehensives comprise: Comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society, comprehensively deepen reform, comprehensively govern the nation according to law, comprehensively strictly govern the CPC.

Xis achievements including countrywide inspection tours he has made since taking over are being highlighted in the state media.

These moves signalled the focus of Xi's governance, which has highlighted fulfilling the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation and realising the goals set for the centenaries of the CPC in 2020 and the People's Republic of China in 2049, said a report on the website for the 19th National Congress.

Since 2012, Xi has completed 50 inspection tours across the country, totaling 151 days, it said.

An earlier report by the official Xinhua news agency had indicated the changes that would be incorporated in the CPC charter.

The report said amending the CPC constitution must fully represent the latest sinicisation of Marxism, new governance concepts, thought and strategies of the CPC Central Committee since the 18th CPC National Congress, as well as new experience in adhering to and strengthening Party leadership and in strict Party governance.

In all, the Central Committee meeting is discussing three documents, including the amendment to be put up to the National Congress, a draft report by the 18th CPC Central Committee, and a draft working report of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Xinhua reported.
Dutch team Nuon on Thursday won an epic 3,000-km solar car race across Australias outback for the third straight year, continuing its dominance of an innovative contest showcasing new vehicle technology.

The World Solar Challenge, first run in 1987 and last held in 2015, began in the northern city of Darwin on Sunday morning, with 41 competing cars heading to the final destination of Adelaide in South Australia.

Cheers and chants of Nuna roared from the large Dutch contingent as the Nuna 9 car - travelling at an average speed of 81.2 kilometres per hour - crossed the finish line mid-afternoon.

Welcome to #Adelaide @NuonSolarTeam, winner of the @bridgestone #BWSC17 Schneider Electric Challenger Class, the race organisers tweeted.

The US University of Michigan Novum finished just under two hours behind in second place ahead of Belgiums Punch Powertrain, which completed the race half an hour later.

This handout from the World Solar Challenge 2017 shows the University of Michigan Solar Car Team vehicle Novum from the US heading to the finish line in Adelaide. (AFP)

The event has become one of the worlds foremost innovation challenges with teams looking to demonstrate designs that could one day lead to commercially available solar-powered vehicles for passengers.

Google co-founder Larry Page and Tesla co-founder J B Straubel are past competitors who credit the event in influencing their careers.

The win is the seventh for Nuon, with their car overcoming cloudy skies as they took the lead early and stayed ahead in the elite Challenger class, which features slick, single seat aerodynamic vehicles built for sustained endurance and total energy efficiency.

The teams winning time was 37 hours, 10 minutes and 41 seconds. When their team finished first in 2015, it took them 33.03 hours.

Team manager Sander Koot said they changed their strategy and driving style to cope with weather conditions that included wind gusts of up to 60 kmh.

They also positioned the car so it could benefit from the windy conditions like a sailing ship, the teams aerodynamics expert Jasper Hemmes told organisers.

This handout from the World Solar Challenge 2017 shows Nuon Solar Team vehicle Nuna9 from the Netherlands in action near Redhill as it heads to victory. (AFP)

There is also a Cruiser class which aims to showcase solar technology for mainstream vehicles that are more practical for day-to-day use.

Another Dutch team, Eindhoven, is on track to finish on Friday and win that class, with Germanys HS Bochum tracking second.

The vehicles are powered by the sun and mostly developed by universities or corporations, with teams hailing from Australia and countries across the world including the United States, Malaysia, India and South Africa.

They are allowed to store a small amount of energy but the majority of their power has to come from the sun and the vehicles kinetic forces.

The crews drove between 8 am and 5 pm each day with seven checkpoints along a route cutting through the heart of Australias central desert region, to get updates on their standings, the weather, and do basic maintenance.
A Spanish Eurofighter jet crashed on Thursday after taking part in a military display in Madrid for Spains national day, killing its pilot, the defence ministry said.

As a result of the accident, the pilot of the plane that crashed on its approach to landing has died, the ministry said in a statement.

It said the Eurofighter went down near a military base at Albacete, 300 kilometres (180 miles) southeast of the capital.

The Twitter account for the defence ministrys chief of staff confirmed the pilots death.

Rest in peace, comrade. Thank you for helping us to celebrate the day you have given your life for. We wont forget you, it said, posting an image of the Spanish flag pinned with a black ribbon.

A Eurofighter last crashed in Spain in June 2014, killing the pilot when it ploughed into grass short of the runway at the Moron air force base near Seville.

Spains national day marks the date that Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Americas in 1492.

It falls this year in the middle of Spains biggest political crisis in a decade as Catalonias separatist leader is threatening to split the region from the rest of the country.

A traditional military parade took place in Madrid, with fighter jets, military planes and helicopters making several flybys.
Gunmen Thursday shot dead a Pakistani TV journalist in the northwestern Swat valley, police said.

Haroon Khan, who was working as stringer for the local Mashriq Television channel, was standing outside his house when he was attacked.

Two armed men opened fire on Khan who died on the spot, senior local police official Sohaib Ashraf told AFP.

He said the attackers quickly disappeared before anybody could intercept them.

Another local police official, Muhammad Ali, confirmed the incident.

No group has so far claimed responsibility, Ashraf said.

Pakistan is among the worlds most dangerous countries for journalists.

Swat has been held up as a success story in Pakistans fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants by local security forces, which ended a Taliban insurgency in the area.

Once a popular tourist destination, the scenic valley slipped out of Islamabads control in July 2007 after radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah mounted a violent campaign to enforce Islamic sharia law.

Pakistan launched a blistering air and ground offensive in the valley after militants marched out of Swat and advanced to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of the capital Islamabad in April 2009.

Taliban gunmen tried to kill teenage activist Malala Yousafzai in 2012 in Swat for her outspoken views on girls education.

Malala survived and in October 2014 became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous and determined fight for all children to have the right to go to school.

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Ukraine, with the adoption of the Law on Education, in particular the language article, does not intend to assimilate, deprive the Hungarian minority of its identity or language, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin told in an interview with Hungarian television.

"It is extremely important to have a frank and constructive dialogue on the educational law, first and foremost about people ... Ukraine does not intend to assimilate, to deprive the Hungarian minority of its identity or language," spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry, Mariana Betsa quoted Klimkin as saying on Twitter.

The minister also said that Ukraine intends to ensure the level of the Ukrainian language at the European level. "Our goal is to ensure the role of the Ukrainian language as a state language at the same level as it is provided in all European countries, including in Hungary," Klimkin said.
In 2009, a pop video from North Korea celebrated a new national hero - one that outside experts would later realise was at the heart of the secretive states banned nuclear and missile programmes.

That hero, widely available in factories across the world, was the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine.

Big, grey and boxy, CNC machines use pre-programmed guides to produce intricate parts for everything from automobiles and mobile phones to furniture and clothes. They offer accuracy that human machine tool operators are unable to achieve.

In North Korea, thanks to a combination of homemade technology and reverse engineering, the machines now play a critical role in the weapons programmes. They allow Kim Jong Un to build nuclear bombs and missiles without relying as heavily on outside technical aid or imports.

Nuclear weapons experts say this has helped him accelerate missile and nuclear testing despite international sanctions on the transfer of sensitive equipment.

North Koreas centrifuges and new missiles all depend on components made with CNC machine tools, said Jeffrey Lewis, head of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of Strategic Studies at Monterey, California.

(They) are the essential underlying technology for producing missiles and nuclear weapons, said Lewis.

Since 1996, CNC machines have been included in the Wassenaar Arrangement  an international arms control regime aimed at stopping the proliferation of equipment with both civilian and military uses. North Korea is not a signatory.

The countrys celebrations of its CNC technology have been fulsome. Hundreds of dancers in luminous orange and green performed the CNC pop song, titled Break through the cutting edge, at a Korean Workers Party celebration in 2010.

In 2012, the year the South Korean hit Gangnam Style was released, the Norths CNC title was on karaoke machines nationwide, according to Choson Exchange, a Singapore-based company that trains North Koreans in business skills. The official video for the song opens with a long-range North Korean rocket soaring into a blue sky.

Cutting edge

North Korea likely started to develop its own CNC machines in the early 1990s as part of a drive to build sophisticated missiles and nuclear weapons, nuclear experts say. It probably learned how to make them by taking apart machines it had imported from the Soviet Union.

Its first homemade CNC machine was introduced in 1995. Former leader Kim Jong Il gave the machine the Ryonha brand, according to a 2009 article in the countrys official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun. That was the first time state media mentioned the technology. By 2009, the machines had become a mainstay of North Korean propaganda, as Pyongyang launched a nationwide campaign to boost domestic industry.

Sanctions were mounting after its second nuclear test and a long-range missile launch that year. At the time, arms control experts raised concerns about a visit by former leader Kim Jong Il to a North Korean factory where homemade CNC machines appeared to be producing aluminium tubes. These could be used for nuclear centrifuges.

By around 2010, it seemed they were capable of manufacturing various types of CNC machines, said Kim Heung-gwang, a North Korean defector who taught at Pyongyangs Hamhung Computer Technology University before defecting to South Korea.

But it wasnt until 2013 that the Korea Ryonha Machinery Joint Venture Corporation, which produced the machines, was blacklisted by the UN Security Council for supporting the weapons programmes.

And it was only in August this year that US intelligence officials told Reuters North Korea likely has the ability to produce its own missile engines themselves. Now, Kim Heung-gwang estimates, North Korea has about 15,000 CNC machines. He bases this on North Korean state media reports and photos as well as interviews with more than a dozen defectors who were scientists, professors or factory workers.

Mass production

Pyongyang hailed the homemade machines as a triumph for its governing ideology of Juche, which champions self-sufficiency. But that wasnt strictly true. In August 2016, state media released photos of Kim Jong Un visiting a factory using CNC machines with the logo of Swiss engineering firm ABB, one of the leading players in the global CNC machine market. Its not clear when or how the machine reached North Korea.

ABB said the firm respects all applicable trade sanctions against North Korea, and undertakes not to deliver ABB equipment to the country. That said, we cannot rule out that some of our equipment may have been resold to DPR of Korea without our knowledge or permission, the company said in response to a Reuters inquiry, using North Koreas official title.

A United Nations panel monitoring sanctions on North Korea said in a report this year that Tengzhou Keyongda CNC Machine Tools Co of China had been a supplier of Pyongyangs new CNC machines. A sales representative for Tengzhou Keyongda told Reuters the company stopped selling CNC machines to North Korea four years ago, and no longer maintains trade relations with the country.

Despite sanctions, CNC machines are commonplace across North Korean manufacturing and can be brought in through China and Russia, said Lee Choon-geun, a senior fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Institute in South Korea.

The biggest loophole has been that while some CNC machines are banned because they can have both military and civilian functions, most serve civilian industry. Given their dual-use capability, you could even import the machines for other purposes, take them to pieces and use them however you want, said Lee.

The CNC song highlights this in its opening line: Whatever it is, once we put our mind to it, theres a programme to make it, it says.
Israel will withdraw from the UNs cultural and education body after a United States decision to do the same on accusations of bias against the Jewish state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday.

The prime minister instructed the foreign ministry to prepare Israels withdrawal from the organisation alongside the United States, Netanyahus office said in a statement.

Netanyahu welcomes the decision by President (Donald) Trump to withdraw from UNESCO. This is a courageous and moral decision because UNESCO has become the theatre of the absurd and because instead of preserving history it distorts it.

Netanyahus decision came hours after the US State Department said the United States would pull out from the UN body, in part due to continuing anti-Israel bias.

Israel has long been at loggerheads with UNESCO, particularly over its decision to admit the Palestinians as members in 2011.

In July, the UN body declared the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank an endangered World Heritage site, delighting Palestinians and infuriating Israel.

Netanyahu announced a $1-million cut in funding to the United Nations, saying the UNESCO vote ignored Jewish ties to the site.

It followed a UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem in May that strongly criticised the Jewish states occupation of the eastern part of the city.

At the time, Netanyahu said the absurd vote denied the Jewish connection to the city.
Pakistans ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharifs sons have been given 30 days to appear before the Islamabad Accountability Court in the Panama Papers case failing which they will be declared proclaimed offenders, the countrys anti-graft body said today.

The process of issuing red warrants for Hassan and Hussain, who are in the UK along with their ailing mother Kulsoom, will begin after the completion of one month if they did not appear before the accountability court in three corruption and money laundering cases, according to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The court is trying Hussain and Hassan along with their father Nawaz Sharif, sister Maryam and brother-in-law captain (retired) Muhammad Safdar in corruption cases filed against them by the NAB on the Supreme Courts instruction in the Panama Papers case.

They have been given a 30-day deadline (till November 10) to appear before the court and the copies of the notice have been pasted at the Model Town and Jati Umra Raiwind residences of the Sharif family, it said.

Sharifs sons will be declared proclaimed offenders and their properties attached if they failed to meet the deadline, the NAB said.

On the other hand, Hussain and Hassan have decided not to join the proceedings of the corruption cases against them.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has said that Hassan and Hussain have chosen to invoke their British citizenship in order to skip the court proceedings in Pakistan.

They are foreign citizens and Pakistani laws do not apply to them, therefore they are unlikely to join the court proceedings here, says PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rashid.

Sharifs sons had been doing business abroad for over two decades, their financial matters were open for scrutiny in Britain and Saudi Arabia, he said, adding that Sharif, Maryam and Safdar will continue to attend court proceedings.

On October 9, the Accountability Court in Islamabad ordered the NAB to initiate the process of declaring the former premiers sons proclaimed offenders as they have consistently skipped the courts proceedings in three graft cases pertaining to their Park Lane flats and the establishment of offshore companies.

Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law will be indicted tomorrow in the three corruption and money laundering cases.

Sharif had to step down as prime minister and president of the PML-N party after he was disqualified by the Supreme Court on July 28 in the Panama Papers scandal.
Pakistan raised on Thursday its concerns on Indias ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and international border with UN Security Councils five permanent members.

The UN Security Council permanent members include China, France, Russia, Britain and US.

The heads of P5 states were briefed by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua as well as the DGMO Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza in Islamabad on the surge in violations from the Indian side, particularly in the past two months, a Foreign Office statement said.

The Foreign Secretary underscored the need to stop the unprecedented escalation by the Indian army at the LoC.

Janjua said that the ceasefire violations in populated areas has led to the killing of 45 civilians as well serious injuries to 155 in this year alone. The victims include a large number of women and children, she added.

The Foreign Secretary said the violations were taking place in complete disregard to the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding and of International Law.

Indian regimes actions, Janjua said, were a serious threat to the maintenance of regional peace.

While emphasizing the important role of the United Nations Military Observers Group (UNMOGIP) which has the mandate for maintaining peace and tranquility at the LoC and the Working Boundary, the statement said. However, India is not cooperative and limits their access.

Pakistan, it said, maintains India should permit UNMOGIP to play its mandated role in line with the UNSC resolutions to ensure peace.

She said that the situation has been aggravated by the recent statements coming out of New Delhi and the 2016 surgical strike in Pakistani territory, and claims of repeating such a misadventure.

While the DGMO gave a comprehensive presentation on the current situation, heads of the missions assured they would convey the countrys concerns to their respective capitals.
Myanmars embattled leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, called for national unity today and said she has created a committee that will coordinate all international and local assistance in violence-struck Rakhine state.

More than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from the state to neighbouring Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when security forces responded to attacks by a militant Rohingya group with a broad crackdown on the long-persecuted Muslim minority.

Many houses were burned down. The UN has called the violence textbook ethnic cleansing.

Suu Kyi acknowledged in a speech on state-run television that the country is facing widespread criticism over the refugee crisis, and called for unity in tackling the problem.

She said her government is holding talks with Bangladesh on the return of those who are now in Bangladesh. She gave no details, but officials have suggested they would need to provide residency documents, which few have.

Myanmars Buddhist majority denies that Rohingya Muslims are a separate ethnic group and regards them as having migrated illegally from Bangladesh, although many families have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Suu Kyi did not use the word Rohingya in her speech, but referred to several other ethnic minorities by name.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former political prisoner, has been widely criticized outside Myanmar for not speaking out on behalf of the Rohingya.

She said in her speech that those who return from Bangladesh would need to be resettled, without providing details, and that development must be brought to Rakhine, one of the countrys poorest areas, to achieve a durable peace.

She said she would head the new committee, the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, and that it would coordinate all efforts to create a peaceful and developed Rakhine state.

The government has tightly restricted access to Rakhine for international aid groups and journalists.

Suu Kyi said her government has invited UN agencies, financial institutions such as the World Bank, and others to help develop Rakhine.

Myanmar officials deny there has been ethnic cleansing. Myanmars ambassador to Japan, Thurain Thant Zin, told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday that his government was providing humanitarian aid to all affected by the violence and denied reports of human rights abuses by the military.

To say the Myanmar military conducted those illegal acts is untrue and cannot be true, he said. The Myanmar government protests the use of such terms as ethnic cleansing and genocide.
An American mom has shared pictures of her daughters burnt mouth after she chewed on a plugged-in phone charger.

Courtney N Davis, from Kentucky, US, took to Facebook on October 5 to warn other parents about the potential dangers of electrical devices such as phone chargers.

On Sept 28th my 19 month old stuck my phone charger in her mouth. We went to the Dr who confirmed that it was an electrical burn there was nothing they could put on it due to her being able to lick it., Davis wrote in a Facebook post, which has been shared more than 300,000 times so far.

She narrated how her daughter suffered the severe burn within a few seconds of putting the charger in her mouth.

Any other day my charger wouldnt have been plugged up in her reach but bc of a bunch of stuff going on that day I didnt have time to move it, she said.

It took all of a few seconds for her to get burned. She had never tried to put it in her mouth and she had never messed with it. The one day it isnt moved she stuck it in her mouth and got a severe burn.

The child suffered the severe burn within a few seconds of putting the charger in her mouth (Facebook/Courtney N Davis)

Day 4 of the incident. (Facebook/Courtney N Davis)

Davis said luckily the toddler doesnt seem to be bothered by the injury but she pleaded with parents and guardians to be careful with their phone chargers.

Parents, Grandparents, babysitters etc please put your chargers up out of reach.

My daughter was lucky the next kid may not be as lucky as her.

She later updated her post saying the concerned device was a third-party charger that fits a Samsung Note 5.

Accidental injuries due to mobile phone explosions have been widely reported, but such injuries involving phone chargers are rare.
The United States and Israel announced Thursday they were pulling out of UN cultural body UNESCO -- an organisation that has seen its share of controversy during a 70-year history.

Washington called for fundamental reform of UNESCO, accusing it of anti-Israeli bias. Israel accused the organisation of distorting history.

Here are five facts about the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization:

195 countries

With 195 member states, the UNs cultural arm says it aims to build peace through education, science, culture and communication.

It is best known for its world heritage listings of outstanding cultural and natural sites.

However, it also promotes the right to education, the use of scientific knowledge for sustainable development and addresses emerging social and ethical challenges.

Its current priorities are listed as Africa and gender equality.

Grand Canyon

The constantly evolving World Heritage List currently names 1,073 cultural and natural sites of importance. To be included on the list, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one of 10 selection criteria.

Among the most well-known are the Grand Canyon, the Great Wall of China, the Old City of Jerusalem, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

UNESCO also names 54 sites on its list of World Heritage in Danger, including national parks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which are under threat from war, and the deteriorating historic town of Zabid in Yemen.

Famous beginnings

UNESCO was founded in 1945 when the UN was created to prevent another outbreak of world war.

However, its roots date back to the International Commission for Intellectual Cooperation (ICIC), which was established as part of the League of Nations in 1922.

The ICIC counted the pioneering physicists Albert Einstein and Marie Curie, novelist Thomas Mann and composer Bela Bartok among its members.

New states, new members

Following decolonisation, 19 African states joined UNESCO in the 1960s.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the USSR was replaced by the Russian Federation alongside 12 former Soviet republics in 1992.

Communist East Germany was also a member between 1972 and 1990, before the reunification of Germany.

In 2011 Palestine became the 195th UNESCO member, in defiance of American, Israeli and European pressure.

No escape from controversy

UNESCO has been the scene of diplomatic flare-ups in recent years after Arab countries succeeded in passing a number of resolutions critical of Israel.

In May, Israel was infuriated by a resolution identifying it as the occupying power in the disputed city of Jerusalem.

In 1956, apartheid South Africa pulled out from the organisation claiming it was interfering in the countrys racial problems. It returned in 1994, only after Nelson Mandela became leader.

President Ronald Reagan withdrew the United States membership between 1984 and 2003, accusing UNESCO of anti-Americanism and corruption.

Britain and Singapore also followed suit, shunning the organisation until 1997 and 2007 respectively.

In 2011 US president Barack Obama pulled funding for UNESCO -- about 22% of its annual budget -- for accepting Palestine as a member.
The United States on Thursday announced it had secured the release of an American woman and her family held captive by the Haqqani Network since 2012 in Pakistan, and noted approvingly the cooperation it received from Islamabad, which has been on notice from the Trump administration.

The Pakistani governments cooperation is a sign that it is honouring Americas wish that it do more to provide security in the region, and I want to thank the Pakistani government, President Donald Trump said. They worked very hard on this and I believe theyre starting to respect the US again.

He added, We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations.

Caitlan Coleman, an American, and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle were captured in 2012 and held hostage by the Haqqani Network, a terrorist organisation that has been called a veritable arm of the Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Coleman and her husband had three children while in captivity.

The White House said their release was secured on Wednesday in conjunction with the government of Pakistan.

News of the release coincided with a visit to Islamabad by Lisa Curtis, the National Security Councils senior director for South and Central Asia, along with a high-level US delegation for talks with the Foreign Office.

Pakistan has said the family was rescued by its army and the ISI based on actionable intelligence from US authorities which had been tracking them and shared (intelligence about) their shifting across to Pakistan on Wednesday through the Kurram tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

No other details were shared by the US or Pakistan.

Coleman and Boyle were taken hostage in October 2012 near Kabul. They were expecting their first child then. They had appeared in a video in 2012 asking the US to free them.

In another video, made public in 2016, Boyle said, Our captors are terrified at the thought of their own mortality approaching and are saying that they will take reprisals on our own family.

They will execute us, women and children included, if the policies of the Afghan government are not overturned either by the Afghan government or by Canada, somehow.

Their release, soon after the fifth anniversary of their capture, comes at a particularly low point in relations between the US and Pakistan over the latters continued prevarication on moving decisively against terrorist groups operating from its soil, the Haqqani Network being of particular concern for the Americans.

Gen Joseph Dunford, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told lawmakers at a recent hearing: It is clear to me that the ISI has connections with terrorist groups. Admiral Mike Mullen, another chairman of joint chiefs, had called the Haqqani Network a veritable arm of the ISI.

While unveiling his Afghanistan-centric South Asia policy in August, Trump had said, We can no longer be silent about Pakistans safe havens for terrorist organisations.

That had the effect of putting Pakistan, a non-NATO ally, on notice and there was speculation the US administration could target the ISI in its bid to work with Pakistan one more time, as stated by defence secretary James Mattis.

Coleman and Boyle set off in the summer of 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan. Colemans parents last heard from their son-in-law on October 8, 2012 from an internet cafe in what Boyle described as an unsafe part of Afghanistan.

Colemans parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, told the online Circa News service in July 2016 that they received a letter from their daughter in November 2015, in which she wrote that shed given birth to a second child in captivity. Its unclear whether they knew she had had a third.

I pray to hear from you again, to hear how everybody is doing, the letter said.

In that interview, Jim Coleman issued a plea to top Taliban commanders to be kind and merciful and let the couple go.

As a man, father and now grandfather, I am asking you to show mercy and release my daughter, her husband, and our beautiful grandchildren, Jim Coleman said. Please grant them an opportunity to continue their lives with us, and bring peace to their families.

US had targeted the leaders of the Haqqani Network with drone strikes in the past. The group also operates like a criminal network. Unlike the Islamic State, it does not typically execute Western hostages, preferring to ransom them for cash.

(With inputs from agencies)
The competition commission of the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service has said that the winner of the competition for the post of secretary of state of the Health Ministry is Artem Yanchuk, who currently serves as first deputy head of the State Registration Service of Ukraine.

A post on the website of the agency says that the commission made such a decision at a meeting on Tuesday, October 10.

The Health Ministry reported on its page in Facebook that Yanchuk does not have a conflict of interests.

In September 2017, the Cabinet of Ministers refused to appoint Deputy Director of the State Expert Center Natalia Sholoiko as secretary of state at the Health Ministry because of a conflict of interests, as her family is connected with pharmaceutical business.
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On-site cinema, coveted city centre location, a gym, a private chef for catering dinner parties  all must-haves you might expect to find in the home of a demanding, ultra wealthy member of the international elite.

But in fact they are the sort of added extras that are increasingly appealing to a new breed of buyer, who dont consider themselves particularly grand: the upmarket London downsizer.

This group is increasingly opting for newly built homes, often trading in an older family house in the country or suburbs for a shiny new city flat in a prestigious development  a fifth of Savills new build buyers over the past four years were downsizing.

And this inward moving trend looks set to continue with the number of over-65s in London projected to grow by 65 per cent in the next 20 years, making it the capitals fastest growing age group.

WHY DOWNSIZE?

More than half of people aged over 65 in London are under-occupying their homes, with at least two bedrooms more than they notionally need, according to the 2011 Census.

The same age group own 35 per cent of all London housing equity equating to a combined 253 billion.

And yet, downsizing accounted for only 7.8 per cent of all transactions in 2014-15 and there is a widespread reluctance among homeowners to move.

However, with a rash of spacious high-end apartments offering extravagant extras in desirable London locations nearing completion, this could be set to change.

This is good news for those first-time buyers who happen to be related to a potential downsizer with a high-value home. Parents contributed two and a half times more money towards deposits for their children's first home than they did a decade ago, with home owners in London and southern England able to release the most equity from downsizing.

Savills research found that people downsizing from a three- to a two-bedroom property within the same local authority in inner London released an average of 220,000 in equity from the sale; in the North East the same move would release just 41,000.

Average difference at a regional level

Area Average difference 3-bed to 2-bed Average difference 4-bed to 3-bed Inner London* 220,098 387,719 Outer London 138,482 247,104 South East 100,774 193,837 East 75,380 166,313 South West 81,765 154,555 West Midlands 57,188 144,373 East Midlands 53,430 136,588 Yorkshire & Humber 51,478 119,507 Wales 39,771 118,616 North West 51,436 126,673 North East 40,821 106,987

Source: On the Market *excludes central London

WHERE TO BUY

In the old days if you could afford not to, you wouldnt want to live in the city centre because they werent particularly nice places to be in, but in the past five or six years thats changed, says George Cardale, head of Savills new homes.

Nowadays, were seeing an inward migration from big houses in the suburbs or the country into the city, close to theatres, cinemas, bars and their children and grandchildren.

Its not all pull factors though. As Cardale says, country life can be remote, while maintaining a rural home involves far more physical maintenance than living in the city.

Television Centre: in the former BBC studios in White City, the new development comes with 24-hour concierge on site / HayesDavidson

New developments in central London, including Television Centre in Shepherds Bush (prices from 645,000); Barts Square near Farringdon (from 820,000 for a one-bedroom flat); and Gasholders in Kings Cross (prices from 810,000 for a studio) have all proved extremely popular with downsizers, according to Nina Coulter, director, Savills London residential development team.

These Zone 1 and 2 flats offer 24-hour concierge services, lift access, managed outside space and top end security arrangements close to restaurants and culture. Available through Savills, 020 7409 8756.

DOWNSIZER MUST-HAVES

Unlike with the family home, downsizers dont have to compromise because they arent as budget driven as other buyers, says Cardale, so the specification will be significantly better than the family home.

Often the first properties we sell in a brand new development will be penthouses to people downsizing, he says.

Security is another crucial consideration for downsizers who might be using some of the cash theyve released to buy a property abroad too  a concierge and high-tech alarm system make it easier to lock up and leave without worrying about security or maintenance.

Access is important, including a lateral layout and a lift as well as more specific demands like an oven at waist level to minimise the need to bend down while cooking, says Daniel Harris, associate director in Savills Bristol new homes team.

But design, tech and spec are all more important than whether theres a rail in the bath, says Nina Coulter, director, Savills London residential development.

An increasing number of people would like electric car charging points, plenty of sockets to charge phones and iPads and instant hot water Quookers.

ARE THERE ANY DOWNSIDES TO DOWNSIZING?

It is expensive. You may be freeing up capital but you will still have to pay a fairly hefty Stamp Duty charge  on a property costing 1.5 million the tax will be 93,750.

You should also be aware of service charges and maintenance costs, which wont have been a consideration in a freehold family house.

WHAT ELSE CAN YOU BUY?

If youre not up for a new build, there are other practical and appealing options for downsizing in London.

1.5 million: this two-bedroom flat in trendy Marylebone. Call Savills, 020 3527 0400

For 1.5 million, Savills has a recently refurbished two-bedroom lower ground floor flat in Marylebone Village with a private courtyard, from which buyers could walk to the achingly fashionable Chiltern Firehouse.

Alternatively, downsizers who no longer need to give a thought to schools, commutes or family friendly gardens may prefer to move to one of London's most sought-after Zone 2 villages.

A stylishly decorated two-bedroom ground and first-floor apartment with communal gardens in Belsize Park is a chic north London option for 1.25 million. For committed south west Londoners there's a three-bedroom, three-bathroom Victorian house in Fulham for 1.9 million, with a small, manageable patio garden and large, light kitchen.

Visit savills.co.uk/blog to stay up to date with the latest property market news and insight from Savills.
Having released their last LP Revolution Radio, almost a year ago, Green Day have announced their next release: the humbly titled Gods Favorite Band Greatest Hits LP.

The collection of hits is laid out chronologically, beginning with Kerplunks 2000 Light Years Away from 1991 and moving up through the present. The album will also featured two new tracks, Back in the USA and a new version of Revolution Radios Ordinary World featuring Miranda Lambert.

See full tracklist below:

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1. 2000 Light Years Away

2. Longview

3. Welcome To Paradise

4. Basket Case

5. When I Come Around

6. She

7. Brain Stew

8. Hitchin a Ride

9. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

10. Minority

11. Warning

12. American Idiot

13. Boulevard of Broken Dreams

14. Holiday

15. Wake Me Up When September Ends

16. Know Your Enemy

17. 21 Guns

18. Oh Love

19. Bang Bang

20. Still Breathing

21. Ordinary World (feat Miranda Lambert)

22. Back In The USA
The ex-Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed the British model turned actress when they met to discuss a movie role, she has revealed.

Cara took to Instagram last night to tell how the film producer cajoled her up to his room and then tried to force her to participate in a sordid threesome with another woman  but she managed to put a halt to the sexual harassment by starting to sing to distract the sex pervert!

Cara also revealed that the first contact she ever had with self-confessed sex addict Weinstein was when he phoned her out of the blue to ask if she was a lesbian or bisexual!

During the uncomfortable phone call, he warned Cara that she would never make it in Hollywood if she was gay.

Recounting the phone call with Harvey Weinstein, she wrote: When I first started to work as an actress, I was working on a film and I received a call from Harvey Weinstein asking if I had slept with any of the women I was seen out with in the media. It was a very odd and uncomfortable call....

I answered none of his questions and hurried off the phone but before I hung up, he said to me that If I was gay or decided to be with a woman especially in public that I'd never get the role of a straight woman or make it as an actress in Hollywood.

I want women and girls to know that being harassed or abused or raped is NEVER their fault and https://t.co/10J6inCad7  Cara Delevingne (@Caradelevingne) October 11, 2017



It was a year or two later when she then first met him face-to-face for a business meeting to discuss a major breakthrough role for her.

I went to a meeting with him in the lobby of a hotel with a director about an upcoming film, she recalls. The director left the meeting and Harvey asked me to stay and chat with him. As soon as we were alone he began to brag about all the actresses he had slept with and how he had made their careers and spoke about other inappropriate things of a sexual nature.

He then invited me to his room. I quickly declined and asked his assistant if my car was outside. She said it wasn't and wouldn't be for a bit and I should go to his room. At that moment I felt very powerless and scared but didn't want to act that way hoping that I was wrong about the situation.

When I arrived I was relieved to find another woman in his room and thought immediately I was safe. He asked us to kiss and she began some sort of advances upon his direction. I swiftly got up and asked him if he knew that I could sing.

And I began to sing....i thought it would make the situation better....more professional....like an audition....i was so nervous. After singing I said again that I had to leave.

She tells how Weinstein then tried to force himself on her. He walked me to the door and stood in front of it and tried to kiss me on the lips. I stopped him and managed to get out of the room. I still got the part for the film and always thought that he gave it to me because of what happened.

Cara says she has felt guilty ever since about agreeing to take the film role. Since then I felt awful that I did the movie. I felt like I didn't deserve the part, she admits.

Cara initially didnt want not to tell her story because she didnt want to hurt Weinsteins wife or children. But she bravely decided to go public last night after a huge amount of other women went public during the last few days, including Italian actress Asia Argento who told how she was allegedly raped by the movie mogul.

I was so hesitant about speaking out....I didn't want to hurt his family, explains Cara. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong. I was also terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear.
As Other Voices heads North this October, we look at one of the most exciting artists coming out of Belfast.

Other Voices have joined forces with Digital DNA, the 174 Trust and Duncairn Centre for Culture and Arts to bring their dynamic event to Belfast, with the support and investment of Belfast City Council, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Creative Ireland, BBC Northern Ireland, RTE and Tourism Northern Ireland.

On Thursday October 26 and Friday October 27, schools, youth and community organisations from across Belfast will come together to take part in four events as part of the Digital DNA Creative Quarter, showcasing the power of community through the mediums of music and technology.

Then on Saturday October 28, The Belfast Edge takes up residence in The Theatre at The Duncairn, a conference that aims to create discourse and collision of ideas around creativity, culture, technology, education and investment policies, firmly placing creativity at the centre of all policy-making and practice.

That same evening, The Other Voices Stage will be in full swing and showcase some of the best in new Irish music. The event will feature sets from Grammy-shortlisted trad giants Beoga, lo-fi acoustic gems from Portadowns Jealous of the Birds, Kildare pop-rock, arena-touring duo Picture This, the spine-tingling atmospheric folk of Hampshire born, Donegal-bred Rosie Carney and Derry purveyors of punk Touts.

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Listen to Jealous of the Birds' 'Goji Berry Sunset' below.
Speaking at yesterday's (11th October) Joint Committee on Eight Amendment of the Constitution, Dr. Fergal Malone, Master of Rotunda Maternity Hospital warned the committee that Ireland urgently needs to repeal its amendment on abortion, before it caused any further harm.

Speaking at the session on health care issues that might arise as a result of the Citizens' Assembly recommendations, Dr. Malone said,

"We have had a woman die, die, from Ireland who traveled to the United Kingdom for pregnancy termination, on her way back, from a complication of the procedure", said Malone. "So we can't care for these people who make that decision in the way we would want to care for them."

Rhona Mahony, Master of the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street, also spoke at the same session to senators and TDs present as she addressed the horrific consequences that have taken place as a direct consequence of the current interpretation of the amendment.

"I will never forget the High Court case that dominated December 2015 when somatic function was maintained in a dead woman, so that her fetus could be incubated, in what was described as a macabre experiment weeks away from fetal viability. But it happened because of a medical legal interpretation of the 8th amendment and it could happen again."

At an earlier session, in which the committee discussed international developments in the provision of health care services, the matter of telemedicines distributed by non-profit web organisation Women on Web, such as mifepristone and misoprostol were analysed by Dr. Abigail Aiken, Assistant Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Texas.

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Using the earliest available data for Irish and Northern Irish, Aiken found that requests to Women On Web for both mifepristone and misoprostol between 2010 and 2016 had tripled from 548 to 1748, with the years 2015 and 2016 being lower-bound since other telemedicine services were made available in 2014.

Of 1000 women to use the website between 2010 and 2012, 99% were able to successfully terminate, while 95% were able to terminate without requiring any surgical intervention.

For women travelling to England and Wales from Ireland and Northern Ireland, between 2002 and 2016, numbers had dropped by more than half, from 7913 to 3192.

As a result of being afforded the opportunity to receive the treatment online, Aiken noted that now 92% of abortions took place within the first 13 weeks of a pregnancy.
Enough signatures have now been collected to hold a referendum to impeach pro-life campaigner Katie Ascough in order to remove her from her role as president of the students' union.

The campaign to dismiss Katie from her role was launched after she removed an advert with information about access to abortion from a students' handbook.

Katie claimed she was forced to remove the advert for legal reasons. And removing it cost the students union an estimated 8,000.

Katie is a pro-life campaigner who is actually the daughter of Tom Ascough, a board member of the Iona Institute.

"I dont see how the decision to withdraw the abortion information for students at UCD was based on any legal argument, Senator Ivana Bacik says in this morning's edition of the Guardian newspaper.

In reality, for decades now, students unions in Ireland have been publishing information in freshers handbooks on where to obtain abortions outside Ireland. That generally means that they have been printing the contact details of clinics like Marie Stopes and BPAS in England, alongside information on other options open to women facing a crisis pregnancy, such as contact details for single parent support networks and adoption agencies.

"By providing abortion information in this way, they are not advocating or promoting abortion. No students union has been prosecuted for any breach of the 1995 act as a result."

This is the second effort to remove her as Students' Union president. The original petition failed last month over concerns with its validity. It had been discovered that signatures were incorrectly recorded for the petition.

A minimum of 10% of registered Students Union members must cast their vote in order for any referendum to be passed.

Katie announced last night that she is stepping down from her role on annual leave until after the referendum.

"While this process is ongoing, it is important that it does not impact the day-to-day work of the Union, and that we continue to support and represent students. I will now take annual leave until the referendum concludes," she said in a statement on Facebook last night.

After she removed the advert, Katie released a statement to the news website the journal.ie, saying: "Since elected, I have carried out my duties as president in keeping with the UCDSU Constitution, which clearly states I am responsible for the administration of the Union.

"In line with the legal advice obtained, and with agreement from the Board of Directors to follow that legal advice, I would have been acting imprudently to put the Union and individuals at risk by facilitating the distribution of this illegal information.

Therefore, I made the decision to redact the mentioned content."

An impeachment referendum will now take place on October 25 and October 26.
The flood maps that help determine where homes are built in Texas, how much insurance costs and which areas would benefit from flood control projects are based on rainfall data that hasn't been updated for as long as a half-century, meaning that development has expanded for decades without a complete understanding of the flood risks.

Those risks have come into sharp focus following the record-setting rainfall of Hurricane Harvey, which inundated areas never touched by floodwaters before, and growing expectations among climate scientists that powerful storms will not only happen more frequently, but also pack more rain as global and ocean temperatures rise. Of the 39 Texas counties that experienced flooding during Hurricane Harvey, only seven, including Harris County, have flood maps based on precipitation data from this century.

And even that data, from 2001, is more than 15 years old and doesn't capture severe storms that included Hurricane Ike in 2008, the Memorial Day floods in 2015 and the Tax Day floods of 2016.

"It's important that we do the research into how much rainfall could we get, how the watersheds are going to respond to that rainfall event, how deep, who will it impact," said Jerry Cotter, chief of water resources for the Army Corps of Engineers. "We've got to do the preparedness work."

More Information Outdated flood maps Most counties that experienced flooding during Hurricane Harvey have flood maps based on rainfall data from 1961. A handful of counties use rainfall data that was updated in 2001. Counties that usedata from 1961 Fort Bend County DeWitt County Hardin County Jackson County Jasper County Jefferson County Lavaca County Matagorda County (some data up to 1977) Orange County Victoria County Walker County Washington County Wharton County Counties that usedata from 2001 Harris County Brazoria County Chambers County Galveston County Liberty County Montgomery County Waller County Source: FEMA See More Collapse

Rainfall data is one of the key components used in generating flood maps, a complex, multi-agency process that considers topography, past flooding, development and other factors. The Federal Emergency Management Agency drafts preliminary maps, which are reviewed by local governments, subjected to public comment and often disputed in contentious proceedings that can drag on for years before the final maps are adopted.

The stakes are high. Where the maps designate flood-prone areas can determine the pattern of development, the value of homes, the locations of roads and highways and the designs of levees that hold back swollen rivers. In Fort Bend County, where hundreds of residents were evacuated during Hurricane Harvey over concerns the rising Brazos River would breach levees, flood maps are based on rainfall data from 1961.

Data update expensive

Texas is one of six states that have yet to update rainfall data under a program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which encompasses the National Weather Service. NOAA, which launched the program in 2004, requires state and local governments to pay the costs of data collection and analysis, which identifies weather patterns and determines the probabilities of heavy rains and catastrophic storms that cause flooding.

It would cost Texas about $1.5 million to build the comprehensive, up-to-date database of rainfall statistics and probabilities. So far, about $1.4 million has been raised to fund the program, including $400,000 from the Army Corps of Engineers, which launched the effort to fund the project four years ago, and $200,000 from the Harris County Flood Control District.

NOAA is expected to release preliminary rainfall data for Texas this fall. There is no question the updated data would change Texas' and Houston's understanding of flooding, scientists and local officials say. It's just a question of by how much and where.

New data, for instance, might shrink flood plains in some areas, but expand them in others, placing residents into zones with higher flood risks that trigger federal requirements to buy flood insurance.

"It's one of the more consequential aspects of re-analyzing the data," said John Nielsen-Gammon, the state's climatologist, "because it can mean a sudden decline in property values for people who had no risk of flooding before."

Nielsen-Gammon recently warned that the state should expect the frequency of extreme rains to increase in coming years as a result of climate change, a trend that could test the safety of many Texas dams. Nearly all scientists agree the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - much of it from burning fossil fuels - is raising global temperatures and warming the oceans, causing more water to evaporate and creating a buildup of moisture.

Hurricane Harvey, for example, carried as much as 7 percent more rain that it would have a century ago, Nielsen-Gammon estimated.

Allison triggers update

But scientists disagree on whether so-called outlier events, whether record-shattering rains or extended droughts, should play into the analysis of precipitation records. Regardless, rainfall data should be refreshed for every 10 to 20 years, but often goes decades without an update, said Cotter of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Even in the Texas counties that updated rainfall data in 2001 - including Harris, Galveston, Brazoria and Liberty - flood maps were drawn and development proceeded through the 1980s, 1990s and into the new century based on rainfall data primarily from the 1960s.

It took Tropical Storm Allison in 2001 to push Harris and the other nine counties to update rainfall data. Allison dumped as much as 30 inches of rain over five days, flooded 73,000 homes and caused $5 billion in damage.

Harvey, which flooded more than 100,000 homes and caused, by some estimates, more than $100 billion damage, could have the same result. But once the state gets the new rainfall data, updated flood maps could be years away as they go through the lengthy approval process and face pressure from developers and residents who want to keep the costs of building and living in the flood plain low.

In addition, there is no requirement that local governments use the updated data to redraw flood maps, which in turn could affect property values and future development. Ataul Hannan, director of planning for the Harris County Flood Control District, said the district will weigh the impact of the updated rainfall data against these factors as it considers whether to update flood maps.

He noted that the five years of drought from 2010 to 2015 that followed Tropical Storm Allison could have the effect of shrinking flood plains. On the other hand, he said, the extreme storms of the past three years might expand them and put some Harris County residents into a flood plain, requiring them to buy flood insurance.

"We have to make a call, should we do the change now, or should we wait?" Hannan said. "How do you think every five years I'm going to change the map and tell people, 'Hey, because of my new information you are now in the flood plain?' "
WASHINGTON  At a Rice University forum last year, Mexican Energy Secretary Pedro Joaquin Coldwell was asked whether his government would allow refiners to increase the concentrations of ethanol in gasoline beyond the 5.8 percent that it had just approved. Coldwell gave an emphatic no.

"If it goes above that, it can generate a lot of ozone," he said, referring to an air pollutant linked to increased asthma rates. "So that is the rule."

But just nine months later, the Mexican government changed its regulations to permit up to 10 percent ethanol in gasoline -- the same level as the United States. That ruling is now under court review, but it represents a major victory for American ethanol producers, which only 18 months earlier had launched an intensive lobbying campaign to outmaneuver an entrenched chemical industry that has long dominated the Mexican fuel additives market.

The contest between corn and petroleum, fought for years in the U.S. Congress, has moved south of the border, where some of the world's biggest chemical and biofuels companies are vying to control a small, but lucrative niche in the world's fourth largest gasoline market. With Mexico in the midst of a historic attempt to open its state-run energy sector to foreign investment, firms like the Houston petrochemical maker LyondellBasell and the agricultural conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland are sending lobbyists and consultants to Mexico City to meet with energy officials and host educational forums in an attempt to sway the government's plans for Mexico's fuel supply.

"Everyone in the fuel and gasoline business is down in Mexico right now," said Kristy Moore, an Illinois-based energy consultant working for ethanol companies. "All my same people I work with in the United States, every major oil company."

High octane

Mexico is just one front in a global battle to grab share of the fuel additives market, particularly in emerging economies in Asia and Latin America. Modern automobiles don't run well on pure gasoline. Pistons misfire; engine parts wear down more quickly, so gasoline retailers have long relied on additives to help cars run more smoothly  what is referred to in marketing slogans as octane.

For decades, octane came from lead, which was banned as a gasoline additive in the 1990s, then the chemical methyl tert-butyl ether, or MTBE. Since 2004, however, approximately half of U.S. states have banned MTBE, a known carcinogen, after it was found leaching from underground storage tanks at gas stations into drinking water supplies.

Taking its place is ethanol, a biofuel largely made from corn that possesses a particularly high octane and now makes up 10 percent of the U.S. fuel supply. But across much of Asia, Latin America and even parts of Europe, MTBE remains in great demand.

More Information Fueling competition U.S. ethanol exports (2016) - 27.9 million barrels U.S. MTBE exports (2016) - 15.6 million barrels MTBE exports by country in 2016 (barrels) 1. Mexico - 8.7 million 2. Venezuela - 3.9 million 3. Chile - 2.5 million Ethanol exports by country in 2016 (barrels) 1. Canada - 7.4 million 2. Brazil - 6.6 million 3. China - 4.7 million .... 8. Mexico - 708,000 Source: Energy Department See More Collapse

"It's still legal in most countries in the world," said George Martin, editor-in-chief of Latin America for the energy data firm ICIS. "It goes all over Latin America and Asia. The market is improving with the demographic changes there, as population increases and more people drive."

And much of it comes from the United States. Even though MTBE production here is far below what it was a decade ago, it remains a more than $1 billion a year industry and growing, with output up more than 30 percent since 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

LyondellBasell, which maintains its headquarters in Houston, is building a $2.4 billion plant on the Houston Ship Channel to produce two chemicals, one of them, tertiary butyl alcohol, which is the primary feedstock for MTBE.

But with Mexico's announcement in June that it would blend more ethanol into its fuel supply, suddenly all of that is under threat. Last year, Mexico imported more than half of the entire U.S. output of MTBE  more than 8 million barrels.

The June decision "caught a lot of people off guard," said Ed Aviles, a former lawyer for LyondellBasell who now serves as executive director of the Latin America Clean Fuels Association, a nonprofit representing MTBE manufacturers in Mexico. "The ethanol lobby is very good at what they do. They have a compelling strategy, and they've gone into Mexico trying to grow ethanol's market share."

Historic opening

For decades, Mexico's fuel industry had operated virtually unchanged by the state-run monopoly Pemex, which not only drilled for oil, but also refined it and owned all the nation's gas stations.

Then, in December 2014, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto won an unlikely victory when he passed an historic energy reform package through the Mexican Congress, with an aim to opening Mexico's struggling oil, power and fuel sectors to foreign companies. Just over a year later, Moore, the ethanol consultant, said she received a call from a client in the ethanol industry  she would not say who  asking her to "learn everything we need to do to get ethanol into Mexico."

Soon the U.S. Department of Agriculture arranged a workshop in Mexico City so Mexican officials could meet with regulators from Columbia and Paraguay, who had recently implemented their own biofuels program. At the same time, Moore started meeting with officials at the Ministry of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission, to work on convincing them to integrate ethanol into their fuel supply and not rely solely on oil production to ease its energy shortfalls.

"You've got a Mexico government that is moving at an incredibly rapid pace," Moore said. "The mindset was we're going to allow more oil companies, they're going to solve our supplies issues."

Those supply issues came into focus at the end of last year, when the Mexican government, which had long subsidized gasoline for its citizens, officials announced prices at the pump would rise as much as 20 percent as part of the market reforms. That move sparked riots across the country, forcing stations to shut down and leading to the deaths of four people and the arrests of hundred more.

Ethanol lobbyists made the case that if Mexico was to achieve a gasoline market like the United States, where pump prices typically run about 30 percent cheaper, its best chance was to adopt the American ethanol standard of 10 percent, which would allow more U.S. gasoline to flow across the border. Mexican regulators bought the argument, saying at the time of the June announcement that earlier regulations represented "a barrier for those who plan to import into Mexico gasoline used in the United States of America. "

For American ethanol companies, which have seen their attempts to raise domestic ethanol mandates to as much as 15 percent of motor fuel stymied in Washington, expanding exports abroad has become critical to their growth strategy. In addition to Mexico, Midwestern producers are targeting India, China and Peru for expansion, said Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group for ethanol makers..

"We're likely to break our all-time record on exports this year," he said.

Not so fast

Their expansion into Mexico, however, will have to wait. A Mexican judge recently granted an injunction blocking the government from implementing the new ethanol mandate after Mexican environmental groups, led by Gabriel Quadri, a former presidential candidate, filed suit claiming that more ethanol in the fuel supply would worsen air pollution

Government officials are expected to appeal the ruling, according to Reuters, but it will likely delay implementation until at least next year.

The topic of the effects of ethanol on air pollution is a controversial one. Competing studies disagree not only on ethanol's impact on ozone  a major factor in asthma rates  but also on greenhouse gas emissions accelerating climate change.

As the ethanol lobbyists campaign in Mexico picked up steam earlier this year, the chemical industry responded with data and government studies showing the environmental benefits of MTBE over ethanol.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describes high doses of MTBE as increasing the risk of cancer. But a presentation made to Mexican energy regulators in May by representatives of Exxon Mobil, one of the world's largest chemical producers, described the potential harm if MTBE were to spill and leach into underground aquifers as "a disagreeable flavor" in drinking water supplies.

An Exxon spokesman declined to comment.

At the same, chemical companies have worked to shore up relationships with allies in Mexico. Aviles, the president of the MTBE producers group, said following the June decision he spoke with Quadri, the politician leading the charge against ethanol. Quadri did not respond to requests for comment.

"We just spoke about the ruling and what his position was," Aviles said. "It's very difficult to predict anything. We've been surprised by how the process has gone."
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court appears ready to rule out lawsuits in U.S. courts against businesses by foreign victims of human rights abuses and extremist attacks.

A case argued Wednesday pitted Israeli victims of attacks in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza in the 1990s and 2000s against Jordan-based Arab Bank. The victims claim that the bank helped finance the attacks.

The issue is whether the foreigners can use an 18th-century law to hold the bank accountable for its role.

The court already has limited the ability of foreign victims to sue under the 1789 Alien Tort Statute.

It appeared from the argument that the five conservative justices could find that corporations cannot be sued at all under that law. Such an outcome would be another blow to a more than 30-year-old strategy by human rights lawyers to use civil suits to pursue individuals who may be responsible for torture and other atrocities, as well as companies with operations in countries with poor records in the area of human rights.

"My understanding is that this sort of relief is fairly unique," Chief Justice John Roberts said of the efforts to hold businesses liable under the law. Roberts did not seem to be moved by lawyer Jeffrey Fisher's efforts to persuade him otherwise.

Justice Anthony Kennedy suggested that allowing corporations to be sued under the law might be unfair.

Questions from the liberal justices indicated they would vote for allowing the lawsuit against the bank to proceed.
Sean Gallup/Staff

WASHINGTON - The House Intelligence Committee plans to release a trove of Russian-backed Facebook ads from the 2016 election season after officials from Facebook and two other tech giants testify publicly in November.

The leaders of the committee's Russia probe, Reps. K. Michael Conaway, R-Midland, and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Wednesday that they would move "as quick as we can" to release the ads to the public - something Schiff in particular has long urged. Schiff added that the committee would only release the ads once the "personally identifiable information" of individuals who may have unwittingly been made part of the Russian advertising campaign had been redacted.
Let's admit the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth: We hear there's a movie about Thurgood Marshall - the crusading civil rights lawyer who argued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case and became the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court - and we expect something high-minded, noble, earnest and medicinal. With heroic music. And halos.

When it opens Friday, "Marshall" may force a reordering of our expectations.

"People are responding to this movie like it's 'Wonder Woman,' " said Josh Gad ("Book of Mormon," "Beauty and the Beast"), who plays Sam Friedman, the real-life lawyer who is dragooned by Thurgood Marshall (Chadwick Boseman) into fighting a case of racial injustice in 1941 Connecticut. Gad may not be an impartial witness, but he put his finger on what distinguishes "Marshall" from your standard Hollywood biopic: If they called it "Thurgood Marshall, Superhero" it wouldn't be that far off.

"At its core, it's a crowd pleaser," Gad said. "That might be something with some negative connotations, but I think it's also hopeful, and empowering. And let's not forget that Reggie comes from the world of writing comic books, including 'Black Panther.' "

"Reggie" is director Reginald Hudlin, whose eclectic career - which began with the comedy "House Party" (1990), directed with his brother Warrington - has indeed included work in the Marvel Universe. And he freely admits the connection.

"Sometimes," he said, "to appreciate the achievements of these great men we have to take them off the pedestal. In the case of Thurgood Marshall, our mental image of him is as an old man, in robes, sequestered away in the Supreme Court. So to see him as a young man, smoking, drinking, flirting, fighting - you'll be, 'Oh I know this guy!' And when he's a guy with all this swagger and is the smartest guy in any room he's in, it's kind of amazing he's human. In fact, he's more than human. So we get back to the superhero place in a very natural, earned way."

Marshall is played by Boseman, who has had some experience playing trailblazers (Jackie Robinson in "42"; James Brown in "Get on Up"). When the film opens, Marshall is the NAACP's chief legal counsel and Boseman makes him a charismatic, cocksure crusader for equal rights, one with an unconcealed contempt for institutional racism.

Outside of a tender, often long-distance relationship with his beloved wife, Buster (Keesha Sharp), Marshall's life is dedicated to cases of racial injustice, one of which he finds in Bridgeport, Conn. A black chauffeur named Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown) has been accused of assaulting and attempting to murder his white employer (Kate Hudson).

The whole case smells, as do the rulings from the bench: Marshall is barred from participating by the presiding judge (James Cromwell). So while Marshall continues to direct the defense, local attorney Friedman has to take over the courtroom presentation.

"The film is pretty close to what actually happened," Gad said. "It's a case that's sort of been forgotten in light of what else happened in the man's life, but at the time it was tabloid fodder: You had an African-American chauffeur accused of raping his white employer. You had families all over Bridgeport firing any employees who were 'colored.' In many ways at that time it was a death penalty to lose your job, so it isn't just about Joseph Spell. It's about an entire community."

It's also a lot about Friedman, who for director Hudlin represents something more than just a character in an obscure criminal case.

"He's kind of the audience," the director said. "We're all living our lives, getting along, things are unfair but we really can't complain. And then Thurgood Marshall crashes in - and you realize he's providing something you're missing, which is a mission."

The mission of the film, Hudlin said, has changed a bit since they were making it more than a year ago; race relations weren't so fraught and the U.S. election was just underway. "Dan Stevens, who's English, was following the Brexit vote," he said, referring to the ex-"Downton Abbey" actor who plays prosecutor Lorin Willis. "And we're saying, 'Nah that will never happen.' Then it does and we say, 'What does that mean?' And we find out later.

"So the movie does two things," Hudlin continued. "There's a comfort that comes from knowing that when good people come together, dedicated to the truth, the truth will set you free." At the same time, he said, the movie ends with more people coming to Thurgood Marshall for help, with more tales of racial injustice, "and audiences are like 'Right: The struggle continues.' And we have to keep fighting. The truth is, freedom ain't free. And every generation has to be tested."
DALLAS - "Brawl in Cell Block 99," the violent jailhouse action-thriller starring Vince Vaughn and Don Johnson, opens Friday at the Alamo Drafthouse in Houston as one of the best reviewed films of the year.

As of earlier this week, it had a 97 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating, much better than such high-profile franchise sequels like "Blade Runner 2049" and the Tom Cruise tentpole "American Made," and quite the surprise for an independent flick without much of a marketing push.

But its ecstatic critical reception is more than just a victory for Vaughn - who, with his turns in "Hacksaw Ridge" and the second season of HBO's "True Detective" - is broadening his range beyond rom-coms and slob-coms. It's more than a triumph for up-and-coming director S. Craig Zahler who first snared attention in 2015 with his low-budget horror Western "Bone Tomahawk."

It's also a success for Cinestate, the Dallas-based production company whose founder - the aptly named Dallas Sonnier - is determined to turn North Texas into a film-production center. "Brawl" is Cinestate's first attempt in this effort and it will be followed next year with the shot-in-Dallas "Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich," a reboot of the "Puppet Master" horror franchise, and the brutally named "Dragged Across Concrete," a corrupt cop slam-o-rama with Mel Gibson and Vaughn.

More Information 'Brawl inCell Block 99' The films opens Friday at the Alamo Drafthouse, 531 S. Mason, Katy; drafthouse.com. The film also is being released Friday on iTunes and video-on-demand. See More Collapse

"I love the fact that I don't live in LA or New York," Sonnier said recently by phone. "It's a badge of honor. It's a way to avoid a lot of the noise that you experience when you live on the coasts  I'm able to escape a little bit, be off the radar, let people focus their attention elsewhere, and then I can surprise people with all the stuff we've created and we're doing quietly off to the side."

Such geographic defiance wasn't always the case. Though Sonnier, 37, is from Highland Park, he went to the University of Southern California and lived in Hollywood for years, earning his chops as a producer on a variety of low-budget films with such titles as "Bad Milo" and "Born to Fight."

But two violent personal tragedies changed everything. In 2010, his mother, Becky Gallegos, was gunned down in Fredericksburg by her second husband who in turn killed himself. Nearly two years later, his father, Joseph Albert Sonnier III, was shot and killed in Lubbock by a hit man hired by his then-girlfriend's former boyfriend.

The murders sent Dallas Sonnier reeling.

"I was feeling very far away from home," he said. "I felt like a man on Mars out in Los Angeles. I just felt very far away from my extended family and from my upbringing  My soul was left in Texas, I guess."

So, in 2015, he and his wife packed up their three children and moved east. "That was really the first reason was I wanted to get back home and I wanted to raise my kids here," he said. "I just felt I'm so proud of Texas and I'm such a home-state kid that I just really wanted to come here and build something special in Texas."

Also in 2015, "Bone Tomahawk" - co-produced by Sonnier - was released, forging a relationship with director Zahler who has become the Cinestate in-house writer/director, of sorts. Zahler co-wrote "Puppetmaster" and both wrote and directed "Dragged Across Concrete."

"We've got three movies now in a row where he and I worked together. He handles the creative. I handle the financial and we trust each other implicitly in that space," Sonnier said. "When you find a partner like that, you latch onto them."

But it's not just about movies. Books and audiobooks are part of the Cinestate experience as well.

"[Zahler] is creating tons and tons of content in all different forms. He's writing novels. He's got exisiting scripts that are just sitting around. He's got movies he wants to direct and movies he doesn't want to direct," Sonnier said. "In essence, the core of Cinestate was build, sustain and handle and help manage creators like Zahler, who are doing multiple avenues of content creation.  When he writes a novel, we're there to publish it. When he writes a script  we're there to produce it."

"The Narrow Caves," an audiobook based on one of Zahler's first scripts, is now available on Audible.com. "It's a format we're very proud of and we think it's a premium version of some of the narrative podcasts that exist in the marketplace."

Sonnier is in preproduction on a non-Zahler drama, "Militia," from director Henry Dunham. "This was a script that was discovered on the Blacklist, (former Universal executive) Franklin Leonard's yearly best unproduced screenplay list," he said. "We're going to try and shoot it right after Thanksgiving here in Dallas."

Cinestate is all about genre movies and Sonnier makes no apologies for that. "Action, thrillers, horror, sci-fi, crime drama, things like (Netflix's) 'Stranger Things,' those are our core tenets," he said. "We aren't set up to make a traditional drama in the sense of (best picture Oscar winner) 'Moonlight' or something like that."

Sonnier is inspired by such other indie producers as horror masters Blumhouse Productions ("Get Out," "Paranormal Activity") and art house favorites A24 ("Room"). "But there really isn't a perfect blueprint for something that I could copy," he said. "Basically, I had to create it myself."

Sonnier says there haven't been many drawbacks to setting up shop in North Texas. The cutbacks in state tax incentives - something that has sent some film productions scurrying to Georgia and New Mexico where the incentives are more generous - hasn't had much of an effect on him.

"That tax credit is fairly useless," he says of Texas. "In fact, it's so useless that I don't even want to use it  I would rather they just basically kill it  and then come back and say 'Let's do this right'  The only side effect of the lack of the tax credit is when the (film's) budget gets a little too big, I have to leave the state, which is really frustrating."

On a personal level, he says he's never had a regret about relocating.

"There's a direct flight from Love Field to Los Angeles and New York and I'm frequently on it," he said. "My Uber bills are extraordinary but it's worth every penny not to have to live there."
Recognition can be slow to arrive for some, especially those on the fringes.

Trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith has been among the most admired and lauded players in the jazz avant garde for nearly half a century, but the admiration was built on the periphery of the mainstream. A recent series of thematic albums about America - song cycles informed by the Great Lakes and National Parks - have nudged him in from the fringes.

Smith, 75, is a Mississippi native who played the blues as a kid before moving to Chicago, a blues town, where he instead cast his lot with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, a storied collective dedicated to daring new music that, for lack of a better label, was filed under jazz.

Smith in the late-'70s began work on his opus. He completed "Ten Freedom Summers" around 2011, a four-disc piece of music that focused on the Civil Rights movement of the '60s. Though "completed" is a bit of a misnomer, even though the composition made Smith a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He continues to tinker with it, adding some pieces, and allowing the performers leeway for interpretation.

And this week "Ten Freedom Summers" will be performed in fragments, with pieces of it played live in Austin, New Orleans and tonight at the MATCH in Houston - the first time the piece has been presented in the South. Smith - lauded by jazz magazine Down Beat as the 2016 artist of the year - is looking back with the shows, but also looking ahead, as he has two new recordings out this year, including a tribute to Thelonious Monk. Here he talks about his epic masterwork.

More for you Children's improvisations are music to one man's ears

Q: This piece of music often is referred to as a piece of "history," and while there is a historical aspect, it strikes me as being a living sort of history. That you can find contemporary parallels to the events that inspired the pieces of music.

A: You're right, it's a living piece. And three new pieces have been added to it over the years. So the people who hear it today will get music that no one has heard before. There are pieces about the march on Washington, D.C., and one about a speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave there, and one other about the four girls who got blown up in Alabama at that church. The idea is to have it be a living work that might help people engage in a dialog about race and society  But the work was completed in 2011.

And the way I compose music, I don't use the stylized elements that others do, and the common nomenclature most composers use. I use my own language, both within the five-line staff. I've transformed that into long and short notes. Therefore any grouping of notes will have contend there specific to this piece, whether you play it today or if it was there in 1818. It's not bound by nomenclature, but it also allows room for each artist to express it a little differently. It's not entirely fixed. Elements can be heard on the record that will be played in the live performance, but there will be things that differ, too. It's like sliding doors on a train, everything is moving all the time.

More Information Wadada Leo Smith When: 8 p.m. Friday Where: MATCH, 3400 Main Tickets:$10-$50; 713-521-4533, matchhouston.org See More Collapse

Q: It's an interesting piece because it has some classical elements along with improvisation.

A: It does. I don't use the word "improvise" today, though. And I'll tell you why: Basically the word has become so adapted by so many people with so many diverse meanings that it has polluted it and brought it to a state where it's no longer effective as a mode or language for how to participate in music. I just use the word 'create.' Just that word. It's what I use in my scores.

When there's a place where I want somebody to "improvise," I write that they're about to enter into a "create situation." There's more than one meaning that way. With that word, my ensemble in 2000 could have played this work, my ensemble now can do it, and any ensemble in the future can. So it has these qualities of classical music and contemporary music. Qualities of what we'd call the jazz tradition, but something else, too. When I write for string instruments, I write in a way that's unique to me. And what happens with my ensembles, they function almost like a research team or institution, where we talk about ideas, about success and failure. Everybody brings something to the table, and they pour it into their performance.

Q: The album reminded me that I've always heard some blues in your music. There's a sadness in some, but also hope and resilience.

A: That's all in there. When you do a large work like this, you can't just use one type or form of music. You need mobility. So there are blues elements in the Martin Luther King work. There's a blues melody, but not blues in the traditional sense. More the essence of the blues. And look further and deeper and you'll find elements of gospel in some of the pieces, especially the string parts. I felt like I needed those forms to have this range in the music.  But I don't like to be caught in a zone where everything is doomed and doomed and doomed.

I believe every person, even the meanest person out there with the most hatred in their heart, can be transformed. Every person has the possibility of being transformed. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., talked about changing the hearts of people. It's a hard thing to do. But it's a thing we must do. I think America has that potential. It's our responsibility. But we have to stop thinking of race as we do. It's an artificial identification of a human being. There's no such thing as race. All these divisions, we've lived and perpetuated this hatred for a false reality. There is no race.

Q: Was that the first music you heard growing up in Mississippi?

A: Yes, my first music was blues. I played from age 13 until graduation, four or five nights a week in a blues band led by other musicians in the area and with my stepfather. So I grew up with the blues. I call it blues music, but there's more to it than that. There's a literature form that exists there, whether it's novels or poetry or philosophy or music. All these things exist in the literary text of the blues. It's a profound musical language that's going to be used until eternity.
A 52-year-old Woodlands resident plead guilty on Wednesday to wire fraud, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas.

Kavita Nehendra Duvvuru, a former employee of Vinmar International Ltd., said she made unauthorized charges and cash advances for personal expenses on credit cards that were supposed to be used for business.

Duvvuru began making unauthorized charges in 2010 for personal expenses on the American Express Plum credit card. The unauthorized charges eventually reached between $10,000 and $20,000 per month, according to the release

The woman also obtained unauthorized cash advances from the MasterCard credit cards, which she used to pay on her property taxes and make college tuition payments for her children.

Duvvuru made a little over $22,000 in unauthorized personal charges in 2016 on the American Express Plum card. She later downloaded a copy of her credit card statement and used a software program to conceal her unauthorized personal charges.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said she also added a false charge for the same amount and attributed it to a company vendor. The woman also created false entries on her account to make it appear as if it was legitimate company expense.

She eventually submitted the false entries to her company's accounting department.

As a result of the woman's scheme, the company lost at least $2.5 million.

Duvvuru will be sentenced in Jan. 2018 and faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible maximum fine of $250,000. The woman will remain on bond pending her hearing.
Texas A&M is staking its medical research future on Houston and a burgeoning relationship with Houston Methodist Hospital following its recent purchase of a tract near the Texas Medical Center.

The A&M University System closed last month on the 5.5-acre purchase, acquiring an 18-story office building for a specialized engineering medicine program in collaboration with Methodist. A&M says it paid $62 million in the deal.

The purchase of the site at 1020 Holcombe comes seven months after William McRaven, the chancellor of the University of Texas System, said the system would retreat from a 300-plus-acre land purchase that drew opposition from state lawmakers and University of Houston boosters.

The UT deal was criticized for being negotiated in secret and without the blessing of key state leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott who, it later was revealed, had counseled McRaven to back off the plan.

The memory of that flap clearly was on the mind of Texas A&M Chancellor Sharp as he moved forward with his own system's land deal.

Before regents authorized the land's purchase, Sharp notified two critics of the UT purchase, state Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, and the UH System.

He said he also got approval from Abbott, whose office did not respond to requests for comment to confirm Sharp's account.

"What they get upset about is when you buy something without them knowing anything about it, and then you don't have a plan for what you want to do with it after you bought it," Sharp said recently. "That was not the case here."

'Future is ... Houston'

Sharp met with UH System Chancellor Renu Khator in her office about six months ago, and said she was open to collaboration on the project.

UH confirmed Sharp's account, but said Khator was not available for comment.

Sharp said he expects the Texas A&M medical school to invest more deeply in Houston moving forward - potential competition for UH's hopes of building a medical school.

"The emphasis for our entire health science center in the future is going toward Houston," he said.

Of Methodist, he added, "We want to marry them, we want to partner with them. We'll do anything they'll let us do."

Methodist President Marc Boom noted that the hospital already has a primary affiliation with Cornell University's New York City-based medical school, but said the hospital's open model allows it to partner with a number of institutions.

"As A&M expands its presence in Houston, there will be lots of wonderful opportunities for us to continue to collaborate in the research realm," Boom said.

First announced in June 2016, the so-called EnMed program hopes to attract 50 medical students with engineering backgrounds per year for dual degrees in engineering and medicine.

The inaugural class begins in July 2019, said Carrie Byington, the system's vice chancellor for health sciences.

The program expects to field requests from Texas Medical Center doctors who need engineers to create devices that will improve health care delivery, such as a pacifier that measures babies' dehydration.

The goal will be for every graduate to invent an innovative device during the program.

"It's a high bar to set, but we believe these students are going to be some of the finest in the nation and have exceptional qualifications," Byington said. "I see A&M as becoming more and more integral to the Texas Medical Center and operating our own unique (engineering) expertise."

Boom said there is no other medical engineering program anywhere in the country. He said the program makes great sense given the strength of A&M's engineering program and how "technology is at the focal point of where medicine is headed."

McRaven's stumbles

A&M currently has about 50 third- and fourth-year medical students rotating through Methodist. That program began in 2015.

While most Texas medical schools operate residency programs - A&M sponsors nearly 100 slots for residents at a number of hospitals - Methodist runs its own. It sponsors more than 300 residents and fellows.

In 2016, officials projected that the EnMed program would use 75,000 square feet of instructional and research space in the Texas Medical Center. Sharp, however, said that as discussions with Methodist moved forward, the entities realized more space would be necessary.

The A&M system did not discuss purchasing new land during the legislative session, Sharp said.

UT officials faced sharp criticism after they unveiled their purchase in November 2015 without discussing it during the prior legislative session. UH's regents said the expansion would violate state guidelines that aim to avoid duplicating academic offerings in one geographic area, while lawmakers were livid that the UT System spent so much money on property without a plan for how to use the land.

McRaven since has conceded he should have better communicated the project with lawmakers and local leaders. The UT System did not respond to a request for comment.

Whitmire, who opposed the UT System's expansion in Houston, said Sharp approached him about the possibility of buying property over the summer.

The two land deals, Whitmire said, are "apples and oranges." Not discussing the land purchase during the legislative session did not upset Whitmire because A&M had a plan for how it would use the property and because he was alerted in advance of the announcement, he said.

"It doesn't bother me that I hadn't heard about it in Austin last spring, because when I did hear about it, there were no holes in it," he said.

UH has expressed interest in opening a medical school to provide primary care to underserved pockets of Houston, including in the neighborhoods around its southeast Houston campus.

UH spokesman Mike Rosen said in an email that a growing A&M presence would have "no impact" on UH's ambitions to create a medical school because of the university's goal to target community health, primary care and mental health services to underserved communities.
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After Anna Kronzer's one-story, 1940s-era Bellaire home took on a foot of water during Hurricane Harvey, news from the city permitting office came as a shock: Work done years ago by the previous homeowner would put her over a federal threshold requiring her house to be raised to current standards.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires that homes with substantial damage, in which repairs cost more than 50 percent of the structure's value, be brought into compliance with current building codes. That usually means elevating the house, which can cost $100,000 or more.

In Bellaire, where more than a third of the city's 6,700 homes flooded, the rule comes with a twist: Damage assessments are cumulative, which means even if Harvey exacted only 20 percent damage, a homeowner could be forced to elevate if the house also had flood repairs in 2015 and 2016.

People who can't afford it might be forced to tear down and sell, because standard flood insurance doesn't cover mitigation costs.

The rule upset homeowners like Kronzer who weren't aware of it and had never been told what their property's cumulative damage total was. It came as a surprise in a region where neither the city of Houston nor Harris County use cumulative damages. And it puts disaster-ravaged residents, eager to return home as fast as possible, at odds with a policy designed to get people out of harm's way, thrusting city officials into an awkward position.

Harris County Engineer John Blount said FEMA tried about 10 years ago to strong arm the county into using cumulative damages, but the county refused because FEMA also insists on keeping damage tallies confidential, meaning they can't be published in deed records.

"How would a buyer know he was $3,000 away from having to tear a house down before he bought it?" Blount said. "I understand it from a floodplain management standpoint, but from a practical standpoint you've got to protect buyers."

FEMA officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bellaire City Manager Paul Hofmann is convening a task force to study a broad range of flood control issues, including cumulative damages and whether to keep using them. He said no one currently employed at the city can remember when the policy  which is not mandated by city ordinance  went into effect. Blount suspects it happened when FEMA was urging other local jurisdictions to do it.

Last week, Bellaire loosened the policy so that only flood-related damages count. Previously, any improvements  even cosmetic ones, like the granite countertops and wood floors added to Kronzer's house  would add to the total. The owner of a $100,000 home that had a $25,000 renovation in the past would already be considered to have 25 percent damage before the first drop of rain fell.

City officials warned residents against making assumptions about how the policy affects them. Homeowners should work through their situation with someone at the city's permitting office before deciding what to do, Hofmann said. Not everything in a contractor's bid will necessarily count toward the damage assessment, he cautioned, and a visit to the permitting office doesn't commit the homeowner to any course of action.

FEMA allows cities to count cumulative damages  and gives them a break on their flood insurance for it  because it brings older homes into compliance with building codes faster. That's of growing importance in a world facing more frequent heavy downpours, and in a metro region where upstream development paves the way for bigger downstream floods.

It also mitigates the risk that taxpayers will be on the hook for flood damage to properties that grow rapidly in value, as they do in Bellaire. For years, National Flood Insurance Program premiums haven't kept up with losses. The program owes more than $24 billion to the U.S. Treasury.

"It is not the city of Bellaire's intent to force people out of homes," Hofmann said. "It is the city of Bellaire's intent to keep people safe."

It's largely working, according to data City Engineer James Andrews presented Oct. 2. Of the nearly 2,000 homes that flooded, only about 47, or 2 percent, were built to current standards.

Yet some residents have told Hofmann they made it unscathed through Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, through the floods of 2015 and 2016, and are willing to gamble they'll never see another Harvey.

Kronzer is now faced with the prospect of tearing down and starting over, using a combination of flood insurance, savings and contributions from relatives. She plans to elevate her new home to comply with current codes to eliminate any doubt over the future of the cumulative damage policy.

The policy is an option for cities that participate in FEMA's Community Rating System. The program scores cities on a wide range of flood control and policy measures. A community with more than 4,500 credit points is Class 1, earning 45 percent off federal flood insurance premiums for homes in the floodplain. A Class 9 city, with at least 500 points, can get a 5 percent discount.

Bellaire is a Class 7, with at least 1,500 points and a 15 percent discount, according to FEMA records.

A city can get up to 90 credit points for applying a cumulative damage standard, depending on how long the damage tally accumulates, whether it includes non-flood related improvements, and other factors. It's not clear how many points Bellaire earns for its standard or whether changing it would affect the city's overall rating and insurance discount. Hofmann said his staff was looking into it.

"From what I understand, the decision we made last week to only include flood-related damage in the cumulative costs shouldn't lower our score or our rating," he said in an email.

Kronzer said she was never informed when she bought the house in March that it already had a cumulative tally against it.

"I get where the regulation comes from," she said. "They don't want us to keep flooding. The government doesn't want to keep paying through insurance to get us whole again. But it's frustrating."

She thought buying in Bellaire was a sound financial decision. The city of about 18,600 population is encircled by southwest Houston and has a median home value of $710,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Before she closed on the house, she talked to neighbors across the street who lived there for 40 years. They informed her the street had never flooded.

Even if it had, and the house had been elevated to current standards, that wouldn't have been enough for Harvey. It still would have taken on six inches of water.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday approved a plan to permanently remove tons of toxics from the San Jacinto Waste Pits - a Superfund site that was heavily flooded and began to leak cancer-causing dioxin into the river after Hurricane Harvey.

The plan, which comes after years of litigation and citizen activism that built public support for permanently removing the pits from the river's path, includes installing cofferdams to prevent release of the pollutants before excavating and removing an estimated 212,000 cubic yards of dioxin-contaminated waste.

The decision comes only two weeks after the EPA confirmed that a concrete cap used to cover the pits since 2011 had sprung a leak during Harvey's floods. An EPA dive team found dioxin in sediment in a concentration of more than 70,000 nanograms of dioxin per kilogram of soil - more than 2,300 times the EPA standard for cleanup.

The extent of damage caused by the latest dioxin release remains unknown. But flooding of the Superfund site prompted the EPA's Scott Pruitt to visit the river and move up a decision on the proposed cleanup plan that had been pending for about a year. The estimated cost is $115 million, the EPA announced.

Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan said the finding that dioxin was exposed at the waste pits during the flooding was "frightening proof" that the EPA needed to act soon before another storm causes even more damage.

"What we had from Hurricane Harvey was a rain event. Had the storm hit closer to Harris County, we would have experienced high winds and storm surge," Ryan said.

More Information San Jacinto Waste Pits' history 1990s: Cancer-causing dioxin found at high levels in fish. 2005: Old paper mill pits rediscovered in San Jacinto River. 2008: Pits approved as EPA Superfund site. 2011: Jackie Young forms group to fight waste pit dangers. Site capped. 2015: Harris County alleges cap has leaked; wins a $23 million settlement. 2016: EPA holds hearings on plan to permanently remove pits from river. September: EPA announces pits again leaked dioxin after Hurricane Harvey. October: Removal plan approved by EPA. See More Collapse

Jackie Young, a Houston-based organizer and grass-roots activist who grew up near the pits and has spent six years fighting for cleanup, described the decision as an "enormous victory."

"We are sincerely appreciative that the EPA has chosen the only option that is protective of public health and the environment," said Young. She noted that 50,000 people commented on the EPA plan - and 94 percent supported cleanup.

It appears though that rather than a final solution, the plan will only unleash additional litigation from at least one of three companies involved in the cleanup. A spokesman for McGinnes Industrial Maintenance Corp. announced Wednesday that company will oppose removal.

"We cannot support a plan for the site that provides less protection to all affected communities than the existing cap already has provided," the company said. "We are deeply concerned that the decision announced today could" harm the San Jacinto River and downstream areas.

"We disagree with EPA's claim that the local or downstream areas can be protected during removal," the company spokesman said.

Tasked with cleanup

The San Jacinto River, one of Houston's largest rivers, becomes the Houston Ship Channel and flows into Galveston Bay - a major center for recreational and commercial fishing. It was in the bay in the 1990s that state park employees began to find extremely high levels of dioxin in fish they tested. The Channelview site of the waste pits, which had been used to store paper mill waste until the 1960s, was then rediscovered in 2005. Over the years the pits had become partially submerged by the river.

In 2008, the pits were added to the EPA's National Priority List as a Superfund site. Three companies were tasked with cleanup - McGinnes Industrial Maintenance, which once operated the pits, its parent company Waste Management of Texas, and International Paper Inc., the current owners of Champion Paper mill, which contracted to send its waste to the pits in 1960s.

In 2011, part of the approximately 14-acre site was capped with a concrete barrier. Over time, companies overseeing cleanup added other coverings and some 59,000 tons of stone that they claimed would secure the site.

But that same year, the Harris County Attorney's Office sued the companies involved in the cleanup, seeking compensation for damages to the environment from dioxin releases. In 2014, the county won a $29.2 million settlement from Waste Management Inc. and McGinnes Industrial Maintenance Corp. Champion was found not responsible for releases by a jury.

Yet over the years, dioxin has continued to leak from the pits, county officials and researchers say. Research by the University of Houston's Hanadi Rifai in 2011 and 2012 found hotspots of dioxin in sediments in the river and further downstream that she linked to paper mill waste.

A 'loaded gun'

The pits already have provoked other civil lawsuits from area residents and fishermen who fear that both the environment and area neighborhoods already have been poisoned. One pending case involves 600 area residents who have lived or owned property along the river in neighborhoods near the pits in Baytown, Channelview and Highlands.

Though the pits were originally on the riverbanks, over time the river has flooded the site numerous times. In a 2014 report, Samuel Brody of Texas A&M University concluded that the pits remained vulnerable to a hurricane, storm surge and heavy rainfall. Brody called the site a "loaded gun."

After Hurricane Harvey, the pits were entirely submerged by a fast-moving wall of floodwater that carried away cover material and rocks and the orange buoys that mark the site. EPA ultimately confirmed that dioxin had escaped again - and have promised further tests to gauge the extent of the damage this time.

According to a joint release by Ryan and County Commissioner Jack Morman, who represents the area, the EPA's decision will require the companies to pay for removal of the pits. Under the plan, an estimated 152,000 cubic yards of material contaminated with dioxin will be removed from the pits at the Interstate 10 bridge. The rest will be removed south of the bridge and all those materials will be deposited "into a secure, stable, inland permitted facility." It's unclear how long that process will take.
A five-year safety study of dams along the U.S.-Mexico border done at the behest of the International Boundary and Water Commission has revealed disturbing conditions.

"The safety inspection yielded urgent and high-priority deficiencies at five of the six dams," reads a section of the Department of State's 2018 Congressional Budget Justification report, which singled out Amistad Dam in Val Verde County for special comments.

The report also notes that again this year no money is allotted to the IBWC to repair the defective dams. The safety study was done by the "Joint Technical Advisors, which includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers."

The IBWC is a binational agency that deals with treaty and water issues involving United States and Mexico, including boundary demarcation, water quality, flood control on the border and national ownership of waters.

It also oversees the Morelos Dam on the Colorado River in California and five dams on the Rio Grande, from Retamal Dam east of McAllen to the American Dam in El Paso. Among them are Amistad and Falcon Dams, which create large binational water reservoirs.

But exactly which dams have what problems remains largely unknown. Nor is it clear if any pose a public safety risk.

Citing security and agency confidentiality reasons, an IWBC official declined to make the safety report available or allow a reporter to speak to an engineer about the dams. The agency has also refused to release the safety report and related documents in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

The five Texas congressmen whose districts include the Rio Grande also did not respond to email requests by the San Antonio Express-News for comment on the safety report.

The congressional report also notes problems with the American Dam and American Canal, which provide drinking water for El Paso.

"It is in very poor condition and requires replacing before it collapses," reads the report, apparently referring to the canal.
Ten current or former students at Louisiana State University were arrested Wednesday in connection with the death last month of an 18-year-old freshman who became severely intoxicated during a fraternity hazing ordeal, the latest in a series of student deaths following such rituals.

One of the students, Matthew Naquin of Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, faces a felony charge of negligent homicide in addition to a misdemeanor charge of hazing. The other nine face misdemeanor hazing charges, according to the university's police.

On the morning of Sept. 14, Maxwell Gruver, an aspiring sportswriter, was taken by two fellow students to a Baton Rouge hospital, where he was declared dead. He had passed out on a couch at the fraternity house.

A toxicology report on Gruver, of Roswell, Ga., revealed that his blood alcohol content was 0.496 percent, more than six times the legal limit for driving, and that he had aspirated vomit into his lungs. The cause of death was listed as "acute ethanol intoxication with aspiration."

"Today's arrests underscore that the ramifications of hazing can be devastating," the university's president, F. King Alexander, said in a statement. "Maxwell Gruver's family will mourn his loss for the rest of their lives, and several other students are now facing serious consequences - all due to a series of poor decisions."

The hazing at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, where Gruver was a pledge, or prospective member, involved a question-and-answer game called "Bible study," in which pledges were forced to drink "a pull" from a bottle of alcohol if they answered questions incorrectly, according to an arrest warrant.

Pledges had received text messages ordering them to report for Bible study at the chapter house on the evening of Sept. 13. The 18 to 20 pledges who showed up were told to get Solo cups of lemonade that would be used as chasers.

"Naquin was yelling, 'Are you ready for Bible study?'" the warrant said.
The Boy Scouts of America will be fully inclusive for girls for the first time in its nearly 100-year history, its leaders announced Wednesday, the latest move to adapt the organization's rules in an era of declining membership.

The organization said that its board unanimously approved the decision to allow girls into the Cub Scouts program, which will eventually allow them to earn the prestigious Eagle Scout ranking, after years of requests from families and girls themselves.

Deliberation over the plan had caused friction between the organization and the Girl Scouts of the USA, which spilled into public in August when a letter from Girl Scouts President Kathy Hopinkah Hannan that accused the Boy Scouts of trying to bolster dwindling numbers was released. The Girl Scouts have also seen its membership fall in recent years.

Mary Vitek, CEO of Girl Scouts of San Jacinto, which serves 26 Southeast Texas counties, including Houston, declined to comment on policy shift by the Boy Scouts of America, but said she was "just a little" fired up by the decision and scoffed at the notion it might endanger local Girl Scouting.

"It increases my resolve to make sure girls and families know all the opportunities that are available to them in Girl Scouts," Vitek said. "We have 100 years of experience and expertise in the field. We are the premier organization for girls in the world, and we'll continue to claim that space for the next 100 years.

"The opportunity to remain in an all-girl space, develop a range of skills, take on leadership roles, and quite frankly, be themselves, is unique to Girl Scouting, and we think it's very important to the development of girls."

A spokesman for the Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America referred questions to the organization's national office, which did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Changes set for 2018

The Boy Scouts of America, which was the target of progressive ire over its decades-long resistance to changing rules that prohibited gay scouts and troop leaders, has made significant moves to open up its membership in recent years. The Boy Scouts ended the ban on openly gay scouts and troop leaders in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Earlier this year, the organization announced that it would allow transgender boys in its ranks.

Girls have been allowed to participate in some scouting programs at the Boy Scouts, but they have not been permitted to join the organization's most popular programs - the Cub Scouts and the Boy Scouts - or earn the organization's Eagle Scout ranking.

Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh described the decision in part as an attempt to bring more families into the Boy Scouts, whose membership has declined by about a third since 2000.

"The values of Scouting - trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, brave and reverent, for example - are important for both young men and women," he said in a statement Wednesday. "We strive to bring what our organization does best - developing character and leadership for young people - to as many families and youth as possible as we help shape the next generation of leaders."

The company cited studies showing that cultural and economic factors made programs that could serve both boys and girls more appealing to modern families. The changes will begin in 2018, when girls will be able to enroll as Cub Scouts.

The Boy Scouts, founded in 1908 in Britain and in the United States two years later, has for decades been one of the country's most prominent youth programs focused on character building, teamwork and outdoor skills.

Full inclusion

Girls have been allowed to participate in the Exploring program, which focuses on teaching important career skills, since 1971. The co-ed Venturing program, about one-third of whose participants are women, split off from Exploring in 1998.

Still some local troops have found ways around the national organization's policies.

In Chevy Chase, Maryland, Boy Scout Troop 52 has been letting girls participate since 1997 as part of the co-ed Venture Scout crew. The women are unable to earn the organization's rankings but are able to participate in the same activities, though they are technically part of a different program.

Ilana Knab wishes the changes came sooner for her family. For years, she has watched her daughters - now 14, 16 and 21 - participate in the local program, with her oldest earning the "Ranger" award, the highest ranking a woman can achieve. But the 21-year-old never received the same recognition as her son, now 19, who earned the Eagle Scout title.

Eagle Scouts are considered a badge of honor that is recognized beyond the organization: It can help participants get into colleges and open up the door to certain scholarships.

Knab's 16-year-old daughter Cassidy, who holds a leadership position in the group, said that imbalance mattered.

"Eagle Scout gets them somewhere on their resume," she said. "It will be amazing to say you got Eagle and people know what you're talking about and know the work you put into it."

A high-school junior, Cassidy is "extremely happy" that women will have the opportunity to join the program at a younger age and work their way up to achieving Eagle Scout.

Beneficial for boys and girls

Will Stone, the Scoutmaster of Troop 52, said that having a co-ed program benefits both the girls and boys in his 70-person troop, 16 of whom are girls. Stone said they've been pushing for full inclusion.

"The young women who are part of the troop do all the hikes. They are deserving of the chance to earn the same rank advancements and deserving of a chance to stand in front of everyone and receive the Eagle," Stone said. "They're up for the challenge, and they're ready to do this."

The Boy Scouts were long the target of progressive ire for refusing to change rules it followed for decades that prevented gay youths and leaders from joining the organization. On the other side, its relationship with its largest partner, the Mormon Church - about 20 percent of scouts are Mormon - has grown increasingly fraught. Earlier this year, the church announced that it would stop participating in two Boy Scouts programs for teenagers.

In July, a speech that Donald Trump delivered to thousands of Scouts - in which the president flouted the organization's traditions by criticizing his opponents, gloating about his election victory and sharing stories about yacht parties - prompted its chief Scout executive to issue an apology.

The Houston Chronicle's St. John Barned-Smith contributed to this report.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has moved to legalize the military's use of foreign volunteers in overseas operations, a new step in the country's increasing engagement in wars abroad.

A decree published Monday - though still not ratified by Parliament - would allow foreign nationals to serve in what the law calls "counterterrorism and peacekeeping missions," including in Syria, where Russian service members are currently stationed.
Mobile payment contributes most to the rising sense of gain among Chinese people over the past five years, said a report released by the Liaowang Institute, a think tank of Xinhua News Agency in China, cyol.com reported on Oct. 11.

The report shows that Chinese peoples sense of gain in the technological field rose from 50.01 in 2012 to 85.99 in 2017, up 72 percent. Chinas progress in information technology contributed as much as 61 percent to the rise, among which mobile payment tops all factors by bringing great convenience to peoples lives.

Chinese people use mobile phones to pay for everything in life, including dining, shopping, and accommodation. In addition, it is available to public services, greatly improving efficiency and quality of governmental public services.

Take Alipay for example, which has been introduced in 357 Chinese cities. Users can choose to pay for utility bills such as electricity, natural gas, and water, take public transportation, and even make an appointment with their doctor online.

In addition, the report pointed out that, Chinas technological development and innovation not only yields a stronger sense of gain among Chinese, but also among people around the world through technology export and sharing successful experiences.

The size of Chinas mobile payment market was 151.14 billion RMB ($22.97 billion) in 2012, and it skyrocketed to 157 trillion RMB in 2016, 50 times that of the US. The number of mobile payment users in China has hit 511 million by June, 2017, and the figure is still on the rise, according to the report.
"The freedom to speak and the freedom to hear are inseparable; they are two sides of the same coin."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall penned those words in an opinion he wrote in 1972. Today in Houston, that quote echoes through the decades with a special irony. Almost a half-century later, we wonder what the eminent jurist would think about what happened this week at the Texas Southern University law school that proudly bears his name.

The Federalist Society, a conservative student group, invited State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, to speak on campus. Cain was supposed to talk about what happened in the recent special session of the Legislature, but he didn't have a chance to say much of anything. Student protesters shouted him down, chanting that the representative is a racist. They also told reporters that Cain has ties to the alt-right, that he's opposed to the LGBT community and that he stands for hatred and bigotry.

Police officers briefly removed the noisy demonstrators from the hall - and blocked a KHOU television photographer from getting pictures of the incident - before TSU's president reportedly allowed them back into the room and personally shut down the speech. University officials said organizers hadn't followed the proper procedure to schedule the event, a justification Briscoe denies. The lawmaker later wrote on his Facebook page that he plans to ask House Speaker Joe Straus and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick "to consider interim studies on the anti-free actions of TSU and any other public universities."

Unfortunately, the fracas over the state representative's appearance recalls another recent controversy at TSU. University officials earlier this year canceled a commencement speech by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, after students protested his scheduled appearance. A petition complained that the state's senior senator "chooses to use his political power in ways that continually harm marginalized and oppressed people."

At a time when far too few citizens bother going to the polls on Election Day, it's encouraging that some of our youngest voters care so passionately about politics. Our country could use a whole lot more voters who pay this much attention to the people we elect. But cutting off and shouting down speeches by elected officials is the wrong way to express dissent.

The right way to respond to free speech is with more free speech that allows all sides a chance to express their opinions. Students who disagree with invited speakers can picket outside or carry protest signs into a lecture hall. Instead, in this case, their actions served only to embolden and promote the very politician they sought to silence. Those shouting protesters might as well have donated a check to Cain's campaign fund. A politician literally can't buy that kind of publicity.

Nobody wants TSU, a historically black university, to develop a reputation for intolerance. The university needs to work with the student group that invited Cain and arrange to bring him back on campus. And students who disagree with him nonetheless need to give him a chance to speak.

By the way, Justice Marshall wrote those words about "the freedom to speak and the freedom to hear" in a dissenting opinion. His life was a testament to the importance of dissenting viewpoints. He could teach an important lesson to those dissenting students, who need to learn there's not only a time for shouting, but also a time to give others a chance to listen.
Jacquelyn Martin/STF

Do no harm has been the basic tenet of supporters since the Trump administration announced its intention to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). That means not hurting the relationships we have built with our neighbors who work with us on a daily basis to promote trade and border security and are the first to render aid in our times of need. It also means not hurting the vibrant and essential interconnected trade networks that have flourished in the past 23 years, creating growth in regional economies and helping communities across the country.

Naturally, negotiations are points of conflict, but our approach should acknowledge decades of cooperation, as well as the success of free trade in improving all of our economies. Vitriolic rhetoric around negotiations, national security and immigration strain our close friendships and is disrespectful of our shared histories. It is more important than ever that we do no harm in style, as well as in substance.
I am off lingonberries for the time being and Volvos and flat white furniture from Ikea. No meatballs, thank you. Once again the humorless Swedes have chosen a writer of migraines for the Nobel Prize in literature, an author of twilight meditations on time and memory and mortality and cold toast by loners looking at bad wallpaper. It's not a prize for literature, it's a prize for nihilism. The Swedes said he's like Jane Austen combined with Kafka with some of Proust, three other writers you'd never invite to a party. Well, at least they didn't give it to Joni Mitchell.

That Swedes give out the Nobel is like the Swiss deciding the Cy Young Award.

We're talking tone-deaf, people. The words "Swedish" and "comedy" seldom appear in the same sentence except as a joke. All the Swedes with a sense of humor came to America and so what the Nobel judges recognize is bleak, cramped, emotionally stunted, enigmatic, pretentious.

Millions of people around the world understand the concept of reading books for pleasure but the Swedes think of it as a form of colonoscopy. If they gave a Nobel Prize for food, they'd give it to quinoa. Of course all the book critics applauded the choice of Kazuo Ishiguro: Praising the dull and deadly is a time-tested way to demonstrate intellectual superiority. It's like taking a ski vacation in North Dakota: It sets you apart from the crowd. And comedy is so utterly adolescent.

No, if you want to write a Nobel Prize-winning book, start with this paragraph:

"He did not know where he was. It was midnight and the train seemed to be moving, he couldn't be sure. There were voices nearby, or maybe he was only imagining them. He could smell creosote. He knew creosote from his years in Albertbad. He had been shipped there for crimes against the Directorate and had spent years driving truckloads of creosote to the canyon and dumping them in. Ever since then, his tea had tasted of creosote, his eggs, his morning muffin."

Do not - I repeat, Do Not - begin with a paragraph like this:

"She sat at the table in the far corner of the cafe, waiting for him, and flashed a brilliant smile as he approached. He noticed the balloon on the cushion of the chair opposite her. A large semi-inflated orange balloon. Her eyes glittered, she was delighted to see him, and suddenly he knew what he needed to do. He pretended not to notice the balloon. He walked to the chair, took her pale hand and kissed it, sat down firmly and from beneath came a loud bubbly fluttery exclamation of flatulence, and from her came peals of laughter, like bells on Christmas morning. And that was where it all began. From that decision to sit on it."

Meanwhile, it is a beautiful October day and I'm sitting in the kitchen, enjoying a hearty licorice tea and looking at my lovely wife. I don't recall anyone doing anything like that in Mr. Ishiguro's books. As the Nobel committee said, he "has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world." Beauty is an illusion, as are licorice tea and marriage and, of course, the kitchen, which sits on the edge of a cliff looking down at nothingness 100 miles deep.

The man who should've won the prize goes by the name Philip Roth and what disqualifies him are the many rich descriptive passages revealing a love of the physical world and the elements of storytelling such as conversation, some of which is, since the speakers are American, way too funny, way too connected to the world.

In their long-standing campaign against comedy, the Swedish Academy is doing almost as much damage as old man Nobel did with his hard work developing better rockets, cannon, and explosives. They are leading young writers to aspire to vacuity.

I say, let the Swedes give the prize for urban planning. Let the Jews give the Nobel Prize. They know from literature. Compare a list of great Jewish writers and a list of great Swedish writers. I rest my case. Swedish literature is made up of small dark stories in which people are very silent and then it starts snowing and a dog barks and someone reaches for the aquavit.

Poor Ishiguro. A week ago he was a writer struggling to put himself on paper and now he's become a granite statue in the park, pigeons sitting on his shoulders. Write something funny, Ish. Astonish us.

Go to the Nobel banquet in Stockholm in December and sit down on the balloon.

(c) 2017, Garrison Keillor
Every month, when your Comcast bill arrives, chances are there's a charge included for renting the combination modem/router you use for internet access. It's $10 a month, and that means you are shelling out $120 annually for the privilege.

But here's something you should know: You don't have to rent Comcast's equipment. As is the case with many cable providers, you can bring your own hardware to the party and, over time, save big bucks.

The box you rent from Comcast contains both a modem, the device that connects to the service provider's network, and the wireless router, to which you connect via WiFi or Ethernet cable. When you use it, you're pretty much committed to the technology Comcast provides you. If better technology comes around, you're usually left out - cable providers typically don't upgrade these combos on a regular basis.

For example, there's a good possibility that the cable modem/router at your house uses the 802.11n WiFi protocol. Meanwhile, 802.11ac, which is significantly faster, is now widely available in routers at retail.

If youd like to get away from paying the $10 a month Comcast charges to lease its newer modem/router devices, its a fairly straightforward process. If you take this route, youll end up owning the hardware, and youll have nearly complete control over how its used.

Heres what you need to know:

 If you currently have a combination modem and wireless router from Verizon, youll first need to decide whether you want to buy a similar combination unit or have a separate modem and router. Id recommend the latter. If something goes wrong with a combination unit, trying to determine whether the modem or the router part is at fault is difficult. In addition, you have less flexibility with an all-in-one unit  if you want to upgrade one component or the other, you have to buy a whole new one. Working with a separate cable modem and router, while a little more expensive, makes more sense.

 When shopping for a cable modem, youll want one that supports a standard known as DOCSIS 3.0. This allows for superfast speeds, and nearly all cable companies in the United States now support this standard. You will want to find a modem that has been certified to work with your cable providers system, and most have a Web page on their support sites with a list of approved devices. If youve are using Comcasts telephone service, youll want what is called a telephony modem. You can find Comcasts approved cable modems here. Prices start just north of $60. Im using a Netgear CM500 modem (about $65 at Amazon.com), and its excellent.

 Once you have the cable modem, youll need to call your cable provider and have it activated, which usually can be done over the phone. Youll be asked to disconnect your current modem and/or router and connect the new modem, then provide some serial numbers found on the unit. Once its activated, you can connect your router to it. Some cable providers, including Comcast, make it even easier by allowing you to activate online.

 Almost any modern Wi-Fi router will work with any cable Internet system. Youll want one that supports the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard. Typically routers have 3-4 Gigabit Ethernet ports for wired Internet connections, and some will come with USB 2.0 or 3.0 connections, which let you hook up an external hard drive and/or a printer to share on your network. Prices for 802.11ac routers start around $50, with high-end models selling for $170 and up. If you have a small home, a less-expensive router will probably do. If youve got a big house, plan to spend more  pricier routers usually have a greater signal range. Brand names to know are Linksys, Apple, D-Link, Netgear, Asus, Belkin and Trendnet. If you've got a humongous home with lots of dead spots, consider a mesh networking system.

 Modern routers typically have simplified processes for connecting your computers, mobile devices and streaming TV boxes. The router will broadcast a name for your network, called the SSID, and youll be able to use the default that comes with the router or pick one of your own. Youll then supply a network password for that your devices will need to connect. Many routers also allow you to set up a guest network so your friends can connect to the Internet without being able to access the other computers on your home network. And some routers allow you to administer them remotely via a Web page or even a smartphone app.

Cable providers typically provide little help when setting up your own equipment, though you may be able to pay an installation fee to have a tech come to your door. You should also find instructions for setting up routers on the companys support website.

Note that when you switch from a cable providers equipment to your own, youll be responsible for returning the equipment. If you dont return it in a specified amount of time, you will be charged for it. You can find Comcasts service centers here.

This is an updated version of a story that originally appeared on TechBlog.
Two Houston residents were injured Wednesday night when they were ejected from a vehicle on Brushy Creek Road.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Lane A. Haley, 16, had moderate injuries and George J. Wink, 23, had minor injuries from the 7:51 p.m. single-vehicle accident one mile east of Houston. Neither were wearing seat belts.

Wink was traveling westbound, the patrol said, when the vehicle traveled off the right side of the roadway, struck an embankment and overturned. Both Wink and Haley were ejected.

Haley was taken by ambulance to Texas County Memorial Hospital. Wink was seeking his own medical treatment.

The 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse that Wink was driving was totaled, the patrol said.
HONG KONG, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor vowed on Wednesday to reinforce and enhance Hong Kong's status as a global financial center, an offshore renminbi (RMB) business hub and an international asset management center.

In her first policy address since she assumed office on July 1, Lam said: "We will capitalize on the opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative and the Bay Area, and make the best use of Hong Kong's advantages to promote diversified development of our financial market."

Through continuous development of various existing financing channels in Hong Kong and timely updating of the regulatory regime, the SAR government will develop Hong Kong into a premier financing platform for new business enterprises in the region so as to cater for the new economic environment, she said.

On this front, the Financial Leaders Forum chaired by the financial secretary will put forward strategic and forward-looking proposals, which will be followed up by relevant departments.

To demonstrate support for sustainable development and determination to combat climate change, and promote the development of green finance in Hong Kong, the SAR government will take the lead in arranging the issuance of a green bond in the next financial year, Lam said.

Through this initiative, the Hong Kong SAR government will seek to encourage investors in the mainland and along the Belt and Road as well as international investors to arrange financing of their green projects through Hong Kong capital markets.

Together with the industry and the mainland authorities, the SAR government will continue to explore expansion of the channels for two-way flow of cross-border RMB funds to reinforce and enhance the status of Hong Kong as a global hub for offshore RMB business, she said.

In deepening mutual financial market access between Hong Kong and the mainland, Lam said: "We will explore the possibility of including in the two-way mutual access mechanism a wider range of investment products, such as exchange-traded funds, and extending the Mainland-Hong Kong Bond Connect to cover southbound trading."

As an international financial center with a highly-developed information and communication technology sector, Hong Kong is an ideal place for the development of financial technologies (Fintech), she added.

The SAR government will continue with its efforts to promote local Fintech development and encourage the industry to experiment with innovative businesses.
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t businesses know they have a responsibility to protect staff from health and safety risks but some may not realise that obligation extends to visitors  now, one judge is offering a reminder.



District Judge Lee Li Choon was presiding over a case in which an insecure display panel fell on an elderly visitor, causing serious injuries which led to her hospitalisation for eight days.



Ong Siew Hong, 72, was visiting the company showroom in Toh Guan Road East to browse for renovation materials when the accident occurred.



The 55kg panel  which had been placed at an angle on the bare floor  fell on Ong as she walked past, causing her to fall down.



The fall caused injuries on Ongs chin, elbows and hip  she was then taken to Singapore General Hospital by ambulance. Ong also claimed she suffered depression and post-traumatic stress disorder following the accident.



In her decision, Lee said the company breached its duty of care owed to patrons on its premises and was 100 per cent liable for the injuries caused.



"The defendant company has not placed the display panel in such manner that it would not be reasonably foreseeable for the display unit to fall on her," she said.



The company has since adopted the recommendation of a workplace safety specialist to secure display panels in multiple spots.
This was Carles Puigdemont's moment, the culmination of his political career and the Catalan independence mandate which he asked for, and for which he and his supporters defied the bullying of the Spanish state on October 1st.

Puigdemont's speech on October 10th was a non-announcement. The watching world expected to see either a triumphal declaration of Catalonian independence, or a sober climb-down in order to leverage more power from Madrid. But his tensely-anticipated speech was a disappointment for all sides. In a long-winded talk peppered with sanctimonious claims that Catalonia alone had elevated Spain from a backwards dictatorship into a modern, prosperous democracy, and that historically the Spanish people have given nothing to the Catalonian people but hardship and oppression, Puigdemont's speech was an antagonistic damp squib which failed to give any indication of what he actually intends. Did he or did he not actually declare independence? Puigdemont appealed to the international community to recognise Catalonia as a sovereign republic, and he did sign a physical document declaring independence. But he didn't say the magical words, and gave only vague implications that independence will be delayed.

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This non-speech satisfied nobody. Indeed Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy managed to score a point against Carles Puigdemont the next morning, by publicly asking whether or not Catalonia has actually declared independence. This is a humiliating start. But of greater concern is the elephant in the Catalan parliament chamber - Europe.

Europe has been silent about Catalonia so far, and with the exception of occasional weak condemnations of violence, the EU has treated Catalonian independence as an internal matter. This reveals something of a double standard by the EU. After the EU's public comments on the 2016 Brexit referendum and its aftermath, and its unconditional condemnation of the 2014 Crimean independence referendum and subsequent entry into the Russian Federation, Europe's quiet avoidance of the Catalan question reveals a European Union that is fearful of separatist and ethnic nationalist movements within Europe. The hour-long delay of Puigdemont's speech, caused by a last-minute meeting with the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, gives a probable clue as to why Puigdemont failed to declare or deny independence.

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The European Union fears Catalonian independence. Not because of a possible domino effect in other states - separatist movements in Corsica, Bavaria, and the Basque region are far less motivated than the Catalans, and with the UK leaving the EU no European leader is concerned about Scottish independence - but because of three almost-guaranteed consequences of Catalonian independence.

First, Catalonian independence sets a precedent for dissatisfied Europeans elsewhere. A symbolic victory for local, ethnic nationalism over integrationist, European internationalism, goes against the founding principles of the European Union. As Ines Arrimadas, spokesperson for the anti-independence Citizens' Party, said in her immediate response to Puigdemont's non-declaration, Catalan independence represents "el peor nacionalismo que hay en Europa"; the worst nationalism in Europe. In a continent still facing rising Euroscepticism and lack of trust in centralised institutions and political elites, a victory for regionalism over internationalism sets a precedent for eurosceptic parties in dissatisfied nations - especially debt-burdened Mediterranean nations who have borne the brunt of EU austerity and the Migration Crisis - to hijack Catalan independence and turn it into a rallying-point against the EU's internationalism.

Second, Catalonian independence could easily trigger a eurozone crisis. Spain has record levels of debt, and the financial relationship between Spain and the EU has been tense since the beginning of the Great Recession. If the slowly recovering Spanish economy suddenly loses its most profitable region, and perhaps accrues the high debts of that region, the Spanish economy will tumble. The consequence of a Spanish financial crisis - which could quickly spread to similarly debt-laden, weakened economies in Greece, Ireland, and an Italy preparing for its own fraught election - could be disastrous. And unlike the Greek financial crisis, this time there will be no bailouts from Berlin.

Third, an independent Catalonia will immediately be removed from the EU. There is no doubt that this is what Juncker told Puigdemont before his speech. Brexit is complicated because it is the first instance of a country leaving the EU. But at least it is made manageable as Brexit was the result of a legal referendum whose results were (mostly) respected by the various factions, even reluctantly, and because the same country which joined the EEC in 1973 will leave the EU in 2019, as a single entity. Catalonia would be the first time that a new country has emerged within an EU member-state, and it would be immediately excluded. Catalonia would leave, even though it never joined. The legal and constitutional problems this would create, however, would be insignificant next to the immediate political and economic chaos. Ejecting Catalonia from Europe could temporarily quarantine the eurozone from crisis, but only at the expense of a collapsed Catalonian economy. Banks and corporations are already evacuating the region. The new country would not be officially allowed to use the euro currency. Catalonia would either have to take on an enormous debt or renege on its share of the debt accumulated while part of Spain, thereby antagonising the Spanish government and the Spanish people even more. Creating border agencies, a military, and all the other trappings of an independent state would only be plausible after first sorting out the problem of whose money to use. And of course, an independent Catalonia would never join the European Union. Either its debt would be too high to qualify, or an angry Spanish government, burdened with paying Catalonia's debts, would veto every application. We would see Catalonia become a pariah state, the Western European equivalent of Belarus. Isolated, stagnant, and unrecognised by its own neighbours, the Republic of Catalonia's problems would put post-Brexit Britain's to shame.

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Carles Puigdemont has tried to kick the can down the road - while continuing to anger his opponents and disappoint his followers. By postponing a declaration of independence for the time being, he possibly hopes to avoid the economic and political catastrophe of crashing out of the European Union and instead force Madrid into granting even more autonomy for Catalonia. But greater autonomy within Spain is not what two million Catalans voted for. And like a genie released from its bottle, the emotions he has unleashed will not be easily contained.

Constitutional autonomy and debt management can be negotiated. Resentment and anger cannot. The two million Catalans who defied the Spanish state on October 1st voted for independence not semi-autonomy, and a climate of fierce emotions is not conducive to sober, rational negotiations. Already they feel let down, even betrayed, by both Puigdemont and the Madrid government. We can expect increasing criticism of Puigdemont's leadership as he botched this opportunity, in the eyes of separatists, to fulfil the mandate which he asked for and which the Catalans gave him on October 1st. Emotions are already high, and over the next few weeks unionists and separatists, Catalans and Spaniards, will blame each other. Talks between Rajoy and Puigdemont, which Rajoy has rejected, would be stillborn as neither is willing to shift on negotiating points. If Madrid now invokes Article 155 and takes direct control of the region, local resistance by an angry Catalan population which lead to serious civil unrest and a possible state of emergency. If Madrid calls elections in the hope of splitting Puigdemont's fragile coalition, political chaos will ensure - and it could backfire if hardcore separatists defy Puigdemont and act unilaterally.
Prime Minister Theresa May was speaking on LBC when she hesitated before answering the question over whether she would back Brexit now, were there another referendum held in 2017.

Here is our Prime Minister, who backed 'Remain' in the referendum last year and now wants us to leave the European Union at any cost.

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Before the referendum, Theresa May was the longest-serving Home Secretary in living memory; but there was little mention of either the economic illiteracy she displayed on immigration, or of how her unjustified suspicion of migrants may have affected the Brexit result.

Brexit or no Brexit, it is clear that we have to control our borders and identify who is leaving and entering our country.

However, the former Home Office head of immigration enforcement David Wood has only just rightly pointed out that the Home Office is operating at capacity, even before taking into account the 3.6 million EU nationals who will need to be registered and assessed during Brexit, under an as-yet-unclear process.

Applying his own experiences, Wood calls out the impossible task facing this already-creaking department.

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Speaking at a hearing of the Home Affairs Select Committee this week, his estimate on the number of immigrants currently living in the UK illegally appalled many. He admitted that there could be over one million illegal immigrants, unknown to authorities, in this country.

Neither he nor I, nor even the Home Secretary, knows the true figure.

This maintains a long-standing tradition in the public service of questionable data-gathering; starting with the use of International Passenger Surveys (IPS) to estimate emigration, a practice the Office for National Statistics branded "experimental".

As I have pointed out previously, these figures are unreliable to the point of being nonsense. Prime Minister Theresa May referred to a figure of 100,000 international students overstaying their visas illegally, only for e-exit data later to determine the figure to be closer to 4,600.

I have repeatedly asked the government to make these figures available and, time and again, I have demanded that the Home Office make clear the reality of its shortfalls in bringing control and order to our borders.

By now, Theresa May's 100,000 figure has, shamefully, permeated the national debate on immigration, creating unfounded fear and obscuring the true value of international students to the UK economy.

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International students bring in 25 billion annually to UK GDP, as well as allowing the UK education system to maintain an exceptionally high academic standard. Yet our politicians' rhetoric sends an unwelcoming message to the world. It is largely because of this rhetoric that we have seen a drop of over half in the number of Indian students studying in the UK since 2010 - a huge impediment to our soft power and our economy.

We would not be suffering such harmful confusion and uncertainty over immigration if we had accurate data regarding who is entering and leaving our country.

Both the Home Office and Number 10 should prioritise implementing visible, physical exit checks at our borders. Legislating for this is straightforward. Exit checks were removed by Tony Blair in 1998, effectively ending our ability to monitor and police our borders.

Bringing them back would not be difficult because we have the technology, and it would be worth the investment solely from a security point of view, with security being the Government's number one concern for its citizens.

Previous government data has been out by a factor of 20. Just as the faintest pencil is better than the sharpest memory, the most basic exit checks will outperform sloppy Home Office estimates and bring an end to the negative rhetoric with which we have addressed the immigration debate.

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We have been misled all this time. The Home Secretary has known all along that these were unreliable figures, even as they stoked the fire of the EU referendum debate, eighteen months ago.

Moreover bringing physical, visible exit checks at our borders and ensuring all passports, EU and non-EU, are scanned in and out of the country will not only give us far more control over immigration but will also help hugely from a security perspective. The number one priority of a government is the security of its citizens and by not implementing this our governments, for almost two decades, have been negligent in their primary duty in increasing a dangerous world; no one more so then our very own PM Theresa May.
altamira83 via Getty Images

When considering Brexit negotiations, it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that these negotiations are taking place between two parties who want to achieve similar outcomes which, if possible, benefits both parties - a win/win situation.

If the UK was negotiating with EU member states either individually or collectively, we might think that everyone involved wanted to achieve a situation which benefits everyone. After all, every state in the EU wants broadly similar things such as prosperity, economic growth, low unemployment, security etc. Wouldn't every EU state want to avoid a situation where damaging the UK also damaged themselves as well.

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However, there is a snag here. The UK is not negotiating with the EU (in terms of member states) but with the EU Commission to which the EU states have effectively sub-contracted the negotiations. It would be a mistake to assume that the Commission has the same agenda as the member states. While, as noted, member states would probably want broadly the same things as the UK such as trade, economic growth, security etc the agenda of the EU Commission is very different. While they have to keep in mind the aspirations of the member states they also, strongly, wish to keep the EU together and, if possible, to enlarge and deepen the union (see Jean Claude Juncker's recent address to the EU Parliament which clearly showed this) and gather more powers into the Commission's fold. This is why they have made it quite clear that their aim is to prevent the UK being from being better off by leaving the EU since this would encourage other member states to consider withdrawal. I think we can take this further and postulate that the Commission would really like to see the UK worse off after withdrawal since this will really hammer home the point.

This is something that needs to be borne in mind when observing the process of negotiation taking place. Some may see this analysis as hopelessly cynical but let us face the fact that the EU Commission may be facing an existential crisis and desperate people do desperate things

Consequently, we have to recognize that there are only a limited number of scenarios for the UK around Brexit, some with a greater likelihood of occurrence and a greater degree of consequences than others:

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1.A great deal for all - The EU Commission and the UK quickly agree a Brexit deal which is good for the UK and good for the EU. As I suggest above I think this is an extremely unlikely scenario because the EU Commission will not countenance a deal which is seen as good for the UK.

2.The Wallonia collapse - The EU Commission and the UK quickly (in the next few months) agree a Brexit deal which is seen as just about adequate for the UK. However, such a deal has to be approved by the European Parliament, the EU countries and some individual provinces within those countries. Remember the Wallonia episode where the Belgian province of Wallonia vetoed a trade deal with Canada which had taken years to negotiate. My guess is that the EU/UK deal would collapse very late in the day because of one or more objections such as Wallonia. At that point the UK would face a no-deal Brexit completely unprepared just a few months before the deadline.

3.Renege on Brexit - if the UK government decided to renege on Brexit, my best guess is that the EU would be prepared to stop the Brexit process, whatever the legal niceties, and allow the UK to remain in the EU. But (and a big but) this would again require the approval of member states (and perhaps others). These member states would sense weakness and would exact a price for setting aside article 50. The price could be such things as joining the Eurozone, joining Schengen, dropping the EU rebate to the UK etc. The reality is that we would be much worse off than we would have been before Brexit started.

4.Plan for no-deal Brexit now - this has talked about and seems to me an essential step for the UK to take. My scenario 1 seems unlikely to happen and scenarios 2 and 3 are potentially catastrophic for the UK. This scenario would involve starting to plan for a no-deal Brexit in the next few months and committing whatever resources are needed to the project. On the political side it would also demonstrate to the EU and the member states that we are serious about a hard Brexit if necessary. This option seems an eminently sensible precaution and it is irresponsible for Phillip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer to state that he will not commit funds to this process.
Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters

At the English Channel's narrowest point, just over eighteen nautical miles separate Shakespeare Beach in Kent from Cap Gris Nez, and on a clear day you can stand on the British shoreline, peer across the waves and make out the French coastline. Yet the reality is that we are in many ways a country far apart from our continental cousins, with this small stretch of sea representing more than a mere geographical separation. There is a psychological distance, a belief that the British Isles are a long way removed from the many nations with which we share the European hemisphere. We are an island nation, with an island outlook on the world.

Yet just at the point that Brexit appears to make us more of an island than ever, it could paradoxically lead to changes in the EU that will offer us a way back in.

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Our history weighs heavily, subconsciously perhaps, on how we feel about our place in the world. For more than a thousand years Britain has often viewed the rest of Europe with a mixture of affection, fear and suspicion. Frequently it has been the home of our enemy, with these islands fighting long wars with France, Spain, Tsarist Russia and Germany. A long roll-call of battles is etched permanently into our national historical memory: Agincourt, Blenheim, Waterloo, Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain. This focus on our military past reinforces the feeling of British exceptionalism. Since 1066, no foreign force has successfully managed to cross the Channel and launch a full-scale invasion and conquest of these isles. No other nation on the continent can say the same.

This awareness of our history, and the peculiar mix of superiority and separateness that it has spawned, played a vital role in Britain's decision to stay out of the earliest attempts at European integration - and if we want to understand Brexit today, we need to acknowledge the distinct circumstances in which we joined the European club in the first place. There was little fanfare when we finally made the leap. 'We're In - but Without Fireworks,' declared The Guardian, as Britain formally joined the European Economic Community (EEC) on 1st January 1973. In fact there was barely a sparkler to be seen. Basic economic necessity, rather than ideology, hope or inspiration, lay behind Britain's decision to end the country's splendid isolation.

But while we may not be entirely comfortable inside the EU, and may see ourselves as a nation apart, we have, repeatedly, shaped its priorities and direction. Time and again, Britain's unsettled relationship with Europe has prompted us to seek a series of special deals. And guess what? Time and again, Britain has succeeded in carving out a special status for itself. Did we join the eurozone? Are we part of the border-free Schengen Area? Did we sign up to all 130 of the EU's Justice and Home Affairs laws? No. No. No. Margaret Thatcher would have liked the sound of that.

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Within the intricate stitching that binds the EU, there is a common thread that runs throughout: Britain's unique status. Far from being the inflexible homogenous monolith of Daily Mail caricature, the European Union has repeatedly shown that it is willing to listen, prepared to compromise and ready to reform. So when people like me insist that Britain can still act to further reform the EU, and help mould it in a manner that best suits this country's very specific needs, we are not in the throes of some 'remoaning' Europhile fever. We are simply stating the obvious. Britain has enjoyed a special status throughout our time as a member of the EU and, should we choose to, we could do so once again. It would be a logical continuation of what we have previously achieved on so many occasions.

Crucially, this task - of reuniting the UK with the EU, but on an altered and reformed basis - will be made all the more possible because the rest of the EU is beginning to redesign its entire structure itself. Indeed, after recent events, it has no other choice. Europe's leaders, especially in the wake of Emmanuel Macron's election as French president, are increasingly persuaded that extensive reform of the EU is now inescapable.

The Brexit vote was a major catalyst in pushing EU governments to accept that change can no longer be avoided. In an ironic twist of fate, the Brexit vote in Britain against a future in the EU may help to provoke precisely the reforms that will assist in securing the EU's own future.

So there is a silver lining to the Brexit referendum: it may help to strengthen the EU itself; and it may lead to the conditions in which the UK could be reintegrated into a reformed EU.
Nicola Whiting, Chief Operating Officer, Titania explains why organisations are turning to automated cyber security to win the fight against cyber-criminals and state-sponsored hackers

Anyone searching Google for 'automated hacking tools' is immediately offered an array of sites where they can quickly download highly disruptive tools. Many come with user ratings, operator guides and money-back guarantees. They are available to rent, buy, rework or franchise. They appear almost legitimate.

Yet for those hungry for hacking tools, this is just the start. Navigate onto the dark web and you'll find yourself winding through the digital underworld of cyberspace's most notorious black market, a Mos Eisley for cyber weapons vendors, creating a booming cyber arms marketplace outside the parameters of the law. Weapons of choice for hackers here tend to be those that dramatically simplify and multiply sophisticated cyber-attacks. These range from automated distributed denial of service (DDoS) 'Stressor' tools, which overload networks with reams of data, to dictionary attack tools that generate endless password combinations in a bid to break into private devices.

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The increase in availability of automated hacking technologies coincides with a rise in the magnitude of online attacks. In 2015, Symantec found more than 430 million unique pieces of malware, that's a 36 percent increase on the year before. Last year, the Dyn attack saw 100,000 IoT devices hijacked and used as platforms for launching the largest recorded cyber-attack of its kind. Earlier this year, the WannaCry ransomware attack infected more than 300,000 computers, hitting dozens of healthcare organisations in the US and bringing down multiple trusts within the UK's National Health Service.

Easily available, automated hacking tools are allowing amateurs to carry out sophisticated cyber-attacks and swelling the armies of hacktivists and cyber criminals. However, the resources needed to defend and mend cyber security vulnerabilities, aren't keeping up. The largest ever survey of the global cyber security workforce predicts a shortfall of 1.8 million cyber security workers by 2022. This isn't just a problem for the future, Indeed, the world's number one jobs site, reports that employer demand for cyber security roles is three times higher than candidate interest. Security experts are expensive to hire, costly to train and at risk of getting headhunted - often just when they've got to grips with your system!

As automated hacking tools make attacks more likely and the cyber skills gap weakens our traditional defences, we need to find smarter ways to protect ourselves from the rising threat. This is something that larger businesses and military organisations are already addressing. These organisations are on the frontline of the cyber war, facing thousands of attacks every day. To give some perspective, towards the end of 2016, the U.S. Air Force, whose network consists of more than 1 million airborne and ground-based networked computer systems, estimated there were more than 1 million cyber attacks on its network on a daily basis.

In order to contend with the scale of such a rising threat, organisations such as the U.S. Air Force, the FBI, Deloitte, PayPal and KPMG have been amongst the first to implement 'intelligent' cyber technologies within their organisations to ensure their networks and computer systems are fortified against the most vicious cyber-attacks thrown at them.

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Large organisations and the military are not the only ones targeted by machine-aided hackers. In the UK alone, small to medium sized businesses were subject to an average of 230,000 cyber-attacks each across 2016. The rise of automated cyber-attacks means that every organisation with a connection to the internet is under threat. Therefore, the adoption of automated cyber security technologies, machines fighting machines, is vital.

The cyber security skills gap means we don't have the people to constantly reinforce cyber defences. Instead, we can use machines to conduct rapid, detailed and accurate audits.

This enables organisations to free their cyber security teams from firefighting and engage them in strategy, implementation and active defence. How do we know that automated tools can save time, money and resources? The real proof is in the application. The WannaCry ransomware attack in May led to operations being cancelled in 48 NHS trusts across the UK. Yet those parts of the NHS using intelligent autonomous cyber security 'audits' to find system risks were largely unaffected. The autonomously gathered intelligence, used alongside other tools, ensured preventative measures were in place to successfully protect themselves. Finding the right combination of automation tools, in an industry famed for its "smoke and mirrors", can be its own challenge - but it's one worth pursuing.
The Labour Party has a tradition of inviting pre-eminent international speakers to address its conference. President Bill Clinton did it twice in 2002 and 2006, and the late, great, Nelson Mandela addressed the conference in Brighton in 2000.

This year they invited writer and feminist Naomi Klein. Klein has written a lot about the impact that climate change is having around the world. Following the recent storms in the Caribbean, her speech asserted we are in a climate emergency, and we need bold action to safeguard our planet for future generations, such as ensuring that our pension funds are invested in clean energy not risky and outdated fossil fuels. She also said that our migration and financing policies need to reflect the debt that we owe the global South. I couldn't agree more. I was nodding wildly when as she stated we need to pay our fair share to help developing countries to start their own green revolutions, and to deal with the impacts that climate change is having on them.

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We also need to do what we can to help the around 40 million people in the world who are displaced from their homes but remaining in their countries or regions. Known as internally displaced people (IDPs), this is a growing crisis globally. While a lot of the current media and political debate about is focused on refugees, the world also needs to be talking about IDPs, who represent a staggering two-thirds of those displaced around the world. Many of them are displaced by environmental disasters such as the flooding across India and Nepal, the hurricanes in the Caribbean, and the devastating drought and conflict in South Sudan. They often get no support from their countries or the international community. Next Autumn the UN will come together to agree new policies on how the global community will address migration. Christian Aid will be seeking to ensure that IDPs are considered as part of these discussions.

Another amazing woman who I heard speaking at the Labour conference church service was Ann Pettifor. Ann is an economist who led the Jubilee 2000 campaign to eradicate developing country debt (http://advocacyinternational.co.uk/featured-project/jubilee-2000) and is best known for correctly predicting the 2008 global economic crash. She said that the Christian Church should talk more about economics and money, as corruption and illicit financial flows are badly affecting many people in poverty. She's right - developing countries lose around $200 billion a year due to tax avoidance by multinational companies, and around $100 billion as a result of tax havens (many of which are on British territories such as the British Virgin Islands). We clearly need more transparency in our financial system so that we can begin to tackle some of these problems.

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Overall, this conference was the busiest I've ever been to, with I think over 1200 delegates, 500 fringe meetings and a whole separate festival of politics nearby. While the debates and votes in the main hall seemed to focus on how to tackle anti-Semitism within the party and debating whether to debate Brexit or try not to vote on the elephant in the room, for me at least, the best and most interesting stuff was at the fringe events (such as from Ann Pettifor above). But here are two contributions that I thought were worth picking out from the speeches in the main hall:

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry talked about how the world now seems to be in constant humanitarian crisis, not least as a result of climate change. The good news is that the world got together last year to agree new ways to prepare for and respond to humanitarian crises. For example, we need local partners on the ground to be more in control of responses, and we need to prepare more for crises before they hit. The Department for International Development (DFID) and other similar agencies around the world now need to act to make these agreements a reality on the ground.

International Development sadly didn't get discussed very much on the main stage, but the Shadow DFID Secretary Kate Osamor did briefly talk about the importance of tackling inequality and climate change in the developing world - two very important priorities. She also mentioned the UK's Overseas Territories. While it's important that we do all we can to help places like the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Anguilla to recover from these latest disasters made worse by climate change, this money shouldn't come from the UK Aid budget, which should be reserved for the poorest people in the poorest countries (the BVI actually has a higher income per head than the UK).

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There were other interesting contributions too, from ending the blockade of Gaza, to investing in girls' education; from how tackling climate change & building our economy can work together, to Jeremy Corbyn talking about closing the gender pay gap. Do tweet me @simonpkirkland if you want to hear more!
The recent party conferences were an opportunity to debate a host of issues, but one that underlay the many calls to 'build a better future' was the need to address the UK's productivity challenge. This is all the more important as we build the strong economic foundations needed post-Brexit which will provide security and stability for the UK.

But what is the challenge? It's certainly not about working harder and longer for the same (or less), at a time when real wage growth is under pressure. Indeed, the government's approach recognises this: its Industrial Strategy is rooted in the objective of raising productivity growth. This, in turn, is key to achieving rising living standards: by producing more value per person or per hour, higher wages can be earned. This also means producing the high quality products and services that consumers want to buy, whether in the UK or in our export markets, so that we pay our way in the world.

As we set out in our submission to the government's Industrial Strategy consultation, recent productivity performance has indeed been disappointing. There has been a clear slowdown in productivity growth since the financial crisis, although it's worth noting that, apart from the period around the global financial crisis (2008-2010), UK productivity growth has actually performed reasonably well relative to other major advanced economies (see Figure).

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So how can the slowdown in productivity growth be countered? To address this, we need to understand the drivers of productivity growth. These can be clustered into four elements. The first is the importance of education and training in raising the skills of the workforce and the ability of workers to contribute to the development of high value-added and high-growth sectors in manufacturing and services.

A second key element is the quality of the infrastructure available to businesses which want to grow and develop, particularly transport infrastructure, but also housing, broadband and access to competitive sources of energy.

The third element is having government policies which support investment, innovation and business growth including the impact of taxation, business regulation and access to overseas markets. This includes investing in technology and the digital revolution to deliver more, or better, for less. With limited funds, government needs to focus its investment on where UK plc is most likely to succeed, and be famous for its products and services, in a very fast moving world.

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Finally, to achieve its full potential, an economy needs to harness the contribution of all regions and all sectors. As we set out in the Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities Index, local public agencies, collaborating with LEPs, the private sector and higher education, have a key role to embed an inclusive place based approach to growth.

This means shaping visions and identities for places supported by local industrial strategies spanning skills, infrastructure, innovation and business growth. In a post-EU landscape it also includes cities stepping up and proactively going abroad on a city-to-city basis to find investment, develop trading links and promoting exports. In addition, it means building the case to secure additional fiscal powers as part of a re-booted devolution deals process.

It's also not just a challenge for the private sector. There is also a contribution that the public sector itself can make. Still accounting for a sixth (16.9%) of UK employees, an increase in public sector productivity would make an important contribution. In recent years there does seem to have been an uptick, with total public service productivity increasing by 2.3% between 2010 and 2014 (according to the latest ONS release).

But there's more that can be done, driven not just by cutting costs but by transforming the public sector through new operating models and, as we set out in our work on Productivity in the Public Sector:

Redesigning jobs for high productivity working, particularly against the background of the rise of Gov.Tech, Artificial Intelligence and robotics.

Tailoring learning and development to accelerate the creation of an adaptable public sector workforce, ready to meet the challenges of the future.

Aligning pay and rewards to incentivise and sustain productivity improvement.
More than two dozen residents attended Wednesday's Select Board meeting to address a citizens' petition asking for a revote of the school project.

Clarksburg Officials Accept Citizens' Petition for School Project Revote

CLARKSBURG, Mass.  Supporters of the $19 million school project were accused of unethical conduct in garnering signatures for a second special town meeting to approve borrowing for the project.

Another resident vowed to circulate her own petition for a third vote should this second one pass.

Select Board Chairman Jeffrey Levanos, at a crowded board meeting on Wednesday, said he had problems with the petition but that town counsel's opinion was that it was legal and a date will be set.

"Usually with a petition, the signatures are attached to it so people know what they are signing," he said. "I have just signature sheets ... This is a gray area here. I don't want to make this invalid because of it. ...

"My other concern was, not illegal, but a little unethical ... some residents have told me that it was the children who came up to the door with petition. ... You do have the right, with your signatures, to have another town meeting, and we will have another town meeting, it's just that I have issues with the way things are going. I have issues with the involvement -- it looks like using children."

Levanos said he understood why the petition was being done, and that town counsel had given the opinion that it was not illegal, but felt it was "a little unethical."

Kimberly Rougeau, a teacher, parent and PTG member, who spearheaded the petition, took offense.

"I care about my school and I care about this town and if I have no day care, my kid is going to be with me," she said. "I did not send children out."

Several of the two dozen or so in attendance denounced the allegations while another woman questioned the ethics of gathering signatures at the school, which was referenced in a Facebook post. The nearly hourlong discussion surrounding the agenda item of accepting the petition requesting a special town meeting ranged from the legality of the petition to deadlines to financial information to questioning of the voting process.

"I don't want a divided town, I just want it to be fair," said resident Robert Norcross.

The vote on the school borrowing failed on Sept. 27 one vote shy of the required two-thirds. The special town meeting drew a record turnout of more than 400 who could not fit into the school's undersized gym/cafeteria. More than 100 people stood outside and it took nearly two hours for people to be registered and vote by secret ballot.

A petition was almost immediately sent around, gathering more than 300 signatures, to call for a second and "fair and orderly vote" on the school project. The petition only needed 200 signatures, which were certified by Town Clerk Carol Jammalo prior to the meeting.

The renovation and addition of the 60-year-old elementary school would cost the town $7.7 million over 40 years, with the Massachusetts School Building Authority picking up $11.3 million. The price tag of $350,000 a year, or an estimated $3.25 on the tax rate, has given many of the 600 homeowners in town pause.

"I just ask that as you consider this petition and you look through the signatures, consider all the 318 people who signed and really look at the mix of demographics and the variance of community members who signed it," Rougeau said.

"It wasn't one certain demographic, it wasn't one certain group of people, it wasn't one certain street. It was all filtered throughout."

Levanos said the board would set a date after conferring with the School Committee and superintendent of schools on several questions. He also said town officials would hold an information session focused on Clarksburg's financial situation with its finance team available to answer questions.

The School Building Committee had held three public information sessions on the condition of the school, the process it went through and the addition/renovation plan that was approved by the MSBA. The town's bonding agent also answered questions about the borrowing process and cost and town officials spoke to the burden the project could put on homeowners.

A number of residents, including the Select Board, did not find those sessions sufficient in answering tough questions about the town's decreasing levy capacity, tight budgets or financial projections.

"I would like the treasurer, the accountant, and school business manager ... I want everybody at that meeting," Levanos said. "We need to know if the town can afford it."

Select Board member Carlyle "Chip" Chesbro Jr. said it was "just the truth about the town."

"Six hundred homes in town are going to pay for a $19 million school," he said.

Officials also said they were working on creative ways to make this next special town meeting operate better and that it would be held in town. Jammalo cautioned those in attendance that it could not be an election. Town meeting operates as the legislative body and those voting in it must be present, she said.

Resident Karen Robert said it wasn't fair that people had made it to the last special town meeting to have their votes being dismissed. She vowed to have her own petition for another revote should this next one pass.

Revotes on school projects aren't unusual. A $51 million renovation of Monument Mountain Regional High School passed but failed twice to win a debt exclusion vote to fund it. A petition in North Adams called for rescinding a borrowing order for what became Colegrove Park Elementary School; that ballot vote failed. In Amherst, it took four votes (three failed; two prompted by citizens' petitions) before school officials shelved a $67 million school project earlier this year.

In other business, the board accepted the warrant for the second-quarter water bill; signed a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with one of three solar arrays sited in town for $13,800 a year for 20 years; and sold a cemetery plot to Jeffrey and Mary Lou Levanos.
The City Council approved the purchase and sales agreement with Cumberland Farms Wednesday night.

North Adams Enters Agreement To Sell DPW Facility

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The City Council voted to enter into a purchase and sales agreement with Cumberland Farms for the DPW facility.

Mayor Richard Alcombright asked the Council to approve an agreement Wednesday between the city and Cumberland Farms that would start the process of a $575,000 purchase from the city - $475,000 above the appraised amount.

"Cumberland Farms has been a strong partner in the community, building two new store on Route 2 and 8 and for quite some time they have been interested in a new and more appropriate sized store on Ashland Street," he said. "I respectfully request the approval of this purchase and sale agreement."

The regional chain of convenience stores, that has been renovating and constructing larger facilities, has eyed the property for some time now. The current Cumberland Farms on Ashland Street is smaller and landlocked by streets and residential properties with virtually no room to expand upon.

The Department of Public Works facility itself has aged out of use for the city with all operations moving from the more than a century old facility to the former anodizing plant at Hodges Cross Road purchased last year.

According to the agreement, the city will share 50 percent of any cleanup costs up to $287,500, or half the purchase price. Cumberland Farms will undergo an environmental study of the property and can back out of the purchase if there are unsatisfactory findings.

Alcombright said the city looked at possible contamination issues through the Department of Environmental Protection and could only find two reportable issues: a diesel spill and a gas spill.

He said other than that, he does not anticipate any hiccups.

"Worst case they look at it and it is lit up really hot and they back away," he said. "Intermediate case there is a larger cleanup and we harbor half of it but we still end up with a clean site, a productive commercial site with a new building, more tax revenue, more jobs and $287,500. Again, we have no reason to think there will be a need for substantial clean up."

Cumberland Farms will pay for the environmental test.

Councilman Eric Buddington, one of the two no votes, said he thought there was a better use of the land and the city did not need another gas station that would add to a "strip mall" look.

"I am not excited at all about having another gas station, and I think we have plenty and we are not filling an obvious need," he said. "I wish we could find a use for this landit is close to the college it could be a really nice walking corridor."

Alcombright said the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts looked favorably upon the project because it would mean a convenience store closer to campus. He added that the new location would also be closer to the Housing Authority.

He added that with the citys efforts to improve the Ashland Street corridor the modern convenience store would be a good addition.

"With some of the things that are happening in that condor there is a possibility to make Ashland Street the linkage from the college to the downtown," he said. "I think it has cleaned up welland the only true blight left there is our DPW facility."

Alcombright added that Cumberland Farms will try to sell the old location on Ashland Street and there have already been two serious developers who have contacted the city.

Councilman Robert Moulton, the second no vote, said he would prefer an agreement that put less liability on the city if there are environmental findings even if the bottom line is smaller.

"I would be more comfortable with getting less and not being responsible for it," he said. "It is an unusual propertyand it is in that corridor near the college and they werent interested in it but maybe down the road they will be."

Alcombright said MCLA did not return a proposal and he added that selling to MCLA would mean the city would get no bump in tax revenue because the school is tax exempt.

"When we are talking about hitting tax ceilings in a few years and the need for new growth there is an opportunity in front of us," he said.

Councilman Wayne Wilkinson agreed and thought the city should just get rid property while there is an offer on the table.

"Selling this property means the city is no longer liable for what is underneath it and I dont think anyone else is going to come along and buy it," he said. "It could be a real liability down the road and it is good to get rid of it at a reasonable price."

Wilkinson did pick up a possible issue with the agreement itself and noted that at some points the agreement only points to selling a portion of the land.

Alcombright said he would run it by the city solicitor but noted Cumberland Farms needs the entire property for their facility.

Alcombright said if all goes as planned and the project successfully moves through the permitting process, doors could open in early 2019.

With the recent water violation where water users were informed that the city failed to use a soda ash additive to adjust the water's pH for three years, Councilman Buddington asked if there was a way to get routine information out to the public about tests and water treatment.

Alcombright said he planned to bring to the next meeting a summary of how often the city has to test the water and what they look for.

He reiterated that there is and was never an issue with the water.

"The water coming out of the plant is extremely safe and drinkable," he said. "If the pH is below a certain level it can cause corrosion in homeowners pipes."

He added that the pH has to be around 6.5 for some time for this to take place which was not the case for the city.

He said when the waters pH falls below 7 DEP requires treatment. He said DEP mandates water remediation if it reads below 6.5.

"It basically tells us when our water goes below 7 we should start to treat it so it doesnt get to 6.5," he said. "It went below to 6.9, 6.8 maybe 6.6 and we didnt treat it. What the plant did was let the pH come up naturally which it did."

The mayor said even though it was not an emergency the city does take the violation seriously.

"It does pose a health hazard and we didnt do it right and we are doing it right now," he said.

The City Council also appointed Colin Todd to the North Adams Housing Authority and moved a resolution declaring North Adams as a Pollinator Friendly Community to the Public Service Committee to vet before they vote on it.
Man pleads not guilty to charge of kidnapping resulting in death of Chinese scholar

The suspect Brendt Christensen (file photo)

An American pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the charge of kidnapping resulting in death of a Chinese scholar.

This has been the first time Brendt Christensen appeared in court after a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment on Oct. 3 against the 28-year-old, accusing him of kidnapping resulting in the death of Zhang Yingying, a visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC).

U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric Long read the main part of the superseding indictment, and Christensen replied that he fully understood the three counts of charges, namely kidnapping resulting in death and two counts of making false statements to FBI agents.

When Christensen entered the courthouse, Zhang's mother tried to grab the defendant while shouting "give me back my daughter." She was escorted out of the court before the hearing began.

Christensen, in grass green prison clothes, sat between his two lawyers, and never looked at the family of the victim despite the mother's cries.

Preliminary hearing will be held on Feb. 12, 2018, and the final ruling of the case will be on Feb. 27, 2018, Judge Long said.

If convicted of the charge, Christensen will face death penalty or mandatory life in prison.

"Suspect pleading not guilty is within our expectation," U.S. lawyer Wang Zhidong, who has been offering legal support to the Zhangs on a voluntary basis, said outside the court.

He believes that the police and prosecutors have enough evidence to prosecute the suspect, but Wang doubted the final ruling can be held on the set date announced by Long, citing the complexity of the case.

Zhang went missing on her way to sign a housing lease on June 9. Investigators later announced that Zhang was kidnapped. Prosecutors alleged that Christensen approached Zhang and lured her into his car.

Law enforcement agents first turned their attention to Christensen after they found his Saturn Astra was the same one Zhang disappeared in, according to surveillance footage.

Christensen told the FBI that he was at home all day on the day Zhang went missing. He then changed his story, saying that he came across an Asian woman and offered her a ride; however, he let her out of his car after she panicked.

The FBI arrested Christensen on June 30 after catching him on tape pointing out people he described as "ideal victims" during a vigil in Zhang's honor.
Imperial Valley News Center

What They're Saying About California's Criminal Justice Reform Legislation

Sacramento, California - Elected officials, national legal experts, rehabilitation program providers and criminal and juvenile justice reform advocates support the legislation signed today by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. to improve Californias criminal and juvenile justice systems, restore the power of judges to impose criminal sentences and reduce recidivism through increased rehabilitation.

Here's what they are saying:

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon: These bills show that California values the promise and rights of its youth.

These new laws embrace two important ideas, neither of which should be seen as revolutionary. The first is the Constitutions awareness that our individual rights must be protected alongside our public safety. The second is that we cannot afford to throw away or forget our young people, even those who find themselves in the justice system. These bills show that California values the promise and rights of its youth.

SB 180 and SB 190 Author Senator Holly J. Mitchell: These bills help provide the appropriate resources and policies.

Sadly, too many poor kids and kids of color today are more likely to end up as victims of the juvenile justice system. If one believes that our children will be tomorrows leaders then we must look through a child-development lens. These bills help provide the appropriate resources and policies to get them there.

AB 1448 Author Assemblymember Shirley N. Weber: This package of bills represents our continued commitment to reforming our criminal justice system.

Last year the Governor signed legislation I authored changing the purpose of criminal sentencing from simply administering punishment to a focus on the long-term goals of public safety and rehabilitation. This package of bills represents our continued commitment to reforming our criminal justice system in a way that ensures public safety while also reducing prison overcrowding and unnecessary burdens on public funds. AB 1448 strikes this balance by providing an opportunity for the release of some elderly non-violent inmates, but at the same time also requires that they clearly demonstrate in a court of law that they are rehabilitated and no longer pose a threat to public safety.

SB 620 Author Senator Steven Bradford: By providing greater options such as comprehensive rehabilitation, that reduces recidivism and judicial discretion.

I want to thank my legislative colleagues and the governor for this common sense approach to criminal justice reform. History has shown that there are implicit biases when it comes to charging and sentencing our minority and lower socially economic communities. By providing greater options such as comprehensive rehabilitation, that reduces recidivism and judicial discretion, which allows our courts to mete out justice in a more fair and hopefully color blind manner, we will balance the scales of justice and reduce incarceration.

AB 1308 Author Assemblymember Mark Stone: The measure will help people rehabilitate and reintegrate into the community, and it will take another step towards reducing recidivism.

People in prison are much more likely to enroll in school, drop out of a gang, or participate in positive programs if they can sit before a parole board. This new law gives some offenders that chance. The measure will help people rehabilitate and reintegrate into the community, and it will take another step towards reducing recidivism.

SB 312 Author Senator Nancy Skinner: These bills make vital progress toward a justice system that is fair and balanced.

These bills make vital progress toward a justice system that is fair and balanced. My bill, SB 312, creates a path for young people with a past offense to prove they deserve a second chance and clear their criminal records.

SB 625 Author Senator Toni G. Atkins: The best thing we can do for our young people is help them build a bright future for themselves, and that is especially true for youth exiting our criminal-justice system who want to head in a more positive direction. 

The best thing we can do for our young people is help them build a bright future for themselves, and that is especially true for youth exiting our criminal-justice system who want to head in a more positive direction. SB 625 will help a program participant get a job or qualify for an occupational license  and maybe become a cosmetologist or a counselor, just to name a couple of examples. I thank the Governor for his support for this important anti-recidivism tool.

SB 393, SB 394 and SB 395 Author Senator Ricardo Lara: The Equity and Justice laws Governor Brown signed take a greatly needed step toward restoring the value of rehabilitation in our justice system.

The Equity and Justice laws Governor Brown signed take a greatly needed step toward restoring the value of rehabilitation in our justice system. Science is clear, young people are different, and as such have the capacity to change and become productive members of society. These Equity and Justice laws will give them that opportunity.

Equal Justice Initiative Founder and Executive Director Bryan Stevenson: Our futures are all bound, and California's leadership on this issue can benefit the state while helping guide the country.

Our futures are all bound, and California's leadership on this issue can benefit the state while helping guide the country. The reforms Governor Brown has championed, to reduce the state's prison population and increase rates of release, will help provide a viable path toward post-release success.

Anti-Recidivism Coalition Founder and President Scott Budnick: These smart-on-crime bills, many passed with a bipartisan vote, embrace the concepts of public safety, accountability and redemption.

The package of legislation signed by the Governor today balances public safety with hope and opportunity. Our members of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) credit their change and transformation to an adult mentor believing in them, opportunities for careers and higher education upon release, and hope being created in sentencing and upon reentry, guiding them to a better and moral life. These smart-on-crime bills, many passed with a bipartisan vote, embrace the concepts of public safety, accountability and redemption.

Human Rights Watch Childrens Rights Division Senior Advocate Elizabeth Calvin: Californias children and youth deserve the hope and opportunities these new laws will give them.

Well-grounded scientific research shows the human brain doesnt fully mature until the mid-20s. Governor Browns action on these important bills ensures that the states youth are protected and given real chances for rehabilitation. Californias children and youth deserve the hope and opportunities these new laws will give them.

Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Clinical Professor of Law Steve Drizin: This is the most enlightened package of criminal and juvenile justice reform bills in the nation.

This is the most enlightened package of criminal and juvenile justice reform bills in the nation. At a time when many states are still just talking about how to reduce mass incarceration, the California General Assembly and Governor Brown are acting  by eliminating mandatory gun and drug enhancements and giving judges more discretion in sentencing, by recognizing that youthful offenders are less culpable than adults for their crimes, and by expanding, rather than abolishing parole for serious youthful offenders. As the attorney for Brendan Dassey, whose case was featured in the NETFLIX docuseries Making a Murderer, I am thrilled that SB 395  which requires that youths aged 15 and under consult with an attorney before police may interrogate them  is now the law of the nation's most populous state. SB 395 recognizes that many teenagers are not capable of understanding their Miranda rights and deciding whether to speak to the police without the advice of counsel. California has always been a bellwether state when it comes to criminal and juvenile justice policy. It's my hope that the courage demonstrated by the legislature and Governor Brown will become contagious and cause others throughout the country to enact similar laws.

Common: These bills will offer juvenile offenders a chance at redemption and provide much needed protection for minors during interactions with the justice system.

The bills that Governor Jerry Brown is signing today are great steps towards a more just and fair justice system. These bills will offer juvenile offenders a chance at redemption and provide much needed protection for minors during interactions with the justice system. I look forward to working with Governor Brown on future justice reform legislation.

#Cut50 Co-Founder Van Jones: These bills combine evidence-based policy making with a strong sense of compassion and will result in a justice system that prioritizes healing, rehabilitation, and transformation.

With the stroke of his pen, the Governor has boldly ended the barbaric practice of sentencing children to die in prison, given hope of a second chance to thousands of men and women convicted as youth, and helped protect the Constitutional rights of children across the state. These bills combine evidence-based policy making with a strong sense of compassion and will result in a justice system that prioritizes healing, rehabilitation, and transformation."

The Actors Gang Project Founder Tim Robbins: It is a step in the right direction in undoing the cruel and excessive sentencing policies of the past thirty years.

I commend the Governor for signing these juvenile justice bills. It is a step in the right direction in undoing the cruel and excessive sentencing policies of the past thirty years. I have met men in their forties still paying for a mistake they made when they were children and I am convinced that their punishment is excessive and inhumane; a disastrous result of the rhetoric of politicians and the 'war on drugs."

Senior Fellow and Academic Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Paul Heaton: The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania applauds legislative efforts to address policies and practices that contribute to errors such as wrongful convictions.

As the first research center focused on preventing errors in the criminal justice system, the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania applauds legislative efforts to address policies and practices that contribute to errors such as wrongful convictions. Research suggests that an important contributor to erroneous convictions is sentencing practices that lead individuals who would otherwise wish to assert their innocence at trial to accept guilty pleas out of risk aversion, to avoid the possibility of triggering mandatory or automatically enhanced sentences.
Imperial Valley News Center

U.S. Department of Energy Announces 2017 Housing Innovation Award Winners

Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) presented the 2017 Housing Innovation Awards to 24 of the nation's leading builders yesterday at the Energy and Environmental Building Alliance's High Performance Home Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. Overall, 26 award-winning homes were selected from five categories: Affordable Homes, Multi-Family Homes, Production Homes, Custom Homes (Buyers), and Custom Homes (Spec).

"Housing Innovation Award winners represent the top 1% of builders across the country who successfully demonstrate they can meet the federal government's most rigorous specifications for high-performance homes," said Sam Rashkin, chief architect at DOE's Building Technologies Office. "Zero Energy Ready Homes are designed to provide a whole new level of home owner experience, including ultra-low utility bills, ensured comfort, comprehensive water protection, whole-house fresh air delivery, high-capture filtration, contaminant control, and enhanced durability."

"These winners are leading a national movement to Zero Energy Ready Homes, providing better places for Americans to live, stronger communities, and a more economically and environmentally resilient nation," said Rashkin.

The 2017 Housing Innovation Awards featured the highest number of applicants in the history of the Zero Energy Ready Home program. From among these applications, an esteemed panel of judges had the difficult decision of selecting winners and grand winners in each of the five categories. Additionally, the judges selected a select number of homes as honorable mentions, which will be featured on the DOE Tour of Zero, a virtual tour of Zero Energy Ready Homes across the country.

A complete list of the 2017 Housing Innovation Award Winners is provided below. Visit DOE's website to learn more about the awards. Winning homes from previous years can be viewed on the DOE Tour of Zero.

2017 Housing Innovation Award Winners

Winners for Innovation in Affordable Homes

Capstone Homes, Flagstaff, Arizona

Habitat for Humanity of Catawba Valley, Hickory, North Carolina

United Way of Long Island, Huntington Station, New YorkGrand Winner

Winners for Innovation in Custom Homes (For Buyer)

Alliance Green Builders, Ramona, CaliforniaGrand Winner

BPC Green Builders, Staatsburg, New York

Clifton View Homes Inc., Anacortes, Washington

Ferrier Custom Homes, Dallas, Texas

Garden State Modular, Lavallett, New Jersey

High Performance Homes, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Imery & Co., Chamblee, Georgia

SD Jessup Construction, Tobaccoville, North Carolina

Mantell-Hecathorn Builders, Durango, Colorado

Winners for Innovation in Custom Homes (Spec)

Addison Homes, Greenville, South Carolina

Amaris Homes, Afton, MinnesotaGrand Winner

BrightLeaf Homes, Brookfield, Illinois

Charis Homes, Uniontown, Ohio

Greenhill Contracting, Gardiner, New YorkGrand Winner

Thornhill Custom Homes, Dallas, Texas

Winners for Innovation in Multi-Family Homes

Revive Properties, Fort Collins, Colorado

Thrive Home Builders, Lone Tree, ColoradoGrand Winner

Winners for Innovation in Production Homes

Charles Thomas Homes, Omaha, Nebraska

Garbett Construction, Sandy, Utah

Health-E Community Enterprise, Richmond, Virginia

Mandalay Homes, Prescott, Arizona

Revive Properties, Fort Collins, Colorado

Thrive Home Builders, Denver, ColoradoGrand Winner

Winner: Most Homes Certified

Mandalay Homes, Prescott, Arizona

There are builders who construct one extraordinary home a year and then there are those who construct many of these homes. In 2017, Mandalay Homes had the distinction of building the most homes meeting the rigorous Zero Energy Ready Home specifications.

Honorable Mentions
Imperial Valley News Center

On the Rescue of Caitlan Coleman, Joshua Boyle, and Their Family from Terrorist Captivity

Washington, DC - Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson: "The United States Government, working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan, has secured the release of the Boyle-Coleman family from captivity in Pakistan.

"In 2012, U.S. citizen Caitlan Coleman and Canadian citizen Joshua Boyle were taken hostage by the Haqqani network. Their three children were subsequently born in captivity. Today they are safe and secure.

"I applaud the innumerable lines of effort from across the U.S. Government. Im particularly proud of Ambassador Hale and his Mission Islamabad team for their engagement with Pakistan. These efforts reflect the best of what America can accomplish.

"The United States also expresses our deep gratitude to the Government of Pakistan and the Pakistani Army for their cooperation. President Trump's new South Asia strategy recognizes the important role Pakistan needs to play to bring stability and ultimately peace to the region. The United States is hopeful that Pakistans actions will further a U.S.-Pakistan relationship marked by growing commitments to counterterrorism operations and stronger ties in all other respects."
California Association of Food Banks and CA Grown ask Ag to help communities impacted by fires

Sacramento, California - In response to the devastating fires currently raging across California, the California Association of Food Banks (CAFB) and CA Grown are asking the states farmers and ranchers to consider donating food products to needy food banks across the state.

To connect with a food bank serving communities impacted by the ongoing fires, please contact:

Steve Linkhart | Farm to Family Director

California Association of Food Banks

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(510) 350  9916

Requested products include: ready to eat foods

Area food banks are also in need of cash donations. Please consider giving to:

Yuba-Sutter Food Bank

Redwood Empire Food Bank

Community Action of Napa Valley Food Bank

Fort Bragg Food Bank

As the countrys largest producer of food, Californias agricultural community has willingly stepped up in times of need. Earlier this month, our farmers and ranchers donated over 122 tons of food to needy families through the California Association of Food Banks Farm to Family Program.

For those thousands of victims displaced from their homes, a warm meal can make a world of difference. In this time of great suffering, the generosity of California agricultural community is great appreciated.
Margot Lee Shetterly, author of Hidden Figures, receives the Grateful American Book Prize

Washington, DC - The 2017 Grateful American Book Prize will be officially awarded tonight to author Margot Lee Shetterly for her non-fiction book, Hidden Figures, at a ceremony to be held at The National Archives.

David Bruce Smith, co-founder of the Prize, who will make the presentation, said "Hidden Figures is an outstanding work. It chronicles the lives of NASA's so-called 'human computers,'-- African-American women mathematicians who were hired in the 1950s by the space agency's Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Virginia. They overcame great odds and proved to be indispensable. Using primitive tools by today's standards - pencils and adding machines-they calculated the trajectories that would successfully launch America's first astronauts into outer space."

Ms. Shetterly's book was published in November of 2016 by HarperCollins; the Academy Award nominated film version-also released last year--starred Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae, Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards.

"It's a highly acclaimed story that engages young learners, giving them an opportunity to learn more about a very important piece of American history. It is the essence of what the Prize is all about-increasing the curiosity of our country's future voters and leaders about the past, so that they can become better citizens in the future," according to Smith.

Jennifer Latham's Dreamland Burning, a work of historical fiction-- also about racial injustice-and Edward Cody Huddleston's The Story of John Quincy Adams 250 Years After His Birth, were selected to receive the Prize's Honorable Mention Awards for 2017.

Dreamland Burning, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, with its focus on the Tulsa race riot of 1921, raises important questions about the complex state of US race relations - yesterday and today, according to one reviewer.

The Story of John Quincy Adams, produced by the Atlantic Publishing Group, examines the life of the sixth president of the United States, whose father, John Adams, was America's second American president. "This biography is likely to have a special appeal to young readers; despite his burdensome self-doubt, Adams was a constant achiever," according to Smith.

The Prize, carries an award of $13,000, and a medallion created by American artist, Clarice Smith. Recipients of this year's Honorable Mentions will also receive the medallion, and $500 each.

The judges for the 2017 Prize were co-founders Smith and Dr. Bruce Cole, author, historian and former Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities as well Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and CEO, New-York Historical Society, Dr. Peter S. Carmichael, the Robert C. Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies & Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, Dr. Douglas Bradburn, author, historian and Founding Director of the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon, John Danielson, founder of Chartwell Education Group and former Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Education and Neme Alperstein, Teacher of Gifted and Talented Students in the New York City Public School system since 1987.
Spain National Day

Washington, DC - Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson: "On behalf of the Government of the United States of America, best wishes to the people of Spain as you celebrate your National Day.

"The United States and Spain are great friends and close allies. As the President said during his September 26 meeting with President Rajoy, the deep relationship between our two peoples is a strong foundation for lasting cooperation. Our bonds, culture, and commerce go back many centuries and continue to deepen. We are allies and partners in efforts to counter terrorism, improve global security, support economic prosperity, and ensure people all over the world can live in freedom and peace.

"As you celebrate today, know that the United States values our enduring partnership and supports a strong and united Spain."
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Following public revelations concerning alleged sexual abuser Harvey Weinstein, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has issued a statement.

Picked up by The Hollywood Reporter, the Academy calls the disgraced producer repugnant, abhorrent and antithetical and says there will be an emergency meeting of the Board of Governors in response.

"The Academy finds the conduct described in the allegations against Harvey Weinstein to be repugnant, abhorrent and antithetical to the high standards of the Academy and the creative community it represents," the Academy said.

"The Board of Governors will be holding a special meeting on Saturday, 14 October, to discuss the allegations against Weinstein and any actions warranted by the Academy.

Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Show all 42 1 /42 Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein Harry Weinsteins reputation as one of Hollywoods leading executives was long cemented in stone. The acclaimed movie mogul, who produced Oscar-winning films Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and The Artist, clocked up box office successes and accolades aplenty. But this has quickly changed since a chorus of women have come forward to accuse the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and assault. Since the New York Times bombshell report disclosed sexual harassment and rape allegations against the film mogul dating back decades, Weinstein has been fired from his namesake company, expelled from the Oscars and has had his wife leave him. Weinstein has apologised for having caused a lot of pain but has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Annabella Sciorra The Sopranos actor alleged Weinstein raped her after shooting The Night We Never Met, a 1993 movie that Weinstein produced. Similar to the stories told by other women, Weinstein drove the actor home, only to reportedly burst into Sciorra's apartment and start unbuttoning his shirt. He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled. Weinstein then allegedly locked her arms and forced sexual intercourse on her. After the incident, Sciorra found it increasingly hard to get work, many filmmakers saying 'We heard you were difficult', something the actor claims was because of the 'Weinstein-machine'. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Natassia Malthe The model and actress, who has appeared in around 50 films, said she met Weinstein at a BAFTA after party in 2008 while she was working as a spokeswoman for LG. She told a press conference in New York that she felt pressured into telling Weinstein she was staying at the Sanderson Hotel after being put on the spot. Malthe, now 43, said after her shift on February 10 she went back to her room and went to sleep, but was awoken by "repeated pounding" on her door, from someone yelling: "Open the door Natassia Malthe, it's Harvey Weinstein." Feeling humiliated, she said she opened the door. She alleged Weinstein began implying sex would get her a role in an upcoming film while semi-undressed and then he began to masturbate. "I was sitting on the bed talking to Harvey when he pushed me back and forced himself onto me. It was not consensual. He did not use a condom," she said. AP Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sean Young The actor, best known for her role in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, said that Weinstein exposed himself to her in the early 1990s, when she was starring in the Miramax-produced Love Crimes - a production company that Weinstein headed at the time. "I personally experienced him pulling his you-know-what out of his pants to shock me," she said. "My basic response was, 'You know, Harvey, I really dont think you should be pulling that thing out, its not very pretty.'" Young never worked with Weinstein again after the incident. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lupita Nyong'o In an op-ed for The New York Times, the Oscar-winning actor said she was invited to Weinsteins family home in Connecticut on the premise of watching a film shortly after they met in 2011. But she said shortly after it started he "insisted" in front of his children that she follow him and she was led to his bedroom. The Kenyan-Mexican actress, now 34, said she felt pressured into giving him a massage after he offered her one. "Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants," she wrote."I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that." Over the years that followed, he continued to get in touch, Nyong'o said, and when she declined another proposition she felt her career was threatened. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lena Headey Writing on social media, the Game of Thrones actor claims she first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 where, after taking her for a walk by the water, he made some suggestive comment and gesture. Headey claims she bumped into Weinstein years later where he kept asking her questions about her love life. She alleges that, when Weinstein invited her to his hotel room to show her a script, the "energy shifted. The actor notes how, after saying she was not interesting in anything but the work, Weinstein was furious, apparently marching her back to a lift, "grabbing and holding tightly to the back of [her] arm." She claims that, after paying for her car, he whispered in her ear: "Don't tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent. Headey finished the post, writing: I got in the car and I cried. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Laura Madden Madden, a production assistant who worked at Miramax for a decade, told the Times that Weinstein allegedly prodded her for massages at hotels, a common theme among the sources the Timess reporters spoke with. On one occasion, she claims she locked herself in his hotel bathroom, sobbing Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Judd recounted for the Times how Weinstein allegedly harassed her while she was filming Kiss the Girls in 1996, inviting her to his hotel room and asking her for a massage, then inviting her to watch him shower. Judd first went public with the allegations in a 2015 interview with Variety during which she discussed the experience without naming the producer involved. She described Weinsteins alleged behaviour as coercive bargaining; I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask, she told the Times AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rose McGowan McGowan reportedly reached a previously undisclosed $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, over an incident that occurred in a hotel room Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emily Nestor Nestor had been temping at the Weinstein Company for only one day in 2014 when Weinstein allegedly offered to boost her career in return for sexual favours, according to the Times. She declined and reportedly complained of his behaviour to colleagues, who later passed the information on to senior executives. An internal Weinstein Company document cited by the Times describes Nestors encounter with Weinstein as follows: She said he was very persistent and focused though she kept saying no for over an hour Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ambra Battilana In March 2015, Battilana, an aspiring model and actress, was reportedly summoned to Weinsteins office on a Friday night to discuss her career. According to a police report cited by the Times, Battilana claimed she was assaulted by Weinstein, who grabbed her breasts after asking if they were real and put his hands up her skirt. Weinstein later claimed that Battilana had set him up, according to colleagues of his who were interviewed by the Times. The Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, later declined to press charges, and according to the Times, made a payment to Battilana. On 5 October, the International Business Times reported that after Vance dropped the charges, he received $10,000 from Weinsteins lawyer Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lauren OConnor Lauren OConnor, an employee of the Weinstein Company, penned a memo to executives alleging a toxic environment for women at the company. The memo cited numerous incidents of Weinstein harassing or coercing women who worked for him. She expressed fear that Weinstein was using her and other female employees to facilitate liaisons with vulnerable women who hope he will get them work. That same year, Weinstein allegedly reached a settlement with OConnor Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Kate Beckinsale The actor, who starred in the Weinstein Company films Serendipity and The Aviator, alleges that she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room at the age of just 17. When she approached the door, the producer reportedly greeted her dressed in just a dressing gown. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him, she wrote on Instagram. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Gwyneth Paltrow The actor alleges that after he cast her in the title role of the film Emma when she was 22, he took her to his hotel room, placed his hands on her and suggested massages. I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, Paltrow told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Asia Argento Italian actress Asia Argento has alleged that in 1997 Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop. When I see him, it makes me feel little and stupid and weak, Argento told The New Yorker. After the rape, he won. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Cara Delevigne The British model and actress penning an Instagram post claiming that Weinstein had ordered her to kiss another woman in his hotel room, and tried to kiss her on the lips. AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Ashley Judd said she rebuffed Harvey Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances by offering to consent only after she had won an Oscar. When she was initially invited to a meeting with Weinstein, Judd said, she was surprised to learn the producer was in his hotel room - a tactic that recurs in other womens accounts. Echoing the accounts of other women, Judd said Weinstein suggested she give him a massage and then invited her to watch him shower. After a volley of nos she said she would only after she wins an Oscar, fleeing after making the comments. Reuters/Mike Segar Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Judith Godreche French actress Judith Godreche said when she was 24 Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked to give her a massage. The next thing I know, hes pressing against me and pulling off my sweater, she told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mira Sorvino The Oscar-winning actor said she found herself in a hotel room with Weinstein in 1995 where he started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around. According to an interview in The New Yorker Weinstein subsequently arrived at her apartment late at night and she had to call a friend to come over to pose as her boyfriend in order to get Weinstein out of the house. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Katherine Kendall The actress said Weinstein undressed and chased her around a living room when she was just 23. She subsequently felt that telling others meant Ill never work again and no one is going to care or believe me, she told the New York Times. WireImage Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Tomi-Anne Roberts As an aspiring actress and working in a restaurant in New York, Tomi-Ann Roberts encountered Weinstein who encouraged her to audition for one of his films back in 1984. She subsequently went to meet him and found him naked in the bath and invited her to get naked and get into the bath with him, she told the New York Times. She said she left feeling manipulated. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Myleen Klass It has also been alleged that the disgraced film producer propositioned Myleene Klass with a sex contract at Cannes Film Festival in 2010. One of the singer and television personalitys friends reportedly told The Sun, Klass had told Weinstein to f*** off. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sophie Dix Sophie Dix, best known for her role as Captain Sadie Williams in Soldier Soldier, described her encounter with Weinstein when she was 23 as the single most damaging thing thats happened in my life. She told The Guardian Weinstein had pushed her to her bed and was tugging at her clothes. She rushed to the bathroom to escape, but when she came out she found him standing there masturbating. I quickly closed the door again and locked it, she said. Then when I heard room service come to the door I just ran. Rex Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lea Seydoux The actor and director claims she had to fight off Weinstein after he brought her to his hotel room during what she remembers to be 2012. He suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted, she wrote in The Guardian. AFP/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Claire Forlani British actress Claire Forlani wrote on Twitter that she had evaded Weinsteins advances on five occasions at the age of 25. At meetings with the Hollywood a-lister, she says massage was suggested, and that Weinstein had boasted of all the women hed had sex with. Mark Douet Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Florence Darel French actress Florence Darel claimed Weinstein relentlessly pursued her in the mid 1990's and propositioned her while Eve Chilton, his wife at the time, was in the hotel room next door. I was astonished, she told People magazine. When you have someone so physically disgusting in front of you, continuing and continuing as though this was all perfectly normal What happened to me may not be illegal but it was inappropriate. Very inappropriate. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony, who starred as Marnie Nightingale in Hollyoaks, has claimed Weinstein raped her in the late 1980's after turning up to her London home in the late 1980s. She described the disgraced film producers alleged attack as pathetic and revolting and said it left her feeling disgusted and embarrassed. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Dawn Dunning Dunning said she met Weinstein in 2003 when she was 24-years-old and the disgraced film producer suggested she have a threesome with him and someone else. She told the New York Times Weinstein got angry when she refused. Youll never make it in this business, she said he told her as she left. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Arquette was already well known for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan, when she said she met Weinstein at his hotel to pick up a script in the early nineties. Weinstein was dressed only in a dressing gown, and tried to put her hand on his erect penis. Speaking to the New York Times, Arquette said as she left she told him: I will never be that girl. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emma de Caunes Caunes, a French actor, claimed Weinstein took her to his hotel room in 2010 supposedly to retrieve a book he was making into a film, but once there he went into the bathroom. De Caunes said he then emerged naked, with an erection and told her to lie on the bed. She fled the room. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Zoe Brock Model Zoe claimed that she had to lock herself in a bathroom at Weinsteins hotel in 1997, after the mogul had sent all of the assistants out of the room, and then appeared naked. I was alone with Weinstein, she told ITVs This Morning programme. He very quickly left the room and came back naked. He chased me naked. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Barth Actress Jessica Barth described an encounter with Weinstein in 2011 in an interview with The New Yorker in which she said Weinstein veered between offering her roles in films and demanding a naked massage. She alleges the producer said to her: So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? When she tried to leave, he then promised to give her the number of a female executive at the company. He gave me her number, and I walked out and I started bawling, Barth said. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Romola Garai The actress told The Guardian she felt violated after she went to a meeting with Weinstein at the age of 18 and he met her in his hotel room wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Heather Graham Graham claimed that during a casting opportunity in the early 2000's Weinstein had told her he had an open relationship with his wife. He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town. I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy, Graham told Variety. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there. Graham was never hired to work in a Weinstein film. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Hynes Spaced and W1A star Jessica Hynes tweeted about an encounter with Weinstein earlier this week, but subsequently deleted the tweet. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louisette Geiss The former actress said she met Weinstein to pitch a film script she was working on. During the meeting, Weinstein allegedly went out and reappeared naked and got into a jacuzzi where he masturbated in front of her and said he would make the script into a film if she stayed and watched. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Liza Campbell Liza Campbell, a British writer and artist, alleged that Olympically ugly Weinstein asked her to join him in the bath and began getting undressed at a hotel. In a piece for The Times, Campbell claimed she was forced to sprint to the door to escape. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louise Godbold Writing in a blog post, Louise Godbold, a non-profit director in Los Angeles, said her encounter with Weinstein took the form of an office tour that became an occasion to trap me in an empty meeting room. She said then Weinstein was begging for a massage, his hands on my shoulders as I attempted to beat a retreat.

Weinstein has been a member of the Academy for over 20 years, being a major player at the Oscars for many of those years.

Miramax and The Weinstein Co., two companies Weinstein founded, have launched five best picture winners  The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, Chicago, The King's Speech and The Artist  with Weinstein taking home a statuette for producing Shakespeare in Love.

The Academy has not suspended Weinsteins membership yet, unlike the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs), which has.

The New York Times initially reported allegations against Weinstein, multiple more actors coming forward, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, and Lea Seydoux.
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Officers have been called after a family dispute at the home of Harvey Weinstein's daughter as the scandal surrounding the disgraced Hollywood movie mogul continued.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) confirmed they were called to reports of a disturbance at the house but said no crime had been committed. Weinstein was not there when officers arrived.

An LAPD spokesman said: At 10.37am Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to the 500 block of North Kilkea Drive at the house of Harvey Weinstein's daughter and were there for a disturbance call.

Recommended Cara Delevingne is latest Harvey Weinstein accuser

Officers arrived and conducted an investigation. It was revealed that there was no crime and it was a family dispute. Officers then left the scene.

The incident follows a string of sexual harassment allegations being levelled against Weinstein from women who worked with him.

British actress and supermodel Cara Delevingne was the latest star to speak out on Wednesday.

She claimed Weinstein made advances towards her in a hotel room after asking her to kiss another woman.

In a statement posted on Instagram she said she was left feeling very powerless and scared when he invited her to his hotel room.

She said: I was so hesitant about speaking out... I didn't want to hurt his family. I felt guilty as if I did something wrong.

I was also terrified that this sort of thing had happened to so many women I know but no one had said anything because of fear.

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Spectre actress Lea Seydoux also joined the ranks of Harvey Weinstein's accusers, saying she had to defend herself after the director allegedly jumped on her and tried to kiss her.

The French actress, who won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for Blue Is The Warmest Colour, said the movie mogul stared at her as if I was a piece of meat.

Writing in The Guardian, she said: We were talking on the sofa when he suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. He's big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him.

I left his room, thoroughly disgusted. I wasn't afraid of him, though. Because I knew what kind of man he was all along.

On Tuesday, Weinstein was accused of rape by three women - claims Weinstein unequivocally denies - and his British wife Georgina Chapman announced she was leaving him.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hosts the Oscars, described the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein as repugnant and abhorrent and said on Wednesday that it would be holding a meeting on Saturday to discuss any action to be taken.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) also announced it had suspended his membership, effective immediately.

Rose McGowan, another accuser, called for the board of the Weinstein Company to be dissolved following the allegations against its co-founder.

The actress, 44, tweeted a link to the campaign on website ipetitions.com and said: Join me in supporting this important cause at iPetitions. DISSOLVE THE BOARD.

Over 10,000 signatures had been added to the petition by Thursday.

Meanwhile, stars across Hollywood have continued to condemn Weinstein's behaviour.

Ewan McGregor said Weinstein was a bully, Matt Damon said he had been left absolutely sick to my stomach while Ben Affleck added he was saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades.

Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Show all 42 1 /42 Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein Harry Weinsteins reputation as one of Hollywoods leading executives was long cemented in stone. The acclaimed movie mogul, who produced Oscar-winning films Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and The Artist, clocked up box office successes and accolades aplenty. But this has quickly changed since a chorus of women have come forward to accuse the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and assault. Since the New York Times bombshell report disclosed sexual harassment and rape allegations against the film mogul dating back decades, Weinstein has been fired from his namesake company, expelled from the Oscars and has had his wife leave him. Weinstein has apologised for having caused a lot of pain but has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Annabella Sciorra The Sopranos actor alleged Weinstein raped her after shooting The Night We Never Met, a 1993 movie that Weinstein produced. Similar to the stories told by other women, Weinstein drove the actor home, only to reportedly burst into Sciorra's apartment and start unbuttoning his shirt. He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled. Weinstein then allegedly locked her arms and forced sexual intercourse on her. After the incident, Sciorra found it increasingly hard to get work, many filmmakers saying 'We heard you were difficult', something the actor claims was because of the 'Weinstein-machine'. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Natassia Malthe The model and actress, who has appeared in around 50 films, said she met Weinstein at a BAFTA after party in 2008 while she was working as a spokeswoman for LG. She told a press conference in New York that she felt pressured into telling Weinstein she was staying at the Sanderson Hotel after being put on the spot. Malthe, now 43, said after her shift on February 10 she went back to her room and went to sleep, but was awoken by "repeated pounding" on her door, from someone yelling: "Open the door Natassia Malthe, it's Harvey Weinstein." Feeling humiliated, she said she opened the door. She alleged Weinstein began implying sex would get her a role in an upcoming film while semi-undressed and then he began to masturbate. "I was sitting on the bed talking to Harvey when he pushed me back and forced himself onto me. It was not consensual. He did not use a condom," she said. AP Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sean Young The actor, best known for her role in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, said that Weinstein exposed himself to her in the early 1990s, when she was starring in the Miramax-produced Love Crimes - a production company that Weinstein headed at the time. "I personally experienced him pulling his you-know-what out of his pants to shock me," she said. "My basic response was, 'You know, Harvey, I really dont think you should be pulling that thing out, its not very pretty.'" Young never worked with Weinstein again after the incident. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lupita Nyong'o In an op-ed for The New York Times, the Oscar-winning actor said she was invited to Weinsteins family home in Connecticut on the premise of watching a film shortly after they met in 2011. But she said shortly after it started he "insisted" in front of his children that she follow him and she was led to his bedroom. The Kenyan-Mexican actress, now 34, said she felt pressured into giving him a massage after he offered her one. "Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants," she wrote."I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that." Over the years that followed, he continued to get in touch, Nyong'o said, and when she declined another proposition she felt her career was threatened. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lena Headey Writing on social media, the Game of Thrones actor claims she first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 where, after taking her for a walk by the water, he made some suggestive comment and gesture. Headey claims she bumped into Weinstein years later where he kept asking her questions about her love life. She alleges that, when Weinstein invited her to his hotel room to show her a script, the "energy shifted. The actor notes how, after saying she was not interesting in anything but the work, Weinstein was furious, apparently marching her back to a lift, "grabbing and holding tightly to the back of [her] arm." She claims that, after paying for her car, he whispered in her ear: "Don't tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent. Headey finished the post, writing: I got in the car and I cried. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Laura Madden Madden, a production assistant who worked at Miramax for a decade, told the Times that Weinstein allegedly prodded her for massages at hotels, a common theme among the sources the Timess reporters spoke with. On one occasion, she claims she locked herself in his hotel bathroom, sobbing Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Judd recounted for the Times how Weinstein allegedly harassed her while she was filming Kiss the Girls in 1996, inviting her to his hotel room and asking her for a massage, then inviting her to watch him shower. Judd first went public with the allegations in a 2015 interview with Variety during which she discussed the experience without naming the producer involved. She described Weinsteins alleged behaviour as coercive bargaining; I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask, she told the Times AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rose McGowan McGowan reportedly reached a previously undisclosed $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, over an incident that occurred in a hotel room Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emily Nestor Nestor had been temping at the Weinstein Company for only one day in 2014 when Weinstein allegedly offered to boost her career in return for sexual favours, according to the Times. She declined and reportedly complained of his behaviour to colleagues, who later passed the information on to senior executives. An internal Weinstein Company document cited by the Times describes Nestors encounter with Weinstein as follows: She said he was very persistent and focused though she kept saying no for over an hour Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ambra Battilana In March 2015, Battilana, an aspiring model and actress, was reportedly summoned to Weinsteins office on a Friday night to discuss her career. According to a police report cited by the Times, Battilana claimed she was assaulted by Weinstein, who grabbed her breasts after asking if they were real and put his hands up her skirt. Weinstein later claimed that Battilana had set him up, according to colleagues of his who were interviewed by the Times. The Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, later declined to press charges, and according to the Times, made a payment to Battilana. On 5 October, the International Business Times reported that after Vance dropped the charges, he received $10,000 from Weinsteins lawyer Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lauren OConnor Lauren OConnor, an employee of the Weinstein Company, penned a memo to executives alleging a toxic environment for women at the company. The memo cited numerous incidents of Weinstein harassing or coercing women who worked for him. She expressed fear that Weinstein was using her and other female employees to facilitate liaisons with vulnerable women who hope he will get them work. That same year, Weinstein allegedly reached a settlement with OConnor Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Kate Beckinsale The actor, who starred in the Weinstein Company films Serendipity and The Aviator, alleges that she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room at the age of just 17. When she approached the door, the producer reportedly greeted her dressed in just a dressing gown. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him, she wrote on Instagram. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Gwyneth Paltrow The actor alleges that after he cast her in the title role of the film Emma when she was 22, he took her to his hotel room, placed his hands on her and suggested massages. I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, Paltrow told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Asia Argento Italian actress Asia Argento has alleged that in 1997 Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop. When I see him, it makes me feel little and stupid and weak, Argento told The New Yorker. After the rape, he won. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Cara Delevigne The British model and actress penning an Instagram post claiming that Weinstein had ordered her to kiss another woman in his hotel room, and tried to kiss her on the lips. AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Ashley Judd said she rebuffed Harvey Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances by offering to consent only after she had won an Oscar. When she was initially invited to a meeting with Weinstein, Judd said, she was surprised to learn the producer was in his hotel room - a tactic that recurs in other womens accounts. Echoing the accounts of other women, Judd said Weinstein suggested she give him a massage and then invited her to watch him shower. After a volley of nos she said she would only after she wins an Oscar, fleeing after making the comments. Reuters/Mike Segar Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Judith Godreche French actress Judith Godreche said when she was 24 Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked to give her a massage. The next thing I know, hes pressing against me and pulling off my sweater, she told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mira Sorvino The Oscar-winning actor said she found herself in a hotel room with Weinstein in 1995 where he started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around. According to an interview in The New Yorker Weinstein subsequently arrived at her apartment late at night and she had to call a friend to come over to pose as her boyfriend in order to get Weinstein out of the house. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Katherine Kendall The actress said Weinstein undressed and chased her around a living room when she was just 23. She subsequently felt that telling others meant Ill never work again and no one is going to care or believe me, she told the New York Times. WireImage Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Tomi-Anne Roberts As an aspiring actress and working in a restaurant in New York, Tomi-Ann Roberts encountered Weinstein who encouraged her to audition for one of his films back in 1984. She subsequently went to meet him and found him naked in the bath and invited her to get naked and get into the bath with him, she told the New York Times. She said she left feeling manipulated. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Myleen Klass It has also been alleged that the disgraced film producer propositioned Myleene Klass with a sex contract at Cannes Film Festival in 2010. One of the singer and television personalitys friends reportedly told The Sun, Klass had told Weinstein to f*** off. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sophie Dix Sophie Dix, best known for her role as Captain Sadie Williams in Soldier Soldier, described her encounter with Weinstein when she was 23 as the single most damaging thing thats happened in my life. She told The Guardian Weinstein had pushed her to her bed and was tugging at her clothes. She rushed to the bathroom to escape, but when she came out she found him standing there masturbating. I quickly closed the door again and locked it, she said. Then when I heard room service come to the door I just ran. Rex Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lea Seydoux The actor and director claims she had to fight off Weinstein after he brought her to his hotel room during what she remembers to be 2012. He suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted, she wrote in The Guardian. AFP/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Claire Forlani British actress Claire Forlani wrote on Twitter that she had evaded Weinsteins advances on five occasions at the age of 25. At meetings with the Hollywood a-lister, she says massage was suggested, and that Weinstein had boasted of all the women hed had sex with. Mark Douet Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Florence Darel French actress Florence Darel claimed Weinstein relentlessly pursued her in the mid 1990's and propositioned her while Eve Chilton, his wife at the time, was in the hotel room next door. I was astonished, she told People magazine. When you have someone so physically disgusting in front of you, continuing and continuing as though this was all perfectly normal What happened to me may not be illegal but it was inappropriate. Very inappropriate. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony, who starred as Marnie Nightingale in Hollyoaks, has claimed Weinstein raped her in the late 1980's after turning up to her London home in the late 1980s. She described the disgraced film producers alleged attack as pathetic and revolting and said it left her feeling disgusted and embarrassed. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Dawn Dunning Dunning said she met Weinstein in 2003 when she was 24-years-old and the disgraced film producer suggested she have a threesome with him and someone else. She told the New York Times Weinstein got angry when she refused. Youll never make it in this business, she said he told her as she left. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Arquette was already well known for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan, when she said she met Weinstein at his hotel to pick up a script in the early nineties. Weinstein was dressed only in a dressing gown, and tried to put her hand on his erect penis. Speaking to the New York Times, Arquette said as she left she told him: I will never be that girl. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emma de Caunes Caunes, a French actor, claimed Weinstein took her to his hotel room in 2010 supposedly to retrieve a book he was making into a film, but once there he went into the bathroom. De Caunes said he then emerged naked, with an erection and told her to lie on the bed. She fled the room. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Zoe Brock Model Zoe claimed that she had to lock herself in a bathroom at Weinsteins hotel in 1997, after the mogul had sent all of the assistants out of the room, and then appeared naked. I was alone with Weinstein, she told ITVs This Morning programme. He very quickly left the room and came back naked. He chased me naked. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Barth Actress Jessica Barth described an encounter with Weinstein in 2011 in an interview with The New Yorker in which she said Weinstein veered between offering her roles in films and demanding a naked massage. She alleges the producer said to her: So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? When she tried to leave, he then promised to give her the number of a female executive at the company. He gave me her number, and I walked out and I started bawling, Barth said. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Romola Garai The actress told The Guardian she felt violated after she went to a meeting with Weinstein at the age of 18 and he met her in his hotel room wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Heather Graham Graham claimed that during a casting opportunity in the early 2000's Weinstein had told her he had an open relationship with his wife. He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town. I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy, Graham told Variety. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there. Graham was never hired to work in a Weinstein film. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Hynes Spaced and W1A star Jessica Hynes tweeted about an encounter with Weinstein earlier this week, but subsequently deleted the tweet. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louisette Geiss The former actress said she met Weinstein to pitch a film script she was working on. During the meeting, Weinstein allegedly went out and reappeared naked and got into a jacuzzi where he masturbated in front of her and said he would make the script into a film if she stayed and watched. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Liza Campbell Liza Campbell, a British writer and artist, alleged that Olympically ugly Weinstein asked her to join him in the bath and began getting undressed at a hotel. In a piece for The Times, Campbell claimed she was forced to sprint to the door to escape. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louise Godbold Writing in a blog post, Louise Godbold, a non-profit director in Los Angeles, said her encounter with Weinstein took the form of an office tour that became an occasion to trap me in an empty meeting room. She said then Weinstein was begging for a massage, his hands on my shoulders as I attempted to beat a retreat.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May also spoke out about the scandal on Wednesday.

She said the reports were deeply concerning as senior politicians called for Weinstein to be stripped of his CBE.

PA
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James Van Der Beek has recounted his own personal experience with sexual assault in the wake of the mounting allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

In support of all the women who have made claims that they were sexually assaulted or harassed by the film producer, Van Der Beek shared his story on Twitter on Wednesday evening (11 October) condemning Weinstein's behaviour in the process.

Ive had my ass grabbed by older, powerful men, the actor wrote. Ive had them corner me in inappropriate sexual conversations when I was much younger

Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Show all 42 1 /42 Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein Harry Weinsteins reputation as one of Hollywoods leading executives was long cemented in stone. The acclaimed movie mogul, who produced Oscar-winning films Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and The Artist, clocked up box office successes and accolades aplenty. But this has quickly changed since a chorus of women have come forward to accuse the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and assault. Since the New York Times bombshell report disclosed sexual harassment and rape allegations against the film mogul dating back decades, Weinstein has been fired from his namesake company, expelled from the Oscars and has had his wife leave him. Weinstein has apologised for having caused a lot of pain but has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Annabella Sciorra The Sopranos actor alleged Weinstein raped her after shooting The Night We Never Met, a 1993 movie that Weinstein produced. Similar to the stories told by other women, Weinstein drove the actor home, only to reportedly burst into Sciorra's apartment and start unbuttoning his shirt. He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled. Weinstein then allegedly locked her arms and forced sexual intercourse on her. After the incident, Sciorra found it increasingly hard to get work, many filmmakers saying 'We heard you were difficult', something the actor claims was because of the 'Weinstein-machine'. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Natassia Malthe The model and actress, who has appeared in around 50 films, said she met Weinstein at a BAFTA after party in 2008 while she was working as a spokeswoman for LG. She told a press conference in New York that she felt pressured into telling Weinstein she was staying at the Sanderson Hotel after being put on the spot. Malthe, now 43, said after her shift on February 10 she went back to her room and went to sleep, but was awoken by "repeated pounding" on her door, from someone yelling: "Open the door Natassia Malthe, it's Harvey Weinstein." Feeling humiliated, she said she opened the door. She alleged Weinstein began implying sex would get her a role in an upcoming film while semi-undressed and then he began to masturbate. "I was sitting on the bed talking to Harvey when he pushed me back and forced himself onto me. It was not consensual. He did not use a condom," she said. AP Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sean Young The actor, best known for her role in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, said that Weinstein exposed himself to her in the early 1990s, when she was starring in the Miramax-produced Love Crimes - a production company that Weinstein headed at the time. "I personally experienced him pulling his you-know-what out of his pants to shock me," she said. "My basic response was, 'You know, Harvey, I really dont think you should be pulling that thing out, its not very pretty.'" Young never worked with Weinstein again after the incident. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lupita Nyong'o In an op-ed for The New York Times, the Oscar-winning actor said she was invited to Weinsteins family home in Connecticut on the premise of watching a film shortly after they met in 2011. But she said shortly after it started he "insisted" in front of his children that she follow him and she was led to his bedroom. The Kenyan-Mexican actress, now 34, said she felt pressured into giving him a massage after he offered her one. "Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants," she wrote."I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that." Over the years that followed, he continued to get in touch, Nyong'o said, and when she declined another proposition she felt her career was threatened. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lena Headey Writing on social media, the Game of Thrones actor claims she first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 where, after taking her for a walk by the water, he made some suggestive comment and gesture. Headey claims she bumped into Weinstein years later where he kept asking her questions about her love life. She alleges that, when Weinstein invited her to his hotel room to show her a script, the "energy shifted. The actor notes how, after saying she was not interesting in anything but the work, Weinstein was furious, apparently marching her back to a lift, "grabbing and holding tightly to the back of [her] arm." She claims that, after paying for her car, he whispered in her ear: "Don't tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent. Headey finished the post, writing: I got in the car and I cried. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Laura Madden Madden, a production assistant who worked at Miramax for a decade, told the Times that Weinstein allegedly prodded her for massages at hotels, a common theme among the sources the Timess reporters spoke with. On one occasion, she claims she locked herself in his hotel bathroom, sobbing Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Judd recounted for the Times how Weinstein allegedly harassed her while she was filming Kiss the Girls in 1996, inviting her to his hotel room and asking her for a massage, then inviting her to watch him shower. Judd first went public with the allegations in a 2015 interview with Variety during which she discussed the experience without naming the producer involved. She described Weinsteins alleged behaviour as coercive bargaining; I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask, she told the Times AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rose McGowan McGowan reportedly reached a previously undisclosed $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, over an incident that occurred in a hotel room Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emily Nestor Nestor had been temping at the Weinstein Company for only one day in 2014 when Weinstein allegedly offered to boost her career in return for sexual favours, according to the Times. She declined and reportedly complained of his behaviour to colleagues, who later passed the information on to senior executives. An internal Weinstein Company document cited by the Times describes Nestors encounter with Weinstein as follows: She said he was very persistent and focused though she kept saying no for over an hour Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ambra Battilana In March 2015, Battilana, an aspiring model and actress, was reportedly summoned to Weinsteins office on a Friday night to discuss her career. According to a police report cited by the Times, Battilana claimed she was assaulted by Weinstein, who grabbed her breasts after asking if they were real and put his hands up her skirt. Weinstein later claimed that Battilana had set him up, according to colleagues of his who were interviewed by the Times. The Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, later declined to press charges, and according to the Times, made a payment to Battilana. On 5 October, the International Business Times reported that after Vance dropped the charges, he received $10,000 from Weinsteins lawyer Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lauren OConnor Lauren OConnor, an employee of the Weinstein Company, penned a memo to executives alleging a toxic environment for women at the company. The memo cited numerous incidents of Weinstein harassing or coercing women who worked for him. She expressed fear that Weinstein was using her and other female employees to facilitate liaisons with vulnerable women who hope he will get them work. That same year, Weinstein allegedly reached a settlement with OConnor Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Kate Beckinsale The actor, who starred in the Weinstein Company films Serendipity and The Aviator, alleges that she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room at the age of just 17. When she approached the door, the producer reportedly greeted her dressed in just a dressing gown. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him, she wrote on Instagram. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Gwyneth Paltrow The actor alleges that after he cast her in the title role of the film Emma when she was 22, he took her to his hotel room, placed his hands on her and suggested massages. I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, Paltrow told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Asia Argento Italian actress Asia Argento has alleged that in 1997 Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop. When I see him, it makes me feel little and stupid and weak, Argento told The New Yorker. After the rape, he won. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Cara Delevigne The British model and actress penning an Instagram post claiming that Weinstein had ordered her to kiss another woman in his hotel room, and tried to kiss her on the lips. AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Ashley Judd said she rebuffed Harvey Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances by offering to consent only after she had won an Oscar. When she was initially invited to a meeting with Weinstein, Judd said, she was surprised to learn the producer was in his hotel room - a tactic that recurs in other womens accounts. Echoing the accounts of other women, Judd said Weinstein suggested she give him a massage and then invited her to watch him shower. After a volley of nos she said she would only after she wins an Oscar, fleeing after making the comments. Reuters/Mike Segar Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Judith Godreche French actress Judith Godreche said when she was 24 Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked to give her a massage. The next thing I know, hes pressing against me and pulling off my sweater, she told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mira Sorvino The Oscar-winning actor said she found herself in a hotel room with Weinstein in 1995 where he started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around. According to an interview in The New Yorker Weinstein subsequently arrived at her apartment late at night and she had to call a friend to come over to pose as her boyfriend in order to get Weinstein out of the house. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Katherine Kendall The actress said Weinstein undressed and chased her around a living room when she was just 23. She subsequently felt that telling others meant Ill never work again and no one is going to care or believe me, she told the New York Times. WireImage Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Tomi-Anne Roberts As an aspiring actress and working in a restaurant in New York, Tomi-Ann Roberts encountered Weinstein who encouraged her to audition for one of his films back in 1984. She subsequently went to meet him and found him naked in the bath and invited her to get naked and get into the bath with him, she told the New York Times. She said she left feeling manipulated. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Myleen Klass It has also been alleged that the disgraced film producer propositioned Myleene Klass with a sex contract at Cannes Film Festival in 2010. One of the singer and television personalitys friends reportedly told The Sun, Klass had told Weinstein to f*** off. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sophie Dix Sophie Dix, best known for her role as Captain Sadie Williams in Soldier Soldier, described her encounter with Weinstein when she was 23 as the single most damaging thing thats happened in my life. She told The Guardian Weinstein had pushed her to her bed and was tugging at her clothes. She rushed to the bathroom to escape, but when she came out she found him standing there masturbating. I quickly closed the door again and locked it, she said. Then when I heard room service come to the door I just ran. Rex Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lea Seydoux The actor and director claims she had to fight off Weinstein after he brought her to his hotel room during what she remembers to be 2012. He suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted, she wrote in The Guardian. AFP/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Claire Forlani British actress Claire Forlani wrote on Twitter that she had evaded Weinsteins advances on five occasions at the age of 25. At meetings with the Hollywood a-lister, she says massage was suggested, and that Weinstein had boasted of all the women hed had sex with. Mark Douet Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Florence Darel French actress Florence Darel claimed Weinstein relentlessly pursued her in the mid 1990's and propositioned her while Eve Chilton, his wife at the time, was in the hotel room next door. I was astonished, she told People magazine. When you have someone so physically disgusting in front of you, continuing and continuing as though this was all perfectly normal What happened to me may not be illegal but it was inappropriate. Very inappropriate. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony, who starred as Marnie Nightingale in Hollyoaks, has claimed Weinstein raped her in the late 1980's after turning up to her London home in the late 1980s. She described the disgraced film producers alleged attack as pathetic and revolting and said it left her feeling disgusted and embarrassed. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Dawn Dunning Dunning said she met Weinstein in 2003 when she was 24-years-old and the disgraced film producer suggested she have a threesome with him and someone else. She told the New York Times Weinstein got angry when she refused. Youll never make it in this business, she said he told her as she left. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Arquette was already well known for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan, when she said she met Weinstein at his hotel to pick up a script in the early nineties. Weinstein was dressed only in a dressing gown, and tried to put her hand on his erect penis. Speaking to the New York Times, Arquette said as she left she told him: I will never be that girl. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emma de Caunes Caunes, a French actor, claimed Weinstein took her to his hotel room in 2010 supposedly to retrieve a book he was making into a film, but once there he went into the bathroom. De Caunes said he then emerged naked, with an erection and told her to lie on the bed. She fled the room. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Zoe Brock Model Zoe claimed that she had to lock herself in a bathroom at Weinsteins hotel in 1997, after the mogul had sent all of the assistants out of the room, and then appeared naked. I was alone with Weinstein, she told ITVs This Morning programme. He very quickly left the room and came back naked. He chased me naked. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Barth Actress Jessica Barth described an encounter with Weinstein in 2011 in an interview with The New Yorker in which she said Weinstein veered between offering her roles in films and demanding a naked massage. She alleges the producer said to her: So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? When she tried to leave, he then promised to give her the number of a female executive at the company. He gave me her number, and I walked out and I started bawling, Barth said. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Romola Garai The actress told The Guardian she felt violated after she went to a meeting with Weinstein at the age of 18 and he met her in his hotel room wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Heather Graham Graham claimed that during a casting opportunity in the early 2000's Weinstein had told her he had an open relationship with his wife. He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town. I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy, Graham told Variety. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there. Graham was never hired to work in a Weinstein film. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Hynes Spaced and W1A star Jessica Hynes tweeted about an encounter with Weinstein earlier this week, but subsequently deleted the tweet. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louisette Geiss The former actress said she met Weinstein to pitch a film script she was working on. During the meeting, Weinstein allegedly went out and reappeared naked and got into a jacuzzi where he masturbated in front of her and said he would make the script into a film if she stayed and watched. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Liza Campbell Liza Campbell, a British writer and artist, alleged that Olympically ugly Weinstein asked her to join him in the bath and began getting undressed at a hotel. In a piece for The Times, Campbell claimed she was forced to sprint to the door to escape. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louise Godbold Writing in a blog post, Louise Godbold, a non-profit director in Los Angeles, said her encounter with Weinstein took the form of an office tour that became an occasion to trap me in an empty meeting room. She said then Weinstein was begging for a massage, his hands on my shoulders as I attempted to beat a retreat.

The actor called Weinstein's behaviour criminal and unacceptable."

Upon sharing an article of a woman relating her harassment experience, the former Dawson's Creek actor wrote: For anyone judging the women who stayed silent, read this for perspective."



He went on to applaud the growing list of Weinstein's accusers - including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Cara Delevingne - for speaking out.

I understand the unwarranted shame, powerlessness & inability to blow the whistle, he wrote. Theres a power dynamic thats impossible to overcome.



Van Der Beek played the lead role in teen drama Dawson's Creek from 1998 to 2003 from the age of 21. His film credits include Varsity Blues (1999) and The Rules of Attraction (2002).

Two separate investigations into the decades-worth of allegations faced by Weinstein surfaced in The New York Times and The New Yorker over the past week inspiring numerous Hollywood stars - including Angelina Jolie and Lea Seydoux - to come forward with their unsettling experiences with the producer.

Recommended The 30 Rock joke that hinted at Harvey Weinstein allegations

The latter expose features three accusations of rape.

Actors ranging from Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep to Mark Ruffalo and Jessica Chastain have criticised Weinstein both for his alleged behaviour and his statement in response to the allegations.

Bizarrely, Mean Girls actor Lindsay Lohan leaped to his defence posted a series of Instagram videos in which she described Weinstein's condemnation as very wrong.

The producer - whose wife Georgina Chapman announced she is to separate from him - was fired from his position at the Weinstein Company in the wake of the allegations.

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Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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Kate Beckinsale has spoken out against Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer who has been accused by multiple women of sexual abuse.

The actor  who starred in the Weinstein Co. films Serendipity and The Aviator  posted the story to Instagram, detailing how she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room aged 17. When she approached the door, the producer greeted Beckinsale dressed in just a bathrobe.

"I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him, she wrote. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed.

Beckinsale continued: "A few years later he asked me if he had tried anything with me in that first meeting. I realised he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not.

I had what I thought were boundaries  I said no to him professionally many times over the years  some of which ended up with him screaming at me calling me a cunt and making threats, some of which made him laughingly tell people, 'Oh, Kate lives to say no to me.'

Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Show all 42 1 /42 Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein Harry Weinsteins reputation as one of Hollywoods leading executives was long cemented in stone. The acclaimed movie mogul, who produced Oscar-winning films Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and The Artist, clocked up box office successes and accolades aplenty. But this has quickly changed since a chorus of women have come forward to accuse the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and assault. Since the New York Times bombshell report disclosed sexual harassment and rape allegations against the film mogul dating back decades, Weinstein has been fired from his namesake company, expelled from the Oscars and has had his wife leave him. Weinstein has apologised for having caused a lot of pain but has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Annabella Sciorra The Sopranos actor alleged Weinstein raped her after shooting The Night We Never Met, a 1993 movie that Weinstein produced. Similar to the stories told by other women, Weinstein drove the actor home, only to reportedly burst into Sciorra's apartment and start unbuttoning his shirt. He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled. Weinstein then allegedly locked her arms and forced sexual intercourse on her. After the incident, Sciorra found it increasingly hard to get work, many filmmakers saying 'We heard you were difficult', something the actor claims was because of the 'Weinstein-machine'. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Natassia Malthe The model and actress, who has appeared in around 50 films, said she met Weinstein at a BAFTA after party in 2008 while she was working as a spokeswoman for LG. She told a press conference in New York that she felt pressured into telling Weinstein she was staying at the Sanderson Hotel after being put on the spot. Malthe, now 43, said after her shift on February 10 she went back to her room and went to sleep, but was awoken by "repeated pounding" on her door, from someone yelling: "Open the door Natassia Malthe, it's Harvey Weinstein." Feeling humiliated, she said she opened the door. She alleged Weinstein began implying sex would get her a role in an upcoming film while semi-undressed and then he began to masturbate. "I was sitting on the bed talking to Harvey when he pushed me back and forced himself onto me. It was not consensual. He did not use a condom," she said. AP Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sean Young The actor, best known for her role in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, said that Weinstein exposed himself to her in the early 1990s, when she was starring in the Miramax-produced Love Crimes - a production company that Weinstein headed at the time. "I personally experienced him pulling his you-know-what out of his pants to shock me," she said. "My basic response was, 'You know, Harvey, I really dont think you should be pulling that thing out, its not very pretty.'" Young never worked with Weinstein again after the incident. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lupita Nyong'o In an op-ed for The New York Times, the Oscar-winning actor said she was invited to Weinsteins family home in Connecticut on the premise of watching a film shortly after they met in 2011. But she said shortly after it started he "insisted" in front of his children that she follow him and she was led to his bedroom. The Kenyan-Mexican actress, now 34, said she felt pressured into giving him a massage after he offered her one. "Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants," she wrote."I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that." Over the years that followed, he continued to get in touch, Nyong'o said, and when she declined another proposition she felt her career was threatened. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lena Headey Writing on social media, the Game of Thrones actor claims she first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 where, after taking her for a walk by the water, he made some suggestive comment and gesture. Headey claims she bumped into Weinstein years later where he kept asking her questions about her love life. She alleges that, when Weinstein invited her to his hotel room to show her a script, the "energy shifted. The actor notes how, after saying she was not interesting in anything but the work, Weinstein was furious, apparently marching her back to a lift, "grabbing and holding tightly to the back of [her] arm." She claims that, after paying for her car, he whispered in her ear: "Don't tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent. Headey finished the post, writing: I got in the car and I cried. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Laura Madden Madden, a production assistant who worked at Miramax for a decade, told the Times that Weinstein allegedly prodded her for massages at hotels, a common theme among the sources the Timess reporters spoke with. On one occasion, she claims she locked herself in his hotel bathroom, sobbing Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Judd recounted for the Times how Weinstein allegedly harassed her while she was filming Kiss the Girls in 1996, inviting her to his hotel room and asking her for a massage, then inviting her to watch him shower. Judd first went public with the allegations in a 2015 interview with Variety during which she discussed the experience without naming the producer involved. She described Weinsteins alleged behaviour as coercive bargaining; I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask, she told the Times AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rose McGowan McGowan reportedly reached a previously undisclosed $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, over an incident that occurred in a hotel room Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emily Nestor Nestor had been temping at the Weinstein Company for only one day in 2014 when Weinstein allegedly offered to boost her career in return for sexual favours, according to the Times. She declined and reportedly complained of his behaviour to colleagues, who later passed the information on to senior executives. An internal Weinstein Company document cited by the Times describes Nestors encounter with Weinstein as follows: She said he was very persistent and focused though she kept saying no for over an hour Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ambra Battilana In March 2015, Battilana, an aspiring model and actress, was reportedly summoned to Weinsteins office on a Friday night to discuss her career. According to a police report cited by the Times, Battilana claimed she was assaulted by Weinstein, who grabbed her breasts after asking if they were real and put his hands up her skirt. Weinstein later claimed that Battilana had set him up, according to colleagues of his who were interviewed by the Times. The Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, later declined to press charges, and according to the Times, made a payment to Battilana. On 5 October, the International Business Times reported that after Vance dropped the charges, he received $10,000 from Weinsteins lawyer Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lauren OConnor Lauren OConnor, an employee of the Weinstein Company, penned a memo to executives alleging a toxic environment for women at the company. The memo cited numerous incidents of Weinstein harassing or coercing women who worked for him. She expressed fear that Weinstein was using her and other female employees to facilitate liaisons with vulnerable women who hope he will get them work. That same year, Weinstein allegedly reached a settlement with OConnor Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Kate Beckinsale The actor, who starred in the Weinstein Company films Serendipity and The Aviator, alleges that she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room at the age of just 17. When she approached the door, the producer reportedly greeted her dressed in just a dressing gown. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him, she wrote on Instagram. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Gwyneth Paltrow The actor alleges that after he cast her in the title role of the film Emma when she was 22, he took her to his hotel room, placed his hands on her and suggested massages. I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, Paltrow told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Asia Argento Italian actress Asia Argento has alleged that in 1997 Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop. When I see him, it makes me feel little and stupid and weak, Argento told The New Yorker. After the rape, he won. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Cara Delevigne The British model and actress penning an Instagram post claiming that Weinstein had ordered her to kiss another woman in his hotel room, and tried to kiss her on the lips. AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Ashley Judd said she rebuffed Harvey Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances by offering to consent only after she had won an Oscar. When she was initially invited to a meeting with Weinstein, Judd said, she was surprised to learn the producer was in his hotel room - a tactic that recurs in other womens accounts. Echoing the accounts of other women, Judd said Weinstein suggested she give him a massage and then invited her to watch him shower. After a volley of nos she said she would only after she wins an Oscar, fleeing after making the comments. Reuters/Mike Segar Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Judith Godreche French actress Judith Godreche said when she was 24 Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked to give her a massage. The next thing I know, hes pressing against me and pulling off my sweater, she told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mira Sorvino The Oscar-winning actor said she found herself in a hotel room with Weinstein in 1995 where he started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around. According to an interview in The New Yorker Weinstein subsequently arrived at her apartment late at night and she had to call a friend to come over to pose as her boyfriend in order to get Weinstein out of the house. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Katherine Kendall The actress said Weinstein undressed and chased her around a living room when she was just 23. She subsequently felt that telling others meant Ill never work again and no one is going to care or believe me, she told the New York Times. WireImage Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Tomi-Anne Roberts As an aspiring actress and working in a restaurant in New York, Tomi-Ann Roberts encountered Weinstein who encouraged her to audition for one of his films back in 1984. She subsequently went to meet him and found him naked in the bath and invited her to get naked and get into the bath with him, she told the New York Times. She said she left feeling manipulated. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Myleen Klass It has also been alleged that the disgraced film producer propositioned Myleene Klass with a sex contract at Cannes Film Festival in 2010. One of the singer and television personalitys friends reportedly told The Sun, Klass had told Weinstein to f*** off. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sophie Dix Sophie Dix, best known for her role as Captain Sadie Williams in Soldier Soldier, described her encounter with Weinstein when she was 23 as the single most damaging thing thats happened in my life. She told The Guardian Weinstein had pushed her to her bed and was tugging at her clothes. She rushed to the bathroom to escape, but when she came out she found him standing there masturbating. I quickly closed the door again and locked it, she said. Then when I heard room service come to the door I just ran. Rex Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lea Seydoux The actor and director claims she had to fight off Weinstein after he brought her to his hotel room during what she remembers to be 2012. He suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted, she wrote in The Guardian. AFP/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Claire Forlani British actress Claire Forlani wrote on Twitter that she had evaded Weinsteins advances on five occasions at the age of 25. At meetings with the Hollywood a-lister, she says massage was suggested, and that Weinstein had boasted of all the women hed had sex with. Mark Douet Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Florence Darel French actress Florence Darel claimed Weinstein relentlessly pursued her in the mid 1990's and propositioned her while Eve Chilton, his wife at the time, was in the hotel room next door. I was astonished, she told People magazine. When you have someone so physically disgusting in front of you, continuing and continuing as though this was all perfectly normal What happened to me may not be illegal but it was inappropriate. Very inappropriate. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony, who starred as Marnie Nightingale in Hollyoaks, has claimed Weinstein raped her in the late 1980's after turning up to her London home in the late 1980s. She described the disgraced film producers alleged attack as pathetic and revolting and said it left her feeling disgusted and embarrassed. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Dawn Dunning Dunning said she met Weinstein in 2003 when she was 24-years-old and the disgraced film producer suggested she have a threesome with him and someone else. She told the New York Times Weinstein got angry when she refused. Youll never make it in this business, she said he told her as she left. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Arquette was already well known for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan, when she said she met Weinstein at his hotel to pick up a script in the early nineties. Weinstein was dressed only in a dressing gown, and tried to put her hand on his erect penis. Speaking to the New York Times, Arquette said as she left she told him: I will never be that girl. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emma de Caunes Caunes, a French actor, claimed Weinstein took her to his hotel room in 2010 supposedly to retrieve a book he was making into a film, but once there he went into the bathroom. De Caunes said he then emerged naked, with an erection and told her to lie on the bed. She fled the room. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Zoe Brock Model Zoe claimed that she had to lock herself in a bathroom at Weinsteins hotel in 1997, after the mogul had sent all of the assistants out of the room, and then appeared naked. I was alone with Weinstein, she told ITVs This Morning programme. He very quickly left the room and came back naked. He chased me naked. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Barth Actress Jessica Barth described an encounter with Weinstein in 2011 in an interview with The New Yorker in which she said Weinstein veered between offering her roles in films and demanding a naked massage. She alleges the producer said to her: So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? When she tried to leave, he then promised to give her the number of a female executive at the company. He gave me her number, and I walked out and I started bawling, Barth said. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Romola Garai The actress told The Guardian she felt violated after she went to a meeting with Weinstein at the age of 18 and he met her in his hotel room wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Heather Graham Graham claimed that during a casting opportunity in the early 2000's Weinstein had told her he had an open relationship with his wife. He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town. I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy, Graham told Variety. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there. Graham was never hired to work in a Weinstein film. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Hynes Spaced and W1A star Jessica Hynes tweeted about an encounter with Weinstein earlier this week, but subsequently deleted the tweet. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louisette Geiss The former actress said she met Weinstein to pitch a film script she was working on. During the meeting, Weinstein allegedly went out and reappeared naked and got into a jacuzzi where he masturbated in front of her and said he would make the script into a film if she stayed and watched. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Liza Campbell Liza Campbell, a British writer and artist, alleged that Olympically ugly Weinstein asked her to join him in the bath and began getting undressed at a hotel. In a piece for The Times, Campbell claimed she was forced to sprint to the door to escape. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louise Godbold Writing in a blog post, Louise Godbold, a non-profit director in Los Angeles, said her encounter with Weinstein took the form of an office tour that became an occasion to trap me in an empty meeting room. She said then Weinstein was begging for a massage, his hands on my shoulders as I attempted to beat a retreat.

It speaks to the status quo in this business that I was aware that standing up for myself and saying no to things, while it did allow me to feel uncompromised in myself, undoubtedly harmed my career and was never something I felt supported by anyone other than my family.

Beckinsale went on to commend the actors who have come forward an publicly spoken out against Weinstein, pledging there will be change in the industry around these sorts of practices.

She wrote: For every moment like this there have been thousands where a vulnerable person has confided outrageous unprofessional behaviour and found they have no recourse, due to an atmosphere of fear that it seems almost everyone has been living in.

The actor also told a story regarding one male actor who warned a female actress about Weinstein, only for the male to receive a phone call the next day saying would never work in another Miramax film again.

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Beckinsale concluded: Lets stop allowing our young women to be sexual cannon fodder, and let's remember that Harvey is an emblem of a system that is sick, and that we have work to do.

Last week, the New York Times said Weinstein  who has since been fired by The Weinstein Co.  paid settlements to eight women to deal with allegations of sexual harassment. The report was followed by claims from more women, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, that the producer of The English Patient and Pulp Fiction, had harassed them too.

 Former Disney Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg shares email he sent to Harvey Weinstein

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Weinsteins spokeswoman, Sallie Hofmeister, said: Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.

She added: He will not be available for further comments, as he is taking the time to focus on his family, on getting counselling and rebuilding his life.
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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Rose McGowan, one of the first people to speak out about Harvey Weinsteins alleged sexual assaults, has been temporarily suspended from Twitter.

McGowen, known for her role on long-running supernatural TV series Charmed, told Ben Affleck to f*** off and accused him of lying about Weinsteins history of sexual misconduct.

Weinstein has been sacked from his namesake company after a series of sexual harassment allegations were made against him in a New York Times piece. Since then, The New Yorker has published a 10-month investigative piece that included three women who accused the disgraced Pulp Fiction producer of rape.

McGowen announced she had been suspended from the social media site for 12 hours in a post on Instagram. The notification from Twitter said she would not be able to send tweets or retweets from her account unless she was to delete tweets that violate our rules.

She said: "Twitter has suspended me. There are powerful forces at work. Be my voice."

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the tweet about Affleck is still on the site and is not in violation of the platform's rules.

The actor has been an outspoken voice as the alleged Weinstein scandal has unravelled and has been using the site to voice her support for other women who have spoken out.

Affleck found himself caught in the furore after McGowen accused the Oscar-winning actor of lying in his statement regarding the sexual assault and harassment allegations against Weinstein.

Affleck, who has worked with Weinstein on numerous occasion, shared a screenshot of a Facebook post which condemned Weinstein's unacceptable actions.

He wrote: I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass, and manipulate women over decades. This is completely unacceptable.

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But McGowan - one of the women revealed to have reached a settlement with Weinstein - has since suggested that Affleck knew of Weinstein's behaviour. She tweeted a message of the words she claims Affleck spoke after he found out what had allegedly occurred.

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According to McGowen, the words were: Goddamnit! I told him to stop doing that!

McGowan continued: You said that to my face. The press conference I was made to go to after assault. You lie.

She added: Ben Affleck f*ck off.

McGowan has also called for the board of the Weinstein Company to be dissolved following the allegations against its co-founder.

The actor tweeted a link to the campaign on website ipetitions.com and said: Join me in supporting this important cause at iPetitions. DISSOLVE THE BOARD.

McGowen alleges that Weinstein sexually harassed and assaulted her when she was in her early twenties. She reportedly received a settlement of $100,000 from Weinstein over an incident that took place while she was filming Scream back in 1997.

Recommended Oscars call emergency meeting over Harvey Weinstein

A spokesperson for Twitter told The Independent: We have been in touch with Ms McGowan's team. We want to explain that her account was temporarily locked because one of her tweets included a private phone number, which violates of our Terms of Service. The tweet was removed and her account has been unlocked. We will be clearer about these policies and decisions in the future.

"Twitter is proud to empower and support the voices on our platform, especially those that speak truth to power. We stand with the brave women and men who use Twitter to share their stories, and will work hard every day to improve our processes to protect those voices.

Users have hit out at Twitter for temporarily restricting the usage of someone who has come forward to speak about sexual assault.

Suspend Rose McGowan Twitter but Donald Trump will be on here tomorrow morning slathered in threats & bile? Yeah. Fix that quick, said part-time actor, Jeffrey White.

Shout out to all the women batting away misogynistic trolls daily now waking up to news that Twitter silenced 'threatening' Rose McGowan, said JoJo Moyes.

Weinstein has denied the accusations levied against him and issued a vehement denial over three allegations of rape which emerged on Tuesday. He said he is going to seek therapy.
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Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is now the subject of criminal investigations on both sides of the Atlantic, as the number of women to have accused him of sexual assault or harassment approaches 40.

After police in New York confirmed they were reopening an allegation of sexual assault from 2004 and it was claimed the FBI had started it own probe, the Metropolitan Police in London said it was also looking into an alleged assault said to have been carried out by Weinstein 30 years ago.

The flurry of investigations into the 65-year-old producer of films such as Pulp Fiction and The English Patient come as the number of women levelling accusations of assault or harassment at him continues to grow. On Thursday, Kate Beckinsale became the latest actress to accuse Weinstein of harassment, saying she managed to avoid his advances when she was just 17 by telling him she had school the next morning.

Paltrow was promoting the movie 'Shakespeare in Love' (YouTube)

The criminal investigations and slew of allegations mark a dramatic change in fortune for somebody who for several decades was a titan of the film industry. For years he promoted and made stars, won awards and held an almost omnipotent position in Hollywood. Receiving an award in 2012, Meryl Streep referred to him in her acceptance speech as God.

Through a spokeswoman, Weinstein has denied all the allegations levelled at him. But he has been fired from his company, Miramax Films, headed to Arizona for therapy, and his British wife has left him.

Reports suggest rumours about Weinstein have abounded within Hollywood for decades. Yet it was just a week ago that the New York Times reported his company had allegedly been forced to pay eight women to settle sexual harassment accusations.

I appreciate the way Ive behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologise for it, Weinstein initially told the newspaper.

On Wednesday, he told TMZ: We all make mistakes  second chance I hope. Guys I'm not doing OK but I'm trying; I've got to get help. I'm hanging in  I'm trying my best.

Subsequently, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie joined the number of actresses, models and other women to accuse Weinstein of harassment  most of them saying it happened when they were starting out in their careers.

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The New Yorker then said it had interviewed three women, two of whom it identified and a third who spoke to the magazine anonymously, who said Weinstein raped them. The magazine also obtained a recording from a 2015 sting operation conducted by the New York Police Department (NYPD) in which Weinstein admitted groping a young model, saying: Im used to that.

The NYPD has said it was reviewing a case from 2004. Spokesman Peter Donald said separately that investigators were reviewing police files to see if any women previously reported being assaulted or harassed by Weinstein. The department is also encouraging anyone with information to come forward, he said.

 Gwyneth Paltrow alludes to Harvey Weinstein coercion in old Letterman interview

The Daily Mail said in addition to this, the FBI had opened a probe into the allegations of rape and sexual assault.

A report said Attorney General Jeff Sessions, allegedly asked the bureau to open the investigation over fears the Hollywood producer would remain in Europe after his rehabilitation and avoid prosecution like film director Roman Polanski who was accused of sex with a minor but fled to France. It has since emerged Weinstein is heading to the The Meadows Centre in Arizona, located 60 miles from Phoenix.

The FBI did not immediately respond to inquiries. However, the reason for any federal investigation would be because Weinstein has been accused of crimes in multiple states as well as possibly the UK.

In London, the Metropolitan Police said it was investigating an allegation of sexual assault that was passed on from Merseyside Police. Police in Merseyside said they had received the accusation relating to an alleged incident in the London area more than 30 years ago.

Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Show all 42 1 /42 Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein Harry Weinsteins reputation as one of Hollywoods leading executives was long cemented in stone. The acclaimed movie mogul, who produced Oscar-winning films Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and The Artist, clocked up box office successes and accolades aplenty. But this has quickly changed since a chorus of women have come forward to accuse the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and assault. Since the New York Times bombshell report disclosed sexual harassment and rape allegations against the film mogul dating back decades, Weinstein has been fired from his namesake company, expelled from the Oscars and has had his wife leave him. Weinstein has apologised for having caused a lot of pain but has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Annabella Sciorra The Sopranos actor alleged Weinstein raped her after shooting The Night We Never Met, a 1993 movie that Weinstein produced. Similar to the stories told by other women, Weinstein drove the actor home, only to reportedly burst into Sciorra's apartment and start unbuttoning his shirt. He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled. Weinstein then allegedly locked her arms and forced sexual intercourse on her. After the incident, Sciorra found it increasingly hard to get work, many filmmakers saying 'We heard you were difficult', something the actor claims was because of the 'Weinstein-machine'. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Natassia Malthe The model and actress, who has appeared in around 50 films, said she met Weinstein at a BAFTA after party in 2008 while she was working as a spokeswoman for LG. She told a press conference in New York that she felt pressured into telling Weinstein she was staying at the Sanderson Hotel after being put on the spot. Malthe, now 43, said after her shift on February 10 she went back to her room and went to sleep, but was awoken by "repeated pounding" on her door, from someone yelling: "Open the door Natassia Malthe, it's Harvey Weinstein." Feeling humiliated, she said she opened the door. She alleged Weinstein began implying sex would get her a role in an upcoming film while semi-undressed and then he began to masturbate. "I was sitting on the bed talking to Harvey when he pushed me back and forced himself onto me. It was not consensual. He did not use a condom," she said. AP Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sean Young The actor, best known for her role in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, said that Weinstein exposed himself to her in the early 1990s, when she was starring in the Miramax-produced Love Crimes - a production company that Weinstein headed at the time. "I personally experienced him pulling his you-know-what out of his pants to shock me," she said. "My basic response was, 'You know, Harvey, I really dont think you should be pulling that thing out, its not very pretty.'" Young never worked with Weinstein again after the incident. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lupita Nyong'o In an op-ed for The New York Times, the Oscar-winning actor said she was invited to Weinsteins family home in Connecticut on the premise of watching a film shortly after they met in 2011. But she said shortly after it started he "insisted" in front of his children that she follow him and she was led to his bedroom. The Kenyan-Mexican actress, now 34, said she felt pressured into giving him a massage after he offered her one. "Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants," she wrote."I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that." Over the years that followed, he continued to get in touch, Nyong'o said, and when she declined another proposition she felt her career was threatened. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lena Headey Writing on social media, the Game of Thrones actor claims she first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 where, after taking her for a walk by the water, he made some suggestive comment and gesture. Headey claims she bumped into Weinstein years later where he kept asking her questions about her love life. She alleges that, when Weinstein invited her to his hotel room to show her a script, the "energy shifted. The actor notes how, after saying she was not interesting in anything but the work, Weinstein was furious, apparently marching her back to a lift, "grabbing and holding tightly to the back of [her] arm." She claims that, after paying for her car, he whispered in her ear: "Don't tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent. Headey finished the post, writing: I got in the car and I cried. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Laura Madden Madden, a production assistant who worked at Miramax for a decade, told the Times that Weinstein allegedly prodded her for massages at hotels, a common theme among the sources the Timess reporters spoke with. On one occasion, she claims she locked herself in his hotel bathroom, sobbing Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Judd recounted for the Times how Weinstein allegedly harassed her while she was filming Kiss the Girls in 1996, inviting her to his hotel room and asking her for a massage, then inviting her to watch him shower. Judd first went public with the allegations in a 2015 interview with Variety during which she discussed the experience without naming the producer involved. She described Weinsteins alleged behaviour as coercive bargaining; I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask, she told the Times AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rose McGowan McGowan reportedly reached a previously undisclosed $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, over an incident that occurred in a hotel room Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emily Nestor Nestor had been temping at the Weinstein Company for only one day in 2014 when Weinstein allegedly offered to boost her career in return for sexual favours, according to the Times. She declined and reportedly complained of his behaviour to colleagues, who later passed the information on to senior executives. An internal Weinstein Company document cited by the Times describes Nestors encounter with Weinstein as follows: She said he was very persistent and focused though she kept saying no for over an hour Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ambra Battilana In March 2015, Battilana, an aspiring model and actress, was reportedly summoned to Weinsteins office on a Friday night to discuss her career. According to a police report cited by the Times, Battilana claimed she was assaulted by Weinstein, who grabbed her breasts after asking if they were real and put his hands up her skirt. Weinstein later claimed that Battilana had set him up, according to colleagues of his who were interviewed by the Times. The Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, later declined to press charges, and according to the Times, made a payment to Battilana. On 5 October, the International Business Times reported that after Vance dropped the charges, he received $10,000 from Weinsteins lawyer Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lauren OConnor Lauren OConnor, an employee of the Weinstein Company, penned a memo to executives alleging a toxic environment for women at the company. The memo cited numerous incidents of Weinstein harassing or coercing women who worked for him. She expressed fear that Weinstein was using her and other female employees to facilitate liaisons with vulnerable women who hope he will get them work. That same year, Weinstein allegedly reached a settlement with OConnor Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Kate Beckinsale The actor, who starred in the Weinstein Company films Serendipity and The Aviator, alleges that she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room at the age of just 17. When she approached the door, the producer reportedly greeted her dressed in just a dressing gown. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him, she wrote on Instagram. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Gwyneth Paltrow The actor alleges that after he cast her in the title role of the film Emma when she was 22, he took her to his hotel room, placed his hands on her and suggested massages. I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, Paltrow told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Asia Argento Italian actress Asia Argento has alleged that in 1997 Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop. When I see him, it makes me feel little and stupid and weak, Argento told The New Yorker. After the rape, he won. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Cara Delevigne The British model and actress penning an Instagram post claiming that Weinstein had ordered her to kiss another woman in his hotel room, and tried to kiss her on the lips. AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Ashley Judd said she rebuffed Harvey Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances by offering to consent only after she had won an Oscar. When she was initially invited to a meeting with Weinstein, Judd said, she was surprised to learn the producer was in his hotel room - a tactic that recurs in other womens accounts. Echoing the accounts of other women, Judd said Weinstein suggested she give him a massage and then invited her to watch him shower. After a volley of nos she said she would only after she wins an Oscar, fleeing after making the comments. Reuters/Mike Segar Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Judith Godreche French actress Judith Godreche said when she was 24 Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked to give her a massage. The next thing I know, hes pressing against me and pulling off my sweater, she told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mira Sorvino The Oscar-winning actor said she found herself in a hotel room with Weinstein in 1995 where he started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around. According to an interview in The New Yorker Weinstein subsequently arrived at her apartment late at night and she had to call a friend to come over to pose as her boyfriend in order to get Weinstein out of the house. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Katherine Kendall The actress said Weinstein undressed and chased her around a living room when she was just 23. She subsequently felt that telling others meant Ill never work again and no one is going to care or believe me, she told the New York Times. WireImage Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Tomi-Anne Roberts As an aspiring actress and working in a restaurant in New York, Tomi-Ann Roberts encountered Weinstein who encouraged her to audition for one of his films back in 1984. She subsequently went to meet him and found him naked in the bath and invited her to get naked and get into the bath with him, she told the New York Times. She said she left feeling manipulated. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Myleen Klass It has also been alleged that the disgraced film producer propositioned Myleene Klass with a sex contract at Cannes Film Festival in 2010. One of the singer and television personalitys friends reportedly told The Sun, Klass had told Weinstein to f*** off. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sophie Dix Sophie Dix, best known for her role as Captain Sadie Williams in Soldier Soldier, described her encounter with Weinstein when she was 23 as the single most damaging thing thats happened in my life. She told The Guardian Weinstein had pushed her to her bed and was tugging at her clothes. She rushed to the bathroom to escape, but when she came out she found him standing there masturbating. I quickly closed the door again and locked it, she said. Then when I heard room service come to the door I just ran. Rex Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lea Seydoux The actor and director claims she had to fight off Weinstein after he brought her to his hotel room during what she remembers to be 2012. He suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted, she wrote in The Guardian. AFP/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Claire Forlani British actress Claire Forlani wrote on Twitter that she had evaded Weinsteins advances on five occasions at the age of 25. At meetings with the Hollywood a-lister, she says massage was suggested, and that Weinstein had boasted of all the women hed had sex with. Mark Douet Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Florence Darel French actress Florence Darel claimed Weinstein relentlessly pursued her in the mid 1990's and propositioned her while Eve Chilton, his wife at the time, was in the hotel room next door. I was astonished, she told People magazine. When you have someone so physically disgusting in front of you, continuing and continuing as though this was all perfectly normal What happened to me may not be illegal but it was inappropriate. Very inappropriate. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony, who starred as Marnie Nightingale in Hollyoaks, has claimed Weinstein raped her in the late 1980's after turning up to her London home in the late 1980s. She described the disgraced film producers alleged attack as pathetic and revolting and said it left her feeling disgusted and embarrassed. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Dawn Dunning Dunning said she met Weinstein in 2003 when she was 24-years-old and the disgraced film producer suggested she have a threesome with him and someone else. She told the New York Times Weinstein got angry when she refused. Youll never make it in this business, she said he told her as she left. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Arquette was already well known for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan, when she said she met Weinstein at his hotel to pick up a script in the early nineties. Weinstein was dressed only in a dressing gown, and tried to put her hand on his erect penis. Speaking to the New York Times, Arquette said as she left she told him: I will never be that girl. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emma de Caunes Caunes, a French actor, claimed Weinstein took her to his hotel room in 2010 supposedly to retrieve a book he was making into a film, but once there he went into the bathroom. De Caunes said he then emerged naked, with an erection and told her to lie on the bed. She fled the room. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Zoe Brock Model Zoe claimed that she had to lock herself in a bathroom at Weinsteins hotel in 1997, after the mogul had sent all of the assistants out of the room, and then appeared naked. I was alone with Weinstein, she told ITVs This Morning programme. He very quickly left the room and came back naked. He chased me naked. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Barth Actress Jessica Barth described an encounter with Weinstein in 2011 in an interview with The New Yorker in which she said Weinstein veered between offering her roles in films and demanding a naked massage. She alleges the producer said to her: So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? When she tried to leave, he then promised to give her the number of a female executive at the company. He gave me her number, and I walked out and I started bawling, Barth said. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Romola Garai The actress told The Guardian she felt violated after she went to a meeting with Weinstein at the age of 18 and he met her in his hotel room wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Heather Graham Graham claimed that during a casting opportunity in the early 2000's Weinstein had told her he had an open relationship with his wife. He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town. I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy, Graham told Variety. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there. Graham was never hired to work in a Weinstein film. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Hynes Spaced and W1A star Jessica Hynes tweeted about an encounter with Weinstein earlier this week, but subsequently deleted the tweet. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louisette Geiss The former actress said she met Weinstein to pitch a film script she was working on. During the meeting, Weinstein allegedly went out and reappeared naked and got into a jacuzzi where he masturbated in front of her and said he would make the script into a film if she stayed and watched. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Liza Campbell Liza Campbell, a British writer and artist, alleged that Olympically ugly Weinstein asked her to join him in the bath and began getting undressed at a hotel. In a piece for The Times, Campbell claimed she was forced to sprint to the door to escape. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louise Godbold Writing in a blog post, Louise Godbold, a non-profit director in Los Angeles, said her encounter with Weinstein took the form of an office tour that became an occasion to trap me in an empty meeting room. She said then Weinstein was begging for a massage, his hands on my shoulders as I attempted to beat a retreat.

The Metropolitan Police, Britains largest police force provided few details. It said the allegation was being looked at by officers who deal with child abuse and sexual offences, though there was no indication the complaint was related to child abuse.

The Met has been passed an allegation of sexual abuse by Merseyside police on Wednesday 11 October, said a statement. The allegation will be assessed by officers from the child abuse and sexual offences command.

Weinstein, and his brother Bob, received an early break in their career from the British film industry. In 1982, The Secret Policemans Other Ball, the film of a London benefit concert featuring Sting, Bob Geldof and Eric Clapton, for which they obtained the US distribution rights, became his companys first hit.

The company also produced Rockshow, a movie of Paul McCartney and his band Wings, performing live in the 1970s. The film was released in November 1980.

A spokesman for Weinstein, Sallie Hofmeister, said in a statement Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Weinstein.

Mr Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.

She added: He will not be available for further comments, as he is taking the time to focus on his family, on getting counselling and rebuilding his life.
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Paris authorities plan to banish all petrol and diesel-fuelled cars from the world's most visited city by 2030, Paris City Hall said on Thursday.

The move marks an acceleration in plans to wean the country off gas-guzzlers and switch to electric vehicles in a city often obliged to impose temporary bans due to surges in particle pollution in the air.

Paris City Hall said in a statement France had already set a target date of 2040 for an end to cars dependent on fossil fuels and that this required speedier phase-outs in large cities.

Recommended Paris bans cars for a day in bid to tackle pollution

This is about planning for the long term with a strategy that will reduce greenhouse gases, said Christophe Najdovski, an official responsible for transport policy at the office of Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

Transport is one of the main greenhouse gas producers... so we are planning an exit from combustion engine vehicles, or fossil-energy vehicles, by 2030, he told France Info radio.

The French capital, which will host the Olympic Games in the summer of 2024 and was host city for the latest worldwide pact on policies to tame global warming, had already been eyeing an end to diesel cars in the city by the time of the Olympics.

Paris City Hall, already under attack over the establishment of no-car zones, car-free days and fines for drivers who enter the city in cars that are more than 20 years old, said it was not using the word ban but rather introducing a feasible deadline by which combustion-engine cars would be phased out.

There are about 32 million household cars in France, where the population is about 66 million, according to 2016 data from the Argus, an automobile industry publication.

Many Parisians do not own cars, relying on extensive public transport systems and, increasingly, fast-burgeoning networks offering bikes, scooters and low-pollution hybrid engine cars for shot-term rental.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The ban on petrol-fuelled marks a radical escalation of anti-pollution policy.

Many other cities in the world are considering similar moves and China, the world's biggest polluter after the United States, recently announced that it would soon be seeking to get rid of combustion-engine cars too.

Reuters
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Googles new Home Mini voice assistant has been spying on some of its users, due to a phantom issue.

The device is designed to respond to your questions, but only after you say Okay Google or Hey Google, or tap and hold a touch panel on it.

However, an early release model has been found to be recording its owner all the time, without him realising.

11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Show all 11 1 /11 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Easter Eggs There are a lot of Easter Eggs hidden in Chrome, and more and more are discovered each year. One of our favourites is the dinosaur game. The next time you fail to connect to the internet on Chrome, tap the spacebar. Its also worth Googling barrel roll, zerg rush, super mario bros (and clicking the question mark graphic), festivus, recursion, askew and atari breakout (and then clicking Images). 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Pin tabs If you tend to browse with a lot of tabs open at once, you can clear up the clutter by pinning the ones youre least likely to close. Right-click them and select Pin Tab. Theyll automatically shrink and slide left. 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Save battery You can save some battery life by sacrificing performance. In Settings, scroll down to the System section and uncheck the box reading Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed. We wouldnt recommend having this feature enabled all the time, but it could come in handy if youre nowhere near a charger. 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Browse faster There are loads of Chrome Extensions available, but one of the most useful is Googles Data Saver. It compresses the pages you visit to reduce data usage and speed up loading times. 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Make multiple profiles If you use multiple Google accounts, for work and for personal use, for instance, you can keep your bookmarks and browsing history for each account separate by creating individual profiles. Go to Settings, Manage People and Add Person. This is also handy for when you lend your computer to a friend, and you dont want them to have access to your internet history. 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Downloads Many users would prefer it if Chrome downloaded files straight to the desktop, but by default it sends them to your Downloads folder. You can change this by going to Settings, opening the Show Advanced Settings menu, clicking Downloads and choosing your preferred destination. 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Extra info To see cookies and permissions for every site you visit, click the View Site Information symbol on the left-hand edge of the omnibar. It will also let you quickly control things like Popup and Location settings. 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Task manager You can quickly find out which pages are using up the most memory and slowing down your browsing experience by opening the burger menu, going down to More Tools and opening the Chrome Task Manager. 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Calculator When youre online and need to do a quick sum, you dont have to hunt down your computer calculator or whip out your phone. Just type it into the Chrome omnibar and hit Enter. 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Startup If theres a certain set of pages you always open when you turn your computer on, you can get Chrome to open them automatically when you launch the browser. In Settings, click Set Pages in the On Startup section, and choose the ones you want. 11 hidden Google Chrome features you didn't know existed Search Gmail from omnibar You can search your gmail inbox directly from the omnibar by going to Settings, Manage Search Engines, scrolling to the bottom and pasting https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/#apps/%s into the box on the right-hand side.

Android Polices Artem Russakovskii, who received a Google Home Mini at the companys recent Pixel launch event and kept it in his bathroom, reported the extremely serious issue to Google last week.

It was waking up thousands of times a day, recording, then sending those recordings to Google, he said. All of this was done quietly, with only the four lights on the unit I wasn't looking at flashing on and then off.

Google was quick to respond to the report, sending an engineer to examine the unit right away, and admitting that there was a major problem with it. It also revealed that this wasnt a unique case.

The company said in a statement: The Google Home team is aware of an issue impacting a small number of Google Home Mini devices that could cause the touch control mechanism to behave incorrectly. We immediately rolled out a software update on October 7 to mitigate the issue.

Google told Android Police that the Home Minis touch panel had been registering phantom touches, which caused it to keep activating and recording everything going on around it.

The software update rolled out by the company fixes the issue by instructing all Home Minis to ignore the touch functionality.

We take user privacy very seriously, it added. We've removed any activity/queries that were created by long pressing the top of a Google Home Mini between October 4 and October 7, when the software update was rolled out.

That information will no longer be listed on your My Activity page

My Activity is an extremely intriguing and slightly concerning page that shows everything Google knows about you.

The information has been collected from all of Google's products, including Chrome, Android and Maps, and you can sort through it and delete things you don't want the company to remember.

The Home Mini, a miniature version of Google Home, the companys smart voice assistant, will come out on 19 October, costing 49.
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Richard Branson says he is working on a train to carry people across the country in 50 minutes.

He has invested heavily in Hyperloop One, the company that claims it can make super-fast train that travels at airline speed across the ground. It does so using magnets that allow the trains to be propelled across their tracks incredibly quickly.

When completed, trains would be able to shoot between London and Edinburgh in 50 minutes, the Virgin boss said. At the moment, such a journey takes roughly five hours.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

Now Mr Branson has pledged money to the project and it will be re-branded as Virgin Hyperloop One. It isn't clear what involvement he or his team will have, but members of the Hyperloop One team previously worked on Virgin Galactic  the plan to get private space travel off the ground.

Mr Branson said in a post on Virgin's website that it was "incredibly excited about the technology behind Virgin Hyperloop One and the way it could transform passengers lives". He compared it to Virgin's work on trains and planes, claiming the company has "long been passionate about innovation in transport too, especially the development of technology that could transform peoples lives".

Hyperloop trains work by shoving people and cargo into a pod. That's then accelerated quickly through a tube, with a train hovering on magnets and kept in low-pressure, to stop the drag.

The technology has been successfully tested and is now going on to be developed for commercial applications, Mr Branson claimed.

"Earlier this summer I was fortunate to visit the site and see first-hand the exciting technology being tested," he wrote. "I was very impressed and now look forward to helping turn this cutting edge engineering into a global passenger service."

Repeated doubts have been raised about the technology and likelihood of Hyperloop ever actually being made. A number of companies have attempted to bring it to market but so far have had little luck  and Elon Musk, who became famous for proposing it, encouraged other people to develop the idea.
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Friday marks the deadline for Uber to appeal a shock decision by Transport for London not to automatically extend its licence to operate in the city.

But what does that actually mean, will you still be able to hail an Uber come the weekend and whats going to happen in the longer run?

The background

On 22 September Tfl announced that it was scrapping Ubers licence to operate in its current form in London and gave the Silicon Valley behemoth 21 days to appeal the decision.

In a damning statement, the transport authority said that its regulation of London's sprawling taxi and private hire market is designed to ensure passenger safety. Uber, it determined, was "not fit and proper to hold a private hire operator licence".

It said that it considered that the companys approach and conduct to demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications.

Whats happened since?

An estimated 3.5 million people use Uber and around 40,000 people are licenced to drive for it in London, making the city a hugely important market for the eight-year old company.

So its no surprise that Uber appears to have pulled out all the stops to try and win TfL back over.

Immediately after 22 September, global chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi  brand new to the top job - admitted that the company had "got things wrong" and apologised unreservedly for the "mistakes we've made".

Mr Khosrowshahi, who replaced maverick founder Travis Kalanick over the summer, subsequently met representatives from TfL to discuss the latters concerns and Uber has reportedly hired top QC Thomas de la Mare, who has a history of representing the company against TfL on appeals against new regulations.

And Mr Khosrowshahi seems to be trying to clean up the companys act more generally too, shaking up management and clamping down on problems around corporate culture and sexual harassment claims.

In early October Jo Bertram, the Uber executive in charge of the region that includes the UK, said that she was leaving her job. The group is also in the process of replacing its top lawyer and other senior managers.

On the other side of the equation, London mayor Sadiq Khan, who is also the chairman of TfL, has praised Mr Khosrowshahis humility throughout the process so far and has indicated that he is confident the two sides can reach a non-litigious settlement.

In a statement immediately after Mr Khosrowshahi spoke to TfL commissioner Mike Brown, TfL put out a statement describing the talks as constructive.

Whats likely to happen on Friday?

In short, possibly not much. Uber has  unsurprisingly  already indicated that it will appeal the decision. It recently told its London customers that it will still be able to get them from A to B as discussions with TfL continue.

If it lodges an appeal, it will be able to keep operating during that appeal process. Its hard to say how long that process will last but it could take several months.

Whats likely to happen over the longer term?

The backlash against TfLs decision has been fierce and even though the regulator has made it clear that a company must comply with the rules in order to operate, its hard to imagine Uber vanishing from the streets of London completely any time soon.

Sadiq Khans constructive tone indicates that its in his interest to reach a deal under which Uber can keep driving. Prime Minister Theresa May has called the original TfL decision disproportionate and several unions have condemned it, saying that a decisive ban could threaten the livelihoods of up to 40,000 people who earn a living from Uber.

An online petition to save Uber in London, started on 22 September, has garnered more than 850,000 virtual signatures.

Regulators certainly wont be won over easily, especially as its important to set precedents and parameters amid a boom in sharing economy services like Uber, but Uber will certainly put up a tough fight. London, it seems, is simply too valuable to give up easily.
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Fashion giant Gucci has committed to being fur-free from next year, starting with its spring-summer 2018 collection.

The Italian luxury brands president and chief executive, Marco Bizzarri, announced the move at a talk at the London College of Fashion on Wednesday.

Mr Bizzarri said: Being socially responsible is one of Guccis core values, and we will continue to strive to do better for the environment and animals.

As such, the brand will no longer use any type of animal fur including, coyote, mink, fox, rabbit or karakul, which is a breed of domestic sheep.

Mr Bizzarri said the change could be made in part thanks to Guccis creative director, Alessandro Michele, who joined in 2015.

I wanted to find someone who shared a belief in the importance of the same values. I sensed that immediately on meeting Alessandro for the first time, Mr Bizzarri said in a statement.

The fashion houses remaining fur clothing will be sold in an auction with the money made donated to the animal rights organisation Humane Society International and LAV, an organisation that initiates legal actions to assert animal rights.

In a statement, Humane Society International president Kitty Block said: Gucci going fur-free is a game-changer.

For this Italian powerhouse to end the use of fur because of the cruelty involved will have a huge ripple effect throughout the world of fashion.

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.

As part of the change, Gucci will also join the Fur-Free alliance. This is a group of international organisations that campaigns for animal welfare and encourages that alternatives to fur are used by the fashion industry.

Joh Vinding, the chairman of Fur Free Alliance, said: For decades animals in the fur industry has been subjected to intense cruelty, living their entire lives in miserable, filthy cages. Guccis new fur free policy marks a game-changer for the whole luxury fashion industry to follow.

In March last year, another Italian fashion house, Armani, announced it was going fur-free, joining other fashion brands committed to not using fur including Stella McCartney, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss and Vivienne Westwood.
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Pay TV company Sky, which Rupert Murdoch is trying to snap up in an almost 12bn deal, has reported strong earnings for the first quarter of its financial year, helped by the tremendous popularity of cult series Game of Thrones.

The company on Thursday said that it had increased revenue by 5 per cent over the same period a year earlier, to 3.3bn, and that 160,000 new customer had joined during the period. That represented an increase of 51 per cent on the same quarter in 2016.

Core earnings rose by 11 per cent to 582m.

Jeremy Darroch, Sky's chief executive officer, said that against the backdrop of pressure on consumer spending and lower spend on UK television advertising the group was particularly pleased with its core earnings growth in established businesses.

He noted that Game of Thrones had become the most watched series ever on Sky during the most recent quarter.

Customer viewing on Sky pay channels was up 10 per cent and the quarter also saw Sky launch in Spain and Sky Sports streaming service launch in Switzerland.

Going forward, the company said that it would be increasing investment in Sky Originals by 25 per cent this year, which means that it would be showing four new dramas each quarter.

At the end of September, Karen Bradley, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, referred the 21st Century Foxs bid to control the whole of Sky to the Competition and Markets Authority on public-interest grounds.

The CMA now has six months  until 6 March  to report back to Ms Bradley with its recommendations.

In March this year Mr Murdochs company formally notified the European Commission that it was bidding nearly 11.7bn for Sky.

If successful, the deal would strengthen the position of James Murdoch  who is both chief executive of Fox and chairman of Sky  in his fathers media empire.

But several shareholder groups have in recent days said that they think James Murdoch should no longer be chairman on Sky.

We continue to believe that James Murdochs position as chairman is inappropriate, and that minority shareholders at Sky would be better served by a truly independent chairman, Ashley Hamilton Claxton, corporate governance manager at investment company Royal London Asset Management, which owns a stake in Sky, said earlier this week.

Independent oversight of the board is particularly important given Foxs ongoing bid to acquire Sky, she said. She added that Royal London would be voting against Mr. Murdochs re-election as chairman at Skys annual general meeting happening on Thursday.
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Hungry migrant moths from Europe are arriving in Britain and eating the nations ivy, with warm weather from the continent expected to drive a surge in numbers.

Over the next three nights nature lovers are being urged to investigate local patches of ivy, which produces a lifeline to moths and butterflies as it flowers late in the year when other sources of nectar have disappeared.

The spectacular moths include the silver-striped hawk-moth, which is more often found in Africa and south Asia, and the giant convolvulus hawk-moth, which has a wingspan of up to four inches.

Richard Fox, Butterfly Conservation Head of Recording, told The Independent that rare moths are being "blown up by the wind" and into Britain.

"We've got very mild temperatures, which is really good for our resident moths," he said. "On top of that weve got these southerly winds that are likely to bring migrant moths up to Britain."

Describing rare species such as the silver-striped Hawk-moth and Radford's Flame Shoulder as "pioneers", Mr Fox said the insects were leaving their homes in southern Europe for the "fantastic wide beyond in the hope of colonising".

A native Clifden nonpareil moth (Bob Eade/Butterfly Conservation)

As part of this years Moth Night, organisers are asking the public to make visits to patches of flowering ivy and count the moths they find.

This will help experts gather more information on the plants importance to the insects.

Mr Fox said: A quick check of ivy blossom on a sunny autumn day will reveal bees, hoverflies, butterflies and other insects, all making the most of this seasonal bonanza of nectar.

The most incredible nature moments ever caught on camera Show all 6 1 /6 The most incredible nature moments ever caught on camera The most incredible nature moments ever caught on camera Weasel riding woodpecker This picture of a weasel riding a woodpecker is pretty incredible. This is what the amateur photographer who took it, Martin Le-May, has to say about it: "As I walked, I heard a distressed squawking and I saw that flash of green. It immediately occurred to me that the woodpecker was unnaturally hopping about like it was treading on a hot surface. Lots of wing flapping showing that gloriously yellow/white colour interspersed with the flash of red head feathers. Just after I switched from my binoculars to my camera the bird flew across me and slightly in my direction; suddenly it was obvious it had a small mammal on its back and this was a struggle for life" All pictures by Martin Le-May The most incredible nature moments ever caught on camera A bumblebee and a hummingbird impaled each other to death "This bumblebee was impaled by this hummingbird. They were both killed instantly," Andy Katz, who spotted the clash, wrote, failing to mention that the two had previously been embroiled in a chase through the streets that saw 15 cars and two trucks wrecked and a shoot-out in a nearby park Andykatz14 The most incredible nature moments ever caught on camera Meteor over Loch Ness This stunning image of a shooting star is what award-winning photographs are made of  but the man behind the lens said capturing the sight was an "absolute fluke". John Alasdair Macdonald, a tour guide in the Scottish Highlands, caught the meteor on film, on the west shore of Loch Ness. Mr Macdonald had taken his camera outside to capture some photographs of the stars on what he described as a "beautiful night". But as he clicked away, the meteor soared right into his sights The most incredible nature moments ever caught on camera Pregnant Mascarene Petrel A unique photograph has been taken of a bird with a visible egg showing after experts sent to study a critically endangered Mascarene Petrel on a remote Indian Ocean tropical island encountered an undeniably pregnant member of the species Hadoram Shirihai The most incredible nature moments ever caught on camera Black Sea Devil anglerfish Researchers in the US have released what they believe to be the first video footage showing a bizarre-looking Black Sea Devil anglerfish in the wild. As anglerfish live in the deep sea, they are very rarely seen in their natural habitat, and fewer than half a dozen have ever been captured on film or video in the wild, according to experts at the Monterrey Bay Acquarium Research Institute (MBARI) Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute The most incredible nature moments ever caught on camera Pine marten Dave Pearces photograph is the first confirmed sighting of a wild English pine marten in a century Shropshire Wildlife Trust

For this year's Moth Night, the scientist advises finding some big patches of ivy flowers and going back with a torch after the sun has set. "Its a fantastic and easy way to see some of the beautiful moths that are on the wing in autumn, he said.

Moth Night 2017 is organised by Atropos, Butterfly Conservation and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, and runs from 12 to 14 October.

For information about events and to submit sightings visit www.mothnight.info.
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A mysterious planet might be lurking on the edge of our solar system.

It's even stretching out the orbits of some planets, and might be tilting over our entire solar system. Scientists have suggsted that in the long distant future it might even be responsible for destroying it.

But it's certainly not Nibiru, and it doesn't mean any of the internet conspiracists claiming that planet is about to wipe us out are correct. Instead, it's just an interesting  entirely physical and explained, if mysterious and uncertain  planet.

Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Show all 30 1 /30 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An image from Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a 200,000 mile long solar filament ripping through the Sun's corona in September 2013 Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa Celebrates 50 Years of Spacewalking For 50 years, NASA has been "suiting up" for spacewalking. In this 1984 photograph of the first untethered spacewalk, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless is in the midst of the first "field" tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Hubble Cosmic Couple The spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427  more commonly known as WR 124  and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the Veil Nebula - expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago Nasa's most stunning pictures of space The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launch The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, carrying three new astronauts to the International Space Station. It also took caviar, ready for the satellite's inhabitants to celebrate the holidays Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth from the ISS From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Black Hole Friday Nasa celebrated Black Friday by looking into space instead  sharing pictures of black holes Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space NuSTAR X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Cassiopeia A c A false colour image of Cassiopeia A comprised with data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Orion Capsule splashes down The Orion capsule jetted off into space before heading back a few hours later  having proved that it can be used, one day, to carry humans to Mars Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth Observations From Gemini IV in 1965 This photograph of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank was taken during the Gemini IV mission during orbit no. 19 in 1965. The Gemini IV crew conducted scientific experiments, including photography of Earth's weather and terrain, for the remainder of their four-day mission following Ed White's historic spacewalk on June 3 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Frosty slopes of Mars This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater. The image was taken by Nasa's HiRISE camera, which is mounted on its Mars Reconaissance Orbiter Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Yellowstone from space NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this image of Yellowstone via his twitter account Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Saturn This near-infrared color image shows a specular reflection, or sunglint, off of a hydrocarbon lake named Kivu Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Worlds Apart Although Mimas and Pandora, shown here, both orbit Saturn, they are very different moons. Pandora, "small" by moon standards (50 miles or 81 kilometers across) is elongated and irregular in shape. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), a "medium-sized" moon, formed into a sphere due to self-gravity imposed by its higher mass Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun in this image taken 10 September, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Mars Rover Spirit Nasa's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Morning Aurora From the Space Station Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station Nasa/Scott Kelly Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Launch of History - Making STS-41G Mission in 1984 The Space Shuttle Challenger launches from Florida at dawn. On this mission, Kathryn Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to perform a spacewalk and Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space. The crew of seven was the largest to fly on a spacecraft at that time, and STS-41G was the first flight to include two female astronauts Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Fresh Perspective on an Extraordinary Cluster of Galaxies Galaxy clusters are often described by superlatives. After all, they are huge conglomerations of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter and represent the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Sees a Galactic Sunflower The arrangement of the spiral arms in the galaxy Messier 63, seen here in an image from the Nasa Hubble Space Telescope, recall the pattern at the center of a sunflower ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Pluto image Four images from New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with colour data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced colour global view of Pluto Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Fresh Crater Near Sirenum Fossae Region of Mars The HiRISE camera aboard Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this closeup image of a "fresh" (on a geological scale, though quite old on a human scale) impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars. This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Peers into the Most Crowded Place in the Milky Way This Nasa Hubble Space Telescope image presents the Arches Cluster, the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way NASA & ESA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space An Astronaut's View from Space Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on 2 September 2014 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Giant Landform on Mars On Mars, we can observe four classes of sandy landforms formed by the wind, or aeolian bedforms: ripples, transverse aeolian ridges, dunes, and what are called draa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Expedition 39 Landing A sokol suit helmet can be seen against the window of the Soyuz TMA-11M capsule shortly after the spacecraft landed with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Jupiter's Great Red Spot Viewed by Voyager I Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and perhaps the most majestic. Vibrant bands of clouds carried by winds that can exceed 400 mph continuously circle the planet's atmosphere Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Chandra Observatory Sees a Heart in the Darkness This Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of the young star cluster NGC 346 highlights a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million-degree Celsius gas in the central region

Nibiru has been blamed for a variety of things  strange events on Earth, days of darkness where the sun won't rise, and even the potential destruction of Earth. One man has said, repeatedly, that the planet is going to cause the apocalypse on Earth  changing the date when that doesn't become true.

Of course, any planet that Nasa discovered almost certainly won't have any of the attributes that believers in Nibiru ascribe to it. It won't be heading to Earth to destroy us all  at least not any time soon  and it doesn't have any mystical powers.

But those talking about Nibiru are right about one thing: there might in fact a planet on the edge of our solar system, and scientists really aren't sure whether it exists or not. Scientists say that it's now more likely that it does exist than it doesn't.

"There are now five different lines of observational evidence pointing to the existence of Planet Nine," said Konstantin Batygin, a planetary astrophysicist at Caltech in Pasadena, California, whose team could be about to find the planet. "If you were to remove this explanation and imagine Planet Nine does not exist, then you generate more problems than you solve. All of a sudden, you have five different puzzles, and you must come up with five different theories to explain them," he said in a new Nasa statement.

Professor Batygin alongside astronomer Mike Brown claim to have found a range of different, indirect pieces of evidence for the planet. It seems to be tilting our solar system, for instance, in a way that makes scientists think there must be something out on the edge disrupting things.

Now astronomers are looking deep into the sky using advanced telescopes to try and see the planet itself. Doing so is difficult, given it is so distant, hidden and dark  but they are now using the Subaru Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, described as the "best tool" for the job, to try and spot them.

When they do that, they'll be more likely to find out where it was. And, unlike the myths Planet X or Nibiru, its origin won't be the inside of someone's head.
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Police have arrested a man as part of a murder investigation following the death of a woman in a car crash in Northern Ireland.

The 40-year-old was held in the Maguiresbridge area on Wednesday evening.

Natasha Carruthers, who was in her 20s, was killed in a crash between Lisnaskea and Derrylin in Co Fermanagh on Saturday night.

Another woman and a man, also in their 20s, suffered serious injuries in the incident in Newbridge Road.

Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Serious Crime Branch later announced that they have launched a murder investigation.

PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Eamonn Corrigan said: I would appeal to anyone who was travelling on the Newbridge Road, Derrylin, between 11pm and 12 midnight on the night of Saturday October 7 and who may have witnessed any vehicle or vehicles travelling at speed to contact us.

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 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Ms Carruthers was travelling in a blue Vauxhall Corsa, registration number TLZ 8330.

Officers are particularly keen to hear from anyone who might have dashcam footage of the road on the night of the incident.

PA
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Scotland Yard has announced it is investigating an allegation of sexual assault against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

London's Metropolitan Police confirmed it had been passed a complaint by Merseyside Police made on Wednesday which was now being investigated by its Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command.

There is no evidence the allegations relate to child abuse but sources within the force said it related to a complaint dating from the 1980s.

News of the probe follows an announcement by the New York Police Department (NYPD) that it is carrying out a "review" of the new accusations against Weinstein.

The NYPD has also reportedly reopened a 2004 investigation into an allegation of assault, though the force did not release any details.

New York detectives already investigated Weinstein once, in 2015, when an Italian model said the studio executive grabbed her breasts and groped her.

Detectives set up a sting where they recorded a conversation between the woman and Weinstein while he tried to persuade her to come into his hotel room.

"Why yesterday you touch my breast?" the 22-year-old asked on the recording, published by The New Yorker.

"Oh, please, I'm sorry, just come on in. I'm used to that. Come on. Please," Weinstein responded.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R Vance Jr said there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute the case. Mr Vance said his office's "best lawyers" examined the evidence before deciding, less than two weeks after the woman first made her allegations, to drop the investigation.

Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Show all 42 1 /42 Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein Harry Weinsteins reputation as one of Hollywoods leading executives was long cemented in stone. The acclaimed movie mogul, who produced Oscar-winning films Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and The Artist, clocked up box office successes and accolades aplenty. But this has quickly changed since a chorus of women have come forward to accuse the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and assault. Since the New York Times bombshell report disclosed sexual harassment and rape allegations against the film mogul dating back decades, Weinstein has been fired from his namesake company, expelled from the Oscars and has had his wife leave him. Weinstein has apologised for having caused a lot of pain but has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Annabella Sciorra The Sopranos actor alleged Weinstein raped her after shooting The Night We Never Met, a 1993 movie that Weinstein produced. Similar to the stories told by other women, Weinstein drove the actor home, only to reportedly burst into Sciorra's apartment and start unbuttoning his shirt. He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled. Weinstein then allegedly locked her arms and forced sexual intercourse on her. After the incident, Sciorra found it increasingly hard to get work, many filmmakers saying 'We heard you were difficult', something the actor claims was because of the 'Weinstein-machine'. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Natassia Malthe The model and actress, who has appeared in around 50 films, said she met Weinstein at a BAFTA after party in 2008 while she was working as a spokeswoman for LG. She told a press conference in New York that she felt pressured into telling Weinstein she was staying at the Sanderson Hotel after being put on the spot. Malthe, now 43, said after her shift on February 10 she went back to her room and went to sleep, but was awoken by "repeated pounding" on her door, from someone yelling: "Open the door Natassia Malthe, it's Harvey Weinstein." Feeling humiliated, she said she opened the door. She alleged Weinstein began implying sex would get her a role in an upcoming film while semi-undressed and then he began to masturbate. "I was sitting on the bed talking to Harvey when he pushed me back and forced himself onto me. It was not consensual. He did not use a condom," she said. AP Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sean Young The actor, best known for her role in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, said that Weinstein exposed himself to her in the early 1990s, when she was starring in the Miramax-produced Love Crimes - a production company that Weinstein headed at the time. "I personally experienced him pulling his you-know-what out of his pants to shock me," she said. "My basic response was, 'You know, Harvey, I really dont think you should be pulling that thing out, its not very pretty.'" Young never worked with Weinstein again after the incident. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lupita Nyong'o In an op-ed for The New York Times, the Oscar-winning actor said she was invited to Weinsteins family home in Connecticut on the premise of watching a film shortly after they met in 2011. But she said shortly after it started he "insisted" in front of his children that she follow him and she was led to his bedroom. The Kenyan-Mexican actress, now 34, said she felt pressured into giving him a massage after he offered her one. "Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants," she wrote."I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that." Over the years that followed, he continued to get in touch, Nyong'o said, and when she declined another proposition she felt her career was threatened. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lena Headey Writing on social media, the Game of Thrones actor claims she first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 where, after taking her for a walk by the water, he made some suggestive comment and gesture. Headey claims she bumped into Weinstein years later where he kept asking her questions about her love life. She alleges that, when Weinstein invited her to his hotel room to show her a script, the "energy shifted. The actor notes how, after saying she was not interesting in anything but the work, Weinstein was furious, apparently marching her back to a lift, "grabbing and holding tightly to the back of [her] arm." She claims that, after paying for her car, he whispered in her ear: "Don't tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent. Headey finished the post, writing: I got in the car and I cried. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Laura Madden Madden, a production assistant who worked at Miramax for a decade, told the Times that Weinstein allegedly prodded her for massages at hotels, a common theme among the sources the Timess reporters spoke with. On one occasion, she claims she locked herself in his hotel bathroom, sobbing Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Judd recounted for the Times how Weinstein allegedly harassed her while she was filming Kiss the Girls in 1996, inviting her to his hotel room and asking her for a massage, then inviting her to watch him shower. Judd first went public with the allegations in a 2015 interview with Variety during which she discussed the experience without naming the producer involved. She described Weinsteins alleged behaviour as coercive bargaining; I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask, she told the Times AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rose McGowan McGowan reportedly reached a previously undisclosed $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, over an incident that occurred in a hotel room Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emily Nestor Nestor had been temping at the Weinstein Company for only one day in 2014 when Weinstein allegedly offered to boost her career in return for sexual favours, according to the Times. She declined and reportedly complained of his behaviour to colleagues, who later passed the information on to senior executives. An internal Weinstein Company document cited by the Times describes Nestors encounter with Weinstein as follows: She said he was very persistent and focused though she kept saying no for over an hour Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ambra Battilana In March 2015, Battilana, an aspiring model and actress, was reportedly summoned to Weinsteins office on a Friday night to discuss her career. According to a police report cited by the Times, Battilana claimed she was assaulted by Weinstein, who grabbed her breasts after asking if they were real and put his hands up her skirt. Weinstein later claimed that Battilana had set him up, according to colleagues of his who were interviewed by the Times. The Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, later declined to press charges, and according to the Times, made a payment to Battilana. On 5 October, the International Business Times reported that after Vance dropped the charges, he received $10,000 from Weinsteins lawyer Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lauren OConnor Lauren OConnor, an employee of the Weinstein Company, penned a memo to executives alleging a toxic environment for women at the company. The memo cited numerous incidents of Weinstein harassing or coercing women who worked for him. She expressed fear that Weinstein was using her and other female employees to facilitate liaisons with vulnerable women who hope he will get them work. That same year, Weinstein allegedly reached a settlement with OConnor Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Kate Beckinsale The actor, who starred in the Weinstein Company films Serendipity and The Aviator, alleges that she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room at the age of just 17. When she approached the door, the producer reportedly greeted her dressed in just a dressing gown. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him, she wrote on Instagram. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Gwyneth Paltrow The actor alleges that after he cast her in the title role of the film Emma when she was 22, he took her to his hotel room, placed his hands on her and suggested massages. I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, Paltrow told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Asia Argento Italian actress Asia Argento has alleged that in 1997 Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop. When I see him, it makes me feel little and stupid and weak, Argento told The New Yorker. After the rape, he won. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Cara Delevigne The British model and actress penning an Instagram post claiming that Weinstein had ordered her to kiss another woman in his hotel room, and tried to kiss her on the lips. AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Ashley Judd said she rebuffed Harvey Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances by offering to consent only after she had won an Oscar. When she was initially invited to a meeting with Weinstein, Judd said, she was surprised to learn the producer was in his hotel room - a tactic that recurs in other womens accounts. Echoing the accounts of other women, Judd said Weinstein suggested she give him a massage and then invited her to watch him shower. After a volley of nos she said she would only after she wins an Oscar, fleeing after making the comments. Reuters/Mike Segar Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Judith Godreche French actress Judith Godreche said when she was 24 Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked to give her a massage. The next thing I know, hes pressing against me and pulling off my sweater, she told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mira Sorvino The Oscar-winning actor said she found herself in a hotel room with Weinstein in 1995 where he started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around. According to an interview in The New Yorker Weinstein subsequently arrived at her apartment late at night and she had to call a friend to come over to pose as her boyfriend in order to get Weinstein out of the house. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Katherine Kendall The actress said Weinstein undressed and chased her around a living room when she was just 23. She subsequently felt that telling others meant Ill never work again and no one is going to care or believe me, she told the New York Times. WireImage Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Tomi-Anne Roberts As an aspiring actress and working in a restaurant in New York, Tomi-Ann Roberts encountered Weinstein who encouraged her to audition for one of his films back in 1984. She subsequently went to meet him and found him naked in the bath and invited her to get naked and get into the bath with him, she told the New York Times. She said she left feeling manipulated. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Myleen Klass It has also been alleged that the disgraced film producer propositioned Myleene Klass with a sex contract at Cannes Film Festival in 2010. One of the singer and television personalitys friends reportedly told The Sun, Klass had told Weinstein to f*** off. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sophie Dix Sophie Dix, best known for her role as Captain Sadie Williams in Soldier Soldier, described her encounter with Weinstein when she was 23 as the single most damaging thing thats happened in my life. She told The Guardian Weinstein had pushed her to her bed and was tugging at her clothes. She rushed to the bathroom to escape, but when she came out she found him standing there masturbating. I quickly closed the door again and locked it, she said. Then when I heard room service come to the door I just ran. Rex Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lea Seydoux The actor and director claims she had to fight off Weinstein after he brought her to his hotel room during what she remembers to be 2012. He suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted, she wrote in The Guardian. AFP/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Claire Forlani British actress Claire Forlani wrote on Twitter that she had evaded Weinsteins advances on five occasions at the age of 25. At meetings with the Hollywood a-lister, she says massage was suggested, and that Weinstein had boasted of all the women hed had sex with. Mark Douet Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Florence Darel French actress Florence Darel claimed Weinstein relentlessly pursued her in the mid 1990's and propositioned her while Eve Chilton, his wife at the time, was in the hotel room next door. I was astonished, she told People magazine. When you have someone so physically disgusting in front of you, continuing and continuing as though this was all perfectly normal What happened to me may not be illegal but it was inappropriate. Very inappropriate. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony, who starred as Marnie Nightingale in Hollyoaks, has claimed Weinstein raped her in the late 1980's after turning up to her London home in the late 1980s. She described the disgraced film producers alleged attack as pathetic and revolting and said it left her feeling disgusted and embarrassed. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Dawn Dunning Dunning said she met Weinstein in 2003 when she was 24-years-old and the disgraced film producer suggested she have a threesome with him and someone else. She told the New York Times Weinstein got angry when she refused. Youll never make it in this business, she said he told her as she left. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Arquette was already well known for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan, when she said she met Weinstein at his hotel to pick up a script in the early nineties. Weinstein was dressed only in a dressing gown, and tried to put her hand on his erect penis. Speaking to the New York Times, Arquette said as she left she told him: I will never be that girl. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emma de Caunes Caunes, a French actor, claimed Weinstein took her to his hotel room in 2010 supposedly to retrieve a book he was making into a film, but once there he went into the bathroom. De Caunes said he then emerged naked, with an erection and told her to lie on the bed. She fled the room. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Zoe Brock Model Zoe claimed that she had to lock herself in a bathroom at Weinsteins hotel in 1997, after the mogul had sent all of the assistants out of the room, and then appeared naked. I was alone with Weinstein, she told ITVs This Morning programme. He very quickly left the room and came back naked. He chased me naked. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Barth Actress Jessica Barth described an encounter with Weinstein in 2011 in an interview with The New Yorker in which she said Weinstein veered between offering her roles in films and demanding a naked massage. She alleges the producer said to her: So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? When she tried to leave, he then promised to give her the number of a female executive at the company. He gave me her number, and I walked out and I started bawling, Barth said. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Romola Garai The actress told The Guardian she felt violated after she went to a meeting with Weinstein at the age of 18 and he met her in his hotel room wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Heather Graham Graham claimed that during a casting opportunity in the early 2000's Weinstein had told her he had an open relationship with his wife. He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town. I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy, Graham told Variety. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there. Graham was never hired to work in a Weinstein film. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Hynes Spaced and W1A star Jessica Hynes tweeted about an encounter with Weinstein earlier this week, but subsequently deleted the tweet. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louisette Geiss The former actress said she met Weinstein to pitch a film script she was working on. During the meeting, Weinstein allegedly went out and reappeared naked and got into a jacuzzi where he masturbated in front of her and said he would make the script into a film if she stayed and watched. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Liza Campbell Liza Campbell, a British writer and artist, alleged that Olympically ugly Weinstein asked her to join him in the bath and began getting undressed at a hotel. In a piece for The Times, Campbell claimed she was forced to sprint to the door to escape. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louise Godbold Writing in a blog post, Louise Godbold, a non-profit director in Los Angeles, said her encounter with Weinstein took the form of an office tour that became an occasion to trap me in an empty meeting room. She said then Weinstein was begging for a massage, his hands on my shoulders as I attempted to beat a retreat.

The allegation is the latest in a string of accusations made by multiple actresses and former employees of the Hollywood mogul, who is famous for his work on acclaimed movies such as Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love and Emma.

The scandal began when The New York Times published an expose detailing three decades of sexual harassment and assault allegations against the multimillionaire producer who founded Miramax Studios and The Weinstein Company with his brother Bob.

It said Weinstein had reached at least eight financial settlements with women over sexual harassment and other women came forward to describe how they had been harassed or molested by the producer.

Following the story, The New Yorker released its own piece detailing further allegations where he is alleged to have raped three women. He denies the allegations.

Other women, including A-List Hollywood actresses, have since started coming forward with their own accounts of their interactions with Weinstein.

Several actresses, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cara Delevingne, Rosanna Arquette, Kate Beckinsale, Romola Garai and Mira Sorvino, have all told similar stories of being invited to meet Weinstein in a hotel room where he asks them to watch him shower or give him a massage.

Garai said although Weinstein did not touch her, he tried to demonstrate his power over her by wearing only a dressing gown during their meeting when she was 18.

Delevingne said she had been invited to the hotel room and asked to take part in a threesome with another woman while Kate Beckinsale said he had greeted her in a bathrobe and asked to drink alcohol with him when she was 17.

She declined, saying she had school in the morning, and said telling him "No" had hurt her career.

A representative for Weinstein declined to comment when contacted by The Independent about the latest investigations.
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Police have released images of the horrific injuries suffered by a man in an unprovoked attack in central London.

Callum Wade, 22, was punched and kicked to the ground by four men, leaving him with fractures to the face and permanent damage in his eye.

He had been with two friends in Charterhouse Street, Islington, when his attackers launched the sustained assault. His friend, a man in his twenties, was also assaulted but not seriously injured.

Mr Wade, from the Maidenhead area, sought help at the nearby Fabric nightclub following the incident at 3am on Saturday 1 April.

Staff provided first aid and called a taxi, which took him to hospital.

Subsequent investigations revealed CCTV footage of three of the four men believed to have been involved in the attack on Callum, although no arrests have been made.

Detective Constable Mark Pinder, who is leading the investigation into the brutal assault, said: This was a violent assault which appears to have been launched with no provocation, and has left Callum with injuries that will affect him for the rest of his life.

The level of violence used was shocking and those who carried it out need to be traced before they commit a similar offence.

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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

I am appealing to anyone who recognises these men to contact police and help bring these violent thugs to justice.

Anyone with information should contact police on 0208 345 0119 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

PA
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A man studying to become a doctor has been convicted of indecent assault for grabbing his Tinder date's breasts with "excessive force" during consensual sex.

Philip Queree, 37, met the woman on the dating app and they had sex on their second date.

During intercourse, he pulled her hair and repeatedly squeezed her breasts despite her telling him to stop because it hurt, Jersey Magistrate's Court heard.

In a written judgement reported by the Jersey Evening Post, magistrate Bridget Shaw said: "I am sure that Miss X withdrew consent for Queree to grab her breasts. Queree knew this but continued to do so forcefully, causing the complainant considerable pain. This was an assault.

"Queree touched a sexual and intimate part of her body in a sexual manner without her consent. Irrespective of her consent to other sexual conduct, I am sure that the touching was in circumstances of indecency and thus Queree is guilty of indecent assault."

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 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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 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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 woman, who works as a health worker, said she suffered bruising to both of her breasts and had difficulty lifting her arm after the assault.

Sentencing Queree, Ms Shaw said: "This was a serious sexual assault. It is not the most serious sexual assault but it is not at the lower end of the scale."

Queree has been put on the sex offenders' register for five years and handed a five-year restraining order preventing him from having any contact with the victim.

The mature student, who was in his third year at King's College medical school in London, had to drop out as a result of his conviction.

His lawyer said he intends to appeal against the conviction to Jersey's Royal Court.
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has scored a point in its patent dispute in China with its rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which may weigh down on the South Korean company's business in the world's largest smartphone market, experts said.

(File Photo)

The Patent Reexamination Board of the State Intellectual Property Office said on its official website that some of the patents involved in Samsung's lawsuit against Huawei are invalid.

Among the eight patents, five are not valid, one is partially valid and only two are valid, the office said on Sept 30.

The decision came amid mounting competition between two of the world's largest smartphone vendors. Huawei and Samsung are involved in a slate of patent disputes in China, accusing each other of violating patents related to mobile technology and design.

Of the 16 patents Samsung accused Huawei of infringing in 2016, 10 were announced to be invalid, accounting for 62.5 percent. There is still one patent awaiting a review decision from the authority, according to data compiled by Securities Daily.

Huawei and Samsung declined to comment on the story.

Li Junhui, an intellectual property expert at China University of Political Science and Law, said Samsung cannot sue Huawei with invalid patents. Part of its lawsuits will likely be revoked.

"This is a blow for Samsung's plan to defend itself in the intellectual property battlefield," Li said.

According to Li, the five invalid patents involve technology related to smartphone cameras, screens and basic telecommunication services.

The review decision also came after a Chinese court ruled in April that Samsung's Chinese subsidiaries must pay 80 million yuan ($11.6 million) to Huawei for patent infringement.

In June 2016, Huawei filed a lawsuit against Samsung's units in China, claiming that more than 20 models of the latter's smartphones and tablet products, including the flagship Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge, had infringed its patents.

One month later, Samsung sued Huawei and other companies in Beijing on accusations of patent violation, demanding 161 million yuan in compensation.

Xiang Ligang, a smartphone expert and CEO of telecom industry website Cctime, said the chances are low for Samsung to win a legal battle in China.

"Samsung is losing ground in the local smartphone market. Patent defeats will have a further negative impact on its brand image," Xiang said.
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A British transgender woman has been granted asylum in New Zealand on the grounds that it is safer for her there.

The 57-year-old woman was accepted on exceptional humanitarian grounds after suffering years of harassment and discrimination in the UK.

An immigration and protection tribunal in Auckland ruled that it would be "unduly harsh" to force her to move back to Britain, where she suffered years of persecution due to her gender identity disorder.

The woman had worked in the IT department of a large multinational company which was "overtly hostile" to transphobic people, according to the tribunal's decision.

After complaining to the human resources department about a specific incident of bullying, the perpetrator confronted her and threatened that if she ever complained again he would rip her head off," it added.

"This work environment was homophobic and overtly hostile to tranny freaks.

The 57-year-old, who has a degree in engineering, was described by a psychologist who assessed her as a vulnerable, but a highly intelligent and skilled individual, according to The Guardian, which originally reported the decision.

Due to frequent hostility and verbal and physical abuse from strangers, outside of work she had reportedly become increasingly hermit-like, and suffered severe panic attacks and clinical depression, the tribunal deemed.

She resorted to doing shopping in the middle of the night when the supermarket was quiet and she could limit her contact with strangers, it said.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 November 2022 Australia and Spain play during the Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup group A match at the Copper Box Arena, London PA UK news in pictures 8 November 2022 A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, Kent PA UK news in pictures 7 November 2022 Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorway PA UK news in pictures 6 November 2022 A grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UK PA UK news in pictures 5 November 2022 Demonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of Parliament AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 Florence Kasumba, Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyongo attend the European Premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in London Getty UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA

It comes after research revealed that transphobic hate crimes against LGBTQ people in the UK have soared by nearly 80 per cent in the last four years.

The findings showed that more than one in five LGBT people had been the victim of a hate crime in last 12 months  with the same applying to two in five trans people.

They also revealed that homophobic, biphobic or transphobic abuse had been targeted towards one in 10 LGBT internet users in the last month  a figure that increased to one in four for trans people.
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A Spanish woman who has lived in the UK for 15 years has accused the Home Office of treating her and her American husband like criminals after he applied for a permanent residence (PR) card.

Over the course of a three year battle, the Home Office threatened to deport historian Stuart Ross and refused to accept a court ruling which said that officials had been wrong to reject his application for a PR card in 2013.

They also said they thought Maria Cristina Udeda Tuero-ODonnell was lying about her work as a Spanish language teacher.

She told The Guardian: It was really frustrating and I am still angry.

They treated us like criminals. We couldnt travel because they had our passports. I was pregnant and I couldnt travel on my own. I am an only child and my parents are elderly, but I couldnt see them. My family in Spain couldnt understand and were asking: Why, what did you do?

Dr Ross, 49, from New York and Ms Ubeda, 41, from Madrid, met in the Spanish capital in 2002 while he was completing his PhD and they married before he graduated.

They have been living together in Derry since 2007 and have three UK-born children, aged two, six and nine, and initially believed their application would be treated as a formality.

When Dr Ross first applied he submitted tax evidence that his wife was economically active and by virtue of EU treaties means they both have the right to be in the country.

But the Home Office told them this was insufficient evidence and they needed five years worth of returns.

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 couple subsequently provided all of this in two subsequent applications along with other information such as mortgage and bank statements, details of National Insurance contributions, a letter from his MP and one from a former tax inspector.

But the Home Office said this was not enough evidence to prove Ms Udeda was working and that he should make arrangements to leave the country.

They also sent letters referring him to Refugee Action, a charity that could help him book a flight out of the country and help him with reintegration into the US.

He said: At the time you are furious, youre angry, frustrated, you run the whole gamut of emotions. There is nothing worse than doing the right thing but then being told that is not good enough. You feel powerless.

Recommended Tougher immigration checks are bad news for everyone living in the UK

Dr Ross appealed the decision at a court in Belfast and won but the Home Office refused to accept the verdict and appealed.

Eventually an appeals court threw out the case as the lower court had not made an error in law.

The couple were told by their lawyer that their case was not a precedent-setting case but they felt compelled to speak out after reading about a Japanese woman who had her child benefit and driving licence taken away in similar circumstances.

In a statement to The Guardian, the Home Office said: We exercised our right of appeal in this case to clarify points of law, and fully accept the outcome. Dr Ross had the right to reside and work throughout the process.
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GPs in training will receive a "golden hello" of 20,000 if they start their careers in the countryside or on the coast in a bid to boost the number of family doctors in areas with difficulty recruiting.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is to introduce a package of measures to help the struggling GP workforce.

This includes a one-off payment to try to entice 200 GPs who are beginning their careers to work in areas struggling to secure family doctors - such as rural practices and those by the seaside.

Recommended Hunt forced to admit mental health figures are false

From 2018, surgeries in hard to recruit to areas will benefit from the new 4 million scheme.

Addressing the Royal College of GPs annual conference in Liverpool, Mr Hunt will also announce plans for flexible working for older GPs to encourage them to stay in the workforce for longer before retiring.

Meanwhile, he will confirm plans for an overseas recruitment office which will try to lure GPs from countries outside Europe - particularly Australia - to come and work in England.

The Department of Health has also launched a consultation on the regulation of physician associates (PAs) to provide further clarity on the scope of the role.

It is hoped that these PAs - usually science graduates who have undergone two years of intensive training - can help support healthcare teams across the country.

But concerns have previously been raised over plans to use more PAs to perform medical duties including examining patients, diagnosing illnesses and analysing test results.

Leading medics have warned the new posts should not be used as a way of replacing doctors.

In his speech to delegates, Mr Hunt will also try to address one of the main concerns facing the GP workforce - the rising costs of indemnity.

Mr Hunt will signal plans for a new state-backed scheme for clinical negligence indemnity for general practice in England.

It is hoped that this would create a long-term solution to the increasing fees which are forcing doctors out of the profession, with the average medic now shelling out around 8,000 a year for clinical negligence indemnity cover.

The Government will work with medical defence organisations, the Royal College of GPs and the British Medical Association to come up with the best way forward, a Department of Health spokeswoman said.

Last month, the Care Quality Commission gave a glowing verdict on the state of general practice in England, but this should not distract us from the fact that the profession is under considerable pressure at the moment, Mr Hunt said.

By introducing targeted support for vulnerable areas and tackling head-on critical issues such as higher indemnity fees and the recruitment and retention of more doctors, we can strengthen and secure general practice for the future.

Our talented GP workforce is one of the reasons why we have the best healthcare system in the world, and our commitment of an additional 2.4 billion a year for primary care by 2021 will ensure this continues.

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

Professor Wendy Reid, director of education and quality at Health Education England, added: We spend nearly 500 million a year on GP training. We are working closely with NHS England to provide 5,000 more doctors in general practice by 2020.

More doctors than ever before are entering general practice and this is illustrated by the GP training fill rate figures for 2016 which, at 3,019, is the highest number ever.

PA
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The number of children in care has reached a record high, with 90 young people entering the care system each day, figures show.

Amid ongoing cuts to childrens centres and local family support services, the number of looked-after children in England and Wales reached 72,670 in the 12 months to March 2017  marking the biggest annual surge of children in care in seven years.

Campaigners said the figures highlight the urgent need for the Chancellor to use his Autumn Budget next month to address the 2bn funding gap facing childrens services by 2020, or place a growing number of children at risk.

The rise in children entering care has been put down to problems in households, such as poverty, poor housing and substance misuse, which experts said have been exacerbated by cuts to local services intended to tackle them.

It comes after it emerged in August that as many as 140,000 vulnerable children at risk of abuse and neglect might not be getting help because cash-strapped local authorities have been forced to shrink or abandon family support.

Council leaders subsequently warned that funding cuts had pushed childrens social services to breaking point, with action only being taken to protect youngsters once they are at imminent risk of harm and on-going funding pressures leading to gaps in services that are putting children and families at risk.

Andy Elvin, chief executive of Tact Care, the UKs largest fostering and adoption charity, said the rise in children in care was down to cuts to services that would engage with families and give them a support network to prevent things from reaching crisis point.

Surestart children services have been obliterated in recent years. They were often in the most deprived communities and provided a broad range of support from midwife services to parenting support groups, he said.

You had a lot of isolated families who might otherwise have started to struggle had a support network around them. A lot of them got the help they needed before things got so bad that they met the threshold for social services to get involved.

But now weve had seven years of cuts, and this is what you get. Numbers in care are up, numbers of homeless are up. If you start taking away the early support, and keep cutting and cutting local authority budgets, the only thing they can continue to do is the stuff they have to do under the law, such as removing a child at significant risk of harm.

Figures shows that three-quarters of English councils exceeded their budgets for childrens services last year, totalling a 605m overspend, while the number of young people subject to child protection enquires increased by 140 per cent  to 170,000  in the past decade.

Recommended Thousands of children at risk of domestic abuse not getting any help

Meanwhile, universal family support services have been forced to close due to cuts, with childrens centres shutting at a rate of six per month since January 2010.

Mr Elvin said the reduction to early intervention services created a vicious cycle, adding: If you dont intervene early, things dont get better on their own, they get worse. And when they meet the threshold, youre onto child protection, which in some cases leads to children going into care.

You cant prevent everything. In some cases, such as where theres a chronic alcohol problem, things cant be fixed. But in a lot of households where there is chaos and neglect or parents being overwhelmed by their circumstances the situation can be resolved by early intervention services.

Donna Molloy, director of dissemination at the Early Intervention Foundation, said the decline in services available to tackle issues such as poverty, homelessness and substance misuse means that families are arriving very quickly at the front door of childrens social care.

Our work with councils has repeatedly highlighted a range of factors driving the increased demand on childrens social care, including poverty, homelessness, poor housing and a related increase in problems such as family conflict, domestic abuse, mental health problems and substance misuse, she said.

In some areas there are far fewer services available to tackle some of these issues, which can mean families arrive very quickly at the front door of childrens social care.

Head of policy and research at Action for Children, Eleanor Briggs, said the increase underlined the urgent need for the Government to provide local authorities with adequate funding to support vulnerable children.

She said: Investment is desperately needed for both services for children in care but also in essential early intervention services such as family support and childrens centres. More money spent on helping children and families before they reach crisis point will help prevent children being taken into care and reduce the demand for higher cost services.

Anne Longfield, Childrens Commissioner for England, echoed the warnings, urging that intense pressures on local authorities meant many were being forced to reduce services that prevent family crises, such as a child being taken into care.

With a rising population of children in care at a time when council funding faces enormous cuts, the pressures on local authorities are intense. Councils tell me they are stretching every sinew to meet their responsibilities to children who are highly vulnerable, she said.

Many though are having to do so at the cost of reducing services that prevent family crises. I hope the Treasury will recognise that it makes economic and social sense to invest in families before crisis hits.

The Local Government Association (LGA) is calling on the Chancellor to use his Autumn Budget to address the funding gap facing childrens services by 2020, and to invest in improving childrens services by devolving a proportion of the Department for Educations 300m budget for centrally-run improvement and innovation programmes to councils.

This would help deliver an enhanced programme of sector-led support for childrens services, offering everything from regular health checks and training for lead members and senior officers, to specific support for those councils judged to require improvement.

Richard Watts, chair of the LGAs Children and Young People Board, said: Childrens services are at a tipping point with growing demand for support combining with ongoing council funding pressures to become unsustainable.

Last year saw the biggest rise in the number of children in care for seven years. With 90 children coming into care every day, our calls for urgent funding to support these children and invest in children and their families are becoming increasingly urgent.

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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 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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. 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Childrens services face a 2bn funding gap by 2020. If nothing is done to address this funding gap crucial services that many children and families across the country desperately rely on will be put at risk.

We are calling on the Government to use the Autumn Budget to commit to fully funding childrens services and invest in improving services to ensure vulnerable children get the appropriate support and protection they need.

Responding to the figures, Robert Goodwill, minister for children and families, said the Government was giving councils 200bn for local services, including childrens social care as part of a historic four-year settlement which means councils can plan ahead with certainty.

Mr Goodwill also said the Government would be giving up to 20m to support further improvement in childrens social services.
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Jeremy Corbyn has said he would vote Remain again in a further Brexit referendum, as he attacked the state of the deadlocked talks as shocking.

The Labour leader gave a straight answer to the question that Theresa May repeatedly dodged, saying: I thought the best option was to remain, I havent changed my mind on that.

It came as Mr Corbyn made his strongest criticism yet of the floundering negotiations, warning of the very real danger of them collapsing altogether.

The danger is we will get to March 2019 with no deal, we fall out of the EU, we go on to World Trade Organisation rules and there will be threats to a lot of jobs all across Britain, he said.

The fifth round of Brexit talks ended on Thursday with the EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier warning of a disturbing impasse hindering progress.

Labour immediately called for emergency talks with the EU in a bid to secure an agreement on Brexit withdrawal terms, ahead of a major meeting of European leaders next week.

On his own position, Mr Corbyn said: There isnt going to be another referendum, so its a hypothetical question but yes I voted Remain because I thought the best option was to remain, I havent changed my mind on that.

And, on the talks, speaking during a visit to West Yorkshire, Mr Corbyn said: I think it is quite shocking.

We are now 15 months on since the referendum and the Government seems to have reached deadlock at every stage.

Every time theres talks between [Brexit Secretary] David Davis and [EU chief negotiator] Michel Barnier, both come out making opposite statements.

David Davis says its gone well and Michel Barnier says it isnt. They cant both be right.

Earlier this week, the Prime Minister  who backed Remain during last years Brexit vote  was strongly criticised when she said she would come to a judgement if there was a repeat.

In a live radio interview Ms May initially declined to answer the question about how she would vote, dismissing it as hypothetical because Britain will leave the EU in March 2019.

But, after being pressed repeatedly on how she would vote, she said: I could sit here and I could say Id still vote Remain or Id vote Leave, just to give you an answer. Im being open and honest with you.

The comments risked antagonising pro-Brexit Conservative MPs, who are already concerned about how much she will give away in pursuing a transitional deal.
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Brexit negotiations have reached a "disturbing deadlock" over the question of Britain's divorce bill, the European Commission's chief negotiator has said.

Michel Barnier said there would be no "concessions" in talks, which he said had completely ground to a halt on the question of post-Brexit payments.

Speaking to journalists at the end of the fifth round of talks on Brussels Mr Barnier said the lack of progress on the divorce bill has become so acute that officials did not even sit down to full discussions about it during this week's round.

Both sides have also given up on the UK making "sufficient progress" to move to trade talks by the European Council summit in October, with Mr Barnier suggesting the milestone could be reached by December with constructive effort on both sides.

"In her Florence speech Theresa May explained that the UK would honour the commitments entered into as a member of the union. That is an important commitment. However, this week the UK repeated that it was still not ready to spell out that commitment," he said.

"There have been, therefore, no negotiations on this subject. We confined ourselves to technical discussions. Useful discussions, but technical discussions. We have reached a deadlock."

This situation was disturbing for taxpayers and project managers across the continent, he said.

The chief negotiator added: "We are not asking the British to make concessions. The agreement we are working on will not be built on concessions. Theres no question of making concessions on citizens' rights, theres no question of making concessions on the peace process in Ireland, and as regards to the financial settlement, theres no question of making concessions on thousands of projects throughout Europe."

On the British side, Brexit Secretary David Davis struck a more optimistic tone  but argued that the European Council needed to broaden Mr Barnier's mandate  set by member states  to help make progress.

British officials have previously characterised the mandate as overly restrictive and blamed it for slower-than-expected progress in talks. Some eurosceptic MPs have said they hope Angela Merkel's re-election in Germany will lead to pressure to change the mandate at member-state level, but there is as yet no evidence that this idea is grounded in reality.

"The next step in this progress is the European Council in October and we would like them to give Michel the means to broaden the mandate. I think its in the interests of the EU and the UK that they do," he said.

Theresa May said this week that she believes the 'ball is in the EU's court' after she made proposals in her Florence Speech (BBC)

The UK wants to open talks on a Brexit transition period, but Mr Barnier says his mandate means he cannot do so until the issues of Northern Ireland, citizens' rights, and the divorce bill have been settled.

Mr Davis also confirmed that the UK was "planning for all outcomes"  including a no-deal scenario, said that it was important to recognise the significant progress weve made since June.

The lack of progress comes days after European Commission blamed the UK for a hole on the talks schedule on Wednesday. Britain's negotiating team strenuously denies it was responsible for the gap in proceedings and says the break was mutually agreed by both sides.

Brexit: the deciders Show all 8 1 /8 Brexit: the deciders Brexit: the deciders European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier Getty Brexit: the deciders French President Emmanuel Macron Getty Brexit: the deciders German Chancellor Angela Merkel Reuters Brexit: the deciders Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker EPA Brexit: the deciders The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt Getty Brexit: the deciders Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May Getty Images Brexit: the deciders Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond PA Brexit: the deciders After the first and second appointed Brexit secretaries resigned (David Davis and Dominic Raab respectively), Stephen Barclay is currently heading up the position PA

European Council president Donald Tusk said yesterday that if negotiations continued at the current slow rate then both sides would have to think about where we are heading.

This week's fifth round was the final scheduled round of Article 50 talks; more rounds are expected to be scheduled in due course.
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Theresa May and her ministers have repeatedly contradicted her own plan to prevent a hugely damaging no deal Brexit, new research shows.

The Government is accused of confusing and conflicting statements that clash with her Florence speech  just three weeks after it was meant to secure a breakthrough in the deadlocked talks. The incoherence raises the risk of a complete breakdown in the Article 50 negotiations, and of a disastrous no deal Brexit, a pro-EU group warned.

The research  issued as the EU confirmed the exit talks are still floundering  identifies six examples of contradictory statements.

In Florence, the Prime Minister agreed a transitional period was needed to cushion EU withdrawal in March 2019  and, crucially, that the UK would follow the existing structure of rules and regulations.

But Open Britain said she had serious questions to answer, after:

* The Prime Minister insisted Britain would not accept the four pillars required for single market membership including free movement, continued in perpetuity ECJ [European Court of Justice] jurisdiction.

The group said this was clearly inconsistent with a status quo transition, in which we would need to accept the four freedoms.

* Ms May also said when we leave the European Union, we will leave the Common Fisheries Policy.

* The Prime Minister and others repeatedly insisted Britain would be free to negotiate new free trade agreements, during a transition period.

* Brexit Secretary David Davis said that, after March 2019, the UK would be outside the European law during the transition period.

All three statements contradicted Ms Mays pledge to retain the existing structure of rules and regulations during transition, Open Britain said.

* Mr Davis deputy, Robin Walker, vowed that, after March 2019, the UK will be free to change the law where they decide it is right to do so.

The group said this suggested the Brexit department believed the UK would be outside the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice  when Ms May said it would be inside, at least temporarily.

* Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the House Commons, said that the four freedoms end in 2019.

Again, this contradicted the Prime Minister saying EU citizens would retain the freedom to come here during transition, said Open Britain.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Heidi Alexander, a Labour MP supporting Open Britain, warned: These inconsistencies matter because they exacerbate the uncertainty and anxiety being felt by people and businesses across the UK.

It also sends a message across the EU that the Government is saying one thing to our negotiating partners, and something else entirely to domestic audiences, and that ministers are given free rein to say what they like.

This, of course, further raises the risk of a complete breakdown in the Article 50 negotiations  and of a disastrous no deal Brexit.

Significantly, in Brussels, chief negotiator Michael Barnier argued the deadlock could be broken if Britain negotiated on the basis of the commitments entered into by Theresa May in Florence.
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Chancellor Philip Hammond should be sacked for coming very close to sabotage over Brexit, Tory grandee Lord Lawson has said.

The former Chancellor called on Theresa May to act, branding his successor grossly irresponsible for refusing to spend many millions now to prepare for an exit with no deal struck with the EU.

He may not intend it, but in practice what he is doing is very close to sabotage, Lord Lawson, a leading Leave campaigner said.

You have to spend money from time to time, and there is nothing more important than preparing for what has always been the most likely outcome, Lord Lawson added.

The peer agreed Mr Hammonds stance was grossly irresponsible and, asked what was the solution, replied: I think probably a reshuffle.

Michael Gove, who returned to the Cabinet last month, could be a suitable replacement at the Treasury, he suggested.

Lord Lawson also branded Conservative backbencher Anna Soubry, a leading campaigner against a hard Brexit, a complete fanatic.

He insisted Britain could cope with crashing out of the EU with no agreement  if the Chancellor agreed to make the necessary preparations now.

That is what it is so irresponsible not to be making those contingency arrangements, he told BBC2s Daily Politics show.

Lord Lawson is the first Conservative politician to call openly for Mr Hammond to be sacked, although leading Brexitteers have pushed for it privately.

It comes after a damaging rift opened up between the Prime Minister and her most important Cabinet colleague over the preparations for the exit talks collapsing.

Mr Gove has led a push in Cabinet for emergency plans to be put into operation now, to convince the EU that Britain is serious about accepting a no deal exit if necessary.

Failing to do so would be seen as a sign of weakness" by EU leaders, former Brexit minister David Jones claimed.

Mr Hammond warned diverting funds would mean less money for the NHS and social care  insisting it would not happen until the very last moment, if the need became clear.

But, just minutes later, in the Commons chamber, Ms May vowed to spend taxpayers cash immediately, telling MPs: We are committing money to prepare for Brexit, including a no deal scenario.

The Prime Minister revealed that in some cases departments will need to spend money before the relevant legislation has gone through.

The issue has become urgent as the exit talks flounder, after the EU said it would also turn to preparing for no deal Brexit unless there was progress by the New Year.
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A Conservative minister has been accused of resurrecting the so-called dementia tax, claiming that taxpayers should not be propping up people to keep their own homes while they were generating significant social care costs.

In video footage obtained by Labour, Jackie Doyle-Price, a social care minister, told a meeting that when it came to their homes, people saw themselves as the custodian of an asset to give their offspring and that they shouldnt be seen as that.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn seized on the recording  filmed during a meeting at the Conservative party conference last week  as evidence of the Governments plans to revive the dementia tax that was rightly rejected by the public during the election.

It is appalling that the Tories still want to force older people to pay for care with their homes, Mr Corbyn added. It cant be right that if you have a heart condition, youre treated on the NHS  but if you have dementia you have to pay with your home.

This is further proof that the Conservatives are yesterdays party, with no plan to fix out countrys problems. Labour stands ready to form a government that works for the many, not the few.

In the footage, Ms Doyle-Price says: The reality is that the taxpayer shouldnt necessarily be propping up people to keep their property and hand it on to their children when theyre generating massive care needs.

Weve got to a stage where people feel that they are the custodian of an asset to give to their offspring, but actually we need to get back to a stage where actually homes are for living in  they shouldnt be seen as that.

People are now well into their pension ages sitting in homes that really are too big for their needs, and we really do need to start having those conversations about whats appropriate earlier.

Later in the same meeting, she added: When the review comes up, we will be looking at the whole issue of caps and floors.

Theresa May's 'disastrous' conference speech  in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 Theresa May's 'disastrous' conference speech  in pictures Theresa May's 'disastrous' conference speech  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives to deliver her keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester PA Theresa May's 'disastrous' conference speech  in pictures Comedian Simon Brodkin, dressed as a Tory party delegate, hands Theresa May a P45 during her speech PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images Theresa May's 'disastrous' conference speech  in pictures May suffering a coughing fit during her speech Reuters Theresa May's 'disastrous' conference speech  in pictures May wears a Frida Kahlo bracelet and holds a sweet passed to her by Chancellor Philip Hammond as she addresses the conference in Manchester Reuters Theresa May's 'disastrous' conference speech  in pictures May struggles with her water as coughing fits continued to interrupt her speech Reuters Theresa May's 'disastrous' conference speech  in pictures The wording on a slogan is changed after a letter falls away from the backdrop towards the end of the speech Reuters Theresa May's 'disastrous' conference speech  in pictures May is congratulated by her husband Philip, with the sign in the background missing a F and an E, after she delivered her keynote speech PA Theresa May's 'disastrous' conference speech  in pictures May is embraced by husband Philip after delivering her speech Getty

In an attempt to address the crisis in social care funding in the UK, the Conservatives manifesto suggested that people should be able to protect 100,000 of assets to pass on to family members after their death.

This will ensure that, no matter how large the cost of care turns out to be, people will always retain at least 100,000 of their savings and assets, including value in the family home, the manifesto added.

But the policy was quickly labelled as a dementia tax and in a failed attempt to end the row at a press conference the general election, a visibly irritated Prime Minister told journalists that an absolute limit on the amount people would have to pay for care would be introduced. She also insisted that nothing has changed when repeatedly questioned over the controversial policy.

After the general election result, ministers have said they will bring forward proposals to reform funding of adult social care, but the dementia tax was notably absent from the Queens Speech in June  used to set out the Governments legislative agenda for the next two years.
Photo taken on Oct. 1, 2017 shows flower parterres in Beijing, capital of China.

With the ascendency of China recognized by all, though worrying to some, foreign analysts and media look to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China for clues about Chinas future. It is no secret that President Xi Jinping, during his almost five years as Chinas senior-most leader, has strengthened the Partys role in governing China  and foreigners have questions. Im asked these questions by foreign media and I think it is useful to state and examine them.

What is it about the Party, the CPC, and its governing philosophy, that makes Xi so committed to enhancing the Partys governing power? What are the Partys positions and policies, organization and governance, vision and challenges? Why has China opted for perpetual CPC leadership? Would China be more stable with a competitive multi-party system? How does the CPC as the ruling party claim legitimacy? What innovations has Xi brought to the Partys leadership role in the economy and society? Why has Xi elevated strict discipline of the Party to the highest level of national importance, the fourth of his Four Comprehensives for governing China? Why is his anti-corruption campaign so relentless?

Answers to these questions lead to a more basic question: How has the Party led China to its remarkable development and modernization? How has the Party adapted to changing conditions, kept up with the times? What can we learn from the Partys history, its triumphs and tragedies? What is it about the Partys recent past that it must now be rejuvenated?

But can a system with a perpetually ruling party discipline itself, itself establish credible checks-and-balances? Is transparency the Partys foe or friend? What challenges does the Party face? What does the Party consider its greatest dangers? And what are its enduring ideals, its visions for the future? Under Xis core leadership, how might the Partys role in governing China develop over the next five or ten years?

China requires strong leadership to maintain stability given Chinas unique, complex challenges: domestically (slower growth, industrial overcapacity, endemic pollution, imbalanced development, income disparity, social injustice, social service demands) and internationally (regional conflicts, sluggish economies, volatile markets, trade protectionism, ethnic clashes, terrorism, geopolitical rivalries, territorial disputes).

The augmented role of the Party in governing commercial corporations  private and even foreign companies, not only state-owned enterprises  exemplifies Xis determination to strengthen the Partys leadership of the country. Xis unprecedented anti-corruption campaign has won strong public support. His determination to root-out corruption and cut the wasteful and detested perks of officialdom is altering how officials in government, and executives in state-owned enterprises, work and even think.

But some foreign analysts see Xis anti-corruption campaign as a weapon of political power, thus reflecting their superficial and one-dimensional understanding of China. Befitting the size and complexity of the country, for almost every decision of importance, Chinas leaders have multiple motivations or reasons.

For the anti-corruption campaign, I can see ten motivations or reasons.

First, to state the obvious, officials who are manifestly corrupt are brought to justice. To manage Chinas huge society, there must be respect for law and judicial impartiality.

Second, by combatting corruption the Party increases public trust, building confidence in the Partys leadership.

Third, by combatting corruption the Party functions more effectively and efficiently, making decisions for the general good, not biased by personal benefits.

Fourth, corruption distorts markets, so that by reducing corruption, resources are allocated more efficiently.

Fifth, corrupt officials impede economic reform because change threatens their private interests. The removal of corrupt officials facilitates reform.

Sixth, corrupt officials thwart rule of law for personal interests and prosecuting them strengthens rule of law for the national interest. Rule of law is exceedingly important, the third of Xis Four Comprehensives.

Seventh, some corrupt officials, in addition to enriching themselves, have non-standard political ambitions that could destabilize the system; their removal helps maintain national unity and political stability, which is essential for China.

Eighth, for China to become a world business center, China must have world-class business ethics and standards.

Ninth, combatting corruption benefits Chinas entire society, elevating morality and restoring Chinese civilization as a paragon of ethics and integrity.

Tenth, for China to become a global role model, China must exemplify morality and rectitude.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn

The CPC is a work in process. For the world to understand China, it must understand why the Party asserts that its continuing political leadership is optimum for Chinas development. One key is the Partys adaptability, stressing experimentation and testing of new policies.

All systems of governance have trade-offs. The benefits of a system with a single leading party include implementing critical policies rapidly and assuring that strategies which require long-term commitment, have long-term commitment - for example, China's Belt and Road Initiative. The costs or dangers of a system with a single leading party is that society is much more dependent on the quality of its leaders, and much more vulnerable to their vicissitudes and excesses. There are trade-offs too in stricter public regulations, including media.

The Partys leadership is deemed essential for China to continue its current development. Yet to continue to earn its leadership, the Party has a higher obligation to enhance rectitude of governance, standards of living and personal well-being  which includes rule of law, transparency in government, public oversight, institutionalized checks and balances, increasing democracy, various freedoms, and human rights.

Going forward in the "new era", the Party faces challenges - furthering economic reform and transformation, and guiding social development and transition - while at the same time, improving transparency and building institutions that are self-regulating. The Party claims a historic mission. The Party will continue to be judged by the results.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn is a public intellectual, political/economics commentator, and international corporate strategist. He is the host of Closer To China with R.L. Kuhn on CGTN.
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Plans for a price cap on rip-off energy tariffs will go before Parliament today to prevent millions of customers paying over the odds on their bills.

The Government is set to publish draft legislation that would allow the energy regulator Ofgem to cap poor-value tariffs that punish loyal customers who do not shop around for a better deal.

More than 18 million households are currently on standard variable or other default tariffs and the market watchdog found customers paid out some 1.4bn a year more than they needed to in bills.

Recommended Ofgem commits to working with Government to protect energy customers

The long-awaited cap was intended as a key announcement in Theresa Mays party conference speech last week but the event was derailed by a prankster, a coughing fit and a collapsing set.

The price-cap plans come after Ofgem announced it would save customers 120 a year by extending its prepayment price cap to a million additional households this winter.

Speaking ahead of the bills publication, Ms May said: I have been clear that our broken energy market has to change  it has to offer fairer prices for millions of loyal customers who have been paying hundreds of pounds too much.

Todays publication of draft legislation is a vital step towards fixing that, and is offering crucial peace of mind for ordinary working families all over the country.

Cross-party MPs will scrutinise the draft legislation, which has received support from both sides of the House, with nearly 80 Tory MPs urging the Prime Minister to revive her election pledge.

Business Secretary Greg Clark said: The energy market is broken. It punishes loyalty  the independent competition authority found millions of people who are customers of the Big Six suppliers are overpaying to the tune of 1.4bn a year.

That is simply wrong. While five million households will see their bills capped from this winter, I want to see every household protected from rip-off bills.

That is why we have published this draft legislation today  sending a clear message to suppliers they must act to put an end to loyal consumers being treated so unfairly.

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 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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 Prime Ministers announcement came as a surprise to the energy industry as the UKs Big Six gas and electricity suppliers saw billions wiped off their stock market valuations after Ms May outlined her plans to the party faithful in Manchester.
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Labour has called for emergency talks with the EU in a bid to secure an agreement on Brexit withdrawal terms, ahead of a major meeting of European leaders next week.

Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer said the failure to have reached an agreement which would have allowed negotiations to move on to future trade, shows the Government had wasted months.

In a letter to his counterpart David Davis, Mr Starmer said the Government must recognise the gravity of the situation and request an urgent round of talks to achieve progress.

It comes after the fifth round of Brexit talks closed on Thursday with the EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier talking of a disturbing deadlock in negotiations.

Mr Starmer said: Todays press conference confirms that the Government has failed to meet the target for this round of negotiations.

Ministers have wasted months of the Brexit talks fighting amongst themselves. This increases the chances that Britain will crash out of the EU without a deal.

That would be catastrophic for jobs and living standards and must be rejected as a viable option.

The Government had originally indicated it hoped EU leaders would agree at their October meeting of the European Council that sufficient progress had been made on withdrawal issues  the divorce bill, EU citizens rights and the Irish border  to move negotiations on to discussing a lucrative future trade deal.

Brexit: the deciders Show all 8 1 /8 Brexit: the deciders Brexit: the deciders European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier Getty Brexit: the deciders French President Emmanuel Macron Getty Brexit: the deciders German Chancellor Angela Merkel Reuters Brexit: the deciders Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker EPA Brexit: the deciders The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt Getty Brexit: the deciders Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May Getty Images Brexit: the deciders Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond PA Brexit: the deciders After the first and second appointed Brexit secretaries resigned (David Davis and Dominic Raab respectively), Stephen Barclay is currently heading up the position PA

But at a press conference on Thursday, Mr Barnier said no great steps forward had been made and that he would not recommend to the Council that sufficient progress had been achieved.

He said: In her Florence speech Theresa May explained that the UK would honour the commitments entered into as a member of the union.

That is an important commitment. However, this week the UK repeated that it was still not ready to spell out that commitment.

He added: There have been, therefore, no negotiations on this subject. We confined ourselves to technical discussions. Useful discussions, but technical discussions. We have reached a deadlock.

He said the situation was disturbing for taxpayers and businesses across the continent.

In a warning to the UK, he went on to say that the EU would not be making concessions to move talks forward.

He said: Theres no question of making concessions on citizens' rights, theres no question of making concessions on the peace process in Ireland, and as regards to the financial settlement, theres no question of making concessions on thousands of projects throughout Europe.

On the British side, Mr Davis struck a more optimistic tone, but argued that the European Council needed to broaden Mr Barnier's mandate, to help make progress.

Responding to Sir Keir's letter Mr Davis said there was no need for additional emergency talks because, it is not a question of time or effort.

 Barnier: The Brexit agreement will not be based on concessions

He went on: I have praised the diligence and hard work of both our teams, as has the European Commission - but of scope and content.

As I said today, the key to answering many of these issues is to open up a discussion about the future. I hope you will join me in impressing on the EU27, when they meet at the October European Council next week, the importance of allowing Mr Barnier the ability to make progress.

Turning the tables on his Labour counterpart, he added: If you are prepared to spell out exactly how much taxpayers money you think we should offer the European Union in order to progress talks, or set out what role you see for the European Court of Justice after we leave the European Union, I would be happy to engage on your points in detail.
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The Government has been urged to end period poverty in schools, amid concerns that young girls are being forced to use socks and toilet paper instead of sanitary products.

Education Secretary Justine Greening was accused of being harsh for suggesting schools and parents should to take responsibility for paying for basic hygiene products for poor pupils, during an exchange in parliament.

She was also pressed to match Labours commitment to set aside 10m to end period poverty in England as reports suggest nearly half of girls have skipped school because of menstruation.

Shadow equalities minister Paula Sherriff said: Schoolgirls in Yorkshire and elsewhere have had to use toilet paper and even socks stuffed into their underwear because families cant afford sanitary protection, due to poverty, pay and welfare cuts.

Will the Secretary of State consider matching our commitment to set aside funding to tackle period poverty, and ensure girls never miss out on their education just because they are having periods?

Ms Greening told MPs that schools had discretion over using their funding, but parents needed to accept responsibility for ensuring their children were in school.

She said: If they (schools) want to make sanitary products available to disadvantaged students then they are free to do so.

I think the whole House will recognise that this is a situation and an issue that goes far wider than the roles of schools.

Its also about making sure that parents understand two things  one, the need to play their role in educating their own children, but also separately the very clear-cut duty parents have to make sure their children are attending school and complying with the law to do so.

Her comments prompted criticism from opposition benches, while Labour MP Catherine West said it was unfair to blame parents and force schools to pay for sanitary products.

She said: I find her attitude a little harsh around the period question, and wonder whether she will review it in the light of todays debate, because I think it does need a second look.

I think her approach is a little harsh, in terms of schools having to stump up money for sanitary pads firstly, and secondly blaming parents because periods are just one of those things  you cant blame parents for periods.

Ms Greening responded: I have to say I dont agree with her actually  I do think parents have a responsibility to play their role in making sure children understand how they will approach adult life and I think parents do have a responsibility.

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 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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

Some 49 per cent of girls have missed a full day of school because of their period, while 68 per cent said they felt less able to pay attention in class at school or college, according to new figures by the charity Plan International.

The survey of more than 1,000 girls also found nearly half were embarrassed by their period and many were afraid to ask for help because of the stigma.

It comes as Scotland could become the first country in the world to offer universal access to tampons and sanitary towels, under new plans being consider by Holyrood.
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Chancellor Philip Hammond has travelled to Washington in a bid to boost international trade amid a row over US export tariffs and Brexit divisions at home.

Mr Hammond will meet with key figures in Donald Trumps administration, and attend meetings of the IMF, G7 and G20 and a gathering of Commonwealth Finance Ministers.

He will also visit New York to meet with CEOs of US financial sector giants that together have a market capitalisation of almost 600bn.

Recommended This is what the Bombardier dispute is all about

On Wednesday, Mr Hammond clashed with Theresa May over how the Government was spending for a no deal Brexit, meanwhile Conservative ministers are at loggerheads with the US government over recent tariffs imposed on a major UK manufacturer.

The Chancellor said: I will be in the US this week to demonstrate that Global Britain is not just a phrase, it is a reality.

I am looking forward to productive discussions with my international colleagues as we work together to ensure that economic growth works for everyone.

Mr Hammond leaves behind him a party still struggling to agree over the UKs approach to Brexit, with comments made by the Chancellor about how the country is preparing for a no deal scenario at the heart of the most recent spat.

But the Governments post-Brexit strategy, to secure new trade deals with countries like the US, is also under pressure after American officials hit UK-based plane maker Bombardier with 220 per cent tariffs.

Theresa May and Philip Hammond were at loggerheads over planning for a no deal Brexit (Getty)

At the IMF, G7 and G20, Mr Hammond will meet with fellow finance ministers and central bankers to discuss challenges like global productivity, digital taxation and climate sustainability.

It is the first time a Chancellor has attended the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting for seven years, where he will set out the Governments ambitions for next years Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London.

A key topic of discussion will be climate sustainability in light of the recent hurricanes that have devastated the Caribbean and affected many thousands of citizens of Commonwealth countries.
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Firefighters in California faced a long battle against dozens of blazes, fed by accelerating winds and dry brush, as search-and-rescue teams started looking for bodies in parts of the state's wine country devastated by wildfires.

The entire Napa County town of Calistoga came under a mandatory evacuation order on Wednesday as authorities warned of worsening conditions driven by intensified winds. Residents were urged to leave immediately.

Authorities have barely contained the 22 fires scorching nearly 200,000 acres across eight northern California counties. The blazes have killed at least 26 people - a number likely to rise as more information emerges about the hundreds of people reported missing - and obliterated more than 3,500 homes and businesses. In Santa Rosa alone, at least 2,834 houses have fallen to the flames.

As of Thursday morning, the Tubbs Fire which was menacing Calistoga was 10 per cent contained and had scorched nearly 35,000 acres. The massive Atlas Fire had torn through nearly 45,000 acres and was only three per cent contained.

Teams have located more than 400 people reported missing and were trying to track down more than 450 people who remain unaccounted for, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said. He acknowledged the effort was moving into a grim recovery phase that would involve combing through the remains of torched houses with the help of dogs trained to sniff ourt corpses.

Identification is going to be hard, Mr Giordano told reporters. We have found bodies that are nothing more than ash and bones.

Wildfires: The one deadly enemy Israel was unprepared to fight Show all 2 1 /2 Wildfires: The one deadly enemy Israel was unprepared to fight Wildfires: The one deadly enemy Israel was unprepared to fight 509448.bin Reuters Wildfires: The one deadly enemy Israel was unprepared to fight 509449.bin Getty Images

Stronger winds threaten to exacerbate the situation. After a brief respite earlier in the week from high winds that helped ignite and feed the blazes, authorities are warning that revived gusts will prolong the burning.

The National Weather Service warned of critical fire weather conditions ahead. Calistoga Fire Chief Steve Campbell told Reuters that his towns fate is going to depend on the wind, noting that high winds had not yet blown in.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, California Governors Office of Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci warned that were not even close to being out of this emergency. California Department of Foresty and Fire Protection chief Ken Pimlott said explosive dry brush will continue to fuel blazes.

 Deadly fires rage across California

That catastrophic struggle has spurred California to pour resources into the fight, bolstered by assistance from neighbouring states and the federal government after Donald Trump signed a major disaster declaration. California deployed more than 8,000 firefighters, along with 73 helicopters, dozens of air tankers, and over 650 fire engines. The California National Guard had mobilised thousands.

Two distinct fires have already merged and more consolidation was likely, Mr Pimlott said. He warned that weather conditions that allow fires to thrive were likely to persist through the weekend, driving volatile burns that could spur more evacuations as they abruptly shift directions or grow.

Our fires are going to burn erratically. They have the potential to shift in any direction at any time, Mr Pimlott said.

Local officials were working to disseminate information as they sought to rebut criticism that emergency alerts did not reach enough residents.

In Sonoma County, where evacuation orders have displaced thousands and fires have charred populated areas like Santa Rosa, authorities sent out phone numbers to locate people evacuated from two major hospitals and emphasized that people arriving at shelters would not be asked about their immigration status.

The sheriff's office urged residents to be prepared to evacuate at any time, suggesting that people gather medications, warm clothes, food and water and keep pets nearby in anticipation.
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A senior academic has provoked storms of protest by calling for the return of colonialism  first from critics of his ideas, then from free speech advocates after his article was withdrawn due to threats of violence against the journal editor who published it.

Bruce Gilley, an associate professor of political science at Portland State University in Oregon, stunned his fellow academics when he wrote an article for the peer-reviewed journal Third World Quarterly entitled: The Case For Colonialism.

In it, he stated bluntly: For the last 100 years, Western colonialism has had a bad name. It is high time to question this orthodoxy.

Western colonialism, he claimed, Was, as a general rule, both objectively beneficial and subjectively legitimate in most of the places where it was found.

The countries that embraced their colonial inheritance, by and large, did better than those that spurned it.

[By contrast] It is hard to overstate the pernicious effects of global anti-colonialism on domestic and international affairs since the end of World War II.

Anti-colonialism ravaged countries as nationalist elites mobilised illiterate populations with appeals to destroy the market economies, pluralistic and constitutional polities, and rational policy processes of European colonisers. In our age of apology for atrocities, one of the many conspicuous silences has been an apology for the many atrocities visited upon Third World peoples by anti-colonial advocates.

Third World despots have raised the spectre of recolonisation to discredit democratic oppositions and ruin their economies.

He concluded: A hundred years of disaster is enough. It is time to make the case for colonialism again.

 Five of the worst atrocities carried out by the British Empire

Professor Gilley insisted this could work because rather than being a foreign imposition lacking popular legitimacy, colonial regimes actually had considerable local support.

Alien rule has often been legitimate because it has provided better governance than the indigenous alternative, he claimed. Millions of people moved closer to areas of more intensive colonial rule, sent their children to colonial schools and hospitals, went beyond the call of duty in positions in colonial governments, fought for colonial armies.

The facilitators and collaborators of colonialism far outnumbered the resisters at least until very late.

He proposed three ways to reclaim colonialism:

One is for governments and peoples in developing countries to replicate as far as possible the colonial governance of their pasts  as successful countries like Singapore, Belize and Botswana did.

[Or] Western countries should be encouraged to hold power in specific governance areas (public finances, say, or criminal justice) in order to jump-start enduring reforms in weak states. Rather than speak in euphemisms about shared sovereignty, such actions should be called colonialism because it would embrace rather than evade the historical record.

Thirdly, in some instances it may be possible to build new Western colonies from scratch.

Colonialism, he argued, Can return only with the consent of the colonised. Yet now that the nationalist generation that forced sudden decolonisation on hapless populations has passed away, the time may be ripe.

Such was the furore caused by his article that 15 members of Third World Quarterlys editorial board resigned in protest, disputing editor-in-chief Shahid Qadirs insistence that they had been consulted about the piece.

The article faced a welter of scholarly rebuttals from academics accusing Prof Gilley of ignoring a vast body of research showing the poor economic performance of colonies and the suffering inflicted on local populations.

Nathan J Robinson, the editor of Current Affairs magazine wrote: Perhaps the easiest way to understand why colonialism was so horrific is to imagine it happening in your own country.

It is invaded, conquered, and occupied by a foreign power. Existing governing institutions are dismantled and replaced by absolute rule of the colonisers.

A strict hierarchy separates the colonised and the coloniser; you are treated as an inconvenient subhuman who can be abused at will.

The colonists commit crimes with impunity against your people. Efforts at resistance are met with brutal reprisal, sometimes massacre.

The more vividly and accurately you manage to conjure what this scenario would actually look like, the more horrified you will be by the very idea of colonialism.

An online petition calling for an apology and retraction from Third World Quarterly , attracted 6,936 signatures and accused Prof Gilley of pseudo-scholarship and arguments that reek of colonial disdain for indigenous peoples  with the predictably racist conclusion.

The lead drafter of the petition, Jenny Heijun Wills, associate professor of English and Director of the Critical Race Network at the University of Winnipeg added: In our current political context, the lives and safety of refugees, and allies are being threatened by radicalised white supremacist groups.

These kinds of ideas are not simply abstract provocations, but have real, material consequences for those who Prof Gilley seeks to dominate and objectify.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. 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In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. 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Other academics, it was said, went further.

Discussions on Facebook appeared to show students and academics wishing Princeton University would revoke Prof Gilleys doctorate, and trying to arrange a protest outside his office at Portland.

An email subsequently published online appeared to show one academic calling Prof Gilley a racist fascist author with a track record of publishing white supremacist drivel disguised as academic scholarship.

The email said engaging in a public debate about the article would merely give Prof Gilley the oxygen of publicity without advancing the state of knowledge, and appeared to express the hope that he would be disciplined by his university.

While many people have left this man, his department, his university voicemails and messages, the email read, I highly doubt anything will come of it in terms of reprimands.

Supporters of Prof Gilley claimed he had received death threats.

Then Taylor & Francis, the publisher of Third World Quarterly, withdrew the article at the request of the academic journal editor, and in agreement with the author.

The withdrawal notice made clear this was because of threats of violence, rather than any failure to adhere to scholarly procedures.

It said: Whilst the essay had undergone double-blind peer review, the journal editor has subsequently received serious and credible threats of personal violence. As the publisher, we must take this seriously. Taylor & Francis has a strong and supportive duty of care to all our academic editorial teams, and this is why we are withdrawing this essay.

The withdrawal has now itself provoked protest, this time from academics who might have disagreed with the original article, but who opposed the way it was retracted because of threats rather than reasoned argument.

Jonathan Haidt, a professor of ethical leadership at New York Universitys Stern School of Business, warned: Retraction is the new rebuttal, and threats of violence against journal editors is the new way to get a retraction.

The way the article had been withdrawn was even criticised by one of the board members who had resigned in protest at it.

Vijay Prashad, from Trinity College, Connecticut, said the article should have been rejected on the grounds it failed to meet academic standards of rigour and balance, not because of threats.

Prof Gilleys supporters appeared to link the fate of the article to claims that free debate on university campuses is being shut down by aggressive political correctness.

In an article available via Prof Gilleys website, Peter Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars and the author of Diversity: the invention of a concept argued: The successful deployment of professional opprobrium and actual threats of murder to kill the article  was ultimately aimed at ensuring that other scholars who dissent from the contemporary orthodoxy of anti-colonialism will keep their mouths shut.

It is further aimed at ensuring that generations of students will see no whisper of dissent from this orthodoxy in the published literature, and hear no hint of it from their instructors.

In the midst of the controversy, Prof Gilley had apologised and said: I regret the pain and anger it [the article] has caused for many people."

But Dr Wood insisted this apology had been issued under the duress created by threats, and that Prof Gilley now regretted it.

Dr Wood wrote: As the rhetoric and threats escalated, Professor Gilley [decided] that the better part of valour was to withdraw the article and mouth the apology his critics demanded.

He did so under what he calls the onslaught, but now regrets it.

He is back in the fight.

The Case for Colonialism article remains available via Prof Gilley's website.
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Donald Trump has praised a political pundit fired by CNN for using a Nazi salute.

Jeffrey Lord sparked uproar in August after using Twitter to post Sieg Heil in response to criticism from a liberal activist.

The US President, during a speech on tax reform in Pennsylvania on Wednesday evening, said the great Jeffrey Lord  who was presumed to be in attendance  had been on fake news CNN for a long time.

He was one of my few sources of truth. Thank you, Jeffrey, for being here. Thats a great honour.

Mr Lord, one of CNNs few in-house Trump supporters, was sacked hours after sending the offensive tweet, with a spokesperson for the news channel branding the message indefensible.

The 66-year-old failed to delete the tweet and defended his actions, saying he was mocking Nazis and fascists.

I'm mocking people who are posing a serious threat to the American free press. That's what I'm mocking, he said. I love CNN, but I feel they are caving to bullies here.

Mr Trump had previously come to Mr Lords defence at a rally in Arizona. They fired Jeffrey Lord. Poor Jeffrey, he said. "Jeffrey Lord. I guess he was getting a little bit fed up and was probably fighting back too hard and they said We gotta get [him] out of here.

 Fox News host to Trump 'you're running out of friends'

The conservative commentator had been in a long-running dispute with Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America, a left-leaning US media watchdog.

Branding the organisation "Media Matters Fascists, Mr Lord accused it in a column of trying to shut down speech they dont like following a campaign urging advertisers to boycott Fox News TV host Sean Hannity.

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In a tweet to Mr Carusone, he misspelt his name as Corusone, prompting the Media Matters chief to reply: Your headline has a mistake in it. Why do you expect anyone to take you seriously when you don't take yourself seriously?

Mr Lord replied, Sieg Heil!
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Americans have been brushing up on their knowledge of the Constitution lately, according to Google Trends data.

The search term 25th Amendment spiked in popularity after President Donald Trump took office, particularly after he signed the first controversial temporary travel ban on January 27.

After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Congress proposed and the states ratified the 25th Amendment in 1967 to formally outline the transition of power. Before that, the vice president didn't officially have the power to take over.

The amendment states that if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the vice president becomes president. If there is a vacancy in the vice presidency for any reason, the president can choose someone to fill it. And if the president is unable to fulfill his duties  like when President George W. Bush was under general anaesthesia for colonoscopies in 2002 and 2007  he can temporarily transfer his powers to the vice president, and get them back when he's done.

But Section IV is what some liberals have been frantically searching for more information on, because it could be a way to legally remove Trump from office.

A legal loophole

Under the amendment's fourth stipulation, it would only take 14 people to depose the president  Vice President Mike Pence and 13 of Trump's 24 Cabinet members.

Section IV reads:

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

John D. Feerick, former dean of Fordham Law School, is one of the chief architects of the 25th Amendment who shepherded it through Congress in the early 1960s.

He told Business Insider that the senators who signed the provision into law specified that declaring the president unfit must rely on reliable facts regarding the president's physical or mental faculties, not personal prejudice.

If you read the debates, it's also clear that policy and political differences are not included, unpopularity is not included, poor judgment, incompetence, laziness, or impeachable conduct  none of that, you'll find in the debates in the congressional record, is intended to be covered by Section IV, Feerick said.

Section IV goes on to say that if two-thirds of both houses of Congress don't vote to uphold the decision and keep the vice president in charge within 21 days, then the powers and duties automatically transfer back to the president. So if the president doesn't want to give up his office, Feerick explained, he doesn't have to if Congress agrees he shouldn't.

Vice President Mike Pence (Ethan Miller/Getty) (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Akhil Reed Amar, a law and political science professor at Yale University, said in a podcast for the National Constitution Center on the topic that the president's own running mate is the one who triggers a palace coup, in order to maintain political stability.

The 25th Amendment doesnt try to specify in great detail what might count as a disability, but does try to in effect identify who and how we go about the process, Amar said. Here's the key point: The vice president is the pivot in the whole process. Unless the vice president puts himself  maybe one day, herself  forward, no one else can really basically, at least within the 25th Amendment framework, proclaim an unwilling president 'disabled.'

The idea is that the Cabinet and VP are the president's closest advisers, Feerick said, so they would be the ones with the best sense of his mental faculties. They, and Congress, could also consult doctors to evaluate the president's physical and mental health in order to determine if he or she is fit for the job.

The 25th Amendment is a separate process from impeachment, which allows Congress to remove a sitting president if a majority of the House of Representatives votes that he has committed treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, and a trial in the Senate convicts him.

Feerick, who didn't discuss applying Section IV to Trump, said he hopes this renewed interest in the Constitution will encourage Congress to consider filling some of the legal gaps in the amendment that he and other legal scholars have proposed over the years. For example, the Constitution doesn't outline what happens if the vice president is unable to serve, and he and other experts agree that the order of succession shouldn't include members of Congress as it does today.

It's important that people be educated about the Constitution. It's our greatest charter of liberty, Feerick said. I'm really happy that there's greater education going on  I'm obviously not happy about all the division in the country  but I'm happy that at least there's greater education being provided about the amendment.

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Read the original article on Business Insider UK.  2017. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
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Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on Puerto Rico, saying he will not keep emergency workers on the devastated island forever.

The US President, quoting author Sharyl Attkisson, accused Puerto Ricans of creating a looming financial crisis largely of their own making.

A total lack of accountability say the Governor, he said on Twitter. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend.

We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!

It is not clear which governor Mr Trump was referring to.

Despite the 71-year-olds claims Puerto Rico has survived the hurricane, 84 per cent of the island is still without electricity, while a third of the population lacks clean drinking water.

Hurricane Maria devastated the US territory on 20 September, leaving it without any power and homes destroyed.

 Puerto Rico Mayor rebukes Trump for calling her nasty by wearing 'Nasty' t-shirt on TV

After an underwhelming response by FEMA, the US federal disaster relief agency, the mayor of the islands capital took to begging Mr Trump for more assistance.

We are dying here, Carmen Yulin Cruz told reporters at a press conference late last month. I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles.

Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Show all 30 1 /30 Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Railing against the Mueller investigation The president has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Trump Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling Following furious backlash in the US, the president claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it would not have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Colouring in the US flag wrong The president coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter The president announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the president made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired! Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape". Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: There are a lot of killers. You think our countrys so innocent? Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldnt help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzeneggers show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of The Apprentice  which buoyed Trumps celebrity status years ago Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the worst call he had had so far Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trumps travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administrations argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be little Rocket Man as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was no reason to be alarmed after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBCs Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to join him. He noted that she was bleeding badly from a face-lift at the time, and that he said no MSNBC Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides' Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Retweeting cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train' Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of fake news Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing head of the FBI, James Comey Trumps firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Not realising being president would be 'hard' Just three months into his presidency, Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Accusing Obama of wiretapping him Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Obama had not, in fact, done so Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes' Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.) Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement Just days after taking office, Trumps White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didnt mention jews or even the word jewish in the written statement Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Anger over Inauguration crowd size Trumps inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever. Relatedly, Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didnt, the day was very dreary Reuters

She added: So, Mr Trump, I am begging you to take charge and save lives.

The President responded, accusing Puerto Rican officials of wanting everything to be done for them.

"The military and first responders, despite no electric, roads, phones etc., have done an amazing job," he wrote on Twitter. "Puerto Rico was totally destroyed."

Last week, Mr Trump suggested the government debt accumulated by Puerto Rico would have to be wiped out to help it recover from the natural disaster.

The island is struggling with a long-term debt crisis that led it to declare a form of bankruptcy earlier this year.

As of May 2016, it had debt of around $70bn and a $44bn unfunded pension shortfall.
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Kate Beckinsale is the latest Hollywood actress to come forward about Harvey Weinstein sexually harassing her when she was just 17 and hampering her career.

The Underworld actress posted her statement to Instagram with a picture of her as a teenager.

Ms Beckinsale wrote that when she was called to meet Mr Weinstein at the Savoy Hotel in London, he opened the door in a bathrobe.

Recommended Weinstein now subject of criminal probes on both sides of Atlantic

"I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him," she wrote.

She left the room "uneasy but unscathed" and said that "a few years later" Mr Weinstein could not remember if he had tried anything with her at that first meeting.

Ms Beckinsale declined invitations to work on Miramax productions several times over the following years, a move she said prompted Mr Weinstein to reportedly call her vulgar names and threaten her.

"It speaks to the status quo in this business that I was aware that standing up for myself and saying no to things...undoubtedly harmed my career."

The Van Helsing actress said though that made her feel more empowered, it was not a decision supported by colleagues in the industry.

She also detailed an incident in which a male friend had warned another young, female actress who had a dinner meeting with Mr Weinstein. Unfortunately, the kind gesture backfired. Mr Weinstein was "sleeping with" the actress and reportedly barred Ms Beckinsale's male friend from working on another Miramax production.

She called on the industry to create a "new paradigm" as a result of the allegations against Mr Weinstein becoming public.

"Let's stop allowing our young women to be sexual cannon fodder," Ms Beckinsale pleaded with others in the film industry.
A helicopter tries to put out the wildfire in California's Napa, the United States, on Oct. 10, 2017. (Photo/Xinhua)

The series of deadly wildfires in northern California have claimed 21 lives, Californian Governer's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) told a press conference in Sacramento in northern San Francisco Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano told another press conference in Santa Rosa, about 90 kilometers away from San Francisco, Western California that the death toll from north California wildfires may continue to rise and the the number of people reported missing has gone up to 560 in Sonoma county.

He said the county sheriff had originally received reports of 670 people unaccounted for in the wildfires in Sonoma county, but 110 of them were located safe and sound later, cutting the number of missing people to below 600.

Giordano confirmed 11 people have died in Sonoma County from the Tubbs Fire, which accounted for the majority of the 21 deaths in the statewide wildfires in California, the most devastating wildfires in the history of the state.

"The individuals who died were found as the result of police and sheriff's deputies being called to neighborhoods for various reasons," he said, adding that teams put together to excavate the burned area for bodies have yet to begin their work.

"When we start doing searches, I expect that number to go up," Giordano said.

Santa Rosa, which is the largest city in California's Wine Country and the fifth most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area, was among the counties hardest hit in the California wildfires.

Giodano said the county authorities have ordered madatory evacuations in many areas impacted by the wildfires, and the evacuation order may remain in place throughout this week.

California wildfires have burned nearly 170,000 acres of land as of Wednesday, and the blaze has been burning in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Yuba counties since it broke out Sunday.

More than 3,500 homes and other structures have been leveled to the ground in one of the worst fire disasters in the California.

Tens of thousands of households are without power in Sonoma County. Pacific Gas and Electric Company is working to restore power to 50,260 customers impacted by the wildfires in the County.

About 28,000 customers have no access to gas service in Santa Rosa, Windsor, Yountville, Napa, and Kenwood, said Shirlee Zane, chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.

The deadly fires in North Bay of California have caused serious damage to the state, and thousands of people were forced to be evacuated, with a large number of homes and commercial facilities, including hospitals and even parks, completely destroyed.
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Questions are swirling about what exactly happened on the night of the Las Vegas shooting.

Some are suggesting there may have been problems with the initial story that came out of the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. And others are suggesting that the official time of events could be wrong.

While police have been clear about what they believe on the night of the attack, that story has changed in recent days. Below is an account of that timeline  and the questions that remain amid the reports.

More than a week after the attack, police have still not laid out a complete timeline of what happened that night. And as more details are revealed, what information there is appears to be contradictory and confusing.

That missing information has allowed conspiracy theorists to step in and suggest that something else happened that night that hasn't yet been made public.

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

Throughout the investigation into the attack, those strange inconsistencies have allowed people to seize on the mysterious parts of the story and suggest something is being hidden about the attack.

That confusion is partly because authorities have now changed the timeline of what happened last night. And in that new timeline  given a week after the events  there appear to be a number of strange gaps and inconsistencies.

They suggest  apparently entirely without basis  that there is something not being told about Jesus Campos, the security guard who is said to have first engaged with the gunman. There is no suggestion, proof or substantial reports that there was anything unusual about his behaviour  but he has now found himself at the middle of questions about the police response to the attack.

Internet detectives claim to have visited the man's house, for instance, and are poring through his online footprint in an attempt to make their theories stick. False reports have even attempted to blame him for the attack, reviving conspiracy theories about their being another shooter on the night of the attack, which have been entirely rejected by police.

There is absolutley nothing to suggest that Mr Campos was involved in the attack in any way beyond what the police have communicated: that he found the attacker, was shot by him, and then alerted the police.

Recommended Las Vegas hotel worker reported gunman Stephen Paddock before massacre

But while the conspiracy theories appear to have no basis at all, a range of questions do remain about the events of that night  and it appears to be those questions that have led the attack to become such fertile ground for planting conspiracy theories.

According to the new timeline, two hotel employees called for help and said that gunman Stephen Paddock had been shooting inside the hallway of the hotel, and that one of those shots had hit an unarmed security guard in the leg. That barrage of bullets inside the hotel came several minutes before Paddock went on to shoot out of the window, killing 58 people and injuring almost 500 in the massacre.

Police didn't arrive at Paddock's hotel room until two minutes after the shooting started, according to authorities. That has led to concern about how long police took to arrive at the room  they got there at 10.17pm, 12 minutes after the shooting began at 10.05pm.

That delay was despite the fact that police now say there was six minutes between Paddock shot inside the hotel and when he began his shots into the crowd at the concert. And there was a full 18 minutes between the shooting of the security guard and the police's arrival in the room  despite the fact that staff were reported to have told authorities what room and what floor the shooter was in.

Questions have now arisen about whether police actually knew about that. If they didn't, why weren't they told? And if they did, what happened in those crucial minutes?

Here is an Associated Press run-down of what happened in those mysterious, crucial moments.



THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE SHOOTING HAS CHANGED

On Monday, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Paddock shot and wounded the security guard outside his door and opened fire through his door around 9:59 p.m.  six minutes before shooting into the crowd.

That was a different account from the one police gave last week: that Paddock shot the guard, Jesus Campos, after unleashing his barrage of fire on the crowd.

The sheriff had previously hailed Campos as a "hero" whose arrival in the hallway may have led Paddock to stop firing. On Monday, Lombardo said he didn't know what prompted Paddock to end the gunfire and take his own life.



BULLETS WHIZZING DOWN THE HALLWAY

A hotel maintenance worker, Stephen Schuck, told NBC News on Wednesday that he told hotel dispatchers to call police and report that a gunman had opened fire in the hallway on the 32nd floor.

He had been called there to check out a report of a jammed fire door and made it about a third of the way down the hall when he heard gunshots. Schuck saw Campos, the security guard, peek out from an alcove and was told to take cover.

He described bullets whizzing past his head as he tried to flee the shooting.

"It was kind of relentless so I called over the radio what was going on," he said. "As soon as the shooting stopped we made our way down the hallway and took cover again and then the shooting started again."

Gunshots can be heard in the background as Schuck reported the shooting on his radio, telling a dispatcher: "Call the police, someone's firing a gun up here. Someone's firing a rifle on the 32nd floor down the hallway."



SECURITY GUARD IS SHOT

Campos had been dispatched to the 32nd floor before Schuck to respond to an alarm that signaled a door was open and heard an odd drilling sound, police have said. As he approached there was a series of single gunshots through the door, one of which hit him in the leg. At about the same time the maintenance worker arrived and Paddock fired more than 200 rounds through the door at Campos and Schuck.

As he was running away, Campos used his radio and possibly a hallway phone to call for help, Assistant Sheriff Tom Roberts confirmed to The Associated Press.



HOTEL QUESTIONS POLICE TIMELINE

Late Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Mandalay Bay questioned the latest timeline of events provided by police.

"We cannot be certain about the most recent timeline that has been communicated publically (sic), and we believe what is currently being expressed may not be accurate," said Debra DeShong, a spokeswoman for MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay hotel casino. The company's statement did not offer what it thinks was the correct timeline.



WHAT TYPICALLY HAPPENS WHEN THERE'S A SHOOTING AT A CASINO

A security officer in a casino-hotel the size of Mandalay Bay, with about 3,200 rooms, would typically report the shooting to an in-house dispatcher who would then call Las Vegas police, said Jim Tatonetti, an executive with Griffin Investigations, a Las Vegas company that provides security and surveillance information to casinos.

Tatonetti said they should have gotten word quickly about the shooting from the lead hotel security supervisor or they would hear the call from police dispatch.

"When you have law enforcement on property you defer to them," Tatonetti said, adding that hotel security officers would turn to their primary duty: guest safety. Officers would focus on evacuating and keeping guests away from dangerous areas.

A large casino in Las Vegas might have 50 or more security officers on a shift, Tatonetti said. Supervisors might be armed. Few on regular patrol have guns. Some might have emergency medical training.



WHAT WE STILL DON'T KNOW

It was unclear if the hotel relayed the reports of the hallway shooting or the gunman's location to the police. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department hasn't responded to questions from The Associated Press about whether hotel security or anyone else in the hotel called 911 to report the gunfire. Police have not responded to questions about the hotel's statement or whether investigators stand behind the revised timeline released earlier in the week. A request for the 911 recordings was denied by police who said they were part of the ongoing investigation.

Additional reporting by Associated Press
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Last weeks massacre at a Las Vegas country music festival offers gun control advocates a fresh chance to test a law, put in place by Republicans and the gun industrys lobby, that protects the industry from liability for the criminal actions of some of their customers.

Starting with a lawsuit filed late last week in Nevada state court, the effort follows similar litigation over mass killings, most notably those of 20 elementary school children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut. In most cases, the plaintiffs fail to overcome the laws high bar for liability, but with the Harvest 91 Festival, where almost 60 died and more than 500 were injured, that pattern may shift.

A dozen bump stocks, which allow a semi-automatic weapon to fire with the speed of an automatic weapon, were found in gunman Stephen Paddocks 32nd-floor Mandalay Bay Resort hotel room. The complaint, which was filed in Clark County District Court and seeks class action status, alleges that Slide Fire Solutions, a bump stock manufacturer, and other, unidentified makers and retailers behaved negligently in selling and producing these devices.

This horrific assault did not occur, could not occur, and would not have occurred with a conventional handgun, rifle, or shotgun, of the sort used by law-abiding responsible gun owners for hunting or self-defence, the complaint states.

The named plaintiffs include Devon Prescott, Brooke Freeman, and Tasaneeporn Upright, all residents of Nevada who represent the potential class. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages as well as funds to pay for the victims counselling and treatment for emotional distress. The three are represented by the Las Vegas law firm Eglet Prince and by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Slide Fire didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Victims of mass shootings have sued in the past. Following the Newtown school shooting in 2012, suits were filed against Remington Arms. The first case was dismissed by a judge, citing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). The act, passed in 2005, says gun dealers and manufacturers cannot be held liable for crimes committed with their weapons.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has determined in at least two separate instances that bump stocks are legal under existing federal statutes. The classification depends on whether they mechanically alter the function of the firearm to fire fully automatic, said Jill A. Snyder, ATF special agent in charge, during a press conference last week. Bump fire stocks, while simulating automatic fire, do not actually alter the firearm to fire automatically, making them legal under current federal law.

Rather than using a mechanism to cause the repeated firing, the stocks use recoil to increase the rate of fire. The user generates a forward activation force so that the trigger collides with the stabilised finger, stimulating the first round of ammunition in the receiver, Slide Fires the website says. A recoil force from the discharging ammunition pushes the firing unit rearwardly so that the trigger separates from the stabilised finger.

Still, its unclear whether bump stocks fall under the PLCAA, which indemnifies manufacturers of guns and ammunition as well as a component part of a firearm or ammunition from such litigation. The act has a number of exceptions, including negligence, and the lawsuit filed in the Las Vegas shootings includes numerous claims of negligence.

A 2010 letter from the ATF to Slide Fire refers to a letter the bureau received from the company in which Slide Fire argued that its device is intended to assist persons whose hands have limited mobility. The lawsuit juxtaposed this statement with remarks by Slide Fire founder Jeremiah Cottle that bump stocks were for people like me [who] love full auto, referring to automatic weapons.

Plaintiffs are unaware of any measures taken by Slide Fire to ensure that bump stocks would only be sold to persons whose hands had limited mobility, or to even see if persons buying bump stocks who were not limited in mobility had any legitimate reason to buy them, the lawsuit states.

Avery W. Gardiner, co-president of the Brady centre and the gun control groups former chief legal officer, said she doesnt believe PLCAA will protect bump stock manufacturers. PLCAA covers firearms and ammunition, she said. A bump stock is not a firearm and it is not ammunition. It does not qualify for immunity. I would be surprised if the defendants didnt try to make a PLCAA argument, but they will not win. Gardiner cited the 2010 letter sent by the ATF, which specifically states that the bump stock is a firearm part and is not regulated as a firearm.

Slide Fires reference to people with disabilities is troubling, Gardiner said, adding: We need to know more about who made, marketed, and sold these devices. Its not just about makers. We want to know who sold the bump stocks to the Las Vegas shooter.

Though Gardiner doesnt think the bump stock industry will benefit from the protections of PLCAA, the defendants will still probably seek to have the case dismissed, she said. I expect theyre going to try a number of legal tricks to try to avoid liability, to try to avoid a trial. We will see them as they come, she said. We will be anticipating those tricks.

Slide Fire is the only company named in the lawsuit, though the complaint also refers to unnamed, Doe and Roe manufacturers and retailers. The Texas-based company holds a variety of patents related to the bump stock and has previously sued competitors for infringement.

Even the National Rifle Association (NRA) has said that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations. The group, which opposes gun control regulation, didnt immediately respond to request for comment on the lawsuit.

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 suit also seeks funding for medical monitoring for those who attended the festival and were affected by the attack. After the cameras are gone from Las Vegas, these concertgoers, many of them are still going to be suffering significantly, Gardiner said.

Paddock could not have injured so many people without a bump stock, the complaint states. Paddock may not have launched his military-style assault without a bump stock. There are people who were killed, injured, and suffered emotional distress who would not have been, if Paddock had not possessed a bump stock.

Bloomberg
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Several Las Vegas hospitals are helping to cover the medical costs for uninsured victims of the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

University Medical Centre, Sunrise Hospital and Dignity Health-St Rose Dominican have said they will assist the victims by waiving various amounts of their hospital costs.

Dignity Health-St Rose Dominican has said it "does not intend to bill or require payment from any patient victims of this tragic event."

 NRA says nothing could have stopped Las Vegas massacre

A spokeswoman told the Las Vegas Sun the hospital's focus "remains on the immediate medical and supportive care needs of the injured as well as their long-term healing process."

Instead, the hospital will look to recoup some of the cost by billing any third-party payers and accepting donations from the community.

Sunrise Hospital would be "extremely sensitive to the financial status" of patients involved in the shooting, a spokeswoman told the paper.

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

University Medical Centre, which treated more than 100 victims, has said it received a number of donations since the attack.

It will using that money to cover the bills of those who are uninsured or would have out-of-pocket expenses, a spokeswoman for the hospital told Newsweek.

The hospital is hoping to "cover as much of the uninsured expense as we possibly can," Danita Cohen told the magazine, adding that donations were still coming in.

After the mass shooting on Orlando, Florida, last year, the two major hospitals treating victims waived all out-of-pocket medical expenses, worth at least $5.5m (4.1m), the Orlando Sentinel reported.
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A Mississippi man has been accused of burning a teenage girl alive in an attempt to dispose of her body.

Prosecutors told a courtroom in Batesville, Mississippi that 29-year-old Quinton Tellis had doused 19-year-old Jessica Chambers in gasoline and set her on fire after repeatedly asking her for sex. Mr Tellis has pleaded not guilty.

The alleged murder, which took place in December of 2014, has gripped the country due to its horrific details. Jurors were sequestered and spectators were screened through metal detectors before entering the courtroom this week.

Prosecutor John Champion painted a brutal picture of the alleged murder in his opening statement, telling the jury Ms Chamber had suffered horrific burns.

"I would venture to guess if all of us sitting here were to know we're going to die, that the very last way we would want to die would be by fire, he said, according to the Associated Press. But Jessica was set on fire."

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

Prosecutors allege Mr Tellis picked Ms Chambers up from her house the night of the murder, and later had sex with her in her car. Prosecutors said he had repeatedly texted her asking for sex in the weeks before, and she had refused.

That night, prosecutors say, Mr Tellis attempted to suffocate the 19-year-old. Believing he had been successful, Mr Tellis took his sisters car, picked up gasoline, and set fire to Ms Chambers car and her body, they allege.

Firefighters who responded to the scene testified that Ms Chambers had been found near her burning car, wearing only her underwear. They said she had difficulty walking and speaking more than a few words.

"I can't picture it for y'all, firefighter Shane Mill told the courtroom. Her hair was, you know, beautiful blonde. You look at it at the time, her hair is just fried."

Ms Chambers died about four hours later, after being airlifted to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

Jessica Chambers, 18, died after becoming engulfed in flames (Facebook)

Mr Telliss defence attorney, Darla Palmer, said the young man had insisted this is not something he would do. Ms Palmer pointed out that firefighters recalled Ms Chambers calling the person who had attacked her Eric. They also said she seemed not to know the persons last name.

"She knew Quinton," Ms Palmer said. "She knew his name is Quinton Tellis. But she did not say that that day."

The defence attorney also said she would prove that Mr Tellis was miles away from the crime scene, purchasing a pre-paid debit card, at the time of the crime.

If convicted, Mr Tellis faces life in prison without parole. He has also been charged with murder in the torture and death of a 34-year-old graduate student at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
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A man has been arrested for putting a fizzy drink inside a water cup at a drive-thru McDonald's and refusing to return it.

Cody Morris and two friends went to the drive-in kiosk of the fast food restaurant in Springdale, Arkansas, where they ordered three large cups of water.

Afterwards they parked their car, emptied out the water and went into the restaurant where they filled the cups with a soft drink.

When they were caught two of the group returned the soda but Mr Morris refused so the manager called the police to report a robbery.

He then went out to the car park and stood behind Mr Morris car to prevent him leaving, KHBS-TV reported.

According to the police report, the car then reverse and hit him. The manager tried to get the keys out of the ignition and was hit on the hand.

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

Police later found the car at a nearby bowling alley and arrested Mr Morris.

He has been charged with one count of felony robbery and is due to appear in court on Friday.
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Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane has explained why he made a joke about producer Harvey Weinstein while announcing the supporting actress nominations for the Oscars in 2013.

After naming the actresses, he said, Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein.

Following the recent list of sexual assault and harassment allegations levied against Mr Weinstein, Mr MacFarlane explained his joke on Twitter.

In 2013, my friend and colleague Jessica Barth, with whom I worked on the Ted films, confided in me regarding her encounter with Harvey Weinstein and his attempted advances. She has since courageously come forward to speak out," he said.

It was with this account in mind that, when I hosted the Oscars in 2013, I couldnt resist the opportunity to take a hard swing in his direction."

Make no mistake, this came from a place of loathing and anger, he added.

Ms Barth has responded to criticism of Mr MacFarlane for not speaking up at the time.

To the people slamming Seth for not doing anything, please STOP! He stood by me and respected my wishes that he not retaliate in any way, she wrote in a tweet.

Earlier this week, The New Yorker reported an account from Ms Barth about a meeting she had with Mr Weinstein in 2011.

She claimed the producer alternated between offering to cast her in a film and demanding a naked massage in bed.

So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? Ms Barth recalled Mr Weinstein asking. And Im, like, Thats not going to happen.

Recommended Seth MacFarlane made joke about Weinstein and women at 2013 Oscars

Mounting numbers of women are coming forward with allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against Mr Weinstein, most recently model Cara Delevingne.

Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow have also accused him of harassment.

Mr Weinstein has denied allegations of rape made in The New Yorker magazine.

There were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances, spokeswoman Sallie Hofmeister said in a statement to the magazine.

Mr Weinstein obviously cant speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual.

Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Show all 42 1 /42 Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Harvey Weinstein Harry Weinsteins reputation as one of Hollywoods leading executives was long cemented in stone. The acclaimed movie mogul, who produced Oscar-winning films Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and The Artist, clocked up box office successes and accolades aplenty. But this has quickly changed since a chorus of women have come forward to accuse the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment and assault. Since the New York Times bombshell report disclosed sexual harassment and rape allegations against the film mogul dating back decades, Weinstein has been fired from his namesake company, expelled from the Oscars and has had his wife leave him. Weinstein has apologised for having caused a lot of pain but has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Annabella Sciorra The Sopranos actor alleged Weinstein raped her after shooting The Night We Never Met, a 1993 movie that Weinstein produced. Similar to the stories told by other women, Weinstein drove the actor home, only to reportedly burst into Sciorra's apartment and start unbuttoning his shirt. He shoved me onto the bed, and he got on top of me, Sciorra said. I kicked and I yelled. Weinstein then allegedly locked her arms and forced sexual intercourse on her. After the incident, Sciorra found it increasingly hard to get work, many filmmakers saying 'We heard you were difficult', something the actor claims was because of the 'Weinstein-machine'. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Natassia Malthe The model and actress, who has appeared in around 50 films, said she met Weinstein at a BAFTA after party in 2008 while she was working as a spokeswoman for LG. She told a press conference in New York that she felt pressured into telling Weinstein she was staying at the Sanderson Hotel after being put on the spot. Malthe, now 43, said after her shift on February 10 she went back to her room and went to sleep, but was awoken by "repeated pounding" on her door, from someone yelling: "Open the door Natassia Malthe, it's Harvey Weinstein." Feeling humiliated, she said she opened the door. She alleged Weinstein began implying sex would get her a role in an upcoming film while semi-undressed and then he began to masturbate. "I was sitting on the bed talking to Harvey when he pushed me back and forced himself onto me. It was not consensual. He did not use a condom," she said. AP Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sean Young The actor, best known for her role in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, said that Weinstein exposed himself to her in the early 1990s, when she was starring in the Miramax-produced Love Crimes - a production company that Weinstein headed at the time. "I personally experienced him pulling his you-know-what out of his pants to shock me," she said. "My basic response was, 'You know, Harvey, I really dont think you should be pulling that thing out, its not very pretty.'" Young never worked with Weinstein again after the incident. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lupita Nyong'o In an op-ed for The New York Times, the Oscar-winning actor said she was invited to Weinsteins family home in Connecticut on the premise of watching a film shortly after they met in 2011. But she said shortly after it started he "insisted" in front of his children that she follow him and she was led to his bedroom. The Kenyan-Mexican actress, now 34, said she felt pressured into giving him a massage after he offered her one. "Before long he said he wanted to take off his pants," she wrote."I told him not to do that and informed him that it would make me extremely uncomfortable. He got up anyway to do so and I headed for the door, saying that I was not at all comfortable with that." Over the years that followed, he continued to get in touch, Nyong'o said, and when she declined another proposition she felt her career was threatened. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lena Headey Writing on social media, the Game of Thrones actor claims she first met Weinstein at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 where, after taking her for a walk by the water, he made some suggestive comment and gesture. Headey claims she bumped into Weinstein years later where he kept asking her questions about her love life. She alleges that, when Weinstein invited her to his hotel room to show her a script, the "energy shifted. The actor notes how, after saying she was not interesting in anything but the work, Weinstein was furious, apparently marching her back to a lift, "grabbing and holding tightly to the back of [her] arm." She claims that, after paying for her car, he whispered in her ear: "Don't tell anyone about this, not your manager, not your agent. Headey finished the post, writing: I got in the car and I cried. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Laura Madden Madden, a production assistant who worked at Miramax for a decade, told the Times that Weinstein allegedly prodded her for massages at hotels, a common theme among the sources the Timess reporters spoke with. On one occasion, she claims she locked herself in his hotel bathroom, sobbing Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Judd recounted for the Times how Weinstein allegedly harassed her while she was filming Kiss the Girls in 1996, inviting her to his hotel room and asking her for a massage, then inviting her to watch him shower. Judd first went public with the allegations in a 2015 interview with Variety during which she discussed the experience without naming the producer involved. She described Weinsteins alleged behaviour as coercive bargaining; I said no, a lot of ways, a lot of times, and he always came back at me with some new ask, she told the Times AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rose McGowan McGowan reportedly reached a previously undisclosed $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, over an incident that occurred in a hotel room Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mimi Haleyi Mimi Haleyi said she was assaulted by Weinstein in what appeared to be a child's bedroom in his New York City apartment in 2006 when she was in her 20s. She said she was aspiring to work in television and film production when she was first introduced to him at the London premiere of The Aviator around two years earlier and he helped her get experience on the set of a TV show being produced by The Weinstein Company. But, she added, he repeatedly hassled her and even tried to force himself through her front door in an effort to get her to join him on a trip to Paris. At one point he allegedly forcibly performed oral sex on an aspiring production assistant while she was on her period. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emily Nestor Nestor had been temping at the Weinstein Company for only one day in 2014 when Weinstein allegedly offered to boost her career in return for sexual favours, according to the Times. She declined and reportedly complained of his behaviour to colleagues, who later passed the information on to senior executives. An internal Weinstein Company document cited by the Times describes Nestors encounter with Weinstein as follows: She said he was very persistent and focused though she kept saying no for over an hour Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ambra Battilana In March 2015, Battilana, an aspiring model and actress, was reportedly summoned to Weinsteins office on a Friday night to discuss her career. According to a police report cited by the Times, Battilana claimed she was assaulted by Weinstein, who grabbed her breasts after asking if they were real and put his hands up her skirt. Weinstein later claimed that Battilana had set him up, according to colleagues of his who were interviewed by the Times. The Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, later declined to press charges, and according to the Times, made a payment to Battilana. On 5 October, the International Business Times reported that after Vance dropped the charges, he received $10,000 from Weinsteins lawyer Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lauren OConnor Lauren OConnor, an employee of the Weinstein Company, penned a memo to executives alleging a toxic environment for women at the company. The memo cited numerous incidents of Weinstein harassing or coercing women who worked for him. She expressed fear that Weinstein was using her and other female employees to facilitate liaisons with vulnerable women who hope he will get them work. That same year, Weinstein allegedly reached a settlement with OConnor Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Kate Beckinsale The actor, who starred in the Weinstein Company films Serendipity and The Aviator, alleges that she was invited to Weinsteins hotel room at the age of just 17. When she approached the door, the producer reportedly greeted her dressed in just a dressing gown. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him, she wrote on Instagram. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Gwyneth Paltrow The actor alleges that after he cast her in the title role of the film Emma when she was 22, he took her to his hotel room, placed his hands on her and suggested massages. I was a kid, I was signed up, I was petrified, Paltrow told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Asia Argento Italian actress Asia Argento has alleged that in 1997 Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her as she repeatedly told him to stop. When I see him, it makes me feel little and stupid and weak, Argento told The New Yorker. After the rape, he won. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Cara Delevigne The British model and actress penning an Instagram post claiming that Weinstein had ordered her to kiss another woman in his hotel room, and tried to kiss her on the lips. AFP/Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Ashley Judd Ashley Judd said she rebuffed Harvey Weinsteins unwanted sexual advances by offering to consent only after she had won an Oscar. When she was initially invited to a meeting with Weinstein, Judd said, she was surprised to learn the producer was in his hotel room - a tactic that recurs in other womens accounts. Echoing the accounts of other women, Judd said Weinstein suggested she give him a massage and then invited her to watch him shower. After a volley of nos she said she would only after she wins an Oscar, fleeing after making the comments. Reuters/Mike Segar Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Judith Godreche French actress Judith Godreche said when she was 24 Weinstein invited her to his hotel room and asked to give her a massage. The next thing I know, hes pressing against me and pulling off my sweater, she told the New York Times. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Mira Sorvino The Oscar-winning actor said she found herself in a hotel room with Weinstein in 1995 where he started massaging my shoulders, which made me very uncomfortable, and then tried to get more physical, sort of chasing me around. According to an interview in The New Yorker Weinstein subsequently arrived at her apartment late at night and she had to call a friend to come over to pose as her boyfriend in order to get Weinstein out of the house. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Katherine Kendall The actress said Weinstein undressed and chased her around a living room when she was just 23. She subsequently felt that telling others meant Ill never work again and no one is going to care or believe me, she told the New York Times. WireImage Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Tomi-Anne Roberts As an aspiring actress and working in a restaurant in New York, Tomi-Ann Roberts encountered Weinstein who encouraged her to audition for one of his films back in 1984. She subsequently went to meet him and found him naked in the bath and invited her to get naked and get into the bath with him, she told the New York Times. She said she left feeling manipulated. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Myleen Klass It has also been alleged that the disgraced film producer propositioned Myleene Klass with a sex contract at Cannes Film Festival in 2010. One of the singer and television personalitys friends reportedly told The Sun, Klass had told Weinstein to f*** off. Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Sophie Dix Sophie Dix, best known for her role as Captain Sadie Williams in Soldier Soldier, described her encounter with Weinstein when she was 23 as the single most damaging thing thats happened in my life. She told The Guardian Weinstein had pushed her to her bed and was tugging at her clothes. She rushed to the bathroom to escape, but when she came out she found him standing there masturbating. I quickly closed the door again and locked it, she said. Then when I heard room service come to the door I just ran. Rex Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lea Seydoux The actor and director claims she had to fight off Weinstein after he brought her to his hotel room during what she remembers to be 2012. He suddenly jumped on me and tried to kiss me. I had to defend myself. Hes big and fat, so I had to be forceful to resist him. I left his room, thoroughly disgusted, she wrote in The Guardian. AFP/Getty Images Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Claire Forlani British actress Claire Forlani wrote on Twitter that she had evaded Weinsteins advances on five occasions at the age of 25. At meetings with the Hollywood a-lister, she says massage was suggested, and that Weinstein had boasted of all the women hed had sex with. Mark Douet Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Florence Darel French actress Florence Darel claimed Weinstein relentlessly pursued her in the mid 1990's and propositioned her while Eve Chilton, his wife at the time, was in the hotel room next door. I was astonished, she told People magazine. When you have someone so physically disgusting in front of you, continuing and continuing as though this was all perfectly normal What happened to me may not be illegal but it was inappropriate. Very inappropriate. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lysette Anthony Lysette Anthony, who starred as Marnie Nightingale in Hollyoaks, has claimed Weinstein raped her in the late 1980's after turning up to her London home in the late 1980s. She described the disgraced film producers alleged attack as pathetic and revolting and said it left her feeling disgusted and embarrassed. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Dawn Dunning Dunning said she met Weinstein in 2003 when she was 24-years-old and the disgraced film producer suggested she have a threesome with him and someone else. She told the New York Times Weinstein got angry when she refused. Youll never make it in this business, she said he told her as she left. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Arquette was already well known for her role in Desperately Seeking Susan, when she said she met Weinstein at his hotel to pick up a script in the early nineties. Weinstein was dressed only in a dressing gown, and tried to put her hand on his erect penis. Speaking to the New York Times, Arquette said as she left she told him: I will never be that girl. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Emma de Caunes Caunes, a French actor, claimed Weinstein took her to his hotel room in 2010 supposedly to retrieve a book he was making into a film, but once there he went into the bathroom. De Caunes said he then emerged naked, with an erection and told her to lie on the bed. She fled the room. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Zoe Brock Model Zoe claimed that she had to lock herself in a bathroom at Weinsteins hotel in 1997, after the mogul had sent all of the assistants out of the room, and then appeared naked. I was alone with Weinstein, she told ITVs This Morning programme. He very quickly left the room and came back naked. He chased me naked. Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Barth Actress Jessica Barth described an encounter with Weinstein in 2011 in an interview with The New Yorker in which she said Weinstein veered between offering her roles in films and demanding a naked massage. She alleges the producer said to her: So, what would happen if, say, were having some champagne and I take my clothes off and you give me a massage? When she tried to leave, he then promised to give her the number of a female executive at the company. He gave me her number, and I walked out and I started bawling, Barth said. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Romola Garai The actress told The Guardian she felt violated after she went to a meeting with Weinstein at the age of 18 and he met her in his hotel room wearing nothing but a dressing gown. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Heather Graham Graham claimed that during a casting opportunity in the early 2000's Weinstein had told her he had an open relationship with his wife. He could sleep with whomever he wanted when he was out of town. I walked out of the meeting feeling uneasy, Graham told Variety. There was no explicit mention that to star in one of those films I had to sleep with him, but the subtext was there. Graham was never hired to work in a Weinstein film. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Jessica Hynes Spaced and W1A star Jessica Hynes tweeted about an encounter with Weinstein earlier this week, but subsequently deleted the tweet. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Lucia Evans The actor told The New Yorker that after a meeting to discuss casting her in various projects, Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont. She added: Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louisette Geiss The former actress said she met Weinstein to pitch a film script she was working on. During the meeting, Weinstein allegedly went out and reappeared naked and got into a jacuzzi where he masturbated in front of her and said he would make the script into a film if she stayed and watched. Getty Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Liza Campbell Liza Campbell, a British writer and artist, alleged that Olympically ugly Weinstein asked her to join him in the bath and began getting undressed at a hotel. In a piece for The Times, Campbell claimed she was forced to sprint to the door to escape. Rex Features Harvey Weinstein: his accusers Louise Godbold Writing in a blog post, Louise Godbold, a non-profit director in Los Angeles, said her encounter with Weinstein took the form of an office tour that became an occasion to trap me in an empty meeting room. She said then Weinstein was begging for a massage, his hands on my shoulders as I attempted to beat a retreat.

Weinstein has separately issued an apology and said he is going to get therapy.

I appreciate the way Ive behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologise for it, he said in a statement issued last week. Though Im trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.
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Donald Trump has celebrated the release of an American woman and her family, held by a Pakistan-based militant group for five years.

The release of Caitlan Coleman and her family of five reportedly took place after US officials provided recently-acquired intelligence on the familys location to Pakistans government.

Ms Coleman, 32, was seven months pregnant when she and her Canadian husband, Josh Boyle, 34, were abducted. A video of them broadcast recently showed the couple with three smiling children.

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The success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistans continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy, said a statement from the Pakistani military.

Mr Trump hinted of impending news of the familys release during a speech in Ms Colemans home state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday evening.

Something happened today, where a country that totally disrespected us called with some very, very important news, Mr Trump said.

 More than 80 people killed in a Pakistan terror attack

And one of my generals came in. They said, You know, I have to tell you, a year ago they wouldve never done that. It was a great sign of respect.

Youll probably be hearing about it over the next few days. But this is a country that did not respect us. This is a country that respects us now. The world is starting to respect us again, believe me.

On Thursday, Mr Trump praised the news, saying it was a positive moment for US-Pakistan relations. The Pakistani governments cooperation is a sign that it is honouring Americas wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region, he said in a White House statement.

The Associated Press said the couple were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 and US intelligence on Wednesday told Pakistan the hostages had been moved over the border into northwestern Pakistan, according to the statement from the Pakistan military. It did not say when the rescue took place.

The Westerners were last seen in a hostage video released in December 2016 pleading for their governments to intervene.

Please dont become the next Jimmy Carter, Ms Coleman says in the video, reading a prepared statement and pleading then President Barack Obama. Just give the offenders something so they and you can save face so we can leave the region permanently.

The two vanished after setting off in the summer of 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan.

The families of Mr Boyle and Ms Coleman campaigned for their release (AP)

At the time they were seized, they were reportedly hiking in Afghanistans Ghazni province.

Ms Colemans parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, last heard from their son-in-law on October 8 2012 from an internet cafe in what Josh described as an unsafe part of Afghanistan.

The announcement of the release comes a month after Mr Trump announced a new strategy to deal with Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying the Taliban and other militant groups would no longer find safe haven in Pakistan.

The Haqqani network is one of the most notorious of many militant groups to operate out of Pakistans largely autonomous tribal areas, frequently launching cross-border attacks on American and Afghan troops.

The group was founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a former anti-Soviet commander in Afghanistan, who initially pledged allegiance to the Taliban.

The outfit is currently headed by his son, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and has long been accused of having close links to Pakistans InterServices Intelligence Agency.
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Barack Obama is returning to the campaign trail for the first time since he left office.

The former president will join a rally to help Democrat Ralph Northam in Virginia's race for governor.

Mr Obama and Mr Northam will appear together at an event in Richmond on 19 October.

President Barack Obama said that I want to tell you how important Virginia is to me. It means the world to me. It means our legacy, for me and Michelle. Im going to do everything that I can to come to Virginia to campaign for you, Mr Northam told the crowd at a recent campaign event, the Richmond Times Dispatch reported.

The focus of the rally will be "the need for the next governor to create economic opportunity for all Virginians," according to the Northam campaign.

 Barack Obama and Donald Trump reacted to mass shootings quite differently

Mr Obama has largely stayed out of the political spotlight since leaving office in January, but recently denounced Donald Trump's repeated attempts to repeal Obamacare as "aggravating."

Virginia is one of only two states electing new governors this year, and the swing state's contest is viewed as a possible early referendum on Mr Trump, who has tried to undo many of Mr Obama's signature legacies.

The former president won Virginia both in 2008 and 2012.

Mr Northam will need many of Mr Obama's supporters, particularly African-American voters, to turn out in the election in order to be successful against Republican Ed Gillespie.

Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Show all 11 1 /11 Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama's best moments in the White House May 19, 2009 The President was leaving the State Floor after an event and found Sasha in the elevator ready to head upstairs to the private residence. He decided to ride upstairs with her before returning to the Oval Office, Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Oct. 26, 2012 President Barack Obama pretends to be caught in Spider-Man's web as he greets the son of a White House staffer in the Outer Oval Office Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House A National Security staffer, Carlton Philadelphia, brought his family to the Oval Office for a farewell photo with President Obama. Carltons son, Jacob, softly told the President he had just gotten a haircut like President Obama, and asked if he could feel the Presidents head to see if it felt the same as his. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House March 21, 2010 The President, Vice President and senior staff applaud after watching on television the House vote on H.R. 4872 for health care reform, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Dec. 3, 2009 President Barack Obama fist-bumps custodian Lawrence Lipscomb in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building following the opening session of the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Sept. 22, 2015 "The Obama family and Biden family greet Pope Francis as he arrives in the United States for the first time at Joint Base Andrews," Sept. 22, 2015. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Feb. 21, 2014 President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden participate in a "Let's Move!" video taping on the Colonnade of the White House, Feb. 21, 2014 Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Feb. 18, 2016 President Barack Obama watches First Lady Michelle Obama dance with 106-Year-Old Virginia McLaurin in the Blue Room of the White House prior to a reception celebrating African American History Month, Feb. 18, 2016 Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Jan. 21, 2013 "The President and First Lady wave to supporters as they ride in the inaugural parade. I had asked the President if I could ride in the presidential limousine and the President joked, 'But Michelle and I were planning to make out," Jan. 21, 2013. Peter Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama share a private moment in a freight elevator at an Inaugural Ball, January 2009 all pics: Pete Souza Barack Obama's best moments in the White House Barack Obama rests his hand on the bible that President Lincoln used for his swear-in, being held by his wife Michelle Obama as he is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America Rex

Most polls have shown a close race between Mr Northam, a paediatric neurologist, and Mr Gillespie, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee and White House adviser to Former President George W Bush.

Former vice-president Joe Biden will also join the campaign trail for Mr Northam.

However, his opponent Mr Gillespie has also received high profile endorsements.

Last week, Mr Trump endorsed him in a tweet, accusing Mr Northam of "fighting for the violent MS-13 killer gangs & sanctuary cities."

Mr Gillespie is also close to Vice President Mike Pence, who is set to campaign with him on Saturday.

Mr Gillespie has also turned to Mr Bush to help fundraise and Mr Northam recently had a fundraiser with Hillary Clinton.

The election will take place on 7 November.
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Donald Trump has intensified his war with the media by launching an attack on the frankly disgusting freedom of speech bestowed upon US journalists.

The embattled President told reporters in the Oval Office it was frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write and people should look into it, criticising the tremendously dishonest press.

Mr Trump, who has made some 1,300 false statements since taking office, has long complained of fake news hampering his administration.

Free expression is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Mr Trump on Wednesday threatened to consider whether TV networks licences could be reviewed over unflattering coverage of him.

He later added: Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked.

Singling out NBC News for criticism, he added: Not fair to public!

A Republican senator, Ben Sasse, challenged Mr Trumps outburst. He said: Words spoken by the President of the United States matter. Are you tonight recanting the oath you took on 20 January to preserve, protect and defend the First Amendment?

And Ed Markey, a Democrat, urged the chairman of the Federal Communication Commission to ignore the Presidents apparent call to action.

Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Show all 30 1 /30 Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Railing against the Mueller investigation The president has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Trump Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling Following furious backlash in the US, the president claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it would not have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Colouring in the US flag wrong The president coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter The president announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the president made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired! Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape". Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: There are a lot of killers. You think our countrys so innocent? Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldnt help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzeneggers show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of The Apprentice  which buoyed Trumps celebrity status years ago Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the worst call he had had so far Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trumps travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administrations argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be little Rocket Man as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was no reason to be alarmed after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBCs Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to join him. He noted that she was bleeding badly from a face-lift at the time, and that he said no MSNBC Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides' Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Retweeting cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train' Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of fake news Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing head of the FBI, James Comey Trumps firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Not realising being president would be 'hard' Just three months into his presidency, Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Accusing Obama of wiretapping him Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Obama had not, in fact, done so Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes' Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.) Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement Just days after taking office, Trumps White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didnt mention jews or even the word jewish in the written statement Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Anger over Inauguration crowd size Trumps inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever. Relatedly, Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didnt, the day was very dreary Reuters

Maggie Hassan, another Democrat, called it an unacceptable attack on the free press.

According to The Hill, Mr Trump later said he had no plans to seek to limit journalistic activity.

The latest tension between the media and the Trump administration arose from an NBC News report that claimed the President was seeking to expand the US nuclear arsenal tenfold, which he denied.

He told reporters, during a visit by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: I never discussed increasing it. We dont need an increase, but I want modernisation and I want total rehabilitation.

Earlier this year, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Mr Trump used his speech to reiterate his belief that fake news media outlets using anonymous source were the enemy of the American people.

They are the enemy of the people, he said in February. Because they have no sources. They just make them up where there are none.
Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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The Environmental Protection Agencys strategic plan does not contain the phrase climate change.

The federal agencys draft four-year plan is detailed in a 38-page report that was released late last week.

Neither carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions are mentioned in the document either published by the EPA, CNN reported.

EPA spokesperson Liz Bowman told the news outlet that providing more Americans with access to clean air, land, and water was the focus of the agency.

However, it is a marked difference from the Obama administrations EPA plan.

That 80-page document, written in 2014 under then-EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, included 40 mentions of the phrase climate change and one of the key sections was titled Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality.

Rachel Cleetus, lead economist and climate policy manager with the Union Of Concerned Scientists, told CNN the Trump plan is stunning in its ignorance of climate change.

"This wasn't an oversight; this is a deliberate strategy by this administration, she said.

Donald Trump has previously called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by China and has not confirmed whether he actually believes in it and the scientific evidence that supports it.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, appointed to lead the agency he sued 13 times in his previous capacities, has also said he is not convinced human action makes climate change or the environment worse, saying in May that "review and analysis" will need to be continued in order to establish a link.

 Stephen Hawking has a chilling warning about Trump and climate change

Mr Pruitt also refused to confirm - despite widespread consensus in the global scientific community - that carbon emissions released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels like coal are what cause global warming and climate change.

Some of the goals outlined in Mr Pruitt's plan include "issue permits more quickly to private companies and wanting to rebalance the federal role in environmental regulation by pushing more of that responsibility to the state level.

Mr Pruitt also wants to enforce environmental law as Congress intended.

The language in the report is one more step in achieving Mr Trumps campaign promise to totally dismantle Mr Obamas environmental legacy.

The President withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change in June, an accord signed by nearly 200 countries in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions and help poorer countries adapt to an already-changed planet.

10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Show all 10 1 /10 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A group of emperor penguins face a crack in the sea ice, near McMurdo Station, Antarctica Kira Morris 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Floods destroyed eight bridges and ruined crops such as wheat, maize and peas in the Karimabad valley in northern Pakistan, a mountainous region with many glaciers. In many parts of the world, glaciers have been in retreat, creating dangerously large lakes that can cause devastating flooding when the banks break. Climate change can also increase rainfall in some areas, while bringing drought to others. Hira Ali 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Smoke  filled with the carbon that is driving climate change  drifts across a field in Colombia. Sandra Rondon 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Amid a flood in Islampur, Jamalpur, Bangladesh, a woman on a raft searches for somewhere dry to take shelter. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable places in the world to sea level rise, which is expected to make tens of millions of people homeless by 2050. Probal Rashid 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Sindh province in Pakistan has experienced a grim mix of two consequences of climate change. Because of climate change either we have floods or not enough water to irrigate our crop and feed our animals, says the photographer. Picture clearly indicates that the extreme drought makes wide cracks in clay. Crops are very difficult to grow. Rizwan Dharejo 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Hanna Petursdottir examines a cave inside the Svinafellsjokull glacier in Iceland, which she said had been growing rapidly. Since 2000, the size of glaciers on Iceland has reduced by 12 per cent. Tom Schifanella 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A river once flowed along the depression in the dry earth of this part of Bangladesh, but it has disappeared amid rising temperatures. Abrar Hossain 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A shepherd moves his herd as he looks for green pasture near the village of Sirohi in Rajasthan, northern India. The region has been badly affected by heatwaves and drought, making local people nervous about further predicted increases in temperature. Riddhima Singh Bhati 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change A factory in China is shrouded by a haze of air pollution. The World Health Organisation has warned such pollution, much of which is from the fossil fuels that cause climate change, is a public health emergency. Leung Ka Wa 10 photographs to show to anyone who doesn't believe in climate change Water levels in reservoirs, like this one in Gers, France, have been getting perilously low in areas across the world affected by drought, forcing authorities to introduce water restrictions. Mahtuf Ikhsan

Mr Trump said the agreement put American workers at an economic disadvantage.

The Trump administration has also announced a plan to repeal and possibly replace a centerpiece of Obama-era environmental legislation: the Clean Power Plan.

The CPP, called a game changer by the Union of Concerned Scientists in 2015 after it was passed into law, regulates the carbon emissions of power plants.

According to the Washington DC-based organisation, power plants account for almost 40 per cent of the countrys emissions - more than every car, truck, and plane in the US combined.

Had the CPP been implemented it would have reduced power plants carbon emissions by 2030 to a level 32 per cent lower than they were in 2005.

The Obama administration saw it as the main means of meeting targets outlined in the Paris Agreement.

The public has until the end of October to send comment on the strategic plan to the EPA and it will be submitted to Congress in its final form in February 2018.
China's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday said that the European Union's new stance of making exceptions for what it calls "significant market distortions" lacks basis in World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, with the ministry urging the EU to strictly abide by WTO rules.

The ministrys spokesman Gao Feng made the remarks at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Thursday, noting that the WTO's rules have no concept of significant market distortions or terms for social and environmental dumping.

The European Union agreed new rules last Tuesday for determining when and how import tariffs should be imposed, after China filed a complaint to the WTO over the EUs trade defense practices in December 2016.

The EU now treats all WTO members the same by abolishing the "non-market-economy" label the EU assigns to China and 14 other countries when probing alleged below-cost imports. Trade will only be considered as "dumping" if export prices are below domestic prices.

But the EU said it will make exceptions for cases of "significant market distortions" such as excessive state intervention, an exception expected to cover many Chinese firms.

The EUs stance will damage the WTOs anti-dumping legal systems and increase uncertainty in applying WTO rules, said Gao Feng.

"We will pay close attention to the European Unions moves, and, if necessary, take appropriate measures to resolutely safeguard our legitimate rights and interests," said the spokesman.
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Donald Trump has said he wants the USs nuclear arsenal in tip-top shape, while also denying reports he suggested America should have 10 times more nuclear weapons.

We won't need an increase, but I want modernization and I want total rehabilitation. It's got to be in tip-top shape, Mr Trump told reporters.

Any growth in Americas nuclear weapons stockpile would violate international disarmament treaties signed by every president since Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

But modernising the arsenal would not put the US in violation of treaty obligations, nuclear expert Joe Cirincione told NBC News.

The Defence Department is currently undergoing a long-planned posture review, which is expected to be finalised by the end of 2017 or early next year.

Mr Trump had suggested before becoming president that the US must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability.

Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Show all 30 1 /30 Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Railing against the Mueller investigation The president has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Trump Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling Following furious backlash in the US, the president claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it would not have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Colouring in the US flag wrong The president coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter The president announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the president made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired! Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape". Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: There are a lot of killers. You think our countrys so innocent? Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldnt help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzeneggers show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of The Apprentice  which buoyed Trumps celebrity status years ago Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the worst call he had had so far Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trumps travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administrations argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be little Rocket Man as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was no reason to be alarmed after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBCs Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to join him. He noted that she was bleeding badly from a face-lift at the time, and that he said no MSNBC Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides' Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Retweeting cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train' Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of fake news Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing head of the FBI, James Comey Trumps firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Not realising being president would be 'hard' Just three months into his presidency, Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Accusing Obama of wiretapping him Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Obama had not, in fact, done so Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes' Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.) Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement Just days after taking office, Trumps White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didnt mention jews or even the word jewish in the written statement Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Anger over Inauguration crowd size Trumps inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever. Relatedly, Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didnt, the day was very dreary Reuters

This week, NBC reported that Mr Trump during a July meeting with national security officials was shown a briefing slide that outlined Americas nuclear stockpile over the past 70 years. The president referenced the highest number on the chart  about 32,000 in the late 1960s  and told his team he wanted the US to have that many now, officials told the news outlet.

According to the Federation of American Scientists, the US currently has around 4,000 nuclear warheads in its military stockpile.

Mr Trump denied NBCs report, labelling it fake news.

He added that he never discussed increasing the USs nuclear arsenal.

I want it in perfect shape, Mr Trump said. That was just fake news by NBC, which gives a lot of fake news, lately.

Right now, we have so many nuclear weapons, he added. I want them in perfect condition, perfect shape. That's the only thing I've ever discussed.
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San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, known for sparring with President Donald Trump over his response to the hurricane in Puerto Rico, has said she doesnt give a s*** about the Presidents insults.

"This isnt about me or politics, Ms Cruz told PRIs Jasmine Garsd. Im not going to be the face you see out there just giving you a box of food for the photo op. Im the face of the person who is going to make sure somebody gets that to you.

She added: So like the last scene of Gone With the Wind: 'Frankly my dear, I dont give a damn.

Ms Cruz has become a target for Mr Trump in recent weeks, following her comments about the dire situation in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria ravaged the island late last month, wiping out power to the entire island and leaving many of the territory's 3.7m residents without food or water.

The death toll has risen steadily over the last three weeks, to 45 at the time of publication.

 San Juan Mayor: "This isn't a good story, this is a people are dying story"

Days after the hurricane, Ms Cruz made a passionate appeal to the government for more assistance.

We are dying here, Ms Cruz said at a press conference in San Juan. ...So, Mr Trump, I am begging you to take charge and save lives.

Mr Trump lashed out on Twitter shortly after, calling the Mayor nasty and faulting her poor leadership ability for the situation in Puerto Rico. Fema administration Brock Long said the emergency relief organisation had filtered out Ms Cruzs comments, adding: We dont have time for political noise.

Ms Cruz seemed undeterred, appearing on national TV in a t-shirt reading, Nasty.

Whats really nasty is that anyone would turn their back on the Puerto Rican people, she said in the interview.

Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Show all 30 1 /30 Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Railing against the Mueller investigation The president has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Trump Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling Following furious backlash in the US, the president claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it would not have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Colouring in the US flag wrong The president coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter The president announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the president made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired! Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape". Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: There are a lot of killers. You think our countrys so innocent? Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldnt help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzeneggers show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of The Apprentice  which buoyed Trumps celebrity status years ago Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the worst call he had had so far Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trumps travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administrations argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be little Rocket Man as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was no reason to be alarmed after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBCs Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to join him. He noted that she was bleeding badly from a face-lift at the time, and that he said no MSNBC Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides' Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Retweeting cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train' Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of fake news Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing head of the FBI, James Comey Trumps firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Not realising being president would be 'hard' Just three months into his presidency, Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Accusing Obama of wiretapping him Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Obama had not, in fact, done so Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes' Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.) Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement Just days after taking office, Trumps White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didnt mention jews or even the word jewish in the written statement Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Anger over Inauguration crowd size Trumps inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever. Relatedly, Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didnt, the day was very dreary Reuters

Mr Trump and Ms Cruz exchanged pleasantries during the Presidents visit to Puerto Rico last week, but she sat with her arms crossed at the meeting Mr Trump hosted with Puerto Rican officials. At the same meeting, Mr Trump told the crowd to be proud that the death toll from Maria was low, compared to a real catastrophe like Katrina.

Ms Cruz later slammed the visit as insulting to the people of Puerto Rico. In her interview with PRI, she issued a thinly-veiled warning to the President.

If I were a Republican president ... I would be very worried,she said. There is going to be an exodus of Puerto Ricans to the mainland. And Puerto Ricans vote Democrat. Anywhere they go, they will change the political landscape.
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The United States has withdrawn from Unesco over what it claims is the organisations continuing anti-Israel bias  a move that has just been followed by Israel itself.

The US State Department recently announced its intention to withdraw from the UNs cultural, scientific and educational organisation and become a permanent observer instead.

This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at Unesco, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti-Israel bias at Unesco, the State Department said in a statement.

Recommended Unesco just added 21 new places to your bucket list

Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the UN, added that the organisations extreme politicisation has become a chronic embarrassment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled his approval, tweeting: I welcome @realDonaldTrumps decision to withdraw from Unesco ... I have instructed the Foreign Ministry to prepare Israels withdrawal from Unesco in parallel with the United States.

The US hopes to remain a non-member observer state, in order to contribute US opinions and expertise on issues like press freedoms and protecting world heritage, according to the Department. The decision will take effect at the end of 2018.

New Unesco World Heritage Sites Show all 20 1 /20 New Unesco World Heritage Sites New Unesco World Heritage Sites Lake District The combined work of nature and human activity in the Lake District has produced a harmonious landscape in which the mountains are mirrored in the lakes. This landscape was greatly appreciated from the 18th century onwards by the Picturesque and later Romantic movements, which celebrated it in paintings, drawings and words. Nick Bodle New Unesco World Heritage Sites City of Yazd The City of Yazd is located in the middle of the Iranian plateau, close to the Spice and Silk Roads. The earthen architecture of Yazd has escaped the modernisation that destroyed many traditional earthen towns, retaining its traditional districts, the qanat system, traditional houses, bazars, hammams, mosques, synagogues, Zoroastrian temples and the historic garden of Dolat-abad. ICHHTO New Unesco World Heritage Sites Venetian Works of Defence The fortifications throughout the Stato da Terra protected the Republic of Venice from other European powers to the northwest and those of the Stato da Mar protected the sea routes and ports in the Adriatic Sea to the Levant. Alberto Ghilardi New Unesco World Heritage Sites Valongo Wharf Located in central Rio de Janeiro, this site encompasses the entirety of Jornal do Comercio Square. It is in the former harbour area of Rio de Janeiro in which the old stone wharf was built for the landing of enslaved Africans reaching the South American continent from 1811 onwards. It is the most important physical trace of the arrival of African slaves on the American continent. Milton Guran New Unesco World Heritage Sites Tarnowskie Gory Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine Located in southern Poland, one of the main mining areas of central Europe, the site includes the entire underground mine with adits, shafts, galleries and water management system. Tarnowskie Gory Land Lovers' Association New Unesco World Heritage Sites Taputapuatea Taputapuatea on Raiatea Island is at the centre of the Polynesian Triangle, a vast portion of the Pacific Ocean dotted with islands, and the last part of the globe to be settled by humans. SCP New Unesco World Heritage Sites Temple Zone of Sambor Prei Kuk The archaeological site of Sambor Prei Kuk has been identified as Ishanapura, the capital of the Chenla Empire that flourished in the late 6th and early 7th centuries CE. The vestiges of the city cover an area of 25 square km and include a walled city centre as well as numerous temples, 10 of which are octagonal and unique specimens of their genre in southeast Asia. So Sokun Theary New Unesco World Heritage Sites Qinghai Hoh Xil Located in the north-eastern extremity of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in China, this is the largest and highest plateau in the world. This extensive area of alpine mountains and steppe systems is situated more than 4,500m above sea level, where sub-zero average temperatures prevail all year-round. Peking University New Unesco World Heritage Sites Okinoshima Located 60km off the western coast of Kyushu island, Okinoshima is an exceptional example of the tradition of worship of a sacred island. The archaeological sites have been preserved virtually intact, and provide a chronological record of how the rituals performed there changed from the 4th to the 9th centuries CE. World Heritage Promotion Committee New Unesco World Heritage Sites Mbanza Kongo When the Portuguese arrived in Mbanza Kongo in the 15th century they added stone buildings constructed using European methods to the existing landscape. Mbanza Kongo illustrates, more than anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, the profound changes caused by the introduction of Christianity and the arrival of the Portuguese into Central Africa. INPC New Unesco World Heritage Sites Los Alerces national park The Los Alerces national park is located in the Andes of northern Patagonia. Successive glaciations have moulded the landscape in the region creating spectacular features such as moraines, glacial cirques and clear-water lakes. Ricardo Villalba New Unesco World Heritage Sites Kulangsu Kulangsu is a tiny island located on the estuary of the Chiu-lung River facing the city of Xiamen. With the opening of a commercial port at Xiamen in 1843 and the establishment of the island as an international settlement in 1903, this island off the southern coast of the Chinese empire suddenly became an important window for Sino-foreign exchanges. Kulangsu is an exceptional example of the cultural fusion that emerged from these exchanges. Cultural Heritage Conservation Center of THAD New Unesco World Heritage Sites Kujataa Kujataa is a sub-arctic farming landscape located in the southern region of Greenland. It bears witness to the cultural histories of the Norse hunter-gatherers who started arriving from Iceland in the 10th century, and of the Norse farmers, Inuit hunters and Inuit farming communities that developed from the end of the 18th century. Christian K. Madsen New Unesco World Heritage Sites Assumption Cathedral The Assumption Monastery illustrates in its location and architectural composition the political and missionary programme developed by Tsar Ivan IV to extend the Moscow state. The cathedrals frescoes are among the rarest examples of Eastern Orthodox mural paintings. Dmitrii Karpov New Unesco World Heritage Sites Aphrodisias Located in southwestern Turkey, in the upper valley of the Morsynus River, the site consists of two components: the archaeological site of Aphrodisias and the marble quarries northeast of the city. The temple of Aphrodite dates from the 3rd century BC and the city was built one century later. Aphrodisias Museum New Unesco World Heritage Sites Swabian Jura Modern humans first arrived in Europe 43,000 years ago during the last ice age. One of the areas where they took up residence was the Swabian Jura in southern Germany. Excavated from the 1860s, six caves have revealed items dating from 43,000 to 33,000 years ago. Among them are carved figurines of animals, musical instruments and items of personal adornment. S. M. Heidenreich New Unesco World Heritage Sites Khomani Cultural Landscape The Khomani Cultural Landscape is located at the border with Botswana and Namibia. The large expanse of sand contains evidence of human occupation from the Stone Age to the present and is associated with the culture of the formally nomadic Khomani San people and the strategies that allowed them to adapt to harsh desert conditions. Francois Odendaal Productions New Unesco World Heritage Sites Dauria Shared between Mongolia and the Russian Federation, this site is an outstanding example of the Daurian Steppe eco-region, which extends from eastern Mongolia into Russian Siberia and north-eastern China. Cyclical climate changes with distinct dry and wet periods led to a wide diversity of species and ecosystems of global significance. V. Kirilyuk New Unesco World Heritage Sites Hebron/Al-Khalil The use of a local limestone shaped the construction of the old town of Hebron/Al-Khalil during the Mamluk period between 1250 and 1517. The place became a site of pilgrimage for the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Hesham Sarsour New Unesco World Heritage Sites Asmara Located at more than 2,000m above sea level, the capital of Eritrea developed from the 1890s onwards as a military outpost for the Italian colonial power. It is an exceptional example of early modernist urbanism at the beginning of the 20th century and its application in an African context. Asmara Heritage Project

The US helped found Unesco in the wake of the Second World War, with the aim of ensuring peace through the free flow of ideas and education. The countrys withdrawal marks yet another move by the Trump administration to distance itself from global organisations.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the decision to pull out several weeks ago, and announced it to French President Emmanuel Macron in a meeting with Donald Trump late last month, according to Foreign Policy. The State Department had hoped to delay the announcement until after Unesco selects a new Director General this week.

The current Director General, Irina Bokova, expressed her profound regret at the USs decision. Universality is critical to UNESCOs mission to strengthen international peace and security in the face of hatred and violence, to defend human rights and dignity, she said in a statement.

The US's decision will not effect existing Unesco world heritage sites in the country, or prevent it from submitting sites for consideration in the future, Unesco Media Chief George Papagiannis said. But he added that the US was losing a "world security partner" in Unesco.

"Were trying to make a difference in this world by fighting violent extremists; making sure girls are getting access to schools; that teachers are getting the proper training they need," he told The Independent. "...Its very disappointing to see the United States withdraw."

 Trump: Israelis and Palestinians are 'reaching for peace'

The US has withdrawn from the organisation once before, during the Reagan administration. Former President Ronald Regan pulled the country from Unesco in 1984, claiming the body was biased in favour of the Soviet Union.

President George W Bush rejoined the organisation in 2002, but the US pulled its funding less than 10 years later after the organisation accepted Palestine as a member.

Israel recalled its ambassador to Unesco last year, following the passage of several resolutions that Israelis claim erased their cultural and religious ties to Jerusalem.

Israels relationship with Unesco has long been rocky; its officials accused the body of making decisions based on political motivations.

Mr Trump, still a presidential candidate at the time, weighed in on the resolutions, calling their passage a one-sided attempt to ignore Israels 3,000-year bond to its capital city and further evidence of the enormous anti-Israel bias at the United Nations.

Ms Haley has also criticised Unesco for designating Hebrons Old City and the Tomb of the Patriarchs  two major monuments in the area  as Palestinian territory.

US taxpayers should no longer be on the hook to pay for policies that are hostile to our values and make a mockery of justice and common sense, she said on Friday.

But the decision to withdraw from Unesco may also have been a financial one: the US owed more than $500m in arrears to the organisation and was at risk of losing it voting rights, according to Unesco documents. According to Foreign Policy, Mr Tillerson simply wanted to stem outgoings.

Several Democratic politicians were quick to criticise the announcement. Ben Rhodes, former foreign policy adviser to President Barack Obama, pointed to Mr Trumps withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and criticism of the Iran nuclear deal.

Why would any country trust US to keep agreements? he tweeted.

Trump pulled US out of UNESCO, tweeted Representative Pramila Jayapal. Making it clear that culture, history, world heritage isnt important to him, even if it is to Americans & world.
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The European Union is reportedly set to cut ties with Burma over the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.

The 27-nation bloc is also considering the use of sanctions if there is no improvement in the crisis which has seen more than half members of the minority community flee the country.

Many are now living in makeshift camps across the border in Bangladesh.

An agreement, which has been approved by EU ambassadors has called for the violence to come to an end. However, it still needs to be signed off by the countries Foreign Ministers.

In the light of the disproportionate use of force carried out by the security forces, the EU and its member states will suspend invitations to the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar/Burma armed forces and senior military officers and review all practical defence cooperation, the agreement says.

Currently, the EU does not allow the export of arms and equipment that will be used for "internal repression" and warned it would consider additional measures" if the crisis continued.

The news comes after Burma's army chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing the country's US ambassador, Scot Marciel, that Rohingya Muslims were not native to his country.

However, he did not address accusations of abuses by his men and said the media was complicit in exaggerating the number of refugees fleeing.

General Hlaing is considered to be one of the most powerful people in Buddhist-majority Burma, which has slowly transitioned towards democracy under under Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Despite widespread condemnation of the country's treatment of the Rohingya, inside the country, the military's hardline stance appears to be popular.

General Hlaing referred to the population as Bengali a term which is also used by local media, but considered by some to be derogatory.

He also blamed British colonialists for the problems.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

"The Bengalis were not taken into the country by Myanmar, but by the colonialists," he told Mr Marciel, according to the account of the meeting, which the US ambassador posted on his Facebook page. .

"They are not the natives."

Agencies contributed to this report
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Three members of Pakistan's persecuted Ahmadiyah Muslim minority have reportedly been sentenced to death for blasphemy.

The men  named as Mubasher Ahmad, Ghulam Ahmed and Ehsan Ahmed  were convicted after alllegedly tearing down posters in Boihwal, a village 22km southwest of Lahore.

The trio's defence lawyers claimed the posters carried anti-Ahmadi slogans, yet prosecutors said the posters featured Islamic verses and that tearing them down was equivalent to insulting the prophet Muhammad.

Khalil Ahmed  a fourth accused man accused  was shot and killed while in police custody only days after the incident happened, Al Jazeera reported.

Ahmadiyah spokesperson Saleemuddin told the Qatari broadcaster the community would challenge the decision.

Rights organisations describe the Ahmadiyah Muslim community as the most relentlessly persecuted community in Pakistan.

Orthodox Muslims regard followers as heretics because they do not believe Muhammad was the final prophet to guide mankind.

Followers of the sect of Islam can be jailed for up to three years in Pakistan for referring to themselves as Muslims or calling their places of worship mosques.

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The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. 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A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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Pakistani MP Muhammad Safdar on Tuesday called for the minority to be barred from serving in the military and judiciary.

These people [Ahmadis] are a threat to this country, its constitution and ideology," he said. "This situation is heading towards a dangerous point."
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Hundreds of women stood in the river, held at gunpoint, ordered not to move.

A pack of soldiers stepped toward a petite young woman with light brown eyes and delicate cheekbones. Her name was Rajuma, and she was standing chest-high in the water, clutching her baby son, while her village in Burma burned down behind her.

You, the soldiers said, pointing at her.

She froze.

You!

She squeezed her baby tighter.

In the next violent blur of moments, the soldiers clubbed Rajuma in the face, tore her screaming child out of her arms and hurled him into a fire. She was then dragged into a house and gang-raped.

By the time the day was over, she was running through a field naked and covered in blood. Alone, she had lost her son, her mother, her two sisters and her younger brother, all wiped out in front of her eyes, she says.

Rajuma is a Rohingya Muslim, one of the most persecuted ethnic groups on earth, and she now spends her days drifting through a refugee camp in Bangladesh in a daze.

She relayed her story to me during a recent reporting trip I made to the camps, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya like her have rushed for safety. Her deeply disturbing account of what happened in her village, in late August, was corroborated by dozens of other survivors, whom I spoke with at length, and by human rights groups gathering evidence of atrocities.

Survivors said they saw government soldiers stabbing babies, cutting off boys heads, gang-raping girls, shooting 40-millimetre grenades into houses, burning entire families to death, and rounding up dozens of unarmed male villagers and summarily executing them.

Much of the violence was flamboyantly brutal, intimate and personal  the kind that is detonated by a long, bitter history of ethnic hatred.

People were holding the soldiers feet, begging for their lives, Rajuma said. But they didnt stop, they just kicked them off and killed them, they chopped people, they shot people, they raped us, they left us senseless.

Human rights investigators said that Burma's military killed more than 1,000 civilians in the state of Rakhine, and possibly as many as 5,000, though it will be hard to ever know because Burma is not allowing the United Nations or anyone else into the affected areas.

Newly arrived Rohingya refugees board a boat as they transfer to a camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh (Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

Peter Bouckaert, a veteran investigator with Human Rights Watch, said there was growing evidence of organized massacres, like the one Rajuma survived, in which government soldiers methodically slaughtered more than 100 civilians in a single location. He called them crimes against humanity.

On Wednesday, the United Nations (UN) human rights office said that government troops had targeted houses, fields, food-stocks, crops, livestock and even trees, making it almost impossible for the Rohingya to return home.

Burma's army has claimed it was responding to an attack by Rohingya militants on 25 August and targeting only the insurgents. But according to dozens of witnesses, almost all of the people killed were unarmed villagers, and many had their hands bound.

Satellite imagery has revealed 288 separate villages burned, some down to the last post.

Human rights groups said the government troops had one goal: to erase entire Rohingya communities. The unsparing destruction drove more than half a million people into Bangladesh in recent weeks. UN officials called the campaign against the Rohingya a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

Nearly each night here in coastal Bangladesh, up the Bay of Bengal from Burma, bodies wash up in the foamy brown tide  children, men, old women who tried to escape on leaking boats, their faces bloated from seawater.

Rajuma barely made it to Bangladesh, escaping on a small wooden boat a few weeks ago. She cannot read or write. She does not have a single piece of paper to prove who she is or that she was born in Burma. This may be a problem if she applies for refugee status in Bangladesh, which has been reluctant to give it, or ever tries to go home to Burma. She thinks she is around 20, but she could pass for 14  painfully thin, with wrists that look as if they could easily break.

She grew up in a rice farming hamlet called Tula Toli, and she said the place had never known peace.

The two main ethnic groups in her village, the Buddhist Rakhines and the Muslim Rohingya, were like two planes drawn to never touch. They followed different religions, spoke different languages, ate different foods and have always distrusted each other.

A community of Buddhists lived just a few minutes from Rajumas house, but she had never spoken with any of them.

They hate us, she said.

Azeem Ibrahim, a Scottish academic who recently wrote a book on the Rohingya, explained that much of the animosity could be traced to World War II, when the Rohingya fought on the British side and many Buddhists in Rakhine fought for the occupying Japanese. Both sides massacred civilians.

After the Allies won, the Rohingya hoped to win independence or join East Pakistan (todays Bangladesh), which was also majority Muslim and ethnically similar to the Rohingya. But the British, eager to appease Burma's Buddhist majority, decreed that the Rohingya areas would become part of newly independent Burma, setting the Rohingya up for decades of discrimination.

Burma's leaders soon began stripping their rights and blaming them for the countrys shortcomings, claiming the Rohingya were illegal migrants from Bangladesh who had stolen good land.

Year after year, they were demonised, Ibrahim said.

Some influential Buddhist monks said the Rohingya were the reincarnation of snakes and insects and should be exterminated, like vermin.

The persecution fuelled a new Rohingya militant movement, which staged attacks against Burma security outposts on 25 August.

Over a half a million Rohingya refugees have fled into Bangladesh since late August causing a humanitarian crisis in the region (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

From her village, Rajuma said, she heard explosions from one of those attacks  or at least from the government response to it.

Over the next few days, Rajuma watched huge fires burn on the horizon. The military was beginning what it called clearance operations. Rohingya villages all around Tula Toli were burned to the ground, and on the night of 29 August, an elder came from the mosque to Rajumas house to deliver a message: The Buddhists say we should go to the river, for our safety.

Her family decided to stay put. Nobody trusts a Buddhist, Rajuma said.

The next morning, Rajuma was busy making potato curry. As she sprinkled ginger and chiles into a big pot, she sensed something and stopped.

She crept to the window and peeked out: soldiers, dozens of them, jogging toward Tula Toli.

Rajuma and her family tried to run but were quickly captured and marched to a riverbank where hundreds of other terrified villagers had been taken prisoner.

The soldiers separated the men from the women. The villagers pleaded for their lives and dropped to their knees, hugging the soldiers boots. The soldiers kicked them off and methodically killed all the men, said Rajuma and several other survivors from Tula Toli, all interviewed separately.

The women and young children were sent into the water and told to wait.

In terms of the tactics used, the weapons fired, the openness of the killings, the gang rapes and the level of military organization, the accounts from many different Rohingya areas present a distressing harmony.

Stories of atrocities are universal, said Anthony Lake, the executive director of UNICEF.

He said he was deeply troubled by what Rohingya children had been drawing in the camps  guns, fires, machetes and people on the ground with red streaming out of them.

Hundreds of Rohingya arrive by boats in the safety of darkness on Shah Porir Dwip island, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh (Paula Bronstein/Getty) (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

In a hospital bed near Coxs Bazar, the biggest town in this part of Bangladesh, Muhamedul Hassan, a Rohingya shopkeeper from a village called Monu Para, lies on a clean white sheet. Doctors say the fact he is still alive is a miracle.

On 27 August, Hassan said, around 20 soldiers from a nearby army base stormed into Monu Para and ordered all the men and any boys older than 10 to report to the house of a prominent Rohingya cattle trader.

The soldiers tied everyones hands behind their backs. They made them sit in the yard, heads down.

Around 400 men and boys were hunched over, Hassan said. They were sweating through their shirts. An army sergeant whom the villagers knew then pulled out a long, thin knife.

People were calling for help, Hassan said. The boys were screaming out their mothers name, their fathers name.

Hassan said that in front of his eyes, dozens of people were decapitated or shot. He was shot three times  twice in the back and once in the chest  but all the bullets missed vital organs.

After the soldiers left, Hassan said, he stumbled away to his house, where his sister stuffed turmeric powder, the best they could do for an antiseptic, into his wounds.

Human rights investigators said the gravest atrocities they have documented were committed from 25 August to 1 September, the period right after the militant attacks. Many witnesses described government troops wantonly killing anyone they could get their hands on

In Tula Toli, Rajuma fought as hard as she could to hold onto her baby, Muhammad Sadeque, about 18 months old.

But one soldier grabbed her hands, another grabbed her body, and another slugged her in the face with a club. A jagged scar now runs along her jaw.

A Rohingya refugee child washes utensil in the in the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh (Reuters) (REUTERS)

The child was lifted away from her, his legs wiggling in the air.

They threw my baby into a fire  they just flung him, she said.

Rajuma said two soldiers then pulled her into a house, tore off her veil and dress and raped her. She said that her two sisters were raped and killed in the same room, and that in the next room, her mother and 10-year-old brother were shot.

At some point, Rajuma thought she had died. She lost consciousness. When she woke, the soldiers were gone, but the house was on fire.

She sprinted out naked, past her familys bodies, past burning homes, and hid in a forest. Night fell, but she did not sleep.

In the morning she found an old T-shirt to wear and kept running.

Many people in the refugee camps have been eerily stoic  seemingly traumatised past the ability to feel. In dozens of interviews with survivors who said their loved ones had been killed in front of them, not a single tear was shed.

But as she reached the end of her horrible testimony, Rajuma broke down.

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

I cant explain how hard it hurts, she said, tears rolling off her cheeks, to no longer hear my son call me ma.

She hunched over on a plastic stool in another familys hut, covered her mouth with a red veil and started sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

A few other refugees looked over at her but went on cooking or cleaning. Outside, on a road not far away, trucks blared their horns, fighting through traffic.

The New York Times
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Allah's name has been found embroidered into ancient Viking burial clothes, a discovery researchers in Sweden have described as "staggering".

The silk patterns were originally thought to be ordinary Viking Age decoration but a re-examination by archaeologist Annika Larsson of Uppsala University revealed they were a geometric Kufic script.

They were found on woven bands as well as items of clothing, in two separate grave sites, suggesting that Viking funeral customs had been influenced by Islam.

The woven bands contained ancient Arabic script, Kufic characters, invoking both Allah and Ali. The Kufic characters were found in the Viking Age in mosaics on burial monuments and mausoleums, primarily in Central Asia.

One exciting detail is that the word Allah is depicted in mirror image," Ms Larsson said. "Perhaps this was an attempt to write prayers so that they could be read from left to right.

That we so often maintain that Eastern objects in Viking Age graves could only be the result of plundering and eastward trade doesnt hold up as an explanatory model, because the inscriptions appear in typical Viking Age clothing.

It is a staggering thought that the bands, just like the costumes, [were] made west of the Muslim heartland. Presumably, Viking Age burial customs were influenced by Islam and the idea of an eternal life in paradise after 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

She added: In the Quran, it is written that the inhabitants of paradise will wear garments of silk, which along with the text bands inscriptions may explain the widespread occurrence of silk in Viking Age graves. The findings are equally prevalent in both mens and womens graves.

Ms Larssons prior research has uncovered widespread use of silk during the Viking Age in Scandinavia, the university said.

The cloth is thought to have come from ancient Persia and Central Asia.
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A group of farmers tricked Spanish police by trapping them in a field to stop them disrupting protests following the Catalan independence referendum, Spanish media reports.

During the general strike on 3 October, a group of farmers from the region of La Jonquera in Catalonia said they planned to close off the border with France using their tractors.

Hundreds of Spanish police officers went to the border in an attempt to stop the farmers from doing so.

Once they arrived, the farmers were not present and instead had closed off the motorway and all roads heading back into the Catalonia  leaving the police officers trapped.

Joan Caball, the president of Catalonias farmers union, said the initial plan was to close down the railway but as events unfolded they opted to close the roads.

The Guardia Civil (Spanish police) just didn't have any good information. They went to another point because the Guardia Civil thought the border was going to be closed, but we didn't want to close the border, we just wanted to close down the railway, he told BuzzFeed.

And then when Guardia Civil tried to come back, they found all the farmers, and they couldn't get through.

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

Local media claimed the police were trapped for several hours and were not able to intervene during the peak of the general strike.

People took to the street two days after the Catalan referendum on independence to protest against acts of police brutality carried out by Spanish police officers during the vote.
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Protesters have clashed during a pro-Spanish unity demonstration in Barcelona, throwing chairs at each other and leaving one police officer injured as authorities stepped in to break up the fighting.

Some 65,000 people are thought to have gathered in the Catalan capital to mark Spains national day and call for the countrys unity against attempts at secession.

The turnout was the highest since the police started keeping track of the figures three years ago, a spokesman from the citys urban guard said.

Two small groups of protesters clashed in the city centre, throwing chairs near the Plaza de Catalunya.

It was unclear what sparked the violence and Barcelonas municipal authorities said the groups ideological leanings had not been established.

Before the fighting began, around 300 people began chanting at the local Mossos dEsquadra police force and some called them traitors, according to the El Diario newspaper.

The officers backed away to avoid a confrontation, the site said, minutes before the brawl broke out some distance away.

Footage of the fight showed chairs flying in both directions, before Barcelonas urban guard and regional police removed a few dozen protesters on each side. One officer suffered minor injuries.

The brawl reportedly did not disrupt the nearby unionist demonstration.

A separate protest of around 200 supporters of far-right and Spanish nationalist groups ended on Barcelonas Montjuic hill with speeches and the burning of a Senyera, the unofficial flag that has become a symbol for Catalan separatists.

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

The scenes came as Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont engaged in back-and-forth brinkmanship with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy over his delayed declaration of regional independence.

Mr Puigdemont reacted to the Spanish ultimatum to backtrack on his independence plans or face a suspension of regional powers, tweeting: We demand dialogue and the response is to put article 155 on the table. Message understood.

He had earlier proposed to regional lawmakers to freeze the implementation of secession to allow time for negotiating independence with Spain. Mr Rajoy has rejected any dialogue as long as secession is on the table.

The only other acknowledgement of Madrids warning came from Mr Puigdemonts deputy, Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras, who tweeted to Mr Rajoy: A sincere dialogue is what the international community wants and what Catalonia expects, not confrontation and new threats.

Additional reporting by agencies
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While Spains National Day military parades in Madrid contained all its usual ingredients  soldiers marching by on horseback, soldiers in Jeeps, soldiers on foot and even soldiers from the Foreign Legion marching behind a goat, the units mascot  the knock-on effect of Catalonias current breakaway bid, spectators said, was impossible to ignore.

The whole Catalan independence question has brought a lot more public out, Milagros Calvo, one of thousands with a Spanish flag draped around their shoulders, told The Independent.

She added: Lots of people might normally say Ach, theres a procession every year. But this year it matters more that were here now, united on our national day.

Ive come for the first time ever, a middle-aged woman, standing on a street bench to see better, added.

I lived in Catalonia for years but I never thought we should break away from Spain, and today I want to make that clear.

Less than an hour after the capitals parade had ended, news broke that one of the military jets taking part in the flyovers in Madrid had subsequently crashed, with the pilot dying, near the southern airbase of Albacete.

But the two-hour procession itself passed off without incident, in exceptionally warm autumn weather and with largely good-humoured crowds.

However among the more predictable shouts of Viva Espana! there were some audible cries of Jail Puigdemont  a reference to the Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont  and even noisier chants of Youre not alone when the Guardia Civil  criticised in Catalonia for heavy-handed policing  marched past.

The Spanish royal family, as ever, watched over the 3,900 soldiers taking part from the central VIP tribune, with the countrys premier Mariano Rajoy and almost all his government close by. As expected, Mr Puigdemont was one of the few regional leaders who did not attend.

The army has been at pains to insist that this years revamping of the procession in Madrid, expanded in size, moved to the better-known Paseo de la Castellana, and with the national police taking part for the first time in 30 years, had no connection with the ongoing political crisis.

But no one needed reminding that the Catalan crisis grinds on. Spains Defence Minister, Maria Dolores de Cospedal, speaking in front of the VIP tribunals, insisted that unity makes us strong.

This crisis is like one of our typical Madrid cocido stews, its taken a heck of a long time to cook properly,  said one middle-aged Spanish businessman, sitting on some railings after what he called his usual watching spot was swamped by the bigger-than-usual, flag-waving crowds.

And now its ready, its going to be a right old meal for everybody to get through, too.
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A man has been jailed for 15 months after he belly-flopped repeatedly onto piglets, killing 79 of them, in a crime that was described by the judge as repulsive.

In a video, filmed by the mans work colleague, the overweight man can be seen leaping onto the piglets three times.

A court in Almeria, Spain, ruled the mans actions as unjustifiable and cruel.

Both the man and the colleague who filmed the incident and shared it via Whatsapp have been banned from working in any job connected to animals for three and a half years.

Both men, aged 18 and 22 at the time, were ordered to pay 4,470 euros, 60 euros for each piglet, to the company that owned them.

The prosecution called for a harsher punishment for the man who recorded the video.

The court heard that the man decided to jump on the group of piglets and threw himself on them after gaining momentum as if it was a swimming pool.

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

According to Spains el Periodico newspaper the defendants told the court the stunt was a prank.

Nineteen piglets died at the scene, and others injured had to be put down.
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The so-called British "White Widow" Sally Jones has reportedly been killed by a US drone strike in Syria.

US spy chiefs are said to have told their counterparts at MI6 that the Islamist militant, who left Kent to join Isis in 2013, was killed close to the border between Syria and Iraq in June.

A US Air Force Predator strike reportedly took her out as she was attempting to flee Raqqa  which is currently the subject of intense fighting as Isis are driven back by coalition forces.

She is believed to have been heading to the town of Mayadin, one of the few remaining Isis strongholds, when she was killed.

A Whitehall source told The Sun: The Americans zapped her trying to get away from Raqqa. Quite frankly, its good riddance."

The newspaper reported that the successful strike had previously been kept quiet over fears it may have also killed her 12-year-old son Jojo.

But it is often impossible to verify the deaths of jihadis in drone strikes with many reappearing months after their deaths were reported to the media.

US intelligence chiefs have said they are not 100 per cent certain that she is the one was who killed as it is impossible to retrieve DNA evidence.

 Isis 'poster girl' Sally Jones wants to leave Raqqa and return to UK, friend claims

Jones, who has been dubbed the "White Widow" by the British media, left Chatham in Kent with her son in 2013 to join the "caliphate" in its early days.

When she got there she was married to Junaid Hussain, a British-Pakistani hacker who was killed in a drone strike in 2015.

In July the wife of a British Isis fighter, Aisha, told Sky News she had met Jones while in Isis controlled territory  she had since fled to a Kurdish refugee camp  and said she was unhappy and wanted to come home.

In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Show all 11 1 /11 In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Women and children celebrating after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A man cuts the beard of a civilian who was freed from Isis by the SDF in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Women carry newborn babies while running after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman freed from Isis hugs an SDF fighter in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman adding her veil to a pile of niqabs burning in Manbij, Syria, after being freed from Isis on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Children celebrating on top of a lorry after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A man and child freed from Isis by the SDF in Manbij on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman carrying her children walks towards SDF fighters after being freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij A woman and child freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij An SDF fighter kisses a crying man who was freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters In pictures: Civilians freed from Isis in Manbij Hundreds of civilians freed from Isis in Manbij, Syria, on 12 August Reuters

But Aisha said Jojo had refused as he had become brainwashed and was taking part in the execution of prisoners.

She said: "She was crying and wants to get back to Britain but Isis is preventing her because she is now a military wife.

"She told me she wish to go to her country."

Jones is understood to be a high priority on the Pentagon's "kill list" as she is believed to be one of the terror group's top recruiters and the mastermind behind several terror plots.

She was supposedly behind the plot to assassinate the Queen during the 2015 celebrations of the 70th anniversary of VJ day in London.

US intelligence officers also blame her for publishing a list of 1,300 US military personnel's details, believed to have been hacked by her husband, for Isis militants to target.

In 2016, she reportedly called on women in London, Glasgow and Cardiff to carry out terror attacks during the holy month of Ramadan.
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A British man sentenced to a month in jail in Dubai for making a rude gesture and drinking alcohol has said he is "still in shock" at what happened.

Campaign organisation Detained in Dubai (DiD) said Jamie Harron has been sentenced in absentia to 30 days in prison for the action and drinking alcohol.

The 27-year-old electrician from Stirling also faces up to three years in jail after he is said to have touched a man on his hip in a bar to avoid spilling a drink, DiD said.

His representatives said he is to appeal against his drinking conviction.

According to a spokesman, Mr Harron admitted drinking alcohol at the Rock Bottom Bar party spot after being arrested in July, but denied making a rude gesture.

His lawyers have submitted an appeal and are expecting a judgement on Sunday October 22 for at least one of the cases.

Mr Harron said: "My lawyers have put an objection in on my 30-day prison sentence issued by my absentia that me and my lawyer didn't even know about in the first place.

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

"I hope that it can be sorted out but I already didn't think it would have went on for so many months in the first place. I've lost my job, I'm in debt now, I may be going to prison and all this for a two-day stopover.

"It's just unbelievable. I'm still in shock that it's actually happened."

In relation to the other charge, Mr Harron is said to have been holding a drink, moving through a crowded bar, and holding a hand in front of him to avoid spilling it on himself or others.

He then "touched a man on his hip to avoid impact".

The organisation claims it was only after Mr Harron and his friend sat at a table that the man who had been touched seemed aggravated.

Recommended Electric car drivers in Dubai set to receive free parking

Police arrived at the scene "20 to 30" minutes later and arrested Mr Harron, according to his representatives.

He was then said to have been charged with public indecency, locked up for five days in Al Barsha prison, then released after bail with his passport confiscated.

He has since lost his job and has spent more than 30,000 in expenses and legal fees, having already been stuck there for three months.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: "We have been in contact with a British man following his arrest in Dubai in July.

"We are providing consular assistance."

PA
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed a deal reached between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas to end a decade-long rift as "making peace much harder to achieve".

Negotiators for the West Bank's Fatah and militant Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, signed a preliminary agreement in Cairo on Thursday, a step hailed as the biggest step forward in intra-Palestinian relations in years.

The deal, reached after two days of Egyptian-brokered negotiations, should ensure a unity government will once again administer both the West Bank and Gaza after the rift caused by militant group Hamass takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

 Gaza marks 10 years of Israeli blockade

While it covers border crossing arrangements and the livelihoods of thousands of public servants, it is understood some key issues - including Hamas arsenal - are not addressed.

Opening the Rafah border with Egypt would significantly ease Gazas humanitarian crisis, allowing freedom of trade and movement for the coastal enclave's 1.8 million residents. Both sides agreed to European Union monitors at the crossing point in an attempt assuage Israeli fears over weapons smuggling.

Israels initial reaction to the news from Cairo was cautious. Any deal must comply with international agreements including recognising the state of Israel and disarming Hamas, a government statement said.

Gaza blackout Show all 10 1 /10 Gaza blackout Gaza blackout A Palestinian man works at his workshop as he fixes mobile power generators in Gaza City, July 9, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Palestinians pray in a makeshift mosque lit by battery-powered lights during a power cut in Gaza City, July 18, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian vendor sells fruits and vegetables during a power cut in a makeshift shop lit by battery-powered light in Beit Lahiya town, in the northern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian woman is seen from the window of her kitchen as she uses a candle light to prepare food during a power cut in Beit Lahiya town, in the northern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Buildings are seen at night in Gaza City, July 18, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Buildings are seen at night during a power cut in Gaza City, July 18 REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian woman washes dishes in her kitchen as she uses a candle light during a power cut in Beit Lahiya town, in the northern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Members of a Palestinian family prepare food on a fire on a beach during a power cut in the northern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Palestinians make food during a hot weather on a beach during a power cut in the northern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2017 REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian woman holds her child as she walks out of her house lit by a torch during a power cut in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 3, 2017. REUTERS

Mr Netanyahu's office, however, followed up on Twitter with comments reiterating its opposition to working with the Sunni militant organisation in its current form.

"There is nothing Israel wants more than peace with all our neighbours. Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas makes peace much harder to achieve," said a statement posted by Ofir Gendelmen, the prime minister's Arab media spokesperson.

"Reconciling with mass-murderers is part of the problem, not part of the solution. Say yes to peace and no to joining hands with Hamas."

Hamas has slowly rebranding itself as a more moderate and pragmatist organisation in an effort to force the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority into reconciliation talks: earlier this year it unveiled an updated founding charter which accepted the borders of a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 boundaries for the first time.

The announced changes did little to convince Israeli officials that Hamass stance has changed. At the time, Mr Netanyahu's office said the group was just attempting to fool the world it had changed its terrorist stripes.

All previous Fatah-Hamas attempts to reconcile have quickly broken down.

The deal comes a month after Hamas dissolved the committee which runs the Gaza Strip and said it was willing to work towards a reconciliation with its West Bank rivals.

The two Palestinian Territories have been ruled separately since Hamas won local elections in the Strip in 2006. A year of tense unity government administration ended after fighting in 2007 which led to Hamas expelling Fatah from the coastal enclave altogether.
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The unity agreement between Hamas and Fatah under which they will set up a joint administration that will, among other things, control Gaza is going to be regarded with scepticism in the region. The accord signed in the main intelligence headquarters in Cairo has come about because both the Palestinian sides are weak and have not discussed many divisive issues, but they do not want to be seen as blocking a deal.

The Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have very little freedom of action these days, far less than 40 years ago when they were an insurgent movement based successively in Amman, Beirut and Tunis. Driven from capital to capital, they tried to avoid becoming the permanent proxy of any single power. But the war in Iraq since 2003, and conflicts in Arabs states which once backed different Palestinian factions since the so-called Arab Spring of 2011, have pushed the Palestinian issue well down the international agenda.

Hamas has been isolated, subject to punitive sanctions and without regional allies. It will hope to use the new accord to expand its role on the West Bank and play a wider role that it has been able to do since 2007 when, after defeating Fatah in an election the previous year, it was denounced as a terrorist movement by Israel, the US and the western allies.

Recommended Rival Palestinian factions sign breakthrough reconciliation deal

Gazas two million people have lived in conditions of near total siege ever since, a tight economic blockade imposed by Israel which means shortages of electricity, drinkable water and, above all, jobs which have left 80 per cent of the population reliant on international aid.

In these circumstances, almost any change should be a change for the better, though Palestinian experience over the last century does not confirm this. People in Gaza will hope for a degree of access to the outside world through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. But crucial issues remain unsettled such as the future role of the 25,000 Hamas fighters, giving a sense that neither Hamas nor Fatah want to give up real authority.

A previous accord in 2011 was denounced by Israel and was never implemented, but the present one may have more chance because it is backed by the US, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and, according to most reports, by Israel.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The so-called peace process has long been dead in the water primarily because the balance of power between Israel and the Palestinians is so decisively in favour of Israel that it is under no pressure to compromise. Israeli influence in Washington has never been higher than under President Trump, as shown by the US withdrawal from the UN cultural body Unesco, citing anti-Israel bias.

For Gazans any alleviation of the conditions of siege in which they are living will be good news, but they will be dubious about the declarations of unity and cooperation between parties so deeply divided. They also know that they remain very much at the mercy of Israel and outside powers. Developments in Syria and Egypt since 2011 has left the Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank even weaker than before. The accord signed in Egypt may not change very much.
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Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have signed a reconciliation deal  the biggest step forward for internal Palestinian relations in a decade.

The signing of a preliminary agreement in Cairo on Thursday was reached after two days of Egyptian-brokered negotiations. Fatah negotiator Azzam al-Ahmed and Hamass representative Saleh al-Arouri smiled and shook hands in a short ceremony presided over by Egypts chief of intelligence, Khalid Fawzi.

The move should ensure a unity government will once again administer both the West Bank and Gaza after the rift caused by militant group Hamass takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

 Gaza marks 10 years of Israeli blockade

Gaza has been subject to both an Israeli blockade and Fatah strangulating the supply of electricity and other resources. This has crippled its economy and left much of the territorys population of 1.8 million-strong dependent on aid.

The new deal  technically drafted in 2011 but never implemented  is understood to cover border-crossing arrangements and the livelihoods of thousands of public servants but not some key issues, such as Hamass arsenal.

Control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt  kept largely closed by Egypt for years  could be reopened and jointly operated as soon as 1 November, Mr Ahmad said.

Gaza blackout Show all 10 1 /10 Gaza blackout Gaza blackout A Palestinian man works at his workshop as he fixes mobile power generators in Gaza City, July 9, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Palestinians pray in a makeshift mosque lit by battery-powered lights during a power cut in Gaza City, July 18, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian vendor sells fruits and vegetables during a power cut in a makeshift shop lit by battery-powered light in Beit Lahiya town, in the northern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian woman is seen from the window of her kitchen as she uses a candle light to prepare food during a power cut in Beit Lahiya town, in the northern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Buildings are seen at night in Gaza City, July 18, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Buildings are seen at night during a power cut in Gaza City, July 18 REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian woman washes dishes in her kitchen as she uses a candle light during a power cut in Beit Lahiya town, in the northern Gaza Strip, July 13, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Members of a Palestinian family prepare food on a fire on a beach during a power cut in the northern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2017. REUTERS Gaza blackout Palestinians make food during a hot weather on a beach during a power cut in the northern Gaza Strip, July 12, 2017 REUTERS Gaza blackout A Palestinian woman holds her child as she walks out of her house lit by a torch during a power cut in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 3, 2017. REUTERS

Opening the border would significantly ease Gazas humanitarian crisis, allowing freedom of trade and movement out of the worlds largest open air prison. Both sides agreed to European Union monitors at Rafah in an attempt assuage Israeli fears over weapons smuggling.

The deal says an interim government will be formed and long-overdue local and presidential elections take place within one year of the signing. Other details have not yet been made public.

In the past, committees set up to implement similar complicated changes have quickly broken down.

Israels initial reaction to the news from Cairo was cautious. Any deal must comply with international agreements including recognising the state of Israel and disarming Hamas, a statement said.

 Trump: Israelis and Palestinians are 'reaching for peace'

The two sides were determined not to leave Cairo without a final agreement that would put aside the rift forever, he said, adding that both Fatah and Hamas wished to achieve the Palestinian dream, put an end to occupation, and to have a Palestinian, independent, sovereign state with East Jerusalem as the capital.

We in Hamas are determined, serious and sincere this time and every time to end the division, Mr Arouri said.

We have adopted the strategy of one step at a time so that the reconciliation will succeed, he added.

In Ramallah, Fatahs Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters that he welcomed the agreement.

I received a detailed report from the Fatah delegation about what was agreed and I considered it the final agreement to end the division, he said.

Local media reports that provided the interim measures hold up, Mr Abbas will travel to Gaza in the next few weeks  his first visit to the Strip in 10 years.

The deal comes a month after Hamas dissolved the committee which runs the Gaza Strip and said it was willing to work towards a reconciliation with Fatah.

The two Palestinian Territories have been ruled separately since the Sunni militant Hamas won local elections in the Strip in 2006. A year of tense unity government administration ended after fighting in 2007 which led to Hamas expelling its rivals from the coastal enclave altogether.

Mr Abbass Fatah party seeks the creation of a Palestinian state within the borders of the 1967 Six Day War.

Hamas has refused to recognise the state of Israel or denounce the use of violence but in changes to its founding charter announced earlier this year suggested it could be open to a Palestinian state along the lines of the 1967 Green Line.
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The death of Sally-Anne Jones, if confirmed, will be a significant kill in the war against Isis. This is not for any military reasons. She was not an important fighter or commander and her supposed roles in myriad international terrorist plots were, to a large extent, fanciful. But the White Widow brought up in Kent was of great propaganda value for jihad.

Jones, an Englishwoman raised a Catholic with a past life in a punk rock band and the drug scene who had converted to the most violent form of Islam and married a terrorist, could not be but of great attraction to the media. Two years ago her husband Junaid Hussein, from Birmingham, was, like Jones, killed in a drone strike, a death which had also led to widespread coverage.

Jones was not, however, the only White Widow in the Islamist ranks. Samantha Lewthwaite, a convert from Northern Ireland, who was married to the 7/7 London bomber Jermaine Lindsay, joined al-Shabaab in Somalia. She, by all accounts, remains alive and, in the league table of female European jihadists, has a grislier track record than Jones being blamed for involvement in 400 deaths in various atrocities.

But the publicity Jones received was used by Isis for a high-profile internet recruitment drive among young people in the West, especially girls and young women. Their journey to Syria, often without the knowledge of their families, generated further headlines.

Umm Hussein al-Britaniyah, or Sakinah Hussein, the two names under which Jones was known in her Syrian life, was often photographed aiming an assault rifle or a pistol. There were colourful media reports of her leading all-female units into battle, but there is no evidence of this actually taking place.

The propaganda drive took place at a time when Isis was doing extremely well, bursting out of Syria into Iraq and carving out its caliphate. Jones fellow foreign volunteers were also busy on the internet, enticing young Muslims in the West to go and join the five-star jihad.

Some of them acquired families while in Syria and Iraq. Others had their children with them. Jones had done that, taking nine-year-old Joe, known as Jojo, a son from a partner in England, in 2015. Many of the young foreign jihadists are now dead or imprisoned as Isis faces defeat. The young women Jones helped to recruit often had multiple marriages, being passed to other fighters after their husbands were killed.

In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Show all 11 1 /11 In pictures: Isis' weapons factories In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A mortar round fin manufactured by Isis in Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis rocket components discovered in Gogjali, Mosul, Iraq in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis mortars discovered near Karamlais, Iraq, in November 2016 CAR In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis rocket launch frame in Qaraqosh, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A memo from Isis' COSQC on quality control at a manufacturing facility in Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Electrically-operated initiators manufactured by Isis in forces Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis mortar tubes at a manufacturing facility in Karamlais, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis mortar production facility discovered in Gogjali, Mosul, in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis weapons manufacturing facilities near Mosul in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Stocks of French-manufactured Sorbitol, Latvian potassium nitrate and Lebanese sugar at an Isis weapons factory in Iraq Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A destroyed Isis weapons facility in Qaraqosh, Iraq, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research

Some were forced to share their homes with sex slaves. Some saw their sons recruited to the Isis childrens unit, Cubs of the Caliphate, where they were filmed executing prisoners.

A photograph appeared which appeared to show Joness son JoJo taking part in such a killing. She put out a statement denying it was him. According to the wife of a fighter who had fled to Turkey from Syria, Jones was afraid of the consequences for her son if he was captured. She already had the feeling that Daesh was going to lose, the woman maintained, otherwise she would have been boasting about what her son had done.

JoJo is believed to have been killed when a US drone, according to reports, targeted his mother outside Raqaa, the capital of the caliphate, in June this year. One reason for American and British officials to keep the matter secret for so long was apparently the sensitivities about a young boy dying in a targeted killing mission.

Jones husband Junaid Hussein, who had studied computer science, was highly valued by the Isis leadership because of his technological skills. The couples short and brutal life in Syria is a reminder of the power of social media and propaganda in modern insurgencies. But it also makes those engaged in this type of hybrid warfare prime targets for elimination.
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Higher tax rates for the rich would help reduce inequality without having a severe impact on economic growth, the International Monetary Fund has said.

The influential organisation, which is based in Washington DC, has published its biannual fiscal monitor to voice its support for the policies of left-wing politicians such as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has called for high earners to pay more into the public purse.

Countries around the world are suffering the consequences of rising internal inequality and the IMF said tax theory suggested the top one per cent of earners should be paying "significantly" more.

It highlighted that although inequality between countries has fallen in recent decades due to the economic success of countries such as China and India, internal inequality in places like the US and the UK has risen sharply.

The IMF warned that excessive inequality could lower economic growth as well as polarise politics.

Its report said: "Progressive taxation and transfers are key components of efficient fiscal redistribution.

"Optimal tax theory suggests significantly higher marginal tax rates on top income earners than current rates."

The IMF's message would appear to put it at odds with the Trump administration, whose new tax proposals rely heavily on cuts for companies and the wealthy.

The IMF noted that top personal income tax rates in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) rich nations had fallen to 35 per cent in 2015 from an average of 62 per cent in 1981.

 Jeremy Corbyn's Labour conference speech in 60 seconds

The IMF, along with the World Bank, will hold its semi-annual meeting of global policymakers later this week.

Its call to arms on promoting more inclusive growth comes at an uncertain time for many richer countries.

The rise of populist politicians, such as Donald Trump, populist parties, such as the Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), and political shocks like Brexit have been blamed on voters becoming increasingly alienated from the ruling elites amid stagnating wages and rising house prices.

In its report, the IMF said the decline in overall global inequality over the past 30 years resulting from globalisation and technological progress masked deep issues within countries, some caused by the same factors.

Over the same period, 53 per cent of countries have seen increased income inequality, the IMF said, and Latin America remains the most unequal in the world. The increase in inequality has been particularly acute in advanced economies but is spread across the globe.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 4 November 2022 A peacock is seen in the early winter sunshine in the Dutch Gardens in Holland Park AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 November 2022 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 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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. 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"It is important to emphasise that inequality has increased in the largest countries in the world: China, India and the United States," said Vitor Gaspar, director of the IMF's fiscal affairs department.

In many advanced economies such as the United States, the IMF said, rising wealth inequality has resulted from a rising concentration of wealth held by the richest 1 per cent of the population while economic growth has also mainly accrued to the top in low-income developing countries.

During his speech to the Labour party conference in September, Mr Corbyn vowed to overturn the free market economic thinking which has dominated UK policy making for the last 30 years.

He said: "Our message to the country could not be clearer: Labour is ready.

"Ready to tackle inequality. Ready to rebuild our NHS. Ready to give opportunity to young people, dignity and security to older people."

Labour was widely expected to lose the snap general election in June as the party was badly trailing in the polls.

But, although the party did not win, it inflicted a humiliating blow on Theresa May and her Commons majority.

Though Ms May's lacklustre campaigning has been seen as a significant reason for the party losing 30 seats, the Government signalled it may soon ease up on its austerity policies after many concluded the public had grown tired of low pay and strained public services.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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Israel has withdrawn from Unesco following America's decision to leave the United Nations body, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"This is a brave and moral decision, because Unesco has become a theatre of absurd. Instead of preserving history, it distorts it," Mr Netanyahu said of the US's decision.

The Prime Minster said he had instructed the Israeli Foreign Ministry to prepare the country's withdrawal in parallel with the United States.

The US State Department had announced hours earlier that it would withdraw from Unesco and become a non-member observer state by the end of 2018.

In a statement, the State Department criticised Unesco for its "continuing anti-Israel bias", and spoke of a need for "fundamental reform".

"US taxpayers should no longer be on the hook to pay for policies that are hostile to our values and make a mockery of justice and common sense," said Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN.

 US pulls out of UNESCO

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Leiberman praised the US decision, calling it an "important step in the right direction by our biggest ally," according to Haaretz. He assailed Unesco as "an anti-Semitic and politically biased organisation," and claimed it had "lost its way".

But Unesco Director General Irina Bokova expressed profound regret at the USs decision.

Universality is critical to Unesco's mission to strengthen international peace and security in the face of hatred and violence, to defend human rights and dignity, she said in a statement.

She added: "This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism."

Ms Bokova has yet to release a statement on Israel's withdrawal.

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Israeli officials had previously condemned Unesco for passing resolutions they claimed would erase historical Jewish ties to Israel. One such resolution criticised Israel's activities at holy places in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and made no mention of Jewish ties to a holy site in the area.

Another resolution designated two historical sites near Jerusalem as belonging to the Palestinians. Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads Israel's Unesco committee, accused the agency of being a "political tool" in the wake of the decision.

"Unesco's resolution must be rejected, and our efforts to strengthen the city of our fathers increased," he said.

Mr Netanyahu suspended cooperation with the agency and announced a $1m cut to Israel's UN payments in response. The US suspended its own funding to the agency in 2011, after Palestine was admitted as a member.

Friday's decision will not affect existing Unesco world heritage sites in the US or Israel, or prevent them from submitting sites for consideration in the future, Unesco Media Chief George Papagiannis said. There are more than 30 world heritage sites between the two countries.
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Visiting Dubai can be a perilous business, as Jamie Harron, a Briton arrested for public indecency three months ago, has discovered. According to him, it was a pure misunderstanding: he put his hand on someone to avoid spilling his drink whilst he squeezed through a crowded bar. But the furious complaint of the other man was enough for Harron to join the long list of travellers who have fallen foul of the laws and customs of a city that  for all its glitzy cosmopolitanism  is a fairly conservative, Muslim state.

Although out of jail, Harron has not been allowed to leave Dubai and has run up hefty legal bills. His appalled parents have urged other tourists to avoid the city. That seems unnecessary, given that almost 10 million travellers visited the emirate last year without any problems. But it is wise to keep a few things in mind before you book your ticket.

Mr Harron was in Dubai for a two-day stopover when he was arrested for public indecency

Pack carefully

Importing porn, pork and drugs can get you into serious trouble. In 2007, a Japanese engineer suffered the indignity of being arrested at Dubai airport after customs officials found 77 pornographic DVDs in his luggage. The same year, DJ Raymond Bingham  aka Grooverider  was sentenced to four years in prison for having a few forgotten grams of cannabis in a pair of trousers. He served a portion of his jail term before receiving a special pardon.

Even prescription drugs and painkillers can land travellers in trouble. In 2014, a 16-year-old Indian boy was arrested for carrying half a kilo of poppy seeds which his mother intended to cook with.

Swimwear is only allowed on beaches, and going topless is forbidden (Getty)

Dress appropriately

Women are expected to dress modestly in public, with arms and legs fully covered. Shopping malls will often broadcast announcements reminding people of the dress code, which is heavily enforced. Swimwear is acceptable only on beaches and at hotel pools, and topless sunbathing is forbidden  79 people were arrested for it during a 2008 crackdown on the countrys beaches.

Men should also watch their wardrobe: in 2008 police arrested 40 cross-dressing tourists, according to the Gulf News.

Don't eat in public

It is forbidden to eat or drink in public during the daylight hours of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, regardless of whether or not you are Muslim. At least one foreign couple has been fined for slurping juice at a petrol station. However, the rules are usually bent at hotels; during Ramadan, they will often screen off their restaurants so foreign guests can eat without upsetting anyone.

Get married

By law, only married couples are allowed to have sex, or even share a bed, in Dubai. In practice, hotels do not ask for proof of your relationship when you check in with your partner. However, the authorities do take the matter seriously. Appallingly, in 2016 a British woman was arrested for having extramarital sex after reporting to police that she had been raped by a group of men.

Women are expected to have arms and legs covered when visiting a mall (Getty)

Beware who you tell if you're gay

Dubais authorities are not in the business of searching for gay tourists to arrest, even though homosexual sex is illegal. Campaign group Detained in Dubai says there is a vibrant underground gay scene in Dubai, but it advises discretion. Although one should never have to hide who they are, its the only way to travel safely in the UAE if you are gay, it says.

Avoid PDA

Kissing and holding hands in public is considered to be inappropriate behaviour, according to guidelines published by the government (which also warned against playing loud music and dancing). In 2005, a British couple received a one-month jail sentence for kissing in a restaurant after a local woman complained.
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Aeroplane meals are notorious for being bland, tasteless and mass-produced. And although some airlines offer options that are a cut above, its never exactly been what youd call fine dining. But now Singapore Airlines is launching a new farm-to-plane concept that appeals to discerning passengers desire for sustainable fare.

The idea is being introduced to promote environmental sustainability; produce will be sourced from local farms in countries that Singapore Airlines flies to, and fish will be bought from fisheries certified by the Marine Stewardship Council for their sustainable fishing practices.

The airline will also use less meat in its meals, as well as creating menus around local produce from each routes destination, including cherry tomatoes, pumpkins, green beans and lettuce. Singapore Airlines says it will work with partners overseas to source as many sustainable ingredients as possible.

Our food and beverage sustainability efforts will further demonstrate and reinforce Singapore Airlines ongoing efforts to help reduce our carbon footprint and ensure a greener environment, said Marvin Tan, senior vice president of products and services. While we continue to deliver a quality in-flight dining experience, we would also like our customers to know that we are playing our part in ensuring sustainability.

The farm-to-plane menu (playing on the popularity of the farm-to-table movement) will be introduced later this year, available to suites customers on selected routes. From there, it will gradually be rolled out to passengers in other classes.

There aren't too many details available yet on exactly how local the produce is, and how it will be transported to the aircraft; it remains to be seen whether the concept will have a tangible effect on Singapore Airlines' carbon footprint rather than paying lip service.

This comes after several top chefs admitted they would never eat plane food. When asked by Bon Appetit whether he eats plane food, Anthony Bourdain replied: Never. No one has ever felt better after eating plane food. I think people only eat it because they're bored. I don't eat on planes. I like to arrive hungry.

He echoed the sentiments of outspoken chef Gordon Ramsey, who told Refinery 29: Theres no f***ing way I eat on planes. I worked for airlines for 10 years, so I know where this foods been and where it goes, and how long it took before it got on board.
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US citizens who dont already possess a visa for Turkey are now banned from travelling there, after the Turkish Embassy in Washington made an announcement on its website stating that it had suspended all visa services for Americans.

The message, posted on 8 October, read: Recent events have forced the Turkish Government to reassess the commitment of the Government of the U.S. to the security of the Turkish Mission facilities and personnel. In order to minimize the number of the visitors to our diplomatic and consular missions in the U.S. while this assessment proceeds, effective immediately we have suspended all visa services regarding the U.S. citizens at our diplomatic and consular missions in the U.S. This measure will apply to sticker visas as well as e-Visas and border visas.

Recommended British holidaymakers return to Egypt and Turkey

Americans need a visa to enter Turkey, so the move prevents any US citizen from visiting unless they already have one.

You cant go to Turkey right now, Justin Chapman, director of sales at VisaHQ, which assists travellers with procuring travel documents, told the Washington Post. We arent even allowed to process them.

American travellers who are merely catching a connecting flight in Turkey will still be allowed in, but are prohibited from leaving the airport.

This effective travel ban has led Turkish Airlines, which flies direct from Baltimore/Washington International Airport to Istanbul, to evaluate its rebooking and cancellation policies. Those with US passport whose tickets were issued before 9 October who are due to fly by 31 October are permitted to change their reservation free of charge or can claim a refund for any unused plane tickets.

For those catching a connecting flight to Turkey in the UK, airlines have made it clear that travellers will be denied boarding before embarking on the first leg of the journey if they dont have the correct visa.

Recommended Erdogan refuses to recognise US ambassador as visa spat escalates

We dont want them to get stuck in London and have to fly back, said an American Airlines spokesman.

Turkeys suspension of visas is part of a bigger spat between the two countries. The decision came in response to the USs announcement earlier in the week that it was reducing visa services at its diplomatic facilities in Turkey for security reasons, after one of its employees was detained at the Turkish consulate.

The move means that Turks are currently unable to secure visas to visit the US unless they are planning to move there.

The US Embassy in Ankara tweeted a statement from the US Mission to Turkey saying that recent events have forced it to reassess the commitment of the Government of Turkey to the security of US Mission facilities and personnel.
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The unique approach of the Giants Club Conservation and Tourism Investment Forum, the first of its kind in Africa, was to link the Ugandan Government with some of the world's premier responsible tourism firms and conservation-compatible businesses.

Ive seen quite a lot of these sorts of things over the years, and I was hugely impressed, said Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice-president for development for Europe and Africa for Hilton, the global hotel and hospitality group.

What was probably most impressive was the top-level government sponsorship, which you really need, and the consistency of messaging that was really positive.

How responsive key Ugandan government figures were in the coming weeks would speak volumes about the long-term success of the Forum, held on 6 October, Fitzgibbon said. "If you were thinking about investing in travel and tourism in Uganda today, after Friday you have to be more confident, he added.

Uganda's President, Yoweri Museveni, hosted the event, the first of its kind in Africa, and told close to 200 delegates that his country was 'open for business' for responsible tourism investment.

Central to new contracts will be rules ensuring businesses protect Uganda's environment and drive greater benefits from conservation to local people. These are key aspects of the work of the Giants Club, the initiative of the conservation organisation Space for Giants that organised the Forum with UNDP and the African Wildlife Foundation.

The managing director of Governors Camp Collection, Dominic Grammaticas, said that as potential tourism partners we are very excited by the possibilities. His collection of seven luxury safari camps and lodges are in Uganda's neighbours, Kenya and Rwanda.

Uganda is clearly saying it's open for business as far as tourism investment is concerned, he said. It's difficult to see how the government could have done more to demonstrate political will at the highest levels.

Karim Wissanji, CEO of Elewana, an exclusive collection of boutique safari camps and beach hotels in Tanzania and Kenya, signed a Letter of Intent as a result of the event that states his organisation wishes actively to explore investment opportunities.

"We recognise that the Ugandan Government has seen the increasing opportunity for responsible tourism to support the protection and management of its natural assets, to build elements of a 'nature-based economy, it said. We're interested in exploring ways to undertake investment.

The Forum focused on opportunities for sustainable eco-tourism ventures, but also widened its net to include investors from different enterprises whose business models would include conservation dividends.

One was Solarcentury, which plans to develop large solar power plants feeding electricity into Uganda's national grid, creating stable conservation funding from selling solar power

Its East Africa director, Guy Lawrence, said the forum was excellent for a number of reasons, including the new special Delivery Unit at the Uganda Investment Authority. I was impressed that the Uganda authorities have set up a one stop shop for external investors in the tourism conservation circuit, Mr Lawrence said. This is a major step towards securing investment from overseas and has been created due to the Giants Club's engagement with the Uganda Government.

To have the President also not merely turning up to 'cut a ribbon' but to be actively engaged in the conservation discussion demonstrated his absolute support for promoting conservation tourism, and that gives investors confidence, too.

While many of the sites available for fresh investment were 'tourism-ready', others would first require philanthropic attention and long-term funding to rehabilitate them, the Forum heard. That money was most likely to come from impact investors like Wild Philanthropy.

I thought the Forum was extremely well timed in terms of a confluence of a growing impact investment model alongside more traditional philanthropy and travel arms, said Will Jones, Wild Philanthropy's founder and managing director of safari operator Journeys by Design.

We have an impact travel model that fits very neatly with the Ugandan motivations of philanthropy, enterprise and travel. We are excited by the idea of working alongside the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the investment bureau to study further the opportunity. There is a neat overlap with our East Africa plans.

George Osborne, Britain's former Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) and the editor of London's Evening Standard newspaper, attended the Forum and in his speech at its close he praised the very specific investment propositions presented to delegates.

I have been to a large number of conferences and heard a large number of investment pitches, and I have to say what I've seen here was pretty good, he said. We have heard how the Ugandan Government will cut through a lot of red tape and bureaucracy for investors. What is so important now is implementation. This is a great initiative and deserves a great deal of support.
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The scenes from Catalonia when it voted for independence were undeniably horrifying. Seeing the strong arm of the Spanish state seize ballot boxes was an ugly sight  especially in a functioning western democracy.

What was strange though was just how quickly a consensus appeared among British onlookers on social media  who until that Sunday appeared to have scarcely expressed an interest in the debate there. Following the awful scenes, everyone, it appeared, supported independence.

This week, following the vote, a declaration of independence has been signed by regional leaders. Though the Catalonian government now says that it will first attempt a negotiated settlement with Spain, it seems there is only one outcome: independence. And this is something we Brits should celebrate, right? Its a triumph for democracy!

And this is where I start feeling pretty awkward as Im not sure that weve really thought this through.

 The Catalonia crisis explained in 60 seconds

Since the end of World War II, there has been a taboo on redrawing Europes borders for obvious reasons: nobody wants to go back to a continent plagued by disputes about where the lines should be drawn. For the past 70 years, every European country has agreed for the greater good not to seriously contest this  with only a handful of relatively minor exceptions.

Its easy to see why too: because one region declaring independence could lend legitimacy to the claims of other secessionist movements.

What about Scotland, for example? Unsurprisingly following the vote, The National newspaper, which supports independence, had a front page celebrating events in Catalonia  complete with Catalonian flag in the masthead.

Okay, so you might not worry about Scotland  it is pursuing independence by peaceful means that have been legitimated by the parent country, but what about other countries and regions with arguably trickier circumstances? What about the long history of demands for Spains Basque region to become independent? Could it restart the violent separatist movement there? And what about the push for Kurdish independence? Conceivably it might be a good idea, but it could equally further inflame an already difficult situation in the Middle East.

Recommended Spanish PM demands Catalan leader clarify if independence declared

And what if  for example  seeing the Catalonia precedent, a Russian speaking region of Latvia was to suddenly demand its independence, with all of the geopolitical baggage that would entail?

It also goes without saying that in situations where there is a secessionist movement, it is rarely universally supported. Look at Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Cyprus and countless others  if we let the secessionist genie out of the bottle, it could be a recipe for igniting  or reigniting  dozens of potentially violent conflicts around the world.

This might sound like a slippery slope argument  and an argument in hypotheticals, but a precedent like this has already caused international grief.

One of the few exceptions to the border taboo described above is Kosovo. In 2008, the country, which used to be a part of Serbia made a unilateral declaration of independence (just as Catalonia is threatening to do). Since, it has been cited by other secessionist movements as evidence of their legitimacy. When Crimea declared independence from Ukraine, it literally cited the Kosovo precedent in its declaration of independence.

While it is hard to not be sympathetic to Kosovo declaring independence (it was in response to a potential genocide)  whats clear is that there can be second-order consequences to events in the international system.

To be clear, despite the above Im not opposed to Catalonia becoming independent in principle  nor Kosovo, or even Crimea. In isolation, these may or may not be good outcomes. Independence for a given region could be the best outcome for that specific circumstance and there could be good reasons to break the no-border-redrawing taboo.

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

In my hopefully uncontroversial view though, responding to a genocide is certainly a more valid reason to break the taboo than the lesser grievances held by Catalonia (and indeed Scotland).

Essentially then what worries me is that we dont appreciate enough just how precarious global stability is.

For 70 years, weve experienced peace in most of Europe, and most people alive today are no doubt conditioned to think that this stability in the international system is the default state of being. But the reality is that our relatively peaceful continent is only that way because everyone has broadly accepted the same rules and taboos.

If we really want to start redrawing borders, are we sure that were willing to open the Pandoras box that goes with it? Lets make sure we think through all of the consequences first, before throwing our uncritical support behind every seemingly benign secessionist cause.

James OMalley tweets as @Psythor
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So there I was this week, staring at a picture of the Virgin Mary, painted at Melitene (now Malatya in present-day Turkey), its real home in Damascus  since it belongs to the Syriac Patriarchate, but is currently kept in Lebanon because of the war  and stunned at Marys deeply embroidered cloak (black and blue) and the brassy shine of her golden halo. And I noticed the date. 1065. Harold had yet a year to live before his death at the Battle of Hastings. We survived the Normans. But will Christians survive the Middle East?

Possibly yes. For this wonderful painting appears at an equally wondrous exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris, a place where you might expect to see more treasures from Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world than from the Christians. But then you have to remember that Christianity is an eastern religion, that Jesus appears in the Quran (so does Mary) and that for more than 600 years, Christs followers had it all to themselves in the Middle East  since the Prophet Mohamed was born in June 632 AD. And, I hasten to add, the Christians of the Arab world are  of course  also Arabs. And Muslims regard Jesus as a prophet (but not the son of God). But there you have it. The Virgin holds a scroll in her hand upon which the words are written in Greek and Estrangelo, the oldest version of the Syriac alphabet. Aramean was the language which Christ spoke  it is still spoken today in towns north of Damascus; I have heard the people there singing in Aramean, both before and after the Islamists arrived to try and kill them.

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

And here, of course, we reach the problem. Can the Christians stay in the Middle East now that they are tortured and murdered for their ancient religion? In the early 20th century, the Christians made up 20 per cent of the population. Now they are somewhere between 10 and 15 per cent. Who can blame them? A clutch of prelates in the northern Syrian city of Qamishli told me two years ago that if the Christians left, they would be absorbed by a secular world in the West and lose their religion. They told me that the West should urge them to stay. And I recalled how a martyr-cleric in Mosul was murdered by a Muslim gunman who asked him why he did not close his church as he was ordered to do. The Christian said that he could not close the house of God. And he was shot, along with two of his fellow clerics.

Without the Christians, as the French Catholic newspaper La Croix said last week, the Middle East would be a radically different place. I suspect it meant that Christians were more democratic than Muslims  that is certainly what many Lebanese Christians say today  but Christians were also part of the Islamic heritage. When the Abassid Caliph Haroun al-Rashid opened the doors of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad in 832 AD, Christians translated Greek texts into Syriac  and then into Arabic. Christian art  the IMA is about 300 yards from Notre Dame and well worth a days Eurostar trip  was deeply influenced by Islamic painting, especially of flowers. And take a look at the 17th century icon of St Simeon Stylites (he who lived on top of a pillar in northern Syria) which was painted at that great home of all icons  Aleppo!

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As for the IMA, it seems that an exhibition on the pilgrimage to Mecca three years ago demonstrated the French publics interest in Middle East religions, although in 2000 it hosted a display of Egyptian Coptic art, and Lebanese Christian works three years later. The institutes permanent collection now includes holy books and religious objects from Judaism and Christianity. Amazing to find all this in Paris, in a country so brutally struck by Islamists these past years, where you might expect to find empty corridors rather than packed rooms where visitors literally stumble over each other to get close to the artefacts.

Christians in the Middle East, as one of the curators of the exhibition says, do not want to be regarded as a minority, a residue. They want to be fully citizens of their country. Rightly so. But how do we encourage them to stay? And  have you spotted this  the problem is that word I just used: we. It is, surely, for the Muslims to encourage them to stay. Tarif Khalidi, the most recent translator of the Quran, has written about Christs miracles in Islamic texts. He is also a proponent of humanism in Muslim education, an old friend of the late Christian (Protestant) academic Kamal Salibi, a Beirut professor of history. Khalidi was always impressed by the Imam Musa al-Sadr, who revived Muslim interest in Jesus and Mary and who would lecture in churches with the cross right behind him  until Ghadafi had al-Sadr murdered in Libya in 1978, (though not for religious reasons).

Yes, I guess Christians belong in the Middle East. Strange it is how often Im told (yes, usually by Americans) that Christianity is a Western religion. So go to Paris and realise its not true.
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Donald Trump, the entertainer-President, frequently highlights the importance of the US Constitutions Second Amendment. In case youve forgotten, thats the bit that allows pretty much any Tom, Dick or Stephen Paddock to nip into their local gun shop to pick up another semi-automatic to add to their burgeoning collection.

I say Trump knows the importance. In fact, he understands the value  which is basically however many millions of dollars his support for the unencumbered right to bear arms will ensure he receives in donations from the National Rifle Association.

But before you get to the Second Amendment, there is another one to get through. Its catchily called the First Amendment, which maybe reflects its importance to Americas early lawmakers, who enshrined in its words the right to free speech and expression.

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On this constitutional nicety, the current US President appears less sold, primarily because it outrageously confers on his fellow Americans permission to disagree with their leader. You can see why he gets himself in such a tizzy over Kim Jong-un: he must be green with envy over the North Koreans ability to control his peoples every thoughts and actions.

Trump has long lambasted the media in his homeland, convinced that every outlet bar Fox and those blogs run by the Kremlin are part of a liberal establishment which is out to get him. His tweets slating the purveyors of fake news are as multitudinous as they are bombastic. And of course his tweets, paranoid and sad (sorry, SAD!) as they are, are themselves protected by the First Amendment.

After months of anti-media vitriol, we should have seen his latest attack coming. Yet there is still something shocking about the leader of the Free World seemingly raise the spectre of removing the licenses of broadcasters he doesnt much like.

First came the tweeted threat: With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country! Then, having no doubt been gladdened by the reaction, he went on to assert: Its frankly disgusting that the press is able to write whatever it wants.

Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Show all 30 1 /30 Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Railing against the Mueller investigation The president has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt" Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Trump Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling Following furious backlash in the US, the president claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it would not have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Colouring in the US flag wrong The president coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes AFP/Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter The president announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the president made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired! Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape". Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: There are a lot of killers. You think our countrys so innocent? Reuters Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldnt help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzeneggers show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of The Apprentice  which buoyed Trumps celebrity status years ago Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the worst call he had had so far Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trumps travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administrations argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there AP Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be little Rocket Man as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was no reason to be alarmed after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control Getty Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBCs Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to join him. He noted that she was bleeding badly from a face-lift at the time, and that he said no MSNBC Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 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The Presidents defence  such as it is  is to argue that journalists get things wrong and shouldnt be allowed to get away with it. And hes right that the media does sometimes foul up. But what he identifies as fake news is nothing of the sort  and is usually a view he doesnt agree with or a true but inconvenient fact.

To query the right of respectable, professional journalists to operate is the kind of thing that facile bullies do on social media all the time. That the President of the US is doing it perhaps doesnt surprise anyone nearly a year into his term of office  but it is truly chilling.

In the wake of Harvey Weinsteins fall from grace, some have questioned whether the media was complicit in covering up his despicable behaviour, or in smearing those who rejected his advances. If it was, journalists and their bosses must search their souls.

 Donald Trump threatens to shut down NBC and other TV news networks that criticise him

But Weinsteins exposure  however belated  highlights too the medias crucial role in holding the powerful to account. That is why Trump hates so much of what he sees in the papers and on TV  because he cannot control people who are seeking to shine a spotlight on his policies, his personality and his often bizarre presidency.

Maybe the playground rhyme about sticks and stones breaking bones but names never hurting is a British thing. Evidently Trump doesnt buy it, in any case.

He appears not to give a damn about any number of sticks, stones or bump stocks, however many casualties they cause, because they cant show up his absurdities or prick his ginormous ego. When it comes to words though, they have the capacity to damage him very much.

Yes, the media has an obligation to aim for the truth. But Trump has a duty  to which he must be held  not to take aim at free speech.
Mehrdad Radseresht has been in a divorce court fight with Barbara Spain-Radseresht

A wealthy Iranian businessman is waiting to hear whether he has won a divorce court fight with his estranged Irish wife.

Diplomat's son Mehrdad Radseresht, 72, says Barbara Spain-Radseresht, who is 49 and used to work in the travel industry, agreed to a divorce when they lived in the Middle East more than seven years ago.

Mrs Spain-Radseresht, who comes from Dublin and now lives in London, disputes his claim and says she is entitled to a fair share of a marital fortune running into tens of millions of pounds.

A High Court judge has been asked to make decisions about the validity of the marriage.

Mr Justice Cohen has finished analysing evidence at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in London and is scheduled to deliver a ruling on Friday.

Mr Radseresht says they reached a divorce settlement agreement in Dubai in 2009 after Mrs Spain-Radseresht was unfaithful.

Mrs Spain-Radseresht says she was tricked into signing paperwork.

She said she only found out about the ''alleged Dubai divorce'' a year ago when she made a separate divorce application.
Failure to deal with the legacy of the Troubles is "infecting" policing in Northern Ireland with "the disease of the past", it has been warned.

Victims groups have said that the lack of resources dedicated to investigating Troubles related killings is blocking reconciliation and powersharing within the region.

During a meeting of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in the Dail on Thursday, Anne Cadwallader of the Pat Finucane Centre said that families have a right to know as much as possible about what happened to their loved ones.

"How can the fact that a mere 0.2% of the overall criminal justice budget (in Northern Ireland) is being spent on legacy inquiries encourage confidence?

"It can't and it doesn't. These problems are infecting the new policing arrangements with the diseases of the past," she said.

Ms Cadwallader added: "On top of that, the inquest system in Northern Ireland has now effectively collapsed. The Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan in his business model said it will cost 10m (11.11m euro) to fund the 56 outstanding inquests into 98 deaths.

"The DUP leader Arlene Foster is facing a legal challenge for allegedly blocking Sir Declan's plan after she confirmed in a BBC interview she would not allow it to proceed because she doesn't believe enough innocent victims are on the list.

"How is all of this improving the prospect of reconciliation and powersharing? London cannot be allowed to abdicate its responsibilities or use the powersharing executive at Stormont as cover for its failures."

Ms Cadwallader also criticised demands from some politicians for an "amnesty" for members of the Army who were involved in Troubles related killings.

Referring to the case of 27-year-old John Pat Cunningham, a vulnerable adult who was shot dead by soldiers in County Armagh in 1974 as he ran away from them, she said: " That family has had to listen to some British politicians and newspapers calling for what amounts to an amnesty for people who kill Irish citizens while wearing the uniform of the British Army."

She added: "Even worse, the victim's family has witnessed some of these same ex British soldiers blaming them for having the audacity of letting John Pat out of the house on the day he was killed."

Mike Ritchie, of Relatives for Justice, accused the PSNI of failing to do enough to assist legacy inquests and investigations.

"(PSNI Chief Constable) George Hamilton claims he wishes to hand over legacy matters and concentrate on policing the present. He, however, and his deputy Drew Harris were RUC officers.

"By their actions they are protecting the legacy of the RUC and thereby undermining the reputation and potential legacy of the PSNI," he claimed.

Fianna Fail Senator Mark Daly said the UK government must be pressurised into tackling the legacy issue.

He added that Brexit could be used as "leverage" to make the UK Government resolve the issue as part of a Brexit settlement.

Sinn Fein MLA Paul Maskey said: "Family members are dying. Grandchildren are now looking at this. We need to get the issue of legacy resolved."
The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said he will not recommend that talks should start on the post-Brexit UK/EU trade relationship at next week's European Council summit.

Mr Barnier said this week's fifth round of negotiations ended without making any "great steps forward" and there was "deadlock" on the UK's financial settlement.

He told a press conference in Brussels at the conclusion of the four-day talks: "On this basis I am not able in the current circumstances to propose next week to the European Council that we should start discussions on the future relationship."

Mr Barnier's comments represent a setback to the UK Government, which had been hoping to persuade the remaining 27 EU leaders at the October 19 summit that sufficient progress had been made on the divorce deal to move on to discussions on the future UK/EU relationship on issues including trade.

Mr Barnier told a closing news conference in Brussels the talks had "clarified" some issues but that more needed to be done.

"We clarified some points without however making any great steps forward," he said

But there was "still disagreement" on how to resolve issues about citizens' rights after Brexit.

And he said there was "deadlock" on the issue of the scale of Britain's financial settlement, a subject on which there were no negotiations this week.

Mrs May's announcement in her Florence speech that Britain would honour commitments entered into as an EU member was important, he said.

But he added: "This week, however, the UK repeated that it was still not ready to spell out these commitments.

"There have therefore been no negotiations on this subject. We confined ourselves to technical discussions - useful discussions, but technical discussions.

"On this question we have reached a state of deadlock which is very disturbing for thousands of project promoters in Europe and it's disturbing also for taxpayers."

Mr Barnier held out the hope for progress by the time of the December summit of the European Council.

But he insisted the EU would not make "concessions" on the three key withdrawal issues of expats' rights, the status of the Irish border and the UK's financial contribution.

He said it was vital that the final relationship between the UK and the EU was based on "confidence", adding: "Confidence must follow from clarity and the honouring of all commitments we have entered into together as the 28."

Mr Barnier said: "We are not asking the British to make concessions. The agreement we are working on will not be built on concessions.

"There is no question of making concessions on citizens' rights. There is no question of making concessions on the peace process in Northern Ireland.

"As regards the financial settlement, there is no question of making concessions on thousands of European investment projects throughout Europe."

He added: "We have shared objectives and we have shared obligations. We also have shared duties and we shall succeed only with shared solutions. That is our responsibility.

"I've been saying since the Florence speech that there is a new momentum, and I remain convinced today that with political will, decisive progress is within our grasp in the next two months."

Mr Barnier said negotiations on the status of the Irish border had "advanced" during this week's discussions.

But he said there was "more work to do in order to build a full picture of the challenges to North-South co-operation resulting from the UK - and therefore Northern Ireland - leaving the EU legal framework".

Brexit Secretary David Davis said while there was still much work to be done, the talks had made "significant progress" since June.

On the issue of citizens' rights, he said they were confident there would be agreement "soon" on incorporating the final withdrawal treaty into UK law, ensuring EU nationals in the UK would be able to enforce their rights through the UK courts.

EU citizens would still have to register with the UK authorities but the process would be streamlined to make it as simple as possible.

Those already in possession of a permanent residence card would be able to exchange it for "settled status" without having to go through the full application process again, he added.

Mr Davis said the Government had undertaken a "rigorous examination" of the technical details needed to reach a financial settlement.

"This is not a process for agreeing specific commitments," he said.

"We have been clear that can only come later but it is an important step so that when the time comes we will be able to reach a political agreement quickly and simply."

The Brexit Secretary said to give certainty "we must talk about the future" and called on EU leaders to change Mr Barnier's negotiating mandate.

"I hope the leaders of the 27 will provide Michel with the means to explore ways forward with us on that and build on the spirit of co-operation we now have."

Mr Barnier said the EU was ready to face "any eventualities" but warned that failure to secure an agreement would be a "bad" outcome.

"No deal will be a very bad deal," he said.

The negotiator said his mandate in the talks was "precise" rather than "restrictive".

He dismissed calls to change the running order of the negotiations.

"To make a success of the negotiations we have got to do things in the right order," he said. "That is a condition of success.

"If we mix everything up, there are risks."

Mr Davis said the UK was aiming for a deal but had to be ready for the alternatives.

"As the Prime Minister said yesterday, the UK is planning for all outcomes. It's not what we seek, we want to see a good deal, but we are planning for everything.

"It's the duty of a responsible government to plan for all scenarios, however improbable, and that's what we are doing.

"When money needs to be spent, it will be spent, when it needs to be spent."
Financial services tenants accounted for 36pc of take-up in Dublin in the latest quarter. Stock image

Office leasing transactions of 183,630 sq m were signed in the Dublin market in the first nine months of this year, according to the latest quarterly report on the sector from CBRE.

Forty-seven individual lettings occurred in Dublin in the third quarter compared to 121 in the first six months of the year; 23 of the 47 transactions extended to less than 465 sq m (5,000 sq ft).

Financial services tenants accounted for 36pc of take-up in Dublin in the latest quarter while tenants in the computer and high-tech sector accounted for 20pc of office transactions signed in the period. The public sector meanwhile accounted for 15pc of leasing activity in the Dublin office market.
Minutes after Paschal Donohoe finished his Budget speech a rural senator was in a flap on the Leinster House plinth.

Hed received a phonecall from a friend wanting to know whether the hike to commercial stamp duty would impact on farms.

The Fianna Fail politician spotted a Cabinet minister emerging from the building and made a b-line.

Oh no, wed wont do that, was the reply from the minister when asked if the sale of farms would be hit.

The consensus was that Mr Donohoe wouldnt target farmers in such a way. More than most they tend to get up early in the morning.

At a press conference Agriculture Minister Michael Creed publicly expressed a similar view, saying: We need to nail this one, because Ive seen some commentary on social media. The increase in stamp duty does not apply to agricultural land.

However, it is now clear that it does. Existing exemptions from normal stamp duty where the sale is within a family or for young trained farmers will continue to apply. In other words a two-tier system has been created where under 35s will pay tens of thousands less for farmland than older farmers.

A common scenario which sees a farmer retire and their neighbour buy up some of the land to extend their own acreage will now be subject to 6pc stamp duty.

Was it an oversight? Source in the Department of Finance say it wasnt.

Mr Donohoe was aware that farm land is classified as commercial for the purpose of sales transaction and was comfortable that it should stay that way. Although it does seem he failed to alert rural colleagues that they might have to go out and defend the move.

For their part Fianna Fail want to give the controversy a wide berth. They know the Government has to raise money from somewhere to pay for the social welfare increasers and cuts to the USC that they demanded.

In his Dail contribution on the Budget, Micheal Martin made only a fleeting reference to what was arguably the most significant measures contained in Mr Donohoes plan.

Independent commentators have suggested that the revenue projection for stamp duty is not much better than sticking a finger in the air, was Mr Martins solitary observation.

It doesnt end there though because experts are also pointing to other potential problems the tax creates for rural Ireland.

Tax Partner at EY Ireland, John Heffernan told the Irish Independent while the hike is probably justifiable in Dublin but there is more reason for concern for the viability of commercial projects outside the capital.

Admittedly, prices are lower and therefore the impact is less in money terms, but this is still likely to adversely affect places already struggling, he said.

Mr Heffernan suggests Mr Donohoe should consider a tapered rate for smaller projects - for example, a 3pc rate for transfers up to 2m and 4pc for transfers up to 5m. This might particularly help projects outside of Dublin where values are lower, he said.

This seems like a policy that simply hasnt been rural proofed.
Both the Departments of Agriculture and Finance are currently examining the traditional arrangements to be put in place for those who have recently signed contracts to purchase land.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is standing over his decision to include farmland in his hike of stamp duty on property from 2pc to 6pc.

The measure in Budget 2018 caught Agriculture Minister Michael Creed off guard and has resulted in a backlash from farming bodies.

It is also understood both Departments are examining the upper age limit on of 67 on the consanguinity stamp duty in a effort to lessen the impact of the tax hike.

There was initial confusion within government as to whether this would directly impact the sale of farmland but Mr Donohoe has confirmed it will with the exception of inter-family sales and where the buyer is under 35 years of age.

As a result Kildare-based auctioneer Paddy Jordan told the Irish Independent the vast majority of farms sold will now be subject to the new higher rate of tax.

We see some young farmers buying who will qualify for the 0pc relief and carry out valuations for inter-family transactions, but the vast majority of land sales are to people who do not qualify for such reliefs, he said.

Mr Jordan sold a large farm for over 1.3m on Budget Day.

The deal was signed before the Budget was passed and the buyers Stamp Duty will be over 20,000, but if the farmer had bought the land after the Budget, he would be facing a Stamp Duty bill in excess of 80,000, Mr Jordan said.

IFA President Joe Healy said the Government must honour the commitment made by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed that the increase in commercial stamp duty from 2% to 6%, announced in the Budget, would not apply to farmland.

The Minister must sit down with the Minister for Finance Pascal Donohoe as a matter of urgency and clarify how this commitment will be implemented," he said.

Joe Healy acknowledged that the Stamp Duty reliefs for young trained farmers and for related parties would take an amount of transactions out of the 6% rate. However, there would still be a substantial amount of land sales and transfers which are not covered by these reliefs. Minister Creed and Minister Donohoe must make urgent provisions to ensure these transactions undertaken by farmers remain at the old 2% rate, he said.
Kerry Group has raised its medium-term growth targets and confirmed that it has acquired US-based probiotics firm Ganeden.

Kerry CEO Ed Scanlon told investors that the group plans to deliver in excess of 10pc growth a year in adjusted earnings per share over the next five years.

"This will be delivered through achievement of above industry-average volume growth and continued business margin expansion," he said.

"We expect to achieve 3pc to 5pc volume growth annually on a group-wide basis, with taste and nutrition targeting 4pc to 6pc growth, and consumer foods targeting 2pc to 3pc growth."

Mr Scanlon also told investors that trading profit margin in the taste and nutrition unit is targeted to grow by 40 basis points a year. The margin in the consumer foods division is expected to expand by 20 basis points a year. Those performances will contribute to an annual improvement of 30 basis points in the overall group margin in the next five years, according to Kerry.

"Kerry Group has a unique scalable business model which I am confident can deliver the continued organic growth of the business across developed and developing markets as planned," added Mr Scanlon.

"We are in a strong position to lead the continued consolidation of our industry benefiting from the group's strong balance sheet, scalable business model and geographic footprint."

Kerry's taste and nutrition unit is the group's biggest, accounting for 79pc of the company's 6.1bn revenue last year, and 86pc of its 750m trading profit.

The company has 130 manufacturing locations around the world, as well as regional development centres in countries such as India, Singapore, China and Brazil.

It has two global technology and innovation centres - one in Ireland and the other in the US.

Mr Scanlon also told investors that Kerry is continuing to target a return on average capital employed of more than 12pc per annum.

The CEO, who succeeded Stan McCarthy in the role earlier this year, also confirmed the acquisition of Ohio-based Ganeden, which it described as a leading innovation company focused on patented probiotics and related technologies.

Among its products is a cosmetic application called Bonicel, a personal care product designed to help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and roughness.

The company has more than 135 patents for probiotics across a range of applications in animal health, food, and beverages, as well as personal care. Ganeden will generate sales of about $25m this year.

Kerry said that Ganeden's technology will be extended into wider applications across the group's global developed and developing markets.
A Ryanair pilot, who has worked for the airline for more than 10 years, has written to the airline's chief executive, Michael OLeary, outlining the concerns of pilots at the airline.

Captain Imelda Comer has also written to other Ryanair pilots stating that she was prepared to serve the pilots in order to offer to develop a fair representation system which will benefit their collective interests.

In a letter addressed to Mr OLeary, which was hand delivered to the company office yesterday, Ms Comer, who revealed that she is leaving Ryanair in the near future, said that she was writing as a conduit to enable constructive engagement between Ryanair management and the pilot body.

Ms Comer told Mr O'Leary that the main aim of the correspondence was to provide the airline with a Ryanair pilot  as per Ryanairs request  through which dialogue could take place.

Ms Comer claimed that the airline has either ignored or claimed as non-legitimate, previous correspondence from Ryanair pilots which has been endorsed by the European ERC in 60 bases.

The letter also insists that the interim EERC wishes to proactively and constructively engage with the company to help resolve what it describes as the current difficulties.

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The Irish Independent has previously reported that an interim European ERC (EERC) has been independently established by a group of Ryanair pilots from at least 15 of the airline's bases.

Those bases represent the a significant majority of Ryanair's pilots.

The EERC has told management that is has a mandate to deal with management on behalf of a number of bases.

But chief executive Michael O'Leary has insisted he won't deal with the EERC. He has also said he will never deal with unions.

Among the pilots' requests in the letter sent to Mr OLeary are that no legal action will be taken against any EERC member in the performance of their representative work, and that any disciplinary action, taken for any reason, will be handled by an independent third party.

Other requests include that pilot hours will not be less than their average monthly average prior to becoming a representative, and that EERC members will not be assigned unpaid leave, unless they request it.

Should Ryanair provide written assurances as to the security of pilot representatives then the pilots will be happy to disclose their identity, and engage in meaningful and constructive discussions, the letter from Ms Comer stated.

She has also claimed that offers made by the airline to pilots in the last 48 hours have not been negotiated with anyone, not do reflect the concerns or requirements set out by pilots.

"This letter from the so-called EERC is entirely disingenuous and is signed by a contractor pilot who has already resigned and is leaving Ryanair on 31st October as she confirmed she is moving to Asia. We will not be corresponding with, or replying to, the claims made by this so-called EERC/RPG/REPA or any other front set up by competitor pilot unions," Ryanair said in a statement.

"If Ryanair pilots wish to negotiate pay increases of up to 22,000 p.a. or anything else with the airline, they are free to do so at all times through the existing base ERC structures, which have been validated by the Supreme Court of Ireland and have operated successfully for over 25 years without any invented claims about pilot security.

"Ryanair wishes Ms Comer every success with her planned move to Asia."
Facebook is bidding to give virtual reality takeup a boost by slashing the prices of its Oculus units and expanding content into its main social newsfeeds.

At the companys annual virtual reality conference, Oculus 4, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced a new standalone VR headset, Oculus Go, to be released next year for $199 (with no eurozone price yet). The new gadget will be the first major mobile VR headset that doesnt require a phone or a cabled connection to a PC. It will include orientation tracking and a controller and is aimed at punters who want to watch movies, play games or hang out with other VR users online using virtual avatars.

The company also announced a price cut to its flagship Oculus Rift set, reducing the cost from $499 to $399 in the US. This cut is also expected to hit Irish pricing, which currently stands at 649 for the Rift.

Meanwhile, Facebook has unveiled its big VR project for the future - a wireless, full powered headset that will have similar performance and tracking levels to the flagship Rift product. Calling it Project Santa Cruz, Mark Zuckerberg said that the unit would ship in 2019.

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The announcements will be seen as an effort to keep virtual reality to the forefront of technology investment.

Flagged over the last two years as the next big thing, the hype around virtual reality has abated over the last 12 months with few big announcements coming from major players.

Gaming, once seen as an instant winner for virtual reality platforms, has seen a slow take up of the technology.

Facebook, which owns Oculus, is trying to promote the expansion of virtual reality into wider areas such as business, health and social interaction.

Its Spaces feature lets people hang out virtually with each other using digital avatars. The platform was the focus of a minor controversy prior to the Oculus 4 conference, when Mark Zuckerberg had to apologise for insensitively using the Spaces feature in weather-devastated Puerto Rico.

However, the company wants to broaden awareness and interaction with VR interfaces by including 3D posts on ordinary Facebook newsfeeds.

The move will see 3D-drawn digital objects added to Facebook feeds where users on phones and computers will be able to move, open or otherwise fiddle around with objects in front of them.

The 3D artifacts can be created in Spaces or in Oculus Medium, Facebooks virtual reality crafting zone.

Facebook is also switching on the ability to see comments when livestreaming from a Gear VR headset, while also adding live 360 video to Spaces.

Digital avatars within the medium are also to get a personalisation overhaul, with more hair, skin and clothing choices and lip-synched mouth movement, eye movement and facial expressions slated for introduction next year.
Google summoned about 200 policy staff from around the world last month for a debate on whether its size has made it too attractive as a target for government regulators.

The two-day retreat in Monterey, California, where employees from the $682bn company plied Washington policy experts with questions about the pros and cons of its size, took place as Google confronts European antitrust claims and proposed US legislation that would increase online publishers' liability for content produced by others.

This week, the Alphabet Inc unit disclosed new information that could further roil the regulatory picture: revelations that Russian-linked accounts used its advertising network to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. The news put Google in the company of Facebook and Twitter, both of which are embroiled in the controversy surrounding Russia's involvement in last year's US elections. Executives at all three companies are scrambling to respond.

Facebook has hired two crisis PR firms, and it plans to bring on as many as 1,000 people to screen ads. Top executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are phoning members of Congress directly.

The company reported spending more than $3.2m on lobbying in the first quarter of 2017, a company record. Google spent almost $6m in the second quarter for its own record. Both firms, with Twitter, are working together to deal with issues related to the Russian ads.

"There is a lot of pressure to intervene in this case because of the democratic implications," said Laura DeNardis, director of the Internet Governance Lab at American University in Washington. "Because of the rising stakes for cyberspace, for the economy, for democracy, there is greater attention."

It's a delicate balance for the companies, whose products reached massive scale because of their ability to transact advertising automatically, without much restriction. They must work out how much responsibility to take and how much change to promise, without succumbing to costly regulation or setting a precedent that might be difficult to follow in other countries.

In the context of political advertising, some lawmakers are already proposing new limits. "We must update our laws to ensure that when political ads are sold online Americans know who paid for them," said Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Two congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller are examining whether Russian operatives used social-media platforms to influence US voters in 2016.

Investigators are also examining possible collusion between Russian interests and associates of President Donald Trump. Facebook has turned over more than 3,000 ads purchased by Russian entities to both congressional investigations. Twitter has said it gave the panels a roundup of advertisements by RT, a TV network funded by the Russian government.

Facebook for years has sought exemptions from political-ad disclosure rules - but recently said it's working on ways to show who pays for ads. It also indicated it might be open to some transparency regulation.

For Google, the new concerns around political advertising come as it responds to EU antitrust charges and tries to preserve online platforms' liability protections under a law known as Section 230. A Senate bill aimed at stopping online sex trafficking has drawn opposition from Google, Facebook and other internet companies because it weakens those protections.

Google executives expected Congress to be more receptive to its arguments. They were caught off-guard by negative responses to the company's lobbying, said one Washington operative.

Meanwhile, a potential showdown on political advertising looms on November 1, when executives from Google, Facebook and Twitter have been summoned to Washington to give public testimony before congressional committees.

Facebook's two top executives - Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg - have joined others in making calls to members of Congress and trying to smooth relationships. It has also hired two crisis communications firms to help it on both Republican and Democratic fronts. A letter went out to advertisers, saying Facebook staff would manually review ads that target people based on their politics, religion, ethnicity or social issues.

The strategy is meant to reassure the public, and lawmakers, that Facebook is working on solutions and therefore doesn't need to be regulated more. (Bloomberg)
'Lufthansa declined to comment on the matter but said it was confident it would meet the deadline for negotiations.' Pic: Bloomberg

Lufthansa is poised to agree a deal to buy assets of Air Berlin, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters ahead of a deadline today for talks to carve up the insolvent German airline.

"The deal with Lufthansa is done, there is agreement," the person said yesterday, adding that talks with low-cost carrier EasyJet were not yet completed.

Ryanair looked at a potential bid for Air Berlin, having originally described the insolvency process as "a stitch-up" to deliver the German airline's assets to domestic rival Lufthansa.

Air Berlin, which has struggled to turn a profit over the last decade, filed for insolvency on August 15.

A German government loan has kept its planes in the air while it negotiates with potential buyers over parts of its business.

It said late last month that negotiations with Lufthansa and Britain's EasyJet would continue until October 12.

The person familiar with the matter said Lufthansa was set to buy Air Berlin's Niki leisure unit, its LG Walter regional airline and some additional aircraft.

Lufthansa declined to comment on the matter but said it was confident it would meet the deadline for negotiations.

EasyJet had no immediate comment.

Since Air Berlin's insolvency, UK-based Monarch has also gone into insolvency. It ceased trading suddenly last week, leaving about 100,000 UK tourists stranded across Europe until they were flown home by British authorities at an estimated cost of 60m. (Reuters)
Notable for the large amount of silt it carries, the Yellow River, Chinas second longest river, has become a limpid waterway in recent years, thanks to the countrys progress in hydraulic engineering and ecological construction.

Considered both as the cradle of Chinese civilization and the countrys ecological malady, the Yellow River is vital for Chinas agriculture, yet the large amount of sediment it carries can clog reservoirs, break levees, and even cause potentially catastrophic floods. According to statistics, if it runs to the sea with sufficient volume, more than 1.1 billion tons of silt can be carried to the sea annually.

Though being rampant with silt for thousands of year, the river has been tamed in the past two decades, thanks to Chinas water conservancy projects, including the Xiaolangdi Dam, which have been purging the silt-clogged river since 2002.

The river has been clean for over ten years, sometimes the color of the river even turns into crystal green. Once a river with great power that can churn up waves as high as 2 meters, it now appears to be quiet and peaceful, Jia Changzhi, a peasant from Yonghe, Shanxi province, who has been living along the river for his whole life, told the China Youth Daily.

According to experts, ever since the Xiaolangdi Dam started impounding water from the Yellow River in 1999, the slit in the river has reduced significantly. The downstream of the river carried only 64 million tons of silt annually from 2000 to 2015, reducing 1.1 billion from the average since 1950 to 1999.

The Yellow River has become clean 43 times in history, with the longest clean period of over 20 days in 1727. Since 2000, the river has been clean for even longer periods, Li Erong, a geological history expert, told the China Youth Daily.

Desludging the Yellow River has always been a dream for many Chinese scientists and the public. Zhu Xianmo, a renowned scientist from the Chinese Academy of Science who died on Oct. 11, has devoted all his life to the cause, pointing out that the permeability of the soil is the key to purge the river.

If the management of the Yellow River runs smoothly, even elderly people like me may witness emerald water running in the Yellow River, said Zhu at the age of 88, a dream that has become true as 80 percent of the river remains clean during the non-flood season now.
The US government has said it is "critically important" its views are taken into account when the High Court finalises questions to be decided by the Court of Justice of the EU on the validity of EU-US data transfer channels.

The referral was granted in the Commissioner's proceedings against Facebook Ireland and Austrian lawyer Max Schrems. The case was rooted in a complaint by Mr Schrems about transfer of his data by Facebook to its US parent.

Facebook is also considering seeking an appeal against the Irish court's decision to ask the CJEU to determine whether European Commission decisions approving use of the channels, known as Standard Contractual Clauses, are valid or not.

Ms Justice Caroline Costello heard submissions yesterday about preparing questions for determination by the CJEU.

That arises from her significant judgment granting Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon's application for a referral. The case, the judge noted, has potentially huge implications for billions of euro worth of EU-US trade and data privacy rights of millions of EU citizens as well as their safety and security .

The judge made the referral for reasons including she agreed with the Commissioner there are "well founded" grounds for believing three European Commission decisions approving data transfer channels known as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are invalid. That was due to the absence of an effective remedy in the US for an EU citizen who alleged breach of data privacy rights.

Eileen Barrington SC, for the US government, said it is anxious to have its views on the questions considered for reasons including to ensure the description of US law in the final High Court referral order is "factually accurate".

She was also concerned the Commissioner appeared of the view the US government is not a party to the proceedings before the CJEU.

Lawyers for Digital Europe, the Business Software Alliance and Washington-based Electronic Privacy Centre - all legal assistants to the court in the Commissioner's case - said they also wished to be heard on the questions.
'If I'd been limping along semi-functionally, I might have just kept going. In a way I am lucky that my situation was so bad I needed treatment.' Photo: Tony Gavin

Entertainer Joanne McNally has turned her fight against an eating disorder into a comedy show, which will tour around Ireland from next week.

The Dublin-born stand up comedian, who has previously been open about her battles with Anorexia and Bulimia, said she found writing the play easy while she was receiving treatment.

"I had a lot of free time when I was in treatment, in-between getting weighed and going to counselling, so I just started writing about what was going on," she told Independent.ie.

"I think I see comedy in pretty much anything and I know there was definitely comedy in losing your mind, which is what I done. I had completely lost my mind.

"Yes, eating disorders are serious, all mental health issues are serious, but it does have its funny moments."

The former Republic Of Telly star (33), who is currently making a documentary about couples who regret having their kids, admits she still finds parts of her show difficult to perform.

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"There are parts of the show I find hard to do even at this stage, because when I do the show, I'm back in the situation. I'm sick again, almost. I'm back in hospital.

"It wasn't that long ago and I still remember it so well. It's still kind of raw, I guess, which is why I think the show is strong. It's a very honest, raw kind of show."

Despite this, the comedian, who previously worked for PR company Thinkhouse, said she is thrilled with the reaction 'Bite Me' has garnered so far.

She was left particularly speechless after a young audience member told her after a performance that the show inspired her to seek help for herself.

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"That was amazing. It just left me with goosebumps.

"Then there are other people who come and just say that they found it really funny and that's great too," she said.

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'Bite Me' kicks off its Irish tour Cork's Everyman Theatre next Wednesday. After this, the show will travel to Bray, Belfast, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire.

For information and support on Anorexia Nervosa or other eating disorders visit www.seechange.ie or www.bodywhys.ie or call the Irish Helpline on: 1890 200 444
AN IRISH villain whose home became one of the country's most haunted houses now has a new play based on his dissolute and violent life.

Sir Henry Browne Hayes became one of the most notorious figures of 18th Century Ireland and a popular Halloween villain in Cork.

The son of a wealthy Cork miller and brewer, he devoted his life to drinking and gambling

Despite this, his well-connected friends ensured that he was knighted and then became Sheriff of Cork.

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However, he earned lasting notoriety when, in 1797, he decided to solve his financial problems by kidnapping a pretty heiress, Mary Pike (21), and forcing her to marry him so he could claim her fortune.

The young woman was kidnapped in the Glanmire area and taken to Browne Hayes's home at Vernon Mount in Cork.

She was rescued but, legend has it, suffered bouts of madness for the rest of her life over what happened.

Irish and British society was shocked by the crime. Browne Hayes was eventually captured but avoided being executed

despite the fact it was commonplace for people to be hanged for stealing anything more valuable than an apple.

He was sent as a convict to Australia though he later managed to make his way back to Ireland, even surviving a shipwreck.

Expand Close Pictured: The fire at Mount Vernon (Photo: Twitter/@higginskev) / Facebook

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His Cork home, Vernon Mount, was gutted in an arson attack last year - destroying priceless works of art.

However, it was reputed to rank as amongst the most haunted buildings in Ireland alongside Loftus Hall in Wexford.

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Locals said the villa - named in honour of US President George Washington - was haunted by the spirit of Mary Pike.

Now, talented Cork composers Alan Kiely and Kevin Connolly, working with former RTE head of music, Cathal McCabe, have put music to a play entitled 'Sir Henry'.

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Directed by Ann Dunne and Anne Egan, the play will be staged - in full period costume - at the Riverside Park in Macroom, Co Cork from October 27 to November 5.

Mr McCabe said 'Sir Henry' is along the lines of an Andrew Lloyd Webber production with a fascinating central story.

"It had to be written to suit the characters singing it. It has been a challenge but these guys do it brilliantly. Im astounded by the level of song writing and the music is genuinely attractive, as is the set," he said.

The fact that this is a local story about a local villain is extremely important. People are playing their own ancestors."

"The places they will bring us to are still there today. Moving it to the city would be a challenge but the purpose-built stage in Macroom is a similar size to The Everyman so that is a possibility  but you just couldnt transplant it without taking into account the stage size and lighting."

It is a fascinating story. Sir Henry is a complete bastard. He has no redeeming features whatsoever. But like Mozarts Don Giovanni and a particular politician who stands out in Irish history, people still like him, Mr McCabe added.
An Irish woman embroiled in a divorce court fight with her wealthy estranged Iranian husband has told a London High Court judge that she was threatened with "house arrest" at their home in Dubai after having an affair.

Businessman Mehrdad Radseresht (72) says that Barbara Spain-Radseresht, who is 49 and used to work in the travel industry, agreed to a divorce when they lived in the Middle East more than seven years ago.

Mrs Spain-Radseresht, who comes from Dublin and now lives in London, disputes his claim and says she is entitled to a fair share of a marital fortune she says runs into tens of millions.

A High Court judge has been asked to make decisions about the validity of the marriage.

Mr Justice Cohen is analysing evidence at a public hearing in the family division of the High Court in London. He said the couple could be named.

Mr Radseresht says they had reached a divorce settlement agreement in Dubai in 2009 after Mrs Spain-Radseresht was unfaithful. Mrs Spain-Radseresht says she was tricked into signing paperwork.

She said she only found out about the "alleged Dubai divorce" a year ago when she made a separate divorce application.

The judge was told a private investigator discovered that Mrs Spain-Radseresht was having an affair in 2009.

Mrs Spain-Radseresht said yesterday that her husband threatened "house arrest" and dragged her around by her hair after learning of the affair.

She told the judge: "This was a terrifying experience."

But she said they had "started afresh" and moved to London.

She said Mr Radseresht was "always abusive".

"He gets very angry, then he gets very nice," she added.

"I am very used to him changing from being very, very nasty to very, very nice."

Mr Radseresht denies Mrs Spain-Radseresht's abuse allegations. He shook his head at the back of the court as she gave evidence.

Mr Justice Cohen has heard how the couple had lived in Dubai, Iran, London and California.

Mrs Spain-Radseresht also told of "two palaces" in Iran with a combined value of more than 5m (4.5m) and a home in Ireland.

In 2005, a former United States ambassador to Somalia praised Mr Radseresht as a "fearless" businessman in an American newspaper article.

Dan Simpson told how in 1994 Mr Radseresht wanted to revive Somalian banana cultivation and exports.

Mr Simpson wrote in the 'Pittsburgh Post-Gazette': "This is a man with courage, imagination and a sharp eye for spotting a promising business opportunity.

"He is also an example of the best kind of American businessman - one who never loses sight of the well-being of the producers.

"May the Mehrdads of this world be fruitful and multiply. America needs them."

The hearing continues, and is expected to end later this week.
A MENTALLY ill man who stabbed his pregnant sister in the back because she was carrying a Dublin baby has been found not guilty of attempted murder by reason of insanity.

A jury delivered its unanimous verdict in the case of Daniel OConnell (33) at the Central Criminal Court this afternoon.

Mr OConnell, who has Aspergers Syndrome, had developed an unnatural, almost pathological dislike of Dublin and its people when he decided he had to kill his older sister Olivia (42).

He went to her home in the south of the city where he set upon her with a knife, stabbing her four times in the back before she managed to wrestle the knife off him and escape.

Ms OConnell, who was being treated for cancer at the time, survived and her baby was born healthy.

Her brother, from Rosemount, Newpark, Co Kilkenny, pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Ms OConnell (42) at Scholarstown Park, Scholarstown Road, Knocklyon on April 25, 2016.

The jury had heard Mr OConnell did not want his sisters unborn child to be brought up in the capital and his profound and enduring resentment towards Dublin people stemmed from a humiliating childhood incident in which he was teased by other boys on a trip to Mosney.

Consultant psychiatrists for both the prosecution and the defence had found that he did not properly understand what he was doing was wrong when he attacked his sister. After ruminating on his delusion he reached a point of inevitability and could not refrain from attacking her, the court heard.

The jury of six men and six women had been deliberating for just over two hours when they returned with their verdict this afternoon.

Mr OConnell, wearing an open-necked grey shirt, and navy jeans did not react when the verdict was read out by the court registrar. His sister Olivia, who was present with her partner throughout the two-day trial also showed no reaction.

Mr Justice Paul Butler made an order committing Mr OConnell to the Central Mental Hospital for ongoing treatment.

Vincent Heneghan SC, for the defence, said a report would be available for the court on October 23 as to the future plan for Mr OConnell.

Judge Butler thanked the jury and exempted them from further jury service for 10 years. He commended lead investigator Garda Niall Russell and added: my sympathy to the victim of a horrendous attack.

Ms OConnell did not give evidence during the trial. In her garda statement, she said she had been watching TV on her sofa at around 3.30pm when she saw a man walk into her driveway wearing a red jacket with a baseball cap and dark glasses.

She did not initially recognise her brother but when she did, she let him in the back door.

He had driven from the family home to Portlaoise, got the train from there and buses to her house.

He went upstairs to the toilet and she heard a cracking noise, like a metal bar falling on the floor.

Unexpectedly, he came in via the kitchen and came at me at a faster than normal pace, her statement said. He was wearing surgical latex gloves and had a knife.

I was lying on the sofa, the first things I saw were the gloves and the knife, she said.

She said she jumped up and and tried to take the knife from him and talk him down.

He reached over my shoulder and stabbed me in the back three to four times, she told gardai.

I said dont do this Daniel, you are going to be really sorry when you calm down, she said.

Ms OConnell wrestled the knife from his grip and ran to the back door but it was locked and the key was not there.

He pushed her and she ran to the front door. He grabbed her dressing gown, trying to pull her back, then stamped on her calves to try to bring her down.

Her dressing gown ripped and she got free, running to a neighbours house, where she raised the alarm.

When asked what happened, the accused told Garda Niall Russell he had tried to kill his sister by stabbing her and he wanted to kill her because she was carrying a Dublin baby.

He also told the garda he intended to kill himself so he wouldnt be alone in heaven.

Mr OConnell had a black bag over his shoulder with a hammer and a roll of duct tape in it. When asked why he was wearing latex gloves, he said to hide fingerprints.

Mr OConnell told the garda he had brought the hammer to stun his sister and the duct tape to stop her screaming as he cut her with the knife.

I lost control of my mind, the accused said to gardai in interview.

I just wanted to end my own life and end hers as well as my own, it was a failed murder-suicide, he then said.

He said in interview that he had been first decided to kill his sister on December 27, 2015.

I heard that she was pregnant and I didnt like the idea of her bringing up a baby in Dublin so I decided to do away with her, he said.

He told gardai he had planned to kill himself by taking tablets in a hotel room in London 12 days later.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Paul OConnell, on behalf of the defence, concluded that while the Mr OConnell knew the nature and quality of his actions and knew what he was doing was legally wrong his capacity to appreciate the moral significance of his actions was impaired.

Mr OConnell reached some point of inevitability after which he there was no other course of action he could weigh up and consider as an alternative and in that he would have been unable to refrain from doing what he did.

At the time of the offence he set out on a course of action which would have appeared irrational and dangerous to a person without his disorder but to him it appeared necessary, Dr Anthony Kearns, on behalf of the prosecution, said.

"He did not properly understand that what he was doing was wrong."

It must indeed have been an absolutely horrendous experience for the victim in this case, she was vulnerable, she was pregnant, she was suffering from an illness. It was a horrendous attack and she has my greatest sympathy in that, Judge Butler said.
A MAN charged over a sex attack on a woman in Dublin city-centre has been refused bail after a court heard he was caught red-handed and had to be physically separated from her.

The 35-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Dublin District Court on Thursday charged with sexual assault and an offence under Section Four of the Criminal Law (Rape) Act.

The accused, who is originally from Romania, had been arrested in relation to a serious sexual assault in the early hours of Monday at Parnell Place in Dublins north inner city. The man, who claims to have no memory of the incident, was refused bail and remanded in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on Oct. 18 next.

Garda Les ORourke told Judge John Lindsay that the accused made no reply when he was charged at Mountjoy Garda Station on Wednesday night.

The man listened to the proceedings with the assistance of an interpreter but did not address the court.

Objecting to bail, Garda ORourke cited the nature of evidence in support of the charges. He said CCTV footage has been obtained from four locations and the incident was captured by a witness on a mobile phone.

He said the accused was caught red-handed and a Garda discovered the alleged rape in progress at 3.50am on Monday.

It was alleged a Garda told him to stop on three occasions but he refused and had to be physically separated from her, Garda ORourke said.

The woman was brought to a sexual assault treatment unit, and further serious charges could be brought, said Garda ORourke. He said the accused was interviewed and admitted being in the area the evening before but denied any knowledge of the incident.

He said the CCTV evidence from four premises showed him in the company of the woman seconds beforehand but did not show the events.

He agreed with defence solicitor Mark OSullivan that the accused did not have a warrant history and had not been a suspect in a serious case before. He also said the woman did not know the man.

Garda ORourke said it was his belief the accused was caught red-handed by two of his colleagues. He did not disagree that the accused would not face trial in the Central Criminal Court for a year or until early 2019.

He agreed that when interviewed the man denied it and said its impossible.

Pleading for bail, Mr OSullivan said his client had lived in Ireland for a number of years, was in full-time employment and had ties to the jurisdiction  family members living here.

He submitted that his client, who lived in rented accommodation in Dublin, had no warrant history and would abide by bail terms such as a curfew, surrender his passport and sign on regularly at his local garda station, and he would provide a cash lodgement.

He said if bail was denied his client would spend considerable time in custody prior to his trial and he enjoyed the presumption of innocence.

When questioned by the judge, Garda ORourke said there were no bail terms that would satisfy him. Judge Lindsay refused bail.

Legal aid was granted and the judge acceded to a request from Mr OSullivan to direct medical attention for the accused in custody. His client had a medical issue that the garda was aware of, the solicitor said.


        

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The UK has no intention of provoking China by conducting freedom of navigation flights over disputed islands in South China Sea like the US, said British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon at the Conservative Partys annual meeting, cankaoxiaoxi.com reported on Oct. 12.

When asked whether the UK would conduct freedom of navigation operations over the South China Sea, the secretary said that although they will continue to exercise the right of navigation, they do not have any plans to conduct maneuvers over disputed islands to provoke China like the US, the Metro Express reported on Oct. 11.

The report said that neither Australia nor the UK has similar plan to follow the US, which conducted several freedom of navigation flights during the Obama administration in 2015 and 2016 and thrice during the Trump administration.

A former Conservative Member of Parliament said that the UKs unwillingness to conduct the flights indicates its encouragement of Chinese investment and bilateral trade.
A YOUTH, who stole an Audi A4 and reached speeds of 200km/h during a chaotic drive to Dublin, phoned gardai begging them to call off the pursuit, a court has heard.

The then 17-year-old boy who stole the high-powered car in a burglary in Boyle, Co. Roscommon also drove on the wrong side of the M4 motorway at one point, and gardai deployed two stinger devices to stop him after a 150km chase back to Dublin.

The youth, 18-year-old is now an adult. Ryan Cahill from Harelawn Grove, Clondalkin, Dublin will be sentenced in December. He already has 59 prior criminal convictions mostly for motoring offences and was already serving a custodial sentence.

Judge John OConnor praised the sterling work of gardai in stopping Cahill who asked the court, via his lawyer, not to give him another sentence.

He had been arrested following a chase which began in Boyle, Co. Roscommon and came to a halt in Lucan, in Dublin on March 14 last.

The youth pleaded guilty to burglary, motor theft, dangerous driving at Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath, Clonard and Enfield in Co. Meath, and at Moyvalley in Co. Kildare. He also admitted causing criminal damage to a garda car in Lucan in Dublin, in connection with the same incident.

In evidence, Garda Eoin Brehony told the Dublin Childrens Court that a 10-reg Audi A4 was stolen during the course of a house burglary in Boyle. The car was driven towards Dublin on the N4 and M4.

Garda Brehony had taken up position at about 1.10 am at Kinegad, in Co. Westmeath.

Gardai in Mullingar intercepted it and Garda Brehony attempted to stop it with a stinger device at Kinnegad. However, the teenager performed a U-turn on the motorway and then drove in the wrong direction back along the M4 and dangerously exited at The Downs near Mullingar.

Garda Brehony said at this point the vehicle went to ground for a couple of hours. At 5.20am he observed the Audi passing Kinnegad, this time along the old N4 road towards Clonard where there is a 80km/ph speed limit. Garda Brehony signalled him to stop but he kept driving and at times reached speeds of 200km/h.

When he reached Enfield the youth went back onto the M4 motorway. Meanwhile there was another attempt to stop him with a stinger device at Kilcock. Earlier the court also heard that he smashed through a toll barrier.

An unusual thing happened at that stage, the defendant rang gardai himself and asked us to stop chasing him, Garda Brehony said.

At that point the youth was pulled over and arrested at Lucan in Co. Dublin. Garda Brehony agreed with defence counsel Ann Sheridan that the youth was co-operative following his arrest.

He accepted that it was correct that when it was put to him why he did these things, the youth replied I dont know. The barrister said the teen can give no reason for his actions.

The court heard he is already serving a sentence and due to be released in April next year. Ms Sheridan told Judge OConnor that she was instructed to ask him to proceed with sentencing and he was asking, via his barrister, for his time in custody not to be extended.

She said the teenager had a supportive family but he fell through the cracks after he left school early and there had been a pattern of offending for two years however he did not have drug or alcohol problems.

Judge OConnor said the accused had a horrendous amount of prior criminal convictions for a 18-year-old.

He said he was no longer subject to the jurisdiction of the Childrens Court but he would take into account that the incidents happened when he was a juvenile but the idea that he would not get a custodial sentence was wrong.

He said the teen was a bully and did not show remorse and could face a sentence of up to 18-months.

The teenager also pleaded guilty to another dangerous driving during which he mounted a footpath in Clondalkin on Feb. 23 last.

He was spotted after gardai heard the sound of screeching tyres and that pursuit ended when he crashed into wall.

He also admitted charges driving without a licence or insurance on the same date as well as on two other occasions.
This exclusive image shows a dangerous mobster linked to the Kinahan cartel proudly posing for the camera - from his prison cell in Mountjoy.

The photo was posted on the cartel member's social media account earlier this month, and is the latest in a series of posts from behind bars.

Despite facing serious charges linked to the Hutch/Kinahan feud, he managed to post the image on his Facebook page.

It is understood that the volatile criminal has also been communicating with his associates on the outside.

He is housed on B-Wing, which is known as the Kinahan wing owing to the large number of cartel associates locked up there.

The Herald has learned that the mobster has been subjected to a number of searches in recent weeks as part of a crackdown, but prison authorities have not yet found any mobile devices.

Gardai suspect that the man was involved in a serious crime on behalf of the international gang. He cannot be named for legal reasons as he is currently before the courts.

A source last night said that, despite no phone being discovered in any of the searches, it was "evident" that the thug had been using a prohibited device to access his social media account.

"It is the latest in a number of posts he has made on his Facebook account," the source said.

"In one picture, his cell door can be seen in the background and he makes no attempt to disguise this.

"He has also posted several other pictures, taken before he was jailed, and there is reason to believe that he has been in contact with his associates on the outside as well."

The criminal is closely linked to a number of the cartel's most senior Dublin associates. Prison officials have launched an investigation. A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service (IPS) said he could not comment on individual cases.

A separate probe was launched earlier this year after another suspected cartel member posted a rant against gardai on his social media account.

In the blog, the criminal branded gardai "a bunch of clowns" and boasted that he would never be convicted of serious feud-related crimes. In the message - posted on a public Facebook page - the inmate said he had been locked in a dispute with gardai over access to a mobile phone ahead of his trial.

The man said his phone was encrypted with the programme PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and gardai were unable to access it.

He claimed that he had offered to open it for them in the presence of his lawyer but that this had been rejected.

More than 20 cartel associates are before the courts in relation to feud activity and are housed on the cartel wing in Mountjoy.

Members of the Hutch gang are being placed on a special wing in Wheatfield Prison as officials attempt to prevent the violent feud from spilling into Irish jails.

So far the Hutch/Kinahan feud has claimed 12 lives, with just one murder carried out so far this year.

The latest gun killing linked to the feud happened in May, when Michael Keogh (37) was shot dead in an underground car park near Dorset Street, Dublin 1.

Gardai suspect that he was gunned down by associates of the Hutch gang.

The first murder linked to the feud was carried out more than two years ago, when Gary Hutch was shot dead near an apartment complex in Spain.

Hutch (34), who is a nephew of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, was shot dead by cartel associates in September 2015.

Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll, who is in charge of Special Crime Operations, recently said 40 hits linked to the feud had been prevented by gardai. He also said organised criminals were enjoying easy access to firearms.

"There was an expectation when a particular feud between two gangs began that there were going to be numerous murders over a period of time," he said.

"But instead what has happened is we have an ever-increasing number, in the region of about 40 incidents, where we have prevented loss of life and where that has involved the seizure of firearms and the charging of people."
While entry to medical school can be highly competitive, there are many options for those determined to pursue this area of study.

CAO and HPAT

The most direct route is at undergraduate level, through the CAO. Five colleges in the Republic offer it: TCD, UCD, RCSI, UCC and NUI Galway. Cut-off points in 2017 ranged from 734 and 725. Students who have only one science subject in their Leaving Cert have the option of doing a six-year programme at NUI Galway, the RCSI or UCD.

Along with Leaving Cert results, students must sit the HPAT entry test. The deadline for registration for HPAT is January 20 and the test takes place on February 24. Applicants will need their CAO number to register for the HPAT, so it will not be possible to do this until CAO opens in November. Mature students may also apply in this way.

Graduate Medicine

Those who have achieved a minimum 2.1 in their first undergraduate degree, in any discipline, may apply for graduate medicine at RCSI, UL, UCC and UCD through the CAO. Offers are based on results achieved in the GAMSAT test. The GAMSAT is a little different from the HPAT as it contains a section on scientific knowledge and students would benefit from preparation. GAMSAT testing will take place in March. Research has shown that students who studied a non-science related field, such as arts, in their primary degree, perform no worse than classmates from a science or engineering background. Graduate medicine fees are subsidised by the government, but students are liable for a large portion. However, a number of financial institutions provide products to finance this course, which include a four-year moratorium on payments.

UCAS

Applications for medicine in the UK and Northern Ireland must be submitted to UCAS by October 15. Students will need to take a test for entry, likely to be the UKCAT, BMAT or HPAT UK. Registration for UKCAT, the required entrance test for Queen's University, has closed. It is still possible to apply to take the BMAT, as late applications close on October 15.

Europe

There are many opportunities for school-leavers to study medicine through English in Europe. These courses often have lower entry requirements, lower fees and are recognised by the Irish Medical Council. Organisations such as medicalpoland.ie and Study Medicine Europe facilitate and support students to find and enter these courses. Medicalpoland will be holding interviews in Dublin in April. Other universities that offer medicine through English include the University of Groningen and University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. They were both listed higher in the university world rankings last year than any Irish university. While these two courses do not qualify applicants to practice medicine, both institutions offer a follow-on masters' degree that qualifies graduates to practice medicine in Europe. For more information, see eunicas.ie, medicalpoland.ie and studymedicineeurope.com.

Aoife Walsh is a guidance counsellor at Malahide Community School, Co Dublin

Q I am in sixth year and am trying my best to balance study, homework and college preparation. I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the deadlines and dates which I must keep track of and I am terrified I may miss an important deadline. How can I ensure that I keep on top of it all?

A For many students, sixth year is the first time they must manage such a large number of responsibilities and this can be challenging. To my knowledge, all schools encourage students to use homework journals from the first day of first year. I am also aware that, by the time many students reach sixth year, they see it as something needed by younger students only. It's time to take out this diary again and make full use of it. This will allow students to keep all important dates, deadlines and tasks in the one place. Use this book to write down all your homework, but also to mark deadlines on the day they are due. For example, "RSR (research study report) draft due today". In addition, take an hour or two over the weekend to write in any open days you wish to attend and all CAO deadlines, and any other important deadlines. Once you have done this, you will have your entire list of important deadlines in one place. You will also find important and relevant dates on this page every week.
Kilkenny mother-of-two Susie Long, who died in 2007 after waiting seven months for a colonoscopy. Photo: Mark Condren

A decade on from the death of healthcare campaigner Susie Long, her heartbroken widower claims things haven't improved as almost 700,000 people are still on the public waiting list.

Susie (42) captured the hearts of the nation as she revealed in 2007 that after being referred for a colonoscopy on the public waiting list, she had to wait seven months - while a friend who was a private patient was seen within three days.

Tragically by the time that mother-of-two Susie was diagnosed with bowel cancer, it was too late to save her.

With recent figures showing that almost 700,000 people are on public waiting lists here, Susie's widower Conor Mac Liam said little has changed in the 10 years since she passed away.

Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show on TV3 yesterday, he said: "I think when we are talking about a figure of almost 700,000, how could you say things have improved?

"Some time after Susie died the focus was on the colonoscopy waiting lists, they decided to segregate them into urgent lists and non-urgent lists.

"I have to say I think there are many GPs that are skeptical of that, as am I.

"There are many conditions, you can have bowel cancer and have no symptoms. The point of a colonoscopy is if to find out if it is urgent or not.

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"There are still people waiting more than a year, that is still going on."

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When Susie was seriously ill she had to move to Dublin as palliative care was not available in Kilkenny.

In 2009 the HSE said that hospice would be built at St Luke's Hospital Kilkenny in 2013, something which hasn't materialised.

Liam has spoken candidly about that time and how vital it was to them that Susie received the care she needed.

He said: "I am from Dublin originally, my parents live in Dublin and we were able to effectively move in with them.

"I have to say that it was so important to us as a family to have a period where Susie was cared for, she wasn't afraid of death and we were able to have a goodbye over a period of weeks."

Liam said that the difference in care between public and private health patients is something that needs to be tackled.

He said: "It's clear that there hasn't been the spend that there should have been in terms of staffing.

"Nurses have been having an intolerable under huge pressure in particular, other staff are too I imagine...

"I think the problem is that the government doesn't have a vision to actually resolve the issues.

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"In my view, and I know it was Susie's view too, that we should have a public health service similar to the NHS in Britain, where everyone has free and equal access."

The HSE said in a statement that they plan to open seven new hospices between 2017 and 2021, including a new unit in the South East in 2021, which would be built on the grounds of University Hospital Waterford.

They said: "This has been made possible through a partnership approach between statutory services and Waterford Hospice Movement, a local voluntary organisation which is providing the capital to build the new unit. The on-going revenue to run the service will be provided through the HSE.

"The unit will cater for patients throughout the South East and will build on the already very well developed palliative home care services and the existing network of palliative care support beds.

"Patients from Kilkenny will be able to access the new service which is just 40 minutes from Waterford.

"It has been agreed that once the service has been operational for a year to 18 months a review of patient need will be undertaken and this will include the requirement for additional hospice beds in Kilkenny."

A HSE spokeswoman added in a statement: "The HSE and Ireland East Hospital Group would like to gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the Susie Long Hospice Fund to St Lukes Hospital Kilkenny.

"The Fund has enabled St Lukes to enhance the care provided to palliative patients at the hospital through the provision of equipment and additional support to individuals and their families.

"In addition to the provision of palliative care services, the new Susie Long Day Services Unit (including endoscopy services) was opened in 2015."
A second petition to impeach the UCD students' union president Katie Ascough has been accepted.

Just weeks into her presidential term, Ms Ascough was criticised after withdrawing information over access to abortion services in a magazine circulated to new students.

Ms Ascough said she had taken an "executive decision" to redact the information after receiving legal advice that the abortion information was illegal in Ireland, despite the fact that it had previously been available in UCD.

The information in the 'Winging It' magazine that was removed included pregnancy help websites, the prices of abortion in other countries and information on abortion pills. While it is lawful to provide information about abortions abroad, this is subject to strict conditions.

Earlier this month, returning officer Stephen Devine rejected the first petition as he was concerned with its validity.

Over 1,620 students signed the petition calling for Ms Ascough to be impeached.

But a second petition was handed in on Monday evening, with 1,200 signatures. Mr Devine accepted the petition and an impeachment referendum will take place on October 25 and 26.

Ms Ascough will take leave until the referendum is called.
We need cities to "grow up, not out", and we need more apartments to cater for a fast-growing population, according to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

It emerged today that new laws which would lift height restrictions on residential buildings could be passed in the coming months.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) annual conference today that: "We need a new type of apartment development, including the shared accommodation models that we see working well in cities around the world.

"To change how we build, the Government intends to lift the numerical height caps in our city cores and along major public transport corridors.

"I recognise that some regulations make construction more difficult and we will seek to change these by legislation.

"We need cities to grow up and not out. We need more apartments and more mixed use developments," he said.

Mr Varadkar said that the Government will continue to take whatever steps are possible to meet the housing needs of a fast-growing population, while guarding against the mistakes of the previous decade.

"He said that the CIF had earlier in the year made a submission requesting the establishment of a Construction Sector Group, as part of a "whole construction strategy".

Mr Varadkar said that the Government is supportive of such an initiative and he will work with Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to see how it will operate.

The CIF which is holding its annual conference in Croke Park has described the measure as a "vital step in breaking from the past."

prize for working together in this way is enormous.

"We can build the 35,000 houses per year our people need and deliver the 50bn in infrastructure our economy requires. However, this time, we can do so whilst building a globally recognised, competitive and modern construction industry."

He pointed out that similar collaborative approaches between Government and industry have worked in the agri-food, financial services and technology sector.

He said that Tuesday's Budget shows that the Government understands the enormity of the challenges Ireland faces in infrastructure and housing.

"We welcome the financial commitments made in housing and infrastructure. Some of the measures will enable our industry to positively shape Ireland over the coming decade."

However, he pointed out that some 90,000 houses were produced per year in 2007, "today we will struggle to produce 18,000."

"In 2006, we invested four per cent of GDP in infrastructure, today, we invest only two per cent."

"So, it's clear, we must do things differently this time to avoid the boom-bust cycle of the past. That's why the Taoiseach's announcement today is so critical for this industry," he told delegates.

Bringing together the relevant Government departments and state agencies, along with industry to establish the Construction Sector Group is a vital step in breaking from the past," Mr Doheny said.

"This time for the first time, Government and industry will collaborate on a growth strategy for the entire construction industry," he said.Tom Parlon, Director General, CIF highlighted the difficulties many SMEs are having in securing finance.

Despite recovery across most sectors in Ireland, output in the construction remains well below where it should be. The availability of skills and finance have the potential to undermine the industrys recovery and future growth path," he said.
DOHA, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Qatari Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya) and Chinese company Nuctech have signed an agreement to manufacture smart jackets for workers in Qatar, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported Thursday.

The smart jacket will feature a helmet cooling system and a chip that gives signals indicating the condition of workers. The solar-powered jacket also includes the voice dialing function and a tracker.

Under the deal, Nuctech will take patent for a number of devices innovated by Lekhwiya, including safety devices for construction workers in Qatar.

Apart from smart jackets, safety devices to be developed under the deal also include intelligent eye sensor, automatic explosive and drug detection device, Nuctech cross-sectional scanning device and intelligent security fence.

The agreement was signed by Lekhwiya's commander of the security technologies Ali Hassan al-Rashed and Nuctech Vice-President Wang Weidong, in the presence of Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs Issa al Nuaimi.

The Beijing-based Nuctech has been a provider of security equipment in China since 2006 when it was awarded a contract by the Chinese government for producing scanners to detect liquid explosives at all of China's airports.

The company is one of the world's top providers of security scanning equipment, which has clients in about 50 countries.
Ireland is expected to be battered by strong winds and rain

Winds over 120 kilometres per hour are set to batter Ireland when Hurricane Ophelia reaches Ireland early next week, Met Eireann has warned.

Ophelia is currently picking up speed as it crosses the Atlantic and we are expected to feel the effects of it on Monday and Tuesday.

Met Eireann forecaster Liz Walsh told Independent.ie: "It is coming towards Ireland, basically the hurricane is south-west of the Azores right now and it is tracking towards Portugal.

"As it comes north over the weekend it will change into an extra-tropical cyclone and it is tracking towards Ireland and the UK.

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"At the moment the track is very uncertain and it is therefore quite difficult to decipher where the strongest winds will be.

"It does look like it will hit Ireland on Monday, heading into Tuesday will be very stormy days."

She said that Met Eireann has predicted gusts in "excess of 120kph."

Don't forget your rainjacket as Ms Walsh said that Ophelia could also cause heavy showers here.

She said: "At the moment this is more of a wind event than a rain event but of course the possibility of heavy rainfall with an extra-tropical cyclone cannot be ruled out."

The UK Met Office has also revealed they are closely monitoring the situation.

Forecaster Alex Burkhill said: "It's definitely something that we are keeping an eye on, for the possibility of some disruptive weather early next week."

Ophelia is the tenth consecutive storm to reach hurricane level strength in the Atlantic so far this year, it is also the 15th named storm.
Women who opted to stay at home and rear their children are now being penalised by unfair pension rules, the Dail has been told.

Fianna Fail TD Niall Collins said some 23,000 pensioners were suffering blatant discrimination because the years they spent as carers outside the workforce were being used in pension calculations. The years out of the workforce drastically reduced their pension due to a lack of contributions which were averaged over their entire working life.

Mr Collins said the Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe, had told RTE's Sean ORourke that the situation was bonkers and unbelievable. Yet the Minister also went on to say that he could not remedy the problem which arose from pension changes introduced in 2012.

Its really, really inconceivable that the Minister for Finance should react like that, Mr Collins told the Dail.

The Limerick TD addressed his comments directly to Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald reminding her that she was a former leader of the National Womens Council of Ireland which had condemned the practice.

Replying for the Government, Ms Fitzgerald said the Finance Ministers comments about bonkers and unbelievable referred specifically to the notorious marriage bar which obliged women quit their jobs in the civil service after marrying. This rule applied right up to the early 1970s and compounded this issue.

The Tanaiste said changing the rules would cost 60m in 2018, with an extra 10m each to be added in each succeeding year. Paying back money would cost some 230m and all these costs could reduce other pensioners payments.

Ms Fitzgerald said the issue was being studied as part of an overall review of womens pay and access to pensions. She said there would be some recommendations later this year and a change in the method of pension calculations would be implemented after 2020.
Two members of the Oireachtas Committee on Abortion say they are considering their positions because of the skewed nature of the experts witnesses called to give presentations.

Senator Ronan Mullen (IND) and Mattie McGrath (IND) TD for Tipperary say in particular they are protesting the forthcoming presence of the New York based Centre for Reproductive Rights who Mr Mullen referred to as a pro-choice an advocacy group.

Its nothing short of a disgrace that the multi-million dollar US centre for reproductive rights can get called up, to the Oireachtas committee, Senator Ronan told the press and anti-abortion protestors outside the Dail this afternoon.

Each member of the committee agrees and signs-off on any experts that are forthcoming, but Mr Mullen said he has only just been made aware that the Centre for Reproductive Rights has been actively fundraising to change the laws of the country and be presented as impartial.

He added that The Citizens Assembly  the consultation process which directed that a referendum on repealing the 8th Amendment be put to the public - never considered for a second, the positive and life-saving impact of the legislation and now the Oireachtas is shirking its responsibility too.

Senator Catherine Noone, the chair of the committee refuted Mr Mullens remarks, saying every member was entitled to suggest experts the only stipulation being they had to be was experts.

Ms. Noone implored both Mattie McGrath and Senator Ronan to rejoin the committee and get back to its important work.
Sean Phillips, whose daughter Siobhan was shot by her partner in Omeath two years ago, with his wife Norma at their home in Louth. Picture: Arthur Carron

The father of Siobhan Phillips has described the horrific moments leading up to his daughter's shooting, claiming gardai refused to take a statement after she was physically assaulted.

Siobhan Phillips suffered life-changing injuries the next day during an incident in which garda Tony Golden was shot dead by Adrian Crevan Mackin (24) in October 2015.

Ms Phillips was in a relationship with Mackin and told gardai on the day before the shooting that he had severely beaten her and threatened to kill her family.

The Phillips family are now demanding a public inquiry into how gda Tony Golden was allowed visit the gunman's house unarmed and without back-up.

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Speaking to RTE's Primetime, Sean Phillips said he brought his daughter to Dundalk garda station to make a statement but gardai said they couldn't take a statement "at that time".

He said his daughter was "black and blue" after Mackin had physically assaulted her and she felt her life was in danger.

"How do you think it made me feel? It's ridiculous. I wanted to sort him out myself. I wanted to get this guy arrested. I couldn't recommend any father to take his daughter to the guards after what happened to us," he said.

"Something needs to be changed, there is something fundamentally wrong here."

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An investigation by Prime Time last April raised questions about whether an attempt was made to use Mackin as an informant.

Mackin admitted possessing guns nine months previous to the shooting, but was not charged with these offences. Instead, the DPP had directed gardai to charge him with membership of the IRA. He was later granted bail.

Ms Phillips' solicitors issued a statement on her behalf, saying: "It is our firm belief that the very tragic events could and should have been prevented by An Garda Siochana. I have made progress but my recovery is far from complete. The only way forward is a public inquiry."

A garda spokesman said no comment could be made on claims that officers initially refused to take the domestic violence complaint, due to an ongoing Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) investigation.
'Losses are set to soar following a spate of malware and ransomware attacks already this year, ranging from WannaCry to Petya' Photo: Reuters

A cyber raid targeting Irish retail giant the Musgrave Group is a portent of the challenge facing all businesses as criminal hackers grow increasingly sophisticated, experts warned.

It is feared that two-thirds of all economic crimes suffered by Irish businesses will be cyber-crime related by 2019.

The stark warning came as the food wholesaler insisted there was no evidence that customer or supplier financial data was exported after the raid this week.

However, the Musgrave attack was the latest in a spate of high-profile cyber crimes against leading Irish retailers, banks and State agencies.

Losses are set to soar following a spate of malware and ransomware attacks already this year, ranging from WannaCry to Petya.

Musgrave, Ireland's largest grocery distributor, which operates such hugely successful retail brands as SuperValu, Centra and Daybreak, confirmed its IT experts detected a cyber attack on Monday.

It involved malware, or malicious software, on a central network that was attempting to extract debt and credit card numbers and expiry dates.

However, the software involved was not looking for the cardholder name, PIN or CVV numbers.

Musgrave has urged all customers to check their statements carefully as a result of the attack.

"While there is no evidence that any data has been stolen at this point, Musgrave is advising any concerned shoppers to review activity on their statements as a precautionary measure," a spokesman said.

"Musgrave's cyber breach response experts have installed advanced technical fixes and continue to actively manage and monitor the situation."

The firm stressed that it is taking the cyber attack very seriously.

"The protection of information is an absolute priority for Musgrave, with a range of security solutions including threat-monitoring, anti-virus software, firewall and penetration testing deployed," a spokesman said.

"The company aims to ensure that security standards are maintained at the highest levels and apologises to its customers for this issue."

The attack has been linked to notorious Serbian criminals.

One IT expert, Ronan Murphy of SmartTech247, said the number of cyber attacks on Irish firms was increasing exponentially.

Worryingly, some attacks are extremely sophisticated and involve state-sponsored gangs operating in countries like North Korea.
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John Downing Opinion Last time the Tories diced with economic disaster it took them another 18 years to win an election

I was listening to the young woman from the Daily Mail trying to recruit a gang of reporters to club together and hire an aeroplane to fly back to Brussels. She got an enthusiastic response from another British colleague who was celebrated for lavishly spending his employers funds.
Jeremy Corbyn picked up a paintbrush and tried his hand at creating a masterpiece on a visit to a community centre today.

The Labour leader took part in a variety of activities at the Kirkgate Centre in Shipley, but particularly seemed to enjoy painting.

In just 20 minutes, Corbyn created a lake scene with a sun setting over mountains, with a little help from group leader Chris Ellerton, 54.

Corbyn clearly enjoyed the process of creating art with the group. In a hat tip to his co-creator, the painting was christened Mount Chrisjez and signed by the pair.

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Corbyn called their work pretty good and revealed he painted abstracts at home.

Ellerton was full of praise for his student, saying: You can tell he has done painting before.
An airline has replied to a potential passenger nine years after he suggested it start flying to Hawaii.

It was back in May 2008 that David Raatz first tweeted Southwest Airlines to ask for the new route.

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Now the airline has apologised to Hawaii-based Raatz for the delay, revealing it will be flying to the islands.

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The airline wrote: David, we know its been awhile but were going to Hawaii, and we want you on one of our first flights!

The Twitter user had made an appeal to the airline requesting Southwest fly between the islands and to the mainland US, saying we are hurting for good fares!

The Dallas-based airline finally got back to him as it shared details of its intention to fly to Hawaii, following a company conference in California.

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The airline has replied to several other potential passengers who had requested the airline shake up the market, but they are more recent tweets.

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The airlines chairman and chief executive officer Gary Kelly said: Were ready and excited to address a request weve heard for years.

And in @Raatzs case, it really has been years.

Southwest still needs to gain Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for the routes but tickets will go on sale next year, with full service details announced at a later date.

The airline currently flies to 99 destinations in the US and nine additional countries. It operates more than 4,000 departures a day and is the USs largest domestic air carrier based on Department of Transportation figures.

Its first flight was on June 18 1971.

And if youre wondering how Raatz responded to the news, he took it in his stride.
Graphics shows that delegates to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) feature more workers and women. In about one year, a total of 2,287 delegates have been elected to attend the five-yearly national congress in Beijing from Oct. 18. According to requirements, nominees must be highly qualified politically and ideologically, have good work and life styles, be competent in discussing state affairs, and have been successful in their work. Among them, 771 delegates are from frontline production and manufacturing, including workers, farmers, and technicians, accounting for 33.7 percent of the total, up by 3.2 percentage points from five years ago. These delegates not only come from traditional industries like manufacturing, transportation, steel and coal, but also from sectors such as finance, the Internet, and social organizations. (Xinhua/Ma Yan)
An American student has used Photoshop to travel back in time  into pictures with his younger self.

In a project called Childhood, Conor Nickerson, from Massachusetts, spent six months using the image-altering software to seamlessly gatecrash old family photos, and the results are exquisite.

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Using images dated from 1997 to 2005, Conor describes the updated photo collection as amusing, strange, and surprisingly introspective.

Im pretty happy with how these came out, Conor told the Press Association. Its pretty fun to think of myself just hanging out with little me!

Conor is in his third year studying jazz at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, but also works as a photographer in the Canadian city.

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Last year Conor made a project called Then and Now, which allowed viewers to slide between photos taken in the same place but up to a century apart  and this helped inspire his latest work.

I got the idea to do Childhood while on spring break from University this year, Conor told the Press Association. I was looking through some old family photo albums and I was drawn to a few photos I hadnt seen for a long time, mostly because they were just nice photos.

I thought it could be interesting to do something similar to the Then & Now photos but with myself.

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My experience with Photoshop is watching YouTube videos and a lot of trial and error, said Conor. There was a lot of going back and retouching, but from start to finish I think the project took about six months of working on it in my spare time.

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My family definitely got a kick out of it, it was funny to see them react to the photos, said Conor. I really just wanted to see if I could pull it off and share it.

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So, what next for this intrepid photographer-come-musician-come-time-traveller?

Right now Im back to schoolwork and some photography jobs on the side, so nothing in the works yet! said Conor. But theres always some idea that comes along.

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If youd like to see more of Conors work, check out his website. Alternately you can visit his pages on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
A student managed to persuade Greggs the bakery to hold a free, open bar rave at one of its outlets for her and more than 50 friends.

Nikki Gardner, 21, posted on Facebook in late September asking the baker to throw a welcome back party for her in Birmingham, where she has just returned to university.

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I didnt really expect to get a reply, Nikki told the Press Association after Wednesday nights bash.

They replied to the comment and I thought that would just be it, then I got a message and they said we want to throw this party for you.

It all happened very quickly.

Attendees lucky enough to get on Nikkis guest list were treated to free alcohol and baked treats including sausage rolls, doughnuts and pastries  while Nikki was given an hour-long DJ set at the end.

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They kept bringing out trays of new bakes and pastries, said Nikki.

At the end they said if anyone wants to take some doughnuts home then go ahead, so people were walking out with armfuls of 10-15 doughnuts each.

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Many of those who went also dressed up in bakery-themed attire including pasties, doughnuts and a host of aprons.

Nikki said the party ran from around 7pm to 10pm, before she and her friends went to their own afterparty.

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So why Greggs?

I dont know, said Nikki. One day I was in there and thought it would be sick to have a party in here, because all the staff are so nice and I always have a lovely chat with them.

I know its a bit random but I thought I may as well ask  if you dont ask you dont get.

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So which high street shop would Nikki like to party in next?

I havent really thought about it but maybe I should ask every single bakery chain or shop and see if theyd be up for it, said Nikki.
Firefighters are silhouetted against the Goethe Tower, an emblem of Frankfurt, in flames (AP)

A wooden tower that was a landmark in the central German city of Frankfurt has burned to the ground, with authorities suspecting arson.

German news agency dpa reported that the Goethe Tower, a popular destination for visitors in Frankfurt's city forest, burned down early on Thursday.

Police spokeswoman Isabell Neumann said some 60 firefighters raced to the scene, but all they could do was prevent the fire from spreading as the tower collapsed.

"It all looks like arson.

"There were no electronics inside the tower and there were also no thunderstorm last night," she said.

The lookout tower, which visitors could climb, was 43 metres tall (141 feet) and built in 1931.

It was named after the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and was renovated three years ago at a cost of almost 500,000 euro.

AP
Germany has overtaken the UK when it comes to compensating private equity professionals, raising further fears that Britain could lose its status as Europes financial services hub.

A report by executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles shows that mean cash compensation levels for partners and managing partners in German-based private equity firms are around 115% of the UK total.

Mean pay for associate level staff is also higher in Germany at 104% of British compensation.

Germany has overtaken the United Kingdom as the most highly compensated market for managing partners/partners as geopolitical concerns over Brexit continue, the report said.

The study measured and compared total compensation, including mean base pay and mean bonus pay for 2016, for private equity staff in 2016.

However, German-based principals still receive less than their London counterparts, bringing in only 89% of their total.

But higher pay packets abroad could mean private equity professionals may be more willing to relocate from London, which is set to suffer a post-Brexit exodus of banking, insurance and asset management jobs.

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Rivals including Dublin and Frankfurt are already emerging as the main beneficiaries of a post-Brexit jobs boom, while the Heidrick & Struggles report suggests it would be easy for Germany to take the crown as Europes private equity epicentre.

Germany is well positioned to become a new hub for private equity with its strong economy, healthy middle market, and perceived relative safety for capital deployment, it noted.

It would add to a growing number of international banks including Standard Chartered which have committed to expanding or establishing offices in Germany in the wake of the EU referendum, assuming passporting rights for financial services are lost after Brexit.

Citigroup has notified its bankers of plans to bolster its Frankfurt office, creating 150 jobs, while the Press Association understands Morgan Stanley is on track to move as many as 200 staff.

Mizuho will join a raft of Japanese banks which have chosen the German financial centre as an EU hub, including Daiwa, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) and Nomura.

Germanys own Deutsche Bank notified staff in July that it was likely to book the vast majority of its assets out of Frankfurt  where its headquarters are based  after the UK leaves the EU.

That is in addition to JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, which are set to bolster operations in various EU cities including Frankfurt.

It is expected that the influx of financial services staff over the next four years will result in the creation of up to 87,667 new roles throughout the Rhein-Main Region, according to a report released in late August by lobby group Frankfurt Main Finance.

But France, which is also vying for business after Brexit, fell behind its European counterparts when it came to private equity pay.

Managing partners brought in only 65% of their UK counterparts compensation totals, while principals and associates received 94% and 95% respectively.
Destroyed communities are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico (AP)

President Donald Trump has criticised hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, saying the government cannot keep US federal aid there "forever".

Mr Trump criticised the US territory in a series of tweets on Thursday.

He said there is a "total lack of accountability" and "electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes".

The president added: "We cannot keep Fema, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!"

Fema is the Federal Emergency Management Agency responsible for dealing with disasters.

The House is on track to back Mr Trump's request for billions more in disaster aid, 16 billion US dollars to pay flood insurance claims and emergency funding to help the cash-strapped government of Puerto Rico stay afloat.

Hurricane Maria struck on September 20.

It has killed at least 45 people, and about 85% of Puerto Rico residents still lack electricity.

AP
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said it's time to ramp up the pace of Brexit talks after the European Union's chief negotiator said they were deadlocked over money.

"We're looking for some urgency from our friends and partners, time to put a bit of a tiger in the tank and get this thing done," he told reporters.

He also said he had a message for Polish people in Britain: You are welcome to stay in Britain after Brexit.

"I want to repeat the key message to the one million Poles here in our country: You are here to stay. You are welcome," Johnson said at a news conference in London beside Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski.

Britain also needs to prepare for the possibility that no agreement will be reached with the European Union on a Brexit deal, he added.

"The prime minister has made it very, very clear that we are going to get a deal, we are working for a great deal, but obviously we must make the right preparations as and when it is necessary for a no deal scenario.

"Of course that's the responsible thing to do and that's what we are going to do."

His comments follow David Davis, the Brexit secretary, heaping pressure on European Union leaders to grant chief negotiator Michel Barnier the flexibility to begin talks over EU-UK trade and a possible transition deal at crunch summit in Brussels next week.

Mr Barnier was given a mandate by the 27 heads of state and government to helm the Brexit talks on their behalf but it restricts him from discussing the future relationship until the EU judges that sufficient progress has been made on the issues of the so-called Brexit bill, citizens rights and Ireland.

Talks are deadlocked after five rounds of pressured negotiations with huge divisions between the two camps, especially over the so-called Brexit bill, despite Theresa Mays offering to pay 20 billion to the EU budget in her Florence speech.
Since China introduced the second-child policy in 2016, the country has been constantly adjusting supporting policies to cope with its results, chinanews.com reported.

Though the number of women in child-bearing age decreased, the number of newborns grew noticeably after the implementation of the universal two-child policy.

In 2016, the number of live births was 18.46 million, the highest level since 2000, in which over 45 percent are second children, up more than 10 percent from 2013.

China does not lack in population, not in a few decades, not in 100 years, said Wang Peian, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission. However, he said that China needs to resolve issues related to the disappearance of Chinas demographic dividend, the ultra-low fertility rate, an aging population, and the imbalance of sex ratio at birth.

To tackle them, the country has been constantly strengthening its family planning policy, and the efforts have yielded positive changes. In 2016, the total fertility ratethe average number of children a woman gives birth to during her lifetimeincreased to more than 1.7.

The adjustment of the family planning policy has been well received among Chinese, said Ma Li, a counselor of the State Council, adding that an aging population also means a more civilized society. He said increasing the birth rate and the proportion of young people in the society are key to boosting vitality and innovation.

Ma said Chinese couples will need at least five years to unleash their fertility desire, predicting that a baby boom will show up in 2017 and 2018. He also emphasized the need to strengthen supporting policies, such as reducing child-rearing costs.

Chinas Health and Family Planning Commission said it will increase the number of maternity beds by 89,000 from 2016 to 2020, to help hospitals cope with the demand resulting from the second-child policy.

According to statistics, China allocated 2.91 billion yuan ($440 million) in 2016 to build 45 city-level and 202 county-level maternity and child care institutions across the country, a notably increase from the period between 2011 and 2015.

In 2016, the number of kindergartens reached 240,000, an increase of 59,000 spots compared with 2012. The gross rate of enrollment hit 77.4 percent, up 12.9 percent in five years.

An education guideline issued at the beginning of the year stipulated that education departments across the country should expand pre-school education resources and guarantee full kindergarten enrollment.

In addition, a total of 31 provincial regions have extended maternity leave since the introduction of the two-child policy, a move applauded by new mothers across the country.

A survey released in February indicated that about 60 percent of families having a second child said their sense of happiness has been raised noticeably and 70 percent said they do not regret having a second baby.
The FTSE 100 closed at a record high on Thursday due in part to the drop in sterling sparked by concerns over a deadlock in Brexit talks.

Londons blue chip index rose 0.3% or 22.43 points to end the day at an all-time closing high of 7,556.24.

David Madden, a market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said that the FTSE 100s rise was primarily due to the pounds declines, as multinational stocks on the index tend to benefit when foreign currencies are stronger than the pound.

The bullish move was achieved for the wrong reasons, as the dip in the pound on the back of the stalled Brexit talks helped the British index, he said.

Sterling was trading down nearly 0.4% at 1.316 against the US dollar by the time the UK stock market closed, and 0.2% versus the euro at 1.112.

Investors were spooked after the EUs chief negotiator Michel Barnier said no great steps forward had been made during the fifth round of Brexit talks, and that there remained a disturbing deadlock over how much the UK should pay to settle commitments entered into as an EU member.

He said that the two sides had not even discussed the size of Britains Brexit bill, after the UK refused to put a figure on the amount it was prepared to pay.

Mr Madden said: Traders are very sensitive to the UKs exit from the EU.

There was no major economic announcements from the UK today so the slight prospect of the UK leaving the EU and resorting to World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade rules sent sterling lower.

The FTSE 100 easily outperformed its European peers, with the French Cac 40 ending the day down 0.03% and the German Dax closing higher by 0.09%.

In oil markets, Brent crude prices were down 0.2% at $56.53 per barrel after figures released by the Energy Information Administration showed an unexpected increase in US gasoline stocks.

In UK stocks, HSBC shares fell 11.4p to 747p. The bank confirmed on Thursday that it had appointed John Flint  who currently heads its retail banking and wealth management division  as its new chief executive.

He will take up the role on February 21, replacing long-standing boss Stuart Gulliver.

Sky rose 13p to 926.5p after the company said in a trading update that the popularity of Game Of Thrones helped generate a 5% rise in revenues to 3.3 billion for the first quarter amid a surge in new customers.

Carillion ended the day up 0.25p at 43.75p after the troubled infrastructure giant confirmed it had received multiple takeover bids for its UK healthcare business.

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N Brown tumbled 19.3p to 330.7p as half-year results showed the retailer swung to a loss of 27.6 million, due to currency effects and exceptional costs linked to redress for customers for flawed insurance products it sold between 2006 and 2014.

Just Eat surged 46p to 749p on news that its takeover of rival Hungryhouse has been provisionally cleared by the UKs competition watchdog.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were St Jamess Place up 46p at 1,176p, Hargreaves Lansdown up 40p at 1,536p, Burberry Group up 49p at 1,896p, and easyJet up 32p at 1,321p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were HSBC down 11.4p at 747p, Smiths Group down 20p at 1,590p, Next down 61p at 4,989p, and Standard Chartered down 6.5p at 758.5p.
Gucci said it would auction off any remaining animal fur items for charity

Gucci has become the latest fashion house to eliminate animal fur from its collections, starting with the spring-summer 2018 season.

The Humane Society, which supports the fur-free alliance among fashion houses, said the Italian designer's announcement was a "game-changer", involving "perhaps the biggest fur-free retailer announcement worldwide to date".

Gucci chief executive Marco Bizzarri said the brand would no longer "use, promote or publicise animal fur", beginning with the menswear collection to be previewed in January and womenswear in February.

Gucci said it would auction off any remaining animal fur items, with proceeds to benefit animal rights charity LAV and the Humane Society.

The Humane Society said the fur-free policy includes mink, coyote, raccoon dog, fox, rabbit and astrakhan.

Gucci joins other fur-free fashion houses including Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss and Stella McCartney.

AP
Conservative plans for a hard Brexit would plunge the UK into immediate recession, cost the economy 400 billion and wipe 18% off GDP growth by 2030, a leading investment bank has warned.

Research by Rabobank also shows that any form of Brexit  hard, soft or through a new free trade agreement (FTA)  would be detrimental to the economy and British workers.

Under a no deal scenario, British workers would be left 11,500 poorer, while an FTA or soft Brexit would see working Britons stomach a 9,500 or 7,500 blow respectively.

Prime Minister Theresa May said earlier this week her Government was putting in place plans for no deal, and the research comes after Chancellor Philip Hammond warned of a Brexit cloud of uncertainty hanging over the economy.

To compound matters, the UK was also singled out on Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the only major economy not to see its growth forecast upgraded.

Hugo Erken, senior economist at Rabobank, said: There has been extensive economic research into the immediate effects of Brexit, but they have largely focused on trade and investment, whereas implications of the different factors that affect productivity is only marginally or partially addressed.

By looking at dynamics such as innovation, competition, knowledge and human capital, how they will change and what effects this will have on the structural make-up of the UK and European economy, our research shows that the long-lasting impact of Brexit is likely to be more severe than initially anticipated.

Rabobank said that even if the UK negotiated a new free trade agreement, like Switzerlands, it would cost Britain 12.5% of GDP growth by 2030.

A soft Brexit, where the UK remains part of the European internal market but exits the customs union, would result in a 10% hit.

According to the research, a hard Brexit implemented in 2019 without a transition period would result in the UK economy immediately falling into a two-year recession period.

Hard Brexit would cause a jump in unemployment from 4.6% in 2018 to 6.2% in 2020, but this would only be temporary and quickly return to long-term structural unemployment levels.

For the FTA and the soft Brexit scenario there would also be a recession, Rabobank said, but milder and much more short-lived.

If negotiations in Brussels result in a hard Brexit, UK GDP is expected to decline by 2.4% following its departure in 2019.

However, if the UK and EU were to agree on a free trade agreement, GDP would still fall but only by 1.1%, and by just 0.3% in a soft Brexit scenario.

For countries in the euro area, any form of Brexit would see a 2% hit to EU GDP by 2024, the study said, with the Netherlands bearing the brunt because of its closer trade relationship with the UK, accruing losses of around 25 billion euros to 35 billion euros.

Rabobanks study used macro-econometric modelling to assess the effects of the UK leaving the European Union and all three scenarios were benchmarked against a situation where the UK would continue to be a member.

A Government spokesman said: We are committed to securing a new economic relationship with the EU that can deliver prosperity for people across our country.

To lock in strong future growth, we are investing 23 billion in infrastructure, research and housing alongside an ambitious industrial strategy.
The Japanese government is urging steelmaker Kobe Steel to clarify the extent of manipulation of data on steel, aluminium and other metals used in a wide range of products (Kyodo News via AP)

Steel maker Kobe Steel has apologised after finding problems dating back to 2011 including faked inspections data for metals used in many products, including cars, bullet trains, aircraft and appliances.

The Japanese government has asked the company to provide more information about the products supplied to more than 200 customers, reportedly including some of the country's biggest manufacturers, including defence contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and a number of automakers.

It was unclear if the total of 40,900 tons of products involved included shipments to other countries.

"We have confirmed that aluminium from Kobe Steel is used in the hoods and doors of some of our vehicles," Nissan said in an email. "As hoods are related to pedestrian safety, we are working to quickly assess any potential impact on vehicle functionality."

Toyota also confirmed that the material has been used in hoods and rear doors of some of its vehicles.

"Putting the utmost priority on the safety of our customers, we are rapidly working to identify which vehicle models might be subject to this situation and what components were used, as well as what effect there might be on individual vehicles," Toyota said in a statement.

Aircraft maker Boeing said it, too, is looking into the problem but had no reason to believe it was a safety concern.

"Boeing has been working closely and continuously with our suppliers since being notified of the issue to ensure timely and appropriate action, including comprehensive inspections and analysis throughout our supply chain," the company said in an email.

Kobe Steel said it discovered the violations during internal inspections and "emergency quality audits".

The company said it was contacting its customers and working to verify the safety of the products it supplied.

It has set up a committee headed by its president to investigate quality issues and hired an outside law firm to conduct a probe into the misconduct.

"Verification and inspection to date have not recognised specific problems casting doubts on the safety of the nonconforming products," it said.

Kobe Steel's president, Hiroya Kawasaki, issued a formal apology, lamenting that "trust in our company has dropped to zero".

He promised a senior trade ministry official that the company, Japan's third-largest steelmaker, would provide results of safety inspections within two weeks and a report on the cause of the problem within a month.

Akihiro Tada, director of the ministry's Manufacturing Industries Bureau, urged the company to move quickly in resolving the problems, which are thought to have affected many of the country's largest manufacturers.

The company said in a statement late on Wednesday that it had uncovered manipulation of data on steel powder used in metallurgy and also on high-tech materials used to create films used in computer chips. The government has urged Kobe Steel to clarify the extent of the misconduct.

The latest discovery was of falsification of data on 140 tons of steel powder supplied to one customer between April 2016 and March 2017.

Another case involved 6,611 items of materials shipped to 70 customers beginning in November 2011. Kobe Steel said it had failed to carry out tests it had agreed to conduct, and improperly "rewrote" inspection data.

But it said most of those materials, used to deposit thin films from various materials onto components such as computer chips, were re-inspected and are thought to have met customers' specifications.
The Mandalay Bay hotel and police have differed over the events leading up to the mass shooting

Mandalay Bay hotel staff did not notify Las Vegas police about a shooting in a hallway until after Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd outside at a country music festival, a federal official said.

The disclosure means there may have been a delay of some six minutes in summoning police to the scene of what became the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

In the most recent chronology given by investigators, Paddock fired 200 rounds into the hallway on the 32nd floor, wounding an unarmed security guard in the leg, six minutes before he unleashed his barrage of bullets on the festival crowd. He killed 58 people and injured nearly 500.

Over the past few days, Las Vegas police and the Mandalay Bay's corporate parent, MGM Resorts International, would not answer questions about whether the hotel informed police about the hallway shooting in the minutes before the massacre began.

MGM has said the chronology given by police is inaccurate but it has not said what was wrong about it.

Paddock began his 10-minute attack on the crowd at 10.05pm, firing off more than 1,000 rounds. Police did not arrive on the 32nd floor until 10.17pm, two minutes after he had stopped shooting.

The timeline given by police earlier this week differed dramatically from the one they gave last week - that Paddock shot through his door and wounded the guard, Jesus Campos, after he had opened fire on the crowd.

"These people that were killed and injured deserve to have those six minutes to protect them," said Chad Pinkerton, an attorney for Paige Gasper, a California college student who was shot under the arm in the attack. "We lost those six minutes."

But Ron Hosko, a former FBI assistant director who has worked on Swat teams, said the six minutes would not have been enough time for officers to stop the attack.

AP
Texas carries out the death penalty more than any other US state.

Lawyers for an inmate convicted in a prison guard's death are asking the US Supreme Court to halt his scheduled execution.

They want justices to review whether lower courts properly denied a federal civil rights lawsuit that sought additional DNA testing in Robert Pruett's case and whether a prisoner who claims actual innocence, as Pruett does, can be put to death. The execution is set for Thursday.

Pruett, 38, was already serving 99 years for a neighbour's killing when he was convicted in the December 1999 death of corrections officer Daniel Nagle at a prison south-east of San Antonio.

Mr Nagle was stabbed repeatedly with a tape-wrapped metal rod and an autopsy showed the assault caused a heart attack that killed him.

Pruett would be the sixth prisoner executed this year in Texas, which carries out the death penalty more than any other state. Texas put seven inmates to death last year. His execution would be the 20th nationally, matching the US total for all of 2016.

Pruett avoided execution in April 2015 when a state judge halted his punishment just hours before he could have been taken to the death chamber.

His lawyers had convinced the judge that new DNA tests needed to be conducted on the steel rod used to stab 37-year-old Mr Nagle.

The new tests showed no DNA on the tape but uncovered DNA on the rod from an unknown female who authorities said likely handled the shank during the appeals process after the original tests in 2002. In June, the execution was reset for the October date.

Pruett's lawyers then unsuccessfully sought more DNA testing and filed the federal civil rights lawsuit in August, arguing Pruett had been denied due process. After the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the lawsuit last week, Pruett's lawyers appealed to the US Supreme Court on Tuesday.

In a second appeal to the Supreme Court, also filed on Tuesday, the lawyers asked the high court to revisit the constitutionality of executing a prisoner who claims actual innocence in federal court because of newly discovered evidence after exhausting all other appeals. Supreme Court justices in 1993 ruled 6-3 in a Texas case that it was constitutional to do so.

State lawyers told the Supreme Court that Pruett's appeals were intended to be a "further unjustifiable delay", had been "repeatedly raised" and previously were "properly rejected" by the courts.

No physical evidence tied Pruett to Mr Nagle's death at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's McConnell Unit near Beeville. At his 2002 trial, prisoners testified that they saw Pruett attack Mr Nagle or heard him talk about wanting to kill the guard. According to some of the testimony, he talked about possessing a weapon as well.

Pruett has said he was framed. His trial lawyer, John Gilmore, recalled this week that Pruett had a horrible childhood environment and told of getting high with his parents when he was only seven or eight.

Pruett's 99-year murder sentence was for participating with his father and a brother in the 1995 stabbing death of a 29-year-old neighbour, Raymond Yarbrough, at the man's trailer home in Channelview, just east of Houston. Pruett was 15 at the time.

His father, Howard Pruett, is serving life in prison. His brother, Howard Pruett Jr was sentenced to 40 years.

AP
Lloyds Banking Group will take control of 15 billion of assets after agreeing to acquire Zurich UKs pensions and savings business as it delves deeper into the retirement market.

The deal will see Lloyds Scottish Widows unit scoop up 500,000 customers in a move that accelerates the development of its financial planning and retirement business.

Insurance giant Zurich will receive exclusive distribution rights to provide life protection to certain corporate clients of Lloyds commercial banking arm as part of the tie-up.

In addition, 200 Zurich employees in Cheltenham are expected to transfer to Lloyds.

Antonio Lorenzo, chief executive at Scottish Widows, said: Todays announcement is a clear signal of Lloyds Banking Groups commitment to the financial planning and retirement segment.

The acquisition of Zurich Corporate Savings complements Scottish Widows growth to date and provides us with an ideal opportunity to accelerate our goal to become a market leader in this important sector for advisers and customers.

Scottish Widows already manages more than 124 billion of funds, of which 35 billion is workplace pensions business.

Earlier this year, Lloyds finally returned to private hands nearly nine years after the Government bailed it out at the height of the financial crisis.
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Patek Philippe launched its first website in 1997, the year after it presented its now-famous Generations advertising campaign and the Patek Philippe Magazine. Twenty is a mature age for a website and it even predates our own 16-year presence on the web. As we know ourselves at WorldTempus, such a long history also provides valuable experience of the evolution of the worldwide web and a wealth of visitor data that can be used to design a website around the needs of its users.

The patek.com website has been revised several times in its history, the last one dating back five years. For its sixth revision to mark its 20th anniversary, the site has been given a total revamp to bring it right up to date with the latest trends, technologies and user habits. Analysis showed, for example, that more than half of the sites visitors were viewing it on a mobile phone, so the new site was designed with a mobile-first philosophy and has been optimised with a responsive design that automatically adapts to tablet and desktop screen sizes.

The result is worthy of praise. The upper half of the screen is occupied only by the company logo and a simple menu with just three items. Below this is a full-width animation and the three latest news items from the brand. Patek Philippe has also put a lot of detail into considering the different personas of its visitors. This technical term attempts to classify visitors into different categories, which subsequently allows you to target different user experiences to them. Patek Philippe has done this with aplomb, offering a choice of basic or advanced filters for a watch finder that allows you quickly to find a watch to suit your taste.

 Patek Philippe

If you already know which watch you are looking for, you can head straight to the collection page and see the full list of available models. Click on your preference and you will be given full specifications of the watch. You will also be provided with one important piece of information that has long been withheld from visitors to brand websites: the price. Like Rolex, Patek Philippe has understood the need to be transparent on prices and the welcome side-effect of doubling the clicks on its site by adding the price beneath a scroll button. Its a simple way to confirm that the stainless-steel Nautilus with blue dial that you covet retails for 21,900 Swiss francs. The only information that Patek Philippe doesnt provide is an indication of waiting list of several years that most retailers will give for this model.

Company history and information is regrouped under the single Company heading, while Retail & Service collates all the information relevant to existing and new customers, from the location of retailers and service centres to owner registration and requests for extracts from the archives.

 Patek Philippe

If you still cannot find what you are looking for, then there is a search function. But in our own experience, internal search engines can develop a mind of their own. Even though the search engine on patek.com is powered by Google custom search, the results do not always correspond to the search. Given the significance of waiting lists for the Nautilus models, I searched for this term, just to see whether there was any mention of them among the 575 pages of information in each of nine languages that the site uses. The search returned six results, none of which contained a single mention of the word waiting list on the page in question.
Plus-size retailer N Brown has clinched a partnership with Amazon Fashion as it charges on with digital turnaround plans, despite booking a first-half loss.

The company reported a 5.6% jump in group revenue to 453.4 million in the 26 weeks to September 2, helped by a 14% rise in online revenues.

Digital sales accounted for 72% of revenue during the first half of the financial year, while 76% of online traffic came from mobile shopping.

N Brown also cheered significant share gains in ladieswear, with its Simply Be brand alone experiencing double digital revenue growth.

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But it was not enough to save the company from the effects of the Brexit-hit pound, which pushed it to a loss of 27.6 million compared with a profit of 21.1 million during the same period a year earlier.

It was also impacted by exceptional costs of 54.9 million linked to store closures, tax matters and redress for customers after the company found a flaw in certain insurance products it sold to customers between 2006 and 2014.

Chief executive Angela Spindler said: I am very pleased to report continued good trading in the half, with Simply Be the standout performer, recording 21% growth.

We made significant ladieswear market share gains against what remains a subdued consumer backdrop.

In line with other retailers, FX rates represent a headwind and this was particularly felt this half.

It has not stopped the company charging ahead with a digital strategy, as it unveiled a string of new online partnerships.

N Brown said capsule collections for its Simply Be brand will now be sold through Namshi, while its Jacamo range will be sold through Debenhams, and both lines will be made available on the Amazon Fashion platform.

Ms Spindler said: Our transformation into a flexible, online retailer continues to benefit all aspects of our business and we are today sharing our three growth levers going forwards.

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These are continuing to gain share in the UK, growing internationally and working in partnership with other companies to offer even more choice to our customers.

But investors appeared more pessimistic, with shares down 3.6% or 12.6p at 337.4p in afternoon trading.

John Stevenson, an analyst at Peel Hunt, said: Its been a fairly torrid time for N Brown, with profits down circa 20% since launching the initial revitalisation programme.

While the level of investment and change required was greater than expected, its now time to show that the benefits can be delivered.

The chief executive assured that trading was on track as the second half of the financial year kicked off.

We are focused and well prepared for the peak trading period ahead. We are confident in our ability to deliver sustainable long-term growth and achieve our international ambitions, Ms Spindler said.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes hands with US President Donald Trump as US first lady Melania Trump looks on as they meet about the Nafta trade agreement at the White House in Washington yesterday Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

US president Donald Trump wanted to dramatically increase the country's nuclear arsenal, he said in a meeting with his national security advisers in July, NBC News has reported, citing three officials who were present.

His reported comments come as tensions with North Korea remained high and the US president was expected to make an announcement on whether to 'decertify' the international deal surrounding Iran's nuclear programme.

The president spoke in July after being shown a chart indicating that the stockpile of US nuclear weapons had slid from a high of 32,000 in the 1960s. Mr Trump said he wanted to have that same number now, NBC reported.

The United States currently has about 4,000 nuclear warheads earmarked for use in its military stockpile, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

In a post on Twitter yesterday the president said: "Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a 'tenfold' increase in our US nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!"

Mr Trump told Reuters in February that he wanted to ensure that the US nuclear arsenal was at the "top of the pack".

Although US presidents have modernised weapons stockpiles over the years, adding to the nuclear arsenal or building a prohibited type of weapon would be a violation of treaty agreements, according to NBC.

After the meeting, secretary of state Rex Tillerson referred to Mr Trump as a "moron", according to NBC. US news reports have painted the relationship between Mr Trump and Mr Tillerson as tense.

MSNBC reported in 2016 that as a candidate, Mr Trump asked a foreign policy adviser three times in a one-hour meeting why the United States could not deploy its nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, a new poll has found that North Korea's nuclear weapons development is spooking most Americans and two-thirds of them say President Trump's war of words with the regime is making the situation worse.

Threats

Those are the findings of a new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, as tensions between the adversaries escalate and North Korea comes closer to its goal of having a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the continental US.

The poll was conducted about a week after Mr Trump intensified rhetorical exchanges with his counterpart Kim Jong-un, dubbing him "Rocket Man" and threatening in a speech at the UN to "totally destroy" North Korea if the US was forced to defend itself and its allies.

Mr Kim responded with dire threats and insults of his own, calling Trump "deranged".

The poll found that 65pc of Americans think Mr Trump's comments have made the situation between the US and North Korea worse.
Hamas and Palestinian leaders celebrate reaching an agreement on control of the Gaza Strip after Egyptian-brokered talks (AP Photo/Prime Minister Office, File)

Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah have reached a preliminary, partial agreement that could pave the way for President Mahmoud Abbas to resume governing the Gaza Strip a decade after Hamas overran the territory, officials said.

Details of the deal were announced at a news conference in Cairo, where the negotiators were meeting.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement that the deal was reached under "generous Egyptian auspices".

A senior Palestinian official said Mr Abbas, the leader of Fatah, might visit Gaza in the coming weeks, depending on the successful implementation of the agreement.

The Western-backed Mr Abbas has not set foot in Gaza since 2007, when the Islamic militant Hamas, his main ideological rival, seized the territory after days of factional street battles.

The Hamas takeover, which came a year after the group defeated Fatah in Palestinian parliamentary elections, left Mr Abbas with autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Over the past decade, each side deepened control over its territory, making it increasingly difficult to forge compromises, and repeated attempts at reconciliation failed.

Under the emerging agreement, Hamas would hand over responsibilities of governing Gaza to the West Bank-based government of prime minister Rami Hamdallah.

Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah delegation, said Mr Abbas' Palestinian Authority would assume control of the crossing points between Gaza and Israel by November 1.

He said Mr Abbas' presidential guard would assume control of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, but did not specify a timetable.

Egypt has kept the Rafah border crossing closed for most of the last decade.

Before the Hamas takeover, Mr Abbas' presidential guard administered the crossing under EU monitoring.

"The Rafah crossing needs some measures to improve and renovate the buildings in a way that is worthy of Egypt and the Palestinian people so as it can operate smoothly," Mr al-Ahmad said during the announcement of the deal.

A senior Hamas official said both sides agreed that European monitors could be posted at the crossing, a measure that might assuage Israeli concerns about weapons smuggling.

A permanent opening of the Rafah crossing would mean an end to the crippling Israeli and Egyptian blockade imposed on Gaza after the Hamas takeover, which prevents free trade and bars the vast majority of Gaza's two million people from leaving the territory.

Only one of Gaza's four commercial crossings to Israel, Kerem Shalom, is currently operating, down from four before 2007.

A small number of people, mainly medical patients, business people and aid workers, use the Erez crossing to enter Israel, usually bound for the West Bank.

Hamas has indirectly run the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom commercial crossing, collecting taxes and fees on imports.

At Erez, Hamas maintained security control from a checkpoint near the crossing, while the Palestinian Authority had a small office to coordinate with the Israeli side.

Key issues were not addressed in the Cairo talks.

A major sticking point has been the Hamas military wing and its arsenal, which Hamas has said is not up for discussion.

Hamas officials have assured the Fatah negotiators that the military wing would maintain a low profile as part of any deal.

AP
Police technicians on board the home-made submarine UC3 Nautilus on a pier in Copenhagen harbour (AP)

Divers have recovered a saw from the sea off Copenhagen and forensic investigators are checking whether it was used to dismember the body of a Swedish journalist, police in Denmark have said.

The capital's police investigator Jens Moeller Jensen said on Thursday they were still searching for the arms of 30-year-old Kim Wall.

Ms Wall's torso was found on a southern Copenhagen coast on August 21, and her decapitated head, legs and clothes were found at sea last week.

Ms Wall was last seen on a home-made submarine with inventor Peter Madsen, who is being held in custody.

He has said she died after being accidentally hit by a heavy hatch in the submarine's tower.

Police have found no fractures to Ms Wall's skull.

AP
Somalia's defence minister and army chief have resigned as the al Qaida-linked al Shabab group steps up attacks on army bases across the south and centre of the country.

Defence Minister Abdirashid Abdullahi Mohamed has quit, citing lack of consultations on issues related to his ministry while army chief General Mohamed Ahmed Jimale has also submitted his resignation.

There have been reports of a rivalry between the two outgoing military leaders.

Somalia in recent weeks has seen an increase in attacks by al Shabab extremists, who have overrun several army positions.

Al Shabab is the focus of stepped-up US military efforts, including drone strikes.

AP
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Vacheron Constantin is pursuing its dialogue with collectors and passionate devotees of Haute Horlogerie by enriching its Metiers dArt The legend of the Chinese zodiac with the sign of the dog, emboying. Loyal, devoted and reliable, it will take over from the rooster at the Chinese New Year on February 16th 2018. These two new creations, realised in twelve models each, combine the technical excellence of Caliber 2460 G4 with the beauty of artistic crafts.

China, a nation with which Vacheron Constantin has been cultivating special ties since 1845, first introduce the paper-cutting technique known as Jianzhi, a popular art echoed in Swiss culture through its famous Scherenschnitt paper-cutting. This artistic approach, highlighted in the Metiers dArt The legend of the Chinese zodiac, has been given a fresh interpretation thanks to the expertise of the master engravers and enamellers.

The foliage motif appearing on the dial and based on classic Chinese iconography is etched directly in the metal. The pattern remains semi-embedded and stands out from its gold base by a subtle stage-setting of variously accentuating reliefs creating a depth effect. This makes the vegetation appear to be floating over the dial.

Metiers d'Art The legend of the Chinese zodiac Year of the dog with platinum case and engraved dog  Vacheron Constantin

Then comes the stage of Grand Feu enamelling, an ancestral technique that remains the preserve of a very few particularly skilled artisans. By applying the enamel in successive layers, the enamel specialist enhances the intensity of the blue or bronze-toned dial. Achieving the necessary mastery of colour and of reactions to firing at temperatures between 800 and 900 degrees Celsius calls for an expertise that can only be acquired over long years of experience. The dog, made of platinum or pink gold, is hand engraved and delicately applied to the dial centre.

Metiers d'Art The legend of the Chinese zodiac Year of the dog with pink gold case and engraved dog  Vacheron Constantin

Calibre 2460 G4 makes it possible to create a distinctive and ideal stage-setting for the decorative arts, by giving the central dial motif a starring role. The hands-free time display is achieved through four apertures showing the hours, minutes, days and dates. These indications  the first two of the dragging variety and the last two of the jumping type  proudly embody the longstanding savoir-faire of the Maison in designing and developing original displays. Clearly visible through the sapphire crystal back of the platinum or pink gold case, the 22-carat oscillating weight is adorned with a recurrent Maltese cross pattern testifying to finishes performed in keeping with the finest watchmaking traditions. All movement components are indeed finely finished in accordance with the criteria of the Hallmark of Geneva, a quality label of which Vacheron Constantin is the most faithful representative.
India's top court has ruled that having sexual intercourse with a wife under the age of 18 is rape, a decision that activists have hailed as an important step towards ending child marriages.

Indian law says a woman must be at least 18 to marry and consent to sex, but there are exceptions and a man was permitted to have sex, even forcibly, with a girl as young as 15, as long as she was his wife.

The Supreme Court in New Delhi ruled on Wednesday that sexual intercourse with a girl younger than 18 is rape.

"Human rights of a girl child are very much alive and kicking, whether she is married or not, and deserve recognition and acceptance," said Justices Madan Lokur and Deepak Gupta.

Marriages of young girls are prevalent in India, especially among the rural poor. The government estimates that child marriages in rural areas are three times higher than in urban centres.

On Thursday, sociologist Ranjana Kumari welcomed the court verdict and said it had removed a conflicting position in Indian laws. She said that according to the 2011 government census, the percentage of under-18 marriages in India was as high as 47%.

Lalitha Kumaramangalam, former chairwoman of the National Commission for Women, said the ruling "will act as a deterrent to parents".

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the court decision would help to end the practice of early marriages, and a lso called for free access to secondary education for girls.

"Also parents often say they don't like to send their daughters to school, and get them married, to protect them from sexual abuse. India has enacted a law against child sex abuse, but should do much more to enforce the protections," she said.

India's Parliament raised the age of consent to 18 in 2013, but no change was made in a legal exception. It said if a married girl was over 15, her husband could not be charged with any offence.

The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that "sexual intercourse with a girl below 18 years of age is rape regardless of whether she is married or not".

AP
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the South Lawn before their meeting about the NAFTA trade agreement at the White House in Washington, U.S. October 11, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

President Donald Trump remained non-committal about the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) on Wednesday as he welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House.

Mr Trudeau joined Mr Trump in the Oval Office at the start of a new round of talks over the agreement, which the US president has threatened to withdraw from if he cannot negotiate a better settlement with Canada and Mexico.

Mr Trump said: "We're negotiating a Nafta deal.

"It's time after all of these years and we'll see what happens. It's possible we won't be able to make a deal and it's possible that we will.

"We have to protect our workers and, in all fairness, the prime minister wants to protect Canada and his people also.

"So, we'll see what happens with Nafta. It has to be fair to both countries."

Mr Trudeau, in his brief remarks to reporters, spoke of the ties that bind the two neighbours and major trading partners.

"We have an incredibly close relationship. Two countries that are interwoven in our economies and our cultures and our peoples," Mr Trudeau said.

"We have a good partnership ... and that's why having an ongoing constructive relationship between the president and the prime minister is really important."

The trade negotiations this week in Washington have gotten off to a rocky start, with the US Chamber of Commerce warning the Trump administration might be sabotaging the talks with unrealistic proposals.

Mr Trudeau, making his second visit to the White House this year, also raised the Trump administration's recent decision to hit Canadian manufacturer Bombardier with punishing tariffs on its C Series airliner.

US-based Boeing alleges that Bombardier gets unfair subsidies from the Canadian and British governments.

Mr Trump, who made trade a key part of his 2016 presidential campaign, has repeatedly criticised Canada, alleging it unfairly blocks US dairy products and subsidises its softwood lumber industry.

Mr Trudeau said that it wasn't an easy conversation to have with Mr Trump.

Bombardier is contracted to supply up to 125 C-Series aircraft to Atlanta-based Delta Airlines in a deal underpinning many staff posts at its manufacturing plant in Belfast.

The UK Government has also been actively lobbying in the US for a compromise between Boeing and Bombardier amid growing concern about the potential implications for Bombardier's Northern Ireland operations.

Mr Trudeau is scheduled to visit Mexico on Thursday to hold additional discussions on Nafta.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lashed out at the United States, saying Washington is "sacrificing ties" by supporting its ambassador to Turkey amid a diplomatic spat.

Mr Erdogan said: "It is unacceptable for America to sacrifice a strategic partner like Turkey for an impertinent ambassador."

He also slammed Washington for providing arms to Kurdish fighters in Syria, whom Turkey considers terrorists, while blocking the sale of US-made weapons to Turkish security personnel.

He said on Thursday that Turkey would retaliate by cancelling plans to supply its police force with American guns.

Turkey arrested a Turkish national working for the American Consulate in Istanbul, leading the US to suspend issuing visas at its missions in Turkey.

Mr Erdogan also accused people associated with Barack Obama's administration of obstructing the Donald Trump administration's relations with Turkey.

AP
The Egyptian Court of Cassation has accepted the appeal of activist Ahmed Douma against his life sentence on charges related to the 2011 cabinet clashes, and has ordered he be retried.

In December 2011 security forces forcibly dispersed a three-week sit-in at the cabinet building.

At least 18 people were killed and hundreds injured in the violence, which spanned five days.

Douma and 268 other defendants were accused of attacking the cabinet building, security personnel and the Scientific Institute building in downtown Cairo as part of the events.

He was sentenced to life in prison and given a EGP 17 million fine by a Cairo criminal court in February 2015 after being convicted of the charges.

Douma also received three-year sentences in two separate cases, the first for breaching the country's protest law in January 2015, a sentence he has completed, and the second for insulting the judiciary in 2014. In the second case, his appeal was accepted.

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It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Stephen Paddock, 64, overlooking the crowd from his hotel suite, opened fire on music festival attendees in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and injuring nearly 500 others. While his motives remain unclear, the massacre has sparked discussions across the nation regarding what can be done to prevent mass homicides due to gun violence in America.

According to Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund  an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to understand and reduce gun violence in America  the U.S. has one of the highest rates of death by firearm in the developed world. Americas gun homicide rate is more than 25 times the average of other high-income countries. Despite gun control debates re-emerging, a unified solution remains unclear.

Here in Indianapolis, more than 100 individuals have died due to gun violence this year. Members of the community are divided over answers.

A sisters story

Six people were killed in homicides in Indianapolis during the same weekend of the Las Vegas massacre. One of the victims was 38-year-old Kirk Shurill, who was attending a memorial service for a homicide victim on Sept. 30 when he was fatally shot.

He was in the car smoking it, they call it burning rubber, and apparently the shooter considered it disrespectful. He just walked up to the car, opened fire and shot my brother 17 times, said Amy Cowherd, Shurills sister.

Cowherd feels stricter gun control laws would have prevented her brothers death and feels the government needs to find reasonable ways to keep weapons out of the wrong hands.

Kirk Shurill, pictured here with his sister Amy Cowherd, was attending a memorial service for a homicide victim on Sept. 30 when he was fatally shot.

If there were more reasonable gun control measures put in place, it could have prevented the whole incident from happening. He could have dealt with his anger for being mad at my brother, dealt with it in a more reasonable fashion than to shoot him, said Cowherd. (Gun control) needs to be tightened up, so its not so easy for people to get guns, and just get mad over anything and shoot someone for whatever reason. It was a senseless act. I dont know what the shooter was thinking.

A deputys perspective

Deputy Chief Chris Bailey with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says that in Indiana, there is no requirement to register weapons with the city or state, but individuals with handguns are required to have a handgun license. Bailey says the majority of individuals who are committing homicide do not possess a handgun licenses.

They are getting their guns off the street. They are being stolen from cars, or we have had gun store burglaries, and those guns end up on the street, said Bailey. (Recently) we had an incident where there were shots fired near (IMPD) North District roll call, at a park in a shelter. There were some teenagers in that shelter around midnight with a semi-automatic weapon. They fired off 15 rounds, and the gun was stolen.

Bailey doesnt think stricter gun laws would help lower the number of homicides, because most of the weapons being used are being used illegally. He thinks the gun laws that are already in place need to be enforced better.

We repeatedly see the same people we have caught illegally possessing a gun, and three, four or fives times they are back out with a gun again. They are violating the laws that say you cant have a gun, and they eventually become a victim of a homicide or they commit a violent crime. We need to do better at enforcing the laws we have, said Bailey.

An activists outlook

Mmoja Ajabu, a former Black Panther Militia leader turned reverend, isnt convinced that stricter gun control laws are the solution.

Its interesting to me that when people want to talk gun control, they ignore the shooter. If a person is driving too fast in a car, they dont blame the car, they blame the driver. With guns, they dont blame the shooter, they blame the gun, said Ajabu.

He believes citizens need access to guns to defend themselves against the government.

People dont understand why the Second Amendment was put into the Constitution. The right to bear arms was never about crime; its about the fear that the government will get out of control, and if you dont have an arm, you will not have the capability to stop the government from getting out of control, to the detriment of our freedom, explained Ajabu.

A citizens concerns

Indianapolis resident Dominic Dorsey says he supports individuals owning guns for safety and security reasons. Dorsey started the Black Power Gun Club group on Facebook to encourage African-Americans to practice their right to bear arms, yet he feels there should be more limitations on the types of weapons individuals and officers can own.

Theres no need for assault rifles or automatic weapons on U.S. soil. The police are militarized, and thats ridiculous. People becoming militarized are the next step. Demilitarize the force and the citizenry, and well all be better off, said Dorsey.

In some countries, Dorseys suggestions seem to be working pretty well. In the U.K., which has a lower rate of gun-related homicides than the U.S., it is common for police officers to not carry guns, instead relying on mace, handcuffs and stun guns to get the job done. Also, individuals applying for a firearms certificate are thoroughly screened by the police to make sure they have a good reason to own a firearm and are fit to own one.

A preachers prayer

After six Hoosiers were murdered in a span of four days, a group of pastors and community leaders gathered to pray for peace in our city. Among the crowd was Terry Webster Sr., pastor of Nu Corinthian Baptist Church in Indianapolis. Webster believes elected officials as well as everyday citizens can play a role in promoting peace in Indy.

I think one step elected officials should take is stricter laws to help with those who have easy access to guns. We can be advocates for laws that prevent certain people from getting guns in their hands, said Webster. Perhaps everyday people could share a message of peace instead of messages of hate. Positivity rather than negativity can certainly be advocated for.

Webster believes the core of all violence is sin, and in order to have peace citizens must seek both physical and spiritual healing.

I believe we are not just fighting a natural war; its a spiritual war as well. Thats why we believe it was so important to come out of our four walls  to take action in the streets, said Webster. One of the messages we try to give is a spiritual message that God is a God of love, and violence is not an option. If we turn our hearts to Him, we will learn how to values the lives of one another.

Samantha Butler, the mother of 22-year-old James Butler, who was killed recently on West 28th Street, pleads for justice for her son. He was the 103rd homicide victim of 2017 in Indianapolis. A poster behind her, held by James cousin Shawnisha Lewis, was signed by relatives and friends showing support for the family. (Photo/Curtis Guynn)
The recent Police Interaction and Accountability Forum aimed to provide information on citizens rights during interactions with police, but the event also prompted passionate discussion among audience members and panel participants critical of the police department.

The forum, held on Oct. 5 at the Indianapolis Urban League and organized by lawyers Adey Adenrele and Aaron Williamson, featured presentations by legal experts and a discussion with a panel of members from across the law enforcement spectrum, including the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD), Citizen Police Complaint Office and the Marion County Prosecutors Office.

Dr. Clyde Posley Jr., a senior pastor at Antioch Baptist Church, was one of the more outspoken audience members during the forum, specifically critical of the training process of police officers and its impact on the African-American community. There is a small statistic, based on my research and writings, of police who actually have to pull their weapon and engage their firearm, and yet I hear most of the training is about how to engage, and then it becomes physical, he said. The bigger picture that were not talking about is that race is absolutely a part of every interaction between police and citizens.

Echoing that sentiment was forum panelist Dr. David Hampton, senior pastor of Light of the World Christian Church and the deputy mayor of neighborhood engagement for the City of Indianapolis.

If often feels that, in the African-American community, African-Americans are policed while everyone else is protected and served, Hampton said. Its my personal passion that we dont colorize criminality. Criminality has been colorized and painted as Black. If its Black, its already approached as criminal. We see this time and time again, and it is time that weve begun to eradicate those biases that do exist.

As part of the forums framework, videos were shown simulating interactions between civilians and the police to illustrate what is within the rights of both parties. One video included a Hispanic man who was walking down the street, only to be stopped by two police officers and searched without consent. During the interaction with police, the man was asked to provide identification, and he responded by asking if he was being detained or if he was free to go. The officer said he wasnt being detained, and the man said, Nice chat. I have to go. He then walked away.

Following the video, panelist and Indianapolis-based attorney Mark Nicholson questioned just how realistic the encounter was.

If you dont give him your ID, youre going to get hit with refusal to identify, Nicholson said. In the real world, those videos are not reflective of what really happens to poor and minority people, poor white people as well. Police are given the benefit of the doubt. If you have this police encounter, and they write in the report that you cussed them out, that you pulled away, our culture is designed to give the officers the reasonable doubt, and were going to believe them.

Panelist Lori White, executive director of the Citizen Police Complaint Office, stressed how important it is for people who feel they have been unlawfully treated by the police to seek counsel and file a complaint.

We need everybody who has those kinds of situations occur to file a complaint so that the complaint board can review it, so that the department can be made aware of it, so that the public can know, she said.

This perception of the police force was a theme throughout the forum that only increased in vigor with each passing minute. Summed up by Posley: We are going to waste our time if we dont talk about the real core issue, and that is, we have piss-poor race relations, and if officers dont learn to conduct themselves better, then they are going to do their training with the same biases legally.

policing panel
Egypt's Minister of Defence, Sedky Sobhi, met in Cairo on Thursday with General Mikhail Kostarakos, Chairman of the European Union Military Committee ("EUMC"), where they discussed the latest security and military developments in the Middle East, the Egyptian Armed Forces announced.

According to a statement released by the Egyptian army, Sobhi and Kostarakos also discussed military relations and cooperation between Egypt and several EU members.

From his side, General Kostarakos praised Egypt's recent efforts in fighting terrorism and the nation's leadership in solving regional problems.

Egypt's Chief of Staff, General Mahmoud Hegazy, also attended the meeting.

General Kostarakos and a delegation from the EUMC are currently in Cairo from a two-day visit that commenced on Thursday.

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Finding Our Way Back to Truth by Following a String of Facts By Edward Curtin To lead you to an overwhelming question/Oh do not ask, What is it?/Let us go and make our visit.  T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock October 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - If you find yourself lost and confused in a dark wood, then perhaps following this network of knots strung on a long string of dates listed below will help you find your way back home, where the bread of truth awaits you on the kitchen table. As we know, children love to trace, to connect the dots, to make connections, but often the connections they make frighten adults who try to ignore their points or offer some ridiculous circumlocutions. Maybe we adults are much like children in our desires to make connections, but the thought of it frightens us, even when we are already frightened by being lost amidst a forest of propaganda. Suppose we could for a while calm those fears and concentrate long enough to trace through the dim glimmerings of a faded pattern a clarifying story that would jolt us into an awareness that could change our lives and society. I offer here an arc of history that you may consider tedious. Try patience. I could yell, I could scream, I could try all the classical argumentation and logic that comes naturally to me. I could be a wise guy, amuse you, try to provoke you, curse, sing a song, stomp my feet  even write post-modern gibberish. As Andre Vltchek says, its hard  Im putting it nicely  to get through, to have an impact that counts. We desperately want to believe in a world where we really are children and BIG Daddy (apologies to Burl Ives) has told the truth. And yet we know that is an illusion. Obviously I have reached some stern conclusions, but I think the conclusions follow from the facts. See what you think. Follow these knots. They are a sampling. There are many more. 1957  Massachusetts Senator John Kennedy delivers a Senate speech in support of the Algerian liberation movement, in support of African liberation generally, and against colonial imperialism. The speech causes an international uproar, and Kennedy is harshly attacked by Eisenhower, Nixon, John Foster Dulles, and even liberals such as Adlai Stevenson. He is praised in the third world .

1959  George H. W. Bush moves his oil company  Zapata Offshore  to Houston, Texas. One of Zapatas drilling rigs, Scorpion, having been moved from the Gulf of Mexico the previous year, is now operating 54 miles north of Cuba

1960  On March 17 President Eisenhower approves the Bay of Pigs project.

1961  On January 17, in anticipation of Kennedys inauguration in three days, the Belgian government in complicity with the CIA assassinates Congolese nationalist leader Patrice Lumumba. On February 13 th a devastated Kennedy receives a belated phone call informing him of Lumumbas murder.

1961  April. More than a week before the CIA led Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba  code-named the Zapata Operation  the CIA discovers that the Soviets have learned the date of the invasion and informed Castro. Knowing the invasion is doomed in advance, the CIA Director Allen Dulles doesnt tell Kennedy. When the invasion fails, the CIA blames JFK who angrily says he wants to splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds. Kennedy fires Dulles.

1962  On June 13 Lee Harvey Oswald, ex-Marine and alleged traitor, returns from the Soviet Union with a loan from the State Department that also arranges for him, together with his Russian wife, to be met at the dock in Hoboken, New Jersey by Spas T. Raikin, an official of an anti-communist organization with extensive intelligence connections. Oswald soon moves to Dallas, Texas where, at the behest of the CIA, he is chaperoned around by CIA asset and George H. W. Bushs old friend, George de Mohrenschildt.

1963  June 10. JFK delivers his famous American University address calling for an end to a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war.

1963  On October 11 Kennedy issues National Security Action Memorandum 263 calling for the withdrawal of 1,000 American troops from Vietnam by the end of 1963 and all of them by the end of 1965.

1963  November 2. At the last minute JFK cancels his trip to Chicago to attend the Army-Air Force football game when it is learned that a four-man rifle team has plotted to assassinate him. The four are never charged or named, but an alienated ex-Marine scapegoat with CIA connections, Thomas Arthur Vallee, is arrested on a pretext. Vallee works in a building overlooking a dog-leg turn where JFKs car was to pass.

1963  November 22. JFK is shot in Dallas on a dog-leg turn at 12:30 P.M. and dies at 1 P.M. At 1:38 P.M. Walter Cronkite makes the first public announcement of the presidents death. At 1:45 P.M. George H. W. Bush, who is in Tyler, Texas an hour and a half southeast of Dallas, telephones Houston FBI agent Graham W. Kitchel to inform him that hes heard gossip that a Houston man, James Parrot, has been talking about killing Kennedy when he comes to Houston (JFK had been in Houston the day before). Parrot is questioned and deemed harmless. Bush tells the FBI agent that hell be going to Dallas in the evening, though he fails to mention that he was there the night before. At 1:50 PM the Dallas police arrest Lee Harvey Oswald in the Texas Theatre and charge him with the murder of Dallas police Officer J.D. Tippett. A few minutes after Oswalds arrest and his exit out the front door to waiting police cars, a second Oswald is arrested in the theatre and surreptitiously taken out the back door. Later in the day Oswald is charged with also killing President Kennedy from behind from the 6 th floor of the Texas School Book Depository. But the fatal shot to Kennedys head comes from his right front.

1963  Two days later Jack Ruby kills Oswald, who claimed he was a patsy, in the Dallas police building. That same afternoon LBJ tells Henry Cabot Lodge that I am not going to lose Vietnam.

1963  November 29. LBJ announces the formation of the Warren Commission whose key member is Allen Dulles, the former CIA Director fired by Kennedy.

1963  On December 24 th Johnson tells the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Just get me elected, and then you can have your war.

1964  August. The fraudulent Tonkin Gulf Incidents and Tonkin Gulf Resolution. The Admiral in charge of the U.S. fleet is George Stephen Morrison, the father of the singer Jim Morrison, who the following year will settle into Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles together with, among others, Frank Zappa, Papa John Philips, Davis Crosby, and Stephen Stills, all children of parents of the military/intelligence complex. Johnson orders the bombing of North Vietnam. The Vietnam War starts in earnest.

1964  September. The Warren Commission findings are made public. Oswald is declared the lone assassin with the magic bullet explanation being the key.

1966  The CIAs Phoenix Program, an intelligence gathering, assassination, pacification, and drug running program, is organized in Vietnam. It conducts countless assassinations and tortures throughout Vietnam. Its organizational structure later becomes the structure for Homeland Security and the war on terror, while its drug-dealing modus operandi, joined to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), floods the United States with illegal drugs up to the present day.

1967  Martin Luther King delivers his Riverside Church speech  A Time to Break Silence  denouncing the Vietnam War and calling for opposition to it, while linking it to social, racial, and economic oppression at home. He says that the three linked devils of militarism, racism, and economic exploitation can only be solved together.

1967  On June 8 Israel attacks the USS Liberty in international waters, killing 34 U.S. sailors and Marines and wounding 171 others.

1968  April 4. Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis. The authorities blame it on James Earl Ray, a petty criminal loner. It is later proven that King was killed by U.S. government forces in coordination with Memphis police and local Mafia.

1968  On June 6 in Los Angeles, Senator Robert Kennedy, on the cusp of becoming the Democratic nominee for president, is assassinated. The accused lone assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was standing in front and to the right of RFK. None of the bullets from his gun struck the Senator. The autopsy shows Kennedy was killed by a bullet from behind and below that entered his head behind his right ear. Sirhan is subsequently convicted as the lone crazed gunman, despite many witnesses seeing a girl in a polka dot dress with a male companion, running down the back stairs of the hotel, shouting. We shot him! We shot him! We shot Senator Kennedy.

1968  November. Richard Nixon, vowing to end the Vietnam War, is elected President after secretly sabotaging the Vietnam peace talks. He subsequently continues the war and secretly expands it to Cambodia and Laos.

1972  June 17. Five CIA employees and veterans of the Bay of Pigs operation are arrested inside the Watergate offices of the Democratic National Committee. Together with H. Howard Hunt (CIA) and G. Gordon Liddy, they are later indicted. The burglars are caught by a security guard who notices that these skilled undercover operatives have taped locks open from the outside so that the tape is showing.

The Watergate story is primarily reported by reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein who work at the Washington Post under Editor Ben Bradlee. Woodward had earlier served in Naval Intelligence, as had Bradlee, while Bradlee and the Washington Post have deep ties to the CIA and intelligence communities.

1973  September 11. A CIA organized coup overthrows the socialist government of Chilean President Salvador Allende, killing thousands.

1974  August 9. Nixon is forced to resign. He is the second president in eleven years to be removed from office. Gerald Ford, a former member of the Warren Commission assumes the presidency. Dick Cheney is named White House Chief of staff and Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense.

1976  January30. Having been nominated by Ford, George H. W. Bush assumes the Directorship of the CIA, despite critics arguing that he has no intelligence experience. He serves in that capacity for 365 days.

1976  George de Mohrenschildt, Oswalds CIA handler and George H. W. Bushs old friend, writes a letter to CIA Director Bush begging for help we are being followed everywhere.

1977  March 27. George de Mohrenschildt, about to be questioned by investigator Gaeton Fonzi of the House Select Committee on Assassinations, allegedly commits suicide in Florida.

1979  November 4. Fifty-two Americans are taken hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

1980  Ronald Reagan is elected president and George H. W. Bush, vice-president. It is later alleged that Bush, CIA officer Robert Gates, and CIA Director William Casey met secretly with Iranian officials in Paris before the election and made a secret deal to insure Reagan/Bush an election victory by not releasing the hostages before the vote. The hostages were subsequently released a few minutes after Reagan and Bush were sworn in on January 20, 1981.

1985-88  The Iran-Contra scandal plays out as it is discovered that the Reagan administration was secretly selling arms to Iran in exchange for hostages and using the proceeds to illegally arm the anti-Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua in violation of the Boland amendment. Oliver North becomes the public face of the secret machinations while Reagan and Bush plead ignorance. Many are indicted, while Bush, when running for president in 1988, claims he was out of the loop.

1988  July 16. In the midst of the presidential campaign pitting Bush against Dukakis, the Nation magazine publishes an article by Joseph McBride, The Man Who Wasnt There, George Bush, CIA Operative. The article centers around a newly discovered memo from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, dated November 29, 1963, concerning the JFK assassination and an oral briefing the bureau had given on November 23 rd regarding the assassination to Mr. George Bush of the Central Intelligence Agency. A Bush spokesman denies it was candidate Bush.

1988  July 3. The USS Vincennes shoots down in Iranian airspace civilian Iran Flight 655 killing 299, including 66 children. Vice President Bush says,  I will never apologize for the U.S. I dont care what the facts are  Im not an apologize-for-America kind of guy.

1988  George H. W. Bush is elected president.

1990-91  President Bush attacks Iraq, called the Gulf War, public and congressional support for which is given a huge boost on the testimony of a nurse who claims she witnessed Iraqi soldiers In Kuwait City hospital grabbing babies out of incubators and throwing them on the floor to die. It is later discovered that the nurse in question was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States and that she hadnt lived in Kuwait at the time. Her story had been hatched by the Hill and Knowlton public relations firm and was a lie  a successful lie.

1991  May 19. A few weeks after filming had begun on Oliver Stones movie, JFK, the Washington Posts national security reporter George Lardner, Jr. writes a scathing review of the film based on a stolen copy of the first draft of the screenplay.

1991  December 20. Stones film, JFK, is released.

1991  On December 24 President Bush grants pardons to six former members of the Reagan/Bush administration facing prosecution in the Iran-Contra scandal.

1993-2000  President Bill Clinton bombs Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Sudan  killing untold numbers of people, while maintaining economic sanctions on Iraq.

1995  April 19. The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, blamed exclusively on Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. Evidence pointing to others involved was dismissed, even the report of Air Force General Benton K. Partin, the U.S. Air Forces top explosive expert, showing in detail that explosives were planted inside the building at critical structural points on the third floor.

1996  May 12. On CBSs Sixty Minutes Clintons Secretary of State Madeleine Albrecht says that the deaths of over 500,000 Iraqi children as a result of the sanctions are worth i1997  The Project for the New American Century, a neo-conservative enterprise, three of whose signees are Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Jeb Bush, is launched. Among other things, they call for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Ten signees of the statement of principles go on to serve in the George W. Bush administration.

1999  On April 26 CIA headquarters was named the George Bush Center for Intelligence in honor of former president George H.W. Bush who served as CIA Director for 357 days.

1999  A jury in Memphis, Tennessee returns a verdict in a civil trial brought by Martin Luther Kings family concluding that King was killed, not by James Earl Ray, but by a conspiracy involving agencies of the U. S. government and the Memphis police.

2000  September. The Project for the New American Century releases a position paper, Rebuilding Americas Defenses, stating that the United States will not be able to enforce its will on Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan and maintain a Pax Americana absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event  like a new Pearl Harbor. The paper introduces a new word to refer to the United States of America  the homeland.

2000  November. George W. Bush is elected president after a disputed ballot count and the intervention of the Supreme Court. Dick Cheney becomes vice-president and Donald Rumsfeld is named Secretary of Defense.

2001  May 1. George W. Bush gives a major foreign policy speech at the National Defense University and says that the U.S.A. must be willing to rethink the unthinkable, giving public notice that the U. S. planned to withdraw from the ABM treaty. He warns against weapons of mass destruction and weapons of terror in the hands of rogue actors. The speech closely follows the reasoning of the PNAC paper of the previous year in urging an aggressive foreign policy. Cheney and Rumsfeld are in the audience.

2001  June 22-23 Exercise Dark Winter takes place at Andrews Air Force base. The scenario involves anonymous threatening letters sent to mainstream media. The letters threaten more letters to come with anthrax. Judith Miller, author of Germs, and a notoriously deceptive Iraq war hawk for The New York Times, participates, playing Judith Miller of the New York Times.

2001  September 11. The terrorist attacks in NYC and Washington, D.C. occur. The media immediately starts referring to them as another Pearl Harbor, a new Pearl Harbor. CBS News reports that before going to bed at night George W. Bush wrote in his diary, The Pearl Harbor of the 21 st century took place today. The site of the Twin Towers is first referred to as ground zero, a nuclear war term, by Mark Walsh, identified as a freelancer for Fox News by the Fox News interviewer on the street of lower Manhattan. Presciently anticipating the official explanation for the buildings collapse, Walsh adds that the towers obviously collapsed mostly due to structural failure since the fires were too intense.

2001  September 12. The New York Times headlines a story: Personal Accounts of a Morning Rush that Became the Unthinkable. Another headline under the byline of future editor Bill Keller, Iraq war hawk, reads, Americas Emergency Line: 9/11. The endless emergency and war on terror begin. Henceforth, for the first time in American history, a very important day is referred to by numbers, not by name  an emergency phone number.

2001  September 22. Tom Ridge is named Director of the newly created Homeland Security and becomes in charge of politically motivated terror alerts.

2001  September-October. Real and fake anthrax attacks occur. A sham investigation follows with the FBI eventually accusing government scientist Bruce Ivins on little to no evidence, resulting in Ivins alleged suicide.

2001  Throughout the first three weeks of October the major media use the word unthinkable repetitively, echoing its association with nuclear war, just as the World Trade Center site is similarly referred to as ground zero, another nuclear term. A phony anthrax letter containing a harmless white powder, postmarked in St. Petersburg, Florida on September 20, is sent to Tom Brokaw of NBC. The letter, not made public until October 22 after the medias repeated use of the word unthinkable, begins: The Unthinkabel Sample Of How It Will Look. Judith Miller of the New York Times receives an anthrax threat letter also sent from St. Petersburg.

2001  October 7. The U.S.A attacks Afghanistan.

2001  October 27. The Patriot Act is passed.

2001  December 4. George W. Bush says when he was outside the classroom in Florida on September 11 th he had seen this plane fly into the first building. There was a TV set on. Problem: No one saw the first plane hit the North Tower since it wasnt televised live. Much later a tape someone had made was shown on television.

2002  October 2. At the Cincinnati Museum Center President Bush gives a speech linking Saddam Hussein to the September 11 attacks and says that we cannot wait for the final proof  the smoking gun  that that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud. He urges the disarming of Iraq.

2002-10  Regular color-coded terrorist alerts

2003  February. Secretary of State Colin Powell gives false testimony at the U.N., asserting that Iraq possesses chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction and must be confronted.

2003  March. The U. S. attacks Iraq based on lies.

2003-8  Bush wages war on Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. Homeland security leads to indefinite detention, black sites, torture, spying on Americans, the loss of Constitutional rights, etc.

2007  February 10. Barack Obama, having been a U.S. Senator for 2 years 1 month announces he is running for president.

2008  September. An international financial meltdown occurs. The government claims it was unforeseen. The Bush administration bails out the big banks and financial institutions.

2008  November. A seriously inexperienced Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, comes out of nowhere to be elected president on a populist platform of hope and change. He receives more backing from Wall Street than his Republican rival. Liberals and progressives go wild for joy. Hope and change is proclaimed.

2009  Lawrence Summers, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, takes up his position as head of Obamas economic team. Timothy Geithner, former head of the New York Federal Reserve, whose father, Peter Geithner, oversaw the Ford Foundations programs in Indonesia developed by Obamas mother (who also worked for another notorious CIA front, USAID) becomes Secretary of the Treasury. And Robert Gates, former CIA Director and George W. Bushs Secretary of Defense continues in that position for Obama.

2009  March. Obama meets with the CEOs of fifteen big banks and tells them that my administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks . Im not out there to go after you. Im protecting you.

2009  Obama intensifies the war on Afghanistan.

2009  October 9. Obama is given the Nobel Peace Prize.

2009  December. Obama sends 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistan, saying this will bring this war to a successful conclusion.

2010  Obama vows to carry forward the Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans.

2010  and ongoing. Obama chooses his drone war kill list every Tuesday; says the killing of American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki is an easy one.

2011  Obama and partners attack Libya and brutally kill Muammar Gaddafi. Libya descends into chaos. Hilary Clinton exults.

2009  and ongoing. Obama attacks Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, etc. Does nothing to stop the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians. Supports and arms terrorists in Syria and other countries. Engineers a coup detat in Ukraine and supports neo-Nazi forces attacking eastern Ukraine. Encircles Russia with NATO troops and military exercises. Starts a new Cold War. Maintains military commissions and indefinite detention. Prosecutes more whistleblowers than all previous American presidents combined, but does not prosecute any banksters or torturers. Charges Edward Snowden, Thomas Drake, Jeffrey Sterling, Chelsea Manning, John Kiriakou, et al of violating the 1917 Espionage Act. Acquiesces in the military coup against the democratically elected leader of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi and his subsequent imprisonment. Spies on Americans and other countries. Maintains a national state of emergency and the Patriot Act with minor adjustments. Prosecutes the war on terror initiated by George W. Bush. Rules over a technological, computerized war of killing all over the globe and a technological, computerized spying apparatus here at home. Spreads USAFRICOM throughout Africa, killing black Africans and undermining governments with Special Forces. And does all this and more with a smile. Then, before leaving office he creates the fraudulent Russia gate story to continue the new Cold War and to undermine any possible cooling of US/Russians tensions under a possible Trump presidency.

2016  Trump is elected President to the shock and awe of the Democrats and their supporters. Immediately, the undermining of Trump begins to make sure he doesnt follow through on his promise to reduce nuclear tensions with Russia.

2017  Donald Trump, the new reality-TV president, takes office and comes under incessant attack from the Democrats and the main stream media. He reneges on most of his campaign promises, including reconciliation with Russia, and tweets so many moronic messages that he plays into the Democrats hands. Propaganda expands exponentially as the game of personality politics plays on. Meanwhile, the structures of oligarchic rule continue un-abated, both at home and abroad. Trump continues Obamas war policies, killing people around the world. It should be clear from this small portion of events over the years that there is a connecting link, that there is a bloody thread running through them connecting key players and the obvious ongoing presence of a secret structure that recruits its team to maintain this oppressive system. To see it should be gutsy childs play. It is not an issue of either/or; we cant explain how we have come to this terrifying situation of rule by a murderous, militarized national security apparatus serving the wealthy elites by concentrating on either individuals or structures. People such as Barack Obama, the Bushes, Trump et al. dont emerge from thin air (though in Obamas case it seems that way, and some have speculated on his CIA links). These people grow out of a system that has cultivated and nurtured them. They become spokesmen for the secretive and powerful moneyed forces some call the Deep State, the shadow government, the power elite, etc. (The scholar Peter Dale Scott sees a hidden link between the JFK assassination, Watergate, Iran-Contra, and 9/11.) Spokesmen, yes, they are that, but executive spokesmen; they are not innocent victims; they are free executive executioners, ordering death and destruction around the world and threatening a nuclear holocaust. People and ongoing structures are intertwined. Individuals count, but so do structures. We are now living within a structure of non-stop and almost total propaganda that individuals, with the help of alternative structures of communication such as alternative media, can penetrate and understand, but only if they are willing to trudge through the forest of history that will allow for context and the connecting of dots. In the end, it takes desire and work. There are no excuses when, at least for now, the World Wide Web makes available so many voices for truth. Many individuals concluding alike can lead to change. Connect and be outraged. This is the path to true patriotism, a love of ones home country and the world that is our home. We are not lost children without a way out of the forest of deception and fear. Follow the knotted string to freedom. Add to it. The psychiatrist Allen Wheelis once wrote a brilliant little book called, How People Change. His childish conclusion was that they change because they want to. Simple but true. Edward Curtin: - Educated in the classics, philosophy, literature, theology, and sociology, I teach sociology at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. My writing on varied topics has appeared widely over many years. I write as a public intellectual for the general public, not as a specialist for a narrow readership. I believe a non-committal sociology is an impossibility and therefore see all my work as an effort to enhance human freedom through understanding. http://edwardcurtin.com/
Trump is Pulling a Libya on Iran





Muammar Qaddafi learned the hard way how the U.S. reneges on deals.



By Robert W. Merry

October 11, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Word is out that President Trump this week will decertify the nuclear deal with Iran, also known as JCPOA, for Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. This is the deal struck with Tehran not only by the United States but also by France, Germany, Russia, China, the UK, and the European Union. Its a nifty word, decertify. It hides the real meaning of Trumps planned action. The correct word is renege.

Thats a loaded word in polite society. It characterizes a person or organization or nation that doesnt care about his or its character sufficiently to live up to his or its commitments and promises. To say someone has reneged on an agreement is to call into question that persons honesty, self-respect, and sense of honor.

Trump is called upon every 90 days, based on the Iran Nuclear Review Act, to certify whether Iran is living up to the JCPOA deal, which suspended economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for Tehran freezing, for 15 years, whatever nuclear weapons development it may have been engaged in. Trump hates the deal, as he has made clear since the beginning of the 2016 election cycle, and he doesnt want to go on record saying Iran is living up to it.

But it is. Thats the judgment of all the other signatories to the agreement, as well as the UNs International Atomic Energy Agency, which has issued eight separate certifications of compliance since the deal was struck in 2015. According to news reports, when Trump previously certified Iranian compliance, he did so reluctantly and only under pressure from his three top foreign policy and national security staffersSecretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, and Defense Secretary James Mattis. This time around, apparently, he doesnt plan to listen to those officials.

But what are the consequences when a nation reneges on a solemn agreement with not just another nation but six other nations and a union of many morewith the entire world watching? How do other nations deal with a country that blithely casts aside the commitments it accepted through what were assumed to be good-faith negotiations?

We have a case in point thats worth noting in the context of what Trump is about to do: Libya. The story of Libya brought shame upon the United States of America, which reneged on a deal it had struck with Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi, once one of the Near East regions most obstreperous and violent anti-Western leaders.

The story begins in the late 1990s when Qaddafi, chafing at his countrys international isolation and the economic sanctions imposed against it, opened discussions about normalizing relations with the West. Over the course of years-long negotiations, Qaddafi was made to understand that such an outcome would require two big concessions on his part. First, he had to come clean about Libyas role in the downing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. This would include turning over to Western authorities those involved who were living under Libyan protection, as well as financial restitution for the families of victims. That was done, and UN sanctions were removed.

Second, Libya was told that if it wanted to rid itself of the more onerous U.S. sanctions and have normalized relations with the United States and the West, meaning acceptance in the community of nations, it would have to give up its efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear arms. As Flynt L. Leverett, a well-placed State Department official at the time, wrote in early 2004, Libya was willing to deal because of credible diplomatic representations by the United States over the years, which convinced the Libyans that doing so was critical to achieving their strategic and domestic goals. Qaddafi gave up his weapons program, ceased his terrorist activities against America and the West, and essentially removed himself from the civilizational clash that ensued after the 9/11 attacks on America. In return, the United States halted sanctions and vowed to leave Libya alone during good behavior.

Then, when Qaddafi came under attack in his own country during the so-called Arab Spring of anti-government fervor in several Middle East nations, the United States promptly joined the effort to unseat him, which inevitably led to his killing, as anyone of sound mind could have predicted.

One remarkable aspect of this was how little any Americans seemed to care about their country entering into an agreement with a foreign leader and then reneging on it. Indeed, New York Times reporter David E. Sanger wrote a piece in March 2011 extolling Americas Libyan deal as having paved the way for the United States to destroy the Qaddafi regime. He quoted a senior administration official named Robert Joseph, who helped craft the Libyan deal, as saying that no one could say with assurance how far Qaddafis weapons program would have progressed absent the deal, but there is no question he would have used whatever he felt necessary to stay in power. In other words, the deal was salutary because it allowed America to upend Qaddafi contrary to the terms of the deal. That represents a distinctive diplomatic philosophy.

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One distinctive commentator at the time who went against the grain of self-congratulations was Paul Pillar, former intelligence operative and now a fellow at Georgetown. He wrote that such actions carry inevitable consequences. He noted the statement of a North Korean official who suggested the Western powers had been playing a big game of bait and switch. The Libyan crisis is teaching the international community a grave lesson, the official said, adding that North Korea will not make Qaddafis mistake and would hold on to every weapon it had.

Indeed, as Pillar wrote back then , The Iraq War, coupled with U.S. policy toward North Korea itself, taught the lesson that if youre thinking of getting involved with nuclear weapons, go full steam ahead so you can get at least one bomb in the basement as a deterrent before the United States or someone else uses military force to get rid of you. Turning to another nation on the other side of the globe, Pillar added, The rulers in Iran, being no dummies, are almost certainly drawing the same lessons. It will be very difficult, and will take much time and effort, to cause such lessons to be unlearned.

Just so. That probably explains in part why it took so long, and so much arduous diplomacy, for the JCPOA agreement to come together, to get Iran to agree to even a temporary suspension of activity on behalf of unconventional weapons development. The rulers of Tehran had to be convinced that, if they lived up to the agreement, the other parties would as well.

The Iranians have lived up to it, according to every dispassionate expert on the matter. But now the American president threatens to step away from it. He uses a clever circum-maneuver, since any decertification he issues will trigger a 60-day period for Congress to decide whether to reimpose sanctions. Thus he kicks the final action to lawmakers. If they reimpose sanctions, the United States will be in default on the agreement, and the two countries will be in a stance of friction towards each other that could accelerate to a point of actual hostilities. If they dont, then Trumps action will be merely a gratuitous diplomatic insult.

But dont forget Americas recent history of regime change promiscuityupending rulers, or helping to do so, or trying to do so. The list includes Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Ukraine. Thats a lot of involvement in the affairs of other nations. And that history cant give other nations much of a sense of any American forbearance in foreign affairs, particularly when coupled with Trumps forthcoming decision to renege on the Iranian nuclear deal.

Robert W. Merry, longtime Washington, D.C., journalist and publishing executive, is editor of The American Conservative. His next book, President McKinley: Architect of the American Century , is due out from Simon & Schuster in November.
Egypt's candidate for the position of UNESCO director-general, Moushira Khattab, managed to reach 18 votes in the fourth round of voting by the organization's executive board in Paris Thursday afternoon, tying her with France's Audrey Azoulay, Al-Arahm Arabic website reported on Thuesday.

Qatar's candidate, former Culture Minister Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari, remains in the lead with 22 votes, having gained four in this round.

There will be an eliminating ballot between Khattab and Azoulay on Friday to determine who will run against Al-Kawari in a final vote on the same day.

Shortly before the vote China withdrew its candidate, Qian Tang, in favour of Egypt's Khattab, ceding to her the five votes afforded to Tang in the previous round.

Egypt's foreign ministry officially thanked China for its support.

Lebanon also withdrew its candidate Vera El-Khoury, after she held only four votes in round three, though the country has not yet endorsed a remaining candidate.

Khattab, 71, is a former minister of family and population. She served as Egypt's ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1990 to 1995, and ambassador to South Africa from 1995 to 1999.

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Egypt's interior ministry announced on Thursday evening the arrest of a man supsected of the killing of one priest and injuring another in a northeastern suburb of Cairo earlier that day.



According to a statement released by the ministry, security forces arrested Ahmed El-Sonbaty as a suspect in the murder of Coptic Orthodox priest Samaan Shehata and the assault upon another, Beyman Moftan.



The late Shehata served as archpriest at St. Julius Church in El-Fashn, Beni Suef. Injured priest Beymen Moftan administers the El-Malak church in Matay, Minya.



The statement added that the suspect attacked both Shehata and Moftan in El-Salam city, where the suspect used to live, and that authorities were able to locate the weapon he allegedly used to attack both men.



Though no motive has yet been revealed, the interior ministry stated that 40-year-old El-Sonbaty is unemployed and was charged earlier this year for assaulting his father and setting his house on fire.



The prosecution is currently investigating the incident.

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U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has given assurances that Washington's only goal in Syria is fighting Islamic State, the TASS news agency cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Thursday.

Lavrov said he had last had a telephone conversation with Tillerson on Oct. 9, the agency reported.

Russia's defence ministry accused the United States on Tuesday of pretending to fight Islamic State and of deliberately reducing its air strikes in Iraq to allow the group's militants to stream into Syria to slow the Russian-backed advance of the Syrian army.

Lavrov, touching upon a possible U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, said it was hard to imagine how it could be legally implemented, TASS reported.

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The financial regulatory authority of Germany has warned of a very hard Brexit, with BaFin head of insurance oversight Frank Grund saying most insurers dont seem to be taking the matter seriously.I have the impression in various talks that the topic is taken too lightly, Grund was quoted by Reuters as addressing German insurance companies during a conference yesterday. He also echoed similar sentiments about the risk of operating illegally in the absence of new agreements.Grund added: One shouldnt wait for the final three months.Beyond the realm of insurance, another German body has also asked firms to be ready for a very hard Brexit. In a statement posted by the Federation of German Industries (BDI) on its website, it said German companies operating in Britain or Northern Ireland need to make provisions.German firms must prepare for the worst-case scenario of a very hard exit, anything else would be naive, warned BDI director general Joachim Lang. To make it clear: Yes, German industry wants to keep a very close relationship with Britain. But have no doubt: We prioritise the further development of the EU.The organisation has set up a taskforce aimed at identifying potential and acute risks associated with the UKs departure from the European Union, to come up with constructive solution proposals. As business leaders we are, of course, preparing for all possible scenarios, added Lang.He stressed: There is no guarantee that even a single transitional regulation will be in place on the date of withdrawal, let alone a final, equitable pact regulating future relations between the EU and the UK.
Since 2007, global insurer Aspen has fostered a close partnership with the Adara Group  an organisation using the power of business to improve the lives of people in poverty.The Adara Group is made up of two parts: its international development organisation, Adara Development, which is focused on improving health and education for women, children and communities living in poverty  including premature babies in rural Uganda  and its two for purpose corporate advisory businesses, Adara Advisors and Adara Partners, based in Australia.Insurance Business spoke to Aspen and Adara about their 10-year partnership, the work they have achieved so far, and why CSR is so important.Aspen is Adaras longest standing corporate partner. In addition to the companys financial support, Aspen employees hold fundraising activities throughout the year and have raised just under $1.1 million since the beginning of the partnership. The power of the partnership is most keenly demonstrated by the positive impact on health and wellbeing for the Nakaseke community in rural Uganda, as well as the continued engagement of Aspens employees.: In Uganda, 42% of all births take place without a skilled attendant, whose presence could help avert 20% of all maternal deaths. Aspen and our employees have played a key role in supporting the operations of Adaras partner, Kiwoko Hospital, which services a catchment of 800,000 people in Central Uganda. Specifically, the partnership has helped to build the hospitals expertise in maternal, newborn and child health, with the hospital now considered a centre of excellence for newborn care in East Africa.As a business, we know that the money we donate plays a vital role in supporting the hospital and its surrounding community. Adara partners with Kiwoko Hospital to help women deliver their babies safely, and help newborn babies needing specialised care in the neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU).Since 2007, nearly 24,000 women have benefitted from the maternity ward, with around 6,500 babies having been cared for in the NICU. Aspens donations also helped fund a new 78-bed maternity ward which opened in 2010, resulting in a 26% increase in maternity ward admissions.Kiwoko Hospital also offers a range of programmes for people living with HIV/AIDS focusing on treatment, nutrition, counselling and monitoring. More than 9,300 people living with HIV/AIDS received support in hospital and for treatment costs since 2007.Our colleagues are passionate about the partnership with Adara, and there is no better example of the high levels of employee engagement than our annual trip in which a group of employees, chosen as Adara Ambassadors, travel to Uganda and experience first-hand how the money raised is being used to fund the Kiwoko Hospital.Around 80 ambassadors have visited the hospital since 2007, reporting back on the latest developments there and in the community it serves. During their visit, the ambassadors take part in an annual race to raise funds: The Kiwoko Chase is a 16.5 km run through the villages of the Nakaseke District surrounding the hospital. Together with other fundraising activities, the eight 2016 Adara Ambassadors raised $15,000.Over the past decade, new ideas of shared values and corporate social responsibility have entered into mainstream business thinking. Aspen has been at the forefront of this movement, with its decade-long partnership with Adara embedded at every level of the organisation. And the impact has been amazing  not only on the engagement of Aspen staff, but also on the people we serve in Uganda, whose lives have been changed because of the dedication of Aspen to this partnership. Thanks to the longevity of Aspens support and the lessons learned from maturing programmes, Adara is now in a position to reach more women and children in need across the globe with its Global Health programme. This programme will build on the deep expertise in newborn care in low-resource settings gained from the long-term programmes supported by Aspen.Over 10 years, Adara has become embedded within our corporate culture. The Group is an ideal fit with our company values of innovation, expertise and collaboration, and we are proud of the positive impact we have generated together. Aspen has set a goal of raising $300,000 in 2017 to celebrate the 10-year anniversary, and we look forward to continuing the partnership for many years to come.
In an attempt to replace its retiring workforce, Allstate Insurance is hiring over 600 people in New York by the end of the year.The decision comes as more people return to purchasing insurance through registered agents. The recent wave of natural disasters led many to discover that they were underinsured after buying insurance through online means.The entry level positions available pay up to $15 an hour, while agent commissions are limitless. For its New York operations, Allstate is looking specifically for 67 agency owners, 33 financial specialists, and the rest will be sales professionals for the insurers business owners in the area.To encourage more agency owners, Allstate is offering a $2,500 award to any member of the public who refers an eligible candidate to Allstate. The award is payable 90 days after the candidate has completed agency ownership.In the industry, about 50% of the knowledge base is set to retire in the next five years so theres not enough young people coming into this business, Allstate Territory Sales Leader for Upstate NY Josh Chapman explained to WHEC.Well help them get the license, get the education necessary to pass the state exams and become a full-fledge insurance agent, Chapman added, explaining that Allstate is willing to front some of the costs to get more people to join.Chapman observed that some of the customers of a Rochester-based Allstate business have become agents themselves.Many of the support staff that have come through [that business owners] organization are now agents themselves so theres career pathing for someone who maybe doesnt have the entrepreneurial foresight or the revenue to invest in their own business today, they can grow with us, he said.
Burns & Wilcox has announced the relocation and expansion of its Philadelphia office. The larger space will give Burns & Wilcox the ability to double its current staff, and marks the companys second investment in the state of Pennsylvania this year.



As part of a long-term, strategic development plan, Burns & Wilcox has prioritized specific locations, such as Philadelphia, for greater capital investments, said Alan Jay Kaufman, chairman, president and CEO of Burns & Wilcox and its parent company, H.W. Kaufman Group. The company has continued to solidify strong insurance revenue growth in Philadelphia and eastern Pennsylvania, and our heightened presence in the state signifies our dedication to providing excellent levels of service and expertise to our retail brokers and agents.



Celebrate excellence in insurance. Join us at the Insurance Business Awards in Chicago.



According to Burns & Wilcox, its Philadelphia employees have consistently achieved double-digit year-over-year growth, and the local Philadelphia office has seen an increase of about 30% over the last year.



The Burns & Wilcox presence in Philadelphia and the East Coast is growing at an increased pace, and we have hired new associates to meet the demand, said Jim E. Epting, corporate vice president. This new space affords us the ability to continue on our increasing trajectory, providing world-class service for hard-to-place risks in the commercial, professional, personal and environmental insurance lines.



Burns & Wilcoxs new office is located at 100 Tournament Drive, Suite 230, Horsham, Pa.






A Massachusetts nanny who stole more than $100,000 from her employers has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.

Prosecutors say 36-year-old Stacy Fortunato was also sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation and ordered to pay full restitution. The Andover woman pleaded guilty in June to bank fraud and wire fraud.

Prosecutors say Fortunatos employer gave her a credit card to make purchases related to her duties, but from November 2014 to February 2016, she instead used the card to make hundreds of unauthorized charges and cash withdrawals.

To conceal what she had done, Fortunato made unauthorized electronic payments from her employers bank account to her employers credit card account. She also wrote checks for her own benefit on her employers bank account, forging her employers signature.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Fraud Commercial Lines Business Insurance Massachusetts
Kobe Steel Ltd.s legal problems are just beginning in wake of the companys disclosure that it falsified data for years about the durability of aluminum and copper used in airplanes, trains and vehicles.

The Japanese company, which supplies many of that countrys top automakers, is likely to be targeted by investors, customers, consumers and regulators  both in its home country and in the U.S.  as the fallout continues from its admission this week, according to plaintiffs lawyers and legal experts.

The companys admission on Sept. 8 that it may have provided substandard metals to more than 200 manufacturers spurred a flurry of internal probes by customers including Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Subaru Corp. into whether they had problem parts. Kobe Steels share price plunged 36 percent and the cost to insure its debt against default soared since the news unfolded.

I expect a wave of litigation as soon as people figure out whats happened, whos impacted and the company continues to admit things, said Samuel Rudman, a partner at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP. Rudman said his firm may pursue claims against the company on behalf of the whole gamut of those affected.

Kobe Steel, one of Japans oldest manufacturers, said it failed to comply with product specifications that it had promised customers. Though it initially said the issue was limited to certain aluminum and copper components that shipped from Sept. 1, 2016, to Aug. 31, a company executive later said the fabrication of data was systematic and dated back as long as a decade.

Kobe hasnt received any lawsuits from anyone, Gary Tsuchida, company spokesman, said in an email Wednesday. We are currently working together with our customers to determine whether the aluminum and copper products we supplied them have any problems concerning quality, he said.

We have also received inquiries from the public. Some asked for more information while others were angry, Tsuchida said. Investors have contacted us following up on press reports and for explanations concerning this issue.

The disclosure is the latest in a series of black eyes for the Japanese auto manufacturing sector, following on the heels of massive scandals over Takata Corp.s exploding airbags and defects in Toyota vehicles. The legal ramifications for Kobe Steel may resemble those that befell Takata and Volkswagen AG, following disclosures that the automaker cheated on diesel emission standards, according to some experts.

The Japanese auto industry has had a rough run, said Matthew L. Tuccillo, a lawyer with Pomerantz LLP who represents investors in securities cases. For Kobe Steel in particular, the impact from 10 years worth of falsified data could be a rough hit for the company, he said.

Because it is based in Japan, much of the legal or regulatory actions resulting from the disclosure may be focused overseas, according to the legal experts. However, cases would be pursued in U.S. federal or state courts against any U.S.-based operating units, following a pattern established in litigation over Takatas and VWs disclosures, they said. General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. are two of Kobe Steels biggest customers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

There will be investor suits, suits by customers, maybe product defect suits, but we dont know yet, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. The latter may depend on whether a connection is established between flawed metals and injuries or deaths, Tobias said.

Bigger cases will likely emerge as problems resulting from sales of any substandard metal come to light, the experts said.

They are going to face deep liability, wherever the stock trades, Tuccillo said. I would venture to guess that the revelations are going to keep coming. It seems like a tip-of-the-iceberg-type thing.

VW admitted in September 2015 that about 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide were outfitted with so-called defeat devices to cheat emissions testing. That set off hundreds of lawsuits in the U.S. and investigations by prosecutors and regulators in multiple countries. Costs, including settlements, have reached $30 billion.

Litigation over Takatas air bags took more time, as the first product defect claims against the company were settled quietly years before massive recalls of the products began. The air bags could malfunction, sending shards of metal at drivers and passengers, and were linked to at least 18 deaths worldwide.

Recalls of Takata air bags began accelerating in 2014, with the product ultimately becoming the subject of the largest recall in U.S. history. The fallout for Takata and its customers was enormous. The automakers this year have agreed to pay more than $1 billion to settle consumer actions claiming economic loss. Takata reached a $1 billion settlement with the U.S. to resolve a criminal investigation. In June, the company filed for bankruptcy protection

The Takata and VW cases helped establish a playbook of sorts for U.S. firms looking to pursue litigation against both Kobe Steel and the companies that used its products, said Anthony Sabino, a law professor at St. Johns University in New York.

Its their product, he said. The plaintiffs could ask, Where were you with your quality control?'

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Topics Lawsuits USA
Iraq's prime minister on Thursday denied an attack on the Kurds was imminent, in a bid to defuse tensions that had prompted Kurdish peshmerga fighters to temporarily seal off road links with the rest of the country.

"We are not going to use our army to fight our people or to make war on our Kurdish citizens or others," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said.

"Our duty is to preserve the unity of our country, to implement the constitution, and to protect citizens and national forces," he told a meeting of tribal leaders in the western province of Anbar, where Iraqi security forces are battling to seize the Islamic State (IS) group's last bastion in the country.

The rise in tensions came two weeks after Kurdish voters overwhelmingly backed independence in a non-binding referendum that the central government condemned as illegal.

Iraqi Kurdish forces closed the two main roads connecting Arbil and Dohuk with the northern city of Mosul for several hours, a Kurdish military official said.

"The closure was prompted by fears of a possible attack by Iraqi forces on the disputed areas," held by Kurdish forces but outside the autonomous Kurdish region in the north of the country, the official said.

Kurdish authorities said late Wednesday they feared Iraqi government forces and allied paramilitary units were gearing up to launch an assault on the autonomous region.

"We're receiving dangerous messages that the Hashed al-Shaabi (paramilitary forces) and federal police are preparing a major attack from the southwest of Kirkuk and north of Mosul against Kurdistan," the Kurdistan Regional Government's Security Council said.

Security sources said Thursday that Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service and Rapid Response Force had deployed more forces near peshmerga positions around Rashad, a village some 65 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk city.

The oil-rich province of the same name, areas of which took part in the referendum, is disputed between the Kurds and Baghdad.

On a conciliatory note, Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani's government reached out to Abadi.

It reiterated that it was "ready for dialogue and negotiations, based on the constitution, on border posts, internal trade, citizens' services, banking and airports".

For its part, Iraq's Joint Operations Command, which groups all pro-government forces, played down the tensions, expressing confidence that dialogue would resolve the problem.

"Our mission is clear: we are fighting a single enemy, Daesh," Brigadier General Yahiya Rassul said, using an Arabic acronym for IS group.

"All that interests Iraqis... is to liberate our country and beat the terrorist group," he said. "We do not forget the role played by the peshmerga."

He said Iraqi government forces had previously operated close to peshmerga lines near the northern city of Tal Afar.

Asked if there had been movements of Iraqi forces close to peshmerga positions, Colonel Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the US-led coalition battling IS group in Syria and Iraq, said: "We don't see that."

The coalition has worked with both peshmerga and Iraqi pro-government forces in the battle to oust IS group from areas of Iraq it seized in mid-2014.

"Our mission is clear -- to defeat Daesh," Dillon said.

"We have done that throughout Iraq. We will support the Iraqis in the same way we have in the last three years to make sure that Daesh is defeated".

Central authorities severed ties between the Kurdish autonomous region and the outside world after the referendum by cutting international air links.

Neighbouring Turkey and Iran, which fear that Iraqi Kurdish moves towards independence could fuel demands from their own sizeable Kurdish communities, have also threatened to close their borders to oil exports.

An Iraqi court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of senior Kurdish officials responsible for organising the referendum, saying they had done so "in contravention of a ruling by the Iraqi supreme court".

The warrant is likely to prove toothless as Baghdad's security forces do not operate inside Kurdistan, but it could stop the officials leaving the region.

Iraq has also launched a probe into Kurdistan's lucrative oil revenues and pledged to expose "corrupt" officials in the region who might have illegally monopolised the market.

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Saudi Arabias central bank is preparing tougher rules for insurance companies as part of a drive to create a smaller number of stronger market players operating in the country, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

A new supervisory framework will be introduced in the coming months that will force insurers to boost capital significantly as well as improve internal risk controls, said the sources, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The moves are aimed at triggering consolidation in the insurance industry and forcing weaker companies to merge with stronger ones, industry analysts said.

They [central bank officials] said half of the companies that are here today will not be here, one of the sources said. They want stronger companies in the market.

The proposed changes were discussed during a meeting between officials of the Saudi Arabia Monetary Authority (SAMA) and senior insurance executives this week, the people said.

SAMA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Current requirements for companies to have at least 100 million Saudi riyals ($27 million) of capital for insurance activities in Saudi Arabia, or 200 million for reinsurance activities, are likely to be significantly increased, the sources said.

The Saudi insurance sector has come under pressure as the economy has slipped into recession this year, with health insurance suffering in particular as expatriates have left the kingdom and hospital costs have risen, the sources said.

Abrupt Liberalization

That pressure has exacerbated problems stemming from the sectors abrupt liberalization a decade ago, when the central bank licensed some 30 insurance firms in an attempt to encourage the sector and cut the economys reliance on oil.

Ten of the companies licensed at that time are now unprofitable. Mediterranean and Gulf Cooperative Insurance and Reinsurance Co. (MedGulf), one of the most troubled, posted accumulated losses in the second quarter that surpassed 73 percent of its capital.

Over the last year, 11 firms have been temporarily suspended from issuing new insurance policies, some more than once.

Among them was Sharia-compliant insurer SABB Takaful, which earlier this month was stopped from issuing or renewing insurance or savings products.

The biggest Saudi insurance companies by assets, Company for Cooperative Insurance and Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance Co., are not among those facing problems.

Saudi Arabias insurance market is fragmented, with only a few companies dominating the sector and an abundance of smaller firms unable to make inroads.

Excluding the top five insurers, market share for the remaining 29 firms is below 37 percent, said Mohammed Ali Londe, a Dubai-based credit analyst at Moodys Investors Service. The figure drops under 24 percent when excluding the top 10 insurers in the market, he said.

Scrambling to Compete

That has left smaller companies scrambling to compete on prices amid limited appetite for their products, with insurance penetration in Saudi Arabia among the lowest in the region and globally at 1.5 percent of GDP.

SAMAs solution is to engineer mergers among these smaller companies or acquisitions by larger and healthier ones, although it is difficult to force companies into this, the sources said.

Their hope is that if the companies merge, there will be more economies of scale and so on, said the source, adding: But if you put two bad apples together, you may just end up with one even bigger bad apple,

The central bank is wary of letting the companies fail, the sources said, as more than half of the shares are owned by politically sensitive retail investors in a market unaccustomed to liquidations.

The capital position of companies has improved due to rights issues, however there are still a handful of companies that need to significantly improve their solvency, S&P Global Ratings London-based analyst David Anthony told Reuters.

In these cases, it is hard not to believe that regulators will be extremely keen to see the ailing insurer acquired by a stronger institution, whether domestic or foreign, Anthony said.

($1 = 3.7501 riyals) (Editing by Mark Potter and Peter Millership)

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SABB Takaful Must Stop Selling Insurance, Savings Products: Saudi Watchdog

Topics Carriers
Warm lighting would enhance the wood floors natural glow, the developer promised, so when all the custom lightbulbs burnt out, Anahi Abadia and her husband grudgingly drove to Home Depot to replenish supplies for their chic new flat in southern Mexico City.

They had just reached the register when the earthquake hit, shaking the store so fiercely the structure screeched. Minutes later, a text came in from their neighbor: The elegant apartment they had purchased only six months earlier had collapsed, rendering their new home a pile of crushed concrete.

They were among the fortunate: Two women working in their building and dozens more perished on Sept. 19 in structure failures that several prominent engineers now say could have been prevented. Nearly two-thirds of the 44 buildings that fell in Mexico City were designed with a construction method called flat slab  in which floors are supported only by concrete columns  now forbidden in parts of the United States, Chile and New Zealand according to data compiled by a team of structural engineers at Stanford University and obtained by The Associated Press.

Mexico City officials were widely lauded for tightening their building codes after thousands died in the 1985 earthquake. But they left out one crucial reform: a prohibition on the building technique that caused 61 percent of the building collapses in last months magnitude 7.1 quake, which killed 369 people and blanketed tree-lined avenues in rubble.

I keep thinking about what would have happened if I had still been in bed that afternoon, said Abadia, 26, who was in her bedroom that morning recovering from thyroid cancer, dreaming of furnishing the home she and her husband moved into in March. That was where we used to feel safe.

The concrete slabs used to build floors and ceilings can be cast to include some rebar for reinforcement, and give builders greater flexibility in room layout and allow for higher ceilings.

But in an earthquake, without reinforced concrete walls or lateral bracing to resist forces pushing structures sideways, buildings with that design can move too much. The columns, and connections between the slabs and columns, can easily break, prompting collapse, as was the case at a school where 26 people died, most of them children.

We have known for 30 years that this system killed lots of people, so why are we still using it? asked Eduardo Miranda, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford and global expert on earthquake-resistant design who compiled the data. The right decision after 85 would have been to completely ban this kind of construction. We could have saved lives.

Abadias trendy, ecofriendly apartment building with its wood-paneled balconies and solar-paneled roof collapsed when a corner column failed, and the flat-slab structure pancaked, Miranda said. There, the construction method was only the start of the problems: The units were designed by an engineer whose license lapsed, and approved in a borough where auditors previously found illegal construction occurred unchecked.

Experts concur that the devastation caused by last months earthquake in the city of 8.9 million people could have been much worse had the building codes not been so strong, but it also has forced an uncomfortable conversation about their shortcomings. Now, as experts race to toughen standards to retrofit hundreds of damaged buildings, they are grappling with the reality that corruption has allowed hundreds of structures to be built outside the rules atop the soft soils of Mexico Citys ancient lakebed.

*****

After the quake, Abadia and her husband made their way home to find their flat in ruins, concrete and rebar tangled in the parking lot, pieces of Styrofoam filler used in the slabs floating in the breeze. Frantic neighbors gathered to search for a missing mother and daughter-in-law they knew cleaned an apartment down the hall, but the builder never appeared, so residents were left to sketch out their own graphs of the buildings structure for rescue crews seeking a safe entry point.

The two people working in [the building] couldnt get out, said Abadia, the scars from her operation still fresh at the base of her throat. How is it possible that after less than a year after it opened, the building was completely demolished?

The day after the earthquake, the builder, Canada Building Group, sent residents an email saying that the company was not responsible for the collapse because the earthquake was a fortuitous event out of its control.

Little did residents know that the private engineer who designed the building had been working under a license that expired in July 2015, online records show. City officials and the engineer did not return calls seeking further details about the expiration.

And the borough official who heads the department that signed off on the plans the engineer submitted, including the waffle slab construction, reportedly had been suspended for illicit enrichment after an investigation by Mexico Citys controller found he failed to report a line of credit on a home and two cars on his income statement. Neither the builder nor the official, Nicias Rene Aridjis, responded to APs calls or messages but Aridjis has disputed the claim on Twitter.

An audit performed by Mexico Citys controller in 2015 shows that the same borough, Benito Juarez, had been rubber stamping construction drawings, allowing unpermitted and illegal construction to sail through its offices.

It was found that the department of public works and urban development does not have a specific program to administratively verify construction drawings, the audit said.

Borough officials did not return calls seeking comment, but previously announced they were investigating possible sanctions against the developer of Abadias apartment building and planned to file a criminal complaint.

It will need to be investigated, said Renato Berron, head of the Institute for the Security of Constructions of Mexico City, a city agency. It cant be that something so new fell down.

*****

In the crisis following the 1985 quake, a group of academics, building officials and engineers drafted emergency recommendations to strengthen Mexico Citys seismic codes, which were swiftly passed into law.

The committee was under pressure to analyze what caused the collapses and quickly issue new norms, and some architects and builders were opposed to an outright ban on flat slab construction, said Miranda, who was then writing reports that informed the committee.

There were lots of builders and owners who were not going to be happy that you just stopped their construction, said Miranda, who later went on to serve on Mexicos code committee in the 1990s, and on committees funded by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. These things start as technical conversations but then you run into policy and politics very quickly.

The new codes allowed flat slab construction if developers designed the building to be seismically stronger than structures with beams or concrete walls.

Authorities did not pay enough attention to evaluating if existing flat slab structures needed a seismic retrofit, Miranda said.

It would have been better to have insisted very much about not using flat slab, or using it only it in very special cases, said Roberto Meli, a renowned structural engineer who served on the code committee in 1985, and later headed the National Center for Disaster Protection founded after that quake. This was not a good solution.

The new codes gave more responsibility to a network of private engineers who are hired and paid by developers, and who submit structural plans to borough authorities. In practice, that means private engineers  not government experts  vet projects structural safety, and even city officials say the process can be vulnerable to corruption.

Corruption can come in many forms, from the moment someone accepts a bribe to when someone falsifies documents, or fails to present the right structural plans to borough authorities, said Berron. If the construction rules were implemented as they are written, then this could be avoided. But that hasnt always worked out.

In recent decades, middle-class enclaves close to the citys professional center have experienced vertiginous growth, and a dizzying array of unpermitted helipads and illegal, multi-floor garages have sprouted up between historic neoclassical homes. In the last 15 years, residents of Abadias Benito Juarez borough and two others nearby have sent in the highest number of complaints about land-use violations to a city watchdog agency.

Now, those same boroughs are home to dozens of damaged buildings that may need to be demolished or require emergency retrofitting, according to data from the Mexican Society of Structural Engineering. Miranda, whose team compiled the data on the 44 collapses through in-person visits and detailed structural analysis, estimates that hundreds of damaged buildings were built with flat slab systems, including some built relatively recently. Some 57 percent of the collapsed buildings had a soft story, a garage or other similar opening on the ground floor, Mirandas data shows.

Meli said he and others on the expert committee will seek to strengthen retrofitting standards first, and early next year may reexamine flat slab, although he is not convinced prohibiting the method outright would have worked.

Abadia, who is living temporarily at her mother-in-laws apartment on the other side of the vast city, said she hopes shoddy builders will be held responsible.

We lost everything, she said. We know an earthquake is an unexpected event. But a new building should not fall down.

Associated Press writer Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Mexico Construction Earthquake
In the wake of three devastating hurricanes this season, many carriers and vendors used drones and airplanes to assess structural storm damage. This use of aerial imaging combined with machine learning has fostered speedier claims resolution, according to industry experts.

A recent KPMG survey of more than 300 senior insurance executives on the impact of recent hurricanes found that the two biggest challenges facing insurers are the difficulties in assessing property damage and managing customer expectations and awareness of coverage. To improve claims efficiency and communication with customers, insurance executives cited the use of drones as one of the technologies they will utilize to help quickly settle claims.

The insurance industry has been doing a great job embracing technological innovation, said Laura Hay, National Insurance leader, KPMG. The recent hurricanes will present an opportunity to showcase some of the advancements made in assessing damages and rapidly settling claims.

Nearly three-quarters of insurers placed a priority on consumer-facing technologies and connected devices, with an increasing number using drones to aid in claims property damage assessments, according to a World Insurance Report released recently by Capgemini and Efma.

Several insurers, including Travelers and Farmers, used drones to assess hurricane damage after Harvey, Irma and Maria. James Van Meter, Allianz Aviation practice leader and head of unmanned aircraft for the U.S., said that while Allianz is not actively using drones, he can see their usefulness in assessing homeowners claims and in mass disasters.

EagleView is just one of several companies offering aerial and drone services to property insurers. Captured footage is coupled with artificial intelligence (AI) that can analyze millions of images and data in seconds. The firm provides AI damage scores for each roof surveyed.

After reviewing Harvey images, EagleView decided to donate images to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help the agency manage its resources in finding people trapped in Houston floodwaters. Airbus Aerial and the National Insurance Crime Bureau also offered aerial imagery of property damage caused by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma free of charge.

Insurers arent the only ones to benefit from using drones to assess damage after a catastrophe. Government agencies and the private sector are also seeing the benefits of loss assessment advancements. According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Air National Guard last month used drones that typically perform combat operations to conduct aerial surveys to assess which disaster-stricken areas were in most need of assistance.

In addition, in order to restore electricity and air conditioning quickly, Florida Power and Light (FPL) had 49 drone teams surveying parts of the state not accessible by vehicles, sometimes within in an hour after the storm subsided, the FAA reported.

The aviation agency, which is responsible for issuing drone authorizations, issued 137 authorizations, sometimes within a few hours, to drone operators performing search and rescue missions and assessing damage to roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta summed up the importance of drone operations to Irma and Harvey recovery operations in a recent speech at the InterDrone conference.

Essentially, every drone that flew meant that a traditional aircraft was not putting an additional strain on an already fragile system. I dont think its an exaggeration to say that the hurricane response will be looked back upon as a landmark in the evolution of drone usage in this country, said Huerta.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Claims InsurTech Hurricane Aviation
Last weeks massacre at a Las Vegas country music festival offers gun control advocates a fresh chance to test a law, put in place by Republicans and the gun industrys lobby, that protects the industry from liability for the criminal actions of some of their customers.

Starting with a lawsuit filed late last week in Nevada state court, the effort follows similar litigation over mass killings, most notably those of 20 elementary school children and six adults in Newtown, Conn. In most cases, the plaintiffs fail to overcome the laws high bar for liability, but with the Harvest 91 Festival, where almost 60 died and more than 500 were injured, that pattern may shift.

A dozen bump stocks, which allow a semi-automatic weapon to fire with the speed of an automatic weapon, were found in gunman Stephen Paddocks 32nd-floor Mandalay Bay Resort hotel room. The complaint, which was filed in Clark County District Court and seeks class action status, alleges that Slide Fire Solutions Inc, a bump stock manufacturer, and other, unidentified makers and retailers behaved negligently in selling and producing these devices.

This horrific assault did not occur, could not occur, and would not have occurred with a conventional handgun, rifle, or shotgun, of the sort used by law-abiding responsible gun owners for hunting or self-defense, the complaint states.

The named plaintiffs include Devon Prescott, Brooke Freeman, and Tasaneeporn Upright, all residents of Nevada who represent the potential class. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages as well as funds to pay for the victims counseling and treatment for emotional distress. The three are represented by the Las Vegas law firm Eglet Prince and by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Slide Fire didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Victims of mass shootings have sued in the past. Following the Newtown school shooting in 2012, suits were filed against Remington Arms Co. The first case was dismissed by a judge, citing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. The act, passed in 2005, says gun dealers and manufacturers cannot be held liable for crimes committed with their weapons.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has determined in at least two separate instances that bump stocks are legal under existing federal statutes. The classification depends on whether they mechanically alter the function of the firearm to fire fully automatic, said Jill A. Snyder, ATF special agent in charge, during a press conference last week. Bump fire stocks, while simulating automatic fire, do not actually alter the firearm to fire automatically, making them legal under current federal law.

Rather than using a mechanism to cause the repeated firing, the stocks use recoil to increase the rate of fire. The user generates a forward activation force so that the trigger collides with the stabilized finger, stimulating the first round of ammunition in the receiver, Slide Fires the website says. A recoil force from the discharging ammunition pushes the firing unit rearwardly so that the trigger separates from the stabilized finger.

Still, its unclear whether bump stocks fall under the PLCAA, which indemnifies manufacturers of guns and ammunition as well as a component part of a firearm or ammunition from such litigation. The act has a number of exceptions, including negligence, and the lawsuit filed in the Las Vegas shootings includes numerous claims of negligence.

A 2010 letter from the ATF to Slide Fire refers to a letter the bureau received from the company in which Slide Fire argued that its device is intended to assist persons whose hands have limited mobility. The lawsuit juxtaposed this statement with remarks by Slide Fire founder Jeremiah Cottle that bump stocks were for people like me [who] love full auto, referring to automatic weapons.

Plaintiffs are unaware of any measures taken by Slide Fire to ensure that bump stocks would only be sold to persons whose hands had limited mobility, or to even see if persons buying bump stocks who were not limited in mobility had any legitimate reason to buy them, the lawsuit states.

Avery W. Gardiner, co-president of the Brady center and the gun control groups former chief legal officer, said she doesnt believe PLCAA will protect bump stock manufacturers. PLCAA covers firearms and ammunition, she said. A bump stock is not a firearm and it is not ammunition. It does not qualify for immunity. I would be surprised if the defendants didnt try to make a PLCAA argument, but they will not win. Gardiner cited the 2010 letter sent by the ATF, which specifically states that the bump stock is a firearm part and is not regulated as a firearm.

Slide Fires reference to people with disabilities is troubling, Gardiner said, adding: We need to know more about who made, marketed, and sold these devices. Its not just about makers. We want to know who sold the bump stocks to the Las Vegas shooter.

Though Gardiner doesnt think the bump stock industry will benefit from the protections of PLCAA, the defendants will still probably seek to have the case dismissed, she said. I expect theyre going to try a number of legal tricks to try to avoid liability, to try to avoid a trial. We will see them as they come, she said. We will be anticipating those tricks.

Slide Fire is the only company named in the lawsuit, though the complaint also refers to unnamed, Doe and Roe manufacturers and retailers. The Texas-based company holds a variety of patents related to the bump stock and has previously sued competitors for infringement.

Even the National Rifle Association has said that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations. The group, which opposes gun control regulation, didnt immediately respond to request for comment on the lawsuit.

The suit also seeks funding for medical monitoring for those who attended the festival and were affected by the attack. After the cameras are gone from Las Vegas, these concertgoers, many of them are still going to be suffering significantly, Gardiner said.

Paddock could not have injured so many people without a bump stock, the complaint states. Paddock may not have launched his military-style assault without a bump stock. There are people who were killed, injured, and suffered emotional distress who would not have been, if Paddock had not possessed a bump stock.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Lawsuits Gun Liability Manufacturing
U.S. Supreme Court justices suggested they may bar victims of overseas atrocities from using a centuries-old law to sue corporations for complicity, as the court weighed a case stemming from Middle Eastern terrorism.

Hearing arguments Wednesday in Washington, the courts conservative wing questioned whether the 1789 Alien Tort Statute, a favorite tool of human rights activists in recent decades, permits suits against corporations in U.S. courts.

Victims of attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories are seeking to sue Amman, Jordan-based Arab Bank Plc for allegedly using its New York branch to distribute millions of dollars to terrorists and their families.

Chief Justice John Roberts said he was concerned that corporate liability would cause foreign entanglements, alluding to the Trump administrations contention the case has caused friction with the Jordanian government.

Im wondering if extending it to corporate liability is, in fact, going to have the same problematic result of increasing our entanglements, as it obviously has here with respect to the government of Jordan, Roberts said.

Another potential swing vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy, used his only questions to cast doubt on a core premise of the argument made by the victims lawyer.

Multinational companies have faced dozens of suits accusing them of playing a role in human rights violations, environmental wrongdoing and labor abuses. Exxon Mobil Corp., Coca-Cola Co., Pfizer Inc., Unocal Corp., Chevron Corp., Daimler AG and Ford Motor Co. have all been sued under the Alien Tort Statute. A ruling against corporate liability would further weaken a law the Supreme Court has already undercut.

Cases Dismissed

The victims lawyer, Jeffrey Fisher, said the volume of cases has dropped dramatically since the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that the Alien Tort Statute generally doesnt apply to conduct beyond U.S. borders. Over the next two years, that ruling prompted the dismissal of 70 percent of the 40 cases that had been pending, Fisher said.

Justice Elena Kagan suggested that issue might be a better reason for the dismissing the case against Arab Bank than a corporate shield would be. One possibility  urged by the Trump administration  is that the justices could allow suits against corporations but order a lower court to consider throwing out the case for other reasons.

You have plenty of things to gripe about in this lawsuit, Kagan told Paul Clement, the lawyer representing Arab Bank. I think the question is do you have something to gripe about as to this particular point, which is corporate versus individual liability.

The Supreme Court considered the corporate liability question in the 2013 case but never ruled on the issue. Most federal appeals courts to consider the issue have said the law allows suits against corporations, as well as individuals. The exception is the New York-based appeals court that threw out the Arab Bank case.

The law, enacted in part because of an attack on a French diplomat in Philadelphia, contains only 33 words. It reads: The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.

International Law

Arab Bank contends that language doesnt cover corporations because theres no consensus around the world that they can be found liable under international law. The victims point to the general principle in U.S. law that corporations can be held liable for wrongdoing.

Kennedys questions indicated he agreed with Arab Bank on that part of the debate. He questioned Fishers contention that corporate liability was a matter of enforcing an international standard against financing terrorism.

It tells corporations what they must do, how they must run their business, Kennedy said.

Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch also questioned whether corporations could be sued. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer suggested they would side with the victims. Justice Clarence Thomas, as is his usual practice, asked no questions.

The case is Jesner v. Arab Bank, 16-499.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Lawsuits USA
House lawmakers unveiled a bill Tuesday night that would provide $36.5 billion in emergency funding for hurricane and wildfire relief requested by the Trump administration.

With Congress under pressure to provide urgent help to storm victims in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, the House measure includes $18.7 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agencys disaster relief fund, as well as $16 billion to replenish the nations flood insurance program.

The FEMA funding includes a provision that would give Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands access to $4.9 billion in low-interest Treasury loans so they doesnt run out of cash as the islands recovers. That funding is needed to help the territory pay government salaries and other expenses after Oct. 31. House Speaker Paul Ryan said the bill will be on the House floor Thursday for a vote, after which it could taken up by the Senate when that chamber returns next week.

Harvey, Irma, Maria, theyve been devastating for Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, Ryan said at a news conference Wednesday. This is a time when we here in Congress need to respond because that is our responsibility.

House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey said, You have a lot of people in pain, adding that he expects the next tranche of aid to be passed before December. I think there is some momentum to get some money out the door as quickly as possible.

Congress needs to act quickly, particularly when it comes to flood insurance. The National Flood Insurance Program needs additional funding to cover claims from all the recent storms.

The bill will be brought to a vote as soon as Thursday under a fast-track procedure that will require Democratic votes to pass. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California praised the measure.

Frustrating Place

An aide to Pelosi said she fought for two items included in the bill: loans for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, also suffering from hurricane damage, and $1 billion in disaster funds over the White House request in light of California wildfires. The bill includes no flood insurance policy changes, which the aide said is a victory, after Republicans had discussed revisions to the program.

Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina, who heads the conservative Republican Study Committee, said he is disappointed the measure doesnt include any spending cuts to offset the disaster funding and still trying to decide whether to vote for it.

This is a very frustrating place, he said Wednesday.

Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican and member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said he wont support the bill because there arent plans to offset the costs and because there arent changes to the flood insurance program.

Several other lawmakers, from both parties, said theyd support the legislation.

Texas Republican Blake Farenthold said: They dont have to sell me on that one.

Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat, said disaster victims deserve help from the federal government. This package provides critical public and individual disaster assistance, flood insurance aid, liquidity for Puerto Ricos government, and help for communities devastated by wildfires, she said in a statement.

The loan authority for Puerto Rico is also a needed financial lifeline for the U.S. territory of 3.4 million people thats been operating in bankruptcy since May, which makes it difficult  if not impossible  for the government to borrow on its own.

Averting a Shutdown

With the island still recovering from the storm, much of the economy there has ground to a halt, radically curtailing the governments tax collections. Puerto Ricos treasury secretary, Raul Maldonado, said last week that the territory faces a government shutdown on Oct. 31 that would halt its hurricane recovery efforts if Congress doesnt intervene.

The package includes a $150 million advance to cover a matching-funds requirement from the commonwealth, an administration official said. It would be available for easing short-term expenses such as payroll and pension payments, though not for debt service on bonds.

The devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria is threatening to exacerbate the financial crisis that had already pushed the island into a series of record-setting defaults on its $74 billion of debt. The scale of the damage, which has left most of the island without electricity almost three weeks after the storm, has caused Puerto Rico bond prices to tumble as investors speculate theyre likely to recoup even less of their investments.

Puerto Ricos delegate to Congress, Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon, said at a news conference with House Republican leaders Wednesday that she was pleased that the aid plan will help the island deal with the humanitarian crisis.

We still have a dire situation on the island, Gonzalez said. Its not easy when youre used to living in an American way of life and then somebody tells you that youre going to be without power for six or eight months.

Were still counting the fatalities, she said, with 45 dead as of Wednesday. More than 86 percent of the population still lacks electricity and more than 44 percent is without running water, Gonzalez said.

One notable omission from the broader funding measure is additional funding for the Community Development Block Grant Program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers had asked to be included in this measure.

I am counting on the next supplemental having the extra funds for Texas Representative John Carter of Texas, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee said.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters USA Legislation Texas Flood Wildfire Hurricane
A Florida insurance agency owner has been arrested after being accused of submitting fake insurance applications and stealing nearly $300,000 in insurance premiums.

According to a statement from Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis announced the arrest of Jose Manuel Caballero-Morlesin (Caballero), an insurance agent and owner of Axis Underwriters, Inc., a Miami-based insurance agency.

An extensive investigation led by the Department of Financial Services, Bureau of Insurance Fraud unraveled a complex scam in which Caballero enlisted a finance company to pay annual premiums tied to fake insurance applications. In total, DFS said Caballero submitted 38 fake applications and stole $276,000 in premium payments. Caballero confessed to investigators and now faces up to 157 years in prison, if convicted.

Many residential and commercial insurance policyholders are required to pay annual premiums up front. Insurance agencies partner with finance companies to front the cost of the annual premium, allowing the policyholders to make monthly installments to the finance company if they cannot afford to pay the full premium amount at one time.

During a six-month timeframe in mid-2016, DFS said Caballero submitted 38 applications for financing using made up consumer information. The unsuspecting finance company approved the applications and issued annual premium payments to Caballeros insurance agency, Axis Underwriters, Inc. In time, the finance company grew suspicious when no policyholders came forward to pay their monthly installments.

The finance company reported their suspicions to the Departments Division of Insurance Agent and Agency Services, which referred the case to fraud investigators as a suspected scam. The Department plans to seek the immediate suspension of Caballeros insurance license once formal charges are filed.

Caballero turned himself in to authorities Oct. 9, 2017, and has been charged with one count of organized scheme to defraud and 38 counts of forgery, uttering forged instruments, grand theft and the misappropriation of insurance funds.

This case is being prosecuted by the Office of Katherine Fernandez Rundle of the Miami State Attorneys Office.

Source: Florida Department of Financial Services

Topics Fraud
A Northern California judge has fined the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency $220,000 for the deaths of two workers accidentally hit by a commuter train.

The two workers were killed in 2013 while inspecting a track east of San Francisco. The California Public Utilities Commission sought the fine and three years of probation after determining the transit agencys safety rules and procedure were inadequate. The agency will have to pay an additional $440,000 if it violates terms of its probation, which include tightening its safety rules and submitting more detailed safety reports.

BART spokespeople didnt return phone and email inquiries.

The two workers had their backs to the train when struck in violation of agency safety rules. One member of inspection crews is always supposed to be watching for trains.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California
The Iraqi government said on Thursday it would not hold talks with the Kurdish autonomous region on reopening its airports and providing dollars for its banks, unless the Kurds commit to "Iraq's unity".

Iraq's central government imposed a ban on direct international flights to the autonomous Kurdish region after the Kurds held a Sept 25 referendum on independence, which Baghdad says was illegal. It is calling for its neighbours to shut the landlocked region's borders.

Among other measures to isolate the Kurdish region, Baghdad stopped selling dollars to four Kurdish-owned banks and called for a halt to its independent crude oil sales.

The Kurds have repeatedly called for negotiations following the referendum in which an overwhelming majority voted for independence.

"To avoid this collective punishment, we invite (Iraqi Prime Minister) Haider al-Abadi, again, ... (to) any form of dialogue and negotiations in conformity with the Iraqi Constitution," the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said in a statement.

It offered discussions "regarding the crossings, internal trade, providing services to the citizens, the banks and the airports."

But Baghdad has said the Kurds must disavow the referendum result as a pre-condition for any talks. Asked about the latest offer, an Iraqi government spokesman said there could be no talks until the Kurds gave a "commitment to Iraq's unity".

The KRG "must accept the sovereign authority of the federal government on (..) oil exports, security and border protection, including land and air entry points," he told Reuters.

The Kurds, who have sought an independent state for generations, say their referendum was meant to be the start of a negotiation that would see them gain independence after agreement with the Iraqi government.

But Baghdad considered the vote illegal, especially as it was held not only in territory that forms part of the Kurdish autonomous region, but also in disputed neighbouring parts of Iraq occupied by Kurdish troops.

Iraq has maintained its tough line towards the Kurds with support of neighbours Turkey and Iran, which strongly oppose the secessionist movement. Washington, long friendly with the Kurds, had also called on them before the referendum to cancel it.

President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said on Thursday Turkey would gradually close border crossings with northern Iraq in coordination with the central Iraqi government and Iran.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim is expected to visit Baghdad on Sunday to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi.

On Wednesday, the Kurdish authorities accused Iraqi forces and Iranian-trained Iraqi paramilitaries of "preparing a major attack" on the oil-rich region of Kirkuk and the area near Mosul. Both are in parts of northern Iraq outside the Kurdish autonomous region but held by Kurdish forces since Islamic State group fighters were driven out.

Baghdad has denied it has plans for a military move against the Kurds.

Abadi said on Thursday he would not use the army against the Kurdish region, and a military spokesman denied any attack on Kurdish forces was planned, saying government troops were preparing to oust Islamic State group militants from an area near the Syrian border.

"We won't use our army against our people or to launch a war against our Kurdish citizens," Abadi said in a statement.

Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council issued arrest warrants on Wednesday for the chairman of the Kurdish referendum commission and two aides for "violating a valid court ruling" banning the independence vote as against the Constitution.

Kirkuk, a Kurdish-held, multi-ethnic city and surrounding province with large oil reserves, has emerged as a flashpoint in the crisis as it is claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurds.

Iraqi forces and Shia Muslim paramilitaries, known as Popular Mobilisation, are deployed south and west of Kirkuk, in areas previously under the control of Islamic State group.

The Iraqi government spokesman said the KRG must acknowledge the authority of the federal government over Kirkuk as another pre-condition for talks.

The area around al-Qaim, where the Euphrates river crosses into Iraq from Syria, is the last part of Iraq still under the control of Islamic State group fighters, who overran a third of the country in 2014.

On Thursday, the Iraqi military dropped leaflets on al-Qaim urging the militants to surrender or face death.

IS group also holds areas on the Syrian side of the border, but is retreating there in the face of two sets of hostile forces - a U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led coalition and Syrian government troops with foreign Shia militias backed by Iran and Russia.

Islamic State group's cross-border "caliphate" effectively collapsed in July when U.S.-backed Iraqi forces captured Mosul, the group's de facto capital in Iraq, after a nine-month battle.

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What Is a Custodian Bank?

A custodian bank is a financial institution that holds customers' securities for safekeeping to prevent them from being stolen or lost. The custodian may hold stocks, bonds, or other assets in electronic or physical form on behalf of its customers.

Often, a custodian bank does more than provide asset protection. It can manage customers' accounts and transactions, manage the settlement of financial transactions, account for the status of assets, and ensure compliance with tax regulations.

Key Takeaways A custodian bank holds financial assets for safekeeping to minimize the risk of theft or loss.

Investment advisors are required to arrange for a custodian for assets they manage for their clients.

These assets may be stored in physical or electronic form.

Custodian banks can also manage financial accounts, handle settlements, and deal with compliance and tax issues.

Custodian banks can serve as mutual fund custodians.

1:28 Custodian

How a Custodian Bank Works

Since they are responsible for the safety of assets and securities worth hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars, custodians tend to be large and reputable firms, such as banks. Investment advisory firms routinely use custodian banks to safeguard the assets they manage for their clients.

A custodian also may be appointed to maintain control of the assets of a minor child or an incapacitated adult and manage them on their behalf.

Other Services Provided

Most custodians offer related services such as account administration, transaction settlements, the collection and distribution of dividends and interest payments, tax support, and foreign exchange management.

A custodian bank may handle investment activities for customers. This could involve placing orders with a brokerage to buy or sell securities, transferring funds to and from accounts, overseeing investment account activities, and reporting account activity to customers.

Custodians may also prepare the necessary tax filings related to investment activities for customers.

The fees for their services depend on exactly what they provide and can be based on the value of assets held.



A custodian bank may have the right to take possession of assets if required, often in conjunction with a power of attorney. This allows the custodian bank to perform actions on behalf of a client, such as making payments or altering investments.

Custodian Banks vs. Traditional Banks

The difference between custodian banks and traditional banks lies in their primary roles.

Custodian banks are concerned above all with the safekeeping of financial assets belonging to individuals or institutions. They may also offer services related to that primary role. However, they don't offer the services provided by traditional banks.

Traditional banks are financial institutions whose primary role is to take and hold deposits for customers and extend loans to them. Bank customers should be familiar with such activities and the products that represent them.

These products can include checking and savings accounts, certificate of deposit accounts (CDs), money market accounts, personal loans, car loans, and mortgage loans. All are related to their primary role.

Traditional banks may offer other related and beneficial services such as check cashing, credit cards, investment services, and business banking.



A traditional bank may also offer custody services and thus function as a custodian bank, as well.

Custodian Banks vs. Mutual Fund Custodians

As mentioned above, a custodian bank takes on the responsibility of safeguarding the financial assets of individuals and institutions. It may provide additional, related services, as needed.

Mutual fund custodians are third party institutions that protect the securities in which mutual funds invest. A mutual fund custodian is often a custodian bank, but mutual fund custodians are focused on mutual fund company assets.

The separation between mutual fund and mutual fund custodian is important. Should a fund's management declare bankruptcy, the mutual fund custodian, which has maintained control over the fund's assets, will return investments to the shareholders.

In addition to safeguarding the assets, mutual fund custodians can handle settlements, track investors' transactions, and ensure that money is deposited in the custodial account or sent to investors (or their brokerages).

The mutual fund custodian also pays fund expenses related to share transactions and monitors the companies in which the fund invests to ensure the mutual fund companies are in compliance with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations.

The mutual fund custodian must also maintain transaction records and report activities to the SEC, as required.



Special Considerations

In cases where investment advisors are responsible for customer funds, the advisor must follow custody rules set forth by the SEC.

In particular, the person or entity must be considered a qualified custodian. That limits the field to banks, registered brokers, registered dealers, and certain other individuals or entities.

Notices must be provided to customers when certain activities are conducted on their behalf. Regular account statements must also be provided to the customers.

One of the nation's oldest banking institutions, JPMorgan Chase & Co., is also one of its largest custodian banks.

Custodians for Minors

If an account beneficiary is a minor, a custodian is often required (i.e., a custodial account). In such cases, the custodian may be a responsible individual rather than an institution. The custodian has the authority to make investment decisions regarding the assets in the account, but the funds are ultimately intended for use only by the named beneficiary.

Each account can have only one beneficiary, the minor account holder, and one custodian, a designated adult representative. The custodian remains in place until the beneficiary reaches adulthood.

Other people can contribute to a minor's account, but they have no authority over how the funds are managed once they are deposited.

What Purpose Does a Custodian Financial Institution Serve? A custodian financial institution keeps the securities owned by individuals and organizations safe. This serves an important purpose since financial securities must be cleared and settled properly, with various regulatory and accounting procedures met. These are often far too complex or time consuming for investors or traders.

What Other Services Do Custodian Banks Offer? Custodians today do more than maintain the security of assets. They also provide accounting and settlement services, such as managing dividends or interest that has been distributed to the account or managing stock splits. The custodian bank performs such actions in the client's name, and the SEC ensures that custodians will notify customers when certain activities are conducted on their behalf in addition to sending regular account statements.

What Are Some of the Largest Custodian Banks? Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon, JPMorgan Chase, State Street, and Citigroup are among the largest custodian banks in the U.S. Some of the best-known custodian banks overseas include the Bank of China, Credit Suisse and UBS (Switzerland), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Barclays (England), and BNP Paribas (France).

Why Are Custodian Banks Important? Custodian banks are important because the security services they offer are needed by both individuals and institutions. They can be of valuable assistance to holders of financial accounts and assets who don't want to (or can't) play a role in the day-to-day management of their accounts' transactions and other activities. Custodian banks also can manage assets, handle reporting, and ensure compliance with regulations. They can also address tax management goals.

Are There Custodians Other Than Banks? Yes, a custodian can be an individual. Other types of firms, such as a law firm or an accounting firm, can be custodians, as well.

The Bottom Line

Custodian banks play an important role in holding and protecting the financial assets owned by individuals and institutions.

They perform related activities such as account administration, transaction settlements, the collection and distribution of dividends and fixed income interest payments, tax support, and foreign exchange management.

Custodians can also be appointed to aid in the oversight and management of financial accounts held by minors and adults unable to care for their affairs due to age, illness, or physical debilitation.
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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.

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The United States and Israel announced on Thursday they were quitting the U.N.'s cultural agency UNESCO, after Washington accused it of anti-Israeli bias.

The withdrawal of the United States, which is meant to provide a fifth of UNESCO's funding, is a major blow for the Paris-based organisation, founded after World War Two to help protect cultural and natural heritage around the world.

UNESCO is best known for designating World Heritage Sites such as the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and the Grand Canyon National Park.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti-Israel bias," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would quit too, calling the U.S. decision "brave and moral".

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova expressed her disappointment: "At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack," she said.

"This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism."

Washington has already withheld its funding for UNESCO since 2011, when the body admitted Palestine as a full member. The United States and Israel were among just 14 of 194 members that voted against admitting the Palestinians. Washington's arrears on its $80 million annual dues since then are now over $500 million.

Although Washington supports a future independent Palestinian state, it says this should emerge out of peace talks and it considers it unhelpful for international organisations to admit Palestine until negotiations are complete.

In recent years, Israel has repeatedly complained about what it says is the body taking sides in disputes over cultural heritage sites in Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories.

"Today is a new day at the U.N., where there is price to pay for discrimination against Israel," Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said.

Netanyahu told world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly last month that UNESCO was promoting "fake history" after it designated Hebron and the two adjoined shrines at its heart - the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs and the Muslim Ibrahimi Mosque - as a "Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger."

An Arab-backed UNESCO resolution last year condemned Israeli's policies at religious sites in East Jerusalam and the West Bank.

Under UNESCO rules, the U.S. withdrawal will become effective as of the end of December 2018. Three diplomats had told Reuters earlier on Thursday of the impending decision.

Trump Effect

The organisation, which employs around 2,000 people worldwide, most of them based in Paris, has struggled for relevance as it becomes increasingly hobbled by regional rivalries and a lack of money.

UNESCO, whose full name is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is in the process of selecting a new chief, whose priority will be to revive its fortunes.

The U.S. move underscores the scepticism expressed by President Donald Trump about the need for the U.S. to remain engaged in multi-lateral bodies. The president has touted an "America First" policy, which puts U.S. economic and national interests ahead of international commitments.

Since Trump took office, the United States has abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks and withdrawn from the Paris climate deal. Washington is also reviewing its membership of the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council, which it also accuses of being anti-Israel.

"The absence of the United States or any large country with a lot of power is a loss. It's not just about money, it's promoting ideals that are vital to countries like the United States, such as education and culture," a UNESCO-based diplomat said, warning that others could follow.

For differing reasons, Britain, Japan and Brazil are among states that have yet to pay their dues for 2017.

Russia's former envoy to UNESCO told RIA news agency the agency was better off without the Americans.

"In recent years, they've been of no use for this organisation," Eleanora Mitrofanova said. "Since 2011 they have practically not been paying to the budget of this organisation... They decided to exit - this is absolutely in line with Trump's general logic today."

After three days of secret balloting to pick a new UNESCO chief, Qatar's Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari and France's Audrey Azoulay are tied in first place, with Egypt's Moushira Khattab in third. Voting lasts over a maximum five rounds. If the two finalists end level, they draw lots.

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Cameroon has experienced a violent escalation in its Anglophone crisis which erupted last year. On October 1 and 2, 2017, Cameroonian security forces attempted to suppress mass protests in Anglophone western Cameroon. Eyewitnesses reported that troops on the ground and in attack helicopters  which were ostensibly just there to conduct surveillance  fired tear gas and live rounds on the crowds. Human rights observers have counted over 20 people killed in the violence.





As Mbom Sixtus explains, the crisis erupted last year when Anglophone lawyers and teachers staged protests over the influence of French in court rooms and schools. This was just the tip of the iceberg: the Anglophone Cameroonians grievances are rooted in the regions under-development, its lack of political representation, and the perceived erosion of an Anglophone cultural heritage. The authoritarian government of Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon for the past 35 years, exacerbated the mass discontent when it labelled the demonstrators terrorists and tried to snuff out dissent with hundreds of arrests. The government even cut the internet to western Cameroon for three months, arguing that social media was being used to fan the unrest.





The Anglophone and Francophone divide dates back to Cameroons complex decolonization from both the British and French empires: Before independence in 1960, Cameroon was split between a larger French and smaller British mandate. During decolonization, a portion of British Cameroon elected to enter into a federation with French Cameroon rather than join Nigeria to its northwest. The new Anglophone state of West Cameroon had its own prime minister, who was also the federations vice president  Shortly after, federalism was abolished and a new unitary state created. Many of the Anglophone grievances date back to this change.





Major grievances of the Anglophone Cameroonians include their perception of oppression, marginalization, and deprivation, which arises in large part from their territorys resource curse: Western Cameroon is 20 percent of the population but reportedly produces 60 percent of Cameroons GDP, and has little to show for it. Another major grievance of the Anglophone Cameroonians is what they see as the governments attempts at the Francophonization of their culture, which some perceive to amount to cultural genocide.





The lawyers and teachers protests in 2016, for instance, were staged in protest of the governments imposition of the French language and legal standards  Anglophone Cameroonian courts are sometimes run by appointed French-educated judges despite no knowledge of British common law, which is supposed to be in use. Similarly, teachers and students have criticized the lack of opportunities to study or take exams in English. As my former student, an Anglophone Cameroonian, observes: the government is systematically wiping out our voice and heritage.





The governments heavy-handed response to the 2016 protests radicalized the protest movement. Dozens of businesses which failed to comply with boycotts organized by the protestors have been burned down, and schools have been burnt down too, and only remain open now with police acting as guards. Following a series of killings of protestors in late 2016 by government security forces, the voices of the protestors, which initially focused on calling for the restoration of federalism, are now increasingly dominated by calls for secession and the establishment of an independent Anglophone Republic of Ambazonia.





While the Cameroonian government has made some attempts to appease the Anglophone community, the mass protests in September and October indicate clearly that these measures are insufficient to stem the unrest.



As Richard Moncrieff recalls, after negotiations broke down in January of this year, the government imprisoned the most prominent Anglophone activists alongside many others caught up in protests  By jailing the legitimate representatives of the Anglophone movement back in January, the government may have even played into the hands of the more radical elements.





The government, for its part, sees the radicalized protestors as posing a security threat similar to that posed by the Boko Haram terrorist group which government security forces are concurrently fighting. In its account of the deadly confrontation between Anglophone protestors and security forces in the northwestern city of Bamenda on December 8, 2016, the government described the protestors as challenging the security forces with a well-planned act of urban guerrilla warfare, and instigating treasonous thoughts of secession with their displays of the colonial British flag of the Southern Cameroons.





The governments narrative of the terrorist threat posed by the radicalized protestors was further strengthened in September 2017 when a series of improvised bombs were triggered across the region, targeting a school, government installations, and security forces. The dozens of Anglophone protestors who have been apprehended and detained over the past year hence could face the death penalty if tried under Cameroons controversial anti-terrorism law, enacted in the wake of Boko Haram attacks in the countrys Far North Region.





Following the October 2017 killings of protestors, foreign powers have expressed their concerns with the deteriorating situation in Cameroon. The US has called on the Cameroonian government to respect human rights and freedom of expression, including access to the internet. The US embassy in Yaounde has also warned its citizens to defer all but essential travel to the North West and South West regions. The UK has likewise called on the parties to reject violence, embrace dialogue and to urgently take action to implement solutions that address the root causes and grievances being raised.





UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the violence and called for dialogue. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has likewise urged the Cameroonian government to ensure that the security forces exercise restraint and take measures to prevent the use of force when policing demonstrations, and has also reminded the government that people should be allowed to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, including through having uninterrupted access to the internet.





While the Cameroonian government has made some attempts to appease the Anglophone community  including creating a National Commission for Bilingualism and Multiculturalism; creating new benches for Common Law at the Supreme Court and new departments at the National School of Administration and Magistracy; recruiting Anglophone magistrates and 1,000 bilingual teachers; and turning the internet back on after a 92-day cut  the mass protests in September and October indicate clearly that these measures are insufficient to stem the unrest. How much further the conflict will escalate will be seen in the coming weeks.





References





Akwei, I. (2017, October 5). Cameroon Anglophone crisis: UK calls on all sides to restore confidence. Africanews.





Atabong, A. B. (2017, September 22). The crisis in Cameroons English-speaking regions has turned violent with bombings. Quartz.





Cameroons Anglophone crisis at the crossroads. (2017, August 2). International Crisis Group.





McAllister, E. (2017, October 7). Cameroon army helicopters shot separatist protesters: witnesses. Reuters.





Moncrieff, R. (2017, September 27). Cameroons Anglophone crisis is escalating. Heres how it could be resolved. African Arguments.





Morse, Y. L. (2017, June 2). Cameroon has been in crisis for six months. Heres what you need to know. Washington Post.





Pila, T. [TeyimPila]. (2017, October 3). Not at all... The issue is now bigger than just decentralization. The government is systematically wiping out our voice and heritage. [Tweet].





Shaban, A. R. A. (2017, October 5). U.S. govt says Cameroons handling of Anglophone crisis unacceptable. Africanews.





Shaban, A. R. A. (2017, October 8). Cameroon must respect rights of Anglophone protesters  U.N. human rights. Africanews.





Sixtus, M. (2016, December 15). Non, merci: English-speaking Cameroon rises up, wants Republic of Ambazonia. IRIN.





Sixtus, M. (2017, May 16). Language of peace hard to find as Cameroon crisis festers. IRIN.





Sixtus, M. (2017, October 4). Cameroons descent into crisis: the long history of anglophone discord. IRIN.




The deadlock in Brexit negotiations was inevitable, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has claimed.

Mr Adams accused Prime Minister Theresa May's Government of being unwilling to engage substantially on the three key issues of the divorce bill, the Irish border and European Union citizens' rights.

He also called for Northern Ireland to be given designated special status in the European Union (EU).

"There is a real danger that the current approach by the British Government could lead to a scenario where no deal is reached," he said.

"While every effort must be made to persuade the British Government to engage properly, the Irish Government must now urgently accept the need for the north to be designated a special status within the EU.

"This is the only sure way of giving a measure of protection to both economies on this island."
Irish women could be blocked from travelling to Britain for an abortion if Brexit takes place, a leading doctor has warned, writes Fiachra O Cionnaith, Political Correspondent

Master of the Rotunda Hospital, Prof Fergal Malone, made the claim as he separately said "at least one" Irish woman died from complications after an abortion in Britain because after-care was not readily available due to the need to travel.

Speaking at the latest meeting of the cross-party Oireachtas eighth amendment committee, Prof Malone said if Britain leaves the EU its common travel area with Ireland will end.

This, he said, will mean "the most vulnerable" women could see their access to the British-based care significantly curtailed.

"I am concerned by the impact of Brexit," he said, adding teenagers and Irish-based refugees could be among those directly affected.

Prof Malone said if abortion is not legalised in Ireland, it is vital to access to the British system - which has given terminations to as many as 184,000 Irish women since 1970 - continues.

However, he insisted the current situation where vulnerable women travel abroad for an abortion and as such do not always receive the necessary follow-up care is still falls far below what is required.

Citing a previously reported case of an Irish woman who died in January 2012 due to complications after receiving an abortion at the Marie Stopes clinic in west London, he said:

We are aware of at least one of our patients from Ireland who died following a complication from a surgical termination of pregnancy while travelling between Ireland and a centre abroad.

Forcing patients to travel between two jurisdictions, particularly when dealing with travel between islands, will inevitably increase the risks to mothers physical health and well-being."

At the time the case was first reported on four years ago, then children's minister Frances Fitzgerald said it was a "traumatic and dreadful outcome" that would be discussed under the 2013 Protection of Life bill debate.

Meanwhile, the eighth amendment committee meeting also heard master of Holles Street Dr Rhona Mahony join Prof Malone in calling for abortion to be legalised and WHO calls for Ireland to come out of "the dark ages".

Dr Mahony said the eighth amendment "makes no clinical sense" and that the law "creates unacceptable clinical risks and should be removed".

Both Prof Malone and Dr Mahony also raised concerns over the "chilling effect" the eighth amendment has on doctors but that there are ways of referring someone to Britain for an abortion without breaking the law.

They said last year 98 women from their hospitals travelled abroad for abortions after life-limiting conditions in their foetus were confirmed.

However, they stressed it would be inappropriate to give a specific list of allowable conditions or limit at what point in a pregnancy a woman can have an abortion as each case is different.

At an earlier hearing of the six-hour committee, WHO department of reproductive health and research officials Dr Ronald Johnson and Dr Bela Ganatra while they did not want to suggest Ireland is living in "the dark ages" it needs to consider abortion reform.

Separate research from University of Texas assistant professor Abigail Aiken said up to 184,000 Irish women have travelled to Britain for an abortion since 1970, and that the sale of online abortion pills has trebled since 2010.

Ms Aiken said 63% of women who contacted online abortion group Women on Web were already mothers and half were over the age of 34.
France will extend checks at borders with fellow Schengen members until April 30, the interior ministry said Thursday, citing the "persistent" terror threat to prolong controls in place since the November 2015 Paris attacks.

The controls at borders with members of the visa-free Schengen area such as Italy and Belgium, will "respect the principle of proportionality", the ministry said in a note to the EU.



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Three other borrowers sat alongside Thomas Ryan in Leinster House and waived their anonymity to give emotional testimony of the impact mortgage overcharging has had on them.

Hazel Melbourne, a mother and wife and customer of Permanent TSB, composed herself as she gave an insight into the extent of the trauma visited on her and her family.

"There's one major consequence that has affected us but unfortunately I don't want to disclose it in public - probably to the delight of Permanent TSB," she said.

Mrs Melbourne told the Oireachtas Finance Committee that the bank's actions had a catastrophic impact on her family.

"The consequences we have suffered purely at the hands of Permanent TSB are devastating, heartbreaking and totally unacceptable," she said.

"Permanent TSB will never be able to compensate us as a family. They have taken a huge part of our lives away from us."

Mrs Melbourne said her family fought for six years to get the tracker dispute corrected and they still face turmoil.

"We are sick to the pit of our stomachs to think that all we had been through was avoidable. There was no need for our future to be changed," she told the committee.

"It just feels they are a giant cartel - you can turn nowhere for help or resolve as someone is always compromised by the banks. Where do the Irish people stand on this?"

Mrs Melbourne told committee chairman John McGuinness: "I am literally begging you to not just help my family but to help everyone out there who has suffered horrifically at the hands of a bank."

Niamh Byrne, a teacher, was working on a temporary contract when she drew down a mortgage in 2006 from Ulster Bank to buy an apartment.

She was subsequently awarded 25,000 euro after being refused to return to the tracker rate after fixing for a short-term but the ruling did not force the bank to put her back on the low rate.

"That does not restore me to the position I should have been in," Ms Byrne said.

She added: "It is nine years, two months and 28 days since this happened. The whole of my 30s has been spent in this situation.

"It looks like there no end to it. It has been extremely stressful. It has a huge impact on my finances.

"There was a suicide in my own family - if you have a direct link to that the statistic is that your chances fall to one in 100 of it happening to yourself so I'm quite careful to look after my mental health.

"This situation does not in any way help that."

Financial consultant Padraic Kissane said he won identical cases to Ms Byrne's through the Financial Ombudsman's office in 2011.

Helen Grogan told the committee of her experience of borrowing from EBS and moving to a tracker in Permanent TSB where she was offered special discount rate for one year only to be shifted on to a standard variable rate.

Reflecting on her battle Ms Grogan fought back emotions and said: "I'm just looking for justice.

"The one thing is the rage and frustration and anger that I was ripped off by the bank and duped by the bank, into thinking I had a product I could count on. That's the thing about this.

"It took me a couple of years to get over the fact that the ombudsman had found against me."

Ms Grogan said she has paid off 40,000 euro more than she should have and that by the end of the mortgage term she will have paid 70 or 80,000 euro.

"I am coming up for retirement soon and I am going to have a mortgage after I retire. That is something I was trying to avoid," she said.

Ms Grogan added: "Isn't it such a disgrace that we are all made to feel responsible for making a silly or stupid decision or not getting the right advice or letting the banks ride roughshod over us."
President Donald Trump says he will "very shortly" announce his decision on US participation in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

Mr Trump has until Sunday to notify Congress whether Iran remains in compliance with the accord under which it limited its atomic programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

A congressional source and a non-governmental source familiar with the matter said the White House was looking at a Friday announcement after scrapping a tentative plan for Thursday.

Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Mr Trump did not discuss specific timing but told reporters: "You're going to see very soon. We will be announcing that very shortly."

Officials familiar with the internal deliberations as well as informed sources outside the administration say they expect Mr Trump to tell lawmakers that the Iran deal is not in the US national security interest despite Iran's technical compliance.

However, they do not believe he will go beyond that and call for Congress to reinstate nuclear sanctions that were lifted as a result of the deal.

Instead, these officials said Mr Trump is more inclined to throw the matter to Congress and push legislators to amend the law that requires the president to certify Iran's compliance every 90 days.

Even more than the actual deal, Mr Trump detests the certification requirement, which forces him to sign off every three months on an accord he has called the worst deal ever negotiated by the US, according to the officials.

Republican legislators recently began drawing up new versions of the law that remove the 90-day timetable and replace it with "semi-annual" certifications, according to the officials.

Drafts of two proposals seen by The Associated Press, one from Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker and one from committee member and harsh deal critic Senator Tom Cotton, would expand the US certification criteria to include items that are also the province of the UN nuclear watchdog and require the US intelligence community to determine if Iran is carrying out illicit activity in facilities to which the International Atomic Energy Agency does not have access.

The certification would also demand that the intelligence community produce judgments on a wide range of Iranian behaviour that is not covered by the nuclear deal, including ballistic missile testing and development, support for Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and Syrian President Bashar Assad and threats to Israel and the Mideast more broadly, according to the drafts.

As the legislative process grinds on with an eye to a January deadline by which the administration must decide whether to further extend sanctions relief to Iran, Mr Trump is also expected to instruct his national security team to step up pressure on the parties to the agreement to fix what he and deal opponents believe are its most serious deficiencies.

Those faults, according to Mr Trump and other officials, include the fact that several restrictions on advanced nuclear activity expire under so-called "sunset clauses", which permit Iran to begin ramping its enrichment capabilities up after 10 years as well as drop an arms embargo and ease restrictions on missile activity.

While Iran and the other parties have said the deal is not open for renegotiation, at least one party, France, has signalled a willingness to explore additional arrangements to resolve the concerns.

Iran has said it is open in principle to further discussions, particularly with Europe, but has said its missile programme is non-negotiable.

AP
Police in northern Greece have rescued 54 migrants found squashed into a van.

The officers arrested two Bulgarian alleged members of a smuggling ring paid to carry them through the country.

The van was stopped on Wednesday on a road in the northeastern Rodopi province.

The 52 Syrian and two Somali nationals, including 13 children, were crammed into the 13-by-eight-foot back of the van, which lacked ventilation and was locked from the outside.

The two Bulgarians, aged 36 and 38, were charged with illegally transporting migrants and endangering lives.

Police said each of the adults had paid 1,500 euro to be taken from Greece's land border with Turkey, which they had crossed illegally, to the northern city of Thessaloniki.

AP
The scheme, largely aimed at helping with exporting firms short-term working capital needs, is expected to become operational in March. However, as the main Brexit-proofing measure for SMEs in the budget, it has already been heavily criticised.

It is unfortunate that the only role in assisting with this is on the lending side. It is an issue when the only solution is landing on company balance sheets, said Isme chief Neil McDonnell.

Isme had called for the introduction of a State-backed foreign exchange hedging scheme to help export- orientated SMEs deal with currency fluctuations.

Irish SMEs are not hedged forward and they will suffer for that, he said.

The Ibec-affiliated Small Firms Association welcomed the scheme as a first concrete element of necessary action to alleviate pressure for export-related SMEs.

However, SFA assistant director Linda Barry said more clarity is needed over loan eligibility, lending rates and the amount the State is providing. She welcomed the involvement of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland but expressed concern over the willingness of SMEs to draw-down funds given their aversion to borrowing from the mainstream banks.

Support is also coming from the European Commission and the European Investment Bank.

Trade expert John Whelan has described the scheme as window dressing and a standard bank loan rebranded as a Brexit support scheme; claiming calls for grant aid supports and compensation schemes to firms overly exposed to currency fluctuations fell on deaf ears.

Meanwhile, analysts Davy said Mr Donohoes decision to increase commercial stamp duty from 2% to 6% would have unintended consequences including the setting up of new tax avoidance schemes.

Shares in property investment firm Green Reit went up slightly, while Hibernia Reit and Irish Residential Properties Reit remained virtually unchanged following the tax rise, which came in at 12am yesterday.

Analyst Colin Grant said Davy expected tax avoidance schemes to reappear and that it could curtail future developments, keeping rents higher for longer.

We expect that some element of the 4% stamp duty increase will be passed on to purchasers in the form of asset inflation, said Mr Grant.

However he said Davy expected the ongoing favourable dynamics of Irish commercial real estate to outweigh the impact of this stamp duty increase.

In contrast to mostly negative views from property firms, the managing director of real estate adviser WK Nowlan said the rise to 6% was welcome.

Killian OHiggins said: If anything is learned from the past, it is that sectors of the economy doing well should be prepared to contribute more in good times  it justifies support in bad times.

In a bid to ease concerns that those involved in commercial property transactions would be landed with an extra tax rise, the Government said the Finance Bill will contain transitional arrangements to cater for situations where binding contracts have been entered into.
Companies in Britain were filling vacant positions and roles created by restructuring, but were holding back on creating new jobs or setting aside budgets for expansion, CEO Steve Ingham said.

The reality is uncertainty does not breed confidence to move your career from one company to another or commit to hiring people when youre running a business, he told Reuters. Its shares slid as much as 9%.
That was the opening salvo from 58-year-old Thomas Walsh of 56 Grange Park, Grange, Douglas, Cork, before assaulting another man following Christmas drinks at a local pub.

Inspector Daniel Coholan said Walsh approached John Kelly, who was around the same age, and pushed him to the ground outside the Grange Bar.

The inspector said Thomas Walsh kicked John Kelly once in the face.

Judge Olann Kelleher noted that the case had been adjourned until yesterday as the defendant appeared to dispute the evidence of kicking the other man in the face, although he did admit the assault.

Judge Kelleher said the victim clearly stated that he was kicked in the face.

Defence solicitor, Joseph Cuddigan, said Walsh had no previous convictions of any kind and had reached the age of 58 with an unblemished record.

Regarding the kick to the face, he said: My client has no recollection of that happening. And the guard did not notice any marks on the injured party but if that is what the injured partys recollection is we cannot disagree but he [Walsh] has no recollection of it.

It started in a public house where both men had been locals for years. A dispute over a thing of nothing arose.

Outside the premises, my client approached the injured party and said, You called me a langer and youd want to apologise for it.

He [Walsh] did push the other man to the ground.

Mr Cuddigan said there was 100 offered by Thomas Walsh as a gesture of compensation. He said Walsh no longer frequented the pub so he had lost that as a social outlet for himself.

Judge Olann Kelleher convicted and fined the defendant 400 for the assault on December 26, 2016.
Flood defence Minister Kevin Boxer Moran said preliminary findings from a near-complete Office of Public Works-commissioned report on the costs of a tidal barrier suggest the structure is not viable, and would cost many times the figures suggested by the Save Cork City group which is leading opposition to the States largest single investment in flood defences.

The Minister said an independent report released by the campaigners last week, which costed their alternative tidal barrier plan at 140m, lacked detail on cost breakdowns and did not adequately address several fundamental issues, including navigation and environmental constraints.

Save Cork City asked hydraulic and engineering experts, HR Wallingford, to provide an independent cost estimate for their tidal barrier plan, which it wants combined with a suite of upstream catchment management measures.

The report described their tidal barrier proposal as viable and said it would provide many benefits over the OPWs approach, which includes the controversial raising of quay walls.

The report said a 950-metre sector and sluice gate tidal barrier, similar to storm surge barriers in New Orleans, could be built 10km downstream of Cork City for 140m based on 2017 figures, would protect more of the city from tidal flooding, and would avoid the disruption caused by raising quay walls.

This approach would also avoid the scenario of overtopping or failure of flood walls in the city.

But Minister Moran said the OPW and its technical advisers have studied the Wallingford report in recent days and noted that it addresses the estimated cost of the tidal barrier design proposal put forward by Save Cork City rather than a report on its own design.

From a preliminary review of the report, the OPW notes it lacks detail on cost breakdowns and does not adequately address some fundamental issues such as navigation requirements within Cork harbour or the environmental constraints which would arise due to the proximity of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas in the harbour and which would be difficult to overcome, he said.

It is also noted that the report sets out the project costs at 165m rather than the figure of 140m being quoted in the media.

In addition, the report does not include for any measures to deal with the fluvial flooding problem which exists through the city up to Inniscarra dam, all of which would still be required even if a tidal barrage was constructed.

The OPW has yet to publish its response to the over 1,200 submissions from the public on its Lower Lee flood relief scheme.

It will include the OPWs new report on tidal barrier costs.
A granite pyramid peak, probably belonging to Queen Ankhnespepy II, was unearthed in Saqqara

A Swiss-French archaeological mission directed by Professor Philippe Collombert from the University of Geneva has unearthed a large granite pyramidion, or pyramid peak, probably belonging Queen Ankhnespepy II, in the Saqqara necropolis.

This is the second discovery in a week by the Swiss-French mission, according to the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri.

The team previously unearthed the largest obelisk fragment ever discovered from the Old Kingdom, measuring 2.5 meters tall.

This week's discovery measures 1.3 metres high and 1.1 metres wide on its sides.

Its upper part is partly destroyed, but shows that it had been covered by metal foil, either gold or copper.

The surface of the pyramidions lower part is not clean, as if it had been reused, or better, as if it had been left unfinished, Collombert pointed out, adding that the area under the pyramidion is clearly smooth, and also shows the usual carved recesses that permit its fixation of top of the pyramid.

We think that it is the pyramidion of the satellite pyramid of Queen Ankhnespepy II, as it was found near the place where we should expect the satellite pyramid to have been located, Collombert told Ahram Online.

He asserted that this fragment comrpised the only part of this secondary pyramid yet to be found. The queen's main burial pyramid was discovered in Saqqara in 1998.

The Head of the Ancient Egyptian Sector at Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities, Ayman Ashmawy, said that the mission is progressing well this archaeological season, and that the new discovery suggests the team will soon locate the queen's complete funerary complex.

Queen Ankhnespepy II (ca. 2288-2224 BC) was a 6th Dynasty consort of King Pepy I and the mother of King Pepy II.

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But it did not disclose the levels of the radioactive gas detected during what it said was a standard three-month monitoring of a 13.5m residential facility, Deer Lodge, in Killarney.

The head of mental health in Cork Kerry Community HealthCare, Sinead Glennon informed the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) that while a radon barrier was fitted, the results of the studies showed a number of areas within the building have radon levels greater than 200 Bq/m3 which is the reference level for radon in residential facilities.

There was no immediate danger to staff or residents, she said.

The company, who completed the radon survey, advised on necessary remediation works which involve fitting extract fans at high levels in nine external locations around the building, Ms Glennon said.

The PNA, however, said staff are stunned a new building completed within the last year and opened only in July was already found to be defective and requiring remedial works.

The PNA is demanding to know the exact levels detected.

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that is released from the ground and bedrock associated with limestone and is estimated to kill 200 people in Ireland each year as a result of its inhalation the gas and causing lung cancer, said PNA spokesman Cormac Williams.

It carries the same danger level as asbestos and cigarette smoking. All new buildings are required to have a radon barrier fitted to the floor area to prevent the gas from leaking into the building. How the radon barrier failed in Deer Lodge is a question that needs to be answered.

The PNA is seeking a detailed report from the HSE.

Given the lack of trust members now have in the HSE, we will also have to consider asking the Health and Safety Authority to review this whole situation, Mr Williams said.

Cork Kerry Community Healthcare confirmed: Routine monitoring has detected a slightly elevated level of radon at Deer Lodge. We have spoken to staff and residents and will keep them updated as works are undertaken to bring the levels down.

We acted as soon as routine monitoring detected the raised levels.

The levels, although raised are not at dangerous levels, and the action we are taking is appropriate and proportionate.
Investors are being canvassed for the instantly recognisable department store on St Patricks Street, which is described by selling agents Colliers as a world-class department store investment.

The store dates to 1922, built after the burning of Cork by British auxiliaries during the War of Independence in 1920 which decimated the city centre, and destroyed over 40 business premises.

It has been associated with generations of the Roche family whose needle to an anchor store business empire began in Cork in 1901.

Roches sold its nine Irish stores in 2006 to Debenhams as the UK-based retail company strove to enlarge its Irish footprint.

Roches got a reported 29m for the business at the time, plus many more millions for stock, but held onto their main stores as landlord to Debenhams at Henry Street Dublin and at St Patricks Street, Cork.

Debenhams Ireland restructured last year after trading difficulties during the recession, saving over 1,300 jobs. It also appeared in the High Court during 2016 in a rent row with Richard Roche. The publicity-averse family is known to have considerable other property and business investments in Ireland, the UK and further afield, and at the time of the 2006 Roches Stores sale were said to have property assets of 500m.

Market sources say the guide price is 70m to 75m, and it will be of interest to strong retail investors, funds and real estate investment trusts.

Its thought Debenhams paid a revised rent of 3.25m for the 150,000sq ft Cork store on a 25-year lease from 2006, and the dome-fronted building was significantly revamped in the late 1990s when a top-lit atrium was inserted.

The sale does not include a section of the former Roches Stores which is let to SuperValu linking to the Merchants Quay Shopping Centre, or the 700-space multistorey carpark.

Commercial Property: 19-23
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe had announced an increase of 2.5m for groups advocating promotion and development of the Irish language.

Additional funding will be provided for the language planning process, including Udaras na Gaeltachta and various training programs in Irish.

However, Conradh na Gaeilge said it was extremely concerned at what it said is an insufficient contribution for the Irish language and for the Gaeltacht.

Its president, Dr Niall Comer, said the allocation was not enough to sustain the Irish Langauge and Gaeltacht Investment Plan agreed with over 80 Irish language bodies in 2015.

A large percentage of this allocation is going towards language planning in the Gaeltacht which is to be welcomed, but the Government has let down 87 Irish language and Gaeltacht groups as it is not allocating sufficient funding to their agreed investment plan.

The investment plan for the Irish language and Gaeltacht has the potential to create more than 1,150 jobs and provide many more opportunities for people to use the language, he said.

Dr Comer called on the Taoiseach to directly intervene in the process of the revised estimates to ensure fairness and equality for the language community and the financing of the language investment plan as a whole.

General secretary of Conradh na Gaeilge, Julian de Spainn, said the imbalance was clear when the Department of Culture, Heritage and Gaeltachts boast that the Arts Councils budget has increased by 20% over the last three years, while Foras na Gaeilges baseline budget has been reduced by 4.5% over the same period.
A delegation is set to visit New Zealand shortly to look at a warship which could become a blueprint for the new ship  and could cost up to 200m to construct.

A small group consisting of Department of Defence officials and experts from the Defence Forces have been invited by the New Zealand government to inspect HMNZS Canterbury, which was designed by the New Zealand navy.

An MRV could measure up to 150m in length, dwarfing the navys largest vessel which is 90m long.

It is intended that it will replace the ageing LE Niamh as the navys flagship.

The MRV could easily accommodate a whole infantry company and all its equipment, who could be launched onshore by landing craft. The ship would also have the capability to launch helicopters from its flight deck.

Former taoiseach Enda Kenny referred to the need to purchase a multi-functional ship, which could also include a mini onboard hospital, when he commissioned LE William Butler Yeats last year.

Following the Budget, Paul Kehoe, minister with responsibility for the Defence Forces, said additional capital funding secured by the Department of Defence would allow it to commence the process of procuring an MRV.

The New Zealand ship has been deployed successfully on humanitarian missions, especially to providing help following natural disasters which hit neighbouring countries in recent years.

Once the inspection of the Canterbury is completed, representatives of the Naval Service, Army and Air Corps will sit down and come up with a design which is mutually acceptable for tripartite operations on the vessel.

Defence Forces sources said the ship will need to be adapted for flexible operations, which will include rapid deployment in crisis areas, be they military or humanitarian operations.

Not only could the vessel be used overseas, but it could be deployed for disaster relief here, as well as drug shipment interceptions and more routine duties such as fishery protection.

A source said a Canterbury-type ship was very much along the lines of what we want. The Naval Service is already at its most modern since its foundation in 1946.

The fourth new ship for the fleet, LE George Bernard Shaw, costing 67m, is currently being constructed at a shipyard in Appledore, Devon, and will be delivered to the Naval Service next summer.
The National Womens Council of Ireland as well as members of the Dail have strongly attacked Government for failing to address pension inequalities in Budget 2018, claiming they are being left out in the cold and forgotten about through blatant discrimination.

Women who were impacted by the marriage bar and those who took time out of work to look after children or care for elderly relatives for a number of years are now being penalised in their contributory state pensions.

While Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe yesterday admitted this is wrong and claimed he was not trying to gouge any women, he said the State does not have the 290m which it would cost to address the issue.

It just seems incredible now that we did live in a country that required women to leave their jobs if they got married and equally what we are living with is the consequences of that now, Mr Donohoe said.

The advice that I have available to me is that if we looked to rectify this issue in a single move, in a single budget it would cost hundreds of millions of euro for me to do because of the number of people that are affected by it, he told RTEs Sean ORourke show.

Mr Donohoe was responding to one listener who said his wife will receive 35 less a week in her contributory pension as a result of the rule.

Workers, mainly women, who took time out to care for elderly relatives or to look after children, are penalised as their pensions are averaged out from the time they first began working and do not take account of the period at home where they would not have been paying contributions.

While the homemakers scheme, introduced in 1994, meant that time spent caring for children, the elderly or ill is now disregarded when calculating contributory pensions, it does not apply prior to that date.

Eilis Ni Chaithnia of the National Womens Council said the highest number of calls her organisation receives is now in relation to pension entitlements.

Women are shocked and extremely disappointed with what they receive when they enter retirement.

They feel let down by the State.

While she acknowledged public finances are still tight she said: There have been decisions made in this budget around income tax reductions and retention of other taxes, so Government has made decisions, it has weighed up its priorities.

When they are not addressing this, they are very much identifying it as not a priority, she said.

In the Dail yesterday, Independent TD Michael Collins, who previously raised the issue with former taoiseach Enda Kenny in May, said women have been left high and dry through a lack of provision in Budget 2018.

These women have saved the State millions of euros in what would have been spent for child care or carers fees. These women went back to work for a number of years after their families were reared and are now realising they do not have enough stamps to receive a state pension.

Mr Collins said: Many homemakers in my constituency of Cork South West have brought this issue to my attention. They feel that they have been discriminated against.

Green Party TD Catherine Martin said: Tens of thousands of women are out in the cold and forgotten, they deserve better, they deserve equality, this budget was an opportunity for the Government to end this blatant discrimination.

Let us not forget the State enforced marriage bar which up until 1973 meant women had no choice but to give up their public service and civil service jobs when they got married.
Under Budget 2018, 434m has been allocated to the national road network, but yesterday Transport Minister Shane Ross said only a fraction of this would go toward the M20.

The M20 as you know is an absolutely massive project, its to cost about 860m and obviously there is an intention that it should go ahead, that there should certainly be a link between the second and third largest cities, said Mr Ross.

We have provided for increased design and were committed to going ahead [with it], at some stage. I think theres 15m being committed to the M20 in the next four years.

Of the 434m allocated for roads, 390mwill go towards regional and local roads.

Investment is also being put into projects that will relieve bottlenecks and improve access to regional locations.

The Dunkettle Interchange, on the east side of Cork City, is one of the projects earmarked for improvement.

Nationally, there are plans to introduce variable speed limits for the M50 and enhance the capacity of the M11.

Yesterday, the Department of Tourism, Transport and Sport held its budget briefing where the funding of recreational and sports projects was also unveiled.

The 10m centre for soccer excellence that has been tabled for Glanmire, Co Cork, and which is seen as a second Abbotstown, was addressed. Brendan Griffin, the minister of state at the department, with special responsibility for tourism and sport, said a new scheme should benefit projects such as the one at Glanmire.

The new large-scale sports project scheme, which we hope to draw out during 2018 with a view to implementing in 2019, would be the suitable avenue for projects of that scale, he said.

To date, the sports capital project is a fantastic scheme but one of the limitations is that contribution is capped at 150,000 for the local projects or 50,000 for the regional projects. So projects of that nature [Glanmire] need more state assistance.

The Fine Gael TD said projects such as the centre of soccer excellence could apply for funding under the new large-scale scheme.

We are drawing up the scheme in 2018 and for allocations thereafter theres 50m over four years provided for, which is a substantial amount of money and there are a number of very worthy projects around the country that we hope to see progressing under that scheme. Well be calling for expressions of interest in 2018, said the minister.

Other national measures announced for the department include increased funding for public transport. In 2018, there will be an allocation of over 400m for public transport infrastructure. A total of 110m is earmarked for new urban cycling and walking routes to provide sustainable travel options to our main cities.
The airline has offered its pilots in Stansted a pay and pensions hike of up to 24,000 (27,000) each under a new offering - but only if they continue to negotiate with the airline directly.

In a document described as an addendum to an existing Stansted pilot agreement running from 2014-2020, the airline offers to bring the basic pay of captains up by 16% from 63,867 to 74,000. They will also be given a 12,000 productivity bonus.
A new WHO report, Ending Childhood Obesity, urges governments to act to limit the marketing of unhealthy high-calorie and sugar-laden food products and drinks aimed at children.

It also recommends sugary drink taxes such as the one due to be introduced in Ireland next April, clear front-of-package labelling with food contents, and banning the provision of unhealthy food, snacks and drinks in schools.

The raft of guidelines call for disadvantaged communities to be given better access to healthy foods and for measures to ensure that physical activity is part of the daily routine and curriculum in schools and other childcare facilities.

Professor Fiona Bull, a member of the WHO working group that spent two years compiling the report, launched ahead of World Obesity Day said: We need to turn our concern into action  more action and more widespread action.

We are surrounded by environments which market unhealthy, high fat, high sugar, high-calorie food. Thats whats on the TV, thats whats promoted at bus stops, and thats what children see all day, every day.

"The promotion and the price and the specials, the two-for-ones, the super-sizing  these are the problems that drive overweight and obesity, over-consumption.

Prof Bull was speaking at a briefing in London to launch the WHO report as well as a major study highlighting soaring rates of childhood and adolescent obesity around the world.

The research, published in The Lancet medical journal, pulled together data from 31.5 million children and teenagers aged five to 19 who took part in more than 2,000 studies.

It found that globally, the estimated number of obese children and teenagers had risen tenfold in the past four decades.

Between 1975 and 2016 the number of obese boys in the world went up from six million to 74 million, while a similar trend for girls showed an increase from five to 50 million.

While obesity rates among young people in Europe and the US were said to have plateaued, the authors said it was still a serious problem in these regions.

The study authors used a WHO statistical method that looks at levels of deviation from a normal average.

Prof Bull said the WHO was talking to food manufacturers to find ways to reformulate products to reduce their sugar, fat and calories.

The impending sugary drink tax, due to come into force in Ireland and the UK next April, had already led to the food companies making changes, she said.

This tells us something  industry can change, Prof Bull added.

Professor Majid Ezzati, one of study authors from Imperial College London, said: While there have been some initiatives led by governments, communities or schools to increase awareness about childhood and adolescent obesity, most high-income countries have been reluctant to use taxes and industry regulations to change eating and drinking behaviours to tackle child obesity.

Most importantly, very few policies and programmes attempt to make healthy foods such as whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables affordable to poor families.
Listed this week is 38, 39 & 40 Maylor Street, bookended by Debenhams on the western side, and by Smyths Toys on the eastern flank. Its guided at 1.5 million by Cohalan Downing, and has an income of 126,000 pa.

It comes publicly, as under-the-radar marketing has been continuing to international funds and Irish REIT investors on the iconic 12-17 St Patrick Street, a retail department store, still owned by Roche family members and being sold on their behalf.

Dominated by an enormous green copper dome, the broad building has 45 metres frontage onto St Patrick Street, and a whopping 120 metres down along Maylor Street facing Brown Thomas.

Agents Colliers says 12-17 St Patricks Street is a world class department store with large floor plates, providing the perfect mix of modern retail space and character in an iconic landmark building.

It was developed almost a century ago, in 1922, by the Roche family whose business was founded in 1901 by William Roche.

The St Patrick Street store was significantly upgraded in the 1990s by Roches Stores, with the addition of a large central glazed atrium and new elevators.

Following the sale of Roches Stores nine outlets to Debenhams in 2006, it has been occupied by Debenhams on a 25 year lease from 2006 and on a recently renegotiated rent of 3.25 million, and is now on offer via investment advisor Declan Stone of Colliers in Dublin.

The building has a gross internal area of almost four acres, or 152,000 sq ft on a ground floor 1.32 acre footprint in the very retail heart of Cork city centre, and has long term redevelopment potential beyond its current use as a single department store.

Colliers sales prospectus, dubbed Projectgrouse, outlines scope for three large new MSU retail units plus a 220-bed aparthotel in the airspace to the rear of the existing building.

The anticipated sale (Colliers did not return calls for details and confirmation of the current status of their sales process), is broadly tipped to be in the 70-75 million price bracket.

Importantly, it does not include the former Roches Stores supermarket section, now occupied by SuperValu, or the multi-storey car-park with over 700 spaces, serving Debenhams and the Merchants Quay Shopping Centre.

Sources say a separate investment deal may already have been agreed on those supermarket/carpark elements of the former Roche familys historic Cork city base, and if so could push the total sale outcome of the familys Cork property at up to or over 100 million.

Projectgrouse only covers the Cork property for the Roche family, and not the far more valuable Henry Street store, and the utterly low-key and publicity averse Roches have very extensive international property and business investments (including some in the UK in the 2000s with Michael OFlynns Tiger Developments.)

Nor does the sale of 12-17 St Patricks Street include portions of the Merchants Quay Shopping Centre which transacted earlier this year. Savills secured 13.4 million for 29 mall retail units in the high-profile development, initially done in 1989 by OCallaghan Properties and anchored by Dunnes.

The Merchants Quay section offered for an investment fund in the past year was earning 1.47 million in rent. It was bought by Clarendon Properties Tony Leonard and Paddy McKilleen who control Corks Queens Old Castle, and Savoy centres, as well as the Wilton Shopping Centre and who have been active in key Cork site assemblies. Might Clarendon have a rattle off the Debenhams offer?

The sale comes after new rent levels were agreed at 12-17 Patrick Street by landlord representative of the 60-year old and Wicklow-based Richard Roche, with Debenhams last year after the latter emerged from a period of examinership.

The restructuring deal and rent reviews secured over 1,300 Debenhams jobs, plus hundreds of concession jobs, and Debenhams has traded in 11 Irish outlets, including four in Dublin.

At the time of the 2006 deal with Roches Stores, the Roche family maintained landlord ownership of both Henry Street in Dublin and St Patrick Street stores in their native Cork city.

At the time of that deal, it was reported that Debenhams were acquiring the business and leaseholds of nine Roches stores outlets for just 29m, with further multi-million euro payments for stock etc.

Debenhams currently trades out of over 240 stores across 27 countries, and its 2016 sales turnover was 2.35 billion.

The original Roches Stores building was developed in 1922, after the December 1920 fateful Burning of Cork by British auxiliary forces during the War of Independence, which destroyed over 40 retail businesses and 300 houses.

Reconstruction of St Patricks Street delivered impressive retail buildings which give this section of the second citys main retail thoroughfare such heft and appeal: among the best were Roches Stores (now Debenhams) Cashs (now Brown Thomas) and the Munster Arcade, now Penneys.

Meanwhile, Penneys long-awaited major redevelopment of their Patrick Street store, after a considerable site assembly at a cost of tens of millions of euros, is expected to finally go forward for planning permission by the end of this year.

Sources say it will be project managed by personnel within OFlynn Construction for Primark/Penneys.

Details: Colliers 01-6333700
"YOU may not reach your destination, cautions the voice from somewhere in the dashboard.

She is not angry or alarmed, just reminding you that your electric vehicle might stop dead in the middle of the motorway and you might spend the evening on the hard shoulder instead of at your best friends 50th birthday party.

She doesnt want this to happen, she really doesnt. But she cant help noticing that the electricity is draining out of the engine and the destination youve put into the sat nav may be out of reach. Shes just having a quiet word in your ear, with just a hint of criticism of your organisational abilities.

Surely I dont have to add that the voice is upper-class and English to explain my primitive desire to smash the dashboard with a crowbar?

Except I cant because its not my car. Its my friends car and we were really on our way to our mutual friends 50th down the country.

Wed moved heaven and earth to get away when this, ahem, wagon started sneering at us from the dashboard that we mightnt get there at all!

Wed already been delayed by a couple of hours while my friend attempted to find an EV charger in the suburbs of Dublin which was both working and not parked over. Shed done a circuit of at least 10 miles to find one but she couldnt stay long enough to charge it fully or wed miss the whole event.

Shes used to this kind of craic since her husband had a rush of blood to the head and came home with an EV. The ESBs chargers often dont work and when they work theres frequently a queue, which isnt as bad as seeing a car with an internal combustion

engine sitting in the space.

The so-called fast chargers on the edge of the major cities which can have you up and away in 20 minutes often dont work and when they are working theres often a queue.

The change to the rules in the budget, which will mean a zero rate of benefit-in-kind tax on EVs as well as the current SEAI grant of 5,000 and the VRT allowance to a maximum of 5,000 are neither here nor there, really. If, like my friend, you dont have a driveway in which you can put a charging point, it is madness to buy an electric car because the charging infrastructure is just not there.

The husband who just couldnt help acting on impulse pleads that he wanted to do do the right thing. Thats whats so outrageous about the direction this country has taken: the person who does the right thing is an eejit and his wife faces spending the night of her best friends 50th at the side of the road.

The clever person is someone like me, who drives a weapon which kills old people and little children, a diesel engine. The Government was heavily lobbied by the Environmental Pillar to at least equalise the price of diesel with less polluting petrol in the budget but opted to favour big polluters like me and keep it as it is.

Look, I didnt know what I was doing when I bought that car 10 years ago. It was secondhand and converted to run on bio-diesel. We ran it on bio-diesel for a while. Then it got too difficult to source and we got into the habit of dashing into the local garage every now and again and filling up with traditional diesel.

We were told by the Government, who were told by the car companies, that diesel was less environmentally damaging than petrol. Now we know that its four times more polluting, emitting gas and particulates which cause cancer and respiratory disorders.

About 1,200 people die as a result of poor air quality in Ireland every year and the biggest culprit is exhaust emissions. Thats nearly a fifth of the number who die from smoking cigarettes.

Diesel is dead. Paris, Mexico City, Madrid and Athens have declared an outright ban on diesel cars by 2025. The UK is banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040 and is forging ahead with EVs as is France, and Holland. In Norway, 40% of new registrations last year were EVs which is not surprising as they will effectively ban cars with internal combustion engines from 2025. China is building 800,000 charging points this year and the CEO of Shell says his next car will be an EV.

So what do we do? As little as possible. The Government has hedged its bets by declaring that all cars must be zero emission capable by 2030. We committed to having 230,000 EVs on our roads by 2020 and we have about 3,000. As the gloriously outspoken TD Timmy Dooley (FF) told the low emission vehicle task force, We have failed abysmally. The scary thing about all of this is that 10 years ago Ireland was leading the charge on EV charging. The ESB built one of the first national charging networks in the world. We are the perfect testing ground for the technology, being a small country with abundant wind power which can be stored in EVs overnight.

We were going to be players in the development of EV charging technology but one top designer I know who came here to lead in this sector has now left the country.

Our ESB still has expertise in charging which is recognised internationally and they have just become part of a major international consortium building a network of rapid charging points in the UK which will connect these islands to the European network. But our Government and our Department of Finance are still wedded to the doomed combustion engine, playing with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang dinky cars while EV technology races into the future.

Which suits us diesel-guzzlers just fine. I cant afford to change our car and meanwhile EVs will surely reduce in price and expand in range. Well plug our next car into a charger on the driveway of our suburban house where it will be partly fed by our roof-top solar panels.

If we didnt have that driveway  as people increasingly wont, with planning encouraging dense urban environments  Im not sure Id consider an EV because the charging network is not there. Minister Ross assertion that owning an EV is a reasonable alternative to a traditional car is balderdash for most people and there is nothing in the budget to change that.

Last week my friend and I travelled to another 50th birthday party, but this time she arrived at my house on time. Shed rented a car with an internal combustion engine under the bonnet, not an upper-class lady criticising her organisational abilities instead of the Governments.
Several Syrian factions have agreed on Cairo to a ceasefire in southern Damascus as part of an Egyptian-Russian initiative, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported on Thursday

The ceasefire was reached between Geish Al-Islam, Geish Ababil and Aknaf Beit Al-Maqdis militant organisations.

Following a meeting between the Syrian factions, Mohamed Aloush, the head of Geish Al-Islams political office, thanked Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Egypt for its role during the negotiations and for encouraging a political solution to the crisis in the country.

The agreement stipulates the opening of the crossings controlled by militants in the area, to allow residents to pass through, and an end to the forced displacement of residents. It also specified that any militant faction willing to join the agreement would have an opportunity to do so.

Aloush added that Egypt had insisted that the siege of eastern Ghouta region be broken and that sufficient aid to alleviate the suffering of residents in the region be part of the agreement.

He said that Egypt and Russia had called for stopping escalation in Eastern Ghouta and Al-Qadam districts in southern Damascus, stressing that a deal was reached to declare a ceasefire and decrease escalation in these areas.

Aloush also thanked the Egyptian state for hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have fled destruction in their homeland.





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In Wag the Dog, a 1997 movie, a war is fabricated to cover up a presidents sex scandal. It is a perfect example of how easy it is to work up hysteria over a non-existing cause.

Imagine something similar happening in Egypt. Imagine a scenario that is farfetched and definitely preposterous. Imagine the Western world suddenly ganging up on Egypt and deciding, amongst itself, that, for one bizarre reason or another, Egypt erred big time and deserves intense retribution.

It then attacks Egypt.

Stop for a moment. Didnt the Western world attack and destroy Iraq over fake, fabricated causes in 2003?

So, play along. It gets better.

As the Western world bombs Egypts infrastructure and army facilities along its until then tightly secured borders, as well as strategic bridges and thoroughfares in Cairo, the world at large, in particular the Western world, watches unperturbed. Even more freaky, while some nations ignore the attack altogether, others deem it necessary and deserved.

The reason behind such a ludicrous reaction would be what Western media at large, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, too, have paved the way for in their reports on Egypt for the last six years. These publications, by virtue of their misleading tactics, would have convinced the world that the attack is due process.

You see, if you are a layperson who doesnt know much about the comings and goings in Egypt, but is an avid reader of Western publications, you would, most certainly, believe that Egypt is under a repressive dictatorship and that soon Egypt will implode upon itself. Hence, the West must intervene.

You will have heard of death penalties but not why these criminals received such drastic sentences; you will have heard of limitations on freedom of speech, but you wouldnt have been exposed to the incitement, including death lists, flagrantly bellowed on social media; and you will have been told that the traitors, aka Egypts leaders, are giving away their land to the highest bidder, and you will accept it all as a given. Who would think otherwise?

Does Western media lie, twist facts, or mislead? Heavens, no!

You will have read of a Qatar embargo and severe sanctions inflicted on a ganged-up-upon, minuscule emirate but not why there is an embargo: ruthless interference in other countries affairs and becoming an open playground for terrorists.

You will have been told that the poor are getting poorer, that prices are skyrocketing, and that the subsidies on fuel and power are being removed; you would have never perused an article discussing the efforts to create power, to build an expansive road network and better homes to replace the shacks many live in, to cure millions of the debilitating disease Hepatitis C, and to support those in need by providing extensive subsidies.

According to Western media, Egypt will have deserved this powerful reaction by virtue of the image projected prior to the attack. According to that image, Egypt may well be deserving retribution equivalent to attacks that hit Libya, Syria, and Iraq.

Lets consider what the media of the democratic world tells the world.

It didnt take Western media long to decide that 30 June was a coup that went against the legitimately elected Brotherhood regime, disregarding the millions that called for its downfall and neglecting the euphoria that swept Egypt immediately afterwards.

Since then, Western media exerts every effort to downplay accomplishments and overstate defeats. Every issue on Egypt in Western media is presented with headlines and content that twists facts, alludes to failures, and scrutinises even the biggest of successes.

After 30 June, the headlines of Western media read, Morsi is the Arab worlds Mandela, Does Egypt even matter? and The military coup is a cancer eating away at Egypt.

According to The Telegraph, El-Sisi plotted a military takeover even while Hosni Mubarak was still in power. This is so bizarre it is mind boggling. By the way, Egyptians had not heard of El-Sisi before 2012, and for him to predict Mubaraks downfall and scheme a take over when it occurs is ludicrous.

And yet, a Google search proves that, in 2014, Egypts most capturing story was not even mentioned. In confidence with the new leadership, in eight days, Egyptians came up with the EGP 64 billion needed to build the Suez Canal extension. Nothing appeared on this issue in Western media.

And so in another opinion piece in The Guardian, Egypts new masters are wrecking its long tradition of religious freedom was mystifying. The sub-headline says, Sisi is trying to remake the peoples identity by exploiting division.

Both concepts, remaking peoples identity and exploiting division are erroneous to the core. El-Sisi cannot remake peoples identity even if he tried, and in no way is he exploiting division.

The Financial Times is no better. Dark days for Egypts amateur vice squad draws its off-the-wall conclusions from speaking to one single Egyptian  a bawab, or doorman. It builds a dismal portrait of a country in disarray from the views of this single person.

The sub-heading reads, Egyptians used to laugh and smile, but not any more, and I beg to differ; Egyptians laugh and smile more now than they used to while ex-President Morsi was in power. And, because it is in their nature, they will continue to laugh, smile, and enjoy what life gives them because it is innate in them, despite what The Financial Times alludes to.

In March, as President El-Sisi was about to head to Washington, Human Rights Watch published an article titled, Sisis Egypt is a Poor Partner for the United States in the Fight Against Terrorism. It warns President Trump against amending ties with Egypt, concluding that Hosting Egypts repressive president sends the wrong message to the world on how to overcome the scourge of violent extremism and terrorism. And today the same explicit notions continue as Forbes headline reads, Washington should dump Egypts new pharaoh: Dictator El-Sisi turns country into open-air prison.

My two cents: either these journalists are absolute imbeciles who have no clue what they are writing about or, the other extreme, they have a clear goal and are out to accomplish it: ruin Egypt.

Now, after all this, if you were a Westerner, wouldnt you say that Egypt deserved heavy-handed retaliation?

Need I say more?

The writer is an academic, political analyst, and author of Cairo Rewind: the First Two Years of Egypt's Revolution, 2011-2013.

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The new census figures show the continued existence of a range of issues for policy-makers, including illiteracy, early marriage, and a youth bulge

In the light of the results of the population census announced a few days ago, there is no excuse for executive officials collaborating with specialised experts not to draw conclusions, and accurately identify the social transformations that Egypt has witnessed in the last three decades on one hand, and the indicators that lead to a certain kind of development on the other.

Consequently, they should be ready to think in a different way from the way they are thinking right now.

According to the new results, Egypts population has doubled during the last 30 years. It has increased from 48 million in 1986 to 95 million in 2016 within Egyptian territory.

Rural areas in Egypt are predominant concerning population numbers, as the inhabitants of both the Delta and Upper Egypt total 54 million, constituting 57 percent of the total population.

This may partially explain the illiteracy rate, which still exists in spite of its decrease from 25 percent in the previous census to 18 percent in the current one.

The total number of illiterate people has reached 5.7 million illiterate in the age group between 10 and 34 years old. It also partially explains the increase in education dropouts, or those not enrolling at all, which has reached 30 percent of the total population and an absolute number of 29 million people.

The direct conclusion of these shocking numbers is that the countryside, whether the Delta or Upper Egypt, doesnt receive the amount of care needed to enhance its development in the general sense.

Developing life in the Egyptian countryside will remain one of the major problems facing the targeted sustainable development plans. The government and the executive bodies therefore have to make countryside development one of its most important objectives in the next decade, and deploy quicker rates of execution than in previous years.

An increase in early marriages in rural areas among girls who are under 18 is a warning sign and proof of the mediocre governmental and voluntary efforts in raising societal awareness of the danger of this phenomenon, leaving the scene to those disseminating backward ideas and values.

Statistics reflect the predominance of Salafist religious ideas that back early marriage for girls immediately after reaching puberty without taking into consideration the dangerous effects of this behaviour on the health and development of such families.

As a result, new generations will come to life lacking the simplest qualifications to be productive citizens capable of competition in the market of modern labour, not the backward market which it seems to be prevalent to a great extent.

The numbers also suggest that Egypt is a youthful society, as more than one third of the population, to be specific 36 percent, is between 15 and 34 years of age. This translates to a dire need for thousands of schools and teachers and several million graduates of university, intermediate institutes and high school.

Each one of those graduates will need a job opportunity or else he will join the greater percentage of those unemployed.

Consequently, this will constitute a pressure on societal cohesion and present a bigger chances for extremist groups, of all religious and behavioural kinds, to increase their ranks. This poses a danger to public stability.

At that time, security confrontation wont be enough, no matter how severe, because the matter is related to values and practical outputs produced by groups viewing themselves as marginal and believing that society and the state have inflicted grave injustices on them.

Accordingly, their loyalty towards their homeland will be affected greatly and many will be ready to work against it very easily.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has pointed to the existence of 10 million closed apartments. It is a huge number. The question is, why have their owners closed them?

I think that the accurate answer requires knowing the rest of the details in the light of the population census, which will clarify the societal map of these closed apartments and their relationship with the current rent law.

This law differentiates between whats known as old rent, which allows the resident to stay in the apartment indefinitely, enables him to leave it to his sons as an inheritance, and turns him into an everlasting owner in return for a meagre rent determined 40 years ago.

This constitutes a grievous injustice to the real-estate landlords and the fault should be laid at the door of everyone who insists upon the continuity of this collective injustice and justifies it with flimsy reasons that have nothing to do with the principles of right and justice.

There is the other law known as the new law that permits the landlord to rent his apartment according to market prices.

But this landlord is taking a risk to some extent, if his rights are not fulfilled according to the contract. If that happens, the courts wont give him justice, and nor will the law enforcement bodies.

He may live the rest of his life without retrieving the apartment he thought would be a source of revenue that would improve his livelihood.

The multiple ways of dealing with apartments, whether old or new, drive many landlords to leave their apartments vacant instead of facing dire consequences. For one to sacrifice anticipated revenue is much safer than entering the labyrinth of going to police stations and courts. They consider it an acceptable sacrifice, for it allows them to save the apartments for their offspring to live in after marriage.

There needs to be justice for everybody and accompanied by decisive judicial bodies and law enforcement personnel who do not shirk their responsibility and swiftly do justice for the wronged, or this phenomena, which seems strange on the surface, will multiply, reflecting a deep crisis in society and in institutions.

Perhaps enacting clear and just legislation that is applied equally in all cases and which takes into account the principles of right and justice will make these apartments one of the ways to solve the housing crisis, and will be one of the factors of change in favour of societal stability, and an element of alleviating economic pressure on the landlords of those closed apartments.

Certainly, the population census details will help in scientific assessment of Egyptians lifestyles, and will reveal their fears and concerns. It will also reveal their points of weakness. I hope that all the details will also be available, without any withholding, for any Egyptian who wants to discover more about the society in which he lives.

Maybe this availability will motivate him to submit an idea or an opinion that will lead to a big leap, or even just one step, forward.

The writer is a political analyst.

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UNION leaders at BAE Systems in Cowes have expressed their deep concern after this weeks announcement by the defence giant that 18 jobs would be axed at the site.

Unites engineering branch raised concerns the proposed job cuts  7.5 per cent of the Cowes workforce  would further undermine the sites future and called on the business to fully justify any job losses against its workload.

Phil Rudd, secretary of Unite the Union Isle of Wight Engineering Branch, said: Unite the union is alarmed by the increasing amount of defence work being outsourced abroad.

By 2020, 25 pence of every pound spent on UK defence spending will find its way to American factories alone rather than being spent here in the UK.

Mr Rudd described the Islands economy as fragile and called on the government to act to commit to place an order for a future ground based ballistic missile defence radar with the BAE site in Cowes.

He added the union had also written to Island MP, Bob Seely, asking for his support.

The Islands TUC also called on the government to support jobs on the Island following on from last weeks announcement of 70 job losses at composites firm, Gurit.

Earlier this week, Mr Seely told the County Press he had received assurances the government would support Island workers who face redundancy from the 242 employee facility.

He said: This is very unfortunate news for Island BAE staff as Christmas approaches. My hope is the majority, if not all, of these losses can be accommodated through voluntary redundancy."

On Tuesday, BAE announced around one in ten jobs at its sites in Cowes and Portsmouth  where a number of Islanders are also based  could be under threat after the defence company announced it was looking for 375 voluntary redundancies in its Maritime Services division.

Nationally, BAE Systems is planning to cut almost 2,000 jobs in military, maritime and intelligence services.
Local Dems sweep; town rejects pot Every Democrat on the local ballot won their race Tuesday, including Jamestown resident Peter Neronhas re-election as the states top prosecutor, and local voters followed suit with the statewide trend...

Voters rebuff allowing retail pot sales in shops By a margin of 157 votes, the electorate decided Tuesday not to allow local businesses to cultivate, manufacture, test or sell recreational marijuana in Jamestown. The referendum to allow the...

School board agrees to contract with North Kingstown Jamestown students entering high school can continue to choose North Kingstown as their destination for grades 9-12. We are pleased to continue this historic partnership, said Ken Duva, superintendent of...
KERNERSVILLE  Its been a regular occurrence for weeks now.

When Chloe and Brandon Goodson get home from work, theyll find a small mountain of packages and envelopes covering a bench in front of their home in Kernersville.

Some days our mail lady has to leave a tote box or even two, Chloe Goodson said Tuesday afternoon. Its almost like Christmas every day.

Indeed it is.

Even though it would appear that the Goodsons are single-handedly helping keep the U.S. Postal Service solvent, its not because theyre compulsive shoppers or own stock in Amazon.

No, the daily haul is all about Brandons brother, Dustin, a 28-year-old who has a condition thats put him in a wheelchair.

Dustin, a volunteer with the Smith Grove Fire Department in Advance, has become infatuated with all things firefighting, and he happens to have a birthday today.

Because of that, his brother and sister-in-law started a modest campaign to get him a couple of fire department T-shirts. But that tiny campaign, started on Facebook in late July, has turned into an avalanche of gear, patches, hats, cards and letters from all 50 states and two foreign countries that now fills a spare bedroom.

Just dont tell Dustin. Not yet anyway. Its like being invited to an enormous surprise party.

Super addition

This experiment in the phenomenal reach of social media, the kindness of strangers and a deep fraternal bond felt by firefighters the world over has its roots in a summer vacation.

The Goodsons were at the beach in July when they happened to see firefighters engaged in a rescue operation.

Dustin, whos been a volunteer with Smith Grove for more than a year now, was fascinated by seeing the firefighters work and stopped to speak with a few of them once things had settled down.

He asked about getting one of their T-shirts, but they didnt have his size. Naturally, he was disappointed.

His interest is deeply personal; Chloe explained it best in a Facebook post she wrote after they returned home. Dustin is my brother-in-law who has Spina Bifida, this meaning he is paralyzed from the waist down and has been confined to a wheelchair his whole life, she wrote. He has never been a part of something that was solely his until last spring when he joined a volunteer fire department. Since joining the fire department, he has taken such pride in it! He is obsessed and truly loves it!! It is so cool seeing him love something so much!!!

Dustin, who lives in Davie County near the Smith Grove VFD, took to the firefighters immediately. And the affection was mutual right from the start.

Hes just a bundle of joy, said Assistant Chief Kendall Howard. Hes always got a good attitude. Hes always happy.  Having him around is just a good thing for us all the way around. Hes a super addition.

His job isnt just ceremonial. Dustin pulls his weight by helping clean gear and pitching in with the crush of paperwork that comes with the job. Theyve even given him a nickname  Wheelchair 24  a true sign of acceptance.

We werent sure how theyd be with him, Chloe Goodson said. They didnt have to take him in at all, but they accepted him just like they would anybody else. For somebody to care so much for somebody, it just blows me away.

Overwhelming response

The original intent of Chloe Goodsons first Facebook post in late July was to salve some of Dustins disappointment over not finding the right size T-shirt at the beach.

She figured if she and Brandon could come up with a handful from a few big-city fire departments they would have a good haul. And since Dustins birthday was still more than two months, theyd have plenty of time.

What happened next, the proverbial snowball rolling downhill into an avalanche, no one could have predicted.

T-shirts, patches, even helmets started rolling in as the modern miracle that is the Internet passed the word, literally, around the globe.

They have collected T-shirts from all 50 states, and patches and other gear from Germany and Australia.

It got 18,000 shares, Chloe Goodson said.

Facebook filled with messages and updates. Wanted to see if the package from Brinkley, Arkansas arrived ... Did the package from Huntington, IN get there?

They even opened one box to find a fire helmet, that had clearly been well used.

The box still had ashes in it, Brandon Goodson said. It still smelled like smoke. We had to leave it out front to air out.

As the boxes piled up, the Goodsons had to figure out how to store it all.

T-shirts, some 424 by Tuesday morning, were hung neatly on department store racks in a spare bedroom. Storage bins were filled, and patches went into a display case. They colored in a map of the United States and carefully logged everything into a computer.

Its like a part-time job, Brandon Goodson said.

Dustins not going to have to wash shirts for a year, Chloe Goodson said.

The most touching part, Brandon Goodson said, is a collection of cards and letters that come tucked inside some of the packages.

Firefighters moved by Dustins example took the time to share their own stories.

One talks about his daughter who has epilepsy, Brandon Goodson said. Certain stories just stick out. One guy said hes going back to school, like Whats my excuse?

The outpouring didnt surprise anybody at Smith Grove.

The fire service is a pretty strong brotherhood, Howard said, no matter where you are.

If he didnt know it already, volunteer firefighter Dustin Goodson will find out when hes formally showered with the gifts Saturday evening.

Just dont tell him. Youve been invited to the party, and you dont want to spoil the surprise.
Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions is suing the state to maintain what it claims is the authority to pay its chief executive, Richard Topping, up to 3 times more than his peers.

Cardinal filed the lawsuit Sept. 18 in the state Office of Administrative Hearings against the Office of State Human Resources. It is challenging the states authority to set executive compensation limits.

We will not comment on this case while it is in litigation except to say that the Office of State Human Resources plans to vigorously defend its position, said Melody Hunter-Pillion, the agencys communications director.

Cardinal oversees providers of mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services that cover more than 850,000 enrollees, including in Alamance, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Rockingham and Stokes counties. It has more than 800 employees.

Cardinal, the largest of North Carolinas seven behavioral health managed care organizations, claims it is not subject to state personnel statutes even though it receives annual state and federal Medicaid funding. Those amounts were $587 million for federal and $88 million for state in fiscal 2015-16.

Cardinals predecessor was formed in part as a legislative experiment for using private-sector methods to lower the cost of caring for Medicaid enrollees without sacrificing the quality of care.

However, Cardinal is considered a political subdivision of the state, with oversight contracts subject to approval by the health secretary and executive compensation subject to OSHR guidelines.

Per General Statues 122C-124.2, the secretary can remove the Cardinal board and replace the chief executive for poor performance or noncompliance with short notice. The state contracts can be terminated, with the 20 Cardinal counties dispersed to other MCOs.

Toppings current three-year contract provides severance payments for a broad range of reasons beyond termination of employment without just cause, including if Cardinal is taken over or ceases to be an independent entity or if a majority of the agencys board is replaced without board approval.

Cardinal argues in its complaint that not being allowed to pay Topping up to $635,000 in annual salary could convince him to resign, thereby putting Cardinal at a significant market disadvantage recruiting a top executive in the Mecklenburg County business market.

This would result in immediate and irreparable harm to Cardinal Innovations and reduce the organizations ability to fulfill its mission, Cardinal said.

It wants the Office of Administrative Hearings to prevent OSHR from applying state compensation limitations for executives  a $194,471 maximum with an approved exception of $217,155 for Brian Ingraham, chief executive of Vaya Health in western N.C.

DHHS expects the salary of MCO chief executives to be in compliance with OSHR policy, DHHS said in a statement. We are following this issue closely and working closely with our colleagues at OSHR.

Cardinal called an enforcement letter it received from OSHR arbitrary, inappropriate and irrationally low salary range and decried its conclusion that Cardinal Innovation is out of compliance.

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of legislators and state health regulators, including Health Sec. Dr. Mandy Cohen, discussed possible sanctions against Cardinal for what they viewed as excessive and unacceptable compensation levels for Topping and 10 other executives.

Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, and a committee co-chairman, advised state health officials to send a letter of intent to Cardinals board of directors that contains its compliance obligations with state statutes.

Dave Richard, deputy DHHS secretary in charge of Medicaid, said DHHS is proceeding cautiously in its authority to make major changes at Cardinal. He said state officials, including legislators, will attend Cardinals November board meeting to present members with its lists of compliance issues.

Salary hikes

Topping became chief executive in a controversial internal transition in July 2015.

He quickly received two substantial salary hikes to reach $635,000. His total compensation for 2016-17 could have exceeded $1.2 million, according to legislative leaders.

Two state audits have questioned Cardinals financial status, in particular its executive salaries and severance packages.

An internal DHHS audit, released Oct. 1, determined those packages pose a substantial risk (to Cardinal) and may not be in the best interest of Cardinal, beneficiaries and/or the state.

This is excessive and raises concerns about the entitys solvency and ability to continue to provide services in the event of a significant change in its leadership team, DHHS said in a statement.

The state Auditors Office released a scathing report in May on Cardinal that cited unauthorized executive compensation and a combined $490,756 in high-end board retreats and unreasonable spending (that) could erode public trust.

The state auditor also criticized OSHR for failing to properly oversee salary compensation for Topping.

Since the latest round of criticism of Toppings compensation erupted publicly in November, Cardinal said Topping has agreed, and the board approved, lowering his salary to $400,000  although some legislators Tuesday questioned the validity of the claim.

Cardinal argues that operational trade-offs approved by the legislature in the mid-1990s allows the board to use market-based employment practices to attract and retain well-qualified staff so that it can continue to deliver high-quality outcomes for members and the state.

The agency said it conducts a market compensation study every two years that evaluates public, private and not-for-profit managed care organizations.

Toppings salary is significantly higher than most nonprofit and not-for-profit executives.

For example, the latest salary levels for seven nonprofits serving Forsyth County ranged from $183,006 for Joseph Lydon, the former top executive at Salemtowne, to $338,022 for William Stillerman at Baptist Retirement Homes of N.C. Art Gibel, retired top executive with Goodwill Industries of Northwest N.C. Inc., made $268,121.

Cardinal recently moved its headquarters from a sprawling campus in Kannapolis to the NASCAR Hall of Fame building in uptown Charlotte. The stated motivation was the MCO didn't want to be in the real-estate business anymore.

Legislators pondered again Tuesday how convenient it was for the Cardinal board to make that Mecklenburg compensation claim given the new headquarters is less than four miles from Topping's home in the Myers Park community.
The North Carolina Department of State Treasurer (DST) touches the lives of one in ten North Carolinians every month. We manage the 26th largest pool of money in the world valued at over $110 billion. We also have the responsibility for the states pension and health care plans. Next to their relationship with their family and their faith, we impact the things that people value the most  their money and their healthcare.

Our loyalty and fiduciary duty is to the participants of these plans and to the taxpayers of this state. The DST, through the State Health Plan, provides Medicare-eligible retirees with Medicare Advantage health insurance. Recently, we were able to renegotiate our contract with UnitedHealthcare to freeze premiums for 2018.

We were able to achieve this despite the impact of the Affordable Care Acts (ACA) Health Insurance Tax (HIT), which was not assessed in 2017, but is scheduled to come back in 2018 if Congress does not act.

New data from actuarial firm Oliver Wyman shows that the return of the ACAs HIT will cost North Carolina $366 million in additional premiums next year. If repealed, the state would save approximately $45 million in 2018 just with retired state employees.

The HIT is an Obamacare tax on health insurance premiums designed to help offset the cost of the tax credits for ACA exchange enrollees. Recognizing the negative impact the tax was having across the nation, Congress worked across the aisle in late 2015 to pass a bipartisan one-year moratorium on the tax for 2017, saving the health care system $21.4 billion.

But the clock is ticking on the end of our reprieve.

Republicans were expected to tackle the HIT through the repeal of the ACA. The House-approved measure to repeal and replace the failing law and the two main Senate bills all included provisions to end this irresponsible tax. But, unfortunately, congressional lawmakers werent able to pass the legislation.

We have an obligation to teachers, law enforcement officers, firefighters as well as other state and local retirees who served our state and now find that inaction by Congress could cost them dearly. Seniors, other than state retirees, in Medicare Advantage programs will see their premiums increase an average of $490 per couple next year. In North Carolina, premiums for Medicare Advantage plans would be 30% lower if Congress extends the moratorium on the tax.

Right now, Congress is considering legislation that will prevent this tax from being assessed in 2018. Congress needs to act quickly. We appreciate and look forward to the N.C. congressional delegation taking the lead.

Dale Folwell of Winston-Salem is the North Carolina treasurer.
President Donald Trumps enduring support among evangelical Christians and Mass-attending Catholics befuddles many of his critics. How could a Christian accept [some presidential action or statement]? is now a trope. The genuinely confused should realize that for millions of voters, religious liberty remains the overarching issue of the day, the alpha and omega of whether Trump gets a nod of approval or at least a pass. And most of those voters are very well aware that religious liberty is on the Supreme Courts docket this term.

The Supreme Court will soon consider the religious liberty of Jack Phillips in Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The state of Colorado has said that Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Phillips refusal to create custom wedding cakes celebrating same-sex wedding ceremonies violates the states law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation  despite Phillips policy of refusing to create other confections that collide with his faith, including cakes containing alcohol or celebrating Halloween or atheism.

The case will draw huge attention because it is at the intersection of so many controversies. But the emotions it elicits shouldnt obscure its connection to a large portion of Trumps core support: conservative people of faith.

Evangelicals and Mass-attending Catholics gave the president healthy majorities when they voted last fall, and largely that support has not wavered. For those wondering why, it comes down to the issue at the core of Masterpiece Cakeshop: Will Americans be allowed to practice their religious beliefs without fear of ruin from secular absolutists? In the view of these voters, elites believe every knee must bend to their secular creed, not just on matters regarding sexual intimacy but also on issues of when life begins and when death ought to be optional.

Many people of faith are convinced that their ability to believe, proclaim and practice their genuine faith convictions is in danger not just of ridicule but also of punishment. They hear themselves routinely  and unfairly  compared to racist bigots. They know that racial bigotry in the marketplace is illegal; indeed, they agree with the laws that make it so, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and believe those laws are righteous and, more to the point, constitutional.

Moreover, the vast majority of evangelical and Catholic leaders assert that they, and the president, are not homophobic and that their positions on same-sex marriage do not mean they are anti-gay. They also believe, not without reason, that only Christians, not faithful Muslims, are targeted for refusal to celebrate same-sex unions, in a double standard born of animus toward the Christian community, fear of the Islamic one, or both.

And they expect that, absent a new test emerging from the case now before the court, their civil right of free exercise of religion will be erased, quietly and quickly, from the constitutional canon.

That fear drives a lot of politics these days, though it is only dimly perceived by political and media elites for whom the underlying variants of religious belief are at best unusual and sometimes unthinkable. I think that fear explains so much as to be almost too obvious an answer to too many current dilemmas.

Why did Roy Moore win the GOP Senate primary in Alabama? People of faith may not agree with his positions  and most probably dont  but they can count on him being on their side in free-exercise disputes. Why do evangelicals hang in with the president despite his all-too-frequent un-Christian bouts of public disdain toward others, attacks that are at odds with the gospel? Because his judicial appointments  the source of the ultimate protection of faith and the free-exercise clause  are not only solid, they are also better than those of either President Bush.

For many millions of people of faith, Trump is the last line of defense preventing their having to choose between their religious beliefs and full participation in the community and in business.

In short, as the Supreme Court returns to work, understand that a lot of the politics of today are driven by its decisions in the past and fear about its decisions in the future. This remains a deeply religious country, and many of its most ardent believers distrust the federal courts and elite opinion-makers to such a degree that they will make common cause with those who will protect their freedom of conscience. The right to free exercise isnt just one of many important rights to them; it is the central one by far. Figure that truth into your political analysis, and a lot more becomes clear.
This year's Nov. 8 election didn't present any unforeseen outcomes, at least as it pertains to Dorchester County Council races. However, the competition between Republican Rita May Ranck and Democrat Carlisle Harrison was one of the more thrilling ones in the State, as the latter temporarily Read moreNewly elected Councilmember Rita May Ranck ready to 'work' and 'listen'
The Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) launched on October 4 an online exhibition giving insight on how children were affected by the Rwandan genocide and conflicts in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The exhibition, entitled Children in Conflict  Evidence from the Archives of the International Criminal Tribunals, shows that children were often deliberately targeted for sexual violence, torture, persecution, forcible transfer, murder and extermination. To know more about how children were affected in Rwanda, JusticeInfos Kigali correspondent spoke to Valerie Mukabayire, president of the Association of Genocide Widows (AVEGA Agahozo)

JusticeInfo: Approximately how many children were killed during the 1994 genocide?

Valerie Mukabayire: The genocide perpetrated against Tutsis in 1994 left more than a million people dead  1,074,017 to be precise, according to the Rwandan Ministry for Local Administration. Children and young people under 24 were the main victims, representing 53.7%. It is difficult to establish the proportion of boys to girls, but we know that there were orders to kill boys and that they were the most persecuted, to the point that some dressed up as girls to try and survive.

Children are innocent, so why were they targeted?

The extermination of the Tutsi ethnic group was planned through a well elaborated and well taught ideology that the perpetrators took to heart. Targets were clearly identified as Tutsi and all associated with them or resembling them. He who kills a serpent should not spare its eggs was an injunction broadcast by hate media. This encouraged the Interahamwe militia to kill even children, saying that even babies could be threats in the future. Didnt Paul Kagame and Fred Rwigema, the military commanders of the RPF, flee the country on their mothers backs? they repeated, regretting that they had let them flee abroad.

Roughly how many of them still suffer today from physical or psychological trauma?

Even if statistics are not available, many survivors are still haunted by the horror 23 years after the genocide and suffer from psychological problems. Like everyone else, when the anniversary date approaches for the start of the genocide, the nights of these children who have now become adults are filled with nightmares as they relive the horror. Girls and boys were mutilated, injured, girls were raped at roadblocks by young Interahamwe militia, some were held captive and forced to accept sexual relations in return for temporary protection against the militia and the army. And so when they were still children their bodies and minds were violated, humiliated and scarred for life. Today, the scars of this unspeakable horror have led to some cases of drug addiction, prostitution and excesses reflecting profound problems. The most frightening thing is that now a form of psychological trauma is also being transmitted even to young people born after the genocide.

Did children suffer other abuses than rape and capture?

As rape was used as a weapon of war and of humiliation, even pre-pubescent children were raped, tortured, traumatized, insulted and terrorized. They witnessed the most horrible things, such as their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters raped and killed before their eyes. Some of these children even had their sexual organs mutilated. They ran for distances that were too long, and then walked even at night to try and escape death. As well as killings, torture and humiliation, some children were captured and reduced to slavery by militiamen, foreigners, families who took them in and even members of their own family.

The genocide memorial at Ntarama (former church of Ntarama, east of Kigali) is among those that still recall the horror inflicted on children. On one of the walls of the memorial, one metre above the ground, a large, indelible red stain still holds the blood of the children whose heads were smashed against the wall.

How do they live today with this painful past?

Family warmth was replaced in an extremely brutal way with being alone. And very brutally, these children were deprived of everything: love, comfort, innocence, humanity. And so after the genocide, more than 100,000 children found themselves without parents, in orphanages, in foster families and, even worse, the oldest were forced to bring up their little brothers and sisters. In most cases they had no homes and no anything. Some were forced to work as domestic helps or sex workers for the survival of themselves, their brothers and sisters.

But after the genocide the Rwandan government set up a Fund for Neediest Survivors of Genocide in Rwanda (FARG) which helps them with education, health and housing support. Now some have rebuilt their lives. However, the needs remain enormous and the problem remains very complex.

And what role does your association, AVEGA, play in helping restore hope to these children?

Some members of AVEGA have taken in and brought up genocide orphans. The association has also helped support the education of some children and helped them recover their parents assets. But again, our efforts are just a drop in the ocean.
COZAD  A cell-phone charger explosion started a house fire north of Cozad early Wednesday afternoon and displaced one family.

At about 12:30 p.m., the Cozad Volunteer Fire Department was called to a house fire at 77131 Road 420, according to Cozad Fire Chief Dan Niles.

He said the owner of the house had come home for lunch when he discovered the house full of smoke. The owner then started opening doors, which he shouldnt have done, Niles said.

But luckily when he opened those doors  the room that was on fire, which was a bedroom  it slammed that door shut, Niles said. So then that basically contained it to that one room and it basically put itself out before we got there. I mean, there was still, I think, a couple items on fire, but it made it so we could manage it anyway.

According to Dawson Countys online Geographic Information System records, the owner of the home is Matthew Lauer.

Niles said the fire is an unfortunate fire safety lesson. He said cell phones should be charged only for the amount of time needed and should be charged away from flammable materials in case the charger does explode.

Niles said the auxiliary battery pack to charge cell phones was plugged into the wall under the bed. It overheated and exploded near flammable materials such as bedding.

Though the fire was contained to one room, Niles said the home sustained considerable smoke damage.

Residents of the home are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross, according to a press release from the organization.

@erikadpritchard
KEARNEY  A judge has forbidden a Kearney man from having contact with anyone younger than 18 and from possessing any electronics after the man was accused of distributing and possessing child pornography.

Jeremiah L. Warren, 38, must post $50,000 in order to be freed from the Buffalo County Jail. Judge John Rademacher set Warrens preliminary hearing for later this month in Buffalo County Court. He was arrested Tuesday afternoon after Kearney Police Department officers served a search warrant on his Kearney home in the 1700 block of West 38th Street.

At the time of his arrest, Warren worked in maintenance full time at the Kearney Family YMCA and didnt have any contact with youths or the Child Care Center.

No images of children from the YMCA have been located, a KPD news release said. However, the investigation isnt complete.

According to court records, in February a KPD officer was conducting investigations into the sharing of child porn files. Based on the computer identification address, Warren was identified as a possible suspect.

Police monitored the computer address, which appeared to be sharing files. Tuesday, police obtained a search warrant for Warrens home, and explicit images of children were found.

The investigation revealed Warren had allegedly been using a computer program and downloading explicit images of children, viewing the files then deleting them.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call KPD at 237-2104, Crime Stoppers at 237-3424 or to go to KPDs Facebook page.

If convicted, and if he isnt placed on probation, Warren faces up to 20 years in prison for the porn charge and a minimum of six years in prison for the distribution charge.

@HubChic
U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith of Nebraska may be in the defining moment of his congressional career. As a member of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Smith and his colleagues have authority over trade, but the nation will be greatly harmed if Smith and his committee are unable to stop President Donald Trump from dismantling NAFTA.

The North American Free Trade Agreement has been in force 23 years, and its been a major aid to U.S. agriculture. Beneficiaries include the scores of Nebraska producers who count on foreign customers to buy their livestock, corn and other commodities.

American consumers also benefit from NAFTA, which encourages the importation of produce and manufactured goods from Mexico and Canada.

The positive effects of NAFTA, during its more than 2 decades of existence, have been so interwoven into Americans lives it is difficult to imagine the world without it, but, incredibly, Trump wants the pact dismantled.

On Wednesday, he threatened to withdraw the United States from NAFTA if he cant get what he wants in a renegotiation. But what he wants  from requiring that more auto production be made-in-America to shifting more government contracts to U.S. companies  will likely be unacceptable to Mexico and Canada.

In his campaign, Trump called NAFTA a job-killing disaster. And in a Forbes interview published Tuesday, Trump said: I happen to think that NAFTA will have to be terminated if were going to make it good.

Countering the presidents rhetoric, Smith said on Wednesday, We know the importance of NAFTA to Nebraska agriculture. Canada is the largest export market for U.S. agriculture products, and bilateral trade between Nebraska and Canada totals $1.9 billion a year.

Smith said NAFTA discussions underscored the importance of maintaining and strengthening partnerships.

His comments come as U.S. ag producers are fighting to defend and maintain their overseas markets. With commodities prices severely depressed, Smiths constituents  Nebraskas ag producers  can ill afford setbacks in global trade. Its essential that the congressman from Nebraskas Panhandle convince Trump that NAFTA is a job creator, not a job killer, as the president claims.
I went to hear Col. Tom Brewer at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. I heard about him around 14 years ago in a newspaper account of a Taliban ambush. With a broken nose, broken sternum, 12 broken ribs and otherwise beat up and torn up from shrapnel and six bullets, and running out of ammunition, he prepared for hand-to-hand combat as a shadow drew nearer. The shadow turned out to be a young soldier from Nepal who would help Brewer live to fight another day.

What impressed me was Brewers insistence, his assurance to his Afghan brothers that we would stay in the fight, that we would not grow weary and abandon them on the battlefield. Others in Washington would, but he did not. He volunteered to serve five more tours in Afghanistan and had every intention of returning yet again for a seventh.

I voted for him in the 3rd Congressional District election. The day before he began his campaign, his doctor told him he had leukemia. He stood with his family under a bronze statue of Standing Bear in the State Capitol.

Some of you may remember hearing about the Ponca Chief Standing Bears day in court when he proved he was a man: That hand is not the color of yours, but if I prick it, the blood will flow, and I shall feel pain. The blood is of the same color as yours. God made me, and I am a man.

Brewer is Oglala Lakota Sioux on his mothers side and grew up on and around the Pine Ridge Reservation. He said at UNK he felt a kinship with the Afghan warriors and tried to help them recover and rebuild their nation. He shared with students the gratification he felt seeing Afghan girls going to school, an opportunity the Taliban will so quickly steal if we walk away from the fight.

Brewer lost his battle against the four-term incumbent congressman, but got back up and rode his mule 500 miles around the 43rd Legislative District and won his seat as the first Native-American in the Unicameral.

Many thought he was biting off too much, the 43rd District being notorious as home to Whiteclay and its four liquor stores peddling poison to the Lakota. Whiteclay was a battle the warrior joined knowing full well he would be drawing heavy fire.

Bill Riggs, Elm Creek
FILE - This Wednesday, May 10, 2017, file photo, shows the NBC logo at their television studios at Rockefeller Center in New York. On Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, President Donald Trump threatened NBCAos broadcast licenses because heAos not happy with how its news division has covered him. But experts say itAos not likely his threats would lead to any action against the company. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
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Our powerful subconscious minds are processing information that we dont even realize we are taking in, so to achieve gender equity we must actively uncover things that are unintentionally promoting stereotypes.

For example, we know that if we want to promote a gender equitable environment that putting portraits of men on the walls of the classrooms would not be ideal. Even if there were one or two women in the mix, this type of tokenism contributes to persistent sexism and gender disparities. Indeed, decorating our medical school educational facilities  entrances, classrooms, lectures halls and teaching hospitals  with portraits of mostly men who are mostly white, is not supportive of women in medicine or our diverse student body  greater than 50 percent of whom currently come from one or more underrepresented groups.

As an academic physician who is frequently invited to be a visiting professor and lecture at institutions throughout the U.S., I have seen many walls firsthand. For example, at a recent white coat event that took place in a medical school lecture hall auditorium that I was visiting, I watched a first-year class of medical students receive their physician coats for the first time in a ceremony that their parents and loved ones attended. I compared the larger than life paintings on the wall with the smaller real students  the majority of whom were clearly women and/or men of color. I thought to myself about how far we have come since I was a new medical student, and I was proud of my profession and colleagues. But I also knew that as much as we say we welcome them all to the profession, the walls are telling our future doctors a different story. It doesnt matter how excited, anxious or distracted the students are, every one of their brains will take in the environment, including the walls.

For some, what the walls are saying may empower them. For others, the walls may be suggesting that they arent good enough, they are an imposter (imposter syndrome is common among medical students), or theyll never be a leader. I knew, too, that not only were the walls speaking to these future physicians, but they were talking to their parents as well. The dean addressed the parents sitting in the audience and asked for questions. One father, a black man, raised his hand and asked how many students failed out of medical school. The dean responded by saying that once students get in, they do everything possible to keep them in. This is true  once a student is in medical school, the fail rate is very low. However, the spoken words were not intuitive as the walls may have told this worried father a different story. None of the images looked like his daughter. Neither did the dean.

Heres what the dean didnt say to this concerned father:

Per the research, your daughter will probably make it through medical school.But compared to her male colleagues shes likely to make less money for similar work (so paying off her huge medical school debts will take longer). She will have fewer opportunities for promotion (especially at the highest levels), and she will experience more symptoms of burnout (that she may internalize as her own fault but really may be due to systemic implicit bias issues because she is not valued as much as some of her peers).

Teachers must learn to recognize and eliminate gender bias, because it can limit students ambitions and accomplishments, states Timothy Frawley, EdD in Gender Bias in the Classroom: Current Controversies and Implications for Teachers. Dr. Frawley is an expert in gender bias in childhood education, and he and others have provided some excellent guidance in anti-bias curriculum that focuses on ways to avoid or dispel stereotypes that unintentionally support racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination. Those of us in academic medicine, particularly medical education, are responsible for educating some of the brightest people in the world about how to prevent disease and equitably deliver exceptional health care to those who suffer from injury or illness, and it is our responsibility to focus on inclusion at every level of their education. We simply cannot justify any physical environment, no matter how small or out of the way the space is, that unintentionally promotes stereotypes and may be a barrier to gender equity in our physician workforce.

What would the walls look like in an optimal learning environment? Although no wall can say it all, the walls of honor spaces could be used to focus on learning, wellness, healing, diversity, and inclusion or future innovation. Lets consider those who we are honoring with the portraits  would they want the buildings and classrooms and lecture halls to be the most supportive and inclusive learning environment? One could argue that most these portraits are of men who are or were tireless and empathic leaders. Whether they are living or not, I wonder what would they think if they realized that their images might be a barrier to progressive diversity and inclusion.

Honor walls are commonplace in many higher learning institutions and may inadvertently be contributing to a kyriarchy  social constructs that reinforce dominance and oppression. Perhaps we are unintentionally unraveling some of the important work that our esteemed childhood educator colleagues are doing regarding providing inclusive learning environments for children. Maybe it is time to take a closer look at their important work and focus ours on enhancing it as their students become our students.

Moreover, since those of us in graduate medical education receive students from colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and internationally, it seems reasonable to engage the deans, presidents, and others at these institutions and ask them to consider how their students may be entering our medical schools with stereotypes learned and reinforced before they reach us. We must work together to educate our way out of learned stereotypes that are contributing to the evidence-based workforce disparities, as these are slowing advances in medicine and science and discouraging more than half of the best and brightest minds.

Julie Silver a physiatrist and director, cancer rehabilitation, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. She can be reached on Twitter @juliesilvermd.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Two Kilkenny projects have been shortlisted for the upcoming Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards 2017, held in association with ESB.

The Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards are presented in recognition of the achievements of engineers that have demonstrated exceptional engineeringskills. As well as identifying leaders within the engineering industry, the awardsprovide an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the invaluable contribution the engineering profession makes to society.

Turning St. Marys Hall into the Medieval Mile Museum by OConnor Sutton Cronin, has been shortlisted for the Heritage and Conservation Award, sponsored by OPW, for its work developing the new museum of national and local attraction housed within St Marys Church. The project involved the extensive restoration and refurbishment of the existing building and expansion of the floor space.

Kilkenny Cooling Systems is a shortlisted nomination for the Technical Innovation of the Year Award, sponsored by NSAI. The project consists of the conception, design, and commercialisation of a self-optimising variable beer cooling system for busy pubs across Ireland.

All the category winners will be announced at a special awards ceremony on November 10 in the InterContinental Hotel in Dublin.

Engineers Ireland has also urged the Kilkenny public to now vote online for what they consider to be the best overall national Engineering Project of the Year before the midnight deadline on Friday 27 October. (http://www. engineersireland.ie/awards/ excellence-awards.aspx.)
The number of people in Kilkenny who identified as having no religion rose increased by 84% between Census 2011 and 2016, data published today shows.

Around 7.2% of the county's population (7,119 people) put 'no religion' in the most recent Census. Meanwhile, the number of people who identified as 'Catholic' in Kilkenny declined by 1% - less than the overall State decline of 3.4%.

Catholicism remains the predominant religion in this county, accounting for 84.3% (83,641) of Kilkennys population in April 2016. This was down slightly from 84,448 persons five years previously. The average age of Catholics in the county was 38.4 years, compared with the countys overall average age of 37.9 years.

As with the State overall, the next largest group was those with no religion. In 2011, the 3,863 people with no religion comprised 4.0% of the countys population. By 2016, this had increased to 7,119 people comprising 7.2% of the countys population.

The 2,665 Church of Ireland members in the county made up 2.7% of its total population. Orthodox (858) and Muslims (776) completed the top five.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today published Census 2016 Profile 8 Irish Travellers, Ethnicity and Religion. The report details how both the proportion and total number of Catholics have fallen since 2011, with Catholics comprising 78.3% of the population in April 2016, down from 84.2% in 2011, while the number of people with no religion (including atheists and agnostics) increased by 73.6% to stand at 481,388 in 2016.
An autistic Kilkenny man has been found not (NOT) guilty by reason of insanity of attempting to murder his pregnant sister so she wouldnt raise her child in Dublin.

The Central Criminal Court trial heard that Daniel OConnell had first developed homicidal feelings for his sister when she had settled in Dublin years earlier, due to the fear that she would have a baby born and raised there.

He had developed what the prosecution described as an unnatural and almost pathological dislike of Dublin and Dublin people as a child, when teased by a group of Dublin youths during a school trip to Mosney.

He became more upset when he learned of her pregnancy a few months before he attacked her. However, he hoped that she might die of natural causes when he heard that she had been diagnosed with cancer around the same time.

This didnt happen and Mr OConnell admitted during Garda interviews that he had tried to kill Olivia OConnell (now 42) by stabbing her a number of times in her Dublin home.

However, the 33-year-old with an address at Rosemount, Newpark, Co Kilkenny had pleaded not (NOT) guilty to her attempted murder on April 25, 2016 at Scholarstown Park, Scholarstown Road, Knocklyon.

Consultant psychiatrists for both the prosecution and the defence testified that he was entitled to a special verdict of not (NOT) guilty by reason of insanity.

The trial heard that his computer had been used to search for the terms, murder suicide and not guilty by reason of insanity, in the months before the stabbing. There were also searches for jugular vein and wrist three days before the incident.

He told gardai that he had travelled to Dublin with a knife, hammer and duct tape with a plan to kill his sister that Monday, while his parents were away. He said he had planned to kill himself 12 days later during a weekend in London with his father.

The jury heard that Ms OConnell was 26 and a half weeks pregnant and suffering the effects of chemotherapy when her younger brother arrived at her house unexpectedly that afternoon.

She told Gardai that the accused was almost tearful when he arrived. She was aware of his autism and of his feelings about Dublin. She also knew that he was upset about her pregnancy and tried to keep herself covered with a blanket.

The accused went upstairs to use the toilet and came back down wearing latex gloves and carrying a knife. He stabbed her three to four times in the back before she managed to break free.

She understood that this was a fight for her life and she struggled with her brother, managing to wrestle the knife from him. She tried to get out the back door through which he had entered, but he had taken the key.

She then tried to run out the front door but he kicked her into the back of the calves. She eventually escaped when her dressing gown ripped. She ran to a neighbours house, trying to hide the knife and to remain calm for the sake of her neighbours children.

The accused was still in the area when the Gardai arrived and he admitted the attack and his full motivation. He said he wanted to kill his sister because she was carrying a Dublin baby.

He also said that he was suicidal, didnt want to be alone in heaven and didnt want to leave all his family behind.

Garda Niall Russell arrested him under the Mental Health Act and he was seen by a doctor, who sent him to the psychiatric unit in St Lukes Hospital, Kilkenny.

He was fit for interview three weeks later and he explained that he had first decided to kill his sister that St Stephens Day. He also disclosed his elaborate preparation, including that he had not used his travel pass to get to Dublin so that it wouldnt be traced.

Dr Paul OConnell of the Central Mental Hospital testified for the defence, giving evidence of his meetings with the accused while he was an impatient there this year.

I was annoyed that she fought me off and survived, the accused had said at one stage, illustrating what the doctor described as a profound impairment of judgment.

The doctor also noted that the accused mans parents had said he showed little or any remorse for his sister.

Dr OConnell explained that the defence of not guilty by reason of insanity required a diagnosis of a mental disorder. His opinion was that the accused mans autism was consistent with that.

In my opinion, the alleged offence would not have occurred were it not for the mental disorder operating at the material time, he said. It was such that the accuseds capacity to form the necessary intent was negated.

Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Anthony Kearns testified on behalf of the DPP.

Dr Kearns, also of the Central Mental Hospital, said the accused still harboured views about Dubliners on the basis of what appears to me to be quite tenuous reasoning.

He still shows extremely little understanding of the inappropriateness of his catastrophic actions or their effect on others, he added.

He was also of the view that his autism disorder was a mental disorder under the Insanity Act.

He has great difficulty in constructing appropriate strategies for dealing with threats and fears and, importantly, perceived threats, he said, adding that his autism would have compromised his understanding of what constituted a threat.



At the time of the offence, he had set out on a course of action, which would have appeared irrational and dangerous to a person without his disorder, but to him appeared necessary, he added. He did not properly understand that what he was doing was wrong.

He also believed that the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity was appropriate in the case.

The jury then heard brief closing speeches from both sides. Michael Bowman SC, prosecuting, said that, because the facts of the case were admitted, Mr OConnells state of mind is where the true battleground in this case lies.

However, he said that no dispute arose between the prosecution and the defence in relation to his state of mind.



He said that both doctors came to a similar conclusion, that Mr OConnell suffered from a mental disorder. He said their evidence was in conformity with a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, suggesting that verdict.

Vincent Heneghan SC, defending, said he agreed entirely with Mr Bowman. I ask you to return a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, he said.

Mr Justice Paul Butler said that it must have been an absolutely horrendous experience for the victim.

She was vulnerable, she was pregnant, she was suffering an illness and it was a horrendous attack, he said. She has my greatest sympathy.

However, he summarised the medical conclusions for the six men and six women of the jury, telling them he didnt think that theyd have the slightest difficulty in reaching a unanimous verdict.

The jury returned with that unanimous verdict following two hours and six minutes of deliberations, finding the accused not (NOT) guilty by reason of insanity.

Mr Heneghan said an order could be made committing the accused to the Central Mental Hospital and that he could be accompanied there by Gda Russell. He is due before the court again on Monday October 23rd, when a future plan for his treatment would be decided.

The judge thanked the jury, extended his appreciation to Gda Russell and again expressed his sympathy with the victim.
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The bus depot model shows the stations to be passed by an autonomously driving bus. (Photo: Laila Tkotz/KIT)

Autonomous driving is an important element of new mobility concepts, not only in the private car sector. A study of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), KITs Research Center for Information Technology (FZI), and Stuttgarter Straenbahnen AG (Stuttgart Trams, SSB) now reveals how autonomous driving at bus depots can work and reduce costs. The project partners will present their model of a semi-autonomous bus depot at the EVS30  The Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition on October 09  11, 2017 in Stuttgart.

At a typical SSB bus depot, a public bus passes many stations until it is ready to depart again. The driver hands over the bus to workshop staff members who drive the bus to the service hall, where refueling and preliminary cleaning take place. Then, the bus is moved to the washing facility and afterwards to the repair facility. After having passed these stations, the bus is ready for being taken over by the bus driver again. If only some of these processes were automated, the workshop staff would be free for other activities, safety could be increased, and time and costs could be reduced, Professor Eric Sax, Head of the Institute for Information Processing Technology of KIT, says.

Together with SSB, his research team analyzed the processes at the Stuttgart-Gaisburg bus depot. They found that the drive to the washing facility, external cleaning, and the drive to the parking area as well as the parking process proper can be automated completely. Refueling, internal cleaning, and supply of the buses with pressurized air are to be taken over by industry robots in the new scenario. The drive from the handover point to the hall cannot be automated, as it is implicitly considered a test drive by the legislator.

Our system is based on standard technologies for autonomous vehicles and compatible with the conventional road traffic infrastructure outside of the depot, says Markus Wiedemann, Vehicle Division Manager of SSB. The challenges associated with accelerating, slowing down, and steering the buses can be mastered by equipping the buses with GPS, camera, radar, and ultrasonic systems. Processing of this information by so-called sensor fusion enables automatic lane guidance. Moreover, it must be ensured that the traffic signs, traffic lights, and marks at the depot correspond to conventional traffic infrastructure.

The semi-autonomous bus depot offers considerable economic potential: In the future, personnel costs may be reduced by more than EUR 100,000 per year for the around 150 buses that are maintained daily at the Stuttgart-Gaisburg depot. The concept is also scalable. Potential use cases for autonomous commercial vehicles are other public passenger transport depots as well as depots of shipping companies or motorway rest areas. The next step would be to construct a prototype and to test it in a real environment.

The model of an autonomous bus depot will be presented at EVS30 in Stuttgart (hall 1, stand 1E19):

http://www.messe-stuttgart.de/evs30/aussteller/ausstellerverzeichnis/#/detail/kit-itiv--703046 (in German only).

Video of bus movements in the model:

http://www.sek.kit.edu/downloads/busbahnhof.mp4

More information:

http://www.itiv.kit.edu/english/4731.php

More about the KIT Mobility Systems Center http://www.kit.edu/research/6720.php

Being The Research University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 9,800 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.
ALMATY, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's central bank has no plans to reverse its monetary easing policy in order to support the local tenge currency that has come under pressure since August, a senior bank official said on Tuesday. "We are not considering this option at the moment," Vitaly Tutushkin, head of research and statistics at the central bank, said in response to a question about a potential rate hike at a meeting with analysts.

(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; editing by Vladimir Soldatkin)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
* In detailed talks with some firms on Lotte Mart China stores

* Hotel unit IPO to take time due to political tensions with China

(Adds comments by company executive, plans for Hotel Lotte IPO)

By Hyunjoo Jin

SEOUL, Oct 12 (Reuters) - South Korea's Lotte Group aims to sell its Lotte Mart stores in China by the end of this year, a company executive said on Thursday, adding that several firms have expressed interest in the troubled unit.

The country's No.5 conglomerate decided to bow out of the business after most of its hypermarkets and supermarkets in China were shut down amid political tensions between the two countries.

"We are in detailed talks with some of those companies," Lim Byung-yun, an executive vice president at Lotte Corp, the group's newly launched holding company, said at a news conference.

The size of the deal is expected to be small at a couple hundred million dollars, a banking source said, declining to be identified as the talks were confidential.

Lotte has been particularly hard hit by the political friction after it agreed to hand over land in southern South Korea for a U.S.-made missile defence system - a plan that has angered Beijing which argues that the radar can penetrate far into its territory.

Goldman Sachs has been picked to managed the sale.

Lotte Corp executive Lee Bong-chul said it would take time to list the group's Hotel Lotte unit, as political tensions with China have resulted in declines in the number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea, hurting sales of both its hotel and its duty free businesses.

The offering, expected to be worth around $4.5 billion, was delayed following a corruption scandal involving Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin. He is on trial after prosecutors indicted him and other executives on embezzlement and other charges. Shin has denied the charges.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Additional reporting by Kane Wu; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
(Adds details of debt-for equity swap)

BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA submitted a plan on Wednesday to restructure its 65.4 billion-real ($21 billion) debt burden with a proposal to limit the debt-for-equity swap demanded by creditors to 25 percent of capital.

The plan was delivered to a Rio de Janeiro court and creditors of the largest-ever bankruptcy proceeding in Latin America will vote on it on Oct. 23.

Oi proposes to inject up to 9 billion reais, of which 6 billion reais would come from a stock offering and the rest through the debt-for-equity swap.

The company agreed to raise the company's annual capital expenditures to 7 billion reais from 5 billion, as previously demanded by creditors.

The conversion of the existing debt would be limited to 25 percent of the company's capital, but creditors may reach a larger stake in Oi by participating later in the stock offering planned by Oi.

In August, the two largest creditor groups, the International Bondholder Committee and the Ad-Hoc Group of Oi bondholders said they would agree to swap 26.1 billion reais worth of their bond holdings for 88 percent of the company's equity. The in-court reorganization began a year and a half ago and has been marked by conflicts between shareholders led by Pharol SGPS SA and Societe Mondiale FIA, bondholders and Brazil's telecom regulator, Anatel.

(Reporting by Leonardo Goy in Brasilia and Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Peter Cooney)
(Kitco News) - Gold is likely to hit $1,400 level within a year, said famed investor and gold expert Dennis Gartman.

One currency that will probably do best of all is gold, he told CNBCs Futures Now. Gold has been rallying in dollar terms. It has been a bull market since December. And it is still a bull market.

Gartman noted that on average gold has been outperforming S&P 500 this year.

The last rally took us from $1,200 to $1,370. And the fact that we are now below $1,300 is relatively inconsequential, he said.

On Thursday afternoon December Comex gold was last seen trading at $1,295.70, up 0.53% on the day.

Gartman suggested that traders should take advantage of slightly lower gold prices and invest now. If you are not long, you should use this weakness we have had in the past two weeks to be a buyer, no question, he pointed out.

The commodity expert sees gold rising to $1,400 in just one year. Gold will be demonstrably higher then where it is right now. $1,400 is a reasonable expectation.

Gartman added that he chooses gold not because he is a believer of the world ending anytime soon.

I am not a gold bug. I don't believe the world is going to come to an end. I don't think you own gold because you think governments are going to be collapsing around the world, he explained.

The investor specified that gold is good to have while the monetary authorities are all still remaining expansionary, as dovish central banks tend to put pressure on currencies such as the U.S. dollar and euro.

In terms of the upcoming rate hike in December, Gartman is not too worried, as the tightening of the Fed's easy monetary policy is going to take five or six years. This is not something that will occur overnight.
Oct 12 (Reuters) - Acacia Mining Plc on Thursday said it produced about 191,203 ounces of gold during the third quarter, boosted by better than expected output from its Buzwagi mine.

Production of 69,097 ounces at Buzwagi was driven by strong ore grades. The company's North Mara unit was impacted by work permit issues. Acacia reported lower-than-expected gold sales of 132,787 ounces during the quarter due to bans on the export of gold and copper concentrate from Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi in Tanzania.

(Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely)
By Boureima Balima and Emma Farge

NIAMEY/DAKAR, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Chad has withdrawn hundreds of troops from neighbouring Niger, where they were helping local forces fight Boko Haram Islamist militants, humanitarian sources and officials said.

The pull-out over the past two weeks could weaken a region-wide struggle against the militants who have killed tens of thousands of people, forced many more to flee and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

There was no immediate explanation or comment from defence officials in Chad.

But the move came a month after the vast central African country complained about an unexpected U.S. travel ban imposed on its nationals. Chad warned at the time the order could affect its security commitments - which include its involvement in the U.S.-backed fight against Boko Haram. Residents said the withdrawal had already had an impact on Niger's Diffa region, which has seen a string of attacks by Boko Haram militants crossing over from their base in neighbouring Nigeria.

Ibrahim Arimi from the border village of Bosso said banditry had increased since the Chadian troops started leaving and he had been temporarily moved to another village for safety.

Diffa parliamentarian Lamido Moumouni said residents had started complaining. "They have come to rely on the forces so there is a perception that security will be lacking," he said by telephone.

At its peak in 2016 after an attack in Bosso, Chad had 2,000 troops in Niger to help counter Boko Haram although security sources said this has fallen since.

Boko Haram has attacked Chad, Niger and Cameroon from its base in northeast Nigeria. Its eight-year bid to carve out an Islamist caliphate has driven millions from their homes - more than 200,000 of them are now based in Diffa, with little prospect of returning home.

Thousands of them are camped alongside an unfinished highway in the middle of a barren savannah with few resources.

Chad's soldiers also occupy front-line positions in a peacekeeping force in northern Mali. Falling oil revenues after the price crash in 2014 has also sapped Chad's appetite for expensive regional security commitments, analysts say.

(Additional reporting by David Lewis in Nairobi, Madjiasra Nako in N'djamena and Sofia Christensen in Dakar; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters)

By Jamie McGeever

LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - If the 40-year wave of globalization is now giving way to a rising tide of protectionism, the outlook for national and regional champions is brightening.

These companies are most likely to be in sectors that enjoy explicit if not implicit government backing, and are those best positioned to increase domestic market share in a world where barriers to trade and markets are going up, not coming down.

Early signs of these trends may already be starting to emerge as the de-globalization drift deepens, with the Trump administration's "America First" world view sowing doubt over how global trade will evolve in the years and decades ahead.

It's almost a year since Donald Trump's shock U.S. election win. In that time he has withdrawn the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), threatened to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and chided Germany for its huge trade surplus.

And at a micro level a trade dispute between Boeing and Bombardier threatens thousands of jobs at the Canadian planemaker' s plant in Northern Ireland. UK prime minister Theresa May has spoken to Trump about the issue.

With Trump turning up the protectionist rhetoric, French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to make it more difficult for foreign takeovers in strategic European industries, warning European Union governments to guard against "naivety" in global trade.

Last month Paris and Rome said they will explore the creation of a Franco-Italian naval defence group, merging French military shipyards company Naval Group with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri . Germany's Siemens and France's Alstom also announced last month they would merge their rail businesses, creating a European champion to help counter the rise of China's state-owned CRRC . Merger and acquisition data from Thomson Reuters show the value of intra- and inter-EU deals in the nine months to September jumped 68 percent to $344 billion, the highest since 2008.

The value of inward M&A into Europe from overseas also rose Jan-Sept, but nowhere near as much. It edged up 1 percent to $178 billion, only the highest since 2015, and inbound flows excluding Chinese acquisitions rose 4 percent to $153 billion, also just a two-year high.

The picture in the United States is a little less clear cut, but still points to a general trend of home-grown deal-making.

The value of U.S. domestic M&A rose 6 percent in the first nine months of 2017 to $690 billion, again the highest in just two years. But the number of domestically-focused deals jumped 21.8 percent to 7,846, the most since 1998 and the second highest ever.

PEAK GLOBALIZATION?

Michael O'Sullivan, Chief Investment Officer at Credit Suisse's International Wealth Management division, with 702 billion francs ($722 billion) of assets under management, recommends investors switch their attention away from globalized companies toward market champions as globalization slows.

"These are the firms that will see a rise in domestic market share and enjoy possible government support," he said. "M&A is likely to be more intra-regional, especially in Europe. Until recently, Europe was a collection of countries. But people now, including EU policymakers, see a more pan-Europe."

O'Sullivan expects cross-border ventures in European technology and rail to spread. Banking, he said, is ripe for consolidation over the next five years, particularly among the big European banks with strong balance sheets.

Deutsche Bank analysts argue that last year marked the "the peak, and likely unwind of globalization" that has driven and shaped the world economy since World War Two. There is "compelling evidence" that the freedom of movement of goods, people and capital across the globe are all being reversed.

The shift towards unilateralism is most prevalent in places that have been the biggest drivers of globalization.

Global Trade Alert, which monitors state interventions, says the United States has implemented 214 "harmful" trade measures over the last two years. That's more than any other country by far, and more than double second-placed India, which has adopted 105 protectionist measures.

Britain, Italy, Germany and France were all in the top 10, while China was in 11th place. ( )

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ European M&A Globalization - faltering growth Globalization - long term Globalization - short term ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Jamie McGeever; editing by Alexander Smith)
FRANKFURT, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Innogy , Germany's largest energy group, on Thursday issued a 850 million euros ($1.01 billion) corporate green bond to refinance wind power projects in Europe, it said.

Proceeds of the bond, which has a 10-year maturity, will be used to refinance four offshore wind farms in Britain and Germany as well as an onshore wind farm in the Netherlands that is either under construction or already operating.

The bond was met with "strong interest from investors and was oversubscribed several times", Innogy said.

Innogy, in which utility RWE holds a 76.8 percent stake, on Wednesday said it bought the rest of British offshore wind project Triton Knoll from Norway's Statkraft . ($1 = 0.8448 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz. Editing by Jane Merriman)
By Claire Ruckin

LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank (ECB) has scheduled a round of meetings with banks after its guidance on leveraged transactions is implemented on November 16 to help lenders interpret the rules, bankers said on Thursday.

The guidance is being introduced to rein in risky bank lending and is similar to Leveraged Lending Guidelines that were introduced in the US in 2013.

While some details are clear, including the definition of leveraged transactions as all types of loans or credit exposure with leverage of more than four times total debt to Ebitda, many questions are still outstanding.

The main issues include the definition of total debt and the impact of the regulation on acquisition finance and banks' internal systems due to the introduction of a tough 90-day limit for syndicating deals.

"The guidelines are complicated and not entirely clear. A lot will become more clear once we start reporting and have discussions with the auditors and regulators," a head of capital markets said.

The guidelines also state that highly leveraged loans with leverage of six times total debt to Ebitda should remain exceptional, but bankers are concerned that nearly all loans could fall into this category without further clarification.

"Just about every sponsor transaction will be in excess of leverage metrics if you calculate in a way asked to by the ECB," a head of risk said.

Subordinated equity-like shareholder loans and PIK loans will be included in total debt calculations, which would take leverage over the 6.0 times target rate.

Subordinated loans are used to upstream cash in European buyouts. The recent sale of UK intellectual property services provider CPA Global included 410m of subordinated debt.

The ECB has made exceptions to its definition of leverage for small and medium-sized enterprises and investment-grade companies, but the guidelines still include corporate business and infrastructure loans as well as loans for double B rated companies. Weak loan covenants currently give borrowers the freedom to add a wide range of supplemental debt, which will push the leverage on most buyouts to around 7.0 times or higher if added, bankers said.

The ECB's treatment of acquisition and capital expenditure lines, revolving credit facilities and so called "freebie baskets" that allow extra leverage to be added to businesses' without lenders' permission is still unclear, bankers said.

"You have to include accordion facilities, permitted baskets, any additional permitted indebtedness and any committed revolving credit facilities, even if undrawn," the head of risk said.

BIG QUESTION

One of the biggest unknowns is whether there will be any consequences for banks that fail to adhere to the guidelines, although most lenders are anticipating a period of adjustment.

"We are being told what we have to do but we are not being told what will happen or what the penalties will be if we don't do it," the capital markets head said.

The ECB is expected to refine its guidance as it gains a fuller understanding of banks' leveraged lending capabilities, although this could take some time and leave bankers grappling with costly new internal systems in the interim.

"We are setting up to start reporting from November but the timetable is tight and it's a costly process. There will be lots of translation in the first year and then we will see whether the ECB refines it or allows the ambiguity to continue to occur," the syndicate head said.

The Federal Reserve set a precedent by adjusting the US Leveraged Lending Guidelines once they were implemented. Although the ECB has less power to enforce the guidelines, bankers expect it to adopt a similar position in time.

"Logically one has to assume that's where the ECB will end up, otherwise why do it," the syndicate head said.

(Editing by Tessa Walsh)
MANILA, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Philippine central bank on Thursday released data on net foreign portfolio investment in September.

Net inflows Sept Aug July June May April March ($ mln) 112.63 -57.5 206.5 72.6 -24.4 51.5 -459.9

- Foreign portfolio investment transactions in the nine months to September yielded net outflows of $206.25 million, compared with the $1.3 billion net inflow in the same period last year, the central bank said in a statement

- Net portfolio inflows of $112.6 million in September were a reversal of the $807 million net outflow in the same period a year ago.

- Four-fifths of portfolio inflows in September went to the stock market and the balance went to government bonds and peso time deposits. Philippine shares closed at a record high on Thursday.

- The United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Norway and Luxembourg were the top five investor countries for the month.

(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Thursday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours):

DATA

Statistics office will release its September CPI data at 12:00. ASSECO POLAND The biggest Polish IT company Asseco Poland said on Wednesday night that it estimated the impact of the sale of Israeli company Formula Systems conducted last summer on the group's net result at 330-360 million zloty ($91.75-100.09 million).

DOCTORS

Young doctors resumed their hunger strike on Wednesday as the government was unable to meet their demands to increase spending on the health sector, apart from pay rises, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily said.

TIME CHANGE

A parliamentary committee passed on Wednesday a project of legislation which will scrap the time change that takes place twice a year in Poland, if the European Union allows it, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna said.

STANDARD CHARTERED , FIDELITY Standard Chartered plans to open its service centre and Poland is one of the possible locations for the business which will hire 500-1000 people, Puls Biznesu daily said.

Also Fidelity fund plans to open a service centre in Central and Eastern Europe which may hire several hundred people.

ABRIS CAPITAL PARTNERS

Abris Capital Partners has raised a new fund worth 500 million euros ($593.60 million) aimed at investments in logistic companies, mainly in Poland, Puls Biznesu said quoting Abris partner.

STATE COMPANIES

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo plans to take control over all state-run companies, Gazeta Wyborcza daily said quoting the bill prepared in Prime Minister's chancellery. Presently the control is shared by different ministers.

****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.****

For other related news, double click on: Polish equities E.Europe equities Polish money Polish debt Eastern Europe All emerging markets Hot stocks Stock markets Market debt news Forex news For real-time index quotes, double click on: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX ($1 = 3.5966 zlotys) ($1 = 0.8423 euros)

(Reporting by Warsaw Bureau)
SINGAPORE, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Singapore's retail sales in August rose from a year earlier, thanks to increased sales at petrol service stations, data showed on Thursday.

Total retail sales rose 3.5 percent from a year earlier, after rising a revised 1.7 percent in the previous month, according to data from the Singapore Department of Statistics.

Retail sales at petrol service stations in August rose 9.5 percent from the year-ago period.

On a month-on-month and seasonally adjusted basis, total retail sales fell 0.3 percent in August after rising a revised 2.9 percent in the previous month.

(Reporting by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Sam Holmes)
HANOI, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0417 GMT.

October 12 USD/VND mid-point 22,453 USD/VND interbank 22,721/22,722 USD/VND unofficial 22,720/22,735 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.47/36.69

Interbank offered rates Overnight 0.7-1.1

1 week 0.8-1.2

1 month 1.5-1.9

3 months 3.2-3.6

NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources.

One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co.

For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on .

For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom)
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 12 (Reuters) - South Africa's Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba and central bank governor Lesetja Kganyago head to Washington this weekend to meet ratings agencies and international investors in a bid to boost growth in an economy that is emerging from recession.

The Treasury said in a statement on Thursday that Gigaba would use the meetings during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual conference to convince investors and ratings firms that the economy was on the mend.

Moody's, Fitch and S&P Global Ratings all downgraded the country's sovereign credit rating, the latter two to sub-investment grade, following President Jacob Zuma's abrupt axing of Pravin Gordhan as finance minister in March.

All three agencies have warned that persistently low growth at struggling state firms heavily reliant on government bailouts pose significant risks to the country's ratings. They are also concerned about political jostling ahead of a conference of the ruling African National Congress party in December to elect a new leader to replace Zuma.

"It is important that we continue to engage these stakeholders to discuss interventions on how they can support South Africa's development process, and to demonstrate our commitment towards addressing their concerns," the Treasury said in the statement.

The World Bank on Wednesday kept its 2017 economic growth forecast for South Africa at 0.6 percent, and said the economy would expand below 2 percent in 2018 and 2019, warning the country needed to urgently rein in political uncertainty. On Tuesday, the IMF said it expected South Africa's economy to grow by 0.7 percent this year, down from an earlier projection of 1 percent given in July, saying rising political uncertainty has dented consumer and business confidence. The leadership contest to replace Zuma as head of the African National Congress (ANC) party has spawned different rival factions and no clear frontrunner, raising political uncertainty. Zuma can remain as head of state until an election in 2019.

(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by James Macharia and Catherine Evans)
STOCKHOLM, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Sweden's central bank bought 1.125 billion Swedish crowns ($139.2 million) of government bonds in a reverse auction as part of its quantitative easing programme, it said on Thursday. It bought 625 million crowns of 2020 bonds at an average yield of -0.310 percent and 500 million crowns of 2028 bonds at 0.886 percent. Investors offered to sell the Riksbank 1.375 billion crowns and 2.0 billion crowns in the two bonds respectively. ($1 = 8.0816 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Stockholm Newsroom)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
ZURICH, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The Swiss blue-chip SMI was seen opening 0.1 percent higher at 9,274 points on Thursday, according to premarket indications by bank Julius Baer .

Here are some of the main factors that may affect Swiss stocks.

NOVARTIS The Swiss pharmaceuticals giant has decided not to sell its roughly $14 billion, 33 percent voting stake in Roche following a review, Chairman Joerg Reinhardt said in an interview published on Wednesday in Swiss newspaper HandelsZeitung. For more news, click UBS The Swiss banking group will hire fewer trainees in 2018 but spend two to three times more on teaching them to be financial advisers, a senior executive said, in the latest sign of industry efforts to satisfy wealthier clients and grapple with an aging workforce. For more news, click SYNGENTA Fitch Ratings on Wednesday became the second major ratings agency to put Syngenta on notice for a potential downgrade, over uncertainties surrounding the Swiss-based company's genetically modified corn lawsuit liabilities. For more news, click COMPANY STATEMENTS * SGS said it has entered into collaboration with Bavarian Nordic, an international biotechnology company specializing in vaccines, to develop a new respiratory syncytial virus challenge strain. * Evolva Holding announced the price of its private placing of shares to Pictet Asset Management and Cologny Advisors, saying the shares will be sold at 0.31 francs each to raise gross proceeds of roughly 21.1 million Swiss francs ($21.71 million). * Molecular Partners gave an update on a clinical study of its oncology asset MP0274, saying the first patient was dosed in the phase 1 clinical study of the drug. * WISekey Semiconductors said it has delivered a tamper resistant chip to a leading European manufacturer of portable data storage solutions. * Kudelski said it has signed an agreement with Roku to collaborate on technology and cross license patents. ECONOMY ($1 = 0.9719 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Zurich newsroom)

Daily Swiss stock market report in German................ All SMI constituent stocks............................ News on major Swiss stock price moves.................. FTSE Eurotop 300 index................................ DJ STOXX index........................................ Top 10 STOXX sectors............................. Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors........................ Top 10 Eurotop 300 sectors....................... Top 25 European pct gainers... , losers... Swiss mid-cap index SMI futures Swiss all-share index Market statistics Swiss market digest Sector overview All Swiss news Swiss research news All equity news INTERNET ADDRESSES: Swiss Exchange / Eurex STOXX Ltd SPEED GUIDES: ))

Keywords: MARKETS SWISS STOCKS/
BUDAPEST, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Hungary sold 53.5 billion forints ($205.14 million) worth of government bonds at an auction on Thursday, 13.5 billion forints more than planned, the Government Debt Management Agency (AKK) said . Series: A200923C Issue status: Auction data: AUCTION DATE 12/10/2017 28/09/2017 TOTAL BIDS (bln HUF) 59.80 15.36 ALLOTTED (bln HUF) 21.00 12.00 AVERAGE YIELD (pct) 0.51 0.49 Series: A221026B Issue status: Auction data: AUCTION DATE 12/10/2017 28/09/2017 TOTAL BIDS (bln HUF) 51.00 56.05 ALLOTTED (bln HUF) 22.50 30.00 AVERAGE YIELD (pct) 1.22 1.20 Series: A311022A Issue status: Auction data: AUCTION DATE 12/10/2017 17/08/2017 TOTAL BIDS (bln HUF) 18.09 16.25 ALLOTTED (bln HUF) 10.00 10.00 AVERAGE YIELD (pct) 3.28 3.66 ($1 = 260.8 forints)

(Reporting by Sandor Peto)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump met on Wednesday with Stanford University economist John Taylor in his search for a new chair of the Federal Reserve, a White House official said.

Trump was joined for the meeting by Vice President Mike Pence and members of his team helping in his search for a Fed chair, including Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the official told Reuters.

Trump is working from a short list that includes Jerome Powell, a Fed governor, Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, his top economic adviser Gary Cohn, and current Fed Chair Janet Yellen, whose term expires in February, sources have said.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Andrew Hay)
* Deadline gives signals of possible stake sale this year

* Government wants to sell 53.59 percent stake in Sabeco in 2017

* Kirin, ABInBev among potential investors

(Adds comment, details, background)

By Mai Nguyen

HANOI, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Vietnam's trade ministry, which controls Sabeco , has just over a week to submit a divestment plan for the country's biggest brewer, a government report showed on Thursday.

The Oct. 20 deadline set by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is a clear signal that the long-awaited state divestment in Saigon Beer Alcohol Beverage Corp (Sabeco) might happen this year after repeated delays.

Many foreign brewers have been looking at a possible investment in the maker of the Bia Saigon and 333 brews, since it was earmarked for privatisation. But long-stated plans for the government, which still owns about 90 percent, to sell a majority stake have met with repeated delays. The plan to sell a stake in Sabeco by the trade ministry will be reviewed by Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue, who oversees economic and financial activities, before it is sent for a higher level of approval within the government.

After the government's approval, the trade ministry will prepare a prospectus for the sale, said Dang Quyet Tien, head of the finance ministry's corporate finance department.

"The prime minister has agreed to sell 53.59 percent this year, but whether it can be sold this year, we don't know yet ... Several foreign beer firms including Kirin and Anheuser-Busch InBev said they have been in touch and are waiting," Tien told reporters earlier this week.

Vietnam has one of the world's most attractive beer markets and the biggest in Southeast Asia, thanks to a young population that consumed nearly 4 billion litres in 2016.

Vietnam's trade ministry, which represents the government's shares in Sabeco, has been working with advisers on various options for the stake sale. The government wants to fully divest from Sabeco and smaller brewer Habeco .

The government has been striving to trim its stakes in state-owned enterprises, many of which have low profitability, but the progress has been slow given the small sizes offered, sizeable state control and concerns about vested interests.

A spike in Sabeco's share price due to high demand and a small float has also complicated matters, making it difficult for industry buyers - including Heineken that already owns a 5 percent share - or other investors to step in.

The stock closed at 266,000 dong ($11.71) on Thursday, 140 percent above its December listing price of 110,000 dong. ($1 = 22,719 dong)

(Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Two 13-year-old boys attending a gifted magnet school are in a juvenile detention center after allegedly writing a kill list and messaging each other over how to carry out their threats.

On Wednesday, 11 News partner The Gazette reported police were tipped off by an adult who overheard other children talking about the list.

Police say the boys included several of their classmates and staff from Sabin Middle School on the list. According to police, all named have been contacted.

I heard it first with the breaking news update on my phone and then I saw the email that came through from the principal, explained Karissa Cook, a parent of a student who attends Sabin.

Officers started their investigation on Oct. 4 and say they recovered firearms during a search warrant execution off campus. A spokesperson for the Colorado Springs Police Department wouldn't say who the guns belonged to but told 11 News the boys did have access to the weapons.

At least they found out what was going on ahead of time before something bad happened, said Cassandra Mendez, her daughter is starting school at Sabin on Tuesday.

The boys were booked into the Spring Creek Juvenile Detention Center on multiple charges including inciting destruction of life or property. Police say they have identified everyone involved in the plot and are not anticipating making any further arrests.

"Our SROs [school resource officers] are confident that there are only two individuals who were having this online dialogue to include conversations between themselves," said Colorado Springs Police Department spokesman Lt. Howard Black. "We don't see there are other students or people from outside the community involved in this threat."

Black added this was a credible threat.

"We get threats or we pick up rumors from all of our school districts throughout the years," Black said. "It's very rare we see something that could have potentially had the ability to follow through on some of those threats."

As of Monday afternoon, it wasn't clear what the motive was behind the kill list. The students will need to go through court hearings to find out what type of disciplinary action they may face.

The investigation is ongoing, and 11 News will continue to update as new information becomes available.

The following message was sent to parents:
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High 34F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear. Low 18F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
Fort Greely stands firm in face of North Korean threat

By Sean Kimmons



FORT GREELY, Alaska  A small, remote Alaskan post bordered by mountains and moose herds, Fort Greely is America's major line of defense against long-range enemy rockets.



Inside its heavily guarded missile defense complex, rows of ground-based interceptor missiles tucked away in underground silos and radars dot the landscape. Within minutes, the missiles can blast off into space to collide with and destroy warheads speeding toward U.S. soil.



Army Maj. Bernard Smith, director of the Alpha crew, goes through a scenario exercise with his crew inside a fire control node on the Missile Defense Complex at Fort Greely, Alaska, Sept. 26, 2017. A fire control node is manned at all times, so soldiers can fire a ground-based interceptor missile in case of an enemy rocket attack. Army photo by Sean Kimmons



Using data from sea-, land- and space-based sensors, soldiers of the 49th Missile Defense Battalion can spot a rocket launch from anywhere in the world. If an attack occurs, the 100th Missile Defense Brigade in Colorado Springs, Colorado, would then relay permission for the battalion to fire.



A number of recent rocket launches have originated from North Korea, which has threatened it could strike the U.S. with an intercontinental ballistic missile -- a powerful rocket capable of hitting a target with a nuclear weapon. Despite the new threats, Army Lt. Col. Orlando Ortega, the battalion commander, said his well-trained Alaskan National Guard unit operates in a constant state of readiness.



"We've always been ready," he said. "Nothing really has changed from what we did a year ago. We were ready then and we're ready now."



Still, North Korea has kept the soldiers busy.





Ever-Ready



The battalion has missile defense crew members who work 12-hour shifts around the clock so they can immediately react if a foreign country launches a rocket.



A five-person crew will staff a fire control node at all times. There, soldiers have several computers, monitors and communication equipment to stay informed or relay any new developments. It's also where soldiers can launch an interceptor missile to defeat an enemy rocket, if approved to do so.



By the end of the year, the U.S. military is expected to add eight more interceptors to its arsenal for a total of 44. The vast majority -- 40 -- will be based at Fort Greely and the rest at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.



At Greely, crews train constantly in case they have to fire one or more of the missiles. Such training can include practicing real-life scenarios or learning complex software systems. Those skills are then tested by internal and external evaluations.



"We will do everything we can to get to the top of our game and maintain that level of proficiency at all times," said Army Maj. Bernard Smith, director of the Alpha crew.



Team building is also paramount for soldiers because of the consequences of failing to work as a crew. While confined together in a one-room node, the bond among crew members can grow strong.



With a diverse team of skilled soldiers from Alaska to Puerto Rico, Smith said, his crew is supportive and will often teach each other new things during shifts.



"I'm not very stressed when I come into work because I trust my crew -- we are a family," Smith, 50, said. "If there are any issues or problems, they know we can come together as a crew, as a family, and accomplish anything."





Arctic Living



One of the major's crew members, Army Capt. Gilberto Ortiz, described the battalion -- made up of soldiers on Active Guard Reserve status -- as a brotherhood.



About eight years ago, Ortiz left the warm climate of Puerto Rico for the arctic cold to protect the complex from intruders as a military police officer. When he heard of the missile defense crews, he decided to switch careers.



"It was something new [to me], something I didn't know about," said Ortiz, 32, who is now the crew's battle analyst. "I was like, 'OK, I'll do it. I'm up for the challenge.'"



Before coming on board, his first challenge when he arrived at Fort Greely was battling the weather, which can drop down to 60 below in the winter. He learned how to wear layers, he said, and eventually acclimatized to the cold. He even earned the "Arctic" uniform tab after he graduated from the nearby Northern Warfare Training Center, which tests the cold-weather skills of soldiers.



"The longer you stay here, the more you feel you are at home," said Ortiz, who lives with his wife and two children at Fort Greely. "[My] true home is thousands of miles away, but for me this is my second home."



When she landed her assignment in Alaska, Sgt. Bethany Hendren was eager to leave Missouri and head up north.



"I fell in love with Alaska before I got here, because I love to travel and go to new places," Hendren, 29, said.



Similar to Ortiz, the sergeant was originally an MP and chose to change career fields while at Fort Greely. She now works as the crew's communications operator, where she monitors and reports all radio traffic on the ground-based fire control system. While off-duty, she has another mission to help serve fellow soldiers as the local president of the Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program.



Being isolated in Alaska -- which only has a few hours of sunlight during the winter -- can sometimes impact a person's well-being. So, Herndon reaches out to soldiers and invites them to events, where they can be more active and social.



"It is an austere environment, and the winter months can be quite demanding at times," she said, "but I offer different programs and events for soldiers to be involved in and to get out there and see Alaska."





Self-Sustaining Base



Fort Greely's infrastructure was made to be resilient, too. The post is self-sustaining with its own water supply and power plant, so operations won't be affected if electricity is cut to surrounding areas.



Security measures and sophisticated sensors can pick up any movement around the complex. Even when a moose or another animal triggers a sensor, MPs will always check it out.



"We take anything that comes in as a possible intrusion," Ortega said, "and we will have eyes on it physically and with cameras to ensure that it is not someone trying to come on."



All of these precautions go into being able to complete an incredibly difficult mission, where even the slightest miscalculation can result in failure.



Once an interceptor is launched, it releases a kill vehicle that travels roughly 15,000 mph in space and is maneuvered to collide with an enemy warhead.



"It is extremely hard to hit a bullet with a bullet," Ortega said.



The Missile Defense Agency tests interceptors out of Vandenberg. While there have been past successful hits on targets in space, several interceptors can be fired at the same time, if necessary, to ensure an enemy warhead is shot down.





'We're the Shield'



"We have confidence in the missiles and the capability," Ortega said, "but we will ensure with 100-percent confidence that it is destroyed." That's a promise the entire battalion must keep, since over 320 million Americans depend on it.



As the lowest-ranking member of her crew, Herndon -- just like the other soldiers -- has embraced the huge responsibility of defeating a warhead if the time comes.



"We don't want Los Angeles or Seattle or any other part of our country to be attacked. It's as simple as that," she said.



"Of course we have our offense ready to go as well, but we're the only defense out there that can actually stop and prevent it from coming into our country," she added. "We're the shield."




The view of swimming pools on different floors at Hilton Busan / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo



By Yi Whan-woo

BUSAN _ With a growing number of Koreans opting to spend their vacations abroad, Hilton Busan boasts a unique ocean view that may help change their minds and get them to choose Busan as their travel destination.

The 10-story loft hotel is especially distinguished with three swimming pools, which was unprecedented before it opened on July 1 in Gijang County on the outskirts of Busan, according to the hotel's marketing and communications manager Linda Lee.

All three pools, one indoor and two outdoor, face the ocean, allowing guests to enjoy the open sea while swimming in warm water.

The indoor pool, which is exclusively open to executive and upper-level room guests, is located on the 10th floor, while the two outdoor pools are on B2 and the second floor.

Such different locations of the pools allows the swimmers to enjoy the panoramic seascape from various angles.





McQueen's Lounge on the top and 10th floor of the Hilton Busan / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo



For up to two adult guests staying in the same room, the hotel provides complimentary coupons to Water House, which consists of hot spring water pools, saunas and spa facilities.

Both Hilton Busan and Water House are part of the Ananti Cove, a luxurious resort complex on 75,837 square meters of land.

Even travelers who may not want to swim can enjoy the seascape in various hotel amenities, including restaurants, bars and lounges and the grand ballroom.

Over 60 percent of the 310 hotel rooms face the ocean, too, while the rest face the mountain.





An ocean-facing deluxe twin bedroom / Courtesy of Hilton Busan



The artistically designed entrance on the first floor also attracts visitors with an antique chair and a long, colorful tunnel right next to it.

Visitors walk through the tunnel and take an elevator to get to the lobby on the top floor, where the staff will help them check in and check out while they enjoy the ocean view.

The hotel's buffet restaurant, Da Moim, offers a wide range of dishes from Korea, China, Japan and Europe.

The restaurant runs a promotion exclusively for women, offering free lunches or dinners for one in four female customers visiting there in one group during the weekdays.

Every child aged 10 or younger can have a free meal as well if accompanied by an adult. Those aged between 10 and 12 can receive a 50 percent discount on the buffet entry price.





An artistically designed entrance on the first floor of Hilton Busan / Korea Times photo by Yi Whan-woo



At Ananti Town, the shopping mall belonging to Ananti Cove, visitors can go to 15 unique brand shops, including restaurants, a bookstore, a coffee house, an anti-aging clinic and a pet care center.

"All of them are hardly seen in other places around the country," Lee said.

Among the stores are Italian restaurant Volpino and Japanese noodle restaurant Ramen Beravo.

Hilton Busan is 36 kilometers from Gimhae International Airport and 25 kilometers from Busan Station.

For more information, visit hiltonbusan.hilton.com or call 051-509-1111.






By Jun Ji-hye



North Korea reaffirmed Thursday that it will complete its nuclear and missile programs in defiance of international pressure and sanctions.



The North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper claimed in its editorial that the United States and its allies will see how the North achieves its goal of completing its nuclear forces despite their sanctions, blockades and military measures.



The newspaper also criticized the recent dispatch of U.S. Air Force B-1B strategic bombers to the Korean Peninsula and Washington's plan to send the USS Ronald Reagan to waters near the peninsula for combined exercises with the South Korean Navy.



The editorial came two days after two U.S. B-1B Lancer bombers flew over the peninsula in an exercise with South Korea's F-15K fighters, in yet another show of force to the North amid growing concerns over its additional military provocations.



The aircraft conducted simulated air-to-ground missile firing drills over the East and West seas, according to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff.



The U.S. last month also flew the bombers further north of the Demilitarized Zone than any other American warplanes this century.



Military officials here noted that the aircraft strike group, led by the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan, plans to operate in the East Sea around Oct. 15 for combined drills to detect, track and intercept North Korean ballistic missiles, in addition to anti-submarine warfare training.



The North's newspaper denounced those measures as a rehearsal to invade the Kim Jong-un regime.



It said that North Korea's nuclear program cannot be a subject for negotiations.



North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho told Russian state news agency Tass Wednesday that the North's nuclear weapons are a "sword of justice."



Ri, accusing U.S. President Donald Trump of "setting a fuse of war" with his bellicose remarks, said his country's strategic forces have "inexhaustible power that won't leave aggressor state America unpunished" and that its nuclear weapons represent a deterrent to protect Pyongyang.



In his United Nations address last month, Trump threatened to "totally destroy" the Kim regime. In response, Kim vowed to take the "highest-level" action.



Amid growing concerns over the North's provocations, the militaries of South Korea and the U.S. have stepped up reconnaissance operations and are monitoring and tracking any developments in the North, according to officials here.




Song reaffirms early takeover of OPCON

By Kim Rahn

Defense Minister Song Young-moo

Defense Minister Song Moo-young said Thursday that the United States will never go to war against North Korea without South Korea's consent.

He made the comment during a National Assembly audit of the defense ministry, which focused on U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetoric signaling military options against Pyongyang.

Asked by independent lawmaker Lee Jung-hyun if it was possible for the U.S. to wage a war against the North without South Korea, Song said, "The U.S. will never stage a war unilaterally without South Korea."

Trump said Saturday that negotiations with Pyongyang to end its nuclear programs have not worked for decades, adding "only one thing will work," suggesting a military option. The Kim Jong-un regime has also intensified its nuclear and missile ambitions, threatening to strike the U.S. territory of Guam.



Early OPCON transfer

Song also reaffirmed President Moon Jae-in's pledge to take back wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces from the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) as soon as possible.

"Having the control will provide the momentum needed to advance South Korea's military capabilities," he said. "We'll have the South Korean military equipped with our own defense capabilities and develop the South Korea-U.S. alliance further."

The minister said South Korea and the U.S. had prior consultation over the U.S. Air Force's flying of B-1B bombers north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in late September, dismissing speculation that Seoul was unaware of the operation and excluded from Washington's show of force against Pyongyang. "I and the U.S. defense secretary had a phone call (for the operation)," Song said.

When asked whether North Korea has enough technology and ability to deploy nuclear weapons, Song said he believes its technology has not reached that level yet.



NK for Paralympics

In the meantime, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said North Korea has submitted an application to participate in the PyeongChang Paralympic Games to the International Paralympic Committee.

The Moon government has encouraged the North to take part in the Winter Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games to be held in the Gangwon provincial city in February, saying its participation will relieve military tension on the peninsula and signal peace and dialogue.

But the North has not shown any interest, giving a negative response to the idea so far.

"North Korea qualified for pair skating, and we are seeking cooperation with the International Olympic Committee to encourage the North to participate more in the event," Kang said. "Whether it is athletes or cheering squads, I hope for more North Korean participation."

Kang said the government is almost in the final stage of drafting a resolution for an Olympic truce. Seoul submitted a draft of the resolution, which seeks a truce in all troubled parts of the world during the Olympic period _ a move to ensure security amid concerns from the international community over tension on the peninsula.

"We are fine-tuning phrases to focus on peace. We expect the resolution to be adopted in the middle of November, and are planning huge promotional events for the PyeongChang games in tandem with the adoption," she said.

Asked about the agreement the former Park Geun-hye administration struck with the Japanese government on wartime sex slaves in December 2015, Kang said it was something the South Korean people cannot accept.

"All the process toward the agreement and its content were an outcome that the people cannot accept. That's why we are closely looking into it after establishing a task force," she said.

Asked whether the then presidential office orchestrated the agreement with the exclusion of the foreign ministry, Kang declined to comment.
Students dressed in national costumes take part in an activity offered at a booth at Korea International School's (KIS) 6th International Day Fair held at its campus in Gaepo-dong, southern Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of KIS



By Kim Bo-eun

The Korea International School (KIS) campus in Gaepo-dong, southern Seoul, hosted its 6th International Day Fair, Thursday.

The annual fair celebrates the diversity of the school community and provides an opportunity for students to experience cultures from around the world.

At this year's event, booths of 25 countries took part  offering food, music, art and information about each country.

"This is the largest global representation the event has ever had," said organizers Kim Yoon-hee and Laura Sterner.

KIS students and faculty represent 17 countries including the U.S., Germany, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, New Zealand and Colombia. Students requested local embassies' support for eight country booths.

The country booths were sponsored by parents, students, teachers and embassies. Officials from the Irish and Turkish embassies were present at the fair.

Fourth graders of the school each selected a country to research and represent during the fair. The students made informational posters, dressed in traditional clothing and made culturally significant food. They also offered traditional games and activities for participants to experience.

"This project was optional and I was excited that all of my students elected to participate," said Joshua Greene, a fourth grade teacher.

The fair is a popular event among students.

"I liked trying different foods from around the world  especially the pizza at the Italy booth," said Petra Damjanovic, a second grader.

Andrew Kim, a fourth grader, said, "I really enjoyed spending time with my parents at school and sharing research with my friends."

"International Day provided opportunities for the members of the school community to share information about their cultural heritage, inquire about similarities and differences, and to come together as one global community within the school," KIS Principal Justin O'Connor said.

KIS was established in 2000. Its Seoul campus offers curricula for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and elementary school.
By Jun Ji-hye

Five South Koreans staying in China's border area with North Korea have left China at the request of Chinese authorities amid heightened security concerns, a foreign ministry official said Thursday.

The official said, on condition of anonymity, that China has asked some 10 South Korean nationals to temporarily leave the country, citing the growing possibility of them being threatened or abducted by the North.

"Of them, five have already left China," the official said. "The rest are believed to have left the border area as well, or are considering returning home sooner or later."

The official added that the ministry is consistently monitoring the safety of South Koreans living or staying in China.

"We will keenly cooperate with the Chinese authorities and take necessary measures," the official said.

On Wednesday, South Korea's consulate in Shenyang, northeast China, issued a notification to South Korean nationals there of increasing terrorism risks by Pyongyang in protest against the U.N. Security Council's adoption of harsher-than-ever sanctions over the North's repeated missile and nuclear provocations.

Military tension has also risen following a recent war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The former threatened to "totally destroy" the Kim regime, while the latter vowed to take the "highest-level" action in response.
By Kim Rahn

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump will have a summit in Seoul early next month during the latter's tour of Asia, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.

It will be the third bilateral talks between the leaders of the two countries, following the first one in Washington, D.C., in June and the second in New York in September.

The exact schedule of Trump's visit to Korea and the summit has not been decided yet. It will be just before Moon's visit to Southeast Asian countries for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) +3 forum.

Moon and Trump are expected to discuss countermeasures against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, as well as the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement which is subject to renegotiation talks.



APEC summit



After the summit, Moon will head to Southeast Asia, his first trip to the region since his inauguration in May.



From Nov. 8 to 10, he is expected to visit Indonesia, and the presidential offices of the two countries are arranging a summit date. Afterward he will take part in the APEC summit to be held in Danang, Vietnam, from Nov. 10 to 11, and the ASEAN +3 meeting and East Asia Summit (EAS), in Manila, the Philippines, from Nov. 13 to 14.



Moon plans to upgrade cooperation and exchanges between South Korea and ASEAN members through the meetings, as well as seek cooperation in resolving the North Korea issue.




By Yi Whan-woo

The Moon Jae-in administration is remaining cautious about raising its voice against U.S. President Donald Trump's hinting at military options against North Korea.

Moon has repeatedly called for a diplomatic approach to resolve the North Korea nuclear issue, but the general consensus here is that his view is being ignored by the Trump administration.

On Tuesday, Moon said the current regional situation was "not favorable for us."

"The country has no power to resolve the current crisis or help relevant sides seek an agreement," he noted.

On the same day, the U.S. Air Force, for the second time this year, secretly dispatched B-1B strategic bombers to the peninsula at night while Trump was monitoring their flight at the White House and receiving reports accordingly.

During a National Assembly audit, Thursday, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha reiterated the view that Seoul and Washington are working "closer than ever" to better deal with the serious and urgent nature of North Korea's nuclear threats.

She did not provide specific diplomatic methods to resolve the crisis amid the U.S. move to dispatch two aircraft carriers  the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Theodore Roosevelt  to waters off the peninsula.

North Korea reacted angrily, calling the U.S. move "dangerous and reckless."












By Kim Bo-eun



The latest allegations surrounding the state-authored textbook plan under the former Park Geun-hye administration became a central point of controversy at the National Assembly's audit by the education-related committee on Thursday.



A day earlier, a committee investigating the textbook plan requested Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Kim Sang-kon to refer the case to investigative authorities to look into allegations the former administration intervened to promote a positive public opinion of the disputed plan.



In the audit, ruling party members called the plan one of the Park administration's most corrupt policies, while the opposition party took issue with the "biased" composition of the investigation committee.



"On the last day of administrative notice of the state-authored textbook plan in 2015, an education ministry director notified officials that boxes containing statements of opinions in favor would arrive at night, and that they should count the numbers and add them to the tallied number of positive opinions," Rep. Kim Han-jung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said.



"The education ministry could not have orchestrated the public opinion manipulation without an order from Cheong Wa Dae or the National Intelligence Agency," he said.



The opposition accused the committee established by the education ministry under the Deputy Prime Minister of being biased.



"Those who took part in disposing the plan, those who had actively opposed the plan, and a lawyer who had defended against a high school that had volunteered to use the textbook are members of the committee," Rep. Jun Hee-kyung of the opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) said.



"How can one give the name investigative committee to such a one-sided, biased group? It should be called an opposition group," she said.



Jun added that the committee also needs to look into the opposition's opinion documents.



Another lawmaker went as far as demanding the committee be scrapped.



"The responsibility of the plan lies in the ex-president _ why does the committee try to hold the officials who simply followed orders accountable? The committee must be abolished," LKP lawmaker Han Sun-kyo said.



In response, Deputy Prime Minister Kim said, "The investigative committee has been drawn up to look into how the state-authored textbook plan came into being. It is not to reprimand individuals."



Before the introduction of the state-authored textbook plan, the Park administration conducted a public opinion survey.



The opposition party at the time and media raised suspicions that large numbers of the same form of the document were printed at a print shop on Yeouido, Seoul.



The investigation committee said Thursday that 53 out of 103 boxes of opinions for and against the plan contained documents of the same form.



Inspections into 26 boxes showed hundreds of opinion documents were submitted under a single name.



Documents submitted by 1,613 people had the same address on them. Some of the forms had names such as Lee Wan-yong, the pro-Japanese collaborator, and Park Geun-hye.



Only 4,374 of the 152,805 documents in favor of the plan met the requirements. The committee randomly contacted the authors of 677 of them to which 252 responded.



Half of them (51 percent) conceded to submitting the document, while 25 percent said they did not. Others said they did not remember.




The South Korean and U.S. militaries will soon formalize a plan to create a new combined command, which will become effective when Seoul regains its wartime operational control (OPCON) of the country's troops, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday.



The allies plan to approve the scheme in their annual Military Committee Meeting (MCM) and Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) later this month, it told lawmakers.



The MCM is an annual session involving the chairmen of the allies' joint chiefs of staff (JCS). This year's meeting will be held in Seoul on Oct. 27, a day before the ministerial SCM.



"(The two sides) will authorize the creation of the future command of combined forces during the MCM and the SCM," the ministry said in a report for a regular parliamentary audit of its affairs.



The allies will then draw up a specific scheme to establish a system to have a South Korean commander and a U.S. deputy commander, it added.



The current Combined Forces Command (CFC), formed in 1978 as the headquarters of joint military operations, is led by a four-star U.S. commander. A four-star South Korean general serves as deputy commander.



The left-leaning Moon Jae-in administration, which took office in May, has pushed for an early OPCON transfer. The U.S. is reportedly supportive of the initiative, although South Korea needs to meet some preconditions, including the strengthening of its own defense capabilities.



In a related program, the ministry said it will speed up the ongoing establishment of the "three-axis" defense platform against North Korea's nuclear arsenal and other weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) -- the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike system, the Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD), and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation (KMPR) scheme.



The ministry is pushing for a new director general-level post specializing in handling the North Korea issue, such as the assessment of its WMD program, policy measures and inter-Korean military talks.



It will consider expanding the JCS' WMD response center to an organization, tentatively named Strategic Command, in connection with the OPCON transition plan.



South Korea handed over its OPCON to the U.S.-led U.N. forces during the 1950-53 Korean War.



South Korea was supposed to regain its wartime OPCON at the end of 2015. But the transfer was postponed indefinitely as the allies agreed to seek a "conditions-based" shift, instead of setting a deadline, amid growing North Korean military threats. (Yonhap)






By Chyung Eun-ju, Park Si-soo

Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) has been accused of exploiting newly hired entry-level nurses.

It was confirmed that the hospital had paid much lower than the legal minimum wage in the nurses' first month since 2009, a violation of the minimum wage law. The hospital hires nearly 300 entry-level nurses a year, meaning victims could number 2,700.

The first-month salary of those hired this year was 360,000 won ($315), nearly a quarter of the legal minimum monthly wage of 1,352,230 won. This year's minimum hourly wage is 6,470 won.

The underpayment became an issue early this month after Choi Won-young, a veteran nurse who has worked at SNUH for seven years, revealed the illegal practice on a Facebook page for nursing students and nurses.

"I was paid 312,000 won when I joined SNUH in 2011," Choi wrote. "Back then, I didn't know it was a violation of the minimum wage law. I thought it was because I was inexperienced and I thought all hospitals gave this much because SNUH was a big hospital."

Choi said she made the revelation after the hospital shrugged off her complaint over the underpayment in June.

"I think it (underpayment) was definitely not a mistake," she wrote. "If it was a mistake, the hospital would have fixed it when I raised the issue in June."

An SNUH spokesman admitted the underpayment but denied her speculation that the hospital did it intentionally.

"It was a mistake," Lim Jong-pil, the head of SNUH's public relations team, told The Korea Times. "We did not know that we were obliged to pay a regular wage to nurses during their training period, which is the first month in the hospital."

Lim said the hospital signs a formal employment contract with entry-level nurses after the training period.

"During the period, we considered them as trainees, not employees," he said. "So we only paid them an educational allowance, which was 360,000 won this year."

Lim said the hospital will pay the unpaid wages to affected nurses.

He said the hospital will treat nurses fairly and transparently in accordance with the labor law.
By John Burton





I can tell you what Washington policymakers and think tankers have been doing during their evenings the last two weeks. They have been watching the 10-part, 18-hour documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on the Vietnam war, which has been airing on America's public television stations (whose funding is under threat by proposed budget cuts by the Trump administration).

The series has repeatedly come up in conversations, none more so than among those who follow North Korea. Its sobering look at the death and destruction in Vietnam and the ideological splits the war caused in the U.S. is a useful reminder of the risks of going to war with a tough-minded and nationalistic Asian country.

Talk of war with North Korea has escalated in Washington over the summer, encouraged by President Trump's bellicose rhetoric. In August, he talked about unleashing "fire and fury" against Pyongyang, followed by a warning that the U.S. military was "locked and loaded." But in September, he took to issuing personal insults against Kim Jong-un, called him "Little Rocket Man." Kim responded by calling Trump "a mentally deranged U.S. dotard."

Trump's language is adding to concerns that a miscalculation could trigger a full-scale war. The U.S. president appears to be painting himself into a corner if North Korea stages a provocative act to which he has to respond with military action if he does not want to look weak.

The image of two inexperienced and insecure leaders trading insults and with their fingers on the nuclear button does not bode well for the chances of resumed negotiations. Indeed, Trump seems to have given up on the idea of trying to strike any type of deal with Pyongyang, which is why he is resorting to intimidation instead.

That was a tactic that Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon tried to use during the Vietnam War to force North Vietnam to make concessions. They failed despite Hanoi lacking a nuclear weapon, although both presidents were conscious that the Soviet Union or China might employ their nuclear arms if North Vietnam was pushed to the wall.

The current stand-off with North Korea is of a different scale since Pyongyang has greater firepower than Hanoi ever possessed. In addition, North Korea is likely having a harder time figuring out whether the U.S. threats amount to a bluff or an existential threat. The North Koreans are not the only ones confronting this problem. Asian experts in Washington who once focused on reading the tea leaves in Beijing or Pyongyang now admit they are perplexed by what the U.S. president is doing and have resorted to what has been called White Houseology.

Will Kim Jong-un seeing U.S. B-1 bombers flying ever closer to the North Korean coast decide that this is prelude to an imminent nuclear strike and decide to shoot one or more down? Or would he decide to a send a missile in the direction of Guam, where the B-1 bombers are based? Or will the U.S. try to shoot down a North Korean nuclear-tipped missile before it conducts a threatened atmospheric test of a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean? What would be the U.S. response if Pyongyang instead carried out an extensive cyberattack on South Korea or sank one of its warships as it did in 2010? These are some of the possible scenarios that could lead to Trump deciding to conduct a military strike against North Korea.

U.S. military planners talk about an escalated scale of military actions that could be taken against North Korea, starting with limited surgical air attacks and ending up with the use of tactical nuclear weapons. This creates the illusion that military action could be easily calibrated and controlled. But any sort of military action would likely feed Pyongyang's paranoia, already inflamed by Trump's threat to "totally destroy" North Korea, and it may decide it has no choice but to immediately unleash its nuclear arsenal at South Korea, Japan or, if possible, the U.S.

Cooler heads in Washington are suggesting that Trump could still preserve his tough macho image by adopting a policy of containment and deterrence similar to the one the U.S. once pursued against the Soviet Union and China during the Cold War. But the success of that policy was also based on Moscow and Beijing correctly reading coherent signals from Washington. Trump's heated rhetoric undermines that premise when it comes to Pyongyang.

Since Trump is known for preferring to watch TV to reading books, perhaps it would be worthwhile to suggest that he should see the lengthy series on the Vietnam War to learn how to avoid stumbling into a destructive Asian war. But since he suffers from a short attention span, that advice would also likely prove to be impractical.





John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.
By Ku Yae-rin





If Donald Trump's objective was to bring the United States to the limelight in dealing with North Korea, then he has certainly achieved his goal. The former administrations of Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye refused to engage with North Korea, instead adopting hardline policies, which merely served to deepen the sentiment of distrust and heightened tension on the Korean peninsula. Only after almost a decade, the Gaesung Industrial Complex already shut down, along with other cultural interactions between the North and South. By going along with Barack Obama's strategic patience, rather than initiating a strategy of our own, South Korea has lost its stake on the matter. Recently, for instance, missile provocations were aimed at Japan and H-bomb threats were made against the United States. Even the minister of unification admitted the probability of "Korea passing" once the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) achieves its intercontinental ballistic missile objectives.

It is high time we face the reality: South Korea is only the tip of an iceberg, not just for the major powers, but also for North Korea now. A growing number of people are endorsing the idea of a nuclear arms race based on the misguided preconception that South Korea is still a primary concern for Kim Jong-un. Even if South Korea somehow miraculously obtains nukes, it is highly probable based on realpolitik and numerous treaties that the United States would be the one behind the wheel. In response, China and Russia would strongly object and use this situation as an excuse to back out on the sanctions imposed on the DPRK. Japan, an inevitably priority ally of the United States, would be displeased by the prospect, so mulling over the possibility of nuclear arms race is a waste of time.

Obama refused to resume diplomatic talks with North Korea if denuclearization was not on the agenda, and the government of the Republic of Korea (ROK), despite representing its citizens rather than Americans, followed the U.S. policy and has never tried alternative tactics for engaging with the DPRK leader. By now it is likely that Kim understands the implications of regime changes in democratic countries like the United States and South Korea: power transitions can result in totally different policies. But as can be witnessed from President Moon Jae-in's decision to go forward with the THAAD deployment, one thing remains the same: the United States has leverage over South Korea militarily and economically to say the least.

From this situation, one can infer that South Korea needs a grand strategy that establishes guidelines or a unilateral direction for policies on North Korea. The Ministry of Unification needs to be more proactive rather than simply gleaning data and hosting unification promotion events. First, it needs to show its vision for the future of South Korea clearly; but with the grave politicization of the issue at hand, however, the ministry has not been able to take this initial step. But more importantly, the greatest irony of the supposedly South Korean conservatives demanding the DPRK to denuclearize when U.S. Forces Korea remains on the peninsula ought to be resolved. Only when the U.S.-ROK joint military exercises gradually decreases will the DPRK cease its missile provocations and South Korea can call for gradual denuclearization.





Ku Yae-rin is a student at Kyung Hee University majoring in international relations. Write to realyepuda@hotmail.com.
By Arthur I. Cyr



President Emmanuel Macron of France is both visible and effective in international relations, filling at least in part the vacuum from absence of American leadership. Last month, for example, he made a dramatic speech with an ambitious vision for a stronger, assertive European Union (EU). French troops help anti-insurgent efforts in Africa, including Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.



Macron won election last May with just over 66 percent of the vote, a remarkable achievement. He overcame relative obscurity plus earlier association with unpopular Socialist President Francois Hollande.



Macron's moderate stance was vital. An important contributing factor was widespread anxiety regarding far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen and her extremist associates.



While France's elections generate heated rhetoric and colorful confrontations, the nation's foreign policies are of greater external importance. Americans should remember that from the beginning France has been among our most significant allies.



During the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin played an historic role in wooing and winning French public as well as royal opinion. This led to crucial military as well as financial assistance.



Immediately after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 French aircraft joined those of other NATO allies in patrolling the skies over North America. The struggle against international terrorist groups remains a comprehensive collective enterprise, authorized and supported by the United Nations as well as the NATO alliance. This commitment has transcended party lines in France.



However, during the Cold War France often pursued an independent course in foreign policy. This was the case especially after General Charles de Gaulle, the great leader of Free France during World War II, returned to power as president in 1958. France appeared to be politically both weak and unstable, widely viewed as verging on the collapse of effective government.



After returning to power, he skillfully employed a three-pronged strategy involving foreign policy, image, and institutions. His remarkable career and personality permitted him to appeal simultaneously to French traditions of monarchy, nationalism and democracy. He appeared imperious, yet resorted to popular referenda.



De Gaulle established the Fifth Republic, including a new constitution granting great institutional power to the president. He rebuilt French self-confidence through emphasis on the "force de frappe," the independent national nuclear deterrent, plus diplomacy. The nuclear force became a dramatic symbol of pride and independence.



Except for Britain, a special partner, the U.S. has consistently opposed development of nuclear weapons by other nations. The Kennedy administration was aggressive and at times abrasive in pressing this policy on France and others.



De Gaulle came to power during the Eisenhower administration, during which such clashes were avoided. President Dwight Eisenhower was more tolerant of policy ambiguities, in hindsight remarkably shrewd.



While planning the Allied invasion of France during World War II, some American and British air commanders argued against heavy bombing that would kill many French civilians. General Eisenhower turned to General de Gaulle for support. Both deemed such bombing essential for success.



De Gaulle warned U.S. leaders against direct military involvement in Vietnam, given France's disastrous colonial war. They ignored him.



In 1966, de Gaulle withdrew France from NATO. In 2009, President Nicolas Sarkozy returned France to the alliance.



Diplomatically, France occupies a strong position. Britain is in bitter, confused debate about leaving the EU. Germany's history dictates a cautious approach to overseas involvement. Nationalist de Gaulle nonetheless would approve of Macron's assertion of French leadership in the current context.





Arthur I. Cyr (acyr@carthage.edu) is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War."




South Korea's negotiations with China to extend a currency swap deal is facing rough going. The financial authorities of the two countries have held talks, officially and unofficially, but failed to reach an agreement before the existing deal expired on Tuesday.



Behind China's reluctance is the ongoing diplomatic friction between the two countries, aggravated by Beijing's complaint about South Korea's deployment of a U.S. missile shield. Seoul and Washington say the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is meant to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. China has repeatedly pressed South Korea to withdraw it, though.



A currency swap is a tool for defending against financial turmoil by allowing a country beset by a liquidity crunch to borrow money from others with its currency. Seoul and Beijing agreed to swap 64 trillion won ($56 billion) with 360 billion yuan  if and when such a situation happens  in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and extended it once in 2014.



Of course, the currency swap accord is just like a psychological safety pad, and failure to renew it does not affect the domestic economy immediately.



Most experts also say South Korea will be okay without it for the foreseeable future. Seoul's foreign reserve amounts to $384.8 billion, and its foreign credit of $830.5 billion is more than double the nation's external liabilities of $407.3 billion. It is true the escalating North Korean nuclear crisis threatens national security, but chances are slim there will be massive capital outflows to trigger a currency crisis, like the one the nation experienced in 1997.



Nevertheless, Seoul can ill afford to neglect the symbolic significance of the currency swap deal with Beijing, by far its biggest trade partner. This is all the more so since Japan has one-sidedly terminated a similar agreement with South Korea over historical and territorial issues.



President Moon Jae-in also said, "The successful extension of the currency swap will signal the normalization of bilateral ties soured by the THAAD deployment."



All this adds to reasons President Moon's diplomatic team should show its ability to resolve pending issues, not only political but economic ones, with major partners.








By Jhoo Dong-chan



Japan's third-largest steelmaker Kobe Steel, embroiled in a scandal over the quality of its aluminum and copper products used in cars, is causing concern in Korea about the quality of imported vehicles from Japan.



Kobe Steel has admitted to having supplied substandard metal products to about 200 Japanese firms, including Toyota, Honda and Nissan, according to multiple Japanese media outlets. The growing scandal suggests Japanese carmakers could have used the defective products in their exported vehicles. If proven, the case will likely lead to massive recalls.



"Certain models were found to have Kobe Steel products in Japan, but it hasn't yet been confirmed whether those vehicles were exported to Korea from Japan. Nissan headquarters in Japan is investigating," a Nissan Korea official said. "It is too early to comment. We will reach out to our customers and media as soon as we learn more."



Toyota Korea is also investigating whether its imported vehicles contained defective aluminum.



"We are looking into whether the defective products could have been used in imported vehicles sold in Korea," said a Toyota Korea official. "We will come up with countermeasures as soon as we finish our review."



Honda Korea, which issued an official apology to customers for rust discovered on its SUV models last month, also took a similar stance. The Japanese carmaker began looking into the case after receiving consumer complaints in August about rust in some parts of the vehicle, and admitted it discovered corrosion in beam clamps used in dashboards on CR-V SUVs, which began being delivered in May.



Kobe Steel said it has found one case of falsified data on iron ore powder -- mainly used in vehicle parts such as gears -- that had been shipped to customers. It follows Kobe's admission at the weekend that it had falsified figures about the strength and durability of its aluminum and copper products, which are mostly used in the transport and defense industries.



Kobe Steel's partner firms, of which the steelmaker said about 200 were affected, are reportedly carrying out safety tests. The affected companies include not only Toyota, Nissan and Honda but also Ford and Mazda as well as aircraft makers Boeing and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.



The head offices of Toyota, Nissan and Honda in Japan have all confirmed that they used the aluminum supplied by Kobe in hoods and doors.












Kathleen Eisbrenner, chairwoman and CEO of NextDecade, poses in this file photo./ Courtesy of NextDecade Corporation



NextDecade CEO Eisbrenner discusses Korea's energy shift, future LNG demand



By Kim Ji-soo

President Moon Jae-in's announcement of the country's shift from coal and nuclear energy toward cleaner and safer yet affordable energy has started new debates.

As Koreans debate just how fast or slow the shift should happen and what the energy mix should be, President Moon already vowed to import U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) when he met with U.S. President Donald Trump in June in Washington, D.C.

Surging U.S. production of LNG has prompted Korea to consider it as an energy option. This expected new demand is good news for U.S. LNG companies like NextDecade, founded by Kathleen Eisbrenner, as they look to ride the second wave of U.S. LNG exports.

"When I heard he had won the election, and then in the first week of his administration, he announced the shift away from coal and nuclear energy and that the country is going to do so quickly, that was very, very impressive and tremendously exciting for us," Eisbrenner said.

NextDecade Corporation, an LNG portfolio company based in the Woodlands, Texas, co-hosted a seminar with the American Chamber of Commerce in Seoul last month. Interviews with NextDecade's Chairman and CEO, Kathleen Eisbrenner, were conducted both at the seminar and via email.

"LNG has a higher energy yield and lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional hydrocarbons such as coal and oil and is therefore a likely beneficiary of these policies," said Eisbrenner, who also attended an international gas conference in the southern city of Daegu that week.

"In addition, it is widely recognized as a bridging fuel for renewables and can serve as a reliable, fast-acting power source to complement Korea's energy mix."

After more than a decade of surging production thanks to the shale boom, the first wave of U.S. LNG exports was delivered to various markets around the world, including Korea, starting last year. More than a dozen second-wave export projects are targeting final investment decisions in the next few years, and NextDecade is looking to be the front-runner of the second-wave of U.S. LNG projects.

"Short-term oversupply, rapid demand growth over the next decade will result in a shortfall in the early 2020s if new projects/capacity is not invested in," she said.

"NextDecade's proposed Rio Grande LNG project is a Greenfield project and we believe it will be the leader of the second wave of U.S. LNG projects."

The project has the potential to produce 27 million tons of LNG per year.

"We hope to receive all necessary approvals by mid-2018, the final investment decision later that year and the first LNG (export) in 2022," she said.

Because of the significant time and investment needed to fulfill LNG exports, she stresses the importance of making new investment decisions soon, "That means new contracts must be signed so a global supply shortage and price impact can be avoided," she said.

Eisbrenner forecast that demand from Korea will rise by 50 percent by 2030. Seoul currently imports about $12.2 billion worth of LNG per year, with 70 percent coming from Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries.

"We expect demand from South Korea for natural gas to rise by 50 percent from today's level of 35 million tons per year, which would be about 50 million tons per year," she said. "That growth is fantastic, but there is also an opportunity within the existing 35 [million tons per year] to consider the U.S. as a replacement supplier," she said.

More details on the country's energy plan will emerge when the government announces its eighth energy plan late this year. Energy Minister Paik Un-gyu has said the plan will entail lesser coal and nuclear energy and more LNG and renewable energy.

Eisbrenner, a former Shell executive and founder and CEO of Excelerate Energy (2003-2007), said NextDecade has significant potential in meeting the world's LNG needs

"I have done this successfully before," she said. She also added that the company sees significant potential in a number of markets around the world.

"For Korea and some other Asian countries, U.S. LNG exports provide an opportunity for our nations to address existing trade imbalances."

Asked to quote a relevant oil price for LNG to remain attractive, she said there is not necessarily a magic number to the question, adding that the company's natural gas source from the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale will provide some of the lowest product costs.

Eisbrenner, who majored in civil engineering at Notre Dame University, also was executive vice president of Global LNG of Royal Dutch Shell from 2007 to 2009.

She said she was fortunate in having relished taking on challenges of being "the only or one of only a handful of women in almost any room or conference" in the energy sector.

"I am passionate about getting more women in energy, more women in engineering and more women in positions of leadership, regardless of industry. I hope that through my efforts and the efforts of others we can work to change this dynamic  if we do, it will be to everyone's benefit," she said.
Zombies, pirates and ghosts, oh my! La Jolla will be crawling with costumed creatures this month, with Halloween events from Bird Rock to The Shores, and across San Diego that are so fun its scary.

Highlights include a seasonally themed game of capture the flag, spooky stories for children and adults, a Halloween carnival and costume contest, and more.

Heres a list  in chronological order  of events not to be missed.

In La Jolla

For the first time, a segment of Avenida de la Playa in La Jolla Shores will be closed for the annual Fall Fest, 1-4 p.m. Sunday Oct. 15. Music from La Jolla High School and La Jolla Country Day School bands, childrens activities, trick-or-treating, a photo booth and a dunk tank. For $10, a passport grants participants an item or sample from participating merchants. The signature Fall Fest train will also provide Fest-goers with rides. lajollashoresfallfest.com

While in The Shores, stop by Barbarella Restaurant to check out the Halloween-obsessed floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall decor at the 2171 Avenida de la Playa restaurant. (858) 454-7373. barbarellarestaurant.com

Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) hosts its annual Haunted Aquarium, themed Sea Monster Mash, 6-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20 and Saturday, Oct. 21. Experience close encounters with SIO scientists and search the galleries for unusual underwater creatures rarely seen at Birch Aquarium.

Discover a sea of glowing beasts (big and small), get sticky with slime, and enjoy spooky stories, all while boo-gieing down to live music and having a monstrously good time. 2300 Expedition Way. Admission: $13.50-$18.50 in advance, $20 at the door. (858) 534-7336. aquarium.ucsd.edu

Get up close and personal with creatures from the deep at Birch Aquarium during the Haunted Aquarium event. (Courtesy)

Halloween Window Painting on La Jolla Boulevard returns for spirited artists in grades K-5, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22 on windows in the Bird Rock merchant district. The art will be on display through Halloween (and maybe a little bit beyond). To ensure sufficient supplies and windows, participants must pre-register by e-mailing Bird Rock Community Council president Andrew Ward: andrew.ward@edwardjones.com

To get you in the Halloween spirit, Warwicks will host four of the authors of California Screamin  an anthology of dark fiction that takes readers on a hellish road trip down the 101. The authors, Alexandra Neumeister, Chad Stroup, James Jensen and Lori R. Lopez, will gather 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27 at the bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave. This event is free, but only books purchased from Warwicks will be signed. (858) 454-0347. warwicks.com

The La Jolla Library tradition of Halloween storytime and trick-or-treating is back 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7555 Draper Ave. Costumes are encouraged.

But, what else might be lurking in the library? New this year is the Humans vs Zombies Capture the Flag tournament, 7-8:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28. No registration required, free. Snacks provided. For grades 7-12. (858) 552-1657. lajollalibrary.org

La Jolla Rec Centers Halloween Carnival is 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28 at 615 Prospect St. with games, jumpers, costume contests and more (in the event of rain, the event will be moved inside).

The costume contest schedule is: 1:30 p.m. for those age 2 and younger; 2 p.m. for ages 3-4; 2:30 p.m. for ages 5-6; 3 p.m. for ages 7-8 and 3:30 p.m. for ages 9-10. Wrist bands are $5 each for games and activities. Food tickets are 25 cents each. (858) 552-1657.

For this years Pillage the Village, a community trick-or-treating event, 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 31 sponsored by La Jolla Village Merchants Association, participating merchants are going to show their spooky spirit by carving pumpkins and showing their creations.

As in years past, Girard Avenue businesses with posters in their windows will give out candy or treats. REBA will provide bags and host the costume contest. lajollabythesea.com

Worth a trip

Belmont Park becomes Boo-mont Park every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in October and Halloween night. At the Pumpkin Patch, buy one on site ($2-$12) and decorate it for free. Activities include trick-or-treating, free for kids under 12; Zombie Laser Tag, $8 per game or $20 unlimited; costume contests; crafts 5 p.m. every Sunday. Fall sweets, such as pumpkin spice funnel cake and caramel apples available for purchase. Free admission and parking. 3146 Mission Blvd. (858) 228-9283. belmontpark.com/boomontpark

For this years SeaWorlds Halloween Spooktacular, theres free admission to children with each full-paid adult, weekends through Oct. 29. Trick-or-treating, dance parties, an area dedicated to Dia de los Muertos, Clyde and Seamores Big Halloween Bash (featuring SeaWorlds resident sea lions), Sesame Streets party Who Said Boo, Manta madness and more. Events included with park admission, which starts at $69.99 at 500 SeaWorld Drive. (800) 257-4268. seaworldsandiego.com

Whaley House in Old Town is bringing its A-game with Halloween events throughout the month to 2476 San Diego Ave. Starting at 10:30 p.m. Oct. 13-14 and 20-21, Whaley House Museum staff will lead a ghost hunting tour, of one of Americas most haunted places, advanced purchase recommended, admission $50.

The specter of Edgar Allen Poe (as portrayed by actor Travis Rhett Wilson) visits the Whaley House to recite Poes spookiest works, 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Oct. 15, admission $25. Silent films of horror and suspense screen 6, 8 and 10 p.m. on Oct. 25, $15 per film or $40 for all three. Whaley House tours and late-night admission also available select nights. Learn more: whaleyhouse.org

Is the Star of India haunted? You might think so after hearing some of the ghostly tales offered every 15 minutes 6-9:15 p.m. Saturdays Oct. 21 and Oct. 28. The ship is docked on the Embarcadero in downtown San Diego at 1492 North Harbor Drive. Lantern led tours around the ship provide much needed light during eerie legends from the Star of Indias past. Included with general admission. Tickets $18, family package (admission for two adults and two children, ages 12-3) is $45. (619) 234-9153. sdmaritime.org

Maritime Museum of San Diego hosts its second Buccaneer Monster Bash, a haunted pirate-themed party for adults ages 21 and up, 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28. The evening includes costume contests, games, live music, photo booth, dancing, trivia contests, costume contest and general piratical behavior. Tickets are $35 and include complimentary photos and appetizers. (619) 234-9153 extension 106. sdmaritime.org

Mexican singing icon Eugenia Leon, known for her victory on behalf of her country in an international singing competition just two days after the devastating 1985 Mexico City earthquake, is the guest of honor at the City Lights Special Concert, Day of the Dead with Eugenia Leon, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 5, at Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown San Diego. Tickets from $22. (619) 235-0804 or (619) 235-0800. sandiegosymphony.org
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PRESS RELEASE

Sponsors of House Resolution Against U.S. Role in Saudi War on Yemen: Stop the Unconstitutional War in Yemen!

Oct. 11, 2017 (EIRNS)In an opinion piece published in the Oct. 10 The New York Times, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) denounced the United States role in providing arms and warplanes to Saudi Arabia in the latters genocidal war against Yemen, and urge support for their bipartisan resolution, H.Con. Res 81, which would halt this action. The names of the bills other two co-sponsors, Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), dont appear on the op-ed.

The authors argue that the Congress hasnt authorized such U.S. military assistance to the Saudis, and thus it constitutes a violation of the Constitution. They warn that by providing missiles, assisting in selecting aerial bombing targets, and providing midair refueling for Saudi and United Arab Emirates jets, the United States is complicit in thousands of Yemeni deaths from indiscriminate airstrikes, as well as the "horrifying" starvation of millions.

They also point out that the Houthis, whom the Saudis are attempting to exterminate, are in no way connected to the Sunni extremists of Al Qaeda or the Islamic State which the U.S. has pursued under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). "American participation in the war in Yemen is not covered by that authorization," they state.

Moreover, since Al Qaeda has been called a de facto ally of the Saudis in their war against the Houthis, "whom are we actually supporting in Yemen?" the authors ask. They note a State Department report indicating that the Saudi war against the Houthis has allowed Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Yemeni branch of the Islamic State "to deepen their inroads across much of the country."

Jones and Khanna assert that the 1973 War Powers Resolution affords their bill "privileged" status, guaranteeing a full floor vote to stop unauthorized U.S. aid to the Saudi war effort.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has taken a swipe at 2nd Amendment absolutists by ruling that, however one interprets the Constitutions guarantee of a right to keep and bear arms, it doesnt mean that gun shops have an absolute right to locate themselves anywhere they wish.

The 9-2 ruling in Teixeira v. County of Alameda, handed down Tuesday by the San Francisco-based court, upheld an Alameda County ordinance that banned new gun shops within 500 feet of schools, day care centers, liquor stores or bars, other gun stores, and residential districts.

Teixeira amounts to an important narrowing of the rights ostensibly conferred by the 2nd Amendment. Judge Marsha S. Berzon, writing for the majority, made a clear distinction between the peoples right to keep and bear arms and the rights of gun sellers, which she found to be conditional.

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The act of selling firearms is not part or parcel of the right to keep and bear arms.  U.S. Appeals Court Judge Marsha S. Berzon

The ruling may be heartening for gun safety advocates who feared judicial aggrandizement of the right to bear arms could invalidate myriad laws governing firearm commerce, as Mark Joseph Stern observes in Slate. The ruling seems almost predestined for review by the Supreme Court, where the addition of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the bench may have intensified a majoritys hostility to gun laws of almost any kind. That said, the court has been reluctant to step back into the gun-rights fray since roiling the waters with a 2008 ruling.

The Alameda County case was brought by John Teixeira, who planned to open a gun shop in the unincorporated neighborhood of San Lorenzo in 2010. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors denied him a permit after finding that his chosen location fell within 500 feet of a residential zone. Backed by a coalition of gun rights groups, Teixeira sued to overturn the ordinance, arguing that the law was so restrictive that there were no locations left within Alamedas unincorporated areas that would allow a gun store. A federal district court threw out his case but was overruled last year by a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit, which sent the case back down for further proceedings; the full circuit court then took up the case, and on Tuesday upheld the original district courts original dismissal.

The case turned on the question of whether the 2nd Amendment allows regulation of commerce in firearms. Courts have disagreed on the issue, in part because the leading 2nd Amendment case, the Heller decision handed down by the Supreme Court in 2008, left the question murky. Nothing in our opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the majority, should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding. . . laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. To lawyers, those words still left room to challenge ordinances aimed at sellers of guns and ammo.

In her analysis, Judge Berzon observed that the 2nd Amendment applies chiefly to the right of people to keep and bear arms, not the rights of sellers. She made short work of Teixeiras claim that banning his store seriously compromised the right of county residents to acquire guns.

She quoted from the dissent in the earlier appellate ruling: Conspicuously missing from this lawsuit is any honest-to-God resident of Alameda County complaining that he or she cannot lawfully buy a gun nearby. Rather, she observed, As of December 2011, there were ten gun stores in Alameda County.In fact, Alameda County residents can purchase guns approximately 600 feet away from the proposed site of Teixeiras planned store, at a Big 5 Sporting Goods store.

Berzon also rejected Teixeiras assertion that his establishment deserved the same legal protections and immunity from regulations as bookshops, newspapers and abortion providers. The 1st Amendment, she noted, entails a general ban on laws abridging freedom of speech or the press; the 2nd Amendment is more narrowly directed at a personalized right to keep and bear arms. Booksellers and other media purveyors, she wrote are themselves engaged in conduct directly protected by the First Amendment. By contrast, the act of selling firearms is not part or parcel of the right to keep and bear arms.

Berzon likened Teixeiras claim to that of contraceptive and abortion providers. When they have challenged laws restricting their activities, she wrote, the question for the courts always has been whether the challenged laws burden their patients right to access reproductive health services, not whether the laws burden any putative right of the provider. No one has ever suggested, she wrote, that if there were no burden on a womans right to an abortion, medical providers could nonetheless assert an independent right to provide the service for pay.

The Teixeira ruling joins a growing docket of gun-rights cases that may be headed for the Supreme Court. Thats because the appeals courts are all over the map, juridically speaking. The 9th Circuit last year upheld Californias regulations limiting the right of concealed carry outside the home. In February, the Richmond, Va.-based 4th Circuit upheld Marylands ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. The Chicago-based 7th Circuit struck down a Chicago law banning gun ranges from almost anywhere in the city via zoning rules, and the District of Columbia Circuit struck down a D.C. law placing strict limits on who could qualify for a concealed-carry permit.

In recent sessions, however, the Supreme Court has shown itself to be gun-shy. In June, the court turned away an appeal from the 9th Circuit ruling on Californias concealed carry law. It also refused to hear a 7th Circuit ruling upholding a Chicago suburbs assault weapons ban. In 2015, the justices refused to review a 9th Circuit ruling upholding a San Francisco ordinance requiring trigger locks and placing other restrictions on guns in the home.

All those opportunities to clarify the landscape on gun regulations came up after the Heller decision, which overturned decades of constitutional law finding that the 2nd Amendment guaranteed the individual right to bear arms. The carnage from gun violence has only increased since then, along with controversy over gun rights. At some point, the Supreme Court will feel it incumbent to step in. Given the makeup of the court, gun control advocates have reason to be nervous.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltziks blog.

UPDATES:

11:10 a.m.: This column has been updated to clarify the lower court proceedings.
Insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross agreed to reduce two planned premium increases for 2018 after California regulators questioned the companys rationale for raising rates by as much as it had initially proposed.

The scaled-back rate hikes, in the individual and small-employer markets, will reduce premiums by $114 million, state officials said.

The California Department of Managed Health Care challenged Anthems estimates for future medical costs, in particular its prediction of a 30% jump in pharmacy expenses for the individual market  nearly double the estimates of two other big insurers and out of line with industry trends nationally.

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As a result of the departments intervention, the nations second-largest health insurer shaved 3 percentage points off its 2018 rate increase for individuals and families, still leaving a hike of 37.3%. That puts the company second  after Molina Healthcare  among the 11 insurers that sell in the Covered California exchange. Anthem also cut its rate hike on small businesses by more than half, to 2.5%.

The smaller premium hikes are expected to save individuals about $21 million and small-business customers an estimated $93 million.

Californias two insurance regulators, the Department of Managed Health Care and an elected insurance commissioner, can pressure companies to reduce their rates, but neither has the authority to block rate hikes.

In a statement, Anthem said it works with regulators routinely to revisit our assumptions and rates as more data becomes available. We are pleased that the emerging data allowed us to provide some rate relief to California individuals and small businesses versus what was originally filed.

Regulators said that during their review of Anthems small-group rates, the company updated its projection for medical spending, which resulted in a lower premium increase than originally proposed.

For the individual market, regulators at the managed care department dug deeper into Anthems forecast for prescription drug use and spending. This is a much higher pharmacy trend than we have seen with other carriers and we will need sufficient documentation to consider it reasonable, they wrote to Anthem.

In response to the states questions, Anthem lowered its estimate of the rise in pharmacy costs by 7 percentage points, to 23%. That led, in part, to the reduced rate increase.

Like all California insurers, Anthem had been asked by state officials to submit two rate filings for the individual market. The lower set of rates assumed that the Trump administration would continue to pay so-called cost-sharing subsidies that help low-income consumers with out-of-pocket costs. The higher rate increases, which state officials adopted on Wednesday, assume President Donald Trump might make good on his threats to end those payments.

Anthem had sought a 35.4% increase under the lower-rate scenario and a 40.6% hike with a surcharge tacked on to reflect the possible loss of subsidies. That higher rate proposal was the one Anthem reduced by 3 percentage points.

The states examination of Anthem echoed concerns raised by the advocacy group Consumers Union in a letter to regulators on Sept. 7. The group questioned why Anthems projections were so much higher than its competitors and asked the state to demand additional documentation from the company.

Dena Mendelsohn, a staff attorney for Consumers Union in San Francisco, said she welcomed any reduction of the rate increase. Were glad to see the pharmacy trend was brought down during the rate review process. That is exactly why we need such a rigorous rate review process, she said.

However, the 37.3% average rate increase from Anthem still poses a real concern for consumers, especially those who do not qualify for federal tax credits that help pay for premiums, Mendelsohn said.

Some of the follow-up information Anthem submitted to regulators about its drug costs is under seal. The insurer asserted it contained confidential trade secrets that are protected from disclosure under state law.

The Department of Managed Health Care said it was looking into whether that information can be released publicly.

Another insurer, L.A. Care Health Plan, also faced questions from the managed care department. In response, the health plan dropped its proposed rate increase in the individual market by nearly 9 percentage points, to 21.7%. That would generate savings of $9 million, according to the state.

L.A. Care told regulators it was able to lower its rates after getting new information about the amount of federal cost-sharing subsidies it receives.

Health Net, whose rates for some plans were reviewed by the California Department of Insurance rather than the managed care agency, cut a proposed premium increase of 23% for individual policies nearly in half, to 12.1%. That yielded an estimated savings of $15.1 million, according to the insurance department.

Overall, Molina Healthcare has the highest rate increase for 2018 among insurers selling on the Covered California exchange, at 44.7%. Valley Health Plan comes in lowest at 9.8%.

Blue Shield of California, the largest insurer in the state exchange by enrollment, fell in between at 22.8%. HMO giant Kaiser Permanente will charge 11.6% more, on average, next year. (Kaiser Health News, which produces California Healthline, is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.)

Terhune is a senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent publication of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

UPDATES:

5:45 p.m.: This article has been updated with a comment from Anthem.

This article was originally published at 3:40 p.m.
Equifax Inc. took part of its website offline Thursday after code on the site redirected users to a malicious URL urging them to download malware.

Also Thursday, a top Republican congressman introduced a bill that would stop credit reporting companies such as Equifax from using Social Security numbers to verify Americans identities.

The moves come a month after Equifax revealed that a data breach exposed the Social Security numbers and birthdates of as many as 145.5 million Americans. That hack took place after Equifax failed for several months to fix a software flaw that federal officials had warned about in March.

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Late Wednesday night, independent security analyst Randy Abrams said in a blog post that while he was trying to download his credit report from the Equifax site, he clicked a link that kicked him to a third-party website with one of the ubiquitous fake Flash Player Update screens. His post was first reported by technology news site Ars Technica.

Equifax said Thursday afternoon that the problem stemmed from code provided by a third party.

The issue involves a third-party vendor that Equifax uses to collect website performance data, and that vendors code running on an Equifax website was serving malicious content, the company said in a statement. Since we learned of the issue, the vendors code was removed from the webpage and we have taken the webpage offline to conduct further analysis.

Equifax emphasized that its systems were not compromised and said that despite early reports, the problem did not affect our consumer online dispute portal.

Its spokespeople did not answer questions about when the company learned of the problem or how many website visitors clicked the link.

Everyone uses third-party code, said Jeff Williams, chief technology officer and co-founder of Contrast Security. However, he said in a statement, doing so creates an obligation to analyze for vulnerabilities continuously and respond to new vulnerabilities/attacks within hours.

This wouldnt be the first time that people trusting Equifax have been sent to a questionable third-party site.

After announcing the massive data breach last month, Equifax set up a website  equifaxsecurity2017.com  to help people determine whether they had been affected. But on multiple occasions, Equifaxs Twitter account instead advised people to go to a different site with a similar URL. That site had been created by an engineer who wanted to show how easy it would be to set up a phishing site that mimicked Equifaxs.

Separately, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) introduced legislation Thursday that would crack down on credit reporting companies. It would require Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to phase out the use of Social Security numbers by 2020.

The legislation also would create a national framework for consumers to freeze access to their credit to prevent identity theft as well as mandating the federal government to create uniform cybersecurity standards for credit reporting companies and conduct onsite examinations.

The bill Ive introduced today takes an important first step in providing meaningful reforms to help Americans who have been impacted by this breach, McHenry said. It is focused on prevention, protection and prohibition.

The breach revealed last month, and Equifaxs bungled handling of its aftermath, led to bipartisan outrage. The companys former chief executive, Richard Smith  who stepped down after the breach was disclosed  was slammed by lawmakers in four congressional hearings last week.

In response to criticism of its efforts to help consumers deal with the breach, Equifax said it would stop charging people to freeze access to their credit records so that no data would be released to scammers. Smith told lawmakers that such free credit freezes should be the industry standard and that the nation should consider replacing Social Security numbers as the touchstone for identity verification.

The Trump administration also is looking at reducing the importance of Social Security numbers. Rob Joyce, the White House cybersecurity coordinator, said at a conference last week that the Social Security number has outlived its usefulness and that he wanted to find a modern cryptographic identifier that would be more secure.

McHenrys bill is at least the third introduced to impose tougher standards on credit reporting companies. But as a member of the House Republican leadership, he may have the clout to push his proposal through.

The Promoting Responsible Oversight of Transactions and Examinations of Credit Technology, or PROTECT, Act would subject large credit reporting companies to the same federal cybersecurity standards and oversight as banks and other financial institutions, McHenry said.

Shifting away from reliance on Social Security numbers is a key part of the bill. McHenry said he wanted to stop credit reporting companies from relying on the numbers, which he called the most sensitive of Americans personal information.

jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com

lauren.raab@latimes.com

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2:05 p.m.: This article was updated to include comment from Equifax and Jeff Williams, chief technology officer and co-founder of Contrast Security.

12:25 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Equifaxs Twitter account having sent people to an impostor website.

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This article was originally published at 9:05 a.m.
Since Southwest Airlines began to challenge the established major airlines in the 1990s, the low-cost carrier has forced its competitors to lower fares in what industry insiders call the Southwest Effect.

Fans of Hawaii are hoping that the Southwest Effect happens next year when Southwest Airlines hopes to begin serving islands in the Pacific.

Southwest Airlines Chairman and Chief Executive Gary Kelly on Wednesday announced plans to file an application with the Federal Aviation Administration to begin service to Hawaii next year.

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The airline said more details of the new service, such as the date it would launch and the mainland cities where the flights would originate, would be released at a later date.

Southwest Airlines is now the third-busiest carrier in the U.S., and a study by the University of Virginia this year found that Southwest still has the power to force its rivals to lower fares to stay competitive.

The Dallas airline began to fly outside the U.S. in 2014 when it took over flights to the Caribbean from its subsidiary AirTrans. Later that year, Southwest began flying to Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

Andrew Watterson, executive vice president and chief revenue officer, said the airline expects it could take the FAA one to two years to approve the carriers application for long-term service to Hawaii. Once approved, he said, Southwest will fly most of its routes from California to Kauai, Honolulu and the island of Hawaii.

The carrier started to take delivery this summer of the Boeing 737 Max 8, a new jet with quieter engines and better fuel efficiency. Watterson said Southwest has been waiting for delivery of the 737 Max 8 to deploy it on routes to Hawaii.

As for ticket prices, Watterson said, Southwest officials have looked at how much other carriers charge for flights to Hawaii and believe the carrier can charge less.

We anticipate fares will drop, he said.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.
Ten days after a mass shooting killed dozens and injured hundreds in Las Vegas, the city that thrives on tourists, gambling and good times launched an ad to encourage visitors to return.

The new ad, released Wednesday by the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, features photos and Twitter posts from Vegas fans expressing support and vowing to come back.

No one and nothing will stop me from going to Vegas, said one Twitter post shown in the ad.

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We love Vegas. Always have. Always will, read another post in the ad, which did not explicitly mention the Oct. 1 shooting.

Rossi Ralenkotter, chief executive of the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, said the ad, which will launch this week on national television and social media sites, is intended to reflect the mood of longtime visitors to the gambling mecca in Nevada.

He said focus groups and surveys showed strong support for the town in the wake of the massacre.

People were saying how much they love Las Vegas and they support us and the victims and the first responders, he said. We really did see this pouring out of love and compassion from our customers and friends.

The Oct. 1 shooting killed 58 people and injured nearly 500 others who were attending an outdoor country music concert.

Tourism is the citys biggest industry, with Las Vegas breaking visitation records for the last three years in a row. Las Vegas welcomed almost 43 million visitors last year, with hotel occupancy rates at about 90%, according to the authority. The tourist industry in Las Vegas employs about 400,000 people.

For years, the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority relied on a tourism campaign with the motto What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. The motto has been incorporated into television ads that depicted Las Vegas as an adult playground where anything goes.

Ralenkotter said the authority will return to such ads at some point in time.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.

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Lupita Nyongo relates her story of inappropriate Harvey Weinstein encounters

Lupita Nyongo with her Oscar after winning Best Actress for 12 Years a Slave at the 86th Annual Academy Awards. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

With stories about women allegedly harassed by Harvey Weinstein surfacing all around her, Oscar winner Lupita Nyongo decided she couldnt keep her own story squashed down any longer.

She thought the things that had happened were unique to her, not a larger pattern of what she on Thursday called sinister behavior. She blamed herself for much of it.

I had shelved my experience with Harvey far in the recesses of my mind, joining in the conspiracy of silence that has allowed this predator to prowl for so many years, Nyongo wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times.

The 12 Years a Slave actress was still at Yale School of Drama when she and Weinstein crossed paths at a 2011 awards ceremony in Berlin, where he was introduced to the then-aspiring actress as the most powerful producer in Hollywood. Dinner companions told her he was a good man to know in the biz, but someone to be careful around because he could be a bully, she wrote.

The interactions that followed between her and the producer went back and forth between seemingly appropriate and uncomfortably inappropriate, Nyongo said.

The invitation to screen a movie with Weinstein and his children at his Connecticut home turned into a restaurant lunch where he tried to bully her into drinking alcohol, she wrote, followed by him cutting short her viewing of the movie after 15 minutes and taking her to his bedroom where he offered to give her a massage. She said she flipped the situation around.

I began to massage his back to buy myself time to figure out how to extricate myself from this undesirable situation, the actress said. Then he wanted to take off his pants, she wrote.

He couldnt make it to see a production she was in, but invited her to bring anyone she wanted to see a staged reading of Finding Neverland, one of his. Dinner followed, with her friends relegated to a non-Harvey table.

The talk was shop the whole time and Harvey held court with ease. He was charming and funny once more, and I felt confused about the discomfort I had previously experienced, Nyongo said.

Lupita Nyongo accepts the supporting actress Academy Award for her work in 12 Years a Slave on March 2, 2014. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

A couple of months later, he invited her to a screening of W.E. followed by a trip to the Tribeca Grill, which she said she assumed would be another group meal. It was not. His assistants, she said, had seemed uncomfortable as they set up the logistics with her.

Before the starters arrived, he announced: Lets cut to the chase. I have a private room upstairs where we can have the rest of our meal. I was stunned, Nyongo wrote. I told him I preferred to eat in the restaurant. He told me not to be so naive. If I wanted to be an actress, then I had to be willing to do this sort of thing. He said he had dated Famous Actress X and Y and look where that had gotten them.

She declined, and his tone changed, she said. As he escorted her out, sans meal, she checked in with him to make sure they were still good after shed said no.

His response, according to the actress: I dont know about your career, but youll be fine, he said. It felt like both a threat and a reassurance at the same time; of what, I couldnt be sure.

They didnt cross paths again until the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, which she was attending in support of 12 Years a Slave.

At an after-party, he found me and evicted whoever was sitting next to me to sit beside me, she wrote. He said he couldnt believe how fast I had gotten to where I was, and that he had treated me so badly in the past. He was ashamed of his actions and he promised to respect me moving forward. I said thank you and left it at that. But I made a quiet promise to myself to never ever work with Harvey Weinstein.

Our business is complicated because intimacy is part and parcel of our profession; as actors we are paid to do very intimate things in public. Thats why someone can have the audacity to invite you to their home or hotel and you show up.  Lupita Nyongo

The following year, after her Oscar win, he tried to get her in one of his films, showering her with talk of a star-vehicle film in the offing for her later if shed first take a role in a Weinstein Co. movie shed already turned down. She held firm.

When she first met the now-disgraced producer, she wrote, she was entering into a community that Harvey Weinstein had been in, and even shaped, long before I got there. He was one of the first people I met in the industry, and he told me, This is the way it is. And wherever I looked, everyone seemed to be bracing themselves and dealing with him, unchallenged.

Since then, she said, she hasnt encountered treatment like that from anyone else. Still, she talked about the often-blurry lines in the workplace known as Hollywood.

Our business is complicated because intimacy is part and parcel of our profession; as actors we are paid to do very intimate things in public, wrote Nyongo, who is now 34. Thats why someone can have the audacity to invite you to their home or hotel and you show up. Precisely because of this we must stay vigilant and ensure that the professional intimacy is not abused.
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Oct. 12, 2017, 3:05 p.m. Rose McGowan claims Harvey Weinstein raped her, urges Jeff Bezos to stop funding rapists

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and actress Rose McGowan. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images, left; Rex Buckner / Zuma Press / TNS, right)

After being temporarily suspended on Wednesday, actress Rose McGowan returned to Twitter with a vengeance Thursday afternoon, calling out Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.

Kicking off her series of tweets, McGowan said that she had told the head of [Bezos] studio that HW raped me, using initials to suggest that she was speaking about Harvey Weinstein.

This is the first time McGowan has been so direct about what happened between her and the Miramax producer in 1997 after an incident at the Sundance Film Festival resulted in Weinstein paying the then-23-year-old actress $100,000.

In 2016, McGowan tweeted about her ex selling their movie to Weinstein, a statement that some thought was in reference to McGowans ex-boyfriend Robert Rodriguez and the sale of Grindhouse to the Weinstein Co. in 2007.

McGowan went on to accuse Amazon of canceling a script she had in development at the studio after she raised concerns over Weinstein. In another tweet, she also told Bezos that any awards his company won while working with sexual predators were tainted.

At IFP Film Week in Brooklyn, N.Y., in September 2016, McGowan reported that she had sold a show to Amazon. Two months earlier, Roy Price, the head of Amazon Studios, tweeted a selfie with McGowan.

As for Amazons dirty Oscar, as McGowan called it, its possible she was referring to Manchester by the Sea and accusations of sexual misconduct made against Casey Affleck in 2008 and 2009.

Read more

Read The Times full coverage of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal.
Has there ever been a faster fall than that of independent film kingpin Harvey Weinstein? For years, rumors of sexual impropriety and harassment dogged him but his power in Hollywood appeared to render him unassailable. Through Miramax Films and Weinstein Co. he won countless awards while turning actors like Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck and filmmakers such as Michael Moore and Quentin Tarantino into household names. At the Oscars, he was thanked more often than God.

Then in one fell swoop the open secret of his abuses became secret no longer. The New York Times and the New Yorker broke stories in which more than a dozen women detailed behavior that ranged from harassment to rape. Dozens of actresses and other Hollywood insiders quickly joined the chorus of allegationswhile numerous celebrities and politicians reacted to the scandal. Heres a complete rundown of the developments:

Read The Times' full coverage of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal 

Unnamed model accuses Weinstein of sexual assault

A sexual assault complaint is filed against Weinstein in New York City. The alleged victim is a 22-year-old Italian model, whose name was not given at the time but was later revealed to be Ambra Battilana Gutierrez. The claim alleges that Weinstein groped her at the Tribeca Film Center after they had been in a meeting.

Ashley Judd accuses an unnamed mogul of sexual harassment

The actress reveals that at the time she was making the 1997 film Kiss the Girls she was sexually harassed by someone she calls one of the industrys most famous, admired-slash-reviled bosses. Judd alleges that he pressured her to join him in his hotel room and ultimately asked her to watch him take a shower. Two years later, Judd names the mogul.

Ashley Judd at the world premiere of Divergent at the Westwood Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles. (Jordan Strauss / Invision/AP)

Rose McGowan refers to an unnamed film distributor as a rapist

Responding to a trending hashtag #WhyWomenDontReport, the actress  who appeared in Weinstein projects including Scream and Grindhouse  makes the accusation without using any names, although it later comes to light that it was intended for Weinstein.

Weinstein lawyers up in anticipation of stories

Word leaks out that the New Yorker and the New York Times are preparing stories about Weinsteins alleged misconduct when it becomes public that he has hired a virtual army of lawyers and crisis managers to fight the reports. The team includes attorney David Boies, the controversial Lisa Bloom (also the daughter of Gloria Allred), and Charles Harder, who famously won Hulk Hogans invasion of privacy trial case against the Gawker website. Weinstein preemptively denies any accusations, telling the Hollywood Reporter, "The story sounds so good, I want to buy the movie rights."

The New York Times publishes its report

Hollywood is shaken when the New York Times report is published, stating that Weinstein has had a long history of sexual misconduct over the last two decades and has settled eight separate alleged sexual harassment cases. Among the numerous actresses and employees involved in the allegations are Judd, who names Weinstein as her attacker, and McGowan.

Weinstein announces a leave of absence

After issuing a statement reading, in part, I so respect all women and regret what happened, Weinstein announced hed be taking a leave of absence from Weinstein Co. effective immediately.

Hollywood begins to respond

Performers, news anchors and creative types, including Lena Dunham, Gretchen Carlson, Jenni Konner, Jake Tapper and others, begin to take to social media to condemn Weinstein, although his most famous collaborators and political allies largely remain silent. McGowan tweets without using his name.

Weinstein Co. orders investigation of allegations

The Weinstein Co. board retains attorney John Kiernan of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP to investigate the allegations, but, for the moment, refrains from firing Weinstein.

Legal advisor Lisa Bloom quits

After being criticized for representing Weinstein, two key members of Weinsteins crisis team part ways with their client, including Los Angeles attorney Lisa Bloom. I have resigned as an advisor to Harvey Weinstein, Bloom wrote on Twitter. My understanding is that Mr. Weinstein and his board are moving toward an agreement.

Donald Trump reacts

While being questioned by reporters, President Trump acknowledges hes known Weinstein for a long time and that hes not at all surprised by the allegations against the movie mogul. The quote arrives on the anniversary of the release of the controversial 2005 Access Hollywood tape in which Trump uses vulgar terms to brag about sexual assault and how his status as a star means he can do anything.

Weinstein is fired from his company

After a review, the board of Weinstein Co. ousts Weinstein from the company he co-founded alongside his brother, Bob. In light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days, the directors of The Weinstein Company ... have determined, and have informed Harvey Weinstein, that his employment with The Weinstein Company is terminated, effective immediately, the company said in a statement.

A-listers start to respond

Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, Emmy Rossum, Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Seth Rogen, Jessica Chastain and other stars begin tweeting their outrage at Weinstein and their support for the women who have come forward. Director Kevin Smith, a longtime Weinstein associate, says he feels ashamed for working with him.

New Yorker report alleges that Weinstein assaulted multiple women

Just five days after the New York Times published the initial allegations, the New Yorker publishes a lengthy investigation by Ronan Farrow that accuses Weinstein of further incidents, some involving actresses such as Rosanna Arquette, Mira Sorvino and Asia Argento. The report also includes an audio recording of Weinstein verbally pressuring Gutierrez to enter his hotel room in 2015.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie detail 'unacceptable' encounters

In a follow-up piece in the New York Times, Oscar winners Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie also accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct. The latter says, this behavior towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable.

Angelina Jolie, left, at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 10, 2017, and Gwyneth Paltrow at the amfAR Inspiration Gala in Los Angeles on Oct. 29, 2015. (AP Photo)

MORE: A look at 27 newsmakers accused of sexual harassment, assault or related behavior 

Former actress and screenwriter Louisette Geiss accuses

In a news conference held by noted lawyer Gloria Allred, former actress and screenwriter Louisette Geiss alleges Weinstein made unwanted advances toward her at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Georgina Chapman leaves Weinstein

In a statement, Weinsteins third wife reveals she is leaving him following the allegations, saying, "My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband. The two have been married since December 2007 and have two children together, India Pearl and Dashiell Max Robert.

Harvey Weinstein, Uggie the dog and Georgina Chapman attend Weinstein Co.'s Oscar after-party at SkyBar at the Mondrian Los Angeles on Feb. 26, 2012 in West Hollywood. (Craig Barritt / Getty Images)

USC rejects Weinsteins $5-million pledge to fund foundation for women filmmakers

The USC School of Cinematic Arts says that it is rejecting a $5-million pledge Weinstein had made to fund a program for female filmmakers. Days earlier, Weinstein had mentioned the pledge in his initial statement of apology.

Hollywoods elite continues to respond

The floodgates open and condemnations from Hollywoods biggest names  including some longtime Weinstein collaborators  come pouring in over social media. Jennifer Lawrence, George Clooney, Ben Affleck and others address the scandal with variations on the themes of shock, disgust and outrage. Benedict Cumberbatch, starring in the upcoming Weinstein Co. film The Current War, says he is utterly disgusted. Jeffrey Katzenberg reveals a scathing email he sent to Weinstein.

Hillary Clinton say shes 'shocked and appalled' by allegations

After countless reactions from Hollywood players, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton releases a statement on Twitter via communications manager Nick Merrill condemning Weinstein, a former campaign contributor.

Barack Obama condemns Weinstein

Former President Obama responds to the allegations against Weinstein, a longtime Democratic donor, saying in a statement, "Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein."

Former President Barack Obama speaks during the Goalkeepers Conference in New York on Sept. 20, 2017. (Julio Cortez / AP Photo)

BAFTA suspends Harvey Weinstein's membership

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announces that Weinstein has been suspended from the prestigious organization, effective immediately. A statement reads, "Whilst BAFTA has previously been a beneficiary of Mr. Weinsteins support for its charitable work, it considers the reported alleged behavior completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTAs values.

Academy sets meeting to discuss Weinstein's membership

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces that it will hold an emergency meeting Saturday, Oct. 14, to discuss the future of Weinstein's membership. As the producer or executive producer of dozens of Oscar-winning films, Weinsteins career was practically synonymous with award season beginning in the early 1990s.

LAPD responds to family disturbance call involving Weinstein

LAPD responds to a 911 call from a Los Angeles home around 10:30 a.m., where they speak to Weinstein's daughter for about half an hour, sparking rumors of suicidal threats. The officers determine no one was a danger to themselves.

Seth MacFarlane recalls 2013 joke about Weinstein

When the Family Guy creator co-hosted the Oscar nominations announcement in 2013 along with Emma Stone, he peppered his introductions with risque humor and Hollywood insider jokes. When it came time to announce the five supporting actress nominees, MacFarlane added, Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein. MacFarlane recalled the jab on Twitter while addressing the Weinstein controversy.

Numerous film festival officials condemn Harvey Weinstein

Several of the very film festivals that helped elevate the Weinstein brand release official statements condemning his alleged actions. Cannes Film Festival President Pierre Lescure and general delegate Thierry Fremaux say they were "dismayed" to learn of the accusations, while the Venice Film Festivals statement calls Weinstein's alleged behavior "unacceptable and shameful." A tweet from the official account of the Toronto Film Festival stands by the women who have spoken out against Weinstein.

Hatchette Book Group ends deal with Weinstein

The Hachette Book Group terminates its Weinstein Books imprint, which was initially launched as Miramax Books in 2001.

Potential buyers eye Weinstein Co.

In an exclusive to The Times, several entertainment industry executives reveal that multiple studios, networks and other investors are assessing whether to bid for pieces of the quickly fracturing Weinstein Co., as well as existing film and TV projects. The Weinstein Co. board is reportedly coming under pressure to liquidate the companys assets. Apple has dropped a planned Weinstein Co. series centering on Elvis Presley, while Amazon.com is reviewing its options on several upcoming projects involving the company.

New York City and London law enforcement open investigations

Police departments in both cities reportedly begin investigations into Weinsteins past. The NYPD is said to be looking into a 2004 incident in which Weinstein allegedly sexually assaulted an actress. Meanwhile, London law enforcement officers are reportedly pursuing their own case against Weinstein over a sexual assault incident that allegedly occurred in the 1980s.

McGowan names HW as her attacker

After being temporarily suspended from Twitter, McGowan returns to the platform with her most blunt allegations yet. Revolting against a non-disclosure agreement, McGowan posts a no-holds-barred thread tagging Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, in which she clearly states that HW raped me, an apparent reference to Harvey Weinstein.

Bob Weinstein dispels rumors of Weinstein Co. turmoil

Weinstein Co. co-founder Bob Weinstein responds to rumors that the company is for sale, saying, "Our banks, partners and shareholders are fully supportive of our company and it is untrue that the company or board is exploring a sale or shutdown of the company...Business is continuing as usual as the company moves ahead. The statement also contains information about the pending releases from his specialty arm, Dimension Films, including the movies Polaroid, Paddington 2 and War With Grandpa. He makes no mention of Weinstein Co.s main slate of upcoming films, namely The Current War, The Upside and Mary Magdalene.

Oliver Stone may recuse himself from Weinstein Co.-produced series Guantanamo

After news broke that the Weinstein Co.'s production credits would be removed from TV projects, including Lifetime's "Project Runway" and Netflix's "Peaky Blinders," director Oliver Stone posted a message to Facebook stating he would "recuse" himself from the Showtime drama series "Guantanamo" if Weinstein Co. remained on the project. Showtime released a statement noting: The project is in development and has not been greenlit yet. We do not intend to move forward with the current configuration of the project and are exploring our options.

Amazon Studios cuts ties with the Weinstein Co.

The streamer severs ties with the production company in the wake of the accusations against Weinstein. This includes removing the Weinstein Co. as a producer on its upcoming anthology drama from Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, The Romanoffs, and scrapping production altogether on an untitled David O. Russell series starring Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore. The latter had received two-season commitment.

Bob Weinstein breaks silence about allegations

Harvey Weinsteins brother and longtime collaborator Bob Weinstein talks with the Hollywood Reporter, claiming he had no knowledge of any nonconsensual sexual activity on Harveys part and urging the academy to expel him. He also refers to Harvey as "a living nightmare" and a bully who subjected him to verbal and physical abuse.

Harvey, left, and Bob Weinstein, at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. in 2012. The hotel was the location of several of Harveys alleged attacks. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Motion picture academy expels Weinstein

As criticism of the embattled mogul mounts, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences holds an emergency meeting where the board votes well in excess of the required two-thirds majority to immediately eject Weinstein. As a producer, Weinstein won the best picture Oscar for 1998s Shakespeare in Love, while dozens of other films released under his leadership at Miramax won Oscars throughout the years. The Academy statement reads, We do so not simply to separate ourselves from someone who does not merit the respect of his colleagues but also to send a message that the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment in our industry is over.

The beginning of the #MeToo movement

Alyssa Milano seemingly launches the #MeToo movement, which originally stems back to 2006, with a tweet asking for those who have been sexually harassed or assaulted to reply to her with me too.

Producers Guild moves to expel Weinstein

Following in the footsteps of the Academy, the Producers Guild of Americas board of directors  a majority of which is female  beginning proceedings to terminate Weinsteins membership in the organization, pending review. Per the Guilds constitution, Weinstein is allowed to respond to the decision before a final determination is made on Nov. 6. As part of the announcement, the PGA also revealed a new Anti-Sexual Harassment Task Force. The Guilds statement says: Sexual harassment of any type is completely unacceptable. This is a systemic and pervasive problem requiring immediate industry-wide action.

A lifeline for the Weinstein Co.

As the production companys name is being removed from several movies and TV series in the wake of the allegations against its co-founder, the private equity firm Colony Capital agrees to provide a cash infusion. As part of the agreement, the companies also enter a negotiation period for a sale of all or part of the Weinstein Co.s assets.

Weinstein resigns from Weinstein Co. board

With Weinstein Co.s future still undetermined, Harvey Weinstein formally resigns from the board of directors. Five other board members  Tim Sarnoff, Paul Tudor Jones, Dirk Ziff, Marc Lasry and Richard Koenigsberg  had previously resigned in the wake of the scandal.

Bob Weinstein accused of sexual harassment

After publicly chastising his brother Harvey, Bob Weinstein comes into the spotlight when Variety reports that the Spike network is investigating a sexual harassment claim against him. Amanda Segel, a former executive producer for the Weinstein Co.-produced Spike series The Mist, alleges that Bob Weinstein made multiple advances toward her including several unwelcomed invitations to his home and hotel room. Bob Weinsteins attorney Bert Fields refutes the allegations in a statement, saying the story is riddled with false and misleading assertions by Miss Segel.

LAPD investigating Harvey Weinstein after an actress in L.A. accuses him of rape

Joining cases in New York City and London, the LAPD confirms that theyve met with an Italian model-actress who has alleged that Weinstein sexually assaulted her at a hotel in 2013. She is the sixth woman to accuse Weinstein of rape or forcible sex acts.

Weinstein Co. employees deny knowledge of Weinsteins alleged behavior

A group of Weinstein Co. staffers issues a release stating that they were unaware that the companys co-founder was a serial sexual predator and that they knew that our boss could be manipulative. We did not know that he used his power to systematically assault and silence women. The statement also demands that the signed staffers be released from the nondisclosure agreements in their contracts, which would allow them to speak openly, and get to the origins of what happened here, and how.

Actress Lupita Nyongo photographer in 2016. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

Lupita Nyongo details sinister behavior in op-ed

The Oscar-winning actress pens an op-ed for the New York Times in which she details being taken to his bedroom and having to give him a massage while she was at Yale School of Drama. Months later, he tried to persuade her to accompany him to a hotel room while they were at a lunch. I told him I preferred to eat in the restaurant. He told me not to be so naive. If I wanted to be an actress, then I had to be willing to do this sort of thing.

Heather Kerr, right, who alleges that she was sexually harassed by Harvey Weinstein, wipes away a tear after addressing the media with her attorney Gloria Allred during a press conference at Allrreds office. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Sexual misconduct allegations continue to stack up

Former actress Heather Kerr, with Gloria Allred by her side, accuses Weinstein of forcing her to touch his genitals and telling her she had to sleep with him to make it in Hollywood during a 1989 business meeting.

Producer Harvey Weinstein attends the Rachel Zoe Spring 2013 fashion show during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in 2012 (Jason Kempin / Getty Images)

Weinsteins predatory behavior extended beyond Hollywood

The Times looks at how Weinstein used his fashion business as a way to get to close to models. Former model Juliana De Paula details how he groped her and forced her to kiss other models at his loft a decade prior. When she tried to leave, he chased through the apartment naked until she was able to fend him off with a broken glass.

Another model, Samantha Panagrosso, recalls Weinstein touching her legs underwater at a hotel pool during the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Sam, dont be so naive, he reportedly told her. You know Harvey can make you a star.

Civil rights investigation into Weinstein Co. launches

New York Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman opens a civil rights investigation into the Weinstein Co. in the wake of recent allegations. The attorney general issues a subpoena seeking all documents related to sexual harassment allegations and other types of discrimination to assess whether officials at the company violated state civil rights and New York City human rights laws. "No New Yorker should be forced to walk into a workplace ruled by sexual intimidation, harassment, or fear," Scheiderman said in a statement. "If sexual harassment or discrimination is pervasive at a company, we want to know."

Weinstein Co. sued for negligence

Former Weinstein Co. production assistant Mimi Haleyi and actress Dominique Huett accuse Weinstein of sexual assault. The latter also sues the company for negligence  the first civil suit over the former co-chairmans alleged behavior since the New York Times initial report  in which she claims that executives know about Weinsteins behavior.

Another accuser comes forward

Actress Natassia Malthe, represented by attorney Allred, publicly accuses Weinstein of raping her at the Sanderson hotel in London in February 2008.

Weinstein vs. Weinstein

The fallen producer sues his own company for documents such as e-mail and his personnel file, saying he can use these in court to defend himself against the mounting allegations about inappropriate behavior. Weinstein also says he wants access to documents to support a wrongful termination case against the company after he was fired on Oct. 8. In his paperwork, he also accuses the studio of leaking information from his personnel file to the media.

Annabella Sciorra arrives at the 65th annual Tony Awards in 2011. (Charles Sykes / AP)

A second New Yorker piece details new allegations

Kill Bill star Daryl Hannah, The Sopranos alum Annabella Sciorra are among those interviewed in the latest expose. Sciorra alleges he violently raped her in the early 90s, forcing intercourse on her and performing oral sex on her. Daryl Hannah says Weinstein tried to force himself into her hotel room on two separate occasions and asked if he could touch her breasts on a third occasion. She alleges her refusal cost her future roles.

Banned for life

For seemingly the first time in its history, the Producers Guild of America board votes unanimously to ban Weinstein for life. "This unprecedented step is a reflection of the seriousness with which the Guild regards the numerous reports of Mr. Weinsteins decades of reprehensible conduct, the organization said in a statement.

The London case against Weinstein grows

Scotland Yard releases details of the probe into Weinstein, which now includes 11 allegations of sexual assault across several decades.

Disney is thrown in the mix

An unnamed Canadian actress claims Weinstein sexually assaulted her twice in 2000 in a $14 million lawsuit against Weinstein, his former company Miramax and Miramaxs former owner Disney. Additionally, the actress asks for $2 million in damages from longtime Weinstein associate Barbara Schneeweiss, alleging that Schneeweiss knew about her boss inappropriate tendencies but still arranged business meetings for Weinstein.

Paz de la Huerta at the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2011. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Paz de la Huerta says Weinstein raped her twice

Boardwalk Empire actress de la Huerta tells Vanity Fair that Weinstein of raping her twice in 2010 when he forced himself on her in two occasions in her apartment. I was very traumatized, she said. I felt so disgusted by it; with myself ... I became a little self-destructive. It was really hard for me to deal, to cope. The following day, a New York City police officer calls the allegation credible and an investigation is opened to gather evidence.

Special task force assembled

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey announces the formation of a special task force specifically to investigate sexual assault allegations. The task force will consist of veteran sex crimes prosecutors working together to ensure a uniformed approach to the legal review and possible prosecution of any case that meets both the legal and factual standards for criminal prosecution.

Sexual assault survivors take to the streets in Hollywood

Sparked by #MeToo campaign, several hundred sexual assault survivors rally and march in Hollywood, gathering in front of the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood to draw attention to their cause. State Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) is among the days speakers: This is 2017; the time is ripe for a reckoning, for a reordering of power.

Elvira Herrera, center, of Indio, Calif., along with others, shows support for sexual assault survivors at the #MeToo Survivors March against sexual abuse in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 12, 2017. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Weinstein stripped of another honorary degree

Weinstein is stripped of an honorary degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Trustees from the State University of New York and the SUNY chancellor on Wednesday revoke the degree granted to Weinstein in 2001. He was an English major at the Buffalo campus from 1969 to 1973. In a statement, the University at Buffalo says Weinstein's alleged conduct is "inconsistent" with the values of the university and "contradicts the spirit of the honorary degree" and "undermines the accomplishments" cited in awarding the degree.

The Weinstein Company sued

The studio is hit with a class-action lawsuit by dozens of women accusing its former co-chairman of sexual assault, battery and lewd conduct. The complaint claims that a network of people who worked for Weinstein, including attorney David Voies, enabled his bad behavior and participated in what is deemed the Weinstein Sexual Enterprise.

Natasha Henstridge details harassment by Weinstein

The actress appears on Megyn Kelly Today to discuss her sexual assault accusation against director Brett Ratner, as first reported by The Times. However, while on the show, she also mentions Weinsteins repeated advances and alleges he pleasured himself in front of me.

In an emotional interview on Megyn Kelly TODAY, actress Natasha Henstridge describes being with friends at director Brett Ratners home at age 19 when she fell asleep. When she wok ...

Weinstein resigns from DGA

Weinstein resigns from the Directors Guild of America, weeks after the guild filed disciplinary charges against him after numerous women publicly came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct, including harassment and rape. He is also hit with two new lawsuits, one which accuses him of engaging in sex trafficking when he brought an actress to the Cannes Film Festival in 2015 on the pretense of business, only to sexually assault her in his hotel room.

Weinsteins former assistant makes new accusations

Sandeep Rehal, Weinstein's former personal assistant of nearly two years, finally speaks out, saying she plans to sue Weinstein and his company for sexual harassment. She alleges that she provided him with erectile dysfunction medication and stocked an apartment for him with bathrobes, flowers and women's lingerie.

At the same time, Weinstein accusers Louisette Geiss, Katherine Kendall, Zoe Brock, Sarah Ann Masse, Melissa Sagemiller and Nannette Klatt file a federal lawsuit in New York against him and his now-former company and the Weinstein Co., in which they detail an alleged scheme that they say enabled him to rape and sexually assault hundreds of women.

Actress Salma Hayek photographed in 2017. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Salma Hayek pens powerful essay Harvey Weinstein is my monster too

The actress alleges Weinstein once threatened to kill her after she refused his advances in an op-ed for the New York Times. She says she said turned him repeatedly  "no to me taking a shower with him. No to letting him watch me take a shower. No to letting him give me a massage. No to letting a naked friend of his give me a massage. No to letting him give me oral sex. No to my getting naked with another woman, she writes  and that when she did, he verbally insulted her on set.

Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino blacklisted?

Director Peter Jackson claims Weinstein blacklisted Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino when the two were working together on the film adaptation of the Lord of the Rings franchise. I recall Miramax telling us they were a nightmare to work with and we should avoid them at all costs, Jackson told New Zealands Stuff. At the time, we had no reason to question what these guys were telling us  but in hindsight, I realize that this was very likely the Miramax smear campaign in full swing." The women later attended the Academy Awards together (pictured below.)

HOLLYWOOD, CA - March 4, 2018 Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino during the arrivals at the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 4, 2018 at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, CA. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Weinstein sued by employee

Marco Polo associate producer Alexandra Canosa sues Weinstein for more than $10 million in damages. She claims that Weinstein, whose company produced the Netflix show about the Venetian explorer, made it clear to her that there would be serious consequences for thwarting his advances: Harvey Weinstein threatened [Canosa] and made it clear that if she did not succumb to his demands or if she exposed his unwanted conduct there would be retaliation, including humiliation, the loss of her job and any ability to work in the entertainment business, the lawsuit alleges.

Time is officially up

In a full-page ad in the New York Times, Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon and hundreds of Hollywood women launch the anti-harassment initiative Times Up. The initiative includes a legal defense fund to help women protect themselves from sexual misconduct, proposed legislation to penalize negligent companies and to abate the use of nondisclosure agreements, as well as a push for gender parity in Hollywood.

A blackout on the Golden Globes red carpet

After the idea of a boycott is rejected, the women behind Times Up still find a way to make a political statement on the normally a-political red carpet by wearing black to the annual awards show. Several A-listers, such as Emma Stone and Meryl Streep, also bring activists and sexual assault survivors as their dates.

Mariah Carey, America Ferrera, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, and Billie Jean King arriving at the 75th Golden Globes at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 7, 2018. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Women dominate the Screen Actors Guild

Less than 24 hours after the second Womens March, women descend upon the 2018 Screen Actors Guild Awards. The annual telecast features solely female presenters as well as a female host  the shows first emcee ever  in Kristen Bell.

Another ex-assistant sues Weinstein

Weinsteins ex-assistant Sandeep Rehal files a federal suit, alleging that she was forced to work in a hostile work environment for two years catering to Weinstein's sexual appetites and activities. She alleges that during daily rides in his Lexus SUV, Weinstein would touch her on the thigh and that he would rub his belly against her. He also would dictate to her while naked, she said.

Uma Thurman, pictured here in 2014, starred in several key Weinstein productions including Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times)

Uma Thurman finally breaks her silence

A frequent star of Weinstein Co. films, Thurman details two incidents with Weinstein in the New York Times. One when greeted her in just his bathrobe at a Paris hotel room and the other when he physically assaulted her at the Savoy Hotel in London. He pushed me down. He tried to shove himself on me. He tried to expose himself. He did all kinds of unpleasant things, she said. I was doing anything I could to get the train back on the track. My track. Not his track.

New York attorney general sues Weinstein Co. for civil rights 'violations

A $500-million deal to sell Harvey Weinstein's troubled former studio to former Obama aide Maria Contreras-Sweet hits a major roadblock after New York Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman sues the Weinstein Co. and its co-founders, Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein, for "egregious violations of New York's civil rights, human rights and business laws."

The Weinstein Company COO David Glasser, left, pictured with Harvey Weinstein in 2014. (Michael Kovac / WireImage)

Weinstein Company president David Glasser fired

Days after Weinstein Co. president David Glasser is accused of failing to respond to human resources complaints by the New York attorney general in his suit, the board of directors votes to fire Glasser in an effort to save the studios sale.

Wheres Weinstein?

The Times reports new details about Weinsteins exile to the Scottsdale, Ariz., area where hes been spotted at high-end resorts including the Optima Sonoran Village, the Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa and the Meadows. But with legal bills likely to exceed half a million dollars a month  not to mention his impending divorce and numerous pending lawsuits  speculation intensifies about his finances.

Weinstein accusers band together at the Oscars

After host Jimmy Kimmel mocks Weinstein and other alleged predators in his opening monologue, three of Weinsteins accusers  Ashley Judd, Anabella Sciorra and Salma Hayek  use the platform to speak to the effects ushered in by the producers downfall while highlighting the academys recent efforts toward inclusion and diversity.

Ashley Judd, Annabella Sciorra and Selma Hayek Pinault during the telecast of the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 4, 2018 in the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, CA. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Weinstein Co. sale falls through after hidden debts are revealed

A $500-million deal for an investor group to acquire Weinstein's former movie and TV studio implodes after the group, led by former Obama administration official Maria Contreras-Sweet, finds at least $50 million in undisclosed liabilities on the company's books. The surprise debts would have significantly increased the purchase price.

The Weinstein Co. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

The embattled Weinstein Co. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy five months after its co-founder was first accused of sexual harassment and assault. The filing is the culmination of a long struggle to spare the studio from Bankruptcy Court.

New York Times staff writers Megan Twohey, left, and Jodi Kantor address colleagues in the newsroom in New York after the team they led won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service on Monday, April 16, 2018. The Times shared the prize with Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker. (Hiroko Masuike / AP)

Weinstein stories win a Pulitzer Prize

The New York Times and the New Yorker share the Pulitzer Prize for public service for breaking the Weinstein scandal and lending momentum to the #MeToo movement confronting sexual misconduct in Hollywood, D.C. and beyond.

Hotel room meetings adjourned?

In a bid to fight sexual harassment, SAG-AFTRA unveils a new set of guidelines that attempt to stop professional meetings from occurring in private hotel rooms, residences and other high-risk locations.

The Savoy Hotel, which was the site of several alleged Weinstein attacks. (Richard Woodbury)

Alleged victim Ashley Judd sues Weinstein

Judd, one of the first actresses to speak out publicly against Weinstein, sues the disgraced mogul, claiming that he sabotaged her career after she rejected his unwanted sexual advances. Judd alleges in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court that Weinstein made false statements about her, resulting in the loss of work opportunities in Hollywood projects including the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

MAY 8

Weinstein Co.s sale plan wins approval in Bankruptcy court

The planned sale of Weinstein Co. is OKd in bankruptcy court. At a hearing in Wilmington, Del., Judge Mary F. Walrath approves the sale of the Weinstein Co.'s assets to Dallas-based private equity firm Lantern Capital Partners, which offered $310 million in cash and assumes about $115 million in liabilities related to film and television projects.

Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman during the arrivals at the 89th Academy Awards in 2017. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Weinsteins estranged wife breaks her silence

Georgina Chapman gives her first in-depth interview to Vogue, saying she was humiliated and broken by the flood of accusations against her husband, which she says she knew nothing about before the exposes in the New York Times and the New Yorker. Ive never been one of those people who obsesses about where someone is, she says.

Weinstein the subject of a federal investigation

Federal prosecutors in New York open an investigation into whether Weinstein's alleged acts of sexual abuse violated federal laws. The investigation seeks to examine whether the mogul lured or induced women to travel across state lines for purposes of committing sexual crimes.

Harvey Weinstein is escorted into court, Friday, May 25, 2018, in New York. Weinstein surrendered Friday to face rape and other charges from encounters with two women. (Mark Lennihan / AP)

Weinstein turns himself in; criminal charges are filed against him

Weinstein turns himself in to New York authorities, and prosecutors file criminal charges against him, including rape. Speaking to reporters after the court appearance, Weinstein's attorney, Benjamin Brafman, says Weinstein continues to "vehemently deny" any criminal acts and that any sexual acts with the women were consensual. "Mr. Weinstein did not invent the casting couch in Hollywood," Brafman adds. "And to the extent that there is bad behavior in that industry that is not what this is about. Bad behavior is not on trial in this case. It's only if you intentionally committed a criminal act, and Mr. Weinstein vigorously denies that."

Harvey Weinstein surrenders in New York City on charges including rape.

Weinsteins accusers celebrate his surrender

After Weinstein turns himself in to the New York Police Department, some of his accusers, including Rose McGowan, Mira Sorvino and Asia Argento, take to social media to celebrate the turn of events. However, some alleged victims  including "Pulp Fiction" actress Rosanna Arquette and former fashion model Juliana De Paula  still wonder whether justice will be served.

Grand jury indicts Weinstein on two counts of rape

A New York grand jury indicts Weinstein on two counts of rape and another charge of a criminal sexual act days after he surrendered to authorities. He is charged with rape in the first degree, rape in the third degree and committing a criminal sexual act in the first degree for alleged acts against two women in 2004 and 2013.

Three additional women sue Weinstein for sexual assault

Weinstein is the target of a lawsuit by three women, including technology sales executive Melissa Thompson. The latter accuses the producer of sexual assault and rape and says Brafmans law firm duped Thompson into thinking the firm would represent her against Weinstein. Caitlin Dulany alleges in the lawsuit that Weinstein first tried to get her into bed at a New York studio apartment and that he later trapped her in a hotel suite at the Cannes Film Festival and forcibly performed oral sex on her. Dancer and actress Larissa Gomes alleges in the suit that in 2000 Weinstein imprisoned her in a penthouse hotel room in Toronto, grabbed her and tried to kiss her on the lips.

Weinstein pleads not guilty

Weinstein pleads not guilty to charges stemming from a pair of alleged sexual assaults in New York City. As terrible a crime as rape is, it is equally reprehensible to be falsely accused of rape, and since Mr. Weinstein has denied these allegations, that's where we are, says Brafman.

Weinstein faces a potential life sentence

Weinstein is indicted by a grand jury in New York after he is accused of sexually assaulting a woman and of committing a pattern of sex crimes  charges that could carry a life sentence.

Weinstein pleads not guilty to new charges

Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sexual assault charges Monday. A judge orders that he be released on continued bail.

Weinstein Co. is officially sold for $289 million

Lantern Capital pays $289 million for the assets, including Weinstein Co.s 277-film library. The Dallas-based private equity firm had previously agreed to pay $310 million but secured a discount after agreeing to make payments on the studios contracts with filmmakers and actors.

The Weinstein Co.'s longtime headquarters on Greenwich Street in New York City. After the scandal, the company moved to nearby Hudson Street. (The Los Angeles Times)

Dallas-based equity firm Lantern Capital buys The Weinstein Co. After the sale, The Weinstein Co. is renamed Lantern Entertainment. (The Los Angeles Times)

Weinstein's lawyer tries to dismiss Ashley Judds lawsuit

Weinstein's lawyers ask a federal judge to dismiss Judd's lawsuit, which charges he ruined her career after she rejected his sexual advances. They argue the producer tried to live up to a "bargain" she proposed to let her touch her if she "won an Academy Award in one of his films."

Weinstein's lawyer claims alleged victim's emails show sex was consensual

Weinsteins lawyers on Friday file a motion to dismiss his indictment on multiple sex charges, arguing that grand jurors never saw exculpatory evidence, including emails in which a woman he is accused of raping allegedly professed her love for him years later.

One of Weinsteins accusers accused

Ten months after Asia Argento emerged as one of Weinsteins first  and most vocal  accusers in Ronan Farrows New Yorker expose, the Italian actress becomes the subject of sexual assault allegations. The New York Times reports that in the months after her allegations against Weinstein, Argento quietly paid off her own accusers, former child actor Jimmy Bennet, who claims that she assaulted him in 2013 when he was 17. The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department opens an investigation into the alleged incident the next day, when Weinsteins lawyer slams the hypocrisy of the settlement.

Harvey Weinstein sued for trafficking and assault

A German actress, whose pseudonym is Emma Loman, sues Harvey Weinstein for allegedly raping her at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.

Weinstein steps up attack on Judd

Weinstein claims in a new federal court filing that his alleged hotel room encounter with Judd was neither pervasive nor severe. He also calls her lawsuit, which claims sexual harassment and defamation, is inexcusably conclusory, speculative and implausible.

NBC News comes under fire for Ronan Farrows Weinstein report

Ten months after Farrows explosive report accusing Weinstein of sexual harassment and rape, NBC News faces heat (again) for passing on the story before it was ultimately printed in the New Yorker. Farrows former NBC News producer tells the New York Times that he was ordered by the higher-ups at NBC to stand down, thus effectively killing the story. The news division, however, argues that there were not enough on-the-record sources to move forward with the piece. The news division, in particular chief Andy Lack, is forced to do damage control in the coming days

Video shows Weinstein caressing woman before alleged rape

Sky News broadcasts a video of Weinstein fondling Melissa Thompson, who has accused him of rape.

Judd is cleared to move ahead with defamation lawsuit against Weinstein

A federal judge rules that Judd can move ahead with her defamation lawsuit against Weinstein, which claims that Weinstein defamed her to "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson as retaliation after she shut down his sexual advances.

UPDATES:

(This story was originally published on Oct. 19, 2017.)
Its good to see a woman standing tall. The words are spoken by the Belgian-born filmmaker Agnes Varda late into her wonderful new movie, as she and her crew snap photographs of three women in the French port city of Le Havre. Her plan is to make the women stand as tall as possible by printing out their portraits in large-scale, black-and-white reproductions and then plastering them against a massive tower of shipping containers.

At age 89, Varda herself stands about 5 feet tall but casts an enormous shadow. A master of her art, a pioneer of the French New Wave and, recently, the curator of perhaps the worlds most delightful Instagram account, she seems, if anything, to gain in nimbleness and curiosity with age. Her eyesight may be fading  a condition she invites us to share, at two key moments, in blurry point-of-view shots  but her openness to the world, her very driving force as a filmmaker, seems undimmed by the passage of time.

The title of her latest  Faces Places in English, Visages Villages in French  is as charmingly compact as she is, and as playfully matter-of-fact. For 89 minutes, Varda  teaming up with 34-year-old photographer and artist JR  takes us on a brisk, invigorating tour of various towns dotting the French countryside, riding in a large truck equipped with a photo booth and painted to look like a giant camera. At each new destination, the two chat with the locals, take their portraits and then paste them on the sides of houses, barns, shops and other structures in the vicinity.

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Its a participatory art project with rich antecedents in boths work, including Mur Murs, Vardas 1981 documentary about murals in Los Angeles, and JRs 2014 photo installation Au Pantheon! in Paris. And the effect is startling to behold, especially for the portraits subjects, who are often taken aback to see their faces enlarged and displayed over the places they call home.

A woman named Jeanine, upon seeing herself enshrined on the red-brick walls of the deteriorating mining town she has long called home, gasps and begins to cry. I dont know what to say, she says. If there were even a hint of self-congratulation on the films part, it would immediately be chased away by Varda, who gives the woman a reassuring little hug: Jeanine, its not sad. Were friends now!

You suspect that Varda, with her warm, friendly manner and her natural gift for listening and observing, makes friends fairly easily. In her 2000 documentary, The Gleaners and I, she established her ethos as a tireless, hawk-eyed collector of people and their stories, particularly those who society has seen fit to cast aside. As she and JR travel up and down the countryside, stopping off at sprawling farms and hillside cafes, they capture a fleet and funny travelogue that is also a moving record of a fast-changing way of life.

They speak with a farmer who marvels at the latest high-tech advances in bulldozing equipment but also notes, wistfully, that a once-thriving communal activity has now become a smaller solo operation. (His farm is in Cherence, Normandy, near the former home of Vardas friend, the late writer Nathalie Sarraute.) Elsewhere, their work has an implicit dimension of advocacy, as when they visit a salt factory whose workers face long hours and chemical hazards. They erect a portrait of a goat on the side of a barn, its horns bared, in protest of the common local practice of dehorning.

The images they capture  strung together with playful visual transitions, snippets of voice-over and a jaunty score  provide both a unique snapshot of contemporary life and a poignant testament to lifes evanescence. And this, in turn, leads Varda to reflect quietly on the subject of her own impermanence, which haunts this picture in the gentlest of ways. Faces Places turns out to be a road movie in more than a merely literal sense. It is at once a roving journey into environments we rarely see in cinema and an incomplete but invaluable map of Vardas memories.

Some of these memories are shared ones, particularly among cinephiles well versed in the movement that Varda helped bring into being. In one delightful scene, her companion pushes her in a wheelchair through a museum gallery, re-creating one of the most memorable moments in Jean-Luc Godards Band of Outsiders. JR, with whom Varda forms an affectionately bickering, perfectly mismatched duo, likes to hide behind a pair of hipster shades, making him a perfect contemporary stand-in for the Godard whom Varda captured in her 1962 classic, Cleo From 5 to 7.

The real, present-day Godard is never seen in Faces Places, though he is invoked at several instances, particularly in one emotionally startling scene that plays like a harsh, bittersweet reckoning for these two towering octogenarian artists. And Varda, with the combination of rigor, spontaneity and generosity that has become her artistic signature, gives herself over fully to the emotion of the moment, embracing the beauty of what she has seen and, in the same instance, all that there still is to see.

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Faces Places

(In French with English subtitles)

Rating: PG, for brief nude images and thematic elements

Running time: 1 hour, 29 minutes

Playing: Laemmles Playhouse 7, Pasadena; Laemmles Royal Theatre, West Los Angeles; and Laemmles Town Center 5, Encino

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justin.chang@latimes.com

@JustinCChang
Names are endowed with unusual power in Goodbye Christopher Robin, a honey-hued but brittle-edged drama about the English author A.A. Milne and the emotional price he paid for his most enduring literary creation. Here and there we glean a few charming insights into Milnes methods of naming his characters: why Eeyore is perfect for a donkey, why Tigger is preferable to Tiger and, most intriguingly, how a Bear of Very Little Brain could only be called Winnie-the-Pooh.

For his part, Alan Alexander Milne (played by Domhnall Gleeson) was known by those closest to him as Blue, apparently due to his eye color, though also perhaps in reference to his perpetually glum mood. The name of his son, Christopher Robin, soon became known to readers all over the world, though his parents always referred to him by his boyhood nickname, Billy Moon. In using these aliases, the film bolsters its claim to an intimate knowledge of the Milnes home life  a life that is rendered all too tastefully here, though also with a dollop of bitterness that cuts nicely through the treacle.

Directed with a smooth if heavy hand by Simon Curtis (My Week With Marilyn, Woman in Gold) from a script by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Simon Vaughan, Goodbye Christopher Robin is the latest period tearjerker to take up the curious case history of a beloved childrens author. Considering such past examples of the form as Saving Mr. Banks and Finding Neverland, this is a subgenre that clearly likes its gerunds; an alternate title for the new film might have been Torturing Christopher Robin.

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Curtis film begins and ends in 1941 but mainly unfolds during the interwar years. Milne, a celebrated London writer deeply scarred by his experiences fighting in World War I, longs to write something more serious and profound than the amusing plays and stories on which he has built his reputation. And so he retreats to the Sussex countryside with his spirited socialite wife, Daphne (Margot Robbie), and their sweet, impressionable Billy Moon (Will Tilston, a natural-born charmer).

Also joining them is their loving nanny, Olive (the always excellent Kelly Macdonald), who lavishes the boy with the affection he receives only occasionally from his distant, inattentive parents. Despite all the golden-afternoon lighting, the churningly sentimental music and the smothering atmosphere of tweed, by far the most compelling element of Goodbye Christopher Robin is its gently stinging critique of this not-uncommon state of domestic affairs.

Daphne may shower her son with stuffed animals and give them funny voices to boot, but mostly she seems keen on keeping him out of the way, so as not to disturb his fathers work. Ironically, then, its during a precious few days of father-son bonding  Olive is away on a family matter, and a marital spat has sent Daphne fleeing to London  that Milne finds his greatest inspiration.

Left to their own devices, Blue and Billy Moon overcome their initial awkwardness by taking lovely walks through the nearby forest, a kind of proto-Hundred Acre Wood. Theres a charming sequence in which they throw a dinner party for themselves and all those stuffed animals. Before long Milne is committing Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and Christopher Robin himself to the page, complete with illustrations by his friend E.H. Shepard (Stephen Campbell Moore). Hes unaware that he will soon have a runaway literary sensation and, thanks to hordes of photographers and screaming fans, a none-too-happy child on his hands.

In 2014, Winnie-the-Pooh, Milnes first volume of short stories about the beloved bear, topped the BBCs poll of favorite childrens books, beating out Alices Adventures in Wonderland and The Hobbit, among others. Widely loved as it may be, however, the Pooh oeuvre (Poohvre?) has also had its share of non-fans, including, for a spell, Christopher Robin Milne himself. Reviewing The House at Pooh Corner for the New Yorker in 1928, the critic Dorothy Parker took a delicious stab at Milnes fanciful play with the English language, writing that she fwowed up more than once while reading it.

You wont necessarily fwow up at Goodbye Christopher Robin, though you may be disappointed if you go in expecting, say, a realistic portrait of post-traumatic stress disorder or a nuanced understanding of how a lasting work of art is made. But if you do see the movie, by all means surrender to its portrait of an earlier era of toxic celebrity culture, and also to the bracing nastiness of the central performances. Gleeson plays Milne as a bit of a prig, capable of lowering the room temperature several degrees with his joylessly acerbic wit, and Robbie, as the self-absorbed Daphne, is even more boldly unsympathetic.

Husband and wife often seem dreadfully mismatched on-screen, but that only compounds our sense of their sons tragedy  a tragedy that seems complete when Billy Moon grows up, and the adorable Tilston is replaced on-screen by a sullen Alex Lawther. Dreadful as it must be to be exploited by ones own parents, Lawther is not well served by his characters tendency toward self-righteous bitterness. He cant keep Goodbye Christopher Robin from quickly crossing the line into good riddance.

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Goodbye Christopher Robin

Rating: PG, for thematic elements, some bullying, war images and brief language

Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes

Playing: The Landmark, West Los Angeles

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justin.chang@latimes.com

@JustinCChang
Jan Pascoe and her husband, John, were trapped. The world was on fire, and Jan was hyperventilating from fear. Then they remembered their neighbors pool.

Youve got to calm down, Jan, she told herself. You cant go underwater and hyperventilate.

At 12:40 a.m. Monday, Jan called 911. She reached a dispatcher.

We are going to get into the neighbors pool, should we do this?

The dispatcher said, Get anywhere safe.

Please. We will be in the pool, Jan replied. This is where we are.

In my naivete, all night long, she would tell me later, I thought someone would come to get us.

Jan, 65, and her husband, John, 70, debated when to get in. She wanted to right away, but John said, Hold off. The waters cold. Lets see what happens.

As they stood at the edge of the pool, the neighbors house caught fire. A big tree next to the pool went up in flames. The railroad ties framing the concrete steps leading to the pool ignited.

The heat was whoa, John said. He stripped off his pants and jacket, and wearing only a T-shirt, turned to Jan and said, Jump in now.

John and Jan Pascoe survived the firestorm Monday morning by running out of their home and into their neighbors swimming pool in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

She was wearing a thin tank top and lightweight pajama bottoms. Her glasses had disappeared.

They submerged themselves in the blackened, debris-filled water. They had grabbed T-shirts to hold over their faces to protect themselves from embers when they surfaced for air.

They moved to the part of the pool farthest from the house. John was worried about having to tread water, or hanging on to the side, which could be dangerous with all the burning objects flying around. Blessedly, the pool had no deep end. It was about 4 feet deep all the way across.

To stay warm, they held each other. They stood back to back. They spoke about their deep love for each other and their family.

Jan watched the moon for clues about time passing. It didnt move.

She waited for the house to burn to the ground, for the fire to pass so they could warm themselves on the concrete steps. The wind howled and the sound of explosions filled the air. Propane tanks? Ammunition? They had no idea.

I just kept going under, she said. It was the only way to survive. And I kept saying, How long does it take for a house to burn down? We were freezing.

She had tucked her phone into her shoe at the pools edge. When she saw it next, it had melted.

At bedtime, there had been no hint of the conflagration to come.

Around 10 p.m. Sunday, Jan had walked out onto the deck of the home she and John, an artist and retired wine broker, had built in the hills above Santa Rosa. She wanted to look at the moon, and check on her tomato plants. It was a beautiful October night. The sky was clear.

She took a shower, and when she got out, she smelled smoke. John went outside and thought he saw fire, but it was just the moon rising.

Wed experienced fire before, said Jan, who retired from Sonoma Country Day School in June. But the issue always was, how far away is it?

At that point, according to her phone, it was 11 miles away. Theyd received no official alerts.

They got into bed.

Their older daughter, Zoe Giraudo, called from San Francisco. Her father-in-laws home in Napa Valleys Silverado neighborhood had burned down. That was 40 miles from the Pascoes. I think you guys should evacuate, Zoe said.

Maybe she was right. No need to panic, but just to be prudent, John grabbed towels and gently wrapped two Dale Chihuly glass bowls that he inherited from his mother and put them in his Toyota Tacoma truck. He took some of his paintings.

A couple hours later, the wind kicked up ferociously. It felt like a dry hurricane.

Soon, the Pascoes would be facing a choice no one should ever have to make: Do we freeze or do we burn?

Jan Pascoe sits among the burned landscape near her home where she and husband John survived the firestorm Monday morning by running out of their home and into their neighbors swimming pool in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Zoe called again at midnight: You guys need to get out.

I looked out the window, Jan said, and all I saw was a red glow. I said, John, weve got to get out of here.

She scooped up their 17-year-old cat and ran to her Mercedes-Benz sedan. John got in his truck. They drove down their long driveway to Heights Road.

It was a wall of flames, Jan said. They drove back up and parked next to their 1,800-square-foot house. When Jan opened her car door, the cat leaped out and has not been seen since.

Their mountaintop home was built like a boat with small rooms on 11 levels. It was filled with dozens of Johns paintings. Each room was designed to remind them of places theyd encountered during their travels. One had tatami mats, an idea from a restaurant in Bangkok. Their bedroom was inspired by a house theyd rented on Thailands Ko Samui Island. Their expansive decks, the site of countless parties over nearly four decades, offered spectacular views of the hills.

Wind-driven flames were closing in.

We were in survival mode, Jan said. What are we going to do? What are we going to do?

I met the Pascoes on Wednesday evening at Zoes house in San Franciscos Marina neighborhood. They were clean and composed, a handsome couple in borrowed clothes.

They sat side by side on an overstuffed couch, holding hands, recounting the night they could have died. Occasionally, Johns eyes filled with tears. The depth of their loss had not quite sunk in.

The only physical hint of their trauma was the color of Jans feet, still soot-stained despite a perfect pedicure. Jan wore a cozy, soft sweatshirt, and shivered. We cant get warm, she said.

On Sunday night, Zoe, 38, and her sister, Mia, 32, had spent excruciating hours on the phone  with each other, hospitals, shelters, friends and relatives.

At 7 a.m. Monday, Zoe looked at her husband and said, Do you think they are gone? Do you think I need to prepare myself for this?

An hour and a half later, they got word that their parents had survived.

We started sobbing, Mia said.

I started screaming, Zoe said. The first thing mom said to me was I feel so bad I wasnt able to get ahold of you. Youre apologizing to me? After all youve been through?

John and Jan Pascoe survived the firestorm Monday morning by running out of their home and into their neighbors swimming pool in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

At first light, the Pascoes had been in the pool for about six hours. When the worst seemed to be over, John slipped Jans melted shoes onto his feet as best he could and picked his way up the hill to see their house. It was gone.

All his paintings. The Chihuly bowls. Everything.

When I made my way to their house Wednesday, I saw their burned-out car and truck sitting on rims. I drove about a third of a mile to their neighbors house and saw the pool from the driveway.

John Pascoe takes photographs after he and wife Jan survived the firestorm Monday morning. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The whole scene looked like the aftermath of the apocalypse. The childproof fencing was in tatters. The water looked toxic. At the far end of the pool, on the decking, a life-size statue of a cherubic angel made it through the fire unscathed.

The Pascoes had no idea how widespread and destructive the Tubbs fire had been. Entire neighborhoods had been laid to waste between their home and Highway 101, a distance of about five miles.

John was naked but for the T-shirt he wore when he jumped into the pool. His clothes had blown away. He fashioned Jans tank top into a loincloth. I made a diaper out of it, he said.

Jan wore her pajama bottoms and the T-shirt shed draped over her head.

Their faces were sooty. Their blondish gray hair was blackened and matted from all the soot and ash. It was about 55 degrees. They were wet, cold and barefoot. But they were alive.

We held hands, John said, and walked out.

robin.abcarian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AbcarianLAT

ALSO

A family of four tried to outrun the firestorm  only three made it

A Santa Rosa woman died in the fires, her neighbors survived. Here are their stories

At Napa vineyards untouched by wildfires, the grapes must still be picked

Inseparable for 75 years, couple perishes in Napa fire together

More from Robin Abcarian
In his later years, Charles Rippey had lovingly begun to call his wife his queen.

Here comes the queen, he used to say, as Sara approached in her wheelchair.

He was 100 and she was 98, and the two had been inseparable since they were children in grade school. This week, both died when a wildfire in Napa engulfed their home.

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The couple lived in a nice ranch-style house in the Silverado Resort. It had a deck and a pool and a big hill out back.

In the 1980s, Sara brought her eldest son, Mike, to Westgate Drive and asked him to buy this house for her.

Itll be the best investment youll ever make, she told him.

Mike, 71, said his mother was right. This was the place where his parents lived the longest  about 35 years.

The Rippeys grew up in the small town of Hartford, Wis. They went to high school together, to prom, then studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Soon after they married in 1942, Charles, better known as Peach  a nickname his mother gave him as a child because of his rosy cheeks  went off to war. His deployments took him to North Africa, Italy, France and Germany, leading a company of 200 black soldiers.

When he returned home, he was hired as an engineer at Firestone in Akron, Ohio. The company promoted him over the years and assigned him to posts in distant places, such as Sweden and Argentina.

Sara stayed home and raised five children.

She used to make us the best eggs, Mike said. Each kid liked theirs a different way  scrambled, over medium, poached.

When Mike moved out to Northern California after college, his siblings and parents eventually followed. This summer, the family gathered to celebrate the Rippeys 75th wedding anniversary.

His father doted on his mother, Mike said. He bought her jewelry, took her dancing and told her he could not live without her.

Sara was not as affectionate, but everywhere he went, she went, he said.

The night of the fire, the couple were home with their caretaker, Maria Sandovar. Strong winds made the lights flicker. Maria looked out the back window at some point and saw that the homes fence was on fire.

She ran to lift Sara out of bed onto her wheelchair. Peach was in the hallway.

Whats going on? he asked.

In a matter of minutes, black smoke had filled the entire house.

Maria called out to Peach, but there was no response. Without electricity, she could not open the garage door to get Sara out.

She jumped over a collapsed fence and escaped, just before the roof crashed down.

Mike, who was flying in from London, heard about the fire from relatives. He knew his parents had not survived.

He said the family was struggling with the tragedy, but they also felt a sense of peace.

Saras health had severely declined since she suffered a stroke five years ago. Peach never left her side, not even to grab dinner with Mike who visited two to three times a week.

I can safely say for my father that if hed gotten out, Mike said, there would have been no way to console him.

esmeralda.bermudez@latimes.com

@LATBermudez
Evacuating Calistoga residents Calistoga, Calif., police officers inform Rancho de Calistoga mobile home park resident Larry Strakbein about mandatory evacuation orders. The departments goal is to have all 5,000 residents of Calistoga out by 5 p.m.
North Korea appointed Lt. Gen. Kim Rak-gyom as head of its Strategic Rocket Force ahead of a Workers Party meeting in April, it was revealed Thursday. The Strategic Rocket Force oversees all of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile facilities.

"According to a source, North Korea revamped its Strategic Rocket Force and appointed Kim Rak-gyom as its head, replacing Choi Sang-ryo," said Chung Sung-jang of the Sejong Institute.

Kim was the only lieutenant general to be elected to the party's Central Military Commission in April, a move which appears to reflect the importance of the command within the armed forces. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a speech on April 15 addressed the "bold soldiers of the People's Army, Navy, Air Force and Strategic Rocket Force."
As fast-moving fires invaded neighborhoods across Northern California this week, residents in Napa and Sonoma counties said they were alerted to the approaching disaster by frantic shouts from neighbors, honking horns, blaring smoke alarms and even the noise of an American flag whipping in the intense winds.

But its becoming increasingly clear that residents did not receive warnings on their cellphones similar to an Amber Alert. The so-called Wireless Emergency Alert sends loud, screeching alarms or vibrations to all cellphones in a geographic area unless a user specifically opts out.

Officials are now facing questions about why authorities could not reach more people as the fires barreled toward homes late Sunday night and early Monday.

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Neither Sonoma County nor Napa County sent out warnings through the Wireless Emergency Alert system, officials said.

Sonoma County officials had contemplated sending out such an alert, but decided against it because of the concern the alert would have pinged every cellphone connected to a cell tower in Sonoma County, Jennifer Larocque, a county spokeswoman, said Thursday. That could have caused unnecessary gridlock on the streets of the county far away from the fire and could have impeded the arrival of emergency responders to threatened areas, she said.

Wireless Emergency Alerts, however, can be used in other jurisdictions to target a smaller area. A Federal Communications Commission fact sheet says the system enables officials to target warnings to specific geographic areas, such as lower Manhattan. The city of Los Angeles last year directed such an alert to cellphones just within a 2-mile radius of Los Angeles International Airport to update people that a potential security incident had been resolved.

Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said Wednesday that the county sent out warnings through its SoCoAlert service and Nixle, both systems that require residents to register in advance in order to receive messages. The county also sent out reverse 911 calls to landlines in unincorporated areas. Santa Rosa, where block after block of suburban homes was destroyed, sent out alerts through SoCoAlert, Nixle and on social media.

Sonoma County is among dozens of California jurisdictions that applied for and received authority from the federal government to issue Wireless Emergency Alerts.

Napa County issued alerts through Nixle, but officials said some residents had trouble receiving the warnings.

The death toll from the fires rose Thursday to at least 29, with some victims simply unable to outrun the flames. An estimated 3,500 homes, businesses and other structures were burned.

In the devastated Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa, some residents of scorched homes said they were surprised they didnt get an alert on their phones.

1 / 59 An inmate firefighter monitors flames as a house burns in the Napa wine region. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 2 / 59 Flames ravage a home in the Napa wine region in California. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 3 / 59 A firefighter walks near a pool as a neighboring home burns in the Napa wine region. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 4 / 59 Firefighters douse flames as a home burns in the Napa wine region, as multiple wind-driven fires whip through the region. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 5 / 59 Louis Reavis views the burned remains of his classic Oldsmobile at his home in Napa. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 6 / 59 A tent structure built for the 2017 Safeway Open burns in Napa on Monday. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 7 / 59 The Estancia Apartment Homes on Old Redwood Hwy. were completely destroyed in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 59 A resident rushes to save his home as a wildfire moves through Glen Ellen, Calif. Tens of thousands of acres and dozens of homes and businesses have burned in wildfires in Napa and Sonoma counties. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) 9 / 59 A Fountaingrove Village man surveys the rubble of his home in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 59 Downed power poles and lines block a street in Hidden Valley. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 11 / 59 A fcar burns in the driveway of a destroyed home in Fountaingrove Village. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 59 A wheelchair left abandoned at the evacuated Villa Capri assisted living facility on Fountaingrove Parkway in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 13 / 59 A resident rushes to save his home as fire moves through the area in Glen Ellen, California. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) 14 / 59 A San Jose firefighter keep flames down at a home in Hidden Valley. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 59 A Fountaingrove Village couple takes in the ruins of their home after fire ripped through the neighborhood. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 59 A home destroyed in the fast moving wildfire that ripped through Glen Ellen. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 59 A swimming pool reflects the damage caused by the wildfires that moved through neighborhoods near Glen Ellen. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 59 Benicia Police Officer Alejandro Maravilla, left, offers resident Gwen Adkins, 84, a soda while patrolling in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 59 Spencer Blackwell, left, and Danielle Tate find Tates fathers gun collection, melted and burned, inside a gun safe at her fathers home in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 20 / 59 An American flag is draped on a burned pickup truck on Camino del Prado in the Coffey Park neighborhood in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 21 / 59 Scorched wine barrels at the Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa after the wildfire burned through. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 59 Fire lights up the night sky framed by a vineyard near Kenwood. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 59 Oakland police officers knock on doors as residents of the Rancho de Calistoga mobile home park are told to evacuate in Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 59 An aerial view of the Coffey Park neighborhood detroyed by wildfire in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 25 / 59 Contra Costa paramedics help Bill Parras, 96, evacuate his home in Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 26 / 59 CHP officers study neighborhood maps before going door to door to tell Sonoma residents to voluntarily evacuate ahead of the wildfire. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 59 A home perched on top of a hill sits in the foreground of a fire moving up on Shiloh Ridge near Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 28 / 59 Scorched grapes and vines along the edge of Storybook Mountain Vineyards in Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 59 John and Jan Pascoe survived the firestorm by running out of their home and into their neighbors swimming pool in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 59 Hundreds of burned wine bottles at the destroyed Helena View Johnston Vineyards near Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 59 A Contra Costa County firefighter breaks a wall with an ax as his crew battles flames inside a home along Highway 29 north of Calistoga on Oct. 12. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 59 Atascadero Firefighters try to control flames burning inside a home along Highway 29 in Calistoga on Oct. 12. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 59 Contra Costa firefighters work to put out flames burning inside a home along Highway 29 north of Calistoga on Oct. 12. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 59 Search teams sift through the debris of mobile homes at the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 35 / 59 A worker pulls out a firearm from the burned wreckage as search team members look through the debris at the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 59 Search team members sift through debris at the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 59 Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey surveys the damage to the Coffey Park neighborhood. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 38 / 59 Melted metal is seen on a car in the shadow of a destroyed home in Napa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 59 Lola Cornish, 50, and her daughter Kat Corazza, 18, look over recovered family jewels that survived the fire at Cornishs grandfathers home in Napa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 59 Some residents were allowed to return to their properties Friday in a neighborhood in Napa that was ravaged by the Atlas fire. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 59 A helicopter prepares to drop water on a fire that threatens the Oakmont community along Highway 12 in Santa Rosa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 59 A helicopter drops water on a fire that threatens the Ledson Winery and Historic Castle Vineyards in Kenwood on Friday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 59 Manuel Mendoza sorts through donated clothing at the Bridge Church in Santa Rosa on Sunday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 59 Jean Schettler hugs Father Moses Brown after Mass at St. Rose Church on Sunday. Schettlers daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, after losing their house in the fires, have moved into the Santa Rosa home of Jean and Jim Schettler. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 59 Gianna Gathman, 18, hugs her grandfather Jim Schettler during Mass at St. Rose Church in Santa Rosa on Sunday. Gathmans family lost their home in the Fountaingrove neighborhood to the fire. They are now living with the Schettlers. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 59 Kimberly Flinn holds onto the only item that wasnt lost in a fire that destroyed her home in the Mark West Springs area in Santa Rosa. Flynn recovered a ceramic white butterfly that she had made in memory of a boy she used to babysit and was killed in a hit and run accident. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 59 Gerry Miller, 81, tells San Francisco Police Department Officer Gary Loo how grateful she is to find her home still standing. Residents were allowed to return to their homes in the Mark West Springs area in Santa Rosa Sunday night. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 59 Denise Finitz, 61, thanks Torrance Fire Department firefighters Keith Picket, right, and Capt. Mike Salcido on Oct. 16 after they helped her find her mothers wedding ring in the ashes of her home, destroyed by wildfires on Carriage Lane in Wikiup. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 59 A search and rescue crew member gives a cadaver dog some water during the hunt for a possible fire victim in the Mark West Springs area of Santa Rosa on Oct. 15. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 59 Burned cars like this vintage Volkswagen litter the landscape in Coffey Park. The neighborhood was completely destroyed by the Tubbs fire 11 days ago, with many residents fleeing in haste as their homes were enveloped in flames. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 59 A giraffe framed in the smoke filled air at the Safari West preserve. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 52 / 59 A Watusi bull looks out through the haze of the recent Tubbs fire at the Safari West preserve. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 53 / 59 Peter Lang, 77, owner of the Safari West preserve, stands between a pair of white rhinos against a backdrop of charred hillside in Santa Rosa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 54 / 59 Mark Sharp, a resident of Coffey Park, sifts through the remains of his charred home in search of his wifes wedding band. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 55 / 59 Flowers were left on the mailbox of Roy Howard Bowman, 87, and his wife, Irma Elsie Bowman, 88 who died at their Fisher Lake Drive home from the Redwood Valley fire. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 56 / 59 Dee Pallesen, left, and her daughter Emily Learn console each as they look over Pallesens home, destroyed by the Redwood Valley fire. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 57 / 59 Jason Miller plants an American flag on the charred remains of his house as residents of Coffey Park return home. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 58 / 59 Burned vehicles litter the landscape in Coffey Park. The neighborhood was completely destroyed by the Tubbs fire 11 days ago, with many residents fleeing in haste as their homes were enveloped in flames. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 59 / 59 A pickup truck rests beside a row of charred trees in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Michael Desmond, 59, a retired Homeland Security investigator, said he was lying in bed Sunday night skimming news stories on his iPad when he heard a commotion outside. Finally, he heard what a firefighter was saying: Firestorm. Get out of here now! Take nothing! Just go!

So I got my dog. I got my wallet. Got my keys. And left, he said Wednesday, as he walked down the street of his neighborhood carrying a charred mailbox, one of the few things he was able to salvage from his home destroyed by wildfire.

I think they were totally unprepared for this, he said.

A few blocks away, high school teacher Anna Solano, 50, said she also received no phone warning.

Solano, who on Wednesday sifted through the ashes of her home looking for keys to equipment lockers and classrooms, had smelled smoke earlier Sunday evening but thought there was just a house fire in the area. About 2:30 a.m. Monday, a man knocked on her door and kept banging, waking up Solanos dog, who eventually woke her up.

That gentleman saved our lives. A stranger, she said. We saw the fire coming. We left here in five minutes.

High school teacher Anna Solano sifts through the ashes of her home looking for keys she needs at school. pic.twitter.com/wAckJ5zATn  Phil Willon (@philwillon) October 11, 2017

The fire  one of the most destructive in California history  moved through northern Santa Rosa swiftly, with winds clocking 50 mph carrying embers that ignited numerous spot fires, burning down entire neighborhoods.

The fire came through the night. It was rapidly moving, said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Governors Office of Emergency Services. Some people were awakened while the fire was actually on their doorstep.

Sonoma County officials said it will take time to determine the reach of the alerts they tried to issue.

I dont know how effective that was, said Giordano, the Sonoma County sheriff. Its going to take a long time until we understand that.

The Wireless Emergency Alert system was rolled out in 2012, and California used it to send an Amber Alert for the first time in 2013. The alerts are transmitted on an exclusive frequency that can reach many people at the same time, and Amber Alerts  which notify the public of the case of an abducted child  have proved to be effective.

Alerts such as these have been used to warn New Yorkers about the approach of Hurricane Sandy and tell the people of Moore, Okla., about the arrival of a massive tornado.

But some local jurisdictions dont use them  or dont know how.

This year, San Jose officials were roundly chastised for failing to warn the public about destructive floodwaters before they overflowed through densely populated neighborhoods along Coyote Creek amid the winters heavy rains.

In July, a withering report concluded that in San Jose, there was a general lack of institutional knowledge on how to broadcast alerts on the Wireless Emergency Alert system. San Jose itself at the time was not set up to issue such alerts on its own. Santa Clara County did have the ability to do so, but no one from the city asked the county to release an alert on its behalf.

For local authorities to use the federal system, municipalities need to apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to become an alerting authority. Besides the city of Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco and Sacramento County are among the jurisdictions that have registered to use the wireless alert system.

Napa County is not listed. Heather Ruiz, a spokeswoman for the Napa County Office of Emergency Services, said her county has not been using the Wireless Emergency Alert system and was not sure if they had the ability to do so. Instead, they issue alerts through Nixle.

Mark Eggan, the Napa County Sheriffs Office information technology chief, said 1,500 people responded to a Nixle alert Sunday night by clicking on a link to the departments web server, causing it to crash. During the servers crash, people could read the brief message on their phones, but the link to get further information did not work. Eggan said the system had never been taxed like that before.

There can be hiccups with Wireless Emergency Alerts. In Los Angeles, a message can be directed to a zone of just a quarter-mile from a single point. But due to the complexities of cellphone communications, a message directed to cellphones around the Port of Los Angeles might inadvertently be picked up by a few cellphones in the distant San Fernando Valley.

And because Wireless Emergency Alerts offer only 140 characters, the wording of a notice needs to be very carefully worded to not trigger undue panic and undue evacuations, said Kate Hutton, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department. You dont want to confuse people.

So theres a balancing act emergency management officials need to deal with in a crisis. You never want to unnecessarily scare people or wake them up. But  we have to factor in peoples lives, Hutton said. That might mean alerting people outside the alert area. Thats an unfortunate reality with the technology we have.

This week, Napa County officials said its possible alerts were hampered by fire damage to cellphone towers. The fragility of the cellphone tower network  highlighted by natural disasters in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico  caused the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, to put the spotlight on technology in cellphones that can be used to receive alerts through a chip that can receive FM radio signals, which can work even when cellphone towers are powerless or destroyed.

Though other cellphone manufacturers equip their phones with FM chips, Apple says its most recent models, the iPhone 7 and 8, do not have them.

It is time for Apple to step up to the plate and put the safety of the American people first, Pai said in a statement released last month.

Pai said he has long urged cellphone manufacturers that had turned off FM chips on their cellphones to reactivate them, so that people can use them to get vital access to life-saving information. He applauded companies that have done so, and singled out Apple as the one major phone manufacturer that has resisted doing so.

In a statement, Apple said the company cares deeply about the safety of our users and noted that users can dial emergency services and receive Amber Alerts and emergency weather notifications. The company did not respond to questions about whether the company would install FM chips in future models of the iPhone.

Fires in Northern an Southern Calif. create widespread damage, destroying homes and claiming live

Listed below are the jurisdictions in California, as of Aug. 8, with the authority to issue Wireless Emergency Alerts, which are transmitted through FEMAs Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS).

Alameda County Operational Area

Butte County

California Governors Office of Emergency Services

California Highway Patrol

City of Lancaster

City of Los Angeles

City of Monterey Park

City of Moreno Valley Emergency Operations Center

City of Oakland

City of Rancho Cucamonga

City of San Leandro

City of Tehachapi

City of Torrance Police Department

Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

County of Sacramento

County of Tulare

County of Tuolumne

Fresno County Sheriff-Coroners Office

Lake County Sheriffs Office of Emergency Services

Madera County Sheriffs Department

Marin County Sheriffs Office of Emergency Services

Mendocino County Sheriffs Office

Merced County Office of Emergency Services

Mono County Sheriffs Office

Monterey County

Northern California Regional Intelligence Center

Orange County

Placer County Office of Emergency Services

Riverside & San Bernardino Counties (LECC)

San Diego County Office of Emergency Services

San Francisco Department of Emergency Management

San Francisco International Airport

San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services

San Luis Obispo County Office of Emergency Services

Santa Barbara County

Santa Clara County Office of Emergency Services

Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1

Shasta Area Safety Communications Agency (SHASCOM)

Siskiyou County

Solano County Sheriffs Office of Emergency Services

Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Services Department

Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services

Tehama County Sheriffs Office

Town of Truckee Police Department

Ventura County Sheriffs Office - Office of Emergency Services

Yolo County

These jurisdictions in California, as of Aug. 8, were in the process of obtaining the ability to issue Wireless Emergency Alerts.

Arcata Police Department

Camp Roberts Maneuver Training Center

City of Benicia

City of Culver City

City of Duarte

Clearlake Police Department

Fort Hunter Liggett

Glendora Police Department

Los Angeles County Los Angeles World Airports

Mariposa County Sheriffs Office

San Bernardino County Fire Department

San Mateo County

Union City Police Department

United States Army Garrison Presidio of Monterey

UCLA

U.S. Army Garrison Fort Irwin

Source: FEMA

Willon reported from Santa Rosa, Calif., Megerian from Mather, Calif., St. John from Napa, and Lin from Los Angeles.

phil.willon@latimes.com

chris.megerian@latimes.com

paige.stjohn@latimes.com

ron.lin@latimes.com

UPDATES:

5:30 p.m.: This article was updated with a higher death toll in the Northern California fires.

3:30 p.m.: This article was updated with a quote from a Sonoma County spokeswoman saying the county had decided against sending out a Wireless Emergency Alert. It was also updated with information about how Wireless Emergency Alerts can be used to target smaller areas, and a quote from a spokeswoman from the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department.

Oct. 12, 7:30 a.m.: This article was updated with a map and an image of an alert.

This article was originally published at 7:40 p.m. on Oct. 11.
Shifting winds prompted a new set of evacuations Wednesday as the wildfires across Northern California continued to rage.

In Napa County, authorities issued evacuation orders for the entire towns of Calistoga and Geyserville as flame approached. Fire officials urged residents to flee, noting that the fires had already destroyed more than 2,000 structures and killed at least 21.

Not everyone was listening.

Among those who aimed to stay put was Calistoga resident Dennis DeVilbiss.

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Im not leaving, the former police officer and firefighter said.

Standing on the wooden front porch of his cul-de-sac home on the south end of the resort town as smoke wafted over nearby forests, the 60-year-old said, Why should I? Im in a good spot. Im monitoring all the radio bands. I just put a sprinkler on my roof. Oh, and Ive got goggles, heavy gloves and a respirator.

His confidence befit the German translation of his last name: Devil Biter.

He paused, and added with a smile, Im not stupid. If its time to run, Ill run like hell.

His partner, DJ Marrs Smith, a former firefighter herself, was not so sure.

Wrapped in a bathrobe with bright leopard spots and wearing a face mask to filter out smoke, she said, Im not sure what I am going to do. My friends are begging me to leave.

Officials said the threat was real.

Winds have shifted out of the northeast, Sgt. Scott Fleming of the St. Helena Police Department said. Our goal is to have all 5,000 residents out by 5 p.m.

Officials advised residents to leave the city via State Route 29 south, or head south on the Silverado Trail to Zinfandel Lane, then head west to the 29.

A shelter is open at American Canyon High School at 3000 Newell Drive in American Canyon.

There were also worries to the south.

The immense and growing Atlas fire, which began burning in Napa County, doubled in size overnight and the flames were moving south toward Fairfield, a North Bay Area city along Interstate 80.

Authorities began evacuating the Green Valley area just outside the city and issued an advisory evacuation order for another neighborhood, warning residents to be ready to evacuate as forecasts predicted volatile and gusty winds in the area, local police said in an alert.

Three school districts in the area -- with a total enrollment of about 81,000 students -- shut down classes for the rest of the week as thick smoke enveloped the area.

Many people in the city are anxious.

Jennifer Leonard, a spokeswoman for the Vacaville School District north of Fairfield, said students and district staffers had friends or family in the area who had lost homes or loved ones in the fire.

This morning it felt like a war zone, yesterday evening you could stare straight at the sun, it was just this purple circle in the sky, she said. Ash was falling from the sky.

It is a heavy and ominous reminder of this tragedy that is going on just over the hill, she said. It is a just a very solemn day for sure.

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

javier.panzar@latimes.com

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Sahagun reported from Calistoga, Calif; Panzar and Tchekmedyian from Los Angeles.
In a small step forward for California WaterFix, a major San Joaquin Valley irrigation district on Thursday tentatively endorsed a partial investment in the water-delivery project.

With virtually no discussion, the board of the Kern County Water Agency approved a letter to the state saying that the agency was interested in pursuing a 6.5% share in the $17-billion project, which after a decade of planning is going through a crucial funding stage.

After the vote, Curtis Creel, Kerns general manager, said that figure could go up or down, depending on further discussions with Kerns member irrigation districts.

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We all recognize this is an iterative process, Creel said.

I think its pretty significant, he said of the 6.5% share, which equals roughly $1 billion in WaterFix funding. A full buy-in on Kerns part would amount to slightly more than twice that amount.

Earlier this week, the projects biggest potential customer, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, committed to paying for roughly a quarter of the project.

WaterFixs survival depends on the willingness of the urban and agricultural districts that get water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to pay for the project, which calls for construction of two massive tunnels under the delta and a new diversion point on the Sacramento River.

The financing scheme suffered a major setback last month when the Westlands Water District, the states largest irrigation district, said its growers could not afford the tunnels and voted not to participate in WaterFix.

Kerns move on Thursday pushes funding commitments to only about a third of the projects cost, making it clear that months of negotiations lie ahead with other potential customers of WaterFix, a top priority of Gov. Jerry Browns administration.

Brown last week personally lobbied members of the MWD and Kern boards to commit to financing. In the only board comments before Thursdays vote, Kern president Ted Page acknowledged the governors commitment to moving the project forward.

California desperately needs this water infrastructure, Page said. The vote was unanimous, with one member absent.

As part of the funding plan, the largely urban State Water Project agencies that receive delta supplies decided that they can buy or lease other districts interest in WaterFix.

MWD assistant general manager Roger Patterson, who attended the 10-minute Kern meeting, said his agency has been talking to Kern and other State Water Project contractors about possible deals.

The MWD staff would have to return to its board for approval of any agreement to finance more than the 26% share the MWD agreed to this week.

Kern essentially said were in at this level, Patterson said, calling the boards action a positive sign.

bettina.boxall@latimes.com

Twitter: @boxall
An Oklahoma man with a history of mental illness will be allowed to represent himself when he faces murder charges later this year in the killings of a Long Beach woman and her 4-year-old daughter, a judge ruled Thursday.

Brandon Colbert, 23, was arrested last year and charged with using a shotgun to kill Carina Mancera, 26, and her daughter Jenabel Anaya, on Aug. 9, 2016. The Tulsa native had traveled to California for the first time just days before the shootings. Investigators have not revealed a motive in the slayings.

Colberts mental competence has been a central issue in court proceedings this year, with the defendant trafficking in bizarre conspiracy theories while representing himself during preliminary hearings.

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Medical records obtained by the Los Angeles Times this year showed Colbert was previously diagnosed with schizophreniform disorder, meaning he was presenting symptoms of schizophrenia, but not for the six-month period necessary for a formal diagnosis. Doctors in Oklahoma also feared Colbert had been abusing K2, or spice, a synthetic cannabinoid that can exacerbate underlying symptoms of mental illness and that has been linked to violent outbursts.

In May, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Jesse Rodriguez found Colbert incompetent to stand trial, citing a nine-page medical report. Rodriguez ordered that Colbert be admitted to a state hospital for treatment.

On Thursday, he ruled Colbert was competent both to stand trial and to act as his own attorney, said Greg Risling, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorneys office.

A tentative trial date has been set for December, Risling said.

Defense attorney Jason Sias, who had been hired by Colberts family in Oklahoma, said the judge urged Colbert not to represent himself while delivering his latest ruling. Pointing to Colberts history of mental illness, Sias said he did not believe the defendant should act as his own attorney.

Today he might seem OK, but during the time period of this trial, he may have a lapse where he cant understand what is going on, Sias said.

On Aug. 9, 2016, prosecutors allege, Colbert emerged from a hiding spot near 9th Street and Locust Avenue in Long Beach and leveled a shotgun at Mancera, her longtime boyfriend, Luis Anaya, and their daughter, Jenabel. Mancera died at the scene, and the young girl succumbed to her injuries at a hospital a short time later. Anaya escaped uninjured.

Colbert was linked to the crime through DNA found on a spent shotgun shell. He was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder last November. Prosecutors announced this year that they would not seek the death penalty, without giving a reason for that decision.

During a series of court hearings this year, Colbert has demanded to act as his own attorney over the objections of his relatives and other attorneys hired by his family.

He has denied involvement in the shootings and raised strange conspiracy theories in his defense. At one point, he claimed his victims were actually still alive. He has also insisted he is being framed and made repeated references to the 1997 film Gang Related, the plot of which centers on two corrupt police officers framing a homeless man for murder.

Prosecutors also questioned Colberts decision to represent himself in a court filing this year, asking Rodriguez to determine whether Colbert was competent to act as his own attorney. In the filing, prosecutors did not suggest Colbert was incompetent to be tried for the murders, court records show.

Colbert has not raised insanity as a possible defense.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT on Twitter for crime and police news in California.
The State Bar of California has recommended that an Orange County prosecutor be suspended for at least a year, finding that she failed to turn over to defense counsel copies of an inmates mail that she secretly collected before trial.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Sandra Lee Nassars withholding of evidence amounted to extremely serious misconduct, wrote Yvette D. Roland, a judge of the State Bar Court of California, in a ruling filed Tuesday.

Even when facing difficult situations, such as the protection of witnesses, prosecutors must operate within the confines of the law, Roland wrote.

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Nassar, a veteran prosecutor who was admitted to the state bar in 1998, did not respond to an email seeking comment.

A spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorneys office said Thursday it was reviewing the proposed sanction and that Nassar was deciding whether to lodge an appeal within the next 30 days.

Meantime, her license and ability to practice law remain intact, spokeswoman Michelle Van Der Linden said in a statement.

The misconduct case traces back to June 2011, when Nassar had accused Carmen Iacullo of abusing a 5-year-old child; the boys mother was also charged. Iacullo had faced up to life in prison if convicted.

Around the time the case was filed, Nassar ordered a mail cover, instructing staff at the county jail to intercept the incoming and outgoing correspondence to both Iacullo and the boys mother. Letters were copied and delivered to Nassar before being forwarded to the desired addressee.

The mother pleaded guilty and was released in 2012. The mail cover for Iacullo continued.

In April 2013, Nassar was transferred to a different unit, and another prosecutor took on the case. That prosecutor was surprised by the mail cover, which by then had amassed more than 1,000 pages of correspondence, and spoke with a supervisor. The prosecutor concluded that the materials should have been given to Iacullos defense attorney.

The judge in the case, Thomas Goethals, chastised Nassar in a court hearing and ruled that she committed a willful Brady violation. At the hearing, Nassar chalked it up to trial strategy, according to court papers.

Under the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brady vs. Maryland, prosecutors must turn over any evidence that could aid the defense.

I dont know if [Nassar] doesnt know what the law is, Goethals said at a court hearing. Thats no excuse. Ignorance of the law for an experienced prosecutor for engaging in Brady misconduct is not a reasonable excuse either.

In one of the letters from 2011, the boys mother wrote to Iacullo and said she knew he didnt do what theyre saying because he had not been in the home at the time of the abuse. However, the boys mother had agreed to testify against Iacullo.

In 2014, Iacullo pleaded guilty to child abuse and was sentenced to 12 years in state prison.

Before the state bar court, Nassar said she considered only the 2011 letter from the boys mother to be exculpatory, and she said she didnt have to turn over the letter because it was mailed to Iacullo, according to court papers. Therefore, it was in his possession.

Roland, the state bar judge, wrote that the requirement that prosecutors turn over evidence did not have exceptions, so Nassar should have still turned over the evidence.

The judge also found fault with how Nassar viewed her handling of the case.

This court found deeply disturbing [Nassars] testimony that she would engage in the same conduct again, stated Roland, adding that the lack of insight on this subject represents a tremendous threat of future harm to the public and the administration of justice.

According to the recommendation, Nassar would be placed on probation for three years, and at least the first year of that would include a suspension from practicing law. The suspension would be in place until she provides proof of rehabilitation, according to the judge.

The judges recommendation will ultimately go to the California Supreme Court for approval.

Nassar, who has no prior record of discipline before the bar, had character references submitted from more than two dozen people. According to court papers, the letters came from prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys and even one Orange County Superior Court judge.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

ALSO

State Supreme Court to decide if L.A. County sheriff can give names of problem deputies to prosecutors

State Bar of California seeks to discipline L.A. County deputy public defender

L.A. agrees to pay $1.9 million to the family of a man fatally shot by police

UPDATES:

7 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from the Orange County district attorneys office.

This article was originally published at 4:30 a.m.
Fire crews began to make slow progress against wildfires that have killed at least 31 people in Northern Californias wine country as officials continued the grim search for more bodies amid the ashes.

In Santa Rosa, the hardest hit by the fires, officials said they were stunned by the scale of the destruction. An estimated 2,834 homes were destroyed in the city of Santa Rosa alone, along with about 400,000 square feet of commercial space, Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey said in a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Flames left entire neighborhoods and commercial districts in ruins and even destroyed the citys newest fire station, on Fountaingrove Parkway.

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Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano told reporters that another person was found dead in his county as search crews and cadaver dogs began sifting through debris for the first time Thursday.

Later Thursday, officials confirmed the discovery of several more bodies. Of the 31 deaths, 17 were in Sonoma County, eight were in Mendocino County, four were in Yuba County and two were in Napa County, according to Sonoma County, Cal Fire and Yuba County officials.

Taken together, the death toll from the wildfires in the wine country has now exceeded that of the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, which totaled 25. The Cedar fire, which swept through San Diego County in 2003, killed 15 people and destroyed more than 2,800 structures.

Late Thursday, the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office identified 10 people who died in that county. They were:

Carol Collins-Swasey, 76, of Santa Rosa

Lynne Anderson Powell, 72, of Santa Rosa

Arthur Tasman Grant, 95, of Santa Rosa

Suiko Grant, 75, of Santa Rosa

Donna Mae Halbur, 80, of Larkfield-Wikiup

Leroy Peter Halbur, 80, of Larkfield-Wikiup

Valerie Lynn Evans, 75, of Santa Rosa

Carmen Caldentey Berriz, 75, of Apple Valley

Michael John Dornbach, 57, of Calistoga

Veronica Elizabeth McCombs, 67, of Santa Rosa

Some of the bodies were recovered intact, while others had been reduced to ashes and bones. In two cases, the remains were identified through the serial number on medical devices, such as a metal hip replacement. Two were identified by dental records, another through distinct tattoos. Authorities used fingerprints and family members to identify the rest.

The average age of the 10 who were named was 75, highlighting the risk among elderly and people with disabilities who live in rural regions where cellphones may not work.

As of late Thursday, about 400 people were still missing. The searches can take hours, and identification will be difficult, Giordano said.

We will do everything in our power to locate all the missing persons, and I promise you we will handle the remains with care and get them returned to their loved ones, Giordano said.

It could be weeks or even months before all the bodies are identified, he said.

Asked whether he expected the death toll to rise, Giordano said, Id be unrealistic if I didnt.

State and local officials expressed optimism that milder-than-expected winds and additional firefighting crews from across California were allowing them to make progress against the worst of the fires. But forecasters say winds and hot conditions will return Friday and Saturday.

1 / 59 An inmate firefighter monitors flames as a house burns in the Napa wine region. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 2 / 59 Flames ravage a home in the Napa wine region in California. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 3 / 59 A firefighter walks near a pool as a neighboring home burns in the Napa wine region. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 4 / 59 Firefighters douse flames as a home burns in the Napa wine region, as multiple wind-driven fires whip through the region. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 5 / 59 Louis Reavis views the burned remains of his classic Oldsmobile at his home in Napa. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 6 / 59 A tent structure built for the 2017 Safeway Open burns in Napa on Monday. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 7 / 59 The Estancia Apartment Homes on Old Redwood Hwy. were completely destroyed in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 59 A resident rushes to save his home as a wildfire moves through Glen Ellen, Calif. Tens of thousands of acres and dozens of homes and businesses have burned in wildfires in Napa and Sonoma counties. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) 9 / 59 A Fountaingrove Village man surveys the rubble of his home in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 59 Downed power poles and lines block a street in Hidden Valley. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 11 / 59 A fcar burns in the driveway of a destroyed home in Fountaingrove Village. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 59 A wheelchair left abandoned at the evacuated Villa Capri assisted living facility on Fountaingrove Parkway in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 13 / 59 A resident rushes to save his home as fire moves through the area in Glen Ellen, California. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) 14 / 59 A San Jose firefighter keep flames down at a home in Hidden Valley. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 59 A Fountaingrove Village couple takes in the ruins of their home after fire ripped through the neighborhood. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 59 A home destroyed in the fast moving wildfire that ripped through Glen Ellen. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 59 A swimming pool reflects the damage caused by the wildfires that moved through neighborhoods near Glen Ellen. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 59 Benicia Police Officer Alejandro Maravilla, left, offers resident Gwen Adkins, 84, a soda while patrolling in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 59 Spencer Blackwell, left, and Danielle Tate find Tates fathers gun collection, melted and burned, inside a gun safe at her fathers home in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 20 / 59 An American flag is draped on a burned pickup truck on Camino del Prado in the Coffey Park neighborhood in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 21 / 59 Scorched wine barrels at the Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa after the wildfire burned through. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 59 Fire lights up the night sky framed by a vineyard near Kenwood. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 59 Oakland police officers knock on doors as residents of the Rancho de Calistoga mobile home park are told to evacuate in Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 59 An aerial view of the Coffey Park neighborhood detroyed by wildfire in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 25 / 59 Contra Costa paramedics help Bill Parras, 96, evacuate his home in Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 26 / 59 CHP officers study neighborhood maps before going door to door to tell Sonoma residents to voluntarily evacuate ahead of the wildfire. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 59 A home perched on top of a hill sits in the foreground of a fire moving up on Shiloh Ridge near Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 28 / 59 Scorched grapes and vines along the edge of Storybook Mountain Vineyards in Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 59 John and Jan Pascoe survived the firestorm by running out of their home and into their neighbors swimming pool in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 59 Hundreds of burned wine bottles at the destroyed Helena View Johnston Vineyards near Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 59 A Contra Costa County firefighter breaks a wall with an ax as his crew battles flames inside a home along Highway 29 north of Calistoga on Oct. 12. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 59 Atascadero Firefighters try to control flames burning inside a home along Highway 29 in Calistoga on Oct. 12. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 59 Contra Costa firefighters work to put out flames burning inside a home along Highway 29 north of Calistoga on Oct. 12. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 59 Search teams sift through the debris of mobile homes at the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 35 / 59 A worker pulls out a firearm from the burned wreckage as search team members look through the debris at the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 59 Search team members sift through debris at the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 59 Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey surveys the damage to the Coffey Park neighborhood. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 38 / 59 Melted metal is seen on a car in the shadow of a destroyed home in Napa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 59 Lola Cornish, 50, and her daughter Kat Corazza, 18, look over recovered family jewels that survived the fire at Cornishs grandfathers home in Napa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 59 Some residents were allowed to return to their properties Friday in a neighborhood in Napa that was ravaged by the Atlas fire. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 59 A helicopter prepares to drop water on a fire that threatens the Oakmont community along Highway 12 in Santa Rosa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 59 A helicopter drops water on a fire that threatens the Ledson Winery and Historic Castle Vineyards in Kenwood on Friday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 59 Manuel Mendoza sorts through donated clothing at the Bridge Church in Santa Rosa on Sunday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 59 Jean Schettler hugs Father Moses Brown after Mass at St. Rose Church on Sunday. Schettlers daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, after losing their house in the fires, have moved into the Santa Rosa home of Jean and Jim Schettler. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 59 Gianna Gathman, 18, hugs her grandfather Jim Schettler during Mass at St. Rose Church in Santa Rosa on Sunday. Gathmans family lost their home in the Fountaingrove neighborhood to the fire. They are now living with the Schettlers. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 59 Kimberly Flinn holds onto the only item that wasnt lost in a fire that destroyed her home in the Mark West Springs area in Santa Rosa. Flynn recovered a ceramic white butterfly that she had made in memory of a boy she used to babysit and was killed in a hit and run accident. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 59 Gerry Miller, 81, tells San Francisco Police Department Officer Gary Loo how grateful she is to find her home still standing. Residents were allowed to return to their homes in the Mark West Springs area in Santa Rosa Sunday night. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 59 Denise Finitz, 61, thanks Torrance Fire Department firefighters Keith Picket, right, and Capt. Mike Salcido on Oct. 16 after they helped her find her mothers wedding ring in the ashes of her home, destroyed by wildfires on Carriage Lane in Wikiup. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 59 A search and rescue crew member gives a cadaver dog some water during the hunt for a possible fire victim in the Mark West Springs area of Santa Rosa on Oct. 15. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 59 Burned cars like this vintage Volkswagen litter the landscape in Coffey Park. The neighborhood was completely destroyed by the Tubbs fire 11 days ago, with many residents fleeing in haste as their homes were enveloped in flames. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 59 A giraffe framed in the smoke filled air at the Safari West preserve. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 52 / 59 A Watusi bull looks out through the haze of the recent Tubbs fire at the Safari West preserve. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 53 / 59 Peter Lang, 77, owner of the Safari West preserve, stands between a pair of white rhinos against a backdrop of charred hillside in Santa Rosa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 54 / 59 Mark Sharp, a resident of Coffey Park, sifts through the remains of his charred home in search of his wifes wedding band. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 55 / 59 Flowers were left on the mailbox of Roy Howard Bowman, 87, and his wife, Irma Elsie Bowman, 88 who died at their Fisher Lake Drive home from the Redwood Valley fire. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 56 / 59 Dee Pallesen, left, and her daughter Emily Learn console each as they look over Pallesens home, destroyed by the Redwood Valley fire. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 57 / 59 Jason Miller plants an American flag on the charred remains of his house as residents of Coffey Park return home. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 58 / 59 Burned vehicles litter the landscape in Coffey Park. The neighborhood was completely destroyed by the Tubbs fire 11 days ago, with many residents fleeing in haste as their homes were enveloped in flames. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 59 / 59 A pickup truck rests beside a row of charred trees in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

We need to hit this thing hard and get it done, Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tom Gossner told hundreds of firefighters battling the devastating Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa. Its time to finish this thing.

Fire authorities had feared that 40-mph winds predicted for early Thursday morning would further stoke flames and carry embers to residential areas that so far had escaped fire.

But those winds never materialized in the vicinity of Calistoga, where mandatory evacuation orders had forced 5,000 residents from their homes the previous afternoon. Cal Fire spokesman Richard Cordova said the lull allowed crews to establish a 10% containment around the 34,200-acre Tubbs fire.

On Thursday morning, Calistoga was still a ghost town, apart from a few dozen residents who stayed behind and a Cal Fire incident command center at the towns Old Faithful geyser.

Motorcycle officers wearing masks were circling the deserted streets. Everything was closed in the downtown area  the art galleries, wine tasting rooms, cafes. Thick smoke hung like fog. Roads leading into town were closed.

Downtown Calistoga is deserted pic.twitter.com/e6FYOU43y6  Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) October 12, 2017

There is still concern for Calistoga and elsewhere, as officials expect winds between 10 mph and 20 mph Thursday night, and stronger seasonal winds over the weekend, Cal Fire spokeswoman Heather Williams said.

Firefighters were battling the Tubbs fire around Mt. St. Helena on Thursday morning, but they started pulling back before noon. The fire had hopped Highway 29, which runs adjacent to the mountain north of evacuated Calistoga.

Its so thick [with vegetation], its so steep. The fire is unpredictable, said Amy Head, a Cal Fire spokeswoman on the scene. We dont want to get trapped on this mountain.

Firefighters had been setting backfires to try to ward off further damage, and contractors were trucking up tanks of water to resupply them. At noon Thursday, the air was thick with smoke.

Those who return are on your own, said Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning, warning residents not to expect personal fire protection.

If you are trying to visit Calistoga, you are not welcome, Canning said. To the Calistogans out there, stay strong.

About 10 miles away from the city at Napa Valley College, a Red Cross shelter swelled with hundreds of evacuees.

Crews also managed to start a containment line for the 43,000-acre Atlas fire  good news for Napa residents who were warned Wednesday afternoon that they might have to evacuate eastern sections of town closest to the fire.

The Atlas fire, which began in Napa and moved into Solano County, has put the Green Valley area in danger, Williams said. That area had mandatory evacuations earlier in the week.

Additional resources are starting to give us the upper hand, said Cal Fire deputy incident commander Barry Biermann in Napa.

Firefighters in Napa and Solano counties were warned Thursday morning that critical red flag conditions remain, with strong winds, low humidity and extremely receptive fuels, according to Thursday mornings Cal Fire incident management plan for the Atlas and neighboring fires.

Despite continuing red flag conditions, forecasts called for cooler daytime temperatures and relatively light winds Thursday. Fire authorities were predicting a generally productive day.

By Thursday evening, mandatory evacuations were lifted in the areas of Silverado Country Club, Monticello Park and the Avenues, along with areas west of Silverado Trail, between Hardman Avenue and California 128.

While that forecast may give firefighters hope, tens of thousands of residents throughout the region were still reeling from the devastation.

The fires have consumed an estimated 180,000 acres and thousands of structures.

Beneath choking smoke-filled skies that made the morning sun appear deep orange, upscale neighborhoods on the northern edges of Santa Rosa were in ashes, along with gas stations, big-box stores and vineyards. Charming country towns of little more than a few antique shops, the post office and a grocery store remained emptied by evacuation orders.

Road closures are turning routine drives into long, circuitous routes across a landscape with fires burning and columns of smoke rising in almost every direction.

It may be several days or more than a week before people whove been displaced can start the process of healing and rebuilding, said Cordova, the Cal Fire spokesman. That cannot happen until we remove all the hazards out there: downed power lines, toppled trees, smoldering hot spots and power outages.

Thousands of people forced from their homes remain gathered in Red Cross shelters, and some still dont know whether they have a home to return to.

Some in need are staying away from the shelters, afraid that officials will ask about immigration status.

Giordano, the Sonoma County sheriff, assured the public Thursday afternoon that while shelters will ask for names as a way to keep track of people and aid in finding missing persons, they cannot ask about immigration status.

No one involved in this process is going to ask any immigration questions. Its not appropriate, its not going to happen, Giordano said Were only asking names, your immigration status is irrelevant. ... Help is there for everyone.

Throughout the region, major highways and country lanes were packed with PG&E trucks aggressively working to restore communications by repairing downed power lines and replacing destroyed telephone poles.

There are a total of 17 fires in the area, Williams said.

The weaker winds also aided firefighters on the 9,500-acre Partrick fire, but the danger of its pushing into Sonoma and Vineburg remained Thursday.

The Mendocino Lake Complex fires, which includes the Redwood and Sulphur fires, reached 32,500 acres by Thursday, she said. The larger, 29,500-acre Redwood fire is 5% contained, and the Sulphur fire is 40% contained, Williams said.

They do have structures that have been destroyed  a couple hundred residential structures and nearly 100 outbuildings, she said.

The area saw mandatory evacuations Monday night in Potter Valley.

The winds can reignite embers and send them hurtling through the air. If they land in areas not yet burned, there would be little that firefighters could do to stop them from setting off new conflagrations, officials said.

Every glowing ember is a ticking time bomb, said Stephen Warren, a Cal Fire apparatus engineer.

In addition to Calistoga, residents of Geyserville, in Sonoma County, were ordered to leave their homes Wednesday night, and some in the northeast portion of Santa Rosa were advised to evacuate voluntarily.

Sonoma County also ordered Rio Lindo Adventist Academy, a boarding school on the outskirts of Healdsburg near the edge of the Tubbs fire, to prepare to evacuate if necessary. The school is up a very long, narrow, two-lane road, said Sonoma County Sheriffs Deputy Brandon Jones Logistically, its a nightmare to evacuate.

Weve had big fires in the past, Gov. Jerry Brown said Wednesday at a briefing with state and federal fire officials. This is one of the biggest.

Statewide, 30 air tankers, nearly 75 helicopters and 550 fire engines with several thousand firefighters already have been pressed into service. State officials have requested more than 300 additional engines from other states and the federal government.

Santa Rosa lost landmarks in the fire, including the home of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz.

ALSO

Firefighters tell residents in Napa County to flee, but some refuse

As California burns, heres what you need to know about fire insurance

Why many didnt get cellphone warnings before Northern California wildfires swept through

UPDATES:

10 p.m.: Updated with loss Peanuts creators home.

9 p.m.: This article was updated new forecast.

7:25 p.m.: This article was updated with information about how the bodies were identified, as well as how many people remain missing.

6:55 p.m.: This article was updated with context about other wildfires.

6:20 p.m.: This article was updated with the identities of 10 people killed in the wildfire.

6:15 p.m.: This article was updated with a new death toll.

5:45 p.m.: This article was updated with tweaks to the top.

4 p.m.: This article was updated with new details from Santa Rosa.

2 p.m.: This article was updated with information about destruction in Santa Rosa, attempts to combat the Tubbs fire near Calistoga and access to shelters.

1:20 p.m.: This article was updated with a revised death toll and information about firefighting efforts near Calistoga.

12:20 p.m.: This article was updated with information about searches for fire victims.

11:45 a.m.: This article was updated with information about search and rescue efforts, and information about the city of Calistoga.

10:45 a.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano.

9:50 a.m.: This article was updated with a revised death toll and comments from Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning.

9:05 a.m.: This article was updated with more information about the fires and firefighting efforts.

This article was originally published at 6:25 a.m.
Dennis DeVilbiss had made up his mind.

Im not leaving, the former cop and firefighter said Wednesday afternoon as he stood on his front porch in Calistoga, a wine country town under threat from an approaching wildfire. Authorities had ordered its 5,000 residents to evacuate.

He glanced at smoke drifting over nearby trees, and smiled. Im not stupid, said DeVilbiss, 60. If its time to run, Ill run like hell.

As the death toll from 16 wildfires raging in Northern California climbed Wednesday, thousands more residents in Calistoga and elsewhere were ordered to flee their homes and firefighters raced against the setting sun to douse smoldering hot spots before devilish winds returned to breathe new life into the blazes.

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1 / 59 An inmate firefighter monitors flames as a house burns in the Napa wine region. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 2 / 59 Flames ravage a home in the Napa wine region in California. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 3 / 59 A firefighter walks near a pool as a neighboring home burns in the Napa wine region. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 4 / 59 Firefighters douse flames as a home burns in the Napa wine region, as multiple wind-driven fires whip through the region. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 5 / 59 Louis Reavis views the burned remains of his classic Oldsmobile at his home in Napa. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 6 / 59 A tent structure built for the 2017 Safeway Open burns in Napa on Monday. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 7 / 59 The Estancia Apartment Homes on Old Redwood Hwy. were completely destroyed in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 59 A resident rushes to save his home as a wildfire moves through Glen Ellen, Calif. Tens of thousands of acres and dozens of homes and businesses have burned in wildfires in Napa and Sonoma counties. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) 9 / 59 A Fountaingrove Village man surveys the rubble of his home in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 59 Downed power poles and lines block a street in Hidden Valley. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 11 / 59 A fcar burns in the driveway of a destroyed home in Fountaingrove Village. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 59 A wheelchair left abandoned at the evacuated Villa Capri assisted living facility on Fountaingrove Parkway in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 13 / 59 A resident rushes to save his home as fire moves through the area in Glen Ellen, California. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) 14 / 59 A San Jose firefighter keep flames down at a home in Hidden Valley. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 59 A Fountaingrove Village couple takes in the ruins of their home after fire ripped through the neighborhood. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 59 A home destroyed in the fast moving wildfire that ripped through Glen Ellen. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 59 A swimming pool reflects the damage caused by the wildfires that moved through neighborhoods near Glen Ellen. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 59 Benicia Police Officer Alejandro Maravilla, left, offers resident Gwen Adkins, 84, a soda while patrolling in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 59 Spencer Blackwell, left, and Danielle Tate find Tates fathers gun collection, melted and burned, inside a gun safe at her fathers home in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 20 / 59 An American flag is draped on a burned pickup truck on Camino del Prado in the Coffey Park neighborhood in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 21 / 59 Scorched wine barrels at the Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa after the wildfire burned through. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 59 Fire lights up the night sky framed by a vineyard near Kenwood. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 59 Oakland police officers knock on doors as residents of the Rancho de Calistoga mobile home park are told to evacuate in Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 59 An aerial view of the Coffey Park neighborhood detroyed by wildfire in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 25 / 59 Contra Costa paramedics help Bill Parras, 96, evacuate his home in Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times ) 26 / 59 CHP officers study neighborhood maps before going door to door to tell Sonoma residents to voluntarily evacuate ahead of the wildfire. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 59 A home perched on top of a hill sits in the foreground of a fire moving up on Shiloh Ridge near Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 28 / 59 Scorched grapes and vines along the edge of Storybook Mountain Vineyards in Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 59 John and Jan Pascoe survived the firestorm by running out of their home and into their neighbors swimming pool in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 59 Hundreds of burned wine bottles at the destroyed Helena View Johnston Vineyards near Calistoga. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 59 A Contra Costa County firefighter breaks a wall with an ax as his crew battles flames inside a home along Highway 29 north of Calistoga on Oct. 12. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 59 Atascadero Firefighters try to control flames burning inside a home along Highway 29 in Calistoga on Oct. 12. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 59 Contra Costa firefighters work to put out flames burning inside a home along Highway 29 north of Calistoga on Oct. 12. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 59 Search teams sift through the debris of mobile homes at the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 35 / 59 A worker pulls out a firearm from the burned wreckage as search team members look through the debris at the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 59 Search team members sift through debris at the Journeys End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 59 Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey surveys the damage to the Coffey Park neighborhood. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times ) 38 / 59 Melted metal is seen on a car in the shadow of a destroyed home in Napa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 59 Lola Cornish, 50, and her daughter Kat Corazza, 18, look over recovered family jewels that survived the fire at Cornishs grandfathers home in Napa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 59 Some residents were allowed to return to their properties Friday in a neighborhood in Napa that was ravaged by the Atlas fire. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 59 A helicopter prepares to drop water on a fire that threatens the Oakmont community along Highway 12 in Santa Rosa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 59 A helicopter drops water on a fire that threatens the Ledson Winery and Historic Castle Vineyards in Kenwood on Friday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 59 Manuel Mendoza sorts through donated clothing at the Bridge Church in Santa Rosa on Sunday. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 59 Jean Schettler hugs Father Moses Brown after Mass at St. Rose Church on Sunday. Schettlers daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren, after losing their house in the fires, have moved into the Santa Rosa home of Jean and Jim Schettler. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 59 Gianna Gathman, 18, hugs her grandfather Jim Schettler during Mass at St. Rose Church in Santa Rosa on Sunday. Gathmans family lost their home in the Fountaingrove neighborhood to the fire. They are now living with the Schettlers. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 59 Kimberly Flinn holds onto the only item that wasnt lost in a fire that destroyed her home in the Mark West Springs area in Santa Rosa. Flynn recovered a ceramic white butterfly that she had made in memory of a boy she used to babysit and was killed in a hit and run accident. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 59 Gerry Miller, 81, tells San Francisco Police Department Officer Gary Loo how grateful she is to find her home still standing. Residents were allowed to return to their homes in the Mark West Springs area in Santa Rosa Sunday night. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 59 Denise Finitz, 61, thanks Torrance Fire Department firefighters Keith Picket, right, and Capt. Mike Salcido on Oct. 16 after they helped her find her mothers wedding ring in the ashes of her home, destroyed by wildfires on Carriage Lane in Wikiup. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 59 A search and rescue crew member gives a cadaver dog some water during the hunt for a possible fire victim in the Mark West Springs area of Santa Rosa on Oct. 15. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 59 Burned cars like this vintage Volkswagen litter the landscape in Coffey Park. The neighborhood was completely destroyed by the Tubbs fire 11 days ago, with many residents fleeing in haste as their homes were enveloped in flames. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 59 A giraffe framed in the smoke filled air at the Safari West preserve. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 52 / 59 A Watusi bull looks out through the haze of the recent Tubbs fire at the Safari West preserve. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 53 / 59 Peter Lang, 77, owner of the Safari West preserve, stands between a pair of white rhinos against a backdrop of charred hillside in Santa Rosa. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 54 / 59 Mark Sharp, a resident of Coffey Park, sifts through the remains of his charred home in search of his wifes wedding band. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 55 / 59 Flowers were left on the mailbox of Roy Howard Bowman, 87, and his wife, Irma Elsie Bowman, 88 who died at their Fisher Lake Drive home from the Redwood Valley fire. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 56 / 59 Dee Pallesen, left, and her daughter Emily Learn console each as they look over Pallesens home, destroyed by the Redwood Valley fire. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 57 / 59 Jason Miller plants an American flag on the charred remains of his house as residents of Coffey Park return home. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 58 / 59 Burned vehicles litter the landscape in Coffey Park. The neighborhood was completely destroyed by the Tubbs fire 11 days ago, with many residents fleeing in haste as their homes were enveloped in flames. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 59 / 59 A pickup truck rests beside a row of charred trees in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

During searches of destroyed homes, authorities found more bodies, bringing the number of dead to at least 23, fire officials said. The loss of life, along with the estimated 170,000 acres and 3,500 structures already burned, ranked the fires as some of the most destructive in state history.

Weve had big fires in the past, Gov. Jerry Brown said at a briefing with state and federal fire officials. This is one of the biggest.

With an estimated 50,000 people having left their homes for shelters and hotels, police continued to work to locate several hundred people reported missing by panicked relatives and friends. Authorities said that with communications hobbled by downed cellphone towers and people making hasty escapes, they were hopeful that most, if not all, would turn up safe.

As Brown made formal emergency declarations for eight counties, officials described a massive effort to get a handle on the fires, most of which continued to burn unchecked.

Statewide, 30 air tankers, nearly 75 helicopters and 550 fire engines with several thousand firefighters had already been pressed into action. State officials requested more than 300 additional engines from other states and the federal government.

Through the night and into Wednesday morning, the devastating Atlas Peak and Tubbs fires continued to churn, feeding on tinder-dry vegetation made thicker by the winters heavy rainfall.

The Atlas Peak fire, which has menaced the town of Napa since Sunday, nearly doubled in size to 46,000 acres and began to push south, creating a new threat to Fairfield, a Bay Area city along Interstate 80.

Police ordered evacuations in the Green Valley area just outside Fairfield and advised residents in other neighborhoods to leave. Three school districts in the region  with a total enrollment of about 81,000 students  shut down for the rest of the week as thick smoke enveloped the area.

This morning it felt like a war zone; yesterday evening you could stare straight at the sun  it was just this purple circle in the sky, said Jennifer Leonard, a spokeswoman for the Vacaville Unified School District. Ash was falling from the sky.

In Napa, nearly surrounded by the Atlas Peak fire to the north and east and a smaller blaze to the west, the air was choked with smoke. Much of the town was without power or cell service.

And the Tubbs fire, which ignited Sunday night in the hills above Santa Rosa and claimed at least 13 lives when it stormed into the city and surrounding areas, reversed its direction and began a push north.

With the fires about-face, Calistoga was at risk. At 3:30 a.m., county and town officials there joined police officers in going house to house in one neighborhood, telling people to leave. By afternoon, they decided to clear the entire town.

Contra Costa County paramedics help Bill Parras, 96, evacuate his home Wednesday in Calistoga, Calif. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times )

A dozen police officers from Oakland, called in to assist local police already stretched too thin, strode through the narrow lanes of a trailer park.

Many residents had already fled, but Larry Strakbein, 75, wanted to stay put.

Ive been through a lot in my life, including three wives, he said. I can handle myself.

A moment later, three officers showed up at his door. Sir, you have to leave, one said.

Strakbein relented and an officer spray-painted a large red check mark on the street in front of his trailer.

It was the anticipated return of the regions notorious Diablo winds Wednesday night that had fire officials most worried.

Commanders dispatched crews of exhausted and sore firefighters to fan out across already-scorched mountainsides near Calistoga and Santa Rosa.

Their job was to find and squelch hot spots laden with embers. With axes and shovels, they chopped at shrubs and turned the soil.

The winds can reignite embers and send them hurtling through the air. If they land in areas not yet burned, there would be little that firefighters could do to stop them from setting off new conflagrations.

The clock is ticking, so were giving it everything weve got, Cal Fire Division Chief Ben Nicholls said as he sliced through dry grass and stubborn roots with a blade. This isnt that sexy. Its called mop-up, and right now it is critical.

A few miles away, on a ridgeline just north of Calistoga, a hand crew of 13 firefighters worked on a smoldering slope.

Every glowing ember is a ticking time bomb, said Stephen Warren, a Cal Fire apparatus engineer.

The causes of the fires remained unknown, though Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said downed power lines, campfires and machinery are common culprits.

A spokesman for San Francisco-based utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it is not yet known if the companys power lines or transformers sparked any of the fires. With at least 40,000 customers without power in the Santa Rosa area, the spokesman said the utilitys priority is restoring electricity.

Sahagun and St. John reported from Calistoga, and Panzar and Rubin from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Phil Willon, Chris Megerian and Nina Agrawal in Napa and Sonoma counties, and Dakota Smith and Sonali Kohli in L.A. contributed to this report.

louis.sahagun@latimes.com

Twitter: @louissahagun

paige.stjohn@latimes.com

Twitter: @paigestjohn

javier.panzar@latimes.com

Twitter: @jpanzar

joel.rubin@latimes.com

Twitter: @joelrubin

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The staggering losses from the fire that swept through Santa Rosa became grimly apparent Thursday.

Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey said officials estimate 2,834 destroyed homes in the city alone, and about 400,000 square feet of commercial space. Sonoma County has reported 15 deaths so far, most in the Santa Rosa area.

Chloe Hoskins, 7, wearing a bandanna to protect herself from the smoke and ash, checks on a neighbors burned-out property with her father in the Coffey Park neighborhood in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

An aerial view of the Coffey Park neighborhood destroyed by wildfire in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

The grim search for victims of the fire

Recovery crews in Sonoma County have begun the grim task of searching for bodies in the ashes of neighborhoods that were devastated by wildfires .

County Sheriff Rob Giordano on Thursday said officials are "moving into a recovery phase" in the aftermath of the Tubbs fire in the Santa Rosa area, which he called "an active disaster."

The searches can take hours and identification will be difficult, Giordano said.

"So far in the recoveries we have found bodies that were almost completely intact and bodies that were nothing more than ash and bone," he said.

Sometimes, he said, the only way to identify someone is through a medical device, such as a metal hip replacement, that has an ID number.

"We will do everything in our power to locate all the missing persons, and I promise you we will handle the remains with care and get them returned to their loved ones," Giordano said.

Asked whether he expected the death toll to rise, Giordano said, "I'd be unrealistic if I didn't."

Giordano said law enforcement personnel are working through missing-persons reports, trying to reach people by phone, with alternate addresses or through family members. When that fails, he said, they conduct targeted searches of the homes of the missing.

As of Thursday morning, Sonoma County had received 900 missing-persons reports, and had found 437 people safe.

"We have teams of people who are going out searching for a very specific person ... to a very specific place. That's how the majority of recoveries have been made so far," Giordano said.

Starting Thursday, three search-and-rescue teams of mostly civilian volunteers from Alameda, Monterey, and Sonoma counties will be going out with cadaver dogs to some of the hardest-hit areas where it is "probable" that a missing person may be found, Sheriff's Department officials said.

Sheriff's Sgt. Shawn Murphy confirmed in an interview after the briefing that the department is sending teams to the Kenwood and Mark West Springs Road areas, but said searchers were not yet going to the Journey's End mobile home park, which was almost completely razed and where at least one death has been reported.

Murphy said he does expect to conduct searches there eventually, once the teams have more information.

Todd McNeive, left, and his wife, Adelina McNeive, look for anything to salvage from the ruins of their home in the Fountaingrove Village neighborhood in Santa Rosa. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Death toll expected to rise

The total death toll from all Northern California fires is 29.

In addition to the 15 deaths in Sonoma County, eight were in Mendocino County, four were in Yuba County and two were in Napa County, according to Cal Fire and Yuba County officials.

An aerial view of the Coffey Park neighborhood destroyed by wildfire in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Another aerial view of the Coffey Park neighborhood destroyed by wildfire in Santa Rosa. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

May she rest in peace, my sweet Momma

A 69-year-old woman was among the 29 people known dead in the fires that continue to rage across Northern California, her daughter confirmed on Facebook late Wednesday.

Linda Tunis' remains were found at her home in Journey's End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa, according to her daughter Jessica Tunis.

"I have been a mess, absolutely devastated," Jessica Tunis wrote on Facebook. "Hug and kiss your loved ones extra hard tonight."

Earlier, Jessica Tunis had used the social media platform to try to find her mother, asking users if they knew whether the park was evacuated before it burned down and posting a missing-person flyer.

The pair had last spoken early Monday.

Linda Tunis called her daughter from her burning home and said, "I'm going to die" before the phone went dead, the Associated Press reported.
The low-slung building in Sacramento is locked and unmarked for a reason. Its the nerve center of the newly inaugurated University of California Firearm Violence Prevention Research Center. The centers 15 UC Davis researchers, along with others from UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Irvine, plan to use a five-year, $5-million state appropriation to conduct the most extensive examination ever of gun violence  who is at risk and how to prevent it. The state dollars help fill a void created when the federal government largely stopped funding gun violence research two decades ago.

Leading the effort is Garen Wintemute, 65, a UC Davis emergency room physician who has conducted gun violence research for more than 30 years. The wiry workaholic, a self-described crisis junkie, helped win passage of a state ban on cheap handguns known as Saturday night specials five years after his 1994 book, Ring of Fire, exposed the Southern California firearm manufacturers. Such work has led to threats  a gun maker once told him to make sure his life insurance was paid up  and a media-created moniker as the most dangerous scientist in America to the gun industry.

Since the mass shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, Wintemute has been deluged with requests for interviews and articles, offers of aid and potential donations. He spoke with The Times in his sparsely furnished office, which features shelves of legal books, photographs of the cosmos and a handwritten note to himself: Remember why youre doing this, and for whom. Be patient. Be grateful.

What can we learn from this latest mass shooting?

The weapon makes a difference. And, as is always the case, this one isnt like any of the others. This is really important. The next one wont be like this one. Theyre all unique. What we need to do is figure out what are the threads in common and how can we address those commonalities so that we can prevent the next one. And the one that comes to mind is the weapon factor. Its not that he used a semi-automatic weapon. Its that he used a high-capacity magazine for the semi-automatic weapon. People say the weapon had no effect. Fine. Put that guy on a 32nd floor. Give him throwing knives. Give him a bow and arrow. The outcome is going to be different. The weapon does matter.

Did the Las Vegas gunman fit the profile of a mass shooter? Is there a profile?

If we get really specific, it falls apart. This guy was white. Shooters tend to be men. But he was a lot older than most of them. The problem is, if a profile is general enough to fit mass shooters, it fits millions of people. There are a whole lot of angry men out there. And the question is what makes this angry man do something that the other angry men dont? And nobody has an answer.

Could anything have predicted his behavior?

No. Mass shooters have a tendency to acquire lots of weapons. What nobodys ever tested is the hypothesis that they acquire more weapons than others do. Here in California we can actually do that. Given the data available in California, its possible that we can identify purchase patterns that are associated with an increased risk of future violence. We can look back at their purchase history and compare them to others. Is there anything about their purchasing pattern  the overall number of weapons, the frequency, the type of weapon purchased -- that would allow us with any degree of confidence to say that people with particular kinds of purchasing history appear to be as a group at high risk for doing something bad down the road?

Flowers, candles and other items surround the famous Las Vegas sign at a makeshift memorial for victims of the Oct. 1 mass shooting. (John Locher / AP)

But there are certain risk factors for gun violence?

Men are more at risk for being victims of homicide, for committing homicide, for committing suicide. For homicide, youth is a risk factor; African-American and Hispanic males are at higher risk than white non-Hispanics. Alcohol. Prior violence. Controlled substance abuse. One of the really pernicious myths is that interpersonal violence is a problem predominantly associated with mental illness. And thats just not true. Only 4% to 5% of interpersonal violence is associated primarily with mental illness. Donald Trump has referred to the Las Vegas shooter as sick. Maybe. As demented. No evidence whatsoever. Thats a diagnosis. It is wrong on several levels to say that because he did what he did, hes mentally ill. It further stigmatizes mental illness. It may simply be factually incorrect. We don't know.

In the last 10 years we have lost more civilians to firearm violence than we had combat fatalities in World War II.  Garen Wintemute

So what is the preventive solution?

One of the commonalities is high-capacity magazines. In California almost 30 years ago, we banned sales of those magazines. Only last year, we banned possession. But theyre still out there. Maybe the next step is  something like an amnesty. Turn it in. No questions asked for a specific period of time. After that, if you've got one, youre going to jail.

But its too narrow of a focus. If I had to put one thing at the top of the list it would be to expand the criteria for denial of a firearm purchase to include people who actively abuse alcohol. Were doing research to confirm that those people are among those who legally purchase firearms and are at increased risk for committing crimes. The link between alcohol abuse and violence has been known for decades. This is the first study of gun owners.

Why is it easier to do gun research in California?

No other state collects the data California does. We also have a legislature that places a high value on scientific evidence when making policy. We take a more regulatory approach to firearms than most other states do.

California prohibits the purchase and possession of firearms by people who have been convicted of violent misdemeanor crimes such as assault and battery for 10 years, by people who have been hospitalized for mental health emergencies involving dangerousness to self or others for five years, and by people who are subject to temporary domestic violence restraining orders. We attempt to recover firearms from people who bought them legally but have since become prohibited persons, and we require a background check for all firearm purchases. We outlawed unsafe handguns such as Saturday night specials. We established a new gun violence restraining order, which allows a judge to intervene and order the recovery of firearms when an imminent hazard exists. Most recently, we banned the possession of high-capacity ammunition magazines, such as those used in Las Vegas.

Its also true that we have below average firearm homicide rates and well below average firearm suicide rates. Whether our laws get credit for that or not I honestly dont know, but thats something else were going to look at.

What other research will you be doing?

We are gathering very basic data: What's the prevalence of firearm ownership in California? Why do people own guns, what kind of guns do they own, how do they buy them?  One of the things we very much want to do that nobodys been able to do before is follow individual people through time  so we can determine the link between exposure to violence and the things that happen down the road.

Berkeley is looking at what community characteristics are associated with very high rates of firearm violence. UCLA will be working on intimate-partner violence. At UC Irvine, theyre going to be working in L.A. at the very small neighborhood level to figure out where is violence off the charts and what distinguishes the hot spots from the cold spots.

Garen Wintemute, a UC Davis emergency room physician, has been studying gun violence for more than 30 years. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Youve been called the most dangerous scientist in America to the gun industry. Are you?

Gosh, I dont know. There are a few of us. Lets be clear about what the danger is. Firearms are consumer products. The industry needs to move product. To the extent that they see the work that any of us do as threatening those economic interests, they see us as a threat. But 90% of the general population supports (background checks for all firearms purchases), 80% of gun owners support it and 70% of self-reported NRA members support it. Things are not as polarized as they seem.

UC Davis gun violence expert Garen Wintemutes reminder to himself. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

Despite threats, you dont back down. Why not?

It's a huge problem. I know as an ER doctor, most of the people who die from gunshot wounds die where they were shot. So for us as clinicians to make the largest inroads we can into the number of people who die, we have to prevent them from being shot in the first place. So thats why. The questions are fascinating. The opportunity to make a difference for the better is fascinating. There are very very few people working on it. There's active opposition. What's not to like?

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A black man who was brutally beaten as he protested a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Va., turned himself in to police Thursday after he was charged with assaulting a white, self-described Southern nationalist.

DeAndre Harris bludgeoning by a group of white nationalists was captured in a video that went viral and spurred accusations that police were not doing enough to bring his attackers to justice.



For the record: This article identifies Merlyn Goeschl as a woman. Goeschl is a man.

The arrest of Harris, a 20-year-old hip-hop artist and former teachers aide, seemed likely to intensify that criticism. After Charlottesville police served Harris with a warrant at 8:30 a.m. Thursday charging him with unlawful wounding  a felony charge that carries up to five years in prison  Harris was taken before a magistrate judge and released on an unsecured bond.

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Its very upsetting, said the attorney, S. Lee Merritt, who insists Harris is innocent of the charge. It seems the judicial system in this case has bent over backwards to further assist in further victimizing DeAndre.

According to the warrant, Harris is charged with unlawfully stabbing, cutting or wounding Harold Ray Crews with the intent to maim, disfigure, disable or kill. The magistrate judge, Merlyn Goeschl, said she found probable cause to believe Harris committed the offense based on the personal statements of Crews.

Crews is chairman of the North Carolina chapter of the League of the South, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled a neo-Confederate group that advocates for an American society dominated by people of European ancestry.

Harris was not handcuffed or placed in a cell, Merritt said. After an arraignment Friday, his next court appearance will be a preliminary hearing set for mid-December.

While it is clear that Crews was injured  he submitted evidence of a scar and severe injuries from an attack  Merritt said that based on the video evidence, its not physically possible it could be an attack by DeAndre Harris.

At one point, Harris swung a flashlight to stop Crews from spearing another counter-protester with the pole of a Confederate flag, but he failed to make significant contact, Merritt said.

A felony-level assault  that involves pretty serious injury, a maiming or attempted-murder-type injury, he said.

A video of a completely separate incident shows Crews being struck in the head by an unidentified white male wearing black. But by then, Merritt said, Harris was already at the Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospitals emergency room being treated for injuries.

The Aug. 12 clash between Harris and a group of white men took place at the Unite the Right rally, where hundreds of white supremacists marched in Charlottesville to protest the citys plan to take down a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. A 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer, died and 19 were injured after a car rammed into a crowd of counter-demonstrators.

President Trump stirred controversy by blaming some of the violence on counter-protesters and appearing to put them on an equal moral footing with the racists.

Beaten in a parking garage next to the police station, Harris was hospitalized for a concussion, a fractured wrist, bruises to his elbows and a head laceration that required 12 staples.

They were trying to kill me out there, Harris told the Los Angeles Times the day after the rally. The police didnt budge, and I was getting beat to a pulp.

Harris said that although some police officers ignored the beating, one officer eventually came to his aid.

After the attack, he resigned from his job as a special education instructional assistant.

In August, two of his alleged attackers  Alex Michael Ramos, 33, and Daniel Borden, 18  were identified by activists through video and social media, then arrested and charged with malicious wounding.

Earlier this week, activists celebrated the arrest of Jacob Goodwin, 22, a man they identified last month as allegedly involved in the attack on Harris.

Goodwin was taken into custody Tuesday evening by U.S. marshals on a felony warrant out of Virginia, according to the Sheriffs Office in Lonoke County, Ark., where he is from. He is being held at a detention center in Lonoke County until hes extradited to Virginia, said Lt. Matt Edwards, a sheriffs office spokesman. Edwards did not know the specific charge against Goodwin.

The arrest warrant for Harris was issued Monday, less than 48 hours after white nationalists gathered again in Charlottesville. After about 40 people held an unplanned, 10-minute rally in Emancipation Park on Saturday night, the city issued a statement saying it was unconscionable that white supremacists would return to the city to intimidate and spread fear.

Detective Sgt. Jake Via, the supervising detective on the Harris case, emphasized that his department had not issued the warrant against Harris.

Any person whos a victim of a crime can obtain a warrant if theyve given probable cause to a magistrate and that magistrate finds probable cause is there, he said, noting the alleged victim was required to have filed a police report.

Defending the police against criticism that it had been slow to track down the perpetrators of the attacks on Harris, Via said that investigations take time.

Theyre not done overnight, just because people send us videos, photos and tips, he said. We still have to investigate each one of those. It takes a while.

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"Right now we have so many nuclear weapons, I want them in perfect condition, perfect shape. That's the only thing I've ever discussed," he said. "I know what we have right now. We won't need an increase but I want modernization and rehabilitation. It's gotta be in tip-top shape."

After dismissing the NBC account, Trump told reporters he never discussed a tenfold increase, saying it would be "totally unnecessary."

Officials at the meeting, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, were reported to have voiced surprise at Trump's suggestion and briefly explained the legal and practical restraints on a nuclear buildup, much of which is dictated by international arms control treaties. The officials told NBC that no U.S. nuclear buildup is planned.

Trump's comments on the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, now at about 4,000 weapons, came up at a Pentagon meeting with top military and national security officials in July, NBC said. The network cited the recollections of three people who were there. Trump was responding to briefing slides that illustrated the steady reduction in the size of the country's stockpile since the 1960's. He indicated he wanted a bigger arsenal, the network said.

U.S. President Trump threatened on Wednesday to use the federal government's power to pull the TV license of the National Broadcasting Corporation in response to a report by the network's news division that he suggested a tenfold expansion of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

As a candidate during his run for the White House, Trump was quoted as asking a foreign policy adviser what the point was of having nuclear capability if the U.S. did not use the weapons.

At the moment, he is in the midst of two international disputes involving nuclear weapons. Trump is set this week to refuse certification that Iran is complying with an international pact to curb its international weapons development and has exchanged words with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over Pyongyang's nuclear program.

It was soon after the Pentagon meeting and after Trump had left that Tillerson described the U.S. leader's intelligence in harsh terms, uttering an expletive and calling him a "moron," according to U.S. news accounts. Tillerson has since said he is committed to his job as the top U.S. diplomat and working for Trump, but has not denied that he made the remark.

Trump suggested in recent days that he and Tillerson square off intellectually by each taking IQ tests, with the president saying he has no doubt that he would score higher. The White House said Tuesday that Trump's remarks were meant as a joke.

In Twitter comments, Trump compared NBC's reporting to that of CNN, the cable news network that has often drawn his ire after it aired stories he did not like.

"Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a "tenfold" increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!" Trump wrote. "With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!"

Trump's threat would not be possible, however. NBC, as a national television network, is not subject to licensing. However, individual TV stations affiliated with and owned by NBC are licensed to broadcast in their individual cities and towns.

In the U.S., freedom of the press is constitutionally guaranteed. The government's Federal Communications Commission regularly reviews licenses for individual television stations, some of which are owned by the national networks.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said that Trump's assertion that NBC's license could be challenged "emboldens" other governments "to embrace authoritarian tendencies."
Citing what it described as anti-Israel bias and a need for fundamental reform, the United States announced Thursday that it would withdraw from the United Nations agency that works to protect cultural and natural heritage sites across the globe.

Israel has apparently followed suit, with media reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the Foreign Ministry to begin the process of pulling out of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, better known as UNESCO.

Danny Danon, Israels permanent representative to the U.N., hailed the development in a tweet Thursday, saying it shows there is a price to pay for discrimination against Israel.

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The U.S. pullout, part of a long and deliberative process that predated the Trump administration, would take effect Dec. 31, 2018, according to Heather Nauert, a State Department spokeswoman.

In 2011, after UNESCO voted to grant full membership to a Palestinian state, the U.S. stopped funding the Paris-based organization.

This is, in a sense, the end point of a road that weve been on for some time, that is an uneasy relationship with UNESCO and especially an uneasy relationship around how it connects to the Israel-Palestine conflict, said Kal Raustiala, a law professor and director of the Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA.

Obviously were a huge part of UNESCOs contributions, and symbolically its unfortunate, Raustiala said. UNESCO is a politicized organization like any U.N. agency. But I think this feeds the perception that it is especially ideological. Its not going to derail UNESCO entirely, but its meaningful because we are a huge contributor of funds and of legitimacy.

In a statement, Irina Bokova, UNESCOs outgoing director-general, expressed profound regret over Americas decision to abandon the group, which she framed as an important part of the worlds resistance to the rise of violent extremism and terrorism.

Universality is critical to UNESCOs mission to strengthen international peace and security in the face of hatred and violence, to defend human rights and dignity, wrote Bovoka, whose replacement is scheduled to be chosen Friday by the agencys executive board.

She highlighted the organizations support of efforts to fight anti-Semitism, improve girls education and promote press freedom.

Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, a secular political party, called the U.S. move counterproductive and shameful.

Sooner or later they will see Palestine in every U.N. agency, he told the Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera. Will the U.S. respond to that by withdrawing from the [World Health Organization] or the World Intellectual Property Organization? They will be hurting only themselves.

That possibility may not be so far-fetched.

Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, tweeted that Trump foreign policy has found its theme: The Withdrawal Doctrine.

He cited threats or decisions by the White House to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, the Paris climate accord, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal.

UNESCO, which promotes educational, scientific and cultural collaboration among nations, has designated more than 1,000 cultural, natural and structural wonders, including Britains Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal in India, the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall of China.

It is not the first time the U.S. has withdrawn from the organization. President Reagan ditched the group in the 1980s, believing it to be favorable toward the Soviet Union  then a U.S. enemy. The U.S. rejoined in 2003.

Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson in Washington contributed to this report.

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UPDATES:

5 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting.

10 a.m.: This article was updated with Israels announcement that it would also withdraw from UNESCO.

This article was originally posted at 5:45 a.m.
Attorneys for an inmate convicted in a prison guards death are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his Thursday evening execution.

Robert Pruetts lawyers want justices to review whether lower courts properly denied a federal civil rights lawsuit that sought additional DNA testing in the case. They are also questioning whether a prisoner who claims actual innocence, as Pruett does, can be put to death.

Pruett, 38, was already serving 99 years in prison for a neighbors killing when he was convicted in the December 1999 death of Daniel Nagle, a corrections officer at a prison southeast of San Antonio. Nagle was repeatedly stabbed with a tape-wrapped metal rod; an autopsy showed the assault caused a heart attack that killed him.

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If the execution is carried out Thursday, Pruett would be the sixth prisoner executed this year in Texas, which carries out the death penalty more than any other state. Texas put seven inmates to death last year. His execution would be the 20th nationally, matching the U.S. total for all of 2016.

Pruett avoided execution in April 2015, when a state judge halted his punishment just hours before he could have been taken to the death chamber. His lawyers had convinced the judge that new DNA tests needed to be conducted on the steel rod used to stab the 37-year-old Nagle.

The new tests showed no DNA on the tape but uncovered DNA on the rod from an unknown female who authorities said likely handled the shank during the appeals process after the original tests in 2002.

In June, Pruetts execution was rescheduled for October. Pruetts attorneys then unsuccessfully sought more DNA testing and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in August, arguing Pruett had been denied due process. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the lawsuit last week, and Pruetts attorneys appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

In a second appeal to the Supreme Court, also filed Tuesday, the attorneys asked justices to revisit the constitutionality of executing a prisoner who claims actual innocence in federal court because of newly discovered evidence after exhausting all other appeals. Supreme Court justices in 1993 ruled 6-3 in a Texas case that it was constitutional to do so.

Attorneys for Texas told the Supreme Court that Pruetts appeals were intended to be a further unjustifiable delay. They argued the issues had been repeatedly raised and were previously properly rejected by the courts.

No physical evidence tied Pruett to Nagles death at the Texas Department of Criminal Justices McConnell Unit near Beeville. At his 2002 trial, prisoners testified that they saw Pruett attack Nagle or heard him talk about wanting to kill the guard. According to some of the testimony, he talked about possessing a weapon as well.

Pruett has said he was framed and that Nagle could have been killed by other inmates or corrupt officers at the McConnell Unit.

His trial lawyer, John Gilmore, this week recalled Pruetts horrible childhood environment and described him getting high with his parents when he was only 7 or 8.

Gilmore said he believed Pruett was going to be found not guilty of Nagles death. But youre defending somebody in prison already for murder. Thats already a big hurdle, he said.

Pruetts 99-year murder sentence was for participating with his father and a brother in the 1995 stabbing death of a 29-year-old neighbor, Raymond Yarbrough, at the mans trailer home in Channelview, just east of Houston. Pruett was 15 at the time.

His father, Howard Pruett, is serving life in prison. His brother, Howard Pruett Jr., was sentenced to 40 years.

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In Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, mammoth hurricanes have left behind a colossal amount of work. The cleanup and reconstruction efforts are going to take years. That means a severe demand for salvage and demolition crews, roofers, carpenters, drywall installers, painters, plumbers and workers in all manner of other trades and skills.

And if recent history tells us anything, much of this demand will be met by immigrants  migrant laborers, many of them highly skilled, and many of them lacking legal status.

As a workers rights organizer in New Orleans, I remember what happened on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Immigrant workers surged in to tackle the huge job of rebuilding, only to be exploited by unscrupulous employers in an unregulated, chaotic and dangerous labor bazaar. The workers had little access to decent housing and little ability to protest against unsafe conditions or wage theft.

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This wasnt a problem only for immigrants. As long as labor was exploitable and cheap, American-born workers and local businesses suffered too, as conditions and wages slid toward rock bottom.

When workers are vulnerable and afraid, aware that their immigration status can be used against them, they are easy targets for abuse.

If we had a federal government sensitive to these issues, the solution would be a moratorium on immigration enforcement in disaster zones. This would ensure that the rebuilders could keep working, and that those depending on them could return home as soon as possible. Given the Trump administrations relentless attacks on immigrants, theres little hope for this sensible fix.

In the absence of such a moratorium, governors and mayors should insist that federal labor laws be enforced in these areas while reconstruction is underway. Labor laws guarantee workers payment, safe working conditions and the ability to report mistreatment, among other things.

When workers are vulnerable and afraid, aware that their immigration status can be used against them, they are easy targets for abuse. They know that one complaint could mean a quick call to immigration. Their fear of being deported and losing everything shackles them to bad employers.

One exemplary story is that of Josue Diaz, an undocumented day laborer who was recruited along with 11 other workers after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The employer promised them good jobs, fair wages, safe conditions and housing.

The employer took them to Beaumont, Texas, where they were forced to live in tents in an isolated labor camp at an abandoned oil refinery. They were made to work in toxic conditions without safety equipment. Then, after they risked their health doing the most dangerous work, the company sent in U.S.-born workers with safety equipment and protections to finish the rest of the job. The Latino workers were treated as disposable.

Diaz and the other workers organized, protesting the discrimination and illegal treatment. In retaliation, the employer evicted them without compensation. When they demanded their pay, the employer called local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which arrested the workers immediately. After spending 78 days in jail, Diaz convinced the district attorney that the workers had been the victim of employer retaliation. The D.A. withdrew the charges, but ICE still detained the workers and sought to deport them.

These abuses, and the exploitation that took place after Katrina, occurred during the George W. Bush administration, which supported comprehensive immigration reform. The climate of fear is far worse today, with agents and officers from ICE and the Border Patrol running roughshod over immigrant communities, goaded by President Trumps toxic rhetoric.

Nevertheless, immigrants will still risk their lives to come here. Their need is that dire  and our demand is that urgent.

The credit rating company Moodys estimates that the damage from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma could total $150 billion to $200 billion  considerably more than the $108 billion or so in damage left by Katrina. Irma destroyed an estimated 25% of homes in the Florida Keys. In Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston, more than 136,000 homes and other structures were flooded by Harvey.

In the aftermath of these disasters, there has been talk of rebuilding homes and cities with greater attention to long-term sustainability and resilience. Some have even called for a green New Deal that marries these goals with stronger social safety nets for storm victims.

This worthy vision can and should take into account the people who are doing the rebuilding, making sure they are safe, secure and paid a fair wage. And that means starting with meaningful protections for the immigrant workers who help storm victims return home.

Saket Soni is the executive director of the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice and the National Guestworker Alliance.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
Donald Trump is a salesman who has never let truth get in the way of peddling a product. As president, he tried unsuccessfully to sell various schemes to repeal and replace Obamacare by using the same technique he used to sell the bogus curriculum of Trump University: make outlandish claims of value and quality that are nowhere close to the truth.

Now he is applying the same approach to tax reform. Trump states boldly that the Republican plan to cut taxes will bolster the sagging fortunes of the middle class and working Americans while pushing rich people and corporations to provide more jobs, repatriate profits and even pay more taxes. This is the biggest fib since he promised that his healthcare fix would guarantee every American more medical coverage for less money.

To the extent the sketchy scheme can be accurately assessed, the GOP tax reform proposal that Trump is trying to sell will do precisely the opposite of what he says it will do.

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1 / 51 la-1491523602-y7ephyarj1-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 51 la-1491368625-0bgh58ihw8-snap-image (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los angeles Times) 6 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 51 Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 51 Top of the Ticket cartoon (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 51 Cartoon caption contest winner at the DENT conference in Sun Valley, Idaho: Jon Duval, executive director of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 51 Old radicals and big media descend on Selma (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 51 Horsey imagined the creation of the Ann Coulter phenomenon in this cartoon from 2007. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 51 This David Horsey drawing is a reconfiguration of a cartoon he first published in 2006. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 51 Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, should give Cliven Bundy a call. After Sterling loses his NBA franchise and the deadbeat Nevada rancher loses his cattle, the two old racists will both need a buddy. Maybe they can team up together and open an all-white rodeo. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 51 Besides sending a chill up the spine of the international community, Vladimir Putin has accomplished one other thing by seizing Crimea and threatening the rest of Ukraine: Putin has brought back the bear. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 51 The right-wing insurrection at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nev., has taken another weird turn with new revelations about the family history of Cliven Bundy. (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 51 David Horsey / Los Angeles Times (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 51 See full story (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)

It will give a massive tax windfall to corporate executives, hedge fund managers, real estate tycoons and many others among the fabulously wealthy top 1% of Americans.

It will provide a nice tax break for folks earning more than $418,000 by dropping the top income tax rate from 39.6% to 35%.

It will eliminate the estate tax for the tiny percentage of citizens who are lucky enough to die in possession of assets that exceed $5.49 million.

It will cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20% while allowing companies to pay a discounted tax when bringing home profits parked in overseas subsidiaries.

The result of these generous tax reductions for millionaires and billionaires would be trillions of dollars added to the national debt.

What the Republican tax plan would not do is provide much, if any, tax relief for average taxpayers or for small businesses. In fact, some middle-class people would end up paying more because many itemized deductions, such as the one for state taxes, would be eliminated. There is very little likelihood that companies receiving tax breaks would start hiring new workers. Those companies can be expected to do what they have already been doing with their profits: share some of the new money with stockholders while banking the rest.

Far from being the populist champion of the little guy he pretended to be during his presidential campaign, Trump is no more than a double-talking front man for the Republicans serve-the-rich political machine.

Like a grifter running a shell game in Times Square, Trump relies on the gullibility of strangers, and about a third of Americans continue to fall for his pitch. Luckily, as his dismal record of legislative accomplishments indicates, he is not actually as convincing as he likes to think. Unless there are millions of new dupes to be found, this new tax swindle may not survive Trumps ridiculously obvious inability to tell the truth.

David.Horsey@latimes.com

Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Gov. Jerry Brown heads to Washington to talk about the threat of nuclear war Facebook

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Thursday asked Congress for an additional $3.3 billion to complete the 2020 census, now estimated to cost $15.6 billion.

Ross said additional funds are needed to implement and test new technology in time for census practice-runs in 2018, and to ramp up participation as cybersecurity concerns and distrust of the government threaten to dampen already declining response rates.

The census is the bedrock upon which we construct our system of democratic representation, Ross said before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. With the changes I have detailed and additional resources requested, I am confident we will have a full, fair and accurate census.

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But some members of Congress said even Ross new estimate is not enough. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) said the estimate was a good start, but not enough to make up for problems caused by insufficient funding by Congress and the White House in past years.

So far, the bureau is far behind schedule on implementing and testing new technologies to save money, improve the efficiency of data collection and make it easier for respondents to participate.

Of the 43 technology systems the bureau is supposed to prepare for testing in 2018, only four have completed development and 21 have some functionality. The department also canceled two sites for testing in West Virginia and Washington state.

Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), said it appeared officials were repeating the mistakes they made in 2010, when the bureau came close to utilizing new technology, but had to switch back to paper and pencil reporting at the last minute. We get promises that are never delivered on, Hice said at the hearing.

While it is widely agreed that implementing new technologies is a good cost-saving measure, some are worried that it will make it even harder to reach communities that are already unlikely to respond.

Members of marginalized groups, including those who are poor, African Americans, members of the LGBTQ community, immigrants and people living in rural areas, among others, are historically less likely to participate in the census. In the past, the government has successfully increased participation using a massive outreach program with a focus on advertising and communication efforts, education and partnerships with community organizations.

A lack of funding for these programs or a slow start to outreach efforts could lead to undercounting, particularly of groups that are historically not well-represented.

Its deeply important that the Commerce Department and Census Bureau consult with stakeholders who are in these communities, said Vanita Gupta, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. When your constituents are not counted in the census, they remain invisible for the next 10 years.

The National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People filed a lawsuit against the department earlier this month to compel it to release more information about its plans for the 2020 census to ensure it is committed to addressing undercounting of these particular communities.

Ross said the bureau has allocated a total of $748 million to outreach efforts, including $500 million for communications campaigns and $248 million for efforts to partner with organizations to increase the focus on hard-to-reach communities. This includes foot soldiers clogging around, ringing doorbells to encourage participation, Ross said.

Were spending an enormous amount per household on the [respondents] that are difficult to reach, and thats quite a deliberate thing, he said.

As of now, the bureau is partnering with 40 organizations, but hopes to reach about 800 by the time of the census.

In May, John Thompson resigned as director of the Census Bureau. Thompson said in a statement that he did so to pursue opportunities in the private sector, but Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) said he saw this as a red flag of problems in the bureau.

The bureau still does not have a director or deputy director, although Ross said Tuesday that candidates were being actively recruited.

lauren.rosenblatt@latimes.com

Twitter: @LRosenblatt_
President Trump hardened his conditions for approving legal status for young immigrants brought to this country illegally, insisting on Wednesday that Democrats would have to back funding for a border wall and other security measures before he would approve new protections for them.

After a mid-September meeting with congressional Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, Trump had said he favored a targeted, bipartisan solution for the so-called Dreamers, until recently protected by an Obama administration directive called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, that Trump began phasing out this month. The wall will come later, he said then.

Earlier this week, his administration put forth a series of hard-line conditions Democrats strongly oppose, prompting Pelosi and Schumer to issue a joint statement suggesting hed reneged on his tentative deal with them. Trump reiterated Wednesday that the wall  detested by Democrats, and some border Republicans  remained a priority before any DACA deal could be reached.

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If were going to do something, we need to get something in return, he said during an interview with Foxs Sean Hannity that was conducted before a rally at the Harrisburg, Pa., airport, and broadcast on Fox later in the evening. Trump expressed some sympathy for the young immigrants, noting that many dont speak the language of their country since they came to the United States so young.

Still, he added, if were going to solve that, we want a wall and we want greater border security.

During the lengthy and fawning interview, Hannity repeatedly praised the president and Trump returned the favor, twice telling an audience gathered behind him about Hannitys ratings. Im so proud of you, the president said.

Hannity did not correct multiple falsehoods Trump uttered during the interview.

At one point, Trump repeated his claim that stock market growth since his election had significantly offset the national debt. Both at the rally and to Hannity he asserted that $5.2 trillion in increased stock evaluations negated part of the nations $20-trillion debt.

The debt increased by more than $10 trillion during the Obama administration, he said, and the rising valuations possibly picked up the whole thing. But those valuations do not serve to reduce the debt, a point neither Hannity nor Trump clarified. Also, much of the debt accrued under Obama owed to the recession he inherited, which slashed tax collections and increased automatic spending for programs like jobless aid, and to growing spending for Medicare and Social Security as the population ages.

Trump also repeated a regularly uttered falsehood about the ranking of the nations taxes compared to other countries. Right now, Sean, we are the highest-taxed nation in the world, he said.

Actually, the nations corporate rate is among the highest in the world, but tax breaks significantly lower it for many companies. Also, the United States is 31st of 35 developed nations in the annual ranking of overall tax burden by the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

He also defended his tax plan using faulty math.

One of the elements of Trumps plan would void the current deductions for state income taxes, which would affect Democratic states like California and New York in particular.

Trump said that it was unfair for states that were well-run to subsidize states that were not.

Those states  he said, referring to Democratic bastions  really are being subsidized by states like Indiana and Iowa. Theyre so well run and theyre being penalized and its not fair.

Its finally time to say, Hey, make sure that your politicians do a good job of running your state, otherwise youre not going to benefit.

Yet the states Trump said were being penalized actually are subsidized by the Democratic states.

In a WalletHub list of states most dependent on federal dollars, California ranked 46th and New York, another donor state, ranked 34th. Such states have long given the federal government more in taxes than they have received back in services. Republican states, particularly those in the South, take more in services and subsidies than they pay in taxes.

Trump used the Hannity interview to renew vague threats against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un  blaming, as he has before, his Democratic and Republican predecessors for failing to permanently curb the countrys nuclear development.

Hannity asked whether Trump was thinking of North Korea when he commented last week, as he was surrounded at the White House by ranking military officers in their dress uniforms, that the gathering represented the calm before the storm.

Trump essentially confirmed that he was sending a message about North Korea, although he was not specific about what that message was.

We cant let this go on, we just cant, he said repeatedly. He asserted that Im really building up the military like nobodys ever seen, though he cited the purchasing of fighter jets that was in the works before he became president.

Although he had been the one to raise the topic to reporters during his meeting with the military officers, Trump declined to offer details Wednesday.

I dont want to talk about it, he said. Im not saying Im doing anything, but Im not saying Im not.

Trump also returned to a sore topic, healthcare. As he has since the failure of the Senate healthcare bill, he said that he was surprised at Arizona Sen. John McCains no vote  a move that had been widely telegraphed by the Republican senator. He also continued to insist that Republicans have the votes to pass the measure, when even many Republicans say otherwise.

We have the numbers now, he said. Were going to get that.

cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Twitter: @cathleendecker

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Updates on California politics
White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly held a surprise news conference on Thursday that, while wide-ranging, clearly was intended to send one message: that he feels secure and satisfied in his job, and frustrated with press reports to the contrary.

I dont believe  and I just talked to the president  I dont think Im being fired today. And I am not so frustrated in this job that Im thinking of leaving, he said jocularly in his first moments at the lectern.

So, he summarized, unless things change, Im not quitting, Im not getting fired, and I dont think Ill fire anyone tomorrow.

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That the presidents chief of staff would take over the daily White House briefing was remarkable evidence of the extent to which the West Wing has been roiled by stories of internal intrigue, and by the presidents aggravation with them. Kelly answered reporters questions for about 30 minutes, longer than most briefings by Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who on Thursday stood off to the side.

Kelly addressed weighty issues including North Korea, Iran and immigration. But perhaps his most revealing comments were on how he sees his job of managing an all-but-unmanageable president, who in off-hours can upend any staff plans with a provocative post, or five, on his Twitter account.

The chief of staff said he was not aware beforehand of Trumps tweets. But, he said, they dont make his job more difficult. Still, he took the opportunity to smooth over the backlash from Trumps tweets that morning threatening a limit to the federal governments help for hurricane-battered Puerto Rico. He also suggested some difference of approach toward both North Korea and Mexico, frequent targets of Trumps tweets and hard-line comments.

Kelly suggested that his hands-off attitude to the presidents tweets reflected his broader sense of his job. I was not brought to this job to control anything, he said, but rather to manage the presidents input so he can make the best decisions.

A number of news reports have described Kelly as having difficulty managing Trumps penchant for undermining his own policy messages. Trump recently has tried to tamp down suggestions that Kelly was on the verge of resigning or being fired, contending that Kelly would be chief of staff for seven more years  to the end of a second Trump term.

Later Thursday, as he formally nominated Kellys deputy, Kirstjen Nielsen, as the next secretary of the Homeland Security Department, the president lauded Kelly as well, calling him one of the finest people I have ever had the privilege to know.

Kelly succeeded the first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, who had not been able to corral Trumps wide-ranging spheres of advisors and confidants. Many of them met or talked with the president without Priebus knowledge, sometimes influencing Trump to veer off in unexpected ways in making decisions or comments.

Kelly initially served as head of the Homeland Security Department, and won plaudits from the president for helping to stem the flow of immigrants across the Mexican border. He also ingratiated himself by taking full responsibility for Trumps troubled first order for a ban on travelers from some mostly Muslim countries.

Since he was appointed chief of staff on July 28, Kelly has won good reviews from concerned Republicans on Capitol Hill, though recent praise from Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee  that Kelly, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson helped prevent chaos from Trump  angered the president.

The intense focus on a staff member  even one who is a decorated, retired Marine general  has led to uncomfortable moments for Kelly, which he tried to minimize with humor on Thursday.

In August, he was photographed looking skyward as Trump gave equal blame for the violence in Charlottesville, Va., to both the white supremacists and the anti-racism counter-protesters. Last month, he was photographed with his hand to his head when Trump, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly, called North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un Rocket Man.

You guys with the cameras always catch me when Im thinking hard and it looks like Im frustrated and mad, Kelly said.

Trump had told reporters at the White House on Saturday that Kelly loved his job more than anything hes ever done. On Thursday, Kelly corrected the president: White House chief of staff is the hardest and most important job hes ever had, but not the best one. That, he said, was being an enlisted Marine sergeant infantryman.

On several issues, Kelly also sought to clarify comments from Trump in ways that went beyond stylistic. On Puerto Rico, he provided assurance that the federal government would be there long-term to help with rebuilding. When he talked of Mexico, Kelly emphasized his great relationships with Mexican officials, and put much blame for drug traffic on demand from American users.

Kelly said, as Trump has, that his biggest fear is North Koreas nuclear ambitions. But Kelly explicitly said diplomacy is crucial in dealing with Pyongyang, while Trump has disparaged Tillerson as wasting his time trying to negotiate anything.

brian.bennett@latimes.com

Twitter: @ByBrianBennett

cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Twitter: @cathleendecker

ALSO:

Trump issues order to deregulate health insurance, promising relief from Obamacare

Trump draws a hard line on protection for young immigrants and touts misleading statistics to boost tax plan
Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said residents have a duty to defend China's sovereignty, a clear warning to activists demanding full democracy for the Chinese territory.

In her maiden policy address to the Legislative Council Wednesday, Lam said the semi-autonomous city has an "obligation to say 'no' to any attempt to threaten our country's sovereignty, security and development interests." Lam also said Hong Kongers are obligated to "nurture our next generation into citizens with a sense of national identity."
For years, Orange County Republicans such as Reps. Ed Royce and Mimi Walters have drawn from a familiar GOP playbook on immigration.

Walters campaigned saying that people who enter the U.S. illegally should not be rewarded, and she has voted at least three times against protections for immigrants who were children when they were brought here illegally. Royce once decried the Dream Act, which would have given those young people a path to citizenship, as amnesty and said illegal immigrants would take the spots of American university students.

But when President Trump announced last month that he would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, Royce sympathized with children who have only known America as their home, and Walters said it would be unjust to punish them. Both called on Congress to find a permanent solution for DACA recipients, though neither have signed on to one.

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The backpedaling is indicative of the kind of shift that has been underway in their districts for years. The two represent more than 40% of voters in Orange County, longtime Republican turf that last year went to a Democrat for president for the first time in 80 years. That transformation is due mostly to the explosive growth of Latinos, Asians and other minority communities that tend to lean Democratic.

Now, a March date for DACAs phaseout with hundreds of thousands of young livelihoods on the line is increasing pressure on Orange County Republicans: Royce, Walters, and Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Darrell Issa.

They all face tough reelection campaigns, and protesters appear regularly outside their offices holding signs about healthcare and the Russia investigation. Depending on how members deal with DACA, immigration could become another galvanizing issue for Democrats there as the 2018 midterms approach.

Thats because of people like 23-year-old Lupita, who came to the U.S. illegally as a child and recently led a few dozen students on a march through the small Fullerton College campus. The group chanted, Undocumented and unafraid, a slogan coined by the immigrant youth movement a few years ago. Organizers urged them to call Congress members to demand legislation that would eventually grant them citizenship.

I guess its a wake-up call, said Lupita, who is, despite her chants, afraid of being deported and asked that her full name be withheld.

Lupita also marched a few years ago when she hoped Congress would pass the Dream Act. But after President Obama rolled out DACA in 2012, the people who had protested with her slipped into the comfort of renewing their permits every two years, focusing on school or careers.

Students march through the Fullerton College campus chanting, Undocumented and unafraid. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times )

We gave up momentum after DACA. We became complacent, said Jose Servin, an organizer with Orange County Immigrant Youth United, which has helped organize fundraisers and legal clinics in the weeks since Trumps decision. Now that DACA is going down, were seeing more unity between DACA recipients, non-DACA recipients, really the entire movement.

Demonstrations have popped up in Orange County over the last few weeks, including rallies that drew hundreds of people to Royce and Walters district offices.

The district that elected Royce in 1992 was then more than 60% white and less than a quarter Latino. Today, Asian Americans and Latinos make up more than 65% of his district, and the portion of white residents has shrunk to 28%.

The share of Republican voters in Walters district has dropped 4 percentage points since she was elected to Congress in 2014, but the districts shes served since the start of her career show how her constituents have changed dramatically.

The percentage of Latino and Asian voters in the state Assembly district Walters was elected to in 2004 was 11%. Registered voters were overwhelmingly Republican. A little over a decade later, Republicans are ahead by just 9 percentage points in her 45th Congressional District, and Latinos and Asians make up more than a quarter of voters there.

Whether those numbers will make the difference for Republicans such as Royce and Walters remains to be seen. Minority voters have not historically registered to vote or turned out at the same rates as white voters, and that effect is magnified in midterm election years.

Plenty of organizations are trying to change that. Latino Victory Project  a nonpartisan group whose leaders have strong Democratic ties  recently commissioned a poll that suggested a large majority of Latino adults are getting fired up over immigration and generally disapprove of Trump and the Republican Party.

The group is one of many that have promised to harness that potential power by turning out minority voters.

It could prove to be that Donald Trump turns out to be the greatest Latino organizer of all time, said Latino Victory Project President Cristobal Alex. The group and its political action committee had a total budget of about $6.5 million last year.

Royces Democratic challengers have seized on the moment. Sam Jammal, the son of Colombian and Jordanian immigrants, said the congressmans approach would leave DACA recipients second-class citizens. Phil Janowicz, a former professor, called Royces shift blatant hypocrisy from a desperate politician.

Even among the GOP party faithful, support for hard-line immigration policies appears to have waned. In January, a statewide poll by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that 65% of California Republicans believe immigrants living here illegally should be allowed to stay if they meet certain requirements.

So far, the only California Republicans in Congress who have signed on to DACA replacement legislation are Reps. Jeff Denham and David Valadao, who represent Central Valley districts that are heavily Latino and have long supported immigration reform. Royce and Walters declined to comment further through their representatives.

Even if other vulnerable Republican members do support a DACA replacement, it may not be enough. Both Royce and Walters have mentioned only the need to give DACA recipients residency, not citizenship. Reinvigorated Dreamers, many of them too young to have experienced life in the shadows as adults, are demanding a clear path to citizenship in clean legislation without the provisions for increased immigration enforcement the White House has proposed. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has called those demands  which include funding for a border wall, increased funding for border security and dramatic changes to the countrys legal immigration system  trash.

They dont want to sell out their parents  by trading a work permit for more deportations or a militarization of the border, said Rosa Hernandez, a DACA recipient who works for the nonprofit Public Law Center, which has been providing free legal advice to immigrants.

A DACA recipient who asked not to be identified holds up a red card that outlines constitutional rights. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times )

DACA recipient Rosa Hernandez works at the Public Law Center, which has been hosting informational sessions and legal clinics for young people like her. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times )

If Congress agrees on anything but a clean bill, members risk backlash from immigrants who reject the idea of DACA recipients like Hernandez being used as bargaining chips for tougher immigration rules.

Hope for a clean bill is what motivated 21-year-old Min Jung Park, a student at UC Irvine, to fly to Washington to join one of her first immigration protests this summer. Park, a DACA recipient who lives in Walters district, said she is more worried about what the deal-making could mean for her 15-year-old sister, who is no longer eligible for DACA because of Trumps decision.

Park, who came to the country when she was 7 and overstayed her visa, said she doesnt buy Walters statements about DACA.

Thats only going to put more of us [protesting outside her office] because we want her to take a clear side, she said.

Minerva Gomez, 33, agrees. Gomez isnt a DACA recipient but left the country voluntarily in 2010 before a family member petitioned for her return. She advocates for immigrant rights as an organizer for faith-based Orange County Congregation Community Organization.

A little more than six weeks ago, she became a citizen and a newly registered voter in Royces district.

People like Royce, who didnt have a moment to listen to us before, are just going to have to listen, Gomez said of the 2018 elections. Because were becoming a population thats not just going to stay silent. Were going to hold these folks accountable.

christine.maiduc@latimes.com

For more on California politics, follow @cmaiduc.

ALSO

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Democrats road to winning back the House goes through California, and it wont be as easy as it seems

Hard-line White House immigration proposals could derail deal to protect Dreamers

IN THEIR WORDS: Dreamers tell us what the end of DACA would mean for them.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein kept many in suspense for months over her decision to seek reelection, but since announcing her plans Monday to pursue a fifth full term, shes made clear there will be no more waiting.

As she kicks off what could be her most difficult campaign since 1994, some members of her party are saying Feinsteins measured approach to politics no longer fits in a state that has grown markedly more liberal since she was first elected.

Her allies immediately pushed back at such a notion: Feinsteins announcement was followed by a fundraising letter written by Californias junior senator, Kamala Harris, whose vocal opposition to President Trumps policies have made her an increasingly popular figure on the left. Then there was a significant union endorsement, and a Beverly Hills fundraiser Tuesday night with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who warned against a cannibalistic intra-party fight.

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Wednesday found Feinstein in her element, updating a Riverside business group about foreign, domestic and state policy issues, including dealing with an increasingly aggressive North Korea, the effect on California of Trumps tax reform proposal and the devastating wildfires in the state.

But as recently as last week, Feinstein, 84, told reporters on Wednesday and donors on Tuesday, she was debating what to do. She thought to herself that she has had a good run representing California in the Senate for a quarter-century. She has worked her entire adult life. Maybe it would be good to take some time off to enjoy her sunset years?

A conversation last week with a close friend in Washington clinched her decision.

I came to the conclusion that this is how Im meant to spend my life.

Feinsteins decision comes as she faces challenges she hasnt encountered in previous elections.

State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon and billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer are strongly considering challenging her, according to confidantes to both men. They could be driven by a restive and vocal liberal faction that is arguing that Feinstein is too moderate to represent the state that has become home base for the resistance against Trumps agenda. Meanwhile, the nations capital is gripped by polarization and gridlock. The ability to work across party lines to solve the nations problems  a skill Feinstein has long prided herself on  seems less common every day.

Protesters have dogged Feinstein all year, speaking out about her opposition to single-payer healthcare, her call for patience with Trumps presidency and her bipartisan efforts. Outside her fundraiser Tuesday, a demonstrator held a sign that read Retire Dianne the DINO, or Democrat in Name Only, a twist on an insult that Republicans usually hurl at others in the GOP who are deemed to lack solidly conservative credentials.

Small group of protestors outside Feinstein fundraiser in Beverly Hills. pic.twitter.com/DTCkWdYXNP  Seema (@LATSeema) October 11, 2017

One freshman California congressman and fellow Democrat went further: He called for a primary challenge.

On the big issues of our time, shes been on the wrong side of history, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) said Tuesday on SiriusXMs The Dean Obeidallah Show, citing Feinsteins vote for the Iraq war and support for the Patriot Act.

But on most issues, the California senator has voted with her party, though her record is not as liberal as those of Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts or Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Rep. Barbara Lee, an Oakland congresswoman whom Khanna urged to run, quickly said she had no plans to challenge Feinstein.

There already are several long-shot candidates running against Feinstein. California political watchers are particularly waiting to see what De Leon decides to do, given his interest in the job and need for a next step as his time in the state Senate ends because of term limits. De Leon has not ruled out a primary challenge to Feinstein and is one of the few high-ranking Democrats in the state who have not commented on her reelection campaign.

Steyer, a major Democratic donor, inserted himself into the speculation on Tuesday when he sent a letter to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee saying that candidates must support Trumps impeachment. He added that now is not a time for patience.

It is clear for all to see that there is zero reason to believe he can be a good president, he wrote, highlighting statements Feinstein made in August that caused a fiery backlash from progressives.

Any challenger would face significant obstacles going after someone with such a storied career and deep ties to the state. Moments after Feinstein announced her 2018 campaign, Harris emailed her supporters seeking to raise money for Feinstein.

Since joining the Senate in January, I have found few better allies in our fight to stop the radical agenda of Donald Trump than Dianne. Shes joined with us in every major fight, Harris wrote.

The next day, the United Farm Workers announced their endorsement of Feinstein, the first in a long list of labor groups likely to support Californias senior senator. That evening, Hollywood studio executives and philanthropists raised money for Feinsteins campaign, with guests spending up to $5,400 to attend a poolside reception at a Beverly Hills mansion hosted by Garcetti and Hollywood power players including Michael Eisner and Sherry Lansing.

As Garcetti introduced Feinstein, he warned the crowd that any primary challenge would be a grave mistake.

It would be wrong for Democrats and what California should be doing right now, Garcetti said, ticking off Trump policies that the state needed to fight. We have a lot of work to do.

In Riverside on Wednesday, Feinstein emphasized the importance of seniority. She talked about pushing the bump-stock legislation she introduced in the Senate in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. She demonstrated her fluency in issues overseas (the Iran nuclear deal) and local (the runway requirements for large cargo aircraft to land at nearby March Air Force Base).

And she looked back fondly to the ways of Washington when she first joined the Senate, recalling bipartisan groups going to a senators personal retreat to discuss healthcare policy.

It was congenial. We listened to one another. Youd be surprised how much people of your opposite party know, and if you really are able to talk to them [and] have an open mind, who knows what you can come up with, Feinstein said, later adding that was her goal for her remaining time in the Senate.

God knows this is a hard time for the country. I want to do everything I can to bring people together, past the partisan divide, so we really as Americans have a common purpose.

seema.mehta@latimes.com

For the latest on national and California politics, follow @LATSeema on Twitter.

Californias Sen. Dianne Feinstein says shell run for a sixth term: Theres still so much work left to do

Its time for Pelosi and other long-timers to leave House Democrats leadership, Californias Sanchez says

Live coverage of California politics

UPDATES:

5:30 p.m.: This article was updates with additional details about Feinsteins potential challengers.

This article was originally published at 4:20 a.m.
California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon is strongly considering challenging U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a fellow Democrat, in her 2018 reelection bid, according to sources close to the Los Angeles legislator.

One veteran California politician, who asked for anonymity to freely discuss the matter, said De Leon considered a campaign launch earlier this week. But the decision was delayed by Feinsteins Monday announcement that she would run for reelection, which had been expected later in the year, as well as by the wildfires ravaging the state.



For the record: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that De Leon was the first legislator to hold the position of Appropriations Chair in the Assembly and Senate. Former legislator Carole Migden held both posts before him.

CNN reported Thursday that De Leon intends to enter the race, attributing the story to three people with knowledge of his plans. Sources close to De Leon told the Los Angeles Times that, while he is leaning toward running, he has not yet made a final decision.

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If De Leon challenges Feinstein, it could upend the 2018 election. Among the states powerful Democratic elected officials and interests, the move would also probably be viewed as a display of disloyalty to a woman first elected to the Senate a quarter of century ago who is viewed nationally as a powerful and respected elder of the party.

De Leons political advisors declined to comment Thursday, but a potential run by the state Senate leader has been the subject of widespread rumors that have heightened in recent weeks.

According to party insiders, De Leons team has been reaching out to labor and party leaders about a potential mid-October launch.

Immediately after Feinstein announced her plans to run again, De Leons colleagues in the state Senate were asked by his allies to keep their powder dry and refrain from endorsing anyone in the race yet, according to sources familiar with the conversations.

A top state Democratic leader told The Times that De Leon called him a couple of weeks ago seeking his advice on challenging the 84-year-old Feinstein. The leader, who also asked for anonymity to discuss the private conversation and is neutral in the race, ran through the obstacles De Leon was likely to face, from his lack of name identification among the states voters to Feinsteins wealth and ability to self-fund a campaign.

I told him despite all his notoriety for all of his good legislative accomplishments, most people dont know who the hell he is, the person said, adding that De Leon would also face a significant fundraising disadvantage.

Feinstein has long relationships with the donors in the state, and is wealthy enough to finance her own campaign. De Leon has raised money for his legislative races, but could not transfer that money to a federal campaign. And donors who are otherwise sympathetic to his cause might shy away from him to avoid angering Feinstein.

Californias senior senator last faced a tough reelection battle in 1994. But in recent months, she has been criticized by liberal protesters who argue that she is too moderate to represent a state that has become home to the resistance to President Trumps agenda.

Talk of a potential primary challenge has grown so loud that on Tuesday night, the day after Feinstein announced that she was seeking reelection, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti warned that such an election fight would harm the state.

This cannibalistic approach, that somehow we should be at each others throats right now  is wrong for Democrats and what California should be doing right now, Garcetti said as he introduced Feinstein at a Beverly Hills fundraiser, before ticking off Trump policies that the state needed to fight, such as a tax overhaul plan that could handicap large states and the efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. We have a lot of work to do.

Republicans immediately seized upon the potential intraparty fracas.

Democratic civil war is now out in the open in California, and every single Democratic House candidate in the state must pick a side, said Jack Pandol, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. There is no middle ground: These candidates either support Kevin de Leon and his radical agenda including single-payer [healthcare] and massive gas tax hikes, or they support Dianne Feinstein and all of her Schumer-Pelosi baggage.

Another potential candidate weighing a run is billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer, who believes Trump is an existential challenge to our democracy, according to someone close to him.

This is much, much less about Dianne Feinstein  though like a lot of folks it shocked [Steyers] conscience when she suggested Trump could be a good president despite all the evidence to the contrary  and much more about the need to challenge the establishment and the party orthodoxy to actually get the Democratic Party back to fighting for people and not for the status quo, the Steyer confidant said.

Steyer has flirted with running for office previously. He nearly entered the 2016 U.S. Senate race, going so far as to hire top Democratic talent and locking down Steyer for Senate websites. He is among the nations top Democratic donors and could easily self-fund a campaign.

But De Leon has been the subject of the greatest speculation in recent months as he has vocally criticized Feinstein.

He got his start in the early 1990s as an immigrant rights activist, organizing a massive downtown Los Angeles demonstration in 1994 against Proposition 187, the ballot initiative to cut off many government services to people in the country illegally.

After working for labor unions such as the California Teachers Assn. and on political campaigns, De Leon won his first elected office, a state Assembly seat, in 2006 and moved to the state Senate in 2010. In 2014, he was elected leader of the Senate  the first Latino to hold that post in more than 100 years.

Perhaps more than any other California politician, De Leon has personified the states antagonism toward Trump, eagerly embracing the mantra of resistance against the federal government.

That posture was most evident in his signature legislation of the year, the so-called sanctuary state measure that curtails state and local law enforcements communication with federal immigration officials.

Updated at 12:25 p.m.: This story was updated to add that a top state Democratic leader who described a conversation with De Leon is neutral in the Senate race.

melanie.mason@latimes.com

seema.mehta@latimes.com

Follow @melmason on Twitter for the latest on California politics.

With his political clock ticking, state Senate leader Kevin de Leon keeps mum about what hell do next

As Senate head, Kevin de Leon hopes to wed agenda with leadership

Updates from Sacramento

UPDATES:

7:10 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about Tom Steyer.

This article was originally published at 2:35 p.m.
There are many paths to the presidency, most of them a standard climb from one elected office to the next.

A whole passel of lawmakers have cycled their way through a governorship or the U.S. Senate en route to the White House. Others arrived with less buttoned-down backgrounds. There have been war heroes, a former haberdasher, a onetime movie actor.

And then, of course, there is the current occupant whose resume  real estate developer, beauty pageant promoter, conspiracy monger, reality TV celebrity  comprises a category all its own.

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In the whole history of the United States, however, there has never been a candidate who made the leap straight from City Hall to the White House, or who even managed to win his partys presidential nomination.

Several mayors have tried, some more plausibly than others. New Yorks Rudolph Giuliani  a national hero after 9/11  was, for a time, the frontrunner for the 2008 Republican nomination until his political ineptitude cratered his candidacy

Irvines Larry Agran managed to squeeze into a few photo ops with the rest of the 1992 Democratic field before the race grew serious and he was banished to the ranks of political trivia and a list of otherwise-forgotten rivals vanquished by Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton.

Now Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is mentioned as a White House prospect, fresh off his inauguration to a second term. He insists that more than 250 years of unbroken mayoral futility are no deterrent.

I think all the rules are off, he told a Wisconsin TV interviewer during a June visit to the Midwestern swing state. No African American could be president until one was. No reality star could be president until one is.

True, and true.

First, though, a disclaimer: While Garcetti is making the moves of a White House hopeful  chatting up Democratic donors and national political reporters; showing up at high-brow policy forums; visiting New Hampshire, the first primary state  he remains publicly coy about a run in 2020.

He might even make a relatively late entry into the 2018 California governors race.

He wants to play a role in the national political debate and wants to be active in the debate within the Democratic Party, said Bill Carrick, a longtime Garcetti political advisor.

In the meantime, Im much more focused on today, my responsibilities in L.A. than plotting my political future, the mayor said in a hey-look-me-over stop this week at the Sacramento Press Club.

Conspicuously, however, he wont commit to serving out his full term.

There is a case to be made that the job of big-city mayor, with its daily, hands-on demands, offers better training for the White House than, say, being one of 100 members of a U.S. Senate most notable these days for accomplishing close to nothing.

The population of Los Angeles, about 4 million, tops that of nearly half the states, and the citys $9-billion budget is larger than those of Iowa, Mississippi and Idaho, among others.

Few jobs in politics insinuate an officeholder so immediately into the lives of his or her constituents, whether dealing with local classrooms, potholes or the fallout from a mass shooting or natural disaster. A mayor has to be both an executive and a micromanager, said UC Merceds Jessica Trounstine, an expert on urban politics.

The problem, politically, is the stigma many associate with big cities: Corruption, crime, permissive liberalism and, not least, a sizable minority population that not everyone celebrates as a sign of vibrancy and welcome diversity. That makes it tough for a mayor trying to appeal to rural and suburban voters, who may avoid city life precisely because of its perceived ills.

Our geographic divisions are overlaid with our political divisions  the whole red-versus-blue map thing  in a very clear way, Trounstine said.

The sentiment, while thoroughly modern, is hardly new.

I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health and the liberties of man, wrote Thomas Jefferson, who celebrated the yeoman farmer as the American ideal. The mobs of great cities add just so much to support of pure government as sores do to the strength of the human body.

Ick.

Another hurdle for any mayor seeking higher office  a governorship, a U.S. Senate seat or, most especially, the White House  is starting with a relatively small base and the need to forge political alliances that may not play well beyond the city limits

In many cities you need strong union backing. In many instances you need strong backing from the black community, or Latino or immigrant communities, said Daniel Hopkins, who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and has written extensively on race and politics at the local level. Running that gantlet often leaves politicians perceived in certain ways that make it tough for them to appeal on a national stage.

None of which automatically disqualifies Garcetti should he take a huge leap and try for the White House. President Trumps improbable election doubtless gives heart to every underdog, long-shot and barrier-breaking candidate, whatever their provenance.

Still, its good to have a day job.

mark.barabak@latimes.com

@markzbarabak on Twitter

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Every ambitious politician yearning to replace Democrat Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate missed their best shot. They should have started running hard before she committed to the race.

While Feinstein was still mulling over whether to run a sixth time at age 85 next year, Senate wannabes could have been flexing muscle and charming voters all over the state.

They could have been selling a futuristic, progressive agenda while projecting youth and energy. Raising money and climbing in the polls.

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No challenger may have been that capable. But if one had been, it might have startled Feinstein and prodded her to think twice: I havent had a tough race in 23 years. Do I really want to endure one again at my age? Perhaps she would have been deterred from seeking reelection and retired.

Well never know. That window closed when Feinstein tweeted Monday she was all in for another Senate term.

Shed be 91 when her term expired, breaking Republican Hiram Johnsons California record for longevity in the worlds greatest deliberative body.

The Senate is Feinsteins life and she excels there. Absent a health problem, she was never going to bow out voluntarily without being nudged.

She had a pacemaker installed last winter but apparently is in relatively good health. Her husband has undergone chemo treatment for lung cancer, but is feeling good, she told me.

In this deep blue state, its no longer Republicans who keep Democrats from highly coveted offices. Its Democratic incumbency that blocks the upward mobility of the young and restless.

In this new political world, Democrats will need to shed their shyness, politeness and political correctness if they hope to advance up the ladder. Theyll need to challenge incumbent fellow Democrats and not fret about party disloyalty.

Thats the price of a collapsed two-party system in this state.

Not that it would have been particularly good for California or the party if Feinstein hadnt run or if thered been a bloody Democratic fight for her seat.

Of course, there still could be. The candidate filing deadline for the June 2018 primary isnt until March 9. But its difficult to envision any Democrat beating Feinstein.

There has always been speculation about Bay Area billionaire Tom Steyer running. But thats doubtful. Hes relatively unknown. And California voters never have been kind to a rich political neophyte trying to launch a career from the top rung. Anyway, hed be running against a fellow Bay Area Democrat.

State Senate leader Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles would love to run for the U.S. Senate. He has been sniping at Feinstein that shes not anti-Trump enough. But hes another guy who is unknown statewide. And he lacks enough money to get known. All his bucks have been raised under state rules and cant be transferred into a U.S. Senate account.

There were widespread rumors that De Leon, whos termed out of the Legislature next year, was going to announce his Senate candidacy this week. Thats not happening, a top aide emailed me. Folks need to take a breath. Hes still working through his options.

For years, the fun political parlor game has been speculating who might replace Feinstein if she did retire. The list of Democrats included Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Rep. Adam B. Schiff of Burbank and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. All waited for Feinstein to decide. Then they immediately endorsed her.

Also quickly jumping aboard were U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), the darling of leftists, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the front-runner to replace termed-out Gov. Jerry Brown next year.

Garcetti introduced Feinstein at a Beverly Hills fundraiser Tuesday night and denounced any Democrat who might challenge the senator.

This cannibalistic approach, that somehow we should be at each others throats right now  is wrong for Democrats and what California should be doing, the mayor said.

What they should be doing, he said, is fighting Trumps policies.

Hours earlier, speaking to the Sacramento Press Club, Garcetti left open the possibility of his running for governor next year.

Im going to take a little bit more time to think about it, he said when asked.

I asked Feinstein whether she had been tempted to just step away from politics and relax in retirement. She was elected Californias first female senator in 1992 after serving 10 years as San Francisco mayor. She ran for governor in 1990 and lost narrowly to Republican Pete Wilson.

Thats really not me, she replied. I really do care. One thing I really care about is where the country is going right now under this president.

When she saw the TV footage of Las Vegas mass shooting victims, she said, it just struck me between the eyes. I want to do something about it. Ive got a bill that makes sense.

Her bill would outlaw bump fire stocks that turn semiautomatic rifles into virtual machine guns. The Vegas killer had 12 such firearms.

Ive made mistakes and learned from them, Feinstein said. My experience and ability to work with people have really improved. If its possible to get things done, I can do it. Im a problem solver rather than a problem maker. Im not a grandstander.

But has politics passed by this pragmatic centrist as both parties veer to their extremes? Lets hope not.

We still need savvy, thoughtful, gutsy people to make democracy work. Weve got too many loudmouth grandstanders.

george.skelton@latimes.com

Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter

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Republicans, in a shift after Las Vegas massacre, are open to considering a gun limit -- on bump stocks

The Las Vegas massacre has forced a breach in congressional Republicans solid opposition to gun restrictions, prompting many, from party leaders on down, to say they will consider banning bump stocks that turn assault rifles into virtual machine guns.

The National Rifle Assn., to which most Republicans are loyal and which had been silent since the gunmans attack Sunday night, on Thursday in a statement said it could back such limits -- as a federal regulation, not law.

The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations. its statement on Thursday said.

The NRAs blessing will probably increase the number of Republicans willing to back restrictions, but if those limits come in the form of regulations from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), rather than in a law, Democrats are certain to object.

Just Wednesday, when California Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to ban bump stocks by law, only fellow Democrats joined with her.

By Thursday, however, top GOP leaders in the House and Senate, including Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, signaled their interest in working on legislation that that could limit access to the devices.

Clearly thats something we need to look into, Ryan told MSNBC host Hugh Hewitt in an interview scheduled to air this weekend.

Senators on Thursday morning privately discussed ways they could tackle the issue as they met for routine business.

I will tell you that the unique aspect of the bump stock and how you would literally transform a semiautomatic weapon into an automatic weapon is something that I think bears looking into, Cornyn told Texas reporters on a conference call.

He has asked Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley of Iowa to convene a hearing and look into it.

Even Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus of conservative hard-liners, told reporters earlier in the week hed be willing to consider banning bump stocks, if the Senate passes a bill and sends it to the House.

The shift is notable for Republicans who, under great pressure from the NRA and other gun rights groups, have resisted past efforts at gun control, even after some of the most devastating mass shootings in the United States.

Coming after the Las Vegas shooting, which left 58 dead and hundreds wounded in what authorities said is the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, the movement may indicate the potential limits of the gun lobbys reach into politics and policy.

Polls show Americans overwhelmingly want measures that could curb gun violence and pressure has mounted as cultural figures, including late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, have delivered heart-wrenching criticisms of congressional inaction.

Democrats, who have at times splintered on firearms issues as conservative-state lawmakers joined Republicans to defeat gun-safety bills, welcomed the changed outlook.

They have called on President Trump to cut across partisan lines and push Congress toward legislation to reduce gun violence that polls show most Americans would support.

Will the president stand up? said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York. The president has a choice.

Many Democrats, however, will not want to limit action to bump stocks.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco said bump stock legislation was one approach, but no substitute for a background check bill that she said would have bipartisan support in the House if Ryan would allow a vote.

It really is all up to the speaker, she said. Is he going to bring the bill to the floor?

At the same time, lawmakers were skeptical that initial interest in limited bipartisan legislation would translate into enough actual votes to write the restriction into law.

We need to move Republicans from being open to the idea to being willing to actually work on it, said Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a Democrat who has become a leader on firearms safety measures since the 2012 killings of 20 first-graders and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

One key Republican, Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who co-sponsored a bipartisan background check bill that was defeated a few years ago, was noncommittal Thursday. He said he was just learning about bump stocks and needed more information.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told reporters it was too soon, as the investigation in Las Vegas was just underway, to consider legislation.

Lawmakers, though, appeared concerned that the device offers a way to get around the existing ban on automatic weapons, which have been outlawed for years except for military use.

In the House, several military veterans, led by Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, sent a letter to federal officials asking them to reconsider how they regulate the devices. During the Obama administration, the ATF authorized use of the stocks.

This is definitely an area were going to look [at], Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield said on Fox News.

A number of lawmakers, including Ryan, an avid hunter, said they were unfamiliar with bump stocks before the Las Vegas shooting. The alleged gunman appears to have used the device for rapid shooting.

Read More
U.S. B-1B strategic bombers were sent again to skies over the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday night, practicing launching a precision strike against the North alongside the South Korean Air Force's F-15K fighter jets.

Tuesday was the North Korean Workers Party's founding anniversary, when another widely feared missile launch failed to materialize.

Earlier U.S. President Donald Trump was briefed by top defense officials on a "range of options" about how to deal with North Korea's nuclear threat, the White House said.

Trump "met with members of his national security team to receive a briefing from Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford," the White House said in a statement on Tuesday. "The briefing and discussion focused on a range of options to respond to any form of North Korean aggression or, if necessary, to prevent North Korea from threatening the United States and its allies with nuclear weapons."

The White House did not specify what the options were.
The Associated Press Stylebook editors recently hosted one of their periodic Twitter chats.

Users pose questions, hashtag them #APStyleChat and get answers. Its a good way for editors to pick up some finer points of the news agencys widely used style rules. For casual observers, its a peek into the problems that perplex editors and writers.

Here are a few questions from APs recent chat.

Does the comma always go inside the quotation marks, or does it go outside the quotation marks? a user named Dan asked.

If youre a regular reader of this column, I know what youre thinking: Dan is you, right, June? To which I would reply, No. To which you might reply, Yeah, right (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

As these readers know, Im rather emphatic about the issue of where to put commas relative to quotation marks. But I swear Im not Dan. I probably didnt even pay Dan to pose that question. Im just happy he did.

In American English, a period or comma always comes before a closing quotation mark: Crocs are awesome, according to self-styled fashionistas.

It doesnt matter if the comma or period is part of the quoted text or not. It always comes before.

I suspect this rule is on its way out. Now that everyones a writer and no one has an editor, people guess where to put these commas and periods before publishing their writing online.

They apply logic, assuming that the comma goes outside anytime its not part of the quote. But logic has nothing to do with it. The rules are based on aesthetics, dating back to the days when typesetters decided that this, is just ugly.

Making matters worse, exclamation points and question marks have different rules.

Their placement depends on whether they apply to the whole sentence or just the quoted portion: I cant believe she calls Crocs awesome! How dare she call herself a fashionista?

Another question in the style chat was also near and dear to my heart. A user named Jake asked, Whats the difference with 70s and 70s. Does it matter?

Yes, it matters. As AP editors noted, apostrophes indicate dropped letters or numbers. Theyre almost never used to form plurals.

When youre talking about the 1970s and shorten it to 70s, you need an apostrophe to stand in for 19, but you dont need one before the S and certainly not after it.

And heres a tip: When you type that apostrophe, your word processor assumes you wanted an open single quotation mark. Its autocorrect feature becomes an auto-mess-up feature as the software turns your apostrophe the wrong way.

A proper apostrophe, if curved, curves with the opening to the left, like a backward letter C.

Along those same lines, user Alex asked the AP folks: Is it each others or each others? Thats advanced stuff. We think of each other as a plural  two or more people affecting one another.

When you make it possessive, its tempting to put the apostrophe after the S because, after all, thats where apostrophes go with most plural possessives, as in the cats tails.

But though its plural in emphasis, each other is singular in form: The two cats hissed at each other. When you make that each other possessive, you need to add an apostrophe followed by S because there is no plural S at the end of each other.

A user calling herself Christa kept the focus on apostrophes with the question Is it DVDs or DVDs? This ones a little fuzzier.

The standard rule is to not use an apostrophe to form a plural. So DVDs is the standard form. But you can, when necessary, use an apostrophe to prevent confusion.

If it appeared in a big storefront banner in all caps, DVDS FOR SALE, you could use an apostrophe to prevent the misreading of a four-letter initialism. But thats the exception. DVDs is the rule.

JUNE CASAGRANDE is the author of The Best Punctuation Book, Period. She can be reached at JuneTCN@aol.com.
About 200 residents turned out for a town hall meeting Wednesday night in Huntington Beach to hear from opponents of Poseidon Waters proposed ocean desalination plant.

The meeting at John Eader Elementary School was intended to prep those in attendance on how they can voice concerns when the California State Lands Commission holds a hearing Oct. 19 on an environmental impact report for the plant.

The commission will meet at 9 a.m. in the City Council chamber at Huntington Beach City Hall, 2000 Main St.

Poseidons project has long been disputed by some residents and environmental groups who say the $1-billion plant proposed for Newland Street and Pacific Coast Highway would harm marine animals by trapping them in the plants intake system and by discharging briny water after it is separated in the desalination process.

Poseidon has said there would be no significant impact on sea creatures.

People packed the school auditorium Wednesday to hear from former Huntington Beach mayors Connie Boardman and Debbie Cook as well as Joe Geever, a consultant for Residents for Responsible Desalination. Also in attendance was Ray Hiemstra, associate director of programs for Orange County Coastkeeper, a Costa Mesa-based environmental group.

A pamphlet distributed at the meeting provided talking points for people who want to speak against the plant at the commission hearing. Hiemstra urged plant opponents to dress in white at the hearing to signify that they are the good guys.

The pamphlet included the claim that Poseidons outrageous energy requirements will increase greenhouse gases that exacerbate climate change.

Poseidon rolled out an environmental plan for the plant last month, including installing as many solar panels and purchasing as much green power as possible. Company Vice President Scott Maloni said in a statement at the time that we are taking unprecedented steps to protect Californias environment and ensure the project is 100% carbon-neutral and that it is the most energy-efficient large-scale desalination facility in the world.

Boardman and Cook said the region has recovered from the states long drought and doesnt need the water from the proposed plant.

We have lots of needs, but Poseidon isnt one of them, Cook said.

Boardman said the environmental report the commission will consider is insufficient, particularly because it doesnt take into account the cumulative effects of a series of large projects in southeast Huntington Beach.

The AES power plant on Newland Street  near the proposed site of the desalination facility  is being updated, and plans are in the works to redevelop the nearby Magnolia Tank Farm. The former Ascon landfill is undergoing a cleanup, and some neighbors say they are plagued by a mysterious odorous dust they believe is coming from the site.

benjamin.brazil@latimes.com

Twitter:@benbrazilpilot
The latest planned sale of the shuttered St. James the Great Episcopal Church in Newport Beach has been canceled, and the building will be reopened to worshippers, according to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

The move would end a more than two-year drama in which the dioceses top bishop, J. Jon Bruno, tried twice to sell the church property to developers, locked out the congregation and kept the church closed even after the first sale attempt fell through. The actions resulted in Bruno being sanctioned by the Episcopal Church.

The Right Rev. John Taylor, bishop coadjutor for the diocese and the successor to Bruno, who is retiring soon, said in an interview Wednesday that the churchs reopening date is to be determined but that it will be as soon as pastorally and practically possible.

These matters are sensitive and involve the feelings and prerogatives of a lot of folks, he said.

Taylor said the diocese will encourage people to go to the church to worship and enjoy the refreshment of being in that beautiful place.

Taylor said the second planned buyer for the property, Newport Beach developer Burnham Ward Properties, pulled out of the sale.

In an email Wednesday, Burnham Ward principal Scott Burnham said: Our pending purchase of the property was imminent before we made the decision to step aside this week.  Ultimately, we felt that stepping aside  despite our significant investment of time and expense in the acquisition process to date  was the right thing to do and was in the best interest of the community at this time.

We became involved  with the goal to preserve and protect the church from other out-of-town suitors who may have intended to demolish the church for what they considered higher and better uses of the property, Burnham added. It was always our plan to maintain the church improvements and to preserve a continued place of worship for the local community.

We now believe that the church and its improvements will be preserved for the foreseeable future.

Representatives of Save St. James the Great, a group that formed after the churchs closure, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

In a statement Tuesday co-signed by the Rev. Rachael Anne Nyback, president of the diocesan Standing Committee governing body, Taylor said: This event, we believe, gives our diocesan community a renewed opportunity for careful discernment about our mission and ministry in south Orange County. We again pledge to do all we can pastorally, logistically and financially to assist the St. James congregation should it wish to regain mission status in the diocese.

Bruno told the congregation in May 2015 that he had committed to selling the site at 3209 Via Lido for $15 million to would-be luxury townhouse developer Legacy Partners. He locked the church doors and kept them closed even after the transaction fell through when Legacys investment partner dropped out.

Worshippers have since held services at multiple sites in the area and currently meet in a community room at the Newport Beach Civic Center.

Bruno has faced a string of ecclesiastical disciplinary orders this year related to his attempts to sell the St. James property.

In March, a church panel conducted a three-day hearing similar to a trial in which Bruno answered allegations of misconduct related to his 2015 sale attempt.

In June, before the hearing panel reached its decision, it warned Bruno not to close on a second sale  this time to Burnham Ward  before it reached its verdict. The developer had agreed to buy the property for an undisclosed amount.

In August, the hearing panel recommended a three-year suspension from ministry for Bruno, plus halting his renewed efforts to sell the St. James site. It also recommended unlocking the building so the congregation could resume worship there.

However, the diocese later said it planned to proceed with selling the property to Burnham Ward, citing a legal obligation created by Bruno.

Also in August, the highest-ranking bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Most Rev. Michael Curry, removed Bruno from any jurisdiction over St. James and transferred pastoral and property oversight to Taylor.

Last month, the Episcopal Churchs Disciplinary Board of Bishops ordered that Bruno refrain from ministry and exercising any authority over property or church affairs while he appeals the hearing panels finding that he had engaged in misconduct when he first tried to sell the site.

Taylor said Wednesday that guest clergy will be invited to lead St. James Sunday services. But that doesnt mean the Rev. Canon Cindy Evans Voorhees, who has continued to lead the churchs flock since the buildings closure, would be blocked out, Taylor said.

I cant think of a priest in our diocese who we would exclude from the privilege of leading worship under the proper time and under the proper circumstances, he said.

Voorhees did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD
An Oceanside man who this month pleaded guilty to seven felonies after Laguna Beach detectives said they found $500,000 worth of stolen jewelry in his home was sentenced Wednesday to 32 months in state prison.

Edward Torrison, 30, pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to four counts of second-degree burglary, two counts of grand theft and one count of receiving stolen property.

The self-proclaimed gemologist also admitted to a sentencing enhancement of causing property damage in excess of $65,000, according to Orange County Superior Court and jail records.

The case began July 26 when police responded to four jewelry businesses at the Shops at the Cliffs center on South Coast Highway, where employees reported that more than $200,000 in merchandise had been stolen, according to police.

Surveillance video from the shopping center showed two well-dressed men leaving the scene.

Detectives identified Torrison as a suspect through DNA left on a tool used in the burglaries. They also connected Torrison to another burglary at an antique store in Laguna Beach, according to Det. Jordan Mirakian.

Detectives found Torrison on Sept. 26 at the Oceanside home where he lives with his girlfriend. Police said they approached him as he was leaving the house and he ran.

After a short pursuit, officers arrested Torrison on suspicion of burglary and theft.

Detectives executed a search warrant on Torrisons home and said they found $500,000 in stolen jewelry and two loaded guns.

He has a niche that he goes after, Mirakian said. Hes very much into Native American-themed jewelry and gems and stones.

Laguna Beach police believe jewelry recovered could link Torrison to other burglaries in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.

The second suspect in the Shops at the Cliffs burglaries has not been apprehended. Authorities took to social media Wednesday to ask the man to turn himself in.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Laguna Beach Police Department at (949) 497-0701.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
A 21-year-old man was charged last week in a series of robberies that occurred in Glendale and Burbank, authorities said Wednesday.

Police suspect that Marlo Xavier Butler is behind a trio of armed robberies, one in Glendale and two in Burbank, all of which occurred in late September.

The first of the robberies occurred on Sept. 17 at a 7-Eleven on West Glenoaks Boulevard in Glendale. Tahnee Lightfoot, a spokeswoman for the Glendale Police Department, said the entire incident was caught on surveillance camera.

A man had entered the store shortly before 3:30 a.m. and grabbed something from the freezer, which he brought to the counter. When an employee walked up to the register, the man flashed a handgun and demanded money.

Fearing for his life, the employee handed over money from the register, and the man fled from the area with the cash, Lightfoot said.

The next day, another armed robbery occurred that was similar to the 7-Eleven incident, according to Lightfoot. A man was caught on camera walking into a Walgreens on South San Fernando Road in Burbank.

The man showed an employee that he had a gun in his pocket and demanded money. According to the Burbank Police Department, the man made away with an unknown amount of cash from the store.

On Sept. 22, a third armed robbery was caught on camera, this time at a Chevron gas station in Burbank along North Hollywood Way. Like the other two incidents, a man flashed a handgun at an employee and demanded money.

Lightfoot said Burbank and Glendale police thought the same person was behind each robbery because of their similarities and the fact that the robber wore similar clothing in each one.

In the Burbank robberies, police were able to identify the getaway vehicle the man used as a white SUV with damage to its passenger-side hood.

On Oct. 1, a Glendale officer encountered a white Chevrolet Blazer with damage to its hood on the passenger side.

Lightfoot said Butler was behind the wheel and a search of the vehicle uncovered a black pellet gun that matched the description of the weapon used in the three robberies.

Police then searched Butlers home and found further evidence related to the robberies, she said.

Charged with three counts of robbery, Butler is currently out on $175,000 bail.

andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc
Anyone interested in getting some fresh air and potentially having an audience with La Canada Mayor Mike Davitt is invited to participate in a 2nd annual Mayors Hike beginning Saturday at 9 a.m. at St. Bede Church.

Informally billed as Hike with Mike, the event will take participants on a roughly 2-mile loop along the scenic Gould Canyon and Horse Lane trails. The walk will be followed by a reception at the church from 10:30 to 12:30 p.m.

Living in Southern California, were obviously very blessed with good weather, Davitt said. We also want to encourage healthy living and we want to highlight our trails.

An inaugural mayors hike was organized last year by then-Mayor Jon Curtis and members of La Canada Flintridge Trails Council and the Parks and Recreation Commission to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the preservation of the citys Cherry Canyon area  a joint effort that began in 1986 with a $500,000 commitment by the City Council and a $1.3 million grant from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

Its success inspired organizers to consider turning the hike into an annual event. So were going to try to keep that tradition going, Davitt said.

Last years path culminated at the citys Ultimate Destination Point and was arduous at points, but the mayor noted this years terrain is a bit gentler and appropriate for young people and beginners.

Its an opportunity to meet some people and bring your kids, he said. It will be a good stretch of the legs.

St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church is located at 215 Foothill Blvd., La Canada.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine
Little is known about the life of former La Canada resident James Reginald Bauder, though his name and military rank appear on a bronze plaque in Memorial Park honoring those who lost their lives in service to their country.

The son of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Reginald Bauder and wife Dorothy, who lived on Ocean View Boulevard, James was a 35-year-old lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navys Fighter Squadron 21 serving onboard the U.S.S. Coral Sea off North Vietnam on Sept. 21, 1966, the night his plane went missing.

Harlan Updegraff, who also hailed from La Canada at the time, was working onboard the U.S.S. Coral Sea that day in 1966. An aviation structural mechanic third class, he was responsible for filling fighter jets with liquid oxygen before they went on missions.

Before takeoff, Updegraff signaled to pilots with a thumbs up or down to confirm whether their oxygen supply was functioning. The La Canadan would be one of the last people to communicate with Bauder on that fateful night.

I knew the names of the pilots because their names were below the canopy on the sides of the jets, recalled Updegraff, 71, who now lives in Tennessee, in a phone interview. I didnt know [Bauder] was from La Canada at the time  he gave a thumbs up. I saluted him as he took off.

Later that night, Updegraff and others onboard heard an announcement from the captain that two men had been lost on that nights bombing mission. No one in the sky with Bauder ever saw his plane go down or heard a distress call. No wreckage was discovered in the searches that followed.

Bauder and passenger James Burton Mills  a lieutenant junior grade working as a radio intelligence officer  had simply disappeared.

Bauder left behind wife Sara, whom hed met while training in her hometown of Pensacola, Fla., and their two children  son Chris, 6, and daughter Jane, 4. The family was living in a modest house near an air base in San Diego when they got the news.

I was pretty devastated when I learned he was lost, which is how my mom put it to us, recalls Jane Bauder Castellani, now 55 and living in Pensacola. He was like my idol.

A self-proclaimed daddys girl, Castellanis memories of her father are vivid, if episodic.

She remembers him working on cars with a neighbor, or the times hed come home from the ship for a visit, when it was like every holiday wrapped into one. In another memory, right before her father left for his second tour in Vietnam, shed missed out on flying kites in the yard because she hadnt finished her orange juice.

With sadness, she recalled this week the time he flew alone to Florida to bury her infant sister Jennifer, a blue baby whod died not long after she was born.

In the months that followed Bauders disappearance, his father Reginald would die from complications of cancer, according to a Nov. 10, 1966, issue of the Valley Sun. Dorothy would later have to leave the family home on Ocean View Boulevard when it was declared uninhabitable due to a crevice that opened up in a nearby hillside, according to Castellani.

Bauders wife would pack up the kids and head back to Pensacola to be closer to her support system, her daughter recalled. She would be hospitalized once for a nervous breakdown, but would rally and return home. Some seven years later, the time after which Bauder would be presumed dead, Sara would go on to remarry a neighbor whod lost his wife.

But the familys loss would never truly heal, no matter how much time passed.

There was still the wondering. The only way I can accurately describe it is emptiness, Castellani recalled. The loss of my dad, it affected me really bad. I had a difficult time coping.

Was he still alive? Was he living somewhere with amnesia, and maybe with another family? These thoughts ran through Castellanis head as she grew up, turned to less-than-ideal situations for the momentary escape and release they offered, then suffered the consequences of her decisions.

Family members received occasional updates from the Navys Casualty POW/MIA Branch, saying theyd located a piece of a plane or a speck of bone  but nothing had ever panned out.

Then, on Sept. 8 of this year, Castellani got an email that would send a lifetime of fears and speculations to a grinding halt.

I do hope this email reaches you, read the missive from Branch Head Rudy Gonzales. Please call me, I have some very important information regarding your father.

Castellani made the call and learned a piece of bone  a femur  had been found in June in the area of North Vietnam where her fathers plane was last seen. A test matched its mitochondrial DNA to a sample submitted years earlier by Bauders younger sister, Jane.

I was just numb and in shock, Castellani said. It floored me.

She tried to call her aunt and namesake, Jane Bauder Darrow, a noted watercolorist living in Sedona, Ariz., only to learn from cousin Mike shed died just days earlier. Castellanis own mother died in 2011.

Now, with her cousin and brother, Castellani is making arrangements to meet with Navy representatives in November to get a full account of the search and what it turned up. Plans are being made to have her fathers remains interred at Arlington Cemetery with full military honors.

Updegraff, who found Castellani online and has communicated with her over the years, says he cant wait to attend and lay to rest a mystery thats lasted more than half a century.

It feels good that hes home, he said. My shipmate was shot down and now hes back.

For Castellani this last memory of her father, his homecoming, is bittersweet.

Its been decades of wondering and hoping, and not hoping, then hoping again  like a yo-yo, she said. When the news finally came, I didnt know how to feel about it. I didnt cry. I wasnt happy. I was just kind of stoic.

Im still kind of not sure how to feel about it  its still sinking in.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine
An empty parcel at 1109 Foothill Blvd. currently being used for parking could soon become a two-story medical office building after planning commissioners moved the project forward Tuesday, making the necessary recommendations to the La Canada Flintridge City Council for consideration.

The project  a plan nearly seven years in the works, according to property owner physician Cecilia Kaesler  would also include the annexation of a 5,600-square-foot lot previously owned by Caltrans and a reconfiguration of parking spaces behind the Foothill businesses, north of Valley Sun Lane, that would boost the total number of spots from nine to 19.

Commissioners and La Canada planning department officials agreed that the plan to add spaces would improve logistics in the commercial area, where battles over parking have reportedly escalated to the writing of nasty notes and threats involving the county Sheriffs Department.

Staff believes this is a good solution for an area that does have a severe parking shortage at the current time, said Deputy Community Development Director Susan Koleda.

Due to the scarcity of parking for businesses on the block, some of which predate the citys 1976 incorporation and, therefore, the requirement of providing one space for every 250 square feet of gross floor area, commissioners recommended merging three contiguous parking parcels north of Valley Sun Lane into a single lot.

Together, those 19 spaces are to be used solely by the businesses occupying 1109, 1111 and 1113 Foothill Blvd., all of which are owned by Cecilia and Rudy Kaesler. To ensure that covenant remains intact moving forward, commissioners asked the couple also agree to merge the three commercial lots into a single lot operating with three separate addresses.

Its very important, at least in my view, that these three lots should be merged together, Commissioner Arun Jain said.

Cecilia Kaesler, an internist who currently sees patients in her office at 1113 Foothill Blvd., explained her plans to build more space to someday accommodate a part-time physician, so she could decrease her own hours. The 2,450-square-foot building would have two stories in the front, as seen from Foothill, but would be a single story as seen from Valley Sun Lane, north of the properties.

The physician said neither she nor her husband have any desire to sell off individual lots.

Ill probably be practicing for the next 25 years, and were hoping to keep everything together, she told commissioners. Were not moving, because this is our home.

The couple secured a portion of land owned by Caltrans to create additional parking in the back, in order to ease historic tensions over spaces.

Ive had patients whove had threats put on their car by other tenants, Cecilia Kaesler said, recounting a judge who once notified the Sheriffs Department after receiving a threat from someone at a neighboring business. Were just trying to decompress the situation.

Planning officials said the commissions recommendations for a general plan amendment and zone change recognizing the addition of the 5,600-square-foot parking parcel would be heard by the City Council soon. Once approved, the Kaeslers would first build out the parking lot before moving onto the construction of the office space, at the citys request.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine
Amid fanfare and embraces, representatives of the rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, after a decade at loggerheads, signed a preliminary agreement Thursday to reunify and share control and leadership of the Gaza Strip.

The images of an exuberant Salah Aruri, deputy head of Hamas, and senior Fatah leader Azzam Ahmad rejoicing at the headquarters of the Egyptian intelligence agency in Cairo provided a stark contrast to images of the bloody civil war that tore a shaky Palestinian unity government apart 10 years ago.

This is the fourth time since the original Palestinian unity government fell apart in 2007 that Hamas and Fatah have announced a reunification. The last time they met in Cairo, in 2011, a unity agreement was ceremonially announced only to immediately collapse.

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The stakes are higher now because the deal could ease dire humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and pave the way for further talks, but it does not address significant issues  such as the future of Hamas armed militia  that have stymied earlier attempts at a union.

In an attempt to leverage its power against Hamas, Fatah in recent months imposed severe sanctions that have included halting the payment of salaries to government officials in Gaza and reducing electrical power to only four hours a day. These measures are expected to be immediately revoked.

On Wednesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that this time, well go to any length to implement the agreement and turn over a new leaf in the annals of our people, forever closing the book on our divisions.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the accord was a final agreement to end division, and his office guardedly announced that, for the first time in 10 years, Abbas would visit Gaza in the coming month.

Fatah, which is recognized by the United States and Europe and which has represented the Palestinians in peace talks with Israel, and Hamas, an Islamist militia that the U.S., Europe and Israel classify as a terror organization, have not worked together since the split, when Hamas forcibly took power in the Gaza Strip after contested elections.

In announcing the deal it brokered, the Egyptian government said that Fatah would take over all government authority in Gaza by Dec. 1, including the all-important supervision of Gazas borders with Egypt and Israel, which have been all but sealed for the past decade, leaving 2 million people living under siege.

A statement released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said, Israel will monitor developments in the field and act accordingly.

Any reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas must be in compliance with international agreements, with the Quartets conditions, and first and foremost must include recognition of Israel and the disarming of Hamas, it read. The Quartet is composed of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, who together have mediated the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Ongoing tunnel digging, manufacture of missiles and the launch of terror attacks against Israel do not conform to the Quartets conditions and to American efforts to renew the peace process, the statement said.

As darkness fell Thursday, Gazans took to the streets to rejoice. But the specter of Hamas heavily armed militia of 25,000 men coexisting with the 3,000 members of Abbas presidential guard who, according to the agreement, will be sent to Gaza to protect the borders, is hard to vanquish.

Veteran Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti, who leads the centrist Palestinian National Initiative, said in an interview that, while the deal represents a necessary entry point without which the Palestinian people could not move forward, the most important issues remain.

The coming month, he said, will be the most important test of the two factions ability to govern together, as they devise procedures for the new coalition, set a date and conditions for long-postponed Palestinian national elections, and come to an agreement on internal security matters.

Precisely countering Israels demands  and until now, the conditions set by Abbas, who has said he will not accept Hamas as a separate militia such as Lebanons Hezbollah  Barghouti said that disarming Hamas is not on the table. It has not been on the table, and it will not be on the table until the end of occupation and it is discussed as part of security in final status negotiations with Israel.

Regarding Hamas status as a terror organization, Barghouti said, It is up to them to think what they want. Hamas is part of the Palestinian people and is obviously a party to this deal. He expressed hope that their representation in the Palestinian government will not create any serious resistance from the international community.

Majdi Khaldi, Abbas diplomatic advisor, preferred to describe the situation in softer terms.

Abbas remains committed to leading a unified Palestinian government, he said, using Abbas much-used formula of one government, one law, one gun.

President Abbas demand is to have one gun under the government. This is what we are aiming for and Egypt is facilitating, and well see what will come in the future, he said.

The demand will never be withdrawn, but we are not here to disarm anyone. We are here to control all aspects of life in Gaza, and this includes arms, the law, a full takeover. It will be the same as in the West Bank, where the Palestinian government rules.

Times special correspondent Tarnopolsky reported from Jerusalem and special correspondent Omar Medhat contributed from Cairo.

UPDATES:

11:45 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 4:25 a.m.
Chinese police have advised a dozen South Korean missionaries working near the border with North Korea to leave due to fears of abduction or attacks by North Korean agents.

Sources in the border city of Dandong and the South Korean Consulate in Shenyang on Wednesday said Chinese police advised the South Korean missionaries to go home earlier this month.

One South Korean source in the region said, "We weren't coerced, but they explained that in view of the threat it would be advisable for us to stay out of China until the Communist Party Congress ends."

Some South Koreans were summoned to police stations but were not told exactly what threats they faced from North Korea.

Dandong is a hotspot for North Korean agents trying to sniff out defectors who have fled across the border, and it is a more or less open secret which hotels they frequent.

South Korean missionaries in the area mostly double as helpers for defectors on their arduous trek across China to Southeast Asia.

The consulate in Shenyang warned South Koreans in the region on Wednesday to "take extra precautions" against possible acts of terror or physical harm from North Koreans and to stay away from North Korean restaurants and other venues in China.

"It is quite unprecedented for Chinese authorities to issue such warnings to our residents," a consular official said.


U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday that they had rescued an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children from captivity by a militant network linked to the Taliban.

Pakistani officials said their army and intelligence agencies conducted the rescue operation based on intelligence provided by American authorities, delivering a boost to flagging relations between the United States and Pakistan.

Officials identified the rescued couple as Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pa., and Joshua Boyle of Canada. They disappeared five years ago while traveling in a mountainous area near Kabul, Afghanistan, during a backpacking trip through Central Asia.

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Coleman was pregnant at the time. The couple had three children while in captivity.

All hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to their country of origin, the Pakistani army said in a statement.

President Trump, who has sharply criticized Pakistan for failing to crack down on militants, offered praise for the countrys role.

They worked hard on this and I believe theyre starting to respect the United States again, Trump said at a White House event on healthcare, adding, We hope to see this cooperation and teamwork again in securing other hostages and counter-terrorism operations.

From left, Patrick Boyle, Linda Boyle, Lyn Coleman and Jim Coleman hold a photo of their kidnapped children, Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman, on June 4, 2014. (Bill Gorman / Associated Press )

U.S. intelligence agencies had been tracking the whereabouts of the hostages and informed Pakistan that they had been brought into the country from Afghanistan via a border crossing in the Kurram tribal area on Wednesday, Pakistani officials said.

The rescue took place Wednesday night. According to Pakistani security sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the operation, rescuers located a vehicle carrying the family southwest of the town of Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The security forces exchanged gunfire with the captors, capturing one while two others escaped, officials said.

Residents in Kohat said drones had been hovering over the town for the last 10 days, a possible sign of the involvement of U.S. intelligence agencies.

The operation underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistans continued commitment to fighting terrorism, the Pakistani army statement said.

The Haqqani network is a militant group aligned with the Taliban that has battled the U.S. military in Afghanistan for years and frequently targets Westerners. The group held U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl captive for five years before he was released in 2014 as part of a prisoner swap that saw five Taliban detainees released from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Coleman, Boyle and their children appeared in hostage videos several times, most recently in December, when Coleman pleaded with President Obama and incoming President Trump to free them from the Kafkaesque nightmare in which we find ourselves.

The Canadian government said it had been actively engaged with the U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan on the case and expressed relief that the family had been freed.

Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said. We stand ready to support them as they begin their healing journey.

Special correspondent Ali reported from Peshawar and Times staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India. Times staff writer Noah Bierman in Washington and special correspondent Aoun Sahi in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Follow @SBengali on Twitter

UPDATES:

9:50 a.m.: This article was updated with details of the rescue and a statement from President Trump.

7 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 5:35 a.m.
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Nearly all 156 key national installation are easy targets for North Korean missile attacks, according to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

In a report to Liberty Korea Party lawmaker Lee Cheol-woo on Wednesday, the ministry said an inspection of 156 government-designated power plants, substations, refineries and other installations revealed that only four of them can withstand a missile attack.

They are fortified by defensive walls and other impact-absorbing features.

The ministry also pointed out that 25 of them are vulnerable to earthquakes, and another 14 lack underground bomb shelters. And two-thirds of the facilities that do have bomb shelters are capable of sheltering only 68 percent of their staff.

Fewer than one-fifth are equipped with gas masks, and only 32 percent have anti-toxins in case of biological weapons attacks. Only about one in three has bullet-proofed central areas and two-thirds have 2.7-m high walls as required to keep intruders out.


Stage play by cancer patients debuts in Shanghai

By:Wu Qiong | From:english.eastday.com | 2017-10-12 09:23

Actors play Dont Be Afraid, My Friend at the Magnolia Theater on October 8. [Photo/Jiefang Daily]

A special stage play is put on at Shanghais Magnolia Theater. Having made its debut performance on the afternoon of October 8, the play is written, directed and acted by cancer patients.



Titled Dont Be Afraid, My Friend, the stage play casts seven cancer patients. It tells the story of how a director of a cancer recovery school helps cancer patients face up to their diseases and reignites their hope for life.



Dai Rong, who has been battling lung cancer for five years, is the director and playwright of Dont Be Afraid, My Friend. The play, to some extent, chronicles her experience as a cancer sufferer. In an interview, she said to the reporter, I want more people to see cancer patients struggles and efforts. At the same time, I hope the play can empower both cancer patients and those who are in trouble or suffering setbacks.



The play will run for 19 performances until October 20. Tickets sales will later be given away to the Shanghai Cancer Recovery Club. It will be used to fund expenses for the club members to watch the 2020 Winter Olympics in Beijing.










The redevelopment of the historic West Bethlehem armory into a mix of offices and 78 apartments is moving into the city approvals process.

Michael Perrucci's Peron Development on Thursday afternoon will lay out its plans for the site at 301 Prospect Ave. to the Bethlehem Planning Commission.

The commission is being asked to approve the street vacation of a portion of Filbert Street and Second Avenue to support the project's parking needs. Peron is proposing 99 parking spots to support the development and improving the existing on-street parking along Second Avenue.

The developer wants to narrow Second Avenue, which is a boulevard, so it can add 42-spaces in front of the building. The proposal calls for converting existing street parking into diagonal spaces, which allow more cars to park, according to a site plan filed with the city.

Peron representative John Callahan did not return a phone message Wednesday seeking comment.

The plans are quite similar to what Peron laid out in July 2016 when, after a competitive bidding process, it was selected by the Bethlehem Redevelopment Authority to tackle the rehab of the historic Floyd Simons Armory, named for the first Bethlehem soldier to die in World War I.

The purchase includes the 1930 armory, a maintenance garage added in 1938 and a 1968 garage on the two-acre site. Peron has also bought an adjacent vacant sign company on Filbert Street that will be torn down for 44 spaces of on-site parking. Plans also include 13 parking spaces off of Rauch Street, which would become one-way from Spring to Filbert streets.

The developer plans to add a four-story, 18,926-square-foot, L-shaped addition off of the existing buildings. The new buildings would front onto an outdoor courtyard that would act as a buffer for homes on Prospect Avenue.

The street vacation is needed to make the parking plan possible. Peron is requesting the vacation of a one-block section of Filbert Street between Rauch Street and Second Avenue.

And a portion of the west side of Second Avenue alongside the armory between Prospect Avenue and just south of Filbert Street.

Bethlehem City Council will have to approve the street vacation before it is finalized.

Redevelopment authority Executive Director Tony Hanna said plans are just slightly behind schedule, but with good reason. Peron has been working with neighbors to tweak the project plans and site parking to mitigate concerns.

"That has been important to us and the developer," Hanna said.

Peron plans to pay the authority $322,000 for the property. The city has a deal with the state to buy the 1930 Art Deco armory, which is on the National Historic Register, for $272,000. The authority must notify the state by December that it plans to purchase the armory, but it has six months to close, Hanna explained.

The authority and Peron want all of the land development approvals in place before finalizing the simultaneous sale.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Two men told by police to stay out of the Home Depot and Giant parking lots in Palmer Township returned Wednesday, leading to an arrest, police said.

The out-of-state pair had been trying to drum up business for on-site repair of dents in cars belonging to customers of the stores in the Palmer Town Centre off South 25th Street, township police had said.

After receiving several complaints over the prior two months, police told them on Saturday to stop trying to solicit business and to stay out of the parking lots.

Police described their behavior as aggressive and said some customers had voiced concerns they were about to be robbed.

The passenger of the van, 21-year-old Michael Vlado, of Cleveland, Ohio, was given a verbal trespass warning on Saturday, according to police.

Wednesday afternoon, police said they were called back to Palmer Town Centre in the area of Giant for suspicious activity involving two males soliciting business.

Police spotted a white Kia Soul passing through the parking lot, and township police officer Peter Attieh recognized the passenger as Vlado from Saturday's incident, according to court records.

Vlado acknowledged having been told to stay off the property, police said. The driver, Florida resident John Demitro, told police they were "trying to make a living and he knows he should not have been there," court records say.

Demitro was not charged.

Vlado, after being warned Saturday, was arraigned Wednesday night before District Judge Jacqueline Taschner on misdemeanor counts of defiant trespass and disorderly conduct. He was released on $5,000 unsecured bail with a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled Oct. 25 before Taschner.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Becky Johnson can see both sides.

As a mother to three Boy Scouts and one Girl Scout, she can understand why Wednesday's announcement that the Boy Scouts will begin allowing girls next year could be uncomfortable for some.

"As the mom of boys, I do value boy time where boys can be boys," she said. "I think both boys and girls can benefit from having their own space."

But as the committee chairwoman for Cub Scout Pack 54 in Lopatcong Township, Johnson has also seen families -- including little sisters -- involved in scouting events, doing the same hikes and other activities, essentially everything but gaining rank.

"I don't think that it would be too much of a stretch to include a girl component," she said.

That family involvement was what the Boy Scouts of America said was behind its decision to welcome girls into its program. The Boy Scouts board of directors, which approved the plan unanimously in a meeting at BSA headquarters in Texas, said the change will provide more options for parents. From the official announcement:

Families today are busier and more diverse than ever. Most are dual-earners and there are more single-parent households than ever before, making convenient programs that serve the whole family more appealing. Additionally, many groups currently underserved by Scouting, including the Hispanic and Asian communities, prefer to participate in activities as a family. Recent surveys of parents not involved with Scouting showed high interest in getting their daughters signed up for programs like Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, with 90 percent expressing interest in a program like Cub Scouts and 87 percent expressing interest in a program like Boy Scouts. Education experts also evaluated the curriculum and content and confirmed relevancy of the program for young women.

"I've seen nothing that develops leadership skills and discipline like this organization," said Randall Stephenson, chairman of the Boy Scouts' national board. "It is time to make these outstanding leadership development programs available to girls."

The plan will impact Cub Scouts first starting in 2018. The Cub Scout packs will have the option to remain single gender or welcome both genders, while the smaller dens -- the smallest unit -- will be single-gender, either all-boys or all-girls.

The program for older girls is expected to start in 2019 and will enable girls to earn the coveted rank of Eagle Scout.

Cub scouts from Pack 11 in Palmer Towship wait to present the colors prior to a Lehigh Valley Phantoms' game in 2014. (lehighvalleylive.com file photo)

The announcement follows many months of outreach by the BSA, which distributed videos and held meetings with the Boy Scout community to discuss the possibility of expanding girls' participation beyond existing programs, such as Venturing and Sea Scouts.

"This is kind of a natural progression of our programs," said Craig Poland, scout executive and CEO of the Minsi Trails Council, which includes Cub Scout packs and Boy Scout troops in the Lehigh Valley and Warren County.

The Girl Scouts of the USA criticized the initiative, saying it strained the century-old bond between the two organizations. Girl Scout officials have suggested the BSA's move was driven partly by financial problems and a need to boost revenue.

"Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are separate organizations founded to meet various developmental and leardership needs of girls and boys, respectively," said Kim Fraites-Dow, CEO of Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania, which includes the Lehigh Valley's Girl Scout troops. "Girl Scouts' inclusive all-girl, girl-led program leads girls to discover a strong sense of self, connect with others and value the power of diversity, and to identify needs in their community and take action to make the world a better place."

As of March, the Girl Scouts reported 1,566,671 youth members and 749,008 adult members nationwide, down from just over 2 million youth members and about 800,000 adult members in 2014. The Boy Scouts say current youth participation is about 2.35 million, down from 2.6 million in 2013 and more than 4 million in peak years of the past.

Cub Scout Pack 54, of Lopatcong Township, raises the flag before their annual Pinewood Derby Race in 2012. (Tim Wynkoop | lehighvalleylive.com contributor)

Johnson, with Lopatcong's Pack 54, said her daughter has found Girl Scouts to be the better fit, "but I know for some girls, Cub Scouts is desired."

For now, she said, pack leaders will get together to discuss how to proceed.

And to anyone concerned about the transition, she said, "it's good to take a breath and be patient."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
John J. Interval

There is no overstating the importance of allowing fracking for natural gas in the Delaware River Basin. It could produce as much as $435 million worth of natural gas annually, bringing huge economic benefits and creating manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, according to a study done by Gerald Kauffman, director of the University of Delaware's Delaware Water Resources Center.

About 9 percent of the Marcellus Shale lies within the basin, which encompasses all or parts of 31 Pennsylvania and New Jersey counties along the states' shared border. The production of natural gas in the Marcellus shale, one of the largest formations of its kind in the U.S., has bolstered the region's economy, especially in Pennsylvania, without any adverse effects on groundwater.

Nevertheless, since 2010, there has been a de facto moratorium on any drilling in the basin. Regrettably, this prohibition could become permanent. The Delaware River Basin Commission has directed its staff to consider replacing the moratorium with a permanent ban on fracking. A vote on such a ban is expected by mid-2018. There is also a proposal under consideration to allow fracking wastewater to be stored or discharged in deep underground wells within the watershed and using water from the basin for fracking.

Environmental groups are understandably concerned that wastewater discharges could contaminate underground water resources that millions of people rely on for drinking water. But wastewater wells in southwest Pennsylvania are closely monitored by industry personnel and state regulators to make sure no leaks occur. The disposal of Marcellus wastewater has an excellent safety record, with no degradation of groundwater. Besides, nearly all of the wastewater from fracking is recycled for further use to reduce the need for storing or discharging the liquid in wells.

Environmentalists are still finding ways to tie up natural gas producers with bans on fracking and ill-conceived regulations. Never mind that clean air laws have shifted demand to a single fuel, natural gas. We are burning this fuel at an enormous rate. Natural gas is now the number one fuel for electricity production, the fuel of choice for nearly 90 percent of new electric power plants in the U.S.

Closing off the 13,359-square-mile Delaware River Basin to gas production is nonsensical. This dilemma would not have occurred had it not been for years of pandering to environmental groups with policies guided by an unfounded assumption that energy development and protection of the environment are incompatible. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that fracking is safe.

The anti-fracking approach -- no gas drilling in the basin and no storage or discharge of wastewater -- closes off both avenues to economic growth. In the long run, that would cost Pennsylvania and New Jersey hundreds of millions of dollars, and block the creation of jobs and economic benefits.

The pro-fracking approach, by contrast, would help to provide for the long-term benefit of people who live within the basin, enhance benefits for farmers and other landowners who have signed potentially lucrative drilling leases and provide guaranteed benefits for millions of people who deserve relief from environmental restrictions that are blocking access to known energy resources.

John J. Interval is a professional petroleum geologist. He lives in Bridgeville, Pa.
At the State Council executive meeting on Oct 9, Premier Li Keqiang urged related authorities to continue expanding the coverage of basic medical insurance to include more grassroots medical institutes in the system.

The move is aimed at resolving the cross-region settlement of medical insurance for migrant workers and people engaging in mass entrepreneurship and innovation, so that their medical expenses can be settled directly where they are incurred.

Most migrant workers have to go back to hospitals in their hometowns for treatment, where they are covered by basic medical insurance. Therefore, they are often reluctant to receive treatment. We must ensure that over 100 million migrant workers can enjoy the benefits of healthcare insurance reform, said the Premier.

Building a nationwide information network for basic health insurance was the No 1 topic for peoples lives voted by netizens during the two sessions in 2016. While meeting the press, Premier Li promised to make possible in two years direct settlement of hospital expenses for retired elderly people beyond their hometowns.

And in his government work report this year, the Premier said the government will accelerate building a nationwide information network for basic health insurance to directly settle healthcare costs.

By the end of September, all province-level areas were connected to the nationwide system for cross-region settlement of medical insurance, covering all participants of basic health insurance and the New Rural Cooperative Medical Insurance.

Besides elderly people who live with their children away from their hometowns, migrant workers are the largest group for cross-region medical treatment, the Premier noted.

With the progress of urbanization, more migrant workers will come to urban areas to seek employment. Solving the issue of cross-region settlement of medical insurance will not only guarantee their health, promote social fairness and justice, but also will improve the competitiveness of their enterprises, said the Premier.

The meeting decided to accelerate the sharing and integration of medical insurance information systems, and actively introduce commercial healthcare insurance to improve the service at medical institutes.

Premier Li also asked authorities to use the internet, mobile terminals and other tools to interpret and publicize policies, rules and procedures in cross-region settlement of medical insurance.
The future of Portlaoise hospital must be revealed to encourage staff to take up jobs, Laois councillors believe.

They are sending an immediate letter to Minister for Health Simon Harris asking him to publish the report done by the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group,

Cllr Jerry Lodge's motion said that the Minister has had adequate time to peruse the Susan OReilly report on future services at Portlaoise general hospital.

We met the Minister in January and he said the report was on his desk but he hadnt read it fully. I dont see why he is still delaying it. They owe it to the people of Laois. I say that we ask for another meeting, and ask Minister Flanagan to intervene. Any chance we have lies with him. If they get rid of older, experienced Ministers, Laois might not have one. We must ask him to take the initiative and keep the pressure on, Cllr Lodge said.

He was seconded by Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald.

We have a Minister, and people are waiting and losing patience. Minister Harris appeared to take it all on board but it seems a long time not to come back to us, she said.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley also wants a meeting.

There is a rumour that Susan OReilly might retire, and the sooner the better. We might get a response then, she said.

Cllr Willie Aird said the hospital was in limbo and this was putting off new staff.

Its been kicked around for three or four Ministers for Health. Us sending letters will not make one bit of difference. I dont think anything will be said until after a general election, he said.

The local campaign was at the loss of the late Kathleen OBrien, Cllrs Lodge and Noel Tuohy agreed.

Kathleen was a driving force, we have to get more proactive, said Cllr Tuohy.
Laois TD Brain Stanley has called out 'fake news' on Budget 2018.

Taking to Twitter, the Sinn Fein TD has called out discrepancies between the real figure for health in the budget and what is additional.

Oh my god more fake news. Leo has his additional health spend bumped up. Gov real figure & 289m. D SF additional spend 503m.  Brian Stanley (@BrianStanleyTD) October 11, 2017

Reacting to the Budget he has said that it fails to address the crises in housing, health, public services and infrastructure.

The Government has now normalised mass homelessness and provided a bonanza for private landlords while there is a huge portion of available resources spent on tax cuts," he said.

He has said that the health system has been left short of money, especially public healthcare.

Fine Gael and its Fianna Fail backers have chosen to leave our health system massively short of money. Their big announcement is to increase funding for the National Treatment Purchase Fund which means more money for private hospitals and less for public health care.

Housing

There will not be one extra social house built under this budget with no increase in social housing targets for 2018. There is no vacant home tax and no targets or budgets to deliver affordable rents or purchase homes. Sinn Fein Budget proposals would deliver 4,500 affordable homes to rent or purchase and provide for an extra 4,200 social houses.

Government proposals to put an extra 149m into Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) will result in a bonanza for landlords. This is a continuation of an over reliance on the private market to provide social housing.

Taxes

The tax cuts put forward will result in someone earning 20,000 a year getting a euro a week in their pocket and those earning over 70,000 being 328 a year better off. So those under 33,000 will get the crumbs and the well off get the whole cake.

Energy and Climate Change

We have a miniscule take up of electric vehicles in the State, yet this budget does not change the grant scheme which was much anticipated. Sinn Fein want to increase funding incentives for these vehicles to reduce carbon emissions. We also called for specific energy saving measures in the home, such as replacing single glaze windows, and a pilot scheme for microgeneration of electricity, solar panels being one example.

Budget 2018 speech delivered by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe.
Laois gardai have issued a reminder to dog owners of their responsibility to keep their dogs under control in the lead up to lambing season.

This comes after a number of incidents have occurred where packs of dogs have attacked and killed sheep lately.

Gardai have said that in west Offaly, up to eight sheep were killed by dogs in one incident.

Gardai have shared a graphic image to how the damage that packs of dogs can do when they are together.

Warning - some readers may find this image disturbing.

Gardai are reminding people of the offences they can face if they fail to take responsibility for the control of their dogs.

The Control of Dogs Act 1983 states the following on Dog Control:

(1) The owner or any other person in charge of a dog shall not permit the dog to be in any place other than



(a) the premises of the owner, or



(b) the premises of such other person in charge of the dog, or



(c) the premises of any other person, with the consent of that person,



unless such owner or such other person in charge of the dog accompanies it and keeps it under effectual control.



(2) If a dog worries livestock, the owner or any other person in charge of the dog shall be guilty of an offence unless it is established that at the material time the dog worried the livestock for the purpose of removing trespassing livestock and that having regard to all the circumstances the action was reasonable and necessary.



(3) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (2) of this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 500, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month, or, at the discretion of the court, to both such fine and such imprisonment.

Read more on dog laws here.

Laois home buying billed 100 just to apply for council loan.
The number of Travellers living in Laois has risen while the county has bucked the national trend of decline in Catholicism, according to latest figures from Census 2016.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) today (Thursday 12 October) publishes Census 2016 Profile 8 Irish Travellers, Ethnicity and Religion. The figures also reveal that neighbouring Offaly has the highest percentage of Catholics in Ireland. Another midland county has the lowest percentage of people with no religion.

It found that there were 761 Irish Travellers enumerated in the county in April 2016. This was an increase of 100 (15.1%) on the number in 2011 (661). They made up just under 1 in 100 (0.9%) of the countys population, compared with 0.7% at national level.

There were slightly more male (384) than female (377) Travellers. Over half (53.9%) of all Travellers in the county were aged under 20, compared to just over 3 in 10 (30.9%) of the countys overall population.

Read more below table

As for ethnicity, in April 2016, those who indicated a White Irish ethnic or cultural background amounted to 70,413 people (83.4% of the countys population), an increase of 1,705 on 2011.

The next largest grouping  Any Other White background accounted for 6,969 persons (8.3%), an increase of 622.

Those with Black or Black Irish (African/any other Black background) comprised 1,634 persons (1.9%) while 1,191 persons (1.4%) indicated an Asian or Asian Irish (Chinese/any other Asian background).

A further 1,006 (1.2%) stated they were of Other, including mixed background while 2,416 (2.9%) did not state their ethnic/cultural background.

Catholicism remains the predominant religion, accounting for 82.5% (69,877) of Laoiss population in April 2016. This was a slight increase on the 69,422 persons five years previously. The average age of Catholics in the county was 36.0 years, compared with the countys overall average age of 35.6 years.

As with the State overall, the next largest group was those with no religion. In 2011, the 2,581 people with no religion comprised 3.2% of the countys population. By 2016, this had increased to 4,755 people comprising 5.6% of the countys population. Their average age was 33.0 years, making them 2.6 years younger on average than the countys population overall.

The 3,292 Church of Ireland members in the county made up 3.9% of its total population. On average, Church of Ireland members in Laois were 4.3 years older (39.9 years) than the overall population in the county.

Muslims (1,072) and Orthodox (827) completed the top five.

Read more below chart

Above summary of some of the headline results from Census 2016 for Co Laois, together with comparisons for Leinster and the State as a whole are attached for information.

Nationally the report shows that the number of Irish Travellers stood at 30,987, representing 0.7% of the general population in April 2016.

The report also details how both the proportion and total number of Catholics have fallen nationally since 2011, with Catholics comprising 78.3% of the population in April 2016, down from 84.2% in 2011, while the number of people with no religion

(including atheists and agnostics) increased by 73.6% to stand at 481,388 in 2016.

Deirdre Cullen, Senior Statistician, commented: This report, the eighth of eleven thematic reports of Census 2016 results, provides further insight into the demographic structure of our population, this time looking at religion, ethnicity and Irish Travellers.

"These themes are examined by age, social class, and household composition. As always all of this information is available on www.cso.ie, where users can also access detailed data for their own area.
The boss of Failte Ireland must visit following news that the State tourism body spends a 'measly' amount of money promoting the county to tourists, Laois Fianna Fail TD Sean Fleming has demanded

Dep Fleming was the Chief Executive to visit the midlands county to see first-hand the pressing funding requirements for the tourism industry in the county.

Details about Failte Ireland spending here

Deputy Fleming made the comments after it was revealed that Laois received the least amount of funding from Failte Ireland nationwide.

This revelation is deeply disappointing and clearly shows that national policy does value our local tourism industry. The county received just 93,750 in funding from Failte Ireland over a period of several years to support the local tourism industry. The next lowest county was Carlow which received 415,745 which is over four times the amount received by Laois.

How can we expect to grow our tourism industry locally when national tourism policy makes such a measly funding allocation? The tourism industry has been growing across Ireland in recent years, but Laois simply hasnt received its fair share of the funding needed to grow the number of visitors travelling to the county. We urgently need the Minister to direct Failte Ireland to address this problem.

Im calling on senior management at Failte Ireland to travel to Laois and see first-hand the potential that the county has to offer to the tourism industry. There are many worthwhile locations and projects that are deserving of funding to help Laois tap into new tourism market. It's time Failte Ireland met with people in Laois who are working to promote tourism in the county.

Dep Fleming said he has written to Failte Ireland to express the serious concern that I have regarding the "measly funding allocation" that the county has received to date to support tourism initiatives.

"I have also extended an invitation to the Chief Executive to visit the county, concluded Deputy Fleming.

Shane Ross, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport visited Laois in recent days accompanied by Minister Charlie Flanagan.

The Minister was not available to the media but he was quoted as saying following during his trip.

I am mindful that a targeted tourism sector across Laois and the midlands needs to be developed. During his visit Minister Ross met with Mr Michael Murphy, current Chairman of Laois Tourism. Funding for the completion of the Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Trail was one of the matters discussed along with redevelopment of hotels in the County," he said.
Gary Dunne is one of Laois's finest music exports and he is preparing for a homecoming this November.

Born and bred here in the heartland, Gary has carved out an impressive career for himself in music internationally, with a strong base in London.

Gary is well-known for showing Ed Sheeran how to use a loop pedal with the famous quote from Ed being; "The reason I use a loop pedal now is 'cos I saw Gary Dunne use a loop pedal. I was just blown away".

Gary will be coming back to Laois this November for the Leaves Festival of Writing and Music.

The moment will be even sweeter for the family as Gary will share the limelight of the event with his mother, Denise Curtin Dunne.

Denise published her own book 'Heartland' in August this year. Family, people and places are at the heart of the book of poetry which Denise has said celebrates life.

Excited to be returning to Laois to play this festival. Additionally special to be sharing the bill with the mammy. pic.twitter.com/rXlRrgAg0t  Gary Dunne (@GaryDunne) October 11, 2017

The festival will run from November 7-12 with a number of events running in Emo Court and the Dunamase Arts Centre.

Read more about the line up of the festival here.

The annual festival celebrates the diversity and richness in todays literary, music, theatre and film scene.

Read more about the launch of the festival here.
A new restaurant has opened in Kilcullen, serving what the manager says is food that is as fresh and local as possible.

Tom Jones told the Leinster Leader that the menu for Creans Place was pitched somewhere between fine dining and a regular cafe and would feature such delights as eggs benedict, middle easter eggs, and meat from nearby Nolans Butchers.

Everything as much as possible is made in house, and as local as possible, he said.

Crean's Place

Well have vegetarian mayonnaise and there will be no commercial breads. Well have Firehouse from Delgany and sourdough bread made with walnut. Thats the whole ethos here.

He admitted: If you come in here looking for a glass of coke, youre not going to get it, but we have our own juicer.

The restaurant is between Bernies and Brenans Hardware. At the moment the restaurant employs 10 people, including Mr Jones. It can seat 50 people at once and also has a substantial outdoor area.

The name reflects a connection by owner David Hogan to Antarctic explorer Tom Crean, of whom he is a big fan.

Following a soft opening at the weekend, Creans Place is now open for business.

Front of House team at Creans Place, Rose Martin, Patrice Anderson, Anruck Sophia, Lisa Farrell, Adrienne Ryan.
A Naas town centre housing development, most of which was previously sold to form part of the Naas Shopping Centre, has been put up for sale.

The ten homes at Cill Corbain, opposite Naas CBS, lie in the shadow of the unopened NSC and are on the market for 2m.

The houses have just gone to market and given the location (close to the town) I expect there will be a lot of interest, auctioneer John OReilly of Sherry Fitzgerald OReilly, Naas, told the Leader.

Eight of the homes have three bedrooms and the remainder have two bedrooms.

Sherry Fitzgerald OReilly describes the houses as an investment opportunity within easy walking distance of all amenities in a very sought after rental area.

The properties need some renovation are are being sold all together.

Kildare County Council may be among the bidders. Not all are currently occupied.

As previously reported in the Leader, most of the homes have been rented by members of the Bangla Deshi community. Many of them are Irish citizens and some have young children attending primary schools in Naas.

Fine Gael councillor Fintan Brett has asked KCC to buy the houses saying that it will otherwise have to pay high rental costs elsewhere and the KCC housing waiting list needs to be tackled.

The residents were informed by letter less than a year ago that Marshalsea, the NSC development company, intended to sell the dwellings.

Some of the residents have expressed concern at prospect of leaving, given the cost of and scarcity of accommodation for families in the area.

The Leader understands that the properties have been put on the market by the National Asset Management Agency.

Separately, the receiver appointed to find a buyer for the NSC is to apply to have the seven day pub license for The Forge Inn at 46 South Main Street, transferred to him from Lam OFarrell, one of those associated with the NSC development.

That application will be made at Naas District Court five weeks from now.

The Forge Inn was one of a number of business premises bought out as part of the plan to develop the NSC.
THERE was an article in the Journal.ie last week that focussed on the regeneration of Westport.

The word regeneration is one we have become very accustomed to using here in Limerick over the past decade. It is a word that has become associated with knocking houses, relocating communities and attempting to solve issues of social exclusion and unemployment.

In Westports case it is a word that is associated with design, public realm and placemaking.

The article noted that the work done in Westport has resulted in the town now boasting 90% commercial occupancy and one of the few western towns that has witnessed a population increase over the past number of years.

Westport was voted the best town in Ireland in 2012 and this year was named Irelands Tidiest Large Town at the annual Tidy Towns awards.

Mayo County Council architect Simon Wall has worked closely on the regeneration or Westport. Speaking to Paul ODonoghue at Fora.ie he said: Instead of celebrating the millennium by creating a sculpture of etching the towns name on a piece of stone, we commissioned an intellectual gift for the town: a town design statement which sketched out all the future development for the next 20 to 30 years.

Limerick could take a lot of inspiration from the Westport case study. Ok, we are bigger than Westport but there are certain principles from the Westport story that might serve us well.

We all know the work being done in Limerick to deliver the 2030 project. We have key inner-city sites. We have a plan. We have a vision.

What is possibly missing is a focus on the importance of design as a key part of the 2030 project. We are hearing a lot about the provision of job creation. Limerick is determined to deliver enough commercial space to attract thousands of new workers into our city centre.

The provision of such space is, of course, a crucial need. The presence of well-paid employees in the city will have an impact on other areas. Footfall will increase. Retail offering will improve. Private developers may then consider providing quality (and much needed) residential. The evening economy will see a boost.

All of this would make a massive difference to how Limerick city feels by day and by night. But what about how Limerick city looks?

The Project Opera site is looking like it will have little or no residential, very little retail or ground floor public use and will have a public plaza that looks set to become a dead space at night.

Nicholas Street, the oldest street in the city, is a classic example of how regeneration has ignored the potential of quality design interventions.

Johnsgate is an example of a new urban village that once had great potential but has now become a no-go area.

Our key access point at Colbert Station witnessed a multi-million euro cosmetic overhaul but the finished product is arguably bland, grey and lacking vision.

Cruises Street was once deemed to be an addition that would breathe new life into the city. However, it lacked above the shop residential. Its shop units were limited in size. The number of post 6pm restaurant, bar or cafes on the street were minimal.

Bedford Row gave us a new pedestrian retail street. It has struggled to capture footfall.

The work that has been done in Westport has clearly worked.

Any case study which has been done on that town always mentions the county architect and the work he and his team have done to place design and quality public realm at the centre of everything they do.

Good design attracts people. The creation of a place that feels good makes people feel safe. Safe places attract people to live there.

Limerick is at a crossroads in terms of the decisions we make that will shape how our city looks and feels. Of course, we will want people to work here but we will also want those who work here to feel they are part of a modern, attractive and vibrant urban environment.

I would now like to start hearing more talk about the importance of design in terms of Limericks future.

Limerick Museum hits the county with a travelling pop-up show

Limerick Museum in association with Creative Ireland are organising a Travelling Pop-Up Museum in County Limerick. A pop-up museum exists for a few hours on one particular day and is created by the public.

The aim of the Limerick Travelling Pop-Up Museum is to create conversations between people of all ages and walks of life. People will be invited to bring along their objects and Museum staff will assist them to write a label describing what the object means to them. The object will be then put on display.

At the end of the session, the objects will be returned to their owners. Locations for the Limerick Travelling Pop-up Museum are: Adare - 14 October - 11am-4pm at Adare Community Hall.

Murroe - 21 October - 11am-4pm at Murroe Community Hall

Askeaton - 28 October - 11am-4pm at Askeaton Community Centre.

Kilmallock - 4 November - 11am-4pm at Kilmallock Pastoral Centre

Abbeyfeale - 11 November - 11am-4pm at Leens Hotel

Newcastle West - 18 November - 11am-4pm at Newcastle West Community Centre
THE head of the Limerick garda division says additional resources have been deployed on the southside of the city in an effort to halt an escalating feud.

Concerns have been expressed by gardai that someone could be killed or seriously injured following a number of violent incidents in the Kennedy Park area in recent months.

A number of shooting incidents, the discovery of a pipe bomb and several assaults have all been linked to the gangland feud which has been linked to the sale and supply of illicit drugs.

While investigations are ongoing, several people are currently before the courts facing charges in relation to some of the incidents.

One man who is charged in relation to an alleged slash hook assault at a house in Kennedy Park last week was further remanded in custody yesterday pending directions from the DPP.

Chief Superintendent David Sheahan is moving to reassure residents in Kennedy Park that gardai are determined to prevent the feud from escalating further.

While I can't go into the details for investigation reasons, certainly we are concerned in respect of the activities in that area, he said earlier this week as he welcomed five new garda recruits to the Limerick division.

We have put extra resources up there to try and quell any kind of disturbances. We are going to come down heavy on this kind of activity now and into the future, he added.

Chief Supt Sheahan says in addition to investigating the recent spate of incidents, there is an increased presence in the area in the hope of preventing further incidents.

We have had no option but to take certain courses of action which will be visible in the Kennedy Park area, he said.
GARDAI have confirmed they are to seek the forfeiture of almost 13,000 in cash which was seized at the home of a Limerick criminal.

Limerick District Court has been told 12,970 was seized during a search of a property at St Marys Park on May 14, 2015.

The money was seized during a major garda operation targeting the activities of suspected drug dealers in the city.

The owner of the house where the cash was seized  Vincent Collopy  is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence which was imposed last summer after he admitted threatening to kill another man.

His brothers  Brian Collopy (45) and Kieran Collopy (42)  are also currently serving eight-year prison sentences for drugs offences.

Gardai who believe the cash is the proceeds of crime were previously granted an order in the district court allowing them to retain it to facilitate their inquiries.

Vincent Collopy, 38 , was extradited from Bulgaria in May 2014 and Detective Garda Anthony ODriscoll told the court in January that gardai were liasing with authorities in Bulgaria in an effort to establish where the cash came from.

We are still making inquiries, he said during an application to extend the period of detention.

Seeking a court order allowing for the further detention of the cash, Detective Garda ODriscoll said the DPP has directed that an application be made before the Circuit Court for the forfeiture of the money to the State.

Apply for a further extention, he said four weeks were needed to allow for the preparation of documentation and legal papers relating to the pending Circuit Court application.

Judge Marie Keane granted the application which means gardai can retain the cash up to and including November 14 next.

There was no objection to the garda application from Vincent Collopy who was present in court for the brief hearing.
A NEW digital strategy being developed in Limerick will see 20 public wi-fi zones, ten digital displays, and 14 new live cameras in the city.

Dr Mihai Bilauca, the councils head of digital strategy unveiled the blueprint at this weeks economic committee meeting.

Measures also planned include a 500,000 investment in smart CCTV in towns and villages across the county.

There will also be a Georgian innovation district, comprising of four digital quarters, councillors were told, while the local authority will provide podcasts through its web site.

Fianna Fail councillor James Collins welcomed plans for a Georgian digital district, and 20 wi-fi hotspots across the city.

This welcome was reflected by Cllr Elenora Hogan of Fine Gael, who trades in William Street.

Economic chairperson, Cllr Vivienne Crowley said: The only concern I would have with any digital strategy is that the modern four-year-old is more computer savvy than a 40-year-old. I am concerned we are shutting off other services to people who may prefer not to use the web.

In response, Dr Bilauca told councillors: We are digital first, but inclusive. It does not mean people will be shut off from accessing information in other ways at all.
LIMERICK City and County Council has secured its first court conviction relating to dog fouling.

A dog owner who lives in the city centre was successfully prosecuted before Limerick District Court last Friday relating to an incident at the Peoples Park on the morning of January 6, last.

The man, who is aged in his 60s, was initially issued with an on-the-spot fine after his dog was seen fouling by two local authority workers who were in the Peoples Park at the time.

A court prosecution under the provisions of the Litter Pollution Act was initiated by the local authority over the summer after the man, who owns a black Labrador dog, failed to pay the initial fine.

The man pleaded not guilty to the charge and following a contested hearing, Judge Marian OLeary convicted him and imposed a fine of 80.

The defendant was also given six months to pay the costs of the council associated with the prosecution which totalled 380.

It is open to the man to appeal the conviction and the severity of the penalty to the circuit court.

While not commenting on the specific case, a spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council renewed an appeal to all dog owners  across the city and county  to clean up after their dogs if they foul on public footpaths, roads or green areas.

All dog owners have a responsibility to clean up after their animal. It helps to keep our parks and other public areas clean and tidy. Environmental Inspectors will issue fines and prosecute owners who are caught not cleaning up after their dogs. Our message to all dog owners is to clean up after your animal. It is your civic duty, said the spokesperson.

The local authority says every complaint which is received from members of the public in relation to dog-fouling is followed up on and investigated.

Where appropriate, action such as the issuing of fines will be taken in cases where a culprit is identified.

A number of initiatives aimed at improving awareness of the issue and encouraging dog owners to clean up after the dogs will also continue.

These include advertising campaigns and social media campaigns such as poop the scoop.

In recent years, Limerick City and County Council has also installed plastic bag dispensers near the entrances to a number of public parks which are popular with dog owners.
LIMERICK has topped the national charts for sales of adult toys at low-cost retailer Dealz.

The retailer  which has two stores in the city  has named Limerick as Irelands Nooky capital for sales of its brand of adult toys, which include a vibrating love ring and finger fun stimulator.

Dealz has confirmed that sales of its intimate range have been strong with product flying off shelves and the Nooky range of toys are creating a real buzz on the Irish high street, with 6,500 items sold nationwide.

The county collectively pulling in the strongest sales was Limericks saucy shoppers just in front of Dublin, namely Blanchardstown and Clondalkin, followed by Galway, it said.

Dealz said its core range of family planning sales excluding Nooky also increased by 2k compared to the same period last month, showing that there is an appetite for the value product, as it is encouraging couples to experiment in the bedroom for just 1.50.

Weve been thrilled by the demand for the new range across Dealz in Ireland. We are currently delivering hundreds of extra products to stores whove sold out, so couples can continue to get their Nooky wherever they live, said Dealz trading controller Chris Burns.

Due to Nookys success, were already looking at ways we can extend the range to bring more cheap thrills to the Irish public, he added.

The full range includes Blue Pills for Men, a Vibrating Love Ring, a Finger Fun Stimulator, Vitality Supplements for Her, a Joy Ring and Pure Lube.
MORE than a dozen road signs will be impacted by any decision to add the Limerick village of Castleconnell to signage on the M7 motorway.

Thats according to a senior engineer at Limerick City and County Council who was responding to a motion put forward, this week, at a meeting of the Transport and Transportation Special Policy Committee.

In his motion, Cllr Seighan OCeallaigh sought to have the local authority write to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) urging it to amend signage on the M7 motorway at Junction 28 northbound and at Junction 27 southbound to include the tourist village of Castleconnell.

In a written reply to the motion, director of service Kieran Lehane confirmed the council has been in contact with TII which stated that it is not in a position to address the constant stream of requests for ad hoc additions and alterations to road signs.

TII, he said, also suggested that matter be referred to the Mid West Roads Designs Office and Failte Ireland for further consideration.

Tim Fitzgerald, senior engineer at the Mid West Roads Design Office told the meeting he does not believe it is feasible to add Castleconnell to the existing motorway signage as requested.

Referring to Junction 27 in particular, he said a further 13 signs would have to be changed to direct motorists to Castleconnell once they leave the motorway.

Cllr OCeallaigh says it would make sense to have signage at Junction 27 (southbound) to direct people to Castleconnell via Birdhill as it is the most direct route.

We are doing a lot of work to promote tourism in Castleconnell  the very least we need is signage on the motorway, he said.

Because of time constraints, the debate on Cllr OCeallaighs motion was curtailed with the committee chairman, Cllr Frankie Daly, urging his council colleague to speak directly with Mr Fitzgerald about the matter afterwards.
THE government is facing criticism this week after the key M20 Limerick to Cork motorway was not mentioned in Finance Minister Paschal Donohoes Budget speech.

There were expectations that the project would be at least referenced by Mr Donohoe in Tuesdays Budget.

But among the capital projects he mentioned, the proposed link was not among them, leading Deputy Niall Collins to question the governments commitment to the multi-billion euro project, saying: I hope they prove me wrong.

There isnt any latest on it, said Limerick TD Patrick ODonovan when asked about the motorway.

The next round of capital spending will be announced in December and that will look at project specific work. This budget is about laying out the total capital envelope and the current envelope. Specific projects in relation to motorways, rail, broadband and other things will be mentioned in November.

Asked directly if the M20 will be included in his, Mr ODonovan, a Minister of State at the Department of Finance, said: Nothing can be presumed or assumed. There are huge numbers of competing demands. But obviously the Taoiseach has identified Cork and Limerick on a number of occasions.

The Taoiseach, on the opening of the M18 Gort-Tuam extension, made it clear Limerick to Cork would be linked in due course.

Mr ODonovan said the programme will be very ambitious.

Mr Collins said, however: It is one of the most high-profile pieces of infrastructure missing from our national set-up, and I felt it merited mention as part of the budget speech from the government. Im very disappointed that it obviously doesnt seem to be such a priority.

In a news conference this Wednesday, Transport Minister Shane Ross insisted the government did remain committed to the link.
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The Nuns Fire has reached the $18 million Napa Valley estate that belonged to actor Robin Williams, authorities said Wednesday night.

The 640-acre estate was custom-built for Williams over 10 years ago. The property includes vineyards and a 20,000 square foot mansion with 5 bedrooms and climate controlled wine cellar.
LNG Ltd.

Australia's LNG Ltd. is delaying its anticipated move to Houston and its plans to become publicly traded on Wall Street, just months after its next-wave liquefied natural gas exporting rivals like NextDecade and Tellurian went public earlier this year.

LNG Ltd., which already has its chief executive and chairman based out of Houston, said it will focus on developing its LNG export project near Lake Charles, La. and further consider the move at a later time. Essentially, the LNG board of directors opted to punt for now.
SAUSALITO, Calif. - Yes, Amy Tan is happy to answer questions about "The Joy Luck Club." But nearly 30 years after the publication of her blockbuster novel, she also wants to talk about birds, politics, her family, her new memoir and, if you ask nicely, the hula hoop in her office. "I can't spin it around my neck like I used to," she concedes while demonstrating that she can, however, still swing her hips like the hula champ she once was.

At 65, Tan is vivacious and opinionated. Her signature black bob may now be speckled with gray, but she doesn't care what anyone thinks of that. At a certain point, she says, women need to let go of such worries. "Selling books has nothing to do with the color of my hair," she says.

Next week, Tan will publish a memoir called "Where the Past Begins." It looks candidly at the experiences that have shaped her fiction: her difficult relationship with her mother, the deaths of her father and brother when Tan was a teen, the haunting tales of her grandmother, who died of an opium overdose - and more. There's enough here for another Amy Tan novel.

Sitting in her spacious living room, with its panoramic views of Richardson Bay, Tan is garrulous and eloquent. One moment she is discussing politics (she refuses to call the president by his name, referring to him only as "45"), and the social media trolls who have told the California-born Tan to return to China and eat frogs; in the next, she is discussing the psychological scars of her emotionally erratic mother, who once threatened her with a cleaver and tried to throw herself out of a car while Tan and her two brothers were in the back seat.

Dressed in a simple black tank top, leggings and a wrap cardigan, Tan is brimming with gratitude. The Lyme disease that for years fogged her mind and sapped her energy has dissipated. Though the illness left her with epilepsy, she exercises every day and plans to sing again with the Rock Bottom Remainders, the all-star amateur band that includes Stephen King, Dave Barry, Matt Groening and others. (Known for wearing wigs and fish-net stockings, Tan sings "These Boots Are Made for Walking" and "Leader of the Pack.")

Tan has also taken up drawing. Over the past few months, she has been sharing her detailed animal sketches on Facebook and Tumblr, telling followers that the work keeps her from "obsessing" over politics. She loves birds, hummingbirds especially, and feeders dangle from the decks and patios around her tree-lined property. "They recognize my call," she says of her winged friends and then demonstrates with a pitch-perfect whistle.

Tan calls her drawings meditative sketches, and she shares them "with the same glee as a child coming home from kindergarten with a handprint turkey," she says. "I don't have to worry about people criticizing my work. They don't expect me to be a professional artist."

Tan has long struggled with expectations - those of her family and her readers. "I am not the subject matter of mothers and daughters or Chinese culture or immigrant experience that most people cite as my domain," she writes in her new book. In conversation, she puts it more bluntly: "People expect me to be kinder, wiser, more refined - more 'joy lucky.'"

She may not want to speak for the immigrant experience, or, for that matter, as a feminist - she balks at such labels - but her life story and the novels she has spun from it make it difficult not to.

Tan's parents emigrated, separately, from China in the late 1940s. Her mother, Daisy, left behind three daughters from a previous, abusive, marriage (remember the abandoned babies in "The Joy Luck Club"?) and married Tan's father, who was studying to be a minister in San Francisco and with whom she had had an affair in China. The couple struggled financially as Tan's father later studied engineering and her mother became an allergy technician. They had three children and moved around frequently.

In her memoir, Tan describes the squalor of an early home in Oakland: "Our floors, it seemed, were one big welcome mat for vermin. They chewed through the baseboard next to our bunk beds and also through the walls next to the kitchen sink." There is no such threat in Tan's current home, which she and her tax-attorney husband built in 2012. It was constructed, she says, "with the worst-case scenario in mind": wheelchair accessibility, sliding doors, grab bars, preset temperatures on the shower faucets.

After Tan's father and older brother died from brain tumors within months of one another, Tan's mother spiraled, regularly threatening to commit suicide and lashing out at her daughter. "Had I chronicled every outbreak, I doubt I would have found a reliable pattern," she writes in her memoir. "It was, in fact, the sheer unpredictability of her threats that made us alternately vigilant and then blindsided."

Daisy, the inspiration for the 1991 novel "The Kitchen God's Wife," died in 1999 of Alzheimer's. Tan cared for her mother until the end, and she speaks of her with fondness. Just before her death, Tan recalls, Daisy called her daughter and told her she was sorry for how she had hurt her. "To me, that was everything," Tan says. "She was such an honest person."

Daisy had always been direct with her daughter. Years earlier, she had told Tan that she "didn't have to have a baby - that I had a choice." Amy Tan chose not to have children. (When asked about that decision now, Tan calmly responds: "I think the default question should be, 'Why did you (BEGIN ITAL)choose(END ITAL) to have children?'") Daisy also told her daughter that she "was not as good as a boy," Tan says, sitting up straight in a Lucite dining chair. "She told me I was better, but that I would have to work harder, because no one would believe it."

For a long time, Tan herself did not believe it. Before "The Joy Luck Club," she did not think of herself as a writer. Tan's parents had told her at age 6 that she was destined to be a neurosurgeon. For years, Tan tried - and failed - to fulfill this destiny. Instead, she studied linguistics and used her language skills to help disabled children before turning to business writing, including a stint drafting direct-mail marketing materials.

In the late '80s, she attended the Squaw Valley Writers workshop as a way of dealing with her workaholism (therapy had failed to help) and out poured the memories that would form the basis of "The Joy Luck Club." Even after the book became a best-seller, Tan waited six months to quit her day job. Later came five more novels, two children's books and several works of nonfiction.

"Where the Past Begins" is perhaps her most unvarnished book. Here she invites readers into the tumult of her inner life. There are old photographs and letters to her mother that underscore their unusual bond. The book also contains disclosures about Tan's past that, in conversation, bring tears to her eyes. "I am contradictory in my need for privacy to write about what is private," she notes in the book. The memoir was intended to be a spontaneous writing exercise as Tan recovered from her illness and gathered material for her next novel. She wrote quickly, each week sending 15 to 30 pages to her editor. The result is a book that is raw and immediate, if not entirely cohesive.

Tan confesses to being apprehensive about baring herself in its pages. And what would her mother think? "She would have said, 'Yes, that was true. That's how it was." Even the stories about the cleaver, and worse? Yes, even those. "There have been a lot of bad things in my life," Tan says, "but it's all me, so I'll keep it."
John Compton was 18 when he borrowed his mother's car and headed to the Washington Coliseum for an afternoon concert by the Rolling Stones one November day in 1965. The ticket cost $3, he recalls, and Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles opened. The stage looked like someone plopped an "expanded wrestling mat" in the arena's center - something Compton noticed because, besides music, he loved to watch pro wrestling at the old coliseum.

Compton also loved photography, so he brought along his childhood Brownie box camera on the off chance he'd get some lucky shots of the Stones. That chance came toward the end of the 35-minute set.

The band was playing Otis Redding's "That's How Strong My Love Is." Mick Jagger, going into James Brown/Otis Redding mode, "dropped to his knees holding the microphone, in front of Brian Jones on keyboard," says Compton. Just as he snapped his shutter, a flash burst directly across the stage from Compton, creating a starkly backlit tableau.

Grainy and raw, the picture was clearly the work of a fan, not a pro. Though Compton went on to become a music writer, documentary maker and music photographer, this is the photo he framed and hung on his wall for decades.

"I always kept that photograph back," he says from his home in Baltimore, "and I just thought there would always be some place where it would be the right time to share it."

Finally it has taken its rightful place among hundreds of other fans' rock 'n' roll photos in a handsome new photography book by the Smithsonian Press.

"Smithsonian Rock and Roll: Live and Unseen," to be published in October, started with the Smithsonian putting out a call on its website in December 2015 for fans to send in their concert pictures. After a year, the institution had gathered 4,000 submissions, all of them no doubt with storied memories behind them. Then came the task of deciding on which musicians would make the cut, as well as which photos.

The task fell to Bill Bentley, a respected music industry veteran in Southern California who wrote the tome. Bentley, a former publicist, talent scout and label executive, decided right off he had to limit choices to the most influential acts; he could write an encyclopedia and never please everyone. The selections he settled on range from legends of the 1950s - Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley - to today's stars such as Adele and Jack White.

"We got into the idea of: Let's try to tell somewhat of a history of rock 'n' roll without being pedantic or voluminous," Bentley says. "What artists really moved popular music forward during those years? And then how good a photo do we have of those artists?"

"I took a very liberal definition of what rock 'n' roll is. Is Otis Redding rock 'n' roll? Probably not. But rock 'n' roll people loved him, and he really influenced rock 'n' roll. You have to be open when you think about music."

In the end, some 140 bands or performers made the cut. "Obviously, not the best pictures ever taken, but the most emotional pictures." And the pictures that had not been seen time and again. It turned out that three-quarters of those used were taken by fans, by Bentley's estimate. Professionals had to be relied upon to fill in gaps.

With a range as broad as Captain Beefheart to Carole King - "Are there two more different people in the universe?" he asks - the author was open to huge pop stars as much as cult musicians. The 13th Floor Elevators, a Texas psychedelic band, warrant a two-page spread. Kiss is in there; so are Guns N' Roses.

"So you kind of get the whole breadth of rock 'n' roll without being too critic-y and too perfect," he says, "Rock 'n' roll is really messy, and any history of rock 'n' roll is going to exclude more people than you include."

An essential part of the rock concert experience is seeing it. "I always had this feeling that we listen with our eyes and our ears," Bentley says. "Especially at shows. Because what you're seeing is why you're there, in a lot of ways. I mean, you want to hear it, too - but you could do that with a record - but you want to see it."

The Stones were, of course, going to be included in the photo history, yet it was only by happenstance that Compton's snapshot made it into the mix. He had known Bentley for 25 years but only found out very late in the process about the Smithsonian book. Bentley saw Compton's photo and had the layout rearranged to accommodate it.

The experience of the rock show hasn't essentially changed since Compton saw the Stones more than 50 years ago, but one thing has: camera phones are ubiquitous. Bentley says he can envision another book, strictly with iPhone pictures.

"It's really hard," he says of the choices he had to make for "Smithsonian Rock and Roll." "My dream would be to do at least volume two."
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"A Very Sordid Wedding" marks the end of an era for a uniquely Southern cast of characters created by Texas filmmaker Del Shores.

The film, which has a sold-out screening tonight at the River Oaks Theatre, is a sequel to the 2000 film "Sordid Lives," itself an adaptation of a 1996 stage play about coming out in the small town of Winter (near Abilene).

The new film's focus, of course, is a wedding amid so many other wacky situations.

The local screening is the last before "A Very Sordid Wedding" is released Tuesday on Blu-Ray, DVD and on-demand. And it's also a homecoming for two of its lead actors.

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Emerson Collins, who plays bisexual serial killer Billy Joe Dobson, grew up in Spring until he was 16 years old. Ann Walker, who plays lovably over-the-top LaVonda, grew up in Houston and attended Austin High School in the East End.

Both are anticipating reunions with family and friends.

"It's funny because mostly what I've returned to Houston for has been weddings of childhood friends. And once again, I'm returning to Houston for a wedding," Collins says. He attended Klein Oak High School and Baylor University in Waco.

'A Very Sordid Wedding' When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday Where: River Oaks Theatre, 2009 W. Gray Details: Sold out; 818-602-2730 or averysordidwedding.com See More Collapse

"I love Houston, and so much of who I am as a person was crafted by a lot of the Southern religious experience that I had growing up there. But also a lot of the damage that I had to work through in coming to terms with who I am was a result of that same place."

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Walker's formative years were less contentious. She was a member of the Scottish Brigade Drill Team in high school and got her start in local theater in the '60s and '70s. She appeared in shows at Theatre Under the Stars and the Alley Theatre before eventually landing in Los Angeles, where she worked steadily in TV and film.

She says there's not much difference between herself and LaVonda and based much of the character on her mother, who is now in a nursing home in Cleveland. Her parents once owned grocery stores in the Houston area.

"She had her hair done, honey, every week. She wrapped it with toilet paper," Walker says. "Working in a grocery store, wearing tight pants and little house shoes that turned up on the toe."

Walker originated the role onstage in "Sordid Lives," reprised it for the film and a 12-episode TV series on Logo. It's naturally become part of her DNA.

The original film, which featured Olivia Newton-John, Delta Burke and the brilliant Leslie Jordan, became a cult smash and stayed in limited release for almost three years, including a 96-week run in Palm Springs, 37 weeks in Ft. Lauderdale and 29 weeks in Dallas.

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Collins also has a long history with the franchise and Shores. He's a producer on "Wedding" alongside his role in the film. He co-produced the "Sordid Lives" TV series and was in five episodes. Collins also acted and produced on "Southern Baptist Sissies," another Shores project.

And though "Sordid," in all its incarnations, boasts a uniquely Texas spirit, the stories resonate and connect far beyond the Lone Star State.

"What I, being from Texas, love about Del's approach to telling stories of Texas is that he celebrates it and he treats it with both reverence and irreverence. He points out the bigotry of a particular kind of dogmatic Texas religion, but he also celebrates loving your family no matter who they are or what they are at the same time," Collins says.

And those are messages that seem even more relevant today.
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San Antonios newest food park will have its soft opening this weekend in the spacious wooded area around the 151 Saloon at 10619 Westover Hills on the North West Side.

Owner Michael Teran said he wants to ease into the food truck business when his 151 Food Park opens this weekend with service from two trucks, Mesquite Shack BBQ and Mexican fare from La Constentida.

The trucks will be on site from about 3 p.m. to close on Friday, with Saturday service starting around 6 p.m.

Were going to start out with both ends of the Texas food spectrum, Teran said. But this will be an incredibly soft opening. There are always kinks that arise with starting something like this, and we want to make sure we get everything right to make it a good experience for everybody.

The saloon and indoor dance hall, which does considerable business, will continue to be the focus of the property. According to August mixed beverage receipts from the Texas comptrollers office, the 151 Saloon did $136,810.90 in sales.

The park area is set up under a canopy of mesquite trees, and Teran said there is enough room for five trucks to eventually make 151 a weekend space to do business, with room for 200 to 300 customers on the outdoor patio area.

Plans are to eventually offer live music with an extensive sound system in place. The park is deemed kid friendly, but there wont be any playground equipment installed in the outdoor area.

Were excited to be out there, said Vincent Cervantes, owner of the Mesquite Shack, which recently was profiled by the Express-News. Were going to start out there with a full barbecue menu on Friday and see what the response is before we decide what well do on Saturday.

Las Constentida owner Brian Roberts, who traditionally parks his truck near the Alamo downtown, said he plans to be out at 151 at least two or three weekends per month.

We saw the news on Facebook and got a hold of Michael and told him we wanted to be a part of this, Roberts said. Its always exciting to try out a new space.

After a few weeks of operation, Teran said customers can look forward to a grand-opening party with plenty of specials out of the bar. For more information, call 210-248-9757 or check out the park on Facebook: 151FoodPark.

cblount@express-news.net | @chuck_blount
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In between La Grange and Round Rock lies a 10-acre farmhouse made largely from recycled materials that visiting kids call the haunted house.

The unique, antique-filled home started as a small two-bedroom 1920s farmhouse and has grown into a 3,000-square-foot home for Amy and Brian Kleinwachter and their two children.

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"Our goal was to try and use 100 percent reclaimed materials, aside from electrical, insulation and the structure's 2 by 4s," Brian told Chron.com in a phone interview. Since the couple first met at an antiques show 18 years ago, they bonded over the love of vintage finds. From their relationship, building a house made totally out of reclaimed materials became a dream of theirs.

The home's inspiration came to light after Brian built his children a two-story treehouse made entirely out of reclaimed wood, windows, and frames from their antique business, Old World Antieks.

Fernando Gutierrez, Old World Antieks

"At first, it was going to be a platform and that thing kind of morphed into a freestanding mini house and a two-story treehouse with all the reclaimed materials," Brian said. "That's where we got the design inspiration for the main home."

For three years, the Kleinwachters collected materials and stored their finds in the barn on the 10-acre property. With the help of Mancha Builders, the Kleinwachters were able to build their dream home in six months.

The materials include wood from local Texas barns, doors from Victorian homes across America, and other unique pieces from across the world, including Egypt, France, and India.

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"We're using materials that were left behind that either was going to be broken, thrown away or recycled," Brian told Chron.com. "The wood we used - if the walls could talk. Who in history was around these materials? We won't ever know, but it's still a warm feeling."

Among his favorite pieces in the home include an old sign from The Famous Blue Heaven, which was a supper club in the 1930s, and a swing in the great room.

"The swing was my wife's idea and I thought she was crazy, but now I totally see it," Brian said. "There are 14-foot ceilings so you can really get going."

Fernando Gutierrez, Old World Antieks

If you're wanting a home like theirs, fear not - the Kleinwachters have aspirations to continue building homes like this in the future.

"Our next one would probably be better than this one cause we've been through it before," Brian said. "I've been in the antique industry for years and I think building homes is the next chapter of our business."

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In the meantime, the couple plan on making tiny-home guest houses on their property with the same goal as their home - to reuse the materials they find through their antique business.
Action movies usually present powerful good people going up against even more powerful bad people, in an unequal struggle in which good ultimately wins. Thats the formula. But a few years ago, the makers of Taken got the idea to combine that form with a rags-to-riches structure. In the case of Taken, this translated into the story of a gentle, humble father, who is redeemed in the eyes of his daughter by springing into action and killing about 100 people.

This structure has the built-in appeal of being emotionally satisfying  and yet funny. In the Taken movies, its just wonderfully ridiculous watching nice, easygoing Liam Neeson turn into a homicidal maniac. And now, theres The Foreigner offering the same kind of absurd satisfaction, with Jackie Chan as a sweet little guy, an older fellow that no one takes seriously, who becomes a killing machine.

Its the first of Chans movies to match the quality of his early work in Hong Kong. It makes use of his martial arts expertise and physical gracefulness, as well as the fact that hes now in his early 60s. The movie also allows Chan to demonstrate that he can act. In between setting traps, blowing things up and rendering people unconscious, Chan plays grief in The Foreigner, and his face contains all the sadness of the world.

He loses his daughter in the movies first scene. Quan (Chan) drops her off at a store in London, and a terrorist bomb goes off seconds later, killing her and several others. It turns out that the bombing is the work of an Irish Republican Army splinter group that no one has ever heard of. Pierce Brosnan, as a former IRA member now working in the British government, is put in charge of finding the people responsible.

Quan wants to find them, too, and he gets the idea into his head that Hennessy (that is, Brosnan) can tell him how. Quan is quiet, grief-stricken and poorly dressed. Hes small, polite and has a thick accent. He looks like the farthest thing from a threat when he starts hanging around Hennessys office asking for the names of his daughters murderers. And then we realize that this meek, modest older gentleman, who seems like the most harmless man in the world, has some moves. Yes, he has those Jackie Chan moves, and he is about to use every one of them.

The first time Chan starts flipping people and throwing them through windows, the impulse is to laugh out loud. But at the same time, that moment, as well as every subsequent one like it, has the visceral satisfaction of watching the underdog get in some shots. And thats basically the appeal of The Foreigner, which is something like the appeal of Taken  a combination of laughing at it, while being totally swept along by it.

Unlike Taken, which has a simple story, The Foreigner has an intricate and well-developed plot involving many characters inside the government, the IRA and law enforcement. Most of those threads have more to do with Hennessy than Quan, which means that Brosnan has the most screen time. And hes terrific, trying to juggle a dozen threats, any one of which might ruin him, all while dealing with a crazy little guy who wont stop coming after him. Half the satisfaction of The Foreigner is in the spectacle of this handsome, unflappable patrician having his natural composure annihilated.

Given the story, its hard to imagine how anyone might come up with a sequel to The Foreigner, but the same could have been said for Taken. In any case, someone has finally figured out what to do with Jackie Chan in America. This formula is the right one.

Mick LaSalle is The San Francisco Chronicles movie critic. Email: mlasalle@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MickLaSalle

The Foreigner

Action. Starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan. Directed by Martin Campbell. (R. 114 minutes.)
You can call the statistics stomach-churning:

40 percent of all food is wasted in the United States at a cost of a trillion dollars a year, and one-third is wasted worldwide;

10 million tons of produce a year goes unharvested in the U.S.;

90 percent of all wasted food ends up in landfills, where it can take up to 25 years for a head of lettuce to compost; the decomposing food in landfills releases methane gas that contributes to pollution.

In the face of this relentless nihilism, its quite an achievement that the new documentary Wasted! The Story of Food Waste is so darned entertaining and hopeful, as well as informative.

Part of what makes it so fun is that our guide is Anthony Bourdain, who narrates the film and is the executive producer. The film, directed by Anna Chai and Nari Kye, is a breezy, globe-hopping look at food systems  from farming to distribution to home consumption.

Also interviewed are several chefs who specialize in turning what would be normally wasted food (parts of animals, fish or vegetables that typically go unused) into delicacies. Their demonstrations not only serve as plugs for their restaurants, but also might inspire ideas for home cooking.

Using waste for flavor  thats something chefs go crazy about, says Danny Bowien, who started Mission Chinese Food in San Francisco.

Also in the film are noted chefs Dan Barber, Mario Batali and Massimo Bottura, as well as former Trader Joes president Doug Rauch, who went on to create the nonprofit supermarket chain Daily Table.

Worst among the food wasters are big supermarket chains, which toss out tons of perfectly good food daily because of rotating stock and egregious misuse of best by dates. Nearly all of that food heads to landfills.

Supermarket chains can literally end world hunger overnight, says British food expert Tristram Stuart, who among his other pursuits, started Toast Ale, which uses surplus bread as a main ingredient in brewing beer.

Daily Tables concept is to recover excess food that normally would be wasted by grocers and price it to compete with fast food.

Other inspirations can be found in Japan, which converts much of its food waste into a probiotic eco-feed for livestock; South Korea, which has virtually eliminated household food waste and food waste in landfills; and Murfreesboro, Tenn., where General Mills Yoplait Yogurt factory converts leftover whey into electricity that powers the plant.

Bourdains message to the world: It offends me when I see all of that good stuff thrown out. Why are you wasting that? Thats good!

G. Allen Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ajohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BRfilmsAllen

Wasted! The Story of Food Waste

Documentary. Directed by Anna Chai and Nari Kye. (Not rated. 90 minutes.)
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Hundreds of marijuana plants were seized recently in a drug bust of four homes in Fort Bend and Harris counties, authorities said Thursday.

On Sept. 28, the Fort Bend County Narcotics Task Force concluded an investigation into a marijuana growing operation. Task force agents from local and federal law enforcement agencies served search warrants at the four locations.

The homes are located in the 600 block of Fair Oaks Drive near Stafford, in the 15000 block of Val Vista Drive near Houston, 7511 Marisol Drive near Houston and the 15000 block of Sierra Valle Drive in Harris County, according to a press release from the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office.

TEXAS BUST: 73-year-old woman accused of weighing, packaging cocaine in her house

When the search warrants were executed, authorities discovered indoor marijuana grow operations in three of the homes as well as weapons, cash and cultivated marijuana products in the fourth location, the press release states.

The Fort Bend County Narcotics Task Force concluded a narcotics investigation targeting an illegal marijuana growing operation being conducted in Fort Bend County and Harris County.

Agents seized a total of 778 marijuana plants along with indoor growing lights, scales, water pumps, fans, inverters and assorted equipment used for manufacturing, packaging and selling of marijuana.

Three people were arrested in Fort Bend County:

Trong Vo, 35, of Houston; charged with Possession of Marijuana, a second degree felony;

James Lai Nguyen, 27, of Houston; charged with Possession of Marijuana, a second degree felony; and

James Huy Nguyen, 37, of Houston; charged with Possession of Marijuana, a second degree felony and possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor.

Three additional suspects were arrested in Harris County on felony charges of delivery of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana. The identities of those suspects are not available at this time.

The marijuana seized at the scenes had a street value of approximately $2.3 million.
TOKYO - The latest House of Representatives election in Japan is an unusual contest that has seen members of the Democratic Party, formerly the main opposition party, split into three groups - those running with Kibo no To (Party of Hope), the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and as independents.

An earlier election survey predicted that opposition votes will be divided between Kibo and the CDPJ, with the former winning around 60 seats and the latter over 40 seats, both far short of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's seat tally.

Even so, combined with independent candidates who are polling well, the three groups have the momentum necessary to significantly exceed the 87 seats the DP held at the time of the dissolution of the lower house.

Among former DP members, moves are under way to reunite after this election. Independent candidates with significant experience are expected to play a major role in building a network to facilitate mutual support and cooperation in information sharing.

However, verbal warfare between opposition parties is intensifying, making it unclear whether they can establish such cooperation.

Of the former DP lower house members, 42 are running with Kibo in single-seat constituencies, and about 70 percent of them are running in close races. One such candidate is Sumio Mabuchi, who won in Nara Constituency No. 1 in the previous general election. Only five candidates, including Yuichiro Tamaki in Kagawa Constituency No. 2, have established a clear lead in their race.

Almost half of the 15 former DP members who chose to join the CDPJ are also running in close races, while many others have established clear leads, including Yukio Edano in Saitama Constituency No. 5. The CDPJ appears to be garnering support from voters who are dissatisfied with Kibo's decision to embrace a "logic of exclusion" and ask DP members to accept its conservative policies.

"[The CDPJ] could succeed in securing a core support base because they consistently put forth their policies," a senior LDP member said.

Half of the 21 members who chose to run as independent candidates have taken clear leads. Political heavyweights in particular are securing stable support, including Seiji Maehara in Kyoto Constituency No. 2, who as DP president took the initiative to encourage DP members to join Kibo, former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Chiba Constituency No. 4, and former DP President Katsuya Okada in Mie Constituency No. 3.

Independent candidates who run in single-seat constituencies are fighting with their backs to the wall because they cannot also field themselves as candidates in the proportional representation segment.

These candidates can be said to have chosen to run as independents because they already possessed strong electoral support bases.
Alabama is about as red as a state can get. The state hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976. Right now, one of the biggest concerns among top GOP leaders in Alabama is losing a congressional seat.

"Alabama is in jeopardy of losing a congressperson," Gov. Kay Ivey told the Association of County Commissions of Alabama in August.

Census 2020 is three years away, but some Republican states are already worried it won't go well. Congress is underfunding the Census Bureau, which is likely to result in some people not getting counted. In the past, the Census Bureau has admitted that it undercounted African Americans and Hispanic Americans, populations that typically vote for Democrats. But outside groups such as the Salvation Army and the Census Project argue that the government has also undercounted people in rural communities, populations that typically lean Republican.

Gov. Ivey is touring her state urging local government officials and business leaders to ensure that every single person living in Alabama gets counted in Census 2020, especially in rural areas. The results of the census will determine how many congressional seats each state gets, as well as how many electoral college votes, used to determine the next president.

"I'm dead serious about this, folks. We need your help," Ivey said in August, a message she has repeated several times on local TV stations and at Chamber of Commerce meetings.

The difference between Alabama keeping or losing one of its seven congressional seats (six of which are held by Republicans) could come down to fewer than a thousand people.

After the 2000 Census, North Carolina and Utah battled for the final congressional seat. North Carolina ended up getting it by a margin of 856 people. Utah appealed the count all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Census Bureau should count Mormons from Utah who are serving as missionaries overseas as well, but Utah lost that fight. (Only military and federal employees living abroad were counted.)

Kenneth Prewitt, the Census Bureau director in 2000, remembers the fierce debate well. It's why he's speaking up so vocally to warn Congress that it must increase funding to ensure that everyone gets counted. Some of the very Republicans who are trying to cut costs for Census 2020 might end up regretting it if their state or party loses a seat.

"There will be two states in play for the final (congressional) seat. They will not want to have an undercount or flawed count," says Prewitt, now a professor at Columbia University. He points out that a fair and accurate census count is required by the U.S. Constitution.

It all comes down to money. Some congressional Republicans want to hold the line on spending. They think the Census should cost the same in 2020 as it did in 2010, even though America has millions more people and a dollar today is worth less than it was in 2010.

The census "is another example of unnecessary and completely unwarranted government intrusion," Ted Poe, a Republican congressman from Texas, wrote in a 2015 piece. Poe argues that the Census Bureau doesn't need to do many of its smaller surveys, but those are often used to test techniques for the decennial census.

The big idea to save money was to do the census online in 2020. It sounded wise, until massive hacking attempts - such as the Equifax breach - put the data of millions of people at risk. There's growing unease about giving the government (or anyone else) so much personal data online.

The results of the census are used to divvy up 435 congressional seats and $675 billion in federal government funding a year. There have been major swings in the U.S. population since 2010, with people moving south and west and into big cities.

So far, the census has data on what's happened to the U.S. population from 2010 to 2016. During that period, only three states have seen their populations shrink: West Virginia, Vermont and Illinois. That might not seem like a big deal to Republicans, as only West Virginia is a red state.

But look a little deeper, and several key states that tipped the 2016 election for President Donald Trump have barely had any population growth, putting them in jeopardy, too. Michigan, Pennsylvania and Mississippi could lose congressional seats as well. Their populations have grown less than 1 percent since 2010.

After 2010, eight states gained seats, and 10 lost. The power shifted to GOP-leaning states, but it's not clear that will happen again. The migration to cities could also help Democrats this time around.

Several states have grown by over 10 percent from 2010 to 2016: Colorado, Florida, Texas and Utah. They stand to gain one - or even two - congressional seats, depending on how the Census 2020 results play out. Colorado and Florida are key swing states that have both seen a lot of immigration. There's concern that immigrants might be hesitant to participate in the 2020 Census and give their data to the government.

Wilbur Ross, President Trump's commerce secretary, oversees the Census Bureau. Ross is going in person Thursday to ask Congress for a lot more funding for testing the online census platform and doing outreach to educate people and assure them that their data is safe. The 2010 Census cost $12.1 billion. He's asking for $15.6 billion. Ross, who actually worked for the census briefly in his college days, seems to understand what's at stake if the funding doesn't come through.

"The Census Bureau is committed to assuring a full, fair, and accurate count," Ross told The Washington Post in a statement last week.

We'll know soon whether congressional Republicans are committed to that as well. Alabama Republicans are already worried, and they aren't even the most likely to lose out.
The Education Department released a list of 11 priorities Thursday that Secretary Betsy DeVos wants to set for the agency's competitive grant program to fulfill her "vision for American education." Can you guess what her No. 1 priority is?

It's school choice, of course, given that DeVos has made it crystal clear that her chief priority as education secretary is to promote school choice (unlike every other education secretary before her). DeVos says she just wants to give parents a choice of schools for their children, while her critics say she is determined to push the privatization of public education.

The department released her proposed priorities for competitive grant programs, which annually dole out many hundreds of millions of dollars, starting the clock on a 30-day period in which the public can comment on the list. The Federal Register notice said the list being proposed reflects DeVos's "vision for American education." It says:

"Specifically, the priorities are designed to encourage grantees to empower parents and educators; reduce red tape; utilize and build evidence of what works; and, most importantly, take strides toward ensuring equal access to the high-quality, affordable education every American student deserves in an educational environment that is safe and respectful of all viewpoints and backgrounds."

Who would argue that grantees build on evidence of strategies that "work"? Unfortunately, many of the programs that DeVos praises highly - such as those that use public money to pay for private and public school tuition - don't have any research base of actually helping students succeed in school.

Here are her priorities as proposed in the Federal Register:

- Empowering Families to Choose a High-Quality Education that Meets Their Child's Unique Needs.

- Promoting Innovation and Efficiency, Streamlining Education with an Increased Focus on Improving Student Outcomes, and Providing Increased Value to Students and Taxpayers.

- Fostering Flexible and Affordable Paths to Obtaining Knowledge and Skills.

- Fostering Knowledge and Promoting the Development of Skills that Prepare Students to be Informed, Thoughtful, and Productive Individuals and Citizens.

- Meeting the Unique Needs of Students And Children, including those with Disabilities and/or with Unique Gifts and Talents.

- Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education, With a Particular Focus on Computer Science.

- Promoting Literacy.

- Promoting Effective Instruction in Classrooms and Schools.

- Promoting Economic Opportunity.

- Encouraging Improved School Climate and Safer and More Respectful Interactions in a Positive and Safe Educational Environment.

- Ensuring that Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families Have Access to High-Quality Educational Choices.

The top proposed priority for the Obama administration, according to a 2014 list, was "Improving Early Learning and Development Outcomes."

The top-ranked Democratic members on the education committees in the House and Senate blasted the list. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said in a statement:

"Since her confirmation hearing, I have voiced concern that Secretary DeVos would abuse her position to prioritize privatization, and that's exactly what we're seeing. Instead of listening to the millions of students, parents, and teachers who stood up against her extreme ideological agenda, her proposal will allow her to prioritize applicants that would siphon taxpayer funds away from the public schools that serve the vast majority of students. This is shameful and I urge Secretary DeVos to implement laws and award federal funding as Congress intended - not as she sees fit."

Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D-Va., ranking member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, said in a statement:

"The US Department of Education's top priority should be to support state and local education leaders in providing a quality public education, from pre-K through college, for all students - regardless of where they live, how much money their parents make, or how they learn. Despite the lack of evidence proving the effectiveness of vouchers, the Secretary is proposing to divert taxpayer dollars to private schools and for-profit interests through the use of supplemental priorities. This is not aligned with the will of Congress nor taxpayers. I urge the Secretary to heed the advice of the overwhelming majority of Americans and prioritize investment in public schools and the students they serve."
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy gave his Catalan antagonist Carles Puigdemont five days to clarify whether he has declared independence from Spain or not as the country prepared for its national holiday on Thursday.

Rajoy attended a military parade in the center of Madrid alongside King Felipe VI after leaving the Catalan president to mull over his next move with his options narrowing. Puigdemont has until 10 a.m. Monday to clear up his position. If he's found to be in violation of the law he'll be given another three days to back down. After that, Rajoy will trigger the legal procedures to force the Catalan administration from office.

While the army has remained firmly on the sidelines, the military is prepared to help impose order in the region if the separatists try to resist the state's authority, according to a person familiar with the government's planning.

"I'm almost completely sure that the intervention of armed forces in Catalonia won't be necessary, but the army has the obligation to be ready to defend the country both inside and outside its borders," Defense Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal said Thursday in an interview with Spanish national broadcaster TVE.

Rajoy also plans to remove the Catalan police chief, Josep Lluis Trapero, who was interrogated by a Madrid court as part of a sedition probe last week, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing private conversations. A spokeswoman for Rajoy said Trapero's situation is a matter for the courts.

The prime minister is looking to press home his advantage after Puigdemont failed to enlist international support for his campaign to break away from Spain and faced potentially fatal splits within his governing majority in Barcelona. The Catalan leader is trying to hold together a disparate coalition that includes both anarchists and conservatives with the threat of lengthy jail terms hanging over some leading activists.

Spain's benchmark stock index slipped 0.3 percent at 3:21 p.m. Thursday while the 10-year bond spread was little changed, at its narrowest this month.

"Puigdemont strikes me as playing primarily a tactical game -- like speed chess," said Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, a Chicago-based constitutional scholar at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "It's not a game Catalonia can realistically win; the rules too strongly favor Madrid and it has too many strong pieces. This week the tide already seems to be turning."

Most regional leaders joined Rajoy and the king for the National Day celebrations that began in Madrid at 11 a.m. -- though Puigdemont and the Basque leader Inigo Urkullu stayed away.

The celebration was marred when a Eurofighter jet crashed as it returned to its base near Albacete, killing the pilot.

Rajoy convened an emergency Cabinet session on Wednesday after Puigdemont appeared to claim independence for Catalonia but then suspended the process in a speech to the regional legislature the night before. Rajoy accused him of creating "deliberate confusion."

"If Mr. Puigdemont makes clear his wish to respect the law and return institutions to normality, he would end a period of uncertainty, tension and rupture," Rajoy said.

Rajoy's request is a preamble to triggering Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, a move that would enable him to suspend Catalonia's devolved government and take over control of its affairs in what would represent an ultimate defeat of the Catalan leadership.

While Puigdemont claimed the ballot's result gave him a mandate to push for independence, he said that he would hold off for a "few weeks" to pursue talks with Madrid on Catalonia's constitutional future. Catalan coalition lawmakers later signed what they called a declaration of independence and some, though not all, then signed a document suspending it.

"Puigdemont will have nowhere to hide now -- he won't be able to hide behind the charade we saw last night," Angel Talavera, an analyst at Oxford Economics in London, said in an interview. "If he does clarify it's independence, then Rajoy applies Article 155, and if he doesn't his coalition may break up and that could lead to elections."

Jordi Turull, spokesman for the Catalan government, said that triggering Article 155 would make dialogue impossible and force his administration to declare independence. Defense Minister Dolores de Cospedal last week said that any challenge to Spain's democratic regime would be treated as a threat.

Rajoy, who runs a minority administration, received backing from the opposition, with Socialist leader, Pedro Sanchez, saying that his party shared the government's view on the need for Puigdemont to clarify his position. Sanchez said that Rajoy had agreed to put in place a committee on regional powers that may lead to constitutional reform, though not to enable a referendum on independence.

The Basque Country's ruling party is acting as an interlocutor between the central government and the Catalan regional executive in a bid to reduce tensions, according to three people familiar with the matter. Senior officials from the Basque Nationalist Party, known as the PNV, have been trying to find common ground, albeit in an unofficial capacity as Madrid doesn't accept that the dispute merits mediation, the people said.

Regardless of the crackdown and the responses from Catalonia, the turmoil has proven too much for several dozen of the region's largest companies, which said they're relocating.

"This struggle does not necessarily follow an economic logic, but a logic based in culture, history and nationalism," said Monica Duffy Toft, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Massachusetts. "We tend to forget in the 21st century that nationalism is still alive and well."

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Bloomberg's Esteban Duarte, Maria Tadeo, Angeline Benoit and Todd White contributed.
An African-American student at The Woodlands High School said she is afraid to go to school because of racist and violent messages she said were sent to her by a classmate.

Last month, a white, male student allegedly sent messages over the social media application Snapchat in which he told the girl, "we should have hung all you n****s while we had the chance and trust me it would make the world better."

Fearing her for safety, the girl and her family reached out to school officials, who offered crisis counseling services and said they had changed the boy's schedule to keep him out of contact with the girl.

They also, however, left open the option of transferring the girl to another campus in the district, a suggestion that drew the ire of local civil rights groups.

"This racial intimidation has no place in civilized society," civil rights lawyer Randall Kallinen said in a press release.

In a statement Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Conroe Independent School District said that while the comments did not occur on campus, it "does not tolerate behavior of this type."

"The campus administered several levels of disciplinary consequences and continues to work with the students involved and their parents," the statement said. "Due to privacy laws, the campus cannot share all of the steps it has taken, but campus and district administration are committed to providing safe and caring learning environments for all of our students. Furthermore, reinforcing respect for others and building unity continues to be a top priority across our campuses as it is in our communities, and we are researching additional resources to support our students with these essential life principles."

African-American students accounted for 2.5 percent of the 4,261 students at The Woodland High School during the 2015-16 school year, according to CISD. White students made up 65 percent of the student body - double the average rate for Texas school districts.

CISD, one of the fastest-growing districts in the state, still lags behind state averages in racial and economic diversity. Roughly half of the district's 61,000 students are white, according to CISD's website, while 36 percent are Hispanic and fewer than 7 percent are African American. For the average Texas district, white students account for 29 percent of the student body, while Hispanics account for 52 percent and African Americans make up 12 percent.
BAD AXE  If the Huron County Planning Commission moves to ban commercial solar development in a new master plan, another county board may have a say in whether it's allowed.

County Commissioner John A. Nugent told the Huron County Board of Commissioners during a committee of the whole meeting Wednesday that he plans to introduce a resolution in two weeks giving the board the authority to accept or reject the Huron County Master Plan.

Nugent said the county's ordinance currently gives the planners the power to make decisions regarding the master plan.

But he added a provision of the ordinance allows the board of commissioners to adopt a resolution that would give the board the ability to review the master plan and send it back to the planners if deemed necessary.

"We're not just going to accept carte blanche what they approve," Nugent said.

The resolution will allow the board to accept or reject the master plan, and if it is rejected, the board must explain why and send it back to the planning commission for further review.

"It's not that we don't have faith in the planning commission," Nugent said. "(Solar) is just such a contentious issue, we need to have our input into it at a very formal level."

Commissioner Steve Vaughan had said earlier in the meeting that although he doesn't support prime farmland being used for solar development, the county should leave room for marginal land and commercial business land to be considered.

"I want to see that opportunity available for those who want to pursue it," Vaughan said.

During the public comment portion of the regular meeting that followed, county resident Paul Holz, who owns farmland in Meade and Lincoln townships, said it should be up to the individual farmer what to do with their land, and removing it from PA 116 should be between them and the state.

Holz noted that when someone wants to build a home on PA 116 land, which is enrolled in the state's farmland preservation program, planners and commissioners allow it.

He accused Vaughan of making a double statement by supporting residents or businesses that want to install solar developments, but not farmers.

Vaughan, however, supports pursuing solar development on marginal farmland.

In other business, Ryan Kuhl, a technician with the Huron Conservation District, presented the board with his intentions to apply for a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) grant that would allow residents to turn in scrap tires.

Kuhl suggested that the board grant him access to the Huron County Expo Center parking lot to be used as a drop off point.

One semi trailer would hold 1,000 to 1,200 passenger tires. The DEQ will reimburse $2 per tire or $2,000 per semi trailer load. The maximum grants in the past have been $6,000, Kuhl said.

Each resident could bring up to 10 passenger tires. Those bringing tires would have to call for an appointment so Kuhl would have an idea of how many semi trailers to use.

He hopes to acquire the grant by spring and collect tires "before mosquito season."

Mosquito season also came up during the board communications portion of the meeting.

The board had asked the Michigan Attorney General's Office (AG) for an opinion on whether the commissioners could put a millage for mosquito abatement on the ballot.

The AG responded that asking this would be the role of the county's state representative. So Rep. Edward J. Canfield submitted the question to the AG.

A letter came from the AG stating that the request had been forwarded to the AG's State Operations Division.

The board also:

 Authorized board Chairman Sami Khoury to sign a declaration of restrictive covenant pertaining to the Huron County Expo Center/Arena Building. An antifreeze leak from the ice rink's cooling station several years ago caused contamination and has since been cleaned up to DEQ standards. The deed must state that there was a spill and it was cleaned up so that the next buyer of the property would be aware, Vaughan said. Commissioner David G. Peruski added that if the property is used for a different purpose, it would need DEQ approval.

 Elected Jeanne H. Henry and Jerome Grammetz to four-year terms on the Board of Canvassers.

 Accepted, with regret, the resignation of Talyor Totten from the position of court recorder/juvenile assistant.

 Approved various P.A. 116 applications, and released two acres in a separate application.

 Purchased a TechCare Remote Monitoring from Hi-Tech for the Computer Information Systems Department for $9,708.

 Opened bids for a detective vehicle for the Huron County Sheriff's Department.

 Extended the snow removal contract between the county and Pawlowski Construction, LLC for Nov. 1, 2017 through May 1, 2019.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The winds fanning wildfires in Northern California's wine-country have calmed, for now, giving firefighters a badly needed break from the "red flag" conditions that have made this menacing arc of flames so deadly and destructive.

But for localities facing relentless fires and a mounting death toll that has already reached historically grim heights, any reprieve appears remote.

As the destruction entered its fifth day, officials focused their efforts on finding the missing and the dead. Authorities continue to search for the hundreds of people who remain unaccounted for, using cadaver dogs to sniff through scorched rubble.

Twenty-nine people have died, more than half of them in Sonoma County alone. The infernos burning across the region are now the state's deadliest wildfires on record, their collective death toll equaling the 1933 Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles that killed 31 people.

"We've found bodies that were almost completely intact; we've found bodies that are nothing more than ashes and bones," Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said at a news conference Thursday.

In some cases, bodies were only identified through ID cards or the serial number of medical devices found nearby.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you that, but that is what we're faced here, as far as identifying people and recovering people," Giordano said. "We will do everything in our power to locate all the missing people. I promise you we will handle the remains with care and get them to their loved ones."

As search and rescue teams gain access to "hot zones" that were immolated in the firestorm, officials expect to confirm more fatalities.

The death toll in Sonoma County went up to 15 on Thursday, and Giordano said it would be "unrealistic" to think it won't rise further. There were eight casualties recorded in Mendocino County, four in Yuba County and two in Napa County, according to local and state officials.

About 1,000 people have been reported missing in Sonoma County, of whom 400 remained unaccounted for as of Thursday afternoon. Giordano said search and rescue teams go to specific houses, if it's safe, to find missing persons only after they've exhausted other ways to contact them.

"We're going to that person's house in the fire zone. We're doing targeted searches . . . teams of people searching for missing people," Giordano said. "That's how the majority of the recovery has been made so far."

The 21 fires currently burning across the northern part of the state have destroyed more than 3,500 buildings and torched more than 191,000 acres - a collective area nearly the size of New York City.

It is, the state's fire chief said, "a serious, critical, catastrophic event."

Thousands have fled their homes. In Sonoma County, nearly 4,000 people are at two dozen evacuation centers. Many of them will likely be unable to return home for many days, officials said. Evacuation zones also continue to expand. On Wednesday, the entire city of Calistoga in Napa County was evacuated.

"These fires are a long way from being contained, so we're doing to best we can people that have been displaced and help them to hopefully rebuild their lives" said Barry Dugan, a Sonoma County spokesman.

Nine fires are now burning in Sonoma and Napa counties, the heart of California's wine-growing industry. One of the biggest and by far the deadliest, the Tubbs Fire in Sonoma grew about 6,000 acres overnight before conditions began to improve.

The National Weather Service said the calmer winds will last through Friday, giving fire crews a slim chance against the blazes that have mostly raged uncontrolled. But dry conditions, coupled with a new round of high winds expected this weekend, could further hamper containment efforts, officials said.

In many areas, crews have been working for days straight.

Keith Muelheim, Mike Stornetta and Jason Jones, firefighters in the town of Windsor in Sonoma County, estimated that they had been awake for more than 70 hours and did not eat for the first 16.

For them, the Tubbs Fire is a personal one.

Stornetta's parents lost their house of 30 years, the house where he grew up, as a firestorm swept through their Santa Rosa neighborhood earlier this week.

"Our first assignment was two blocks away," he said during a patrol. "While we were evacuating an elderly care facility home, we could see down into the glow of the neighborhood where I knew my parents lived."

His parents were not home, Stornetta said, but his grandmother was housesitting and just barely escaped. His family lost everything, except the clothes they were wearing.

For Capt. Greg McCollum of the Santa Rosa Fire Department, the sheer size and power of the Tubbs Fire has humbled him after 24 years on the job.

"This is a once-in-a-career fire," he said. "One of the other guys said it's a once-in-two-careers fire. Well, I'm no historian, but I know a damn big fire when I see one."

As thousands of firefighters work to contain the blazes, officials have started looking at what's ahead: Cleaning up the charred remains of thousands of structures, some of which could contain potentially hazardous materials.

"You can imagine what it's going to take," said Dugan, the Sonoma County spokesman. "You just take one area in Santa Rosa, the Coffey Park area. There's dozens if not hundreds of [destroyed] homes. That's a lot of cleanup and a lot of debris. Once the fire is under control, there'll still a lot of work to do."

He added: "This is going to be months and years of recovery for the county."

Amid these grim bulletins, the huge utility company PG&E acknowledged that the extreme winds late Sunday and early Monday had knocked trees into power lines in conditions conducive to wildfires.

"The historic wind event that swept across PG&E's service area late Sunday and early Monday packed hurricane-strength winds in excess of 75 mph in some cases," said Ari Vanrenen, a PG&E spokeswoman, in a statement released after the San Jose Mercury News first reported on a possible link between the wildfires and the power grid.

"These destructive winds, along with millions of trees weakened by years of drought and recent renewed vegetation growth from winter storms, all contributed to some trees, branches and debris impacting our electric lines across the North Bay," she said.

Mike Mohler, a Cal Fire battalion chief, said investigators are looking into a series of calls about infrastructure failure and downed power lines Sunday night in Sonoma County - and whether those may have caused some of the fires.

"Investigators are out there, trying to determine exactly if lines were down, how many and where they were," Mohler said.

PG&E has said that hundreds of its employees have been working with Cal Fire by de-energizing some power lines to help with response efforts, the company said in a statement.

The utility company issued repeated warnings to its customers once heavy winds started battering the region Sunday morning. "High winds expected. Be alert near fallen trees/branches. Report downed lines to 911," PG&E tweeted several times.

Officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said they have yet to determine the cause of the fires.

Statewide, 8,000 firefighters are working to contain the fires, the worst of which are in Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties. In Sonoma County alone, more than a half-dozen separate wildfires have flared up and fanned out, including one that started Wednesday.

Families crowd areas off the highway, their cars packed with belongings. Highway 101 cuts through rolling hills that dominate the California coast, and entire landscapes are scarred black. In Santa Rosa, it is possible to trace the direction of the wind by which buildings were reduced to ashes and which remained untouched.

On Wednesday, Ameir Kazemi stared at the smoldering remains of his business, Mohawk Sign. It has been a Santa Rosa institution for 50 years, and Kazemi, 33, has owned it for a decade. Now, it's a pile of ashes and charred wood.

For several hours on Monday, Kazemi said local TV stations broadcast videos of his building on fire.

"It was pretty sickening," he said. "I just wanted to come see if there was any chance that anything survived - the artwork, 10 years' worth of stuff on my hard drive. It's all gone."

The fires have put a strain on federal resources, too. Coming on the heels of a string of catastrophic hurricanes, the California wildfires in total represent just one of 22 disasters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is managing across the nation. Eighty-five percent of FEMA's 9,900 full-time employees are working "in the field," away from their assigned offices, agency spokesman Mike Cappannari said.

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Staff writers Kristine Phillips, Abigail Hauslohner and Aaron C. Davis contributed to this report.

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There is nothing left to salvage': Californians return to their burnt out homes.

Video coding:
For the first time in two weeks, Trina Gray's sleeping pills were working.

By the time the television announced the shooting in Las Vegas that Sunday night, the 54-year-old was asleep in her small bedroom at the back of the Dickinson, Texas, mobile home she shares with her adult daughter, son-in-law and two grandbabies.

Gray didn't stir as Meghan, panicked that the brother she'd been texting all day was no longer responding, paced throughout the trailer. Or when the phone finally rang with the news.

What woke her was her daughter's scream as the bedroom door slammed open.

"Mom, mom!" 35-year-old Meghan Ervin wailed. "Cameron is dead!"

Last weekend's massacre at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas - the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history - left 28-year-old Cameron Robinson and at least 57 others dead and thrust dozens of families across the country into sudden, simultaneous crisis.

The initial panic. The unanswered text messages. The heart-shattering news. And then, for most, the solemn trip to Las Vegas to reclaim the body of a loved one stolen. Many of the people who had crowded into the open field on the Vegas Strip for the music festival were from out of town. In the aftermath, Las Vegas hotels filled with mourning relatives and friends who traveled from California, West Virginia, Iowa and Massachusetts to carry coffins back home.

But Gray can't travel. At least she doesn't. Not in the five years since a collision with a tractor trailer left her with trouble walking and legally blind. The thought of boarding a plane is enough to bring on an anxiety attack.

So now, even as instinct insisted she run to the stepson she'd raised as her own from the time he was 8, Gray remained, trapped in this trailer - getting updates from relatives' phone calls and cable news.

The first hours after a mass shooting are a haze of pain and confusion. The families and friends of the more than 20,000 people at the concert began a desperate search. The partial accounts of traumatized witnesses and video clips of chaos became embossed into the public consciousness. Slowly, the names of the slain trickled into the public domain, as mothers and brothers and wives turned widows memorialized their loved ones in Facebook posts and Instagram comments.

And then their phones started ringing.

Gray and the rest of Robinson's family agreed they weren't ready to talk to the news media about the shooting. But the ringing, buzzing and binging of the calls and voice mails and text messages didn't stop.

Even if she wasn't on television herself, Gray consumed an infuriating amount of it. The interviews with the survivors; the images of those who couldn't avoid the hail of gunfire; the grainy cellphone videos from inside the venue on endless loop. It all blended together.

"All I could hear was bullets," Gray recalls. "All night, all day from the TV. Bullets."

Sunday night stretched into Monday, which soon became Tuesday. Gray never fell back asleep.

And before long the television seemed to be spending more time talking about the man who had stolen Cameron from her. Speculation about his weapons, his life, his motive.

"Why do they keep plastering his face and his name everywhere?!" an infuriated Gray wondered. "It's like they're giving him credit!"

She couldn't stand it. She also couldn't turn it off.

Gray wondered why the focus couldn't just be on the victims like Cameron, who had brought Pepsi and her favorite candies, those little red chewy cinnamon bears, to the hospital after her accident. Even after she split with Cameron's father, she never introduced him as her stepson. He was her "bonus kid."

Cameron had spent the weekend texting her pictures from the concert, declaring matter-of-factly that he wanted to "have Sam Hunt's babies." Cameron, who earlier this year brought his boyfriend Bobby all the way from their home in Utah so she could meet him.

The boys had decided they wanted to find the best Bloody Marys everywhere they traveled, so Cameron whisked his momma off to brunch at a fancy diner in Galveston, where she could feel the wind blowing off the Gulf as she ate her bacon and eggs at a deck table. The bloodies weren't that good, but the boys drank them anyway.

When would the television talk about the man who was like a second father to her grandbabies: his nephews, 4-year-old Dylinger and 1-year-old Delany, whom he Facetimed every week to let them wave through the iPhone screen to Cooper, his Boston terrier. He even found and gifted the perfect stuffed replica: Dylinger now proudly marches through the trailer with his own Cooper tucked tightly beneath an arm.

Remembering makes her want to cry. But Gray can't cry in front of the grandbabies, who, like her, spent the week largely trapped in this trailer. When she feels the tears coming, Gray walks to her room to burry her face in a pillow.

"No crying, no breakdowns!" Gray has demanded of herself over and over again these past few days. "Protect your grandbabies!"

They don't need to know that something terrible has happened to Uncle Cameron, she reasons. But it seems, she acknowledges, that they can already tell the adults are upset about something.

Meghan left Tuesday. Bobby had bought her a plane ticket to Vegas so she could help with funeral arrangements - a private viewing was held in Nevada on Thursday, a public memorial Friday night - and say goodbye to her brother. Gray stayed behind.

"What an awesome man!" Gray thought to herself when Meghan texted that Bobby had picked her up from the airport. "He and Cameron were so perfect together."

The phones still hadn't stopped ringing. Meghan had gotten 17 more interview requests during the three-hour flight to Vegas. Gray had talked to a few newspaper reporters who called the house, but none of them had gone on TV. Maybe it was time.

Anderson Cooper, the silver-haired CNN anchor, had always been Cameron's favorite. A promise from his producer that the shooter's name and photo wouldn't be shown during their segment was enough to secure the exclusive.

When the time came Wednesday afternoon for the interview, Gray set the DVR on her bedroom television and called Rob, Meghan's husband, into the room to watch with her. She smiled when Bobby appeared on the screen, live from Las Vegas.

"I want everyone to know that no matter what you're going through, or any hardship or anything, (Cameron) was proof that you can overcome it," Bobby testified through the television. "He had such a drive and determination to always better his life and he did such an amazing job of that."

Bobby was doing such a beautiful job of describing Cameron, Gray thought. This interview was perfect. She beamed with pride. She didn't notice as 4-year-old Dylinger made his way into the room, his stuffed dog from Cameron in-hand.

"Grandma, that's my uncles!" the 4-year-old declared, awakening her from her trance as he pointed with excitement at the photo of Bobby and Cameron now flashing on the television screen.

Gray began to weep. There was no time to reach her pillow.
Nine passengers on a domestic flight for which immigration authorities made everyone show identification before they could deplane are suing the government, alleging they were subjected to an unconstitutional search, an attorney for the group said.

The passengers, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, asked a federal judge Thursday to bar the government from requiring people to produce ID before deboarding a domestic flight, without a warrant or individualized reason to do so.

ACLU Deputy Legal Director Cecillia Wang said that even though passengers are required to show identification before being allowed into the area where flights are boarded, those on board the flight were "shocked" to be asked to do so before they could leave.

"There was no lawful justification for detaining every single passenger on this domestic flight," she said.

The incident occurred in February on Delta Flight 1583 from San Francisco to New York. Once on the ground at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Wang said, those on board were greeted by Customs and Border Protection agents, who stood in the jetway and demanded identification documents from those getting off the plane. Those who questioned what was happening were told it was routine, Wang said.

Kelley Amadei, 40, was flying back home to New York with her wife and 7-year-old son. As the plane was taxiing to the gate, Amadei said, a member of the flight crew announced that "nobody would be allowed to deplane until they showed government-issued identification."

"That was alarming to me, because that's not something I had heard before," Amadei said.

At first, Amadei said she was scared. "My initial instinct was, 'Has something happened? Are we in danger?' " But as she watched two agents block people from leaving, asking each of them for their IDs, her fear turned to outrage. She said when she approached with her son, whose skin is somewhat darker than hers, agents looked repeatedly from her to the boy.

"I said, 'He's 7 years old, he doesn't carry ID on him,' " Amadei said. Agents ultimately let her pass, and she soon contacted news outlets to share her story.

Her son, shaken by the incident, had asked if their family was in trouble.

"It felt like a violation," Amadei said.

Authorities had been searching for an immigrant who had received a deportation order to leave the United States. The incident sparked significant controversy, as it came amid an ongoing legal fight over President Trump's first travel ban. The Trump administration has promised to crack down on illegal immigration and has sometimes employed controversial tactics, such as using courthouses to arrest people suspected of being in the country illegally.

An official with the Department of Homeland Security told The Washington Post after the incident that the steps Customs and Border Protection agents took were normal and did not stem from a new policy or executive order.

"When we're asked by our law enforcement partners to assist in searching for a person of interest, we are able to, and will, help," the official said. "This isn't a new policy or related to any new executive order."

The person whom agents had been seeking was not on the flight, authorities said.

Those suing include two journalists, a college professor and others, Wang said. She said they are particularly concerned with the Department Homeland Security's characterization of the incident as normal, because, in her view, government agents should not have been allowed to ask passengers for identification without a warrant or some suspicion of a particular person.

"We basically want to stop the government from doing this again, without any individualized suspicion," Wang said.
JERUSALEM - The Palestinian militant group Hamas backed a plan to begin reconciliation with its rival, Fatah, on Thursday, after more than a decade at loggerheads that left the Palestinian territories split between competing leaderships.

Palestinian officials said the deal stipulates that a unity government formed in 2014 and led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party will run the Gaza Strip until a new administration is formed before the end of the year. But thorny obstacles that have blocked past unity bids - including the fate of Hamas's powerful armed wing - have not yet been discussed.

Meanwhile, Israeli objections also have the potential to derail unity efforts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel opposes any reconciliation deal in which Hamas does not disarm and "end its war to destroy Israel." He said reconciliation makes "peace much harder to achieve."

Palestinians have long accused Israel of obstructing reconciliation efforts so as to weaken and divide them.

The split began when Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006, which led to bloody gun battles on the streets of Gaza when Fatah did not cede power. Since then, Hamas has run the Gaza Strip, while Fatah has administered parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank through the Palestinian Authority.

There have been several abortive attempts at unity over the past 10 years. But after the two sides agreed to form a unity government three years ago, Hamas continued to run Gaza through a shadow administration. This time, though, some Palestinian officials say that the conditions are more conducive to reconciliation.

Gaza is in the midst of a worsening humanitarian crisis that has paralyzed daily life for its 2 million inhabitants. Since Hamas took control, Israel has imposed restrictive controls on trade and movement, citing security concerns.

But the stranglehold worsened this summer as the Palestinian Authority asked Israel to cut its electricity supply to Gaza, leaving inhabitants with just a few hours of power a day. It also slashed the salaries it pays to government employees. Losing support locally, Hamas has said it's ready to hand over administrative control. Meanwhile, reconciliation is now increasingly in the interest of influential regional players.

The deal set a February deadline for merging employees belonging to the Palestinian Authority in Gaza with those of Hamas's administration, Palestinian officials said, adding that the deal paves the way for Abbas to visit Gaza for the first time in a decade. A committee will be formed to merge thousands of Palestinian Authority security personnel into Hamas's police force.

Control of the Palestinian side of the Erez border crossing with Israel will be handed to the Palestinian Authority, while the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt will be ceded to Abbas's presidential guard. The opening of the Rafah crossing would ease pressure on Palestinians in Gaza, only a tiny percentage of whom receive permission from Israel to leave the enclave. Egypt, meanwhile, has only sporadically opened its border in recent years.

"Egypt is putting all its weight behind these efforts," said Qais Abdul-Karim, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, who belongs to neither faction.

Egypt is attempting to stamp out an insurgency in its Sinai Peninsula by militants who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. It has accused Hamas of aiding the militants, allowing them to cross the border for medical treatment. Through the deal, Egypt can pressure Hamas to safeguard Egyptian security in Sinai, Abdul-Karim said.

He added that Cairo also has interests in drawing Hamas away from the Muslim Brotherhood, which has faced brutal crackdowns in Egypt since the ouster of Egypt's president, Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi, in 2013. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are working in partnership with Egypt to squeeze the Brotherhood and curb the influence of their regional rivals Qatar and Turkey in Gaza, Abdul-Karim said.

Israel also has interests in easing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which it sees as a security threat. Israel has fought three wars with Hamas. Still, Abdul-Karim said, Israeli objections may cause the deal to stall before any meaningful pact can be forged.

The "so-called reconciliation" between Hamas and Fatah is "a convenient cover for Hamas's continued existence and activity as a terror organization while relinquishing civilian responsibility for the Gaza Strip," Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said. He said Abbas's willingness to partner with Hamas leaders was a "cause for concern."

The question of what to do about Hamas's armed wing of more than 20,000 militants remains a major sticking point.

While Hamas may be willing to cede administrative control of Gaza, it has given no indication that it would be willing to give up control of security.

Analysts say the United States is also more interested in unity, which it sees as a necessary step to bring about peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. President Trump has pledged to bring the two sides together in the "ultimate deal."

In a visit surrounded by much fanfare, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah made a rare visit to Gaza earlier this month, after Hamas asked the unity government to take control and dissolved its governing administration.

The U.S. Middle East envoy, Jason Greenblatt, said the United States was watching developments closely, but he stressed that any Palestinian government must "unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the state of Israel, acceptance of previous agreement and obligations between the parties, and peaceful negotiations."

On the ground in Gaza, hope is dampened by the memory of previous failed negotiation efforts. Restaurant owner Basil Eleina said last month that the humanitarian situation is the worst he has ever known.

He has been forced to pay $8,000 a month for generator fuel to keep his business open. It is an achievement every month to keep his 36 staff members employed, Eleina said.

"Everybody is hoping, but we have been disappointed so many times that you don't want to let yourself have too much hope," he said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Heba Mahfouz in Cairo and Sufian Taha in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he intends to nominate Kirstjen Nielsen, a cybersecurity expert and deputy White House chief of staff, to be secretary of homeland security, a job left vacant when John Kelly departed to become White House chief of staff in July.

The White House, in a statement, described Nielsen as having "extensive professional experience in the areas of homeland security policy and strategy, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and emergency management."

Nielsen is a longtime Department of Homeland Security official who served as Kelly's chief of staff when he was DHS secretary and accompanied him to the White House as his deputy. She also worked at the DHS during the George W. Bush administration and founded a consulting firm focused on risk and security management.

Other contenders for the Cabinet post included Tom Bossert, Trump's homeland security adviser, and Kevin McAleenan, the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Nielsen had one crucial advantage - the absolute trust and support of Kelly, to whom she grew close after volunteering to be a "sherpa" to him as he went through the confirmation process this year.

At the White House, as Kelly's enforcer, Nielsen quickly emerged as a controversial presence. Her detractors viewed her no-nonsense style as brusque and complained that she could be unresponsive as she worked with Kelly to streamline operations and instill discipline in a White House often lacking structure. But her allies and supporters said she was simply helping to professionalize the West Wing - the sort of necessary but thankless task that often leaves some staff members griping.

Nielsen will inherit a massive and important portfolio. The Department of Homeland Security is considered a critical agency on matters of counterterrorism and national security. It is the agency, for example, that informed states they had been targeted by Russian hackers during the 2016 election campaign, and it would be responsible for monitoring and preventing such incidents in the future.

But it also bears primary responsibility for immigration enforcement and border protection - top priorities in the Trump administration. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been coordinating the government's response to several recent hurricanes, the Secret Service, which protects the president and his family, and the Transportation Security Administration, which handles airport and other transportation-related security, are also a part of the DHS.

Nielsen will probably have no shortage of controversies to navigate. Homeland Security officials will play a key role in implementing Trump's new entry ban, which is scheduled to fully take effect Oct. 18, and agency officials are also at the center of the president's decision to wind down DACA - the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program - which allowed undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children to avoid deportation.

The DHS, along with the Justice Department, has been energetic in implementing Trump's promised crackdown on illegal immigration - employing aggressive, controversial tactics such as arresting people suspected of being in the country illegally while they were in court seeking redress on matters including domestic violence complaints. Immigration agents have made 43 percent more arrests since Trump took office than in the same period last year, but fewer deportations have taken place than in the comparable period last year.

Nielsen is not expected to face a difficult confirmation process in the Senate. She is widely viewed as a competent, experienced and nonpartisan security professional.

Given that polarizing and ideological figures such as former Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach were previously rumored to be in the running for the DHS job, mostly for their hard-line views on immigration, the Nielsen choice would be more evidence of Kelly's ability to consolidate control and move the administration in a more conventional, mainstream direction.

Some of the president's senior advisers, including Stephen Miller, were said to favor an immigration hard-liner who would excite Trump's base.

But the Nielsen pick would preserve the DHS's reputation as an agency whose core mission is counterterrorism and national security.

Democrats and critics of the president said they were looking for a nominee with counterterrorism experience and a familiarity with DHS operations, and Nielsen would qualify on both counts.

"Nielsen's nomination is a strong signal of competence and experience being valued by the White House over ideologues and outsiders," said Stewart Verdery, a Republican lobbyist who worked in the department during the George W. Bush administration. "The homeland mission requires an unusual, diverse set of skills, and she has expertise in almost all of them."

Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge, R, the first secretary of homeland security, said in a statement that Nielsen was a "homeland security veteran" who was "extremely well versed in the all-hazard threats" challenging the nation's security and resilience.

"Kirstjen can hit the ground running and there won't be a learning curve," Ridge said. "Most importantly, in this hyper-political environment, Kirstjen is not a self-promoter. She is a patriot and takes a mission-focused approach to her work."

---

The Washington Post's Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti contributed to this report.
Poonawalla was arrested on Saturday for killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walker on May 18 in the Mehrauli area of the national capital.
RICHMOND, Va. - A former chairman of Donald Trump's Virginia campaign said Thursday that the White House is in "very serious talks" with Ed Gillespie's gubernatorial campaign about having the president stump for him in the state.

A Trump rally could fire up Trump supporters for Gillespie, an longtime Republican Party fixture who has struggled to find the right footing regarding the anti-establishment Trump but who needs the support of Trump voters in Virginia.

A Trump appearance could pose risks for Gillespie in purple Virginia, where Trump's approval ratings are well below 40 percent. Hillary Clinton beat Trump by five points in Virginia last year - the only Southern state won by the Democrat.

Virginia is holding the only competitive statewide election in the nation on Nov. 7, an election that both major parties see as a test of electoral politics in the Trump era and a hint of what may come in the 2018 midterms.

Most public polls show Gillespie tied or slightly trailing the Democrat, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam.

The White House and Gillespie campaign are in "very serious talks" about such a presidential appearance as a means of boosting the Republican's chances in his neck-and-neck race against Northam, said John Fredericks, a conservative radio host.

He announced that plans were in the works on his show Thursday morning and later elaborated in an interview with The Washington Post.

"The days of Ed Gillespie threading the needle with President Trump are coming to an end," Fredericks told The Washington Post. "And he's got to get on stage with him, and motivate Trump voters to get out on November 7th in huge numbers, enthusiastically, to support this Republican ticket if he's going to win."

The Northam campaign announced Wednesday that former President Barack Obama will appear at a rally with Northam in Richmond, Virginia, next week, upping the ante for Trump.

"Obama's coming. They've gotta counter it," Fredericks said.

Fredericks, who was co-chairman and later chairman of Trump's Virginia campaign, said he has heard from "multiple sources" that the White House and Gillespie campaign are "trying to get a date for the president to come to Virginia," most likely at the end of the campaign.

A few hours later on Twitter, Fredericks clarified that he was talking about a "potential" Trump rally and that his information was "not sourced from any official in the Gillespie campaign."

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said there were "no plans that I'm aware of at this time."

Gillespie spokesman David Abrams said only this: "We do not discuss campaign strategy with the media."

A former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Washington lobbyist and adviser to then-President George W. Bush, Gillespie has been uncomfortable with any association with Trump even as he has recently launched harder-edged ads about illegal immigration and Confederate statues that are meant to appeal to the president's fans.

Republicans have not won a statewide election in Virginia since 2009. Gillespie needs support from both Trump voters as well as independents to have any chance of overcoming the advantage Northam has in populous, heavily blue Northern Virginia.

At various points in the campaign, Gillespie has struggled with his approach toward Trump. He avoided mentioning the president during the Republican primary in the spring, which he nearly lost to Corey Stewart, a bombastic campaigner who ran in the Trump mold. Immediately after the primary, the White House political team met with the Gillespie campaign and urged it to move in the direction of Trump. Gillespie hired at least one Trump strategist, and started talking about the dangers of illegal immigration and the need to preserve Confederate statues.

When the president endorsed Gillespie via tweet last week, the candidate did not retweet or even acknowledge it until reporters asked him about it the following day. Gillespie said he did not consider the president's endorsement newsworthy.

Gillespie has been more comfortable with Vice President Mike Pence, a personal friend for several years, who will fly to ruby red southwest Virgina on Saturday to headline a campaign rally for him. On the same day, former Vice President Joe Biden is appearing in northern Virginia with Northam.
Christina Hanson, remembered by her stepmother as a beautiful person who loved music and animals and volunteered regularly at an Alzheimers residential care facility, died early Monday in her Santa Rosa home, unable to escape the Tubbs Fire. She was 27.

Ms. Hanson had faced many challenges in her life, including being born with a spinal defect that limited her mobility and losing her mother at age 9. Despite her hardships, said her stepmother, Jennifer Watson, Ms. Hanson was a very happy, social and positive person.
A Midland man was arrested Monday after allegedly possessing child pornography, according to court documents.

Mikeael Jones, 29, was being held Thursday on a $150,000 bond for a third-degree felony charge of possession of child pornography.

Special agents with the Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division searched a residence on Monday in reference to distribution of child pornography.

Programs used to download and share the pornography were on Jones devices, according to his arrest affidavit. Jones previously shared more than 20 files of child pornography with an undercover DPS special agent, according to the affidavit.

If convicted of the third-degree felony charge, Jones could face up to 10 years imprisonment.
Small colleges and universities throughout the nation continue to feel the effects of a national trend that shows a decreasing number of college enrollments on their campuses. While four-year state and elite private institutions show enrollment increases, small schools are missing their enrollment goals, according to reports from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center and Inside Higher Ed.

However, Wayland Baptist University is seeing some positive trends in spite of lower overall enrollment numbers. Wayland enrollment dropped 4.6 percent system wide in the fall of 2017, resulting also in a 4.6 percent decrease in credit hours. Total enrollment for Wayland stands at 4,835 students, down from 5,068 a year ago.

The Plainview campus enrolled 1,132 undergraduate students and 227 graduate students this fall, compared to 1,241 and 237 a year ago. Total enrollment for the external campuses is 3,476 students, down from 3,590 a year ago.

Much of the enrollment conversation is centered around adult students returning to the classroom. This demographic makes up the majority of students at Waylands 12 external campuses. Many of Waylands students are also military who have seen cuts in tuition assistance.

In spite of that, Wayland is seeing growth at some external campus locations. San Antonio, which has a strong military presence as well as civilian student population, saw a nearly 5 percent increase in total students with a more than 5 percent increase in credit hours. Albuquerque and Clovis, N.M., campuses reported an approximately 15 percent increase in credit hours while showing mixed returns on enrollment. Albuquerque was down 2 percent and Clovis was up 3 percent. Amarillo also showed a 5 percent increase in head count and an 8 percent increase in credit hours.

The Wayland administration expected a slight drop in numbers based on several factors, including the ongoing issues with government military tuition assistance programs. In an effort to stabilize military enrollment, the university will cap tuition costs for military students at $250 per hour in upcoming terms. The university has also expanded special Texas Department of Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Scholarship programs to provide assistance to officers and their families who may not otherwise be able to attend a university.

Waylands heavily military campuses such as Hawaii and Fairbanks, Alaska, were hit hardest by the enrollment downturn, specifically undergraduate enrollment.

Following are fall enrollment and credit hours on each WBU campus: Anchorage, 387, 2,530; Fairbanks, 69, 389; Phoenix, 90, 462; Sierra Vista, 202, 1,233; Hawaii, 390, 2,566; Albuquerque, 93, 656; Clovis, 67, 386; Altus, 24, 132; Amarillo, 144, 894; Lubbock, 530, 3,487; San Antonio, 1,341, 9,082; Wichita Falls, 139, 790; Plainview, 1,359, 13,938; Total, 4,835 students, 36,545 credit hours.
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If youre a Texas highway driver who associates two-way frontage roads with rural rest stops and pralines at Stuckeys, you might notice this weekend that the two-way access roads between Foster and Graytown roads along Interstate 10 are being converted to the safer one-way variety.

Josh Donat, spokesman for the Texas Department of Highways, said studies show switching from two-way to one-way reduces fatal and injury crashes by 57 percent, and head-on and intersection crashes by more than 77 percent.
A federal judge has dismissed Bexar County from a lawsuit filed by the family of a man killed by sheriffs deputies in a controversial shooting that went viral when video from a bystander surfaced.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, however, denied a similar motion for summary judgment from Deputies Greg Vasquez and Robert Sanchez, who shot Gilbert Flores on Aug. 28, 2015, as he had his hands up in apparent surrender, but with a knife still in one hand.

Pitman found that the plaintiffs could not show that the countys policy and its training were inadequate and contributed to the shooting, but rejected the deputies claim that they are entitled to qualified immunity, which often shields public officials from liability. The judge found there was enough evidence to let the case go before a jury, but only the deputies would be at trial.

RELATED: New video shows slowed-down, enhanced footage of the shooting of Gilbert Flores

While agreeing with the deputies that their conduct should be judged based on the circumstances that confronted them, Pitman concluded the final action they took  shooting Flores when he did not appear to be an imminent threat  was not reasonable.

Based on the circumstances facing Vasquez and Sanchez right before they shot Flores and construing the facts in favor of Plaintiffs, the Court finds that a reasonable officer would have concluded that Flores, who was stationary for several seconds and put his hands in the air while remaining otherwise motionless, was no longer resisting and had signaled surrender, Pitman wrote. Therefore, the deputies use of deadly force was not reasonable.

The ruling was lauded by lawyers for the county, but one of the attorneys for the deputies, Charles Frigerio, told the judge during a pretrial conference Thursday that they plan to appeal. As a result, Pitman canceled the upcoming trial that had been scheduled for Oct. 23.

They couldn't show we had an unconstitutional policy that caused the deputies to shoot, Albert Lopez, a private lawyer helping defend the county, said after the hearing. We haven't done anything wrong.

Thomas J. Henry, who represents Flores widow, Maritza Amador, and his parents, said Im of the firm belief we will be one day in the courtroom letting jurors decide about the officers unconstitutional use of deadly force.

We firmly believe that this will get to a jury and the Floreses want this to be decided by a jury, he added. Its a very important constitutional issue. Todays ruling allows both sides to further evaluate and well be making some determinations on what steps we will take.

Deputies Vasquez and Sanchez shot Flores outside his parents far North Bexar County home after they were summoned there for a domestic disturbance.

By the time the deputies arrived, Flores had beat up Amador and their infant son. He then was involved in a stand-off outside the home in which he tried to stab one of the deputies, blocked the Taser leads one of the deputies fired at him, and kept telling them that he wanted suicide by cop.

He also approached one of the deputies police SUV, which had the keys in the ignition and an AR-15 inside. Flores was not shot until he turned towards the deputies, stopped and put his hands up.

Much of the encounter was recorded by two separate witnesses using their cell phones. The first video that became public was broadcast by local television station that show Flores raised his hands when he was shot. But in that video, a light pole blocks the view of one of Flores hands.

The second video shows the confrontation from a closer distance, and gives an unobstructed view that showed Flores had an object in his hand, was nearly 30 feet away from the deputies and that the officers turned to each other in agreement to fire at Flores.

gconteras@express-news.net
Shirley Huddleston never met a stranger, was honest and outspoken in her liberal views and was a big-hearted friend to those she loved.

She was unafraid to talk about politics, sex, religion or any taboo subjects, but in a way that was dignified, recalled her elder son, Scott.

She held to her ideals and was very passionate. She could light up a room, holding court, leading conversations, he added.

Huddleston, 74, died Sunday of kidney disease.

More Information Shirley K. McDonald Huddleston Born: April 27, 1943, San Antonio Died: Oct. 8, 2017, San Antonio Preceded by: Parents Kalene Allred Salyer and John W. McDonald; stepfather, John M. Salyer Survivors: Sons Scott Huddleston and Derek Huddleston and daughter-in-law Vanessa, and three grandchildren Service: A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. today at Holy Cross Cemetery. See More Collapse

Born in San Antonio, she grew up in Central Texas. In 1973, she returned to San Antonio for a career in real estate.

Her two sons recall her as a single mother who fought to nurture them and forge their characters.

My mom was a momma bear, a fierce advocate for her kids, said Scott Huddleston, 54, who related an episode at Hobby Middle School when she came for a teacher conference over his getting a C in history. By the time it was over, the teacher had also confided in her.

She very personable. She found out that I was not applying myself and that the teacher was adjusting to a marriage with a stepson, he said.

Derek Huddleston, 46, said his mother doted on her two boys, particularly during holidays, and in his case, long past his childhood.

When we were children, wed dye Easter eggs, and as we got older, shed paint them with watercolors. Finally, when I was about 25, I said, Mom, I dont think you need to make an Easter basket for me, and she wasnt very happy, he recalled.

Lynda Avey, 73, a close friend for decades, said Huddleston was not shy about sharing her views with her more conservative friend.

Sometimes shed have an opinion that she knew was diametrically opposed to mine, and shed express it anyway. Sometimes it came close to being confrontational, she added.

Karin Lowe, 68, another longtime friend, said Huddleston was by her side during difficult times in her family. Recently, she said, Huddleston helped another friend struggling with cancer after the death of her husband.

She took Charlotte to all of her chemo treatments, and Shirley would sit there knitting little woolen caps for the women who were losing their hair. She had that kind of heart, she said.

At his last visit with her, Scott Huddleson read a poem, Inviting a Friend To Supper, by Ben Jonson, that captured his mothers indomitable spirit.

It ends on a positive note, about not being afraid or sad, and celebrating the liberty we have, he said.
It sends a mixed message that the city can expand its range of services outside the core responsibilities of safety, infrastructure, parks, etc., while our taxpayers find their own budgets limited with each years appraisal bill.

San Antonios general fund receives a windfall every year as a result of our home appraisals shooting higher and higher. We dont need to adjust our tax rate higher to support an expanded budget because we already receive more in taxes.

When a city continues to expand its budget, it becomes harder and harder to whittle it down. Our homeowners continue to tighten their financial belts each year to focus on their core budget needs; its important that we look for ways to do this as well.

Texas cities have the option of offering a separate residence homestead exemption of up to 20 percent of a propertys appraised value.

Having a City Homestead Tax Exemption is not a far-fetched idea. Several cities in North Texas already have implemented their own homestead tax exemption as a direct result of ballooning property values.

Unlike other cities, our budget is supported by multiple sources of funding. Incorporating a homestead tax exemption would not damage our city budget drastically, thanks to our diversified budget revenues.

Incorporating more local tax exemptions for San Antonio residents is a way to show the citys support of its residents. When we can put money back into the wallets of our residents, we give them spending power, which supports the city as well.

I dont believe that we should wait to see what happens during the next legislative session. A city of San Antonio homestead tax exemption declares to the Texas government: We are doing our part, now do yours.

San Antonio City Councilman Clayton Perry represents District 10.
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A former Longford based soldier who assaulted his neighbour during a late night incident that left her with a lifetime scar has been told he must come up with 2,000 in compensation by December or face four months in prison.

Martin Whitton (55), 67 Farneyhoogan, Athlone Road, Longford had already handed in 1,000 as an ex gratia payment to his victim Carol Cunningham at last weeks District Court sitting.

The ex-Defence Forces member had earlier pleaded guilty to assaulting Ms Cunningham causing her harm contrary to Section 3 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.

The incident, it emerged, took place at Ms Cunninghams home on September 23 last year after she herself took to the witness stand to explain what happened.

She said Mr Whitton had arrived at her house on the night of the incident with a bottle of alcohol.

The pair, she added, shared a couple of drinks before Ms Cunningham walked the short distance to Mr Whittons home where she consumed one further drink before returning to her own house.

Moments later, she said she heard a knock at her door.

I was just getting ready for bed, she said.

I thought he (Mr Whitton) had forgotten something but he sat down.

I thought it was too late and within minutes I got assaulted.

Ms Cunningham told Judge Hughes she had no idea as to why Mr Whitton would wish to harm her, adding though that she felt uncomfortable with the way he was talking.

My head was bashed off the fireplace. He just pushed me, she added.

My face came into contact with his fists.

Wearing a blue jumper and striped shirt with his hands behind his back, Mr Whitton rejected Ms Cunninghams version of events, shouting: Thats a lie your honour, that never happened.

Judge Hughes was more keen, it seemed to press Ms Cunningham as to what injuries she sustained as a result of the altercation.

She said she received two breakages to a cheekbone that caused her to spend time in both the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar and St James Hospital in Dublin.

Ms Cunningham said she underwent an operation around two weeks later and has since experienced endless appointments between Mullingar, St James and her own GP.

Quizzed about if she had any lasting after effects from her ordeal, Ms Cunningham told Judge Hughes she had difficulties both sleeping and with her breathing.

Equally, she told of how the incident, given the proximity of her alleged assailant, had made daily life increasingly difficult for her.

Hes (Mr Whitton) a neighbour and I have to pass him every time I leave my house, she said.

After running the rule over a medical report handed in to the court, Judge Hughes accepted jurisdiction, allowing the case to be heard in the District Court.

On foot of that announcement, a brief adjournment in the case followed before defence solicitor Frank Gearty returned to add his client had 1,000 to hand in as a measure of compensation.

Judge Hughes said he was willing to accept the sum as an ex gratia gesture of remorse.

In the midst of all that, the court was informed Mr Whitton had 14 previous convictions on his record, two of which were for common assault and a section two assault.

They dated back to 1991 and 2013 respectively with the remaining convictions mostly linked to alcohol related public order incidents.

Mr Gearty said his client was a separated father of two who had previously served in the Defence Forces both at Connolly Barracks and along the border.

Originally from Moydow, Mr Gearty accepted all of Mr Whittons previous transgressions emanated from alcohol, pausing to reveal his health was a cause for concern.

Judge Hughes, at that stage, asked Mr Whitton if he wished to convey his remorse to Ms Cunningham publically.

I am sorry Carol, he said, while hinting her injuries were brought about after he was spooked by her dog.

Myself and Carol were friends for a long time.

She had a pup, a lovely pup but he jumped on top of me and I fell back.

Thats in her statement.

Ms Cunningham, without haste, rejected Mr Whittons claims.

No, its not in my statement, she told the court, asking Mr Whitton himself if he had read her testimony.

Clearly aggrieved by that, Mr Whitton alleged Ms Cunningham had turned up at his house a couple of weeks later on October 8 drunk and made bits of his windows at the rear of his property.

It was an assersion which was quickly dismissed by Judge Hughes.

Hes not a bit sorry, he said.

When will you have another 1,000 for me?

If you dont (hand it in) you will be eating the turkey in Mountjoy.

On December 12 I want another 1,000 for this person (Ms Cunningham) and you will have it for me wont you?

Mr Whitton, taking his time to respond, stated in a muted voice: I will try.

As he adjourned the case and warned Mr Gearty to instruct his client he was facing a four month prison sentence if he failed to abide by the courts ruling, Judge Hughes once again had sobering words for Mr Whitton.

If you come up with it on that day I wont send you to prison.

The reason I say that is you dont have much remorse inside you.

The injuries this woman received are extremely serious.

She has been left with a lifetime scar and she has to live with that for the rest of her life.
Plans to introduce a new carriageway between Ballymahon and Athlone will not be finished in time for the planned arrival of Center Parcs in two years time.

That was the thinly veiled warning to emerge this week amid talk local authority chiefs are setting their sights on scrapping plans to realign the N55 between Ballymahon and The Pigeons by constructing an all-encompassing route corridor from the south Longford town to Athlone.

Cathaoirleach of Ballymahon Municipal District Cllr Gerald Farrell said the u-turn was causing plenty of unease locally.

Aside from the disruption proposed roadworks would bring, the Fine Gael representative said there was every chance the development could clash with the anticipated opening of Center Parcs 233m Longford Forest in 2019.

The reality is it (road) will be 2020 before it is done, he lamented.

So, from that point it would be a worry.

The focus on establishing a new roadway along the south Longford border has predominantly been the brainchild of Westmeath County Council.

Earlier this year, a number of public consultation forums were held with the aim of selecting a preferred route.

Those discussions threw up five possible options, something which had been greeted positively by local politicians.

TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) were looking at two projects - a Ballymahon to Tang bypass and a Glasson bypass, said Cllr Paul Ross.

But when it was discovered there was only a two kilometre gap between the two around Tubberclair, instead of doing two jobs it was decided to do a whole new road and TII agreed to that.

Like Cllr Farrell, the Young Fine Gael founder expressed his reservation at how the project might impact on traffic flow to and from the south Longford town.

It (road) won't be concluded by Center Parcs opening in 2019, he said.

We feel that it (road upgrade) needs to be done as it is a dangerous road.

Cllr Ross said it was now befalling the State to ensure it keeps pace with the infrastructural work and investment made by the British based leisure giant.
New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court is expected to deliver its verdict today on an appeal filed by Rajesh and Nupur Talwar challenging a CBI court order convicting them for the murder of their daughter Arushi and domestic help Hemraj in 2008.

The couple were awarded life sentence by a CBI special court on November 2013, a day after their conviction. Fourteen-year-old Arushi was found dead inside their residence with her throat slit.

Though the police initially doubted Hemraj, who had gone missing, later his body was recovered from the terrace of the house two days later.
Heads up literary buffs: The Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) is back for its 33th consecutive year running. Jointly organised by the National Arts Council, the SWF proudly presents the worlds leading literary faces to Singapore this 2017.

Reputed as one of the few multi-lingual literary festivals that focuses on Singapores four official languages, the SWF has invariably become a platform for writers, thinkers and academics to share and impart their invaluable knowledge and literary insight to Singaporeans.

SWF 2017 THEME: ARAM

Themed Aram, a Tamil word that means Good or Virtuous, SWF 2017 will be zeroing in on the universal ethical concept that bring us together. Through a series of panel discussions, lectures and workshops, SWF hopes to impart a love and appreciation for the spoken word.

With over 30 speakers hailing from all over the world, right from Ireland to Latvia, you can expect an insightful and diverse exposure to literature through their brilliantly curated lineup this year.

Head over to the gallery above for just a few of the exciting events lined up at the Singapore Writers Festival 2017!

Ashley Anand

Photos: Singapore Writers Festival

READ MORE:

Speak Up: 5 Expert tips to improve your public speaking skills

Schoolyard Scholars: 5 Effective ways to raise a reader
MARTINSVILLE-Martinsville City Council has reached out to the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission to craft a five-year plan to repay an $800,000 grant, according to Mayor Gene Teague.

At Tuesday evenings city council meeting, Teague said that city council is awaiting a response from the Tobacco Commission regarding the details of the repayment. On Wednesday, Tobacco Commission Public Relations Coordinator Jordan Butler acknowledged that the city staff had been in touch and that the two groups are working to finalize a payment plan.

The $800,000 Tobacco Region Opportunity Fund (TROF) grant was received by the city from the Tobacco Commission in July 2015, and the city distributed the funds to the College of Henricopolis School of Medicine to help launch the medical school in Martinsville.

That school still has not opened for students. In addition, the 36-month grant stipulated that the medical school meet certain benchmarks by the 18-month mark, including the hiring of 25 percent of staff (30 full-time equivalent employees) and the generation of $1.5 million in capital investment. The college failed to meet those benchmarks.

In January, the Tobacco Commission agreed to extend the grant by 12 months to give the college more time to meet its mid-point requirements, but in May, the commission went back on that agreement, voting to claw back or recover the $800,000. The reason why, commission members said, was the fact the medical school plan had changed since January, going from a for-profit operation to a non-profit. A s the Bulletin reported on April 2, College of Henricopolis School of Medicine President Dr. Noel Boaz and ICSM changed their business plan for the facility in February.

It was a significant change. The original concept was set up as a three-part structure. The first was the actual school of medicine, which was incorporated in Virginia as a for-profit or benefit corporation. It was owned by a holding corporation set up in Delaware. This was the part that the 21 investors actually owned stock in. Third was the Integrative Centers for Science and Medicine, a nonprofit clinic in Martinsville thats currently not taking on patients.

All of that has now merged into one entity, run through ICSM, as a result of changing to a nonprofit. The for-profit school was dissolved and the shares of stock owned by investors of the holding company were purchased by ICSM.

Speaking with the Bulletin after that May meeting, Del. Danny Marshall, who serves as a member of the Tobacco Commissions executive committee, said the changes sent up a red flag for the commission.

The Tobacco Commission has two objectives when it offers TROF grants, Marshall said at the time. The first, to help localities add new, high-paying jobs, and also to increase the tax base in cities and counties.

If the (original) application had been for a not-for-profit, we would have never agreed to it, Marshall said. We want to increase employment at high wages, and we want a tax base for, in this case, the city of Martinsville. If its a not-for-profit, they dont pay property taxes. For those reasons, the grant is going to be clawed back.

Whos responsible?

When the commission asks for a grant to be returned, the standard practice in a case like this is to turn first toward the company involved. The commission did that, writing to Boaz and asking him to return the funds. He responded in July, stating that he didnt have the money and didnt feel his organization, which has struggled to raise more than $180,000 in the last two years, would be able to collect it.

Again, as per state policy, once the commission received that letter, the company automatically gets a 30-day extension. Once that extension expired, the commission then sent out a letter to the city staff, informing them the debt was now Martinsvilles responsibility.

Questions to answer

Teague said that the city has served College of Henricopolis School of Medicine President Dr. Noel Boaz with a list of questions that hes required by law to answer by the end of this month.

Martinsville City Attorney Eric Monday said Wednesday that these questions will not be distributed to the press until after Boaz has answered them, as the situation is a pending legal matter.

Monday said that the questions were served to all related entities, including Boaz, The College of Henricopolis School of Medicine, The Integrative Centers for Science and Medicine and HHI Holdings of Delaware. Many of those groups are no longer operating, however, as they were merged in February into the new non-profit structure.

 If I dont have anything by the end of the month after that, it would be a court order to [Boaz] to command him to answer the questions, Monday said.

The questions, Monday said, were served under Code of Virginia section 15.2-1409, Investigations by Governing Bodies.

The code section reads in part that the governing body of any (Virginia) locality may make such investigations relating to its government affairs as it deems necessary, may employ financial, legal and other personnel it deems necessary to assist in such investigations, may order the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and papers and may administer oaths.

The code section adds that the governing body may apply to the circuit court for a subpoena against any person who refuses to appear, testify, or produce records, and any person failing to comply with such a subpoena is subject to punishment for contempt by the court issuing the subpoena.

In previous meetings, city council members had asked what happened to the grant funding, questioning how it was used. According to Boazs letter this summer, as well as testimony he gave before the commission in January, the money was split into three parts. The first portion went toward removing asbestos and gutting the building at 62 Fayette St. down to the walls and concrete. That is the facility where classes would be held. Another portion of the money went to rent space at10 East Church St., to be used for offices until the Fayette St. location was ready for operation. The other portion went toward operations, including staffing of the Integrative Centers for Science and Medicine, while it was open.
TODAYS WORD is ovine. Example: While doing her crossword puzzle, Mary asked Jeff for a three-letter word for ovine, and when he replied ewe, she slapped him.

WEDNESDAYS WORD was whataboutery. It means the practice of responding to an accusation by making a counter-accusation, real or imaginary, relevant or irrelevant. Example: Sure, I embezzled all the funding for the public park, but what about the time my opponent cheated on his high school government exam? the Senator said, in a blatant display of whataboutery.

Pancake Day

Today is the annual Kiwanis Pancake Day in uptown Martinsville. All the pancakes you can eat, plus sausage and a drink, is served all day by the Martinsville and Bassett Kiwanis clubs. Things start off this morning at 6:30 a.m. and run through 7 p.m. at the Broad Street parking lot, at the corner of Church and Broad streets. Tickets are $5 in advance, $6 at the door. The proceeds from today go to benefit programs for children and teens in Martinsville and Henry County.

TODAY IS: National Gumbo Day

Originating in southern Louisiana during the 18th century, gumbo is a heavily-seasoned, stew-like dish that typically consists of a strongly flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener and seasoned vegetables. The name gumbo arose from a West African word for okra, which many believe is how the name and the ingredient  often used as a thickener  became intertwined. Gumbo gained widespread popularity in the 1970s when the U.S. Senate cafeteria added gumbo to the menu in honor of Louisiana Senator Allen Ellender. It is the official cuisine of Louisiana.

American Legion meets

The Homer Dillard Post #78 of the American Legion will hold its monthly meeting Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. Thatll be over at the post home, which is at 139 Creekside Drive in Martinsville. The executive board will meet at 6 p.m.

History lecture

The Martinsville-Henry County Historical Society will be offering a lecture series beginning Oct. 22 at 3 p.m. Lecturer Colin P. Ferguson will offer a presentation on the battle of Gettysburg. Additional historical lectures are scheduled for Nov. 19, Feb. 25 and April 15. The Historical Society is located inside the historic courthouse in uptown Martinsville.

TRIVIA QUESTION: If you have a Lichtenberg scar, what probably happened to you?

WEDNESDAYS TRIVIA ANSWER: Prior to refrigeration, what did many Russians put in their milk to keep it fresh? The answer: Live frogs. No, really. Centuries ago, there was a Russian practice of dropping a frog  specifically a Russian Brown Frog  into a bucket of milk to keep it from spoiling. It sounds like an old wives tale, but in fact, the method actually worked for scientific reasons. The frogs release a slimy secretion from their skin that just so happens to have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, which killed off the bacteria in the milk. Its not clear how Russian peasants stumbled across this unique method of milk preservation, but it works in a pinch. Just be careful you dont wind up with a frog in your throat.
Starting Thursday, Allston residents have a new place to get groceries, free food samples and Two Buck Chuck. The new Trader Joe's at 199 North Harvard St. in Boston hosted its grand opening on Thursday, Oct. 12.

Video from the grand opening, posted on Twitter, shows a crowd of shoppers entering the new Trader Joe's while clapping and wearing flower leis. According to a Boston Magazine photo tour, the inside of the new grocery store is decorated with Allston-themed murals.

The new Trader Joe's location will be one of seven in Massachusetts to offer alcohol sales in addition to groceries. According to an article in The Crimson, the liquor license comes from a Trader Joe's location on Commonwealth Avenue, which stopped selling alcohol at the end of September.
Updated on Oct. 12 at 2:25 p.m.: Twitter has restored Rose MCGowan's account, saying the suspension was due to a post containing a private telephone number. In a statement to PEOPLE, the social medial giant said, "Twitter is proud to empower and support the voices on our platform, especially those that speak truth to power. We stand with the brave women and men who use Twitter to share their stories, and will work hard every day to improve our processes to protect those voices."

______________

Twitter has suspended actress Rose McGowan, who has been a vocal critic of Hollywood in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal.

McGowan, according to The New York Times, reached a $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997 following a hotel room incident at the Sundance Film Festival.

She has not mentioned Weinstein by name in tweets. However, she called on her nearly 750,000 followers to sign a petition to dissolve the Weinstein Company's board.

"They knew. They funded. They advised. They covered up. They must be exposed. They must resign," she wrote.

She has also been highly critical of A-list stars like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, whom she called a liar on Tuesday after the actor said he was sickened to learn of Weinstein's behavior. She claimed Affleck knew.

In an Instagram post on Thursday morning, McGowan revealed that Twitter temporarily disabled her account.

According to the screenshot from Twitter that the "Charmed" actress shared, her account will be restored to full functionality in 12 hours, after she deletes any tweets that violate Twitter rules and policy.

McGowan posted, "TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED ME. THERE ARE POWERFUL FORCES AT WORK. BE MY VOICE. #ROSEARMY #whywomendontreport"

@benaffleck GODDAMNIT! I TOLD HIM TO STOP DOING THAT you said that to my face. The press conf I was made to go to after assault. You lie.  rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) October 10, 2017
An ongoing construction project to replace a bridge deck along Route 3, a major highway that runs south of Boston, will impact traffic for South Shore drivers this upcoming weekend.

On the weekend of Sept. 29-Oct. 1, crews replaced the northbound bridge deck in Braintree, through the use of an accelerated bridge technique. (Sound familiar? The same technique was used on the multi-phase replacement of the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, which impacted traffic on the Massachusetts Turnpike this summer).

The $6.3 million project in Braintree is similar to the Comm. Ave. Bridge project, but on a much smaller scale. While the Boston bridge is schedule to be replaced over the course of two years, the Route 3 bridge deck will take only a few weekends.

The bridges in Braintree are crossed by Route 3 commuters, which will impact those traveling northbound and southbound between Boston and the South Shore. Route 3 extends from Braintree to Sagamore, before crossing the Sagamore Bridge and turning into Route 6.

This weekend, from Oct. 13-15, crews plan to replace the southbound bridge deck in Braintree.

At a news conference on Thursday afternoon, officials from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will speak on what exactly drivers can expect during the Braintree construction.
Seventy-two years after his Army Air Forces bomber disappeared over the mountaintops in Northern Italy, Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Richard M. Horwitz is coming home.

Horwitz will be buried in West Roxbury Sunday with full military honors, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency reports. Gov. Charlie Baker has also ordered all flags in the commonwealth to be flown at half staff for the day.

Horwitz, a Brookline native and 22 at the time, was a member of the 716th Bomber Squadron, 449th Bombardment Group and, along with 10 other airmen, was assigned to a B-24J Liberator aircraft. Flying out of Grottaglie Army Air Base in Italy on Feb. 28, 1945, the bomber had completed a combat mission targeting a railroad bridge in Northern Italy to disrupt German supply lines and was headed with other aircraft to a rallying point to regroup. But Horwitz' bomber never made it.

The B-24J was later seen skimming the mountain tops with at least two damaged engines before disappearing near a lake in Austria. The crew were reported missing in action.

The bodies of five of the 11 crew members were recovered in the years immediately after the disappearance, but the aircraft's wreckage and other crew members remained unaccounted for. According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the American Graves Registration Service, meeting in Rome in 1948, concluded the plane crashed somewhere in the north Adriatic Sea.

In 2013, an Italian citizen located the wreckage of the plane off the coast of Grado, Italy. Horwitz' remains were identified in 2015. Horwitz's remains were identified through historical evidence, dental and bone analysis and by comparing DNA to a relative, the Associated Press reports.

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, there are 72,990 service members still unaccounted for from World War II. The Agency estimates approximately 26,000 are potentially recoverable.
A Massachusetts business man is accused of providing financing and financial advise for an illegal brothel in Manhattan.

David Stasior, 53, of Concord, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to violate the Travel Act. He was arrested by federal agents and appeared in court Wednesday.

According to a press release the U.S. Attorney's Office of Massachusetts, Stasior was involved with a larger web of at least 10 illegal brothels operating in Manhattan. The brothels were independently owned but worked cooperatively, and employed South Korean prostitutes brought to the U.S. on fraudulent visas, authorities said.

Stasior is accused of providing start-up money for one of these brothels as well as assisting with the establishment's record-keeping and finances.

"For years, the defendant allegedly helped launder the proceeds of an illegal brothel operation in Manhattan, providing start-up money, ongoing financial advice, and record-keeping services. As alleged, the defendant financially supported and profited from this business that exploited vulnerable women and laundered money," Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said.

Documents sent from Stasior to the owner of the brothel show the defendant referring to himself as a "partner"in the business.

The brothel Stasior allegedly worked with used a website to advertise women and the establishment. Stasior is accused of paying for and managing the online advertisements, authorities said.

Police also obtained spreadsheets that show Stasior invested in the brothel and expected to be paid back the "debt" the brothel had incurred as a result of his commitment.

The multi-year investigation into illegal Manhattan brothels has brought charges against 17 individuals, authorities said.

"This arrest represents the continued effort of law enforcement to put a stop to illegal activity wherever it is found. Many claim prostitution is the oldest profession in the world," Inspector Philip R. Bartlett said. "The anonymity of the internet was used to hide the identity of its operators, keeping law enforcement in the dark. As in this case, what is done in the dark will always be revealed in the light."
Massachusetts State Police are investigating after a passerby reported a dead body along the shores of Revere Beach Thursday morning.

At 5:57 a.m., a person walking along the beach across from Shirley Avenue in Revere found a dead body and notified police. Shortly after 6 a.m., state police arrived and found the dead body of a woman at the shoreline.

The body was removed from the scene Thursday morning to undergo an autopsy by the chief medical examiner. State police say their immediate observations did not reveal any obvious signs of trauma, and the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said the death "does not appear to be the result of criminal conduct."

The deceased woman has been "tentatively identified" by state police, but authorities are withholding her name. They say the woman's relatives have not yet been notified.

An investigation into the death is underway by the State Police Detective Unit for Suffolk County.

This is a developing story.
The noise of car engines enveloping the streets of the French capital might in the future become a memory for Paris pedestrians.

In its latest initiative to reduce pollution, Paris City Hall is planning to ban gas-powered cars by 2030. The controversial move follows Mayor Anne Hidalgos plan to ban all diesel cars from the city by 2024, when Paris will host the Summer Olympics.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2017/10/12/paris-plans-ban-gas-powered-cars-city-2030/756963001/
For some time, people have wondered when completely driverless cars  the kind devoid of human operators  would appear on California roads.

The states residents now have a likely answer, one that suggests they could arrive as early as June 2018, and possibly even sooner, officials said.

By Peter Holley

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/10/11/driverless-cars-could-hit-california-roads-as-early-as-2018/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_combustion-11pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.3a70a6555946
When Josh James traveled to the Bay Area in 2000, seeking funding for a web analytics company he had founded, he spoke at length with a venture capitalist about his plans for growth. The conversation was going well, Mr. James recently recalled, until the investor asked where he was based. "As soon as I told him I was from Utah, he literally, without saying a word, turned around and walked away."

Utah entrepreneurs no longer get that icy response.

The region has given rise to at least five companies valued at more than $1 billion. The concentration of these so-called unicorns is surpassed only by California, New York and Massachusetts, according to CB Insights, which tracks venture capital investment.

By ELLEN ROSEN
This years Mountain Glory festival will feature a record number of more than 150 food, craft, business and non-profit vendors. Their booths will be spread out over three blocks of Main Street in downtown Marion.

Many of these vendors are from McDowell while others will come from various places in western North Carolina and other states.

Katie Devlin with Just Putzing Around falls into both categories. Shes been doing knitting and crocheting for 20 years and has been coming to the Mountain Glory for six. When she starting coming to the festival, Devlin was from Old Fort but has since relocated to Hendersonville.

On Wednesday, Devlin told The McDowell News shes looking forward to the 2017 festival.

Its great, said Devlin. Its good to see all of our friends. Everybody has a real good time. Its a very well planned event.

Devlins Just Putzing Around booth is usually located near the kids area and the food vendors. She and her husband Kevin have all kinds of knitted and crocheted hats and scarves and other fun creations.

Devlin said she and her husband goes to other festivals in this region but Mountain Glory is one of the best. Its one of our favorites because of how well planned it is, she said, adding Marion Business Association Director Freddie Killough does a fine job running this event.

Shes great, said Devlin of Killough. She keeps you updated on everything through the year.

A popular and award-winning cheesemaker from McDowell County will also be back at this years Mountain Glory.

English Farmstead Cheese will have its booth in front of Roseland Florist. Owner and founder Susan English said this will be the fifth year that her business will be represented at the Marion celebration.

On Saturday, English herself will be up at the store in North Cove making cheese and waiting on customers there. Rachel Brown and Ashley McCartha, who are Englishs daughters, and Dan Crawley will be operating the booth at Mountain Glory in her place.

They will have pumpkin spice spread, spiced apple spread, cheese curds, butter cup and cheddar cheeses. They only take items that are $5 or less to festivals because it is easier for them and the customers, said English.

She added she was making extra cheese curds on Wednesday for Saturdays festival.

English said her business goes to festivals in Nashville, Tenn., Asheville and Raleigh. But it is her hometown festival that is the most profitable for her operation.

Its the most bang for your buck, she said. Even in the rain, we still sold quite a bit.

Tomorrow: A look at this years entertainment.
Morgan County Veterans Day Parade slated Nov. 11 Audio Article The Morgan County Veterans Day Parade will be held on Friday, Nov. 11. The parade will form at the Commons, in McConnelsville, at 9:30 a.m. and set out at 10 a.m. The American Legion Post 24 will render honors at the monuments at the Commons, Riecker Building, the Square, at...

A concert with two purposes Audio Article Wednesday, Nov. 30, a concert with dual purposes is being held at the Twin City Opera House in McConnelsville, Ohio. Its a thank-you to healthcare workers, who can attend for free, and its a benefit for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. In September 2021, Rick Shriver contracted COVID-19. He collapsed...

BOE reminder of early voting hours and polling location change Audio Article Remaining early voting hours at the Morgan County Board of Elections are as follows: from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov, 2 through Friday, Nov. 4; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5; from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6; and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m....

Lions Club announces annual Wreaths Across America Audio Article On Saturday, Dec. 17, the Chesterhill Lions Club will be joining with National Wreaths Across America in the laying of wreaths at each of the seven cemeteries located in Marion Township. The mission is to honor the local veterans who have served our nation so their families can rest assured...

Governor DeWine awards $6.7 million for domestic violence survivor programs Audio Article Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has announced that he is awarding $6.7 million to support the work of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (ODVN) to offer mobile and health advocacy services and temporary residential services for domestic violence survivors across the state. The announcement comes during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month....

CDC committee vote wont change Ohio school vaccine requirement Audio Article Ohio Department of Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff, MD, MBA has released the following statement: The CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendation for the COVID-19 vaccine to be added to the formulary or schedule of vaccines for children does not mandate this vaccine for school children. Ohio law determines...
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Dr. Freedberg and his associates at Columbia University Medical Center assessed the relationship between the use of surgical antibiotic prophylaxis and the development of postoperative antibiotic resistant infections across a wide range of operations for which there are no specialty society guidelines.The researchers reviewed all 22,138 patients over the age of 18 who had one of these operations between 2008 and 2016. From this overall population, the investigators selected for study those patients who developed an infection within 30 days of the operation. Patients were included in this study if they had a positive bacterial culture from any surgical site or fluid specimen. The cut-off time was set at 30 days assuming that the effect of antibiotics on resistance would wane over time.The researchers then determined how many patients with an infection had received prophylactic antibiotics. Their assessment included patients who received any class of antibiotic at any dose, any time, from one hour before the first surgical incision until the end of the operation.Patients were considered to have an antibiotic-resistant infection if bacteria isolated in culture were only moderately susceptible or not at all susceptible to treatment within one or more major antibiotic classes.In this study, a total of 689 patients (3.1 percent) developed an infection within 30 days, and within that group 550 (80 percent) had received antibiotic prophylaxis, and 338 (49 percent) had an infection resistant to antibiotics.According to study findings, patients had the same risk for developing an antibiotic-resistant infection whether they received prophylactic antibiotics or not. Forty-seven percent of patients with a resistant infection had no antibiotic prophylaxis compared with 49 percent of those who did have prophylaxis.The risk was the same regardless of other factors: whether antibiotics were given as soon as one hour or as long as four hours before procedures, whether the follow-up period was shortened from 30 to 14 days after procedures, and whether patients had prior exposure to antibiotics or a prior culture-proven infection."If you're trying to figure out as a surgeon whether your patients may later develop a resistant infection in the postoperative period, the best clue is past history of resistant infection," Dr. Freedberg explained."The results of this study should be reassuring for those surgeons who choose to use antibiotic prophylaxis believing that antibiotics decrease the overall risk for infection following surgery. The study shows that even if patients develop an infection, they will not be worse off because they received a single dose of an antibiotic," concluded Dr. Freedberg.Source: Eurekalert
The first thing that comes to the mind when you think about limos is drunken shenanigans in Las Vegas or New York, screams, shouts and lacy underwear flying in the air, but there is so much more to limos than just debauchery! The long wheel base vehicle has been the epitome of luxurious travel for years now and we sat down and made a list of 12 limos that cost over a million dollars. Guess what, Trump's limo is on the list too!

1. Aston Martin Lagonda Taraf

Value: $1 million

 Wikipedia

The Lagonda is a super-sport limousine that looks nothing like a stretch vehicle, but more like a long-ish sedan, at best. Based on the legendary Lagonda Rapide, the Taraf carries a 5.9 litre V12 engine that churns out 540hp and can attain a top speed of 314kmph. A total of 200 units of the Taraf were produced and sold to Middle Eastern buyers.

2. Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard

Value: $1 million

 Mercedes-Benz

The S600 Pullman Guard is no ordinary limo-- it is Mercedes-Maybach's 21 foot long flagship armoured model that can deflect bullets and even withstand small level explosions, under protection certifications class VR9 and Directive ERV 2010. The vehicle functions on a 6 litre twin-turbo V12 engine with 540hp and a top speed of 250kmph, which has been limited to 99kmph.

3. ZiL 4112R

Value: $1.2 million

 o2.pl

What was conceived and designed as the prototype presidential limousine for Russian prez Vladimir Putin, was cancelled last minute because he decided he wanted a Nami that could cost him $170 million instead. The ZiL is a Russian make that is as luxurious inside out as it is powerful. Under its hood lies a 7.7 litre V8 engine with 400hp power and a top speed of 201kmph. Have a look:

4. Royal Million Euro Mini

Value: $1.35 million

 Vov.vn

This one's for the ladies, because it's pink. A pink stretch Mini, with a Pink Panther wrap, that is the royal chariot for the princess of Kazakhstan. And that's not all, the bodywork on the vehicle is studded with one million Swarovki crystals, while the window films got a generous pure gold plating treatment.

5. Maybach 62 Landaulet

Value: $1.4 million

 Autotitre

The most luxurious limo of its time, the Maybach 62 Landaulet was an object of fascination for several Middle-Easterners who had the kind of disposal income to splurge in the moving lap of luxury. The most awesome feature of the Landaulet was its fully retractable top, a first in a limo.

6. Cadillac One: The Beast

Value: $1.5 million

 Rainews

With the kind of attention he's been getting from North Korea of late, President Trump needs a car that can save him from land or airborne attacks, which is why he owns the brand new Cadillac One. The vehicle can withstand the impact of a rocket hit and even survive a chemical attack, aside from being bulletproof, of course.

7. The Midnight Rider

Value: $2.5 million

 Today

A trailer, for god's sake, the Midnight Rider is nothing short of a shining black beast. What's inside is beyond awesome-- an entire nightclub for 40, replete with a bar!

8. Rolls Royce Phantom Limo

Value: $3.8 million

 Racem

Luxury is a given the minute you read the words "Rolls Royce" and this Phantom limo is an armoured version of that obvious luxury. Apparently the cabin has an entire office space built in!

9. The American Dream

Value: $4 million

 Patrika

Appropriately named, the longest car in the world, the 100 foot Cadillac Eldorado is truly a wonder! The vehicle has its only heli-pad and a jacuzzi because after you land from a long trip in the chopper you want to go in for a relaxing bath, right?

10. Batmobile Limousine

Value: $4.2 million

It won't surprise you if Bruce Wayne pulled up in a limo, right? But, what if Batman slid out of a Batmobile limo? While we'll never know the answer to that question, we do know there's this Batmobile limo out there for real and it's quite a machine, complete with batwings!

11. Custom Gold Plated Rolls Royce Silver Spur Limo

Value: $14 million

 Fanaru

As if gold plated window films in the Princess's Mini weren't enough, the Sultan of Brunei celebrated his wedding day travelling in a 24 karat gold plated Rolls Royce Silver Spur Limo. Special emphasis was laid on the wheel caps that were also crafted with gold.

12. Bentley State Limousine

Value: $15.17 million

 Car

Learn how to travel in luxury from none other than the Queen herself. The Bentley State Limousine is Queen Elizabeth's ride, the most expensive limousine in the world, created specially by the marque automobile makers for her Golden Jubilee in 2002.
#FIFA World Cup Numbers confirmed for S. Korean players South Korea released squad numbers for their players at the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday, with captain Son Heung-min getting his usual No. 7. The Korea Football A...

#BTS Seller of BTS member Jungkook's lost hat referred to prosecution Police on Tuesday referred to the prosecution a former foreign ministry employee accused of attempting to sell BTS member Jungkook's lost hat online, officials said. The suspec...
First you leave the city for a kid, a garage, and a backyard. Then you get a job in an office park-only maybe it's an office park with yoga and food trucks.

For millennials, the suburbs are the new city, and employers chasing young talent are starting to look at them anew.

For years companies like Twitter, Salesforce, and GE have headed downtown, framing their urban offices as recruiting tools for young talent. After opening a new headquarters in downtown Chicago last year, Motorola Solutions bragged that it got five times the job applicants it had in the suburbs. Suburban landlords like Charles Lamphere kept hearing a common refrain from tenants: "We need to go to the city to get millennials."

Fresh college graduates might be attracted to downtown bars and carless commutes, but these days, for older millennials starting families and taking out mortgages, a job in the suburbs has its own appeal. "What people find is that the city offers a high quality of life at the income extremes," said Lamphere, who is chief executive of Van Vlissingen & Co., a real-estate developer based in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire, Ill. "The city is a difficult place for the average working family."

Many employers, hoping to attract millennials as they age, are trying to marry the best of urban and suburban life, choosing sites near public transit and walkable suburban main streets. "What's desired downtown is being transferred to suburban environments to attract a suburban workforce," said Scott Marshall, an executive managing director for investor leasing at CBRE Group.

Marriott International's recent search for a site to replace its old office park in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, led it into not Washington but just across town, into Bethesda's more transit-accessible downtown. Jim Young, Marriott's vice president of corporate facilities, cites access to "some of the nation's top public schools"-something more millennials will care more about as their kids get older.

When Caterpillar announced its move from Peoria, Illinois, to the Chicago suburbs earlier this year, CEO Jim Umpleby noted that the new site "gives employees many options to live in either an urban or suburban environment."

Suburban landlords are upgrading office parks with amenities to mimic urban life, too. At Van Vlissingen's properties, that's meant fitness centers, food-truck Fridays, beach volleyball courts, and a fire pit and amphitheater where monthly concerts are staged. Origin Investments, a real-estate investment firm, recently spruced up a dated office building outside Denver with a 4,000-square-foot fitness center and a "barista-driven" coffee lounge and stationed a rotating cast of food trucks outside a building it owns near Charlotte, North Carolina.

Suburban office parks appeal because they're cheap compared to downtown buildings, said Dave Welk, a managing director at Origin, which is based in Chicago. But his firm's suburban thesis builds on the belief that city-loving millennials will eventually opt for suburban accoutrements.

"The thinking has been, 'We're in a 20- to 30-year supercycle of urbanization,' " Welk said. "I believed that five years ago. I don't believe it anymore."

None of this means the suburbs will supplant central cities as job hubs. After all, jobs traditionally based in cities-jobs in professional industries as well as the service jobs that support them-are growing faster than those typically based outside of them, according to Jed Kolko, chief economist at Indeed.

At the same time, Americans are more likely to live in the suburbs today than they were in 2000, and even the young, affluent ones drawn to cities tend to move once their kids reach school age, Kolko's research shows. Many of those workers will suffer long commutes into the city center. Others will opt for jobs closer to their suburban homes.

Jack Danilkowicz, 29, moved to Chicago in 2012 for a job at a financial job downtown, but within a few years, he married and started plotting his move to the suburbs. He landed a job at Horizon Pharma, a drugmaker with offices in the northern suburb of Lake Forest, and moved with his wife to nearby Libertyville, trading city night life for the good public schools their newborn son will one day attend.

"I grew up in the suburbs," he said. "Probably in the back of mind, I always thought the suburbs would be the place to raise a family."
This weekend has two major events of note and plenty of blues in the clubs. On Sunday, the Connecticut Blues Society is at The Pine Loft Cafe in Berlin for its Solo/Duo Challenge. Seven participants will vie for the opportunity to compete in Memphis at the Blues Foundations International Blues Challenge.

The playing starts at 2 p.m., but arrive early if you want a decent seat. Appearing at the Solo/Duo Challenge are Steve Hatch & Mark Hennessy, The Delta Boys, Davey Blues, Petey Hop, Jake Kulak & Jeremy Peck, Drew Blood & Andy MacDonald, and Frank Breen.

EasyBaby has won the Band Challenge and is heading to Memphis in January along with Sundays winner.

An event the night before will put guitar players in a good mood. The Northeast Blues Guitar Summit is returning to Black-Eyed Sallys this Saturday. The summit is an outstanding night, showcasing four world-class electric blues guitarists.

First up is Matt Stubbs. He has a strong guitar pedigree and currently is serving as the guitarist for Grammy Winning Blues Legend Charlie Musselwhite.. Stubbs has also released two solo records on his own. His group, The Matt Stubbs Trio will be performing all night, providing support for all the players.

Next up is Rhode Islands sensational Blues Rockin Guitarist Neal Vitullo. A superb bandleader, he tours as far as Texas and over in Europe. New England fans have followed his undeniable guitar prowess for decades from his years as bandleader with Young Neal and the Vipers. These days, as Neal and The Vipers, Vitullo continues dazzling audiences. If you havent seen him perform, youre in for a treat.

Added to the mix is the iconic Ricky King Russell, one of the blues most seasoned performers and brightest talents. He takes his cue from the blues masters. He has on Blues Radio and with many blues notables. Russell always delivers from the heart, playing with passion and style.

Concluding the event is Michael Williams. Blues guitar fans will be treated to a fine set. Since 1987, Williams has toured and recorded extensively with James Cotton, Mighty Sam McClain, Jerry Portnoy, David Maxwell and more. He performed on James Cottons album, 35th Anniversary Jam, which won a W.C. Handy Award and Grammy nomination in 2003. He is currently an associate professor in Guitar at Berklee College of Music teaching a mix of blues and jazz.

Soul-bent swamp rocker JJ Grey is bringing his soul outfit, Mofro, to Infinity Music Hall Hartford on Sunday. These roads warriors have been bringing their blend of Southern Soul rock all over the world. With larger-than-life vocals delivering tell-it-like-it-is lyrics, and a band that does not mess around, JJ Grey & Mofro sure know how to count it off and turn it on.

Saturday, Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers are heading to Infinity Music Hall in Norfolk. Get ready for some serious music. Grammy nominated sax master and her band bring multiple styles and genres all jam packed into one night of incredible tunes. They bring soul, the blues, R&B, funk, and much more with them night in and night out.

The Old Mystic Deluxe Arts Theater in Mystic Saturday bring in James Montgomery and Grace Kelly. This combination has been burning up the stages when they perform.

Breweries and vineyards are picking up more blues shows, which tend to the acoustic side of the spectrum. Friday, Kinsmen Brewing has Orb Mellon. Paradise Hills Vineyards has Eran Troy Danner playing solo acoustic at 5 p.m. Friday and Sunday, Shawn Taylor plays at 2 p.m.

Friday, the Balkun Brothers are at the Connecticut Science Center for the Glastonbury Apple Harvest Festival.

Blues and barbecue are a natural, and Saturday, The Cobalt Rhythm Kings hit Bull & Swine Barbecue in New Haven.

Saturday, The Acoustic Cafe has Jay Stollman's Rhythm Revue on Friday, and Sunday is the Cosmic Jibaros Puerto Rico Benefit. Then Thursday, Dynamo and Boogie Chillun play.

Saturday, Sandy Connolly will be at the Guilford Performing Arts Festival, emceeing The Rock Room, where The Red Planet Duo and Bob Crelin will play. Sandy Connolly Band will take the stage at 8:30 p.m.

The festivals mission is to enrich the lives of Guilford residents and visitors through the diverse presentation of the performing arts. The GPAF will offer more than 40 events at various locations around the Guilford Green and in other places throughout the town. Events range from bluegrass and rock to opera and Broadway hits, ballet to social dancing, poetry, drama, audience-participation shows, workshops and more, including music in the elementary schools. All events are free and open to the public on a first-come basis.

Wednesday night, FTC stage One presents Hopefest, a concert to feed Connecticut families in need. The Kris Heaton Band is a featured performer. They have a new CD, World Gone Mad, filled with original tunes riding in the Heaton style.

Get the complete Blues Beat schedule on Thursday at the blog http://bluesbeatnews.wordpress.com/. Any questions or comments should be sent to Domenic Forcella at TWBlus@aol.com.
EAST HAMPTON  The Chatham Historical Society (CHS) is planning its 5th Annual Chatham History Festival on Sunday, Oct. 15 from 12-4 p.m. at the CHS Museum complex on 6 Bevin Blvd., East Hampton.

The festival will feature exhibits on the many towns industries that flourished in East Hampton over the past 250 years, and celebrates CHSs 55 years of preserving East Hamptons history.
From undying slashers to a famous bio-exorcist, Connecticut has served as the backdrop for a number of classic horror movies.

Though movies like "Beetlejuice" and Stephen King's "Thinner" take inspiration from the Nutmeg State, movies like "The Innkeepers" and "The Horror of Party Beach" were filmed directly in the places they were based on.

Scroll through below to see Connecticut's role in some of the most iconic horror movies.
At least 15 Marines have been forced out of the service since June in connection with hazing allegations, while another has received punishment at court-martial, a Marine Corps official confirmed Wednesday.

1st Lt. Paul Gainey, a spokesman for 1st Marine Corps Division, out of Camp Pendleton, California, told Military.com that 15 Marines were administratively separated and one convicted at special court-martial of Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice -- failure to obey an order or regulation.

The units to which accused Marines belonged include 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, and 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, both based at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center 29 Palms, California; and 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, based at Camp Pendleton, said Phil Stackhouse, an attorney who, with his wife Renee, has represented three Marines accused of hazing.

All of the cases have been adjudicated since the arrival of a new commander for 1st Marine Division, Brig. Gen. Eric Smith, on June 23.

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"It was a problem that [Smith] saw when he arrived," Gainey said. "There were three allegations of hazing when he got on deck. I think he saw it right away."

The separations were first detailed Wednesday in a Marine Corps Times report that revealed Smith had written in July to all commanders and senior enlisted advisers within the 1st Marine Division, calling the problem his primary focus and resolving to root out hazing within the division.

"I'm not here to inflict group punishment, but my assessment is that I've just been flipped the bird by lots of lance corporals, so I am headed their way to demonstrate this is an unwise [course of action]," Smith reportedly wrote in an email obtained by Marine Corps Times.

Smith also reportedly stated in the email that the alleged hazing incidents had extended to physical assault, making Marines drink alcohol against their will, and forced haircuts, according to the report.

In a guidance to the entire 1st Marine Division published Aug. 30 and reviewed by Military.com, Smith discussed his dramatic steps to reduce hazing during his short tenure in command.

He said seven separate allegations of hazing had been reported within the division within days of his taking command.

"As I have stated before, hazing threatens the strength of our small units and directly impacts our combat readiness," he wrote. "Hazing, much like drug abuse, sexual assault and other criminal misconduct, is not acceptable."

Moreover, Smith said in his policy guidance, the volume of hazing reports over a short period indicated to him that units were to blame for lax supervision or outright condonement of the unlawful behavior.

On this front, he said, the unit had since made progress, with increased supervisory presence in the barracks and "heightened vigilance."

Smith acknowledged the potential that his decision to address the issue of hazing so directly could affect cases that went to court-martial in connection with the issue.

"I have a strong personality and am in a position of authority, so I am obligated to ensure that none of you interpret my message against hazing as directing any specific outcome for any particular case," he said. "More important than my desire to stamp out hazing is our collective requirement to adhere to our constitution and the Uniform Code of Military Justice."

In fact, Gainey said, the issue of unlawful command influence -- a term in the military referring to commanders' actions that purport to influence military justice -- has already been raised in connection to these cases.

In a case involving a corporal accused of hazing, a judge decided Aug. 21 that earlier guidance from Smith to the unit "created an appearance" of UCI, Gainey said.

To resolve the issue, the judge granted the defense team for the accused additional jury member challenges, Gainey said.

At the conclusion of the case, he said, the corporal was convicted of hazing and assault. According to court documents, the sentence was 14 days' restriction and demotion by two ranks to private first class.

A number of cases are ongoing. In all, 30 Marines were thrown in the brig to await adjudication after being accused of hazing, Stackhouse said.

He said accusations included "incentive training" workouts, excessive forced cleaning of barracks spaces, a "blood stripes" process in which Marines were kicked when being pinned with new rank, and hair "barracks cuts," among other activities.

Stackhouse said commanders are able to rapidly discharge Marines administratively with a notification process that gives accused troops only the opportunity to respond in writing, at which point a commander can decide whether to separate them.

If the Marine is sent to a board, that board considers evidence and then, if it determines misconduct occurred, can opt to hand down a discharge.

As long as the discharge is not characterized as Other Than Honorable, Stackhouse said, the case does not need to be sent to a board.

"The notification process essentially eviscerates due process," he said.

For Marines, a general discharge means forfeiture of GI Bill education benefits.

Stackhouse said he believes for many, including his clients -- whom he characterized as "outstanding Marines," the administrative process yields a harsher outcome than a court-martial might.

"These are first-tour Marines who have leadership positions, who may have been led astray by their immediate seniors," he said. "It's disappointing that their command is not giving these guys a second chance when you're dealing with relatively minor misconduct."

One case, that of Lance Cpl. Chaz Hurd, a member of 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, began Tuesday and is currently ongoing aboard 29 Palms.

Hurd is accused of cruelty and maltreatment, assault, general misconduct and failure to obey an order or regulation.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis rebuked media reports that President Donald Trump wanted to increase the U.S. nuclear arsenal "tenfold" after a meeting with defense officials in July.

Mattis, who does not often comment on the president's statements, found it necessary to put out his own statement Wednesday, saying, "Recent reports that the president called for an increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal are absolutely false."

"This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible," the former Marine general said.

NBC News published an investigation earlier Wednesday describing a meeting that took place at the Pentagon on July 20 between Trump; Mattis; Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford; Gen. Paul Selva, the vice chairman; and Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, among other top officials.

According to two officials present during the meeting -- during which Tillerson allegedly called Trump a "moron" -- the president was concerned that the U.S.' nuclear weapons stockpile has declined steadily since the 1960s.

The sources told NBC News that Trump wanted a "nearly tenfold increase" in response to current and future threats.

The president himself slammed NBC News' reporting, tweeting, "Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a 'tenfold' increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!"

Yet Trump, then president-elect, tweeted in December, "The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes."

Continuing Threats

The controversy comes at a time when North Korea remains a significant threat as it continues to conduct intercontinental ballistic missile launches.

North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong-Un even threatened to strike Guam, a U.S. territory. He later retracted that threat.

Trump is also expected to refuse to recertify the Iran nuclear deal, kicking the issue to Congress for a 60-day period for debate.

Even with Mattis backing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action -- the international agreement ratified in 2015 that Iran's nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful -- The Washington Post reports Trump may abandon the deal because it does not advance U.S. interests.

Replacing Missiles

The U.S. Air Force recently awarded two contracts to replace its own ICBM Minuteman III missiles with the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program -- a move begun under the Obama administration.

Northrop Grumman Corp. and Boeing Co. in August each received more than $300 million for the GBSD ICBM replacement contracts for technology maturation and risk reduction for the program.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department continues with its Nuclear Posture Review, begun in April and designed to determine what role nuclear weapons should play in U.S. security strategy -- and how many should be in the arsenal.

The results are expected to be announced late this year or early next.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
The U.S. Air Force's refueling operations for the Saudi-led coalition striking Yemen could end if lawmakers succeed in passing a House bill.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and member of the House Armed Services Committee, on Sept. 27 introduced House Congressional Resolution 81, which would order the U.S. military removed from unauthorized hostilities in Yemen except operations directed at Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP.

The bipartisan resolution, also headed by Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C.; Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis.; and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has 30 members of the House as co-sponsors.

The war first made headlines in spring 2015, when Houthi rebels -- anti-government fighters aligned with ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh -- were dislodged from their position near the port city of Aden by the coalition, which includes the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Kuwait.

The coalition included Qatar before the Gulf Cooperation Council diplomatic crisis earlier this year.

Despite the U.S. militarys quiet role in the war, it has become a target of critics -- from organizations tracking civilian casualties, all the way to Washington.

There have been nearly 14,000 civilian casualties so far in the conflict, "including 5,159 people killed and 8,761 injured" since March 2015, according to the United Nations' Human Rights High Commissioner Office.

The bill "in no way restricts our military counter-terrorism efforts in Yemen," Khanna said in a telephone interview with Military.com on Thursday. "All the bill basically does is say we should not be assisting Saudi Arabia in Yemen."

But could this jeopardize the United States' partnerships with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- the two nations at the forefront of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen -- in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria?

"They need us far more than we need them," Khanna said. "They're not going to tell the United States what to do."

An Error in Statistics

For more than two years, the Air Force routinely provided refueling statistics to this reporter, saying the numbers were specific to jets refueling for operations in Yemen.

However, this month, officials said the data they had been providing was not fully accurate.

The data, officials with Air Forces Central Command said, encompassed total refueling operations happening in or near the Horn of Africa "to include but not limited to Saudi-led operations in Yemen, U.S. missions in that area, and Emirate operations against [Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula] targets," said Capt. Jose Davis, spokesman for the command.

When asked why the data distribution erred before, Davis said, "We do not have the ability to break out this data just for the Saudi coalition jets in Yemen because our database does not break down details on each receiv[ing aircraft]."

When Military.com last reported on the statistics -- at the time, identified to be specifically for Yemen-related operations -- in February, the missions were steadily increasing. Now, that information is obscure.

Since April 2015, the service's tankers, such as KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-10 Extenders, have participated in 2,363 sorties in the Horn of Africa region, AFCENT said.

More than 10,400 aircraft have benefited from the U.S.' refueling capabilities in that region, according to the statistics provided to Military.com on Oct. 9.

U.S. tankers have offloaded nearly 80 million pounds of fuel as a result.

Refueling numbers are tracked by the command but, unlike statistics on strikes and sorties against the Islamic State and the Taliban, aren't publicly released via the command's airpower summary factsheets.

"I think [Defense] Secretary [Jim] Mattis is a man of integrity, and I have confidence in our military's transparency, but I hope that we'll get the right information," Khanna said when asked if the recent statistics error worries him.

But it's how the U.S. will be remembered for its assistance in the Yemen conflict that really troubles him, he said.

"We don't have any stake, in my view, in whether the Houthis are in power in Yemen -- it's not in our national security interest," Khanna said.

Pointing to Saudi Arabia, he said, "They need to assist us in the fight against terrorism, because it's the right thing to do, and they have no right to extract a price from the United States for going after terrorism."

No Targeting Ops

Khanna said the House bill also outlines removing "targeting assistance" provided by the U.S. to the Saudis.

Central Command officials in previous months have said the U.S. does not provide targeting intel to Saudi jets striking Houthi sites.

AFCENT commander Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian told reporters during the Air Force Association's annual Air, Space and Cyber Conference last month that the U.S. does not have "the mandate to do that or the authorities to do that."

"Yes, we still provide tankers. Yes, we still have airmen in the Saudi [air operations center]. But I want to be very clear on this: We do not provide and advise on targeting," Harrigian said Sept. 19.

"What we have those airmen doing down there is basically assuring that any sorties that we would have in and around Yemen are deconflicted from what the Saudi-led coalition is flying," he said.

Harrigian said the Saudis create and fly their own tasking orders.

The U.S. meanwhile needs "to make sure that if we fly down there, we are squawking the appropriate codes that are deconflicted from their specific operations," he said, referring to transmission codes that allow friendly forces to understand an aircraft's position.

When asked if the U.S. has amended these rules in recent weeks to provide targeting intelligence in any capacity, Marine Corps Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, on Thursday reaffirmed that the Defense Department does not coordinate targets.

Can It Be Done?

The goal now is for the U.S. to remove itself before becoming more complicit in Saudi Arabia's war, Khanna said.

"What my concern is, is that we need to reorient our foreign policy and not have an alliance with Saudi Arabia. But I have great admiration and great confidence in our military [in counter-terrorism operations], and I think our military can achieve those goals against ISIS and in Yemen," he said.

The U.S., Khanna said, has a "much higher standard" when it comes to precision targeting to avoid or minimize civilian casualties -- something to which Saudi Arabia may not necessarily adhere.

"We comply with human rights [advocacy] in a way the Saudi regime does not," he said.

The congressman is in talks with other members of Congress regarding the War Powers Resolution of 1973 and whether it can be invoked in this case. If invoked, it would order the U.S. to end its involvement in the Yemen conflict within 30 days of the bill's passage, unless Congress votes otherwise.

Once negotiations conclude, lawmakers hope to take it to a House vote Nov. 2.

Dan DePetris, a fellow at Defense Priorities and a Middle East and foreign policy analyst at Wikistrat Inc., said the U.S.' role in Yemen's civil war is only complicating how that country can sustain itself in the future -- and how the U.S. deals with terrorist organizations.

"The broader point that cannot be overstated enough is that the civil war in Yemen is only complicating our policy against ISIS and al-Qaida," DePetris said in an email to Military.com.

"Indiscriminate airstrikes on civilian targets and Riyadh's obsession with the Houthis are allowing jihadist groups to breathe a little easier. AQAP has capitalized on the violence by recruiting those who have lost friends and relatives in the bombing," he said.

"Continuing the provision of aid to the Saudis in their campaign against the Houthis serves no vital U.S. national security interest," he said.

DePetris said it's time to pick a side.

"U.S. officials have publicly stated that no party in this conflict is strong enough to win militarily. And yet Washington's actions do not match those words," he said. "On one side of our mouth, we talk about a negotiated resolution to the war. But on the other side, we continue to reinforce the Arab coalition's operations."

DePetris added, "It is completely counterproductive and no way to proactively work toward an inclusive diplomatic process."

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
This November, the Marine Corps plans to introduce a new phase to boot camp designed to better define newly minted Marines as leaders and equip them for their new role in the fighting forces.

The introduction of a fourth phase directly after the grueling Crucible test will come at the end of a year in which the Corps has been rocked by high-profile disciplinary problems within the force, from drill instructors going to trial for hazing recruits to a Facebook page in which active-duty Marines shared nude photos of female service members without their consent.

Just this week, news stories revealed a crackdown on hazing within the operating force that has led to criminal charges for a number of Marines.

The new phase, a roughly two-week period following the ceremony in which recruits receive their traditional Eagle, Globe and Anchor pin and earn the title of Marine, will bring with it a change in the balance of power between drill instructors and their charges.

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For recruits, drill instructors are imposing figures who bark orders and are addressed exclusively as "ma'am" or "sir."

In the fourth phase, these drill instructors will transition into a peer leadership role where they mentor the newly made Marines and discuss the realities of life in the fleet.

"So now you've got somebody who's been a drill instructor, who's been intimately involved with this transformation and now they have another few days to talk with their new Marines as a fellow Marine about what it's going to be like as they go out and begin the rest of their journey as a Marine," Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said in a brief video announcing the change, which was published to service social media accounts.

Peers in the Service

The primary goal of the change, initiated by a directive from Neller in early spring of this year, is to develop better-quality Marines who are more capable of transitioning from entry-level training to their new units, said Maj. Gen. Kevin Iiams, commanding general of Marine Corps Training and Education Command, in an interview with Military.com.

But by establishing new Marines as peers in the service, Iiams said he believes the move will reduce hazing and other mistreatment of Marines by Marines.

The only rites of passage for Marines are the Crucible or, for officers, Officer Candidates School and The Basic School, he said.

"You've passed the bar as far as the Marine Corps is concerned once you've gotten past there. So again, does it reinforce that message to the Marines? I think it really does," Iiams said.

"So anecdotally, I think it will have an impact down the road on reducing these types of things, because we're teaching the Marines right up front how important it is, who they are as a Marine, and how do they internalize that responsibility, that leadership model, throughout their career," he said.

Iiams said boot camp is not getting any longer to accommodate the new phase, and no additional programs of instruction are being added.

Rather, he said, existing curricula taught at the end of boot camp, including briefs on hazing, social media use, financial seminars and other information designed to prepare Marines to enter the force, will be rebranded.

'Six Fs'

The information will now be taught in the context of a "six Fs" construct developed by the Lejeune Leadership Institute within Marine Corps University: fighter, fidelity, fitness, family, finances and future.

"We want to improve our Marine Corps and their warfighting lethality so they can be reflected upon by our nation as a force in readiness," Iiams said.

"We want to develop young men and women who, when they are going to be returning to civilian life, are men and women of character," he said. "They are the best friends you could ever want, as well the best family members you could want."

Meanwhile, the Crucible, a 54-hour event designed to test recruits physically and mentally at the conclusion of their boot camp training, will retain its significance, Iiams said.

"It is no less grueling, no less demanding, no less defining in a young man or woman's life," he said.

"They will still be there at that quintessential moment in life with that Eagle, Globe and Anchor pressed into their hand," he continued. "And they will realize at that moment who they are, whether that happened a couple of days earlier or a couple of days later. It will still be the defining moment that it is."

Iiams said he expects to send a letter to the force to educate Marines about the changes taking place to boot camp and the purpose behind them.

It's possible the fourth phase is one of a number of changes coming to boot camp in the near future.

Assistant Commandant Gen. Glenn Walters has said the Corps is considering, among other things, more complete gender-integration of female and male recruits, and training female recruits for the first time at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California, as well as Parris Island, South Carolina.

The Marine Corps has not yet publicly announced decisions on those possible changes.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.

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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...
In a series of Tweets on Thursday, President Donald Trump suggested that Defense Department and FEMA relief efforts in Puerto Rico might be coming to an end -- even as the military expanded its response on the island, which has been battered recently by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Trump renewed his criticism of the island's government for the parlous state of infrastructure before the storms hit and said, "We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!"

About 90 percent of Puerto Rico's 3.4 million U.S. citizens lack electricity, and only about 64 percent have access to potable water, according to the DoD, but Trump said in his Tweets, "Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes."

He again referred to Puerto Rico's debt of more than $70 billion to bondholders and said Congress must "decide how much to spend" on a bailout.

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At a White House briefing later, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, sought to clarify Trump's remarks.

Kelly said an immediate pullout of the military and the Federal Emergency Management Agency from Puerto Rico is not under consideration.

He said Trump's Tweet was "exactly accurate" that the relief effort is not open-ended but added, "This country, our country, will stand with those American citizens in Puerto Rico until the job is done."

Kelly put no timeline on how much longer the relief effort will continue, but said traditionally in the military, "You are trying very hard to work yourself out of a job."

He said he is hopeful that a withdrawal could come "sooner rather than later."

House and Senate Democrats immediately condemned Trump's remarks.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, tweeted a question to the president: "Why do you continue to treat Puerto Ricans differently than other Americans when it comes to natural disasters?"

"FEMA needs to stay until the job is done and right now, it's not even close to done," Schumer said. "There is still devastation, Americans are still dying."

Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello said in a Tweet, "U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico are requesting the support that any of our fellow citizens would receive across our Nation."

As of Tuesday, three weeks after Hurricane Maria hit the island as a Category 4 storm, the death toll stood at 43, according to island officials.

The DoD said 13,420 active-duty and National Guard personnel are now involved in the military's response on and offshore, and 92 rotary aircraft and 14 fixed-wing aircraft are operating on the island.

Their efforts are focused on power restoration; distribution of power generators and food, fuel and water; medical support, route clearance, and aviation support; and continuing work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in shoring up the badly eroded Guajataca Dam in the island's northeast, the DoD said.

Of the 69 hospitals on the island, 36 are back on the power grid and the rest are struggling to operate on generators, the DoD said.

Twenty-nine of 51 wastewater treatment plants are operational and running on generator power, and 78 percent of Puerto Rico's gas stations are now open, it said.

The hospital ship USNS Comfort is involved in medical support in Aguadilla on Puerto Rico's western tip, and elements of the14th Combat Support Hospital (CSH) are arriving and expected to begin operations in Humacao, west of San Juan, next week.

U.S. Transportation Command also is keeping assets in San Juan for the possible evacuation of patients to the continental U.S., the DoD said.

Last week, the Pentagon said the military's commitments, particularly of air assets, in responding to a quick succession of hurricanes in the U.S. and across the Caribbean will have an impact on worldwide deployments into next year.

At a Pentagon briefing last week, Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the Joint Staff director, said there will be a delay in the planned deployment of additional troops to Afghanistan.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
JENISON, MI - A California-based investor has purchased the shopping center in Jenison where Rebounderz and several other retailers are located.

The 91,361-square-foot property at 7500 Cottonwood Dr. SW was purchased by ET102 LLC of Oceanside, Calif. for $5.25 million, according an announcement by Colliers International | West Michigan on Thursday, Oct. 12.

The shopping center is anchored by Rebounderz, a 54,000-square-foot indoor trampoline and recreation facility that opened in 2016. It is also home to a Dollar Tree, AutoZone and Mel Trotter Ministries thrift store.

Located across the street from a Meijer store, the shopping center was the former site of a Handy Andy hardware store and a Hobby Lobby arts and craft store.

The property was sold by Spirit Realty Capital, a Dallas-based publicly traded real estate investment trust that purchased the property for $5.29 million in 2007.

"The buyer was looking for an investment in West Michigan and landed on 7500 Cottonwood because of the long-term tenants and location," said Michael Visser, associate vice president with Colliers.

"As West Michigan continues to grow, we're finding more outside investors who are interested in breaking into the market by purchasing buildings that already have a strong tenant profile," Visser said. "7500 Cottonwood was a great opportunity for the buyer to grow their West Michigan presence."

The new owners have plans to bring to market an outlot on the southwest corner of the property, Visser said.
YPSILANTI, MI - The Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Rosie the Riveter in one place since World War II currently resides in Richmond, California. On Saturday, Oct. 14, Rosies of all ages are looking to take that title back in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

After more than 2,000 women and girls of all ages descended upon the former Willow Run bomber plant near Ypsilanti two years ago, wearing red bandannas and blue work clothes with sleeves rolled up, they set a world record with 2,090 participants.

Among those in costume were 43 of the "original Rosies," women who went to work in American factories producing munitions and war supplies critical to the Allied victory in the 1940s.

That record was short-lived, however, when 2,229 Rosies gathered a year later in California to take the title away. Richmond also was a center of World War II industry and has a Rosie the Riveter education center and memorial at a National Park Service Historical Park there.

This weekend, women and girls of all ages are encouraged to dress up in dark blue work clothes, red socks, dark shoes with closed toes, and the quintessential red and white polka dot bandanna for the event, which takes place at 11 a.m. at the Eastern Michigan University's Convocation Center, 799 N. Hewitt Road, Ypsilanti.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, who is serving as co-chair of the event, encouraged residents to help bring the record home to Ypsilanti as a celebration of the power that women bring to the workplace and the economy.

"Rosie the Riveter is part of our history in Michigan," Dingell said in a news release. "She has inspired generations of women to break down barriers, and this effort to retake the world record celebrates her enduring legacy - a legacy that began at the Willow Run Bomber Plant in Ypsilanti. This day is about coming together as a community, telling the stories of the iconic women who changed the role of women in the workplace, and passing our history on to future generations."

Because a crowd of around 5,000 is expected, the event was moved from the former Willow Run bomber plant to the convocation center, where doors open at 9 a.m. Participants are encouraged to register for the activity online.

Event spokesperson Alison Beatty said the estimated crowd includes those on hand to observe, but registrations continue to pick up as the event draws near.

"The registration numbers have been picking up steadily in the past week," she said. "So to us, that adds to the excitement for this awesome event."

Rose Will Monroe, one of thousands of women who worked at the Willow Run plant producing B-24 bombers during World War II, is said to be the inspiration for the original Rosie the Riveter character that became a patriotic symbol and an icon of the feminist movement, famously pictured wearing a bandanna and flexing her muscles under the slogan: "We can do it!"

Dingell, who was involved in the record-setting gathering two years ago, is co-chair along with Ypsilanti Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo and Superior Township Treasurer Brenda McKinney.

The Yankee Air Museum has announced UAW Ford and UAW Region 1A are joining together as major sponsors of the effort to make sure Michigan reclaims the world record on Oct. 14. The museum saved a portion of the historic Willow Run plant, which over the years was the workplace of tens of thousands of UAW Ford members, and Rose Will Monroe is said to have been a UAW member.

The honorary co-chairs for the event are Sue Snyder, Michigan's first lady; former Congresswoman and Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller; UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada; Gretchen Valade, chair emeritus of Carhartt; Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley; EMU Regent Michelle Crumm; and EMU Provost and Executive Vice President Rhonda Longworth.
Deandre Willingham

Editor's note: This story was updated on Oct. 25 with further information from police.

PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - Prosecutors say 20-year-old Deandre Willingham was walking away from a fight when he was fatally shot three times Sunday, Oct. 8 in a busy apartment complex.

But the 19-year-old accused of shooting him suggested in court Wednesday that it wasn't that simple.

"I never meant for this to happen, period," James Freeman of Ann Arbor said as he dissolved into tears during his video arraignment Wednesday, Oct. 11 at the 14A-1 District Court.

Freeman, who was formally charged Wednesday with one count of open murder and one count of felony firearm, frequently transitioned from sobs to emphatic, but tearless questioning of Washtenaw County Magistrate Elisha Fink during the 20-minute hearing.

While discussing bond, he objected to Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Nimish Ganatra's characterization of Willingham's death about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8 at the Sycamore Meadow Apartments complex on MacArthur Boulevard in Superior Township.

Ganatra said Willingham initially had been in a heated argument with a woman at the complex, and she struck him in the face. Willingham then threatened to assault the woman, but instead started walking away, according to prosecutors.

"The defendant, Mr. Freeman, shot Deandre Willingham three times in broad daylight," Ganatra said. "He threatened to come back and shoot other people before fleeing the area with the female."

That never happened, Freeman countered.

He argued that he should not be denied bond in the case, because he is not a flight risk - noting he surrendered himself to police on Tuesday. He claimed he never threatened to shoot others, and twice demanded to interview the witnesses.

When denied bond, he began to cry and asked Fink if he had to stay in jail.

"For my life being threatened and I feel like I couldn't get myself out of that situation?" Freeman said.

He also stated at one point that the incident was related to the April shooting death of Brandon Cross, though Fink cut him off before he could finish his statement.

On Oct. 24, Derrick Jackson, director of community engagement for the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office, confirmed to The Ann Arbor News that police are not aware of a connection between Freeman's court case and Cross' homicide, only that the two were acquaintances or friends in the past.

Police did not know why Freeman referred to Cross during the court appearance, he said.

Fink frequently interrupted Freeman throughout the arraignment, reminding him that his words could be used against him during court proceedings.

He started the Wednesday court appearance by claiming he hadn't been allowed a phone call and hadn't eaten in three days, later adding that sanitary conditions were poor in jail.

He also asked how he could be held for two weeks - until his next court date - when he couldn't call his lawyer and asked through tears when he would be allowed to call his mother.

The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office runs the jail, and Jackson disputed the claims, saying Freeman "has made numerous phone calls since coming into the jail."

Jackson said he could confirm that "everything was done appropriately during booking and that (Freeman) has been taken care of appropriately since he has entered the jail."

He declined to discuss Freeman's mental health status when asked why he appeared to be wearing a suicide prevention gown, noting only that such gowns are used to prevent suicides when an inmate is assessed as suicidal.

Toward the end of the hearing, Freeman said he didn't understand that he was being charged, or how he could be charged with murder without a lawyer.

Freeman also said he didn't understand how he could be held without bond if he hadn't been convicted and made reference to Stand Your Ground laws.

The court did not appoint a lawyer to represent Freeman, because he said his family can pay for one.

He is scheduled for a probable cause hearing on Oct. 24 and a preliminary examination on Oct. 31.
YPSILANTI, MI - Eastern Michigan University is welcoming Joy-Ann Reid, political analyst and host of MSNBC's "AM Joy" as its keynote speaker for its 32nd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.

Reid will give the keynote address on Jan. 15, 2018, in the EMU Student Center Auditorium at 900 Oakwood St. Ypsilanti, capping off a weeklong celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Reid, whose show airs Saturdays and Sundays, is the author of the book "Fracture: Barack Obama, the Clintons and the Racial Divide," which was released in 2015 on William Morrow/Harper Collins. She also was co-editor of "We Are The Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama" and a columnist at The Daily Beast.

She previously was the host of MSNBC's "The Reid Report," a daily program that offered Reid's analysis and insight on the day's news. Before that, Reid was the managing editor of theGrio.com, a daily online news and opinion platform devoted to delivering stories and perspectives that reflect and affect African-American audiences.

Reid graduated from Harvard University in 1991 with a concentration in film, and is a 2003 Knight Center for Specialized Journalism fellow. She resides in Brooklyn with her husband and family.

The theme for EMU's 2018 MLK celebration is "Live the Legacy: Look Back, Be Present, Move Forward."

EMU's MLK celebration will take place from Jan. 11-16, 2018 with a variety of events occurring over the six days. Nominations for the annual MLK student and community humanitarian awards will be sought later this fall.

Last year, EMU welcomed Benjamin Todd Jealous, a venture capitalist, civic leader and former president and CEO of the National NAACP to its campus as the MLK keynote speaker.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Charles Murray made sure to point out at the end of his University of Michigan speech Wednesday, Oct. 11 that he was appreciative of a student's willingness to stick up for his right to speak, even if many in attendance didn't agree with him.

Murray endured a barrage of accusations from students who picked apart his controversial 1994 book "The Bell Curve," before remarking that one student's plea to let Murray speak was a sign that free speech had been protected.

"I really appreciated the push back where some people stood up and wanted to hear me out," Murray said to close out his talk inside Palmer Commons. "At Middlebury (College) nobody was willing to do that, and that was very depressing to me. I am so grateful to you for sitting through it."

Murray contrasted his speech Wednesday with the one he delivered in March in which he was shouted down by students.

While he faced opposition from numerous student groups protesting his UM visit, his appearance did include dialogue with students, despite the tense atmosphere throughout much of the first half of his speech.

There were no arrests at the event, nobody was ejected from the venue and Murray was able to finish his speech after many of the protesters left.

The student who came to Murray's defense, UM senior Farid Alsabeh, said he wasn't a fan of the author, nor did he know much about his work. Instead, he wanted to exercise his right to listen to Murray in a public setting.

"When I saw these people trying to obstruct this man from speaking - I don't know who this man is, I haven't heard anything he's spoken about on podcasts or written - I just came here to listen to him speak," he said. "When I saw people's first instinct was to infringe on my right to listen at a public institution, I felt like I had to say 'you're making it too much about yourself.'"

The event, which was sponsored by the university's chapter of College Republicans and the American Enterprise Institute University of Michigan Executive Council, did face some challenging moments early on, when students interrupted Murray and played music from their cellphones to be distracting.

One of the more prominent exchanges of the evening came about when UM student Bryan Ransom shared the microphone with Murray for several minutes debating the merits of "The Bell Curve," and whether it said that black people naturally had lesser intelligence than white people.

"As a black person who is working on their fifth degree, what you've done with this book is say when I'm going up against other PhD's, I'm not going to be as qualified," Ransom said.

"I'm disappointed in you, because you use that Harvard degree and your education to talk s--- about people," he added. "That's despicable."

Murray maintained throughout the evening that he doesn't believe people should be viewed based according to the perceived merits of a given group or race.

"Over the last half century, the country has become cognitively stratified in a number of ways, because of large social and economic forces," Murray argued. "Whereas this has had some good effects, it's had a lot of (bad effects)."

"We've got to stop treating people as groups," he later added. "You deal with people as individuals and not as members of groups. Because insofar as you deal with people as members of groups, as we have increasingly been doing, then everybody gets inflamed for any perceived problem that the group has."

The rest of Murray's speech was devoted to speaking about the rise of Trump, whom Murray noted was "not my cup of tea."

Murray, who describes himself as a Libertarian, has attracted protests at colleges and universities across the country, particularly for his book "The Bell Curve," which some believe argues that African-Americans have lower intelligence than other races.

In recent months, his speeches drew protesters at Middlebury College, Columbia University, Indiana University, University of Notre Dame and most recently at Harvard College in September.

He had intended to speak about his 2012 book "Coming Apart," in which he demonstrates that a new upper class and a new lower class have diverged so far in core behaviors and values that they barely recognize their underlying American kinship, claiming it predicted the rise of President Donald Trump.

"I think the United States is at an inflection point and I think it's going in the wrong direction and I am very dismissive (of Trump)," he said.

"He won that election despite all sorts of reasons why he shouldn't have," Murray said. "Can you imagine a Donald Trump that had the same kind of connection with all of mainstream America, that was much more attractive as a person but also was an authoritarian? The way is open for a major authoritarianship in this country."

Despite some moments of contentious dialogue and exchanges, Ben Decatur, co-chair of the American Enterprise Institute Executive Council, said he was happy the event was able to be carried out.

"I'm really happy that half way through we were able to have the event and a good amount of people were able to stay and ask Murray questions and let him finish," he said. "The beginning of the event was disappointing, yes, but some of it was fine.

"Overall, we expected some push back - Murray is a controversial speaker, but I'm glad that the event wasn't completely shut down and the students who really wanted to hear Murray were able to," he added.

Murray's visit to UM came in the wake of numerous students protests over incidents of racist vandalism on campus since the start of the fall semester.

On Oct. 3, racist flyers found outside of Stockwell Hall contained the words "Make America White Again," and were attributed to an alt-right, white supremacist website. The flyers also referenced the percentage of black students at UM and Michigan State University, while alleging a disparity between the IQ's of black and white people.

Students have also spoken out about the racist painting of the campus Rock, which was directed at the Hispanic students, and another incident of vandalism in which three UM students were targeted by racist defacement of their name tags inside the West Quad dormitory.
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Board Meeting to be held on 31st Oct 2017 to consider inter alia the un-audited Standalone & Consolidated Financial Results.

At 13:11 hrs JSW Steel was quoting at Rs 254.00, down Rs 2.70, or 1.05 percent.

The share touched its 52-week high Rs 271.80 and 52-week low Rs 156.50 on 12 September, 2017 and 26 December, 2016, respectively.Currently, it is trading 6.55 percent below its 52-week high and 62.3 percent above its 52-week low.Market capitalisation stands at Rs 61,397.40 crore. Source : BSE

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Kindly find attached detailed proceedings of the 22nd Annual General Meeting of the Company held on Wednesday, September 20, 2017 at the Registered Office of the Company at Welspun City, Village Versamedi, Taluka Anjar, Dist. Kutch, Gujarat - 370110 at 10:00 am.Source : BSE

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Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com told CNBC-TV18, "Titan Company is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 614 and target of Rs 636. Hindalco Industries is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 250 and target of Rs 272. Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL) is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 530 and target of Rs 564."

"FMCG overall as a group is doing extremely well. So, both Britannia Industries and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) could move up from here. So basically consumption stories, gas, that typical group is still in a bull market. So things are doing well there," he said.
business IOC drops plans to merge Chennai Petro with company: Sources Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has dropped plans to merge Chennai Petroleum Corporation with the company. The reports were doing these rounds all the way since early part of 2017.
Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group

Aditya Birla Group is likely to exit the fertiliser business this year and two players have submitted final bids valuing the division at around Rs 3,000 crore, reported Business Standard.

According to the report, out of the two final bids, a West Asia-based company is leading the race for the division, currently housed in Grasim Industries.

Sources told the paper the the sale of the fertilizer business is a part of Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birlas plan to exit all low-margin businesses of the group that did not scale up in the past few years.

The delayed payment from the government for the subsidized products added to the reasons that led the company to exit the business.

A former part of Aditya Birla Nuvo, Indo Gulf Fertilisers, which was merged with Grasim, reported a 13 percent year-on-year decline in both revenue and profit. The before interest and tax to Rs 2,165 crore and Rs 154 crore, respectively, in 2016-17.

In 2016-17, the company's revenue and profit before interest and tax was Rs 2,165 crore and Rs 154 crore, respectively.

According to the sources, the decision to exit from the fertiliser business was taken a year ago when Grasim decided to merge its operations with Aditya Birla Nuvo. Thus, as planned, the sale talks gained momentum after the merger.

A Birla spokesperson declined to comment.

The group had decided to exit the online retail business Aditya Birla Online Fashion (Abof) and textiles in the last quarter.

Grasim had also said in July that it would sell 100 percent stake in its subsidiary Grasim Bhiwani Textiles to the Donear group.

With the exit of Aditya Birla and the Tata Group, which exited the business by selling Tata Chemicals to Norways Yara Chemicals for Rs 2,670 crore in August last year, it seems like large corporates are exiting the fertilizer business.

In India, urea prices are controlled by the government. As the fertilizers are subsidised the government compensates the companies for the shortfall between cost and sale price.

However, Indian companies have complained that the refund of the subsidy takes several months that blocks the cash flow within a company.

Over the past few years, the fertiliser sector has slowed down. In FY15, inadequate budgetary provisions led to a further slow recovery of fertiliser subsidy that affected the profitability of the industry due to a steep rise in working capital, said the report.

Several manufacturers shut down their urea plants for a month or so every year as they do not find the government's policy on urea production beyond 100 percent quantity as viable.

In FY15, Birlas Indo Gulf had to shut the urea plant for 35 days. In the first quarter of FY18, it announced a plant shutdown.
Aurobindo Pharma Ltd.

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Drug maker Claris Lifesciences said its net cash availability stands at Rs 2077 crore translating to Rs 381 per every single share, without considering taxes.

The Ahmedabad-based company said it's still in the "process of evaluating various alternatives to distribute the net cash to its shareholders" that include options such as paying out dividend or a share buy-back.

Claris sold its core global generic injectables business to US-based Baxter International for Rs 4200 crore in July and 20 percent stake in JV with Japan-based Otsuka Pharmaceuticals for Rs 129 crore.

The net cash is arrived at after the company deducted Rs 1537 crore in the form of taxes, repayment of debt, costs for the transactions, incentives to employees and key managerial personnel, other outstanding liabilities and payments, contingencies and contingent liabilities.

The company said its board has taken a note and approved various expenses and costs that included.

Claris shareholders weren't enthused with the company shares lost 7.46 percent to close at Rs 335.70 on BSE, while the benchmark Sensex gained 1.09 percent to end at 32,182.22 points.

The company in July said it will discuss with its advisors and identify the most efficient method of transferring a significant majority of the net proceeds to its shareholders, and said it expects to communicate the process before October 15.

The promotes of Claris hold 50.13 percent, while the rest is held by institutional and individual shareholders.

Annual sales for Claris' injectables business was approximately USD 112 million in 2016.

For FY16, Claris reported net sales of Rs 754 crore, growing at 14 percent while its profit after tax stood at Rs 34 crore.
Maruti Suzuki launches all new Dzire. Built on a fifth generation B platform the Dzire is built using high tensile steel making it light weight to deliver better environmental performance and fuel efficiency.

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Maruti Suzuki ramped up the production of the Dzire sedan further in September as buyers queued up ahead of the month-long festive days. The compact sedan, which toppled Alto last month to claim the numero uno position, extended its lead over the mini car during last month.

Dzire clocked 34,305 units last month, an increase of 81 percent over the same month last year. The sedan was launched in an all-new avatar by Maruti in May but ramp-up in volumes began only recently.

Alto, the old warhorse of Maruti, marked a dip in volumes yet again clocking 23,830 units last month, a fall of 14 percent compared to the same month last year. Volumes of entry hatchbacks have remained flat since many quarters as buyers have moved up the value chain.

Maruti Suzuki Alto

Premium hatchback of the two year-old Baleno retained the third spot with sales of 16,238 units while Wagon-R came in fourth with 14,649 units sales during September. Maruti held on to its market share of 50 percent during the reporting month.

Korean brand Hyundai, which had three models in the top 10 list (Maruti had six models) in September, saw volumes cross the 50,000 mark, thanks to robust demand for the Grand i10 and 120 Elite.

Grand i10 climbed two spots to become the fifth largest-selling model even as i20 Elite and Creta settled for eighth and ninth spots. The Verna sedan became the best-seller in the mid-size sedan segment.

Mahindra & Mahindra retained its third spot with sales of 23,145 units during last month, a growth of 21 percent over 19,158 units clocked in the same month last year. Volumes of Bolero, Scorpio and XUV 500. Consumers scrambled to book their Mahindra vehicle before the cess hike kicked in in the middle of last month.

Tata Motors saw a solid bump-up in volumes thanks to the new launch Nexon and continued demand for the Tiago. Compact SUV Nexon, which was launched last month saw 2,772 units sales while Tiago climbed one spot to the 12th position with sales of 8,316 units in September.

The fear of a price hike positively impacted Honda volumes, too, with the Japanese brand witnessing a jump of 21 percent last month to 18,257 units. The fourth largest car maker saw volumes of the City fall behind the Hyundai Verna, which as per company claims has garnered 15,000 bookings.

With their limited and aging product range Ford, Renault, Nissan and Toyota continued to struggle in the domestic market as buyers moved to competition.

Toyota, the other big Japanese brand, saw a volume growth of just 2 percent last month; French major Renault saw volumes fall by 10 percent. Despite having eight models across two brands, six of which are from the volume generating segment, Nissan sales grew by just 1 percent last month.
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Moneycontrol Research

IndusInd Bank delivered another quarter of predictable high quality earnings giving investors another reason to cheer at the beginning of the earnings season. A strong growth in low-cost deposits drove margin stability despite the bank stepping up its presence in the competitive corporate lending business. Its asset quality showed no signs of stress and fee income growth was decent. While the bank awaits meaningful recovery in the retail business in the second half of the fiscal, it is also gearing up to acquire Bharat Financial, which the management feels would be margin accretive from day one.

Results at a glance

IIB reported 25 percent growth in profitability driven by a similar growth in net interest income (NII (a difference between interest income and expense). The 14 percent growth in advances and stability in net interest margin aided the performance.

While the overall non-interest earnings grew by 22 percent, core fees showed a better traction at 23 percent aided principally by the distribution of financial products.

What stood out in the number is a well thought-out execution strategy.

Building a solid liability franchise to take on the competition

Business parameters were impressive with overall advances and deposits growing by 24 percent and 26 percent, respectively. The bank has 3 percent share in incremental deposits and 4.9 percent share in the incremental credit.

What stood out in the quarter was the healthy growth in low-cost deposits  especially savings deposits that took the overall CASA to 42 percent beyond the banks own internal target. Maturing of branches and gains in government businesses have principally contributed to this success.

The strength of the liability explains the steady stride in the asset side without impacting margin. For instance, while the yield of advances has fallen by 26 basis points, cost of deposits have also fallen by a similar magnitude thereby lending stability to margins.

On the asset side, while the growth is now being driven by the corporate book that showed a growth of 26 percent as opposed to the 22 percent growth in retail, the bank attributes the same to market share gains, a phenomenon that is here to stay as public sector banks continue to vacate the market.

Asset quality comfort continues

The headline NPA (non-performing assets) numbers were stable and there was a sequential decline in slippages as well. While the bank has exposure to 6 cases in the next round of bad asset resolution under NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal), it has provided an incremental Rs 36 crore for the same thereby taking the provision cover for these accounts to 65 percent. The restructured book stands at a minuscule 0.16 percent and ARC book at 0.3 percent. We feel IndusInd has negotiated the worst of the NPL cycle with ease and looks set to expand business at the expense of NPA-laden competitors.

The value accretive Bharat Financial Inclusion deal

The long-awaited deal to acquire Bharat Financial Inclusion (formerly known as SKS Microfinance) is likely to see the light of the day soon. While it is premature to comment on valuation, the deal certainly should benefit the banks shareholders in the short as well as long-term.

The bank plans to offer the entire gamut of the asset as well as liability products to this clientele and expands its reach in the hinterland.

The lower cost of funds of a bank is a significant boost to margins on a high yielding asset book of microfinance. In addition, the risk weight of these assets is lower at 75 percent in a bank compared to 100 percent under the NBFC (non-banking finance company). The excess priority sector loans should enable the bank to get active in the priority sector lending certificate market thereby earning a decent commission of 1.5-2 percent without having to let go of these assets from its books.

So the bank is eagerly eyeing the Bandhan opportunity (a very successful competitor bank catering to the bottom of the pyramid) from the deal. The management sees early signs of traction post the twin disruptions of demonetisation and GST implementation. The second half of the fiscal should see a higher growth in the retail book that should support earnings. Finally, the acquisition of Bharat Financial will add one more feather to IndusInds cap.

The valuation of the stock at 3.8x FY19 book might look optically expensive, but investors should look at the bank for the pristine earnings quality coupled with market share gains and earnings expansion that lie ahead.
Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO, TCS

Tata Consultancy Services, Indias largest software services outsourcing company, said that despite the continued softness in its retail and banking and financial services businesses, there is by and large a return to optimism that could play out positively for the company in the coming few quarters.

The company is also betting big on the high growth it saw in the second quarter in its digital business line. Digital business grew 19.7 percent in the quarter, a 5.9 percent increase from the previous quarter in constant currency terms and a 31 percent rise from the last year.

On Thursday, the Mumbai-based TCS reported results for the quarter ended September ahead of analysts estimates led by robust volumes.

We have been meeting customers across markets, and the overall sense is that there is a return to optimism (in retail and BFS), said Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO and Managing Director of TCS at a press conference in Mumbai.

The Indian IT industry has in the recent past, been impacted by the ongoing changes the retail and BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) verticals, particularly in its largest market  the United States. Gopinathan offered positive commentary on both sectors.

While the slowdown in banking services has resulted from large banks (several of whom are customers of Indian IT players) adopting greater automation and newer technology, there has also been a fear that recent advancements in financial technology (fintech) will disrupt the traditional banking systems.

Gopinathan said that the industry may be past the era of looking at fintech as a threat and is instead looking at ways to find new business models where fintech companies can be part of the existing banking ecosystem. We have increased or are stable in business with BFS clients, he said on an analysts call later in the day.

On the insurance side, TCS also offered positive commentary on Diligenta, its unit which administers closed-book pensions and annuities for UK insurers such as Friends Life. This quarter, TCS said it had said it had won a 15-year deal with Scottish Widows, the life and pensions business of Lloyds Banking Group.

Gopinathan said there were 10 million clients on Diligenta already and TCS was scouting for deals outside of UK also for the unit.

The retail industry has been impacted by the rise of large e-commerce players such as Amazon, who are able to offer great discounts on consumer products by compensating direct sellers from their vast pool of funding. This has caused a slowdown in traditional retail chains such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

The TCS top boss said that the company is cautiously optimistic on retail as the traditional retailers figure out a roadmap to transform themselves using emerging technology as a connected set. They are transforming themselves into not just offering the lowest priced gadget, but also act as a trusted adviser (to their customers) and help them make the best decisions for their home, Gopinathan added.

Depending on the holiday season turnout next quarter, he said TCS was seeing significant amount of turnaround in the sector.

The company saw several client additions this quarter  it added 1 client in USD 100 million category; 6 clients each in USD 50 million, USD 20 million and USD 10 million bands; and 28 clients in USD 1 million categories.

The company said that its domestic business was weak this quarter, with government deals being a concern, but was positive about the business in the coming few quarters.

The TCS results on the back of a significant growth in its digital business is a reminder of the famous quote that 'the future is finally here, it's just not evenly distributed'. TCS, like the other major Indian IT companies, continued to persist in investing in the futuristic digital business and emerging technology solutions despite several macro-economic push backs and heightened uncertainty. After several missed expectations and bottoming out of share prices, the results do finally provide optimism that these investments are finally bearing fruit. It also demonstrates TCS' reducing dependence on its BFSI customers, another move in the right direction, said Sanjoy Sen, Doctoral Research Scholar, Aston Business School, UK.
Men make munitions for World War I on the factory floor of Oakley Chemical Company. (Photo by Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

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Simpliance Technologies (Simpliance), an associate of Quess Corp, is looking at an international expansion opportunity on the labour laws front. The company, which uses a digital labour law compliance management tool, aims to help organisations to comply, manage and monitor the health and risk status of labour legislations in their country.

Anil Prem DSouza, Founder & Chief Evangelist of Simpliance said, We have been able to cut down the time taken on labour compliance related activities significantly. Going forward, we are looking at expanding globally.

DSouza said that since they are a Google-integrated company, they could go global and map all the labour laws of the globe. This, he said, will help global companies identify the particular laws in every location that they operate in.

Started in 2015, Simpliance is a Bengaluru-based compliance technology firm and has been piloted at corporates and staffing companies. He said that they targeted both large corporates as well as startups.

Currently, labour compliance today is manually driven with variations in compliance requirements based on the companys location. Companies depend on local consultants and legal experts to ensure compliance with state labour laws and regulation.

According to DSouza, about Rs 4000 is spent per office on compliance. That amount multiplies when the number of offices are much higher for companies with presence across locations.

In October 2016, Quess Corp entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 45 percent stake in Simpliance. Quess investment was focused on helping develop and ramp up the Simpliance technology platform which is aimed at providing a one stop comprehensive solution for meeting the labour compliance requirements of corporates.

Apart from global expansion, we are also looking at environmental health and safety. That is an area of concern for Indian companies and we will be able to provide solutions, he said. The company has more than 120 clients that includes both startups and very large companies.

He said that they have put an algorithm around it where they have patented the information. They have also seen large law firms coming to their platform to pick up the right sets of compliance.
The contribution of Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) will rise to 30-40 percent over 5 years from less than 10 percent now on the Reserve Bank push, PCI said today.

RBI came out with the third set of reforms in PPI yesterday to make it interoperable with all existing payment instruments, on par with acceptance of debit/credit cards in a phased manner, Payments Council of India (PCI) said in a statement.

"This would ensure that PPIs contribution to digital payments from current share of less than 10 percent can move to 30-40 percent in the next 5 years," it said.

The Council praised the regulator for a "progressive and positive" set of guidelines.

It however said a concern is that even the low usage wallets with limited merchant transaction functionality are required to do a KYC beyond 12 months.

"This adds friction to customers and costs to issuer. In line with international guidelines, a framework of proportional KYC could have been adopted," it said.

PCI is the representative body of PPI issuers.

Bhavik Vasa, Chief Growth Officer of ItzCash Ebix said the RBI guidelines mark the 10 year anniversary to the industry and seem to be a true reflection of a collaborate approach for the industry.
After years of disappointing growth, the global economy has begun to accelerate, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said, cautioning that a rise in protectionism and policy uncertainty could derail this fragile recovery.

Addressing a press conference at the start of Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank here, Kim said that although the trade is picking up, investment remains weak.

"Overall, we are seeing growth rise in most developing and advanced economies  which is why countries need to make critical investments now. This is the time to implement the reforms that are going to insulate against potential downturns in the future," the World Bank chief told reporters.

He expressed concern that risks such as the rise in protectionism, policy uncertainty or possible financial market turbulence could derail this fragile recovery.

He said countries need to build resilience against the overlapping challenges the world faces today, including the effects of climate change, natural disasters, conflict, forced displacement, famine and disease.

"To help countries address these challenges, we are working to maximise finance for development. We are pursuing private sector solutions whenever they can help achieve development goals and reserving scarce public finance for where it is most needed  particularly investments in human capital, he said.

"These discussions will help countries chart the path forward for how to improve the lives of their people  and in doing so, they should help set the agenda for the worlds economy in the coming year, Kim said.

Finance ministers and central bankers from 189 members countries have gathered in Washington this week to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the global community during the annual World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meetings.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley arrived in Washington this morning to participate in the annual meetings of IMF and World Bank.
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Both Sensex and Nifty added on to their respective morning gains on Thursday with the Nifty inching up 47.45 points at 10,032.80 and the Sensex adding 132.86 points at 31,966. The midcap index held on to its positive trend led by CESC, GMR Infra, Godrej Industries and Just Dial.

Within the Nifty50 Index, the top gainers were Bharti Infratel which zoomed 6.3 percent followed by Hindalco Industries, Vedanta and Lupin. Sun Pharma along with TCS which is due to declare its Q2 results later in the day was up close to 1 percent. On the other hand, Bombay Burmah, Sundaram Fasteners and National Aluminium were some of the top gainers in the BSE.

Bank Nifty was almost trading flat with stocks like HDFC Bank which was up 0.5 percent along with Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank which were trading in the positive territory.

Stocks that hit 52-week high on the Nifty included names like Nestle India, Birla Corp, Goa Carbon and KRBL while the stocks which hit 52-week high on the BSE were Bata India, NIIT Tech and Sundaram Clayton.

The market breadth was in favour of the advances with 32 stocks advancing and 18 declining. The advance decline ratio for the BSE Index was also in favour of the advances with 1553 advances as against 880 declines.
3:30 pm Market at Close: Benchmark indices ended the session on a very strong note, possibly on the back of short covering among investors.

The Sensex closed up 348.23 points at 32182.22, while the Nifty ended higher by 113.70 points at 10098.50. The market breadth was positive as 1,697 shares advanced against a decline of 973 shares, while 121 shares were unchanged.

Reliance, Sun Pharma, Hindalco and Bharti Infratel gained the most on both indices, while Bharti Airtel, Infosys and UltraTech Cement were the top losers.

3:00 pm Market Check: Equity benchmark indices posted strong gains in the final hour of trade as the Sensex gained over 300 points, while the Nifty inched closer to 10,100.

The Sensex was up 326.27 points at 32160.26, while the Nifty was up 100.50 points at 10085.30. The market breadth was positive as 1,629 shares advanced against a decline of 914 shares, while 117 shares were unchanged.

Reliance, Sun Pharma, Hindalco and Bharti Infratel were the top gainers, while Bharti Airtel and Infosys were the top losers.

2:42 pm Buzzing stock: Lupin gained around 2 percent intraday on Thursday as investors cheered its acquisition move. Multiple brokerages too gave their thumbs up to the buyout.

The company agreed to buy US-based Symbiomix Therapeutics for USD 150 million, said it expects "significant" cash flows from the deal in the next three years.

The acquisition gives Lupin control over Symbiomixs lead product, Solosec oral granules, for the treatment of bacterial vaginosis in adult women. In September this year, the USFDA approved the drug for marketing with 10 year exclusivity.

2:31 pm Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended their gains from the morning session, with the Sensex gaining over 200 points, while the Nifty traded above 10,050.

The Sensex was up 218.68 points at 32052.67, while the Nifty was up 70.85 points at 10055.65. The market breadth was positive as 1,588 shares advanced against a decline of 945 shares, while 101 shares were unchanged.

Sun Pharma, Reliance, Hindalco and Bharti Infratel were the top gainers, while Bharti Airtel and Infosys were the top losers.

2:15 pm Results: Private sector lender IndusInd Bank reported 25 percent year on year (YoY) increase in its September quarter net profit at Rs 880.1 crore against Rs 704.3 crore during the same quarter last year.

The net interest income, difference between interest earned and interest appended, came in at Rs 1,821 crore, a jump of 24.7 percent from Rs 1,460.3 crore year on year.

On the asset quality front, the net NPA came in at Rs 537 crore against Rs 508.3 crore in the previous quarter, while its gross NPAs have also posted some increase to Rs 1,345.3 crore against Rs 1,271.7 crore in the previous quarter.

1:55 pm Forensic audit: The country's market regulator will conduct a forensic audit on all brokers who logged in first to an alternate server of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on multiple occasions, a source close to the development told Moneycontrol.

"SEBI is conducting a forensic audit on brokers have done the maximum number of early logins on the server," the source said, adding "multiple first-time logins raises the possibility of collusion between NSE officials and brokers, which needs to be checked by the forensic auditor."

NSE has issued a show cause in this regard to 13 brokers. However, report by Deloitte, which was asked to conduct a forensic audit of brokers in the case, shows that of the 42 brokers who were involved in the co-location case, 22 had logged in early on the NSE servers repeatedly between 2012 and 2015.

1:33 pm Real estate under GST: The issue of bringing real estate under the GST's ambit will be discussed next month, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today, as he acknowledged that it is the one sector where maximum amount of tax evasion and cash generation takes place.

The matter will be discussed in the next meeting of the GST Council to be held on November 9 in Guwahati, Jaitley said while delivering the 'Annual Mahindra Lecture' on India's tax reforms at the prestigious Harvard University.

"The one sector in India where maximum amount of tax evasion and cash generation takes place and which is still outside the GST is real estate. Some of the states have been pressing for it. I personally believe that there is a strong case to bring real estate into the GST," Jaitley said.

1:15 pm Buzzing Stock: Zydus Cadila has received final approval from the USFDA to market Desvenlafaxine extended-release tablets, 50 mg and 100 mg.

At 13:15 hrs Cadila Healthcare was quoting at Rs 497.45, up Rs 6.10, or 1.24 percent.

The share touched its 52-week high Rs 558.00 and 52-week low Rs 342.00 on 12 June, 2017 and 26 December, 2016, respectively.

Currently, it is trading 10.85 percent below its 52-week high and 45.45 percent above its 52-week low.

12:43 pm Europe trade: European bourses opened slightly higher, with investors awaiting data and monitoring speeches from central bankers at the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) annual meeting in Washington D.C.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.06 percent higher with most sectors moving in positive territory.

12:19 pm IPO subscription: The initial public offering of General Insurance Corporation of India has been subscribed 81 percent so far on the second day.

The Rs 11,372-crore IPO received bids for 10.13 crore equity shares against issue size of 12.47 crore shares, as per data available on exchange.

12:03 pm IPO: Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management has fixed the price band at Rs 247-252 per share for its upcoming initial public offering that is scheduled to open for subscription on October 25.

The company is expected to raise Rs 1,511.64-1,542.24 crore through the issue that will close on October 27.

11:50 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained higher in late morning trade as the Sensex was up 137.28 points at 31,971.27 ahead of September CPI inflation and August industrial output data due later today.

The Nifty is inching towards 10,050 level, up 47.15 points at 10,031.95. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

11:40 am Assembly polls: The Election Commission is set to announce elections to the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assemblies this evening.

The poll panel has convened a press conference this evening to announce the poll schedule.

While the term of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly ends on January 22, the term of the 68-member HP Assembly ends on January 7.

11:37 am Buzzing: Chennai Petroleum Corporation fell nearly 4 percent after CNBC-TV18 reports quoting Cogencis said Indian Oil Corporation dropped its plan to merge the company with itself.

11:29 am Inflation & IIP estimates: India's retail inflation edged up in September, driven by higher salaries of government employees as well as the impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a Reuters poll found, a development that would make further monetary policy easing unlikely.

Consumer inflation is forecast to have risen to 3.60 percent in September from a year ago, above August's 3.36 percent, the poll of 36 economists showed.

The data is due to be released on October 12 at 17:30 hours IST. If the September number matches the poll consensus, inflation would be the highest in six months - yet still below the Reserve Bank of India's mid-term target of 4 percent.

Wholesale prices are forecast to have risen 3.41 percent in September from a year ago versus 3.24 percent in August, the latest poll found.

It also predicted industrial production rose 2.4 percent in August, up from July's 1.2 percent growth.

11:15 am Arun Jaitley on economic growth: An upward trajectory is being projected for growth from the current quarter and as far as growth figures are concerned in the next few year it will keep on improving, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told CNBC-TV18.

In the context of the recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections and growth challenges going ahead for the Indian economy, Jaitley said, "In the larger management of an economy, you don't look at one quarter, you look at the pattern across a period".

Jaitley, who is on a week-long visit of the United States, said the economy is doing reasonably well, we can do much better. Important structural changes can have a transient impact, which they have had but all indications are that things are improving and will improve, he added.

He explained that after implementing GST, a major transformational change, you review the market situation day to day and make the required changes.

10:59 am Rupee trade: The rupee traded flat at 65.13 against the dollar due to mild demand for the greenback from importers and banks despite the latter's weakness overseas.

The US Fed minutes signalled rate hike eventuality despite low inflation levels.

"Higher local equities is restricting the rupee volatility," a forex trader said.

Meanwhile, FPIs withdrew Rs 107.95 crore on a net basis from stock markets yesterday, as per provisional data.

10:52 am Buzzing: LIC Housing Finance has filed insolvency plea against DB Realty in National Company Law Tribunal, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting Cogencis.

DB Realty share price plunged 6 percent post this news.

10:42 am Real estate sector under GST?: Identifying real estate as the one sector where maximum amount of tax evasion takes place, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said there was a strong case to bring it under the ambit of the GST.

The matter will be discussed in the next meeting of the GST, which will be held on November 9, in Guwahati, Jaitley said, while delivering a lecture at Harvard University.

"The one sector in India where maximum amount of tax evasion and cash generation takes place and which is still outside the GST is real estate. Some of the states have been pressing for it. I personally believe that there is a strong case to bring real estate into the GST," Jaitley said, while delivering the 'Annual Mahindra Lecture' on India's tax reforms.

10:26 am Macro data: Building up of positions by participants ahead of key economic data -- industrial production (IIP) for August and consumer inflation for September to be released after market closing today -- drove up domestic bourses.

10:15 am Coal linkages: Share priced of Prakash Industries rose 5.6 percent in morning as it has secured additional coal linkages of 2.10 lakh tonnes per annum for the next 5 years.

The company is going to sign fuel supply agreement (FSA) in the coming weeks and supply will commence from November 2017.

The company's coal requirement had increased with commissioning of 5the sponge iron kiln in April 2017.

With this additional quantity, the company has fulfilled its 100 percent requirement for the sponge iron plants from linkages, which was earlier being met through spot auctions; thereby saving over 20 percent in coal costs.

10:04 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks maintained opening gains, backed by Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, metals and infra stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 79.35 points at 31,913.34 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 31.40 points to 10,016.20.

The BSE Midcap index was up 0.4 percent and Smallcap gained 0.7 percent on positive market breadth. About 1,361 shares advanced against 528 declining shares on the BSE.

9:59 am Order win: Share price of Zen Technologies surged 12 percent in morning on the back of export order win worth Rs 64 crore.

"It has signed the biggest export order till date of about Rs 64 crore," company said in release.

The contract is for live and virtual combat training systems against tough international competition.

This order is expected to be executed in the first half of next financial year 2018-19.

9:53 am Market Outlook: "We've been continuously mentioning that the recent bounce lacks conviction and underperformance of banking pack is also hurting the sentiment. Volatility tends to remain high during the earnings season and any escalation in geo-political tension will further worsen the situation," Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution and Religare Securities said.

Put together, traders should prepare themselves for eventful week ahead, he advised.

9:45 am Acquisition: Shares of Precision Camshafts added 4 percent in morning as it has acquired Nashik-based company.

The company in its board meeting held on October 10, has considered and approved the acquisition of MEMCO Engineering.

The company has acquired 95 percent in MEMCO Engineering for an undisclosed sum.

The procedural acquisition formalities will be completed immediately from the date of execution of necessary agreements.

9:40 am Earnings Estimates: Tata Consultancy Services, the country's largest software services provider, will announce its July-September quarter earnings today after market hours.

Profit after tax for the quarter is expected to increase 4 percent sequentially to Rs 6,183 crore and revenue may grow 2.6 percent to Rs 30,356 crore, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Revenues in dollar terms are likely to register a 3 percent at USD 4,731 million in the quarter ended September 2017, compared with USD 4,591 million in previous quarter.

9:30 am IPO subscription: The initial public offer of Indian Energy Exchange elicited good response from investors, with the issue getting oversubscribed 2.23 times on the last day of bidding yesterday.

Through the IPO, also the first by a power exchange in the country, the company aims to raise up to Rs 1,001 crore.

On the final day, the offer received total bids for 11,776,518 shares against 52,75,889 shares on offer.

9:25 am Fundraising: The country's second-largest lender ICICI Bank is planning to raise USD 150 million in offshore borrowing this fiscal.

The bank said that the committee of executive directors, in a meeting held yesterday approved the offshore borrowing plan for 2017-18.

"The bank, under its GMTN (global medium-term note) programme, acting through its DIFC (Dubai) branch, tapped its existing 3.25 percent fixed rate notes maturing September 2022 for an amount of USD 150 million on private placement basis," ICICI Bank said in a regulatory filing

9:20 am Buzzing: Share price of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 4 percent in the early trade as it has received an establishment inspection report (EIR) from USFDA for its Dadra formulation facility.

EIR indicates closure of plant inspection by the US regulatory agency.

"We have received a communication from the USFDA releasing a copy of the establishment inspection report (EIR) in respect of the above inspection based upon our responses to the said observation letter," said company.

USFDA had inspected the plant in April 2017 as regulatory authority issued Form-483.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened mildly higher on Thursday, seeing a rebound after yesterday's sell-off.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 60.51 points at 31,894.50 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 29 points at 10,013.80. About three shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Bharti Infratel, GAIL, Sun Pharma, Vedanta, Reliance Industries, L&T, Hindalco Industries, IOC, BPCL, Lupin, TCS and HPCL were early gainers while Coal India, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, ICICI Bank and Asian Paints were losers.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks in opening. Nifty Midcap was up 0.6 percent or 100 points.

Indiabulls Real Estate, MMTC, State Trading Corporation, Majesco, GM Breweries, FACT, LT Foods and Kaveri Seeds gained 2-10 percent while Lakshmi Vilas Bank lost 5 percent post higher slippages in Q2.
Market regulator SEBIs forensic audit in the NSE co-location server controversy on the will be restricted on the 13 brokers who logged in first to the back up server on multiple occasions, a source close to the development told Moneycontrol.

However, the report by Deloitte, which was asked to conduct a forensic audit of the NSEs derivatives trading system shows that of the 42 brokers who availed of the co-location facility, 22 members were consistently first, second and third to log on the NSE servers repeatedly between 2012 and 2015.

"SEBI is conducting a forensic audit on brokers have done the maximum number of early logins on the server," the source said, adding "multiple first-time logins raises the possibility of collusion between NSE officials and brokers, which needs to be checked by the forensic auditor."

NSE too has issued show cause notices to the 13 trading members who logged on first, and used the back up server.

In 2015, an anonymous whistleblower had written to SEBI saying that some trading members on the NSE who had subscribed to the exchanges co-location server facility were getting an unfair advantage by way of faster access to the exchanges trading engine which disseminates prices. The whistleblower alleged that the trading members were able to do so by colluding with some exchange officials.

The Deloitte report also identified brokers who were second and third to log in to the server, but the heat is currently on those who had logged in first.

NSE has issued show cause notice to 13 brokers and one broker was excluded as he had surrendered his broker license before the whistleblower letter," said another source. "The rest were not contacted for investigation.

Edelweiss Financial, which was the second and third to log in on two occasions, received a clean chit from NSE after submitting a reply.

NSE issued a show cause notice to Deutsche a few months ago, but after receiving reply they have given a clean chit to the broking company, said a source.

Other firms on the list of 22 brokers who logged in early on the NSE servers repeatedly include Kredent, Pace, Religare Securities, OPG Securities, NYCE, Motilal Oswal, Kotak Securities, DE Shaw, SMC Global, Crimson, Advent, Mansukh Stock Brokers, JM Global, AB Financial, Indus Broking and Quant Broking.

NSE offers co-location facility to all its member brokers. A large number of member brokers, including Kotak Securities have been using the same. In the normal course of business, Kotak Securities has been using NSE-approved vendors CTCL software to access NSEs trading platform from co-location facility. We are not privy to the contents of the Deloitte report that you are referring to. Further, we are not aware of our position in the queue in connecting to the exchange, as this information is not shared with members, Rohit Rao, Spokesperson, Kotak Mahindra Group.

NSE declined to comment on this development. SMC Global, Motilal Oswal Securities and Religare securities also refused comment.

SMC Global Securities, who operates across India, had repeatedly logged in to the secondary server between 2012 and 2015. NSE did not issue a show cause notice to SMC Global, but SEBI has sought a clarification from the firm..

As per the Deloitte report, the foreign broking houses that logged in early on the secondary server include Deutsche Equities and Barclays Securities. However, Deloitte did not find them to be repeat offenders.

Approximately 65 percent of NSE's business comes from the co-location facility. SEBI had asked the exchange to put its co-location income into an escrow account.
Narendra Modi

Ambit Capital

A tale from the court of Chandragupta:

Chess was invented in India around 1,500 years ago. Apparently, the king in whose court chess was invented was very pleased with the inventor for devising such a strategically rich game.

The king, who in some versions of this fable is Chandragupta  commanded the inventor to ask for whatever he felt like.

The inventors request was simple, Please give me a grain of rice in the first square of the chessboard, two grains on the second square, and eight in the third square and so on.

Believing the request to be a trivial one, the king immediately asked his ministers to fulfill the request. To their horror, as they started filling up the squares, the ministers realized that the request wasnt as easy to fulfill as it looked at first blush.

For the 20th square of the chessboard alone they needed over 1 million grains of rice. For the 30th square alone, they needed over 1 billion grains of rice.

But even then they thought they had the situation under control. It wasnt until they entered the second half of the chessboard that they realized that they could not fulfill the request.

Whilst for the 32nd square, they needed 4.3 billion grains of rice, for the 33rd square (i.e. the first square of the second half of the chessboard), they needed 8.6 billion grains.

And then in each successive square, this amount doubled. By the time they got to the 64th square, they needed 18 million trillion grains of rice; i.e. a mountain of rice as high as Mount Everest.

Exhibit 1: The grains of rice increase exponentially as we go into the second half of the chessboard

The humiliated king had the inventor beheaded. However, the more interesting takeaway is the power of exponential effects  what looks like a harmless dynamic, to begin with -- can and over time, gather momentum and become monstrously powerful.

As we approach the business end of Indias five-year election cycle, we too seem to have entered the second half of the chessboard.

Prime Minister Modis resets

After the NDA assumed office in May 2014, in March 2015 my colleagues at Ambit wrote, Indias strongman, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is likely to engineer three critical resets over the next four years, namely:

(1) Shift Indias savings landscape away from physical assets towards the formal financial system,

(2) Disrupt the model of crony capitalism, and

(3) Redefine Indias subsidy mechanism.

Once we understood the scale of Modis resets, we maintained a cautious stance regarding economic growth as we believed that the resets would make it difficult for capex (and hence jobs and hence consumption) to take off.

GDP growth in India has now declined for six straight quarters. Worrying developments in the second half of the chessboard

Prime Minister Modis resets are interplaying to create a major disruption in the Indian economy as exponential effects kick-in adversely.

Example#1: Land prices & home loans: The NDA Government passed the Benami

Transactions Act (which prohibits Benami transactions and provides for confiscating benami properties) in August 2016.

Then from October 2016, the Government made it illegal to transact in cash for transactions above Rs200000. This was then followed by demonetization in November 2016.

The combined impact of these interventions was to bring the market for rural land transactions to a standstill in the early months of CY17.

From the middle of CY17, this freeze in the land market started impacting home loan providers. Why?

Because these home loan providers perhaps unknowingly were giving loans which were being used to buy rural land, in the hope that the land would be flipped in a couple of years. With flipping having come to a standstill, these loans are now becoming NPAs.

As the promoter of a listed company in Tamil Nadu told me last month, Even if I halve the price of my rural landholdings, there are no buyers. The MD of a listed bank in southern India told me last month that Wherever I have land as collateral, it has become very hard to encash that collateral.

Example#2: RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Act) & home loans:

The NDA Government passed RERA in March 2016 and the Act came into effect on May 1, 2017. Within five months of the Act being implemented in Maharashtra, residential property under construction has got delayed further.

According to a report by property consultancy Knight Frank India, several residential projects that were to be handed over to buyers this year have witnessed an extension of delivery timelines.

The findings of the report indicate that more than 50 percent of the residential units registered with RERA have extended their time period for completion by over a year, and 30% will have an extended deadline of more than two years.

The report further stated: The timelines for 57% of the registered units that are under construction have been revised by more than a year. Among them, for 24% of the 107,875 registered units, the completion deadline has been pushed to between a year and 18 months while 19% will be delayed by between 2-4 years and the remaining 10% would not get completed before four years.

In a note dated August 24, Ambits Banks team had highlighted that Home buyers in delayed projects in NCR are considering stopping EMIs and a prominent builder in Pune has stopped paying EMIs to lenders under the subvention scheme.

We believe that unless project completion is ensured by the Government or a third party, the probability of default remains high given low borrower equity. Our guesstimate indicates that the overall system gross NPAs in home loans could increase by 70-170bps if 30-70% of the borrowers default.

Moreover, loss given defaults can also be higher than expectations if haircuts exceed 30% for homeowners (likely due to inventory glut and declining prices in NCR).

If the effects highlighted in italics above play out and mortgage lenders NPAs continue rising as sharply as they have done in the past six months, it wont be long before lenders cost of funding begins to rise (see exhibits below).

They will then, in all likelihood, start passing those costs on to borrowers which will exacerbate the credit quality issues.

Exhibit 2: Average gross NPLs of HFCs increased significantly in 1QFY18

Example 3: The attack on black money & jobs in the age of automation:

The Indian Government spends as little as 3.3 percent of GDP on education (compared to 5.1% for Malaysia, 5.8% for Thailand, and 4.1% for Indonesia). Unsurprisingly, when most Indians enter the job market, they possess very little by way of skill.

To compound the problem, the age of automation is upon us  as pointed out in October 2016 by the World Bank President, 69% of the jobs which are currently done in India will be automated or mechanised over the next 20 years.

Now, over and above these two forces comes a third force  the attack on tax evading companies. I reckon Indias tax evading companies end up accounting for 80% of its jobs (source: National Sample Survey Organisation).

It is almost certain that the overwhelming majority of Indias job growth in the past decade has come from Indias informal sector (since the key drivers of the formal sector  IT, Financial Services, manufacturing  have moved increasingly towards automation

 for details see my 20th February note).

Tax evasion gives these companies a cost advantage of 10-30% (of revenues) relative to the organised sector. The crackdown on black money and tax evasion are hitting Indias SME sector and causing job losses.

How can I be so sure? Because I am seeing the NREGA spend numbers rocket from Rs 360 billion in FY15 to well over Rs 700 billion in FY17.

Conclusion

A combination of Indias longstanding shortcomings (especially its inability to train and educate its people), worldwide changes in the ability of machines to replace workers in factories, and Prime Minister Modis resets (especially his multi-faceted crackdown

on black money) is creating serious pain for the Indian economy.

This is leading to an economic slowdown which looks likely to accelerate as the after-effects interplay with each other. The slowdown is resulting in job losses  especially blue-collar job losses  and a broad-based deterioration in the land and real estate

markets.

Investors who ignore these effects and continue to pile into expensive Indian stocks (even as earnings estimates are continuously pulled back) are treading on water.

Saurabh Mukherjea is the CEO of Ambit Capital and the author of The Unusual Billionaires. The views expressed are personal. The views and investment tips expressed by the expert on Moneycontrol are his own, and not that of the website or its management.
IMF

In its latest report, IMF has estimated that all major economies in the world will grow, even as it downgraded India's growth. It has revised upward the growth estimates for the Euro area, Japan, China, Russia and emerging Europe, compared to July update. But India received a major downward revision.

A downward growth revision wasnt totally unexpected in light of transitional effects of twin policy initiatives of GST and demonetization. Though IMF expects a rebound in GDP growth rate next year, new projections are lower for next year as well (7.4 percent vs. 7.7 percent earlier).

Overall, broad-based global growth recovery brings good news but disappointments on the domestic front lead us to look at Indias contribution in global growth and the impact of commodity movements for a net importer like India.

Global growth inching up: Advanced economies lead

IMFs review on global growth is positive wherein it observed firmer domestic demand growth in advanced economies as well as China.

Source: IMF

Amongst advanced economies, the Euro area and Japan, in particular, benefitted from consumption and external demand. Major emerging markets like Brazil, Russia and east Asian markets also saw improvements on account of better external demand.

India  a better tomorrow but limited contribution to global growth

As per IMF, in the medium term, India is expected to grow above 8 percent in the medium term and its contribution to worlds GDP growth looks noticeable when seen in the context of purchasing power parity. (Purchasing power parity: the adjustments needed to be made in the exchange rates of two currencies to make them at par with the purchasing power of each other).

However, Indias contribution to global growth seems modest, particularly when compared to its closest EM peer  China. As per IMF, Indias contribution to GDP growth is only 19 percent of the overall contribution by advanced economies and only 21 percent of that by China. Even after a higher projected GDP growth rate for India and the structural changes China is going through, by the year 2022, India's contribution to global GDP growth would be less than 1/3rd that of China.

Source: World Economic Outlook, Oct-2017 - IMF

Who contributes to global growth?

As per our back-of-the-envelope calculation, Indias contribution to worlds incremental GDP growth is expected to be about 4 percent in 2018. However, China, despite its structural course correction, would have a 23 percent share of the worlds incremental GDP growth. Hence, the bulk of the emerging market share in global GDP growth would continue to come from China.

Advance economies particularly, the USA, Euro area and Japan would contribute 40 percent of incremental global growth in the coming year. This basically underscores the macro recovery comfort that global equity markets are pricing in. Recent economic fundamental data also point towards same direction.

Source: IMF, World Bank, Moneycontrol Research

Source: IMF, World Bank, Moneycontrol Research

Windfall from oil no longer available for India

The IMF report analyses the impact of commodity price trends on commodity exporters and importers. World economic outlook highlights that India, being one the key beneficiaries of lower oil prices in last few years, has accrued windfall gains in 2015 and 2016. However, in 2017 and 2018, it is projected to have loss of 0.43 percent of GDP due to higher oil and commodity prices.

Source: IMF

While the IMF expects crude oil prices to settle around USD 50 in 2018, one of the implications is that windfall gains available in the past in the form of higher disposable income would not be available in the foreseeable future.

Follow @anubhavsays

For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research Page.
The real estate arm of German insurer and asset manager Allianz has partnered with Shapoorji Pallonji Group to establish a fund worth USD 500 million, targeting the office market in India.

Real estate consultancy JLL advised Shapoorji Pallonji Group on the transaction.

There has been increasing interest in Indian real estate opportunities and among international investors, pension funds and insurance companies who are keen on participating in the Indian growth story. The e-commerce sector is generating demand for both office space and logistics facilities, and the Indian government has laid out policies and incorporated various modifications in the last two and a half years to improve transparency in real estate along with making it easier for foreign capital to enter the Indian real estate market, said Shobhit Agarwal, Head - Capital Markets, JLL India.

Mumbai, NCR and Bangalore are the top three cities for investors. These cities have received more than two-thirds of total investments. Sector-wise, capital is going into office  core and core plus  and residential assets under development, he says.

Rushabh Desai, CEO of Allianz Real Estate Asia Pacific, noted, We are looking to deploy approximately 60 percent of our Asia-Pacific allocation to growth economies. The Indian economy has been consistently outperforming. Strong secular growth, stellar demographic trends, and improving transparency are supporting stable real estate occupiers as well as investor demand, in particular the office sector, which is ideal for global long-term investors like Allianz.

The deal by Allianz, a global real estate player, is the latest in a series of high-profile investments into Indian real estate by institutional investors this year.

Recent transactions include Singapore sovereign wealth fund GICs USD 1.4 billion joint venture with DLF Cyber City Developers for a portfolio of office and retail assets across India in August; Canadian Pension Plan Investment Boards investment of USD 500 million in a joint venture with Indian property developer Indospace in May; and Blackstones investment into K Raheja Corps Mindspace business park portfolio in March.
Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com told CNBC-TV18, "The Nifty is expected to be more range bound because there is a part of the Nifty which is doing well. Even Reliance Industries is kind of range bound, Rs 750-850 generally and has trouble getting past the Rs 850-870 type of zone. As long as the Bank Nifty remains a little weak, Reliance could consolidate in this Rs 830-850 type of zone."

"Then there are gas stocks, etc. a part of the bull market will continue to be bullish. So, broker dealers and all these other stocks which are having their own independent rallies, they are likely to continue. However, overall the large public sector banks are making new lows. They have got to levels which were there at 9,700. So that is where the big pressure is likely to come in. Probably the market wants to sell-off before the PSU results come in, in anticipation of something."

"Very safe sells and you will probably get a few gaps in the PSU banks, the smaller ones, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) which is a sell with a stop loss of Rs 118 for target of Rs 106. Bank of India (BOI) is also a sell with a stop loss of Rs 138 and target of Rs 126. Union Bank of India is a sell with a stop loss of Rs 129 and target of Rs 120," he said.

"Couple of buys - Aarti Industries seems to be moving higher from a consolidation. That is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 910 and target of Rs 945. Century Plyboards is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 260 and target of Rs 274," he added.

"United Spirits is starting a fresh up trend. So, that is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 2,400 and target of Rs 2,520. Britannia Industries is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 4,430 and target of Rs 4,600."

"Canara Bank is a sell with a stop loss of Rs 305 and target of Rs 290."

"Reliance Industries is in a strong uptrend. Now if the market turns sideways, large stocks generally dont tend to take a direction. So, that way I think probably the better long positions are looking at the metal stocks --Hindalco Industries and Britannia are breaking out. So, I would look at smaller stocks to go long on."

: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd
Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com told CNBC-TV18, "Strides Shasun is a short sell. It has been making new lows, a very tepid rally and just failed and fizzled yesterday. Jet Airways is a short. A small rally was a bearish flag. Significantly lower levels could be coming."

"Siemens is a short sell. It is one of the few capital goods stocks which is making new lows consistently, something is wrong there."

"There are two buying ideas because market could be choppy. I have no idea about today's market. If choppy market exists then HCL Technologies is a buy. The stock is an outperformer and similarly Britannia Industries; the stock closed higher yesterday when the whole market was in a topsy-turvy," he said.

"Reliance Industries and Hindustan Unilever are outperforming stocks. They will fall less. So we should not short them but they will fall."

: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd
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DB Realty fell over 7 percent intraday on Thursday as investors turned wary of the stock on the back of insolvency proceedings reports.

LIC Housing Finance is believed to have filed insolvency plea against the company in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), CNBC-TV18 reported, quoting news agency Cogencis.

According to a report in DNA, the company is said to have defaulted in debt repayments and deposits of employees PF and taxes.

Recently, the firm failed to repay a loan to LIC Housing Finance. During this calendar year till March, it has not paid its dues to Reliance Capital, ICICI Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance, according to the annual report of the company for fiscal 2017, the publication reported.

The stock has fallen around 12 percent in the past one month, while its three-day loss stood at 9 percent. At 11:19 hrs DB Realty was quoting at Rs 33.50, down Rs 1.90, or 5.37 percent, on the BSE. It touched an intraday high of Rs 35.80 and an intraday low of Rs 32.85.
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The Indian market is trading near record highs and investors usually find themselves confused between what to buy and what to sell or book profits.

Samvat 2073 did not disappoint investors and the upcoming Samvat 2074 analysts advise investors to stay with quality stocks with growth potential.

Sharekhan has carefully chosen 10 quality picks to make another marketbeating portfolio. This portfolio is well balanced and provides superior returns, without any unnecessary risk.

The stock picks, which the domestic brokerage firm has chosen, are largely from key investment themes such as financialisation of household savings, increased government spending on infrastructure development in absence of private investments and benefits accruing to consumption companies, from a shift in market share to organised companies from unorganised ones.

Aurobindo Pharma: Market Cap: Rs 43,560 crore

Aurobindo Pharma (Aurobindo), headquartered at Hyderabad, manufactures generic pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. The companys manufacturing facilities are approved by several market leading regulatory agencies such as the USFDA, UK MHRA, among others.

Its product portfolio encompasses leading regulatory agencies such as the USFDA, UK MHRA, among others. Its product portfolio encompasses antibiotics, antiretrovirals, CVS, CNS, gastroenterologicals, pain management drugs and antiallergics.

Management expects to launch over 25 products (more approvals of complex products) in the coming years, which will help Aurobindo to achieve higher growth and mitigate increasing pricing pressure in the US which will help Aurobindo to achieve higher growth and mitigate increasing pricing pressure in the US market.

Bajaj Finserv: Market Cap: Rs 84,255 crore

Bajaj Finserv (BFS) is the holding company comprising of lending business and insurance companies. Bajaj Finance Limited (BFL), subsidiary of BFS (58% stake), is the lending arm with a strong and welldiversified loan book with niche segments.

Its strong operating performance with a healthy asset quality diversified loan book with niche segments. Its strong operating performance with a healthy asset quality, achieved on the back of a 38.9% yoy growth in assets under management (AUMs) indicates the strength of its business model.

We believe BFL, BAGIC, and BALIC have plenty of headroom to grow and can outperform the industry in terms of growth. Hence, we find significant longterm value in BFS and expect its subsidiaries earnings momentum to continue.

Bata India: Market Cap: Rs 9,505 crore

Bata India is the largest retailer and manufacturer of footwear in India with a network of over 1,300 stores; unmatched by any of its peers. The company has strong brands such as Bata, Hush Puppies and Power catering to varied strata of population in the Indian market.

With redefined strategies and senior management changes, Bata is transforming itself from a conventional footwear player to branded footwear player.

Sustained store expansion, premiumisation and steady same-store sales growth (SSSG) would help the companys revenue and profit after tax (PAT) to clock CAGRs of 11 percent and 22 percent over FY17FY20, respectively.

IndusInd Bank: Market Cap: Rs 1,00,909 crore

IndusInd Bank (IndusInd) has been among the bestperforming private sector banks with its superior operating metrics. Its advances have recorded a 27.1% CAGR during FY14FY17, while net profit clocked a 26.8%. Net interest margin stood at a healthy 4.0% in FY17.

Currently, the bank is in merger talks with Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd, which if successful, could bring in a lot of synergies for IndusInd.

These include the acquisition of highyielding loans, enhanced prioritysector lending and capital release from Bharat Financial for the merged entity.

KNR Constructions: Market Cap: Rs 2,942 crore

KNR Constructions (KNR) is a leading EPC service provider, mainly operating in the roads and highways segment (that forms 85% of order book). KNR has exposure to two buildoperatetransfer (BOT) projects.

The company has over two decades of experience, having executed of more than 6,000 km of road projects across 12 states in India. KNR has inhouse construction capabilities, which insures project completion on time

We expect KNR to report more than a 15% CAGR in standalone revenue and EBITDA during FY2017FY2019. We see the intake of order inflow for KNR as a key rerating trigger.

Mahindra & Mahindra: Market Cap: Rs 80,866 crore

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) benefits from the encouraging outlook for farm equipment segment, given the normal monsoon and higher minimum support prices (MSPs) that will boost farm incomes. Further, its focus on introducing new products will help it outpace industry growth.

M&M is the only Indian automobile company having a track record of manufacturing passenger electric vehicles (EVs).

Given the governments push for EVs and M&Ms planned new launches in this space, it will clearly enjoy the firstmover advantage and significantly benefit from the shift to EVs.

RBL Bank: Market Cap: Rs 21,413 crore

RBL Bank (RBL) has been among the fastest growing private sector banks in the past 56 years, with advances CAGR of 44.1% over FY2014FY2017. RBL has a wide range of products, catering to various segments from corporate to retail customers.

Over the past few years, RBL has invested significantly to improve its system and processes. As a result, the banks costtoincome ratio has remained high.

However, as these investments bring economies of scale, we can expect costs to decline in the coming years, which in turn boost return on assets (RoA) and return on equity (RoE).

TV Today Network: Market Cap: Rs2147 crore

TV Today, a leading TV News broadcaster in India, operates four news channels and three FM radio stations. Through its flagship channel AajTak, the company has been maintaining its dominant position in the Hindi general news genre whereas India Today (its English news channel) has improved its market share steadily general news genre, whereas India Today (its English news channel) has improved its market share steadily to become one of the leading English news channels in India.

TV Today is in a sweet spot to leverage the uptrend in advertising spends and full digitalisation regime, which augurs well for the companys further growth prospects.

With 20% earnings CAGR over FY2017FY2020E coupled with impressive return ratios, TV Today is an ideal investment bet in the TV broadcasting space.

VGuard Industries Industries: Market Cap: Rs 8,084 crore

VGuard Industries Ltd (VGuard) is an established brand in the electrical and household goods space, particularly in south India and has grown its earnings impressively at 46% CAGR over FY20152017.

We believe VGuard will continue to generate strong cash flow and returns ratios at a sustainable basis to create shareholders value. The company plans to be a panIndia player, aggressively expanding in nonsouth markets (adding 15,000 retailers over a period of 5 years) and is particularly focusing on the tierII and III cities where there is a lot of pentup demand for its products. We believe this to drive earnings and expect 26% CAGR from FY2017-2019E.

Sundaram Fasteners: Market Cap: Rs 9,500 crore

Sundram Fasteners Ltd (SFL) is introducing new products like engine components, pump assemblies, powder metal parts, and shafts. This would help the company broaden its offerings and outpace industry growth.

SFLs focus on highvalue products (transmission and electric vehicle products) would lead to sustained higher margins. Improved operating performance and a low-interest cost would boost the earnings.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
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Share price of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 4 percent in the early trade Thursday as it has received an establishment inspection report (EIR) from USFDA for its Dadra formulation facility.

EIR indicates closure of plant inspection by the US regulatory agency.

"We have received a communication from the USFDA releasing a copy of the establishment inspection report (EIR) in respect of the above inspection based upon our responses to the said observation letter," said company.

USFDA had inspected the plant in April 2017 as regulatory authority issued Form-483.

Dadra is the companys second largest USFDA-approved plant after Halol with several pending generic filings. Analysts estimate the Dadra formulation plant to generate USD 250 million in annual sales.

The closure of the Dadra inspection by USFDA comes as a huge relief for Sun Pharma, which is trying to resolve a warning letter issued to Halol facility in Gujarat. The company has completed remediation and is awaiting USFDA re-inspection for Halol facility.

Brokerages hail the move as a positive cue for the stock and are pinning hopes on clearances for the Halol unit.

Brokerage: ICICI Sec | Rating: Add | Target: Rs 585

The brokerage house said that the US FDAs establishment inspection report for Dadra unit is the largest plant for the company in India. In fact, the EIR indicates the companys focus on bringing all facilities under regulatory compliance. It does not expect the firm to impact financials, but will help valuation metrics improve. Going forward, the focus will now be on resolution of Halol facility and expects FY18 performance to remain muted for the firm.

Brokerage: B&K | Rating: Buy

The broking firm said that receipt of EIR for Dadra unit is quite positive for the firm and removes overhang on the stock with regards to FDA resolution. The next trigger for the stock will be resolution of Halol and added that R&D investment benefits are likely to show up FY19 onwards. Having said that, it expects FY18 earnings for the company to remain weak.

Brokerage: Citi | Rating: Neutral

The global financial services firm said that the EIR at Dadra on expected lines and all eyes are on Halol now. It believes that the companys base revenue is most exposed among peers. A lifting of the warning letter at Halol could be a key catalyst for the stock.

At 09:16 hrs Sun Pharmaceutical Industries was quoting at Rs 543.65, up Rs 17.85, or 3.39 percent.

Posted by Rakesh Patil
TCS | The IT major will release its March quarter scorecard on April 16. Industry experts and brokerages expect the IT major to release a subdued set of numbers. The estimates of Kotak Institutional Equities show TCS' CC (constant currency) revenue growth of 0.6 percent QoQ and 4.9 percent YoY.

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Tata Consultancy Services is scheduled to report its results for the quarter ended September later today, post market hours on Thursday.

The profit after tax (PAT) for the quarter is expected to increase 4 percent sequentially to Rs 6,183 crore and revenue may grow 2.6 percent to Rs 30,356 crore, according to an average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Revenues in dollar terms are likely to register a 3 percent at USD 4,731 million in the quarter ended September 2017, compared with USD 4,591 million in the previous quarter.

The stock has been consolidating in a narrow range so far in the year 2017. It rose by about 6 percent compared to nearly 20 percent rally seen in the S&P BSE Sensex.

The IT sector has been under pressure throughout this year weighed down by appreciating currency, demand environment, visa ruled and automation.

The anecdotal evidence suggests that TCS gave a negative return in 2 out of 4 times on the day of results while it slipped 3 out of 4 times post quarterly results, BSE data showed.

If we analyze the behaviour of stock for last four quarters stock witnessed cool off action post results. The corrective action generally comes in the range of 4-8 percent post result outcome, Rajesh Palviya, Head  Technical & Derivative Analyst at Axis Securities Ltd told Moneycontrol.

However, post-consolidation of 15-20 days after results outcome, the stock bottoms out and has shown recovery and witnessed around 8-14 percent gain from the bottom made after results. Broadly we can say that the stock manages to recoup all its losses which had come after the announcement of quarterly results, he said.

Chart pattern indicates that if the stock faces any profit booking, it may find support around Rs 2420-2400; however, any breakdown below Rs2400 would accelerate the selling in stock which may drag it towards Rs 2330-2300 in short-term, suggest experts.

Since the last three months, the stock has undergone a consolidation phase wherein the prices have traded in a broad range of Rs 2,400 to Rs 2,600. This consolidation phase seems to be a time-correction in the prices.

For the past 3-4 quarters, TCS has been trading with a positive bias. It is also part of a triangle and is trading near its apex suggesting that a breakout or a breakdown is on cards.

The stock remained lacklustre for the past few months is likely to find a directional move.

Immediate resistance is seen at 2550 levels, above which it can bounce till 2700 levels, where Major resistance is seen. However, for the past 3 quarters, while Stock Price have been Moving Higher, Volume has been Declining, Pragnesh Jain, AVP Technical Research - Institutional Equities, Systematix shares told Moneycontrol.

We have seen no major underlying strength in the trend, signaling that, even if the breakout happens it wont sustain at higher levels for long, unless breakout happens with decent volumes, he said.

Jain further added that failure to breakout above Rs 2550 can see the stock remain under pressure & a breakdown below Rs 2420 will lead to weakness to the tune of 10 percent in the stock.

We have collated views from various experts as to how to trade the stock on the result day:

Analyst: Mazhar Mohammad, Chief Strategist  Technical Research & Trading Advisory, Chartviewindia.in

There may not be any negative surprises on this counter as negativity surrounding the sector is well captured in the prices. Technically, since November 2016 low of Rs 2051, this counter appears to be moving in some sort of ascending channel suggesting a durable bottom in place around those levels.

Besides, the last couple of weeks price behaviour after retracing 62 percent of its last leg of the rally from the lows of Rs 2323 is pointing towards base building around Rs 2424 levels.

Hence for positional traders, it is looking like a good buying opportunity for a target of Rs 2650 with a stop below Rs 2420 on a closing basis.

Analyst: Aditya Agarwala, Technical Analyst, YES Securities (I) Ltd

TCS has been oscillating in an Ascending Triangle pattern i.e. making higher lows but highs are locked at the same level. The neckline of the pattern is placed at Rs 2550 and a breakout on healthy volumes from the neckline can trigger a trend reversal taking it higher to levels of Rs 2670.

Historically post quarterly result stock tends to enter into a corrective phase, keeping this in mind a Short Strangle strategy can be exercised i.e. Selling Out of the Money (OTM) CALL and PUT Options. An investor can continue to hold the stock as the major trend is still bullish keeping a target of Rs 2670-2870.

Analyst: Ruchit Jain, Equity Technical Analyst, Angel Broking Pvt Ltd

The prices are vacillating in a range of Rs 2400-2600 since last three months. A trended phase in the stock is expected only post breakout of the mentioned range.

Hence, while we are not expecting a significant move on the result day, positional traders and investor can continue to hold their existing long positions.

It is also advisable to keep a stop loss below Rs 2400; because a violation of the mentioned support could then lead to a corrective leg.

Analyst: Rajesh Palviya, Head  Technical & Derivative Analyst at Axis Securities Ltd.

We can expect TCS to remain in the range of Rs 2300-2700 for few more months and consolidates further.

Trading Strategy 1:

Buy on dips: Looking at the behavior of stock Post results, if the stock reacts negatively one can look for buying it around Rs 2420-2400 followed by Rs 2350 levels with a final stop-loss of Rs 2300 to play for a pullback action with a target of Rs 2450-2500 in 1-2 months time frame.

Trading Strategy 2:

Buy on a breakout: As mentioned the stock is in process of forming a contracting triangular pattern on the weekly chart, so if it manages to break out above Rs 2530-2550 one can buy the stock from a near term trading perspective with a target of Rs 2600-2630 and stop-loss of Rs 2500.

Trading Strategy 3:

If we look at the long-term structure of the stock, though it is in bullish trend it faces multiples resistance at Rs 2730-2750 on higher degree chart.

Looking at the underperformance of IT sector, it looks unlikely that TCS would cross 2700-2730 in the near/short term.

If the stock rallies towards Rs 2630-2660 range one can book profits of their holding positions or future traders can look for going short in the stock on the higher side with a stop-loss of Rs 2700.

The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
October 12, 2017 / 06:11 PM IST

SUMMARY

Talwar

Aarushi

Hemraj

data-scayt-word="Talwars" data-scayt-lang="en_US">Talwars

* Court said the Talwars cannot be convicted based on suspicion

* The CBI is expected to challenge the acquittal in the Supreme Court

18:01 As the CBI contemplates appealing against the Supreme Court verdict, here's a look at both sides of the story.

17:46 Sources suggest that the Talwars will walk out of Dasna jail by Thursday afternoon.

17:30 Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has said that the police made a "total dog's breakfast" of the investigation in the Aarushi murder case.

17:12 Masooma Rizvi, a friend of the Talwars, says it is now up to the CBI to find out who killed Aarushi and Hemraj.

17:02 Tanveer Mir, a lawyer for the Talwars, says the evidence was not strong enough.

16:58 Sources are telling News-18 that the CBI is likely to appeal against the acquittal of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

16:53 We have some more clarity about what the court said. Here are the highlights:

* CBI has failed to prove that no one else entered the house during the night

* They can be held guilty only if the facts established is entirely consistent with the guilt

* The hypothesis of the agency was not convulsive in nature

17:10 Masooma Rizvi, a friend of the Talwars, says it is now up to the CBI to find out who killed Aarushi and Hemraj.

16:46 "The parents are anxious to know who killed Aarushi. Grateful to the High Court for upholding legal principles," says lawyer Pinaki Mishra.

16:41 "Grateful to judiciary. Have seen them (Rajesh and Nupur) suffering. It has been really testing. I am emotionally drained": BG Chitnis, Nupur Talwar's father.

16:39 "I am emotionally drained," says Nupur's father. "My daughter and son-in-law were jailed for a crime that they did not commit."

16:37 We are relieved and deeply grateful to the High Court for acquitting Rajesh and Nupur and putting an end to this injustice that was meted out to them, says Vandana Talwar, a relative.

16:31 In case you're just joining us, here are 5 things to know about the Allahabad High Court verdict acquitting the Talwars.

16:12 Both judges acquitted the Talwars and wrote separate orders.

16:10 Mishra says any appeal by the CBI would merely be a 'futile exercise'.

16:08 Defence lawyer Pinaki Mishra says he has no doubt that the murderers are still walking free.

16:06 The Talwars' lawyer says 'honour has been restored to the slain".

15:58 The couple was first convicted of murdering their daughter by a special CBI court in November 2013. CBI, which was tasked with investigating the case, had argued for capital punishment for the dentist couple arguing the murder to be in the rarest of rare category. However the court had sentenced Nupur and Rajesh Talwar to life.

15:49 A lawyer for the Talwars says he expected the acquittal as the evidence against the couple did not hold water. Says he hopes his clients will be released by tomorrow.

15:43 "Once a certified copy of the verdict arrives, the Talwars will be released within half an hour," the Dasna Jail Superintendent says.

15:38 The Talwars will only be released when the Ghaziabad jail gets a copy of the High Court's order, will could take till Friday.

15:33 CBI says it is waiting for the copy of the judgement and will decide their next course of action after studying it.

15:28 The jailor at Dasna tells News-18 that the Talwars said they felt that justice had been served after the verdict was read out.

15:23 The full order of the judgement is not available yet, so there is no clarity on whether another probe has been ordered.

15:18 A reminder that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were not in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. They were watching the proceedings from Dasna jail, where they have been lodged since being convicted in November 2013.

15:13 CASE NOT CLOSED

The Talwars will walk out of the Dasna jail soon, nearly four years after being given life terms. However, the CBI is expected to challenge today's acquittal in the Supreme Court.

15:10 KILLER STILL NOT IDENTIFIED

The court has acquitted the Talwars on the grounds that there was no concrete proof against them. However, the mystery of who killed Aarushi and Hemraj continues and it remains to be seen if further investigation is ordered.

15:07 We have always known that they (the Talwars) are not guilty, says Aarushi's grandfather.

15:05 I am humbled by the verdict, says Rebecca John, lawyer for the Talwars.

15:02 HC'S REASONING

The Allahabad High Court said that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Talwars had murdered their daughter.

15:00 The court said that Aarushi's parents should be given the benefit of the doubt.

14:58 TALWARS ACQUITTED: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar found not guilty.

14:54 The judgement is now being read out.

14:45 The verdict should be announced anytime now. Stay tuned.

14:40 Among the Talwars' contentions in their defence was that the investigation had become 'too personal'.

14:30 The verdict has been pushed to 2.45pm.

14:25 Avirook Sen, author of the book Aarushi Case, says that the Allahabad High Court has given a fair chance to both sides.

14:15 Rajesh and Nupur Talwar will not be in the courtroom for the verdict. They will watch the proceedings on a TV in the Dasna jail where they are currently lodged.

14:05 BG Chitnis, Nupur Talwar's father, speaks to News18: "I am hoping that Aarushi's parents are acquitted. And I am hoping this not as a father of Nupur Talwar and as a grandfather of Aarushi Talwar, but as someone who has observed the case- based on hard evidence and the findings of the first CBI team. We are hoping that the parents will be declared not guilty."

13:50

13:30 As the Uttar Pradesh Police drew flak over shoddy investigation into the case which was making national headlines, the then chief minister Mayawati handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

13:25 The verdict is expected anytime after 2.30pm.

13:22 Fourteen-year-old Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45- year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house two days later.

13:20

13:10 Nupur and Rajesh Talwar are at present serving their sentence in Ghaziabad's Dasna jail.

A division bench of the high court comprising justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra had reserved its judgement on September 7 on the appeal filed by the dentist couple, fixing October 12 as the date for the verdict.

13:00 The Allahabad High Court is expected to deliver its verdict on Thursday on an appeal filed by Rajesh and Nupur Talwar challenging a CBI court order convicting them for the murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj in 2008.

The couple were awarded life sentence by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad on November 26, 2013, a day after their conviction.
The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday set November 9 as the date for Himachal Pradesh assembly elections. The counting of votes for Himachal will take place on December 18, Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti said.

The commission, didn't announce the date for Gujarat assembly election but said, the polls will be held before December 18. The Gujarat assembly election date will be set before the counting process ends in Himachal so that the result doesn't impact voter behaviour in Gujarat, Jyoti said.

The term of the 182-member Gujarat assembly ends January 22, while the term of the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly ends on January 7.

Meanwhile, the EC will have VVPATs along with EVMs for the elections. The height of voting compartments will be increased to 30 inches. There is also a 5.6-cm increase in the size of screen on VVPAT machines for the voters to able to verify their vote easily, Jyoti said.

Among other factors, the EC has taken into account logistical factors such as the deployment of the Central Police Force in the states, and the possibility of rainfall in Himachal Pradesh in November.

In the 2012 assembly elections, the BJP won 115 out of 182 seats in Gujarat, while the Congress won 61 seats with 39 percent share. In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress won 36 out of the 68 seats with a 42 percent vote share, while the BJP won 26 seats.

This will be the first time that the latest election poll machines will be fixed with the paper trail (VVPAT) for the elections.

Both the Congress and the BJP have both launched their poll campaigns for the two states. In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress has endorsed incumbent Virbhadra Singh as its chief ministerial candidate, the BJP is yet to name its choice.

Former chief minister Anandiben Patel has opted out of the race in Gujarat citing her age. She has asked BJP chief Amit Shah to choose a local BJP worker for the Ghatlodiya seat which she represented since 1998.

Two other factors that will come into play in Gujarat polls this time are the Aam Aadmi Party's debut and the Patidar agitation.
LUCKNOW, INDIA - OCTOBER 11: UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flags off new Saffron buses on October 11, 2017 in Lucknow, India. (Photo by Subhankar Chakraborty/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

The Uttar Pradesh government is gradually painting the state in the ruling party's colours with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath introducing saffron government booklets, school bags and even buses, reported the Indian Express.

On Wednesday, Adityanath flagged off 50 state buses painted saffron under the name of Sankalp Seva to provide services in rural areas. Sources in the State Road Transport Corporation told the paper that the buses were painted at the Kanpur workshop, and more such buses would join the fleet.

Similarly, the school bags with former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadavs photograph that were distributed under the Basic Education Department were recently replaced with saffron-coloured bags.

In addition, the background colour of certificates forLaxman and Rani Laxmi Bai award and Crop Loan Redemption Scheme issued by the government were also changed to saffron.

This year, Adityanath had released two booklets, each to mark 100 days as well as six months since his government came to power, and both had a saffron hue. The information department's diary cover also has a saffron background.

The cover of the information departments diary published this year, containing the contact details of all government ministers and offices, also has a saffron background, bearing photographs of BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adityanath.

Previously, the diary containing the contact details of all government ministers and offices had a red background during the Samajwadi Party government, and blue when Mayawati was the chief minister, said the report.

Even the blue straps of identity cards in the Secretariat Administration department have been replaced with saffron.

On the change in colour for several items, Cabinet Minister and government spokesperson Shrikant Sharma said: We like all the colours, but saffron is our favourite because it represents tyaag, balidaan aur shaurya (sacrifice and bravery). The national flag also has saffron. Saffron is our personal choice and nobody should have any objection to it.

However, he said that it is merely a coincidence and the government had not taken any conscious decision to switch to saffron.

If there is saffron colour in all these things, it is merely a coincidence. This government is for all, and people from all sections benefit from our schemes. Discrimination was done by past governments only, Sharma said.
Pakistan genuinely wants to have peaceful ties with its neighbours, including a "belligerent" India, the country's Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said, underlining that it takes "two to tango".

Speaking at a seminar here yesterday on 'Interplay of Economy and Security', Gen Bajwa also said that the region surrounding Pakistan remains captive due to "historical baggage" and "negative competition".

Relations between India and Pakistan have suffered a series of setbacks following a number of terror attacks by Pakistan-based militants. New Delhi has made it clear to Islamabad that bilateral talks cannot take place unless Pakistan dismantles the terror networks on its soil.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have also been tense with the two countries accusing each other of turning a "blind eye" towards militant outfits.

"Our external front which continues to remain in a flux. With a belligerent India on our East and an unstable Afghanistan on our West, the region remains captive due to historical baggage and negative competition," Bajwa said.

He said there is a need for comprehensive effort to pursue the National Action Plan and remove vulnerabilities well before they turn into threats.

"But on our part, we are making a deliberate and concerted effort to pacify the western border through a multitude of diplomatic, military and economic initiative. We have also expressed and demonstrated our genuine desire to have normal and and peaceful relations with India, however, it takes two to tango," Bajwa said.

Bajwa also expressed concern over the country's "sky high" debts, saying the abysmally low tax to GDP ratio must change if the country has to "break the begging bowl".

"Growth has picked up but the debts are sky high. Infrastructure and energy have improved considerably but the current account balance is not in our favour," he said.

According to figures released by the finance ministry, Pakistan's foreign debt and liabilities are around USD 58 billion.

"In order to secure our future, we have to increase our tax base, bring in fiscal discipline and ensure continuity of economic policies," he said, adding that economy remained one of the highest concerns during National Security Council meetings.

Bajwa also said when enemies of Pakistan wanted to damage it, they targeted financial hub Karachi and tried to destabilise it.

He said the authorities had put peace a top priority in Karachi and want the city to return to its old economic growth.
18:58 Ashok Chavan-led Congress makes a clean sweep with 69 out of 81 seats. BJP lagged with 6 seats while Shiv Sena won one seat.

18:36 Congress is leading in 69 seats while BJP has got 6 seats.

Results for 77 seats, out of the 81, have been declared so far, reports IBN Lokmat.

18:20 Meanwhile, BJP won the BMC bypoll from Bhandup, beating ally Shiv Sena by 4,792 votes.

BJP candidate, Jagruti Patel, polled

11,129 votes in ward no. 116, while the Sena nominee, Minakshi Patil, got 6,337 votes, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

17:52 For the first time, paper audit train was used in the Nanded-Waghala polls. The new VVPAT system were used alongside electronic voting machines in the 37 polling stations of ward number 2.

17:40 Congress is leading in 66 seats. Results for 73 seats, out of the 81, have been declared so far, reports IBN Lokmat.

BJP has won 5 seats while Shiv Sena is lagging with just 1 seat.

16:58 Congress has won 49 seats of the 54 seats for which results were declared.

Of the results declared so far, BJP has won three, while Shiv Sena is placed a distant third, winning a solitary seat, reports PTI.

16:53 Ashok Chavan-led Congress is leading and has won 43 seats out of 46 for which the counting is over. Counting is on for 81 seats.

16:09 From ward 9, Congress leaders Pooja Pawale, Kishor Swamy, Manitkaur and Prashant Tidke have won, reports Loksatta.

15:52 Nearly 60 percent of voting was registered for the Nanded poll on Wednesday. Polling for held for 81 seats in 20 wards.

15:45 The Congress is on its way to retain the Nanded-Waghala City Municipal Corporation (NWCMC). It has won 37 seats and has lead another 29 seats.

15:28 Latest numbers from Nanded suggest that Congress is leading in 66 seats. The BJP is leading in 5 while Shiv Sena is leading in one seat. 'Other' candidate is leading in one seat.

The AIMIM is currently leading in none, media reports suggest.

15:20 As of 14:30 hours, Congress had won 42 seats, while BJP and Shiv Sena had won two and one seats respectively.

15:10 According to media reports, AIMIM has been overtaken by the Congress candidate, in the only seat the party was leading in.

14:54 Congress has won 37 seats and is maintaining a lead in 20 more seats. BJP is currently leading in two wards.

NCP and AIMIM have not bagged any seat yet.

14:43 Congress is leading in 58 seats while BJP is leading in 3 seats. Shiv Sena has got 1 seat.

14:26 Congress is now leading in 58 seats, according to reports. Of this, the party has won 37 seats so far.



The return journey for Congress in Maharashtra has begun. Ashok Chavan preponderates #BJP in Nanded MC elections.Cong wipes out #BJP.

JaiHo pic.twitter.com/GjEOtvzprT  Maharashtra Congress (@INCMaharashtra) October 12, 2017

14:14 According to latest reports, Congress is leading in 51. BJP has got 2 seats while Shiv Sena has won 1 seat so far.

14:02 The elections in Nanded were held on Wednesday and counting started today at 10 am.

14:00 Congress candidates Syed Sher Ali, Aasiya Begum Abdul Habib, Raziya Begum Babu Khan won from ward 11. From ward 5, Congresses' Pimpde Mahendra, Pavde Jaishree, Neralkar, Khan Farooq Ali won.

13:57 Congress crosses halfway mark and is now leading in 44 seats. BJP and Shiv Sena are leading in 2 and 1 seat respectively.

13:55: Results of 24 seats have been declared so far. Of this, Congress has won 23 seats while BJP got 1 seat.

13:54: This time, BJP left no stone unturned while campaigning for the polls.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis himself took to campaigning for the polls on Monday. BJP also took 15 sitting corporators from the Congress and the Shiv Sena, as per media reports.

13:49 Nanded has been the Congress stronghold for last 15 years. During the last elections, out of total 81 seats, Congress had won 41 wards, Shiv Sena had got 12 wards and All India Majlis-e-Muslimeen (AIMIM) had won 11 seats.

13:43 Congress is now ahead in 39 seats while BJP is leading in just 2 seats.

13:40 Congress, which is controlling the municipality, is looking to retain its position. BJP and Shiv Sena are fighting hard to get a holding in the city.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is heading the Congress party.

13:24 The result for the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation election 2017 will be announced today. The counting of votes has begun with Congress leading in 28 of the 81 seats.

BJP is leading in two seats.
Answer: Vijay Mallya

India needs to reply to the defence evidence of embattled tycoon Vijay Mallya before November 3 in a UK court, the external affairs ministry said.

Giving details of the case before the Westminster Magistrates' Court in the UK, ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the extradition request in respect of Mallya, accused of many financial defaults, was handed over to the UK High Commission here on February 9.

Mallya was arrested and produced before the Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on April 18 for an extradition hearing and granted conditional bail, he said.

Vijay Mallya: What has happened so far? A timeline

In the case management review held on July 6, the tentative date for extradition hearing was announced to be December 4 and Mallya's bail was also extended until then on the same terms and conditions, the spokesperson said.

"Another case management review hearing was held on 14 September 2017 in which defence evidence was served to UK Crown Prosecution Service for a response from the Indian side. Indian authorities need to send a reply to the defence evidence before 3 November 2017," he added.

He also noted that in the hearing on October 4, UK Crown Prosecution Service on behalf of India filed a supplemental affidavit in connection with money laundering charges.

Vijay Mallya arrested & granted bail in money laundering case filed by ED

Mallya was re-arrested and granted bail thereafter till December 4 when an extradition hearing is scheduled to commence, Kumar said, adding the pre-trial review on the case is scheduled for November 20.
Three suicide bombers blew themselves up near the main police headquarters in Syria's capital Damascus on Thursday, killing at least two people, the interior ministry said.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement released via the Telegram messaging app.

The assault was the second time in a month that suicide attackers have targeted the capital, which has been insulated from the worst of the violence in the war-torn country.

State news agency SANA quoted Interior Minister Mohammad Shaar saying both of those killed were police officers.

Two of the suicide bombers detonated their explosives in front of the police HQ on Khaled Bin al-Walid street in central Damascus, his ministry said in a statement carried by state media.

"The terrorist suicide attackers tried to storm the police command headquarters... The guards opened fire on them, forcing them to blow themselves up before they entered the building and achieved their goals," it added.

Police surrounded a third attacker behind the building who also blew himself up, the statement said.

The interior ministry said two people had been killed and six wounded in the attack, among them two children.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported five dead, not including the three attackers.

IS in its statement on Telegram said two attackers "entered the headquarters building and fought with those inside... then detonated their explosive vests".

Damascus police chief Mohammed Khairu Ismail told reporters at the scene in the central neighbourhood of Qanawat that one of the dead was a policeman who tried to stop the bombers.

"One of our forces grabbed one of the suicide bombers and prevented him from entering the building, so he blew himself up, killing the sergeant," Ismail said.

It was the second time this month that suicide attackers have targeted police in the capital. At least 17 people were killed in an October 2 attack on a police station in the southern district of Midan.

That attack was also claimed by IS, which said three fighters armed with guns, grenades and explosives had targeted the station.

More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the country's conflict began in March 2011 with anti- government protests.

Damascus has been shaken by several bomb attacks, despite being largely spared from the worst of the violence in the six-year war.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is on Sweden tour, on Thursday said the state will become a trillion dollar economy by 2030.

Fadnavis, on a three-day visit to Sweden along with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and Maharashtra Industry Minister Subhash Desai, addressed a gathering in Stockholm, after releasing a 'Make in India' magazine.

"Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji says that India will lead the world because of its demography, democracy and demand. Maharashtra leads in this advantage too," a release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) quoted him as saying.

"China was a factory for the world for the last 20 years, but after this decade it will be India," he said while exhorting Swedish firms to invest in Maharashtra.

The CM further said Maharashtra will be a trillion dollar economy by 2030.

Stating that Maharashtra leads in infrastructure projects and ports, Fadnavis said the proposed 'Samruddhi' corridor project between Mumbai and Nagpur will be the longest "smart road" in the nation.

"Our state has a population of 10 percent, but we contribute 15 percent to the national GDP. Almost all global businesses have their footprints in Maharashtra, including over 100 Swedish companies," he said while appealing to Swedish companies to invest in the state.

Stating that Maharashtra offers enormous opportunities and benefits, he pointed out that Mumbai is the financial capital of the nation, Pune is the IT capital and Nagpur is the logistics hub.

Fadnavis met Alrik Danielson, President and CEO of SKF group, a leading bearing and seal manufacturing company, the statement said.

"SKF group already has a manufacturing facility in Pune and its officials informed the CM on their expansion plans and that they would soon finalise the next phase for Maharashtra and also that they are keen to work closely with the state government," it said.

The Chief Minister also met Atul Tandon, Director Strategy and Commercial Excellence, of AstraZeneca.

The company appreciated Maharashtra's initiatives for the screening of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, the statement said.

"The global biopharmaceutical company agreed and assured the CM to work closely with the state and that they are keen to work for a pilot project in a civil hospital to improve healthcare facilities," it said.

Fadnavis also met Par Stenmark, Chief Regulatory Officer, of IKEA and appealed to the company to join hands with the state for use and branding of bamboo/bamboo products to increase the income and employment of tribals and locals.

"The state government has already set up a Bamboo Development Board and is also providing skilling support to the locals. The CM urged IKEA to start a skill centre for Bamboo," the statement said.

IKEA also informed the CM that the work for Navi Mumbai IKEA store has already started and will be completed by 2019.

The 'bhumipujan' (ground-breaking) of the store was performed by Fadnavis on May 18 this year.

Fadnavis also met Swedish Minister for EU Affairs and Trade Ms Ann Linde and discussed important bilateral issues, the statement said.
Prime_Minister_PM_Modi_make_In_India

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) yesterday approved two new World Bank-backed schemes of Rs 6,655 crore to reform and increase relevance of skill development training programmes in the country.

The schemes -- Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (Sankalp) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (Strive) -- were approved by the CCEA-chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sankalp is a centrally-sponsored Rs 4,455-crore scheme, including Rs 3,300 crore loan support from World Bank whereas Strive is a Rs 2,200-crore central sector scheme, with half of the scheme outlay as World Bank loan assistance.

Last month, Indian Express reported the programme has, in the 9 months up to July, helped only 2.9 lakh of the registered 30.67 lakh trainees in gaining employment.

The scheme was relaunched on October 2 last year with a budgeted funding of Rs 12,000 crore to train over a crore people over four years between 2016 and 2020. Until March 17, around Rs 2,285 crore had been transferred to NSDC for implementation under the government's flagship Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).

As per new PMKVY-II guidelines, 20 percent of funds will be released only if there is 50 percent placement within three months of training. Placements will determine the grading of a vendor for future funds, said Manish Kumar, CEO, NSDC, in a statement.

Issues in the scheme came to light when the placement numbers were very low due to lack of quality training, the media reports said.

The focus then shifted to making the scheme bigger through greater participation by involving district level officers and shifting the stance from supply-driven to demand-driven.

PMKVY is not the answer to Indias problems, a senior official was quoted by the Indian Express as saying.

"You cant do too much about quality, location etc in the short term. We will be able to rejig much of it and make it more purposeful with a district-level action plan with good quality information," he said.

The official added that district-level skill development action plan could be prepared for 100 districts in one go. "The money can be handed over to the state governments and districts," the official added.

Last month, Dharmendra Pradhan was given additional charge as the Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship after removal of the Minister of State Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Earlier, Rudy had said that the aim of the ministry was to ensure that candidates are employable and not ensuring jobs.
Bollywood actor turned politician and candidate of Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Shatrughan Sinha gestures on his way to file his nomination in Patna April 16, 2009. Sinha is contesting parliamentary elections from Patna Sehab constituency in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. REUTERS/Krishna Murari Kishan (INDIA POLITICS ELECTIONS ENTERTAINMENT) - GM1E54G1DOM01

BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha on Thursday expressed dismay over not being invited to the centenary celebrations of Patna University on Saturday in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be the chief guest.

The actor-turned-politician, an alumnus of Patna University that falls under his parliamentary constituency, said he does not figure in the guest list for the occasion.

"I am very emotionally attached to my alma mater. I am pained over being denied invitation on such an occasion," said Shatrughan Sinha.

He claimed BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and RJD president Lalu Prasad, former students of the university, were also not invited to the programme.

University authorities, however, said they were not yet invited because of a delay in printing invitation cards and they are on the guest list.

Shatrughan Sinha, who has in the past put his party in embarrassing situations due to his comments on various issues, said his "Yashwant Sinha and RJD president Lalu Prasad" were also not on the guest list despite being prominent students of Patna University.

"I spoke to the two and they also expressed shock over not being invited to the function on October 14 at Patna," Shatrughan Sinha, popularly known as "Bihari Babu", said.

Asked if he has been deliberately left out of the PM's programme due to his comments contrary to the party line, Shatrughan Sinha said, "Quite possible."

Governor Satya Pal Malik, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad would share the dais with the PM on that day.

"Recently, Vice Chancellor of Patna University Rash Bihari Singh had come to meet me with Yashwant Sinha in Delhi and sought my guidance for the successful organisation of the centenary celebrations of Patna University," Shatrughan Sinha said.

The BJP leader, who has been assisting colleges of Patna University out of his MP Development Fund, said "I hope the PM would be told about the problems of PU like shortage of teachers, lack of fund among others so that he can render help to get rid of these."

Vice Chancellor Singh said, "Printing of invitation cards got delayed and that's why cards have not been sent to them. But, they are very much in our guest list."

"We are going to organise a mega event as part of PU centenary celebrations on December 10 in which all former students of the university would be invited," he said.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny speaks during an interview with Reuters in Moscow, Russia, July 12, 2017. Picture taken July 12, 2017. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor - RC11CC2CD3F0

Birthday is an occasion for celebration and enjoyment. But for Vladimir Putin his 65th birthday wasn't that pleasant. In fact, thousands of people who gathered at Pushkin Square reminded him that he may have finally met his match in 41-year-old Alexei Navalny.

(Source: Reuters)

The crowd demanded that Navalny should be allowed to contest in the upcoming presidential elections. This may herald the rise of Navalny who has captured the public opinion.

A product of the Gorbachev era, Navalny was born on 4th June 1976 in Moscow to lower middle-class parents who owned a small scale basket weaving business. However, Navalny who admired Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin chose a path different from his parents.

Navalny supports Western-style liberal democracy and he chose the path of politics early in his career. His career in politics began after graduating in law from the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. He joined the Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko in 2000 and soon began to lead partys Moscow wing.

He started coming into public limelight after starting his own blog in 2008 where he started exposing and openly questioning corruption that was rampant in state-owned institutions and companies - a new thing in Russia which doesnt promote dissent. Navalny quickly became a craze among the tech-savvy younger generation.

In 2011, Navalny who till then was just another critic of the government turned into a national symbol of hope. The protests led by Navalny who had by then started the People movement against the alleged foul play in the Duma elections won by Putins United Russia, saw him challenge Putin in public.

Also Read: Navalny jailed, 1,500 arrested after protests across Russia

Navalny who now leads the Progress party has openly declared his willingness to contest the upcoming presidential elections of 2018. However, this may be not possible due to his involvement in a case of embezzlement.

This has not prevented Navalny or his followers from starting their election campaign and becoming the chief threat to Vladimir Putin.

A report in the New York Times was quoted saying that Navalny adopts an authoritarian leadership style. His closest associates have come from the hired staff of his Anti-Corruption Foundation, people to whom he pays a salary and for whom he will always be a boss, not a partner.

Further, his views and his hyper-nationalistic ideology and open opposition to illegal immigration has raised doubts among some.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the launch of a Hwasong-12 missile in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 16, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1F523CC770

In 2009, a pop video from North Korea celebrated a new national hero  one that outside experts would later realise was at the heart of the secretive state's banned nuclear and missile programmes.

That hero, widely available in factories across the world, was the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine.

Big, grey and boxy, CNC machines use pre-programmed guides to produce intricate parts for everything from automobiles and mobile phones to furniture and clothes. They offer accuracy that human machine tool operators are unable to achieve.

In North Korea, thanks to a combination of homemade technology and reverse engineering, the machines now play a critical role in the weapons programmes. They allow Kim Jong Un to build nuclear bombs and missiles without relying as heavily on outside technical aid or imports.

Nuclear weapons experts say this has helped him accelerate missile and nuclear testing despite international sanctions on the transfer of sensitive equipment.

"North Korea's centrifuges and new missiles all depend on components made with CNC machine tools," said Jeffrey Lewis, head of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of Strategic Studies at Monterey, California.

"(They) are the essential underlying technology for producing missiles and nuclear weapons," said Lewis.

Since 1996, CNC machines have been included in the Wassenaar Arrangement  an international arms control regime aimed at stopping the proliferation of equipment with both civilian and military uses. North Korea is not a signatory.

The country's celebrations of its CNC technology have been fulsome. Hundreds of dancers in luminous orange and green performed the CNC pop song, titled "Break through the cutting edge," at a Korean Workers' Party celebration in 2010.

In 2012, the year the South Korean hit "Gangnam Style" was released, the North's CNC title was on karaoke machines nationwide, according to Choson Exchange, a Singapore-based company that trains North Koreans in business skills. The official video for the song opens with a long-range North Korean rocket soaring into a blue sky.

CUTTING EDGE

North Korea likely started to develop its own CNC machines in the early 1990s as part of a drive to build sophisticated missiles and nuclear weapons, nuclear experts say. It probably learned how to make them by taking apart machines it had imported from the Soviet Union.

Its first homemade CNC machine was introduced in 1995. Former leader Kim Jong Il gave the machine the "Ryonha" brand, according to a 2009 article in the country's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun. That was the first time state media mentioned the technology. By 2009, the machines had become a mainstay of North Korean propaganda, as Pyongyang launched a nationwide campaign to boost domestic industry.

Sanctions were mounting after its second nuclear test and a long-range missile launch that year. At the time, arms control experts raised concerns about a visit by former leader Kim Jong Il to aNorth Korean factory where homemade CNC machines appeared to be producing aluminium tubes. These could be used for nuclear centrifuges.

"By around 2010, it seemed they were capable of manufacturing various types of CNC machines," said Kim Heung-gwang, a North Korean defector who taught at Pyongyang's Hamhung Computer Technology University before defecting to South Korea.

But it wasn't until 2013 that the Korea Ryonha Machinery Joint Venture Corporation, which produced the machines, was blacklisted by the U.N. Security Council for supporting the weapons programmes.

And it was only in August this year that U.S. intelligence officials told Reuters North Korea likely has the ability to produce its own missile engines themselves. Now, Kim Heung-gwang estimates,North Korea has about 15,000 CNC machines. He bases this on North Korean state media reports and photos as well as interviews with more than a dozen defectors who were scientists, professors or factory workers.

MASS PRODUCTION

Pyongyang hailed the homemade machines as a triumph for its governing ideology of "Juche", which champions self-sufficiency. But that wasn't strictly true. In August 2016, state media released photos of Kim Jong Un visiting a factory using CNC machines with the logo of Swiss engineering firm ABB, one of the leading players in the global CNC machine market. It's not clear when or how the machine reached North Korea.

ABB said the firm respects all applicable trade sanctions against North Korea, and undertakes not to deliver ABB equipment to the country. "That said, we cannot rule out that some of our equipment may have been resold to DPR of Korea without our knowledge or permission," the company said in response to a Reuters inquiry, using North Korea's official title.

A United Nations panel monitoring sanctions on North Korea said in a report this year that Tengzhou Keyongda CNC Machine Tools Co of China had been a supplier of Pyongyang's new CNC machines. A sales representative for Tengzhou Keyongda told Reuters the company stopped selling CNC machines to North Korea four years ago, and no longer maintains trade relations with the country.

Despite sanctions, CNC machines are commonplace across North Korean manufacturing and can be brought in through China and Russia, said Lee Choon-geun, a senior fellow at the Science and Technology Policy Institute in South Korea.

The biggest loophole has been that while some CNC machines are banned because they can have both military and civilian functions, most serve civilian industry. "Given their dual-use capability, you could even import the machines for other purposes, take them to pieces and use them however you want," said Lee.

The CNC song highlights this in its opening line: "Whatever it is, once we put our mind to it, there's a programme to make it," it says.
Pakistan's Senate on Thursday passed a resolution against a person holding a party post after being disqualified from public office, a move aimed against ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif's re-election as the chief of the ruling PML-N.

The resolution, presented by Aitzaz Ahsan--Leader of the Opposition in the Senate--stated that a person who is not eligible to become a member of the parliament or has been disqualified cannot lead any political party.

The Senate or the upper house of the parliament passed the resolution with 52 senators voting in its favour and 28 voting against it.

The step was taken against the approval given to Sharif to head the ruling party after amendments were made to the Elections Bill, 2017.

Sharif, 67, had to step down as PML-N chief after he was disqualified as the prime minister by the Supreme Court on July 28 in the Panama Papers scandal.

The PML-N took full advantage of its position as the ruling party as President Mamnoon Hussain signed the controversial Election Act 2017 into law after it was bulldozed through the National Assembly amid pandemonium on the opposition benches.

Under The Representation of Peoples Act 1976, a disqualified person could not hold office of a party.

The law was passed to allow the party to re-elect Sharif as its head.

Ahsan said that after the new law, even someone who has given up Pakistani citizenship, who is declared to be of an unsound mind or otherwise disqualified from holding public office by a court now can become the head of a party.

"The parliament is exposed to becoming hostage to a person who himself is barred from entering it," the resolution said.

Law Minister Zahid Hamid opposed the resolution when put forward for debate and said that every party has the right to choose its leader from one of its members.

The resolution is non-binding and of no legal value and hence just symbolic.
Richard Branson 's Virgin Group is investing in Hyperloop One, a company developing the super-fast transport system originally dreamed up by Elon Musk

Hypleroop One is re-branding itself as Virgin Hyperloop One, and Branson is joining the board, the billionaire British investor and entrepreneur announced Thursday on CNBC from London.

Virgin Hyperloop One will focus on a passenger and mixed-use cargo service.

Last month, Hypleroop One raised USD 85 million in new funding, and that includes the investment from Virgin. Branson refused to breakout the numbers.

Breaking ground on a commercial hyperloop in two to four years is possible if "governments move quickly," Branson said in a "Squawk Box" interview. So far, no government has approved a plan for a hyperloop system. The Virgin founder also said that building a hyperloop tube above or below ground is "cheaper" and "faster" than a traditional rail network.

The idea of the transport system  conceived in 2013 by Musk, the head of both electric automaker Tesla and SpaceX  works by propelling pods through tubes using magnets reaching speeds akin to those of airplanes.

"As a train owner, " Branson said, "I felt this is something that I want to be able to operate. At the moment our trains are limited to 125 miles an hour." His sprawling Virgin Group empire includes a train network in the U.K., as well as airlines and a business to take tourists into space.

"There are consumers, for instance, that would love to go from London to Edinburgh in roughly 45 minutes. And that will be possible" with a hyperloop, he said. "You can have a pod outside your office that you and your colleagues can jump into. The pod can self drive to the top of the tunnel. It then goes down the tunnel. It connects up and off you go at 600, 700 miles an hour up to your destination, going faster than an airline."

Hyperloop One Chairman Shervin Pishevar told CNBC in the same interview with Branson that with Virgin on board the company will be able to "accelerate the commercialization process but also design the products with the consumer in mind." Pishevar, also co-founder of Sherpa Capital, said Branson is a visionary in building great consumers experiences. After flying on Virgin Atlantic, he added that he "never saw air transport the same again."

"The customer experience of the pod is something that we definitely want to lean on Richard's and the Virgin Group's experience to create an experience when you walk into a hyperloop pod ... you should feel comfortable. You should feel like youv'e been there before. This is not futuristic technology. This is happening now," Pishevar said. "It's

Earlier this year, Hyperloop One carried out a full-scale test of its technology . A test sled was propelled through the tube for 5.3 seconds. The company said it hit nearly 2Gs of acceleration and a speed of 70 mph during the run. The next testing will target speeds up to 250 mph and feature the company's first passenger pod gliding through the hyperloop over a greater distance.

The company has been in talks with several governments, including the United Arab Emirates and Finland , to study the feasibility of building such a system. No deal has been signed. The company told CNBC in September that the Middle East would be a preferable market to begin with.

In July, Musk said his tunnel-digging firm The Boring Company had received "verbal" approval from governments to begin digging a tunnel for a hyperloop from New York to Washington, D.C.

Virgin Hyperloop One is not the only company developing the technology. Rival Hyperloop Transportation Technologies is also in talks with governments in Asia and Europe about building its own system.
U.S. President Donald Trump reacts after signing an executive order on education during an event with Governors at the White House in Washington

US President Donald Trump has said that he has a different approach on North Korea's recent missile and nuclear tests, asserting that the problem has reached a point where "something has to be done".

North Korea has fired 22 missiles, including two across Japan, during 15 tests since February this year, drawing a sharp reaction from the US and its allies.

"I think I might have a somewhat different attitude and a different way than other people. I think perhaps I feel stronger and tougher on that subject than other people, but I listen to everybody," Trump told reporters in a joint media appearance with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau at his Oval Office yesterday.

"Ultimately, I will do what is right for the United States and really, what is right for the world. Because that is really a world problem; that is beyond just the United States," he said.

Responding to a question, the US president said it is a problem that has to be solved.

Later at night, Trump told Fox News that the world has reached a situation on North Korea where something has to be done.

"This should have been handled 25 years ago, it should have been handled 20 years ago, and 10 years ago, and five years ago," he said.

"It should have been handled by numerous  not just (former US President Barack) Obama, but certainly President Obama should have taken care of it. Now it is at a point where it is very, very far advanced. Something has to be done. We can not allow this to happen," Trump said.

Meanwhile, Republican Congressman Ted Yoho told CNN that the goal is to put sanctions on North Korea, have the world buy into it, bring them to the negotiating table, and get a diplomatic end to this.

"All North Korea has to do is look at the satellites at night and compare South Korea to North Korea. You can see what a democracy and a market economy does, and you can contrast that with Vietnam, who we were at war with, with the Vietnam War. They embraced market economies.

"They are a communist state, but they are our 16th largest trading partners," Yoho said.

"Neither country has a nuclear weapon. So nuclear weapons is not the answer. Economic trade and let's work on those things that we can agree on and then put the nuclear weapons away," he added.

The Trump administration along with the UN has been at the forefront of a drive to impose economic sanctions on the globally isolated North Korean regime for its nuclear ambitions which have threatened the world peace.

Trump has engaged in an escalating war of words with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un amid rising tensions between the two countries. Trump has even said that diplomatic efforts have not worked in dealing with North Korea.
of UNESCO in Paris, October 15, 2001. REUTERS/Mal Langsdon MAL/WS - RTRO5Q8

The United States announced it will withdraw from the UNESCO, accusing the UN's cultural body of "anti-Israel" stance.

The withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018. The US will remain a full member of UNESCO until that time.

"This decision was not taken lightly and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti- Israel bias at UNESCO," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said.

She said the Department of State today notified United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation Director-General Irina Bokova of the US decision to withdraw from the organisation and to seek to establish a permanent observer mission to UNESCO.

"The US indicated to the Director-General its desire to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organisation, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms, and promoting scientific collaboration and education," Nauert said.

Paris-based UNESCO, which began work in 1946, is known for designating World Heritage sites.
Community Life  as seen on social media
Education

Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu.

Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu.

Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events:

International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu.

EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu.

Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale  an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s  will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets  June Homecoming: Participant  $18 per person; Sustainer  $25 per person; Benefactor  $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler  Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events:

SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available  for information call 610-275-1960

Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above)

SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m.

Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.

Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.  4 p.m.  computers are available during those hours.

Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863.

Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376.

Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com.

The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes:

Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at

other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020.

CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313.

The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events:

Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m.

Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m.

Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30.

Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301.

For Kids & Families

The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443.

Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950.

Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required.

The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950.

Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus.

Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage.

Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun.

Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train.

Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world!

Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class.

Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org.

Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583.

Community Events at the Ambler Y:

-YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register.

Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org.

Health

Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot.

The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information.

Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245.

Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net.

Spring Aquatic Programs  UDHS Pool:

-Summer is just around the corner  Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required.

 Shallow Water Aerobics  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR.

 Adult Swim Instructions  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR

-Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21.

-Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday  Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m.

-Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons.

-Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates.

Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994.

SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com.

Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org.

Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs:

FITNESS CLASSES

Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month.

Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30  9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly.

SUPPORT GROUPS

Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000.

Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30  7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047.

New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.  12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30  4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931.

Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325.

Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes.

Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com.

Librarytalk

Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744

www.upperdublinlibrary.org

APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS:

Storytimes: Please register in the library.

o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m.

o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m.

o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m.

o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6.

APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS:

North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee

APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS:

NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org.

One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register  contact info above.

Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744.

o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register.

Meetings:

Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m.

Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m.

Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org.

For children and teens at Blue Bell:

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m.

* May 14  Despicable Me

* June 11  Alpha and Omega

* Special Events

* April  watch for date of spring/Easter events

* April 14 at 4:30 p.m.  Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children.

* April 14 at 7 p.m.  Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided.

* April 16 at 1 p.m.  Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King.

* April 16 at 1:30 p.m.  Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes?

* April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button.

* April 30 through May 3  Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults.

* May  sign up for Science in the Summer

* June  sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children

* June  sign up for Summer Reading, all ages

For adults at Blue Bell:

* Daytime Book Discussion Group  fourth Tuesday, Jan  April at 1:30 p.m.

* April 26  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Night-time Book Discussion Group  third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.

o April 19  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges

o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked?

*Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs

* Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class.

* Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class.

* Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m.

* Giant Book Sale, April 29  May 3

o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults!

o Held during library hours.

o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m.

o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join.

* Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series

o May 11 at 1 p.m.  Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society

* Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room.

* Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read.

* Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome.

* Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome.

*Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older.

* Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours

* Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours

* Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday!

Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library.

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* For adults:

* Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn.

* Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net

* Special Events:

* April 14 at 1:30 p.m.  Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian.

* April 19 at 7 p.m.  Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m.

* April 21 at 7 p.m.  Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades.

*May 2 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

*May 10  Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*May 12 at 1:30p.m.  Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

*May 17  Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*June 13 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

Meetings and Lectures

The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833.

The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200.

The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/.

LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings.

Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org.

Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org)

-Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them.

The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter.

For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps.

Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin.

Special Events

The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County.

The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065.

Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members.

Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex.

The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com.

The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348.

The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org.

Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163.

The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu.

The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com.

The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net.

Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages.

13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries.

Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family.

The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler.

JPRN  Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them  Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike.

Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies.

Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately.

Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways.

Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table.

Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp  Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall:

-Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store.

Music and Theater

The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220.

Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html.

Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free.

The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org

Religious News

The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276.

Reunions

St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net.

Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572.

Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779.

Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net

Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net

The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411.

Support

New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149.

PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931.

The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296.

Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656.

Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group  every other Wednesday, 7  8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support  second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner  Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers  Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information.

CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7  8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich,
Writing has changed dramatically over the years and the rule of thumb today is to be concise, slightly poetic for flair, descriptive to build tension or interest but, in all cases, produce error-free copy with spot-on substance. And editors are the final set of eyes that determines what gets in and what gets thrown out. Its a tough job.

Why? Because history has shown that even a slight mistake by an editor could cost millions of dollars for a company. For example, in the 1988 edition of the Yellow Pages, an ad purchased by the Banner Travel Agency was meant to promote the companys exotic travel options, but, thanks to a typo by Pacific Bell, and overlooked by the chief editor, it advertised erotic travel destinations. Bell waived the ads $230 monthly fee, but the company had other ideas and later sued for $10 million and won.

Going back even further, when the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated on May 30, 1922, the world bore witness to how $2,000,000 in federal funds, eight years of American elbow grease, and 38,000 tons of marble, granite and limestone could result in something truly extraordinary: a very expensive typo. In his speech, the war-weary president expressed his high hope for the future except, originally, the engraver got it wrong and engraved high hope for the euture. If you visit the Memorial today, you can still see where the bottom of the E in EUTURE was eventually filled in with slightly off-colored stone to become FUTURE.

It doesnt just happen here in the U.S. In 2015, the British governments registrar of companies reported that Taylor & Sons, a family engineering business established in 1875, was being liquidated. The problem: it wasnt. In fact, a completely different company named Taylor and Son (no s at the end) had gone belly-up, and the registrar didnt catch the difference in spelling. Though the typo was corrected within three days, the damage to Taylor & Sons' credibility was irreparable. Two months later they were, indeed, out of business  and a court found the government liable for the equivalent of a roughly $17 million legal bill.

Checking numbers for an editor is important, too. In 2006, Alitalia Airlines mistakenly listed a deal on flights from Toronto to Cyprus for a scant $39. They meant to say $3,900, but by the time the error could be corrected, some 2,000 passengers had already booked flights at the low rate. Fearing the fallout of canceling those tickets, Alitalia decided to let their customers get away with the bargain  costing the company more than $7 million in losses.

Could a comma cost the government millions of dollars? Twenty years before the word "typo" even entered English, the U.S. government made an epic one. In an 1872 attempt to recover Americas post-Civil-War economy, Ulysses S. Grants administration passed a tariff act that imposed a 20 percent tax on most foreign imports. There were some exceptions, the bill said, including "fruit, plants tropical and semi-tropical for the purpose of cultivation." The problem? The bill was only supposed to exempt 'fruit-plants,' not fruit and plants as that stray comma implied. However, importers took advantage and insisted that their fruit should pass into the country tax-free as the letter of the law decreed and the government was forced to refund roughly $2 million in duties  or about $40 million by todays standards.

However, when it comes to the virtual world, typos can make money. Take for instance everyones favorite search engine, Google. Thanks to well-placed advertisements on commonly misspelled URLs like "goggle.com," or a practice called "typosquatting," its estimated that Google makes 3.5 cents per visit to typo domains. Taking into account these factors, researchers concluded that URL typos net Google a tidy sum of $497 million revenue per year on web users typos by directing them to ads.

Newspaper editors deserve a round of applause because a lot of what theyre reporting on and editing these days isnt feel good, fuzzy news, and deadlines have become faster than ever thanks to the digital world. They should, however, take comfort that one boo-boo made by the Washington Post in 1940 has to be the worst blunder of all time. The paper ran a headline about President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as follows: FDR in bed with coed. The President was actually in bed with a cold, but he thought the goof was so funny that he called the Post and asked for 100 copies.

Eleanor, however, wasnt amused.

Peg DeMarco can be reached at pegdemarco@earthlink.net.
For her whole life, Myrtle Fox, who recently celebrated her 107th birthday, has been sipping on two things constantly her whole life: coffee and the love of Jesus Christ.

On Sept. 17, she and her family came together at Grace Heights, a long-term health care facility in Morganton, to ring in her 107th year being on Earth.

At the party, family and friends were able to share in birthday cake, ice-cream, pizza and memories.

Although she is thankful for living as long as she has, she also is looking forward to what heaven will be like.

It will be wonderful because Jesus is there, Fox said, while lying in her bed in Grace Heights eating Bojangles ' chicken.

Her secret to living a long life is to live for Jesus, Fox said.

When asked why living for Jesus is so important to her, she replied that it is the perfect life.

Fox was born in Pembrook, Kentucky , in 1910 at her house, and grew up in Caldwell County and eventually moved to Morganton. She had nine brothers and one sister and was the third oldest sibling.

It was a lot of hard work (having nine brothers), Fox said.

She recalled how as a 3 -year-old , one of her fingers was accidently severed when her oldest brother Bill was chopping wood.

Back then there wasnt a lot of antibiotics, so they put a sugar poultice on it (that drew out the poison or gangrene), said Cathy Turner, Foxs granddaughter.

She dropped out of school and taught herself how to read by reading scripture, Turner said.

Fox, who is one of five generations still living, was a homemaker , and her husband, Paul Fox Sr., was an electrician . They had four children , with one being adopted. She worked for a short time in the laundry department at Broughton Hospital and loved to bake, take care of her yard, fish and can different types of food, Turner said.

She would make fruits cakes or really any type of cake, Turner said. Papaw would take a day out of the week during the summer to pick blackberries all day.

Turner remembers when she was growing up, once a week in the summer time she would visit Fox in Lenoir for a meal.

She would keep the kitchen window open and when you got close to the house you could smell what she was cooking, Turner said.

Foxs favorite food is sweet potatoes. She also likes crunchy Cheetos, chicken and Reeses.

I like to cook and make sweet potato pies  they are good, Fox said.

She would always give away the pies because she was never a stingy person, Turner said.

Whatever she had, everybody else had, she said. She has always been a giver.

Another activity that Fox took delight in was finding a yellow-jacket nest.

She would get the gas can and a match and here we went with the shovel, Turner said. She would burn that thing out and then she would dig it up and count how many layers (there were).

Turner says she cant count how many times that Fox was stung.

So many memories of Fox come to Turners mind, but one of the most cherished is what she remembers her doing on the back porch.

Even after I got married, I could go down there any day of the week, except Sunday of course, (and) I would stand out on the back porch and I would listen to her pray, Turner said. She would name everybody off by name.

Sometimes Fox would use the bathroom as her prayer closet, she said.

If it wasnt for her I dont know where I would be, " Turner said. "She taught me about the Lord and taught me how to pray . 

While laying in the bed at Grace Heights, she shared her favorite verse from the Bible with a little help from Turner.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, they said together.

Staff Writer Jonelle Bobak can be reached at jbobak@morganton.com or 828-432-8907.
The suspect in a shooting on Wednesday night was taken into custody on Thursday.

Officers arrested David Arrex Burleson on Thursday after he left the scene of a shooting Wednesday night.

Burleson, 38, of Morganton, was arrested for the shooting around 12:30 p.m. near a home on Hawkins Drive following tips provided to the Burke County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Steve Whisenant said.

The shooting victim, Scotty Everette Vess, 51, was airlifted to a Charlotte hospital Wednesday for his injuries. Whisenant said he may be released Thursday.

Whisenant said the shooting happened at Burleson's home, and a witness at the scene said the victim was shot in the stomach.

Officers searched the home Wednesday night, but Burleson was not inside, Whisenant said.

Whisenant said Burleson left the crime scene on foot. He was located on Hawkins Drive, which is about 9 miles away.

When officers arrived at the home on Hawkins Drive, Whisenant said Burleson ran into the woods.

Officers told Burleson to stop, and he turned around and complied, Whisenant said.

Powder could be seen in Burleson's mouth when he was arrested, Whisenant said. Officers were concerned he took a controlled substance and called EMS to transport him to a local hospital.

Burleson was not armed when he was arrested, Whisenant said.

BCSO, along with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and a Morganton Department of Public Safety K-9 unit, still were at Hawkins Drive around 2 p.m. looking for the gun.

Whisenant said he will speak with the district attorney to see whether or not there will be additional charges.

Burleson previously was convicted of manslaughter in 2003, according to a North Carolina Department of Public Safety offender search. The conviction happened in Avery County, and he spent seven years in prison for the crime. A News Herald reporter is at the magistrate's office waiting for Burleson to arrive for processing.

This story will be updated as more information is made available.
A Lenoir man received the permanent press from Morganton Department of Public Safety after a K-9 officer found him hiding inside a dryer after he led police on a short chase through downtown.

Preston Green, 23, of Lenoir, allegedly was pumping gas at the Quality Mart on Carbon City Road in Morganton on Wednesday afternoon when he left without paying for the gas, said MDPS Capt. Jason Whisnant.

The (gas station) clerk gave out a description to the dispatchers of a slim, white male with a goatee and a vehicle description of a gold Honda with dark tinted windows, Whisnant said.

Police that were heading toward the gas station spotted the described vehicle, which then led police on a short chase through Morganton starting on Sanford Drive then onto North Green Street and onto Bouchelle Street.

(They) lost sight of the vehicle in the vicinity of Bouchelle and Roper Street, Whisnant said. There were six police cars in the area and we set up a perimeter and started checking side streets and driveways.

Police located the vehicle at 109 Douglas Drive in Morganton in the carport and came into contact with the homeowner and Alexis Graybeal, Greens girlfriend, Whisnant said.

They advised that they did not know who this person was, he said.

Public Safety Officer Stacey Huffman showed up on scene with K-9 Jaros who was used to search the home and, eventually, began alerting that human scent was coming from the dryer in the basement. Police used tactical shield to enter into the basement since it was unknown whether the suspect was armed or not, Whisnant said.

They found the suspect hiding in the dryer, he said.

After police placed Green in the patrol car, he told The News Herald that he was not the one that police were chasing.

I didnt run, I was at the house and I got warrants  I dont know nothing about the car or anything like that, Green said. I didnt run, but if that would have been me, I would have run.

MDPS is attempting to get a hold of the Quality Mart surveillance video to see if Green was the one to steal the gas.

Green was charged with felony fleeing to elude arrest, speeding, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, larceny of gas, reckless driving, resisting arrest and multiple traffic violations, Whisnant said.

Green had three warrants out of Caldwell County including failure to appear on charges of breaking and entering, failure to appear on charges of careless and reckless driving and fictitious tag and communicating threats.

The charges from Caldwell and those added on by MDPS on Wednesday totaled into a bond amount of $147,000, Whisnant said.

The vehicle was found to be stolen out of Lenoir and, inside the vehicle, police found a stolen Smith and Wesson revolver.

Graybeal was charged with harboring a fugitive, felony possession schedule I and II drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was given a $27,500 bond, police said.

Donna Bowen, another resident of 109 Douglas Drive, was given a citation after police found LSD, a schedule I hallucinogen, in plain view on an ottoman.

All these drugs were found during a safety sweep of the residence, Whisnant said.

Agencies involved alongside MDPS were the Morganton Task Force and North Carolina License and Theft Bureau.

Staff Writer Jonelle Bobak can be reached at jbobak@morganton.com or 828-432-8907.
Many of our citizens may not be aware that the General Assembly is considering legislation that will impact the court system statewide and in Burke County. They are considering splitting the judicial district of Burke, Caldwell and Catawba Counties and splitting the prosecutorial district, as well. There is also under consideration a change to the current superior court division between Burke and Caldwell as one district and Catawba County as a separate superior court district. In a time of budget constraints, it makes no sense to expend additional tax dollars to address "issues" that we feel, do not exist.

The Burke County Bar Association considered these proposals and unanimously adopted three resolutions addressing these proposals.

The first resolution was our opposition to any proposal to split the prosecutorial district. There is no identified need to do so and no benefit to be derived from this action. It would increase costs to create a new office of the district attorney in a divided district.

The second resolution speaks to the opposition to a merger of the current separate superior court districts into a single district. This has the potential to reduce the impact of Burke County voters on the selection of our superior court judges.

The third resolution addresses the impacts on our district courts. The Bar strongly endorses the creation of a new district court judgeship for the district. The current caseload and the projected increases to that caseload in juvenile court make this a great need to serve the citizens of Burke County, as well as Caldwell and Catawba counties. However, the Bar strongly opposes any other changes to the current structure of our district courts or any division of the district. Again, such a division would increase costs for the judicial system and offer no benefit as a result of such a change.

There may be many improvements that could be offered to enhance the quality of the judicial system in North Carolina, but these proposals do not address any identified needs or offer any great improvement for the citizens of Burke County.
With almost three decades of experience as a mortgage broker, Ajay Soni is well-suited in his role as National President of the Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association, and one of his objectives is to elucidate the industrys importance to the public.



The CMBA has undertaken a vigorous advertising campaign over the last four years thats paid dividends. It started in B.C. with ads on Global, CBC, and Vancouver newspapers, the Sun and Province, as well as on social media. The CMBAs provincial organizations in B.C., Ontario and Atlantic Canada also ramped up their advertising efforts and now the national organizations logo is recognizable across the country, much like the logo realtors use.



Weve been able to do some bulk buying and we have the same commercials running across the country, so it doesnt matter if youre here in Vancouver or in Toronto, said Soni, whos also a senior broker with Invis. The most important thing is that the public is seeing that this is a credible brand and that they should deal with our member brokers.



It isnt just the public that has taken notice, though. Soni says mortgage brokers are attaining more prominence in the worlds of business and politics.



We also see it with government and regulators and were called to speak to a lot of different issues, he said. As an example, in February as CMBA national president, I attended Parliament Hill and spoke in front of the Standing Committee on Finance about the new mortgage rule changes.



Although government has begun listening to mortgage industry insiders like Soni, he very much doubts its sincerity. He has repeatedly informed lawmakers that the rule changes are adversely affecting the very people theyre trying to help.



Well-heeled individuals who can get financing arent being affected, but the very people that theyre trying to help are being affected, Soni said of conversations with policymakers in Ottawa. We have a submission paper in which we talked about governments role in holding back supply, and there are other additional costs to developers that add to the costs on homes. How do home prices go up? Its not just market forces, its multispectral. Theres lots of demand, theres immigration, and then theres lots of barriers to development, which restricts the supply of housing.



While Soni doesnt believe government is seriously listening to the industrys concerns  What we specifically said at Parliament Hill was, ask us to consult before youve announced things because youre wasting a lot of peoples time  he intends to continue lobbying on the industrys behalf, as well as forging further down the path the CMBA has already laid out.



Were going to expand our membership to allow others to become members, and we expect to do more submissions to government and provide feedback to the mortgage rule changes going forward.
Pamela Morris has served as the President and CEO of CareSource since its inception 28 years ago. A social entrepreneur, Morris pioneered Ohios first mandatory Medicaid managed care program and built Dayton Area Health Plan. Under her leadership, CareSource has grown to become one of the nations largest Medicaid Managed Care plans, serving more than 1.8 million members in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia and West Virginia.

As President and CEO of CareSource, Morris has been recognized for her leadership and commitment to improving the health and well-being of the members CareSource serves. She was named the 2007 National Entrepreneur of the Year, Healthcare Services by Ernst & Young. She has also won several local awards, including the 2014 Maureen Patterson Regional Leader Award from the Dayton Development Coalition. She was recently elected to the Americas Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Board of Directors.

CareSource has been much more than a job for me, it has been my lifes passion. Even in those early days through today, I have never lost sight of what I set out to do when I came to Dayton and we started the Dayton Area Health Plan, Morris said. Im proud that CareSource has been able to make a lasting difference in our members lives. Through all the changes to health care industry, weve never lost sight of our mission.

Pam is an exceptional leader and a true visionary in the health insurance industry, said Kevin Brown, Chairperson, CSMG Board. What she has helped build at CareSource is nothing short of extraordinary. Her passion for our employees, our members and for the communities we serve is unmatched.
A rent-to-own operator has been essentially shut down in Wisconsin as its legal battle with the state rages on.Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has obtained a temporary injunction against Vision Property Management (VPM), a South Carolina-based rent-to-own company. The injunction also applies to VPM affiliates and essentially prohibits the company from doing business in the state for the duration of the legal battle.In June, Wisconsin sued VPM, alleging that the company used shady business practices to lure consumers into leasing, renting or purchasing uninhabitable properties, violating Wisconsins mortgage banking and landlord-tenant laws.This injunction will provide relief to consumers impacted by this companys deceptive business model, Schimel said. Companies that deceive Wisconsin consumers are not welcome in our state, and we will continue to pursue the lawsuit against VPM.According to Schimel, VPM convinced tenants to lease run-down properties with the prospect of one day being able to purchase them.VPM requires the tenants to rehabilitate the property in three to four short months, pay all the overdue taxes, which are sometimes years overdue, and resolve any outstanding building code violations with the city, the Wisconsin AGs office said. If the tenants fail to do any of these things, VPM evicts the tenant and repeats the cycle by renting the uninhabitable property to yet another Wisconsin consumer.VPM has nearly 200 properties in Wisconsin, according to the state AGs office. The injunction prohibits the company from entering into new eases, and evicting or threatening to evict tenants. It also requires VPM to permit Wisconsin tenants to terminate their leases without penalty and to seek pecuniary losses that resulted from VPMs prohibited acts and practices.
Even as China promotes reforms to its oil and gas industry, access to its shale and offshore fields remains largely off limits to foreign firms, a U.S. trade official said Tuesday.

Interest has grown around China's oil and gas reserves in recent years, as new drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology employed in the United States is believed to have the potential to revive China's dormant oil and gas industry.

"They say we hear you, but we're very far behind and will open up our market step by step," said Alan Turley, deputy assistant secretary of commerce for China and Mongolia at the U.S. International Trade Administration, said during a talk at the Washington think tank the Atlantic Council. "They say we're still a poor, developing country."

China announced this summer it was lifting restrictions on foreign investment in unconventional oil and gas development, with an eye towards developing shale and oil sands fields.

But complicating matters, Turley said, is that leaders of the Chinese state-owned oil and chemical companies tend to be politically powerful and are not eager to give up their ownership of fields that might one day yield massive production.

"What matters in China is your party rank," he said. The state-owned company "head is usually higher ranking than the regulator overseeing them."

China, now the world's largest oil importer, has become an increasingly significant player in the world's energy markets as it economy has grown exponentially over the past decades. It has a long-established oil industry, but at present that is only able to supply roughly a third of the country's demand, with the bulk of their supply coming from the Middle East, Africa, Iran and Russia.

At the same time, China has bought up increasing amounts of natural gas from abroad as it seeks to reduce is reliance on coal-fired power plants, which have been the source of dangerous air pollution surrounding many Chinese cities.

But with the United States, Austrailia and the Middle East all fast developing LNG export facilities, there are limits to how much American firms should expect China to take, said Robert Fee, chief of staff of external affairs at Cheniere Energy, the Houston-based LNG company.

"There's still a lot of supply coming online," he said. "China's not going to suck it all up."
LM Otero/STF

Oil slid as investors waited to see whether U.S. government data will confirm that crude stockpiles rose last week, while the International Energy Agency warned of a ceiling for prices next year.

Futures lost 1.7 percent in New York after climbing 4.1 percent the previous three sessions. Inventories rose by 3.1 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. That contrasts with a Bloomberg survey that showed stockpiles dropped for a third week. The government is due to release the official data later Thursday. Meanwhile the IEA said global supply and demand estimates for 2018 indicate that stockpiles may not fall further, potentially capping prices.
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President Trump's son and daughter-in-law, Eric and Lara Trump, surprised attendees at the Midland County Republican Women luncheon on Wednesday.

Eric Trump emphasized efforts, including by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, during the 2016 general election.

"Your lieutenant governor is incredible," Trump said to those gathered at Midland Country Club. "He helped us tremendously [in] this state."

The Trumps entered the luncheon during Patrick's scheduled speech to the group. Eric Trump highlighted low unemployment rates, military investment and a Supreme Court justice appointment since his father took office.

"Oil and gas  something that's near and dear to everybody out here and near and dear to us  we're finally opening the pipelines again," he said. "We're allowing people to drill."

Now Playing: Eric Trump appears at MCRW luncheon Video: Midland Reporter-Telegram

Lara Trump said her appearance in Midland was the first time away from her son since she gave birth three weeks ago.

"[President Trump] will continue to fight every single day for America, for the people of this country because we were being left behind," she said. "This country was headed in the wrong direction, and I'm so excited that I was able to bring my son into a country where Donald Trump is our president."

After their speeches, Patrick recalled his interactions with the president. He said Trump's relatives helped people consider his role as a husband and father.

"I think one of the reasons your dad won the election  not only was he a great candidate, did he have the right message...," Patrick said. "But it was because of his family."

Patrick on Wednesday also mentioned future job and transportation needs, as Texas is estimated to experience population growth. He pointed out the strength of the state's economy.

"The oil and gas industry is such a major part of that," Patrick said. "It is the backbone of our economy for our country, for our state."

Patrick also spoke about the state's response after Hurricane Harvey. He said he witnessed people's spirit while visiting that region.

"For many people, it was the worst of times," Patrick said. "They lost everything they had  they're out of their homes. But the best of times was seeing how people came together as one."
David Chapman, Scout executive and CEO of the Buffalo Trail Council, told the Reporter-Telegram he was surprised at hearing a decision has been made but that it really shouldnt be an issue for Boy Scouts in West Texas.

RELATED: In historic shift, Boy Scouts to expand girls' participation

He said the traits Boy Scouts teach, including citizenship, character development and leadership, are applicable for boys and girls and that scouting organizations in most countries around the world offer scouting to boys and girls. Also family camping also has been taking place for years, he said.

That part shouldnt be an issue.

Read more from Chapman in Fridays edition.






Grief counselors visited Melbourne High School Thursday as students dealt with news that a fellow student took his own life in a standoff with West Melbourne police.

Michael Proctor has been ID'ed as the shooter



Grandmother: Proctor bought drugs from a friend, said he was going to die

Standoff lasted overnight for hours

Suspected shooter has been found deceased inside the residence. #WMPDPIO  West Melbourne PD (@WestMelbournePD) October 12, 2017

Michael Proctor, 16, was found dead inside the barricaded house early Thursday morning.

Shooter appears to have suffered self inflicted gun shot #WMPDPIO  West Melbourne PD (@WestMelbournePD) October 12, 2017

Proctor's grandmother Lorene Powers, says she went to check on the teen Wednesday night at a home on Martin Lane.

Powers said he told her he had bought drugs from a friend and taken them.

"He said 'Im going to die,'" Powers told News 13. "I asked him 'What makes you say that?' He said, 'I took those pills.'"

That's when Powers called police, and when officers arrived to talk to the family, investigators say Proctor began firing at them through his door.

Officers entered the home and were able to get the teen's aunt and uncle, grandmother and a friend out safely.

"As I came out into the hall, it sounded like an automatic, I don't know what kind of gun," Proctor's aunt Libby Morey said. "It was shooting a lot. And then the cops yelled 'fire! fire!' and then they got me out of the house."

Proctor then barricaded himself inside the house, and for several overnight hours police tried to negotiate for him to give up peacefully.

Finally around 6:30 Thursday morning, police entered the home and found the teen dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Family members say this was not in his personality at all.

"Michael was a straight A student," said Morey. "Honor roll. All-around good kid."



His aunt adds Proctor was into computers and had lots of friends.

Police records show he was arrested for breaking into a nearby home back in April, and stealing a gun and cell phone.

Family member say teen was a straight A student before he started hanging with the wrong crowd. @MyNews13 pic.twitter.com/zRG1z16Lrm  Jerry Hume (@JerryHume) October 12, 2017

"This is never the resolution that we want. This is a young life taken too soon, 16 years old," said West Melbourne Police Capt. Richard Cordeau.
VERNON  Organic wheat and beef may not be for everyone, but one Texas A&M AgriLife team is going to make sure producers in Texas know more about the possibilities than they currently do.

Dr. Curtis Adams, Texas A&M AgriLife Research crop physiologist at Vernon, will lead a new project funded by the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the Organic Transition Program.

Introducing Organic to Producers of Grain-Only and Dual-Purpose Wheat Cropping Systems of Northern Texas is an integrated grant project that includes research, Extension and education components, Adams said.

Were very excited about this project because we expect that it will open doors to producers that havent been available before, he said. Many producers have seen organic agriculture as a complicated process with a lot of challenges, but we hope to make the process simpler.

He said the project area extends from the wheat-growing regions of the Texas Panhandle to west of Dallas.

While this region is nationally recognized for its wheat production and stocker cattle wheat grazing systems, there is virtually no organic agriculture here, Adams said, estimating there were only about 10 farms certified as organic in this area.

Collaborators include Dr. Bill Pinchak, AgriLife Research animal nutritionist in Vernon, who will facilitate the grazing measurements and animal gain; Dr. Emi Kimura and Dr. Jourdan Bell, AgriLife Extension agronomists in Vernon and Amarillo, respectively, who will conduct the Extension outreach and education component; Dr. Seong Park, AgriLife Research economist in Vernon; and Dr. Anil Somenahally, AgriLife Research soil microbiologist in Overton.

Organic is one of the fastest growing areas of agriculture in terms of consumption, Adams said. But Texas has not taken advantage of the growth in that sector like other states have.

He said suppliers of organic wheat and organic beef are having a hard time finding adequate supplies to meet their demand. One company, Ardent Mills of Colorado, has indicated it would source organic wheat products across a large region that includes Texas, but hasnt been able to get much supply from this state.

Arden Mills is running a private initiative to increase organic wheat production in this region, offering some incentives to producers, and we have teamed up to help connect them with producers in Texas, Adams said.

Adams said his cropping system research will begin with a cover crop in spring 2018 and take place on 100 acres of AgriLife Researchs Smith-Walker ranch 10 miles south of Vernon.

In the research, transitional organic systems will be directly compared to conventional systems, he said. Organic management will include application of composted manure and summer cover crops to supply fertility, crop rotation, tillage and cultural practices to control weeds. The conventional side will include summer fallow, the use of synthetic fertilizers, tillage and chemical weed control.

Since the research has both grain-only and grazing components, we wanted the experiment to occur on a large field scale, which is the only way to provide results directly transferable to producers, Adams said. We will be able to tell producers how all management aspects come together to affect yield, animal gains, the soil and their bottom line.

One of the problems, he explained, is once a producer cuts off the use of chemicals, there is a three-year transition period before the farm can be certified as organic. This has been a barrier to adoption of organic agriculture because it is risky for a producer. The lower-input organic scenario could decrease yields, but the producer cant realize the organic price premium for three years.

The research portion of the project has been designed to generate data that will clarify the benefits and risks to producers during and following the organic transition period, Adams said.

Theres also an environmental side to organic agriculture that will be attractive to some producers, he said.

We will look at the soil and microbiology shifts in response to organic management practices to give us some understanding of the health of the system and its environmental impact, Adams said.

We know organic is not for everyone, he said. But we want to bring information to the table and let producers make decisions themselves. We will hold two AgriLife Extension workshops in the second year of the project, one in Vernon and one in Amarillo, to provide intensive education on organic agriculture to those who are interested.

The workshops will focus on cultural practices, organic regulations, incentives and certification fees, and also offer producers a chance to meet with potential marketers such as Ardent Mills, he said.

As a part of our AgriLife Extension efforts, we will run preliminary economic numbers on how we expect organic wheat to work in this region and then will revise those after three years based on the outcomes of our research, Adams said.

Additionally, the educational component of the project will be directed toward regional higher education. Team members Kimura and Bell will work with Michael Schoppa at Vernon College in Vernon and Dr. Brock Blaser at West Texas A&M University in Canyon to develop a curriculum section on organic agriculture.

This will help give students in the region a more comprehensive look at agriculture to include organics, Adams said.
TULIA  The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Services Swisher County Ag Committee has rescheduled their Swisher County Cotton Tour for Oct. 18 after being postponed earlier this month due to inclement weather, said the countys AgriLife Extension agent.

Well meet to start the tour at Flatlands Grain in Kress, said John Villalba. Flatlands Grain is at the intersection of Farm-to-Market 145 and U.S. Highway 87.

The fields to be showcased are meant to serve as examples not only for producers seeking information on varieties but also harvest aids, which have been of great interest during these last few varying weather spells, Villalba said.

Tour particulars are as follows:

 9 a.m., Mike Goss Phytogen Innovation Trial, 5.2 miles north of Flatlands Grain. From U.S. Highway 87 take Farm-to-Market Road 928, travel 2 miles east to County Road 16, then a quarter mile south to the trial location.

10 a.m., Dexter Adams PGR Trial, 4.5 miles north of the Goss farm tour stop on U.S. Highway 87.

-11 a.m.  1 p.m. Jeremy Reed/Swisher County R.A.C.E. or Replicated Agronomic Cotton Evaluation Trial, a Soil Health Trial and the Barry Evans Harvest Aid Trial, 12 miles south from Adams PGR Trial on Interstate 27 and west on County Road DD. Lunch will be included in this stop, sponsored by Eco-Drip Irrigation, which will have a representative present to discuss their irrigation products.

Individual registration is $10 with an RSVP deadline of Oct. 17. For more information and to RSVP, call the AgriLife Extension office in Swisher County at 806-995-3726.

Three Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units  one general, one drift minimization and one integrated pest management will be offered.
Oct. 12, 1937: Miss Christine Warren of Plainview, who is teaching at Friona High School, has been selected by the Parmer County West Texas State Teachers Ex-Students as their candidate for homecoming queen at the college.

--Mrs. John H. Burman of Sherman was re-elected president of the Womens Synodical Missionary Society which is holding its 49th annual session in Plainview.

--A slow penetrating rain which started last night brought a half-inch of rain across a wide area. Although cotton picking has been delayed, no serious damage to the crop is anticipated.

Oct. 12, 1957: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip arrived in Ottawa today on her first North American visit as a reigning monarch.

--Two Olton teens found a car with its keys in the ignition Friday and borrowed it. They abandoned it near the cemetery in Plainview and found a car here, but soon ran out of gas. They then stole a pickup and drove it to Turkey and then back to Plainview. Police Chief H.P Pelprey is reminding local residents to not leave their keys inside their unattended vehicles.

--Don R. Johnson has joined the Soil Conservation Service staff in Plainview.

Oct. 12, 1977: Waylands Llano Estacado Museum and the Rotary Club will co-sponsor the annual Running Water Draw Arts and Crafts Festival on Oct. 14-16 in the Hale County Agriculture Center.

--Mmes. Frank Hart, Bob Wayland and Grafton McInnish were hostesses for the Hale County Historical Commission on Saturday. Mrs. Bengta Akeson Culp gave the program.

--Virginia Butler, who teaches at PHS, will serve as director of the Hale County Spelling Bee.

Oct. 12, 1987: Earl W. Miller and Bill F. Webb attended the regional Organ Guild conference in San Antonio.

--Hale County Commissioners honored Extension Agent Wynon Mayes with a plaque of appreciation for 15 years of service to the county.

--Four charter members of the Plainview Symphony Orchestra will be honored at tomorrows concert: J.W. King Jr. and Kent Akin of Plainview and Carl Williams and Donna Wilson of Hale Center.
A local student was in law enforcement custody Wednesday afternoon in connection with a threat of violence on social media directed at Plainview High School.

Greg Brown, Plainview ISDs executive director for administrative services, reported about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, The student believed responsible for making the threat has been taken into police custody. The investigation is an ongoing process, but its safe to say that particular individual will not be returning to a PISD classroom anytime in the near future.

Due to student confidentiality, Brown could not identify the student as to age or gender but indicated that the individual is a student within the local school system. Brown said that no weapons have been found, and no violence occurred.

We will continue to stay diligent at Plainview High School as well as all our campuses, but we feel that the issue has been resolved, Brown said. We thank the Plainview Police Department and Hale County Sheriffs Office, and other law enforcement agencies for their assistance in dealing with this unusual situation, and for our parents and staff for their understanding and cooperation.

Earlier in the day two sheriffs deputies could be seen standing guard as the Powerhouse of the Plains Band went through field rehearsals on the south side of the PHS campus. At the same time, several Plainview Police Department units could be seen parked strategically around the outside of the sprawling campus. Other officers were patrolling the halls inside.

The heightened police presence was the result of a threat communicated to several students Tuesday night via Snapchat. That message, sent using the anonymous App Sarahah, read: GoodLuck to all of you very soon:) you thought I was nothing now look we will see:)

Lubbock has a shooting now its our turn

Be ready plainview high school

Brown said multiple students received the message on social media about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. The students parents in turn notified law enforcement and school officials.

The treat was made towards PHS, Brown said. No other school were directly threatened, but we made staff on all campuses aware and they are taking necessary precautions. We all are being extra diligent at this time.

The district has a policy that during school hours all outside doors except the main entrance are locked on each campus, and visitors are admitted through that entrance only. They are required to sign in and out. Those procedures were being strictly enforced Wednesday.

Brown said threats of violence are quite rare at Plainview High School and throughout the district. This is something that happens probably once a year, if that often. But we take things like this very seriously, even kids who are heard popping off at school. When something like that happens, we investigate and they are disciplined.
MERIDEN  A Colony Street restaurant is seeking to be reclassified as a bar so that it can serve alcohol, but residents say they have concerns, citing a March shooting at the establishment and a controversy earlier this year regarding exotic dancers.



Residents crowded into a Planning Commission meeting Wednesday because of an application from 105 Restaurant & Lounge, 105 Colony St. The business owners disputed the concerns, saying the bar invests in security and is one of the only business promoting night life downtown.



Its a ghost town down there, I dont know how were bothering anybody, Vicky Medeiros, wife of owner Manuel Medeiros, said during the meeting. I understand we might have rubbed a couple people the wrong way. That was not our intent. If there are concerns we want to work with the community to fix this.



The restaurants provisional liquor permit expired in August, said City Planner Bob Seale, adding it is unclear if the business has been open since on a limited basis serving just food.



The special permit application from owner Manuel Medeiros would allow the business, currently considered a restaurant in the citys Transit-Oriented Development zone, to be reclassified as a bar. The reclassification would allow the city to sign off on a liquor permit application with the state, Seale said.



What we need to do is determine whether the activities under what is proposed for this bar meets what goes along with our master plan for the TOD, Seale told the commission Wednesday.



A decision on the application was ultimately postponed because Medeiros needs additional paperwork and the signature of the buildings owner. According to city records, the building is owned by 105 Colony St LLC. Isaac Shweky of Cheshire is the principal of the LLC.



During the meeting Wednesday, several residents voiced concerns about incidents at the restaurant, including the March shooting of 29-year-old man inside the bar. Vincequan Wright, 28, of 300 Britannia St., was charged with first-degree assault in connection to the incident.



Shortly after the shooting, Medeiros voluntarily suspended his provisional liquor permit. The restaurant then filed a new permit application with the state liquor commission.



Pastor Bruce Miller of First Congregational Church, which is down the street, expressed safety concerns and said music can be heard blaring out the windows of the bar late at night.



You get to assess the performance of the peoples previous efforts. In my belief theres no reason to believe that anything is going to be handled differently or more successfully this time, Miller said. This will not be a positive force there and therefore it should be turned down.



Holly Wills, president of the Meriden Council of Neighborhoods, said the organization has grave concerns regarding the business, stating it will have a negative impact on the quality of life for those in the neighborhood, which is also home to a daycare and the Meriden Boys & Girls Club.



There has been a pattern of multiple incidences of inappropriate activity at this restaurant and the Meriden Police Department has responded to multiple calls to the restaurant... including a shooting inside the establishment, she said. Due to these past occurrences our concerns are that the pattern of criminal activity will start up once again if the establishment is designated as a bar and allowed to serve alcohol.



Manuel Medeiros said allegations that criminal activity occurred at the bar are false and the shooting was out of his control, noting the business hired six bouncers for security purposes.



ltauss@record-journal.com 203-317-2231 Twitter: @LeighTaussRJ






President of the European Council Donald Tusk listens at a news conference during the European Union Tallinn Digital Summit in Tallinn, Estonia, September 29, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

BRUSSELS - European Union Council President Donald Tusk said Brexit negotiations will not move to the next stage before December at the earliest, not later this month, as Britain was hoping.

Tusk bemoaned on Tuesday the slow pace of negotiations on the divorce proceedings with London and said it was still far too early to move to the next phase of planning a new trade relationship because the initial breakup talks have yet to reach "sufficient progress".

"We hear from London that the UK government is preparing for a 'no deal' scenario," Tusk told EU regional leaders in Brussels. "The EU is not working on such a scenario. We are negotiating in good faith, and we still hope that the so-called 'sufficient progress' will be possible by December.

"However, if it turns out that the talks continue at a slow pace, and that 'sufficient progress' hasn't been reached, then - together with our UK friends - we will have to think about where we are heading."

Negotiators are holding a fifth round of talks on divorce proceedings, centered on the rights of citizens in each other's nations once the breakup is complete, the border between Ireland and the United Kingdom and the financial commitments Britain will have to pay.

As a compromise on those issues remains elusive, both sides have lobbed the proverbial ball in each other's court to take the initiative. On Monday, British Prime Minister Theresa May insisted "the ball is in their court".

When asked about it following his lunch with his British counterpart David Davis, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier turned toward journalists chasing him and said, with pointing finger: "Brexit is not a game. Don't forget it."

More than a year has passed since Britain voted to leave the EU, and six months since Britain triggered the two-year countdown to its EU exit.

AP - Reuters
Meeting held once every five years is momentous for nation and world

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, to be convened in Beijing on Wednesday, is set to become a new milestone in the Party's success and in national rejuvenation.

The CPC, with more than 89 million members, is not only the largest political party in the world and in history, but more importantly, it is the ruling party in the largest developing country  home to nearly one-fifth of the world population.

The all-important meeting provides the Party an opportunity to explicitly declare which policies it upholds and which path it will take in the next five years before the next congress and even beyond, according to experts and researchers. As China is the second-largest economy, contributing over 30 percent to global growth since 2008, answers to these questions concern the world.

Its rise along its own path over the past five years, while drawing points from many other countries, represents the constant improvement of that path. This is shown not only in stable growth and productive restructuring, but also in a larger say and role in global governance that has accompanied China's new type of major-country diplomacy, active participation in multilateral mechanisms and the Belt and Road Initiative.

The path, which is officially termed "socialism with Chinese characteristics", is by no means a vague concept. It is a pragmatic path that has been adhered to and enriched by different generations of leadership since 1978, when the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee convened in Beijing. That session addressed the historical issues left by the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), ushering in a new era of reform and opening-up.

Meetings are of vital importance to good governance in China. Some, though held decades ago, like the 1978 plenary session, remain fresh in the public's memory. They represent paradigm shifts in the operation of the country and influence people's lives.

A recent example is the 18th CPC National Congress five years ago. It prioritized clean governance, innovative growth, green development and national confidence. The new leadership has ever since demonstrated the corresponding executive power to transform ideas into realities in an increasingly sure and predictable manner.

The 19th CPC National Congress, which comes at a decisive moment in the construction of a well-off society by 2020, and at a key period in the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, is expected to chalk up new guidelines, if not action plans, along the path.

The meeting's results will directly concern three problems deciding China's future: the driving force and innovative power of social development; the balance, harmony and stability of social development; and good governance of society and the country, Han Qingxiang, a member of the administration committee of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, writes in People's Daily.

Han said the meeting, while a Party gathering, will certainly inject new vitality into Chinese society. This will be seen in better solutions to problems in education, caring for the elderly, housing, medical care and income distribution. It also will be seen in advancing good governance in the fast-changing country by improving its efficiency and abilities in solving problems.

Li Lin, director of the institute of law at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the rule of law, which will definitely top the agenda of the congress, is a "profound revolution" in the realm of governance.

He said the Party will unswervingly deepen the rule of law as one of the most important ways to modernize its governance system. It will send a clear message showing the Party's resolve in advancing the rule of law, Li said.

China's political party system, a key component of the path, will be further strengthened by the meeting, Yuan Tinghua, former deputy head of the Central Institute of Socialism, said in People's Daily.

Experience has shown the complexity of China's modernization requires a political party system that has an exceptional capacity for integration, always uniting different forces to strive for a common goal. China's political party system has just that ability, Yuan said.

The system can only be strengthened with China's development, he added. Neither a two-party system nor a multiparty system fits China's national conditions, and would split society. The success of China's political party system provides a new paradigm for the development of party politics.

The meeting also is expected to stick to some judgments that have not been changed.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, has reiterated the necessity for Party members to understand the "largest practical national conditions". This could be summarized in the following points: China has remained and will remain in the primary stage of socialism; the main social conflict remains the gap between needs and production; and China has been and will continue to be the largest developing country.

Tao Wenzhao, a professor of politics at Renmin University of China, said these national conditions are the starting points for policymaking, keeping decision-makers clearheaded and preventing China's drifting from its path.

"The meeting, the last of its kind before 2020, will mark the start of the final sprint before accomplishing the goal of realizing a well-off society."
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A series of deadly California wildfires have burned through some 170,000 acres statewide, but heavy smoke from the disaster zones drifted farther still as pesky particles of dust, ash and soot entered the lungs of residents nearly 100 miles away.

For the Bay Area especially, air quality has reached historically poor levels as the unhealthy atmosphere has already sickened residents, prompted medical calls to local schools and prompted the wearing of protective masks. In San Francisco, officials said two hospitals had about three or four patients each come in for respiratory issues that might have been related to the smoke.

But Wednesdays gusty, volatile winds  bad for firefighters trying stop the spread of the fast-moving Wine Country wildfires  was good for air quality as the gusts moved the block of smoky air sitting over the region.

Now Playing: Wine Country Fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle

Weather plays an important role when it comes to measuring air conditions, said Tom Flannigan, spokesman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

Air quality has improved throughout the Bay Area, which is wonderful. Weve benefited from the sea breeze moving through the Golden Gate. Current readings have us mostly in the moderate range, Flannigan said Wednesday. The readings have come down more than half compared to what we saw (Tuesday), in terms of air-quality-index readings.

Thick wood smoke from wildfires, leaving the air opaque and the sky shades of brown and yellow, resulted in the worst air quality ever recorded near the heart of the North Bay fires on Monday and Tuesday.

Still, hazardous levels reached as far south as San Mateo County, posing a risk to children, the elderly and those with respiratory conditions who, far away from the flames, may not have been on alert by the wildfires. An unhealthy air warning was issued as far as Redwood City, about 80 miles away from Sonoma County fires.

A number of medical calls from respiratory fatigue were made on Tuesday from schools in West Contra Costa Unified School District, which spans from Hercules to El Cerrito, said district spokesman Marcus Walton.

The district decided to close the schools on Thursday due to the bad air. Other school districts, including Pittsburg Unified and Mount Diablo Unified, were also closing schools Thursday.

Marissa Glidden, a fifth-grade teacher at Verde Elementary School in Richmond, said the ventilation system at her school was mistakenly never turned off Tuesday, which caused recycled air from outside to pervade classrooms. Then, Glidden said, the school district provided surgical masks, which health departments have warned are ineffective in protecting against smoke.

Those trying to protect themselves are advised to wear N95 masks to minimize smoke inhalation, according to air-quality officials.

As poor air quality persisted Tuesday, Gliddens students began signing out as some coughed, at least one student vomited, and a teacher in a classroom next door suffered an asthma attack. At least three students had to leave in an ambulance from Richmond High School, she said.

It was miserable. It felt really bad as a teacher to try to protect your kids, said Glidden, who is vice president of United Teachers of Richmond union. Were stuck in a smoky classroom with no communication about what to do.

The school board acknowledged the mask issue and plans to resolve the problem, Walton said. Glidden said Wednesday the ventilation was finally turned off at the school.

Were lucky right now the air qualitys OK, she said Wednesday. But its expected to get worse as the wind shifts.

The prediction lines up with air-quality forecasts. As winds continue moving, Friday and Saturday should see a return to poor air quality, Flannigan said.

Were going to see that north wind pick up again tonight and into Thursday and that means drier, warmer air, Flannigan said Wednesday. That means that its going to push the smoke from these still burning fires from north to south, southward and across into different parts of the northern and central Bay Area. Places like Marin, East Bay, maybe even San Francisco, will see smoke again.

That means residents who smell smoke in the area should stay indoors with their windows closed and air conditioning units on recirculate to stop outside air from entering indoors, according to air quality management officials. Parents and school officials should pause before letting children outdoors. Meteorologists expect smoke to return in full force.

Were going to see a really strong settling of the smoke in the Bay Area on Friday and Saturday, said Brian Garcia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Not to mince words: Its going to be really bad. Its not going to be fun.

Amy Graff and Jenna Lyons are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: agraff@sfgate.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @bayareamoms, @JennaJourno
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On the premise that costs of the Affordable Care Act are destroying everything in its wake, President Donald Trump signed Thursday an executive order designed to exploit loopholes in the law with the goal of lowering insurance costs for employers  but critics saying many people with major medical needs would get saddled with ballooning costs.

On Thursday, Trump directed Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta to explore measures intended to increase health insurance competition across state lines, his oft-repeated goal on the 2016 campaign trail. Trump would do so by developing Kentucky Sen. Rand Pauls idea to allow association health plans to proliferate and operate with minimal state regulation, in effect banding together small businesses and solo entrepreneurs to leverage their combined purchasing power to get lower premiums.

Trump also proposed sidestepping the Affordable Care Act by allowing broader use of short-term, limited-duration insurance designed to help people during gaps in coverage, for instance if they are between jobs. Those policies are exempt from some of Obamacares coverage and cost mandates. And he wants to expand use of health reimbursement arrangement accounts that allow people to put money aside on a tax-free basis to pay for premiums and other costs.

Both Republicans and Democrats have struggled to solve the problem of insurance carriers pulling out of state-based insurance exchanges like Access Health CT on grounds claims will become unsustainable, with Anthem and Connecticare committing to continuing coverage in the Connecticut exchange in 2018.

Today, one third of all the counties in America have only a single insurer selling coverage on an exchange, and next year it looks like ... many will have none, Trump said late Thursday morning in a ceremonial signing at the White House. We aim to allow more small businesses to form associations to buy affordable and competitive health insurance. This would open up additional options for employers to purchase the health plans their workers want.

The competition will be staggering, Trump continued. Insurance companies will be fighting to get every single person signed up, and you will be hopefully negotiating, negotiating, negotiating; and youll get such low prices for such great care.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called the Trump plan a flawed facade that would deliver less coverage for the people the Affordable Care Act was intended to help.

If the (administration) is intent on improving health care, they owe the American people a concerted effort to repair our current system, instead of weakening it through continued disruption of the insurance marketplace, Blumenthal stated.

The Connecticut Insurance Department did not respond immediately Thursday to a Hearst Connecticut Media query on the possible implications of the Trump executive order on its regulation of carriers selling policies here.

In a brief posted by the New York City-based Commonwealth Fund, a pair of Georgetown University health policy researchers pointed out ways any end run around state regulation could impact people.

Creating an uneven playing field between federally approved AHPs and the traditional insurance markets would result in higher premiums and fewer plan options for individuals and small employers buying insurance in the regulated individual and small-group markets, wrote Georgetown professors Kevin Lucia and Sabrina Corlette. In the mid-1990s, AHPs in Kentucky were exempt from benefit and rating requirements that applied to the traditional individual and small-group markets. Insurers abandoned the traditional markets and individuals and employers with healthy workers shifted to AHPs, with premiums dramatically increasing for those left behind in the individual market.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman
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A flurry of court motions was filed this week in Democratic state Sen. Carlos Urestis criminal fraud case as lawyers jockey for an edge before the trial starts later this month.

Uresti is fighting to keep out certain information from the trial, including mention of other alleged crimes, a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and statements he made to the press regarding the collapse of FourWinds Logistics.

Uresti recruited investors and acted as a lawyer for the San Antonio oil field service company, which went bankrupt in 2015. Some investors say they were defrauded, triggering an FBI investigation that led to a 22-count indictment against Uresti, former CEO Stan Bates and consultant Gary Cain. The defendants have each denied the charges. The trial is set to start Oct. 23.

The San Antonio politician is charged in a separate, unrelated bribery case that is set for trial in May. In a Tuesday court motion, Uresti said federal prosecutors have provided no evidence of other alleged crimes by him so such evidence, if any, is inadmissible.

Uresti also moved to exclude from the trial all evidence of an SEC investigation into FourWinds. No complaint has been filed, and therefore, any reference to an investigation is not relevant, the court filing states.

The SEC revealed the probe in a July court document seeking to quash a subpoena from Uresti, who wants the agency to turn over documents it provided the Justice Department, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service. Uresti provided the SEC more than eight hours of testimony and 340,000 pages of documents. A hearing on the SECs request is set for Monday.

The SECs Fort Worth office opened the investigation in August 2016, two days after the San Antonio Express-News first reported on FourWinds demise.

Uresti spoke at length with the Express-News about his involvement with FourWinds, both before and after the newspapers initial report. Uresti told the paper he had been contacted by the FBI to be a witness in its investigation into FourWinds. In his court filing, Uresti wants to exclude all media reports from the trial, saying hearsay evidence is not only inadmissible, but prejudicial.

Uresti also wants to bar use of any media statements he made in some effort by the government to attempt to prove that (he) allegedly was untruthful during statements made to the press. The statements are not relevant to the charges, unless (he) testifies and is being impeached, his filing states.

San Antonio lawyer Michael McCrum, who joined Urestis legal defense team last week, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

In a court filing announcing his involvement, McCrum noted that Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Blackwell indicated that prosecutors may seek to have certain issues addressed prior to Mr. McCrums appearance. McCrum added he would leave it to prosecutors whether to assert any objection. Blackwell declined to comment.

Prosecutors previously objected to San Antonio lawyer Mikal Watts representing Uresti because of an alleged conflict of interest. A federal judge agreed and disqualified Watts.

Uresti also is opposed to prosecutors making reference to non-related personal matters. An FBI report reflects the governments almost prurient fascination (with) non-related personal matters of the defendant Uresti and other defendants, the filing states. It adds, Various witnesses personal conduct, whether involving (Uresti) or other individuals, is not relevant to the charges levied.

No specific conduct is mentioned, but a lawyer for Denise Cantu, described as Victim 1 in the indictment, previously told the Express-News that she and Uresti had an intimate relationship. Uresti has denied the allegation.

In another court document, filed Monday, Uresti objected to efforts by prosecutors to exclude evidence that would plainly discredit its key witness. The filing was in response to a sealed court document filed by prosecutors last month.

The key witness, though not identified by name in Urestis court filing, is Cantu. He represented the Harlingen woman in a wrongful-death case involving two of her children. She used the bulk of the proceeds from a settlement to invest with FourWinds, earning Uresti a $27,000 commission.

Uresti vehemently denies allegations made by Victim #1, and thus her credibility will be a central issue for the jury to decide, the court filing states.

In a motion filed Thursday, former FourWinds CEO Bates wants prosecutors to refrain from mentioning certain matters without first getting a ruling from the court  including that he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during a trial in his personal bankruptcy case. He took the Fifth more than 70 times over two days of testimony.

If this information is provided to the jury, there is a risk that they will assign some culpability or responsibility in this action merely for his use of the Fifth Amendment privilege to remain silent, the filing states.
A former president of the Harris County Medical Society and his diagnostic and surgical center have agreed to pay more than $1.5 million to settle allegations of Medicare fraud.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced the agreement, which concerns allegations that Dr. Gurunath Thota Reddy and other doctors at Memorial Hermann Endoscopy and Surgery Center in North Houston over a 7-year period performed colonoscopies so quickly that they were "essentially worthless."

"When Medicare pays for a patient to undergo a medical procedure, Medicare expects the health care provider to follow established medical standards of care and sanitation," Abe Martinez, acting U.S. attorney, said in a news release. "There is no excuse for short-cutting quality in order to increase revenues."

The department not that the claims resolved are only allegations and that no liability in the matter has been determined.

The other parties who entered into the agreement are United Surgical Partners International, which operates the center; Digestive & Liver Disease Consultants PA, the doctors' practice; and the Memorial Hermann Health System, a minority owner in the joint venture. The center is not located on one of the system's campuses.

Gene Besen, the practice's lawyer, said in a statement that the settlement was made "solely to avoid the cost of defending the allegations and to continue to serve the community with the highest quality of care and standards as they have done for the last three decades." He said the doctors have consistently and repeatedly denied that allegations.

Memorial Hermann, the Harris County Medical Society and USPI all declined comment.

The matter was initiated by an endoscopy nurse formerly employed by the center. She claimed that, in the interest of saving time, doctors would not always examine the entire colon and sometimes would spend as little as two minutes on a colonoscopy, short cuts that could have caused precancerous lesions to be missed.

The nurse said she was fired the day after she complained to the regional vice president of USPI about the problems. Besen disputed the timing and reason for the dismissal.

The news release did not name the nurse.

The nurse also alleged the surgery center did not follow established guidelines for sanitation, claiming Reddy would not put on a clean gown prior to each procedure in order to save money.

The claims date from April 1, 2007, through Nov. 30, 2014.

Reddy's LinkedIn page says he was the first Asian to serve as president of Harris County Medical Society and that he did his training in gastroenterology, liver disease, transplant hepatology and nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine.
The red carpet was rolled out Thursday night, welcoming San Antonio's most fashionable to the event that's all about them.

The 3rd Annual San Antonio Fashion Awards at the Tobin Center took place Thursday night, celebrating local designers, models and photographers.
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BRIDGEPORT - Mayor Joe Ganim and New Haven Mayor Toni Harp are intent on submitting a joint pitch for Amazons second headquarters, even though the state recently endorsed separate proposals from Stamford and Hartford instead.

Im sure Stamford has great things to offer, as does Hartford, Ganim said Tuesday. Im not sure what the state decision means.  I think everybody should submit and let Amazon have a choice. It gives us three to four opportunities to be reviewed in Connecticut.

The plans for a regional bid are going forward, said a Harp spokesman.

But according to the state Department of Economic and Community Development, while Amazons deadline for final submissions is Oct. 19, the Seattle-based online retailing behemoth already ruled out the Bridgeport/New Haven proposal.

Jim Watson, a DECD spokesman, in an email late Tuesday said the department had approached Amazon to see whether having the headquarters split between two cities - some 19 miles apart - would even be considered.

The company advised us in no uncertain terms that this configuration would not be acceptable, Watson wrote. So, while we believe the assets of the cities are very attractive  the Bridgeport and New Haven submission is not competitive and therefore cannot be included in the states final application.

Ganim and Harp even met with DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith in her Hartford offices last week in a last ditch effort to get DECD to recommend the Bridgeport/New Haven partnership with Stamfords and Hartfords pitches.

Ganim downplayed DECDs support: It (Amazons list of criteria) doesnt say anything about having a letter from the state of Connecticut.

But it puts Bridgeport and New Haven at a competitive disadvantage, financially.

The companys instructions to applicants interested in hosting its second headquarters call for a summary of total incentives offered for the project by the state/province and local community. And that, typically, would be where state government and the DECD would come in. So Bridgeport and New Haven can promote themselves to Amazon, but cannot, for now, guarantee state money.

Mickey Herbert, head of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, supports Ganims and Harps joint effort. But asked about the DECDs rejection, Herbert acknowledged Tuesday: Where it might be tougher is in terms of whatever incentives Amazon will seek. I think its an open question of whether the state would be as willing to grant incentives to Bridgeport/New Haven as they would for their two endorsed picks.

Av Harris, Ganims liaison with state government, said, What was told to us is should the Bridgeport/New Haven proposal be selected (by Amazon), at that point we could have that conversation (about state subsidies). The door was not closed to that.

Watson declined to comment on any incentives being offered Amazon to come to Stamford or Hartford.

Herbert said it would be utter folly for the state not to step up with financial incentives should Amazon favor Bridgeport/New Haven.

The big picture

Amazons kicked off the competition to host its second base of operations in early September. Soon after MarketWatch, a popular financial website, set off a buzz in Bridgeport with an analysis listing Connecticuts largest city among those that fit Amazons stated criteria - but only, according to the online publication, if youre willing to bend the rules just a little bit population-wise.

Ganim, who is exploring a run for governor in 2018, has been touting the MarketWatch article as further proof of economic development during his nearly two years back in office. The Democratic mayor first ran the city in the 1990s.

However, for MarketWatch, Bridgeport appeared to be shorthand for Fairfield County. Amazon wants metropolitan areas of 1 million people. MarketWatch noted Amazon would have to bend the rules for Bridgeports population, including Fairfield Countys population, which is actually 944,000.

Which begs the question - if the MarketWatch article emboldened the Ganim administration to court Amazon, why not partner to the southwest with Stamford on a Fairfield County pitch rather than turn to New Haven?

For example, Thomas Madden, Stamfords economic development chief, said Tuesday that while his citys goal is to bring Amazon to town - the UBS and Pitney Bowes buildings have been offered - Stamfords proposal promoted the entirety of Fairfield County.

Were taking aspects of Bridgeport and Danbury and Westport and Fairfield and Wilton and including that to say, Hey, if you look at this region, we have all the things that check the box for Amazon, Madden said.

Ganim insisted that the MarketWatch analysis was about his city, not Fairfield County -- Bridgeport was the word they used, right?

He further argued that Bridgeport, as the largest city, and New Haven, as Connecticuts second largest municipality, have, when combined, many assets which fit Amazons demands.

But a closer look at Amazons application also indicates it would have made more sense for Bridgeport to unite with Stamford. Amazon specifically stated that it was looking for submissions from metropolitan statistical areas - MSAs.

And, according to the state, Bridgeport and Stamford are in the same MSA, while New Haven is in another.

Harris said Stamford was already working on their own plan, being pushed by the state and it was logical that Ganim and Harp pair up.

We have an Ivy League school (Yale in New Haven), noted Herbert. They dont have that in Stamford or Hartford.

Taking politics into account

The political intrigue surrounding Connecticuts efforts to woo Amazon cannot be ignored.

As previously mentioned, Ganim is eyeing the governors mansion. And he has been forging a political alliance with Harp that could pay off during the Democratic nominating convention or a gubernatorial primary.

Meanwhile outgoing Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy - who is not exactly close with Ganim -- was formerly the longtime mayor of Stamford.

And Hartford, Connecticuts capitol, run by Malloy ally Mayor Luke Bronin, is teetering on bankruptcy and would certainly benefit should Amazon open a headquarters there.

Harris insisted that Bridgeports play for Amazon is about economics, not politics.

Were putting in a real bid, he said. (And) we feel its a very strong bid.
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BRIDGEPORT  Jeremy Rosa likes to set goals.

When he was 7 and tackling his first food drive, he decided collecting 100 canned goods would be a reachable target.

I whispered to husband, We can buy 100 things ourselves if he falls short, Christina Correa said.

No need.

Jeremys first drive netted 1,053 food items.

That was five years and some 7,750 pounds of food ago, according to records kept by the Connecticut Food Bank, recipient of the bounty.

Now 12, Jeremy is prepping for his sixth annual food drive to be held from 12 to 4 p.m., Saturday, October 14 in front of Blackham School, 425 Thorme Street, where he is now a seventh grader.

I didnt know I was going to be able to raise this much food, Jeremy said from his living room, where a small stack of canned goods is already amassing.

My grandmothers co-workers sent us money to go shopping, Jeremy said, who is conscious about picking out food items that go together, like peanut butter and jelly.

Jeremy remembers how it all began, but only because the story has been told so often. His mom was telling his dad at dinner one night about a food drive at work. At age 7 he wasnt sure what a food drive was.

She explained it to me and I said I think I can do that, Jeremy said.

The first year, he simply rode his bike around his North End neighborhood putting up signs, and asked friends and neighbors for donations.

That first years success led to a proclamation declaring it Jeremy Rosa Day, issued in 2012 by then-mayor Bill Finch.

The past two years, the drive has moved to his school and Connecticut Food Bank sets up a truck at the collection site.

Jeremy is probably the most dedicated young donor we have, Paul Shipman, a food bank spokesman said. Jeremy comes back year after year and that really stands out. He inspires others.

His mom said its amazing to see how big the drive has become.

His parents helped Jeremy create a Facebook page as a way to spread the word and chronicle the effort, but Correa said that is not what keeps people coming back every year.

Its him, his personality, Correa said. People come out and see the passion when he speaks about it. It makes them keep coming back. Its a beautiful thing.

Jeremy said he keeps doing the drive because you dont know if one day you are going to run out of money and food.

You might be helping yourself without knowing it, he said. I see myself doing this almost forever.

Or until he goes off to college.

Then I will be taking over, Adrian Correa, 8, Jeremys younger brother, said.

Adrian has actually been involved from the beginning but this year is starting a pet food drive of his own to run along side his brothers.

Its hard for people to feed pets if they dont have enough money, Adrian, a third-grader, said.

The Connecticut Food bank also distributes food for dogs and cats.

The type of kid that gets good grades and always does his homework, Jeremy notes the drive has helped him overcome shyness. It involves a lot of handshaking.

He wishes other kids would do what he does.

Instead of just sitting around, you could be changing lives, he said.

Shipman said the need for donations is constant and is expected to remain so, especially as Hurricane refugees relocate to the state.
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WESTPORT  While local police continue to say they have not had any complaints of sexual assault against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, another woman has come forward to accuse him of impropriety at one of his Westport homes.

Actor, comedian and writer Sarah Ann Masse went public Wednesday to say her nanny agency referred her to Weinstein in 2008 for a part-time position to care for his three children from his first marriage.

When she rang the bell of one of his Westport homes, she was shocked to see him in nothing but boxer shorts and an undershirt when he answered the door.

Masse said she remained calm as he led her to a couch and sat down on a couch across from her and went ahead with standard interview questions.

More for you Harvey Weinstein and the dark side of Hollywood's talent-worship

At one point, Masse said, two of the children wandered into the room and he screamed at them to leave. He then asked whether she felt it was a conflict to be his nanny while pursuing an acting career and that he smirked when he asked whether she would flirt with his friends to get ahead.

When the interview was finished, Masse said, Weinstein hugged her tight and said, I love you. About a week later, she was told by a Weinstein assistant she didn't get the job because she was an actor.

Masse first told her story Wednesday to Variety, saying she was in part inspired by the bravery of other women who had come forward.

When informed of Masses claim and asked if Masse or anyone else has filed or contacted Westport police accusing Weinstein of any type of sexual complaint, Lt. Jillian Cabana, the departments detective commander, replied in an email Thursday night that we have received no such reports.

As of this week, more than a dozen women shared stories alleging the Hollywood movie producer sexually harassed or sexually assaulted them.

Among the accusations against Weinstein are that he forced women to massage him and watch him naked. Weinstein offered to advance their careers in exchange for sexual favors, sources said.

The Times reported Tuesday that Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and other actresses say Weinstein harassed them.

New York Police detectives said they were reviewing files to see if any women previously reported Weinstein to the department.

So far, no filed complaints have been found, NYPD spokesman Peter Donald said Thursday, other than one well-known case that prompted an investigation in 2015.

In Westport, where Weinstein owns several homes, Cabana has repeatedly said the Westport Police have received no complaints of sexual assault against the Oscar-winning studio executive.

We would investigate if we had a complaint. We have received no such complaints of sexual assault, the Westport police lieutenant said.

We cant just go investigating people for no reason, Cabana added.

Weinstein owns a home adjacent to Burying Hill Beach on Beachside Avenue and a second property in the Compo area, which he bought in 2004.

A prominent Democratic fundraiser, Weinstein hosted an event for President Barack Obama at his Westport home in 2012 that raised $2 million. The star-studded event featured celebrities Anne Hathaway, Jim Naughton, Joanne Woodward, Aaron Sorkin and Anna Wintour.

The former president is among those to distance themselves from Weinstein after The New York Times and The New Yorker magazine published investigations chronicling a history of sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein and settlements he paid, often involving former employees, over three decades.

Weinstein was fired Sunday from The Weinstein Co., a studio he co-founded with his brother.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who received $2,700 from Weinstein for his 2016 re-election campaign, said he will donate the money to the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence.

When I read the New York Times piece, I was aghast at how many and how often these instances of harassment and intimidation were, Blumenthal told Hearst Connecticut Media. I was deeply disturbed.

Blumenthal said he decided immediately that we should donate the money to an organization that does really good work against sexual violence, and that was our decision.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., received $1,000 from Weinstein in 1996.

We will be making a $1,000 contribution to Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven, said Jimmy Tickey, DeLauros campaign manager.

Other Connecticut politicians who received campaign contributions from Weinstein include former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd, who retired in 2010 and went on to serve as head of the Motion Picture Association of America, former Sen. Joe Lieberman, and Liebermans rival, Ned Lamont, according to The Connecticut Mirror.

Staff writer Neil Vigdor and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., accused President Donald Trump of trying to create healthcare reform by "sabotage" with an executive order issued Thursday.

Trump, who was unable to repeal the Obama-era Affordable Care Act despite repeated attempts (and with Republicans controlling both houses of Congress), signed the order making lower-premium health care plans available to more Americans on Thursday.

The order, which will likely take months to go into effect, will increase competition among healthcare providers, according to the president.

RELATED: Connelly: AG challenges Trump on contraception coverage

"(Consumers) will have so many options," he said before signing the order at the White House Thursday. "This will cost the United States government virtually nothing, and people will have great, great healthcare. And when I say people, I mean by the millions and millions."

Those plans, however, may come with fewer protections and benefits than currently required by the ACA. The plans will likely appeal to younger, healthier Americans, whose withdrawal could destabilize Obamacare's healthcare exchanges by making premiums soar for those left behind.

Murray accused the president of attempting to undermine the ACA and create confusion for consumers.

"The policies President Trump is announcing today are the latest and worst in his yearlong effort to create Trumpcare by sabotage," Murray said in a statement. "They will force patients across the country to pay more for their care, lose quality coverage options, and find themselves with surprise medical bills when they can least afford it."

The American College of Physicians also ripped Trump's order on Thursday.

"ACP has said repeatedly that any attempts by Congress to 'repeal and replace' the ACA must first, do no harm to patients. This executive order utterly fails that test," it said in a statement. "This executive order violates the clear intent, and likely the statutory requirements, of the ACA; that every American has access to a health plan that will allow them to get critical medical services they need."

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued a statement saying while Trump's call for increased competition might sound "populist" and "reasonable," the order could do "irreparable damage" to health insurance markets nationwide.

RELATED: Calling it a beginning, Trump signs health care order

"The reality behind such a simplistic approach -- it ignores the reality of how insurance works," Kreidler wrote. "The basic principle behind insurance is the more people you cover, the lower everyone's costs. Trump's executive order will allow healthier and younger people to pick skimpier, cheaper coverage, leaving the older and the sick to pay much more. This may lower some peoples' costs in the short term -- as long as they don't get sick.

"It also almost guarantees the eventual collapse of our health insurance markets across the country," he added.

Trump needed to be reminded to sign the order by Vice President Mike Pence after nearly leaving the room without signing it.

Seattlepi.com reporter Stephen Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8313 or stephencohen@seattlepi.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @scohenPI.
Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital hosted its annual Paint the Night Pink event Oct. 10 from 6-8 p.m. at the Lakehouse at Towne Lake. The event featured experts on breast health and interactive technology that allowed the audience to test their knowledge in real time using their mobile devices. Guests were able to make mammogram appointments on-site, have their photos taken in a photo booth and enjoy dinner.
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County leaders meeting for the quarterly economic summit were surprised during one of the presentations as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott dropped by to greet everyone.

"We were here for a pre-planned meeting to talk about recovery from the hurricane and I was told that you were in here," he told the gathering of county leaders, "and I wanted to stop by to say hi."

Abbott, on Wednesday, visited five Harvey-affected cities in Southeast Texas. This trip was the third of a three-day, 16-city tour of hurricane-impacted areas of Texas. Also joining the governor on his visits was Commission to Rebuild Texas Commissioner John Sharp.

Leaders were listening to a presentation by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the designation of non-attainment and the consequences if the county didn't execute a plan when the governor came in.

"First of all, I want to thank your county judge and mayors for everything they've done to help you respond [to the hurricane] but I also want to thank the average citizen. I've heard stories of how farmers and ranchers would bring out pumps and help the entire community rebuild," he said.

The governor also recounted his experiences in what he and others saw in Houston and how they believe that same spirit is evident in Liberty County.

"As waters were rising, people didn't wait for government to come and help them solve all their problems. They would get out their own bass boat and go down and rescue people out of the water," he said.

The governor also supported the gathering of county leaders for their work for the county.

"I know why you're here that's important to you all, very important to your communities, and I want you to know it's important to the state of Texas," he said, "and that is economic development."

"One thing that Texas thrives off is economic development and so I appreciate the time and effort that you're putting in here in part to develop economically but also, in part, to help us respond to these challenges that we're facing and grow even better than we have before," the governor said.

On Wednesday alone, the governor visited Port Arthur, Mont Belvieu, Dayton, Kountze and Orange. He has traveled to 16 Harvey-affected cities in the past three days.

"I just wanted to stop by and say thank you all. God bless you all and God bless Texas," he said.

While traveling to these communities, Abbott spoke with mayors, legislators, county judges, and other officials to ensure they are getting all the help they need in the recovery effort and reaffirmed the states commitment to helping Texans in these areas.

"Seeing these devastated areas first hand and speaking with local officials, the impact of Harvey seems overwhelming, but the Texas spirit remains alive and well," Abbott said in a press release.

"I want to assure every single Texan in these communities that we will see the recovery process through to the end, and these visits have resulted in better coordination between state and local officials. I thank all local leaders for their hard work and commitment to help their citizens recover and rebuild," the release read.

County Judge Jay Knight and the mayors of the cities met briefly with the governor at the Dayton Community Center to express their thanks and ask for assistance for any needs they might have for their own constituents.

"We mostly talked about recovery including debris contracts, removal and estimating our costs for expenses and we were concerned about our exposure," Knight said.

The governor offered to help with some of the expenses if the county or cities needed assistance.

Mayors and the judge updated the governor on where they were a month ago and where they are today.

"I'm pleased with the team that the governor has put together to help us," Knight said.

The use of the Texas Agricultural Extension Office for reporting has expedited reports daily to the Rebuild Texas team, a report the governor leans on to make decisions in asking for federal assistance.
British retailers have reported a boost in sales as Chinese shoppers hit the stores during the Golden Week national holiday.

Data released on Thursday by financial services company Premier Tax Free revealed that Chinese shoppers spent 10 percent more in British shops this year than they did during last year's Golden Week.

This year's week-long national vacation began on Oct 1, giving holidaymakers the weekend to travel further afield.

"While early signs of another record-breaking Golden Week for UK retail are welcomed, the growing opportunity presented by this market is something that retailers should be mindful of all-year-round," said Premier Chief Executive Patrick Waldron.

The extended Golden Week, coupled with favorable exchange rates in the United Kingdom, made a long-haul trip to Britain a more attractive proposition for many Chinese holidaymakers.

ForwardKeys, the flight data analyst, said bookings from China to the UK between September and November are up 10 percent on last year.

Tax-free sales to Chinese shoppers in the UK have increased by 30 percent, so far, this year on the same period in 2016, according to Premier, which uses records of tax refunds claimed by outbound tourists at airports, as well as transaction information gathered at point of sale from some retailers, to compile its data.

The research suggests around 60 percent of Chinese tourists arriving in the UK for Golden Week shopped in London, while a fifth of shoppers targeted the Bicester Village designer outlet in Oxfordshire.

Regent Street was the most popular destination in central London with Chinese shoppers, followed by Bond Street and Oxford Street.

Elsewhere, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and Scotland's Edinburgh all saw strong sales.

Premier's Waldron said hiring Mandarin speaking staff and offering popular Chinese mobile payment options such as Union Pay, Alipay and WeChat Pay can increase sales at British stores.

"If UK retailers proactively build their marketing plans around this valuable audience, they will be well-placed to leverage known peaks, like Chinese New Year Golden Week, and ultimately increase revenue and margins from this important segment of the market," he said.

Payments made in European stores using Chinese mobile payment platform Alipay increased six-fold over Golden Week, according to the tech company.

The UK accounted for 23 percent of Alipay transaction volumes in Europe, the second-highest in the region behind Germany which registered 40 percent.
EAST HAMPTON  A man was stabbed and another arrested in an alleged drunken encounter late last month.

Details of the Sept. 29 incident, which took place shortly after 5 p.m. in the Lakeview Cemetery on Lake View Road/Route 66, became available this week.

Authorities were called about an intoxicated and injured male who said he had been stabbed, according to East Hampton police Sgt. Timothy Dowty. The 32-year-old alleged victim said he and the assailant were drinking vodka with a woman in a gazebo near 42 E. High St., according to the report.

The woman left to go to an appointment prior to the violence, Dowty wrote. It was then, the alleged victim said, the suspect, later identified as Fred Nichols, 58, of no certain address came after him for no reason.

Nichols had some kind of razor and stabbed him in the hand, the victim told police, who added, getting stabbed hurt a lot and (he) was scared to get stabbed again.

A witness saw the victim, whose hands were all bloody. The witness told officers she asked the victim whether he was all right and he replied he was dying, at which point, the witness called 911, according to the report.

The victim was taken to Middlesex Hospital for treatment of his injuries, police said.

At the gazebo, Dowty found multiple empty alcohol beverage containers as well as blood splattered all around the gazebo decking and seating area, he wrote.

Dowty said he found Nichols a short distance away, sitting on a bench with the woman who had been drinking with him and the victim earlier in the afternoon, according to authorities.

In his version of the incident, Nichols told officers it was the other man who had instigated the incident and Nichols had stabbed the man in self-defense. Nichols allegedly told Dowty the victim just flipped a switch and his eyes got crazy, and the victim told him he was going to kill him.

Nichols said he fought back to protect himself and eventually stabbed the victim with pocket knife. A witness interviewed by Dowty supported Nichols version of the incident, police said.

However, Dowty said the knife Nichols had used was old and slightly rusted and was very difficult to open and Nichols told him the victim had backed off at one point. As a result, Dowty arrested Nichols, who authorities said is homeless and has been living in a tent behind a Route 66 convenience store.

Nichols is charged with second-degree assault and second-degree breach of peace. He was released on a $25,000 bond and is due back in Superior Court in Middletown Oct. 24.

Reporter Jeff Mill covers East Hampton, Portland and Cromwell. Contact him at jeff.mill@hearstmediact.com.
Facebook "absolutely" supports the public release of all ads bought on its platform by Russian government-linked accounts but maintained that it's up to Congress to decide when to do so, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said.

The company is giving Congress whatever they ask for and will "stand by them" when they're ready to release the ads, she said in an interview with Mike Allen of Axios.

Facebook has already turned over more than 3,000 ads to House and Senate Intelligence Committees, and Sandberg met in Washington Wednesday with Reps. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., to discuss the investigation. Twitter and Alphabet's Google are also being questioned by Congress, and all three companies have been asked to attend a hearing on Nov. 1.

"We're giving them our piece, but they can understand the full picture much better because they have more access than we do," Sandberg said. "It's important that they get the whole picture and that they explain that to the American public."

Conaway and Schiff said Wednesday that they intend to make the ads public, most likely after the hearing. Lawmakers and Facebook want to ensure the ads are released in a way that protects people's privacy. Facebook has turned over the ads and the pages they link to and continues to provide information to the investigators, Sandberg said.

Sandberg said Facebook has an "enormous responsibility," for the Russian-ad scandal.

"Things happened on our network during the election that should not have happened," she said. The company had been focused on preventing its users from getting hacked during the run-up to the election and didn't fully recognize the kind of deceptive activity now linked to Russia until well into 2016, Sandberg said.

She reiterated how Facebook is trying to prevent this is from happening again, by focusing on deleting fake accounts like the ones used by Russian operatives to set up Facebook groups and buy advertisements. Facebook has said it will require human vetting of all political ads going forward and is hiring 1,000 new people to work on this.

Sandberg declined to say whether Facebook found any evidence that the Trump campaign worked with the Russians to target the ads to specific populations. "When the ads get released, we'll also be releasing the targeting for those ads. We'll be fully transparent," she said.

Congressional investigators and Special Counsel Robert Mueller are trying to find if there was a link between how the Trump campaign and Russian actors targeted Facebook users, which could show collusion between the two.

Overall, Sandberg used the interview to maintain Facebook's line that it wants to be a politically neutral platform that allows all views. Although it was working with outside organizations to help fact-check some of the news stories posted to the cite, Facebook doesn't want to be the one determining what news is "fake," Sandberg said.

Sandberg also said not all fake news is politically motivated, that some is financially motivated and that Facebook is taking away economic incentives that would encourage such behavior. It's also using third-party fact checkers. Many of the ads posted by Russian agents would have been perfectly fine if they hadn't been posted by a foreign government, she said.

"Should divisive political or issue ads run?" she said. "Our answer is yes."
FAIRFIELD  The town hopes to use a $200,000 investment to spur development around the Fairfield Metro Center train station.

The $200,000 comes in the form a planning grant from the state Office of Policy and Management, as part of its Transit Oriented Development program. The program provides grants to towns to aid in the development of residential and commercial centers within walking distance of public transportation facilities.

While we still need to finalize a grant agreement and detailed scope of work with the state, the overall intent is to attract new investment and encourage economic development in and around the Fairfield Metro Center rail station in order to grow the grand list, Mark Barnhart, Community and Economic Development director.

Barnhart said he expects the grant would be used to conduct an in-depth market analysis, a review of existing land use policies, and potential barriers to development, along with an examination of potential redevelopment sites, their potential, and the economic impacts.

The town, with the aid of state Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, R-133, had submitted funding requests for the project for several years prior to getting approval this year.

This funding will help us create a vision for development in the Fairfield Metro Center area and continue our work with area businesses and other community leaders, First Selectman Mike Tetreau said.  Since its opening, Fairfield has made steady progress in capitalizing on the centers potential as an engine for economic growth.

The Town Plan and Zoning Commission adopted regulations for a transit-oriented design district, and the first TODD overlay was approved for the Commerce Drive-lower Black Rock Turnpike area. Over the summer, the towns first mixed-use residential apartment building opened at the corner of Commerce and Black Rock Turnpike.

Ambitious plans from private developer Blackrock Realty, LLC, for a project that was to include a Hilton hotel and office buildings have yet to materialize.

These funds provide a tremendous opportunity for Fairfield to partner with community stakeholders, private developers and local residents to build on successful development in the area, such as the newly opened Trademark Apartments, Vahey said.Planning funds provide the opportunity for smart investments in future development that will strengthen our economy and position us as an emerging economic hub. In the midst of Connecticuts fiscal challenges, we need to remain focused on the long-term vision and solutions that will help our economy thrive.

Fairfield previously received $750,000 through the TOD program in September of 2016 for the replacement of 3,000 feet of sewer lines to support development in the vicinity of the Metro Center.
NAIROBI, Kenya - The Kenyan government outlawed demonstrations in three major cities on Thursday ahead of opposition plans to hold massive rallies around the country demanding electoral reform.

The order sets the government on a collision course with supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga, who earlier this week pulled out of a presidential rerun election set for Oct. 26 against President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The Supreme Court invalidated the election results from August - which gave Kenyatta the win - after allegations of widespread irregularities in vote counting. Odinga's backers have held weekly protests against the election commission which they accuse of favoring Kenyatta.

Some of the protests have turned violent and involved damage to property, prompting the decree banning demonstrations in the city centers of the capital Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

"We cannot go on this way. It is unfortunate to see people's cars being smashed, property being destroyed in the guise of a peaceful demonstrations. We must respect the law," said Interior Minister Fred Matiangi.

Odinga, who has unsuccessfully run for president four previous times, cited the election commission's refusal to engage in any deep reforms for his withdrawal, warning that the re-run was shaping up to be even more flawed than the original election.

Rather than postpone the elections further or address his complaints, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission on Wednesday said the elections would go forward and include six other minor candidates.

Previously, the rerun would have just been between Kenyatta and Odinga. None of the other candidates garnered more than 1 percent of the vote.

The board added that Odinga would still be on the ballot because they had not yet received the official documents for his withdrawal.

On Tuesday, Kenyatta's Jubilee Party, which holds a majority in a parliament, also passed a series of amendments to the electoral law that appeared to designed to legalize many of the voting irregularities that prompted the court to toss out the original election results.

One amendment also stated that if any candidate were to pullout of the re-run, the remaining candidate would automatically win. The amendments have to be approved by the Senate and the president.

On Wednesday, thousands of Odinga supporters demonstrated in front of election commission offices in Nairobi, Mombasa and the western opposition stronghold of Kisumu. They were dispersed with tear gas and a number of injuries were reported.

A larger protest has been planned for Friday, setting up a showdown with security forces and raising the possibility of serious violence.

Politics in Kenya often has an ethnic cast, and the elections in 2007 unleashed weeks of violence in which at least 1,400 people died.

Kenyatta, who presents himself as a pro-business candidate, is from the dominant Kikuyu tribe. Odinga, who is focusing on combating corruption and helping the disenfranchised, is from the smaller Luo tribe.

The uncertainty and prolonged election season has been hard on Kenya's economy, normally one of the region's most robust. The stock market has been down and Reuters reported the government trimmed 2017 growth forecasts from 5.9 to 5.5 percent.

---

Schemm reported from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Glen Ellens historic Last House, the former home of writer M.F.K. Fisher, is still standing. So is the residence of David Pleydell-Bouverie, next door on the Bouverie Preserve in Audubon Canyon Ranch.

All the credit for saving Last House goes to the heroic action of the Audubon Canyon Ranchs fire ecologist, Sasha Berleman, said Wendy Coy, communications manager for the organization.

When one of Sonoma Countys many fires began Monday, Berleman, who lives in Berkeley, grabbed her gear and headed straight for Bouverie, Coy said.

When she arrived, nearly all the buildings in the Bouverie Preserve were on fire. Along with the assistance of neighbors, a bucket brigade was formed using water from the swimming pool next to David Pleydell-Bouveries house in order to separate burning structures from the two stucco houses. Adjacent staff offices, housing and buildings all burned to the ground, but the two homes were saved.

Now Playing: Wine Country Fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle

Its just devastating, Coy said.

After the fire seemed somewhat under control, Berleman kept watch all Monday night, camping on the gravel driveway, putting out hot spots, of which there were many.

Last House was built for Fisher by Pleydell-Bouverie in 1971. A few years later, Pleydell-Bouverie donated his 535 acres that included wildflowers, waterfalls and wildlife to the nonprofit Audubon Canyon Ranch.

The famous food writers personal possessions recently returned as part of a restoration project, were all saved. That includes the writers signature rattan Peacock chair, dining-room table, pottery, books, photographs, awards, artwork and a well-used Coronamatic typewriter.

A letter from George Washington is one of many treasures in Pleydell-Bouveries house that thankfully was preserved.

Coy is still awaiting word on which wildlife survived on the 535-acre property. She said there would have been even more devastation if the Bouverie Preserve had not done a controlled burn in May.

Lisa Amand is a San Francisco freelance writer. Email: food@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @imnofoodie
WASHINGTON - Members of Congress who have squared off on the Iran nuclear deal since its inception strategized Wednesday in preparation for President Donald Trump's highly anticipated announcement on its fate.

Leading House Republicans huddled with national security adviser H.R. McMaster Wednesday evening for a classified briefing on the administration's plan for the 2015 agreement. Emerging from the meeting, McMaster told reporters simply that it had been "Great, thanks."

If Trump decides to decertify Iran's compliance, as expected, Congress will have 60 days to decide whether to "snap back" sanctions that were lifted in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear program. If sanctions were reimposed, despite the International Atomic Energy Agency verifying eight times that Iran has lived up to its end of the deal, the United States would be in breach of its commitments. In effect, it would be walking away unilaterally.

House Democrats met earlier in the day with former secretary of state John Kerry and former energy secretary Ernest Moniz, who were the primary negotiators of the deal made between Iran and six world powers. Wendy Sherman, another key negotiator, was also present. Jacob Lew, the former Treasury secretary, joined the discussion by phone.

Joining them were ambassadors to the United States from France, Germany and Britain - three European nations that also were parties to the multilateral agreement and have urged the United States not to abandon the deal so arduously negotiated.

Democrats are fiercely opposed to Trump's determination that Iran is not meeting its commitments and insist the agreement must remain intact to survive. Many will not even discuss what congressional debate might follow if Trump decertifies, instead focusing the arguments for certification.

But several key Democrats suggested there might be room to negotiate with Republicans about beefing up the deal without eviscerating it.

The involvement of Congress is not required under the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was approved by the United Nations. But it is a requirement of U.S. law.

Rep. Elliot Engel, N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he would consider modifying the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act so the president certifies Iran's compliance less frequently than every 90 days now, or using different standards. He would not say whether he would be open to other changes, stressing new conditions might violate the deal.

France, Germany and Britain, despite their opposition to Washington backing away from the deal, have told U.S. lawmakers that they could join discussions on constraining Iran's long-term nuclear ambitions, according to one congressional Democratic aide.

Republicans have complained that the deal delays Iran's nuclear ambitions but could allow Iran to resume its nuclear program after certain restrictions expire. Iran has denied it wants to build a nuclear bomb, and the agreement commits it to never build one, but various "sunset clauses" would allow Iran to amass greater stockpiles of fissile material that raise concerns.

Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., have been working for months hashing out a package to present to Congress, only recently bringing in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Sen. Benjamin Cardin, Md., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, learned of their work a little over a week ago.

Cardin went to the State Department on Wednesday to meet with Tillerson. Cardin's spokesman said the purpose of the meeting was to go over the administration's plan for the nuclear deal. Tillerson's spokesman said they discussed several issues, including Iran. Tillerson is expected to reach out to other members of Congress in coming days to brief them on the administration's intentions on the nuclear deal.

Some Democrats complain it would be difficult to join in a bipartisan plan to restrain Iran's nuclear ambitions. Trump's strenuous opposition to the agreement forged by the Obama administration - which Trump criticized during the campaign as the worst deal ever - means any attempt to change the conditions would be interpreted by Tehran as an effort to blow it up.

"The effect of what the president has done has really been to constrain our freedom of action," said Rep. Adam Schiff, Calif., the ranking Democrat of the House Intelligence Committee, "because steps we might have taken to constrain Iran's malevolent activity will now be viewed through the prism of the president's hostility to the nuclear deal. Ironically he may have limited our ability to confront Iran, rather than expand it."

In addition, Trump could at any time decide not to waive the nuclear-related sanctions again - a decision he must make every 120 days under U.S. law. Many Democrats believe that is more likely to happen if Congress does not act to make changes to the existing agreement.

"That's what we have to consider," said Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppelsburger, D-Md., the former top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. "But the good news is if we can get to the American public like we did on health care . . . and we have our military, Cabinet members who already think the deal is working, we hope he would re-evaluate."

In this environment, many Democrats believe working on the periphery of the deal could be the congressional equivalent of destroying the village to save it.

"The president said he wanted to tear up the deal. He's now taking a step that would lead to tearing up the deal," said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., one of the key members who whipped support for the Iran deal in Congress when it was struck. He called Trump's move to kick the deal to Congress a "trap" and "a tactic intended to reach the president's goal of tearing the deal apart."
As if recovering from a Category 4 hurricane wasn't enough, Puerto Rico continues to battle unfavorable weather - the understatement of the year.

Nearly 38 inches of rain fell in the U.S. territory during Hurricane Maria, from which the ground is still laden with water. To add to the instability, hundreds if not thousands of trees were felled during the storm - trees that would otherwise help to keep the ground in place, especially on steep hillsides.

Now more rain is falling. Afternoon thunderstorms are common in the mountains because of the high humidity and the effects of winds blowing through high terrain. When it falls on saturated ground, flash flooding and mudslides are all but guaranteed.

In Utuado, new videos show homes are scoured off their foundations, and cars rest in crumpled heaps in new canyons created by surging flood water.

Andres Rosa posted his conversations with local relief volunteers Facebook Thursday. By "relief volunteers," we mean people who got in their own trucks on their own time to bring food and water to people stranded in interior Puerto Rico, because the National Guard has yet to show up, they say. They ran out of gas just before Rosa ran into them in Utuado.

"Five people died right there - starved to death?" Rosa asks, panning across the ravaged homes.

"No, no, no, they drowned," he's told. "The house was here, four days after the hurricane."

But it's not there anymore, after torrential rain and flash floods.

More rain is in the forecast every day through at least Sunday. The combination of light winds, high moisture and mountainous terrain will trigger showers and thunderstorms over the next few days, said the National Weather Service in San Juan, which could lead to more flooding and mudslides:

"Soils remain saturated and loose, and rivers and streams across these areas are running above normal levels. Any additional heavy rain will quickly result in Flash Flooding across these municipalities. Therefore the Flash Flood Watch will remain in effect for the northwest quadrant of Puerto Rico until this evening. Mudslides and rock falls will also remain likely in areas of steep terrain."

On Thursday morning, 22 days after Hurricane Maria made landfall, President Donald Trump threatened to pull federal relief out of Puerto Rico. Trump blames Puerto Rico for the disaster "of its own making."

As of Thursday, just 17 percent of the island had electricity, and 19 percent of the cell towers had been restored. Half of the island remains without any form of telecommunication.
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello on Thursday side-stepped another potential fight with the White House.

Hours after President Donald Trump warned on Twitter that federal forces shouldn't remain in Puerto Rico "forever," Rossello spoke to reporters in San Juan and essentially played down the comments.

The first-year governor said he had received assurances from White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders that the government wouldn't rush to withdraw the Federal Emergency Management Agency or other federal personnel, who have been on the island to some degree since Hurricane Maria decimated the commonwealth three weeks ago.

"As I've said on multiple occasions, I'm not here to interpret the president's statements," Rossello said, adding that he took the press secretary's assurances at face value. The White House also told him, according to Rossello's version of events, that successful recoveries have to have an end.

Rossello's tempered interpretation was starkly different than Trump's tone on social media. "We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!" Trump said on Twitter, citing a "total lack of accountability."

Trump has used his Twitter account to praise his own response to the catastrophe and attack the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, an early critic of the relief effort. He also stirred controversy in his visit to the island by comparing the crisis favorably to a "real catastrophe like Katrina." The official death toll has roughly tripled to 45 since Trump made those remarks.

Cruz blasted the president's latest Puerto Rico tweets on Thursday. "Tweet away your hate to mask your administration's mishandling of this humanitarian crisis," she said in a statement, according to NBC News. "I ask every American that has love, and not hate in their hearts, to stand with Puerto Rico and let this President know we WILL NOT BE LEFT TO DIE."

But Rossello, 38, who aligns with the Democratic Party, has stayed out of the fray, apparently seeking to be a steadying force. In an interview last week, he said he has sought to stay focused and "eliminate any other narrative" that might distract from the recovery effort.

He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a doctorate from the University of Michigan. And he has held himself out as a results-oriented politician -- a numbers guy who pours over Excel spreadsheets where most politicians would outsource such tasks.

Rossello's political opponents on the island would hardly characterize him as post-partisan. Just this year, he forged ahead with a referendum on whether to seek statehood for Puerto Rico, despite a boycott from the opposition.

Still, he has refused to take sides in mainland politics during the crisis. Perhaps that's because he knows that the island -- which doesn't even have a vote in Congress, where Puerto Rico's aid package is being drawn up -- would have little to gain by alienating Trump.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday found that more than half of American voters say Trump and his administration have done enough to help Texas and Florida recover from hurricane damage but not enough to assist Puerto Rico.
The booming and increasingly dynamic District of Columbia economy is leaving the city's longtime black residents behind, according to a study released Thursday that examines African American employment, population and housing trends in the nation's capital.

The Georgetown University report, which culled data from several recent studies, found that more than half of all new jobs in the District between 2010 and 2020 will require at least a bachelor's degree, though only 12.3 percent of black residents in 2014 had graduated from college. It noted the average white household in the region has a net worth of $284,000, while the assets of the average black household are just $3,500.

"It's not a pretty picture," D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said before the findings were presented to city leaders and residents.

According to the report, the median annual income for white D.C. families is $120,000, while it's $41,000 for black households. Between 2007 and 2014, the median household income in D.C. increased by about $10,000, but remained flat for black households.

While striking, the findings largely mirror those of other recent studies. As the city becomes wealthier, younger and more affluent residents are moving in, raising housing prices and pushing longtime black residents out of the city. In 2015, the population of black residents in the District - which garnered the nicknamed "Chocolate City" - dipped below 50 percent for the first time in 60 years.

The Georgetown report traces the inequities in the District today to discriminatory practices that once kept black residents out of the economy. It also provides recommendations for the city to help strive for greater equality.

"One of the contributions of this report is how much it puts in one place both the history of the city and redlining and school segregation and connecting it to how those impacts play out today," said Ed Lazere, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, whose work is cited extensively in the study. "That half of all black households in D.C. have assets of $3,500 or less - that's virtually nothing, and it's probably a reflection that housing discrimination years ago kept them from owning homes."

The report indicates that one of many reasons black Washingtonians are being left behind is that after the devastating 1968 riots, many businesses opted to move to the suburbs. It also noted that black residents were often "redlined," the practice of banks and loaning institutions refusing to lend to business owners in communities with large minority populations.

"Aspiring black businesspeople were unable to fill the vacuum simply because they could not secure a line of credit to open and maintain small businesses, stores, dry cleaners, restaurants and other outlets," the report states.

The report recommends that the D.C. Chamber of Commerce and city agencies create a database of minority businesses that would "outline opportunities and procedures for small-business loans and training aids." Local universities, the report says, should offer courses in the "how-tos of minority business development."

Maurice Jackson, a Georgetown history professor and chairman of the city's Commission on African American Affairs, stressed the need to invest in education and training programs so D.C. residents have skills to meet modern job demands. Jackson, the report's lead author, also suggested the city invest in apprenticeship and job programs for residents returning to society after serving jail time.

Ward 7 Councilmember Vince Gray (D) said, as mayor, he invested in vocational and career programs in high schools that focused on IT, hospitality and other trades.

"Why those curricula?" he asked. "Because that's where the jobs are. That's where they're emerging."

The report also traces the history and effects of gentrification, explaining it has led to a dearth of affordable housing. There are 43,000 District residents who qualify as "extremely low-income," which means a family of four making less than $32,000 a year. (Ninety-one percent of "extremely low-income" families are African American.)

Beginning in the 1950s, wealthy and middle-income families started fleeing cities, including the District, for suburbs and largely left poor people by themselves in city centers.

"This suburbanization led to economic downturn within several major cities, such as Atlanta, Chicago and Washington, creating fiscal crises due to shrinking tax bases," according to the report. "To alleviate this problem, many city governments pursued policies to attract new investments in the city, bring in wealthier residents to increase taxable income and housing sales, revitalize retail activity and raise sales tax revenue."

Now that wealthier residents have moved back to cities, rent increases have left longtime residents unable to afford their homes. The report recommends building more affordable housing in newly expensive neighborhoods.And, it says, the city should intervene before poorer neighborhoods become unaffordable for longtime residents.

"In these communities, policies should offer a path to eventual homeownership, enabling individuals to eventually purchase a unit at an affordable price," the report states. "Rent-to-own housing is beneficial because it creates personal equity for individuals and helps lift residents from poverty."
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WESTPORT  After more than a dozen women shared stories alleging Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed or sexually assaulted, New York Police detectives are reviewing its files to see if any women previously reported him to the department.

So far, no filed complaints have been found, NYPD spokesman Peter Donald said Thursday, other than one well-known case that prompted an investigation in 2015.

In Westport, where Weinstein owns a home, Lt. Jillian Cabana said the Westport Police have received no complaints of sexual assault against the Oscar-winning studio executive.

We would investigate if we had a complaint. We have received no such complaints of sexual assault, the Westport police lieutenant said.

We cant just go investigating people for no reason, Cabana added.

Weinstein owns a home adjacent to Burying Hill Beach on Beachside Avenue and a second property in the Compo area, which he bought in 2004.

More for you Nanny says Weinstein interviewed her in boxers at his Westport...

A prominent Democratic fundraiser, Weinstein hosted an event for President Barack Obama at his Westport home in 2012 that raised $2 million. The star-studded event featured celebrities Anne Hathaway, Jim Naughton, Joanne Woodward, Aaron Sorkin and Anna Wintour.

The former president is among those to distance themselves from the movie mogul after The New York Times and The New Yorker magazine published investigations chronicling a history of sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein and settlements he paid, often involving former employees, over three decades. Weinstein was fired Sunday by The Weinstein Co., a studio he co-founded with his brother.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who received $2,700 from Weinstein for his 2016 re-election campaign, said he will donate the money to the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence.

When I read the New York Times piece, I was aghast at how many and how often these instances of harassment and intimidation were, Blumenthal told Hearst Connecticut Media. I was deeply disturbed.

Blumenthal said he decided immediately that we should donate the money to an organization that does really good work against sexual violence, and that was our decision.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., received $1,000 from Weinstein in 1996.

We will be making a $1000 contribution to Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven, said Jimmy Tickey, DeLauros campaign manager.

Other Connecticut politicians who received campaign contributions from Weinstein include former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd, who retired in 2010 and went on to serve as head of the Motion Picture Association of America, former Sen. Joe Lieberman, and Liebermans rival, Ned Lamont, according to The Connecticut Mirror.
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Roughly 72 hours after her Santa Rosa restaurant, Willis Wine Bar, was reduced to smoldering rubble in the first night of Wine Country fires, Terri Stark was back in a kitchen coordinating meals for emergency responders and displaced residents.

Theres nothing else to do right now besides take it one day at a time, she said while working at Santa Rosas Bird & the Bottle, one of five remaining restaurants she and husband Mark own in Sonoma County. We have people who have lost everything, and were trying to do what we can for them.

The company  Stark Reality Restaurants  employs over 400 people, with roughly 85 percent living in areas affected by the Wine Country disaster. To help both her business family and residents across the region, Stark said she has been trying to serve free meals at the properties, which also include Montis Rotisserie and Starks Steak in Santa Rosa, and Bravas Bar De Tapas and Willis Seafood in Healdsburg.

Now Playing: A National Guard helicopter shows the Tubbs Fire burning in Sonoma County. Video: San Francisco Chronicle

Staying open, however, is a tougher proposition as fires continue to threaten additional communities. For example, Willis Seafood opened Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.  but had to close 15 minutes later due to pre-evacuation orders.

On Thursday, the scene at Bird & the Bottle embodied the uncertainty rampant in Sonoma County: Stark said her staff was slim because most were dealing with substantial losses, and only a few diners had found their way to the restaurant that morning amid the countys chaos. Some were part of a group of employees who just needed hugs, and another was a man who ventured in by himself.

I didnt know his story, but he looked as though he lost everything, Stark said, her voice breaking. This is just devastating.

Sleep hadnt come easy since Monday, Stark acknowledged. She saw flames licking at the air from her home, which she bought from her grandparents 17 years ago in the Grace Tract neighborhood of Santa Rosa. Her husband spent a few hours watering the roof, she said, preparing for the worst.

People are on survival mode right now. And theyve either lost everything, or they evacuated and have nothing to come back to, she said.

For now, she plans to continue opening her restaurants to the public, and like Bird & the Bottle on Thursday, will use them to occasionally offer free meals to residents and first responders.

I have six restaurants, except for Willis now, I guess, in a small community. And a staff of over 400, which in a town this small is significant, Stark says. I dont know what to expect each day, but were going to try to help. Each day. Thats all you can do.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
The second-year Texas Southern University law student responsible for Rep. Briscoe Cain's visit says buzz from Monday's canceled event may propel his own candidacy for Houston Community College's board of trustees.

Daniel Caldwell, who is challenging Carolyn Evans-Shabazz for the District IV seat, garnered national attention this week after Cain's speech was canceled amid student protests. He accused TSU President Austin Lane of "silencing the opposition" and not respecting the law school dean's authority within the school.

"I would be naive if I didn't expect it to have a boost effect (on the campaign)," he said.

Cain, a Baytown-area Republican, was met by protesters in TSU's Thurgood Marshall School of Law on Monday. The university said it called off the event - promoted as a review of the state Legislature's special session - because it was not scheduled in accordance with school policy. In a statement this week, the TSU administration noted that the group is not registered with the university, though its law school said it recognizes the group.

Cain was elected to represent District 128 in 2016, and is a member of the Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative Republicans that has sparred with more moderate Republican members of the Texas House of Representatives.

He is no stranger to campus speech issues, an increasingly politicized topic Republicans have used to criticize universities as too liberal.

Free speech bill

Cain authored a bill last session that would have required universities to extend freedom of assembly and expression provisions to all common outdoor areas of campus and to both recognized and unrecognized student groups. In a statement Tuesday, Cain called for an interim hearing on campus speech before the next legislative session.

Caldwell organized Cain's event through the TSU chapter of the Federalist Society, a national right-leaning law group. He registered the campus organization with the law school, but not the university, last spring.

TSU's freedom of expression policy does not stipulate that only campus organizations registered with the university can host speakers. The university declined to elaborate on exactly what rule Caldwell's group broke.

"The university has a right to regulate time, place and manner (of speech)," Lane said at the event, a statement echoed in TSU's freedom of expression policy.

The university affirmed the importance of free speech in a statement and invited Cain to return to campus at a university-approved event.

Caldwell previously campaigned unsuccessfully for Austin Community College's board and for a seat on Dallas City Council. He has lived in HCC's District IV, in south central Houston, for about a year, according to documents filed with HCC.

He said in an interview Wednesday that he expected his Cain event to kick off the year for his student group. Caldwell said he first met Cain at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in the summer of 2016. He said he asked the lawmaker to speak on campus over the summer.

"The point was not to draw a protest," he said. "The point was to have a wildly successful event."

Thurgood Marshall School of Law Dean James Douglas said Wednesday that Caldwell spoke with him about the event several months ago.

"I told him he had a right to invite people, just like every other student," he said. "This is an academic environment; that's the way I treat it."

He declined to comment on whether he believed Caldwell's First Amendment rights were violated by the cancellation of the event. He said he is investigating to figure out exactly what happened.

In footage posted to Twitter by KHOU's Janelle Bludau, students chanted in the classroom where Cain was speaking: "When a racist comes to town, shut it down."

At least one protester was removed from the room by campus police.

The president was greeted with cheers from protesters when he said the event would be canceled.

"What you are seeing today is an unapproved event," Lane said at a podium on Monday in recorded footage. "I think there is a student organization that set up the event. We appreciate you doing that (but) we have to make sure that it goes through the appropriate channels."

Miles backs TSU

Lane was meeting with Sen. Borris Miles, a Houston Democrat, elsewhere on campus on Monday, and the lawmaker accompanied him into the auditorium where Lane canceled the event.

"It was evident that the university administration was not adequately informed about the unauthorized meeting and made the correct decision to postpone the meeting because of the escalating tensions and lack of security," Miles said in a statement. "This was nothing more than miscommunication between different entities at TSU, and I explained that to Rep. Briscoe Cain."

A campus free speech advocacy group disagreed.

The Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for Individual Rights in Education said in a statement that Lane erred in canceling the event. Lane, it said, could have encouraged protesters to continue demonstrating outside and let the event continue but instead granted "the hecklers' demand to shut down a discussion."

"Lane chose poorly, depriving the audience of hearing a scheduled speaker and of the opportunity to express their misgivings - or agreement - with his political views," the group wrote.

Cain did not respond to requests for comment.

It was the second time this year TSU's administration canceled an event by a Republican politician.

Last spring, the school canceled a scheduled commencement address by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate. The administration said it made the decision to cancel Cornyn's address amid concerns about protests in an attempt to keep the focus on the students' graduation celebration.
The home of Sherin Mathews, a 3-year-old who went missing Saturday after her father allegedly told her to stand outside alone as punishment for not finishing her milk, was searched by law enforcement Tuesday night.

The search warrant was conducted by the Richardson Police Department and the FBI's Evidence Recovery Team, according to a Facebook post made by the police. Richardson Police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Perlich told Chron.com Wednesday morning that the search warrant is sealed but electronics were taken from the home.
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City Hall has become largely dysfunctional, and the council members and staff who work there may be forced out.

Temporarily, that is, because of the deteriorating conditions of the structure itself. The roof and walls are leaking. The basement routinely floods. Sewage backs up. There are still electrical upgrades from the 1960s. And the building is wrought with asbestos.

Recently, a fourth-floor window literally fell out of the building (landing on a roof and injuring no one).

On Wednesday, officials briefed the council on plans to do about $38 million in renovations that would commence in August and take about 15 months. The issues have been mounting for years, and experts say the structure will ultimately become too dangerous to enter if left to deteriorate.

Its a public facility in every sense of the word, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. I dont see us having much of a choice but to live up to that responsibility of maintaining it... We need to make it as painless and inexpensive as possible to do it in a comprehensive way.

In 1889, San Antonio spent $200,000 to build what was then a three-story headquarters for municipal government. Nearly four decades later, locals funded another $250,000 to add the fourth floor, said Mike Frisbie, director of the citys Transportation and Capital Improvements Department.

In all, he said, the city has invested about $6 million in the downtown building that houses the mayor and council, the city manager and her team, the city clerk and the city attorneys office.

Frisbie said that Building and Equipment Services Director Jorge Perez and his team have done yeoman work in applying bandage after bandage to the 52,000-square-foot building. Council members took a virtual tour of the building in which they work. The slideshow highlighted mildew, old fuse panels, unsealed penetrations of floors and ceilings, corroded iron pipes, cracks in the facade and interior cracking, among other things.

Just as quickly as Perezs team identifies issues and makes repairs, Frisbie said, others crop up.

The proposal, which would likely be funded through certificates of obligation  bonds that can be sold without voter approval  calls for new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, new heating and air conditioning, new elevators, improved fire suppression, repairs to the exterior, new windows and better drainage.

It also would likely include one of 22 proposals to make the buildings east entrance  its front steps  compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The renovations would necessitate shuttering the building for about 15 months, during which those who work there would be relocated. Council members said Wednesday they prefer the Frost Tower over Plaza de Armas, a recently renovated building to the west of City Hall, so as not to disrupt the city employees who are now based there.

Last December, the city closed on the purchase of the Frost Tower, which sits to the northeast of City Hall, across from Municipal Plaza. Once Frost completes its flagship skyscraper, it will move its employees out of the tower and city employees will move in. Thats expected to occur in 2020.

Councilman Clayton Perry threw a bit of a wrench into the citys otherwise smooth proposal, which noted adherence to and support for historic preservation. He suggested that the city consider returning City Hall to its original form  a three-story building.

He opined that doing so may not be more expensive because the cost of renovating a three-story building would be less than a four-story. Nirenberg gave the idea some credence and suggested that city officials look at the costs associated with bringing back the original dome roof.
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Hours before a San Antonio woman was struck and killed by a train as she lay passed out on the tracks, she was celebrating her boyfriend's birthday at a nearby bar.

Bexar County officials on Wednesday identified the woman as Sierra Barber, 23. She was killed around 5:30 a.m. Sunday at the railroad tracks near Walzem Road and Interstate 35. The medical examiner's office said her cause of death was blunt force trauma.

Police responding to the accident told reporters Barber had suffered serious injuries to her head and legs. Paramedics took her to San Antonio Military Medical Center, where she later died.

RELATED: Police arrest 10 in drinking death of LSU fraternity pledge

Now Playing: The train struck the car around 3:15 a.m., Oct. 11, near Quintana Road and Southwest Loop 410. Video: San Antonio Express-News

Earlier that night, Barber was at Bar 23, in the 4400 block of Walzem Road, celebrating with her boyfriend, Isaac Perez, he told mySA.com. By 2:30 a.m., he was making sure she was able to sit up without falling backwards due to her level of intoxication.

Soon after, he got into a fight with someone at the bar and woke up in the hospital.

Authorities informed him of Barber's death.

"I didn't want to believe it at all," he said. "I kept saying 'No, she's still with us. She's not gone.' And when everybody was gone, I just broke down crying."

RELATED: Former patients mourn Universal City physician assistant slain in home invasion

When he asked authorities why Barber wasn't at the hospital with him, they told him she had refused service, Perez said. Woody Woodward, a spokesman for the San Antonio Fire Department, said paramedics responded to Bar 23 around 2:30 a.m. but he was not able to provide any details on who they helped or whether Barber refused service.

How she ended up on the train tracks miles away from the bar is unclear. Police are investigating Barber's death, and the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office has not determined whether her death was a homicide.

"It is terrible," Perez said. "Me and her had so many big plans for our future."

Barber leaves behind two children. A GoFundMe page created by her sister, Alexis Talley, asks for donations that will be used to give her a "proper service and burial."

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdowns
Now Playing: It is unclear where or why the chase began, but it ended about 11:45 p.m., Oct. 11, at Vassar Lane and McCullough when the driver crashed into a tree, fled on foot and was arrested shortly thereafter. Video: San Antonio Express-News

A driver was arrested late Wednesday after leading Texas Department of Public Safety troopers on a chase on the North Side.

It is unclear where or why the chase began, but it ended about 11:45 p.m. at Vassar Lane and McCullough when the driver crashed their silver Ford Mustang into a tree, fled on foot and was arrested shortly thereafter.
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SAN ANTONIO - An estimated $15,000 in property was recovered and three people were arrested after police caught them allegedly working to steal tools and sell them online.

San Antonio Police Department spokesman officer Douglas Greene said two men and a woman were arrested Thursday in the 4500 block of Fredericksburg Road.

Their names could not immediately be released because they were still being processed through the magistrates office, police said.

RELATED: Police: Seguin teen pulled over, released before TX Tech shooting

Detectives were alerted to the operation when a burglary was reported at a storage place in an apartment complex in the 2600 block of Babcock Road.

Some time later "one of the detectives noticed that the equipment was being sold online," Greene said.

Detectives made arrangements with one of the suspects to buy the stolen equipment Thursday in a parking lot on Fredericksburg Road.

"We had three individuals show up at the parking lot with the stolen goods," Greene said.

RELATED: Sheriff: S.A.-area man accused of sexually assaulting foster children took in 180+ girls

The trio was arrested at the scene, police said.

Fencing Interdiction Team detectives later discovered that more stolen items were being held at a home in the 200 block of K Street.

There, investigators found stolen property totalling between $13-15,000.

All three of them face felony enhanced theft charges.

"That means that these individuals have been involved in theft in the past," Greene said of the charges.

The trio may also be linked to other theft cases, Greene said.

Police were able to return all of the property stolen in the initial burglary to the rightful owner.

Greene said this situation is a reminder to document all purchases. This includes a serial number or even an owner applied number, such as a number inscribed onto property itself.

"The more information they can provide us with ... that will increase their chances of getting their property back," Greene said.

This story will be updated when names of the suspects are released.

jbeltran@express-news.net Twitter: @JBfromSA
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A 26-year-old woman she allegedly shot and killed a man Wednesday while he argued with her mother.

San Antonio Police Sgt. Roy Miller said the victim and the mother, who were in a relationship, were arguing at about 7 p.m. in the 1200 block of West Amber Street.

The victim, who has not been identified, allegedly slapped the mother during the spat.

"There have been arguments between them in the past," Miller said, noting that the man moved in with her a few months ago.

RELATED: Affidavit: S.A.-area teen was 'taking it too far' before fraternity hazing death

As they were arguing, her 26-year-old daughter, who has also not been identified, walked into the room with a gun, police said.

"She goes in there to confront him and tell him to stop," Miller said.

When the man, in his 50s, moved toward the daughter, she shot him in the lower abdomen, he said.

RELATED: Officials ID San Antonio woman struck and killed by train while passed out on tracks

The man was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center where he later died, police said.

Detectives are still investigating the incident, Miller said.

jbeltram@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA
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A Seguin teenager accused of fatally shooting and killing a Texas Tech police officer is facing additional charges as officials conduct a review to determine how he was able to get access to a gun inside the police station.

Hollis Daniels, 19, was charged with capital murder in the death of Officer Floyd East Jr. inside the Texas Tech police station Monday night.

A federal grand jury on Wednesday also indicted Daniels on a charge of possession of a stolen firearm, court records show.

RELATED: Affidavit: Texas Tech student told police he 'f----d up' and 'shot their friend' following arrest

According to the indictment, Daniels knowingly possessed a stolen Springfield .45 caliber pistol. Police wouldn't confirm during the press conference it was the same weapon allegedly used during the shooting, though a .45 caliber shell casing was found at the scene.

Lubbock Police Chief Greg Stevens said officers encountered Daniels early the morning of the killing when they got a call about a stolen firearm. The gun reported stolen was a .45 caliber.

While en route to the call a Lubbock police officer came across a car matching the description of the car reportedly used in the theft and pulled it over. Daniels, who was driving the car, didn't allow officers to search his car, Stevens said.

"They entertained whether or not they had enough to search it without that consent, and they did not. There was not enough probable cause to search it on its own, nor to get a warrant for the vehicle," Stevens said. "They thought there might be perhaps even drugs in the vehicle. They asked for a drug dog, but none were available. They looked at a few avenues. Ultimately, it would've been unconstitutional to search the vehicle so they released him."

READ MORE: Texas Tech student accused of killing officer grew up in Seguin with well-known family

Police were also investigating Daniels for making a terroristic threat after the owner of the gun told officers Daniels had threatened him.

On Monday night Texas Tech officers brought Hollis into custody on a drug possession charge after officers went to his room on a welfare check call, according to an arrest warrant.

Stevens said Daniels was searched before being brought to the police station.

"He was able to gain access to a weapon, and he shouldn't have been," Stevens said.

While East was filling out paperwork, Hollis allegedly shot him before fleeing.

RELATED: Friends of accused Texas Tech cop-killer defend him online

Officers located Hollis shortly after the shooting in the 2700 block of Drive of Champions. Stevens said he was brought into custody around 9:26 p.m.

"We cast a net from which the suspect could not escape," Stevens said.

The homicide resulted in Hollis' most serious charge, capital murder, which is punishable only by life in prison or the death penalty.

fsabawi@mysa.com | Twitter: @FaresInSA
Wednesday it was NBC that bore the brunt of President Donald Trump's most recent harangue about fake news. And this time, he didn't just attack NBC's reporting, he also threatened to revoke the network's broadcast license, hinting at a more aggressive political maneuver to come if needed to silence the opposition.

Despite Trump's recent proclamation that he invented the moniker fake news, efforts to delegitimize opponents in the press have actually been deeply ingrained in American politics since the nation's founding, and politically dangerous. While the First Amendment protects freedom of the press, in 1798, the specter of "fake news" fueled passage of the Sedition Act, which limited the scope of legal criticisms of the government. Like John Adams before him, Trump's attacks threaten to stifle and undermine the press, but if he acts on them, they also might just blow up in his face.

In the 18th century, fake news was out of control. The earliest U.S. newspapers shared news with little regard for accuracy. In 1731, Benjamin Franklin, who was then the editor of the Pennsylvania Gazette, expressed a widely-held sentiment when he suggested that printers should simply print whatever came in over the transom in hopes that "when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

By the era of the American Revolution, many printers took advantage of this precedent to build powerful political platforms. They frequently printed rumors and outright fabrications that confirmed their previously-held beliefs while insisting that it was not their job to verify news before printing it. In short, these outlets functioned much more like modern social media feeds than today's newspapers or broadcast news programs.

As Federalists and Republicans grew increasingly distrustful of one another in the heated partisan cauldron of the 1790s, concern about fake news exploded. Commentators frequently complained that Americans were being "seduced" and "misled" by "delusions and misrepresentations." Some Americans feared that these falsehoods were subverting the democratic process - and rumors ran rampant that printers, pamphleteers and provocateurs were colluding with agents from Britain or France.

In June, 1798, as the United States was slipping into the "Quasi-War" with France, arch-Republican printer Benjamin Franklin Bache published a letter from the French Foreign Minister Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand that tried to smooth over some of the diplomatic challenges facing the two nations. In response, Federalist commentators pounced on Bache for printing, as they saw it, lies from a foreign adversary. On the floor of the House of Representatives, Federalist George Thatcher denounced Bache as a foreign agent acting under the "order of the [French] Executive Directory."

Federalists, led by President John Adams, dominated government and had grown tired of news accounts that they believed were intended to delegitimize their leadership. They used Talleyrand's missive to push the so-called Alien and Sedition Acts, which limited the freedom of the press and the movement of foreign nationals.

They based the sedition law on the premise that the First Amendment never intended to protect false news. After its passage, Virginia lawyer Charles Lee defended the law by claiming that the Sedition Act did not restrain "truth, but endeavours to suppress wicked falsehoods."

Congressional opponents of the Sedition Act argued that published falsehoods were a necessary byproduct of a free press. The Geneva-born Pennsylvania Congressman Albert Gallatin - who was precisely the kind of foreign rabble-rouser that Federalists distrusted - warned that if the proposal became law, it would allow the Federalists to intimidate and clamp down on purveyors of real news, leaving Americans with only their side of the story.

Gallatin's accusation proved to be correct. After Adams signed the Sedition Act into law, his government quickly prosecuted printers and others for critical statements and reprinting news with which they disagreed.

Meanwhile, Federalists spread their own fake news with impunity. Henry Van Schaack, a New York Federalist, for example, asked a friendly newspaper editor to print some news that would serve "those federalists who have not information enough to invent any thing themselves from which they can make beneficial Deductions." If he had "no news from abroad," Van Schaack suggested, "why don't you fabricate some?"

Ultimately, the Federalists' gambit backfired. The electorate revolted against their attempts to limit press freedom. Anger over the Sedition Act contributed to Adams' failed reelection bid and the national decline of the Federalist party. Moreover, in response to the Sedition Act, Americans articulated the robust vision of press freedom that we often take for granted today. In a final, ironic twist, Federalist writers and printers quickly found themselves victims of their own legislation after Thomas Jefferson won the presidency and began prosecuting his adversaries at an even higher rate than the Adams administration had done.

The Federalists were drawing on English common law precedents, which provided for the prosecution of speech that could destabilize the government. But in doing so, they failed to distinguish between their party and the government it controlled. They justified their restriction on free speech by reframing challenges to their leadership as unpatriotic attacks on American order and unity. This was their fatal mistake.

Today, President Trump is making a similar mistake. In response to an adversarial press and its investigative reporting, he has branded the mainstream media as not only his enemy but also the "enemy of the American people." These attacks on the media might be dismissed as inappropriate, but harmless, bluster, if not for his musings about "opening up" libel laws so that he can sue media outlets for inaccurate reports or his new threat to challenge NBC's broadcasting license.

Even more alarmingly, since the election, Trump has appropriated the term "fake news," as a weapon to be deployed against his enemies. The phrase was originally intended to describe the manipulative and demonstrably false news stories (such as the infamous "Pizzagate" or the false claim that Pope Francis endorsed then-candidate Trump) that spread rapidly through social media and arguably contributed to Trump's surprising victory.

But, like John Adams and the Federalists, Trump's use of "fake news" serves political purposes. Instead of targeting conspiracy theories and hoaxes, Trump has unleashed the phrase against mainstream media coverage with which he disagrees in an attempt to blur the boundaries between respectable media outlets and purveyors of deception and to delegitimize portions of the American media that dare to criticize him in any way.

Baldly attempting to advance this goal, Trump's press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently insisted that there was "no difference" between the fake news created by Russian propagandists and American reporting that Trump's team has deemed inaccurate.

Federalists pursued this same strategy in 1798. They took advantage of public anxiety concerning fake news to reimagine dissent as disorder and clamp down on their adversaries' press freedoms.

Yet President John Adams and his allies misread the moment, resulting in dire electoral consequences. It is unclear if President Trump and the Republican Party will follow the Federalists down this path. Yet if the response to the 1798 Sedition Act is any guide, not only would they threaten a freedom essential to our democracy, but their political opponents just might get the last laugh.

---

Taylor is a Ph.D. candidate at Indiana University-Bloomington, finishing a dissertation on early American information politics.
The truth can no longer be ignored: Donald Trump is dangerously unfit to be president and could lead the nation to unthinkable disaster. So what are we going to do about it?

The White House has become an adult day care center, where the presidents senior aides spend every single day  trying to contain him. That terrifying bit of information was disclosed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., whose decision not to run for re-election has freed him to say that the emperor is indeed naked.

Corker told The New York Times that his colleagues in the GOP Senate majority understand the volatility that were dealing with and the tremendous amount of work that it takes by people around (Trump) to keep him in the middle of the road. Trump treats the presidency as if it were a reality show and is so erratic that he could put us on the path to World War III.

The shocking thing is that Corker is merely saying out loud what many others say in private. Trump is not qualified, by temperament or character, to exercise the awesome powers of the presidency.

He has three years and three months remaining in his presidential term. What are we going to do?

Corker counts on those people who are closely working with him, what I would call the good guys  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and chief of staff John Kelly  to keep the apocalypse at bay. But no one can prevent all potential damage. Trump petulantly sabotages the health care system because it bears his predecessors name. He cynically amplifies white racial grievance for political gain. He unnerves our longtime allies and recklessly goads our adversaries. He lies so shamelessly that he defiles the honor of the office held by Washington and Lincoln.

This crisis isnt about conservative governance versus progressive governance. Its about soundness of mind and judgment.

The Constitution does not offer much of a playbook for the situation we find ourselves in. Impeachment is reserved for high crimes and misdemeanors  a phrase that means anything Congress wants it to mean. Assume special counsel Robert Mueller eventually concludes that Trump obstructed justice or even participated in a collusion scheme with the Russians. Would Speaker Paul Ryan and the Republican majority in the House be too fearful of the wrath of the GOP base to attempt impeachment? Unless the evidence were overwhelming, would there really be enough votes in the Senate to remove Trump from office?

Im skeptical on all counts. Impeachment is, and will remain, a very long shot.

The 25th Amendment allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to relieve Trump of his powers, with Congress the ultimate arbiter if Trump were to protest. But this procedure  intended for when a president suffers, for example, a debilitating stroke  looks plausible only as a fail-safe mechanism if the president literally starts howling at the moon and trying to launch nuclear missiles.

Our most likely course of action is containment. The generals who play nanny at the adult day care center are already acting as the first line of defense. Corker and his colleagues in Congress must begin acting as the second.

Congress has great powers of investigation and oversight. The House has primacy in exercising the power of the purse; the Senate has the responsibility to advise and grant  or withhold  consent. Back in January, Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might have dreamed that Trump, whatever his failings, would at least allow them to implement an orthodox GOP agenda. By now they must realize how wrong they were.

Republicans need to stop talking and begin acting to constrain an out-of-control president. They probably wont, however  which makes it imperative that Democrats win one or both chambers of Congress in 2018.

Massive people power displays of resistance are stirring. But if you really want to make a difference, go out and work to turn the House and Senate into bodies that will ferociously protect our democracy  from a president who grievously threatens it.

eugenerobinson@washpost.com
At least seven Cabinet-level officials, and a smattering of aides, appear to have billed taxpayers for millions of dollars worth of private jets, military flights, spousal travel and other questionable expenses.

Yet so far just one of them, former health and human services secretary Tom Price, has been forced to step down.

The White House argues that while Price may have misbehaved, there is plenty of precedent for such extravagant government travel. And the administration is right. Government officials were abusing travel budgets long before President Trump came on the scene.

Like, a really long time before Trump  were talking ancient Rome here.

During the Roman Empire, government representatives traveling on official business used a state-authorized transportation system, called vehiculatio. They received special travel passes (called diplomata, and issued by emperors or governors) that allowed them to requisition carts, horses, food, lodging and guides from provincial populations along their route.

Locals were usually compensated at set rates. But the rules varied from province to province, reinforced or modified over time as governors and emperors saw fit, according to Hunter College classics professor W. Graham Claytor, an expert in Greco-Roman documents.

This led to a lot of abuse. Public officials took personal trips disguised as work trips. They spent, and extracted from locals, much more than they really needed.

Consider a petition from the villagers of Skaptopara in Thrace (today Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria), sent to Emperor Gordian III in A.D. 238.

The village, renowned for its hot springs, was located between two army camps and a famous market. Villagers complained that soldiers leave their proper routes to stay in their town and demand hospitality and provisions free of charge. Governors and other officials also frequented the town, further burdening locals.

Villagers warned the emperor that the abuses might force them to pick up and leave  and take their tax dollars with them.

Pliny the Younger (governor of Bithynia and Pontus in A.D. 110) used flattery to justify a travel pass he had recently issued to his wife, even though she was traveling on a private matter.

It was for familial piety, Pliny explained; surely the beneficent Emperor Trajan would understand. Trajan replied he did.

When emperors or governors did get mad, the result was another edict reminding officials to please follow the rules  and stop making the government look bad!

Heres one, from Marcus Petronius Mamertinus, provincial governor of Egypt, dated A.D. 133-137:

I have learned that many soldiers, traveling through the countryside without a diploma, unjustly demand boats, baggage animals, and men, sometimes taking things by force, sometimes receiving them from the local governors as a favor or service. As a result, private citizens suffer insults and abuse, and the army is accused of greed and injustice. Therefore I command once and for all that the local governors and their lieutenants furnish none of the things given for escort to anyone without a diploma, neither to those going by boat nor those traveling on foot. I shall forcibly punish anyone who, after this proclamation, is caught either taking or giving any of the things specified.

So, why wouldnt this problem go away? Because, as scholar Russell S. Gentry has argued, rulers preferred to cast bad behavior as isolated incidents rather than systemic flaws in an empire that treated provincials as unimportant and afforded government elites relatively little oversight.

Just as, say, Trump might prefer to cast a jet-setting former health secretary as a bad apple not representative of the spirit of his administration, Claytor observes.

It took centuries for Roman emperors to realize they needed to make system-wide changes if they hoped to curb the wanton abuse of taxpayer resources. How long will it take Trump?

crampell@washpost.com
Here's today's beef:

San Antonio bows out of bid for Amazon's second headquarters

David Paul Morris

From the San Antonio Express-News and the Chronicle:

San Antonio and Bexar County officials are bowing out of the competition for Amazon's proposed $5 billion second headquarters, reversing course from their initial plans to put together a competitive bid, officials said.

"Blindly giving away the farm isn't our style," Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg wrote in a joint letter sent Wednesday to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

The Seattle e-commerce giant invited cities last month to bid on the location of its second headquarters, HQ2, promising 50,000 new jobs that pay an average of more than $100,000 a year. The deadline is Oct. 19. READ MORE.

How to use your own modem and router with Comcast

Melissa Phillip/Staff

From the Chronicle:

Every month, when your Comcast bill arrives, chances are there's a charge included for renting the combination modem/router you use for internet access. It's $10 a month, and that means you are shelling out $120 annually for the privilege.

But here's something you should know: You don't have to rent Comcast's equipment. As is the case with many cable providers, you can bring your own hardware to the party and, over time, save big bucks. READ MORE.




THE main opposition MDC-T has accused the late top State security agent, Nixon Chirinda, of unleashing a reign of terror on its members during his tenure as provincial intelligence officer for Mashonaland West province.

MDC-T provincial secretary, Edward Kadewere yesterday told NewsDay that his party members heaved a sigh of relief when Chirinda was transferred to Harare.

Chirinda was a cruel man not only at work, but even in the community. I remember during his reign at NSSA offices (NSSA Building houses the CIO offices in Chinhoyi) the CIO members were very ruthless to our members. Most of our members were picked up and tortured during his time there, but the situation greatly improved when he was transferred, he said.

A former newspaper vendor recounted how he was interrogated after he gave Chirinda bond notes as change after the latter paid with $5 for a copy of a newspaper. I was surprised that he refused bond notes as change, yet he was part of government. He ended up asking me if I knew him well, as if I had committed a crime. When I failed to give him change in United States dollars he took the newspaper without paying. Chirinda was bad news, he said.

Chirindas former tractor driver, James Basera, claimed that he was fired for allegedly failing to finish ploughing a portion of land in a short space of time, and left without getting his dues.

Basera said when he went back to ask for his money, Chirinda allegedly pointed a gun at him and ordered him off the property.

He reminded me of the colonial days when the white men would beat us when we did not do things their way. In fact, he was worse than the white farmers, he said.

But Zanu PF officials, among them Provincial Affairs minister Webster Shamu and central committee member Philip Chiyangwa, described the late CIO boss as a hard worker and jovial person.

Chirinda died in an horrific traffic accident in Chinhoyi on Saturday night and was declared a provincial liberation war hero.

At the time of his death, he had just been promoted to Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) deputy director (non-traditional threats) and was now based in Harare.

Chirinda will be buried at Glen Forest Memorial Park in Harare tomorrow.

 NewsDay

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DISGRUNTLED former Zanu PF members have relaunched the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) to reconnect the electorate to the liberation war ethos and challenge the ruling Zanu PF in general elections scheduled for later this year.

Zanus interim executive accused Zanu PF of selling out on the Chimurenga/Umvukela war ideals, hence, the birth of Zanu.

Zanu has finally reconnected for genuine fulfilment of the nations shared desires as had been more fully expressed and confirmed by the citizenrys support and participation in the Chimurenga/Umvukela wars, but sadly long sold out by the Zanu PF political-mafia cabal, the partys interim secretary-general, Chamunorwa Damiso said.

Zanu is diametrically different from and is opposed to, while also having been formed because of Zanu PF.

Other members of the executive are Chawaona Kanoti (president), Victoria Dhlamini and Peter Muteya (vice-presidents), Charity Shonhiwa (head of the womens wing), Josephat Zimuto (political commissar), and Vero Kapu (youth chairperson).

Kanoti, a former State security agent and Zanu PF member, is a lawyer and chairperson of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Electoral Justice, a trust currently working to ensure all victims of the 2000 to 2013 political violence are compensated, while the perpetrators are tried for their crimes.

Damiso claimed their other members were from Zanu PF, Zapu and the opposition MDCs.

Zanu PF became an essentially inward-looking and self-serving party benefiting the leader, former President Robert Mugabe, and the clique surrounding him in a patronage system that robbed all and sundry of the nations vast God-given resources, ultimately subjecting this nation to untold suffering often surpassing that which was experienced during Ian Smiths reign, he said.

Zanu joins several other opposition parties that have expressed interest to contest this years harmonised elections.

 Newsday

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VANCOUVER, B.C.  7-Eleven Canada is making it easier for customers to make informed purchasing choices. The convenience retail chain has joined the British Columbias Informed Dining program, adding 600 participating locations across Canada. 7-Eleven customers will have in-store access to information on calories, sodium and 12 other core nutrients for prepared foods and beverages.

Being awarded the Informed Dining designation from the B.C. Ministry of Health is a great honour for 7-Eleven Canada, and its a first for our convenience industry, said Doug Rosencrans, GM & VP, 7-Eleven Canada. The program helps us to build healthier communities and trusting relationships with our customers.

The Informed Dining program builds on 7- Eleven Canadas nutrition transparency program. In the fall of 2016, 7-Eleven began voluntarily posting calorie labels nationwide on non-packaged foods and beverages  one of the first quick service restaurants in Canada to do so. In 2015, 7-Eleven Canada rolled out its Better Choices healthier options program, which expanded its assortment of healthier products and provided customers nutrient data for non-packaged foods and beverages.

As a founding stakeholder of Informed Dining, Restaurants Canada is pleased to welcome our national member 7-Eleven Canada to the program, said Mark von Schellwitz, VP Western Canada, Restaurants Canada. 7-Elevens pivot from traditional convenience store to a robust food service provider illuminates the rapid change in the restaurant industry. Their leadership to participate in Informed Dining ensures their customers have access to nutrition information for the entire range of food and beverages they offer.

7-Eleven now ranks 11th in foodservice sales in Canada. The foodservice retailer offers a wide product assortment that includes daily delivery of fresh food, hot food programs, in-store bakery, fresh produce, as well as self-serve coffee and cold-dispensed beverages. Ready-2-go options like fresh vegetables, salads, fruit cups, bottled water and single-serve fruits are gaining traction among customers seeking healthier options. In fact, 7-Eleven sells more than 4,100 bananas daily across Canada. For more information, please visit 7eleven.ca.
South Tipperary IFA has organised a donation of hay to farmers in Donegal who are having extreme fodder difficulties due to poor weather in the last few months.

The first load of hay was transported by Maher's transport this week, with more to follow over the coming weeks.

South Tipperary IFA Chairman Simon Ryan paid tribute to the Tipperary farmers who have made the generous donation towards their fellow farmers in Donegal, to Tipperary Co-op for sponsoring Transport and to Maher's Transport for facilitating the transport over such a distance.

He said many farmers in Donegal are very worried about how they will feed their animals this winter as the severe weather has meant they have not been able to conserve essential fodder.

"IFA is about farmers supporting farmers so we have gotten together to give what we can of our own supplies to help the farmers in Donegal who are struggling."

Any farmer who would like to donate fodder can contact the IFA Tipperary Office.
A 27 years-old Kilsheelan man punched a male garda in the face and body and pushed a female garda over a table when they were called to a domestic incident at a house in Carrick-on-Suir, a court heard last week.

One of the gardai assaulted and harmed by Philip O'Halloran of No 1 Slievenamon Drive, Kilsheelan is still on sick leave seven months after the incident while the other officer has only just returned to work.

O'Halloran pleaded guilty to assaulting and harming the two gardai at No. 26 Pearse Square, Carrick-on-Suir on March 19 last year.

Gda. Sgt. Ian Barrett told the court the two gardai were called to a domestic incident at this address.

O'Halloran, who was intoxicated, was asked to leave the premises and was escorted from the house. About 40 minutes later, the two officers were called again to the house after O'Halloran's partner allowed him back into the premises. O'Halloran refused to leave and punched the male garda a number of times in the face and body. He also ripped the epaulette from the shoulder of his uniform. The female garda attempted to restrain O'Halloran but he pushed her backwards and she went over a table. He also fell over the table with her and landed on the garda.

Sgt. Barrett said the two gardai called for assistance and O'Halloran was removed from the premises. Both officers were injured in the incident. The female garda had only just returned to work while the other officer had not yet returned to work.

Victim Impact Statements from both gardai were presented to Judge Terence Finn.

Defence solicitor Eamonn Hayes said his client wished to apologise for his behaviour and was prepared to meet with the two gardai to apologise in person to them and assure them they had nothing to fear from him.

He explained that O'Halloran went out socialising on the night of this incident and he drank beer and spirits. When he left the house at the direction of the gardai, he initially intended to sleep in his car.

He became concerned that he risked being prosecuted under drink driving legislation if he was found in the car by the gardai.

Mr Hayes said his client returned to the house and his partner allowed him in. He retired to bed but the gardai were contacted by his partner.

"The two gardai arrived at the house and he was disinclined to leave. That is a decision he very seriously regrets with the events that unfolded."

The solicitor submitted that O'Halloran had an alcohol abuse difficulty since his teenage years and it was this that caused the incident. "He has refrained completely from alcohol since the incident and attended a 10-week anger management course."

He pointed out that O'Halloran was dismissed from his job because of his appearance in court for this offence but has now secured new employment.

Mr Hayes appealed to Judge Finn to be lenient in imposing penalty and pointed to his guilty plea, the fact he hadn't any previous convictinos and was willing to pay compensation to the gardai he assaulted.

Judge Finn, who was presiding at his first sitting of Carrick-on-Suir District Court after a four months leave, said his colleague accepted jurisdiction to hear this case in the district court during his abence and he accepted this decision.

However, he noted that if the case had come before him at the stage where jurisdiction was being decided upon, there would have been a different outcome given the evidence he had heard.

He said the Victim Impact Statements from the two injured gardai were very concerning and one of them had yet to return to work.

The fact these gardai were unable to carry our their duties for the public at large because of the injuries they suffered was a loss to society and all because O'Halloran was not prepared to stay away from this house when directed to do so and decided to "stand and fight".

Judge Finn said O'Halloran's clean record and his guilty plea stood to him but were not sufficient for to court not to impose a custodial sentence.

The injuries suffered by the two gardai were substantial and the court must factor in the physical and psychological effects of the defendant's violence on them.

He said he was going to impose a ten months prison sentence and the mitigating factors in the case were not sufficient for him to suspend the sentence.

Mr Hayes requested him to put a stay on the prison sentence and order a Probation Report on his client.

Judge Finn agreed to adjourn the case for two weeks for a Probation Report to be prepared on O'Halloran but advised the solicitor he didn't hold out much hope of the report swaying him in his sentencing.

"It would take something of great significance that hasn't already been articulated," he concluded.
This year, I've spent a lot of time working with graduate students on their writing. They were preparing manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication, and wanted to lead the writing process from first cut to submission. The result, in addition to a stack of drafts, has been an unexpected and welcome education for me  a raft of challenges in learning to write, in teaching writing and in the craft of writing.

Writing is hard work, even for people who enjoy it. In my most impatient moments, I think of what William Shawn, legendary editor of The New Yorker magazine, once said to writer John McPhee: It takes as long as it takes.

But for anyone undecided about whether they like to write, 'as long as it takes' can be a tough sell. Engaging with the writing process requires unequivocal patience  with oneself, with iteration, with the open-endedness of simultaneously creating and solving a puzzle. Such dependence on patience makes writing tricky to learn and tricky to teach. Every adviser has a different way of guiding student writing. For each student, an adviser's default approach  usually some mix of trial, error, preference and habit  will either resonate or rankle. New graduate students arrive with formidable talents, but if they need to learn how to write, how do they start? What shape does that learning experience actually take?

Adapted from Getty Between starting secondary school and finishing college, I participated in at least eight writing programmes and workshops. Some were three-week intensives; others ran for three months. The first focused on personal essays. Several covered technical exposition. Two were for poetry. Cumulatively, they delivered essential lessons.

One is that even technical writing is a creative practice, which means that commenting on someone's technical material can evoke an emotional response. Another is that unpractised attempts are clumsy, and a clumsy critique of an unpractised attempt can feel excoriating. A third lesson is that most students  and advisers  with scientific training rarely encounter the formal rules of constructive criticism that are so embedded in artistic training. Art students quickly learn that their work is an object, and as such, can be treated objectively by themselves and others. Once they understand objectivity, they also understand that critical comments on their work are not personal criticisms. In terms of emotional effort, an objective perspective is less exhausting  but both the writer and the critic need to be on the same page.

There was a stretch when I was regularly pushing student co-authors to the point of frustration. I hacked around with an overly heavy editorial hand. Projecting myself back into the setting of a writers' workshop has helped me to readjust. I now reply to every draft with the same question: What kind of comments would you like from me? I regularly remind myself that if the structure needs work, I should not also make copy edits. A retired high-school English teacher once told me that he marked student papers with the thickest crayon he could find. There's a limit to how detailed your comments can be when you're using a dull crayon, he said, and that's for the best.
Amid a series of deadly blazes ravaging Northern California, the nation's leading technology companies  including Google, Apple and Facebook  have pledged more than $2.5 million combined to help fire relief efforts.

All companies have headquarters in the Bay Area.

Facebook, which has a history of donating to disaster relief funds, announced on Tuesday that it would be donating $1 million to local nonprofits, including the Community Foundation of Sonoma County. Additional recipients have yet to be announced.

"I'm thinking of all our neighbors in harm's way and I hope everyone stays safe," CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post announcing the donation.

Along with other social networks, Menlo Park-based Facebook has become a hub for people to share their stories in the aftermath of the raging fires, which overtook densely-populated suburbs within Santa Rosa and flattened neighborhoods across the Northern Bay Area.

At least 20 people have perished in the spate of fires, while hundreds more remain missing or unaccounted for in Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Lake, Nevada, Butte, Calaveras, Shasta, and Yuba counties.

[BAY GALLERY SB]Aerial Views of North Bay Wildfires

Users have been marking themselves safe using Facebook's Safety Check feature, while more than 3,000 people offered help on community message boards, according to the company. Site users thanked Zuckerberg for the site's feature on his most recent post, crediting Facebook with helping families connect during tragedies.

Others implored him to continue his philanthropic efforts outside of the U.S.

"Please carry out more campaigns that encourage people to help other poorer countries, such as Mexico, for example, affected by environmental or other disasters at war," wrote Facebook user Leila Barbosa.

The entrepreneur, whose company donated $1.5 million to hurricane relief in Puerto Rico, came under fire for what many called an insensitive "virtual reality tour" through the flood-wrecked island. He has since apologized.

Meanwhile, Apple also pledged $1 million to fire relief efforts. The Cupertino-based company also plans to match employee donations two-for-one.

"Our thoughts are with our Bay Area friends & neighbors affected by wildfires," CEO Tim Cook Tweeted, warning people to "stay safe."

Apple did not say which nonprofits would benefit from the donations.

Google representatives said that the company would also be contributing to relief efforts across California with a $500,000 donation. The Mountain View-based company will be working with its longtime partner, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, to distribute money to local nonprofits.
The California National Guard on Wednesday night flew in reinforcements for battling the massive wildfires in the North Bay.

At the request of Gov. Jerry Brown's office, the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from Southern California sent 120 personnel on two planes that touched down at Moffett Field in Mountain View about 11 p.m.

They were expected to load up on buses and continue immediately up to the North Bay to provide support in various wildfire efforts.

The team will help set up shelters, assist with logistics, help people get to shelters and basically help any way possible in the areas of transportation, medical evacuations and logistics, a team captain said.
What to Know At least 31 people killed by fires burning across Northern California

More than 191,000 acres scorched by growing wildfires

3,500 homes and businesses gutted

Wine country wildfires already well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history could gain momentum Thursday and erase even the modest gains firefighters have made.

Steady winds with gusts up to 45 mph with nearly non-existent humidity are expected to descend on the areas north of San Francisco where at least 35 people have died and at least 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed. A total of 191,437 acres  or nearly 300 square miles  have burned since the fires ignited late Sunday.

Of the more than two dozen people who perished in the calamitous fires, 18 lived in Sonoma County, eight in Mendocino County, two in Napa County and four in Yuba County.

"We are a long way from being done with this catastrophe," Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott said Thursday. Pimlott said the blazes are expected to spread as firefighters  some of whom have lost their own homes  brace for additional days of bone-dry humidity and gusty winds through the weekend.

"What this means is our fires are going to continue to burn erratically," Pimlott said. "They have the potential to shift in any direction at any time."

The fires have killed 23, destroyed more than 3,500 homes and businesses, scorched roughly 265 square miles and forced at least 20,000 people to evacuate since Sunday.

The coroner identified 15 of the 18 who died in Sonoma County. Ten of their names were released Thursday: Carol Collins-Swasey, 76, of Santa Rosa; Lynne Anderson Powell, 72, of Santa Rosa; Arthur Tasman Grant, 95, of Santa Rosa; Suiko Grant, 75, of Santa Rosa; Donna Mae Halbur, 80, of Larkfield (Santa Rosa); Leroy Peter Halbur, 80, of Larkfield; Valerie Lynn Evans, 75, of Santa Rosa; Carmen Caldentey Berriz, 75, of Apple Valley; Michael John Dornbach, 57, of Calistoga; and Veronica Elizabeth McCombs, 67, of Santa Rosa.

Fires within the city limits of Santa Rosa alone have gutted 2,834 homes, according to Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey. Roughly 400,000 square feet of commercial space has also been destroyed.

"The city of Santa Rosa has suffered a serious blow in these fires," Coursey said, adding that the destruction numbers could rise.

Flames across wine country have driven tens of thousands from their homes. Some who took shelter at Napa Valley College expressed frustration at not knowing anything of the conditions of the homes they'd fled. They also said they have no idea when they can return  or what to expect when they get there.

Napa Sheriff John Robertson said Thursday that deputies would begin escorting people with "critical needs" into certain parts of the city. Exigent conditions include checking on pets, retrieving medication, business needs and checking on people who stayed behind, he said.

Entire cities were evacuated in anticipation of the next wave of fires, their streets empty, the only motion coming from ashes falling like snowflakes.

A mandatory evacuation order in Calistoga forced all 5,300 residents to get to safety. Early Thursday, flames shot into the air just miles away from downtown Calistoga, sending a haze of smoke into the normally bustling town, known for wine tastings and hot springs.

Someone left behind a note and some protein bars in the ghost town, asking firefighters to save a family's home. Derek Bohan, who was born and raised in Calistoga, said the experience has been "definitely scary."

Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning had strong words for people who were ignoring the mandatory evacuation order.

"Your presence in Calistoga is not welcome if youre not a first responder," he said. "Your choice to say  and there have been very few of them  is a distraction to our first responders. You will not be given life safety support at this point. You are on your own.

"If youre trying to visit Calistoga, you are not welcome. That is very hard for us to say because weve been known since the 1800s as a very hospitable community. Thats not helpful at this point."

In addition to Calistoga, firefighters are paying close attention to Sonoma, Middletown and Geyserville due to the increased threat of fire danger.

"The situation is very dynamic and oftentimes can change by the minute or by the hour," Pimlott said.



A total of 21 fires burning across the state have torched more than 191,000 acres as they entered their fourth day, many of them without much containment. Modern, strategic attacks that have kept destruction and death tolls low in recent years have been ineffective against their ferocity.

The Atlas Fire has burned over 43,762 acres in Napa and Solano counties and is 3 percent contained; the Tubbs Fire has scorched roughly 34,270 acres in Napa County and is 10 percent contained; the Nuns Fire has burned 14,698 acres in Sonoma County and is 3 percent contained; the Partrick-Carneros Fire in Napa County has charred over 10,817 acres and is 2 percent contained; the Pocket Fire has burned 8,130 acres in Sonoma County; the Adobe Fire has scorched 7,955 acres in Sonoma County and is 1 percent contained; the Norrbom Fire in Sonoma County has burned 4,331 acres and is 1 percent contained; and the Pressley Fire has torched 473 acres in Sonoma County and is 1 percent contained, Cal Fire said.

At a news conference Thursday, Belia Ramos, chairwoman of the Napa County board of supervisors, said that crews have begun making progress on containing the flames, which she described as "really good news."

Pimlott echoed that sentiment, saying that resources pouring in across state and even international lines have helped in the firefighting effort. More than 8,000 firefighters and other personnel are currently battling the blazes, and additional resources continue to flow in from states such as Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, South Carolina and North Carolina. International relief has come from Canada and as far away as Australia.

Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann said that despite a Red Flag Warning being in effect, overnight winds didn't really pick up to the extent that had been predicted. That allowed firefighters to go from only protecting structures and keeping people safe to being able to "get some containment started."

"We have a long way to go," but fatigue has already become a major concern for Cal Fire officials, Biermann acknowledged.

"Safety is our top priority  safety of the people were out there to help protect, safety of our crews," he said.

However, Biermann admitted, "We have people who have been on that fire for over three days, who dont want to leave their section of line because there's still work to do, theres homes to save and they're very passionate about it."

Biermann said firefighters who are hitting "roadblocks" are being identified, taken out of the field and asked to rest.

Fires have destroyed more than 3,500 homes and businesses, scorched in excess of 170,000 acres  or roughly 265 square miles  and forced at least 20,000 people to evacuate since Sunday.

In Fairfield, some of which was evacuated Wednesday due to the advancement of the Atlas Fire, officials tracking wind conditions said that flames have not reached city limits, and may actually be heading in the opposite direction. But that could change at any time so residents have been asked to keep their bags packed and stay ready to evacuate on a moment's notice.

The community of Boyes Hot Springs in Sonoma County also was told to clear out Wednesday, and the streets were quickly lined with cars packed with people fleeing.

"That's very bad," resident Nick Hinman said when a deputy sheriff warned him that the driving winds could shift the wildfires toward the town of Sonoma proper, where 11,000 people live. "It'll go up like a candle."

The ash rained down on the Sonoma Valley, covering windshields, as winds began picking up toward the potentially disastrous forecast speed of 30 mph. Countless emergency vehicles sped toward the flames, sirens blaring, as evacuees sped away. Residents manhandled canvas bags into cars jammed with possessions or filled their gas tanks.

County spokesman Scott Alonso said Thursday that 25,000 residents have been evacuated. Of them, an estimated 3,800 are living in shelters.

At the start of the week, Sonoma County had opened 40 shelters, but is now down to 24, with the hope of "consolidating and enhancing" the mental health and medical services offered to people impacted by the fires, Alonso said. The evacuation centers can accommodate another 4,000 people.

"The damage and devastation is real. The fire threat is still very real in this county," Alonso stressed. "Its a very emotional time for a lot of folks. Theyve lost everything."

The Bay Area awoke to smoke-filled air Thursday and even San Francisco's layer of fog had been replaced by smog. The poor air quality forced the cancellation of the Virgin Sport San Francisco Festival of Fitness, which includes the Twin Peaks Mile and SF Bay Half marathon.

"We're seeing elevated levels of particulate matter that are higher than weve ever seen since we began measuring them in 2000," said Lisa Fasno with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Officials have issued a Spare the Air alert on Thursday.

[BAY GALLERY BAY ONLY SB]North Bay Inferno: Images From Wine Countrys Deadly Fires

As the fires grow, officials voiced concern that separate blazes would merge into even larger infernos.

Flames have raced across the wine-growing region and the scenic coastal area of Mendocino farther north, leveling whole neighborhoods and leaving only brick chimneys and charred appliances to mark where homes once stood.

The Redwood/Potter Fire burning in Mendocino County has torn through 32,100 acres and is 5 percent contained; the Sulphur Fire has torched 2,500 acres in Lake County and is 45 percent contained; and the Cascade Fire in Yuba County has burned 10,171 acres and is 45 percent contained, officials said.



[NATL-BAY GALLERY]North Bay Wildfires: The Smoldering Aftermath

Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano on Thursday said hundreds of people were still reported missing. But officials believe many of those people will be found. Chaotic evacuations and poor communications over the past few days have made locating friends and family difficult.

Giordano said approximately 1,000 missing persons reports were filed in the wake of the fast-moving blazes that knocked out power lines and cell towers, effectively creating a dead zone in the North Bay. Amid a lack of communication, Sonoma County officials have safely located 603 people, he said. Roughly 400 people remain outstanding.

While officials work to reconnect loved ones, the recovery phase has commenced. Identifying the deceased is "going to be a slow process" because of the active fires, Giordano admitted.

"So far in the recovery, we have found bodies that were almost completely intact, and we have found bodies that were nothing more than ash and bones," he said.

At least five people have been arrested in Sonoma County on suspicion of trying to loot, according to Giordano. Two of those people were arrested Wednesday night after being found in the evacuation zones.

[BAY JG] Apocalyptic Photos From California's Wine Country

Helicopters and air tankers were assisting thousands of firefighters trying to beat back the flames. Until now, the efforts have focused on "life safety" rather than extinguishing the blazes, partly because the flames were shifting with winds and targeting new communities without warning.

"We are not out of this emergency," Emergency Operations Director Mark Ghilarducci said Thursday. "We're not even close to being out of this emergency."
TripAdvisor headquarters was hit by a bullet Wednesday morning. It broke through a fourth floor window and startled employees inside the Needham, Massachusetts office.

Police say it happened around 7 a.m.

No one was injured but plenty of people were nearby.

A TripAdvisor spokesperson declined to comment.

For some workers nearby, this shooting hasn't shattered their sense of safety.

Police say it appears to be an isolated incident but they're not sure if this was an accident, a random attack, or if the travel website was targeted.

Anyone with information on the incident is urged to contact Needham Police at 781-444-1212.

As the investigation continues, it was business as usual at the company. Other than the bullet hole, just inches away from a desk and computer inside the office off of Route 128.

Needham Police are working with State Police on this investigation. They say they'll have an increased presence in the area and again they're asking anyone who saw anything suspicious to contact them.


A woman was killed when her car was hit by another vehicle while she was putting away groceries in the parking lot of a Market Basket in Westford, Massachusetts on Thursday morning.

The incident was first reported at 6 Cornerstone Square around 11 a.m., according to Westford Fire.

"When we saw it, she was underneath the wheels of the car. It was surreal. It was like nothing I've ever seen," witness Mary Chandler said.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said preliminary investigation shows that the woman, identified Friday as 64-year-old Wei Wang of Acton, was at the back of her Toyota Highlander in the parking lot when a second motor vehicle struck her SUV while parking, causing her vehicle to roll backward over her, pinning her underneath.

Wang was reportedly putting groceries into her own car at the time of the accident.



"The ambulance, they were here within seconds, because the fire department's right up the street," Chandler said.

"I saw all the commotion and I looked over and I saw the lady and them doing compressions on her," added Donna Robinson, another witness.

Wang was rushed to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.



The driver of the car that struck the victim's car remained on scene.

Market Basket said they are "shocked and saddened" and their thoughts and prayers go out to the victim's family.

People who shop at the Westford Market Basket regularly said it's dangerous for drivers and people walking to get their groceries.

"It is a dangerous parking lot," said Robinson. "I don't shop here often, but when I do, it's crazy. I always park down the end because it's just so bad backing up, walking by cars. It's very bad."

"I get concerned all the time anywhere you go because people fly through the parking lot constantly and it's really a horrible, horrible thing," Cindi North said. "They need to start putting speed bumps everywhere."



No charges have been filed at this time, but the accident remains under investigation by the district attorney's office, Westford Police, and Massachusetts State Police.
Chicago officials are implying President Donald Trump is not living in the real world when he talks about the citys ongoing violence problems and a conversation he claims to have had with an unnamed city police officer.

The president, speaking to Foxs Sean Hannity Wednesday, once again denounced the citys shootings, saying the violence is out of control. He also repeated his long-told story about a Chicago officer who claimed to have the answer to solving the citys violence  a story Chicago police have previously claimed they discredited.



Ill never forget I was in Chicago and a police officer there, it was a motorcycle deal to the plane and I was talking to police, I was taking a picture. I said, How do you stop this? We could stop it immediately sir, Trump said. I said, What do you mean? If theyd let us do our job, we could stop it immediately.

The story had changed a bit from the first time the president told it as a candidate last year.

Trump had previously told former Fox host Bill OReilly that he met a "top" Chicago officer who said he could "stop much of this horror show thats going on" within a single week.

Chicago police have repeatedly disputed the claim, saying they discredited the story before Trump became president.

"We've discredited this claim months ago," CPD spokesperson Frank Giancamilli said in a statement last year. "No one in the senior command at CPD has ever met with Donald Trump or a member of his campaign."

Now, the city says Trump isn't living in the "real world."

If the President has a name for this mystery person he continues to talk about, we're all ears, Adam Collins, a spokesperson for the citys mayor, said in a statement Thursday morning. In the meantime, we live in the real world and if the president wants to build on the reductions in violence our hard working officers are achieving, if he wants to have an immediate effect on gun violence, he could do something to stop guns from flowing into our city from Indiana and Wisconsin.



Chicagos violence has been spotlighted by Trump not only on the campaign trail but throughout his presidency.

Now Chicago is out of control, I dont know what theyre doing in Chicago, he told Hannity Wednesday. This many shootings and this many killings and all of the different things that are going on.

He attributed the killings to bad management and bad politics.

Still, police have reported a drop in the number of shootings and killings from last year and Trump has since followed through with his plan to send in the feds to help curb the citys violence. Roughly 20 agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were sent to the city just days before a violent Fourth of July holiday weekend saw more than 100 people shot.

Shootings for the month of September declined by 15 percent and murders were down by 10 percent compared to the same month last year, according to new statistics released by Chicago police.

The city reached 500 shooting homicides about a week later than it did last year, on Sept. 29, 2016, according to data maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times. A man shot dead early Friday evening was the 500th person to be killed in city gun violence since the start of the year.

Its really insulting to our nation, Trump said.
A Stonington woman and a sailboat captain are teaming up to help relief efforts on a small island off Puerto Rico severely damaged by recent hurricanes.

Stoningtons Guylaine "Sky" Nicol and Captain Sequoia Sun are working to provide some relief to the isolated island of Vieques off the eastern coast of Puerto Rico that was brushed by Hurricane Irma and ravaged by Hurricane Maria. The island is isolated from relief efforts.

"We dont go to the major cities because thats where everybody else goes. Thats where all the big NGOs and government agencies go," Sun said.

"People are always ready to give. The first thing they tell you is, 'How can I help'," Nicol said.

The community has helped them collect food, formula, diapers, construction supplies, a generator, solar panels, even water makers to get resident fresh water. Lawrence + Memorial Hospital has even donated medical supplies.

It will take Sun, Nicol and a small volunteer crew about six weeks to end up in Vieques when Sun departs on Friday. Theyll make a stop in Ile-a-Vache, Haiti. Sun has been traveling to the country at least once a year since the earthquake in 2010.

Among the deliveries to Haiti are boat sails and hundreds of pairs of childrens shoes. Nicol said theyre needed for children to go to school.

"The smile on the childrens face because its like giving them a free pass to go to school," she said.

"Theres no running water, theres no electricity. There's 15,000 people living with no infrastructure of any kind," Sun said of Ile-a-Vache.

Suns boat right now is docked at the New England Science and Sailing Foundation (NESS). Theyve brought students by the boat to teach them about how locally, you can help people on a global scale.
The talk around the water cooler at one Connecticut business was actually about the water cooler.

Code One Training Solutions has now offices in East Hartford, New Haven and Stamford, as well as in Massachusetts, Georgia and South Carolina.

But when it was just starting out, owner and director Richard Shok spent part of his time going to the grocery store to buy water for Code Ones employees and students.

The company trains first responders, medical providers and civilians in CPR and other life-saving skills. As the business grew, buying water from the store became inconvenient.

So Shok signed up for water delivery service through a warehouse club. After a few months, a salesperson told Shok he could save money by ordering directly through Belmont Springs.

It was around the same time Shok said the problems started. He says Belmont Springs did not stick to the delivery schedule.

At the Stamford office, Shok said, "They would usually leave three or four bottles of water outside the door," when the office was closed.

"And we accumulated close to 50 five-gallon bottles of water at that location," he said.

Shok said he repeatedly asked the company to stop delivering to the Stamford office. When that didnt work, he took action.

"I actually physically came up (to Connecticut) from South Carolina with one of our ambulances and stopped in Stamford on the way. (I) loaded all the water up into the back of the truck and brought it up here," he said.

Shok said delivery was only part of the problem. Code One ended up with two separate accounts.

"When we would make payments, they would get applied to one account and not the other account," Shok said.

He also said sometimes the payments were logged incorrectly. The result was a credit on one account and a $4,155 balance on the other.

Shok said he Belmont Springs also continued to charge Code One for equipment its employees were supposed to pick up but never picked did.

When the second account was sent to collections, Shok asked NBC Connecticut Responds for help. Almost immediately after Responds reached out to Belmonts parent company, Cott Corporation, a representative called Shok to straighten things out.

"When they took it out of collections after NBC had reached out to them, that amount had shrunken to about $700 and change," Shok said.

Shok is now working directly with Cott Corporation to settle and close the account.

In a statement to NBC Connecticut, a spokesman for Cott Corporation said:

"Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Our regional managers are implementing appropriate corrective action within the locations noted as well as providing some additional training throughout the system.

We will continuously strive to get better and improve on our customer service. As a matter of fact, we are projected to spend a significant amount of time, money and effort in improving and incorporating a number of technology and training projects specifically in regards to customer service over the next few years that will assist our service standards and make the customer service process much more seamless."
U.S. Representative Elizabeth Esty introduced legislation this afternoon that would limit high-capacity ammunition magazines in the wake of the mass shooting in Las Vegas.

The bill, called the Keep Americans Safe Act, would prohibit the transfer, import or possession of magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

The National Rifle Association last week released a statement saying it was open to new rules on rapid fire accessories, such as bump stocks.

On an ABC News podcast, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy said the NRAs statement was significant and that they have shown a willingness to budge on gun laws.

"Congresswoman Esty and others seek to impose Connecticut type laws on the rest of the country. These are the very same lawmakers who change on a dime when it comes to pro-gun legislation, Scott Wilson Sr. president of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, said in a statement. Case in point; H.R.38 (The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act). When such bills are introduced, claims then shift to 'state's rights' in opposition. To me, the swing back seems somewhat hypocritical."

The NRA did say that banning guns from law-abiding Americans wont prevent future attacks.
Officials in Puerto Rico say the health care situation is dire after Hurricane Maria.

It's been three weeks since the hurricane struck, and in addition to food, water and electricity, many residents are in need of medical supplies and care.

All of that adds to the gratitude felt by one of the island's residents, who evacuated to North Texas days before she suffered a stroke.

"I suffered a stroke on the 25th of September. I've been in the hospital ever since," said 68-year-old Grisel Crespo.

She says her husband and children stayed on the island, while she evacuated to Texas, where she's been trying to establish a new home.

She had only been back in Puerto Rico a few weeks, when the hurricane made landfall.

"We lost everything we had there, except family," Crespo said.

Much of the island's healthcare infrastructure has yet to recover.

Officials there report only about half of Puerto Rico's medical employees have returned to work, and hospitals are running low on medicine and low on power from diesel-run generators.

Last week, North Texas Congressman Michael C. Burgess, a medical doctor and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, toured hospitals and met with key health officials to assess the status of Puerto Rico's medical infrastructure following recent hurricanes.

"I am deeply concerned about the medical system in Puerto Rico as it recovers from the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria. On Monday, I heard from physicians, nurses and hospital administrators about their concerns for Puerto Rico's medical infrastructure. As the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, I want to ensure the subcommittee will do its job to help our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico," Burgess said in a statement.

"My country is suffering," said Crespo's husband, Carlos Morey, who arrived my his wife's side as soon as he could.

They wonder what would have happened if Crespo suffered her stroke while still in Puerto Rico, but as fate would have it, she ended up in the care of Dr. Neha Shah, at Medical City Fort Worth.

"Her swallowing is improving, her speech is improving, so we are very hopeful that we are going to be able to get her home soon," Shah said.

The couple's home will soon be Bedford, where Crespo says she'll take full advantage of what fate has given her.

"I'll do the same to help others and make them feel better," she said.
Open Journal of Ophthalmology Vol.07 No.04(2017), Article ID:79575,6 pages

10.4236/ojoph.2017.74034 Primitive Bilateral Ocular Melanoma in a Black Patient Essossinam Kpelao1, Nidain Maneh2*, Harrefegena Bissa3, Koffi Amegbor4, Kadanga Anthony Beketi1, Abdel Kader Moumouni1, Agbeko Doleagbenou1, Thierry Alihounou5, Julienne Noude Teclessou6, Komi Patrice Balo2  Abstract  Full-Text PDF  Full-Text HTML  Full-Text ePUB  Linked References  How to Cite this Article 1Department of Neurosurgery, University of Lome, Lome, Togo 2Department of Ophthalmology, University of Lome, Lome, Togo 3Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Stomatology, University of Lome, Lome, Togo 4Department of Pathology, University of Lome, Lome, Togo 5Department of Surgery, Oueme and Plateau Teaching Hospital, Porto-Novo, Benin 6Department of Dermatology, University of Lome, Lome, Togo Copyright  2017 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Received: August 19, 2017; Accepted: October 9, 2017; Published: October 12, 2017

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Ocular melanoma develops at the expense of eyes melanocytes which give to the eyes their color. It is the first primitive intraocular tumor in the White race. It is rare, as that of the skin in black people. The bilateral cases are exceptional even in the white race, estimated at 0.2%. We present the case of bilateral ocular melanoma with bad prognosis in a black patient. Patient and observation: A 56-year-old black male patient, who had benefited 4 years earlier from an enucleation of the right eye for ocular melanoma, and admitted for bilateral exophthalmos which evolved for three months in a context of bilateral blindness. The cerebral Scanning had allowed to objectify a bilateral lateral-conical mass which evoked an inflammatory pseudo tumor. The failure of the medical treatment led to the exeresis of a conical, juxta-orbital and mid-muscular blackish mass, to the later apex respecting the surrounding structures. The histological examination ends again in a melanoma. No additional therapy was undertaken. The evolution 2 years later was marked by a local recurrence, multiple hepatic metastases and patient death. Conclusion: Bilateral ocular melanoma is exceptional in Black people. The etiologic factors as well as bilateralism mechanisms are still hypothetic. Its most effective treatment is local and the prognosis, bad in case of metastases due to the absence of an effective chemotherapy.

Keywords:

Bilateral, Ocular Melanoma, Black Patient

1. Introduction

Ocular melanoma develops at the expense of eyes melanocytes which give to the eyes their color. This tumor can come from one of the four structures of the eyes: uvea, conjunctiva, eyelid and orbit. Of all these structures, uveal melanoma is the most frequent and represents about 5% of all the melanomas of the body [1] . It is the first primitive intraocular tumor in the White race [2] . It is rare, as that of the skin in Black people and does not exceed 1% of all the intraocular melanomas all races included according to the available publications [3] [4] . The bilateral cases are exceptional even in the white race, estimated at 0.2% and probably involve a predisposition or a genetic mutation in their pathogenesis [5] .

We are reporting a case of primitive bilateral ocular melanoma in a Black subject. From this case, we shall discuss the epidemiology, the etiopathogeny and the prognosis of this pathology through a literature review.

2. Patient and Observation

It was a 56-year-old black male patient, admitted for a bilateral exophthalmos which had been developing for three months in a context of bilateral blindness. The clinical history went 4 years back, with a progressive decrease of the visual acuity of the right eye. The ophthalmologic examination of the right eye had shown an inflexible exophthalmos, a hypopyon with an absence of perception of light. The left eye was clinically normal with an acuity of 10/10. An enucleation of the right eye with the installation of ocular prosthesis had been realized. The histological examination of the part had concluded an ocular melanoma.

After a period of 4 years of clinical stability, headaches appeared gradually, a reduction in the visual acuity of the left eye quickly leading to blindness after 3 months in a context of painful bilateral exophthalmos. The cerebral scanning had enabled to objectify a side mass repulsing the prosthesis at the level of the right eye and a lateral-conical mass on the left, responsible for a left exophthalmos which made evoke an inflammatory pseudotumor a priori (Figure 1).

The failure of the medical treatment associated with a progress of the local symptomatology had indicated a surgery. This surgery enabled the total exeresis on the left altogether with a conical, juxta-orbital and mid-muscular blackish mass, to posterior apex respecting the surrounding structures of which the implantation basis was scleral (Figure 2) and on the right a blackish mass occupying the entire orbit. The histological examination ends again in a melanoma (Figure 3). The initial results of the extension did not objectify metastases. We proposed to the patient an evisceration on the right side and an enucleation of the left eye to realize a cancer exeresis but this proposal was refused.

The evolution 2 years later was marked by a local recurrence and hepatic metastases and patient death.

3. Discussion

Ocular melanoma comes from the degeneration of melanocytes located in the

Figure 1. CT scan of the tumor in coronal reconstruction.

Figure 2. Macroscopic appearance of the surgical specimen (left eye).

Figure 3. Histological appearance of the surgical specimen (left eye), demonstrating a round or polygonal cells with sometimes smoky cytoplasm and large nuclei (Malignant proliferation).

eyes. These cells are located in all the constituents of the eyes but mainly at the level of the uvea. Situated in the deep layers of the uvea, melanocytes produce pigmented granules rich in melanin, called melanosomes which contribute to the constitution of the darkroom of the eyes and protect them against the suns attacks.

Environmental, immunological, genetic risk factors were incriminated in the degeneration of these melanocytes in uveal melanoma [6] [7] . The role of the exposure to the sun in the development of the ocular melanoma contrary to that of the skin was not clearly established; on the other hand it was demonstrated that black skin was protective whatever the site [8] . One of the hypotheses would be that the skin and the uvea of White people, exposed to the sun would produce a factor called solar circulating factor which would be responsible for the development of the intra-ocular melanoma [7] . The strong pigmentation of these structures in Black people would protect them from the production of this factor, hence the low incidence of this pathology in this race, estimated between 0.3% and 1% according to the series [8] [9] . This hypothesis seems to be strengthened by the difference of the target structures of the eye between both races. Indeed, uveal melanomas are the most frequent in White people against 3% of the conjunctival localizations [2] [3] .

On the other hand, in Black people, 50% of the diagnosed ocular melanomas are conjunctival [10] . This is explained by the low pigmentation of the eye conjunctiva in Black people, exposing directly to ultraviolet radiations, hence this predominance of conjunctival melanoma in Black people [7] . The strong pigmentation alone does not explain this rarity of melanoma in Black people because the incidence of this cancer remains high in the other pigmented races, what enables to conclude that, the resistance of the Black with regard to melanoma would be genetic. The melanomas of the choroid can pass through the sclera through the canals of the vortex vein and develop at the level of the episclera and of the orbit as in the case of the left eye.

The rarity of bilateral cases is attested by very low incidences of 0.2% in the European and American series [5] [11] . The mechanism of the bilateralism of the ocular melanoma is unknown. It is a genetic mutation which makes conjunctiva vulnerable to the development of the ocular melanomas; or of a contralateral metastasis? Certain predispositions as the eye melanocytosis, the mutation of the p16 Cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) gene were evoked in this bilateralism [5] [11] . We did not notice a melanocytosis in our case and the genetic tests couldnt be done. Eye metastases of a skin melanoma or those of a contralateral primitive ocular melanoma can be evoked, but they are extremely rare [5] . A complete dermatological examination did not find an evolutionary skin melanoma. The study of Singh concluded that it is rather about a lack of chance in the bilateralism of the ocular melanoma more than anything else [11] . The occurrence interval of the tumor between both eyes in our patient is in compliance with the data of the literature [5] .

Therapeutically, the clinical researches in chemotherapy, immunotherapy or on new molecules, dedicated to this pathology, are rare, and long ago the patients were included in the available protocols for skin melanoma. Yet it is about a different disease on the genetic, biological and clinical plan. There is no reference treatment for this disease, except the local treatment. This local treatment involves proton therapy, brachytherapy, thermotherapy, evisceration and enucleation [12] . Eye morbidity due to associated complications seems to be higher in Black people with regard to White people, mostly due to delayed diagnosis because of the rarity of this affection in this race [3] .

Systemic metastases of ocular melanoma, mostly hepatic, occur in 30% - 50% of cases during development [13] . The alteration of chromosome 3 and the presence of the Protein Tyrosine kinase 2 (PTK2) gene are associated with a high risk of tumor dissemination [14] . The treatment of these metastases is mainly surgical because the chemotherapy currently available has not shown a convincing effectiveness [15] .

4. Conclusion

Bilateral ocular melanoma in Black people is exceptional. The etiological factors and the mechanisms of bilateralism are still hypothetical. The most effective treatment is local with several methods that are not always available in Africa. Its prognosis is poor in case of metastasis due to the absence of effective chemotherapy. The only favorable prognostic factor is total carcinology exeresis.

Conflict of Interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Patient Consent

The patients parent (brother) gave consent for the publication of this case; however, this case contains no personal information that could identify the patient.

Ethical Approval

Approval for the study was obtained from the national medical ethic committee.

Cite this paper

Kpelao, E., Maneh, N., Bissa, H., Amegbor, K., Beketi, K.A., Moumouni, A.K., Doleagbenou, A., Alihounou, T., Teclessou, J.N. and Balo, K.P. (2017) Primitive Bilateral Ocular Melanoma in a Black Patient. Open Journal of Ophthalmology, 7, 256-261. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojoph.2017.74034

References
On Wednesday night, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines announced plans to launch service to Hawaii.

The Dallas Morning News reports that the company wants to launch service there as soon as 2018.

The plan still needs approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. The Executive Vice President of Southwest Andrew Watterson told the Morning News that the approval process could take a year or more.

Planes would also need additional equipment and crew members would have to go through special training.

The DMN reports that Southwest plans to start selling tickets in Hawaii in 2018, but the first flight might not launch until 2019.

Air 1 located a large marijuana grow. SE Division and Narcotics taking care of the removal of approx 2000 plants. pic.twitter.com/HytXMsVjWn  Dallas Air One (@DPDAir1) October 13, 2017

You can read more from The Dallas Morning News here.
Clean-cut Albert Berisha doesn't look like a man who moved to Syria to fight alongside ISIS, whose militants he calls murderous psychopaths, NBC News reported.

But the "jihadi who likes the United States," as he says, embodies a crucial question facing security officials in the West: Can a jihadi who fought in Iraq or Syria be peacefully reintegrated into society?

Berisha said he only ended up in an ISIS unit by accident, spending only nine days in Syria in 2013, including time with commanders "ready to commit attacks in Europe." But a court in Kosovo sentenced him to more than three years in prison for traveling there.

"It is hard to convince people to come back if they have two choices: stay and die inside Syria, or another bad choice, which is to end up in prison," he told NBC News in Kosovo's capital, Pristina. "Our state, our society, needs to give them a third choice, which is reintegration."
There may be an even harsher reality facing homeowners victimized by the wildfires that continue to rage throughout California.

About 60 percent of American homes are underinsured, according to Core Logic, an Irvine-based company that provides information to insurers. The cost of being underinsured can be massive for homeowners: if your home is destroyed in a disaster, even if you get a check and settle your claim, that money won't cover the cost of rebuilding your home.

Core logic estimates that homes are underinsured by an average of 20 percent. To get an idea of what that means, consider the following example: If a $500,000 house is destroyed in a wildfire or other natural disaster, the homeowner would still come up $100,000 short on rebuilding the home after the insurance check clears.

That's a huge problem, and everyone needs to talk with their insurance agent to make sure their coverage will meet their individual needs since the value of a home can increase with improvements made over time. Anything from wood floors to solar panels can raise the value of a home, but it won't be covered if the insurance coverage hasn't been updated to include that increased value.

So here's what you do:

Talk to your insurance agent to make sure your policy covers the replacement cost of your home and most of what you own inside.

Inventory your home at least annually, taking pictures or video of what you have so it's documented.

Back up information like vital documents that you want to be able to save in an evacuation. Either pack them in a case you can carry or scan them and put them on a zip drive.

If your home does get damaged in a disaster, call your agent and start the claims process immediately because your claim could take a while to settle.

It sounds simple, but in an evacuation you won't have time to think, so it's all about preparation. For most people their home is their biggest investment; protecting it starts before there's a disaster.


Two people were shot to death and two others were wounded in a normally quiet suburban neighborhood in Aliso Viejo Thursday, authorities said.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department advised the public to be on the lookout for the suspect, 26-year-old Luke William Ferguson, who is armed and remains at large.

Ferguson is described as white, 6 feet 1 inches tall, 200 pounds and has a tattoo of "90291" on his right shin, authorities said.

The two fatalities were one man and one woman, officials said.

Two men in their 40s were taken to area hospitals, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Larry Kurtz said. A report from the scene indicated they were in critical condition, but Orange County sheriff's Lt. Fred Thompson said he could not confirm that information.

The shooting was reported at 2:48 p.m. at 6 Ashbury Court.

Jessica Just, a neighbor of the shooting site, was in her garage doing laundry when she heard gunshots.

"It sounded like fireworks," she said. "I heard the second one and I absolutely knew it was a gunshot."

Just said she heard approximately five shots and someone screaming, "let me in."

Authorities did not disclose Ferguson's relationship to the victims but he is believed to be related to at least one victim.

Kierstyn Just, a friend of Ferguson, called him to alert him of a shooting at his father's house, unbeknownst to her that he is the suspected gunman.

"He told me he had gotten a call that there was an emergency," she said. "Once I told him all of the detials, he sounded very beside himself and immediately was like, 'I need to contact my family.'"

There was no immediate threat to the area, where deputies established a perimeter and remained posted, Thompson said.

Residents needing to reach or leave their homes were being allowed to do so with deputies escorting them, Thompson said.

Anyone who sees Ferguson was asked to call 911 immediately.
Before they head out, the women pack plenty of water: at least two canteens and a CamelBak hydration system each, along with extra safety glasses, snacks, and ready-to-eat meals in case the shift runs long. They also bring ponies, short lengths of hose to attach to a hydrant or other apparatus. The backpack weighs nearly 40 pounds in the end.

Sandra Welsh is a firefighter. But unlike most California firefighters, she is only paid $2 per day and doesnt get to go home at the end her shift. Because she's also a prison inmate.

We are the ones that do the line. We are the ones that carry the hose out. Were the line of defense, Welsh said in a recent interview with NBC News. Welsh, an inmate at Malibu Conservation Camp #13, is one of about 200 incarcerated women incarcerated around the state who fight fires in California.

Her group is on standby as firefighters battle the Canyon 2 fire in the Anaheim Hills. But other women are part of the fight against the fires currently devastating the state, which have claimed 21 lives and destroyed 3,500 structures over the past few days.

"We have female crews from other camps working on the Canyon Fire in Anaheim and also up in Napa," said Bill Sessa, a spokesman for the corrections department. "The crews from the Malibu camp are on standby and also have to provide back-up fire protection for L.A. County."

The status of the crews could change quickly depending on conditions, he said.



About 3,800 inmates, both women and men, fight fires in California, making up about 13 percent of Californias firefighting force. The fire program saves taxpayers $124 million per year, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

In the fire program, the women do the same work as the men.

We basically fight fires and it gives us a chance to better ourselves mentally and physically, Latoya Najar, an inmate at the Malibu camp, told NBC News last month.

Working in crews of 14, the women use hand tools and chain saws to cut containment lines that stop fires from spreading.

Every day is a difficult day, Najar said. This will show you that you can do anything you put your mind to.

Malibu Conservation Camp #13 in Southern California is one of 43 conservation fire camps for adults run by the corrections department, and one of three such camps for female inmates. Inmates in the camps work hundreds of fires each year. Women at the Malibu camp, for example, have been called out on 177 fires so far this year, Sessa said.

Sandra Welsh decided to volunteer in the program for the sake of her two children.

This prison trip has taken a lot out of their lives and I wanted them to have something to hold onto, Welsh, who is also at the Malibu camp, told NBC News. My moms a firefighter. I might be an inmate firefighter, but Im a firefighter.

Inmates must volunteer to be in the program, and there are many benefits that motivate the women to sign up, said Sessa of the corrections department.

"They get paid better than any other prison job," he said. The pay is $2 per day day in camp and $1 per hour for time on the fire line.

Being housed in a camp is an "improvement" over the confines of a traditional prison behind an electric fence, he said.

Another incentive is that inmate firefighters earn two days off their sentence for each day they're in the fire camp, as compared to other California inmates who can earn just one day for each day of good behavior.

Still, at least one California politician has called the program's low pay "slave labor."

Gayle McLaughlin, the former mayor of Richmond, Calif., and a candidate for lieutenant governor in the state, said she does support the fire programs.

"But they must be paid fairly for each day of work  and $1 an hour is not fair pay," she wrote in September on her campaign website. "No matter how you may want to dress it up, if you have people working for nothing or almost nothing, youve got slave labor, and it is not acceptable."

Not all inmates are eligible to volunteer for the fire program.

To participate, inmates must be convicted of a non-violent crime, have a record of good behavior and pass physical examinations. If an inmate has a history of sexual offenses, arson or any history of violent escape, theyre automatically disqualified from the firefighting program. Qualified volunteers are trained by Cal Fire and then receive additional wildfire training in the camps. Training focuses on endurance because shifts can be as long as 16 hours, inmates say.

When she first came close to a fire, inmate Helen Chung was terrified.

"I said, 'Oh my god, we're actually in the fire,'" she told NBC News for its report.

But she says attitude is everything.

"You have to be very positive and make the most of your situation and your circumstances," Chung said. "But these are challenges that Ive overcome and Im proud to be here."

Other inmates also find the work rewarding.

"You get to save peoples houses, said Melissa Logan, an inmate who fought fires at the Malibu camp but is now housed at the California Institution for Women in Chino. You get to help people. Its really gratifying and empowering when youre driving by and people are holding up signs saying Thank you, firefighters and theyre crying because you just saved their homes."

Inmates in the fire program are less likely to be rearrested after release than other inmates.

In the general prison population, three quarters of prisoners are arrested again within five years of release, according to studies by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. But these rates in the firefighting program are 10 percent lower, according to the corrections department.

"This is not a vocational program," Sessa said. "It is not designed to teach inmates how to be full-time firefighters. But they learn many life skills that they will say help them succeed in life when they leave prison leadership, discipline, teamwork, responsibility."
The 19-year-old Texas Tech University student charged with murder in the death of a campus police officer Monday did not use a police gun in the shooting, an official said.

A Texas Tech spokesman confirmed Wednesday that Hollis Daniels did not use a gun from the police department when he shot and killed Officer Floyd East Jr. That same day, Daniels was federally indicted for possession of a stolen firearm.

Monday evening, officers received complaints about a student acting erratically and possibly having a weapon. East conducted a student welfare check and found evidence of drugs and drug paraphernalia in Daniels' room.

Daniels was taken to the police station where he later "pulled out a gun," fatally shot East and fled, the school said.

Daniels wasn't handcuffed while East was processing his paperwork, according to police. Another officer left the room and then heard a loud bang. When he returned, he found East mortally wounded and Daniels gone. East's body camera was also missing, but his service weapon was still holstered.

Daniels was arrested after a short campus-wide lockdown and search.

In an affidavit released Tuesday, Det. Thomas Bonds of the Lubbock city police department said Daniels confessed to killing East after his recapture Monday night, telling detectives he had done "something illogical" and that "he was the one that shot their friend."

Daniels, who is from the San Antonio suburb of Seguin, is also charged with capital murder of a peace officer and is being held in the Lubbock County jail on a $5 million bond. Online jail records don't indicate whether he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

He's had prior run-ins with the law. Daniels was charged two years ago in Guadalupe County, which includes Seguin, with possession of drug paraphernalia, but the case was dismissed. The Lubbock County sheriff's office confirmed that Daniels was arrested in September 2016 on charges of marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.
A Florida Keys police officer was injured after a suspect slammed a car door on his hand on Thursday during a traffic incident in which he fired a shot at the driver.

The Monroe County Sheriffs Office said the incident occurred at about 7 a.m. at the 61-mile marker of the highway on Duck Key.

"The Sheriffs Office is investigating a shooting incident this morning involving a Key Colony Beach police officer who discharged his firearm after having his hand caught in the door of a vehicle during a traffic stop," the police department said in a statement. "There were no injuries as a result of the firearm being discharged."



The injured officer, identified as Key Colony Beach Officer Charles Griffith, was acting as a backup during the traffic stop conducted by Jose Hernandez, a sheriff's deputy, initially over the vehicle's headlight and tag light being out.

The 1996 Chevrolet's license plate was also obscured by dirt and was unreadable, police said. The driver of the car is identified as 39-year-old Jerrett Bryan, who lives in Miami but is a long-time Monroe County resident who recently returned to the Keys for construction work.

When the officers asked Bryan if he could exit the vehicle, he refused and began rolling up his windows. The officers stopped him from closing the window and then opened the car door to remove Bryan from inside.

During the commotion, Bryan slammed the car door on Griffith's hand, police said.

Griffith pulled his hand away and fired once at the driver's side door, shattering the window. The shot did not hit Bryan, who fled the scene, police said.

Hernandez then jumped into his vehicle and pursued Bryan, who was caught a short distance away and arrested.

Bryan faces numerous charges, including resisting arrest, fleeing and eluding police, battery on a law enforcement officer and driving with a suspended drivers license.

Monroe County's Internal Affairs division will investigate whether the weapons discharge was justified under the circumstances.
A Florida man who googled "how to rob a bank" was arrested after authorities say he did just that.

William Joe Johnson, 26, was arrested Monday in the Oct. 5 robbery of an Achieva Credit Union in Largo, near Tampa, Pinellas County Sheriff's Office officials said.

Authorities say Johnson approached a bank teller, implied he had a gun and demanded cash. The teller gave him money and he fled the bank, officials said.

Detectives were able to identify Johnson as the suspect and found him at an Express Inn, where he was taken into custody, officials said.

Johnson told detectives he needed money so he googled "how to rob a bank," authorities said. He said he planned to rob a different bank but changed his mind when he discovered the teller was a large man, authorities said.

Johnson said he used the money he stole to pay his rent, utilities and go on a drug binge, authorities said. The money ran out and he had planned to rob another bank but was arrested before he could, authorities said.

Authorities charged Johnson with one count of robbery. Attorney information wasn't available.
What to Know The husband and wife were at their apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant when at least two masked men burst in

The couple was tied up and pillows were placed over their heads, sources said

The woman broke free and called police; her husband was pronounced dead at an area hospital

The 100-year-old Brooklyn woman who escaped from violent home invaders in an episode that left her husband dead told family she forgives her captors, just as an NYPD dragnet tries to reign in the suspects.

But Ethlin Brumley Thompson's family told News 4 that the woman doesn't want to believe the love of her, Waldiman Thompson, life is gone after the break-in at their home in Bedford-Stuyvesant Wednesday afternoon.

"She said she forgives whoever did this," said Dorene Hunter, the couple's niece. "I don't know how she has the courage to say that."

It comes after police found surveillance video from around the couneighborhood that may show the two or more masked suspects responsible for breaking into the Thompsons' ground-floor apartment, pulling pillowcases over the couple's heads and tying them up.

Law enforcement sources also told News 4 that NYPD crime scene units were making a second pass through the home on Thursday night after Ethlin Brumley Thompson walked through the home and noticed things that were out of place.

The 99-year-old woman was able to escape while the burglars tossed her home, and got away to call 911. When officers arrived, the woman met them and said her husband was still in the home.

"The officers entered her apartment and found her 91-year-old husband tied up and lying on the floor," NYPD Deputy Chief Michael Kemper said at a press conference. "He was unresponsive."

Although the officers performed CPR, Waldiman Thompson was pronounced dead after he arrived at Interfaith Medical Center. Medical examiners later told DNAinfo that the man had heart disease and high blood pressure and the stress of the break-in caused him to have a heart attack.

Authorities said the burglars ransacked the home -- but its not clear if anything was taken.

A witness told NBC 4 New York that Ethlin Brumley Thompson frantically came running out of the home pleading for help.

She came running out but she never ran to me like this," Paul Peterson of Bed-Stuy said. "She said somebody just tied me and my husband up and robbed us and said please use your phone.

Ethlin Brumley was taken to the same hospital for injuries to her legs and for observation.

Neighbors say the couple lived on the street for decades, and they were often seen sitting in their garden, waving to passersby.

"They're very nice, respectable people," said Sharon Lyons. "I hope they find the people responsible for this."

Ethlin and Wadiman sat side by side in front of their brownstone every day, giving compliments to neighbors -- together, always together, in the words of The New York Times.

"All they had was each other," their 34-year-old tenant Anil Lopez told the Times. He said he called them "Mom" and "Pops" -- and they called each other "honey."

Every morning, Ethlin would carry out a chair for her husband so he could sit and shake hands with neighbors as they left for work, another neighbor told the Times. They took care of the property together.

Wadiman was from Jamaica and loved to tell stories about his island-hopping days. Ethlin was born in Costa Rica and worked there as a teacher; in New York, she ran a group for disabled men out of her home and taught Bible study, according to the Times. She had a picture of former President Barack Obama on her wall, alongside pictures of her with city officials and activists. Her husband bragged about her civic goodness to anyone who would listen, the Times reports.

The couples niece, Karlene Grose, said she was watching the news and saw her aunt and uncles home on the screen and realized her uncle had been killed by the burglars.

When I saw that, Oh my God, she said. It breaks me heart to see my uncle died, he was like a father to me, he grew me up in Jamaica.

Grose said the Thompsons had been married for decades, and now Ethlin Brumley will be without her partner.

To see my uncle go like this, someone has to be punished, Grose said.

Still, family members say that Ethlin Brumley told them from her hospital bed that she forgives the robbers.

Another one of the Thompsons' great nieces, Jerlene Thorne, said that Ethlin's faith is what has been keeping her going the last two days.

"She's hurt, we're all hurt," Thorne said. "But for her she just believes in her Lord and Savior. That's really important to her right now."

Anyone with information about the home invasion should call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
Fourteen people overdosed in Camden in a four-hour period Wednesday from what the New Jersey attorney general described as "fentanyl-laced heroin."

None of the overdose victims died, but most of them were taken to Cooper University Medical Center. All of the overdoses occurred in the South Camden area, Camden County Police Department spokesman Dan Keashen said.

Michael Corsello, 27, told NBC10 he was one of the 14 people who overdosed. He spent several hours in the emergency room.

"My hands were bound," Corsello said. "They said that I was freaking out. I was punching myself in the face. They said that I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I was going ballistic and then I just dropped."

The series of overdoses took place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with many occurring on Broadway south of the Police Administration Building.

Police made an arrest related to the overdoses, Keashen said. Alexander Velazquez, 54, was charged Thursday with distribution.

New Jersey Attorney General Chris Porrino later tweeted from his personal account with a sense of urgency about the "mass overdose."

Corsello was holding heroin in his hands while speaking to NBC10 and said he planned on using it as soon as he finished the interview. He also desperately wanted to share a message about the toll his addiction has taken on him.

"I have bald spots in my head," he said. "I've gotta wear a mohawk for the rest of my life. I've got scars all over my body because of this drug. I want every kid to understand, if they can stay away from this, I've ruined three families."



Fentanyl is a powerful opioid about 100 times more potent than heroin. When used illegally, it is often converted to powder form by drug dealers.

The proliferation of opioids continues to claim more lives across the nation than car crashes and homicides. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 142 people die from a drug overdose every day. Half of the deaths are linked to opioids.

President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency in August at the urging of the presidential opioid commission. The commission is led by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has focused his last months in office around combating the opioid epidemic.
California natives may be familiar with the wrath that wildfires have on the state, but Pennsylvania locals Jeff and Nicole Luetke had no idea how devastating they really can be until escaping one in Napa Valley Monday morning.

The couple was on a work-related trip to Wine Country where they expected to enjoy a few days of work and relaxation away from their busy lives in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. On Sunday however, they wildfires began, overwhelming Sonoma and Napa Counties where the couple was staying.

The same night, Nicole Luetke lit a fire in their hotel room and soon after the whole room started to smell like smoke. It wasnt until the next morning that the two realized that the smoke was not in fact coming from the hotels in-suite chimneys but instead coming from the outside, as wildfire had overcome the surrounding areas.

Initially I thought, there must be a number of people burning fires this evening in their little hotel rooms, Jeff Luetke said. But it turns out the next morning when we woke up, we immediately saw that the sky had this discoloration. It wasnt clear, a fog had come through.

Hotel management was scrambling to keep employees and customers calm, saying that they were taking the situation minute by minute, according to Nicole Luetke. The hotel later shut down valet services, sent their staff home, and advised guests to do the same, in order to evacuate.

When you went outside it was an immediate sense of panic with the dark sky and ash falling down, Nicole Luetke said.

At that point, you know its too close, said Jeff Luetke.

Around 9 oclock in the morning, the couple knew they had to flee the area in order to stay safe because the fires were closing in on them.

The smell of smoke was so heavy you had to hold your nose to breathe, Nicole Luetke said.



Faced with a tedious journey due to a main highway being shut down and a significant amount of traffic, the two gathered what belongings they could quickly get from their hotel room and their ash-coated car. They then traveled to San Francisco, away from the fires.

Looking up the hills and the mountains you could see firetrucks trying to course their way up to save people, Nicole Leutke said.



Unlike many California citizens faced with the destruction the wildfires caused, Jeff and Nicole were able to fly back to their Pennsylvania home and kindergarten-aged daughter soon after. With the death toll from the wildfires at 23, the couple knows how fortunate they are.



"My heart goes out to all of the people in Napa Valley, Sonoma, in that location," Jeff Luetke said.

For more information on the California wildfires, click here.


What would you call the area north of Cecil B Moore Avenue, south of Lehigh Avenue, west of Front Street and east of 6th Street?

For years, residents have called it Norris Square, Kensington, South Kensington and even Olde Kensington. Now, a local developer is throwing a new name into the ring: Stonewall Heights.

A lot of people like the name, Paul Janaitis said. Its not meant to offend anybody. I dont understand why people are taking it as an offense.

Janaitis has lived in the neighborhood for 12 years. He also happens to own a building company with a familiar name: Stonewall Contracting. The name itself doesnt have any real symbolism, aside from some well-placed wordplay, he said. But naming the neighborhood after his business didnt seem like a stretch.

I put out a [monthly] newspaper thats called the Stonewall Heights Review, he said. I live in the area, am friends with local businesses in the area. I would guess theres already at least half a dozen names for the area.

But some residents and neighbors are not happy with the name change.

It is pretty galling for somebody to attempt to give a fancy new name to these tight-knit communities, Jessica Noon, South Kensington Community Partners board member, told Philly Mag.

Its so infuriating and bewildering. I cant imagine how anyone thought this was a good idea. Theres not even a connection between the name and the history of the neighborhood.

Noon isnt alone. At least one of Janaitis realtors has received threatening phone calls after Janaitis started posting Stonewall Heights signs throughout the area.

The messages say things like You better take these signs down, Who do you think you are? and This isnt your neighborhood, Janaitis said.

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Philadelphia might be a city of neighborhoods, but those neighborhoods are not always clearly or legally defined.

Consider University City District, the area bordering the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and 30th Street Station. It was created 20 years ago as part of a bigger redevelopment plan to drive business, attract visitors and highlight some of the citys most notable institutions.

But before Penn and Drexel expanded their campuses, portions of West Philadelphia - framed by 33rd and 40th streets to the east and west and Powelton and University avenues to the north and south - was called Black Bottom. That neighborhood was established in the late 1800s by primarily southern blacks fleeing Jim Crow laws. The community was displaced by Penns expansion and other urban renewal plans. Eventually, Black Bottom ended and University City was created.

And then theres the neighborhood just east of Kensington. Most people would agree its called Fishtown, but where does Fishtown end and Port Richmond begin? That line is so confusing that some people have jokingly adopted the name Port Fishington.

Historian Rich Boardman has identified at least 685 neighborhoods in Philadelphia since 1778, according to Philly.com. For instance, Mt. Airy used to be called Beggarstown

The city has no role in determining names. We dont have neighborhood boundaries. Its up to the neighborhood to name it whatever they want it to be, Paul Chrystie, spokesman for the Department of Planning and Development, said.
The Department of Justice is once again threatening to cut off funding for Philadelphia if the city maintains its sanctuary status.

In a letter issued Thursday, the DOJ warned the city it has "laws, policies or practices" that violate a federal statute requiring local governments to comply with federal immigration officials in deporting suspected undocumented immigrants in local jails.

Philadelphia has until Oct. 27 to prove the city is in compliance.

A similar letter was sent to seven municipalities, including Chicago, New York and New Orleans.

Mayor Jim Kenney and City Solicitor Sozi Pedro Tulante, who filed a lawsuit in August against the DOJ, said Thursday afternoon that they still disagree with the federal government's description of Philadelphia immigration policies.

"We'll wait to see what a judge tells us to do and not be intimidated or coerced by the federal government," Kenney said, adding that he is "not surprised, but completely disappointed" that the DOJ continues to hound the city.

Offending cities and states stand to lose money from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (or JAG grant), which provided Philadelphia with $1.6 million in 2016 to spend on police overtime, training, equipment, courtroom technology and other aspects of the criminal justice system.

Philadelphia's lawsuit was filed against U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions over withholding grant funds by imposing new and unprecedented requirements to show compliance.

As you know, the city welcomed immigrants long before I was ever mayor, Kenney said at the time. Immigrants are key to the success of Philadelphia.

On Wednesday, an undocumented immigrant who had been hiding in a Philadelphia church basement went home for the first time in 11 months. Fearing deportation and separation from his family, Javier Flores Garcia went into hiding shortly after the election of President Donald Trump.

He was released on the same that Trump visited Pennsylvania to tout his tax plan.

In April, a presidential executive order that would have cut off funds to sanctuary cities was stymied by a judge's order. Chicago won a ruling over the department last month over an earlier threat to withhold public safety funding.
A body pulled from the Schuylkill River along the popular Schuylkill River Trail in Center City had a gunshot wound to the head.

Philadelphia police investigated the incident along the path under Walnut Street shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday as a case of homicide.

The man appeared to have been in his 50s. He had one gunshot wound to the forehead, police said.

Investigators didnt immediately reveal any further details.

This story is developing and will be updated.
An investigation is underway after a man and woman were both found dead in the bedroom of a Bear, Delaware home on Tuesday.



Officers was dispatched to the unit block of Vincent Lane to check on the welfare of the New Castle County homeowner. When they arrived, police found the bodies of the two victims inside the room.

Investigators say there was no forced entry and no evidence suggesting a third person was involved. They also said there is no perceived threat to the community.

Police have not released the identities of the victims or a cause of death. They continue to investigate.


Former President Barack Obama is set to return to the campaign trail for the first time since he left office with a rally to help Democrat Ralph Northam in Virginia's closely watched race for governor.

The Northam campaign announced Wednesday that the lieutenant governor and Obama will appear together at an event in Richmond on Oct. 19.

Virginia is one of only two states electing new governors this year and the swing state's contest is viewed as a possible early referendum on President Donald Trump.

Trump recently endorsed Republican Ed Gillespie in a tweet, but has otherwise not been directly involved in the race. Vice President Mike Pence is set to campaign with Gillespie on Saturday, while Obama's vice president, Joe Biden, will campaign with Northam the same day.
In her campaign for lieutenant governor, Jill Vogel is doing everything she can to differentiate herself from the rest of the Republican Party. Her opponent, Democrat Justin Fairfax, says Vogel can't run from her Republican record.

Fairfax, a former federal prosecutor, and Vogel, a state senator from Fauquier County, are running for lieutenant governor in next month's election -- a post that offers few formal duties other than breaking ties in the state Senate but invariably serves as a launching post for future gubernatorial runs.

Perhaps it's not surprising that a Republican candidate would emphasize bipartisanship in Virginia, where Democrats have won the last seven statewide elections, going back to 2009.

Vogel, though, says she comes by her bipartisan credentials the honest way, as a state senator the last 10 years, representing constituents in a mostly rural swath of northwestern Virginia who, while they lean conservative, expect and demand a close working relationship with their local legislators on bread-and-butter issues like fixing potholes. She has made principle before party a slogan in TV ads and in debates.

I have broken with my party time and time again, she said.

Vogel cites her willingness to break with her party in supporting an openly gay judge, on environmental issues, and on low-profile but important issues like redistricting reform, where Republicans have been accused of gerrymandering the maps to maintain a GOP majority in an increasingly Democratic state.

Fairfax, though, mocked the notion that Vogel should get credit simply for refusing to discriminate against a gay judicial nominee. On key issues, he said, she has been in lockstep with her party: opposing Medicaid expansion and gun-control legislation.

It just shows how out of the mainstream you are when you seek credit for refusing to discriminate against gays, Fairfax said.

Fairfax has also made a campaign issue of legislation Vogel sponsored in 2012 that would have required women to receive an ultrasound before getting an abortion. As initially drafted, most women would have been required to undergo an invasive form of the ultrasound procedure, and the legislation was mocked by comedians on ``Saturday Night Live'' and elsewhere. Vogel withdrew the bill, but maintains it was misunderstood and unfairly portrayed to as a political ploy.

Fairfax said the bill was mocked for good reason.

It was a horrible piece of legislation, he said. Even her own party rejected it. She can't explain this away.

Fairfax, who worked a two-year stint as a federal prosecutor in Alexandria, has long been interested in politics. After graduating from Duke University, he worked as a briefing coordinator for Tipper Gore during her husband's 200 presidential campaign. He also worked on the staff of then-Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.

He quit his job as a prosecutor to run for attorney general in 2013, and nearly beat state Sen. Mark Herring.

Fairfax says his lack of experience in local politics is not a hindrance. He cited multiple role models who broke into politics at a statewide level, including Rep. Don Beyer, former Sen. Chuck Robb, and Bill Clinton, who was elected Arkansas Attorney general at age 30.

I've always been passionate about public service. And lieutenant governor is an office in which you can do a tremendous amount of good, he insisted, ticking off with enthusiasm the various boards on which he would be entitled to serve, like a climate change commission and the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.

Vogel, though, said experience matters, and her experience as a state senator gives her a huge advantage. She said the state Senate remains a bastion of bipartisanship in a polarized political landscape, and she has learned to work with Democrats to get things done.

While she says she loves her colleagues in the senate on both sides of the aisle, she also chafes at a political culture that leads her to conclude that in many ways, we're just a day away from powdered wigs.

Virginia's General Assembly takes great pride in tracing its roots to Jamestown and claiming the title of the oldest continuous lawmaking body in the New World. Vogel takes pride, and remains astonished, that she is the first lawmaker in that body to give birth to a child while holding office. She travels home to Fauquier County every day to take care of her four kids, ages 5 through 14, rather than staying nights in Richmond during the legislative sessions.

It takes a very unique family situation that would allow a woman of child-bearing age that has a family to be able to serve in the legislature, she said. It also takes a borderline insane person.
The Washington, D.C., government is not revoking the licenses of teachers who admit sexual misconduct with kids, nor are D.C. education officials submitting the names of those teachers to a national database used by all 50 states to prevent predators from returning to the classroom.

The failure of the D.C. government stands in stark contrast to the rules and regulations of other U.S. states, including Virginia and Maryland, which decades ago established systems to revoke the licenses of teachers who admit sexually abusing students.

A News4 I-Team investigation reveals several D.C. teachers who recently admitted sex crimes with children are not listed in the national NASDTEC database, which includes the names of 78,000 teachers nationwide, many of whom have admitted misconduct with children. The NASDTEC database red flags teachers throughout the nation and disqualifies them from obtaining licenses in the future.

D.C.'s failure to formally revoke the licenses of teachers who admits sex misconduct increases the odds of those teachers slipping through the cracks and finding work in public schools elsewhere in the nation, according to multiple experts and education officials who spoke with the News4 I-Team.

Were putting someone elses child at risk. (We risk) putting them in a situation where they shouldnt be, said D.C. parent Joe Weedon, who serves on the D.C. State Board of Education, which has oversight of some D.C. education programs but does not have authority over licensure issues.

There is potential these individuals could go get a job elsewhere, because it hasnt been reported yet, including in Virginia or Maryland, Weedon said.

Licensure of teachers in Washington, D.C., is administered by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education. Rules and regulations needed to give OSSE authority to revoke teacher licenses were not formally approved until 2016, decades later than neighboring states. Those regulations are still being finalized or adjusted, according to officials with OSSE and D.C. Public Schools. Completion is expected no sooner than 2018 or 2019, officials told the I-Team.

Agency records say OSSE reviewed at least seven teachers for possible license revocations or cancellations, but all of those cases were closed without revocation. The records show zero revocations since 2008, which includes the years before D.C. regulations were updated.

By filing a series of Freedom of Information Act requests, the I-Team obtained records showing D.C. teachers involved in at least three high-profile cases of sexual misconduct in recent years were allowed to have their licenses expire, rather than face revocation. Because the licenses expired, instead of being revoked, Washington, D.C., education officials were not bound to add the names of the teachers to the national NASDTEC database.

Teachers Admit Misconduct, Avoid Being Red-Flagged

Those teachers include Giovanni Pena, who pleaded guilty to a federal sex crime at Oyster-Adams Bilingual School in 2015 and was imprisoned. Parents at Oyster-Adams said they were surprised to learn Pena is not red-flagged nationwide.

The teacher did go to jail. He was publicly humiliated, but thats not enough. He should never be near children again, said Deon Bell, an Oyster-Adams parent who knew the family of a child Pena admitted sexually abusing.

The other two teachers who avoided license revocation and the national NASDTEC database are Charles Young, who pleaded guilty in 2016 to a sex crime at Dunbar High School, and John Solano, who pleaded guilty to sex misconduct in 2013 at McKinley Tech High School.

Child sex abuse therapist Eliana Gil said D.C. should have finalized the needed rules to revoke teacher licenses and contribute names to the national database.

The national database was set up for a really good reason, Gil said. Thats to protect children. Everybody has got to participate. It takes a village. We all have to be participating in small and large ways to make sure kids are safe.

The school district will terminate or discipline employees for violations of applicable law or regulations, but there was no active process of reporting employees to OSSE for licensure revocation, a D.C. Public Schools spokeswoman said.

Charter Schools

D.C. public charter school teachers are exempt from license revocation and formal listing on the national database of teachers who have admitted misconduct, because Washington, D.C., is one only a handful of jurisdictions that do not require licensure for public charter school teachers.

The I-Team investigation revealed several public charter school teachers who were charged with misconduct involving students. None is listed in the national database.

In a statement to the I-Team, the D.C. Public Charter School Board said, DC PCSB requires all public charter schools to conduct criminal background checks for school staff and volunteers, and schools confirm with us that those checks are completed. DC PCSB does not use the NASDTEC system to verify the credentials or qualifications of public charter school teachers because schools have the flexibility to hire staff that best suit the needs of their individual program type, regardless of licensure status.

Background Checks Fail

According to police reports and charter school records, a D.C. public charter teacher suspected of an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old student in 2004 was able to find a new teaching job at a different, nearby public charter school in 2005.

Alan Coleman, 46, pleaded not guilty to child sex abuse in D.C. Superior Court. A police affidavit obtained by the I-Team said a former student at KIPP DC KEY Academy accused Coleman of sexually abusing her when she was a 14-year-old student in 2004. The affidavit said a school principal told police she suspected Coleman had an inappropriate relationship with a student in 2004 and asked him to stand down. The principal told police she did not renew Colemans contract because of the relationship.

Coleman found work from 2005 to 2015 at the Capital City Public Charter School in northwest D.C. despite undergoing a background check, according to a letter sent by Capital City Public Charter School to parents in 2016.

In their letter to parents after Colemans arrest, Capital City Public Charter School said, We contracted for and received a clean background check of Mr. Coleman at that time, which Capital City requires for all new hires. During his employment, we had no concerns about his work or interactions with our students, and no one ever raised such concerns to us. In February 2015 we learned from an individual not connected with Capital City of allegations that Mr. Coleman had an inappropriate relationship with a minor from 2004-2007. The minor was never a student at Capital City.

In a written statement to the I-Team, a KIPP DC spokesperson said, KIPP DC can confirm that we did not extend Alan Coleman an offer letter for the 2005-2006 school year, after two years of him working at KEY Academy. At the time, had we been aware of any of the misconduct Mr. Coleman was later charged with, we would have immediately alerted the appropriate authorities.

The written statement also said, After learning of the charges against Mr. Coleman, we enhanced our already comprehensive background check processes and employee conduct trainings. For example, we implemented a new system of auditing staff background checks, which includes periodically re-running FBI checks on staff, even if they already passed an initial FBI background check during their hiring process. In addition, we implemented additional mandatory annual trainings for principals on appropriate interactions between staff and students and our obligations as mandatory reporters.

Capital City Public Charter School declined requests for an interview with the I-Team.

Weedon, the D.C. State Board of Education member, said some D.C. public charter schools prefer to not require prospective teachers to obtain a license because it allows for creative hiring of experts and professionals with diverse backgrounds.

Without the constraints of the licensure requirements, they're able to do things a little differently, Weedon said. Whether or not that outweighs the risk is a question I certainly have.

Reported by Scott MacFarlane, produced by Rick Yarborough, and shot and edited by Jeff Piper.


The man accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, who was a Maryland high school teacher, will not face an additional charge for the death of the fetus, prosecutors announced Friday morning.

Investigators found that the fetus Laura Wallen was carrying was 14 weeks old at the time Wallen was killed, Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said. Under state law, suspect Tyler Tessier cannot face an additional murder charge for the fetus' death, McCarthy said.

"Based on medical testimony, the child was not viable independent of Ms. Wallen," McCarthy said. "Based on those medical findings and the law of Maryland, as a result, the defendant is not chargeable with a second count of murder related to the child.

Tessier, 32, was indicted on one count of murder in the death of Wallen, prosecutors said Thursday.

If he is convicted, a judge may take into consideration the fact that Wallen was pregnant. He faces life in prison.

Wallen's family told News4 they will meet with Gov. Larry Hogan soon to request a change to Maryland state law. Their daughter's killer stopped two heartbeats, not one, and he should be charged for that, the family said.

They sent this statement to News4:

"Our daughter Laura Wallen shared with us that she went to her OBs visit & heard our grandson Reid's heartbeat several weeks before she was murdered, and was overjoyed to have heard & seen Reid's Heart beating as she watched him moving on ultrasound!

Our family will be meeting with the Governor Hogan's office of legislation in the next few weeks to discuss that fact that when Laura was shot in the back of the head, her murder stopped 2 beating hearts- Laura's & Reids. Although we understand the Maryland law, our goal for the future, is to have the legislature examine Fetal Homicide, and revisit neonatal viability (when a fetus can survive, outside the mothers womb) as the parameter for prosecuting a fetal homicide when we know that a fetus's heartbeat is present way before the 23rd to 24th week cut off for when a fetus is considered viable. In many states- 2 heart beats is double murder."

The family said Laura had wanted to name her child Reid.

The group Americans United for Life sent a letter Sept. 28 asking prosecutors to charge Tessier in the fetus' death. The letter suggests Tessier should be charged under the federal law called the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.





"Under the federal law, the age of the baby has no bearing on whether a murder was committed," general counsel Steven H. Aden said. "Here, we know there were two victims: Laura and her unborn baby at 14 weeks, and we're asking for justice for both of those victims."

Maryland criminal defense attorney Richard Finci, who is not connected to the case, said he does not expect the state's attorney to bring federal charges. "I think Mr. McCarthy runs a very competent, strong office, and he will be able to prosecute a case like this strongly and to the full extent and power of the law. Federal charges, to me, are unlikely," he said. Wallen, an Olney, Maryland, resident, had been missing for nine days. A search and rescue team found the 31-year-old's body last month in Damascus, Maryland.

Tessier was arrested hours later and charged with first-degree murder. While she was missing, he spoke at a news conference with Wallen's family, holding his girlfriend's mother's hand.

Police said Tessier was the father of Wallen's baby and asked Wallen's father for permission to marry her despite being engaged to another woman.

"He has been deceiving and lying their entire existence and their relationship was the only thing that Laura and her family ever fought about," Wallen's father, Mark Wallen, said after a judge ordered Tessier held without bond.



Police said both women knew about their past relationships with Tessier, but both believed he was dating them exclusively. According to charging documents, Wallen sent Tessier's fiancee a text message on Aug. 28 asking if the two could meet.

"It's important that some things are cleared up and I would imagine that if you were in my position, you'd want some answers as well. By no means is this an attempt at confrontation, just looking for an explanation," the text message read.

A pregnant woman who had been missing for more than a week was found dead and her boyfriend has been charged in her murder. Police described a troubling text Laura Wallen sent before her death. News4's Shomari Stone reports.

She was reported missing a week later. Tessier told police he last saw Wallen alive Sept. 4, but her family said they hadn't seen her since Sept. 1.

Tessier, of Damascus, pleaded at the news conference for his girlfriend's safe return.

"If somebody has her, please understand that you've taken away a huge person in so many people's life," Tyler Tessier said. "I don't know where she is. I don't know. I pray that she's safe and that she comes back. That's all I care about."

Police had suspected Tessier's "involvement" since the investigation began, and allowed him to speak at the family's news conference as an investigation strategy, Police Chief Tom Manger said.

"He is a monster and he is a liar," Mark Wallen said. "And it was absolutely the hardest thing my wife could do would be to sit next to him and hold his hand."

Wallen was a beloved social studies teacher at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, Maryland. Her students and coworkers worried when she failed to show up for the first day of school on Sept. 5.

"She was exemplary," district superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano said. "She led with her heart, care and compassion."
Three people were hospitalized after an explosion at an agricultural building in Detroit, Maine on Wednesday afternoon, according to state police.

Authorities told WCSH-TV that the blast, which was originally reported as a sulfur explosion, happened at Northeast Agricultural Sales, on Route 100 near Hurd Corner.

By about 4:15 p.m., the fire from the blast had been put out.

Anthony Towers, 62, of Newport, was taken by medical helicopter to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he is being treated for extensive burns.

Lee Gustin, 50, of Cambridge, and Clarence Rider, 36, of Pittsfield, were taken to Sabasticook Hospital in Pittsfield after complaining of respiratory issues. Their condition is not known.

All three are employed by Northeast Agricultural Sales, police said.



Fire investigators said the explosion took place in an empty, 86-foot tall silo used to store sulfur. Towers and Rider were both on top of the silo working when a shovel that Towers was using to clean out accumulations of dust and sulfur sparked the explosion.

Towers' clothing caught fire and was extinguished by Rider before both men climbed down a ladder to the ground.

Gustin was working on the ground and came to assist the two men after they climbed down.
A police officer has been indicted for allegedly stealing $2,000 in cash from the Boston Police Department's evidence room and attempting to launder it at Plainridge Park Casino.

Joseph Nee, 44, is charged with larceny over $250 and money laundering, according to the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on Oct. 30.

Nee has been an officer with the Boston Police Department since 1998 and is assigned to the Evidence Management Unit in Hyde Park. He has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case.

Nee allegedly stole approximately $2,000 from the file of a closed bank robbery case in January of 2017, the attorney general's office said. The stolen money was identified by the traces of red dye left from an anti-theft dye pack that discharged during the bank robbery.

Authorities said they learned of the theft when Nee fed some of the stolen cash into slot machines at Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville. He allegedly redeemed the stolen money at a kiosk at the casino for cash that wasn't tainted with red dye.

"The behavior alleged in todays indictment is inexcusable," Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said. "I hold my officers to the highest standards and expect them to obey the law that they have taken an oath to uphold. Allegations like this can damage the trust my officers have worked so hard to build with the community."



The charges are the result of a joint investigation by the Massachusetts State Police Gaming Enforcement Unit, the Boston Police Anti-Corruption Unit and the Attorney General's Gaming Enforcement Division.

The department says it asked the attorney general to open an investigation as soon as it became aware of Nee's alleged misconduct.
A Massachusetts trooper accused of beating a chase suspect across state lines in New Hampshire has been found not guilty.

Thirty-three-year-old Joseph Flynn was acquitted of simple assault on Thursday following the May 2016 incident, when television news helicopters caught law enforcement officers from both states punching and kicking Richard Simone Jr. as he was kneeling to surrender once he got out of his vehicle in Nashua.

Prosecutors had argued that Flynn did not need to use force in detaining Simone after he had surrendered. Flynn's lawyer said his use of force was justified.

Andrew Monaco, another trooper involved in the incident, pleaded guilty in 2016 to simple assault to avoid jail time; however, as part of his plea deal, he agreed to resign and never again seek law enforcement employment.
More than two dozen animals were seized from a home in Litchfield on Wednesday.

State police served a search warrant at the house at 365 Beach St. after receiving reports Monday of neglected animals.

Inside, police say they found animals living in deplorable conditions.

On Monday, police assisted the Torrington animal control officer at the home as the officer took custody of two dogs and a cat that were in poor health, according to state police.

After serving the search warrant on Wednesday, officers seized 16 rabbits, four cats, three kittens and five chickens. They also found two dead kittens in the house, police said.

Police said the owner surrendered two dogs and a cat to Torrington Regional Animal Control because they were sick.

There were no arrests, but police said the investigation is continuing.

NBC Connecticut tried to get a comment from someone at the home the animals were seized from, but our crew was told to leave the property.
A Vermont man killed his wife and badly injured her mother when he attacked them with a meat cleaver Thursday afternoon while the couple's 8-year-old child was at school, police say.

The suspect, 34-year-old Aita Gurung, was released from a hospital earlier in the day after a voluntary mental health evaluation, his father-in-law told police. Around 2:30 p.m. at a home on Hyde Street, police say he attacked his wife, 32-year-old Yogeswari Khadka, with a meat cleaver, striking her skull, arms and hands. Gurung also allegedly attacked his mother-in-law, 54-year-old Thulsa Rimal, injuring her head.

Khadka was killed, and the incident sent Rimal to the University of Vermont Medical Center, where she was in critical but stable condition Thursday night.

The 8-year-old child of Gurung and Khadka was at school at the time and was not harmed.

Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said the attack started in the kitchen and ended in front of the residence, with an armed neighbor holding Gurung at bay until police could approach him with a ballistic shield to make the arrest.

A neighbor told necn affiliate NBC 5 News that he heard a woman screaming.

"There was a young woman laying in the driveway lifeless, and the pool of blood was bigger than her," witness Sam Rollo said.

Del Pozo noted in a statement Thursday night that "prior police contact with the suspect has been limited." The chief added that Gurung had "sought police attention for mental health issues and concerns about his deteriorating relationship with his wife" on Saturday, and that he was transported by EMS to the University of Vermont Medical Center. His father-in-law told police Gurung had been voluntarily admitted for an evaluation, but that he was discharged Thursday upon his request.

Gurung is expected to be arraigned Friday at the Chittenden County criminal division of the Vermont Superior Court in Burlington.
The Vermont senator who wanted to be president had criticism Thursday for the man who got the job, regarding his environmental policies.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, toured Sandia National Laboratories in Williston, which is one of five regional solar testing centers in the country conducting studies for the U.S. Energy Department.

Primary aims of the centers, according to a sign hanging outside the facility, are to see the cost of solar-generated electricity become more affordable, to grow the nations solar industry, and to foster technical innovation in the energy sector.

As part of the research underway in Williston now, Sandia is analyzing the effectiveness of designs that are capable of generating power from both sides of the panels.

That could be big for the northeast, where much of the year, sunlight would reflect off snow and hit the backsides of the cells.

Its another example of U.S. ingenuity in the solar market, Laurie Burnham of Sandia National Labs told reporters.

We think this is the energy of the future, Sanders said, gesturing to a large field full of various styles of solar panels from different manufacturers that are being tested at Sandias facility. Our job is to think big.

Sanders also criticized President Donald Trumps head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Scott Pruitt has rejected the views of a vast majority of scientists who say emissions from burning fossil fuels are top contributors to climate change.

Monday, the EPA chief used the words the war on coal is over, as he rolled back Obama-era efforts to limit carbon output from coal-fired power plants.

What we had under the Obama administration with the Clean Power Plan was devastating for the coal industry, Joe Craft, a coal executive with Alliance Resource Partners said earlier this week when the rollback was announced. With this repeal or with this withdrawal, I think it gives us the opportunity to protect the coal fleet and hopefully have an opportunity to build new coal-fired powered plants, so we can contribute to the economic development of this country.

The president announced earlier this year that he will pull the United States out of the landmark Paris climate agreement, the Associated Press wrote this week. Nearly 200 countries have committed to combat global warming by reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

"This president has tremendous courage," Pruitt said Monday, according to an AP report. "He put America first and said to the rest of the world we are going to say no and exit the Paris Accord. That was the right thing to do."

Sanders countered that claim from the Trump administration.

I think the Trump administrations attitude toward the environmenttoward climate changeis really tragic, the senator said in response to a question from necn about the change in coal policy.

Sanders called climate change an urgent threat, and pointed to the more intense hurricane season as the latest reason why he believes the nation needs to more aggressively transform our energy system away from fossil fuels to embrace efficiency and sustainability.

President Trump talks about bringing back coal, Sanders said in remarks prepared for the visit to the solar research site. Its not going to happen. This is the future.

Sanders also predicted that emerging solar technologies will play a significant role in the future of storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, as it looks to rebuild its decimated power grid.
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is donating a campaign contribution from disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein to a nonprofit in Providence that aides victims of sexual abuse.

A spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Democrat said Tuesday that Whitehouse's campaign will donate Weinstein's $1,000 contribution from 2011 to Day One this week.

Weinstein faces multiple allegations of sexual abuse and harassment from some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Day One publicly thanked Whitehouse for his generosity and for thinking of survivors' needs during this time.

The nonprofit says the donation will go directly toward supporting treatment, intervention, education, advocacy and prevention services.


Fight hunger with Lynn Foodbanks two new fundraisers Fight hunger with Lynn Foodbanks two new fundraisers

King's Lynn Foodbank is inviting churches, schools, businesses and individuals to help them fight hunger as it launches two new fundraising initiatives, 'The Big Supper Week' and 'Pounding Poverty', in response to what is set to be its busiest year to date.
By Online Desk

The conversation Vijay had with Anitha's family when the latter visited the family was finally revealed by her brother Mani Rathinam.

Pictures of Tamil star Vijay's visit to pay condolences to Anitha's family had gone viral on social media last month.

In September Vijay visited the family of Anitha, who reportedly committed suicide, as she was denied a medical seat despite securing high marks in her 12th board exam.

According to reports from Behindwoods, Mani Rathinam (Anitha's brother) revealed the conversation he had with 'Mersal' actor during his visit.

The reports revealed that Vijay told Mani Rathinam, "Even I had a sister once, so I know how painful it must be for you to lose a sister. I wanted to visit you earlier but because of the crowd and other issues, my visit got delayed. I will give you my number; you could contact me for any help. I could even take care of your younger brother's education expenses."

The fans of the actor were also vocal on Twitter and Facebook about Anitha's death.

S Anitha (17), a medical aspirant from the backward Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu, was found dead at her home on September 1. She had argued in the Supreme Court recently against National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) score being sought to be the sole basis for medical admissions.

Her death fuelled statewide protests against NEET exam.

Anitha, daughter of casual labourer T Shanmugham (60), scored 1,176 out of 1,200 marks in Class XII examinations on the State board syllabus in Tamil medium. But in NEET, a national test based on CBSE syllabus which she was not familiar with, she managed only a percentile of 86.

The conversation Vijay had with Anitha's family when the latter visited the family was finally revealed by her brother Mani Rathinam. Pictures of Tamil star Vijay's visit to pay condolences to Anitha's family had gone viral on social media last month. In September Vijay visited the family of Anitha, who reportedly committed suicide, as she was denied a medical seat despite securing high marks in her 12th board exam. According to reports from Behindwoods, Mani Rathinam (Anitha's brother) revealed the conversation he had with 'Mersal' actor during his visit. The reports revealed that Vijay told Mani Rathinam, "Even I had a sister once, so I know how painful it must be for you to lose a sister. I wanted to visit you earlier but because of the crowd and other issues, my visit got delayed. I will give you my number; you could contact me for any help. I could even take care of your younger brother's education expenses." #Thalapathy #Vijay at #Anitha's house and consoled her parents ! pic.twitter.com/9sq4kzx6qQ  Thusi (@thusi_c) September 11, 2017 The fans of the actor were also vocal on Twitter and Facebook about Anitha's death. S Anitha (17), a medical aspirant from the backward Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu, was found dead at her home on September 1. She had argued in the Supreme Court recently against National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) score being sought to be the sole basis for medical admissions. Her death fuelled statewide protests against NEET exam. Anitha, daughter of casual labourer T Shanmugham (60), scored 1,176 out of 1,200 marks in Class XII examinations on the State board syllabus in Tamil medium. But in NEET, a national test based on CBSE syllabus which she was not familiar with, she managed only a percentile of 86.
Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stephanie of Luxembourg visit United Arab Emirates (UAE) between the dates of October 9-12, 2017 together with an economic mission. On the second day of UAE visit, Prince Guillaume and Princess Stephanie of Luxembourg visited Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Expo 2020 Dubai construction site and Dubai harbour. The purpose of that visit is to strengthen the political and economic relations between two countries.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Snow will taper off and end this morning but skies will remain cloudy this afternoon. High 38F. ENE winds shifting to NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 90%. Snow accumulations less than one inch..

Tonight

Cloudy skies. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low near 30F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.
Ducati has reintroduced the Diavel family of motorcycles in India by commencing deliveries of the limited edition Ducati Diavel Diesel of which only 666 numbered units have been produced globally. The motorcycle is inspired by the energetic dynamism of a post-apocalyptic future and is the fruit of collaboration between Andrea Rosso, Creative Director of premium casual wear brand Diesel Licensing, and the Ducati Design Center in Italy.

The Diavel family has been one of the bestsellers in our portfolio. The Ducati Diavel Diesel is a very special motorcycle that exemplifies craftsmanship and style in every detail, said Ducati India Managing Director Sergi Canovas Garriga. Our dealers have seen a lot of interest in this limited edition motorcycle and deliveries have started in India.

The distinguishing features of the Ducati Diavel Diesel include hand-brushed stainless steel superstructure with visible welding and rivets and the red colour on the air intake covers, Brembo front brake callipers, five chain links and the LCD dashboard. The Ducati Diavel Diesels exhaust system is another detailed work of art, thanks to the pipes graced by black Zircotec ceramic coating and black silencers with machined ends, on which the new pyramid motif appears.

Its 152 HP Testastretta 11 DS engine combined with the Ducati Safety Pack (ABS and Ducati Traction Control) and Riding Modes offer a riding experience thats thrilling and at the same time safe and intuitive. The 240 mm wide rear tyre is full of personality and, thanks to the effective chassis set-up, delivers both high-precision handling and day-to-day comfort.

The Ducati Diavel Diesel is priced at INR 21,72,000 (Ex-showroom India) and is available at Ducati dealerships in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kochi and Kolkata. Ducati India has also launched special festive season offers on select motorcycles including exclusive finance schemes, exchange offers and apparel and accessory benefits of up to INR 1,00,000 for a limited period.

Also Read: Audi A5 Sportback and S5 First Drive Review
New Delhi: US biotechnology major Monsanto's Indian JV has settled royalty dispute with three Indian cotton seed companies that have cleared payment dues of about Rs 300 crore and the arbitration process is on with five other firms.

Mahyco Monsanto Biotech Ltd (MMBL), a joint venture firm of Monsanto, has sub-licensed Bt cotton seed technology to various domestic seed companies since 2002.

However, eight licensees including Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd (NSL) refused to honour their commitments to pay MMBL over Rs 450 crore after collecting these amounts from cotton farmers in kharif 2015.

In a letter to the agriculture ministry, MMBL said it has "amicably settled" the dispute with three Indian companies -- Ajeet Seeds, Kaveri Seed Co Ltd and Ankur Seeds.

According to sources, these three companies owed about Rs 300 crore.

The arbitration process to settle the matter with the rest five companies, including Nuziveedu group firms, is still on and they together owe about Rs 160 crore, they added.

The Nuziveedu group firms -- Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd, Prabhat Agri Biotech Ltd and Pravardhan Seeds Pvt Ltd -- together owe Rs 145 crore and the rest Rs 15 crore by Amar Biotech Ltd and Sri Rama Agri Genetics.

Stating that MMBL is committed to resolving the disputes, the company's Director Shilpa Divekar Nirula in the letter said: "...the outstanding disputes with the few companies, namely NSL group of companies, Amar Biotech Ltd and Sri Rama Agri Genetics, who follow NSL's lead on the disputes, continue."

"The arbitration proceedings are ongoing before various fora across the country," she added.

MMBL said many seed companies had ended their dispute with the company in early 2015-16 except for eight, which were referred to arbitration.

Meanwhile, Monsanto has appealed against the government decision to fix cotton price along with trait value (royalty) under the Cotton Seed Price Control Order. The case is pending with the Delhi High Court.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is a bit of an online star. Considering the fact that she is the most followed woman leader in the world on Twitter, Swaraj lets her actions speak for her Twitter popularity.

Her social media popularity is a result of her promptness in handling distress calls addressed to her, often by Indians stuck in difficult situations overseas.

This time, the Union external affairs minister came to rescue a Russian man, who was found begging at a Kanchipuram temple in Tamil Nadu.

Swaraj who came across a report in The Hindu soon took to the microblogging site to extend help to the Russian man. She tweeted, "Evangelin - Your country Russia is our time tested friend. My officials in Chennai will provide you all help."

Evangelin - Your country Russia is our time tested friend. My officials in Chennai will provide you all help. https://t.co/6bPv7MFomI Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 10, 2017

#BREAKING  Russian man found begging outside Chennai temple; EAM Sushma Swaraj steps in to help pic.twitter.com/tin5dKZwGm News18 (@CNNnews18) October 12, 2017

According to The Hindu report, 24-year-old Evangelin had arrived in India with a valid passport and visa on September 24. Travelling to Kancheepuram on Tuesday morning from Chennai and after visiting a few temples, he went to an ATM near the Kumarakottam temple to withdraw money. But as luck would have it, he couldnt withdraw any as his PIN got locked.

With nowhere to go and language being the biggest barrier, Evangelin was compelled to sit outside the temple and spread out his cap to get some money.

Shocked at the sight of a foreigner begging, the incident was soon reported to the police.

The police found all his documents in place and put him in touch with the Russian embassy. Following this, Sushma Swaraj took over.

And like always, Twitterati praised Swaraj's promptness.

Tweets from you are just refreshing before I hit the bed. Wish you long and healthy life in the service of nation. Namaste! Tryambak Srivastava (@imtryam) October 10, 2017

I am sure she will have long life. How a women after a major surgery work like this.Its our pleasure to have u as external affairs minister Prabhuram (@prabhuyuvi) October 10, 2017

Maam if there is an embodiment of Mother #India today, she is you!#salute Ninjamonkey (@Aryanwarlord) October 10, 2017

Sushmaji is one efficient minister in Modiji Dunbar who works silently and whose service we have failed to appreciate. Surya. (@TRavindran4) October 10, 2017

Tnx Swaraj from it generosity for All needy people Good wishes from ur Afghan lovers Sefatullah (@Sefatullah7224) October 10, 2017

What a gesture mam...great Sourav (@iamsourav623) October 10, 2017
New Delhi: With Allahabad High Court acquitting Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the Aarushi and Hemraj murder case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has decided to move the Supreme Court to challenge the order.

A division bench of the Allahabad HC on Thursday observed that the Talwar couple needs to be given a benefit of doubt and a chain of evidence could not be established against the dentist couple.

The CBI lawyer Anurag Khanna had earlier said that the investigation agency would go to the Supreme Court only after consulting with its top officials.

Defence counsel Tanveer Ahmed Mir said the release of Talwars from Ghaziabad jail is unlikely to happen before Friday as the order needs to be released and a copy of it needs to reach the jail authorities. However, even if the CBI files an appeal before the Supreme Court, the Talwars will stay out of jail.

As Talwar couple had appealed in the HC against the lower court order, a few investigation botch-ups by the central agency were highlighted before the HC.

There was a failure on part of the CBI to secure crime scene for over 24 hours, leading to the loss of crucial forensic evidence. The court has noted that the investigation hypothesis by CBI was not conclusive. The fact of introducing honour killing hypothesis, saying Talwars committed the crime in a fit of rage after finding Aarushi in an objectionable position with Hemraj, played a crucial role for the HC to acquit the dentist couple.

There were also differing post-mortem reports. While one mentioned a prominent opening of Aarushis private parts, the other mentioned NAD (no abnormality detected) in the section on the teenagers private parts.

The CBI court had in its 2013 judgment held the Talwar couple guilty of killing their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi after noting that the Evidence Act provisions had transferred the onus on the parents to explain how the teenager was murdered.

But the HC on Thursday stated that cases where you depend on circumstantial evidence, the benefit of the doubt goes to the accused. The accused can be held guilty only if the facts established are entirely consistent with the guilt.
New Delhi: Nine years after their daughter was murdered and four years after they were held guilty for the murder of Aarushi Talwar by a lower court, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were exonerated by the Allahabad High Court at 2:50 pm on Thursday.

Judgment was pronounced by a two-member Allahabad High Court bench, which said conviction cant be based on suspicion and they have to be given benefit of doubt.

Sources in Dasna jail, where the couple is lodged, said that Nupur and Rajesh Talwar had been keeping track of the proceedings through television installed in their barracks.

All the barracks have television sets. They were also watching the proceedings live as were some other inmates, said a source from Dasna jail.

The source added that the couple was visited by Rajeshs brother  Dinesh Talwar, who is an eye surgeon, in jail four days ago.

The couple, which has been behind bars since November 2013, will now finally walk out free. Although their release is likely to be challenged by CBI in Supreme Court very soon.

The couple was first convicted of murdering their daughter by a special CBI court in November 2013. CBI, which was tasked with investigating the case, had argued for capital punishment for the dentist couple arguing the murder to be in the rarest of rare category. However, the court had sentenced Nupur and Rajesh Talwar to life.

The CBI judge, who had reportedly relied heavily on circumstantial evidence, had convicted the couple of not just killing their daughter, but also for destroying evidence and filing wrong FIR with police.

Thursdays judgment is bound to bring relief to the Talwar family that has all this while pleaded innocence to the murder of Aarushi Talwar and their domestic help, Hemraj.

The body of Aarushi Talwar was found, with her throat slit, at her house just days before she was to turn 14. The familys live-in domestic help Hemraj was believed to be the prime suspect till he too was found dead on the terrace of the same flat.

His throat was also slit and he had suffered injuries to his head.

After CBI took charge of the probe, in 2010 it submitted a closure report in which it claimed that the murders couldnt be investigated in the absence of evidence. However, the case was reopened by the CBI court, which on November 25, 2013, found them guilty of the murders and sentenced them to life. The couple then filed an appeal in the Allahabad High Court challenging the previous courts order.
New Delhi: Four years after a special CBI court convicted the dentist couple Nupur and Rajesh Talwar of murdering their teen daughter Aarushi and servant Hemraj at their Noida apartment in 2008, the Allahabad High Court set aside the conviction.

A division bench of Justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra cleared the couples murder charges saying that they could not be held guilty on the basis of mere suspicion and circumstantial evidence.

The judges also pointed out loopholes in the CBI investigation. Talwars acquittal has once again brought the pathetic conviction rate of the countrys premier agency in limelight.

Earlier this year, the Lok Sabha was informed about the conviction rate of the CBI. The numbers revealed a dip in the investigation agencys conviction rate in the last three years.

The conviction rate of the CBI dipped from 69 per cent in 2014 to 66.8 per cent in 2016. Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh informed Lok Sabha in April 2017 that in 2014 the conviction rate was 69.02 per cent, in 2015 it was 65.1 per cent and in 2016 it was 66.8 per cent.

In order to ensure better conviction rate, government had taken various measures for improving the functioning of the CBI which, inter alia, includes modernisation of the CBI, enhanced quality of training, upgradation of infrastructure, creation of additional posts of public prosecutors, modernisation of CFSL etc, he said.

In 2011, Rajesh Talwar, in an interview with a TV channel, had criticized the investigating agency. I cannot understand this kind of investigative agency. I have no words for them, he had said.

The Special CBI court in Ghaziabad had sentenced the couple to life imprisonment in 2013 for murdering their own daughter and killing their domestic help Hemraj, purely on the basis of circumstantial evidence.

The couple has been serving the sentence since November 2013.
Kolkata: Expelled CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Ritabrata Banerjee was been summoned by the West Bengal CID over his alleged involvement in a sexual exploitation case.

A team of CID officers pasted the summons letter on the door of his 86 Ramlal Bazaar, Kishalay School Lane residence in Garfa area in Kolkata. Banerjee has been asked to meet the investigating officers at CID headquarters in Bhawani Bhawan on Friday.

Speaking to News18, a senior CID officer said, An IT professional based in Balurghat has alleged that the CPI(M) MP (Ritabrata Banerjee) sexually exploited her on the false pretext of marriage. She also lodged a complaint at the Balurghat police station in South Dinajpur district and we have taken over the case for further investigation.

Banerjee, on the other hand, had also lodged a complaint with the Balurghat police that the woman was blackmailing and pressurizing him to pay her.

Please take necessary action and rescue me from her evil clutches, Banerjee mentioned in his complaint.

We will summon both the complainants for cross-examination and medical tests. Banerjee has been asked to appear before the investigating team on October 13. We will also go through their private mails, texts and WhatsApp messages exchanged between them, the police officer added.

The woman has now threatened to commit suicide. She said, We have known each other since last year and he had promised to marry me. Recently, I came to know that he has had a string of affairs with several other women. His allegations against me are baseless and false.

On October 5, she tweeted that the Rajya Sabha MP had allegedly promised to marry her and got into a physical relationship with her.

Her tweet to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reads: @MamataOfficial maam pls help me 2 fight my battle against this @RitabrataBanerj so that I can maintain my modesty. He promised to marry me (sic).

In other tweets to Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she alleged that the MP had offered her Rs 2.5 lakhs at first and Rs 50 lakhs later, to keep quiet.

Rubbishing the allegations, Ritabrata tweeted on Wednesday: Hard Facts. Manufactured Lies will be combatted. Will not succumb to politically aided threats (sic).

I got acquainted to her in May, 2016. She had portrayed and represented herself to be a hapless lady in urgent need for a loan from SBI Balurghat Branch. I was induced and allured to meet her material demands till I realized that her demands are boundless, excerpts from Ritabratas FIR reads.

The expelled CPI(M) leader has further claimed that the woman threatened him and demanded money for treatment as she was suffering from Lymphoma. Due to her threat, I was compelled to make a payment of Rs 2.25 lakhs on July 20, 2017, Banerjees FIR reads.

The CPI(M) leader has said, Please take necessary action and rescue me from her evil clutches.

On September 17, the CPI(M) had officially expelled Ritabrata Banerjee from the party for grave anti-party activities including moral degeneration in relation to women.
New Delhi: With Allahabad High Court acquitting Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the Aarushi murder case, the HC has observed that the Talwar couple needs to be given benefit of doubt and chain of evidence could not be established against the dentist couple.

The verdict is primarily based upon one central principle of law  the burden of proof cannot be on accused.

The CBI court had in its 2013 judgment held the Talwar couple guilty of killing their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi Talwar after noting that the Evidence Act provisions had transferred the onus on the parents to explain how the teenager was murdered.

The trial court relied upon Sections 106 and 114 in the Evidence Act to state that since the Talwars were the only people in the house when Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj were killed, they had to furnish satisfactory explanations to discharge their burden of proof.

Under Section 114, a court is entitled to "presumption of certain facts" based on certain reasonable human conduct.

This provision was resorted to by the CBI court to hold that there could be a presumption against the parents that they would have been in the knowledge of what was happening inside the house when there were no signs of forced entry by a third person nor was such a case built up by the defence.

Section 106 of the Evidence Act says that when any fact is especially within the knowledge of any person, the burden of proving that fact is upon him.

A body of judgments by the Supreme Court must have influenced the Allahabad High Court judgment wherein the top court examined Sections 114 and Section 106 of the Evidence Act.

On Section 106, the Supreme Court in Mangu Singh vs Dharmendra, 2015, ruled clearly that Section 106 does not absolve the prosecution's burden under Section 101 to prove its case of guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. It emphasised the thumb rule of criminal law that while defence only require to show probability, the onus of proving the case beyond reasonable doubt will always remain with the prosecution.

In State of Rajasthan vs Thakur Singh, 2005, the apex court had held that "the law, therefore, is quite well settled that the burden of proving the guilt of an accused is on the prosecution, but there may be certain facts pertaining to a crime that can be known only to the accused, or are virtually impossible for the prosecution to prove. These facts need to be explained by the accused and if he does not do so, then it is a strong circumstance pointing to his guilt based on those facts."

But this verdict also clarified that it was not for an accused to prove his innocence but the burden was only to the extent of explaining the "unusual situation".

In Shambhu Nath Mehra vs State of Ajmer, 1956, the Supreme Court dealt with the interpretation of Section 106 of the Evidence Act and held that the section is not intended to shift the burden of proof (in respect of a crime) on the accused but to take care of a situation where a fact is known only to the accused and it is well-nigh impossible or extremely difficult for the prosecution to prove that fact.

In Gian Chand vs State of Haryana, 2013, the apex court ruled that this provision is not intended to relieve the prosecution of its burden to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

The court said that the section would apply to cases where the prosecution has succeeded in proving facts from which a reasonable inference can be drawn regarding the existence of certain other facts, unless the accused by virtue of his special knowledge regarding such facts, failed to offer any explanation which might drive the court to draw a different inference.

"Section 106 of the Evidence Act is designed to meet certain exceptional cases, in which, it would be impossible for the prosecution to establish certain facts which are particularly within the knowledge of the accused," it held.

Therefore, the prospect of the dentist couple in the Aarushi Talwar murder case appears was hinging on the only fact  that the presumption in law of their guilt was so strong that it could relieve the prosecution from its duty of proving the guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and that Talwars failed to discharge their duty to explain.

In a case based on circumstantial evidence and without clear cut motive, one shred of doubt is capable of getting an acquittal in law and that's what Talwars' have achieved today in the court of law.
Boston: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has brushed aside all pessimism on the economy saying the current quarter will show an upward movement in the growth trajectory and that the government has a gameplan in mind.

In the larger management of an economy, you don't look at one quarter, you look at the pattern across a period, Jaitley told CNBC-TV18s Malvika Jain in an exclusive interview in Boston. Jaitley is visiting the US for an annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday had lowered Indias growth projection to 6.7 % in 2017, 0.5 percentage points less than its previous two forecasts in April and July, attributing it to demonetisation and introduction of GST.

The IMF also lowered the countrys growth for 2018 to 7.4%, 0.3 percentage points less than its previous two projections in July and April. Indias growth rate in 2016 was 7.1 %, which saw an upward revision of 0.3 percentage points from its April report.

However, Jaitley, who is visiting the US said that the economy is doing well and will pick up in the coming months. He said that important structural changes can have an impact, but there are enough indications of a positive growth.

In the interview with CNBC-TV18, the Finance Minister said that IMF and other agencies are expecting the growth momentum in India to continue.

Jaitley said, The government has a game plan in mind to revive the economy and will announce the measures when ready.

Regarding the implementation and market situation after the July 1 rollout of the new tax regime, he said that the government is monitoring the situation on a day-to-day basis.

With the GST rates being reviewed in a GST Council meet last week, Jaitley has said the government is now willing to keep the momentum of tweaking GST rates as and when required.

Soon after the GST rates reform, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too had acknowledged the shortcomings of GST rates and said, We had said we will study all aspects relating to GST for three months, including the shortcomings. And thus, the decisions were taken with consensus at the GST Council.

In the recent announcement, small and medium businesses have been allowed to file tax returns once a quarter, instead of monthly returns. The compliance burden of SMEs in GST has been cut while eligibility of composition scheme has raised to Rs 1 crore.

Also, GST rates of 27 items have been reviewed by the GST Council, including sliced dry mangoes, khakhra, unbranded namkeen, chapati have also been cut.
Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court has upheld an order by the Maharashtra Forest Department to shoot a man-eating tigress responsible for the deaths of two people between September 19 and October 2.

The decision was taken by Justice Bhushan Dharamadhikari and Justice Swapna Joshi on a petition filed by Jerryl Banait challenging the forest departments order.

The tigress, identified as T- 27 cub-1, has killed 4 people  two in Brahmapuri and two more after it was released in Bor Tiger Reserve.

Chief Forest Officer, Wild Life, AK Mishra, had passed orders to kill the tigress considering her as a danger to humans in the Bor area.

The sub-adult tigress had become dangerous after she developed a tendency to attack human beings and domestic animals. The forest department opted to shoot it after the tigress killed two people apart from injuring one and attacking domestic animals outside Bor since September 20.

After the petition was filed, court had issued a stay on the order on October 4. The court had directed the forest department to add details to its orders, after which a fresh communique was released on October 9 and submitted in the court next day. After examining it, the court has kept the forest departments decision unchanged. As soon as the verdict was out, the forest department started hunting the tigress.

The tigress was captured from Brahmapuri in July 2017 and kept in Bor Tiger Reserve. Hunter Safat Asli Khan has been called to Nagpur to shoot the Tigress.

The forest department has said that it will make every effort to trap and tranquilize the tigress and killing it will be the last option. The petitioner has decided to challenge the High Courts order in Supreme Court to save the life of tigress.
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Police have registered a case against prominent Dalit writer Kancha Ilaiah for allegedly hurting religious feelings through his book on the Arya Vysya community, an official said.

A student belonging to a Scheduled Caste had earlier alleged that Ilaiah, through his book 'Samajika Smugglurlu Komatollu' (Vysyas are social smugglers), not only targeted the Vysya community, but all Hindu communities and hurt the sentiments of Dalits and others, Malkajgiri Police Station Inspector Janaki Reddy said on Thursday.

The 22-year-old complainant had approached a local court and based on its directions, the police yesterday registered the case against Ilaiah, he said.

He said the case was registered under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Protests and demonstrations were being held by Arya Vysya community from last month across Telangana against Ilaiah.

The writer had last month filed a police complaint alleging that four people attacked his vehicle at Parkal in Warangal and tried to kill him.

The alleged attack had sparked tension between Arya Vysyas and Dalits who came face to face. However, the police had then averted any escalation of the issue by dispersing the groups.

The community is angry at Ilaiah over his book and are demanding apology from the writer, an official had earlier said.
Lucknow: The first Lucknow Mahotsav after Yogi Adityanath took oath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh may be more influenced by religion than culture.

Sources told News18 that the theme for this years edition revolve around spiritualism or Lakshman, the younger brother of Lord Ram, as many believe that the city was named after him and was also known as Lakhanpur and Laxmanpur in the earlier times.

Highly places sources said that the Lucknow District Administration has proposed that the theme for Lucknow Mahotsav 2017 would be around Lakshman, and is now seeking suggestions from different bodies over the proposal.

However, District Magistrate, Lucknow, Kaushal Raj Sharma denied finalising any theme for the Lucknow Mahotsav. He said that proposals were asked from people regarding the theme.

It is too early for us to decide any theme for the Lucknow Mahotsav. We have asked people to send their proposals for the theme of the Mahotsav. The dates are also yet to be finalised because of the municipal body elections, Sharma told News18.

A meeting was also held to decide this years at the camp office of District Magistrate with the members of Lucknow Mahotsav Committee on Monday. In 2016, the theme of the annual festival was Virasat and Vikas, Badalta Shitij that portrayed the citys rich culture and heritage. Similarly in 2015, the theme of the event was Badalta Lucknow Sawarta Lucknow.

The dates of the Lucknow Mahotsav are also expected to change this year. The committee had proposed to organize the festival as usual between November 25 and December 5, but due to the municipal elections, they might change. According to the district administration officials, the final decision on the date of the festival will be finalised only after the consent of the Election Commission, although the festival will be organized in the cultural site Regional Park Sector-L Ashiana as last year.

In the meeting, chaired by Sharma, it decided that this time Maut Ka Kuan (the death well) will not be exhibited in the festival. Apart from this, officials of all concerned departments, including police, LSA, municipal corporation, LDA, PWD and tourism, have been asked to prepare a plan for the preparation of Lucknow Mahotsav within 10 days.
New Delhi: The Rashtriya Swaymsewak Sangh (RSS) has called for a healthy discussion and debate on issues concerning the society in an apparent message to camp followers and adversaries to reduce the decibel level of exchanges.

It is perfectly fine to hold on to ones ideological position and views. But this should not degenerate to trading abuses (gali galoj nahin hona chahiye), RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale told reporters in Bhopal.

The RSS is holding its annual national executive meeting in the Madhya Pradesh capital where top Sangh brass would be deliberating over the next three days.

In a good democratic society, healthy discussions should take place. There should be a dialogue between people who think about the society, Hosabale added.

This line of initiating a healthy discussion across ideological divide flows from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwats interaction with foreign diplomats in Delhi last month where he disapproved of trolls and aggressive behavior on the net which tantamounts to hitting below the belt.

The RSS top leadership in the last one month has also held discussions with opinion makers across the country. Twenty such meetings have been attended by the Sangh top brass in state capitals after Mohan Bhagwats Vijayadashmi speech which is seen as a sort of policy direction.

In one such meeting organised last week in Delhi, Mohan Bhagwat himself interacted with opinion makers from various fields and sought feedback.

The RSS has, since the BJPs emphatic victory in 2014 general elections, fiercely competed for mindspace with Left liberals. Its attempt at discourse domination has been met with dogged resistance from the ideological adversaries  from award-wapasi to the JNU Student Union protest.

The statement by RSS joint general secretary Hosabale is being seen as an attempt to stem the unhealthy dialogue across the ideological divide.

On being asked to elaborate on the subject, Hosabale added he does not need to name such people. We are of the view that discussion should be constructive.

Referring to the violent clashes with ideological adversaries in Kerala and parts of the country, Hosabale said, Our opponents resorting to physical violence indicates that they have lost the ideological battle against us.
Chandigarh: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday ordered the Punjab government to produce 21 farmers who it claimed were stopped from burning stubble crop in exchange for incentives and infrastructural facilities. The farmers belong to the adopted Kallar Majri village near Patiala district.

The bench, headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, directed the state government to the 21 farmers before the green court on October 13.

Hitting out at the government, the NGT said that even after two years of being asked to come up with an action plan, they have not done much. The bench clearly asked if the government can produce a single farmer from Punjab before them who can say that whether the government gave him any kind of assistance, Bharatiya Kisan Union president Balbir Singh Rajewal said.

The NGT has warned of strict action against the concerned officer if the authorities fail to produce details of the farmers. The green court also rapped the government, saying it is not a political issue, but an environmental issue.

Ahead of the hearing on Wednesday, farmers had gathered in large numbers outside the NGT.

BKU president Rajewal telling about the frustration of farmers said, Everybody is highlighting stubble burning as the reason for rise in air pollution, but what about the industries that do the same? Farmers dont burn stubble because they are happy doing it. They are just helpless and dont have any choice. Farmers feel it is has become a fight between the poor and the rich. Nobody is genuinely concerned about the state of farmers.

Farmers have threatened to continue burning crop residue unless the government suitably compensates them. Around 200 farmers from 11 villages in Patiala district are burning stubble, leading to the rise in air pollution in adjoining areas, including Delhi-NCR.

The Pollution Control Board's standing counsel Naginder Benipal said, The government has provided free to manage paddy straw to 21 farmers. And today we provided the list of those farmers to the NGT.

Benipal said the Pollution Control Board has honoured farmers who didnt burn stubble last year. This year, a total 948 cases have been reported. Stubble burning has reduced by 10%. Out of these 948 cases, we have issued challans to 104 farmers and collected a fine of Rs 1,45,000. In fact, the government is making sure that if any government employee owning agriculture land burns stubble, strict action will be taken against them. The Punjab School Education Board has come up with a lesson for Class 12 students on stubble burning so they realise its ill-effects early in life.

BKU president Rajewal, meanwhile, declared the farmers will celebrate a black Diwali this year. Farmers will not buy sweets or crackers this year. They are angry at the government. They are burning stubble in retaliation. The government is not ready to give anything to the farmers. Instead, the state government is pressuring the farmers. But the government should realise that farmers are not scared of any pressure. Stubble burning is the only solution left with them.
Patna: A woman died in hospital on Thursday after being sexually assaulted with an iron rod following a failed rape bid here.

The incident took place on Wednesday in Baliyawan village, 25 km from Patna.

The victim (35), a mother of four, was intercepted by the accused and another person near some agricultural field and sexually assaulted. The accused, identified as Dheeraj, and his accomplice fled from the scene after the assault, leaving the victim in an unconscious state.

She was found by villagers who brought her home. She told her husband and family about the assault and named Dheeraj as her attacker before falling unconscious. She was rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where she died the next day.

Dr Anil Kumar Shandilya of PMCH told News18, She was brought in a very bad condition. Rod had severely damaged her private parts and she was bleeding profusely. Doctors tried to operate on her but she died before that due to excessive bleeding.

A police officer told News18 that Dheeraj was infatuated with the victim. The two were acquainted since the time they went to school together. Dheeraj had been putting pressure on the victim to leave her husband but she had refused. Infuriated, he decided to take revenge and attacked her.

They tried to force themselves on the victim but she resisted them. They then attacked her with an iron rod. One of them tied her hands and the other inserted iron rod in her private parts, Naubatpur police Inspector Prem Chauhan told News18.

Police have arrested Dheeraj and looking for the other accused.

ADG (law and order) SK Singhal said, One accused has been nabbed and the other would be arrested soon. No one would be spared.
The first day of FDCI Amazon India Fashion Week Spring Summer '18 (AIFW SS '18) closed with distinguished designer JJ Valaya's spectacular show.

The show, which began with an explaination of sorts being typed out on a giant screen - part of the ramp's backdrop, that it wasn't a couture or a bridal show, as many would have expected from the ace designer, but instead, it was a celebration marking JJ Valayas completion of a quarter of a century in the wonderful world of style and fashion.

When asked how would he describe his 25 years in the fashion industry, JJ Valaya, told News18.com, "It has been absolutely exhilarating and I am just getting started."

On this momentous occasion, the designer showcased 'The Classics of JJ Valaya', a line of occasion-wear enembles based on three of his all time favorite inspirations, namely Gulistan, Jamavar and Punjab. JJ mentioned during his interaction with the media that these classic collections would from now on be a part of the JJ Valaya brand forever, albeit, with a new twist every year.

When asked about the intricate embroidery on the ensembles, the designer said during a media interaction, "It's all very antique and that is something that I relate to because it's a vintage look that we have worked on. Also, our whole logo is the new tradition, which is oxymoron but it works beautiful because while tradition is beautiful in the past, we like to treat it in a new and edgy way to make it relevant."

Talking about the colour story, JJ Valaya told News18.com, that it was controlled, muted, sophisticated nothing very in the face, flashy. "It's something that you can wear timelessly," said JJ.

Designer Rahul Mishra and tech guru Rajiv Makhni walked the ramp for JJ Valaya and turned heads in a black ensemble as they Took to the runway.
London: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has suspended Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's membership "in light of recent very serious" multiple sexual assault allegations against him.

"Whilst BAFTA has previously been a beneficiary of Mr Weinstein's support for its charitable work, it considers the reported alleged behaviour completely unacceptable and incompatible with BAFTA's values," read a statement on behalf of the organisation, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"This has led to Mr Weinstein's suspension, and it will be followed by a formal process as laid out in BAFTA's constitution. We hope this announcement sends a clear message that such behaviour has absolutely no place in our industry.

"BAFTA will continue to work with the film, games and television industries to improve access to rewarding and fulfilling careers in safe, professional working environments," the statement further read.

Besides others, actresses like Angelina Jolie, Cara Delevingne and Gwyneth Paltrow have said that they were sexually harassed or assaulted by Weinstein at different times.
Lucknow: Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav shared the stage on Thursday, sparking speculation that the family feud is almost over.

The two leaders shared the stage at function to mark the 50th death anniversary of Ram Manohar Lohia at the Lohia Park in Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow.

Akhilesh touched the feet of his father Mulayam, publically giving a clear sign that finally all is well in the family.

This is almost 11 months since Mulayam and Akhilesh last appeared together on a public platform.

Mulayam arrived first at the Lohia Park, followed by Akhilesh who took his blessings by touching his feet. Mulayam gave him his blessings by raising his hands. The entire incident was caught on camera.

Using the platform, Akhilesh attacked the central government and said that demonetization had proved to be a failure in curbing corruption. He also stated that the government has implemented GST without any preparation. He said that because of the pressure of Gujarat elections, the BJP is on the back-foot.

Taking a hit at the Yogi Adityanath-led state government, Akhilesh said, The electricity problem in the state has deteriorated and people are facing power cuts in the entire state. The colour of the Lohia buses that we started is also changed now. There has been no new tender, then how can government claim that they have bought new buses?

On the question of removal of foundation stones at a hospital in Ayodhya with his name, Akhilesh said, If the BJP withdraws our stones, then we will remove the government.

I gave a Sainik School to Jhansi, which was for Kannauj. Also, one school was given to Mainpuri. We gave land for AIIMS in Rae Bareli. The country will progress only when it will work on a socialist ideology. From time to time things will be changed, but socialist ideology has not changed. Poverty has increased manifold times today, but the government is busy in a power struggle based on caste and religion, he said.
Lucknow: Amid all the hustle in Amethi over the recent political visits of several politicians, a recent picture showing Samajwadi Party MLA Rakesh Pratap Singhs name blackened out on the foundation stones of a number of projects in Amethi has the MLA fuming.

The picture shows Singhs name on the right hand corner of a foundation stone, but barely readable with black ink applied on it.

The SP MLA from Amethis Gauriganj is irate that his name was defaced from the foundation stones laid by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in the presence of BJP President Amit Shah, UP BJP Chief Mahendra Nath Pandey and Union Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday.

Speaking to News18, Singh said, This is sheer disrespect to an MLA. How can you take my name off the development schemes in Amethi?

Authorities say my name was removed as I had informed the District Magistrate that I will not be part of the event. In that case, why was the name of Keshav Prasad Maurya not taken out as he was also not present at the event? This is political vendetta and shows how insecure the government is, added Rakesh Pratap Singh.

One of the foundation stones with Rakesh Pratap Singh's name blackened out. (Image: News18)

The political fight over taking credit for the development work in the state seems never ending.

The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday alleged that the Yogi Adityanath-led government was removing the foundation stones of projects inaugurated by former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Images have emerged from Sri Ram Government Hospital in Ayodhya of rods being used to gouge out plaques bearing Akhilesh Yadav's name. The Samajwadi Party has claimed that the incumbent government has asked its workers to remove plaques of the projects initiated by Akhilesh Yadav, to rob him of the credits.

The UP Chief Minister is expected to visit Ayodhya just ahead of Diwali to make several announcements, and inaugurate certain development projects.
The Election Commission on Thursday said that Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh will be held on 9 November and counting of votes will take place on 18 December.

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After a year-long winning spree in local bodies elections, the BJP on Thursday suffered a setback in the civic polls in Nanded, home turf of Congress leader Ashok Chavan, whose party bagged 69 of the 77 seats. The Congress hopes to win a few more seats as counting continues for the remaining four wards in the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation (NWMC).

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Chennai: Deposed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala on Thursday left for Bengaluru by road to report at the Parappana Agrahara Prison in Bengaluru as her parole for visiting her husband in a hospital here ended on Wednesday.

Sasikala left from the residence of Krishna Priya, her close relative in T Nagar here on Thursday morning.

She had visited her husband M Natarajan, who underwent liver and kidney transplantation at the hospital, on all five days of her parole period.

According to Gleneagles Global Health City, where Natarajan (74) underwent organ transplants on October 4 and a tracheostomy two days later, he is recovering well.

The AIADMK leader, who was removed from the party last month by Chief Minister K Palaniswami-led camp, is travelling in a car, which had to halt at several locations here like the Trade Centre point as the area was teeming with party cadres to greet and wish her well.

Also, as was witnessed in the past five days, several women cadres carried their newborns in their arms and requested Sasikala to name them.

After halting at several locations, her convoy took the Bengaluru highway.

The 60-year-old leader is expected to reach Bengaluru on time to report at the prison complex by six pm in keeping with the parole condition.

Sasikala has been lodged in the Parapana Agrahara central jail since February this year after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction by a special court in a disproportionate assets case.

Her relatives Ilavarasi and V N Sudhakaran are also serving four-year jail terms in the case.

Granted emergency parole from October 7 to 11, she was asked to adhere to several conditions, including a gag order on interacting with the media.

Sasikala's visit came at a time when her nephew and sidelined AIADMK leader T T V Dinakaran and the ruling camp led by Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam are fighting it out to get the two leaves symbol, which was frozen by the Election Commission.
The leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee's Russia investigation said Wednesday they intend to publicly release thousands of politically divisive Facebook ads purchased by Russia during last year's presidential election. Representatives Mike Conaway and Adam Schiff told reporters after meeting with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg that they were working with the company to release the ads publicly. "We've asked for Facebook's help to scrub any personally identifiable information, but it's our hope that when that concludes we can release them publicly," Schiff said.

Conaway said it was unlikely the ads would be released before Facebook will testify to Congress about Russian interference on Nov. 1. The committee, one of the main congressional panels investigating allegations of Russian meddling, recently received more than 3,000 politically divisive ads believed to have been purchased by Russia. The social media company found them on its network and said they appeared in the months before and after the vote. Lawmakers in both parties had previously said they wanted to make the ads public. Officials from Facebook and the committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sandberg's meeting in Congress came as the world's largest social media network, joined by a growing list of other major internet firms, finds itself on the defensive in Washington amid renewed scrutiny about how Moscow sought to use their platforms to influence the 2016 presidential election. Sandberg is in Washington this week meeting with other lawmakers as well. She is expected to give a live interview with the news website Axios on Thursday. In addition to Facebook, Alphabet's Google and Twitter have recently detected that suspected Russian operatives used their platforms last year to purchase ads and post content that was politically divisive.

All three companies have been asked to testify publicly about Russian interference before both the House and Senate intelligence panels on Nov. 1. While Facebook and Twitter have confirmed plans to attend, Google has not. Revelations over the past month about how Russia appears to have leveraged their platforms to spread propaganda have prompted questions from both political parties about whether more federal oversight of their businesses is needed. Some Democrats plan to introduce legislation to require internet companies to disclose more information about political ad purchases on their platforms.

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Dhaka: Bangladesh's home minister will travel to Myanmar on October 23 for talks on the quick repatriation of Rohingya Muslim refugees, who fled into this country after they were forcibly ousted from their homes in the Rakhine state.

The three-day visit of Asaduzzaman Khan was planned last week when Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi sent to Dhaka a senior representative for talks amid mounting global outrage and agreed in principle to take back the victims of forced exodus.

The crisis has seen more than half a million Rohingya refugees cross into Bangladesh in just six weeks. "Quick repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas is the main agenda," Asaduzzaman told newsmen announcing his visit from October 23-25.

He said the nine-member Bangladeshi delegation would also like to visit the Rakhine state, the scene of the violence, "if the Myanmar government allows us".

Khans announcement came two days after Bangladesh accused Myanmar of spearheading a violent depopulation campaign to push into Bangladesh the entire Rohingya community branding them as "Islamist terrorists".

Over half a million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar Army crackdown was launched on August 25. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein had described the Myanmar operations as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and said the action appeared to be "a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return".
Cairo: Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah on Thursday signed an agreement on ending a decade-long split following talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo, with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas calling it a "final" accord.

Under the agreement, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority is to resume full control of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip by December 1, according to a statement from Egypt's intelligence agency, which oversaw the talks.

Abbas welcomed the deal in comments to AFP and said he considered it a "final agreement to end the division"  though many details remain to be resolved and previous reconciliation attempts have repeatedly failed.

It was signed in Cairo by new Hamas deputy leader Salah al-Aruri and Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the Fatah delegation for the talks.

Negotiations are now expected to be held on forming a unity government, with the various Palestinian political movements invited to another meeting in Cairo on November 21.

An official from Abbas's Fatah movement said the Palestinian president was planning to soon travel to the Gaza Strip as part of the unity bid in what would be his first visit in a decade.

Sanctions taken by Abbas against Hamas-controlled Gaza will also soon be lifted, the Fatah official said.

The deal includes 3,000 members of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority's police force redeploying to Gaza, a member of the negotiating team said on condition of anonymity.

The figure is, however, a fraction of the more than 20,000 police officers employed separately by Hamas.

Another party to the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agreement would see Palestinian Authority forces take control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

One of the key issues has been punitive measures taken by Abbas against Gaza in recent months, including reducing electricity payments that left the territory's residents with only a few hours of power a day.

"All the measures taken recently will end very shortly," Zakaria al-Agha, a senior Fatah leader in the Gaza Strip, told AFP.

The two sides had been meeting in the Egyptian capital this week with the aim of ending the crippling decade-old split between the rival factions.

Hamas seized Gaza from Fatah in a near civil war in 2007 and the two factions have been at loggerheads ever since.

Multiple previous reconciliation efforts have failed.

Egypt has been keen to improve security in the Sinai Peninsula which borders Gaza and where jihadist rebels have fought a long-running insurgency.

An Egyptian source close to the talks said intelligence chief Khaled Fawzi had followed the negotiations closely.

Last month, Hamas agreed to cede civil power in Gaza to the Palestinian Authority but the fate of its vast military wing remains a significant issue for the two sides.

Islamist movement Hamas is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.

It has fought three wars with Israel since 2008 and the blockaded Gaza Strip has seen deteriorating humanitarian conditions.

Faced with increasing isolation and a severe electricity shortage, Hamas has reached out to Egypt for help, hoping to have the Rafah border opened.

The crossing has remained largely closed in recent years.

Egypt has also agreed to provide fuel to the Gaza Strip for electricity generation.

In return, Cairo pressed Hamas to move forward on reconciliation with Fatah.

Previous attempts at reconciliation have repeatedly failed, and many analysts are treating the latest bid with caution, waiting to see if actual change will occur on the ground.

Last week, Palestinian Authority prime minister Rami Hamdallah visited Gaza for the first time since 2015 and his ministers took formal control of government departments in the territory.

But the move was seen as mainly symbolic, with Hamas still effectively in charge in the Palestinian enclave of two million people bordered by Egypt, Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.

One of the key sticking points will be the fate of Hamas's 25,000-strong military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

Reconciliation could also pose a dilemma for international efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal since Hamas has not recognised Israel, unlike the Abbas-led Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Ankara: Children returning to school in the northern Syrian city of al-Bab were handed a new textbook this term: "Turkce Ogreniyorum" - "I am learning Turkish".

Turkish lessons, Turkish signposts, Turkish-trained police and most recently a Turkish post office all point to Turkey's deepening role in an area of northern Syria it captured from Islamic State (IS) with the help of Syrian rebels. Turkish administrators are even helping to run hospitals in the area.

Ankara has taken on a widening role in the 100-km (60-mile) stretch of territory seized in its eight-month-long "Euphrates Shield" operation, laying the foundations for long-term ties with an area that is of crucial strategic importance to Turkey.

Launched to drive IS away from the border, the operation also aimed to block further expansion by Syrian Kurdish groups that Ankara deems a threat to its national security.

With the Euphrates Shield region calm for months, Ankara says it wants to help recovery and to encourage a return of Syrian refugees, millions of whom fled the six-year-long war into Turkey.

But Turkish support is also consolidating the region's status as a Syrian opposition-held territory where Turkey-backed Syrian opposition groups are building their own government even as the forces of President Bashar al-Assad win back swathes of the country elsewhere.

"After Daesh (Islamic State) was expelled... we returned and the cities were suffering from large-scale destruction and general ruin," said Mohammad Karaz, director of education in al-Bab. "Some schools were wiped out entirely," he said.

"The restoration was done by our Turkish brothers who restored 10 schools, one of which we are sitting in today," he said during an interview at the Major Bulent al-Bayrak elementary school, named after a Turkish officer killed while fighting Islamic State for control of al-Bab.

"Arabs and Turks are siblings" reads a mural in the schoolyard. Turkish aid includes stationery, books and clothes.

Karaz said the schools were teaching a Syrian curriculum modified to remove the state's Baathist ideology. The decision to add Turkish was taken unanimously by Syrian education officials in the area, he said.

Turkish classes, taught by Syrians trained in Turkey, have started for pupils aged between six and nine. Explaining the decision, Karaz noted that two-thirds of al-Bab citizens had sought refuge in Turkey.

Turkish authorities had given assurances that qualifications from schools in the area would "be recognised in Turkey and students can apply to Turkish universities", he said.

ANKARA CRITICS SEE "TURKIFICATION"

A senior Turkish official said Ankara aimed to recreate "the conditions to bring life back to normal" in the area which is located northeast of the city of Aleppo and stretches to the western bank of the Euphrates River. Turkish support included health care, security, food and police training.

"Turkey wants the Syrians living (in Turkey) to return to their country ... However, it will continue to host the Syrians here and provide humane living conditions for the Syrians in the regions under its control for as long as necessary," the official told Reuters.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, in a speech last weekend, said: "We don't have a wish to occupy these lands but we want the rightful owners to go back there."

Damascus has, however, long accused Turkey, a major backer of the Syrian opposition to Assad, of colonial ambitions in northern Syria. The front page of the pro-Damascus Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar on Thursday declared that Ankara was undertaking the "Turkification" of the area.

Turkey's intervention was driven chiefly by concern over the growing sway of Syrian Kurdish groups seen by Ankara as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade long insurgency against the Turkish state.

The Euphrates Shield operation shattered the Syrian Kurds' hopes of joining up two Kurdish-dominated regions of northern Syria, where the war has allowed Kurdish militia to carve out their own autonomous regions.

The Syrian opposition's efforts to establish their own "interim government" in the Euphrates Shield area received a big boost this week when a Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel group handed it control of a border crossing to Turkey.

The interim government's aims include drawing investment to move "the people from a state of war to work and building the region", said Khaled Aaba, a senior official with the Jabha Shamiya FSA group that handed over Bab al-Salama crossing.

Crediting Turkey for standing by "Syrians in their travails", he said Ankara was "actively participating in supporting administrative and service institutions in the area".

"The existence of (the interim) government better organises this relationship."

BUILDING A HOSPITAL, TRAINING POLICE

Turkey's support to the health sector has included repairing and expanding hospitals previously operated by the Syrian state.

Turkish administrators are working alongside Syrians at the Hikmeh Hospital in al-Bab, said Ahmad Aabo, a Syrian medical official in the city. Turkey's main project is a 200-bed hospital that will replace one destroyed during the war with IS.

"The companies taking control of the construction are Turkish, we dont have companies capable of doing such a project," said Aabo, speaking to Reuters in a telephone interview from the city.

He said work on the hospital, which began a month ago, should be completed by New Year, comparing the rapid pace of the Turkish project with the 25 years it had taken to build its predecessor.

Turkish support for Syrian security forces has included training police officers who began deploying in the region in January. Abdel Razzak al-Laz, the head of the "National Police and General Security Forces", said 7,000 have now been deployed.

"Everyone wants the return of security and stability, wants to see a police patrol at night and during the day," said Laz, a police director when he defected to the opposition in 2012.

"The numbers are increasing, and there are continuous courses."
Damascus: Three suicide bombers blew themselves up near the main police headquarters in Syria's capital Damascus on Wednesday, killing at least two people, the interior ministry said.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement released via the Telegram messaging app.

The assault was the second time in a month that suicide attackers have targeted the capital, which has been insulated from the worst of the violence in the war-torn country.

State news agency SANA quoted Interior Minister Mohammad Shaar saying both of those killed were police officers.

Two of the suicide bombers detonated their explosives in front of the police HQ on Khaled Bin al-Walid street in central Damascus, his ministry said in a statement carried by state media.

"The terrorist suicide attackers tried to storm the police command headquarters... The guards opened fire on them, forcing them to blow themselves up before they entered the building and achieved their goals," it added.

Police surrounded a third attacker behind the building who also blew himself up, the statement said.

The interior ministry said two people had been killed and six wounded in the attack, among them two children.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported five dead, not including the three attackers.

IS in its statement on Telegram said two attackers "entered the headquarters building and fought with those inside... then detonated their explosive vests".

Damascus police chief Mohammed Khairu Ismail told reporters at the scene in the central neighbourhood of Qanawat that one of the dead was a policeman who tried to stop the bombers.

Officer 'grabbed bomber'

"One of our forces grabbed one of the suicide bombers and prevented him from entering the building, so he blew himself up, killing the sergeant," Ismail said.

It was the second time this month that suicide attackers have targeted police in the capital. At least 17 people were killed in an October 2 attack on a police station in the southern district of Midan.

That attack was also claimed by IS, which said three fighters armed with guns, grenades and explosives had targeted the station.

More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the country's conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

Damascus has been shaken by several bomb attacks, despite being largely spared from the worst of the violence in the six-year war.

In this month's incident at Midan, one attacker was able to reach the first floor of the police station before blowing himself up.

The Midan police station itself had previously been targeted in December 2016, when a seven-year-old girl entered the building wearing an explosive belt that was remotely detonated.

Rebel groups have been gradually expelled from territory they once held in the capital, 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.

A deal reached between rebel backer Turkey and regime allies Russia and Iran earlier this year has created so-called "de-escalation zones" in several parts of the country, including Eastern Ghouta, bringing a measure of calm.

But the fight against IS continues, with government troops and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters, leading separate offensives against the jihadists in northern and eastern Syria.
Jerusalem: Israel will withdraw from the UN's cultural and education body after a United States decision to do the same on accusations of bias against the Jewish state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

"The prime minister instructed the foreign ministry to prepare Israel's withdrawal from the organisation alongside the United States," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Netanyahu "welcomes the decision by President (Donald) Trump to withdraw from UNESCO. This is a courageous and moral decision because UNESCO has become the theatre of the absurd and because instead of preserving history it distorts it."

Netanyahu's decision came hours after the US State Department said the United States would pull out from the UN body, in part due to "continuing anti-Israel bias".

Israel has long been at loggerheads with UNESCO, particularly over its decision to admit the Palestinians as members in 2011.

In July, the UN body declared the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank an endangered World Heritage site, delighting Palestinians and infuriating Israel.

Netanyahu announced a USD 1-million cut in funding to the United Nations, saying the UNESCO vote ignored Jewish ties to the site.

It followed a UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem in May that strongly criticised the Jewish state's occupation of the eastern part of the city.

At the time, Netanyahu said the "absurd" vote denied the Jewish connection to the city.
Yangon: Rohingya Muslims are not native to Myanmar, the army chief told the US ambassador in a meeting in which he apparently did not address accusations of abuses by his men and said media was complicit in exaggerating the number of refugees fleeing.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing gave his most extensive account of the Rohingya refugee crisis aimed at an international audience in the meeting with Ambassador Scot Marciel, according to a report posted on his Facebook page.

The general is the most powerful person in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and his apparently uncompromising stance would indicate little sensitivity about the military's image over a crisis that has drawn international condemnation and raised questions about a transition to democracy under Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military campaign is popular in Myanmar, where there is little sympathy for the Rohingya, and where Buddhist nationalism has surged.

Min Aung Hlaing, referring to Rohingya by the term "Bengali", which they regard as derogatory, said British colonialists were responsible for the problem.

"The Bengalis were not taken into the country by Myanmar, but by the colonialists," he told Marciel, according to the account of the meeting posted on Thursday.

"They are not the natives, and the records prove that they were not even called Rohingya but just Bengalis during the colonial period."

The UN human rights office said on Wednesday Myanmar security forces had brutally driven out half a million Rohingya from northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh, torching their homes, crops and villages to prevent them from returning.

Coordinated Rohingya insurgent attacks on some 30 security posts on Aug. 25 sparked a ferocious military response.

The UN rights office said in its report, based on 65 interviews with Rohingya who had arrived in Bangladesh, that abuses had begun before the Aug. 25 attacks and included killings, torture and rape of children.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley last month denounced what she called a "brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority" and called on countries to suspend providing weapons to Myanmar until its military puts sufficient accountability measures in place.

The European Union and the United States are considering targeted sanctions against Myanmar's military leaders, officials familiar with the discussions said this week.

Suu Kyi is due make a speech on television later on Thursday.

She was swept into office last year after winning an election, but the military holds immense power, including exclusive say over security.

'FEEL INSECURE'

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein has described the government operations as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and said the action appeared to be "a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return".

Min Aung Hlaing did not refer to such accusations, according to the published account, but said the insurgents had killed 90 Hindus and 30 Rohingya linked to the government.

Insurgents' opposition to a citizenship verification campaign, which used the term Bengali, was behind the attacks, he said.

"Local Bengalis were involved in the attacks under the leadership of ARSA. That is why they might have fled as they feel insecure," he said, referring to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army insurgents.

"The native place of Bengalis is really Bengal," he said. "They might have fled ... assuming that they would be safer there."

He said it was an exaggeration to say the number fleeing to Bangladesh was "very large" and there had been "instigation and propaganda by using the media from behind the scene".

He did not elaborate, or say how many people he thought had fled, but said the "real situation" had to be relayed to the international community.

UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman is due to visit Myanmar on Friday.

Min Aung Hlaing repeated a promise from Suu Kyi that refugees would be accepted back under an agreement with Bangladesh in the early 1990s, adding that details were being worked out.

Many refugees doubt their chances of going home fearing they will not be able to prove their right to return.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has been in talks with China to enlist its help on getting North Korea to back down, said on Sunday that diplomatic efforts will continue until the first bomb drops.

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Moscow: Moscow has lodged a protest with Washington, accusing US officials of tearing down Russian flags from two of its diplomatic missions in the country, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.

In late August, the United States ordered Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and two other installations as relations between the two former Cold War enemies took another dive.

"Yesterday we learnt about a new ... hostile act of the US authorities against our diplomatic missions," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Thursday, warning that Moscow would retaliate.

She said Russian flags "had been torn off the buildings of Russia's trade mission in Washington and the general consulate in San Francisco," she said, Russian news agencies reported.

"Obviously the Russian side has never agreed to its flags being removed," she added, calling the removal "a violation of a Russian state symbol."

"The Russian side will decide on retaliatory measures," Zakharova said.

Earlier Russia's envoy to Washington Anatoly Antonov said he had sent a "decisive protest" to the US over the removed flags.

"Such steps only complicate US-Russian dialogue," he said in televised remarks.

"We demand an immediate end to the takeover of our property in the US which is accompanied by offensive actions," Antonov added.

Moscow had previously accused the United States of searching its missions and diplomatic staff's accommodation. Washington ordered the shutdown of the Russian diplomatic missions in a retaliatory move after the Kremlin demanded the US slash staff numbers at its missions in Russia.

The latest diplomatic spat is the latest twist in tortured ties between the US and Russia, which have slumped to their lowest point since the Cold War following the Kremlin's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

The West slapped punishing sanctions on Russia over its meddling in its ex-Soviet neighbour, sparking a revenge embargo from Moscow against agricultural products.
Ankara: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States on Thursday of mistreating a strategic ally, in a blistering speech which appeared to rule out swift resolution to a dispute between two NATO members jointly fighting Islamic State.

Hours after Ankara announced officials would meet soon to settle differences, Erdogan accused the US consulate in Istanbul of hiding an individual with links to a network he blames for last year's failed coup.

He also condemned US support for Kurdish fighters in Syria and separate US court cases against a senior Turkish banker and the president's own security guards, mocking what he said was Washington's claim to be "the capital of democracy".

Turkey's relations with the United States and many Western countries have been strained since last year's failed military coup against Erdogan, in which more than 240 people were killed.

Turkey felt many allies were slow to condemn the coup attempt and failed to appreciate the danger it faced. Western countries have grown alarmed at the scale of Turkey's post-coup crackdown, with 50,000 people detained and 150,000 suspended from work.

Ties with the United States hit a low when Turkey detained a locally employed worker at the US consulate in Istanbul last week.

The United States says it is still seeking an explanation for the arrest - the second detention of a consulate worker this year. It suspended most visa services in Turkey, saying it needed to review Turkey's commitment to the security of its mission and staff. Turkey reciprocated within hours.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday and expressed his "profound concern", the US State Department said.

Erdogan has blamed outgoing US ambassador John Bass, saying he was putting at risk a decades-old alliance.

"Let me be very clear, the person who caused this is the ambassador here. It is unacceptable for the United States to sacrifice a strategic partner to an ambassador who doesn't know his place," Erdogan told provincial governors meeting in Ankara.

TURKISH GRIEVANCES

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said Turkish and US officials would meet to work on resolving the crisis and described talks between their foreign ministers as constructive.

But Erdogan aired a list of grievances, accusing Washington of sheltering suspected members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), and supporters of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen he blames for last year's coup attempt. Gulen denies involvement.

"On the one hand you say you are the capital of democracy, but you hide PKK and FETO members," Erdogan said, using the label his government has given to Gulen's network.

He said Washington was defending a "FETO-linked person hiding in your consulate", and said a Christian pastor arrested in western Turkey last year was also "clearly linked" to Gulen.

Ambassador Bass said this week no one was hiding in the US consulate, and that he had seen nothing of merit in the charges against the pastor, Andrew Brunson.

Erdogan said US authorities had wrongly arrested the former head of Turkey's majority state-owned Halkbank, and were trying to use a detained Turkish gold trader "as an informant". Both men were arrested on charges of sanctions violations.

Referring to a US grand jury indictment of 15 Turkish security officials who clashed with protesters during his visit to Washington in May, Erdogan said most of them had never set foot on US soil. "You issue arrest warrants for 13 of my security staff who have never seen the United States," he said.

"If the ambassador in Ankara is leading the grand United States, then shame on you," Erdogan said. "Someone should have said: 'You cannot treat your strategic partner this way, you can't behave like this'."
Nine years after their daughter was murdered and four years after they were held guilty of the murder of Aarushi Talwar by a lower court, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were exonerated by the Allahabad High Court at 2:50 pm on Thursday (October 12). (Image: Network18 Creative)
More than 50 community members turned out to a listening session at E.C. Glass High School on Wednesday to weigh in on desired qualities of the next superintendent to lead Lynchburg City Schools.

The listening session was led by Dale Caldwell, of Ray & Associates, the Iowa-based search firm tapped to lead the hunt for a new superintendent following the June resignation of Scott Brabrand. For 90 minutes, Caldwell engaged with community members who suggested the next LCS superintendent should be empathetic, a good listener, committed to all students, innovative, charismatic, someone who values teachers and is honest about problems facing the division. A common concern was LCS should not be a stepping stone for the new superintendent on the path to a larger school division.

A lot of this is very much in line with what weve heard so far, Caldwell said, referencing an online survey that solicited more than 700 responses regarding the qualities of the next LCS head.

During the conversation, frustrations also came up, such as class size at the elementary school level, the lack of minority teachers employed by LCS and the achievement gap between white students and their minority peers, which multiple community members listed as a serious concern.

Paul Kee, a local pastor and member of the LCS Equity Task Force, noted the achievement gap consists of multiple issues, such as poverty, family issues and a lack of personalized instruction.

Community member Hank Hubbard made a similar observation on the achievement gap and added pre-kindergarten instruction was needed and likely would require private-sector cooperation.

The new superintendent cannot be offended by or threatened by outside help, Hubbard said.

A copy of online survey responses provided by LCS reflected a litany of concerns centered on generational poverty and the life challenges that undermine academic progress for the impoverished. Additional concerns in the online survey included accusations of micromanagement by administration and an oft-repeated desire to see someone with area ties hired for the position. Several survey respondents floated the names of current LCS administrators for the superintendent spot.

When asked if internal applicants were being considered, Caldwell did not answer the question directly but stated they would not be discouraged from applying for the role of superintendent.

Larry Massie currently serves as LCS interim superintendent and has since July, following Brabrands departure for northern Virginia to take the helm of Fairfax County Public Schools.

Following the forum, the Lynchburg City School Board held a brief meeting to hear the results of the survey and the listening session and to approve a list of characteristics desirable in the next superintendent.

The board unanimously approved a list of 12 characteristics to help guide the search, which are:

Possesses excellent people skills, presents a positive image of the district, and will listen to input and make a decision when necessary;

Possesses the leadership skills required to respond to the challenges presented by an ethnically and culturally diverse community;

Inspires trust, has high levels of self-confidence and optimism, and models high standards of integrity and personal performance;

Is a strong communicator; speaking, listening and writing;

Has experience recruiting and maintaining exceptional staff for the district and schools;

Is able to delegate authority appropriately while maintaining accountability;

Previous experience that will benefit the long-term financial health of district;

Is strongly committed to a student-first philosophy in all decisions;

Possesses the ability to enhance student performance, especially in identifying and closing or narrowing the gaps in student achievement;

Promotes a positive and professional environment for district employees and board;

Is able to build consensus and commitment among individuals and groups with emphasis on parental involvement; and

Has experience in the selection and implementation of educational priorities consistent with the interests and needs of students, staff, board and community.

The characteristics were chosen based on a Ray & Associates survey of LCS teachers, administrators, support staff, parents, students, community members and the school board. According to data presented by Caldwell, the characteristics survey had a total of 791 responses. Those characteristics will now be used to create the job listing.

I just want to thank the community for letting us know what theyre looking for, for speaking their mind, for coming to this [meeting], school board member Katie Snyder said Wednesday night.

The school board also unanimously approved a flyer to be distributed as part of the search, which includes basic information about the division, how to apply and an advertised annual salary within the range of $190,000. According to the flyer, the application deadline is Nov. 12. According to Caldwell, the timeline for the search is to have a new superintendent hired before the end of the year.

Interviews with candidates are likely to come in December, according to Lynchburg City School Board Chairman Michael Nilles. In an interview after the meeting, he noted the challenges of tackling the achievement gap, a topic that was discussed by many of the community members who turned out.

Someone thats got experience helping to close the achievement gap would be very favorably looked upon. Its a challenge for all divisions across the nation, Nilles said.
A newly unsealed indictment accuses an alleged MS-13 gang member of sending other gang associates to murder a victim in Bedford County in March, according to a statement Wednesday from the Maryland U.S. Attorneys Office.

A federal grand jury in Maryland charged eight young men in late September in connection with their alleged roles in a violent gang racketeering conspiracy in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. That indictment was unsealed Wednesday.

The indictment alleges that from at least 2015 through September 2017, the defendants were members and associates of MS-13 who planned and committed murders, drug and gun trafficking and extortions, according to the statement. It states several defendants were involved in four specific killings and an incident where two victims were shot and stabbed.

The statement claims on March 27, 2017, one of the defendants  Michael Eduardo Contreras, 22, of Silver Spring, Maryland  arranged for members of the Sailors Clique to travel from Maryland to Lynchburg, Virginia where they murdered a victim in Bedford County.

The Sailors Clique refers to a subgroup of MS-13 members who operate in Maryland; the statement said in the past three years, the group has been accused of drug trafficking, gun trafficking and extortion in that area.

Three alleged members of MS-13 were charged with either capital murder or first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Raymond Wood, from Lynchburg, earlier this year. Deputies found Woods body on Roaring Run Road in Bedford County the night of March 27. The three defendants also have been charged with robbery, gang participation and abduction for profit.

The Maryland U.S. Attorneys Office statement does not name the Bedford County victim or members of the MS-13 subgroup allegedly dispatched to Lynchburg.

Contacted Wednesday afternoon,Bedford Commonwealths Attorney Wes Nance said the investigation into Woods death still is developing; he said he was unaware of the statement but acknowledged he has worked with the Maryland U.S. Attorneys Office. His office and other Bedford County officials have worked with local, state and federal entities since the homicide, he said.

I think youre going to start to see results in multiple areas in the pursuit of justice following the death that occurred here in Bedford, he said.

The three defendants were set for a jury trial Oct. 24 thats since been withdrawn. Nance said he anticipates the trial wont occur until 2018 or later.

We are actively providing discovery to the defense teams in this case, and theres simply so much to go through, he said.

A call to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Maryland was not returned as of press time.
Nellysford resident Chris Martin has filed to run for the Nelson County Board of Supervisors Central District seat as a write-in candidate in the Nov. 7 election.

Martin, 34, who is running as an independent, will face Democrat Ernie Reed and independent Shelby Bruguiere for the Central District seat. He filed for candidacy Oct. 3.

Martin said he chose to run as an independent because he doesnt have a whole lot of confidence in the party system. He said Republicans concern themselves with big business, which for him personally isnt bad but should be done in moderation. He said much of his family is Democrat, but he feels that party is being hijacked due to the ways some in the party have chosen to protest.

I believe that you should sit down, communicate your differences and work them out peacefully and try to reach an accord between two parties, Martin said. I dont think one side should force their opinions on another side, no matter what their side is.

Reed, Bruguiere and Martin are contending for the seat Connie Brennan has held since 2000. Brennan will step down at the end of her most recent four-yearterm in December.

Martin said he has considered running for more than a year and is doing so because he wants to give Nelson County residents another choice.

I did not feel that the other two candidates really represent the common Nelson County resident, Martin said. I dont feel like theyre close to the community.

Martin spent seven years volunteering for the Wintergreen Rescue Squad, where he received training as an EMT and firefighter. In January 2010, he became a full-time EMT and firefighter for the Wintergreen Rescue Squad. For less than a year now, Martin has been a member of Rockfish Valley Volunteer Fire Department. He also works in home health care, providing care for a patient at her residence.

Ive been out in the community and seen what goes on, and Ive lived here my entire life. I feel like Im better connected with the people of the county, Martin said.

If elected, Martin wants to focus on slowing down commercial development on Virginia 151, moving businesses toward U.S. 29 in Lovingston, bringing businesses to Nelson County and creating jobs for residents.

Preserving Nelson Countys natural beauty also is a priority for Martin.
After heavily armed groups unaffiliated with law enforcement agencies frightened and confused people on Aug. 12, the city of Charlottesville is taking action to try to prevent militias and paramilitary organizations from mobilizing in Virginia.

In an open meeting Thursday morning, the City Council voted to join a lawsuit that is being filed by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. The institute is part of the Georgetown University Law Center.

According to a news release from the institute, the legal complaint cites provisions of Virginia law that regulate militia forces. A draft version of the complaint alleges that militia forces may operate only under the strict control of governmental officials.

Our complaints shows that there are legal tools available to ensure that the streets do not become battlefields for those who organize and engage in paramilitary activity, said Mary McCord, senior litigator for the institute.

During the Aug. 12 rally, several armed militia groups told news reporters they were acting as a neutral peacekeeping force. But several armed groups with certain political allegiances were seen engaging in combat or taking defense positions in and around Emancipation Park, where the Aug. 12 Unite the Right rally was supposed to take place, and Justice Park, where a counter-demonstration had been organized.

The complaint alleges that Unite the Right organizers sought to recruit private militia groups to support them at the rally, and that attendees encouraged one another to prepare for war, the release said.

The complaint names more than a dozen individuals and organizations as defendants, including the Pennsylvania and New York chapters of the Light Foot Militia, the Virginia Minutemen Militia, Redneck Revolt and the Socialist Rifle Association.

Rally organizers Jason Kessler and Eli Mosely are also named as defendants in the case, as are several white nationalist groups that participated in the rally, including the League of the South, Vanguard America, the Traditionalist Worker Party and the National Socialist Movement.
THE Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Professor Jonathan Moyo, has taken Gwanda Municipality to court for failing to remit nearly $20 000 in Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef) levies.



In terms of section 3 of the Manpower Planning and Development Act, the Minister is empowered to impose a levy on every employer under Statutory Instrument (SI) 74 of 1999. The levy is payable to Zimdef.



The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development through Zimdef is funding the Governments Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programme.





Prof Moyo, who is the plaintiff in the matter, this week filed summons at the Bulawayo High Court citing Gwanda Municipality as the defendant.





The Minister is demanding $19 664,30 from the local authority for the levies that were not remitted between June 2016 and August this year.





For the period from June 2016 to August 2017, the defendant did not remit its full levy due on monthly basis as required by the regulations, he said.





In papers before the court, Prof Moyo, through lawyers, Dube-Tachiona and Tsvangirai Legal Practitioners, said Gwanda Municipality has continuously neglected or refused to settle the debt despite demand.





The plaintiffs delegated officials, the funds levy inspectors, assessed the defendants wage bill, payrolls and other financial statements for the period June 2016 to August 2017, to which a sum of $19 664,30 was arrived at as balance of levy due and surcharge for that particular period, said the Minister.

He said the councils conduct was a violation of the standing regulations under SI 74/99. The defendant failed to meet its statutory obligation to remit its levy due monthly thereby unnecessarily dragging the plaintiff to court to recover the money, said Prof Moyo.





In terms of the Manpower Planning and Development Act as read in conjunction with section 3 of the Manpower Planning and Development (Levy) Notice SI 74 of 1999, every employer is obliged to pay a levy of one percent of its total assessed wage bill and other leviable benefits on employers and directors on or before the first day of each month.





Section 5 of the Manpower Planning and Development (Levy) Notice SI 74/1999 empowers Zimdef to impose a 10 percent surcharge on overdue levy. The Minister is also demanding that Gwanda Municipality must pay the cost of suit at attorney-client scale.





Council has not yet filed a notice to enter an appearance to defend the summons. chronicle
Harare assumed a refreshing new look yesterday after police descended on illegal vendors in the central business district (CBD) where they had become an eyesore after taking over virtually every available space on roads and pavements.





The law enforcement agents managed to clear the streets during the day, although defiant vendors resurfaced after 6:30pm along Robert Mugabe Road, Jason Moyo Avenue, Chinhoyi Street and Simon Muzenda (formerly Fourth) Street. Some of the vendors could be seen in the evening pushing carts loaded with fruits and vegetables.





The few vendors were playing a cat-and-mouse game with anti-riot police in the evening. They would run away with their wares on seeing the police and return to their illegal sites when law enforcements agents would have moved to other streets. The crackdown by the police follows a Government directive on Wednesday for illegal vendors and pirate taxis operating in the CBD to be moved to designated sites.





A survey conducted by The Herald yesterday showed that police were heavily deployed in and around the city to ensure peace prevailed during the crackdown, which also targeted pirate taxis. But some vendors would hide their wares from the officers and resume trading once they were out of sight. Pirate taxis continued operating in spite of the heavy police presence. There were no incidences of violence recorded during the operation yesterday. Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Michael Chideme said the operation was going on well.





We are progressing very well and there is peace and tranquillity, he said. There is order and no resistance at all. Harare provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Simon Chazovachii said police would remain on the ground to ensure that peace and tranquillity prevailed.





Police are out in full force and they will remain on high alert on the ground, he said. They are there to maintain peace and of which today (yesterday) it was peaceful.





We would like to urge vendors to comply with the orders and they should move to designated vending sites. Asst Insp Chazovachii said they will continue monitoring some of the vendors who were playing cat and mouse games with the police. Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Mr Denford Mutashu applauded President Mugabe for stamping authority on the clampdown on vendors.





We would want to applaud His Excellency, President Mugabe for stamping authority to clampdown on vendors after council had come out in the open that they had failed to deal with the matter, he said. Mr Mutashu said between 2015 and last year, they had been lobbying for the vendors to be removed from the streets. He said some of the vendors had been stealing goods from shops, which they would then sell in front of the same shops at cheaper prices. Some of the vendors, he said, were in the habit of defecating, urinating and harassing pedestrians on the streets.













I dont know why Harare City Council had been waiting for the Presidents directive, yet they are the ones who are in charge of the city, said Mr Mutashu. We would like to call upon for the sustainability of this operation and it should not be a short term one.





Mr Mutashu said with the operation, Government had created an environment where people would operate their businesses in a conducive environment. He said those operating pirate taxis should be removed from the streets and that Government should come up with an efficient transport system. Shop owners across the capital welcomed the Government-inspired campaign against street vendors. A businessman running a footwear shop, Yerman Superior Shoes, at the corner of Robert Mugabe and Julius Nyerere, who preferred to be identify by his last name Patel, welcomed the Government decision to rid the city of vending.





How filthy is the city? he said. Where do these vendors go to relieve themselves when they are hard-pressed? These questions alone provide you with answers. Mr Patel said on the other hand he sympathised with the vendors who were trying to eke-out a living through honesty means, but the city needed to be clean.





I think you need to walk in the streets and smell the stench, he said. It is not nice at all. It is no longer the sunshine city. It is now a dump site city. A manager at a plastic ware shop along the same street, Mr John Magiya said: The vendors are selling their wares in front of our shops, blocking our customers way into the shops. They are killing our business. They should go away. But some vendors described the campaign against vending as a devastating blow for their suistainence. Mbuya Rutendo, a seasoned vendor from Epworth, said she had been in the vending business throughout her life.





It is survival of the fittest, she said. We will continue playing cat and mouse game with the law. A pirate taxi driver Thomson Chigora said he needed to fend for his family, hence he would not be deterred with the latest development. My brother, it is sad that we are striving to do the wisest and normal thing and we are now being arrested, he said. Most motorists who spoke to The Herald welcomed the decision to push kombi and mushika-shika operators to designated sites, saying this will enable a free flow of traffic.





Addressing journalists on Wednesday during a Joint Operations Command (JOC), Harare Metropolitan Provincial Affairs Minister Miriam Chikukwa bemoaned the deplorable state of the capital and directed that all illegal vendors and pirate taxis be moved to designated sites with immediate effect.




Former War Veterans minister Tshinga Dube  who was sacked from Cabinet earlier this week  says although he harbours no hard feelings against President Robert Mugabe, he paid the price for being too honest and for backing calls for the nonagenarian to name a successor.





Dube lost his cushy job together with three other ministers  Prisca Mupfumira, Abednico Ncube and Farber Chidarikire  in a reshuffle which has drawn wide criticism from many Zimbabweans who say it was all about consolidating Mugabes power instead of improving the lives of long-suffering citizens.





The amiable former freedom fighter, who is regarded by many people as one of the few decent local politicians, is believed to have lost his job on account of lingering perceptions that he was an ally of embattled Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is currently facing a savage onslaught from his rivals in Zanu PF who do not want him to succeed Mugabe.





I am not sick, neither am I in shock following my removal. Its life and I am carrying on with my other responsibilities.





I am not sure why I was sacked ... but I feel I was just expressing an opinion (on succession) and people should not suffer for expressing their opinions.





At the end of the day what people should realise is that our problems are caused by the dire state of the economy, and it is unfortunate that people then start finding scapegoats, Dube told the Daily News in and interview yesterday.





Among other claims, he was also said to be too sympathetic to war veterans led by his ministerial predecessor Christopher Mutsvangwa  who was also fired from the government by Mugabe after his executive issued a damning communique against the nonagenarian.





The ex-combatants have publicly put their weight behind Mnangagwas mooted presidential aspirations, even warning that if the VP does not succeed Mugabe, there could be bloodshed in the country.





But Dube said yesterday that he was neither a Mnangagwa ally nor a member of Team Lacoste  the Zanu PF faction backing the VP.





The problem with these allegations is that I do not even know what Lacoste is. Nobody ever talked to me and said join Lacoste ... Its all the same with the days of (former vice president Joice) Mujuru.





Indeed, I was never part of the Gamatox (Mujuru) faction. I never even had three minutes talking to Mujuru, but still there were people who said if you are not with us then you belong to that faction.





My relationship with Mnangagwa was very cordial, just as was the case with other superiors ... there was never anything special between us, he added.





Although Dube survived the ruling party purges which claimed the scalp of Mujuru and other former Zanu PF leading lights  on charges of plotting a coup against Mugabe  he was still dropped from the former liberation movements influential politburo, and only received a new lease on life after Mutsvangwas expulsion.





Dube, a liberation war icon who fought on the Zapu side during the struggle for Zimbabwes independence, set the cat among the pigeons in June when he publicly backed calls for Mugabe to name a successor.





Speaking to journalists in Bulawayo then, Dube said while former liberation war fighters were happy with Mugabes leadership, and would want him to win next years elections, they could not pretend as if there could never be a future without him.





Sometimes people dont understand them (war veterans). For instance, when they say they are now looking at the future leadership, some people think they mean to say they are being disloyal to our president. No, not at all.





We respect our president. He has done so much for this country. He has brought about land to the people who never had land. He has brought education to our nation, but they are talking about the future.





We are saying although we are very happy with our president and we want him to win the next election, but eventually he will decide to retire. We dont know when, but when that time comes ... thats what the war veterans are saying, Dube said.

There is nothing wrong with aspiring to be a president if you want to be, but its people who choose you. You cant choose yourself.





There is nothing wrong with talking about succession. Succession is not a crime to talk about. This happens in every country.





All the war veterans are saying is he (Mugabe) must groom the next leader ... whatever happens, whether he retires or anything happens to him, there is somebody we know, Dube said in an interview which led to Mugabe having a word with him after the Cabinet meeting of June 27.





Otherwise it becomes very difficult for investors to put their money when they dont know whether there is going to be another (Jean-Bedel) Bokassa (the former Central African Republic president) or Idi Amin (former Ugandan president) coming into Zimbabwe.





They want to know who is coming, who is the next person, so that when they (investors) put their money they know its safe, he added.





Dube was subsequently forced to convene a hastily-arranged news conference where he told journalists that Mugabe had schooled him on the process of choosing his successor.

He came to me after Cabinet. His Excellency talked to me. He just reminded me that, look, I am only mandated by the constitution to choose my deputies.





He said the issue of choosing a successor lies with the congress. He has given me the directive and, as my commander-in-chief, I listened. He came in a fatherly manner, as a leader and as a teacher, said Dube in his damage-control exercise.





Mugabe has consistently refused to name a successor, arguing that it is Zanu PF that must decide through a congress when the time comes.





Zanu PF is currently divided in the middle, with a camp opposed to Mnangagwa succeeding Mugabe  the G40 faction  involved in a life-and-death tussle with Team Lacoste.





Of late, the name of reclusive Defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi, has also been thrown into the hat, although the veteran politician who has served in Mugabes Cabinet since independence in 1980 has refused to be drawn into the succession debate.





The partys infighting took an ominous turn in August when Mnangagwa fell sick during an interface rally in Gwanda, which his backers said was a poison attack by his G40 rivals.

Mnangagwa was later airlifted to South Africa where he had emergency surgery.

Mnangagwa later issued a statement denying that his illness was caused by ice cream from the First Familys Gushungo Dairies, although he has consistently suggested that he was poisoned.





Recently, Mnangagwa again suggested to hordes of people who converged at Mupandawana Growth Point in Gutu, for the late Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister Shuvai Mahofas memorial service, that he was poisoned in the same way Mahofa was in 2015.





I came here to tell you that what happened to Mai Mahofa in Victoria Falls is the same thing which happened to me, he said.





Mahofa, one of Mnangagwas fiercest allies left the Zanu PF conference in Victoria Falls in 2015 wheelchair-bound, amid suspicions that she had been poisoned by party rivals.





She later spent two months recuperating in a South African hospital, before she resurfaced in March 2016.





Days after Mnangagwas address in Masvingo, his colleague Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko, issued a scathing statement in which he attacked him for allegedly trying to divide the country and to undermine Mugabe.





On Monday, Mugabe fired and demoted several ministers perceived to be sympathetic to Mnangagwa, in a reshuffle which analysts said was motivated by the desire to contain the Midlands godfathers control and influence of key government ministries. daily news




ZIMBABWE Broadcasting Corporation chief executive Patrick Mavhura and acting head of finance and administration Benania Shumba, who were facing charges of contravening the Procurement Act and corruptly using a false document to misrepresent facts, were yesterday cleared of any wrongdoing by a Harare magistrate.



Mavhura (38) and Shumba (48) were accused of buying vehicles from Croco Motors without following due process.



The two yesterday appeared before Mr Noel Mupeiwa who acquitted them. Through their lawyer Mr Brighton Musadza of Musadza and Associates, the duo successfully made an application for discharge at the close of the State case. In his ruling, Mr Mupeiwa said ZBC was not a procuring entity in terms of the law.



He acknowledged that in the face of the evidence given by the chairperson of the board, among other evidence, it was difficult to find fault in the conduct of the pair. The court also found out that in respect of the charge relating to perceived use of false documents, no proof had been proffered by the State to suggest that it was the accused persons who handed the documents to Croco Motors.



It was the evidence of the State witnesses that the purchase orders had been handed over to Croco Motors by officials from CMED. If the board had been appraised and advised by the accused persons of all the developments, then there was no basis for charging the pair in their personal capacities, he said. Sometime in February this year, Mavhura and Shumba, who were facing criminal abuse of office charges after they allegedly unprocedurally acquired 35 vehicles from Croco Motors, successfully applied for exception to the charge. In their application for exception, the pair submitted that the charge did not disclose the offence.





The offence applied to a special species of individuals known as public officers of which the accused do not qualify to be called public officers. This means that they cannot be answerable to a charge that does not exist or do not apply to them. Mr Elijah Makomo concluded then that Mavhura and Shumba were not public officers before quashing their charge.





On the recent charges, Mavhura and Shumba, in their application for discharge, submitted that the charge did not disclose the offence since they were not bound by the provisions of the Act. They also said that even if it was found that ZBC was a procuring entity, there was still nothing wrong in their conduct since they complied with all the provisions of the said Act.





On the issue of the forged documents, Mr Musadza argued that they were properly signed by all who attended the meeting, therefore, there would not be any speculations that the minutes were doctored by his clients. It was the States case that on November 3, 2015, Mavhura wrote a letter to Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services requesting authority to buy 45 vehicles from Croco Motors.





He attached a proforma invoice from Croco specifying the vehicles to be purchased. The invoice included 20 Toyota Hilux single cabs valued at US$641 000, 10 Toyota coaster (30-seater) valued at US$879 000 and 15 Nissan Datsun Go vehicles valued at US$199 500. Overall, the vehicles were quoted at US$1 719 900. Herald
A spokesman says a Michigan judge wasn't aware of a sex offender's criminal background when he granted the man joint legal custody of a child born to a woman who said the man raped her when she was 12. Michigan Supreme Court spokesman John Nevin told the AP on Wednesday that Sanilac County Judge Gregory Ross didn't know 27-year-old Christopher Mirasolo had two criminal sexual conduct convictions, including one concerning the woman. Nevin says the judge put the order on hold Tuesday after learning of Mirasolo's criminal past. A hearing is scheduled for this month.

The case started when the 21-year-old mother sought state assistance for her 8-year-old son. Ross issued an order last month granting the woman sole physical custody and Mirasolo joint legal custody after DNA tests showed he was the child's biological father. Mirasolo's lawyer says Mirasolo never sought the order. "I don't understand why they thought they needed to give him joint legal custody. He was my rapist," the mother told CBS News Wednesday. "I was receiving government assistance and they told me if I did not tell them who the father was of my child, that they would take that away from me." Mirasolo ultimately served six and a half months on a plea deal. He went back to jail after being convicted of raping another young girl in 2010.

(Read more rape stories.)
President Trump announced Wednesday he will nominate Kirstjen Nielsen to replace John Kelly as the head of the Department of Homeland Security after the latter left the post to become Trump's chief of staff, Politico reports. Nielsen is an attorney and cybersecurity expert who served in the Transportation Security Administration and on the White House Homeland Security Council under the second President Bush. She was Kelly's second in command at both the White House and DHS, and Kelly was said to be pushing Trump to nominate her. The New York Times states Nielsen is "known as a no-nonsense player and policy wonk" whose style has "frustrated" some people close to Trump during her time at the White House. A number of senior White House officials say her move to DHS would solve some workplace issues for them. (Read more Department of Homeland Security stories.)
While the actual impeachment of President Trump may never happen, a Congressional vote on it nearly did when Rep. Al Green of Texas read an impeachment resolution Wednesday on the House floor, the Washington Post reports. According to the Hill, Green introduced impeachment as a privileged resolution, which allows a member of Congress to force a vote on it within two legislative days. But when the GOP presiding officer moved to consider the impeachment resolution less than an hour later, Green was a no-show. While Green says he wanted to give fellow Democrats a chance to review his resolution and was told it wouldn't be brought up for an immediate vote, multiple Democratic aides say Green was pressured to drop it by Democratic leadership.

One Democratic aide says the impeachment resolutionwhich states Trump has "undermined the integrity of his office," "brought disrepute on the presidency," and caused "immediate injury to American society"would lead to "a complicated vote that cannot be easily explained." Democratic leaders are hesitant to move forward on impeachment, which could alienate liberals or moderates depending on their vote, while investigations into Trump are ongoing. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports California billionaire Tom Steyer sent a letter to Democratic leaders Wednesday demanding lawmakers and candidates support impeachment if they want any more of his money. Steyer is one of the Democratic Party's biggest donors, having given more than $91 million in 2016. He wants to make impeachment a major issue in the 2018 midterms. (Read more impeachment stories.)
A Michigan mother who went to jail for refusing to have her 9-year-old son vaccinated says she was "devastated" to learn that the boy had his shots while she was behind bars and he was in the custody of her ex-husband. Rebecca Bredow, who says vaccination goes against her "personal beliefs," was released on Monday, hours after her son received four immunizations, the AP reports. She was sentenced to seven days in prison last week for ignoring a court order to have the boy immunized. Bredow was her son's primary caregiver, but on Wednesday, Oakland County Circuit Judge Karen McDonald ruled that she has to split custody 50/50 with her ex-husband.

Bredow was released after serving five days of her sentence for contempt of court. "It was the worst five days of my life, except for the fact that I just found out that he was vaccinated and I'm not going to get him back today," Bredow tells the Detroit Free Press. "It's been a rough few days to say the least." Bredow, who has cited religious objections to vaccinations, as allowed under Michigan law, says she thought Wednesday's hearing was going to be a debate about vaccinating children. "I wasn't expecting to lose primary custody today of my son," she tells WDIV. (Michigan is among the 10 states with the lowest vaccination rates.)
With his ObamaCare repeal repeatedly foiled in Congress, President Trump vowed to use the "power of the pen" to change things instead. On Thursday, he began the process by signing an executive order designed to loosen the rules on how individuals can buy insurance, reports the New York Times. Essentially, small businesses and perhaps even individuals would have greater flexibility to band together in "association health plans" that would offer cheaper, less comprehensive coverage than plans in the ObamaCare exchanges, reports the Wall Street Journal. The plans might even cross state lines. "This is going to be something that millions and millions of people will be signing up for," the president said, per Fox News, "and they're going to be very happy. This will be great health care."

Critics say the move could fundamentally undermine ObamaCare if healthy individuals opt for these plans, leaving behind a less healthy group of people who want broad coverage and who would likely then see higher premiums. "By siphoning off healthy individuals, these junk plans could cannibalize the insurance exchanges," says an official with the liberal Center for American Progress. Trump's order directs three Cabinet agencies to work out the details, which might include offering cheaper short-term policies as well. Legal challenges are all but certain, reports Reuters. The idea of expanding the definition of "associations" so that individuals could join a plan not run by their employer may run afoul of a federal law called the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. "The 'E' in ERISA is 'employee,'" says one health-care analyst. (Read more President Trump stories.)
"Someone call police. Someone is firing a rifle on the 32nd floor in the hallway," a Mandalay Bay maintenance employee says in a newly released recording, per Fox 5. But though hotel staffers responded to the outbreak of the Las Vegas mass shooting, asking for the shooter's room number and urging the worker to shield himself, ABC News reports that police weren't immediately called. A source who reviewed Mandalay Bay's phone records says it was only after Stephen Paddock began firing on the Route 91 festival that a call was placed to police. That was a full six minutes after security guard Jesus Campos was shot on the 32nd floor and it would be another 12 minutes before police arrived, unaware Campos was wounded. The delay in calling cops is just one criticism of Mandalay Bay, which is accused of failing to maintain a "reasonably safe condition" in the first lawsuit filed by a victim, per BuzzFeed.

The lawsuit, filed by 21-year-old California college student Paige Gasper, also names festival host Live Nation, Paddock's estate, and Slide Fire, the bump stock manufacturer. Steve Wynn of Wynn Resorts says that Paddock "didn't let anyone in [his] room for two or three days," which should have been a warning sign for Mandalay Bay staff or at least prompted a wellness check. Wynn tells Fox News this wouldn't have happened in one of his hotels, where staff members check on guests in rooms with "do not disturb" signs after 12 hours. However, a Wynn Resorts rep tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the 12-hour check was only implemented "shortly after the recent tragedy." Wynn also says guns are prohibited in his hotels unless "carried by our employees." Even so, he notes "we find them continually." (Read more Las Vegas shooting stories.)
Since November, Javier Flores Garcia has been separated from his family and hunkered down in a Philly church to avoid deportation, serving as a handyman and praying. On Wednesday, per NBC Philadelphia, the undocumented immigrant finally left the Arch Street United Methodist Church where he'd found sanctuary not long after Donald Trump was elected president, and the New York Times notes Flores was given a reprieve in "an unusual way": Because he'd helped cops ID suspects who'd attacked him in 2004, leading to their deportation, Flores was granted deferred status, which means he can now live and work in the US under a U visa without fearing ICE will come for him. CBS News notes that Flores had previously been deported three times to his native Mexico, and he'd been just one day away from another deportation when he took refuge in the Philly church.

Places like churches, hospitals, and schools are deemed "sensitive locations" by ICE, which means those who seek sanctuary won't be removed except under "exigent circumstances." The reason Flores had kept returning to the US, despite a DUI conviction: his longtime partner and their three children, who all live here. "I came here for the love of my children," he's previously said, per the Times. A rep for Philly Mayor Jim Kenney, who has deemed Philly a sanctuary city and pushed back on Trump's immigration policies, says the mayor is "happy" for Flores and that "it doesn't make any sense we have an immigration policy that would tear families apart and force hard-working people out." The Times reports that Flores, who says the worst part was his kids' "suffering," now offers advice to others in similar circumstances, per NBC: "Keep fighting, because after the torment comes peace." (Read more undocumented immigrant stories.)
The search continues in Arizona for a missing kindergarten teacher who vanished after bailing a man out of jail last week. The Arizona Republic reports that there's still no sign of 44-year-old Cathryn Gorospe of Glendale, who headed over to Flagstaff's Coconino County Jail on Friday night to arrange for the release of 27-year-old Charlie Malzahn, whose relationship to Gorospe is still unclear. Malzahn was taken into custody Monday and charged with using Gorospe's credit and debit cards in Tucson; police say he was found in Gorospe's SUV, with bloodstains in the vehicle's interior. Investigators note Malzahn has refused to offer any information on Gorospe.

Police say Malzahnwho'd been in jail for theft and gun possession, among other chargestried to escape after being taken into custody, assaulting two officers and even trying to wrap his handcuffs around one officer's neck, the AP reports. He's also suspected in a carjacking Sunday in Tempe. Adding another twist to the case: Malzahn is the stepson of the police chief in the town of Williams, which is where he was arrested Aug. 20 and hit with some of the charges that landed him behind bars. He apparently was known to law enforcement there for incidents including underage drinking and fighting. A Flagstaff police rep says that, at this point, they believe Gorospe may have been harmed. Still, Gorospe's loved ones are keeping the faith in their search. "Hope's all you got. You hold onto it," her brother tells the Republic. (The key to a 1989 disappearance could be in a concrete slab.)
Rose McGowan, one of Harvey Weinstein's many accusers, has been using Twitter to denounce Weinstein, his brother Bob (and others involved with the Weinstein Company), and even some who've spoken out against Weinsteinlike Ben Affleck, who she says knew what Weinstein was doing all along. Now, her Twitter account has been suspended. It's not clear why, but she posted a screenshot of the notice she received to Instagram Wednesday night, and it says her account violated Twitter's rules in some way and that she can speed up the process of returning to Twitter by deleting tweets that violate the rules. "TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED ME. THERE ARE POWERFUL FORCES AT WORK. BE MY VOICE. #ROSEARMY #whywomendontreport," McGowan wrote on Instagram.

As People notes, Twitter's online terms state it can suspend accounts engaging "in abusive behavior, like sending threats to others or impersonating other accounts." The New York Times notes that the suspension (which leaves McGowan's account visible, but temporarily bars her from tweeting) came soon after McGowan's tweets to Affleck. But the Washington Post says the rule-violating tweet has been deleted, and the paper found one recent deleted tweet originally posted by McGowan Oct. 11. It was an image of an email offering to set up a meeting with "Bob" (likely Bob Weinstein, based on the context) at a hotel, and it contained the complete email signature of the person who sent it. McGowan wrote that the email had been anonymously submitted to her: "They all knew. It starts here." WaPo hypothesizes that tweet possibly violated Twitter's rule about releasing private information without permission. (Read more Rose McGowan stories.)
The US has long had dicey relations with the UN cultural organization UNESCO, and those relations have just taken another sour turn. The State Department announced Thursday that the US is pulling out of the organization at the end of next year, citing what it sees as an anti-Israel bias, concern over America's mounting back dues, and the "need for fundamental reform," reports the Hill. Though it won't be a full member, the US will maintain a lesser role with "observer" status. Details:



Not the first time: Ronald Reagan severed ties with UNESCO in 1984, accusing the group of having a pro-Soviet bias and of being plagued with corruption, notes Foreign Policy. George W. Bush reinstated ties in 2002, saying the organization had made the necessary reforms and corrected an anti-Israel bias.

About Israel: The US stopped paying $80 million in annual dues in 2011 after UNESCO accepted Palestine as a member. And this summer, UNESCO recognized the old city of Hebron in the West Bank as a Palestinian World Heritage Site over the objections of the US and Israel. Those unpaid dues, meanwhile, now add up to about $550 million in back payments, reports the AP, and the US wants to stop the amount from growing.

The US stopped paying $80 million in annual dues in 2011 after UNESCO accepted Palestine as a member. And this summer, UNESCO recognized the old city of Hebron in the West Bank as a Palestinian World Heritage Site over the objections of the US and Israel. Those unpaid dues, meanwhile, now add up to about $550 million in back payments, reports the AP, and the US wants to stop the amount from growing. UNESCO mission: The organization, formed after WWII and based in Paris, is perhaps best known for the aforementioned World Heritage operation, which designates cultural sites worthy of preservation. (The Statue of Liberty and the Grand Canyon are among them.) Beyond that, the broad mission is in the name: the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. One example is improving girls' access to education. The group has 195 member nations and is currently in the process of picking a new leader, per the Washington Post.

The organization, formed after WWII and based in Paris, is perhaps best known for the aforementioned World Heritage operation, which designates cultural sites worthy of preservation. (The Statue of Liberty and the Grand Canyon are among them.) Beyond that, the broad mission is in the name: the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. One example is improving girls' access to education. The group has 195 member nations and is currently in the process of picking a new leader, per the Washington Post. Trump pattern? Reuters sees the move as in line with the Trump administration's embrace of "America First" and its corresponding disdain of engaging with international bodies. It cites the disavowal of the TPP trade deal and the Paris climate accord, as well as the potential ditching of NAFTA.

Reuters sees the move as in line with the Trump administration's embrace of "America First" and its corresponding disdain of engaging with international bodies. It cites the disavowal of the TPP trade deal and the Paris climate accord, as well as the potential ditching of NAFTA. 'Profound regret': UNESCO chief Irina Bokova voiced "profound regret" at the decision in a statement. "At the time when the fight against violent extremism calls for renewed investment in education, in dialogue among cultures to prevent hatred, it is deeply regrettable that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations agency leading these issues."

(Read more UNESCO stories.)
Should it ever erupt, a supervolcano beneath Yellowstone National Park could blanket North America in an ash cloud, wipe out communications, and alter the climate. Given that eruptions of supervolcanoes buried on our planetand there are severalare thought to occur every 100,000 years or so, however, the likelihood of such an event during your lifetime is small, reports the New York Times. As comforting as that may be, new research out of Arizona State University is far less so. Whereas researchers previously thought such an eruption would be centuries or millennia in the making, an analysis of fossilized ash left over from Yellowstone's last supereruption 630,000 years ago reveals the process could take only decades.

Tiny crystals left over from underground magma at Yellowstone show the first sign of the last supereruption was a spike in temperature that coincided with the movement of new magma into the reservoir beneath the supervolcano. The crystals also reveal a supereruption followed much quicker than scientists previously thoughtperhaps within decades, or what Popular Mechanics calls "a geologic snap of the finger." This is the first indication that "the conditions that lead to supereruptions might emerge within a human lifetime," which one researcher describes as "shocking," per the Times. For now, though, you can rest easy. The lead scientist at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory tells National Geographic there's no sign of any "magmatic event" at this time. (You might outrun a supervolcano's lava anyway.)
The latest woman to accuse Harvey Weinstein of inappropriate sexual behavior was just 17 when the alleged incident occurred. In a lengthy Instagram post, Kate Beckinsale recounts an experience she had with Weinstein at the Savoy Hotel (the age of consent in the UK is 16). "He opened the door in his bathrobe. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him," she writes. "After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed." Years later, "he asked me if he had tried anything with me in that first meeting. I realized he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not." She also says a male friend was ostracized by Weinstein after warning another young actress about him; that woman ended up sleeping with Weinstein.

Beckinsale's account comes as cops in both the US and the UK confirm they're investigating allegations against Weinstein, the Guardian reports. London police are looking into a sexual abuse allegation made against him and received by the department Wednesday. The NYPD, meanwhile, says it's "conducting a review to determine if there are any additional complaints relating to the Harvey Weinstein matter" based on allegations in news reports. "No filed complaints have been identified as of this time," the NYPD statement notes. Actresses in the US and abroad have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault. Weinstein, who's reportedly in an Arizona treatment facility, has insisted he believed any sexual encounters were consensual. The Washington Post, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Variety, among many others, are keeping running lists of the women coming forward. (Read more Harvey Weinstein stories.)
You know the old saying: "Something borrowed, something nude." WHDH reports a beachfront wedding was interrupted by a pair of skinny-dippers Saturday afternoon in Massachusetts. Wedding guests at a venue on Salisbury Beach were shocked, we're sure, to see a couple swimming nude in the middle of October. "Good for them for braving the cold water, bride Leah Allen says. According to WCVB, the father of the bride told police that while many guests found the humor in the situation and were taking photos, at least one table was offended. Police received a number of calls about the naked swimmers, including one from Allen's father, the Daily News of Newburyport reports.

Police arrived to find 29-year-old Zachary Tomko and 20-year-old Holly O'Neil nude and swimming about 15 to 20 yards offshore. A prosecutor says the couple was apologetic when officers arrived. Tomko told a judge Wednesday the pair had "no idea" a wedding reception was going on nearby. "I didnt know that building was a restaurant," he tells WHDH. "I just thought it was a pier, and I thought, Oh, heres a spot where we can hide and take our clothes off.'" Tomko explained in court that he and O'Neil wanted to go for a swim but didn't want to get their clothes wet. They were charged with disorderly conduct and ended up paying $282 in fees and fines. Allen says the whole thing made for a "really interesting wedding day." Tomko was glad to hear it: "Hope it was a special night and glad it gave her a good memory." (Read more skinny dipping stories.)
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New Delhi:

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted Nupur and Rajesh Talwar in the 2008 murder case of their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, saying they could not be held guilty as per the circumstances and the evidence on record.

The verdict ends a nine-year ordeal of the Noida-based dentist couple who were found guilty by a Ghaziabad CBI court on November 26, 2013 and were serving a life sentence in Dasna jail.

A division bench comprising justices B K Narayana and A K Mishra allowed the appeals of the Talwars, holding that neither the circumstances nor the evidence on record established a chain showing their involvement in the murders of Aarushi and Hemraj.

Pronouncing the verdict in a packed courtroom, the bench said that it is a fit case where the benefit of the doubt can be given to the appellants and set aside the judgement of the CBI court convicting the Talwars.

Earlier, on September 7, the court had reserved its judgement in the case, which shook the conscience of the nation and saw several twists and turns.

Reacting to the verdict, the CBI said it would study the high court order and decide the future course of action.

Jailor of the Ghaziabad's Dasna prison Dadhiram Maurya said the Talwars felt they have got justice and were praying.

After having breakfast they were praying. Their schedule was normal. She (Nupur Talwar) said they got justice today and had tears of joy.

Any person after spending this amount of jail will feel happy to get freedom. So they were happy after they were told about the news, he said.

Lawyer Rebecca John, who was part of Talwars legal team, said she was relieved by the judgement. She claimed the whole case was based on innuendos and would not have carried through.

John, who is a family friend of the couple, hoping that the Talwars, who have been in media spotlight for over nine years, will be allowed privacy after their release from the jail.

Jail sources said the couple were likely to walk free tomorrow.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.

As the Uttar Pradesh Police drew flak over shoddy investigation into the case which was making national headlines, the then chief minister Mayawati recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

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New Delhi:

Reacting to the Allahabad High Courts acquittal of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the murder case of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, former CBI director AP Singh said that courts argument that evidence was insufficient to prosecute Talwars, is exactly what he had said in the beginning.

The court has not said they are innocent, it has said it is giving them the benefit of the doubt," AP Singh said to NDTV.

"Only weakness we found was that scene of crime had been badly tampered on the 1st day itself. As a result, after that we got nothing of value from the scene of crime. That was the major lacuna in the entire investigation," said AP Singh.

AP Singh was heading the CBI when the agency had stated in the court that it thought that Talwars killed Aarushi but could not prove it and wanted to close the case.

Despite the agencys desire to close the case, the judge of CBI court instead framed charges of murder and destruction of evidence against Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.

As the Uttar Pradesh Police drew flak over shoddy investigation into the case which was making national headlines, the then chief minister Mayawati recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Allahabad High Court on Thursday accepted plea by Rajesh and Nupur Talwar challenging their conviction. The Allahabad HC set aside CBI court's order and acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

Nupur and Rajesh Talwar are serving their life sentence in Ghaziabads Dasna jail.

Here is all you need to know about Arushi Murder Case

May 16, 2008: Aarushi, 14, was found dead with her throat slit in her bedroom. Hemraj, familys domestic help was suspected of the murder.

May 17, 2008: Domestic help Hemraj was found dead on the terrace of the flat.

May 18, 2008: The murders were carried out with surgical precision, said Noida Police.

May 21, 2008: Delhi police joins the probe.

May 22, 2008: Police suspects Arushis killing to be a case of honour killing.

May 23, 2008: Police arrests Rajesh Talwar in connection with the double murders.

June 1, 2008: CBI takes charge of the case from Noida police.

June 13, 2008: Police arrests one Krishna, a domestic help of Talwar.

June 20,2008: CBI conducts lie detection test of Rajesh Talwar.

June 25, 2008: CBI conducts lie detection test on Nupur Talwar.

June 26, 2008: Ghaziabad magistrate refused bail plea to Rajesh Talwar.

February, 2008: Narco-analysis tests on Rajesh Talwar was done.

December 29, 2008: CBI team files a closure report citing insufficient evidence. Talwars remain prime suspects.

January 25, 2011: Rajesh Talwar suffers grievous injuries following an attack by one Utsav Sharma on the Special CBI court premises in Ghaziabad.

Feb 9, 2011: Trial court rejects CBI's closure report and summons Aarushis parents to face charges of murders.

February 21, 2011: Talwars approach Allahabad High Court for quashing trial court summons.

March 18, 2011: Allahabad HC dismisses the plea.

March 19, 2011: The couple approaches the Supreme Court.

January 09, 2012: Supreme Court says the bail granted to Rajesh Talwar by the lower court in the Aarushi murder case' would continue and that he should appear before the Ghaziabad Magistrate on February 4 to face trial along with his wife, Nupur Talwar.

November, 2013: The Talwar couple are convicted for double-murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad.

October, 2017: Allahabad HC set aside CBI court's order and acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

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New Delhi:

The Army has sought early handing over of 900 body bags and 150 caskets procured in 1999 lying in a warehouse for the past 17 years after allegations of kickbacks in the USD 4 lakh deal and subsequent CBI probe into it.

The Armys renewed pitch for getting custody of the body bags and caskets comes at a time when images of bodies of seven military personnel wrapped in plastic sacks and tied up in cardboard triggered outrage last week.

The military personnel were killed in a Mi-17 helicopter crash in Tawang on Friday.

Official sources said the Army has requested the CBI again to facilitate the handing over of the body bags and caskets as the probe into their procurement was over and the case was closed in 2013.

When contacted, CBI sources said they are looking into the matter.

In the aftermath of the Kargil war, the then NDA government had ordered procurement of 3,000 body bags and 500 aluminium caskets.

However, following allegations of kickbacks in the contract, the deal was cancelled but the company which was given the contract had supplied 900 body bags and 150 caskets by then.

The CBI had carried out probe into the allegations. A Delhi court in 2013 had discharged three former Army officials who were charge sheeted by the CBI.

A senior Army official said CBI had found that a typographical error at a clerical level triggered these allegations. He said the actual weight of each casket should have been mentioned as 55 kg but instead, it was written 18 kg.

The official sources said, however, an observation by a government auditor favouring scrutiny of the pricing of the body bags and caskets held back their release. They said a city court had issued directions for release of the caskets and body bags.

They said the US government had also bought body bags and caskets from the same company at almost the same period when India had finalised the deal and the auditor suggested to find out the rates at which the American government had procured them.

The images of bodies of the seven military personnel wrapped in plastic sacks had triggering outrage prompting the Army to call it an aberration.

Former Northern Army commander Lt Gen (Retd) HS Panag had said proper military body bags must be used to transport bodies from forward locations until ceremonial coffins were available.

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New Delhi:

Mr Mahipal Singh, the oldest employee of the government has illuminated the two iconic building of the Raisina Hills-North block and the south block with an extensive range of themes with 16 million colour combinations.

"He is from Uttarakhand and has served the government for 42 years. He switched on the lights," a senior ministry explained.

"The system is capable of providing both volume and focus lighting to highlight the architectural features of the historical buildings, a fine blend of the traditional Indian and British architecture," he added.

In next the three months, the lights of the Rashtrapati Bhavan will start functioning.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence minister Nirmala Sithraman attended the inauguration of the latest lighting system.

In a bid to reduce the electrical load of the lighting system, the latest system is enabled with dimming feature. The colours of light will change in every few seconds between 7 pm and 5 am.

Till now, only at Independence and Republic days these buildings brightened up but with static light. This system covers an area of 16,750 square metres.



The new dynamic facade lighting, which will cover an area of 21,450 square metres, will captivating the visitors and able to grab the attention of the people between 8 pm to 9 pm.

This new dynamic lighting system will help in saving some amount of money as compared to an old static system, around Rs 86.40 lakh will save.

Not only this, you will be amazed by knowing the life of the new LED fitting which is expected to be an over one lakh burning hours which is nearly equal to 25 years as against only 10,000 burning hours for the existing system.

The energy consumption of the new system will cost Rs. 8.40 lakh per year, the official said, adding it would be "much less" as compared to the conventional lighting.

The initial investment of Rs. 15.40 crore for the new system will be recovered in six to seven years as against the costs being incurred every year now, the official said.

Raisina Hills will join the league of other historical sites such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

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New Delhi:

A group of eminent personalities on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not deport Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers, saying a proposal that the entire community is a threat to national security is based on false assumption.

In an open letter, 51 prominent names including Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, former home minister P Chidambaram, former Union home secretary G K Pillai among others, observed that as an aspiring global leader, India cannot afford to adopt a shortsighted approach.

Indias justification to deport the Rohingyas to Myanmar is premised on the false assumption that all of them present a potential threat to national security. This is simply not the case and the evidence to support these assertions have not held up, read the letter.

The development comes a day before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a petition filed by Rohingya Muslims challenging the Centres stand to deport them back to Myanmar.

Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees the right to life to all persons, regardless of their nationality, and the government is constitutionally obligated to protect threatened groups of foreign nationals, the letter said.

Growing radicalisation of certain segments of the Rohingya community is linked to persecution and discrimination of the community by the authorities in Myanmar, the letter, which has actor Swara Bhaskar among the signatories, said.

It also noted that the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) has also been accused of targeting other ethnic groups in Rakhine, including Hindus and Buddhists.

The coalition of citizens also called upon the Centre to set out a new and bold vision for Indias approach to the Rohingya crisis, which not only seeks to address the needs of the thousands of Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar, but also address the violence that has caused them to flee in the first place.

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Lucknow:

Indian Air Force is all set to carry out full war drill on Agra-Lucknow Expressway at Bangarmau in Uttar Pradesh on October 24.

Sources close to News Nation in the Uttar Pradesh government and Indian Air Force confirmed the development.

According to plans, more than 20 aircrafts and cargo planes of the Indian Air Force will participate in the war drill on the expressway.

Sources told our reporter that Sukhoi, Tejas, Mikoyan MiG-29, Dassault Mirage 2000, Jaguar, MiG-27ML, MiG-21, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, Ilyushin Il-76MD and Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules will take part in the drill.

According to a senior Indian Air Force, official Hercules will be a major attraction of the Indian Air Force drill as it is one of the largest carrier vehicles.

The official added all the planes will take off and land on the Expressway.

According to an Uttar Pradesh administrative official stationed at Bangarmau told News Nation that preparations for the drill have begun.

We have received a list of requirements from the Indian Air Force. We are accordingly preparing, added the administrative officer.

Such drills are must during peace days. We have to identify the places where are jets can land and take off during wartime if enemy manages to destroy are major A-strips, said Maj Gen KV S Lalotra (Retd) who has held important command and staff positions in the Indian Army. Maj Gen Lalotra commanded the strategic 17 Mtn Division along the Indo-China bprder at Sikkim and was the ADG Territorial Army.

Also read| Air Force Day 2017: 5 Bollywood films that depicted the valour of the Indian Air Force



The Agra-Lucknow Expressway is 302-km six-lane Expressway which can be expanded to 8-lane. The expressway starts from Agra to reach Lucknow via Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etawah, Oraia, Kannauj, Hardoi,Kanpur Nagar and Unnao.

The 302 kilometer-long expressway was completed in a record time of 22 months at the cost of Rs 13,200 crore.

Also read: Indias first three women fighter pilots to fly MiG-21 Bison jets



Six fighter jets of the Indian Air Force participated at the opening ceremony of last year in November at Unnao, around 50 km from Lucknow.

Last year in the month of May, in a first for military aviation in the country, IAF successfully landed a French Dassault Mirage-2000 fighter jet on the Yamuna Expressway near Raya village, Mathura, as a part of elaborate trials to see how many other highways can be used for war-like emergencies.

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New Delhi:

The Himachal Pradesh assembly elections will be held on November 9 andA counting of votes will take place on December 18, the Election Commision announced on Thursday.

A three-member Election Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner AK Jyoti while addressing a press conference said theA VVPAT enabled EVMs will be used in Himachal Pradesh polls.

It is the first times that VVPATA machines will be used in a state assembly elections, the step was taken by the election commision after the uproar by Opposition parties over the alleged use of faulty EVMs in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

The last date for filing nominations will be October 23 while the scrutiny andA withdrawal of nominations will be allowed till October 24.

With the announcement of dates and scheduleA of the assembly polls, the model code of conduct also came into effect in Himachal Pradesh from Thursday itself.

The Election Commission will also post an expenditure observers to monitor election expenses during Himachal Pradesh polls, each candidate will be allowed to spend Rs 28 Lakh for his campaign.

However, the commission didn't announce the dates for Gujarat assembly polls but the election in PM Modi's home state shall be held prior to 18 December, which will enable simultaneous counting of votes in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

The legislative assembly tenures of Gujarat and Himachal shall end in January 2018. While the term of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly ends on January 22, the term of the 68-member HP Assembly ends on January 7.

The election campaign in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have already begun with both BJP and Congress indulging in a war of words. BJP launched its election campaign in Gujarat with "Gaurav Yatra" while Congress took on the ruling party with its "Navsarjan Yatra".

Here are the live updates fromA the press conference of CEC:

#A Date of issue of gazette notification - October 16, 2017,A Last date for filing nominations - October 23, 2017, Last date of scrutiny and withdrawal of nominations - October 24, 2017, Date of polling: November 9, 2017, Counting of votes: 18 December, 2017, Completion of elections - 20 December, 2017

# Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held prior to 18 December, which will enable simultaneous counting of votes in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

# Himachal Pradesh assembly elections will be held on November 9, counting of votes to take place on December 18.A

Himachal Pradesh assembly elections to be held on 9 November and counting of votes to be on 18 December: Election Commission pic.twitter.com/kz8uaJnxkb a ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2017

#A Expenditure observers to be posted to monitor election expenses during Himachal Pradesh polls, each candidate will be allowed to spend Rs 28 Lakh for his election campaign.A

#A Bulk SMSes & voice messages on phone shall also be in purview of election advertisements: Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti

#A Increased the size of screen on VVPAT machines to 10 cm by 5.6 cm for the voters to able to verify their vote easily: CEC

# It will for the first time in a state that VVPATs will be used at all polling stations

#A Voting will be done through VVPATs at all the polling stations in Himachal Pradesh

# Model code of conduct comes into effect in Himachal Pradesh from now onwards.

# All the polling stations will be on ground floor.

# A total 7521 of polling stations to be set up in Himachal Pradesh.

# Himachal Pradesh will have 136 all women managed booths for the first time.

#A Photo Voter ID cards to be used in Himachal Pradesh Assembly electionsA

# No announcement of dates for Gujarat Assembly polls today

#A The press conference of Election Commission starts

#Himachal Pradesh Assembly:A 68-members, Congress has 36 seats, BJP 26 seats, Himachal Lokhit Party had won one seat while Independents bagged five.A

#Gujarat Assembly:A Total strengthA is 182-memberA currently comprises 115 BJP MLAs, 61 from the Congress, two from the NCP, and one from JD(U).A

#Election commission press conference on Himachal Pradesh and Gujrat assembly elections about to begin, reports Mohit Dubey.

@NewsNationTV @NewsStateHindi Election commission press conference on Himachal pradesh and Gujrat assembly elections. About to start pic.twitter.com/vWWL2cV5cK a @NNmohit (@mohitrajdubey) October 12, 2017

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Mumbai:

After a year-long winning spree in local bodiesa elections, the BJP on Thursday suffered a setback in the Nanded civic polls, home turf of Congress leader Ashok Chavan, whose party bagged 69 of the 81 seats.

The BJP managed to win just six seats in the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation (NWMC) while Shiv Sena won just 1 seat. The counting on four seats got delayed as the (VVPAT) machines along with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) were used.

Chavan, who is the state Congress chief, attributed the partyas win to non-tampering of EVMs and said that the BJPas areturn journeya has started.

The return journey for Congress in Maharashtra has begun. Ashok Chavan preponderates #BJP in Nanded MC elections.Cong wipes out #BJP.

JaiHo pic.twitter.com/GjEOtvzprT a Maharashtra Congress (@INCMaharashtra) October 12, 2017

According to the figures released by the State Election Commission of Maharashtra (SECM), of the 77 seats, the Congress won 69, followed by the BJP that bagged six seats.A The Shiv Sena just about managed to open its account with one seat. An independent candidate also won a seat.

aTodayas results have proven that the return journey of the BJP has started from Maharashtra. Our ground work in Nanded ensured that there was no tampering of EVMs, which led to our victory,a Chavan told reporters here after taking part in the victory celebrations outside the Mumbai Congress office.

He said the BJP had apoacheda five to six corporators, but all of them lost.

aThere is severe discontent among the people due to high fuel prices, farmersa suicides and troubles caused to cultivators due to faulty loan waiver system. People have understood the hollow claims made by the chief minister (Devendra Fadnavis),a Chavan said.

The leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde said his party was satisfied that afascist forcesa have been shown their place.

aThis result is a proof that people are fed up with the BJP-led Centre and state government. We are satisfied that fascist forces have been destroyed, shown their place and a secular party has won,a Munde said.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said the aModi wavea has subsided and that people have rejected the saffron partyas call of coming to power across the nation.

aThe BJP claims it is a party with a difference. But it indulged in every possible malpractice in Nanded civic polls, including using money power and government machinery. Yet, they were rejected,a he said.

Maharashtra Labour Minister Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar, who was in-charge of the partyas poll machinery in Nanded, claimed that the BJPas vote share rose from 3 per cent in 2012 to 19 per cent this time around.

Known for his outspoken nature, BJPas new ally and Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha (MSP) leader Narayan Rane advised the BJP leadership to do introspection on why it fared so bad despite the chief minister holding many election rallies in the run-up to the Nanded civic polls.

He, however, dismissed the argument that the Nanded civic poll results would have an impact on the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

The Nanded civic body has been ruled by the Congress, since it came into existence two decades ago.

The BJP won 12 of the 16 civic bodies in Maharashtra, for which polls were held this year, expanding its footprint in the stateas urban pockets. It had made inroads into traditional Congress strongholds and also those of partner Shiv Sena.

In the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation (NWMC), the party-wise strength is as follows: Congress 41, Shiv Sena 14, AIMIM 11, NCP 10, independents 3 and BJP 2.

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News:

A Shiv Sena leaders car mowed down two school girls on Baramati-Morgaon Road in Maharashtras Pune district on Thursday morning.

According to reports both the girls died at the incident site. Police have identified the deceased girls as Sameeksha, 12, and Divya,13.

According to police, three girls were going to their school via Baramati-Morgaon Road around 8 am, when a car hit the girls.

Police added that two girls died in the incident while the third survived the dash with critical injuries.

According to locals, the car belongs to the Shiv Sena Baramati unit chief Pappu Mane.

According to eyewitnesses of the incident people sitting in the car escaped the accident site leaving the car.

They managed to nab the driver of the car who was later handed over to police.

Also read: 3 Indian Wipro employees die after lorry ramps their bus in UK



Police added that the angry villagers have torched the vehicle and blocked the road to protest the deaths of the two girls.

Police have registered a case and launched a probe to find out if Baramati Shiv Sena chief was driving the vehicle or not.

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New Delhi:

New Delhi is set to organize the largest eye donation campaign in the world, Blind Walk on World Sight Day on Thursday. It will be conducted on 12 October at 3 PM in Connaught Place.

The Bangalore-based Project Vision will conduct the campaign in 250 locations across five countries. Nearly 1,00,000 sighted persons will walk blindfolded and would be led by visually-challenged people.

Minister of state for Tourism Alphonse Kannanthanam will be the chief guest on the occasion.

The initiative is being conducted in collaboration with Chetanalaya, Holy Family Hospital, Prabhat Seva, YMCA, Volunteers for the Blind Foundation, Eye Bank Association of India, Catholic Health Association of India, Society for Social Development for Northern Region, etc.

Chandigarh based Dialogue Highway Trust too has collaborated with The Project Vision to express solidarity with visually impaired persons.

A first of its kind blind walk will be held at Plaza, Sector 17 on Thursday evening. Punjab's cabinet minister, Navjot Singh Sidhu will flag off the walk.

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New Delhi:

NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge will witness the participation of five students from an engineering college in Telangana. The students from the SR Engineering College, Warangal, will take part in the fifth annual challenge.



The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge will be held on April 12-14, 2018, in Huntsville, Alabama, US.A

Total four teams from India have been short-listed for the challenge, while students belonging to as many as 23 countries are competing in the challenge. All they need to do is create a buggey designed to traverse the simulated lunar surface.

The team, led by faculty Manoj Chaudhary, will create a moon buggy design and will be required to submit their idea. The team includes P Paul Vineeth, Prakash Raineni, P Sravan Rao, Rondla Dilipreddy Aand Venishetty Sneha, said a statement.A



SR Engineering College Secretary A.Madhukar Reddy congratulated the students and said it was a great opportunity to build, design and test technologies that allow rovers to perform in a variety of environments, ET reported.

First held in 1994, 25 years after the first manned Apollo landing on the moon, the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge began as the NASA Great Moonbuggy Race.A

The focus of the challenge is now on NASA's current plans to explore planets, moons, asteroids and comets.A

During the 20-year period, the Great Moonbuggy Race involved over 10,000 students. It also revealed that these budding scientists and engineers were capable of complex work.

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New Delhi:

SpaceX successfully landed another reused rocket on Thursday in an effort to make spaceflight more affordable and enable easier, more economical rocket travel, both from city to city on Earth and eventually to deep space.

The tall, white Falcon 9 rocket launched the Echostar 105/SES-11 satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

In a bid to provide television coverage and communications capabilities to North America, Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean, the satellite was launched. The portion of the rocket that lands on the droneship are called the booster.

It's the third time that SpaceX has used one of its landed boosters for another fight. It is a "dual-mission" satellite for the US-based operator EchoStar and Luxembourg-based operator SES.

About 10 minutes after launch, the tall portion of the rocket, known as the first stage, returned to Earth for a controlled, upright landing on a droneship called "Of Course I Still Love You," stationed in the Atlantic.

The Falcon 9 rocket "is currently standing on the deck," said the SpaceX commentator, as video images showed the smoking rocket securely parked on the platform."Yet another successful landing of a Falcon 9 first stage," he added.

"This is our 18th successful landing."The Falcon 9's first stage which launched today had previously flown on a cargo mission to the International Space Station in February.

In March, SpaceX flew a recycled rocket component for the first time.

Today's launch was its "third successful mission with a flight-proven orbital class rocket," SpaceX said on Twitter.

SpaceX 10 New Iridium Satellites launch

Before that, on Tuesday another SpaceX was also successfully landed the 10 next-generation global satellite to low-earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E(SLC-4E) in Californias Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:37 am PDT, carrying 10 satellites for Iridium Communications.

Iridium Next satellites were deployed about 57 minutes after liftoff.

The launch was streamed live online, showing the SpaceX team at control room applauding and breaking into cheers after the Falcon 9 rockets first stage landing.

The mission also marked the 14th launch of SpaceX in 2017 and the 17th successful landing of a Falcon 9 first stage, according to Xinhua news agency.

Falcon 9 first stages have been reused by SpaceX, which is pursuing fully reusable rockets in an effort to bring down the cost of spaceflight.

This is the third of the eight scheduled launches for Iridiums next generation global satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT. Now the total number of satellites in orbit is up to 30. The first launch took place in January, while the second on June 25.

SpaceX had announced earlier that it has started the live testing of the Iridium Certus service on operational Iridium NEXT satellites.

The satellite communications company has collaborated with Thales Alenia Space for the manufacturing, assembly and testing of 81 Iridium NEXT satellites. SpaceX has launched 75 out of these and they are scheduled to be deployed by mid-2018.

The next-gen global satellite constellation will provide coverage of over 100 per cent of the surface of the Earth, including across oceans, airways and polar regions, Xinhua reported.

The spaceflight companys landed its Falcon 9 on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted a photo showing sattelite deploying on Instagram.

Musk wrote, The last of ten Iridium global communication satellites delivered to orbit several hundred miles above Earth, traveling at over 17,000 mph. They will circle the planet every 90 minutes."

Falcon 9s principal integration engineer John Insprucker soon after the deployment in a webcast said, We're 10 for 10. A clean sweep of Iridium Next satellite deployment in the desired final orbit."

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New Delhi :

Oppo is all set to launch its bezel-less F5 smartphone on October 26 in the Indian market along with Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Ahead of its official launch, the smartphone has been subjected to several leaks and rumours. Few images of the smartphone have also been leaked over the internet a few days ago.

Talking about its specifications, Oppo F5 will be the first smartphone of the company to offer full display with 6-inch Full HD display with a resolution of 2160x1080 pixels.

Oppo F5 will also be a selfie-centric smartphone and feature AI Beauty Recognition Technology. The company says the AI will self-learn and enhance each shot, as it takes more and more selfies.

The new AI-powered tool can recognise skin tone and type, the gender and age of all subjects within an image and analyze environment lighting conditions by referencing other facial images from a massive global photo database, to beautify a selfie shot.

Oppo F5 will come with a 20-megapixel camera along with LED flash in the rear and dual 16-megapixel camera in the front.

Oppo F5 is expected to be launched in 4GB and 6GB variants with 64GB and 128GB of storage respectively.

The smartphone is also expected to be powered by 4,000 mAh battery. However, official announcement of its features is yet to be made.

Oppo F5 is expected to be in direct competition with Vivo V7+, OnePlus 5, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2.
New Delhi:

The United States on Thursday pulled out of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) over the agency's alleged aanti-Israel biasa, reported Associated Press.

The Trump administration had criticised the recent resolutions by the UNESCO and claimed the United Nations' cultural agency was continuing it's aanti-Israel biasa.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," the State Department said in a statement.

In 2011, the United States had stopped funding UNESCO after the UN cultural agency voted to include Palestinian Authority as a member.

The US withdraws fromA #UNESCO, reports AFP news agencyA pic.twitter.com/LatSCTWBYl

a News Nation (@NewsNationTV)A October 12, 2017

Headquartered in Paris, UNESCO is a specialised cultural agency of the United Nations (UN). It was established to contribute to the peace and security by promoting international collaboration through educational, scientific, and cultural reforms.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
A volcano in southwestern Japan is erupting for the first time in six years and spread ash in nearby cities and towns.

Japanese broadcaster TBS showed elementary school students wearing helmets and masks Thursday on the way to their school at the foot of the Shinmoedake volcano. Residents also described hearing rumbles from the volcano and ash fell in at least four cities and towns in Miyazaki prefecture.

The volcano on the border of Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures started erupting Wednesday for the first time in 6 years.

On Thursday, an ash plume rose 1,700 meters (5,600 feet) from the crater, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The agency has raised the volcanic alert level from 2 to 3 on a scale of 5. Level 3 warns people to not approach the volcano.

Pyroclastic flow, which is an emission of hot gases and volcanic matter at a high speed, is possible within 2 kilometers of the crater. Emissions of ash and volcanic rocks were forecast through Friday for a wider area, but the locations at risk would depend on wind conditions and altitude.

Oct 12 (ANNnewsCH) - 11a6aaaSaacaaYcaa12aacacsaaaaaaeaaaaceaaa3accsaaeaaaZaaaaaa
Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested an organized crime member who allegedly introduced a tattoo artist to a teenage girl, reports TBS News.

In April, Satoshi Takabayashi, a 43-year-old upper-level member of the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, allegedly introduced the girl, 17, to tattoo artist Masatoshi Iwase, a 38-year-old resident of Saitama Prefecture.

The girl subsequently received an irezumi tattoo, which are often sported by underworld figures, on her right shoulder and back during sessions at his residence in April and May.

Takabayashi, who has been accused of violating a prefectural ordinance regarding the healthy upbringing of youths, admits to the allegations. "She requested, so I made the introduction," the suspect was quoted. He has been sent to prosecutors.

In August, police first arrested Takabayashi for allegedly confining the girl at a gang office in Tokyo's Koto Ward over a one-month period.

Oct 12 (ANNnewsCH) - aecaaa17aaaaaaaaaaaaaYaaaaaasaSacaaca2aaeaaaaaYa
Ehime Prefectural Police have arrested a 63-year-old man who entered a police station in Niihama City on Wednesday and plunged a knife into a counter, reports TV Asahi.

At just past 5:00 p.m., Toshiaki Funagawa entered the front entrance of the Niihama Police Station and suddenly plunged a fruit knife with a 9.6-centimeter-long blade into the counter. Officers subsequently apprehended Funagawa, who did not offer resistance.

There were no injuries in the incident, according to police.

"I have the knife for self-defense," said Funagawa, who was accused of violating the Swords and Firearms Control Law.

Carrying a backpack and cane, Funagawa is believed to be living a nomadic existence. He had a total of about 3,000 yen in coins in his possession, police said.

Oct 12 (ANNnewsCH) - acaeaYcaacaaaaaSaaaaaaaaaaaSaaacacaaeaaaaaYa
The discovery of a new species of clione sea slug, usually found in chilly polar waters, in central Japan's Toyama Bay may shed light on sea temperature changes, a local university said Thursday.

The discovery was made by a team of researchers led by Zhang Jing, a professor at the University of Toyama's graduate school. Researchers in Japan have confirmed through gene analysis that the species -- the fifth of its kind -- has previously not been identified. Oct 12 (ANNnewsCH) - aaacaaaaaaceaaaaaYaaaZa8aaaaaaaaaaaacYcaeaaaaYaaaaaaaaaaaa7a10aaaaaaaeYaeaaaaYa

Japan braces for 8th wave of pandemic as Hokkaido cases soar

Nikkei - Nov 10

Japan could face a new peak in COVID-19 cases as the northernmost main island Hokkaido, where winter hits earliest, sets daily records. Japan could face a new peak in COVID-19 cases as the northernmost main island Hokkaido, where winter hits earliest, sets daily records.

M5.0 quake hits North of Tokyo

NHK - Nov 09

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake has rocked Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo. It hit at around 5:40 pm on Wednesday. A magnitude 5.0 earthquake has rocked Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo. It hit at around 5:40 pm on Wednesday.

Why Japanese Toilets Became So High Tech | The Japan Report

Japanese Comedian Meshida - Nov 09

Nowadays Japanese toilets are famous all over the world for being high-tech. Nowadays Japanese toilets are famous all over the world for being high-tech.

Sky watchers in Japan see Uranus hidden by totally eclipsed moon

NHK - Nov 09

Sky watchers across much of Japan have enjoyed an enormously rare celestial spectacle -- Uranus hidden by a totally eclipsed moon. Sky watchers across much of Japan have enjoyed an enormously rare celestial spectacle -- Uranus hidden by a totally eclipsed moon.

Is it safe to use public Wi-Fi when traveling to Japan?

newsonjapan.com - Nov 07

Frequent travelers might have numerous questions regarding the safety of public Wi-Fi connections. Frequent travelers might have numerous questions regarding the safety of public Wi-Fi connections.

What Happens When A Japanese Hospital's IT System Is Held Ransom?

CNA Insider - Nov 06

A nurse on night duty at a rural hospital 670km away from Tokyo realises something is amiss when multiple office printers begin spewing out strange printouts. A nurse on night duty at a rural hospital 670km away from Tokyo realises something is amiss when multiple office printers begin spewing out strange printouts.

Honda develops AI self-driving technology

NHK - Nov 03

Honda Motor says it is developing an AI self-driving system that uses cameras to help the vehicle better recognize its surroundings. This is the company's latest step toward putting autonomous driving technology into commercial use. Honda Motor says it is developing an AI self-driving system that uses cameras to help the vehicle better recognize its surroundings. This is the company's latest step toward putting autonomous driving technology into commercial use.

Japan records over 10,000 syphilis cases for first time

NHK - Nov 01

The number of syphilis cases in Japan this year has exceeded 10,000 for the first time since comparable data became available in 1999. The number of syphilis cases in Japan this year has exceeded 10,000 for the first time since comparable data became available in 1999.

Japan looks 6,000 meters under the sea for rare earths to counter China

mining.com - Nov 01

Japan is looking 6,000 meters under the sea for rare earths to counter Chinas dominance of the critical minerals that are used in everything from smartphones to weapons, according to the Yomiuri newspaper. Japan is looking 6,000 meters under the sea for rare earths to counter Chinas dominance of the critical minerals that are used in everything from smartphones to weapons, according to the Yomiuri newspaper.

Tokyo confirms first 6 cases of COVID Omicron subvariant XBB

NHK - Oct 29

The Tokyo Metropolitan government has announced the capital's first cases of the new coronavirus Omicron subvariant XBB. The Tokyo Metropolitan government has announced the capital's first cases of the new coronavirus Omicron subvariant XBB.

Japan to allow wage payments to digital wallets from April

Japan Today - Oct 27

Japan is planning to start allowing companies to pay wages to digital payment apps like PayPay and Rakuten Pay from April, the labor ministry said Wednesday, in a bid to promote cashless payments as a way to stimulate the economy. Japan is planning to start allowing companies to pay wages to digital payment apps like PayPay and Rakuten Pay from April, the labor ministry said Wednesday, in a bid to promote cashless payments as a way to stimulate the economy.

How Japan's Using Technology To Transform Elder Care

CNA Insider - Oct 27

How Japan is using tech to transform elderly care? How Japan is using tech to transform elderly care?

Japanese port city wants to become the Web3 hub for the country

cointelegraph.com - Oct 25

In Japan, the city of Fukuoka is looking toward the future of Web3 in its latest partnership with Astar Japan Labs, the company behind Japans leading blockchain, the Astar network. In Japan, the city of Fukuoka is looking toward the future of Web3 in its latest partnership with Astar Japan Labs, the company behind Japans leading blockchain, the Astar network.

Will VPNs Be Substituted by SASE?

newsonjapan.com - Oct 24

SASE got its first recognition after Gartner introduced it to describe the fusion of core network and security features delivered via a single cloud service. SASE got its first recognition after Gartner introduced it to describe the fusion of core network and security features delivered via a single cloud service.

Researchers: Noble gases found on asteroid samples retrieved by Hayabusa2 probe

NHK - Oct 21

A group of researchers says it has found traces of noble gases on sand and other asteroid samples brought back by a Japanese space probe. A group of researchers says it has found traces of noble gases on sand and other asteroid samples brought back by a Japanese space probe.
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21% plan to exceed World Bank global GDP growth forecast

TORONTO, Oct. 12, 2017 /CNW/ - Canada's middle-market businesses are focusing on new technology, expanding to different markets and attracting skilled talent. EY's inaugural Growth Barometer  which surveys businesses around the world with revenues of US$1 million to US$3 billion  finds leaders view technology as both a challenge and a risk, but are focused on harnessing its potential to grow.

"Canada's middle market is a prominent driver of our country's innovation and economic growth," say Francois Tellier, EY Canada's Growth Markets Leader. "Despite challenges from technology disruption, demographic changes and geopolitical uncertainty, EY's survey finds business confidence is high. In fact, one in five respondents report they anticipate exceeding World Bank global GDP growth forecasts of 2.7%."

Technology: threat and opportunity

EY's survey finds over one-fifth of Canada's middle market cite technology disruption as their greatest challenge, but they also recognize its potential voting it the number one contributor to their growth strategy. Thirty per cent say technology is also the key to improve productivity.

"It's no secret technological disruption is gathering pace," says Tellier. "We're seeing this especially in Canada, where cities like Toronto and Montreal are gaining momentum on establishing themselves as AI hubs. Companies may feel technology disruption is pushing them behind in areas such as digital and e-commerce, but they're recognizing the need to dedicate more time and resources to them."

Expanding into new territories

According to the survey, 29% of Canada's middle-market businesses rank expansion into new geographical markets as their top growth priority. This is a reflection of the 37% of Canadian respondents that rank globalization as the No. 1 megatrend impacting their business  compared to only one-quarter of global respondents.

"This isn't an unusual growth strategy for Canadian businesses," says Tellier. "Our country is spread thinly across six times zones, and this lack of concentration forces companies to become global, faster  especially compared to the US where it's easier to grow regionally."

Similarly, Canadian respondents rank expanding into adjacent business activities as their second top growth strategy. While this reflects a willingness to diversify, it also demonstrates the dynamism of the market as new technologies begin to blur traditional sector boundaries and form subsectors, such as FinTech and agrictech.

Building a culture of innovation

When it comes to delivering on its strategy, Canada's middle market understands the critical importance of attracting the right type of people. Thirty per cent of businesses seek to harness the specialist skills of their people to drive their innovation agenda.

Although, finding people with the right skills to address the digital world is becoming a greater challenge. This demonstrates the strong link between technology and talent  you can't have one without the other, suggests Tellier. "With new technology comes the need to develop the right talent."

"Fortunately, the middle market has shown resilience and flexibility, and is well positioned to exploit the changing market. While technology disruption and skilled talent shortages can be barriers, they're not roadblocks for growth. Companies need to capitalize on technology to drive productivity and innovation, while investing in their people in order to successfully enter new markets," says Tellier.

Some of Canada's top middle-market leaders are being recognized in EY's Entrepreneur Of The YearTM program. Regional galas are in full swing across Canada, celebrating the achievements of daring entrepreneurs. The overall Canadian winner will be announced at EY's national gala in Toronto on 30 November.

For more information, please visit ey.com/ca/eoy

About EY

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

For more information, please visit ey.com/ca. Follow us on Twitter @EYCanada.

EY refers to the global organization and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

SOURCE EY (Ernst & Young)

For further information: Matt O'Connor, [email protected], 403 206 5675; Victoria McQueen, [email protected], 416 943 3141; Camille Lariviere, [email protected], 514 879 8021

Related Links

http://www.ey.com


Initiative to provide knowledge-based program support services for C4ISR organizations via the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM)

FAIRFAX, VA, Oct. 12, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) announced that it has been selected to participate in an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract to support the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) with regards to its Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services (RS3) requirements. RS3 carries a $37.4 billion ceiling with a 10-year ordering period (a 5-year base with a 5-year optional ordering period). The performance-based contract will provide knowledge-based program support services for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) organizations throughout the federal government. These services include engineering, research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E), logistics, acquisition and strategic planning, education and training services.

Army Contracting Command  Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), the contract administrator, provides, integrates and sustains C4ISR readiness to enable Unified Land Operations for the U.S. Army. Beyond the Army, RS3 will provide customized, best-value solutions to a diverse group of organizations that span the spectrum of C4ISR mission requirements throughout the world, including Navy, Air Force, Reserves and National Guard.

RS3 consolidates five existing or expiring Army multiple award IDIQs: Rapid Response-Third Generation (R2-3G), Strategic Services Sourcing (S3), Technical, Administrative and Operations Support Services (TAOSS), Technical Information Engineering Services (TIES) and Warrior Enabling Broad Sensors (WEBS). Nearly 400 responses were received for the RS3 opportunity by ACC-APG.

"CGI is proud to continue to support the U.S. Army with our world-class, global IT experience," said CGI Senior Vice-President Keith Quigley. "This new contract aligns with CGI's core capabilities and will allow for us to provide faster support and easier access to our IT products and services. We're proud to say that the Army considers CGI a trusted partner and we plan to continue to support the Army's endeavors throughout this contract and beyond."

About CGI Federal Inc.

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") and in other public disclosure documents filed with the Canadian securities authorities (filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (filed on EDGAR at www.sec.gov), 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.

For further information: Investors: Lorne Gorber, Executive Vice-President, Global Communications and Investor Relations, [email protected], +1 514-841-3355; Media: Jennifer Goodman Horowitz, Director, Communications, [email protected], +1 703-227-4636

Related Links

http://www.cgi.com/


Comprehensive cooperation in terms of technology development, localized production and commercialization

MUNSTER, Germany, Oct. 12, 2017 /CNW/ - COMPO EXPERT GmbH (COMPO EXPERT), a leading manufacturer of specialty fertilizers for commercial use and portfolio company of the London-headquartered global private equity firm XIO Group, is entering a strategic partnership for the brands Blaukorn and NovaTec with Hubei Xinyangfeng Fertilizer Co., Ltd (Xinyangfeng), a leading fertilizer manufacturer in the People's Republic of China. In the future, the two companies will engage in close and comprehensive cooperation in technology development, localized production and joint commercialization of highly efficient, environmentally friendly fertilizers for the growing Chinese market.

Comprehensive cooperation in terms of technology development, localized production and commercialization for highly efficient and environmentally friendly fertilizers under the brands Blaukorn  and NovaTec 

and NovaTec Strengthening product series of nutrients for cash crops and high value crops that deliver considerable benefits for Chinese farmers

COMPO EXPERT with significantly extended access to growing Chinese market

Efficient local production with improved ecological footprint

COMPO EXPERT CEO Thomas H. Ahrens : "This strategic partnership is a key milestone in the consistent implementation of our global growth strategy."

: "This strategic partnership is a key milestone in the consistent implementation of our global growth strategy." Xinyangfeng President Bin Huang: "Xinyangfeng's decades of experience and our extensive distribution network in China are perfectly complemented by the great technology and production expertise of COMPO EXPERT."

Thomas H. Ahrens, the CEO of COMPO EXPERT said: "China is a key building block on our way to become the leading manufacturer of specialty fertilizer for commercial use worldwide. Xinyangfeng is an outstanding fit for us as a strategic partner and the partnership agreement we signed today is a key milestone in the consistent implementation of our global growth strategy. I am firmly convinced that our cooperation will be a success and will create value for both companies as well as Chinese agriculture as a whole."

Through the cooperation, Xinyangfeng will become COMPO EXPERT's exclusive partner for the brands Blaukorn and NovaTec in China. With its extensive nation-wide distribution network through 30 sales offices and approximately 4,100 wholesalers and 60,000 retailers, Xinyangfeng has a very strong position in the Chinese fertilizer market, which will benefit COMPO EXPERT. Both companies will offer a product series of nutrients for cash crops and high value crops that meet the rising expectations of Chinese farmers in terms of crop yields and sustainability. For that purpose, Xinyangfeng will establish a local manufacturing facility in Zhonglin in the Hubei province. The resulting short transport routes will ensure efficient and environmentally friendly production.

Bin Huang, the President of Xinyangfeng: "We are pleased with our strategic partnership with COMPO EXPERT. It combines two outstanding companies that are an excellent fit for one another. Xinyangfeng's decades of experience and our extensive distribution network in China are perfectly complemented by the great technology and production expertise of COMPO EXPERT. Together we are now well positioned to meet the growing demand of Chinese farmers for modern fertilizers."

COMPO EXPERT, Europe's leading manufacturer of special fertilizers, offers a broad portfolio of high-quality innovative fertilizers for commercial use. The strategic partnership is centered around two products: granular NPK branded as Blaukorn and stabilized, granular NPK under the NovaTec brand. The Chinese market offers great growth potential especially for high quality and environmentally friendly fertilizer products with high efficiency. While China accounts for about ten percent of the world's cropland, the fertilizers used there represent almost one third of global consumption.

Murphy Qiao, Partner and Head of Asia of the XIO Group, the London-headquartered owner of COMPO EXPERT: "Since the beginning of 2015 we have been supporting the management of COMPO EXPERT in the development and implementation of a value-generating global growth strategy. The company has expanded its leading position in Europe as well as in Latin and South America. The strategic partnership with Xinyangfeng is a win-win-cooperation for both companies. It provides COMPO EXPERT with extended access to the growth market of China, while Xinyangfeng will significantly expand its production know-how and product range."

Joseph Pacini, CEO and Partner of XIO Group added: "COMPO EXPERT's strategic partnership with Xinyangfeng exemplifies XIO Group's strategy to identify and invest in market-leading and high-performing businesses located across Europe and North America and to help these companies in capitalizing on untapped opportunities in fast growing markets, particularly those in Asia."

About COMPO EXPERT

COMPO EXPERT GmbH, with headquarters in Munster in the German region of Westphalia, is an international company with locations in Europe, North and South America, Asia and South Africa. The Company produces and sells special fertilizers and biostimulants for all areas of plant cultivation. COMPO EXPERT offers a broad range of high quality, innovative special fertilizers for commercial use. Its product range includes innovative slow-release fertilizers, special mineral fertilizers, coated fertilizers, nutrient salts, liquid fertilizers, trace nutrients and soil treatments. With those products, COMPO EXPERT is a market leader in Europe.

COMPO EXPERT was acquired in 2015 by XIO Group, a global alternative investments company, and now has approximately 600 employees. For more information, visit: http://www.compo-expert.com.

About XIO Group

XIO Group is a global alternative investments firm headquartered in London with more than $3.2 billion of committed capital that employs an international team of more than 70 professionals. Representing more than 15 nationalities among its employees and its network of advisors, the firm has operations in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong and mainland China. With a seasoned international investment team that includes professionals with experience working at many of the world's leading private equity firms, XIO Group seeks to deploy its capital for global transactions. XIO Group's strategy is to identify and invest in market-leading businesses located across North America and Europe and help these companies to capitalize on untapped opportunities in fast growing markets, particularly in Asia. XIO Group is led by its four founders: Athene Li, Joseph Pacini, Murphy Qiao and Carsten Geyer. For more information, visit: http://www.xiogroup.com.

About Xinyangfeng

Established in 1982, Hubei Xinyangfeng Fertilizer Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Jingmen, Hubei Province and Beijing, People's Republic of China. After more than three decades' development, the Company has an asset of 7 billion Chinese Yuan in fertilizer main business, and 7,000 employees in total. With a production capacity of 2.6 million tons phosphate compound fertilizer per year, the Company has developed into a large scale phosphate chemical company publicly listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (Stock Code: 000902) and a State-level high and new technology company, integrating the research, production and distribution of high density phosphate compound fertilizer and new-type fertilizers. During the "13th National Five-Year Plan" period, the Company will stick to the innovation-driven development concept and open synergy spirit, focus on two major business units of fertilizer and modern agriculture, further explore two types of key resources from technology and distribution channels, form four platforms of internationalization, industrial cooperation, finance and investment, as well as digitalization, so as to realize a strategic transformation and upgrade of the Company, becoming a leading modern agricultural solution provider. For more information, visit: http://www.xinyf.com.

SOURCE COMPO EXPERT GmbH

For further information: Media Contact: FTI Consulting, Marietta Weiss, Tel.: +49(0)-699-2037-118, [email protected]; Steffi Susan Kim, Tel.: +49(0)-699-2037-115, [email protected]
SIMCOE, ON, Oct. 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Our Government is committed to a strong food processing sector as a driver of jobs and prosperity for Canadians.

Ontario may soon be home to thousands of acres of Hazelnut orchards. Member of Parliament for London North Centre, Peter Fragiskatos on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lawrence MacAulay, announced today an investment of up to $492,052 to the Ontario Hazelnut Association (OHA) to help develop the hazelnut Industry.

This investment enables the Ontario Hazelnut Association (OHA) to develop orchard management practices to enhance early development of hazelnut trees, develop strategies to mitigate drought stress in nursery trees and establish production techniques to multiply hazelnut plants for commercial use. This project is being conducted in partnership with the University of Guelph and Ferrero Canada.

Quotes

"Launching a Hazelnut industry in Ontario is good news for our farmers, our consumers and our economy. This investment is part of our Government's plan to support a strong and diverse agri-food sector in Ontario, in order to create good jobs and grow the middle class."

- Peter Fragiskatos, Member of Parliament for London North Centre

"The OHA is incredibly pleased to be receiving this tremendous support from Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. This project has been making significant research contributions to the development of the hazelnut industry in Ontario by creating new innovations in micropropagation, variety selection, and orchard management. This new crop has enormous potential for Ontario and this support has brought us much closer to realizing our goal of establishing 10,000 hectares in the province by 2027 and creating new economic opportunities for rural communities. We are grateful for our partnerships with the federal and provincial government, the University of Guelph, and Ferrero Canada. We are very proud of the work the University of Guelph has been doing and look forward to future collaborations with both the University of Guelph and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada."

- Linda Grimo, Chair, Ontario Hazelnut Association

Quick facts

The OHA, located in Guelph, Ontario , is a not-for-profit organization representing the interests of the new hazelnut sector in Ontario . It was established in 2013.

, is a not-for-profit organization representing the interests of the new hazelnut sector in . It was established in 2013. Budget 2017 set an ambitious goal of growing Canada's agri-food exports to $75 billion by 2025.

by 2025. Budget 2017 focused on agri-food as one of the top industries in our Government's Innovation and Skills Plan, an ambitious effort to make Canada a world leader in innovation, with a focus on expanding growth and creating good, well-paying jobs.

This investment is being made through the Growing Forward 2 AgriInnovation Program, a five-year, up to $698 million initiative.

Additional links

Growing Forward 2  Agriculture and Agri-food Canada

AgriInnovation  Agriculture and Agri-food Canada

Ontario Hazelnut Association

Follow us on Twitter: @AAFC_Canada

Like us on Facebook: CanadianAgriculture

SOURCE Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

For further information: Guy Gallant, Director of Communications, Office of the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, 613-773-1059; Media Relations, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, 613-773-7972, 1-866-345-7972

Related Links

www.agr.gc.ca


Phase 1 drilling at East Tsagaan Suvarga ("East TS") completed for 3145 metres and 13 holes, with soil sampling analysis and initial follow up geophysics ongoing;





Drilling has been successful intersecting the Tsagaan Suvarga Intrusive Complex ("TSIC") at potential open cut depths and supporting a preserved down fault block(s);





Phase 1 drilling has started at the Bayan Tal target for approx. 2850 metres and 6 holes, with historic drilling on the margin returning 18 metres @ 0.66% Cu Eq

VANCOUVER, Oct. 12, 2017 /CNW/ - Kincora Copper Ltd. (the "Company", "Kincora") (TSXV:KCC) is pleased to announce first phase drilling of porphyry copper targets has recently been completed at our East TS target and has now commenced at our Bayan Tal target in the Southern Gobi, Mongolia.

The maiden drill program at the East TS target comprised 3145 metres for 13 holes, with 6 holes intersecting the interpreted Devonian quartz monzodiorite of the TSIC, refer Exhibit 4. Visual interpretation has deemed the drilling program at East TS a "technical success" having intersected a felsic intrusive at or around target depth and providing geological information to design the next stage geophysical programs and interpretation.

Having been at site overseeing activities at the East Tsagaan Suvarga target, Peter Leaman, Senior Vice-President of Exploration, commented:

"The first phase drilling program consisting of reverse circulation and percussion pre-collars with diamond tails totaling 3145 meters has been completed at the East TS target and been successful, inline with our expectations for the program.

Phase one was designed to primarily test various ground magnetic targets and provide an improved geological knowledge of our interpretations of the region. The program successfully intersected interpreted Devonian age monzodiorite in 6 drill holes with further understanding of the outcrop in the general target zone refined. A broad area of monzodiorite and various structural corridors has been outlined over which ground infill magnetic and gravity surveys have commenced in order to refine zones for more detailed induced polarization surveys and specific target testing of mineralization in a fully funded second phase drilling program.

The monzodiorite is the dominant intrusive rock type hosting Tsagaan Suvarga porphyry copper mineralization, and potential is also emerging to host to a large tonnage and higher grade Hugo Dummett or Heruga equivalent system within the TSIC which may have been preserved with materially better grades than the Serven Sukhait open pit on the western margin of the Complex. We are looking to advance this latter new concept as well as the potential for the original analogue for another Serven Sukhait open pit deposit on the eastern margin of the TSIC.

The successful exploration efforts at East TS provide a template for which we are looking to systematically replicate across the rest of our commanding portfolio in the world-class Oyu Tolgoi-Tsagaan Suvarga Devonian copper belt".

A 100 x 100 metre soil sampling across select areas has been completed with infill mapping of outcrop. Infill ground magnetic and maiden gravity surveys are nearing completion and will assist in refining our interpretations with constraints provided from better knowledge of surface and down-hole geology from exploration efforts over the last couple of months. The recently commenced geophysical programs and more detailed Induced Polarization ("IP") surveys layered with the first phase drilling results are expected to provide vectors to support testing multiple specific targets in the fully funded 5000m second phase drill program.

The visual inspection of core, XRF samples of soil samples, and stratigraphy inferred by fossils supports the East TS target being analogous to the Devonian age Serven Sukhait open pit (307Mt @ 0.54% Cu resource). Further encouragement is provided from both surface mapping and drilling that has intersected interpreted lower Carboniferous cover above the Devonian TSIC, which coupled with improved interpretations of key structural and fault features supports the concept of a potentially preserved Devonian complex. The latter would be an analogue for East TS and potentially hosting a preserved high grade Hugo or Heruga orebody as at Oyu Tolgoi, a materially larger scale exploration prize.

Interpreted results for the first phase drilling program (including traditional assay results, age dating, fertility and green rock analysis), ongoing and proposed geophysical programs, and their integrated interpretations and follow up programs for the next stage of systematic target testing will be provided following Kincora's next Technical Workshop.

Background on the Bayan Tal Igneous Complex ("BTIC")

The BTIC sits almost half way between the Oyu Tolgoi and Tsagaan Suvarga Devonian porphyry systems in a similarly interpreted favourable intersection of arc parallel and oblique structures. Such a structural setting is common for most large-scale porphyry deposits globally.

Age dating of a conglomerate in the BTIC has confirmed a Devonian age, supporting the potential for "Oyu Tolgoi type" concealed mineralization. The conglomerate is a key indicative marker at OT and is stratigraphically located above the high-grade mineralisation. The BTIC is the only other confirmed significantly untested complex of Devonian age and similar stratigraphy to OT known to date in the Southern Mongolia Arc.

Limited exploration to date including drilling has returned copper-gold mineralization (up to 18m @ 0.66% Cu Eq and 18m @ 0.75% Cu Eq) on the margin of a large target under shallow to moderate cover.

A two-drill rig program has recently commenced at our wholly owned Bayan Tal license. Outcropping mineralization and systematic exploration integrating geology and geophysics has refined multiple potential drill targets that are the focus of the ongoing first phase 2850 metre, hole 6 drill program.

The Devonian age, gold rich Oyu Tolgoi copper porphyry system in the southeast of the Southern Mongolian Arc is a Tier 1 asset, being the largest high-grade group of Paleozoic porphyry deposits known in the world, which coupled with the underexplored Tsagaan Suvarga Devonian porphyry system encourages exploration in this underexplored district.

About Kincora

Kincora is a junior resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties, with a focus on Tier 1 copper-gold projects in Mongolia. For further information: www.kincoracopper.com.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information in this news release was prepared in accordance with the standards of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum and National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and was reviewed, verified and compiled by Kincora's geological staff under the supervision of Peter Leaman, Senior Vice-President of Exploration of Kincora Copper, who is the Qualified Person for the purpose of NI 43-101.

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.

SOURCE Kincora Copper Limited

For further information: Sam Spring, President and Chief Executive Officer, [email protected] or +61431 329 345
Buffalo and Rochester will submit a joint, regional application in the pursuit of Amazon's proposed second North American headquarters in Western New York.

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 two development agencies - Invest Buffalo Niagara and Greater Rochester Enterprise announced their collaboration Thursday. They have agreed to work together in a joint effort to lure Amazon to Upstate NY.

"In assessing the full scope of the Amazon HQ2 RFP opportunity, it was apparent that by linking our efforts, the combined Buffalo Rochester Metro Corridor can offer a proposal that is both compelling and extremely competitive," said InBN President and CEO Tom Kucharski and GRE Interim President and CEO Matt Hurlbutt.

The Buffalo and Rochester 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.

Economic development officials from Central New York and the Mohawk Valley are also preparing a joint pitch to Amazon for the online retailer's second headquarters.
The industrial scandal engulfing Kobe Steel began to reverberate overseas as Japan's third-biggest steelmaker said its staff falsified data about the strength and durability of some aluminum and copper products used in planes, trains and potentially a space rocket.

Shares plunged 22 percent and the cost to insure Kobe Steel debt against default soared as customers including Toyota, Honda and Subaru said they had used materials that were subject to falsification while Hitachi said trains exported to the U.K. were affected.

One outside estimate put the potential cost of replacing the parts at about 15 billion yen ($133 million), but the damage to the company -- in the form of both reputational harm or possible legal challenges-- could be much greater.

"At the moment, the impact is unclear but if this leads to recalls, the cost would be huge," said Takeshi Irisawa, an analyst at Tachibana Securities Co. "There's a possibility that the company would have to shoulder the cost of a recall in addition to the cost for replacement."

Kobe Steel's admission raises fresh concern about the integrity of Japanese manufacturers. Nissan last week said it would recall more than 1 million cars after regulators discovered unauthorized inspectors approved vehicle quality, while Takata Corp. pleaded guilty this year of misleading automakers about the safety of its air bags. Kobe Steel said the products were delivered to more than 200 unidentified companies, with the falsification intended to make the metals look as if they met client quality standards.

Chief Executive Officer Hiroya Kawasaki is now leading a committee to probe quality issues. The fabrication of figures was found at all four of Kobe Steel's local aluminum plants in conduct that was systematic, and for some items the practice dated back some 10 years, Executive Vice President Naoto Umehara said on Sunday. The comments were confirmed by a company spokesman.

Kobe Steel, one of Japan's oldest industrial companies, was founded more than a century ago. Headquartered in the western port city, it made about 7 million metric tons of crude steel in the year to March, as well as aluminum and copper. Its units include Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., which produces diggers.

Toyota said it has found Kobe Steel materials, for which the supplier falsified data, in hoods, doors and peripheral areas. "We are rapidly working to identify which vehicle models might be subject to this situation and what components were used," Toyota spokesman Takashi Ogawa said. "We recognize that this breach of compliance principles on the part of a supplier is a grave issue."

Kobe Steel said it discovered the falsification in inspections on products shipped from September 2016 to August 2017, adding there haven't been any reports of safety issues. The products account for 4 percent of shipments of aluminum and copper parts as well as castings and forgings.

Based on the assumption that 5 percent of the company's annual sales of aluminum products are nonconforming, JPMorgan Securities Japan Co. estimated it would cost from 10 billion to 15 billion yen for Kobe Steel to replace the entire volume with conforming products, according to a report by analyst Kazuhisa Mori.

Kobe Steel materials were used in Hitachi trains exported to the U.K.'s Agility Trains, according to Hitachi spokesman Masataka Morita. The trains haven't started operation yet. Materials were also used in East Japan Railway Co., Central Japan Railway Co. bullet trains in Japan, he said, adding that the trains were inspected after completion and there was no problems with their strength.

Subaru has produced training planes for Japan Self-Defense Forces and wings for Boeing jets such as the Boeing Dreamliner, according to a spokesman, who added the company was checking which planes and parts used affected aluminum. "Nothing in our review to date leads us to conclude that this issue presents a safety concern, and we will continue to work diligently with our suppliers to complete our investigation," Boeing said in a separate statement.

Honda said it used falsified material from Kobe Steel in car doors and hoods while Mazda Motor Corp. confirmed it uses aluminum from the company. Suzuki Motor Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. all said they are checking whether their vehicles are affected.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries spokesman Genki Ono said Kobe Steel aluminum was used in the MRJ regional jet as well as the H-IIA rocket, which was launched by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on Tuesday for a satellite. "We perceive that there was no problem as the rocket launch was a success," he said. "Checks are under way, but at this point no large effects have been found in the manufacture of the rocket or MRJ."

Kobe Steel CEO Kawasaki has run the company since 2013, and has recently overseen moves to expand its presence in aluminum. Earlier this year, the company said it was spending $500 million to boost output of the lightweight metal, including buying a half-stake in a plant in South Korea. Kobe Steel's aluminum and copper operations account for about 20 percent of total sales, according to data for the quarter ended June 30.

"Aluminum is a strategic business for Kobe Steel," said Irisawa at Tachibana Securities. "If the aluminum business doesn't work out well, I question where the company can make money," given the mainstay steel business remains one of low profitability, he said.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Tuesday it was tracking the case. "We recognize this as an improper act that will shake fair trading," Yasuji Komiyama, director at the metal industries division, told reporters in Tokyo. "We urge the company to make efforts to recover the trust of society as a whole, not just its customers."

This latest scandal threatens to further undermine confidence in the quality of Japanese manufacturing. Shinko Wire Co., a Kobe Steel affiliate, in 2016 said a unit had misstated data on the strength of stainless wires for springs and that it had supplied customers with alloy that failed to meet industrial standards.

In other product-related cases, Takata pleaded guilty in the U.S. in February to one count of wire fraud for misleading automakers about the safety of its air bags. Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. officials were referred to prosecutors in March after the company's 2015 admission it falsified data on rubber for earthquake-proofing buildings.

"With a string of negative surprises at Kobe Steel lately, we believe investors are likely to distrust management even more due to this latest incident, despite emerging signs of earnings improvement in the steel and construction machinery segments," JPMorgan's Mori wrote.

---

Bloomberg's Kevin Buckland, Nao Sano, Kiyotaka Matsuda, Stephen Stapczynski and Sungwoo Park contributed.
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WEST HAVEN  When it comes to mass shooters, there generally are a limited number of motives and many similarities from one to another  but Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock was a little different in some ways, criminologist Henry C. Lee said Thursday.

To begin with, there was his age: 64.

Thats older than most mass shooters, said Lee, the retired former head of the Connecticut State Police Crime Lab. Lee is the founder of the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven and one of the worlds leading forensic scientists.

The case also is unusual because nearly two weeks after the shootings, we still dont know Paddocks motive, he said.

But in other ways, the Las Vegas shooter fits right in to the standard profile, said Lee, who investigated and/or and testified in such high-profile cases as the O.J. Simpson trial, the JonBenet Ramsey slaying and the Woodchipper Murder Trial of Richard Crafts, who killed his Danish-born wife, Helle Crafts, in Newtown in 1986.

Most of the subjects are male and most are loners who feel that life has been unfair to them or their lives are falling apart, Lee said.

Lee spoke to local TV and print journalists at a news conference in the colleges entry hall. They were his first comments to date on the Oct. 1 shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, which was the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in the U.S. history.

The shooting during a Jason Aldean concert killed 58 people and injured about 500.

Whats clear is that he planned it and, in fact, appears to have planned the massacre for some time, Lee said.

It takes a while to accumulate that much ammunition and so many firearms, Lee said. He also pointed out that Paddock installed his own cameras in his room and the hallway outside his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in advance of the crime.

That usually indicates it was pre-planned, he said.

Asked whether he had been contacted to lend his expertise to the case, Lee said, No. Im retired, and while the Dr. Henry C. Lee Institute at University of New Haven has a cold-case center, we work on only a few cases each year.

Lee suggested that one reason why the investigation is taking some time is because the location is the casino, and casinos have cameras all over the place.

About an hour after Paddock fired his final shot, police found him dead in his hotel room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Among the things that investigators no doubt are looking into are how his weapons were transferred, whether he had an accomplice, whether he had stayed at that casino hotel before and what information might be contained on his cellphone, including what his final messages might have been, Lee said.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
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NEW HAVEN  The phone call from her sister-in-law was alarming.

If we dont get them out, they are both going to die, Margarita Serrano was told about the medical challenges her husbands parents in Puerto Rico were facing.

We went into a panic, said Serrano, a medical records and interpreter supervisor at the Fair Haven Community Health Center.

She was one of several workers at the center who talked about the stress of having elderly relatives in Puerto Rico who are running low on necessary medications, and the equal stress of worrying about coverage for their medical needs now that some have arrived in the United States.

Serrano, in a lot of ways, is the classic example of the female caregiver who tends to her elderly parents while continuing to work full-time.

She already takes care of her own father, who also has medical problems.

Her mother-in-law, who just recently arrived here from the island, has mobility issues, having lost a leg to diabetes. Her father-in-law has a catheter that needs regular tending to prevent infection.

Things such as transport by a medical van  not an issue for patients with insurance  becomes a financial worry and can be a serious obstacle as these patients and their families look to make medical arrangements while their insurance questions get worked out.

Serrano started to cry at one point, as she described how her mother-in-law feels like a burden and is generally upset by the trauma of the damage to Puerto Rico and leaving her home.

She is taking it really hard, Serrano said.

She said her relative said the landscape looks like someone just took a match and threw it and everything just went up.

Serrano herself is stressed.

Im standing still. I dont know what to do, she said of making an appointment before getting insurance, which may take 30 to 45 days to go into effect.

Once Medicaid is back in place for them, it can also help with items these households will need to make them accessible to the handicapped.

Dr. Meredith Niess said she would hear stories anecdotally from staff, about the problems they were facing and the stress they were carrying as they open their homes to relatives.

They met as a group recently so they could share their concerns and look for solutions together.

One thing they agreed on is that upbeat reporting coming from the island doesnt reflect what they are being told of the conditions.

Fair Haven is home to a large Hispanic population, many of whom are Puerto Rican, while many of the center staff either were born there or still have close relatives on the island.

Brenda Negron, who works on patient access and in medical records, said half of the roof on her mothers house is gone, but her bedroom is protected. There still are no lights and she worries about the availability of food and medicine.

The stories of long lines for gas, food, water and to withdraw money from a bank were ubiquitous, as was the fear of being mugged if out after dark. Negron said care packages are being vandalized.

Negron said her mother wont leave her damaged home for fear she will miss an opportunity to fix it.

She is being stubborn at the moment, Negron said, as she and her sisters continue to convince their parents to come to the mainland.

Three weeks since Hurricane Maria knocked out the electrical system, threatened clean water systems and leveled the vegetation, Negron said she has yet to hear from relatives whose homes were damaged by mudslides.

Other needs that will have to be met include winter clothes for the newcomers.

Serrano has a narrow bathroom that is not properly equipped and would be expensive to remodel.

Emotionally I am drained. I have always taken care of my dad. Now Im shuffling my own parents and his parents, she said.

Niess told her and the others to make an appointment for the newcomers with the clinic as soon as they arrive so they can get into the system.

That will give them access to us and our resources, Niess said.

Everything we see with our staff, we will see at some point with our patients, as well, who will have some of the same burdens, Karen Nemiah, head of marketing and development at the center, said.

This all happens as the state doesnt have a budget and Congress has failed to renew funding for federally qualified health clinics.

It is the perfect storm, Nemiah said.

Kelly Rivera, a clinical patient navigator, cried as she recounted how her parents lost everything in the hurricane. They will be arriving here next week.

I havent been able to talk to them yet, Rivera said, given lack of electricity and Internet connections.

She said her husband will fly there to escort her 83-year-old father and 69-year-old mother, who uses a wheelchair and suffers from depression.

Rivera, who has young children, said she has room for her parents.

Dr. Suzanne Lagarde, the chief executive officer of the center, said she is glad the staff shared their concerns, and she assured them that all new patients from Puerto Rico will be taken care of.

We absolutely welcome them, Lagarde said. We will take care of them. We will meet their medical needs. Whether or not they have insurance, it doesnt matter.

She said it also became clear that new staff who dont have accumulated time off may need to be able to care for arriving relatives.

Lagarde said she will propose that for these kinds of circumstances and for a set number of hours or days, staff should be able to donate time off to those who need it. The CEO said she will bring this back to the clinic board.

She also has plans to try to open up communication with the health centers in Puerto Rico to eventually share information about patients.

Again, to calm those concerned about health care bills and insurance, she assured them that when insurance is approved, it will be retroactive.

I dont think we will lose in the process. It doesnt matter. If it is a medical issue, we will see those patients, Lagarde said.
We are living in an absurd and maddening time.

A lone wolf with a military-style arsenal massacres 58 people who are attending a country music festival in Las Vegas and injures about 500.

Members of Congress pray and offer sympathy to the victims and their families.

Members of Congress always pray when there is a particularly horrific mass shooting. They bow their heads, just as too many of them bow to the National Rifle Association and the gun industry.

God forbid we should cut into the profits of the gun manufacturers. After all, we live in a capitalist country.

This isnt just about Las Vegas. Its about our towns and cities in Connecticut and all over the country.

Eight days after Americas latest gun slaughter, the New York Times ran a full page of chilling statistics from the Gun Violence Archive. It showed how little time it took for 58 people to be killed by guns in places all over the country in 2017.

For instance: 58 guns deaths in Chicago in just 28 days.

In Memphis, Tennessee, it took 138 days to reach 58 deaths caused by guns.

Columbus, Ohio: 58 deaths in 179 days.

Louisville, Kentucky: 58 deaths in 177 days.

You get the picture.

Theres always a damn gun. Everywhere a gun.

On Oct. 7, the New Haven Register reported, approximately 150 angry people, including at least two parents whose kids were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, gathered outside the New Haven Police Department headquarters.

They listened as our U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (all Democrats), who have been fighting for gun control legislation for years, spoke again about the need for real action.

Murphy noted Connecticut has the second-strongest gun laws in the nation, some of them enacted after 20 kids and six adults were killed at that school in Sandy Hook in 2012, a couple of weeks before Christmas.

Guess what, those laws work! They save lives. Connecticut now has the fifth-lowest rate of gun deaths.

But as New Haven Police Chief Anthony Campbell said at the rally, this city is no stranger to gun violence.

We have fewer homicides now than in past years in this city. But as the court reporter for the New Haven Register, Im still sitting in courtrooms listening to shattering testimony about teenagers being gunned down in our streets. I have been to far too many sentencings punctuated by the wailing of victims parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters.

Theres always a damn gun. Everywhere a gun.

The Newtown Action Alliance, which was formed after the carnage there, reports that more than 500,000 Americans have been killed or injured by guns since that terrible day in December 2012. The Las Vegas massacre was the 272nd mass shooting in America this year.

The alliance again pleaded with members of Congress to pass laws requiring background checks for all gun sales and banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines.

Where is the moral leadership? Where is President Trump?

He has said virtually nothing about pushing for gun control laws. But he made sure he was at the NRAs convention last April. He assured its cheering members: You came through for me, and Im going to come through for you.

The NRAs on-line magazine, Americas First Freedom, last year called one of the rapid-fire devices used by the Las Vegas shooter sublime. Tell that to the victims.

How can we begin to change this horror show? Murphy said during the police station rally that most people in Congress fear one thing: losing the next election. And so things wont change until those politicians are afraid they will lose an election if they continue to vote against the wishes of their constituents.

Those spineless people in Congress need to stop spouting nonsense as they try to justify their lack of response. Heres what U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told a TV reporter as Thune suggested gun control wouldnt do much to curb this epidemic of violence: I think people are going to have to take steps in their own lives, to take precautions, to protect themselves. And in situations like that, you know, try to stay safe. As somebody said, get small.

Get small? Thats his plan of action? Such small thinking. Such a cowardly fool.

The family of slain Sandy Hook teacher Victoria Soto issued a statement after the Las Vegas shootings, with the conclusion: We dont have to live like this.

Contact Randall Beach at 203-680-9345 or rbeach@nhregister.com
A new report released by the Environmental Defense Fund contends the natural gas utilities of two Connecticut-based companies manipulated space on transmission lines, driving up the price of the fuel as well as the cost of electricity in New England.

The 74-page report estimates the alleged actions of Eversource Energy and Avangrid increased average natural gas prices by 38 percent and the cost of electricity by 20 percent. As a result, the reports authors said New England consumers paid $3.6 billion more for the electricity than they should have over the past three years.

Officials with both companies strongly denied the claims made by the report. Orange-based Avangrid operates two natural gas distribution companies in Connecticut and one in Massachusetts while Eversource, which is headquartered in Hartford, also has natural gas utilities in those two states.

Mitch Gross, an Eversource spokesman, called the report a complete fabrication.

A majority of New Englands power plants run on natural gas: 63 percent of the electricity being produced Thursday in the region, for instance, came from generating units that run on the fuel, according to ISO-New Englands website. Space in pipelines that bring the fuel into the region is constrained and any time there is not enough capacity in the system to meet the needs of the power plant operators, it drives up the cost of producing electricity.

The report contends the two companies natural gas subsidiaries manipulated capacity by scheduling more natural gas deliveries than they actually needed on any given day. The reports authors allege that the natural gas utilities would then cancel some of the capacity requests later in the same day so that the space could no longer be resold.

This behavior blocks other firms from utilizing pipeline capacity, which artificially limits gas supply to the region and drives up gas and electricity prices, the report says in part. While the studied behavior may have been within the firms contractual rights, the significant impacts in both the gas and electricity markets underscore the need to improve regulation and coordination as these two energy markets become increasingly interlinked.

But Gross said, The underlying concept is not only false and misleading, but concerningly irresponsible as it lacks any understanding of how gas procurement actually works.

It appears to be fabricated by anti-pipeline proponents who are trying to make the case that pipeline shortages in New England are due to capacity withholding, Gross said. To the contrary  it is well documented that New England pipeline demand greatly exceeds the supply on cold days.

Gross said the pipeline capacity Eversource procures is dedicated to serving our customers under state and federal regulations  with no ability to withhold what is being fully utilized to serve those customers and to ensure reliable service on the coldest days, as the report claims.

Our gas distribution business is carefully regulated and the gas supply we purchase for our customers is a strict pass-through cost  meaning we dont benefit from higher prices derived from withholding, he said. Again, this is well understood in the industry and is further evidence that the report is not credible. Eversource revenue related to the regulated electric generation facilities we own and operate in New Hampshire is the same, no matter how often the power plants run.

Michael West, a spokesman for Avangrid, said in a statement the companys natural gas subsidiaries are obligated to provide reliable natural gas service to all residential customers and others who have contracted for guaranteed firm service.

We reserve pipeline capacity to help protect customers from interruptions  including during unpredictable, extreme weather conditions, West said. In Connecticut, we are required to serve as the supplier of last resort for retail, commercial and industrial natural gas customers interconnected to our gas distribution companies.

West said Avangrid rigorously follows all applicable laws and regulations in fulfillment of our overriding obligation to provide reliable service to our customers.

luther.turmelle@hearstmedia

ct.com

This story was updated to reflect that the report was done by the Environmental Defense Fund.
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont stepped back from an immediate declaration of independence from Spain, instead seeking talks with the government in Madrid over the constitutional future of his region.

Addressing the regional parliament in Barcelona after a day of tension in Catalonia, Puigdemont said the result of an Oct. 1 referendum had given him the mandate to pursue independence, but he would hold off for now to pursue dialogue on the way forward with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's administration.

"Today I assume the mandate for Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic," Puigdemont said to cheers from the packed assembly on Tuesday evening, with Catalan police deployed around the parliament perimeter. "We propose the suspension of the effects of the declaration of independence for a few weeks, to open a period of dialogue."

Pressure has piled on Puigdemont as the Spanish government and Catalan business leaders demand that he desist from pitching the region further down a path to independence that they warn would wreck the economy and tear apart Spain's social fabric. Rajoy has pledged to take all steps needed to prevent independence by Catalonia, which he says is impossible under Spain's Constitution.

The euro briefly rose to a fresh high for the day of $1.1825 as Catalans were seen taking a more conciliatory tone. German bund futures also jumped momentarily before giving up earlier gains to trade unchanged.The Spanish government was quick to dispel any notion the matter was resolved. The Catalan president's statement amounted to a "deferred declaration of independence" and by defying the law, he "has taken his irresponsibility to the absolute extreme," a spokesman said in a text message.

"I think the government will possibly now act, its patience has clearly been exhausted," Rafael Pampillon, an economics professor at the Instituto Empresa business school in Madrid, said in an telephone interview. He said Puigdemont and his supporters "are waiting and buying time" rather than retreating from independence, and Rajoy's government "will probably look now to see if they have enough grounds to try him on the charge of sedition."

After a year in which populist, anti-European Union forces failed to win power in elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany, the Catalan push to break away from Spain reintroduced the specter of political instability in Europe.

The Catalan leader's speech capped days of political and economic turmoil marked by Spanish police beating Catalan citizens as they attempted to vote in an illegal referendum, and the subsequent departure of Catalan-based companies from the region as they fled the uncertainty caused by the drive toward independence.

It came at the end of a day of tension in Barcelona, where thousands of Spanish police have been stationed ready to clamp down on the separatist government. As officers from Catalonia's own police force, the Mossos d'Esquera, secured the parliament, Puigdemont suddenly delayed his address amid reports that his own coalition partners were unhappy with the text of his speech. As Puigdemont's lawmakers greeted him following the speech, many of them struggled to look him in the eye.

"Perhaps we have lost a chance," Anna Gabriel, a deputy for the CUP group in the coalition, told the regional parliament. "The only way to negotiate with the Spanish state is the Catalan Republic."

The Catalan bid for independence was rejected by the European Union, which said the region would not remain a member of the bloc outside Spain. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel both backed Rajoy's stance in dealing with the separatist push. In his speech, Puigdemont called for the EU to be involved in the talks with Madrid, and sought to reassure companies fleeing the region.

"He has stepped back from the brink but I'm not sure how much it solves," said Caroline Gray, a lecturer in politics and Spanish at Aston University in the U.K. who specializes in nationalist movements. "The fundamental issue is that neither side is going to budge on sovereignty and what that means -- I still can't see how they can bridge that."

---

Bloomberg's Maria Tadeo, Todd White, Angeline Benoit and Thomas Gualtieri contributed.
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 ...
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has urged all key stakeholders to reach a compromise, on how the future of the country should look like.El-Rufai stated this on Wednesday in Abuja, while welcoming the participants to the civil society organization and youths public hearing, organized by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Committee on True Federalism.The Governor said since all the stakeholders had agreed that something was wrong with Nigerias political structure, an honest conversation was needed to lay a solid foundation for the younger generation.Lets use this opportunity to air out our views, to disagree definitely and openly, but finally come to some compromise on what our country should look like in the future for it to work for everyone. This is why we are here; we are messengers. We collect and collate your views and hand them over to the party and the government for action.This is the first time in the history of Nigeria, and Im slightly older than Nigeria itself, that there is an honest conversation about the structure of our federation. And this is the only time that we provide an equal opportunity platform for every Nigerian to contribute his views about what the future Nigeria should look like, he said.
Former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has politely responded to a man who called thunder to fire him (Atiku) on social me...

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has politely responded to a man who called thunder to fire him (Atiku) on social media.

The former VP had tweeted that When we dont educate girls, we lose 50% of our high value workforce, 50% of intellectual resources. Its unacceptable.





When we educate a girl, we educate a nation! If I have to leave one legacy, this will be it.





In response to Atikus posts, a twitter user, Evans Menendez, insulted him saying, So boys arent important ba, thunder we go strike you enh





Atiku responded by properly educating his attacker who also received bashes from other twitter users.

The ex-VP said, Evans, do you know that in many parts of Nigeria/Africa, girls are not allowed to finish school?





This is bad for us as a country.
Intels Nigeria Limited (INL), a company co-owned by former vice president, Atiku Abubakr, has vowed to sue the Buhari government over termi...

Intels Nigeria Limited (INL), a company co-owned by former vice president, Atiku Abubakr, has vowed to sue the Buhari government over termination of its Pilotage Agency Agreement by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

Intels on Wednesday, disclosed that following a letter from the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to the Managing Director of NPA, Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman, directing termination of the pilotage agreement, NPA ended the contract on Tuesday, October 10, 2017, without inviting it as the other party to the agreement for negotiation or due recourse to the terms of the agreement that specify conditions precedent before a party can exit the contract.





Intels stated that that the termination of the agreement which was conveyed to the firm in a letter signed by the NPA boss on Tuesday, was clearly preposterous and the consequences highly injurious to the interests of Nigeria.





Intels said the action by NPA would force it to reconsider its multibillion dollar investment at the Badagry deep seaport in Lagos, adding that the investment would have created thousands of direct and indirect jobs for Nigerians.





It noted it had invested too much in the country and if the Nigerian government was not prepared to respect the sanctity of its contract, it was ready to head to the courts to challenge NPAs action.





Intels gave NPA seven days from Wednesday to reconsider the residual critical areas of their relationship and to agree, to the possible extent, on a common solution, failing which it shall head to arbitration.





It further divulged that the NPA was indebted to it to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.





Intel in a letter signed by a Director of Intels, Mr. Silvano Bellinato, to Bala-Usman, the company said: With reference to your letter received on October 10th 2017, allegedly terminating the Agency Agreement between Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and INTELS Nigeria Ltd (INL), we formally contest the contents of the same for the reasons stated below:





On March 15th 2017, we received your letter ref: HQ/F&A/ED/AD/INTELS/034 in which, in addition to other contents, the following points were stated:





Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) acknowledged a debt towards Intels Nigeria Limited (INL) in the sum of 674,767,415.00 US$ (in addition to the interests accrued in the meantime);





NPA communicated the need to reconcile the sum of 109,000,000.00 US$ for the additional works carried out;





NPA informed INL about the implementation to be discussed in respect of a transit account called NPA service boat revenue collection account domiciled at one of the banks indicated by you and the related standard operating procedures (SOP);





NPA confirmed 28% agency commission to INL and the 72% balance to be shared between NPA and INL in the ratio 30:70.





On March 27th 2017, we replied to every point in your letter of 15th March as stated below:

INL took note of NPAs acknowledgement of debt;





INL declared availability to meet NPA in order to discuss the details for the certification of the 109,000,000.00 US$ for the additional works carried out;





INL requested for postponement of the SOP application.





On April 19th 2017, NPA acknowledged our acceptance of NPAs proposal in respect of 28% agency commission (already included in the existing running Agency Agreement) and in particular to the 30%  70% split, respectively to NPA and INL, related to the 72% balance. This would imply that the 30% is to be remitted on a monthly basis to NPA while the 70% is to be applied towards reducing the indebtedness to INL.





Regarding the TSA application, NPA reiterated the strategic importance of such a request. However it is noted that TSA was not part of the existing agency agreement between the parties.





The company said that on May 5th 2017, it replied NPAs letter of April 19th 2017 proposing the opening of a jointly signed account between INL and NPA in which the boat service revenues would have been directed.





Afterwards the account holders, with relative proxies, would remit the respective portions due to the parties, being 30% in favor of NPA and 70% in favor of INL.





In the same letter we indicated our availability to identify the bank, from among the ones indicated by NPA; regarding the reasons of our proposal we firmly reiterated the precariousness of our financial status, mainly attributable to the credits towards NPA and heavily financed by various credit institutions.





Such circumstances rendered alternative solutions to the ones suggested by us unviable, and also taking into consideration the inapplicability of TSA to running contracts in the manner proposed by NPA.





Clearly, deduction of entitlements due to INL from collections under the Agreement, and payment of the balance into the designated NPA account for TSA purposes, would be in compliance with the TSA policy.





Intels maintained that the decision by NPA to terminate the Agency Agreement, which was totally unexpected in consideration of the meetings held by the parties and exchange of letters, was clearly preposterous and the consequences highly injurious to the interests of the company.





Hence, in compliance with the Article 12 of the Agency Agreement between the NPA and INL, we hereby request you to schedule a meeting within seven days from the date of this letter, in order to analyse the residual critical areas of our relationship and to agree, to the possible extent, on a common solution.





Should this not happen, we hereby notify you that, in accordance with Article 13 of the Agreement, we will refer the matters to arbitration, in order to safeguard our company from the significant damages and other adverse consequences that may result from this rather unbecoming decision.





We wish to reach an amicable solution as soon as possible for this complicated matter so that we can avoid to request for the intervention of the court for the immediate payment of any amount due to us from NPA, also in light of the likely pressure for action from our banks, which we may be compelled to do, despite our unwillingness, the company stated in the letter.





Intels also warned that the unjustified decision by NPA would hurt Nigerias international credit rating and scare away the much needed foreign direct investment.





Among them we cannot avoid to mention Intels itself, which has planned to make the investment for the largest African port in Badagry, for an amount of several billions dollars, the company stated.





According to Intels, For information purposes only, we recall that on November 8th, 2013 (Art. 2.2) an agreement with the NPA has been signed binding it, without any doubt, to reimburse the investments made on its behalf at FOT Onne  Phase 4B (and also under separate agreement for Eko Support projects) with the 100% of the incomes generated through the pilotage activities, which means that repayment will be made out of the 72% to be reserved to yourselves under the SOP proposed by NPA.





Given that, it is clear that the said agreement sets the substantial transfer of the receivable in favour of our company, which cannot be disregarded and that only a subsequent agreement as the one the parties are negotiating (70%-30%) may modify, in your exclusive interest.





Our relationship has always been characterised by timely execution of projects undertaken on behalf of NPA as well as operational efficiency, which has variously been acknowledged by NPA.





It is also easy for you to ascertain the regularity and timeliness of the payments made by us on a monthly basis for the lease of facilities and throughput fees, equal to an amount of over 170 million US$ since the award of the concession.





On July 26th, 2017 a joint technical meeting was held with the aim of reconciling the credit/debit balances between our entities, confirming the amounts due to our company. On that occasion, the request to postpone the issuance of a credit note in our favour related to the interests matured on the said amount was raised, for budget and financial statement needs.





We mention this point only to confirm, should it be required, the effective and constructive cooperation existing between our respective entities, which contrasts sharply with your decision as communicated in your letter of today (Tuesday) and makes it even more unexplainable.
The Senate has indicated its readiness to continue with the investigation of the allegations levelled against the Inspector-General of P...

The Senate has indicated its readiness to continue with the investigation of the allegations levelled against the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, by Senator Isa Misau.The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Sam Anyanwu, told newsmen that the panel would continue with the probe since it was not joined in the suit filed by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation against Misau on behalf of the police boss.When Anyanwu was asked through a text message if his committee would go ahead with the investigation, as the AGF had filed a suit against Misau on behalf of the IGP, his reply was, The committee or the Senate is not a party to the suit.The Senate had on October 4, 2017 resolved to probe into Misaus allegations bordering on corruption and misconduct against Idris.The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had mandated the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to investigate the circumstances surrounding Misaus disengagement from the Nigeria Police.Idris had alleged that Misau was a deserter.Saraki also set up an ad hoc committee to probe into the allegations againstthe Nigeria Police and Idris, including alleged collection of N120bn annually from high-profile persons and corporate organisations for security services.The Senate President named the Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Francis Alimikhena as Chairman of the panel; and senators Joshua Lidani, Binta Masi Garba,Duro Faseyi, Nelson Effiong, Obinna Ogba, Abdul-Azeez Murtala-Nyako and Suleiman Hunkuyi as members.The two committees were mandated to report back to the Senate in two weeks.Misau, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy, had on August 25 accused Idris of extorting money, ranging from N10m to N15m, from Commissioners of Police, State Mobile Commanders and Special Protection Units Commanders, for favourable postings.The senator also alleged that Idris makes N10bn monthly from oil companies and other private individuals who enjoy special protection from the security agency.Misau said the level of corruption being perpetrated by Idris was so alarming and capable of undermining the anti-corruption stance of President Muhammadu Buhari.But the Federal Government on Tuesday through the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, filed two separate sets of charges against Misau.One of the two sets of charges, marked FCT/HC/CR/345/2017, filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, stemmed from his running battle with Idris.In the case filed before the FCT High Court, the prosecution preferred against Misau five counts of making injurious falsehood against Idris and the Nigeria Police Force based on various allegations of corruption made by the senator against the IGP in the media.Part of the allegations by Misau, considered injurious to the IGP and the Nigeria Police Force, were that police officers allegedly paid as much as N2.5m to get special promotion and posting through the Police Service Commission.The federal lawmaker also accused the IGP of allegedly diverting money meant for the purchase of Armoured Personnel Carriers, Sport Utility Vehicles and other exotic cars.Misau was also said to have falsely accused the IGP of making almost half of the mobile commanders in the country the people of his Nupe extraction.The offences were said to be contrary to Section 393(1) of the Penal Code.In the set of charges, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/170/2017, the prosecution preferred seven counts of making and uttering false documents comprising affidavits, statutory declaration of age deposed to at the FCT High Court and the Bauchi State Health Management Board Birth Certificate, which he allegedly submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission in 2011 and 2014.Uttering, according to Wikipedia, is a crime involving a person with intent to defraud that knowingly sells, publishes or passes a forged or counterfeited document.The offences in the seven counts were said to be contrary to Section (1)(2)(c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under the same section of the Act.The two sets of charges were signed on behalf of the AGF by an Assistant Chief State Counsel, Mr. Aminu Alilu, who is of the Department of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Justice Olajumoke Aiki of the Oyo State High Court, sitting in Ibadan, on Thursday, picked November 6, 2017, as the date for the hearing of the application filed by Kunle Sobaloju challenging the court jurisdiction to entertain Olubadans case against Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, and others over the installation of 21 kings in Ibadan land.In the suit filed on September 19, 2017, by the Olubadan against Ajimobi and 23 others, the monarch is asking the court to set aside the installation of the 21 kings because Ajimobi did not possess the power and authority to confer on anybody the right to wear a beaded crown and coronet in the area.The Olubadan also argued that the crowning of the kings was illegal and void since the governor did not consult with the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs.When the case came up in the court on Thursday, Sobaloju, who is the lead counsel for the elevated baales, questioned the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the complaints of the Olubadan.According to him, the monarch has no right to challenge the decision of the governor to elevate the high chiefs and baales to the position of kings since his (Olubadan) powers as a monarch are in no way diminished by the governors action.Olubadans counsel, Niyi Ajewole, wondered who else would be interested in traditional matters that concerned Ibadan land.According to him, the preliminary objections filed by Sobaloju and his legal team is meaningless, frivolous and an attempt to slow down court proceedings in the case.Justice Aiki also adjourned till November 6, 2017 the case filed by the Osi Olubadan of Ibadan land, Chief Rashidi Ladoja, against the governor and Chairman of the Chieftaincy Review Committee set up by Ajimobi, Justice Akintunde Boade.




Ekiti- Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has described EFCC as a senseless organization, in dire need of restructuring.Fayose, who vowed to overhaul the anti-graft agency, said, By the grace of God, I will restructure the EFCC when I become the president of this nation. I will reorganize EFCC and make it looks responsible. They detained me in 2008, but I won them in court because the most high God was on my side. EFCC is senseless body because if they are not senseless, it should have known that the man who wrote the petition had been sacked because he didnt deserve to be called a civil servant.The arrest of my officials was orchestrated by Ekiti indigenes in collaboration with the EFCC. I will never go and beg EFCC, it will rather beg me. I wont negotiate anything because I am not afraid of them. There was a subsisting court that barred them from arresting any official of this state, but they breached the law. Fayose, who stated this on Thursday during a grand reception organised for his aides who were arrested by the EFCC, promised to buy new cars for the two officials in appreciation of their loyalty to the state. The arrested Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Toyin Ojo and the Accountant General, Mrs Yemisi Owolabi , have disclosed that they could not be charged to court by the anti-graft agency because the petition written against them lacked substance. They said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) practically begged them to leave detention when the agency knew that they committed no offence to have warranted arrest, saying we yielded after much pleadings from top EFCC staff. The duo said the petition written by a former labour leader , whose name was not mentioned, claiming that the state mismanaged the Paris Club and bailouts allocated to it by the federal government was bereft of substantial evidence that could be used to prosecute them . They said the petition was written basically to tarnish the government of Mr Ayodele Fayose, who had directed the workers to observe yesterday as a half work day in honour of the freed officials Ojo said : I want to thank our governor and Ekiti people, particularly workers for their prayers. The EFCC found it difficult to prosecute us because they lacked evidence. Fayose by his conduct boxed EFCC to a corner, because you needed not fear when you committed no crime. By our arrests, it was clear that EFCC has become an instrument of oppression. Some states took more than the bailout taken by Ekiti but nothing was done, what is their interest in Ekiti?They asked us to sign so that we can leave the detention but we refused. They started begging us before we left, he said. The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon Kola Oluwawole and the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Com Ade Adesanmi , alleged that the EFCC was still planning to arrest more officials, saying the state will resist such attempt with the last drop of their blood. Oluwawole described EFCC as a meddlesome interloper, saying Sections 126 and 127 of the 1999 constitution empowered the assembly to perform oversight functions on state finances and not the statutory duty of the agency.They said the NNPC Group Managing Director awarded $25b contracts illegally, the EFCC did nothing. Even the presidency has been the one defending him now. What is their interest in Ekiti? Whose interest is EFCC protecting?, Fayose asked. Fayose accused President Muhammadu Buhari of punishing the citizens of this state illegally, saying : he has not tarred one kilometer of road since he came into office.This was the way the DSS arrested Hon Afolabi Akanni. They even stopped the state allocation at a time, but whatever they do, Ekiti shall put them to shame, the governor said.
Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari cancelled the contract former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, had with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), because he will contest against him in 2019.Fani-Kayode, in a series of tweets on Wednesday, also labelled Buhari as wicked, cowardly and petty.He wrote: U cancel @atikus contract with NPA simply because he wants to run against u in 2019. This tells me that u are wicked, cowardly and petty.U signed 648 billion naira worth of oil deals on ur sickbed in London when no-one could see u.This tells me that u are greedy and corrupt.The Nigerian government has directed the NPA to terminate the boats pilotage monitoring and supervision agreement that the agency has with Intels Nigeria Limited, a company co-owned by Atiku.It said the contract with Intels, a leading integrated logistics and facilities services provider in the maritime and oil and gas logistics sectors of the country, was void ab initio.
The Ekiti state Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has declared tomorrow, Thursday 12th October, 2017 a half-working day for civil servant foll...

The Ekiti state Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has declared tomorrow, Thursday 12th October, 2017 a half-working day for civil servant following the release of the detained states Commissioner for Finance, Chief Toyin Ojo and the Accountant General, Mrs. Yemisi Owolabi by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.Recall that the EFCC had arrested the duo almost 14 days ago over allegations of bail-out fund misappropriation. However, a statement made available to newsmen by Governor Fayoses aide, Mr. Lere Olayinka, the Governor declares the half-working day for the civil servants in other to give the released state executives a heroic welcome.Governor Fayose described their release as another victory over the EFCC and its APC collaborators. The statement also said that Governor Fayose will be at Fajuyi, Ado Ekiti at 10 am to commence the welcome.
Nigerian Government has formally informed the governments of the United States, US, United Kingdom, UK, and other foreign countries of its ...

Nigerian Government has formally informed the governments of the United States, US, United Kingdom, UK, and other foreign countries of its decision to declare the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, as a terrorist organisation.

An Abuja Federal High Court in Abuja had, on August 20, proscribed IPOB, following a motion filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN).





The court had also ordered that the proscription be published in the Federal Governments gazette which was done.





Against this backdrop, both the US and UK had faulted the declaration, insisting that the group was not a terrorist organisation.





Speaking with Punch, on Wednesday, Malami said some foreign countries have been duly notified.

Malami disclosed that the Federal Government would be seeking a Mutual Legal Assistance from the foreign governments to stop those funding the group and deal with IPOB members as terrorists.





The report said Federal Ministry of Justice, through its Central Authority Unit, had sent separate letters to all the foreign missions operating in Nigeria.





According to Malami, Just think of any embassy you know is operating in Nigeria, they have all been served.





All we did was to send copies of the gazettes attached to the cover letters to notify them of the status of IPOB as far as Nigeria is concerned.





Although the proscription widely reported in newspapers, has been published in the Federal Governments gazette and advertised in newspapers as ordered by the court, we had to formalise it by notifying our foreign friends, I mean the foreign governments, which have embassies in Nigeria; and that was exactly what we did by sending copies of the gazette to them.
Nigerias music sensation, David Adeleke aka Davido has said that hell soon be releasing a statement and footage on his friend Tagbo Um...

Nigerias music sensation, David Adeleke aka Davido has said that hell soon be releasing a statement and footage on his friend Tagbo Umeikes demise.Davido, in his statement on Instagram said that he has refused to speak out of respect for Tagbo and his family.Enough is enough. God bless you guys!! Everyone be safe please!! he wrote.This is coming after the release of the autopsy report which stated that the deceased died of suffocation.Lagos police commissioner Edgar Imohimi had said Davido was reinvited for questioning, adding that his driver and two others dropped Tagbos body at the hospital and left.In a statement at a briefing on Monday, Imohimi said:Davido had told the police he had left Shisha Bar for DNA Night Club in Victoria Island without the deceased and was only informed by mutual friends of his death while he was at DNA.However, investigation revealed that Davidos white Toyota Hilux escort driver, Tunde Usutu, accompanied by one Agbeje Olaoye and one Idris Busari, both Davidos friends, took the deceased to the General Hospital Lagos and abandoned him in his vehicle on the instruction of Davido.
The International Monetary Fund has warned Nigeria and other oil-exporting countries over rising foreign debts, saying there is a need to make external borrowings sustainable.The Fund, however, commended Nigeria for the recent reforms aimed at reducing infrastructure gap in the country, adding that it was in support of the measures.The Assistant Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF, Mrs. Catherine Pattillo, gave the warning and commendation on the sidelines of the release of the Fiscal Monitor Report by the Fund in Washington DC, United States, on Wednesday.Pattillo said, The concern in a number of oil exporters is that unless there is action now, that debt, which has been rising in many countries, is a concern particularly because of the interest payments.So, if you have continuing rise in debt, the interest payments will rise, and then, it will consume a large part of any revenue that you collect and you wont be able to use that revenue for the objectives of the economic growth and recovery programme, and increasing growth and employment.So, for ensuring that you have the ability to use those revenues for enhancing expenditure, there is a need to make sure that debt is sustained and interest to revenue is kept at a reasonable level.According to the IMF chief, the Fund is supportive of recent economic reforms in Nigeria, especially the manner in which foreign borrowings are being channelled to infrastructure growth.She, however, emphasised the need to increase non-oil revenue collection in the country.Specifically, she stated that Nigeria needed to enhance its non-oil revenue collection such that its external borrowings, which have been largely channelled to infrastructure growth, would not create future debt crisis.Patillo said, There is a lot of positive reforms in Nigeria and those are welcomed, including to reduce the infrastructure gap, particularly in the power sector.But really, more needs to be done is our massage. There is a need for urgent actions for front-loaded fiscal consolidation through mobilising more non-oil revenue. Right now, non-oil revenue collection in the first part of the year was only half of what was budgeted and there is an expectation that the trend might continue for the second part of the year. And if so, that will continue to widen the deficit and make interest payments to revenue to stay very high in around 60 per cent, which is quite striking.So, the message is front-loaded fiscal consolidation, emphasise non-oil revenue mobilisation and there are certain measures both on the tax and spending that the IMF team have been emphasising on.The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had said the thought of saddling future generations with unserviceable debts was not part of the President Muhammadu Buhari administrations agenda.Adeosun stated this in an article entitled, The debt debate: Deconstructing the debt story, in which she explained the debt history, the short-term strategy and the medium to long-term outlook for the economy.She said to deliver a fundamental structural change to the economy that would reduce the countrys exposure to crude oil, an expansionary fiscal policy was adopted with an enlarged budget, which would be funded in the short-term by borrowing.
THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised its voice against President Muhammadu Buharis fresh external loan request of $5.5 bill...

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised its voice against President Muhammadu Buharis fresh external loan request of $5.5 billion pending before the National Assembly for approval.In a statement yesterday, its National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adyeye, accused the President of mortgaging the future of unborn generation of Nigerians through needless and mindless borrowing.The Debt Management Office (DMO), in a recent public statement, had put the Federal Governments total borrowing in the past two years at N7.51 trillion.Describing the governments penchant for borrowing as mind-boggling, the PDP warned that the fresh $5.5 billion loan request was capable of pushing the nation down the black hole of debt that could adversely affect the countrys future.The statement said: As a party that governed this nation meritoriously for 16 years and handed over a buoyant economy to the APC in 2015, we are concerned that by the time Nigerians would have the opportunity to push out the APC government in 2019, the economy of the nation would have been damaged irreparably.The party challenged President Buhari to explain to Nigerians what his government has done with the huge sums borrowed in the last two years in the name of financing infrastructural development.According to the PDP, the nations debt has risen by 61.96 per cent since Buhari assumed leadership over two years ago.The party called on the National Assembly not to grant the $5.5 billion loan request.
The Senate on Thursday considered the request by President Muhammadu Buhari to approve $5.5bn external borrowings by the Federal Government to be used to finance the 2017 Appropriation Act.Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, presented the request to the Senate for consideration, which was unanimously granted by the lawmakers.Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, referred the request to the Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, which was mandated to report back in two weeks.Buhari had written to the Senate asking it to approve issuance of $2.5bn to finance the 2017 Appropriation Act and $3bn to re-finance domestic debts.In the letter dated October 4, 2017, which President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, read in the chambers at their plenaries on Tuesday, Buhari referred the Senate to the 2017 budget, which has a deficit of N2.356tn and provision for new borrowings of N2.321tn, respectively.He said the Act also provided for domestic borrowing of N1.254tn and external borrowing N1.067tn (about USD3.5bn).
Ekiti State Governor, Chief Ayodele Fayose, has said his administration is investing in infrastructure because it is laying the foundation...
An Oredo Magistrate Court has remanded one Amadin Eurice to prison custody for allegedly inserting pepper into the private part of a min...

An Oredo Magistrate Court has remanded one Amadin Eurice to prison custody for allegedly inserting pepper into the private part of a minor, a six-year-old simply identified as Patience.Police Prosecutor, Patrick Agbonifo, informed the court that the offences were punishable under section 355 of the Criminal Code, Cap 48, Vol. II Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria 1976 as applicable in Edo State and section 23(1) of the NAPTIP Act 2015.In his ruling, Presiding Magistrate F.E Akhere said the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.He, however, directed that the case file is forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
The Consulate General of Nigeria in South Africa, Godwin Adama, has decried the alleged killing of a 25- year-old Nigerian, Mr Ibrahim B...

The Consulate General of Nigeria in South Africa, Godwin Adama, has decried the alleged killing of a 25- year-old Nigerian, Mr Ibrahim Badmus, in the country on October 10.Adama in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja described the alleged killing of Badmus during interrogation by a group of policemen as one death too many.The Consulate General, however, appealed to Nigerian nationals in the country to remain calm and avoid any further face-off with the police pending the outcome of the investigation into the issue.He said that the Consulate had received the report of the unfortunate incident when a group of policemen visited his residence at Deforest Street in Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging, South Africa.Adama said that a team from the Nigerian Consulate General, led by him had visited the scene to interface with the Nigerians living in the area.The Consulate General said that the purpose of the visit was with the hope of de-escalating tension and to allow the law enforcement agents to investigate the incident.We hope that justice is done, as this is one death too many.We do have confidence in the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, which has obtained witness statements on the matter for further investigation.While we await autopsy report and seek to resolve this sad incident, we once again, appeal to our nationals to remain calm and avoid any further face-off with the police, he said.
The victim told police she parked her car in the lot for the Youth Study Center at 1100 Milton Street about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday (Oct. 10, 2017). She returned to the lot just before 1 p.m. to find the car gone, police said (Image via GoogleMaps).
The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office is seeking the identity of the person accused of stealing a high-dollar deer camera in Roseland.( staff archive)
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.
Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2017 Laramie Schlichtemeier will close out her reign with a send-off celebration on Nov. 3. All activities will be at the Figure Four Traditions Event Center at the Haythorn Ranch in Arthur.

The event will give the public an opportunity to thank Schlichtemeier for her service over the past year and wish her luck as she competes at the Miss Rodeo America Pageant from Dec. 3-10 in Las Vegas.

Send-off festivities will begin with a social hour at 5:30 p.m. MDT, followed by a dinner and style show at 6:30 p.m. MDT. The style show will offer a sneak peek at the outfits Schlichtemeier will wear at nationals.

Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for children 12 and younger. Reservations are due Oct. 20 by emailing mrn2k17@gmail.com or sharislick@opsd.org.
Red Cross volunteer from North Platte returns home after Irma

Whenever disaster strikes, the American Red Cross sends crews of volunteers to offer assistance.

Lynnette Gralak of North Platte recently returned from a two-week stint assisting with Hurricane Irma relief efforts in Florida.

They flew us down there before the hurricane hit, Gralak said. We rode out the hurricane together.

Gralak assisted at shelters in Viera and Jacksonville, Florida.

I was feeding people in shelters, Gralak said. You get to know the families as theyre going through the line; after a while you remember their names.

She said times were difficult for many of the people there, and she not only served food, but also offered a listening ear.

Basically you give them a shoulder to lean on, youre just there for them, Gralak said. They just want you to talk with them. You listen to them, and tell them what the Red Cross will do to help them.

Gralak was one of several thousand Red Cross workers  paid staff and volunteers  on the ground assisting with food, shelter and basic needs.

The residents of Florida were very lucky to have volunteers like Lynnette working for them, said Rachelle Lipker, executive director for the American Red Cross in central and western Nebraska. Lynnette brought help and hope to those affected by the hurricane.

Hurricane Irma was the third event Gralak has helped with through the Red Cross.

Hurricane Matthew was my first event, Gralak said. I went out in an emergency response vehicle and we drove around to neighborhoods.

She also hs taken phone calls to connect people with help during a flood.I enjoy doing this, Gralak said. The reason is because the town of North Platte has done so much for me, so I feel so good giving back to others now.
HAMMOND  A BP engineer, who ran two failed campaigns as a political outsider in Lake County, was arrested Thursday by the FBI for allegedly sending a threatening letter with a bullet enclosed to a Hammond worker and attempting to mail a pipe bomb Sept. 6 to a Hammond attorney.

Eric Krieg, 45, of Munster, was charged with being in possession of an explosive device and transporting explosive materials, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court Thursday.

Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, authorities said.

The pipe bomb never made it to its intended target but instead exploded Sept. 6 at the U.S. post office in East Chicago, injuring one postal worker.

Federal agents executed a search warrant Thursday morning at BPs Whiting Refinery, but the warrant was not directed at BP, according to a BP spokesman.

Agents seized evidence, including Krieg's car, as part of the search warrant, authorities said during Thursdays news conference at the U.S. attorneys office in Hammond.

A threatening letter

Krieg, of Munster, has been an outspoken critic of the Lake County Democratic Party and Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. through a political blog under the pen name Buzzcut, Times archives show.

The FBI has also been investigating a related threatening, bulky letter sent Sept. 29 to a separate Hammond worker, confirmed McDermott, who said he personally spoke to the FBI.

The envelope contained a bullet with a message that read, "The next one will be in the back of your head," the complaint stated.

U.S. attorney Thomas Kirsch declined to comment on any possible political motives, but a complaint filed Thursday alleges Krieg targeted at least one individual associated with political blogs and discussion forums frequented by Krieg.

McDermott on Thursday also said he believed Krieg's actions were politically motivated.

The letter was mailed to Krieg's alleged intended target, who in Oct. 2013 directed derogatory comments online toward Krieg about an editorial he had published, according to the affidavit.

McDermott said once the second package was received by a Hammond employee, it was clear someone was targeting people associated with the city of Hammond.

No. 1 on my list

Thursdays announcement came as a relief to McDermott, who said his city employees have been on heightened alert for more than a month.

"(Krieg) was the first person I thought of," McDermott said after the press conference. "I gave (the FBI) a few other names but he was No. 1 on my list."

Since the bombing in East Chicago, officials and employees with the city had been told to notify police about any packages or suspicious letters they may receive. McDermott said police also have been extra watchful of city employees.

McDermott said he feels safe knowing Krieg is in custody.

I love the FBI. I love the U.S. attorney. I thank them, seriously. They cared about us. They worked hard for us, he said.

The postal worker injured in the Sept. 6 blast was pregnant and in her third trimester at the time, according to Patricia Armstrong, US Postal Service inspector in charge.

Score one for the good guys today, Armstrong said. Its really important that people understand you can trust the mail. The mail is a sacred thing that comes to your home, your place of business. You expect it to be safe.  Today, someone is off the streets who used that mail for harm.

Krieg sued for defamation, clashed with Hammond mayor

In 2013, Krieg demanded county election officials investigate the mayor's payments to his wife, Marissa McDermott, as the mayor's campaign consultant.

Election officials declined Krieg's request on McDermott's assurances the payments were legal. The mayor claims Krieg's actions were in retaliation against Aaron M. McDermott, the mayor's brother, filing a defamation suit against Krieg.

The suit alleged Krieg made false claims in a Sept. 18, 2013 blog about the mayor's brother being arrested in Munster.

Krieg and Aaron McDermott later resolved the matter out of court on terms that weren't publicly disclosed, according to Times archives.

The complaint says Krieg filed for bankruptcy following the lawsuit and ultimately settled for $60,000.

The pipe bomb was intended for an individual who represented the mayors brother, Aaron McDermott, in the defamation lawsuit.

Obviously its horrible. Its horrible it blew up in the post office. It would have been horrible if it would have gotten to the intended target because hes a good guy, McDermott said. Hes a good person. He has a family, too, and it was sent to his house.

The intended target for the pipe bomb, identified only as Victim 1 in the affidavit, also told agents he filed support for a LGBT ordinance passed by city of Munsters LGBT that Krieg might have disagreed with, the complaint states.

Kriegs political leanings, runs for office

Krieg is a licensed professional engineer who works BP Whiting refinery. He has a master's degree in engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology and more than 20 years of industry experience in project and engineering management.

In the 2012 race for Lake County Surveyor, Krieg ran as an alternative to the culture of public corruption in the Lake County Democratic Party. He lost to incumbent surveyor George Van Til, later convicted of public corruption.

In a 2012 questionnaire submitted to The Times, Krieg listed ethics as one of his top three goals if he won political office.

I believe ethics begins with the voters. They are the ones who need to hold their elected officials responsible. Sadly, the voters have not held the current surveyor responsible for his many ethical lapses. We must do so now, he wrote in 2012.

He ran unsuccessfully for the 4th District Lake County Council seat, losing in the 2010 Republican primary to Dan Dernulc, of Highland, who went on to win the general election that fall.

Dernulc, the Lake County GOP chairman, said Thursday that Krieg hadn't been involved with county Republicans for "quite some time."

McDermott on Thursday described Krieg as an extremist.

Hes really, really weird. Hes really strange. Hes really, like, an evil, uber extremist. And thats extremism Im not trying to make a Democrat or Republican statement about this, but extremism is bad. He is an uber, right winger and this doesnt surprise me a bit, McDermott said.

Witnesses: He "shuffled" as he walked

Krieg allegedly dropped the package off at the U.S. post office in East Chicago about 11:19 am. and video footage shows a vehicle matching the description of Kriegs vehicle leaving the post office shortly after, the complaint states.

One witness at the post office that day described Krieg as peculiar, as he walked into the building wearing a white medical mask, hooded sweatshirt, and black jeans carrying a small cardboard box wrapped in tape, the complaint states. He shuffled as he walked, the complaint stated.

FBI showed at least one witness a photo lineup that included Krieg on Sept. 8, according to the complaint, meaning agents considered him a possible suspect a mere two days after the Sept. 6 explosion.

Investigators conducted surveillance on Krieg outside of his residence Sept. 8 and as he drove to a recycling center in Munster.

Krieg allegedly dropped off a box that contained several computer items, including hard drives, and a shipping label affixed to it indicated it was destined for another known occupant of Krieg's residence, the complaint stated.

According to the complaint, Krieg initially denied involvement Oct. 12 but then later admitted to mailing the explosive device Sept. 6, the complaint states.

He also admitted to manufacturing the destructive device, using M-80 type powder, and mailing a threatening letter to the other victim, the complaint states.

The complaint states Krieg volunteered his time from 2010 to 2014 coaching primary and middle school students in FIRST Lego Robotics competition. That, along with his engineering degree, potentially (gave) him the educational background and relevant knowledge to construct an improvised explosive device, the complaint states.

A neighborhood resident, Kelly Newman, 46, of Munster, said law enforcement, some in fatigues and arriving in several white vans, blocked off an area stretching for about 10 residential lots while raiding Krieg's residence Thursday morning.

No one could get to their houses, she said.

"We were shocked. They have kids. We feel horrible."

Krieg's next court appearance is slated for 11 a.m. Tuesday before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge John E. Martin. According to Kirsch more charges against Krieg are possible.

Marc Chase contributed to this report.
INDIANAPOLIS  Gov. Eric Holcomb has decided that Indiana will participate in the creation of a federally funded, interoperable public safety broadband network.

AT&T is building the First Responder Network Authority, known as FirstNet, as part of a nationwide effort to provide police, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel with a modern, high-speed wireless communications infrastructure on a dedicated segment of the radio spectrum.

In 2012, the federal government appropriated $7 billion for the project. It was conceived in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks when police and firefighters struggled to communicate at ground zero using their separate radio systems.

Every state and U.S. territory was given the choice to opt in to the network and have AT&T build it at no cost to them, or to build their own Radio Access Network that connects directly to FirstNet.

So far, Indiana and 24 other states, along with Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, have opted in. No state has yet decided to opt out.

"Indiana's first responders need fast, accurate information to keep Hoosiers safe," Holcomb said. "This new communications network will help those on the front lines coordinate better and faster to serve and protect our citizens and communities."

The governor also noted the state's Integrated Public Safety Commission and local leaders have been working with FirstNet for the past five years to ensure the system will work effectively in Indiana's urban, suburban, small town and rural areas.

Operational, public safety agencies and other first responders will pay a subscription fee to access the infrastructure. State officials said participation will be optional.
CROWN POINT  The Lake County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to hire Merrillville attorney John Kopack as legal counsel for the county's new sheriff.

Kopack, who has been in private law practice since 1978, will represent the Lake County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr., who took office last month, following the public corruption conviction of former Sheriff John Buncich.

Kopack takes over for previous department attorneys John Bushemi and Clorius Lay. Kopack had served as legal counsel for the department under former Sheriff Roy Dominguez between 2003 and 2010.

Commissioners also approved the purchase of new door switches for the Lake County Jail from Intelligent Door Solutions Illinois LLC at a cost of $51,090. They also approved a proposal to pay Pennsylvania-based United Prison Equipment $47,500 to retrofit seven jail-cell devices.

Commissioners Jerry Tippy, R-Schererville, and Mike Repay, D-Hammond, said the U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees the county jail, requested this work to give corrections officers more control over opening jail cells.

Currently multiple doors open simultaneously. The new equipment will let them open doors individually. The equipment also will signal when doors are locked.

Commissioners voted to pay Tri-Electronics Inc. and DLZ Engineering totaling more than $222,000 for renovation work they did, dating back to 2013, on county government buildings.

Commissioners also introduced Brody, a 9-month-old, mixed breed service dog that will provide therapy for government employees with anxieties.

Anna Gianni, an assistant to Tippy, said she bought Brody as a rescue dog and he is under training as a therapy dog. She said he already has helped county veterans and eventually will visit other offices as needed, including the E-911 dispatchers facility.

Commissioners also made public their directive to the county auditor to pay county government vendors before the commissioners hold a public meeting to formally approve the vendors' claims.

The Lake County Council adopted an ordinance earlier permitting this practice.

Indiana's Public Access Counselor Luke H. Britt complained last summer that commissioners and the County Council violated the state's Open Door law last April when they updated a county ordinance on telecommunication utilities under their emergency rules.

Britt took issue with commissioners privately signing resolutions in late April stating their intent to update the ordinance, then publicly ratifying their signatures with votes at their next public meeting, weeks later.
VALPARAISO  The city's redevelopment commission approved its second grant under the sign grant program for the year Wednesday afternoon.

Approved was a grant for Mark Miller, owner of 905 Calumet Ave. The present pole sign will be demolished and a monument sign added to identify tenants of the building.

Businesses are eligible for up to $10,000 through the program. Miller requested a total of $7,728 and will pay an additional $2,728 out-of-pocket for the project. The sign will be constructed by Steindler Signs for a total cost of $10,457.

The commission approved the sign grant policy in June to help fund the demolition of pole signs and construction of conforming signs along Calumet Avenue.

The grant program was funded with $50,000. A previous grant was approved for a property south of Miller's for a cost of $5,672, leaving $36,599 in the fund.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump's tax overhaul package is getting resistance from an unusual alliance of interests opposed to his plans to scrap the federal deduction for state and local taxes.

Republican lawmakers from high-tax states such as New York, California and New Jersey, along with labor unions and business groups like Realtors, are pressing the Trump administration to reconsider plans to eliminate the deduction. These groups are wary of the financial pinch their constituents could feel.

"This is really almost like a life or death issue for districts like mine," says Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who represents a district on New York's Long Island. "This cannot be called a rich district. It serves a lot of middle-income people."

With Republicans splintered, the future of the $6 trillion tax overhaul plan is threatened by GOP defections, even as the success of the package is a political imperative for Republicans who have pinned their hopes on notching a big legislative achievement to help them retain control of Congress in next year's elections.

Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., a Trump ally, warned Wednesday that states such as New York, New Jersey, California and Illinois would need some "accommodations" to go along with eliminating the deduction for state and local taxes paid, possibly a cap on how much could be deducted.

Completely scrapping the deduction "would impact too many middle-income people," Collins said.

The deduction is claimed by an estimated 44 million people and costs the government roughly $1.3 trillion over 10 years, money Trump wants to offset the costs of the plan.

But some Republicans and a coalition of groups opposed to the changes contend that repealing it would subject people to being taxed twice and would amount to a federal revenue grab on the backs of homeowners who pay property taxes. And governors like New York's Andrew Cuomo, a potential 2020 presidential candidate, have rallied against the change.

"There will be a transfer of wealth of over a trillion dollars to the federal coffers," said Matt Chase, executive director of the National Association of Counties.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said eliminating the deduction would not only "devastate funding for public schools, infrastructure, law enforcement and other vital services" but also boost taxes on the middle class. "For what? Tax cuts for the wealthy."

The White House has argued that the plan is focused on helping middle-class workers, arguing that lowering corporate rates will boost jobs while the tax cuts and simpler tax code will reduce their burden.

Administration officials contend that the rest of the nation shouldn't have to subsidize states like California and New York that use the state and local tax deduction in large numbers.

But that argument has drawn a strong retort from the states, who argue that they pay billions more in taxes than they receive in return from the federal government.

"New Yorkers send over $50 billion more to the U.S. government than they receive back. So New Yorkers, and in particular Long Islanders, are subsidizing the rest of the country; not the other way around as you suggested," wrote Kevin Law, president and CEO of the Long Island Association, in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

Officials with Trump's National Economic Council met Wednesday with trade groups representing governors, mayors and others who opposed the changes.

It followed a meeting last week between a group of GOP lawmakers from high-tax states with Republican leaders, including House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who heads the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

A possible compromise floated by the state-local defenders cracked open another fault line: Homeowners would be forced to choose between two popular deductions  one for local property taxes under the state-local deduction, the other for mortgage interest.

The Republican tax plan promises to retain the deduction of mortgage interest from federal income taxes. It's another cherished tax break used by about 30 million Americans, heralded by supporters as a spark to home ownership. So in that case, homeowners would have to give up one of two deductions that they currently enjoy.

The quickly shifting situation has forced an influential lobbying group, the National Association of Home Builders, to revise its strategy. The group has actively lobbied in support of the mortgage interest deduction. Now it has split from other housing industry groups to support the GOP tax plan.

At its core, the plan proposes to nearly double the standard deduction, to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for families. Home Builders CEO Jerry Howard said that means the plan has already eroded the value of the mortgage interest deduction because people won't be likely to itemize deductions given the bigger standard break.

Howard said the homebuilders' group will be open to "broader options" for sparking home ownership, such as the low-income housing tax credit, which the plan keeps, and a possible new mortgage tax credit that wouldn't require itemizing. "We believe that Congress is open to ideas," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Frank Eltman in Massapequa Park, New York, and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.
It's a valid, uncomfortable question we all should be asking.

How long can a vehemently divided nation  built on the principles of democratic self-governance  survive?

Regardless of how we individually answer that question, it's healthy to reflect on the words of a retired Denver business professor who keynoted a Region luncheon last week.

Buie Seawell, recently retired from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, wisely urged a banquet hall filled last Thursday with some 500 Northwest Indiana public, business and nonprofit officials to get back to the basics of our nation's founding.

It's a message we all should take to heart.

"The first freedom is the freedom to govern yourself and to participate in your government," Seawell said during the address to members and guests of Northwest Indiana-based One Region. "If we lose the freedom of self-government, all others are in jeopardy."

Students of history know our nation frequently finds itself in the throes of disagreement and factionalism. At least once in our history, a bloody 19th century war was fought because of it.

But Seawell noted America's form of government survives when we find consensus.

"What has kept us alive for 241 years is that we finally come to agreement and move forward," he said.

"Factions don't work, in the end, in this country. A fractured nation is not a nation that will long survive."

Members of One Region and other Northwest Indiana entities working to find consensus across geographic and political lines should be encouraged, though.

Consensus-building is alive and well in our state and Region in very pronounced ways.

Region officials, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and several federal Indiana lawmakers are unified in ushering in expansions and enhancements to South Shore Line commuter rail, for example.

Northwest Indiana police and emergency personnel regularly set the tone of cooperation through shared crime-fighting and emergency-response resources.

Democrats and Republicans have boarded the promise of train expansion in a very unified way.

Meanwhile, heavy doses of division continue along the partisan lines of many national issues, and the extremes of both sides appear to possess voices far louder than their true numbers show.

We don't always have to agree, but at some point our nation must follow the example of those who have learned to come together for the greater good.

"Democracies are fragile. That's their very nature," Seawell added, speaking directly to the mission of One Region, which aims to build consensus on key Northwest Indiana policies and projects. "And ours is in a place in time where what you represent in this room and what you do together is priceless, is critical, is absolutely necessary."

Our nations survival doesn't depend on everyone agreeing. It does, however, depend on moving peaceably forward with the most achievable compromises we can live with.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) announced yesterday that it has filed criminal charges against an individual in the Auckland District Court alleging insider trading.The charges relate to trading in shares of VMob Group, which now trades as Plexure Group (NZX: PLX). The individual charged under the Securities Markets Act formerly held a senior role in the company.The insider trading laws prohibit people who hold material information that is not generally available to the market (inside information) from trading on that inside information, the FMA said.FMA Head of Enforcement Karen Chang said: The integrity of New Zealands licensed markets is a key strategic priority for the FMA. The insider trading prohibitions are one of the key mechanisms for ensuring licensed markets remain fair and transparent. The FMA will take enforcement action where it finds evidence of insider conduct.NZX and FMA work together to detect and respond to insider trading on licensed markets. The NZX referred the trading to the FMA in September 2014.FMA said VMob/Plexure has not been part of the investigation and has not been charged with any offence. VMob/Plexure has cooperated with the FMA during its investigation.
Retailers in Berkeley, Calif. must warn customers about possible harm from radiation from cellphones, according to a court ruling yesterday.

The landmark decision could open the door to similar warnings at retailers across the U.S.

CTIA, the wireless trade association, whose slogan is Everything Wireless, had fought Berkeley on this issue for more than seven years. It has not indicated it is giving up its battle against warnings in stores.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a petition by CTIA for a rehearing of the issue.

Lawrence Lessig

It said CTIA had little likelihood of success on its First Amendment claim that the disclosure compelled by the Berkeley ordinance was unconstitutional.

Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig, who argued for the city in the case, said, We are hopeful that this will bring an end to this case, and the City of Berkeley will again be free to govern its citizens as its citizens demand.

CTIA, represented by Theodore Olson of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, said, The courts have acknowledged that Berkeley has presented no evidence that cell phones cause harmful effects. We will continue to assert that the First Amendment prohibits the government from forcing private companies to promote misleading and inaccurate opinions.
The PRSA conference in Boston ended yesterday but a blackout continues on what happened at the Assembly Saturday, Oct. 7.

The Societys online newsroom as of today only has news of four members receiving awards. There was no physical newsroom at the conference. Coverage of keynote speakers and panels is not available.

Anthony D'Angelo

Responsibility for the Societys governance is shifting to Prof. Anthony DAngelo, who is director of communications management and teaches PR at the Newhouse School, Syracuse University.

He does not return emails sent by the ODwyer Co.

Four of seven proposals created for the Assembly were discussed and voted on after three were withdrawn. One was insertion of communications in many places in the bylaws. This had generated much discussion prior to the Assembly and leaders said it was being re-written.

Members have been unable to obtain any details on what happened at the Assembly.

PRSA/NY Refuses Help

Five or six delegates representing the New York chapter were present but refuse to provide any report.

Chapter president Olga Gonzalez said she believed national has been in contact with members regarding the Assembly but there is no evidence of that. She said she would only handle questions about the chapter, saying we should contact national which has not responded to us in more than 20 years.

There is nothing on the chapter website about what happened at the Assembly.

The April 21-22, 2017 board meeting of national said the meeting discussed the status of the engagement with Jack ODwyer but gave no details. That was a false statement because there is no engagement with this reporter, only a boycott.

Gonzales, Feintuch Join Blackout

Gonzales and Henry Feintuch, former chapter president, were told in an email that this reporter has never seen such a breakdown in communications as is taking place at PRSA national and which is aided and abetted by PRSA/NY. Former chapter president Art Stevens was also informed.

Also refusing help were PR Prof. Donald Wright of Boston University, who has numerous PRSA awards and titles, and Prof. Tina McCorkindale, president of the Institute for PR, who lives in Seattle.

Both were registered attendees at the conference.

The list of registrants shows about 1,200 names, indicating member attendance of about 1,000 since non-members, PRSA staff and exhibitor reps were included.

Attendees thus represented about 5% of the 21,201 members (March 31, 2017 figure).

The high-spirited attendees posted numerous items on the Twitter connection for the conference. They were overjoyed with the conference and with meeting and socializing with other attendees.

Forgotten were the 95% of PRSA members whose companies could not or would not foot the $1,295 (early registration) or $1,495 fee for attendance plus at least a thousand for travel, meals and hotel.

The conference, as usual, was a feast for the insiders. More than 20 PRSA staffers were among the registrants.

Communications Use Undercuts APR

Members who oppose the insertion of communications throughout the bylaws say there can be no such thing as an Accredited Communicator since communications includes not only many diverse activities but hardware such as cellphone towers, wiring, etc.

The effect of highlighting communications is to put a further nail in the APR coffin, they say.

Board Control Switched from Women to Men

Another bone of contention among members is that PRSA, which had a board with 12 women and five men in 2016, switched to a board with nine men and eight women in 2017 after a woman who was elected to the 2017 board was replaced by a man. As in 2017, 16 of the 17 directors are APR when it should be 3-4 APRs because only 18% of members are APR.

Joyce Lofstrom of HIMSS Chicago, major healthcare organization, announced as a member of the 2017 board, was replaced by Kevin Waetke of the National Pork Board, Clive, Iowa, giving men the majority of posts on the board. Upwards of 80% of Society members are women.

There has been no explanation of the sudden replacement of Lofstrom with Waetke. Emails to chair Jane Dvorak, CEO Joe Truncale and PR staffers Laura Kane and Laurent Lawrence have not been returned.

One member rapped the re-engineered PRSA website saying she had yet to speak to a PRSA colleague who has had any form of positive user experience with it. This writer seconds that opinion. The site has a fraction of the information it used to put in the public area.

$800K for Lawyers, Nothing for PR

The Society has spent, in the past ten years, nearly $800K on law firms, mostly at Venable of Washington, D.C.

It has never had outside PR counsel. No PR could get involved with its press-avoiding tactics including blocking press from coverage of the Assembly.
Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) Taiwan and the U.S. state of Wyoming have signed a reciprocal agreement that allows their licensed drivers to obtain a driver's license in each other's territory without having to take written and road tests, according to a press release issued on Thursday by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC).
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - 12 October 2017 - The mobilisation of domestic resources is improving steadily in African countries, according to new data from Revenue Statistics in Africa 2017 released today in Addis Ababa at a meeting of tax and finance officials from 21 African countries hosted by the Department of Economic Affairs of the African Union Commission (AUC).





The average tax-to-GDP ratio for the 16 countries covered in this second edition of the report was 19.1% in 2015, an increase of 0.4 percentage points compared to 2014. Every country has experienced an increase in its tax-to-GDP ratio compared to 2000, with an average rise of 5 percentage points.





Revenue Statistics in Africa 2017 includes revenue data for twice as many countries as the first edition, providing comparable data on tax and non-tax revenues for 16 participating countries: Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo, Tunisia and Uganda.





For the first time, the report provides an average of the participating countries - the African (16) average- showing that in 2015, the average tax-to-GDP ratio in these countries was 19.1%. This is lower than the average tax-to-GDP ratios for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and the OECD: 22.8% and 34.3%, respectively. The average tax structure of the African countries resembled that of the LAC region, except that social security contributions were a more significant component of revenues in the latter. In 2015, taxes on goods and services were the largest contributor to total tax revenues in the African countries (57.2% on average), mostly in the form of Value-Added Tax (VAT); followed by taxes on income and profits (32.4%).





As a percentage of GDP, total non-tax revenues were lower than tax revenues in all 16 African countries, although the amounts varied considerably between countries due to a wide disparity in natural resource revenues and international donations (foreign aid, debt relief, or funding of national programmes). Non-tax revenues as a percentage of GDP also varied significantly more than tax revenues over time.





A special chapter in the report discusses the role of domestic resource mobilisation in improving governance and the business environment, particularly in the African states classified as fragile. While African countries have made significant efforts to strengthen their tax policy and tax administration capacity, they continue to face the challenges of large informal sectors, and a narrow tax base, particularly in resource-rich countries that makes them vulnerable to unstable resource revenues.





KEY FINDINGS

Taxation as a percent of GDP

Tax-to-GDP ratios in 2015 ranged from 10.8% in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to 30.3% in Tunisia, with an average of 19.1% across the 16 countries. This is lower than the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) and OECD averages (22.8% and 34.3%, respectively).

Between 2014 and 2015, all featured countries except Kenya, Tunisia and Morocco increased their tax-to-GDP ratios. On average, they increased their tax-to-GDP ratios by 0.4 percentage points, a slightly lower increase than for the LAC average (0.6 percentage points) but above the OECD average (less than 0.1 percentage points).

All countries in the publication had higher tax-to-GDP ratios in 2015 than in 2000, and all have increased more than the OECD average. Since 2000, the average tax-to-GDP ratio has increased by 5.0 percentage points, a similar increase to the LAC average (4.9 percentage points). In contrast, the OECD average grew by just 0.3 percentage points over this period.

Tax structure

Taxes on goods and services were the principal source of total tax revenues in 2015 (57.2%, on average) and particularly VAT (31.5% on average). The share of revenues from taxes on income and profits amounted to 32.4%, on average.

Kenya, South Africa and Swaziland obtained about half of their tax revenues from taxes on income and profits in 2015 whereas among the other 13 countries, this category ranged from 18.6% in Togo to 37.6% in Rwanda.

Tunisia and Morocco reported the highest share of social security contributions among the 16 countries in 2015 (29.5% and 17% respectively).

The African countries featured in this publication have significantly lower social security contributions than LAC countries. This accounts for most of the difference between their respective average tax-to-GDP ratios.

Non-tax revenues

The total non-tax revenues collected as a percentage of GDP ranged from 0.6 % of GDP for South Africa to 15.1% of GDP for Swaziland (mostly revenues from the Southern African Customs Union). In every country, non-tax revenues were lower than tax revenues.

Of the 14 countries for which non-tax data is available over the past ten years, eight have shown a decreasing trend in non-tax revenue to GDP ratios, and only six have shown an increasing trend.

Non-tax revenue collections show a much higher rate of annual variation than tax revenues, sometimes varying by over 1% of GDP from one year to the next.

The annual variation in non-tax revenue is often due to the volatility of grant and property revenues. In 2015, grants made up 7.2% of Nigers GDP and 6.3% of Rwandas GDP. Property revenues made up 2.8% of Cameroons GDP, mainly from rents and royalties.

The report is produced jointly by the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with the financial support of the European Union. It contributes to improving the understanding and monitoring of domestic resource mobilisation in Africa, a priority of the 10-year implementation plan of the AUCs Agenda 2063, the United Nations Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, and Sustainable Development Goal 17.1.

Find out more about the report, please visit:

www.oecd.org/tax/revenue-statistics-in-africa-2017-9789264280854-en-fr.htm

Press contacts

For further information or to get a copy of the report, journalists should contact:

AUC: Djeinaba Kane (KaneD@africa-union.org) and Esther Azaa Tankou (yamboue@africa-union.org)

Djeinaba Kane (KaneD@africa-union.org) and Esther Azaa Tankou (yamboue@africa-union.org) ATAF: Dr Nara Monkam, ATAF Director of Research (nmonkam@ataftax.org;

+27 12 451 8811)

OECD Press Office: Lawrence Speer (Lawrence.Speer@oecd.org +33 1 45 24 79 70)

Lawrence Speer (Lawrence.Speer@oecd.org +33 1 45 24 79 70) OECD Development Centre: Arthur Minsat (Arthur.Minsat@oecd.org ; +33 145 24 18 65) and Alexander Pick (Alexander.Pick@oecd.org; +33 1 45 24 87 27 )

Arthur Minsat (Arthur.Minsat@oecd.org ; +33 145 24 18 65) and Alexander Pick (Alexander.Pick@oecd.org; +33 1 45 24 87 27 ) OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration: Michelle Harding (Michelle.Harding@oecd.org; +33 1 45 24 93 68)
Durham Museum (801 S. 10th St., Omaha): Zoom Into Nano, through Jan. 7. The exhibit presents a variety of largescale, immersive experiences in the world of nanotechnology. Mid-Western Missions: Agents and Expeditions, through Jan. 14. A Lifetime of Objects: The Story of Byron Reed, 1829-1891, through Jan. 14. Lets Go to Town for Boys Town, Saturday through Jan. 21. Through images, documents and artifacts from the Boys Town Hall of History collection and archives, visitors to The Durham Museum will trace the development of this Omaha fixture over the last 100 years.

Admission: adults $11, seniors (62+) $8, children (3-12) $7, children under 2 free.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday and major holidays.

International Quilt Study Center & Museum (33rd and Holdrege streets, Lincoln): Against the Grain: Quilted Leather by Cathy Wiggins, through Jan. 6. Block by Block: American Quilts in the Industrial Age, through Nov. 30. Brian Haggard: Vintage Visions, through Oct. 28. Small Talk, through Feb. 4. Voltage: Quilts by Erica Waaser, through Feb. 25.

Admission: adults, $6; children ages 5-18, $3; children under 5, free; families, $10. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 1-4 p.m. Sunday.

May Museum (1643 N. Nye Ave., Fremont): Transplanted: The Early Ethnic Settlers of Dodge County.

Admission is $5 for adults and $1 for students. Hours: 1:30-4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Nebraska History Museum (131 Centennial Mall North, Lincoln): Dont Touch That Dial: Kalamity Kate and the George Churley Puppets, through June 17, 2018. The exhibit features puppets created by Churley that were prominently featured on the KOLN/KGIN program, Kalamity Kates Cartoon Corral, and hundreds of live programs during the 1970s. Visitors also will be able to see the original Kalamity Kate costume worn by Leta Powell Drake, as well as film footage.

Hours: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 1-4:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Admission: Free.

Omaha Childrens Museum (500 S. 20th St., Omaha): Cobweb Castle, through Oct. 31. Children can enjoy Halloween thrills without the big scares in a unique castle made just for them. Forever Forest, Saturday through April 15. Exploring the realities of forests through play, this exhibit includes a tree top climber, a realistic mini replica of a Union Pacific engine, a kid-sized home kids can help build and more.

Admission: $12 for adults (16-59) and children (2-15), $11 for seniors (60 and older) and free for children under 24 months and members. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum (28210 West Park Highway, Ashland): Nebraska 150 Aerospace. The exhibit highlights significant contributions of Nebraskans over 150 years of aerospace history. Admission: $12 for adults, $11 for seniors and military and $6 for children ages 4-12. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Union Pacific Railroad Museum (200 Pearl St., Council Bluffs, Iowa): Move Over, Sir: Women Working on the Railroad, through Oct. 28. The exhibit traces the contributions that women have made to the railroad industry over the past 150 years, calling out specific women and their unique contributions to the industry.

Admission: Free. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday-Saturday.

University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History (14th and Vine streets, Lincoln): Guts and Glory: A Parasite Story, through May 1, 2018. The exhibit explores the hidden world of parasites while showcasing the museums Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology. Miss Mie, through Dec. 31. The historic Japanese friendship ambassador doll and its accessories will be on display. Admission: $6 for adults (19 and over), $3 for children (5-18 years), free for children 4 and under, and $13 for families (up to two adults and children). Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and Friday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and 1:30-4:30 p.m. Sundays.
For at least a decade now, Vince Vaughn has been serving a sentence in romcom prison, caught in an infinite loop of playing motor-mouthed man-children forced to learn important lessons.

With Brawl in Cell Block 99, it appears the actor is now a free man.

In this savage new action thriller, the freshly bald and buff Vaughn gets to put his broad-shouldered, 6-foot-5 frame to some good use: playing a force-of-nature antihero  a nice guy who just cant help how good he is at killing folks with his bare hands.

Vaughns character, former boxer Bradley Thomas, is a stand-up guy. The sort of guy who looks out for his friends and family. The sort of guy you can depend on to fix your car or run your drugs. Hes the sort of guy who when he tells you hes going to rip your head off, he keeps his promise because keeping ones promises is important.

Bradleys life is pretty swell. He and his wife, Lauren (Jennifer Carpenter), are about to have their first child. Nice house, nice cars, steady (if illicit) employment. He only enters a life of crime after the American economy has failed him.

But then Bradley does a heroin pickup with a couple of loose cannons (one played by Geno Segers, who played Chayton on Banshee, which will mean something to you if youve wasted your life, as I have). The deal goes disastrously wrong, and Bradleys looking down the barrel of a seven-year prison sentence.

Save a scene where Bradley destroys a car with his bare hands, the 45-minute setup of Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a low-key and deliberately paced crime drama.

But then Bradley goes to prison, and this movie loses its mind.

Once Bradley is in the clink, his enemies give him an ultimatum: Do this near-impossible thing for us or we will do something unspeakably cruel to you wife and unborn child. The message is made all the more disturbing by the fact that its delivered by actor Udo Kier.

From this point forward, Bradley is fighting everyone: guards, inmates, wardens. His goal is to battle his way down to the deepest, bleakest pit of the American penal system, so that he can fulfill his task and save his family.

Vaughn plays Bradley as a taciturn block of granite whose occasional quips of dialogue come lightly seasoned with a Southern accent. Its a great, transformative performance that should give Vaughn the kind of career reinvention he was aiming for with the botched second season of HBOs True Detective.

The rest of the cast is overrun with appealing character actors: Marc Blucas as a drug kingpin, Mustafa Shakir as a sympathetic prison guard, Clark Johnson as a detective who tries to turn Bradley against his employers. They often dont get more than a scene or two, but they make them count. I was pretty much in heaven even before Don Johnson showed up as the black-gloved, cigarillo-smoking prison warden from hell.

I cant really overstate how fun this movie will be for a certain kind of viewer. Once its off to the races, the movie, like its hero, possesses a life-or-death focus on the task at hand. At its best, the movie feels like a lost grindhouse classic you stumble upon while flipping channels in the middle of the night.

Gore-hounds will relish the blood-gushing brutality of the violence. Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a movie that makes sure we see the bone breaking out of the skin and hear the wet sound of the thumbs slipping into the eye sockets. It might hold a new record for most skulls stepped on in a movie.

It is grotesque and exhilarating, and this doesnt really come as a surprise, since the films writer/director is S. Craig Zahler  a talented young sadist who made his feature debut with the 2015 horror Western Bone Tomahawk, which contains one of the most shocking acts of movie violence Ive ever seen. At the moment, Zahler is the master of, Well, I havent seen that before cinema.

Zahler and Vaughn will team up again next year for the action thriller Dragged Across Concrete, in which Vaughn and Mel Gibson will play two corrupt cops who descend into the criminal underworld after being suspended for brutally assaulting a suspect.

It sounds horribly violent and morally dubious, and I cant wait.

Movie Review: Brawl in Cell Block 99

Opens Friday

Grade: A-

Cast: Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Marc Blucas, Mustafa Shakir, Udo Kier, Geno Segers

Director: S. Craig Zahler

Rating: Unrated, but its packed with grotesque violence, bad language and disturbing content

Running time: 2 hours, 12 minutes

Theaters: Alamo, Oakview
This story was originally published on April 13, 1984.

* * *

Friday the 13th. Bad luck day. The ultimate harbinger of ill fortune. Bad luck? Not to Judy Brodersen of Denison, Iowa. Not to Alice Mary Buchanan of Omaha.

From now on, Mrs. Brodersen will count Friday, April 13, as one of the luckiest, most memorable days in her 38 years. It took a lot of help from some Omaha strangers, but she gave birth to her sixth child and first girl at 4:35 Friday morning.

She had lost five pregnancies, so Friday's birth was her 11th. And in this case 11 was the lucky number it is proclaimed to be. Mrs. Brodersen and her husband, Rick, a soft-drink distributor, had come to visit her Omaha obstetrician Thursday. The birth supposedly was 3 1/2 weeks away, but because of previous problems they wanted to be sure.

The examination showed the baby was far ahead of that schedule. The doctor's advice to the prospective mother: Stay overnight in an Omaha motel. Mrs. Brodersen wasn't so sure. She confided she would like to go home and perhaps return to have the baby Saturday. "I'd rather not have it on Friday the 13th, " she said.

Taxi Summoned

Little did she know. Brodersen convinced his wife it would be best to follow doctor's orders. He left her at the New Tower Inn, 78th and Dodge Streets, and headed home to be with his five sons. Mrs. Brodersen retired. But by 3 a.m. she knew the stork was fluttering. By 4 a.m. she was painfully aware that the time had almost arrived. In desperation, she called the motel desk. A taxi was summoned. Five minutes later it arrived with two cabbies. They met her at the motel door, helped her into the car and rushed the mother-to-be to Methodist Hospital. They arrived at 4:15 20 minutes before the baby. Less than five hours later, a radiant Mrs. Brodersen cradled her less-than-five-hour-old daughter in her arms for a World-Herald picture. Her husband, who had arrived after the baby, beamed his approval. The newest Brodersen will be called Anna Lisa.

Elsewhere in Omaha, Mrs. Buchanan prepared to spend another pleasant day in apartment 1313 on the 13th floor of the Masonic Manor, 801 S. 52nd St.

She had no qualms about the prevalence of 13s. She considers it her lucky number. With good reason. Before moving into the manor two years ago, she had lived for 25 years at 1313 N. 58th St.

Turned It Down

A widow, she said her quarter of a century at that address was for the most part a happy time. She had enjoyed her home and her life there. But "there comes a time, " she said, when a home becomes too much to care for. So she had applied for quarters at the Masonic Manor. There had been a waiting list. Then two years ago she got a call from a manor official. It came, almost miraculously, on March 13, 1982.

"The caller told me the lady ahead of me on the waiting list had seen the apartment but had turned it down because of the 1313 number and the 13th floor location, " Mrs. Buchanan said. "Then he asked if I would take it. I said of course. I told him it sounded just like home."

How 17 Omaha buildings handle the 13th floor
A gym, a call center, a storage facility or years of vacancy could be whats next for many empty spaces once home to big chain stores that have closed or are on their way out.

As retailers struggle to compete for market share with Amazon and other online retailers, some are closing stores or going under all together. That leaves a glut of square footage that property owners and real estate agents are trying to find new uses for.

At least three such stores are slated to close in the coming months: Kmart near 50th and L Streets; Shopko near 84th Street and West Center Road; and Office Max at Shadow Lake Towne Center.

Those closings, combined with four Omaha-area Gordmans stores that closed earlier this year when the company declared bankruptcy, have accelerated the vacant big box square footage in the area, local real estate professionals say.

There is hope that some of that space will be taken back by other retailers, but it could take some time, often depending on the location and what other retailers already are in the same area.

If its a good location, youll see other retailers, other uses going in there, said James Maenner, senior vice president of CBRE/Mega. But of some of the locations recently closed, he said: Those stores might sit for a long time.

The problem is that few retailers are opening the mammoth stores anymore. That means the space must be split up, or find a new use.

Splitting a space up is doable in some instances but not always cost-effective. The former Kmart near 132nd Street and West Maple Road, for example, will now house four retailers  TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Sierra Trading Post and Burlington. The Kmart closed in 2014.

Its a pretty expensive proposition to take a larger space and divide it, said Trenton Magid, executive vice president at NAI NP Dodge and a member of the Omaha Planning Board. Dividing a space requires creating new storefronts, separating utilities and putting up walls. Sometimes property owners cant justify the costs, he said.

There is hope for some vacancies: Best Buy at L Street Marketplace near 120th and L Streets, for example, closed in 2012. New-to-market Ross Dress For Less has plans to open a store in the space sometime next year.

In other markets, empty space is being scooped up by indoor, climate-controlled storage facilities. One such facility, operating as Affordable Family Storage, has applied with the city for a conditional-use permit to operate within 74,000 square feet of the old Kmart at 50th and L Streets. Officials with the storage company did not return phone or email messages. Dan Dutton of OMNE Partners represents the owner of the building but said he could not comment further on the specific plans.

The company, O and H Investments, also purchased a former Shopko at 5646 N. 90th St. in July for $2.7 million. An online real estate listing says that property will offer 884 climate-controlled units under the name Affordable Family Storage when converted to a storage facility. The company also lists the location on its website.

Affordable Family Storage operates one facility at a shopping center in Council Bluffs, but none in Omaha yet.

Self-storage is very popular and there is not the supply to meet the demand at this point, Dutton said. As people are living in apartments longer, the need for off-site storage has grown. Many businesses also use the facilities to store documents or photos, since they are relatively inexpensive, he said.

The owner of the soon-to-be-closed Shopko at 84th Street and West Center Road is open to selling that portion of the shopping center or re-leasing it, said Magid, who handles leasing for the center. The space is roughly 92,300 square feet. With a conditional-use permit, Magid said, it could also be converted to self-storage.

Some of the spaces are well-suited for call centers, with ample parking and wide-open space to fit rows of people, Dutton said. Omaha Steaks, for example, is operating a call center at the former Southroads Mall in Bellevue for the holiday season.

He expected that much of the space left vacant by Gordmans will be reabsorbed by retailers because of their prime locations in healthy shopping centers, and smaller spaces, at roughly 50,000 square feet.

The Gordmans at Shadow Lake Towne Center, for example, is now housing a seasonal Spirit Halloween store. Its directly next door to OfficeMax, which is slated to close Nov. 18. Shadow Lake did not respond to multiple phone messages, but Marketing Director Amy Houston has said that the center is very optimistic about re-leasing the former Gordmans space.

In the long haul, Amazon or other online retailers could take back some of the space that once housed bricks-and-mortar retailers and use it for small warehouses or shipping centers.

If drone delivery actually is on Amazons horizon, the company would need small warehouses in cities to aide in the endeavor, Dutton said.

That will be interesting to see how much Amazon ends up turning the tide in favor of bricks and mortar, he said.

In the meantime, a bricks-and-mortar retail comeback is probably not on the horizon, Maenner said.

I just dont see bricks-and-mortar retail having a particularly viable future, as far as new building, he said.
Bill Gates is losing hold of his title as the worlds richest person, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos once again mounting a challenge for the top spot. But if Gates werent so philanthropic, it wouldnt even be close.

Gates has a net worth of $86.8 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He would be worth $150 billion if he hadnt given away almost 700 million Microsoft Corp. shares and $2.9 billion of cash and other assets to charity, according to an analysis of his publicly disclosed giving since 1996. The index numbers are based on the close of trading in New York Wednesday.

And if not for more than a decade of donating Berkshire Hathaway shares to charity, Warren Buffett, who is ranked No. 3 in the index with $80.6 billion, would be right behind Gates with $135 billion. Bezos, who passed Gates for a few hours earlier this summer, has a net worth of $85.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg index, a daily ranking of the worlds 500 richest people.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have a set a new bar in terms of the raw scale of their giving, said Jacob Harold, chief executive officer of GuideStar, a non-profit that collects information on charities. I hope and anticipate that thats a bar thats going to be exceeded someday. Maybe not in the near future, but at some point. The sheer scale of it is truly remarkable.

Both Gates, 61, and Buffett, 87, have done most of their giving through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which aims to improve global issues like health care and poverty. The foundation has made $41 billion in direct grants, including to GuideStar, and holds assets worth $40.3 billion, according to the charitys website.

Gates and Buffett also founded the Giving Pledge in 2010, and have been joined by 168 others whove committed to give most of their wealth to charity. Still, billionaire philanthropy makes up a small piece of total giving. Last year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave away $4.3 billion, a little more than 1 percent of the $390 billion donated to charities in the U.S., according to data from the Giving Institute. American individuals provided more than 72 percent of charitable funding.

Bezos, 53, is just starting to focus on philanthropy, and in June tweeted a request for ideas on how to help people now. Since 2002, Bezos has given away Amazon shares worth at least $400 million at current prices, according to a Bloomberg analysis of Form 4 filings. The billionaire said in April that he sells $1 billion of Amazon stock every year to fund his space business Blue Origin. He sold that amount one month later.

Bezos and Spanish retailer Amancio Ortega have both challenged the hold Gates has had on the top spot since May 2013. Ortega, whose net worth peaked at $85.9 billion in June 2, has since fallen behind Buffett to the No. 4 spot with a net worth of $79.8 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns the Omaha World-Herald.
Two longtime Omaha companies  Nebraska Furniture Mart and Borsheims  were named to the Jewish Business Leaders hall of fame during the groups inaugural meeting Wednesday.

Alex Epstein, a commercial real estate broker with Omne Partners, founded the leadership group to help keep alive the history of Jewish entrepreneurs and also as a way for members to share experiences.

Our goal is to honor and carry the memories forward for many more generations, he said.

About 75 people attended the kickoff meeting at Happy Hollow Club. The group, formed in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Omaha, will meet four times a year and feature talks from leaders who have shaped a local business.

The group plans to display its hall of fame members on a wall at the Jewish Community Center, and multimedia presentations will spotlight how their businesses grew. The story will be there on every speaker for years to come, Epstein said.

Irv Blumkin, chief executive of Nebraska Furniture Mart, accepted the hall of fame honor for the iconic company founded by his grandmother, Rose Blumkin, commonly known as Mrs. B.

Erin Limas, chief financial officer, represented Borsheims Fine Jewelry and the families who were key to its growth, including the Cohns, Yales and Friedmans.

Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate eventually bought both Borsheims and the Mart, told organizers he was unable to attend, but he sent a note expressing his regards for the founding families.

The Omaha World-Herald is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Hiring managers who are having trouble finding good workers might consider looking in one unlikely place: behind bars.

A program at Metropolitan Community College is helping people in jail or prison prepare for work after they are released through classes and career skills training, the programs director, Diane Good-Collins, told Omaha-area human resources officials.

The 180 Re-Entry Assistance Program continues to provide opportunities and support for the formerly incarcerated after they are released.

Hiring someone with a criminal background is worth considering, especially in light of todays very low unemployment rates, Good-Collins told members of the Human Resource Association of the Midlands, at the groups Wednesday morning Diversity Symposium.

More than 4,000 Nebraskans will be coming out of incarceration in the next three years, and most will come to Omaha, she said.

Do you want these individuals to return as your neighbors  educated, trained and ready to do something different  or do you want them to just return? she said.

The talk was part of a speaker series designed to help human resources managers increase diversity in their hiring pools, said Sarah Schulz, executive director of the association.

Previous sessions looked at how to make the workplace more accessible to people with disabilities, and more welcoming to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Good-Collins, herself a former prisoner, said she prayed for the opportunity to talk to the group.

If I can get one person to view the population we serve  if we can get them to look at us in a different light, she said.

One participant, First Data recruiter Terry Rogers-Womack, said hiring managers arent well-educated on the opportunities for hiring formerly incarcerated people.

While some fields  like financial services  have regulations against hiring former felons, Rogers-Womack said some managers might automatically think Nope when a former felon applies for a job, without really considering the applicant.

This was very eye-opening for the people who are here today, she said.

The re-entry program expanded in 2015 with the help of a state grant, and serves people in six Nebraska correctional facilities, and on Metros Fort Omaha Campus.

There are several employers in Omaha who regularly provide formerly incarcerated people with jobs, and Good-Collins said she is glad for that. But she also wants to open up new opportunities in higher-paying and career track positions.

When a person earns a living wage, can provide for their family and can expect to advance in their field, she said, You feel like youre a part of the world again, and not a throwaway.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center continued to gain ground in research funding last year.

UNMC researchers brought in a record $117.1 million in grants and contracts during fiscal year 2017, up nearly 2 percent from a record $115.1 million the previous year.

Last years total marked the first time that UNMC had surpassed the $100 million mark in research funding, not including funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The federal stimulus package, the university noted, boosted funding from 2008 to 2010.

Dr. Jennifer Larsen, UNMCs vice chancellor for research, said the universitys goal is to continue to grow research on all fronts at a time when funding from the National Institutes of Health, a key funder of biomedical research, has been fairly flat.

Along with other funding sources, this total shows we are competitive and going in the right direction, she said in a statement.

Federal awards increased by nearly 6 percent. As in previous years, federal sources accounted for the majority of UNMCs research funding, totaling 67 percent. Industry-sponsored grants and contracts increased 13.5 percent.

Larsen attributed part of the increase in industry-sponsored funding to the work of Dr. Chris Kratochvil, associate vice chancellor for clinical research, with UNeHealth, UNMCs contracting arm for industry-funded clinical trials, and the Clinical Research Center on campus.

Kratochvil said UNeHealth has made strides in improving processes for commercially funded clinical trials, including speeding contract negotiations. That has enabled UNMC to be more competitive for them.

Larsen said a number of other factors contributed to the increase in funding, including more large grant programs, additional bread and butter NIH RO1 grants, more individual training awards, increased clinical trials and more Department of Defense contracts, including those with the National Security Research Institute.
Omaha-area Wells Fargo customers now have another way to use their phones to withdraw cash from the banks ATMs.

The bank this week activated a new card-free feature that lets account holders use mobile wallets on smartphones to verify their account credentials at ATMs.

The new feature relies on near-field communication technology, which enables contactless payments through products like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay.

To use it, customers must open up their mobile wallet, place their phone near the NFC reader on the ATM and then enter their PIN to proceed with ATM transactions.

(Compatible machines are identified with an icon on the front of the ATM.)

Of the banks 77 ATM locations in Nebraska, 32 are equipped with the technology, and 21 of those are in the Omaha area. Remaining machines in the banks 13,000-machine network will be upgraded with the new technology by 2019.

In March, Wells rolled out another card-free function through which customers could use the banks mobile app to generate a code that enabled ATM access without a card.
With his permit approved, Colten Schafersman of Hooper, Nebraska, is looking forward to building a poultry barn on family farmland  a project he hopes will be lucrative enough to someday keep his own son in the family business.

The 25-year-old farms with his grandfather, John Snover, and hes one of more than 100 farmers expected to raise chickens in Nebraska for retail warehouse giant Costco.

He was the first to be approved for permit to do so, by Dodge County officials.

He expects to invest nearly $2 million in the barns, to start construction this fall and be raising poultry by next summer. Hell raise 53,000 hens and 7,000 roosters. The female pullets will be the birds laying the eggs that hatch into chickens destined to become dinner.

Schafersman is in the same boat as many young farmers: There isnt enough income today from row-crop farming to bring grown children (or grandchildren, in his case) back into the family farm business.

Costco has pitched the chicken project to farmers by saying it takes just one full-time worker to run four barns, which can earn net income of over $100,000 a year. Schafersman is going into the chicken business with a loan co-signed by his grandparents, with the goal of using his proceeds to buy into the family farm business.

This Costco project has really given me a great opportunity to invest my future, and my sons and my wifes, and just really fasten myself to the farm here, Schafersman said.

Schafersman hears the concerns about what critics call industrial agriculture.

I mean, that would be great if everybody could live off 10 chickens in their backyard, he said. Thats not the way the world is.

He said he has a vested interest in sustainable farming.

My familys been here for 125 years, I have a 3-year-old son, he said. We earn a living off the resources. Were not going to destroy it to make an extra buck.
Touching just a few grains of the white powdery substance could be deadly.

So authorities are relieved that they were able to safely recover more than 33 pounds of fentanyl hidden in a suitcase at Omahas train station.

The drugs, worth about $15 million  Nebraskas largest seizure by far  most likely were headed to addicts in eastern states wrecked by opioid abuse.

Its a stop like this that prevents people in Ohio and New York from being poisoned, said Lt. Jason Scott of the Nebraska State Patrol. This could have affected thousands of people, no doubt.

Overdose deaths in Nebraska havent reached the staggering levels of those in East Coast cities, but Scott said overdoses are quickly passing motor vehicle deaths in the state, which were 218 last year.

Also troubling is the fact that fentanyl, a drug 50 times more powerful than heroin, was being shipped among innocent bystanders, said Matthew Barden, the associate special agent in charge at the Drug Enforcement Administration's Omaha district office.

If the suitcase had opened by an unsuspecting person or somehow broke open, the result could have been deadly.

This is playing Russian roulette knowing that every cylinders got a bullet in it, Barden said. The potential here is very dangerous.

Scott said Nebraska State Patrol investigators always are on the lookout for drugs on Interstate 80 and at train stations, truck stops and hotels.

I-80 is a pipeline, everybodys aware of that, he said. Were just trying to keep that 450 miles safe and drug-free.

Previous fentanyl seizures have reached 1 or 2 kilograms  a fraction of the 15 kilos recovered last week, Scott said.

On Wednesday morning, DEA and State Patrol officials found 15 vacuum-sealed packages containing fentanyl inside luggage at Omahas Amtrak Train Station near Ninth and Pacific Streets.

One of the bundles tested positive as pure fentanyl, Barden said.

DEA Special Agent Kelly Quernemoen and State Patrol Investigator Kevin Finn were conducting routine surveillance when they noticed a new suitcase with no identification on a luggage shelf, according to an affidavit.

They asked all of the train passengers if the suitcase was theirs, but no one claimed it. A 27-year-old man who previously had said the bag wasnt his then told Finn it was his friends.

The man told Finn he was traveling from Denver to Chicago to visit his sister, but the mans ticket showed a departure from Sacramento, California.

Finn asked the man if he could search the bag and the man gave permission.

Inside the bag were 15 bundles of the drug, each weighing about a kilogram.

The train passenger has been charged with possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, which carries a penalty of 10 years to life in prison and a fine of up to $10 million. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in court this afternoon.

Authorities said the man was planning to travel to New York or New Jersey with the drugs, which would have provided at least 15 million dosage units  or more if smaller quantities were added to other drugs.

DEA agents and State Patrol narcotics unit troopers carry naloxone, which reverses the effects of an opioid overdose and helps a person breathe. In August, the Omaha Police Department received a donation for 150 two-dose spray kits. The Omaha Fire Department has had the kits for years, and local paramedics used the medicine 211 times last year. Other area law enforcement agencies plan to order the medicine in the next few months, but it is expensive.

Barden, who recently moved to his Omaha post from Arkansas, said he expects the impact of opioids to increase in Nebraska.

We are very foolish as Nebraskans to think that the targets not on our back, he said. Its coming.
Two men from Kansas were arrested Thursday after leading authorities in western Iowa on a stolen-vehicle pursuit that included gunshots aimed at a deputy.

The incident began around 3:45 a.m. when Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office deputies were dispatched to Shelby over a stolen 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt, the Sheriffs Office said.

The vehicle was later spotted westbound on Interstate 80 near Underwood and Neola. The driver of the Chevy refused to stop and fled from the location, hitting a top speed of 120 mph, the Sheriffs Office said.

The vehicle left I-80 at the Underwood exit. At County Road L-34 and Whippoorwill Road, an attempt was made to stop the vehicle, with the Chevy ending up in a ditch and two occupants fleeing on foot, the Sheriffs Office said.

The driver, a 25-year-old from Scranton, Kansas, was quickly arrested, the Sheriffs Office said. A passenger, an 18-year-old from Burlingame, Kansas, got into a pickup in the area and fled from the scene, the Sheriffs Office said. The pickup became stuck in a cornfield and the teen fled on foot before he was arrested, the Sheriffs Office said.

The two men were taken to a Bluffs hospital for treatment of minor injuries. They were released and taken to the Pottawattamie County Jail, officials said.

Sometime during the pursuit, gunshots were fired at a deputys cruiser, the Sheriffs Office said. No injuries occurred.

The 25-year-old was arrested on suspicion of multiple traffic offenses, theft of a motor vehicle, interference with official acts and possession of a stolen handgun, officials said.

The 18-year-old was arrested on of suspicion of two counts of theft of a motor vehicle, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a dangerous weapon, interference with official acts and attempted murder.

Thursdays pursuit was the second one for Pottawattamie County deputies in a little more than 24 hours.

Tuesday around 11:30 p.m., two men in their 30s were arrested after a brief pursuit in western Iowa.

The pursuit started north of Crescent and it ended with a crash into a ditch southwest of the town, the Sheriffs Office said.

After the crash, the 38-year-old driver fled on foot before he was captured with the help of Omaha police, a police dog and an Omaha police helicopter.
Eight months after she filed a legal precursor to a lawsuit, the sister of two men who were shot to death last year by her former boyfriend has moved ahead with the case that alleges that pieces of Douglas Countys 911 system were deficient.

In a lawsuit filed Oct. 2, Julie Edwards asserts that the countys Emergency Communications Department was negligent in its handling of the response to the shootings of her brothers, John and Jason Edwards of Papillion.

Julie Edwards filed a notice of a tort claim in February. Nebraska law requires a person seeking compensation from a government body to first file a claim. If the person is unsatisfied with the governments response, then he or she can file a lawsuit.

It was not clear Wednesday whether the Douglas County Board had denied Julie Edwards claim or had not responded to it.

Lawyers for the widows and minor children of John and Jason Edwards also filed tort claim notices in February. It appeared Wednesday that neither had filed suits.

Julie Edwards and her brothers went to the home of Kenneth Clark, 45, near 140th and Miami Streets in February 2016 to get Julie Edwards belongings after she broke up with Clark.

Clark shot the brothers and, for about four hours, held Julie Edwards hostage. John Edwards made it to the basement and dialed 911 using a mobile phone. He was unable to tell the call taker where he was, and it took about 40 minutes to pinpoint his location. During that period, there were seven 911 calls to and from John Edwards.

Law enforcement was initially sent more than a mile away, to 150th and Blondo Streets, based on incorrect location information. Dispatchers eventually used Clarks name, gleaned from the calls, to search county property records and determine the address.

The claims allege that the county employee handling the calls failed to obtain basic information from the caller, that Douglas County 911 center personnel lacked training and that the call was handled callously.

Clark shot himself to death in the house.
Congress now has clear evidence that Russian agents tried to exploit Americans use of Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter to influence and destabilize our politics.

Twitter has shut down 201 accounts tied to Russian operatives who exploited its platform. Facebook is turning over more than 3,000 Russian-linked political advertisements to Congress. Google recently disclosed that it uncovered thousands of dollars in political ads purchased by Russian agents.

Congress and federal regulators should apply Cold War lessons learned when Soviet operatives and sympathizers placed advertisements in newspapers and on radio and TV.

Chief among these lessons: Mandatory disclosure is an antidote to secrecy and subversion. Congress, the Federal Election Commission and state governments should require it.

Lawmakers should work to close the regulatory gaps that allowed these online media companies to be exploited by a hostile foreign power. Its not asking too much to require online media companies to record who purchased a political advertisement and how much they paid and keep a record of the ad. Or to require them to make reasonable efforts to avoid selling political ads to foreign actors.

In other words, new media companies should be held to the same regulations and disclosure rules on campaign-related advertisements that legacy media companies already follow.

All should be obliged to practice strict accountability in monitoring advertising content to screen against outside interference. New media companies say they are trying to develop the tools to better monitor such efforts and hiring more people to screen ads.

Ann Ravel, an FEC commissioner appointed by President Barack Obama, raised concern about the potential for foreign abuse of online advertising in 2014.

Many dismissed her attempts to rally support for clearer regulation as infringements on the First Amendments free speech guarantees.

Requiring disclosure of whos behind political advertising has long had support on both sides of the political spectrum, including the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a noted conservative scholar. Several of Scalias legal opinions on elections and campaign finance cited the importance of disclosure.

Requiring people to stand up in public for their political acts fosters civic courage, without which democracy is doomed, he wrote in a 2010 opinion agreeing with the majority on the need to publicly disclose the names of people who had signed initiative petitions.

Lobbyists in Washington are already gearing up to paint any efforts to regulate Silicon Valley as dangerous to the lightly governed approach that made the technology sector possible. Lawmakers and FEC commissioners should ignore them and clarify digital political advertising disclosure requirements.

Antagonists in Russia, North Korea, China and elsewhere will certainly keep trying to actively disrupt our economy, our military, our politics and our lives.

Countering such actions is the task of American intelligence services.

But online advertising distributors also have a responsibility. Disclosure of whos behind all campaign ads would help Americans to be better-educated consumers, while also protecting the integrity of our elections.
A 22-year-old motorcyclist was seriously injured Thursday morning in a crash with a school bus in Omaha.

The crash occurred about 6:40 a.m. at 16th and Hickory Streets, police said.

The bus had turned left from westbound Hickory onto southbound 16th and had nearly completed its turn when it was struck by a northbound motorcycle, police said.

According to witnesses, the motorcycle was being driven in a reckless manner  passing other vehicles on a single-lane of travel and speeding  before it struck the bus, police said.

After the crash, the motorcycle skidded into a parked vehicle, damaging it, police said.

The motorcyclist, Chaz Brown of Council Bluffs, was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center in what rescue squad personnel at the scene considered critical condition.

Brown suffered a concussion and a broken arm. His injuries were not considered life-threatening. He was cited on suspicion of negligent driving.

Alcohol use was not a factor in the crash, police said.

The bus driver, Lirio Pulliam, 46, was not injured.

Three students were aboard the bus at the time of the crash, police said, and they were not injured. They were picked up by another bus.
LINCOLN  A former U.S. attorney has been appointed to investigate and prosecute potential criminal violations stemming from internal use-of-force investigations at the Nebraska State Patrol.

Special prosecutor Joe Stecher stressed Wednesday that he is aware of nothing at this point that leads him to believe that charges will be filed against any of the four patrol members named in court documents. All four are on paid administrative leave from the agency in connection with their involvement in an internal investigation into a 2016 high-speed chase in Sheridan County that ended in the death of the fleeing driver.

A special prosecutor has the responsibility to look and see if an investigation or prosecution are necessary, Stecher said. There has been no recommendation of charges or any indication that charges are imminent.

Stecher served as the U.S. attorney for Nebraska from 2007 to 2009. He now practices law in Harrison, in far northwest Nebraska, where he also serves as a deputy county attorney for Sioux County. Reached Wednesday while attending a professional conference, Stecher said he had not yet reviewed material related to his appointment as special prosecutor.

Stecher already played a role in one of the use-of-force investigations that have placed the patrol at the center of unprecedented controversy. The March 4, 2016, case in Sioux County involved a trooper who was seen on a dashboard-camera video using a rifle butt to strike the head of a drunken driver who refused orders to drop to the ground.

Stecher decided against charging the trooper, in part because he could find no evidence that the driver was hurt by the rifle strike. The prosecutor also decided that a jury could conclude that the trooper was justified in using the force after the driver refused repeated commands to get down.

The trooper has since resigned, but a state personnel review of the matter concluded that former Patrol Superintendent Brad Rice and others downplayed the shocking use of force.

Stecher said Wednesday he does not know whether the FBI is investigating the patrol. Gov. Pete Ricketts has said he turned over evidence of meddling in internal investigations to the bureau and the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Neither of the federal entities will comment on a possible probe into the State Patrol. But Attorney General Doug Peterson has said repeatedly that the FBI is investigating.

District Judge Travis OGorman signed the order Friday appointing the special prosecutor, the same day Sheridan County Attorney Jamian Simmons declared that she had a conflict of interest in the matter. Simmons did not immediately return a message Wednesday.

Both the motion and the judges order list Capt. Jamey Balthazor, Sgt. Kevin Waugh, Sgt. Travis Wallace and Trooper Tim Flick. All four officers are stationed in the Troop E area, which encompasses an 11-county region in the Panhandle.

The court documents, however, do not list Rice, whom the governor fired in June after a personnel review found evidence that Rice had interfered in the Sheridan County fatality and other internal investigations.

Nor do they list Lt. Col. Thomas Schwarten, the patrols second-in-command, or Maj. Mike Gaudreault, who heads the division responsible for patrol troopers. Both also remain on paid administrative leave.

Patrol Sgt. Brian Petersen, president of the State Troopers Association of Nebraska, said he was deeply disappointed Wednesday when he learned about the special prosecutor. In September, he called for the governor to reinstate the suspended troopers, three of whom belong to his union.

The agency review by Jason Jackson, the states chief human resources officer, contained factual errors and relied too heavily on just a few sources, Petersen said. Jackson, for example, did not interview the suspended employees to hear their side of the story, Petersen said.

Ill stand behind them 100 percent every day, Petersen said of the suspended patrol officers. Ill never waiver. I am that confident in what I know about these cases and these individuals.

The case that prompted the appointment of the special prosecutor unfolded on Oct. 3, 2016, on Nebraska Highway 27 north of Gordon.

On the dash-cam video, Flick, the pursuing trooper, can be heard saying he used whats called a tactical vehicle intervention, or TVI, to bump the fleeing vehicle in an effort to cause it to safely spin out. But the official narrative changed as supervisors got involved and the trooper said his cruiser was struck by the fleeing car. Rice eventually concluded that a TVI was not used by the trooper.

While some within the patrol said the video showed that Flick used a TVI, patrol union leaders have sharply disagreed. They argue that the pursuit video shows that the fleeing vehicle made contact with the patrol cruiser as Flick was maneuvering to attempt the TVI.

A Sheridan County grand jury investigation cleared the trooper of wrongdoing last December.
Kara Eastman, a Democratic candidate for Nebraskas 2nd Congressional District seat, has received the endorsement of Nebraska State Legislative Board of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

Eastman will fight for the rights, fair wages, health care and education for all workers and their families, said Chairman Pat Pfeifer. She supports union labor and also all wage earners that do not enjoy the benefit of belonging to a union.

Her campaign is touting it as the first labor union endorsement in the Democratic race between Eastman and former Rep. Brad Ashford. The winner will face off against Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican.
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Editors note: The recording of the 911 call contains language some readers may find offensive.

CHARLES CITY | Antoine Williams and Nathaniel Fleming were like brothers, but a fight between the two led to a fatal shooting, a defense attorney said during opening statements Wednesday.

Williams, 36, a Chicago native, is accused of first-degree murder in the death of Nathaniel Fleming, 36, last known address Mason City, on June 30.

Steven Kloberdanz, Williams court-appointed defense attorney, described a series of events to a Floyd County jury, claiming Fleming was angry at Williams that day.

Fleming was intoxicated, Kloberdanz said, and believed Williams was in cahoots with some people who had assaulted him.

Fleming then left the apartment complex, allegedly telling Williams he better not be here when I come back, Kloberdanz said.

Kloberdanz claimed Fleming had a Napoleonic or Chihuahua complex because he was small in stature.

He often bragged about having guns, Kloberdanz said. Makes up for his small size by talking tough.

Upon returning, Fleming pulled his car up near the complexs dumpsters and backed in. Kloberdanz said Williams went out to talk to Fleming, who was still upset.

The more he tried to talk him down, the angrier he got, Kloberdanz said.

Kloberdanz claimed Fleming reached for a gun and then Williams  acting in self-defense  shot him.

To Antoine Williams, it was either shoot or be shot, Kloberdanz said.

Prior to the argument, Kloberdanz said the two had a close relationship.

Antoine Williams is the kind of man who treated Mr. Fleming so well that many people thought they were brothers, Kloberdanz said.

Later in the testimony, bodycam footage from Charles City Police Officer Leonard Luft showed a man talking with police saying the shooter was supposed to be his brother.

That statement was repeated in a 911 call played for jurors, in which at least three people reported the shooting.

The first caller, a man who doesnt identify himself, tells dispatcher Heather Johlas somebodys been shot and carjacked. The call was reported at 9:46 p.m.

Johlas then asks the man how he knows someone has been shot and carjacked.

Cause I heard the gunshots, and hes laying right here by the garbage dumpster, and they took off in his truck, I seen it, the caller says.

Did you see who took the truck? the dispatcher asks.

Yes, I did, its supposed to be his brother, the caller replies, but doesnt supply the name of who supposedly took the vehicle.

He then asks the dispatcher to hurry up, (because) the man might die and says the person  who he says he doesnt know  has been shot three times.

The third caller, a woman who doesnt identify herself, tells Johlas she heard gunshots. Judge Rustin Davenport asked the jury to disregard the female caller, as she couldn't be identified.

Luft, who was the first officer to respond to the scene, testified he had driven his patrol vehicle by the complex one to two hours before the shooting.

While near the complex, Luft said he saw Williams outside with two other people  Josh Baker and Ed Brown.

The description witnesses gave of the shooter matched Williams and Brown as they are of similar height, build and racial description.

OMara asked Luft if he had interacted with Williams before and what his impression of Williams was.

Luft said he was familiar with Williams, as he had been a victim of criminal mischief when someone kicked in the door to his apartment in May. He said he had never encountered Fleming.

He was laid back, Luft said of Williams.

Once on the scene, Luft and fellow officer Duane Ollendick performed CPR on Fleming until the ambulance arrived, but Fleming was unresponsive.

Fleming appeared to have wounds to his chest and neck, Ollendick said.

Luft asked witnesses who the shooter was, and where the shooter went. His bodycam footage  which was shared in court  showed several witnesses, some shouting, others agitated or excited.

Witnesses at the scene told officers a person shot into the vehicle, a dark red Chevy Equinox SUV, and pulled Fleming out of the vehicle after he was shot. The person then climbed into the vehicle and drove off.

Police then looked around the complexs parking lot for the vehicle.

Williams later turned himself in to police in Chicago, Floyd County Attorney Rachel Ginbey said, as she gave the series of events that led police to discover Williams likely drove to Illinois.

Officer Jason Flores was with Luft on patrol that night, as he was in training. He was not uniformed or armed.

It was my first time witnessing something like that, Flores said.

On Tuesday, six men and eight women were selected as jurors.

Williams other court-appointed attorney, Nellie OMara, previously argued that because of media coverage, Williams would not be able to get a fair trial in Floyd County. She asked that the trial be moved.

Davenport denied the motion last month.

Testimony will resume Thursday in Charles City.

Our previous story:

CHARLES CITY | At least three people called 911 to report a shooting at a Charles City apartment complex in June, according to a recording played in court Wednesday morning.

The recording of the 911 calls was played during the first day of Antoine Tyree Williams first-degree murder trial in Floyd County District Court.

In the first 911 call, an unidentified man tells a female dispatcher somebodys been shot and carjacked.

The dispatcher then asks the man how he knows someone has been shot and carjacked.

Cause I heard the gunshots, and hes laying right here by the garbage dumpster, and they took off in his truck, I seen it, the caller says.

Did you see who took the truck? the dispatcher asks.

Yes, I did, its supposed to be his brother, the caller replies, but doesn't identify who allegedly took the truck.

He then asks the dispatcher to hurry up, (because) the man might die and says the person  who he says he doesnt know  has been shot three times.

Two others also reported the shooting via 911 calls.

The third caller, a female, tells the dispatcher she heard gunshots. The judge asked the jury to disregard the female caller, as she couldn't be identified.

On Tuesday, six men and eight women were selected as jurors.

Williams court-appointed attorney, Nellie OMara, previously argued that because of media coverage, Williams would not be able to get a fair trial in Floyd County. She asked that the trial be moved.

Davenport denied the motion last month.
GARNER | A Forest City woman is accused of stealing lottery tickets from her employer.

Kelly Lee Ann Berg, 37, has been charged with felony theft of lottery tickets. Police say she stole them while working for a Caseys General Store in Hancock County on Aug. 11.

Video footage shows her taking eight tickets from the counter and going to her register, according to court documents.

Her manager told her she could not buy them while working so they were all placed on the counter behind her, the criminal complaint states. Several hours later Berg can be seen picking up the tickets and placing them in her pocket.

The manager reported being short eight tickets that day, court documents say.

Berg is also accused of misdemeanor theft for stealing four packs of cigarettes and three Monster energy drinks.

Court documents say she scanned the items at her register, voided the transaction and placed them in a bag before moving them to an employee cooler.

Berg is scheduled to appear in Hancock County District Court Oct. 19.

 Ashley Miller
Doug Rozendaal has been flying airplanes for more than four decades, but when he took off from Mason City Airport on Friday it was a first for
The Otago Business School hosts Craig Stobo, Chairman, NZ Local Government Funding Agency.

All students, staff and members of the public are welcome to attend.

Date Monday, 16 October 2017 Time 11:00am - 12:00pm Audience Public,All University Event Category Business Event Type Open Seminar

Public Lecture

Campus Dunedin Location Room CO:4.26, Level 4, Commerce Building, 60 Clyde Street. Cost FREE Contact Name Stephen Geddes Contact Phone +64 3 479 8696 Contact Email stephen.geddes@otago.ac.nz

Save this event
Thursday 12 October 2017 4:28pm



Image: Ingrid Visser

An international research team that includes a University of Otago scientist has undertaken the first in-depth investigation of the teeth of captive orca (killer whales) and have found them a sorry state, which raises serious concerns for these majestic mammals' overall health and welfare.

Anyone with a toothache knows how painful and distracting that can be - in orca which have around 48 large teeth, a sore tooth is likely no less painful or debilitating than for a person. Now, a new international study published in the journal Archives of Oral Biology, found that every individual examined had damaged teeth.

Study first author Professor John Jett of Florida's Stetson University, an ex-orca trainer, says the team investigated 29 orca owned by one company and held in the USA and Spain.

"Every whale had some form of damage to its teeth. We found that the more than 65 per cent possessed moderate to extreme tooth wear in their lower jaws, mostly as a result of chewing concrete and steel tank surfaces."

Additionally, the researchers found that more than 61 per cent of the orca they studied have "been to the dentist" to have their teeth drilled. Officially termed a "modified pulpotomy", a hole is drilled into the tooth to extract the soft pulpy tissue inside.



Dr Carolina Loch, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago. Image: supplied.

Study co-author Dr Carolina Loch, a Faculty of Dentistry researcher at New Zealand's University of Otago, specializes in the dentition of whales and dolphins, and says that unlike us, the resultant hole is not filled or capped, but rather is left open for the rest of the animal's life, requiring daily flushing with chemicals to keep the teeth empty of food and bacteria in an attempt to manage resulting infection.

"Once the tooth gets worn to the point where the pulp is exposed this opens up a channel for disease and infection, so the staff then drill the teeth," Dr Loch says.

Dr Jeff Ventre, another of the study authors, also an ex-orca trainer and now a medical doctor, says that he had drilled orca teeth in his former work. "Teeth damage is the most tragic consequence of captivity, as it not only causes morbidity and mortality in captive orcas, but often leads to chronic antibiotic therapy compromising the whale's immune system, as we saw recently with the orca known as Kasatka," Dr Ventre says.

Dr Loch added that a drilled tooth is severely weakened and if any other trauma occurs, fractures will happen.

"We have documented more than 60 per cent of the second and third teeth of the lower jaws were broken and this high number is likely linked to the drilling."

During his time as a trainer, Dr Ventre says that he had witnessed "whales breaking their teeth on steel gates while jaw popping. Small tooth fragments were then collected below the gate while diving the pool".

Jordan Waltz, an investigative researcher and co-author noted that "the damage to the teeth of these animals is so severe that most individuals can be identified by the specific fractures and tooth wear alone, much like forensic pathologists use for identification of humans post-mortem."

Dr Ventre also noted that "the obligatory daily teeth irrigations render the compromised orcas poor candidates for full release", should companies ever make the transition to look at rehabilitation for their captives.

Co-author Dr Ingrid Visser, a New Zealand-based scientist who has studied orca in the wild for more than three decades, has long been advocating for an end to orca captivity.

"We know that confining them in tanks is bad for the animals and this research now gives us some hard numbers to illustrate just how their health and welfare is compromised.

"Given how big the root of an orca's tooth is and that orca have a nervous system similar to ours, these injuries must be extremely painful.

"Compared to free-ranging orca, the teeth of captive orca are incredibly compromised and you just don't see this type or level of damage in the wild," says Dr Visser.

Dr Loch points out that "dentists have long said that oral health is a measure of general health as our mouths are the gateway to our body," and she believes that this is likely the same for orca.

Professor Jett concludes: "We have documented that tooth damage starts at a very early age in captivity and that all the orca in the study have issues with their teeth. Teeth are incredibly important to the overall health of an animal, and the results of our study should raise serious concerns for the health and welfare of captive orca."

The authors can be contacted on: (J Jett) jjett@stetson.edu; (J. Ventre) jmventre@gmail.com; (C. Loch) carolina.loch@otago.ac.nz [please note Dr Loch is currently in France] ; (I. Visser) ingrid@orca.org.nz

Study Highlights:

Using high-resolution photographs, individual teeth in the mandible and maxilla of captive orca were scored for coronal wear, wear at or below the gum line, fractures, bore holes and absence.

Dental damage was commonly observed across all captive whale cohorts, with damage beginning early in a whale's captive life.

Forty five percent of whales exhibited "moderate" mean mandibular coronal wear, and an additional 24 per cent exhibited "major" to "extreme" wear.

More than 61 per cent of mandibular teeth 2 and 3, and 47 per cent of mandibular tooth 4, exhibited evidence of having undergone the 'modified pulpotomy' procedure.

Aggression amongst the whales and repetitive oral stereotypies such as biting on hard tank surfaces likely contributed to the tooth pathology observed.

Study Citation details:

John Jett, Ingrid N. Visser, Jeffrey Ventre, Jordan Waltz, Carolina Loch, Tooth Damage in Captive Orcas (Orcinus orca), Archives of Oral Biology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2017.09.031 or http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003996917303138
Send-off ceremonies are always hard. We realize this because we've covered enough by now to see the emotions up close. It makes us all the more proud of those people who care enough to serve  whether that is in the active military or the National Guard.

Last Friday, about 100 Iowa Army National Guard members from the 248th Aviation Support Battalion were recognized during a send-off ceremony held at the West Gymnasium on the University of Northern Iowa campus.

Three other ceremonies were held throughout Iowa that day, in Davenport, Muscatine and Boone.

They are being deployed to provide aviation support for the U.S. Central Command in the Middle East. The deployment is part of a 500-soldier force from four states being deployed, which is the largest deployment since 2010. Another 35 soldiers from Detachment 1, Company C, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion in Waterloo also were deployed in August.

These send-off ceremonies are a nice way for a community to recognize the sacrifices of those being deployed to problem areas overseas. For those leaving, however, and their families who will be worrying about them, it can be a tough experience. It makes us all the more proud of those people who care enough to serve.

Brig. Gen. Steve Warnstadt addressed the soldiers during the ceremony.

"We appreciate the sacrifices that you're making. You do represent the finest that this state has to offer, but you're not alone," Brig. Gen. Steve Warnstadt said to the soldiers. "There's another group of patriots that I do want to address here, and that's the families. The only thing tougher than being a soldier is loving one. You didn't ask to carry this burden. You represent all that is admirable in our great country."

He challenged the community members present to offer support to those families while their spouses are deployed and acknowledged the large crowd of more than 500 people present to see off the soldiers.

"I'd ask that, frankly, Northeast Iowa become a beacon of everything that is right about this country, rallying and wrapping your arms around these family members," Warnstadt said. "To the troops, it looks to me like your communities have your back."

Certainly, it was good to see such strong support from the community. For years now, we have empathized with these soldiers and families during similar sendoffs.

In each of them, families were being separated. There were young children, too young to understand the situation, giving their fathers or mothers a final hug until they return.

They all know the hazards. Still they serve.

At the very least, we want the soldiers  and the families they have left behind  to realize how grateful we are. And we look forward to the day when all of them are able to participate in their welcome home ceremonies.
Yeo & Yeo CPAs & Business Consultants recently announce that Tara L. Stensrud has transferred from the firms Alma office to the Midland office.

Stensrud is a senior manager specializing in business consulting for management, financial reporting and tax issues, with a strong emphasis on the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. She also provides tax planning and preparation services for individuals and business entities. She is a member of the Michigan Manufacturers Association and the Central Michigan Manufacturers Association.

Stensrud is a member of the firms Manufacturing Services Group and Tax Services Group. She is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a National Social Security Advisor. She joined Yeo & Yeo in 2006. Stensrud is a Leadership Gratiot alumni.
After recently completing a multi-state hurricane relief effort with 764 pets adopted, the Bissell Pet Foundation will host its next Empty the Shelters event on Saturday across Michigan.

The Grand Rapids-based nonprofit said it will pay adoption fees at more than 75 shelters and rescue organizations. Local locations include:

 Humane Society of Midland County, 4371 E. Ashman St., Midland.

 Gladwin County Animal Shelter, 919 S. River Road, Beaverton.

 Humane Animal Treatment Society, 1105 S. Isabella Road, Mount Pleasant.

 Bay County Animal Control, 800 Livingston, Bay City.

Emptying kennels statewide will have a major impact on pet homelessness in Michigan and beyond, the foundation stated. Participating organizations are required to partner with other animal welfare groups to help fill the empty spaces after the event.

Michigan has served as a model for the Empty The Shelters initiative, Cathy Bissell, founder of Bissell Pet Foundation, stated in a news release. We have already expanded our efforts into nine additional states and our hope for 2018 is to continue to grow the program. Our mission is to find every pet a home. 

Families that adopt on Saturday will be required to pay licensing fees for their pet  costs may vary by county.

Last April, more than 20 animals found homes when the Humane Animal Treatment Society participated in the Empty the Shelters event. It expects to surpass that number this weekend.

"Free Adoption Day is a great opportunity for our community to make adoption their first option," HATS Executive Director Summer DuBois said. "We are thrilled that the Bissell Pet Foundation has allowed us to be a part of such an amazing event."

Local organizations recommend getting documents prepared for adoptions ahead of Saturday.

It is very helpful to ensure that all of the boxes are checked ahead of time. Any dealings with roommates, landlords, family members, etc., we recommend taking care of in advance, DuBois said.
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Three days after the fast-moving wildfires turned entire neighborhoods in Californias Wine County to ash heaps, many are reuniting with lost family members while others are learning their missing loved ones didnt make it.

But for those looking for the hundreds of people still missing, its an anguished waiting game. With few answers coming in, hopes begin to dwindle.

For the friends of 40-year-old Mike Grabow, the hours since they last heard from him have been all-consuming.

Its been rough and Im in shock, said Eric Reimann, who grew up with Grabow in Idaho and considers him his brother. Ive dug through 2 feet of hot coals (at Grabows burned-down home) for two days. I dont know if Im doing damage or doing good. Im ... Im trying to get some answers for his mom.

Grabow last spoke to his close-knit group of friends on Sunday night as the Tubbs Fire became visible from his home on Mark West Springs Road in Santa Rosa.

In the hours that followed, the fire consumed whole neighborhoods, leveling hundreds of homes, including Grabows. When his friends checked in with each other the next morning, they came to a troubling realization: Grabow couldnt be found.

The first day we were searching around, spreading the word through our friend group and reaching out to his extended family, said Rachel Ingram, 28. We went to every shelter in the area and went to almost every hospital.

Now Playing: The remains of the Journey's End mobile home park and Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel after the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa, Calif. on Tuesday, October 10, 2017. Video: Elijah Nouvelage, Special to The Chronicle

The next day, Ingram and the others took to social media, posting pictures of their friend, asking anyone who knows anything to get in touch. Ingram even drove south to San Rafael on Wednesday after getting a tip someone had seen Grabow at a grocery store there.

She headed back to Santa Rosa after leaving notes every place she could think of, hoping someone would read them and call her with good news.

Weve gone through every facet and every outlet that we can, Ingram said. We basically divided and conquered as much as we could.

They arent alone in their agonizing search. Law enforcement officials have been going through hundreds of reports of missing people in recent days. In some cases, it has been as simple as damaged cell phone towers and spotty Internet thats kept families from reuniting.

But for others, the outcomes have been heartbreaking.

Im optimistic we will get a lot of people connected, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said Wednesday. At the same time, we have to be realistic. At a certain point, if (searchers) cant locate someone, they start heading to the house and looking for them there.

Search teams have been fanning out into neighborhoods, looking for human remains at missing persons homes. As of Wednesday afternoon, 11 people had been confirmed dead in Sonoma County, including two on Mark West Springs Road, where Grabows house stood. Officials have not identified those victims.

A few miles south, in Journeys End Mobile Home Park on Mendocino Avenue, family members searched Wednesday for 69-year-old Linda Tunis. Her son was digging though the pile of rubble that was once her trailer when he discovered his mothers remains, Tuniss daughter told The Chronicle.

The news that her mother was dead came as the latest act in a spiraling story of despair for the family. The daughter, Jessica Tunis, believes she listened to her mothers final moments in a terrifying phone call at 3:43 a.m. Monday.

She called me saying she was trapped and everything was on fire, Tunis recalled. I said, Let someone see you! Shes coughing, coughing, coughing. Im hearing the smoke alarm go off. Im trying to help her navigate her house. Im saying Mom get out! Get out! Run!

Thats when the phone cut off.

It was horrendous, Tunis, 49, said. I was telling her I love her when the phone died.

Grabows friends hope he didnt suffer a similar fate. Reimann, whos taken several trips to search through the rubble and ash of Grabows home, said he hopes his friend turns up soon.

Ingram said she isnt thinking about anything other than finding her friend.

To be honest, Im distracting myself, she said. I cant think about losing him. Hes so important to all of us here.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky

Whom to call

People searching for missing loved ones can contact the Sonoma County Emergency Services Department at 1-707-565-3856.
Troopers from the Tri-City Post are looking for volunteers to help with a program allowing those suffering from drug addiction to seek help without fear of arrest or investigation.

The Michigan State Police has joined almost 200 police departments across the nation taking part in the Angel Program, a pre-arrest diversion program. The Angel Program allows someone with a drug addiction to walk into a state police post to seek help for their addiction, without the fear of arrest or investigation.

Troopers are looking for volunteers who are passionate about saving lives and making a difference in our communities. As an Angel volunteer you will be asked to listen and engage with participants, provide resources and encouragement, assist participants with program paperwork and provide transportation to treatment.

Interested volunteers will be asked to complete a brief training session conducted by Tri-City Post personnel. Volunteers will also need reliable transportation, a valid drivers license and must live within one hour of the Tri-City Post. Volunteers will be reimbursed for mileage and meals.

If you are interested in learning more about the program or becoming an Angel volunteer, contact the MSP Tri-City Post at 989-495-5555. The Angel Program began in 2015 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It is supported by the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative.
KENNESAW, Ga., Oct. 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Classic Vision Care and Eyes on Providence is in collaboration with MUST Ministries to get glasses into the hands of those in need, reports Classic Vision Care. Vision patients can contribute pairs of gently used glasses to the effort and receive $50 toward the purchase of a new set of frames and lens. In this way, the community of Kennesaw, vision providers and MUST Ministries help to better serve those in need and not able to afford prescription eyewear. Patients and residents choosing to donate a pair of old frames to the cause MUST buy both new frames and lenses to qualify for the $50 off a new purchase of frames and lenses.



Classic Vision Care and their sister practice, Eyes on Providence, are offering their services to qualifying participants. In addition to the generously donated eyewear, vision providers and staff will be offering free eye exams to those in need. Classic Vision Care appreciates the assistance of their vision patients and the community in this worthwhile endeavor and associates are available to answer any questions.

MUST Ministries is a volunteer-driven organization helping individuals, children and families in Cobb and Cherokee counties, as well as other counties, meet their basic needs. Many people of diverse faiths work together ministering to people through a variety of special programs. In addition to helping meet the vision needs of community members, MUST Ministries has donated food and toiletries, offered safe shelter and provided hot meals to hundreds of thousands of adults and children collectively through their programs. More details on events and ways to participate in their efforts and continual community outreach are available on their website: mustministries.org.

We want every person in our community to have access to basic vision care and eyewear. In this effort, we are working with MUST Ministries to deliver eye exams and donated glasses to those that may be unable to afford or otherwise receive such services and products, said Dr. Mital Patel. MUST Ministries has a tradition of giving to individuals and families in need and we look forward to being a part of this worthwhile endeavor as we give to those in need. Patients should know that any donation goes directly to this great cause.

Dr. Mital Patel, a Kennesaw optometrist at Classic Vision Care, has served residents of Kennesaw, Marietta, Woodstock, Acworth and Dallas, GA since 1983. Patients appreciate the superior vision care and customer service provided by their vision care team. Services include contact lens exams, computer vision treatment, eye and vision exams, dry eye treatment, LASIK eye consulting, and eyewear.

Call (770) 499-2020 to learn more about the Classic Vision Care and MUST Ministries vision care program, how to donate or visit classicvisioncare.com.
French English

Press relations:

Christel Lerouge

Tel.: +33(0)1 47 54 50 71

Investor relations:

Vincent Biraud

Tel.: +33(0)1 47 54 50 87

Appointment of two Chief Operating Officers

Paris, October 12, 2017 - As proposed by Paul Hermelin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and upon recommendation of the Ethics and Governance Committee, the Capgemini SE Board of Directors decided on October 11, 2017, to appoint Thierry Delaporte and Aiman Ezzat as Chief Operating Officers and Capgemini SE executive corporate officers. Their primary role within the Office of the CEO will be of Group transformation for Thierry and Group performance for Aiman.

"Thierry and Aiman are both seasoned and talented executives with remarkable international track records, notably in the United States, one of the Group's key markets and the prime location for technological innovations, a customer-centric approach, complemented by a focus on performance and transformation," confirmed Paul Hermelin, Chairman and CEO of the Capgemini Group. "They have all the qualities required to support me in implementing the Group's priorities: reinvigorating our portfolio of offers to support our customers in all aspects of their transformation, strengthening our customer centricity and increasing our competitiveness."

These appointments, effective on January 1, 2018, are part of the preparation of the management transition announced by Paul Hermelin at the 2017 Shareholder's Meeting.

Biographies:

Thierry Delaporte has been Head of Capgemini's Financial Services Strategic Business Unit since 2012, as well as overseeing Capgemini's operations in Latin America since 2016. He is a member of the Group Executive Board.

Having spent most of his career with Capgemini, Thierry has driven Capgemini's operations and strategic planning in several of its key businesses, based in various countries, and has participated in number of key transformation programs.

Thierry has held various positions at Capgemini: he was COO and Head of Sales for Application Services One (UK, Asia Pacific and North America) in 2011, CFO for the Global Outsourcing Business Unit (2009-2010), CFO for North America (2005-2008), CFO of Southern Europe (2003-2005), CFO and COO for Australia and New Zealand (2002-2003), CFO for the Asia-Pacific Telecom business following the integration of Ernst & Young operations (2000-2002), CFO for Switzerland and Austria (1997-2000). Thierry joined the Capgemini Group in 1995 working for its subsidiary Sogeti, as the Group Internal Auditor.

Thierry began his career in 1992 as a Senior Auditor at Arthur Andersen in Paris and London.

He holds a Masters in Law from the Paris La Sorbonne University and a Masters in Political Sciences from SciencesPo Paris. He is also Co-founder and President of a Non-Profit Organization (Life Project 4 Youth, Alliance & USA).

Aiman Ezzat has held the role of Chief Financial Officer at Capgemini since December 2012. He is a member of the Group Executive Board.

In November 2007, Aiman was appointed as COO of the Financial Services Global Business Unit (GBU) and later became its Global Head in December 2008.

Aiman has also served as Capgemini's Deputy Director of Strategy from 2005 to 2007, where he played a key role in the development of the Booster turnaround plan of the Group's activities in the United States, as well as in the development of the Group's offshore strategy. He was part of the acquisition and integration team of Kanbay, a global IT services firm focused on the financial services industry, acquired by Capgemini in 2006. Before joining Capgemini, from 2000 to 2004, Aiman served as Managing Director of International Operations at Headstrong, a global business and technology consultancy, where he worked with financial services clients in Asia, North America and Europe.

Aiman was also previously Global Head of the Oil & Gas and Chemicals practice of Gemini Consulting where he spent 10 years. (Gemini Consulting was the former brand of the strategic and transformation consulting arm of the Capgemini Group, now Capgemini Consulting).

In March 2017, Aiman was named the 'Best European CFO' for the technology and software category in the "2017 All European Executive Team": Institutional Investor's annual ranking of the region's top corporate leaders.

Aiman, holds a MSc (Master of Science) in chemical engineering from Ecole Superieure de Chimie Physique Electronique de Lyon in France and an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.

About Capgemini

With more than 190,000 people, Capgemini is present in over 40 countries and celebrates its 50th Anniversary year in 2017. A global leader in consulting, technology and outsourcing services, the Group reported 2016 global revenues of EUR 12.5 billion. Together with its clients, Capgemini creates and delivers business, technology and digital solutions that fit their needs, enabling them to achieve innovation and competitiveness. A deeply multicultural organization, Capgemini has developed its own way of working, the Collaborative Business ExperienceTM, and draws on Rightshore, its worldwide delivery model.

Learn more about us at www.capgemini.com.

Rightshore is a trademark belonging to Capgemini
CLINTON  Ed Cicenas, an assistant cubmaster for Pack 142 in Clinton, remembers hosting a pinewood derby tournament last year.

We held a powder puff derby and ended up having more girl entries than boy entries for the regular tournament, he said of Cub Scouts' tradition of building and racing wooden model cars.

Girls already are a part of Boy Scouts of America activities, he said, so he favors the national organization's plans, announced Wednesday, to admit girls into the Cub Scouts starting next year and to establish a new program for older girls with the same curriculum as the Boy Scouts.

It is a controversial decision no matter which way you approach it, he said. Its a natural evolution that is occurring."

Pam Kovacevich, the chief executive officer of the Girls Scouts of Central Illinois, based in Springfield, said the BSA has been discussing the plan for a long time as it faces declining numbers, but she thinks girls do best in an all-girl environment.

We wish our fellow Scouts well in their recruitment endeavors, she said. But we do not believe it is in the best interest of girls to participate in Boy Scouts.

"There is proven research that girls learn better in an all-girl environment.

George Clay, Scout executive of the W.D. Boyce Council of Boy Scouts of America, based in Peoria, was not available for comment Wednesday.

Cicenas noted Cub Scout events already have been a family activity for years.

"With any of our campouts and our activities, everyone participates and that means moms and dads and brothers and sisters, and that means the girls," he said.

Under the plan, Cub Scout dens  the smallest unit  will be single-gender, either all boys or all girls. The larger Cub Scout packs will have the option to remain single-gender or welcome both genders.

The program for older girls is expected to start in 2019 and will enable girls to earn the coveted rank of Eagle Scout.

As part of recruitment events, Cicenas has been to Clinton schools and talked with students about joining Cub Scouts, the program for 7- to 10-year-olds.

Girls are always interested and one of the most frustrating things I have had to do was to tell a girl 'no' just because she was a girl, he said. You almost feel like you are crushing dreams.

"We also hear that the Girl Scouts don't have the cool activities that the Boy Scouts have.

Kovacevich said girls would benefit more from Scout programs designed for them.

From the curriculum and programming that we deliver, we know that girls get that opportunity to take the lead, to raise their hand first, to mold some of those leadership skills that our curriculum delivers in that all-girl environment and then they are more likely to practice those skills when they return to a co-ed environment.

"I dont think it is in the best interests of girls to join the Boy Scouts."

The Boy Scouts say current youth participation is about 2.35 million, down from 2.6 million in 2013 and more than 4 million in peak years of the past. As of March, the Girl Scouts reported more than 1.5 million youth members and 749,000 adult members, down from just over 2 million youth members and about 800,000 adult members in 2014.
BLOOMINGTON  Thousands of Central Illinoisans could be affected if OSF HealthCare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois don't resolve their contract dispute by Jan. 1, but OSF officials remained optimistic Wednesday there would be a resolution.

"We are very hopeful that they (Blue Cross Blue Shield) will keep the door open," said Shelli Dankoff, OSF media relations coordinator. "We certainly have. We remain optimistic that this will be resolved."

"It is our hope that BCBS (Blue Cross Blue Shield) will realize the value of having OSF hospitals in its network for its members and enter into a new agreement," said Randy Billings, OSF senior vice president of population Health.

Blue Cross Blue Shield spokeswoman Colleen Miller said Wednesday the insurer wouldn't go beyond its Tuesday statement, which included: "We are open to continuing contract discussions with the goal of reaching an agreement that benefits our members and customers."

OSF said Tuesday that OSF Illinois hospitals  including OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, OSF HealthCare Saint James-John W. Albrecht Medical Center in Pontiac, OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria and OSF HealthCare Children's Hospital of Illinois  would no longer participate in the Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO network, effective Jan. 1, unless the two organizations can come to a new agreement.

Blue Cross Blue Shield is the largest commercial health insurance company in Illinois. The insurer didn't say how many members are OSF patients.

"BCBS is the largest nongovernmental (not including Medicaid and Medicare) payer for the OSF providers, including hospitals," Billings said.

Blue Cross members would still be able to access care at OSF hospitals but would pay out-of-network rates, Dankoff said.

Outpatient services at non-hospital OSF facilities  including doctor's offices and clinics  would not be affected by the change, she said.

However, inpatient services and in-hospital outpatient services  including rehabilitation, ambulatory surgery, diagnostic testing, audiology and sleep studies  would be affected, Dankoff said. Out-of-network rates would apply.

Retirees with Medicare as their primary coverage and Blue Cross Blue Shield as their supplementary coverage apparently wouldn't be affected, but retirees are urged to check with Blue Cross.

Blue Cross Blue Shield is the insurer for all Country Financial employees and for non-Medicare retirees covered under Country's group medical plan, said Country spokesman Christopher Stroisch,

"Our group medical provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL), notified us their current OSF HealthCare contracts will end Jan. 1, 2018," Stroisch said. "BCBSIL officials have told us it's their intention to renegotiate the OSF contracts and they hope to do so before the actual termination date of the existing relationships. However, it was necessary under the existing contracts that 90-day notice be given."

State Farm spokeswoman Missy Dundov said, "It is too early to tell what, if any, impact this will have on our associates' health care needs as OSF and BCBSIL said they are open to continued negotiations."

Individuals who wish to switch health insurance plans for 2018 may do so during open enrollment this fall. OSF's website lists plans in which OSF is participating.

Blue Cross said it wants to broaden its members access to other hospitals, balancing access with affordability.

But OSF said "OSF HealthCare has repeatedly stated it would accept a larger network (competing hospitals) but can't afford to provide BCBSIL the same reduced rates that were in place as part of a smaller network."

Blue Cross responded by announcing plans to remove OSF hospitals in Peoria, Rockford and Galesburg from its network. OSF then terminated its BCBSIL agreements with most of its other hospitals because eliminating the three larger hospitals that provide critical care would reduce OSF's ability to provide a continuum of care, Dankoff said.
Finnish English

Orava Residential REIT plc

Stock Exchange Release 12 October 2017 at 8:35 a.m.

Board of Directors of Orava Residential REIT plc supports continuation of independent operations and further investigation of Orava Funds plcs indicative offer

NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, HONG KONG, SOUTH AFRICA, SINGAPORE, NEW ZEALAND OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.

The Board of Directors of Orava Residential REIT plc (Orava Residential REIT or the Company) announced on 4 October 2017 that it does not recommend the acceptance of Investors House Oyjs exchange offer because, among other reasons, the consideration offered by Investors House Oyj is low in relation to the net asset value of Orava Residential REITs share.

As previously announced, the independent members of Orava Residential REIT have surveyed possible alternatives and the development of Orava Residential REITs independent operations in order to achieve the best possible outcome for all shareholders.

Based on the information currently at its disposal, the Board of Directors of Orava Residential REIT deems as the best alternative that Orava Residential REIT continues as an independent tax exempt REIT or AIF fund and that its operations are developed further. The Companys Board of Directors deems that the indicative offer by Orava Funds plc (Orava Funds) announced yesterday is interesting and will investigate its feasibility.

Continuing as a tax exempt, liquid residential REIT or AIF fund and development of independent operations

1. The listed REIT or AIF form allows for tax benefit and liquidity

Orava Residential REIT is, in accordance with the Act on the Tax Exemption of Certain Limited Liability Companies Engaging in Apartment Rental Operations (299/2009) (the Tax Exemption Act) and with exceptions mentioned therein, exempt from income tax for its operations, since it is a so-called REIT. As a residential REIT operating under the Tax Exemption Act, it is possible for Orava Residential REIT to achieve higher profit than as a housing investment company subject to tax, which pays a corporate tax of 20 per cent for its result. According to the Board of Directors understanding, a voluntary shift from single taxation (taxation of dividends) to double taxation (taxation of dividends and of the Company profit) is not in the interest of Orava Residential REITs shareholders.

Operating as a residential REIT and benefitting from the Tax Exemption Act will require, also in the future, that the REIT is managed by an entity that holds an authorisation in accordance with the Act on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (7.3.2014/162, the AIFM Act) or that the Company itself applies for a corresponding authorisation. Currently, Orava Residential REITs manager with the AIFM authorisation is Orava Funds.

According to the Board of Directors understanding, the share of Orava Residential REIT has been liquid, since taking into account its size, Orava Residential REIT is one of the most traded companies in the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Liquidity is generally measured by turnover velocity, which is the ratio of the stock exchange turnover of a share in a listed company to its market value. Based on its turnover velocity, the share of Orava Residential REIT has been the 16th most traded share in the Helsinki Stock Exchange during the last twelve months.

According to the Board of Directors understanding, the above-mentioned benefits of a REIT would be lost in a situation in which Orava Residential REIT would be combined with Investors House Oyj or the Companys housing assets would be transferred into a fund referred to in Elite Varainhoito Oyjs (Elite) offer. Due to this, after having considered the alternatives at hand, the Board of Directors deems it most appropriate that the operations of Orava Residential REIT be developed as an independent company, either under the current REIT provisions or by converting Orava Residential REIT into a publicly listed, tax-exempt AIF fund.

2. The Board of Directors has decided on following development measures

Purchase of the Companys own shares  Divestment of apartments at balance sheet values and purchase of the Companys own shares at the prevailing price level, which is significantly below the balance sheet value, would give a possibility to benefit from the current undervaluation of the share of Orava Residential REIT. In the Board of Directors understanding, purchase of the Companys own shares would be appropriate as long as the valuation of the share in the Company would be approximately 90 per cent of the net asset value per share. The Companys reserve for invested unrestricted equity currently amounts to approximately EUR 24 million, and if necessary, could be used in its entirety for the purchase of the Companys own shares, while taking liquidity and capital adequacy requirements of the Company into account.

The Tax Exemption Act that Orava Residential REIT complies with does not currently allow for the purchase of the Companys own shares without putting the Companys income tax exemption at risk. The Company has already for a long time actively promoted a legislative change allowing for the purchase of the Companys own shares. The Board of Directors intends to propose to the Companys General Meeting that it authorise the Board of Directors to decide on the purchase of the Companys own shares immediately after it has been confirmed that the Company will not, as a consequence of the purchase of its own shares, permanently lose the tax exemption referred to in the Tax Exemption Act.

Estimated cost savings of EUR 0.5 million in 2018  The cost savings programme that has already begun will continue. As regards maintenance and repair costs and costs for rental operations, competitive tendering of housing managers is underway. As to financial expenses, competitive tendering of housing loans is nearly finished, and cost savings achieved through the tendering will become fully visible during 2018. As to administrative expenses, savings will be achieved, among others, through the rearrangement of financial administration and value calculation. In sum, the impact of the cost savings in 2018 is estimated at approximately EUR 0.5 million when compared to 2017.

In accordance with the study commissioned by the Companys Board of Directors, the management fees paid by Orava Residential REIT are competitive when compared with fees of other companies managing residential funds, varying between 0.89 and 1.5 per cent (when calculated based on GAV). The fee charged by Orava Funds is 0.6 per cent of GAV.

Based on information currently at its disposal, the Board of Directors deems that the continuation of the Companys independent operations will be the best alternative among those now at hand. The Companys Board of Directors continues measures that aim at making the Companys operations more efficient and achieving cost savings.

Indicative offer made by Elite and indicative offer made by Orava Funds

The Companys Board of Directors has decided not to continue preparing the indicative offer made by Elite. Even though the consideration for the net asset value of the housing portfolio received by shareholders of Orava Residential REIT as a result of the arrangement would be higher than the consideration offered by Investors House Oyj, this would mean from the perspective of the shareholders a change in the Companys legal structure that would result in a loss of an estimated 811 per cent of the net asset value of the Companys housing portfolio in transaction fees and in the Companys listed, liquid share being converted into a less liquid fund unit.

Due to time restraints, the Companys Board of Directors has only had the opportunity to preliminarily assess the indicative offer made by Orava Funds and its feasibility. However, in accordance with the preliminary assessment of the Companys Board of Directors and its financial advisor HLP Corporate Finance Ltd, the indicative offer made by Orava Funds is as to its financial terms more favourable than that made by Elite. The Companys Board of Directors deems the offer interesting and continues the preparations of the offer. In the understanding of the Board of Directors of Orava Residential REIT, the realisation of the offer is still subject to significant uncertainties that are described in more detail in the indicative offer of Orava Funds announced yesterday.

Helsinki, 12 October 2017

Orava Residential REIT plc

Board of Directors

Additional information:

Deputy Chairman of the Board Patrik Hertsberg, tel. +358 50 555 0185

Disclaimer

The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration of such shares, exemption from registration requirement or any other qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdictions. This release is not a tender offer document and as such does not constitute an offer or invitation to make a sales offer.

The content of this release must not be published or distributed, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa or the United States. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, and the securities must not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, except in accordance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 (as amended) or an exemption therefrom. The distribution of this release and offering or selling of shares possibly offered may be restricted in certain jurisdictions. The company is not liable for obtaining appropriate information on such restrictions or for compliance with them. The company disclaims all legal responsibility for violation of such restrictions.
Those familiar with Chanel creative director and ultimate multi-hyphenate Karl Lagerfeld, may not know the designer also a keen cartoonist, but as it turns out, Lagerfeld has actively been commenting on the current political landscape via hazy sketches since 2013. His latest target is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who he criticizes in a particularly acerbic depiction for the monthly magazine under the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Lagerfeld is pointing the finger at Merkel's decision to allow one million refugees into Germany as the reason for the rise in the far right Alternative for Germany party, which rose to become the third-largest party in the country after winning almost 12 percent of the vote in Germany's federal elections.

In the sketch Adolf Hitler shadows Merkel, thanking her for the move. "Thank you very much for inadvertently allowing my descendants to be represented in parliament," it reads, while Merkel, hands raised to her face in horror asks: "What have I done?"

The legendary designer has been contributing cartoons to the magazine since it's inception in February 2013. When asked about the rise of right-wing populism in his home country, Lagerfeld, who was raised in Nazi Germany said he's "beside himself."

"I hoped that something like this would never happen again in my life," he said. "I am ashamed of Germany."

Managing editor of the magazine, Alfons Kaiser, described Lagerfeld is a great asset.

"His wit is unique," Kaiser said. "His sketches show that he stands in the great tradition of German political cartoons and was influenced particularly by 'Simplicissimus,' the leading German satirical magazine of the pre-war times, which he read as a boy."

It's very real out here, team.

[h/t WWD]

Images via Getty/Karl Lagerfeld sketch for Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin
On Sunday Patently Apple posted a report titled "A Hardy Group of Irishman from Athenry attended a Rally today Supporting Apple's Proposed Data Centre." We noted that the decision on this matter would be handed down by the court on Thursday. Today we learn that Apple's $1 billion data center has been given the green light, dismissing an environmental challenge made by three people. The decision to approve the planning permission was announced by judge Mr Justice McDermott from the High Court. The three objectors are, however, expected to appeal.

Ireland's Data Economy stated that "The construction of the 166,000 sqm data centre is expected to generate up to 300 jobs during the different phases of expansion. 150 technical staff are to be employed once the facility is put to work.

Garry Connolly, Founder and President, Host in Ireland, told Data Economy: "We are delighted that the planning process has had a successful outcome for the Apple Data Hosting Centre in Galway.

We (Irish) now need to tweak the planning process to include a time certainty to this process not just for Data Centres but for all large capital intense infrastructure projects.

This positive news coupled with Microsoft's commitment to power their Data Centres here on 100% Irish generated renewable power reaffirms our calibre as an optimum location to Host Digital assets."

The project, originally announced in 2015, was challenged by three objectors who put forward a review request to the An Bord Pleanala, an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in Ireland. The objectors' main concern was the poor environmental impact assessment carried out by Apple.

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.
This weeks iteration of my regular Defending the Faith column has appeared in the Deseret News:

New edition of Accounts of Divine Manifestations is a significant work of Mormon scholarship

***

But now for a few more lines from my forthcoming but not yet completed book on Islam for an LDS audience:

The Quran warned the Muslims that believers are not exempt from testing and from affliction, and indeed they were not. Did you suppose that you would go to Paradise untouched by the suffering which was endured by those before you? Affliction and adversity befell them; and so battered were they that each Messenger, and those who shared his faith, cried out: When will the help of God come?'[1]

But Muhammad did not wait for God to help. While he undoubtedly trusted in God, he also took action on his own, as any responsible religious leader should. He began casting around for a place where his fledgling community of believers might be safe. He sent one group to Ethiopia, for instance, but that did not prove to be a good long-term solution.

Then the answer walked right up to him. Several days journey north of Mecca lay an agricultural oasis by the name of Yathrib. Yathrib was not really a town, but a collection of huts occupied by several different tribes, tribes that did not get along with one another. Life in the settlement was one conflict after another. It was often violent, always unpleasant and prone to disruption. In 620, a group of pilgrims from Yathrib came to Mecca. In the course of their visit, they interrupted their religious observances to make an important offer to Muhammad. They had, they said, heard of his intelligence and his integrity, and they also knew of his interest in getting himself and his people out of Mecca. Would he, they asked, please come to Yathrib? There, he could serve as an arbitrator between the conflicting factions of the oasis. Standing as he did outside any of the tribes, he would be able to stand apart from the disputes and to judge fairly.

Muhammad accepted the invitation on the condition that the people of Yathrib would recognize him as the Messenger of God. The delegation accepted his requirement. They were pagans and certainly did not fully realize the import of what they were committing to. It was one of the most important agreements in the history of mankind.

In 622, the Prophet and his followers emigrated from Mecca to Yathrib. This emigration, or hijra, as it is called in Arabic, now serves to mark the beginning of the Islamic calendar. Notice that the calendar does not start with the Prophets birth, nor with the beginning of the Quranic revelation, but with the emigration to Yathrib. Why? Because Muhammad went from being merely a prophet, a voice crying in the wilderness, to being the leader of a fairly sizeable community by the standards of seventh-century Arabia. He thus became a political figure, as well as a prophet.

As the nature of Muhammads responsibilities changed, so did the nature of the revelations he received. The suras received in Mecca had been short, with short verses and strong rhymes. They had been obscure, apocalyptic, oracular. In Yathrib, they became more concerned with legal or legislative matters, with the issues that arise in governing a community. Their form changed, too. They tended to be less poetic, more prosaic. The revelations or chapters were longer, and the individual verses within them were also longer. One verse from the second chapter of the Quran will demonstrate quite clearly the way Medinan revelationsas they are called, for reasons which will appear in a momentdiffer from Meccan revelations. It will be noted that this represents simply one verse. (Compare it with, say, the entire hundredth chapter, cited above, which contains fully eleven verses within its brief compass.)

Believers, when you contract a debt for a fixed period, put it in writing. Let a scribe write it down for you with fairness; no scribe should refuse to write as God has taught him. Therefore let him write; and let the debtor dictate, fearing God his Lord and not diminishing the sum he owes. If the debtor be a feebleminded or ignorant person, or one who cannot dictate, let his guardian dictate for him in fairness. Call in two male witnesses from among you, but if two men cannot be found, then one man and two women whom you judge fit to act as witnesses; so that if either of them commit an error, the other will remember. Witnesses must not refuse to give evidence if called upon to do so. So do not fail to put your debts in writing, be they small or big, together with the date of payment. This is more just in the sight of God; it ensures accuracy in testifying and is the best way to remove all doubt. But if the transaction in hand be a bargain concluded on the spot, it is no offence for you if you do not commit it to writing. See that witnesses are present when you barter with one another, and let no harm be done to either scribe or witness. If you harm them you shall commit a transgression. Have fear of God, who teaches you; He has knowledge of all things. (2:282)

[1] 2:214; compare 2:155-57; 29:2-3.
The Good Ol Ambiguity Card Utilized with Regard to Both Vatican II and Amoris laetitia

[my own blue highlighting throughout]

***

Ive contended for over 20 years that radical Catholic reactionaries (see my carefully delineated definition and rationale for coining the term ) think a lot like Protestants and like Catholic progressive dissidents / modernists: both of whom despise authoritative Catholic utterances and/or arbitrarily pick and choose which of them they will accept and which they will reject.

The description of the documents of Vatican II as ambiguous is a very common feature of reactionary thought. For example, [quintessentially reactionary] Remnant website writer Christopher Ferrara, a signatory to the recent Filial Correction, pontificated in 2009

The Council, for all its vexing ambiguity , excessive irenicism, and wholly unwarranted optimism about the modern world, imposed no new doctrine or dogma on the Church and thus could not have proposed any doctrines contrary to prior Church teaching. Ambiguity , optimism and irenicism do not a single doctrine make. . . . the Councils ambiguity-laden Sacrosanctum Concilium.. . .

I noted this hallmark or leading characteristic in my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries (Dec. 2002: almost 15 years ago, by my math). I devoted an entire 14-page chapter to it. I wrote:

Radical Catholic reactionaries believe that Vatican II was deliberately and perniciously ambiguous in its conscious teachings. Actual examples of the assumed devious and diabolical modus operandi are rarely given, so that the charge has little objective meaning. The proponent merely assumes what he is trying to prove, and tries to authoritatively and magisterially assert it, while not providing any meat or evidence to back up the ubiquitous charge. (p. 99, #227)

We are informed that God did not prevent Vatican II from falling into the hands of evil schemers and heterodox conspirators, though only in the sense of ambiguity, not formal heresy. [Reactionaries] apparently believe that all previous councils were authoritative and binding, whereas Vatican II is a mess. What did God do, forget His promise, or go to sleep? We are to believe that all the other ecumenical councils somehow managed to escape this fate? (p. 102, #229) I guess Holy Scripture also suffers from these same manifest deficiencies of ambiguity. How many falsehoods it has spawned! Look at Protestantism, the Bible Only version of Christianity, with all its rival schools of thought. Away with the Bible, then! After all, so many heretical cults have derived false doctrines from various ambiguous interpretations of the biblical texts. If it werent for the Bible, surely they wouldnt even exist. Therefore, the Bible must have caused them. (p. 102, #230) The ambiguity argument is exceedingly nebulous and subjective by its very nature. If one points out that such-and-such a doctrine can be shown to have an orthodox pedigree and consistent development, the [reactionary] replies that the conciliar conspirators placed ambiguous language in it, in order for it to be subverted later. In other words, their cynical interpretation is always the winner because they have the simplistic, sloganistic, and easy sleight-of-hand of ambiguity always ready and at their disposal. (p. 103, #234) The tried-and-true ambiguity card has recently been pulled out again, for use with reference to Pope Francis Amoris laetitia. Filial Correction signatory Joseph Shaw is using it to maximum effect. In describing the thought of an earlier critical letter to Pope Francis from 45 scholars (July 2016), he wrote:

We are not accusing the Pope of heresy, said Joseph Shaw, a signatory of the appeal who is also acting as spokesman for the authors, but we consider that numerous propositions in Amoris laetitia can be construed as heretical upon a natural reading of the text. Additional statements would fall under other established theological censures, such as scandalous, erroneous in faith, and ambiguous , among others.

Likewise, in a recent debate with Dr. Robert Fastiggi and Dr. Dawn Eden Goldstein , Dr. Shaw seemed to back off his earlier harsh statements about alleged heretical passages of Amoris and stated:

The contention of the Correctio Filialis is that the statements of Amoris which concern us are ambiguous : they can be read in accordance with the Ordinary Magisterium, which we would obviously accept, or they can be read as contradicting the Ordinary Magisterium.

Writing on his blog on 12-6-16 , Dr. Shaw waxed along these familiar lines, but much more subtly and cleverly (not to mention speculatively!):

One thing to note is that Pope Francis native political culture is Peronist, in which the artful creation, maintenance, and timely dissolution of ambiguity and internal conflict  crisis management  is a perfectly familiar way of getting things done. Indeed, you dont need to be a Peronist to see the advantages of this approach. People will accept things as the price to resolve an escalating crisis, which they will not accept under normal conditions. . . . * ambiguity , semi-official hints and nudges, and unofficial teaching and practice, then theyll be ready to come out openly and say it officially: at least, I assume that this was the plan, or at least the hope. For practical purposes there has been a back flip (in Cardinal Pell s phrase) of teaching, but this cant be said clearly at the highest level, at least at first. When the new position has been implied by layer after layer official, semi-official hints and nudges, and unofficial teaching and practice, then theyll be ready to come out openly and say it officially: at least, I assume that this was the plan, or at least the hope.

The situation with Amoris laetitia isnt so very hard to understand, when seen against this background. On the one hand, there is a well-trodden path of allowing conflict and confusion to make something which is totally unacceptable first imaginable, then possible, and then actually the best we can hope for to avoid complete disaster. On the other hand, there is an even better-trodden path of saying officially something which is arguably not at odds with the traditional teaching of the Church; which will be glossed semi-officially as, you know, pointing in a particular direction, and lets just not say anything about the old teaching; which will be taken by priests at the coal-face, genuinely seeking the good of souls, in a way which simply and plainly contradictsnever mind Trentthe words of Our Blessed Saviour. Are we going to get a clarification? Only if there is a policy reversalnot to be expected under Pope Francisor, alternatively, if the policy ceases to attract opposition. While there is some opposition to speak of, while there is anyone of significance annoying enough to point at those old texts setting out the old teaching, and taking them seriously, then it will not yet be the right time to disambiguate the situation at the official level. Is this a cynical reading of recent history? I think it is a charitable reading. Im not saying anyone involved has had any but the best intentions.

How, interesting, then, that in preparing a paper on an unrelated topic today, I discovered that Protestant reformer (Luthers successor) Philip Melanchthon used the same terminology and same reasoning that Dr. Shaw and the reactionaries do, with regard to the Council of Trent. He wrote in a letter to Archbishop Cranmer (c. April Fools Day 1548):

crafty Decrees, in order to protect its errors by ambiguous expressions. Such sophistry ought to be far away from the Church. [bis, col. 523: Latin = The Council of Trent makes itsDecrees, in order to protect its errors byexpressions. Suchought to be far away from the Church. [ source Latin source : Lib. iii., Ep. 42, col. 523: Latin = ambigue

Likewise, John Calvin used the same reasoning, in his Acts of the Council of Trent with the Antidote (1547). Writing about the canons on justification, he exclaims amen to Canons 1-3. But when he gets to Canon 10, his usual anti-Catholic affinities take over:

Could these anathemas take effect, all who are not versed in the sophistical art would pay dearly for their simplicity. They formerly asserted in their decrees that the righteousness of God was the only formal cause of Justification; now they anathematize those who say that we are formally righteous by the obedience of Christ. But it is in another sense. I see it or scent it. But how few are there who will not be misled by the ambiguity ? Although it may be that having met with the sentiment somewhere and not understood it, they boldly condemn it. For as it were impious to say that the righteousness of Christ is only an exemplar or type to us, so if any one were to teach that we are righteous formally, i.e., not by quality but by imputation, meaning that our righteousness is in relation merely, there would be nothing worthy of censure. The adverb formally is used in both senses.

Along the same lines, Martin Luther regarded one of his primary debate opponents, Erasmus , as a conniving, sneaky, ambiguous thinker. Luther wrote of him:

ambiguity , however, sits upon his ambiguous throne in security, and destroys us stupid Christians with a double destruction. First, it is his will, and it is a great pleasure to him, to offend us by his ambiguous words: and indeed he would not like it, if we stupid blocks were not offended. And next, when he sees that we are offended, and have run against his insidious figures of speech, and begin to exclaim against him, he then begins to triumph and rejoice that the desired prey has been caught in his snares. ( This observation fixes in me a determination (let others do as they please) not to believe Erasmus, even if he should openly confess in plain words,  that Christ is God. But I would address to him that sophistical saying of Chrysippus, If you lie, you lie even when you speak the truth. . . . Our king of, however, sits upon histhrone in security, and destroys us stupid Christians with a double destruction. First, it is his will, and it is a great pleasure to him, to offend us by hiswords: and indeed he would not like it, if we stupid blocks were not offended. And next, when he sees that we are offended, and have run against his insidious figures of speech, and begin to exclaim against him, he then begins to triumph and rejoice that the desired prey has been caught in his snares. ( Letter to Nikolaus von Amsdorf , 11 March? 1534)

Luther biographer Martin Brecht describes Luthers belief in Erasmus relentless ambiguities in ways that are uncannily similar to the highly cynical, skeptical attitudes of the Correctio signatories towards Pope Francis:

oblique, slippery form of speaking , which was neither rhetorically nor theologically permissible, because it shook religion altogether. He considered it imperative to interpret Erasmus critically instead of complimentarily; otherwise, nothing could be considered a heresy and nothing would be certain. . . . . He had no intention of continuing to suffer the tyranny of Erasmuss ambiguity . . . . Luther thus assumed the freedom to condemn the tyranny of these ambiguities in a two-fold manner, first by interpreting them against their author, and then by denouncing their use in his deficient, likewise ambiguous commentary. Erasmus should be regarded as the evil enemy sowing tares among the wheat. ( Luther distrusted Erasmuss, which was neither rhetorically nor theologically permissible, because it shook religion altogether. He considered it imperative to interpret Erasmus critically instead of complimentarily; otherwise, nothing could be considered a heresy and nothing would be certain. . . . . He had no intention of continuing to suffer the tyranny of Erasmuss. . . . Luther thus assumed the freedom to condemn the tyranny of thesein a two-fold manner, first by interpreting them against their author, and then by denouncing their use in his deficient, likewisecommentary. Erasmus should be regarded as the evil enemy sowing tares among the wheat. ( Martin Luther: The Preservation of the Church, 1532-1546 , Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993; paperback edition 1999; translated by James L. Schaaf; p. 81)

Luther apparently believed (in conjunction with the above descriptions) that Erasmus had denied Christs divinity and the Holy Trinity, which is patently absurd. In other insults, he ridiculously calls Erasmus an atheist. Note the viciously circular and hopelessly subjective nature of Luthers hyper-jaded, ultra-cynical (and demonstrably false) opinion of Erasmus. This relentless subjectivism is also characteristic of the Filial Correction and Dr. Shaws own thinking as regards Pope Francis, as Dr. Fastiggi and Dr. Goldstein noted over and over in the recent debate between these parties (separate statements below; indicated by spaces and asterisks):

subjective impressions derived from mostly non-authoritative statements of the Pope. This does not seem to be a very strong foundation for accusing the Roman Pontiff of promoting false teachings and heresies. Shaws claim that Pope Francis doesnt want orthodoxy, however, is based onderived from mostly non-authoritative statements of the Pope. This does not seem to be a very strong foundation for accusing the Roman Pontiff of promoting false teachings and heresies. * You are correct that impressions are subjective . Our point, however, is that your subjective impressions regarding papal words and actions are not shared by all.

* [Y]ou argue in a way that concedes the main point we are making. In so many words, you acknowledge that all you can present is your subjective belief that Pope Francis is doing what you claim he is doing, viz., effecting the propagation of heresies in the Church. You, of course, are entitled to your opinion, but we find your accusations unjust and excessive. . . . you and your associates have accused the Roman Pontiff of facilitating the spread of heresies, and all you can present are some references, assertions, and subjective beliefs , which are all open to question.

*

You are using subjective impressions and interpretations to accuse the Roman Pontiff of propagating heresies. The force of your argument is that you believe your impressions are true. This, though, will be convincing to those who share your impressions but not to those who dont. It seems to us that you are arguing in a circle . Your impressions are true because you believe they are true. You admit that others disagree with your impressions , but this does not falsify your impressions because you believe they are true.

*

We believe, however, that the accusations contained in the Correctio are excessive and based on subjective impressions that are highly questionable.

* In effect, you are saying that you are reading into Pope Francis something subjective that others such as Cardinal Muller do not see. This only proves the point we made in our last reply. You are relying on subjective impressions that you believe are superior to the impressions of others.

Subjectivism itself is a major characteristic of modernism: the framework of progressive / dissident Catholics. Dr. Shaw retreats, in debate with Fastiggi and Goldstein, from saying that Amoris laetitia obviously contains heresy. They inquired of him (this is an uninterrupted citation): We are delighted that you agree with Cardinal Muller that Amoris laetitia has no new doctrine  but an acceptance of the doctrine of the Church and the sacraments. * We wonder why, then, you include twelve passages of Amoris laetitia in the Correctio, which you say in conjunction with acts, words, and omissions of the Holy Father serve to propagate seven heretical propositions. * We also wonder why you mentionin the first paragraph of the Correctiothe propagation of heresies effected by the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia and by other words, deeds, and omissions of Your Holiness. * If the propagation of heresies is, in part, effected by Amoris laetitia, then it would seem that the papal exhortation is a cause for the dissemination of heresies. But if you agree with Cardinal Mullers assessment of the exhortation, then you should revise the Correctio and omit any mention of Amoris laetitia as a cause for the spread of heresies.

Dr. Shaw then replied (directly to the sentence followed by an asterisk above):

Because that is the case. This really isnt so difficult: AL could be read in an orthodox sense, but the interpretation being given it doesnt allow it. I think Ive said that often enough now.

In other words, he himself bounces back and forth (if not presently, over time: less than a year ago) between Amoris containing clear heresy, and not containing heresy at all. I guess that is the ambiguity being applied: on his own part, in this instance. Its the switch from objective analysis (reputedly heretical passages in Amoris) to a purely subjective one (the ambiguous Amoris could  at least possibly  be interpreted in an orthodox fashion, but the pope doesnt want it to be interpreted that way).

*

His own ambiguous seeming self-contradiction having thus been highlighted, he quickly brought the debate to an end: I think weve both said enough . . .   which logically followed his earlier silly swipe at his scholarly debate opponents: I am getting the impression now of a small child with his fingers in his ears.

*

Error (both heretical and schismatic or quasi-schismatic or rigorist) so often has the same mentality, even down to many particulars, such as the notion of deliberate ambiguity examined presently. What goes around, comes around. Nothing new under the sun . . . How Protestant reformers Melanchthon and Calvin regarded Trent as ambiguous is how Catholic reactionaries today (like Dr. Joseph Shaw) regard both Vatican II and Amoris laetitia. How Luther thought of Erasmus is, in this way, quite similar to how Dr. Shaw and Correctio signatories view Pope Francis. Ambiguity and rampant arbitrary, non-conclusive subjectivism rule the day. Once again, they think  in a very important area, involving Catholic magisterial authority  strikingly like Protestant revolutionaries and reformers who opposed the Church almost 500 years ago. ***

Related reading:

Radical Reactionary Affinities in Filial Correction Signatories (9-28-17)

Filial Correction of Pope Francis Compared to the Criticism of June 2016 from 45 Scholars and Priests: Significant Reactionary and General Overlap (Facebook, 10-3-17)

Dr. Robert Fastiggi Defends Amoris Laetitia Against Critics (10-3-17)

***

I informed Dr. Shaw in a combox on his blog, of the above paper. Our interactions follow (his words in blue):

Dear Dr. Shaw,

I have made a reply of sorts to some of your remarks, particularly in debate with Dr. Fastiggi and Dr. Goldstein:

[linked to this paper]

Im a professional Catholic apologist (ten published books to my name and currently a regular columnist at National Catholic Register).

God bless you,

Dave

You think it is significant that Luther thought that Trent was ambiguous, but you dont explain why. Just because he thought that of Trent, hardly perseveres AL of ambiguity five centuries later.

You need to do better, Im afraid.

I didnt analyze Luthers reaction to Trent (he died on 18 February 1546 and the council began just two months before that, on 13 December 13, 1545, so I doubt that he wrote much about it), but rather, his reaction to Erasmus, leading me to wonder if you actually read my article. Did you?

Moreover, my present argument is not at all whether Vatican II or Trent or AL are ambiguous (thats your burden of proof, since you claim it: at least for AL), but rather, to note the analogy between the opinions of three Protestant reformers regarding ambiguity of Catholic councils or major Catholic scholars (Erasmus), and your own, regarding Catholic apostolic exhortations and at least one pope.

All analogies are (Im pretty sure) partial in nature. I never claim more for mine than exactly what I am highlighting in a given argument.

Yeah I skimmed it because its verbose and not really worth responding to. My point stands. Someone argues that X is F in the 16th Century. We argue that Y is F today. Thats not an analogy, thats just two historical observations. So what?

Part of why your screed is not worth responding to is that youve clearly not bothered to read (or absorb) any of the principle authors of the view you criticise, otherwise youd not say that they dont give examples of ambiguities in Vatican II (or in Amoris, come to that). Their works are full of examples.

So you might say Im returning the compliment by not reading you very thoroughly.

So you condemn me for supposedly not reading certain folks in question, all the while refusing to read my post (which we know for sure because you confirmed it, by both error and assertion). I do appreciate the comedic irony there. Have a great day and may God abundantly bless you.

Exactly. You cant be bothered to write a properly researched critique, you dont get taken seriously.

High time you learned that lesson.

Oh, Ive learned a lesson alright, but its not at all what you think it is.

***

Photo credit: Fractal by Ken, described as Star Field: a zoomed-in treatment of Cosmic Ambiguity with adjustments. [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license]
Patna: The city administration stepped up on its effort to spruce up Patna ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled arrival on October 14 when he will be participating in the 100th anniversary of the foundation of historical Patna University.

Workers were seen giving a fresh coat of paint to the road dividers between Patna Airport and the university campus as law enforcement officials scurried to put up security check points at various locations to ensure the PM's visit was without any untoward incident.

Officials said that the administration was not leaving anything to chance as it was setting up 70 closed circuit cameras between Kargil Chowk near Mona Cinema and Patna Science College on Ashok Rajpath to monitor every single activity during the PM's short visit this Saturday.

These cameras are over and above the surveillance equipment already installed on this 2.5 kilometer stretch of Patna's one of the busiest roads, they said.

The Prime Minister, after attending the inaugural ceremony, will leave on a special helicopter for Mokama where he will participate in a ground-breaking ceremony of a bridge over the Ganges.
Patna: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha is far from being done criticizing his own party as he took shots at the Modi administration saying it had lost the moral high ground in the nation because of its own deeds.

Sinha was talking to the reporters outside Charkha Samiti, the home-turned-shrine of Loknayak Jaya Prakash Narayan in Kadam Kuan to pay homage to the architect of Total Revolution of the '70s on his 115th birth anniversary.

The former Finance Minister, quoting Jaya Prakash Narayan, said that the Loknayak used to say that it did not matter what party was in power if the public was not aware of what was going on in the country.

When asked if today's condition was anything like the Emergency period, Sinha said that the people of India were better suited to answer this question than he was.

On the question of his son and Union Minister Jayant Sinha disagreeing with him on the state of affairs under the NDA government, the BJP leader said that while his son was following the 'Raj Dharma', he, on the other hand, was fulfilling his duties under the 'Rashtra Dharma'.

Sinha, along with party colleague and former Bollywood star Shatrughan Sinha, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and many others have been invited to attend the 100th anniversary of Patna University along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 14.
English French

New achievement towards the combination of Essilor and Luxottica

Hive-down of Essilor's activities

Charenton-le-Pont, France (October 12, 2017 - 8:30 a.m.) - On October 3, 2017, the Board of Directors of Essilor International (Compagnie Generale d'Optique) (Essilor) confirmed that the hive-down of Essilor's activities is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. The hive-down was previously approved by Essilor's shareholders during the general shareholders' meeting held on May 11, 2017.

Pursuant to this hive-down, Essilor will contribute its activities and equity holdings to one of its subsidiaries (formerly named Delamare Sovra) which has been renamed "Essilor International" and which will carry on the operational activities currently performed by Essilor.

The hive-down of Essilor's activities is a condition precedent to the contribution by Delfin of its Luxottica shares to Essilor.

Once the other conditions precedent to complete the contribution of the Luxottica shares to Essilor are satisfied, Essilor will be renamed EssilorLuxottica and will become a holding company at the top of the combined group, holding Essilor International and Luxottica.

The governance of Essilor International will be similar to the current governance of Essilor. Mr. Hubert Sagnieres will be Chief Executive Officer (President) of the company, and Mr. Laurent Vacherot will be Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Directeur General Delegue).

The hive-down constitutes another significant step towards the completion of the combination of Essilor and Luxottica.

Since October 3, 2017, the beneficiary company Essilor International (which is the new corporate name of "Delamare Sovra") is a French simplified joint-stock company (societe par actions simplifiee), whose registered office is located at 147, rue de Paris, 94227 Charenton-le-Pont Cedex, France. It is registered with the Trade and Companies Registry (Registre du Commerce et des Societes) of Creteil under number 439 769 654.

Further information

For further information on the hive-down, please refer to the hive-down agreement (projet de traite d'apport partiel d'actif), dated March 27, 2017, by and between Essilor and Delamare Sovra (which has been renamed "Essilor International"), which was filed with the Trade and Companies Registries (Registres du Commerce et des Societes) of Creteil and Versailles and published on Essilor's website

(https://www.essilor.com/en/investors/annual-shareholders-meeting/combined-general-shareholders-meeting-may-11-2017/).

For further information on the contribution by Delfin of its Luxottica shares to Essilor, please refer to the contribution agreement (projet de traite d'apport partiel d'actif), dated March 22, 2017, by and between Essilor and Delfin S.a r.l., which was filed with the Trade and Companies Registry (Registre du Commerce et des Societes) of Creteil and published on Essilor's website

(https://www.essilor.com/en/investors/annual-shareholders-meeting/combined-general-shareholders-meeting-may-11-2017/), as well as the "Document E", filed on April 7, 2017 with the French Autorite des marches financiers under number E. 17-014 and published on Essilor's website (https://www.essilor.com/en/investors/annual-shareholders-meeting/combined-general-shareholders-meeting-may-11-2017/).

About Essilor

Essilor International (Compagnie Generale d'Optique) (Essilor) is the world's leading ophthalmic optics company. Essilor designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of lenses to improve and protect eyesight. Its mission is to improve lives by improving sight. To support this mission, Essilor allocates more than 200 million to research and innovation every year, in a commitment to continuously bring new, more effective products to market. Its flagship brands are Varilux, Crizal, Transitions, EyezenTM, Xperio, Foster Grant, BolonTM and Costa. It also develops and markets equipment, instruments and services for eyecare professionals.

Essilor reported consolidated revenue of more than 7.1 billion in 2016 and employs approximately 64,000 people worldwide. It markets its products in more than 100 countries and has 33 plants, 490 prescription laboratories and edging facilities, as well as 5 research and development centers around the world (as of December 31, 2016). For more information, please visit www.essilor.com.

Essilor is a French joint-stock company (societe anonyme), with a share capital of 39,343,430.16, whose registered office is at 147, rue de Paris, 94220 Charenton-le-Pont, France, and registered with the Trade and Companies Registry (Registre du Commerce et des Societes) of Creteil under number 712 049 618.

The Essilor share trades on the Euronext Paris market and is included in the Euro Stoxx 50 and CAC 40 indices.

Codes and symbols: ISIN: FR0000121667; Reuters: ESSI.PA; Bloomberg: EI:FP.

CONTACTS

Investor Relations

Veronique Gillet

Tel.: +33 (0)1 49 77 42 16 Corporate Communications

Lucia Dumas

Tel.: +33 (0)1 49 77 45 02



Media Relations

Mailis Thiercelin

Tel.: +33 (0)1 49 77 45 02





Important information

This press release does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States unless they have been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or are exempt from registration. The securities that may be offered in any transaction have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act and Essilor does not intend to make a public offering of any such securities in the United States.

This press release is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The securities which are referred to herein are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.
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Iran's President Rouhani: U.S. angry because IRGC humiliated ISIS

10/12/17

Source: Tehran Times

Any country leaving the JCPOA will lose reputation, Rouhani says





TEHRAN - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday any party that walks away from the multilateral 2015 nuclear agreement would be damaging its own reputation, adding the U.S. is angry with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) because it has "humiliated" Daesh (Islamic State or ISIS).



The remarks by Rouhani comes as President Donald Trump is expected to declare this week the withdrawal of the U.S. from the nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).



Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Rouhani said the signatories that choose to honor their sides of the bargain are in fact protecting their own international reputation.



The president said if the U.S. quits the nuclear deal which has been endorsed by the UN Security Council it will be standing "against the world and the United Nations".



The U.S. is angry over the JCPOA because at a "sensitive time that they wanted to say that Iran is a liar and secretly wants to build nuclear arms, Iran, by attending (nuclear) negotiations, proved that they (Americans) are liars," Rouhani stated.



He also noted that the number of countries and regimes that support Washington's hostile stance on the nuclear deal could be counted on the fingers of one hand.



On the contrary, he said, "Today, the world backs the path that the Islamic Republic of Iran has chosen and there is no one, even among America's allies in Europe, who supports destroying the agreement."



In an indirect reference to U.S. President Donald Trump who is undoing what his predecessor Barack Obama did, Rouhani said, "It is really a shame for a government whose argument is that I oppose any work by the former legitimate government."



Rouhani added it is becoming "quite clear" which government is "rogue" and which country is "trampling international law".



He also expressed full support for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) amid a possible plan by Trump to designate the IRGC as a terrorist group as part of his "new Iran strategy".



"Through its support for the nations of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, the Guards has humiliated Daesh and that is why [Americans] are angry," Rouhani said.



"The Guards has always stood against the terrorists. If you planned to keep the Daesh in the region for 20 years, you are right to be mad at the IRGC," he said.



The Guards is not only cherished by the Iranian people, it is also loved by the Iraqi people because it has saved Baghdad (from Daesh); it is loved by Iraqi Kurds because it has saved Erbil. It is loved by the people of Damascus and Syria because it has saved Damascus. It is loved by the people of Lebanon because it is defender of the dignity and independence of Lebanon. The Guards has always backed the oppressed and stood against the terrorists."



The president went on to say that there is no "division between factions in countering plots by the enemies."
Ghanaian exporters have been asked to make aggressive push towards exploiting international market opportunities to grow and expand their businesses.



Mr. Mark Badu-Aboagye, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), indicated that this was vital to bring in more foreign exchange and reduce pressure on the local currency  the cedi.



He made the call at a sensitization workshop held in Kumasi on the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) - a non-reciprocal trade initiative of the United States (US) Government, which provides duty-free and quota-free treatment to a wide range of products from sub-Saharan African to the US market.



The programme was jointly organized by the Chamber, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and West Africa Trade and Investment Hub.



It provided the platform to educate exporters on the need to make sure that their products met quality standards and acceptable pricing.



Mr. Badu-Aboagye asked that they took advantage of the removal of tariffs from over 6,400 exportable products entering the US market from sub-Saharan Africa to increase their exports to that country.



He said the current situation where the nation was exporting less than 100 products under AGOA  mainly foodstuffs, apparel, shoes and leatherworks needed to radically improve.



He said the Chamber was eager to see significant rise in Ghanas export revenue within the next five years  export revenue overtake import bill.



We are now going to produce, consume locally and export more to increase our foreign exchange, he added.



That, he said, was the way forward to speed up the nations industrialization, by adding value to raw materials for export.



Mr. Badu-Aboagye made reference to countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Angola and Lesotho, which were generating more foreign income under AGOA and encouraged the exporters to grab the opportunity.



Mr. Mamuda Osman, Ashanti Regional Director, Ministry of Trade and Industry, announced the launch of a national export strategy to increase exportable products under the trade Act.



It involves aiding each district to specialize in at least one exportable commodity.



He gave the assurance that the Ministry would continue to liaise with the private sector to develop strategies that would enable industry players to exploit available opportunities.



Dr. Mohammed Abou-iiana, a Senior AGOA Specialist, counselled exporters to research into products before they exported them.



They should also be familiar with the international trade.

Source: GNA









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The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says there is every reason for Ghana and Benin to develop strong, strategic bonds based, inter alia, on the common democratic values that promote human dignity and solidarity.



According to President Akufo-Addo, the two countries are recognised as beacons of democracy on the continent and have in the 1990s resorted to the use of the ballot, and not the gun, as the preferred means of electing their leaders.



President Akufo-Addo made this known on Wednesday, 11th October, 2017, when the President of Benin, His Excellency Patrice Athanase Talon, paid a days working visit to Ghana.



Speaking at a lunch held in honour of the Beninois President, President Akufo-Addo noted that I believe it is a good omen that our peoples elected us into office around the same period, and it is, accordingly, incumbent on us to work together to bring progress and prosperity to them.



He continued, We are both firm believers in the primacy of the private sector, and the role it must play in the development of our national economies. I am also happy that we share a vision of the industrial development of our economies, from ones dependent on the export of raw materials to value-added, industrial-based economies. This is the surest path to prosperity for our peoples.



The visit of President Talon, in the view of President Akufo-Addo, comes at a time when the bilateral ties between the two countries continue to evolve within a framework of cordiality and mutual respect.



Despite the good relations that exist between the countries, President Akufo-Addo bemoaned the fact that only one meeting of the Permanent Joint Commission of Co-operation (PJCC), has been held, a meeting which was held in Accra.



We need to need to reconvene another session of the PJCC, and I propose that we hold the next meeting in Cotonou as soon as possible. Not only will the PJCC serve as a platform for enriching commercial relations between our countries, it will also facilitate the implementation of regional instruments such as the Common External Tariff of ECOWAS.



Indeed, our shared interests, as members of the Co-Prosperity Alliance Zone (COPAZ), together with Togo and Nigeria, enjoins us to ensure that we forge an even closer partnership that will inure to the benefit of our citizens, even within the context of ECOWAS. We need to revitalize this Alliance, President Akufo-Addo indicated.

He assured President Talon that Ghana will continue to co-operate with Benin within other multilateral frameworks, such as the Volta Basin Authority, to promote and safeguard the equitable sharing of common water resources of the Authority.



We should endeavour to establish direct flights between Accra and Cotonou to facilitate the movement of persons and goods. We should further try to establish direct shipping lines, linking Accra to Cotonou, to facilitate trade between us. We need to push for the Sealink Shipping Project, an ECOWAS initiative, to help link our two countries, he added.



With Ghana and Benin being important members of the ECOWAS community, President Akufo-Addo, once again, reiterated his commitment to strengthening the ECOWAS Community, and was confident that President Patrice Talon is too.



With West Africas population set to reach some 500 million people in 20 years time, there are immense opportunities to bring prosperity to our region with hard work, enterprise and creativity.



The time for West African integration is now. Ghana and Benin should be at the forefront of the process that will convert ECOWAS into a true regional market. A functioning, common regional market in ECOWAS has to be a very fundamental objective of all of our peoples and governments in the region, President Akufo-Addo added.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Security Analyst, Dr. Kwesi Aning has said the disclosure by the Minority in Parliament of Ghanaian migrants joining the dreadful terrorist group  the Islamic State  in Libya is no news.



At least 100 Ghanaians joined the deadly terrorist group and according to the Minority the figures were picked from a report from the Libyan government through its Attorney General.



Speaking at a press conference in Parliament House on Tuesday, the Minority spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa tasked the government to collaborate with its Libyan counterpart to address the issue before it escalates to Ghana.



Related: Ghana is second highest recruit contributor to ISIS  Okudzeto



According to him, the Ghanaian converts are frontline fighters for ISIS. What is more unnerving; the special enquiry found that kidnappings of expatriates were mostly carried out by Islamic State foreign fighters from Ghana, Turkey and Tunisia, he said.



Read also: Ablakwas ISIS claims mischievous  Majority



But in a reaction in a radio personality profile interview on Accra based Starr FM on Wednesday, Dr. Aning who is also the Director, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) said: All this talk about fifty to one hundred Ghanaians who have joined ISIS, that is eighteen months old rubbish.



I have gotten so irritated the whole of today when people call me [to have my oppinon on the minoritys claims]I started telling my governing board about this eighteen months ago that theres an army on the Sahara three thousand five hundred strongbeing paid a $1500 to $3000 every month to come as foreign terrorist fighters and undermine states.



When I hear that a member of parliament, parliamentarians are making noise, it raises fundamental questions, he said in the interview with Bola Ray on his Starr Chart programme.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Following the deadly gas blasts at the Madina-Atomic junction last Saturday in Accra, waste management champions, Zoomlion Ghana Limited (ZGL), yesterday began an exercise to keep the scene of the incident clean.



About twenty-five (25) Zoomlion workers, comprising mainly sweepers, were at the scene of the gas explosion, sweeping the area and its environs.



The company also brought some of its rubbish trucks which were seen collecting the the refuse and going to dump them at various dumping sites in Accra. The objective of the exercise, Public Coordinator of Zoomlion, Accra Region, Seth Adzraku, told Today in an interview, is to the keep the scene of the explosion clean.



According to him, the exercise, which will last for some time, was part of his outfits corporate social responsibility. He indicated that the huge gas explosion last Saturday at the Atomic junction had left in its wake sachets of pure water and all kinds of debris at the Atomic junction.



So Zoomlion, and as part of our corporate social responsibility, we have decided to come in and help with cleaning the area, he said. Mr. Adzraku went on to disclose that they were working in collaboration with the La-Nkwantanang/Madina Municipal Assembly.



He explained that for now Zoomlion was not doing a major clean-up exercise, but basically, sweeping the scene of the incident to ensure a clean environ. This, he said, was in respect of the fact that investigations by state regulatory bodies and some security agencies were still on-going.



He assured that they will undertake a major clean-up exercise which will include fumigating the scene of the blasts and its surrounding environs. For now Mr. Adzraku noted that his company has successfully cleaned the scene of the incident, adding that Zoomlion personnel will, however, be there to ensure that the area is always kept clean.



Though the public coordinator of Zoomlion, Accra Region, sympathised with victims and bereaved families of the gas explosion, he urged residents in the area to be mindful of their environs.



My advice is that cleanliness is next to godliness, and it will not be very fair for you to be drinking sachet water and putting it on the ground, he advised. Sanitation, he averred, must come from within the people, stressing that we must all take it upon ourselves that we want the environment to be clean which will mean then that we will not be throwing things at unauthorised places.

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.

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Mr Boakye Agyarko, Minister of Energy, has stated that the recent gas explosion at Atomic Junction should be a wake-up call to all Ghanaians to change their attitudes towards safety issues.



He said Ghanaians must also use the gas explosion to caution themselves to up their game in terms of the standard of safety, adding that safety begins with each individual.



Mr Agyarko made the statement during an interaction with the media in Parliament.



The recent gas explosion claimed seven lives leaving 132 victims with varied degree of injuries.



Mr Agyarko also advised the victims of Saturdays gas explosion at Atomic Junction to file a civil suit at the court for compensation.



He said a civil action by the victims of the explosion against owners of the gas station would be in order.



He however criticised calls for a Commission of Enquiry to investigate the incident, adding the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) was capable of probing the cause of the explosion.



Mr Agyarko also stated that criminal action can be taken against the owner of the gas station if the Fire Service after its investigations proves that there was criminal negligence on his part.



He said the government after cabinet tomorrow would come out with policy directives on how to deal with the matter.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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To a Ghanaian King, handing someone a holdall stuffed with more than 350,000 to deposit in a bank might seem nothing out of the ordinary.



Indeed, when Osei Tutu II, traditional ruler of the Kingdom of Ashanti, summoned Mark Arthur to his multimillion-pound residence in Henley-on-Thames and handed him a bag containing almost 200,000 in sterling as well as $200,000 in US currency with consecutive serial numbers, the bank official felt it inappropriate to ask too many questions.



However, the subsequent deposit of the cash at Ghana International Bank triggered a money laundering alert in the City of London and cost Mr Arthur his job.The King, who once worked at Brent council, summoned Mr Arthur, the banks second most senior executive, to his home in August last year.



Mr Arthur, from New Barnet, Hertfordshire, a dual citizen of the UK and Ghana, drove to his own home with the cash and then took it in an Uber taxi to the banks City offices for deposit in the kings account, he told an employment tribunal.Osei Tutu II, the holder of a diplomatic passport, told him the cash had been withdrawn from banks in Ghana and brought to the UK, he said in his witness statement.



He had also instructed Mr Arthur to move $200,000 to an account at Standard bank in Jersey.



Mr Arthur, a member of the Ashanti tribe, the largest in Ghana, carried out the transfer within hours, the tribunal heard.



He was suspended and then sacked following the incident, after an investigation by outside accountants Grant Thornton. He is claiming wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal and failure to protect a whistleblower.



The bank said he had failed to follow anti-money laundering rules and had violated security policies as it was only insured to carry cash by armoured car up to a maximum of 250,000.



Mr Arthur, an executive director of the bank, alleged the deposit and transfer were approved by Ghana International Banks chief executive, Joseph Mensah.



Mr Mensah told an outside reviewer of Mr Arthurs dismissal he didnt even have the authority to sanction such a huge amount.Osei Tutu II is estimated to be Africas 10th richest monarch, with valuable goldmine and cocoa plantations and remains one of the most influential traditional figures in Ghana.



In his witness statement, Mr Arthur said he was not able to follow anti-money laundering rules when he accepted the cash because of the king's status.



He said: Without a policy to follow and did without wishing to offend a sovereign of my country, I found myself in a very difficult situation and one I had never been in before.



I could not carry out the necessary due diligence by talking to His Majesty so decided it would be best to verify the deposits at the bank and to speak directly to Mr Mensah rather than disrespect His Majesty in a face-to-face meeting.



The day after the bank accepted the cash and made the transfer to Jersey, it reported the transactions to the National Crime Agency as suspicious.



News of Mr Arthurs suspension was subsequently passed to the City watchdogs the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA sent inspectors into the bank who severely criticised its handling of cash, the tribunal heard.Lawyers for Mr Arthur argued that his handling of the deposit was in line with the way the bank previously handled Osei Tutu IIs account and that he was aware that the king could travel on a diplomatic passport.



They cited a string of large cash deposits in 2013 and 2014 where the source of the funds was not properly recorded.



They included a $100,000 that a review of the kings account said came from a fundraising event. There were no documents recording the source of that cash, however.



Colin Millar, a building society chairman drafted in by Ghana International Bank to adjudicate on Mr Arthurs appeal against his dismissal, rejected suggestions that the 350,000 holdall was acceptable given the kings history with the bank.



He told the tribunal the deposit and swift transfer offshore was a classic warning sign of money laundering.



Mr Millar told the hearing: If you want to hide the sources of funds that are from a disreputable source then you move them around until it reaches the point where the authorities cant trace them back to their original source. Thats a way of hiding the proceeds of crime.



The hearing continues.







Source: telegraph.co.uk









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Dublin, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Gene Therapy - Technologies, Markets and Companies" report from Jain PharmaBiotech has been added to Research and Markets' offering

Gene therapy technologies are described in detail including viral vectors, nonviral vectors and cell therapy with genetically modified vectors. Gene therapy is an excellent method of drug delivery and various routes of administration as well as targeted gene therapy are described. There is an introduction to technologies for gene suppression as well as molecular diagnostics to detect and monitor gene expression.

Clinical applications of gene therapy are extensive and cover most systems and their disorders. Full chapters are devoted to genetic syndromes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders and viral infections with emphasis on AIDS. Applications of gene therapy in veterinary medicine, particularly for treating cats and dogs, are included.

Research and development is in progress in both the academic and the industrial sectors. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the US is playing an important part. As of 2016, over 2050 clinical trials were completed, were ongoing or had been approved worldwide.A breakdown of these trials is shown according to the geographical areas and applications.

The markets for gene therapy are difficult to estimate as there is only one approved gene therapy product and it is marketed in China since 2004. Gene therapy markets are estimated for the years 2016-2026. The estimates are based on epidemiology of diseases to be treated with gene therapy, the portion of those who will be eligible for these treatments, competing technologies and the technical developments anticipated in the next decades. In spite of some setbacks, the future for gene therapy is bright.The markets for DNA vaccines are calculated separately as only genetically modified vaccines and those using viral vectors are included in the gene therapy markets

The voluminous literature on gene therapy was reviewed and selected 750 references are appended in the bibliography.The references are constantly updated. The text is supplemented with 76 tables and 22 figures.

Profiles of 189 companies involved in developing gene therapy are presented along with 240 collaborations. There were only 44 companies involved in this area in 1995. In spite of some failures and mergers, the number of companies has increased more than 4-fold within a decade.



Key Topics Covered:



Part I: Technologies & Markets



Executive Summary



1. Introduction



2. Gene Therapy Technologies



3. Clinical Applications of Gene Therapy



4. Gene Therapy of Genetic Disorders



5. Gene Therapy of Cancer



6. Gene Therapy of Neurological Disorders



7. Gene Therapy of Cardiovascular Disorders



8. Gene therapy of viral infections



9. Research, Development and Future of Gene Therapy



10. Regulatory, Safety, Ethical Patent Issues of Gene Therapy



11. Markets for Gene Therapy



12. References



Part II: Companies



13. Companies involved in Gene Therapy



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/fww8l7/gene_therapy






Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, has conferred with her Brazilian counterpart, Mr Aloysio Nunes Ferreira in Accra, to discuss issues of mutual benefits to Ghana and Brazil.



Briefing journalists after a closed door meeting with her counterpart, Ms Botchwey said their discussions centred on bilateral relations between the two countries and the need to deepen the relations for the benefit of both countries.



She disclosed that Brazil expressed its readiness to support Ghana's health sector.



She said Ghana, would therefore, tap the expertise of Brazil to help her improve upon health care delivery services for the citizenry.



The Minister recounted the relationship between the two countries that dated back to the 1960's.



She said both countries had been working in the areas of agriculture, trade and investment, infrastructure, defence and health, especially in the area of HIV/AIDS, over the years.



Mr Ferreira on his part, expressed his country's commitment towards deepening of the bond between Brazil and Ghana.



He said Brazil would continue to support Ghana in the area of job creation to enable the government to provide more jobs for its teeming youth as well as in other areas of investments.



Mr Ferreira is in Ghana on a two day official visit.

Source: GNA









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On Aug. 2, Chris Harris was killed in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device (IED) while deployed with the U.S. Army.

ABC News reports that a week prior, Harris' wife Britt told him they were expecting their first child. They had been married for less than a year.

"When I told him, it was the happiest I'd ever seen him," said Britt Harris, 26, of Southern Pines, N.C., according to the report. "He was so excited."

Chris Harris was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 504th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, ABC News reports.

Britt told ABC News that her husband's comrades were extremely supportive following her husband's death, and she wanted to keep them close to her child.

That's when she got the idea to send confetti poppers to the troops in Afghanistan with the corresponding color of confetti to reveal baby's gender.

One of the troops posted the video on YouTube.

ABC News reports that Britt plans to name her daughter Christian Michelle Harris after her husband, Christopher Michael Harris. She is due in March.

"I probably watched it 100 times myself," Britt told ABC News of the video. "I was crying but smiling because their reaction was so wonderful."
After a 29-year-old Iraq War veteran used a pickup truck to save 20 to 30 injured people during the mass shooting in Las Vegas, an Arizona car dealership gave him a truck of his own.

Shane Beaus, owner of B5 Motors in Gilbert, Arizona, was so moved when he read about the heroics of Taylor Winston that he offered to give him a silver Ford F-150, the Arizona Republican reported.

CBS News reports that Winston picked up the keys to a 2013 Ford F-150, equipped with plenty of features and customized wheels and tires, on Monday. The truck is valued at $20,000.

We are honored to present Vegas hero, Taylor Winston, with his B5 Motors truck. B5Motors.com Posted by B5 Motors on Monday, October 9, 2017

On behalf of the B5 Motors team, we sincerely express our gratitude to Taylor Winston for his humble courage and... Posted by B5 Motors on Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Winston plans to sell his personal car and donate the proceeds to the fund for the victims of the Las Vegas shootings.

Winston told "CBS This Morning" he was dancing with his girlfriend at the Route 91 Harvest Festival country music concert moments before he heard popping sounds that he first thought were fireworks.

Winston described the scene as a "mini war zone", and then decided that while he couldn't fight back, he could still help.

"I saw a field with a bunch of white trucks. I tested my luck to see if any of them had keys in it, first one we tried opening had keys sitting right there. I started looking for people to take to the hospital," Winston told CBS. "There was just too many and it was overwhelming how much blood was everywhere."

Beaus learned of Winston's actions through social media, as well as some friends that were also shot and hurt during the shootings.

He told CBS News that Winston's actions should inspire everyone.

"It's kindness in the first degree and complete selflessness," Beaus said. "I hope people remember their neighbors, their friends, people they don't even know, people they see in restaurants and on streets -- there are people who are in circumstances that they don't know. We need to always be sensitive and willing to lend a helping hand."
Pointing to new rules denying women contraception coverage that had been available under the Affordable Care Act, Attorney General Josh Shapiro sued President Donald Trump and his administration Wednesday.

"The federal government - under the direction of the Trump Administration - broke the law and undermined the health and economic independence of American women," Shapiro said during news conference Wednesday at a Planned Parenthood health center in Philadelphia.

Trump's administration issued the new rules Oct. 6, allowing a broader group of employers and insurers to exempt themselves from covering contraceptives such as birth control pills on religious or moral grounds. Shapiro said those "illegal rules" threaten the health coverage of 2.5 million women because of broader exceptions that would allow any employer the ability to refuse contraceptive services for employees, effectively increasing the costs of health care for the women.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said the rules violate the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

"As a result of these abuses, which replace evidence-based science and medical reasoning with political calculation, millions of women could be penalized and denied needed contraceptive care against the advice of science, public health and medical professionals," Attorney General Shapiro said. "They violated the rule of law in the way in which they promulgated this regulation, and today we filed this suit to stop them."

The National Women's Law Center estimated that the contraception requirement saved women $1.4 billion on oral contraceptives costs in 2013. The organization is planning to sue the Trump administration, following the lead of the ACLU.
An Amish man said nothing Thursday before a Dauphin County judge sentenced him to 1 to 2 years in state prison for molesting two girls six years ago.

Daniel Ray Fisher's family and the members of his Old Order church weren't silent, however.

They told Judge Deborah E. Curcillo they forgave the Mifflin Township man years ago, after Fisher confessed his "sins" to Amish bishops in northern Dauphin County.

They urged Curcillo not to send the 45-year-old Fisher to prison.

"There will be hundreds of our people praying for you this afternoon that you make the right decision," a relative of one victim said in a letter read by Deputy District Attorney Katie Adam.

"We in the church have forgiven him. The victims have forgiven him," the letter writer said, asking if Fisher couldn't be sentenced to undergo counseling instead. "We would like to see him in a Christian setting."

State police charged Fisher with inappropriately touching two girls, ages 5 and 10. The incidents occurred in 2011, but police weren't alerted until last year.

In August, Fisher pleaded guilty to charges including unlawful contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault and corruption of minors.

Fisher's lawyer, Edwin Pfursich IV, urged Curcillo to impose the 1- to 2-year prison term, plus 8 years of probation, that was set in Fisher's plea deal.

"Given the nature of these crimes, this was the best the commonwealth could do," Adam said after Fisher's fellow church members asked that he not be jailed.

"I'm hoping the time you do spend in state prison gives you the opportunity to reflect on what you did," Curcillo told Fisher.

"Nothing like this ever happens again. You understand?" she added.

Fisher nodded.

Adam said his convictions mean Fisher must register with state police as a sex offender for 10 years.

Fisher isn't the only member of the Amish church punished in the case.

Police charged Bishop Christ M. Stoltzfus with failing to report Fisher's molestations. The law requires clergy members to report child abuse to law enforcement.

Christ, 70, also of Mifflin Township, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 3 months of probation by Curcillo in September.
More damp and dreary weather is in store for central Pennsylvania through Friday, according to forecasters.

But warmer temperatures and sunshine are in store for the weekend, with highs around 80 on Sunday for the Harrisburg area.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel, however, as skies should clear this weekend and temperatures are expected to rebound back to well above-normal," according to the National Weather Service at State College.

For Thursday, expect a 50 percent chance of drizzle and light rain. Cloudy, with a high near 63. Low around 53.

FRIDAY: There will be a 40 percent chance of light rain and drizzle. Cloudy, with a high near 64. Low around 57.

SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. Low around 61.

SUNDAY: There will be a 40 percent chance of rain showers after 2 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Low around 55.

MONDAY: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67. Low around 44.

TUESDAY: Sunny, with a high near 64. Low around 45.

For the latest forecasts, visit PennLive's weather page.

You can see live weather updates via the National Weather Service and other Twitter sources below.

Tweet us at @pennlive with photos of inclement weather at your place, incidents you see on your commute or send a submission to submissions@pennlive.com.
Editor's note: This story was updated to incorporate new information from The Associated Press. The story is a combination of reporting by PennLive.com staff and the AP.

Though a York County woman and her family have been released from Taliban custody, they may not be coming home to the U.S.

Hours after it was announced that Stewartstown native Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian-born husband, Joshua Boyle, had been freed after being held by the Taliban for five years, came reports that Boyle was refusing to board a plane to the U.S.

A U.S. national security official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said U.S. officials had planned on moving the family out of Pakistan on a U.S. transport plane, but at the last minute Boyle would not get on, the official said.

Another U.S. official said Boyle was nervous about being in "custody" given his background.

Boyle was once married to Zaynab Khadr, the older sister of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter of a late senior al-Qaida financier, according to The Associated Press. Her father, Ahmed Said Khadr, and the family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy.

The Canadian-born Omar Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight at a suspected al-Qaida compound. He was taken to Guantanamo and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission. He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody.

Officials had discounted any link between that background and Boyle's capture, with one official describing it in 2014 as a "horrible coincidence."

The couple has told U.S. officials they wanted to fly commercially to Canada, according to the official, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the situation.

The couple was freed as part of an exchange between the Pakistani military and U.S. commandos late Wednesday.

The Toronto Star reported that Boyle spoke to his parents after his release and told them he'd been in the trunk of the kidnappers' car with his wife and children when Pakistani forces rescued them. He told the paper there had been a shoot-out and that the last words he heard from the kidnappers were, "kill the hostages."

"Josh said he was doing pretty well for someone who has spent the last five years in an underground prison," his father, Patrick, told the paper.

The couple also recorded a video, in which they recounted their first conversation with their son in five years.

"We got to hear his voice. It was amazing. He told us how much his children were looking forward meeting their grandparents," his mother, Linda Boyle, said.

The couple was captured in 2012 by al-Qaeda-aligned Afghan Haqqani Network while on an adventure trip through Afghanistan. During their time in captivity, Coleman gave birth to three children.

At the Stewartstown home of her parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, the family had left a note on the door, expressing joy at their release and asking for privacy.

In a statement, President Donald Trump said the U.S. secured the family's release on Wednesday and called it a positive moment for the country's relationship with Pakistan. The U.S. has long criticized Pakistan for failing to aggressively go after the Haqqanis, who have been behind many attacks against U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan.
Dublin, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Forensic Technologies: New and Growing Markets" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.



The Major U.S. Forensic Products and Services Market is Expected to Grow to Nearly $13.3 Billion in 2017 and $19.2 Billion by 2022 at a CAGR of 7.7% for the Period 2017 to 2022



Report Includes

An overview of new and growing markets for forensic technologies

Analyses of market trends in forensic technologies, with data from 2016, estimates for 2017, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2022

Information on all areas of the forensics market, including identification of current and future technologies, products, market segments and end markets, and regulatory agencies

Information on major patents filed

Information on participating companies in light of technological strengths and weaknesses, relative market shares, marketing strengths, and innovative marketing practices

In preparing this report, an overall study of the crime laboratory segment of the U.S. forensic science market was undertaken. Related areas provided key information; as newer areas such as computer forensics make up a growing share of the total forensics business. All areas of the forensics market are addressed including identification of current and future technologies, products, market segments/end markets, and government and regulatory agencies. Participating companies are discussed in light of technological strengths and weaknesses, relative market share, marketing strengths and innovative marketing practices.

Key Topics Covered:



1: Introduction

Study Goals and Objectives

Reasons for Doing This Study and Its Importance

Contributions of This Study and for Whom

Scope and Format of Report

Methodology

Information Sources

2: Summary and Highlights

Major Findings

3: Overview

Definition of Forensic Science

Forensics as an Economic Sector

History of Forensic Science

U.S. Forensic Laboratories

Medical Examiners and Coroners

Crime Rates and Forensic Backlogs

Governmental Oversight of Forensics

The Growing Role of Forensic Databases

Role of Forensic Science in the Legal System

Role of New Technology in Reducing Forensic Backlogs

Forensic Science Instrumentation

DNA Profiling

Fingerprinting/Biometrics

Forensic Imaging Market Including Handheld Devices

Market Composition

Government Regulation

International Markets

Market Demand

Markets for Forensic Analytical Techniques, Instruments and Supplies

Forensic Testing Market Size

Drug Identification Kits

Toxicology/Immunoassay Market

Forensic Biology and Serology

Fingerprinting/Biometrics

DNA Testing

4: Technology

Techniques Used to Analyze Organic Forensic Evidence

Techniques Used to Analyze Inorganic Forensic Evidence

Techniques for Determining the Identity of Forensic Evidence

5: Other Forensics Science Market Segments

Overview

Digital Evidence

Many New Market Entrants

The Market for Digital Photography

Cybercrime and Computer Evidence Discovery

Forensic Image Processing

Government Forensics Lab Initiatives

New Forensic Tools

Forensic Accounting

Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS)

Software Forensics Tools

Forensic Palynology

Potential Revenue from Related Products

6: Patents

Significance of Patents

Examination of Recently Issued Patents

Companies Receiving Patents

Selected Patent Abstracts

7: Company Contact Information and Product Focus Matrix

8: Appendix: I

DNA Data Bank Laws by State in Effect as of May 2017, (Collected by The National Conference of State Legislatures)

9: Appendix: II

Partial Listing of Principal Forensic Crime Laboratories in the United States

10: Appendix: III

Select Forensic Consulting Firms

11: Appendix: IV

Forensic Trade Shows



Companies Mentioned



Affymetrix, Inc.

The Bode Technology Group, Inc.

DNA Diagnostics Center

DNA: SI

Illumina, Inc.

Key Forensic Services

Life Technologies

Mitotyping Technologies, LLC

Nexttec GmbH Biotechnologie

Orchid Cellmark

Paternity Testing Corporation

Promega Corporation

Sorenson Forensics

Qiagen N.V.

Warnex PRO-DNA Services

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2bfd6q/forensic




Toronto, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- There are countless gift options every holiday season, but few are as meaningful or as memorable as helping to reverse the decline of iconic wildlife in Canada and beyond. This year, World Wildlife Fund Canada is asking Canadians to give a gift that means the world with symbolic wildlife adoptions.

The adoptions are a great way to wow nature lovers and teach children about generosity and helping the planet. When people give a wildlife adoption, they are also supporting critical conservation work and sharing a gift that will be remembered long after the holidays are over.

New species for adoption this year include the majestic Canada lynx, emblematic Atlantic puffin, intelligent red fox, sedentary three-toed sloth and tenacious black-footed ferret. Shoppers can also choose from returning favourites such as narwhals, polar bears, reindeers, elephants, snow leopards, tigers and giant pandas. Check out our complete collection at wwf.ca/shop.



Included in each $40 and $50 adoption kit

High-quality stuffed animal plush toy.

Personalized adoption certificate.

Stunning poster about the species and the conservation work the purchase supports.

Reusable WWF-Canada tote bag.

Charitable tax receipt to the purchaser.

About the adoption kits

Plush toys are appropriate for ages three and up.

No harmful dyes are used.

All products conform to standard fire safety regulations.

All plush toys conform to OEKO-TEXs standard 100 for baby clothing.

All are tested following EN 71 part 1, 2, 3.

Plush contains no PVC or other materials with chlororganics.

Doll materials (polyester and cotton) adhere to CPSIA / ASTM product safety standards.

The bag is 100 per cent recyclable and made with up to 60 per cent recycled content.

All packaging materials are printed on 100 per cent recycled paper.

How to order

Visit wwf.ca/shop or call 1-800-26-PANDA.

All deliveries are guaranteed in time for the holidays if ordered by Dec. 13 (Dec. 11 for rural delivery). Priority options are available.

Shipping is free with the purchase of two or more adoptions kits (or orders of $80 or more) to the same Canadian address.

Other ways to give meaningfully

WWF-Canada also has a variety of environmentally friendly gift options that make finding the perfect gift easy.

(Coming soon) Wildlife Cards : Many of the adoptions are now available as a beautiful card-only option.

: Many of the adoptions are now available as a beautiful card-only option. Virtual gifts: With no packaging or mailing, these hassle-free gifts may be virtual, but their impact is very real for the ecosystems and wildlife they help. This holiday season, add Help a polar bear stay cool ($20) or Give a tiger a fighting chance ($100) to your list of favourite things.

Visit here for multimedia files for public distribution

15-second video spot

High-resolution product photos

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ca5a17b4-df09-4906-be55-c2bd674bcec5

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8762cf75-dded-44ce-a3a3-95ffa90276dc
TORONTO, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fintech Select Ltd. (Fintech Select or the Company) (TSX-V:FTEC) is pleased to announce that it signed a non-binding letter of intent (the LOI) with Phone Cards Plus (Phone Cards) to provide remittance services to Phone Cards 22 locations in the Greater Toronto Area through the Companys Joint Venture Partner; First Global Data Limited (TSX-V:FGD) (FGD) which is a licensed Money Transmitter. As per the definitive Joint Venture agreement signed between the Company and FGD, the two parties agreed to deploy a number of services within Canada including money remittances. The foreign remittance capability is one of several that Fintech Select will be working on launching together with FGD. Fintech Select expects to sign a definitive agreement with Phone Cards by end of October 2017 to commence the rollout of the foreign remittance platform.



We believe that this is a tremendous first step for Fintech Select and FGD in their joint venture to jointly penetrate the foreign remittance market to drive transactional revenues. We also believe that Phone Cards locations can be utilized as part of Fintech Selects going forward strategy as we move more toward our crypto currency initiatives through the strong infrastructure we have developed in the past years, stated Mohammad Abuleil, President and CEO of the Company.

About Fintech Select Ltd.

Fintech Select is a provider of robust and disruptive Pre-Paid Card programs, mobile banking solutions and Cryptocurrency technologies. Fintech Select has enabled these core assets which operate through separate divisions to work together harmoniously to create a new and ubiquitous environment for consumers and businesses alike. Fintech Select also operates an international call centre that provides fulfillment and customer service support to customers across all three platforms mentioned. Our mission is to provide customers with choice, convenience and cost-effective ways to facilitate traditional and crypto financial transactions.

For further information please email:

David Vinokurov at davidv@fintechselect.com OR IR@fintechselect.com




TORONTO and SINGAPORE, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has partnered with Alpha Investment Partners Limited (Alpha) and Keppel Data Centres Holdings Pte. Ltd. (Keppel Data Centres), both of which are part of the Keppel Group, for an initial allocation of up to US$350 million alongside the Alpha Data Centre Fund (ADCF), with the option to invest another US$150 million.

CPPIBs latest commitment and option will bring the ADCFs combined and co-investment interest up to US$1 billion, double the Funds initial target size of US$500 million. When fully leveraged and invested, the Fund will potentially have assets under management of approximately US$2.3 billion.

ADCF aims to develop a quality portfolio of new and existing data centre assets in Asia Pacific and Europe, capitalizing on strong demand in this asset class in key cities within these two regions. The Fund will leverage the broader Keppel Groups relationships with key industry occupiers and expertise across a range of management, technical engineering and operational disciplines to deliver energy efficient facilities.

Christina Tan, CEO of Keppel Capital and Managing Director of Alpha, said, The Alpha Data Centre Fund is a prime example of how we can harness synergy and expertise across the Keppel Group to create value and deliver enhanced returns to investors. The strong interest garnered and successful closing of the Fund are testament to Keppels ability to grow our capital platform with investments from quality global institutional investors.

The ADCF was launched in July 2016 by Alpha, the private fund management arm of Keppel Capital, amid strong interest from institutional investors for quality alternative asset classes. The collaboration taps on Keppel Data Centres experience in designing, building and managing data centres for more than a decade. Keppel Data Centres is a 70-30 joint venture between Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation Ltd. and Keppel Land Limited.

The continued strong growth in data requirements globally has driven demand for quality data centre space, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region where digital infrastructure is relatively under-developed, said Jimmy Phua, Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Investments Asia, CPPIB. By investing alongside the Alpha Data Centre Fund, CPPIB is able to gain exposure into this critical sector, in partnership with the Keppel Group, a well-respected partner, leveraging established relationships and broad technical expertise with a focus on sustainability.

In July 2017, ADCF acquired a 70% stake in the Keppel DC Singapore 4, a carrier-neutral data centre which features approximately 182,000 sq. ft. of gross floor area. In December 2016, ADCF announced its maiden acquisition of a 60% interest in Keppel DC Frankfurt 1 in Germany, a two-storey facility located in close proximity to the city centre and Frankfurt airport.

About Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) to pay current benefits on behalf of 20 million contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build a diversified portfolio of CPP assets, CPPIB invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, Sao Paulo and Sydney, CPPIB is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm's length from governments. At June 30, 2017, the CPP Fund totalled C$326.5 billion.

For more information about CPPIB, please visit www.cppib.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

About Alpha Investment Partners

Alpha Investment Partners (Alpha) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Capital, a premier asset manager in Asia and the asset management arm of Keppel Corporation Limited.

Alpha has been adding value for investors by constantly seeking innovative solutions throughout its investment process since 2004.

A manager of both private and public real estate funds, Alpha has an institutional investor base comprising renowned pension plans, financial institutions, fund of funds, insurance companies, endowments and family offices spanning Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East.

Its private closed-end real estate funds are invested across the risk spectrum in the core, core-plus, value-add and opportunistic space. Each fund has a specific lifespan and strategy to leverage prevailing opportunities, as well as seek a blend of income and capital returns according to its risk profile. Alpha also manages the Alpha Real Estate Securities Fund, an open-ended fund that invests in listed REITs and real estate securities predominantly in Asia.

www.kepcapital.com

www.alphaipartners.com

About Keppel Data Centres

Keppel Data Centres Holding Pte. Ltd. (Keppel Data Centres) is the data centre division of Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation (Keppel T&T). It has a track record of more than a decade in owning, developing and managing high quality carrier-neutral data centre facilities that support mission-critical computer systems.

Keppel T&T is also the sponsor of Keppel DC REIT, the first data centre Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) listed in Asia and on the Singapore Exchange. Together with assets owned through Keppel DC REIT, Keppel T&T has a global portfolio of 18 data centres located in key data centre hubs across Asia Pacific and Europe.

www.keppeldatacentres.com

For more information, please contact:
Amanda Lindhout attends a reception held in her honour by the Alberta Somali-Canadian community in Calgary on Feb. 21, 2010. Lindhout's mother says one of her daughter's alleged Somalian abductors feared he was being set up for a double-cross as arrangements for a ransom payment were being finalized. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Larry MacDougal
NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Namaste Technologies Inc. (Namaste or the Company) (CSE:N)(FRANKFURT:M5BQ)(OTCMKTS:NXTTF) is pleased to announce signing of an exclusive agreement with Authenticating.com (Authenticating) whereby Namaste has secured exclusive Canadian rights to Authenticatings identity verification technologies for the purpose of verifying medical cannabis patients on NamasteMD.com (Namaste MD).

Namaste has developed an enterprise quality software application that incorporates instant age and identity verification and facial recognition that is applicable not only for the medical cannabis market but also as a solution for age verification in online recreational cannabis sales. In addition to the implementation for Namaste MD, Namaste believes that it can gain greater exposure to the estimated $8.7 billion recreational cannabis marketplace by providing the best solution for provincial governments in offering reliable and automated age verification for provincially mandated online recreational cannabis portals.

Namaste has implemented a multi-level identity verification system on Namaste MD for patient consultations that includes facial recognition technology and verification by scanning an identifying document (ID) and instantly checking it against a self-portrait and authoritative Canadian databases. Identity and age verification is a critical component of Namastes platform. Namaste MD connects potential medical patients with doctors through a Telehealth application, in order to facilitate a smooth process for issuing of medical prescriptions.

Authenticatings technology will be integrated directly with Namaste MD via API, to provide high confidence, low friction, automated identity verification. The verification process will use facial recognition technology to compare the patients face to the photo in the ID provided. The barcode on the ID is scanned and the data extracted is instantly checked against Canadian consumer, utility and electoral databases.

Namaste MD is Canadas first Telehealth program focused on connecting medical cannabis patients with doctors to facilitate a smooth and secure process for consultations, verification and issuance of medical prescriptions. The Namaste MD portal will provide access for many doctors to participate in consultations across all provinces in Canada. Namaste plans to leverage customer data and e-commerce expertise to build a strong patient network that will be serviced through Namastes wholly-owned subsidiary, Cannmart Inc. (CannMart).

Authenticating.com Founder and CEO Steven Ward comments: We're excited to partner with Namaste MD to provide medical marijuana patients in Canada a way to privately prove their identity online while minimizing the amount of personal information they need to share.

About Authenticating.com

Authenticating.com provides Authenticating as a Service for peer-to-peer exchanges, two sided marketplaces, online communities and other apps, sites and service providers worldwide. Through the Authenticating.com API genuine individuals can instantly self-verify their phone number, email, social media, photos, true identity and age where government data is available. US residents can authorize national sex offender and criminal records checks as well as financial background checks based on the implementations of our client partners. The Authenticating.com SDK supports iOS, Android and web based integrations.

Management Commentary

Sean Dollinger, President and CEO of Namaste comments: We believe that Namaste MD is a revolutionary platform that will change the way patients and doctors connect, by offering an online portal accessible from the comfort of their home. We plan to accumulate thousands of patients in the platform going forward and into the new year. Now that we have the platform developed and with major progress on CannMart, we believe that Namaste MD, in combination with CannMart and our existing database of customers, will provide a competitive edge for Namaste in the Canadian market. We will also plan on exploring opportunities in working with the federal and provincial governments to provide a much-needed solution for identity and age verification for online recreational cannabis sales.

About Namaste Technologies Inc.

Namaste is the largest online retailer for medical cannabis delivery systems globally. Namaste distributes vaporizers and smoking accessories through e-commerce sites in 26 countries and with 5 distribution hubs located around the world. Namaste has majority market share in Europe and Australia, with operations in the UK, US, Canada and Germany and has opened new supply channels into emerging markets including Brazil, Mexico and Chile. Namaste, through its acquisition of Cannmart Inc., a Canadian based late-stage applicant for a medical cannabis distribution license (under the ACMPR Program) is pursuing a new revenue vertical in online retail of medical cannabis in the Canadian market. Namaste intends to leverage its existing database of Canadian medical cannabis consumers, along with its expertise in e-commerce to create an online marketplace for medical cannabis patients, offering a larger variety of product and a better user experience.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Sean Dollinger

Chief Executive Officer

Direct: +1 (786) 389 9771

Email: info@namastevapes.com

Further information on the Company and its products can be accessed through the links below:

www.namastetechnologies.com

www.namastevaporizers.com

www.namastevaporizers.co.uk

www.everyonedoesit.com

www.everyonedoesit.co.uk

FORWARD LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains forward-looking information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, Namaste assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by law. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements 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. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Company's disclosure documents which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com. This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The CSE has neither reviewed nor approved the contents of this press release.




English French

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canada Foundation for Innovation



The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, will be at the University of Manitoba to announce new funding for research equipment at universities, colleges and research hospitals across Canada. This investment will further Canadas reputation as a global leader in science.

The Minister will be joined by the Canada Foundation for Innovations President and CEO, Roseann OReilly Runte. Following the announcement, the Minister and Dr. OReilly Runte will meet a group of scientists and students who will showcase their work and explain why their research matters to Canadians.

Media are asked to arrive at least 15 minutes early to sign in at the reception desk.

Date: October 12, 2017

Time: Announcement: 11:30 a.m. (CDT)

Meet and greet with researchers: 12:00 p.m. (CDT)

Location: Brodie Centre Atrium

University of Manitoba

727 McDermot Avenue

Winnipeg MB

For more information:
By Todd White, Sharon R Smyth, and Thomas Gualtieri

BARCELONA/MADRID

Petroleumworld 10 12 2017

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy gave his Catalan antagonist Carles Puigdemont five days to clarify whether he has declared independence from Spain or not as the country prepared for its national holiday on Thursday.

Rajoy is due to attend a military parade in the center of Madrid alongside King Felipe VI after leaving the Catalan president to mull over his next move with his options narrowing. Puigdemont has until 10 a.m. Monday to clear up his position. If he's found to be in violation of the law he'll be given another three days to back down. After that, Rajoy will trigger the legal procedures to force the Catalan administration from office.

While the army has remained firmly on the sidelines, the military is ready to help impose order in the region if the separatists try to resist the state's authority, according to a person familiar with the government's planning.

Rajoy also plans to remove the Catalan police chief, Josep Lluis Trapero, who was interrogated by a Madrid court as part of a sedition probe last week, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing private conversations. A spokeswoman for Rajoy said Trapero's situation is a matter for the courts.

The prime minister is looking to press home his advantage after Puigdemont failed to enlist international support for his campaign to break away from Spain and faced potentially fatal splits within his governing majority in Barcelona. The Catalan leader is trying to hold together a disparate coalition that includes both anarchists and conservatives with the threat of lengthy jail terms hanging over some leading activists.

Spanish assets rallied on Wednesday as the immediate threat of breakup receded. The benchmark stock index gained 1.3 percent while the spread between Spain's 10-year bonds and German bunds narrowed by 8 basis points.

Puigdemont strikes me as playing primarily a tactical game -- like speed chess, said Daniel Lansberg-Rodriguez, a Chicago-based constitutional scholar at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. It's not a game Catalonia can realistically win; the rules too strongly favor Madrid and it has too many strong pieces. This week the tide already seems to be turning.

Spain's Nuclear Option on Catalonia Is No Quick-Fix for Rajoy

Rajoy convened an emergency cabinet session on Wednesday after Puigdemont appeared to claim independence for Catalonia but then suspended the process in a speech to the regional legislature the night before. Rajoy accused him of creating deliberate confusion.

If Mr. Puigdemont makes clear his wish to respect the law and return institutions to normality, he would end a period of uncertainty, tension and rupture, Rajoy said.

Waiting for Weeks

Rajoy's request is a preamble to triggering Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, a move that would enable him to suspend Catalonia's devolved government and take over control of its affairs in what would represent an ultimate defeat of the Catalan leadership.

While Puigdemont claimed the ballot's result gave him a mandate to push for independence, he said that he would hold off for a few weeks to pursue talks with Madrid on Catalonia's constitutional future. Catalan coalition lawmakers later signed what they called a declaration of independence and some, though not all, then signed a document suspending it.

Puigdemont will have nowhere to hide now -- he won't be able to hide behind the charade we saw last night, Angel Talavera, an analyst at Oxford Economics in London, said in an interview. If he does clarify it's independence, then Rajoy applies Article 155, and if he doesn't his coalition may break up and that could lead to elections.

Socialist Support

Jordi Turull, spokesman for the Catalan government, said that triggering Article 155 would make dialogue impossible and force his administration to declare independence. Defense Minister Dolores de Cospedal last week said that any challenge to Spain's democratic regime would be treated as a threat.

Rajoy, who runs a minority administration, received backing from the opposition, with Socialist leader, Pedro Sanchez, saying that his party shared the government's view on the need for Puigdemont to clarify his position. Sanchez said that Rajoy had agreed to put in place a committee on regional powers that may lead to constitutional reform , though not to enable a referendum on independence.

The Basque Country's ruling party is acting as an interlocutor between the central government and the Catalan regional executive in a bid to reduce tensions, according to three people familiar with the matter. Senior officials from the Basque Nationalist Party, known as the PNV, have been trying to find common ground, albeit in an unofficial capacity as Madrid doesn't accept that the dispute merits mediation, the people said.

Regardless of the crackdown and the responses from Catalonia, the turmoil has proven too much for several dozen of the region's largest companies, which said they're relocating.

This struggle does not necessarily follow an economic logic, but a logic based in culture, history and nationalism, said Monica Duffy Toft, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Massachusetts. We tend to forget in the 21st century that nationalism is still alive and well.
PBF notified PDVSA last month it is not going to take any more Venezuelan crude cargoes from the state-run firm.

HOUSTON

Petroleumworld 10 12 2017

The fifth largest U.S. buyer of Venezuelan crude, PBF Energy Inc, has halted direct purchases from state-run oil company PDVSA, according to four sources, deepening a rift amid sanctions on the OPEC-member country.



PBF is the second buyer in as many months to go elsewhere for its oil and further disagreements could spell new hardships for PDVSA, which owes bondholders $1.2 billion in debt payments due this month. Venezuela relies on oil for over 90 percent of export revenue and U.S. refiners are among its largest cash-paying customers.

In August, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Venezuela, in part barring new financial arrangements with PDVSA. Those restrictions have banks refusing to issue letters of credit needed to assure some oil sales.

PBF notified PDVSA last month it is not going to take any more Venezuelan crude cargoes from the state-run firm, said a PDVSA source who could not be identified because the information was not public.

That notification came after a more than 40-day standoff over a previous shipment. In July, a Venezuelan heavy oil cargo intended for PBF sat off Louisiana awaiting a letter of credit to complete the sale. The tanker discharged in August.

Neither company would say whether the agreement is terminated. The Parsippany, New Jersey-based refiner declined to comment on business confidential information. PDVSA did not respond to a request for comment.

PBF has not directly purchased oil from PDVSA since early September, according to Thomson Reuters trade flows data. But the refiner has bought Venezuelan crude from intermediaries in recent months, the data say.

Intermediaries currently working with Venezuela are traders and oil firms who purchase crude from PDVSA and assume the risk of any default in a transfer.

PBF also has increased imports of heavy oil from other nations, including Colombia.

The tanker Gold Sun arrived in Venezuela's Jose port this week to load crude for PBF. Reuters trade flow data has not yet disclosed further details about the shipment.

PBF typically buys at least two 500,000-barrel cargoes per month from PDVSA, and through September was the fifth U.S. largest importer of Venezuelan oil, receiving almost 52,000 barrels per day (bpd) from different suppliers, according to the Reuters data.

For a graphic on Venezuela's crude exports to the United States, click on tmsnrt.rs/2kGkwJK

A STRUGGLE TO KEEP CUSTOMERS

In September, PDVSA also lost a supply contract for naphtha and natural gasoline to Brazilian petrochemical firm Braskem SA .

Falling output and oil-quality issues have contributed to PDVSA's struggles to retain customers, and the situation worsened once its name appeared in a U.S. sanctions list.

The sanctions imposed in August do not stop U.S. entities from continuing trade relationships with PDVSA, but they ban new long-term financing for the company, its subsidiaries and the Venezuelan government. They also require business partners to notify the Department of Treasury about certain transactions.

The heightened level of scrutiny has not been welcome by U.S. refiners, according to the trading sources.

Venezuela in September sent less than 500,000 bpd of crude to the United States, its main destination for oil exports. The volume marked a 38 percent decline compared with the same month in 2016, according to the Reuters data.

The South American country has been looking for new buyers for its barrels since sanctions began, according to officials including President Nicolas Maduro. It recently started posting its crude prices in Chinese yuan, aiming to build a currencies basket to untangle banking operations and move off U.S. dollar-based sales.

BETTER WITHOUT YOU

As PDVSA tries to expand its portfolio of customers, PBF and other U.S. refiners are looking elsewhere, too. Separate from its 33,000-bpd contract with PDVSA, PBF has started buying Venezuelan crude from trading firms, while negotiating with PDVSA over other forms of payment, according to the data and sources.

Eulogio Del Pino, Venezuela's oil minister, said on state television in August that PBF are the ones who have to pay ahead of time if they want us to load.

PDVSA's insistence that PBF prepay for cargoes hamstrung negotiations, the PDVSA source and one of the traders said, while the refiner suggested an open credit mechanism that would allow it to pay at least 30 days after delivery.

There's no reason for PDVSA to start demanding prepayments other than retaliation for the sanctions and lack of cash, but those problems should not be transferred to the buyers, one trader said.

PBF has sought alternatives to Venezuela's heavy crude oil to meet its refineries' feedstock requirements. In September, it bought from Royal Dutch Shell a cargo of Colombia's PB19 crude, a grade that is rarely sold on the export market, according to the Reuters data.

Disruptions in imports from Venezuela also have affected Phillips 66, the firm said in August. PDVSA's supply to the U.S. refiner's Sweeny facility in Texas has dropped by more than two thirds this year in part due to oil quality issues forcing the firm to cancel cargoes and request price discounts.

Phillips 66 has increased purchases of other Latin American heavy crudes for Sweeny in recent months, including Colombian, Mexican and Ecuadorian grades, according to Reuters data.
ABC News(NEW YORK) -- In a rare kind of collaboration, a fast food chain now has a complete fashion line.



The "hot" new clothing collaboration between Taco Bell and Forever 21 has fans of the two chains drooling.



The "fast-fashion" clothing retailer and fast-food brand introduced the new limited-edition collection inspired by iconic graphics of the taco chain.



Super fans and influencers flaunted the fun food clothing line -- "Forever Taco Bell" -- on the catwalk at a runway show and launch event in Los Angeles on Wednesday.



The clothing items feature bold and playful prints ranging from Taco Bell's pink-and-purple bell logo to their variety of hot sauce packets.



The line was designed for men, women and kids and will be available online and in around the world in physical stores.



A pop-up shop at the launch of the Forever 21 Taco Bell line sold was pieces ahead of their in-store availability -- and tacos, of course.



Customers are sharing their looks on social media with the hashtag #F21xTacoBell.



Taco Bell has already been selling clothing at the retail shop of its flagship Las Vegas cantina and through a 2014 collection of taco-themed socks with brand The Hundreds.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Monaco, October 12, 2017, GasLog Partners LP ("GasLog Partners" or the "Partnership") (NYSE: GLOP) today announced that it will release its financial results for the third quarter of 2017 before the market opens on Thursday, October 26, 2017.

GasLog Partners will host a conference call to discuss its results at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1:30 p.m. BST) on Thursday, October 26, 2017. Andrew Orekar, Chief Executive Officer, and Alastair Maxwell, Chief Financial Officer, will review the Partnership's operational and financial performance for the period. Management's presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.

The dial-in numbers for the conference call are as follows:

+1 855 253 8928 (USA)

+44 20 3107 0289 (United Kingdom)

+33 1 70 80 71 53 (France)

Conference ID: 91721710

A live webcast of the conference call will also be available on the investor relations page of the Partnership's website at http://www.gaslogmlp.com/investor-relations.

For those unable to participate in the conference call, a replay will also be available from 2:00 p.m. EDT (7:00 p.m. BST) on Thursday, October 26, 2017 until 11:59 p.m. EDT (3:59 a.m. BST) on Thursday, November 2, 2017.

The replay dial-in numbers are as follows:

+1 855 859 2056 (USA)

+44 20 3107 0235 (United Kingdom)

+33 1 70 80 71 79 (France)

Conference ID: 91721710



The replay will also be available via a webcast on the investor relations page of the Partnership's website at http://www.gaslogmlp.com/investor-relations.

About GasLog Partners

GasLog Partners is a growth-oriented master limited partnership focused on owning, operating and acquiring LNG carriers under multi-year charters. GasLog Partners' fleet consists of 11 LNG carriers with an average carrying capacity of approximately 154,000 cbm. GasLog Partners' principal executive offices are located at Gildo Pastor Center, 7 Rue du Gabian, MC 98000, Monaco. Visit GasLog Partners' website at http://www.gaslogmlp.com.

Contact:

Jamie Buckland

Head of Investor Relations

Phone: +44 203 388 3116

Email: ir@gaslogltd.com
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
The new museum devoted to Dr. Seuss came under fire for a mural that some viewed as racist. Read more

"Walking into the museum, opening to the public Saturday in the author and illustrator's hometown of Springfield, Mass., is like walking into one of his beloved children's books."

That's how the Associated Press described the early June 2017 opening of the Dr. Seuss museum. Leagrey Dimond, one of his stepdaughters, said, "And to know that he's going to be here permanently, safe, protected, that people who want to know more are going to make this trip here to see him, it's perfect."

Of course, Dr. Seuss is not safe and protected. He is the latest icon under fire from the politically correct hordes that wake up every day trying to be offended. A librarian at an elementary school in Cambridge, Mass., was a foot soldier in this army when she rejected a gift of Dr. Seuss books from first lady Melania Trump. She was roundly attacked by many as an ungrateful scold.

However, she opened a line of attack on Seuss that has been continued by higher ranking members of the mobs threatening many historic figures. Mike Curato, Mo Willems and Lisa Yee, major authors of children's books, declined an invitation to the museum's inaugural children's Literature Festival, because of a mural featuring illustrations from the author's first children's book, And to think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street. The library caved and pulled the mural. The authors claimed that the mural features a "jarring racial stereotype of a Chinese man, who is depicted with chopsticks, a pointed hat, and slanted slit eyes."

In a poll at www.masslive.com, over 87 percent of people did not see the mural as offensive. I think this is really about the fact that Seuss used his great talents as a cartoonist to help defeat the Nazis and Japanese during World War II. He propagandized against both enemies using tough language and stereotypes. I have seen many of these and I look at them in the context of the times and the savagery of the enemy.

I see Seuss as a patriot for his work. I recommend the documentary series on Netflix titled Five Came Back. It's the story of five major Hollywood directors who put their careers on pause and went to the front lines to make films and public service announcements to inspire and rouse the American public to fight during World War II. Seuss and these directors represent a time when artists were supportive of traditional American values.

This whole attack on Seuss is centered on his depiction of Chinese and Japanese people. Why is there no movement to sanction President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's executive order to imprison Japanese-Americans in internment camps? This action actually saw Japanese-Americans as a group as disloyal and took away their liberty. Is there any movement to take away the prominent Roosevelt monument in Washington? Do prominent Democrats still not lionize him?

Now that Seuss is on the endangered list of American icons, will this affect Mayor Kenney's donning a hat and reading Seuss' iconic The Cat in the Hat? I hope not, because that is one of the best things Kenney does.

One of the best ways to evaluate this whole controversy is to look at the people attacking Seuss. One of his leading critics is Katie Ishizuka, who is the director of The Conscious Kid Library. This outfit brands itself as the arbiter of books that are more diverse and appropriate for young readers. She claims Seuss' fans are trying to sweep under the rug the very negative aspects of Seuss.

My kids grew up reading the Berenstain Bears and a few Dr. Seuss books. There is now an internet controversy that says the books were really called the Berenstein Bears. You can't make stuff like this up.

The bottom line of all this is that if the beloved Dr. Seuss can be dinged significantly, who is safe from the diversity police? These people will never run out of targets. They are driven by a need to cleanse and, in some cases, destroy. The best method to fight them is mockery. They deserve nothing better.
Rick Lowe with several of his deer at his home in Landisburg, Perry County. Read more

It was harvest time at Rick Lowe's split-level home in rural Perry County, and the flypaper above his living room couch swung heavy with the dead.

Down some stairs, behind wooden doors, the pungent laboratory where Lowe practices his reverse alchemy was full of needles and a blowgun and glass jars brimming with things few folks would dare jar.

Bottles of amber liquid on the shelves looked like apple cider, but the nose doesn't lie.

It was urine, gallons and gallons of whitetail deer urine, waiting to be shipped out and spread across the wilds of America.

"My stuff is fresh," Lowe, 54, said in his Lowe's Whitetail lab last week. "I use about a gallon of it myself."

Deer urine has been used for decades by hunters in states where it's legal to mask human scent and draw large bucks with nice racks into range. They can sprinkle it on clothes, hang something akin to a urine-soaked air freshener from branches, or open a tin of crystallized urine beneath hunting stands. There's a handful of producers in Pennsylvania like Lowe, each a bit secretive with guarded recipes, farmers of sorts who've managed to turn waste into extra income or a full-time business.

"I owned 19 acres of all woods, so I couldn't get in any other industry, like beef and pork," said Paul Carson, owner of West Wind Whitetails & Scents in Erie County. "I fenced in a couple of acres and bought a couple of deer. That was in in 1985. I am one of the pioneers in Pennsylvania."

Collecting urine isn't as simple as dropping a bucket under a deer's rear end. They're skittish animals, even those bottle-fed as fawns. Bucks, particularly during the fall mating season, can be ornery.

"We cut their antlers off so they can't kill anyone," said Elam Lapp Jr., whose Nationwide Scents in Millersburg, Dauphin County is one of the nation's biggest producers of pee.

Lapp, 28, is Amish, and his family has been farming in Pennsylvania for generations. First, it was dairy cows. Eventually, the Lapps became deer farmers, raising trophy bucks for breeding stock and private hunting ranches, which also operate in the state, before settling on urine.

"Amish culture is farming," Lapp said last week. But "it's just not very viable in this day and age for a small mom-and-pop operation."

Lapp's operation doesn't feel mom-and-pop. Hundreds of deer live on more than 200 acres in two locations. They are moved indoors for collection for a few hours, into a 5,000-square-foot facility with raised stalls resembling giant rabbit hutches. They're given food and water; fans whirl loudly for ventilation.

"They'll pee six to eight ounces per sitting, about a half-gallon a day, all year," Lapp said.

The urine funnels down through filters and basic plumbing into the basement, where the sheer volume boggles the mind.

"They're 55-gallon drums," Lapp said, pointing to rows of white drums.

He sells most of his product to companies that relabel it as their own, but he has a special batch he freezes and ships direct to customers.

The majority of deer urine comes from does, the female deer, but there are variations. The most valuable is from does in estrus, because they produce more estrogen and draw in bucks ready to mate. Some urine farmers can bring their does into estrus artificially.

Buck urine could attract a male looking to fight.

"I start collecting in the summer and I sell a lot of regular doe pee," Carson said. "I can sell a gallon of doe in estrus for $105 to $110. Dominant buck pee can go for about $60."

Urine-industry statistics are murky because producers are lumped together under deer farming, which includes raising trophy deer and deer for venison. There are approximately 1,000 deer-farming families in Pennsylvania, according to the state's Deer Farmers Association  the second most after Texas. A small percentage deal in urine, and of those, Lapp's operation is the biggest in the country, the group said.

A recent New Yorker article said deer urine was a "hundred-million-dollar business." A CNN report from 2008 put it at $44 million. Overall, hunters nationwide spend tens of billions on gear each year.

One problem that has complicated the urine business is chronic wasting disease, a fatal, mad cow-like disease that affects the cervid family: deer, elk, and moose. It was first noticed in captive mule deer in Colorado in the 1960s and has spread eastward, including into parts of Pennsylvania. According to the Chronic Wasting Disease Alliance, cases of CWD have been found in Blair and Bedford Counties.

Because urine is one of the ways CWD can spread, some states, including Virginia and Vermont, have banned its use in hunting. Lapp was recently featured in a New Yorker article on the subject, as New York state is contemplating following suit.

Further bans could impact a way of life he's trying to hold on to, Lapp said on his farm last week.

"The science isn't there at this point. It's just not there."

Nicholas Haley, an assistant professor of microbiology at Midwestern University in Arizona, has studied CWD for a decade. Of all the liquids and body parts on a deer, Haley said urine has the lowest levels of "infectivity" and believes regulatory agencies have targeted it for the wrong reasons.

"Urine kind of represents this low-hanging fruit," he said. "It's easy to regulate, and it makes it look like you're doing something to prevent the spread of CWD."

In Pennsylvania, deer farming comes under the purview of the state Department of Agriculture, which requires farmers to take part in one of two CWD monitoring programs. The Pennsylvania Game Commission prohibits the use of deer urine in the state's two disease-management zones in south central and north central parts of the state. Elsewhere, it's legal to use for hunting.

Lowe has been in the deer-scent business for 25 years with his wife, Anita, and said he understands the concerns about CWD. That's why he has branched off into other areas, above and beyond mere urine, to attract deer and mask smelly humans.

Some of his cover scents smell like acorn or hardwoods; one called "Dirth" is a "dirt and earth combo." He is experimenting with synthetics, but he also learned to make deer "lures" from a legendary New York trapper named Johnny Thorpe.

There are glands in those glass jars, among other things.

"He taught me to take the testicles, then you cut them and tincture them," Lowe said. "Then you add some stuff, then you have to roll it, and then you add enhancer. It actually gets better with age."

Neither Carson, a retired boilermaker, nor Lowe, who works for SYGMA Foods in Harrisburg, are big enough to farm urine full-time.

The most difficult aspect, Carson said, is dispensing it into the four-ounce bottles. Urine is not plutonium, but still.

"I can't have a radio playing in the garage when I'm doing this," he said. "Nobody can talk to me."

Lowe said he'd like to branch out eventually or at least add a separate building for his urine and tincture lines so he doesn't have to mix it all in the house.

"I'm very secretive about my operation," he said. "It's taken me years. A lot of guys want to know how I make my stuff. I don't want to give enough information to be dangerous. I've had guys want to come out and take tours, and I just can't do it."
The Boys Scouts have opened up their membership in recent years to kids that are gay, transgender, and now female. But one group remains ostracized. Read more

In 2012, I mailed my Eagle Scout badge back to Boy Scout headquarters.

Despite the fact I consider the time I spent as a Boy Scout among the most influential and positive experiences of my life, I couldn't stand behind an organization that banned gay Scouts and scoutmasters from serving. Since I severed my ties with the Scouts, the organization has come around to public sentiment regarding gay and transgender kids and adults, and on Wednesday announced another step forward: Girls will be allowed to join.

The organization itself admits that the move to allow girls isn't because of some progressive awakening; it's due to the fact that it's easier for busy parents to have all their kids in one group rather than dividing them (and their time) along gender lines. It's no secret the Boy Scouts have seen membership numbers decline as society changed around them, so allowing girls in is a transparent attempt to bolster their sagging numbers.

But if the Boy Scouts want to increase membership and/or be truly inclusive, there is another change to be made. One group still remains ostracized from benefiting from all the leadership skills the Boy Scouts have to offer: atheists and agnostics.

Maybe Boy Scout leaders are unaware that the number of kids unaffiliated with religion continues to rapidly increase in today's society.

Let's be clear: The Boy Scouts are within their rights to ban open nonbelievers as a private organization that has been backed for more than a century by the Mormon church. The Supreme Court upheld its right to limit membership as it sees fit. References to God and the necessity of being reverent are littered throughout Boy Scout literature, including new requirements added in 2015 that force Scouts earning a new rank to "tell how you have done your duty to God." In its own statement of religious principle, the organization "maintains that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God."

But just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right.

I grew up in a family that wasn't religious and didn't go to church. My first exposure to religion came as a Cub Scout, when my pack (which met in a church) would pray before meals. At the time, I was too young to understand I was an atheist, so I just bowed my head respectfully and waited until the prayer was over.

Later, as a Boy Scout growing up in rural Oklahoma, the overt link between religion and the organization became more apparent, but I simply kept my personal beliefs to myself and was respectful of others. That seemed to fulfill the expectation of doing my duty to God, and it was a small sacrifice to make in order to spend my time building campfires, shooting weapons, and playing stickball.

Maybe I was just lucky to have understanding scoutmasters. When I was asked at my Eagle board of review about my reverence, I explained that while I'm not a religious person, I always viewed personal reverence  one of the 12 points of the Scout Law  as being respectful of others and their own beliefs.

I've heard of others who have expressed their nonreligious beliefs and, despite all the good they did during their tenure, were forced out and denied the Eagle Scout rank they'd earned.

To me, the Scouts' arcane view of nonbelievers does a disservice to the ultimate mission of a generally good organization, which is to instill values in young people and "prepare them to make ethical choices over their lifetime in achieving their full potential."

But is it ethical to teach young adults to judge the morality of their peers solely on the basis of their religious beliefs?

While it's nice that the Boy Scouts are letting in girls, the leaders could really learn a lesson from the Girl Scouts, which has been a secular organization since its founding, helping to mold the young minds of believers and nonbelievers alike. They also welcomed in gay and transgender kids years before the Boy Scouts gave in due to pressure on public sponsors.

So instead of busy parents enrolling their daughters to become a Tenderfoot, maybe they should ask the Girl Scouts if sons can become Brownies. In addition to offering a better moral compass, the cookies are delicious.
Cover of the Medical Marijuana Organization Grower / Processor Application submitted by Keystone Releaf LLC, which is seeking an injunction against the state Department of Health. The company has asked the court to rescind all previously awarded permits and start again from scratch. Read more

A group of parents of epileptic children called on Commonwealth Court on Thursday to toss out a lawsuit filed by a would-be medical marijuana grower. Calling the suit "speculative, myopic, and selfish," the parents say it threatens their children's health and could subject caregivers to eventual arrest and criminal charges.

Keystone ReLeaf LLC, which counts a former mayor of Bethlehem, Pa., as a principal backer, did not win one of 12 permits to grow cannabis that were awarded in June by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The company claims to have suffered "irreparable harm" as a result. In a suit filed in mid-September, Keystone ReLeaf demands that the state shut down Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program, rescind all issued permits, and start from scratch.

On Tuesday, the Department of Health filed to have the suit dismissed, saying Keystone ReLeaf filed an incomplete application, missed the deadline "through the fault of its counsel," and received a low score. In addition, the department argued that because the company had not applied for a growing permit in all six zones, it did not have standing to stop the program in all six.

An attorney for Keystone ReLeaf did not return calls requesting comment.

About 314 parents hold "safe harbor" letters issued by the department that allow them to buy medical marijuana oils out-of-state to administer to their sick children. There is significant anecdotal evidence that the medicines cut back on the number of seizures suffered by epileptic children. The letters will expire May 17, 2018, by which time the state's medical marijuana program is expected to be up and running. There is no provision for an extension.

If the medical marijuana program is delayed, parents "will face criminal liability," according to the brief filed by the parents' group, Campaign for Compassion. "Moreover, young patients who have seen medical gains while treating with marijuana will risk deteriorating to their prior condition."

Under the law, anyone with a prior drug conviction is prohibited from being a caregiver for a medical marijuana patient. In a worst-case scenario, the disqualification of a caregiver could keep child patients from getting access to the medicines.

"We're asking the court to weigh which side will suffer greater harm," said William Roark, one of the lawyers who filed a brief on behalf of the parents' group. Roark is cochair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's medical marijuana and hemp law committee. "The courts should have a full picture of what harms the patients are facing."

The brief details the lives and suffering of four Pennsylvania children who previously tried dozens of anti-epileptic medicines with little effect. The parents say the children's symptoms have diminished after using cannabis oils.
The Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies advisory committee and members of the public listen to testimony concerning the approval of a potentially breakthrough drug for a form of blindness at the FDA in Silver Spring, Md. Read more

For Christian Guardino, 17, and an estimated 3,500 others born with a rare inherited genetic blindness, the first gene therapy that restores sight is both a life-changing breakthrough and a step closer to reality.

In a unanimous vote, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration committee recommended approval of Philadelphia drugmaker Spark Therapeutics' first-ever gene therapy for a genetic disease in the United States.

If the FDA accepts the recommendation, which is considered likely, the treatment developed by Spark and researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia will usher in a new era in medicine  the first retinal gene therapy approval.

"My prediction is this work will ultimately transform the lives of individuals, perhaps millions, who are facing a life of blindness," Joan O'Brien, chair of the department of ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Scheie Eye Institute, told the FDA panel. More than 260 genes are known to cause inherited retinal disease, and the first approval will propel further research into gene therapy treatments for other inherited retinal problems associated with other genes.

Among the ophthalmologists and retinal surgeons who attended the meeting in Silver Spring, Md., patients who received the gene therapy and urged approval told stories about how the treatment changed their lives.

Guardino told the panel that he lived in darkness the first 12 years of his life. It was difficult to relate socially to peers, and he could not see people's faces. After receiving the pioneering treatment in Philadelphia, the high school senior from Patchogue, N.Y., said that, almost overnight, he could see for the first time the moon, the stars, and a sunset.

"This gene therapy completely changed my life and gave me sight that I never had," said the teen, who fulfilled another dream in June when he earned a golden buzzer award that took him to the semifinals of NBC television's "America's Got Talent."

Caitlin Corey said that, as a blind person, she was unable to pursue her passion for math and science. In December 2013, days before her 21st birthday, she received the gene therapy and suddenly could see vibrant colors. "I was not living in a black-and-white world. I could go to a restaurant and see the plates."

Her father, Christopher Corey, told the panel that Caitlin was diagnosed at 9 months with the condition that at first resembles "night blindness," but progresses to almost total blindness. Until now, there has been no treatment. He said that not only was his daughter's sight "cured," but also her isolation, dependence, and unfulfilled potential.

A decision by the FDA, which usually follows its panel recommendations, is expected Jan. 12.

Spark's treatment, which injects a copy of a healthy gene directly into the eye's retina, was developed at CHOP based on decades of research spearheaded by Katherine A. High, Spark's cofounder and president.

"This is a big day. I've been working on this for a long time," High said after the vote. Work began in 2005 to initiate a clinical trial, and the first patient was enrolled and injected with the therapy on Oct. 11, 2007.

The panel experts did not question the sight-restoring potential of the treatment, but had questions about potential side effects, including macular thinning, ocular pressure, cataracts, retinal tears, and eye inflammation. Physicians who treated the patients said most side effects, termed "adverse events," occurred early and resolved over time.

Spark's treatment, to be known by the brand name Luxturna, does not give 100 percent vision. It is intended to be a onetime treatment. Analysts have speculated that Luxturna could bring in $100 million in 2018 and $650 million in 2022 in revenue. But the company has said no price has been set.

"Hopefully, if and when this gets approved, it will have a large impact on the patients and on the field in general," said Paul Yang, an eye specialist in genetics and ocular immunology at Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health & Science University.

Spark's therapy is for Leber congenital amaurosis, a defect in a gene called RPE65. "It's a devastating disease in which patients become blind within the first year, if not the first 10 years, of life," Yang said. About 3,500 people in the United States and Europe live with the disease.

Ashley Carper told the panel that before the surgery her children, Cole and Caroline, who were 8 and 10 at the time, read from braille readers. Today their vision "is better than we could ever have imagined. We would enroll them in the trial again, no doubt whatsoever. It is our strong desire for other visually impaired individuals to have the same opportunities."

"I've heard so many stories like that," said University of Pennsylvania researcher Jean Bennett, part of the team that cloned the gene in a laboratory before the clinical trials. Bennett also assembled the prototype of an obstacle course to test vision and the ability of patients to navigate accurately and quickly in different levels of light after treatment. Her physician husband, Albert Maguire, performed many of the surgeries at Children's Hospital to deliver the gene therapy.

"The Carpers' mom told me that after the surgery, the kids came home and went to their rooms and said, 'Mom, when did you put these pictures on my wall? And the wallpaper is all changed.' "

"They hadn't seen it before," Bennett said. "This was the first time they'd seen it."
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.
The Rev. Ryan Paetzold says he's been praying for Joseph Baird, a.k.a. "Chetd Joe" (for "machete"), the Philadelphia man who pleaded guilty Thursday to harassing the Audubon, Camden County, pastor on social media.

If the defendant, who had no prior criminal record, stays out of trouble for two years, the matter will be dismissed.

And Paetzold, the 36-year-old pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Audubon, said he is satisfied that justice has been done.

"He clearly has hate in his heart, and whyever and however it's there, [I pray] that it changes," Paetzold said outside Evesham Township Municipal Court.

A few minutes earlier, Baird, 41, of the 2000 block of East Elkhart Street in Philly's Kensington section, saw for the first time the clergyman he had branded as "queer" online and looked him in the eye.

Baird was no longer hidden behind a pseudonym, posting photos of himself with what appeared to be a machete or showboating for his Facebook fans.

Instead, he was face to face in a South Jersey courtroom with a Lutheran clergyman whose online comments against white supremacy had gotten under the Philly man's skin.

"I was wrong," Baird, an ordinary-looking, middle-aged fellow wearing a red polo shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers, said softly.

"I apologize, and I'm sorry for the way I made you feel. I apologize to everybody."

Nowhere in evidence was the threatening bravado of "Chetd Joe," the Facebook name under which a man police later identified as Baird brandished photos he poached from Paetzold's own Facebook page, seemingly using them as a rallying cry for those who see opposition to white supremacists as a slur against all whites.

Their online exchange began after a "Resist white supremacy" sign outside St. John's Lutheran Church in Ambler drew venomous criticism on that congregation's Facebook page. The Montgomery County church displayed the sign in reaction to the Aug. 12 Charlottesville, Va., rally by white supremacists and neo-Nazis.

Paetzold was among the clergy on the St. John's Facebook page who posted messages of support for the sign; Baird was among those assailing the sign.

Screenshots Paetzold shared with me show that he initially attempted to have a dialogue with Baird, who in turn contended that criticizing white supremacy was disrespectful to all white people, and questioned why Black Lives Matter was not being chastized.

But the pastor said he ended the Facebook conversation and contacted police because of the increasingly ominous tone of some follow-up posts, photographs, and comments directed at him:

"Attention: BROTHERS THIS IS HIM  he hates whites and he hates straight people."

"Don't worry if he deletes it," Baird said in another text added to a picture of Paetzold. "I have screenshots of him."

One of Baird's Facebook friends posted about having "petrol and matches;" Baird also made an approving reference to suburban Philly's supposed "KKK" friendliness.

The matter came before Municipal Court Judge Karen J. Caplan because Paetzold and his wife, a Moorestown public school teacher who is pregnant with their first child, live in Evesham. The pastor filed a complaint with township police following the social media exchange with Baird on Aug. 24.

"Did you post derogatory statements against the victims in this matter on a Facebook page in an effort to intimidate them?" Caplan asked.

"Yes, your honor," said Baird, who was represented by lawyer Steven A. Traub of Cherry Hill.

Paetzold represented himself but was accompanied by six supporters, most of them clergymen. The pastor has become something of a cause celebre among progressive congregations of many faiths in New Jersey.

"Today sent a very powerful message to everyone that you can't just go around intimidating people without repercussions," Archange Antoine, executive director of the Faith New Jersey organization, said following the verdict.

"I think this was justice," he added. "Somebody who tried to hide on social media was caught, brought to the court, and given a penalty. I think this was justice."

Justice will be served, said Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of the Nafshenu congregation in Cherry Hill, "if he [Baird] can turn around, and that hate comes out of his heart, and he can see the humanity in the other, and hear their stories."

"Because if we can't see the shared humanity in the other, then names become numbers, and people become objects."
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silver Bull Resources, Inc. (TSX:SVB) (OTCQB:SVBL) (Silver Bull) is pleased to provide the results of the first two drill holes from its underground drill program targeting high grade structures in the newly discovered Sulphide Zone on the Sierra Mojada Project in Coahuila, Northern Mexico.



Highlights from the first two drill holes include:

Hole T17002  25.5 meters @ 294g/t silver and 0.96% copper including 11.5 meters @ 486g/t silver and 1.13% copper from 14 meters to 25.5 meters, and which contains a smaller interval of 4 meters @ 966g/t silver and 2.0% copper from 15 meters to 19 meters.

Hole T17002 hit underground workings and was terminated in high grade mineralization.

Hole T17001  7 meters @ 121g/t silver and 0.52% copper including 2 meters @ 376g/t silver and 3.0% copper from 0 meters to 2 meters.

The Sulphide Zone: An underground geological mapping and continuous underground channel sampling program conducted by Silver Bull during the month of August identified a series of east-west trending high angle structure hosting sulphide mineralization (announced in a news release on 11 September 2017). Results from the continuous channel sampling program yielded 31.5 meters grading at 22.36% zinc, 134.5g/t silver, 2.05% lead, 0.21% copper and 10.5 meters @ 432g/t silver, 1.15% zinc, 0.05% lead, 1.22% copper. This sulphide zone is the target of the current drill program.

The Drill Program: Silver Bull is utilizing a company owned Termite drill rig to test the grade, thickness, and continuity of the sulphide mineralization identified by the channel sampling program. The Termite is capable of drilling up to 100 meters of NQ diamond core and five drill stations are presently planned with more expected to be added as continued mapping in previously unvisited underground workings and drilling progresses.

The Results: The results from the first two holes confirm the grade and east-west continuity of the first of three structures to be drilled. It is important to note that drill hole T17002 was terminated in high grade mineralization when it hit a previously unmapped stope. Unlike the other structures sampled in the area, we saw no appreciable lead or zinc in these first two drill holes and is interpreted to represent either a zoning of the metals in the system or a different pulse of sulphide mineralization all together. The drilling also confirmed the presence of a low grade halo of silver and copper mineralization up to 10 meters wide and grading up to 90g/t silver and 0.2% copper. Two other similar east-west trending structures have been identified in the same area 70 meters to the south and which will be the target of our continued drill program.

A summary of the first two drill holes are shown below.

HOLE ID HOLE LENGTH (M) FROM (M) TO (M) INTERVAL (M) AG (G/T) CU (%) T17001 63.2 0 7 7m 121 0.52 including 0 2 2m 376 3.0 T17002 25.5 0 25.5 25.5m 294.1 0.96 including 14 25.5 11.5m 485.9 1.13 and 15 19 4m 965.75 2.0

Tim Barry, President, CEO and director of Silver Bull states, We are very pleased with the first two holes of our program which confirm what we are seeing underground with our mapping. With these first drill holes we have extended the first of the three high grade structures we plan to drill, another 25 meters to the east and it almost certainly continues as the hole was ended in high grade mineralization due to hitting an unmapped void. This structure remains open along strike and down dip. It is also important to note that we appear to be below the oxide zone and expect to continue hitting sulphide mineralization in this area.

Summary maps and sections are shown below.

Figure 1: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7619355a-3167-40de-bbfd-a47290dbf156

Figure 2: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d222469b-57dd-4e7c-8b0d-5ad4cddc4584

Figure 3: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/55bf022f-df58-4074-a083-c678c6be3425

About the Sierra Mojada deposit: Sierra Mojada is an open pittable oxide deposit, as disclosed in the NI43-101 "Technical Report on the Resources of the Sierra Mojada Project Coahuila, Mexico" dated June 8, 2015, with a NI43-101 compliant measured and indicated "global" resource of 58.7 million tonnes grading 3.6% zinc and 50g/t silver at a $13.50 NSR cutoff giving 4.670 billion pounds of zinc and 90.8 million ounces of silver. Included within the "global" resource is a measured and indicated "high grade zinc zone" within the Lerchs-Grossman (LG) Optimized Pit of 10.03 million tonnes with an average grade of 11% zinc at a 6% cutoff, giving 2.426 billion pounds of zinc, and a measured and indicated "high grade silver zone" of 19 million tonnes with an average grade of 102.5g/t silver at a 50g/t cutoff giving 62.6 million ounces of silver. Mineralization remains open in the east, west, and northerly directions. Approximately 60% of the current 3.2 kilometer mineralized body is at or near surface before dipping at around 6 degrees to the east.

Sample Analysis and QA/QC: All samples were analyzed at Bureau Veritas in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Samples were first tested with the "MA300" procedure which analyzes for 36 elements using a 4 acid digestion. Samples with silver values above 100ppm are re-analyzed using the FA350 procedure which is a fire assay with a gravimetric finish. Samples with zinc, lead, and copper values above 10,000ppm (1%) are re-analyzed using the AR402 procedure which is a near total aqua regia digestion.



A rigorous procedure is in place regarding sample collection, chain of custody and data entry. Certified standards and blanks, as well as duplicate samples are routinely inserted into sample shipments to ensure integrity of the assay process.

About Silver Bull: Silver Bull is a mineral exploration company whose shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade on the OTCQB in the United States, and is based out of Vancouver, Canada. The "Sierra Mojada" project is located 150 kilometers north of the city of Torreon in Coahuila, Mexico, and is highly prospective for silver and zinc.



The technical information of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Tim Barry, a Chartered Professional Geologist (CPAusIMM), and a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

On behalf of the Board of Directors



"Tim Barry"



Tim Barry, CPAusIMM

Chief Executive Officer, President and Director

INVESTOR RELATIONS:

+1 604 687 5800

info@silverbullresources.com

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources: This press release uses the terms "measured resources", "indicated resources", and "inferred resources" which are defined in, and required to be disclosed by, NI 43-101. We advise U.S. investors that these terms are not recognized by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The estimation of measured, indicated and inferred resources involves greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic feasibility than the estimation of proven and probable reserves. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that measured and indicated mineral resources will be converted into reserves. The estimation of inferred resources involves far greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic viability than the estimation of other categories of resources. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that estimates of inferred mineral resources exist, are economically minable, or will be upgraded into measured or indicated mineral resources. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies.



Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations, however the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, the information contained in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies that are not subject NI 43-101.



Cautionary note regarding forward looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Silver Bull's future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the planned drill program, ability to add additional drill stations and expectations to continue hitting sulphide mineralization. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Silver Bull's exploration projects, the industry in which Silver Bull operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Silver Bull's management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "may," variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, including such factors as the results of exploration activities and whether the results continue to support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2016, as amended, and our other periodic and current reports filed with the SEC and available on www.sec.gov and with the Canadian securities commissions available on www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.




Nicos Diner & Lounge operated briefly over the summer at 707 Chestnut St., sit of the former Rosa Blanca. Read more

Jose Garces and investors are being sued for $82,000 in rent plus fees by the owner of the building that formerly housed his restaurant Rosa Blanca at 707 Chestnut St., court documents show.

The landlord, identified as CP Acquisitions 20 LLC, also wants Garces to vacate the building, according to the filing in Municipal Court.

Rosa Blanca, a Latin diner, closed in May 2015 after a year and a half. In early 2016, the restaurant was marketed for lease. Previously on the site, Garces operated Chifa, a fusion of Peruvian and Cantonese cuisine, for about four years.

"As an active legal matter, there is no information to share at this time," a representative of the Garces Group said in a statement today. "We are working to resolve this issue quickly and expect to do so amicably."

In addition to the rent, which documents say was $15,883 a month, the suit seeks more than $27,000 in common-area maintenance charges and $750 in legal fees, for a total of $110,642 owed as of Oct. 31. The lease, signed in 2008, expires in October 2018.

This summer, restaurateur Tim Bonnie briefly operated a diner on the site called Nico's, apparently under a sublease. Nico's did not obtain use of the liquor license, which state records say is in safekeeping. Bonnie did not return a message seeking comment.

The suit follows by a recent suit filed by a produce supplier against several of the chef's restaurants and his catering company. FarmArt, based in Delaware County, said it was owed about $86,000.

The Sixers announced last week that Garces had been named the preferred catering partner for the team's VIP and premium events, as well as for corporate meetings. In its announcement, the team pointed out their long collaboration on signature events, including the 2017 Sixers Youth Foundation Gala, which raised nearly $1 million for the team's charity.

As part of the partnership, Garces is offering a 76ers-inspired burger of the month for October called the "Ballin' Ben Bacon Burger" at his Village Whiskey restaurant. In November, his Buena Onda taqueria will offer a 76ers-inspired taco of the month.
Jerome LeBlay, Rodin expert form Paris and Mallory Mortillaro, curator for the Hartley Dodge memorial. No- longer-lost bust of Napoleon, by Rodin, is in the middle. The bust will soon travel on extended loan to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Read more

For 75 years, the large marble bust sat in the corner of the Madison, N.J., council chambers, slowly gathering a faint brownish haze from decades of tobacco smoke.

There were strong suspicions that this was not just any bust, but a genuine Auguste Rodin rendering of Napoleon. For one thing, it was apparently signed by the great French sculptor.

"You said, 'Uh huh, Auguste Rodin  right,' " said Janet Foster, a Madison resident and trustee of the foundation that owns the bust and other artworks in the Borough Hall. "Why would that be here? But it was!"

On Wednesday, the borough announced that the sculpture had been authenticated by Jerome Le Blay, an expert dispatched by the Rodin Museum in Paris.

The kind-of-lost bust will now be headed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art on an extended loan, although the details were still being worked out as of Thursday afternoon.

Jennifer Thompson, head of the Art Museum's department of European paintings, said the bust will be installed at the museum in Gallery 155, joining Rodin's John the Baptist Preaching and Helmet-Maker's Wife. All three works will be on display in time for the museum's observance of the centenary of Rodin's death, Nov. 17.

Thompson is excited about the loan.

"It is a well-documented piece," she said Thursday. "There is a great photo of Rodin next to it, leaning on it."

The bust was acquired by Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge in 1933, and it joined her burgeoning art collection. In 1935, she gave the Rodin and many other artworks to the Hartley Dodge Memorial, which she named for her late son.

The art was placed in the stately Borough Hall that Dodge built for Madison to use as its municipal building.

Foster, trustee of the memorial, said Dodge neglected to pass along any documentation of the art. There was no way to prove or disprove whether the bust was by Rodin.

In the winter of 2014-15, however, the foundation hired a graduate student from nearby Drew University, Mallory Mortillaro, to catalog the collection. Mortillaro immediately zeroed in on the bust.

"It's a big hunk of marble," she said. "I mean, this is Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge. She's a Rockefeller. I knew we weren't dealing with random bits from somebody's attic."

Mortillaro contacted the Rodin Museum in Paris. A few months later in 2015, Le Blay walked into the Madison council chambers.

"He walked in and saw the bust and said, 'Oh! There you are!,' " Foster recalled. " 'I wondered what happened to you.' "

According to Foster, the Rodin Museum in Paris possesses a plaster model of the bust but did not realize Rodin had actually carved it out of marble.

"They knew of the piece," Martillaro said, "but they didn't know where it was."

Recent research has shown that New York collector John W. Simpson commissioned the bust in 1904. Rodin didn't get very far with it, and the unfinished piece was acquired by another collector, Thomas Fortune Ryan, in about 1908. Rodin completed the bust in 1910. It was on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 1915 to 1929, and Dodge acquired it four years later.

The bust  which is officially called Napoleon enveloppe dans ses reves or Napoleon wrapped in his dreams  will remain in council chambers for the moment, and will leave in a couple of weeks for Philadelphia.

"It's part of the fabric of the building," Foster said. "But our capacity to show it is limited."
With his sandy-soft voice and dry-ice wit, drolly confessional author and NRP radio stalwart David Sedaris has become a live-stage favorite. He offers up self-deprecating tidbits about his middle-class upbringing; his most obsessive behaviors; his boyfriend; and a life lived among the United States, France, and Sussex, England, where he currently resides. He reads from his most-loved collections of essays and short stories, such as Barrel Fever (1994), Naked (1997), Me Talk Pretty One Day (2000), and Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls (2013).

Oh, and there's one more thing.

"There is always something that I do at the end of my shows, and that's me pulling out my diary and reading from it at random," said Sedaris, 60. This year he published a collection of them, Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002, and on Monday, he will appear at the Academy of Music with the diaries in mind.

"I started reading out loud when I was living in Chicago in 1986 and was asked to take part in an evening where each reader had five minutes. I had this great piece I was working on that I knew would take 20 minutes, and went for that, only to be told NO," he said, laughing. "That was a good lesson. But I didn't want to read a part of that story, so I panicked and just pulled out my diary. And ever since then, that's been a practice. Sometimes, it just dies, and sometimes, it's a part of the evening that people look forward to."

The funny, crowd-pleasing diary entries always stuck in his head as the topic of a whole book. In fact, that was Sedaris' plan  until his editor made a change.

"My editor wanted me to go back and find things that weren't necessarily funny, to include the stories that didn't make people laugh."

Maybe Theft by Finding's tales of a jobless, drink-and-drug-addicted dropout with a yen for the International House of Pancakes isn't a laugh a minute, but it is poignant.

"The book I had in mind didn't have any real arc," Sedaris said. "This one does. My original idea would have made a nice bathroom book."

Those least-flattering aspects of his life are taken with a grain of salt  lived through, rehabbed, and moved on.

"I cringed the first time I read my diary, when I was like 20. I almost wanted to burn the thing, thinking of me in a beret at the IHoP. Then again, it's harder for me to forgive myself and see the charms of what I wrote two weeks ago."

Sedaris' diaries can be unflinching in their self-realization. "I'm pretty fearless. And sometimes very clean and clear about things," he said. "Like the entry about meeting my boyfriend, Hugh. I went to borrow a ladder, and that was that. Then again, I don't have that same recall about meeting Ira Glass, one of my best friends." The diary Sedaris keeps today  "done sober, and on a computer so that I don't start four sentences in a row with the word he,"  is also crisply coherent. "I used to use a typewriter and peck with one finger."

Speaking on sobriety, Sedaris doesn't yearn for the quintessential Beat Gen writing days of drugs and booze, but he also seems to miss the dreams of an aspiring writer, just a tad.

"One should have something to really, truly aspire to, shouldn't they?" he said wistfully.

In diary-keeping, the peril of being weighed down by daily minutia always looms. "I went to this antique fair today and wrote down everything I bought  probably as gifts  and what it cost. I write down every gift that I buy for birthdays and Christmas, and, yes," he said, chuckling, "so to compare it to what they gave me."

Sedaris has never second-guessed his decision to leave the United States. "It's not as I can't return, and it is not difficult to have two passports. With the internet and occasional visits stateside, there's not that much to miss." The United States of years past  "what people believe was a golden time"  wasn't all it was cracked up to be, he said. "I wouldn't have wanted to be a gay man or a woman in the 1950s, or any time before."

But now?

"Yes, that's about right," he said, laughing. "I remember that my first book got put in the 'gay' section of some bookstores because I used the phrase my boyfriend in it. There's nothing wrong with that, and I was proud to be there, but I thought the book was beyond my gayness. Then again, one of my sisters found a copy of my Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim in the sewing section, so I really can't complain too much."

David Sedaris

8 p.m. Monday

The Academy of Music

240 S. Broad St.

kimmelcenter.org
If you ask many contemporary artists what they are trying to do, you will hear a lot of words like question, undermine, interrogate, deconstruct, subvert, and unmask. Authority needs to be delegitimized. We need to see the evils of the everyday.

Violet Oakley was well aware of the world's violence and injustice. But for her, the role of artist was not to be a critic. Rather, it was to help people find their best selves, and to act on their noblest intentions. Her work, and particularly the murals that were the centerpiece of her career, were visions of an evolving and improving civilization.

"A Grand Vision: Violet Oakley and the American Renaissance," an enormous exhibition at the Woodmere Art Museum through Jan. 21, makes an extremely strong case for the artist. It features more than 150 works, including monumental murals, cartoons for stained-glass windows, preparatory sketches, and even a folding altarpiece designed for a World War II Navy ship.

Equally important, it features good new photographs of Oakley's magnum opus, the murals for the Governor's Reception Room, the Senate, and the Supreme Court chambers at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, works that occupied two decades of her life. She was the first woman ever to have received such an important public commission.

Oakley was only 28 when she was chosen, and although the building was at the center of a massive corruption scandal that landed its architect in jail, she persisted in creating what was, for its time, a monumental expression of progressive values. The show includes a voice recording she made many years later describing the Capitol murals. The drive and determination in her voice match the ambition of her art. No shrinking violet she.

Oakley, who was born in Jersey City in 1874, came from an extended family of artists. After studying in New York and Paris, she moved to Philadelphia in 1896 to attend the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She stayed there for only a semester, but she made her home in Philadelphia until her death in 1961. She arrived at the right time, just as the scions of the families who had made the city a smoky industrial boomtown during the decades after the Civil War were looking to make their civic buildings, churches, and schools express the values and vitality of an emerging American civilization.

Part of the impetus for this movement was the desire to establish white Protestant culture as permanent and legitimate in the face of an enormous influx of immigrants. Oakley herself often sought to tell a more inclusive story; five of her nine murals in the Pennsylvania Senate chamber have black faces in them.

And in The Child and Tradition, one of the large murals she made as part of the series The Building of the House of Wisdom at the Charlton Yarnall House at 17th and Locust Streets, Confucius lurks on a stairway, along with Solomon, Cicero, Dante, and Beatrice, to teach the child of the house how to be disciplined and wise. Still, Oakley's work flatters her prosperous Philadelphia clients. In this remarkable series of murals, shown here in its entirety, all of history, art, and science seem to be reaching their culmination circa 1910, a block from Rittenhouse Square, in the lives of one well-off family.

Oakley began her career as an illustrator for magazines, but a turn-of-the-century surge in the construction of important public buildings throughout the country drew her toward mural work. Many of her fellow illustrators made the same shift, including her mentor Howard Pyle, whose first murals, made for his house, are currently on display at the Delaware Art Museum.

These were begun in 1903, shortly after Oakley's first works in Harrisburg, but here the student far surpasses the teacher. Pyle's work is conventionally decorative. Oakley's is a visually and intellectually rich drama of William Penn's founding of Pennsylvania as a place of religious freedom and model for the world. Indeed, before she even began to paint, she persuaded her clients and collaborators to jettison their original theme, "The Romance of Colonization," a problematic topic at a moment when the United States had just annexed the Philippines and Puerto Rico. Instead, she proposed "The Founding of the State of Liberty Spiritual."

According to the catalog by Patricia Likos Ricci, who also curated the show, Oakley often prepared for major commissions by traveling to Europe, most often Italy, for a few months of looking around. Her approach was eclectic. She looked at earlier artists and took what she needed. She used Botticelli drawings as the basis for a stained-glass window based on Dante's Divine Comedy, and William Blake seems to have inspired a rather apocalyptic memorial at Vassar College.

Hers was an art of synthesis. It was not important that every artistic gesture be original. Indeed, it was better if people could perceive the way a mural or window echoed earlier masterpieces. The art was in choosing your influences and bringing them together in a way that spoke to the present. Some impressionist color here, a composition cribbed from Mantegna there, and an expressionist squiggle or a bit of gritty, magazine-ish visual storytelling somewhere else could all add up to something that embodied tradition while speaking to the moment.

Such extreme and creative eclecticism was based on careful looking, extensive reading, and great drawing skills. It is telling that when Oakley was inducted into the National Academy of Design in 1920, which required her to submit a painted self-portrait, she showed herself at an easel, drawing in red chalk, an old masters' medium. The exhibition is rich in works in chalk, charcoal, and pastels. Many are studies for small vignettes in the large murals, which reveal the emotional and geometric complexity of her compositions.

It is hard to know, nowadays, how to see Oakley's combination of excellent draftsmanship, intellectual seriousness, and moral ambition because those attributes are generally absent in the art and civilization of our time. We tend to mistrust her facility, and to look to art for emotion rather than instruction. She was a celebrator of institutions, while we are attracted to the artist as outlaw.

You need to look carefully to see how personal  and how strange  her art can be.

A Grand Vision: Violet Oakley and the American Renaissance

On exhibit through Jan. 21 at Woodmere Art Museum, 9201 Germantown Ave.

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-8:45 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.

Admission: $10 adults, $7 seniors, free for students with ID and children.

Information: 215-247-0476 or woodmereartmuseum.org.
It's time for one of the more confusing rituals of the retirement years: Medicare open enrollment.

If you like your current plan, it might be tempting to leave things alone for another year, but experts say that's not a good idea. Insurers tweak Medicare Advantage plans all the time, and depending on your needs, these changes can cost you money or leave you unable to see your favorite doctors.

Even in traditional Medicare, it's a good idea to reevaluate your drug plan because insurers may change which drugs they cover or the co-pays they charge.

"It could always be valuable" to review your position, said Jack Hoadley, research professor emeritus at the School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. "There may be new offerings that are less expensive."

Open enrollment  the one time of year most people can switch plans  is Oct. 15 through Dec. 7.

Unfortunately, there are no blanket statements when it comes to Medicare, the government health plan for seniors and the disabled. What's right for you will depend on your income, health needs and desire for choice when it comes to doctors and hospitals. Broadly, consumers often  but not always  are choosing between lower upfront costs and access to more providers. If you get really sick, deductibles, co-pays and fees to see out-of-network specialists can add up fast in plans with low premiums.

Unlike employer-based insurance, Medicare offers lots of choices  some say too many. It can feel overwhelming.

"It's a very fraught decision and nobody ever complains that there's not enough choice," said Christine McBennett, manager of Philadelphia's Apprise program, which provides free Medicare counseling.

Members of Penn's Village, the Philadelphia nonprofit that helps residents age in place, gathered recently to learn to use the web to choose drug plans. Richard Salkowitz, a retired employee benefits manager, walked them through comparisons on the government's medicare.gov site.

After a question about co-pays at preferred pharmacies, Linda Brick looked a little exasperated. "This is a nightmare, you know that," she said as others nodded in agreement.

Advantage plans are growing

People make what is perhaps the most important choice when they sign up for Medicare Part B.

That's when they first decide whether to sign up for traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage plans. Traditional Medicare offers the biggest choice of doctors and hospitals  almost all of them  but has some expensive gaps. Most people also purchase supplemental "Medigap" policies to cover Medicare cost sharing and prescription drugs. Those typically cost $150 to $200 a month, McBennett said. That's on top of the monthly fee  it was $134 a month for most people in 2017  for Medicare Part B coverage for doctor visits and outpatient care. (If your income qualifies you for Medicaid, or you have health insurance in retirement from a former employer, your costs will be different.)

The alternative is Medicare Advantage plans that often cover medical care and drugs at lower premium costs than traditional Medicare and supplements. But these plans, administered by private insurers, often give subscribers fewer choices about which doctors and hospitals they can use, with steep financial penalties if they go outside the network. People in these plans pay more for deductibles and co-pays than people with Medigap plans. Advantage plans may cover such things as vision and dental care or hearing aids, which traditional Medicare doesn't cover.

You can switch back and forth between Advantage plans and traditional Medicare every year, if you like, but there's a catch. If you sign up for a Medigap plan within six months of enrolling in Part B, your pre-existing health problems don't count against you. If you wait and try to buy a Medigap supplement later, pre-existing conditions could make such insurance too expensive or completely unavailable.

If your health stays good, though, you may still benefit from shopping for Medigap plans every few years, said James Long, an Eagleville insurance agent who specializes in helping clients choose Medicare coverage.

"Insurance companies love complacency," he said, explaining that people who don't look for a better deal may spend more than they need to. Further, he said, he has found that preexisting conditions are not always a barrier to getting a better deal, because "more people pass medical underwriting than you would think."

Enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans grew by 71 percent between 2010 and 2017. A third of people with Medicare now have Advantage plans. New Jersey is well below the national average at 21 percent, and Pennsylvania is above it at 41 percent.

How to evaluate plans

The government has online tools to help people see which plans cover the drugs they take. It also has a star-based rating system that can help you evaluate some aspects of quality.

Understanding physician and hospital networks can be trickier, said Gretchen Jacobson, a Medicare expert with the Kaiser Family Foundation. Her study last year found that 40 percent of plans in areas with a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer hospital did not include the center in their network. Those are generally considered top-of-the-line hospitals that are more likely to have pioneering research.

Her latest report found that many Medicare Advantage advantage subscribers are in "narrow" networks that give them access to less than 30 percent of physicians in their counties.

Long said some of his customers care more about convenience than anything else. Some will tell him: "I'm 80 years old and I'm just not going to go to the University of Pennsylvania."

It's also not easy to project what costs in Advantage plans will be, especially at a time in life when health tends to deteriorate. Costs are predictable with traditional Medicare and supplemental plans  you pay more each month, but you know you're covered fully. With Advantage plans, the more often you go to the doctor, the more often you'll likely have co-pays.

Here are some questions you should be asking as you make this year's decision, based on input from Hoadley, McBennett, Long, Jacobson, and Donna Uhler, RSVP Apprise coordinator in Montgomery County, as well as Jean Sung, senior strategic policy advisor for the AARP Public Policy Institute:

Have you read the Annual Notice of Change from your current insurers? How much discretionary income do you have each month? If it's low, it might limit your choices or help you qualify for assistance. What is the total cost of the plans you're considering? Don't just look at the premiums. Try to estimate what you'll spend in co-pays. Compare deductibles. If you know you need an expensive procedure, such as a knee replacement, include that in your cost estimate. How important is it to keep your current doctors? If that matters to you, make sure they are included in a Medicare Advantage plan's network. How is your plan going to cover a serious illness? If you want access to research hospitals, check to see if NCI cancer centers are in the network. You may also be interested in where you could get neurological, heart or orthopedic care. Make sure you know how much it costs to go out of network for specialists. Long suggests that you check out how the plan covers outpatient surgery, hospital stays, durable medical equipment, chemotherapy, and skilled nursing stays. Are the drugs you take covered? Compare co-pays and note whether any plans require prior authorization. Pay special attention to the "tiers" under which your drugs are covered. Have you looked at the star ratings for Advantage and drug plans you are considering? The government gives plans up to five stars on quality measures. Some of what it considers may not be important to you, but Hoadley suggests digging deeply into the ratings to learn about complaints, customer service and drug pricing. "If I suddenly see a cheaper plan that's only got two stars, that's a red flag for me," he said. Do you spend a lot of time in other parts of the country? If so, you'll need to know how plans with narrow, local networks would handle your getting sick somewhere else. What does your doctor think? Ask your doctor whether he or she has had experience with the plan you are considering. Does your doctor intend to stick with it for the foreseeable future. Will using this plan be convenient? Check which pharmacies you can use and whether there's a mail-order option. See how far you'd have to go for a network hospital and where you'd be sent for imaging and blood tests.

For more information: 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or Medicare.gov

For Pennsylvania residents, the toll-free Apprise Helpline is 1-800-783-7067. All services are free and confidential.

Contact the State Health Insurance Assistance program in New Jersey online or by phone at 609-894-9311, Ext. 1494 in Burlington County, 856-858-3220 in Camden County, and 856-468-1742 in Gloucester County.

How one couple, and their insurance agent, compared plans

Ralph and Carolyn Kibblehouse were well-prepared when they came for their annual open-enrollment meeting with James Long, an insurance agent in Eagleville.

As he has for each of the last seven years, Ralph Kibblehouse had studied the Medicare-related mail piling up at his house.

"He just reads and reads," Carolyn Kibblehouse said. "He drives me nuts sometimes."

Even so, the Collegeville couple, both 72, wanted feedback from an expert before making this big, confusing decision. This year, they have 27 Advantage plans to choose from. They care about price, but they also want to make sure they can see their doctors and get good drug coverage.

"It's a very active market," Long told them, adding that there will be six or seven new plans in Montgomery County in 2018.

The Kibblehouses currently have Advantra Silver, which has no monthly premium. They really like it.

"So we're going into this with the thinking that someone else has got to knock our socks off to jump ship," Long said. They nodded.

The couple has fewer medical problems and medications than many Medicare enrollees, factors that can make decisions more complex. Between them, they take just six prescription drugs, most of which are relatively cheap. They order the exception, Carolyn's Zetia for high cholesterol, from Canada. She had a heart attack 17 years ago, but has no big health problems now. He has had two knees replaced and takes medicine for diabetes, allergies and high blood pressure. He has a hernia operation coming up and knows his co-pay: $395.

Long saw that that co-pay will go down next year and that Walgreens, which the Kibblehouses like, will no longer be a preferred pharmacy at Advantra. At first, they were disappointed, but agreed they'd rather switch to another retail chain than use a mail-order pharmacy.

They want Phoenixville Hospital in their plan's network. Long checked to make sure all their doctors, especially their primary-care doctor, Robert Talamo, were still in network, and threw out some cost numbers. They don't want higher monthly payments and balk at percentage-based co-pays for hospital stays. Long understood. "A lot of people don't like that mystery number, that percentage," he said.

After more than an hour of discussion, they were down to Advantra Silver and a Health Partners plan. Each was lower for some co-pays and higher for others. There's no way to predict how much care the couple will need next year.

Long made them printouts to study at home. Ralph wanted to do one more piece of research on his own: He'd call Talamo and ask what he thought.

Coming to a mailbox near you:

To prevent identity theft, the government will begin mailing new Medicare cards to enrollees next April. The new cards will not include Social Security numbers, sex, or a signature. They will not affect benefits.

They could spawn a new kind of fraud, however. Beware of people who say you need to pay for a new card. You don't. And know that Medicare will never call asking for your personal information.
PrincetonOs Betsy Levy Paluck was honored for her research on bullying in New Jersey middle schools and for her efforts to increase ethnic tolerance in Rwanda. Read more

Anyone who has been near a middle school in recent years has heard of efforts to stop students from bullying: A special school assembly, say, or a letter warning parents to watch for vicious attacks on social media.

Princeton University researcher Betsy Levy Paluck and her colleagues took a more direct approach to reduce this age-old type of conflict. They got popular and influential students to take a stand against it.

The results of Paluck's 2016 study, conducted in 56 middle schools across New Jersey, helped to place her in an elite group this week. She is among 24 winners of this year's MacArthur Fellowships, the coveted awards informally referred to as "genius" grants.

Paluck, 39, a professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton, said she was stunned by the news and felt the award should be shared among many who have helped her. She also was recognized for her studies of ethnic tolerance in Rwanda and of attitudes toward same-sex marriage.

"This is a real team sport," she said of her research. "You need a lot of hands to get this work done."

Other winners included artists, historians, scientists, and writers, chosen by a secret selection committee from a pool of confidential nominees. Each receives $625,000 from the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation, spread out over five years to spend as they like.

Like most winners, Paluck had no idea she was under consideration, and learned of the honor several weeks ago via phone. The caller, whose name Paluck did not recognize, asked if she could speak confidentially.

Vaguely alarmed, the psychologist shooed all the graduate students out of her office.

"I thought something was wrong," Paluck said.

Elated to learn otherwise, she was sworn to secrecy until the awards were announced Wednesday.

On the bullying study, published in January 2016 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Paluck collaborated with Hana Shepherd of Rutgers University and Peter M. Aronow of Yale.

The researchers conducted the experiment with the same rigor that one would use for testing a new drug, randomly selecting half of the 56 schools to participate during the 2012-13 school year.

Students were asked to list peers with whom they had spent time in the last few weeks. From those lists, the researchers calculated which students held the most sway among the student body. These were not necessarily the most popular, but they all were "social referents"  those whose behavior was most likely to be observed.

The researchers then randomly selected participants within the schools  including students who were influential and those who were not  and pulled them out for special sessions where they identified types of conflict at the school and devised campaigns to oppose it. Some decided to give out wristbands as rewards for promoting tolerance, while others spread anti-bullying messages on social media. The key was letting the students, an average of two dozen in each school, take the lead, Paluck said.

"We didn't give them a manual written by adults telling young people, 'Just say no to bullying,' or telling them what to say at all," she said.

The authors found that incidents of peer conflict, as measured by disciplinary records, were 30 percent lower in schools where students were taking a stand against conflict, compared with the schools in which there was no intervention. That was an average figure; the drop in peer conflict was as high as 60 percent in schools where more of the participants held influence in the student body.

Psychologist Stuart Green, director of the New Jersey Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention, said that bullying remains all too prevalent in schools but that Paluck's research was valuable.

"I'm a fan of the work," he said. "It offers a useful understanding of approaches to improving school climate and addressing peer conflict."

Paluck agreed that bullying remains pervasive. The key is to enlist influential students in shaping what is perceived as "normal and desirable," she said.

"While we all have an influence on our peers," she said, "some people have an outsize influence."
Caitlan Coleman of York County, appeared in the video with her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, and their two boys in December. Read more

Caitlan Coleman, originally from York County, Pa., and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were abducted by a Taliban affiliated group while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012. They and the three children she bore while in captivity were freed Wednesday after "the United States government, working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan, secured the release" of the family, President Trump said in a statement Thursday.

Here's what we know, and don't know:

 The New York Times, quoting an unidentified senior American official, said Pakistan orchestrated the handover of the captives under pressure from the United States.

 Trump, in his statement said: "Today they are free. This is a positive moment for our country's relationship with Pakistan. The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region. We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations."

 In Pakistan, its military said in a statement that U.S. intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and discovered they had come into Pakistan on Oct. 11 through its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

 U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican, praised Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for securing the family's release; Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, acknowledged the efforts of the Trump administration but also gave credit to the Obama administration for its part in the "substantial amount of work" that went into freeing the family from captivity.

 The couple was last heard from the week before Christmas, when a video was released showing them and two of their children. In a statement read by Coleman, they appealed to then-President Obama and then President-elect Trump to secure her release.

 In the video, Coleman called their captivity a "Kafkaesque nightmare," saying: "My children have seen their mother defiled."

 The couple, who met online, had set out in July 2012 on a backpacking trip through Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. How they ended up in Afghanistan remains a mystery.

 Coleman's parents, who live in Stewartstown, Pa., last heard from their son-in-law on Oct. 8, 2012, from an internet cafe that Boyle said was in an "unsafe" part of Afghanistan. Coleman was pregnant at the time.

 The New York Times and other media have reported that the family was being held by the Haqqani network, a Taliban affiliate seeking the release of a commander who was being held by the Afghan government and had been sentenced to death.
In a 1992 file photo, a young ULIMO-K militia soldier in Liberia listens to his commanding officer. Not pictured is Mohammed Jabateh, a 51-year-old East Lansdowne man accused of committing war crimes as a leader of the militia between 1989 and 1996. Read more

Freezing, terrified, and 15 years old, she hid underwater, clinging to a tree root for fear that powerful river currents would wash her away.

But as the Liberian woman, now 38, recounted her flight two decades ago from rebel soldiers who had held her as a sex slave, she told a federal jury in Philadelphia on Thursday that she was certain she would be spotted.

"I could hear them," she said of the jungle fighters who hunted her through the night. "When I would shake, I thought they would see."

The Inquirer and Daily News are withholding the woman's name because she is a sexual assault victim and in deference to concerns she could face retribution in Liberia. Her testimony concluded the second week of the immigration fraud trial of Mohammed Jabateh, whom prosecutors have accused of leading her pursuers.

Over six days in a Philadelphia federal courtroom, 19 of Jabateh's former countrymen have accused him of similar acts of terror, murder, enslavement, and cannibalism carried out during the ethnically charged, multifaction civil war that ravaged Liberia between 1989 and 1996. He is charged with hiding his role as the warlord "Jungle Jabbah" during that conflict while applying for political asylum to the United States.

Prosecutors said they expect to wrap up their case against Jabateh, 51, of East Lansdowne, early next week.

Jabateh has denied any role in the atrocities described by government witnesses. Thursday was no different.

Jabateh shook his head as a 43-year-old farmer walked jurors through the mining operation that Jungle Jabbah's soldiers, allied with a faction of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO-K), set up along the Lofa River in northwestern Liberia.

The farmer testified that he had been captured from Haindi, a village in central Liberia, and forced into backbreaking labor at a diamond mine under constant guard by child soldiers brandishing automatic rifles.

While he dug in the dirt for diamonds, he said, the soldiers extracted his dignity piece by piece.

"When you refuse to do work, they beat or killed you," he said. "We were slaves."

Rebels thrashed those who tried to hide the gemstones they found  and sometimes those who hadn't.

As one man  a 47-year-old prospector from northeast Liberia  testified Thursday, he saw soldiers falsely accuse a fellow enslaved miner of swallowing a diamond. They force-fed the man cassava leaves, a natural laxative, to recover it.

"No diamond came out," the man said. "They beat him all day. He was sick for a week."

But even those brutal accounts of bondage in Liberia's alluvial swamps paled next to the subjugation described by the woman whose testimony concluded Thursday's proceedings.

Days before her harrowing flight and the night she spent hiding in river water in 1994, she said, she fell into the hands of ULIMO-K soldiers while fleeing from a rival group's attack on her village.

Eight months pregnant and a teenager at the time, the woman ran from the gunfire to the riverbank, where an elderly man built a raft to help her escape, she testified.

When they arrived on the other side, Jabateh's soldiers were waiting. The fighters marched them to their base nearby, she said, and accused them of being spies.

Jabateh, the woman told the jury, ordered the man who had rescued her to be tied to a kola tree and executed.

" 'Please, I'm begging you guys,' " she recalled the rescuer saying before his death. " 'I am not a spy.' "

The woman also accused Jabateh on Thursday of giving her away like property to one of his lieutenants  a short, burly man several years her senior.

She was dragged away to the man's hut, where she was held for three days, she said. On the first day, she told jurors, the rapes began; she miscarried on the second.

When the third day came, the woman testified, she worked up the nerve to try to escape.

"The soldiers were having a party in the town, [and] they were all drunk," she said. "I came outside because I was having pains in my stomach, [but] I ran into the bush."

Her captor soon realized she was missing. She heard his shouting through the jungle.

" 'When I catch her tonight,' " she recalled him saying. " 'I'm going to kill her.' "

Soldiers fanned out into the brush in pursuit. She tore through the foliage, she said.

Eventually, there was only one place left to hide: a bend in the river with a tree root beckoning from its banks.
Investigators look for evidence near the victims bicycle on Magee Avenue near Bustleton Avenue, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Oxford Circle, after police saw a teen shoot another teen in the head. The victim was listed in critical condition. Read more

A fight among a group of high school students in Oxford Circle on Wednesday afternoon left a 16-year-old in critical condition after an 18-year-old pulled out a gun and shot him several times, according to police.

The alleged shooter was in custody but had not yet been charged, Homicide Capt. John Ryan said Thursday.

Police did not identify the shooter, and said charges would depend on whether the victim  whom police also have not identified  survives.

Ryan said police caught the suspect because an officer in the area saw the shooting and chased down the alleged gunman.

Police still were trying to determine what the teens may have been fighting over, but Ryan said there was "nothing that can be justified" about the incident around 4:25 p.m. on the 2100 block of Magee Avenue.

According to Ryan, the incident  some of which was captured on video  began as a confrontation among teens. The alleged shooter pulled out a gun, and "one of the people involved in the fracas ends up getting shot," the captain said.

The victim suffered several gunshot wounds to his head, police said. He was taken to Aria Health-Torresdale Campus and placed in critical condition.
Timothy Ceaser, 22, who was reported missing in Croydon, Bucks County, in June, walked into a New York City hospital early Thursday, according to a private investigator working with the family.

Marc Bourne of the Know It All Intelligence Group said Ceaser's mother, Karen Gilbert, received a call Thursday morning from the hospital, which Bourne declined to name for privacy reasons. Her son was "a little confused, but alive and well," said Bourne. He said Ceaser's family went to New York to see him after getting the news.

Gilbert, of Northeast Philadelphia, could not be immediately reached Thursday. She previously said that on the morning of June 1, she dropped her son off at a 7-Eleven store at Bristol Pike and Neshaminy Road. After she briefly drove away, she said, she thought she saw him getting into another car and hadn't seen him since. Until Thursday, she and Ceaser's stepfather, William Gilbert, had been searching for him.

Ceaser grew up in the Northeast but had been living with an aunt in Glen Mills, his mother has said.

In mid-July, rumors swirled on social media suggesting a link between Ceaser's disappearance and the case of Cosmo DiNardo, who is charged with homicide in the deaths of four men whose bodies were found at DiNardo's parents' 90-acre Solebury Township farm.

Authorities and the Gilberts have said there was no evidence that Ceaser's disappearance was connected to DiNardo, 20, of Bensalem.

Bourne said Ceaser's mother was "very elated and very relieved" to learn that her son was alive.
Palm Desert, CA, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cytta Corp. (OTCPINK:CYCA), a leading provider of mobile smartphone and web based healthcare technology solutions, and CardioComm Solutions, Inc. (CardioComm) (TSX VENTURE:EKG), a Canada based global medical provider of consumer heart monitoring and medical electrocardiogram (ECG) software and hardware solutions, today announced completion of a Joint Venture Agreement (Agreement).



Under the announced Agreement both parties will integrate their respective technologies to implement a comprehensive, mobile telemedicine communication and connectivity health and wellness portal solution by building on Cyttas EvrCare branded VeriSmartPhone web-based remote patient monitoring platform. The EvrCare solution also leverages Cyttas innovative video and data compression/decompression solution known as SUPER (Superior Utilization of Processing for Error Resilience) which reduces data file size, improves speed of data transfers, lowers telemedicine communication costs and introduces a new level of data transmission security.

Cytta selected CardioComm as its preferred provider to augment their existing M-Health/telemedicine and IoT remote patient monitoring solution due to CardioComms expertise in supplying ECG monitoring devices, connectivity solutions and ECG reviewing software that are cleared as Class II medical devices by the US FDA and Health Canada regulatory authorities. CardioComms software as a medical device (SaaMD) ECG solutions are capable of accepting raw ECG data from any Bluetooth enabled ECG devices to generate an accurate ECG trace rendered on a scaled grid, delivered with information that is specific to the individual the ECG was recorded from as well as those who reviewed and reported the ECG findings.

All reports, findings and associated patient information would be managed within the EvrCare telemedicine platform which will incorporate CardioComms ECG analysis tools and provide the ECG findings along with data from all other EvrCare connected health and wellness peripherals that were used to monitor patients or used by consumers for self-monitoring. Cytta was also drawn to CardioComms potential to add multiple bio-sign monitoring under their Class II medical device clearances and thereby potentially cover the EvrCare branded platform services under a SaMD classification.

The completed ErvCare solution is expected to provide single users as well as group plan operators the ability to track, evaluate and manage biometric information seamlessly, concurrently and in real-time from all connected health and wellness devices. Cyttas plans to incorporate a doctor directed platform where devices themselves can be prescribed by caregivers and insurers to improve long term care in managing people at high risk for disease onset and those living with chronic medical conditions. Cytta anticipates the addition of the CardioComm ECG hardware and software to the EvrCare platform will provide a valuable and potentially lifesaving functionality to US healthcare consumers.

.

The EvrCare and ECG development work are intended to be the first phase of a multiphase program between CardioComm and Cyttas IOT telemedicine solutions. Incorporation of CardioComms ECG monitoring capabilities will help to remove many of the technological, work flow and infrastructure challenges that exist in remote patient monitoring solutions for mobile cardiac telemetry, arrhythmia and prolonged QT interval screening and serve to expand EvrCares service offerings.

In addition to consumer offerings the technology may be expanded to include in-hospital and in-clinic services, pre/post-hospital surgery discharge monitoring and to support long-term and managed care groups in monitoring the insured lives of people living with chronic medical conditions.

Cytta plans the EvrCare telemedicine platform with ECG management capabilities will be initially deployed in the USA.

About Cytta Corp

Cytta Corp's business model entails developing and securing disruptive technologies to build credible and industry specific data collection and communication solutions for use by enterprise level organizations who can implement the technologies into their specific industry segments. In keeping with this goal, Cytta has developed the EvrCare platform to address the market need for a complete and comprehensive automatic monitoring, evaluation and interpretation solution to manage a wide range of biometric data, including ECGs, within military, consumer, wellness and healthcare markets. Specifically, Cytta Corp. develops and integrates technologies in the smartphone, compression and mobile broadband markets. Cyttas EvrCare technology itself consists of several disruptive and proprietary technology advances including cloud based data server host stacking, a proprietary android control interface (PACI) operating system software, the VeriSmartPhone application, online interactive and a HIPPA compliant patient/physician/health-plan administrator communication dashboard.

About CardioComm Solutions

CardioComm Solutions patented and proprietary technology is used in products for recording, viewing, analyzing and storing electrocardiograms (ECGs) for diagnosis and management of cardiac patients. Products are sold worldwide through a combination of an external distribution network and a North American-based sales team. The Company has earned the ISO 13485 certification, is HPB approved, HIPAA compliant, and has received FDA market clearance for its software devices. CardioComm Solutions is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Etienne Grima, Chief Executive Officer

1-877-977-9425 x 227

investor.relations@cardiocommsolutions.com

www.cardiocommsolutions.com

Safe Harbor Statement/ Forward-Looking Statements

Statements included in this press release, which are not historical in nature, are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements relating to the future performance of the Company are subject to many factors including, but not limited to, the customer acceptance of the products in the market, the introduction of competitive products and product development, the impact of any product liability or other adverse litigation, working capital and availability of capital, commercialization and technological difficulties, the impact of actions and events involving key customers, vendors, lenders, competitors, and other risks. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the Company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the terms "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "may", "objective", "plan", "possible", "potential", "project", "will", and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and we do not undertake any obligation to update any forward looking statements, whether as a result of future events, new information, or otherwise.




The interior of ARC hospital, in Tulsa, Okla., Nov. 1, 1921. as patients recover from race riots of June 1. Read more

Ruth Cankudutawin Hopkins was still awake late on Oct. 1 when the social media reports about a shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas first appeared.

She knew it would be terrible. And sure enough, the next day came the headlines: "The deadliest mass shooting in American history."

"I was acutely aware that that was not true," said Hopkins, a tribal attorney, columnist, and member of the Dakota/Lakota Sioux Nation in South Dakota.

While tragic and horrific, the Las Vegas slaughter of 58 people at the Route 91 Harvest Music Fest was not the deadliest mass killing in the United States, Hopkins said. Take the Wounded Knee Massacre, where at least 150 and possibly 300 Native American men, women, and children were killed in South Dakota in December 1890.

By the second day after the shootings, news organizations adjusted after two journalists associations reminded the media: Among other incidents, "More than 100 black people were killed in the East St. Louis Massacre in 1917."

And so Las Vegas become the deadliest in "modern history."

"We wanted to raise the issue that our story is part of the American story," said Greg Morrison, treasurer of the National Association of Black Journalists, one of the organizations that issued the reminder. "When telling American stories of horrific events, include our stories and the stories of Hispanics and Native Americans. That's when you're telling the whole story."

For Hopkins, how to determine the "deadliest" attack is less about numbers and more about an inability to acknowledge American history's truth: "There's a sense of not wanting to look in the mirror and deal with the actual history of this country," she said. "This country was founded in violence."

Still, criminologists and historians continue to debate how we catalog American tragedies, what we call them, and who decides.

Mass murder, mass shooting: Whats the difference?

Grant Duwe, a criminologist and expert on mass murder who is also director of research and evaluation at the Minnesota Department of Corrections, helped explain the criminal definitions.

A mass murder, according to the FBI, is an incident in which four or more people are killed with any type of weapon within a 24-hour period. A mass shooting, then, is mass murder carried out with a firearm.

And a mass public shooting is an incident in which four or more victims are killed with a firearm within a 24-hour period at a public location "in the absence of other criminal activity," meaning robberies, drug deals, gang turf wars, military conflict or collective violence. That makes the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando mass murder, but not the Wounded Knee or St. Valentine's Day massacres, according to Duwe.

"So, even though the Orlando and Las Vegas attacks are not the worst mass murders or mass shootings in U.S. history  modern or otherwise  they are the worst mass public shootings," said Duwe, who wrote Mass Murder in the United States: A History.

Why does it matter?

Whether we call the attacks in Las Vegas or Orlando "mass murders" or "mass public shootings" is important because "words matter," said Duwe. "They shape perception, which can in turn shape policies we implement to control a problem."

Can we consider the Las Vegas killings terrorism?

Terrorism is the use or threat of violence to advance an agenda  political, religious or social.

There is overlap, however, between terrorism and mass murder. Some of the deadliest mass killings in U.S. history have been terrorist attacks. Still, "not all terrorism rises to the level of mass murder," Duwe said. "And the vast majority of mass murders have not been terrorist attacks."

Because terrorist attacks are intended to intimidate broader segments within society, Duwe categorizes post-Civil War massacres in the South as "racial terrorism" because they were often intended to send a message to African Americans.

"We see similar efforts to send a message, perhaps albeit to a lesser extent, in some of the 19th century massacres that occurred in connection with the labor movement, and hostilities between white settlers and American Indians," Duwe said.

Why, when Native Americans or African Americans are killed, dont those deaths somehow make the larger list?

This is because the cavalry and settler attacks on Native Americans and the mob attacks on African Americans are often considered "quasi-military" actions or instances where police deputize individuals into state action, according to James Alan Fox, a criminology professor at Northeastern University who has written about mass murder.

Isnt that just semantics?

Fox says no. The American people know the federal government mistreated Native Americans, he said. "But when you start a discussion about a mass shooting, it's a different event. I don't think we erase that history; we put in on a different page of history."

Morrison, of the NABJ, doesn't believe there's any distinction: "Those people are equally dead, whether it's by a lone gunman shooting out of the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel or by a mob of folks going through and wiping out an entire community of people."

Said Paul C. Rosier, a history professor at Villanova University: "All nations like to read a positive history [of themselves]. History's job is to complicate the narrative."

Is there a danger when we try to rank killings?

American society tends to glorify violence  we love guns, war films, and movies depicting gore, said Rosier. So, "the more ubiquitous they [guns] are, the more their use becomes seen as ordinary or commonplace."

Plus, when we rank events, it can have disturbing results, said Fox.

From a 2012 article of his: "Notwithstanding the cruel absurdity of treating human suffering as any sort of achievement worthy of measuring in such terms, there is little positive that can be derived by keeping or highlighting such ignominious records. But there is one significant negative: Records are made to be broken."

What are some of our historys worst mass murders?

Tulsa race riot, May 31-June 1, 1921, in Oklahoma . A white mob attacked a black neighborhood known as Greenwood, or "Black Wall Street," which was then believed to be the wealthiest black business district in the United States. Modern estimates place the death toll at 50 to 300 people, many of them shot.

Colfax, La. massacre, April 13, 1873. On Easter, about 150 black men were killed in the aftermath of tensions following the 1872 election for governor. Southern white Democrats, angry that a Republican had been elected, overpowered a group of Republican freed men and black militia men who were trying to defend the Grant Parish courthouse.

East St. Louis, Ill., race riots, July 1 to 3, 1917. Tensions had been simmering in East St. Louis, where thousands of blacks had arrived from the South to work in war factories as early as February 1917, and on July 1, a white man in a Ford shot into black homes. Journalist Ida B. Wells reported in the Chicago Defender that 40 to 150 black people were killed; the NAACP estimated deaths at 100 to 200.

The Rosewood massacre, Jan. 1-7, 1923, in the primarily all-black town of Rosewood, Fla. Although the official death toll was initially put at six black people and two white people, later estimates said as many as 150 African Americans were killed. The town also was destroyed and abandoned.

Sand Creek Massacre, Nov. 29, 1864. Colorado volunteer soldiers attacked a campsite of Cheyenne and Arapaho, and 230 people were killed. Over half were women and children. There is a Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, established in 2007, in Eads, Colo.

Gnadenhutten massacre, also known as the Moravian massacre, March 8, 1782. Colonial militia killed 96 Christian Lenape Indians during the American Revolutionary War at the Moravian missionary village in Ohio. The Christian Lenape had not been part of any military action.

Wounded Knee, South Dakota, Dec. 29, 1890. At least 150 Sioux warriors, women, and children were killed along Wounded Knee Creek at Pine Ridge Reservation, but some put that number as twice as high, along with 25 American soldiers. Nearly half of the Native Americans killed were women and children.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Goldstrike Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:GSR) (OTC PINK:APRAF) (FRANKFURT:KCG1) is pleased to report that it has successfully completed its most ambitious exploration program to date on its 100% owned Lucky Strike property, located in the heart of the White Gold camp in Yukon. The 2017 program, which included significant additional mechanized trenching and the Companys first diamond drilling carried out on the property, has met all goals established by Goldstrikes geological team.

2017 EXPLORATION UPDATE

Drilling

The first phase of drilling on the Lucky Strike property was recently completed and consisted of 1,033 meters of diamond drilling in nine holes on the Monte Carlo zone. Assay results are pending.

Trenching

A total of 1,091 meters of mechanized trenching was completed over the Monte Carlo Zone in 2017. The Monte Carlo gold in soil anomaly has been expanded to 1,400 x 450 meters and remains open. The 2017 work has confirmed gold mineralized bedrock in trenches over a 450 meter strike length and the zone remains open both to the NW and SE.

Highlights from the 2017 Trenching include:

2.87 g/t Au over 22.5 m including 4.19 g/t Au over 15 m at TR-17-06

6.70 g/t Au over 2.5 m at TR-17-04

0.69 g/t Au over 30 m including 1.07 g/t Au over 12 m at TR-17-09

All of the trenches along a total strike length of 450 m excavated during the 2017 trenching program encountered gold mineralization in bedrock or sub-crop near surface. The 2016 trench LS-TR-16-10 ended in mineralization and the mineralized zone is still open to the NE (see November 21, 2016 News Release). Additional 2017 trenching results are shown in Figure 1.

Lucky Strike 10 Kilometre Gold Mineralized Trend

There are five large gold-in-soil anomalies on the Lucky Strike property within a ten kilometre long northwestsoutheast oriented trend of gold mineralization, four of which remain to be drill tested. This trend is coincident with a magnetic geophysical anomaly which is now believed to represent a regional-scale shear zone. The gold in soil anomalies are named the Monte Carlo Zone, measuring 1400 X 450 meters, the Belmont zone, measuring 1500 by 800 meters, the Samson zone, measuring 600 by 300 meters, the Boss zone, measuring 1,000 by 1,000 meters, and the Maverick zone measuring 200 x 150 meters.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/865b5f09-818d-4ce5-8360-55b1038b37dc

Geochemistry



The Monte Carlo gold in soil anomaly was expanded to 1,400 meters by 450 meters in 2017 and remains open.

Remote Sensing

A 150 square kilometer, high-resolution, property-wide airborne LIDAR scan was completed during 2017.

Ground Geophysics

Over 40 line kilometers of ground geophysical surveying was completed during 2017.

WHITE GOLD PROPERTY PORTFOLIO

The White Gold portfolio consists of the flagship Lucky Strike property and five other gold properties known as The Hotspot, Bulls Eye, Kings Ransom, BRC and Gold Source. Four of the White Gold properties were staked in 2017 and are the result of the companys own project generation work. All six White Gold properties are 100% owned with no underlying royalties or property payments.

The 2017 work program in the White Gold district has been the largest exploration campaign by Goldstrike in its eight year history within this newly discovered gold camp.

The main focus of the 2017 program was at the Lucky Strike property where a class 3 exploration permit was received late in the summer 2017. The class 3 permit will be used to accommodate future large scale exploration and drill programs.

FIRST PASS RECONNAISSANCE EXPLORATION PROGRAMS IN WHITE GOLD DISTRICT

HOTSPOT

Newly generated and staked in 2017, the Hotspot property is comprised of 184 quartz claims. Exploration work included collection of 268 soil samples and 27 rock samples. The highlight of the soil sampling program to date is a soil sample containing 4 grams per tonne gold. Additional soil assay results continue to be received and compiled.

BULLS EYE

Newly generated and staked in 2017, the Bulls Eye property is comprised of 112 quartz claims. Exploration work included collection of 308 soil samples and 27 rock samples. Assay results for this work are pending.

KINGSS RANSOM

Newly generated and staked in 2017, the Kings Ransom property is comprised of 702 quartz claims. Exploration work included collection of 536 soil samples and 13 rock samples. Assay results are currently being compiled.

GOLD SOURCE

Newly generated and staked in 2017, the Gold Source property is comprised of 540 quartz claims. Exploration work included collection of 405 soils samples, 19 rock samples and 1 silt sample. Assays results are currently being compiled.

WHITE GOLD PROPERTY HIGHLIGHTS

100 % OWNED. NO UNDERLYING ROYALTIES OR PROPERTY PAYMENTS

Five large gold geochemical anomalies discovered over a ten km strike length.



All gold geochemical anomalies are open for expansion



Total trenching at Lucky Strike in 2016 and 2017: 1,864 m.



Total drilling in 2017: 1,033 m on the Lucky Strike property, Monte Carlo zone.



Property covers current and past-producing placer gold creeks.



Lucky Strike and BRC are contiguous with Kinrosss Golden Saddle property.



Grab sample from the Boss Zone assayed 41.7 g/t gold.



Visible gold observed in rock at Samson zone.



Samson zone 2016 trenching returned 0.32 g/t gold over 12 m, including 0.41 g/t gold over 6 m and the zone remains open (see Sept. 26, 2016 New Release)



Up to 1.9 g/t gold-in-soil at the Monte Carlo Zone.



The Lucky Strike property is over 150 square kilometers in size.



The property has excellent potential to host near surface gold deposits.



Strong geological similarities to both Coffee Creek and Golden Saddle deposits.

Infrastructure

Commercial barge landing and airstrip nearby.



Proposed haul road for Goldcorps Coffee Creek deposit crosses the Lucky Strike property in two locations.



90 kilometers south of Dawson City and international airport.



Adjacent to Yukon River, excellent river access.



Property has a permitted airstrip within the claim boundary.

Message from the President and CEO:

The 2017 trenching results from Goldstrike's original discovery of the Monte Carlo gold zone and confirmation of the ten kilometer long Lucky Strike trend of gold mineralization are strong indications that the property has excellent potential to host several near surface gold deposits. The Lucky Strike property is in close proximity to both the Coffee Creek and Golden Saddle deposits, and has excellent access. Drilling targeted the surface gold mineralized zones that were outlined by trenching and soil geochemistry programs. This methodology has a proven track record of success in un-glaciated terrains as was demonstrated at both Goldcorps Coffee Creek deposit and Kinross Golden Saddle deposit. We look forward to reporting results from the first diamond drill program in the near future.

The company continues to review options on how best to realize full value of the Lucky Strike property for our shareholders. We also thank the Yukon Government for the YMEP grant and for continuing to support our new generative grass roots exploration programs in the White Gold District as they did at both Plateau and Lucky Strike - programs that have greatly contributed to our exploration success. WORKING TOGETHER WE SUCCEED.

OTHER

Sample analysis and assaying for all of Goldstrike's projects have been conducted by Bureau Veritas Mineral Laboratories Canada (formerly Acme Analytical Laboratories Ltd) in Vancouver, BC, which is ISO 9001 accredited laboratory. Rock and drill core samples are crushed, split and pulverized to 250 g pulp, 200 mesh. Analysis includes AQ200 modified 1:1:1 aqua regia (HCl-HNO3-H20) digestion and 36-element ICP-MS which includes semi-quantitative gold with a lower detection limit of 0.5 ppb Au and an upper detection limit of 100 ppm Au. In addition gold content is analysed using the ICP-ES FA350-Au fire assay procedure. Rigorous procedures are in place regarding sample collection, chain of custody and data entry. Certified assay standards samples and blanks are routinely inserted into the sample stream to ensure integrity of the assay process.

Note: Grab samples are selective by nature, and are unlikely to represent average grades on the property.

Stefan Kruse, Ph.D., P. Geo., Chief Geologist, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, for Goldstrike's Yukon exploration projects, and supervised the preparation of, and has reviewed and approved, the technical information in this release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Terrence E. King

President and Chief Executive Officer

For new information from the Companys programs, please visit Goldstrikes website at GoldstrikeResources.com. For further information follow the Goldstrikes tweets at Twitter.com/GoldstrikeRes or contact Jeff Stuart of King James Capital Corporation, handling Investor Relations for the Goldstrike, by telephone at (604) 210-2150 or by email at jstuart@kingjamescapital.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding possible events, conditions or financial performance that is based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action; expectations regarding future exploration and drilling programs and receipt of related permitting; and the plans for completion of the contemplated transactions with Newmont as set out above. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified by the use of words and phrases such as "anticipates", "expects", "understanding", "has agreed to" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "would", "occur" or "be achieved". Although Goldstrike has attempted to identify important factors that could affect Goldstrike and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-Looking Information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, if any, Goldstrike has applied several material assumptions, including the assumption that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. Except as required by law, Goldstrike does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mission Ready Services Inc. (Mission Ready or the Company) (TSX-V:MRS) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract to produce next generation cold weather gear prototypes for the US Army based upon Government furnished designs under solicitation number W911QY-17-R-0041. The single fixed price contract awarded to Protect The Force (PTF)  a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mission Ready  is for the production of approximately 130 each of an experimental cold weather jacket and trouser in approximately 6 sizes with a receipt date no later than December 1, 2017 for a winter 2017-2018 limited field user evaluation.



The US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development & Engineering Center (NSRDEC) is conducting a front-end analysis under the Cold Temperature and Artic Protective System (CTAPS) project. CTAPS is a Soldier head to toe clothing ensemble with -65 to +45F environmental protection. The CTAPS objective shall improve the cold weather soldiers' survivability, mobility and lethality potential in the fewest number of clothing layers with increased utility that allow soldiers to configure the clothing protection to match their activity any environment conditions from-65 to 45F.

Technical analysis to date has identified performance gaps and is now examining new technology and design improvements to quantify capability advancements over the Army's 2000 era Generation III Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (Gen III). PTF will produce concepts and make recommendations for improved performance and/or manufacturability of the Government design as appropriate on an experimental cold weather jacket and trouser to quantify what advancements can be achieved in the Gen III Layer 5 Softshell jacket and trouser.

Jeffery Schwartz, President & CEO of Mission Ready, states, The great minds within our Company continue to raise the bar for tech-centric, defense-related innovations. This award is a tremendous win for the Company in that it provides a highly credible medium for the Company to further prove its innovation capabilities by disrupting another critical industry, on a very high level, through the production of this next generation cold-weather technology.

The US Government has furnished the Company with detailed technical drawings and graded patterns for the recommended jacket and trouser design as well as a list of required material components with source information, and any specific construction requirements that may not be included in commercial garment sewing practices. NSRDEC has not provided a detailed performance specification and is relying on the Company to fabricate the garments based upon its experience constructing military garments and utilizing its best commercial production and inspection practices.

Mission Readys Chief Technology Officer, Francisco Martinez, led the proposal phase working with the Companys Innovations and Manufacturing team as well as key suppliers. Mr. Martinez states, The US Army growing needs in upgrading their cold-weather uniforms is an important life saving program for our Soldiers. Participating as the sole company in this key prototyping effort is a validation point of the vision that we set for Protect The Force early in 2017, and a moment of pride for the extremely dedicated and talented team of employees in both Boston, MA and Jacksboro, TN. We look forward to working with the Army and with our suppliers in this key effort."

The findings from this effort and other concepts from industry shall lead to a complete integrated clothing ensemble for winter 2019 field testing. The FY19 field test results shall inform the requirements and acquisition entities of CTAPS capability advancements to determine if Army full scale development and fielding will be pursued.

About Mission Ready Services Inc.

Mission Ready serves to save lives and enhance the performance of military personnel, first responders, and those who protect us by working to ensure they are equipped with the best possible personal protective equipment.

Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Mission Ready has three distinct, synergistic operating divisions:

Innovations and Development of Personal Protective Equipment

Manufacturing of Leading Military & Law Enforcement Personal Protective Equipment

Cleaning, Decontamination & Repair of Personal Protective Equipment

Mission Readys management team offers over 100 years of combined industry experience and is composed of industry experts in developing products, contracting, and selling to the federal government, first responders and tactical markets through open market procurements, teaming arrangements, and a variety of federal contract tools.

For further information, visit MissionReady.ca or ProtectTheForce.com

Terry Nixon - Director, Corporate Communications

Telephone: 1.877.479.7778

Mission Ready Services Inc.

(signed Jeffery L. Schwartz)

Jeffery L. Schwartz,

President & CEO

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 Mission Ready Services Inc. 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 Mission Ready Services Inc. to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.

Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable. Although Mission Ready Services Inc. 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Mission Ready Services Inc. does not undertake to update any forward-looking information that is included 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.
A Texas Tech University police officer was shot and killed inside the agencys Lubbock, TX, station Monday night. Texas Tech University Officer Floyd East (Photo: Texas Tech University)

Alleged shooter Hollis Daniels was taken into custody hours later. Daniels is a 19-year-old freshman from Seguin who lived on campus.

Officers were reportedly performing a wellness check on Daniels while on campus when, upon entering his room, officers reportedly found evidence of drugs along with drug paraphernalia, according to a statement by Texas Tech spokesman Chris Cook.

When Daniels was brought into the department for questioning, he reportedly pulled a gun and shot Officer Floyd East in the head before fleeing on foot. It is unclear if Daniels had the weapon on him upon entering the campus police station, Lubbock Online reports.

In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, officials identified the officer as 48-year-old Floyd East Jr.

East began his career with the Texas Tech Police Department on December 1, 2014. He is survived by his wife, Carmen, and his two daughters, Ana and Monica, reports the Associated Press.
Shawn Kelly Jr., 23, died of a fentanyl overdose in April in Innisfil, Ontario, Canada, about an hour's drive north of Toronto. South Simcoe police began investigating immediately. Within a few days they arrested one man for trafficking. A few weeks later they arrested another for the same offence, reports the Vancouver Sun.

In late August they lowered the boom, laying manslaughter charges against the pair for Kelly's death. Kelly's mother Denise Lane recalls feeling happy when she learned of the development.

"My son didn't deserve to die, he didn't deserve for these people to sell him this st and for me to wake up in the morning to find him dead," says Lane. "Shawny may have held a gun to his own head, but the people that sold it to him are the ones that pulled the trigger."

Several forces and prosecutors across Canada are now laying manslaughter charges against those who allegedly supplied fentanyl to people who overdosed and died. For South Simcoe police, laying such charges is partly about sending a message to dealers of the powerful opioid.

"We're trying to show that when we have the information, we're going to pursue the people providing this because it's causing death in our communities," says Det. Sgt. Brad Reynolds, who oversaw the investigation into Kelly's death.
CHICAGO, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) today announced that it has engaged Financial Profiles, Inc., a leading strategic communications firm, for public relations services. Through proactive communications, special events, and outreach programs, Financial Profiles will assist in positioning NACD Chicago as ambassadors for advancing exemplary board leadership.



Financial Profiles has a track record of success in leveraging effective communications and public relations to help organizations build their profiles and reputations with target audiences, said Chapter President Paul Williams. With a deep understanding of the complex and challenging environment for corporate governance, Financial Profiles is an advocate for NACD and is uniquely qualified to assist the Chicago Chapter in its efforts to engage the corporate governance community and expand director participation in our programs. We look forward to working with Financial Profiles Senior Vice President Allyson Pooley and Managing Director Donni Case, who will be leading the effort on our behalf.

We are delighted to expand our relationship with NACD, said Moira Conlon, Founder and President of Financial Profiles. We have had a long and successful partnership with the Southern California Chapter, and we look forward to leveraging that experience and success for the benefit of the Chicago Chapter.

Ms. Pooley said, Our team has provided strategic communications counsel and support to directors and management teams of hundreds of companies and professional services organizations. We have a deep appreciation and respect for the knowledge and expertise that the NACD Chicago Chapter provides its members. We look forward to implementing a strategic and effective public relations plan for the Chicago Chapter.

About the National Association of Corporate Directors

The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) empowers more than 17,000 directors to lead with confidence in the boardroom. As the recognized authority on leading boardroom practices, NACD helps boards strengthen investor trust and public confidence by ensuring that todays directors are well prepared for tomorrows challenges. World-class boards join NACD to elevate performance, gain foresight, and instill confidence. Fostering collaboration among directors, investors, and corporate governance stakeholders, NACD has been setting the standard for responsible board leadership for 40 years. To learn more about NACD, visit NACDonline.org. To become an NACD member, please contact us at Join@NACDonline.org or 202-572-2089. If you are already a member, contact your NACD Membership Advisor at MembershipAdvisor@NACDonline.org to ensure that you are receiving the best value from your membership.

About the Chicago Chapter, NACD

NACD Chicagoone of the largest chapters within the NACD Chapter systemis considered a premier chapter by providing programs that bring awareness, education, and networking to director members in the greater Chicago area and neighboring states. More than 1,000 members are served locally by NACD Chicago. For more information, visit Chicago.NACDonline.org.

About Financial Profiles, Inc.

Financial Profiles is a strategic communications firm that specializes in creating client value in terms of reputation, valuation, capital, talent, or other measurable results. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the firm, which was founded in 2007 by a group of recognized industry professionals with deep knowledge of communications, finance, and journalism. Financial Profiles partners with public companies, pre-IPO companies, and asset management firms for strategic counsel and advice, expertise in value-based corporate positioning and messaging, and access to investors, analysts, and the press. The firm offers a range of specialized services including fully outsourced and project-based investor relations, IPO preparation, M&A support, strategic advisory services, corporate positioning and narrative, media training and media relations, and crisis preparation and management. For more information, visit www.finprofiles.com.

Contact

Financial Profiles, Inc.

Allyson Pooley, Senior Vice President

310-622-8230

apooley@finprofiles.com

Donni Case, Managing Director

310-622-8224

dcase@finprofiles.com

NACD Chicago

Paul Williams

President

312-456-1848

pwilliams@mlaglobal.com

Mark Zorko

Sponsor Chair

847-477-2784

mzorko@brentwoodadvisory.com

Kathy Hendrickson

Managing Director

630-527-9579

kathy@chicagonacd.org
Officer Alan Horujko (Photo: Ohio State University Department of Public Safety)

Officer Alan Horujko, who stopped a knife attack on the Ohio State Universitys campus last year, was recognized Thursday at the 2017 Distinguished Law Enforcement Achievement Awards, reports the Dayton Daily News.

Horujko shot and killed 18-year-old Abdul Razak Ali Artan, an OSU student who drove his car on Nov. 28 into a group of pedestrians on the Columbus, OH, campus. Horujko has been hailed a hero after firing the shot that killed the man wielding a butchers knife.

Eleven people were transported to nearby hospitals  none of the injuries were life-threatening  and police, university, national, and local officials have said if Horujko hadnt acted, the number of victims would have been higher.
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MSNBCs Rachel Maddow connected the dots and showed how Trumps dysfunction and incompetence are killing people in Puerto Rico.

Video:

https://youtu.be/RY2VUjI6sc8

Maddow said, A week ago the President went to Puerto Rico, threw people paper towels, and congratulated Puerto Rico on the fact that there were only 16 people listed on the death toll. Well, the official death toll now is 48, and its not because the hurricane kept hitting. Its now 48 and continuing to climb including the first confirmed deaths from treatable waterborne illness. At a time when we know that whole towns have now gone for a couple of weeks at least subsisting on water sources like creeks and streams, and yeah, this was a big hurricane, and it caused a huge amount of damage, but this is the United States of America, and the deaths that are happening now these are not the result of the hurricane. The deaths that are happening now are a result of the response to the hurricane, which has been an organizational disaster.

Maddow went to explain how Trumps delayed and inadequate response has killed people in Puerto Rico.

Rachel Maddow tore apart the poorly run response and said that the problem is not the size of the crisis, peoples willingness to help, shortage of resources, or first responders. The problem is who is in charge.

This is what happens when a man who has no experience in government and is mentally unstable is President Of The United States. Maddow called Trumps leadership unstable, incompetent, and corrupt, and discussed how that type of leader kills Americans through their lack of basic governing organizational capacity to handle a crisis.

Trump is killing Americans, and this isnt a surprise. When those who more interested in their own corruption than governing achieve the highest office in the land, people are going to die, and the President wont care.
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Trump ran away from reporters and ignored their questions when they asked him about his comments suggesting that he was going to give up on aid to Puerto Rico.

Video:

As he was leaving the healthcare executive order signing, Trump was asked, Mr. President, what did you mean by your Puerto Rico comments this morning?

The Presidents response was to ignore the question.

A second reporter asked, Mr. President, are you committed to Puerto Rico for the long-term?

Trump responded by ignoring the question and walking out the door.

In the past, this President has been willing to answer questions at these White House events, but on Puerto Rico, just like on Russia, the answer was silence. A real president doesnt run away from media questions while US citizens are dying due to a failed presidential response.

Instead of dealing with the real crisis in Puerto Rico, Trump is manufacturing one on healthcare.

The White House tried to change the subject with this executive order signing, but the first question that Trump faced was about his tweets and Puerto Rico.

As more people die by the hour in Puerto Rico, Donald Trump is running away and hiding.
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By John Irish

PARIS (Reuters)  The United States announced on Thursday it was withdrawing from UNESCO, the U.N.s cultural and educational agency, complaining about how it is run and about what Washington described as bias against Israel.

This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

The withdrawal of the United States, which provides a fifth of UNESCOs funding, is a severe blow for the Paris-based organization which began work in 1946 and is known for designating World Heritage sites such as the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and the Grand Canyon National Park.

Under UNESCO rules, the withdrawal will become effective as of the end of December 2018. Until that time, the United States, which provides around $80 million to UNESCO annually, will remain a full member.

The organization, which employs around 2,000 people worldwide, most of them based in Paris, has long been the object of criticism over its use of resources and resolutions that have been perceived by Israel and other countries as biased.

Director-General Irina Bokova expressed disappointment at the U.S. decision.

At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack, she said.

This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism.

UNESCO is in the process of selecting a new chief, whose priority will be to revive its fortunes.

The U.S. move underscores the scepticism expressed by President Donald Trump about the need for the United States to remain engaged in multi-lateral bodies. The president has touted an America First policy, which puts U.S. economic and nationalist interests ahead of international commitments.

Since Trump took office, the United States has abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks, withdrawn from the Paris climate deal and opened up a renegotiation of a decades old trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, NAFTA. Trump has also called NATO obsolete, though he has since backtracked on that.

Diplomats expressed concern about the loss of U.S. engagement.

The absence of the United States or any large country with a lot of power is a loss. Its not just about money, its promoting ideals that are vital to countries like the United States, such as education and culture, a UNESCO-based diplomat said.

For differing reasons, Britain, Japan and Brazil are among states that have yet to pay their dues for 2017.

After three days of secret balloting that could run until Friday, Qatars Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari and Frances Audrey Azoulay are tied to win the top post at the organization, with Egyptian hopeful Moushira Khattab in third. Two other candidates trail.

Voting lasts over a maximum five rounds. If the two finalists end level, they draw lots.

(Reporting by John Irish; editing by Luke Baker, Ralph Boulton and Peter Graff)
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this morning. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. High 72F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low around 55F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Peachtree City, GA, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Wencor Group, a leading provider of innovative solutions to the aerospace industry, today announced the acquisition of Fortner Engineering & Manufacturing, Inc. ("Fortner"), a certified 145 repair station specializing in hydraulic component repair and maintenance with unique Designated Engineering Representative (DER) repair capability. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"We are pleased to welcome Fortner to the Wencor team. This union aligns with our strategy to drive focused ATA chapter expansion and continues to strengthen our DER library while growing our repair offering in higher order assemblies. Dave Fortner and his team have developed a high quality, reliable, customer-focused MRO business that we will continue to support through investments in new capabilities, test equipment, and engineering talent," said Chris Curtis, Chief Executive Officer of Wencor Group. "The Fortner executive team is incredibly talented and will bolster the innovation and operational excellence within Wencor Group. We continue to look for opportunities to partner with stellar entrepreneurs to build comprehensive aftermarket component and repair solutions for our customers."

Dave Fortner, President of Fortner, commented, "We are very excited about partnering with an organization that shares our philosophy of offering exceptional quality and the highest level of customer service. Together, Wencor and Fortner will provide reliable and cost effective aftermarket parts and services, diverse component repair and alternate repair solutions for sub-components and Line Replaceable Units to the global market."

Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc. served as financial advisor and Dentons served as legal counsel to the sellers. Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP served as legal counsel to Wencor Group.

About Wencor Group, LLC Wencor Group has been a trusted partner in aerospace for over 60 years, offering PMA design and development, CMM and DER repairs, and an extensive network of distribution solutions to help make flights safer and more cost effective. We support many of the commercial airlines, repair stations and OEMs worldwide through our corporate affiliates Wencor, Soundair Aviation Services, PHS/MWA Aviation Services, Aerospace Coatings International, Accessory Technology Corporation, Xtra Aerospace, Flight Line Products and Kitco Defense. Wencor Group is headquartered in the Atlanta, Georgia area with additional offices in Utah, Miami, Seattle, Southern California, Alabama, New York, Amsterdam, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, and Istanbul. For more information about the Wencor Group, please visit www.wencorgroup.com.



About Fortner Engineering & Manufacturing, Inc.



Fortner Engineering & Manufacturing, Inc. ("Fortner"), founded in 1952, has been an industry leader in hydraulic component maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and an aftermarket services provider for the commercial and military aerospace industry. Specializing in flight-critical, difficult-to-repair hydraulic actuation, including flight controls, landing gear and thrust reverser actuation systems components. Fortner is focused on precision, reliability and efficiency, and supports many of the world's leading airlines, cargo carriers, aviation services providers, and OEMs. The company is approved to preform repairs on Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier and Embraer platforms and utilizes proprietary DER repair processes that has resulted in a long-term track record of quality and on-wing reliability. Fortner currently operates two facilities located in Glendale, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.fortnereng.com/.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b0ca5948-b1d8-4e86-91e4-044103b178b7
WASHINGTON  U.S. employers are advertising near-record levels of job openings, though the total slipped in August from July.

Job openings fell 0.9 percent in August to just under 6.1 million, the Labor Department said Wednesday, from 6.14 million in the previous month. July's figure was revised slightly lower but is still the largest number of available jobs since records began in December 2000.

Job openings have risen as the number of unemployed has fallen to the lowest in a decade. The unemployment rate, currently 4.2 percent, has hit a 16-year low. That has left businesses struggling to fill open jobs.

Even so, average wage growth has been sluggish, suggesting that companies aren't offering sufficiently healthy pay to entice workers already employed to switch jobs.

Companies also pulled back slightly on hiring, and the number of people quitting their jobs also fell a bit. Overall, the report suggests the job market was healthy but a little less active in August.

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The government reported last week that Hurricanes Harvey and Irma caused employers to shed 33,000 jobs in September. Still, the unemployment rate fell from 4.4 percent to 4.2 percent, as many Americans in parts of the country unaffected by the storms found work. The proportion of Americans with jobs rose to the highest level in a decade.

The two hurricanes are expected to dent economic growth in the July-September quarter, but most economists forecast a bounce-back in the final three months of the year. Rebuilding and repair work should boost construction hiring. And automakers are already reporting higher sales as residents of Texas and Florida replace cars destroyed by flooding.

Job openings rose in August in construction, retail and health care. They fell in manufacturing and in professional and business services, a broad category that includes accountants, engineers, and lawyers, as well as temporary workers.
RED WING  A Red Wing couple accused of spending more than $6,000 of someone else's money will make their first appearances next month in Goodhue County District Court.

Rebekah Jo-Lynn Janssen, also known as Rebekah Jo-Lynn Ekblad, 37, and Dustyn Joseph Lee Janssen, also 37, have both been charged with two counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, two counts of theft and two counts of financial transaction card fraud, all felonies.

They're due in court Nov. 3.

The investigation began in July 2016 with a report from the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center .

The victim, who is physically disabled and confined to a bed, told Red Wing police she'd lived with the Janssens until November or December of 2015; she moved out because she was afraid for her safety, the criminal complaint says.

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The woman said she'd given the couple a credit card to assist with paying her bills and buying her supplies, and told them they could also use the card for personal emergencies.

She never saw the card or reviewed the statements during the time she lived there, but said she trusted the two, and "was never concerned about how the card was being used," court documents say.

That changed when the victim received a court subpoena in the mail from the credit card company, claiming she owed about $6,100.

When she confronted Rebekah Janssen about the money and other issues, Janssen allegedly said, "Do I need to remind you, (expletive), that I have guns in the house?"

The victim was "extremely frightened" and moved out of the residence, the complaint says.

She told authorities the Janssens were taking advantage of her and are refusing to pay the credit card balance. The woman said she had text messages from Rebekah Janssen, asking the woman to "just take the fall for the money," because the victim wouldn't have to go to jail, the reports say.

Rebekah Janssen allegedly admitted she'd abused the card; the couple used it to buy many miscellaneous items, she said, as well as for emergencies as directed.

They also purchased gas, food and paid their bills with it; Janssen said she spent about $4,000 with the card, the court documents say  about $2,000 of which was for non-emergencies, without the victim's permission.

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Janssen said she'd been paying the woman about $100 per month to pay off the card, but Dustyn Janssen had lost his job in December 2015, so she could no longer make any payments.

Rebekah Janssen told the officer she had a new job, though, and was planning to pay off the debt she owes, the report says.

On Oct. 6, 2016, the woman called police to report text messages she'd allegedly received from Dustyn Janssen.

In them, he asked the victim why she'd told police she felt threatened, writing, "I know you know she never would hurt you physically like it was made to seem."

In addition, Janssen admitted to making "most of the purchases that weren't emergencies. ... I took (the card) out of (Rebekah Janssen's) purse all the time," the complaint says.

Though the victim had authorized only $400 be used on the credit card, the charges, late fees and interest from February 2015 through April 2016 reportedly totaled $6,116.70.
AUSTIN  An area man has been criminally charged after authorities say he sexually assaulted a girl for more than four years  including before and after he went to prison.

A warrant was issued Aug. 30 for Andres Barrera Jr., also known as Andres Subia Barrera Jr. and Andy Barrera.

He made his first appearance Monday in Mower County District Court, where he faces eight felony counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Barrera, 42, remains in custody in lieu of $100,000 conditional bail and is due back in court Oct. 23.

The investigation began in August, when the victim and her mother reported the assaults to Austin police, the complaint says.

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It began in 2014 with Barrera putting his hands under the girl's clothing multiple times before he went to prison in 2015, court documents say.

He was released later that same year, and the assaults continued until a few days before, when the victim told her mother and they went to police, the document continues.

Barrera allegedly penetrated the girl digitally and orally; she tried to push him away, but he would "hold her down while performing the sex acts," the report says.

The assaults happened only when the victim's mother was gone, the complaint says, and Barrera told the girl "bad things were going to happen" if she told her mom.

The child disclosed the alleged assaults to a male friend a year earlier, and to a female friend the week before; the girlfriend convinced the victim to tell her mother, the documents say.

Her mother confronted Barrera with the allegation; he said the girl was lying.

The 2015 prison term stemmed from a 2013 case that saw Barrera convicted of felony domestic assault by strangulation. Two counts of felony criminal sexual conduct were dismissed as part of a plea agreement in the case.
HOUSTON  A Houston man who attempted to flee law enforcement was captured and arrested Tuesday night after an eight-hour pursuit.

The incident began around 10 a.m. Tuesday, when an investigator from the Houston County Sheriff's Office tried to make contact with Dennis Sharpe, 24, regarding outstanding warrants in Houston County, for driving after revocation, and La Crosse County, in Wisconsin, for a felony controlled substance crime.

Sharpe fled in a black pickup truck, according to the sheriff's office, driving on gravel roads in an attempt to lose the investigator before running into a ditch and coming to a stop in a cornfield near the intersection of Perkins Valley Drive and Christianson Hill Road in Money Creek Township.

Deputies, along with officers from the Houston Police Department, La Crescent Police Department, Rushford Police Department and the Minnesota State Patrol, set up a perimeter around the area and conducted a search for Sharpe.

Authorities searched the area for almost three hours, but were unable to locate Sharpe. A code red alert was sent to residents in the area nearby.

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Around 5:58 p.m., the Houston County Sheriff's Office received information of a male suspect who matched the description of Sharpe, trying to hitchhike on Perkins Valley Drive. A deputy and police officer responded to the area, found Sharpe and took him into custody. He was transported to the Houston County Jail.

Sharpe faces multiple pending charges from the incident.
Providing Investor Relations, Public Relations, Corporate Communications and Capital Markets Advisory Services to Greater Boston and Cambridge Life Sciences Companies



NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LifeSci Advisors, an investor relations and corporate communications firm focused on the life sciences sector (LifeSci), today announces the opening of an office in Boston, enhancing its presence in the Greater Boston and Cambridge communities. The office will be managed by Hans Vitzthum, managing director with LifeSci Advisors.

Massachusetts has long been a hub for groundbreaking biotech research and drug development in the life sciences industry, so it was a natural decision to expand our local presence to the Boston area, said Michael Rice, President and co-founder of LifeSci Advisors. Our Boston-based team has long-standing relationships within the local investment and life sciences communities and looks forward to more efficiently delivering our extensive service offering to the Greater Boston and Cambridge biotech and pharma communities.

In addition to its Boston location, LifeSci has a physical presence in New York, where the firm is headquartered, Chicago, Philadelphia, London, Geneva and Tel Aviv. The firms capabilities include global corporate access through non-deal roadshows and targeted investor and KOL events, corporate communications, and corporate governance consulting. Through its affiliates, LifeSci also provides its clients capital markets solutions, equity research coverage, and public relations services.

Vitzthum has more than 25 years experience in institutional sales and healthcare research product management at Leerink Partners, Cowen & Co., and Lazard Capital Markets. He spent 12 years running the morning research call at two investment banks and has served as the Deal Captain on more than 100 healthcare IPOs and secondary offerings. Vitzthum has worked in healthcare research product management for the past 15 years and has developed extensive and long-standing relationships within the institutional investment community. He has an Applied Baccalaureate from Columbia College.

LifeSci Advisors, LLC (www.lifesciadvisors.com) is the largest investor relations consultancy in the life sciences industry, founded to provide companies with a multi-faceted approach to investor communications and outreach. With a global focus and reach, the firm provides the highest quality service for its clients through its deep sector specialization. LifeScis team of MDs and PhDs enables the firm to better understand clients' R&D, regulatory and commercial strategies, and its team of financial services, investor relations and public relations specialists helps clients effectively communicate to the marketplace. This combination of life sciences, financial services, and investor relations competencies allows LifeSci Advisors to provide an invaluable and unique service offering to clients.

LifeSci Partners (www.lifescipartners.com) is the leading provider of consulting services in the areas of investor relations, public relations, corporate communications and capital markets advisory. Combining deep domain expertise in the life sciences with decades of experience in capital markets and public relations, LifeSci Partners delivers unparalleled services to life sciences companies globally.

For further information, please contact:

Michael Rice

LifeSci Advisors

646-597-6979

mrice@lifesciadvisors.com




First District DFL candidate Dan Feehan has raised more than $250,000 since entering the race in July, according to his campaign.

In a news release, Feehan's campaign said that fundraising haul means the Iraq War veteran has raised more than any other non-incumbent ever to run in the first district in their first quarter.

"This fundraising success ensures that we will have the resources to communicate and run a winning campaign. People in the first district are responding to our campaign's message of moving beyond politics and showing that in Southern Minnesota, we all do our part in service to keep our communities strong," Feehan said in a statement.

Feehan is the first candidate in the race to release third quarter fundraising totals. Reports are due to the Federal Election Commission by Oct. 15.

Feehan is one of eight Democrats running for the seat. The other candidates are Rochester web developer Johnny Akzam, former Owatonna state Sen. Vicki Jensen, Albert Lea businessman Colin Minehart, Rochester activist Regina Mustafa, Winona retired professor Bob Ries, Mankato attorney Joe Sullivan and Rochester attorney Rich Wright.

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Two Republicans are running for the seat  Blue Earth Republican Jim Hagedorn and Rochester state Sen. Carla Nelson. Hagedorn has so far led in the fundraising race. As of June 30, he had raised more than $300,000.
Yesterday we covered the fate of the blue slip used by home state Senators to block judicial nominees. We heard from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell via Fred Barnes and from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley via Taylor Foy.

Whats happening here isnt exactly clear, but Senator Grassleys reference to disregarding withheld blue slips on a case by case basis involving abuse of the practice  can in my view have no one other than Minnesotas own Al Franken in mind. Franken is withholding his blue slip to block the Senates consideration of Justice David Stras as a nominee to the Eighth Circuit. On the basis of nothing he can point to in Justice Strass scholarly or judicial record, Franken seeks to kill the Stras nomination.

Jennifer Brooks covers the Franken factor in her Star Tribune story Franken digs in against GOP against rule for nominating judges. Brooks notes the statement of Grassley spokesman Taylor Foy to Politico and the Washington Post (alluding to Franken, in my view) that he will not allow the blue slip custom to be abused.

According to Brooks, Franken is pushing back against McConnells statement to Fred Barnes yesterday. How is Franken pushing back against Senator McConnells declaration to Fred Barnes? He issued a statement, quoted by Brooks together with her own recitation of history in support of Frankens statement. Amy Klobuchar makes a cameo appearance coming down forcefully on each of three or four sides of the issues raised here.

There are two serious problems with Brookss story. They suggest why the Star Tribune is not a trusted news source for readers across the political spectrum.

On the one hand, Brooks states of Justice Stras: His own views are staunchly conservative. We dont know that and Brooks cites nothing in Justice Strass scholarly or judicial record to support it. That is pathetic.

On the other hand, Brooks quotes without comment Frankens statement: I strongly urge Chairman Grassley to defend the Senates constitutional prerogatives and continue honoring the blue slip process. Of course, the Senates constitutional prerogative is not involved here. The blue slip process is not a law. It is not a rule. It is not even a simple custom per se. It is nothing more than a custom recognized in varying forms by the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Congressional Research Service compiled a good account of it by Barry J. McMillion that was published earlier this month. The CRS account is posted online here. Drawing on the relevant history, last month Ed Whelan called for restor[ation] of the Kennedy-Hatch-Biden blip slip policy in the case of Justice Stras. Franken and Brooks to the contrary notwithstanding, thats another way to put it.

In Minnesota we are in the middle of a big story with national implications. Thats why Fred Barnes, the Washington Post and Politico were on it yesterday. Here is a radical thought. When covering the story, it would be a good thing if the Star Tribune were to become an honest broker of the news rather than an advocate of one of the parties to the contest.
We have noted the reluctance of major Democrats to speak out against Harvey Weinstein, the serial sexual harasser and alleged rapist. As John wrote:

Hillary Clinton, whom Weinstein supported heavily, remained silent until today [Tuesday, October 10], when she claimed to be appalled by the revelations that have come out about Weinstein. About which, of course, she had no idea until now. Barack Obama maintained his silence even longer, but just two hours ago, the Obamas finally put out a typically self-righteous statement denouncing their former friend Weinstein.

What about the nations leading civil rights groups  e.g., the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the National Womens Law Center, and the Southern Poverty Law Center? Have they joined Mrs. Clinton and the Obamas in condemning, however belatedly, Weinsteins longstanding and egregious denial of civil rights to the women of Hollywood?

Not as far as Ive been able to discern (though Id be happy to stand corrected).

While turning a blind eye to blatant and nauseating sex discrimination in the highest reaches of a major U.S. industry, these groups have vociferously denounced a number of President Trumps nominees. Examples include Amy Barrett (nominated to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals), Eric Dreiband (nominated to head the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department), and Janet Dhillon and Daniel Gade (nominated to serve as EEOC commissioners).

It is normal for these groups to take a major interest in nominees to the positions in question. But it is irresponsible of them to make unfounded accusations against such nominees.

Consider the case of Eric Dreiband (full disclosure, a friend). Various civil rights groups, including those cited above, have attacked Eric for alleged opposition to womens rights, in particular equal pay for women.

These claims are baseless. During his tenure as General Counsel of the EEOC (during the fiscal years ending 2003, 2004, and 2005), Eric personally hammered out settlements that resulted in large monetary awards for women. For example, EEOC v. Morgan Stanley produced a settlement of $54 million and significant injunctive relief for women. Other examples can be found here, here, here, and elsewhere in EEOC press releases.

In addition, cases Eric filed during his tenure resulted in large awards after he left the Commission. EEOC v. Sidley & Austin, for example, an age discrimination case against a major law firm, settled for $27.5 million. (Barack Obamas former law firm helped mediate the case) EEOC statistics show that during Erics tenure the Commission brought more cases, including ones alleging violation of the Equal Pay Act, than is its historical norm  both before and since.

Under Eric, the EEOC also participated as amicus in support of women alleging sex discrimination, including cases before the Supreme Court (in these cases the Solicitor General filed the brief). Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders is an example.

Opposition to Erics nomination is based in part on positions he took on behalf of clients after he left the EEOC. (I addressed other criticisms of Eric in this post). Obviously, though, Erics work as the top civil rights lawyer for the EEOC is far more indicative of how he will act as the top civil rights lawyer at the Justice Department.

Eric does not, of course, embrace every legal position pushed by liberal civil rights groups. But he has demonstrated the willingness and ability to enforce aggressively the laws that protect women from unequal treatment, including sexual harassment.

It would be nice if the civil rights groups that hammer Eric and other well-qualified Trump nominees would denounce Harvey Weinstein for his systematic harassment of women.
Address by the President of the Republic of Poland at the ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Council to Aid Jews Zegota:

Esteemed Honoured with the Title Righteous Among the Nations,

Families of the Honoured,

Distinguished Ministers,

Distinguished Members of the Sejm, Senators,

Your Excellency, Rabbi,

Distinguished Presidents, Chairpersons,

All Honourable Gathered Guests,

Thank you very much for your presence today in Warsaw, in the Presidential Palace, on such a momentous day, which commemorates several events.

The first of these, and definitely the most significant one from an institutional perspective, is the already mentioned 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Council to Aid Jews Zegota  the first and only institutional, state form of helping Jews who fell victim to the Holocaust in World War II. It was the first and only state form because the Council was set up precisely by the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile through its Delegation for Poland  a country obviously occupied at that time.

Having said that, one must mention two crucial female figures who initiated the establishment of that pivotal institution, or actually one should say: of that crucially important work. The work of mercy, aid, brotherhood  this being the right term to describe that activity. But also the deed of heroism. I am referring to Mrs Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Mrs Wanda Krahelska-Filipowiczowa. They were the ones who, having witnessed the Holocaust of the Jewish community living in Poland, the Holocaust of their fellow Polish citizens of Jewish descent in the ghettos, especially here in the Warsaw Ghetto, decided to establish on September 27, 1942, the Provisional Committee to Aid Jews, which on December,4 of the same year was renamed as the Council to Aid Jews Zegota. It was precisely them who initiated the idea and who turned it into practice. Two great names in Polish history, two great names in Polish-Jewish relations: the past relations, those which followed and spanned dozens of years, the last 75 years, and the contemporary ones.

Ladies and Gentlemen, what was great about the Council to Aid Jews Zegota? The great thing was that it brought together people with most diverse of views, members of vastly different groups, whose world views were often at two extremes. But there was one thing which they understood in the same way: that there could be no permission for and no indifference towards one part of our state`s community, one part of Polish citizens, their neighbours, being murdered, ruined, subjected to total annihilation.

They were the ones who said: No!. They pursued different forms of activity  from issuing documents, to organizing hiding places, to providing food and medical assistance  to ensuring, as a matter of fact, every form of day-to-day support. It was a wonderful activity which covered thousands of people of Jewish origin in the territory of Poland. Suffice it to say that Zegota issued more than 50,000 documents, fake ones of course, which enabled their holders to survive. No other organization in the whole world which was active at that time could have boasted such achievements when it comes to saving human lives as Zegota.

However, Ladies and Gentlemen, there is another element which coincides with today`s 75th anniversary. It is the 10th anniversary of the meeting with President Professor Lech Kaczynski, an excerpt of which we have just been able to see. During that meeting, for the first time ever, the President of the Republic of Poland honoured 53 Righteous Among the Nations and, by doing that, stressed so strongly the exceptional role played by thousands of Poles in that deed of brotherhood, in the deed of saving, yes one can use this term, saving of what I refer to as the Republic of Friends  the Poland which existed before World War II, with different nationalities living side by side, especially Poles and Jews. For, just as we could hear President Professor Lech Kaczynski saying in the film: the pre-war Poland was the place with the biggest number of Jews in the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen, what else is there to be said after the words of President Professor Lech Kaczynski, which we have been reminded of? They actually conveyed an exhaustive message. There is one thing I wish to highlight, both in this context and in the context of Zegota: it is very important that Zegota was an organization established by the Polish Government in exile, that it founded on the Government`s in exile Delegation for Poland. But we must always bear in mind that Zegota was made of people  hundreds, thousands of people all over the country, involved in providing assistance. And we must always remember that the Righteous Among the Nations, those who were institutionally awarded this title, those who deserve it but never received it, and a very big number of them are never going to receive it, as their identities are unknown, was a group of tens or perhaps even hundreds of thousands of Poles who, led by compassion, civic duty or Christian duty, as well as a multitude of other grounds, helped their neighbours.

I am truly delighted to be able to continue the work started by President Professor Lech Kaczynski. The work consisting in presenting those very heroes. For, as the President eloquently put it: theirs was a heroism not smaller, or even bigger perhaps, than that demonstrated through the armed struggle. Since, when a soldier or a partisan took up arms they mainly risked their own lives. And of course all those who were fighting deserve an ever-lasting glory. Eternal glory to the Fallen. May they always live in our memory.

However, the Righteous Among the Nations, the ones who kept Jews in hiding, those who helped their Jewish fellow citizens, risked not only their own lives, but under the law of German occupiers, they also put at risk lives of all of their family members. Hence, both the risk and the responsibility were much more serious. And this is the main reason why all the Righteous deserve utmost respect. I bow especially to all those honoured today as well as to their loved ones, also those deceased. But equal respect should be accorded to all those, also the unknown ones, who participated, back then, in that great work of aid, brotherhood and mercy and, as I said, tried to preserve the great ethos of the Republic of Friends.

Poles cooperated with Jews, as also Jewish organizations joined in the activities of Zegota  for instance through cooperation with Jewish Bund. That was a real activity. But it also entailed financial contributions indispensable to ensure efficiency. It also included support from the clergy in Poland. The unforgettable Irena Sendlerowa helped children. Furthermore, children also found hiding in Polish monasteries and Polish orphanages. Polish priests issued birth certificates to children in order to give them false identities which would help them to survive, so that Polish families could keep them in their homes and increase their chances of survival. This great work involved a number of people whom we are remembering today and whom I, as President of the Republic of Poland, following President Lech Kaczynski, salute in the name of the Republic of Poland.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish that we would always remember them. Today, an outstanding Polish symbol of the above-mentioned brotherhood, mercy and the exceptional dedication and devotion is the Ulma Family. The Museum of Poles saving Jews in World War II, opened in Markowa 2 years ago, was named after that very family. We inaugurated the said museum on March, 17. I wish that we, as Poles, would always remember those people, that day and those events and present them to the world. For today, in the era when history tends to be shaped in many different ways, when frequently its true picture is distorted, it is important that we clearly say who was the perpetrator, and who was the hero, who showed mercy and who was a bastard deserving to be condemned.

Therefore, I wish that every year on March, 17 we celebrate the National Remembrance Day of Poles Saving Jews in World War II. This needs to be adopted by the Polish Parliament, by the Sejm and the Senate. Therefore I have prepared a draft law to that effect which will be submitted, as soon as practicable, in the next few hours, to the Sejm, and I hope that it will be adopted without further due.

Ladies and Gentlemen, once again, I wish to cordially thank you for attending today`s ceremony. My gratitude goes to the Righteous Among the Nations, to all of you Ladies and Gentlemen, and to your loved ones. I wish to express my gratitude to His Excellency, the Rabbi, to Ministers, to all Distinguished Guests. Thank you in my name, as President of Poland, and thank you also on behalf of the Republic of Poland for being here together to commemorate these significant events and to call things by their proper name.

Thank you very much.

Professor Shevah Weiss speaks on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Council to Aid Jews Zegota:
Anaheim, CA, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LiveWire Ergogenics, Inc. (OTC PINK: LVVV), a company focused on research partnerships, product development and commercialization of cannabinoid-based products, today announced that it has further expanded its activities in the multi-billion dollar medical marijuana industry following an acquisition of a 3,000 square-foot, fully equipped Greenhouse.



The purchase of this state of the art, fully climate-controlled Greenhouse is an important asset and a key element of our business strategy to capture significant market share in this rapidly expanding industry. It provides an important operational synergy with our current team of horticulturists and geneticists, as previously announced, stated Bill Hodson, CEO of LiveWire Ergogenics. The company is confident of a profitable operation based on the growing demand and increasingly favorable legal environment for cannabis in California and our proximity to cannabis-friendly Southern California regions.

This first LiveWire Greenhouse will provide our horticulture experts a turnkey nursery facility to produce high quality, pesticide-free and clean genetic clones. The nursery is designed to produce over 75,000 medicinal-strain clones per month that will generate significant revenue for the operation. LiveWire will provide crucial management and consulting services to the operation, as well as oversee the track and trace program, concluded Hodson.

LiveWires strategy includes acquiring and leasing turnkey properties, selling location specific compliance packages and offering financing solutions for select candidates in the cannabis industry. The LiveWire management team will guide our experts into a legal, profitable and sustainable business by crafting business plans, design revenue models and provide compliance notifications. LiveWire does not grow, harvest or distribute marijuana that violates any local, state or federal laws.

About LiveWire Ergogenics, Inc.

LiveWire Ergogenics, Inc. (LVVV) is focused on identifying and monetizing current and future trends in the health and wellness industry. The Company is focused on establishing research partnerships to explore the application of cannabinoid-based products to target specific ailments or conditions with a large sufferer population for human and veterinarian applications. This includes the cloning of cannabis strains to produce positive medicinal results, dosing verification of zero pesticide products for quality brands and development and licensing of high-quality cannabinoid based products and services. The team at LiveWire Ergogenics has a passion for research and is committed to generate and implement innovative ideas and produce high-quality products that satisfy an increasing demand in this fast-growing industry.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, financial projections, statements regarding the plans and objectives of management for future operations, the development, regulatory approvals and commercialization of the Companys products, or any of the Companys other proposed products, systems or services.

Such forward-looking statements are not meant to predict or guarantee actual results, performance, events or circumstances and actual events may differ considerably. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from any projections may include, without limitation, the Companys inability to obtain additional financing, delays in the development of its products, the impact of significant government regulation in the cannabis industry, existing or increased competition, results of arbitration and litigation, stock volatility and illiquidity, and the Companys failure to implement the Companys business plans or strategies. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect any event or circumstance that may arise after the date of this release.
TORONTO, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teranga Gold Corporation ("Teranga" or the "Company") (TSX:TGZ) announced today that it will release its third quarter 2017 financial and operating results on Thursday, November 2, 2017 at approximately 6:00 a.m. ET. Management will review the Companys results and discuss the quarters highlights during a conference call and audio webcast later that morning at 8:30 a.m. ET.



The conference call and audio webcast can be accessed as follows: Date & Time: Thursday, November 2, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. ET Telephone: (647) 788-4919 (local or international) (877) 291-4570 (toll-free) Please allow 10 minutes to be connected to the conference call Webcast: www.terangagold.com/q32017 Replay: The conference call replay will be available for two weeks after the call by dialing: (416) 621-4642 or toll-free at (800) 585-8367 and entering the conference ID 83891790. Note: The slide presentation will be available for download at www.terangagold.com for simultaneous viewing during the conference call

About Teranga



Teranga is a multi-jurisdictional West African gold company focused on production and development as well as the exploration of more than 5,000 km2 of land located on prospective gold belts. Since its initial public offering in 2010, Teranga has produced more than 1.2 million ounces of gold from its operations in Senegal, which as of June 30, 2017 had a reserve base of 2.7 million ounces of gold. Focused on diversification and growth, the Company is advancing its Banfora development project and conducting extensive exploration programs in three countries: Burkina Faso, Senegal and Cote dIvoire. Teranga has a strong balance sheet and the financial flexibility to grow its business.

Steadfast in its commitment to set the benchmark for responsible mining, Teranga operates in accordance with the highest international standards and aims to act as a catalyst for sustainable economic, environmental, and community development as it strives to create value for all of its stakeholders. Teranga is a member of the United Nations Global Compact and a leading member of the multi-stakeholder group responsible for the submission of the first Senegalese Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative revenue report. The Company's 2016 responsibility report is available at www.terangagold.com/responsibilityreport and is prepared in accordance with its commitments under the United Nations Global Compact and in alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines.

Contact Information

Trish Moran

Head of Investor Relations

T: +1-416-607-4507 | E: tmoran@terangagold.com




ATLANTIC CITY  Another part of the Boardwalk reconstruction is expected to be unveiled this week.

The second phase of the project connects the missing section from Madison to Melrose avenues, near Oscar E. McClinton Junior Waterfront Park.

The section now has a rock seawall and a steel bulkhead running parallel to it. This is part of the $50 million project thats working to extend the Boardwalk to Gardners Basin.

Its continuous now, Mayor Don Guardian said Friday. Its really the first new-style boardwalk were seeing.

When the water splashes against the rocks, the bulkhead will be protected as well as the areas around it during storms, he said.

In June, city officials reopened the Boardwalk section from Rhode Island to Oriental avenues, funded by a grant of about $5 million from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

The project included handrails and LED lights, as well as new wooden seating and access ramps to the beach.

A project to connect the Boardwalk all the way toward Gardners Basin is still underway, and is scheduled to be completed next year.

City officials expect the section to officially open Thursday afternoon with a ceremony.
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP  The Atlantic County Economic Alliance is quickly trying to gain the trust of the local business community to become a one-stop resource for businesses looking to move into or expand in the county.

At a luncheon with investors Wednesday in Egg Harbor Township, ACEA Executive Director Lauren Moore said some of the organizations top accomplishments so far were the groundbreaking of the Stockton Aviation Research and Technology Park in the spring and their retention efforts to keep businesses from leaving the county.

Now, they are looking to expand their reach.

The ACEA was formed in response to the Atlantic County Economic Development and Action Plan Report authored by Angelou Economics that laid out a comprehensive review of the countys economy and said it needs to move away from just tourism and gaming to sustain it.

The alliance is a public/private partnership, one of the few organizations of its kind in the state. In his four months on the job as executive director, Moore said he has been all over the county talking to businesses as well as working to establish an aviation industry around the Atlantic City International Airport.

Aviation was one of the top target industries laid out in the Angelou report. Earlier this month, the county announced plans to form an aviation maintenance institute at the airport that will train students to fix planes for major airline companies.

The airport has one of the largest runways in the country, and county officials have long said the airport is underused.

The alliance has also said it wants to help towns that have part-time mayors. Trying to run a town while also working on economic development can be a tough task, it says.

One of the things we want to focus on is continuing to push out the awareness of our organization, Moore said. We want everyone to know that were a one-stop shop for all their business needs.
ATLANTIC CITY  Mayor Don Guardian officially opened the completed second phase of the Boardwalk reconstruction during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday.

The phase connects Madison to Melrose avenues, a one-block span that fronts Oscar E. McClinton Jr. Waterfront Park along the Absecon Inlet. The project, which cost $4.1 million, includes a rock seawall and steel bulkhead built parallel to the Boardwalk.

The rock jetty will protect the Boardwalk (from storms) for another generation, Guardian said. We need to make sure we are building for resiliency.

The work is part of a $50 million project that will extend the Boardwalk from Ventnor to Gardners Basin, a job that has been in the planning phase for 24 years, Guardian said.

This is a project that has been talked about for decades, the mayor said. With the cooperation of the federal, state and city agencies, it is quickly becoming a reality.

The second phase was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state Department of Community Affairs and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who worked on the seawall for 18 months.

Army Corps Philadelphia District Lt. Col. Kristen Dahle said there are 7,200 stones along the wall, each weighing between three and 13 tons.

If you were to stack these stones up, theyd reach higher than Mount Everest, approximately 32,000 feet, Dahle said.

The first phase was unveiled in June, when city officials reopened the section from Rhode Island to Oriental avenues.

That project, funded by a $5 million New Jersey Economic Development Authority grant, included handrails, LED lights, new wooden seating and access ramps to the beach.

The third phase is expected to be completed by next summer and will connect the three-block stretch between Oriental Avenue and Grammercy Place.

Under the control of the state Department of Environmental Protection, this development will include a seawall and bulkhead as well as a waterfront walkway connecting Caspian Avenue to Gardners Basin.
MAYS LANDING  A Bridgeton man pleaded guilty Wednesday to human trafficking for sex with an adult victim, according to Atlantic County First Assistant Prosecutor Cary Shill.

Marcus E. Tukes, 47, of Industrial Boulevard, acknowledged he provided lodging to one of the victims with the knowledge and purpose of promoting the victims prostitution, Shill said.

Tukes requested bail pending sentence, which was denied by Judge Jeffrey Waldman, Shill said.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 17. Tukes will receive a 10-year sentence in a New Jersey state prison, per the plea agreement, Shill said.

In March, an Atlantic County grand jury indicted Tukes on charges of human trafficking, endangering the welfare of a child and possession of a controlled substance, cocaine, Shill said.

An investigation by the FBIs Child Exploitation Task Force resulted in the arrests of Tukes and Courtney H. Close, 31, of MacDonald Place, Brigantine, on Dec. 2, 2016, Shill said.

Both suspects were originally charged with promoting the prostitution of a child under age 18, endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy, Shill said.

The arrest was made without incident at the Knights Inn of Absecon.

The focus of the investigation was the exploitation of a girl under age 18 for the purpose of promoting prostitution, Shill said.

The Child Exploitation Task Force located and ensured the protection of the female juvenile victim before the arrests of Tukes and Close, Shill said.
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ATLANTIC CITY  The city Fire Department rescued three men and a dog early Thursday after their sailboat was blown off course and couldnt dock at Farley Marina.

Lawrence Larry Beierle, 58, and crew  a 75-year-old doctor, a 65-year-old-man and a 4-year-old golden retriever named Benny  were sailing a 32-foot sailboat called Peaceful Warrior from Long Island, New York, to Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday, fire Chief Scott Evans said.

The crew was attempting to dock their boat for an overnight stay at Frank S. Farley State Marina about 10 p.m., Beierle said.

We knew the wind and the water were starting to kick up, he said.

The crew werent headed in the right direction, so they turned around to try to get into the marina. As they did, they came close to a jetty, hit a rock and became stuck in low water, Beierle said.

When the crew was not able to reach Sea Tow, they called the U.S. Coast Guard, who could not reach them due to the shallow water, Evans said.

About 12:30 a.m. Thursday, the fire department reached the boat at New Hampshire Avenue, Beierle said.

I had to keep the balance of the boat to keep the safety of the crew, he said.

Beierle said he met the other two men at a sailing club. They werent as experienced as he thought they were, he said. They were doing things that could have put their lives in danger, like attempting to urinate off the side of the boat, he said.

Four Atlantic City rescue swimmers brought a rope to the crew and brought them and Benny back to shore safely, Evans said.

Beierle praised the Atlantic City Fire Department multiple times to The Press of Atlantic City.

The firemen were the real people that went out and did what they had to do, he said.

The fire department set the sailboats anchor, which appeared to break overnight because Beierle found his boat washed ashore at New Hampshire and the beach Thursday morning.

He walked the boat out into the water as far as he could to reset the anchor. A nearby surfer helped him.

They were really, really nice. They gave me a towel. They went home and got an anchor. They offered me food, Beierle said of the surfer and the surfers wife.

The boat cannot return safely to the water until the Coast Guard inspects it for damage, he said.

Beierles ultimate destination was Folly Beach, South Carolina. The other two men wanted to sail to Virginia; from there, Beierle and Benny, a super dog who travels with me as K-9 support, would have made the rest of the trip solo. Benny was named after the song Bennie and the Jets, Beierle said.

Beierle, a contractor, said he is an experienced sailor who has made the trip to South Carolina multiple times.

Whether the boat is damaged or not, Im still going down by car or plane, he said.
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP  Candidates for state Assembly and Senate in the 2nd Legislative District squared off in their first official debate of the election Wednesday night.

The forum, held at the Village Grande, featured Republican candidates Chris Brown, Brenda Taube and Vince Sera and Democrats Colin Bell, Vince Mazzeo and John Armato. Brown and Bell are running for Senate, the others for two Assembly seats.

The debate followed differences along party lines when it came to school funding, property-tax relief and tax rates for millionaires in the state.

But all six candidates said they would support legislation asking that Atlantic County receive 13.5 percent of the payments in lieu of property taxes from Atlantic City casinos. The proposal would give the county an extra $40 million over 10 years from the casinos and could help eliminate tax increases for country residents.

The pledge to support such legislation was surprising because Mazzeo sponsored the PILOT bill in the state Legislature without the percentage. Brown and the late-Sen. Jim Whelan also both voted for the bill.

Bell, who is filling Whelans Senate seat, opposed giving the county the 13.5 percent during his time as county freeholder.

The fight over the share of the PILOT money has been a major issue for the county since the Legislature passed two bills that allowed the state to take over Atlantic City and took the casinos off the tax rolls.

The county wanted a 13.5 percent piece of the PILOT pie, which reflected the countys historic share of casino property taxes. But Atlantic City officials said the county should get just 10.4 percent, which is in line with what the county has received recently.

Ultimately, the state made the decision to give the county 10.4 percent.

The county is still receiving about $500,000 more from casinos under the PILOT program this year than it did from the same properties last year, according to previous reports. But the extra money wasnt enough to avoid tax increases.

Before the PILOT legislation was passed, Gov. Chris Christie promised Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson the county would receive the 13.5 percent share.

But the percentage was not in the final PILOT legislation, and the fight over the money rankled the relationship between Christie, Levinson and Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, all of whom are Republicans. Guardians relationship with Christie crumbled when he would not support the governors state takeover plan.

Christie has said the county didnt receive the share because the county did not step up to the plate and help Atlantic City with shared services.

Brown has consistently said he fought in Trenton to get the 13.5 percent in the legislation but voted yes on the bill without it because it was the best deal he could get after months of negotiating. The original PILOT was supposed to last for 15 years instead of 10, a change Brown said he successfully negotiated, among other revisions.

Mazzeo, meanwhile, has maintained the percentage issue is something city and county had to work out. But with the state controlling the citys finances, the state would have to sign off on giving the county its desired percentage.

Id be more than happy to sponsor that legislation, Mazzeo said. But shouldnt we have cooperation from the Republican county executive, Republican mayor and Republican governor, who all dont speak to each other? Thats where the issue is.

Brown has called for the county to get the 13.5 percent since before the bill was passed. He said he is happy to hear Mazzeo and Bell are now on his side.

Im glad they finally see it my way, he said. But its election season, and nothing really surprises me.
TURBO, Colombia, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Inca Worldwide (OTC-Pink:QEDN) announces: the it has been invited to be part of a series of radio broadcast shows for the Coast Guard Radio Station in Turbo. This radio shows will help us to create a market in Colombia for our products and to motivate more farmers to grow Sacha Inchi. Radio is a very effective way of promoting our projects and to promote our Sacha Inchi snacks and Sacha Inchi protein. The local market is very important and we believe this is an effective way to communicate our message.



Green Mine Solutions (GMS) started working with the Army to eradicate Coca Leaves and plant Sacha Inchi. Our plan is to work with the army and farmers to replace Coca leaves with Sacha Inchi. The army will provide protection and the labor to remove Coca leaves and start planting Sacha Inchi. This is a very big reduction of cost because the military labor doesnt have any cost to us.The army will also provide protection in areas that have been under control of FARC and other groups many of these areas have a great mining potential that have not been explore because of security. Now we can start to explore other mining opportunities.

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.co

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.




FORM 8.3

PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY

A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE

Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")

1. KEY INFORMATION

(a) Full name of discloser: OCTOPUS INVESTMENTS LIMITED (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):

The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:

Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree Clinigen Group plc (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: (e) Date position held/dealing undertaken:

For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 11/10/2017 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?

If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" NO

2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

Class of relevant security:







Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 5,137,883







4.45 (2) Cash-settled derivatives:



(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:



TOTAL: 5,137,883 4.45





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



0.1p Ordinary Sale



40 11.605





(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. CFD Nature of dealing

e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit





(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type

e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit

(ii) Exercise

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit





(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

Class of relevant security Nature of dealing

e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable)





4. OTHER INFORMATION

(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:

Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"



None





(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:

(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or

(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:

If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"



None





(c) Attachments

Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO

Date of disclosure: 12/10/2017 Contact name: Jessica Sweeney Telephone number: 0207 131 3221

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.
English French

STE-THERESE, Quebec, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Friday, October 13, Canadas breakfast leader, Cora Breakfast and Lunch will proudly celebrate its third World Egg Day! On this day, every customer who visits a Cora restaurant across Canada to enjoy one of the many delicious egg dishes will be doing something special. Not only will they enjoy an amazing breakfast, but they will also be helping children across Canada.



On that special day, for every egg plate sold, the Cora Foundation will donate 25 to Breakfast Club of Canada to further enable them to provide nutritious breakfasts to schoolchildren across Canada.

The Cora Foundations mission is to aid children in need. The Foundation supports and works in collaboration with non-profit organizations trying to improve the quality of life for Canadian children. The Foundation is financed through fundraising events as well as through special events created by employees and the owners of our more than 130 franchised restaurants across Canada. For the last few years, the Foundation has worked very closely with Breakfast Club of Canada to help provide support and food to children across the country.

With over 130 locations across Canada, Cora is now the largest sit-down breakfast operation in Canada. Cora Breakfast and Lunch offers its guests quality food and service in a warm family atmosphere Monday to Saturday, from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and on Sunday, from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

For more information:
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Fineqia International Inc. (the "Company" or "Fineqia") (CSE: FNQ) (OTCPink: FNQQF) (Frankfurt: FNQA) is pleased to announce the launch of its first offering, The Field LLC ("The Field") via Fineqia Limited, its UK subsidiary.

Fineqia has provided an online platform and associated services for the placement of debt and equity securities, initially in the UK. The offering will allow eligible investors the opportunity to subscribe to this exciting opportunity through Fineqia's online platform for a limited time.

The Field is an action-drama and independent picture set in New Delhi, India. It centers on a mafia family at war with each other and an undercover officer assisting in their downfall. With its dark criminal undertones, the movie can be likened to cult classics such as Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and City of God (2011).

The Field stars Hollywood actor Brendan Fraser, whose movies have grossed over USD$1 Billion in revenue[1] worldwide and include hits like George of the Jungle and the Mummy trilogy. The Field will also feature some of India's most renowned actors including Abhay Deol, Ronit Roy and Prem Chopra.

The Director of The Field, Rohit Batra, said: "We are very excited to partner up with Fineqia on the film financing side of the raise. Participation is traditionally privy to only Hollywood investors, or those close to the industry, so we're excited to partner up with Fineqia Limited's base of eligible investors and build a long term relationship with the principals."

Eligible investors can find further details of the offering on the platform at http://www.fineqia.com.

About Fineqia Limited

Fineqia provides a platform and associated services to support security issuances and manage administration of equity and debt securities such as minibonds and crowdbonds. It acts as a broker bringing an issuing company's minibonds to market, by distributing and marketing minibonds to the crowd, as well as transparently highlighting the risks and objectively outlining opportunities involved. For more information visit http://www.fineqia.com.

Sources:

[1] http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people//chart/?view=Actor&id=brendanfraser.htm

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATORY SERVICE PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

Residents of Canadian jurisdictions are not able to subscribe for equity or debt securities on the Fineqia platform unless and until Fineqia has become registered in the Canadian jurisdiction as a dealer under applicable securities laws. Investors resident in other jurisdictions outside of the European Union may also be restricted from participating in offerings on the Fineqia platform. We will allow for participation of investors resident outside of the European Union when Fineqia has received the requisite regulatory approvals.

RISK WARNING

Investing in start-ups and early stage businesses involves risks, including illiquidity, lack of dividends, loss of investment and dilution, and it should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. Fineqia Ltd is targeted exclusively at investors who are sufficiently sophisticated to understand these risks and make their own investment decisions. You will only be able to invest via Fineqia Ltd once you are registered as sufficiently sophisticated. This page is communicated by Fineqia Ltd and has been approved as a financial promotion by Kession Capital Ltd. Fineqia Ltd, is an appointed representative of Kession Capital Ltd who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Investment are not offers of guaranteed returns and investments can only be made by members via Fineqia Ltd on the basis of information provided in the pitches by the companies concerned. Fineqia Ltd takes no responsibility for this information or for any recommendations or opinions made by the companies. Your capital is at risk.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information (as defined under applicable Canadian securities laws) ("forward-looking statements"). All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that Fineqia (the "Company") believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, the failure to obtain sufficient financing, and other risks disclosed in the Company's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made except as may be required by applicable securities laws. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement except to the extent required by applicable securities laws.

Fineqia Limited (FRN: 757772) is an appointed representative of Kession Capital Limited (FRN: 582160), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.

Ben Goldsmith, Goldsmith Communications Ltd, +44(0)7788295321, ben@goldsmithcomms.com, W: http://www.fineqia.com; For more information about Fineqia please contact bundeep.rangar@fineqia.com ; Tel: +44-203-500-3462.

SOURCE Fineqia International Inc.
(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582566/Volkert_Engelsman.jpg )



Eosta, based in the Netherlands, was founded by Engelsman in 1990. With suppliers across six continents and customers in Europe, the US and the Far East, it's now a leading European specialist in organic produce.

Since 2016, Engelsman has been active in promoting True Cost Accounting as a pathway to sustainability, giving speeches at congresses and think-tank events worldwide. True Cost Accounting is a new form of bookkeeping that makes the true price of food visible, including environmental, social and health impacts.

The jury especially appreciated Engelsmans commitment to making True Cost practical, by bringing the numbers to store shelves in Europe, and putting hidden costs on organic apples, pears and other products.

Engelsman used his acceptance speech to call for new partnerships in the sustainable movement, especially in the finance sector. He said: "Many financial institutions are starting to realise that there is something wrong with our definition of 'profit,' if it results in the destruction of our natural habitat and makes life miserable for 90% of humanity, including our children's children. There's nothing wrong with profit, but you have to calculate it fairly."

"As a movement we need to help financial institutions such as banks, accounting firms and institutional investors to start making better choices. The main flow of capital is still being driven by an outdated profit definition, which is basically killing the planet."

New profit definition

Thanking Eosta's partners in its recent True Cost Accounting campaign, which included the FAO, WHO, NCC, Triodos Bank, EY and Soil & More, Engelsman stressed the need for a new profit definition that includes human and ecological values.

In June 2017, Eosta published a pilot study named 'True Cost Accounting for Food, Farming and Finance'. The study resulted in a practical dashboard for investors to assess impacts on financial, natural and social capital. It was presented to Peter Bakker, president of World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and in Wales to HRH Prince Charles.

Contact

Michael Wilde

+31(0)620535063

michael.wilde@eosta.com

http://WWW.NATUREANDMORE.COM



SOURCE Eosta
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sierra Leone's First Lady, Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma and Chinese Company-BEINGMATE together launched a milk powder donation project to promote the development of women's and children's health in Africa. Meantime, a ceremony was held in the Presidential Lodge witnessed by Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone Mr. Wu Peng, acting Sierra Leone Ambassador to China Mrs. Kumba Momoh, Mrs. Mariatu Kargbo the Goodwill Ambassador, and leaders from Ministry of Health, MSWGCA, MOHS, etc.

The product will offer nutrition supplement for more than 20,000 1-5 years old children and breastfeeding mothers.

First Lady Mrs. Koroma said, "my first job was working on reduction of women mortality in Africa, I know the importance of nutrition to children, so today's gift is a valuable gift. I appreciate Maria's effort in this project and her numerous contributions for the country. BEINGMATE is a leader in Chinese baby industry with high SCR consciousness, this milk powder will give more nutrition to our children. I sincerely thank BEINGMATE's great support on behalf of my husband  President Koroma, my office, the mothers and children in Sierra Leone."

Mr. Wu Peng remarked that Children are the future of human beings. BEINGMATE is one of the top Chinese brands in supplying baby product and services. The Sierra Leone government and the strong leadership of His Excellency, the President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma have made great efforts in ensuring that the people of Sierra Leone have access to adequate food. This donation reflects not only the brotherhood between the two countries but also display social responsibilities of BEINGMATE.

Mr. Frank Wang, Director of BEINGMATE International, expressed admiration for Mrs. Koroma's continuous efforts to promote women and children's health development in Africa, "BEINGMATE is a leading baby food and service provider in China. In the past 25 years, BEINGMATE has been working closely with world's well-known companies, government agencies and research institutes to develop high quality baby food. With the spirit of LOVE, BEINGMATE is very glad to cooperate with Mrs. Koroma to enhance quality of family life and inspire children in Africa to live healthier and happier."

It is known that this is the first African donation project by BEINGMATE, which is also of great significance to the development of women's and children's health in Sierra Leone. Next, BEINGMATE will launch donations in SAARC countries to continually help the global babies' nutritional supplements.

About BEINGMATE:

BEINGMATE Baby & Child Food Co., Ltd. ("BEINGMATE") established in 1992, is China's leading baby product and service provider. It's committed to continuously developing, manufacturing and engaging in scientific and safe maternal, infant and baby products and services. It established 8 milk source bases in the "Global Golden Milk Source Belt" including China, Ireland, Switzerland, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, etc. With corporate spirit of LOVE, BEINGMATE helps children to live in a healthy way and makes contribution to sustainable development of human beings.

BEINGMATE 2017:

2017.01: Selected at Harvard Business School case;

2017.06: Sign milk powder donation MOU with SAARC-CCI to help children in SAARC countries;

2017.08: BEINGMATE's products are listed "0001-0009" on the first approval formulas list announced by the Chinese FDA after the new policy;

2017.10: 39 of BEINGMATE's IMFs are approved by Chinese FDA for the new policy;

2017.10: BEINGMATE launched donation project with Sierra Leone First Lady;

So far, BEINGMATE has donated over RMB1b goods and funds to the society since its establishment.

SOURCE BEINGMATE
ICR to Use SkylineDx's MMprofiler Gene-Based Prognostic Signature in Phase IIb MUK nine High-risk Trial in Multiple Myeloma

ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands and LAGUNA HILLS, California, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SkylineDx today announced that The Institute of Cancer Research, London (ICR) and University of Leeds will use MMprofiler with SKY92, SkylineDx's prognostic tool to risk-stratify patients with multiple myeloma (MM), in a multi-centric Phase IIb high-risk trial known as MUK nine. The University of Leeds is the sponsor of this trial, which is partly funded by Myeloma UK, and ICR will perform the testing services to include high-risk patients with MM to evaluate an experimental treatment arm alongside standard treatment for these patients.

"Around 20% of myeloma patients are characterized as having high-risk myeloma, yet there is relatively little research looking at high-risk disease and treatment," said Dr. Simon Ridley, Myeloma UK Director of Research. "This trial is looking to the future  we are trying to gain more insight into which treatment combinations might work best in different groups of high risk patients. We are pleased to work with SkylineDx in our efforts to characterize the potential clinical utility of new therapeutic approaches in high-risk myeloma."

MMprofiler assesses risk by measuring the activity of 92 genes (the SKY92 gene signature) that are directly or indirectly related to the disease and that determines the level of risk for patients with multiple myeloma by classifying them into a "high" or "standard" risk group. Patients with a "high" risk classification have a poor prognosis as compared to patients with a standard risk profile, regardless of treatment.

"Investigation of new therapeutic approaches in individuals with high-risk multiple myeloma requires accurate and reliable patient identification and risk stratification," said Dharminder S. Chahal, Chief Executive Officer of SkylineDx. "The use of MMprofiler in the MUK nine trial will facilitate patient selection, and may enhance our understanding of the potential utility of these new treatment modalities in this underserved patient population."

About Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer that arises from plasma cells, a type of white blood cell made in the bone marrow. In patients with MM, the plasma cells become abnormal, multiply uncontrollably, and release only one type of antibody  known as M-protein  which has no useful function. According to the World Cancer Research Fund International, an estimated 114,000 people around the world are diagnosed with MM annually, and the disease represents 0.8% of all cancers globally.

For more information about MM, visit www.hematon.nl/myeloom (information available in Dutch only), www.themmrf.org, www.myeloma.org.uk, www.mpeurope.org, or www.myeloma.org.

About MMprofiler with SKY92

MMprofiler assesses risk by measuring the activity of 92 MM-related genes that comprise SKY92, SkylineDx's novel, prognostic gene classifier. The lead product of SkylineDx, MMprofiler is proven to be superior to the biomarkers currently used to risk-stratify newly diagnosed and relapsed multiple myeloma patients into a "high" or "standard" risk category.1 Included in a growing number of international treatment guidelines, MMprofiler is CE-IVD registered in Europe and will be coming soon as a laboratory-developed test (LDT) in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mmprofiler.com.

About SkylineDx

SkylineDx is a commercial-stage biotech company based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Originally a spin-off of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the company specializes in the development and marketing of innovative gene signature-based prognostic tests to assist healthcare professionals in making personalized treatment decisions for individual patients. These tests are designed to accurately determine the type or status of the disease or to predict a patient's response to a specific treatment. Based on the test results, healthcare professionals can tailor the treatment to the individual patient. MMprofiler with SKY92 is the company's lead product. To learn more, please visit www.skylinedx.com.

About Myeloma UK

Myeloma UK is the only organisation in the UK dealing exclusively with myeloma  our ultimate goal is to find a cure. We are dedicated to ensuring that patients get access to the right treatment at the right time, and to improving standards of treatment and care through research, education and awareness raising. Our organisation also provides a range of information and support services to patients, family and friends to help deal with a diagnosis of myeloma.

Myeloma UK receives no government funding and relies almost entirely on voluntary donations and fundraising. For more information, please visit www.myeloma.org.uk.

The Institute of Cancer Research, London, is one of the world's most influential cancer research organisations.

Scientists and clinicians at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) are working every day to make a real impact on cancer patients' lives. Through its unique partnership with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and 'bench-to-bedside' approach, the ICR is able to create and deliver results in a way that other institutions cannot. Together the two organisations are rated in the top four centres for cancer research and treatment globally.

The ICR has an outstanding record of achievement dating back more than 100 years. It provided the first convincing evidence that DNA damage is the basic cause of cancer, laying the foundation for the now universally accepted idea that cancer is a genetic disease. Today it is a world leader at identifying cancer-related genes and discovering new targeted drugs for personalised cancer treatment.

A college of the University of London, the ICR is the UK's top-ranked academic institution for research quality, and provides postgraduate higher education of international distinction. It has charitable status and relies on support from partner organisations, charities and the general public.

The ICR's mission is to make the discoveries that defeat cancer. For more information visit http://www.icr.ac.uk.

Media Inquiries for SkylineDx

Jeffrey Jones, SkylineDx

+1 949-303-8198

j.jones@skylinedx.com

Kara Golub

+1 609-456-0822

kgolub@jfkhealth.com

1 Van Beers EH, van Vliet M, de Best L, et al. SKY92 GEP, iFISH, and ISS comparisons for risk stratification in multiple myeloma. Poster p661 presented at 20th European Hematology Association Congress, Vienna, Austria, June 13, 2015.

SOURCE SkylineDx
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee (MNSBHC) announced today that they have notified the 10,000 volunteers chosen to be on Crew 52, the official volunteer force of Super Bowl LII. Those chosen to join Crew 52 will be responsible for helping welcome more than one million visitors to Minnesota during our 10-day Super Bowl festival. The All-Crew Volunteer Orientation that starts the training process will be held on November 12 at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. Volunteers will take part in a pep rally, hear volunteer expectations and learn customer service and engagement techniques.

Volunteers accepted to Crew 52 received an email today from Team Captain Chad Greenway welcoming them to the roster.

"We are so fortunate to have 10,000 of Minnesota's best ambassadors ready to join Crew 52," said Maureen Bausch, CEO of the MNSBHC. "Our Volunteer Orientation in Saint Paul will be the first time we get the Crew together as a team and channel our Super Bowl excitement into action."

Volunteers accepted to Crew 52 received an email today from Team Captain Chad Greenway welcoming them to the roster:

Crew 52 volunteers will serve at public gathering points such as airports, skyways, hotels, and MNSBHC events, to ensure visitors have the best guest experience during their time in Minnesota. Crew52 volunteers are required to go through an application process, including a background check, interview, and training sessions, before serving during the ten days of festivities leading up to big game.

Volunteers are asked to fulfill three shifts during the 10-day festival. Benefits for volunteers include a free winter-ready uniform and the opportunity to take part in a once-in-a-generation opportunity to showcase Minnesota on the world's largest stage.

Minnesotans have "stepped onto the field" in record numbers to join Crew52. More than 30,000 people applied to volunteer and 15,000 received interviews. 91 percent of Crew52 volunteer applicants are from Minnesota, hailing from more than 500 different cities across the state.

The All-Crew Volunteer Orientation will take place on Sunday, November 12 from 4-6pm. Doors will open at 2:30pm. Only Crew 52 team members may attend; media will be invited to attend the event.

A full list of frequently asked questions about Crew 52 is available on the MNSBHC website, www.mnsuperbowl.com/Crew52.

About the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee -

The Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee is a private, non-profit corporation formed to plan and execute the festivities surrounding Super Bowl LII. For more information visit www.mnsuperbowl.com and follow @mnsuperbowl2018 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

SOURCE Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee

Related Links

http://www.mnsuperbowl.com/Crew52


CHICAGO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 10th Magnitude, the leading Microsoft Azure services firm in the U.S., announced today the appointment of Claudia Del Valle as the Business Development Manager and Jonathan Fernandez as the Senior Cloud Solution Architect in its New York office.

Del Valle brings a wealth of technology experience in selling and delivering Microsoft Azure solutions. She is passionate about cloud transformation and partnering with 10th Magnitude's clients to achieve successful outcomes. Most recently, she worked in sales and IT roles at Hanu Software and Radwell International. With 10th Magnitude, she will drive new business opportunities in New York while working closely with partner Microsoft and its ecosystem of Azure partners.

Fernandez brings 20 years of technical leadership experience to 10th Magnitude. Prior to joining the company, he worked at CDI LLC where he was a Senior Cloud Solution Architect, as well as serving in technical roles at PTS Data Center Solutions, Presidio and American Arbitration Association. Fernandez's specific expertise in Azure architecture and cloud strategy allows 10th Magnitude to continue to build its presence in New York.

"We continue to experience significant client growth and momentum with our Microsoft partnership in the New York market. Claudia and Jonathan's experience is essential as we continue to enable our clients to transform their businesses using Azure as we expand our footprint in the region. The New York market is a key pillar to our overall growth strategy," said Mark Smith, Vice President of Sales at 10th Magnitude.

10th Magnitude opened its New York office in 2016 to better accommodate the needs of its growing east coast client base. 10th Magnitude continues to grow overall at a rapid pace with a two-year growth rate of 233%.

About 10th Magnitude

10th Magnitude helps businesses transform with innovative, cloud-based solutions that harness the power of Microsoft Azure. The company combines elements from multiple deep cloud competencies, as well as the most efficient and innovative technology tools and platforms to help clients become more agile, more customer-focused and more operationally efficient. A Microsoft Gold Cloud Platform Partner and the 2017 Microsoft Hybrid Cloud and Infrastructure Platform Partner of the Year, 10th Magnitude is headquartered in Chicago with offices around the U.S. and clients worldwide.

Contact

Kelly McClure

VP of Marketing

10th Magnitude

[email protected]

773.430.3830

SOURCE 10th Magnitude

Related Links

http://www.10thmagnitude.com


BOSTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The New England  Canada Business Council (NECBC) will convene its 25th Annual Energy Trade & Technology Conference hosting some of North America's leading policy leaders, public utility executives and energy technology authorities. This is the 25th annual event.

When: Wednesday, November 8, 1:00 to 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, November 9, 8:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.



Where: Seaport Hotel, Boston

Keynote Speaker:

Hon. Bardish Chagger, Canada's Minister of Small Business & Tourism, and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Conference theme:

"Energy Partners YesterdayTodayTomorrow"

The NECBC's Annual Energy Trade & Technology Conference is a major cross-border energy conference in North America, attracting over 250 industry and government leaders.

Talks will focus on opportunities and constraints in cross-border energy exchanges such as:

Planned electricity imports from Canada to New England

to New England Impact of current NAFTA review on U.S.- Canada trade relations and market investment

trade relations and market investment Clean-tech energy technologies

Challenges of meeting system reliability and environmental goals.

Details on speakers and sessions are available on the NECBC web site at: http://www.necbc.org/energy-trade

Contacts:

Jim Grasso at 781-455-0226, or [email protected]

Dick Pirozzolo at 617-959-4613, or [email protected]

SOURCE New England-Canada Business Council

Related Links

http://www.necbc.org


DALLAS, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In October of 1982, three friends in Dallas, Texas opened the first On The Border restaurant - a vibrant destination for authentic Mexican cuisine, fun with friends, and (of course) great margaritas and tequila. Fast forward to today, and the friendly neighborhood restaurant is now the world's largest Mexican casual dining brand and shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, rather than thinking of it as a 35th birthday, OTB says they're turning "30-Cinco" in the same fiesta-loving spirit that's guided them since the beginning.



"Authentic enjoyment never gets old at On The Border," said Ashley Zickefoose, Chief Marketing Officer for the brand. "We're celebrating 30-Cinco years of bringing people their favorite Mexican food and Margarita experiences made possible by a commitment to quality and genuine hospitality that has been in our restaurants from the beginning. It's going to be our best birthday yet."



In honor of the landmark anniversary, On The Border is offering a variety of specials throughout the entire month of October  with a big-time birthday bash planned in restaurants on Thursday, October 26th.

The Birthday 'Rita  available 10/1 through 10/31, The OTB Birthday 'Rita is a festive limited-time only margarita made with Altos tequila, Grand Marnier, triple sec, fresh citrus sweet & sour, and a multicolored birthday sprinkle rim.

The Birthday Fajita Bundle for Two  priced at $19.82 and available 10/16 through 10/26, this sizeable two-person meal deal features a bowl of Queso, two lunch-sized portions of Chicken Fajitas, and a full order of Sopapillas for dessert.

Birthday Drink Specials  on 10/26  On The Border offers $1.82 House Margaritas all day, along with 82-cent house tequila meltdowns that can be added to any margarita order.

"We're going to be partying all month long  and we want all our friends and fans to join in the festivities," said Zickefoose. "This is one of our biggest fiestas of the year, and you definitely don't want to miss it."

All offers are available for dine-in only at all participating locations in the continental U.S. only, while supplies last. Must be 21 or older to drink alcoholic beverages. Please drink responsibly. Fajita bundle deal is valid only on chicken fajitas  no substitutions  and is not valid on primo queso. All offers valid only on designated dates. Not valid where prohibited by law.

About On The Border

On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina is the world's largest Mexican casual dining brand, offering an extensive menu of great-tasting, classic and contemporary Mexican food, like sizzling mesquite-grilled fajitas, and Margaritas as big and bold as the border itself. On The Border is owned by Border Holdings, LLC, with 157 restaurants in 32 states, Puerto Rico and Asia. Follow and 'like' On The Border on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnTheBorderMexicanGrillandCantina, and @OnTheBorder on Twitter. For more information, visit www.ontheborder.com.

Contact: Jessica Chacoff

888.869.7899

[email protected]

SOURCE On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina

Related Links

http://www.ontheborder.com/


NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

TORONTO, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Goliath Resources Limited (formerly Bitumen Capital Inc.) (NEX: BTM.H) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that yesterday on October 11, 2017, it closed its previously announced business combination (the "Transaction") with Goliath Resources Inc. (formerly Goliath Resources Limited) ("Goliath"). The Transaction consisted of the acquisition by the Company of all of the issued and outstanding securities in the capital of Goliath by way of a three-cornered amalgamation, pursuant to which a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company amalgamated with Goliath.

As part of the Transaction, the Company changed its name from "Bitumen Capital Inc." to "Goliath Resources Limited" and consolidated its common shares (the "Consolidation") on the basis of 1.67 pre-Consolidation common shares of the Company for 1 post-Consolidation common share of the Company.

As a result of the Transaction, Goliath is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and the Company will continue the business of Goliath which is mineral exploration in British Columbia, Canada. Goliath owns an option to acquire 100% of the Lucky Strike Property, the Golddigger Property, the Copperhead Property and the Bingo Property from the J2 Syndicate (the "Optioned Properties"). All of these properties are located in the prolific Golden Triangle mining district and surrounding area in British Columbia, Canada. The J2 Syndicate ("J2S") is providing their technical experience and field team to Goliaths exploration activities. The J2S' Managing Director forms part of Goliath's technical advisors and is its exploration programme manager. The J2S team, includes members of the original team which generated, prospected and staked the Coffee Creek claims in 1998. This exploration team was responsible for discovering the gold in soil anomaly in 1999 and 2000 that now forms the nucleus of the Supremo zone. This discovery evolved into a 5 million ounce gold resource that was recently bought by Gold Corp for $520 million. This team also includes some of the original members that staked and generated the Plateau Project in the Yukon for Goldstrike Resources, which has just completed a $53M JV deal with Newmont Mining Corporation.

For additional information concerning the Company's business, please refer to the Company's Filing Statement dated September 28, 2017.

Pursuant to the Transaction, each Goliath securityholder received one post-Consolidation security in the capital of the Company for each Goliath security held, resulting in the issuance of an aggregate of 51,381,001 post-Consolidation common shares of the Company. As part of the Transaction, warrants of Goliath were replaced with common share purchase warrants of the Company, resulting in the issuance of (i) common share purchase warrants exercisable to purchase up to 15,295,000 post-Consolidation common shares of the Company at an exercise price of $0.10 per share; and (ii) post-Consolidation common shares of the Company exercisable to purchase up to 23,349,651 common shares at an exercise price of $0.15 per share.

In addition, as and when National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects mineral reserves (proven and probable categories) and mineral resources (measured and indicated categories) collectively meet 3,000,000 gold-equivalent ounces on any of the Optioned Properties, the Company has agreed to issue 10,000,000 common shares of the Company to the J2 Syndicate members upon meeting the milestone on each respective Optioned Property, to a maximum aggregate of 40,000,000 common shares, with this obligation expiring on December 15, 2023 (the "Bonus Shares").

Prior to the Transaction, the Company was a Capital Pool Company (as defined under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange")), and had not commenced commercial operations and had no assets other than cash. The Transaction constituted Company's "Qualifying Transaction", as such term is defined in Policy 2.4 of the Exchange.

In connection with the Transaction, the Company has settled an outstanding debt of $48,056.66 with two Non-Arms Length Parties through the issuance of 479,608 post-Consolidation common shares from its share capital at a price of $0.1002 per common share. Some of the aforementioned common shares to be issued in satisfaction of the indebtedness are to be held in escrow as they are to be issued to a company controlled by a Principal of the Company, whereas the other shares to be issued will be subject to a four month statutory hold period from the date of issuance.

Final acceptance of the Transaction will occur upon the issuance of a Final Exchange Bulletin by the Exchange. Upon issuance of the Final Exchange Bulletin, the Company will cease to be a Capital Pool Company and will recommence trading on the Exchange as a Tier 2 mining issuer. Trading in the common shares of the Company will begin on the Exchange after the Final Exchange Bulletin has been issued under the symbol "GOT".

Following the completion of the Transaction (on a post-acquisition basis), the Company has a total of approximately 60,213,902 post-Consolidation common shares outstanding, as well as: (i) common share purchase warrants exercisable to purchase up to 15,295,000 post-Consolidation common shares of the Company at an exercise price of $0.10 per share; and (ii) post-Consolidation common shares of the Company exercisable to purchase up to 23,349,651 common shares at an exercise price of $0.15 per share; (iii) stock options exercisable to purchase up to 670,659 common shares at an exercise price of $0.167 per share.

An aggregate of 19,897,808 common shares are subject to value escrow and an aggregate of 9,874,186 common shares and 150,000 warrants are subject to surplus escrow pursuant to Exchange escrow requirements. In addition, if the Bonus Shares are issued within thirty-six months of the date of the Final Exchange Bulletin with respect to the Transaction, such shares will be subject to the Exchange's value escrow requirements.

As a result of the closing of the Transaction, the directors and executive officers of the Company are now:

Roger Rosmus Chief Executive Officer, President and Director Graham Warren Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Secretary and Director Sam Ho Chief Operating Officer Richard Groome Non-Executive Chairman and Director Michael Dehn Director Louis Peloquin Director

Further details about the Transaction and the Company as the resulting issuer from the Transaction are available in the filing statement of the Company dated September 28, 2017 filed in respect of the Transaction which has been filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The summary of the Transaction set out herein is qualified in its entirety by reference to the description of the Transaction in the filing statement.

The Company has also entered into a service agreement dated October 11, 2017 with Terrane Geoscience Inc. ("Terrane") and Dr. Stefan Kruse ("Kruse"), pursuant to which Terrance shall provide the services of Kruse, a professional geologist with particular experience in structural geology and mineral exploration.

Dr. Kruse is a structural geologist specializing in structural controls on mineralization, from prospect to belt scale. His PhD dissertation focused on polyphase deformation and tectonic evolution in the Canadian Cordillera. Based on this work he was awarded the Governor Generals Academic Gold Medal award and GAC Structure and Tectonics division Best PhD award. Additionally, Dr. Kruse is a former lecturer and current Honorary Research Associate at the University of New Brunswick. Dr. Kruse is a registered professional geologist.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information based on current expectations. Statements about the date of trading of the Company's common shares on the Exchange and final regulatory approvals, among others, are forward-looking information. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by law.

Neither Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact Information

For further information, please contact:

Roger Rosmus

Chief Executive Officer

Goliath Resources Limited

+1.416.488.2887 x222

www.goliathresourcesltd.com
NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A first-of-its-kind study published by the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) finds that far more people than expected have a disability: 30 percent of college-educated employees working full-time in white-collar professions in the U.S.

Using the new, broader U.S. federal definition of disabilities (finalized in 2016, the definition now includes mental health and chronic conditions) and rigorous, nationally-representative data, CTI's report Disabilities and Inclusion has uncovered that employees with disabilities make up an enormous talent pool that employers overlook far too often--to their own detriment.

The study also uncovered reasons that employees with disabilities have remained under the radar. Sixty-two percent of employees with disabilities have "invisible disabilities"people can't tell they have a disability upon meeting them. Additionally, only 21 percent of employees with disabilities disclose them to their employers' human resources departments.

Invisibility and lack of awareness about this high percentage of their workforce translates into significant costs for employers. Seventy-five percent of employees with disabilities report having an idea that would drive value for their company (versus 66 percent of employees without disabilities). Yet employees with disabilities report experiencing negative bias at their companies and a majority feel stalled in their careers. So, despite being more likely than those without disabilities to say they have ideas of market value for their companies, nearly half of those same employees (48 percent) report that their ideas did not win endorsement from people with the power to act on them.

"From our interviews and focus groups, we learned that people with disabilities are particularly innovative. In order to navigate the world with a disability, they have to problem-solve each day. They can contribute this gift to their employers, but only if they know they will be recognized and rewarded for it," says Julia Taylor Kennedy, executive vice president and director of publications at CTI.

The implications of the research for companies is clear. Employers who want to elicit the best ideas from their people should rely on inclusive leadershipand this carries extra relevance for leaders of people with disabilities.

How? In prior research, CTI determined that inclusive leaders exhibit at least three of the following behaviors: ensuring everyone gets heard, making it safe to propose novel ideas, giving actionable feedback, taking advice and implementing feedback, empowering team members to make decisions, and sharing credit for team success.

With inclusive team leaders, employees with disabilities are more likely to have their ideas supported or endorsed than those who do not have inclusive team leaders (61 percent versus 44 percent). Employees with disabilities who have inclusive leaders are also less likely to face stalled careers.

"Now that we know employees with disabilities make up nearly a third of the white-collar workforce, employers simply can't afford to ignore this crucial talent cohort," says Laura Sherbin, co-president of CTI and a managing partner of Hewlett Consulting Partners. "By understanding employees with disabilitiesand listening to their ideascompanies can unlock enormous potential."

CTI's Disabilities and Inclusion report highlights additional ways employers can signal inclusion to employees with disabilities, and showcases best practices from companies like Accenture, Bloomberg LP, and Unilever, as well as organizations with expertise on the topic of employing people with disabilities like the U.S. Business Leadership Network and Lime Connect.

In addition to U.S. data, the report spotlights how the experiences of employees with disabilities in Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, and the U.K. differ from the U.S. It also includes spotlights on caregivers, employees with mental health conditions, and employees with autism spectrum disorder.

For more information on Disabilities and Inclusion, please visit www.talentinnovation.org.

Research Sponsors:

Accenture, Aetna, Bloomberg LP, Johnson & Johnson, KPMG, Lime Connect, McKesson, Prudential, PwC, Unilever, USBLN, Wells Fargo

Research Authors:

LAURA SHERBIN is co-president at the Center for Talent Innovation and a managing partner at Hewlett Consulting Partners. She is an economist specializing in work-life issues and gender. She has taught "Women and Globalization" at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and is coauthor of Harvard Business Review articles, "How Diversity Can Drive Innovation," "How Gen Y and Boomers Will Reshape Your Agenda," "Off-Ramps and On-Ramps Revisited," and Harvard Business Manager article "Letzte Ausfahrt Babypause." She is also coauthor of Harvard Business Review Research Reports The Athena Factor: Reversing the Brain Drain in Science, Engineering, and Technology and The Sponsor Effect: Breaking through the Last Glass Ceiling and CTI reports including Executive Presence, among many others. She earned her Ph.D. in economics from American University.

JULIA TAYLOR KENNEDY is executive vice president and director of publications at CTI. She also drives qualitative research at the Center, and advises on digital learning strategy and implementation at Hewlett Consulting Partners. Taylor Kennedy coauthored Mission Critical: Unlocking the Value of Veterans in the Workforce and Power of the Purse: Engaging Women Decision Makers for Healthy Outcomes. A seasoned writer, producer, and interviewer, Taylor Kennedy has moderated sessions and hosted podcasts at the United Nations, Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs, The Conference Board, and many others. She has also collaborated with business and gender experts on articles published in Forbes, Time, and academic journals, and has advised speakers for major platforms like the World Economic Forum and the United Nations.

Previously, Taylor Kennedy hosted 51%, a public radio show on gender issues, and reported for NPR and NPR member stations. She earned a journalism degree from Northwestern University and a master of international relations from Yale University.

About the Research:

The research consists of surveys (U.S. and international); in-person focus groups and Insights In-Depth sessions (a proprietary web-based tool used to conduct voice-facilitated virtual focus groups) involving over 80 people; and one-on-one interviews with over 100 men and women in the U.S., Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, and the U.K. We also conducted in-company surveys among select sponsors of the research with over 600 respondents.

The U.S. survey was conducted online and over the phone in October and November 2016 among 3,570 respondents (1,605 men and 1,965 women; 1,083 people with disabilities) between the ages of 21 and 65 currently employed full-time in white-collar occupations, with at least a bachelor's degree. Data were weighted to be representative of the U.S. population on key demographics (age, sex, education, race/ethnicity, and Census Division). The base used for statistical testing was the effective base.

The international survey was conducted online in April 2017 among 500 respondents (100 in Brazil, 100 in Germany, 100 in India, 100 in Japan, and 100 in the U.K.) between the ages of 21 and 64 currently employed full-time in white-collar occupations, with at least a bachelor's degree and classified as having disabilities according to the U.S. federal definition.

The U.S. and international surveys were conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago under the auspices of the Center for Talent Innovation, a nonprofit research organization. NORC was responsible for the data collection, while the Center for Talent Innovation conducted the analysis. The in-company surveys were conducted by the Center for Talent Innovation.

In the charts, percentages may not always add up to 100 because of computer rounding or the acceptance of multiple responses from respondents. Unless otherwise cited, all quantitative data contained in the report are derived from the US or international surveys.

About the Center for Talent Innovation:

The Center for Talent Innovation (CTI) is a New York Citybased think tank that focuses on global talent strategies and the retention and acceleration of well-qualified labor across the divides of demographic difference including gender, generation, geography, sexual orientation, and culture. CTI's research partners now number more than 85 multinational corporations and organizations.

Contact:

Silvia Marte

1-212-315-2333 x 45

[email protected]

SOURCE Center for Talent Innovation

Related Links

http://www.talentinnovation.org


In late September, Aaron's and Progressive Leasing surprised teens with the first of eight makeovers planned for the 2017-2018 year by unveiling a newly-renovated Keystone Teen Center at the Wake Forest Boys & Girls Club. The event marked the 22nd Keystone Club refresh by Aaron's, Inc. in communities across the U.S.

The remaining makeovers will take place in Hartford, CT; Baltimore, MD; Oklahoma City, OK; and Middlebury, IN. Three additional Clubs will receive makeovers in 2018 as winners of the annual "We Own Friday," a teen outreach program within the Boys & Girls Clubs that is focused on the recruitment, retention and engagement of teens ages 14-18. Clubs retaining and recruiting the most teens are chosen for surprise makeovers in which Aaron's associates paint, decorate and furnish the clubs' Teen Centers.

The following Clubs were chosen to receive a makeover including an approximate $20,000 retail in-kind product donation of furniture, electronics and appliances:

Wake Forest Boys & Girls Club  Wake Forest, NC Asylum Hill Boys & Girls Club - Hartford, CT Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore, O'Donnell Heights Unit - Baltimore, MD The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club - Oklahoma City, OK Boys & Girls Clubs of Elkhart County  Middlebury, IN

Aaron's and Progressive Leasing associates will repaint the Keystone Clubs, install furniture and create lounge, games and study spaces where the teens can safely meet after school to develop their leadership skills.

"The Aaron's partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America is one of the most important philanthropic commitments in our company's history," said John Robinson, CEO of Aaron's, Inc. "Now in our third year of partnership, we see not only the tremendous benefits these makeovers offer teens and their communities but how much these giving opportunities have become a great experience for our associates to make a positive impact. It's vital that we help provide inspiring and life-changing resources to our teens now through the Boys & Girls Clubs of America programs."

"Our partnership with Aaron's supports essential renovations for Boys & Girls Clubs across the country," said Jim Clark, President and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. "Boys & Girls Clubs provide a safe and fun place for kids and teens to go during the out-of-school time to connect with caring, trained professionals and, thanks to many corporate partners like Aaron's, they also receive invaluable support advocating for and encouraging them along the way."

Wake Forest Mayor Vivian Jones attended the Wake Forest Boys & Girls Club surprise unveiling and congratulated the teens. "This is such an exciting way for the teens to get resources they need to grow in Wake Forest as leaders," she said. "We're grateful to companies like Aaron's for improving our educational and youth-development programs so teens can succeed."

To date, Aaron's has remodeled Keystone Clubs in 22 cities nationwide including Los Angeles, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Nashville, Jacksonville, Chicago, San Antonio, Buffalo and Portland. The national partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America launched in 2015, when the Aaron's Foundation, Inc. pledged $5 million over three years to the organization's Keystone Program, which is dedicated to helping teens develop their character and leadership skills in hopes of helping them reach their potential and creating positive change in the community. Keystone Club teen centers provide members ages 14-18 an environment in which to plan and participate in activities that focus on community service, academic success, career preparation and teen outreach.

Aaron's partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Keystone Program inspires teens to "Own It" by taking ownership of their choices to build the lives they deserve. The Aaron's and Keystone Club "Own Your Future" campaign supports three principles:

Own Your Path: No matter where you come from, the future is yours to decide.

No matter where you come from, the future is yours to decide. Own Your Decisions: Making good choices opens more doors for your future.

Making good choices opens more doors for your future. Own Your Community: Use your talents to make an impact in your community.

To see photos of previous Keystone Club remodels, visit Aaron's on Facebook (www.facebook.com/aaronsinc), on Twitter (www.twitter.com/aaronsinc) and www.aarons.com/aaronsgives.

About Aaron's, Inc.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Aaron's, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), is a leading omnichannel provider of lease-purchase solutions. Aaron's Business engages in the sales and lease ownership and specialty retailing of furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories through its more than 1,750 Company-operated and franchised stores in 47 states and Canada as well as its e-commerce platform Aarons.com. In addition, Progressive Leasing, a virtual lease-to-own company, provides lease-purchase solutions through approximately 24,000 retail locations in 46 states. Dent-A-Med, Inc., d/b/a the HELPcard, provides a variety of second-look credit products that are originated through federally insured banks. For more information, visit investor.aarons.com, Aarons.com, ProgLeasing.com, and HELPcard.com.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

For more than 150 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (http://www.bgca.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, 4,300 Clubs serve 4 million young people annually through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun, friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE Aaron's, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.aarons.com


HOUSTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ABACUS Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical is proud to announce they have become a Business Lifetime Member of The 100 Club of Houston, which is a non-profit organization. The organization financially rescues the dependents of firefighters and law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty by paying their debts and providing an education for their children.

William Skeen, The 100 Club Deputy Executive Director Molly McGuirk, Abacus General Manager Alan O'Neill, Abacus CEO Richard Hartley, The 100 Club Executive Director

"Abacus is proud to support The 100 Club," stated Alan O'Neill, CEO of Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical in Houston. "In this day and age when our officers who put their lives on the line to protect the citizens of our great city and country seem to be under-appreciated, Abacus is proud to show its support by becoming a Business Lifetime Member of The 100 Club."

William Skeen, Deputy Executive Director or The 100 Club said, "The 100 Club is proud of the support from Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical for becoming our newest Business Lifetime Member. Through their membership, they support our missions of providing for the dependents of law enforcement officers and firefighters, purchasing life saving equipment and scholarships. Since 1953 individuals and businesses like Abacus have helped us to fulfill this critical mission."

The 100 club was initiated in 1953, when 100 men each gave $100 to be used to assist the families of Houston police officers killed in the line of duty. The effort put forth by these men has developed into over a half-century of support for families of fallen law enforcement officers and firefighters in Houston and 17 surrounding counties as well as several statewide agencies. Today, The 100 Club of Houston has grown to more than 29,500 members and ABACUS Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical is proud to be among those counted in supporting them.

ABACUS stands with them in supporting The 100 Club's mission: (1) survivor support, assisting with funeral expenses, paying off an existing mortgage on the family home, and assistance with the educational costs of the deceased's children; (2) life protecting equipment for law enforcement; and (3) scholarship support for law enforcement. In 2012, survivor support exceeded $1.7 million; life protecting equipment for law enforcement was over $144,000; and scholarship support for law enforcement was $252,500. To date, over $34.4 million has been collected and dispersed.

About Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical

Abacus Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical is a full service residential contractor that has been serving the greater Houston area since 2003. Abacus is a member of the Greater Houston Women's Chamber of Commerce and has an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau of Houston. Abacus is licensed and insured and offers 24/7 emergency service. To learn more about Abacus Air Conditioning, Plumbing & Electrical, visit www.abacusplumbing.net or call (713) 812-7070. License Numbers: ALAN O'NEILL M-20628 | TACLA29370E | TECL 30557

Media Contact

Michelle Lamont

214-228-9135

[email protected]

SOURCE ABACUS Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electrical

Related Links

https://www.abacusplumbing.net


DUBLIN, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), a leading global pharmaceutical company, and its subsidiaries today announced that the Company has reached an agreement with InnoPharma Inc. resolving patent litigation regarding United States Patent Nos. 8,629,111; 8,633,162; 8,642,556; 8,648,048; 8,685,930 and 9,248,191 covering RESTASIS (Cyclosporine Ophthalmic Emulsion) 0.05%. The patents are listed in the Orange Book and expire on August 27, 2024.

As a result of the settlement, all InnoPharma Hatch-Waxman litigation regarding RESTASIS patents will be dismissed.

Pursuant to the terms of the settlement, Allergan will grant InnoPharma licenses to market a generic version of RESTASIS in the United States beginning on February 24, 2024, or earlier under certain circumstances. Additionally, under certain circumstances, Allergan will supply and authorize InnoPharma to launch an authorized generic version of RESTASIS on August 28, 2024. Additional details regarding the settlement were not disclosed.

About Allergan plc

Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical company and a leader in a new industry model  Growth Pharma. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceutical, device, biologic, surgical and regenerative medicine products for patients around the world.

Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and best-in-class products for the central nervous system, eye care, medical aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, women's health, urology and anti-infective therapeutic categories.

Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science, a model of research and development, which defines our approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care. With this approach, Allergan has built one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry with 65+ mid-to-late stage pipeline programs currently in development.

Allergan's success is powered by our more than 18,000 global colleagues' commitment to being Bold for Life. Together, we build bridges, power ideas, act fast and drive results for our customers and patients around the world by always doing what is right.

With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives every day.

For more information, visit Allergan's website at www.Allergan.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

Statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current perspective on existing trends and information as of the date of this release. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and Allergan's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2017. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

CONTACTS: Allergan:

Investors:

Daphne Karydas

(862) 261-8006





Media:

Mark Marmur

(862) 261-7558

SOURCE Allergan plc

Related Links

http://www.allergan.com


With the Amgen Foundation's support, Khan Academy will create new biology lessons for students and teachers worldwide. New videos, articles and practice exercises for ninth-grade biology through Advanced Placement Program  (AP  ) biology will complement existing offerings. Like all lessons from the nonprofit Khan Academy, biology lessons are available for free at KhanAcademy.org.

"The Amgen Foundation has demonstrated a deep commitment to science education for many years, and we're honored by the renewed support of Khan Academy's biology content," said Khan Academy founder and CEO Sal Khan. "The Amgen Foundation's funding allows Khan Academy to create new biology lessons that will enrich the classroom experience for students and teachers everywhere."

The new Amgen Foundation funding builds on a 2015 grant partnership that supported the initial development of Khan Academy's AP and other introductory college-level biology content. Khan Academy has grown its biology offering, with the Amgen Foundation's support, to more than 300 videos, 80 exercise sets and 195 articles. Usage of Khan Academy biology lessons has increased to more than one million students monthly. In addition, Khan Academy is now the official practice partner for the AP Program and is partnering with the organization to create biology content that aligns with AP's challenging academic standards.

"Khan Academy uses the power of technology to achieve meaningful scale and support learners around the world, particularly those who are low-income," said Eduardo Cetlin, president of the Amgen Foundation. "With more than 10 million learners visiting the platform each month, we're excited that students and teachers both in the U.S. and across the globe will have access to high-quality biology content through this partnership."

According to Amgen Foundation research on biology classes, students ranked virtual learning and the ability to choose the topics they would like to explore further among their top preferences. The Khan Academy content supported by the Amgen Foundation can help students master scientific concepts taught in the classroom at their own pace, while allowing teachers to identify gaps in learning and provide tailored instruction.

Students who have used Khan Academy to study biology shared positive feedback on how it nurtured the STEM skills they need for college and career readiness.

"Khan Academy made me feel like I understood biology," said Derek Wan, a student at the University of California, Berkeley, who used Khan Academy during his freshman year of high school. "The momentum from freshman year carried me on through junior year. That's the feeling that Khan Academy gave me."

"One of the great benefits of Khan Academy is that the videos are engaging and the information is easy to retain," said Elizabeth Cass, a graduate student at Oregon State University. "The videos and exercises are an important resource for people who just want to learn more."

Learn more about the new biology lessons by visiting khanacademy.org/science/biology.

About the Amgen Foundation

The Amgen Foundation seeks to advance excellence in science education to inspire the next generation of innovators, and invest in strengthening communities where Amgen staff members live and work. To date, the Foundation has donated over $250 million to local, regional, and international nonprofit organizations that impact society in inspiring and innovative ways. The Amgen Foundation brings the excitement of discovery to the scientists of tomorrow through several signature programs, including Amgen Scholars, Amgen Biotech Experience, and Amgen Teach. For more information, visit www.AmgenInspires.com and follow us on Twitter @AmgenFoundation.

About Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. We use intelligent software, data analytics, and intuitive user interfaces to help students and teachers around the world. Our resources cover math, biology, chemistry, physics, history, economics, finance, grammar, preschool learning, and more. Khan Academy offers free personalized SAT prep in partnership with the College Board, and we are the official practice partner for AP. We provide teachers with tools and data so they can help their students develop the skills, habits, and mindsets necessary for success in school and beyond. Khan Academy has been translated into dozens of languages, and 10 million people around the globe learn on Khan Academy each month. For more information, visit khanacademy.org, join us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter at @khanacademy. And remember, you can learn anything.

Advanced Placement Program and AP are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board.

CONTACT:

Amgen, Thousand Oaks

Jennifer van der Borgt, 805-447-5597 (Media)

Khan Academy

Barb Kunz, 650-429-8154

SOURCE Amgen

Related Links

http://www.amgeninspires.com


PARIS, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Areas, the global concession catering brand of Elior Group, announces that it has been awarded a 10-year catering concession contract to manage 15 restaurants at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Together with AERO Service Group and Innovative Retail Group, Areas has designed an innovative catering offering based on a balanced mix of internationally renowned brands and emblematic regional chains that promote local cuisine.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160411/353501LOGO )



Areas CEO Pedro Fontana declared: "We are very proud of our consolidation of the American airport market. After Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Newark, Washington, Indianapolis, Orlando and Detroit, this contract underscores our ability to attract major international airports thanks to our portfolio of brand franchises as well as our expertise in appealing to local brands that are in vogue. With our in-depth knowledge of travel catering trends our goal is to provide international travelers with excellent service and innovative catering concepts. "

Areas' offering provides a variety of complementary brands ranging from the relaxed coffee shop format to take-away vendors and the most upscale restaurants, all strategically installed in the various terminals to accommodate the natural flow and needs of travelers as they pass through the airport.

In terminal A, Areas will be proposing a variety of catering solutions, including: Leann Chin, an Asian restaurant; People's Organic, a local brand specialized in organically grown food produce; The Cook & the Ox, a meat and seafood restaurant run by chef Jack Riebel, as well as a Bruegger's Bagels, a Chick-Fil-A, a Panda Express and The Blue Door Pub, famed for its classic Minnesota burger.

Moving on to terminal B, passengers will be able to discover the City Point Bar , a bar-cum-restaurant specially designed by Areas.

Finally, at Terminal F, Areas will be installing a food court which offers travelers a choice of menu between Chick-Fil-A, Wendy's, Panda Express, People's Organic, Auntie Anne's & Cinnabon, Buffalo Wild Wings, the Mexican restaurant Zona Cocina, and Minneapolis' own iconic restaurant, Hi-Lo Diner.

The first points of sale will open in 2018 and the complete offering should be installed and up and running by 2019.

For more information about: Areas / Elior Group

SOURCE Elior Group
ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG) will release its third quarter 2017 earnings after the market closes on Thursday, October 26, 2017. A printer-friendly format will be available on the company's website shortly thereafter.

In conjunction with this release, J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr., Chairman, President and CEO, will host a conference call on Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 5:15 pm ET/4:15 pm CT.(1)

The conference call will be broadcast live through Gallagher's website at www.ajg.com and a conference call replay will be available on the company's website approximately one hour after the broadcast. The replay can be accessed by going to Investor Relations and clicking on Archived Presentations.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an international insurance brokerage and risk management services firm, is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, has operations in 34 countries and offers client-service capabilities in more than 150 countries around the world through a network of correspondent brokers and consultants.

(1) Gallagher is hosting its conference call after the market closes on Thursday, October 26, 2017 to accommodate the investment community, which has other insurance enterprise earnings conference calls prior to the market opening on Friday, October 27, 2017.

Contact:

Ray Iardella

VP - Investor Relations

(630) 285-3661  [email protected]

SOURCE Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Related Links

http://www.ajg.com


"Our initial assessment is that the critical manufacturing areas in our Arecibo, Puerto Rico, facility have not been significantly impacted by this storm," said Tim Tyson, Chairman and CEO at Avara. "We expect to maintain our long-term track record of reliably supplying our customers and their patients with the medicines they need. We remain focused on delivering on our commitments to our customers." We have offered our assistance and support to other pharmaceutical companies in Puerto Rico. A special thank-you goes out to Wes Wheeler, CEO of Marken and his phenomenal team for the impossible efforts that they went to, to assist us in a time of need," said Tyson. "We could not have assisted our people nor recovered at Arecibo without their support, in a time when no one else was able to deliver to the Island!"

Having completed an initial review of the storm's impact, no product inventory has been lost, and consistent with the Company's long-standing practices, the inventory maintained by the Company and its global distribution network is sufficient to meet market demand. Avara has back-up generators powering the site while Puerto Rico works to re-establish the power grid for the island. In addition," Jim Scandura, Chief Operating Officer said, "We are working diligently with the Site Leadership Team and the staff onsite to return our operations in Puerto Rico to normal as quickly as possible. The damage that the site sustained was mostly cosmetic and the GMP areas have been re-started after a planned shutdown per emergency procedures."

Avara has established an Avara Arecibo Relief Fund to support our teams urgent Hurricane Maria relief efforts in Puerto Rico. The Avara fund is meant to ensure that our people and their families affected, receive the needed support and resources to return to normal as soon as possible. We will provide ongoing financial assistance for shelter, medical attention, clothing and other critical relief. The company has made a significant donation to this fund.

Avara continues to offer special thoughts to all affected by this devastating storm and is committed to delivering on our commitments to our people and our customers.

About Avara

Avara Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., based in Norwalk, Connecticut is an international pharmaceutical services company that delivers world-class contract manufacturing and technical services to the pharmaceutical industry. Avara has primary and secondary manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe and supplies products to all major markets around the world. Avara's broad experience with supply chain, commercialization, product launch and product transfer allow us to sustain exemplary levels of product quality and regulatory compliance. The company is known to exceed customer service level expectations and consistently deliver on time, in full at a fair price. For more information, please visit our website at www.avara.com

CONTACT: Guy Tiene, [email protected]

SOURCE Avara Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.avara.com


SANTA ANA, Calif., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE: BANC) today announced it will release 2017 third quarter financial results on Thursday, October 26, 2017, before the market opens. The Company will host a conference call to discuss its third quarter earnings at 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on the same day.

Interested parties are welcome to attend the conference call by dialing 888-317-6003, and referencing event code 8972485. A live audio webcast will also be available and the webcast link will be posted on the Company's investor relations website at https://www.bancofcal.com/investor. The slide presentation for the call will also be available on the Company's website prior to the call.

An audio archive of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website within 24 hours after the end of the call.

About Banc of California, Inc.

Banc of California, Inc. (NYSE: BANC) provides comprehensive banking services to California's diverse businesses, entrepreneurs and communities. Banc of California operates 34 offices in California. The Company has been recognized by Forbes for the second straight year as one of the 100 Best Banks in America for 2017.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "Safe-Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are necessarily subject to risk and uncertainty and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to various factors, including those set forth from time to time in the documents filed or furnished by Banc of California, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and Banc of California, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any such statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date on which the forward-looking statement is made.

INVESTOR RELATIONS INQUIRIES: MEDIA INQUIRIES: Banc of California, Inc. Abernathy MacGregor Timothy Sedabres, (855) 361-2262 Ian Campbell / Joe Hixson / Kristin Cole, (213) 630-6550 [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Banc of California, Inc.

Related Links

http://bancofcal.com


MOSCOW, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

1. In the next year, the main point of losses for banks from cyber-attacks will be not theft of money, but destruction of their IT infrastructure during the final stages of a targeted hacking attack. Banks used to only be attacked by cybercriminals. Today, state-linked hackers are doing this far more frequently. By destroying IT infrastructure, cybercriminals will attempt to cover their tracks during thefts, while the aim of state-sponsored hackers will be to maximize the damage to banks and discontinue banking operations. In both cases, the damage done to banks may be even greater than the amount of funds stolen due to service interruptions and resulting reputational and regulatory impact.

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582503/Group_IB_Logo.jpg )

2. Hackers will now successfully attack more industrial facilities as they have learnt how to work with the "logic" of critical infrastructure. These facilities use complex and unique IT systems: even if one gains access to them, specific knowledge about the principles of their operation is needed to conduct attacks. Over the past year, we have observed that hackers' competence has increased along with their capacities to impact critical infrastructure. Therefore, we now forecast new large-scale incidents targeting industrials and related core infrastructure.

3. Hackers are switching their focus from banks to the crypto industry (ICO, wallets, exchanges, funds), which have been accumulating increasingly large capitalisations and funds. In technical terms, the attacks against service providers in this sector are no more difficult than against banks, however the information security in place and maturity of blockchain companies is significantly lower. A further motivation for criminal attackers is that blockchain technologies are more anonymous and unregulated - this considerably reduces the risk of being caught during money withdrawal.

Full report is available here: https://www.group-ib.com/2017-report.html

About

Group-IB helps major corporations recognize and react to online threats originating in Russia, Eastern Europe, and other major centers for targeted cyberattacks. Group-IB Threat Intelligence empowers organizations to build more effective defenses against sophisticated cyberattacks. Group-IB is official partner of EUROPOL and INTERPOL. Gartner, Forrester, IDC, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and many others recognize Group-IB's unique leadership in protecting against online fraud, financial loss, and reputation risk. http://www.group-ib.com

SOURCE Group-IB
MAPLE GROVE, Minn., Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Local member-owned financial cooperative TopLine Federal Credit Union has been named Best Credit Union in Twin Cities Business Magazines annual Best of Business contest. The magazines yearly survey asks their readership, "Which companies exemplify true excellence in their respective industries and would they confidently refer to a family member, friend or colleague? and published results in its September issue and online.



In naming TopLine as Best Credit Union, the magazine pointed to several qualities that make TopLine stand out, including the credit unions Sum-It-Up Savings program, which creates an electronic piggy bank of savings for customers by rounding up their purchases to the nearest dollar; its website, which contains clear, solid advice on financial planning for every stage of life; and a recent Diamond Award for Financial Education from a national group of credit unions.

Were honored to be recognized as the best credit union by the readers of Twin Cities Business Magazine, says Tom Smith, President and CEO at TopLine Federal Credit Union. We would like to thank our member-owners, as they have supported us as we built TopLines reputation for excellence through innovative services and programs that do more than just meet our members immediate financial needs. And its really our family of employees passion for assisting members with their entire financial journey, from opening their first checking and savings account, to buying a car or home, or building a small business. Were here for our members and community every step of the way to help them reach their financial goals.

Twin Cities Business is Minnesotas leading provider of business news, insight, and analysis through daily online news stories, e-newsletters, a monthly print magazine and live events. Along with their readers, they get to know the personalities of our regions most influential leaders, exploring the how behind their success, strategies, and solutions. They discuss todays most pressing issues, examine trends and outlooks, and provide the context, perspective, and information leaders have come to depend upon.

TopLine Federal Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based credit union, is Minnesotas 13th largest, with assets of more than $400 million. Established in 1935, the not-for-profit cooperative offers a complete line of financial services, as well as auto and home insurance, from its five branch locations  in Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, Plymouth and in St. Pauls Como Park  as well as by phone, mobile app and online at www.TopLinecu.com. Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or volunteers in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott or Washington Counties and their immediate family members. Visit us on our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TopLineFederalCreditUnion.

CONTACT:

Vicki Roscoe Erickson

Vice President, Marketing & Communications

TopLine Federal Credit Union

verickson@toplinecu.com | 763.391.0872
"Bill has been a vital member of our product team for the past 12 years, having helped us improve the value and quality of the products that we offer," said Johnson. "He's been instrumental in helping us transform our product portfolio. In this year alone, Bill oversaw key aspects of the development of our new Voya Journey Index Annuity and Voya Select Advantage Advisory IRA Mutual Fund Custodial Account as well as a new Cash-Value Flex Rider for our Voya Indexed Universal Life  Global Choice product. We have a talented product team developing valuable solutions that enable our distribution partners to help Americans get ready to retire better, and I'm looking forward to working even closer with Bill to continue this work."

Most recently, Bainbridge served as vice president of pricing for Voya's Annuities and Individual Life businesses since November 2016. Previously, he oversaw product development for the company's Annuities business since December 2013. In this role, he helped contribute to increases in sales and return on capital in the Annuities business, working closely with members of the company's distribution, risk management and finance areas. He joined Voya as a senior actuarial associate in August 2005. Bainbridge began his career at Buck Consultants as an associate in June 2003.

Bainbridge received bachelor's degrees in both actuarial science and economics from Lebanon Valley College. He is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and holds the chartered enterprise risk analyst designation. In 2016, Bainbridge was recognized by LIMRA as a "Rising Star" in the financial services industry.

Media Contact:

Bill Sutton

Voya Financial

Office: (860) 580-2626

Cell: (315) 373-9685

[email protected]

About Voya Financial

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings  to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13.6 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2016. The company had $517 billion in total assets under management and administration as of June 30, 2017. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible  one person, one family, one institution at a time  Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company. Certified as a "Great Place to Work" by the Great Place to Work Institute, Voya is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible and has been recognized as one of the 2017 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute, as well as one of the Top Green Companies in the U.S., by Newsweek magazine. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya.

Products and services are offered through the Voya family of companies.

SOURCE Voya Financial, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.voya.com


VALENCIA, Calif., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bioness, Inc., the leading provider of cutting edge, clinically supported rehabilitation therapies, today announced it is exhibiting at the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) Annual Assembly. The assembly begins today, October 12th, and runs through October 15th, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. Attendees have the opportunity to experience Bioness implantable and external neuromodulation systems, robotic systems and software based therapy programs at booth #1006.

Bioness is showcasing the StimRouter Neuromodulation System, a minimally invasive, surgical device designed to treat chronic peripheral nerve pain. The StimRouter targets pain at the point of origin, minimizes long-term healthcare costs and may provide pain relief when other treatments, such as medications and injections, have limited effect.1 The StimRouter has been implanted at 20+ different peripheral nerves, with the most common being the axillary nerve, located in the shoulder. Shoulder pain is one of the most common complications following a stroke which is primarily treated by healthcare professionals specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation.

Attending Physiatrists and other attendees have the opportunity to see additional innovative solutions  specifically, the L300 Go System. The L300 Go addresses the limitations of lower limb paralysis following an upper motor neuron injury. The L300 Go follows the success of the original L300 and L300 Plus systems, offering significant new features including 3D motion detection of gait events, multi-channel capability, activity tracking via mobile iOS application and new electrode options.

In addition to the StimRouter Neuromodulation System and L300 Go System, attendees can also experience the following Bioness technologies:

Vector Gait and Safety System  : the global leader in robotic over ground gait rehabilitation, is a ceiling mounted, UL certified technology, capable of handling patients up to 500 lbs. and providing dynamic unloading up to 200 lbs. Vector will be exclusively featured in the Bioness Technology Exhibit, a mobile experiential vehicle, located within the Bioness exhibit space.

: the global leader in robotic over ground gait rehabilitation, is a ceiling mounted, UL certified technology, capable of handling patients up to 500 lbs. and providing dynamic unloading up to 200 lbs. Vector will be exclusively featured in the Bioness Technology Exhibit, a mobile experiential vehicle, located within the Bioness exhibit space. Bioness Integrated Therapy System (BITS) : a multi-configured touchscreen capable of running software applications for 24 unique programs spanning six categories  standard assessments, visual scanning, visual pursuit, cognitive, visual-motor, and charts, that work to rehabilitate in the areas of occupational, physical, and speech language therapy.

: a multi-configured touchscreen capable of running software applications for 24 unique programs spanning six categories  standard assessments, visual scanning, visual pursuit, cognitive, visual-motor, and charts, that work to rehabilitate in the areas of occupational, physical, and speech language therapy. H200 Wireless Hand Rehabilitation System : clinically shown to improve hand and upper extremity function during all stages of stroke rehabilitation, the H200 Wireless delivers non-invasive FES to improve hand function, reduce muscle spasms and prevent disuse atrophy.

To see these solutions for yourself, visit us at AAPM&R at booth #1006.

About Bioness, Inc.

Bioness is the leading provider of innovative technologies helping people regain mobility and independence. Bioness solutions include implantable and external neuromodulation systems, robotic systems and software based therapy programs providing functional and therapeutic benefits for individuals affected by pain, central nervous system disorders and orthopedic injuries. Currently, Bioness offers six medical devices within its commercial portfolio which are distributed and sold on five continents and in over 50 countries worldwide. Our technologies have been implemented in the most prestigious and well-respected institutions around the globe with approximately 90% of the top rehabilitation hospitals in the United States currently using one or more Bioness solutions. Bioness has a singular focus on aiding large, underserved customer groups with innovative, evidence-based solutions and we will continue to develop and make commercially available new products that address the growing and changing needs of our customers. Individual results vary. Consult with a qualified physician to determine if this product is right for you. Contraindications, adverse reactions and precautions are available online at www.bioness.com.

Media Relations Contact Information

Next Step Communications

[email protected]

781.326.1741

Bioness, BITS, H200, L300 Go, StimRouter and Vector Gait and Safety System are trademarks of Bioness, Inc. | www.bioness.com | Rx Only for applicable products |

1 Deer T, et al. 2016. Neuromodulation. 19:91-100.

SOURCE Bioness, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.bioness.com


LONDON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- INTRODUCTION

A number of monoclonal antibodies (more than 70) have already been approved for use in humans. These therapeutic products, which target a particular epitope on an antigen, have become a popular and robust treatment option for various diseases. However, despite the success of antibody therapeutics, there are several limitations associated with the use of mono-specific antibodies. It has been reported that certain patients treated using these therapeutic modalities have failed to respond, or have developed resistance to the therapy.







Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/2530816







Moreover, since the development and progression of several diseases, such as cancer, are dependent on the cross-talk between multiple signaling pathways, molecules directed against a single target may not elicit the desired therapeutic effect.



Bispecific antibodies have demonstrated the capability to address the existing challenges associated with monoclonal antibodies, such as high manufacturing costs, limited applicability in assays and the general lack of understanding of precise in vivo mechanisms of action. Although the concept of bispecific antibodies was conceived more than five decades ago, this field has gained significant popularity in recent years.



These molecules have the potential to be used across a broad range of application areas; for example, they can be used to redirect effector cells, simultaneously modulate more than one signaling pathway, and deliver toxic payloads to target sites in a more specific manner. It is also important to highlight that advances in molecular cloning technologies, coupled with a better understanding of antibody engineering techniques, have led to the discovery and development of a number of different bispecific antibody formats, setting them up for use across novel application areas as well.



SCOPE OF THE REPORT

The aBispecific Antibody Therapeutics Market (3rd Edition), 2017-2030a report provides a comprehensive study of the current landscape of bispecific antibodies, featuring an elaborate discussion on the future potential of this upcoming market. The field has captured the interest of several drug developers, including both small and large companies. As indicated before, the applicability of these engineered biomolecules is vast.



Presently, only one bispecific antibody, BLINCYTOA (2014), is available for therapeutic use. However, the development pipeline of bispecific antibody based drugs has several promising candidates that are likely to result in commercial success stories in the foreseen future. The overall pipeline comprises of over 200 molecules that are under development for the treatment of various disease indications across different therapeutic areas, including oncology, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases. Of these, more than 60 molecules are currently under clinical evaluation, while over 140 product candidates are in the discovery / preclinical stages.



The evolving market has its hopes pinned on multiple start-ups, small and large-sized companies, which are engaged in this domain.



Amongst other elements, the report features:

a A review of the current market landscape, featuring a detailed analysis based on target disease indications / patient segments, phases of development of product candidates (clinical and preclinical / discovery), bispecific antibody formats (fragment based bispecific antibodies, asymmetric bispecific antibodies and symmetric bispecific antibodies), routes of administration (intravenous, subcutaneous, and intravitreal) and mechanisms of action (dual targeting, T-cell engagement, NK-cell engagement, half-life extension and bispecific antibody drug conjugate).

a Comprehensive profiles of marketed and clinical stage (phase II and above) bispecific antibody therapeutics, highlighting their current status of development, clinical trial information and trial results, and a brief overview, financial performance (if available), and an informed future outlook of the developer.

a An analysis of the partnerships that have been inked between stakeholders in the industry in the recent past, covering research collaborations, licensing agreements, product development / commercialization agreements, manufacturing agreements, mergers / acquisitions, product development agreements, clinical trial collaboration and other deals.

a A grid analysis, representing the distribution of the pipeline of bispecific antibodies (on the basis of mechanisms of action of product candidates and antibody formats) across different therapeutic areas and stages of development.

a A bubble analysis comparing the available technology platforms on the basis of important parameters, such as clinical activity (based on the number of drug candidates developed using a particular technology), number of partnerships established and the size of the developer company.

a A spider-web analysis highlighting the popularity of different mechanisms of action of bispecific antibody candidates. The analysis takes into consideration various parameters, such as number of bispecific antibodies, number of ongoing clinical trials, target therapeutic indications, number of publications and the companies that are developing these molecules.

a An elaborate discussion on a lifecycle management strategy, depicting how companies are using indication expansion as a tool to expand their foothold in the field of bispecific antibody therapeutics.

a A case study on the key promotional strategies adopted for marketing the approved bispecific antibody, BLINCYTOA, and other competitive molecules that have been recently approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.



One of the key objectives of the report was to understand the primary growth drivers and estimate the future size of the market. Based on parameters, such as target patient population, likely adoption rates and expected pricing, we have provided an informed estimate of the likely evolution of the market in the short to mid-term and mid to long term, for the period 2017-2030.



The research, analysis and insights presented in this report include potential sales of bispecific antibody therapeutics that are currently marketed or are in the late stages of development. To account for the uncertainties associated with the development of novel bispecific antibody therapeutics and to add robustness to our model, we have provided three forecast scenarios, portraying the conservative, base and optimistic tracks of the marketas evolution.



The opinions and insights presented in the report were also influenced by discussions held with senior stakeholders in the industry. The study includes detailed transcripts of discussions held with Jane Dancer (CBO, F-star), Ludge Groe-Hovest (Founder and CSO, Synimmune), Siobhan Pomeroy (Senior Director, Business Development, CytomX Therapeutics) and Yinjue Wang (Associate Director, Process Development, Innovent Biologics). All actual figures have been sourced and analyzed from publicly available information forums and primary research discussions. Financial figures mentioned in this report are in USD, unless otherwise specified.



RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The data presented in this report has been gathered via secondary and primary research. For all our projects, we conduct interviews with experts in the area (academia, industry, medical practice and other associations) to solicit their opinions on emerging trends in the market. This is primarily useful for us to draw out our own opinion on how the market will evolve across different regions and technology segments. Where possible, the available data has been checked for accuracy from multiple sources of information.



The secondary sources of information include

a Annual reports

a Investor presentations

a SEC filings

a Industry databases

a News releases from company websites

a Government policy documents

a Industry analystsa views



While the focus has been on forecasting the market over the coming 10-15 years, the report also provides our independent view on various technological and non-commercial trends emerging in the industry. This opinion is solely based on our knowledge, research and understanding of the relevant market gathered from various secondary and primary sources of information.



CHAPTER OUTLINES

Chapter 2 provides an executive summary of the insights captured during our research. It offers a high level view on the likely evolution of the bispecific antibody therapeutics market in the mid to long term.



Chapter 3 provides a general overview of antibodies covering their historical background, structure, and the types of antibodies available, along with their mechanisms of action. In addition, the chapter highlights the evolution of antibody based therapeutics over the last few years. It also features a discussion on bispecific antibodies, elaborating on the different bispecific formats that are currently available, mechanisms of action of various products / product candidates and their applications.



Chapter 4 includes information on over 200 bispecific antibody therapeutics that are currently in different stages of development. It features a comprehensive analysis of the pipeline molecules, highlighting the target therapeutic areas, phases of development, antibody formats, routes of administration and the corresponding mechanisms of action.



Chapter 5 provides a list of technologies that are either currently available, or being developed by various firms, for the generation of bispecific antibody therapeutics. In addition, it features detailed profiles of some of the key technologies that have been used to develop at least four clinical and / or preclinical bispecific antibody candidates. Each profile contains details on the technology, such as the structure of bispecific antibody, pipeline molecules developed using the technology, its advantages and partnerships established related to the technology.



Chapter 6 contains detailed profiles of drugs that are in advanced stages of clinical development (phase II, filed and marketed). Each profile provides information on the mechanism of action, current status of development, dosage form and treatment regimen, information on clinical studies and key clinical trial results of the drug. It also includes an overview of the developer, its financial details and an informed future outlook.



Chapter 7 presents a comprehensive market forecast analysis, highlighting the future potential of the market till the year 2030. It includes future sales projections of bispecific antibody therapeutics that are either marketed or are in advanced stages of clinical development (phase II and preregistration). The sales potential and growth opportunity were estimated based on the target patient population, likely adoption rates, existing / future competition from other drug classes and the likely price of products. The chapter also presents a detailed market segmentation on the basis of key therapeutic areas (oncology, autoimmune disorders, inflammatory disorders, eye disorders and others) and mechanisms of action (T-cell engagement, NK-cell engagement, dual targeting, blocking cytokines and others).



Chapter 8 features an elaborate discussion and analysis of the various collaborations and partnerships that have been inked amongst players in this market. We have also discussed the different partnership models and the most common forms of deals / agreements that have been established between 2012 and 2017.



Chapter 9 is a compilation of key insights derived from the study. It presents a detailed logo landscape of the companies engaged in developing bispecific antibody based products, distributed based on the developmental status of pipeline candidates and size of the companies (small, mid-sized and large companies). The chapter also features a grid analysis, representing the distribution of bispecific antibody candidates (on the basis of their mechanisms of action and formats) across target therapeutic areas and stages of development. It also features a comparative study, presented in the form of a bubble analysis, of the different platforms that are being utilized for the generation of bispecific antibodies. The parameters considered for this analysis include the development activity based on the technology (in terms of the number of drugs across different phases of development), number of partnerships established related to the technology and the size of the developer company. Additionally, the chapter features a spider-web analysis, which highlights the activity of bispecific antibodies based on their mechanisms of action. The parameters considered for this analysis include number of drug candidates, active clinical trials, publications, target indications and the companies that are involved in this domain.



Chapter 10 includes a detailed discussion on product life cycle management strategies. It primarily focuses on the indication expansion strategy, which is being used extensively by the developers of bispecific antibody based therapeutics.



Chapter 11 highlights the key promotional strategies that are being implemented by the developer (Amgen) of the marketed bispecific antibody, BLINCYTOA (approved for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia). For the purpose of this analysis, we also studied the promotional activities of two other drugs, namely IclusigA and MarqiboA, which are approved for the treatment of the same indication. The promotional aspects covered in the chapter include details provided on the product website (covering key messages for patients and healthcare professionals), patient support offerings and informative downloadable content, and product visibility in scientific conferences.



Chapter 12 provides a detailed analysis capturing the key parameters and trends that are likely to influence the future of the bispecific antibodies market within the biopharmaceutical industry, under a comprehensive SWOT framework.



Chapter 13 is a summary of the overall report. In this chapter, we have provided a list of key takeaways from the report, and expressed our independent opinion related to the research and analysis described in the previous chapters.



Chapter 14 is a collection of interview transcripts of the discussions that were held with key stakeholders in this market. The chapter provides details of interviews held with Jane Dancer (CBO, F-star), Ludge Groe-Hovest (Founder and CSO, Synimmune), Siobhan Pomeroy (Senior Director, Business Development, CytomX Therapeutics) and Yinjue Wang (Associate Director, Process Development, Innovent Biologics).



Chapter 15 is an appendix, which provides tabulated data and numbers for all the figures included in the report.



Chapter 16 is an appendix, which provides the list of companies and organizations mentioned in the report.



EXAMPLE HIGHLIGHTS

1. Close to 68% of bispecific antibody based therapeutic products are in the early stages of development (preclinical / discovery), while one bispecific antibody therapeutic (BLINCYTOA) is approved for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 11 products are in advanced clinical evaluation (phase II and above); these include (in alphabetical order) ABT-981 (AbbVie), AFM13 (Affimed), Anti-CD3 MUC1 bispecific antibody (Benhealth Biopharmaceutical), emicizumab (Chugai Pharmaceutical), HER2Bi-Armed Activated T Cells (Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute), istiratumab (Merrimack Pharmaceuticals), MEDI3902 (MedImmune), ozoralizumab (Ablynx), RG7716 (Roche), SAR156597 (Sanofi) and vobarilizumab (Ablynx).

2. The market landscape is well distributed across small (33), large (30) and mid-sized (25) companies. Some of the prominent small-sized companies engaged in this domain include (in alphabetical order) Affimed, Avillion, Amphivena Therapeutics, Benhealth Biopharmaceutical, EngeneIC and Oxis Biotech. In addition, well established companies, such as (in alphabetical order) Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer, Emergent BioSolutions, Merck, Pfizer, Roche and Sanofi, are also actively involved in this domain. It is worth mentioning that several universities / research organizations have also contributed to the development of bispecific antibody therapeutics; examples include (in alphabetical order), Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, California Institute for Biomedical Research, Duke NeuroSurgery, Fraunhofer Institute of Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen University, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, The Scripps Research Institute and Vanderbilt Vaccine Center.

3. Bispecific antibodies are capable of simultaneously targeting more than one target and are, therefore, capable of treating clinical conditions that are characterized by cross-talk between multiple disease related pathways. Currently, almost 80% of the development programs are focused on oncological indications, including hematological cancers and solid tumors. Apart from oncology, autoimmune disorders are the most popular; close to 9% of candidate drugs in the pipeline are being developed for such clinical conditions. It is also worth highlighting that the bispecific antibody products are being developed for other therapeutic areas, such as infectious diseases, blood disorders and eye disorders.

4. The market features the presence of a diverse range of bispecific antibody generation platforms, which is indicative of the ongoing innovation in this domain. During our research, we identified around 50 unique platforms that have been developed / are being developed for the generation of different bispecific antibody therapeutics. Of these, we observed that 11 technology platforms are being extensively used; these include (in alphabetical order) Dual Affinity Re-targeting (DART) (MacroGenics), Bispecific T-cell Engager (BiTE) (Amgen), CrossMAb (Roche) and Nanobody (Ablynx)

5. Close to 100 partnerships were inked between various stakeholders in the industry during the period between 2012 and July 2017. Of these, approximately 43% were early R&D related deals; recent examples include Ablynx and Sanofi (July 2017), Numab and Kaken Pharmaceutical (June 2017), and Merus and Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona (January 2017). Other popular types of collaborations were product / technology licensing agreements (23%), product development and commercialization agreements (16%), manufacturing agreements (4%) and merger / acquisitions (4%). Some of the acquisitions that we came across include Celgene Corporation and EngMab (October 2016), and Aduro Biotech and BioNovion (September 2015).

6. Our future market outlook is highly optimistic as we expect several new drugs to be approved and launched over the coming decade. Examples of drugs in late stages of development include emicizumab, ABT-981, SAR156597, vobarilizumab, istiratumab, AFM13, MEDI3902 and RG7716. In fact, by 2030, we expect the market to grow at an annualized rate of ~34%. Specifically, we believe that emicizumab, istriatumab, ABT-981 and AFM13 will attain blockbuster status and become prime contributors to the marketas revenue.

7. Majority of product candidates are T-cell engagers; molecules using this particular mechanism of action are estimated to capture 58% share of the market by 2023. However, in the long term (by 2030), molecules belonging to other product classes having different mechanisms of action, such as blocking cytokines, dual targeting, and half-life extension, are collectively projected to capture almost 75% of the market.



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NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BMC Exchange NYC -- BMC, a global leader in IT solutions for the digital enterprise, today announced the newest release of its TrueSight AIOps platform, empowering customers to apply artificial intelligence to IT Operations.

Multi-cloud adoption, DevOps, micro-service architectures, and exponentially-increasing amounts of data are creating complexity that is overwhelming core IT teams and putting them in a perpetually reactive state. To succeed in a digital era defined by increased pressure to innovate faster, IT organizations need a modern approach anchored in Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps).

TrueSight 11 is an AIOps platform that identifies and contextualizes patterns from virtually any data source, revealing recurring issues and repetitive tasks ideal for automation. TrueSight dynamically learns the behavior of infrastructure and manages capacity, including multi-cloud utilization in the context of applications and services. These predictive capabilities empower IT teams to reduce mean time to resolution (MTTR), identify false alarms, and align cloud spend with budget targets.

"Businesses cannot realize the true potential of a dynamic infrastructure if operations teams aren't managing those resources in the context of business priorities," said Shayne Higdon, President, Performance & Analytics at BMC. "BMC's research indicates that 78 percent of IT leaders are looking to apply artificial intelligence as part of their multi-cloud management strategies. Our TrueSight platform for AIOps manages the health, performance, and cost of multi-cloud environments to improve infrastructure and operations agility, optimize service performance, and eliminate blind spots created by the explosion of digital data."

TrueSight easily ingests, analyzes, and contextualizes data to provide actionable correlations and insights faster and more accurately than manual human analysis could produce. By dynamically learning the behavior of the infrastructure, TrueSight prioritizes issues by level of importance to the business and eliminates false alarms. With unified capacity and performance analysis augmented by AI, organizations can now understand resource utilization in the context of both performance and spend, enabling them to intelligently forecast and optimize both using TrueSight.

"Our long-term vision for customer service is based on fundamentally shifting our posture from being reactive to being proactive: instead of waiting for our customers to tell us how they need our help, we need to be able to act before they ask," said Chris Adams, Chief Operating Officer at Park Place Technologies. "TrueSight helps us deliver a better customer experience by looking at data across a wide spectrum and predicting what's going to happen, using machine learning and artificial intelligence to transform the way we operate."

TrueSight 11 also introduces new solutions that address key use cases for machine learning to improve IT Operations, Service Desk, and Application Development disciplines:

Cloud Cost Control forecasts infrastructure capacity and cost for cloud services and on-premises data centers to regain control of budgets and optimizing resources.

Service Ticket Analytics uses machine learning to analyze tickets descriptions in real-time and intelligently categorizes them for faster resolution.

uses machine learning to analyze tickets descriptions in real-time and intelligently categorizes them for faster resolution. Change and Defect Analytics uses Jira data for visibility into the performance and financial impact of defects and bugs assigned to application development teams.

uses Jira data for visibility into the performance and financial impact of defects and bugs assigned to application development teams. Event Stream Analytics reduces event overload to quickly identify hotspots and proactively identify service or application deterioration before users are impacted.

The TrueSight 11 platform for AIOps is available today. To learn more about how BMC is delivering artificial intelligence to IT Operations, visit http://www.bmc.com/it-solutions/truesight.html.

About BMC

BMC is a global leader in innovative software solutions that enable businesses to transform into digital enterprises for the ultimate competitive advantage. Our Digital Enterprise Management solutions are designed to make digital business fast, seamless, and optimized from mainframe to mobile to cloud and beyond. BMC digital IT transforms 82 percent of the Fortune 500 and serves more than 10,000 customers worldwide.

BMC  Bring IT to Life

BMC, BMC Software, the BMC logo, and the BMC Software logo are the exclusive properties of BMC Software Inc., are registered or pending registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other BMC trademarks, service marks, and logos may be registered or pending registration in the U.S. or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Copyright 2017 BMC Software, Inc.

Media Contact:

Hotwire PR

Direct: +1 (347) 670-0437

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE BMC

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Wolff brings more than 30 years' experience in the audio space to the growing sales team  having worked for brands like Magnolia Hi-Fi, Sumiko, Vienna Acoustics, and  most recently  AudioQuest. His passion for audio and his knowledge of the global audio distribution and independent channel will help strengthen existing partnerships with customers and dealers, and solidify Bowers & Wilkins growth in the industry through its CI and passive loudspeaker products.

Wolff is the latest senior hire on the sales team since Richard Campbell took over Bowers & Wilkins global sales in July of this year. Reporting directly to CEO Gideon Yu, Campbell is leveraging his extensive experience in consumer electronics sales and marketing, along with his passion for the brand, to strengthen Bowers & Wilkins' premier position as the leader for performance audio.

Campbell joined Bowers & Wilkins having held multiple executive sales and marketing roles within the consumer electronics industry previously, including at companies such as Samsung, Panasonic and Olympus. Most recently he served as the VP of Sales and Marketing at iRobot Corporation.

"The global dealer network for Bowers & Wilkins provides a critical interface with our customer base, and are in many ways our most valuable brand ambassadors," said Campbell. "Reinforcing their support will be a key priority for my team as Bowers & Wilkins looks to expand our leadership in the custom install and consumer-ready audio solutions space."

"Given my 30 year audio career, to say I'm a Bowers & Wilkins fan is an understatement," said Wolff. "I look forward to working alongside Rich and team as we continue to grow the dealer network and reiterate our commitment to distinguishing the Bowers & Wilkins brand and reinforcing the brand's acoustic leadership."

In addition to the leadership additions, Bowers & Wilkins has made considerable new investments in the product management team based out of its Steyning Research Establishment in the U.K. This investment includes the expansion of dedicated product management support to continue to grow the passive loud speaker and custom install products.

Continued Audio Product Momentum

The new sales team additions come after a busy quarter at Bowers & Wilkins during which a number of well-received luxury audio products have been introduced including:

The 700 Series. Building off the success of the 800 Series Diamond, the recently announced 700 Series makes ultra-high-end sound quality more attainable and accessible than ever. Featuring a Carbon Dome Tweeter, the same solid body Tweeter-on-top design of the beloved 800 series, Continuum and Aerofoil Profile Cones, and topped off with an elegant design and near flawless acoustic sound quality, the 700 Series represents Bowers & Wilkins' continued commitment to high-end hi-fi solutions.

The PX Wireless, Noise-Cancelling Headphone. Paired with the unmatched audio acoustics Bowers & Wilkins is known for, and the intuitive UX of some of Silicon Valley's best designed CE products, the PX headphones exemplify the continued growth of Bowers & Wilkins in the CE space. With adaptive noise cancellation and responsive power, the PX comes with over 22 hours of battery life, making it the perfect headphone for busy travellers who do not wish to sacrifice on sound quality.

The DB Series Subwoofer. The DB Series contains four subwoofers designed to deliver incredibly powerful, tight and agile bass. They are the most powerful active subwoofers Bowers & Wilkins has produced, and feature the same Aerofoil cone bass drivers used in flagship 800 Series Diamond, combined with bespoke features such as Dynamic EQ and Room EQ to ensure precision performance in every space.

About Bowers & Wilkins

Bowers & Wilkins is Britain's leading manufacturer of high performance speakers and headphones. Since 1966, the brand has built an unrivalled reputation for innovation and sound quality, earning countless awards and the endorsement of many of the world's leading recording studios and musicians. Bowers & Wilkins reputation is based on the unwavering pursuit of the best possible sound and an unsurpassable music listening experience.

SOURCE Bowers & Wilkins
"It's in moments of crisis that kids and teens most need a safe haven, and I am inspired by our selfless staff in Houston who worked around the clock during Hurricane Harvey to ensure our Club members had a positive, safe place to go," said Jim Clark, president & CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. "Though the storm has since passed, the rebuilding continues. Toyota has stepped up in a huge way to support these ongoing relief efforts, and on behalf of our staff and Club members, we thank them for their generous donation."

More than 157 Clubs from Texas to Louisiana were in the direct path of the storm that hit this past August, and several facilities in Houston suffered both structural and flooding damage. Many Houston area Clubs remained open throughout the storm, a sign of Boys & Girls Clubs' unwavering commitment to support local youth and their families.

"As fellow Texans, the impact of Hurricane Harvey hit close to home," said Mike Groff, CEO of Toyota Financial Services (TFS). "We hope this donation will make life easier for Club staff, kids, teens and families who are still affected by the storm."

The following Houston area Clubs have been named recipients of the gifted vehicles: Boys & Girls Club of Bay City and Matagorda County, Boys & Girls Club of Beeville, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Houston, Boys & Girls Club of Kingsville, Boys & Girls Club of Walker County, Boys & Girls Club of Wharton, Boys & Girls Club of Brazos Valley, Boys & Girls Club of Deep East Texas, Boys & Girls Club of Coastal Bend Inc., Victoria, The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Houston and The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs of Texas.

"We are astounded by Toyota's donation and are incredibly grateful for their support of the Houston area," said Kevin Hattery, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston. "The recovery and rebuilding process, especially after such devastation, can be greatly overwhelming. Toyota's support will positively impact our day-to-day operations so that we can put our best efforts towards getting local kids and their families back to normal as quickly as possible."

This is not the first philanthropic partnership between Toyota and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Since 2007, through its "Making Life Easier" program, TFS has provided local Boys & Girls Club members, alumni and staff with resources to help ensure that all youth have access to a quality education. TFS has provided more than $2.4 million in academic scholarships for more than 560 Boys & Girls Club alumni and staff and supported thousands of middle- and high-school youth with mentorships, internships and financial or career programs to help them become productive and caring adults.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America will continue to help in hurricane-impacted areas. To learn how you can participate, please go to https://www.bgca.org/disasterrelief. Follow #BGCCares on social media to see how others are helping in these efforts and the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in helping families recover.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

For more than 150 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (bgca.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, 4,300 Clubs serve 4 million young people annually through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun, friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at http://www.bgca.org/facebook and http://bgca.org/twitter.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE: TM ) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 33 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 46,000 people (more than 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold almost 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.45 million in the U.S.) in 2016  and about 85 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 15 years are still on the road today.

Toyota partners with community, civic, academic, and governmental organizations to address our societys most pressing mobility challenges. We share company resources and extensive know-how to support non-profits to help expand their ability to assist more people move more places. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 33 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 46,000 people (more than 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold almost 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.45 million in the U.S.) in 2016  and about 85 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 15 years are still on the road today.

Toyota partners with community, civic, academic, and governmental organizations to address our societys most pressing mobility challenges. We share company resources and extensive know-how to support non-profits to help expand their ability to assist more people move more places. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Related Links

http://www.bgca.org


HOUSTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: BRS), the leading provider of global industrial aviation services, announced today it will release financial results for its fiscal 2018 second quarter ended September 30, 2017, after the market closes on Wednesday, November 8, 2017. In conjunction with the release, Bristow has scheduled a conference call, which will be broadcast live over the internet on Thursday, November 9, 2017, starting at 10:00 a.m. ET (9:00 a.m. CT). Investors may participate in the call either by phone or audio webcast.

By Phone: Dial 1-877-404-9648 for domestic callers or 412-902-0030 for international callers at least 10 minutes before the call.



By Webcast: Visit the Investor Relations page of Bristow's website at www.bristowgroup.com. Please log on at least 10 minutes in advance to register and download any necessary software. A replay will be available shortly after the call and will be accessible for approximately 90 days.

ABOUT BRISTOW GROUP INC.

Bristow Group Inc. is the leading global industrial aviation services provider offering helicopter transportation, search and rescue (SAR) and aircraft support services, including maintenance and training, to government and civil organizations worldwide. Bristow has major operations in the North Sea, Nigeria and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and in most of the other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia and Trinidad. Bristow provides SAR services to the private sector worldwide and to the public sector for all of the U.K. on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. For more information, visit bristowgroup.com.

Contact: Linda McNeill

Investor Relations

(713) 267-7622

SOURCE Bristow Group Inc.

Related Links

http://www.bristowgroup.com


Bugaboo transformed the stroller category in 1999 with the introduction of the world's first modular stroller and the luggage category in 2016 with the introduction of the Bugaboo Boxer . Similarly, We Are Handsome has redefined the norms of swim and active wear with daring designs and bold color palettes that celebrate natural beauty.

"Disrupting an existing category takes a lot of guts  something Bugaboo understands instinctively. We had a lot of fun working with them to create this fierce new collection," said Jeremy J. Somers, founder & creative director at We Are Handsome.

The Bugaboo by We Are Handsome limited-edition stroller accessories include Tailored Fabric Sets, Sun Canopies and a Footmuff for the Bugaboo Cameleon3, Bugaboo Bee5, Bugaboo Donkey and Bugaboo Buffalo strollers. The Bugaboo by We Are Handsome collection for the Bugaboo Boxer includes a limited-edition Cabin Case and an Inner Bag each featuring the same exclusive print.

"Bugaboo is known for our unexpected product collaborations with visionary artists and designers," said Nienke van Oeveren, global manager of strategic partnerships at Bugaboo. "The Bugaboo by We Are Handsome collaboration truly delivers on the unexpected and invites families and travelers to explore the world in unmistakable style and make every trip an adventure."

Bugaboo stroller accessories will be available exclusively at Nordstrom and Nordstrom.com starting October 18 and will expand to select retailers on November 1. The Bugaboo by We Are Handsome collection for the Bugaboo Boxer will be available on Bugaboo.com on November 1.

For more information on the Bugaboo by We Are Handsome collection, visit www.bugaboo.com. Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter .

About We Are Handsome

Since their launch in 2009, We Are Handsome has made their mark in swim and active wear with iconic designs and bold color palettes that celebrate natural beauty. Design duo Jeremy and Katinka Somers share the desire to constantly create, and focus on re-imagining the norms of swim and active wear design to construct pieces that capture the spirit and emotion of a life filled with movement. The brand's active, adventurous culture has inspired a cult following, including celebrities Beyonce, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Doutzen Kroes and Gisele Bundchen.

About Bugaboo

Bugaboo International is a Dutch design company that develops and produces mobility products. What started as one man's visionary design project has grown into a global brand that has helped millions of people to get out and explore the world in comfort and style. Best known for revolutionizing the stroller market with the launch of its iconic stroller in 1999, Bugaboo designs products that make life on the move easier. In 2016, the brand launched the Bugaboo Boxer, a luggage system helping people rediscover the pleasure of travel. Visit www.bugaboo.com for more of the story.

SOURCE Bugaboo

Related Links

http://www.bugaboo.com


AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The CATCH Global Foundation has received a three-year, $500,000 grant from CVS Health [NYSE: CVS] to bring the youth e-cigarette prevention program "CATCH My Breath" to middle- and high schools nationwide free of charge. The grant is part of CVS Health's Be The First initiative, a five-year $50 million effort to help deliver the nation's first tobacco-free generation through education and awareness, research and tobacco control advocacy, and health behavior programming. More at http://catchinfo.org/cvshealth.

"CVS Health's purpose is helping people on their path to better health, and we believe that stopping the spread of tobacco and e-cigarette use, particularly among young people, is an important element in advancing that purpose," said Eileen Howard Boone, senior vice president of corporate social responsibility for CVS Health. "By partnering with the CATCH Global Foundation, we can accelerate our efforts to reach youth at a critical point in time when they can learn healthy behaviors, instead of harmful ones."

E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth and young adults. CATCH My Breath is the first program specifically designed around preventing youth e-cigarette use.

In a 2016 pilot test, 86 percent of students said they were less likely to try e-cigarettes as a result of the program. CATCH My Breath was created by youth tobacco prevention experts at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health.

CATCH My Breath is currently taught in 20 states and reaches over 30,000 kids. The CVS Health funding expands program availability nationwide, with the aim of reaching 200,000 kids annually, by 2020.

"CATCH My Breath aligns with the priorities of our state-wide tobacco prevention efforts, and comes at a perfect time given the new Texas state law requiring e-cigarette education in schools," said Mark Boldt of the Texas Department of State Health Services Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch.

"Health education programs help youth lead happy, healthy lives. Through programs like CATCH My Breath that focus on teaching prevention in middle and high school, educators can provide those prevention messages when they are most effective," added Audra Walters, Coordinated School Health Director at the Arkansas Department of Education.

The grant from CVS Health will support program staffing, implementation, ongoing curriculum refinement, and evaluation.

SOURCE CATCH Global Foundation

Related Links

http://catchinfo.org


ATLANTA, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CTT) announced today an agreement to acquire 14,923 acres of prime timberlands near the southeast coast of Georgia for $43.3 million, excluding closing costs. The to-be-acquired timberlands in Long and McIntosh counties, the Coastal Georgia Acquisition, will expand CatchMark's positioning in one of the most competitive wood baskets of the U.S. South, increasing its regional holdings by 36%. Closing of the Coastal Georgia transaction is expected by the end of the year.

Jerry Barag, CatchMark's President and CEO, said: "This acquisition will not only provide synergies in pricing power, haul distances, and management, but also will meet CatchMark's objectives for continuing to establish the highest quality timberland portfolio in the industry. In particular, we will benefit from the enhanced merchantability of our harvests to a significant number of local mill customers within a 60-mile radius and a favorable supply agreement. Most importantly, the superior stocking and premier growing conditions on these plantations also meet our criteria and targets for producing durable earnings for our shareholders."

The Coastal Georgia Acquisition includes 72% pine plantations with stocking of 81 tons per acre. Approximately 92% of the inventory volume is pine and 65% of the inventory volume is chip-n-saw or sawtimber. The transaction's harvest productivity is expected to be 7.6 tons per acre per year, adding approximately 110,000 tons per year to CatchMark's harvest over the next decade.

CatchMark today also announced that earlier this week the company closed on the purchase of 4,641 acres of premier timberlands located in southeastern South Carolina (Colleton County)the Carolina Midlands V Acquisitionfor $10.9 million, exclusive of closing costs. Carolina Midlands V comprises high-quality, heavily-stocked southern pine timberlands close to strong coastal mill and export markets. Based on current estimates, the Carolina Midlands V tracts contain approximately 224,000 tons of merchantable timber, comprised of 94% pine plantations or convertible natural pine stands by acreage and 65% chip-n-saw or sawtimber by tons.

Barag said: "Carolina Midlands V adds extremely high-quality sites to our existing South Carolina timberlands with the acquisition's stocking averaging 47 tons per acre. Again, this transaction meets CatchMark's stringent criteria for building the highest quality timberlands portfolio in the industry."

The Carolina Midlands V transaction was funded through CatchMark's multi-draw term credit facility.

About CatchMark

CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CTT) is a self-administered and self-managed, publicly-traded REIT that strives to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns for all stakeholders through disciplined acquisitions, sustainable harvests and well-timed sales. Headquartered in Atlanta and focused exclusively on timberland ownership, CatchMark began operations in 2007 and owns interests in approximately 502,600 acres* of timberland located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. For more information, visit www.catchmark.com. From time to time, CatchMark releases important information via postings on its corporate website. Accordingly, investors and other interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic email alerts regarding new postings. Enrollment information is found in the "Investors Relations" section of www.catchmark.com.

* As of June 30, 2017.

SOURCE CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.catchmark.com


Mississauga, ON, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In celebration of Small Business Weeki (October 15  21), Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS) is launching its refreshed online Small Business Centre. Offering easy-to-use, complimentary resources, the centre is the perfect catalyst for small businesses (those with 1 to 49 employees) looking to develop their health and safety programs.

The WSPS Small Business Centre offers road maps specifically designed for small business owners. With the click of a button they can select the size of their businesses and they will be pointed to the resources that fit their needs. This is a considerable time-saver for owners and managers who must juggle many roles. Business owners and operators will appreciate the simplicity of the Small Business Centre, says Lynn Brownell, WSPS President and CEO. It has downloadable and customizable time-saving tools that are geared towards the needs of small business owners.

Featuring tools such as safety checklists, training tips for workers, workplace violence and harassment policy templates and WHMIS information, the site offers plenty of health and safety assistance to small businesses.

The new Centre is suitable for all small businesses, whether they are just starting their health and safety journey or are looking to stay connected to changing legislation. Weve really focused on core compliance requirements, says WSPS Consultant Kirsi Henry. Whether you want to enhance your program or you have an MOL order to comply with, our Small Business Centre can help.

Among the new resources found on the site are awareness videos and posters aimed at reducing on-the-job injuries experienced by new and young workers. Pay particular attention to your new and young workers, advises Henry. These are employees who are under 25 or are new to the type of work they are doing. They have a higher risk of injury and are the most likely to be injured within the first month on the job. Last year, 2,431 new and young workers in Ontario were absent from work due to injury in their first 30 days of employment.ii

Visit the new Small Business Centre at www.wsps.ca/SmallBusinessCentre.

About Workplace Safety & Prevention Services

WSPS is a leader in providing impactful risk management solutions that drive lasting business success for its customers. WSPS offers unparalleled health & safety expertise, insight and solutions for creating healthy work environments where employees thrive and businesses prosper. A dynamic $43-million organization servicing 165,000 member firms, WSPS is primarily focused on the agricultural, industrial/manufacturing and service sectors. A key player in the Ontario occupational health and safety system, WSPS brings together community and business leaders to influence positive change to create a safer and more profitable Ontario. For more information about WSPS, visit www.wsps.ca.

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i Small Business Week is an annual celebration of entrepreneurship that the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has organized for almost 40 years.

ii WSIB, Detailed HSA Entity Reports for WSPS, WSN, IHSA and PSHSA, Schedule 1 as of August 2017 (not publicly available)

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8a6e51a2-1ffa-4968-a882-7aa6e98c3de6
HOUSTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- alliantgroup is proud to announce the addition of Bernie Nagle, Executive Director of the Precision Machined Products Association, to the firm's Strategic Advisory Board. Nagle brings to the firm over four decades worth of experience from the manufacturing sector, having held a diverse number of senior leadership roles within the industry. As the board's latest appointee, Nagle will play an integral role in advising alliantgroup's strategic outreach initiatives to this vital sector of the economy.

"I am so excited to be lending support to a world-class organization that has a strong core mission and sense of purpose," said Nagle. "By helping companies understand and claim the tax incentives that were designed for their benefit, alliantgroup's services can provide immense value to the manufacturing sector. These incentives were created to help companies grow, hire new employees and remain competitive. I look forward to partnering with alliantgroup to educate PMPA members and the manufacturing sector at large on these incentive opportunities."

Nagle has served as the Executive Director of PMPA since 2015. He has also held numerous senior leadership roles for businesses as well as non-profit entities. Among his private sector positions, Nagle served as Director of Global Process Improvement for Berg Electronics, a worldwide manufacturer of complex electronic connector systems. In that role, his diverse list of responsibilities included strategic planning, employee engagement and lean implementation for 13 plants in nine different countries. Nagle was also a Director of Strategy and Continuous Improvement in the plastic injection molding industry. Between 1980 and 1995, Nagle held positions as VP of Manufacturing and VP of Operations in the food processing industry, where he was responsible for 15 different food processing plants all over North America. Additionally, he was a Principal Consultant for Price Waterhouse Consulting from 1995 through 1997, where he developed and delivered consulting and training tools for Supply Chain Optimization. These experiences have given him a unique perspective and deep understanding of the challenges facing the manufacturing industry.

In addition to his private sector roles, Nagle is a member of the Executive Board of Conscious Capitalism of Northeast Ohio, a regional chapter of the non-profit organization dedicated to promoting conscious leadership, stakeholder orientation, higher purpose, conscious culture and other values essential to a healthy economy. He is also the founder and curator of Altrupreneur.com and the author of the 1997 book, "Leveraging People & Profit  the Hard Work of Soft Management."

"I am so honored to be able to welcome Bernie to our Strategic Advisory Board," said Dhaval Jadav, alliantgroup CEO. "Bernie has proven himself to not only be a thought leader and an authority in the field of manufacturing, but in the concept of conscious leadership and what it takes to run a successful and engaging business. I am looking forward to his counsel in how to grow our firm and reach out to American manufacturers."

alliantgroup is a leading tax consultancy and the nation's premier provider of specialty tax services. The firm exists to help U.S. businesses and their CPA advisors properly identify and claim the federal and state tax incentives designed for their benefit. To date, alliantgroup has helped over 12,000 businesses claim over $6 billion in tax savings and $1.5 billion in credits and incentives for U.S. manufacturers. alliantgroup is headquartered in Houston and has offices around the country to better serve our clients. For more information, please visit us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

SOURCE alliantgroup

Related Links

https://www.alliantgroup.com


WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) announced today public disciplinary actions against the following individuals, effective immediately or on the date noted in each case. Public disciplinary actions taken by CFP Board, in order of increasing severity, include letters of admonition, suspensions and permanent revocations.

This release contains information about disciplinary actions relating to 19 current or former CFP professionals. Of these actions, there were 9 letters of admonition, 5 suspensions, 3 revocations and 2 administrative revocations.

The basis for each decision can be found in a Disciplinary Action Report below and on CFP Board's website. The public may check on an individual's disciplinary history and certification status with CFP Board at www.CFP.net/verify.

CFP Board's enforcement process is a critical consumer protection. CFP professionals agree to abide by CFP Board's Standards of Professional Conduct (Standards), which includes the Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility (Code of Ethics), Rules of Conduct and Financial Planning Practice Standards (Practice Standards). The Standards set forth the ethical standards for financial planners who hold the CFP certification.

CFP Board enforces its ethical standards by investigating incidents of alleged unethical behavior by CFP professionals. In cases where violations are found, the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) may impose discipline ranging from a private censure or public letter of admonition to the suspension or revocation of an individual's right to use the CFP marks. CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures (Disciplinary Rules) set forth the process for investigating matters and imposing discipline where violations have been found.

The Commission meets at least three times a year to provide a fair, unbiased review of any matter in which a CFP professional is alleged to have committed violations of the Standards.

The Commission functions in accordance with the Disciplinary Rules and reviews all matters on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the details specific to an individual case. While CFP Board has attempted to capture the details relevant to each decision, the summary nature of these releases may omit certain details affecting the decision. Accordingly, the decisions and/or rationale described in the releases may not apply to other cases reviewed by the Commission or reflect the Commission's future interpretation or application of the Standards.

STATE NAME LOCATION DISCIPLINE California Grant Blindbury, CFP Westlake Village Letter of Admonition California Robert J. Regan, CFP Danville Suspension Colorado Jeffrey S. Torrison, CFP Lakewood Letter of Admonition Connecticut Michael John Smeriglio, III Greenwich Revocation Florida Jeffrey M. Camarda Orange Park Letter of Admonition Florida Kimberly K. Camarda Orange Park Letter of Admonition Florida Walter P. Priebe Fort Lauderdale Revocation Florida Nicolas S. Toadvine Lakeland Suspension Georgia Brian G. Brown Atlanta Administrative Revocation Georgia Ryan Cox, CFP Columbus Letter of Admonition Illinois Donald G. Heatherly, CFP Wheaton Letter of Admonition Maryland Erik Bohn Bethesda Revocation Massachusetts Marc H. Sussman Framingham Suspension Massachusetts David C. Valente, CFP Norwell Letter of Admonition Michigan David Brian Altwerger, CFP Bloomfield Letter of Admonition Missouri Jodi Lynn Hall Brentwood Administrative Revocation Montana Daniel L. Chamberlin, CFP Helena Letter of Admonition Pennsylvania Paul G. Liebezeit Berwyn Suspension Texas Daniel G. Dillard, CFP Austin Suspension

LETTERS OF ADMONITION

CALIFORNIA

Grant Blindbury, CFP (Westlake Village): In June 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Blindbury entered into a settlement agreement wherein Mr. Blindbury received a Letter of Admonition. In the settlement agreement, Mr. Blindbury consented to CFP Board's findings that he misrepresented his compensation method as "fee-only" twice on CFP Board's "Find a CFP Professional" search tool when he was licensed to sell insurance products for a commission and actually received commissions from the sale of insurance products. CFP Board determined that Mr. Blindbury's conduct violated Rule 2.1 of the Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Article 3(A) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Accordingly, the Commission admonished Mr. Blindbury with regard to the above-mentioned conduct.

COLORADO



Jeffrey S. Torrison, CFP (Lakewood): In April 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Torrison entered into a settlement agreement wherein Mr. Torrison received a Letter of Admonition. In the settlement agreement, Mr. Torrison consented to CFP Board's findings that he: 1) mislead his broker-dealer by falsely completing his annual compliance questionnaire when he responded "No" to a question asking if Mr. Torrison had been the subject of a lien; and 2) failed to amend his Form U4 to timely disclose his 2012 federal tax lien. Mr. Torrison's conduct violated Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) Rules 1122 and 2010. FINRA suspended Mr. Torrison from association with any FINRA member for 20 business days and fined him $5,000. CFP Board determined that Mr. Torrison's conduct violated Rules 5.1 and 6.5 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Articles 3(A) and 3(D) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Accordingly, the Commission admonished Mr. Torrison with regard to the above-mentioned conduct.



FLORIDA

Jeffrey M. Camarda (Orange Park): In March 2013, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order in which Mr. Camarda received a Letter of Admonition. The Commission issued its order after determining that: 1) Mr. Camarda owned and managed a registered investment adviser (RIA) and a consulting company (Company); 2) RIA represented to clients on its website and in its Form ADV Part II that it provided "fee-only" investment management and financial planning services; and 3) RIA and Company were functionally one organization providing clients a wide range of investment services, some of which were commission-based. Based on these findings, the Commission determined that Mr. Camarda misrepresented that RIA was a "fee-only" investment adviser: 1) due to the mutual referral fee arrangement between RIA and Company; and 2) because RIA and Company were functionally one organization providing services to clients and Company received insurance commissions. The Commission determined that Mr. Camarda's conduct violated Rules 2.1 and 6.5 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Article 3(A) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. After an appeal hearing, the Appeals Committee of CFP Board's Board of Directors unanimously affirmed the Commission's findings of fact and the discipline imposed by the Commission. Accordingly, the Commission admonished Mr. Camarda with regard to the above-mentioned conduct.

Kimberly K. Camarda (Orange Park): In March 2013, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order in which Ms. Camarda received a Letter of Admonition. The Commission issued its order after determining that: 1) Ms. Camarda owned and managed a registered investment adviser (RIA) and a consulting company (Company); 2) RIA represented to clients on its website and in its Form ADV Part II that it provided "fee-only" investment management and financial planning services; and 3) RIA and Company were functionally one organization providing clients a wide range of investment services, some of which were commission-based. Based on these findings, the Commission determined that Ms. Camarda misrepresented that RIA was a "fee-only" investment adviser: 1) due to the mutual referral fee arrangement between RIA and Company; and 2) because RIA and Company were functionally one organization providing services to clients and Company received insurance commissions. The Commission determined that Ms. Camarda's conduct violated Rules 2.1 and 6.5 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Article 3(A) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. After an appeal hearing, the Appeals Committee of CFP Board's Board of Directors unanimously affirmed the Commission's findings of fact and the discipline imposed by the Commission. Accordingly, the Commission admonished Ms. Camarda with regard to the above-mentioned conduct.

GEORGIA

Ryan Cox, CFP (Columbus): In August 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) entered into a settlement agreement with Mr. Cox in which he received a Letter of Admonition. In the settlement agreement, Mr. Cox consented to CFP Board's findings that he and his wife received gifts from a client. In addition, CFP Board found that Mr. Cox's wife was named the beneficiary on the client's variable annuity. Ultimately, Mr. Cox's wife disclaimed all benefits on the variable annuity and Mr. Cox's firm refunded all gifts to the client. Mr. Cox's firm permitted him to resign. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) determined that Mr. Cox's conduct violated FINRA Rule 2010. FINRA suspended Mr. Cox from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for two months and fined him $15,000. CFP Board determined that Mr. Cox's conduct violated Rules 4.3 and 5.1 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Articles 3(A) and 3(D) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Accordingly, the Commission admonished Mr. Cox with regard to the above-mentioned conduct.

ILLINOIS



Donald G. Heatherly, CFP (Wheaton): In April 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order wherein Mr. Heatherly received a Letter of Admonition. The Commission issued its order after determining that Mr. Heatherly twice misrepresented his compensation method as fee-only on CFP Board's "Find a CFP Professional" search tool when he: 1) was a licensed broker who was entitled to receive commissions; 2) was an insurance producer licensed to sell insurance products for commissions; 3) earned commissions during the period in which he used "fee-only" to describe his compensation method; and 4) referred clients to related parties who earned commissions from the sale of products. The Commission determined that Mr. Heatherly's conduct violated Rule 6.5 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Article 3(A) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Accordingly, the Commission admonished Mr. Heatherly with regard to the above-mentioned conduct.

MASSACHUSETTS



David C. Valente, CFP (Norwell): In April 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Valente entered into a settlement agreement wherein Mr. Valente received a Letter of Admonition. In the settlement agreement, Mr. Valente consented to CFP Board's findings that he, on three separate occasions between September 19, 2013 and April 20, 2016, communicated misleading information to clients or prospective clients when he represented his compensation method as "fee-only" on CFP Board's "Find a CFP Professional" search tool. The "fee-only" representation was inaccurate because Mr. Valente received insurance commissions, was licensed to serve as an insurance agent in several states and appointed with more than a dozen insurance carriers, and collected commissions on new policies and trailing commissions on older policies. CFP Board determined that Mr. Valente's conduct violated Rule 6.5 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Articles 3(A) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Accordingly, the Commission admonished Mr. Valente with regard to the above-mentioned conduct.

MICHIGAN

David Brian Altwerger, CFP (Bloomfield): In April 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) and Mr. Altwerger entered into a settlement agreement wherein Mr. Altwerger received a Letter of Admonition. In the settlement agreement, Mr. Altwerger consented to CFP Board's findings that he made 10 electronic fund transfers totaling $5,000 from his personal bank account to his personal brokerage account knowing that he had insufficient funds to cover those transfers. The transfers artificially inflated Mr. Altwerger's brokerage account, from which he withdrew funds for personal use. The transfers were rejected due to insufficient funds and created a deficit in the brokerage account, which Mr. Altwerger later would rectify. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) suspended Mr. Altwerger from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for three months and fined him $5,000. Mr. Altwerger also failed to cooperate with CFP Board when he failed to provide proof that he had paid the FINRA fine. CFP Board determined that Mr. Altwerger's conduct violated Rule 6.5 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Articles 3(A), 3(D) and 3(F) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Accordingly, the Commission admonished Mr. Altwerger with regard to the above-mentioned conduct.

MONTANA

Daniel L. Chamberlin, CFP (Helena): In April 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order in which Mr. Chamberlin received a Letter of Admonition. The Commission issued its order after finding that Mr. Chamberlin misrepresented his compensation method as fee-only on CFP Board's Find a CFP Professional search tool while he was entitled to receive and actually received commission for the sale of insurance and securities products. The Commission determined that Mr. Chamberlin's conduct violated Rules 2.1 and 2.2(A) of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Article 3(A) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Accordingly, the Commission admonished Mr. Chamberlin with regard to the above-mentioned conduct.

SUSPENSIONS

CALIFORNIA

Robert J. Regan, CFP (Danville): In April 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) entered into a settlement agreement wherein Mr. Regan received a 60-day suspension of his right to use the CFP marks. In the settlement agreement, Mr. Regan consented to CFP Board's findings that he participated in private securities transactions when three customers purchased approximately $350,000 of stock in a private company. Mr. Regan had requested permission from his firm to be involved with the private securities transactions, but the scope of his involvement went beyond what his firm permitted and he did not provide his firm with written notification of the expansion of his involvement or obtain permission from his firm to expand his involvement. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA, formerly known as the National Association of Securities Dealers or NASD) determined that Mr. Regan's conduct violated NASD Rule 3040 and FINRA Rule 2010. FINRA suspended Mr. Regan from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 60 days and fined him $5,000. CFP Board determined that Mr. Regan's conduct violated Rule 4.3 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Articles 3(A) and 3(D) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. According to the settlement agreement, Mr. Regan consented to a 60-day suspension and to complete 12 hours of remedial education. Mr. Regan's suspension was effective from April 17, 2017 until June 16, 2017.

FLORIDA

Nicholas S. Toadvine (Lakeland): In April 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order in which Mr. Toadvine received a one-year suspension. The Commission issued its order after determining that Mr. Toadvine recommended and sold clients alternative investments that: 1) resulted in an unsuitable concentration of the clients' assets in alternative investments; and 2) were unsuitable due to the clients' ages, risk tolerances, and investment objectives. The Commission determined that Mr. Toadvine's conduct violated Rule 201 of CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Rules 1.4, 4.5 and 6.5 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Article 3(A) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. The Commission suspended Mr. Toadvine's right to use the CFP certification for one year and required him to complete 15 hours of remedial education. Mr. Toadvine's suspension is effective from June 6, 2017 until June 6, 2018.



MASSACHUSETTS

Marc H. Sussman (Framingham): In April 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order suspending Mr. Sussman's CFP certification for one year. The Commission issued its order after finding that Mr. Sussman forged the signatures of at least 26 customers on at least 29 account documents, including Letters of Authorization and Transfer of Assets forms, after discussing the transfers with the customers. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) determined that Mr. Sussman's conduct violated FINRA Rule 2010. FINRA suspended Mr. Sussman from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 12 months and fined him $10,000. The Commission also determined Mr. Sussman: 1) failed to report a customer complaint to his firm in violation of firm policies and procedures; 2) failed to disclose the FINRA suspension to CFP Board in a timely manner; and 3) made false statements to CFP Board on his Ethics Declaration when he responded "No" to questions requiring the disclosure of the FINRA investigation and customer complaints. The Commission determined that Mr. Sussman's conduct violated Rules 4.3, 4.5 and 5.1 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Articles 3(A), 3(D), 3(E) and 3(G) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Mr. Sussman's suspension is effective from June 9, 2017 until June 9, 2018.

PENNSYLVANIA

Paul G. Liebezeit (Berwyn): In June 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) entered into a settlement agreement with Mr. Liebezeit in which he received a six-month suspension of his right to use the CFP certification marks. In the settlement agreement, Mr. Liebezeit consented to CFP Board's findings that he recommended a fund of hedge funds that was not approved for sale by his firm. Mr. Liebezeit facilitated the investment by introducing the clients to the fund's representatives, assisting the clients with paperwork for the transaction, and facilitating the transfer of the clients' investments from a custodian account to the fund. Mr. Liebezeit did not provide prior written notice of his participation in the transaction to this firm and did not obtain written approval from his firm to participate in the transaction. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA, formerly known as National Association of Securities Dealers or NASD) determined that Mr. Liebezeit's conduct violated NASD Rule 3040 and FINRA Rule 2010. FINRA suspended Mr. Liebezeit from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for six months and fined him $5,000. CFP Board determined that Mr. Liebezeit's conduct violated Rules 4.3 and 5.1 of the Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Articles 3(A) and 3(D) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Mr. Liebezeit's suspension is effective from June 29, 2017 until December 29, 2017.

TEXAS

Daniel G. Dillard, CFP (Austin): In February 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) entered into a settlement agreement wherein Mr. Dillard received a six-month suspension of his right to use the CFP certification marks. In the settlement agreement, Mr. Dillard consented to CFP Board's findings that Mr. Dillard entered into a financial institutes services agreement in which Mr. Dillard stood to receive 75% of his net commissions with his firm receiving 25%. The agreement also provided for his employer to receive an increase in the percentage of net commissions until Mr. Dillard reached a certain threshold. On meeting that threshold, Mr. Dillard falsified an internal form by altering the commission distribution percentages and using his firm's prior signature without the firm's knowledge. Mr. Dillard's firm terminated him based on this conduct. Further, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) determined that Mr. Dillard's conduct violated FINRA Rules 2010 and 4511. FINRA suspended Mr. Dillard from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for three months and fined him $5,000. Mr. Dillard also consented to CFP Board's finding that he failed to timely disclose the FINRA suspension to CFP Board and that he made a false and misleading statement to CFP Board when he indicated on his CFP Board Ethics Declaration that he had not been terminated by his firm. CFP Board determined that Mr. Dillard's conduct violated Rules 4.3 and 5.1 of the Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline under Articles 3(A), 3(D) and 3(E) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Mr. Dillard's suspension was effective from February 28, 2017 until August 28, 2017.

REVOCATIONS

CONNECTICUT

Michael John Smeriglio, III (Greenwich): In April 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order in which it permanently revoked Mr. Smeriglio's right to use the CFP marks. The Commission issued the order after determining that Mr. Smeriglio took a loan from a trust for which he served as the trustee of the trust and the executor of the client's estate. Mr. Smeriglio resigned from his firm after admitting he took the loan from the trust. When the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) investigated the circumstances of the loan, Mr. Smeriglio refused to comply with FINRA's request for information and documents. Mr. Smeriglio consented to a bar from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for failing to provide documents and information requested by FINRA, in violation of FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010. Mr. Smeriglio failed to timely report the FINRA bar to CFP Board and made a false statement to CFP Board on his CFP Board Ethics Declaration when asked if he was the subject of a regulatory investigation or inquiry. The Commission determined that Mr. Smeriglio's conduct violated Rules 3.6, 4.3, and 5.1 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline pursuant to Articles 3(A), 3(D), 3(E) and 3(G) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Mr. Smeriglio's revocation was effective on June 9, 2017.

FLORIDA

Walter P. Priebe (Fort Lauderdale): In April 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order in which it permanently revoked Mr. Priebe's right to use the CFP marks. The Commission issued the order after determining that Mr. Priebe served as the trustee, attorney-in-fact, beneficiary or transfer-on-death for several clients without disclosing to the clients that it was a conflict of interest for him to simultaneously serve as an investment advisor to the clients. The Commission determined that at least one of the clients for whom Mr. Priebe served as a beneficiary was mentally incapacitated at the time of the beneficiary designation. The Commission further determined that Mr. Priebe advised his clients not to seek advice from an attorney regarding the conflict of interest associated with his dual role as the investment adviser and trustee, attorney-in-fact, beneficiary or transfer-on-death. The Commission also determined that Mr. Priebe entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) in which FINRA determined that Mr. Priebe engaged in outside business activities, which consisted mainly of his designation as trustee or attorney-in-fact, and failed to provide notice to, or obtain approval from, his firm for the outside business activities. FINRA suspended Mr. Priebe for six months in all capacities and fined him $25,000. The Commission determined that Mr. Priebe's conduct violated Rules 201, 401(a), 406, 407(a) and 606(a) of CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Rules 1.4, 2.2(b), 4.1, 4.3, 4.4 and 5.1 of the Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline under Articles 3(A) and 3(D) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Mr. Priebe's revocation was effective on June 6, 2017.

MARYLAND

Erik Bohn (Bethesda): In April 2017, CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission (Commission) issued an order in which it permanently revoked Mr. Bohn's right to use the CFP marks. The Commission issued the order after determining that Mr. Bohn entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) in which it determined that Mr. Bohn failed to appear for testimony as requested by FINRA during its investigation of Mr. Bohn's resignation from his firm during the firm's review of allocation of commission between Mr. Bohn and his partner. FINRA barred Mr. Bohn from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. The Commission determined that Mr. Bohn did not notify CFP Board of the FINRA bar within 30 days of his entry into the AWC. The Commission determined that Mr. Bohn's conduct violated Rules 4.3 and 6.5 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline under Articles 3(A), 3(d) and 3(E) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Mr. Bohn's revocation was effective on June 6, 2017.

ADMINISTRATIVE REVOCATIONS

GEORGIA

Brian G. Brown (Atlanta): In March 2017, CFP Board issued an order permanently revoking Mr. Brown's right to use the CFP certification marks. This discipline followed Mr. Brown's failure to file an answer to CFP Board's Complaint within the required timeframe. CFP Board's Complaint alleged, among other things, that Mr. Brown: 1) misrepresented to clients the risks of alternative investment products, including the absence of a market for the securities; 2) recommended alternative investment products to his clients because of the high commissions the products afforded him and not because the products benefitted the clients; 3) recommended and sold investments to his clients that were unsuitable; and 4) recommended and sold alternative investment products to his clients that unsuitably concentrated the clients' assets in alternative investments. CFP Board's Complaint alleged that Mr. Brown's conduct violated Rules 102 and 201 of CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, providing grounds for discipline under Article 3(A) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures (Disciplinary Rules). Mr. Brown failed to file an Answer to CFP Board's Complaint within 20 calendar days of the date of service, as required by Article 7.3 of Disciplinary Rules. In accordance with Article 7.4 of the Disciplinary Rules, the allegations set forth in the Complaint were deemed admitted, and CFP Board issued an Administrative Order of Revocation. Mr. Brown's revocation was effective as of April 3, 2017.



MISSOURI

Jodi Lynn Hall (Brentwood): In March 2017, CFP Board issued an order permanently revoking Ms. Hall's right to use the CFP certification marks. This discipline followed Ms. Hall's failure to file an answer to CFP Board's Complaint within the required timeframe. CFP Board's Complaint alleged, among other things, that Ms. Hall intentionally and without authorization converted funds by causing disbursements from her employer's business bank account. CFP Board's Complaint alleged that Ms. Hall's conduct violated Rule 6.5 of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and provided grounds for discipline under Articles 3(A) and 3(D) of CFP Board's Disciplinary Rules and Procedures (Disciplinary Rules). Ms. Hall failed to file an Answer to CFP Board's Complaint within 20 calendar days of the date of service, as required by Article 7.3 of Disciplinary Rules. In accordance with Article 7.4 of the Disciplinary Rules, the allegations set forth in the Complaint were deemed admitted, and CFP Board issued an Administrative Order of Revocation. Ms. Hall's revocation was effective as of March 31, 2017.

ABOUT CFP BOARD

The mission of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is to benefit the public by granting the CFP certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for competent and ethical personal financial planning. The Board of Directors, in furthering CFP Board's mission, acts on behalf of the public, CFP professionals and other stakeholders. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP, Certified Financial Planner, CFP (with plaque design) and CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements. CFP Board currently authorizes nearly 80,000 individuals to use these marks in the U.S.

SOURCE Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.cfp.net


"The Korean and APAC markets are rich with the SaaS, ad tech, e-commerce, social, and gaming applications at which our distributed database excels with its ability to process millions of transactions a second," said Mike Azevedo, CEO of Clustrix. "We are seeing huge growth for Clustrix in these markets, so it was important to bring on a strong team with prior success in the Korean market."

Clustrix Appoints Jin Lim, formerly of Samsung Electronics, as VP of Technology

Mr. Lim brings more than 17 years of R&D experience in scale-out database, storage infrastructure, and information sharing applications to Clustrix. Most recently he led a sought-after R&D team with Samsung Electronics where his main responsibility was to design new data store technology for the future and enable existing cloud storage service to keep pace with global demand, while also leading both strategic M&A and technology alliance. Previously, Mr. Lim held positions at Couchbase, Oracle, and EMC.

Clustrix Appoints Eun-Chul Lee, of Olympic fame, as Korea Country Manager

Mr. Lee, well known to Korean Olympics fans as a gold medal winner in shooting, joins Clustrix from Treasure Data where, as Korea General Manager, he established the company as a top brand in the data analysis market. Previously, he was CEO of DAS and IoT module company, Intelra Inc., where he worked with companies such as KT, Softbank, and Qualcomm.

Clustrix will be supporting its APAC customers out of the Seoul office, with Allen Lee leading APAC Technical Support and Services.

About Clustrix

Clustrix delivers the world's leading scale-out SQL database perfectly suited for high-value, high-performance OLTP applications that run on-premise or in the cloud. ClustrixDB is a drop-in MySQL replacement and is known for its on-demand scalability, high availability, resiliency, ACID compliance, and shared-nothing architecture. ClustrixDB avoids the expensive redesign and redevelopment of MySQL applications and data architectures required by the typical MySQL scaling techniques such as replication and sharding. ClustrixDB delivers more than twenty-five trillion transactions per month for customers including AOL, Nielsen, Match, MakeMyTrip, Photobox, Rakuten, and Symantec. ClustrixDB is available in software that runs on commodity hardware and on any cloud. Clustrix is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.clustrix.com .

SOURCE Clustrix

Related Links

http://www.clustrix.com


SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The dedication of major state-owned corporations to social welfare on a global scale has once again been put on display as China's largest public port operator, China Merchants Port Holdings Company Ltd., is set to announce the newest edition of C Blue, an innovative training program developed in response to the "Belt & Road" Initiative, for the second time since its initial launch in September, 2016.

With the program's 2017 return, China Merchants Port, or "CMPort", whose global portfolio spans over 15 countries and regions, will work in conjunction with co-organizer Shenzhen Polytechnic, a specialized college located in the Province of Guangdong, to equip trainees from around the world with industry-specific expertise. C Blue, which owes its enchanting title to the Chinese phrase for "shaping our blue dream", will "offer foreign countries the environment, resources, and platform they need to nurture top leadership talents", according to the program's promotional material.

C Blue is hardly the first project its corporate organizer has carried out for a social cause. China Merchants Group, CMPort's parent company, boasts a long-standing philanthropic tradition dating all the way back to the late 19th-century, when it first set out to perform public service on behalf of the Qing Government amid the Self-Strengthening Movement; now a leading international conglomerate, the group continues to fulfill its corporate social responsibility primarily through China Merchants Charitable Foundation, one of its youngest establishments.

Backed by the foundation's financial resources and nonprofit agenda, China Merchants subsidiaries across various business sectors are rapidly expanding their social influence. CMPort, for instance, has been able to complement C Blue's educational contributions with much-needed medical services: in 2015, the same team behind the training program also introduced a healthcare project in Sri Lanka, where eye surgery has been performed at local hospitals on more than 400 patients who would otherwise go untreated due to financial difficulties.

C Blue, nevertheless, signals an important and exciting new direction for CMPort's social endeavors, thanks to a groundbreaking marriage between the conventional CSR model and the company's corporate mission. While the new program, like other social projects, lives up to its charitable nature through social welfare, it equally serves the port operator's global business strategy by interacting with cross-industry personnel from key foreign countries, who are expected to help facilitate CMPort's business activities within those locations.

Compared to its 2016 debut, C Blue's sophomore edition promises a more diverse audience as well as more interactive sessions with added cultural experiences. Participants from 13 countries - almost doubling the previous year's statistic - will be presented with a training-based curriculum "that covers multiple areas such as port operations, shipping, logistics, accounting, and free-trade zone development, along with special sessions that explores, among other themes, traditional Chinese culture and China's development history," suggests one of the program's admission guides. During their month-long stay, selected executives and employees from various sectors will look to gain valuable insights into the nation's port industry and general economic landscape through lectures, field trips, and company tours.

Speaking at its original opening ceremony back in 2016, Bai Jingtao, Managing Director of China Merchants Port, foresaw the program's profound implications when he described it as "the window to the Chinese port industry". "C Blue is CMPort's response to the Belt & Road Initiative introduced by our government," Dr. Bai said in his speech. "It highlights a sustainable development strategy focused on the nurture of international talent."

The program is scheduled to officially kick off at its opening ceremony in Shenzhen on October 16, 2017.

For further information, please contact the C Blue Team at CMPort

Mr. Vincent An; Tel: +86 180 1872 9857; Email: [email protected]

SOURCE CMPort

Related Links

http://www.cmport.com.hk/en/


NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Global Coagulation Testing Market: Overview



This report provides forecast and analysis of the coagulation testing market on the global and regional levels. It provides historical data of 2016 along with forecast from 2017 to 2025 in terms of revenue (US$ Mn). The report also includes macroeconomic indicators along with an outlook on coagulation testing globally.







Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05142605







It includes drivers and restraints of the coagulation testing market and their impact on each region during the forecast period. The report also comprises of the study of current issues with end users and opportunities for coagulation testing manufacturers in the global market.



In order to provide users with comprehensive view of the market, we have included detailed competitive analysis and market players with unique selling propositions. The competitive dashboard included in the report provides detailed comparison of coagulation testing manufacturers on parameters such as product offerings, revenue, key strategies, and recent developments. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, by product type, by test type, by end users and region.



Global Coagulation Testing Market: Segmentation

The report includes revenue generated from sales of coagulation testing in all regions and important countries in the regions. By product type, the global coagulation testing market has been segmented into instruments and consumables. On the basis of test type the coagulation testing market is segmented into PT, APTT, TT, ACT and others. On the basis of end users, the global coagulation testing market is segmented into hospitals and clinics, diagnostics laboratories, home care settings and others.



Geographically, the market is segmented into regions viz. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa.



Global Coagulation Testing Market: Scope and Research Methodology

Market value for global coagulation testing have been estimated based on utility of coagulation testing for all product types. The revenue is forecasted through regional pricing trends. Market size and forecast for each segment have been provided in the context of global and regional markets.



The coagulation testing market has been analyzed based on expected demand. Most of the key end users have been considered and potential applications have been estimated on the basis of secondary sources and feedback from primary respondents. Regional demand patterns have been considered while estimating the market for various end users of coagulation testing in different regions. Top-down approach has been used to estimate the coagulation testing market size, and bottom-up approach has been used to validate the market number.



The market has been forecasted based on constant currency rates. A number of secondary sources consulted during the course of the study include Factiva, NCBI, Google books, company annual reports, websites, white papers, and publications.



Global Coagulation Testing Market: Competitive Dynamics

The report provides detailed competitive dashboard and company profiles of key participants operating in the global market. Some of the key players in the global coagulation testing market include Alere Inc., F.



Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Abbott Laboratories, Siemens healthineers, SYSMEX CORPORATION, Universal Biosensors, Inc., HemoSonics, LLC, Helena Laboratories, Inc. and others.



Global Coagulation Testing market is segmented as below:



Global Coagulation Testing Market  By Product Type

Instruments

Consumables



Global Coagulation Testing Market  By Test Type

PT

APTT

TT

ACT

Others



Global Coagulation Testing Market  By End Users

Hospitals and Clinics

Diagnostics Laboratories

Home Care Settings

Others



Global Coagulation Testing Market  By Region

North America

U.S.

Canada

Europe

Germany

U.K.

France

Italy

Spain

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific (APAC)

China

Japan

India

Australia & New Zealand

Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa (MEA)

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05142605



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



https://www.reportlinker.com





__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

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LONDON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Executive Summary

Over the past five years, the global cord blood banking industry has substantially matured and consolidated. This has created both serious threats and novel opportunities for the industry. Serious threats to the industry include low rates of utilization for stored cord blood, expensive cord blood transplantation procedures, difficulty educating obstetricians about cellular therapies, and an increasing trend toward industry consolidation.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5142306



Marketing pressures are also impacting the industry, with the term "cord blood" being one of the 20 most expensive search terms on Google. Winning online traffic through Google AdWords for the search phrase "Cord Blood" now costs $45.87 in the U.S. When all locations are allowed, the cost for acquiring online traffic through Google AdWords for the phrase "Cord Blood" is $32.91.



Digital competition for cord blood has also been growing increasingly competitive, with cord blood banks competing for online viewership of ads, website content, and ultimately, clients. Most cord blood banks are using Google Adwords to display advertisements within Google Search as a method of acquiring online visitors. Industry leaders are also publishing enormous quantities of industry-relevant content to dominate in organic (non-paid) online search.



However, there are also emerging opportunities for the industry, such as accelerated regulatory pathways for cell therapies in leading countries worldwide, including the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. Cord blood banks are diversifying into new types of stem cell storage, including cord tissue storage, placental stem cells, amniotic stem cells, menstrual stem cells, adipose tissue, and more.



Holding companies are emerging as a global theme, allowing for increased operational efficiency and economy of scale. Cryoholdco has been acquiring cord blood banks throughout Latin America and Sanpower Group has been collecting them within Asia. Additionally, growing investment is flowing into cord blood stem cell expansion technologies. Key strategies being explored for this purpose include nicotinamide-mediated (NAM) expansion, Notch ligand, SR-1, UM171, PGE2, and enforced fucosylation. Major market players competing in this space include Gamida Cell Ltd, Nohla Therapeutics, Novartis, Fate Therapeutics, and others.



Finally, growing numbers of investors are entering the cord blood banking marketplace, led by groups such as:

 ABS Capital Partners & HLM Management

 KKR & Company

 Bay City Capital

 GTCR, LLC

 Excalibur



While market factors can vary by geography, it is crucial to have a global understanding of the market. Research advances, clinical trial findings, and technology advances do not know international boundaries. The cord blood market is global in nature and understanding dynamics limited to your region is not sufficient for making strategic, informed, and profitable decisions.



Today, cord blood banks now exist in every developed country, as well as within most developing nations. With approximately 450 companies marketing cord blood banking services worldwide, maturation of the market means that each company is fighting harder for market share. While the U.S. cord blood banking industry is the most mature cord blood banking market in the world, Asia is extremely close behind and growing more quickly than the U.S. market.



In 2016, Sanpower Group and its subsidiary Nanjing Cenbest announced the acquisition of China Cord Blood Corporation (NYSE:CO) and Shandong Cord Blood Bank, positioning it to hold four licenses out of the only seven issued provincial-level cord blood bank licenses in China.



According to the company, Sanpower Group has "reserved 800,000 cord blood samples at home, and the associated reserves nearly amount to 1,100,000 when counting in the Cordlife reserves across various Southeast Asian countries and regions." This positions Sanpower Group and its subsidiary Nanjing Cenbest as the world's largest cord blood banking operator not only in China and Southeast Asia, but in the world.



Currently, the largest cord blood bank in the United States, Cord Blood Registry, reports to have nearly 700,000 cord blood and tissue units in storage, positioning it substantially behind Sanpower Group. With CBR controlling more than 50% of the market share in the U.S. and Sanpower Group controlling more than 50% of the market share in China, these two entities are the largest cord blood operators in the world.



Other regions have witnessed major events as well. In 2008, a Taiwanese company, HealthBanks Biotech Company Ltd. became the first company to offer cord tissue storage. It was not until July 2010 that the first private U.S. cord blood bank began offering the service (Cord Blood Registry). Since then, the trend of cord tissue storage has had a major impact on the cord blood banking industry, with a large percentage of cord blood banks offering the service worldwide.



In China, the government shocked the industry by announcing that only one cord blood bank would be allowed to operate within each province, and official government support, authorization, and permits would be required.



In Italy and France, it is illegal to privately store one's cord blood, which has fully eliminated the potential for a private market to exist within the region.



In Ecuador, the government is now creating the first public cord blood bank and has instituted laws such that private cord blood banks cannot approach women about private cord blood banking options during the first six months of pregnancy. This created a crisis for the private banks, and there are now only two remaining in Ecuador.

Clearly, it is vital to understand market dynamics and risks, as well as the emerging opportunities, within different regions of the world.



This 265 page reports includes:

 Market size determinations by market segment

 Trend data for umbilical cord blood grants, patents, and scientific publications

 Clinical trial analysis, including comparison of cord blood vs. cord tissue

 Rates of worldwide cord blood storage (units per year)

 Current and future conditions treatable with cord blood

 Probability of requiring a stem cell transplant by age

 Regulatory pathways affecting cord blood banking in major healthcare markets

 Digital marketing assessment and comparison of industry leaders

 Competitive environment analysis, including identification of market leaders

 Medical opinions of cord blood banking

 Crucial trends and unmet market needs

 And more



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5142306



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

https://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

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ATLANTA, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Reflecting the growing importance of using data to optimize online advertising in the automotive industry, Cox Automotive today announced three senior industry veterans will be participating in the inaugural Automotive Analytics & Attribution Summit (AAAS), being held November 8-9 in Boca Raton, Florida. AAAS is the first event of its kind dedicated to online marketing analytics and attribution for the automotive industry.

The AAAS has been organized to attract thought leaders, technology companies, and dealership managers who want to work together to solve the unique attribution challenges in the auto industry. Manufacturers, marketing technology companies, marketing portals, and dealership managers are invited to present their research, case studies, and challenges in a forum that will seek to define the next steps to solve a pressing problem in our industry.

The following Cox Automotive specialists will participate in AAAS panels and workshops:

Brian Geitner , President at Cox Automotive Media Solutions Group

, President at Cox Automotive Media Solutions Group James Grace , Senior Director of Analytics Products for Cox Automotive Media Solutions Group

, Senior Director of Analytics Products for Cox Automotive Media Solutions Group Kevin LeSage , Senior Product Manager of OEM and Enterprise Analytics at Dealer.com

"In today's connected retail environment, marketers are keen to find insights regarding how online activities are leading to transactions in the store," said Geitner. "At Cox Automotive, we are investigating all attribution methodologies to provide marketers and dealers the broadest possible data set, leading to a better understanding of buyer behavior and purchase intent."

Grace will lead a keynote presentation titled "Attribution: Finding the Quality in the Quantity of Your Digital Marketing Presence" that will also feature Geitner. LeSage will participate in a workshop titled "Investing your Media Dollars with Certainty: The Role of a Quality Visit and Attribution."

"Drawing upon a wealth of data from our leading sites including Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book, we have an enormous amount of web activity from all stages of the sales funnel," said Grace. "We are excited to join like-minded industry leaders to share our insights while learning from participants' best practices, challenges and success stories."

"Dealers and manufacturers are investing significant funds for online advertising, but with a lack of standardized attribution metrics, it is challenging to track how consumers are being influenced and what is leading to conversions," said Brian Pasch, Founder, PCG Companies. "The AAAS is designed to spark the attribution conversation and keep the industry moving forward on this vital element of digital retailing."

For more information and to take advantage of a special discounted AAAS registration offer, visit http://automotiveattributionsummit.com/Cox-Automotive and enter promo code COXAUTOMOTIVE.

About Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive Inc. is transforming the way the world buys, sells and owns cars with industry-leading digital marketing, financial, retail and wholesale solutions for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and the overall automotive ecosystem worldwide. Committed to open choice and dedicated to strong partnerships, the Cox Automotive family includes Autotrader, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, Kelley Blue Book, Manheim, NextGear Capital, vAuto, Xtime and a host of other brands. The global company has 32,000-plus team members in more than 200 locations and is partner to more than 40,000 auto dealers, as well as most major automobile manufacturers, while engaging U.S. consumer car buyers with the most recognized media brands in the industry. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., an Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion and approximately 60,000 employees. Cox Enterprises' other major operating subsidiaries include Cox Communications and Cox Media Group. For more information about Cox Automotive, visit www.coxautoinc.com.

SOURCE Cox Automotive

Related Links

http://www.coxautoinc.com


KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CSL Behring is taking its workplace wellness initiatives to a whole new level by providing the American Heart Association's (AHA) Hands-Only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training to employees.

The Hands-Only CPR training program takes about 90 seconds to learn and can mean the difference between life and death for people who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The AHA estimates between 100,000 and 200,000 lives could be saved a year if CPR was administered immediately after cardiac arrest.

Today, CSL Behring is being recognized by the Lafayette Ambulance Squad for their outstanding efforts to train their workforce in this simple CPR. With the help of the AHA and the Lafayette Ambulance Squad (LAS), CSL Behring has trained 120 employees in King of Prussia and is conducting ongoing monthly sessions to train as many of its 1,000 on-site employees as possible.

"Every year we respond to hundreds of 911 calls involving people who have suffered cardiac arrest," said Ed Martin from LAS. "We get to the scene as quickly as possible, but a life can be lost in just a matter of minutes without immediate CPR.

"We're recognizing CSL Behring for their efforts to train their employees, but also to raise awareness of the importance of CPR training and to encourage more businesses and organizations to offer CPR trainings. It's not hard to do, and more people will survive cardiac arrest if more people are trained in CPR.

"We're honored to be recognized for our efforts to educate our employees about this simple lifesaving technique, and hope we can inspire other organizations in the Philadelphia area to do the same," said Dr. Karen Etchberger, CSL's Executive Vice President for Quality and Business Services.

Etchberger said the "Live Better" and Health, Safety and Environment teams at CSL Behring collaborated with LAS and AHA to train CSL Behring employees in basic Hands-Only CPR and use of automated external defibrillator (AED). The one-hour training program is a combination of hands-on instructor-led training and instructional videos.

"We wanted to provide employees with the necessary training so that they are able to help someone in cardiac distress, either at work or outside of work and potentially save someone's life," Etchberger added.

About Cardiac Arrest:

According to American Heart Association, cardiac arrest is defined as an electrical malfunction in the heart that causes an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) and disrupts the flow of blood to the brain, lungs and other organs. Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death. When a person has a cardiac arrest, survival depends on immediately receiving CPR from someone nearby.

About hands only CPR:

Hands-only CPR has 2 basic steps: (1) call 9-1-1 if you see a teen or adult suddenly collapse; and (2) Push hard and fast in the center of the chest to the beat of a familiar song that has 100 -120 beats per minute. Song examples are: "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees and "Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash. Visit heart.org/handsonlycpr to watch the hands only CPR instructional video.

About CSL Behring

CSL Behring is a global biotherapeutics leader driven by its promise to save lives. Focused on serving patients' needs by using the latest technologies, we develop and deliver innovative therapies that are used to treat coagulation disorders, primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioedema, inherited respiratory disease, and neurological disorders. The company's products are also used in cardiac surgery, organ transplantation, burn treatment and to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn.

CSL Behring operates one of the world's largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. The parent company, CSL Limited (ASX: CSL; USOTC: CSLLY), headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, employs nearly 20,000 people, and delivers its life-saving therapies to people in more than 60 countries. For more information visit www.cslbehring.com and follow us on www.Twitter.com/CSLBehring.

SOURCE CSL Behring

Related Links

http://www.cslbehring.com


DALLAS, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF) will host a live webcast of its third quarter 2017 earnings conference call on November 7 at 9 a.m. Eastern Time. Management will discuss the financial results, as well as comment on the forward outlook. The webcast is expected to last approximately one hour and will be accessible by visiting http://www.deanfoods.com/our-company/investor-relations/ and by clicking on "Webcasts."

The webcast will be accessible on most operating systems and browsers. A webcast replay will be available for approximately 45 days following the event within the Investor Relations section of the Company's web site.

ABOUT DEAN FOODS

Dean Foods is a leading food and beverage company and the largest processor and direct-to-store distributor of fluid milk and other dairy and dairy case products in the United States. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the Dean Foods portfolio includes DairyPure, the country's first and largest fresh, white milk national brand, and TruMoo, the leading national flavored milk brand, along with well-known regional dairy brands such as Alta Dena, Berkeley Farms, Country Fresh, Dean's, Garelick Farms, Friendly's, LAND O LAKES* milk and cultured products*, Lehigh Valley Dairy Farms, Mayfield, McArthur, Meadow Gold, Oak Farms, PET**, T.G. Lee, Tuscan and more. In all, Dean Foods has more than 50 local and regional dairy brands and private labels. Dean Foods also makes and distributes ice cream, cultured products, juices, teas, and bottled water. More than 16,000 employees across the country work every day to make Dean Foods the most admired and trusted provider of wholesome, great-tasting dairy products at every occasion. For more information about Dean Foods and its brands, visit www.deanfoods.com.

*The LAND O LAKES brand is owned by Land O'Lakes, Inc. and is used by license.

**PET is a trademark used by license.

CONTACT: Corporate Communications, Jamaison Schuler, +1 214-721-7766; or Investor Relations, Sherri Baker, +1-214-303-3438

SOURCE Dean Foods Company

Related Links

http://www.deanfoods.com


Vancouver, B.C. , Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yesterday, the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) Site C Inquiry general comment period closed, in accordance with the Inquiry schedule. The Site C Inquiry Panel now invites comments on three alternative portfolios.



Under the terms of reference for the Inquiry, the Panel is to consider alternative portfolios of generating projects and demand-side management initiatives to the Site C project in the context of the energy objectives set out in the Clean Energy Act. At the request of the Panel, Commission staff prepared three illustrative alternative portfolios based on information submitted in the Inquiry.

The Panel is now inviting comments from BC Hydro and the public on the alternative portfolios. In particular, the Panel invites comments on:

The underlying assumptions regarding the three illustrative alternative portfolios; and

The calculations, inputs and assumptions used in the Alternative Portfolio Spreadsheet.

Comments can be uploaded via the BCUCs Site C Inquiry website at www.sitecinquiry.com on or before Wednesday, October 18, 2017.

The Panel thanks all parties for their comments and submissions during the Site C Inquiry process. Given that the general comment period closed at 11:59 p.m. PST, October 11, 2017, the Panel will only accept submissions going forward on the three illustrative alternative portfolios.

For more information, and to view the Alternative Portfolio Spreadsheet, please see the panel letter seeking comments on alternative portfolios, available here: http://www.sitecinquiry.com/commission-letters-and-orders/.

On August 2, 2017, the Lieutenant Governor in Council, by OIC No. 244, requested that the BCUC, pursuant to section 5(1) of the Utilities Commission Act, advise the Lieutenant Governor in Council respecting BC Hydros Site C project, in accordance with the terms set out in the OIC. The OIC is available on the BCUCs Site C Inquiry webpage.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Erica Hamilton

Director, Communications

Phone: 604.660.4727

Email: erica.hamilton@bcuc.com

Website: http://www.bcuc.com
AUSTIN, Texas and SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Dialpad, the San Francisco-based pure cloud communications provider that empowers today's Anywhere Worker, has established a new office in Austin, TX. Housed within the Austin WeWork facility in University Park, the office functions as the central location for Dialpad's growing sales and customer support team, as well as the company's professional services organization.

The Austin effort mirrors Dialpad's recent entry into Canada and the establishment of an office in Vancouver, B.C., that was announced earlier this month.

"We chose Austin to house some of our most critical business functions due to its central location and the rich talent pool that resides in the Texas state capital," said Dialpad CEO and co-founder Craig Walker. "When we hired Richard Rivera, a native Austinite as our Chief Revenue Officer last April, it was clear that Austin would quickly become the center of our Sales and Support organizations. Austin also has a very vibrant tech scene, with an already skilled and experienced cloud business ready workforce that is very similar to Silicon Valley's. When you add up all that's going on in the city, and the surrounding communities, it made it easy to put our operations hub in Austin."

Dialpad currently employs 29 people in the Austin office and is currently recruiting and hiring an additional 6 employees by the end of the year.

"WeWork and their facilities are the ideal place for us as we grow our customer base across the country and around the world," added Walker. "They already house so many companies who are a part of the Anywhere Worker workforce, so it was a natural for us to plant our flag with them in Texas."

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. 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, Betterment, Stripe, Asana, Quora, and Denison University. Dialpad is funded by Amasia, Andreessen Horowitz, Felicis Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Section 32, Softbank, and Work-Bench. To learn more about our mission to kill the desk phone, visit dialpad.com and follow @DialpadHQ on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

Media Contact:

Shelby Valdez

415-805-2049

[email protected]

SOURCE Dialpad

Related Links

https://www.dialpad.com


CHICAGO and SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Echo Global Logistics, Inc., a leading provider of technology-enabled transportation management services, recently completed deployment of Anaplan's cloud-based platform to strengthen its finance operation and analysis capabilities. The partnership with Anaplan, a leading platform provider driving a new age of connected planning, now allows Echo to streamline vital functions such as budgeting, revenue forecasting, financial reporting, headcount planning, and expense planning.

Echo leaders chose the Anaplan platform because it allows Echo to model complex business scenarios, engage in real-time analysis, make better-informed business decisions, and achieve greater agility. Since Echo has made 20 acquisitions to date, the company needed a flexible planning platform that would allow them to adjust budgets and rules on-the-fly and satisfy the diverse needs of its branch offices.

"We wanted to partner with a company that would evolve along with our business challenges," said Kyle Sauers, Chief Financial Officer, Echo. "The implementation was easy overalland with the help of partners, we built our modules and dashboards in about four months. We have nearly 100 Anaplan users now, and having real-time access to the information we need to make decisions has really driven adoption. When our budget was on a spreadsheet with hundreds of tabs, it was difficult to even open the file and make simple changes."

Echo is a growing company with more than 30 offices in the United States. The initial pain point that inspired Echo to turn to Anaplan was a spreadsheet-based budgeting approach. Data consolidation in the Anaplan platform simplified the budgeting process, enabling the team to finalize the budget much more quickly than in the past. Using the Anaplan platform has also improved visibility. The Echo team reports that they no longer have a "finance" budgetit's now an "Echo" budget that empowers more users.

"With Anaplan, Echo has been able to bring more people into the planning process and create dynamic models," said Simon Tucker, Chief Customer Officer, Anaplan. "The platform rapidly gained buy-in because Echo managers value the increased visibility and accuracy, and the executive team appreciates the ability to review progress and reduce budgeting time going forward. Echo is planning to expand its use of Anaplan into other areas based on this success, and that will ultimately improve the company's overall agility."

About Anaplan

Anaplan is driving a new age of connected planning. Large and fast-growing organizations use Anaplan's cloud platform in every business function to make better-informed plans and decisions and drive faster, more effective planning processes. Anaplan also provides support, training, and planning transformation advisory services. Anaplan is a privately held company based in San Francisco with 16 offices and over 150 expert partners worldwide. To learn more, visit anaplan.com.

About Echo Global Logistics

Echo Global Logistics, Inc. is a leading provider of technology-enabled transportation and supply chain management services. Headquartered in Chicago with more than 30 offices around the country, Echo offers freight brokerage and Managed Transportation solutions for all major modes, including truckload, partial truckload, LTL, intermodal and expedited. Echo maintains a proprietary, web-based technology platform that compiles and analyzes data from its network of over 40,000 transportation providers to serve clients across a wide range of industries and simplify the critical tasks involved in transportation management. For more information on Echo Global Logistics, visit: www.echo.com.

SOURCE Anaplan

Related Links

https://www.anaplan.com


NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) applauds California Governor Jerry Brown for signing Senate Bill 239 into law. This landmark piece of legislation reforms laws that unfairly criminalized people living with HIV and therefore made at-risk individuals less willing to be tested for HIV and receive lifesaving treatment that also prevents the further spread of the disease. The new legislation also serves as a model for other states to likewise revise their unjust laws regarding people living with HIV/AIDS.

The Foundation is especially proud of the bill's co-sponsors, including EJAF grantees Equality California Institute, Lambda Legal, and Positive Women's Network USA, as well as APLA Health, Black AIDS Institute, and ACLU, and all of the organizations supporting the coalition Californians for HIV Criminalization Reform.

"This coalition educated lawmakers, LGBT communities, progressive allies, and the public about the need to change punitive California state laws regarding people living with HIV," said EJAF Executive Director Scott Campbell. "We are committed to working with other organizations across the U.S. to continue educating about the need to modernize state and local laws that unjustly penalize people living with HIV/AIDS."

Most laws criminalizing HIV-positive people were passed in the 1980s when there was still limited medical knowledge about HIV, no effective treatments, and tremendous fear surrounding the disease and people perceived to be infected or at risk. Stigmatizing people living with the disease quickly became politically expedient. Since that time, our understanding of the disease has greatly advanced, effective treatments not only extensively improve and prolong the lives of people living with HIV, but also nearly eliminate the possibility of transmitting the disease when used correctly. In addition, HIV-negative people have access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a one-pill-per-day medication that prevents HIV infection. It is past time that federal, state, and local laws were modernized to reflect today's scientific realities.

About the Elton John AIDS Foundation

At the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), we believe AIDS can be beaten. We act on that belief by raising funds for evidence-based programs and policies and also by speaking out with honesty and compassion about the realities of people's lives. Sir Elton John created EJAF nearly 25 years ago, first in the United States in 1992 and then in the United Kingdom in 1993. Through the generous support of far-sighted individuals, foundations, and corporations, the two foundations together have raised more than $400 million over the past quarter century to challenge discrimination against people affected by the epidemic, prevent infections, provide treatment and services, and motivate governments to end AIDS. The U.S. foundation focuses its efforts on programs in the United States, the Americas, and the Caribbean, while the U.K. foundation funds HIV-related work in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Join us in speaking out, taking action, and contributing to our efforts to achieve a world without AIDS. For more information, please visit www.ejaf.org.

American Airlines is the official airline of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

SOURCE Elton John AIDS Foundation

Related Links

http://www.ejaf.org


Ms. Eliane van Doorn, Business Development Director (ASEAN Business), UBM Asia, the organiser of VIETWATER said, "In the recent press conference in Ho Chi Minh, we have announced to launch the 9th edition of VIETWATER this year. We surely continue to build an international business platform for 14,000 participants to connect, exchange and share their industry expertise. The exhibition features 14 international pavilions, giving participants the latest technology updates in the water industry. Focusing on sustainable water development, VIETWATER 2017 is carrying out activities to support both the business side and the general community."

Serving the business community, Vietwater pre-show conference was held in Hanoi in August, attracting about 180 key industry players discussing and learning about how to improve the quality of Water Supply and Sanitation Service through Innovations, Upgraded Technologies and Effective Utility Management.

In support to the Vietnamese community, UBM is working in partnership with the Vietnam Water Supply and Sewerage Association (VWSA), Australian Water Association (AWA) and SkyJuice Foundation for the delivering of a safe drinking water project in the rural communities of Khanh Phu and Lien Sang, Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam.

The project introduces advanced, low cost and easy to operate membrane filtration systems to two rural schools, providing 20,000L per day of safe drinking water to the children and staff. The project involves training of local representatives from the Khanh Hoa Provincial Water Supply Authority and operators of the systems and is delivered in partnership with the Khanh Hoa Peoples Committee to ensure the long-term sustainability of the treatment systems.

Apart from these activities, VIETWATER 2017 is introducing the Water Innovation Gallery on the exhibition floor, where the latest innovative technologies and solutions are on display to assist the development of water technologies in Vietnam. The exhibition offers FREE admission, allowing all industry visitors to have the opportunities to learn about Vietnam's water market, international technologies, and a number of practical and insightful experiences from technical seminars and an international conference with the theme "Toward Sustainable Water Development -- International Experience".

Join us and secure your visit by registering on-line with our pre-registration system and have a chance to win tickets to Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam.

Check out our website: www.vietwater.com for the detailed information.

About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com)

With a track record spanning over 30 years and a strong global presence in 24 major cities across Asia and in the US, UBM Asia is the largest trade show organiser in the region, and the largest commercial organiser in China, India, Malaysia and Thailand. We provide you with a one-stop diversified global platform for high value business matching, quality market news and online trading networks. Every year, we connect over 2,000,000 buyers and sellers from 150 countries and regions.

SOURCE UBM Asia (Malaysia)

Related Links

http://www.ubmasia.com


LONDON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Fallopian Tube Cancer - Pipeline Review, H2 2017



Summary

Global Markets Direct's latest Pharmaceutical and Healthcare disease pipeline guide Fallopian Tube Cancer - Pipeline Review, H2 2017, provides an overview of the Fallopian Tube Cancer (Oncology) pipeline landscape.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/943815



Fallopian tube cancer is also called tubal cancer. It develops in the fallopian tubes, which serve as a connection between the ovaries and the uterus. It occurs very rarely. The common symptoms of fallopian tube cancer may include abnormal vaginal bleeding, especially after menopause, abdominal pain or a feeling of pressure in the abdomen, abnormal vaginal discharge that is white, clear or pinkish and a pelvic mass at the time of diagnosis, which is present in up to two-thirds of patients. Usually, cancer metastasizes from other parts of the body such as the ovaries or endometrium to the fallopian tubes. Fallopian tube cancer treatment depends on age, the desire to have children, type and stage of the tumor. It usually involves surgery followed by chemotherapy.



Report Highlights

Global Markets Direct's Pharmaceutical and Healthcare latest pipeline guide Fallopian Tube Cancer - Pipeline Review, H2 2017, provides comprehensive information on the therapeutics under development for Fallopian Tube Cancer (Oncology), complete with analysis by stage of development, drug target, mechanism of action (MoA), route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. The guide covers the descriptive pharmacological action of the therapeutics, its complete research and development history and latest news and press releases.



The Fallopian Tube Cancer (Oncology) pipeline guide also reviews of key players involved in therapeutic development for Fallopian Tube Cancer and features dormant and discontinued projects. The guide covers therapeutics under Development by Companies /Universities /Institutes, the molecules developed by Companies in Pre-Registration, Filing rejected/Withdrawn, Phase III, Phase II, Phase I, Preclinical, Discovery and Unknown stages are 1, 2, 13, 59, 37, 13, 1 and 1 respectively. Similarly, the Universities portfolio in Phase I and Preclinical stages comprises 6 and 2 molecules, respectively.



Fallopian Tube Cancer (Oncology) pipeline guide helps in identifying and tracking emerging players in the market and their portfolios, enhances decision making capabilities and helps to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage. The guide is built using data and information sourced from Global Markets Direct's 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. Additionally, various dynamic tracking processes ensure that the most recent developments are captured on a real time basis.



Note: Certain content / sections in the pipeline guide may be removed or altered based on the availability and relevance of data.



Scope

- The pipeline guide provides a snapshot of the global therapeutic landscape of Fallopian Tube Cancer (Oncology).

- The pipeline guide reviews pipeline therapeutics for Fallopian Tube Cancer (Oncology) by companies and universities/research institutes based on information derived from company and industry-specific sources.

- The pipeline guide covers pipeline products based on several stages of development ranging from pre-registration till discovery and undisclosed stages.

- The pipeline guide features descriptive drug profiles for the pipeline products which comprise, product description, descriptive licensing and collaboration details, R&D brief, MoA & other developmental activities.

- The pipeline guide reviews key companies involved in Fallopian Tube Cancer (Oncology) therapeutics and enlists all their major and minor projects.

- The pipeline guide evaluates Fallopian Tube Cancer (Oncology) therapeutics based on mechanism of action (MoA), drug target, route of administration (RoA) and molecule type.

- The pipeline guide encapsulates all the dormant and discontinued pipeline projects.

- The pipeline guide reviews latest news related to pipeline therapeutics for Fallopian Tube Cancer (Oncology)



Reasons to buy

- Procure strategically important competitor information, analysis, and insights to formulate effective R&D strategies.

- Recognize emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage.

- Find and recognize significant and varied types of therapeutics under development for Fallopian Tube Cancer (Oncology).

- Classify potential new clients or partners in the target demographic.

- Develop tactical initiatives by understanding the focus areas of leading companies.

- Plan mergers and acquisitions meritoriously by identifying key players and it's most promising pipeline therapeutics.

- Formulate corrective measures for pipeline projects by understanding Fallopian Tube Cancer (Oncology) pipeline depth and focus of Indication therapeutics.

- 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 scope.

- Adjust the therapeutic portfolio by recognizing discontinued projects and understand from the know-how what drove them from pipeline.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/943815



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

https://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- First Liberty Institute on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Rowan County, North Carolina to review the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Rowan County v. Lund prohibiting Rowan County's commissioners from opening their meetings with prayer. The federal courts of appeal are split over whether prayers offered by legislators at local government meetings are unconstitutional.

"Opening government meetings with prayer is a centuries-old tradition that goes back to before the founding of our nation and continues to this day before Congress, statehouses, and thousands of local governments across the country," said Ken Klukowski, Senior Counsel and Director of Strategic Affairs for First Liberty. "The 'circuit split' on this issue is creating confusion among government officials across the United States that can only be resolved by a clear and definitive decision by the Supreme Court."

The Supreme Court has previously approved of the long-standing tradition of "legislative prayer" and its role in solemnizing policymaking sessions, encouraging lawmakers to selflessly seek the greater good, and acknowledging the role that faith plays in the lives of millions of Americans. In both Marsh v. Chambers (1983) and Town of Greece v. Galloway (2014), the Supreme Court held that prayers offered by private citizens before government meetings are fully consistent with the Constitution and an important part of America's history and heritage. Whether elected officials may also provide legislative prayers is the question now before the Supreme Court in Rowan County v. Lund.

First Liberty also represents Jackson County, Michigan. On September 6, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit sitting en banc voted 9-6 in favor of the Jackson County commissioners' right to open their meetings with invocations.

To learn more, visit FirstLiberty.org/RowanCounty.

About First Liberty Institute

First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.

SOURCE First Liberty Institute

Related Links

https://firstliberty.org


LONDON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --



Global Fluorspar Market: Overview



The report estimates and forecasts the fluorspar on the global, regional, and country levels. The study provides forecast between 2017 and 2025 based on volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) with 2016 as the base year. The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis for each of the product segments. It provides a comprehensive view of the market. The study includes drivers and restraints for the fluorspar market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The study also provides key market indicators affecting the growth of the market.







Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05142606







The report analyzes opportunities in the fluorspar market on the global and regional level. It also provides the global average price trend analysis.



Global Fluorspar Market: Research Methodologies

The report includes Porter's Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the fluorspar market. The report comprises a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein product, application and countries have been analyzed based on attractiveness for each region. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market.



The study provides a comprehensive view of the fluorspar market by dividing it into product, application and geography. In terms of product, the fluorspar market has been segregated into acidspar, metspar, ceramic, and others.



In terms of application, the fluorspar market has been segmented into aluminum production, steel production, hydrofluoric acid and others. Application segments have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends, and the market has been estimated in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) between 2017 and 2025.



In-depth interviews and discussions with wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players' product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding.



This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis team's expertise and market understanding.



Secondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report.



Global Fluorspar Market: Geographical Segmentation

Regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for fluorspar in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Additionally, the report comprises country-level analysis in terms of volume and revenue for product and application segments.



Key countries such as the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Japan, India, China, Mexico, South Africa, and Brazil have been included in the study. Market segmentation includes demand for individual product and application in all the regions and countries.



Global Fluorspar Market: Competitive Landscape

The report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Mexichem S.A.B. de C.V., MINERSA GROUP, Kenya Fluorspar Company Ltd.



(KFC), Centralfluor Industries Group, Inc., Zhejiang Wuyi Shenlong Floatation Co Ltd, Seaforth Mineral & Ore Co., Inc., China Kings Resources Group Co., Ltd, British Fluorspar Ltd, Mongolrostsvetmet LLC., and Masan Group. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview (wherever applicable).



The fluorspar market has been divided into the following segments:



Fluorspar Market  Product Analysis

Acidspar

Metspar

Ceramic

Others (include optical and lapidary grade)



Fluorspar Market  Application Analysis

Aluminum production

Steel production

Hydrofluoric Acid

Others (include concrete additives, lithium-ion battery, etc.)



Fluorspar Market  Regional Analysis

North America

U.S.

Canada

Europe

France

U.K.

Spain

Germany

Italy

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

ASEAN

Rest of Asia Pacific (APAC)

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America (LATAM)

Middle East & Africa

GCC

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa (MEA)



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05142606



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



https://www.reportlinker.com





__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

http://www.reportlinker.com


VENTURA, Calif., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Urbane Cafe, a 12-unit fast casual concept serving scratch made, healthy and delicious sandwiches and salads, is honored to announce a strategic investment from Andrew and Peggy Cherng, co-founders of Panda Restaurant Group (PRG), one of America's largest and most renowned family-owned organizations.

"We are proud to have Panda Restaurant Group as a partner to help support the growth of Urbane Cafe," said Tom Holt, founder and CEO of Urbane Cafe. "After spending time with Andrew, Peggy and the Panda team, it was evident that we share many of the same values and commitment to delivering delicious food and hospitality to every guest, every time. Both Panda Restaurant Group and Urbane Cafe truly recognize that our team members are our greatest assets, making this a strategic fit for both companies."

Recently named the Best Sandwich by Ventura County Reporter, Urbane Cafe is rapidly expanding its footprint throughout California, with locations opening in Santa Maria and Encinitas before the year's end. With this new partnership, Urbane Cafe aims to fuel its development for the future and gain from PRG's 40-plus years of restaurant industry and organization-building experience. Urbane Cafe is now positioned for sustainable growth within the market, while continuing to establish itself as a premier destination for crafted sandwiches and salads.

"Urbane Cafe's focus on food quality and service is aligned with Panda's dedication to offering our guests exceptional dining experiences," said Peggy Cherng. "We look forward to partnering with the Urbane Cafe team to support its growth and are available to offer our industry experience when needed."

Founded in Ventura, Calif. in 2003, Urbane Cafe continues to serve the freshest ingredients sourced from local, family businesses, whenever possible. Known for its fire-baked focaccia breads, hand-carved meats and hearty salads, the restaurant has been popular with health- and budget-conscious customers for over a decade. Urbane Cafe prides itself on its made-from-scratch cooking techniques and believes that a truly enjoyable dining experience requires fast, friendly service and a warm, inviting environment. As a family-owned business that feels a deep commitment to its Team Members and the communities it serves, the restaurant is a natural partner for PRG.

About Urbane Cafe

Urbane Cafe is a family business dedicated to helping each community it serves. "As we've grown," Holt said, "we have continued to appreciate the importance of supporting the people who support us. We buy our ingredients and supplies locally when we can, supporting other family businesses whenever possible."

The lunch and dinner menu at each Urbane Cafe restaurant features fresh, healthy sandwiches and salads served in a warm, inviting setting. Though the restaurants span from Southern California to the Central Coast, owner Tom Holt retains a close, hands-on role in every aspect of the business, ensuring that standards of quality are consistent throughout each cafe.

Urbane Cafe is currently serving scratch made sandwiches and salads in the following California communities: Ventura, San Diego, Valencia, Agoura Hills, Oxnard, San Luis Obispo, Camarillo, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Northridge, Mira Mesa, and Temecula. Urbane Cafe can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

About Panda Restaurant Group

Founded in 1973, the privately-held Panda Restaurant Group is the world's leader in Asian dining experiences with over 1,900 locations. The successful chain of concepts includes Panda Express, Panda Inn and Hibachi-San. Panda Express is best-known for its wide variety of original recipes including its Original Orange Chicken, SweetFire Chicken Breast, award-winning Honey Walnut Shrimp and Shanghai Angus Steak. For more information, visit pandarg.com.

SOURCE Urbane Cafe
"In the ever-evolving landscape of aesthetic procedures, medical professionals are continuously looking for new tools and treatment options to ensure our patients are receiving optimal treatment outcomes for their specific needs," said Sabrina Fabi, MD, a San Diego-based Dermatologist. "The ability to use a cannula is a welcome addition to my toolkit, as studies have shown that a small blunt tip cannula demonstrates a suitable safety profile, while achieving the desired fullness to the upper and lower lips."

"A commitment to continuous innovation in support of aesthetic professionals to achieve high patient satisfaction with natural looking results is our core focus," said Alisa Lask, VP & General Manager of Galderma's U.S. Aesthetic & Corrective business. "The Restylane family currently offers the broadest offering of HA facial dermal fillers in the U.S. With the launch of Restylane Refyne and Restylane Defyne earlier this year and this new approval, 2017 is an exciting year for patients and aesthetic professionals who use the Restylane brands."

About the Cannula Study2

The multicenter, open-label, prospective study was conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of Restylane Silk in conjunction with the use of a small blunt tip cannula for lip augmentation. The 12-week study took place in four centers across the U.S., with 60 male and female subjects 23 years of age or older. At 12 weeks, 98 percent of subjects were observed to have improvement in both the upper and lower lip by the treating investigator, as assessed by the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS), a global 7-point scale for aesthetic improvement in appearance.

Following treatment, no severe related adverse events were observed. Furthermore, a vast majority of subjects (81.7 percent) did not experience a treatment emergent adverse event (TEAE). The majority of reported subject diary symptoms were assessed as mild, with the exception of swelling, and the vast majority of all subject diary symptoms were resolved within seven days.

About Restylane

With over 30 million treatments worldwide and counting4, the Restylane family of hyaluronic acid dermal fillers is used to help smooth facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds (Restylane-L, Restylane Refyne, Restylane Defyne and Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine), create fuller and more accentuated lips (Restylane Silk and Restylane-L), and add lift and volume to the cheeks (Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine). All Restylane products work to enhance facial features and give long-lasting, yet non-permanent results.

To learn more about the Restylane family of products, visit www.RestylaneUSA.com.

About Galderma

Galderma, Nestle Skin Health's medical solutions business, was created in 1981 and is now present in over 100 countries with an extensive product portfolio to treat a range of dermatological conditions. The company partners with health care practitioners around the world to meet the skin health needs of people throughout their lifetime. Galderma is a leader in research and development of scientifically-defined and medically-proven solutions for the skin, hair and nails.

Strategic brands in the U.S. include Epiduo Forte Gel, Oracea Capsules, Mirvaso Gel, Soolantra Cream, Cetaphil, Differin Gel OTC, Restylane, Restylane Silk, Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine, Restylane Refyne, Restylane Defyne, Dysport and Sculptra Aesthetic.

For more information, please visit www.galdermausa.com and www.galderma.com.

To earn exclusive rewards, bonuses and discounts on Galderma's aesthetic treatments, join the ASPIRE Galderma Rewards program. To learn more about ASPIRE, visit www.aspirerewards.com.

Important Safety Information

The Restylane family of products includes Restylane, Restylane-L, Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine, Restylane Silk, Restylane Refyne, and Restylane Defyne.

APPROVED USES

Restylane and Restylane-L are for mid-to-deep injection into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds. Restylane and Restylane-L are also indicated for injection into the lips in patients over the age of 21.

Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine is for deep implantation into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds and for cheek augmentation and for the correction of age-related midface contour deficiencies in patients over the age of 21.

Restylane Silk is for lip augmentation and for correction of perioral wrinkles in patients over the age of 21.

Restylane Refyne is for mid-to-deep injection into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds, in patients over the age of 21.

Restylane Defyne is for mid-to-deep injection into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe deep facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds, in patients over the age of 21.

Are there any reasons why I should not use products within the Restylane family? (Contraindications)

To ensure a safe procedure, your doctor will talk to you about your medical history to determine if you are an appropriate candidate for treatment. You should not use products within the Restylane family if:

You have severe allergies with a history of severe reactions (anaphylaxis)

You are allergic to lidocaine or to any of the gram-positive bacterial proteins used to make hyaluronic acid

You are prone to bleeding or have been diagnosed with a bleeding disorder

Are there other precautions that I should discuss with my doctor?

Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding, pregnant, or trying to become pregnant. The safety of these products for use during pregnancy, or in women who are breastfeeding, has not been studied

Restylane, Restylane-L, Restylane  Lyft with Lidocaine, Restylane Refyne and Restylane Defyne are intended to treat facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds. Restylane and Restylane-L are also intended for lip enhancement . Treatments in other areas of the face have not been evaluated in clinical studies.

are intended to treat facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds. and are also intended for lip enhancement Treatments in other areas of the face have not been evaluated in clinical studies. The safety and effectiveness of Restylane  Silk for areas other than the lips and perioral area have not been evaluated in clinical studies

for areas other than the lips and perioral area have not been evaluated in clinical studies Tell your doctor if you have any history of scarring, particularly thick and stiff scars, or any pigmentation (skin color) disorders. These side effects can occur with hyaluronic acid fillers in general.

Tell your doctor if you are planning other laser treatments or a chemical peel, as there is a possible risk of inflammation at the treatment site if these procedures are performed after treatment

Patients who experience skin injury near the site of injection with these products may be at a higher risk for side effects

Tell your doctor if you are on any medications to decrease your body's immune response (immunosuppressive therapy). Using these medications may increase your risk of bruising or bleeding at the gel injection site.

Tell your doctor if you are using any "blood thinners" such as aspirin, warfarin, or any other medications that affect bleeding. Using these medications may increase your risk of bruising or bleeding at the gel injection site.

The use of these products on gel injection sites with skin sores, pimples, rashes, hives, cysts, or infections should be postponed until healing is complete. Use of product in these areas could delay healing or make your skin problems worse.

What are the possible side effects?

The most commonly observed side effects are swelling, redness, pain, bruising, headache, tenderness, lump formation, and itching at the injection site. These are typically mild in severity and typically resolve in less than 7 days in nasolabial folds and less than 14 days in lips. Serious but rare side effects include delayed onset infections, recurrence of herpetic eruptions, and superficial necrosis at the injection site.

One of the risks with using this product is unintentional injection into a blood vessel. The chances of this happening are very small, but if it does happen, the complications can be serious, and may be permanent. These complications, which have been reported for facial injections, can include vision abnormalities, blindness, stroke, temporary scabs, or permanent scarring of the skin.

As with all skin injection procedures, there is a risk of infection.

To report a side effect with any of the Restylane products, please call Galderma Laboratories, L.P at 1-855-425-8722.

The Restylane family of products is available only through a licensed practitioner. Complete Instructions for Use are available at www.RestylaneUSA.com.

 2017 Galderma Laboratories, L.P. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

[1] RealSelf.com. "Restylane Silk" Accessed on July 13, 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.realself.com/restylane-silk

[2]Restylane Silk via Cannula Instructions for Use. Fort Worth, TX: Galderma Laboratories, L.P., 2017.

[3] Zeichner, JA & Cohen, JL. Use of Blunt Tipped Cannulas for Soft Tissue Fillers. J Drugs Dermatol. 2012;11(1):70-72. http://jddonline.com/articles/dermatology/S1545961612P0070X/1

[4] Data on file. Global Launch Learnings. Fort Worth, TX: Galderma Laboratories, L.P., 2016.

SOURCE Galderma

Related Links

http://www.galderma.com


This is the third installment of Federal-Mogul Motorparts' ongoing Facebook Live series. The first Facebook Live event was held in May, when Guru Tim Habel demonstrated Fel-Pro  head gasket replacement tips ( https://www.facebook.com/FMGarageGurus/videos/1888716868033623/ ). In August, Guru John Dixon hosted a seminar on ABS installation techniques ( https://www.facebook.com/FMGarageGurus/videos/1936414759930500/ ).

"The reach of the Garage Gurus program is unparalleled in the aftermarket repair industry, and leveraging technology like Facebook Live allows us to fulfill our promise of delivering high quality training to technicians onsite, online and on demand," said Brent Berman, director of training and consumer experience, Federal-Mogul Motorparts. "We are committed to offering these types of learning opportunities for technicians to get training on a variety of topics when they need them."

Facebook Live streaming video is an interactive platform that is open to anyone with a Facebook account and accessible via PC, Mac, Android and iOS operating systems. In order to view the Garage Gurus live broadcast, log on to your Facebook account and visit the Garage Gurus homepage at facebook.com/FMGarageGurus on October 17 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The recorded version of video will also be available on the Garage Gurus Facebook page after the live airing.

For more information about Garage Gurus, its training programs, course schedules, tech tips, locations and more, visit FMgaragegurus.com.

About Federal-Mogul

Federal-Mogul LLC is a leading global supplier of products and services to the world's manufacturers and servicers of vehicles and equipment in the automotive, light, medium and heavy-duty commercial, marine, rail, aerospace, power generation and industrial markets. The company's products and services enable improved fuel economy, reduced emissions and enhanced vehicle safety.

Federal-Mogul operates two independent business divisions, each with a chief executive officer reporting to Federal-Mogul's Board of Directors.

Federal-Mogul Motorparts sells and distributes a broad portfolio of products through more than 20 of the world's most recognized brands in the global vehicle aftermarket, while also serving original equipment vehicle manufacturers with products including braking, wipers and a range of chassis components. The company's aftermarket brands include ANCO wipers; Beck/Arnley premium OE quality parts and fluids; BERU* ignition systems; Champion lighting, spark plugs, wipers and filters; Interfil filters; AE, Fel-Pro, FP Diesel, Goetze, Glyco, Nural, Payen and Sealed Power engine products; MOOG chassis components; and Ferodo, Jurid and Wagner brake products and lighting.

Federal-Mogul Powertrain designs and manufactures original equipment powertrain components and systems protection products for automotive, heavy-duty, industrial and transport applications.

Federal-Mogul was founded in Detroit in 1899 and maintains its worldwide headquarters in Southfield, Michigan. The company employs nearly 53,000 in 24 countries. For more information, please visit www.FMMotorparts.com.

*BERU is a registered trademark of BorgWarner Ludwigsburg GmbH

CONTACT:

Karen Shulhan (Federal-Mogul Motorparts)  248.354.4383

[email protected]

Drew Shippy (Pinnacle Media)  330.688.3500

[email protected]

SOURCE Federal-Mogul Motorparts

Related Links

http://www.federalmogul.com


SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today the Holberton School, the prestigious two-year college alternative for software engineers, added industry heavy weights Docker CTO Solomon Hykes, Upwork CEO Stephane Kasriel and CloudNOW CEO Jocelyn DeGance Graham to its Board of Trustees, joining Grammy-Award winner recording artist NE-YO. Holberton also announced that LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner has joined as an advisor and investor, joining AirBNBs Louis Monier.



Holberton is funded by Trinity Ventures, Daphni, Reach Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, Partech Ventures, as well as a number of individual investors, including Slideshare co-founder and CTO Jon Boutelle, NE-YO and now Weiner. Holberton also has more than 100 mentors including Ayesha Mazumdar, UX Engineer at Salesforce, Tammy Butow, Engineering Manager at Dropbox, Casey Brown, Manager Site Reliability Engineering at LinkedIn and more.

Launched in 2016, Holbertons curriculum is based on a methodology that combines project-based and peer learning where students help each other to learn and reach goals. At Holberton, there are no lectures and no teachers, but instead tech mentors. Students acquire practical skills and an understanding of theory through hands-on learning. This guarantees that students possess the skills necessary for the technology industry's most demanding jobs. Holberton students have attained prestigious positions at some of the top tech companies in the US and around the world, working at companies such as Apple, Tesla, NASA, Dropbox, LinkedIn, Docker and more.

"Holberton is producing remarkable, Ivy League-caliber graduates, without the costs, the time or the prerequisites. I should know, we hired two of them before they even graduated, said Weiner, LinkedIn CEO. Talent is everywhere, but with our education system stuck in a centuries-old training format, many are not even given the chance to try. And a lot of graduates are having a hard time keeping up with the rate of change once they become professionals. Holbertons education model is attracting students from all walks of life, and is providing them with the skills they need to take on a job after graduation, and more importantly to be able to continually retrain their entire life to take on new opportunities.

Holberton has been providing a type of education that I myself experienced and that led me to create Docker, said Hykes, Founder, CTO and Chief Architect of Docker and the creator of the Docker open source initiative. I am a strong advocate of the project-based and peer-learning format that will train the next generation of highly successful tech entrepreneurs.

High-quality education should be accessible to everyone, not just the elite, said Graham, Diversity Partner Liaison to Google Cloud, and the Founder of Cloud-NOW.org, a 501c3 non profit focused on championing women in cloud. Holberton is taking a leadership role in diversity and inclusion by training women and minorities, and helping them secure jobs at some of the most prestigious companies in the world. It is only by making all voices heard, that we can expect to effect the greatest changes in our society.

As we are entering the 4th industrial revolution, workers need to constantly retrain to stay relevant, and the rate of change is accelerating, said Kasriel, the CEO of the worlds largest freelancing website, Upwork. He is also the co-chair of the World Economic Forum's council on the future of education, gender and work. "Holberton is training students on learning to learn, which is the most important skill our workforce needs, he said.

When you think of jobs and networking, you think LinkedIn, and with Jeffs long-standing commitment to education, he will be a valuable asset to the school and of course, our students, said Julien Barbier, CEO and co-founder of Holberton. And having Solomon, Stephane, and Jocelyn join the Board of Trustees gives Holberton access to some of the smartest most successful people in tech.

In just its first year, Holberton students have received renown participating in a number of different projects and events. From hosting the first ever International Botathon to holding a session on innovative ways to play Pokemon Go by staying home. The school's numerous achievements included introducing highly qualified mentors from well-known companies, articles published under both student and founders, and even having one student receive a coveted internship at NASA's SETI Institute. Holberton is the winner of the EdTech Digest Awards Program 2017 and was featured in The New York Times emphasizing diversity.

The school charges no upfront tuition. Instead, graduates are asked to contribute a percentage of their salaries to the school for the first three years of their post-Holberton employment, giving back to the next generation of software engineers. If not hired, students pay nothing to the school. Their success is the schools success.

Holberton boasts a remarkably diverse student body. Women comprise 40 percent, and people of color comprise 53 percent of its student population. Holbertons automated admissions process was specifically designed to reduce human bias, resulting in one of the most diverse learning institution.

Students interested can apply here. Please visit www.holbertonschool.com for information about enrollment and opportunities.

About Holberton School

Using project-based learning and peer learning, Holbertons mission is to train the best software engineers of their generation. At Holberton, there are no formal teachers and no formal courses. Instead, everything is project-centered. Holberton gives students increasingly difficult programming challenges to solve and minimal initial directions on how to solve them. As a consequence, students naturally look for the theory and tools they need, understand them, use them, work together, and help each other. Holberton School teaches how to learn instead of teaching a specific tool or programming language. Holberton School is based in San Francisco and supported by leaders from the technology industry. Go to www.holbertonschool.com to learn more.

Editorial Contact

Joe Eckert

jeckertflak@gmail.com




PORTLAND, Oregon and PUNE, India, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research titled, "OLED Materials Market by Type, Application, and End User: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023," the global OLED materials market was valued at $5,932 million in 2016, and is expected to reach $25,731 million by 2023, registering a CAGR of 26.3% from 2017 to 2023. Asia-Pacific dominated the global market, accounting for over two-thirds market share in 2016.

OLED materials comprise substrates, encapsulation, cathode, anode, hole injection material (HIL), electron transport material (ETL), emissive material (EML) and others (HTL and EBL). Substrates holds a major share in the global OLED materials market in 2016. The demand for OLED materials is driven by changes in lifestyle of people and increase in population. In addition, surge in demand for smartphones is expected to boost the market growth in the near future. The major companies operating in the global OLED materials market have collaborated with major service providers & retailers to expand their outreach.

Do Enquiry for Sample Report@ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2961

The substrates segment is expected to dominate the global market during the forecast period. However, the cathode segment is anticipated to gain traction in the near future. In 2016, the cathode and substrates segments collectively accounted for more than one-third share of the global OLED materials market.

The display segment accounted for a significant share in 2016, and is anticipated to maintain its dominance during the forecast period. The smartphones and television & monitors sub-segments contributed to over three-fifth share in the display segment in 2016. This is attributed to the increase in demand for smartphones worldwide. Rise in offline sales channels and aggressive advertising campaigns by the key players in the smartphones industry are expected to augment its demand further.

Do Enquiry before purchasing [email protected] https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/2961

KEY FINDINGS OF OLED MATERIALS MARKET STUDY:

In terms of value, the cathode segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 31.9% during the forecast period.

LAMEA is anticipated to witness the highest growth, registering a CAGR of 30.8% in terms of value.

The substrates segment accounted for more than one-fourth share of the global market in 2016.

China and India are expected to occupy approximately three-fourths share of the total Asia-Pacific OLED materials market by 2023.

and are expected to occupy approximately three-fourths share of the total Asia-Pacific OLED materials market by 2023. India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25.6%, in terms of value, from 2017 to 2023.

In 2016, Asia-Pacific accounted for the highest share, and is expected to continue its dominance during the forecast period. The LAMEA OLED materials market is anticipated to grow at a significant CAGR due to growth in adoption of OLED in smartphones and televisions.

The key players profiled in the report are Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC., DuPont, Novaled GmbH, Merck KGaA, LG Chem, TCI America, Sumitomo Chemical, Universal Display, The Dow Chemical Company, and Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.

Most Popular Reports by Allied Market Research:

Bio-polylactic Acid (PLA) Films Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023

Abrasives Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023

Fluoropolymers Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2022

About Us:

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:

Dhananjay Potle

5933 NE Win Sivers Drive

#205, Portland, OR 97220

United States

Toll Free : +1-800-792-5285

UK : + 44-845-528-1300

Hong Kong : + 852-301-84916

India (Pune) : +91-20-66346060

Fax : +1855550-5975

[email protected]



Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com

SOURCE Allied Market Research
"Winning these awards gives confirmation that our design and product development teams are able to create both award-winning and effective packaging solutions that help build powerful brands for our customers," said John Best, Vice President, Sales and Commercial Market Development at GPI. "It is always nice to be recognized alongside the best companies in our industry. We are additionally delighted that we took home the Innovation of the Year Award. This is a testament to our development teams and the work they do for each of our customers on a daily basis."

For additional information, contact Dan Ahern, Director, Global Innovation & Business Development at Graphic Packaging International, [email protected].

About Graphic Packaging International, Inc.

Graphic Packaging International, Inc., a subsidiary of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE: GPK), headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is committed to providing consumer packaging that makes a world of difference. The Company is a leading provider of paper-based packaging solutions for a wide variety of products to food, beverage and other consumer product companies. The Company operates on a global basis, is one of the largest producers of folding cartons in the United States, and holds leading market positions in coated unbleached kraft paperboard and coated-recycled paperboard. The Company's customers include many of the world's most widely recognized companies and brands. Additional information about Graphic Packaging, its business and its products is available on the Company's web site at www.graphicpkg.com.

For additional information, contact Mimi Hubbard, Marketing Communications Manager, [email protected]

SOURCE Graphic Packaging International

Related Links

http://www.graphicpkg.com


(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/558818/Sebbin_Logo.jpg )

(Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582350/Revitacare_Logo.jpg )



Since 2008 Groupe Sebbin has been partnering with Revitacare in Spain. Today, the partnership will be extended to other European Countries including Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg.

This agreement will allow Sebbin to establish a firmer foot by reinforcing its strength into the aesthetic market and become a bigger player in the non-invasive product market with top products for face and hair by using its direct network in Europe of almost 50 sales representatives.

The products:

Cytocare 532/516/502 is a range of resorbable implant composed of Hyaluronic acid + for skin rejuvenation for every age and skin type. It treats fine lines and wrinkles, dehydrated skin and lack of density and radiance of the skin.

Cytocare S- Line is a complex for skin lightening and rejuvenation. It fills fine lines, attenuates wrinkles and loss of densification, restores skin hydration and radiance.

Haircare is a unique product composed of Hyaluronic acid to treat and attenuate scalp and hair problems for both women and men: Hair loss, scalp dehydration presence of dandruff, and hair breakage.

The launch of this cooperation is scheduled to start Q4 of 2017.

Diederik Van Goor , CEO of group Sebbin states :

"This partnership is a win-win agreement for both Sebbin and Revitacare and a great opportunity for Sebbin to accelerate its European expansion and offer noninvasive products to the aesthetic industry. We, at Sebbin, are very excited about this agreement"

Martine Buzon, Chairwoman of Revitacare states:

"This agreement could not come at a better time for Revitacare, it consolidates the successful investment in the current partnership and will help to boost our sales covering additional countries where Revitacare was not present. We are then very pleased to extend our partnership with Sebbin and I am expecting to be a success for everyone involved."

A bout Sebbin :

Groupe Sebbin is a global medical device company headquartered in France established for more than 30 years. It creates, develops, manufactures and markets high quality implants, expanders and other solutions for aesthetic and reconstructive surgery.

All products are manufactured with the upmost care and attention at its cutting-edge facility close to Paris. Strict quality control over 100% of their silicone implants ensures optimum safety for the patient.

patient safety is thE number one priority at all times.

Group Sebbin uses only long-term implantable medical grade silicone registered by the FDA (Food & Drugs Administration). The application of ISO 9001 and 13485 standards ensures full compliance with the requirements of European Directive 93/42.

About Revitacare:

REVITACARE is a French Laboratory specialized in cutting-edge research, development and manufacturing of anti-aging highly elaborated formulas. Thanks to its specific knowledge and expertise, REVITACARE has been recognized as a pioneer in delivering specific complex with ingredients combined with Hyaluronic acid. Their range is dedicated to medical aesthetic and cosmetology markets, to treat aging effects, aesthetic and various cosmetic concerns. Their products are distributed in over 40 countries thanks to a wide international distribution network.

REVITACARE was honored with several awards for their products including CYTOCARE as  Best Mesotherapy product  and HAIRCARE as "Best hair beauty product". These awards are the recognition of their high performance and represent their conviction to develop efficient and safe products. It scored REVITACARE as a key player in manufacturing of sophisticated formulas.

Since 2003, their focus is to develop innovative products to comply with the highest safety standards to meet practitioners and patients' expectations.

Contacts:



Groupe Sebbin

39-43 Parc d'Activites des Quatre Vents

95650 Boissy l'Aillerie - France

Tel : +331-3442-1328

Email : [email protected]

Website: www.sebbin.com



Revitacare

Heliparc, 6 rue saint Simon

95310 Saint-Ouen-l'Aumone

Tel : +33-130373145

Email : [email protected]

Website: www.revitacare.com



SOURCE Groupe Sebbin
BOSTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Groupize, the Simple Meetings technology leader, announced today that it has closed an additional $3.25 million in Series A2 funding. Thayer Ventures led the investment round with participation from existing investors including Golden Seeds and Launchpad Ventures. New investors include Wayfare Ventures, a new hospitality fund, NTX Venture Fund, and the Ace Fund.

The financing builds on an exceptional year for Groupize, which included the launch of its registration product and the integration to Concur's industry-leading travel management platform. Groupize's rapidly growing roster of marquee customers, key partnerships, integrations, and executive appointments are a testament to the current market momentum in the white-hot area of Simple Meetings management. The company's offering is well timed to capitalize on the rapidly increasing demand for solutions that complement the reach of the more complex platforms focused on large meetings.

In a statement, Charles de Gaspe Beaubien, CEO of Groupize says: "The company has executed a successful pivot from being a hospitality solution for hotels to focusing on Simple Meetings for corporations. We found a large market opportunity for our technology and timing is proving that we are quickly becoming a must-have solution for a very large untapped segment of corporate travel  Simple Meetings. Having the support and domain expertise of our industry investment partners helped us define our value proposition and relevance in the industry, that enables us to grow even more rapidly and broadly."

"Thayer Ventures first invested after Groupize won Best Emerging Technology at Phocuswright," explains Jeffery M. Jackson, Managing Director of Thayer Ventures. "We believed the team was on to something with their groups and meetings vision for occasional planners. We see a lot of excitement and disruption in the meetings and events world, even within our own portfolio. Groupize is an innovative and transformational solution, and we are excited to collaborate with and support them as they work to build a great company to lead and transform the $140B Simple Meeting market, which represents 60% to 80% of a corporation's meetings."

Groupize will use the capital to accelerate growth by investing in sales, customer support, and engineering. The raise will leverage the recent momentum and prepare the company for significant growth and continued expansion into the corporate market. Enterprise customers include several Fortune 100 companies, major Travel Management Companies (TMCs) and Corporate Agencies that are strategically focusing on servicing Simple Meetings, a critical area of spend and risk for all Corporations.

"Simple meetings are a sleeping giant," says Kevin Iwamoto of Senior Consultant at GoldSpring Consulting. "So many clients have no idea that the cumulative volume of simple meetings could potentially be even larger than their large meeting tracked volume."

To learn more about Groupize, visit groupize.com.

About Groupize

Groupize offers the leading end-to-end platform for simple corporate meetings. Groupize is revolutionizing meetings technology with innovative, self-service solutions that reduce the complexity of starting, sourcing, managing and measuring simple meetings. Founded in 2011, Groupize is a privately held company and headquartered in Boston, MA. For more information, please call 1.885.GROUPIZE or visit groupize.com.

About Thayer Ventures

Thayer Ventures is an early stage technology venture capital firm specifically focused on the travel industry. Since its founding in 2009, the firm has partnered with entrepreneurs to create, develop and build technology companies that will revolutionize the travel and hospitality industry. Based in San Francisco, Thayer Ventures currently supports some of the world's leading travel technology companies, including Duetto, ADARA, ID90T, TripBam, Liftopia, Traxo, Viridis Learning, Uplift, Reservamos, Social Tables, Sonder Collection and BookingPal and ID90T. Additional information is available on the company's website: www.thayerventures.com.

Unless indicated otherwise, all trademarks and service marks herein are trademarks of Groupize, Inc. or an affiliate thereof.

Contact:

GROUPIZE

Alisa de Gaspe Beaubien

508-232-7719 x 215

[email protected]

www.groupize.com

SOURCE Groupize

Related Links

http://groupize.com


LONDON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

High Purity Alumina Market by Type (4N, 5N, and 6N), Application (LED Bulbs, Electronic Displays, Lithium-ion Batteries (Automotive), Other Automotive, Medical, and Others), and Technology (Hydrolysis and Hydrochloric acid leaching) - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5139373



High purity alumina is an alumina with a minimum purity level of 99.99%. It is used as a base material for manufacturing light emitting diodes (LEDs), electronic displays, separator for lithium ion batteries in automotive industry, surgical tools and instruments in medical industry. High purity alumina exhibits increasing application owing to its superior properties such as high brightness, corrosion resistance, crack resistance and its ability to withstand extreme temperatures. In 2015, the global high purity alumina market was valued at $1,535 million and is expected to grow further at a CAGR of 16.7 % during 2016-2022.



Increasing demand for high purity alumina across the globe, coupled with government support leading to growing adoption of LEDs, drives the size of global high purity alumina market. In addition, technological advancements and growth in application industries such as semiconductors, automotive and medical, are also driving the world market for high purity alumina. However, higher cost of production may impede the market growth in the near future, owing to the emergence of any cost alternative product into the market.



Based on type of high purity alumina, the market is segmented into 4N, 5N and 6N. Technological developments in production processes would lead to a lower cost of production. The prices for high purity alumina are expected to decrease in the near future. In 2015, the 4N segment occupied more than half of the market share in terms of volume in global hpa market. Based on application, the market is segmented into LED bulbs, electronic displays, automotive, medical and others. Based on production technology, the market is segmented into hydrolysis and hydrochloric acid (HCL) leaching.



Geographically, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and LAMEA. In 2015, Asia-Pacific occupied the largest share in the global high purity alumina, with China and Japan as major countries contributing to the growth. Increasing population coupled with rising adoption of government initiatives to save energy are significant factors leading to the growth of the high purity alumina market in the Asia-Pacific region.



The companies have adopted agreement, acquisition, collaboration, partnership, expansion, and product & technology launch in order to gain a competitive advantage in this market. For example, Altech Chemicals Ltd. has primarily adopted the agreement strategy by appointing Mitsubishi Corporation as exclusive seller of high purity alumina products which has helped it to expand its geographic reach and distribute its products in the Japanese market. The key players profiled in the report include Orbite Technologies Inc., Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd, Baikowski SAS, Alcoa Inc., Nippon Light Metal Holdings Company, Ltd., Altech Chemicals Ltd, Zibo Honghe Chemical Co. Ltd., and Xuan Cheng Jing Rui New Material Co. Ltd.



HIGH PURITY ALUMINA MARKET KEY BENEFITS:

The report provides extensive analysis of market size and factors, which drive or restrict the growth of the world high purity alumina industry.



The market projections for period 2015-2022 have been included coupled with the impacting factors.



The report also provides quantitative as well as qualitative trends to assist the stakeholders in understanding the market scenario.



In-depth analyses of key segments of the market demonstrate the consumption pattern of high purity aluminum for different applications across various end user industries.



SWOT analysis facilitates the study of internal environment of leading companies for strategy formulation.



Competitive intelligence highlights the business practices adopted by the leading market players across various geographies.



HIGH PURITY ALUMINA MARKET KEY SEGMENTS:



By Type

4N



5N



6N



By Application

LED Bulbs



Electronic Displays



Automotive



Medical



Others



By Technology

Hydrolysis



HCL



By Geography

North America



U.S.



Canada



Mexico



Europe



Germany



Italy



France



UK



Others



Asia-Pacific



China



India



Japan



Others



LAMEA



Brazil



Middle East



Africa



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5139373



About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers

https://www.reportbuyer.com



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 208 816 85 48

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

SOURCE ReportBuyer

Related Links

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AUSTIN, Minn., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) today announced it has been named one of best places to intern in the U.S. according to Vault's 2018 50 Best Internships ranking. Hormel Foods ranked No. 23 on the top 50 list, and No. 4 in the retail and consumer products category.

To compile the ranking, Vault surveyed thousands of current and former interns about their internship programs. Vault's 50 Best Internships reflects the highest-rated internship programs across the survey pool.

"For more than a decade, Hormel Foods has had an experience-based internship program that provides college-level students with an opportunity to work for a Fortune 500 company doing meaningful real-world work. We believe the success of the program is based on our talent philosophy and the interns' perspective that has shaped the program into one that is truly world-class," said Amy Sheehan, corporate manager of talent acquisition at Hormel Foods. "Because of the strength of the internship program, on average we have been able to hire 80 percent of our interns year-over-year. We are very proud to receive this award and even more proud of our incredible classes of interns who are part of our global team."

During a three- or six-month full-time internship, Hormel Foods interns have the opportunity to:

Manage company projects independently with support from talented staff;

Network with peers and employees of various levels in different departments;

Participate in strategy sessions with industry leaders;

Receive competitive pay and housing assistance;

Learn about career paths at the company; and

Participate in social events tailored to the interests of each class of interns.

Hormel Foods was also recently recognized with a Stevie Award in the Employer of the Year  Food and Beverage category for its innovative, promote-from-within culture, diversity and inclusion efforts and training programs.

For more information about internship opportunities at Hormel Foods, visit https://www.hormelfoods.com/careers/new-grads-university-recruiting/internship-opportunities/.

About Hormel Foods  Inspired People. Inspired Food.

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $9 billion in annual revenue across 75 countries worldwide. Its brands include SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, Wholly Guacamole, Hormel Black Label and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named one of "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens" by Corporate Responsibility Magazine for the ninth year in a row, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. In 2016, the company celebrated its 125th anniversary and announced its new vision for the future  Inspired People. Inspired Food.  focusing on its legacy of innovation. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com and https://csr.hormelfoods.com/.

Contact:

Kelly Braaten

507-437-5345

[email protected]

SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation

Related Links

http://www.hormelfoods.com


THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) will hold a conference call to discuss its third quarter 2017 financial results on Friday, October 27, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. ET. Third quarter 2017 results will be released to the public at approximately 6:00 a.m. ET that day via PR Newswire.

Call-in numbers for the conference call:

U.S. participants (888) 680  0890

International participants (617) 213 - 4857

Passcode 547 974 21#

In order to facilitate the registration process, you may use the following link to pre-register for the conference call. Callers who pre-register will be given a unique PIN to gain immediate access to the call and bypass the live operator. You may pre-register at any time, including up to and after the call start time. To pre-register, please go to:

https://www.theconferencingservice.com/prereg/key.process?key=PRRFWWDBY.

Webcast Information

The conference call will be available via webcast and can be accessed from the company's website at ir.huntsman.com.

Replay Information

The conference call will be available for replay beginning October 27, 2017 and ending November 3, 2017.

Call-in numbers for the replay:

U.S. participants (888) 286 - 8010

International participants (617) 801 - 6888

Replay code 29385180

About Huntsman:

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2016 revenues of approximately $10 billion. Our chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets. We operate more than 75 manufacturing, R&D and operations facilities in over 30 countries and employ approximately 10,000 associates within our four distinct business divisions. For more information about Huntsman, please visit the company's website at www.huntsman.com.

Social Media:

Twitter: twitter.com/Huntsman_Corp

Facebook: www.facebook.com/huntsmancorp

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/huntsman

Forward Looking Statements:

Statements in this release that are not historical are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current beliefs and expectations. The forward-looking statements in this release are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances and involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the company's operations, markets, products, services, prices and other factors as discussed in the Huntsman companies' filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Significant risks and uncertainties may relate to, but are not limited to, volatile global economic conditions, cyclical and volatile product markets, disruptions in production at manufacturing facilities, reorganization or restructuring of Huntsman's operations, the ability to implement cost reductions and manufacturing optimization improvements in Huntsman businesses, to consummate or achieve the expected benefits of the proposed transaction with Clariant and to realize anticipated cost savings, and other financial, economic, competitive, environmental, political, legal, regulatory and technological factors. The company assumes no obligation to provide revisions to any forward-looking statements should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by applicable laws

SOURCE Huntsman Corporation

Related Links

http://www.huntsman.com


AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin announced that it has appointed Jan Ryan to the newly created position of Director of Creative Entrepreneurship and Innovation. A successful entrepreneur and passionate advocate for professional women in Texas, Ryan has joined UT to create a new entrepreneurship program for students in the College of Fine Arts. Ryan will work closely with Dean Doug Dempster of the College of Fine Arts, Doreen Lorenzo, assistant dean of the School of Design and Creative Technologies and the Fine Arts Career Services office to develop new courses and co-curricular programs that prepare students for 21st century creative careers.

"Like many arts schools, we've long prepared our graduates to be successful, self-employed, creative freelance artists and performers. We're good at teaching that terrific professional skillset in a 'gig-economy'," said Dean Doug Dempster. "What's missing is the opportunity for arts students'creatives'to think bigger and in more entrepreneurial ways about launching and building businesses that open new markets, address social needs, attract investors, create jobs and build wealth well beyond what might be possible by a gigging artist or performer."

"Thinking like an entrepreneurproblem-solving, understanding an audience, growing a brand, working collaboratively across disciplinesthese are skills that students can use throughout their lives to be more successful," said Ryan. "My vision is to provide our students with critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills that will help them design their own careers, again and again, throughout their lives, compatible within their professional passions."

In her role, Ryan will introduce a core set of entrepreneurship fundamentals throughout the College of Fine Arts curriculum, as well as integrate the college into the broader innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem growing at UT and in Austin. Leveraging her extensive network within the Austin startup economy, including a vast network of women entrepreneurs and leaders through the organization she founded in 2013, [email protected], Ryan will also develop new programs to help nurture the next generation of women entrepreneurs at UT, providing mentorship, creative role models and connections to capital.

About Jan Ryan

As an entrepreneur, software tech executive and investor, Jan Ryan has been focused on building expansion stage companies for 28 years, resulting in four successful acquisitions and one IPO. Ryan is currently a strategic advisor and angel investor in some of Austin's most innovative young companies. She serves as partner at Capital Factory, an Austin-based accelerator and mentoring program for startups, as well as TechStars, an international accelerator where she frequently shares her founders story and funding advice.

SOURCE University of Texas
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Integrated Ventures, Inc. (OTC: INTVD) is pleased to announce that the Company has regained a full compliance with OTCQB requirements and has been readmitted to the OTCQB Venture Market.

Effective, October 12, 2017, the Company's shares will be trading again on OTCQB under the symbol INTV with the fifth character "D", which was added on September 21, 2017, for a period of 20 trading days to indicate that the Reverse Stock Split has occurred. The Company expects that its common stock will revert to the trading under its original symbol "INTV", on October 20, 2017.

Steve Rubakh, CEO of Integrated Ventures, Inc, states: "We are extremely happy to be back on OTCQB and to be among other premier OTC companies. It must be noted that in order to be eligible for relisting on OTCQB, the Company had to remain current in its financial reporting, to have a minimum bid price of $0.01 and to complete an annual verification and management certification process. Such fast approval for the relisting on OTCQB Venture Market, clearly indicates the Company's commitment in the building the shareholder's value and enabling the management team to rapidly move forward with execution of the new business plan. In addition, the Company plans to file its current 10Q ahead of schedule and is very confident that financial results will confirm and reinforce a positive momentum in terms of stock pricing."

About Integrated Ventures, Inc:

The Company is focused on acquiring, launching and operating companies, primarily in the crypto currency, blockchain technology, mobile applications and healthcare transportation sectors.

For more details about Integrated Ventures, Inc, please visit www.integratedventuresinc.com.

About Bitco Lab, Inc:

This wholly owned subsidiary is pursuing opportunities in the crypto currency sector with focus on bitcoin mining, hosting, pooling, manufacturing and distributing of own brand of mining equipment and the development of blockchain based applications for financial markets.

For more details about Bitco Lab, Inc, please visit www.bitcolab.io.

Safe Harbor Statement:

The information posted in this release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by use of the words "may," "will," "should," "plans," "explores," "expects," "anticipates," "continue," "estimate," "project," "intend," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, general economic and business conditions, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, and various other factors beyond the Company's control.

Contact:

Steve Rubakh

[email protected]

(215) 962-4558

SOURCE Integrated Ventures, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.integratedventuresinc.com


WATERLOO, Ontario, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ISARA Corporation, the leading provider of security solutions for the quantum computing age, and Utimaco Inc., a worldwide provider of cybersecurity solutions, announced today that they successfully ran quantum-safe hash, lattice and multivariate-based digital signature algorithms for a Hardware Security Module (HSM) in initial laboratory testing.

Utimaco, based in Germany, is a leading manufacturer of Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) that provide the root of trust to all industries, from financial services and payment to the automotive industry, cloud services to the public sector. HSMs help keep cryptographic keys and digital identities safe in order to protect critical digital infrastructures and high value data assets. Utimaco and ISARA are collaborating to help defend critical systems in the coming age of quantum computing.

"With the threat of quantum computers being able to break currently used public-key cryptography growing nearer and standards organizations, like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), working on creating new cryptographic standards, work on how these new schemes fit into existing protocols and systems needs to be done in parallel in order to ensure we are ready to mitigate the quantum threat in time,'' said Thorsten Groetker, Chief Technology Officer of Utimaco. ''In addition, it takes time and effort to ensure that hardware systems are able to run the new algorithms efficiently and that is why we are preparing Utimaco's CryptoServer line of products for the challenge ahead."

With immense computing power driven by quantum mechanics, quantum computing offers the potential for huge advancements in areas such as artificial intelligence and material design. But a quantum computer also will be capable of breaking the public key encryption standards that protect all of the data, software updates and technology we now safely store, share and use.

"Quantum computing will deliver amazing benefits and, in the wrong hands, could present serious threats,'' said Michael K. Brown, CTO of ISARA Corp. "All organizations with critical data need to begin preparing today by protecting information whose confidentiality must persist over time. We are excited to work with Utimaco on quantum-safe HSM solutions as it allows the IoT industry to ensure their product's roots of trust remain secure and over-the-air updates authentic."

At the core of secure devices is a root of trust, typically in the form of an embedded public key or digital certificate. These are embedded in all Internet-enabled devices, from computers to vehicles to industrial equipment. The software updates sent to these devices are digitally signed and these signatures can be verified by the receiving devices using the embedded roots of trust.

Updating roots of trust is an urgent problem. A part of solving that problem is getting the quantum-safe algorithms to work on a Hardware Security Module (HSM). This module keeps the private keys safe in a tamper-resistant hardware and sign data that is fed into it, without revealing the private key. While providing physical protection to the private key, these HSMs have limited memory and computing resources.

"While different threats posed by the arrival of a large-scale quantum computer have different urgency, we are particularly concerned about the roots of trust,'' said Alexander Truskovsky, ISARA's Senior Product Manager. "Internet-of-things devices will rely on over-the-air software updates. It is essential that we protect these devices from attack by quantum computers. HSM are essential to roots of trust and code signing."

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 Utimaco Inc.

Utimaco is a worldwide supplier of professional cybersecurity solutions. Since 1983, Utimaco has been developing hardware-based, high-security appliances (Hardware Security Modules). Today, Utimaco is a world-market leader in this segment. Customers and partners of Utimaco in all parts of the world trust the company's long-term, proven reliability and investment protection, as well as its many certified IT security standards. Utimaco stands for recognized product quality, user-friendly software, excellent support and trusted high security  made in Germany. For more information, visit https://hsm.utimaco.com/

SOURCE ISARA Corporation

Related Links

http://www.isara.com


ARCADIA, CA, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced $2.5 million in grants for fire recovery and watershed restoration related to three historic fires on Angeles National Forest. Grantee organizations have committed another $1.6 million in match, generating a total conservation investment of $4.1 million.

The grants were awarded through the Angeles National Forest  Wildfires Restoration Grant Program (Wildfire Restoration Program), a partnership between NFWF and the U.S. Forest Services Angeles National Forest. This is the first year the program has administered grant awards. Subsequent award cycles are expected annually for at least the next four years.

These first grants exhibit not only a significant amount of community support for helping the Angeles National Forest, but also provide funding for outstanding conservation, education and resiliency projects to help restore important watersheds in the Angeles National Forest, said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. NFWF is passionate about this partnership with Angeles National Forest to help them accomplish their restoration needs. We look forward to working together to improve watershed health and protect natural resources important for nearby residents and local communities.

The 15 projects awarded grants this year will address damage caused by the Copper, Ranch and Sayre fires. Projects aim to restore the watersheds and ecosystems affected by these fires, promote ecological resilience to future wildfire events, inform efficient post-fire restoration through innovation, and increase awareness and understanding of fires impact on Southern California landscapes.

A complete list of the 2017 grants made through the Wildfire Restoration Program is available here.

We are excited about the opportunity to partner with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to engage local stakeholders and resource experts in forest watershed restoration projects, said Angeles Forest Supervisor Jeffrey Vail. Partnering with NFWF will allow us to increase the forests capacity for our ecological restoration efforts, and lead to a healthier, more resilient landscape with improved habitat for fish and wildlife.

Angeles National Forest serves as the picturesque backdrop for one of the countrys largest urban centers, providing approximately 700,000 acres of open space to the roughly 18 million residents of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. The first designated National Forest in California, Angeles National Forest is located within one of the worlds vital biodiversity hot spots. It is home to many natural and cultural resources unique to Southern California, including a variety of threatened and endangered species. In addition to managing and maintaining the unique ecosystems of the region, Angeles National Forest also provides opportunities to experience nature and the outdoors for almost four million visitors annually.

The Copper, Ranch and Sayre fires burned approximately 37,000 acres of Angeles National Forest, leaving a significant impact on the landscapes, watersheds and ecosystems of the region. Angeles National Forest and NFWFs partnership aims to restore the watersheds and ecosystems affected by these wildfire events.

About the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Chartered by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores the nation's fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Working with federal, corporate and individual partners, NFWF has funded more than 4,500 organizations and committed more than $3.8 billion to conservation projects. Learn more at www.nfwf.org.

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Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/33062638-5861-4d15-b9d8-19ad1197bfa7

Attachments:

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NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Islamic Banking Technology Market Report from IBS Intelligence provides an unrivalled resource covering this specialist market. It will assist banks with the selection of the best system to support their operations and is an ideal reference and source of primary information on Islamic banking systems for suppliers and consultants operating or looking to operate in this expanding sector.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05140736

By drilling down into the complexities and detail of what makes Shari'ah compliant systems, this guide explores each system and the supplier's ability to innovate, to control and manage the operation and to provide excellent customer service.

In a totally independent editorial, the Islamic Banking Technology Market Report reviews the strengths and weaknesses of specialist suppliers and their systems, analysing the background, functionality, future direction and user base for each.



The guide will help you to:

 Explore the challenges of Islamic banking technology

 Review the various Islamic finance authorities involved

 Compare conventional banking vs. Islamic finance

 Draw experience from four in-depth case studies of Islamic system implementations

 Gain comprehensive knowledge of over 30 specialist Islamic finance technology vendors and over 40 of their systems.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05140736

About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

https://www.reportlinker.com

__________________________

Contact Clare: [email protected]

US: (339)-368-6001

Intl: +1 339-368-6001

SOURCE Reportlinker

Related Links

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Airbus, the worldwide leader in aeronautics, space and related services and the Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC), the leading global organisation for engineering education, have announced the recipient of the 2017 GEDC Airbus Diversity Award. Japan's Kyushu Institute of Technology's BIRDS Satellite Project was selected, with the Schulich School of Engineering: Discover Engineering Programme at Canada's University of Calgary and the Women in Engineering (WIE) Programme at the University of New South Wales in Australia as runners up.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/582413/GEDC_Airbus_diversity_award_2017_winner.jpg )

Now in its 5th edition, the Award was developed and funded by Airbus in partnership with the GEDC, and this year was granted UNESCO patronage. It aims to shine a light on successful projects which have encouraged more people of all profiles and backgrounds to study and succeed in engineering. Diversity has become an increasingly prominent metric for business success, with 69% of executives rating diversity and inclusion an important issue in 2017, up from 59% in 2014.

"Diversity is a cornerstone of our business and an indispensable component for our continued success," said Jean-Brice Dumont, upcoming Executive Vice President (EVP) of Engineering Airbus Commercial Aircraft, member of Airbus' Diversity and Inclusion Steering Board, and Patron of the Award. "Diversity is not just important; it's part of Airbus' DNA. We are committed to further encouraging and enabling all types of diversity to maintain a high level of innovation in our industry. Our partnership with the GEDC is one illustration of this commitment, as we work together to identify successful projects like the one that has just been awarded to develop our next generation of diverse global engineers."

The 2017 GEDC Airbus Diversity Award recipient, BIRDS Satellite Project, trains graduate students from developing countries in using cost-effective innovative systems engineering to execute a comprehensive two-year satellite project, with the long-term goal of equipping them to commence a sustainable space programme in their respective home countries.

Taiwo Tejumola from the Kyushu Institute of Technology, presented the project to a Jury of industry experts and distinguished guests, as well as 200 international engineering education leaders gathered for the 2017 GEDC Conference in Niagara Falls, Canada. The three finalist projects were evaluated on the basis of the impact of their work, evidence of generating results and the possibility to be scaled-up. The winning project was awarded US$ 10,000, and the runners up US$ 1,500.

Speaking at the Award Ceremony, Taiwo said that "The BIRDS Project team at the Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan appreciates this recognition. Our collaborative programme provides a unique opportunity for young engineers to compete in today's global market, teaching specialised waste-minimising systems engineering models, developing core skills and building a supportive peer network. The project also creates a sustainable pathway for participants to implement training initiatives in their home countries, further contributing to the diversification and globalisation of engineering skills."

"One of the Award criteria is for projects with the potential to be successfully replicated in other institutions and countries. All three of our 2017 finalist projects have made a significant impact in increasing the diversity of students pursuing engineering studies, and my hope is that my fellow GEDC members will be inspired to initiate similar projects in their home institutions and in their countries," said Peter Kilpatrick, McCloskey Dean of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, USA, and Chairperson of the GEDC.

For the 2017 edition, 45 projects were submitted, from 18 countries and 39 institutions.

SOURCE Airbus
OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- "I'm on bonus time, there's absolutely no question about that," said George Wittemyer, reflecting on the care he received from physicians and nurses during an emergency cardiac event and subsequent surgery. "And I'm really happy. Here I am, thanks to Kaiser Permanente."

Wittemyer's experience of seamless care, expert medicine and top-notch service represents one of the many reasons the organization's Medicare health plans have once again received high scores by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

In CMS' Oct. 11 announcement of the 2018 Medicare star quality ratings, Kaiser Permanente's Medicare health plans in Northern and Southern California, Colorado, Hawaii, Northwest and Mid-Atlantic States received 5 out of 5 stars each. Kaiser Permanente in Georgia and Washington earned 4.5 out of 5 stars.

According to CMS, Kaiser Permanente represents five of 15 Medicare health plans (with Parts C and D) that earned 5 out of 5 stars, the highest overall rating. Moreover, of the nearly 2 million beneficiaries enrolled in those 5-star plans nationwide, 72 percent are Kaiser Permanente Medicare members. Wittemyer is one of more than 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries who rely on Kaiser Permanente for high-quality health care with service that is convenient, personalized and simple to use.

The 'turbine'

Wittemyer, 77, a Kaiser Permanente Medicare health plan member in Portland, Oregon, knew something was wrong when after increasing episodes of weakness and shortness of breath, he could hardly walk up his driveway. Thanks to quick action by his internist, Wittemyer was soon in urgent care for treatment, and then conferring with his physicians about surgery to attach a left ventricular assist device, or "LVAD," to his heart.

After much discussion and deliberation, Wittemyer made the decision with his doctors to proceed with the surgery. Surgery and recovery were both a success, and Wittemyer credits his entire care team  including his "peerless" surgeon, "marvelous" physicians and "incredible" nurses  with providing expert care and support throughout his experience.

Perhaps because he grew up on a working farm, Wittemyer calls his LVAD "the turbine." With his new turbine in place, Wittemyer is back to driving his tractor, chopping trees and doing other chores on his acreage. "I'm back to being a normal person," he said, smiling.

"By providing excellent, compassionate care, our physicians and care teams are helping our members achieve and maintain total health," said Michael Kanter, MD, executive vice president of quality and chief quality officer for The Permanente Federation, the national organization for more than 21,000 physicians who provide care to Kaiser Permanente's 11.8 million members. "Our patients partner with their doctors to make personalized treatment decisions together so they can live full, active lives. The CMS ratings reflect the success of our person-centered approach to delivering safe and effective care."

As the nation's largest integrated health system, Kaiser Permanente connects its care teams to members via digital tools, technology and a range of care settings so that members can access care whenever and wherever they need.

A rating system to make choice easier

CMS created the Medicare star quality rating system to provide beneficiaries with a way to assess Medicare plans based on quality of care and service delivery, so they can make an informed decision when choosing a plan. CMS uses the star ratings system to rank Medicare health plans on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with 5 stars representing the highest quality.

Kaiser Permanente Medicare health plans have consistently received high ratings since CMS began awarding them in 2009.

"Our high star ratings year after year reflect the dedicated work of providers and staff throughout our organization to ensure the best care and service experience for our members," said Patrick Courneya, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals. "Kaiser Permanente's integrated model enables a seamless, coordinated care experience for members, and our commitment to evidence-based practices and prevention measures means we are our patients' partner in becoming their healthiest selves."

A leader in quality

Kaiser Permanente's high rating by CMS is the latest of several quality recognitions the organization has achieved this year. In the "NCQA Health Insurance Plan Ratings 2017-2018" report, the National Committee for Quality Assurance lists all seven Kaiser Permanente Medicare plans as the highest rated or ranked, or tied-for-highest, in the markets they serve  for the sixth year in a row. And for the fifth consecutive year, Kaiser Permanente's Medicare website, kp.org/Medicare, was rated one of the top Medicare websites in the nation for providing consumers with an easy, positive and high-value experience.

Medicare beneficiaries can learn more about the star ratings and Kaiser Permanente's Medicare health plans by visiting kp.org/medicarestars.

Kaiser Permanente Medicare plans have consistently received high ratings since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began the Medicare stars program, and have maintained high performance in all states in which the health plan operates. For CMS' 2018 star ratings:

Kaiser Permanente Colorado received the highest possible rating of 5 out of 5 stars for the eighth year in a row.

received the highest possible rating of 5 out of 5 stars for the eighth year in a row. Kaiser Permanente Northern and Southern California received the highest possible rating of 5 out of 5 stars for the seventh year in a row and is the highest rated plan in the state.*

and received the highest possible rating of 5 out of 5 stars for the seventh year in a row and is the highest rated plan in the state.* Kaiser Permanente Northwest , which includes Oregon and southwest Washington , received the highest possible rating of 5 out of 5 stars for the seventh year in a row.

, which includes and southwest , received the highest possible rating of 5 out of 5 stars for the seventh year in a row. Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States, which includes Maryland , Virginia and Washington D.C. , received the highest possible rating of 5 out of 5 stars for the sixth year in a row.

which includes , and , received the highest possible rating of 5 out of 5 stars for the sixth year in a row. Kaiser Permanente Hawaii received the highest possible rating of 5 out of 5 stars and is the highest rated plan in the state.

received the highest possible rating of 5 out of 5 stars and is the highest rated plan in the state. Kaiser Permanente Georgia received 4.5 out of 5 stars.

received 4.5 out of 5 stars. Kaiser Permanente Washington received 4.5 out of 5 stars.

*Northern and Southern California regions rated together as they represent one CMS contract.

Fast facts: Medicare quality stars

What they measure: The overall scores for Medicare quality stars are based on care and service quality measures (Parts C and D) across nine categories, including staying healthy, member satisfaction, managing chronic conditions, customer service and pharmacy services. The star ratings also measure health plans' compliance performance.

Methodology: Star ratings are calculated each year and may change from one year to the next. The methodology CMS uses for the star ratings is dynamic and continues to change. This means that Medicare health plans must stay ahead of the curve on measures that may be included in the 5-star portfolio, and continually improve their performance to achieve 5 stars.

Special enrollment opportunity: Along with high-quality care and service, another benefit of 5-star plans is a longer enrollment opportunity. Medicare beneficiaries may change to a 5-star Kaiser Permanente individual Medicare plan through a CMS 5-star Special Enrollment Period from Dec. 8, 2017 to Nov. 30, 2018, without having to wait until the next annual enrollment period.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 11.8 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to kp.org/share.

Contact:

Marc Brown, 510-271-6328

[email protected]

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente

Related Links

http://www.kaiserpermanente.org


LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kathy Ireland, Chairman and CEO of kathy ireland Worldwide, Forbes cover subject and recognized, as one of the 50 most successful women in America, arrives in Greensboro, North Carolina's FBO Thursday, because the kathy ireland Worldwide's leased Gulfstream is too large for High Point's FBO. Thursday will continue preparations for the launch of Michael Amini Kathy Ireland Home Designs, premiering in over 7500 square feet at the Amini Showroom on Friday.

This will be Ireland's 36th High Point Home market exhibition. This is Mr. Amini's first effort in the affordable luxury category, where Ireland's millennial customers are an inspiration for the over 250 sku initial collection. "Michael is simply my dream collaborator. We've designed and sold billions of dollars in home furniture. Some of it wonderful and some of it not as innovative as our dreams. Michael naturally understands my vision. He brings it forward into reality. Having Michael and my Global Creative Director, Jon Carrasco, work beside me in home design is a kathy ireland Worldwide dream team. Michael deserves first billing in this partnership, because of his brilliant artistry and ability to make magnificent furniture at prices which are affordable. Quality is never sacrificed in the hands of this artisan," said Ireland.

Michael Amini said, "Kathy is a wonderful person, with great passion and success in business, furniture, royalty, philanthropy and fashion. We are passionate to bring fresh air into the market for our customers." Ireland will be accompanied by Jon Carrasco, Global Creative Director, kathy ireland Worldwide; Martin Sumichrast, Chair and CEO of Level Brands Inc., a Reg A plus IPO which is currently testing the waters; and Paul Raps, Ireland's partner in Kathleen Marie Paul Raps New York and Diamonds by kathy ireland.

Over the course of the weekend, Ireland will wear over $30 million dollars in jewels from her personal collection of Kathleen Marie Paul Raps New York, Diamonds by kathy ireland and never before seen private jewelry gifts from Elizabeth Taylor to Ireland. Ireland is rarely is photographed publicly in her private jewels. This weekend will be an exception. "The entire collection was designed as a tribute to our beloved Elizabeth, who taught me how to design wear jewelry. More importantly, Elizabeth explained how and why to let sparkle bring attention to things that really matter, such as HIV/AIDS and the other scourges in the world, which must be defeated. On December 1st, which is World AIDS Day, our President, Stephen Roseberry will deliver the first $100,000 of an ongoing commitment to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. Fulfilling this pledge, at this time, is in honor of our partnership with Mr. Amini and his brilliantly, talented team. Also available for viewing, is a rare glimpse of Elizabeth Taylor's Academy Award for her humanitarian efforts in the war on HIV/AIDS. Elizabeth challenged us to bring about with the help of doctors, humanitarians and God, a generation free of HIV/AIDS. We cannot let Elizabeth down. It will happen," said Ireland.

Level Brands, Inc. has filed an Offering Statement for the offering of its securities on Form 1-A with the Securities and Exchange Commission but the Offering Statement has not yet become qualified. You may obtain a copy of the most recent version of the Preliminary Offering Circular which is a part of the Offering Statement, with the following link: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1644903/000165495417008542/partiiandiii.htm. The offering is being made only by means of the Offering Circular. No money or other consideration is being solicited at this time with respect to such an offering, and if sent in response to these materials for such an offering, it will not be accepted. No securities may be sold, and no offer to buy securities can be accepted and no part of the purchase price can be received for an offering under Regulation A+ until the Offering Statement is qualified by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and any such offer may be withdrawn or revoked, without obligation or commitment of any kind, at any time before notice of its acceptance given after the qualification date. An indication of interest made by a prospective investor in a Regulation A+ offering is non-binding and involves no obligation or commitment of any kind.

SOURCE Level Brands, Inc.
NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against Kobe Steel, Ltd. ("Kobe Steel" or the "Company") (OTC: KBSTY).

On October 8, 2017, Kobe Steel announced that the Company "discovered that in its Aluminum & Copper Business, including group companies, a portion of the products traded with customers did not comply with the product specifications which were agreed between the Company and its customers." Furthermore, the Company stated that "[d]ata in inspection certificates had been improperly rewritten etc., and the products were shipped as having met the specifications concerned[.]"

As a result of this news, Kobe Steel's American depositary receipt ("ADR") price has significantly declined.

If you invested in Kobe Steel ADRs and would like to discuss your legal rights, click here : www.faruqilaw.com/KBSTY. There is no cost or obligation to you.

You can also contact us by calling Richard Gonnello toll free at 877-247-4292 or at 212-983-9330 or by sending an e-mail to [email protected].

CONTACT:

FARUQI & FARUQI, LLP

685 Third Avenue, 26th Floor

New York, NY 10017

Attn: Richard Gonnello, Esq.

[email protected]

Telephone: (877) 247-4292 or (212) 983-9330

Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner.

SOURCE Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP

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CHICAGO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Responding to record growth, L37 Creative, a national leader in creative content and live events, announced the opening of new offices in New York and San Diego today. This expands the L37 footprint to deliver coast to coast coverage, providing in-market support for clients. The company also announced that Joe Cooper, a creative and communications leader, has joined the agency to serve as Creative Director and lead its New York office.

Founded in Las Vegas in 2013, L37 expanded into the Chicago market in 2015. Since then, it has tripled in size. Adding a presence in New York immediately, and in San Diego in Quarter 1 of 2018 will mean better support for existing clients and a stronger foundation for future growth.

Joe Cooper is a creative director with more than 15 years of experience in communications, public relations, content development, and live events. Prior to joining L37, Joe Cooper served as Vice President, Digital and Content Strategy for Ketchum, a global leader in public relations where he led the creative development of content-driven campaigns for a diverse set of clients.

"Opening new offices and adding new, talented leadership like Joe Cooper allows our capabilities to be delivered right in market," said Ryan Legue, Principal of L37 Creative. "Formalizing our East Coast presence with Joe opening our New York office allows clients to know that their creative partner is close by for all the necessary capabilities we provide.

"I am thrilled to be joining a team of people I consider among the best in the business when it comes to creativity," said Joe Cooper, Creative Director of L37 Creative in New York. "I have known the L37 team since before they started, and have wanted to join them for just as long. My true love has always been live events and I don't know anyone that does it better than L37."

To learn more about L37, click here.

About L37 Creative

L37 Creative is a privately held company and leading provider of event production, video production, and creative services for industries ranging from corporate and medical to culinary, educational, and beyond. With offices in Chicago, Las Vegas, and New York, L37 works nationally and internationally. To join the conversation, follow L37 on Twitter and connect via LinkedIn.

Media contact:

Kebra Shelhamer / Root3 Marketing

[email protected] / 773-799-8200

SOURCE L37 Creative
CHICAGO, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Teamsters Local 727 applauds the repeal of the Cook County Beverage Tax Ordinance today by the Cook County Board of Commissioners.

The repeal, which goes into effect December 1, means that working families will no longer be required to pay an exorbitant amount of money for soft drinks, fruit juices and other beverages. It also means that Chicago-area beverage industry workers, thousands of whom are represented by Local 727, will no longer be at risk of losing their jobs as a result of the tax.

It was estimated that more than 6,000 jobs could be shed by the industry because of the penny-per-ounce beverage tax. Additionally, estimates projected lost wages as high as $321 million for beverage production workers and delivery drivers. Cook County was expected to lose $1.3 billion in economic activity with businesses shuttered and consumers shopping beyond Cook County for groceries and beverages.

"Finally, the Cook County Board has done the right thing for millions of consumers and thousands of beverage industry workers in the metropolitan area," said John Coli Jr., Secretary-Treasurer of Local 727. "From the first day this poorly-constructed tax plan was introduced, Local 727 remained committed to protecting hardworking Teamsters and their good-paying jobs. Our legislators need to pursue sustainable solutions to satisfy the budget without nickel-and-diming Cook County's working families time after time."

For years, Local 727 has urged the Cook County Board to abandon similar beverage tax proposals, providing lawmakers with concrete evidence of the detrimental effects such levies have had on workers and industry in cities like Berkeley, Calif. and Philadelphia. During rallies and town halls, and in multiple op-eds, the Teamsters have helped lead the charge for county government to consider other taxes, including rideshare surcharges, which could meaningfully increase revenue over time.

Local 727 represents nearly 2,000 beverage industry workers throughout Cook County. These include workers at Pepsi, Coca-Cola Refreshments, Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution, Dr. Pepper Snapple and Home Juice. Local 727 has negotiated and secured strong contracts for hundreds of Home Juice, Coca-Cola and Pepsi members over the past year.

Teamsters Local 727 represents more than 10,000 hardworking professionals throughout Chicago and northern Illinois.

Contact:

Michael Brandfon, (847) 696-7500

SOURCE Teamsters Local 727
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Med-X, Inc. (Med-X) today announced that their Regulation A+ (Reg A+) equity crowdfunding campaign - one of the first of its kind for the medical cannabis industry - is now accepting investment funding beginning at the $420 level or 700 shares. In approximately an 8 week period Med-X was able to receive $3.6 million in reservations from over 1100 prospective investors for their Reg A+ campaign on StartEngine.com.

"This offering presents a tremendous opportunity for American investors seeking to get in on the ground floor of the burgeoning cannabis industry -- without the normal accreditation requirements for start-up companies," said Matthew Mills, COO of Med-X. "Virtually any American who earns an annual income of $4,200 and is age 18 or older can participate. Keep in mind that you're not simply investing in the cannabis industry; you're investing in our green medicine mission. What's more, the successful launch of Med-X is 100% due to the opportunity brought to us by the JOBS Act of 2012. We are proof that if you are willing to sacrifice the time and effort to do it right, following all the rules of crowdfunding and raising capital is a worthwhile endeavor."

In addition to the success of their equity crowdfunding campaign, Med-X's flagship product, Nature-Cide All Purpose Insecticide, has continued to gain a following. This has prompted Med-X to prepare for the release of their second natural product in Q3 and Q4 of 2016, a patent-pending proprietary natural soil blend that encompasses natural insecticidal properties. "Comprised of 100% various natural proven pest-preventing plant matter and superior cultivation ingredients, this soil gives cultivators one natural proven brand for all their growing medium and pest prevention needs for cannabis cultivation," states Mills.

By using the insecticidal soil along with Nature-Cide products, Med-X has been cultivating and protecting cannabis plants throughout multiple cultivation cycles in the Med-X Lab. By providing these all-natural solutions, Med-X is on track to become the industry leader in integrated pest-management solutions for cannabis cultivation, thus creating a new standard for organic medicine.

An In-depth Look at the Cannabis Industry; How Anyone Can Invest

The $5.4 billion legal cannabis industry is poised to reach $6.7 billion by 2016 and $21 billion by 2020, according to industry analyst ArcView Market Research. To learn more about the future of this rapidly growing industry -- including important innovations in cultivation, research and development -- and Med-X's current investment opportunity, visit https://www.startengine.com/startup/med-x.

ABOUT MED-X, INC.

Med-X, Inc. is a Nevada corporation formed in February 2014 to support the fast-paced emerging cannabis industry through such activities as compound identification and extraction of the identified cannabidiol (CBD) compounds for the present medical industry demand. The company's digital magazine, The Marijuana Times, publishes quality media content for the medical cannabis community to generate revenue from advertisers as well as sell industry related merchandise to consumers. The company is ready to bring various products to market in the cannabis, agricultural and ancillary services industries through manufacturing partnerships. For more information regarding Med-X, Inc., please visit www.medx-rx.com, email [email protected] or call 818-349-2870.

DISCLAIMER AND FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The securities offered hereby are highly speculative. Investing in shares of MED-X, INC. involves significant risks. This investment is suitable only for persons who can afford to lose their entire investment. Furthermore, investors must understand that an investment could be illiquid for an indefinite period of time. No public market currently exists for the securities and if a public market develops following this offering it may not continue. You should read the offering circular before making any investment.

This release may contain forward-looking statements regarding projected business performance, operating results, financial condition and other aspects of the company, expressed by such language as "expected," "anticipated," "projected" and "forecasted." Please be advised that such statements are estimates only and there is no assurance that the results stated or implied by forward-looking statements will actually be realized by the company. Forward-looking statements may be based on management assumptions that prove to be wrong. The company and its business are subject to substantial risks and potential events beyond its control that would cause material differences between predicted results and actual results, including the company incurring operating losses and experiencing unexpected material adverse events.

Media Contact:

Grant Harvey

[email protected]

805-698-5122

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160209/331555

SOURCE Med-X, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.medx-rx.com


English French

Q3 2017 SALES

Strong organic* growth at +10.7% in Q3 (vs. +8.5% in H1)

Increased outperformance vs. automotive production of 870bps in Q3 (vs. 550bps in H1)

FY 2017 guidance (as recently upgraded on July 21) confirmed

Nanterre (France), October 12, 2017

Continued momentum in sales; value-added sales of 3.790 billion in Q3 Up 10.7% on an organic* basis and 870 bps above worldwide automotive production growth (+2.0%**), both figures improving vs. H1 Up 7.3% on a reported basis, reflecting a negative effect of 3.3 percentage points due to currencies



Strong organic* growth in all three Business Groups Seating up 9.5%, Clean Mobility up 10.1% and Interiors up 13.0%



Strong organic* performance in all regions Europe up +8.7%, Asia up +25.1% and South America up +47.5% Stability in North America despite a significant drop in North American automotive production (-8.1%**)



The full-year 2017 guidance, as recently upgraded on July 21, is confirmed

Patrick KOLLER, CEO of Faurecia commented: "In Q3 2017, our sales continued to demonstrate strong momentum. Organic* growth stood at +10.7%, above the first half of the year. We continued to significantly outperform the market. All Business Groups and Regions posted very good performances. This strengthens our strong confidence in achieving all our full-year financial targets, as recently upgraded on July 21."

Since January 1, 2017, Faurecia reports only value-added sales, which are total sales less monolith sales (a table in appendix details the reconciliation between total sales and value-added sales).

Value-added sales (in m) Q3 2016 Q3 2017 YoY organic* YoY reported Seating 1 515,6 1 613,2 9,5% 6,4% Clean Mobility 959,5 1 017,7 10,1% 6,1% Interiors 1 056,1 1 159,4 13,0% 9,8% Europe 1 694,6 1 830,2 8,7% 8,0% North America 1 050,7 986,4 -0,1% -6,1% Asia 587,5 700,8 25,1% 19,3% of which China 448,0 535,1 25,7% 19,4% South America 142,7 201,2 47,5% 41,0% Rest of World 55,7 71,6 27,0% 28,7% GROUP 3 531,2 3 790,3 10,7% 7,3%

*Organic: At constant exchange rates & scope, including JVs consolidation

** Source: IHS forecast as released on September 18, 2017

CONTINUED SALES MOMENTUM IN Q3

In Q3 2017, value-added sales amounted to 3.790 billion, up 7.3% on a reported basis (vs. 3.531 billion in Q3 2016).

They included a negative currency effect of 117.5 million, i.e. 3.3 percentage points. Out of this effect, 62.9 million was attributable to the USD vs. the euro and 28.2 million was attributable to the CNY vs. the euro.

On an organic* basis, value-added sales were up 10.7%, reflecting continued strong growth (after the 8.5% recorded during the first six months of the year).

Organic* growth included the positive effect of the consolidation since January 1, 2017 of two joint ventures that were previously accounted for by the equity method:

Chang'An (China, Interiors) for 66.8 million during the quarter (192.2 million since the beginning of the year),

FCA-Pernambuco (Brazil, Interiors) for 51.7 million during the quarter (127.1 million since the beginning of the year).



This organic* growth reflected a strong market outperformance of 870 basis points (vs. worldwide automotive production growth of +2.0%**), even stronger than the one recorded in the first six months of the year (reminder: in H1 2017, Faurecia's organic growth stood at +8.5% vs. worldwide automotive production growth of +3.0%, source: IHS dated June 2017, i.e. an outperformance of 550 basis points).

STRONG GROWTH IN ALL THREE BUSINESS GROUPS

Seating (42% of Q3 value-added sales): VA sales totaled 1,613.2 million in Q3 2017, compared to 1,515.6 million in Q3 2016. They were up 6.4% on a reported basis and up 9.5% on an organic* basis, significantly outperforming worldwide automotive production growth (+2.0%**).



Clean Mobility (27% of Q3 value-added sales): VA sales totaled 1,017.7 million in Q3 2017, compared to 959.5 million in Q3 2016. They were up 6.1% on a reported basis and up 10.1% on an organic* basis, significantly outperforming worldwide automotive production growth (+2.0%**). Sales to Cummins continued to be a significant growth driver; commercial vehicle sales rose 48%*, now representing 11% of the Clean Mobility Business Group's value-added sales.



Interiors (31% of Q3 value-added sales): VA sales totaled 1,159.4 million in Q3 2017, compared to 1,056.1 million in Q3 2016. They were up 9.8% on a reported basis and up 13.0% on an organic* basis, significantly outperforming worldwide automotive production growth (+2.0%**). Organic growth included 118.4 million from the consolidation of two joint ventures (JV with Chang'An in China and JV with FCA in Brazil).

STRONG GROWTH IN ALL REGIONS

Europe (48% of Q3 value-added sales): Sales momentum in a solid market

VA sales in the region totaled 1,830.2 million, compared to 1,694.6 million in Q3 2016. They were up 8.0% on a reported basis and up 8.7% on an organic* basis, significantly outperforming automotive production in Europe (incl. Russia) (+5.4%**).

North America (26% of Q3 value-added sales): Stable organic sales despite market decrease, thanks to commercial vehicles, SUVs and Light truck sales

VA sales in the region totaled 986.4 million, compared to 1,050.7 million in Q3 2016. They were down 6.1% on a reported basis, impacted by a negative currency effect of 62.9 million, and broadly stable (-0.1%) on an organic* basis, significantly outperforming automotive production in North America (-8.1%**). Organic sales were resilient thanks to commercial vehicles, SUVs and light trucks.

Asia (18% of Q3 value-added sales): Continued strong growth in China, driven by market share gains and sales to Chinese OEMs

VA sales in the region totaled 700.8 million, compared to 587.5 million in Q3 2016. They were up 19.3% on a reported basis and up 25.1% on an organic* basis, significantly outperforming automotive production in Asia (+2.9%**).

Organic growth in the region included 66.8 million from the consolidation of the joint venture with Chang'An in China.

VA sales in China totaled 535.1 million, compared to 448.0 million in Q3 2016. They were up 19.4% on a reported basis and up 25.7% on an organic* basis, significantly outperforming automotive production in China (-1.4%**). Out of these sales in China, sales to Chinese OEMs totaled 76.3 million, compared to 51.0 million in Q3 2016, up 58% on an organic* basis.

South America (5% of Q3 value-added sales): Continued sales turnaround supported by a gradual market recovery

VA sales in the region totaled 201.2 million, compared to 142.7 million in Q3 2016. They were up 41.0% on a reported basis and up 47.5% on an organic* basis, significantly outperforming automotive production in South America (+25.0%**).

Organic growth in the region included 51.7 million from the consolidation of the joint venture with FCA (production for the Pernambuco plant).

FULL-YEAR 2017 GUIDANCE CONFIRMED

On July 21, 2017, Faurecia upgraded its full-year 2017 guidance as follows:

FY 2017 value-added sales growth: +7% (at constant currencies), around 500bps above worldwide automotive production growth,

FY 2017 operating margin between 6.6% and 7.0% of value-added sales,

FY 2017 net cash flow above 350m,

FY 2017 earnings per share above 4.00.

This full-year 2017 guidance was based on the assumption that worldwide automotive production should grow by around 2% in 2017 vs. 2016; the latest forecast from IHS (dated September 18, 2017) confirms this assumption.

The continued momentum in Q3 sales and the expected performance in Q4 allow Faurecia to confirm its full-year 2017 financial targets.

As regards full-year 2018 financial targets, they will be announced on February 16, 2018, when Faurecia will release its full-year 2017 results. Faurecia remains strongly committed to its profitable growth trajectory.

Faurecia's financial presentation will be available at 6:00 pm today (Paris time) on the Faurecia website: www.faurecia.com.

A conference call for financial analysts and media will be held today at 6:30 pm (Paris time). It can also be followed on the Faurecia website ( www.faurecia.com )

Dial in numbers for the conference call:

 France +33(0)1 76 77 22 28

 UK +44(0)20 3427 0503

 USA +1 646 254 3367

Access code: 9333749

Calendar

January 7-12, 2018: First presence at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas

February 16, 2018: FY 2017 results announcement (before market hours)

Second quarter 2018: Capital Markets Day "Smart Life on Board"

About Faurecia

Founded in 1997, Faurecia has grown to become a major player in the global automotive industry. With 300 sites including 30 R&D centers, 100 000 employees in 35 countries, Faurecia is now a global leader in its three areas of business: automotive seating, interior systems and clean mobility. Faurecia has focused its technology strategy on providing solutions for smart life on board and sustainable mobility. In 2016, the Group posted total sales of 18.7 billion and value-added sales of 15.6 billion. Faurecia is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris stock exchange and trades in the U.S. over-the-counter (OTC) market. For more information, visit www.faurecia.com

Contacts

Press

Eric Fohlen-Weill

Head of Media Relations

Tel: +33 (0)1 72 36 72 58

eric.fohlen-weill@faurecia.com Analysts/Investors

Marc Maillet

VP Investor Relations

Tel: +33 (0)1 72 36 75 70

marc.maillet@faurecia.com









Definitions of terms used in this document:

Organic

Variation at constant exchange rates and consolidation scope, including JVs consolidation. Value-added sales

Total sales less monolith sales.

*Organic: At constant exchange rates & scope, including JVs consolidation

** Source: IHS forecast as released on September 18, 2017





APPENDIX - SEE "VERSION PDF" ATTACHED
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Med-X, Inc. (Med-X) today launched an equity crowdfunding initiative as the next phase in the company's fundraising strategy. The company announced late last month that it had been qualified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to sell shares to the general public through the Regulation A+ equity crowdfunding initiative, making Med-X the first company in the cannabis industry to be qualified by the SEC for a public offering under these rules. The company will be offering anyone interested in embracing the rapidly emerging cannabis industry, expected to yield billions annually, the chance to reserve shares early.

Blazing the trail with research and development, agriculture, manufacturing and a media division, Med-X's mission is to expand the medical and recreational cannabis industry by educating the community and developing products that are safe, effective and affordable. The company's relationships in the medical and biochemistry fields give it the ability to position itself as a long-term player in the industry.

"We are offering this chance to reserve shares through an equity crowdfunding campaign to give all Americans the chance to be a part of a positive phase in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry," said Dr. David Toomey, CEO of Med-X. "We see tremendous growth potential for the industry at large with both medical and recreational users, as well as a tremendous need for products that the public can trust not to be contaminated with pesticides, mold, or other problematic substances."

In February 2015, Med-X opened its first patient cooperative to cultivate 100% natural and organically grown medical cannabis for its research and development program. Med-X's management team recognized a huge need to bring safe, medical-grade cannabis to the medical community that is free of pesticides, mold and other harmful substances. Medical cannabis dispensaries in California remain unregulated for the most part, despite cannabis' use as a holistic alternative to pharmaceutical drugs. As more states legalize medical and recreational cannabis, cultivation centers are likely to face mandated product testing for potency and contaminants and, as a result, many will subsequently be forced to close if they aren't complying.

Med-X's Nature-Cide product was created to solve the pesticide problem with all natural green solutions and is one of the first to market. Nature-Cide All Purpose Insecticide has been tested safe for cannabis cultivation, is EPA Registered nationally with the states which require registration and has been approved by the Colorado Department of Agriculture for use in cannabis cultivation.

Individuals interested in learning more about the opportunity to reserve shares in Med-X can visit StartEngine.com. Med-X will be one of the first ten companies utilizing StartEngine.com.

SEC Disclaimer

AN OFFERING STATEMENT REGARDING THIS OFFERING HAS BEEN FILED WITH THE SEC. THE SEC HAS QUALIFIED THAT OFFERING STATEMENT, WHICH ONLY MEANS THAT THE COMPANY MAY MAKE SALES OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED BY THE OFFERING STATEMENT. IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE SEC HAS APPROVED, PASSED UPON THE MERITS OR PASSED UPON THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE INFORMATION IN THE OFFERING STATEMENT. YOU MAY OBTAIN A COPY OF THE OFFERING CIRCULAR THAT IS PART OF THAT OFFERING STATEMENT FROM:

MED-X, INC. 8326 REMMET AVENUE CANOGA PARK, CA 91304

YOU SHOULD READ THE OFFERING CIRCULAR BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT.

About Med-X, Inc.

Med-X, Inc. is a Nevada corporation formed in February 2014 to cultivate and support the fast paced emerging cannabis industry through such activities as compound identification and extraction of the identified cannabidiol (CBD) compounds for the present medical industry demand. The company also plans to create and publish high quality cannabis industry media content through the company's online media platform, www.marijuanatimes.org to generate revenue from advertisers as well as sell industry related merchandise to patients and consumers. The company is also gearing up to supply products to the cannabis agricultural and provisioning industries through manufacturing partnerships. For more information regarding Med-X, please visit www.medx-rx.com, email [email protected] or call 818-349-2870.

About StartEngine Crowdfunding, Inc.

StartEngine is the premier equity crowdfunding platform, connecting entrepreneurs and aspiring investors with tomorrow's progressive companies. Based in Los Angeles, the company was created in 2013 by Howard Marks, co-founder of Activision, and Ron Miller. StartEngine aims to revolutionize the startup business model by helping individuals invest in private companies on a public platform for the first time in history, thereby helping entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. Learn more at http://www.startengine.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements regarding projected business performance, operating results, financial condition and other aspects of the company, expressed by such language as "expected," "anticipated," "projected" and "forecasted." Please be advised that such statements are estimates only and there is no assurance that the results stated or implied by forward-looking statements will actually be realized by the company. Forward-looking statements may be based on management assumptions that prove to be wrong. The company and its business are subject to substantial risks and potential events beyond its control that would cause material differences between predicted results and actual results, including the company incurring operating losses and experiencing unexpected material adverse events.

Media Contact:

Grant Harvey

[email protected]

805-698-5122

SOURCE Med-X, Inc.

Related Links

http://medx-rx.com


SEATTLE, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Migo, the search engine for on-demand rides, has announced an expanded portfolio of ride partners, with the release today featuring bike share innovators Limebike, Ofo and Spin in Seattle, and Biketown in Portland. These bike share leaders join Lyft, Car2Go, Seattle Yellow Cab and others on Migo's free all-in-one mobile ride app.

Migo launched its free service last month in Seattle and Portland and is the first app available in the U.S. that allows users to search, compare and hail multiple types of personal transportation without having to jump from one app to another. The Migo app has quickly emerged as a leader in providing reliable information to customers, displaying real-time data for price estimates, GPS coordinates for all ride options and wait/walk times. Migo also makes it possible, depending on the ride partner, to search, hail and book a ride from within the Migo app. Some options still require downloading the partner app for booking and paying.

"Given the popularity of bike share services in Seattle and Portland, and the fact that bikes are one of the most-requested features from our early Migo users, we started testing the search capability for bike share last month so we could quickly get it out to our growing customer base," said Jeff Warren, founder and CEO of Migo. "We'll continue to evolve not only the experience for each ride partner in Migo, but we'll be adding new cities to Migo to help people find the best ride for them, wherever they are."

Getting started with Migo is as simple as downloading the app from the Apple App Store and hailing your ride. Services that require an account, like the new bike share options, will either ask you to link to an existing account or Migo can help you create one 'on the fly.'

Visit www.getmigo.com or the Apple App Store to download the app and to sign up for alerts when Migo launches new partners and services in additional cities.

About Migo

Migo is your search engine for on demand rides, where you can search, compare and hail, without having to jump from app to app. Whether you want to get driven by a pro, just find the closest or cheapest way to go, or drive yourself and your friends, Migo can help you find, book and enjoy getting from A to B. Migo shows all the rideshare, carshare, taxi, bike share and specialty options out there, with more cities and services being added every day. We're not a new transportation company  we're the search engine that helps you find, book and enjoy your ride.

SOURCE Migo

Related Links

http://www.getmigo.com


MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dead End Hayride, one of America's Top Rated Haunted Attractions, is giving FREE admission to people who donate a new toy valued at $15 or more.

Thursday, Oct. 12th, 2017 marks the Dead End Hayride's 3rd Annual Toy Drive in Wyoming, Minnesota to benefit the Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. More than $4,000 in toys are collected each year to benefit one of the largest non-profit children's health care organizations in the U.S., with hospital campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The Dead End Hayride

While Halloween is associated with all kinds of horrors, Jeremy Hastings, owner of the Dead End Hayride, sees it's life-giving charitable side.

"Many Haunted Houses do blood drives each year as it seems more haunt related, and while that's a great thing, we just wanted to do something unique and different, because our attraction is also unique and different: Our annual Toy Drive is a very special day for all of us, it really touches our heart to make a difference in the lives of these children in need."

JEREMY HASTINGS, OWNER OF THE DEAD END HAYRIDE

The 3rd Annual Toy Drive is Thursday, October 12th from 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m. at The Dead End Hayride at Pinehaven Farms, located at 2818 Kettle River Blvd N, Wyoming, MN.

FOR MORE DETAILS:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1991964081087089

Related Files

PDF_DEH_Toy_Drive_2017.pdf

CONTACT INFORMATION

Lynn Holloway

e-Medi Marketing, Inc.

[email protected]

336-402-4404

Related Images

image1.jpg

image2.jpg

image3.jpg

image4.jpg

SOURCE The Dead End Hayride
CHICAGO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 40 Latvian-based companies and 200+ attendees representing businesses from around the world are confirmed to participate at the inaugural Spotlight Latvia business conference. The conference, which will take place on Oct. 26, 2017 at the Waldorf Astoria Chicago, is geared towards U.S. businesses interested in learning about unique products, services and opportunities offered by Latvian industries.

"The Spotlight Latvia conference has already generated much interest from both Latvian and U.S.-based companies, and we welcome even more company representatives to register and attend," said Roberts Blumbergs, Honorary Consul of Latvia for the State of Illinois and Chairman of the Spotlight Latvia conference. "In two weeks, U.S. businesses will hear from some of the top executives from Latvian companies in varied industries such as biotechnology, construction, food and beverage, healthcare, IT and transport and logistics. Additionally, key trade officials will talk about the advantages of conducting business with Latvia. This is a terrific opportunity for businesses to meet, network and develop mutually beneficial relationships  opening the door to both the U.S. and Northern Europe."

A comprehensive agenda, registration information and additional details can be found on the www.spotlightlatvia.com website.

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpotlightLatvia

About Spotlight Latvia

The Spotlight Latvia conference will enable U.S. companies to better learn about the advantages of conducting business with Latvian companies and in Latvia. It will ultimately introduce the U.S. business community to several dynamic Latvian companies that offer appealing products and services, potentially opening the door to other parts of Europe and Eurasia less known to North America.

Utilizing a fast-paced, immersive presentation style, the conference allows attendees to identify key business advantages of the Latvian region and products or services from Latvia that may be of interest to U.S. companies. Matchmaking/private meeting opportunities will be available so that the conference may lead to lasting engagements.

Why Latvia?

Highly-educated workforce with great technical skills

Pro-business policies; low corporate taxes

Salaries and costs remain much lower than U.S. and Western Europe

Strategic location in Northern Europe bordering Scandinavia and Russia

Member of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Home to innovative and competitive companies

Growing economy with GDP rising faster than rest of Europe

English is spoken by the majority of Latvians

Maintains a robust parliamentary democracy and a stable government

SOURCE Spotlight Latvia

Related Links

http://www.spotlightlatvia.com


OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mynd, a tech-enabled property management company with an industry first real-time data management and mobile app, announced today that it has secured another 5 million dollars in venture backing led by Lightspeed Ventures, with re-investments from Canaan Partners and Jackson Square Ventures. Also participating in the round is Barry Sternlicht, Chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group. This brings the company's total venture backing to date to 15.6 million dollars.

"With this additional capital from our investment partners, we will continue our rapid expansion into new markets with a continued focus on delivering a better service to property owners and their residents," said Chairman and CTO Colin Wiel.

"We're thrilled that our former Chairman at Starwood Waypoint, Barry Sternlicht, a longtime partner and mentor, has joined our team as an investor," said CEO Doug Brien. "Barry's belief in our vision is a huge validation for our business."

Mynd is reinventing the multi-family residential market by providing property management services through their homegrown software and experienced operating team. Founded in 2016, Mynd is one of the fastest growing mid-cap property management companies in the U.S. The Mynd portfolio of over 1,100 units began in the Bay Area and has extended into the San Diego market with the acquisition of Pacific Shore Management.

"Mynd has designed a technology platform and assembled an experienced operating team to address the inefficiencies in the market," said Will Kohler from Lightspeed Ventures. "We are excited to be working with the team to address what we believe is a big opportunity to reinvent and propel the residential rental market."

About Mynd

Mynd is a technology enabled platform that provides full-service property management for residential buildings, 50 units and smaller. Mynd's technology-based approach to property management brings greater efficiency to property owners and managers, by combining real-time data and transparency to users. Headquartered in Oakland CA, Mynd was founded by partners Doug Brien and Colin Wiel, both experts in the real estate and tech industries. Mynd is backed by Canaan Partners, Jackson Square Ventures and Lightspeed Partners. To learn more, please visit: https://www.mynd.co

Press Contact:

Jen Colton

415-420-5516

[email protected]

SOURCE Mynd

Related Links

http://mynd.co


GREENBELT, Md., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has selected LinTech-Beacon, LLC for award of the contract for Headquarters (HQs) Operational Support Services (HOSS) in Washington at NASA Headquarters in support of the agency's Headquarters Operations, Facilities and Emergency Services Division (FESD).

This is a hybrid firm fixed price core with a firm fixed price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity component. The effective ordering period of the IDIQ portion of this contract is for 5 years and 45 days effective on October 17, 2017. The maximum IDIQ ordering value is $3.3M. The core services have a potential value of $10,084,585. The core period of performance is December 1, 2017 through November 30, 2018 for the base period and there are an additional four one-year option periods. This procurement was 100 percent set-aside for 8(a) small disadvantaged business concerns.

Lintech Beacon, LLC will provide the following support services under the core: program management, information center operations, mail services operations, facilities help desk operations, office and equipment moving services, facilities maintenance services, driver/courier services, executive driver services, electrical services, and audio visual/video teleconferencing/electronic presentation services. The IDIQ portion allows support services for library management, archival support, unknown events, projects, or emergency situations that are consistent with but beyond the core requirement.

The work will be performed at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


RESTON, Va., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a FORTUNE 500 science and technology company, was awarded a prime contract by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) under the Information Technology Enterprise Management (ITEMS) User Facing Services (UFS) program. This single-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed price contract has a five-year ordering period with a total contract ceiling of $988 million.

The ITEMS portfolio provides NGA with a bridge to the future--delivering critical services to mission users, harnessing the capacity of current and emerging information technology (IT) services, and using geospatial intelligence to support time-sensitive missions. Leidos, with its extensive enterprise IT experience, worldwide reach and deep NGA mission knowledge, will support the customer with their ITEMS UFS needs. The company will effectively and efficiently transition UFS from current NGA contracts, lead the UFS operations and sustainment and continuous improvement of UFS, and implement special orders to support mission needs without disrupting daily operations. The company will also help posture NGA to transition to future Intelligence Community Desktop Environment (DTE) service offerings.

"This opportunity strengthens our partnership with NGA, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration in support of the GEOINT mission," said Leidos Defense & Intelligence President Tim Reardon.

About Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500 science and technology solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company's 32,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $7.04 billion for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2016. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 30, 2016, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

SOURCE Leidos

Related Links

http://www.leidos.com


IRVING, Texas, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Nautilus Hyosung America (Hyosung), the largest and fastest growing ATM provider in the United States, is proud to announce its successful branch transformation partnership with Extraco Banks and Extraco Consulting. Hyosung has implemented the MX8800 in-lobby unit and 7800i drive-up ATM at Extraco's flagship financial centers.

Extraco turned to Hyosung when they began looking for a next generation video teller that could efficiently operate inside the branch and outside the branch. The 18-month implementation integrated the technology directly with the core processor rather than using the traditional ATM switch integration method. The new solution avoids the costly dual-entry method associated with other video solutions on the market.

"Hyosung was the most aggressive ATM vendor willing to adapt and work with us on our vision," said James Geeslin, vice chairman of Extraco Banks and CEO of Extraco Consulting in Waco, Texas.

Video assist capabilities are embedded in each machine allowing customers to instantly video chat with a universal employee when help is needed. Relationship bankers can manage multiple locations, allowing well trained experts to serve customers across Extraco's branch footprint.

"These machines will cash a check down to the penny, will take loan payments, transfer between accounts and more," said Sungmahn Kim, chief operating officer at Nautilus Hyosung America. "They can do nearly everything a relationship banker can do on the frontline or teller line."

Additionally, the new solution includes a tablet service which allows branch managers to monitor transactions and assist frontline tellers in real-time.

"We put a lot of research and thought into this extensive project and Hyosung has the best technology, the best service and support, and the best people," said Geeslin. "We knew this was going to be a visionary project and no one but Hyosung stepped up to the table to work with us and our core processor. They stayed up with us into the night until our vision was met. It's going to change the way we do business in our branches and drive-thrus."

About Nautilus Hyosung America

Hyosung is the North American subsidiary of South Korea-based Hyosung, Inc., a global leader in providing ATMs to the retail off-premises and financial institution markets. Since entering the North American market in 1998, Hyosung has become the largest provider of ATMs in the United States. Hyosung is headquartered in Irving, Texas, and provides research and development support in its Global Software Center in Dayton, Ohio.

About Extraco Banks

Extraco Banks celebrated 113 years and three generations of family management on July 12th, 2015. Founded as a cotton warehousing company, Extraco is the largest and most comprehensive independent financial institution headquartered in central Texas with over $1.3 billion in assets, $150 million in capital and reserves, and 145,000 customers. Extraco's 19 financial centers are located in Bryan/College Station, Georgetown, Lampasas, Killeen, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove, Waco, Temple, Belton, Lorena, Gatesville, Hamilton, McGregor, and Round Rock. https://www.extracobanks.com/ Extraco Banks is a Member FDIC.

About Extraco Consulting

Extraco Consulting has assisted hundreds of banks and credit unions throughout the United States. The firm provides branch transformation strategies, universal banker implementation, management consulting services, process improvement guidance, recruiting and HR services, and marketing outsourcing. http://www.extracoconsulting.com.

SOURCE Nautilus Hyosung America

Related Links

https://hyosungamericas.com


MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Trump administration issued a new executive order today that laid the foundation to reverse the Obama administration's late 2016 rule restricting short-term health coverage to less than three months. The short-term rule was issued on October 31, 2016 and did not go into effect until April of this year, after the Obama administration left office. In the several decades prior to this new regulation, consumers had the option to enroll in a short-term health plan for up to 12 months depending on their state law. The removal of the three-month limitation comes after months of policymaker outreach and education by HealthPocket and others to illuminate the consumer harm associated with the regulation.

The Trump administration's executive order is expected to restore each state's prior length-of-coverage rules. For more than three decades, state-specific regulation had been the norm in the short-term health insurance market. A maximum coverage period of 364 days was allowed in most states and this maximum returns with the implementation of the executive order along with the state's ability to limit short-term plans to a briefer duration. Importantly, the one-year maximum duration is the same length that a person can be locked out of the Affordable Care Act market if that person misses the annual enrollment period for exchange health plans.

The reversal of the three-month limitation, which likely will be implemented in January after a CMS comment process, will be welcomed not only by short-term policyholders but also by a diverse range of policymakers and industry leaders. 14 U.S. senators led by Sen. Ron Johnson asked for the short-term regulation to be rescinded earlier this year. Organizations objecting to the three-month rule include the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU), and the state departments of insurance in Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. Consumer sentiment was strongly against the three-month limit as reflected in the overwhelming negative comments submitted by private citizens on Regulations.gov. HealthPocket submitted a white paper and supporting research to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") documenting the consumer harm caused by the 3-month rule.

"Since the three-month restriction was first proposed last year, HealthPocket has been at the forefront of illuminating the unintended consumer harm that would result from this regulation. Numerous populations were hurt ranging from consumers who missed Obamacare's open enrollment, to consumers who have limited or no ACA exchange plan options, to consumers in the "Medicaid gap", to people without legal residency in the U.S.," observed Bruce Telkamp, Co-Founder and CEO of HealthPocket, Inc. "In contrast, the executive order issued today will provide relief to a large and growing number of U.S. consumers who need to access to a strong marketplace of gap health insurance plans. We applaud today's decision by the Trump administration to make more health insurance choices available to consumers, as well as the complimentary efforts by Sen. Ron Johnson, the NAIC, and other key stakeholders."

For more than 30 years, short-term health insurance has served as a bridge for individuals and families going through transitions. It is a form of major medical insurance that provides coverage in case of illness or an accident for a temporary period of time. Applications are underwritten by the insurance company so coverage is not guaranteed, though the vast majority of applicants are accepted. To avoid adverse selection scenarios where consumers get coverage just for a major healthcare service and then drop the coverage, short-term health plans do not cover pre-existing conditions.

HealthPocket.com is a free website that compares and ranks all health insurance plans, helping individuals, families, and small businesses to make their best health plan decisions. HealthPocket publishes health insurance market analyses and other consumer advocacy research. HealthPocket's research is nonpartisan and uses only objective data from government, non-profit, and private sources that carry no conditions that might restrict the site from serving as an unbiased resource. HealthPocket, Inc. is independently managed and based in Mountain View, California. Learn more at www.HealthPocket.com.

SOURCE HealthPocket

Related Links

http://www.healthpocket.com/


NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The NHP Foundation, a national leader in providing quality affordable housing to America's working poor, elderly and families, today announced its inaugural fundraising event. "An Afternoon of Learning, An Evening of Recognition" Symposium & Dinner will be held October 17th at Union Station in Washington, D.C. The event combines learning and celebration, and it features the release of an academic study on funding affordable housing, as well as a panel discussion with experts in the field.

The NHP Foundation's event will be split into two parts. Kicking things off is the "Afternoon of Learning," where The NHP Foundation will present its first-ever Trailblazer Awards to two leading proponents of national affordable housing policy  central figures in the expansion of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)  Senator Orrin Hatch (R) of Utah and Senator Maria Cantwell (D) of Washington.

"Senators Hatch and Cantwell have been outstanding proponents in the bi-partisan movement for enhancing affordable housing throughout the United States," said Richard Burns, President & CEO, The NHP Foundation. "Their efforts have helped redefine today's affordable housing landscape, and we couldn't think of two better recipients for our first-ever Trailblazer awards."

Following the awards presentation, the afternoon will feature the results of an important report entitled "Pay for Success and Affordable Housing," undertaken by the respected UVA Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and its Pay for Success Lab  featuring The NHP Foundation. Following the report's unveiling will be a panel discussion about the study and the future of affordable housing moderated by Washington Post contributor Michele Lerner. Please see below for a full list of panel participants.

After the panel, the event will transition into "An Evening of Recognition." The cocktail reception and awards dinner will take place in the East Hall of Washington, D.C.'s historic Union Station. The evening will celebrate groundbreaking accomplishments and recognize leaders in the community. NHPF will present its 2017 Affordable Housing Advocacy Award to Emily Cadik, a director of Public Policy at Enterprise Community Partners, where she has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in the affordable housing community and its 2017 Affordable Housing Visionary Award to Todd Crow, Executive Vice President & Manager of Tax Credit Capital, PNC Real Estate, who is widely recognized as a force for continued positive change in the affordable housing industry.

A wide range of attendees is expected, including builders, policy-makers, affordable housing advocates, academic researchers, and many in the media, law, finance and philanthropic sectors. The event is the Foundation's first industry fundraiser, and all proceeds will benefit The NHP Foundation's Fund for New Development, which supports the acquisition, pre-development, development and service-enriched affordable housing properties in communities around the country.

"Despite our best efforts in partnership with the private and public sector, the lack of affordable housing in the U.S. is a bona fide crisis," added Burns. "The 2017 Symposium & Dinner gives us an opportunity to celebrate affordable housing champions while examining the challenges ahead. We look forward to honoring the best and the brightest and working together to develop some forward-thinking solutions."

For more information on the event, please visit: http://www.nhpfoundation.org/2017-symposium-and-dinner/index.html.

Affordable Housing: Shaping The Future Today

Panelists

Thom Amdur, Executive Director, National Housing & Rehabilitation Association directs day-to-day operations including legislative and regulatory advocacy, committee activities, conferences and events, publications, financial management and strategic planning.

Maya Brennan, Research Associate, Urban Institute engages in research, analysis, and stakeholder engagement as part of the Policy Advisory Group at the Urban Institute.

Emily Cadik, Director, Public Policy, Enterprise Community Partners leads policy and advocacy related to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, New Markets Tax Credit and rental assistance programs.

Stephen Green, COO/CIO, NHPF has more than 35 years of experience in real estate and economic development projects in both the public and private sectors.

Andrew M. Grumet, Partner, Drinker Biddle focuses his work in the areas of charitable giving, philanthropy and the general representation of domestic and international tax-exempt organizations.

Michael J. Novogradac, CPA Novogradac & Company LLPhas more than 25 years of experience specializing in affordable housing, community development and renewable energy.

Mark Ragsdale, Senior Vice President, PNC Bank has nearly 30 years of experience in the multifamily affordable housing finance industry and is a key member of PNC Real Estate's affordable housing team.

About The NHP Foundation

Headquartered in New York City with offices in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, I.L., The NHP Foundation (NHPF) was launched on January 30, 1989, as a publicly supported 501(c)(3) not-for-profit real estate corporation. NHPF is dedicated to preserving and creating sustainable, service-enriched multifamily housing that is both affordable to low and moderate income families and seniors, and beneficial to their communities. NHPF also provides a robust resident services program to nearly 18,000 community residents. Through partnerships with major financial institutions, the public sector, faith-based initiatives, and other not-for-profit organizations, NHPF has 47 properties, with over 8,000 units, in 15 states and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit www.nhpfoundation.org.

CONTACT: Colleen O'Connor, 212-367-9744, [email protected]

SOURCE The NHP Foundation

Related Links

http://www.nhpfoundation.org


French English

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imagine a nano-sized anti-cancer drug that can destroy a breast tumour without damaging the surrounding tissue. Or a self-healing skin graft made from nanomaterials that treats the wounds of people with diabetes. These two biomedical technologies alone could greatly improve the quality of life for patients and save millions in healthcare costs for Canadians.



This is why the Government of Canada is investing research infrastructure funds through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) for the new Biomaterials and Nanomedicine Laboratory at the University of Manitoba.

The funding was announced at the university today by the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, as part of a CFI investment of more than $554 million in 117 new infrastructure projects at 61 universities, colleges and research hospitals across Canada. With this announcement, the CFI also marks an important milestone, having funded more than 10,000 projects since it began in 1997.

Using state-of-the-art equipment, Malcolm Xing, an emerging leader in biomedical engineering and nanomedicine at the University of Manitoba, will develop drug-loaded nanoparticles that target tumour cells. He and his team will also engineer 3-D printed nanocomposites for skin grafts used in treating foot ulcers in diabetics. This project is one of four at the university to receive CFI funding, for a total of $1.2 million.

The funding announced today, awarded through the CFIs Innovation Fund, will support research ranging from harnessing the renewable power of tidal currents to rehabilitating people with traumatic brain injuries and building the worlds first quantum computer.

This fund aims to put the right tools in the hands of the countrys scientists so they can discover, innovate and train their students for the jobs of tomorrow. By doing so, scientists are contributing to building a bolder, brighter future for all Canadians, one that includes a strong and healthy middle class.

Quotes

Our government understands that scientists need to have the best labs and tools if theyre going to make discoveries that will pave the way to a brighter future for all people. Thats why todays funding announcement is so important; it gives scientists and their students the opportunity to further their research in areas where Canada has a competitive advantage. The discoveries, innovations and skills developed in these new, state-of-the-art labs will go a long way in improving our lives, our economy and our future prosperity.

 Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science

The Innovation Fund encourages institutions and its researchers to think big and strive to be global leaders by conducting world-class research. This funding pushes researchers to aim higher in their pursuits by collaborating across disciplines, institutions and sectors. With this support, institutions can build on their current research strengths and set their sights on accelerating research that will create social, health, environmental and economic benefits for all Canadians.

 Roseann OReilly Runte, President and CEO, Canada Foundation for Innovation

The University of Manitoba has a 140-year legacy of leading our province in research, scholarly works and creative activities: this new funding continues that tradition.

Dr. Xings research joins medicine with engineering, creating life-changing technologies that will impact treatment and patient care for all Canadians.

 Digvir Jayas, Vice-President (Research and International) and Distinguished Professor, University of Manitoba

I thank the Government of Canada and the Canada Foundation for Innovation for this funding to support my research program. Our lab aims to develop new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Materials/Medicine/Mathematics) for stem cells and organs. This will lead to a better life for all.

 Malcolm Xing, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba

Quick facts

The University of Manitoba is the lead institution in Malcolm Xings project, and a partner in three additional projects led by other institutions.



The Innovation Fund supports initiatives that allow researchers and students at universities, colleges and research hospitals to build on existing areas of expertise such as artificial intelligence, quantum science, brain health and renewable energy.



As part of this announcement, an additional $127,098,512 was awarded under the CFIs Infrastructure Operating Fund, which assists institutions with the operating and maintenance costs associated with their new research infrastructure.

Quick links

Read Big ideas, big impact  A collection of stories about some of the projects supported through the 2017 Innovation Fund competition

Learn more about the Innovation Fund

Visit the CFI Research Facilities Navigator  an online directory of labs that are open for business

Follow Minister Duncan on social media

Twitter: @ScienceMin

Instagram: sciencemin

Related products

A full list of the funded projects and stories about the facilities are available online at Innovation.ca. For updates, follow us on Twitter @InnovationCA and subscribe to our YouTube channel for videos about the CFI and its many transformative research projects.

Contacts

Malorie Bertrand

Media Relations and

Social Media Specialist

Canada Foundation for Innovation

O: 613.943.2580

C: 613.447.1723

malorie.bertrand@innovation.ca







Media Relations

Innovation, Science and Economic

Development Canada

343.291.1777

ic.mediarelations-mediasrelations.ic@canada.ca Ann Marie Paquet

Press Secretary

Office of the Minister of Science

343.291.2692

ann-marie.paquet@canada.ca





















About the Canada Foundation for Innovation

For more than 20 years, the CFI has been giving researchers the tools they need to think big and innovate. And a robust innovation system translates into jobs and new enterprises, better health, cleaner environments and, ultimately, vibrant communities. By investing in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment in Canadas universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions, the CFI also helps to attract and retain the worlds top talent, to train the next generation of researchers and to support world-class research that strengthens the economy and improves the quality of life for all Canadians.
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Omnyway, the leading augmented digital commerce platform, announced today that it has closed on $12.75 million in Series A funding to help Omnyway grow its operations, launch new services on its current contextual commerce platform, and expand its customer base in the U.S. and worldwide. The round was led by Nyca, CommerzVentures, the venture arm of Commerzbank Group of Germany, and CEFIF, the CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund, a part of CreditEase of China, with participation from Commerce Ventures, Industry Ventures and others.

Omnyway empowers retailers and brands to build an augmented digital commerce ecosystem that brings the power of the virtual world to the shoppers experience in the physical store, using the mobile phone as the bridge for all aspects of their buying journey. The Omnyway platform creates a dynamic digital channel between the retailer and the shopper across all channels of interactionin store, online, in-app, virtual aisle and dynamic media, using any smart mobile device. Since the company was founded in 2014, it has established itself as a significant player in retail commerce and continues to see strong interest in its platform. This funding is a milestone that acknowledges Omnyway's momentum to-date and that will set the company up for sustained growth over the long-term.

"To keep up in this fast-moving, mobile-first (and soon, mobile-only) world, retailers need tools that speak to how people want to shop and engage today," said Omnyway CEO, Ashok Narasimhan. "This investment puts us in a great position to build on growth and continue innovating on today's fundamentally different retail experience."

In addition to its digital platform, Omnyway has seen strong interest in its newly launched Zapbuy service for retailers, brands and financial institutions. Zapbuy allows consumers to instantly buy items directly from ads with just one click of the ad. With digital advertising spend projected to be a massive $44.8 billion in 2017, an overwhelming majority of marketers are frustrated with their ROI. In most cases, the path that leads from a consumer view an ad to the actual purchase is inconvenient and full of friction. Omnyway solves this problem with Zapbuy. Shoppers can complete a purchase in a single step, enabling retailers and brands to deliver a seamless buying experience and significantly increase conversion rates, while allowing a customer to stay within the context (e.g., social media) where the customer encountered the ads.

"Every single retailer is seeking ways to make customer experiences seamless, customized, and integrated in-store and across channels," said Hans Morris, Managing Partner of Nyca. "This has turned out to be expensive and difficult, and the flexibility, security, scalabilityand speed to market -- of the Omnyway platform is a compelling solution."

"CommerzVentures supports ambitious entrepreneurs that are driven by the vision of redefining the financial services industry," said Stefan Tirtey, Managing Director of CommerzVentures. "In Omnyway, we see a company thinking creatively about the future of retail in the new world. We look forward to supporting the team as it scales up."

"Mobile devices are driving a radical transformation in the payments space," said Anju Patwardhan, Managing Director of CEFIF. "We are always looking to partner with entrepreneurs and companies that are helping to redefine FinTech and are thrilled to be a part of Omnyway's journey as it expands globally and introduces new payment innovations"

About OmnyWay

Omnyway empowers retailers, banks and brands to build a contextual digital commerce ecosystem that encourages shoppers to use their mobile phone for all aspects of their buying journey. Through dynamic data-rich interactions, Omnyway delivers personalized and relevant promotions, payment processing, and loyalty rewards in the most contextual way to shoppers, which increases average order value for businesses, as well as customer loyalty. Omnyway is based in San Francisco and led by senior executives with deep experience in payments, mobile, retail and commerce. For more information, visit http://www.omnyway.com, contact info(at)omnyway(dot)com or follow us @Omnyway.

About Nyca

Nyca Partners is a venture capital firm exclusively focused on applying innovation in financial services into the global financial system. Our rich experience and deep connections in both finance and technology give us a unique perspective and ability to help entrepreneurs transform payments, credit models, digital advice, and financial infrastructure. We strive to form truly collaborative partnerships, offering investment capital and expert advice. The investment team is comprised of Hans Morris, Jeff Reitman, and David Sica; with Ravi Mohan as the COO. The Investment Partners are Osama Bedier, Brian Finn, Tom Miglis, and Charlie Songhurst.

About CommerzVentures

Founded in October 2014, CommerzVentures operates as the corporate venture capital fund of Commerzbank Group. We back early- and growth-stage companies in the financial services and insurance sectors. We aspire to invest in the very best players in a given market segment, always pursuing our main objective of generating financial return.

About CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund

Founded in February 2016, CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund is a venture fund investing in growth-stage fintech companies in China and the global markets. CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund has an equivalent of $1 billion in total committed capital. The fund has formed strategic partnerships with global leading venture capital investors to discover opportunities in five sub-segments within the domain of Fintech: Lending, Payment, Personal Finance/Wealth management, Enterprise Solutions and Insurance.

CONTACT: Maggie Shepherd, 312-750-9071, [email protected]

SOURCE Omnyway

Related Links

http://www.omnypay.net


This is the first year Orange Coast Memorial in Fountain Valley ranked first, and fourth consecutive year it appeared among Orange County's top three hospitals. Saddleback Memorial in Laguna Hills has gained the top spot in three of the last four years and this year ranked in the top two. In the first year of the Medical-Dental Group Category, MemorialCare Medical Group with more than 2,000 employed and affiliated physicians in Orange and Los Angeles counties ranked in the top two as did Edinger Medical Group located on Orange Coast's campus and affiliated with MemorialCare Medical Foundation. The results of each category's top three vote-getters are published in the Orange County Register's annual Best of Orange County magazine.

"The entire MemorialCare family is proud of the tremendous achievements of our 16,000 extraordinary physicians, nurses and other clinicians, support staff, volunteers and donors at Saddleback Memorial, Orange Coast Memorial, MemorialCare Medical Group and throughout our entire health system in Orange and Los Angeles counties," says Barry Arbuckle, PhD, President & CEO of the nonprofit MemorialCare with more than 200 care locations throughout the Southland. In addition to Saddleback Memorial, Orange Coast Memorial and MemorialCare Medical Group, MemorialCare includes Long Beach Memorial, Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach, Community Hospital Long Beach, Greater Newport Physicians, Seaside Health Plan, and numerous ambulatory surgery, imaging, kidney dialysis and urgent care centers.

"Our Orange County hospitals are honored to again be voted among the top two Best Hospitals," says Orange Coast Memorial and Saddleback Memorial CEO Marcia Manker. "Everyone affiliated with MemorialCare works together to set a new standard of excellence for delivery of compassionate and innovative health care to our communities. Without our talented and selfless physicians, nurses, employees, volunteers and donors, this recognition would not be possible."

Orange Coast Memorial, ranked a top Orange County Workplace for six consecutive years and is listed in several "high-performance" rankings in U.S. News & World Report. These include Heart Bypass Surgery, Heart Failure, Hip Replacement, Knee Replacement, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Colon Cancer Surgery. Orange Coast Memorial has been widely recognized for patient quality and safety by achieving an "A" grade in the Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Score, considered the gold standard measure for hospital quality and safety.

Saddleback Memorial is consistently named one of Healthgrades America's 50 Best Hospitals representing the top 1% of U.S. hospitals for three consecutive years and among the 100 Best for Cardiac and Pulmonary Care, Top in the Nation for Orthopedic Care and Healthgrades' highest 5-Star ratings, including for Joint Replacements, Gastrointestinal Care and many more services. It was listed among Truven Health Analytics' Top U.S. 50 Cardiovascular Hospitals and appeared on Becker's Hospital Review and Thomson Reuters lists of America's Best Hospitals.

"We are honored and proud to be voted one of Orange County's Best Medical Groups for the care we are privileged to provide," says MemorialCare Medical Group CEO Mark Schafer. "We're grateful to our patients and community for this special recognition and for continuing to entrust us with their health care."

One of the most experienced and respected medical groups in Southern California, MemorialCare Medical Group has served the community for more than 55 years and continues to add new physician practices and ambulatory surgery, imaging, urgent care and kidney dialysis centers to provide greater access and quality care throughout Orange County, Long Beach and surrounding communities. It continually earns the Elite Status from CAPGa large national association of physician groupsand recognition as one of the state's top medical groups.

SOURCE MemorialCare

Related Links

http://www.memorialcare.org


Hosted by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), the aircraft arrived in the city last week for a hands-on training that supports Orbis's ongoing work in the country: strengthening the capacity of clinical and operational eye care professionals at our partner hospitals, Yaounde Central Hospital (YCH) and Magrabi ICO Cameroon Eye Institute (MICEI), Yaounde.

Located in western Central Africa, Cameroon is home to 23.3 million people, of which 326,213 are moderately to severely visually impaired (MSVI) and 181,831 are blind.1 In fact, the prevalence of MSVI in Cameroon (2.98%) is one of the highest in the world, and over twice as high as the prevalence of MSVI in the U.S. (1.25%). Although the leading cause of visual impairment in the country is cataract, for which there are known, cost-effective treatments, many people in Cameroon don't have access to affordable or quality eye health services.

One main issue is the uneven distribution of health care workers worldwide. There are 3 ophthalmologists per one million people in the countrythat's 73 ophthalmologistscompared to 60 per million in the United States. Even then, many of these ophthalmologists reside in the two main cities of Yaounde and Doula and many have limited surgical experience.2

To meet the obstacles faced by local hospitals, the training is being customized to focus on five subspecialties, including cataract, and will include different workshops, covering a range of topics from refraction to equipment repair and maintenance. The project is also a continuing medical education opportunity for local nurses, anesthesiologists, biomedical engineers and technicians through lectures, case discussion, observation, symposia and hands-on training.

This skills-transfer work in Cameroon is timely, given the startling global inequalities in visual impairment revealed by the latest data published by the Vision Loss Expert Group (VLEG) in the Lancet Global Health and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) in the IAPB Vision Atlas released today.

The data shows that across the 253 million people in the world who are blind or moderately to severely visually impaired (MSVI), uncorrected refractive errors (eye conditions that can usually be treated with glasses) and cataract are the main causes.3 This new data comes on the heels of a previous VLEG paper 4 published in August, which showed that while 90 million people were treated or prevented from becoming blind or visually impaired between 1990 and 2015, trends in an ageing and growing population subject to increases in myopia and diabetic retinopathy could lead to a threefold increase in blindness by 2050.

"The new data is encouraging as it shows that our efforts to reduce avoidable blindness in affected countries are working," said Dr. Danny Haddad, Chief of Programs, Orbis. "However, it's vital we continue this work in the face of a growing and ageing population and increasing chronic diseases like diabetes. We believe the best way to tackle this problem is to work in partnership to help strengthen countries' healthcare systems."

Visit the IAPB Vision Atlas for the latest global data surrounding vision. Visit the Orbis Facebook page to view a walk-through of the Flying Eye Hospital in action in Cameroon on World Sight Day.

About Orbis

Orbis is a leading global non-governmental organization that has been a pioneer in the prevention and treatment of blindness for over 30 years. Orbis transforms lives by delivering the skills, resources and knowledge needed to deliver accessible quality eye care. Working in collaboration with local partners including hospitals, universities, government agencies and ministries of health, Orbis provides hands-on ophthalmology training, strengthens healthcare infrastructure and advocates for the prioritization of eye health on public health agendas. Orbis operates the world's only Flying Eye Hospital, a fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on board an MD-10 aircraft. To learn more, please visit orbis.org.

Media Contact

Silvana Vivas

Communications Manager

[email protected]

+1-646-674-5500

1 IAPB Vision Atlas, 2017, http://atlas.iapb.org/gvd-maps/#AllAges

2 IAPB Vision Atlas, 2017.

3 The Lancet Global Health, http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(17)30393-5/fulltext?elsca1=tlxpr

4 The Lancet Global Health, http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(17)30293-0/fulltext

SOURCE Orbis

Related Links

http://www.orbis.org


PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Gov. Kate Brown has declared Oct. 15-21 as "Oregon Forest Products Week" in recognition of Oregon's leadership in manufacturing wood products, developing innovative wood products, and designing and constructing tall wood buildings.

In a signed proclamation, Brown calls on all Oregonians to join in observance of the weeklong celebration of forest products grown and manufactured in Oregon. The declaration coincides with National Forest Products Week, celebrated the third week of October every year. The national event recognizes the many products that come from forests, the people who work in or manage forests, and the businesses that make the forest products we use in our everyday lives.

Forest Products Week has particular significance in Oregon, because for decades the state has not only been the nation's leader in wood products manufacturing but also forest productivity, forestry education and research, says Timm Locke, director of forest products at the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI). Funded by a portion of the forest products harvest tax, OFRI was created by the Oregon Legislature to advance public understanding of forests, forest management and forest products.

Oregon is also now leading a growing movement to build taller and larger buildings with wood, for environmental, social and economic reasons, Locke adds. "With its innovative spirit and sustainable forest resources, Oregon has become the epicenter of the most significant disruption of building technology since steel and concrete altered urban skylines."

In the proclamation, Brown highlights that Oregon's forest sector contributes more than $12 billion annually to the state's economy and employs more than 60,000 Oregonians. She notes that the state's forest protection and land-use laws ensure Oregon's abundant forests are sustainably managed to provide countless benefits to Oregonians. These include clean air and water, fish and wildlife habitat, recreation, scenic beauty, forest products, and employment and tax revenue for local communities, counties and the state of Oregon.

OFRI kicked off this year's celebration of Oregon forest products with an early-October tour of mass timber buildings in the Portland area that was attended by more than 50 elected and appointed officials, policymakers and others.

About the Oregon Forest Resources Institute:

The Oregon Forest Resources Institute was created by the Oregon Legislature to advance public understanding of forests, forest management and forest products, and to encourage sound forestry through landowner education.

SOURCE Oregon Forest Resources Institute

Related Links

http://oregonforests.org


Data Sets Demonstrating Efficacy and Quality of Life Profile of SILIQ Presented at 2017 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference

LAVAL, Quebec, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ortho Dermatologics, a division of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX and TSX: VRX), today announced results from the Pivotal Phase 3 long-term extension study (AMAGINE-2), which demonstrated that SILIQ (brodalumab) injection provided sustained high levels of skin clearance (PASI 100) over more than two years in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. These findings are being presented for the first time today at the 2017 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference in Las Vegas.

"Over a two-year trial, a PASI 100 response rate was reached by 59 percent of a sub-analysis group of patients, demonstrating that SILIQ is a long-term option to treat moderate-to-severe psoriasis," stated Alan Menter, M.D. "This is highly important as patients always fear a flare-up of their psoriasis after initial clearing."

SILIQ is indicated for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adult patients who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy and have failed to respond or have lost response to other systemic therapies. SILIQ has a Black Box Warning and a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) due to observed suicidal ideation and behavior in clinical trials. SILIQ is contraindicated in patients with Crohn's disease. Serious infections have occurred; therefore caution should be exercised when considering the use of SILIQ in patients with a chronic infection or a history of recurrent infection. Patients should be evaluated for tuberculosis infection prior to initiating treatment and avoid use of live vaccines.

"For patients with and without prior ustekinumab exposure, SILIQ demonstrated improved skin clearance," said Lawrence J. Green, M.D., associate clinical professor of Dermatology at George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. "More than 65 percent of both ustekinumab-naive and -experienced patients in AMAGINE-1 receiving SILIQ treatment experienced complete clearance (PASI 100) at week 52, making this an excellent solution with proven results for a wide range of patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis."

Dr. Lawrence Green will be presenting additional information about SILIQ during a product theatre titled, "A New Mechanism of Action in the Treatment of Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis" on Thursday, October 12th at 1pm  2pm PT.

"I am pleased to see the durable efficacy of SILIQ demonstrated through these additional findings," said Joseph C. Papa, chairman and CEO, Valeant. "This dermatologic innovation has been shown to not only provide relief for many patients who suffer from moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, but also had an overall positive impact on the quality of life of these patients."

Long-term Efficacy of Brodalumab for the Treatment of Moderate-to-Severe Psoriasis Study (AMAGINE-2)

Results from the long-term extension study (AMAGINE-2) found that SILIQ provided sustained high levels of skin clearance (PASI 100) over more than two years in those with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Further, a sub-analysis group of patients who received any dose of brodalumab in the induction phase and SILIQ during the maintenance and long-term extension (LTE) phases demonstrated similar response rates. Patients who received either study dose of brodalumab in the induction phase and SILIQ throughout the maintenance and LTE phases at week 120, had a PASI 100 response rate of 59.0% (N=178), and PASI 90 response rate of 76.4% (N=178). At week 52, the same set of patients had a PASI 100 response rate of 63.4% (N=290) and PASI 90 response rate of 85.9% (N=290). At week 120, SILIQ continued to be generally well-tolerated with a safety profile comparable to that observed in the 52-week period.

Efficacy of Brodalumab in Ustekinumab-Naive and -Experienced Patients With Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis (AMAGINE-1) Study

Results of a phase III, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (AMAGINE-1) of the efficacy of brodalumab in a subset of patients with prior exposure to ustekinumab, demonstrated that SILIQ was similarly efficacious with improved skin clearance in patients both with and without prior ustekinumab exposure. Among patients receiving continuous SILIQ, rates of 100% reduction in PASI score (PASI 100) was 65.2% (43 of 66) and 76.5% (n=13 of 17) in ustekinumab-naive and -experienced patients at week 52, respectively. PASI 90 were 75.8% (50 of 66) in ustekinumab-naive and 88.2% (15 of 17), in ustekinumab-experienced patients.

Impact of Brodalumab Treatment on Psoriasis Symptom Severity and Improvements in Health-Related Quality of Life Study

Psoriasis symptoms have a significant negative impact on health-related quality of life, impairing physical functioning and well-being. Previously, data has shown that treatment with SILIQ provided rapid improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and psoriasis symptoms in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. This improvement with SILIQ can also be demonstrated by comparing baseline data with measurements at week 12 in terms of improvement in psoriasis symptom inventory scores (PSI) and Dermatology Quality of Life Index (DLQI) scores, which are highly correlated. Additionally, an improvement in psoriasis symptoms inventory score correlated with decreased PASI scores with SILIQ treatment.

About SILIQ

In February 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Biologics License Application (BLA) for SILIQ, a novel human monoclonal antibody that binds to the interleukin-17 (IL-17) receptor A and inhibits inflammatory signaling by preventing the binding of several types of IL-17 to the receptor. By blocking IL-17 from activating the receptor, SILIQ prevents the body from receiving signals that may lead to inflammation. The IL-17 pathway plays a central role in inducing and promoting inflammatory disease processes.

In August 2015, Valeant entered into a collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca (AZN.LN, NYSE:AZN, AZN:SSE) granting Valeant an exclusive license to develop and commercialize SILIQ globally, except in Japan and certain other Asian countries where rights are held by Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. In July 2016, AstraZeneca and Valeant amended Valeant's license for brodalumab to terminate Valeant's right to develop and commercialize brodalumab in Europe. LEO Pharma currently holds exclusive rights to develop and commercialize brodalumab in Europe, and Valeant holds the license to develop and commercialize SILIQ in the U.S and other territories, other than Japan and certain other Asian countries.

About Ortho Dermatologics

Ortho Dermatologics is one of the largest prescription dermatology businesses in the world dedicated to helping patients in the treatment of a range of therapeutic areas including actinic keratosis, acne, atopic dermatitis, cold sores, athlete's foot, nail fungus and other dermatoses. The Ortho Dermatologics portfolio includes several leading acne, anti-fungal and anti-infective products. More information can be found at www.ortho-dermatologics.com.

Important Safety Information

What is the most important information I should know about SILIQ?

Suicidal thoughts or behavior: Some patients taking SILIQ have had suicidal thoughts or ended their own lives. This risk is higher if you have a history of suicidal thoughts or depression. It is not known if SILIQ causes these thoughts or actions. Get medical help right away if you or a family member notices that you have any of the following symptoms:

new or worsening depression, anxiety, or mood problems

thoughts of suicide, dying, or hurting yourself

attempt to commit suicide, or acting on dangerous impulses

other unusual changes in your behavior or mood

Your healthcare provider will give you a SILIQ patient/wallet card about symptoms that need medical attention right away. Carry the card with you during treatment with SILIQ and show it to all of your healthcare providers.

Serious Infections: SILIQ may lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections.

Your healthcare provider should check you for tuberculosis (TB) before starting treatment with SILIQ and may treat you for TB before starting SILIQ if you have TB or a history of it

You and your healthcare provider need to watch closely for signs and symptoms of infection during treatment with SILIQ, including fever, sweats, chills, shortness of breath, stomach issues, muscle aches, cough, sore throat or trouble swallowing, warm/red painful skin sores, burning while urinating or more frequent urination

Who should not use SILIQ?

Do not use SILIQ if you have Crohn's disease. Tell your healthcare provider if you develop diarrhea, bloody stools, stomach pain or cramping, sudden or uncontrollable bowel movements, loss of appetite, constipation, weight loss, fever or tiredness as these may be symptoms of Crohn's disease.

Before starting SILIQ, tell your healthcare provider if you:

have a history of mental health problems, including suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety, or mood problems

have an infection that does not go away or keeps coming back

have TB or have been in close contact with someone with TB

have recently received or are scheduled to receive an immunization (vaccine). You should avoid getting live vaccines while being treated with SILIQ

are or plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding or plan to do so. It is unknown if SILIQ can harm your unborn or newborn baby

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

How should I use SILIQ?

See the detailed "Instructions for Use" that come with your SILIQ for information on the right way to store, prepare, and give your SILIQ injections at home, and how to properly throw away (dispose of) used SILIQ prefilled syringes. Use SILIQ exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to use it.

What are possible side effects of SILIQ?

SILIQ may cause serious side effects. See "What is the most important information I should know about SILIQ?" and "Who should not take SILIQ?"

The most common side effects of SILIQ include:

Joint pain

Headache

Tiredness

Diarrhea

Mouth or throat pain

Nausea Muscle pain

Injection site reactions

Flu

Low white blood cell count

(neutropenia)

Fungal infections of the skin





Call your doctor for medical advice on side effects. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to FDA at www.fda.gov/MedWatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements which may generally be identified by the use of the words "anticipates, "expects," "intends," "plans," "should," "could," "would," "may," "will," "believes," "estimates," "potential," "target," or "continue" and variations or similar expressions. These statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties discussed in the Company's most recent annual or quarterly report and detailed from time to time in Valeant's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian Securities Administrators, which factors are incorporated herein by reference. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Valeant undertakes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect actual outcomes, unless required by law.

Please call 1-800-321-4576 for full Prescribing Information, including Black Box Warning about suicidal ideation and behavior, or visit www.siliq.com

SILIQ is a trademark of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. or its affiliates.

Any other product/brand names are trademarks of the respective owners.

 2017 Valeant Pharmaceuticals North America LLC.

SLQ.0176.USA.17

SOURCE Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.valeant.com


CONCORD, Mass., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OsteoReady LLC, The Dental Implant Company for the General Practitioner, announced a new management structure, effective today.

Dr. Robert Gottlander, of New York, NY, has assumed the role of CEO of the Concord, MA based company.

Dr. Marc Nevins, of Boston, MA, was appointed Chairman of OsteoReady LLC.

Dr. David Little, of San Antonio, TX, will continue his role as Clinical Director while Mike Meehan, of Concord, MA, remains as Chief Operating Officer for OsteoReady LLC.

Having sold his interest to private equity, Dr. Brady Frank, Founder, is no longer affiliated with the Company. The Company intends to continue its evolution, providing a high level of surgical training for the GP focusing on its drilling protocols and education platforms.

OsteoReady was founded to expand access for general practitioners to implant dentistry. General Dentists are uniquely suited for implant dentistry with a basic surgical background and great access to the patient community. OsteoReady continues to develop its education platform, focus its training on efficient and safe techniques while developing products and solutions that are cost efficient for the dentist. While having a favorable impact on the practitioner's chair time, the OsteoReady drilling protocols also minimize a patient's discomfort level. Drs. Gottlander, Nevins and Little have established a new OsteoReady surgical technique utilizing simplified drilling protocols and highly efficient platform switching prosthetics. OsteoReady is making implant dentistry simpler for the General Practitioner and more affordable for the general public. The Company will continue to provide value for the patient and the clinician.

"OsteoReady will bring superb clinical leadership as well as quality products to the General Practitioners in today's dental market", said CEO Robert Gottlander.

Chairman Marc Nevins commented "I am thrilled to be surrounded by such stellar clinicians. Their input in developing the OsteoReady protocols will differentiate our Company for years to come."

As the Clinical Director and a practicing GP, David Little commented, "The OsteoReady system has been developed for the General Practitioner and has the performance capabilities for all levels of dental professionals."

World famous implant surgeon, Dr Tiziano Testori, of Como Italy, stated, "I am honored to be part of this team as OsteoReady is poised to make a difference in the lives of patients and practitioners alike."

About: Robert Gottlander, DDS New York, NY

Robert Gottlander received his DDS from the University of Gothenburg. He joined Nobelpharma in 1984. In 1992, Dr. Gottlander was named the CEO of Procera Sandvik AB and was responsible for the launch of the first CAD-CAM process for dental laboratories with viable dental applications. During Dr. Gottlander's 28-year career at Nobel Biocare, he held several senior positions including Executive Vice President of Global Marketing and Products. He was involved with research and education for the Branemark implant system and was one of the leaders bringing modern implantology to the dental profession. In addition, Robert was responsible for the global launch of Procera, as well as, numerous other products and solutions, an experience that will be put to use immediately at OsteoReady.

A pioneer in innovative methods in dental education, Dr. Gottlander developed teaching concepts for both dental implants and CAD-CAM with a focus on patient benefits. Dr. Gottlander joined Henry Schein Inc. in 2011, as Vice President, Global Prosthetic Solutions. He led the Henry Schein global initiative with responsibility for strategic planning for prosthetic and implant solutions guiding global product offerings and creating commercial sales and marketing strategies. Dr. Gottlander was appointed Chief Marketing Officer, Henry Schein Global Dental in 2016. He is a recipient of the Greater New York Academy of Prosthodontics Achievement Award as well as the Dental Tribune Industry Leadership Award.

About: Marc Nevins, DMD Boston, MA

Dr. Nevins serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Quintessence International Journal of Periodontics and Restorative Dentistry. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology and is in the private practice of Periodontics and Implant Dentistry in Boston, Massachusetts. He is Assistant Clinical Professor of Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

Dr. Nevins graduated from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and he received his Certificate for Graduate Training in Periodontology and a Master of Medical Sciences in Oral Biology at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Nevins has research interests in Clinical Applications of Tissue Engineering for Regenerative Periodontics and Implant Dentistry.

About: David L Little, DDS San Antonio, TX

Dr. David Little, DDS, received his doctorate degree in dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Dental School and now maintains a multidisciplinary, state-of-the-art dental practice in San Antonio, Texas. An accomplished national and international speaker, professor, and author, he also serves the dental profession as a clinical researcher focusing on surgical placement and restoration of dental implants. As a consultant, he also shares his expertise on emerging technologies including CBCT, planning software, surgical guides and digital workflow with his peers.

About: Tiziano Testori, MD, DDS Como, Italy Member-Advisory Board OsteoReady LLC

Dr. Testori received his MD degree in 1981, his DDS degree in 1984 and his Specialty in Orthodontics in 1986 from the University of Milan, Italy. From his lakeside practice in Como, Dr. Testori focuses on implantology and aesthetics, often employing conscious sedation to improve patient experience. Currently, he is head of Implant Dentistry and Oral Rehabilitation, at Galeazzi Institute, University of Milan. Dr. Testori is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Milan's School of Dentistry and an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Dentistry at the University of Michigan. He also has a Fellowship at the Division of Oral Maxillo-Facial Surgery from the School of Medicine at the University of Miami, FL. A dedicated author, he has written or contributed to hundreds of scientific articles in both Italian and international journals.

About: Massimo Simion, DDS Milan, Italy Member-Advisory Board OsteoReady LLC

Dr. Simion received a degree in Medicine and Surgery, and specialty training in Odontostomatology and Dental Prosthodontics from the University of Milan. He is a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Periodontology, Dental School, University of Milan. Past-President of European Academy of Osseointegration and the Academy of Osseointegration. Dr. Simion serves as referee for the International Journal of Periodontics and Restorative Dentistry and he has published several scientific articles, and lectures internationally on periodontology, osseointegration, and bone regeneration.

About: Anthony Feck, DMD Lexington, KY Member-Advisory Board OsteoReady LLC

Dr. Anthony Feck brings with him 34 years of private practice experience and a long list of professional accomplishments. He has been the featured speaker at numerous events, and has shared his methods of success with thousands of dentists and their teams. He has an extensive background in sedation dentistry and teaches both oral and intravenous sedation techniques. Dr. Feck has developed a reputation as a leader in dental implantology education, serving as a clinical instructor for OsteoReady, teaching dentists from all over North America.

About: L. Stephen Buchanan, DDS Santa Barbara, CA Member-Advisory Board OsteoReady LLC

Dr. Buchanan began pursuing three-dimensional anatomy research early in his career. In 1986, he became the first person in dentistry to use microcomputed tomography technology to show the intricacies of root structure. In 1989, he established Dental Education Laboratories and subsequently built a state-of-the-art teaching center devoted to hands-on endodontic instruction. He has lectured, conducted participation courses around the world, published numerous articles, and produced the award-winning video series The Art of Endodontics. Now currently serves as an assistant clinical professor at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry and the University of California at Los Angeles School of Dentistry. He also maintains a private practice limited to endodontics and implant surgery in Santa Barbara, CA.

OsteoReady will continue to evolve the delivery of efficiency, education and support to the dental and patient community.

Contact: Mike Meehan, [email protected]

SOURCE OsteoReady

Related Links

http://www.osteoready.com


NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of financial markets for 10,000 U.S. and global securities, announced that Continental Stock Transfer & Trust has joined OTC Markets' Transfer Agent Verified Shares Program. This newest addition to our growing roster of leading transfer agents advances our mission to improve the availability and accuracy of share data for OTCQX, OTCQB and Pink securities.

OTC Markets Group launched the Transfer Agent Verified Shares Program initiative with the goal of providing investors current and reliable share data on OTCQX, OTCQB and Pink securities. The program enables stock transfer agents to report their clients' share data, including authorized and outstanding shares, to OTC Markets Group on a regular basis via a secure, electronic file transfer. Share data provided by transfer agents is displayed on www.otcmarkets.com alongside a "Verified" logo, indicating the information is reliable and trustworthy. This data is also disseminated through OTC Markets Group's market data feeds to investors and broker-dealers.

"We are pleased to welcome Continental as the 13th Transfer Agent to participate in the Transfer Agent Verified Shares Program," said Liz Heese, Executive Vice President of Issuer and Information Services at OTC Markets Group. "This further enhances our data-driven offerings and equips investors and broker-dealers with information to make more informed investment decisions."

"By utilizing streamlined technology, we are providing critical data to OTC Markets Group to provide shareholders of our valued clients' information to support informed investment decisions," stated Steven Nelson, President & Chairman of Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. "Investors, and their brokers, will have access to accurate and timely corporate share data as a result of the Transfer Agent Verified Shares Program. We are proud to serve as OTC Markets Group Inc.'s transfer agent and pleased to partner on this initiative.

Transfer agents participating in the Program include:

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

ClearTrust, LLC

Colonial Stock Transfer Co. Inc.

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust

Corporate Stock Transfer

Direct Transfer LLC

Equity Stock Transfer

Island Stock Transfer

Nevada Agency and Transfer Company

Olde Monmouth Stock Transfer

Transfer Online, Inc.

VStock Transfer

West Coast Stock Transfer, Inc.

Investors can access verified share data for Continental Stock Transfer & Trust clients on the company's respective quote page at www.otcmarkets.com and via OTC Markets' market data feeds.

Transfer agents interested in participating in the program may contact Andy Kyzyk at OTC Markets Group at (212) 896-4450 or [email protected]. There is no fee for transfer agents to participate.

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust is the 4th largest stock transfer agent in North America, handling more than 1,000 public & private issues and 2 million shareholder accounts. For 53 years the Company has delivered to its client's reliability, stability and premier service at an exceptional price. Continental offers a wide array of services, including public and private offering administration, issuance and transfer of shares, management of restricted transfers and option exercises, maintenance of shareholder stock ledgers, including cost basis history, dividend disbursement and investment plan services, as well as corporate event administration and escrow services. In addition, the Company has a dominant position in the Special Purpose Acquisition Company "SPAC" / IPO business and has been routinely recognized as the leading North American Transfer Agent, delivering exceptional services and unmatched value to its customers.

Learn more at www.continentalstock.com

Independent Spirit, Relentless Dedication

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 Contact:

OTC Markets Group Inc., +1 (212) 896-4428, [email protected]

SOURCE OTC Markets Group Inc.

Related Links

http://www.otcmarkets.com


TARENTUM, Pa., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) today welcomed local officials and the public to the grand opening of a new Fine Wine & Good Spirits store at 1020 Village Center Dr., Tarentum, Allegheny County.

With nearly 3,900 square feet of space, this store features more than 1,900 wines and spirits, including the popular Chairman's Advantage wines, which are hand-selected and highly rated wines available for less than $10 a bottle.

This Fine Wine & Good Spirits store offers a warm, welcoming atmosphere for consumers to browse the extensive selection. The focal point of the store is a new table, where customers can find staff to answer questions or provide recommendations, highlighted promotional items and educational materials for customers such as:

Answers to frequently asked questions about wine and spirits

A vintage chart

A food pairing outline

A party planning guide

A calorie chart

Tips for responsible hosting and consumption

The store includes a "Made in Pennsylvania" section that highlights products produced in the commonwealth and a Pennsylvania Lottery machine.

Throughout design and construction, the PLCB was committed to developing a store that is attractive and environmentally responsible. Most store lighting is state-of-the-art LED or energy-efficient compact-fluorescent lighting, which uses a fraction of the energy of traditional lighting.

The Tarentum Fine Wine & Good Spirits store will be open from 9:00 AM through 9:00 PM Monday through Saturday and from 11:00 A.M. through 7:00 P.M. Sunday. The store phone number is 724-274-2022. To find additional store locations and hours, visit www.FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com.

The Fine Wine & Good Spirits store at Cheswick Plaza, 1302 Pittsburgh St., Cheswick, is now closed.

The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates more than 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits  totaling $15.8 billion since the agency's inception  are returned to Pennsylvania's General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania's schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit www.lcb.pa.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT: Shawn M. Kelly, 717.303.8522

SOURCE Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

Related Links

http://http://www.lcb.pa.gov


HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After Governor Tom Wolf joined former AOL founder Steve Case this week for the "Rise of the Rest" tour to discuss opportunities for start-up businesses in York, Lancaster and Dauphin counties, Secretary of Banking and Securities Robin L. Wiessmann today announced a new online guide to help start-ups outside Silicon Valley navigate Pennsylvania's regulatory process involved in raising money by offering securities for sale.

The guide, "How Small Businesses Can Raise Capital by Issuing Securities," can be found online: http://www.dobs.pa.gov/Documents/Publications/Brochures/CorpFin10.17.pdf

"Many business owners successfully raise funding by selling shares in their companies," said Secretary of Banking and Securities Robin L. Wiessmann. "In Pennsylvania, selling shares of your company requires either that you register your sale or seek an exemption. Registration can be a complex process, so the department has produced a guide to help business owners more easily get started."

Wiessmann also noted that business owners should ask themselves these three questions in advance of selling shares:

Are you ready to permanently give up part of your ownership to investors (people you may know or complete strangers) who buy your shares?

Can you devote time or pay outside experts (such as lawyers and accountants) to structure the offering and draft the required registration or exemption paperwork?

Can you take time away from running your business to find and solicit potential investors? In addition to soliciting investors, business owners need to manage the ongoing responsibilities associated with shareholders.

Registration is the process by which a business files with the Department of Banking and Securities all documents that will help investors make informed decisions about the proposed securities offering. Pennsylvania and federal laws also contain a series of exemptions, which cover situations where the nature of the securities or the character of the transaction does not demand full registration.

Wiessmann advises business owners seeking registrations or exemptions to seek legal counsel from an attorney experienced in this area

"I strongly suggest that business owners and their attorneys seeking to sell shares of a company to Pennsylvania investors contact the department's Office of Corporation Finance," Wiessmann added. "Our staff wants businesses to succeed, and can help guide you through the complex process of registration or exemption."

Business owners seeking to offer securities for sale to Pennsylvania investors can contact the department's Office of Corporation Finance at 717-787-8059. More information at: www.dobs.pa.gov/Businesses/Securities/Pages/Securities-Offerings.aspx

MEDIA CONTACT: Ed Novak, 717-783-4721

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us


NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Daniel E. Straus, owner and operator of senior care company CareOne, aims to raise substantial funds for the Puerto Rico relief effort at the upcoming Starry Night Masquerade, organized by The Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Charitable Fund of CareOne. The event is taking place on October 19th from 7-11pm at Skylight Clarkson North in New York City, and will feature celebrity guests and special performances by Pitbull and JoJo.

Uniting to challenge themselves and partners to raise millions of dollars to rebuild the star of Puerto Rico, 100% of the ticket and sponsorship proceeds will be made immediately available through the family's Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Charitable Fund for Puerto Rico relief efforts.

With deeply rooted family values of compassion and charitable giving, Daniel E. Straus and his daughter, CareOne Executive Vice President Elizabeth Straus, mobilized the effort to provide aid and raise funds for Puerto Rico. "Given our family's businesses, we are in a position to help and did not hesitate. This is also personal for us as we have several facilities in Puerto Rico where staff members and their families have been deeply affected," says Elizabeth Straus.

CareOne has continued to provide assistance to the victims of Hurricane Maria in concert with its sister company in Puerto Rico, InnovaCare. In their most recent initiative to provide on-ground support, planes were deployed transporting physicians and medical supplies to Puerto Rico, as well as bringing several people requiring immediate medical attention back to the mainland U.S. for hospital treatment.

For additional information and to purchase tickets to the Starry Night Masquerade, please click here.

About CareOne

With services that include post-hospital care, rehabilitation, assisted living, long-term care and a variety of clinical specialty programs, CareOne offers compassionate care in gracious, professionally managed centers and communities. CareOne serves thousands of seniors every day. With more than 29 centers in New Jersey, CareOne's outstanding programs and services are conveniently located throughout the state. For more information, please visit www.care-one.com

About InnovaCare

InnovaCare Health is a leading provider of managed healthcare services in North America. Through two primary avenues of care, Provider Networks and Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Programs, we provide access to quality healthcare by creating models that are sustainable, cost-effective and fully integrated with advanced technologies. Focused on strong patient-provider relationships, Innovacare and its subsidiaries build models of managed care that are coordinated, cost-effective, innovative and driven by quality. For more information please visit www.innovacarehealth.com

About The Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Charitable Fund

CareOne established the Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Charitable Fund to provide financial assistance and aid to individuals and families impacted by unforeseen circumstances and events and to provide funding to research organizations.

The Fund was created by Daniel E. Straus, President, CEO and Chairman of CareOne, Ascend Inc. Partners Pharmacy and InnovaCare along with his daughter Elizabeth, Executive Vice President of CareOne, in loving memory of the values, compassion and charitable giving Gwendolyn and Joseph created and instilled in their family. To date, the fund has raised over $10 million dollars to benefit those in need of support and assistance as well as for medical research. The Fund is currently focused on raising money to provide supplies and medical care and other aid to those individuals impacted by the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

The Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Charitable Fund is an organization that focuses on improving the quality of life through charitable financial assistance to individuals, families and philanthropic organizations. The Fund is tax exempt under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

PRESS CONTACT

LFB Media Group | 646-455-0042



Jose Martinez | [email protected]

Carly Ginsberg | [email protected]

SOURCE CareOne

Related Links

http://www.care-one.com


CLEARWATER, Fla., Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Tuesday, October 17th 2017, starting at 6:30 pm Deputy Jessica Hughey of the Pinellas County Sheriffs Office will deliver a free seminar on Online Safety, hosted by the Florida chapter of United for Human Rights at their headquarters in downtown Clearwater. Deputy Hughey will discuss the increased threat that social media poses to children and how to protect them. The Church of Scientology-supported United for Human Rights Office is hosting the event to forward its campaign against human trafficking as social media is used by human traffickers to lure children away from their homes.



Deputy Hughey said. Kids are learning to navigate the world, and they tend to be trusting and a bit naive when it comes to sharing personal information about themselves on the Internet. They might lack caution and can put themselves at risk. When we meet people face to face we might pick up on cues that help us understand their intentions whether they are good or bad. The internet masks these signals and it can be more difficult to tell whether the person you meet online really is who he or she says they are.

To RSVP for the Online Safety seminar, call 727-467-6960 RSVP or email sanna@humanrights.com.

About United for Human Rights (UHR)

Inspired by the words of Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard that, Human Rights must be made a fact not an idealistic dream, the Church of Scientology supports United for Human Rights, the worlds largest nongovernmental human rights education campaign. Its purpose: To raise awareness and implementation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Florida headquarters of the UHR is located at 29 N. Fort Harrison Avenue, Clearwater, FL 33755.

For more Information




NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PR Boutiques International (PRBI), the worldwide collaborative network of boutique public relations firms, recently expanded by welcoming two new members to the consortium. Furthering the international spirit of PRBI, the two new agencies are from opposite sides of the globe - McGallen & Bolden Group, from Singapore, and Ball Consulting Group, LLC, from Newton, Mass., near Boston.

"We continue to enter new geographic territories as we build out a true global network that enables collaborative agencies to partner together and service multinational brands with the same boutique, hands-on level service we and our clients all value and expect," said Lee Weinstein, PRBI President and President of Weinstein PR located in Portland, Ore. "In addition to sharing clients, we share ideas, best practices and camaraderie, which is a priceless resource and has helped many PRBI members take their businesses to the next level."

McGallen & Bolden Group is an established and well-regarded full service marketing and technology communication consultancy focused on the Asia Pacific region. Founded in 1991 and based in Singapore, clients past and present include: Check Point Software; Fred Technology; Lorna Jane; Parkway Health; Synopsys; KEF; Zepp; Crocs; Swensens; Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD); Legal Aid Bureau (Ministry of Law); Schneider Electric; Intermec; B&O Play; Plantronics; ILOG; Mitsubishi Electric; Sumitomo Electric; Rally; Invensys; ASICS, and other brands in the technology, healthcare and consumer products space. McGallen & Bolden is best known for their innovation in digital marketing, as well as its specialties in corporate leadership communications and crisis management. The firm's co-founder and Head of Creative and Technology is Dr. Seamus Phan, a veteran communications expert, business author and technology pioneer.

Ball Consulting Group is known as a trustworthy adviser to business and nonprofit leaders during some of the most critical moments their organizations face. The company's founder and president, David Ball, is a respected strategist and public relations professional who previously served in a number of senior positions in health care and state government. The agency specializes in communication services to multiple business sectors, including health care, insurance, pharmaceutical, technology, education, real estate and others. Clients have included the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, Boston MedFlight, Carroll Center for the Blind, Massachusetts General Hospital and MIT.

PRBI currently has 40 member agencies, 23 in the U.S. and 17 in other countries, including: Austria; Brazil; Canada; China; Germany; India; Italy; Japan; Malaysia; Netherlands; Poland; Singapore; South Korea; Switzerland; and the United Kingdom. Agencies are accepted on a select application basis, with geography, specialty areas, client roster, company history and management practices taken into consideration. Agencies interested in joining the network are encouraged to visit http://prboutiques.com/our-members/ to learn more.

About PR Boutiques International:

PR Boutiques International is an international network of independent public relations firms. The principals of each agency are experienced practitioners who have held senior positions in large PR agencies and/or corporations and now put service first working directly with clients. Members' specialty areas include: corporate; consumer products; health care; beauty/fashion; investor relations; crisis management; businesstobusiness; economic development; notforprofit; academia; government; financial; technology; legal; multicultural and international PR. Member practitioners have won the highest levels of professional awards, with qualifications ranging from PhDs to former top journalists.

SOURCE PR Boutiques International

Related Links

http://prboutiques.com


BROOKLYN, N.Y., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Frances Bronet, senior vice president and provost at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and a distinguished educator at the forefront of interdisciplinary curricula and collaboration, has been selected as the 12th president of Pratt Institute, announced Bruce Gitlin, Chair of the Institute's Board of Trustees and Co-Chair of the Presidential Search Committee. She will be the first woman president to lead Pratt Institute, one of the world's most renowned art and design colleges.

Pratt Institute's new president Frances Bronet

Ms. Bronet will begin her tenure on January 2, 2018, and will succeed President Thomas F. Schutte who stepped down on June 30, 2017, after more than two decades of transformational leadership. Pratt Institute Provost Kirk E. Pillow began serving as the interim president on July 1, 2017.

"I am honored to have been chosen as the 12th president of Pratt Institute," said Ms. Bronet. "During the years ahead, I will work closely with the faculty, administration, students, the local and global communities, and the trustees to ensure that Pratt continues to build upon its notable past achievements and realizes all of its creative potential for the future. This is a key moment for art and design education to critically address the complex challenges around us."

The search for Pratt's new president was led by a 16-member Presidential Search Committee representing all of Pratt's constituencies, including board members, alumni, academic and administrative leaders, faculty, and students. Following the Committee's review of more than 200 candidates, the Pratt Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Ms. Bronet as president of the Institute.

"Frances Bronet is a dynamic and innovative leader, and all of us at Pratt are thrilled to have her assume responsibility for the Institute's direction," said Board Chair Bruce Gitlin. "Her passion and commitment to education shine through in her exceptional contributions throughout her career as a scholar, teacher, collaborator, and forward-thinking administrator. Ms. Bronet is dedicated to excellence and innovation, the exact characteristics that Pratt needs in its next president. The entire community looks forward to working closely with Ms. Bronet to further Pratt's mission."

Board Chair Gitlin also praised the members of the Presidential Search Committee for their hard work and dedication to ensuring that Pratt will have the right leader for the Institute's ongoing growth and success. "The Committee received very thoughtful suggestions from more than 400 members of the community about the skill set and traits the next president of Pratt should have," said Board Chair Gitlin. "Ms. Bronet has the perfect mix of those qualities."

A dedicated educator in the fields of architecture and engineering, Ms. Bronet has served since August 2015, as senior vice president and provost at IIT. IIT is a technology-focused, PhD-granting research university in Chicago. IIT enrolls more than 7,500 undergraduate and graduate students. Prior to her arrival at IIT, she was the acting provost at the University of Oregon, a public flagship research university, which enrolls approximately 25,000 students and offers more than 300 degree and certificate programs. From 2005 until 2014, she served as dean of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the University of Oregon. Before that, Ms. Bronet was the acting dean and the associate dean of Architecture of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she began her career as a professor in 1985.

A noted academician and thought leader on the pedagogical and social challenges facing art and design education, Ms. Bronet is past president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), as well as past chancellor and vice chancellor for the ACSA College of Distinguished Professors. She is the co-founder of the ACSA Women's Leadership Council and was selected an ACSA Distinguished Professor. Ms. Bronet was named one of the most admired educators by DesignIntelligence in 2011 and 2014. Her additional honors include the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching New York Professor of the Year and the William H. Wiley Distinguished Professor Award for excellence in teaching, research, service, and contributions to the university and the community.

For more than two decades, Ms. Bronet has been developing and publishing work on multidisciplinary design curricula connecting architecture, engineering, science, technology and society (humanities and social sciences), dance, and electronic arts. She has received extensive funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities/Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (NEH/FIPSE) for work on new pedagogical models using design for technical and/or interdisciplinary learning as well as interactive environments. Her recent collaborations, from the professional to the institutional, span a range of installation projects, video works, course and curriculum development, building new programs, facilities, and campuses.

Ms. Bronet holds undergraduate degrees in architecture and engineering from McGill University and a Master of Science degree in architectural design from Columbia University. Ms. Bronet was licensed by the Ordre des Architectes du Quebec and has practiced in Canada and New York, including her own practice, in Montreal.

According to Mike Pratt, Presidential Search Committee Co-Chair and Vice Chair of the Pratt Board of Trustees, "Frances Bronet's achievements at IIT, the University of Oregon, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are a perfect prelude to her service to Pratt. We are excited about her highly successful track record inspiring donors and raising funds, building community and teams, her ability to attract funding for research, and her extensive experience in implementing strategic long-range plans. She brings visionary thinking, a collaborative style, and a commitment to higher education's responsibility to link critical thinking with cultural, physical, and social enterprise. Ms. Bronet's enthusiasm and creativity will enable her to develop deep relationships with Pratt faculty and students to spur innovation."

For more information about President-elect Frances Bronet and the presidential search process, please visit the presidential search section on pratt.edu.

Pratt Institute

Founded in 1887, Pratt Institute is a global leader in higher education dedicated to preparing its 4,700 undergraduate and graduate students for successful careers in art, design, architecture, information, and liberal arts and sciences. Located in a cultural hub with historic campuses in Brooklyn and Manhattan, Pratt is a living lab of craft and creativity with an esteemed faculty of accomplished professionals and scholars who challenge their talented students to transform their passion into meaningful expression.

SOURCE Pratt Institute

Related Links

http://www.pratt.edu


The Port of Baltimore was the fourth fastest-growing port in North America in 2016 and was recently recognized as the most efficient container port in the U.S.

"The Maryland Department of Transportation's Maryland Port Administration selected Saab to take advantage of their new Common Operating Picture functionality, which will significantly improve maritime domain awareness. In addition, KleinPort will allow us to become a more efficient port and improve our customer service," says Brian Miller, Director of Operations at Maryland Port Administration.

KleinPort is a product within Saab's Maritime Traffic Management product area, a leading provider of Maritime Enterprise Software.

"The Common Operating Picture is a web service that allows authorized users to see the exact status of ships and port facilities. There is much less of a need to phone or radio for information on what is going on, and it's a real time saver," says Tomas Hjelmberg, head of Saab's Maritime Traffic Management product area within business area Surveillance.

Port of Baltimore handles more automobiles and farm and construction machinery than any other U.S. port. Among all major U.S. ports, the Port of Baltimore ranks ninth in dollar value of cargo and 14th for total cargo tonnage. The Port of Baltimore also offers year-round cruises to the Bahamas, Bermuda, and Caribbean.

www.saab.com/maritime

www.saabusa.com

www.saabgroup.com/youtube

Follow us on Twitter: @saab and @Saab_US

With several locations across the United States and Canada, Saab North America provides a broad range of defense and security solutions to North American customers. Saab North America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saab.

Saab serves the global market with world-leading products, services and solutions within military defense and civil security. Saab has operations and employees on all continents around the world. Through innovative, collaborative and pragmatic thinking, Saab develops, adopts and improves new technology to meet customers' changing needs.

SOURCE Saab

Related Links

http://www.saabusa.com


Customers can make donations at checkstands of the company's California and Northern Nevada store locations. The Albertsons Companies Foundation will match customer donations up to $500,000.

"We have a longstanding history serving California. We're committed to helping our neighbors during this crisis," said Christy Duncan Anderson, Executive Director of the Albertsons Companies Foundation. "We know the needs are great and we want to make a meaningful impact to help people recover."

Along with financial assistance, Safeway's Northern California Division is working with the Red Cross to donate tractor trailers to bring and store food to help evacuation shelters. They are also working with multiple local organizations throughout Napa and Sonoma counties to provide food and other necessities to multiple shelters.

Safeway, Vons, Pavilions and Albertsons are banners that operate under Albertsons Companies, one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States. Albertsons Companies is committed to helping people across the country live better lives by making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood.

About the Albertsons Companies Foundation

Founded in 2001, the Albertsons Companies Foundation, formerly The Safeway Foundation, supports causes that impact customers' lives. Albertsons Companies stores provide the opportunity to mobilize funding and create awareness in our neighborhoods through the generous contributions by our customers, our employees' passion and partnerships with our vendors. We focus on giving locally in the areas of health and human services, hunger relief, education and helping people with disabilities. Albertsons Companies and the Albertsons Companies Foundation have invested $1 billion in our neighborhoods since 2001. For more information about the Albertsons Companies Foundation, visit www.albertsonscompaniesfoundation.com.

Media Contact: Teena Massingill

[email protected]

SOURCE Albertsons Companies
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Social commerce platform Sagoon announced today that the company will close its current round of funding on November 30, 2017; it plans the launch of its - long-awaited - mobile app in the second week of December.

The company is currently offering Class C common stock at $23 per share; the minimum investment required is $1,000. Investment can be made through credit/debit card, ACH, wire payment, or check. The offering is conducted through its own website, where the "Offering Circular" can be read or downloaded.

Sagoon has received global investment - mostly from the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, South Korea, India and the Middle East - and has welcomed over 2,000 shareholders, mostly its users, fans and supporters, with more investors joining every day. It has expanded its team from 12 to 42 full-time employees and spent $1 million developing its mobile app, which is expected to become every user's go-to tool for everyday use. The company has also entered into partnership with India Institute of Technology (IIT Delhi) to research and develop a battery recharge technology, artificial intelligence, semantic web, and natural language processing.

"We intend to solve the world's most difficult problems and build a user-centric company - this will add long-term value for our shareholders," says founder and CEO Govinda Giri. "Over the last eight months, we have made exciting progress. We hired top industry talent in India and built strong back-end technology infrastructure that will support traffic, sales and services for millions of users.

We have signed a lease for office expansion - from 7,000 square feet to 27,000 square feet. Reaching our goal requires continuous, sustainable investment; please join us as we reach our minimum funding goal and prepare to close this first round."

For more information, please visit: www.sagoon.com/invest.

About Sagoon

Sagoon is an early-stage social commerce platform that offers users a chance to make money while socializing. The word "Sagoon" is derived from the Sanskrit word "Shakuna", meaning "an auspicious moment" or "good luck". Sagoon was first launched as a search engine in 2009, but developed into a social commerce platform in 2014.

This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com.

SOURCE Sagoon

Related Links

https://www.sagoon.com/


NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SecurityScorecard, the leader in security ratings, announced today it has raised $27.5 million in Series C funding. The financing round was led by Nokia Growth Partners (NGP) with participation from Moody's Corporation, AXA Strategic Ventures, and Intel Capital. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures (GV), Boldstart Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, and Evolution Equity Partners also participated. Funds from this investment round will be used to bring new solutions to the market and to expand on SecurityScorecard's position as the security ratings leader.

"As the world becomes increasingly reliant on the cloud, third-party service providers, and highly distributed infrastructure, enterprises have less visibility and control over mission-critical services as well as their proprietary and customer data," said Upal Basu, Partner at NGP. Basu, who will be joining the company's board of directors, further explained, "The SecurityScorecard platform is uniquely positioned to help enterprises gain visibility and control across their IT ecosystem. We are excited to be a part of the SecurityScorecard team and we look forward to helping the company continue its rapid growth."

The SecurityScorecard platform provides CISOs, security practitioners, risk management professionals, and boards of directors with a comprehensive outside-in view of the security posture of their entire ecosystem, including their own IT infrastructure as well as their third and fourth-party vendors. The platform continuously monitors the security posture of more than 200,000 enterprises and government agencies across the globe and evaluates them based on hundreds of indicators of compromise. It then assigns an A to F rating and provides security professionals with actionable intelligence that enables them to remediate security vulnerabilities. SecurityScorecard research has shown that companies with a "D" or "F" rating are 5.4 times more likely to be breached than companies with an "A" or "B" rating.

"Cybersecurity is an area of growing importance for companies worldwide, and SecurityScorecard has developed an innovative platform that helps organizations identify, benchmark, and monitor their cybersecurity profile," said David Platt, Head of Corporate Development at Moody's Corporation.

SecurityScorecard is accelerating at a rapid pace with hundreds of enterprises as customers, including some of the most trusted brands in the world. The company has consistently achieved triple-digit year-over-year growth and has established itself as the thought leader in the security ratings space.

"SecurityScorecard's ability to assess critical data points and accurately depict the overall cybersecurity posture of an organization will provide increasing value in the current breach-weary business environment and will allow organizations to design risk-management solutions, including cyber-insurance products," said Francois Robinet, Managing Partner at AXA Strategic Ventures. "We have been impressed by the depth and quality of the technology behind the company and by the robustness of the team. We are excited about an investment in SecurityScorecard and look forward to partnering with the company and help develop applications for the insurance industry."

"Our vision is to create a new language for how companies strategically address, collaborate on, and measure the cybersecurity posture of their entire ecosystem through security ratings," said Dr. Aleksandr Yampolskiy, CEO and Founder of SecurityScorecard. "These ratings can be used to report back to the board of directors, continuously monitor third and fourth parties, and more intelligently underwrite cyber insurance policies. In the near future, security ratings will have an impact on credit ratings, overall company valuations, and will become an integral part of every investment and financial decision. This round of funding is a testament to the great work and momentum SecurityScorecard has built."

To receive a free SecurityScorecard assessment and consultation for your business, visit instant.securityscorecard.com.

About SecurityScorecard

Headquartered in the heart of New York City, SecurityScorecard's vision is to help security professionals work collaboratively to solve mission-critical, cybersecurity issues in a transparent way. The company was founded in late 2013 by Dr. Aleksandr Yampolskiy and Sam Kassoumeh, two former cybersecurity practitioners who had served, respectively, as Chief Information Security Officer and Head of Security & Compliance. With cloud solutions becoming an increasingly integral part of the security technology stack, Yampolskiy and Kassoumeh recognized the need to address 3rd and 4th party risk as well as better understand the security capabilities of their business partners. Since its founding, the company has grown dramatically and now counts hundreds of leading brands as customers. SecurityScorecard is backed by leading venture capital investors including Sequoia Capital and GV, among others. For more information, visit www.securityscorecard.com.

About NGP

With more than $1Billion under management, NGP specializes in growth-stage investing seeking entrepreneurs building intelligent devices and services connecting everybody and everything. NGP offers market insight, support, a deep network and a global reach spanning the United States, Europe, India and China. NGP is uniquely structured as an independent fund manager sponsored by Nokia, allowing for independent investment decisions and offering strategic opportunities both for Nokia and the companies in which they invest. For more information, visit www.nokiagrowthpartners.com.

About Moody's Corporation

Moody's is an essential component of the global capital markets, providing credit ratings, research, tools and analysis that contribute to transparent and integrated financial markets. Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) is the parent company of Moody's Investors Service, which provides credit ratings and research covering debt instruments and securities, and Moody's Analytics, which offers leading-edge software, advisory services and research for credit and economic analysis and financial risk management. The Corporation, which reported revenue of $3.6 billion in 2016, employs approximately 11,500 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 41 countries. Further information is available at www.moodys.com.

About AXA Strategic Ventures

AXA Strategic Ventures (ASV) is the venture capital fund backed by AXA, the leading global insurer and asset manager. ASV manages $275M and invests in enterprise software, fintech, consumer technologies and digital health, as well as other technologies relevant to insurance and asset management. With offices in San Francisco, New York, London and Paris, ASV invests globally.

Learn more at www.axastrategicventures.com

About Intel Capital

Intel Capital, Intel's strategic investment and M&A organization, backs innovative startups targeting computing and smart devices, cloud, datacenter, security, the Internet of Things, wearable and robotic technologies and semiconductor manufacturing. Since 1991, Intel Capital has invested more than US $12.2 billion in 1,490 companies worldwide, and 636 portfolio companies have gone public or been acquired. Through its business development programs, Intel Capital curates thousands of introductions each year between its portfolio executives and Intel's customers and partners in the Global 2000. For more information on what makes Intel Capital one of the world's most powerful venture capital firms, visit www.intelcapital.com or follow @intelcapital.

SOURCE SecurityScorecard

Related Links

http://www.securityscorecard.com


IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Shopoff Realty Investments, a national manager of opportunistic and value-add real estate investments, announced today that Inc. 5000 ranked the company 1,348th on its 2017 list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States.

Additionally, Shopoff Realty Investments was named by the Orange County Business Journal as one of the fastest growing midsize private companies in Orange County, Calif., ranking 15th of the 70 companies honored this year. This is the fourth year in a row that Shopoff has been included in both lists.

The company's revenue grew more than 300 percent over the last three years, rising to more than $16 million annually.

"As a growing company, we utilize our expertise to focus on what we are good at - sourcing and executing on our value-add real estate strategy," said William Shopoff, CEO of Shopoff Realty Investments. "The recognition from Inc. 5000 and the Orange County Business Journal is a testament to the hard work of our team, and we are very proud of the opportunity we've created for our partners and local communities."

Headquartered in Irvine, Shopoff Realty Investments seeks to proactively create event-driven appreciation by employing a unique approach that identifies unrealized opportunities and transforms them into potentially greater value, through the repositioning of commercial assets and the repurposing of land through entitlements.

About Shopoff Realty Investments

Shopoff Realty Investments is an Irvine, California-based real estate firm with a 25-year history of value-add and opportunistic investing across the United States. The company primarily focuses on proactively generating appreciation through the repositioning of commercial income-producing properties and the entitlement of land assets. The 25-year history includes operating as Asset Recovery Fund, Eastbridge Partners and Shopoff Realty Investments (formerly known as The Shopoff Group). Performance has varied in this time frame. For additional information, please visit www.shopoff.com or call (844) 4-SHOPOFF.

Disclosures

This is not an offering to buy or sell any securities. Such offer may only be made through the offerings memorandum to qualified purchasers. Any investment in Shopoff Realty Investments programs involves substantial risks and is suitable only for investors who have no need for liquidity and who can bear the loss of their entire investment. There is no assurance that any strategy will succeed to meet its investment objectives. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The revenue provided does not take into account the company's expenses. Securities offered through Shopoff Securities, Inc. member FINRA/SIPC, 2 Park Plaza, Suite 1120, Irvine, CA 92614, (844) 4-SHOPOFF.

Contact:

Jill Swartz

Spotlight Marketing Communications

949.427.5172, ext. 701

[email protected]

SOURCE Shopoff Realty Investments

Related Links

https://www.shopoff.com/index.php


David Ross, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Skal Club of Miami, presented the proposal with the support of Skal InternationalUSA.

Ross said, "This is the first time that Miami will host the Skal World Congress. We are excited to have offered a cruise on the new Royal Caribbean international class ship, "Symphony of the Seas," to sail from September 14-21, 2019.

"The General Assembly unanimously supported the proposal just after the wake of a very difficult year for South Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean. We are very grateful."

Holly Powers, Skal InternationalUSA President, commented, "The Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas can accommodate more than 1500 delegates to the Skal World Congress and can set a new record for a cruise based Congress, hopefully surpassing the highly successful Congress on New York based cruise in 2013. Skal clubs throughout the United States are thrilled that our Skalleagues from throughout the world are supporting a region that will just be fully recovering when this event takes place two years from now."

The Skal Club of Miami was started in 1950 and is known to be one of the most diverse clubs in its membership, due to a broad base of national backgroundsa reflection of Miami's status as an international community.

The 2017 Skal World Congress was held in Hyderabad, India, October 5-8.

SKAL International USA is currently the largest National Committee in Skal International with 2,100 members and 48 clubs nationwide. For more information on SKAL International and SKAL USA, and to find out more about membership, go to www.skalusa.org.

CONTACT: Burcin Turkkan, 404-547-7409

SOURCE Skal International USA

Related Links

http://www.skalusa.org/


SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This morning, city and county leaders and representatives from the developer gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of the first phase for Oyster Point's development. The project includes infrastructure work for new office space as well as new public amenities and parks for Oyster Point to be enjoyed by all of South San Francisco.

City officials and representatives from Oyster Point Development, LLC, break ground in South San Francisco. 2017 Billy Hustace

"This is the beginning of an incredible development for South San Francisco," said South San Francisco Mayor Pradeep Gupta. "We're making history as we transform this piece of remarkable land for residents and visitors to enjoy, which includes an improved Bay Trail and additional open space."

This phase of the project includes new parks and other public amenities and is a partnership between the City of South San Francisco and Oyster Point Development, LLC.

San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine reinforced the County's support for the Oyster Point development, adding: "San Mateo County is extraordinarily proud of this project. It will strengthen our position as a biotech world leader, while also opening up the site for the public to enjoy."

Gang Hu, president and CEO of Greenland USA, and chairman of Oyster Point Development, LLC, stated: "As Greenland USA has done with our investments in other US cities  Metropolis in Los Angeles and Pacific Park Brooklyn in New York  we are excited to contribute our vision and expertise to the Oyster Point Development here in South San Francisco. Guided by Greenland USA's vision, this leading biotech business hub will expand into an even more vibrant community. A community with new parks, increased access for residents, and better workplaces. A location where local residents will want to live, work, and play. A destination with community as its focal point."

Chao Wu, EVP of Greenland USA and CEO of Oyster Point Development, LLC, shared that: "We want to do this project the right waynot just bring all of the tremendous benefits to Oyster Point and the city, but to manage the construction in a manner that respects our neighbors."

The Oyster Point Development project is a multi-phased development of Oyster Point in South San Francisco that was approved by the City Council in 2011. The approved plan calls for the transformation of approximately 80 acres of the bay front area into a sustainable, mixed-use development that will include a state-of-the-art life sciences campus, a park and recreation destination, a vibrant marina environment, and a site that can accommodate commercial and hotel uses.

Phase I construction for the multi-phased development begins this fall and will continue for approximately two years.

About Oyster Point Development, LLC

Oyster Point Development, LLC is the team managing the unique opportunity to revitalize Oyster Point in South San Francisco. It is a joint venture by Greenland USA, Ping An Trust, Agile Group Holdings, and SOW Capital. Oyster Point Development, LLC is focused on responsibly managing the multi-phased development and working closely with the South San Francisco community to further cement the city as the world's leading biotech hub, and providing improved public access and amenities along the Bay Trail for all residents.

About Greenland USA

Greenland USA is a leading developer of residential and commercial properties that transforms communities. Greenland USA leverages its extensive international track record, commitment to design innovation, quality and efficiency and its local market expertise to bring landmark properties to fruition. It is currently developing the $1B+ property Metropolis in Los Angeles and the $6B+ property Pacific Park Brooklyn in New York.

Established in 2013, Greenland USA is a subsidiary of the Greenland Group, which is publicly traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), and ranked 277th among the Fortune Global 500 in 2017.

For Oyster Point, LLC inquiries, please contact:

Alia Al-Sharif

[email protected]

For Greenland USA inquiries, please contact:

Landen Zumwalt

[email protected]

SOURCE Oyster Point Development, LLC
DALLAS, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today shared plans to begin selling tickets in 2018 for service to Hawaii and also announced its intention to launch an application process for Federal Aviation Administration authorization for Extended Operations (ETOPS). Service details are to be announced at a later date.

"A day long-awaited by our Customers, fans, and more than 55,000 of the world's most-loved airline Employees is finally within sighta day that will showcase your Hospitality, about as far Southwest as you can go in the U.S.," Chairman & CEO Gary Kelly told thousands of Southwest Employees at a Company gathering in Southern California. "Hawaii is an important place for Southwest Airlines because so many people count on us to take them everywhere they want to go reliably and affordably. We're ready and excited to address a request we've heard for years."

At the beginning of this month, Southwest became the first airline in North America to launch scheduled service utilizing Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft across its existing network, bringing increased levels of efficiency and range over Next Generation Boeing 737 models. The carrier announced it will embark on a process to obtain approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for Extended Operations (ETOPS), a regulatory requirement to operate between the mainland and the Hawaiian islands.

"The launch of our ETOPS work begins the next chapter of Southwest Airlines. We're thrilled to bring Hawaii next year as an option to more than 115 million Customers who already fly with us, annually," said Mike Van de Ven, Chief Operating Officer.

Southwest President Tom Nealon joined the announcement via satellite from Honolulu's famed Waikiki Beach and introduced the Governor of Hawaii, the Hon. David Ige, who shared his welcome with Southwest Employees. "The unmatched combination of our People and low fares with nothing to hide will be a game-changer in the U.S. to Hawaii market," Nealon said in accepting the Governor's invitation.

The Company's aircraft and available seat miles plans for 2018 are unchanged with today's announcement.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Specific forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements related to (i) the Company's network plans, strategies, opportunities, and expectations; (ii) the Company's fleet plans and expectations; and (iii) the Company's capacity plans and expectations. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in or indicated by them. Factors include, among others, (i) the impact of economic conditions, consumer behavior, fuel prices, actions of competitors (including without limitation pricing, scheduling, capacity, and network decisions and consolidation and alliance activities), and other factors beyond the Company's control, on the Company's business decisions, plans, and strategies; (ii) the impact of governmental regulations and other governmental actions related to the Company's operations; (iii) the Company's ability to timely and effectively implement, transition, and maintain the necessary information technology systems and infrastructure to support its operations and initiatives; (iv) the Company's dependence on third parties; and (v) other factors, as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the detailed factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31,

ABOUT SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.

In its 47th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) differentiates itself above all other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 55,000 Employees to more than 115 million Customers annually. Southwest became the nation's largest domestic air carrier in 2003 and maintains that ranking based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent reporting of domestic originating passengers boarded. Southwest operates more than 4,000 departures a day during peak travel periods among a network of 99 destinations in the United States and nine additional countries. Service to Turks and Caicos is scheduled to begin Nov. 5, 2017.

Southwest coined Transfarency to describe its purposed philosophy of treating Customers honestly and fairly, empowering them to expect a reliably low and uniquely flexible fare from purchase through journey. Southwest is the only major U.S. airline to offer bags fly free to everyone (first and second checked pieces of luggage, size and weight limits apply; some carriers offer free checked bags on select routes or in qualified circumstances), and Southwest never charges change fees, though fare differences might apply.

As launch customer of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, the Company operates the largest fleet in the world of Boeing aircraft, all of which are to be equipped with satellite-based WiFi enabling gate-to-gate connectivity as of Oct. 1, 2017. That connectivity enables Customers to use personal devices to view video on-demand movies and television shows, as well as nearly 20 channels of free, live TV. In 2014, the airline proudly unveiled a bold new look: Heart. A new logo, aircraft livery, interior design featuring a new seat and Flight Attendant galley, Employee-designed uniforms, and an updated airport experience all showcase the dedication of Southwest Employees who connect Customers with what's important in their lives.

From its first flights on June 18, 1971, Southwest Airlines launched an era of unprecedented affordability in air travel described by the U.S. Department of Transportation as "The Southwest Effect," a lowering of fares and increase in passenger traffic whenever the carrier enters new markets. With 44 consecutive years of profitability, Southwest is one of the most honored airlines in the world, known for a triple bottom line approach that contributes to the carrier's performance and productivity, the importance of its People and the communities they serve, and an overall commitment to efficiency and the planet. The 2016 Southwest Airlines One Report can be found at SouthwestOneReport.com.

Book Southwest Airlines' low fares online at Southwest.com or by phone at 800-I-FLY-SWA.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines Co.

Related Links

http://www.southwest.com


WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J., Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Coates International, Ltd. (OTC PINK:COTE) (the Company) was informed that Mr. James Pang is working with the Shanghai Government to establish a Coates industrial park for the manufacturing of the many Coates CSRV products such as industrial electric power generator sets that operate on flare-off gas, CNG, LNG, butane, propane and hydrogen H 2 . (150 K.W.), (200 K.W.), (300 K.W.), (500 K.W.) and (1 M.W. V12 units) (35 K.W. stand-alone propane gen-sets), marine engines of all sizes and various other Coates CSRV products manufactured in China for distribution throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. The Chinese are considering a visit to the Coates headquarters in the USA.



Company President and CEO, Mr. George J. Coates, comments: When dealing with governments, projects take much longer. However, the first production CSRV industrial natural gas electric power generator manufactured by Coates International, Ltd. USA was sold to the Chinese for $156,000 USD and paid in full when it was delivered to China and demonstrated there. The Chinese came back and put a $500,000 USD deposit on a $100,000,000 USD exclusive license for the territory of China and the Eastern Hemisphere.

Progress is being made with the Chinese now and meetings are to be scheduled.

There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in any of its endeavors.

Safe Harbor Statement:

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our public filings with the SEC may be viewed and printed on the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.
LONDON, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

In a bid to remain agile amid an unpredictable hurricane season, St Kitts and Nevis has launched a new fund for their world-renown Citizenship by Investment Programme.

Following a series of high impact hurricanes that have caused significant damage in the Caribbean, the St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Unit has introduced the temporary Hurricane Relief Fund - an innovative response to allow the Federation greater protection against future natural disasters.

Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr the Honourable Timothy Harris, believes the fund will directly benefit both citizens of the Federation and potential applicants:

"The Hurricane Relief Fund is an attractive option for citizenship applicants in the way it fulfils their own desire to make a positive impact on the environment in which they are seeking to play an active part."

CEO of the Citizenship by Investment Unit for the St Kitts and Nevis Programme, Les Khan, is currently in Dubai to launch the new fund to immigration agents. This follows his recent appointment to the coveted position of Chairman for the Citizenship by Investment Programmes Association. Regarding the addition of the Hurricane Relief Fund, Khan says, "being able to anticipate and prepare for [hurricane season]  that is what the Hurricane Relief Fund is about."

Under the Hurricane Relief Fund model, which is in place until March 2018, a family of four can be granted citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis for US$150,000.

Coupled with the new affordable price tag, the St Kitts and Nevis Programme will continue to offer the unique Accelerated Application Process whereby prospective applicants can be granted citizenship within a guaranteed 60-day period.

Widely labelled the Platinum Standard within the industry, the Programme also revolves around the world's strictest vetting procedures as well as a simple and efficient online processing system. CS Global Partners CEO, Micha Emmett, believes the new Fund is an attractive opportunity for the discerning applicant:

"As the longest serving programme in the world, the St Kitts and Nevis offering continues to improve with age. This temporary feature of the programme is a win-win for applicant and country. The Citizenship by Investment Unit is thinking about the future, as is the discerning applicant, as if to say 'an investment in your future is also one in ours.'"

SOURCE CS Global Partners
SPRINGFIELD, Va., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Strategy and Management Services, Inc. (SAMS) announced today that it has been awarded a one-year contract with four option years for the United States Navy's Explosive Ordnance Disposal Expeditionary Support Unit (EODESU) TWO. SAMS will provide administrative, technical and customer service support to assist with the unit's increased command and control responsibilities.

EODESU TWO is responsible for providing logistical support to EODGRU TWO, four EOD Mobile Units (EODMUs), the Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) TWO, and the EOD Training and Evaluation Unit (EODTEU) TWO, while also acting as a force provider to deployed EOD battalions and units across the globe. EODESU TWO is currently involved in operations supporting Puerto Rico after it was devastated by Hurricane Irma.

"SAMS is excited to build a new partnership with the U.S. Navy and to increase our reach in the U.S. and demonstrate SAMS' capabilities through our presence in Norfolk, VA," said Peter Judd, Capture Manager for SAMS.

EODESU TWO provides logistical support for all East Coast Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and diving salvage units, including supply, ordnance, transportation, tactical communications support, field services, facility maintenance and programming, weapons inventory control and repair, boat and engine maintenance and dive locker and hazardous material handling.

About SAMS

Founded in 2008, Strategy and Management Services, Inc. (SAMS) is an award-winning, SBA 8(a) program participant, verified SDVOSB, EDWOSB, SBA-certified SDB small business, Commonwealth of Virginia SWaM and WBENC-certified company. It provides Back Office Support and Building Services for federal agencies, state and local governments and commercial entities who want the high-quality services of a top-tier company with the "high-touch" of a client-focused small business. For more information, please visit www.getsamsnow.com.

SOURCE Strategy and Management Services

Related Links

http://www.getsamsnow.com


NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Stribling & Associates, a premier New York residential brokerage, today releases the third quarter Brooklyn Market Report. The report, one of the only to cover the entire borough, revealed the average sales price has topped $1M for the first time. Strong sales amongst condos, luxury properties, and growth in the outer submarkets propelled prices in the third quarter of 2017. Northwest Brooklyn recorded the strongest gains as more new developments came to market.

"The average price in Brooklyn surpassed $1 million, a major milestone for the borough," said Garrett Derderian, Director of Data & Reporting at Stribling. "Over the past several years, an incredible amount of new product has been constructed, particularly in the North and Northwest submarkets. The resulting price increases have caused somewhat of a ripple effect across the entire borough, as we saw all submarket average sale price per square foot numbers rise in the third quarter."

The report also noted third quarter closings under $500K were at their lowest level to date, just above 19%, well below the 9-year third quarter average of 32%. Meanwhile, closings in the higher brackets continued to capture an increased market share. This, in turn, has driven up inventory prices.

"Northwest Brooklyn continued to be one of the most active markets in New York City during the third quarter," according to Derderian. "Tremendous growth, both in terms of pricing of number of new construction units, pushed the average asking price above $2 million in the submarket."

Asking prices in the other submarkets had increases as well. Both East Brooklyn and South Brooklyn saw their median prices increase by 16%, to $985,000 and $750,000, respectively. North Brooklyn, which encompasses the Williamsburg market, also saw its median asking price rise by 15% to $1,500,300.

Outside of the construction boom, Derderian pointed to another factor driving price growth: "Many Brooklyn areas still have a strong feeling of community when compared to Manhattan. There are not as many vacant storefronts, and, depending on the location, transportation into the city is relatively easy. It is possible to feel a world away, but be only a couple subway stops from Manhattan."

Highlights from Stribling & Associates 3Q Brooklyn Market Report:

Median sales increased to $850,000 (record)

(record) Average sales price surpassed $1M for the first time: $1,023,422 (record)

for the first time: (record) Average price per square foot was $925 (record)

(record) Average days on market is 101

There are 6.4 months of supply, up from 6.1 last year

Recorded Sales:

There were 1,851 recorded sales to date

Condo units saw an average PPSF of $1,114 (record)

(record) Townhouses/houses had the highest median price at $1,150,000

Co-op units had a median price of $500,000

Properties sold between $500K-1M made up 41% of all closings

made up 41% of all closings 10% of closings were priced above $2M

North Brooklyn had the highest average PPSF at $1,210

had the highest average PPSF at Northwest Brooklyn had the highest average sale price at $1,363,686

had the highest average sale price at South Brooklyn remained the most affordable submarket with an average PPSF of $494

Contracts Signed:

There were 1,840 contracts signed

Condos made up 47% of all contracts

Condos recorded the highest average PPSF at $1,093

Townhouses/houses were the only property type with a median price above $1M

Units signed below $500K saw the median price rise 8% and average 7%

saw the median price rise 8% and average 7% Units priced above $3M saw all price metrics decline

saw all price metrics decline All submarkets noted yearly price increases

South Brooklyn had the largest price increases with the median up 8% and average up 10%

had the largest price increases with the median up 8% and average up 10% Northwest Brooklyn had the noted expensive contracts signed with a median price of $1,150,000 and average of $1,484,072

Inventory:

There were 3,647 active units in the borough

Townhouses/houses made up 46% of inventory

Condo units had the highest average PPSF at $1,020

Co-op units were the most affordable, with an average PPSF of $548

Inventory under $500K dipped below 20% for the first time in a third quarter, with 17%

dipped below 20% for the first time in a third quarter, with 17% 36% of inventory was priced between $500K-1M , while 31% was between $1-2M

, while 31% was between No submarket had average or median price declines

Strongest yearly price gains were in South Brooklyn , with a median increase of 16% and average rise of 18%

About Stribling & Associates

Stribling & Associates, Ltd. is a premier residential real estate firm with over 300 agents throughout three locations in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. As one of the most renowned brokerages in New York, Stribling uses its respected expertise in the current market to provide individualized services to both buyer and sellers. Stribling agents specialize in the sale of luxury townhouses and cooperative and condominium apartments. The company's philosophy is based on professional, personalized services coupled with exceptional knowledge of key residential market trends. Stribling Private Brokerage specializes in the discreet marketing of properties over $5 million and commands a prominent market share in that sector of Manhattan residential real estate. Through strategic partnerships with Miami's Cervera and international estate services firm Savills, Stribling's global reach extends to more than 700 offices worldwide.

Press Contact:

Ashley Murphy, Director of Public Relations

[email protected]

646-675-5068

SOURCE Stribling & Associates

Related Links

http://www.stribling.com


PHOENIX, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Pharmacy, Inc. has entered into an agreement with Liberty Mutual Insurance Group to continue to provide doctor-prescribed medication and pharmacy services to workers, accident victims and other Liberty Mutual policy holders throughout the United States.

Summit Pharmacy Inc. is a premier workers' compensation pharmacy, dedicated to delivering doctor-prescribed medications to injured workers, auto accident victims and others without worry, expense or delay. The pharmacy also manages the claims process for hundreds of attorneys and thousands of patients and doctors across the country.

Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance Group is a diversified global insurer, the fifth-largest property and casualty (P&C) insurer in the U.S. based on 2015 direct written premium and among the largest P&C insurers in the world based on gross written premium.

About Summit Pharmacy Inc.

Summit Pharmacy Inc. is a premier workers' compensation, motor vehicle and pain pharmacy, providing unparalleled service to clients throughout the United States. The company is dedicated to facilitating doctor-prescribed prescription medication delivery for injured individuals throughout the US, as well as managing the claims process for patients, attorneys and physicians.

www.summitrx.com

SOURCE Summit Pharmacy, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.summitrx.com


The new center, which is expected to be approximately 93% leased by grand opening, will feature more than 75 upscale brand name and designer outlet retailers including H&M, Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Children's Place, Nike, Levi's, Banana Republic, Express, Guess, Restoration Hardware and many more. The opening of Tanger Outlets Fort Worth is expected to create more than 900 full and part time jobs and is estimated to generate more than $10 Million in additional state and local sales tax revenue.

"We are excited to provide a world-class retail destination to the residents of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and contribute to the city's economic growth," said Steven B. Tanger, Chief Executive Officer of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. "This weekend's Grand Opening will be full of celebrations, as we mark the opening of our fourth outlet center in Texas. We have enjoyed working with the local government here, and hope to continue to provide positive economic growth to the state, as well as a first-class shopping destination for our customers."

As part of the Grand Opening celebrations, Tanger will offer shoppers a chance to meet real estate experts Drew and Jonathan Scott, of the hit show Property Brothers, from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM. The Scott Brothers have worked for nearly 16 years in the real estate industry, providing their expertise in helping those turn down-and-out fixer-upper properties into dream homes on their show.

Additional Grand Opening family fun activities will include a vintage photo booth, carnival games, a Tanger Food Truck Festival, various musicians and performers, and a Tanger Ferris Wheel.

For a full listing of Grand Opening events visit, https://www.tangeroutlet.com/fortworth.

The new destination for fashionable saving will be located at 15853 North Freeway, Fort Worth, TX 76177.

About Tanger Outlets:

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. (NYSE:SKT), is a publicly-traded REIT headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina that presently operates and owns, or has an ownership interest in, a portfolio of 43 upscale outlet shopping centers and one additional center currently under construction. Tanger's operating properties are located in 22 states coast to coast and in Canada, totaling approximately 14.9 million square feet, leased to over 3,100 stores which are operated by more than 500 different brand name companies. The Company has more than 36 years of experience in the outlet industry. Tanger Outlet Centers continue to attract more than 188 million shoppers annually. For more information on Tanger Outlet Centers, call 1-800-4TANGER or visit the Company's website at www.tangeroutlets.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements include, but are not limited to, expectations regarding tax revenue generation, the number of jobs created and the percentage of the center leased at grand opening and management's beliefs, plans, estimates, intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, circumstances, performance or expectations that are not historical facts.

These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those projected due to various factors including, but not limited to, the risks associated with general economic and real estate conditions. For a more detailed discussion of the important factors that affect our operating results, interested parties should review "Risk Factors" contained in the Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.tangeroutlet.com


CHERRY HILL, N.J., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, today announced several changes to its executive leadership team, effective November 1, 2017:

Ernie Diaz , Regional President, Metro Florida, was named Head, Consumer Distribution, James Peterson , Head of U.S. Retail Products, will become Head, Consumer Product and Marketing. Diaz and Peterson succeed Michael Rhodes , Head of Consumer Banking, who was named Group Head, Innovation, Technology and Shared Services for TD's parent company, TD Bank Group.

, Regional President, Metro Florida, was named Head, Consumer Distribution, , Head of U.S. Retail Products, will become Head, Consumer Product and Marketing. Diaz and Peterson succeed , Head of Consumer Banking, who was named Group Head, Innovation, Technology and Shared Services for TD's parent company, TD Bank Group. Ellen Glaessner , Director & Managing Counsel for Retail Businesses, has been named TD Bank's General Counsel, succeeding Ellen Patterson , who was named Group Head, General Counsel, TD Bank Group.

Diaz, Peterson and Glaessner will serve on TD Bank's Management Committee, reporting to Greg Braca, President and CEO, TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank.

"These changes reflect the depth and breadth of our leadership team and the proven track records of success demonstrated by Ernie, Jim and Ellen," Braca said. "Their business acumen, deep industry knowledge and shared commitment to serving the needs of our nine million customers will help drive our continued momentum."

About Ernie Diaz

Diaz's banking career spans more than 33 years. As Regional President, Diaz led TD Bank's Florida retail, small business, commercial and specialty banking operations. He also was responsible for lending services throughout a network of more than 150 stores. His experience includes three years at TD Bank's predecessor, The South Financial Group, where he was President of its Florida franchise, Mercantile Bank. Previously, Diaz served in numerous banking leadership positions in Florida.

About James Peterson

Peterson joined TD Bank in 2014 to lead the performance of the Bank's retail product portfolio, product innovation and delivery. Under his leadership, the Bank has delivered strong growth and expanded its product portfolio across market segments. Prior to joining TD Bank, Jim held numerous leadership positions in credit card and consumer lending at JP Morgan Chase, including serving as President of Co-Brand and Mass Affluent Cards. Peterson also held senior management roles in consumer marketing at Johnson and Johnson and at Proctor and Gamble.

About Ellen Glaessner

Glaessner, with more than 25 years of legal experience within the financial services industry, previously served as Senior Vice President and Managing Counsel for Retail Businesses at TD Bank. Ellen joined TD Bank in 2013 as senior counsel to the TD U.S. Wealth business. Previously, she worked for Chase, Citibank, Morgan Stanley, and ING, assisting these firms to develop and grow Wealth and Retail securities businesses, focusing on brokerage, investment advisory, insurance, and deposit and lending offerings.

About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 9 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at more than 1,200 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial services through TD Auto Finance. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more, visit www.tdbank.com. Find TD Bank on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US.

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit www.td.com.

SOURCE TD Bank

Related Links

http://www.TDBank.com


WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Top Teamsters leaders joined with members of Congress and their fellow union allies from across North America today in laying out a path forward for a revamped North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as negotiators meet in the nation's capital to discuss changes to the trade pact.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa and Teamsters Canada President Francois Laporte, speaking at a North American labor summit sponsored by the AFL-CIO, agreed that workers' rights must be front-and-center in the minds of those participating in the fourth round of renegotiations of NAFTA. A new deal, they said, must enforce basic labor rights, increase wages and living standards for working families throughout the continent.

In the U.S., Hoffa said that means pushing back on anti-union legislation that hampers workers' ability to collectively bargain.

"Teamsters in the U.S. are mobilized against the spread of so-called 'right-to-work' laws in the states because they depress wages by undercutting union power," he said. "I applaud the Canadians for making this a trade issue. We agree that these laws incentivize employers to relocate from Canadian provinces that don't allow 'free-riders'. I urge the Canadian negotiators to hold their ground on their progressive labor text and for the U.S. negotiators to take this issue seriously. "

Laporte added, "Canadian Teamsters, like our brothers and sisters stateside, recognize that a new NAFTA must contain an ambitious new chapter that will protect worker rights and also be a model for future trade pacts. We appreciate the text tabled by our government, but we want to emphasize that worker rights and protections for indigenous people and women in the workforce are all very important, but that the enforcement is essential. New rights in a new NAFTA won't be worth much without trade sanctions to back them up."

A labor chapter as part of NAFTA 2.0 is essential to the fight. That's why the Teamsters are participating in talks with the Steelworkers, the AFL-CIO and fellow unions from Canada and Mexico to ensure a successful NAFTA renegotiation.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Ted Gotsch, (202) 624-6911

[email protected]

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Related Links

http://www.teamster.org


The Carpenters' The Vinyl Collection box set includes all 12 albums replicated on 180-gram black vinyl and housed in a stylish slipcase. Each album features lovingly restored original packaging and related artwork. Mastered for vinyl by Ron McMaster (The Beach Boys, Don McLean) at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, each album will also be released individually. The box set does not include their two Christmas albums.

This unprecedented box-set collection chronicles the runaway success of the Carpenters' super-successful 14-year career, which resulted in 11 studio albums and a greatest hits collection, The Singles 1969 - 1973, that has been certified at seven-times platinum and features such indelible chart-topping hits as "We've Only Just Begun," "Top of the World," "Superstar," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Goodbye to Love," "Yesterday Once More," "It's Going to Take Some Time," "Sing," "For All We Know," "Hurting Each Other," and "(They Long to Be) Close to You."

The Carpenters  vocalist/drummer Karen and her older brother, pianist/composer/arranger Richard  are one of the most successful sibling duos in pop/rock history, having garnered over 100 million album and singles sales to date. Their unique blend of smooth vocal harmonies and classically influenced pop arrangements frequently vaulted them to the top of the charts, resulting in three No. 1 singles and five No. 2 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and a dozen Top 10 singles overall, not to mention an astonishing 15 No. 1s on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Karen and Richard have more than earned their superstar standing as one of the world's most popular and bestselling duos of all time, and their influence as songwriters, performers, and composers spans multiple generations and genres. The Carpenters have long elicited critical praise as well as numerous accolades from their contemporaries, from such notable artists as Paul McCartney, Gwen Stefani, Michael Jackson, and Beyonce. Showing the scope of their reach, the 1994 If I Were a Carpenter tribute album showcased entries from alternative-rock icons ranging from Sonic Youth ("Superstar"), Shonen Knife ("Top of the World"), The Cranberries ("(They Long to Be) Close to You"), Sheryl Crow ("Solitaire"), and Matthew Sweet ("Let Me Be the One"), to name but a few.

The Carpenters were nominated for numerous GRAMMY Awards throughout their storied career, and they won three of them: Best New Artist (1970), Best Contemporary Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus for "(They Long to Be) Close to You" (1970), and Best Pop Vocal Performance for a Duo or Group for Carpenters (1971). Two of their most cherished songs have also been inducted in the GRAMMY Hall of Fame: "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun." Following Karen's untimely death in 1983, the Carpenters received a well-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

No matter what your walk of life is, the Carpenters have a song that touches your soul and finds a place where there's room to grow.

Preorder: The Carpenters The Vinyl Collection

richardandkarencarpenter.com

facebook.com/TheCarpenters

The Carpenters The Vinyl Collection

SOURCE UMe
The North American leaders in TV & feature film production equipment, workflow/dailies, post-production and studios merge eight founding companies to streamline client experience

TORONTO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - The SIM Group, is pleased to announce the completion of a comprehensive branding-review of its eight founding companies (Bling, Chainsaw, Crossing Studios, Pixel Underground, Post FactoryNY, PS Production Services, SIM Digital and Tattersall Sound & Picture), and that the collection of companies will be re-branded under one cohesive name - Sim. The name Sim acknowledges the group's entrepreneurial foundation and culture while simplifying the client experience. Sim will promote its end-to-end services by operating under four divisions: Studios, Camera, Lighting & Grip, and Post.

"By streamlining the company names, Sim is providing clarity over its breadth and depth of services while continuing to develop and promote its dedicated award-winning talent that will continue to provide boutique support to our clients," said James Haggarty, CEO, Sim."We are immensely proud of our foundation of entrepreneurialism and innovation, and we look forward to providing our clients with the same exceptional results, efficient processes and personalized approach they have become accustomed to but now under one banner."

Sim's purpose is to provide outstanding service and cohesive solutions that empower creators to do what they do best. With a goal of being the preferred partner for storytellers, Sim's award-winning business offerings include:

Sim Studios: Sim offers clients over 400,000 square feet of first-class studio and production facilities in Vancouver

Sim offers clients over 400,000 square feet of first-class studio and production facilities in Sim Camera : From single camera to multi-camera, Sim delivers cameras, lenses, and gear combined with top-tier engineering support worldwide

From single camera to multi-camera, Sim delivers cameras, lenses, and gear combined with top-tier engineering support worldwide Sim Lighting & Grip: With an unparalleled reputation for service and support, clients can expect an expansive selection of lighting, grip, generators, transportation and support to best meet their project's needs

With an unparalleled reputation for service and support, clients can expect an expansive selection of lighting, grip, generators, transportation and support to best meet their project's needs Sim Post : Storytellers rely on Sim's boutique services, providing editorial office space, on-set data management (including digital dailies, editorial system rentals, data archiving and more), offline and online talent, editors, flame artists, audio sound engineers, colourists and more to translate their creative vision from set to screen

"The only thing that has changed is our name," continues Haggarty. "Our culture, team and talent remain the same, as does our commitment to accountability and creative thinking that generates breakthrough solutions for our clients."

Sim operates facilities in every major production hub in North America, acting as a trusted partner for content creators in Los Angeles, Vancouver, Atlanta, New York and Toronto. More information can be found on Sim's new website at siminternational.com or on social media @simcomplete.

About Sim

Sim is a leading supplier of studios, production equipment, workflow/dailies and post-production solutions. With offices spanning North America, Sim's team and services have supported features such as "Deadpool" and Oscar-winning documentary, "OJ: Made in America," and hit series "Game of Thrones," "Mr. Robot," "Stranger Things" and "Handmaid's Tale." Sim Studios supports tv series, feature films and commercial productions with over 400,000 square feet of first-class studio and production facilities in Vancouver. Sim Lighting & Grip provides services and equipment from hubs in Vancouver and Toronto; Sim Camera provides rental equipment and support from hubs in Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, Northern Ontario and Atlanta. Sim Post provides an array of services from workflow/dailies, to online and offline editing, to final color/DI and visual effects, to sound editorial and mixing. Sim Hollywood is located in the former historic Eastman Kodak building, and provides the industry's only camera-through-post services venue. Sim is backed by Toronto-based investment firm Granite Partners. For more information, visit siminternational.com or visit us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn @simcomplete.

SOURCE The SIM Group
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Thycotic, a provider of privileged account management (PAM) solutions for more than 7,500 organizations worldwide, today announced the release of its Password Generator Free Tool. The new tool allows users to easily select how they need their password to be generated, providing special characters, length, and non-duplicates as clickable choices. Once a random password is generated, it is ready to be copy and pasted for use. To comply with security best practices, the new password is generated only locally on a user's computer or device.

"In addition to our commercial software solutions, through the release of our free tools, we as a company are demonstrating our commitment to privileged password security," said Jacob Stucky, VP of Software Development at Thycotic. "No other password security company offers this many valuable tools accessible to the public that are free forever. With the release of our Password Generator Free Tool along with our already available 12 additional free password tools, Thycotic is leading the defense against password hacking."

Thycotic's new Password Generator Tool complements the company's existing free tool, the Password Strength Checker, released by Thycotic earlier this year. In the Strength Checker tool, users can type in their existing password and immediately obtain a verdict on whether it is a strong password. For new passwords; however, the Password Generator Tool creates a strong, random password for immediate use.

"The problem is that hackers are all too human and know what we are doing when we think up a password," said Steve Kahan, CMO at Thycotic. "Once they learn our pet's name through hacker discovery, it is easy to come up with a trial and error sequence to find the rest of the characters we added. In other words, your strong password, although it passed the automated checker and was declared a "strong" password, is truly not a strong password at all. This new free tool will take the hard work out of thinking up a secure password and keep hackers at bay."

To download Thycotic's Password Generator Free Tool, please visit: https://thycotic.com/solutions/free-it-tools/password-generator/.

A menu of all the free tools offered by Thycotic can be found at https://thycotic.com/solutions/free-it-tools/.

About Thycotic

Thycotic prevents cyberattacks by securing passwords, protecting endpoints and controlling application access. Thycotic is one of the world's fastest growing IT security companies because we provide customers with the freedom to choose cloud or on premise software solutions that are the easiest to implement and use in the industry. Thycotic has grown to serve more than 7,500 customers.

For further information, please contact:

Steve Kahan Jacqueline Velasco

Thycotic Lumina Communications

T: 202-802-9399 T: 408-680-0564

E: [email protected] E: [email protected]



SOURCE Thycotic
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InZinc Mining Ltd. (TSX-V:IZN) (InZinc or the Company) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Wayne Hubert as Chief Executive Officer of the Company.



Mr. Hubert has over 20 years of senior management experience in the mining sector. He was most recently CEO of Andean Resources from 2006 to 2010 when it was acquired by Goldcorp for $3.5 billion. At Andean, Mr. Hubert lead the team which increased resources to over five million ounces of gold and completed feasibility studies, financing and permitting prior to the takeover. Before his tenure at Andean, Mr. Hubert held senior management positions at Meridian Gold where he gained considerable experience in finance, exploration, project development, permitting and construction. Mr. Hubert is currently a director of Austral Gold and Candeleria Mining. He has a bachelor of science in Chemical Engineering and an MBA.

We are pleased to have Wayne become the driving force for growth at our two zinc projects, stated Kerry Curtis, Non-executive Chairman of InZinc. Wayne brings to InZinc extensive experience, successful achievements and enthusiasm to further development of the advanced stage West Desert project in Utah and the early stage Indy project in BC.

Mr. Hubert stated, I believe InZinc is at a turning point with strong zinc prices that have made the West Desert recently completed Preliminary Economic Assessment more robust. However, I am more excited by the exploration potential at West Desert  there is a significant precious metals component that has not been tested and impressive exploration potential at depth. The surface exploration at the Indy project this past year was successful in identifying a large zinc-lead-silver anomaly that is drill ready.

Issuance of Stock Options

InZinc announces the grant of stock options to purchase a total of 980,000 common shares of the Company for a period of five (5) years at an exercise price of $0.12 per share effective October 11, 2017. These stock options will vest as to 50% immediately and 50% on October 11, 2018.

About InZinc

InZinc is focused on growth in zinc through exploration and expansion of the advanced stage West Desert project (100%) in Utah and exploration of the early stage Indy project (100% option) in British Columbia. West Desert has a large underground resource open for expansion and has district scale exploration potential. A West Desert preliminary economic assessment completed in 2014 forecasted 1.6 billion pounds of zinc production over 15 years. Indy comprises both near surface exploration targets and regional discovery potential. Both zinc projects are well located with easy access and existing infrastructure.

InZinc Mining Ltd.

"Kerry Curtis

_____________________________

Kerry Curtis

Non-executive Chairman

Phone: 604.687.7211

Website: www.inzincmining.com



For further information contact:

Joyce Musial

Vice President, Corporate Affairs

Phone: 604.317.2728

Email: joyce@inzincmining.com



Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the Companys next shareholder meeting. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plan, design, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results, performance, or actions and that actual results and actions may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Companys Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016 filed with certain securities commissions in Canada and other information released by the Company and filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

The PEA (2014) was prepared by Mine Development Associates with contributions from International Metallurgical and Environmental Inc. in accordance with the definitions in Canadian National Instrument 43-101. All dollar amounts are US currency. The PEA is considered preliminary in nature. It includes Inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied that would enable classification as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the conclusions within the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Long-term metal prices used in the study included zinc at $1/lb, copper at $3/lb, iron ore at $105/t (62% Fe, CFR-Tianjin), gold at $1,300/oz and silver at $21/oz. The technical report is entitled Technical Report on the West Desert Zinc-Copper-Indium-Magnetite Project - Preliminary Economic Assessment - Juab County, Utah and is available both at www.sedar.com and the Companys website at www.inzincmining.com .

Kerry M. Curtis, P.Geo. a Qualified Person as defined in NI43-101, has approved the technical content of this news release. Some technical content contained in this news release is based in part on historical reports. The Qualified Person is not responsible for the accuracy or the content of the historical reports.

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.
TOKYO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is developing sightseeing routes from Tokyo to various tourist attractions in the Tohoku region to publicize diverse allures in these two regions and encourage individual foreign tourists visiting Tokyo to travel further to Tohoku.

In this connection, the Metropolitan Government has added new sightseeing routes from Tokyo to the Tohoku region recommended on its "TOHOKU x TOKYO" website.



The Metropolitan Government will invite journalists with overseas media outlets and influential popular bloggers specializing in travel to journey on these routes and write from the viewpoint of foreigners about what they see en route as well as at tourist attractions they visit during their trip.

Recommended routes:

MIRAI (Future) & SAMURAI

Visitors can get a feel for the future by experiencing high technology in Tokyo, and vicariously experience history and culture through the "Samurai City" of Aizu.



(Photo: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/opn/release/201710066592/?images)

TOHOKU x TOKYO -- a website that sends out information on various attractions in both Tokyo and Tohoku to the world: http://www.tohokuandtokyo.org/

Tourism of ALL JAPAN -- a website that sends out information on tourism across Japan to the world: http://www.tourism-alljapanandtokyo.org/?lang=en

SOURCE Tokyo Metropolitan Government
LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Treasure Investments Corporation (TIC) has just released and made available Americana currency collections and scripophily for donation through its charity auction business model. Mark Russo, CEO of Treasure Investments Corporation has been helping charities raise funds since 1998.

The front of an 1882 $10,000 Gold Certificate. The front of an 1891 $1,000 Silver Certificate. The front of a 1907 $1,000 Gold Certificate.

The Charity auction market remains one of the main divisions for TIC, by placing its bronze sculptures for sale into gala fund-raising events and helping nonprofits reach and exceed their financial goals. TIC is providing nonprofits with auction items which now include Americana Currency art pieces and scripophily, which are old and historical stock certificates. The currency sets are 2-10 framed bank notes from the late 1800s to early 1900s. The bank notes are printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing from the U.S. Treasury. They are one-sided, uncirculated bank notes that were created from the actual plates and dies.

TIC frames and creates limited edition series using a combination of the different bank notes. "These incredible art pieces, once framed and matted, are absolutely breathtaking," says Russo.

The U.S. Treasury stopped reprinting old bank notes in the early 1990s. When reprinted, they were used as souvenir cards for major currency shows. "I bought up every one I could find from every coin and currency dealer in the country. We have enough to build about 1000 framed pieces, giving us the opportunity to generate millions in additional revenue. These bank notes are beautiful and when properly framed with other rare and unique notes makes for an amazing piece of fine art. I wanted to provide something really special for the charity auction program and now with this, our old world stock certificates, and fine bronze sculptures, we really have something no one else can provide," says Russo.

Treasure Investments Corporation provides high-end limited-edition bronze sculptures for charity fundraising events as well as creating and distributing its world-class images to fine art galleries in the United States. The subject matter of these pieces ranges from wildlife themes to historical, cultural, western, and biblical.

Treasure Investments Corporation has amassed a master mold collection of more than 700 original works of art including many works from world-famous artists, Lorenzo and Laran Ghiglieri, as well as master molds that originated from the Vatican and the Villa Borghese Museum in Rome. Bernini and Michelangelo are also among the artists that are included in the mold collection.

The company has a strong focus on philanthropy. One of their main business divisions is their charity auction program, which provides fine art pieces for fund-raising events and auctions. The unique business model sets the company apart from the rest. Russo created this innovative model in 1998 by placing valuable bronze castings into gala charity fund-raising events. The revenue of the final sales price of the pieces with the nonprofits is shared, no strings attached. The first piece sold for $63,000.

To learn more about the company and its work with nonprofits, visit Fineart1.com.

About Treasure Investments Corp

Treasure Investments Corp has a diverse business platform, creating and providing fine art in original sculptures from small desktop images and collectibles to larger than life heroic monuments. The company's master mold collection contains hundreds of original molds from world-famous artists in the United States and Europe. For more information, visit Fineart1.com.

Related Images

image1.jpg

SPECIAL SERIES: ONE THOUSAND

image2.jpg

Special Series: Katherine Davalos Ortega

image3.jpg

SPECIAL SERIES: FIVE HUNDRED

image4.jpg

Five Hundred Million Dollar 100 Series

Related Links

Mark Russo

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YmllbLsDss

SOURCE Treasure Investments Corporation

Related Links

http://Fineart1.com


HOUSTON, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Lawrence J. West and Joshua W. Mermis, name partners in the Houston-based litigation boutique West Mermis PLLC, have been recognized on the list of Texas Super Lawyers for the second consecutive year.

Mr. West is honored in the highly competitive practice area of Civil Litigation. For more than 25 years he has defended a diverse group of companies, including general contractors, subcontractors and manufacturers in all types of litigation and premises liability matters.

A graduate of the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, Mr. West is a member of the Houston Bar Association Construction Law Section and for more than 10 years has been AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating in legal ability & ethical standards.

Mr. Mermis is named to the select list in the area of construction law. For almost 15 years he has focused on the representation of property owners, contractors, and other companies involved in the development of condominium high-rises, master-planned residential communities, single-family homes, public buildings and commercial projects.

Mr. Mermis earned his law degree from The University of Texas School of Law and is the Immediate Past Chairman of the Houston Bar Association's Construction Law Section. He is a frequent speaker and author on a variety of topics concerning the construction and energy industries.

To develop the list of Texas' top attorneys, researchers with Thomson Reuters conducted a statewide survey asking attorneys to nominate their top legal peers. A blue-ribbon panel of lawyers then assisted Texas Super Lawyers staff with final selections. No more than 5 percent of Texas attorneys are named to the list each year.

This year's Texas Super Lawyers honorees are featured in the October 2017 issues of Texas Monthly and Texas Super Lawyers magazines, and available at http://www.superlawyers.com.

West Mermis PLLC has brought together some of Houston's top legal talent, with highly skilled attorneys in litigation, construction, and business law, and backed with the courtroom experience and knowledge that contributes to favorable results for the firm's clients. For more information visit www.westmermis.com.

Media Contact:

Barry Pound

800-559-4534

[email protected]

SOURCE West Mermis PLLC

Related Links

http://www.westmermis.com


"Many of this year's tax controversy presentations are current and ripped from the headlines - data breach and identity theft, bitcoin and crypto currencies, and the cannabis industry," says Charles Rettig , Institute Chair, and Partner, Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez, P.C. "For over 30 years, UCLA Extension's Tax Controversy Institute has been the preeminent conference dedicated to tax controversy and tax litigation." Rettig was recently selected by his peers as the 2016 "Lawyer of the Year" (Litigation and Controversy, Los Angeles) for Best Lawyers.

This year's distinguished luncheon speaker is Selvi Stanislaus, Executive Officer of the Franchise Tax Board. Sandra Brown, Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney (C.D.Cal), receives the Bruce I Hochman Award, presented each year to an individual who demonstrates outstanding proficiency in the field of tax law and best exemplifies the principles that personified Mr. Hochman, a leading attorney for over 40 years, specializing in civil and criminal tax law litigation. Additionally, Phil Edwards, Examination Territory Manager, IRS SB/SE, will be recognized for his work.

Other notable speakers include Mary Beth Murphy, Commissioner, IRS Small Business/Self Employed Division, Lanham, MD; Claudia Hill, EA, Tax Mam, Inc./TMI Tax Services Group, Inc. and Editor-in-Chief, CCH Journal of Tax Practice & Procedure; Steven Toscher, Hochman, Salkin, Rettig, Toscher & Perez, P.C.; Pedram Ben-Cohen, Ben-Cohen Law Firm, PLC, and others. For a complete list of speakers and topics scheduled for discussion and debate, see agenda.

The conference is presented by UCLA Extension Business, Management & Legal Programs. It is designed for attorneys, accountants, business/corporate professionals, and tax practitioners. Continuing education units are offered: 7.5 hours of Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of California, 8.0 hours Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Credit for Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), and 1.0 hours Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Credit - Legal Ethics. Discounts are available for California Society of CPAs (CalCPA), National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA), and Financial Planning Association (FPA) members. Additionally, at the Tax Controversy Institute, UCLA Extension will announce a scholarship fund in support of veterans.

The enrollment fee is $525, including materials and lunch. Please register here. The Beverly Hills Hotel is located at 9641 Sunset Blvd, Beverly Hills, 310-276-2251.

For more information about the UCLA Extension Tax Controversy Institute, please contact John Caruso at (310) 206-1708 or [email protected].

For media inquiries, please contact Ruthie Thomas at (213) 341.0171 ext. 752 or [email protected].

SOURCE UCLA Extension

Related Links

https://www.uclaextension.edu


NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Emmy-nominated American Epic films directed and co-written by Bernard MacMahon and executive produced by Robert Redford, T Bone Burnett and Jack White tell the story of how music scouts in the Roaring Twenties set out across America and discovered the artists that shaped our musical world. The films have garnered widespread acclaim for their historical research and fostering a new understanding of American history.

The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools founded by legendary progressive American educator John Dewey in 1896 has over 2,015 students enrolled in 15 grades. Former alumni include President Obama's children Malia and Sasha, Sherry Lansing former CEO of Paramount Pictures and the first woman to head a Hollywood studio, Edward H. Levi, the 71st United States Attorney General and Geoffrey Ward the seven-time Emmy award-winning screenwriter and author.

American Epic producer and co-writer Allison McGourty commented, "John Dewey believed that art was the most effective mode of communication that exists. He believed every person was an artist. He also fervently believed in democracy and espoused pragmatism which is the practical application of ideas. These are three of the core tenets of American Epic, so the partnership was a perfect fit for us. We were so pragmatic we actually rebuilt the 1920s recording system to see what we could learn from it."

The inaugural Kistenbroker Family Artist In Residence program features two of the films creators, Director Bernard MacMahon and Creative Producer/Writer, Allison McGourty, as "Artists in Residence."

Lab School Board Chair David Kistenbroker stated "this program is designed to further Lab's mission by bringing practicing artists to campus, in various capacities, to work directly with Lab students. The artist in residence conceptsuccessfully tested in other ways at Labhas the potential to ignite creativity in entirely new and unexpected ways," says Mr. Kistenbroker. "By working side-by-side with leading artistic practitioners, our students and our faculty benefit. It is absolutely consistent with how John Dewey envisioned a community of learners."

Since 2006 McGourty and MacMahon have been on a mission to rescue and preserve the history of the United States through their vast American Epic project. They have travelled to over 37 states, interviewing hundreds of families and scouring attics and basements, collecting vintage film footage and hundreds of photographs that haven't been seen in nearly a century.

Says Director Bernard MacMahon "America's greatest export to the world is music. In the 1920s the first sound recordings of all the ethnic groups of America democratized the nation and gave a voice to all its people. For the first time, a woman picking cotton in Mississippi, a coal miner in W. Virginia or a tobacco farmer in Tennessee could have their thoughts and feelings heard on records played in living rooms across the country. No documentation of these extraordinary events survives and nearly ninety percent of the music masters have been destroyed. A vital part of American cultural history has been lost - until now."

Says Allison McGourty. "The most important aspect of American Epic is preserving and making accessible this vast archive for future generations to come. We are committed to making this vital history available to schools across America and this program will help to make that a reality. American Epic will foster an appreciation of the arts and technology in the younger generation, and will leave a lasting legacy for decades to come."

Music Department Chair, Rozalyn Torto said, "This will be a school-wide initiative. The team will help create interdisciplinary curriculum for students in Nursery through High School."

Says Ms. Heusing, who has been instrumental in helping to realize Lab Arts, "Our hope for this program is that it will raise the profile of Lab's arts programs, and enable us to recruit students who have an interest in art. We can provide an exceptional experience for all our students by creating more opportunities for our faculty to explore and put into practice new ideas for teaching and learning in the arts."

Says Elton John "American Epic is more than a music documentary, this is history."

Steve Martin said " Everything about American Epic is flawless."

SOURCE Legacy Recordings

Related Links

http://www.legacyrecordings.com


SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Utah Education Network (UEN) today announces the recognition of fourteen American Graduate Champions who help Utah learners reach academic and professional milestones. Nominated by peers in the education community, these Champions inspire and guide others to serve as mentors for students preparing to enter the workforce. Tonight, they will be the guests of honor at The UtahFutures Celebrates Stories of Champions Dinner, a gathering of more than 80 participants from K12 education, the Utah System of Technical Colleges, the Utah System of Higher Education, public media and industry.

"As Utah's public media network for education, UEN is thrilled to bring attention to these inspirational mentors and the people they serve," said Jenn Gibbs, Utah American Graduate project manager. "UEN initiatives like Utah American Graduate and UtahFutures, the comprehensive education and career planning resource, are strongly aligned with Utah's commitment to workforce development through education and career pathways. We're happy to be doing our part to amplify local conversations around this work."

Hosted by UEN in partnership with KUED, KBYU, KUER and Utah's Hogle Zoo, the UtahFutures Celebrates Stories of Champions Dinner takes place from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight at Utah's Hogle Zoo. The project is funded by a generous grant from WNET and is a part of American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen, a national public media initiative to raise awareness around education issues. The dinner coincides with similar events across the nation leading up to American Graduate Day, an annual television event which has reached more than 83% of all U.S. households on more than 100 public television stations. The 2017 broadcast, hosted by Soledad O'Brien and featuring guests such as General and Mrs. Colin Powell, will focus on efforts to address the "middle skills gap"the difference between the increasing number of jobs that require specialized training and the number of workers qualified to fill them. A UEN-produced video profile of Canyons School District's Kathryn Blunt will be included in the national broadcast and is available for streaming and download here: http://www.uen.org/americangraduate/videos.shtml.

Broadcast on public media stations across the United States, the national American Graduate Day program will air in Utah on UEN-TV from noon to 4 p.m. MST on October 14. For more information visit UEN-TV's broadcast schedule at http://www.uen.org/tv/whatson/.

Individual profiles of the following 2017 American Graduate Champions can be viewed here:

Deborah Young , Literacy Action Center

, Literacy Action Center Elaine Peterson , South Park Academy

, South Park Academy Elizabeth Davies , South Park Academy

, South Park Academy Jamie Vargas , Jordan Academy for Technology & Careers

, Jordan Academy for Technology & Careers Jerry Hansen , Tooele Technical College

, Tooele Technical College Jim LaMuth , Uintah Basin Technical College

, Basin Technical College Kate Brainerd , Guadalupe School

, Kathryn Blunt , Canyons School District

, Canyons School District Lisa Birch , Mountainland Technical College

, Mountainland Technical College Madison Keltner , Ogden-Weber Technical College

, Ogden-Weber Technical College Mark Hugentobler , Central Utah Academy

, Central Utah Academy Matt Fuller , Bridgerland Technical College

, Bridgerland Technical College Nick Tankersley , Girl Scouts of Utah

, Girl Scouts of Scott Leavitt , Southwest Technical College

The Utah Education Network

The Utah Education Network (UEN) is part of the Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN), a nationally recognized innovator in broadband and broadcast delivery of educational and telehealth resources to students and educators, patients and clinicians statewide. UETN provides network, application and support services to more than 1,000 schools, colleges and libraries. It also serves more than 70 hospitals, clinics and health departments in urban, suburban and rural areas of the state. To educate and enrich the lives of Utah residents, UETN operates three digital television stations: UEN-TV, which airs content for adult learners and other education-focused programs; MHz Worldview, a national, independent channel for international news and cultural programs; and FNX (First Nations Experience), 24/7 Native and Indigenous Programming.

About American Graduate

American Graduate: Let's Make it Happen is public media's long-term commitment to supporting community-based solutions to help young people succeed in school and life. Supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), more than 100 public television and radio stations have joined forces with over 1,700 partners across 49 states to elevate the stories of youth and the supportive adults that help them succeed. Through American Graduate, public media, with its unique position as a trusted resource and important partner in local communities, provides a critical platform to shine a light on pathways to graduation and successful student outcomes. National and local reporting, both on air and online is helping communities understand the challenges and community-driven solutions associated with the dropout crisis. Public forums, town halls and community conversations are activating discussions between community leaders, educators and more.

Media Contact: Rich Finlinson, (801) 864-1074

SOURCE Utah Education Network

Related Links

http://www.uen.org


LAS VEGAS, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Vanguard Integrity Professionals, Inc. cybersecurity experts with cybersecurity solutions securing any enterprise, is proud to announce that Brian Marshall will serve as the New President of Vanguard Integrity Professionals. Brian Marshall joined Vanguard in 2006 serving initially as the Director of Research & Development and subsequently promoted to Vice President of R&D before his appointment as the new President of Vanguard.

"Today marks an incredibly exciting day. In an effort to drive a more customer-centric focus, I have made an important decision for the future of Vanguard, by appointing Brian Marshall as the new operational leader and President of Vanguard Integrity Professionals," said Ronn Bailey, Vanguard Integrity Professionals Founder, CEO and CTO. "In his new position, Brian will report directly to me and assume responsibilities for all facets of Vanguard's operational business."

During Marshall's time in Research & Development, he was the primary architect and visionary behind Vanguard Configuration Manager, which was the first automated baseline configuration scanner that enables government agencies and contractors to test and assess their compliance with the National Checklist Program (NCP) guidelines, of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), for IBM z/OS and RACF.

Prior to joining Vanguard, Marshall served 11 years in software development management at Computer Associates and Innovative DP Designs, Inc., where he led the development of IMS database utilities. He was also a professor of computer science at Solano College in Fairfield, California.

Marshall holds one shared patent on a method of reorganizing IMS databases online. He is also an expert on NIST security standards. Marshall remains an active educator and speaker on numerous z/OS security and compliance topics at RACF User Groups (RUGs), Vanguard's annual security and compliance conference and other industry conferences.

Marshall holds a BS in computer science and an MBA, both from Sonoma State University.

You can hear Marshall speak at this year's Vanguard Security & Compliance Conference 2017 which brings together global cybersecurity leaders from private industry, government agencies and Vanguard's own cybersecurity experts to deliver the most complete knowledge-based training to secure and defend networks, distributed systems and IBM System z. This event is ideal for information security and compliance professionals from public and private sectors to benefit from the most advanced cybersecurity training available in the marketplace today.

Vanguard Security & Compliance Conference 2017 will take place October 16-19, 2017 at the Marriott DFW Airport South Hotel. For complete details and online registration, please visit:

www.go2vsc.com

About Vanguard Integrity Professionals

Vanguard Integrity Professionals provides enterprise security software and services that solve complex security and regulatory compliance challenges for financial, insurance, healthcare, education, transportation and government agencies around the world. Vanguard provides Cybersecurity Solutions Securing any Enterprise. The world's largest Financial, Insurance, Government Agencies and Retailers entrust their security to Vanguard Integrity Professionals. Vanguard is committed to protecting and securing the Cloud and any Enterprise environment. Vanguard provides 24/7/365 live customer support from the United States of America.

IBM, RACF, System z and z/OS are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

CA Technologies is trademark of CA Technologies in the United States and/or other countries.

Vanguard Security & Compliance is a trademark of Vanguard Integrity Professionals in the United States and other countries. All trademarks, trade names, service marks and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

SOURCE Vanguard Integrity Professionals, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.go2vanguard.com


LOS ANGELES, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Venbrook today announced the appointment of Lee Exton, CEBS, to Managing Director of Employee Benefits and Total Rewards. Venbrook is one of the largest independent insurance brokerage and services firms in the country. Exton will be instrumental in the company's growth strategy for its benefits consulting practice. He will oversee all aspects of Benefits and Total Rewards programs, and develop custom solutions to address unique business challenges.

Exton brings over 25 years of human resources and benefits consulting expertise in both the public and private sectors and has extensive experience helping clients develop strategic plans aimed at enhancing value while managing costs. Most recently, Exton served as Principal at Mercer developing innovative and effective employee benefit solutions. Prior to Mercer, he served as Vice President at Keenan and Associates, Healthcare Practice Leader at Segal, and Consultant for Willis Towers Watson.

"Venbrook has designed an innovative and agile approach to benefits consulting while offering flexible, customized programs for employer organizations," said Exton. "Venbrook is a stellar company with superior talent and endless growth potential. It's not surprising that the company is experiencing such substantial growth. It's great to be part of the team during this exciting time."

"Lee is known as one of the best benefits consultants in the industry. His depth of experience and grasp of the market is exceptional," said Venbrook Group CEO Jason Turner. "He adds incredible value to our organization and to our clients. We're thrilled he's joined us."

Lee Exton can be contacted at [email protected] or 310-709-0379.

About Venbrook Group, LLC

Venbrook is one of the largest independent insurance brokerage and services firms. Venbrook offers a diverse roster of products and services including retail and wholesale brokerage, program management, and risk management.

Venbrook is licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles with various locations across the country.

For more information on Venbrook, visit http://www.venbrook.com.

SOURCE Venbrook Group, LLC

Related Links

http://www.venbrook.com


Western Gas Equity Partners, LP (NYSE: WGP ) also announced today that the board of directors of its general partner declared a quarterly cash distribution of $0.53750 per unit for the third quarter of 2017. This distribution represents a 2-percent increase over the prior quarter and a 20-percent increase over the third quarter of 2016. WGP's third quarter 2017 distribution is payable on November 22, 2017, to unitholders of record at the close of business on November 2, 2017.

The Partnerships plan to report their third-quarter 2017 results after the market closes on Tuesday, October 31, 2017. Management will host a conference call on Wednesday, November 1, 2017, at 11 a.m. CDT (12 p.m. EDT) to discuss quarterly results. The full text of the release announcing the results will be available on the Partnerships' website at www.westerngas.com.

Third-Quarter 2017 Results

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

11 a.m. CDT (12 p.m. EDT)

Dial-in number: 877-883-0383

International dial-in number: 412-902-6506

Participant access code: 4666075

Individuals who would like to participate should dial the applicable dial-in number listed above approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled conference call time and enter the access code when prompted.

To access the live audio webcast of the conference call, please visit the investor relations section of the Partnerships' website at www.westerngas.com. A replay of the conference call will also be available on the website for two weeks following the call.

Western Gas Partners, LP ("WES") is a growth-oriented Delaware master limited partnership formed by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation to acquire, own, develop and operate midstream energy assets. With midstream assets located in the Rocky Mountains, North-central Pennsylvania and Texas, WES is engaged in the business of gathering, compressing, treating, processing, and transporting natural gas; gathering, stabilizing and transporting of condensate, natural gas liquids and crude oil; and gathering and disposing of produced water for Anadarko, as well as for other producers and customers.

Western Gas Equity Partners, LP ("WGP") is a Delaware master limited partnership formed by Anadarko to own the following types of interests in WES: (i) the general partner interest and all of the incentive distribution rights in WES, both owned through WGP's 100% ownership of WES's general partner, and (ii) a significant limited partner interest in WES.

For more information about Western Gas Partners, LP, Western Gas Equity Partners, LP, and Western Gas Flash Feed updates, please visit www.westerngas.com.

Note regarding Non-United States Investors: This release is intended to be a qualified notice under Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b). Brokers and nominees should treat one hundred percent (100.0%) of Western Gas Partners, LP's and Western Gas Equity Partners, LP's distributions to non-U.S. investors as being attributable to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business. Accordingly, Western Gas Partners, LP's and Western Gas Equity Partners, LP's distributions to non-U.S. investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest applicable effective tax rate.

Western Gas Contact

Jonathon E. VandenBrand

Director, Investor Relations

[email protected]

832.636.6000

SOURCE Western Gas Partners, LP

Related Links

http://www.westerngas.com


NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- White Oak Commercial Finance, LLC (WOCF) an affiliate of White Oak Global Advisors, LLC and its institutional clients, today announced it has bolstered its North Carolina team with the appointment of Cindy Skipper as Vice President of Underwriting. Based in Charlotte, NC, Ms. Skipper will head the furniture credit department.

Before joining WOCF, Ms. Skipper managed the credit portfolios of companies operating within the furniture, apparel, carpet, and textile industries. She held Vice President roles in the credit departments of Wells Fargo, SunTrust Bank and GE Capital.

"We are confident in Cindy's ability to make informed, high-impact credit decisions to support our clients," said Robert Grbic, President and Chief Executive Officer, WOCF. "In addition, she is an exceptional leader who will add tremendous value to our team as we continue to expand our furniture portfolio."

"WOCF holds more than three decades of experience in financing the furniture manufacturers, wholesalers and importers that sell to the country's leading retailers," said Ms. Skipper. "WOCF's diverse product set, commitment to providing creative and fast financing solutions and superior management team made for a very attractive combination."

Ms. Skipper earned her Bachelor of Science in Business from Gardner Webb University. She holds a Six Sigma Green Belt certification that is demonstrative of her keen ability to optimize productivity, and problem solve. In addition, Ms. Skipper holds certifications from Dun & Bradstreet and Moody's Financial Analytics.

White Oak Commercial Finance, formerly Capital Business Credit, was acquired by White Oak Global Advisors, LLC on behalf of its institutional clients in late 2016. Today White Oak Commercial Finance has over $300 million of assets deployed with office locations in New York, Charlotte, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

ABOUT WHITE OAK COMMERCIAL FINANCE, LLC

White Oak Commercial Finance, LLC is a global financial products and services company providing credit facilities to middle market companies between $1-$30 million. WOCF's solutions include asset-based lending, full-service factoring, invoice discounting, supply chain financing, inventory financing, U.S. import/export financing, trade credit risk management, account receivables management and credit and collections support. WOCF is an affiliate of White Oak Global Advisors, LLC, and its institutional clients. More information can be found at www.whiteoaksf.com.

ABOUT WHITE OAK GLOBAL ADVISORS, LLC

White Oak Global Advisors, LLC is a leading global alternative asset manager specializing in originating and providing financing solutions to facilitate the growth, refinancing and recapitalization of small and medium enterprises. Typical transaction sizes range between $15-$100 million. Since its inception in 2007, White Oak Global Advisors, LLC's disciplined investment process aims to deliver risk-adjusted investment returns for our investors while establishing long term partnerships with our borrowers. More information can be found at www.whiteoaksf.com.

SOURCE White Oak Commercial Finance, LLC

Related Links

http://www.whiteoaksf.com


Chicago, Illinois, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The John Marshall Law School in Chicago hosted its 5th Annual Domestic Violence Conference on October 4. This years conference focused on the intersection between domestic violence and lawyers being able to competently represent their clients in a number of practice areas.

Conference participants discussed the prevalence of domestic violence, and the importance of all attorneysnot just family law and criminal law attorneysknowing how to screen for domestic violence among their clients. In the U.S. alone, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner. Numerous Illinois and federal laws provide special protections to survivors of domestic violence. Conference speakers explained these protections and how attorneys can apply them for clients they represent.

"I am very proud of the information we provided at this conference and the best practices skills we modeled in our simulations, said John Marshall Professor Debra Stark, Director of the law schools Domestic Violence Clinic. We hope this conference will inspire all attorneys who viewed it to screen their clients for domestic violence and be able to counsel their clients on the special protections they have in a wide variety of legal practice areas in order to help save lives."

This years event included simulations of attorney-client meetings. These simulations demonstrated how to effectively and compassionately screen clients for domestic violence and other best practices for working with survivors of domestic violence, including risk assessment and safety planning. Attorneys from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Walters OBrien Law Offices, Christine M. Hunt, P.C. and more participated in the simulations.

About the Domestic Violence Clinic

John Marshall's Domestic Violence Clinic assists survivors of domestic violence engaged in the brave and perilous journey of becoming safe and whole again through legal assistance in nine practice areas, the development of educational and training programs and materials that better enable survivors to exercise their rights, and crafting empirical-based proposals to improve the legal systems response to this pervasive and complex problem.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/72cc5d2a-d2d5-48c3-81f7-3ab86f2b1f89
HOUSTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 28th, Houston law firm Williams Kherkher filed an individual lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on behalf of 10 West Houston residents whose homes were flooded as a result of the Army Corps of Engineers' operation of the Addicks and Barker Dams and Reservoirs. The case is called Jacobson, et al. v. United States, Cause No. 17-1374L. The U.S. Government is the defendant because it is ultimately responsible for the Corps' operation of the Reservoirs. The U.S. Government waives sovereign immunity for Fifth Amendment takings cases.

The Reservoirs protect downstream structures in the Buffalo Bayou corridor from flooding by storing stormwater behind the dams during periods of significant rainfall. The lawsuit alleges that the Corps' standard operating procedures made it inevitable that, during Tropical Storm Harvey, the Reservoir pools would exceed the limits of Government-Owned Land, thereby flooding the neighboring deed-restricted subdivisions and gated communities. "The Corps operates these dams so they can store more floodwater than the government has land on which to store it," explained lead counsel Armistead "Armi" Easterby, a Williams Kherkher partner who has been licensed in the Court of Federal Claims for nearly 20 years. Once the Reservoirs' pool elevations get high enough, the Government intentionally uses private land to store the impounded floodwater.

The lawsuit seeks compensation under the Fifth Amendment for the Corps' intentional use of private land within the Reservoirs' "pool area." Easterby explained that "normally, the Government decides that it needs to take land for a public purpose, and then condemns the land and pays the owner fair market value. An inverse condemnation case works backwards -- the Government takes the property first, and the owner is forced to file a lawsuit in order to recover just compensation." "We're seeking compensation for the costs to cure the flood damage, for diminished property values, and for the value of flooded personal property, such as furniture and clothing," said Easterby.

The Corps admitted in an August 28th press release that stormwater from Addicks and Barker had already extended beyond government owned land. Tragically, many of the flooded property owners did not have flood insurance because their homes and businesses aren't located in either the 100-year floodplains, and had no prior history of flooding.

Williams Kherkher is accepting more of these inverse condemnation cases, and will be filing additional lawsuits on behalf of individual property owners affected by the Corps' authorized actions.

Visit our website at www.myreservoirclaim.com or call us at (713) 999-4552.

About Williams Kherkher Hart Boundas Easterby, LLP

Williams Kherkher Hart Boundas Easterby, LLP is a nationally recognized trial law firm representing clients across the country in mass torts, personal injury, and commercial litigation. Williams Kherkher has a depth of knowledge and a wealth of resources that few firms can match, which is why the firm has been a trusted name for injured parties for over 25 years, whether that party is an injured individual or a powerful multinational corporation. We pride ourselves in equal commitment and dedication to every client we have.

In addition to fighting on the front lines of the legal battlefield, we at Williams Kherkher work to honor our moral commitment to our clients and our community. Though we never underestimate the importance of recovering financially for our clients, we believe that our unwavering professionalism and strict ethical standards form stronger cornerstones for our practice than any amount of money ever could. For this reason, Williams Kherkher is proud to give back to our community whenever possible.

SOURCE Williams Kherkher Hart Boundas Easterby, LLP
BOSTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- EdTech Times and SRI International will host xR in EDU, a 1-day forum focused on extended reality in education. Located at SRI Headquarters in Menlo Park, CA, on October 26, 2017, this event will gather leaders in the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and education ecosystems. The goal is to understand barriers to adoption, discuss unique research findings, and facilitate meaningful connections that will accelerate the integration of extended reality (xR) technologies in K12, higher education, and professional learning environments.

xR in EDU is an experiential forum on extended reality in education. Join EdTech Times and SRI International on October 26, 2017 to accelerate the adoption of VR, AR, and MR in schools and professional learning environments.

xR in EDU features dynamic speakers and session leaders from: Unity Technologies (Jessica Lindl), HTC Vive (Chris Chin), Pearson (Joanna Webb), Facebook (Hassan Karaouni), San Francisco Unified School District (Melissa Dodd), STRIVR (Derek Belch), DAQRI (Drew Minock), Nearpod (Maria Barrera), SRI International (Britte Cheng), Lifeliqe (Ondrej Homola), ThingLink (Susan Oxnevad), Entangled Ventures (Gunnar Counselman), Arkansas Department of Education (Anthony Owen), Unofficial Cardboard (David Nachbar), and Avegant (Ed Tang).

GSV Acceleration (Deborah Quazzo), EdTech Times/LearnLaunch (Hakan Satiroglu), Levy Consulting Group (Peter Levy), and Pearson (Mark Christian) serve as advisors to the event.

EdTech Times and SRI International, together with event partnersVR/AR Association, Global Impact EdTech Alliance, the Education Technology Industry Network of SIIA (ETIN), ASU+GSV Summit, and LearnLaunchreach more than 2 million professionals across K-12, higher ed, workforce development, and immersive technologies.

"We're excited to work with SRI to explore the potential for xR in education and professional training across all industries. Given the level of capital investment going into immersive tech at companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, we feel this conversation is incredibly timely," said Hakan Satiroglu, Founder of EdTech Times and Co-founder of LearnLaunch.

Technavio expects the global VR in education market to reach $1.7 billion in 2021, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 55%, with North America expected to dominate the market.

Register at www.xRinEDU.com.

Contact Kyla Pacheco, Director of Events, to explore remaining sponsorship opportunities: [email protected].

This event is hosted by EdTech Times & SRI International.

EdTech Times is a digital media company sharing untold stories from the intersection of education, technology, innovation, and work. Follow @edtechtimes on Twitter.

EdTech Times on Facebook.

EdTech Times on LinkedIn.

SRI Education, a division of SRI International, is tackling the most complex issues in education to help students succeed. We work with federal and state agencies, school districts, major foundations, nonprofit organizations, and international and commercial clients to address risk factors that impede learning, assess learning gains, and use technology for educational innovation. SRI International, a research center headquartered in Menlo Park, California, creates world-changing solutions making people safer, healthier, and more productive. Follow @SRI_Intl on Twitter.

SRI International on Facebook.

SRI International on LinkedIn.

CONTACT:

Hester Tinti-Kane

CEO, EdTech Times

617-431-3853

[email protected]

SOURCE EdTech Times

Related Links

http://www.edtechtimes.com


BEIJING, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of President Xi Jinping's "One Belt, One Road" cooperation agreement, Yihai President and CEO Linda Wong traveled to Serbia leading a delegation of 23 Chinese Entrepreneurs to Central and Eastern Europe to attend the grand opening of the Yihai Mama Wong Kindergarten in the city of Uzice. Yihai Group and Beijing Yihai Foundation donated $402,000 through the Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation to build the kindergarten.

Delegation of Chinese Entrepreneurs to Central and Eastern Europe Yihai Mama Wong KIndergarten

The city's mayor Tihomir Petkovic said he is working with the Chinese Embassy to provide Chinese language instruction to the children and deepen the cultural exchange between the two countries. He noted that the kindergarten's name reflects the charitable contribution of Ms. Wong. She is known internationally for her philanthropy. During the ceremony, Chief Secretary of Serbia President Nikola Selakovic thanked Ms. Wong and noted that this is the first kindergarten to be built as part of "One Belt, One Road" and expressed his appreciation to her for making Serbia stronger through education.

Ms. Wong gave gifts to the school's children including new school uniforms, an advanced intelligence robot made in China and Chinese textbooks provided by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of China. The school will accommodate 120 children ages three to six years old with Chinese language classes three times a week; each class lasting for an hour. Mr. Tao Zhao, the Executive Vice President of Chinese Events and Chairman of the business school, spoke on behalf of the Chinese delegation and noted that the new kindergarten reflects an educational exchange that is part of China's commitment to "One Belt, One Road."

"It is my hope that the Yihai Mama Wong Kindergarten will provide a high-quality education to the children of Uzice. My company has more than 20 years of experience creating exemplary schools in China and we are pleased to bring this expertise to Serbia. I am honored to be recognized by the people of Uzice and envision a long economic and cultural exchange that will further strengthen the alliance between China and Serbia," said Ms. Wong.

She also noted that in recent years the political and economic relations between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been strengthened through "One Belt, One Road" including increased investment in Serbia. To underscore this the Mayor of Uzice and Ms. Wong planted a tree symbolizing the two countries' commitment for a long-term collaboration.

In May 2017, China hosted the "One Belt One Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum noting that the initiative has now gone from planning to implementation. The Yihai Group will continue to champion philanthropic initiatives and economic development in Serbia as well as providing the country with access to Chinese business resources. With the visit of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang to Serbia, economic and trade exchanges between the two countries have increased.

Under Linda Wong's leadership over the past 20 years Yihai Property has developed major real estate projects in China. Ms. Wong is also a philanthropist, who has been recognized globally for her work with children and educators, the elderly and the arts. Education is personally so important to her that she created a development model in her Chinese housing complexes that includes schools for the youngest members of a family and an elder college.

For Further Information:

Kathy Tompkins

Yihai United Development Corporation

90 Broad Street, Suite 1707, New York, N.Y. 10004

[email protected]

Cell: 917 716 9525; Office: 646-455-0600

SOURCE Yihai Group
ZUG, Switzerland, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's smart contract development ecosystem is one where individual developers struggle to access off-chain data necessary for interacting with the world outside of the blockchain. Currently, a smart contract can only access the limited data found on its blockchain.

The Zap Project is solving one of the biggest challenges in the blockchain industry  the need for oracles that can provide smart contracts with access to off-chain data. October 21st marks the launch of the token distribution event for ZAP. ZAP tokens give holders the ability to create data feeds that can be monetized and integrated into smart contracts.

"The applications of ZAP-powered oracles are myriad," said Nick Spanos, co-creator of the Zap Project and founder of Bitcoin Center NYC. "Decentralized derivatives, smart contracts tied to crop yield measurements, your car paying you to drive it, self-executable wills  ZAP not only makes all of this possible, it makes it easy."

By making oracle creation simple, the Zap Project marks the next phase in mainstream adoption of smart contracts. The ZAP token distribution event will further product development and spur innovation to streamline the smart contract ecosystem.

The Zap.Store provides a platform where developers can discover existing oracles and data providers can publish new ones. With ZAP, all parties to a smart contract can agree on the source of data and have faith that the data is delivered. By leveraging competitive market dynamics to incentivize oracle creation, ZAP is a novel solution for securing data sources for the next generation of blockchain innovation.

More information on Zap Project and the token distribution event can be found at www.zap.store.

About ZAP

ZAP is a token powering an oracle marketplace for smart contracts. The platform's mission is to foster the creation of a standardized and self-sustained smart contract data layer powered by the world's best open marketplace for oracles, dramatically lowering barriers to entry into the multi-billion dollar alternative data industry and the smart contract ecosystem.

Find out more information at www.zap.store.

About the Zap Project

Based in Zug, Switzerland, the Zap Project is managed and directed by the Synapse Foundation. The Foundation's mission is to oversee development, increase community engagement, and sponsor participation within the Zap ecosystem.

Find out more information at zapproject.org.

SOURCE The Zap Project

Related Links

http://www.zap.store


DAKOTA DUNES, S.D., Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sterling Computers announced this week that CRN, a brand of the Channel Company, has honored them with its esteemed 2017 Triple Crown Award. Sterling was among just forty North American solution providers who had the qualifying revenue, growth, and technical expertise to be recognized on three of CRNs preeminent solution provider lists, thus earning them the distinction of a Triple Crown Award winner.



Were delighted to earn this distinction, states Brad Moore, President of Sterling, as its a culmination of the awards and recognition weve received from CRN throughout the year. Its rewarding to see our growth reflected in this way, a reminder of the efforts our partners and staff invest each day.

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 all three, howeveras this year's Triple Crown Award winners have doneis a huge achievement. A company must simultaneously earn 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.

This years CRN Triple Crown Award winners, says Robert Faletra, CEO of the Channel Company, 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. 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.

About Sterling | (www.sterlingcomputers.com)

Sterling Computers is an award-winning technology solutions provider with over 21 years of experience helping customers solve the most complex requirements of their IT environments. Sterling provides customers with a simplified IT experience by being their single point of contact for all their solutions architecture, proof of concept, product fulfillment, and technology adoption needs. Additionally, they provide cyber security solutions for mission critical clouds and networks.

Sterling Contact | Mindy Schweitzer, Marketing Manager

605-242-4018 | mindy.schweitzer@sterlingcomputers.com
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
New Delhi, Oct 8 : BJP President Amit Shah on Sunday slammed the CPI-M government in Kerala over the "political killings" of BJP-RSS workers in the state, saying it was being done to "instil fear" among the people and prevent the BJP from expanding in the state.

Shah, addressing a Jan Raksha Yatra in the national capital, also alleged that the political killings in Kerala were being carried out on the "orders" of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

"Since the CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) government came to power in Kerala, over 120 BJP workers have been killed. They killed them brutally," Shah said participating in Jan Raksha Yatra from Central Park of Connaught Place to the CPI-M central office in Gole Market.

Shah asked when a man can be killed with a bullet "why are the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers being hacked into pieces?"

"It is being done because they want to give the message that if any one supports or joins the BJP they would be killed. It is being done to instil fear in the minds of the people to not support the BJP there," he said.

Shah was joined by Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari, Vice President and incharge of Delhi Shyam Jaju, party's national office bearers, MPs, MLAs, MCD leaders, and state office bearers.

The BJP president also said that "the more Left parties indulge in violence politics the more will the lotus bloom".

He said for BJP workers, their party is the ideology and they are "not scared of sacrificing for the nation and the party ideology".

"Remember one thing, the BJP workers won't tolerate many killings of its workers. We won't reply violence with violence as we are not communists but we will spread awareness against political killings," he said.

Shah also said that most of the killings happened in the home district of the Kerala Chief Minister in Kannur.

"In Kerala, when BJP people are killed no arrest is made...All the murders are being done on the orders of the Chief Minister," he alleged.

"I want to tell the Communist and Congress who supports their ideology that Communism has ended in the world and the Congress has ended in India," Shah said.

"And the BJP which started with only 10 party members, is now the world's biggest party with over 11 crore party workers," he said.

Slamming human rights groups for taking out candle marches against the killings of Leftists in the country, Shah said: "Violence is violence. And I challenge the champions of human rights who take out protests to condemn the killings of a communist worker why they remain mute when our party workers are killed."

"Why cannot we see you taking out candle marches for our workers? The selective protests for the communist workers has exposed you people," he said.

Shah also urged BJP workers to stand with party workers in Kerala who despite facing multiple difficulties were "working hard" to expand the party in the state and spread awareness across the country against the political killing in Kerala.

He said political killings were visible only in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, where the CPI-M has ruled for long.

"Wherever they have remained in power they have promoted politics based on violence. BJP will face these forces in all the three states," he added.
WINNEMUCCA, Nev., Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. (NYSE American:PZG) ("Paramount or the Company) announced today the closing of an underwritten public offering of 3,520,000 shares of its common stock, at a public offering price of $1.40 per share, which includes the full exercise of the underwriters over-allotment option to purchase up to 320,000 shares of common stock.



Concurrently with the public offering of common stock, the Company has closed a private placement of an aggregate of 1,775,000 shares of common stock at $1.40 per share to FCMI Parent Co. (1,075,000 shares) and Seabridge Gold Inc. (700,000 shares).

The gross proceeds from the public offering and private placement, before deducting underwriting commissions, placement fees and other estimated offering expenses payable by Paramount, are approximately $7.4 million.

We are extremely pleased to successfully close the base deal of this public offering, as well as the full exercise of the over-allotment option, which will allow us to continue development of our Grassy Mountain Project, commented Paramounts President & CEO, Glen Van Treek.

Proceeds from the public offering and the private placement will be used primarily to complete the Pre-feasibility Study on the Grassy Mountain Project, with a portion also going towards permitting. Other uses of proceeds will include general corporate purposes.

Canaccord Genuity Corp. and Cantor Fitzgerald Canada Corporation acted as joint-bookrunners of the offering and Roth Capital Partners, LLC acted as a co-manager.

The public offering was made in the United States pursuant to a final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus under the Companys effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-218295) that was filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 26, 2017, and declared effective by the SEC on June 8, 2017 and in Canada pursuant to its final short-form prospectus filed with the securities regulatory authorities in the Provinces of Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

Copies of these documents are available at www.sec.gov and www.sedar.com, respectively.

The private placement shares were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or qualified under applicable Canadian securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

About Paramount

Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. is a U.S. based precious metals exploration company. Paramount holds a 100% working interest in the Grassy Mountain Project which consists of approximately 9,300 acres located on private and BLM land in Malheur County, Oregon. Additionally, Paramount owns a 100% interest in the Sleeper Gold Project located in Northern Nevada. The Sleeper Gold Project, which includes the former producing Sleeper mine, totals 2,322 unpatented mining claims (approximately 60 square miles or 15,500 hectares).

For additional information on the Company, please visit our website at www.paramountnevada.com or follow us on twitter @ParamountNV

Paramount Gold Nevada Corp.

Carlo Buffone, Chief Financial Officer

Chris Theodossiou, Director of Corporate Communications

866-481-2233
Washington, Oct 10 : Donald Trump's current wife Melania slammed the US President's first wife, Ivana who called herself "first lady" as "attention-seeking and self-serving noise", the media reported.

On Monday, Ivana Trump in an ABC interview ahead of the release of her memoir, "Raising Trump", said she was "basically first Trump wife, I'm first lady".

The Czech-American businesswoman also boasted of having a direct line to the White House which she uses to she talk to the President about once every 14 days.

"I have the direct number to White House but I don't really want to call him there because Melania is there and I don't really want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that because I'm basically first Trump wife, OK? I'm first lady, OK?" she told ABC, laughing.

The current First Lady fired back via a sharply-worded statement to CNN from her communications director, Stephanie Grisham later on Monday.

"Mrs. (Melania) Trump has made the White House a home for Barron and the President. She loves living in Washington D.C., and is honoured by her role as First Lady of the United States. She plans to use her title and role to help children, not sell books," Grisham said in the statement "There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex, this is unfortunately only attention-seeking and self-serving noise."

Ivana and Donald Trump divorced in 1992 after 15 years following his tabloid affair with TV personality Marla Maples, reports CNN.

Ivana Trump, who is the mother of the President's three eldest children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, does not refer to Maples, by name in her book, which comes out Tuesday, only calling her "showgirl".

"Donald during the divorce was brutal. He took the divorce as a business deal and he cannot lose, he has to win," Ivana Trump said during the ABC interview, adding that they were now "friends".
New Delhi, Oct 10 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed shock over non-release of a large number of undertrial prisoners languishing in Indian prisons in complete violation of fundamental right to protection of life and personal liberty and asked several states to explain.

A division bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta expressed concern as to why undertrials were not released by the states despite the apex court's earlier direction to release them, or even after bail to them or completion of their sentences.

According to the recommendations made in a report filed by the National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA) in the court, none of the undertrials who should have been granted bail and released on the basis of illness and mental ill-health have been released.

The bench asked Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh to file affidavits on the number undertrial prisoners, category-wise, languishing in their prisons and why they were not released.

"We will be compelled to seek the personal presence of Chief Secretaries of these three states if the affidavits are not filed by October 26," said the bench while posting the matter for October 31.

The court referred the NALSA report to Attorney General K.K. Venugopal and asked: "What action the government of India is taking? We have issued necessary direction for the release. It seems the Centre is not taking any steps."

"It is a shocking state of affair," it added.

The Attorney General told the bench that the Centre has been issuing advisories to the states from time to time to release such persons but they were not doing so.

"We (Centre) can only issue an advisory; we have no power under the Constitution to issue directions to the states. It is for the Supreme Court to direct the states to release the undertrial prisoners, as recommended by the undertrial committee of NALSA," he added.

To this, the bench said: "Your submission is very strange. If you think your advisory is not being implemented, then stop issuing any advisory because they are being ignored by the states.

"This is not the way the Centre should behave. When people are languishing in jail and their rights under Article 21 of the Constitution are being violated, you say the Centre will do nothing."

Venugopal said the court should summon the state Chief Secretaries and call for reports to indicate why undertrials were not released despite recommendations.

The bench is hearing a 2013 public interest litigation on inhuman conditions prevailing in 1,382 prisons across the country.

Amicus curiae Gaurav Agrawal asked the state government what steps they were taking regarding overcrowding in jails, strengthening and training of prison staff, deaths of jail inmates, and legal aid to prisoners.
Chandigarh, Oct 11 : Minor clashes were reported between Congress and BJP-Akali Dal workers in some villages as voting began for the by-election in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat in Punjab on Wednesday.

Election officials said 23-25 percent voting was reported in the constituency. At some polling booths, long queues of voters were seen.

Police said five to six people were injured in clashes between Congress and BJP-Akali activists.

Nearly 15.22 lakh voters, who are eligible to exercise their franchise, will decide the fate of 11 candidates in the fray.

Tight security arrangements are in place. The main fight is between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Swarn Salaria, Congress' Sunil Kumar Jakhar, the Punjab Congress President, and Aam Aadmi Party's retired Major General Suresh Kumar Khajuria.

The by-poll will see a tough fight between the BJP and the ruling Congress.

The Congress, fresh from its emphatic win in assembly elections, is set to give a close contest to the BJP, which is trying to retain the seat.

In the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency, which comprises nine assembly seats, the Congress won seven segments in the assembly polls. One each went to the Akali Dal and BJP.

The AAP, the main opposition party in the Punjab Assembly, could play a spoiler for both the parties. The result will be announced on October 15.

The Lok Sabha seat fell vacant in April following the passing away of veteran actor Vinod Khanna due to cancer. Gurdaspur is the first parliamentary constituency in the country where all polling stations will have Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines.

The device gives the voter using an EVM confirmation about the vote.
New Delhi, Oct 11 : With Kenneth Juster being named as the new US Ambassador to India, US businesses are expecting that bilateral commercial ties will grow with him in that position, according to a senior office-bearer of a US-India business body.

"We are very optimistic, we are grateful that he accepted the job. It's maybe the position that business has with his appointment because he understands business," Edward Monser, Vice-President of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), told IANS in an interview here.

"We have worked with him before. He has had relationships with all of us in the executive council of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum," Monser, who is also the President and COO of Emerson Electric and is here for an energy forum, said.

"So, we know him well. We trust him. Most importantly, he doesn't wait for things to become a problem. He is proactive, he reaches out to both sides. He makes sure people understand and he communicates very well."

Juster succeeds Richard Verma, who left after Donald Trump was sworn in as US President in January this year.

Juster has served as the Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs under Trump and was also the Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security under former President George W. Bush.

He is expected to take up office towards the end of this month or in the beginning of November.

Stating that most proactive ambassadors know, understand and promote business development as well as good diplomatic dialogue, Monser said that "India and the US will get along better if our commercial relationships are stronger".

He is of the view that there is now an opportunity to balance trade between India and the US.

"The dialogue around how to balance it and where there are opportunities to balance the trade I think are productive," he stated. "The new Ambassador will be able to help with that."

Monser said that the areas of advanced agriculture, defence and and energy "are really good opportunities to close the gap".

"By closing the trade gap I think you will see benefit more clearly on both sides."

Combined India-US trade stands at $124 billion but Monser is of the view that "we can realise the potential and go to $500 billion".

"We see a path there that could be shared and benefit India and benefit the US," he said.

"I think that's why our leaders get along so well because they can see it too. They can see the real opportunities. So, we want to stay focused on growing the trade between the two countries, growing the investments between the two countries and encouraging the investment both ways."

On the role of the newly-formed USISPF, he said that that the "old structure" kept businesses from both sides from going to the new business models that are most important.

"So the best thing to do was to start all over again. Start anew, again with very experienced people, people that have solved problems in the US and India for some time," Monser said.

He also appreciated new Indian initiatives like Digital India and Skill India.

"I think we will always have a challenge to make sure that we have the number of engineers and scientists we need," Monser said.

"But that's not the major issue. The bulk of the population, more than 50 per cent of the jobs are what I would call technical for which you don't need an engineering degree but you have to have training and knowledge to work in a digital economy."

(Aroonim Bhuyan can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in)
New Delhi, Oct 11 : Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra on Wednesday met union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss the political and security situation in the state.

Vohra also briefed the minister of the situation on the Line of Control (LoC) following the escalation in cross-border firing from Pakistan, sources said.

"Governor of Jammu and Kashmir N.N. Vohra meeting the Home Minister in New Delhi," the ministry said in a tweet, sharing a photograph of the two.

The Home Ministry last week set up a study group headed by Special Secretary Rina Mitra to examine the problems due to cross-border shelling faced by the people living near the International Border and the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.

Vohra and Rajnath Singh also discussed the constitution of the group and its terms of reference, the sources said.

Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwari Lal Purohit and Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Admiral (retd.) D.K. Joshi also called on the Home Minister separately.

The meetings came a day ahead of a two-day conference of governors beginning on Friday to be presided over by President Ram Nath Kovind.

The conference is the 48th to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan and the first to be presided over by Kovind.
Lucknow, Oct 11 : A two-day meet of the state executive of Uttar Pradesh's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will be held in Kanpur from Wednesday, a party spokesman said.

The meet would be chaired by state President Mahendra Nath Pandey and would be attended, among others, by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Chandigarh, Oct 11 : A total of 56 per cent of registered voters exercised their franchise on Wednesday in the by-election to the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency, election officials said.

Punjab Chief Electoral Officer V.K. Singh said the bypoll process was peaceful amid tight security.

Minor clashes were reported between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiromani Akali Dal workers in some villages, in which five to six persons were injured.

Nearly 15.22 lakh voters were eligible to vote to decide the fate of 11 candidates, including BJP's Swarn Salaria, Congress' Sunil Kumar Jakhar and Aam Aadmi Party's retired Major General Suresh Kumar Khajuria.

The Congress, fresh from its emphatic win in the February 4 assembly elections, is set to give a close fight to the BJP, which is trying to retain the seat.

The Lok Sabha constituency has nine assembly seats, of which the Congress won seven in the assembly polls. One seat each went to the SAD and the BJP.

The AAP, the main opposition party in the Punjab Assembly, could play a spoiler for both the BJP and the Congress. The result will be announced on October 15.

The Lok Sabha seat fell vacant in April following the passing away of veteran actor and Gurdaspur MP Vinod Khanna due to cancer.

Gurdaspur is the first parliamentary constituency in the country where all polling stations used Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines which help the voters confirm in whose favour they cast their votes.
Rome, Oct 12 : Matteo Renzi, leader of Italy's ruling centre-left Democratic Party on Wednesday positioned it as a "bulwark" against billionaire media mogul and ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, the grassroots Five-Star Party, and the anti-migrant Northern League in polls next year.

"At the next elections, a grouping will be born that will represent the only alternative to Berlusconi, the Northern League or the Five-Star Movement," the former Prime Minister said here.

Taking a swipe at critics, Renzi warned: "Whoever weakens the Democratic Party weakens the bulwark against the populism of Five-Star and the Berlusconi-Salvini alliance."

Italy is due to hold national elections by next May and recent opinion polls show the centre-left, centre-right and Five-Star splitting the vote three ways, although Five-Star tops some polls.

The Five-Star Movement, which refuses to form political alliances, has accused a proposed new voting law backed by the Democratic Party of subverting democracy by allowing parties to form broad electoral coalitions.

Five-Star reckons that the new rules could cost it up to 50 seats in the lower house of parliament and wreck its chances of being the largest group in parliament after the elections next year.

The government hopes the lower house of parliament will this week approve the bill, which is also supported by Forza Italia and the Northern League. Five small parties are also backing the proposed law.

The bill will then pass to the upper house Senate, where the government lacks a clearly defined majority.
Tripoli, Oct 12 : Libyan coast guards have rescued 74 illegal immigrants, including women and children, from a damaged rubber boat off the western shores of the country, according to a medical source.

"A patrol of the Libyan Coast Guards and the western Ports Security rescued 74 illegal immigrants, including 22 women and 4 children, who were on board a broken rubber boat off the coast of the western city of Zawiya," Amir Jamal Al-Bishti of the international medical committee of EU told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Al-Bishti said that all the rescued migrants are of African nationalities, confirming that the migrants were taken to the capital Tripoli for medical assistance before taking them to a housing center.

Libya is a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants who want to cross the Mediterranean towards European shores, due to the insecurity and chaos in the country since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011.

Smugglers send thousands of migrants in rickety boats towards Europe, many of whom drown on the way. Immigrants who are rescued at sea by Libyan Navy are taken to reception centres with poor living conditions.
Washington, Oct 12 : US President Donald Trump has said if talks to reform North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) fail, he could envisage a US-Canada trade pact, excluding Mexico.

The US president said if there was no deal on the NAFTA, it would be terminated. He was speaking at the White House on Wednesday with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, BBC reported.

Replying to a question, Trump said he would consider a trade pact with Canada minus Mexico, adding that both the US and Canada wanted to protect their workers.

The current round of talks on renegotiating the trade bloc is reported to be stalling, with Mexico opposing a US move to increase the percentage of US-made components in car manufacturing.

Trump's stance has, however, been criticised by US businesses.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, speaking ahead of the latest round of talks, said terminating Nafta could harm US-Mexico relations and damage co-operation on issues like fighting drug-trafficking.

Trudeau said he believed the Nafta talks could still end in a "win, win, win".

But he said Canada had to "be ready for anything" if the attempts to modernise the 23-year-old deal faltered.

Overall trade between the three Nafta partners reached $1.1 trillion in 2016.

American and Mexican officials say they want a re-negotiated deal by December.

This week the influential US Chamber of Commerce warned it was time to "ring alarm bells" over the NAFTA talks.

The business lobby group said there were "several poison pill proposals" put on the table by the US that could tank the renegotiations.

Those include US demands to adjust the rules of origin, which would increase the percentage of the content of car parts and other materials that would come from NAFTA countries in order for a good to qualify as duty free - a specific concern for the North American auto industry.

The US and Canadian leaders also discussed the Bombardier-Boeing trade dispute.

Canada and the UK are sparring with the US over Canadian aerospace giant Bombardier.

The Trump administration has imposed hefty duties on Bombardier's C-Series jetliner.

American aerospace firm Boeing claims Bombardier received unfair government subsidies to produce its showcase passenger jet.

Bombardier is a significant employer in Northern Ireland and Canada.

Trudeau said he "highlighted to the president how much we disagree vehemently" on the decision to impose anti-dumping duties.
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST), a consumer packaged goods holding company, today announced its Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.9375 per share on the Companys 3.75% Series B Cumulative Perpetual Convertible Preferred Stock for the dividend period from the date of August 15, 2017 to November 14, 2017.



The Board of Directors also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.625 per share on the Companys 2.5% Series C Cumulative Perpetual Convertible Preferred Stock for the dividend period from the date of August 15, 2017 to November 14, 2017.

Both dividends will be paid on November 15, 2017 to preferred shareholders as of November 1, 2017.

About Post Holdings, Inc.

Post Holdings, Inc., headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is a consumer packaged goods holding company operating in the center-of-the-store, foodservice, food ingredient, private label, refrigerated and active nutrition food categories. Through its Post Consumer Brands business, Post is a leader in the North American ready-to-eat cereal category and offers a broad portfolio that includes recognized brands such as Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, Great Grains and Malt-O-Meal bag cereal as well as granola and hot wheat products. Post is also a leader in the United Kingdom ready-to-eat cereal category with Weetabix and Alpen. Posts Michael Foods Group supplies value-added egg products, refrigerated potato products, cheese and other dairy case products and dry pasta products to the foodservice, food ingredient and private label retail channels and markets retail brands including All Whites, Bettern Eggs, Simply Potatoes and Crystal Farms. Posts Active Nutrition platform aids consumers in adopting healthier lifestyles through brands such as Premier Protein, PowerBar and Dymatize. Posts Private Brands Group manufactures private label peanut butter and other nut butters, dried fruits and baking and snacking nuts. For more information, visit www.postholdings.com.

Contact:

Investor Relations

Brad Harper

brad.harper@postholdings.com

(314) 644-7626
New York, Oct 12 : Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that she would donate the money Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein contributed to her political campaigns after multiple sexual assault allegations were levelled against the powerful media mogul.

In a CNN interview on Wednesday night, Clinton said she was "sick" and "shocked" when she found out about the allegations, first revealed in a report by The New York Times and then a more detailed report by The New Yorker.

"I was appalled. It was something that was just intolerable in every way.

"And, you know, like so many people who've come forward and spoken out, this was a different side of a person who I and many others had known in the past."

On her donations, Clinton added that it was not possible to give the money back but that she would donate it to charity.

"What other people are saying, what my former colleagues are saying, is they're going to donate it to charity, and of course I will do that," she said.

Clinton said she had no idea that Weinstein acted that way in private, despite some in Hollywood saying that people close to him had known.

"I certainly didn't, and I don't know who did," she told CNN.

"But I can only speak for myself, and I think speak for many others who knew him primarily through politics."

Weinstein has long been a top Democratic donor and throughout Clinton's political career, the Hollywood mogul helped raise around $1.5 million for the Party and associated groups by bundling donations.

Clinton also headlined multiple fundraisers hosted by Weinstein.

According to the Times expose, the powerful film producer had faced many accusations of sexual harassment spanning decades. He reached at least eight settlements with women between 1990 and 2015.

Actress Ashley Judd was among the accusers who spoke to the Times for the story.

When the story came out on September 5, Weinstein denied some of the allegations, but also admitted that he had behaved improperly at times during his career. He apologised for causing pain.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : Pure vegetarians usually have limited options at fine dining restaurants. Not so at Burma Burma. Though Burmese cuisine is known for its seafood and meat preparations, the restaurant has given these a miss. But the vegetarian spread they have on offer comes as a pleasant surprise even for meat lovers.

Situated in Saket's Select Citywalk mall, Burma Burma has outlets in Mumbai and Gurugram as well.

The cosy restaurant has beautiful interiors with colourful dolls of several Burmese tribes displayed on one wall, while the other has elements from Burmese culture carved into it -- the lotus flower, the owl, fish and more.

The tea bar in the end of the restaurant boasts a pretty display of Burmese artefacts and lacquer ware as the backdrop.

I started with a Nutella-flavoured bubble tea. A mix of black tea, milk, maple syrup and chewy tapioca pearls with Nutella, it was a perfect blend and had me reordering it.

Then came the Thoke Sampler, a salad platter with raw mango salad, tea leave salad and sunflower leaves. My favourite was the sunflower salad -- the leaves were fresh and left me pondering how a cuisine could utilise every part of a plant, flower and fruit so well. Besides being green, it was crisp with peanuts mixed in it.

Soups offered here are interesting too, with the "samosa soup" a clear winner. A bit on the hot side, the soup will be loved by those who like red chili flakes in their food. The other two were chickpea tohu soup and Burmese pepper soup which were minus the hot spices and rather filling.

While going through the menu a salad with white fungus caught my eye, but somehow I did not have the stomach to try it. However, if you are given to experimenting with your palate, give it a chance. It may just surprise you.

Another must-try is the Tohu mok palata, which is chickpea mash cooked with onions and tomatoes accompanied with flaky Burmese paranthas. To break it down for the common man, the parantha resembles a mini Malabari parantha and is delicious.

Then there was the tofu bun called Paukse. Soft-steamed and served as mini burgers with a crunchy tofu patty and coconut mayo. Not a fan of tofu at all, I was sceptical at first. But being a reviewer I had to give it a shot. Must say I have no regrets.

Like something crispy? Do not forget to order the lotus stem crisps called Kyar Yoe Kyaw. They are super-thin slices of lotus stem sprinkled with paprika and curry leaves. It's a good starter, so chomp on it with your bubble tea and relish the riot of flavours unleashed in your mouth.

Your meal at Burma Burma is incomplete without trying the Khow Suey. The restaurant offers all versions of it, be it dry, curry or medium dry. The curry is a blast of coconut, so if you don't like coconut, best to try the dry option which is delicious too.

End your meal with their coconut jelly, which melts in the mouth. It is scrumptious when had in the form of the faluda-style dish, also called Shway Aye, or with pineapple and toffee, also called Coco Pina.

FAQs:

Where: S 25, Second Floor, A3, Select Citywalk Mall, Saket, New Delhi.

Timings: 12 pm to 11 pm.

Price for two: Rs 1,500/- Plus applicable taxes (The writer's visit was at the invitation of Burma Burma. Kishori Sud can be contacted at kishori.s@ians.in)
New Delhi : It was a summit based on huge expectations on both sides, the first between the leaders of India and the European Union since Brexit. The meeting was rich in symbolism, marking 55 years of diplomatic relations between the world's two largest democracies. Political goodwill and determination to overcome road blocks were evident in the body language and statements emanating from the leaders, with the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, quoting Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore: "It is important for the two sides to swim in the same direction despite their differences".

Held in the shadow of repeated terrorist strikes in a continent which had once prided itself on its liberal democratic values, the Joint Summit Statement represented a political breakthrough on several issues. It was complemented by separate statements on combating terrorism, on clean energy and climate change, and on smart and sustainable urbanisation. The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, underlined: "We are the world's two largest democracies. We are two of the world's biggest economies. We share the same values and the belief that freedom, equality, tolerance and the rule of law. Working together with a like-minded partner like India simply makes sense. It is natural."

Informed sources have indicated that many sensitive issues relating to India's neighbourhood, including threats to India from jehadi terrorist groups based in Pakistan, the situation in Afghanistan and the potential for regional destabilisation by the flight of the Rohingyas from Myanmar to Bangladesh, were discussed at summit level in a free and frank atmosphere.

The actual language does not seem to accurately reflect the spirit of these discussions. Nevertheless forward movement is clear from the agreement to take decisive action against globally proscribed terrorists and terror entities including Hafeez Saeed, Dawood Ibrahim, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and others. It was agreed: "The European Union and India share a common vision of key global and regional challenges. The leaders addressed a number of pressing situations in the EU's and India's immediate neighbourhoods, as well as further afield."

There was an indirect reference to Rohingyas with leaders committing themselves to strengthen cooperation "on migration and refugees, including under the United Nations process towards adopting Global Compacts for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and on Refugees."

Other positive political developments include agreement to continue joint naval exercises and to expand cooperation in the area of maritime security. On October 4, 2017, the Italian flagship and headquarters of the EU's Naval Force Operation Atalanta, ITS Fasan, conducted joint manoeuvres with the Indian Navy vessel INS Trishul off the coast of Somalia. This represents the first joint EU-India naval exercise and an important step forward in defence and military collaboration.

Leaders also welcomed the imminent operationalisation of the EU-India Horizontal Agreement on certain aspects of air services. The implementation of this agreement will restore legal certainty to EU's aviation relations with India.

In a personal gesture to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Investment Bank (EIB) agreed to a new partnership with the International Solar Alliance to mobilise finance to develop and deploy affordable solar energy in solar-rich countries. The EIB also confirmed plans to provide a record EUR 800m for renewable energy investment across India.

In another show of solidarity, the EIB agreed to provide 500 million euros to support the construction of a new 18-station rapid transit line in Bangalore and the purchase of 96 train cars for use on the line. This support for investment to expand the second longest urban metro system in the country is the largest EIB loan in India and also the largest support for sustainable transport outside Europe.

An expected setback was the failure to kick-start the long stalemated negotiation on the BTIA (Broad based Trade and Investment Agreement). Since the Lisbon Treaty, the EU has not succeeded in concluding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with any developing country with the exception of Vietnam. It has no FTA with China, its largest trading partner.

Juncker tried to gloss over this amazing anomaly that the EU, India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade in goods exceeding $88 billion dollars in 2016, is unable to demonstrate flexibility in recommencing the negotiations 'without conditions'. He acknowledged: "We agreed that we should take our trading relationship to the next level. It is high time for a Free Trade Agreement between India and the EU. Once the circumstances are right - and only once the circumstances are right - we will resume. Today's Summit is an important step in the right direction and after hearing Prime Minister Modi I am confident we can move forward. Our chief negotiators will next sit down in November to chart a way forward."

The emphasis on "circumstances being right" inserts conditionalities into an already difficult and contentious discussion. At the 13th India EU Summit in March 2016, President Juncker had spoken in a similar manner. He had emphasised that there should, in the first instance, be "movement on outstanding issues", further complicating the negotiation.

The silver lining in the dark cloud is the indication that the principal interlocutors would be meeting next month to discuss these roadblocks. The Summit document also acknowledges that "Trade and investment represent important aspects of the EU-India strategic partnership." It continues: "Leaders expressed their shared commitment to strengthening the economic partnership between the EU and India and to achieving the full potential of this aspect of our relationship. There are efforts on both sides to re-engage actively towards a timely relaunch of the negotiations for a comprehensive and mutually-beneficial Free Trade Agreement."

Of great significance was the welcoming by Summit leaders of the recent launch of the Investment Facilitation Mechanism for EU investments in India. This measure will facilitate and encourage EU investments by providing concrete on-the-spot support to EU companies intending to invest in India, in particular by providing procedural guidance.

The absence of perceptible movement on the BTIA represents a constant irritant in the common quest to discover a new strategic paradigm. Indian interlocutors try to put a good face on the deadlock by noting that, in the worst case scenario, trade between India and EU would be governed by WTO regulations. In the background of this sombre analysis, a trade deal has never looked so far away.

To redefine the partnership and make it relevant remains the need of the hour. Well known analyst Bernd von Muenchow-Pohl made the pertinent observation that "Shared values do not equal shared interests". He continues: "Since 2005, the EU-India relationship trudges along from Summit to Summit, occasionally issuing a new joint declaration or a similar document without adding much in terms of new substance, but seemingly trying to reassure each other of continued commitment."

Taken from this negative perspective, the 14th Summit has certainly broken a new ground. It has put to rest the nagging suspicion that India and the EU were irrevocably moving from "strategic dissonance to strategic divorce". In the ultimate analysis, the 14th Summit demonstrated that India and the EU have slowly but surely rediscovered each other. In a relationship supposedly based on three common characteristics, "democracy, diversity and internal differences", increasing cooperation on strategic and defence issues should ultimately lead to a breakthrough on trade and business. What is required is political will and increasing recognition of each other's strength and importance in an increasingly challenging international scenario. This was amply demonstrated at this Summit.

(The author is a former Indian ambassador to The Netherlands and UNESCO. The views expressed are personal. The article is in special arrangment with South Asia Monitor)
Washington, Oct 12 : Pakistan Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has urged the US not to look at the CPEC from an Indian perspective but as an economic plan for bringing peace and stability to South Asia, days after US Defence Secretary James Mattis backed India and said the China-Pakistan economic corridor passes through disputed territory and Washington can not ignore this fact.

On Wednesday, Iqbal urged the US to deal with Pakistan on its own merit, instead of tagging it to other states and issues in the region, reports Dawn news.

"The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is not a conspiracy against anyone. It is not a security plan. It's a plan for economic prosperity, which is bringing investment in the energy, infrastructure and other key sectors," he said at the at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies here.

Iqbal said US concerns about the over $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor were unfounded.

"It will benefit all and will provide a platform for bringing together South and Central Asian, Middle Eastern and African countries by physically joining them through an economic corridor.

"So, I think, the US should not look at CPEC from the Indian perspective, but as a source for peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

"CPEC can bring the much-needed stability to a region that has suffered from war for the last several decades," the Minister added.

Iqbal added: "Pakistan is also a sovereign nation. We have our own dignity and want others to respect that.

"If the US looks at the region from India's perspective, it will harm the region and US interests too. So, it's necessary that the US should view the situation from an independent perspective, not from someone else's point of view."

Last week, the Trump administration threw its weight behind India's opposition to the CPEC, saying it passes through a disputed territory and no country should put itself into a position of dictating the Belt and Road initiative.

India skipped the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) summit in China in May this year over sovereignty concerns as it passes through Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The CPEC is a flagship project of China's Belt and Road initiative. The 3,000 km, over $50 billion corridor stretches from Kashgar in western China to Gwadar port in Pakistan on the Arabian sea.
Mumbai, Oct 12 : A day after Anupam Kher was appointed Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), its students' association has drawn the veteran actor's attention to nine key issues persisting in the iconic Pune-based institution.

"Dear sir, while you must be busy accepting congratulatory messages, we would also like to bring to your attention the issues persisting in the iconic institute that you will be heading as Chairman. Also, we are curious to know your take on these issues," read an open letter from the students' association.

The letter, signed by Robin Joy and Rohit Kumar, President and General Secretary, respectively, of the Students' Association, was posted on FTII Wisdom Tree's Facebook page on Thursday.

They are concerned that FTII, a premier film institute, is now "slowly being turned into an institute that runs short-term crash courses for generation of funds".

"The new course launched earlier this month, 'Short Course in Fiction Writing for Television', has a duration of 20 days. Every student is being charged Rs 20,000, which we find very expensive for such a short-term course and also for students from certain sections of the society.

"A government institute that exists to provide education to students from all section shouldn't be driven by the agenda of funds generation, which currently seems to be the aim of these courses which has also been the case with government-run institute/universities across then nation," the letter read.

They said that instead of spending "lavish amount of money" on events such as Open Day and Foundation Day, the administration needs to spend on infrastructure and in buying and repairing equipment which would help them finish their projects on time.

In extension of this issue, the letter drew attention to how "students are being forced to sign undertakings to finish their courses 'on time'. On the other hand, the administration is not providing the necessary resources which are essential to finish their projects on time."

Additionally, they have problems with the new syllabus.

"It has its issues like workshops and classes being cut down from the syllabus during the course of the semester arbitrarily, confusion existing even among faculties on the new credit-based system."

The students also pointed to how "limitations have been brought into exercise norms as part of the new syllabus".

Citing the norms brought in place for dialogue exercise in third semester, the letter said: "These limitations are logistically not feasible, like the three-day eight-hour shift has been reduced to a two-day twelve-hour shift which would be exhausting and also inhuman to force the lightmen, carpenters, painters and make-up artists and actors to work at such a stretch."

According to the letter, when students questioned this new change in norm, they were told the norms would remain the same and when it was decided that the students would boycott the exercise, "five students were suspended without any show cause notice".

The students even said that the lightmen "have been reduced to contractual labour although in the past they used to be permanent employees".

"The institute runs five-days-a-week. However, there are enough instances when they had worked for six or seven days in a week. In case of the sixth day, at times, the lightmen are not paid currently."

Besides that, the students have sought more permanent faculties than contractual ones.

"The institute does not have enough number of faculties to run the courses and, because of this, implementation of syllabus is getting affected."

Also, they said that excluding the student representatives from the Academic Council discussions pertaining to issues such as academics, syllabus, discipline, fee structure, decision about staff members and faculties, is against the constitution of the institute.

The last issue raised in the letter reads: "FTII has been producing filmmakers who are working at various platforms. Some choose not to work in industry and others find alternate ways. But students at various instances have been asked to look at the industry practice where cinema is just being looked at as a commodity and not as an art form which serves the larger human cause."
London, Oct 12 : British IS recruiter Sally-Anne Jones, nicknamed the "White Widow", has been killed in a US drone strike, a media report said.

Jones was said to have been killed in June in a US strike close to the border between Syria and Iraq, the Sun newspaper reported citing CIA officials.

Previously a punk musician, Jones was the world's most wanted female terrorist for more than three years.

Muslim convert Jones fled to Syria from Kent in 2013 and married computer hacker Junaid Hussain, an IS fighter from Birmingham, and took her then 11-year-old son, Joe Dixon, with her.

A Whitehall source told the Sun: "The Americans zapped her trying to get away from Raqqa. Quite frankly, it's good riddance."

CIA officials told their UK counterparts that a US Air Force Predator killed 50-year-old Jones. But news of the death was kept quiet over fears her son might have also been killed in the strike.

It is not known if her son was with her, the newspaper said.

Reports said Jones was last seen alive fleeing the carnage in Raqqa and heading towards the Syrian border town of Mayadin.

Jones regularly used her son as a human shield, the report said.

Jones was called the "White Widow" after her husband Hussain was killed by a drone in 2015.

Jones used to recruit Western girls to the group and posted threatening messages to Christians in the UK. She used her Twitter account to provide practical advice on how to travel to Syria.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron will be present at the founding ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) due to take place here on December 8, the government said on Thursday.

The institutionalisation of the Gurugram-headquartered ISA, an Indo-French initiative started in 2015 as an inter-governmental agency, will be the highlight of the second global renewable energy investors meet and expo -- RE-INVEST 2017 -- to be organised here by the New and Renewable Energy Ministry over December 7 to 9, Power Minister R.K. Singh told reporters here.

The formal founding of the ISA follows ratification of membership by the minimum 15 member states, for the body which has a prospective membership of 125 countries.

The Pacific island Kiribati on Thursday became the 41st member to join the ISA, with a government minister from the country signing the accession papers here at the event.

Around 125 ministerial delegations are expected to attend RE-INVEST 2017, where the government aims to leverage India's unique position as both a major consumer and manufacturer of renewable energy to attract investment.

The conference-cum-exhibition plans to consolidate on the gains of the previous one which yielded investment commitments of Rs 4 lakh crore for creating clean energy capacity of 78,000 MW, officials here said.

The Indian government has set a target of 175 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity by 2022.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday said the Governors of states have a crucial role to play in realising the dream of 'New India by 2022.

Inaugurating the 48th Conference of Governors at Rashtrapati Bhavan here, Kovind said critical milestones and national goals have been set in the context of the completion of 75 years of independence in 2022.

To ensure that 'Team India' advances "unitedly" to achieve these national goals, Governors should inspire and connect all relevant stakeholders in their respective states.

"The Government of India has resolved to build a society that is safe and secure, prosperous, ensures opportunity for all, and is a leader in science and technology," Kovind said stressing that the time-frame for all this is just five years.

"Given the magnitude of this task, it is necessary that the entire country works unitedly and is on the same page.

"The five years from 2017 to 2022 are devoted to the creation of New India, one that is free of corruption, poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and unhygienic conditions," he said.

Twenty-seven state Governors and three Lt. Governors from the Union Territories (UTs) are taking part in the two-day Conference.

Besides, the Administrators of the UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep are also attending the two-day event as special invitees.

The President said that being an intrinsic part of the legislative system in their states, Governors could provide a new dimension to the development of their states by communicating with legislators, and inviting them to Raj Bhavan to deliberate on subjects related to public well-being.

He said the conference is a platform for the Governors and Lt. Governors to discuss important issues and share their experiences.

Kovind underlined that the obligation of the Governors to preserve and uphold the Constitution and commit themselves to the service and welfare of the people is even more pronounced in the current paradigm of cooperative federalism.

Kovind said that by establishing communication with university Chancellors and Vice Chancellors, academicians, social workers, Governors could help raise the quality of discussion and debate and provide an impetus to society and the state government.

He said the dream of a developed India will be realised only when every state develops.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also participated in the inaugural session.
Mumbai, Oct 12 : Actors Anshuman Jha and Sharib Hashmi have been roped in to star in an upcoming film titled "Ishwar".

Set in Allahabad, the film is a modern-day adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet".

Anshuman, best known for his roles in films like "Love Sex Aur Dhokha", "Bakrapur" and "Chauranga", will play the title role of a lover.

Sharib of "Phullu" fame will essay the character of local young political Kingpin. The name of the actress for Juliet's part has been kept a secret.

Anshuman, who was born in Allahabad, will be visiting his birthplace after almost 20 years to shoot this film. He is "excited".

"'Romeo and Juliet' is one of Shakespeare's best work. And last I had done an adaptation of it in a school play. To be part of a film adaptation, and that too in Allahabad, is very special for me. Sometimes you don't choose films, they choose you," Anshuman said in a statement.

The film will be directed by popular filmmaker Imtiaz Ali's associate Pradeep Singrole and will be backed by India E Commerce Ltd.

"Anshuman is probably the most talented young actor amd the most under-used actor of this generation. My adaptation focuses on the tension and rivalry between Romeo and Tybalt (characters from 'Romeo and Juliet')," Singrole said.

"It's set in the northern heartland of India with the backdrop of the timeless love story between the shy righteous Ishwar and the innocent Isha," Singrole added.

The film will go on floors on October 18.
New York, Oct 12 : Frequent spats with North Korea and a "reckless" attitude displayed by US President Donald Trump have prompted the fear of a World War III among most Americans, a survey has revealed.

Led by researchers at Chapman University in the US, the "Survey of American Fears 2017" showed that the fright of a menacing world war looms large.

It is also a new entrant into the list of "Top 10 fears" since the first survey was conducted in 2014.

"Americans need to unlearn 'Duck and Cover' and replace it with 'Get inside. Stay Inside. Stay Tuned'," said Ann Gordon, Director at the university's Henley Lab.

"Duck and Cover" that 70 per cent of Americans are familiar with came up during the Cold War with the USSR, which is now "obsolete", Gordon said.

This fear was corroborated by Republican Senator Bob Corker earlier this week.

Corker had warned that Trump was treating his office like "a reality show" with reckless threats toward other countries that could set the nation "on the path to World War III", the New York Times reported on Monday.

The survey showed that 48 per cent of Americans fear North Korea using nuclear weapons and 41 per cent fear a nuclear attack. The prospect of a nuclear meltdown troubles 31 per cent of all Americans.

Concern and fears about the environment, which had never cracked the Top 10 fears in any previous surveys, also figured more prominently in the 2017 edition.

Environment fears included pollution of oceans, rivers and lakes (53.1 per cent), closely followed by pollution of drinking water (50.4 per cent), global warming and climate change (48 per cent) and air pollution (44.9 per cent).

Following the reversal of the environmental policies of the previous Barack Obama administration by Trump, the researchers felt these green fears grew.

Trump, who had called the Climate Change a "hoax", earlier had pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement on curbing global warming.

Three out of five Americans reported fear of Islamic extremists/Jihadists as a threat to national security. White supremacists featured as a threat to national security among 51 per cent.

For the survey, the team included more than 1,207 adults from across the nation and all walks of life.

The 2017 survey data is organised into four basic categories: personal fears, natural disasters, paranormal fears and fear of extremism.
VANCOUVER, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ashanti Gold Corp. (Ashanti or AGZ or the Company) - (TSXV:AGZ) is pleased to provide an update at its Anumso project (the Project) and announce exciting new target discoveries made from its recently completed and assayed soil grab samples. Ashantis new soil sample results, testing previously underexplored areas, have encountered multiple parallel mineralized zones which are in aggregate up to 480m in wide in certain areas of the mineralization on the Project. Ashanti is set to apply its analysis of this new data to guide further exploration on the Project by trenching and drilling. Additionally, preliminary metallurgical test work on Anumso material show very encouraging results with high levels of gold recovery.

Figures accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3f74dc64-d4c1-4739-9159-1cc61a2edcc6

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/69762dce-ec03-45b8-8aff-d202419847fb

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/20d5337a-d991-4fd9-ad50-f669e3b6ae42

Tim McCutcheon, CEO, commented: New opportunities for gold mineralization and the understanding that the material at Anumso has favorable gold recovery characteristics is great news for the Company.

Soil Sample Program Identifies New Target Zones at Anumso

A soil sampling program consisting of approximately 1200 samples collected at 20m intervals along lines 200m apart along 10.3 km of strike exposure of Banket conglomerate was conducted in August to September, 2017. This program revealed multiple mineralized zones of mineralized Banket conglomerate (Figures 1 and 2). These zones are reflected in soil samples containing in excess of 30 ppb Au with 24 samples containing more than 100 ppb Au. Additionally, the most prolific portion of mineralized stratigraphy was not tested with drill holes historically and the strongest gold in soil results on several sample lines have never been tested in the subsurface (Figure 3) with any drill holes.

Figure 1. Map of the Anumso Mining Lease showing the location of soil sample lines and gold values for each sample. Results indicate the presence of multiple lines of mineralization over aggregate widths of up to 480 m rather than a single stratigraphic unit that hosts gold.

Figure 2. Detail map of soil sample lines with multiple lines of anomalous samples.



Figure 3. Detailed view of orientation soil line across the mineralized zone previously tested with historic drill holes. The gold values in soil samples exceed 100 ppb over a width of >70m in an area untested by historic drilling for >200m along strike. Note other lines of anomalism which remain to be drill tested.



Preliminary Metallurgical Test Work for Anumso Mineralized Material

The Company is very pleased to announce positive results for initial metallurgical studies on oxidized and unoxidized mineralized samples from Anumso. Samples were shipped to Blue Coast Research in Parksville, B.C. Canada for grindability and gold recovery tests. Two composite samples consisting of 41 kg of oxidized material grading 1.07 g/t Au and 158 kg of unoxidized material grading 1.46 g/t Au were submitted for tests to determine grindability, gravity recovery, and cyanide leach recovery of gold. Basic cyanidation testwork was conducted on six additional variability composites that ranged in grade from 0.29 g/t to 5.36 g/t.

Cyanidation tests were conducted as standard 48 hour bottle roll tests. During these tests 1000 grams of sample was added to a bottle along with water to 40% solids. Sodium cyanide (NaCN) was added according to the test protocols, generally at 1.0 g/L of solution. Kinetic checks were conducted after 2, 6, 24 and 48 hours to measure gold recovery and reagent consumption.

Results are very encouraging. Bond Ball Mill Work Index tests indicate the oxidized and unoxidized material is soft to moderately hard (Table 1). Excellent gold recovery by cyanidation (Table 2) was observed. An initial Extended Gravity Recoverable Gold (EGRG) test was conducted on the unoxidized composite which indicates that up to 72.9% of the gold may be recoverable by gravity methods. These are initial tests and further work to optimize process conditions and evaluate variability is planned.

TABLE 1 Results from Bond Ball Mill Work Index Tests Sample kWh/tonne oxidized 6.3 unoxidized 12.5





TABLE 2 Bottle Roll Au Recovery for 21 Runs (Oxidized and Unoxidized)* Au Recovery (%) Run Composite 2 hr 6 hr 24 hr 48 hr CN-1 Unoxidized MC 21.0 45.2 87.8 93.0 CN-2 Unoxidized MC 22.4 54.3 90.7 95.1 CN-3 Unoxidized MC 19.0 43.2 93.4 97.7 CN-4 Unoxidized MC 25.1 56.0 91.5 96.3 CN-5 Oxide Composite 45.2 76.4 93.0 98.6 CN-6 Oxide Composite 45.1 77.0 90.7 96.1 CN-7 Oxide Composite 45.1 80.9 94.4 98.8 CN-8 Oxide Comp 36.7 71.1 94.2 98.6 CN-9 Unoxidized MC 4.2 23.1 76.5 86.5 CN-3 Unoxidized MC 19.0 43.2 93.4 97.7 CN-10 Unoxidized MC 16.9 54.0 95.8 97.7 CN-11 Unoxidized MC 42.2 78.7 91.6 93.7 CN-12 Oxide Composite 16.6 62.7 95.5 96.5 CN-7 Oxide Composite 45.1 80.9 94.4 98.8 CN-13 Oxide Composite 39.2 79.1 94.6 95.3 CN-14 Oxide Composite 74.7 83.7 93.4 94.0 CN-15 MC - EGRG Pass 3 Tails 39.7 64.3 94.2 94.0 CN-16 Var-1 8.2 24.9 89.3 98.5 CN-17 Var-2 47.2 88.4 96.4 97.5 CN-18 Var-3 37.7 69.5 95.4 97.3 CN-19 Var-4 17.7 34.9 83.2 96.2 CN-20 Var-5 11.5 28.8 91.5 99.6 CN-21 Var-6 6.7 18.4 70.4 99.1 *Data provided by Blue Coast Research

ABOUT ASHANTI GOLD

Ashanti is a gold-focused, exploration and development company that targets projects where it has a competitive advantage due to past work experience of the team and specific project know-how. The Company is driving forward its 100%-owned Kossanto East project in Mali on the prolific Kenieba Belt of Mali, which hosts such deposits as Loulo, Fekola and Sadiola. Ashanti is also working to advance, together with its earn-in partners, the Anumso project and the Ashanti Belt project in Ghana, which are near-adjacent to the Akyem deposit.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

ASHANTI GOLD CORP.

"Tim McCutcheon"

Tim McCutcheon

CEO

For further information, please contact:

Ashanti Gold Corp.

2300  1177 West Hastings Street

Vancouver BC, V6E 2K3

Phone: 604-638-3847

Qualified Person and Quality Control/Quality Assurance

Dr. Paul Klipfel, CPG (AIPG certification #10821), Ashantis COO and Chief Geologist is a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian NI 43-101 and has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Dr. Klipfel is responsible for all aspects of the work including the Quality Control/Quality Assurance programs. Dr. Klipfel is not an Independent Person, as he is a shareholder of Ashanti.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking 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.

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement, timing and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including TSXV acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that Governors can become catalytic agents of change in society and urged them to lead by example in the cause of cleanliness.

Addressing the opening session of the 'Conference of Governors' at Rashtrapati Bhawan here, Modi said the target of "New India" by 2022 can be achieved only by making it a people's movement.

He encouraged Governors to interact at length with students and teachers in this regard.

All Governors can become catalytic agents of change in society, while upholding the sanctity of the Constitution, Modi said, according to an official release.

The Prime Minister also said that festivals and anniversaries can be great motivators and energisers in the quest for change.

He said that Governors can motivate banks to give loans under Mudra scheme to tribals, Dalits and women, especially in the period between Constitution Day on November 26 and Ambedkar Mahaparinirvana Diwas on December 6.

Citing the example of "Hackathon" conducted by the Union Government where students had proposed technology solutions to several problems, Modi said the universities should be centres of innovation.

In the same vein, he said youth in every state must focus on one sport.

Encouraging Governors to lead by example in the cause of cleanliness, he noted that Mahatma Gandhi, whose 150th birth anniversary will be celebrated in 2019, is a source of inspiration in the work towards an Open Defecation Free India.

The Prime Minister encouraged Lt. Governors of union territories to share the best practices being adopted by them in areas such as solar energy, Direct Benefit Transfer, and making UTs kerosene-free.

He said these achievements must be extended across all UTs speedily.
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 12 : The Congress high command on Thursday directed its party workers in Kerala not to make any public utterances on the solar scam, a day after the Pinarayi Vijayan government decided to initiate a criminal and vigilance probe against former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and others in the Rs 7 million case.

The party high command has asked its senior leaders including Chandy, State Congress president M.M. Hassan, Leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala and V.M. Sudheeran to reach Delhi for a meeting with party Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Friday afternoon.

The Congress party in Kerala over the years has been headed by factional leaders -- with the current and majority faction led by Chandy and the other by Chennithala.

In the solar scam, a majority of those to be proceeded against belong to the Chandy faction.

Based on the legal opinion that the state government received in the solar scam judicial probe report, Vijayan on Wednesday said criminal, corruption and even a rape case against Chandy, former ministers Aryadan Mohammed, Adoor Prakash, A.P. Anil Kumar and Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan would be registered.

The others named in the case are legislator Hibi Eden, former MLAs Benny Behanan, P.C. Vishnunath, Thampanoor Ravi, Lok Sabha members Jose K. Mani and K.C. Venugopal, former union minister Palanimanickam and party office bearer N. Subramanian.

All those named in the case belong to the Congress, except for Jose K. Mani of the Kerala Congress (Mani).

Meanwhile, Chandy in his Facebook post on Thursday said the judicial probe was based on a set of terms of reference and it appears there has been a deviation from that.

"Since the report is still not available in the public domain, vindictive actions based on the report have started to tarnish people. We have through the RTI sought a copy of the report and once that is received, further action would be taken," said Chandy.

Addressing reporters in Kottayam on Thursday, Radhakrishnan termed the state government's move as nothing but political vendetta.

State Police chief Loknath Behra told reporters here that once he gets the official order, by Friday, the probe would begin.

The allegations regarding the multi-crore solar energy investment fraud that rocked the Chandy government in 2013 were led by Saritha Nair and her live-in partner Biju Radhakrishnan. Nair had alleged she was sexually exploited by several political leaders.

The probe decision was announced by Vijayan after the weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, based on the recommendations of the Solar Scam Commission report submitted by Justice (retd) G. Sivarajan in September.

A Special Investigation Team led by Director General of Police Rajesh Diwan has been set up to investigate the cases.

The case broke out in June 2013 during Chandy's rule (2011-16) after reports surfaced that three staffers in the Chief Minister's Office had contacts with a couple who cheated many investors of money after promising to supply solar panels to them.
Islamabad, Oct 12 : The Pakistan Army on Thursday said it had rescued a family of foreign hostages held by a militant outfit "safe and sound" after it acted on intelligence shared by the US.

An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said the hostages were a Canadian, his American wife, and their three children. The hostages were rescued "through an intelligence-based operation by Pakistani troops and the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence)."

"They were captured by terrorists from Afghanistan in 2012 and kept as hostages there," the ISPR said.

"US intelligence agencies had been tracking them and shared their shifting across to Pakistan on October 11, 2017, through the Kurram Agency border," the ISPR said.

The rescued hostages "are being repatriated to their country of origin", it added.

Although the identities of the rescued hostages have not yet been revealed or confirmed by the army's media wing, they are believed to be Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman, kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 while on a backpacking trip, and their three children -- all of whom were born in captivity.

Coleman, 31, was pregnant at the time of abduction. A video released by the Taliban last year had showed the family, including two young boys.

"The success (of the operation) underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan's continued commitment towards fighting this menace [of terrorism] through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy," the army said.
Nanded (Maharashtra), Oct 12 : The Congress on Thursday bagged the prestigious Nanded-Waghala City Municipal Corporation (NWCMC), bagging a staggering 67 of the 73 seats in the 81-seat body and crushing the opposition.

The Congress was expected to win a few more seats as it led in another five seats in the NWCMC, a stronghold of Maharashtra party chief Ashok Chavan. Elections to the civic body were held on Wednesday.

The Congress not only retained the civic body but also hugely improved its tally compared to 2012 when it secured 41 seats, proving a major morale-booster for the party reeling under a saffron onslaught.

"The return journey for the Congress in Maharashtra has begun in Nanded. The Congress wipes out BJP," an elated Chavan tweeted. He said the Congress tally could cross 70.

He said the people of Nanded had "reposed full faith" in the developmental agenda of the Congress and deserved credit for its victory.

The opposition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged four seats while its ruling ally in the centre and the state, Shiv Sena, got just a single seats. An independent candidate also got one seat.

Another prominent contender, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), was overwhelmed by the Congress juggernaut and finally lost the race in this famed Sikh pilgrimage centre.

Sitting on 11 seats in the outgoing house, the AIMIM claimed to have the support of the minority and Dalit voters. This had worried the Congress.

Similarly, the Congress' ally, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), failed to secure a single seat, a State Election Commission (SEC) official said.

In 2012, the Congress bagged 41 seats, Shiv Sena 14, AIMIM 11, NCP 10, BJP two while independents notched three seats.

The 2017 elections outcome proved a huge setback to the Sena, NCP and AIMIM though some BJP leaders claimed the party which held two seats earlier (2012) had doubled its performance by capturing four seats.

Another NDA ally, Maharashtra Swabhiman Party President Narayan Rane, minced no words in criticizing the BJP-Sena saying they should do "serious introspection and soul-searching" in the wake of the Nanded result.

"The Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) and Shiv Sena President (Uddhav Thackeray) personally held so many election rallies. And this is what they got? Their leadership must carry out a serious introspection and soul-searching."

Congress activists celebrated in Nanded, Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra.

Both the Congress and the BJP had made it a battle of prestige to wrest control of the civic body in the historical town renowned for the Hazoor Sahib Gurudwara, one of the five holy Sikh Takhts and the resting place of Guru Gobind Singh.

For the first time in Maharashtra, the SEC deployed VVPAT (voter verified paper audit trail) voting machines in 31 polling centres in Ward No 2 as a pilot project in the elections which recorded a 65 per cent turnout.
Patna, Oct 12 : Hundreds of supporters of the Rashtriya Janata Dal holding a protest in the state capital against the Rs 1,000-crore Srijan scam in Bihar were lathi-charged by police when they tried to march to Raj Bhavan here, police said.

The RJD's Yuva Morcha leaders and workers held the protest at Gardanibagh but later tried to march to the Raj Bhavan to meet Governor Satya Pal Malik to submit a memorandum on their demand for an impartial probe into the scam.

"As they were stopped, a group of RJD leaders and workers tried to break through the police barricades to march on to the Raj Bhavan, but police lathi-charged them and used water canons to disperse them," a district police official said.

RJD Spokesperson Shakti Yadav said police used force against party leaders and workers who were "protesting peacefully" against the scam.

"The government of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is hell-bent on suppressing protests against the Srijan scam to protect senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi," he alleged.

Yadav, who is an RJD legislator, said his party will not sit silent on the scam and would intensify its protests across the state to expose the "double standards" of Nitish Kumar on the issue of corruption.

The RJD has been demanding a Supreme Court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the Srijan scam as it claimed that an impartial investigation by police was not possible.

So far, more than two dozen FIRs have been lodged and over 20 accused arrested by the Bihar Police's Special Investigation Team, which probed the scam following Nitish Kumar's orders.

The Srijan scam involves Bhagalpur-based NGO Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Ltd, which used to provide vocational training to women. The NGO allegedly pilfered funds meant for government welfare schemes from the bank accounts of the Bhagalpur district administration.

When the government funds were allegedly transferred to private accounts between 2005 and 2013, Sushil Kumar Modi was the state Finance Minister and Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister, the RJD has pointed out.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : A senior Kashmiri separatist leader and a businessman arrested on charges of receiving funds from Pakistan to sponsor terrorist activities and stone-pelting in Jammu and Kashmir have moved the court for bail, court sources said on Thursday.

Kashmiri separatist leader Nayeem Khan moved his bail plea last week while businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali moved his bail plea on Monday, the sources said.

The court will hear Khan's bail plea on Friday and Watali's on October 17.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will file respond to the bail plea of Khan on October 13 before District Judge Poonam Bamba.

Both the accused are in judicial custody till October 17.

On July 24, the NIA arrested seven Kashmiri separatists -- Aftab Hilali Shah alias Shahid-ul-Islam, Ayaz Akbar Khandey, Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate, Nayeem Khan, Altaf Ahmad Shah, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal and Bashir Ahmad Bhat alias Peer Saifullah.

Arrested in mid-August, Watali is accused of acting as a conduit for channelling funds for separatists and terror activities in the Kashmir Valley.

He was allegedly collecting funds from Pakistan and banned terrorist organisations and transferring them to Hurriyat leaders.

Watali is known to be friends with Pakistani leaders as well as Kashmiri separatists besides the mainstream politicians in Jammu and Kashmir, the NIA said.

They were booked on charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against India.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Thursday announced a big rally on November 11 in Thiruvananthapuram to protest the "cold blooded murders" in Kerala it alleged were being committed by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)- affiliated students wing said that it expects to see nearly 25,000 students at the rally.

Addressing reporters here, Vinay Bidre, National General Secretary of ABVP, said that in last one year alone the state has seen killings of 14 "nationalist workers".

"It is not just the Sangh activists but even ordinary people are also in fear of the communists (CPI-M) in the state. We agree that there will be ideological differences but the communists have become expert in murdering people in the name of ideology," Bidre said.

The group claimed that in Kannur district alone five Sangh activists have been murdered since Pinarayi Vijayan came to power in May last year.

Kerala State Secretary Shyam Raj told the media about the "one party, one ideology" rule prevalent in the state. He said that the student wing of CPI-M, Students' Federation of India (SFI), doesn't allow any other group to put its posters in any of the colleges campuses, including those belonging to other left parties.

"The communists here in Delhi demand for such evil things as freedom to raise anti-national slogans in the name of freedom of expression. While there in Kerala we do not even have the right to life. The rally is to claim this right to life," ABVP leader Saket Bahuguna said.

However, the communist party has also levelled similar charges against the Sangh and allied groups for the killings of its workers.
Birchandra Manu (Tripura), Oct 12 : The BJP-led central government is trying to push their Hindutva agenda to divert people's attention from their failed economic policies and mis-governance, CPI-M leader Prakash Karat said here on Thursday.

"People are rejecting the anti-people economic policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government. The Narendra Modi government has miserably failed to govern the country. Hence, it is trying to divert people's mind with the Hindutva agenda," Karat said while addressing a public gathering here.

"The BJP and RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) have been fomenting communal trouble in Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal and other places. They are targeting the Left parties, especially the CPI-M, as it is the only party successfully fighting against the wrong economic policies and mis-governance."

The public meeting was organised to observe the 30th Martyrs' Day on Thursday to commemorate the massacre of 12 Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders and two of their security personnel on October 12, 1988 in southern Tripura's Birchandra Manu, 85 km south of Tripura's capital city Agartala.

Karat said the BJP government's economic and other policies were against workers, labourers, employees, Dalits, farmers, tribals, youth and women.

"If BJP remains in power, they will completely destroy the future of the youth. BJP had pledged to create two crore new jobs for the youth, but in the entire three-and-a-half years only 150,000 new jobs have been given, mostly in private sector."

Terming the RSS as anti-national, the Left leader said during the freedom movement RSS' main enemies were Communists and Muslims as their aim was to establish a Hindu Rashtra.

Karat said from November 3, party workers from across the country would hold sit-in demonstrations in Delhi for three days to highlight the BJP's anti-worker policies and governance.

CPI-M Politburo member and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar in his address said suicides by farmers had increased by 40 to 42 per cent in the three-and-a-half year rule of the Modi government.

He said: "The people of Independent India have never seen such an anti-people and dictatorial government in the country. This is the opportune time to overthrow them and install an alternative governance in the country."
Washington, Oct 12 : The US on Thursday said it is pulling out of the UN's cultural organisation Unesco, accusing it of an "anti-Israel" bias.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement that the US would be pulling out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation by the end of the year.

"This decision was not taken lightly and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at Unesco, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation and continuing anti-Israel bias at Unesco," Nauert said.

The State Department said it plans to "remain engaged" with the organisation as a non-member.

The Department said it would establish an observer mission at the Paris-based organisation to replace its representation.

Unesco said the withdrawal was a loss to the "UN family" and to multilateralism.

The agency is known for designating world heritage sites such as Syria's Palmyra and the US Grand Canyon.

This isn't the first time the US has pulled out of Unesco. Former President Ronald Reagan withdrew the US from the organisation in 1984, and former President George W. Bush rejoined the cultural group in 2002.
Islamabad, Oct 12 : A provincial government in Pakistan on Thursday suspended 140 doctors for being absent and showing negligence in performing their duties, officials said.

Show-cause notices were also issued to 180 doctors in various hospitals of Balochistan province, provincial health secretary Asmatullah Kakar told Dawn.

The doctors had remained absent for a long time and failed to turn up for their duties despite repeated notices, he said. Most of the suspended doctors were posted in remote districts of the province.

Kakar said seven cases for termination of senior doctors and 45 cases for determining penalties have been forwarded to the chief secretary for further action.

Despite the government allocating more than Rs 25 billion for healthcare in the ongoing financial year, the health sector in the southern province paints a bleak picture.

The provincial health department recently came under scrutiny after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) launched an investigation into the wrongful purchase of medicines worth millions of rupees.

The NAB has arrested several senior officers of the health department to probe charges of embezzlement in connection with the case.
MEMPHIS, Tenn., Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AutoZone, Inc., (NYSE:AZO), the leading retailer and a leading distributor of automotive parts and accessories, has signed on as a national corporate sponsor of TechForce Foundations FutureTech SuccessSM campaign, an industry-wide initiative to fuel the future pipeline of transportation technicians by repositioning the image of the profession and providing middle- and high-school students and their parents with the resources and opportunities to foster hands-on, tactile intelligence.

Since its creation, the initiative has rallied the support of many corporate and association partners, the latest being AutoZone, which, in addition to its retail operation, has an extensive commercial sales program that provides commercial credit and prompt delivery of parts and other products to local, regional and national repair garages, dealers, service stations, and public sector accounts.

We are proud and eager to build the FutureTech Success campaign with the TechForce Foundation and fellow sponsors, explains Mitch Major, Vice President, Commercial Support, AutoZone and President, ALLDATA. We appreciate their vision and strategic leadership in engaging young people in communities across the U.S. in the automotive industry.

Since 2011, AutoZone has been a generous benefactor of the Foundation, funding scholarships and grants for students pursuing a technical education. The investment in FutureTech Success demonstrates the long-term commitment to students development and careers.

FutureTech Success seeks to inform and inspire young people who have the aptitude to thrive in the field of transportation tech, empowering them to pursue greatness in a career they may have never before considered. There are many individuals with the talent and passion perfectly tailored to careers as technicians, and the industry is in need of every last one of them it can get.

We so strongly believe this initiative has the potential to revolutionize the industry, but it can only do so with the right tools and support, expresses Jennifer Maher, CEO, TechForce Foundation. By signing on as a sponsor of FutureTech Success, AutoZone is providing a vital component of that support to ensure the success of the initiative, as well as declaring a commitment to the industrys future.

TechForce Foundation and AutoZone look forward to the impact this partnership will have on both the industry itself, and the lives of the FutureTechs who will help it thrive.

About TechForce Foundation

TechForce Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3), with the mission to champion students to and through their technical education and into careers as professional technicians for the transportation industry. TechForce Foundation awards more than $1 million in scholarships and grants annually to students facing financial hardship so they may obtain their post-secondary technical education. Additionally, TechForce leads the FutureTech Success campaign, an industry-wide initiative to drive tomorrows workforce of technicians by inspiring, supporting and connecting middle- and high-school students and their influencers with the resources to support their technical education and career development. For more information, visit www.techforcefoundation.org.

About AutoZone (NYSE:AZO)

As of August 26, 2017 AutoZone sells auto and light truck parts, chemicals and accessories through 5,465 AutoZone stores in 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico in the U.S., and 524 stores in Mexico, 26 IMC branches and 14 stores in Brazil for a total count of 6,029.

AutoZone is the leading retailer and a leading distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States. Each AutoZone store carries an extensive product line for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Many stores also have a commercial sales program that provides commercial credit and prompt delivery of parts and other products to local, regional and national repair garages, dealers, service stations, and public sector accounts. IMC branches carry an extensive line of original equipment quality import replacement parts. AutoZone also sells the ALLDATA brand diagnostic and repair software through www.alldata.com. Additionally, we sell automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products through www.autozone.com, and accessories, performance and replacement parts through www.autoanything.com, and our commercial customers can make purchases through www.autozonepro.com and www.imcparts.net. AutoZone does not derive revenue from automotive repair or installation.

AutoZone Contact Information:



Media: Ray Pohlman

866.966.3017

ray.pohlman@autozone.com



Financial: Brian Campbell

901.495.7005

brian.campbell@autozone.com




New Delhi, Oct 12 : With three Left parties in Nepal forming a surprise alliance ahead of provincial and federal parliamentary elections, India on Thursday said it was only for peace, stability and prosperity of Nepal.

"It would not be appropriate for me to comment on Nepal's internal matter," Ravish Kumar, spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry, said in response to a question at his weekly media briefing here.

"India has an abiding interest in peace, stability and economic prosperity of Nepal, within the framework of a democratic and inclusive polity in Nepal," he said.

"As a close and friendly neighbour of Nepal, India will continue to extend all possible support to Nepal for peace, stability and accelerated economic development in accordance with the priorities of the people and government of Nepal."

On October 3, CPN-UML Chairman K.P. Sharma Oli, CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" and Naya Shakti Party-Nepal Coordinator Babu Ram Bhattarai signed a six-point agreement announcing a broader electoral alliance.

The Left leaders hailed the development as a "milestone" in Nepali politics and the beginning of a progressive alliance that would unify other Leftist and democratic forces that advocate change.
Kolkata, Oct 12 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said as many as 24 people died due to dengue in the state in the last seven to eight months.

"In the last 7-8 months as many as 30 people died due to dengue in West Bengal. Of them, 14 died in the very recent months... some are not verified and so the death toll would be 24. But we feel even death of one person is bad," she told reporters.

A high-level meeting was held at the State Secretariat with officials from various departments, including Health, Municipal Affairs, Panchayat and others, to take stock of the situation.

Banerjee said the Central government offices don't allow municipal corporations to clean their premises, nor do they clean the area themselves.

"I will appeal to them - be it BSF, CISF, Civil Aviation or Railways - that they should allow corporations to clean their premises," she said.

She also accused some private laboratories of misguiding patients and creating panic among them.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : A joint field training exercise on flood rescue was conducted at the Yamuna Barrage in Wazirabad on Thursday as part of the first Bay of Bengal Initiative For Multi- Sectoral Technical and Economic Corporation (BIMSTEC) Disaster Management Exercise - 2017.

Delegates and rescue teams of all the seven BIMSTEC member nations -- Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal-- participated in the exercise.

Considering the huge impact of the flood disaster, the BIMSTEC member countries had offered assistance to India for the flood relief and evacuation of the needy, as per a statement from the Home Ministry.

Yamuna Barrage was simulated into an urban colony, depicting flooded localities and houses with marooned people in order to bring it a feel of real disaster scenario.

"Rescue teams of all BIMSTEC member countries demonstrated their excellent professional skills in successful rescue of stranded flood affected people," said the statement.

The demonstrations also included latest flood rescue gadgets and equipment, relief activities such as providing medical care, distribution of food packets, use of helicopter to demonstrate airborne rescue, use of various improvised rafts made by using local available resources.

Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh will be chief guest at the valedictory session of the exercise on Friday.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will spend this Diwali with soldiers in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, and days later head for the Philippines on her first tour abroad after taking over the present charge.

The Minister will head to the Andaman and Nicobar islands on October 18, and celebrate the Festival of Lights with soldiers at the tri-services command in Port Blair on October 19.

The Minister will visit the Philippines on October 24 and 25 for a "multilateral engagement", informed sources said.

Her visit to the South-East Asian country comes in the wake of its territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.

The Minister has a packed week ahead -- visit to Chennai in Tamil Nadu on October 14, and then Kerala on October 15 for the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'Jan Raksha Yatra'.

On October 16, the Minister will visit the port city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh for the commissioning of an anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kiltan.

The Minister has been touring different defence installations and forward areas in the country ever since she took charge of the defence portfolio on September 6.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday set aside Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) decision holding former Students' Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others guilty of indiscipline in the controversial February 9 event last year.

The court asked the university to decide afresh the issue after allowing the students to inspect the records and hearing them and also directed the appellate authority to pass a reasoned order within six weeks of hearing the students.

Last year the court had stayed the JNU order of disciplinary action against the students.

"... The order (of disciplinary action) is set aside and the matter is remanded back to the Appellate Authority with a direction to grant an opportunity of inspection to the petitioner, the record of the High Level Enquiry Committee for two continuous days during office hours only by notifying the date and time to the petitioner for the same," said the order.

The court said after inspection of records students shall have one week time to file a supplementary appeal, upon which the appellate authority shall give a hearing to them, and by considering the appeal(s) already filed by the students and the supplementary appeal, if any, it will pass a reasoned order as expeditiously as possible preferably within six weeks thereafter.

"Till such time, the order dated April 25, 2016 (the students had been found to be in breach of university regulations) shall not be given effect to. It is also made clear in view of the undertaking given by the petitioners they shall not indulge in any strike or dharna or agitation or coercive action in future in connection with the issue, till such time the proceedings between the parties attain finality," added the court's order.

The court's order came on pleas filed by the JNU students --Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya and others --challenging the findings of the university's appellate authority.

The appellate authority held them guilty of indiscipline in connection with the controversial February 9 event on the campus in which "anti-India" slogans were allegedly raised.

The university had slapped the students with a number of punishments, including rustication, hostel debarment, and financial penalty on the basis of probe by the High Level Enquiry Committee.

While the appellate authority had reduced the fine of some students, for Khalid and Bhattacharya, the punishment remained the same.

A fine was imposed on Kanhaiya, Umar was rusticated for one semester, while Bhattacharya was barred from the university premises for five years.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : A car used by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier was stolen here on Thursday and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) later slammed the Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal for the "poor" law and order situation in the city.

The blue colour WagonR car, registered in the name of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was being used by party's media coordinator Vandana Singh and was stolen from outside the Delhi Secretariat Gate No.3, a police officer said.

An FIR has been registered in connection with the incident.

Later in the day, AAP Chief Spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said "Chief Minister's personal car was stolen today" and added that "there can never be a bigger question mark on the law and order situation (of Delhi)".

Bharadwaj said the Lt. Governor's primary responsibility was to look after the law and order situation of the national capital and check whether the police were doing their duty properly.

He said newspapers were full of reports of thefts and rape in the city and urged the Lt. Governor to make sure that the city became a safe place to live in.

The leader added it would really help the citizens of Delhi if Baijal started concentrating on law and order situation of the city, instead of creating obstacles in the functioning of the Delhi government.

The car had been gifted to Kejriwal by a party supporter. The Chief Minister now uses an official car.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Mandeep Singh Randhawa told IANS: "We have received a complaint regarding theft of a blue colour WagonR car bearing registration number DL9CG9769 from AAP. It was stolen at around 1 p.m. The police are examining the CCTV camera's footage of the secretariat and efforts are on to identify the accused person."
Allahabad, Oct 12 : The Allahabad High Court on Thursday observed that dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar could not be held guilty of killing their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj just because they were present in their house when the murders took place in 2008 -- a verdict that ended a nine-year ordeal of the parents who were found guilty by a court in 2013.

Justices B.K. Narayana and Arvind Kumar Mishra said in their judgment that the circumstantial evidence provided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was insufficient to prove that the Talwars were guilty, giving the couple, serving life terms awarded by a special court, the benefit of doubt.

Stating that the basic legal tenet was that an accused is innocent until proven guilty, the judges said: "The CBI has not provided the court with evidences that prove beyond doubt that they were guilty. In such cases, even the Supreme Court, in the absence of proper facts and proof, doesn't give such harsh punishments.

"The parents cannot be held guilty just because they were present in the house when the murder took place. They should get the benefit of doubt. They are being set free in this case."

The court order also negated the CBI court's observation that since Talwars were the only people present in the house at the time of the murder, the burden of furnishing satisfactory proof of their innocence lay with them.

Following the court order, Aarushi's aunt Vandana Talwar said the 9-year journey since her niece's death was a struggle.

"It was emotionally draining... We are tired. We thank the court for correcting the injustice. The relief by the Allahabad High Court ended the injustice meted out to Rajesh and Nupur. We are happy we can now move forward. At this point, we want to thank all those who did not even know us but supported us - emotionally, physically. Some even supported us financially."

The Talwars, who have been describing their portrayal in the media as a witch-hunt, were accused of killing their daughter after they saw her in a compromising position with Hemraj. The allegation was first made by Uttar Pradesh Police and later repeated by the CBI but there was no no evidence to substantiate the premise.
Washington, Oct 12 : The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it is withdrawing from the UN's cultural organisation Unesco, accusing it of an "anti-Israel" bias.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement that the US would be pulling out of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation by the end of the year.

"This decision was not taken lightly and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at Unesco, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation and continuing anti-Israel bias at Unesco," Nauert said.

While the US announced its decision to withdraw from the group, the Trump administration said it wanted to continue to be engaged with Unesco to provide American perspective and expertise, but as a non-member observer.

Unesco, known for its designation of world heritage sites, is a global development agency with missions that include promoting sex education, literacy, clean water and equality for women.

The Department said it would establish an observer mission at the Paris-based organisation to replace its representation.

Unesco said the withdrawal was a loss to the "UN family" and to multilateralism.

This isn't the first time the US has pulled out of Unesco. Former President Ronald Reagan withdrew the US from the organisation in 1984, and former President George W. Bush rejoined the cultural group in 2002.

The Obama administration cut off funding to Unesco in 2011 as the group admitted Palestinians as full members, which the US saw as undercutting its influence in countries around the world, the New York Times reported.

America lost its vote in the organisation in 2013 because it ended its financial contributions.

In July, Unesco declared the ancient and hotly contested core of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a Palestinian World Heritage Site.
Bengaluru, Oct 12 : Estimating that medical tourism in the country can grow to become a $9 billion industry by 2020, a government official on Thursday said India is among the "fastest growing medical tourism destinations in Asia".

"During the early days of medical tourism, the attention was always given to developed countries," said Rita Teaotia, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce.

"It has now shifted to Asia, and India is among the fastest growing medical tourism destinations in Asia," she said, addressing the third edition of Advantage Healthcare India 2017 summit, being held here by Ficci.

Medical tourism, wherein people travel outside their countries for medical treatment, is estimated to be a $3 billion-worth industry.

Ayurveda, yoga and wellness industry in India set it apart from other medical tourism destinations in the world, the official said.

"Ayurveda has managed to catch the attention of many countries, especially European countries. The government will continue to focus on global acceptance of Ayurveda on the lines of Chinese medicine," she said.

Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary of Department of IT, Biotechnology and Tourism for Karnataka, said: "Karnataka, with direct connectivity to world capitals, and 56 medical colleges, and 19 National Accreditation for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) accredited hospitals, is soon going to come out with a medical and wellness tourism policy."

India can be a $9 billion-worth medical tourism destination by 2020, Gupta said.

According to a recent Ficci report, over 500,000 foreign patients seek treatment in India every year.

The international summit on medical tourism is being organised by Ficci, along with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and its Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC).

The three-day summit has over 700 delegates taking part in it from over 50 countries like the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, among others.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar here on Thursday presented to former President Pranab Mukherjee an anthology of his convocation addresses as the Head of State.

Speaking on the occasion, Javadekar said: "Our former President Pranab Mukherjee has always been our torchbearer. On July 9, on Guru Purnima, he addressed 700 Vice Chancellors from across the country, I thought it calls for a 'guru dakshina'... for the people this compilation is a cogitation on education. It's a philosophy of ideas."

The book, published by the National Book Trust, will be circulated to various higher learning institutes in the country, an official statement said.

Mukherjee said he had always believed that improvement in the quality of higher education with particular emphasis on research and innovation was absolutely necessary if the country was to lead in the field.

He said he had no doubt that under Javadekar's leadership, Indian higher education institutes will become comparable to the best in the world.
NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Sleep Styler system of heat-free hair rollers is now available in select Walmart stores nationwide. The popular hair styling product, previously only available online, can now be purchased in the Mini and Large sizes at Walmart.



The Sleep Styler appeared on ABCs hit show Shark Tank, where Celebrity, Inventor and Entrepreneur Lori Greiner, widely known as the warm-blooded shark and expert in Direct Response Marketing, did a deal with inventor Tara Brown. The Sleep Styler is a heat-free hair roller system, which dries and curls the users hair, while they sleep.

From the moment that I saw The Sleep Styler in action, I knew it was going to be a success, said Greiner. These heat-free hair rollers allow users to cut down styling time in their morning routines, while helping to prevent hair damage caused by heated styling tools. We are thrilled to be offering this product to Walmart shoppers nationwide.

The Sleep Styler was originally created by entrepreneur Tara Brown whose goal was to create a simpler and healthier process for drying and styling hair. It is the only comfortable heat-free, hands-free hairstyling system on the market made of super absorbent microfiber material and a marshmallow soft memory-foam core.

As a working mom who understands the struggle of time constraints while getting ready in the morning, I wanted to design a styling product that not only solved this problem but also gave users an alternative to using damaging heat products, said Brown. Our launch at Walmart will help us give more women the opportunity to feel confident and style their hair without the fear of damaging it.

For more information, visit www.thesleepstyler.com.

About The Sleep Styler

The Sleep Styler is an absorbent, heat-free, lightweight, and ultra-soft hair roller that dries and curls a users hair while they sleep  the first of its kind. The ultra-suede microfiber polishes the hair smooth while the plush memory foam conforms to the head for a comfortable nights sleep. Hair becomes softer and shinier without the use of damaging hot styling tools.

About Allstar Products Group

Allstar Products Group is a leading consumer products company that uses direct response advertising to maximize the potential of innovative, quality products and sustainable brands. Founded in 1999, Allstar Products Group has been directly responsible for some of the most successful consumer products in history. APG employs the foremost experts in direct response marketing, product development and manufacturing, and retail distribution to simultaneously build brands and drive sales.
Patna, Oct 12 : Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha has expressed his pain at not being invited by his alma mater Patna University to its centenary celebration function on October 14 at which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be chief guest.

"Patna University is my alma mater but I was not invited to participate in its centenary celebration. I am yet to receive an invitation. It is really unfortunate," Sinha told media here.

Sinha, popularly known as Bihari Babu, is a BJP MP from Patna Saheb and former student of Patna University. "There should not be any politics during such a historical celebration of an educational institution like Patna University," he said.

Sinha said Patna University is part of his parliamentary constituency too. He said he was a student of the then prestigious Patna Sience College of Patna University. "It is wrong not to invite me due to differences of opinion with the Prime Minister."

He also demanded that Patna University should invite senior BJP leader and former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha to the centenary celebration.

Shatrughan Sinha said Yashwant Sinha and RJD chief Lalu Prasad are both students of Patna University, and are yet to get invitations.

Shatrughan Sinha in series of tweets on Thursday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Patna on Saturday but called the centenary celebrations at Patna University as "tame". He exhorted the Prime Minister to offer a plan for "restoration of the lost glory of Patna University which, he said, was once hailed as "the Oxford of the East".

Sinha in the last two years had questioned and criticised Modi on several occasions and also expressed his differences with him on issues.

Yashwant Sinha was in the news last week for raising the issue of economic slowdown in the country and had blamed the central government for it.

Lalu Prasad, who completed his graduation in political science and LLB from Patna University, is a known critic and a political opponent of Modi. Lalu Prasad was president of the students union of Patna University and played an important role in the student movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan, known as JP in the mid 70s against then powerful Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Nanded (Maharashtra), Oct 12 : The Congress on Thursday retained control over the prestigious Nanded-Waghala City Municipal Corporation (NWCMC), bagging a staggering 69 of the 77 seats in the 81-seat body and decimating the opposition.

The Congress hopes to win a few more seats as counting continued for the remaining four wards in the NWCMC, a stronghold of Maharashtra party chief Ashok Chavan, where elections were held on Wednesday.

The Congress not only retained hold over NWCMC but also hugely improved its tally compared to 2012 when it had secured 41 seats, proving a major morale booster for the party reeling under a saffron onslaught.

"With this one-sided victory in Nanded, the 'comeback' of the Congress and 'return journey' for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra has begun. The Congress has wiped out BJP, after our (Congress) recent victories in Gram Panchayat elections," an elated Chavan told mediapersons.

Attributing the outcome to the people of Nanded, Chavan said they had "reposed full faith" in the developmental agenda of the Congress and rejected the "divisive politics" plus "below-the-belt" campaigning indulged in by BJP leaders.

The opposition led by BJP bagged six seats while its ruling ally in the Centre and the state, Shiv Sena, got just a single seat. An independent candidate also got one seat.

A prominent contender, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), was overwhelmed by the Congress juggernaut and finally lost the race in this famed Sikh pilgrimage centre.

Sitting on 11 seats in the outgoing house, the AIMIM claimed to have the support of the minority and Dalit voters, but the results proved otherwise.

The Congress' ally, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), failed to secure a single seat, a State Election Commission (SEC) official said.

In 2012, the Congress bagged 41 seats, Shiv Sena 14, AIMIM 11, NCP 10, BJP two while independents notched three seats.

The 2017 elections outcome proved a huge setback to the BJP, Shiv Sena, NCP and AIMIM though some optimistic BJP leaders claimed the party which held two seats earlier (2012) had tripled its performance by capturing six seats.

An NDA ally, Maharashtra Swabhiman Party President Narayan Rane, minced no words in criticizing the BJP-Sena for the rout in Nanded.

"The Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) and Shiv Sena President (Uddhav Thackeray) personally held so many election rallies. And this is what they got? Their leadership must carry out a serious introspection and soul searching," Rane said, without taking names.

BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari termed the results as "victory for Ashok Chavan and not the Congress".

Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe hit back saying the outcome was "a result of people's anger against the BJP's policies and a setback to Fadnavis".

Both the Congress and the BJP had made it a battle of prestige to wrest control of the civic body in the historical town renowned for the Hazoor Sahib Gurudwara, one of the five holy Sikh Takhts and the resting place of Guru Gobind Singh.

For the first time in Maharashtra, the SEC deployed VVPAT (voter verified paper audit trail) voting machines in 31 polling centres in Ward No 2 as a pilot project in the elections which recorded a 65 per cent turnout.
Abu Dhabi, Oct 12 : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has terminated the diplomatic presence of its non-resident Ambassador to North Korea and the Pyongyang Ambassador to the country, calling for a unified front against the country's nuclear programme.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) stated that the measure fitted within the UAE's responsibility as a full-fledged member of the international community and its keenness to join international efforts aimed to stop proliferation of N. Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programme that posed a threat to international peace and stability.

Within this context, the MoFAIC announced additional measures, including stopping issuing entry visas for North Korean citizens and ceasing new business licences for North Korean companies wishing to operate in the UAE.

The MoFAIC affirmed that the UAE developed an executive framework in collaboration with state departments concerned in the country to apply UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea and its nuclear programme, primarily resolutions 2371 and 2375.

The ministry reiterated that the UAE looked forward to a unified global front against North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programme.
Islamabad, Oct 12 : The Pakistan Army chief on Thursday highlighted the concerns of Islamabad regarding peace and stability in the region in front of a delegation comprising US Ambassadors and officials, the military's media wing said.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa reiterated that "Pakistan has done its best despite constraints, and shall continue its efforts for the sake of the future of Pakistan and in line with the aspirations of Pakistani people."

The delegation, comprising Lisa Curtis, Ambassador Alice G. Wells, Ambassador David Hale and other representatives briefed the army chief on the contours of the US strategy in South Asia.

The discussion focused on the regional security situation including Afghanistan and how Pakistan has positively contributed towards peace and stability in the region, the ISPR said.

The delegation appreciated and acknowledged the Pakistan Army's contributions and Pakistan's sacrifices in the war against terrorism.
Islamabad, Oct 12 : As the Pakistan Army on Thursday rescued a Canadian-American family held hostage by the Taliban after it acted on intelligence shared by the US, the US President applauded the development and said that the release was "a positive moment" for the Washington-Islamabad relationship.

An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said the hostages were a Canadian, his American wife, and their three children. The hostages were rescued "through an intelligence-based operation by Pakistani troops and the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence)."

"They were captured by terrorists from Afghanistan in 2012 and kept as hostages there," the ISPR said.

"US intelligence agencies had been tracking them and shared their shifting across to Pakistan on October 11, 2017, through the Kurram Agency border," the ISPR said.

US President Donald Trump said: "Yesterday the US government, working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan, secured the release".

He also praised Pakistan's cooperation, saying it was "a sign that it is honouring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region."

The US President voiced his hope to see more of such US-Pakistan cooperation "in helping secure the release of remaining hostages" and "future joint counterterrorism operations".

The rescued hostages "are being repatriated to their country of origin", the statement added.

Although the identities of the rescued hostages have not yet been revealed or confirmed by the army's media wing, they are believed to be Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman, kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 while on a backpacking trip, and their three children -- all of whom were born in captivity.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson praised the release of the North American family and extended "deep gratitude" to the Pakistani government and army in freeing the hostages.

In a statement, the top US diplomat applauded "the innumerable lines of effort" of the US government in this process, saying they "reflect the best of what America can accomplish".

Tillerson also thanked Islamabad for its cooperation, adding US President Donald Trump's "new South Asia strategy recognizes the important role Pakistan needs to play" in securing regional stability and ultimate peace.

Washington "is hopeful that Pakistan's actions will further a US Pakistan relationship marked by growing commitments to counterterrorism operations and stronger ties in all other respects," he said.

Coleman, 31, was pregnant at the time of abduction. A video released by the Taliban last year had showed the family, including two young boys.

"The success (of the operation) underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan's continued commitment towards fighting this menace (of terrorism) through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy," the army said.
New Delhi, Oct 12 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday said the future of the country depends on the capacities, moral values and compassion of the younger generation and that it is essential to link youth with the process of nation building.

Addressing the "48th Conference of Governors" at Rashtrapati Bhavan here, Kovind said special attention needed to be paid to higher education and skill development at the state level.

The President pointed out that 69 per cent of the universities in the country fall under the purview of state governments and 94 per cent of all college and university students study in these institutions, a statement said.

In his opening address, Kovind said that Governors play the role of a bridge between the central government and states.

"The obligation of Governors to preserve and uphold the Constitution and commit themselves to the service and welfare of the people is even more pronounced in the current paradigm of co-operative federalism," Kovind said.

He added that critical milestones had been set for 2022 which marks the completion of 75 years of Independence.

"This period is only five years away, and the government has resolved to build a society that is safe and secure, prosperous, ensures opportunity for all, and is a leader in science and technology."

"Given the magnitude of this task, it is necessary that the entire country works unitedly and is on the same page. The five years from 2017 to 2022 are devoted to the creation of New India -- free of corruption, poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and unhygienic conditions," Kovind said.

He added that a strong foundation would also be laid for the coming generations.

"In order to ensure 'Team India' advances in a single direction to achieve these national goals, governors should inspire and connect all relevant stakeholders in their respective states."

The President said being an intrinsic part of the legislative system in their states, Governors could provide a new dimension to development by communicating with legislators, university chancellors and vice-chancellors, academicians, social workers and other enlightened citizens.

The dream of a developed India will be realised, he said, only when every state develops.

The two-day conference is being attended by 27 Governors and three Lt. Governors of states and union territories. The administrators of the UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep are also participating as special invitees, the statement added.
New Delhi : New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS Indian Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu has invited Swedish firms to explore business opportunities in India and assured potential investors all support, an official statement said on Thursday .

According to the Commerce Ministry statement, the "Make in India: Sweden 2017" event began on Thursday in Stockholm in order to enhance Indo-Swedish cooperation and explore new areas of partnership.

The Indian delegation for the two-day event is being led by Prabhu and includes Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

"Sweden is an old and trusted friend who came to invest in India when it was a tough time to do business, now it is the time of business oriented structural reforms and time is ripe for these partnerships," Prabhu said at the event.

He also noted that almost all top Swedish companies are present in India.

Fadnavis said huge business opportunities are available in Maharashtra in areas like development of smart cities and invited Swedish companies to visit India and assured them full support, according to the statement.

"We look forward to collaborate with technology providers into solid and liquid waste management," he said.

According to the Ministry, Prabhu also called on Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who said: "I look forward to intensely working with you. We are dedicated to making the relationship develop further."

SAAB, a leading Swedish company in India, has expressed interest in introducing into India the full scope of industrial systems, from design and engineering to production, the statement added.
Milan, Oct 12 : Italy is a nation focussed on the Arab world, its Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said here on Thursday.

"We are a country that looks to the Arab world," he said at the 'Italian Arab Business Forum'.

"They have put a hyphen in my surname and turned it into an Arab one - Al-Fano - but I am not offended," Alfano quipped.

"I come from a Sicily, where the Arab presence was important."

There are 500 million consumers in the Mediterranean region, who generate 10 percent of the world's gross domestic product, 30 percent of its oil and 20 percent of shipping, Alfano noted.

"The Expo 2020 world trade fair and other initiatives can provide a bridge to the future."
Washington, Oct 13 : US President Donald Trump will on Friday announce his decision on whether to certify the 2015 multilateral accord on restricting Iran's nuclear activities, the White House said.

White House Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Thursday that Trump would discuss the nuclear treaty in the course of an address on Washington's overall strategy toward Iran, Efe news reported.

The US President has until October 15 to make a formal recommendation to Congress, taking into account both Iran's compliance with the terms of the accord and the question of whether the agreement is in the US national interest.

Under the document that Iran signed with the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany, Tehran accepted limitations on its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Trump, a long-time foe of the pact, has kept up a stream of harsh rhetoric against Iran since taking office in January.

A decertification by Trump would open a 60-day review in the US Congress, which could decide to re-impose sanctions on Iran.

The President contends Tehran is violating the "spirit" of the nuclear agreement by continuing to carry out tests of ballistic missiles and accuses Iran of being a state sponsor of terrorism, even as Iranian forces battle the Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq.

Iran is united in defence of the nuclear accord, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday.

Tehran flatly rejects re-negotiating the pact, an idea that likewise seems to have no support among the other signatories, who have indicated that they would not re-impose sanctions on Iran regardless of what Washington does.
Jerusalem, Oct 13 : Israel has said it will join the US in pulling out of the UN's cultural organisation Unesco, after US officials cited "anti-Israel bias".

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the US decision as "brave and moral", a statement said, BBC reported on Thursday.

The agency is known for designating world heritage sites such as Syria's Palmyra and the US Grand Canyon.

Unesco head Irina Bokova earlier called the US withdrawal a matter of "profound regret".

The US withdrawal will become effective at the end of December 2018 -- until then, the US will remain a full member. The US will establish an observer mission at the Paris-based organisation to replace its representation, the state department said.

Netanyahu tweeted he had instructed his foreign ministry to "prepare Israel's withdrawal... in parallel with the US".

Unesco is an easy target for US President Donald Trump -- it is a multilateral body with educational and developmental goals like promoting sex education, literacy and equality for women.

The US withdrawal will be seen by many as a manifestation of Trump's "America First" approach and his across-the-board hostility to multilateral organisations; the irony being that Unesco is part of the international architecture that the US helped to establish in the wake of World War Two.

But it is the organisation's perceived anti-Israel bias that is the fundamental issue here.

It has condemned Israel in the past for its activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and earlier this year it designated the old city of Hebron a Palestinian World Heritage Site - a step Israel insisted denied centuries of Jewish history there, not least the Tomb of the Patriarchs that dates back to biblical times.

The decision follows a string of Unesco decisions that have drawn criticism from the US and Israel.

In 2011, the US cut its funding to the agency in protest at its decision to grant full membership to the Palestinians.

And last year, Israel suspended co-operation with Unesco after the agency adopted a controversial resolution which made no reference to Jewish ties to a key holy site in Jerusalem.

The resolution also criticised Israel's activities at holy places in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

Then earlier this year, Netanyahu condemned Unesco for declaring the Old City of Hebron in the West Bank a Palestinian World Heritage site.

He accused Unesco of ignoring Judaism's ancient connection to the city, which includes the crypt where its matriarchs and patriarchs are buried.
Dallas, TX, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Associa, the industrys largest community management company, donates up to $20,000 to assist families affected by the California wild fires through their national nonprofit organization, Associa Cares.



The devastating fires have ravaged Northern California, destroying nearly 3,500 structures, causing mandatory evacuations for more than 20,000 people and knocking out power to roughly 49,000 utility customers. The destruction and excess smoke have affected residents and business owners alike.



Associa Cares understands the overwhelming affect and damage a fire can have on communities and residents, stated Andrew Fortin, Associa senior vice president, external affairs. We want to do everything we can to provide support to the families who have been displaced by this vast fire. Our thoughts are with the firefighters who are continuing to battle the flames as well as the residents of California.



Associa Cares is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization created to assist families and communities in crisis as a result of natural and man-made disasters. Through donations raised from Associa employees and at fundraising events across the country, Associa Cares is able to provide necessary goods and services to the families affected by these types of tragedies.



With more than 180 branch offices across North America, Associa delivers unsurpassed management and lifestyle services to nearly five million residents worldwide. Our 10,000+ team members lead the industry with unrivaled education, expertise and trailblazing innovation. For more than 40 years, Associa has provided solutions designed to help communities achieve their vision. To learn more, visit www.associaonline.com.



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Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1c7be6e1-5d51-4cdb-baf1-3a9cca12c016
Online language learning usually just scratches the surface. But Shmoop's courses are rigorous and authentic, giving students all the tools they need to speak, understand, read, and write in the target language.

There are myriad options when it comes to online language learning. But to be frank, most are no bueno, pas bon, . So for schools and districts looking to increase their foreign language offerings without shelling out a ton of dough, Shmoop is the answer. Shmoop (https://www.shmoop.com), a digital publisher known for its award-winning test prep and certified online courses, is now offering courses in Spanish I, Spanish II, French I, and Chinese I, with more on the way (including French II and German).

Each Shmoop lesson includes vocabulary practice, grammar explanations, and discussions of cultural concepts. With Shmoop-made videos and audio recordings included throughout the units, it's a comprehensive curriculum that meets the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. Teachers can can follow the course verbatim in its day-by-day progression or cherry-pick specific lessons by previewing the units and seeing which standards, skills, or texts they'd most like to teach. And because each activity includes a comprehensive answer key and ideas for differentiation and extension, teachers don't need to be veteran language instructors to get the job done.

Shmoop's Spanish I course has even been a-g approved by the UC and CSU systems, which means it's honored as part of the requirements for admissions into the University of California system. "Online language learning usually just scratches the surface," says David Siminoff, founder of Shmoop. "But Shmoop's courses are rigorous and authentic, giving students all the tools they need to speak, understand, read, and write in the target language."

Individual users can subscribe to Shmoop and access all of Shmoop's online coursesalong with hundreds of other resourcesfor $24.68/month, while schools and districts can receive bulk discounts by contacting sales(at)shmoop(dot)com.

About Shmoop

Shmoop offers hundreds of thousands of pages of original content. Their Online Courses, Test Prep, Teaching Guides, Learning Guides, and interactive Study Tools are written by teachers and experts and balance a teen-friendly, approachable style with academically rigorous concepts. Shmoop sees 15 million unique visitors a month across desktop and mobile. The company has won numerous awards from EdTech Digest, Tech & Learning, and the Association of Educational Publishers. Launched in 2008, Shmoop makes the magic happen from a labradoodle-patrolled office in Mountain View, California.
FirstService Residential Arizona Hosts Annual HOA Conference and Exposition The event represents the largest forum for board members in Arizona. More than 400 people are expected to attend, with the audience composed of HOA board members, over 100 industry-specific vendor exhibitors, legal experts and FirstService Residential associates.

The Arizona offices of FirstService Residential, North Americas largest residential management company, is hosting its fifth annual Conference & Exposition on Friday, November 10 at Talking Stick Resort and Casino in Scottsdale, Arizona. The conference is designed specifically for board members of homeowner associations across the state. The conference and exposition will feature a full day of networking opportunities with leading vendors, informative educational seminars covering trending topics, and free legal clinics with top attorneys.

The event represents the largest forum for board members in Arizona. More than 400 people are expected to attend, with the audience composed of HOA board members, over 100 industry-specific vendor exhibitors, legal experts and FirstService Residential associates.

This event demonstrates our ability to respond to a void in our industry by bringing together board members and the best vendors and HOA professionals in the state under one roof. This is truly representative of the level of service that FirstService Residential provides for our clients and the overall leadership we provide in the market, said John Kemper, president of FirstService Residential Arizona. Kemper continued, In just one day, our client and guest board members can capture the information and build the relationships they need to more efficiently run their association.

Two educational seminars will be held at the event: Member Risk and Liability presented by Javier Delgado of Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen, LLP and On-Street Parking presented by Charles Sellers of Maxwell & Morgan, P.C. There will also be free legal clinics throughout the day where attendees can meet with legal experts and get their questions answered.

The Conference & Exposition is free for all board members to attend and includes courtesy valet parking, a complimentary buffet lunch and cocktail hour. To register as a board member and for more information, please visit http://www.azhoaexpo17.com.

Sponsors of the FirstService Residential 2017 Conference & Exposition (in alphabetical order) are:



AAA Landscape  http://www.aaalandscape.com

Butler Hansen P.C.  http://www.butlerhansen.com

CertaPro Painters  http://www.certapro.com

Desert Classic Landscaping  http://www.desertclassiclandscaping.com

Maxwell & Morgan, P.C.  http://www.hoalaw.biz

Monarch Pool Service  http://www.monarchpoolservices.com

ProQual Landscaping  http://www.proquallandscaping.com

SiteWorks  http://www.siteworksllc.net

TAD Management  http://www.tadmgmt.com

Unforgettable Coatings & Painting  http://www.unforgettablecoatings.com

Vote HOA Now  http://www.votehoanow.com

About FirstService Residential

FirstService Residential is North America's largest manager of residential communities and the preferred partner of HOAs, community associations and strata corporations in the U.S. and Canada. FirstService Residential's managed communities include low-, mid- and high-rise condominiums and cooperatives, single-family homes, master-planned, lifestyle and active adult communities, and rental and commercial properties.

With an unmatched combination of deep industry experience, local market expertise and personalized attention, FirstService Residential delivers proven solutions and exceptional service that add value, enhance lifestyles and make a difference, every day, for every resident and community it manages. FirstService Residential is a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation, a North American leader in the property services sector. For more information, visit http://www.fsresidential.com.
Hipflat, Thailands leading technology-driven real estate marketplace, has raised an undisclosed investment from Aucfan, Japans largest online auction price analytics and search platform. Hipflat will use the funds to introduce new innovative products that aim to increase transparency in emerging property markets. The investment represents Aucfans first in Thailand and its first in a real estate marketplace.

With 260,000 active property listings, attracting over 30,000 monthly inquiries from homebuyers and renters, Hipflat is already well positioned in Thailand. The company has also received funding from well-known international investors such as 500 Startups.

One of Hipflats core differentiators is its proprietary data mining solution, which allows the collection, extraction and processing of real estate pricing data from hundreds of unstructured sources. The data, collected with the help of Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning technologies, includes asking prices for over 2,500 projects going back as far as eight years, achievable rental yields and pricing trends. In a country where official property transaction records are not publicly available, Hipflat has become the go-to resource for property investors, real estate developers, agents, lenders, appraisers and regular homebuyers, who are looking for the data that can help them make well-informed decisions.

It is very exciting for us to enter into this strategic partnership with Aucfan. Their expertise in developing big data mining and analytics solutions will help us further improve our products and lay the groundwork for expansion to other countries in Southeast Asia, said Denis Nemtsev, founder and CEO of Hipflat. The availability of reliable data in emerging real estate markets plays a vital role in increasing buyer and seller confidence, improving liquidity and stabilizing property prices. We will keep innovating in this area and will soon announce new products that take advantage of the amazing possibilities offered by blockchain and smart contract technologies.

We believe pricing data is essential for transactions to be transparent in the marketplace. Considering Hipflat's data and upcoming product offerings, we are glad to be able to support the team's effort to provide a one-stop solution for the fragmented real-estate market in Thailand. The decision is also part of our effort to expand our investment portfolio in Southeast Asia," said in a statement released by Aucfan's investment team.

Earlier this year Hipflat received the prestigious Companies to Action award from Frost & Sullivan, which recognizes unique and transformative companies making the most social impact. Vipul Verma, analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said: Technology is changing the way properties are being advertised and sold. Hipflat is not only leading this change but is also helping to strengthen Thailands fragmented and opaque real estate market by fetching previously unavailable real estate market data and applying analytics to it.

GeeXstar, a technology-focused boutique investment banking firm, acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Hipflat in the Aucfan deal. We are very proud to have worked with the Hipflat team. Their unique technology enables them to compete with large players, while staying lean and flexible, said Martin Olczyk, Managing Director at GeeXstar.

About Hipflat:

Hipflat Pte. Ltd. (http://www.hipflat.co.th) was incorporated in Singapore in 2013 and is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. Its online real estate portal connects property buyers and renters (residential, commercial and industrial) with sellers and landlords.

Hipflat is the first and the only online real estate listing company in Thailand that provides access to listings and at the same time shows project-level data on current and historical prices. Hipflats transparency enables users to access market data that was previously dispersed or inaccessible. This unique feature helps private customers, commercial agents and property developers to eliminate guesswork and make well-informed, profitable decisions in buying, selling and investing in property.

About Aucfan:

Founded in 2007, Aucfan (http://www.aucfan.co.jp) is Japans largest online auction price comparison and search website. Listed on the Tokyo stock exchange, Aucfan allows users to compare, search for and analyze online auction and e-commerce product and price information, as well as to see prices and transaction volumes for products traded in the past.

Both buyers and sellers can use it as a reference for doing business online. In particular, aucfan.com is an advantageous source of information for sellers.

The company provides product and price data for over 20 billion transactions, and its service is used by more than 10 million visitors monthly.

About GeeXstar:

GeeXstar (http://www.geexstar.com) was founded in 2013 as Southeast Asias first investment banking boutique focused solely on fast-growing tech and Internet companies as well as startups. It specializes in M&A, raising capital, and growth strategy. The company supports its clients on sell-side, buy-side and growth capital projects, serving businesses in emerging and mature markets in Southeast Asia and throughout Europe.
Farm Forward joins Bon Appetit Management Company, Cal Dining at the University of California Berkeley, and other leading institutions in announcing the launch of the Leadership Circle, a program that leverages the buying power of institutions to change the way animals are raised for food.

Founding members of the Leadership Circle also include Airbnbs Portland office, Dr. Bronners, and Hazon, the largest Jewish sustainability organization in North America.

These institutions are leaders in aligning values-based purchasing, says Ben Goldsmith, Executive Director of Farm Forward. Through thoughtful procurement policies, they are improving the welfare of farmed animals while meeting their customers demands for more ethical and sustainable products."

Members of the Leadership Circle commit to purchase only third-party certified higher-welfare products in at least one product category, like eggs, within two years. Members also commit to support farmers raising animals under optimal conditions, and in doing so, help to rebuild a network of sustainable farms in America.

Members benefit from Farm Forwards team of food systems professionals, who help institutions evaluate their current suppliers of animal products, connect with higher-welfare producers, and employ strategies for successfully transitioning to higher-welfare products. The technical assistance offered by Farm Forward helps institutions align their supply chains with their institutional values by providing a comprehensive set of tools and ongoing assistance, free of charge, explains Claire Fitch, Farm Forwards Director of Outreach. The Leadership Circle is an official partner of the Real Food Challenge, helping colleges and universities that have signed the Real Food Campus Commitment source more humanely raised animal products to meet their commitment by 2020.

Farm Forwards Leadership Circle program is funded in part by the Open Philanthropy Project and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Trinity Insurance Services have provided insurance products for the Armed Forces family for over 17 years, and pride themselves on operating under the time honoured military values; service, loyalty, integrity and trust. The firm has now established a new relationship with SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity, who are well known for their work supporting members of the Armed Forces and their families.

The new partnership sees Trinity offer an exclusive deal on their military Life Insurance, with 30 cashback paid to customers who buy through a dedicated SSAFA web page https://www.talktotrinity.com/ssafa-life-insurance/. Trinitys military Life Insurance product offers competitive rates by comparing a panel of the UKs top life insurers. Quotes are available online, or via a call back or home visit from a friendly Trinity representative, who will help customers establish their needs and find suitable cover.

Trinity have also committed to make a donation in support of SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity for every policy they sell through the exclusive link. The offer will be shared with SSAFAs wide range of supporters, volunteers, staff and beneficiaries.

Tegan Jones, director of fundraising at SSAFA, added: SSAFA is delighted to be partnering with Trinity to help members of the Armed Forces community in need. We are looking forward to seeing this partnership grow and develop in the future.

Found in 1885, SSAFA (formerly known as Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association is the oldest Tri Service Military Charity in the UK. SSAFA commits to providing welfare and support for those currently serving in the Armed Forces, Veterans, and Armed Forces families. You can find out more about the charity at http://www.ssafa.org.uk or follow SSAFA on Twitter @SSAFA.

Trinity offer a range of insurance products designed for the Armed Forces family, including Military Kit Insurance, Military Home Insurance, Military Personal Accident Insurance and Military Travel Insurance. To find out more visit https://www.talktotrinity.com or like Trinitys page on Facebook: @talktotrinityinsurance
Lending a hand when it matters most - Its what co-owners Jayson Blaine and Casey Clark set out to do when opening Bio Solutions where they make environments safe for occupancy again. Bio Solutions removes hazardous chemicals and biological matter when hoarding, gross filth, homicides, suicides, undiscovered deaths and workplace accidents are a factor. Additionally, they provide odor removal for more common factors like smoke. The company offers all services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.

As a Frederick native, I wanted to give back to the people in this community and help them in some of the most difficult times of their life. I felt like this was a great opportunity to not only give back but to educate others about the risks involved when they are exposed to bodily fluids and other hazardous things. Sometimes ignorance isnt always bliss!, said Casey Clark, founder and co-owner of Bio Solutions.

Bio Solutions takes a much more holistic and united approach than other companies in this industry. They create partnerships with other professionals to provide support in all areas needed and to alleviate as much stress as possible from those affected. Additionally, they team up with local charities and participate in community events around the area to provide education about their services and about how being exposed to chemicals and biological matter can affect them.

As a transplant to Frederick, from New Jersey, I fell in love with the small town feel despite it not being my hometown. The tight-knit community is undeniable so I strive to contribute to that feel and the betterment of our community. By working with non-profits and other businesses, were able to come together and have a more significant impact. Said Jayson Blaine, co-owner of Bio Solutions.

To schedule interviews about the opening of Bio Solutions, contact Casey Clark of Bio Solutions at 301.378.0702 or casey@biosolutionsmd.com.

About Bio Solutions

Bio Solutions was started to address the need for and give support to those who have been adversely affected by homicide, suicide, gross filth, hoarding and more. We make environments safe again by providing bio hazard management services. Find out more at http://www.biosolutionsmd.com.
SecurePlus Vaults provide insurance against the unthinkable, recognizing it is core to their mission of protecting customers property

SDBIC announced today that Freedom Vault in Texas has joined the growing network of private vault facilities accredited under its SecurePlus program. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of the vaults protective systems and operational procedures, the accreditation is reflective of the facilities commitment to the security and safety of their customers valuable assets.

Freedom Vault is the only private vault in Texas to achieve this accreditation.

Following Hurricane Harvey, Chase, Wells Fargo, BBVA Compass and other banks in the Houston area suffered significant flooding, which impacted thousands of safe deposit boxes. Even more devastating for these box holders, is that banks do not offer any insurance against these losses.

Harvey and Irma once again demonstrated even the most secure vault is not immune to mother natures wrath, said Gerald Pluard, President of SDBIC, SecurePlus facilities provide insurance against the unthinkable, recognizing it is core to their mission of protecting customers property, added Pluard.

We are committed to providing a world-class facility and unparalleled privacy and services, said Darrel W Johnson owner of Freedom Vault. The SecurePlus accreditation process was rigorous, but worthwhile. Our customers now know our facility is highly secured. Without compromising privacy, our insurance provides another layer of protection if their assets are damaged or destroyed by a catastrophic event; something only a few vaults in the country provide, added Johnson.

For information on why a SecurePlus accredited vault is the best choice for those seeking private storage and a list of SecurePlus vaults click here.

Offering on-demand insurance and high-touch personalized service, SDBIC is changing the way valuable assets are insured. With over $100,000,000 of insured assets, SDBIC is the fastest growing insurer for high-value, investable and collectible assets in the market today. For more information go to http://www.sdbic.com call 224-227-6181. Secure it and Insure It.
Our first responsibility is to not let people down. We take pride in our proactive communication.

30 years after Gold Rush Express was founded, theyll be featured on an episode of Worlds Greatest! television show.

In 1987, Frank and Donna Dicker, along with their son J.R., were pursuing the American dream. The dream of creating a family business they could one day pass down to future generations.

They utilized their experience and contacts in the banking and financial services industry to provide courier and delivery services. This was the start of Gold Rush Express. Over the years, the company has become an industry leader in the San Jose community, thanks in part to the efforts of J.R., President and CEO.

I care about our company, but also, the industry as a whole, said J.R., former President, and current board member of, the California Delivery Association. The industry is changing as more giant corporations start providing delivery services, and we want to ensure that everyone is participating on a level playing field.

J.R. added, Im a person that wants to help people. How can we provide value for our clients  save them money or time, reduce their liability? Our first responsibility is to not let people down. We take pride in our proactive communication. If there is a problem, we should be notifying our clients ahead of time, so they arent surprised.

Its this commitment to superior service that has allowed Gold Rush Express to succeed, while many other companies in the industry have failed. We want our customers, employees and people who work with us to fall in love with us. We want to be a company people can be proud of working for and with, J.R. said.

Its really a family atmosphere here. My daughter, Rachelle, is our general manager. So now the next generation is keeping the family legacy going. One day, shell take the reins and lead the business into the future.

Rachelle Dicker is looking forward to carrying on the family-like atmosphere at the company her father and grandparents started. We genuinely care about our clients and our staff. We may not be perfect, but we try to be. Were working hard to incorporate technology updates to make things more efficient for our clients and employees.

She continued, Weve had the opportunity to pick up organs from Stanford University that were needed for a transplant, and were trusted to get them delivered. We are literally changing peoples lives. And to be a part of something like that is pretty exciting.

When I think about all of the ways weve been able to be involved in, and support the community, and the people who have been able to provide for their families because of this company my father and grandparents started  Im proud to be a part of it.

Its this family atmosphere, and dedication to excellent service and value that brought Gold Rush Express to the attention of the producers of Worlds Greatest! television show, produced by How 2 Media. Gold Rush Express will be featured in the upcoming Episode 249 of Worlds Greatest! which is scheduled to air October 16th, and October 30th.

The program will air on DIRECTV channel 305 and DISH Network channel 250 at 3 a.m. PDT. For cable viewers channels may vary, and it is scheduled to air at 6 a.m. PDT. Consult local listings or visit http://worldsgreatesttelevision.com/tv_schedule/ for complete details.

About Gold Rush Express: Gold Rush Express is a parcel courier, messenger and delivery company serving San Jose and the greater San Francisco Bay region with same day, freight and airport pickup and delivery. http://www.goldrushexpress.com

About Worlds Greatest: Worlds Greatest! is brought to you by the award winning researchers and producers at How 2 Media in Boynton Beach, FL. H2M is a 21st Century video production and marketing agency that is dedicated to bringing our viewers informative, educational, and entertaining television through national cable networks. http://www.worldsgreatesttelevision.com
Sunrise Hitek is pleased to be distributing at two educational conferences this Fall. They make tech accessories geared toward use in schools. The first conference is the iNACOL Symposium from Oct. 23  25, 2017, Booth 241 at Swan & Dolphin Resort, Orlando, FL. This is one of the largest conferences and this years theme is Personalizing Learning: Equity, Access, Quality. The second conference is the ASCD Conference on Educational Leadership from Oct. 27  29, 2017, Exhibit #11 next to Presenter Check-In table at Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, Kissimmee, FL. Sunrise will be presenting their top products including their Wired iPad Keyboard, Rugged Laptop Case, and Slim Tough Case for iPad.

A 2016 study concluded that in the United States, public schools provide, on average, at least one computer per five students. As more and more schools start utilizing iPads and laptops in the classroom, damage to this equipment has become a large cost schools are facing. Sunrise Hitek designs their tech accessories to help prevent these breakages. They designed their Slim Tough Case with drop protection, and their Rugged Laptop Case with an always-in design enabling the laptop to stay in the case while in use, keeping it protected at all times.

The Wired Keyboard from Sunrise Hitek is an asset to any classroom. Buyers can choose a model compatible with all iOS devices with 8-pin Lightning port, including the iPad Air, Air 2, Mini, Mini with Retina, Mini 3,or the 30-pin dock connector. Wired keyboards are recommended over Bluetooth for large deployments and standardized tests due to their superior reliability, reduced interference, and easy management, making these keyboards a great asset for iPad use during standardized testing.

Sunrise Hiteks Rugged Laptop Case offers the ultimate in laptop protection. The rugged laptop case is made of durable ballistic nylon on a rigid frame. Its always-in design with proprietary Cooling Channel technology allows the computer to be used without being removed from the case. The always-in design is so special because it enables the laptop to stay in the case at all times, preventing a myriad of damages that could potentially occur such as dropping or cracking of the screen. Overall, the Rugged Laptop Cases have been a huge hit with schools. One such school system; Beekmantown Central School District is at the forefront of technology in the classroom. After deploying 1000+ devices and evaluating multiple vendors, they have chosen Sunrise Hiteks Rugged Laptop Case to protect current and all future Chromebooks since 2015.

Slim Tough Case G6 for iPad is Sunrises most popular case for schools. Its highlights include a dual-layer rugged design including a protective silicone skin over an inner hard case and a naked frame for the very best touch experience, which is 100% stylus compatible. The Built-in stylus glides smoothly on the glass screen and keeps it clean. Handy magnetic closure keeps the folio cover shut when closed and the strong kickstand with stainless steel pins provides superb stability

About Sunrise Hitek

Sunrise Hiteks Hitek store, is a leading maker of protective gear for Apples iPad. The brand changed to uuber when the company starting developing cases for other devices, such as the MacBook, Chromebook, and Samsung devices. Sunrise Hitek Group, LLC, owner of the uuber brand, also operates Sunrise Hitek, a leading digital printing company based in Chicago. As a G7 Qualified Master Printer, Sunrise is uniquely qualified among protective gear makers to offer a wide array of customization options, ensuring the most consistent and accurate color reproduction. Sunrise is an Inc. 5000 company established in 1988 and employs the most advanced equipment and technology, such as G7-certified HP Indigo and UV flatbed presses, and digital die-cutting, to create best-in-class products. A privately-owned enterprise, the company is based in Chicago and sells products worldwide.
BURLINGTON, Ontario, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evertz Technologies Limited (Evertz or the Company) (TSX:ET), the leader in Software Defined Video Network technology, held its 2017 annual meeting of Shareholders (the Meeting) today in Burlington, Ontario and the results of the voting are as follows:



Election of Directors

The seven nominees listed in the management information circular for the Meeting were elected as directors of the Company. The election of directors was conducted by ballot. In accordance with the requirements of the Toronto Stock Exchange, the following table reflects the results of the ballot at the Meeting:

Nominee

Votes For Votes Withheld Total Votes Cast

by Ballot Douglas A. DeBruin 58,987,435 3,384,688 62,372,123 Romolo Magarelli 59,130,945 3,241,178 62,372,123 Rakesh Patel 59,130,835 3,241,288 62,372,123 Christopher M. Colclough 60,318,108 2,054,015 62,372,123 Dr. Ian L. McWalter 61,620,852 751,271 62,372,123 Dr. Thomas V. Pistor 61,620,852 751,271 62,372,123 Brian Piccioni 61,621,062 751,061 62,372,123

Re-appointment of Auditor

The resolution re-appointing Deloitte LLP as the Companys auditors and authorizing the directors of the Company to determine the auditors remuneration was unanimously carried pursuant to a vote by show of hands.

About Evertz

Evertz Technologies Limited (TSX:ET) designs, manufactures and markets video and audio infrastructure solutions for the television, telecommunications and new-media industries. The Companys solutions are purchased by content creators, broadcasters, specialty channels and television service providers to support their increasingly complex multi-channel digital, and high and ultra-high definition television (HDTV and UHD) and next generation high bandwidth low latency IP network environments and by telecommunications and new-media companies. The Companys products allow its customers to generate additional revenue while reducing costs through efficient signal routing, distribution, monitoring and management of content as well as the automation and orchestration of more streamlined and agile workflow processes on premise and in the Cloud.

Contact Information

Evertz Technologies Limited

Anthony Gridley

Chief Financial Officer

(905) 335 7580

ir@evertz.com
SecureCheck becomes Associa's Preferred Home Security Provider We're On Guard So You Don't Have To Be

SecureCheck LLC is proud to announce its being chosen as the Associa Advantage Inc. exclusive provider for security and surveillance products for its over 9,000 communities and 5 million residents worldwide.

Our number one priority is to keep our communities and residents safe and to make sure that they feel secure in their homes, stated Jennifer Shannon, Associa Advantage president. Partnering with SecureCheck and making this new product line available to our clients at an affordable rate will provide the opportunity for each resident to protect themselves and have the extra security of being backed by an industry leading company.

We feel that this new partnership will offer Associas residents and management team an easy and affordable way to keep their families and properties safe and secure, states Jack Molho, SecureCheck founder and CEO. Coupling the latest in cutting-edge systems with state-of-the-art monitoring facilities makes SecureCheck the best security product provider for Associa communities. The partnership provides customers premium security products which are a perfect fit for their individual as well as communitys needs while always mindful of personal and community budgets.

With more than 180 branch offices across North America, Associa delivers unsurpassed management and lifestyle services to nearly five million residents worldwide. Our 10,000+ team members lead the industry with unrivaled education, expertise and trailblazing innovation. For more than 40 years, Associa has provided solutions designed to help communities achieve their vision.

SecureCheck is an established and well respected, Houston-based integrator and manufacturer of quality security products backed by some of the best warranties in the industry. The company was founded on the principles of honesty, integrity and performance. The firm is known for its no-nonsense, common-sense approach to helping business owners, communities, community managers and residents detect and deter crime.

For More Information Please Contact:

Jack Molho, CEO

SecureCheck LLC

9800 Centre Parkway Suite 120

Houston, Texas 77036

888.534.1834

jack(at)SecureCheckNOW(dot)com

http://www.SecureCheckNOW.com
This was an important case because it provided a clearer and more reasonable definition of bad faith and breach of contract in insurance disputes. We are gratified that the courts supported our standing on the matter through to the Texas Supreme Court.

On September 22, 2017, William Pilat of Kane Russell Coleman Logan obtained an important victory at the Texas Supreme Court on behalf of Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company and the insurance industry. The Texas Supreme Court denied the insureds Petition for Review in Richardson East Baptist Church v. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company, allowing the unanimous opinion of the Dallas Court of Appeals to stand.

According to court documents, the case stemmed from a dispute over the value of an insurance claim made after the Church experienced damage to its roof during a hailstorm. As stated in the Courts Opinion, the case originated when Richardson East Baptist Church brought action against Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company alleging breach of contract, violations of Insurance Code, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, and conspiracy in the 298th Judicial District Court in Dallas County. In September 2014, the Defendants counsel, Bill Pilat, obtained a summary judgment for Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company, which the Church subsequently appealed. A three-justice panel in the Dallas Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the trial courts judgment. In July 2016, the Church petitioned the Texas Supreme Court to review the case. The court denied the insureds petition for review, which concludes all proceedings in the case.

This was an important case because it provided a clearer and more reasonable definition of bad faith and breach of contract in insurance disputes, said Bill Pilat. He continues, We are gratified that the courts supported our standing on the matter through to the Texas Supreme Court.

Kane Russell Coleman Logan is a full-service law firm with offices in Dallas and Houston. Formed in 1992 with five lawyers, today KRCL is celebrating its 25th Anniversary with more than 80 attorneys employed by the firm. The Firm provides professional services for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to medium-sized public and private companies to entrepreneurs. KRCL handles transactional, litigation and bankruptcy matters in Texas and throughout the country.

Case No. 16-0347

Court: Texas Supreme Court
Wharf Fest Street Fair & Chowder Competition At Wharf Fests Chowder Competition, 12 restaurants of Fishermans Wharf, Californias chowder capital, will battle it out for the title of Best Chowder at Fishermans Wharf.

Wharf Fest, San Franciscos favorite free waterfront festival, comes back for the fifth year in a row on October 21, 2017. The Fishermans Wharf Community Benefit District is throwing the ultimate festival to celebrate San Franciscos historic waterfront district. Bay Area locals are invited to visit the district after the tourist season has ended and before San Franciscos fabulous fall climate fades away. This years festival will include, for the fifth year, the popular Chowder Competition. The Chowder Competition has become a San Francisco favorite and sold out in September, over one month before the festival. But fear not, at the free street fair, festival goers can also visit approximately 50 booths of fine arts and crafts, beverage sampling, and more. Fishermans Wharf loves embracing their whacky side and will be hosting a number of Wharf-centric activities such as a Segway obstacle course, a rock climbing wall, and a giant pirate ship bouncy house. The festival takes place at the intersection of Jefferson and Taylor streets, at the famous Fishermans Wharf crab wheel sign, as well as on two blocks of Little Embarcadero street, between Taylor Street and Powell Street. The festival overlooks the San Francisco Bay, the Pier 43 promenade, and Alcatraz Island.

At Wharf Fests Chowder Competition, 12 restaurants of Fishermans Wharf, Californias chowder capital, will battle it out for the title of Best Chowder at Fishermans Wharf. The 2016 winners were Cioppinos, for the Peoples Choice award, and Blue Mermaid Restaurant, for the Judges Choice award. This years panel of judges includes J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, managing culinary director of Serious Eats and author of the James Beard Awardnominated column The Food Lab, Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez, from the San Francisco Examiner, and Christina and Kerri, hosts of the travel/culinary show, Culinary Escapes. Culinary Escapes will be filming a segment for the show at the Chowder Competition. Other judges are to be announced.

The following Fishermans Wharf Restaurants will be competing in the Chowder Competition:



Boudin's

Castagnola's

Cioppino's

Fog Harbor Fish House

Pier Market Seafood Restaurant

The Franciscan Crab Restaurant

McCormick & Kuleto's Seafood & Steaks

Pescatore

Blue Mermaid Restaurant

Hard Rock Cafe

The Pub

Surisan

The street fair is free and open to the public. Tickets are sold out for Chowder Competition tasting and there will be no sales at the event.

Wharf Fest is hosted by the Fishermans Wharf Community Benefit District and produced by Steven Restivo Event Services. Wharf Fest is sponsored by the Port of San Francisco.

Please visit WharfFest.com for more details.
Dr. Babak Roshdieh I dont believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to patient care, which is why I believe listening to patients is crucial. Each patient is unique, as is her or his skin condition, so each case needs a customized approach.

West Dermatology welcomes board-certified dermatologist Dr. Babak Roshdieh as the newest member of its highly-acclaimed team of skin experts. A native of central California, Dr. Roshdieh brings his passion for research, compassion for patients, and expertise in medical dermatology to the West Dermatology team after 16 years of private practice throughout central and southern California. Dr. Roshdieh has an impressive resume, as he was accepted into the Space Life Science Training Program at NASA while in college before attending medical school at Stanford, completing a rigorous surgical internship at Santa Barbaras Cottage Hospital, and finishing his dermatology residency at the University of South Florida, where he was Chief Resident.

Im happy to join West Dermatology because I feel its high standards, vision, and mission all match mine, says Dr. Roshdieh. I seriously considered joining NASAs training program, but the research I did on burn pathophysiology changed the course of my life. It helped me realize that dermatology is my calling because I enjoy the relationships I build with patients and their loved ones.

After finishing his residency, Dr. Roshdieh partnered with another dermatologist in Porterville, CA and provided care to veterans at the Lemoore, CA, Naval Air Station. Later, he started his own private practice, where he spent time caring for Central Valley patients in both Fresno and Corona, CA, for several years before deciding to join West Dermatology. Furthermore, Dr. Roshdieh is a fellow of the American Board of Dermatology and has published work in the Journal of Cutaneous Pathology on nephrogenic systemic fibrosis.

Although patient relationships are of the utmost importance to me, Dr. Roshdieh says, research is also a passion of mine, for without it, administering the right care is problematic. I dont believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to patient care, which is why I believe listening to patients is crucial. Each patient is unique, as is her or his skin condition, so each case needs a customized approach.

While a resident, he won the coveted Ligand Dermatology Scholarship, which is awarded to the nations top dermatology residents. Patients who seek care from Dr. Roshdieh can rest assured that they will not only receive top-notch treatment but also compassionate care. To learn about the state-of-the-art treatments that Dr. Roshdieh provides at West Dermatology for skin cancer, please visit http://westdermatology.com/skin-cancer-treatments/.

The cutting-edge facilities at West Dermatology made my decision a no-brainer, says Dr. Roshdieh. It will allow me to take on the responsibilities of patient care as well as continue devoting my time to research and the latest advancements in medical dermatology. Combine this with understanding the needs and goals of each patient, and, together, we will arrive at the best possible outcomes. So please stop by the Rancho Mirage office and introduce yourself; I look forward to meeting you.

For more than 60 years, West Dermatology has been providing patients with the best treatment possible through a combination of expertise, compassion, convenience, and comprehensive care. Through multiple locations across the West Coast in California, Nevada, and Arizona, West Dermatology is always available for our patients dermatologic needs.

For more information please visit http://www.WestDermatology.com.

West Dermatology

680 Newport Center Dr., Suite 150

Newport Beach, CA 92660

(702) 933-0225

info(at)westdermatology(dot)com
Levered Learning, the Soquel based ed-tech startup, has completed pilots of its adaptive fourth grade math program in 3 California school districts. Approximately 300 students participated in the pilot across 10 classrooms in the winter and spring of the 2016-2017 school year.

The teacher-designed program was popular with both students and their teachers, with 100% of fourth grade teachers reporting that they would recommend the product to their colleagues. Students from the pilot classes in San Diego County posted the highest state test scores out of over 50 elementary schools in the district.

The response has been fantastic, says Levered founder, Mitch Slater. We saw kids who had previously struggled in math start to thrive, both in terms of conceptual development and their use of mathematical language. Students who were already successful in math had the freedom to move ahead and be appropriately challenged. Were looking forward to an expanded round of pilots this winter and spring, and wed love to connect with more schools interested in piloting our latest version of the fourth grade program.

About Levered Learning

Levered learning specializes in developing comprehensive instructional systems for the classroom. The Levered approach blends an individualized online curriculum with whole class activities and pencil and paper collaborative challenges.
Hanley Wood, the premier information, media, event, and strategic marketing services company serving the residential, commercial design, and construction industries, is pleased to announce the winners of its 2017 Remodeling Design Awards. The Remodeling Design Awards recognize excellence in design and construction of residential and light commercial remodeling and renovation projects.

Each year, REMODELING honors the industrys best and brightest with its prestigious Remodeling Design Awards competition. Of the 185 entries, the judges chose just 13 projects: one Project of the Year, six grand awards and six merit prizes. All show top-notch creativity and craftsmanship that were deserving of recognition.

Judges lauded the clean lines in many of the projects submitted for the 2017 Remodeling Design Awards. They agreed the trend toward contemporary and modern design is getting stronger and more pervasive. During their deliberations, judges discussed not only the overall look and feel of a space but also the smallest design choices, such as hardware. What set this years winners apart were those meticulous details and the level of difficulty in executing the design, said Craig Webb, editor-in-chief of REMODELING.

This years Project of the Year was Valley Club, a 5,950-square-foot single-family home in Southern California. Entered in the Historic Restoration category, the home was designed by architect Diego Monchamp, Brown Design Group, Los Angeles; and remodeled by Ryan Prahm, DD Ford Construction, Santa Barbara, CA. It was originally destined to be transformed into a contemporary steel-and concrete home, but after investigating the homes history, the team chose to preserve it. The home now features a large kitchen with two separate islands; a large volume of windows which enables the owners wish of a seamless indoor-outdoor living space; and outdoor living features including a pool, several decks and a table and bench set constructed from pine trees torn down on the lot.

The other winners are:



Grand Award - Bathroom Remodel over $50,000: Architect/Builder: Jonas Carnemark, Carnemark design + build, Bethesda, MD

Grand Award  Whole-House Remodel under $500,000: Architect: Robert Gurney, Washington, DC. Builder: Mashood Mazaheri, Arta Construction, Alexandria, VA

Grand Award  Whole-House Remodel over $500,000: Architect: Tim Cuppett, Dave Kilpatrick, Robert Featherston, and Adriana Chetty, Tim Cuppett Architects, Austin, TX. Builder: Jeremy Martin, Risher/Martin Fine Homes, Austin, TX

Grand Award - Exterior Remodeling over $150,000: Architect: Cary Bernstein, Cary Bernstein Architect, San Francisco, CA. Builder: Nicholas Judd, Gelling & Judd, San Francisco, CA

Grand Award  Commercial Remodeling under $500,000: Architect: Leonard Ng, LNAI Architecture, San Francisco, CA. Builder: Bill Johnstone, Johnstone Mcauliffe Construction, Pacifica, CA

Grand Award  Commercial Remodeling under $500,000: Architect: Aidlin Darling Design, San Francisco, CA. Builder: Dan Fishbein, Fishbein Properties, San Francisco, CA

Merit Award  Historically Sensitive Renovation under $300,000: Architect Joshua Hill, Hill & Hurtt Architects, Washington, DC. Builder: Cem Sevim, Buffalo Co., Arlington, VA

Merit Award  Universal Design: Architect/Builder: Jonas Carnemark, Carnemark design + build, Bethesda, MD

Merit Award  Kitchen Remodel over $100,000: Architect: Natalie Venalainen, Men At Work Design Build, Toronto, Canada. Builder: Paul Gallop, Men At Work Design Build, Toronto, Canada

Merit Award  Residential Exterior Remodeling under $150,000: Architect: Janet Bloomberg, KUBE architecture, Washington, DC. Builder: Kevin Milloy, Milloy Carpentry, Springfield, VA

Merit Award  Kitchen Remodeling over $100,000: Architect: Chris Christofferson, David Heide Design Studio, Minneapolis, MN. Builder: Doug Tanner, Dovetail Renovation, Minneapolis, MN

Merit Award  Exterior Remodel over $150,000: Architect: Donald Lococo, Donald Lococo Architects, Washington, DC. Builder: Carl Petty, Carl Petty Associates, Washington, DC

Learn more about this years Remodeling Design Awards winners and see their innovative entries in REMODELINGs October 2017 issue or online at http://www.remodelingmag.com.

About REMODELING

REMODELING, published by Hanley Wood, is the leading publication in the home improvement industry. REMODELING has and continues to be the indispensable tool that remodelers cannot do withoutdelivering the business know-how, product and technical information that home improvement pros need to help make smart decisions that will shape their project success.

About Hanley Wood

Hanley Wood is the premier company serving the information, media, and marketing needs of the residential, commercial design and construction industry. Utilizing the largest analytics and editorially driven Construction Industry Database, the company provides business intelligence and data-driven services. The company produces award-winning media, high-profile executive events, and strategic marketing solutions. To learn more, visit hanleywood.com.
Temecula Valley Wine

As the holiday season approaches, wine lovers will be searching for wines that complement holiday dinners and can please a wide array of palates. Whether its a small gathering or a large soiree, Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country offers something for every wine personality. From sparkling, white, red, or dessert wines, wine lovers are sure to find a wine that will work well for their holiday entertaining and gift-giving.

Bubbly:Thornton Brut Reserve NV

Made using the Methode Champenoise, this Temecula Valley sparkling wine is blended from individual vineyard lots of Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Noir. This special Cuvee, assembled and finished in 2010 shows delicate apple and toasted yeast aromas in the nose, brought out by fine bubbles in the glass.

Food Pairing: Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple Soup with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

$43

White: 2015 Cougar Falanghina

Cougar Vineyard & Winerys 2015 Falanghina boasts a 90 point score and was a Wine Enthusiast Editors Choice. Juicy apple and pears show on the nose, along with white flowers, and a pleasant minerality. The palate offers mouth-watering acidity, with notes of key lime, apricot and slate.

Food Pairing: Garlic Shrimp Skewers

$28

Light Red: 2012 Fazeli Phel Phel

This unique blend of 95% Cinsaut and 5% Shiraz is the perfect white wine drinkers red. Light and lively, it offers up cherry fruit and subtle hints black pepper, cigar, and spice. A bright and food-friendly wine with soft but ample tannins.

Food Pairing: Roasted Duck with Balsamic Glazed Cherries

$35

Hearty Red: Lorenzi Estate 2013 Syrah

This single vineyard Temecula Valley Syrah, fermented and aged in 100% French oak, is bursting with dried blackberry, leather, tar and purple flowers on the nose. The palate offers savory herbs,followed by layers of boysenberry, caramel and black pepper. 93 points & Editors Choice,Wine Enthusiast.

Food Pairing: Herb-Crusted Prime Rib with a Syrah/Garlic Compound Butter

$85

Dessert: 2013 Leoness Cinsaut Port-style Dessert Wine

From the Tucalota Vineyardand aged in 100% French oak barrels, this vintage Port-style wine is fortified to just over 18% alcohol, withfermentation stopping at about 11% residual sugar. Beautiful dark ruby color, with raspberry fruit and hints of caramel and chocolate. Soft tannins and a rich lingering finish.

Food Pairing: Flourless Chocolate Cake with Fresh Raspberries

$59

Though Temecula Valley wines can be ordered through the wineries online stores and shipped to most states, what better excuse to visit the destination and try the wines onsite. Temecula Valley is conveniently located in the center of Southern California, just an hour drive from San Diego, Palm Springs and Orange County and 90 minutes from Los Angeles. Many winery restaurants offer special holiday dining menus that pair wonderfully with their holiday wines. Resort, hotel, bed and breakfast inns and vacation rentals offer special packages and pricing for Sunday through Thursday stays.

To plan your holiday stay go to VisitTemeculaValley.com.

ABOUT THE TEMECULA VALLEY AND VISIT TEMECULA VALLEY

With natural gifts of climate and geography, Temecula Valley is widely recognized for its scenic vineyards, award-winning wines, and friendly wineries as Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country. The destination includes the Temecula Valley AVA (American Viticulture Area) as well as Old Town Temecula and Pechanga Resort & Casino.

Visit Temecula Valley is online at VisitTemeculaValley.com; Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country on Facebook, @VisitTemecula on Instagram and @Visit_Temecula on Twitter. The Temecula Valley Visitors Center is located in Old Town Temecula on Mercedes Street adjacent to the Old Town Parking Garage. For visitor assistance, call 888-363-2852 or 951-491-6085.
We are extremely thrilled to have finally moved to a larger space to accommodate our growing business. Relocating to a more historic space has been a goal for us for awhile now and it is exciting to have finally accomplished it.

The company and its founders have always held a special fondness for Boston's history. In September, Pepper Gang made the decision to move to their new office on America's oldest street, above the historic Union Oyster House.

We are extremely thrilled to have finally moved to a larger space to accommodate our growing business. Relocating to a more historic space has been a goal for us for awhile now and it is exciting to have finally accomplished it. We believe that this will prove to be a fruitful decision from a business perspective as well as for our employees, said Stefanie Daneau, co-founder of Pepper Gang. These past couple months, the gang has been very excited about all the anticipated changes that have finally fallen into place.

Pepper Gang, previously located on Union St, has moved around the corner on Marshall St and is walking distance from famous attractions like the Boston Public Market and the North End area.

With this new move and expanded office space comes an expansion in services as well. Pepper Gang will now be offering video production as well as full design services to its clients.

For more information, please visit the Pepper Gang website: https://www.peppergang.com.

About Pepper Gang

Pepper Gang is the Boston-based digital marketing company committed to the growth and success of their clients business. The company was born out of a desire to tell each brands story in a way that compels like-minded consumers to align with the brand. Meet the Pepper Gang team and read their story at https://www.peppergang.com.
Im honored to be recognized by such a prestigious organization and one that is advocating for a cause that is important globally as well as to me personally.

Cornerstone Capital Inc. (Cornerstone) today announced that Erika Karp, Cornerstones Founder and CEO, will be honored at the Metropolitan New York Chapter of the US National Committee for UN Women during its 30th anniversary reception, Champions of Change: Stand Up for Women Worldwide, on October 18th at The Harmonie Club, New York, from 6-9pm.

Karp will be honored as a champion of gender equality, an innovator and a dynamic leader in the field of sustainable finance. She is a founding Board member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), a member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Agenda Council on Financing and Capital, and a former advisor to the Clinton Global Initiative. Prior to founding Cornerstone, Karp served as Managing Director and Head of Global Sector Research at UBS Investment Bank.

Commenting on todays news, Karp said, Im honored to be recognized by such a prestigious organization and one that is advocating for a cause that is important globally as well as to me personally. Weve certainly made great strides when it comes to gender equality  and while those strides should not be minimized, we have plenty of work left to do given the current socioeconomic climate we find ourselves in.

Karp will be joined by fellow honorees Susie Ellis, Chairperson and CEO of the Global Wellness Institute and head of the Global Wellness Summit and Global Wellness Tourism Summit and Jolly Amatya, Youth Advocate, Co-Chair/Youth Chair of the Youth Assembly at the United Nations, 2015-2017.

The evening will be punctuated by a keynote address by Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. The New York Chapter, which is the oldest and largest chapter of the US National Committee for UN Women, is celebrating its 30th anniversary during a pivotal moment in the history of the United Nations and UN Women.

Chapter President Mary Luke commented, The Chapter has been invigorated in the last year by the revitalized focus in the United States on womens rights and gender equality. Building on that momentum, we are thrilled to honor Erika and her fellow trailblazers who are strong, visionary women that have made a difference in their respective fields and are mentors to young women.

Cornerstones mission is to apply the principles of sustainable finance across the capital markets, enhancing investment processes through transparency and collaboration. For investors looking for financial returns and to make the world a better place, Cornerstone is dedicated to systematically integrating the dimension of sustainability into investment decisions, delivering financial performance with positive social impact.

Limited tickets are still available. Join the Metropolitan New York Chapter of the US National Committee for UN Women for cocktails, food, a silent auction, and to support UN Womens programs for womens empowerment and gender equality.

About Cornerstone

Founded in 2013, Cornerstone Capital Group is a financial services firm based in New York. The mission of the firm is to apply the principles of sustainable finance across the capital markets enhancing investment processes through transparency and collaboration. In offering investment consulting and advising, investment banking, and strategic consulting services, Cornerstone works with asset owners, corporations and financial institutions, promoting new research in the field of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) analysis, and facilitating capital introductions for organizations around the world engaged in sustainable business practices.

About the NY Chapter of the National Committee for UN Women:

The Metro NY Chapter is the largest and oldest member of the national committee for UN Women, an NGO dedicated to support UN Women through education, advocacy and fundraising. We support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) and UN Womens flagship initiatives including: economic and political participation, the elimination of violence against women and girls, peace, security and humanitarian assistance, HeFor She and programs to engage youth leaders as champions. We seek partnerships with businesses and individuals to help make the 30th Anniversary a great success and support UN Womens programs which improve the lives of women and girls in 100 countries.
Get key insights sooner with this Dell EMC server solution [Y]ou could replace many legacy servers with fewer of the PowerEdge R740xd.

Companies whose decisions are driven by data analysis could see improvements in the time it takes to query large sets of data by refreshing their servers to the new Dell EMC PowerEdge R740xd.

In the Principled Technologies datacenter, PT compared three configurations of the PowerEdge R740xd to the legacy PowerEdge R720xd, and found that the new solution could do the work of up to eight legacy servers in a fraction of the time.

With traditional hard drives, the PowerEdge R740xd performed three times the database work of the legacy solution. With SATA SSDs, the new solution performed six times the work. Finally, with NVMe SSDs, the PowerEdge R740xd performed eight times the work of the legacy solution.

According to the report, [the] results suggest you could replace many legacy servers with fewer of the PowerEdge R740xd.

To learn more about how the PowerEdge R740xd server could improve the speed of data analysis, read the full report at http://facts.pt/rszSR7 and see the infographic at http://facts.pt/zHnCU9.

About Principled Technologies, Inc.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of technology marketing and learning & development services.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. For more information, please visit PrincipledTechnologies.com.

Chloe Rockow Madsen

Principled Technologies, Inc.

1007 Slater Road, Suite #300

Durham, NC 27703

press(at)principledtechnologies(dot)com
The NYPD has kept busy this year writing tickets to cyclists for all sorts of reckless behaviorlike biking near the site of a recent hit-and-run, or not using those strange green painted lanes that are often blocked by police cruisers. And while this sort of warm weather crackdown seems to be an annual tradition, new data shows that cyclists were targeted 25 percent more this year than they were in 2016.

Metro New York reports that as of October 1st, the NYPD has issued 23,452 summons to cyclists in 2017, compared to 18,991 summons in the same period last year. According to the NYPD, the most common infractions are running a red light, disobeying road signs, going the wrong direction on a one-way street, and not giving the right of way to pedestrians.

Cyclists may also receive summonses for doing things that are perfectly legal, like riding without a helmetsomething that reportedly happened this year during a cyclist crackdown in Manhattan ordered by "borough-command."

Additionally, DNAinfo reports that in the first nine months of this year, cyclists in Williamsburg were hit with twice as many traffic tickets as commercial truck drivers. That finding comes less than a week after a cyclist was hospitalized after being hit by a dump truck driver on Bushwick Avenue, which is not authorized for heavy truck traffic.

According to a Vision Zero report issued by Mayor de Blasio in July, nine cyclists died in traffic in the first six months of 2017down from 12 in 2016, but higher year-to-date than when Vizion Zero launched in 2013.

"The crashes that cause cyclist injury and death are due to reckless driver behavior the majority of the time," Caroline Sampponaro, a spokesperson for Transportation alternatives, told Gothamist. "With limited enforcement resources, the NYPD must focus more of its attention on the driver behaviors that kill time and time again: speeding and failure to yield."

Asked to comment on the increase in tickets, a representative for the NYPD told Gothamist, "When police observe an individual committing an infraction, either on a bicycle or in an automobile, they are subject to a summons."


Mariachi Huenachi, Wenatchee High School, WA Wenatchee School Districts Mariachi Program has been nationally recognized as being the fastest growing mariachi music program outside of Mexico, currently integrating more than 300 participating students ages 9-18.

The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) along with the Country Music Association (CMA) Foundation are hosting a celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month featuring the music of Mariachi Huenachi of Wenatchee High School from Washington state, led by Mariachi Director Ramon Rivera, on Thursday, October 12th at 5:30pm-7:30pm at 1100 Longworth House Office Building (Ways & Means Committee Room).

Wenatchee School Districts Mariachi Program has been nationally recognized as being the fastest growing mariachi music program outside of Mexico, currently integrating more than 300 participating students ages 9-18. Their performance will give Members of Congress, staff, and visitors the opportunity to experience one of the oldest musical traditions of our Hispanic and Latinx heritage. Representative Dave Reichert (R-WA), who represents the bands congressional district, has organized the event as well as their trip to Washington, D.C.

Michael J. Blakeslee, NAfME Executive Director and CEO, and Sarah Trahern, CMA CEO, will deliver remarks.

Members and staff will also have an opportunity to learn more about this in-school music program and its success in elevating student achievement so that this program can be replicated in other schools across the country.

Members, staff, and visitors are encouraged to attend. Light hors doeuvres and refreshments will be served.

For more information about NAfME visit nafme.org; for the Country Music Association Foundation visit cmafoundation.org. To learn more about the Mariachi Huenachi music program visit whsmariachi.org.

Note: This event will include light appetizers and refreshments, and it will not include a full sit-down meal in accordance with Congressional ethics rules.

National Association for Music Education, among the worlds largest arts education organizations, is the only association that addresses all aspects of music education. NAfME advocates at the local, state, and national levels; provides resources for teachers, parents, and administrators; hosts professional development events; and offers a variety of opportunities for students and teachers. The Association orchestrates success for millions of students nationwide and has supported music educators at all teaching levels for more than a century. With more than 60,000 members, the organization is the national voice of music education in the United States.

Follow NAfME on Twitter and on Facebook. For additional information, contact Catherina Hurlburt at catherinah(at)nafme.org or 703-860-4000, ext. 216.

CMA created the nonprofit 501(c)(3) CMA Foundation in 2011. Guided by the generosity of the Country Music community, the CMA Foundation focuses on improving and sustaining music education programs everywhere while supporting worthwhile causes important to the Country Music Association. In 2017, the CMA Foundation has earmarked a record $3.1 million to 44 in- and after-school music education programs across the country, bringing the Foundations total contributions to date to more than $17.5 million, touching the lives of one million students. For more information, visit CMAfoundation.org or the CMA Foundation official Facebook page.
FireFly representatives at the Utah 100 event after their #1 spot was announced a marriage between old steel manufacturing (with) high-technology robotics

FireFly Automatix announced today it was once again at the top of the 2017 Utah 100, MountainWest Capital Network (MWCN)s annual list of the fastest-growing companies in Utah. FireFly Automatix ranked No. 1 out of 100 companies for the second year in a row. The company was honored at the 23rd annual Utah 100 Awards program, held at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.

Describing FireFlys niche, CEO Andrew Limpert said, I call it a marriage between old steel manufacturing (with) high-technology robotics and software programs.

Were pleased to honor FireFly as this years fastest-growing company in Utah, said Reed Chase, chairman of MWCNs Utah 100 committee. This company has clearly seen incredible growth, and along with each of the Utah 100 companies, (has) continued to play a vital part in Utahs economic success.

Recipients of the Utah 100 were chosen by the percentage of revenue increase of each company between 2013 and 2017.

About MountainWest Capital Network

MountainWest Capital Network (MWCN) is the largest business networking organization in Utah, consisting of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, consultants, legal professionals, bankers, and educators. MWCN seeks to promote and recognize business growth and capital development in the state through a variety of award programs and activities.

About FireFly Automatix, Inc.

FireFly Automatix, Inc. operates under the name FireFly Equipment in the turfgrass industry. The company creates robotic agricultural equipment, improving farm productivity through automation and IoT connectivity. For more information, visit fireflyequipment.com, LIKE us on Facebook and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram @fireflyequip.
During his tenure, Steve has overseen our mergers and acquisitions effort and has been a tremendous enabler of our 250 percent company revenue growth to nearly $2 billion.

Steve Grabell, CFO of NFI, one of North Americas largest supply chain solutions providers, has been named NJBIZ CFO of the Year. Winning for the large private company category, Grabell accepted the award at the annual event this week in Somerset, N.J. The awards program celebrates top financial executives who contribute to the success of New Jerseys economic growth and stability.

On behalf of NFI and the Brown family, I would like to congratulate Steve on this distinguished honor, said NFI CEO, Sid Brown. Ever since Steve joined NFI nine years ago, he has been and continues to be an instrumental part in the growth and success of NFI as a strategic advisor for our management team. During his tenure, Steve has overseen our mergers and acquisitions effort and has been a tremendous enabler of our 250 percent company revenue growth to nearly $2 billion.

In addition to finance, Grabell oversees multiple functions across NFI including the continuous improvement, tax, fleet services, and marketing departments. As a strategic advisor, Grabell is engaged in business development across all of NFIs supply chain solutions, which include dedicated transportation, warehousing, brokerage, transportation management, intermodal, global logistics, drayage, and commercial real estate. With service offerings spanning many industries including food and beverage, grocery, consumer packaged goods, and manufacturing, NFIs almost 10,000 employees provide custom solutions for its many customers ranging from regional businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

# # #

About NFI -- NFI is a fully integrated North American supply chain solutions provider headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. Privately held by the Brown family since its inception in 1932, NFI generates nearly $2 billion in annual revenue and employs nearly 10,000 associates. NFI owns facilities globally and operates 41.5 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space. Its dedicated and drayage fleet consists of over 2,400 tractors and 8,300 trailers, operated by more than 2,600 company drivers and 1,600 owner operators. Its business lines include dedicated transportation, warehousing, intermodal, brokerage, transportation management, global logistics, drayage, and commercial real estate services. For more information about NFI, visit http://www.nfiindustries.com or call 1-877-NFI-3777.
IsoComforter, Inc. ( https://isocomforter.com ), one of the Nations premier providers of cold therapy products, announced today the introduction of an innovative new design of the shoulder pad. The shoulder pad provides optimal support and full contact of the multipurpose pad so you get maximum comfort while controlling your pain while using cold therapy. By utilizing ice and water that is circulated from an insulated fluid reservoir to a pad that is applied to your injury or post op site, the system provides continuous cold therapy for an extended period of time between ice changes. The IsoComforter shoulder pad is engineered to sustain a constant temperature range without manual mechanical controls. The result is an easy to use cold therapy system that provides safe, effective heat transfer at the optimal therapeutic temperature range. The IsoComforter cold therapy machine produces a very comfortable "cold" that is more easily tolerated by patients and the low-profile shoulder pad ( isocomforter.com/product/cold-therapy-unit-with-iso-tube-shoulder-pad ) provides a comfortable way to wear the cold therapy pad, even if you are wearing a sling. It has been proven to notably reduce swelling and pain... often with less dependency on pain relievers.

The IsoComforter IsoTube pad system is specifically designed for different body parts and applications. It delivers comfortable cold therapy with accurate therapeutic temperature ranges that allow for longer-term application. The constant flow of cold water provides a more stable heat transfer to the area. Cold water moving rapidly over an area is less likely to injure you than ice sitting directly on the skin, causing burns.

IsoComforters patented cold therapy pads are Silicone free and resists flow restrictions and stiffening and conform better to body contours. The flow pattern assures a consistent temperature across the pads for uniform therapy, while the foam insulation on the pad and hose helps prevent condensation.

IsoComforters patented Iso-Tube pads are designed to completely disperse cold therapy across the cooling surface of the pad due to the single flow design. The water flows in one direction allowing for high flow heat transfer.

For years Isocomforter has proven itself in real-world conditions on patients that have reported exceptional outcomes when using our product. Professional and amateur athletes use cold therapy routinely to keep the performing at their best.

For the ultimate in cold therapy treatment, trust IsoComforter. Its easy to use and proven effective.

Contact:

IsoComforter, Inc.

4215 SW High Meadows Avenue

Palm City, Florida 34990

Phone: 1-877-277-0367

Fax: 1-772-220-6645

Source: IsoComforter, Inc.
Dr. Malvina Fulman With nearly three decades of progressive oncology experience, Heather brings a considerable amount of expertise to breast cancer treatment and prevention

In recognition of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Queens Medical Associates, a leading cancer care facility specializing in hematology and oncology, will host an informal information session on Thursday, October 26, from 3-5 PM. Heather Bain, BSN, R.N., OCN, will lead the program and discussion, which is open to the public, to provide critical information and exchange ideas on living and coping with a Breast Cancer diagnosis.

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is still the most common cancer among women in the United States, after skin cancer. By the end of 2017, an estimated 252,710 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and an estimated 40,610 women will die from it.

With nearly three decades of progressive oncology experience, Heather brings a considerable amount of expertise to breast cancer treatment and prevention, said Dr. Malvina Fulman of Queens Medical Associates. Her knowledge of this arena and being on the front lines with our patients as a nurse navigator will surely provide valuable information to those affected by this disease, and the Queens general public.

Bain has over 25 years of progressive oncology experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings within the tri-state area. In her role as a nurse navigator at Queens Medical Associates, she follows patients from diagnosis to survivorship, providing streamlined care to facilitate a seamless journey.

During the session, clinicians will cover issues such as fatigue, nutrition and the risk of lymphedema (arm or leg swelling). Participants are encouraged to come with questions and concerns to discuss with physicians and other survivors, with the goal of learning about available resources and how to increase quality of life.

Attendees will be informed about known risk factors for the disease, which can influence survival, as well as the latest data on prevention, early detection, and treatment. Most treatments come with side effects, and even patients with a positive outcome can face challenging lifestyle changes, explained Bain. It is important to have an open dialogue with your health care provider who can help navigate these new norms.

The event will take place on Thursday, October 26, from 3-5 PM at the Queens Medical Associates office located at 176-60 Union Turnpike in Fresh Meadows. For more information about Queens Medical Associates, visit http://www.queensmedical.com/.

ABOUT QUEENS MEDICAL ASSOCIATES

Queens Medical Associates (QMA) is a well-established physician practice and infusion center which provides hematology and medical oncology care for patients with cancer and blood disorders. Located in Fresh Meadows, New York, QMAs physicians and clinical staff bring decades of experience providing exceptional care and treatment. Approximately 300 patients are served daily translating into over 200 treatments. QMAs team members communicate in five official languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Russian). The practice also offers infusion therapy for many conditions including Crohns disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and organ transplants.
This is a powerful example of the security capabilities of VMwares next-generation solutions, which enable partners, such as phoenixNAP, to create innovative new offerings that will help differentiate them in the industry.

PhoenixNAP, a global IT services provider offering cloud, bare-metal dedicated server, colocation, and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions, today announced the upcoming launch of its Data Security Cloud  a new cloud security platform architected on the latest VMware technologies. PhoenixNAPs Data Security Cloud will address growing security concerns for businesses of all sizes and across industries, including those with heavy compliance and security demands to protect their workloads in the cloud.

According to reports, more than 90 percent of traffic resides within the data center, where perimeter security protections do not inspect the traffic*, and the average data center experiences two successful attacks per day**. The problem is growing quickly as almost two billion data records around the world were lost or stolen during 918 different cyberattacks in the first half of 2017, an increase of 164 percent over the same period last year. The toll on businesses is significant: two-thirds of firms breached had their share price negatively impacted with a cost to shareholders of over $52.40 billion. Today the question for business and security leaders is not if there will be a breach but when and how to contain the impact.

The introduction of phoenixNAPs Data Security Cloud makes it possible for organizations of all sizes to confidently tackle the strictest security and compliance-focused workloads in a multi-tenant, cloud-based environment. Supported by our flexible solutions team, any organization will be able to make a secure and easy transition to the cloud, says Ian McClarty, President at phoenixNAP. With VMware NSX at its core, Data Security Cloud offers highly granular security of virtualized workloads through advanced capabilities such as micro-segmentation, distributed firewalling, and VPN. Customers get a Secure-by-Design cloud environment with protection across not only the perimeter but at the application level as well.

PhoenixNAPs Data Security Cloud is built to provide fast, secure and reliable services to businesses handling dynamic loads of sensitive data. Data Security Cloud will provide all-round protection for sensitive workloads leveraging advanced security capabilities of the VMware NSX network virtualization. VMware NSX decouples network and security functions from the underlying physical infrastructure and embeds them directly into the hypervisor, distributing them across the data center. This fundamental shift in how security is delivered can help overcome the shortcomings of legacy architectures. It allows intelligent and automated security policies to travel with virtual workloads regardless of their placement in the cloud and independent of the physical network topology, to help maintain the highest level of protection.

By using VMware NSX as the core enabler to the new Data Security Cloud service, phoenixNAP is providing a comprehensive offering that makes security both application focused and intrinsic to the infrastructure, said Jay Workman, senior director, Cloud Provider marketing at VMware. This is a powerful example of the security capabilities of VMwares next-generation solutions, which enable partners, such as phoenixNAP, to create innovative new offerings that will help differentiate them in the industry.

More details about the technology powering Data Security Cloud will be unveiled in an exclusive webinar co-hosted with VMware on October 17th, 2017. The new platform will be generally available in November.

To register for the webinar and learn more, follow this link.

For early signups for product info and special promotions, visit this page.

PhoenixNAP is a Premier Service Provider in the VMware Cloud Provider Program. PhoenixNAP is also a PCI DSS Validated Service Provider and its flagship facility is SOC Type 1 and SOC Type 2 audited.

About phoenixNAP

PhoenixNAP is a global IT services provider with a focus on cyber security and compliance readiness, whose progressive Infrastructure-as-a-Service solutions are delivered from strategic edge locations worldwide. Its cloud, bare metal dedicated servers, hardware leasing and colocation options are built to meet always evolving IT businesses requirements. Providing comprehensive Disaster Recovery solutions, DDoS protected global network, hybrid IT deployments with software and hardware based security, phoenixNAP fully supports its clients business continuity planning. Offering scalable and resilient opex solutions with expert staff to assist, phoenixNAP supports growth and innovation in businesses of any size enabling their digital transformation. To learn more about phoenixNAP's global IT services, visit http://www.phoenixnap.com and follow them on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.

References:



Cisco Global Cloud Index: Forecast and Methodology, 20152020

Global survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (Global State of Information Security Survey 2015, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2014 )

Gemalto interview CNBC Sept 2017

VMware and VMware NSX are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
Awrel powers HIPAA-compliant smart conversational voice experiences via voice assistants such as Amazon Echo By 2018 nearly 30% of all interactions with technology will happen through conversation. Now, for the first time, the dental industry can quickly and easily leverage texting, hands-free technology and artificial intelligence  all with total HIPAA compliance.

Awrel, a Boston-based dental solution provider, today announced the addition of voice-first capabilities to its communication and collaboration platform, enabling automated voice-powered digital workflow for all types of business transactions including hands-free lab ordering. This new smart virtual assistant solution works within Awrel's HIPAA compliant text messaging application to power smart conversational voice experiences via cell phone or voice assistant devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home.

Awrel received positive feedback in Boston after demonstrating a custom-developed voice-powered laboratory order form at the American Academy of Periodontology Annual Meeting in September said Arnold Rosen, DDS, Awrel founder and CEO. Its as easy as the following exchange, said Rosen.

John: Alexa, open my Awrel Lab.

Alexa: What would you like to order?

John: An implant supported abutment and crown

Alexa: Would you like cement or screw retention?

The subsequent conversation uses a decision tree to ask appropriate questions about location, implant type and size, abutment and crown materials, and date required, Rosen explained. Its essentially a smart form offered via voice, he stated. And part of it is designed for non-technical users, so subject matter experts such as clinicians or marketing professionals can create the conversational flow.

According to Rosen, Awrels new add-on voice solution embeds artificial intelligence to guide users verbally through simple or complex customer experiences to ensure transactions are fast, accurate and complete. "Now, for the first time, the dental industry can quickly and easily leverage texting, hands-free technology and artificial intelligence  all with total HIPAA compliance, Rosen said.

According to researchers at Gartner, by 2018 nearly 30% of all interactions with technology will happen through conversation. And by 2020, the average person will have more conversations with bots than with his or her spouse. Following the web and mobile applications, voice is the next digital frontier, Rosen stated. Organizations across all sectors are using voice to improve processes, build brands and drive commerce. Dentistry can now reap the benefits as well.

About Awrel

Awrel offers dentistrys first low-cost, easy-to-use application for 100% HIPAA-compliant texting with message, image and document exchange, individual and group messaging, collaborative workflow, and cloud-based data archiving. The solution ensures HIPAA compliance when texting -- for dentists and dental labs sharing digital information, solution providers integrating chat for dentists and patients, device reps working with dentists and dental labs, and academic environments seeking solutions for private, secure texting. Built on a transactional business platform, Awrel provides a powerful environment to cost-effectively move into the future of digital dentistry and connected health. http://www.awrel.com
One of the countrys largest school districts, Los Angeles Unified School District, is expanding a research-based social emotional learning program, Sanford Harmony, this 2017-2018 school year following its initial introduction to the Districts early childhood centers. The Sanford Harmony program, which is offered through the private, nonprofit National University and National University System, promotes positive peer interactions and relationships among students through easily-integrated lesson plans and activities that emphasize communication, empathy, critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving skills.

The social emotional learning program, based on the vision of entrepreneur and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, is in various stages of integration in schools around the country, representing more than half a million students. In L.A. Unified, the program started to be introduced among PreK students last school year with plans to expand to grades K-5 over the next few years.

We are pleased to be collaborating in our efforts to provide our teachers and students with access to this research-based Social Emotional Learning program, said Dr. Frances Gipson, Chief Academic Officer at L.A. Unified.

The rollout in L.A. Unified aligns with efforts locally and statewide to integrate social emotional learning approaches to support student development and achievement. Nationally, the federal education law, Every Student Succeeds Act, also places a greater emphasis on academic aligned concepts that address "whole child" issues.

We are very excited to partner with L.A. Unified to provide teachers with access to the Sanford Harmony program as part of our nationwide effort to support student development and achievement, said Dr. Michael R. Cunningham, Chancellor of the National University System, which includes National University. The expanded adoption of Sanford Harmony at L.A. Unified represents a very significant milestone, and we are thrilled to be able to share this program, which is based on the vision and dedication of Mr. Denny Sanford.

The Sanford Harmony program was developed and refined over more than five years by university researchers to reinforce positive peer interactions among children through a series of easy-to-integrate lesson plans that can take as little as 15 minutes a day. Initial research indicates improved academic performance, increased empathy and a more positive attitude towards school, as well as reductions in stereotyping and classroom aggression.

Home to one largest schools of education in the country  the Sanford College of Education at National University  , the National University System is leading the nationwide dissemination of the program in coordination with school districts, individual schools as well as other university members of the Sanford Education Collaborative. The Sanford Harmony program has been embraced for use by private and public schools as well as after-school programs such as LAs BEST. Sanford Harmony at National University  which includes professional development training, educational resources and other materials to support program implementation  is being provided at no charge to participating schools and organizations through a combination of sources, including donations from Mr. Sanford and National University.

About the Los Angeles Unified School District

The Los Angeles Unified School District (L.A. Unified) is the second largest school district in the United States with more than 640,000 students in Los Angeles and neighboring communities. Encompassing 710 square miles, the L.A. Unified is geographically divided into five education centers, oversees 1,190 schools and centers, and employs almost 60,000 people. The culturally diverse district, in which 90 languages are spoken, is governed by the seven-member Los Angeles Board of Education and manages an annual budget of nearly $7.5 billion.

About National University and the National University System

Founded in 1971, National University is one of the largest private, nonprofit institutions of higher education in California. With more than 150,000 alumni, National University is dedicated to making lifelong learning opportunities accessible, challenging, and relevant to a diverse population of students. Comprised of four schools and two colleges that offer more than 100 degrees, National University recommends more teachers for credentials than any other university in California. National University is the flagship institution of the National University System, a network of accredited nonprofit education institutions serving K-12 students and higher education, which includes City University of Seattle, and John F. Kennedy University. The National University System also includes the Sanford Education Programs, which serve the PreK-12 education and nonprofit sectors nationally through Sanford Harmony, Sanford Inspire and the Sanford Institute of Philanthropy. National University and the National University System are headquartered in La Jolla, California.
Ron Samuels with Rosewood in Central America When you hold a piece of Honduras Rosewood in your hand, you can really feel its power." Ron Samuels, Marimba One

At the heart of a marimba one marimba is the Honduras Rosewood Keyboard. The richly colored and faintly aromatic rosewood is universally known for its beauty, durability and sound quality. It is the most resonant wood in the world.

However, Honduras Rosewood is an endangered species, with illegal poaching and overharvesting driving it closer to extinction each day. Rosewood is the worlds most illegally trafficked wild product, mainly due to demand from the hardwood furniture industry. A 2016 analysis by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reveals that Rosewood makes up 35% of all illegal seizures by value.

Traditionally, instrument makers buy their rosewood from dealers, but then all instrument makers have to compete for the same wood. It was around 2008 when Samuels realized that he would have to take drastic action if he wanted to have enough high-quality rosewood to continue making his world-class marimbas long into the future.

I knew it was time to take a road unchartered, Samuels said. In a leap of faith, he got on a plane to Central America where, after following multiple leads, he made contact with the Mayan community. It took Samuels two days to make the trip, but at last he found the remote village on the outskirts of a jungle rich with rosewood.

Samuels worked closely with his contacts in the Mayan village to maximize the lumber from each log. He sent a new band saw mill along with over 100 band saw blades to Central America. It took several years and countless trips, but at last he got the mill up and running.

Now, marimba one has enough rosewood to make marimbas for the next ten years. Samuels and his master tuners still make the journey to Central America each time a new order of rosewood is completed. They personally examine each piece of rosewood for sound quality and grain configuration before it comes back to the U.S. Ron and his team have hand-inspected each piece of rosewood ever purchased by marimba one.

Rosewood grows in Central and South America, Africa, and Asia and is endangered on all of these continents. In order to combat this danger, products made with rosewood are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) appendix II, as of January 2017.

This means that it is necessary to have documentation that proves that the rosewood was 100% legally procured from forest to factory. All of marimba ones rosewood has been legally obtained and can be shipped worldwide.

Sustainable practices also protect the environment. At one of the marimba ones mills, trees are selectively cut on a 30-year rotation. Only the rosewood trees that are 10 and larger in diameter are allowed to be cut. This means that in 30 years time, marimba one will be able to use the trees that will have grown up. At another marimba one mill, each rosewood tree that is cut is replaced by fourteen young trees which will be re-planted in the jungle so that the rosewood population is able to regenerate.

When you hold a piece of Honduras Rosewood in your hand, you can really feel its power, Samuels said. Working with such amazing wood is a big responsibility. You never want to rush the tuning of a piece of rosewood; it is the tuners responsibility to individually understand each piece of rosewood and unlock its most musical voice.
Women's Specialists of Plano Offer New 3D Mammogram for Breast Cancer Screening The 3D mammogram allows physicians to better detect breast cancer at an earlier stage," said Dr. Elizabeth Coronado. "This screening can be especially valuable for women receiving a baseline screening and for those who have dense breast tissue.

The physicians at Womens Specialists of Plano are now offering a 3D mammogram, also known as a tomosynthesis, as a new breast cancer screening option for patients living in Dallas, Frisco, Plano, and surrounding communities. Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in women, affecting one in every eight women in the United States. A 3D mammogram creates a complete three-dimensional image of the breast to provide a clearer picture than traditional mammograms. This advanced technology helps physicians better detect breast cancer at an earlier stage.

The goal of breast cancer screening is to identify breast abnormalities as early as possible to provide patients with more treatment options and a better chance for survival. A mammogram is a specific form of breast cancer screening that uses x-ray imaging to produce a picture of the breast. Traditional mammograms take two- dimensional pictures of the breasts. A tomosynthesis image allows radiologists and physicians to examine breast tissue one thin layer at a time, ensuring that fine details are more visible and less likely to be hidden by overlapping tissue.

The 3D mammogram allows physicians to better detect breast cancer at an earlier stage," said Dr. Elizabeth Coronado. "This screening can be especially valuable for women receiving a baseline screening and for those who have dense breast tissue.

From the patients point of view, a 3D mammogram feels very similar to a traditional breast cancer screening. A tomosynthesis is not painful, although some women may experience slight discomfort due to pressure just like with a traditional mammogram. The tube taking the x-ray sweeps across the breast in an arch and takes approximately four seconds to obtain an image, slightly longer than a traditional mammogram. A 3D screening produces more images, so it may take radiologists a little longer to read than a traditional mammography image.

The physicians at Womens Specialists of Plano are pleased to bring this cutting-edge 3D technology to their patients. This new technology will help to detect more cancers at earlier stages. Even with these advances, women should follow the American Cancer Societys guidelines recommending that women forty years and older receive a routine breast cancer screening mammogram every year.

To learn more about 3D mammogram, please visit: Womens Specialists of Plano | 3D Mammograms

About Womens Specialists of Plano

Womens Specialists of Plano (WSOP) is a full-service OBGYN practice focused on providing care for women through all stages of life. Serving Plano, Frisco, Dallas, and surrounding communities, the WSOP team provides comprehensive obstetrics and gynecology services including minimally invasive surgical treatment such as da Vinci Robotic Surgery, a full range of laparoscopic and hysteroscopic procedures and in-office endometrial ablation.
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Playa del Carmen, Mexico In terms of bang-for-your-buck, it can be one of the single biggest ways expats save when retiring overseas

In the United States, single-family home owners pay an average of $3,296 in property taxes a year. In some stateslike New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia, Connecticut, and Californiathe average is $7,000 a yearand higher.

By contrast, many overseas retirement havens have extremely low property-tax rates, which contributes to the relatively lower cost of living in places like Belize, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Expats report slashing their property tax bills by as much as 99% when going overseas.

If youve been paying $5,000 a year in property taxes in New Jersey, say, and you can move to country where you buy a place and the taxes set you back less than $100 a yearthat puts $4,900 worth of cash in your pocket that you can spend any way you wantor save for a rainy day, says Jennifer Stevens International Living Executive Editor. In terms of bang-for-your-buck, it can be one of the single biggest ways expats save when retiring overseas.

For example, in these three countrieswhich regularly get high marks in International Livings annual Global Retirement Indexexpats report they pay a small fraction of what they did in the U.S. in property taxes...

Belize

Property taxes in Belize are ridiculously low when compared to those in the United States, says Ann Kuffner, IL Belize Correspondent. Ive interviewed a number of expats who own three-bedroom houses, on half-acre properties, with a view of the bay in Corozal, and with river views in the Cayo District. None of the expats Ive interviewed pay more than $50 per year for property taxes in Belize. And those Ive interviewed who own two-bedroom, two-bathroom beachfront condos on the Cayes, with a Caribbean Sea view, pay less than $300 a year for property taxes.

Mark and Jackie Baker moved to Belize full time in 2014 from Arizona. They live in Cristo Rey, a bucolic village in the Cayo District. Its a region of meandering rivers, productive Mennonite farmland, and dense rainforest where howler monkeys patrol the canopy as exotic birds flit by. This is also the Mundo Maya, the center of the ancient Maya culture in Belize, with amazing palaces and other archaeological sites to enjoy.

Our land taxes are only $5 a year, so we pay five years at a time, says Mark. Our property taxes in Arizona were $8,400 a year!

Mexico

Property taxes in Mexico are similarly low. Each state within Mexico sets its own property-tax rate. But the tax on the average home or condo rarely comes to more than a few hundred dollars per year. As a result, many U.S. citizens save thousands every year on property tax with a move to Mexico.

Gary DeRose says, "My annual property taxes in Merida are $100. Compare that to the $11,000 I paid in San Francisco a decade ago."

Scottie and Jim Watson, 72 and 70, respectively, have lived in Playa del Carmen for six years. They live in a modern condo building just off the beach and a quick walk from the main street of Quinta Avenida. They have a pool right outside their sliding glass doors.

Its less expensive to exist down here, says Jim, who reports they pay just $200 a year in tax on their condo. [Thats instead of paying $6,000 to $8,000 in property taxes. So we indulge ourselves and have a cleaning lady, which we wouldnt have had in the States.

Nicaragua

In Nicaragua, annual property taxes are approximately 1% of the municipal cadastral value of the property. (The cadastral value of the land is considerably lower than the market-value price of the land when a house is bought.)

The most unbelievable savings in Nicaragua comes in the form of taxes...or should I say...hardly any taxes, says Bonnie Hayman, IL Nicaragua Correspondent. Taxes on my two-bedroom, two-bathroom, ocean view home on half an acre cost me just $141 this year and it goes down every year. There is no tax on income earned abroad and we dont pay into anything like Social Security unless we own a business.

And its not just low property taxes that can provide expats a way to save when they move overseas. Expats earning abroad and resident full-time overseas can lower their U.S. income tax bill as well. The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) allows a household to earn up to a certain amount from overseas work, report it to the IRS, but pay no U.S. federal tax on it. In 2017, this exclusion is $102,100 per qualifying person. Married couples, if both are U.S. taxpayers working and living abroad, can exclude double this amount. Note that investment income, pensions, and the like cannot be excluded from U.S. taxonly earned income.

Learn more about how expats save on their property taxes in Belize, Mexico, and Nicaragua, in the full story, here: Americans Slash Their Taxes...as Expats Overseas

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About International Living

For 37 years, InternationalLiving.com has been the leading authority for anyone looking for global retirement or relocation opportunities. Through its monthly magazine and related e-letters, extensive website, podcasts, online bookstore, and events held around the world, InternationalLiving.com provides information and services to help its readers live better, travel farther, have more fun, save more money, and find better business opportunities when they expand their world beyond their own shores. InternationalLiving.com has more than 200 correspondents traveling the globe, investigating the best opportunities for travel, retirement, real estate, and investment.
ConstructConnect presents its ninth annual fall economic webcast: 2018 Design & Construction Outlook - Cheery or Dreary? There are numerous barriers to a capital spending lift-off. Particularly vexing for owners contemplating expansion plans are the uncertain public policy frameworks for taxation, infrastructure projects and, of course, health care.

ConstructConnect, a leading provider of construction information and technology solutions in North America, announced its ninth annual fall economic webcast: 2018 Design & Construction Outlook - Cheery or Dreary? The complimentary webcast -- featuring industry-leading chief economists Kermit Baker of The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Ken Simonson of The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Alex Carrick of ConstructConnect -- will take place at 2 p.m. EST on November 2.

With construction activity upholding a slow yet positive trajectory, the webcast will disclose what economists in the construction industry expect for 2018. All three economists will take questions in the last half hour of the session.

At a time when job creation is proceeding at a furious pace, and stock markets are roaring ahead, construction activity in many type-of-structure categories is only hesitantly plodding forward. There are numerous barriers to a capital spending lift-off. Particularly vexing for owners contemplating expansion plans are the uncertain public policy frameworks for taxation, infrastructure projects and, of course, health care, explained Alex Carrick, chief economist for ConstructConnect. Rebuilding in the wake of hurricane damage will be a source of much work, but will it severely stretch material and labor supplies? A long-standing history of identifying and addressing such issues has made ConstructConnects semi-annual webcast the must-attend event for construction professionals. If you are in the business of construction, being fully informed is a pre-requisite for success.

The webcast will cover numerous other questions relevant to the construction industry including:



Which type-of-structure categories will forge ahead fastest?

Which regions of the country can expect the most on-site work?

Will shifts in U.S. foreign trade policy (e.g., NAFTA) lead to more investment or less?

Coming Interest rate hikes - how quickly and how high?

Will supplies of building materials and labor be adequate to the demand?

When will the considerable potential in single-family housing starts be unleashed?

Will a massive push to upgrade infrastructure occur as promised?

Where is the U.S. dollar headed?

To take part in the webcast, register here. AIA members who attend the live broadcast will receive AIA CEU credit, and all registered participants can download the presentation slides and view the webcast archive.

About The American Institute of Architects

For over 150 years, members of the American Institute of Architects have worked with each other and their communities to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings and cityscapes. Members adhere to a code of ethics and professional conduct to ensure the highest standards in professional practice. Embracing their responsibility to serve society, AIA members engage civic and government leaders and the public in helping find needed solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation and world. Visit the AIA website at aia.org.

About The Associated General Contractors of America

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) is a national trade association, dedicated to furthering the ever-changing agenda of commercial construction contractors, improving job site safety, expanding the use of cutting-edge technologies and techniques, and strengthening the dialogue between contractors and owners. Founded in 1918, the AGC today represents more than 33,500 member firms, including 7,500 of Americas leading general contractors and over 13,000 specialty-contracting firms. Visit the AGC website at agc.org.

About ConstructConnect

ConstructConnect is a leading provider of construction information and technology solutions in North America. Through the combination of its four legacy brands (iSqFt, Construction Market Data, BidClerk and Construction Data), ConstructConnect brings project participants together with the most complete, accurate and actionable construction data and tools to drive success in national, regional and local markets. Its collaborative network empowers the construction industry to be more successful with access to relevant information through easy to use technology. For more information, visit constructconnect.com.
Dr. Tom Pousti

Pousti Plastic Surgery of San Diego is excited and honored to partner with the San Diego Food Bank, helping the organization increase its ability to serve and feed local San Diego individuals and families over the holidays. The San Diego plastic surgery Practice is encouraging those considering cosmetic surgery to visit double board certified Dr. Tom Pousti for a consultation and to book their procedure before the end of the year. With every new breast or body procedure scheduled before the end of the year, Pousti Plastic Surgery will be making a $250 contribution to the San Diego Food Bank.

The San Diego Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in San Diego County. More than 476,000 San Diegans live in poverty, facing the daily threat of hunger. Last year, the Food Bank distributed 22 million pounds of food, serving an average of 370,000 people per month in San Diego County.

There is great need in San Diego County to feed those individuals and families less fortunate, and the holidays are an especially important time for San Diego families. With the direct help of the plastic surgery Practices valued patents, Pousti Plastic Surgery is ecstatic to be partnering with the Food Bank to help ensure families are fed and cared for in an extremely tangible way this holiday season. New procedures must be scheduled before the New Year, but actual procedure dates may extend into the first 3 months of 2018. Pousti Plastic Surgery will be making their donations at the end of November and again at the end of December.

Dr. Tom Pousti, MD, F.A.C.S, is the chief surgeon and medical director of Pousti Plastic Surgery. He is double board certified in both general surgery, and plastic and reconstruction surgery. Dr. Pousti completed his plastic surgery training at Harvard University and trained with expert and world-renowned surgeons at the Brigham and Woman's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.

Pousti Plastic Surgery specializes in various types of cosmetic procedures, including breast augmentation, breast revision, fat reduction, body contouring, facial rejuvenation, and other types of revisionary surgery. Dr. Pousti sees patients from across the United States and around the world. He believes in individualizing every surgery to meet and exceed each patient's expectations.

For more information on these procedures, to read patient testimonials, or to learn more about Dr. Pousti and his San Diego practice, please visit their website at http://www.poustiplasticsurgery.com or call (619) 466-8851.

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Department of Tourism "Thailand was so inspiring. We made this film about my first trip. But the film wouldn't have been possible without the generous benefits of the film incentive, and the incredible support of the awesome Thai people. - Seth Green, director - 'Changeland'

Latest figures from the Thailand Film Office show that in the year to July 2017, 80 international feature films shot in Thailand, compared with 51 in the previous year.

Revenue generated by foreign productions was up by 19%.

Worateera Suvarnsorn, Director of the Thailand Film Office welcomed the positive results.

'These figures are the results of the ongoing efforts of the Thailand Film Office and the production services industry to constantly improve and to inform the international production industry of the skills, talent and value available in Thailand. We can now offer a support infrastructure that truly reflects the importance of international productions to the economy and global reputation of Thailand.'

As part of the renewed government support for the international film production services industry, it was announced at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016,that Thailand was launching new incentive measures.

Productions were invited to apply for the incentives in January 2017.

Providing a progress report on the incentive measures, Worateera Suvarnsorn, Director of the Thailand Film Office stated that although the program is only in its first year, it has been well-received, and is fully operational.

The incentive measures have been received very positively by the international film industry. They enhance the incredible value that Thailand already offers, and have contributed to a record year.

Two productions have been approved for incentives (subject to accounts audit).

'Changeland' is the feature film directing debut of actor Seth Green. Starring Seth Green himself with Breckin Meyer, Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song, the film has now completed principal photography in the South of Thailand. Production services in Thailand were provided by Living Films.

Seth Green commented,

"Thailand was so inspiring. We made this film about my first trip. But the film wouldn't have been possible without the generous benefits of the film incentive, and the incredible support of the awesome Thai people.

Chris Lowenstein, Executive Producer for Living Films said,

'Changeland' beautifully captures the positive energy and spirit of Thailand. The incentives were a key factor in enabling production to proceed. I think it is a perfect example of the positive benefits that incentives can bring to the film industry and to Thailand.

Also approved to receive incentives is 'Triple Threat' from Arclight Films, which combines the action skills of international stars Scott Adkins and Michael Jai White with local talent  Tony Jaa from Thailand  and Iko Uwais from Indonesia. Local production services were provided by SC Films Thailand.
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The revered Ashanti King is said to have handed the money to Mark Arthur, an executive director of the bank, at his multimillion-pound residence in Henley-on-Thames, for deposit.

According to the British-based Telegraph, the subsequent deposit of the cash at Ghana International Bank triggered a money laundering alert in the City of London and cost Mr Arthur his job.

The bank said he had failed to follow anti-money laundering rules and had violated security policies as it was only insured to carry cash by armoured car up to a maximum of 250,000, according to the report by the Telegraph.

Mr Arthur, who is under investigation over the development, said in his testimony that Otumfuo told him the money was withdrawn from banks in Ghana and brought to the UK.

According to him, he was handed a bag containing almost 200,000 in sterling as well as $200,000 in US currency with consecutive serial numbers.

He had also instructed Mr Arthur to move $200,000 to an account at Standard bank in Jersey, the report said.

Mr Arthur, fired over the incident, is claiming wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal and failure to protect a whistleblower.

He alleged the deposit and transfer were approved by Ghana International Banks chief executive, Joseph Mensah.

But Mr Mensah has rebuffed the claim, saying he does not have an authority to sanction such as amount.

In his witness statement, Mr Arthur noted that he couldnt follow the anti-laundering rules when he took the cash from Otumfuo because of his status.

READ MORE: Asantehene announces reward package for Prempeh College team

Without a policy to follow and did without wishing to offend a sovereign of my country, I found myself in a very difficult situation and one I had never been in before.
By day she works in PR and marketing in the railway sector, but when she's off duty she embraces a very different passion.

Pennington is a real-life mermaid living in Essex. She's also the founder of Merfolk UK, an events company for merpeople and merlovers.

Pennington told Business Insider she's always loved mermaids. "I can't remember a time when I didnt love mermaids," she said. "I watched all the films, Disney's Little Mermaid, Splash, and an older black and white film called Miranda."

So, how did she get into it?

"A few years back I stumbled across a website selling free diving and mermaiding holiday courses in Gozo, an island off the coast of Malta. So I signed up," she said.

"They give you a tail and teach you how to swim and look graceful underwater. At the end you get a photo shoot and a certificate to say you're officially a mermaid."

Pennington said that her holiday cost 800, which included tuition, equipment, food, and accommodation, but she knows of some day courses in London where you can do the course for between 100 and 150.

Next, she bought a tail.

She explained that there are different kinds of tails you can use.

Below is a fabric tail which her friend uses.

"These cost around 100-200. They're not as powerful but I recommend them for beginners," she said. "They're light and easier to get out of and they come with a plastic fin in the bottom."

Pennington uses a more sophisticated tail.

Shown below, the pink silicone tail is made from a mould of her body.

"It's made of a very, very strong and powerful silicone rubbery material," she said. "There's no stretchiness and it's really tight so if you were an inexperienced swimmer and got in to trouble you wouldn't be able to get out of it easily."

It weighs 12 kilos.

"These kinds of tails start from around 1,500. They take around six to eight weeks to be made."

What does it take to be a real-life Mermaid?

It helps to be a strong swimmer when mermaiding, according to Pennington.

"It's really important you have the right technique and the right training. I'd never recommend that you try swimming with a tail without being properly taught. It's like any kind of water equipment, if you're not using it correctly, it can be dangerous.

She added that free diving teaches you how to conserve as much oxygen, lower your heart rate, and propel yourself along with minimum effort.

Pennington said can hold her breath underwater for up to two minutes.

One of the hardest things about being a real-life mermaid is finding somewhere to swim. Pennington said that many swimming pools are reluctant to let mermen and merwomen swim with tails in their pools.

"Because it's quite an unusual hobby, they think they can't cover the risks or it's complicated to insurance," she said.

In fact, Jessica said that when trying to arrange a swim meet-up recently with some friends, one pool quoted her 10,000 for a swim  in other words, their average daily intake.

Thats why, in part, she founded Merfolk.

"From Facebook I'd met lots of mini separate communities all over the UK, but there wasn't a central place for everyone to go and meet each other," she said. "Before I went on the course, I'd never met anyone who loved mermaids as much as me."

"It was a great comfort for me to find a community and I can tell you there's no particular type of person, it's a real wide range of people."

Pennington held her first Merfolk convention in March 2017 and is planning another for April 7 2018.

#MermaidMonday throwback to... @ merfolkuk

"We had a head count of just under 100, including helpers and people who come just to watch," she said. "There were at least six men that swam, and several people travelled from Zurich and Belgium for the event."

Despite it being difficult to find willing venues, she said that she and a some merfolk are planning to meet up for a swim at least once a month from now on. She hopes that as mermaiding becomes better known, it will be easier to persuade pools to accommodate them.

"It's difficult to describe the feeling, but when I'm swimming underwater, it's kind of magical," she said. "I feel way more comfortable and at ease, and a sense of freedom. Any personal issues going on in my life just go away. It's my therapy.
The high fertility rate is driving rapid population growth in Africa. Under the United Nations medium scenario, Africas population will be four times bigger than it currently is by the end of the century.

Fertility has actually been declining in African countries over recent decades. Forty years ago, women had 6.5 children on average. But the transition is slower than in Asia and Latin America 30 to 40 years ago. Northern Africa and Southern Africa are exceptions: fertility has fallen rapidly and is now relatively low.

Why is fertility not declining more rapidly?

Africas economy is growing but has not yet reached the level attained by Asian and Latin American countries when their fertility began to decline.

Declining fertility is seen as a consequence of economic development. Womens education is a key factor in this process. Women who have been to school have fewer children than those who have not. Several decades ago, Asian and Latin American countries invested heavily in education for all.

Education is improving in many African countries, for women especially, but  apart from northern and southern Africa  its still below the levelsreached by Asian and Latin American countries when the fertility decline began in these regions.

In Africa, children are often raised by adults other than their parents, such as grandparents, uncles and aunts, who cover the costs of feeding and clothing them and sending them to school. If having another child entails no extra cost because he or she will be cared for by someone else, then there is less incentive to limit family size.

Little support of family planning among the elite

Fertilitys slow decline in African countries is not linked to a rejection of family planning.

Educated and urban populations use it. Most rural families would prefer to have fewer children too, and to space them further apart. They are willing to use contraception, but the necessary services are not available to them.

National birth control programmes exist but are ineffective because they lack resources and, above all, because their organisers and the personnel responsible for implementing them are unenthusiastic and not very motivated.

Rwanda, Ethiopia and Malawi are rare exceptions. In these countries, authorities strongly encourage small families. Rwanda has one of Africas fastest rates of fertility decline, falling more than 20% in a decade (from 5.4 children per woman in the early 2000s to 4.2 in the early 2010s).

But in most of the other countries, the authorities are not convinced of the advantages of birth control for their country, even at the highest level of government. This is not the official line communicated to international organisations, though. Again, in Asia and Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s politicians, artists, religious authorities and opinion leaders all worked to promote the small family.

To persuade African governments that birth control is important, international organisations use the argument of the demographic dividend.

The question of the demographic dividend

Over time, the relative size of different age groups in a population may change, which can create economic benefits and disadvantages. But Africas pattern may prevent the continent from realising some of these benefits.

When fertility falls rapidly in a country, the proportion of children decreases sharply while the share of older adults initially remains quite low (see figure below for China).

As a consequence, the share of the working-age population increases considerably. It gives the country a chance to develop its economy and benefit from the demographic dividend. But this favourable situation is only temporary. Several decades later, the elderly group is much bigger.

Some Asian countries, including China, have exploited this opportunity. It is estimated that the demographic dividend accounts for between 10% and 30% of their economic growth.

Countries in Latin America, on the other hand, have generally not benefited because they did not create enough jobs to employ the additional numbers of working-age people.

But while Asia and Latin America have moved towards smaller families, it was not in anticipation of a demographic dividend  the concept had yet to be invented. Governments deployed birth control policies to limit population growth that was considered too rapid for successful development.

Africa does not satisfy the conditions to have a demographic dividend. Fertility is falling too slowly, and even if it did start to drop rapidly, the prospects for job creation are modest and would probably be too limitedto absorb the additional available labour. In the unlikely event of a future demographic dividend, it will not occur before several decades at least.

The long term

There is no reason why Africans should not adopt the small family norm over the long term as others have done before them. But the path to achieving this could be different in Africa, with consequences for its future population.

Depending on whether the economy, womens education, and birth control policies continue to develop and at which rate, fertility will decline more or less rapidly and in 2100 Africa will have three to six times as many people as today.
"He threw a fit," an unnamed source familiar with the discussion told the Post. "He was furious. Really furious. It's clear he felt jammed."

Trump has long railed against the agreement, negotiated by the Obama administration, promising to "rip up" the deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

But on July 17, the president recertified the agreement  which is required by Congress every 90 days  for the second time, after he was warned that withdrawing would threaten US national security interests and told that, while the deal is imperfect, it provides crucial benefits for the US and its allies.

The decision was made after "hours of arguing," The New York Times reported.

Last Thursday, Trump said in a meeting with his top military leaders that Iran had "not lived up to the spirit of their agreement" that aims to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"The Iranian regime supports terrorism and exports violence, bloodshed, and chaos across the Middle East," Trump said. "That is why we must put an end to Iran's continued aggression and nuclear ambitions."

But earlier this month, Mattis publicly broke with the president, telling Congress he believes it is in the US national security interest to remain a party to the agreement, which also involves several other nations.

"If we can confirm that Iran is living by the agreement, if we can determine that this is in our best interest, then clearly we should stay with it," Mattis said during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on October 3. "I believe at this point in time, absent indications to the contrary, it is something the president should consider staying with."

In August, The Guardian reported that the Trump White House was pushing intelligence analysts to provide justification for declaring Iran in violation of the tenants of the deal. That pressure reportedly reminded some analysts of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"They told me there was a sense of revulsion. There was a sense of deja vu," said Ned Price, a former CIA analyst who served as special adviser to former President Barack Obama. "There was a sense of, 'We've seen this movie before.'"

Mattis, Tillerson, and others are reportedly crafting a compromise in which Trump will announce new conditions for the US's involvement in the deal and push the issue to Congress, thus leaving the option of abandoning the agreement open.

The deal is supported by key US allies, including the UK, whose conservative foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, reaffirmed the country's support of the agreement, arguing that it "neutralized" Iran's nuclear threat.

Experts argue that Trump's motivations for scrapping the deal are more political than strategic.
People are pressing police and the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino to explain an apparent six-minute gap in authorities latest timeline of the Las Vegas shooting.

At 9:59 p.m. on October 1, Stephen Paddock shot a security guard, Jesus Campos, through the door of his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay. Campos, who was hit in the leg, notified security. At 10:05 p.m., Paddock opened fire from his hotel room on 22,000 people attending a music festival across the street. At 10:17 p.m., the first police officers arrived on the 32nd floor.

A US official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the hotel did not notify police of any gunshots until after Paddock opened fire on the crowd. That would mean there were roughly six minutes between when the first shot was fired in the Mandalay Bay and when police were summoned.

This timeline leaves 18 minutes between when Campos was shot and when the first police officers arrived on the scene. During these 18 minutes, Paddock carried out the largest mass shooting in modern US history  authorities say he had already fired his last shots and killed himself before officers arrived on the 32nd floor.

Many say the timeline is strange, especially in a place like the Las Vegas Strip that has many security officials. Why did it take police officers so long to arrive at the scene?

Here are some of the possible explanations.

The police timeline may be wrong

The timeline that places Campos' call six minutes before Paddock started shooting from his window could simply be flawed.

"We cannot be certain about the most recent timeline that has been communicated publicly, and we believe what is currently being expressed may not be accurate," Debra DeShong, a spokeswoman for MGM Resorts, the Mandalay Bay's parent company, said in a statement Tuesday night.

DeShong continued: "This remains an ongoing investigation with a lot of moving parts. As evidenced by law-enforcement briefings over the past week, many facts are still unverified and continue to change as events are under review."

Joseph Lombardo, the Clark County sheriff, gave some credence to this explanation on Wednesday.

"Nobody's trying to be nefarious, nobody's trying to hide anything, and what we want to do is draw the most accurate picture we can," Lombardo said in a TV interview, the Chicago Tribune reported. "I'm telling you right now, today, that that timeline might change again."

Confusion or other factors may have slowed police

The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday that "police audio dispatches revealed widespread confusion among officers at the scene, who had not received Campos' alert and were urgently trying to figure out where the gunfire was coming from."

Police and armed hotel-security officials arrived on the floor at about the same time: roughly 10:17 p.m.

Questions about why this took close to 20 minutes could be used as ammunition by victims suing the Mandalay Bay, legal experts previously told Business Insider.

Was the hotel constructed in a manner that made it harder for security officials to get around quickly? Did the Mandalay Bay's staff fail to immediately alert the police? Did internal security procedures break down after Campos was shot?

The answers remain unclear, and Lombardo defended police officers' efforts.

"No matter what the timeline is, the response was as quick as possible, and I don't think the response could have been any faster," Lombardo said, according to the Tribune.

Wacky conspiracy theories are gaining steam

The Mandalay Bay has quickly become a target for conspiracy theorists floating explanations that currently have no basis in fact.

Here's a short list of theories, all of which rely on anonymous sources or pure imagination:

refused to call the police

framed

helped him carry out the shooting

inside job

second shooter

Conspiracy theories  which often plague victims following tragedies  are not relevant in and of themselves, but they show people who are seeking answers that, at this point, are unknown.

"There's going to be some questions that will never get answered," Lombardo said Wednesday.
Several Nigerian news outlets reported that Tagbos body was found in a Toyota Camry in front of the Lagos Island General Hospital.

Tagbo Umeike death occurred a few weeks ago generating a lot of buzz on social media.

Nigerian actress, Caroline Danjuma reportedly took to her Instagram page accusing Davido of being responsible for the death of Tagbo.

Davido, however, has repeatedly denied involvement in the unfortunate incident.

It was gathered that the new invitation by the police has to do with fresh revelations that Tagbo died out of suffocation.

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, confirmed that the musician was being quizzed following the revelation by the CCTV footage that he and his friends dumped him in the car and ran away.
DSP Magaji Majiya, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command disclosed this to newsmen while parading the suspects in Kano on Wednesday.

We received information from Hajiya Fatima that someone wants to buy her baby. So we told her to tell them she has agreed to sell the boy.

The suspects bought the baby at the rate of N15,000 and paid N13,000 as part payment.

The PPRO said that one of the suspect, Itopam Pious, who claimed to be a nurse at ECWA Eye Hospital Kano, was arrested while trying to confiscate the baby from his mother.

According to him, the nurse intended to buy the baby for a couple, Mr and Mrs Charles Bob-manuel, who came to Kano from Rivers State to adopt a baby because they were married for 12-years without a child.

Majiya added that the nurse confessed to have committed the offence, while the couple denied the offence.

He said that investigation is still ongoing, adding that the suspects would be charged to court.
Speaking in an interview with Pulse News, Desmond Egyir Muna claimed that putting peadophiles in prison is not the appropriate way to curb defilement in the country.

According to him, most men who have sexual intercourse with youngsters do not necessarily do so out of uncontrolled libido. He said such men suffer from a mental condition called Paedophilia, and just like suicide victims, they need medical and psychological attention rather than imprisonment.

READ MORE: Court acquits and discharges defilement suspect

They know very well that it is a criminal offence, but they cant help themselves. They will need a clinical psychologist to help them from that condition. It is just like somebody suffering from schizophrenia, depression or any other mental disorder.

They should not be put in prison, we cant ever end it. The person is suffering from a mental problem, if you put him in prison for 100 years, he will come back to commit the same crime.

In medicine, it is considered as one of the mental disorders, so no matter how you criminalise it, we will never end, Desmond Egyir Muna asserted.

He called on medical doctors in the mental health specialty to help bring all the truth to this condition to the fore, so as to enable policy makers understand the condition and make the necessary amendments to the current laws.

In Ghana, it is considered a crime to have sex with a child under 16 years. It is considered a defilement because the law says the child at that age is not grown enough to give consent to sex.

However, there is hardly any passing day without a man having been jailed for defilement. In some cases, men have sex with children as young as 3 years.

Figures from the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service indicate that, a total of 5,752 children were defiled in Ghana between 2010 and 2014, with 342 of the cases perpetrated by family members of the victims.

In the Central region for instance, DOVVSUs figures show that 273 defilement cases were recorded last year, as against 191 in 2015. The figure represented an increase of 42.9 per cent.

READ ALSO: Miner spends 20 years in prison for defilement
The GH Shoemakers Trade Fair will commence a new phase in the history of Local Brand Shoemaking in Ghana. At a press launch in Accra, Synergia360IMC a marketing and events start-up, the creative director Obaahemaa Ny Kyeraa said the event is packaged to increase its relevance to the market, thereby offering optimal brand equity, scalable margin of sale for creative shoemakers and brand adoption as a staple Ghanaian mark of quality, meticulously crafted with contemporary designs confident to last and worth buyers spend.

GH. Shoemakers trade fair seeks to reshape the ingrained perception and apathetic narrative amongst Ghanaians towards Ghanaian made brands of been sub-standard, comparison to foreign shoe brands. The trade fair will showcase an array of designed to last for eons brogues, loafers, pumps, flats, boots, kids shoes, women stilettoes uniquely made in Ghana which can rival established international brands.

READ ALSO: How to style one pair of jeans to work from Monday to Friday

The fair will demystify the economics of Ghanaian made shoes as an avalanche to propel the economy by way of creating jobs for well skilled and trained artisans, creatives whiles growing the economy to approximate an artistic, and creative industry void of unemployment.
He is an active social media user and his pages are flooded with his latest projects, lectures, and meetings with dignitaries in Ghana and beyond.

Flipping through his Instagram pages, we are envious of Mr. Dramani Mahamas wardrobe. He has never disappointed us with his high fashion sense as he represents in international gatherings.

Weve compiled all our best looks that will forever be a point of reference for the guys when they have a special event.

1. Wedding Anniversary look

Mr. Dramani Mahama shared this photo when he was celebrating his silver jubilee with his lovely wife, Lordina Mahama.

READ ALSO: Meet the four Presidential musketeers of Ghana

2. Visit to Bole

The ex-president visited his great aunt in Bole looking dapper in African print shirt paired with matching trousers.

3. Meeting in Liberia

Ghanaian politician, John Dramani Mahama in a meeting with the Chair and Commissioners of the Liberia National Elections Commission.

READ ALSO: Lordina Mahama goes mad over John Mahama

4. Time with Jesse Louis Jackson Sr.

This is what it means to stand out with your impeccable fashion sense. From the video, ex-president Mahama was the only person who showed his rich culture by sporting colorful African print as he met with other world leaders.

5. In Johannesburg

Ghana to the world, the 58-year-old represented Ghana in the best way ever as he was hosted on On the PowerTalk with Iman on Power 98.7fm in Johannesburg.
They were arrested during a swoop on Thursday, October 12.

The criminals include 48 Nigerians, 9 Ivorians, whiles the rest are Ghanaians.

COP Ken Yeboah, Ashanti Regional Police Commander speaking to the media after the swoop said "Five of the suspects who were found with dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp have been handed over to the drug law enforcement unit for further investigations, while thirty five (35) female suspects believed to be sex workers have been handed over to the Anti-Human Trafficking unit for further investigations.

"The exercise was conducted simultaneously at Asokwa and Manhyia. The other areas are Ejisu, Tafo Pankrono and Suame."

He said 102 suspects were arrested at Pampaso, PZ Area, Ahodwo, Adum, Railways, Columbia and Kenyase Abrem by the Ashanti Central Division whiles 86 of the suspects were also arrested by the Asokwa division at Asafo BB, Neoplan Station, Sokoban Wood Village.

The Ejisu Division also arrested 16 of them at Besease, Ejisu, Zongo Abenase and Onwie.
The presiding judge Oglie Korkovitey had to flee for his life when the mob besieged the court during a hearing.

The irate mob was in the courtroom after the judge granted bail to a fetish priest, popularly known as Rasta.

Rasta allegedly knocked down and killed three residents, including a second-year student at the University of Education Winneba, in Suhum.

When he appeared before the court he was granted bail which got the family of the deceased angry. They, therefore, mobilised some people to attack the judge.

The residents accused Rasta of deliberately knocking down people with his vehicle. Some of them believe that Rasta engages in the killings for ritual purposes.

They see him as a threat in the community hence the reason they wanted the judge to remand him in police custody.
It was such a difficult moment for Hafiz Alis father as his son who had been convicted 25 years cried, Forgive me for all the troubles that I have caused you since I was born. I know I might not survive prison, but all I need is your forgiveness.

An Accra Circuit Court convicted the three criminals for being part of a gang that robbed a liquor distribution company at Mamprobi and killing a guard in the process.

READ MORE: Court acquits and discharges defilement suspect

Hafiz Ali broke down and apologised profusely to his father as he saw him and some relatives who witnessed his conviction.

The heartbroken father could be seen talking to his son as he was being conveyed to the prison in a police vehicle and encouraging him to be strong.

According to a Daily graphic report, Yakubu Shaibu, another member of the gang was also sentenced to 25 years imprisonment by the court, presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh, on Wednesday.

Emmanuel Laryea, a worker at the company, who was found guilty of aiding the robbers to conduct their operation was also slapped with a 25-year jail term.

Ali and Shaibu were found guilty of conspiracy to rob and robbery and were sentenced to 25 years each on each count, while Laryea was also found guilty of abetment of robbery.

According to the court, all the sentences would run concurrently.

Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Victor Dosso, narrated to the court that, on July 18, 2013 at about 4 p.m., six armed men on two motorcycles invaded the premises of Kweku Swanzy Enterprise Limited, a retail company of assorted drinks.

He said They ordered all the workers around the gate to get into the companys premises. This was followed by another order to all the workers to lie on the floor. The robbers shot the security man of the company and stole about GH3, 710.

The prosecution said the security man was pronounced dead after he was rushed to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).

Chief Inspector Dosso said a CCTV camera captured the robbery scene and the faces of all the robbers.

READ ALSO Man walks out of wedding after brides father angered him with extra demands

He addaed that It also captured Laryea, leading the robbers to the companys offices. Upon a tip off, Shaibu was arrested at Abossey Okai. Afterwards, Ali was also arrested.

The judge said in convicting the criminals that, Issues of mistaken identities may arise, but in this case, the CCTV footage clearly identified Ali and Shaibu as members of the robbery gang.

With regard to Laryea, the court held that there was clear evidence that he aided the robbers to get access to the company to conduct their operation.

The judge, Mr Aboagye Tandoh said the CCTV footage showed Laryea following the robbers in a calm manner, while the other workers were being ordered around to lie down.

He also held that there was evidence on record that Laryea, in his caution statement, confessed to helping the robbers.

His role was to facilitate the robbers entry to the company. The judge added.
According to him, the law frowns on prostitution indicating that anyone who is found to be engaged in the act will be arrested.

Apart from the police barracks the prostitutes operate, they also work in areas including the Bank of Ghana road, Victory Cinema area around Aboabo, Nyohini, Tohajie, and the enclave near Alhassan Hotel.

According to reports, some of the young girls engaged in the business are believed to be between 10 and 12 years.

Metropolitan Chief Executive, Idrrisu Musah Superior speaking on the development in the metropolis said is determined to sack the prostitutes out of the metropolis.
Wearing red arm bands, the youth comprising both male and female proceeded through the -principal streets of the of the communities with police protection.

READ MORE: Robber begs family for forgiveness after court jailed him 25 years

They said they chiefs have failed over the years to liaise with successive governments to bring development to the communities, hence the endemic poverty and underdevelopment.

They are scheduled to present their petition to the Municipal chief Executive, saying all appeals to the traditional leaders to intervene to give residents some respite have been frutile.

Leader of the youth, Noah Martey, told the media that one of the major problems confronting the people in the two communities is overbilling by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

They claim that the outrageous electricity bills have plunged the residents into untold hardship.

Noah Martey said We are doing demonstration against our chiefs  both Yilo and Manya  because of overbilling by the ECG. The chiefs are not helping matters by not fighting on our behalf to ensure that the bills are reduced.

We will continue doing the demonstration until our issues are solved. We are presenting our petition to the Municipal Chief Executive of Mayna Krobo and Upper Manya Krobo respectively.
According to a study published in the BMJ, women surgeons record lower or less patient complications after an operation process, as compared to their male counterparts.

Though the report admits that the field of surgery is male-dominated, it also acknowledges the fact that females tend to possess some attributes which may be the reason behind them performing better than their male counterparts.

In the past, very few females embraced the idea of becoming surgeons, with others also shunning away because they were perceived as not cut out for such a field.

READ ALSO: Here is why you should apply chocolate on your face every morning

However, the latest finding by researchers has proved that the few females who make the choice to perform surgeries actually perform better than males.

Leader of the study, Dr. Raj Satkunasivam, who serves as the assistant professor of urology at Houston Methodist Hospital, insists he and his team took a lot of things into consideration during the research, including equalizing the comparisons between male and female surgeons.

The study was conducted using all persons in Ontario, Canada who had gone under the knife between 2007 and 2015, and their surgeons, with over 104,000 people being involved.

READ ALSO: 4 easy steps to treat swollen feet at home

The study matched the ages, experience and took into consideration the severity of a patient's problem in drawing its conclusions.

However, it emerged that patients of female surgeons tend to record less complications, and a 4% reduction in death cases, as compared to those attended to by males.
NYC officials are concerned that trace amounts of a radioactive material commonly found in hospitals could be used by terrorists to make a dirty bomb.

That's because many hospitals use irradiators containing a small amount of the isotope cesium-137, which is used in blood transfusions and cancer research, but also has the potential to be utilized by terrorists in a dirty bomb attack.

According to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the explosion itself would be more immediately harmful than the cesium-137, but the contaminationand ensuing paniccaused by the presence of radioactive material would make for a chaotic and costly cleanup.

"If this were released in a high-density area, an area like the Financial District for example, the number of people who might be affected by a dirty bomb would be in the hundreds of thousands," NYC's Health Department Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett told reporters at a press conference yesterday. Cesium-137 isotope bonds exceptionally well with concrete, so the affected area would be "no longer fit for human habitation." The medical effects and the sanitizing process would take years.

That's why Basset and officials from the U.S. Department of Energy met at Mt. Sinai hospital to announce their new plan to remove all cesium-137 irradiators from the New York area by 2020.

While Basset stressed that such a dirty bomb attack was "highly unlikely," but that the department's "goal is always to eliminate, where possible, serious risks to the public.

David Huizenga, who works as the acting deputy administrator for the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation in the Department of Energy, said that new non-radioactive x-ray equipment had rendered the cesium-137 irradiators obsolete.

"You don't really have to make any sacrifices in terms of performance for research, or for safety," Huizenga said.

According to Huizenga, some cesium-137 irradiators have already been removed from New York area hospitals and replaced with alternative equipment. He estimated that it will cost approximately $250,000 for the removal and replacement of each irradiator, with the Department of Energy covering half of the cost, and individual hospitals responsible for the rest. There are about 28 devices left in the city.
The prisoner's accomplices "planned to hijack a helicopter... and use it to free the prisoner," Dutilh told journalists at a press conference broadcast from Amsterdam.

"However, the plan was foiled," the police chief said without giving further details.

Dutch media reported that a man -- believed to have been one of the accomplices -- was shot dead near Roermond, about 35 kilometres (21 miles) north of Maastricht, after a police chase.

Three other suspects were arrested.

"The men skipped a red traffic light and drove into oncoming traffic, followed by two police cars," public broadcaster NOS said.

It said a suspected gun fight then broke out.

One of the suspects threw away an oblong suitcase which contained parts for an automatic rifle, police chief Dutilh added.

He said the prisoner was connected to "the Amsterdam criminal underworld."

The NOS, quoting sources, said the prisoner is believed to be a member of the capital's so-called "Mocro mafia" drug gangs of Moroccan and Antillean origin.
"There are also four deaths confirmed to be related to leptospirosis," he added, referring to a rare bacterial disease contracted through the urine of infected animals.

With over 5,700 people living in shelters and most of the island still without electricity and running water, the risk posed by contagious diseases is amplified because the landscape and infrastructure remains severely damaged following the Category Four storm.

As a result, Rossello added that he has asked President Trump for an additional $4.9 billion under the Community Disaster Loan program.

"This program will allow the island the funds it needs to meet operational and payroll expenses," the governor wrote.

Last Wednesday, Trump asked Congress to approve an emergency aid package of $29 billion for Puerto Rico.

The latest request adds to "billions we expect to receive for other aid we have requested," Rossello said.

The governor's office did not respond to queries about the total amount of aid requested, which is now equivalent to around half of Puerto Rico's debt of some $73 billion.

Maria devastated the island amid a severe financial crisis, with the government filing for bankruptcy in May.

The crisis has caused 10 percent of the population to leave since 2006, with unemployment reaching 12 percent and poverty 46 percent.
The former Portuguese premier was indicted on 31 bribery charges and other crimes, including money laundering, tax fraud and falsification of documents, the general prosecutor's office said in a statement -- a decision that had been expected for several months but was delayed over evidence-gathering.

"The accusation is baseless," lawyers for Socrates said, adding in a statement that they intended to use "all legal means" to defend their client.

In a 4,000-page indictment that also targets 18 other individuals and nine companies, investigators say Socrates and his accomplices accumulated an estimated fortune of more than 24 million euros ($28 million) in Switzerland, in exchange for favours granted to several companies -- including the Espirito Santo bank that went bankrupt in summer 2014 amid accounting irregularities.

The investigation looked at crimes Socrates allegedly committed between 2006 and 2015. He was prime minister from 2005 to 2011.

The former political leader has always maintained his innocence.

The indictment also targets businessman Carlos Santos Silva, a childhood friend of Socrates, accused of acting as his intermediary and receiving significant money on his behalf.
Rajoy has called on Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to clarify whether or not he declared independence on Tuesday.

The move by Rajoy is a step towards suspending Catalonia's autonomy, which would involve activating Article 155 of the constitution.

Here is some of the reaction to the latest developments:

EU: 'Respect constitution'

The EU has reiterated its call for "full respect of the Spanish constitutional order", reaffirming its commitment to back Madrid in the crisis.

European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said the commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation European Union, trusted Rajoy "and all political forces who are working towards a solution within the framework of the Spanish constitution".

Germany: 'Unilateral independence irresponsible'

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said a unilateral declaration of independence in Catalonia would be "irresponsible".

"Our common European experience shows that Europe's strength lies in its unity and peace, which has been achieved by European unification," he said.

Gabriel urged a solution to the crisis through talks "based on the rule of law and within the framework of the Spanish constitution".

France: 'No recognition'

France said it will not recognise Catalonia if the regional government makes a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain.

The foreign ministry has said a unilateral declaration "would be illegal and would not be recognised".

"All solutions to this internal crisis must be found in the framework of the Spanish constitution," it added.

Italy: 'Unjustified and dangerous'

Italy has called for dialogue to avoid an "unjustified and dangerous" escalation of the crisis in Catalonia.

"We underline the need to respect the constitutional framework and Spanish laws," said Paolo Gentiloni, head of the Italian government, in a statement while urging a framework for talks.

- Russia: Ensure rights of all

Russia has urged the crisis to be resolved through dialogue "strictly in line with Spanish law".

The Russian foreign ministry called for the dispute to be solved "in the interest of a united and prosperous Spain" that ensures the rights of all.

Portugal: 'Responsible dialogue'

Portugal has called for "responsible political dialogue" to resolve the crisis.

"Portugal respects the sovereignty of Spain," the government said in a statement while emphasising it wants a solution that preserves the unity of its neighbour.

Cyprus: 'Violates constitution'

Cyprus has said it does not recognise the unilateral declaration of independence for Catalonia which it describes as a "violation" of the Spanish Constitution.

"Cyprus strongly reaffirms its unwavering support to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Spain," a statement from the presidency said.

Cyprus itself has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded the north in response to a Greek-backed military coup.

Morocco: 'Source of instability'

Morocco has called the uniliteral push for independence in Catalonia "irresponsible" and says it backs the territorial integrity of Spain.

"The unilateral decision... is a source of instability and division not only in Spain, but throughout Europe," said a foreign ministry statement.

The Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla are based on Morocco's northern coast, forming the European Union's only land borders with Africa.
About 84% of the island is without electricity, critical structures like hospitals are relying on gas- and diesel-powered generators to remain operational, and the prognosis looks bleak for most residents. It could be another six months before parts of the island regain power.

It's a dire situation that should inspire the federal government to seriously pursue the construction of microgrids  which has been pitched as the best solution to Puerto Rico's long-standing energy issues before the hurricane even struck, Brandon Hurlbut, the chief of staff for the Department of Energy under President Barack Obama, said in an interview.

Microgrids use batteries to store renewable energy generated by solar or wind farms, which is then converted into electricity. The systems are more reliable because they can operate independently of the main power grid, making them less vulnerable to power outages.

It's a system that has been popularized by Tesla, which has deployed battery and solar projects in 18 countries, from Australia to the USA. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is now in talks with Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello about constructing microgrids on the island using solar panels and commercial batteries called Powerpacks.

"I really would just like to see them use this opportunity," Hurlbut said. "Puerto Rico could be a real shining example of a modern electricity system."

The least innovative utility

Hurlbut is no stranger to the issues plaguing Puerto Rico's electrical system.

He served as an energy representative for President Barack Obama's Puerto Rico Task Force, which was tasked with restructuring Puerto Rico's $72 billion in debt. That task force ultimately composed Promesa, a bill signed into law by Congress in 2016 that put the island's finances under direct federal control, similar to what occurred when Detroit filed for bankruptcy.

As Hurlbut puts it, the issues plaguing Puerto Rico's electric company, PREPA, are symptomatic of the Commonwealth's debt crisis. PREPA was insolvent before the hurricane even hit, with $9 billion in debt.

PREPA has long passed up opportunities to modernize its aging electrical infrastructure, saying it didn't have the funds. But the utility has also been mired in corruption allegations, including that it overcharged consumers for oil.

Puerto Ricans have felt the ramifications of PREPA's financial choices; residents have paid astronomically high utility bills only to suffer through power outages that are four times more frequent than the rest of the US on average.

"They were the least innovative utility I had ever seen in my life," Hurlbut said. "When I was at the DOE, 70% of their electricity was generated by importing oil. That was down to about 50% recently. But still, that's absurd."

The task force encouraged the local government to impose regulations on PREPA and encourage a transition to renewable energy. The move would decrease Puerto Rico's reliance on an aging, oil-dependent power grid. In return, Puerto Ricans would have more reliable electricity at cheaper rates.

Hurlbut said the hope was to replicate the DOE's Integrated Deployment project in Hawaii, which has helped utilities implement microgrids with the ultimate goal of drawing 100% of their electricity from renewable energy by 2045.

Tesla has played a role in aiding Hawaii's green energy transition. The company partnered with the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative and installed a microgrid in March that is expected to reduce fossil fuel use by approximately 1.6 million gallons per year.

"We wanted to do that with Puerto Rico but there are certain things that have to happen," Hurlbut said. "If you can't regulate the utility then you have no leverage to help them make this transition."

The power of Elon Musk

Under Promesa, the federal government finally has the leverage over the local government to encourage a transition to renewables, particularly in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

Such a solution wouldn't just benefit Puerto Rico in the long run, but could help restore power at a much faster rate, Hurlbut said.

"You could do it now because the federal government has so much leverage right now," Puerto Rico needs the federal government not only for the storm but for its general finances."
Backed by palm-studded grounds and a sweeping azure pool, Accras newest luxury bolthole is certainly living up to its hype. Waiters on roller blades glide across the gleaming patio, supplying fresh snacks and icy drinks to holidaymakers stretched out on loungers around the pool.

Good things come to those who wait.. Well, finally, the much-delayed Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City has now opened to compete for top billing with Ghanas very finest hotels. It can boast of rooftop swimming pool.

The Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra is specifically designed to meet the needs of the discerning international business traveller. The Hotel is situated adjacent to one of the most popular beaches in Ghana. Leisure time is a priority at Labadi Beach and the Hotels swimming pool is the central attraction.

The pool is the star of this beachside retreat, with its deep expansive waters, a separate childrens pool and a wet bar shaking up icy cocktails.
Asked about the threat North Korea's nuclear and missile programs pose to the US, Trump said the issue should have been handled in previous administrations, and he praised China for its cooperation with a US-led push to impose sanctions against Pyongyang.

But Trump also seemed to put faith in a not-so-reliable element of the US's defense against North Korea.

"We build the greatest military equipment in the world," Trump told Hannity. "We have missiles that can knock out a missile in the air 97% of the time, and if you send two of them, it's going to get knocked out."

It's unclear which missile-defense Trump was referring to, but the US has only one program designed to protect the mainland from intercontinental ballistic missiles: the ground-based midcourse defense.

According to Laura Grego, the senior scientist in the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, the GMD's "single-shot-kill probability" for an ICBM is unknown.

Even in "optimistic conditions," Grego said, the GMD has about a 50% chance of knocking out a single ICBM. If it fires four missile interceptors for every incoming ICBM threat, that chance climbs to 94%, Grego said.

Grego's estimates sit well with the GMD's track record, made public by the Missile Defense Agency.

The US has other missile-defense systems with records closer to 97%, but they do not defend the entire US mainland or defend against ICBMs.

Trump's overconfidence may signal a dangerous dismissal of the very real threat posed to the US by North Korea's nuclear-tipped ICBMs in development  or it may be part of a strategy.

Tong Zhao, a leading expert on North Korea at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Nuclear Policy Program in Beijing, told Business Insider that nuclear nations had to assume the worst of their enemies' capabilities.

Basically, North Korea would never fire on the US unless it could be sure its missiles would achieve their intended purpose, but "the US will never allow" North Korea "to feel their deterrent is credible," Zhao said.

One way the US does that is by continually investing in missile defenses and talking about cyber capabilities that could wipe out North Korea's command structure.

Even China, which has for decades had a credible nuclear deterrent, fears that the US's missile-defense system in South Korea, known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, could leave it defenseless to a US attack.
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This summer, Eleven Madison Park closed for an extensive revamp that included addressing issues like an out-of-date kitchen and changing the restaurant's Art Deco designwhich had not been altered since owners Will Guidara and Daniel Humm purchased the restaurant from Danny Meyer in 2011into something more contemporary. On October 8th, the restaurant reopened with an updated lookand an updated menuincluding new art pieces, one of which was literally made with materials from the restaurant's old kitchen.

In New York City, we're always told to "look up" to see hidden art and subtle aesthetic treasures that might decorate the side of a building. At the new EMP, look down as you cross the threshold of the restaurant's entrance: the step you're walking on is a sculpture by the artist Daniel Turner, who was commissioned by Humm to create something for the new restaurant.

"I knew I had to integrate a work directly into its architecture for various reasons, the main one being that a restaurant is not the ideal place for sculpture," Turner explains. "You come into a restaurant...and the experience is not set up for one to really have an in-depth look at sculpture, or art in general I think. That being said, when Daniel informed me that the kitchen would undergo renovation, I immediately knew where to source my material."

Turner describes his work as minimalist and says he's known for sculptures involving the "creation or manipulation of materials, objects or environments." For this piece, Turner was given access to over 1,000 pieces of equipment and tools from the original EMP kitchen from which he selected specific items to be melted down to create EMP Step.

The selection process included seeking out specific alloys, but also a more intuitive process about shape, form and an item's function within the kitchen space. One item that exemplifies the latter? The carrot grinder Humm used to make the iconic carrot tartare dish.



The metals were predominantly stainless steel (Scott Heins/Gothamist)

The resulting piece is a 1,000 pound, sixteen foot long step that greets diners on their way into the dining room. It satisfies two criteria for Turner's work, first that it deals with the subject of transformation and next that it serves a sense or purpose of utility.

"The step is an environment, it's Daniel's kitchen. It's symbolic of the kitchen but it's also the actual kitchen," Turner says.

The restaurant commissioned two other works for the space.

Hungarian-American artist Rita Ackermann created a reinterpretation of the painting of Madison Square Park previously hanging in the restaurant. "Rita redrew the painting we previously had in the restaurant of the park in her own way on a chalkboardl," Humm wrote on Instagram, explaining that the artist then started "erasing and abstracting [the piece] with the idea of a fresh start" similar to what the restaurant was experiencing.

Finally, stained glass panels replaced ones that previously held court in the dining room. The installation is called Eleven/Eleven and it was created by artist Olympia Scarry.

Eleven Madison Park is located at 11 Madison Avenue, (212) 889-0905; elevenmadisonpark.com
Here's Google's statement:

"

What happened

Google unveiled the $50 Mini, which goes on sale on October 19, at its event last Wednesday. Soon after, Android Police's Artem Russakovskii, who was one of the reporters who received a test unit,discovered that his device was turning on by itself, recording his conversations, and uploading them to Google.

Normally, there are two ways to interact with Google's smart speakers, including the Mini. You can say the words "OK Google," followed by a command such as "play 'Bohemian Rhapsody.'" Alternatively, you can press the button located on the top of the devices instead of saying "OK Google."

hen he checked his personal activity page on Google, the site that shows users' interactions with the search giant's services and the data it collects on users, he found sound files that had been uploaded to Google's servers from the Mini without his consent.

Google blamed the glitch on a faulty button in some of the units. The buttons on those Minis were detecting touches even when there was no touch to detect.
Now, they are over the top, weird and sometimes so unbelievable that we had to make a list for you.

Here are five miracles that will blow your mind!

Money miracle.

In September 2017, a video of a pastor performing a money miracle went viral. In the video, the South African-based Nigerian prophet named Andrew, founder of Christ Freedom Ministries, asks, do you believe in miracle money? Then, he goes on to perform his miracle. The result is the whole church dancing for joy. The prophet is also known as Seer 1.

Weightloss miracle.

Who knew there was a spirit that could help you lose weight? Apparently, such a spirit exists because this was the exact divine force that Delta State-based man of God, Prophet Jeremiah Omoto Fufeyin called on to help a certain woman burn her fat. The General Overseer of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry performed this miracle at a deliverance programme tagged Lose Weight Spiritually.

Erection miracle.

Recently, a video of the same Warri project surfaced on the Internet. The video showed the Prophet commanding an evil spirit to get out of the man. What that has to do with his erection, we do not know. Honestly, the whole thing is confusing but there was an erection and a miracle, add them together and you get an erection miracle!

Marriage miracle.

The same prophet Fufeyin bewildered us once more when he called out single members in his church and asked them to select their partners among themselves. He also promised to wed them there and then. Miracles like this have earned him this nickname  Warri TB Joshua. Kudos to him for getting three out of these miracles.

Resurrection miracle.

You think you have seen it all until you hear about a Nigerian pastor bringing the dead back to life. This pastor is none other than Seer 1. (Yes, you guessed right. It is the guy from the first miracle.) This time, this was no visual of the miracle, just a testimony from the prophet himself.

According to him, he brought a dead young man back to life after his parents brought to the church. He said he did it by laying him on the floor, praying over his body and then breathing life into him. This was the thing that promptly resurrected. Who are we to doubt a prophet?
The teacher who goes by the name Calipha Ibrahim Abdullahi on Facebook expressed disappointment about how they were sacked.

Abdullahi wondered why 21780 teachers in Kaduna state would fail primary four test saying "politicalisation'' of education is the major problem in the state.

His Facebook post reads: Good morning to my colleague #Teaches an to every1. Is matter of time they almost finish 4 years nothing on ground.The major problem now is we are in new ara of politicalisation with #Education system in #Kudana. How can you said more than 65% of #Teaches failed primary four examine #Wallahi is Lied, we thank God a lot of people knows that. A state like KADUNA in the north more than 65% of P-Teachers faile primary examination, how about the other state in the north???

Reactions have trailed the teacher's poor knowledge of grammar as many commented he deserved to be sacked while others opined that the post might not be genuine as no one has verified if Calipha Ibrahim Abdullahi is truly a teacher in Kaduna or not.

Pulse did some diggings about Calipha Ibrahim Abdullahi on Facebook to verify if he is truly a teacher in Kaduna state or not.

We found out that the name no longer exists but another Facebook account shares same pictures with Calipha Ibrahim Abdullahi and the name is Abdullahi Ibrahim PdpPower with Calipha and Teacher as his nicknames in his profile.

One of the posts recently published by Abdullahi Ibrahim Pdp Power suggests he is the same person who complained about the sack of the 21780 teachers in Kaduna.

Here is one of the Facebook posts that gave the teacher away. "I can testify that the government that is capable of sacking 21,780 primary school teachers can also destroy houses they painted in zaria and those who build on government land''

With this post, it shows Calipha Ibrahim Abdullahi only deleted the viral post in which he goofed and changed his name to Abdullahi Ibrahim Pdp Power probably to clear his track

ALSO READ:WAEC raises alarm over candidates who bring guns to exam halls

To justify its claims on the sack of the teachers, Kaduna Government released a copy of the primary 4 question set for the teachers on Tuesday, October 10.
Osinbajo congratulated the girl for her excellent result when he received a delegation of girl child rights advocates from various schools for the annual celebration of the Girl Child Day on Wednesday, October 11, in Abuja

The VP said her success demonstrates that there is absolutely no difference between a boy and a girl child in terms of capacity and resourcefulness.

"Girls are not less intelligent or resourceful than boys. Only those who, for some reason or the other, want to deceive themselves would argue at all that there is a difference of any kind, especially in intelligence or capacity, between men and women.
The Obudu-born Adie who was seriously vilified when she announced that she is a lesbian after living with her secret for so many years, took to her Facebook page to share the two lessons she learned after she came out of the closet.

Adie explained that she realized she was on her own when she first came out because the people she expected to support her turned their backs on her including her family members.

According to her, many of those friends and family members who refused to support her decision have been silent till date while some do not even wish to be close or have anything to do with her.

Read what she wrote:

The first thing I learned is that Im on my own. It took me a while to realize this because I kept expecting and waiting on family and friends to show support, give approval, and accept me.

Very few did. The others remained silent. And theyre still silent till today because neither has bothered to break the silence.

The second lesson is that nobody owes me anything. Theres a tendency to feel entitled to peoples love, acceptance, and financial resources based on their supposed role in our lives...

Mother, father, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, niece, bestie, friend, etc. Nothing could be more false. Youre not entitled to anything. You want something, work hard for it. Bear the consequences."

Adie added that she has been able to appreciate her life and live the way she wants since she learned the two lessons.

The sooner I started to feel less entitled, the happier I became. I engaged with those that wanted to engage, laughed with those that wanted to laugh. If I was in need, I asked.

If I got, I appreciated, if I didnt, no hard feelings. Life continued. Thats how I live my life even now and Im getting better at it. So, instead of feeling like people owe you anything, work hard on your own and be grateful for life helpers you meet along the way.

In 2011, Adie who was then married to a man, left her family and friends shocked when she came out to declare openly that shes a lesbian.

She explained that she had hidden her sexual orientation from her family for years and could not open up to anyone for fear of what the society would say and think of her.

It would be nice to keep mum about it, forget about my sexual orientation as a lesbian and move on with marriage, she had said.

For more than two years while she was married, Adie said she was living in pain but with grit and courage when she realized that straight relationships were not meant for her and the best way to salvage the situation was to wipe the slate clean.

My pain became more than my fear. I came out because I needed to be free from pain, from telling my loved ones lies, from living a double life as a lesbian and a married woman. The burden was just too heavy to bear.

When I came out, I came out to free myself. I didnt come out because I wanted to be an activist or because I wanted to prove a point. It was really about me.

Even before I came out, I was already in a same-sex relationship but I never saw myself as a lesbian. I hadnt come out to myself and I always thought that when I get married, it will somehow go away. Thats one of the reasons I eventually got married.

At the end of the day, it didnt go away because its not something that goes away. Your sexual orientation is part of who you are and its not a choice.
The deceased identified as Salo Roseline Tamarabrakemi was reportedly involved in an accident on Tuesday, October 10, 2017, when she went to buy items she wanted to use to mark her birthday the next day.

According to her friends, Tamarabrakemi was heading for her destination on a commercial motorcycle when a vehicle rammed into the Okada, killing her instantly.

Some hours before her tragic death, Tamarabrakemi had taken to Facebook to share her excitement as she prepared to celebrate her birthday, not knowing she would not live to mark the day.

"Can't wait ooo; 2moro is d birthday of someone special & d one dat I don't joke wit. My very own..........

Hmmmm, I see u'r anxious 2 know wu bt jst wait & c wu dat special person could b," she had posted.

But her friends were shocked to discover that she had lost her life shortly after she made the post.

One of her friends, who is also a soldier, Akuboere Lugardowortimi, shared the information of Tamarabrakemi's death and since then, friends and others have been commenting on the tragic incident.

"She was heading to Elele Market in Ikwere Local Government Area of Rivers State, when she got involved in a car accident.

The accident happened less than 15 minutes of introducing her to a fellow Izon soldier serving in the area. And behold, the result thereafter is that Pte Roseline Salo has become LATE.

Cant just imagine what life is all about. Still in amazement and dreaming that she has gone forever. God, God"

May her soul rest in peace, Amen.
Others paraded included a 50-year-old suspected ritualist, who was allegedly nabbed with a human skull, as well as a dismissed soldier and his accomplice arrested for robbery.

Also arrested were a polytechnic student and six others who were arrested for stealing nine motorcycles.

Briefing newsmen, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Abiodun Odude, said a five-man kidnap gang abducted the Lebanese, Elias Bashour, after they robbed his workers of their phones, cash and other valuables at Podo area of Ibadan.

He said the police swung into action when alerted and chased the kidnappers who later abandoned the vehicle conveying the kidnapped Lebanese and escaped into the bush.

Four of the suspects were arrested at their hideout in Ilese near Ijebu Ode and Ibiade near Waterside in Ogun State, he said.

The commissioner, who said the suspect with a human skull was caught in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State on Oct. 5, added that he claimed the body part was given to him by his accomplice who was still at large.

He also said the command had put in place strategies to ensure safety of lives and property as the Yuletide approaches.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 42 suspects were paraded along with recovered property worth millions of naira.

The suspects included 15 nabbed for armed robbery, four for kidnapping, seven for burglary, and one for ritual-related offence.
The Department of Justice has issued another statement ordering New York and other cities to comply with a federal law prohibiting municipalities from not cooperating with ICE agents, warning that this is a "last chance" before the cities lose federal funding to police departments.

The statement from the Justice Department follows up on a previous warning sent this spring informing cities if they didn't comply with 8 U.S.C.  1373, a federal law making it illegal to "restrict any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual," they would lose their funding for Byrne Grants.

The last chance warning from the DOJ identifies Cook County and Chicago, Illinois; New Orleans, Philadelphia and New York as five cities slated to lose their Byrne Grant funding without changes to their current policies about cooperating with ICE. The Byrne Grant program distributes federal funds to municipalities to pay for "technical assistance, training, personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support, and information systems" relating to criminal justice. NYC received $4.3 million from the grant last year.

In New York's case, the department identified an executive order barring police from asking about immigration status and classifying such status as "confidential information" city employees can't divulge, as well as a local law prohibiting the Department of Corrections from honoring ICE detainers or informing ICE of a prisoner's immigration status or upcoming court dates as violating federal law.

The federal government is giving cities until October 27th to change their laws, the DOJ said, before they reach what they called their "final determination."

At a press conference earlier today, Mayor Bill de Blasio said objected to the DOJ's characterization of the city being out of compliance with the law.

"We are fully in compliance with the law," the mayor said in response to a question about the letter. "The NYPD deserves the anti-terrorism funding they have gotten from the federal government, and if President Trump stops our funding for the NYPD, we will see the president in court. Its as simple as that. We are fully in compliance. The Supreme Court under Justice Robertsin fact, he wrote the decision in 2012said that the federal government cannot for political reasons withhold funding of this nature. That was reiterated in another court action recently. We are fully in compliance, and if they want to have a court battle, we are ready for that court battle.

Despite New York City's status as a sanctuary city, ICE has still been active in the five boroughs, including plainclothes immigration agents arresting four people at Brooklyn Criminal Court in September, and a four-day sweep at the end of the month in which 45 people were arrested.
Edmund does not want his best buddy to get himself entangled in a marriage he will live in absolute regret.

Read his story here:

"My name is Edmund, a 32-year-old man working in Lagos. I am in a dilemma at the moment as I have been trying all I can to help my best friend, Bash, from going into a marriage he will live to regret.

Bash is hell-bent on getting married to this runs-girl and prostitute and he is the only one who does not see anything wrong with her because he is either blinded by love or she had given him some love potion.

Bash and I come a long way from our childhood days when his parents moved into our neighbourhood and we immediately clicked.

Bash had always been simple-minded, believing and trusting people easily and many times, he had been betrayed and hurt but being the street-smart guy, I was always there to protect him.

I stood up to all the bullies in the area and took him as my kid brother even though we were age mates but I have always had a strong personality and that made me the leader.

After our secondary school, Bash got admission into the University of Port Harcourt while I got admitted in Unilag but we were still very close.

While in school, there was this girl who was the hottest on campus and was known as the queen of pimps and a high profile runs-girl.

Debbie was so popular and there was no party that she did not know about. She slept around with so many men and was always on one trip or the other with one politician or rich man.

She hardly went for lectures and slept with lecturers to pass her exams. She clubbed all week and was always drunk and stoned. In fact, three of my friends had slept with her because she was that loose.

There was a time she almost died after undergoing an abortion and I was one of those who rushed her to a hospital where she was treated and one of her friends hinted me in secret that her womb had been perforated and her chances of having babies were very slim.

So I was shocked when Bash introduced Debbie to me some months ago, telling me she was the one he wanted to get married to. I wouldn't know how and when they met but when he introduced her to me, she first pretended as if she did not know me.

Later when Bash had gone to get some drinks, I made sure she knew I was the same person she knew in school and she opened up that she remembered me but begged me not to reveal to Bash that I knew her.

I did not have the opportunity of giving her a reply because Bash had just come in then but since then, I have not been very comfortable around her and she knows I don't support their relationship.

I have not told Bash about her but I am really worried for him. I can't let my homeboy marry such a loose prostitute whose chances of having a baby is very slim.

I know everyone has a past but the baby part is what is making me worry for my friend. He is seriously planning the wedding and has even said I will be his groomsman but I must stop him before he gets himself into a marriage of sorrow.

Edmund."

The teaser for the day was:

What do you think Edmund should do in this situation?

How Nigeria voted:

Edmund should tell Bash and save him future pains - 90%

Edmund should not tell Bash about Debbie's past -10%

Edmund should just keep the whole thing a secret - 5%

Edmund would be held responsible if anything happens in Bash's marriage - 5%
Rest assured, you will not be short of places to go, have some fun, and unwind from the long week's stress.

The event debuts with a big bang this Friday, October 13, 2017 at Cova Lounge located at the Penthouse, Mega Plaza, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Its an evening of pre-drinks, with the coolest crowds, signature margarita pitchers, awesome Disc Jockeys, superstar friends and celebrities. The event is in response to the yearnings of Lagos revellers looking to rev their engines before hitting the road for a long night.

LagosMums presents the 4th Annual Parenting Conference and Exhibition

The event themed Parents Winning will hold at Eko Hotel on Saturday the October 14, 2017.

Over the past three years LagosMums has successfully hosted its annual parenting seminars with wonderful mums, dads and speakers in attendance with guests anticipating a bigger and better one this year.

Bluepearl Services International, organizers of African Fashion and Design Week Nigeria, New York and Los Angeles, is pleased to announce that African Fashion and Design Week (AFDW) will take place in Nigeria from October 13th  15th, 2017 at the Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos.

The event this year is tagged The Prophecy and will involve the usual segments of concerts, symposium and debates.

New addition to the festival this year will include tourist packages to Felas life spaces, Felabration Afrobics Dance Competition, Felabration Artwork Competition and international versions of Felabration across different cities of the world. The music festival this year is scheduled to hold between October 9 and October 15, 2017.

Shift Lemme Faint is a set of witty monologues written by some of Nigerias finest writers depicting life in Nigeria and adapted into a stage production. These monologues and conversations are about the peculiarities of being Nigerian, in other words our ridiculousness as Nigerians, because as we like to say, We Nigerians are special!.
As in any country of the world, she had to have laid down laws, rules, and guidelines which were to be the rod and staff to the country.

It was the birthing of this process that brought about the 1960 independence constitution.

During the time, the Queen of England was still the head of state of Nigeria. She was represented by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Nigerian Governor-General, while Tafawa Balewa was the Prime Minister.

With the constitution, foreign influence on the Nigerian state was dealt its final blows. It took its basis from the 1954 constitution, but a number of changes were made.

Provision for citizenship acquisition was made in the new constitution, as well as provision for constitution amendment.

Nomination formed the basis for appointing judges for the courts. And the highest court of appeal in Nigeria, according to this constitution, was the Privy Council located in London.

Here are the main features of the 1960 Independence Constitution

1. The independence constitution provided a democratic parliamentary system of government whereby the office of the head of State is different from the office of the head of government.

2. A federal system of government was retained.

3. Queen Elizabeth was still the Head of state, Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Governor  General, was a ceremonial Head of State representing the Queen until October 1st, 1963 when Nigeria became a republic State.

4. The prime minister was the Head of government and administration.

5. The constitution provided a bicameral legislature at the center, the Senate (lower house) and House of Representatives ( upper house). The house of senate would later be changed in the 1979 constitution to the upper house while the House of Reps. to the lower house.

6. The constitution provided a premier as the Head of the executive of each region.

7. The fundamental human rights of the citizens were entrenched in the constitution; in addition, the constitution defined who a citizen is and how to acquire citizenship.

8. The Constitution laid down the procedure for creating new regions.

9. It gave the federal government the power to declare a State of emergency in any part of the country.

10. The constitution divided the legislative powers of governments into three  exclusive list (Central government), concurrent list (both central and regional government) and residual list (local government).

11. The final Court of Appeal was the Privy Council in London.

12. The constitution also stated the procedure for the amendment of a constitution.

Also included in the 1960 Independence constitution were features such as:

1. The powers of Parliament to make laws.

2. Powers of Public Service Commission in relation to granting of pensions.

3. Powers, practice, and procedure of Federal Supreme Court.

4. Appeals to Federal Supreme Court from Sharia Court of Appeal and Court of Resolution.

Owing to the rigidity of the 1960 independence constitution, it was later replaced by the Republican constitution of 1963, which replaced the Governor-General appointed by the British monarch with a President elected directly by members of the Nigerian federal legislature.

This new constitution was passed into law on 1st October 1963 and it was in accordance with the constitutional conference that was held in Lagos between July 25 and 26, 1963.

It was this constitution that made provision for real independence in Nigeria.

With the removal of Queen Elizabeth as the head of state, the constitution provided the possibility for the president to be chosen by members of the National Assembly and House of Representatives through a secret ballot.

And as a result, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe became the president and commander in chief of the armed forces.

In addition, the constitution recognized the Supreme Court as the highest court of appeal in Nigeria and abolish the judicial service commission.

Thus, the prime minister became the one appointing the judges.
Alhaji Aliyu Kafindangi, NEMA Head of Operation in charge of Niger and Kwara, said this in commemoration of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.

A statement from Kafindangi disclosed that the agencys focus was in line with this years theme Home Safe Home; Reducing Exposure, Reducing Displacement.

It explained that the 2017 campaign was to raise global awareness on effective actions, policies and practices taken to reduce exposure to disaster risk at the community level towards saving lives and property.

The statement called for more collaboration among stakeholders to reduce the effect of disasters on the lives of people, community and the Nation.
Dogara stated this on Thursday at the third matriculation of the National Institute of Legislative Studies (NILS)/University of Benin Postgraduate Programme at the National Assembly, Abuja.

He explained that parliamentary capacity development was important to ensure balance of power among the branches of a democratic system  Executive, Legislature and Judiciary.

He said that the trio constituted mechanism of checks and balances essential to sustainable progress and economic growth and development in the country.

The speaker said that it was common knowledge in parliaments across the world that nothing hindered the delivery of the promise of democracy more than lack of capacity.

He commended NILS/UNIBEN for the programmes designed to build capacity of legislative staff.

He said that the knowledge imparted to participants would build a pool of competent staff and members to enhance international best practices in the discharge of their duties.

The point must be made that it is knowledge that animates parliaments all over the world while nothing stultifies the promise of democracy more than an intellectually hollow parliament.

By paying particular attention to capacity strengthening, the National Assembly has made appreciable progress in fulfilling its democratic obligations.

The capacity of the National Assembly to make laws, review existing laws and perform legislative oversight and representative roles has been significantly enhanced and the technical capacity of staff and legislative aides is progressively being strengthened and expanded.

These legislative responsibilities have become even more critical since the coming into operation of the 1999 Constitution as demonstrated by the robust role being played by the legislature in our democracy.

It is also in the movement towards an open society in which citizens participate more in matters of national importance, contribute in decision-making processes and demand greater accountability on the part of political office holders, he said.

Dogara congratulated the students and some of the icons of the legislature who were honoured with Fellowship of National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS).

He said that the fellowship award was in recognition of their contributions to the growth and development of the legislature in Nigeria.
According to the report, the wife of former President Goodluck Jonathan is suspected of laundering money through Magel Resort Ltd after becoming the sole signatory to the account of the company.

The report read, "Another company owned by Mrs Jonathan is Magel Resort Ltd. It was incorporated by Mrs. Jonathan's late mother. But Patience Jonathan became the sole signatory to the account of the company by board resolution upon the demise of her mother.

"Though registered as a resort agency, sources at the EFCC disclosed that the agency was probing the circumstances in which the firm secured over N200m IT contract from the National Information Technology Development Agency.

"The contract was allegedly bankrolled through the National Information Technology Development Fund. Several other persons under investigation for money laundering by the anti-graft agency were discovered to have made payments into the company's account including a hotelier in Central Area, Abuja, who has been invited for questioning.

"The total sum allegedly laundered through the account of Magel Resort Limited, owned by Mrs Jonathan and her late mother, is put at N2.114bn."

With the former First Lady under probe for engaging in fraudulent activities especially though some of her non-governmental organisations, the report also revealed that she received suspicious payments from her domestic aides who are also trustees of some of her NGOs.

The EFCC has invited many of the persons of interests in the probe for questioning as Mrs. Jonathan is suspected of laundering money through many companies.

According to the report, "Investigations equally discovered that Mrs. Jonathan maintains a dollar account with Diamond Bank which received huge financial inflow from her domestic aides.

"Some of the domestic aides that made payments into the accounts are also trustees of her so-called NGO and director in her companies. The balance in the account was $12,831,173.

"Another dollar account of the former First Lady was discovered in Skye Bank. Inflows into the account came through deposits by domestic aides of Mrs. Jonathan.

"Intelligence reports indicate that most of the purchase of luxury items by the former First Lady was through the Platinum card of the account. The total amount in the account is $7.9m.

"Another discovery was the N2.1bn and N1.8bn deposited into the accounts of AM PM Global Network Limited and Pagmat Oil and Gas Limited respectively, between 2009 and 2015. Both companies are linked to the former First Lady.

"Another N1.140bn was also allegedly laundered by Mrs. Jonathan through the account of Lawari Furniture and Baths Limited, whose address is given as 100 Akamfa Road, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

"The bulk of the money was deposited by Bureau de Change operators."

Some of the companies that are under scrutiny by the EFCC have also been discovered to have bogus addresses as mails sent to them were returned undelivered.

The total amount of money now linked to Mrs. Jonathan by the anti-graft agency is N17 billion as the two parties continue to clash in court.

In June, she filed for general damages against the EFCC, seeking compensation in the sum of N2 billion for what she tells the court is due to the trauma of being subjected to incessant harassments by the agency through negative media publications.

ALSO READ: Patience Jonathan sues EFCC for N2B damages and compensation

She alleged that the commission's malicious campaigns against her were carried out by the respondent without prior invitation to defend herself.

She said her rights and good public image had been violated under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as a result of the respondent's actions.

She is also seeking a declaration de-freezing all her bank accounts and those of her relatives held down by the EFCC under the guise of investigation of proceeds of crime.
The minister had in a petition written to President Muhammadu Buhari accused Baru of $25 billion contract scam, saying the NNPC boss sidelined him and the Corporation and unilaterally awarded the contracts.

Following the leakage of the petition to the public, the President held separate meetings with Kachikwu and Baru to hear their sides of the story.

It was gathered that the presidency looked into the NNPC fact-sheet and found Baru not guilty of any corrupt practices and misconduct.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, October 11, Falana blamed Buhari for allegedly encouraging Baru to treat Kachikwu "with such pompous disdain and arrogance."

"It is pertinent to state, without any fear of contradiction, that by virtue of section three of the NNPC Act the GMD as the chief executive of the corporation shall be responsible for the execution of the policy of the corporation and the day-to-day running of the corporation's activities and its associated services," he said.

"But contrary to the erroneous impression conveyed by the management of the NNPC, there is no conflict whatsoever between the provisions of the NNPC Act and the public procurement Act, 2007 to justify the usurpation of the powers of the NNPC board by the tenders board of the NNPC headed by the GMD.

"Therefore, the unilateral award of multi-billion dollar contracts in the NNPC by Dr. Baru or the tenders board is illegal, null and void in every material particular.

"With respect, the totality of Dr. Barus defence was anchored on the mistaken belief that the NNPC Act does not require him to report to the minister of state but to President Buhari in his capacity as the minister of petroleum resources.

"Dr. Baru must have forgotten that upon the removal of Dr. Kachikwu as the NNPC GMD in 2016 the president appointed him as the chairman of the reconstituted Board of the NNPC in line with section 3 of the NNPC Act. Therefore, the decision of Dr. Baru to bypass the chairman of the board in the award of the contracts and appointment of NNPC staff cannot be justified either under the NNPC Act."
On November 15th, auction house Christie's will be offering a "special lot" in its Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale: A painting of Jesus Christ, painted around 1500, by Leonardo da Vinci called. The piece is called Salvator Mundi, and was believed lost until being "rediscovered" in 2005.

In 2011, its authenticity as a work by the Renaissance master was confirmed after it was shown to numerous scholars at museums around the world. Christie's says, "Individual opinions vary slightly in the matter of dating  most of the consulting experts place the painting at the end of Leonardos Milanese period in the later 1490s, contemporary with The Last Supper , while others believe it to be slightly later, painted in Florence (where the artist moved in 1500), contemporary with the Mona Lisa."

Christies Alex Rotter, a co-chairman of Postwar and Contemporary Art, told the NY Times, "There are only about 15 Leonardo da Vincis in existence... [it's] the Holy Grail of art rediscoveries.'"

The painting has also been embroiled in legal battles; from Art News:

In the early 2000s, the work was owned by a consortium of dealers including Warren Adelson, president of Adelson Galleries, and dealers Alexander Parish and Robert Simon, after Parish picked up a canvas at an estate sale that he believed to be a Leonardo copy. He paid just $10,000 for the work. After the work was restored, it was authenticated as a work by the man himselfa miraculous findand it received its formal coronation when it was unveiled to the public at the National Gallery in London in 2011. Two years later, it was sold to dealer Yves Bouvier in a private sale brokered by Sothebys for between $75 million and $80 million. Bouvier then sold it to the Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev for $127.5 million, netting the dealer a margin of almost $50 million. Upon learning of the mark-up in the sale and others, Rybolovlev became suspicious of his art brokers pricing decisions, and eventually filed a criminal complaint in Monegasque court alleging a scheme that overcharged him a total of $1 billion over 40 sales. In addition, the consortium that originally sold the work threatened to sue Sothebys for its involvement in the sale, alleging that they got shortchanged. Sothebys filed its own complaint in federal court in Manhattan last November, asking a judge to rule that it was not liable for any potential misdeeds in the private deal between Bouvier and Rybolovlev.

ArtNews also reports the painting could sell for $100 million.

The orb in the painting is believed to be made of rock crystal, which Christie's notes is "the purest form of quartz, and widely believed in the Renaissance to possess formidable magical powers. Rock crystals cut in Antiquity had been set into reliquaries since the Middle Ages, giving the stone sacred associations. Therefore, the very substance of the globe, as well as the perfection of its regular and continuous spherical form, endows it with a nearly miraculous essence."

The piece will be exhibited in New York between October 28th and November 4th, before the November 15th sale, which will also feature Andy Warhol's final silk screen painting, The Last Supper.
At the backdrop of recent killing of Ibrahim Badmus, a 25-year-old Nigerian, during a police raid in Vaal, near Johannesburg, Gambari said it was one killing too many.

He said that it was time the legislators acted more aggressively by prompting the executive to address the problem.

According to him, unless the recurrent problem is addressed, it will affect the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa.

I think it is very important for the National Assembly to push the executive to address this issue to ensure that the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa is not destroyed.

This is in pursuit of implementation of key agenda of the African Union, particularly agenda 2063, for a peaceful, inclusive and prosperous Africa, he said.

Gambari expressed concern that in spite of the major role played by Nigeria in the fight against Apartheid in South Africa, its citizens were been attacked.

He said the Xenophobia against Nigerians and Africans is worrisome.

It eats me up that Nigeria, a country that has done so much for the struggle against Apartheid is subjected to xenophobic attacks. It is totally unwarranted.

If they have criminal elements and Nigerians living there do criminal things it is different, but to paint Nigerians as drug dealers or pimps and then subject them to attacks and killing is completely unacceptable.

I am speaking for Nigerians and I know it applies to Mozambicans, Zimbabweans and all those who made enormous sacrifice so that South Africa can be free.

On illegal migration, Gambari called on Nigeria and other African countries to put measures in place to accommodate the youth, who form an integral part of the society.

He said that most illegal migrants in the quest to have better lives in Europe and other parts of the world, ended up as victims of trafficking.

He stated that the trend had become worrisome as some of the victims lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea or ended up as sex slaves.

Gambari pointed out that there are two factors for migration  the push and the pull.

We have been dealing more with the pull factor, which is, what is it that is attracting these young Nigerians and other Africans to migrate?

Unfortunately, those attractions are no longer there because the doors are being shut in their face in Italy, Britain and elsewhere. So, they are not even welcomed where they go to.

But, I think we should pay more attention to the push factor. What is it that is pushing these young Africans and Nigerians to undertake this horrendously dangerous journey?

It is a journey in which several perish and even those who survive envy the dead because they are subject to molestation, sexual slavery, sexual harassment and other dehumanising situation.

We have to look at what is pushing these young people, the future of our respective countries.

The development of human capital is key, yet it is being lost in the dangerous process.

Our continent has survived slave trade, colonialism, Apartheid but if we are not careful, the current trend of migration is one battle that will defeat us.

The former envoy called for repositioning of the education system, the health sector and other critical sectors that would create employment and ensure better life for the youth.

According to him, some statistics have it that by the year 2050, Nigeria will become the third most populous country in the world, after China and India.

He added that in view of the projection, there was a need for Nigeria to prepare adequately to accommodate the surge in population.

On Myanmar crisis, Gambari called on the leader of the country, Aung San Suu Ky, to take the matter more seriously.

He said that though it was not an African problem, but in view of the global nature of the world, a threat to peace in any part was a threat to all.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for speaking on the issue in his speech at the last General Assembly, where he called for a lasting solution.

Earlier, Sen. Sani said the continuous attack on Nigerians in South Africa was worrisome.

He said, We have been receiving reports of Nigerians being targeted and killed in a country that we invested in politically and financially during the struggle against Apartheid.

It is of concern to us that xenophobic attack is damaging our relation as countries and making people to rethink.

If Africans face racism in Europe and African Americans face attacks in the US, it is very painful to see Africans been attacked within the African continent. It is a major issue of concern to us.

Sani also said that the crisis in Myanmar and the Middle East called for concerted efforts, particularly by African leaders for an African proposal to solving the problems.

According to him, while Africa faces its own challenges, it does not stop the leaders from proffering solution to problems in other parts of the world.
Fayose has been a committed critic of the Buhari administration since inception.

He said the President treats corruption when it concerns people serving under his government or his political allies with a pinch of salt.

The Governor stated this in a statement issued on Wednesday, October 11, by his spokesman, Lere Olayinka, in reaction to the $25 billion contract scam rocking the NNPC.

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu had accused the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, of awarding the multi-billion dollar contracts without the knowledge of the Corporation board.

Fayose said Buhari is "treating corruption involving his men as family affair".

"When miscreants write petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, against perceived opponents of President Buhari, EFCC will act immediately, but when known Nigerians, including members of Buharis government raise allegations of corruption against close allies of the President, the EFCC will look the other way."

"As posited by APC Senator, Shehu Sani, we are in a situation where perfume is being sprayed on corruption when it affects Buharis men while insecticide is being sprayed on corruption when it involves perceived political opponents of the President.

"When allegation of corruption is made against Buharis men, EFCC acts like pet dog, but when it is against those whose faces the President does not like, the anti-graft agency acts like lion.

"No nation can achieve greatness with such a partial leadership.

"As far as I am concerned, President Buhari is not fighting any corruption. He is fighting his political foes and God is not a God of double-standard. This Buhari's government is a government of double-standard," Fayose said.

The Governor could be one of the presidential candidates who would be vying against Buhari in 2019, should the President seeks re-election.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, October 11, the NNPC said Osinbajo signed the approval of two oil contracts worth N640 billion during his time as the acting president.

The "Acting President Yemi Osinbajo gave the approval", spokesperson for the NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, said in the statement sent to Premium Times.

But Osinbajo's office could not confirm or deny the approval claims when the online news platform requested for comments.

The NNPC also said it received presidential approvals for two oil contracts on July 10 and July 31 worth $1 billion and $780 million, respectively.

Ughamadu confirmed that Osinbajo gave the approval for those too.

ALSO READ: It's a shame that Kachikwu and Baru are fighting

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, had in a leaked memo to President Muhammadu Buhari, accused the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru of abuse of contract regulations and insubordination.
Justice Mohammed Dattijo had led the 5-man panel of justices that gave the date of the adjournment.

Dasuki, through his counsel, Mr Ahmed Raji (SAN), has sought the order of the apex court to set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

He averred that the judgment of the lower court had given the Federal Government the impetus to continue to keep him in detention.

Raji had also averred that the appellant had approached the court for the enforcement of his freedom from detention after he had been granted bail.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ECOWAS court had also in October 2016, ordered for the applicants release from detention.

Dasuki was dragged before the FCT High Court by the defendant on two separate charges of alleged illegal diversion of about 2.1billion US dollars meant for arms purchase.
So we thought we bring to you some fun facts about the guy who has made life a little more colorful for a lot of millennials.

Named Evan Spiegel, here are five interesting things to know about the 27-year old billionaire internet entrepreneur.

- He likes his slow roasted chicken scented with turmeric and lemon, which his then wife-to-be Miranda went out of her way to prepare for her hubby-to-be on their wedding day.

- Spiegel, American is married to a gorgeous Australian model Miranda Kerr, who runs a skin-care line Kora Organcs, and is also a power event planner. They got wedded in a private ceremony in Los Angeles on May 27, 2017.

- While still in high school Spiegel took design classes, had paid and unpaid internships in sales at Redbull. Talk about foresight.

- Spiegel dropped out of Stanford university to focus on Snapchat. Interestingly before he dropped out, Spiegel, a product design student at the time proposed Snapchat as a class project and was ridiculed by his mates.
The government of US President Donald Trump announced it was quitting UNESCO, accusing the UN cultural and education body of "anti-Israel" bias after it designated in July the old city of Hebron as a Palestinian heritage site.

The UN spokesman appeared to downplay the US decision to leave UNESCO.

"There are times when there may be differences on this or that issue, but the secretary-general, as you have seen, works well with the government of the US," said Haq.

Guterres, who succeeded Ban Ki-moon in January, has worked hard behind the scenes to establish good relations with the US administration despite US funding cuts and disparaging comments from Trump about the world body.

Last month, Trump said during the annual General Assembly meeting that the United Nations "had not reached its full potential" because of a bloated bureaucracy and "mismanagement."

Guterres has repeatedly said he wants the world body to improve its response to global crises and some diplomats say the US pressure to cut costs and enact changes is helping the UN chief push his agenda.

The United States is the UN's number one financial contributor, paying 28.5 percent of the $7.3 billion peacekeeping budget and 22 percent of the core budget of $5.4 billion.

In 2011, the previous administration of Barack Obama cut funding to UNESCO after its members voted to admit Palestine as a full member.

The Palestinians elsewhere at the United Nations have the status of non-member observer state.

The president of the UN General Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak of Slovakia, separately said he was concerned that the US decision "could have adverse impacts upon the important work of UNESCO."

UNESCO's outgoing director, Irina Bokova, described the US decision as a "loss to multilateralism."
"Our activists launched a firework in the perimeter of a French nuclear plant. These installations are vulnerable," the group said on Twitter, along with a video of the stunt at the plant in Cattenom, near the border with Luxembourg.

Shortly after the pre-dawn infiltration, the EDF energy company that operates the plant said the protesters were detained before they reached the nuclear zone, and that the plant's safety was not impacted.

EDF tweeted: "Greenpeace activists on site. Stopped by police. No access to the nuclear area. No impact on the safety of installations."

Greenpeace said the fireworks were set off at the foot of a spent fuel pool (SFP) -- where nuclear plants store highly radioactive fuel rods that are removed from reactors after their use.

Roger Spautz, a Greenpeace official in Luxembourg, said that at around 5:30 am (0330 GMT), about 15 activists entered the site and crossed two security barriers to reach the building containing the SFP.

Spautz told AFP the action was aimed at drawing attention to the "fragility" of SFPs "that are not protected, unlike the reactor buildings".

On Tuesday, Greenpeace warned about security shortcomings at French and Belgian nuclear plants that make them vulnerable to attack, citing an expert report commissioned by the group.

It stressed the "even more pronounced (dangers) in the case of spent fuel pools", which are not encased in confinement buildings like reactors, despite containing hundreds of tonnes of highly radioactive fuel.

EDF immediately refuted the report, saying in a statement that its nuclear plants were "safe, properly monitored and very well protected" and that it was constantly evaluating their resistance to criminal acts or terrorism.
The centre-right People's Party (OeVP), rebranded by Kurz, 31, as his personal turquoise "movement", is forecast to come first with over 30 percent, polls suggest.

But in a fresh triumph for Europe's populists just after Alternative for Germany (AfD) became the third-biggest party in parliament there, the Freedom Party (FPOe) looks set to be second or third with at least 25 percent -- double the AfD's score.

Austria has had almost 150,000 asylum claims since 2015, making the wealthy Alpine country of 8.75 million one of Europe's highest recipients per capita.

Like the AfD, France's National Front and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, the FPOe -- which almost won the presidency in December -- has stoked concerns about the influx, while also moving left on social issues.

"No, Islam is not part of Austria," party head Heinz-Christian Strache, 48, recently told a cheering, flag-waving FPOe rally.

Immigration must stop "until further notice", its programme says, and asylum is temporary.

"Strache is the counterweight to (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel whose 'welcome culture' is destroying Europe," one FPOe supporter told AFP, not wishing to give his name. "Austrians should come first."

Novelty act

"Wunderwuzzi" ("whizz-kid") Kurz took over the OeVP in May and ended its acrimonious "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats (SPOe).

Presenting himself as a breath of fresh air despite being in the government since 2011 and the OeVP having been in power nonstop since 1987, the foreign minister helped his party leapfrog the FPOe to lead opinion polls.

This was partly thanks to Kurz swinging to the right, talking tough on immigration and pledging to both shut Islamic kindergartens and cut welfare payments for foreigners.

Kurz and Strache also see eye-to-eye on lowering taxes, reforming Austria's bloated bureaucracy and wanting the EU to be less involved in how the country is run.

The once-mighty SPOe, in government for a total of around 60 years since 1945, looks set to be the main loser on Sunday despite it too taking a harder line on migrants.

Chancellor Christian Kern, 51, whose business acumen gave the SPOe hope when he took over last May, has suffered a string of mishaps, scandals and resignations.

Most damagingly, an Israeli election consultant -- since fired -- allegedly set up fake Facebook accounts with anti-Semitic content on behalf of the SPOe to damage Kurz.

Kern has said the SPOe will go into opposition if it doesn't win the election, making another "grand coalition" unlikely -- unless a party coup topples him or he changes his mind.

'Explosive'

The reaction abroad will likely be more muted than in 2000 when the FPOe under the late Joerg Haider, who called Hitler's employment policies "orderly", entered government and turned Vienna into a pariah.

But Austria could become a tricky EU partner.

Vienna will hold the bloc's presidency in the second half of 2018, just when Brussels wants to conclude Britain's talks to leave the bloc in March 2019.

Strache wants Austria possibly to join the Visegrad group of eastern and central European countries including Hungary and Poland, a thorn in Brussels' side.

He thinks Britain "will probably be better off after Brexit" and demands EU sanctions on Russia be lifted.

But Kurz too, and his ideas on everything from immigration to economic policy, could prove a source of conflict, said Patrick Moreau, an Austria specialist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

The young leader does not subscribe to the agenda of French europhile President Emmanuel Macron, who has outlined an ambitious reform proposal for the bloc, he said.

jpegMpeg4-1280x720"Kurz's positions are pretty much diametrically opposed to those of French President Emmanuel Macron and are to a large extent in conflict with Merkel," Moreau told AFP.
Gusty winds on Thursday were hampering the efforts of the 8,000 firefighters battling 21 blazes which have burned 191,437 acres (77,500 hectares), and weather conditions were not forecast to improve.

"What this means is that our fires will continue to burn erratically" California fire chief Ken Pimlott told a news conference. "They have the potential to shift in any direction at any time.

"We are a long way from being done with this catastrophe," he said.

Sheriff Rob Giordano of hard-hit Sonoma County said his department has received 1,000 reports of missing persons, but about 600 of them have been found safe so far.

"Those are big numbers," he said, but "sometimes we get duplicates of people.

"So in those 1,000 reports someone could be reported more than once," he said. "And a lot of it is communications issues -- cellphone towers are down, people don't have their chargers with them."

He said targeted body recovery efforts had begun in cases where all other leads were exhausted.

"We're moving into a recovery phase," he said. "We have cadaver dogs up here that can basically scent bodies and help us find people."

Giordano warned that it was "going to be a slow process" as fires continue to burn, and that identifying victims would be difficult.

"We have found bodies that were completely intact and we have found bodies that were nothing more than ash and bones," he said.

Fifteen deaths have been reported in Sonoma County, eight in Mendocino County, two in Yuba County and two in Napa County.

Asked if he expected the death toll to rise, Giordano replied: "I'd be unrealistic if I didn't."

As recovery teams fanned out searching for fire victims, evacuation orders were issued for towns in wine-producing Napa and Sonoma counties, where hundreds of people have already lost their homes to the fast-moving infernos.

Residents of Calistoga, a resort town of some 5,000 people in Napa, and Geyserville, a town of around 800 people in Sonoma, were told to leave and seek shelter elsewhere.

Entire neighborhoods in Santa Rosa have been reduced to ashes, and evacuation orders were issued for additional parts of the devastated city of 175,000 people in Sonoma County.

Risk of new fires

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said meanwhile that strong winds could spark new fires.

"These winds will continue to challenge firefighters in their efforts towards containment and will increase the risk for new fires," Cal Fire said.

The National Weather Service said wind gusts of up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour were forecast in some areas and the "critical fire weather conditions" would continue into the weekend.

Pimlott, the Cal Fire chief, said hundreds of fire engines and dozens of firefighting crews were being brought in from other states.

"Hour by hour more resources pour in," he said.

A state emergency management official said the authorities were looking into bringing in firefighters from as far away as Australia.

David Shew, a veteran firefighter with Cal Fire, said the wildfires were like nothing he's seen before.

"I've been with Cal Fire for 30 years and I've seen big fires," he told AFP. "But this is extraordinary, having that many and that large and going so fast."

Thousands of people have been left homeless and 25,000 people have evacuated their homes in Sonoma County alone, according to officials.

More than 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed, including several wineries in Sonoma and Napa counties, the heart of the state's extensive wine production.

President Donald Trump has declared a major disaster in California, freeing up federal funding and resources to help fight the fires, and Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in eight counties.

Michael Desmond, 63, was among the hundreds of residents of Santa Rosa's Coffey Park neighborhood who lost their homes.

"I feel violated, like a thief came in," said Desmond, who sobbed as he surveyed the rubble of the house where he grew up.

Forest fires are common in the western United States during the summer but this year's blazes in California are among the deadliest ever.
Trump has put both Mexico and Canada on the defensive over trade, accusing the former of taking American jobs and the latter of unfair subsidies, and wants to either overhaul or "terminate" NAFTA.

Trade was a touchy subject during Trudeau's visit to Washington, after the US slapped a 220 percent retaliatory duty on Canadian planemaker Bombardier's CS100 and CS300 aircraft over allegations of dumping.

Trudeau in turn threatened to cancel a purchase of 18 fighter jets from American aerospace giant Boeing, saying he had told Trump he "disagreed vehemently" with the US decision.

The prime minister arrives in Mexico looking for a friendly ear in President Enrique Pena Nieto, himself no stranger to hostility from the Trump administration, who will receive Trudeau at the presidential palace with military honors.

Despite their common ground, however, Canada and Mexico are also at odds on some key issues.

Canada, which shares Washington's concern over competition from cheap Mexican labor, is notably pushing for Mexico to improve workers' wages under the new NAFTA -- something the Pena Nieto administration says should be determined by the market, not dictated by a trade deal.

Pena Nieto sought to send a message that Mexico and Canada are better off working together as they forge ahead in the delicate negotiations with the giant and sometimes grumpy neighbor they both share.

"Canada and Mexico are going through one of the best moments of our relationship," he wrote in an op-ed published in Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.

"The government of Mexico will keep working constructively with Canada to further strengthen our relations, achieve mutual benefits and contribute to reaching our shared goal: to make North America the most prosperous and competitive region in the world."

Trudeau will also visit the Mexican Red Cross, which played a key role in the emergency response after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that rocked Mexico on September 19.

On Friday, he will give a speech to the Mexican senate, whose approval is needed to ratify any renegotiated version of NAFTA.

Mexico and Canada do some $20 billion a year in bilateral trade.
The mad minds at Atlas Obscura are bringing you Real/Fake Science, a night promising an "interactive experiment salon," that will test your command of the facts of chemistry, physics, and perhaps even human anatomy. Six presentersa mix of real scientists with varied backgrounds and others pretending to be scientistsand six topics, a mix of real and fake science, will be the focus of this event (we're guessing this means it's time to brush up on your phrenology). Attendees will also have the chance to compete for the title of "Most Discerning." You know you want that. (Clifford Michel)



Thursday, October 12th, 7 p.m. // Union Hall, 702 Union Street, Brooklyn // Tickets $25



Chop and Quench performs at Le Poisson Rouge during the 2014 Felabration (Photo by Scott Heins)

The afrobeat riot that is Felabration is returning to Manhattan this month, featuring Low Mentality Afrobeat Massive with members of Antibalas, Akoya Afrobeat and "very special guests." Low Mentality goes beyond the traditional Lagos framework, blending elements from afrobeat, reggae, dancehall, hip-hop and rock into a 21st Century sound that is sure to have you swaying in a trance like you were back at the Shrine. Also performing is Underground System and Super Yamba Band, which alloys their afrobeat and psychedelic funk, as well as Kaleta and DJ Mickey Perez. (Clifford Michel)

Friday, October 13th, 9 p.m. // Nublu, 151 Avenue C, Manhattan // Tickets $15-20

With a hazy southern sound that belies their Brooklyn origins, Widowspeak remains one of the most bewitching acts in indie rock. Frontwoman Molly Hamilton crooning blends perfectly with the band's fervent guitars (guitars that have grown gnarlier with each passing album). The group is pulling into Rough Trade this Friday in support of their excellent new record Expect the Best and will be the perfect start to your weekend. If you've ever drank a beer and contemplated life from the bed of a speeding pickup truck (or wish you had), this one's for you.

Friday, October 13th, 8 p.m. // Rough Trade NYC, 64 N 9th Street, Brooklyn // Tickets $15

Take a "walk back in brine time" at the Lower East Side's Pickle Day. More than 20 vendors from all over the city will serve up pickled and non-pickled treats (which for some reason are being allowed in). There'll also be live music, games, local boutiques hawking pickle-related gear for all you hardcore fans out there. Check out the schedule of activities, which in past years included a "brine dunk tank." Not to mention what organizers are calling "the world's first EVER home pickling/dancing contest." There'll be two categories: pickled pickles and pickled non-pickles. (Clifford Michel)

Sunday, October 15th, 12-5 p.m. // Orchard Street between Delancey and East Houston // Free

There aint no shame in starting the day with dessert, and who says you can't just keep on going and dessert-graze straight through an entire Sunday? Commit to an uninterrupted grazing experience on October 15th at the NYC Artisanal Sweet Treats Bazaar, where you can sample the wares of 30 of the Citys top artisanal sweet makers. The event promises cupcakes, pies, scones, truffles, ice cream sandwiches, and experimental donuts. Doors open at 10:00 a.m., so go on an empty stomach for a peak sugar high. Entrance is free, but donations benefit four local public schools. Your blood sugar will (eventually) return to normal. (Sarah Amar)



Sunday, October 15th, 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. // Grand Bazaar NYC, 100 W 77th St, Manhattan // Admission Free
Kenya's Supreme Court last month annulled an apparent victory by incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta in August polls, citing widespread counting irregularities and mismanagement by election officials, calling for a re-run within 60 days.

Then on Tuesday, Kenyatta's main challenger Odinga plunged the country into uncharted waters by saying he was pulling out, accusing the election commission (IEBC) of failing to deliver vital reforms.

In its statement on Wednesday, the IEBC said its position was that the new vote "shall include all the eight candidates who participated in the 8th August (election)".

Though the commission took note of a letter from Odinga and his running mate announcing their withdrawal, it said the men had not submitted the official form to do so.

"Once the commission receives the requisite notice from any of the candidates, it will process the same in accordance with the... law," IEBC said.

Odinga says he is not giving up on standing entirely, but that withdrawing now is necessary to ensure a free and fair election.

The opposition view is that a 2013 ruling by the Supreme Court means if any candidate withdraws, the IEBC must conduct fresh poll nominations, beginning the whole process over again.

The commission said it understood the anxiety surrounding the electoral procedure -- earlier, eight people were hurt after Kenyan police fired teargas in running battles with opposition protesters who burned tyres and lobbed stones.

"We appeal for calm and dialogue among all players to ensure that elections are successfully held and for the country to move forward," the commission concluded.

Even so, it remained unclear whether, once Odinga's withdrawal from the race is finalised, that would force the October 26 re-run to be scrapped or whether it would simply go ahead without him.
"Pak Army recovered 5 Western hostages including 1 Canadian, his US National wife and their three children from terrorist custody" in an operation in Kurram tribal district along the Afghan border, the army said in a statement.

It did not name the family, but Canadian Joshua Boyle and his American wife Caitlan Coleman were kidnapped by the Afghan Taliban during a backpacking trip in Afghanistan 2012, and are believed to have had at least two children while in captivity.

The last known footage of the couple surfaced in December last year when they appeared in video urging their governments to secure their release. They were pictured holding their two young sons, who had been born while they were in captivity.

It was not clear when the video was shot, but it was released after rumours swirled in Kabul that the government was planning to execute Anas Haqqani, son of the Taliban-allied Haqqani network's founder, who has been held since 2014.

The Haqqani network has been accused of masterminding several high-profile terrorist attacks in the Afghan capital and have been known to kidnap Western hostages and smuggle them across the border into Pakistan.

"We welcome media reports that a family including U.S. citizens has been released from captivity," a US embassy spokesman in Islamabad told AFP, without confirming the identity of the released hostages.
QNB, one of the largest banks in the Middle East and North Africa, said its net profit for the third quarter of 2017 was up 5.3 percent on the same period last year, at 3.6 billion riyals ($980 million, 830 million euros).

The report came as a diplomatic crisis that has seen Qatar isolated from its neighbours entered its fifth month.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed political and economic sanctions on Qatar, accusing the gas-rich emirate of support for radical Islamists.

Doha has categorically denied the charges.

Moody's Investors Service last month said that Qatar's banking, trade and tourism had been impacted by the sanctions.

The credit ratings group estimated that Qatar had spent $38.5 billion -- some 23 percent of its GDP -- on propping up its economy during the first two months of sanctions.

Moody's said some $30 billion had flowed out of Qatar's banking system in June and July, adding that a further decline was likely.

QNB said it has maintained a highly diversified international and local funding base.
Ottawa was set to purchase 18 new Super Hornets fighter jets from Boeing until the American aerospace firm successfully petitioned the Trump administration to impose anti-dumping penalties on its Canadian rival Bombardier over planes sold in the US market.

"I highlighted to the president how we disagreed, vehemently, with Commerce's decision to bring in countervailing and anti-dumping duties against Bombardier," Trudeau told reporters following talks with US President Donald Trump.

Further, "attempts by Boeing to put tens of thousands of aerospace workers out of work across Canada is not something we look on positively. And I certainly mentioned that this was a block to us purchasing any -- making any military procurements from Boeing."

His comments came after Trump had previewed "a tough negotiation" over NAFTA -- a quarter-century-year-old trade pact that also includes Mexico.

Trump has made revamping the pact and reducing US trade deficits a core pillar of his election campaign, but has not set out exactly what changes he would like to make.

"If we can't make a deal, it'll be terminated and that will be fine," Trump said, using his typical bare-knuckle approach to top level diplomacy. "It has to be fair to both countries."

As the pair sat down, trade negotiators huddled nearby in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Virginia for another round of talks, complicated by the aerospace spat.

The US administration, having found Bombardier guilty of receiving state subsidies, slapped a 220 percent countervailing duty on Bombardier CS100 and CS300 aircraft imported into the United States.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced that talks had been extended by 48 hours and would conclude on Tuesday.

He and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland are expected to make a joint appearance.

"Thus far, we have made good progress, and I look forward to several days of hard work," Lighthizer said.

The United States takes in three quarters of Canadian exports, but trade relations have been strained since Trump's inauguration earlier this year.

'Poison pills'

With a nationalist economic agenda, Trump has denounced the agreement as a job destroyer and a "disaster" for the United States, vowing to reverse offshoring by renegotiating the treaty.

Following the most recent round in Ottawa last month, negotiators said they had made progress on subjects such as telecommunications, competition policy, digital trade, regulation and customs and trade facilitation.

Negotiators have completed talks on NAFTA provisions relating to small and medium enterprises as well as competition, Lighthizer's office said.

The updated provisions on competition will allow for more "procedural fairness" in the enforcement of competition law, the statement said.

A major sticking point has been $64 billion US trade deficit with Mexico, which Washington wants to reduce or eliminate.

IMF Economic Counsellor Maurice Obstfeld warned Tuesday that all three NAFTA countries faced economic consequences if the outcome of the talks ended up disrupting trade relations.

Meanwhile, US Chamber of Commerce president Thomas Donohue said that several issues under discussion could scotch the entire effort.

"There are several poison pill proposals still on the table that could doom the entire deal," he said in a speech delivered in Mexico.

He cited in particular a provision to allow the agreement to expire in five years unless all parties agreed to extend it.

"We all know that certainty and stability are crucial to successful trade relationships -- and necessary to foster a pro-investment environment that drives economic growth and job creation. This clause would achieve the opposite effect."
Justice Minister Given Lubinda told parliament that the special measures -- a step towards a full state of emergency -- would be allowed to expire after 90 days in force.

President Edgar Lungu imposed the measures on July 5 following a spate of fires in the capital Lusaka and other towns. The package was approved by parliament on July 11.

"The declaration made on 11 July duly expires midnight tonight. The expiration of the threatened state of emergency should not be taken advantage of as other existing laws still remains enforce," said Lubinda, who urged Zambians to behave peacefully.

Opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema was detained in April over an incident in which he allegedly failed to give way to Lungu's motorcade. He was released in August.

South African opposition leader Mmusi Maimane was blocked from entering Zambia in May as he flew into the country to attend one of Hichilema's pre-trial court hearings.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Residents in several Indiana communities are part of new Purdue research determining how households consume energy.

Panagiota Karava, an associate professor of civil engineering in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, is heading up the four-year research project, which involves faculty from eight Purdue schools and departments.

The research will be conducted through several hundred households via an engagement partnership with the Indiana Housing and Community Development Agency and industry partners. Households are being utilized in, among other places, Lafayette, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne.

Karava recently received a $3.6 million award from the National Science Foundations Smart & Connected Communities program for the research. This project received the largest award from the $19 million distributed among 38 funding recipients.

Were hoping to be able to install smart and connected devices and get data from hundreds of households with a wide range of demographics and types of housing, from apartments to single houses, Karava said, adding the work is ultimately aimed at developing energy-aware residential communities.

A YouTube video is available at https://youtu.be/jlKNZx5tPjI.

Karava is the principal investigator for the interdisciplinary research. She is joined by a number of faculty members from Purdues School of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Political Science, Brian Lamb School of Communication, Research Center for Open Digital Innovation, Department of Computer Graphics Technology, Department of Computer and Information Technology, and the Krannert School of Management.

The project will utilize web-enabled devices installed in the homes to monitor energy consumption due to heating, cooling, lighting, hot water and appliance use. The devices include smart energy meters, thermostats and sensors.

Anywhere from four to 10 devices will be installed per home, Karava said. Once energy consumption is determined, researchers will use large-scale data analytics and predictive modeling to formulate messages delivered with user-interactive devices, either through tablet displays, or verbal communication (such as the Amazon Echo).

The messages will indicate how much youre consuming and why, with additional messages perhaps getting your attention because youre leaving the lights on or the thermostat is too high, Karava said. Well customize what we share with each unit. Maybe you respond better to visual analytics compared to verbal messages.

The messages, also called feedback, are intended to motivate the residents to adopt energy conserving behaviors.

Were trying to generate this concept of community energy conservation, Karava said. The idea behind that is this information could be used, for example, to create community incentives, monetary or otherwise as well as energy policy programs.

In community settings, Karava said the energy consumption information people receive about their homes and others in the community will prompt them to determine what else they can do to improve.

Through research advances, community engagement, and dissemination, this project will create a national model for smart and connected energy-aware residential communities. The findings regarding human behavior are expected to be utilized beyond energy use, with future uses ranging from transportation and economic development to environmental quality and urban planning.

Writer: Brian L. Huchel, 765-494-2084, bhuchel@purdue.edu

Source: Panagiota Karava, 765-494-4573, pkarava@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Broadcast-quality B-roll and photos are available at https://goo.gl/9dQQsn. For more information, contact Erin Easterling, digital producer in Purdue's College of Engineering, easterling@purdue.edu, 765-496-3388.
Two years after the Manhattan D.A.'s office declined to pursue sexual assault charges against the powerful movie producer, the NYPD is looking at Harvey Weinstein once again after a series of bombshell reports detailing of decades of allegations related to sexual harassment and assaultincluding rape.

"Its not like theyre going to talk to everyone Weinstein has ever talked to. Its more if anyones been a victim or feels like theyve been a victim, come forward," a law-enforcement source told DNAinfo.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce has asked Special Victims Division "to endeavor to identify and locate and interview any potential victims," a NY Post source said.

Another police source described Weinstein as a "super predator. His conduct shows hes been at this a long time, and hes a professional at it. Hes been at this so long, theres no way there are not other victims out there. Imagine how many promises hes made to these young women who were trying to make it into the industry."

in 2015, Weinstein was accused of groping the "private area and... breasts" of Italian model, Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, in his Tribeca office. However, D.A. Vance's office declined to press charges, saying, "After analyzing the available evidence, including multiple interviews with both parties, a criminal charge is not supported."



Ambra Battilana Gutierrez in Italy (Getty Images)

Last week, the NY Times revealed that Weinstein had settled the incident with Gutierrez, one of at least eight settlements to allegedly cover up Weinstein's pattern of predatory behavior of women. This week, the New Yorker published its story about Weinstein, featuring numerous women who accused him of sexual harassment as well as rape.

The New Yorker also released the NYPD's sting recording of Weinstein pressuring Gutierrez to enter a room at the Tribeca Grand hotel. She says, "I don't feel comfortable... Please I don't want to do something I don't want to do." Weinstein tries to reassure her, "I'm a famous guy... I am not going to do anything, I swear on my children."

"Why yesterday you touch my breast?" Gutierrez asks. To which he replies, "Oh, please, I'm sorry, come on, I'm used to that... I won't do it again."

A police source told the New Yorker, "We had the evidence. Its a case that made me angrier than I thought possible, and I have been on the force a long time." Former prosecutors told Gothamist that the audio was enough to charge Weinstein, but suggested the Oscar-winning producer's powerful reputation may have made Vance think twice. Vance reportedly received a $10,000 donation from one of Weinstein's attorneys after the case was dropped.

Another allegation in the New Yorker came from Lucia Evans was a college student when she says Weinstein approached her in a club in 2014: "Evans wanted to be an actress, and although she had heard rumors about Weinstein she let him have her number." When Weinstein called her late at night or tried to set up meetings with him, she said she'd read lines with someone in casting.

Before long, an assistant called to set up a daytime meeting at the Miramax office, in Tribeca, first with Weinstein and then with a casting executive, who was a woman. I was, like, Oh, a woman, great, I feel safe,  Evans said. When Evans arrived for the meeting, the building was full of people. She was led to an office with exercise equipment and takeout boxes on the floor, where she met with Weinstein alone. Evans said that she found him frightening. The type of control he exerted, it was very real, she told me. Even just his presence was intimidating. In the meeting, Evans recalled, he immediately was simultaneously flattering me and demeaning me and making me feel bad about myself. Weinstein told her that shed be great in Project Runway the show, which Weinstein helped produce, premiered later that yearbut only if she lost weight. He also told her about two scripts, a horror movie and a teen love story, and said one of his associates would discuss them with her. At that point, after that, is when he assaulted me, Evans said. He forced me to perform oral sex on him. As she objected, Weinstein took his penis out of his pants and pulled her head down onto it. I said, over and over, I dont want to do this, stop, dont,  she said. I tried to get away, but maybe I didnt try hard enough. I didnt want to kick him or fight him. In the end, she said, Hes a big guy. He overpowered me. At a certain point, she said, I just sort of gave up. Thats the most horrible part of it, and thats why hes been able to do this for so long to so many women: people give up, and then they feel like its their fault.

On Wednesday, Vance defended not prosecuting Weinstein, saying, "Our best lawyers looked at the matter. I, like they, was very disturbed at the contents of the tape. Its obviously sickening, but at the end of the day we operate in the court of law, not in the court of public opinion."

Vance added, "We really did what I think the law obligates us to do  focus on the evidence and the facts that we had. We relied on the true professionals to help guide us to the decision, which is not always going to be the popular decision."

Earlier this week, Chief Assistant D.A. Karen Friedman-Agnifilo in the Manhattan D.A's office said in a statement, "If we could have prosecuted Harvey Weinstein for the conduct that occurred in 2015, we would have. Mr. Weinsteins pattern of mistreating women, as recounted in recent reports, is disgraceful and shocks the conscience. Any individual who feels that she may have been the victim of a crime by this person in Manhattan is strongly encouraged to contact our Offices Sex Crimes Hotline at (212) 335-9373."

Weinstein accused the NY Times of "reckless reporting" after the initial story but also admitted he had behaved badly in unspecified incidents. A spokesperson told the New Yorker, "Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances. Mr. Weinstein obviously cant speak to anonymous allegations, but with respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual. Mr. Weinstein has begun counseling, has listened to the community and is pursuing a better path. Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance."

Weinstein, who was firedby emailfrom the movie production company he co-founded, has reportedly flown to Arizona for sex addiction rehabilitation.

Outside his daughter's L.A. home, Weinstein told reporters on Wednesday, "Guys, Im not doing OK but Im trying. I gotta get help. Im hanging in, Im trying my best."
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Donald Trump remained non-committal about the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement on Wednesday as he welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House amid simmering disputes over trade between the two North American neighbors.

Trudeau joined Trump in the Oval Office at the start of a new round of talks over the North American Free Trade Agreement, which the U.S. president has threatened to withdraw from if he can't negotiate a better agreement with Canada and Mexico.

"We're negotiating a NAFTA deal. It's time after all of these years and we'll see what happens. It's possible we won't be able to make a deal and it's possible that we will," Trump said, noting the close relations between the two countries and leaders.

"We have to protect our workers and in all fairness the prime minister wants to protect Canada and his people also. So we'll see what happens with NAFTA," Trump said, adding that it "has to be fair to both countries."

Trudeau, in his brief remarks to reporters in the Oval Office, spoke of the ties that bind the two neighbors and major trading partners.

"We have an incredibly close relationship. Two countries that are interwoven in our economies and our cultures and our peoples," Trudeau said. "But we have a good partnership ... and that's why having an ongoing constructive relationship between the president and the prime minister is really important."

The trade negotiations this week in Washington have gotten off to a rocky start, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warning that the Trump administration might be sabotaging the talks with unrealistic proposals.

Speaking to reporters at the Canadian Embassy after his meeting, Trudeau told reporters that it was possible to get a "win-win-win" from the negotiations but stressed that Canada was "ready for anything."

"I think it's been clear that circumstances are often challenging, and we have to be ready for anything  and we are," Trudeau said.

The Canadian prime minister, making his second visit to the White House this year, was also expected to raise the Trump administration's recent decision to hit Canadian manufacturer Bombardier with punishing tariffs on its C Series airliner.

U.S.-based Boeing alleges that Bombardier gets unfair subsidies from the Canadian and British governments.

Trump, who made trade a key part of his 2016 presidential campaign, has repeatedly criticized Canada, alleging that it unfairly blocks U.S. dairy products and subsidizes its softwood lumber industry.

Trudeau is scheduled to visit Mexico on Thursday to hold additional discussions on NAFTA.

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On Twitter follow Ken Thomas at @KThomasDC.
WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP)  A retired federal law enforcement officer from Wisconsin has been found mentally unfit to stand trial for the May shooting of an Amtrak conductor.

Edward Klein is charged with attempted first-degree murder and several weapons charges in the shooting of conductor Michael Case. According to DuPage County prosecutors, the 79-year-old Klein told investigators he shot Case because he wasn't allowed to de-board the train at a suburban Chicago stop.

Judge Daniel Guerin ruled Klein unfit Wednesday after reviewing doctors' reports. Guerin said one report diagnosed Klein with an impaired cognition disorder and dementia while the second said Klein suffers from a major neuro-cognitive disorder. Neither disorder, the reports state, is likely to be cured by medication.

Klein was a Federal Protective Services officer. Such officers are responsible for protecting federal buildings.
CHICAGO (AP)  A suburban Chicago man will serve a 12-year prison sentence for an attempted murder during which he used social media to get his intended victim outside.

The Kane County state's attorney's office says in a Wednesday statement that 22-year-old Aaron Tolamac, of Aurora, pleaded guilty to attempted murder earlier this month in exchange for the 12-year sentence.

Prosecutors say Tolamac sent a message via social media to his intended target, asking him to step outside his Aurora house. When he did, Tolamac fired four shots from a .45-caliber handgun and then fled. But he missed and no one was injured.

Tolamac has to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence. But he'll receive credit for more than 400 days already served as he awaited a resolution of his case.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)  The union representing corrections officers says inmate attacks on state employees have increased 51 percent since 2015.

Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 said Thursday that assaults increased from 541 in the 2015 calendar year to a projected 819.

AFSCME says the Illinois Department of Corrections is reclassifying violent inmates to lower security levels to save money. Those inmates are transferred to medium-security prisons which are less costly to run.

Gladyse Taylor is assistant director of corrections. She says inmates are only transferred to lower-level security prisons when their progress and behavior warrants.

Corrections Department Director John Baldwin says the department is training officers to deal with a large number of mentally ill prisoners, has increased staffing and is seeking money for new equipment.
MOLINE -- After more than eight months without a clerk, the city has hired Brandy Blackburn.

City administrator Doug Maxeiner said Ms. Blackburn was one of three finalists chosen for interviews from more than 20 applicants.

Ms. Blackburn begins Monday but will be considered a temporary employee until council members approve her employment at the Oct. 17 regular meeting.

"The timing was perfect to get right out of the gate," Mr. Maxeiner said of Ms. Blackburn. "She's got the kind of personality that will fit in well with the team. She'll be able to handle all the different balls in the air and (responsibilities) at the same time."

Ms. Blackburn is in Springfield this week attending training at the Municipal Clerks Institute and is unavailable to comment. Mr. Maxeiner said her hiring came just in time for the annual clerk's training, where she is learning about election law, Freedom of Information Act requests and other duties.

Ms. Blackburn graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in paralegal science and a master's degree in public administration. She moved to Moline recently after her husband accepted a job at the Rock Island Arsenal.

Mayor Stephanie Acri said she is impressed with the skill set and educational background of Ms. Blackburn.

"I'm just so pleased she was open to receiving this training," Mayor Acri said. "I think her educational background indicates she will always go after those educational opportunities. The clerk's responsibilities are pretty unique; as clerk, you are quite independent.

"(Ms. Blackburn) is very articulate and professional. She has a nice background of paralegal experience, which nicely aligns with our clerk's responsibilities. She also has a background of supervising employees and implementing policies."

In the absence of a clerk, duties were divided among city staff. Mr. Maxeiner said the legal department took on the responsibilities of liquor licenses and preparation of council meeting agendas and minutes.

"I think the city staff has done a wonderful job of overseeing responsibilities," Mayor Acri said. "But after interviewing (Ms. Blackburn), I know she's going to bring wonderful things to this community. I am very pleased."

Former city clerk Tracy Koranda was placed on paid administrative leave in January. She filed suit to block the action, contending her leave was retaliation for an investigation she requested into alleged wrongdoing by unnamed council members.

Ms. Koranda requested the inquiry after discovering she was under investigation for her testimony at December election petition hearings for mayoral candidates Ald. Stephanie Acri, At-Large, and Bob Vogelbaugh, as well as aldermanic candidates Sonia Berg and Ald. John Zelnio, 4th Ward.

As Moline's election officer, Ms. Koranda was accused of issuing faulty packets that lacked a line on which to number pages, the candidates said. Because their candidacy petition pages were not numbered, all four candidates were removed from the April 4 ballot.

Ald. Acri and Ms. Berg both ran successful primary write-in campaigns and, in April, won their races for mayor and alderman, respectively.

Ms. Koranda was dismissed as clerk in late April. She had been city clerk since 2008.

Following Ms. Koranda's termination, the job description for city clerk was revised, requiring the clerk to reside in the city and to have a college degree.

"I'm looking forward to getting (Ms. Blackburn) started," Mr. Maxeiner said. "I think she's going to be a good addition. She seems like a good team player and will be a nice face for the public to see at city hall."
HAMPTON - Village trustees on Tuesday discussed adoption of a policy concerning the Family and Medical Leave Act in response to a request from a village police officer who is expecting the birth of a child in January.

Police Chief Terry Engle submitted a sample policy for the trustees to consider. The village is not legally obligated to provide such leave because it has fewer than 75 employees. After some discussion, action on adopting such a policy was tabled to allow further investigation. Any policy adopted would require an employee to use all sick and/or vacation leave and compensatory time before being granted leave without pay.

Also discussed on Tuesday was a follow-up to a discussion at the Sept. 25 meeting regarding a malfunctioning alarm system at the village's Heritage Center. At that time, Clerk Michelle Bergeson and President Richard Vershaw expressed dissatisfaction with the current provider, Global Security Systems.

Ms. Bergeson told the board that only one of the providers, Heartland Security, contacted for quotes showed up. The Heartland quote would provide better coverage in that both burglary and fire alarms would be provided and all doors would be included. Additionally, monitoring can be done via cellular devices, eliminating the need to physically appear at the center to address issues such as a false alarm. The monthly cost of $32 is also significantly lower than Global Security. After discussion, the board approved contracting with Heartland to install the new system at a cost not to exceed $670.

In other action, the board:

- Approved the purchase from Ferguson Waterworks of two replacement water meters in Safe Harbor for $471.54.

- After receiving a notice from Eagle Chemical and Supply that there would be a price hike for the village's Bag-O-Bugs -- enzymes used to eliminate grease buildup on water pumps -- trustees approved purchase of six pails to take advantage of the current price.

- Tabled action on lease and site agreements with Verizon for use of the village water tower. Several concerns over terms were expressed by village attorney Graham Lee, Trustee Steffanie Adams and Supervisor Scott McKay. The village will forward their concerns to Verizon.

- Approved sending the village clerk and village treasurer to Des Moines to attend a user group meeting offered by Data Technologies. Cost is not to exceed $500.

- Approved sending six of the village's firefighters to IFSI training in Champaign at a cost not to exceed $1,500.

- Approved purchase of candy and hot dogs for the village's upcoming Halloween festivities at a cost not to exceed $650.
WASHINGTON (AP)  An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years held captive by a group that has ties to the Taliban and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday.

U.S. officials said Pakistan secured the release of Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Canadian Joshua Boyle, who were abducted five years ago while traveling in Afghanistan and then were held by the Haqqani network.

Coleman was pregnant when she was captured. The couple had three children while in captivity, and all have been freed, U.S. officials said.

"Today they are free," President Donald Trump said in a statement, crediting the U.S. government with securing the release "working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan."

Trump later praised Pakistan for its willingness to "do more to provide security in the region" and said the release suggests other "countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again."

The Pakistani military said the family had been freed in "an intelligence-based operation by Pakistan troops" after they'd crossed the border from Afghanistan and were "being repatriated to the country of their origin."

But as of Thursday midday, the family's precise whereabouts were unclear, and it was not immediately known when they would return to North America. The family was not in U.S. custody, though they were together in a safe, undisclosed location in Pakistan, according to a U.S. national security official, who wasn't authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials had planned on moving the family out of Pakistan on a U.S. transport plane, but at the last minute Boyle would not get on, the official said.

Another U.S. official said Boyle was nervous about being in "custody" given his background.

Boyle was once married to Zaynab Khadr, the older sister of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter of a late senior al-Qaida financier. Her father, Ahmed Said Khadr, and the family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy.

The Canadian-born Omar Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight at a suspected al-Qaida compound. He was taken to Guantanamo and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission. He pleaded guilty in 2010 to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody.

Several years ago, Zaynab Khadr and her mother also upset many Canadians by expressing pro-al-Qaida views.

Officials had discounted any link between that background and Boyle's capture, with one official describing it in 2014 as a "horrible coincidence."

The couple has told U.S. officials they wanted to fly commercially to Canada, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the situation.

The Toronto Star reported that Boyle spoke to his parents after his release and told them he'd been in the trunk of the kidnappers' car with his wife and children when Pakistani forces rescued them. He told the paper there had been a shoot-out and that the last words he heard from the kidnappers were, "kill the hostages."

"Josh said he was doing pretty well for someone who has spent the last five years in an underground prison," his father, Patrick, told the paper.

The couple also recorded a video, in which they recounted their first conversation with their son in five years.

"We got to hear his voice. It was amazing. He told us how much his children were looking forward meeting their grandparents," his mother, Linda Boyle, said.

Coleman's parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, meanwhile, posted a statement on the door of their Pennsylvania home saying they appreciated "all the interest and concern being expressed at the joyful news that Caity, Josh and our grandchildren have been released after five long years of captivity."

The release came together rapidly Wednesday. It happened nearly five years to the day after Coleman and Boyle lost touch with their families while traveling in a mountainous region near the Afghan capital of Kabul.

The couple set off in the summer 2012 for a journey that took them to Russia, the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan. Coleman's parents last heard from their son-in-law on Oct. 8, 2012, from an internet cafe in what Boyle described as an "unsafe" part of Afghanistan.

The only trace of the couple since has been in the form of videos released by their captors and family letters.

Coleman's parents told the online Circa News service in July 2016 that they received a letter from their daughter in November 2015, in which she wrote that she'd given birth to a second child in captivity. It's unclear whether they knew she'd had a third.

"I pray to hear from you again, to hear how everybody is doing," the letter read.

In that interview, Jim Coleman issued a plea to top Taliban commanders to be "kind and merciful" and let the couple go.

Boyle's parent, s said last year that a Taliban-released video had given them their first glimpse of their grandchildren.

"It is an indescribable emotional sense one has watching a grandson making faces at the camera, while hearing our son's leg chains clanging up and down on the floor as he tries to settle his son," the Boyles said in a written statement. "It is unbelievable that they have had to shield their sons from their horrible reality for four years."

The parents say their son told them in a letter that he and his wife have tried to protect the children by pretending their signs of captivity were part of a game being played with guards.

"It is simply heartbreaking to watch both boys so keenly observing their new surroundings in a makeshift film studio, while listening to their mother describe how they were made to watch her being defiled," the Boyles said.

U.S. officials call the Haqqani group a terrorist organization and have targeted its leaders with drone strikes. But the group also operates like a criminal network. Unlike the Islamic State group, it does not typically execute Western hostages, preferring to ransom them for cash.

The U.S. has long criticized Pakistan for failing to aggressively go after the Haqqanis. In recent remarks on his Afghanistan policy, Trump noted billions paid to Pakistan "at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. But that will have to change, and that will change immediately."

In his statement Thursday, Trump described the release as "a positive moment for our country's relationship with Pakistan."

"The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region," he said. "We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations."

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said her country was "greatly relieved" the family was safe, and she thanked the U.S., Afghan and Pakistani governments for their efforts.

"Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years. We stand ready to support them as they begin their healing journey," Freeland said.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  A North Carolina teenager accused of decapitating his mother is psychotic and won't be prosecuted on a murder charge, his attorney said Wednesday.

A judge ordered 19-year-old Oliver Funes Machada involuntarily committed to a state psychiatric hospital after a series of mental health evaluations, including those by state experts, defense attorney Boyd Sturges said. Machada was ruled incompetent to proceed with his case.

"This is consistent with what our position is," Sturges said. "We feel that Mr. Machada is very, very seriously deranged. And clearly he's psychotic, and we think the state's correct."

Sturges said the prosecutor agreed to dismiss the murder charge under an arrangement that could allow the case to be pursued again if Machada were deemed competent in the future.

Machada told a 911 dispatcher he stabbed his mother repeatedly on a March 2017 afternoon because she had angered him, according to court documents. The teen calmly told the dispatcher that he wouldn't harm two younger siblings heard wailing in the background of a 911 recording.

Warrants say a deputy saw him carry his 35-year-old mother's severed head and a knife outside their home in Zebulon, which is east of Raleigh. The siblings, ages 2 and 4, were unhurt when authorities arrived at the grisly scene on a quiet, rural street.

Court documents said Machada, who was 18 at the time, was on multiple psychiatric medications.

Immigration officials have said Machada was in the country illegally from Honduras and issued a detainer so that it could consider his removal if he were released by local authorities. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox said Wednesday that the agency won't intervene as long as the suspect is in state custody.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  A 7-year-old boy missing after three people were killed in a shooting has been found dead as a manhunt for the killer continues in southern Ohio.

Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless says Devin Holston was shot and his body apparently hidden in the home where three adults were found dead Wednesday evening.

Deputies found the adults' bodies in a house trailer in an unincorporated area of Lawrence County on Wednesday evening, and a fourth adult was found stabbed in the head and neck about a quarter mile (0.4 kilometers) away in another residence, the sheriff's office said. The wounded person was flown to a hospital in Huntington, West Virginia.

The boy, Devin, lives at the second residence, the sheriff's office said. Lawrence County Sheriff Jeffery Lawless told the Ironton Tribune that investigators didn't immediately know whether the boy was at the home during the attack.

Lawless told the newspaper that all those involved were "related in some way."

Around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, deputies spotted the "person of interest," 23-year-old Aaron Lawson, in a blue truck in Ironton, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of where the victims were found, the sheriff said. Deputies briefly chased Lawson before he crashed his vehicle into a ditch and ran into the woods, the sheriff said.

Authorities haven't publicly specified why Lawson is a person of interest.

None of the dead or injured has been identified. The sheriff's office said releasing further information would compromise the investigation.

Agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, including crime-scene and cyberunit investigators, are assisting Lawrence County with the case, said Jill Del Greco, a spokeswoman for BCI and the state attorney general's office.

Lawless said schools in the Rock Hill district were closed Thursday because of the attacks.

The initial report about the slayings  violence against multiple people found at trailers belonging to related residents  recalled details from a still-unsolved homicide case that rattled rural southern Ohio last year. But investigators have no indication of a connection between the cases, Del Greco said.

The deaths on Wednesday occurred roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of the Piketon area, where eight people from the Rhoden family were found shot to death in four homes in April 2016.
DALLAS (AP)  Lubbock police officers questioned a Texas Tech University student about a stolen gun hours before he shot and killed a campus police officer, authorities said Thursday.

Hollis Daniels III was driving a car that matched the description of one driven by a person suspected of stealing a gun Sunday evening from a Lubbock home, city police Chief Greg Stevens said at a news conference. He said Daniels, 19, apparently threatened someone at the home, but he declined to say whether Daniels is suspected of stealing that gun.

The officers who stopped Daniels' car later let him drive off because they didn't have probable cause or Daniels' permission to search his car, Stevens said.

"Ultimately, it would have been unconstitutional for the officers to search the vehicle," he said.

On Monday night, campus police officer Floyd East Jr. went to check on Daniels because there had been reports of a man acting erratically who may be armed. While there, he found drugs and drug paraphernalia, and he arrested Daniels for possession and took him to the station, authorities say.

Stevens said Daniels was searched, but he declined to say whether it was before or after he and East left for the station.

"He was searched during his time in custody but unfortunately he was able to gain access to a weapon," Stevens said.

While East was booking Daniels, who wasn't handcuffed, Daniels pulled a gun and shot him before fleeing. He was captured within two hours and is charged with capital murder of a peace officer. He's being held on $5 million bond. Court records don't indicate whether Daniels has an attorney, and his family in Seguin, near San Antonio, hasn't replied to phone messages seeking comment.

In addition to the state murder charge, Daniels was charged Wednesday with a federal count of possession of a stolen firearm. The indictment describes the gun as a .45, which is the same caliber used in the shooting of East.

School officials said Thursday that they'll conduct an external review of police procedures after Monday's events in the hopes of improving safety and security at the campus in Lubbock, which is 300 miles west of Dallas.

It took about 35 minutes from the time university officials called the city police for an alert to be sent to students and faculty warning them that an armed suspect was on the loose.

University officials told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that the delay happened because the police station where the initial student alert would normally be generated had become a crime scene.

East, 48, was married with two daughters. His family lives in El Paso, which is about 290 miles southwest of Lubbock, and he was about to transfer to patrol university property there, Stevens said.

"Officer East was a fine man doing very honorable work," he said.

___

The story has been corrected to reflect that police questioned Daniels about the stolen gun early Monday morning, not on Sunday.
When President Trump said now isn't the time for a debate about gun control, presumably he meant we should respect a decent interval of time for mourning after the Las Vegas shooting before launching into a political discussion that historically has led nowhere.

If that's how he felt, it would have been easy enough (and sane) to say. But he didn't.

More likely, Trump doesn't want any distraction from (a) his brilliant PR idea to toss paper-towel rolls to thirsty, hurricane-sogged Puerto Ricans (cake to follow); (b) his photo op Thursday evening with leaders of the armed forces and their spouses during which he teased the "fake news" media he had summoned that the dinner gathering with military brass could be "the calm before the storm."

"What storm, Mr. President?" an intrepid reporter queried.

"You'll find out."

Whoa. Mr. Mystery Man has our attention now. Oh, so clever. Are we going to war? Will it be with the Islamic State? North Korea? Iran? Just you wait, fake newsies, just you wait.

Or perhaps he wants to keep the spotlight on (c) his request the Senate Intelligence Committee investigate the media, without which his military charade merely would have been the world's widest-angle selfie.

No, actually, his absurd (unconstitutional) request was, likely, a smokescreen itself, as was the paper-towel toss, one hopes (surely no one's mind is that inert), and the photo op. Trump has mastered the Art of Distraction, lately to keep our eyes off the firefight within the White House and the ever-obvious fact this administration is staring at an eclipse without glasses and this president couldn't lead a starving dog to a tenderloin buffet.

The revolving door at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is similar to Saks' at Christmastime. Latest to the lineup is Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. Others have included FBI Director James Comey, chief strategist Steve Bannon, chief of staff Reince Priebus, press secretary Sean Spicer, and national security adviser Mike Flynn, to name a few.

Next up, most likely, is Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, not only because the president routinely undermines and contradicts the nation's top diplomat but because Tillerson clearly holds Trump in contempt. Most important, Tillerson recently told the truth.

Trump reportedly was furious upon returning from his "diplomatic coup" in Puerto Rico, which he seemed to have thought was a Spanish colony, only to see the face of his secretary of state on all his favorite TV channels.

According to NBC News, Tillerson had said the president is a "moron," which caused most sentient humans to shrug and roll their eyes as if to say, "No, really?" But this slight likely bothered Trump less than the fact that Tillerson's face, and not his, was on all the cable shows.

Trump's fan base, of course, was unfazed by Tillerson's reported insult, knowing that this term could not possibly apply to a president who recently had scolded Puerto Ricans for messing up the U.S. budget and implied that they were a shiftless lot who "want everything to be done for them." No siree. That person would be a genius.

As Americans gnaw their nails wondering which war this way comes -- or when Tillerson will be replaced -- Trump is focused on decertifying the nuclear deal with Iran, continuing to taunt North Korea's Kim Jong Un and trying to convince the rest of the world that he's got everything under control.

Thus, the very last thing Trump needs right now is a political shootout over guns.

Now's not the time, he says. Apparently, however, many if not most Americans -- about 90 percent of whom would support expanding background checks -- beg to differ. If not now, when?

The pessimist notes that if the murder of 20 6- and 7-year-olds at Sandy Hook Elementary School resulted in no sensible restrictions to gun ownership, then the slaughter of 58 country music fans isn't likely to, either. But wait, we have a headline: Even the National Rifle Association has called for regulating (not banning or confiscating) "bump stocks" -- the attachment used by the Las Vegas shooter to essentially convert a semi-automatic into an automatic weapon, the better to kill the most. And Republicans are expressing a willingness to consider restrictions.

You'd think by the reactions -- this is really, really huge editorialists have clamored -- that the NRA decided to support banning from private ownership all semi-automatic weapons, which were created solely for the purpose of killing human beings. But, no. Like Coco Chanel, who always removed one bauble before leaving home, the NRA is offering to eliminate one accessory from a warehouse of gaudy, bloodletting fashions.

Talk about distractions. Or was this the artifice of a deal?
Skill is important in costume design, as is the need to master a variety of techniques. Drafting patterns, draping, cutting, dying, fibre knowledge, embroidery, weaving, felting, embellishment, millinery shills, leather work, cobbler, jewelry, and couture sewing are just a few of the essentials. It takes a lot of work to craft a quality costume, and West Michigan is home to a handful of creative makers who define that standard in different corners of the field.

An old joke about penguins goes like this: two of them are standing on an iceberg, and one of them says to the other, "you look like you're wearing a tuxedo." And the other one replies, "How do you know I'm not?"

There's a measure of years between a popular fashion going out of style and becoming vintage. At several points in West Michigan, that span of time is held in much greater contrast, and shows off a critical slice of our region's fashionable imagination.

For Peri Olson, owner and founder of Flashback on Leonard, the West Sides answer to costume fashion since 1998, finding and designing stand out style to stock in her shop involves both imagination and restoration.

Peri Olson, owner and founder of Flashback on Leonard

I started collecting vintage clothing and jewelry for myself in the late 70's, Olson says. I moved to Grand Rapids in 1980. An antique mall opened and I had a small booth located in the mall.

Olson found work as head of visual merchandising in a clothing store at Woodland Mall. Prior to that, obtained a degree in Fashion Merchandising at Grand Rapids Community College, an undergraduate degree in fine arts at Northern Michigan University, and took classes in graphic design at the then Kendall School of Design.

During her first year of school at GRCC, Olson was asked to design and sew a garment, plan a fashion show, and model the piece. The assignment wasnt far off from what Olson currently administrates today at 450 Leonard, but that was yet years down the road.

Olson leveraged her fashion expertise for a job in the Buying Department at Steketees department store in downtown Grand Rapids. Later, a knack for vintage couture blossomed into a job managing the long-time staple of dated and dead stock garments, Scavenger Hunt, in 1995. Olson left Scavenger Hunt in 1998 before the shop moved to its last address on South Division, and about a decade later closed its doors. That same year, Olson opened Flashback with the help Tim Garrod, owner of Captain Bizzaro's Treasure World.

Flashback has since remained in the black, although its faced its share of trendier reds. Given a time machine and a round-trip ticket back to the mid 90s, Olson says she would tell her younger self to save and stockpile startup money instead of winging it.



Olson's artistic credibility has been enough to function as a business plan, however. She draws inspiration for vintage styles from fashion magazines like Vogue, interesting videos on YouTube, movies, books, old pin up magazines, and even thrift shopping herself.

Most inspiration for me comes from my wild imagination, she contends. Vintage clothing is unique, and is inspiring to me because of it's quality, and design. It is part of history, and reminds me of the past.

The looks may be dated, but her methods are as relevant as ever. Olson has been using photoshoots to market the items she brings to Flashback for years, and the Internet and social media have only helped amplify those images. Flashback can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and even eBay, where Olson has found success in reaching customers who live well outside the 616 area code.



I love when people bring in whole collections from one person, she says. I acquired a hat collection that blew me away. They were all in their boxes, and I did a photoshoot in homage to the collection.

Along with hats, Olson has incorporated steampunk and comic strip character motifs in her work, among others, incorporating her pieces in a way that truly speaks to the depth of imagination she puts into each display. Whether or not fashion forward individuals are looking for a costume or just something for a night out, Flashback is where theyll find both.

Since 2017, Flashback has been located at 1136 Leonard NW.

Stepping Out

October isn't the only time you're going to see costumes in West Michigan, and depending on your definition of style, it may not be the only time you look for one.

For Gayle Vaartjes, owner of the The Kostume Room, costume fashion signifies a triumph over cancer, and a source of strength. She uses her shop as a wig bank, working with the American Cancer Society.

Women going through cancer can visit the Kostume Room for a free wig.

"To watch these ladies come into the store knowing what they are up against and so scared," Vaartjes says. "I give my all to them and do my best to give them positive thoughts and leave the store with a fantastic wig and much stronger thoughts then when they walked in. "

Vaartjes' first interest in costuming came when she made her daughter her first costume.

"I learned how to sew from my mother, she was such a talented seamstress," she says. "Before this, I would make most of my clothes for work too. It was just something I enjoyed doing."

After 14 years in customer service, Vaartjes decided to stay home with her daughter. Along with her sister, Tammy, who shared a love of making costumes, the pair put their talents together and made $200 through selling their handmade garments. The bought more fabric with that money, and it toward making children's costumes.

"We put them in a consignment store to sell and it went well," she says.

Then in 1994, The Kostume Room was born. For the next 6 years Vaartjes and her sister rented a temporary space in a mall during the Halloween season and sold costumes along with makeup, wigs, and accessories. Their mother worked there, too.

"It was the best time of our lives sharing all of this with her," she says.

Off season, the family team worked in Tammys basement providing costumes and accessories for theatre, holidays and other events. And Vaartjes continued her study of the field, taking classes and reading books to learn more about the costume industry.

In 2001, the Kostume Room found a permanent home on 36th Street in Wyoming. Vaartjes mother has since passed away, and Tammy had gone on to other pursuits. She has managed the shop with her husband since 2008, and employs one other full-time employee, with extra help hired around Halloween.

Vaartjes says she draws inspiration for costumes from attending various Halloween shows, keeping an eye on popular movies throughout the year, and most importantly, listening to customers.

Interests may change slightly over the years, but Vaartjes can easily tell what's going to last, and what's not.

"I have been in this business so long that nothing surprises me anymore," she says. "Sometimes being a seamstress I expect more from the people that design these costumes. But to keep costs down I know they can just do so much."

Economic pressures are certainly felt by all those working in the garment industry, even more so by small family owned businesses that get squeezed in a market flooded with pop-up franchises every October. Amazon offers no small source of competition, either.

"To purchase locally is so important to so many small businesses if our customers want places like The Kostume Room to stay in our town," Vaartjes says.

Stage Presence

Fashion is an industry, and it can be a business. It's functional, just as it is empowering, and speaks in a language all its own. For Kateri Kline-Johnson of Theatricks, it's as much as a necessity as it is a field of work.

Kline-Johnson was studying theater in graduate school at Illinois State University when she got a call from Grand Rapids Civic Theatre Managing Director Paul Dreher.

"I had worked with Paul at Civic, and he was a mentor to me," she says. "Paul wanted me to establish a professional protocol for Stage Management at the Civic Theatre, which became an internship."

A stage manager is an expert organizer as well as a jack of all trades, Kline-Johnson explains, the heart and circulatory system of many a successful theater company. Returning to the theatre in Grand Rapids in the early 1980's, she was confronted with a need for many of those trades to be plied. A lack of common theatre supplies or a specialty shop in town made show preparations challenging.





"During my internship I and other technicians lamented, or cursed, the difficulty and time involved in obtaining supplies, always needed at the last minute," Kline-Johnson says. "This was before the internet."

The arts scene in Grand Rapids was alive and growing, and work was available, but the frustration over a lack of supplies grew, and pushed Kline-Johnson another stage technician to open their own theatre supply shop, Theatricks.

Their plan was to carry those supplies that they were so frequently without - color media, stage lamps, gaff and spike tape, stage makeup, and special effects.

"We were known by word of mouth to the theatres," she says. "But within a few weeks we had a high school director coming in inquiring about costumes for an upcoming production. A person came in asking about costumes for a historical re-enactment. Clowns came. In October people came in asking about Halloween costumes. We found ourselves with a growing stock of costumes.

"When we saw a void, we tried to fill it."

Kline-Johnson and Theatricks continues to fill that void through constant learning and research.

"We all have to be historians as so many shows are specific as to year and place," she says. "We have to get the details correct. The time frame to put together a production in Theatre is always too short. Never enough time to build the set, never enough time to build costumes."

Skill is important in costume design, as is the need to master a variety of techniques. Drafting patterns, draping, cutting, dying, fibre knowledge, embroidery, weaving, felting, embellishment, millinery shills, leather work, cobbler, jewelry, and couture sewing are just a few of the essentials.

You also need to know how to repair a sewing machine.

Challenges aside, Kline-Johnson says she can't imagine doing anything else than running Theatricks.

"The daily variety challenges me constantly," she says.

Her earliest memory of the theatre dates back to about 5 or 6 years old. Her parents were involved in a local production and she was fortunate enough to spend time backstage, "seeing the nails and muslin, the old grease paint tubes and hard mascara cakes, the racks of costumes outside grubby dressing rooms, and then sitting in the house watching the magic on stage."

Today, Kline-Johnson and the rest of the world have access to instant inspiration, any time of day. She finds hers in historical over fantasy, constantly working on improving her spinning, weaving, and period embellishment skills. And attending other performances, of course.

"Ballet, opera, stage, circus, puppet...it doesn't matter," she says. "Each production will inspire me in some way. And I am thrilled whenever I can visit backstage after attending a performance. Technicians love to share what they have done. Very educational."

Styles come and go, and not all of them are candidates for second terms. Working in the costume fashion industry both on and off stage requires a keen eye for the language those styles speak. It takes dedication, and long hours. Not everyone is cut out for the job, but then again, the job can be cut to fit a number of sizes.

"My advice to a younger self - 'sleep more', you make less mistakes when not tired," Kline-Johnson says.

For those looking for eye opening styles this season, you now know where to go.

Urban Innovation Exchange highlights the people and projects transforming West Michigan through sustainable efforts. Matthew Russell is the editor for UIX Grand Rapids. Contact him at [email protected]

Photography by Adam Bird of Bird + Bird Studio
Rasad News (Translated by RAWA), October 9, 2017



A girl from Badakhshan university committed suicide in the university dorm. The cause of her suicide is still unknown. (Photo: Facebook) A girl from Badakhshan university committed suicide in the university dorm. The cause of her suicide is still unknown. (Photo: Facebook)

A female student who lived in the Badakhshan university dorm, killed herself in the dorm. Nek Mohammad Nazari, the spokesperson for Badakhshan provinces governor, told Rasad News that the student was named Shukria and belonged to Shaghnan district of this province.

According to Mr. Nazari, Shukria hung herself in the dorm around midnight the night before and her class fellows found her dead body this morning and informed the police.

He said that the police are investigating the matter but they have not been able to discover the cause of the suicide yet.

According to Nek Mohammad, Shukria was aged between 21 and 22 years and studied social sciences in the university.
Less than two decades ago, Hispanic and Latinx people accounted for 4.71 percent of North Carolinas population. By last year, they made up nearly 10 percent. For rural areas, the increase has been even more dramatic, with rates often outpacing the national average. In towns like Robbins and Siler City, half the population is Hispanic. While growing diversity has been a boon to local economies, it has created new challenges and opportunities in schools.

Teachers who once taught relatively homogeneous populations report being underprepared to support a classroom of students who are increasingly diverse, both culturally and linguistically. They may not recognize extraordinary academic abilities among students who are in transitionmoving to a new town, a new form of schooling or even a new language. As a result, teachers and administrators are under-identifying Hispanic and Latinx students for gifted and talented programming.

According to North Carolinas Department of Public Instruction, the rates of Academically and Intellectually Gifted (AIG) identification are inconsistent across racial and ethnic groups. Only 5.53 percent of Hispanic students in NC public schools were identified as AIG last year, compared with 12.52 percent of the total student body. Despite making up 16.7 percent of North Carolinas total student enrollment, Hispanic students made up just 7.4 percent of students identified as AIG.

Research suggests that white students are 47 percent more likely to be selected for gifted programs than Latinx students. The rate of identification is even lower for English Language Learning (ELL) students. According to U.S. Census Data from 2014, 73 percent of Hispanics above the age of five spoke a language other than English at home. Because the process for identifying gifted students relies heavily on linguistic skills in English, or nomination by teachers and parents, very few ELL students end up in programs that recognize their high achievement  and potential.

Public schools in rural settings have long struggled with consistently identifying students for gifted programs and then providing them with appropriately challenging courses for reasons that include insufficient educator training and resources, underfunding of programs and even too few identified students to enable administrators to devote educators to traditional gifted and talented programs.

The problem grows more complex for rural areas with expanding Hispanic and Latinx populations. As educators develop their own skills to educate and support shifting student demographics, they focus first on essential academic capacities rather than identifying students for gifted and talented programs. Coupled with already limited resources, this leaves extraordinary students of color in the lurch.

North Carolina is far from alone in confronting this problem. The U.S. population is growing increasingly diverse, and Latinx people are moving to the U.S. at a rate higher than any other population. About 17 percent of the U.S. population is now Hispanic, compared to 12.5 percent in 2000. Between 1997 and 2014, the number of Hispanic students in the U.S. nearly doubled. There are about 13 million Hispanic students in U.S. schools. The success of Latinx students, increasingly, reflects the success of the United States.

We know that individuals with a bachelor's degree earn about $2.27 million over their lifetime, or 74 percent more than those with just a high school degree. Those with master's degrees earn $2.67 million over their lifetime. In majority-Latinx cities like Brownsville, Texas, low-income students are now more likely to perform at or above the level of their more advantaged peers, according to the Education Equality Index. Yet according to the Pew Research Center, just 15 percent of Hispanics ages 25 to 29 have a bachelors degree or higher. A recent report by the Latino Donor Collaborative predicted that by 2020, Latinos will account for 12.7 percent of the U.S. GDP, driving upwards of 25 percent of the nations economic growth.

Unless we attend to the problem of equity in gifted and talented identification, we are setting our economic future atilt. Some U.S. schools have already begun to address the discrepancy by re-thinking how they screen students for gifted programs. In 2005, schools in Floridas Broward County school district began requiring that all second-graders take a nonverbal exam, rather than rely on teacher and parent referrals, for gifted classes.

Researchers at the University of California and the University of Miami then studied how the new process affected identification rates. For Hispanic children, the rate of students identified tripled, rising from 2 percent to 6 percent. At the time of the 2015 study, the screening process had identified 300 students who likely would have been previously ignored, including 240 students who were ELL or low-income students.

The researchers also found that Black and Hispanic students demonstrated large increases in math and reading skills when enrolled in gifted programs. While better identifying students of color for gifted and talented supports may not fully address inequity, it will go a long way toward expanding academic and economic opportunities for deserving students of every skin color.

Educators must not subscribe to the unfounded belief that limited English fluency denotes limited academic and intellectual potential. Missing out on identifying these high-potential students is a loss not only for the students but for economies like North Carolinas and the nations at large.

Harold O. Levy is the executive director of Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, which provides scholarships to exceptionally high-achieving students who have financial need, and was New York City schools chancellor from 2000-02. Former North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue is the founder of DigiLEARN, a nonprofit working to narrow achievement and skills gaps through greater use of technology to expand learning options for students and instructional opportunities for teachers.
Parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic on Oct. 20-21 could deal a double blow to the EU project. The next Czech government is likely to be a populist coalition that will hamper democratic practices and leave the country more vulnerable to Russian efforts to further divide the European Union.

The ruling pro-EU Czech Social Democratic Party has been in persistent conflict with an openly pro-Russian President, Milos Zeman, and the populist Action of Dissatisfied Citizens, or ANO, movement led by wealthy Czech oligarch Andrej Babis. ANO is unabashedly euroskeptic, resists further European integration, and opposes various EU policies, including the economic sanctions imposed on Russia for invading Ukraine.

During the past year, support for the Social Democrats has fallen under 15 percent despite the relatively respectable performance of the Czech economy. The ANO movement outperformed the Social Democrats in several key regional elections in October 2016 with a focus on national identity and opposition to immigration. In recent opinion polls, it registered a double-digit lead over the Social Democrats and looks on track to lead any new coalition government.

ANO has no clear ideology but plays on populist themes to gain power. Similar to the ruling parties in both Hungary and Poland, it is less concerned about democratic checks and balances and more focused on restoring national sovereignty, which it alleges is under threat from Brussels. This can steer the country toward a more centralized and statist capitalist system that favors loyal oligarchs. The rule of law in the Czech Republic is already failing to meet EU standards because of high-level political interference in the judicial process that often targets political opponents. This is likely to worsen under an ANO-led government.

Opponents charge that Babis and Zeman will continue to exploit xenophobic and anti-immigrant sentiments during the election campaign and resist the European Unions migrant quota directive, under which member states are expected to accept a share of Muslim immigrants. This is similar to the stance of several Central European leaders who claim that Brussels should not impose mandatory quotas that will destabilize their societies.

An ANO victory will also assist the Vladimir Putin regime in driving a wedge through Central Europe to disable a common front against Russias expansionism. The Kremlin already views Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico as pliable leaders who can be enticed to distance themselves from the European Union and NATO. The Czech Republic is now the main target. The current president is often accused of being openly pro-Kremlin, and his close advisers reportedly maintain financial connections with Moscow.

The focus will now be on the incoming prime minister. Links between Moscow and amenable Central European politicians are based primarily on lucrative business contracts and donations to political campaigns, together with compromising personal material that can provide extra political leverage. After winning office in March 2013, Zeman pledged to promote closer political and economic ties with Moscow. He has connections with General Vladimir Yakunin, a former Chairman of Russian Railroads, Putin confidant, and ex-KGB officer blacklisted by Washington for involvement in Russias annexation of Crimea. Zeman also received funds for his election campaign from Martin Nejedly, a former head of the Czech Lukoil office who is Zemans senior economic advisor.

Zeman openly favors Babis to become the next Czech prime minister. Such an outcome could further estrange the country from both the European Union and NATO. Babis was dismissed from the Finance Ministry in May following allegations of tax dodging and fraudulently using EU subsidies. Czech police have asked parliament to allow for Babiss prosecution, with some reports linking him to opaque Russian business interests. Babis uses his substantial media holdings to attack political opponents.

In addition to weakening the European project, an ANO-led coalition may jeopardize regional security. Until now, Czech intelligence services have been vigilant in uncovering Russian subversion. Under a Moscow-friendly government their work could be curtailed and undermine EU intelligence sharing. The current Czech government monitors and alerts the public to false news spread by websites supported by Moscow. The Kremlin is reportedly behind at least forty Czech-language websites peddling conspiracy theories. The goal of such operations is to sow doubts among citizens about the value of democracy and create negative images of the European Union, the United States, and NATO.

In addition to canvassing for the lifting of EU sanctions against Moscow, the next Czech government is likely to facilitate new energy deals with Russia that would undercut the regions energy diversity and competition. For instance, an ANO government is likely to select Russias Rosatom to build a new reactor at the Dukovany nuclear power plant.

The Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia lie at the epicenter of Russias campaign to subvert EU and NATO states from within. Putins policy planners calculate that governments can be influenced to serve Kremlin designs, transforming Central Europe into a neutral zone. The election of populist politicians with ties to the Kremlin will present new threats for the EU, which is already grappling with challenges to democracy and the rule of law in Poland and Hungary.
Decertification of the deal on Irans nuclear program, renewed sanctions, and a new proposal will not work if undertaken unilaterally by the United States.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), negotiated between the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China -- plus Germany, the European Union, and Iran, was formally adopted on Oct. 18, 2015. Despite the JCPOAs stature as an international agreement, the U.S. Congress in May 2015 had already placed a domestic U.S. restriction upon any such deal -- the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. So in addition to the U.S. president having to waive sanctions against Iran anew every 120 days, Congress under INARA can impose new sanctions if and when a president concludes that the JCPOA is no longer in the U.S. national interest and therefore decertifies the deal.

Both as candidate and as president, Donald Trump has regularly denounced the JCPOA as a bad deal. The foreign policy and military wings of his government do acknowledge privately that Iran is in compliance with the nuclear agreement. However, President Trump believes the Islamic Republic is not living up to the spirit of the agreement, citing its missile program and its involvement with terrorism. The Trump administration asserts publicly that the Iran is not complying fully with the multilateral nuclear deal, justifying decertification as a prelude to seeking a better deal.

Indeed Irans ambitions seem to go well beyond the acquisition of an atomic bomb. The country endeavors to acquire hydrogen power and other weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missiles, military technology transfers, and political influence around the world.

But EU nations, Russia, and China, having entered into billions of euros, rubles, and renminbi worth of contracts with the Iranian government and Iranian companies, will need to be convinced that amending or replacing the JCPOA is in their own economic and political best interests. In September, while attending the U.N. General Assembly in New York, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed adding elements to the deal to alleviate U.S. concerns. The Iranian regimes assent is needed too.

In off-the-record comments at the U.N. General Assembly, Iranian officials expressed a willingness to consider a separate deal on its ballistic missile program even as its foreign ministry publicly renounced any compromise.

Pressure will need to be maintained on Iran to ensure it does not resume military dimensions of a nuclear program. Verification needs to be foolproof; violations must be dealt with swiftly and firmly. Most important, mechanisms should be put into place to ensure that Tehran does not turn its WMD programs back on once the JCPOA sunsets by 2030. The International Atomic Energy Agency will have to remain centrally involved with monitoring compliance. The P5+1 and other economic powers will have to participate fully for punitive sanctions to be effective.

Constant surveillance



At the same time, it is necessary to persuade Iran to curtail any development of ballistic missiles, irrespective of the payload such missiles would carry. Without termination now of its missile program, Iran will quickly be able to combine nuclear breakout capacity with lethally efficient delivery of intercontinental WMD payloads once the JCPOA or any reworked or new accord ends. Successfully terminating the illicit technology and material transfers that facilitate Irans missile program requires intelligence-sharing among and shipment interception by all the major world powers.



Likewise, Irans connections to and collaborations with other nations developing or seeking WMD and missile capabilities need to be monitored, severed, and penalized for the sake of global stability. Such collaborations, including with North Korea, presently allow Iran to seem to comply with the JCPOA while actually furthering technological prowess and military capability. Without cooperation from Russia and China, Iranian involvement in North Koreas nuclear program cannot be halted.

The Trump administration wants to hinge any new deal on the Islamic Republic ending its support for terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and rogue regimes such as that of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Curtailing Irans involvement with uprisings inside Bahrain and Yemen is on the White Houses action list as well. So is holding the regime in Tehran accountable for domestic human rights violations, despite President Trumps oft-stated claim of non-interference in foreign governments internal sociopolitical affairs. Unless Moscow can be persuaded that it shares common cause with Washington in ending Irans growing authoritarian footprint across the Middle East, neither Tehrans terrorist ties abroad nor its iron fist at home will ebb.

It takes a global effort



All in all the challenges posed by Iran are multifaceted, multilateral, and long-term. Decades of autonomous U.S. sanctions did not induce the Islamic Republics cooperation on a nuclear freeze -- only a global initiative did so. Even then Tehran did not yield on its missile development, its global power plays, or its domestic repression. Just as the Obama administration did not prevail by itself in crafting the JCPOA, the Trump administration will not be able to produce and implement an effective and enforceable revised deal, nor an entirely new deal, without the full support and cooperation of U.S. partners and of the other superpowers.

So as the Trump White House seeks to restructure the existing international accord, it is vital not to soldier on alone. Washington should work with and even through EU and U.N. partners to ensure that a united front faces the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Tehran likely would bow to global will, just as it did on the JCPOA, rather than to solitary U.S. threats. Only then will removal of the sunset clause on nuclear activities, inspection of military sites linked to WMD and ballistic missile programs, curtailing of terrorism and rebellion sponsorship, and respect for human rights be accepted by Irans government.
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After 30-year-old Patrick Mcelroy was arrested by police for Peeping Tom at Towne Club apartments, police have been able to tie him to other crimes.
WASHINGTON  House Republicans are moving to restrict the president's ability to protect millions of acres of federal land considered historic, geographically significant or culturally important.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said presidents of both parties have misused the 1906 Antiquities Act to create oversized monuments that hinder energy development, grazing and other uses. Bishop, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, introduced a bill that would prevent presidents from designating monuments larger than 85,000 acres and grant veto power to states and local officials for monuments larger than 10,000 acres.

The GOP-controlled resources panel approved the bill Wednesday, 23-17, sending it to the House floor.

"No longer would we have to blindly trust any president to do the right thing," Bishop said, adding that his bill "modernizes the law to restore its intent, allowing for the protection of actual antiquities without disenfranchisement of local voices and perspectives."

Montana's lone congressman Republican Greg Gianforte was among the majority voting for the resolution.

The previous administration made unilateral decisions about expanding the size of a monument without public input and behind closed doors. The bill would increase transparency, establish a public process, and require public input while preserving the original intent of the Antiquities Act," Gianforte said in a statement.

The bill comes as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended that four large national monuments in the West be reduced in size, potentially opening hundreds of thousands of acres to mining and logging.

Zinke's recommendation has prompted an outcry from environmental groups, who promised to take the Trump administration to court to block the moves.

Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, senior Democrat on the resources panel, called Bishop's bill a tacit admission by the GOP that President Donald Trump does not have legal authority to reduce or abolish existing national monuments.

Grijalva charged that the bill was "thrown together at the last minute with only one special interest group in mind: the oil and gas industry."

The interior secretary's plan would scale back two huge Utah monuments  Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante  along with Nevada's Gold Butte and Oregon's Cascade-Siskiyou. The monuments encompass more than 3.6 million acres  an area larger than Connecticut  and were created by Democratic administrations under the Antiquities Act.

Zinke's plan also would allow logging at a newly designated monument in Maine and urges more grazing, hunting and fishing at two sites in New Mexico. It also calls for a new assessment of border-safety risks at a monument in southern New Mexico.

Environmental groups and the outdoor recreation industry condemned the GOP bill.

Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario called the bill "dangerous" and said Bishop "should recognize the committee he leads is meant to protect our natural resources, not destroy them."

The vote drew similar criticism for some in Montana's conservation community, which campaigned against Zinke's national monument review.

"Today Congressman Gianforte dismissed the overwhelming support Montanans gave national monuments over the summer, when more than 24,000 of us spoke up in defense of the Upper Missouri River Breaks (National Monument) and other places vital to our outdoor heritage," said John Todd, Montana Wilderness Association conservation director. "The bill he voted for puts the Breaks in perpetual jeopardy and cripples one of the best tools we have for permanently protecting the places that define us as Montanans and as Americans."

Zinke and the Interior report do not recommend changes to the Missouri River Breaks.
Navratri originates from a state of India called Gujarat, but in recent years has spread all throughout the country of India and globally as well. Because this festival is so large and celebrated with such fervor, it resonates with people on intimate levels.
A rape occurred Saturday, Sept. 30 on the University of Georgia campus, according to a report from the University of Georgia Police Department.
'I feel that since they know the problems, in the next 2 to 3 quarters, these problems could be resolved.'

'But they should realise that things are not working well right now.'

When Shobha Warrier met Eshwar K Vikas in 2013, he was waiting for his engineering results. But, by then, he had already become an entrepreneur.

At a time when most young engineers were building software start-ups, this youngster was into manufacturing, making dosa machines for commercial purpose.

Eshwar and his dosa machine were invited along with other entrepreneurs to meet Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge when the British royals visited India last year.

The royals not only saw how dosa was prepared, but William also tasted it and asked for the machine to be sent to the palace!

Eshwar's venture, Mukunda Foods, has now developed another machine, Doughbot that makes chapatis on a large scale.

He was one of the young entrepreneurs invited to share their concerns about the economy over lunch with Prime Minister Narendra D Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Eshwar spoke to Rediff.com about how demonetisation and GST affected entrepreneurs like him.

There is talk that the Indian economy -- especially the manufacturing sector -- is doing badly. How do you, a young entrepreneur from the manufacturing sector, perceive the current economic mood?

Yes, the economy is going down and it is due to the confusion in the market.

Because of GST?

Yes. But the confusion is artificially created.

Everybody is confused, so they are not buying new stock. They only want to distribute the stock they have bought earlier.

When the distributor does not buy new stock, what will the manufacturer do?

He is not able to manufacture new products. This has created a ripple effect in the economy.

Are you, as a manufacturer, confused about GST?

Personally, we are not confused at all. In fact, it is much easier for us to ship goods now.

For example, earlier if we had to ship our dosa machines to Uttar Pradesh, we had to go to the local office, get the form and send it with the machine to UP, and the person over there had to take it to the local office.

On top of this, every state had different types of forms, some states had octroi and VAT was different.

But now, there is only one form, and we can complete the formalities online and send the machine. It is a lot easier.

Purchases also have become simpler as we get credit on services.

Earlier, around Rs 150,000 was our tax, but we never got credit.

Today, we get credit on our Rs 180,000 tax. So, my cost of production will decrease in the long term.

In fact, we have started seeing some benefits in our cost of production, but we have not yet started passing it on to our customers.

In another 2 to 3 months, we should be able to do so.

You say it has become easier, but the general complaint is that many business people, especially those in the small and medium enterprises, find everything about GST confusing. Why is it so?

People who are complaining now are the ones who did not pay taxes earlier. They also have not done any online transaction.

That is why they do not know the nitty-gritty of how things work.

But people who have been paying taxes and those who are already in the system find it much easier.

It's like giving a computer to a person who is used to a typewriter. That person will find everything about the computer confusing, initially.

Another criticism which the PM himself acknowledged is that the MSME sector has been badly affected because of the confusion in GST and that is why growth has come down to 5.7%.

Yes, we have also found that our growth has gone down.

Mukunda Foods also has been affected quite badly.

Compared to last year, our sales have come down by 50 per cent. It could be because of the economy going down.

The hunch is that the economy is going down because of GST. I feel nobody can say that for sure.

Sales are affected for everyone except e-commerce. B2B sales have decreased across all the sectors.

But it's not because we find GST confusing or we find it is difficult to file returns or find it difficult to purchase or sell.

Our growth is down because the ripple effect has affected us also as distributors are not purchasing new stock.

What do you want the government to do to revive the economy?

I don't think there is a quick fix to revive the economy.

What the government has done to stop illegal payments etc is in the right direction. Similarly, they do not ask for bank guarantee for exports.

It will take 2 to 3 quarters for those in various sectors to realise that this is the reality and start working towards adapting to this reality.

The reality is that we have to pay taxes, conduct online transactions, pay income tax, pay provident fund etc.

When people adapt to all these, things will get back to normal.

I feel it will take 2 to 3 quarters to get things back to normal.

Critics say business could not take demonetisation and GST.

Demonetisation did not have a huge negative impact on the economy.

In fact, after demonetisation, sales increased because everybody wanted to spend money.

But when GST happened, everybody wanted to withhold money. That's because they didn't want to pay taxes.

Those who are looking for loopholes find it difficult to adapt to GST.

Do you agree with the criticism that the government did not prepare itself well before implementing GST?

I will give you an example.

Kids who had been winning by playing a game without any rules may find the new rules imposed suddenly irritating.

They may find it difficult to win with rules in place as they were winning because there were no rules at all, and they even cheated to win.

The real players with stamina will learn skills, adapt and start playing.

Once that happens, the whole team will start playing well.

This is the attitude of those who criticise GST. These people have to adapt to the new system.

If you were the finance minister, would you have implemented GST in a different way?

If I had that option, I would have implemented it in a different way.

I would have taken sector by sector or state by state.

For example, I may start introducing GST with the textile industry which has a huge market in India.

It's like how we launch a new product in the market.

We test the market in an area and see how it is accepted. We don't launch a new product in the entire market first.

We also should have started with companies with a certain turnover and then moved forward.

Slowly and steadily, people would have accepted the change.

Many are extremely unhappy with the different GST rates. 18 per cent is considered a very high rate by all. What do you say?

We also feel that 18 per cent is too high a rate.

Previously, our taxation rate was 14.5 per cent, now in some places, it has gone up to 28 per cent.

One third of our sales is taxed.

I feel it can be reduced by 5 to 6 per cent. Then people will be more interested in paying taxes.

A major deterrent is the high tax rate, no doubt about it.

I think everybody is paying higher taxes post GST.

When we have to charge higher tax, our machines become costlier.

The original cost of the machine is Rs 180,000 and with 18 per cent tax, the price has gone up to more than Rs 200,000. There is no alternative here.

When we spoke immediately after you launched Mukunda Foods, you had said it was never easy to start a business in India...

I would also say that it shouldn't be a limiting factor to start a business.

You can take the help of a company secretary and s/he may charge Rs 20,000 to help you out.

Yes, it is definitely difficult if you have to do everything by yourself, but if you are a passionate entrepreneur, you will take the help of a professional. Then, it is not difficult.

You have come out with a new product, Doughbot, to make dough for chapatis...

Yes, our R&D has always been active. Doubhbot is designed for the cottage industry so that women and self-help groups can make ready-to-use chapatis in bulk and sell them in the market.

The product is reasonably priced and would work wonders for this industry.

We want to be the backbone of the cottage industry just like Lijjat Papad helped thousands of women by making papad.

You have a start-up that is making things in India. Has the Make in India programme helped you in any way?

I don't know about other companies, but we have not benefitted at all, not even an iota from Make in India or Start-up India.

We were the only start-up company in manufacturing in the Make in India Forum, which had around 50 to 60 companies.

There are quite a few start-ups in manufacturing and the government can do a lot by helping all in capacity building, and many other things, but nothing has happened.

Why do you think it has not happened?

It is not the bureaucracy; there is no policy as such to help start-ups in manufacturing.

They say there is a single window clearance if you want to buy land, environment clearance, etc.

But why does a start-up need to buy land, electricity? We don't need all that, we only need small things.

In fact, we have put all these suggestions to the government and I hope they will start working on it.



IMAGE: Eshwar K Vikas, left, with NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

You were invited to have lunch with the prime minister and finance minister. Could you explain the realities to them? Were they open to listening to your opinion?

It was a 2-day programme and yes, they were quite open to listen to our problems. In fact, they are aware of some of the problems and challenges.

They are trying to resolve the problems too, but it is not possible to resolve the issues overnight.

We hear that our proposals have been sent to the relevant ministries and they have already started working on them.

They invited some of us including the CEOs of Maruti, Apollo, Panasonic to meet NITI Aayog officials and the meeting happened on October 9.

If the first meeting was on a broader basis, this time it was about the nitty-gritty and evolving them into policies.

At the meeting, everybody spoke about their dissatisfaction over GST.

The wider sense was that GST was not implemented properly.

The consensus was there had to be a simpler tax slab and not a multi-layered one.

Everyone also agreed that job creation was not happening.

The officials from NITI Aayog were receptive to what we were saying.

Do you think there is a strong urge in the government to make these things work at the ground level?

Definitely. There is an urge in them to implement the ideas.

There is no inaction, lot of action is happening.

I am happy that they are trying to do something.

Faster and quicker is not the solution. Nothing can be done quickly.

The roadmap is quite visible.

I feel that since they know the problems, in the next 2 to 3 quarters, these problems could be resolved.

But they should realise that things are not working well right now.

Are you hopeful as a young entrepreneur?

I am definitely hopeful. I feel in the next 2 to 3 quarters, it will be back to normal.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
The apex court was irked when Sebi claimed that the group had allegedly obstructed the process by writing a letter to the Pune police raising the issue of law and order at the prime property.

The Supreme Court on Thursday took strong exception to the Sahara Group allegedly obstructing the auctioning process of Aamby Valley and warned that anybody indulging in such an act would be held liable for contempt and "sent to jail".

The apex court was irked when Sebi claimed that the group had allegedly obstructed the process by writing a letter to the Pune police raising the issue of law and order at the prime property.

Taking note of Sebi's allegation in this regard, a bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said the group should not have entered into a communication with Pune's Superintendent of the Police (Rural) on the issue since the auction has been ordered by the top court.

"If any impediment is caused in the auctioning process by anyone, he shall be liable of contempt of this court and sent to jail," the bench, also comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and A K Sikri, said. The punishment for contempt is up to six months of simple imprisonment.

Later however, the apex court clarified that it was not initiating any contempt action at this stage.

Regarding Sebi's allegation that the police has taken custody of the property due to which no bidder was willing to take part in the auction process, the bench directed the Director General of Police, Maharashtra, to see that the property is handed over to the Bombay high court's official liquidator within 48 hours.

"You go ahead with the auction," the bench said.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), told the bench that the September 28 communication, addressed by the group to the Pune police regarding law and order situation at Aamby valley, has stalled the ongoing auction process.

Sebi also said the letter was also sent to the additional chief secretary and no bidder was coming forward to bid for the property as the police, while taking note of the letter, has taken its custody.

Meanwhile, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the group, objected to these submissions, saying "completely wrong statements are made to prejudice the court".

"No bidder has come...I (group) am not standing in the way. I have not halted anything and have not given property to the police," he said.

However, the bench asked the official liquidator to go ahead with the auctioning process under the direct supervision of the company judge.

It also said the official liquidator shall take guidance from Justice A S Oka, sitting judge of the Bombay high court, in the matter.

The bench said Justice Oka and the company judge shall work in harmony so that the auctioning process goes on smoothly.

The top court was hearing the Sebi's plea seeking contempt action against the Sahara group for allegedly obstructing the auctioning process of Aamby Valley.

In its plea, the Sebi has alleged "wilful and deliberate attempt" on Sahara's part "by adopting a subterfuge to cause interference with the administration of justice, especially in a court directed and monitored auction sale of the Aamby Valley property under various orders of the apex court."

On August 10, the apex court had rejected Sahara chief Subrata Roy's plea to put on hold the auction process.

It had said that the auction process would proceed as per schedule and if Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) is paid by Roy in the Sebi-

Sahara refund account by September 7, then it may pass an appropriate order.

The Sahara Group had earlier sought 18 months time to repay around Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion) balance of the principal amount of Rs 24,000 crore (Rs 240 billion).

Roy, who has spent almost two years in jail, has been on parole since May 6 last year. The parole was granted the first time to enable him attend the funeral of his mother. It has been extended since then.

Besides Roy, two other directors -- Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary -- were arrested for failure of the group's two companies -- Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHICL)  to comply with the court's August 31, 2012 order to return Rs 24,000 crore to their investors.

Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters
Deadline ends, after two extensions and only 70% file detailed return for July

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

About 70 per cent of the assessees under the goods and services tax (GST) had filed detailed sales returns for July as on Tuesday, the official deadline. Low compliance, said officials.

No further extension was given; the deadline had been extended twice earlier. About 4.59 million entities of the eligible 6.5 mn filed the GSTR-1 return, for the first month of GST.

"We will assess why many people have not filed. We have already sent reminders to those who filed GSTR-3B, the summarised return form, but not GSTR-1," said a GST Network GSTN) official.

The deadline to file GSTR-1 was extended by a month from September 10 at the GST Council meeting last month in Hyderabad. Earlier, the deadline was extended from September 5 on account of technical issues with GSTN.

If a taxpayer fails to file GSTR-1 by the deadline, the buyer of his products would face difficulty in availing of input tax credit. Which is why, noted Pratik Jain, partner at consultancy PwC, the number of GSTR-1 returns are much lower than what one would have expected.

It is possible many dealers with GST registration have nil turnover and, hence, did not file the return.

"The government will have to investigate the reasons and take corrective steps," he added.

Three million returns had been filed as of September 10, the day after the announcement of the extension. About 1.5 mn more returns were filed after that.

GSTR-1 has 13 sections containing details of sales transactions of a registered dealer for a month.

A little more than 330 mn invoices were filed and processed by the GST system along with the GSTR-1 of July.

Of this, 73 per cent were uploaded using the Offline Tool developed by GSTN; 16 per cent of the invoices came through GST Suvidha Providers.

The inward supplies return or GSTR-2 for July has to be filed by October 31. And, GSTR-3 for the month by November 10.

Once a taxpayer files GSTR-1, the government utilises the information to verify GSTR-3 for the dealer and GSTR-2A for dealers to whom supplies have been made.

For the transition period, the government has allowed assessees to file self-summary returns for input-output, called GSTR-3B.

The lower-than-expected GSTR-3B returns filed in the first two months of GST implementation had prompted revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia to ask central and state commissioners to urgently conduct a survey to know why.

Only about 64 per cent of those eligible filed GSTR-3B, for August; 84.2 per cent did so for July. Of the 7.3 mn eligible ones, 4.7 mn filed the summarised return for August.

The questions suggested in the survey on why GSTR-3B was not filed are: The site was not functioning, filing process was too complicated, system didn't allow me to file nil return and 'could not' preview return details before filing returns.

In addition, tax officers will take suggestions for improving the returns filing process.

Last week, the GST Council, chaired by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, eased compliance rules for small and medium enterprises. Those with annual turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore will from October onward need to file returns and pay taxes only quarterly, not monthly.

It also raised the eligibility limit in terms of annual turnover to Rs 1 crore from the current Rs 75 lakh for the composition scheme, which allows a flat rate and easy compliance. The window will be open until March 31 next year.

Assessees are required to file and pay taxes only quarterly under the composition scheme.

A trader pays at one per cent, a manufacturer at two per cent and a restaurant owner at five per cent but they are not allowed input tax credit. About 90 per cent of taxpayers under GST have annual turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore.
While the IMD had forecast a normal monsoon for the entire season, Skymet stated that rain this year would be below normal, report Sanjeeb Mukherjee and Sahil Makkar.

The State-run India Meteorological Department and the countrys largest private weather forecaster, Skymet, have once again found themselves in the eye of the storm over the accuracy of monsoon predictions.

The monsoon, after making a steady start in June and July, went for an extended break in August and early September, pulling down the total cumulative seasonal rainfall.

The 2017 southwest monsoon season ended on September 30, with an overall shortfall of 5 per cent from normal. In meteorological terms, it could be classified as below-normal at 95 per cent of the Long Period Average.

However, the IMD had forecast a normal monsoon for the entire season at 98 per cent of the LPA, with a model error of plus and minus 4 per cent.

Specifically for August and September, the IMD predicted the rain to be normal at 99 per cent of LPA, with a model error of plus and minus 9 per cent.

While rain in August was 13 per cent less than normal, in September it was almost 12 per cent lower than normal.

According to the IMD, the unexpected break was caused by intra-seasonal variability as Pacific cyclones over the Bay of Bengal pulled the monsoon currents towards them, leading to disappearance of rain over central and northern India, plunging the regions on the brink of drought.

Such transitional systems are difficult to capture in seasonal prediction models, but the breaks hadnt caused big damage as seen by week-on-week sowing data progress and also water level in reservoirs this year, compared to the previous years, said K J Ramesh, director general of the IMD.

Skymet has disputed IMDs claims on the breaks and also on the accuracy of its forecast.

This (extended break in monsoon) typically happens in an evolving El Nino year and we have always been saying that in our predictions, Jatin Singh, chief executive officer of Skymet, said.

Skymet pointed out that in March itself it had stated that rain this year would be below normal at 95 per cent of LPA and that it stuck to its prediction throughout the June to September season.

In contrast, IMD kept updating its forecasts, giving the notion of a normal monsoon this year, the private weather forecaster said.

Skymet Weather had announced its forecast on March 28 and stuck to the same till the end of the monsoon season. Meanwhile, other organisations kept updating their forecast from time to time. In fact, the countrys nodal weather agency, the IMD, had also updated its Monsoon 2017 forecast from 96 to 98 per cent, Skymet said in a note published on its website.

While the two agencies try to figure out the real reasons for the forecasts going off the mark, the data showed that almost 34 per cent of the 660 districts in the country received deficient rain this year till September 27, while 66 per cent got normal rain. In 2016, during the same period, the proportion was 67 per cent normal and 33 per cent deficient.

Even as these numbers may not look alarming statistically, at a segregated level there is a cause for worry at least in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Vidarbha and Delhi where rainfall this year has been around 20 per cent below normal.

Also, around 33 districts in Madhya Pradesh, 42 in Uttar Pradesh, some areas in Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have been put under the watch list for drought or drought-like conditions developing over the next few weeks.

For the kharif season, states can declare drought in any part till October 30, while for the rabi season it has to be declared not later than March 31.

Overall, as of now, no state has officially declared drought in any district or any part. But many states have kept it under watch list, Ramesh of IMD said.

The states themselves are finding it difficult to declare drought because of the revised drought manual introduced last year. Despite receiving scanty rainfall, the changed manual has made it difficult for states like Kerala and Karnataka to declare drought. The new manual, based on international practices, was drafted and put in place following Supreme Courts directions.

The new guidelines mandate a state to fulfill all parameters, such as rainfall, vegetation, hydrological indices, crops situation indices, ground verification and others, before declaring the districts under the impact of severe drought.

States get financial assistance from the national disaster relief fund when a district is declared hit by severe drought.

In case of mild drought, states have to provide own funds to mitigate the situation. In the previous manuals, many of the parameters were less stringent.

The new guidelines have created a problem for wettest states such as Kerala and those in the Northeast. We had objected at the secretary-level meeting called to discuss the guidelines. We were only given 15 days to send our inputs on a 300-page draft report, said a senior official in the Kerala government.

The official said in states like Kerala and the Northeast the drought was more about drinking water.

Crops can be cultivated through the water in reservoir. But our territory is such that rainwater cant be harvested. The groundwater is already depleted and we have banned the use of hand pumps in the state, the official said.

Karnataka, which too has seen scanty rainfall in many districts this year, has expressed concern to the Union government, including through a representation made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

But many Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states such as Madhya Pradesh want to proceed according to the new manual despite many districts having received 30% less rains.

The new manual is more scientific. The Centre is asking for remote sensing and groundwater details and I dont think it should be a concern. We follow the new norms, said Arun Pandey, principal secretary (revenue), in the state government.

As to whether India faces another year of drought in some parts, that could further cripple the already slowing economy and aggravate the agrarian distress, will only be known in the next few months.

Photograph: PTI Photo.
BMS, a union affiliated to RSS, plans rally at Delhi's Ramlila Ground on Nov 17; SJM to protest on Oct 29.

In an effort to provide a vent to the criticism building against the Narendra Modi government's economic policies from within the Sangh Parivar and also internalise the opposition, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliates plan to not only up the ante on the issues of economic distress but have also reached out to groups outside of the Sangh Parivar to be part of their protests.

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, a trade union affiliated to the RSS, has planned a public rally at Delhi's Ramlila Ground on November 17. The Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM), an RSS affiliated think tank on economic policies, has announced a protest on October 29.

In a first, the SJM has asked several farmers' and traders' outfits to be part of the October 29 protest in New Delhi.

On Tuesday, SJM said the protest would appeal to people to boycott Chinese goods since their sale impacts the indigenous small and medium industries.

But the protest would also highlight the growing joblessness and the plight of the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector because of twin blows of demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout.

Bharatiya Kisan Union-Tikait, Bharatiya Krishak Samaj and Kisan Mahapanchayat leaders were present at the press conference. Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal, a traders' body, has also extended support and so has the PHD Chamber of Commerce of Industry.

At the event, Kisan Mahapanchayat chief Rampal Jat criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party and the government for pursuing identity politics, but giving no heed to farm distress. He said the Modi government was anti-farmer.

SJM convener Ashwani Mahajan said the campaign will also have the support of yoga guru Ramdev, parliamentarians and industrialists.

The BMS has identified 17 demands for its November 17 public rally. It has demanded 200 days of work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) to ease rural distress, end contract labour and implement equal wages for equal work.

"We also want the government to come out with data on job creation in the states where labour reforms have been carried out," BMS organising secretary Pawan Kumar said.

Kumar said the BMS has also demanded representation to farmers and workers organisations in the NITI Aayog, an end to "curtailing of labour rights in the name of labour reforms" and stop disinvestment.

"What has hurt working class the most is the State Bank of India's decison to keep the minimum deposit in bank accounts at Rs 3,000. Would the poor maintain minimum balance or maintain their family?" Kumar asked.

Since June, several farmer organisations, including some affiliated to the Sangh Parivar, have come together to carry out sustained protests across the country to demand that BJP-led government at the Centre fulfill its promises to deal with agrarian distress in its 2014 manifesto.

They are slated to hold a protest in Delhi on November 25. BMS aside, 10 other central trade unions have also announced a three-day protest in Delhi on November 9, 10 and 11. The winter session of Parliament would be on at the time.

The SJM and BMS protests would come on the heels of criticism of the Centre's economic policies from within the Sangh Parivar.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy and Lok Sabha member Varun Gandhi have in recent weeks either expressed concern or openly criticised the Modi government's handling of the economy and farm sector.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters.
Commissioner Haladay recently asked Helenans to continue building on the successes of the current Helena City Commission through his re-election. Voters might think twice because there are significant cracks in the foundation on which he would like you to continue building. For example, he states that prior to his arrival on the Commission, there was no plan or funding to invest in Helenas long-term infrastructure needs. The Comprehensive Capital Improvement Program (CCIP), under which Helena currently operates, has been in place for well over a decade. Commissioners set rates (or not) over the years as to how they see the need as it existed at that time. The current Commission has set progressive rates, which in many cases, have lowered increases for residential users and raised them significantly for the commercial user, causing them to pay the brunt of any increased investment. In my opinion, this causes two significant problems. The average rate payer sees the favorable rates and assumes that all must be well with our infrastructure, not knowing that we face well over $100 million in shortages in our street and utilities assets. The second problem is that Helena is known by the business sector for the high costs associated with conducting business within the City. Spiking the rates to the commercial user further exacerbates that problem and the City of Helena will continue to drive them out into the county and/or other municipalities across Montana.

The next crack in the foundation is touting that the City has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in residential solar. Those are noble investments if you have the money. What is left out of the narrative is the fact that our police and fire departments are sorely underfunded and understaffed according to industry standard and, more importantly, according to the demand that is being placed on them by Helena. For the first time in my twenty plus years of involvement with City of Helena government, Police Chief McGee, who has always been a master of utilizing the resources he has been given without complaint, stated at a public budget meeting this spring, that the Helena Police Department staffing was an issue. The Helena Fire Department, whose calls have more than doubled in twenty years with no increase in staffing, is suffering with poor response times from that burden and from not having a third station from which to deploy. Up to this point in 2017, there have been over 76 delayed responses and 15 non-responses to emergency calls to the 911 system. When Helenans call 911, it is a critical municipal responsibility to provide a timely response to their emergencies. These essential services have very tight operating budgets and cannot annually meet their capital replacement needs. There are no easy fixes for these significant community problems, but before we pat ourselves on the back for residential solar, Helena needs to tackle such fundamental issues.

Then, there is significant citizen frustration when the Commissioners address issues such as opening relations with Cuba, accepting the terms of the Paris Climate Accord, and a mine in Meagher County. In addition, many businesses do not see the Commissioners as supportive of their needs and concerns, while developers do not see Helena as a favorable location for economic development. We have some fundamental challenges as a community. We need to fill those cracks in order to improve the quality of life and work in Helenas future.

Sean Logan is a candidate for Helena City Commission.
'Last year, Diwali came in November when winter had set in, when there was high humidity and fog in the air.'

'But this year Diwali has come in October and there is no high humidity in the air.'

On Monday, October 19, barely 10 days ahead of Diwali, the Supreme Court banned the sale of fireworks in Delhi and the National Capital Region till November 1, casting a pall of gloom on the fireworks industry that lights up during Diwali.

The ban covers both the sale and bursting of firecrackers in Delhi.

"When the court banned fireworks in Delhi on November 11 last year, we stopped selling to the national capital," T Manikanandan of Ajantha Fireworks, Sivakasi, the town which is synonymous with the manufacture of firecrackers, tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar.

"Last year, Diwali fell in November when winter had set in, when there was high humidity and fog in the air. Added to it was the pollution caused by burning paddy straw in Haryana and Punjab," Manikanandan points out.

"But this year Diwali has come in October and there is no high humidity in the air. There is no fog as winter has not set in. Plus, Haryana and Punjab farmers have been told not to burn paddy straw," Manikanandan adds.

"Bursting crackers on one day will not raise pollution to the alarming levels that they are worried about. We have presented all these facts to the highest court in the land," says Manikanandan.

"If other courts follow the Supreme Court's lead and start banning firecrackers all over the country, the (fireworks) industry will be in deep trouble," Manikanandan fears.

Photograph: Vijay Verma/PTI Photo
Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh refuses to 'retreat in the face of threats'. Jyoti Punwani reports.

Will the 9th Anuradha Ghandy memorial lecture be held on Friday, October 13?

"Of course," says Narendra Wable, president, Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, the venue of the lecture. "If we retreat in the face of threats, then who will stand up?"

On the other side, Vinay Joshi, convenor of the Legal Rights Observatory, is certain the lecture won't be held.

"We are sure the police will declare prohibitory orders around the Patrakar Sangh on Friday," Joshi told Rediff.com.

The theme of Friday's lecture is '50 years of Naxalbari Looking Back Looking Forward' and the speakers are the well-known poet and writer Vara Vara Rao from Telengana and Tilak Dasgupta, a former Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist activist.

A message circulating on social media from the little-known LRO says: 'Anuradha Ghandy was central committee member of banned Maoists apex body and wife of dreaded Naxal leader Kobad Ghandy. Maoists political wing (sic) is also banned providing venue (sic) for such a notorious anti Indian terror group is serious offence and can invite action under stringent UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) & MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act)..'

Joshi said he had given a memorandum to Mumbai's police commissioner that the programme should not be held, and the commissioner had forwarded it to the deputy commissioner of police, Zone I, under whose jurisdiction the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh is located.

"The Anuradha Ghandy Memorial Committee is a registered trust, not a terrorist group," said Wable.

"In 2015, Dalit writer Meena Kandasamy had given the Anuradha Ghandy memorial lecture in our hall. We see nothing wrong in allowing our venue to be used for expression of different viewpoints. We are, after all, a democracy," Wable added.

But countered Joshi: "Tomorrow if I register a trust under the name of Osama bin Laden, won't it have a symbolic meaning? What sort of consciousness is this memorial committee spreading?"

Joshi alleged that Vara Vara Rao was providing logistical support to the Maoists.

Joshi refused to see the difference made by the Supreme Court against membership of a banned organisation and a person's beliefs in a certain ideology. "The Supreme Court can't impose its views on us," Joshi said.

Asked who but the Supreme Court could impose its views, Joshi replied: "The people."

Joshi described himself as an 'activist' based in Delhi and Mumbai. Why didn't he come to the lecture to debate with Vara Vara Rao? "That's a futile exercise. These are people who believe in the gun. One can't debate with them. What if I am shot?" he replied.

If the lecture was held, Joshi said he would take legal action against the Sangh and the Mumbai police.

Anuradha Ghandy (nee Shanbag), an alumnus of Elphinstone College, Mumbai, taught sociology at the city's Wilson College and was a founder-member of the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights.

She later moved to Nagpur where she worked among Dalits and mine workers, and later moved to Bastar. She wrote extensively on women and Dalits.

She passed away from cerebral malaria in 2008 aged 54. Since then, the Anuradha Ghandy Memorial Committee has been holding a lecture in her memory every year.

Speakers have included American black feminist Angela Davis; Swedish author Jan Myrdal, writer Arundhati Roy, former Nepalese finance minister Baburam Bhattarai, and Professor Samir Amin.

Gurbir Singh, a member of the memorial committee, told Rediff.com that every year, the anti terrorist squad and the police try and browbeat those in charge of the venue where the Anuradha Ghandy lecture is to be held, but in vain.

Susan Abraham, another member of the committee, said the aim of the lectures is to spread awareness about Anuradha Ghandy and her work, as well as to present different points of view to listeners.

IMAGE: Busts of 'revolutionary leaders' near a school in Naxalbari's Bengaijoth village. Photograph: Kind courtesy Anuradha Ghandy Memorial Lecture/Facebook
Deposed All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader V K Sasikala, serving a four-year term in a corruption case, on Thursday returned to the central prison in Bengaluru at the end of a five-day emergency parole for visiting her ailing husband at a Chennai hospital.

Parappana Agrahara central jail Superintendent P S Ramesh said Sasikala returned to the prison at 5 pm.

Her 74-year-old husband M Natarajan had undergone liver and kidney transplants at a corporate hospital in Chennai.

Sasikala left Chennai on Thursday morning by a car which had to halt at several locations till it reached the Bengaluru highway as party cadres gathered to greet her.

She had sought a 15-day parole, but was granted only five days with tough conditions, including that she would not involve in political or any other public activity or take part in party activities.

During the emergency parole, the 60-year-old leader was allowed only to visit the hospital where her husband was undergoing treatment and stay at the residence as mentioned in the parole application.

It was also stipulated by the prison authorities that she should not entertain any visitors either at her residence or the hospital and that she should not interact with any media -- print or electronic.

Sasikala has been lodged in the Parapana Agrahara central jail since February this year after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction by a special court in a disproportionate assets case.

Her relatives Ilavarasi and V N Sudhakaran are also serving four-year jail terms in the case.

Sasikala's appointment as interim general secretary of AIADMK after the death J Jayalalithaa in December last year was declared as invalid last month by the party's general council meeting held after the merger of factions led by Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his present deputy O Panneerselvam.

Her visit to Chennai came at a time when her nephew and sidelined AIADMK leader T T V Dinakaran and the ruling camp are fighting it out to get the two leaves symbol, which was frozen by the Election Commission.

IMAGE: VK Sasikala is making her way back to the Parappana Agrahara Prison in Bengaluru by road. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo
The United States on Thursday announced it will withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, accusing the UN cultural body of 'anti-Israel' bias and cited the need for 'fundamental reform' in the organisation.

The withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018. The US will remain a full member of the Paris-based UNESCO until then.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti- Israel bias at UNESCO," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement.

She said the Department of State today notified UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova of the US decision to withdraw from the organisation and to seek to establish a 'permanent observer' mission to UNESCO.

"The US indicated to the Director General its desire to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organisation, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms, and promoting scientific collaboration and education," Nauert said.

Bokova voiced 'profound regret' over the US decision, calling it a 'loss to multilateralism'.

'After receiving official notification by the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, as UNESCO Director-General, I wish to express profound regret at the decision of the US to withdraw from UNESCO,' Bokova in a statement.

She said that at the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the US to withdraw from the UN cultural body promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack.

In 2011, under the Obama administration, the US cut off its budget contribution to the agency in protest at its acceptance of Palestine as a member-state.

President Donald Trump has criticised what he called a disproportionate contribution by the US to UN institutions.

The US funds 22 per cent of the UN's regular budget. The US withdrawal is also motivated by a desire to save money, the Foreign Policy magazine reported.

This is not the first time the US has withdrawn from the agency.

The Ronald Reagan administration quit the organisation in the 1984, and the US rejoined it in 2002 under the George W Bush administration, the magazine said.

Paris-based UNESCO, which began work in 1946, is known for designating World Heritage sites.

Photograph: Philippe Wojazer/Reuters
A family of five Western hostages, including three children, were recovered after five years of their abduction by terrorists with ties to the Afghan Taliban in an operation based on intelligence shared by the United States, the Pakistan Army said on Thursday.

'Pakistan Army and ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) recovered 5 Western hostages including 1 Canadian, his US National wife and their three children from terrorist custody through an intelligence based operation by Pakistan troops and intelligence agencies,' the Army said in a statement.

It said the US intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and shared their location when they were shifted to Pakistan through border of Kurram tribal district on Wednesday.

The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from US authorities, was successful and all hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin, it added.

In Washington, DC, President Donald Trump hailed the release of the hostages from Taliban captivity and identified the kidnapped couple as Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle.

He said their release was a 'positive moment' for US relations with Pakistan.

"The US government, working in conjunction with the government of Pakistan, secured the release of the Boyle- Coleman family from captivity in Pakistan," Trump said.

Caitlan Coleman, an American citizen, and her husband Joshua Boyle, a Canadian citizen, were kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip.

Coleman, 31, was pregnant at the time of abduction. All the three children were born in captivity.

'Coleman gave birth to the couple's three children while they were in captivity,' Trump said in a White House statement. 'Today, they are free.'

Trump praised Pakistan for its willingness to 'do more to provide security in the region' and said the release suggests other 'countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again'.

'We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counter-terrorism operations,' Trump said.

'The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wish that it do more to provide security in the region. And I want to thank the Pakistani government. We want to thank Pakistan,' he said.

'They worked very hard on this, and I believe they are starting to respect the US again. It's very important. I think right now a lot of countries are starting to respect the US once again,' Trump said.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson too welcomed the development.

In a statement, Tillerson expressed his deep gratitude to the Pakistan government and the Pakistani Army for their cooperation.

Trump's new South Asia strategy recognises the important role Pakistan needs to play to bring stability and ultimately peace to the region, he said.

"The United States is hopeful that Pakistans actions will further a US-Pakistan relationship marked by growing commitments to counter-terrorism operations and stronger ties in all other respects," Tillerson said.

The Pakistan Army said the success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan's continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy.

The hostages 'are being repatriated to their country of origin'.

The Afghan Taliban last year released a video that showed the family, including two young boys.

Image for representation only.
Rob Chaneys excellent article in the September 24th IR highlighted a University of Montana research report by Dr. Martin Nie that concluded the Forest Service is neglecting its responsibility to manage all fish and wildlife on National Forests. Instead, the agency is ceding more authority to state fish and wildlife agencies than the constitution and law allow.

Readers should know that even as the Forest Service tries to bury Dr. Nies report, Montanas sole Congressman, Greg Gianforte is co-sponsoring an extreme logging bill, HR 2936, that would do just that -- give primary management and control of fish and wildlife on the National Forest lands owned by all Americans to individual state agencies.

When logging proposals on National Forests fail to protect our land, water quality and native wildlife as required by law, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies turns to the courts to force the federal agencies to follow the law  and we win four out of five of those challenges.

Gianforte knows that the most recent scientific studies show Montanas National Forests cant continue to maintain the best hunting and fishing in the country while being ravaged by massive clearcuts. His solution is to take away citizens constitutional right to challenge the federal government in court and nullifying the Forest Services legal mandate to ensure viable populations of native species on public lands.

There are many flaws in Gianfortes baseless theory that more logging will reduce wildfires, but they all run counter to the latest scientific research, which shows that protecting old growth and mature forests from logging is a very efficient way to slow down wildfires. Old forests contain large trees that are difficult to burn, provide shade to limit undergrowth, and keep the forest floor cool and damp while stopping the high winds that fan flames into crowning fires.

Dont believe what Gianforte, the Forest Service and the timber industry are pushing. They want to log the big trees because thats where the timber is, not the tiny trees in the wildland urban interface that might actually protect woodland homes. Need proof? Check out the draft decision for the proposed Center Horse timber sale north of Ovando, which calls for logging over 1,000 acres of old growth forests.

Unlogged old forests also provide the best habitat for threatened native species such as lynx, goshawks and bull trout. If Gianforte really wanted to limit western wildfires and protect habitat for native species there is a scientifically-backed approach he could take. Thats working with his congressional colleagues to pass the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA) sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the House and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse in the Senate.

America still has 23 million acres of mostly unlogged roadless lands in the Northern Rockies. NREPA would designate these lands as wilderness, which will make them off limits to logging and road-building while ensuring the vital habitat needed by a growing list of threatened and endangered wildlife and plant species.

We are now experiencing the worlds sixth great extinction event due to habitat destruction and climate change. Amazingly, the Northern Rockies still sustain all the native species that were here when Europeans first arrived. NREPA will ensure that those species, such as lynx and grizzly bears, will be around for future generations. Gianfortes bill wont.

Spending millions more on subsidies to clearcut our national forests wont stop wildfires, but it will destroy what makes Montana great, some of the best hunting and fishing in the nation. Tell Gianforte to protect, not destroy, our forests, the abundant clean water they produce and the native ecosystems they sustain.

Mike Garrity is the executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies.
Colombia: The killing of peasant farmers in Tumaco underlines the need to implement the Peace Agreement

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 6 October 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Colombia: The killing of peasant farmers in Tumaco underlines the need to implement the Peace Agreement, 6 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df216e4.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.

Nine peasant farmers (campesinos) have been killed and more than a dozen injured in the municipality of Tumaco in southwestern Colombia, allegedly by members of the Colombian Army and National Police. This is a clear signal to the authorities of the need to protect to the civilian population during the implementation of the Peace Agreement, said Amnesty International.

According to the Community Associations of Mira, Nulpe and Mataje (Asominuma), on 5 October, members of Colombia's security forces opened fire indiscriminately on rural communities protesting peacefully in the areas of Alto Mira and Frontera, municipality of Tumaco.

The communities were protesting against the slow implementation of the programme for the voluntary replacement of illicit crops, set out in the Peace Agreement signed in November last year.

"Nothing will change in Colombia until everyone in the country can protest peacefully without fear of losing their lives," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director of Amnesty International.

"It is imperative that the Colombian authorities investigate this spate of killings and bring those responsible to justice. Failure to do so, as so often happens, will send a signal that the lives of campesinos are of no value, and that the armed conflict is continuing."

Since 28 September 2017, the farming communities of Alto Mira and Frontera have been protesting peacefully against the current strategy of the government to reduce the areas planted with illicit crops. According to the protesters, the authorities are failing to comply with the terms of the Peace Agreement, which states that such actions must be voluntary and carried out with their consent.

Tumaco is one of the areas with the greatest coca leaf production in the country; Alto Mira is the territory with the most hectares planted with coca. As a result, it is a priority area for the implementation of the illicit crop replacement programme. However, as in other areas of this region, progress in implementing the Peace Agreement has been slow and rural communities are concerned about the lack of government action to guarantee their fundamental rights or provide alternatives forms of development.

Campesino associations are calling on the national government, and in particular the Ministry of Defence, to comply with what was agreed in Havana regarding community consultation and consent in each jurisdiction affected by the replacement programme. They stress the economic, environmental and human rights impacts in their territories of the failure to carry out the consultation guaranteed in the agreement.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Paraguay: Ministry of Education and Science resolution threatens human rights

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 10 October 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Paraguay: Ministry of Education and Science resolution threatens human rights, 10 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df21bc4.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 recent Paraguayan Ministry of Education and Science resolution banning the dissemination and use of materials on what the ministry calls "gender theory and/or ideology", is a major step backwards for human rights and is contrary to Paraguay's international obligations, said Amnesty International.

Some sectors of society and religious groups launched a campaign to withdraw materials on sex, reproduction, gender equality and discrimination from the public education system. The resolution, dated 5 October 2017, in which the ministry bans these materials, was published today.

"This decision represents an extremely dangerous backward step for human rights in the country. Under cover of the malicious expression 'gender ideology', what is really happening here is the suppression of education about equality and discrimination, which is an international obligation of the Paraguayan state not an ideology", said Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

After signing and ratifying a series of international commitments, including the Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Montevideo Consensus, to name but a few, the Paraguayan state is obliged to promote equality and oppose discrimination.

The gender equality principles set out in these international human rights treaties, all ratified by Paraguay, and in the country's Constitution, aim to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and against persons who suffer exclusion and diverse forms of violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

"Women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersexual (LGBTI) people regularly suffer discrimination and violence because of the prejudice and stereotyping that is a feature of our societies. Excluding education on equality from the curriculum is tantamount to state promotion of violence and discrimination, with extremely grave consequences", said Erika Guevara Rosas.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

To base decisions about public policies on the religious beliefs of some sectors of the population violates international human rights agreements and article 24 of Paraguay's Constitution, which states: "No religious faith will have official character" and "the relations between the State and the Catholic Church are based on independence, cooperation and autonomy".

Paraguay's Constitution also recognizes the principles of equality and non-discrimination (article 46) and guarantees equality (article 47) and equal rights for men and women (article 48). Curiously, the ministry justifies its resolution by referring to these principles as well as to articles on the protection of the family and marriage.

Under pressure from religious sectors regarding the measure, the Ministry was questioned at a public hearing of Congress, which responded by issuing this resolution 29664. This resolution bans the inclusion in educational materials of basic information about human rights, sexual and reproductive education and other important subjects.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Human rights and the new patriotism in Hungary

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 11 October 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Human rights and the new patriotism in Hungary, 11 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df234e4.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.

Amnesty International's Secretary General Salil Shetty addresses students at the Central European University in Hungary on 11 October 2017

It is good to be here in Hungary, in the very heart of Europe, enjoying the hospitality for which Hungarians are justifiably famous. Whether with Nobel Prizes, scientific breakthroughs, or of course Rubik's Cube, Hungary has historically packed a big punch in many ways.

It is especially good to be here in the Central European University. I am glad to have the opportunity to express some solidarity with you at a difficult time for this important institution.

Hungary - and the CEU itself - today sits at a juncture which will shape the future of Europe. That is why I am here today. To share some thoughts about the choices facing Hungary today, and about the future we want to choose.

The "new patriotism"

When we listen to the political pulse of Hungary, we hear that the country is in the very centre of a battle for the soul of Europe.

On one side of that struggle is a so-called "transnational elite" - a globalised, internationalist and liberal intelligentsia. It is big business, it's the liberal media, it's the bureaucrats of Brussels, it's George Soros, it's NGOs. It is the cabal working together to establish an elitist global agenda. Indeed, to quote Prime Minister Orban's "illiberal democracy" speech from 2014, I have little doubt he would see me speaking here as one of the "paid political activists who are attempting to enforce foreign interests".

On the other side of the struggle is the ordinary, patriotic, traditional Christian working man (occasionally woman).

And caught in the middle are the mostly Muslim migrants seeking entry into Europe, unwitting agents of a plan to change the demographic face of Europe forever.

The elites are executing a plan to take away the most important thing the ordinary people have: their identity, their community, their rootedness.

This is Prime Minister Orban's new European politics. A politics, as he said, "on the side of the patriots". A proud patriotic illiberalism.

And where the Hungarian government has led, others have followed.

But this new patriotism has a dark side. It has a rapidly growing surveillance state, an alarming crackdown on the space available for independent voices, and an extraordinary callousness towards refugees, some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

I would like to begin with some thoughts about the main elements of the new patriotism. Then I will argue it is inadequate to the task, and explain why I believe human rights must be central to the future of Hungary.

I will start by saying there is nothing wrong with being proud of your country, being a proud Hungarian.

But the new patriotism which Prime Minister Orban espouses is different. It is not patriotism but jingoism. It is fundamentally negative in the way it understands people.

There are two strands which I will talk about: the security strand, and the values strand.

Security and identity

First of all, there is the security strand. Naturally every state has the responsibility to ensure the security of its citizens, and the right to secure its borders. There is nothing controversial about that.

But in the doctrine of Prime Minister Orban we find the idea that the security of the nation is grounded in ethnic homogeneity.

Speaking in his Tusnadfurdo speech earlier this year, he said, "There is no strong culture without a cultural identity  there is no cultural identity in a population without a stable ethnic composition".

The idea is this: ethnic homogeneity is the ultimate source of human security.

I alluded earlier to Rubik's Cube. What we see here is something like a Rubik's Cube theory of politics: that the colours must be lined up in an orderly way. That this is the natural state of things.

It is, I think, a bleak idea.

It makes homogeneity the controlling principle of society.

It is the idea that somehow our capability for solidarity with each other - and our ability to cohere together as a social structure - is governed by some biological principle of sameness.

We only have to look at the way this idea is manifested. Perhaps most starkly in the shipping containers on the border which cage some of the world's most vulnerable people, victims fleeing the horrors of one of the most horrific conflicts in memory.

Compassion, tolerance and respect are thrown out in the name of a myth of purity.

When we talk about refugees, we need to get real about war. There is no Rubik's Cube solution. Millions and millions of Syrians have had their lives threatened due to the Syrian civil war, in which President Assad's forces, the armed group that calls itself Islamic State and other parties to the conflict have committed war crimes on a major scale. The women, men and children caged on Hungary's borders are some of the victims of the very worst horrors the 21st century has seen. To paint these refugees as passive agents of a plot to destabilise Europe is a grievous and inexcusable twisting of reality.

Prime Minister Orban's idea of security as identity is manifested also in his government's approach to counter-terrorism. This month a government survey has been circulated condemning Amnesty International's defence of Ahmed H. He is a migrant from Syria who was convicted of terrorism after using a megaphone to ask that police communicate with refugees and migrants at the border, and by throwing three solid objects at police. This was interpreted as an attempt to force state authorities to allow the irregular entry of refugees and migrants into Hungary.

The terrorism charge is as extraordinary as it is outrageous. It is a manifestation of an ideological criminalisation of refugees and migrants, equating them to a threat to national security. Ahmed has effectively become the scapegoat of the government, which has invested heavily in labelling him as a terrorist and incriminating him.

Prime Minister Orban's doctrine of security is also manifested in the way that independent and critical voices are being silenced in Hungary today.

The Lex NGO - which Amnesty International is joining other organisations in opposing - is only the latest move in a sustained campaign against NGOs and the space for activism and criticism in Hungary.

Despite the narrative of Prime Minister Orban and his claims that NGOs form part of a nefarious foreign cabal, we believe that NGOs - imperfect as they may be - are vital for a democratic society. And most importantly, that people have the right to form associations and operate NGOs.

There is no point at which security and human rights become an either/or. A strong state, a truly strong and effective state, is one which can both protect people's security and protect their freedoms. When those freedoms are eliminated, what is there to defend? A strong state is one confident enough to respect differences and allow the voices of welcome to be heard.

Values

Second, there is the values strand of this new patriotism. This is the idea that the country cannot sustain a multiplicity of values frameworks. "Opposing ideologies and values cannot be simultaneously upheld, as they are mutually exclusive," to quote the prime minister again. Instead, there is a binary choice. A choice, as Prime Minister Orban presents it, between "traditional indigenous Christians and the incoming Muslim communities".

So we have two sets of values playing against each other: the traditional Christian values of Hungary, and a supposed "migrant culture". The homogenous Christian nation versus the homogenous culture of migrants.

This may seem compelling because it gives total moral clarity. One is authentic, the other is destabilising. And it is not only a neat idea, but - according to the government - it is totally justified in keeping out refugees and migrants because that is what the people want. The people are fed up and fearful of the other, the foreigner.

It is hard to understand the concept of "migrant culture", a grotesque oversimplification. But equally hard to understand is the idea of a homogenous and fixed Hungarian Christian culture. The attempt to manipulate identities is based on the mistaken idea that they are fixed and static.

It is also fundamentally untrue to claim a single Hungarian culture. The country protects in law thirteen recognized national and ethnic minorities and enables their political participation.

And Hungary's EU membership also allows free and easy settling for migrants from other countries in the bloc. Tens of thousands of students from abroad - like most of you - study here in various disciplines for years, enriching Hungarian society and its fabric. Just like Hungarians abroad strengthen the fabric of the countries they live in.

Prime Minister Orban often speaks of Hungary as a Christian nation. I am not competent to define or expound Christianity. But a faith which follows a man who started his life fleeing from persecution and growing up as a refugee in Egypt does not provide a strong ideological footing for building fences which keep refugees at bay.

If I could quote some tweets from Pope Francis:

"Let us share without fear the journey of migrants and refugees"

"Migrants are our brothers and sisters in search of a better life, far away from poverty, hunger, and war"

Pope Francis - like clerical figures in Hungary - is at pains to deny the otherness of refugees and migrants.

It is difficult to see in that the idea of a Christian culture which must stand opposed to refugees and migrants. This binary simply does not stand true.

And it does not reflect real lived experience of people. Are Hungarians fundamentally racist? Are Hungarians people who cannot open their heart to others?

Perhaps one of the bleakest points of the doctrine of new patriotism is the idea that solidarity is surrender. It is not possible to show solidarity with those whose culture is different.

Against this pessimistic worldview, I see reasons to have faith in people and their generosity to others. We only need to look at the warm welcome from Greek islanders towards refugees struggling off boats at the end of perilous journeys which have taken the lives of far too many women, men and children.

We only need to see the way they have opened their lives to refugees. People who themselves have suffered economic hardship, who have every reason to fear that the government will not be able to support them. But the human instinct for solidarity is more powerful than fear.

The generosity of people stands as a living rebuke to the dismal idea of solidarity as surrender. It is outrageous that the Prime Minister condones violence when villagers intimidate and threaten an individual who dares to open up to the idea of hosting a few refugee families in his B&B so they, as anyone else, can take a village holiday.

The European attitudes survey of the Hungarian government found that 81% of EU nationals thought immigration to be a serious or very serious issue, and 59% believed that immigration changed the culture they lived in.

At Amnesty International, we commissioned our own global survey on attitudes towards refugees in 2016, which surveyed 27,000 people in 27 countries in all continents. It found that 80% of people would accept people fleeing war or persecution into their country. 66% of people said that their governments should do more to help refugees.

In August 2017, the World Economic Forum global survey of young people exposed just how far governments are out of touch with their attitudes. Strikingly in the USA, after months of attempts by President Trump to slam the door on refugees, 85% of young people said they would welcome refugees, 10% more than last year.

People do not want doors to be slammed. People's generosity, people's values, should give us hope. Values are not enhanced by ring-fencing them, seeking sterile isolation.

A reality check

Prime Minister Orban says that the main question in Europe is this: "will Europe remain the continent of the Europeans? Will Hungary remain the country of the Hungarians?"

That is a question about your identity which assumes the best case scenario is to preserve the status quo, to extend an idealised past into the future.

I would like to pose a different question to Hungarians and to Europeans. My question is - especially to you, the future of the country - what kind of society do you want Hungary and Europe to be?

Do you want it to be one in which organizations are effectively silenced for voicing politically unacceptable views? Where the media is cowed, civil society is crushed, and the space is occupied instead by the state?

Do you want it to be one where a man is sentenced for terrorism after using a megaphone to call on both sides for calm?

Do you want it to be one where Roma people face discrimination, segregated education, and massive inequality in the labour market?

Do you want it to be one where traumatised refugees fleeing war and persecution are locked in shipping containers on the margins and nobody offers them relief and assistance?

Do you want it to be one in which people are demonized, stripped of their dignity and denied justice?

If you want a different future, you need to go out and make it. Let me now turn to what kind of future that might be - and how you could make it.

Human rights: a tool of the transnational elites?

I have highlighted so far what I believe to be some of the key flaws in the doctrine of the new patriotism.

But I would now like to turn to an important insight which Prime Minister Orban has often highlighted.

Have we built a world order where power is in the hands of people?

We have not. We must confront the truth that global systems which favour a transnational and cosmopolitan class of people have far too often failed to serve ordinary people.

The system of globalisation nurtured by governments and businesses has let down many millions of people around the world. They are people who suffer inequality, corruption, injustice and a dearth of opportunities. They are people who simply feel left behind.

This is true for the community of Indigenous People in Peru whose water supply is poisoned, whose children cannot concentrate at school for the toxic metals in their bodies. Whose activists in search of justice are suppressed and silenced by powerful and brutal interests.

It is true for the factory worker in the north of England who has lost his job and feels he cannot compete in a global race to drive down wages and the threat of automation, and is forced to try his way in the perilous uncertainty of the gig economy. He deserves adequate support from the State to secure decent work.

It is true for the Hungarian worker who is employed by a big corporation for much less than her Austrian neighbour for doing the same job, and she struggles to meet the basic needs of her household. She is suffering economic uncertainty, petty corruption and is struggling to feed her family.

We cannot simply sit in ivory towers and simply condemn leaders who give the wrong solutions to the anxieties, grievances and disquiet of millions of people left behind.

These problems are real. They demand a response. So how are we tackling them?

There is a choice.

They can be confronted by the politics of fear, of blame. Leaders can choose to cast blame on external threats. They can say that you are right to feel anxious and fearful of outsiders. If things continue as they are, you won't be safe, and you won't be Hungarian. The elites, the forces of internationalism and the migrants will destroy you.

Leaders can choose to distract attention from the real economic hardships, from the real corruption, from the real inequalities, the real injustices, deflecting blame onto others.

They can perpetuate an identity politics based on fear and suspicion. It is a politics which leads ultimately to conflict, which in turns hardens people against each other. This is the spiral that led to the world wars which caused so much devastation only a few decades ago - the tragic crucible in which the human rights framework as we know it today was forged.

Or leaders can choose to take real action. Leaders can take as their starting point the idea of human dignity which needs to be fostered and protected. They can choose policy decisions which progressively realise people's rights to work, to health, to education.

They can take meaningful action to ensure Hungarians and their families have access to healthcare. That they get the proper and timely treatment that so many in Hungary have sadly lacked. This is their right, and the government must fulfil that right.

They can protect the freedom to exchange ideas, protest and call for a better future.

They can hold the corrupt accountable.

This is what human rights is about. It is about starting with the idea of the fundamental dignity and equal worth of every human being, every member of society, and protecting that for all it's worth.

Choosing a better way

Let me return briefly to the left-behind Hungarian woman, struggling to make ends meet. Is there really so much difference between her and the Syrian refugee caged on the border? Both of them are victims of cruel circumstances, excluded from control over their own destiny. Both are denied real power, real freedom.

Yet in Prime Minister Orban's Hungary, one must be pitted against the other. The welfare of one depends on the exclusion of the other.

But in reality, when people are pitted against each other, who wins? It's not the person who is excluded or marginalised.

Hundreds of millions of euros - which the government desperately wants to reclaim from the EU - have been spent on feeding this antagonism by building fences. Yet nobody has benefitted from it. No Hungarian citizen has seen her or his rights realized through this aggressive xenophobic campaign. And it made Hungary into a darker place.

You are some of these privileged elites yourselves. And I want to call on you, with all the relative advantages you enjoy, to imagine a new future for Hungary and for Europe. To end the political discourse of negativity, and construct a different future.

And it must be a future in which there is no more exclusion for those who are powerless. A world in which both the factory worker and the refugee are treated with dignity. A world in which the future can be better than a static and idealised status quo. You must both envision a new and better world, and start to bring it about.

Thank you.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
CAR: Fresh evidence UN peacekeepers drugged and raped young woman

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 11 October 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, CAR: Fresh evidence UN peacekeepers drugged and raped young woman, 11 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df23b14.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 United Nations must take firm action in response to credible new evidence that UN peacekeepers drugged and raped a young woman in the Central African Republic, Amnesty International said today after interviewing the victim and 10 others with direct knowledge of the case.

The organization's on-the-ground research revealed that one or more Mauritanian peacekeepers allegedly raped a 19-year-old woman in the central town of Bambari on the evening of 30 September 2017.

"We have uncovered compelling evidence suggesting that at least one Mauritanian peacekeeper, and possibly more, raped a young woman," said Joanne Mariner, Senior Crisis Response Adviser at Amnesty International. "The public authorities in the town of Bambari have confirmed the rape, and the UN is investigating it.

"If substantiated, these serious rape allegations should result in the repatriation, suspension, and prosecution of any troops suspected of criminal responsibility. The UN must also ensure the victim receives support and damages. Its peacekeepers are in CAR to protect civilians from violence, rather than perpetrate it."

The 19-year-old woman told Amnesty International that the rape took place adjacent to a checkpoint manned by a group of Mauritanian peacekeepers, part of the MINUSCA force stationed in CAR. She said that because she was feeling ill, she accepted tea that the soldiers offered her as she was walking home from a funeral at about 9pm.



She said she passed out not long after she drank the tea, and woke up on the ground nearby several hours later, nearly nude.

A guard and healthcare worker from a medical clinic adjacent to the checkpoint found the woman in the middle of the night, seeming quite ill and sedated. They put her in bed and treated her with intravenous fluids.

They told Amnesty International a Mauritanian soldier from the checkpoint twice visited the clinic later that night to ask where the woman was.

In the morning, when she had recovered enough to speak coherently, the woman told the healthcare worker that she believed she had been raped.

Medical staff at a local hospital carried out tests on the victim and told Amnesty International that they found evidence of drugging and sexual violence, including semen. They treated the woman with emergency contraception and anti-HIV medication.

Authorities in Bambari carried out a formal criminal investigation of the case, which, according to the local prosecutor, was the first such investigation involving UN troops.

Although there has been a continuing stream of well-documented allegations of rape involving UN troops in Bambari, particularly troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo, no other cases have resulted in criminal investigations.

While Amnesty International was present in Bambari at the beginning of October, the victim and witnesses came forward to give statements to the police. The healthcare worker also identified the Mauritanian soldier who had visited the clinic in the middle of the night to look for the 19-year-old woman.

Local workers who visited the site of the incident very early in the morning said that they saw condoms and condom wrappers at the exact location of the alleged rape. Later that morning, the police photographed at least one condom wrapper there, as well as traces of a material that was believed to have come from the boots of Mauritanian soldiers.

The local prosecutor in Bambari has forwarded the case to the country's attorney general for diplomatic action. Although UN troops enjoy immunity from domestic criminal prosecution, troop-contributing countries have a duty to investigate and prosecute crimes by their troops.

At a press conference held in Bangui yesterday, local authorities reportedly denounced the larger problem of sexual abuse by UN peacekeeping troops.

"This is a crucial test case for UN peacekeeping," said Joanne Mariner.

"Given its stated zero tolerance policy, we expect the UN to take this case extremely seriously, and to take vigorous action to ensure that the Mauritanian authorities do the same. Its response to this case will be closely scrutinized."

At a meeting with Amnesty International last week, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, the head of MINUSCA, emphasized that the UN was taking the allegations very seriously, and had immediately dispatched a team of investigators to Bambari. He promised that the UN would take decisive action if the allegations were found to be substantiated.

The 19-year-old victim told Amnesty International that she wanted the UN to investigate the crime, and that she wanted the perpetrators to go to prison. She said that just as she had willingly given a formal statement to the local police, she was prepared to recount the entire incident to UN and/or Mauritanian investigators.

Background

An Amnesty International researcher in Bambari interviewed 11 people with direct knowledge of the case, including the victim, members of her family, medical staff who cared for her, witnesses who visited the site of the alleged rape early that morning, and local police and prosecutorial authorities.

On several previous occasions, Amnesty International has documented allegations of rape and sexual violence by MINUSCA and other peacekeepers in CAR, including the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Bangui in August 2015.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
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.
Turkey must release human rights defenders still in jail after 100 days

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 12 October 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, Turkey must release human rights defenders still in jail after 100 days, 12 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df43464.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.

One hundred days after their wrongful arrest, Amnesty International is leading a global demand for the immediate and unconditional release of 11 prominent human rights defenders in Turkey.

Ten activists, including Idil Eser, the Director of Amnesty Turkey, were arrested on 5 July whilst Amnesty International's Turkey Chair, Taner Klc, was arrested a month earlier. On 4 October a prosecutor filed an indictment calling for jail terms of up to 15 years for all 11 human rights defenders on absurd and trumped up terrorism charges.

"One hundred days ago our colleagues were locked up for standing up for human rights. Every passing day further exposes the long reach of the post-coup crackdown and the deep flaws in Turkey's justice system," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Europe Director.

"The indictment is a toxic mix of innuendo and untruth which does not stand up to the slightest scrutiny. It repeats ludicrous and contradictory allegations which have no place in any self-respecting courtroom."

After three months the investigation has unsurprisingly failed to provide any incriminating evidence to substantiate the prosecutor's fantastical charges. Nor has it shown how the supposedly secret 'Buyukada meeting' relates to terrorism in any way.

The activists are accused of assisting a variety of 'armed terrorist organisations' with diametrically opposing ideologies and face maximum sentences of 15 years. The charges against them include outlandish claims that standard human rights activities such as appealing to stop the sale of tear gas, making a grant application or campaigning for the release of hunger striking teachers, were carried on behalf of terrorist organisations.

Some of the claims against Idil are based on Amnesty International documents and public communications that predate her appointment at the organization.

In the coming days, Amnesty International activists in more than 25 countries will hold more than 200 parties and stunts to mark Idil's birthday. These will range from a birthday party in the European Parliament to a press conference in a makeshift prison in Madrid. Full-size paper cutouts of Idil will be present at these activities to highlight her absence.

"Rounding up human rights defenders was clearly intended to send a message that dissent will not be tolerated. But the courage of Idil Eser and her colleagues and the support they have garnered around the world has sent a brighter message: that critical voices cannot be silenced," said John Dalhuisen.

"The Turkish authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the imprisoned defenders and end the brutal post-coup crackdown that is ravaging the country."

Background

The Istanbul 10 were attending a workshop on wellbeing and digital security on 5 July when police raided the building and detained them all. They were held in Istanbul's police headquarters until 18 July when they appeared before a judge following the prosecutor's request that they be sent to prison pending their trial. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/09/who-are-the-istanbul-ten-and-why-have-they-been-imprisoned-in-turkey/

The eight jailed human rights defenders are Idil Eser (Amnesty International), Gunal Kursun (Human Rights Agenda Association), Ozlem Dalkran (Citizens' Assembly), Veli Acu (Human Rights Agenda Association), Ali Gharavi (IT strategy consultant), Peter Steudtner (non-violence and wellbeing trainer) and Ilknur Ustun (Women's Coalition) and Nalan Erkem,(Citizens' Assembly). Two other human rights defenders arrested at the same time were released on bail. They are Seyhmus Ozbekli (Rights Initiative) and Nejat Tastan (Association for Monitoring Equal Rights).

Taner Klc, the Chair of Amnesty International Turkey, was detained on 6 June and accused of membership of the "Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization" on the basis of the unfounded allegation that he downloaded the ByLock secure messaging application. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/06/chair-of-amnesty-international-turkey-swept-up-in-post-coup-purge/

In their own words:

"I am ready to pay the price for my choice to work on human rights and I am not scared. My time in jail has made me even more committed to standing up for my values. I will not compromise them." Idil Eser (8/19/17)

"We want women to be lifted from poverty and deprivation. We want them to have access to education and not to be subjected to abuse or rape. If that is a crime, then we are guilty, but it is a crime we will continue to commit." Ilknur Ustun (August 2017).

"I value the morale that the domestic and international campaign is generating for us in detention and for human rights defenders out there. I have never felt part of a family as much as I feel right now. So happy that you exist, that we all exist." Ozlem Dalkran (October, 2017)

"It's important to me that the political and legal responsibility for our situation isn't placed on Turkey as a country or its peopleLet us walk the non-violent path of human rights together!" Peter Steudtner (September 2017)

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
New allegation of sexual abuse surfaces at UN mission in Central African Republic

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 11 October 2017 Cite as UN News Service, New allegation of sexual abuse surfaces at UN mission in Central African Republic, 11 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df446e4.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.

United Nations Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Wednesday that the UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) reported it had received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor that took place in Bambari by UN peacekeepers.

"The alleged victim was immediately referred to our humanitarian partners on the ground for appropriate medical and psychological assistance," said the Spokesman, adding that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services has carried out a verification of information inquiry and preserved evidence, which will lead to the matter being referred to the Member State for further investigation and action.

Last month, during a high-level event on the margins of the UN General Assembly's annual general debate, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the appointment of Jane Connors as the first-ever UN Victims' Right Advocate, who, he said would develop system-wide mechanisms and policies to promote reliable gender- and child-sensitive processes for victims and witnesses to file complaints.

He also announced the creation of a 'Circle of Leadership' for Heads of State and Government to demonstrate resolve and commitment at the highest political level to eradicate sexual exploitation and abuse.
Despite progress on voter registration, DR Congo faces challenges on election timeline  UN envoy

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 11 October 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Despite progress on voter registration, DR Congo faces challenges on election timeline  UN envoy, 11 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df44db4.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 notion that elections would most probably not be held before the end of 2017 has regrettably led to the re-emergence of a climate of political uncertainty and tensions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a United Nations envoy for that country told the Security Council today.

"As this Council is aware, challenges related to the implementation of the 31 December Agreement have unfortunately persisted in recent months," said Maman Sidikou, UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for DRC, in a briefing to the 15-member body.

He explained that the broad consensus achieved among key political actors with the signing of the 31 December 2016 Agreement has not been maintained consistently throughout the year, specifically as this relates to a transitional oversight mechanism, implementation of confidence-building measures, and the electoral timelines.

The Agreement envisioned the holding of elections by the end of 2017.

He reported that as of mid-September, the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) had registered over 41 million voters, with women representing 48 per cent of them.

In early September, voter registration commenced in the Kasai and Kasai Central provinces, the last remaining provinces to undergo this process. However, uncertainty persists regarding the registration of members of the Diaspora, the mode of voting and the timeline for the adoption of critical legislative enactments.

And regrettably, the financial resources required to ensure sustained progress towards the holding of elections are not yet forthcoming. The CENI remains under-funded, and the multi-partner basket support fund managed by the UN Development Programme remains funded at only six per cent of the estimated $123 million required.

The creation of conditions conducive to the holding of elections rests largely on the implementation of confidence-building measures, the opening of political space, and the full respect of human rights, including the freedoms of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly.

The UN is concerned that journalists, political opponents and civil society activists remain subject to intimidation, harassment and violence, mostly in connection with their activities and expression of their opinions in relation to the political process.

He went on to highlight the deteriorating security situation in several regions of the country, including targeted attacks against the national security forces by the Mai-Mai group in North Kivu.

"The impact of the deterioration of the security situation on the lives of civilian populations is clearly visible," Mr. Sidikou said, noting that between June and August this year, the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) reported 1,329 cases of violations and abuses of human rights.

Armed groups carried out 533 attacks, while state actors were responsible for 769 violations, of which 27 percent were attributed to the armed forces and 24 percent to the national police.

Turning to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, he said that about 8.5 million people - including 5.5 million children - are currently in need of humanitarian assistance while the number of internally displaced persons reached 3.8 million, and more than 621,000 Congolese sought refuge in the subregion.

In the face of budget cuts, MONUSCO has continuously adjusted its machinery and presence to better adapt its footprint to priorities set out by the Council, Mr. Sidikou noted. The mission will soon complete the repatriation of 1,687 military personnel, and is also in the process of introducing a new strategy, particularly in areas affected by the closure of MONUSCO bases, that provides the mission with a flexibility in fulfilling its mandate to protect civilians.
Attacks against Rohingya 'a ploy' to drive them away; prevent their return  UN rights chief

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 11 October 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Attacks against Rohingya 'a ploy' to drive them away; prevent their return  UN rights chief, 11 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df45434.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.

Brutal, well-organized, coordinated and systematic attacks have been carried out against the minority Muslim Rohingya community in Myanmar, with the intention of not just driving them away but also preventing their return, a new United Nations human rights report has revealed.

Based on on-the-ground interviews in Cox's Bazar, in Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have sought refuge, the report also draws attention to a strategy to "instil deep and widespread fear and trauma - physical, emotional and psychological" among the Rohingya population.

"The [UN human rights] team documented consistent accounts of the Myanmar security forces surrounding or entering villages or settlements, sometimes accompanied by Rakhine Buddhist individuals firing indiscriminately at Rohingya villagers, injuring some and killing other innocent victims, setting houses on fire, and announcing in other villages that the same would befall them if they did not comply with the order to immediately abandon their homes," notes the report, issued Wednesday by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

It also cites testimony from witnesses that security forces committed extrajudicial and summary executions, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and attacks on places of worship.

Specific attacks particularly targeted the educated in the Rohingya society such as teachers, business men, religious and community leaders - "people with influence" - in an effort to diminish Rohingya history, culture and knowledge, said OHCHR in a news release announcing the grim findings.

"Credible information indicates that the Myanmar security forces purposely destroyed the property of the Rohingyas, targeting their houses, fields, food-stocks, crops, livestock and even trees, to render the possibility of the Rohingya returning to normal lives and livelihoods in the future in northern Rakhine almost impossible," it added.

UN rights chief urges authorities to end the 'cruel' security operation immediately

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who described the Government operations in northern Rakhine state as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing," also urged the Myanmar Government to immediately end its "cruel" security operation.

By denying the Rohingya population their political, civil, economic and cultural rights, including the right to citizenship, he said, the Government's actions appear to be "a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return."

More than 500,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar security forces launched an operation in response to alleged attacks by militants on 25 August against 30 police posts and a regimental headquarters.

The report, however, suggests that the "clearance operations" started before that date - as early as the beginning of August.

UN agencies, meanwhile, are working to assist the hundreds of thousands in Cox's Bazar and other locations in Bangladesh where conditions for the refugees are extremely challenging, including little protection against the elements, limited food, water and sanitation facilities, and the risk of outbreak of disease.
Libya: Security Council endorses UN plan on restarting political process

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 10 October 2017 Cite as UN News Service, Libya: Security Council endorses UN plan on restarting political process, 10 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df46004.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 Security Council today endorsed the United Nations' action plan to resume an inclusive political process in Libya.

In a Presidential Statement, the 15-member body strongly urged all Libyans to work together in a spirit of compromise and to engage constructively in the inclusive political process set out in the UN action plan, which was presented at a high-level event in New York on 20 September 2017.

Regarding the measures set out in the action plan, the statement said that the Council "looks forward to further sequential implementation" of the plan, ahead of the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections within a year.

The Council also reaffirmed that the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA), which was signed in December 2015, "remains the only viable framework" to end the Libyan political crisis, and that any attempt by Libyan parties to undermine the Libyan-led, UN-facilitated political process is unacceptable.

Welcoming recent efforts to strengthen an inclusive political dialogue among all Libyans, including important efforts by Libya's neighbours, international partners and regional organizations, the Council stressed that "all such initiatives should be consolidated under the leadership of the UN.

In that regard, the Council emphasised the imperative for all Member States to support the primacy of the UN mediation in Libya.
Illinois officials are cutting costs by putting violent prisoners in less-secure prisons, a driver behind a 51 percent increase in inmate assaults over two years, a state employee union said Thursday.

In other news, the Democratic field for governor just got smaller; the city's Public Works director is retiring after a decade-plus; President Trump signs an executive order on health care; and two officers have been relieved of their duties on the USS McCain after an August collision near Singapore killed 10 U.S. sailors and injured five more, including Petty Officer 3rd Class Logan Palmer, 23, of Harristown.

Union: Prison-inmate assaults on officers up 51 percent

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 asserted that Gov. Bruce Rauner's campaign to reduce the prison population has meant an 18 percent drop in maximum-security prison populations.

At the same time, assaults on corrections officers jumped from 541 in 2015 to a projected 819 this year, AFSCME Executive Director Roberta Lynch, surrounded by correctional officers who had suffered or witness attacks, said at a Springfield news conference.

"Is it because ... prisons with lower security levels have lower staffing levels and cost less to operate and that far too little attention is paid to the human cost of increasing violence against staff?" Lynch asked, noting "the recurring pain, the family turmoil, the physical trauma and even the permanent disability that can occur when staff is subject to violent assaults."

Illinois Department of Corrections Director John Baldwin, meeting later with reporters, rejected AFSCME declarations that management "doesn't care" and dismissed the AFSCME's claims of "budget-driven security re-classification."

He said the department is changing its classification system for inmates to replace a 30-year-old model, acknowledging that "we have a lot of population in the wrong place."

"Staff said, 'We need to know more about the offender,' and we're trying to get them that information. Staff are the best people to deal with the offenders," Baldwin said.

AFSCME counted assaults by calendar year  541 in 2015 and 819 projected this year, based on year-to-date data. Baldwin said the department counted a 27 percent increase over fiscal years  566 in the year that ended June 30, 2015, to 761 in the year that ended last June 30.

Trump signs executive order on health care

Frustrated by health care failures in Congress, President Donald Trump directed his administration Thursday to rewrite some federal insurance rules as a beginning of renewed efforts to undermine "Obamacare," the program he's promised to kill.

"With these actions, we are moving toward lower costs and more options in the health care market," Trump said before signing his directive in the Oval Office. Trump said he will continue to pressure Congress to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.

Some experts said the White House plan could undermine coverage on the ACA's insurance marketplaces, particularly for people with health problems. That would happen if healthy people flock to lower-cost plans with limited benefits.

Other experts said Trump's proposals appear to be modest and would have limited impact.

Pawar drops out of governor's race

Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar says he's ending his bid for the Democratic nomination for Illinois governor because he doesn't have enough money.

Pawar, who appeared at a Decatur town hall last week, said in an email to supporters Thursday morning that he doesn't have the resources to mount a successful statewide campaign. He says his only choices are to take on more personal debt or cut staff, both of which he says he won't do. Pawar entered the race saying he would provide "a progressive counter-balance to the governor's agenda."

Pawar was among more than a half dozen Democrats running in the March primary for a chance to unseat Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Pawar said he wouldn't be endorsing any of the other candidates at this time. His running mate was Tyrone Coleman, mayor of the southern Illinois city of Cairo.

Marley to retire from city

Rick Marley has a simple trick for living he likes to impart on people  a "life hack" in today's parlance: "Do those big events on memorable days so you can remember the anniversary."

He married his wife Peg on New Year's Day, and now Marley, 67, will be retiring from his post as the city's public works director on Oct. 16, the same day as her birthday.

In his 10 1/2-year tenure working for Decatur, Marley oversaw a surge in public infrastructure projects at a time when city officials looked toward reinvesting in aspects of the city that had languished  the sewer system, and perhaps a bit more romantic and visible, the downtown streetscape.

The public works department handles the major engineering and maintenance needs for the city's infrastructure. That includes snow and ice removal, parking and paving streets owned by the city, sewers and drainage systems, and city-owned trees. Together it amounts to an operations budget north of $10 million a year with a staff of 72.

Navy officers relieved of duties

The commander and executive officer of the USS John S. McCain have been relieved of their duties due to lost confidence after the warship and an oil tanker collided near Singapore in August.

The cause of the Aug. 21 collision is still under investigation but the U.S. Navy described it as preventable. The Navy statement said Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez and the ship's executive officer, Cmdr. Jessie L. Sanchez, were reassigned Wednesday.

The crash killed 10 U.S. sailors and injured five more, including Petty Officer 3rd Class Logan Palmer, 23, of Harristown. It was one of several accidents in the region that raised concern over the safety and operational effectiveness of U.S. naval vessels.

Some Navy officials have cited strains from frequent extended deployments, delayed maintenance and nearly a decade of budget constraints and reductions in resources devoted to training as factors.
Title Report to the Government of "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" on the visit to "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 6 to 9 December 2016

Publication Date 12 October 2017

Country North Macedonia

Citation / Document Symbol CPT/Inf (2017) 30

Cite as Council of Europe: Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Report to the Government of "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" on the visit to "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 6 to 9 December 2016, 12 October 2017, CPT/Inf (2017) 30, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df47ae4.html [accessed 15 November 2022]
Title Response of the Government of "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" to the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on its visit to "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" from 6 to 9 December 2016

Publication Date 12 October 2017

Country North Macedonia

Citation / Document Symbol CPT/Inf (2017) 31

Cite as Council of Europe: Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Response of the Government of "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" to the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on its visit to "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" from 6 to 9 December 2016, 12 October 2017, CPT/Inf (2017) 31, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df48704.html [accessed 15 November 2022]
Colombia: reporter killed while covering police operation

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 11 October 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Colombia: reporter killed while covering police operation, 11 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df49c94.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 authorities to identify those responsible for fatally shooting a reporter as she covered a riot police operation against indigenous protesters in southwestern Colombia on 8 October, and condemns a disturbing increase in police violence against journalists.

Efigenia Vasquez Astudillo, 31, a reporter and presenter with community radio Renacer, sustained the fatal gunshot injuries while covering an operation by ESMAD riot police to evict members of an indigenous community occupying disputed land in Purace, in the southwestern department of Cauca.





She died of her injuries a few hours later the same day after being taken to San Jose hospital in the nearby city of Popayan. Two protesters were also injured in the clashes with the riot police.





"We urge the Ministry of Defence, National Police and Public Prosecutions to identify those responsible for Efigenia Vasquez's death, to bring them to justice and to shed all possible light on what happened," said Emmanuel Colombie, the head of RSF's Latin America bureau.





"Media coverage of Colombia's social conflicts is becoming more and more dangerous and the security forces are often responsible for attacks and violence against journalists. The representatives of the Colombian state must respect and protect and the work of journalists throughout the country, as President Santos promised when interviewed by RSF last August."





In a separate incident on 8 October, police fired rubber bullets and teargas at an international delegation of UN and OAS representatives, members of human rights NGOs, politicians and journalists in a rural area of Tumaco, in the neighbouring department of Narino.





The delegation had gone there to investigate the deaths of six farm workers in clashes with police on 5 October.





Such abusive behaviour by the police is particularly worrying because, despite the recent peace accords, violence continues in many of Colombia's rural and post-conflict regions, and journalists are finding it hard to access them.





When RSF interviewed President Santos in Bogota on 31 August, he gave a firm undertaking to improve respect for media freedom in Colombia and to provide journalists with better protection.





Efigenia Vasquez was the first journalist to be killed this year in Colombia, which is ranked 129th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
Reporters in Cambodia charged with "inciting crime" for covering election

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 12 October 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Reporters in Cambodia charged with "inciting crime" for covering election, 12 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df4a5b4.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 Cambodian authorities to withdraw spurious charges against two former journalists with the Cambodia Daily, a recently closed independent newspaper, and to quickly return to the path of democracy and respect for media freedom.

The two journalists, working for the Cambodia Daily, Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter, have only just learned that they are facing possible two-year jail sentences on the absurd charge of "incitement to commit a felony" under articles 494 and 495 of Cambodia's criminal code.





Their "crime" was to have interviewed future voters in the northeastern province of Ratanakiri as part of their coverage of the campaign for municipal elections held on 4 June. Unbeknown to them, a Ratanakiri prosecutor filed formal changes against them on 28 August.





"Asking questions during an election campaign has absolutely nothing to do with inciting crime. This is what we call journalism," said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk.





"Bringing such grave charges against two reporters for just doing their job - and furthermore for a newspaper subsequently forced to close as a result of harassment by the authorities - is an alarming sign that Prime Minister Hun Sen's government is bent on crushing dissent ahead of next year's general elections."





The original complaint against Aun and Peter was made by the municipality of Pate's former mayor Romam Yout, who accused them of "inciting [voters] to support the opposition party." Their lawyer says they just asked questions, which violates neither election laws nor a set of media guidelines issued by the National Election Committee.





In the wake of the original complaint, information minister Khieu Kanharith posted a photo of Peter's Canadian passport on Facebook and threatened him with reprisals if he failed to respect the electoral law. The post, which was later removed, is indicative of the government's hostility towards independent journalists.





Aun and Peter "are under a lot of pressure," said Cambodia Daily editor Jodie DeJonge, describing the situation in Cambodia as going from "bad to worse." The newspaper's general manager and deputy publisher are banned from leaving the country and are facing possible six-year jail sentences.





The Cambodia Daily published its last issue on 4 September, ending a 24-year history as one of the pillars of Cambodia's fragile democracy. It was forced to close by a sudden tax department demand for payment of 6.3 million dollars in alleged back taxes.





Radio Free Asia was forced to close its Phnom Penh bureau ten days later, also as a result of government intimidation. RSF sources say the information ministry is now refusing to issue press cards to the journalists who used to work for the Cambodia Daily and Radio Free Asia, thereby preventing them from freelancing.





Australian documentary filmmaker James Ricketson has meanwhile been detained since June, when he was arrested for filming an opposition party demonstration. Charged with espionage, he is facing a possible ten-year jail term.





Cambodia is ranked 132nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
Turkey sentences Wall Street Journal reporter on terrorism charge

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 12 October 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Turkey sentences Wall Street Journal reporter on terrorism charge, 12 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df4ce94.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 jail sentence that a Turkish court has passed on Wall Street Journal reporter Ayla Albayrak over her coverage of clashes between Kurdish separatists and Turkish security forces is disproportionate and intended to limit the activities of foreign journalists in Turkey, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says.

The Wall Street Journal announced on Tuesday that Albayrak, who has Turkish and Finnish dual nationality, has been sentenced in absentia to two years and one month in prison on a "terrorist propaganda" charge. She was in New York when the sentence was passed and plans to appeal.





She was convicted in connection with an August 2015 article for which she went to Silopi, in southeastern Turkey, to cover fighting between government forces and members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).





"We condemn this arbitrary and disproportionate sentence targeting a journalist whose only crime was to go into the field and report the facts, and thereby do her job," RSF said. "We think the court's decision is designed to discourage foreign journalists thinking of going to Turkey, and to restrict their activities there."





Albayrak has been working for the Wall Street Journal's Istanbul bureau since 2010, covering Turkish politics, the situation of Syrian refugees, and Turkey's Kurdish minority.





Her conviction comes amid steadily mounting diplomatic tension between Turkey and the United States, in which both have just suspended issuing visas to the other country's citizens.





Turkey's already worrying media situation has become critical under the state of emergency proclaimed after a coup attempt in July 2016. Around 150 media outlets have been closed, mass trials are being held and more than 100 journalists are currently in prison - a world record.





Foreign journalists are no longer spared. Several dozen have been expelled in the past two years and some are still being held. They include Deniz Yucel, a journalist with German and Turkish dual nationality.





Turkey is ranked 155th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
Leading news website TSA partially blocked in Algeria

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 12 October 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Leading news website TSA partially blocked in Algeria, 12 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59df4d3a4.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 jail sentence that a Turkish court has passed on Wall Street Journal reporter Ayla Albayrak over her coverage of clashes between Kurdish separatists and Turkish security forces is disproportionate and intended to limit the activities of foreign journalists in Turkey, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says.

The Wall Street Journal announced on Tuesday that Albayrak, who has Turkish and Finnish dual nationality, has been sentenced in absentia to two years and one month in prison on a "terrorist propaganda" charge. She was in New York when the sentence was passed and plans to appeal.





She was convicted in connection with an August 2015 article for which she went to Silopi, in southeastern Turkey, to cover fighting between government forces and members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).





"We condemn this arbitrary and disproportionate sentence targeting a journalist whose only crime was to go into the field and report the facts, and thereby do her job," RSF said. "We think the court's decision is designed to discourage foreign journalists thinking of going to Turkey, and to restrict their activities there."





Albayrak has been working for the Wall Street Journal's Istanbul bureau since 2010, covering Turkish politics, the situation of Syrian refugees, and Turkey's Kurdish minority.





Her conviction comes amid steadily mounting diplomatic tension between Turkey and the United States, in which both have just suspended issuing visas to the other country's citizens.





Turkey's already worrying media situation has become critical under the state of emergency proclaimed after a coup attempt in July 2016. Around 150 media outlets have been closed, mass trials are being held and more than 100 journalists are currently in prison - a world record.





Foreign journalists are no longer spared. Several dozen have been expelled in the past two years and some are still being held. They include Deniz Yucel, a journalist with German and Turkish dual nationality.





Turkey is ranked 155th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
TOKYO  The commander and executive officer of the USS John S. McCain were relieved of their duties Wednesday due to lost confidence after the warship and an oil tanker collided near Singapore in August.

The cause of the Aug. 21 collision is still under investigation but the U.S. Navy described it as preventable. The Navy statement said Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez and the ship's executive officer, Cmdr. Jessie L. Sanchez, were reassigned.

The crash killed 10 U.S. sailors and injured five more, including Petty Officer 3rd Class Logan Palmer, 23, of Harristown. It was one of several accidents in the region that raised concern over the safety and operational effectiveness of U.S. naval vessels.

Some Navy officials have cited strains from frequent extended deployments, delayed maintenance and nearly a decade of budget constraints and reductions in resources devoted to training as factors.

But the Navy statement said it also was "evident the collision was preventable, the commanding officer exercised poor judgment and the executive officer exercised poor leadership of the ship's training program."

The Navy fired the then-commander of the Japan-based 7th Fleet, Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, shortly after the McCain's crash.

It followed the collision of the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship in waters off Japan in June, which killed seven sailors. In January, the USS Antietam ran aground near Yokosuka base in Japan, and in May the USS Lake Champlain had a minor collision with a South Korean fishing boat.

McCain Cmdr. A. Sanchez was reassigned to the headquarters of Naval Forces Japan and Cmdr. J. Sanchez was reassigned to the Ship Repair Facility at Yokosuka, home port of the 7th Fleet, the Navy said.

It said Cmdr. Ed Angelinas, former commanding officer of the USS McCampbell, was named acting commanding officer of the McCain. Lt. Cmdr. Ray Ball, chief engineer of USS Antietam, is acting executive officer.
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BRIDGEPORT  City residents gathered with state officials Wednesday to share their concerns for family and friends in Puerto Rico.

The island was devastated when Hurricane Maria thrashed across it. And with roughly 25 percent of Bridgeports residents identifying as Puerto Rican, emotions were high legislators discussed options.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy were among several state representatives joining Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim at the City Hall Annex to discuss what could be done to help Puerto Rico and its residents.

You are our eyes and ears on the ground (in Puerto Rico), Murphy said to the more than 50 people who attended the gathering.

Murphy and Blumenthal emphasized that 90 percent of the island is without power, half of the island is without drinkable water and two-thirds of the roads are declared impassable.

This isnt getting fixed any time soon, Murphy said: estimations to get the island back to normal were initially about six months, but have been upped to about a year or more.

Several attendees gave accounts of what their family and friends were experiencing in Puerto Rico and what they said was needed to help. Again and again, those attending said there was a need for more people on the ground helping and more money to the island.

Blumenthal encouraged community members to tell friends and family in other states to reach out to their representatives to pressure the White House to do more. He said the White House is relaying an image of everything is fine, but said the country needs to sees the truth.

But state Rep. Chris Rosario said the Puerto Rican community doesnt need the White House.

If this president doesnt want to help rebuild Puerto Rico, well do it ourselves, he said, greeted with a round of applause.

America is on the verge of failing Americans, Blumenthal said. We need to rally around them. This is a humanitarian crisis.
LITCHFIELD  Animal control officers and Connecticut State Police seized numerous animals from a home Wednesday after receiving an anonymous complaint of animal neglect.

Torrington Animal Control, assisted by state police, responded Tuesday to 365 Beach St. Two dogs and a cat were determined to be in poor health and were surrendered to an animal control officer, police said in a report.

Animal control officers and state police served a warrant the following day at the home. As a result, 16 live rabbits, four live adult cats, three live kittens, two dead kittens and five live chickens were additionally seized, according to the report. The animals are currently with the Torrington Animal Control and are under veterinary care, Torrington police said.

Animal Control Officers from Plainville, Watertown, Woodbury, Naugatuck, Barkhamsted, New Hartford, Winsted and Harwinton assisted in the seizure.

This remains an active investigation, police said.
GOSHEN - Chief elected officials discussed and grappled with the lack of a state budget Thursday during the Northwest Hills Council of Governments monthly meeting.

Mayor Elinor Carbone told the assembled group that the city of Torrington is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the Connecticut Education Association Wednesday, contesting whether Gov. Dannel P. Malloy had the power to cut Education Cost Sharing funding under the executive order budget implemented in August.

It isn't fun. I don't want to sue the state. We should be partners in education. We should not be having to do this, but I have an obligation to protect our taxpayers, protect our students, and protect the families, said Carbone. "\This whole Northwest Corner, were all struggling to get young people to stay here, to raise their families here, and what's happening in this corner is sheer devastation.

Torrington could lose $20 million in ECS funding over last year under the executive order budget - a loss the community cannot handle, Carbone said.

The city would have been named an Alliance District if the budget was passed in typical fashion, allowing it access to further funding, but instead was faced with the loss - which would represent a 12 mill increase in the tax rate, all told.

Carbone said Realtors are reporting that people want to put their properties on the market as the impasse at the state level had continued.

This is the gift that just keeps on giving, and I'm tired of it, said Carbone.

Litchfield First Selectman Leo Paul said the town was considering slowing the pace of public works projects as the uncertainty continued, and noted that the Connecticut Council of Small Towns had vowed to pursue legal action if a requirement to fund teacher pension costs was included in the budget.

Barkhamsted First Selectman Don Stein said the town had diminished planned road work in reaction to the budget.

In Harwinton, First Selectman Michael Criss said layoffs were possible because an additional $500,000 would have to be eliminated from the town budget.

Winsted Town Manager Robert Geiger said his budget had been kept largely whole, but the town was reducing expenses, such as paving projects, in preparation for a potential loss.

Other officials said they had absorbed the loss of education funding in their budget. Some voiced support for the communities in the council as a whole.

I have and will continue support my colleagues here around the table, because I think what the state is doing is wrong, said Goshen First Selectman Bob Valentine. What happens to Torrington, it directly affects Goshen and the whole region.

Washington First Selectman Mark Lyon said the community had only counted $50,000 in ECS funding as it crafted a budget, and was likely to be able to deal with the loss.

Worst case scenario, I think we're going to be able to manage that. But I sympathize and I feel the pain of those who you had big chunks of money hauled out of your income side, said Lyon.

The possibility of being require to fund teacher pension costs prompted conversation Thursday as well. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has put forward the idea in the past.

The issue remains a point of contention and discussion in budget deliberations, Mike Muszynski of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities said.

The possibility represented a potential a transfer of expenses from the state to municipalities, Valentine said.

Let's make no mistake about all of this and what theyre doing - what it is, very simply, is to take it from the state of Connecticut's balance sheet, and put it onto our balance sheet, said Valentine. It doesn't solve anything at all.

The governor and the legislature don't want to do the hard work that we do every single day in trying to balance a budget, and trying to figure out some programs that they might have to cut, unfortunately, said Paul. They don't want to do that hard work, so they're passing that on to us.

State legislators continue to discuss the budget, and a vote could be made next week, Muszynski said.
TORRINGTON - Joseph Barbieri was honored Thursday for his years of good work and service in the city by being named the 2017 Italian Mayor of the Day and Lord Mayor for Columbus Day.

The event was part of Torringtons annual festivities celebrating Columbus Day and the citys Italian citizens, who founded many of its neighborhoods and businesses and have integrated their culture and customs into the fabric of the community. After a wreath-laying ceremony at Columbus Square in the early morning, local and state officials and residents made their way to Coe Memorial Park to honor the Italian Mayor of the Day.

Barbieri was born in Torrington in 1933 and graduated from Torrington High School, according to the city chapter of UNICO. A veteran of the U.S. Army, he started RJB Contracting, Inc. in 1983. He is the former president of the Civitan Club and a member of UNICO, the Holy Name Society of St. Peter's Church, and the advisory board for the Center for Cancer Care.

He married Joyce Weingart in 1957 and has three sons and five grandchildren. Barbieri raises funds for the cancer center in his late wifes honor, and created a trail there in her memory.

UNICO President Brian Mattiello, Mayor Elinor Carbone, and State Rep. Michelle Cook, D-Torrington, all praised Barbieri for his life and work in Torrington during a ceremony in the Coe Memorial Park Civic Center Thursday morning.

His sense of duty as a public servant really raises the standard. We are a better town and we are a better people because of Joe Barbieri, said Mattiello. He never stops thinking, caring, giving, and charming.

Carbone said that Barbieri stepped in at the last moment to aid with a haunted house fundraiser, after she and other organizers had been left in the lurch.

When asked if they could hold the fundraiser behind RJB, Carbone said Barbieri provided a quick and ready answer Yes, if it's for the community, count us in.

Beyond the fact that he has this philanthropic heart, he is generous in everything that he does. He doesnt leave you guessing; he doesn't leave you hanging, said Carbone. And I will tell you that anytime that Ive ever needed anything, whether it's advice or a reminder of what I should been doing, Joe is there. And he delivers it with a smile - it may not always be good news, but it's always with a smile, and I'm grateful for that.

As we look for hope and light in all the turmoil that we have in our country, you and you what aspire to have been and become, and the leader that you have (been). And I look at the family, and you're sitting there and you're waving, said Cook. This is what we want our future generations to abide - it's about family and community and country, and you show that in a tremendous way.

Barbieri spoke briefly during as part of the event as he received proclamations from the city and the state legislature marking occasion, as well as a plaque from UNICO.

Thank you very much for everything, Mayor and Michelle and the UNICO club, and all my family and friends, said Barbieri. Thank you.

Barbieri is a man of few words in public, Carbone said. But the smile that came across his face Thursday spoke volumes, as city residents gathered to celebrate one of their own.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
farm-to-fork movements have proven they are much more than just a fad and the demand for local food is growing. According to the 2016 Restaurant Industry Forecast, 68 percent of consumers said they were more likely to dine at an establishment with local food on the menu. And thats good news for family farmers who market their food in the local and regional marketplace.

Despite the serious potential that exists in this area, many would-be food and farm entrepreneurs struggle to enter the marketplace. A lack of infrastructure, like storage, transportation and processing capacity, combined with a lack of technical links, like marketing, food safety training, and business planning, have made it difficult for many farmers to grow their business and access new customers. And as the ag economy currently experiences a downturn and some challenging economic headwinds, increasing numbers of family farmers are capitalizing on farm-to-fork programs as a way to keep their operations viable. Federal farm bill programs are working to make the costs of transitioning bearable for family farmers and mitigate the risks that come with change.

Now, its up to us to make that opportunity easier.

To keep our ag economy strong, it is imperative that we properly support a farm-to-fork network that connects local producers with consumers. Doing so would not only generate more income for producers, but would bolster our communities and give all consumers more options and access for local food. New farm bill policy should help connect these dots.

Particularly in underserved communities and in low-income families, too often fresh, local food is out of reach and expensive. Innovative federal programs that allow farmers markets and produce stands to accept food stamps are breaking down that barrier so agricultural producers reach those who need it most.

Quite simply, when it comes to farm-to-fork agriculture, we need to roll out the welcome mat to these producers, and quickly, if we hope to sustain and expand these programs.

Local food must be a priority in the 2018 Farm Bill. As the House and Senate Committees on Agriculture prepare to write new legislation, we hope that Illinois congressional delegation will share our concern for the future of family farms by catalyzing food and farm entrepreneurship.

The Illinois Stewardship Alliance is actively championing important industry reforms that will further the efforts of farmers across the state. Aside from local food programs, we also support modern policy solutions for supporting beginner farmer and rancher programs, strengthening conservation and expanding crop insurance, as they play a vital role in an economically viable, socially just and environmentally sustainable food system. We invite you to learn more about our organization at ilstewards.org.
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen is moving his country toward one-party rule, a special U.N. envoy suggested Thursday, warning that civil and political rights in Cambodia are deteriorating rapidly, with deeply worrying implications for forthcoming elections and the future of democracy in the country.



The warning by Rhona Smith, the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, came as the Interior Ministry launched legal proceedings to dissolve the key Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and is attempting to strip the party of its existing seats in parliament.



CNRP leader Kem Sokha was thrown in jail last month after being accused of treason, charges he denies and says are politically motivated. Almost half the CNRPs 55 members of parliament have left the country following the leader's arrest.



Almost all domestically-broadcast media are now under government control.



"Modern Cambodia was established as a multi-party liberal democracy, respectful and protective of human rights," she said. "Its Constitution sought to prevent a return to a single-party state. Those who drafted the Constitution were all too well aware of the consequences of one-party rule."



Cambodias constitution was formulated following a set of Paris Peace Agreements, which brought an end to decades of conflict and violence in the country 26 years ago. A pillar of the constitution was liberal democracy,



For Cambodians to engage in open and serious political debate, the opposition must be allowed to exist and to function without fear or intimidation, Smith said in a statement. Democracy is about voice and choice. These moves risk leaving many Cambodians without either."



She said any dissolution of the CNRP would affect Cambodians voice and choice at all levels of government, raising serious concerns about the representativeness of government, ahead of general elections due by July 2018.



'Rule by law'



Smith was concerned that the government was carrying out these measures under the guise of the rule of law.



For example, the legal action against the CNRP, launched in the Supreme Court last Friday, had been made possible by a series of amendments to the Law on Political Parties in March and July this year.



These created additional grounds for dissolving a party, some of which were broad and vague, she said.



Further legislative amendments tabled by Hun Sen's Cambodia Peoples Party (CPP) for discussion this week contain elaborate formulae to redistribute the seats of a dissolved party between other parties.



If these changes were applied to the current situation, it would bring into serious question the political representation of a significant portion of Cambodians, Smith said.



Rule of law is about more than the mere application of laws. All laws must respect human rights and must reflect the principles of fairness, justice and public participation. Otherwise, it becomes rule by law, not rule of law.



At present, the CNRP holds 55 seats in the National Assembly, around 5,000 councilor positions at the commune level, nearly 800 provincial/municipal level councilor positions, and 11 senator positions through the Sam Rainsy Party, which combined with the former Human Rights Party in 2012 to form the CNRP.



Weakened opposition



Plans are afoot to distribute the CNRP's seats to five political parties after its dissolution, which will invalidate nearly three million votes it had garned in the last elections. The five parties only received more than six percent of the popular vote in 2013 polls.



The spokesman for the National Assembly, Leng Peng Long, told local media outlets that the four proposed amendments to election-related laws have been forwarded to the parliament's expert committee after scrutiny by the Permanent Committee of the National Assembly.



He could not say when exactly these proposed amendments to the four election-related laws will be sent to the National Assembly floor for final debate and approval by lawmakers.



"I wish to state that should a party be dissolved, five other parties will assume its place. This means that [the National Assembly] will be transformed from two-party control to a five-party control. It will happen shortly in the future, Hun Sen said recently.



CNRP vice-president Eng Chhay Eang told RFAs Khmer Service on Wednesday that the three million Cambodians who had voted for CNRP would not stand still and allow the ruling party to do anything at will.



It is normal that when the water level has reached the level equal to our nose, one will try to grasp anything so as to save one's own life. They are trying to kill us; therefore, we cannot stand still and allow them to kill us easily," he said.



"I trust that half of our countrys population who voted for the CNRP will also not agree to this. And the international [community] will not let a dictatorial leader do anything at will which may plunge Cambodia into its dark past, Eng Chhay Eang said.



The Australian government, meanwhile, warned that any removal of the main opposition party would be a significant setback to democracy and would undermine a free, fair, and transparent national election in 2018.



"The Cambodian peoples resolute commitment to multiparty democracy was demonstrated by the high turnout and results of the June 2017 commune elections," the Australian embassy in Phnom Penh said in a statement.



Reported by RFA's Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.
China's internet censors appear to be upping their game when it comes to stopping the country's more than 730 million netizens from bypassing the Great Firewall, online activists told RFA on Thursday.



As the ruling Chinese Communist Party carries out a nationwide security clampdown ahead of its five-yearly national congress in Beijing on Oct. 18, many circumvention tools used to view content and social media on blocked overseas sites seem to be failing, they said.



According to a social media post by online free speech activist Xiucai Jianghu, many people in China are increasingly unable to access sites like Twitter and Facebook using virtual private networks, or VPNs.



"A lot of circumvention apps aren't starting up," he wrote. "It's a shame. Technology is supposed to be used to improve people's lives, yet they are using it to suppress the truth and do harm."



A Tianjin-based internet user told RFA in a recent interview that he has recently had problems using the commercial version of the Lantern circumvention tool to "scale the wall."



"I use a paid VPN service," he said. "I had just paid two years' subscription in advance, not so long ago."



"But the very next day, it cut out ... and I haven't been able to get onto it at all in the past few days ... this is even affecting overseas service-providers."



Lantern uses peer-to-peer networks to connect people in uncensored areas who share their internet connection and servers to those in censored areas.



The Tianjin internet user said many other people have reported similar problems.



"A lot of other people haven't been able to climb the wall for several days now," he said.



WeChat outages



Users posted similar complaints to the social media site WeChat, with some saying the outage had stopped them carrying out their professional and business activities.



Rights activist Zhao Wei said he has tried a number of methods in recent days, but to no avail.



"First, I was hearing that other people weren't managing to get over the Great Firewall, but I was able to do so the whole time, and get onto Twitter," Zhao said. "But then suddenly, yesterday, I couldn't scale the wall whatever I did."



"I wanted to look something up, but I couldn't get around the censors."



He added: "This is terrible; it's like they've gone totally crazy."



China Rights Observer activist Xu Qin said the authorities appear to be targeting the internet access of specific individuals in their homes, as they place rights activists and dissidents under surveillance and house arrest ahead of the 19th Party Congress.



Xu said fellow rights activist Wu Lijuan had had her home internet access cut off twice in recent days.



"She posted a photo for me to see, but it's hard for me to get online right now as well," Xu said. "My home wi-fi keeps cutting every few minutes ... and it's very hard for me to get a mobile data connection, let alone get over the Great Firewall."



Controls may continue



Xu said the authorities are taking great pains to clamp down on any form of public criticism ahead of the congress, where President Xi Jinping is expected to further shore up his personal power and prestige.



However, there are also concerns that heavy-handed internet censorship may simply remain in place after the congress is over, Xu added.



Ever-tightening online controls have prompted a boom in VPNs imported to China by returning Chinese travelers, who download and install them overseas, ready for use back home, the South China Morning Post reported recently.



The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that China's powerful Cyberspace Administration has been in talks with major internet service providers including Tencent, Sina, and the video-sharing site Youku Tudou with a view to taking a one percent government stake in the companies and further boost control over the internet and social media.



Bruce Lui, senior journalism lecturer at Hong Kong's Baptist University, said such a move would increase the role of the Chinese Communist Party in policing the internet from within, but would affect those companies' image in international markets.



"Many of these internet companies have overseas interests, but have already run into obstacles because people fear that the government might be acting behind the scenes of these companies, using them for communications or state security purposes," Lui said.



"For the government to take a stake in these companies would make that relationship even more obvious."



Reported by Yang Fan and Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin Service.Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Authorities in southwestern China's Sichuan province have prevented the defense attorney of a prominent rights activist held on state secrets charges from reading the case files, following multiple delays to his case.



Huang Qi, who founded the Tianwang rights website, was formally arrested by the state prosecution office in the provincial capital Chengdu in December 2016 on charges of "illegally supplying state secrets overseas."



Huang, 54, is being held in the police-run Mianyang Detention Center after the state prosecutor sent the case back to police for "further investigation" after finding insufficient evidence to proceed to trial, his lawyer Sui Muqing told RFA.



Now, the police investigation is complete, the case is once more with the prosecution, but lawyers have been prevented from viewing the case files, Sui said.



"The Mianyang state prosecution have refused lawyers permission on two occasions to view the files, using the same excuse in each case," Sui said. "This amounts to illegal obstruction of an attorney's viewing of the case files, and it is disgraceful."



Sui said the case itself is "extremely simple," but that the authorities aren't allowing due process in Huang's case.



The move comes amid a widening security crackdown on all forms of dissent across China, as the ruling party gears up for a five-yearly congress next week.



'Extremely worried'



Sui said Huang's 83-year-old mother Pu Wenqing, who was hospitalized in December around the time of her son's arrest, is "extremely worried" about his fate.



"She wants the lawyers to be able to view the case files as soon as possible, so we can put in a legal opinion with the relevant departments at an early stage," Sui said.



Yuan Ying, a former volunteer at Tianwang, said that another member of Huang's defense team, Li Jinglin, had booked an appointment to view the files on Thursday.



"But then the prosecution service called Li Jinglin to tell him that the procuratorate officials had traveled to Chengdu to discuss Huang Qi's case," Yuan said. "They wouldn't let Li Jinglin view the files."



"They made an excuse the last time, too," she said. "When Huang's mother heard this, she got so agitated, she started to cry."



Huang was detained and his home raided by police officers from the provincial capital Chengdu and the earthquake-hit regions of Neijiang and Mianyang.



He had already served a sentence of three years in prison from November 2011 after launching an investigation into shoddy school construction blamed for thousands of deaths during a massive 2008 earthquake.



'Picking quarrels'



Meanwhile, defense lawyers in the northern port city of Tianjin were once more denied permission to meet with prominent civil rights activist Wu Gan, known by his online nickname "The Butcher."



Wu, 43, is believed to have stood trial behind closed doors in August on charges of subversion.



But prominent rights lawyer Ge Yongxiu was denied permission to visit him in the Tianjin No. 2 Detention Center this week.



"A lot of people are worried about him," Ge said. "I knew that they would find any excuse to prevent me from meeting with him."



He said it is unclear what will happen to Wu now that he has apparently been tried, but not yet sentenced.



"I don't know exactly what they are planning to do," Ge said. "All you need to know is that any reasons they give are ridiculous."



Initially detained in the eastern province of Jiangxi in 2015 and handed a 10-day administrative sentence, Wu was later placed under criminal detention on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," "libel," and "incitement to subvert state power."



Nationwide crackdown



Wu Gan's case was transferred from the southeastern province of Fujian to Tianjin as part of a nationwide crackdown that began targeting lawyers and rights activists on July 9, 2015 with a raid on the Beijing Fengrui law firm.



He has reported suffering torture while being held under investigation in a police detention center.



Wu's initial detention came as he staged a performance protest he titled "selling my body to raise funds" in Nanchang city, Jiangxi province.



He was trying to help finance a legal defense for four men who rights campaigners say were wrongly jailed by a court in Jiangxi's Leping city in 2000 for robbery, rape, and dismembering a corpse.



A May 28 article in the state-run news agency Xinhua attacked Wu Gan for his criticism of the police killing of a man at the Qing'an railway station in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang earlier the same month.



Rights activists say Wu likely first drew the ire of the authorities when he posted online his doubts about the credibility of the governments investigation of the shooting.



Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Ng Yik-tung and Sing Man for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Authorities in northwest Chinas Xinjiang region have jailed four grandchildren of an ethnic Uyghur former imam who was once recognized by the ruling Communist Party for turning two alleged separatists in to the police, according to his son.



Qurban Barat, who spent 25 years as the imam of Hanliq Mosque, in Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefectures Qaraqash (Moyu) county, was named a Patriotic Religious Scholar in 2005 after reporting two Uyghurs who said they were organizing a separatist movement in Xinjiang, his son, Abdurahman Qurban, recently told RFAs Uyghur Service.



The two men were later sentenced to nine and 11 years in prison, and Barat received 300 yuan (U.S. $45) and a certificate of recognition from the regional government, Qurban said from his home in Puchaqchi village, but his service to the party was ignored by authorities when they convicted Barats grandchildren for religious violations.



All three have received prison sentences  because they listened to religious teachings and possessed illegal religious materials, Qurban said of his three children Abduhaber Abdurahman, 32, who was handed eight years in October 2015; and Abdulla Abdurahman, 27, and Ablimit Abdurahman, 24, who were both sentenced to six years in May.



Twenty-two year old Mehmet Abdulla Enverthe son of Qurbans sister, Saadet Qurbanwas sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison in June, also for listening to a religious sermon, he said.



Qurban, who has also received awards for his service to the party, said he tried to show the authorities his fathers certificate when they came to arrest each of the grandchildren, but I was told it doesnt affect anything.



Barat, who died in 2006, was also respected within the Uyghur community for his knowledge of Islam and having made a pilgrimage to Mecca in 2003, he said, and regularly attended religious scholar conferences in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi.



Qurban told RFA that at least three other party members in his county have children or spouses who have been sentenced to prison or placed in re-education centers for religious violations.



All Uyghurs are the same



Since Xinjiang party chief Chen Quanguo was appointed to his post in August last year, he has initiated several harsh policies targeting religious freedom in the region, where Uyghurs complain of pervasive ethnic discrimination, religious repression, and cultural suppression under Chinese rule.



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.



Ilshat Hassan, president of the exile Uyghur American Association, said Barats situation shows that even those Uyghurs who strive to obey Chinese authorities are incapable of earning their trust.



From the perspective of the Chinese government, all Uyghurs are the same, no matter how loyal some may seem, he said.



The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] simply doesnt trust any Uyghurs. It only uses them for a temporary benefit and gets rid of them in the end.



According to Hassan, the party prioritizes the removal of any Uyghurs who oppose Chinese rule in the region before targeting Uyghur moderates, who only call for the protection of Uyghur culture, language, and traditions.



But in the end, it gets rid of those faithful running dogs who thought they could count on the CCP when push comes to shove, he said.



The CCP just as mercilessly targets them, because it sees these Uyghurs as posing the same threat to its continuous hold on [Xinjiang].



Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Vietnam should immediately and unconditionally free a blogger sentenced to prison for disseminating anti-state propaganda and end the persecution of other activists targeted under the vaguely-worded criminal act, a rights group said on the one-year anniversary of her jailing.



Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynhalso known by her blogger handle Me Nam, or Mother Mushroomwas arrested on Oct. 10, 2016 while on her way to visit a fellow rights campaigner in prison and sentenced to 10 years in jail on June 29 under Article 88 of Vietnams Penal Code.



In marking the year since she was taken into custody by police, Sweden-based Civil Rights Defenders (CRD) called 38-year-old Quynhs sentence politically motivated and nothing more than persecution against her courageous defence of human rights, demanding that Vietnams government drop her conviction.



Civil Rights Defenders calls on the government of Vietnam to immediately and unconditionally release Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and to end its wider persecution of bloggers and journalists under Article 88 of the Penal Code, the group said in a statement issued Tuesday.



CRD urged Vietnam to abolish Article 88 and other sections of the countrys Penal Code that it said do not comply with the countrys human rights obligations under international law, and suggested that donor nations and trade partners pressure Hanoi to release Me Nam and all others arbitrarily detained for the peaceful exercise of their right to free expression.



Quynh has blogged about human rights abuses and corruption for more than a decade, and more recently voiced criticism over Vietnams policy towards Chinas territorial claims in the South China Sea and the governments response to a 2016 toxic waste spill by Taiwanese firm Formosa that destroyed the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Vietnamese living in four coastal provinces.



CRD noted that the online activist has been frequently targeted by authorities for her work, including through harassment, previous detentions, interrogations, and beatings.



Following her arrest, Quynh was held incommunicado until the end of June, when she was finally allowed to meet with one of her lawyers, the group said, and her familys home was repeatedly targeted by security personnel in the month preceding her trial.



The outrageousness of Qunyhs sentence is compounded by serious grounds for concern over her deteriorating health, CRD said, adding that as a prisoner of conscience, she is entitled to the right to remedy, including necessary medical attention, which Vietnam should ensure without conditions.



Health concerns



On Thursday, blogger Trinh Kim Tien, who has campaigned for redress for the death of her father in a police station in Hanoi in 2011, echoed concerns over Quynhs health, citing reports by the jailed activists mother, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan.



Every month, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynhs mother goes to the prison to see her, and on each visit she is allowed to meet Mother Mushroom for 15 minutes, Tien told RFAs Vietnamese Service.



Her mother disclosed that Mother Mushrooms health is very weakher arm and leg muscles have atrophied. But the prison is allowing her to receive medicines sent in from the family.



Tien said that she and other supporters are working to get Quynh an appeal of her sentence, but that so far the family hasnt received any word from the court.



She also called for international pressure on Vietnams government to free Quynh, saying all voices are necessary, because they would be greatly supportive to her family.



International voices are also a good thing, even if it places only a small amount of pressure on the Vietnamese government over the imprisonment of a single mom, she said.



It shows that the case has not been forgotten.



Tien's father died after being beaten by police in custody after he was stopped for not wearing a helmet while riding a motorbike, and later died in hospital.



While one policeman was found guilty of the crime and sentenced to four years in prison, Tien has called for the court to charge him with murder. New York-based Human Rights Watch has condemned the incident as an example of rampant police abuse in Vietnam.



Rights groups, the United Nations Human Rights Commission, and several governments have demanded Quynhs release since her arrest, saying the blogger was convicted on vaguely worded charges.



Communist Vietnam, where all media are state-controlled, does not tolerate dissent, and rights groups identify Article 88 as among a set of vague provisions that authorities have used to detain dozens of writers and bloggers.



Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Emily Peyman. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
A man who petitioned for 11 years over a court decision in his son's murder now faces a heavy jail term for pursuing a long-running complaint against the Chinese government, RFA has learned.



Liu Minjie, who hails from the northern province of Hebei, began pursuing a complaint after the Supreme People's Court in Beijing commuted a death penalty handed to his son's murderer to a suspended death sentence.



Liu, now 56, has spent the intervening years appealing the decision, in a bid to win justice for his son from his hometown of Dingzhou.



But now he has been detained on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," and could face a lengthy jail term for his pains, his daughter Liu Xia told RFA.



"My father has been charged with picking quarrels and stirring up trouble, which carries a penalty of [up to] five years' imprisonment," Liu Xia, who happens to share a name with the wife of late Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, said.



Fellow petitioner Cai Zhiguo, a friend of Liu's, said the case dates back to a murder that took place in Urumqi, regional capital of Xinjiang.



"When the Supreme Court came to review the death penalty, they didn't hold a public hearing."



"They found errors in the material facts of the case, and changed the verdict, which meant that the main suspect, Du Peng, didn't get the punishment he deserved," Cai said.



"Liu Minjie thought that this was because the deputy provincial governor of Hebei, Liu Jiansheng, and Du Peng, were very close friends."



"After that, the deputy head of the Hebei High People's Court, Jing Hanchao, was promoted to the Supreme People's Court, and he was protecting Du Peng," Cai said. "So there was a channel established."



The Supreme Court must review any cases in which the death penalty is handed down, in a bid to halt miscarriages of justice and limit the use of the ultimate penalty to the most serious crimes, according to recent government policy.



Liu Xia displays a photo of her father at her home in Hebei's Dingzhou city, in an undated photo. Credit: Liu Xia Deliberately targeted



Liu Xia said the authorities had deliberately targeted her father over his petitioning attempts.



"Back in August, the Dingzhou police, and a vehicle owned by the Intermediate People's Court in [nearby] Baoding were waiting for my father outside the complaints office of the Supreme Court," Liu Xia said. "My dad probably spotted the car and tried to escape."



"He didn't leave home for about a month, but when he did finally go [to Beijing again], he was detained by court police from the Supreme Court ... and he was brought back to Dingzhou," she said.



"The only evidence they could produce was that my father frequently went to the complaints window of the Supreme People's Court to express his sense of injustice," Liu Xia said. "I think they are just framing him on purpose."



She said she expects a heavy sentence amid a nationwide "stability maintenance" crackdown ahead of the ruling Chinese Communist Party's five-yearly congress on Oct. 18.



"I don't think he'll get off lightly with the 19th Party Congress about to open," she said.



Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
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For most people and businesses that owe back taxes to Virginia, now is the time to pay up.

The Virginia Department of Taxation is offering an amnesty program for delinquent taxpayers through Nov. 14. Taxpayers can pay the tax and half the interest, and the state will waive any remaining interest and all penalties.

Tax amnesty programs dont roll around often. This one is the fourth since the first program was offered in 1990. The second was in 2003 and the third in 2009.

Postcards for delinquent taxpayers started showing up last week in mailboxes, said Paige Tucker, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Taxation.

The state mailed a total of 900,000 postcards addressed to occupants in targeted ZIP codes  in areas where a high number of delinquent taxpayers reside.

Not every recipient who gets a postcard owes back taxes, since ZIP codes were the determining factor for this mailing.

While people who get the postcards may not owe back taxes, they may know someone who does, Tucker said.

However, people and businesses that received mailers last month are on the states list of delinquent taxpayers  and interest and penalties are piling up. More than 300,000 mailers  representing $725.6 million in past-due taxes and split about evenly between individuals and businesses  were sent in early September.

As of Sept. 29, weve received about 32,000 phone calls about tax amnesty, Tucker said. Were pleased with taxpayers responses so far to this opportunity to clear up the taxes they owe. From previous amnesty programs, we know that most taxpayers will wait closer to the Nov. 14 deadline to file and pay.

The program has been in effect since Sept. 13.

Virginia expects to collect $89.5 million from the amnesty program  an amount included in the 2017 Appropriations Act, which will go into the general fund, Tucker said. The tax department is embarking on a broad awareness campaign to spread the word and ensure the public that the program is legitimate.

We think it is a very good program and taxpayers that have unpaid or unfiled taxes should take advantage of the program, said Terry Barrett, a certified public accountant specializing in state and local taxes at Keiter, an accounting firm in Henrico County. It may be many years before we see such an amnesty program again.

Taxpayers who participate in the program may be able to save hundreds if not thousands of dollars in interest and penalties, depending on their situations, she said.

However, amnesty may not be the best answer for all taxpayers, Barrett said. Other alternatives may be more appropriate to the taxpayers specific situation to resolve outstanding tax liabilities with the state. We suggest taxpayers who are unsure about what to do reach out to a tax adviser for help.

Taxpayers who participate in amnesty, for example, give up their rights to file appeals or litigate for taxes or assessments paid during the amnesty period, Barrett said.

The deadline for a similar tax amnesty program offered by the city of Richmond is Monday. People owing back taxes on real estate, business personal property (excluding vehicles), business license, admission, meals and lodging have had the opportunity since Aug. 15 to pay the original tax amount owed  with all penalties and interest waived.

This is a great opportunity to get right with the city, Mayor Levar Stoney said. Richmond is the only city in the commonwealth that can offer amnesty for both penalties and interest.

The city to date has received commitments for $1 million of outstanding tax debts.

The state is offering amnesty on all taxes collected and administered by the Virginia Department of Taxation. These include income, retail sales and corporate taxes, but it could be on any of 42 state taxes, including aircraft consumer use tax, soft drink excise tax, estate and inheritance taxes, motor vehicle rental tax  and the list goes on.

Each tax type eligible for tax amnesty has specific liability periods to qualify.

If you pass up this limited-time opportunity to clear up your tax debt, the commonwealth of Virginia will add a penalty of 20 percent of the unpaid tax to any bill or delinquent period for which the full amnesty amount due has not been paid, the mailer says.

To participate, taxpayers must file tax returns with payments due for the delinquent periods and pay 100 percent of the tax due and 50 percent of the interest due. Even if they cannot pay the full amount due for each period, they can still participate in the program on a period-by-period basis, paying as much as possible to reduce potential penalties.

The total amount of taxes owed is a moving target, Tucker said. Some people appeal or contest the amount the state says they owe. Or, taxpayers often pay back taxes through a payment plan and they may go on and off the plans, depending on their financial conditions. Also, the state cant collect from delinquent taxpayers who are in bankruptcy.

Its challenging as well to collect on older bills due to people who have died or moved away without providing address changes, Tucker said.

We use our resources to collect as much of the current and past taxes that are owed, and the tax amnesty program gives eligible taxpayers a great opportunity to clear their tax debt with the benefit of half the interest and all of the penalties waived, she said.
UPDATED: 12 p.m. Oct. 12

DeAndre Harris turned himself in to the Charlottesville Police Department at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday on his unlawful wounding charge. He has been released on an unsecured bond.

The man making claims against DeAndre Harris, who was charged Monday with felony unlawful wounding in relation to a violent incident during the Aug. 12 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, is the leader of a neo-Confederate hate group, according to multiple sources.

Attorney S. Lee Merritt issued a statement on Tuesday evening asserting that Harold Ray Crews, chairman of the League of the Souths North Carolina chapter, is the complainant in the charge against Harris and has led a campaign to manipulate the Charlottesville judiciary and further victimize Harris by providing incomplete video evidence that led to a warrant being issued for Harris.

Mr. Crews was not injured in any way by DeAndre Harris, the statement reads.

On Monday night, the Charlottesville Police Department announced that the victim of the alleged attack, said to have taken place near the Market Street Parking Garage during the chaos of the violent Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12, had obtained a warrant for Harris arrest from a city magistrate. The attack is said to have preceded the beating of Harris inside the garage.

At the time, police said a city detective had verified the alleged victims story. However, a sergeant with the Charlottesville Police Department clarified Tuesday that the warrant was based solely on the alleged victims testimony and that the department only confirmed with the magistrate that they had previously heard the alleged victims evidence and created a police report.

We were just verifying that we received that information, said Sgt. Jake Via. My plan was to conduct an investigation, like we would in any other situation.

Via could not verify whether Crews was the complainant, but he did state that city police did not issue the warrant and that the alleged victim jumped the gun by obtaining the warrant ahead of a police investigation. That notion was iterated by Merritt in his statement.

Charges likely would have not been filed had the Charlottesville Police Department been allowed to follow the normal investigative procedures when an individual makes a criminal complaint, the statement reads. Instead, Mr. Crews was allowed to exploit the judicial system by bypassing CPD and presenting incomplete and misleading evidence directly to a magistrate judge who in turn issued the warrant for Mr. Harris arrest without a proper investigation.

The League of the Souths public relations chief, Brad Griffin, confirmed Tuesday night that Crews and the League were responsible for obtaining the arrest warrant after growing sick of waiting for police to act on evidence theyd been previously provided.

Crews, 48, is identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a chairman for the League of the South and the operator of the Leagues Facebook page, website and podcast. Calls to his Kernsville, North Carolina, law practice were not answered Tuesday evening.

In his statement, Merritt states that video evidence confirms Crews was not injured by Harris during their brief interaction, but instead in a later fight that was a completely separate subsequent incident not involving Mr. Harris whatsoever.

During Harris and Crews encounter, caught on video and widely shared in the aftermath of the violent rally, Harris observed Crews appearing to spear an associate with the sharpened end of a Confederate flag pole. Harris then swung a flashlight toward Crews and the flag pole but failed to make significant contact before the brief scuffle ended, Merritt writes.

Crews injuries came from a later clash between at least four white males which was also recorded on video, Merritt alleges.

In the video, you can clearly see Crews struck in the head by an object wielded by an unidentified white male causing him to fall and strike the pavement, the statement reads.

When reached, Griffin contradicted Merritts statement, saying that Harris and his associates followed members of the League to the Market Street Parking Garage and instigated the scuffle. He alleged that Harris had in fact hit Crews with a flashlight and that an unidentified white male Antifa attacked Crews sometime later.

Both Via and Merritt said that Harris, of Suffolk, had not been served the warrant as of Tuesday evening but had been in contact and cooperated with Charlottesville police. He is not considered at-large, according to Merritt.

Harris himself was attacked by a swarm of people during the chaos at the Market Street Parking Garage, and several individuals have been charged in the beating.

Last month, a judge denied bond for Alex Michael Ramos, 33, of Jackson, Georgia, who is charged in the felonious assault of Harris, who said he suffered a concussion, a broken ulna and had eight staples to close a scalp wound. He also said he had cuts across his eyebrow, a chipped tooth and abrasions on his knees and elbows.

Daniel Patrick Borden, 18, of Mason, Ohio, also is charged with malicious wounding in the Harris assault. He was arrested in the Cincinnati area on Aug. 25 and held in Ohio, initially indicating he would fight extradition. On Sept. 15, he waived extradition and was sent to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. On Sept. 21, he was denied bond.

At a hearing for Ramos in September, Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Nina Antony said Harris ran into the Market Street garage after a scuffle with white supremacists and was beaten by at least five people.

Ramoss attorney, John Joyce, said Harris had been involved in scuffles during the rally and told a judge it may have been Mr. Harris who struck the first blow in that fracas.

Ramos and Borden are due back in Charlottesville General District Court on Thursday, as is Richard Wilson Preston, a Baltimore Ku Klux Klan leader who is accused of firing a gun during the rally.
Virginia is off to a strong start with state revenues in the new fiscal year.

Revenues grew by 5.5 percent in September, the last month of the first quarter, compared with the same month in 2016.

The $95 million increase put state collections at almost $4.4 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 4.1 percent from a year ago. The annual forecast calls for revenues to grow by 2.7 percent.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe, nearing the end of a four-year term dominated by efforts to diversify the state economy in the face of federal defense spending cuts, trumpeted the results.

Virginias strong economy continues to contribute to positive revenue growth, McAuliffe said in a statement issued while the governor is on a trade mission to Japan. These numbers are a clear indicator that we are making real progress building a new Virginia economy that works for everyone, but we cant afford to let up now.

The main engine of revenue growth continues to be collection of individual income taxes withheld from paychecks, which accounts for almost two-thirds of revenue in the state general fund that pays for core government services.

Withholding collections grew 5 percent in September and 4 percent for the quarter, well ahead of the annual growth forecast of 1.8 percent. In real dollars, withholding grew by $44.2 million in September and $111 million in the quarter.

Thats our bread and butter right now, Secretary of Finance Richard D. Ric Brown said Thursday.

Brown also sees economic strength in collection of corporate income taxes, a relatively small portion of general fund revenues that grew at a whopping rate of almost 21 percent, an increase of $37.5 million for the month. In the first quarter, corporate income tax grew by almost 28 percent, or $55 million.

Its a reflection of two things  their profitability, corporate profit is up  and were not giving out the refunds, he said.

The other hopeful sign was an increase in sales tax collections of 5 percent in September, reflecting August sales as summer neared end and students prepared for school. For the quarter, sales tax collections were up $17.3 million, or 2.7 percent, just under the annual forecast of 2.8 percent.

If we had not had the refunds (in August), sales tax would be above estimate right now, Brown said.

On the flip side, recordation taxes on wills, suits, deeds and contracts were down 7.8 percent for the month and 2.3 percent for the quarter, or about $2.5 million, but those tax collections amount to just 2 percent of general fund revenues.

Estimated payments of individual income taxes  those not withheld from paychecks  are a bigger part of the revenue pie at 17 percent, and they grew by 0.6 percent in September and declined by 1.5 percent in the quarter.

But Brown said non-withholding taxes are not usually a big revenue driver until the last quarter of the fiscal year.

Were only off about $7 million, he said. You cant tell anything about that until the spring.
The Jefferson Pools, a popular bathhouse in the aptly named town of Warm Springs, was shut down Thursday after an inspection found the buildings unsafe for public use.

Rotting wood, structural deficiencies and cracks in the foundation forced officials at the Omni Homestead Resort, which owns the popular attraction, to close it until further notice.

Its in really bad shape, said Bath County building official Andy Seabolt, who recently inspected the property.

The twin bathhouses  one for men and one for women  form circles around natural springs that feed the pools of warm, bubbling water, which draw up to 20,000 visitors a year.

We couldnt have people going in and out, Seabolt said.

Lynn Swann, a spokeswoman for the Homestead, said the resort is working with historic groups and local and state officials in hopes of finding a way to bring the pools back into compliance with building requirements.

We are evaluating all options to ensure their long-term viability, she said.

The two buildings, dating back to the early 1800s, have been repaired over the years but have never undergone a major renovation that Seabolt said they need.

When you have boards that are in a hot, steamy environment, it doesnt matter if they are cypress or cedar or whatever, eventually they are just gone, Seabolt said.

Seabolt said he did not issue a formal condemnation notice for the buildings, describing their closure as an agreement between the Homestead and the Bath County Building, Planning and Zoning Department.

The octagonal, white buildings, which have holes in the roofs to allow steam to escape from mineral-rich water known for its therapeutic power, have drawn visitors from across the country for centuries, according to the Homesteads website.

Patrons pay $19 for a dip in the pools, where swimsuits are optional during designated hours.

By 2010, the bathhouses deteriorating condition led Preservation Virginia to list them among the most endangered historic sites in Virginia.

The pools are named for Thomas Jefferson, who according to the Homestead sojourned here in 1818 to spend three weeks relaxing within our Virginia mountain spa.

Soaking in the Gentlemens Pool House three times a day, Jefferson proclaimed the spring waters to be of the first merit.

Last year, the Omni announced a historic structures report on the pools and bathhouses that would be a first step in the preservation process.
CHRISTIANSBURG  Arguments over raw data behind text messages and other electronic content will delay David Edmond Eisenhauers trial in the killing of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Eisenhauer, a former Virginia Tech Student, was scheduled to begin a jury trial on Nov. 2 on charges of first-degree murder, abduction and concealing a body. But at a short motions hearing Wednesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Judge Robert Turk accepted defense attorneys request for more time to prepare.

Eisenhauer, 20, of Columbia, Md., is accused of luring Lovell from her bedroom on the night of Jan. 27, 2016. According to the prosecution, Eisenhauer stabbed Lovell to death and hid the body with help from another Tech student, Natalie Marie Keepers, 20, of Laurel, Md. Keepers is accused of helping to plan the murder as well.

Keepers is scheduled to begin a jury trial on Feb. 5 on charges of being an accessory before the fact to first-degree murder and with concealing a body.

On Wednesday, John Lichtenstein of Roanoke, one of five attorneys defending Eisenhauer, said that prosecutors have not handed over all the raw data from at least 17 phones, computers and other electronic devices that are involved in the case. He said that forensic experts will need to pore over the data to produce evidence that could help Eisenhauer.

Commonwealths Attorney Mary Pettitt objected, saying the defense already had the raw data. If there were questions, they should have been raised during the eight months that have elapsed since Eisenhauers trial was scheduled, she said.

Turk said he would use a Nov. 6 hearing  a date scheduled to be part of Eisenhauers jury trial  to decide questions about raw data and defense motions to suppress incriminating statements that Eisenhauer made to investigators. Also on Nov. 6, Turk said, he will set a new trial date for Eisenhauer.

Turk said that while he was granting the delay, the second requested by the defense, he would not agree to a third continuance unless the prosecution asked for it.

Eisenhauers attorneys last week filed a motion asking Turk to throw out incriminating statements that Eisenhauer made to investigators, saying that he was the subject of an improper arrest, and that investigators wrongly questioned him for hours after he said he wanted to stop and call an attorney.

Keepers attorneys have also filed a new motion to suppress her confession. In March, Turk ruled that investigators erred in not reading Keepers her Miranda rights earlier in their questioning and said that a portion of her interrogation could not be used as evidence.
A Spotsylvania County man successfully rescued his son who had fallen into a well Wednesday afternoon  but then needed help from firefighters getting out of the well himself.

Deputy Fire Chief Steven Cooper said the incident began shortly after 1 p.m. when a woman in the 10800 block of Post Oak Road called 911 to report that her son had fallen into the well in the front yard. Cooper said the child is about 5 years old.

The father went into the well to rescue the child, Cooper said, and by the time the first firefighters arrived about eight minutes later, the couple had the child safely out of the well.

But the father, who was in water approximately 40 feet underground, was unable to get back out. Firefighters with specialized training and equipment were called to the scene to haul the man out.

Cooper said the rescue took only about 10 minutes once the equipment was on the scene, but it took about half an hour to get the equipment and needed manpower there.

The man was conscious throughout the rescue, Cooper said, and was taken to a local hospital to be evaluated and treated for injuries that were not life-threatening. The child was fine and was not taken to the hospital.
Call it Swamp-tober.

Or maybe August-tober.

Blame a plume of air that came straight from the tropics and a stubbornly strong ridge of upper-level high pressure over the Southeast.

Once again, this sort of pattern has confined autumns chilly air to the Rockies and Plains, but that seasonable air will return to Virginia next week.

Since Sunday, mornings have been as warm as afternoons should be this time of year, and with a level of mugginess that belongs in the middle of summer.

The combination of cloudiness and water-logged air pushed overnight lows to record-mild levels but prevented any record afternoon highs.

Sunday and Monday got no cooler than 73 degrees at Richmond International Airport, which easily broke the previous daily records for warm lows on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9.

Tuesday and Wednesday also set daily records with lows at 72 degrees.

This pattern fell just short of Richmonds monthly record for warmest low, 74 degrees from Oct. 4, 1986, and Oct. 3, 2012.

For comparison, the average low falls from 51 to 49 this week, and the daily record lows are now mostly at or below freezing.

Help for the dry spell

The dew point, which rises with the amount of water vapor in the air, has hovered in the lower- to mid-70s each day since Sunday.

Simply put, the higher it is, the more muggy it feels.

Richmonds hourly dew point peaked at 77 degrees on Tuesday evening, which is higher than its ever been observed during the month of October over the past 70 years.

The previous monthly peak of 76 came as Hurricane Opal passed to our west in October 1995.

Tropical systems  or the air masses surrounding them, in this case  are usually required for extremely high dew points to visit Virginia in October.

Long after Hurricane Nates remnant showers swept from the Appalachians into the Northeast on Monday, this moisture-laden air mass provided some needed rain.

Wednesday brought 1.91 inches of rain to Richmond International Airport through 6 p.m., and most of that was from a predawn thunderstorm.

That made it the wettest day since Aug. 18, and it also set a record for Richmonds wettest Oct. 11 on record.

Climate connection

The anomalous flow of wind is the immediate cause of this late heat and humidity, but it occurs in the context of a warming climate.

Over the last several decades, weve seen our fall season warming up on average across eastern Virginia, said Jeremy Hoffman, climate scientist at the Science Museum of Virginia. Were just not seeing the same number of cold days and nights that we used to see, and now our first frosts are occurring later in the fall than at any time weve observed in the past.

We still expect to see short-term ups and downs in temperatures, but over the long term, the evidence shows that summer itself is creeping earlier into spring and later into fall.

If we assume that human emissions of heat-trapping gases continue to grow, we can expect about three fewer weeks per year with freezing nighttime temperatures, Hoffman said.

He explained that the trend for higher dew points is fueled by two factors, acting in concert: human-caused climate change, and a natural pattern called the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation, which since 2000 has been in a configuration that helps make autumn muggier in the Mid-Atlantic.

Return to normal

This weather pattern cant go on forever.

A weak cold front will push the extraordinarily muggy air offshore Thursday, but it will remain noticeably mild, cloudy and humid through the weekend.

From Thursday to Sunday, dew points will trend in the 60s instead of the 70s, which may feel like a slight improvement.

That means more balmy mornings in the lower- to mid-60s, but not quite warm enough to extend the streak of records.

Our next strong cold front will arrive sometime Monday and usher in another chance for a shower, then cooler and drier air.

By Tuesday, expect lows at or below 50 and highs near 70 under clear skies.

Another warming trend could set in late next week, but it probably wont be as extreme as what we just had.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Critics and other listeners used to call jazz "America's classical music." You don't hear that phrase much these days, but then again, jazz isn't the commercial phenomenon that it was a few decades back.

But for sure, one could put the late pianist Thelonious Monk up there with Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and other immortal composers. Monk, who redefined bebop and gave it space to breathe in, typically worked with small bands, but his melodies and harmonies gave as much to the imagination as any classical composer.

His work certainly fueled pianist John Beasley's imagination. Jazz and pop veteran Beasley shares a birthday with Monk. Tuesday was the 100th anniversary of Monk's arrival on the planet. Beasley turned 57, and the next night led his 16-piece MONK'estra onstage at Jefferson Center's Shaftman Performance Hall.

Beasley has recorded two MONK'estra albums that reimagine the bebop standards with great harmonic depth and rhythmic variation. With five saxes, four trombones and four trumpets shouting and swinging with Beasley, a bassist and a drummer, it sounded and felt like America's classical music.

The two set show in front of about 300 (yep, real jazz is definitely not the commercial phenomenon it used to be) started with "Epistrophy," a Monk and drummer Kenny Clarke number. Beasley told the crowd afterward that it was a set break song from their days at the New York spot Minton's Playhouse, where bebop was born in the early 1940s. Beasley's chart shifted tempos and grooves while horns danced in an out. Trombonist Frank Lacy and sax man Greg Tardy got their work in.

Other first set highlights included "Little Rootie Tootie," which Beasley recast from midtempo jazz to a funkier bounce, and "Skippy," where the members of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, who came up with Beasley from his last gig, in Tennessee, showed shouting power.

Beasley gave another bit of a history lesson in the second set, between the "Ugly Beauty/Pannonica" medley and "Evidence." He told the audience about the British Baroness Pannonica Rothschild de Koenigswarter, a Rothschild who came to New York and was patron to Monk, Charlie Parker and other bebop era legends. And he gave a passing hint of the arrest and jail time that Monk faced after taking a charge for his friend, pianist Bud Powell.

That episode gave birth to the song "Justice," which Monk later called "Evidence." It was a maelstrom of dueling sax and trombone, with bassist Benjamin Shepherd taking an emotional solo on his upright instrument.

Beasley closed it with a taste of his own life. The Shreveport, Louisiana, native closed the second set by turning "Blue Monk" into a New Orleans second line romp, horns blasting and drummer Kendrick Scott  who had served the Tao of tempo all night  nailing the marching snare feel.

The conductor emerged alone a minute or so later to encore with "Round Midnight." Beasley's lifetime of experience with piano and composition brought out his combination of chord voicings, harmonic diversity and universal time feel. The listener wished he would play that song all night.
CHRISTIANSBURG  Arguments over raw data behind text messages and other electronic content will delay David Edmond Eisenhauers trial in the killing of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Eisenhauer was scheduled to begin a jury trial on Nov. 2 on charges of first-degree murder, abduction and concealing a body. But at a short motions hearing Wednesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Judge Robert Turk accepted defense attorneys request for more time to prepare.

Eisenhauer, 20, of Columbia, Maryland, is one of two former Virginia Tech students accused in the disappearance of a Blacksburg middle-schooler. Prosecutors say that Lovell was lured from her bedroom window by Eisenhauer on the night of Jan. 27, 2016. According to the prosecution, Eisenhauer stabbed Lovell to death and hid the body with help from Natalie Marie Keepers, 20, of Laurel, Maryland. Keepers is accused of helping to plan the murder as well.

Keepers is scheduled to begin a jury trial on Feb. 5 on charges of being an accessory before the fact to first-degree murder and with concealing a body.

On Wednesday, John Lichtenstein of Roanoke, one of five attorneys defending Eisenhauer, said that prosecutors have not handed over all the raw data from at least 17 phones, computers and other electronic devices that are involved in the case. He said that forensic experts will need to pore over the data to produce evidence that could help Eisenhauer.

Commonwealths Attorney Mary Pettitt objected to the delay, saying the defense already had the raw data. If there were questions, they should have been raised during the eight months that have elapsed since Eisenhauers trial was scheduled, she said.

Turk said he would use a Nov. 6 hearing  a date that had been scheduled to be part of Eisenhauers jury trial  to decide questions about raw data and defense motions to suppress incriminating statements that Eisenhauer made to investigators.

Also on Nov. 6, Turk said, he will set a new trial date for Eisenhauer, probably three or four months out from that hearing.

Turk said that while he was granting the delay, the second requested by the defense, he would not agree to a third continuance unless the prosecution asked for it.

I need to get the case tried, for everybodys sake, Turk said.

Eisenhauers attorneys last week filed a motion asking Turk to throw out incriminating statements that Eisenhauer made to investigators, saying that he was the subject of an improper arrest, and that investigators wrongly questioned him for hours after he said he wanted to stop and call an attorney.

The attorneys also have asked that evidence taken from his cell phone should be thrown out because the police officer who told Eisenhauer to give the phone to her did not have a search warrant. The attorneys are trying to have statements that Eisenhauer made to jail inmates kept out of a trial as well.

Keepers attorneys have also filed a new motion to suppress her confession. In March, Turk ruled that investigators erred in not reading Keepers her Miranda rights earlier in their questioning and said that a portion of her interrogation could not be used as evidence.

But Turk that other sections of the interrogation, including parts where she detailed her involvement in Lovells death, could be presented when the case reaches trial.

In their new motion, Keepers attorneys argued that questioning during the remaining portion of the interrogation was based on statements made during the portion that Turk had barred, and therefore should be discarded as well as fruit of the poisonous tree.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no hearing has been scheduled to consider Keepers new motion ahead of her trial.
UPDATED: 12:20 p.m., Oct. 12.

DeAndre Harris turned himself in to the Charlottesville Police Department at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday on his unlawful wounding charge. He has been released on an unsecured bond.

The man making claims against DeAndre Harris, who was charged Monday with felony unlawful wounding in relation to a violent incident during the Aug. 12 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, is the leader of a neo-Confederate group, according to multiple sources.

Attorney S. Lee Merritt issued a statement on Tuesday evening asserting that Harold Ray Crews, chairman of the League of the Souths North Carolina chapter, is the complainant in the charge against Harris and has led a campaign to manipulate the Charlottesville judiciary and further victimize Harris by providing incomplete video evidence that led to a warrant being issued for Harris.

Mr. Crews was not injured in any way by DeAndre Harris, the statement reads.

On Monday night, the Charlottesville Police Department announced that the victim of the alleged attack, said to have taken place near the Market Street Parking Garage during the chaos of the violent Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12, had obtained a warrant for Harris arrest from a city magistrate. The attack is said to have preceded the beating of Harris inside the garage.

At the time, police said a city detective had verified the alleged victims story. However, a sergeant with the Charlottesville Police Department clarified Tuesday that the warrant was based solely on the alleged victims testimony and that the department only confirmed with the magistrate that they had previously heard the alleged victims evidence and created a police report.

We were just verifying that we received that information, said Sgt. Jake Via. My plan was to conduct an investigation, like we would in any other situation.

Via could not verify whether Crews was the complainant, but he did state that city police did not issue the warrant and that the alleged victim jumped the gun by obtaining the warrant ahead of a police investigation. That notion was iterated by Merritt in his statement.

Charges likely would have not been filed had the Charlottesville Police Department been allowed to follow the normal investigative procedures when an individual makes a criminal complaint, the statement reads. Instead, Mr. Crews was allowed to exploit the judicial system by bypassing CPD and presenting incomplete and misleading evidence directly to a magistrate judge who in turn issued the warrant for Mr. Harris arrest without a proper investigation.

The League of the Souths public relations chief, Brad Griffin, confirmed Tuesday night that Crews and the League were responsible for obtaining the arrest warrant after growing sick of waiting for police to act on evidence theyd been previously provided.

Crews, 48, is identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a chairman for the League of the South and the operator of the Leagues Facebook page, website and podcast. Calls to his Kernsville, North Carolina, law practice were not answered Tuesday evening.

In his statement, Merritt states that video evidence confirms Crews was not injured by Harris during their brief interaction, but instead in a later fight that was a completely separate subsequent incident not involving Mr. Harris whatsoever.

During Harris and Crews encounter, caught on video and widely shared in the aftermath of the violent rally, Harris observed Crews appearing to spear an associate with the sharpened end of a Confederate flag pole. Harris then swung a flashlight toward Crews and the flag pole but failed to make significant contact before the brief scuffle ended, Merritt writes.

Crews injuries came from a later clash between at least four white males which was also recorded on video, Merritt alleges.

In the video, you can clearly see Crews struck in the head by an object wielded by an unidentified white male causing him to fall and strike the pavement, the statement reads.

When reached, Griffin contradicted Merritts statement, saying that Harris and his associates followed members of the League to the Market Street Parking Garage and instigated the scuffle. He alleged that Harris had in fact hit Crews with a flashlight and that an unidentified white male Antifa attacked Crews sometime later.

Both Via and Merritt said that Harris, of Suffolk, had not been served the warrant as of Tuesday evening but had been in contact and cooperated with Charlottesville police. He is not considered at-large, according to Merritt.

Harris himself was attacked by a swarm of people during the chaos at the Market Street Parking Garage, and several individuals have been charged in the beating.

Last month, a judge denied bond for Alex Michael Ramos, 33, of Jackson, Georgia, who is charged in the felonious assault of Harris, who said he suffered a concussion, a broken ulna and had eight staples to close a scalp wound. He also said he had cuts across his eyebrow, a chipped tooth and abrasions on his knees and elbows.

Daniel Patrick Borden, 18, of Mason, Ohio, also is charged with malicious wounding in the Harris assault. He was arrested in the Cincinnati area on Aug. 25 and held in Ohio, initially indicating he would fight extradition. On Sept. 15, he waived extradition and was sent to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. On Sept. 21, he was denied bond.

At a hearing for Ramos in September, Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Nina Antony said Harris ran into the Market Street garage after a scuffle with white supremacists and was beaten by at least five people.

Ramoss attorney, John Joyce, said Harris had been involved in scuffles during the rally and told a judge it may have been Mr. Harris who struck the first blow in that fracas.

Ramos and Borden are due back in Charlottesville General District Court on Thursday, as is Richard Wilson Preston, a Baltimore Ku Klux Klan leader who is accused of firing a gun during the rally.

Anger over the warrant against Harris also impeded a Charlottesville Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday. Local members of Solidarity Cville and Standing Up for Racial Justice, upset over affordable housing issues and racial injustice, interrupted the meeting, which ended after about an hour in recess.
The Jefferson Pools, a popular bathhouse in the aptly named town of Warm Springs, was shut down Thursday after an inspection found the buildings unsafe for public use.

Rotting wood, structural deficiencies and cracks in the foundation forced officials at the Omni Homestead Resort, which owns the popular attraction, to close it until further notice.

Its in really bad shape, said Bath County building official Andy Seabolt, who recently inspected the property.

The twin bathhouses  one for men and one for women  form circles around natural springs that feed the pools of warm, bubbling water, which draw up to 20,000 visitors a year.

We couldnt have people going in and out, Seabolt said.

Lynn Swann, a spokeswoman for the Homestead, said the resort is working with historic groups and local and state officials in hopes of finding a way to bring the pools back into compliance with building requirements.

We are evaluating all options to ensure their long-term viability, she said.

The two buildings, dating back to the early 1800s, have been repaired over the years but have never undergone a major renovation that Seabolt said they need.

When you have boards that are in a hot, steamy environment, it doesnt matter if they are cypress or cedar or whatever, eventually they are just gone, Seabolt said.

Seabolt said he did not issue a formal condemnation notice for the buildings, describing their closure as an agreement between the Homestead and the Bath County Building, Planning and Zoning Department.

The octagonal, white buildings, which have holes in the roofs to allow steam to escape from mineral-rich water known for its therapeutic power, have drawn visitors from across the country for centuries, according to the Homesteads website.

Patrons pay $19 for a dip in the pools, where swimsuits are optional during designated hours.

By 2010, the bathhouses deteriorating condition led Preservation Virginia to list them among the most endangered historic sites in Virginia.

The pools are named for Thomas Jefferson, who according to the Homestead sojourned here in 1818 to spend three weeks relaxing within our Virginia mountain spa.

Soaking in the Gentlemens Pool House three times a day, Jefferson proclaimed the spring waters to be of the first merit.

Last year, the Omni announced a historic structures report on the pools and bathhouses that would be a first step in the preservation process.

Swann said there is currently neither an estimate on how much it would cost to restore the buildings, nor an estimate on how long the work would take.
A third person has been arrested in the beating of a black man at the Aug. 12 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, authorities said Wednesday.

Jacob Scott Goodwin, 22, of Ward, Ark., was arrested Tuesday night on a warrant from Charlottesville police by U.S. marshals near his hometown, according to Lt. Matthew Edwards, spokesman for the Lonoke County Sheriffs Office in Arkansas.

Charlottesville police said Goodwin is charged with malicious wounding in the Aug. 12 beating. He is awaiting extradition to Virginia, Edwards said.

Video of the rally shows DeAndre Harris, 20, being beaten by several men at a parking garage near the rally.

Harris attorney, Lee Merritt, said Harris was left with a concussion, abrasions and contusions across his body, as well as a knee injury, a fractured wrist and a head laceration that required staples after the clash.

Two men were charged with malicious wounding in September in the attack against Harris. Both are being held without bond.

On Monday, a magistrate in Charlottesville issued a warrant charging Harris with unlawful wounding in the violence at the parking garage.
Nick Mastronardi, Polco's CEO, is an economist who formerly taught at the Air Force Academy in Colorado.
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October 5, 2017 Kenneth Everett Michael, Sr., 77, of Callaway Va., was called by the Creator to the drum circle of our ancestors on Thursday, October 5, 2017. He was a retired manager for the Gate Store on Walnut Ave. in Roanoke, Va. He touched many lives in the community during that time. He served in the United States Army and was an avid outdoorsman, musician, and mentor. His insight and wisdom will carry on for generations. The mountain has lost some of its thunder. A celebration of his life will take place at noon on Saturday, October 14, 2017 at Monte Vista Acres, 1576 Wades Gap Rd. Callaway, Va. 24067. Arrangements by Simpson Funeral Home, 540-366-0707.
What would it cost to enact a Marshall Plan for rural Virginia?

Del. Will Morefield, R-Tazewell County, thinks he knows one possible answer: Not a cent.

How can that be? Were seeing an unexpected  but very welcome  flurry of attention to the economic plight of rural Virginia in general, and the Southwest Virginia portion of Appalachia in particular.

Oddly, President Trump  who ran up historic margins in the region  has shown no interest whatsoever. On the contrary, his budget proposes to eliminate the very agencies that fund infrastructure and various economic development projects in the region, starting with the Appalachian Regional Commission. Thats not the kind of agenda that will make Appalachia great again.

Other politicians, though, have stepped forward with creative solutions of their own.

In Washington, four senators  two Republicans and two Democrats, including Virginias Mark Warner  have sponsored a study on Appalachia that suggests a lot of ways Washington could tweak federal laws to encourage investment in the region. One of Warners favorites: For American companies with lots of cash parked overseas to avoid U.S. tax laws, give them a tax break if they re-invest some of that in economically-distressed areas.

In Virginia, the Democratic candidate for governor, Ralph Northam, has proposed waiving certain taxes for start-ups in rural areas. Strangely, he hasnt spent much time actually talking about that idea, but its there nonetheless.

And then theres Morefield, who earlier this year advanced what is easily the boldest plan of all: He proposed to exempting people and businesses in the states poorest localities from the state income tax for 10 years as a way to encourage investment there.

His eye was on Southwest Virginia  his district covers Bland County, Tazewell County, Buchanan County and Russell County. However, he pointed out whatever criteria are used to determine economic distress would likely include some localities in Southside, as well. Hold that thought; well come back to it.

At the time, we called Morefields bill the kind of big idea that reflects the urgency of the situation. Its also not the kind of idea likely to get through the General Assembly.

The Republicans in the legislature may like tax cuts in theory, but they also like the states AAA bond rating  and Standard & Poors already frets that Virginia doesnt have enough money in its rainy day fund. A plan to reduce state revenues may be a good conversation starter, but is likely a political non-starter in Richmond. (Thats also a reason why the various proposals by both Northam and Republican gubernatorial Ed Gillespie to cut taxes may not happen, either.)

Morefield, though, wants to do more than start a conversation. He wants to fix a problem. So now hes back with a revised plan that wouldnt cost the state a penny. How can that be?

His new bill would affect only out-of-state companies that invest at least $5 million or create 50 jobs in certain economically-distressed parts of the state. Those companies  and their employees  would be exempt from the states income tax for 10 years. The theory is those companies arent here now, so the state wouldnt be forgoing any existing revenue. However, the prospect of a tax break might help encourage businesses to locate in parts of the state in desperate need of jobs.

Were accustomed to tax breaks for companies; the interesting thing about Morefields bill is that hed extend that income tax waiver to the employees.

Morefields reasoning goes like this:

First, many companies figure out ways to reduce their tax liability anyway, so a tax break just for the company may not mean very much.

Second, the recent report by the GO Virginia economic development council for Southwest Virginia called attention to how the regions labor pool is shrinking. Southwest Virginias problem isnt just that its losing jobs, its losing people, which means its becoming harder to attract new industries. Who wants to go somewhere that you may not be able to find enough workers because people are leaving?

Furthermore, the region has a deficit of skilled talent. Morefield hopes the prospect of a 10-year break from the state income tax would serve as a good recruitment tool for companies. That might persuade them to locate in the region, and might also bring in new people to help offset the regions population declines.

Is it unfair that workers at Company X would get a 10-year break on their income taxes while workers at Company Y and Company Z dont? Thats just inherent, Morefield says. One business may be able to provide an incentive that another may not. His real pole star is this: Lets start thinking creatively. Lets stop the blame game.

Not surprisingly, there are lots of tricky details here. His bill is written so that if an existing company expands at the specified level  hiring 50 new workers  then not only would those new workers get a tax break, so would all the existing workers. At that point, the bill wouldnt be revenue-neutral, but Morefield says there arent many companies big enough to qualify for the break, so its not like the state would be forfeiting a lot of revenue.

His new bill is also written to specifically bring in some Southside localities that mirror Southwest either in poverty levels, unemployment rates, or rate of population decline. Specifically, the bill would apply to 12 localities in Southwest  the counties of Bland, Buchanan, Dickenson, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Wise, and the cities of Galax and Norton  and five localities in Southside  the counties of Henry, Halifax, Pittsylvania, and the cities of Danville and Martinsville.

Thats also how you build coalitions. Already, Del. James Edmunds, R-Halifax County, has signed on as a co-sponsor. Morefield says hes quite open to adding other localities or making other tweaks to the bill. The point is, he says, its time to stop talking about the economy of the states two poorest regions and to start doing something about it.

Lets do something thats never been done before, Morefield says.

We agree.
Keep our familia together reads the sign of one young protester at the Day Without Latinos and Immigrants in February 2016 in Madison. That event protested a bill that would ban sanctuary cities. There was a public hearing for a similar bill at the Capitol on Thursday.
The Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) - a DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) platform - has announced that former UK Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron is to speak at the two-day Dubai Diamond Conference 2017 (DDC) under the theme 'Destination Next  Shaping the future of an interconnected marketplace.

Cameron, currently also on the global board of advisers for the Council on Foreign Relations, will address international leaders of the diamond industry ranging from African Ministers of Mines to traders, financiers and world-renowned jewellers.

The conference will be held on October 16-17; it brings together international leaders of the diamond industry. It connects companies and governments in producing and consuming countries to build relationships and highlight the pivotal role that Dubai plays in the global diamond trade.

The two-day programme will enable discussions and debate with a focus on stimulating innovation and growth to shape a sustainable future of trade for all.




Rapaport said it has been selected by the government of Sierra Leone as the marketing and sales agent of the 709 carat diamond, which was discovered by an artisanal miner last March in the village of Koryardu.

The group said in a statement that more than 50 percent of the stones sales value would directly benefit the community where the diamond was discovered and the people of Sierra Leone.

We call on the worldwide diamond industry to bid generously for the Peace Diamond as it will bring vital infrastructure and benefit to thousands of Sierra Leones artisanal diggers, said Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma.

He said the government was committed to ensuring a transparent and competitive auction process that would ensure fair market value for Sierra Leones diamonds.

The owner of the diamond, Pastor Emmanuel Momoh also said that the stone would greatly improve the lives of our people.

This diamond represents our hope for a better future as the resources of Sierra Leone fund growth, development and jobs, he said.

Meanwhile, Rapaport chairperson Martin Rapaport said he believed in the positive energy of the Peace Diamond and the great good it would do for the people of Sierra Leone.

The lucky buyers of the Peace Diamond and the resultant polished Peace Diamonds can take pride in knowing that they have created a better life for tens of thousands of people, he said.

This is a diamond that makes the world a better place. This is a diamond with spiritual sparkle.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




Zimbabwe said it is stockpiling diamonds mined in Marange as their evaluation system had been compromised and it will enlist the help of Botswana to evaluate the stones.

Mines minister Walter Chidhakwa could not explain what he meant by compromised when he addressed parliament.

Newsday quoted the minister as saying that the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) had stockpiled 1,3 million carats over the last few months.

We are already higher than last year, when most of the court cases were there. We just have not been selling, Chidhakwa said.

We have been mining and cleaning. The reason we have not been selling is because our systems for evaluation had been compromised.

We have had to ask the Tswanas to come and they are coming in next week to assist us with the valuation of those diamonds and after that, we will now have a new system.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwean government said that teams of auditors tasked to trace the whereabouts of $13 billion diamond proceeds are finding it difficult to get relevant information to facilitate the investigations.

President Robert Mugabe said last year that the treasury only received $2 billion since 2006 from the $15 billion realised from diamond mining in Marange.

Harare then engaged private audit firms to conduct the investigations after Auditor-General Mildred Chiris Office recused itself, citing lack of resources.

There have been three teams (of auditors) from three companies that we appointed and, as a result, they have been working and the last report that we got was that they were having difficulties with accessing information, Chidakwa said.

The contracted companies would not have unfettered access to information that was required because the companies, which they wanted to do forensic audits on were in fact before the courts.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




Canadian stocks may struggle Thursday, and are poised to trim recent gains amid a drop in crude oil prices.

The Canadian market has been grinding out gradually gains on the way back toward record highs, but signs point to some profit taking this morning. However, buoyant gold prices may support precious metals stocks for a second day.

Yesterday, the TSX Composite Index added 30.04 points to 15,800. That's about 140 points from a new record high.

Looking at this morning's corporate news, Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) says it produced 1.24 million ounces of gold in the quarter ended Sept 30, less than the 1.38 million ounces produced a year earlier.

BlackBerry (BB.TO) ended its patent dispute with BLU and signed a license deal with the Florida company.

WestJet (WJA.TO) said it load factor rose last month.

Metro (MRU.TO) is selling off most of its stake in Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. to help fund the purchase of pharmacy chain Jean Coutu.

Jean Coutu (PJC.A.TO) said Revenues increased by 6.1% to $744.3 million for the second quarter, and net profit per share amounted to $0.26.

Crude oil futures were lower Thursday after an industry report showed U.S. oil inventories unexpectedly climbed last week.

WTI light sweet crude oil was down 72 cents at $50.58 a barrel.

U.S. crude oil stocks rose 3.097 million barrels at the end of last week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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The Flambeau open pit copper mine is viewed in Ladysmith in September 1996. Four years after relaxing the state's iron mining laws, Wisconsin Republicans are pushing to lift a moratorium on copper and gold mining.,
Acting Prime Minister, Papaliitele Niko Lee Hang, has hailed the bravery of cancer survivor, Manamea Apelu Tuiletufuga Saaga Schwalger.

He has described her as a courageous fighter and a surviving breast cancer patient who is revered as a catalyst in raising public awareness against the dreaded disease.

The compliment from the Acting Prime Minister honours Manameas leading role in the Samoa Cancer Societys Pinktober campaign to encourage women to seek medical checks for early detection of breast cancer.

Manamea was among hundreds of people who marched on Beach Road yesterday for Pinktober.

In addressing the crowd, Papalii said: I would like to read part of a letter to the editor published in local daily and penned by Manamea Apelu Tuiletufuga Saaga Schwalger.

She needs no introduction as we all know her as a courageous fighter and surviving breast cancer patient who is revered as a catalyst in raising public awareness of the dreaded disease.

She wrote; I wont lose faith, and speaking of which, I would like to say, being a daughter of Samoa, I was raised to fully understand that everything begins and ends with God.

My late grandmother Taupatupatu Toomalatai Tuiletufuga Saaga who died of breast cancer puts a whole new meaning of putting the fear of God into you - but I digress.

After all, this country is founded on God and I do know that God is the ultimate doctor. Absolutely.

Manameas conviction as a role model through the Cancer Societys breast cancer prevention message through early detection is the key is commendable.

Its an understatement to assume that Manameas bravery serves a leading example.

As our Acting Prime Minister has stressed our people must heed Manameas pleas and the Samoan Cancer Society complimented by our Health Sector early prevention is through early detection.

Ironically, Manamea and the Samoa Cancer Societys Pintobers call for Early detection is the key, is not in vain.

Reiterated Acting Prime Minister Papaliitele from the podium;Government continues to search for latest treatment available for our cancer patients.

For instance your government is looking at a permanent cost effective arrangement for our cancer patients to receive the latest state of the art treatments available in India.

As your Acting Prime Minister I encourage citizens, government agencies, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and all other interested groups to join in activities that will increase awareness of what Samoans can do to prevent breast cancer.

I will fail in my duties if I do not commend the Samoa Cancer Society, her stakeholders and supporters for this patriotic initiative. And rest assured government is not sitting on its laurels and we hear and appreciate your cries, and concerns.

Its about saving lives.

Throughout this month, the Samoa Cancer Society will be hosting a number of events to highlight their Pinktober message, Early Detection is the Key.
The writing was on the wall in 2012 that Samoa will host the Pacific and Global Summit now taking place at the T.A.T.T.E. Conference room this week.

And in the centre of it all was, Tilafono David Hunter, Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

At the time Tilafono was wearing a different hat as Chief Executive for the Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa (S.R.O.S.).

It was at a time where S.R.O.S. had just successfully developed the gluten free breadfruit flour and on the hunt for investors and sustainable export markets.

The target was the lucrative U.S. markets using American Samoa as a gateway to the United States.

And following the 2 Samoa Ulu Summit that year, a pact was inked for the 2 Samoas to collaborate in setting a pathway for Samoas breadfruit as an added value by product for exports.

In 2016, as C.E.O. for Agriculture and Fisheries Tilafono with his former Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi attended the Ulu Summit in Hawaii. And as predicted, Samoas bid to bring the Pacific and Global Breadfruit Summit to Apia was endorse unanimously.

Now that experts from the Pacific and around the world are congregating in Apia, Tilafono is optimistic that the three day meeting will produce positive results.

He is also mindful that the summit is twofold.

One, with over a hundred delegates attending the 2017 Pacific & Global Breadfruit Summit on the theme of Home of the Maafala it translates to fresh money injected into the economy as tourism revenues.

And secondly, if Samoas breadfruit gluten free flour does get off the ground and secure lucrative market, that spells money for the ulu growers, as well as our Gross Domestic Product and Foreign Reserves supported by research which found that the world market for gluten free flour products is in the multi-billion dollar neighborhood.

Tilafono is also mindful that for Samoa to realise the full potential of commercialising gluten free breadfruit flour, its needs support from its neighbours.

Samoas biggest obstacle is supplies as we dont have the volume to sustain demand from our export outlets.

But with the Pacific and Global Summit in Apia, the Chief Executive is optimistic that a regional approach will be considered and adopted.

Tilafono was previously with the University of the South Pacific (U.S.P.) Alafua campus as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Agriculture and Food Technology. And he served as the Acting Head of School from Jan 2006  Dec 2009.

He has a comprehensive background and wealth of experience in agriculture and related research and allied subject areas, holding an MSc (Distinction in Crop Science from Wageningen Agricultural University in Netherlands) and MAgr in Soil Science from U.S.P.

Meanwhile, this weeks meeting is attended by Scientists, business developers, investors, traditional community leaders, food technology experts, farmers and project developers. Their goal is to set a pathway for ulu to be a major player in the economies of the Pacific Island and a leading component in the islands food security.

The first symposium on breadfruit research and development was held in 2007 in Nadi, Fiji, and the meeting focused on issues such as conservation, research development and made recommendations for future projects and priorities.

In 2012, Samoa and American Samoa held their own summit that highlighted the need to join efforts to improve the use of the under-utilized breadfruit tree and focused on matters such as primary production, post-harvest and technology.

There was also talk on value added processing to produce gluten free flour and other food products with the desired outcome of establishing a breadfruit flour industry for both Samoas to tap into the U.S. market for gluten free products and other countries like Japan.

Three more international breadfruit focused meetings followed, and in 2015, the International Breadfruit Conference and Commercializing Breadfruit Food & Security meeting was held in Trinidad and Tobago.

The 2016 summit was held in Hawaii where Samoa was chosen to host the current summit.

The summit will be on for three days and among the experts from around the world presenting papers are Samoans such as Afamasaga Toleafoa, President of the Samoa Farmers Association; Tagaloa Eddie Wilson, President of the Samoa Association of Manufacturers and Exporters (S.A.M.E.); Papalii Grant Percival of the Natural Foods International, Asiata Dr. Satupaitea Viali, and Dr. Walter Vermullen.
The rain yesterday failed to dampen to the spirits of many who gathered at Beach Road to support the Pinktober march.

Members of Parliament, private sectors, local companies as well the Samoa College Old Pupil Association and cancer survivors marched to support the initiative.

Acting Prime Minister, Papalii Niko Lee Hang, said early detection was important because it could help stop the spread of cancer cells in the body.

Pinktober is a good reminder that early detection is the key to prevention and successful treatments not only on breast cancer but for many different diseases, Papalii said.

It is important for people to realize that early detection can save the lives of a mother, a sister, wife or a daughter."

Many decades ago I lost my younger sister to cancer, unfortunately those days our parents believed in traditional healing and they resorted to our Samoan taulaseas who gave her all different kinds of herbs."

But I believe that there is only one hope and that is God and despite the pain and the sufferings that the victims are going through God is the answer.

Papalii said it was also important to know the statistics and understand how breast cancer detection and treatment had evolved over the years.

It is also an opportunity to mourn those who we have lost, celebrate those who are survivors and educate those who are unaware, said Acting Prime Minister.

It is important to know the statistics, understand how breast cancer detection and treatment has evolved, realize that men are also affected as well as understand the sources available to learn more about it."

The realities are because of our limited resources it is a lot harder and more difficult for Samoans to battle cancer.

Papalii added the Ministry of Health was working on a National Cancer Screening Programme for various types of cancers, with breast cancer now having a mammogram ultrasound and blood test.

Early detection is absolutely possible and many more lives can be saved, he said.

There are awareness programs already in place that are facilitated by the Ministry of Health alongside partners like the Samoa Cancer Society.

And nonetheless government continues to search for latest treatment available for our cancer patients, for instance the govt. is looking at a permanent cost effective arrangement for our cancer patients to receive the latest state-of- the -art treatment available in India.

However, the fact remains that too often precious lives are interrupted or cut short by cancer.

Breast Cancer, according to the Samoa Cancer Society, is the most common cancer among Samoan women and is responsible for the majority of deaths every year.

It does not discriminate it can strike anyone regardless of who you are and we must raise awareness of these disease and its symptoms so that we can easily identify it and more effectively treat it, Papalii said.

This month as we honored those whose lives were practically cut short by breast cancer and as we stand with their families, let us arm ourselves with the best knowledge, tools and resources available to fight this devastating disease."

Regular screening and quality care are vital to improve outcomes for thousands of women and we are making strides in improving treatment."

On that note I encourage all of you to join in in all activities that will increase awareness on what Samoa can do to prevent breast cancer."

It is about saving lives, he added.
Sooalo Kuresa Sooalo has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of Samoa Ports Authority (S.P.A.).

A certified Chartered Accountant, Sooalo will begin his new role next week Monday.

He leaves behind Samoa Shipping Corporation where he was Assistant Chief Executive Officer of Finance for 15 years.

I am honored and privileged to be given the opportunity to continue to serve Samoa through the Samoa Ports Authority and humbled by the trust and confidence afforded by the Minister of Transport and Cabinet, the Chairman and the Board of S.P.A. to lead the organization," Sooalo told the Samoa Observer.

Prior to moving over to the S.S.C., Sooalo worked for the ANZ bank for 14 years.

Sooalo said its not easy leaving the Shipping Corporation, however, opportunities do not come often.

Sooalo is the current Vice President of the Samoa Institute of Accountants and is the Chairman for Samoa Quality Broadcasting Limited, TV1.

As the Chief Financial Officer for the Corporation, Sooalo was in charge of controlling and managing their financial resources.

In this job I was tasked to advice the Government and the Board on development projects after employing several analysis tools like cost-benefit analysis, trends analysis, feasibility studies, financial and economic analysis and others in order to obtain a critical success factor for any future projects.

Its not an easy job but when you have educated and committed people in your team who believes in the mission of the Corporation, nothing can go wrong."

Aside from out other mandates, I was happy to be part of ensuring our services continued and that we provided assistance for Savaii residents, where I am from, he said.

There was the delivery of essential supplies for our Savaii residents, in relation to education, and also the delivery of exports to and from Apia, moving equipment and machineries for development projects in Savaii and of course fuel supply."

The Corporation played a critical role in the drive by the Government to further develop Savaii.

The outgoing A.C.E.O. said the Corporation also had strong ties with the American Samoa Government.

This plays a vital role in maintaining cultural ties between the two Samoas and offering access to the U.S markets for Samoas exports.

The highlight of Sooalos career since he started with the Corporation in 2002 was his contribution to the generated revenue.

The success of revenue collection was a team effort and I am ecstatic that I was part of that team, he told the Samoa Observer.

Revenue rose from $10.5 million in 2002 to $29.2 million in 2016; Net Profit before taxes jumped from $310,000 to $7 million; total assets increased from $11.4 million in 2002 to $100.9 million in 2016, cash positon improved from $1.2 million to $14 million in 2016.

Son of Sooalo Taua Sepulona and Menime Ete Sooalo, Sooalo is from Paia Samauga, Lalomalava, Fusi Safotulafai, Tuanaimato and Lepea.

A devoted member of the Catholic Church, hes married to Fonomua Makerita Sooalo and they have a son.

Sooalo started his education in Samauaga Primary School before moving to Leififi Intermediate School and then to Samoa College where he graduated in 1986.

He was also a student at the National University of Samoa where he received his Bachelors degree in Commerce Accounting.

Sooalo holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of the South Pacific.
Attorney General, Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, has reinforced his Offices strong support for the fight against domestic violence in Samoa.

He has also made it clear violence of any sort is unacceptable and the perpetrators will be held accountable for their actions.

Lemalu made the point when he appeared before the Commission of Inquiry into Domestic Violence last week.

He said that while there are strong legislation and protective laws in place by the Samoa government to protect victims of domestic violence, the question is whether they are being implemented.

Domestic Violence is alive and well, and I think way back in 2012, 46% of women have experienced it, that is remarkably bad because thats half of the population of women in our country, he said.

The Attorney General said the laws have changed in 2013 to assist with the predicament.

The laws in Samoa are quite strong and obviously there have been quite a lot of reforms.

Lemalu also noted the need to continue to monitor the domestic violence statistics. He reiterated the strong protective laws put in place to protect the victims.

The implementation of protective laws such as the No Drop Policy will depend on social attitude.

The No Drop Policy states that if a person or a complainant approaches a police officer, there is an assumption in the law the complaint needs to be taken, signed and charges should be filed."

There is no position allowing the police officer to, all of the sudden, become the mediator or all of a sudden become the expert on family and domestic violence."

The fact of the matter is the person has gone out of their way to tell the Police officer I was assaulted in this way and this is my formal complaint, I didn't come here for an advice or your opinion I came here to charge this person."

That is the assumption on the No Drop Policy. Its not perfect but it was introduced into our country formally as law in 2013, informally as a policy in 2006 by the Attorney General then, who was trying to fan it along, said Lemalu.

Lemalu also expressed his personal views on modernized ways the victim can give evidence in Court without being present.

At times the complainants nervousness and control over the victim can have an influence on the day of giving evidence."

As a former prosecutor, you hope the person pleads guilty and so the victim never has to give evidence."

The complainant in my view must feel they are protected from the moment they go to the Police, to make the complaint up until the day they testify in court where the evidence is given."

The court room is a very intimidating place anyway, even for lawyers, and you can imagine domestic violence complainant. The person, who has the contextual control over you outside of the courtroom, is in the same room.

Lemalu said nowadays there were alternative methods of giving evidence.

The traditional method and from a criminal defense perspective, if you make a complaint and point your finger at the defendant, you should come and face the person that you are accusing."

You should be able to sit there and look at the person and say this is the person who did this to me, and be crossed examined by defense counsel, after giving your testimony, said Lemalu.

According to Lemalu, Samoa needs to consider the utilization of closed-circuit television also known as video surveillance or C.C.T.V.

The Attorney-General believes there is a need to look at overseas methods in terms of giving evidence.

Theres no stigma over giving evidence, as the person may not be in the court, the demeanor can be read they can still give evidence and be aggressively cross examined by the defense lawyer, while they are being observed, the Evidence Act needs to look at in terms of accountability, said Lemalu.

Yesterday, Lemalu reiterated his Offices position in a statement issued by the Press Secretary.

The message from this office is clear, domestic violence of any kind is unacceptable and those who commit it, where the evidence supports, will be prosecuted," he said.
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District's Erik Rehr, far right, gives a tour of the pump room in MMSD's Pumping Station 18 in Monona, June 24, 2015.
CAIRO (AP)  Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas reached a preliminary agreement Thursday that could return the Gaza Strip to President Mahmoud Abbas' control and ease a decade-old Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the coastal territory, but past attempts at unity have foundered on key issues that remain unresolved.

The deal was announced at a news conference in Cairo, where negotiators have been meeting, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said it was reached under "generous Egyptian auspices," without elaborating. Egypt has been eager to show progress in unity talks, and both Palestinian factions face pressure to resolve their differences.

The sides have tried, and failed, to reach reconciliation several times before, but even with such skepticism Palestinians celebrated Thursday's announcement.

"This is the dream and the ambition of every patriotic and honorable Palestinian, to reach unification," said Ramallah resident Jawad Abu Shaikha.

In Gaza, residents took to the streets to rejoice. "I hope there will be implementation on the ground for the issues agreed upon, because we are truly tired from the division and poverty," said Waed Mesameh.

A senior Palestinian official said Abbas, the leader of Fatah, might visit Gaza in the coming weeks, depending on the successful implementation of the agreement. The official spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement.

The Western-backed Abbas hasn't set foot in Gaza since 2007, when the Islamic militant Hamas, his main ideological rival, seized the territory after days of factional street battles. The Hamas takeover left Abbas in control of autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Over the past decade, each side deepened control over its territory, making it increasingly difficult to forge compromises, and repeated attempts at reconciliation failed.

Under the emerging agreement, Hamas would hand over responsibilities of governing Gaza to the West Bank-based government of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.

Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah delegation, said Abbas' Palestinian Authority would assume control of the crossing points between Gaza and Israel by Nov. 1. He said Abbas' presidential guard would assume control of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, but did not specify a timetable.

"The Rafah crossing needs some measures to improve and renovate the buildings," al-Ahmad said during the announcement of the deal.

A permanent opening of the Rafah crossing would mean an end to the crippling Israeli and Egyptian blockade imposed on Gaza after the Hamas takeover, which prevents free trade and bars the vast majority of Gaza's 2 million people from leaving the territory.

Israel, which has fought three wars with Hamas since the takeover, has been cool to the idea of Fatah partnering with Hamas, which it along with most of the West considers to be a terrorist group. It also fears that opening Gaza's borders would help Hamas expand its arsenal and rebuild its military infrastructure.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas is required to recognize Israel, cease its militant activities, release Israeli hostages it holds and abide by international agreements, demands the Islamic militant group has always rejected.

"Israel objects to a reconciliation that does not include these elements," he said in a statement. "So long as Hamas does not disarm and continues to call for the destruction of Israel, Israel sees it as responsible for all terror emanating from Gaza."

Only one of Gaza's four commercial crossings to Israel, Kerem Shalom, is currently operating. A small number of people, mainly medical patients, business people and aid workers, use the Erez crossing to enter Israel, usually bound for the West Bank.

Officials close to the talks said the sides agreed to set up committees to work out the outstanding details. In the past, such mechanisms quickly led to deadlock.

One committee would have four months to determine who among thousands of Hamas civil servants would be able to join the new government. Another committee would merge 3,000 Palestinian Authority loyalists into Gaza's Hamas-run police force.

Saleh al-Arouri, the head of the Hamas delegation in Cairo, said "we in Hamas are determined, serious and sincere this time and every time to end the division."

"We have adopted the strategy of one step at a time so that the reconciliation will succeed," he added.

Palestinian political analyst Ghassan Khatib said just reaching an agreement was "not good enough" and it was too early to judge the chances of implementation. "I don't think that they have a chance of success when it comes to security and political issues," he warned.

A major sticking point has been the Hamas military wing and its weapons, which Hamas has said are not up for discussion. Hamas officials have assured the Fatah negotiators that the military wing would maintain a low profile as part of any deal. It's not clear if this will satisfy Abbas, or if the dispute will re-emerge later on.

Various factions aim to meet next month to discuss other issues, such as holding long-overdue parliamentary and presidential elections.

Struggling with the fallout from the border blockade, Hamas has found it increasingly difficult to govern or provide basic services, such as electricity. The 82-year-old Abbas, meanwhile, might be thinking about his legacy. The political split has been a major stain on his rule, and there have been no negotiations with Israel since the peace process last collapsed in 2014.

Abbas heads the political camp that seeks to establish a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 war.

Hamas suggested in a new political manifesto earlier this year that it might consider a state in pre-1967 lines as an interim option, but also endorses an Islamic state in historic Palestine, including what is now Israel.
The Santa Fe Depot was sold Wednesday with plans announced for its possible reuse in coming years.

The 102-year-old nationally designated historic landmark at Broadway and Kettner Boulevard was bought by an unidentified local investor.

The county assessors office said the sale price was $8.65 million, based on the documentary transfer tax that was paid at the close of escrow.

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Kipp Gstettenbauer and Ryan King, brokers for Voit Real Estate Services, represented the seller, Prologis, and the buyer, listed as Santa Fe Depot LLC. Gstettenbauer the actual price was higher to cover numerous other variables.

State documents do not list the true owner but Alex Bankim Shah is listed as the agent with a Poway residential address and a North Park business address for All Property Management on El Cajon Boulevard.

Alex Shah is the son of Bankim Shah and has taken over the management business from his father, who has retired, Gstettenbauer said.

The sale is significant to the San Diego community and represents the sellers deep commitment to preserving the landmark asset, Gstettenbauer said.

He said the buyer has no immediate plans to add new uses to the two-story building.

But Heritage Architecture & Planning, headed by veteran preservation architect David Marshall as well as his associate Carmen Pauli, has been hired to complete an assessment report and recommend needed maintenance and restoration steps.

The depot continues to be leased to Amtrak for a train ticketing office and any additional changes may be some years away, Gstettenbauer said.

For the time being, he noted, the depot is surrounded by new development near the waterfront.

All these factors make the property a tremendous investment for a sophisticated property owner, he said.

The second floor, where Santa Fe Railroad employees once spent the night between shifts, is vacant and there is 10,000 square feet of space in the depot that is already zoned for retail use.

By working closely with the buyer and Heritage Architecture, we will be able to restore parts of the building that have gone unused for more than 50 years, while providing additional services in the station, expanding ridership for Amtrak and increasing the buildings historic value, Gstettenbauer said.

Voit, which will handle property management, said in the sale announcement that the depot could offer future retail, creative office and boutique hotel opportunities to the local community.

Designed in California mission and Spanish colonial style by Bakewell and Brown to coincide with the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park, the depot supplanted a nearby Victorian-style depot built in 1887.

It served both the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad with service north to Los Angeles and, until 1951, San Diego developer John Spreckels San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railroad with service south into Mexico and east to Yuma.

This is the first time in the depots history that the property has passed into private hands. Prologis, a logistics real estate company, had merged with the Santa Fe Railroads real estate arm.

In the 1970s Santa Fe contemplated tearing down the depot and replacing it with two high-rise office towers.

The Save Our Heritage Organisation as well as then-Mayor Pete Wilson fought against demolition and the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A master plan eventually was approved to redevelop the land around the depot, which so far has yielded several condominium towers by Bosa Development.

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego also acquired the depots former baggage building to the north.

As railroad researcher Bill Schneider wrote for the Pacific Southwest Railway Museums newsletter, the depot witnessed many important events and famous VIPs passing through.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived from Los Angeles in 1935. Thousands of World War II troops and workers disembarked for training and aerospace industry jobs.

Japanese-Americans boarded trains at the depot in 1942 when they were forced to relocate to internment camps.

President Harry Trumans 1948 whistle-stop tour included the depot on the itinerary.

A scene of Gregory Pecks movie, MacArthur, was filmed at the depot in 1976.

While the depot building with its tiled domes and decoration remains in place, the original forecourt was removed in the 1950s and replaced by a parking lot; it is now a plaza with a fountain.

Also gone are the storage and transfer sheds that were located west of the tracks for decades.

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roger.showley@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-1286; Twitter: @rogershowley
At the new Jackie Robinson YMCA, treadmills and exercise bikes are just waiting to be used for the first time.

They are shiny and new  no more hand-me-downs for this Southeast San Diego location, which has been home to a YMCA since 1943.

Set to reopen Oct. 28, the Jackie Robinson Y has doubled in size during a makeover that lasted 18 months and cost $23 million  in part funded by a tax credit program thats possibly on the chopping block as part of proposed federal tax reform.

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In a report released this month, Civic San Diego said it has marshaled $84.5 million in investment in San Diegos most disadvantaged neighborhoods since 2012. More tax credits worth $45 million in project value are waiting in the wings.

The vehicle is the New Markets Tax Credit program, which is expected to net Civic San Diego about $1 million in administrative fees in 2018.

It dates back to 2000 as a compromise between then-President Bill Clinton and a Republican congress to use tax credits instead of outright grants to spur investment in poor areas.

Civic San Diego officials see the program as the most successful source of alternative funding since California killed off local redevelopment agencies in 2011.

The list of projects includes:

Copley-Price YMCA in City Heights

Family Health Centers in Oak Park

Urban Corps of San Diego County  an on-site charter school for 200 students and an environmental services training program

Jackie Robinson Family YMCA in Mountain View

Momentum Learning School, a project of the County Office of Education

Thrive Public School in Linda Vista

Another 18 entities also orchestrate New Markets investments in San Diego County, as well. Including Civic San Diego, those investments were parlayed into nearly $1 billion in projects between 2003 and 2015, according New Markets Tax Credit Coalition, a lobbying group.

Without the money from the tax credit program, YMCA of San Diego County officials said it might have taken longer to build their new facilities, or the centers might have been smaller. In addition to the credits, the charity had raised private donations for its building fund.

The credits have allowed us to extend our reach, the organization said in a statement to the Union-Tribune.

But critics, including the U.S. Government Accountability Office, have said the program is enormously complex, which has sometimes led to projects getting multiple government subsidies  and some investors getting above-market returns on their money.

A study done for the U.S. Treasury Department found one investor apparently earning a 24 percent rate of return, for example.

Now President Donald Trumps tax reform effort may sweep up the New Markets program.

Released last week, the Republican framework for tax reform calls for rate cuts for corporations and individuals.

The framework doesnt mention the NMTC as such, but it envisions that most business tax credits, of which this is one, would be repealed in order to pay for the rate cuts, said Bob Rapoza, spokesman for the lobbying group.

The coalition is working Capitol Hill to permanently save the program, which right now is alive through 2019  and could either sunset then, or be repealed early to save federal coffers roughly $1 billion over two years, Rapoza said.

There is a shortage of private-sector financing in poor communities, the lobbyist said. We dont think that shortage is going to be solved by tax reform.

The details of the program are so complicated that accountants hold seminars on how it works.

For the Jackie Robinson Y, for example, about $5 million was provided by the New Markets program.

That money came from a bank that invested through Civic San Diego. The bank gets a 39 percent credit on its federal taxes, parceled out over seven years. But the 39 percent is calculated on the total cost of the project, which was $23 million.

After fees, the bank gets about a 4 percent return on its investment for seven years, according to Michael Lengyel of Civic San Diego.

The YMCA gets a low-interest loan to fund the total project cost, of which 20 percent is forgiven after seven years.

The stakes are particularly high for the San Diego region as the New Markets program teeters on the chopping block.

Since 2012, Civic San Diego has been particularly aggressive in going after these tax credits, compared with other regions of the country.

The only localized body that has attracted more is the Cleveland New Markets Investment Fund, which covers two counties in Ohio, an agency spokeswoman said.

In California, Civic San Diego has received roughly the same New Market allocation as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland combined.

Military Videos  On Now D-Day paratrooper from Coronado jumps again in France  at age 96 On Now Remembering war's fallen, one name at a time On Now In Ramona, an airplane and an aviator provide living lessons on World War II 1:43 On Now Video: Navy's newest vessel sails into San Diego and a new future in surface warfare On Now Video: U.S. Navy files homicide charges over warship collisions On Now Stopping Marine hazing On Now Video: U.S. Navy Air Crew Grounded After Creating Vulgar Sky Drawing On Now Navy says Asia Pacific ship collisions were avoidable On Now Hundreds of recruits get sick at Marine boot camp On Now Cutler Dawson Talks Navy Federal

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The California Coastal Commission gave no indication Wednesday that it will make any changes to its decision two years ago to approve storing millions of pounds of nuclear waste at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).

But after listening for two hours from people living in the shadow of the now-shuttered nuclear facility, commissioners made plans to urge federal authorities to find a solution to the countrys growing stockpile of spent nuclear fuel.

There is an urgency to this matter to accelerate the movement from the federal government to move this away from the coast, said Commissioner Mark Vargas.

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Commission Chair Dayna Bochco directed staff to look into crafting a letter to federal officials.

Nobody wants this stuff, said Commissioner Aaron Peskin of the waste.

The Coastal Commission is based in San Francisco but hosted its October meeting in Chula Vista, largely to hear residents concerns about the 3.55 million pounds of spent nuclear fuel at SONGS.

But at the same time, Coastal Commission staff members at what was called an informational briefing, reiterated the commissions unanimous vote in 2015 was the correct one. Five of the current commissioners were not on the Coastal Commission at the time of the 2015 vote.

Coastal Commission deputy chief counsel Louise Warren said the commissions hands were essentially tied, saying the federal government pre-empts states when it comes to nuclear matters.

Staff is very sympathetic to complaints from critics, Warren said, but the bottom line is the Coastal Commission does not have the authority to regulate radiological safety.

Commission staffer Joseph Street said the commission found no feasible off-site alternatives in 2015, calling the SONGS storage site superior.

Commissioner Steve Padilla said: The long-term or permanent storage of these canisters in a coastal zone really is completely unacceptable but I also understand the complexities and the constraints upon this commission, frankly, given the structure of the federal law.

Many who spoke Wednesday called for the commission to revoke  or at least amend or suspend  the 2015 permit.

There are fault lines that permeate the entire (SONGS) site, said Charles Langley, executive director of Public Watchdogs, a consumer group that has been critical of Southern California Edison, the operator of SONGS.

In August, Southern California Edison reached an out-of-court settlement with a group of citizen activists, who filed a lawsuit challenging the 2015 Coastal Commission decision.

The groups attorney, Michael Aguirre, urged commissioners to put together a subcommittee to work with his group to find another location for SONGS waste.

If something bad happens at San Onofre, there are no do-overs, Aguirre said.

Aguirre has called for moving SONGS waste to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona, saying it is a logical place because Southern California Edison is a part-owner of Palo Verde, holding a 15.8 percent stake.

However, representatives of Palo Verde have said they have no plans to accept spent fuel from SONGS.

Edison officials say they will file a formal request with Palo Verde by late November.

One potential site for SONGS waste is a proposed site in southeastern New Mexico and representatives of the project were on hand Wednesday.

John Heaton, the chairman of the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, named for the two counties backing the project, said the proposed site is located in an ideal location.

Pierre Paul Oneid, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer for Holtec International, is partnering with the New Mexico group and said the site expects to receive its license in 2020 and plans to open in 2022  2025 at the latest.

Congress and the Trump administration have made moves in recent months to restart the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository as the nations site for spent fuel.

Michael Layton, director of the Division of Spent Fuel Management for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told commissioners that process will take time.

Layton estimated the earliest the U.S. Department of Energy could receive nuclear material at Yucca Mountain in 2027, provided their are no delays.

Donna Gilmore, founder of the activist group San Onofre Safety, said her group is filing a petition to revoke the permit the Coastal Commission approved in October 2015 and reiterated her groups worries about the canisters at SONGS cracking.

Edison officials insist the canisters are safe and Layton, during a break in the meeting, said the SONGS canisters are safe  they meet our safety requirements.

Some 51 canisters at SONGS are sitting in what is called dry storage on site. Within weeks, a second storage site will begin the process of taking in another 73 canisters of spent fuel.

This story has been updated to correct the the title Michael Layton holds at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and to point out that five of the current members of the Coastal Commission were not members when the vote regarding SONGS storage in 2015 was held.

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rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewski

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El Cajon City Councilman Ben Kalasho clashed with Mayor Bill Wells on Tuesday over the use of his smartphone on the dais, and now the council is moving toward censuring Kalasho.

Council policy forbids using personal cellphones and tablets during public meetings unless in an emergency.

When the council reconvened after a closed session on Tuesday, Wells twice asked Kalasho to put his phone away and added, Were not doing this to hurt you.

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Kalasho interrupted Wells and said, You absolutely are doing it to hurt me.

When asked if there was an urgent need for him to be on his phone, Kalasho told Wells it was because of an emergency.

You have no right to tell me if Im having an emergency on my phone, Kalasho said. And so if Im having an emergency on my phone, not you or anybody else in this room could tell me to put my phone down. Do you understand?

Wells told The San Diego Union-Tribune on Wednesday that there are other troubling matters with Kalasho that affect the City Council, including a fraud lawsuit against his business. Among other allegations in the lawsuit, contestants in a beauty pageant run by Kalasho have accused him of sexual harassment. Kalasho denied the allegations in a counter-suit.

The U-T Watchdog team has also been reviewing issues with the nonprofit status of Kalashos business ventures, and potential conflicts between his business interests and council responsibilities. The councilman has waged a social media campaign against the newspaper without addressing questions.

All of those things are very disturbing to the council members, Wells said. I believe the council has come to a point where we are going to have to do something to protect the public and let them know that we in no way condone this kind of behavior.

Kalasho declined several offers to comment for this story on his cellphone use and potential censure by the council.

A censure by the City Council means as a group it will condemn Kalasho for actions deemed unacceptable to the councils standards of behavior.

The reason we made this rule about not using a phone is to protect the public, Wells said. Were doing this so the public knows were conducting city business. We should not be having secret conversations. Its not about us and our problems. This is about the public. Hes not defying me, hes defying the public.

Wells said he is checking with the city to see how to legally go about a censure and that he may add an item about that to the City Councils next agenda. The next meeting is at 3 p.m. Oct. 24

El Cajons council decided in August that only city-provided iPads can be used on the dais. Kalasho voted against the policy. The iPads are configured to eliminate all email and Internet capability, except to city of EI Cajon official sites.

Kalasho has been on his cellphone during several City Council meetings since the policy went into effect, according to Wells.

Wells told Kalasho on Tuesday that he needed to comply with the rules and said he was issuing the councilman a final warning about his phone use.

Ill ask you at the next meeting, Wells said. If youre oppositional or defiant at that point, Im going to ask the City Council to censure you.

Councilman Gary Kendrick said the public has a right to a council members full attention during a meeting.

People need to know that council members are listening to them and not being distracted being on the phone, Kendrick said. This policy applies to all of us.

Kendrick said there is concern that a council member could be violating the states open-meeting law by being on the phone during a meeting.

Theres no way to know who that council member is talking to, he added. It could be someone that is coming to speak to the council.

Kendrick said that as an elected official for more than 20 years, he had never seen public admonishment of this sort before.

I hope it will convince him to act responsibly in the public office that he holds, Kendrick said.

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karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.com
More than 300 people have signed an online petition asking the Del Mar City Council not to renew their city managers employment contract in January.

The effort to oust City Manager Scott Huth stems from a four-month investigation that led to the firing in August of head lifeguard and Community Services Director Pat Vergne, a popular, 35-year employee, and two of his subordinates who were not named.

The independent, third-party investigation uncovered nearly $200,000 in what it characterized as misused funds, falsified payroll records and the personal use of a city credit card, according to city officials. However, those allegations were widely disputed by numerous residents and some former city employees, who said the investigation was the result of a feud between Huth and Vergne.

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There are people that dont agree with the decisions Ive made, but I still have to work with those people, and well get through it, Huth said by telephone Wednesday. Vergne, also reached by phone, declined to discuss the issue.

Most of the misused funds identified by investigators were fees that Vergne and his employees waived or discounted for the use of the Powerhouse Park Community Center, often for fundraisers and special events involving friends, community leaders and popular local groups.

Some of the discounts uncovered by investigators could be explained by a reasonable person, Huth said. However, the preponderance are clearly things that nobody in the public should think  should go unquestioned.

Almost 100 examples of fees waived or discounted are included in documents from the investigation posted on the citys website. They include the waiver of a $4,500 fee for a baby shower at the Powerhouse Community Center, the waiver of a $3,500 fee for a birthday party at the center, and the waiver of a $450 fee for a picnic at the Powerhouse park. Personal expenses charged to a city credit card included womens wetsuits, swimsuits and running shoes, a waterproof camera for $329, and a 30-speed street bicycle for $1,166. The bicycle was later returned to the city, according to the investigators report.

Throughout and since the investigation, the City Council has consistently backed the city manager.

I, as an individual, support all that hes done, Mayor Terry Sinnott said Wednesday.

Last week, the council began its annual review of the city managers employment contract, an eight-step process that usually ends in early December. Huth was hired in January 2012 as an at-will employee whose contract is renewed annually. Before that, he was the public services director in Coronado.

Huths review will consider his handling of the recent investigation, which was completed by an independent agency, along with all other aspects of his performance, Sinnott said.

You cant just look at one issue, he said. Youve got to listen to everybody, people on both sides of the issue, and understand where they are coming from.

One of the leaders of the change.org petition effort is Robin Crabtree, a frequent voice on many Del Mar issues from parking meters to vacation rentals, and whose husband is an attorney who defended Vergne during the investigation.

Its a simple premise, Crabtree told the council at its Oct. 2 meeting. We feel (Huth) is not the right fit for the future of Del Mar.

She and others spoke during the time set aside for the public to address matters not on the councils agenda. The only response was from Councilman Dwight Worden, who said the city managers annual review was about to begin, and its important to know the opinion of the community.

Former Del Mar Councilwoman Gay Hugo-Martinez told the council that, while the firing of Vergne was disgusting, the petition is based on more than that one issue. She said the city manager has also mishandled other things, including the citys budget, recent street improvements and the installation of parking meters.

Hershell Price, a Del Mar resident since 1976, said the allegations against Vergne are lies and that his reputation has been wrongly ruined.

You have no empathy and heart, Price told the council. I hope he sues you for a million bucks. Huth has got to go.

No one spoke on Huths behalf at the meeting, but resident James Bud Emerson and two former City Council members  Lee Haydu and Don Mosier  submitted letters of support.

At least two previous city managers had problems with Vergne, Mosier wrote, and the city manager had no other course of action after formal complaints were filed.

philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehl
Solana Beach took another step Wednesday toward becoming the first city in San Diego County to provide its residents with a renewable alternative to electricity provided by San Diego Gas & Electric Co.

City Council members agreed to enter the second of three phases that would lead to the creation and operation of a community choice aggregation, or CCA, as early as next year through a partnership with two private companies that would oversee its maintenance and operation. Other cities would be welcome to join the partnership, they said.

This is the right move for the utility consumers of Solana Beach, said Councilman Dave Zito. It provides some real benefits to ratepayers.

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The vote was 4-1 with Councilwoman Ginger Marshall opposed, saying she had reservations about the possible costs. Most of about a dozen speakers urged approval of the partnership, which would purchase power from renewable sources and deliver it on SDG&E lines.

Delay is the currency of the oil and gas industries, said Nicole Capretz of the Climate Action Campaign. Its why were in the mess we are in today. We are witnessing climate change now.

Several other North County cities, including Carlsbad, Encinitas and Del Mar, agreed earlier this year to share the expense of a year-long regional study expected to cost about $100,000 that will look at the feasibility of forming a joint powers authority to operate a CCA. So far there are 13 CCAs in California, most in Northern California and nearly all formed since 2010.

In May, Solana Beach signed contracts with two private companies  The Energy Authority (TEA) and Calpine Energy Solutions  to set up and operate the partnership. TEA will focus on operations, while Calpines responsibility will be primarily data management. The City Council would oversee the partnership, even setting rates based on information provided by staff members

Unlike the first phase, which included no financial commitment, the second phase will cost the city $156,000 if the city chooses to discontinue the program. The second phase, expected to take six months to a year, includes setting rates, procuring power sources and implementing the plan.

SDG&E is already an industry leader in renewable energy, with 43 percent of its power coming from renewable sources  the largest share among any utility in the western United States.

philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehl
The Escondido Charitable Foundation awarded $231,016 in grants to eight area nonprofits that support youth education and development.

The eight programs funded for the upcoming 2017-18 year range from STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) classes and youth leadership projects to life skills training for teens and service learning projects.

A $21,418 grant went to Conway Elementary School to expand its STEM classrooms with educational technology through a program called Robots, Coding & Digital Interactivity. The funding will also go toward adding more after-school educational clubs at the school.

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$35,000 went to nonprofit Encuentros Leadership for its Young Emerging Latino Leaders Father/Son Project, which fosters learning, service leadership and self-esteem among Escondido Latino males in grades 6-12.

$31,574 was earmarked for Escondido Education COMPACTs Youth Leaders for Change Academy to provide service learning and leadership opportunities for youths ages 13-18.

A $27,000 grant will help grow Project Teatro Mision to promote literacy, critical thinking and collaboration among students at Mission Middle School.

A $35,000 grant supports Fred Finch Youth Centers Community Wraparound program, which creates an alternative for gang-involved youths by bringing together law enforcement, local businesses, volunteer mentors and other community members to provide positive support.

$17,024 went to Palomar Family Counseling Service for its Life Skills for Teens program.

A $29,000 grant supports San Diego Futures Foundations Girls Who Code program, which teaches basic computer coding concepts and provides information about careers in computer science from experts in the field who serve as mentors.

A $35,000 grant went to Voices for Children to train court-appointed special advocates to guide Escondido foster youths ages 16-18 in the Transitional Age Youth Program.

The funds were awarded at the Foundations 11th annual Grants Celebration in late September at which time an announcement was made that an anonymous donor contributed $1 million to the foundation for future grants.

Over the last 11 years, The Escondido Charitable Foundation, an affiliate of The San Diego Foundation, has given grants totaling more than $2 million to 68 community programs.

To join the foundation, call (619) 814-1312 or email trudy@sdfoundation.org.
Events

North Park will host its annual Taste of North Park on Saturday, with a lineup that includes more than 40 restaurants and more than 15 beer tastes. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday along 30th Street, San Diego. $20 beer-only taste; $40 food-only taste; $50 food and beer. brownpapertickets.com/event/3073025

La Jolla Shores Business Association will present its 10th annual Fall Fest on Sunday. Guests can sample fare from local restaurants, including Galaxy Taco, Osteria Romantica, Barbarella Restaurant and Bar, Shore Rider Bar, Marine Room and Piatti Italian Restaurant and Bar. Along with food, there will be family activities, including a bounce house, face painting, train rides, and music by Hullabaloo and steel drum band Island Sounds. Halloween costumes are encouraged. 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. 2100 block of Avenida de la Playa, La Jolla. $10 advance; $15 at the door. lajollashoresfallfest.com

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Puesto has launched a new kids-centric menu. Every Sunday in October, kids eat free courtesy of the taco shop. The mix and match two for $10 tacos menu includes a choice of chicken, veggie, carnitas, fried fish (La Jolla location only) and a cheese quesadilla, all served on mini flour tortillas with a side of rice, beans and mild salsa. Drink options include a choice of Pina Melon, Mango Limon and Jamaica. Finish off your meal with an ice cream taco. Headquarters, 789 W. Harbor Drive, Suite 155, San Diego and 1026 Wall Street, La Jolla. eatpuesto.com

Park 101 has added $2 Taco Twos-Day to its weekly menu options. Guests fill their tortilla with brisket, pulled pork or smoked chicken and can choose smoked green salsa, tapenade, house pickles and olives, bacon, onions or Tajin seasoning to finish off their taco creation. Pair your meal with a $2 Tecate beer or try the build-your-own michelada bar. The taco bar is available every Tuesday starting at 3 p.m. 3040 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad. park101carlsbad.com

National Pasta Day is Tuesday

Nick & Gs will offer a selection of signature dishes, including the pasta cabra (goat) cheese ravioli, smothered in garlic tomato brown butter and artichoke hearts. 6106 Paseo Delicias, Rancho Santa Fe. (858) 771-1871 or nickandgs.com

The Haven Pizzeria in Kensington will offer guests a choice of spaghetti or penne noodles, as well as gluten-free penne. Options include the pesto, made with broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes and topped with feta cheese. Add grilled chicken to your meal for an additional charge. 4051 Adams Ave., San Diego. (619) 281-1904 or thehavenpizzeria.com

Farmers Bottega in Mission Hills will serve oxtail ravioli, prepared with cherry tomatoes, caramelized onion and herbed goat cheese. Purchase $5 beers and $6 cocktails during a social hour from 4:30 to 6 p.m. 860 W. Washington St., San Diego. farmersbottega.com

Fig Tree Cafe will host a Tuesday Date Night menu. Couples can choose appetizers and an entree to share, such as the gnocchi checca (thick, small soft-dough dumplings) made with heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil. 2400 Historic Decatur Road, Suite 103, San Diego. (619) 821-2044 or figtreeeatery.com

Bellamys Restaurant will offer mushroom ravioli, made with mushrooms, Parmesan cheese and a ruby port wine sauce. 417 W. Grand Ave., Escondido. (760) 747-5000 or bellamysdining.com

Osetra Seafood & Steaks in the Gaslamp Quarter will serve the chefs classic crab linguini, made with clams, crab, mussels and julienne zucchini served in a brandy cream sauce. 904 Fifth Ave., San Diego. (619) 239-1800 or osetraseafoodandsteaks.com

Breast Cancer Awareness

Sallys Fish House & Bar will host its Dine Out for the Cure from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. today. For every $1 spent during lunch and dinner, Sallys will donate 25 percent of the proceeds to Komen San Diego. Top of the Hyatt will donate $1 for every Celebration Cosmo sold to Susan G. Komen Foundation through October. The Grand Lobby Bar will donate $1 for every glass raised and $4 for every bottle popped to One Hope Wine through October. Manchester Grand Hyatt, 1 Market Place, San Diego. (619) 232-1234.

Tidal will donate 50 percent of the proceeds from every Pretty in Pink cocktail sold to Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Barefoot Bar & Grill will donate 50 percent of the proceeds from every Pink Berry Mimosa ($10) sold to Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Through October. Paradise Point Resort & Spa, 1404 Vacation Road, San Diego. (858) 490-6363 or paradisepoint.com

Black Angus Steakhouse will donate $2 for every bottle sold of Chloe Rose to Breast Cancer Charities of America (BCCA) through October. All locations. blackangus.com

The Wine Pub will host a Bikes for Boobs after-party Sunday with wine, beer, tapas, live music, silent auction and bike and boob-inspired doughnuts from North Park-based Nomad Donuts. Proceeds benefit Breast Cancer Prevention Partners. 2907 Shelter Island Drive, Suite 108, San Diego. (619) 758-9325 or thewinepubsd.com

Openings

Jalisco Cantina has opened its doors in Oceanside. Guests are served authentic Central-Coastal Mexican specialties that pair well with the line-up of fine tequilas and uniquely developed handcrafted cocktails. Menu highlights include torta sliders, ceviche, five fresh taco selections and fresh yellowtail. 213 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside. (760) 429-1679 or thejaliscocantina.com

The Bar, Liberty Stations newest cocktail haven, opened its doors this month. Housed within Moniker General, the interior features raw-edge wooden bar stools, a communal-style group table, cafe-style seating, lounge chairs and a patio filled with potted plants and string lights. Eight signature creations showcase shaken and stirred selections, including the Moniker Margarita and Midtown Manhattan, along with 20 beers by the bottle and can, 11 red wines, 11 white varietals and sparkling wine options. Open noon to 10 p.m. daily. 2860 Sims Road, San Diego. monikergeneral.com

San Diego-based GBOD Hospitality Group has announced the opening of Havana 1920 in the Gaslamp Quarter. The Hemingway-esque concept features classic Cuban fare, created by chef Anthony Porras. Signature dishes include classic Cuban croquettes, made with ham and creamy bechamel; sandwich Cubano, made with slices of slow-roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard on Cuban bread; and ropa vieja, shredded beef cooked in tomato sauce with peppers and onion. The spirits menu, curated by beverage director and lead mixologist Ryan Andrews, includes a collection of more than 150 rums and signature cocktails. The intimate restaurant and bar is open from 5 p.m. to close. 548 Fifth Ave., San Diego. (619) 501-1919 or havana1920.com

carolina.gusman@sduniontribune.com
MAYVILLE  Negotiations with Interim Police Chief Ryan Vossekuil have been reopened after Mayville Common Council voted to reconsider his employment contract.

I hope that he comes forward with a fair proposal so we can review, Mayville Mayor Rob Boelk said in a phone interview.

At the councils meeting on Monday night, Alderperson Molly Henkel made a motion to reconsider Vossekuils contract for the police chief position. The council voted in favor of the decision unanimously.

Boelk said that discussions would continue at the councils next meeting.

Vossekuil was unavailable for comment.

Vossekuil rejected a contract offer in August in part because he was advised to do so by legal counsel. Boelk issued a news release Sept. 21 stating that Vossekuil rejected the offer to be the new chief and he did not make a counter-proposal, leading the city to reject Vossekuil as a candidate.

One of the sticking points in the contract included a 12-month probationary period. A probationary period carries the risk that Vossekuil could be more easily dismissed and thus put benefits he earned over the course of his career with the department in jeopardy.

The Daily Citizen has filed an open records request to obtain a copy of the full contract offered by the city.

The city previously had said it would move forward with its search for a chief, but residents criticized the Mayville Common Council last month and asked it to reconsider the contract it offered to Vossekuil. Boelk previously defended the probationary period, calling it standard and something that must be included in order to protect the citys best interests.

Former Police Chief Christopher MacNeill resigned March 31. He was investigated by the Watertown Police Department at the request of Boelk, whose request came after the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation served a search warrant on the city of Mayville Feb. 6. Boelk placed MacNeill on paid administrative leave Feb. 9.
The battle to save homes and whole communities from Northern Californias devastating firestorms is being fought on hillsides and canyons across wine country by an army of firefighters.

The crews are doing all they can to block the flames from advancing, a job that was made more difficult when winds picked up Wednesday. These red-flag conditions are expected to continue through at least Thursday evening.

The clock is ticking, so were giving it everything weve got, Cal Fire Division Chief Ben Nicholls said as he sliced through dry grass and stubborn roots with a blade. This isnt that sexy. Its called mop-up, and right now it is critical.

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A few miles away, on a ridgeline just north of Calistoga, a hand crew of 13 firefighters worked on a smoldering slope.

Every glowing ember is a ticking time bomb, said Stephen Warren, a Cal Fire apparatus engineer.

Commanders dispatched crews of already exhausted and sore firefighters to fan out across recently scorched mountainsides near Calistoga and Santa Rosa.

Their job was to find and extinguish hot spots laden with embers. With axes and shovels, they chopped at shrubs and turned the soil.

The winds can reignite hidden embers and send them hurtling through the air. If they land in areas not yet burned, there would be little that firefighters could do to stop them from setting off new conflagrations.

Firefighters were warned Thursday morning that critical red flag conditions remain, with strong winds, low humidity and extremely receptive fuels. Forecasted gusts of up to 40 mph are expected to ease in the afternoon, however, diminishing the risk of a runaway fire. The probability of rain in the five-day forecast remains 0%.

The latest Cal Fire maps on Thursday showed that firefighters battling the wine country blazes had created containment lines and completed bulldozer breaks at key locations.

Statewide, 30 air tankers, nearly 75 helicopters, 550 fire engines and several thousand firefighters have already been pressed into action. State officials requested more than 300 additional engines from other states and the federal government.

The massive Atlas fire in Napa and Solano counties grew to 43,000 acres, burning the eastern hills surrounding Napa, Napa County spokeswoman Nikki Lundeen said Thursday morning. The Tubbs fire, which burned much of Santa Rosa and prompted Napa County officials to evacuate the entire town of Calistoga, reached about 35,000 acres, she said. The Partrick fire has burned around 9,500 acres, and the Nuns fire has consumed about 8,400 acres.

The death toll from the fires rose to 23 late Wednesday, and Sonoma County officials have received 600 reports of missing people. Of those, 315 have been found safe.

Authorities said that with communications hobbled by downed cellphone towers and people making hasty escapes, they were hopeful that most, if not all, of the others would turn up safe.

Weve had big fires in the past, Gov. Jerry Brown said Wednesday at a briefing with state and federal fire officials. This is one of the biggest.
The deadly fires raging in Northern California have devastated thousands of acres of bucolic wine country and torched thousands of homes, but the damage isnt limited to the scorched rolling hills north of the San Francisco Bay.

Health officials say the Bay Area is experiencing the worst air quality ever recorded in many parts of the region, particularly near the fires.

The wood smoke  filled with fine particulates from the fires  has spread through the entire region, casting an uneasy and unhealthy haze over the bay.

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The choking smoke has gotten so thick that 206 flights coming in and out of San Francisco International Airport were canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday because of low visibility due to smoke  about one in 10 flights were canceled on Tuesday alone.

The National Weather Service said it was receiving reports of ash falling from the sky around the Bay Area.

It is basically like living in Beijing, said John Balmes, a professor of medicine at UC San Francisco and of Environmental Health Sciences at UC Berkeleys School of Public Health. During a telephone interview, Balmes said students were even wearing masks on the East Bay campus.

In reality, Beijing had better air quality than some parts of the Bay Area on Thursday.

For most of Thursday, Bay Area cities occupied every spot on the Environmental Protection Agencys list of the top five cities with the nations worst air quality, with Napa leading the way.

We have never had a fire like this impact so many people for such a long period of time, said Bay Area Air Quality Management District spokesman Tom Flannigan. And we have never had smoke impact the entire Bay Area like this.

The air quality in parts of Vacaville and Napa reached the "hazardous" level on the Air Quality Index levels of health concern yesterday, pic.twitter.com/IB8UD92gTd  Javier Panzar  (@jpanzar) October 12, 2017

Over the last few days, cities near the fire zone have seen the worst levels on the air quality index  which measures the kind of fine particulate pollution that can enter the body through the lungs on an index from 0 to 500.

Parts of Napa County were above 200 on Thursday  a level considered very unhealthy  according to monitoring stations maintained by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Earlier in the week, some recording stations close to the fires had recordings in the 400s  hazardous levels.

San Francisco on Thursday was sitting at 161  about 4 to 5 times EPA standards for clean air, Balmes said.

It is a far cry from the normally clean air the region usually experiences thanks to a constant sea breeze that serves as a natural air conditioner. In 2016, Napa and Sonoma County both averaged an air quality index level of 32 while San Francisco landed at 36.

Sean Raffuse, an air quality analyst at the UC Davis Crocker Nuclear Laboratory, said the smoke from the massive fires has produced as much fine particulate pollution in two days as all the states cars do in a year.

Health officials at the district put in an emergency order for 20,000 respirator masks and have begun to distribute them at fire evacuation centers in the north Bay Area, where the air quality is the worst, Flannigan said.

The air quality district is recommending that residents in counties where fires are burning take refuge in buildings with filtered air, such as public libraries and shopping malls  or leave the area entirely.

In the rest of the Bay Area, officials are advising those who can smell smoke to close their windows and set their air conditioning units to recirculate inside air.

Children, the elderly and those with respiratory conditions such as asthma, emphysema and heart disease are most affected. Balmes said even healthy people should avoid heavy exertion outside. He said the long-term health effects should be minimal for those not near actual flames and smoke sources.

Those closest to the flames could suffer smoke inhalation and face an increased risk of asthma.

Poor air quality will continue into Friday (& likely the weekend) as northerly winds persist. Loop: HRRR-smoke model #NorthBayFires #BayArea pic.twitter.com/m1lBGkoK7b  Daniel Alrick (@SFmeteorologist) October 12, 2017

One reason for the unprecedented situation is that offshore winds are blowing from the northern parts of the Bay Area, pushing the smoke south into cities, said Charles Bell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

On top of that, an inversion layer is set up around the Bay Area, meaning a layer of hot air has trapped the smoke from rising into the upper atmosphere where it could drift away, said Richard A. Minnich, a professor of earth sciences at UC Riverside.

It just stays along the ground, so the smoke is terrible, he said.

The Bay Area is stuck with these conditions at least through the weekend.

What we really need is a sea breeze to come back in, he said.
A 25-year-old man pleaded guilty Wednesday to furnishing alcohol to his underage girlfriend before she killed a Serra High School teenager in a hit-and-run collision.

Lewis Cornwell had let Jessica Medsker, 20, drink repeatedly from his glasses of beer while restaurant servers werent looking, the San Diego City Attorneys Office said.

The two then got into a car with Medsker behind the wheel. Prosecutors said she was going 65 mph when she struck Alex Funk, 16, along Santo Road in Tierrasanta on March 9. Alex was with a friend, who jumped out of the way.

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Medsker didnt stop to help and Alex died on the street. Six days later, San Diego police tracked down Medsker and arrested her.

She pleaded guilty in May to felony hit and run causing death. Medsker was sentenced to the maximum term allowed, four years in state prison.

At her sentencing hearing, her attorney said Medsker had text-messaged a friend after the collision, saying she was thinking of turning herself in. Medsker, sobbing in court as she spoke, told the judge, I let fear overshadow my empathy for the victim.

Prosecutors noted she could not be charged with drunken driving because so much time elapsed between the collision and her arrest.

The City Attorneys Office filed a misdemeanor charge of furnishing alcohol to a minor against Cornwell in August.

He changed his not-guilty plea to guilty before Superior Court Judge Peter Gallagher on Wednesday. The judge is to sentence Cornwell on Dec. 8.

Attorneys on both sides have agreed that Cornwell will spend 100 days in custody, either in jail or possibly with a monitoring device fastened to his ankle. He also is to be placed on three years probation and ordered to attend a county Medical Examiners program, Beyond the Caution Tape, about the dangers of risky behaviors.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune

Twitter: @pdrepard
A tentative settlement has been reached in a lawsuit accusing sheriffs deputies of unlawfully shooting an unarmed felon in a Vista garage, according to documents filed in San Diego federal court.

The case, filed by the family of Michael Napier, was headed to trial later this month, but a judge this week vacated the trial in light of an agreement reached between the family and the Sheriffs Department.

Details of the settlement were not yet publicly available. The familys attorney did not return a call for comment, and a county spokesman said the issue is not 100% resolved.

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The familys attorney has until Nov. 9 to file a request to the court to approve the settlement amount for Napiers son.

Napier, 33, was shot Jan. 31, 2014, inside the garage of his parents apartment. He was a gang member known by the moniker Bullet and wanted on a felony drug-related warrant. He was also a suspect in a pair of burglaries and known to carry weapons, authorities said. A social media post indicated that he was preparing to leave town, so deputies tried to track him down.

Deputies found him in the garage working on a bicycle and ordered him to put his hands up. He started to comply then quickly reached in his waistband, prompting two deputies  Brandon Boissernac and Nicholas Danza  to open fire, authorities said. Napier was hit by seven bullets.

Napier was unarmed but a folding knife and ice pick tool were found on a wall in the garage near him, according to the autopsy report. Methamphetamine and amphetamine were found in his system at the time of the shooting, according to the autopsy, and his father added in an interview that he also struggled with mental health issues.

A federal judge in July denied the countys effort to have the lawsuit dismissed.

That same month, the countys Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board reported that the deputies involved told three different versions of what happened. The accounts were not detailed in the report and the board still classified the incident as justified. The District Attorneys Office, which reviews all law enforcement shootings, also found the use of force to be reasonable.

The Sheriffs Department said at the time that it is not unusual for witnesses to have varying recollections of the same event.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
Jaime Brown, whose colleagues at San Diego High include former students she helped inspire to become educators, has been named one of five California Teachers of the Year.

Tom Torlakson called me on my cell phone to congratulate me, she said about the surprise news she received from the state public education superintendent between classes Wednesday. That was quite the phone call to receive.

The school learned about the honor toward the end of the day with an announcement from the principal.

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It was a little bit embarrassing, but it was also kind of cool because all of my students cheered, and that was fun, she said.

Brown, 39, teaches international Baccalaureate higher-level English and film studies at San Diego High School of International Studies. She has spent her entire 15-year career at the school, which she also attended as a student.

Reflecting on the honor, Brown was quick to credit others in supporting her at work and in life.

I really need to acknowledge how lucky I am to work with such amazing colleagues, she said, adding that it was difficult at first to call her former teachers by their first names when she was hired at San Diego High.

I couldnt have done this without my colleagues and parents, she said. I really love my job. I love working with my students. Its never boring. Its always rewarding.

A San Diego native, Brown was named after The Bands guitarist Jaime Robbie Robertson and has a long line of teachers in her family.

My aunt on my dads side recently brought me a scan of my great, great grandmothers teaching credential, she said. Ive had teachers in my family, and thats been a big influence.

Brown and her family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where she lived during grades 8th through 10th. She said a teachers disparaging assumptions about her ethnicity and academic abilities still motivate her in how she conducts classes.

I never wanted any student to feel the way I felt, she wrote in her application to the County Teacher of the Year recognition. Squelched. Belittled. And unfairly judged.

She was also influenced by what happened to her grandparents more than 60 years ago.

My grandparents experience of being interned during World War II as Japanese-Americans makes me especially sensitive to whether or not my students feel safe in their classrooms, homes and the world, she said.

Browns students are encouraged to discuss current events and share their voices in class.

One of my goals is to empower students to have a voice beyond the classroom, she said. Whether its standing up for themselves in personal situations or becoming activists. I want them to feel strong, intellectually and emotionally, because thats what theyre going to need in life.

In todays society, I feel like so many of us function in these little bubbles of information, she continued. A lot of information comes from sources that may not be the most truthful sources, so information literacy is an important aspect of education right now so our students can be critical thinkers and be able to make sound decisions.

The mother of a son, 9, daughter, 7 and two stepdaughters, Brown said she is a proud advocate of public education and teaching as a profession.

I feel like its a really interesting time to be a teacher, she said. Education is central to combating and navigating so much of what we need to face as a nation and society.

Brown earned a bachelor of arts in English from UC Berkeley, a teaching credential from San Diego State University and a masters degree in education from the University of San Diego.

Through her International Baccalaureate Film Studies class, she involves students in the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, coordinates a film festival of her schools student work, and has invited members of the San Diego Film Critics Society to speak to her classes.

Two of the seven California Teacher of the Year finalists also were from San Diego County. Mark Lantsberger teaches computer science at Del Norte High School in Poway Unified School District and Kathy Worley teaches drafting and design, manufacturing, guitar construction, and woodworking at West Hills High School in Grossmont Union High School District.

State Teachers of the Year are named by a selection committee that reviews applications and conducts site visits to evaluate the teachers rapport with students, classroom environment, presentation skills, and teaching methods.

The teachers are interviewed by California Department of Education officials, and the state superintendent selects the five awardees.

Only one of the five state Teachers of the Year was nominated to represent California in the National Teacher of the Year competition. That distinction went to Brian McDaniel, a band and choir teacher at Painted Hills Middle School in Palm Springs Unified School District.

The three other state teachers of the year were:

Kirsten Farrell, a sports medicine teacher at Venice High School in Los Angeles Unified School District.

Gregory Gardiner, who teaches advanced placement and special abilities environmental science and biology at Edison High School in Huntington Beach Union School District.

Erin Oxhorn-Gilpin, a 1st- and 2nd-grade teacher at Northlake Hills Elementary School in Castaic Union School District.

Jaime Yumiko Brown, an alumni of San Diego High School class of 1996 began her first teaching job at the same high school she graduated from. 15-years later the IB English teacher was recently named one of Californias teacher of the year for 2017. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Homeless Playlist  On Now San Diego hepatitis outbreak continues to grow: 481 cases On Now Homeless entrenched in booming tent city along Santa Ana River On Now San Diego mayor agreed to homeless hub, then delayed, advocates say On Now Homeless outreach in San Diego On Now Video: Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #8 On Now In poverty himself, 'Water Man Dave,' is the fearless saint of San Diego's homeless 5:41 On Now Video: Homeless living in cars find safe havens 2:21 On Now Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #7 On Now Pitching a tent plan for San Diego's homeless On Now Homeless efforts get $80M boost for various services

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939
If the county could afford $150 million to help build a new stadium for the Chargers, some politicians say it should be able to spend that same amount on the homeless and public health.

A coalition of local, state and union officials made that argument as they gathered in front of the County Administration Center Thursday to announce what they called an emergency action plan that demands funding increases in several areas from staffing to public housing.

A county supervisor immediately accused the group of playing politics with the ongoing hepatitis A outbreak crisis.

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Led by former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, the group threw down the rhetorical gauntlet again and again, accusing current leadership of being more concerned about bank balances than delivering services.

Fletcher, who is running for county supervisor next year, said the county should have stood taller when the regions hepatitis A outbreak began spreading rapidly.

It is not a time for the chief public health organization in our region to say it is not our responsibility, its a time for action, Fletcher said.

County supervisors were quick to respond with statements of their own.

Board chair Dianne Jacob fired off a one-page missive and posted it on Twitter while the news conference was still underway that accused City Hall and others of trying to score political points off this public health emergency.

This is nothing more than an attempt to shift the responsibility to the county for a homeless problem that has festered in the city for years, Jacobs statement said.

Supervisor Ron Roberts added that his proposal for a $150 million bridge loan to help the now-departed Chargers build a new stadium was part of a larger proposal that called for a $200 million contribution from the city of San Diego. Neither funding proposal was ever approved by the county board of the city council.

Perhaps the city should spend its own $200 million slated for the Chargers stadium before they or a perennial political candidate start asking others to do their job for them, Roberts statement said, making an oblique reference to Fletchers bids for San Diego mayor in 2012 and 2013.

Others in the group made the case that the county, with $747 million in unassigned cash in its general fund, according to its most recent audit, could afford to do more.

In August, state Sen. Ben Hueso convinced the legislatures Joint Committee on Legislative Audit to examine the countys staffing of public health nurses. He alleges that understaffing has created a workload that is much too high across the region.

We believe that this outbreak has something to do with the countys refusal to hire adequate staff, Hueso, D-San Diego, said at the news conference.

But Jacob bristled at the notion that the county has been handling the outbreak on the cheap.

The county has spent about $3 million to date fighting Hep A with nurses, wash stations, hygiene kits, and vaccinations for nearly 70,000 people. And it plans to spend $1.5 million a month going forward, Jacobs statement said.

She said the county already spends $300 million per year on services for homeless residents including alcohol and substance abuse treatment and mental health services.

Fletcher is running to replace Roberts who will be termed out of office in 2018. Fletcher faces, among others, former San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis in the race. In a statement issued after the news conference, Dumanis said this is not the time for finger pointing.

I will call for an after-action investigation into the local government response so that we can identify breakdowns. As Supervisor, I am committed to taking the findings of this review and developing a regional response plan for any future public health crisis, Dumanis said.

Most if not all of those at the news conference urging the county to do more are Democrats. All five supervisors are Republicans, as is Dumanis.

Several speakers during Thursdays news conference made reference to the countys funding of mental health services, which are seen as key to serving a homeless population that includes many with significant psychiatric needs.

Hueso said his research indicates that the county has more than $100 million in unspent state Mental Health Services Act funds which could be used to significantly increase the number of beds available and to hire additional case workers to work with the homeless. These proposals are included in the plan that the coalition released.

I dont know about you, but I dont pay taxes for the county just to store that money away, Hueso said. I pay taxes so that the county will provide these essential services.

That very topic was addressed just two days earlier with the board of supervisors passed a $197.5 million three-year mental health plan that would add 10 new psychiatric emergency response teams, additional funding for housing for people with mental illnesses, expansion of the Childrens Emergency Screen Unit and increased case management for older adults with serious mental illnesses.

County officials told the board that the expansion adds $15 million to previous spending levels, but Fletcher said he did not think the improvements go far enough.

Theyre talking about a three-year plan that will see a $5 million increase each year for three years. Theyre (nominally) changing what the status quo was already going to do. If that was working, we wouldnt be in the situation were in today, Fletcher said.

County spokesman Craig Sturak said in an email sent Thursday evening that the countys mental health services unspent balance is $123. 7 million with another $42 million set aside as a reserve. He said the new mental health plan approved by the supervisors, plus other expenses, should make a significant dent in that pile of cash.

By the end of this current fiscal year, it is anticipated that our unspent balance will be reduced by approximately 40 percent from fiscal year 2014-2015 levels, Sturak wrote.

San Diego City Council members Barbara Bry and Chris Ward, who also added their names to the list of officials who endorsed the Chargers approach, have asked the county to commit to case management, nursing and other services at the citys new transitional camping area and at the three temporary big-tent shelters that will be set up for the homeless this winter.

Sturak said the county already had social workers and public health nurses visit the new campsite for vaccination and to enroll residents in safety-net programs. He said the county plans to continue those services, and offer others such as psychiatric emergency response teams and behavioral health outreach workers, at the three additional tent shelters when they open.

The goal is to connect individuals at these locations to services to help them get health care, assistance and housing, Sturak said.

Meanwhile, the regions hepatitis A outbreak continues to grow with a total of 18 deaths and 490 cases announced earlier this week. The next update is due Tuesday.

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paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com

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Twitter: @paulsisson
After President Donald Trump reaffirmed a pledge to defend the United States and its allies from an attack from an increasingly bellicose North Korea, Rep. Duncan Hunter took it a step further and called for a military takeover of the rogue nation.

A conventional invasion is what youre talking, not just a preemptive strike, Hunter, an Alpine Republican, said in an interview with KGTV/10News.

Hunter has emerged as one of the most hawkish voices in Congress on North Korea, and has recently moved beyond his earlier calls for a first strike against the country to also supporting a full-scale war.

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I would support a declaration of war, if the president asked for it, Hunter said.

Hunter, a former Marine Corps artillery officer and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said North Koreas leader, Kim Jong Un, is irrational. Hunter said military intervention is necessary because of North Koreas nuclear missile program and threats to attack the United States and its allies with a nuclear warhead. He cited the precedent of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 over concerns about weapons of mass destruction.

Even conservative analysts who study security on the Korean Peninsula warn that the congressman may be underestimating the number of civilians who would likely be killed by North Korea retaliation for a preemptive strike  and the risk of getting pulled into a long-term military operation.

Eric Gomez, an analyst at the free-market Cato Institute think tank, cautioned that North Korea is likely not as hell-bent on attacking the United States as it seems. Kim Jong Un, while an oppressive leader, is rational enough to foresee that his country would be leveled if he were to attack, Gomez said.

The decision for North Korea to develop nuclear weapons is clearly a desire to make sure his regime stays alive. And I think he knows that the United States and South Korea have him dead to rights, so he has to find an alternative means to counter that, Gomez said.

Moving people out of Seoul is technically possible and something South Koreans have trained for, but it could take as long as a week to move a city that large, Gomez said. The logistics would be especially challenging in a country that is under attack with a government that has to devote attention to its own military strikes, he said.

It would be very difficult, especially if shelling started, for the government to contain the public panic and evacuate people in an orderly fashion, he said.

Then there would still be a risk that North Koreas special operations forces would also infiltrate South Korea where they could launch attacks against people or strategic targets like power plants, Gomez said.

Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said it would make more sense to strike first when the intelligence community is clear that North Korea has prepared an actual attack against the U.S. or its allies. The outcome would be certain  North Korea would be destroyed, he said.

When I participated in war game simulations when I was in CIA, the alliance always prevailed, but at the cost of hundreds of thousands of casualties and that was before we assessed that North Korea had nuclear weapons. More recently, the Pentagon has estimated there would be 20,000 deaths per day in a conflict with North Korea.

Hunter has said that South Koreans would not be killed because they would flee to safety in underground shelters or southern stretches of the peninsula. Analysts say thats unlikely to prevent a tremendous number of civilian deaths.

Evacuations or shelters wouldnt do much to protect South Koreans, said Loren Thompson, the chief operations officer at the center-right Lexington Institute.

First of all, half of the South Korean population, a total of 25 million people, are near the range of North Korean artillery. And, of course, North Korea has numerous missiles that could be launched into the Souths capital, or beyond, Thompson said.

He said he agrees with a preemptive strike in principle because it could proactively protect the United States and allies, but he also cautioned that there is no way to know how many civilian casualties would occur when North Korea retaliates by attacking its neighboring countries.

While Hunter has been aggressive, and his call for an attack unpopular, his stance tells North Korea that Trump has allies on Capitol Hill, Thompson said.

Congressman Hunters views probably match up well with the president, Thompson said. I think that theres a value in having a congressman warn North Korea that Washington isnt just talking, but it might actually do something concrete and destructive.

A Gallup poll last month found that 58 percent of adults in the United States who were surveyed said they would favor military action if diplomacy fails first.

Hunter has not said whether he believes diplomatic options have been exhausted and a first strike is now imminently necessary, but he has said that efforts to deter North Korea have been ineffective.

Weve been acquiescing to North Korea and doing sanctions and trying to do things with them and for them, and around them, for three or four presidencies now, Hunter said in a September interview with KUSI. For 20 or 30 years weve been playing this game, and theyve been getting closer and closer, and now have a nuclear weapon that they can deliver to the us and our allies. Thats the way life is now.

While Hunter has made some of the most direct calls for military action against North Korea, there have been earlier demands for similar strikes across the political spectrum.

In a 2006 Washington Post column Ashton Carter and William Perry called for the United States to attack North Korean missiles as they sat on their launch pads. Perry was secretary of defense when Bill Clinton was president, and Carter would serve in that post under President Barack Obama. They later backed down on their calls to attack North Korean missiles.

Others, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, have also recently made statements supporting a preemptive strike.

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841
For the first time since Alfred Olango was fatally shot by El Cajon police just over a year ago, Mayor Bill Wells and community leaders met Wednesday to discuss issues related to police oversight.

While both Wells and the group said the meeting was an important step for the city and the community, both sides walked away in disagreement about the main topic: the creation of a citizens board that would review police conduct and complaints.

Following the private meeting, the Rev. Shane Harris of the National Action Network said he and five other faith and civil rights leaders expressed to Wells that they believe the current complaint process creates a conflict of interest for the city.

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Its egregious when people have to complain to the police about police, Harris said during a news conference outside El Cajon City Hall.

Wells said he does not believe an oversight panel is necessary, making reference to the low number of complaints against El Cajon police officers in recent years.

In August 2016, when the El Cajon City Council rejected a county grand jurys recommendation to establish a citizens review board, the city cited the following statistics in its response:

In 2015, there was only one formal complaint filed with the Police Department out of 93,000 citizen contacts by officers. In 2014, two complaints were filed out of 89,000 contacts. A year earlier, eight complaints were made out of 95,000 contacts.

Harris said the low number of complaints could reflect concerns that the complaint process is not transparent.

If you do not have another avenue for people to complain ... you wont have any complaints, Harris added.

In response to claims that residents may not feel comfortable coming forward with complaints, Wells said: That is not an issue that has come up, and I think its fabricated.

Demands for a citizens advisory board were touched off by the death of Olango, who was shot by Officer Richard Gonsalves in a taco shop parking lot on Sept. 27 of last year. Gonsalves opened fire when the 38-year-old Ugandan refugee pointed an object in the officers direction.

It turned out to be a vape device. Olango was not armed.

His sister had called 911 to request psychological assistance because her brother was acting erratically.

On Wednesday, the community leaders said they plan to hold a town hall meeting on an undetermined date to continue to discuss police issues in El Cajon. Wells said he may attend.

Wednesdays meeting included Harris, Pastor Russell Bowman of Righteous Living Ministries, Pastor Rolland Slade of Meridian Baptist Church, Bishop Cornelius Bowser of the Charity Apostolic Church, the Rev. Beth Johnson of Palomar Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and Yusef Miller of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

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Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez
A budget committee is proposing that Sauk County government increase its use of property taxes by 1.9 percent next year, the maximum allowed under state law.

During a series of actions Tuesday, the Sauk County Boards Finance Committee approved changes to the countys proposed 2018 spending plan that resolved weeks of budget haggling.

The committees budget proposal will be presented to the full board next week. Supervisors may make further changes before the board adopts a final version of the budget at its November meeting.

State-imposed limits allow Sauk County to collect a maximum of $30.9 million in property taxes next year, an increase of 1.9 percent from this years levy. After a series of adjustments Tuesday, the finance committee had worked out a budget that would have resulted in a 2018 property tax levy that was $224,342 under that threshold.

Supervisor Richard Flint of Reedsburg then made a motion to decrease the revenue anticipated from sales tax by $224,342 so that the tax levy could be increased by the same amount, allowing the county to tax to the max next year.

Finance Committee Chair Tommy Lee Bychinski, Supervisor Eric Peterson of Prairie du Sac and Sauk County Board Chairman Marty Krueger of Reedsburg voted with Flint in favor of the motion, which was unanimously approved. Finance committee member Kristin White Eagle of Baraboo was absent and excused.

A state law limits property tax increases based on a formula that involves the net increase in new construction within the county during the prior year. If counties dont use the entire increase they are allowed, a separate formula allows them to carry forward some of that unused increase  but not all of it  to the following year.

Flint said the loss of some unused levy capacity creates an incentive for counties to use it or lose it each year. Those that dont, he said, can find themselves facing budget hardships down the road.

The fact is, we actually get penalized for responsible governing, and thats very frustrating, Flint said.

Sales tax adjustment

Sauk County has collected more than anticipated in sales tax revenue in recent years.

The county budgeted to collect $8 million in 2017, but officials now estimate sales tax revenue will be closer to $8.9 million by year end. In 2016, the county collected about $1.3 million more than the $7.5 million that was budgeted.

Before Tuesdays adjustments, county administrative officials projected 2018 sales tax revenue of $9 million. That still was less than the $9.2 million that the Wisconsin Taxpayer Alliance has projected the county will receive.

The finance committees adjustment knocks the current 2018 sales tax projection down to $8.8 million.

Sauk County Controller Kerry Beghin cautioned that sales tax is difficult to predict because it depends largely on factors beyond the countys control, and thats why the county traditionally has budgeted conservatively for that revenue.

Is it going to be a good summer in the Dells next year? Beghin asked rhetorically during Tuesdays meeting.

Nursing home planning

Going into Tuesdays meeting, weeks of budget adjustments had left the finance committee with a property tax levy that was above the state-imposed limit.

In order to close the gap, the committee voted unanimously to use reserve funds  rather than tax levy  to pay for $485,000 in study and design expenses related to the possible expansion of the countys long-term care campus in Reedsburg.

About $35,000 of that would fund a study to determine how the campus  which currently is home to the Sauk County Health Care Center, a government-run nursing home  should be expanded. The remaining $450,000 could be used for design of whatever type of expansion is recommended.

Health Care Center Administrator Jennifer Vosen said Tuesday that prior study has suggested a need for an assisted living facility. That type of operation could generate revenue, she said, that would help offset the tax burden of the nursing home.

Although the county typically uses reserve funds to pay for major one-time expenses, the budget proposal going into Tuesdays meeting sought tax levy funds for the $485,000 in expenses.

Beghin told the finance committee she was comfortable using reserves to fund the project. The committee approved that change, thereby reducing the tax levy and setting up the scenario that led to Flints sales tax adjustment.

The committee is scheduled to meet jointly with the boards personnel committee this morning to consider two new position requests, including a nurse for a program that assists first-time mothers and a patrol sergeant for the sheriffs department.
Grossmont High School was placed on lockdown for more than three hours Thursday after a student told a campus resource officer she thought she saw a gun in another students backpack, police said.

Law enforcement officers methodically searched the El Cajon schools 20 or so buildings on the 66-acre campus after the student reported seeing the weapon around 8:45 a.m.

No gun was found and the lockdown was lifted around noon.

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1 / 14 Sheriffs and CBP officers walked through the Grossmont High School campus where students were locked down at 8:45 a.m. Thursday after a student reported seeing what they thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 14 A sign on the door of the administrative offices says the school is closed for a security interest. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 14 An officer and his K-9 partner entered the campus at Grossmont High School where students were locked down at 8:45 a.m. Thursday after a student reported seeing what they thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 14 Police units line up outside of Grossmont High School where students were locked down at 8:45 a.m. Thursday after a student reported seeing what they thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 14 A motorcycle police officer rode through the Grossmont High School campus Thursday morning after a student reported seeing what she thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 14 A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol K-9 officer arrived at Grossmont High School on Thursday after a student reported seeing what she thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 14 Police officers and their K-9 partners combed the campus at Grossmont High School after a student reported seeing what she thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 14 A pizza delivery man was turned away by staff from Grossmont High School after he arrived to find the school in lockdown Thursday after a student reported seeing what she thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 14 Concerned parents gathered in front of Grossmont High School where students were locked down at 8:45 a.m. Thursday after a student reported seeing what they thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 14 Sheriffs and CBP officers walked through the Grossmont High School campus where students were locked down at 8:45 a.m. Thursday after a student reported seeing what they thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 14 La Mesa police units were parked at the back of the Grossmont High School campus where students were locked down at 8:45 a.m. Thursday after a student reported seeing what she thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 14 A Grossmont High School employee talked to a group of parents gathered outside of Grossmont High School where students were locked down at 8:45 a.m. Thursday after a student reported seeing what she thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 14 Law enforcement officers leave the Grossmont High School Campus after a three hour student lockdown after a student reported seeing what she thought was a gun in a students back pack. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 14 Students at Grossmont High School walked through campus after they were released from a three hour lockdown on Thursday. (John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)

After the student reported her concerns, the school was placed in secure campus mode, meaning students are kept in locked classrooms as instruction continued, said Catherine Martin, a spokeswoman for the Grossmont Union High School District.

The search took hours because the student didnt know the name of the student she suspected of having a gun, said El Cajon police Lt. Rob Ransweiler.

The reason for the entire secure campus is she didnt know the other student and couldnt identify them by name, Ransweiler said. We couldnt check for a specific person.

Officers from the El Cajon and La Mesa police departments and the county Sheriffs Department worked together to search the campus. Some students were patted down for weapons and dogs trained in sniffing out firearms were sent into classrooms to check backpacks and students, the lieutenant said.

It is my understanding we didnt get any alerts, he said.

During the lockdown, parents received an email from the school district saying they were not letting any students leave campus as the investigation was underway.

Martin said as buildings were being cleared by police, students were allowed to use restroom facilities. She said each classroom is equipped with buckets and privacy screens if a student needed to use the bathroom while still locked in a classroom.

Martin said school district officials appreciated the rapid response by law enforcement to ensure staff and students were safe. We thank everybody for their patience and, as you know, student safety is our top priority, she said.

A sign was posted on a door at Grossmont High School proclaiming the school was on secure campus mode over some kind of threat. (John Gibbins/ San Diego Union-Tribune)

karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com
It was a Tuesday, almost closing time, when the man walked into a downtown bank and handed the teller a note demanding money. He likely hoped for a big payoff.

The teller misunderstood, thinking he was a customer. She asked for his account number, twice. He got frustrated and left.

Employees later realized the encounter was a robbery attempt.

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In late September, a robbery at a Vista bank was thwarted when a teller refused to hand over money. That man also left empty handed.

Banking and law enforcement officials say bank policies typically specify that employees comply with robber demands to ensure everyones safety.

Protocols vary by institution but generally direct tellers to do anything you can to avoid violence, said Beth Mills, a spokeswoman with the California Bankers Association. She said she didnt think any bank would instruct an employee to tell a robber no in response to a demand note.

You have no idea who you are dealing with on the other side, she said. If hes asking for money and gives a note, pretty much all tellers would be instructed to do what the robber is asking.

Bank holdups are far from an everyday occurrence in San Diego County. The region had 48 robberies and attempted robberies in 2015 and 45 in 2016. By the end of September, the county had logged 25, a big drop from the 38 robberies this point a year ago.

Police say they typically recommend anyone being robbed  whether a bank teller or a store clerk  do what they can to make sure they dont get hurt.

Although it is great to see someone stand up to a bad guy, I certainly wouldnt suggest that or like to see that as the norm. A bank teller or anyone who is being robbed, they take a big risk in trying to call somebodys bluff, said Chula Vista Sgt. David Oyos.

Chula Vista used to help banks by staging mock robberies in branches after hours, with officers posing as robbers and shooting off guns that fired blanks. The goal was to help tellers focus on being good witnesses. Oyos said the department stopped offering the training a decade ago because of staffing constraints.

When the story about the failed downtown bank robbery came out, San Diego police reported that the teller had simply told the robber no. Turns out the encounter wasnt that simple, a spokeswoman for U.S. Bank said.

In fact, the teller was confused about the robbers intention because his note said hand me $1,000 instead of demanding all the money.

The employee said, I can help you with that, but I need your account number, the spokeswoman said. Two customers walked in and the man left.

She said her bank would never recommend a teller refuse to cooperate with a robber.

The first thing the banks manual says is to comply with demands, she said, because the safety of employees and customers overrides all other concerns.

karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com
A San Diego County psychiatrist has been accused of sexually assaulting three female patients, one of whom claims he groped her breast and buttocks, according to records filed last month with the Medical Board of California.

The medical board filed on Sept. 13 accusations against Dr. Leon Fajerman, who has offices in El Cajon and Chula Vista. It is seeking to revoke the psychiatrists license, which has been temporarily suspended pending a formal hearing. The 12-page document includes details of alleged inappropriate sexual acts with three female patients.

One patient, referred to as S.D. or Patient D., who was the first one to complain to the medical board and police about alleged misconduct, claims Fajerman placed an appointment reminder card inside the top of her dress after a session in October 2016, then proceeded to grope her and tell her he would like to undress her.

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Patient D. made several attempts to pull away during this time, according to the accusation. Fajerman then tried to set up a meeting when nobody would be in the office so they could have sexual intercourse.

During recorded phone conversations, which Patient D. conducted at the request of law enforcement, Fajerman allegedly admitted engaging in sexual misconduct with the woman and said when you like something, you go for it.

Fajerman did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment. The messaging system at Fajermans office says his practice is permanently closed. Fajermans attorney, Robert Frank, did not respond to calls seeking comment in time for publication.

Fajerman denied the allegations that he sexually assaulted the patient in a sworn declaration, but acknowledged that he overstepped his professional boundaries in certain respects, according to additional documents filed in August with the state administrative court.

Records show Fajerman admitted to kissing Patient D. on the cheek and hugging her at the end of their appointment. He said he thought Patient D. was trying to pursue a sexual relationship with him on the phone, and he should have ended the call professionally instead of playing along.

A second patient, referred to as R.Q. or Patient Q., claims Fajerman pulled down the neckline of her dress and exposed one of her breasts at the end of a session in December 2016 and molested her.

According to the accusation, Patient Q. told Fajerman to stay away from her and left the appointment, but continued to see him because she needed treatment and pain medication for her tail bone.

Medical board records show an administrative law judge suspended Fajermans medical license on July 28, pending a hearing and final ruling on the accusations against him.

Permitting Dr. Fajerman to continue to engage in the practice of medicine will endanger the public health, safety and welfare, the judge said following an August hearing related to the suspension order. He took advantage of [Patient D.s] vulnerability and dependence upon him for treatment of her psychiatric condition.

Medical board records show Fajerman has been a licensed physician in California since November 1978. Hes fluent in Hebrew, Spanish, Italian and Yiddish. A full list of disciplined doctors in California, categorized by year, is available at bit.ly/doctoractions.

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When Jews say, Never Again, they are referring to the categorical imperative to prevent the emergence of a genocidal leader, and to speak out and take action in response to threats to ethnically cleanse or exterminate another people. The phrase is also a cry to study the past to understand how and why the Holocaust happened. Part of that education process is to accurately document the actions and experiences of bystanders, perpetrators and victims. This process is undermined when institutions such as San Diegos Air & Space Museum whitewash the record of Nazi collaborators.

While researching the Sachsenhausen concentration camp that was located just outside of Berlin, I discovered that thousands of slave laborers were forced to work for the Heinkel aircraft manufacturing company. When I began to research the Heinkel company I found a biography of the founder Ernst Heinkel on the website of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. I was somewhat shocked to find that he had been selected for their International Air and Space Hall of Fame.

The entry lauded him as a renowned aircraft and engine designer who was especially successful in the design and production of civilian and military aircraft for Germany. It mentions the late 1930s as a particularly fruitful period in which he was instrumental in the development of jet engines. The biography mentions several specific planes he designed, including the worlds first jet airplane.

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Here are some of the facts the museum left out of its biography. That particularly fruitful period of Heinkels career was during Hitlers buildup of the German air force, the Luftwaffe, led by Hermann Goring. Those innovative creations were used to attack and bomb Allied troops.

The biography does not mention the He 177 bomber. In 1941, Heinkel used 6,000-8,000 prisoners at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp to work on the aircraft. Germany had a shortage of workers in the aircraft industry and slave labor helped maintain production and perhaps prolong the war. These were among the approximately 200,000 people who passed through Sachsenhausen between 1936 and 1945. Some 100,000 inmates died there from exhaustion, disease, malnutrition, abuse or execution.

Ernst Heinrich Heinkel, aviation pioneer, was tried for war crimes and apparently acquitted because of his wartime opposition to Hitler. While the Allies failed to hold Heinkel accountable for his use of slave labor, one of the slaves tried to do so by suing him. Edmund Bartl said he was beaten, suffered from thirst and hunger and became nearly blind from sparks from the welding machine he was forced to operate without safety goggles. In 1959, after Heinkels death, Bartl sought compensation from the company for his pain and suffering and denial of wages. Two lower German courts sided with Bartl before the Supreme Court ruled against him on the grounds he had filed his claim too late.

I contacted the Air & Space Museum after reading their biography of Heinkel and pointed out they had failed to mention he employed thousands of slave laborers to produce his aircraft and urged them to revise the biography to more accurately reflect his wartime role in the exploitation of slave labor.

The museum curator, Terry Brennan, immediately responded: The honorees in our International Air and Space Hall of Fame are feted for their contributions to aerospace technology. While we do not want to appear indifferent to the fact that Heinkel employed slave laborers as you correctly point out, it is those accomplishments in growing the industry that we celebrate, and not necessarily the mans character. It is not our intention in writing the HOF narratives to create a complete biography on any of its members. Thank you for taking the time to communicate your thoughts on Heinkel the man.

Excuse the pun, but this explanation does not fly. Heinkel the man cannot be separated from Heinkel the industrialist who employed slave labor to build his aircraft. You cannot ignore Heinkels role in the German war effort that allowed Hitler to kill millions, including 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. Historical accuracy demands a revision as do the voices of the thousands of prisoners who were forced to work or die to produce his aircraft.

Bard, Ph.D., is the author/editor of 24 books including 48 Hours of Kristallnacht: Night Of Destruction/Dawn Of The Holocaust.
Damage to Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria 22 days ago could take months  if not years  to fix, as some on the ground have said, but President Donald Trump on Thursday said that the U.S. government cannot stay there forever.

The words were taken by some as a hint at abandoning Puerto Rico.

The presidents tweets set off a flurry of chatter online, given that the U.S. territory is barely entering its third week with the majority of the population still without power and one-third without water. The latest figures, as of Thursday, tell a clear picture of Puerto Ricos need for continued aid and support.

83 percent are without power

36 percent are without potable water

About half still dont have cell phone service

21 percent are without access to gasoline

On top of that, the death toll is expected to be higher than originally believed. Authorities told CNN on Wednesday that the death toll had gone up to 45, but at least some 113 people were still unaccounted for.

Vox reported that conflicting numbers from the U.S. government and the Puerto Rican government have made it difficult to estimate exactly how many people died  a figure that could go well into the hundreds.

By comparison, the death toll in Texas where Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25 has reached 75, the Houston Chronicle reported. The death toll in Florida after Hurricane Irma, which made landfall on Sept. 10, also reached 75, the Miami Herald reported, not counting the more than 38 people who died in the Caribbean.

Official figures remain to be finalized.

Still, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, pleaded with Trump and the Federal Emergence Management Agency (FEMA) to stay in Puerto Rico until the job is done.

Others, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi , D-San Francisco, and Puerto Rican mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, also pleaded with Trump to not abandon the island, home to 3.4 million U.S. citizens.

Rather than criticizing Trump directly, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello insisted on requesting the support that any of our fellow citizens would receive across our Nation.

In the first week after Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, Trump was roundly criticized for the governments slow response to provide aide. Trump countered by praising FEMA and first-responders as doing a great job.

Eileen Lainez, a FEMA spokeswoman, on Thursday softened Trumps remarks by saying the agency will remain in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and every state, territory impacted by a disaster every day.

About 19,000 civilian and military service personnel are working in recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, FEMA has said, according to NPR and NBC News. But it is Trumps tone toward Puerto Rico that has drawn the most criticism.

Trumps remarks on Thursday cap those he said while visiting the island on Oct. 3 when he said Puerto Ricos hurricane wasnt a real catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina and that response to relief efforts were throwing our budget a little out of whack.

"We have gone all out for Puerto Rico," Trump said at that meeting with Puerto Rico officials, including Cruz. "It's not only dangerous, it's expensive."

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

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President Donald Trump doesnt think Iran is living up to its end of its nuclear deal with the U.S. and other countries, and said on Friday that his administration will impose new sanctions on the regime to block its financing of terrorism.

The multi-national Iran nuclear deal, established in 2015 under President Barack Obama s administration, seeks to limit Irans nuclear activities. Trump is required to certify the agreement every three months, and his administration has done so multiple times during his first year in office.

But on Friday, Trump said we cannot and will not make this certification.

Here are some answers to some of the biggest questions you may have about the Iran nuclear deal.

What is the Iran deal?

The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, Russia and the European Union all announced an agreement with Iran in July 2015 to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The agreement's technical name is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and it is meant to keep Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon through uranium enrichment.

The deals main tenets are reducing Irans stockpile of enriched uranium by 98 percent and removing two-thirds of its installed centrifuges (which are used to enrich uranium). All of this was to be monitored by the international community.

In return for Iran's cooperation, harsh sanctions on the country were rolled back.

The deal was designed to be in place for 15 year, and Obama left office in January defending the agreement and touting its accomplishments despite criticism from Trump and others.

Weve seen the results, Obama said. Under the nuclear deal that we, our allies and partners reached with Iran last year, Iran will not get its hands on a nuclear bomb.

What have Trumps advisers told him?

Trumps team persuaded him to certify the deal the first time there was a deadline for him to act in May , though his administration announced sanctions on several Iran individuals and organizations at the time. They did so again in July after hours of arguing with his top national security advisers, The New York Times reported:

At an hourlong meeting last Wednesday, all of the presidents major security advisers recommended he preserve the Iran deal for now. Among those who spoke out were Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson; Defense Secretary Jim Mattis ; Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser; and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , according to an official who described internal discussions on the condition of anonymity. The official said Trump had spent 55 minutes of the meeting telling them he did not want to.

Mattis doubled down on his support for the Iran deal in a hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee last week.

If we can confirm that Iran is living by the agreement, if we can determine that this is in our best interest, then clearly we should stay with it, Mattis said.

What will Trump do now?

Trump says he believes Iran isnt holding up its end of the deal.

Politifact explains that thats mostly false, with some exceptions, because the International Atomic Energy Agency , which monitors Iran, finds the country is compliant. The U.S. State Department also told Congress in April that Iran is holding up its end of the deal.

But Trump has considered Iran to be threatening from day one.

The Iranian regime supports terrorism and exports violence, bloodshed and chaos across the Middle East, Trump told reporters last Thursday. That is why we must put an end to Iran's continued aggression and nuclear ambitions. They have not lived up to the spirit of their agreement.

On Friday, Trump announced hes handing the deal over to Congress to deal with its many flaws and that if Congress cant come up with better legislation, he will terminate the deal.

The Washington Post has an outline of Congress options  which include sanctions, renegotiations, hearings or nothing  and a list of which, if any, congressional leaders back each option here.

How are other countries reacting?

British Prime Minister Theresa May and other world leaders of involved in the deal say theyll try to maintain it with or without Trump.

"The prime minister said the U.K. remains firmly committed to the deal and that we believe it is vitally important for regional security, a May administration official told BBC this week. The prime minister said it was important that the deal is carefully monitored and properly enforced, and that both sides deliver on their commitments.

Russia, France, Germany, China and the European Union all also want Trump to stick with it. If not, theyre working on a plan and package of measures in an effort to hold the deal together, according to Reuters.

What has Iran said about this?

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said last week that Trump cannot undermine the deal.

In the nuclear negotiations and agreement we reached issues and benefits that are not reversible. No one can turn that back, not Mr. Trump or anyone else, Rouhani said. Even if 10 other Trumps are created in the world, these are not reversible.

You can read all 159 pages of the deal here.

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin
UNESCO, a United Nations organization that helps preserve historical and cultural sites worldwide, attracted chatter and questions online when the U.S. announced Thursday that it would officially leave the organization at the end of 2018.

In a statement, the U.S. State Department cited an anti-Israel bias as one of the reasons to withdraw and move the nation's status to that of a permanent observer.

This decision was not taken lightly, state department spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, said in a statement, and [it] reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO.

UNESCOs director general, Irina Bokova, called the decision deeply regrettable.

Here are some basic answers to help understand this story better:

What is UNESCO?

UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It is a special multi-country agency, formed in 1945 and based in France, that promotes sex education and literacy as well as improving gender equality in countries around the world.

It is also known for its work to preserve cultural and heritage sites such as ancient villages, ruins and temples, and historic sites such as the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq, which at one point came under threat of being destroyed by the Islamic State.

Why is the U.S. withdrawing from UNESCO?

The state department cites anti-Israel bias as one of the reasons, but the roots of the decision date back to the 1990s when Congress passed a law to cut off funding from U.N. agencies that accept Palestine as a member nation.

In 2011, UNESCO welcomed Palestine as its 195th member, The New York Times reported at the time, and the U.S. effectively stopped making payments  which were about $70 million a year  to the organization.

The U.S. remained a member but did not pay its dues  about $600 million, a sum owed since 2011, also known as arrears, The Times reported on Thursday. Mounting arrears was also cited by the state department as one other reason why the U.S. withdrew from UNESCO.

Again? When did the U.S. withdraw from UNESCO before?

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan called on the U.S. to withdraw from UNESCO, according to Foreign Policy, over concerns of corruption and an ideological tilt toward the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War.

President George W. Bush put the U.S. back in the organization in 2002.

What does the State Department mean by anti-Israel bias at UNESCO?

Since taking office, President Donald Trump and his administration have taken a strong pro-Israel position in the United Nations. In February, after Nikki Haley was appointed U.S. ambassador to the U.N., she took a podium to declare the United States ironclad support for Israel.

Im here to underscore the ironclad support of the United States for Israel, Haley said in February. Im here to emphasize that the United States is determined to stand up to the U.N.s anti-Israel bias.

Tension between Palestine and Israel has even become a sore point within the U.N., particularly at UNESCO where support for Palestinians is seen as a form of favoritism.

In 2015, according to The New York Times, UNESCO criticized Israel for aggressions and for blocking Muslims from accessing the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Then in July this year, The Times wrote, UNESCO declared the core of Hebron in the Israeli-controlled West Bank as a Palestinian World Heritage site.

What has been the reaction in the U.S. and around the world?

In a tweet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was pleased with the decision. And after the U.S. made that announcement, Israel followed suit and withdrew from UNESCO as well.

In the U.S., Republicans like Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, applauded Trumps decision to withdraw from UNESCO.

Outside the GOP circle in Washington, organizations like the American Jewish Committee and Peter Yeo, a vice president at the U.N. Foundation, lamented that decision.

The impact of the U.S. withdrawing from UNESCO may not be fully realized until later, but the decision was also seen by some as a trend set by the Trump administration to pull the U.S. back from foreign affairs and focus more on domestic issues.

Have some thoughts to share?

Join me in a conversation: Shoot me a private email with your thoughts or ideas on a different approach to this story. As always, you can also send us a tweet.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

Read The Conversation on Flipboard.
Mirror still cloudy

Like many elderly people, columnist Dick Lyles has difficulty identifying faces or remembering who said what. Usually this involves describing Donald Trumps thoughtless, self-aggrandizing behavior and back dating it as something that Barack Obama did.

Of course, we all remember when Obama spent literally years trying to prove he was born in Kenya  or was that someone else? We all remember when a candidate directed his followers to beat the crap out of someone protesting at a rally. That was Obama, too, right Dick? Or was it someone Mr. Lyles cant quite see clearly in the warped mirror of his bias?

In his Sept. 21 column, Mr. Lyles wrote at length about something he called invincible ignorance. It was a portrait of a person too locked into their own view of the world to admit to the possibility of other valid perspectives and I thought it was going to be an honest and heart-felt moment of self-assessment.

Was his mirror at long last clearing up so he could see the truth? Nah. Turns out it was about Hillary Clinton. Maybe Obama had the week off.

Dave and Debbra Jacobs-Robinson

Rancho Bernardo

Replacing love with greed

Christianity is based on the teachings of Jesus: love, compassion and inclusivity. However, when people deny people with pre-existing conditions the opportunity to buy affordable healthcare, they replaced love with greed, the compassion with indifference and the inclusivity with exclusion.

Even if people say that they want people with pre-existing conditions to have affordable healthcare, when they vote for elected officials who will deny it on the basis of cost, those people will have to answer on Judgment Day to the part they played in causing people to suffer throughout their lives, some from birth to death. How will you be judged?

Carolyn Tribel

Rancho Bernardo

Road work lasting forever

The road project at Rancho Bernardo Road and Bernardo Center Drive is a classic example of a city-supervised project run amok.

On March 2, I wrote to the San Diego City Council complaining that the lane had been closed but no work was being performed. On Aug. 14 I wrote again and Councilman Mark Kerseys office referred me to a city engineer. He told me the problem was a late discovery that gas and electric lines needed to be moved and the work could not be seen. He said the relocation work was now finished and the estimate for completion was now several months. If that holds true the lane will have been blocked for more than one year!

In recent weeks I have seen nobody at the work site.

The Rancho Bernardo Community Council shrugged me off and said they had nothing to do with this. When is somebody going to tell us the truth about this project and will somebody be held accountable for this fiasco?

D. J. Bradt

Rancho Bernardo

Poways hospital has issues

Your newspaper recently ran a feel-good article about the Palomar Medical Center Poway. Its concerning to see any fanfare over such a mediocre hospital.

U.S. News and World Report reviews 26 hospitals in the San Diego area annually. Poways hospital is ranked 14 out of 26  it doesnt even make the median threshold. Furthermore, it isnt nationally ranked in any specialty, nor is it considered high performing in any procedure. U.S. News confirms what many locals have known for decades  if you want quality care, go to Scripps or Sharp.

On the upside, based on a Poway News Chieftain report this past year, the general manager of compensated over $800,000 a year while refusing to pay the City of Poway for the hospitals water utilities, sticking the Poway taxpayers with the bill. To add insult to injury  Poway taxpayers also fork over several hundred dollars a year on their property tax bill to pay for these mediocre health services.

The reality is that for the past 40 years, the Poway taxpayer has been funding a corporation that compensates its executives lavishly while providing subpar medical services at above-market costs.

Assi Friedman

Poway

Email: editor@pomeradonews.com
Great design can be transformative. Just ask the homeowners whose homes will be on display during the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Kitchens, Baths and More Tour on Saturday, Oct. 21.

The tour features nine homes that have been completely remodeled and three additional homes with new kitchens. Homes styles are as diverse as the personalities of their owners and range from European minimalist and midcentury modern to transitional and Spanish traditional.

The self-guided tour, which runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., features cutting-edge examples of eco-friendly design, aging in place solutions, indoor-outdoor rooms, multi-generational arrangements and the latest kitchen appliances, cabinetry and surfaces. Professional design teams will be on hand to discuss project details and answer questions. Homes on tour are located from Point Loma to Carlsbad and east to Rancho Penasquitos.

Advertisement

Information and tickets, priced at $25, are available at www.casd.ASID.org. Group discounts are offered. Tickets will also be available at all tour sites the day of the tour, and addresses will be posted on the ASID San Diego website the day of the tour. More information is available at (858) 566-3345.
What resembled a dance party was actually the opening Thursday of the newest clothing store at East Towne Mall.

More than 330 people hoping to nab free gift cards for up to $300 were in line near the center of the mall when the 21,600-square-foot H&M store opened at noon. The scene had the feel of a night club as just prior to the opening employees danced in the mall just outside the store's entrance as Greg Morrow, aka DJ Midas EFX, cranked out loud, bass-filled music.

After the opening, the crowd swarmed the store in search of skinny ankle jeans, ruffled blouses, men's textured sweaters and $5 t-shirts.

"For H&M this is typical but for East Towne it's not our typical store opening. It's very exciting for us," said Tammy Rozek, East Towne's general manager. "This is huge for the mall. H&M is a great retailer."

The store, with about 20 employees, is across from Victoria's Secret and next door to Rogers & Hollands jewelry and caters to teens and 20-somethings. The store is slightly bigger than the 18,300-square-foot store at West Towne that opened in 2006 and joins three others in Wisconsin, all in the Milwaukee area -- at Bayshore Towne Center in Glendale, Southridge in Milwaukee and Brookfield Square.

The addition to East Towne comes as the a multi-million-dollar renovation of the mall's interiors is nearing completion. The project, which began last spring, includes new flooring, lighting, soft seating areas, color schemes and new furniture in the food court.

Later this month, the doors will open on Lulu's 13 Pub in the food court. The 6,707 square-foot restaurant from a Minnesota company was originally proposed as Lucky's 13 Pub but the name has been changed. It was not immediately known if the name change was to avoid confusion with Lucky's 1313 Brew Pub on Regent Street.

Work is also continuing on the construction of a Flix Brewhouse on the back side of the mall near Dick's Sporting Goods. The 39,000-square-foot facility will include nine movie theaters and a 134-seat restaurant. The facility, which will be built where Steinhafel's had been located, was initially scheduled to open this fall, but the opening has been pushed back to July, said Tiffany Schultz, the mall's marketing director.

Steinhafel's moved to remodeled space in the former American TV location, 5215 High Crossing Blvd.
Jeremy Neren, the CEO and co-founder of Madison-based GrocerKey, was among those who spoke this week at a food industry conference in London.

Neren, whose company specializes in software that helps brick-and-mortar stores with home delivery, spoke Wednesday at Redburn's 2017 Retail Food Conference for executives, academics, consultants, government figures, experts and regulators. Redburn, founded in 2003, is a research house for investors and aids companies with acquisitions.

Neren was scheduled to speak on the evolution of online grocery shopping, a change that has taken off in the industry.

I look forward to speaking at this important conference and thank Redburn for inviting me, Neren said in a press release prior to Wednesday's event. Im excited to share the growth story of GrocerKey as we help U.S. grocers adopt an omni-commerce strategy to address disruptive changes in the industry.

Other speakers at the event include Craig Herkert, former CEO of SuperValu and previously a senior executive at Walmart.

GrocerKey was founded in 2014 and sets up and manages online ordering for grocery stores, including those in the 16-store Woodman's Market chain. In August, Todd Michaud, president and CEO of Transformational Retail Technologies in Auburn, California, was named chairman of GrocerKey's board. Michaud's experience includes global vice president and general manager of NCR Corporations Global Enterprise, Merchandising & Supply Chain business unit. He also was president of Retalix, a software company that served retailers and was president and CEO of Revionics, an anayltics company.

Neren told the State Journal earlier this year that GrocerKey had more than 50 employees, including about 30 in Madison.
WASHINGTON  Congress voted Thursday to boost the protection of federal whistleblowers from retaliation, part of a bid to uncover bad behavior at the Department of Veterans Affairs and other government agencies.

The House unanimously passed the bill, 420-0. It now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature, having previously passed the Senate in May.

The measure would extend whistleblower protections to federal employees who are in probationary periods and provide training to ensure workers know their rights. It also establishes minimum disciplinary standards for supervisors who retaliate against employees for seeking to disclose wrongdoing.

The legislation, introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, is named after Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick, a psychologist at the VA Medical Center in Tomah. Kirkpatrick committed suicide in 2009 on the day he was fired by the VA for questioning the over-medication of veterans. A VA investigation later found Kirkpatricks concerns had been warranted.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, said the legislation provides much-needed protections to whistleblowers. No one who stands up for our veterans should be marginalized, let alone targeted and fired, he said.

The bill also would require the VA to put together a plan within six months to prevent supervisors from improperly accessing an employees medical files in retaliation.

VA Secretary David Shulkin has pledged to bring greater accountability to the governments second-largest agency, which provides medical care to millions of veterans.

In July, Shulkin began posting employee disciplinary actions and announced that he would require approval by a senior official of any settlement with a VA employee over the amount of $5,000, citing unnecessary payments to bad employees. A month later, he ordered a review to expand VA reporting requirements for bad workers.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump described the VA as the most corrupt, promising to protect and promote honest employees at the VA who expose wrongdoing.
49 Million People Across 46 Countries Are at Risk of Famine

A global food crisis brought on by the conflict in Ukraine brings new threats to children.

Skyrocketing wheat prices could put millions of children in the world's most fragile contexts, such as Yemen, Lebanon, and Syria, at risk of illness or even death due to hunger. In places like South Sudan and the Sahel, the ongoing conflict has hindered access to food for years. In Kenya, 3.5 million people are suffering extreme hunger. In Somalia, up to 1.5 million children could be facing severe acute malnutrition by October.

COVID-19 is adding to the impacts of conflict and climate change to push millions of children across the world to the verge of starvation. Theres no vaccine for hunger, but there is a solution if we act now.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/12/2017 -- Persistence Market Research (PMR) delivers key insights on the Australia lime market in its latest report titled, "Lime Market: Australia Industry Analysis and Forecast, 20162024".



The lime market in Australia is expected to expand at a CAGR of 1.7% in terms of value over the forecast period, 20162024. The market has been segmented by product type and application. The application segmentation consists of mining & metallurgy, building materials, agriculture, water treatment and others of which the mining & metallurgy segment is expected to account for the highest share of the lime market in Australia throughout the forecast period, to account for 31.4% by 2024.



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Demand for energy-efficient and cost-effective solutions is expected to be a priority for lime manufacturers in the country over the forecast period. By product type, slaked/hydrated lime segment is expected to continue to dominate the market in terms of both value and volume throughout the forecast period. The segment is estimated to be valued at US$ 146.7 Mn and account for volume share of 68% in 2016. By application, mining & metallurgy and building materials, segments in the Australia lime market are expected to account for significant volume shares of 38% and 35%, respectively.



New South Wales is expected to be the largest market for lime in Australia throughout the forecast period. The market in the region is estimated to be valued at US$ 59.1 Mn by 2016 end. In terms of production, Western Australia is expected to be a major producer, contributing over 65% to the total lime production in the country, and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 0.8% over the forecast period.



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Key players in the Australia lime market include Adelaide Brighton Ltd., Boral Limited, Sibelco Australia, Omya Australia Pty. Ltd, Wagners, and Lime Group Australia. Key players in the Australia lime market are focusing on enhancing their product portfolios. They are focusing not only on basic lime products but also on importing quicklime from ASEAN countries such as Thailand and Vietnam and Southeast Asian countries such as China to minimize a cost of raw materials involved in a lime production. Manufacturers are focusing on capitalizing on economies of scale to increase production, profitability, and offer cost-effective products in order to target cost-sensitive population in the region. Joint ventures, acquisitions, and strategic collaborations in terms of production and distribution of lime have been the common strategies employed by these companies to achieve their production objectives.



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Long-term Outlook: The long-term outlook on the Australia lime market remains on the conservative side, with the market expected to expand at a modest CAGR of 1.7% in terms of value during the forecast period. The revival of the mining sector in the country, increasing demand from the construction sector, particularly in the country's east coast region, and demand from the water treatment industry are some of the factors expected to sustain a growth of the lime market in Australia.



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The jury that found Darrick Anderson guilty last week of first-degree intentional homicide for a Downtown stabbing death in March rejected Andersons insanity defense Wednesday, finding he did not have a mental illness at the time.

Anderson, 24, stabbed and slashed Andrew Nesbitt 76 times in Nesbitts North Butler Street apartment on March 27. With the jurys finding that he wasnt insane when he killed Nesbitt, Dane County Circuit Judge John Hyland sentenced Anderson to life in prison. Hyland will determine at a later date when, if ever, Anderson would be eligible for release from prison on extended supervision.

A group of Nesbitts family and friends, who gathered in two rows of seats in the courtroom and have watched the entire trial, gasped and wept after Hyland read the verdict.

On Friday, the jury found Anderson guilty of Nesbitts murder in the first phase of a two-phase trial. After three days of testimony and argument this week, the 11-person jury decided after about four hours of deliberation that Anderson did not have a mental disease or defect. Had it found that Anderson was mentally ill, the jury would have answered a second question which asked whether the mental illness caused Anderson to lack the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions or obey the law.

The jury was down to 11 people after one juror became ill on Tuesday morning and was unable to continue. State law allows fewer than 12 jurors to decide the insanity phase of trials. Only 10 members of the jury needed to agree on a verdict in the insanity phase and in Andersons case, there was one dissenting juror.

Hyland allowed Anderson a chance to speak before imposing the life sentence, but Andersons lawyer, Tim Kiefer, said that Anderson would wait to make a statement until the extended supervision hearing, when Anderson also will be sentenced on six accompanying misdemeanor convictions.

Kiefer said in his closing argument that testimony from Andersons mother and sister showed that he long suffered from delusions and paranoia, and a psychologist testifying on behalf of the defense, Dr. James Freiburger, found that Anderson suffers from schizophrenia and another psychotic disorder. He was not being treated for either condition.

Kiefer said Andersons mental illness erupted on March 27 when Anderson stabbed Nesbitt, 46, to death after meeting him at a West Washington Avenue convenience store, believing that he had to do it in order to go on living.

Kiefer reminded jurors about Andersons words to Freiburger, when Anderson said that Nesbitt, if not someone else, would have killed him if he had not killed Nesbitt. Asked by Freiburger whether he felt guilt or remorse for killing Nesbitt, Anderson responded, I dont think so. I dont know what to say about that.

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Moeser said Kiefer was asking the jury to guess that Anderson was mentally ill at the time. The prosecutions expert witness, Dr. Erik Knudson, a psychiatrist, said that he couldnt say that Anderson is schizophrenic, based on the two-hour exam he had with Anderson and on videos of Andersons interactions with police and others. He said Andersons drug use also clouded his ability to determine whether Anderson had a mental illness.

Anderson told Knudson that he felt betrayed and used by Nesbitt after a sexual encounter and spazzed out, killing him. Moeser said temporary insanity is not recognized by Wisconsin law.

Moeser said there was ample evidence that Anderson knew that killing Nesbitt was wrong and took steps to conceal his involvement, including disposing of the knife, which has never been found.

Why would you hide the murder weapon unless you didnt want it to be found, unless you knew it was wrong? Moeser said. This bloody knife that you had used to take somebodys life with was bad to have in your possession.

Also, Moeser told jurors, Anderson self-treated severe hand wounds he suffered while stabbing Anderson by wrapping his hand in socks, avoiding treatment to the point where he nearly passed out from blood loss, because he knew police might be called if he went to a clinic. And he was evasive with Madison police detectives about his whereabouts the night Nesbitt was killed.

He knew enough to lie to the detectives because he knew what he did was wrong, Moeser said. He knew enough to hide what he did and conceal things.
Lisbon, Portugal -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/12/2017 -- PARAPHERNALIA is an all new stylish and multifunctional bag that can be transformed into many types of bags with ease. The creators of this ultimate travel companion have recently announced that they are raising funds and community support for the production of this remarkable bag via the crowdfunding platform of Indiegogo. Therefore, they are welcoming everyone to generously participate in the fundraising by making pledges and donations for the project.



In addition, this fashionable trolley that transforms in a tote and shoulder bag in a matter of seconds is highly innovative and functional. With its spacious storage capacity and creative design, the bag can be used to store anything and everything required by a modern day traveler. Moreover, the adaptive bag has been manufactured without any sort of animal cruelty.



Following are some of the key features of Paraphernalia:



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- Removable laptop and document pouch

- 4 Removable Rotating Wheels

- Concealable Telescopic Handle

- High quality fabrics and production

- Fits most airline carry-on measurement requirements



The Indiegogo Campaign is located on the web at: www.indiegogo.com/projects/paraphernalia-fashion-travel and supporters from around the world can back this project by making pledges and donations to support this project.



For a super early bird pledge of only EUR 99, the supporters who will back first will receive the bag as a reward. More details are available on the Indiegogo campaign page.



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PARAPHERNALIA is the ultimate travel companion and a multifunctional bag that has been smartly designed to serve multiple purposes. Packed with amazing features and extreme practicality, the bag is now seeking community support on Indiegogo and the creators of this bag are welcoming everyone to support the campaign. Moreover, the company is offering this bag as a reward to the pledges made with worldwide shipping.



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Website: www.indiegogo.com/projects/paraphernalia-fashion-travel
Saudi Arabia Personal Protective Equipment Market Worth US$444.2 Mn in 2021

However, local vendors steal a march over prominent ones with cheaper products in the Saudi Arabia personal protective equipment.
Europeans and European/African Americans with a variant of the DNA Methyltransferase 3 Beta (DNMT3B) gene have an increased risk of developing nicotine dependence, smoking heavily, and developing lung cancer, a new study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry shows.

According to the World Health Organization, the tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing more than 7 million people a year.

More than 6 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 890,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Nicotine dependence, which reduces the likelihood of quitting smoking, is a heritable trait with firmly established associations with several genetic variants.

To search for additional genes that influence nicotine dependence, Dr. Dana Hancock of RTI International and co-authors conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis of nicotine dependence, totaling 38,602 smokers  28,677 Europeans/European Americans and 9,925 African Americans.

In this largest-ever GWAS meta-analysis for nicotine dependence and the largest-ever cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analysis for any smoking phenotype, we reconfirmed the well-known CHRNA5-CHRNA3-CHRNB4 genes and further yielded a novel association in the DNMT3B gene, the researchers said.

The genetic variant was linked to an increased risk of nicotine dependence by testing nearly 18 million variants across the genome for association with nicotine dependence.

The variant was also tested in independent studies and found to associate with heavier smoking and with increased risk of lung cancer.

This new finding widens the scope of how genetic factors are known to influence nicotine dependence, Dr. Hancock said.

The variant that we identified is common, occurring in 44% of Europeans or European Americans and 77% of African Americans, and it exerts important effects on gene regulation in human brain, specifically in the cerebellum, which has long been overlooked in the study of addiction.

_____

D.B. Hancock et al. Genome-wide association study across European and African American ancestries identifies a SNP in DNMT3B contributing to nicotine dependence. Molecular Psychiatry, published online October 3, 2017; doi: 10.1038/mp.2017.193
FLORENCE, S.C.  South Dargan Street will be transformed with music, games and German food and beer this weekend as the Florence Downtown Development Corporation hosts the fifth Oktoberfest celebration.

The event will be held Saturday starting at 6 p.m. and ending at 10 p.m.

Downtown development coordinator Hannah L. Davis said each year the organization tries to improve the event and one request is always for German desserts. So this year, the Oktoberfest celebration will feature traditional German desserts by Victoria Heath with Crazy Confections in Florence.

Davis said the Florence Downtown Development Corporation has also amped up its beer game for this years event.

Weve got a lot more traditional German-style beers which are always requested, Davis said. We actually are unveiling a new brewery to the market. Southern Barrel out of Hilton Head Island is coming to the Florence market. Crown Beverages, whos one of our sponsors, has graciously let us be the debuting event for that beer (South Barrel Oktoberfest).

Also being featured this year is the Wurst Wagen food truck from Columbia. The truck serves authentic German food.

According to downtown development manager Ray Reich, the food and beer selections at Saturdays celebration will be better than ever. Some of the featured foods include bratwurst, curry wurst, sauerkraut, sauerbraten, handmade German soft pretzels with beer cheese, German strudels and German chocolate funnel cakes.

In addition to South Barrel Oktoberfest, other available beers will include Sam Adams Oktoberfest, Weihenstephaner Fest Bier, Schofferhofer Grapefruit, Angry Orchard, Catawba Pumpkin Ale, Duck Rabbit Milk Stout, Oktoberfest Marzen and Bohemian Pilsner in addition to domestic beers.

For people who like traditional Oktoberfest music, there will be polka and oom-pah music plus top 40 hits, beach music and oldies performed by the East Coast Party Band of Charleston, Reich said in a news release.

Oktoberfest in Downtown Florence includes a variety of family-friendly games such as beer barrel and beer stein races and the Running of the Wieners, a short race for dachshunds. The Running of the Wieners will start at 7:30 p.m., and anyone with a wiener dog or almost wiener dog can enter. The first-place winner of each category will receive $50 and a trophy. There will also be a prize for the best-dressed wiener dog.

Prizes will also be given for the best-dressed humans; $25 in cash and $25 in beer and food tickets for the male and female winners.

Admission for Saturdays event is free and people who attend are encouraged to take their lawn chairs as seating will be limited.

For more information, go to florencedowntown.com.
A Wisconsin state lawmakers daughter is under arrest for possible involvement in an overdose death.

Cassandra Nygren, the 28-year-old daughter of Republican state Rep. John Nygren, was booked into the Brown County jail early Wednesday on suspicion of first-degree reckless homicide/deliver drugs and manufacture/delivery of heroin, among other potential charges. She has not yet been formally charged.

Brown County Sheriffs Department Chief Deputy Todd Delain told the Green Bay Press-Gazette that Cassandra Nygren and a 33-year-old man were arrested in a recent drug death. Delain would not say who overdosed.

Cassandra Nygrens arrest is the latest chapter in her long battle with drugs. She spent two years in prison after a near-fatal overdose. She was released in 2014, becoming an advocate for sobriety, but was convicted again in 2015 of drug possession and admitted to drug court, an alternative program aimed at helping participants fight addiction.

Her struggles spurred her father to offer multiple bills aimed at curbing opioid addiction over the years. Walker has signed nearly 30 bills sponsored by Rep. Nygren since 2013 dealing with opioids, but theyve had little effect so far.

According to state data, 1,524 people died of opioid-related overdoses between 2013 and 2015, compared with 1,381 people over the previous three-year period. The data show 622 people died in 2014 and 614 in 2015, the two highest annual death totals since 2003. Last year, 837 people died of opioid overdoses. An additional 204 people died from overdosing on other drugs.

John Nygren said in a statement that his daughters arrest is another example of the disastrous and destructive consequences of addiction.

Cassie has publicly struggled with addiction and recovery for several years. This is a strong reminder of how fragile the road to recovery is. We will continue to support and pray for her recovery, the lawmaker said in a statement.

Rep. Nygren also extended condolences for the loss of life. There are no words that we as a family can offer to give any real comfort for this tragic loss, he said.
But subsidies will aid most in Wisconsin

Health insurance premiums on the Affordable Care Act exchange will go up an average of 36 percent in Wisconsin next year, but government subsidies will offset the increases for most people, a state official said Thursday.

A major reason for the stiff hikes is that President Donald Trumps administration hasnt said if it will continue certain payments to insurers, said J.P. Wieske, deputy commissioner of insurance.

The increases  and the loss of three national insurers in the state from healthcare.gov, affecting more than a third of the 216,000 residents who get insurance that way  also reflect instability in the market, Wieske said.

Too few young and healthy people are signing up for insurance on the exchange, part of what is known by some as Obamacare, making it risky for insurers who have lost $400 million from the business in the state over three years, he said.

Theres some concern that were in a death spiral, Wieske said. The increases were seeing reflect the increased amount of risk that a smaller number of carriers are going to have to take on.

Gov. Scott Walker added: Obamacare is collapsing, and these huge premium increases show the law failed on its promise to deliver affordable healthcare.

Enrollment for individual coverage at healthcare.gov runs Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. The vast majority of people get insurance instead through their employer or the government programs Medicaid or Medicare.

Molina Healthcare, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in Wisconsin and Health Tradition Health Plan said earlier this year they are leaving the exchange next year. About 75,000 people on those plans will need to select other insurance, Wieske said.

To help stabilize the market, Wisconsin will consider seeking a waiver in 2019 to let the state set up its own system under the federal health care law, he said. Minnesota has done that, and Iowa is requesting permission.

President Trumps executive order Thursday to allow for the sale of cheaper, less-regulated plans could also help, Wieske said.

Were hopeful over the longer haul that some of these pieces will have a positive impact on consumers ability to buy health insurance, he said.

Premiums next year will increase an average of 40 percent for so-called silver plans on the exchange in the state. About 90 percent of people with the coverage get subsidies that will also go up accordingly, so they wont be directly impacted, Wieske said.

Rates for bronze plans, which offer less coverage, will go up 21 percent. The cost for gold plans, which offer more coverage, will go up 19 percent. People buying those plans will have to pay more.

Trump has threatened to end payments to insurance companies to help cover low-income people, though the payments have continued.

Wisconsin, like some other states, told insurance companies to assume the payments, associated with silver plans, wont be provided next year. That contributed significantly to their large rate increases for silver plans, Wieske said.

If the payments continue, insurers could be required to lower rates in 2019, he said.

The insurance commissioners office provided rates by county for 2018 for a 21-year-old buying the lowest-cost silver plan.

That rate will go up about 51 percent next year statewide. In Dane County, it will increase 61 percent, with an average monthly premium of $353, up from $220 this year.

Dean Health Plan, Group Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin and Unity Health Insurance, which has started using the name Quartz, sell plans on the exchange in Dane County.
In what could lead to a landmark ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court last week heard arguments in a Wisconsin case that challenges the despicable practice of political parties drawing up legislative and congressional districts to lock in their power and disenfranchise voters.

Its called packing and cracking, a two-edged sword that maximizes the political clout of a political party in power  in Wisconsins case, Republicans  to pack voters who have historically voted Democratic into a district to keep those voters from influencing the results in a neighboring area that might be more competitive, and cracking by drawing the lines of a district to spread voters who favor Democrats over a wide area to dilute their vote.

Racine had a front row seat in this process when state Republicans drew up the district maps after the 2010 Census to pack the cities of Racine and Kenosha into one district. The effect was to lessen the competitiveness of area districts and lessen the power of voters to switch back and forth from Republicans to Democrats and vice versa from election to election.

In the far western part of the state, La Crosse was gerrymandered into a far-reaching district that ran up through the central part of the state in an effort to closet Democratic voters in a single district  again to lessen voters chances of affecting other neighboring districts.

In a politically divided Wisconsin, it played out like this: In 2012, when state voters supported Democrat President Barack Obama and Democratic candidates got nearly 52 percent of the vote in races for the state Assembly, they won only 39 of the 99 contested Assembly seats and Republicans won 60.

Four years later, when President Donald Trump narrowly took the state, Republicans took a 64-35 Assembly majority.

But the impact goes far beyond Wisconsin  it impacts most every state in the nation as politicians from both parties have gotten more aggressive about gerrymandering districts.

In other states where Democrats have wielded the redrawing pens, the impact has been just as stark, with Democrats solidifying their hold on legislative and congressional seats by gerrymandering voters into districts that give politicians the most political power.

In essence, the politicians  of both parties  are picking their voters to grasp political advantage. That is backward. It is voters who should be picking their political representatives and they have a right under the Constitution to do so without being packed into a district and having their vote diminished.

For years, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that such gerrymandering to diminish the power of voters based on race is illegal under the Constitution. In the Wisconsin case, it has a chance to extend that concept and rule that redistricting solely for the purpose of partisan political gain is also against the countrys best interest and a violation of our citizens constitutional rights.

Unless the high court  which is closely split on this issue  puts up a roadblock and affirms the value of a citizens vote, the political parties will only become more brazen in their gerrymandered maps that disenfranchise voters everywhere.

Voters deserve a choice. Elections should be competitive and not decided in secret by politicians with self-serving interests.
Abello, who has been with the company since day one when the custom-built boutique ship Paul Gauguin was completed for what was then Radisson Seven Seas Cruises in 1997, is on a sales mission to Australia and New Zealand with gsa Diane Patrick of Wiltrans International.

Patrick, who has also been representing Paul Gauguin Cruises, now owned by Pacific Beachcomber S.C., since day one, has hosted a series of cocktail parties for industry partners and their prospective passengers in Auckland, Brisbane and Sydney. They will be in Melbourne this evening.

Abello will now take part in the second annual Virtuoso Travel Week on Tour Cruise Show in Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Sydney October 16-19 and will return to Seattle on October 20.

He said Tahiti and the 332-passenger Paul Gauguin, which has exceptional service on board with 215 crew, are perfect products for the Australian relaxed, informal lifestyle.

Our dress code has always been casually elegant, with no jacket or tie required, even in LEtoile, the main dining room, he said.

We have an incredibly high number of repeat Australian passengers, some coming to the same ports year after year.

Tahiti is a place that touches the soul.
Prices for the 2018 'Couture Collection' average $34,000 per person for each five- to 11-day adventure, with the 11-day South Pole itinerary priced starting at $78,000.

'Our guests are seasoned luxury travelers looking to discover the least accessible corners of our planet, where nature can still astound with its untouched beauty,' Silversea executive chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio said.

The line has custom-crafted each element down to the smallest details.

Programs are limited to small groups and include most meals, beverages and exclusive culinary events. Luxury accommodations are provided at renowned boutique hotels, lodges and private tents. Each adventure is fully escorted.

For example, 'Rwanda & Serengeti: Walking in the Footsteps of Giants' explores Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park to see mountain gorillas in a two-day trekking experience. Also included is a game drive seeking the Big Five from a custom 4x4 in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The eight-day program is priced starting at $25,000. Departures on Nov. 20 or 27, 2018, are combinable with Silver Discoverer expeditions departing on Nov. 16 or 27.

'White Desert & South Pole: Standing on the Bottom of the Earth' takes participants to Antarctica to explore spectacular ice caves and tunnels, climb a glacial island and photograph emperor penguins at Atka Bay. Travelers follow in the footsteps of Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott to reach the South Pole. Lodging is at the luxurious Whichaway Camp, while transport to and from Antarctica is on a Gulfstream business jet. The 11-day program is priced from $78,000. The Jan. 2 trip is combinable with Silver Spirit's Dec. 18, 2017, voyage.

'Mongolia: Echoes of Genghis Khan' takes travelers to visit one of the last remaining groups of reindeer herders, the Tsaatan community of northern Mongolia, and to beautiful Lake Khuvsgul. Participants will learn about the culture of the Kazakh people and witness their ancient tradition of hunting with golden eagles. The Naadam Festival (Three Games of Men) unfolds an ancient spectacle of horse racing, archery and wrestling. The program is available in six or seven days, priced from $33,000. Departures are on May 2 or 10, combinable with a Silver Shadow cruise departing Apr. 25 or May 10.

Other 'Couture Collection' trips include 'Namibia & Rovos Rail,' 'India: In the Path of Powerful Titans,' 'Australia: Exploring the Unforgiving and Unforgettable Outback,' 'Iceland: Revealing the Legends of Fire and Ice,' 'Tibet: Standing on the Rooftop of the World' and 'Bolivia: A Short Walk onto Another Universe.'

Silversea's Conrad Combrink, VP product development expeditions and experiences, handcrafted each of these expeditions under Lefebvre's watchful eye. Combrink is also responsible for developing and coordinating all Silversea Expedition itineraries and shore programs, and overseeing expedition staff recruitment and regulatory compliance.
Vessel movements in the South African port remained suspended on Wednesday and the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) said operations were anticipated to restart at midday on Thursday subject to sounding the outcome of sounding surveys.

TNPAs Dredging Services division and private marine survey company Subtech were conducting surveys of the port on Wednesday using drones for sounding surveys highlight any risks to navigation on the seabed. Drones were also being used to assess damage to port buildings and infrastructure.

On Tuesday the port successfully refloated three grounded vessels  the 9,115 teu MSC Ines, which blocked the port's access channel, the tanker Bow Triumph, and a the containership SM New York.

Salvage teams also refloated a floating dock at South African Shipyards along with a new TNPA tug under construction at the yard.

We commend the marine workers involved who displayed skill and agility in managing the situation. A special thank you to all those involved including SAMSA (South African Marine Safety Authority), the private sector and our own TNPA tug masters and marine, said Durban port manager Moshe Motlohi.

Richards Bay port was also closed for operations on Tuesday evening due to strong winds but reopened on Wednesday.
Wisconsin faces a demographic crisis. In the next 22 years, the vast majority of its population growth will be among people 65 and older. This will mean that far fewer working people will be contributing to the growth and productivity of the state.

Many nations have a surplus of younger people and too few education and employment opportunities. In addition, millions of people are fleeing violence, most dramatically in Syria. The most effective and feasible way for Wisconsin and other states facing similar demographics is to dramatically increase immigration.

Sadly, our nation is moving in the opposite direction, making it tougher for foreigners to obtain visas and making it harder for immigrants to gain permanent resident status. Immigrants disproportionately contribute to entrepreneurial activity. They account for many of the patents issued, and they are great contributors to our growth in science and technology.

In short, they subsidize our nation with their intellect, work ethic and cultural diversity. We need more immigrants.

Alan Attie, Madison
Press Release

October 12, 2017 BPO group thanks Senate for retaining tax perks

SENATE MOVES TO HELP BPO INDUSTRY AMID DECLINING FOREIGN INVESTMENTS -ANGARA The IT-Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) said IT-BPM investment pledges in the country are now showing "signs of recovery" thanks to the Senate version of the first tax reform package which retained the current incentives of the industry. "The Senate did not touch the industry's tax incentives to enable the country to continue attracting more BPO investments that would spur economic growth and create more jobs for Filipinos. Our policy should always be geared towards making doing business in the Philippines easier and easing unemployment in the country," said Senator Sonny Angara, chairman of the ways and means committee. This year, new investment commitments under the IT-BPM industry slowed down because of various uncertainties. Some investors are delaying decisions to invest in the Philippines or deciding to invest elsewhere amidst earlier plans to alter the current tax regime for investors. But, following the filing of Senate Bill 1592 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill which retained the current incentives, IBPAP said investor perception on doing business in the country has been improving. "We would like to thank the Senate for its continuing support of the IT-BPM industry especially in view of the headwinds and challenges that the industry is currently dealing with. The efforts to take into account the potential impact of SB 1592's VAT provisions on the industry's ability to generate employment certainly shows a full understanding of the sector's concerns," said IBPAP's President and CEO Rey Untal in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report. In 2016, the IT-BPM industry provided direct employment to some 1.15 million Filipinos, and generated $23 billion in revenue. The Department of Labor and Employment recently reported that employment opportunities in the BPO industry remains at the leading spot in the top job vacancies available at the PhilJobNet. "The BPO industry has been one of the biggest job generators of our country in recent years. Layunin nating maresolba ang patuloy na kawalang trabaho sa bansa kung kaya't minabuti nating mapanatili ang tax incentives ng sektor na ito upang magpatuloy ang kanilang paglago at paglikha ng trabaho," said Angara, a known advocate of labor reforms. SB 1592 likewise retained the zero VAT provisions for the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) locators. Some 350 zones established under PEZA host over 3,500 investors who provide most of the export of goods and services of the country. These investors employ around two million Filipinos. These investors have selected the Philippines because of the quality of the Philippine workforce and incentives being granted by the government. The Senate TRAIN version ensured that the zero-rating will not be removed through the insertion of specific provisions relating to sales to entities registered with the ecozones and freeport zone authorities. "Foreign investments are crucial in sustaining the country's economic growth and in providing jobs for millions of Filipinos. We value such contribution that's why the government has been very supportive of the industry by granting them various incentives. We will ensure that such incentives will remain intact," Angara said.
Press Release

October 12, 2017 Nancy pushes for P1B addt'l DSWD budget for elderly, abandoned kids Senator Nancy Binay yesterday thanked fellow senators for putting a smile on the faces of the elderly and abandoned children under the care of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) . During the hearing for the 2018 proposed budget of the DSWD, Binay asked for a P1 billion increase in the DSWD's budget intended to support and improve the agency's activity centers and care institutions. "What Senator Loren Legarda revealed yesterday about the current state of our DSWD centers was very depressing. Due to the lack of funding, not all these centers can provide the care and support for our elderly and children. As our welfare agency, the DSWD must be capacitated and able to step in to help," Senator Binay said. Sen. Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, conceded that the agency's 71 activity centers nationwide were not allocated capital outlay for its facilities for the past few years. Legarda even detailed that there are DSWD activity centers that have patients and residents who sleep on the floors because these centers did not have enough beds. The GRACES Home for the Elderly in Quezon City has a bed capacity of 200 patients. However, it is now home for 285 senior citizens. The DSWD Reception and Study Center can house up to 505 children but it currently has 765 residents. "Nakakapanlumong malaman ang kasalukuyang kalagayan ng ating mga DSWD centers. Hindi makatao ang ganitong pagtrato sa ating kapwa. Kaya naman nating silang alagaan. Bakit natin hahayaang maging ganito?" Binay asked. Legarda also suggested amendments to the agency's capital outlay budget for rehabilitation and construction of new buildings and facilities. The Senate Finance chair likewise asked for an increase in the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) so the DSWD can supplement the daily operations of the centers. "This is why we suggested for the P1 billion amendment to the proposed 2018 DSWD budget so that the agency can fund new facilities and activity centers throughout the country. We need this amendment so that our elderly and abandoned children can have nutritious meals thrice a day and they have a comfortable bed to sleep in," Binay said. "This is our government's mandate to its people. Kailangan nating punan ang mga pagkukulang. Tama lamang na ating alagaan ang ating mga nakatatanda at mga kabataan," she said.
Press Release

October 12, 2017 De Lima laments SC ruling on her case, commends 6 justices Senator Leila M. de Lima today lamented the Supreme Court (SC) decision dismissing her petition to dismiss the trumped-up illegal drug trade charges against her and release her from detention. De Lima said while the SC decision legitimizes oppression and political persecution, the six magistrates who dissented from the main ruling have proven that one can stay true to sworn duty amid political pressures. "I am deeply saddened and pained by the Supreme Court decision dismissing my petition. I had hoped that the justices who decided against my petition can feel the pain of someone who is sent to prison and yet is innocent of any crime, and has merely fallen victim to the strong arm of the State and the President's deeply-rooted vengeance against her," she said in a Dispatch from Crame No. 181. "The SC's majority decision tells us the extent to which Dutertism has distorted reason, suppressed the truth and rejected the primacy of conscience... I take heart though in the thought that six (6) dissenters - all venerable magistrates - stood their ground. I honor them with a profound thanks and admiration for their courage and fealty to their sworn duty," she added. Last Oct. 10, the High Court in a vote of 9-6, rejected the motion filed by Senator De Lima seeking her release from detention and the nullification of the charges against her before the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court. The tribunal claimed the regional trial court and not the Sandiganbayan has jurisdiction over De Lima's case. De Lima earlier noted that the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 405 has committed grave abuse of discretion in issuing an arrest warrant while she still has a pending motion to quash. The six justices who dissented from the main ruling include Maria Lourdes Sereno, Antonio Carpio Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Francis Jardeleza, and Marvic Leonen. The Senator from Bicol said her lawyers will file a motion for reconsideration, and will continue to appeal to the sense of fairness and justice of the Court. "There is no other recourse but to go on fighting, especially when one is innocent as I truly am. Every day spent behind bars on bogus charges brings pain and untold sufferings. But it also strengthens resolve," she said. "Every single moment in prison serves as a reminder to me of the injustice being committed on thousands of others out there who are not only deprived of their liberty, but of their very right to exist. To go on fighting is the least I can do for them and their loved ones," she added. While she hopes to be vindicated from all the trumped-up drug charges filed against her, De Lima said she is ready to face whatever struggles - be it indefinite deprivation of liberty - will come her way. "On a more personal reflection, I say this in all candor - While I deeply yearn for it from day one of my most unjust detention, I have no illusion about attaining vindication for as long as my persecutors remain in power," she said. " If it fulfills God's purpose that I'm deprived of my liberty indefinitely, I completely and unqualifiedly accept it. I'm letting go and let God work in His own divine ways," she noted. In these challenging times, De Lima asked for continued prayers and support not just for herself but also for her family who continue to stand by her.
Press Release

October 12, 2017 PDEA at the Helm Restores Integrity of Drug War, Ends Killings - Gatchalian Senator Win Gatchalian on Thursday expressed optimism that the designation of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as the sole agency authorized to conduct anti-illegal drug operations would restore the integrity of the government's campaign against illegal drugs and put an end to the killings perpetrated by police scalawags. In a memorandum dated October 10, 2017 and made public yesterday, President Rodrigo Duterte directed all government agencies (including the PNP) to leave to the PDEA the conduct of all campaigns and operations involving illegal drugs, as the government aims to "bring order" to its crusade against illegal drugs. "Endless public scandals involving corrupt, bloodthirsty cops have taken a disastrous toll on the credibility of the PNP in conducting anti-illegal drug operations. The President's order is the first step in professionalizing the government's campaign against illegal drugs," Gatchalian said. "Ultimately, I believe the President's decision will put an end to the bloodshed and make the streets safer for everyone, especially our children," he added. Noting that PDEA Director-General Aaron Aquino has already expressed concerns about the capacity of his agency to pursue the drug war without the help of PNP, Gatchalian said it would be necessary to beef up the manpower complement of the agency. The PDEA only has 1,274 Drug Enforcement Officers (DEOs), as of March 2017. "To ensure the PDEA will be equipped to carry out the President's directive, we need to recruit an army of professional anti-drug operatives who will be trained to conduct drug raids with integrity and due respect for the constitutional rights of drug personalities and civilian bystanders alike," the senator said. Meanwhile, Gatchalian also reiterated his proposal to equip PDEA operatives with body cameras in order to further boost accountability and transparency in the conduct of anti-drug operations. Gatchalian estimates that it would only cost P60-P140 million to procure body cameras for the PDEA DEOs in active service, depending on the technical specifications of the cameras to be procured. He proposed to source the funds from the budget currently allocated to the PNP for Oplan Double Barrel Reloaded, which is now unlikely to be implemented given the President's directive. "I still believe in the vision of a drug-free Philippines. However, after the deaths of Kian delos Santos, Carl Arnaiz, and all of the others who have fallen victim to the violence of this drug war, we must step back and reconsider the means being employed to achieve this vision. There is another path which leads to a drug-free Philippines, and it is paved with professionalism, accountability, transparency, and most importantly, respect for human life in all forms. This is the path we must take," said Gatchalian.
Press Release

October 12, 2017 CHANGING OF GUARD NOT ENOUGH, STOP AND SCRAP OPLAN TOKHANG

*Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on PDEA taking the lead in the government's anti-drug campaign The plan by President Rodrigo Duterte to let the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) lead the government's anti-drug campaign is not new. The PDEA has the primary mandate to push for efficient law enforcement in the fight against illegal drugs. However, unless the government's current anti-drug strategy is radically overhauled and the country's security forces are thoroughly cleansed of scalawags, whether it is the PDEA or PNP, the anti-drug campaign will continue to be bloody, abusive and prone to corruption. Hindi lang implementers ang may problema. Mas lalo na ang polisiya. Tokhang under the PDEA would still be Tokhang. Instead of a mere changing of the guard in the government's anti-drug campaign, what is needed is for Oplan Tokhang to be stopped and scrapped. "Alternative drug law enforcement strategy" As an alternative to Oplan Tokhang, the government must implement a "rules-based and modern drug law enforcement strategy" to address the country's drug problem. The authorities must bring the campaign to the big-time drug lords instead of simply targeting the poor. Our authorities must focus on crimes associated with big drug operations, such as money laundering and extortion. The government must also strengthen border control at international airports and seaports and heighten operations against cross-country narco trafficking. "Public health approach" I also call on the government to strengthen its public health approach to the drug problem. The government must provide a comprehensive public health approach to the country's drug policy and establish appropriate barangay-based programs and services for drug-related issues and concerns. I reiterate, more than a peace and order concern, the drug problem is a fundamental health issue. "Reallocate Tokhang budget to PNP provident fund" As to the P 900 Million budget of the PNP for Oplan Tokhang, I will move for its reallocation to other important programs such as augmenting the provident fund of our rank-and-file police personnel, and their capability enhancement program. Lastly, I will see to it that the investigation of the cases of extrajudicial killings that happened during the time of PNP-led Tokhang will push through. Just because there is a changing of the guard in the government's anti-drug campaign doesn't mean that we've also had a change of heart in our pursuit of truth, justice and accountability. It's deplorable that the government is tweaking its anti-drug campaign to simply address President Duterte's declining public satisfaction and trust ratings. It seems that the government has high regard for survey results but not for people's lives. We will not allow this government to sweep under the rug the atrocities of its bloody drug war.
Press Release

October 12, 2017 Legarda Champions Makatao Budget, Increases Funds for Social Services Senator Loren Legarda has augmented the budget for the rehabilitation of the 71 social welfare and activity centers and 48 Bahay Pagasa juvenile detentions-- which will include purchase, repair, and maintenance of amenities and facilities--and construction of new ones all over the country. During the budget deliberations on the proposed 2018 budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said that the highest allocation or 37.8% of the P3.767-trillion proposed 2018 budget is intended for social services--describing the budget as pro-people or makatao. "We should treat everyone with respect and dignity, including the poor. Our social welfare and activity centers serve as temporary homes for the underprivileged men, women, children, and elderly to support them until such time that they could get back on their feet," Legarda said. "Despite having limited capacity, it has been the policy of DSWD not to refuse anyone from entering their centers, which results in congested buildings and dilapidated facilities and amenities. By rehabilitating and establishing new centers, we reinforce their capability to accommodate and serve more families," she added. In the Senate version of the proposed 2018 national budget, P2-billion has been allocated for the repair, rehabilitation, and construction of DSWD centers nationwide. Legarda also welcomed the proposal of additional P1-billion to be used for Capital Outlay and Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses. The Senator also welcomed the proposal to increase the pension for our senior citizens. She also committed to seek funding for the additional six juvenile detention centers being requested by local government units with high incidence of children in conflict with the law, such as in Naga, Carcar, Talisay, Bohol, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga City. "Our government should be investing in a country where the poor are treated with dignity, our elderly are able to retire comfortably, and our delinquent youth be able to reform properly. Our government should make this happen. As we increase funding for social services, we signify our commitment to providing for what is right and just for every Filipino," Legarda said.
MINORITY SENATORS STATEMENT RE EMAIL BREACH

SENATORS AQUINO, DE LIMA, DRILON, HONTIVEROS, PANGILINAN, TRILLANES

We in the political opposition are seriously concerned about several hacking incidents concerning the email addresses of our staff from the offices of Senators Kiko Pangilinan and Bam Aquino, and just now the official email addresses for releasing media statements of Sen. Pangilinan and the Liberal Party.

The nature of the breach in all instances is the same: Unauthorized users sent emails using the staff and party addresses. We have reported previous incidents to the National Bureau of Investigation and we await updates on the matter. We seek the help of the Senate President and the Senate sergeant-at-arms to look into the matter and to secure the services of experts.

These incidents seem to form part of a pattern to pin the political opposition for imaginary destabilization attempts. These are cause for concern as Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre spearheaded the creation of the Citizen National Guard, which says that dissent is destabilization.

Let us be clear. There is no destabilization plot. Dissent is not destabilization. Dissent is indispensable in a democracy.

Constitutional democracy protects the small voice, including the minority and the individual citizen, vis-a-vis the many and especially the all-powerful state.

Democracy ensures that the small voice is heard and not harassed to silence.
Press Release

October 12, 2017 Villanueva to file reso to look into the ERC's policy in ensuring stranded coal assets are not passed onto consumers Senator Joel Villanueva is set to file a resolution looking into the policy of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in ensuring that banks, developers, and distribution utilities investing in coal-fired projects are not passing on stranded assets to consumers. "We want to scrutinize if these banks and financiers have looked at the likelihood of stranded assets when they provided support to these power plants in correspondence to the proper implementation of environmental regulation, including a coal tax and a more effective energy competition policy," Villanueva said. Stranded coal plant assets or assets that are not delivering an economic return in line with the expectations from the project outset is a growing material and inevitable risk in the Philippines. Villanueva cited the recent report undertaken by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, and Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities titled "Carving out Coal in the Philippines: Stranded Coal Plant Assets and the Energy Transition" which explains how stranded coal assets is inevitable in the country and faces the possibility of becoming a growing material risk. Stranded coal asset cost is already being realized in Mindanao due to an oversupply of approximately 700 megawatts (MW) of coal and hydro in an island grid lacking national connectivity. From 2014 to 2016, stranded costs were conservatively equivalent to P3 billion (US$60 million). Overall, the country has 10,423 MW (US$20.8 billion) of largely imported coal expansion in its current pipeline. This runs on top of a total of 7,419 MW of existing coal-fired capacity. Citing the said data, Villanueva said the issue "raises serious concerns on the country's energy policy." "We have to make sure that consumers and taxpayers are not bearing the brunt of the disproportionate amount of risk brought by these stranded assets as compared to financers, developers, and distribution utilities," the senator added. The report further explained that the surplus of coal fired power has led to a downtrend in utilization rates as compared to original expectations. Conservatively, the underutilization cost in Mindanao alone from 2014 to 2016 is P3 billion (US$60 million). This cost is being borne by power producers and ratepayers. Moreover, Villanueva seeks to assess the policy of ERC on energy mix and use of renewable energy, and the level of consideration of the said agency and major distribution utilities like Meralco on the competitiveness of LNG (liquefied natural gas) and renewable energy in addressing a significantly rising share of demand growth. Aside from the possibility of stranded coal assets in leading to higher electricity rates shouldered by consumers, it also runs the risk of acquiring losses for investors. "Stranded asset risk across the coal-fired electricity-generation sector is rising, driven by an overbuild of coal-fired plants and a trend toward falling power prices, which in turn is driven by the deflationary nature of renewables and accelerating policies on retail competition. These trends may leave ratepayers at risk of having to pay above-market prices or the execution of the carve-out clause which means the project may not deliver an economic return in line with the expectations from the project outset. This may affect the ability to service debt and return prospects of the equity investor," the report explained. Taxing coal Villanueva also highlighted the situation of coal plants which are running at risk of a coal tax. At present, the Department of Finance is geared to update the 20-year old excise tax on coal. From P10 per metric ton, the Department targets to increase the coal tax to P20 per metric ton. During the Senate deliberations on Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN), Villanueva reiterated the objective of his filed measure, Senate Bill 1223, which amends PD 972 or the Coal Mining Development Act of 1976 wherein the senator intends to repeal the excise tax exemption enjoyed by coal mining industry for more than 40 years. "We would like to note that, under the current rate of P10/metric ton, the government had foregone up to P120 million in excise taxes on locally produced coal in 2016, given our local production of 12 million metric ton of coal in the same year," Villanueva stressed. "Aside from the millions of foregone excise taxes on locally produced coal, government regulations have long neglected the environmental and health impacts caused by coal-fired plants being borne by consumers. Thereby, we deem it necessary to put a marginal increase in coal excise tax in exchange to coal's adverse health and pollution costs," Villanueva said.
Press Release

October 12, 2017 Villar asks Coast Guard to help spur agricultural growth Senator Cynthia A. Villar exhorted the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to continue to help boost the country's agricultural sector and eventually alleviate the lives of farmers and fisherfolks. Speaking during the launch of the PCG Auxiliary Eco Projects and Awarding of Fishery Livelihood Assistance in Subic Bay, Zambales, Villar acknowledged that the activities and projects of the group are in consonance with her advocacies and priorities. "Like what I said last year, when I was conferred the honorary rank of Commodore by the Philippine Coast Guard, I really feel a social kinship in our Coast Guard because your mandate is not only maritime security but also marine protection," said Villar. As an environmentalist and chair of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, Villar said protection of the environment is among those closest to her heart. In particular, she said "protecting our marine environment, which is also among the mandates of the Coast Guard, is important for the fisheries sector." Moreover, as chair of the Senate Agriculture and Food committee, Villar said she has greater appreciation of protecting our environment, being a "source" of food. "Yes, there is a huge link between that and our agriculture sector and the future food security. We know that the fisheries sector is a big part of our agriculture sector," said Villar. She related that agriculture contributes over 10 percent to the country's Gross Domestic Product and fisheries contributes 15 to 18 percent to the agriculture sector. The senator also said she has not stopped in pushing for legislative measures which would help improve the sector that would redound to the benefits of farmers and fisherfolks, who comprise majority or 40 percent of Filipinos living below the poverty line. She cited the passage into law of Republic Act 10654 or the Act to prevent, deter, and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The enactment of the law, Villar noted, was instrumental in the lifting of the yellow tag imposed by the European Union, which if not immediately addressed, would cause a ban on the exportation of our fish products in Europe--one of the country's largest markets. The senator said the new law provides stricter guidelines and higher penalties for illegal fishers. She said this would help the fisheries sector since the penalties will be allocated for fishery law enforcement and assistance to poor fisherfolks.
Jonny Gomes is often called the Pride of Petaluma, and starting this weekend, the town will have even more reason to be proud of the former As outfielder.

Gomes, 36, is shipping his 2 1/2-ton M35 military truck to his hometown and he told The Chronicle that hell be driving it around to help move burned out vehicles and clear roadways in the wake of the Wine Country fires. Hes also planning to help keep a watch out for looters in evacuated neighborhoods.

Its pretty simple, Gomes said by phone from his home in Arizona. Ive never had anything hit so close to home. We donate to cancer research, to support the troops, all sorts of causes, but when 1,000 people in your life are affected by one thing, it really hits you. Ive got buddies who left their houses at 4 a.m. and realized that what they had in their pockets and in their car was 100 percent all they had left, and their homes were vaporized. Its crazy, man, just brutal.

Gomes older brother, Joey, was evacuated from his Santa Rosa home in the early hours Monday and he and his family have not been allowed to return. Their place might be there, and it might not be, Jonny Gomes said.

Gomes, who attended Casa Grande High School and Santa Rosa Junior College, has started a GoFundMe.com page to raise funds to help victims of the fires in the affected counties at www.gofundme.com/707Relief.

Theres no overhead and the money will 100 percent be going to people in need, Gomes said. And Ill be there to see how I can help. Ive heard there are 5,000 cars that need to get hauled out and there arent enough tow trucks because so many of them burned. Im what I like to call fake retired so I can go do that and then get a cooler and sit in a neighborhood to make sure nothing gets looted. Im going to put my energy wherever its most needed.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser
Calistoga, where people go to get away, seems to have gone away itself. The mud and mineral baths and the Merlot are still there. But the people who traffic in it, by and large, arent.

Before most of California had awakened Wednesday, police and firefighters were telling residents and tourists to pack up and hit Highway 29, due south, fast. An evacuation advisory for much of the town came down about 3:30 a.m., and residents north of Grant Street woke to knocks at their doors.

The winds are shifting, officers said. The Tubbs Fire, which had killed at least 13 people since starting Sunday night, could be on its way. About half of the citys 5,000 residents left quickly, while others stayed behind, hoping the fire would continue to spare them.

But by 3 p.m., evacuation was no longer optional. It was mandatory. PLEASE LEAVE IMMEDIATELY ... TAKE YOUR PETS AND MEDICATION, read the alert. Within 30 minutes, a stream of cars took to Grant Street and hung a right on Highway 29.

Similar scenes played out across Wine Country and beyond as a series of fires lurched into new areas. Later Wednesday, 30 miles to the southeast, authorities issued an optional evacuation advisory for some of the city of Napas eastern neighborhoods.

This owed to the approach of a separate fire, the Atlas Fire, and many people took the option to leave.

Calistoga, in the northwest of Napa County, is a community known not for anxiety but the relief of it. Travelers come for the baths and the wine and pay big money for each. A mud bath is said to be at least as therapeutic as any wine bottle at the high-end restaurants in town.

On Wednesday, the spas were closed. The restaurants were shut. The hotels were deserted. Smoke and ash drifted from the sky. Cars were gone. Downtown Calistoga looked to be preparing for the worst.

Calistoga Spa said its $99 mud baths were closed due to the fire, and the Golden Haven Spa said its $99 mud baths had ceased operation until further notice. Police closed roads in every direction for about 10 miles around.

Smoldering ruins lined other major roadways in Napa County. Up in the hills, where the Tubbs Fire roared through Sunday night, fallen trees, wires and power lines littered roadways. Many houses were no longer structures but tangles of charred remains strewn over scorched earth.

Sandy McNair, 63, rode his red bicycle through Calistoga.

Its eerie down there, he said after he returned to his home in the evacuation zone. By the afternoon, McNair had left town in his truck, taking his bicycle with him.

Gianni Busato, 52, said he was staying put. He had spent the day watering his roof, his yard, his fence and everything in between. He was in good spirits, joking as he worked, drinking a beer afterward.

Busato and his neighbors on Arch Way had loaded their vehicles with clothes, food and their most prized possessions, just in case. The cars were parked facing their escape route, keys in ignitions.

We know that if the time comes when we have to go, well go, said J.J. Stivers, 55, who spent 12 years as a Calistoga firefighter. But in the meantime, were going to wet the hell out of this place and see what happens.

The police, who told everyone to leave, werent arresting anyone who stayed. They spent much of the day marking the streets and sidewalks in front of homes with orange and pink spray paint. A giant zero meant no one was home. A giant X meant someone was home but refused to leave. And a giant check mark meant that someone was there and planned to evacuate. The marks in front of the dwellings of the faithful gave the streets of Calistoga an Old Testament look.

Busato said hed leave when Stivers, the retired firefighter, and his wife, Theresa, left. And Stivers said he wasnt leaving. He was eating pot roast instead.

Then, around 7:30 p.m., Stivers changed his mind. And Busato changed his, too. The wind was predicted to kick up to 50 mph overnight, and Stivers said he didnt want to stay up into the wee hours, keeping vigil.

So the neighbors piled into their cars and headed off to spend the night in an RV that Stivers had parked in a field outside of town and, with any luck, out of harms way.

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.

Because fires threatened both ends of the Napa Valley, even centrally located Yountville, where no community evacuations had been ordered by Wednesday, was deserted. Throughout the town center, many stores were closed, and a few people walked around wearing face masks.

At the Veterans Home of California, a few residents ambled around the campus. Some sat outside in the smoky air, while others waited for a campus bus. The night before, around 130 elderly and medically fragile veterans were relocated to other skilled-nursing facilities.

To the south, swaths of Solano County that had ben evacuated over the past couple of days were smoky and desolate Wednesday as officials warned of the imminent arrival of gusty winds.

The roads around Fairfield were eerily empty and were being tended by folks from afar. A Hayward police officer was patrolling the streets, and a fire truck from Salem, Ore., was dousing the still smoldering patches of earth.

At Glashoff Farms, a historic blackberry farm on Williams Road, the plants were still there. The horses and cows were there. But the Glashoffs appeared to have cleared out.

Near Wooden Valley Road northwest of Fairfield, an area where acres of land burned down to nothing on Tuesday night, David Capp drove an ATV around his vineyard to survey the damage.

These are a complete loss, he said, as he stopped his truck to point out vines with crumpled leaves.

Capp, who runs Capp Heritage Vineyard with his family, said those vines once held the promise of A grade Cabernet and Merlot. But now, he said, hell have to yank them out of the ground, plant new vines and wait at least five years for them to grow.

Marissa Lang, Trisha Thadani, Hamed Aleaziz and Steve Rubenstein are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mlang@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchronicle.com, haleaziz@sfchronicle.com, srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @marissa_jae, @trishathadani, @haleaziz, @SteveRubeSF
As fires that would prove devastating burned across the North Bay late Sunday, Sonoma County considered sending a mass alert to cell phones in the region to warn of the rapidly spreading flames. But county officials decided against it, worried that doing so might create widespread panic and hinder the ability of first responders to combat the blazes.

Its unclear how much that decision might have affected area residents responses to the deadly wildfires, particularly since many cell phone towers were destroyed in the blaze, making such messages undeliverable. But it adds to concerns that some in the fires paths were not alerted about the danger, leaving them little time to flee.

As of Wednesday evening, 13 people were confirmed dead in the Sonoma County fires, and officials expected the total to rise.

In the early hours of the blaze, officials at the Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Services Department discussed sending something similar to an Amber Alert to cell phones in the area, but chose not to since it would have gone to tens of thousands of people not in immediate danger.

The type of warning, called a Wireless Emergency Alert, can only target phones in large geographic areas, according to Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Services Coordinator Zachary Hamill, who made the decision not to send the wireless alert together with the countys emergency manager, Christopher Helgren.

If I had done the Wireless Emergency Alert I would have been notifying Petaluma, Cotati, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, Sonoma  all of the cities and unincorporated areas in the county, Hamill said. And I didnt need to do that, I needed to focus on who specifically needed help. Jennifer Larocque, a spokeswoman for Sonoma County, said that sending such a widespread warning could have made it hard for first responders to combat the fire and help those in need.

Providing mass information to people not affected could have caused mass traffic backups, which could have impacted emergency service providers and delayed emergency response, Larocque said.

The Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Services Department is one of dozens of California agencies that can send Wireless Emergency Alerts, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the service. All major cell phone carriers have the technology, and everyone targeted by the alerts receives them unless they have actively opted not to get them.

Use of the alerts  in which only 90 characters can be transmitted  has seen mixed success in California when used for wildfire warnings.

Although there have been few instances of the alerts being deployed in situations similar to the Wine Country fires, on at least one occasion the technology seemed to create more confusion than help. In June, a swath of Southern California was ordered to evacuate now as crews battled a fire in Riverside County. Neighboring police and fire departments took to social media to explain the order did not apply to their areas.

Rather than deploy the wireless alert system, Sonoma County emergency officials tried to warn residents and issue evacuation orders through multiple avenues, including broadcasting on the radio, robo-calling residents, sending email and text alerts and physically knocking on doors or announcing orders through P.A. systems.

Still, many people, some in areas decimated by the fires, said they never received an official warning and fled only after being awakened by the smell of smoke, the sound of sirens, or neighbors pounding on their doors.

One of the warnings was a reverse 911 call, which went out to all landline telephones in unincorporated parts of Sonoma County. We can circle this neighborhood, and it will call all those houses, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said at a Wednesday news conference.

Now Playing: Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano gives a midday update on the wildfires affecting the county on Wednesday, October 11, 2017. Video: Sonoma County Sheriff's Office

Along with automated calls to landlines, the county has other alert systems for cell phones, but they are available only to those who register to receive them. If you dont sign your cell phone up, you dont get that service, Giordano said.

One system, called Nixle, is widely used by law enforcement. Joel Rosen, chief marketing officer of Nixles parent company Everbridge, said that prior to the fires, about 300,000 people in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties were signed up to receive the alerts, about a third of the total population. Since the fires began, the number of people signed up for alerts has sharply increased, Rosen said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Another emergency notification system in Sonoma County, SoCo Alerts, had 10,557 people signed up in mid-June. Just 7,658 of those were in Santa Rosa  a city of more than 175,000 that was devastated by the fire.

Santa Rosa Fire Department spokesman Paul Lowenthal helped make the call to evacuate parts of the city early Monday morning as the Tubbs Fire raced toward residential and commercial neighborhoods. When emergency responders arrived to help residents, smoke was already choking the air, embers were falling, and cell service was out, he said.

During your typical California wildfire you craft messages, get evacuation plans, run them through law enforcement and operations and everyone agrees on them and works out sheltering needs, Lowenthal said. This was not that type of incident. ... This was nothing like anything I have ever experienced around here.

Hamill, emergency coordinator of the Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Services Department, said the county will review its decision not to issue a Wireless Emergency Alert when they are no longer fighting the blaze.

Its possible we could have said, Hey, be on the lookout, if you feel like your life is in danger, please evacuate, but we didnt obviously, Hamill said. Weve never done an evacuation to this scale ever before, so this will have to be one of those after action items we review and determine how we can do this better next time.

Joaquin Palomino and Kimberly Veklerov are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jpalomino@sfchronicle.com, kveklerov@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JoaquinPalomino, @Kveklerov
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The fight to save the North Bay from further devastation as the flames from three major fires continue to bear down on communities there is both harrowing and difficult, as firefighters attempt to outflank fast-moving, wind-whipped blazes.

We are at very low containment on most of these, said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the state Office of Emergency Services. These fires are literally burning faster than firefighters can run.

As the flames threatened neighborhoods, Cal Fire requested 60 additional hand crews, planes and other firefighting equipment from any state in the country that can lend a hand to exhausted firefighters, who have stretched the available resources to the maximum. Some 8,000 firefighters are battling two dozen fires around the state.

Now Playing: Wine Country Fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle

Dave Baldwin, of the California National Guard, said 1,800 soldiers and airmen joined the 330 law enforcement personnel working the fire.

The work is expected to be even harder as 30 mph winds and a dry 8 percent humidity were forecast in the area.

Make no mistake, this is a serious, critical, catastrophic event, Ken Pimlott, the chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, said of the Wine Country blazes. These fires aren't just in the backwoods. These fires are burning in and around and through developed communities.

The biggest conflagrations are the Atlas Fire, which spread overnight and has now burned 42,000 acres in Napa County and the Tubbs Fire, which has blackened 25,000 acres near Santa Rosa.

Pimlott said law enforcement officers and firefighters went door-to-door overnight pulling people out of their homes as the front of the Atlas fire moved over a ridge into Solano County. Pimlott said things could get worse as the wind kicks up late Wednesday and he expects several of these fires will merge.

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.

Fire officials launched a full-scale siege Wednesday against the fires, with 73 helicopters, 30 air tankers, including a converted 747 airplane, and 550 fire engines rumbling over and around the fires.

Some of the tankers were unable to fly Tuesday because thick smoke was lingering over the fire areas, blocking pilots views, but that wasnt a problem Wednesday, Pimlott said.

Even so, he said, the first priority, as it has been since the fires began Sunday, is saving lives and property. He urged people under evacuation orders to get out and stay out. California Highway Patrol reported rescues of 44 people, 5 dogs and two cats as flames approached on Tuesday.

The potential continues to exist for peril if people don't get out of the way of these fires, Pimlott said. These are going to be unpredictable fires in the next couple of days.

Ghilarducci added: Its all hands are on deck for this particular situation. We will continue this pace, we will continue to support this, until this situation is mitigated.

This is one of the biggest, most serious, fire events in California, said Gov. Jerry Brown. It's not over... We have people living in communities and cities and very developed situations that are close to forests and brush that becomes kindling.
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Michael Pace woke up Monday morning and quickly grasped the scope of the disaster that had set Wine Country ablaze.

I could see the fires burning, said Pace, who lives in Novato and works in San Francisco as the West Coast area general manager for the company that owns the Clift hotel.

He decided to hold available rooms at the Clift for people affected by the fires, and offered a $99 rate  including free breakfast and parking  to evacuees. Those who lost their homes could stay free for a few weeks. Running out of space, he converted meeting rooms into bedrooms and even added some rollaways to the boardroom.

We just wanted to do whatever we could, said Pace.

Throughout the Bay Area, hotel managers are rapidly shifting their plans. Some hotels are already full, because fall is a popular time for conventions. But many in the East Bay and San Francisco are receiving a flood of inquiries from people fleeing the fires, or hoping to relocate events. Some North Bay hotels that remain open are packed with firefighters, evacuees and journalists; others are seeing cancellations.

Its been very hectic and quite crazy, said Stefan Muhle, area managing director for Noble House Hotels & Resorts, which runs the Argonaut and Hotel Zoe in San Francisco. In addition to evacuees, the hotel has been hearing from stranded tourists who had planned to go to Wine Country and people whose flights to or from San Francisco International Airport were canceled because of the smoke. Its also housing some displaced staff members and offering help to friends and families of affected employees.

Noble House has already relocated a corporate meeting, scheduled to be held at the companys River Terrace Inn in Napa, to the Argonaut and Hotel Zoe next week.

For many event planners, finding a new venue may not be easy.

Its a very busy time right now anyway, said Kevin Carroll, executive director of the Hotel Council of San Francisco. Conventions are in full swing, with Oracles OpenWorld just over and Salesforces Dreamforce scheduled for early November in San Francisco.

Madison August, events and marketing manager at the Berkeley City Club, said the hotel was in talks to host some relocated weddings (in addition to taking in several families who escaped the fires). It is working with other venues in the area to compile a list of places available on particular days  so if were not available, we can refer them to someone, August said.

Like the Clift and the Noble hotels, the Berkeley City Club is offering special rates to evacuees. (The Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau has a list on its website of hotels with discounted rates: www.sonomavalley.com/fire.) Airbnb, the short-term lodging service, is encouraging hosts in parts of the Bay area to offer space in their homes to those affected.

McCalls Catering and Events in San Francisco has had a few calls from people trying to relocate their weddings, some in a panic state, said Lucas Schoemaker, the companys president.

Hes also scrambling to get enough wine for his events. Where we usually get 20 cases from some distributors, we are now only getting five cases, he said. Deliveries from American Canyon now need a 10-day window instead of one, he said.

The challenges for event planners will continue in the weeks and months ahead.

Ben Maul plans to get married in Santa Rosa on Nov. 18. The 124-room Fountaingrove Inn, where the couple had intended to house 20 to 30 wedding guests, burned.

We still have our house, you know, and thats better than I can say for a lot of people, Maul said. Even so, This is a lot of excitement we did not need to have happen. He lives with his fiancee in Santa Rosa, so the solution, he said, may include having more people stay at his home and friends homes. Were going to have to be more inventive.

The Vintners Inn, where the couple plans to hold their ceremony, has so far escaped the fires. So the wedding is still on.

If the Vintners doesnt make it, well just have to go get Elvis to marry us in Vegas, Maul said wryly.

Kate Galbraith is the San Francisco Chronicles assistant business editor. Email: kgalbraith@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kategalbraith
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Keysight Technologies CEO Ron Nersesian had just finished a presentation at a conference in Stuttgart, Germany, Monday morning when he received an alarming text message.

Theres a large wildfire dangerously close to the companys headquarters in Santa Rosa, the text said. Neighbors are in evacuation mode. Were shutting down the site immediately.

Nersesian immediately flew back to San Francisco and drove to the North Bay. As the leader of a publicly traded high-tech firm worth $7.9 billion, Nersesian is accustomed to managing through tough problems. But nothing in his experience remotely came close to the destruction he saw: dozens of fast-moving wildfires had consumed hundreds of thousands of acres and destroyed 3,000 homes and businesses, most of them on the northern edge of Santa Rosa.

Its just devastating, Nersesian said by phone Wednesday on his way to visit the damaged headquarters. You hear about these things, but they happen to other parts of the world.

In many ways, Nersesian, a former Eagle Scout, and Keysight were well prepared for the crisis. For example, in case of a natural disaster like an earthquake, the company had stashed an emergency stockpile of supplies and parts needed to make its electronic measurement technology in a bunker in Colorado Springs.

Keysight was the original business founded by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in 1939. Hewlett-Packard spun it off into Agilent Technologies in 1999, which, in turn, spun out Keysight in 2013. The company generated nearly $3 billion in revenue last year.

On the plane ride home, Nersesian immediately set up a crisis management leadership team, including an incident commander, who would be responsible for making all decisions until Nersesian returned, and a lead communicator, who would manage all communications with employees, the board of directors, the media and investors.

Since the headquarters were in a no-go zone, Nersesian immediately went to the command center the company had temporarily set up at the home of an executive in Santa Rosa. The company later moved the command center to a business park in San Rafael.

The first order of business was to account for the 1,500 employees who work at the headquarters. As of Wednesday morning, Keysight had reached all but 200. Nersesian learned that one employee was in critical condition with severe burns at UC Davis Medical Center. Fires destroyed 33 employees homes and forced hundreds of people to evacuate.

Keysight then set up telephone hotlines for employees who needed water, medicine and temporary housing. The company will pay out $10,000 to employees who lost homes and provide $1,000 to each worker forced to evacuate. Those employees do not have to repay the company. Keysight also established a location in Santa Rosa where employees could meet, exchange information, and drop off goods.

But as in any crisis, leaders must confront unforeseen problems on the fly.

On Monday night, a television station aired a report that suggested that fires had completely destroyed Keysights corporate headquarters. In reality, the fires destroyed three smaller, outlying buildings and cars in the parking lots, but the companys four main buildings suffered only minor damage.

But the report caused panic, said Nersesian, who was flooded with calls from employees, investors and customers. It created a lot of emotional shock to employees. It really complicated things.

Luckily for Keysight, the station aired the report after the stock markets closed Monday evening, which allowed the company to send out a press release with the correct information before Wall Street trading opened the next day. (Keysights stock price rose Tuesday and Wednesday.)

Keysight was extremely fortunate. Photos from the Associated Press at the site appeared to show fires burning and extensive damage to structures.

As it turns out, Keysight owns about 200 mostly wooded acres. The buildings sit on just 95 of those acres. The four main buildings are surrounded on all sides by large surface parking lots, which absorbed the brunt of the fires.

We are unbelievably blessed, Nersesian said.

Hazardous materials teams are still combing through the property, but Nersesian said that the teams finished inspecting one building, which was still in good condition. He hoped to visit the site Wednesday, though police have been blocking people from the area.

The company does not plan to issue any new financial forecasts to Wall Street, Nersesian said. He did say that he doesnt expect much impact to operations, but that depends on the condition of the three other main headquarters buildings.

In any case, the wildfires offer some important lessons to corporate leaders.

Safety is first, second and third, Nersesian said. You dont care about short-term financial impact. That doesnt mean anything compared to the employees.

Make sure to take care of the employees and their families, he said.

People need you to keep a positive attitude.

Thomas Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: tlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByTomLee
Health organizations and providers of assisted living services are scrambling to coordinate the relocation of hundreds of seniors from nursing homes, collect medical supplies and deploy volunteers who can recognize signs of dementia or Alzheimers among the thousands of North Bay residents who have made their way to shelters set up in response to the Wine Country fires.

At least 20 senior living facilities have been fully or partially evacuated since the fires began Sunday, according to Bay Area representatives of the Alzheimers Association, which is tracking the relocations. Many residents of those homes  who range from seniors who live independently, to those who require assistance to eat, bathe and take medications  have relocated, or are being relocated, to facilities in San Francisco, the East Bay, Contra Costa County and Sacramento.

The Alzheimers Association is gathering staff and volunteers to go to evacuation centers to help workers recognize and care for evacuees with dementia who may wander off or become distressed, particularly after being moved abruptly to unfamiliar locations.

Weve heard from a couple shelters they have people who are walking out of the facility that they know are confused, said Claire Day, chief program officer for the association. Theyve been trying to bring them back into the shelter.

The group is also pulling together information to be sent to evacuation shelters and nursing homes that are now housing the evacuees, about how volunteers, staff, or perhaps even fellow evacuees can help enroll people with dementia or Alzheimers in the MedicAlert emergency response system, which family members can use to track down a missing loved one. Typically, those who have MedicAlert will wear an identification bracelet noting their condition and how to contact family members, but Day said merely having a persons name and description in the system can help family members locate their loved ones.

Usually its a family member that fills out the application and sends a picture, she said. Were working on developing a plan to fast-track that, so people can get enrolled quickly.

Episcopal Senior Communities, the nonprofit that operates several senior homes in the Bay Area, relocated more than 50 residents from its Santa Rosa facility, Spring Lake Village, to its facilities at Oaklands St. Pauls Towers and San Francisco Towers.

Home Care Assistance, a Palo Alto-based company that provides assisted living services for seniors, has been working the last 48 hours to get supplies out to assisted living centers that got a sudden influx of new residents such as Belmont Village of Albany, which took in many evacuated seniors from Santa Rosas Oakmont area.

Jesse Walters, the companys director of Bay Area operations, said he has not heard about any severe shortages of supplies  but he was en route to Target on Wednesday afternoon to buy bodywash for 100 people. Home Care Assistance firm is accepting donated diapers, underpads, sanitary wipes, latex medical gloves, walkers, wheelchairs, canes and other supplies for the elderly or infirm who have had to evacuate senior living facilities.

Those who are trying to locate a loved one with dementia or Alzheimers can call the Alzheimers Associations 24-hour hotline at 800-272-3900 and be directed to a list of senior living facilities that have been evacuated.

Those who wish to donate diapers and other supplies can visit the website for Home Care Assistance or call 650-462-9501. Monetary donations for this purpose can also be made to the Red Cross or Episcopal Senior Communities.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho

North Bay nursing homes evacuated

(List updated as of Oct. 11, 6 p.m. Pacific)

Oakmont Gardens (949) 242-1470

Evacuated to: Elsie Allen High School, 599 Bellevue Ave., Santa Rosa

Spring Lake Village ALF and SNF (925) 956-7427

Evacuated to: St. Paul's Towers, 100 Bay Pl., Oakland (510) 835-4700

Spring Lake Village ALF and SNF (925) 956-7427

Evacuated to: San Francisco Towers, 1661 Pine St., San Francisco (415) 776-0500

Oakmont of Villa Capri Memory Care (707) 353-5052

Evacuated to: Belmont Village, 1100 San Pedro Ave Albany (510) 525-4554

Oakmont Terraces Memory Care (707) 353-5052

Evacuated to: Belmont Village, 1100 San Pedro Ave., Albany (510) 525-4554

Oakmont at Varenna (707) 353-5052

Evacuated to: Oakmont Montecito, 4756 Clayton Rd., Concord (707) 674-6134

Oakmont Fountaingrove Lodge (707) 353-5052

Evacuated to: Oakmont Montecito, 4756 Clayton Rd., Concord (707) 674-6134

Oakmont of Villa Capri ALF (707) 353-5052

Evacuated to: Oakmont Montecito, 4756 Clayton Rd., Concord (707) 674-6134

Brookdale Fountaingrove Memory Care (877) 400-5296

Evacuated to: Brookdale Fairfield, 3350 Cherry Hills Ct., Fairfield (707) 682-4758

Brookdale Fountaingrove SNF (877) 400-5296

Evacuated to: Smith Valley SNF, 1550 Silveira Pkwy.,San Rafael (415) 499-1000

Brookdale Fountaingrove ALF (877) 400-5296

Evacuated to: Brookdale Folsom, 780 Harrington Way, Folsom (916) 265-0799

Brookdale Fountaingrove ALF (877) 400-5296

Evacuated to: Brookdale Orangevale, 6125 Hazel Ave., Orangevale (844) 851-3284

Brookdale Chanate ALF (877) 400-5296

Evacuated to: Brookdale Diablo Rd., 950 Diablo Rd., Danville (925) 905-7478

Brookdale Chanate ALF (877) 400-5296

Evacuated to: Brookdale San Pablo, 13956 San Pablo Ave., San Pablo (510) 355-1150

Brookdale Paulin Creek IL (877) 400-5296

Evacuated to: Brookdale Vallejo Hills, 350 Locust Dr., Vallejo (707) 556-8667

Brookdale Paulin Creek Memory Care (877) 400-5296

Evacuated to: Brookdale Fairfield, 3350 Cherry Hills Ct., Fairfield (707) 682-4758

Brookdale Paulin Creek Memory Care (877) 400-5296

Evacuated to: Brookdale Napa, 3255 Villa Ln., Napa (707) 261-3681

Brookdale Paulin Creek ALF (877) 400-5296

Evacuated to: Brookdale San Ramon, 18888 Bollinger Canyon Rd., San Ramon (925) 905-7479

Vineyard at Fountaingrove

Evacuated to: sister community in Sacramento

Sunrise Villa Santa Rosa (800) 724-0266

Evacuated to: Other Sunrise communities

Friends House (541) 941-4745

Evacuated to: Elsie Allen HS, 599 Bellevue Ave., Santa Rosa

Friends House (541) 941-4745

Evacuated to: Meadows of Napa Valley, 1800 Atrium Pkwy., Napa (707) 257-7885

Friends House (541) 941-4745

Evacuated to: Cloverdale Hospital

Nursing homes not evacuated

Primrose Memory Care

Mirabel Lodge

Brookdale Napa

Aegis Napa

Meadows of Napa Valley
This Halloween, Gege wants to be a firefighter. Ill squirt whipped cream into your mouth, and into the fire, to put it out, he said.

Every time the local firehouse opens to the public, he and Didi climb into the trucks, study the equipment and proudly wear the gold shield stickers on their chests. When they had a chance to shoot jets of water from an extinguisher  aim low at the fire, and sweep from side to side  they were enthralled.

Firefighters help people, Gege said. The heroism, the uniform and the gadgets  its no wonder being a firefighter is a popular childhood ambition. Who wouldnt want to slide down the pole and into a fire engine below?

Weeks ago, we searched thrift stores for an outfit, but then I gave in and paid full price for the outfit: a tan jacket and pants with reflective tape, accessorized with a plastic fire extinguisher, a fake walkie-talkie, and two sturdy helmets  one black and silver, and the other red. He could get more wear out of the costume, I convinced myself, if I bought it at the beginning of October, and let him start dressing up.

Last Sunday, the high winds woke me up in the middle of the night, rattling the windows and scattering redwood needles on the roof. I groggily looked online, wondering how fast the gusts were blowing, and discovered that the North Bay had gone up in flames  in what would become one of Californias worst fire disasters. Moments later, I caught a whiff of the smoke, the charred scent that haunted dreams throughout the region.

For many, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and points beyond are beloved places to visit  where we got engaged or married, went on a retreat or whiled away the afternoon with a bottle of wine. For many, theyre also beloved communities to live and work in. The fire didnt discriminate, claiming victims of all ages and backgrounds, and incinerating mansions and mobile homes alike. The photos and video footage of the inferno are apocalyptic  a word thats been used often in recent months as some fresh new hell visits this country, with hurricane upon hurricane, and the Las Vegas massacre.

Entire neighborhoods have been gutted, families and communities torn apart as the fire continues to grow. The losses sift over us, sinister black ash raining onto our back decks, and smudging the air. We reach out to friends, checking if theyre safe, and if they need our help. I ache for everyone faced with split-second, heart-wrenching decisions: How did they decide what to take, in a few minutes or less? It must have been terrifying to hear pounding at the door, and the warning they had to get out  now.

Geges firefighter costume has taken on a deeper meaning. Ive been thinking about the thousands of firefighters and their courage in this latest catastrophe, running toward the dangers that the rest of us flee. They beat back flames, and move in to rescue and to recover, inspiring us to help in the ways that we can: donating to food banks serving fire victims, contributing to fundraisers for first responders who lost everything in the blaze, opening our homes or volunteering at evacuation centers.

This week, Ive also been heartened by the brave women coming forward to report how Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein allegedly sexually harassed them. As reported in the New York Times and the New Yorker, their stories are horrifying and disturbing, yet sadly familiar, too.

In academia, in business, in politics  in every realm where men hold sway over women  victims stay silent, feeling guilty and stupid, and fearing theyll ruin their careers and their reputations, even as they surreptitiously try to warn other women to stay away. Ive had countless conversations when I was young, countless conversations now that Im older about sexual predators. All the while, those who harass remain in power. The complicit include those who turn a blind eye, write it off as a private matter, or joke about it.

Weinstein allegedly abused women for decades before victims joined forces  and institutions finally backed them  to topple him. By pulling together, the courageous can take on what seems impossible.

Though the country is deeply divided, these struggles bring us together. Neighbors help neighbors, in Houston, in Puerto Rico, in Las Vegas and in the Bay Area. Strangers lend a hand to strangers, despite differences of religion, gender, race and class.

I want to think thats who we truly are as Americans  or at least, who we can aspire to be.

Vanessa Hua is a Bay Area author. Her columns appear Fridays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com
The week in review was expressed in a pair of Facebook entries posted by one person minutes apart: My heart breaks for the thousands of evacuees from the wine country firestorm and the hundreds who have lost their homes/assets/wineries/restaurants/businesses. Also, Harvey sucks.

P.S. Have a Bad Day! was the name of a planned Thursday, Oct. 12 event at Modern Appealing Clothing on Grove Street. The clothing store had filed a class action lawsuit against Ivanka Trumps company alleging unfair competition, and the pop-up art show that was opening featured responses they received, some threatening and some funny. But what a bad day meant when the show was planned was nothing in comparison to the real Thursday, a smoke-filled bad day that choked the Bay Area. That nights event was canceled, the exhibition opening postponed until Oct. 19.

Country Joe McDonald emailed that he didnt watch Ken Burns and Lynn Novicks The Vietnam War documentary for many reasons. Friends told him, however, that his Woodstock performance of I Feel Like Im Fixin to Die Rag was part of the documentary, but of course they did not include The F Cheer. (The Chronicle wont spell it out, either.)

In the senseless slaughter of millions of Vietnamese and thousands of Americans, he says, they dont want to upset anyone by hearing 500,000 folks yelling out every soldiers favorite word, and a word that totally sums up how a whole generation felt about the war. Who needs 13 episodes when you could just have one cheer and a song taking up three minutes?

If people kneel in front of the flag at the White House, asks Janice Hough, will Trump leave?

On the middle island of Lombard Street the other day, Doug Kroll spotted a panhandler with a sign that said, Donations needed for DNA test. My partner may be my sister.

Berkeley Rep and Shotgun Players have raised $45,000 for hurricane relief. And Josh Kornbluth announced that all proceeds of his 7 p.m. Oct. 22 performance of Ben Franklin: Unplugged at TheatreFirst in Berkeley ($25 a person) would go to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico; the show sold out so quickly that hes thinking of adding another show.

Is there a connection between Franklin and Puerto Rico? For most of his life, Kornbluth emailed, Ben Franklins great project was to figure out ways that citizens could band together for the public good (or, as Franklin would have written it, the Public Good  they must not have had copy editors then). I am sure that if he were alive today, Ben would be at the forefront of organizing the logistics to bring desperately needed aid to our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico. And he definitely would have thrown himself into restoring their electricity.

Artist Paul Kos, designer of the First Responders Plaza on Third Street, says the huge bell that dominates the design has been repaired.

The ringing of the bell, cast by Paccard in France at a cost of $300,000 and unveiled in 2015, is controlled by computer. So as not to disturb nearby residents, it had been set to peal softly 20 seconds before noon, noon, and then 20 seconds after noon, to indicate all is well. But a year after its installation, that mechanism had broken down, and the bell couldnt be rung at all.

Last week, says Kos, a bell maker came to town, and thanks to Piccard Foundry, the San Francisco Arts Commission and Atthowe Fine Arts Services, the All is Well bell has her voice back. The note she rings is a D, two octaves below middle C.

As to whether the bell will ever be rung in full voice, well, the fat lady will never sing. Given the nature of the neighborhood, with UCSF, clinics and hospitals, Kaisers new facility and hundreds of new residential units, emailed Kos, she was never intended to ring at full volume.

P.S. The Arts Commission voted last week to begin the process of removing the Pioneer Monument statue, near the Main Library and the Asian Art Museum, because it depicts Native Americans as subjugated. Rik Myslewski has an alternate suggestion: Install bright red clown noses on the vaquero and Spanish missionary figures, then rework the face of the supine Native American to indicate that he has simply fallen down laughing at those two self-important bozos. Done.

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik

Public Eavesdropping

Its a simple question, but its a manipulation of my thought process.

Workman in the Presidio, overheard at the Warming Hut by Amanda Houston-Hamilton
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Smoke billowing from Wine Country wildfires is serving as a call to action for many West Coast food-truck vendors, some of whom are plotting forays into decimated portions of Santa Rosa where the depth of the historic fire damage is still being assessed.

City officials coordinating recovery efforts in Santa Rosa said they appreciate the outpouring of support from food trucks across the state, but timing and coordination are key in recovery efforts.

Were requesting they not mobilize for now. We have no idea of logistics, said Brandalyn Tramel with the city of Santa Rosa. Its nice, but right now, were focusing more on the basics: trying to get people water, fuel, generators.

The food-truck flurry can be traced to an early-Tuesday-morning tweet posted on the city of Santa Rosas official Twitter account calling for licensed and available food truck vendors. Within 24 hours, Tramel said there were more than 100 inquiries from vendors as far away as Oregon, most of whom were ready to come to Santa Rosa and surrounding areas immediately.

Were excited about the outreach, but right now, we just want to tell people to stand by, she said.

Now Playing: Wine Country Fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle

Among the San Francisco trucks ready to hit the road is Curry Up Now, which according to the chains food-truck manager, Josh Yazzie, had a Santa Rosa caravan in the works even before the citys public request for assistance.

Yazzie grew up in Sonoma County and, over the past few days, has had loved ones in the area lose and leave their homes.

Its a small gesture, what were doing, he said. The challenge at the moment is coordinating when and where people can go.

The Curry Up Now team wanted to expand the base of potential volunteers in San Francisco so it contacted roughly 80 of its food-truck cohorts. Among them was San Franciscos Taiwanese-style bao specialists, Chairman Bao, which started a GoFundMe page to address the costs associated with its plan to provide free meals to 500 people.

Owner Curtis Lam says the restaurant has the capacity to serve multiple locations and its willing to send our fleet if we can staff them.

Curry Up Now was told Wednesday afternoon that its truck could serve food at the Petaluma Police Department from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Yazzie said hes giving the emergency responders a list of trucks interested in coming to the area.

We have a grip of food trucks that want to go up and feed the people that are struggling. We dont want to get in the way, he said. We just want to help. We want to help soon.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
Robin and Diana Cavendish are a gorgeous couple, the embodiment of 1950s glamour. They are adventurous, too, spending the first years of their marriage in Africa where Robin brokers tea. But then polio strikes Robin, paralyzing him from the neck down and leaving him dependent on a ventilator. He is supposed to spend the rest of his life in a hospital. Instead, Diana takes her husband home.

In Breathe, Andy Serkis directorial debut, Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy play the real-life couple. Having worn Elizabeth IIs tiara for two seasons now on The Crown (season two debuts in December), Foy has already experienced playing a still-living, real-life person. But the queen is not available for consultation. Diana Cavendish, 84, was.

It was less about mining her for information or anything like that, but just spending time with her and seeing her genuinely, Foy says. Thats my job, anyway, to try to understand why people do what they do.  Shes a very no-nonsense, honest person, whos not afraid to be herself. I really admire that, but was kind of was like, Oh, god, Ive got to try to be like that, which was quite hard.

Getting the nuances of Diana Cavendishs personality was one thing, but the actress admits the role presented a unique challenge. For the woman who has portrayed Elizabeth II and Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall, and will play antisocial heroine Lisbeth Salander in The Girl in the Spiders Web, playing Diana was a leap into a different kind of role. Serkis elected to shoot Breathe mostly chronologically, so after those first scenes of courtship and newlywed bliss, Garfield was either in bed or a wheelchair.

I knew where he was at all times. Its a bit weird, Foy says. Andrew said I was a terrible nurse. I think hes a terrible patient. I was very aware of him and where he was and how he was feeling. Was he thirsty? Or was he uncomfortable? It was just a natural thing that ended up happening.

Foy emphasizes that the relationship that she and Garfield portray in Breathe is much more than that of a devoted couple struggling with a lifelong disability. Robin was only 28 when polio struck, and his long-term prognosis was bleak. Patients lived in iron lungs and rarely survived more than a dozen years. But Robin survived nearly four decades, succumbing in 1994 at 64, living more than half his life with paralysis as he and Diana became activists for the disabled. It was Robin, with Oxford professor Teddy Hall, who developed a wheelchair with a portable ventilator, the first of several innovations that would improve life for disabled people.

No one else was going to help them, Foy says. It came down to the people who were living those lives to try and change it. It seemed hopeless. Diana and Robin had the means and the ability and the energy and inventiveness to think, Come on, if the option is this for the rest of your life, then you might as well give up now. And if thats the case, then we might as well try this as another option.

It was no coincidence that Breathe should become Serkis first feature. The films producer and partner in the actors production company, Imaginarium Studios, is Jonathan Cavendish, Robin and Dianas son, who was still in the womb when his father became ill.

Breathe may be the story of Jonathan Cavendishs parents, but Foy credits Serkis for his vision in bringing this tale of a man bucking the odds against him to life. The directors next project is The Jungle Book, which will employ the motion-capture techniques that have served him so well in The Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes movies. With this more intimate drama, he impressed Foy with his handling of human emotions and motivations.

Andy approaches his life and everything he does without fear, Foy says. He really kept an eye on what he wanted to focus on and what he wanted to say. It was such an amazing feeling on set  it was like a family. A really weird family.

Pam Grady is a San Francisco freelance journalist. Twitter: @cinepam

Breathe (PG-13 ) opens Friday, Oct. 20 at Bay Area theaters
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Three days after the fast-moving wildfires turned entire neighborhoods in Californias Wine County to ash heaps, many are reuniting with lost family members while others are learning their missing loved ones didnt make it.

But for those looking for the hundreds of people still missing, its an anguished waiting game. With few answers coming in, hopes begin to dwindle.

For the friends of 40-year-old Mike Grabow, the hours since they last heard from him have been all-consuming.

Its been rough and Im in shock, said Eric Reimann, who grew up with Grabow in Idaho and considers him his brother. Ive dug through 2 feet of hot coals (at Grabows burned-down home) for two days. I dont know if Im doing damage or doing good. Im ... Im trying to get some answers for his mom.

Grabow last spoke to his close-knit group of friends on Sunday night as the Tubbs Fire became visible from his home on Mark West Springs Road in Santa Rosa.

In the hours that followed, the fire consumed whole neighborhoods, leveling hundreds of homes, including Grabows. When his friends checked in with each other the next morning, they came to a troubling realization: Grabow couldnt be found.

The first day we were searching around, spreading the word through our friend group and reaching out to his extended family, said Rachel Ingram, 28. We went to every shelter in the area and went to almost every hospital.

Now Playing: The remains of the Journey's End mobile home park and Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel after the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa, Calif. on Tuesday, October 10, 2017. Video: Elijah Nouvelage, Special to The Chronicle

The next day, Ingram and the others took to social media, posting pictures of their friend, asking anyone who knows anything to get in touch. Ingram even drove south to San Rafael on Wednesday after getting a tip someone had seen Grabow at a grocery store there.

She headed back to Santa Rosa after leaving notes every place she could think of, hoping someone would read them and call her with good news.

Weve gone through every facet and every outlet that we can, Ingram said. We basically divided and conquered as much as we could.

They arent alone in their agonizing search. Law enforcement officials have been going through hundreds of reports of missing people in recent days. In some cases, it has been as simple as damaged cell phone towers and spotty Internet thats kept families from reuniting.

But for others, the outcomes have been heartbreaking.

Im optimistic we will get a lot of people connected, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said Wednesday. At the same time, we have to be realistic. At a certain point, if (searchers) cant locate someone, they start heading to the house and looking for them there.

Search teams have been fanning out into neighborhoods, looking for human remains at missing persons homes. As of Wednesday afternoon, 11 people had been confirmed dead in Sonoma County, including two on Mark West Springs Road, where Grabows house stood. Officials have not identified those victims.

A few miles south, in Journeys End Mobile Home Park on Mendocino Avenue, family members searched Wednesday for 69-year-old Linda Tunis. Her son was digging though the pile of rubble that was once her trailer when he discovered his mothers remains, Tuniss daughter told The Chronicle.

The news that her mother was dead came as the latest act in a spiraling story of despair for the family. The daughter, Jessica Tunis, believes she listened to her mothers final moments in a terrifying phone call at 3:43 a.m. Monday.

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She called me saying she was trapped and everything was on fire, Tunis recalled. I said, Let someone see you! Shes coughing, coughing, coughing. Im hearing the smoke alarm go off. Im trying to help her navigate her house. Im saying Mom get out! Get out! Run!

Thats when the phone cut off.

It was horrendous, Tunis, 49, said. I was telling her I love her when the phone died.

Grabows friends hope he didnt suffer a similar fate. Reimann, whos taken several trips to search through the rubble and ash of Grabows home, said he hopes his friend turns up soon.

Ingram said she isnt thinking about anything other than finding her friend.

To be honest, Im distracting myself, she said. I cant think about losing him. Hes so important to all of us here.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky

Whom to call

People searching for missing loved ones can contact the Sonoma County Emergency Services Department at 1-707-565-3856.
Ages: 48/50

Live: Bernal Heights/Cole Valley

What they do: The collaborative duo Hughen/Starkweather makes deeply absorbing, abstract drawings and paintings. Supplementing their own extensive research with official planning documents, artists Amanda Hughen and Jennifer Starkweather picture the shape of our lives.

Career highlights: Our first project together in 2007, the San Francisco Art Commissions Art on Market Street poster series ... set the tone for our subsequent projects. We started the project with extensive research ... through maps, data and photos. The resulting artworks were abstract, but with visible traces of the source materials.

In 2014, working with curator Marc Mayer on our project Re:depiction at the Asian Art Museum was a turning point for us. Marc encouraged us to go beyond hard data (maps, numbers, photographs) into oral history as a way of including human experience.

On the brink: Descriptions of their working method may sound academic, but research is just a starting point for art that is sublimely visual. The work displays a clear logic  an artistic geography  with an underlying emotional geology to match.

Hughen/Starkweather is hardly a new collaboration. Amanda Hughen and Jennifer Starkweather met in 1998, when they had studios across the corridor from each other as artists in residence at Headlands Center for the Arts in Marin County. Even then, they saw affinities in their interests and their art.

The collaborative has had a share of success many others would envy. Just this year, that included a winning exhibition at Minnesota Street Projects (just closed) and a Bolinas Museum show, Hughen/Starkweather: Where Water Meets Land, on view through Nov. 12.

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 coming year will bring new attention with, among other projects, a site-specific mural at a San Francisco grammar school and a Recology Artist in Residence stint. But the big news will be the unveiling of their highly visible project for the Union Square/Market Street Station of the new Central Subway.

Translucent glass panels will be etched and imprinted with colorful images related to the topography of the site and charts of commuter movements. The panels will be used for walls, doorways and  the big reveal  a ceiling that will also serve as a plaza above, to be entered from the Union Square park. The backlit designs will meld with the shadows of passersby, visible from inside the station as well as from above, as people walk alongside, beneath and on top of the glass.

The meaning of collaboration: When the pair first began to work together, the marks they made were on separate sheets, one a paper base and the other a transparent overlay. Gradually, the artists began to accept the idea of printing, drawing and painting on the same sheet of paper. Still, though they meet often for research and to discuss progress (two brains, four eyes, they point out, in unison) they dont work side by side. They shuttle partially completed works back and forth across San Francisco, each artist making her contributions independently, in the privacy of her own studio.

Charles Desmarais is The San Francisco Chronicles art critic. Email: cdesmarais@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Artguy1
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The band Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions was playing to a packed house at Gundlach Bundschu Winery on Sunday night when Jeff Bundschu noticed the fires in the mountains, far off.

We saw the orange glow, said Bundschu, 49, whose family has owned the Sonoma Valley winery at the base of Arrowhead Mountain since 1858, making it one of the states oldest wineries.

He alerted one of his employees, who drove over the mountain range to inspect the situation. When the employee first called Bundschu, he reported that the fire seemed to be staying closer to Napa County. But 10 minutes later, he called his boss in a state of panic. It was moving fast, Bundschu said.

That was around 11:15 p.m. on Sunday night. By then, the concertgoers had cleared out. A crew of vineyard workers arrived soon after to pick some of the final grapes of the harvest season  Bordeaux varieties, hanging on the hillside near the Bundschu family home, a 100-year-old adobe where Bundschus parents, Jim and Nancy, live.

The elder Bundschu initially told his son that he was going to stay and fight it. But as the blaze crept closer down the mountain, it became clear that it was going to be a necessity to get Mom and Dad out of there, Bundschu said. He called his younger sister, Katie, 35, who arrived at the property shortly after 12:30 a.m. They sent the vineyard workers home.

We got them out with just the clothes on their back, Katie Bundschu said. Plus a few keepsakes  specifically, some of the old family archives, documenting their familys long history at this estate. Most such heirlooms had been moved off-site previously, in case of fire.

The Bundschus departed, and, in their absence, the flames pushed on.

Firefighters  spread seriously thin in Sonoma County, where multiple fires are still raging days later, including in much more populated areas than winery-lined Denmark Street  didnt arrive until midday Monday.

By then, the fire had devoured Jim and Nancy Bundschus home and the vines on the hillside by the house.

The blaze was moving erratically, first south, toward Scribe Winery, then north, back toward Gundlach Bundschu. The winery, the guest house and the barn (where many of the concerts are held), all built over 100 years ago, were all in danger. And we had no air support, no line crew, Jeff Bundschu said.

Meanwhile, nearby residents were showing up to see what had happened to the iconic property. The end of our driveway became a mecca for well-wishers, Katie Bundschu said.

Now Playing: Wine Country Fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle

False news had begun circulating that the winery had burned down; Scribe, too. Emotions were incredible, Katie Bundschu said. People were crying.

Finally, a small crew of firefighters arrived and carved a narrow fire line between the vegetation on the hillside and the Bundschus buildings. And by around 5 p.m., Cal Fire helicopters appeared overhead, showering water down on the fires before they could reach Gundlach Bundschu and Scribe.

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I dont know what they did, but those buildings are safe, Jeff Bundschu said. Safe, too, are the familys two cows and two donkeys.

Mason Trinca/Special to The Chronicle

While the loss of the family home is hard to reckon with, the Bundschus feel fortunate that most of their property was spared. The grieving happened on Monday, Jeff Bundschu said. But then, immediately, theres this amazing gratitude.

As in so many other parts of Wine Country right now, the line between charred and untouched is stark and sudden. You can see the precise moment where the blackened, ashy hillside yields suddenly to healthy earth  on some parts of the property, as close as 10 yards from a building.

Those buildings, after all, are veterans: Theyve survived fire before. Among those precious family archives is a letter penned by Charles Bundschu  Katie and Jeffs great-great-grandfather  reflecting on the fires that had raged at the property after the 1906 earthquake. The winery, the guest house and the barn survived then, too.

Were lucky enough to have a 150-year-old rearview mirror, Jeff Bundschu said.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley
The causes of the fires ripping through Wine Country and beyond have not been determined, but investigators are looking into reports that strong winds knocked down numerous Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power lines between 9:20 and 10 p.m. on Sunday, about the time that some of the most damaging fires broke out in Napa and Sonoma counties, officials said Wednesday.

We are investigating a number of potential causes, including whether reports of power lines falling down and electrical transformers exploding Sunday night may have caused some of the wildfires in the region, said Janet Upton, deputy director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire.

PG&E spokeswoman Ari Vanrenen said the utility, which has mobilized nearly 800 repair workers to the North Bay, found downed power lines and poles broken by the windstorm. PG&E has reported all of those problems to Cal Fire, she said.

These destructive winds, along with millions of trees weakened by years of drought and recent renewed vegetation growth from winter storms, all contributed to some trees, branches and debris impacting our electric lines across the North Bay, Vanrenen said in an email. She did not address whether the damaged equipment might have triggered any of the fires.

Investigators will need time to determine the cause, Cal Fire officials said. Accidental factors  a campfire blown out of control, a carelessly tossed cigarette  cannot yet be ruled out. Neither can arson.

But contact between electrical lines and tree branches has often caused blackouts and fires. The massive August 2003 blackout that cut power to 55 million people from Ontario to New Jersey was caused, in part, by high-voltage lines coming into contact with overgrown trees. Four of the 20 most destructive wildfires in modern California history were sparked by power lines, according to data from Cal Fire.

Lines tangling with branches can spark, so utilities are required to trim or remove nearby trees and bushes. For the standard electrical line running through most neighborhoods, branches must be kept at least 4 feet from the wires and 10 feet from each power pole.

Conditions were ripe for fires on Sunday night. Dry winds out of the northeast gusted up to 50 mph, and the vegetation that flourished after last years drought-ending rains provided ample tinder.

As the winds picked up Sunday, PG&E sent out warnings on social media, telling customers that strong gusts could topple power poles and knock out electricity. The utility urged customers to report any downed lines to 911 and avoid touching them, since they could still be carrying electricity.

The warning proved prophetic. Several of the blackouts that swept across the North Bay Sunday night and Monday morning were caused by downed lines or damaged equipment on power poles, according to a PG&E website that tracks outages.

As many as 114,000 PG&E customers in the area lost power by midday Monday. By Wednesday, the utility had restored power to more than half of them, with 53,000 customers still lacking electricity.

Wildfires triggered by power lines have been an issue for PG&E before.

In September 2015, a pine tree in Amador County came in contact with a PG&E power line and sparked the Butte Fire, which burned more than 70,800 acres, destroyed 549 homes and killed two people. California utility regulators this year fined the company $8.3 million over the incident, and lawsuits filed by area residents, county and state officials could eventually cost the company $750 million, PG&E has said in regulatory filings.

An investigation by the California Public Utilities Commission after a 1994 wildfire accused PG&E of diverting money from its tree-trimming program to boost profits, while managers received bonuses for cutting budgets. PG&E paid $29 million to settle the case, while not admitting fault, and agreed to boost its tree-trimming budget.

PG&E now appears to be spending roughly the same amount of money each year on tree trimming as state regulators have approved.

According to an update PG&E provided to the Public Utilities Commission in April, the company spent more than $198 million in 2016 on vegetation management across its sprawling territory, about $62,000 less than the commission had approved. The difference would be used to help keep future rate increases down.

PG&Es annual spending on vegetation management is approved by the commission every three years during what are known as general rate cases, when regulators look at how much money the utility needs to spend on its many operations. Because the tree-trimming program is an ongoing expense, the amounts approved tend to be based on the costs PG&E incurred in previous years, and they have risen slowly over time.

It remains unclear whether PG&E could be held liable for wildfire damage linked to one of its power lines even if the company followed all tree-trimming regulations to the letter. Asked what would happen in that scenario, a commission spokeswoman said only that the agency would look for potential violations by PG&E of vegetation management rules.

CPUC staff are working in coordination with Cal Fire to look at PG&Es maintenance and vegetation management practices, said the spokeswoman, Terrie Prosper, in an e-mailed statement. Once the facts have been established, the analysis can then take place to identify any violations that may have taken place and to consider any additional measures that can be put in place to mitigate fire risks in the future.

David R. Baker and Peter

Fimrite are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com, pfimrite@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @DavidBakerSF @pfimrite
Ray Signorello was on a trip to Canada with his two daughters, ages 2 and 6, when he heard that his namesake winery, built in 1986 on Silverado Trail, was on fire.

His wife, Tanya, was at the property  where the family also lives  when flames became visible in the Vaca Mountains. She evacuated around 11 p.m.
President Trump is about to make one of his most reckless moves yet on the global stage. Hes threatening to end a deal that has bottled up Irans nuclear program and break with his top advisers and party leaders who largely abide the agreement.

Its Trump at his willful, irresponsible worst. Hes expected to void the 2-year-old pact that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange with verified curbs on that countrys nuclear weapons work. The White House action wont fully shred the arrangement but hands formal withdrawal to Congress to decide.

The presidents brimming with bluster on the topic, repeatedly denouncing the agreement as one of the worst deals ever. He suspects Iran is cheating, though repeated outside inspections show otherwise. He and other hawks want to punish Tehran for ballistic missile tests, fomenting trouble in Syria and elsewhere and posing a threat to Israel. Ripping up the deal would add to his dreams of destroying Obama administration milestones ranging from health coverage to climate change controls embodied in the Paris accords.

But dumping the deal would be a monumental foreign policy mistake, as both Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are suggesting. Reimposing sanctions sounds like a weighty rebuke, but it does nothing to stop a revival of work in Irans underground nuclear labs.

That prospect is why Republicans in Congress are nervous. Yes, they opposed the Obama-era deal, but, no, they dont want to reopen the issue, save for a few hard-liners. That reluctance partly explains Trumps demented attacks on Sen. Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican who heads the Senate Foreign Relations panel where the Iran issue would land. Corker opposed the original deal in 2015 but hasnt warmed to Trumps thinking. His Republican equivalent in the House, Rep. Ed Royce of Fullerton (Orange County), said As flawed as the deal is, I believe we must now enforce the hell out of it.

For both Democrats and Republicans, the best outcome might be to let Trump have his wish to look tough and then do nothing about torpedoing the pact. Thats the practical outcome to wish for. Hearings, speeches and resolutions could all be trotted out, but a bad idea would eventually land in the legislative deep freeze.

Still, that dragged-out process is also a meek response to a president who refuses the counsel of his top advisers, many of our allies who are convinced the deal is working, and forces a divisive quarrel on seething Republican lawmakers. Trump is on a self-destructive path in Iran at the same time he is inflaming tensions with a nuclear North Korea.

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 next frontiers of scientific discovery will be pioneered by researchers who have the inspiration and ability to transcend the traditional boundaries of science. We need new interdisciplinary thinkers, people with the capacity to cut across multiple fields to tackle the types of challenges that will define the next century  from confronting climate change, to mitigating global epidemics, to delivering clean food and clean water to people everywhere.

Unfortunately, the way that much scientific research is conducted and funded today works against the kinds of collaborative interdisciplinary study that will underpin this new era of discovery.

There is a kind of market failure in how we support early-stage scientists, driven by a preference for work that is already established, safe and easy to categorize. And we underinvest in the next generation of researchers, who are often best positioned to undertake interdisciplinary research into fundamental systems, and who need to build leadership skills to collaborate and take research beyond the laboratory.

Think of the successful effort to sequence the human genome. Major contributions were needed from biology and genetics. But for the effort to succeed, expertise was needed from across engineering, mathematics and computer science as well. The difficulty of the problem made everyone involved push the limits of their own fields and pioneer new ones. Those involved applied their leadership skills and fresh thoughts to areas of sciences that were entirely new to them.

Sadly, this type of effort is the exception rather than the rule. How come?

1) Research that doesnt have an immediately obvious practical application or publishable result is risky. Private industry funds the majority of research and development today, but businesses tend not to pursue the critical work of basic research because there may be no clear commercial outcomes. Rather, much of the most important scientific research is enabled by government agencies and universities, and forms the basis for ideas that ultimately ripple out to industry and beyond.

2) Scientists are pressured to specialize. Most grants, fellowships and professorships are earmarked for specific fields, and tightly defined projects feel safer to grant makers. But selecting for focused activity runs contrary to enabling the interdisciplinary thinking that can drive breakthrough innovations. At the same time, we do not generally give scientists the training needed to be leaders of major institutions, because our model is aimed at encouraging them to innovate in their current fields.

3) We tend to place big funding bets on people with track records. Scientists must regularly and frequently apply for grants, and as research has become costlier (think how much more it takes to equip a lab today than it did 50 years ago), grant makers have become increasingly conservative and reduced risk on their investments.

Individually, these are rational decisions. But taken together, they carry a heavy cost. We should be encouraging lateral thinking. We should set aside some risk capital to fund uncertain but potentially rewarding basic research. We should ensure that we are training researchers to lead the institutions that will take on systemic challenges.

That is why we have decided to create the Schmidt Science Fellows. In partnership with the Rhodes Trust, home of the Rhodes Scholarships, this program is designed to address market failures around basic research, interdisciplinary thinking, support for up-and-coming scientists, and leadership training.

The first class of the Schmidt Science Fellows will welcome around 15 exceptional postdoctoral scholars in the natural sciences, engineering, mathematics and computing, beginning in the fall of 2018. These fellows will receive support to undertake cutting-edge research in an area other than their main field of study: a physicist might work on artificial intelligence, a mathematician on cybersecurity, a biomechanical engineer on genomics. The fellows will also participate in five weeks of immersive teaching at some of the worlds leading academic institutions, helping them develop the skills necessary to become future scientific leaders.

The program will grow over time, welcoming more fellows and building a community of future leaders. Through our initial commitment of $25 million for the first three years, this initiative is a first step in a broader $100 million effort to spur scientific leadership and drive interdisciplinary breakthroughs that will truly matter.

We want to help younger scientists by committing to them earlier, encouraging their creativity, broadening their scientific horizons, and enabling them to engage with bigger questions of policy and purpose. If we as individuals and groups are to flourish, we need the best people doing the most groundbreaking work, in the most inspired way. We look forward to seeing what they accomplish and the ways their work will stimulate new approaches to old problems.

Eric Schmidt is the executive chairman of Alphabet Inc. Wendy Schmidt is the president of the Schmidt Family Foundation and co-founder of the Schmidt Ocean Institute.
California has proudly declared itself the leader of the resistance, a progressive counter to the Trump administrations continual assault on the rule of law and the most vulnerable among us.

However, for California to truly lead our nation forward, we need to create a real system of public financing for political campaigns in order to get big money, and the stink of potential corruption, out of our government.

Last week, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Disclose Act, a product of a multiyear, comprehensive effort to shine a light on dark money that has invaded our political system. I proudly endorsed the Disclose Act, but we must go further.

There is no doubt in my mind that our democracy is in trouble. Big money in politics adds to public cynicism and subtracts from our faith in our form of government.

In a democracy, the government is us. To lose faith in government means that we have lost faith in each other. This lack of faith rips apart the fabric of our civil society and allows the worst among us to rule.

Budgets are statements of values, and, in the words of the late Sen. and Vice President Hubert Humphrey, the moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, (and) the needy.

I am afraid that our democracy is under significant assault because we are failing this moral test, even here in California, where we have the highest number and percentage of poor children in the country.

People become cynical because the path to a brighter future is becoming more remote. Ninety percent of people born in the 1940s ended up doing better financially than their parents. But those born in the 1980s, the much-maligned Millennials, have only a 50-50 chance of doing better than their parents , despite being the best-educated generation in our history.

While I fully support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision that lifted limits on corporate and union political spending, that battle will likely take many years. Californians cannot afford to wait.

In 2016, the pharmaceutical industry spent more than $100 million to prevent voters from regulating the price of prescription drugs  and won.

The high cost of our elections means that people of modest means dont consider running for office. It also means that politicians who do run find themselves on a never-ending path of fundraising instead of governing. Politicians should be meeting with their constituents, listening to their aspirations and concerns, and taking these ideas back to the Capitol to craft sound, progressive and beneficial policy.

Did you know that the maximum donation to a candidate for governor of California is $29,200, just for the primary election? One married couple can contribute more than $116,000 in the primary and general elections combined.

We have a moral imperative to get this kind of money out of politics and create a clean system of public financing for campaigns. This isnt a partisan issue. The voters understand that something is rotten in politics, and sometimes that rottenness is enacted into law.

Californians can improve our system of government by passing state legislation modeled after the Fair Elections Now Act, which is pending federal legislation supported by Common Cause, Sen. Bernie Sanders and many others. A statewide campaign-finance law should set hard limits on large-dollar donors, offer public financing and establish requirements for candidate participation in debates. This would help reduce the cynicism and malaise affecting our youngest voters and encourage them to engage in the act of participatory democracy.

If Californians organize, we can get big money out of our political system and put direct democracy back into the hands of the people. As California goes, so goes the nation.

Delaine Eastin, the former California superintendent of public instruction, is a candidate for governor.
Armando Calderon Sol, who served as president of El Salvador in the 1990s and led his country out of the mayhem of its 12-year civil war, died Oct. 9 at a hospital in Houston. He was 69.

Milena Calderon de Escalon, the former presidents sister and a legislative assembly member who belongs to his right-wing party, the Nationalist Republican Alliance, confirmed his death to the Associated Press. Mr. Calderon Sol was reported to have had cancer.

Mr. Calderon Sol was trained as a lawyer and served as mayor of the capital city, San Salvador, before winning a five-year term as president in 1994. The long civil war, pitting Marxist rebels against a rightist government and repressive military, took 70,000 lives and had ended only two years earlier.

The United States spent $5 billion to buttress the Salvadoran government in the conflict, which, like the one in Nicaragua, brought the ideological battles of the Cold War to Central America.

When Mr. Calderon Sol took office, many opponents and some observers doubted whether he would enforce the terms of a U.N.-brokered peace treaty for El Salvador, which called for the removal of military officers who had participated in human rights abuses, the transfer of land to former rebels, the formation of a civilian police force and a reformed judiciary.

Suspicions about Mr. Calderon Sol stemmed from his long-standing leadership roles in the Nationalist Republican Alliance. More widely known as Arena, the party had been founded in 1981 by Roberto dAubuisson, a cashiered army officer who was widely regarded as the father of El Salvadors right-wing death squads. Mr. Calderon Sol had served, among other roles, as secretary to dAubuisson, who reportedly called him Armandito.

William LeoGrande, a professor of government at American University in Washington, D.C., described Arena as the political expression of the death-squad apparatus that had been formed to eliminate leftists and other political adversaries.

Forces led by dAubuisson were linked to thousands of murders, among them the assassination of Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980. Mr. Calderon Sol strenuously disputed allegations that he had participated in any violence, although U.S. intelligence reports said he had opened his home to death squad organizers planning their activities.

As president, however, Mr. Calderon Sol appeared to push his party away from radicalism.

We have left behind the language of confrontation, of clashes, Mr. Calderon Sol told the Washington Post in 1994. We are faithful to our past in the defense of free enterprise, a market economy, private property and individual liberties. But we use a different rhetoric, softer, more profound, easier for other groups to understand. ... We have to reach people who did not like our rhetoric, with a position of tolerance.

LeoGrande, the author of the book Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977-1992,credited Mr. Calderon Sol with following the peace agreement as it was written.

Some people worried that ... as president he might give a green light to increasing the political violence and might back away from the agreement, LeoGrande said. But he didnt. And that was an important step in moving El Salvador from a brutal civil conflict to a functioning democracy. Not that they dont still have problems, but their democratic institutions do work.

LeoGrande said Mr. Calderon Sol failed to implement economic policies that might have resolved underlying causes of the civil war. But he credited him with freeing Salvadoran politics from the military and establishing the framework for free elections  major milestones in a country where the military long had an overriding influence on government.

Mr. Calderon Sol was somebody who started out believing that the solution to El Salvadors conflict was to kill all the leftists, LeoGrande remarked, and ended up as a president who implemented a peace agreement with them.

Armando Calderon Sol was born to a landowning family in San Salvador on June 24, 1948. After a Jesuit education, he received a law degree from the University of El Salvador.

The Washington Post reported that in his early career, Mr. Calderon Sol belonged to the Salvadoran Nationalist Movement, a group of young men who promised their lives to the cause of defeating communism.

He was married to the former Elizabeth Aguirre, with whom he had several sons. A complete list of survivors was not immediately available.

Term limits restricted Mr. Calderon Sol to one term in office. Since 2009, El Salvador has been governed by the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, the leftist party that he defeated to become president.

Emily Langer is a Washington Post writer.
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As the scorched ground began to finally cool Thursday, search-and-recovery teams with cadaver dogs headed into the burn zones of Santa Rosa to find the bodies buried under the ash and rubble of their homes.

Fires were still threatening residential areas on the southeast side of the city and evacuations were an ongoing possibility, but farther north the emergency response shifted from life saving to the grim task of finding missing persons.

Were moving into a recovery phase, said Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said. That is the reality part of it.

The search teams moved into the burned out neighborhoods late Thursday morning, targeting locations where those reported missing might be.

Now Playing: Wine Country Fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle

By 3 p.m., those tasked to sift through the ruins had recovered two bodies, said Lt. Paul Liskey, who coordinates emergency services for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office.

Our goal is to recover the bodies, then document it like any unattended death, said Liskey, who was part of a team of 30 deputies from Alameda, Sonoma and Monterey counties working the recovery. Its very emotional, its tough, its hard work.

The search for the missing came as the scale of devastation throughout Sonoma County started to come into focus, as officials began to assess overall losses from the Tubbs fire.

In Santa Rosa, city officials counted 2,834 homes and more than 400,000 square feet of commercial space.

Were going to be a long time recovering from this incident, said Mayor Chris Coursey. The city of Santa Rosa has suffered a serious blow.

Meanwhile, the fatalities continued to climb.

As of Thursday evening, there were 17 fatalities in the county, including the two found by the recovery teams. Ten of those bodies have been identified, with the youngest at 57 years old and most of the others in their 70s and 80s, officials said.

Giordano said it would be unrealistic to think there wouldnt be more.

As of Thursday afternoon, of the 1,100 people reported missing in Sonoma County since Monday, nearly 400 people were still unaccounted for, Giordano said. He believed many of them are simply out of touch, with dead cell phone batteries or no immediate way to communicate where they were, and would turn up.

You take a report of this person missing, the detective starts working it, making phone calls, he said.

The investigators track down leads, determine the persons habits  maybe they never leave the house without their car or theyre always home  and then run through those leads until all ideas are exhausted.

Its pretty quick, depending on the family members knowledge, Giordano said. We can figure out, OK, there is no other place to look, and were forced go to the house.

Once there, the task can be perilous. On Carriage Court in the Larkfield-Wikiup neighborhood of Sonoma County, harmless household items turned to hazards after the Tubbs fire leveled every home on the street  a bookshelf became a mess of wood and nails, bottles became glass shards and whatever structures that were still standing could collapse without warning. Remains might be found in an unrecognizable state.

We have nails, hot spots, its just complete and total devastation, Liskey said. We use probing sticks to make sure were not going to step into a basement we cant see.

Searchers are finding that these Sonoma County fires were extremely hot, maybe 2,000 degrees, Liskey said.

Therefore we are most likely to only find a large bone, like a femur, if the body is exposed for a period of time to the extreme heat, he said. It is case by case because if a body is covered or protected from the extreme heat, it may be recognizable.

Regardless, its wearing on the searchers, Liskey said.

We do this with heavy hearts and a purpose to bring closure to these people, he said. We cant imagine what theyre going through.

But even after the remains are found, it will be a long and difficult process to identify the victims. Emergency responders had found some bodies early on.

We have recovered people where their bodies are in tact, mostly, and we have recovered people where its just ash and bone, Giordano said.

In the latter instance, a body found with a metal device, say a metal rod in a leg, that has a serial number can help identify someone. For others, it will require DNA and weeks or months to confirm who it is.

We will treat these remains with the utmost respect and get these remains back to their loved ones, Giordano said.

Jill Tucker and Kimberly Veklerov are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com and kveklerov@sfchronicle.com
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Smoke drifting south from the fires blazing in Wine Country prompted a ground delay program at San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday. Eighty flights were canceled, according to airport spokesman Doug Yakel.

"About one in four of our flights are experiencing delays right now because of the reduced visibility, and those delays are averaging 60 to 75 minutes," said Yakel.

The canceled flights are evenly split between arrivals and departures, according to Yakel.

Derek Duong, 23, was one affected traveller scheduled to fly to San Francisco from Philadelphia International Airport on United Airlines Wednesday evening.

Now Playing: This model shows the flow of smoke in the Bay Area on Thursday, October 12, 2017. Video: San Francisco Chronicle

Duong streamed some jazz music on his iPhone as he waited for news on when his flight would take off. It was scheduled to leave at 6:15 p.m. EST, but passengers were concerned it could be delayed for several hours because of the SFO ground delay program.

Duong called the delay "super inconvenient." He had been at the airport for about two hours, and even after his plane lands in San Francisco, he'll have to drive another three hours to where he goes to school, California State University at Chico.

He said he was already aware of at least one co-worker who had to be evacuated because of the fire.

"Comparing my flight delay to what they had to go through, it doesn't seem that big of a deal," Duong said, propping his sneakers up on his backpack and settling into his seat in the waiting area.

At Mineta San Jose International Airport, the smoke has not caused delays, but that might change if visibility gets worse, according to airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes.

"Air quality is certainly reduced here, and it's very breezy, but we've had no flight impacts today," said Barnes.

As of Wednesday afternoon, visibility was at 2 miles, Barnes said. If it gets down to a quarter of a mile, it will start to impact flights.

Oakland International Airport was similarly unaffected Wednesday.

"We've had no operational impacts due to the fire," said Keonnis Taylor, an airport spokeswoman.

Closer to the fires, the Sonoma County Airport was closed Monday and Tuesday.

At SFO, it's unclear if the delays will continue in the coming days. On Thursday morning, the FAA will make a decision on whether to implement another ground control program, according to Yakel.

"We did not have a delay program yesterday because conditions were more favorable, skies were more clear around the airport. Today we're seeing that smoke and haze," said Yakel. "Every day is essentially a reset button."

Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter
Smoke still cloaked the ridges east of Geyserville in northern Sonoma County Thursday, but there was something else in the air: the welcome smell of grapes on the vine.

The Pocket Fire that had burned more than 8,000 acres since Monday morning, prompting evacuation orders for much of Geyserville, was now the backdrop for a crisp fall day with blue skies overhead. In the cluster of shops and eateries at the center of town, there was a communal sigh of relief  for the moment.

I feel better today, said Dino Bugica, owner of Diavola Pizzeria, located in the historic Geyserville Odd Fellows Hall. The pizzeria had stayed open even after shifting winds prompted an advisory evacuation order Wednesday for the small downtown. We've had a lot of people come in and say, Thank god you're open. 

Other businesses were open Thursday downtown, from the dog salon to local wineries and the Little Hair Salon.

We've tried to stay open as much as we can, said Susan Powers, a stylist at the salon. That said, business was slow: We've had about half of our clients cancel because they weren't comfortable coming out.

Such caution was understandable.

Throughout the day on Thursday, smoke blanketed the ridges beyond the Russian River. Helicopters with buckets of water would circle, drop water and then disappear into the smoke. Skies would lighten one hour, darken the next.

Some people lingered to watch the scene, including Linda Schroeter and her husband, Mick. Thursday morning they stood above a vineyard near town looking east  looking at a tiny white speck on the ridge that happens to be their home.

They had returned to this spot on Geyserville Avenue to check on their property since Monday, when they departed in haste because of evacuation orders. Their eyes said that so far, their home had been spared.

That's why we're smiling, Linda Schroeter said.

A sense of relief was also palpable regarding Oliver Ranch, an internationally known compound of site-specific sculptural artwork north of Geyserville.

Fire came within 500 yards of the ranch Tuesday morning, and on Wednesday there were fears of what the increased winds might unleash. But by Thursday afternoon, even though the countys evacuation order remained in place, there was hope that the threat had passed.

Cross fingers, things seem better, said Steven Oliver, who owns a construction company in Richmond and was keeping in touch with his displaced ranch crew by home. Yesterday there was a sense we were at a crossroads. Theres a lot more confidence now.

While Geyserville seemed untouched by the fire, CalFire Capt. Tony McHale said residents still need to be vigilant.

With that diversity of fuel, you have a variety of fire behavior, he said, pausing after quick stop at the Geyserville Mud coffee shop to hand out fire maps. It feels like trying to put out a gigantic blow torch with a squirt gun.

Trisha Thadani and John King are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com, jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani, @JohnKingSFChron
Despite objections from privacy advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a Bay Area business executive who was convicted of fraud for getting onetime co-workers to download confidential information from the company computer that he then used to start his own firm.

A federal jury convicted David Nosal, former regional manager of Korn/Ferry International in Redwood City, a prominent executive search firm, in 2013 of six felony charges, including computer fraud, theft of trade secrets and conspiracy.

He was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $60,000.

Nosal left Korn/Ferry in 2004, after being passed over for promotion, and took two co-workers with him. Prosecutors said those two persuaded a third employee, Nosals former executive assistant, to provide her computer password, which they used to obtain customer lists and other information from a company database that Nosal used in his new business, Nosal Partners.

Before the trial, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had thrown out an additional charge that Nosal, by gaining entry to his former employers computer, had exceeded his authorized access with intent to defraud. That law applied only to hackers, the court said.

But the court upheld the jury verdict last year, saying Nosal had been properly convicted of using his former colleagues to access the database without authorization for fraudulent purposes.

In a 2-1 ruling, Judge Margaret McKeown said Nosal had not merely exceeded the access he once had to Korn/Ferrys database, but had tapped into a system he had been forbidden to enter after he left the company.

Nosal and his co-conspirators acted without authorization when they used the log-in credentials of a current employee to gain access to computer data owned by the former employer, said McKeown, joined by Chief Judge Sidney Thomas.

In dissent, Judge Stephen Reinhardt said Nosals conduct was unscrupulous but did not amount to computer fraud, and warned that the ruling could have unintended consequences.

Reinhardt said Nosal and his cohorts had merely persuaded their former co-worker to share her password, the same type of innocuous conduct engaged in by ordinary citizens  for example, a husband who shared his bank account password with his wife to help her pay a bill.

Nosals Supreme Court appeal drew support from the San Francisco privacy-rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, which argued that the law against accessing a computer without authorization for illicit purposes applies only to hacking.

The appeals courts contrary interpretation would criminalize or otherwise penalize somewhat routine behavior, the sharing of a password with permission of someone who had that password, said Andrew Crocker, a lawyer for the San Francisco foundation.

But the high court denied review of the case Tuesday without comment.

The case is Nosal vs. U.S., 16-1344.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
Looking down from 7,000 feet, the patchwork of land looked almost like blackened crop fields.

But this was Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 people. These dry and lifeless lots used to be a vibrant, sprawling neighborhood called Coffey Park, full of colorful single-family homes.

From inside an Air National Guard HH-60 Pave Hawk, its doors pulled open, Capt. Will Martin surveyed the damage below, following the streets spotted with driveways that led to nothing but heaps of charred land and cooked cars. The occasional glimmers from the ground came from shards of glass and melted metal.

Ive seen a lot of wildfires, Martin said. Ive been with the National Guard for a long time now, but to see entire neighborhoods burnt to ashes is shocking. ... The devastation is striking.

The aerial view of the devastation provides a clear picture of the wrecking path the Tubbs Fire took from Calistoga, over Highway 101 and into Santa Rosa. From the panoramic view high above, the ruins seem as if theyve spilled from one lot into another.

At lower elevations, the losses come into focus.

In the middle of the charred community at Coffey Park, a neighborhood park appeared untouched, its green grass bright against a palette of gray rubble around it. Welcoming park benches and a bright blue and white play structure could be seen. A red car rolled down the lonely road between the park and a row of blackened trees and charred homes.

The path of the Tubbs Fire stretches for dizzying miles in fits and starts. Cal Fire said Wednesday that the fire burned more than 27,000 acres. Its just one of 22 large fires torching the state, particularly Northern California. The magnitude of the damage was jarring from the sweeping sky view.

The Tubbs Fire, the worst of the fires ravaging Northern California, is already the sixth deadliest in California history, with 13 people confirmed dead in Sonoma County, Cal Fire said. Hundreds of people have been reported missing in Sonoma County, with downed cell phone towers keeping many from checking in with family and friends.

The smell of smoke filled the air from take off at the former Mather Air Base in Rancho Cordova, just outside Sacramento. There, a crew from the California National Guard picked up reporters and photographers and took them on a ride to survey the damage in Santa Rosa and neighboring areas. The helicopter, like others at the base, was painted with florescence pink stripes and numbers to help others in the air see it in haze.

The California National Guard steps in to help state agencies in major disasters, including the near catastrophic Oroville spillway failure earlier this year, by supplying additional resources or military equipment the state may not have. More than 250 service members of the National Guard have been deployed to help in the Northern California fires, some bringing with them helicopters to drop water on the fires.

The California National Guard is also helping with medical evacuations and providing military police for security.

On Wednesday, the guards helicopter first flew by Sacramento, where the smoke hovered in the air from fires to the citys east, west and north. The smoke and visibility slowly worsened on the ride the further the helicopter pushed west.

The mountains south of Lake Berryessa, the largest lake in Napa County, were clouded in gray smoke from the Atlas Fire. The lakes typically shimmering surface dully reflected the afternoon sun. The Atlas Fire had burned more than 40,000 acres in Napa and Solano counties by Wednesday. The flames were not visible from the helicopter, too shielded by the smoke, in the hillside above the water.

From above, the path of the Atlas and Tubbs fires showed the erratic nature of the burn. Dozens of homes in several neighborhoods were leveled, but a colorful few would appear to be untouched.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez

@sfchronicle.com
Wind-charged fires across California have ravaged homes, businesses, vineyards and farmland over the last four days. As of Friday, 35 people were confirmed dead and several others were severely burned. Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency, and President Trump has issued a major disaster declaration.

Officials said efforts remain focused on saving peoples lives and trying to contain the infernos, so many details were not fully known.

What we know:

Thirty-five people are confirmed dead  19 in Sonoma County, four in Napa County, eight in the Mendocino County and four in Yuba County. More than 110 people were treated at hospitals, many for smoke inhalation but some for severe burns.

Sonoma County officials said Friday that there were 1,485 reports of missing persons and that 1,250 had been found safe, leaving 256 unaccounted for.

Those looking for relatives and friends may file a missing-person report with Sonoma County at (707) 565-3856.

An estimated 5,700 homes and commercial facilities have been destroyed in the fires, which are burning in Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Lake, Nevada, Butte, Calaveras, Shasta, and Yuba counties.

In Santa Rosa alone, Mayor Chris Coursey said there were 2,834 homes and 410,000 square feet of commercial space destroyed in the fires. The city also lost a few fire station in the Fountaingrove neighborhood, as well as two sewage lift stations.

Seventeen California fires, including some that have merged, have together burned at least 222,000 acres. More than 90,000 people have evacuated from fire zones, according to Cal Fire estimates. The majority of fires were located in Northern California. A batch of new Red Flag warnings were issued by the National Weather Service for the North Bay mountains, East bay hills and Diablo Range. The warning began at 5 p.m. Friday and lasts through 11 p.m. Saturday. Expected north to northeast winds of 20 mph could kick up 60 mph gusts at the highest peaks, according to forecasters. The strongest winds forecast for Friday will be in Napa County.

At least 9,000 firefighters are battling wildfires across the state, most in Northern California. Firefighting resources include 550 engines, 73 helicopters and 30 air tankers.

What remains unclear:

The causes of all the fires remain under investigation. Janet Upton, deputy director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said investigators were examining whether power lines falling down or electrical transformers exploding Sunday night may have sparked some of the wildfires.

Officials do not yet know how many people were injured in the fires. Hospitals reported treating more than 100.

The exact number of damaged and destroyed structures was not known.

The exact number of evacuees was not known, but officials believe there were about 20,000.

How much money and how many resources  including an exact number of firefighters  being devoted to firefighting was not clear. Hundreds of firefighters from as far away as San Diego were assisting in the efforts.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov
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Around 5 Monday morning, the emergency alarms at Spring Lake Village, one of Santa Rosas largest senior living communities, began blaring: This is not a drill.

For the next two hours, as the Tubbs Fire to the north turned the early-morning skies red, 500 seniors  about 400 living independently, and 100 who depend on medical care  loaded their coats, prescription medications, dogs and cats into cars, or were helped into ambulances, and headed south to an evacuation center at the Sonoma County fairgrounds.

I had a sense we were surrounded by fire that was gradually closing in, said Spring Lake resident Tom Frye, 79. The winds were howling. We could see the flames coming down the mountain. ... It gave me the uneasy feeling we were saying goodbye.

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Whether Frye will have a home to go back to remains to be seen. By Thursday morning, the Tubbs Fire was 10 percent contained, and the Nuns Fire to the south was closing in.

Frye knows hes one of the lucky ones. He got out in time and, after spending two nights sleeping on cots at the fairgrounds, was among 50 Spring Lake residents relocated to St. Pauls senior living community in Oaklands Lake Merritt neighborhood Wednesday. Both facilities are run by Episcopal Senior Communities, a nonprofit that operates several senior homes in the Bay Area. A spokeswoman said that all residents are accounted for and safe.

We feel very fortunate, said Fryes friend and Spring Lake resident Barney Johnson, 85. We have our lives.

And our circle of friends, added Johnsons wife, Betty, 85. That makes a huge difference.

Spring Lake Village is one of the largest of the 28 senior living facilities that have been fully or partially evacuated since the North Bay fires began Sunday, according to the Alzheimers Association, which is tracking the relocations. Many residents of those homes  who range from people who live independently to those who require assistance to eat, bathe and take medications  have relocated, or are being moved, to San Francisco, the East Bay, Contra Costa County and Sacramento. Many who live independently are staying with friends and family in the area as they wait for word on the homes they left behind.

Johnson and Frye described the evacuation as swift but smooth. The residents do evacuation drills twice a year. But by Wednesday evening, they began remembering items they wish theyd grabbed in time, like family photos, a laptop, a thumb drive.

Across the Bay Area, health organizations and providers of assisted living services are scrambling to soften the landing for displaced seniors, helping to collect medical supplies and dispatch volunteers who can recognize signs of dementia or Alzheimers disease among the thousands of North Bay residents who have made their way to shelters set up in response to the Wine Country fires.

Medical associations are continuing to coordinate volunteer doctors and nurses staffing evacuation centers to monitor people with chronic illnesses or minor medical problems.

The Alzheimers Association is sending staff and volunteers to shelters to help workers recognize and care for people with dementia who may wander off or become distressed, particularly after being moved abruptly to unfamiliar locations.

Weve heard from a couple shelters they have people who are walking out of the facility that they know are confused, said Claire Day, chief program officer for the association. Theyve been trying to bring them back into the shelter.

The group is also pulling together information to be sent to shelters and nursing homes that are now housing those who fled the fires, about how to enroll people with dementia or Alzheimers in the MedicAlert emergency response system, which family members can use to track down a missing loved one.

Typically, those who have MedicAlert will wear an identification bracelet noting their condition and how to contact family members. But Day said that merely having a persons name and description in the system can help family members locate their loved ones.

Usually its a family member that fills out the application and sends a picture, she said. Were working on developing a plan to fast-track that, so people can get enrolled quickly.

Home Care Assistance, a San Francisco company that provides assisted living services for seniors, has been working to get supplies out to assisted living centers that got a sudden influx of new residents such as Belmont Village of Albany, which took in many seniors evacuated from Santa Rosas Oakmont area.

Jesse Walters, the companys director of Bay Area operations, said he has not heard about any severe shortages of supplies  but he was en route to Target on Wednesday afternoon to buy body wash for 100 people. Home Care Assistance is accepting donated diapers, underpads, sanitary wipes, latex medical gloves, walkers, wheelchairs, canes and other supplies for the elderly or infirm who have had to evacuate senior living facilities.

As the Johnsons and Frye sat with friends inside St. Pauls on Wednesday night, with half-eaten white chocolate chip cookies on paper plates before them, they were grateful that strangers at the Oakland home have opened up their rooms, with some sleeping on couches to offer a new, temporary roommate their bed.

Im able to focus, for the first time, on today, said Betty Johnson. Tomorrow is unknown.

Those who are trying to locate a loved one with dementia or Alzheimers can call the Alzheimers Associations 24-hour hotline at (800) 272-3900 and be directed to a list of senior living facilities that have been evacuated.

Those who wish to donate diapers and other supplies can visit the website for Home Care Assistance or call (650) 462-9501. Monetary donations for this purpose can also be made to the Red Cross or Episcopal Senior Communities.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
WASHINGTON  Equifax took part of its website offline Thursday after code on the site redirected users to a malicious URL urging them to download malware.

Also Thursday, a top Republican congressman introduced a bill that would stop credit reporting companies such as Equifax from using Social Security numbers to verify Americans identities.

The moves come a month after Equifax revealed that a data breach exposed the Social Security numbers and birth dates of as many as 145.5 million Americans. That hack took place after Equifax failed for several months to fix a software flaw that federal officials had warned about in March.

Late Wednesday, independent security analyst Randy Abrams said in a blog post that while he was trying to download his credit report from the Equifax site, he clicked a link that kicked him to a third-party website with one of the ubiquitous fake Flash Player Update screens. His post was first reported by technology news site Ars Technica.

Equifax said Thursday afternoon that the problem stemmed from code provided by a third party.

The issue involves a third-party vendor that Equifax uses to collect website performance data, and that vendors code running on an Equifax website was serving malicious content, the company said. Since we learned of the issue, the vendors code was removed from the Web page and we have taken the Web page offline to conduct further analysis.

Equifax emphasized that its systems were not compromised and said that despite early reports, the problem did not affect our consumer online dispute portal.

Its representatives did not answer questions about when the company learned of the problem or how many website visitors clicked the link.

Everyone uses third-party code, said Jeff Williams, chief technology officer and co-founder of Contrast Security. However, he said in a statement, doing so creates an obligation to analyze for vulnerabilities continuously and respond to new vulnerabilities/attacks within hours.

This wouldnt be the first time that people trusting Equifax have been sent to a questionable third-party site.

After announcing the data breach last month, Equifax set up a website  www.equifaxsecurity2017.com  to help people determine whether they had been affected. But on multiple occasions, Equifaxs Twitter account instead advised people to go to a different site with a similar URL. That site had been created by an engineer who wanted to show how easy it would be to set up a phishing site that mimicked Equifaxs.

Separately, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., introduced legislation Thursday that would crack down on credit reporting companies. It would require Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to phase out the use of Social Security numbers by 2020.

The legislation also would create a national framework for consumers to freeze access to their credit to prevent identity theft as well as mandating the federal government to create uniform cybersecurity standards for credit reporting companies and conduct on-site examinations.

The bill Ive introduced today takes an important first step in providing meaningful reforms to help Americans who have been impacted by this breach, McHenry said. It is focused on prevention, protection and prohibition.

The breach revealed last month, and Equifaxs bungled handling of its aftermath, led to bipartisan outrage. The companys former chief executive, Richard Smith  who stepped down after the breach was disclosed  was slammed by lawmakers in four congressional hearings last week.

Jim Puzzanghera and Lauren Raab are Los Angeles Times writers.
A top Facebook executive says ads linked to Russia trying to influence the U.S. presidential election should absolutely be released to the public, along with information on whom the ads were targeting.

Previously, Facebook declined to make the ads public. While Facebooks chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, now favors the release, she didnt say Thursday when the company would do so.

The company disclosed last month that it found ads linked to fake accounts  likely run from Russia  that sought to influence the election. Facebook says these ads focused on divisive political issues, such as immigration and gun rights, in an apparent attempt to sow discord among the U.S. population. The ads included promoted events and amplified posts that show up in users news feeds.

Facebook has turned over the ads  and information on how they were targeted, such as by geography or to people with a certain political affiliation  to congressional investigators. Congress is also investigating Russia-linked ads on Twitter and Google.

In an interview with Axios on Thursday, Sandberg said Facebook has the responsibility to prevent the kind of abuse that occurred on its service during the campaign. She said Facebook hopes to set a new standard in transparency in advertising.

But she also said that had the ads been linked to legitimate, rather than fake, Facebook accounts, most of them would have been allowed to run. While the company prohibits certain content such as hate speech, it does not want to prevent free expression, she said.

The thing about free expression is that when you allow free expression, you allow free expression, Sandberg said.

The move comes as critics and lawmakers are increasingly calling for the regulation of Facebook and other Internet giants.

Sandberg is meeting with elected officials in Washington this week ahead of a House hearing at which executives from Facebook, Twitter and Google are expected to testify. Sandberg is no stranger to Washington. Before her time at Google and later Facebook, she worked for Larry Summers, the Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton.

Sandberg said Facebook didnt catch these ads earlier because it was focused on other threats, such as hacking. Facebook, she said, does owe America an apology.

What we really owe the American people is determination to do everything we can to defend against threats and foreign interference, Sandberg said.

Sandberg didnt say whether she believes Facebook played a role in electing Donald Trump as president, as critics have said it did by allowing the spread of fake news on its service.

She said only that the role Facebook plays in elections go beyond any one campaign, any one country.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has backtracked from calling the idea of Facebooks influence on the election pretty crazy.

Later Thursday, Sandberg met privately with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, where she was pressed on what the company is doing in response to its discovery that many of the ads pushed by Russian-linked accounts were designed to sow racial discord.

A member of Congress who viewed about 70 of the roughly 3,000 ads told the Associated Press that they were meant to stir up strong emotions on all sides. Some of the ads showed white police officers beating black people, said the member, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the ads arent yet public.

Besides discussing election meddling, the members also pushed for Facebook to improve diversity in its workforce, particularly in its upper management. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., who chairs the caucus, said Sandberg promised to appoint an African American to the board, a move the caucus and other activists have been pushing for years. Facebook has eight board members, all white. Two, including Sandberg, are women.

Barbara Ortutay is an Associated Press writer.
Most employers have effective programs for accommodating workers with disabilities, but they often overlook recruiting and training practices that could expand employment opportunities, according to a national survey released this week.

Two-thirds of respondents to the poll of supervising employees said their organizations have policies and procedures to provide requested accommodations to workers with disabilities, and nearly all of them rated those processes as effective. But when it came to specific practices, several that were rated as highly effective were far and few between.

For example, only 13 percent of supervisors said their organizations offer job sharing, yet more than 90 percent of those who allow it said such policies were effective for both people with disabilities and workers overall. And only 27 percent have teamed up with a disability organization to recruit workers, even though most supervisors said the idea is feasible.

Many times employers dont know where to go to find qualified candidates, said John ONeill, director of Disability and Employment Research at the Kessler Foundation and the studys co-investigator. Thats a practice thats really underutilized, but when it is utilized, its considered to be very effective.

The University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability conducted the survey for the Kessler Foundation, a New Jersey nonprofit that funds research and projects aimed at improving the lives of people with neurological disabilities. It questioned 3,085 supervisors in organizations with 25 or more employees about hiring, training and retention practices, and whether or not those practices were effective both for employees in general and those with disabilities.

People with disabilities make up 3.2 percent of U.S. workers ages 16 to 64, according to previous University of New Hampshire research and federal labor statistics. Those 4.6 million workers amount to about 30 percent of the total working-age population of people with disabilities, meaning the vast majority of people with disabilities arent employed.

One problem is inconsistent support for helping employees with disabilities learn their jobs, ONeill said. The survey found that while supervisors felt that they and upper management were equally committed to hiring people with disabilities, supervisors view upper management as less committed to training and accommodations.

Supervisors are right at the ground level, and management is oftentimes at a distance, said Kessler Foundation President Rodger DeRose said. So supervisors have to push the communications upward and say, This is what we really need.

While two-thirds of those surveyed said it is very important to provide requested accommodations to workers with disabilities, only 28 percent of organizations have disability hiring goals, compared with nearly 60 percent that have goals for other types of diversity.

DeRose said disability remains the silent minority.

This whole area of employing people with disabilities (was) a real struggle before the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, and here we are 27 years later, and its still a challenge, he said.

Holly Ramer is an Associated Press writer.
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Valero Energy Corp.s onetime plans to buy oil terminals in Richmond and Martinez, which ran into an antitrust suit by the state of California, received their last rites Thursday when a federal judge signed an agreement by all sides to call off the sale and dismiss the suit.

Valero, the worlds largest independent petroleum producer, owns a refinery in Benicia and has said its acquisition of the nearby storage and distribution terminals from Plains All American Pipeline would help consumers. The company noted that the Federal Trade Commission, which shares oversight of antitrust enforcement for the federal government, had not challenged the sale.
A poll released earlier that week showed 87% of Cook County residents were upse t about the new one cent per ounce sugary drink tax, making a 2 liter bottle of soda pop cost 68 cents more.

To the residents and businesses of Cook County, we have heard you loud and clear and so today I have filed an ordinance to repeal the Cook County Sweetened Beverage Tax, Morrison said at a press conference at the Cook County Building.

CHICAGO - Two months after launching an effort to repeal Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's controversial soda tax, Commissioner Sean Morrison and 14 other board members rejected the measure, which would end the tax December 1st.

The outrage spread throughout the suburbs. Cook County shoppers complained to State Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) (no relation to the commissioner).

The public outcry against this tax began the day it was approved and only grew in intensity. Taxpayers are tired of continually being asked to pay more taxes and today their voices were heard," Rep. Morrison said in a statement.



I recently surveyed my constituents in the 54th Legislative House District, and of the 269 individuals who responded to the survey, all but two expressed their strong opposition to the Cook County sweetened beverage tax. It was a clear indication that taxpayers are tired of tax increases. They want us to fix our fiscal problems without raising additional taxes.



Morrison said once that tax was implemented, people didnt just shop for their soda and other sweetened beverages in other counties, they took all of their shopping money to other counties.

"Sales tax revenue that would have traditionally come to Cook County through the regular purchase of groceries and other items was being sent to surrounding counties," he said. "The tax was a failure on many levels.

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and Illinois Retail Merchants agreed with the commissioner and state lawmaker.

"The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce applauds the vote today by the Commissioners to repeal the sweetened beverage tax. Chicagoland businesses and consumers have faced a cumulative impact of new taxes, fees and regulations which have taken its toll. This was the tipping point. We are committed to working with the county towards policies that create jobs, opportunity and revenue for the county, said Michael Reever, acting president & CEO, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

This is great news for consumers and retailers throughout Cook County. Since its inception, this tax was poorly devised, placed an enormous operational and financial burden on retailers and saddled consumers with the responsibility to pick up the tab. We thank Commissioners Morrison and Boykin for leading the charge for repeal and all of the County Board members that have signed on to the repeal, said Rob Karr, president & CEO, IRMA.
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As more people are evacuated due to the devastating fires in Wine Country, locals have turned to a familiar source for help: Google.

They searched for ways to stop wildfires, how to help victims and how to deal with smoke. They also searched for specifics: Where to evacuate in Santa Rosa; where to buy an air purifier.
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A year after the U.S. Department of Justice issued a report criticizing the San Francisco police forces handling of a variety of issues ranging from antibias training to tracking officers use of force, Chief Bill Scott said the department has submitted for approval its adoption of nearly half of 272 reform recommendations.

Close to half of the department has undergone use-of-force training that incorporates a new focus on de-escalation, crisis intervention and seeking to stop subconscious bias from affecting police work, said the chief, who took command in January.

Use-of-force incidents dropped nearly 11 percent in the first six months of the year, when compared with the same period in 2016, and the number of complaints to the civilian Department of Police Accountability fell by almost 9 percent, Scott said.

I think we are progressing well, and Im pleased with the progress weve made, Scott said. Weve come a long way. We have more work to be done, but weve done well in terms of pushing this reform effort forward.

The report was the result of a six-month collaborative review of the police force by the Justice Departments community-policing division, which under the Obama administration began releasing public reports that sought to improve law enforcement practices around the country. The Trump administration said in September it was ending the program.

The feds visit to San Francisco was spurred by the video-recorded police shooting of Mario Woods on Dec. 2, 2015, and other fatal shootings by officers.

Among the reports recommendations was that the Police Department conduct regular audits of officers electronic devices, following the discovery that two separate sets of officers had exchanged bigoted text messages that became public, raising questions about department culture and accountability.

The department now regularly audits all department-issued devices, and is working to set up a partnership with an academic organization to go through the data, Scott said.

Law enforcement watchdogs had originally been skeptical of the collaborative review, because all of the reform recommendations were voluntary. But city and police officials have long maintained they are committed to implementing all the reforms, even after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the federal shift away from assisting local jurisdictions.

Scott said he is optimistic that the department will work through and implement the remaining recommendations.

Anytime theres change, its difficult, whether it be the Police Department or any other organization, Scott said. I think, though, that the willingness is there to take heart and look at how we do business and implement the things to make us do better.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo
Blumhouse

Once you report the novelty that Happy Death Day is a PG-13 slasher film, and that its an unexpected twist on the Groundhog Day gimmick, theres little left to say except that its standard movie mall fodder  that is, pretty dumb stuff.

With the teen demographic in mind, the film is set on a college campus and involves a mean-girl sorority sister (Jessica Rothe of La La Land) who gets her comeuppance in the form of a knife-wielding maniac in a baby mask and has to relive the day of her death until she identifies her killer. As these things go, Happy Death Day is tame, mainly sidestepping slasher jolts to stress its comedic portrayal of college life and the young womans possible redemption.
Quest: Like a modern-day The 400 Blows, this is a powerful, thinly fictionalized film about the tortured Berkeley childhood of its writer-director Santiago Rizzo. Greg Kasyan  the Jean-Pierre Leaud to Rizzos Truffaut  just won best actor at the Oldenburg (Germany) Film Festival, Europes equivalent of Sundance. Ultimately inspiring, the film plays the Mill Valley Film Festival at 2:15 and 8:15 p.m. Sunday at the Rafael 2.

 Mick LaSalle

Blade Runner 2049: Long and slow but never boring, this sequel to the 1982 sci-fi staple is a somber rumination on what it means to be human, with a story of a replicant LAPD officer (Ryan Gosling) charged with finding and destroying older, disobedient replicants. Harrison Ford co-stars. Rated R. 164 minutes.

 Mick LaSalle

Lucky: This is an affecting love letter to the late character actor Harry Dean Stanton, who portrays the title character, a cantankerous nonagenarian living in a tiny desert town who shuffles through his daily routine while coming to terms with his mortality. With appearances by David Lynch, Ron Livingston, Ed Begley Jr., Tom Skerritt, Beth Grant and James Darren. Not rated. 88 minutes.

 Walter Addiego

Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House: Peter Landesmans film tells the story of Watergate from the standpoint of Deep Throat  that is, FBI honcho Mark Felt, who covertly spilled the secrets that led to President Nixons downfall. Despite boring diversions into Felts family, this is a timely look at the damage one honest man can do to a corrupt administration. Rated PG-13. 103 minutes.

 Mick LaSalle
WASHINGTON  A new NASA satellite has found another thing to blame on El Nino: A recent record high increase of carbon dioxide in the air.

The super-sized El Nino a couple of years ago led to an increase of 3 billion tons of carbon in the air, most from tropical land areas. The El Nino made it more difficult for plants to suck up man-made carbon emissions and sparked fires that released more carbon into the atmosphere.

The effect was so large that it was the main factor in the biggest one-year jump in heat-trapping gas levels in modern record, NASA scientists said.

Scientists have long known that carbon dioxide levels spike during an El Nino, the natural occasional warming of parts of the central Pacific that causes droughts in some places, floods in others and generally adds to warmer temperatures worldwide.

Data from NASAs Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, launched in 2014, provides more specifics on how that happens and by continent.

Researchers found that in drought-struck parts of South America plants grew less, there were more fires in Asia, and there was an increased rate of leaf decay in Africa. The findings were published Thursday in the journal Science.

That 3 billion tons of carbon, though significant, is still dwarfed by the 10 billion tons a year that comes from the burning of coal, oil and gas, said Scott Denning, a Colorado State University atmospheric scientist.

Study co-author Annmarie Eldering, NASAs deputy project scientist for the satellite, said the new results show how El Nino can counteract efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Human-caused carbon dioxide emissions were roughly flat in 2014, 2015 and 2016, but National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration figures show that 2015 saw a rise in carbon in the air 3.03 parts per million, the largest since scientists started tracking emissions in Hawaii in 1959.

Normally about 25 percent of the human-caused carbon emissions are sucked up by plants on land, but during this powerful El Nino that was only 5 percent, said Junjie Liu, a NASA scientist and study lead author.

Oceans took out more than normal amount of carbon out of the atmosphere, but it wasnt enough to compensate for the land deficit, Eldering said.

Seth Borenstein is an Associated Press writer.
After eight years of virtually no immigration enforcement including placing entire classes of illegal aliens off-limits to enforcement, the Administration has returned to policies that existed before President Obama decimated them, says the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

CHICAGO - The Trump administration isn't sitting on its hands after states like Illinois and California passed state measures that restrict local law enforcement from working with immigration law authorities.

These moderate levels of enforcement have resulted in shock, horror, hysteria, petulance, and consternation, on the part of some state and local politicians who are responding by implementing ever more radical sanctuary policies, just like laws Illinois' Governor Bruce Rauner and California's Governor Jerry Brown signed late last week.

Congress could respond to Illinois' and California's defiance of federal law by cutting off targeted funding to these jurisdictions, FAIR said. Likewise, the Department of Justice could sue these jurisdictions to force an end to these illegal policies.

But in the meantime, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is sending a gentle reminder to these jurisdictions: You are still part of the United States and the federal government has the power to enforce its laws whether you like it or not. In fact, ICE has responded by stepping up enforcement efforts in places where sanctuary policies endanger public safety.

The move by ICE is more than just retaliatory. Willie Sutton-like, ICE is focusing enforcement on places where they are most likely to find criminal aliens who pose a threat to the American people: namely, sanctuary jurisdictions. The message to local sanctuary politicians is clear: If you won't turn over the criminal aliens we are asking for, we'll go find them ourselves. Not only that, if we happen to run across other illegal aliens, even ones who have not committed other illegal acts, we're going to take them too.

"Ironically, sanctuary policies - which are often passed in the name of improving public safety - actually endanger the lives of innocent Americans, immigrants, and even other illegal aliens...the very people pro-sanctuary politicians seem to care about the most," FAIR said.
SILVER SPRING, Md.  A potentially groundbreaking treatment for a rare form of blindness moved one step closer to U.S. approval Thursday, as federal health advisers endorsed the experimental gene therapy for patients with an inherited condition that gradually destroys eyesight.

The panel experts to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously in favor of Spark Therapeutics injectable therapy, which aims to improve vision by replacing a defective gene needed to process light.

The vote amounts to a recommendation to approve the therapy. The FDA has until mid-January to make its decision and does not have to follow the panels recommendation, though it often does.

If approved, Luxturna would be the first gene therapy in the U.S. for an inherited disease and the first in which a corrective gene is given directly to patients. Though the therapy from Spark Therapeutics targets a small group of patients  about 2,000 in the U.S.  experts say it could pave the way for other genetic treatments for a variety of inherited conditions.

Panelists debated several specifics of the treatment, splitting on whether to require a minimum age for treatment; the company says the drug is intended for those 3 years and older. Panelists concluded that the science behind the drug  based on research from the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia  was remarkably strong with few serious side effects.

Several patients attended the meeting to urge panelists to support the drug, relating experiences of seeing snow, stars and the moon for the first time. In most cases, the patients travel expenses were paid for by the drugs developer.

Katelyn Corey, 24, described her life before the treatment as a black-and-white film.

Within days of the first treatment I could see vibrant colors again, Corey said. I could see the clock tower of Philadelphia City Hall at night when mere days before I thought it was the moon.

Ashley Carper, a mother of two children with the disorder, said treatment has allowed her 11-year-old son Cole to read large-print books and write his own homework. Previously, he could only read with Braille. Cole said the improvements extend beyond schoolwork.

I can stay out later when my friends are outside playing and now I feel like part of the group, he said. My vision is not perfect, but what I do have is still really important to me.

Researchers tested the treatment by recording patients ability to complete an obstacle course at varying levels of light, simulating real-world conditions like navigating a dark stairwell. A hallmark of the inherited disorder is difficulty seeing at night. Patients with the mutation generally start losing their sight before age 18, almost always progressing to total blindness.

Matthew Perrone is an Associated Press writer.
HUNTSVILLE, Texas  A Texas inmate convicted in the death of a prison guard was put to death Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his lawyers attempts to halt the execution.

Robert Pruett was given a lethal injection for the December 1999 death of corrections officer Daniel Nagle at a prison southeast of San Antonio. Nagle was repeatedly stabbed with a tape-wrapped metal rod, though an autopsy showed he died from a heart attack that the assault caused.

Prosecutors have said the attack stemmed from a dispute over a peanut butter sandwich that Pruett wanted to take into a recreation yard against prison rules.

In his final statement before being put to death, the 38-year-old Pruett said he hurt a lot of people and a lot of people hurt him. He said he was sorry and held no grudges.

Ive had to learn lessons in life the hard way, he said. One day there wont be a need to hurt people.

He told his friends who were watching the execution through a window that he loved them. Im ready to go, Pruett said. Nighty night. Im done, warden.

As the lethal dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital began to flow, he started chanting: Love. Light. Its forever.

His voice rose to a near-shout as he repeated the phrase. He added obscenities, his words reaching a yell. He soon started to slur and then slipped into unconsciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:46 p.m. CDT.

Pruett, who was already serving a 99-year sentence for a neighbors killing near Houston when he was convicted in Nagles death, lost two appeals at the Supreme Court as his execution neared. He became the 20th prisoner put to death this year in the U.S. and the sixth in Texas, which carries out the death penalty more than any other state. Texas executed seven inmates last year.

Pruetts lawyers had asked the high court to review whether lower courts properly denied a federal civil rights lawsuit that sought additional DNA testing in his case. They also questioned whether a prisoner like Pruett, who claimed actual innocence in federal court because of newly discovered evidence after exhausting all other appeals, could be put to death.

Michael Graczyk is an Associated Press writer.
1 Gender equity: A prominent womens rights advocacy group has recruited more than 70 attorneys from 15 states to form a national legal network intended to assist women and girls who are victims of sex discrimination. Fatima Goss Graves, president of the Washington-based National Womens Law Center, announced the formation of the Legal Network for Gender Equity on Wednesday, depicting it as the first of its kind. She said the initiative was prompted by growing concerns that protections against sex discrimination were being weakened under the Trump administration.

2 Russia probe: A political research firm behind a dossier of allegations about President Trumps connections to Russia has been subpoenaed by the House intelligence committee. Joshua Levy, a lawyer for Fusion GPS, said in a statement this week that the subpoenas were signed by Rep. Devin Nunes even though the Republican committee chairman stepped aside months ago from leading the panels Russia probe. He said the subpoenas reflected a blatant attempt to undermine the reporting of the dossier and came even as the firm was in the process of cooperating with congressional committees in their investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
1 Bergdahl plea: Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will appear in court next week to enter an expected guilty plea to charges that he endangered comrades by walking off his remote post in Afghanistan in 2009. The Army announced that Bergdahl will enter a plea Monday at Fort Bragg, N.C. Bergdahl is expected to plead guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Prosecutors arent saying whether they have agreed to limit Bergdahls punishment. The misbehavior charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, while the desertion charge is punishable by up to five years.

2 U.S. census: The Trump administration acknowledged that billions more dollars are urgently needed to ensure a fair and accurate count of people living in the U.S. during the 2020 census. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told a House panel Thursday that new estimates show the 2020 census will cost $15.6 billion, about 27 percent more than earlier projections. Ross says some of the factors behind the higher cost estimates include increased concerns about privacy and security, tightening labor markets and overly optimistic projections from the Obama administration about the savings new technology would provide.
As several wildfires continue to burn in Wine Country, a number of Facebook and Instagram users shared photos of the "bloody" red sunset over the Bay Area on Wednesday night.

According to the Weather Channel, smoke particles in the air serve as a "filter" for sunlight. The particles scatter shorter wavelengths such as blue and green, and leave behind longer wavelengths such as red and orange.
Bob Schiller, a longtime television writer who had a hand in putting Lucy in a vat of grapes, getting Maude memorably slapped and pitting Edith Bunker against a rapist, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 98.

His daughter, Sadie Schiller Novello, announced his death.

Schiller was part of television from its earliest days, racking up scores of writing credits across four decades. Many were on some of the mediums most revered comedies.

His earliest writing jobs, just after World War II, were in radio, including for the popular show Duffys Tavern. I was hired and fired four times, he recalled in an interview for the Archive of American Television.

He transitioned to television and in 1953 teamed up with Bob Weiskopf to form a writing partnership that would last decades. The two worked on numerous episodes of I Love Lucy, including Lucys Italian Movie, for which they were among five credited writers. In one of early televisions most riotous scenes, the shows star, Lucille Ball, ends up in a vat of grapes with an Italian woman, and the two get into a gooey fight.

In the 1960s, the two men worked on variety shows like The Red Skelton Hour and The Carol Burnett Show. Norman Lear later turned to them for episodes of his groundbreaking series All in the Family and Maude.

There were an awful lot of scripts written during the course of those years that didnt wind up in front of cameras, Lear said in a telephone interview this week. You knew if they were writing the script it would see four cameras  the number he was using to shoot the shows in front of a live audience.

Robert Achille Schiller was born on Nov. 8, 1918, in San Francisco. His father, Roland, was a clothing manufacturer and salesman; his mother, the former Lucille Bloch, had been an English teacher before her marriage.

The family moved to Los Angeles when Robert was about 10. He went on to study economics at UCLA, receiving his degree in 1939. He wrote for the campus newspaper and used that skill when he enlisted in the Army, contributing to Stars & Stripes and other publications during the war.

His radio work after the war included, in addition to Duffys Tavern, the series The Abbott and Costello Show and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

But that type of radio show began to disappear in the early 1950s, and Schiller, who had married Joyce Harris in 1947 and had a young son, was on the verge of taking a job in his father-in-laws clothing business. His agent saved him from that fate at the last minute with job offers from Four Star Revue and The Garry Moore Show. After that, the writing work came steadily.

Among the other series on which Schiller and Weiskopf worked over the years were Lucille Balls later series, The Lucy Show; The Flip Wilson Show; Alls Fair, another show by Lear, which did not last long; and Archie Bunkers Place, the successor series to All in the Family.

Although they were known as comedy writers, some of their finest scripts were far more than just gags, fearlessly mixing humor with the most serious subjects being tackled on television at the time.

The two examined alcoholism, for example, in the two-part Walters Problem, which opened Season 2 of Maude in September 1973. In that episode, Maude (Bea Arthur) confronts her husband, Walter (Bill Macy), about his out-of-control drinking. He at first resists the suggestion that he has a problem, and during a heated exchange he hits her, a moment that drew gasps from the studio audience.

The team similarly mixed the funny and the fraught in Ediths 50th Birthday, a Season 8 double episode of All in the Family from October 1977 that begins innocuously enough: Archie Bunker and the family are planning a surprise party for Archies wife, Edith (Jean Stapleton). In a hilarious exchange, Ediths friend Sybil, who wasnt invited, blows the surprise by turning up at the Bunker household before the event to complain. When Edith answers the door and realizes what has happened, she tries to mollify her friend.

Edith: Im sure it aint nothing personal.

Sybil: Oh, of course its personal. I happen to know that Archie hates me.

Edith: Whoever told you that?

Sybil: Archie.

Edith: Oh, Sybil, you know the way Archie is. I mean, he says he hates everybody. President Carter. Mayor Beame. Walter Cronkite. Bella Abzug. Mr. Abzug. The Mets, the Jets, all the United Nations. And they dont get upset, so why should you?

The studio audience has barely stopped laughing when, as Sybil exits, a rapist comes in and tries to attack Edith. What results is one of the most harrowing episodes of the entire series.

The episode was nominated for the comedy-writing Emmy Award that season, but lost out to another All in the Family episode written by Schiller and Weiskopf, who died in 2001: Cousin Liz, based on a story by Barry Harman and Harve Brosten. In the episode, Edith inherits a tea service from a cousin and, in the process, realizes that the cousins roommate was her lesbian partner.

Schiller also shared an Emmy in 1971 for The Flip Wilson Show.

His first marriage ended in divorce. In addition to his daughter Novello, he is survived by his wife, Sabrina Scharf, an actress, whom he married in 1968; his sons, Tom and Jim; another daughter, Abbie Schiller Gordonson; and five grandchildren.

Schillers mother, a former English teacher, kept his grammar in line, Schiller said in the Archive of American Television interview, but his father may have contributed to his comic ear and his appreciation of a succinct gag.

He was famous for a two-word joke, Schiller said. My mother once said to him, Tell me, when you die, youve never mentioned, do you want to be buried or cremated? He said, Surprise me. Two words. Perfect.

Neil Genslinger is a New York Times writer.
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Editor's Note: This story is no longer being regularly updated. Please look for regular updates from 511.org, Caltrans and Sonoma County.

Friday Updates:

Per CHP, due to the fires in Sonoma, Napa and Solano Counties, the following roads are closed as of 10/13 at 11:00 AM. For an additional listing of the County of Sonoma road closures, please click here.

Complete list of road closures as of 2:28 p.m.:

Sonoma County Closures

US-101 northbound Bicentennial Rd. off-ramp

US-101 northbound Mendocino Ave. off-ramp

US-101 northbound River Rd. off-ramp (at end of off-ramp blocking E/B River Rd traffic)

US-101 southbound River Rd. off-ramp

US-101 southbound Hopper Ave. off-ramp

SR-12 at Cavedale

SR-12 at Arnold Dr.

SR-12 at Madrone

SR-12 at Moon Mountain Rd.

SR-12 at Trinity

Mark West Springs Rd. at Sutter Hospital (closing eastbound traffic)

River Rd. at Barnes Rd.

SR-128 at Chalk Hill Rd.

SR-128 at River Rd. / Moody Rd.

SR- 128 at Alexander Valley Rd.

Shiloh Rd. at Faught Rd.

Calistoga Rd. at Harville Rd.

Crane Canyon at Petaluma Hill Rd.

Wallace Rd. at Deer Trail Rd.

Warm Springs at Bennett Valley Rd.

Agua Caliente at Arnold

Arnold Dr. at Martin St.

Eigth St. E at Napa Rd.

Petaluma Hill at Roberts

Napa County Closures

Westgate at Hillcrest (Silverado Country Club) *Only Residents, utilities and contractors allowed through.

SR-121 at Vichy Ave.

SR-121 (Monticello Rd.) at Wooden Valley

SR-128 at Berryessa Knoxville

SR-128 at Silverado Trail

SR-128 at SR-121

SR-128 at Tubbs

SR-128 at Lower Chiles Pope Valley

SR-128 at Chiles Pope Valley

SR-128 at Markley Cove

SR-29 at Tubbs

SR-29 at Kortum Canyon

SR-29 at Silverado Trail

SR-29 at Dunaweal

Silverado Trail at Dunaweal

Dry Creek at Orchard

Wild Horse Valley at Green Valley

Oakville Grade at Mt. Veeder

Solano County Closures

Mankas Corner Rd. at Abernathy Rd.

Rockville Rd. at Suisun Valley Rd.

Green Valley Rd. at East Ridge Rd.

Motorists are advised to expect delays and to avoid these areas. There is no estimated time to reopen the roadways.



8:47 a.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound at Monticello Rd (Napa). All lanes closed until further notice.

8:47 a.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-29 Northbound and Southbound between Tubbs Ln (Calistoga) and Napa - Lake County Line (Calistoga). All lanes closed until further notice.

8:26 a.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound between Tubbs Ln (Calistoga) and IDA Clayton Rd (Calistoga). All lanes closed until further notice.

5:11 a.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound between Alexander Valley Rd (Healdsburg) and IDA Clayton Rd (Calistoga). All lanes closed until further notice.

Complete list of road closures as of 10:15 a.m.:

Solano Road closures:

Mankas Corner Rd. at Abernathy Rd.

Rockville Rd. at Suisun Valley Rd.

Green Valley Rd. at East Ridge Rd.

Napa Road closures:

SR-121 (Monticello Rd.) at Wooden Valley

SR 121 (Monticello Rd.) at SR-128 (Wragg Canyon)

SR-121 at Vichy Avenue

SR-128 at Berryessa Knoxville

SR-128 at Silverado Trail

SR-128 at SR-121

SR-128 at Tubbs

SR-128 at Lower Chiles Pope Valley

SR-128 at Chiles Pope Valley

SR-128 at Markley Cove

SR-29 at Tubbs

SR-29 at Kortum Canyon

SR-29 at Silverado Trail

SR-29 at Dunaweal

SR-12 at Agua Caliente

SR-12 at Cavedale

SR-12 at Arnold Dr.

SR-12 at Madrone

SR-12 at Moon Mountain Rd.

SR-12 at Trinity

Silverado Trail at Dunaweal

Dry Creek at Orchard

Wild Horse Valley at Green Valley

Redwood at Browns Valley

Old Soscal at Trancas

Agua Caliente at Arnold

Arnold Dr at Martin St

8th St E at Napa Rd

Carneros at Patrick

Santa Rosa closures:

US-101 northbound and southbound is open with specific ramp closures.

US-101 northbound Bicentennial Rd. off-ramp

US-101 northbound Mendocino Ave. off-ramp

US-101 northbound at River Rd. off-ramp (at end of off-ramp blocking E/B River Rd traffic)

US-101 southbound at River Rd. off-ramp

US-101 southbound Hopper Ave. off-ramp

Calistoga Rd. at Harville Rd.

Mark West Springs Rd. at Sutter Hospital

River Rd. at Barnes Rd.

SR-128 at Chalk Hill Rd.

SR-128 at River Rd. / Moody Rd.

SR- 128 at Alexander Valley Rd

Shiloh Rd. at Faught Rd.

Crane Canyon at Petaluma Hill Rd.

Wallace Rd. at Deer Trail Rd.

Sonoma Mountain Rd. at Pressley Rd.

Warm Springs at Bennett Valley

Motorists are advised to expect delays and to avoid these areas. There is no estimated time to reopen the roadways.

10:09 a.m.: Current Road Closures due to North Bay Fires, per CalTrans:

I-101 NB (Sonoma County)  NB Mendocino Ave/ NB/SB River Rd

CA-121 NB/SB (Napa County)  Wooden Valley Rd/ Vichy Ave

CA-128 EB/WB (Sonoma County) Chalk Hill Rd - Rt and Son/Napa County Line

CA-29 NB/SB (Napa County) Lawley Rd  Rt/ Western Mine Road

I-101 NB (Sonoma County)  NB Route 101/ NB Airport Blvd

I-101 SB (Sonoma County) SB Route 101/ SB Airport Blvd

Now Playing: Fighting the Wine Country fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle

Thursday Updates:

2:42 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound between Alexander Valley Rd (Healdsburg) and IDA Clayton Rd (Calistoga). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:36 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound between Tubbs Ln (Calistoga) and IDA Clayton Rd (Calistoga). All lanes closed until noon.

1:14 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-29 Northbound and Southbound at Foothill Blvd (Calistoga). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:13 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound at Silverado Trail (St Helena). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:13 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-12 Eastbound and Westbound at W Agua Caliente Rd (Unincorporated). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:13 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-12 Eastbound and Westbound at Arnold Dr (Kenwood). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:13: Emergency road closure on CA-12 Eastbound and Westbound at Madrone Rd (Glen Ellen). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:09 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-29 Northbound and Southbound between Tubbs Ln (Calistoga) and Napa - Lake County Line (Calistoga). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:09 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound area of Geyserville Ave (Healdsburg). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:07 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-29 Northbound and Southbound at Silverado Trail (Calistoga). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:06 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound at Chiles Pope Valley Rd (St Helena). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:06 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound at Lower Chiles Valley Rd (Napa). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:06 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-29 Northbound and Southbound area of Oakville Cross Rd (Napa). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:02 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Westbound at Petrified FOREST Rd (Calistoga). All lanes closed until further notice.

1:01 p.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound at Berryessa Knoxville Rd (Napa). All lanes closed until further notice.

Complete list of road closures as of 1:31 p.m.:

Solano Road Closures



Mankas Corner Rd. at Abernathy Rd.

Rockville Rd. at Suisun Valley Rd.

Green Valley Rd. at East Ridge Rd.

Napa Road Closures

SR-121 (Monticello Rd.) at Atlas Peak Rd.

SR-121 (Monticello Rd.) at Wooden Valley

SR 121 (Monticello Rd.) at SR-128 (Wragg Canyon)

SR-128 at Berryessa Knoxville

SR-128 at Silverado Trail

SR-128 at Petrified Forest

SR-128 at Tubbs

SR-128 at Lower Chiles Pope Valley

SR-128 at Chiles Pope Valley

SR-128 at Markley Cove

SR-29 at Tubbs

SR-29 at Kortum Canyon

SR-29 at Silverado Trail

SR-29 at Dunaweal

SR-29 at Oakville Grade R

SR-12 at Agua Caliente

SR-12 at Cavedale

SR-12 at Arnold Dr.

SR-12 at Madrone

SR-12 at Trinity

Lovell Valley at Nut Tree

Silverado Trail at Trancas

Silverado Trail at Hardman

Silverado Trail at Oak Knoll

Silverado Trail at Yountville Cross

Silverado Trail at Oakville Cross

Silverado Trail at Skellenger

Silverado Trail at Dunaweal

Silverado Trail at Hagen

Yountville Cross at Finnell

Yountville Cross at Stags View

Yount at Madison

Dry Creek at Oakville Grade

Dry Creek at Orchard

Hagen at Vichy

Hagen at First Ave.

3rd Ave at North

North at 3rd Ave.

Wild Horse Valley at Green Valley

Big Ranch at Oak Knoll

Redwood at Browns Valley

Old Soscal at Trancas

Agua Caliente at Arnold

Santa Rosa

US-101 northbound and southbound is open with specific ramp closures.

US-101 northbound Bicentennial Rd. off-ramp

US-101 northbound Mendocino Ave. off-ramp

US-101 northbound at River Rd. off-ramp (at end of off-ramp blocking E/B River Rd traffic)

US-101 southbound at River Rd. off-ramp

US-101 southbound Hopper Ave. off-ramp

Calistoga Rd. at Harville Rd.

Mark West Springs Rd. at Old Redwood Hwy

River Rd. at Barnes Rd.

SR-128 at Chalk Hill Rd.

SR-128 at River Rd. / Moody Rd.

Shiloh Rd. at Faught Rd.

Crane Canyon at Petaluma Hill Rd.

Wallace Rd. at Deer Trail Rd.

Sonoma Mountain Rd. at Pressley Rd.

Bennett Valley Rd. at Warm Springs Rd.

Motorists are advised to expect delays and to avoid these areas. There is no estimated time to reopen the roadways.



11:27 a.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-12 Eastbound and Westbound at Arnold Dr (Kenwood). All lanes closed until further notice.

11:27 a.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-12 Eastbound and Westbound at Madrone Rd (Glen Ellen). All lanes closed until further notice.

11:26 a.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-12 Eastbound and Westbound at W Agua Caliente Rd (Unincorporated). All lanes closed until further notice.

11:22 a.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound at Silverado Trail (St Helena). All lanes closed until further notice.

8:51 a.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-128 Eastbound and Westbound area of Geyserville Ave (Healdsburg). All lanes closed until further notice.

4:50 a.m.: Emergency road closure on CA-29 Northbound and Southbound between Tubbs Ln (Calistoga) and Napa - Lake County Line (Calistoga). All lanes closed until further notice.

Complete list of road closures as of 11:33 a.m.:

Solano Road closures:



Mankas Corner Rd. at Abernathy Rd.

Rockville Rd. at Suisun Valley Rd.

Green Valley Rd. at East Ridge Rd.

Napa Road closures:

SR-121 (Monticello Rd.) at Atlas Peak Rd.

SR-121 (Monticello Rd.) at Wooden Valley

SR 121 (Monticello Rd.) at SR-128 (Wragg Canyon)

SR-128 at Berryessa Knoxville

SR-128 at Silverado Trail

SR-128 at Petrified Forest

SR-128 at Tubbs

SR-128 at Lower Chiles Valley

SR-128 at Chiles Valley

SR-128 at Markley Cove

SR-29 at Tubbs

SR-29 at Kortum Canyon

SR-29 at Silverado Trail

SR-29 at Dunaweal

SR-29 at Oakville Grade R

SR-12 at Agua Caliente

SR-12 at Cavedale

SR-12 at Arnold Dr.

SR-12 at Madrone

SR-12 at Trinity

Lovell Valley at Nut Tree Silverado Trail at Trancas:

Silverado Trail at Hardman

Silverado Trail at Oak Knoll

Silverado Trail at Yountville Cross

Silverado Trail at Oakville Cross

Silverado Trail at Skellenger

Silverado Trail at Dunaweal

Silverado Trail at Hagen

Yountville Cross at Finnell

Yountville Cross at Stags View

Yount at Madison

Dry Creek at Oakville Grade

Dry Creek at Orchard

Hagen at Vichy

Hagen at First Ave.

3rd Ave at North

North at 3rd Ave.

Wild Horse Valley at Green Valley

Big Ranch at Oak Knoll

Redwood at Browns Valley

Old Soscal at Trancas

Agua Caliente at Arnold

Santa Rosa closures:

US-101 northbound and southbound is open with specific ramp closures.

US-101 northbound Bicentennial Rd. off-ramp

US-101 northbound Mendocino Ave. off-ramp

US-101 northbound at River Rd. off-ramp (at end of off-ramp blocking E/B River Rd traffic)

US-101 southbound at River Rd. off-ramp

US-101 southbound Hopper Ave. off-ramp

Calistoga Rd. at Harville Rd.

Mark West Springs Rd. at Old Redwood Hwy

River Rd. at Barnes Rd.

SR-128 at Chalk Hill Rd.

SR-128 at Alexander Valley Rd.

SR-128 at River Rd. / Moody Rd.

Shiloh Rd. at Faught Rd.

Crane Canyon at Petaluma Hill Rd.

Wallace Rd. at Deer Trail Rd.

Sonoma Mountain Rd. at Pressley Rd.

Bennett Valley Rd. at Warm Springs Rd.

Motorists are advised to expect delays and to avoid these areas. There is no estimated time to reopen the roadways.

11:12 a.m:. Current Road Closures due to North Bay Fires, per CalTrans:

I-101 NB (Sonoma County)  NB Mendocino Ave/ NB/SB River Rd

CA-121 NB/SB (Napa County)  Wooden Valley Rd/ Vichy Ave

CA-128 EB/WB (Sonoma County) Chalk Hill Rd - Rt and Son/Napa County Line

CA-29 NB/SB (Napa County) Lawley Rd  Rt/ Western Mine Road

I-101 NB (Sonoma County)  NB Route 101/ NB Airport Blvd

I-101 SB (Sonoma County) SB Route 101/ SB Airport Blvd

Wednesday Updates:

10 p.m.: Emergency Road Closure on Northbound CA-121 between CA-37 W and CA-12 in Sonoma County. All lanes closed.

Complete list of road closures as of 9:25 p.m.:

Solano Road Closures

Suisun Valley Rd. at Mankas Corner Rd.

Mankas Corner Rd. at Clayton Rd and at Abernathy Rd.

Rockville Rd. at Suisun Valley Rd.

Green Valley Rd. at East Ridge Dr.

Napa Road Closures

SR-121 (Monticello Road) at Atlas Peak Rd. and at Wooden Valley Rd

SR 121 (Monticello Road) at SR-128 (Wragg Canyon Rd.)

Silverado Trail at Trancas St and at Oak Knoll Rd. br> Silverado Trail at Yountville Cross Rd.

Silverado Trail at Sage Canyon Rd.

Silverado Trail at Skellenger Ln.

Silverado Trail at Oakville Cross Rd.

Silverado Trail at Hagen Rd.

Silverado Trail at Hardman Ave.

Silverado Trail at Rutherford Rd. (SR-128)

Silverado Trail at Sage Canyon Rd.

Silverado Trail at Vichy Ave.

SR-128 at Berryessa Knoxville Rd.

SR-128 W/B at Petrified Forest Rd.

SR-128 at Tubbs Ln.

SR-128 at Chiles Pope Valley Rd.

SR-128 at Capell Valley Rd.

SR-128 at Lower Chiles Valley Rd.

SR-128 at Kortum Canyon Rd.

SR-128 at Wragg Canyon Rd.

SR-29 over Mount St. Helena from Tubbs Ln. to Lake County Line

SR-29 at Oakville Grade Rd.

SR-29 at Silverado Trail

SR-29 at Tubbs Ln.

SR-29 at Dunaweal Ln.

SR-12 at Arnold Dr.

SR-12 at Trinity Rd.

SR-12 at Madrone Rd.

SR-12 at Cavedale Rd.

Calistoga evacuations underway (heavy road traffic expected)

Santa Rosa

US-101 northbound and southbound is open with specific ramp closures.

US-101 northbound Bicentennial Rd. ramps

US-101 southbound Hopper Ave. Ramps

US-101 northbound and southbound River Rd. off ramps closed for eastbound traffic, WB River Rd. open

SR-128 closed at Chalk Hill Rd.

Mark West Springs Rd. closed at Old Redwood Highway

Mark West Springs Rd. at Sutter Hospital

Calistoga Rd. closed north of Harville Rd.

SR-12 between Melita Rd. and Madrone Rd.

Motorists are advised to expect delays and to avoid these areas. There is no estimated time to reopen the roadways.



9:00 p.m.:: SR 121 northbound is closed at SR 37 to assist in the evacuation of the Sonoma Valley.

Both lanes of of SR 121 are being used for southbound traffic out of the valley. SR 37 is open in both directions.

8:10 p.m.: Caltrans advises that tractor-trailers avoid using I-80 through Vallejo due to the fires. Tractor-trailers are allowed to use I-580 through Oakland until further notice.

8:05 p.m.: Santa Rosa Citybus is operating on a Saturday schedule through Saturday, October 14. Scheduled Sunday service will be in operation on Sunday, October 15.

SMART will continue free service through Sunday on a modified schedule. Sonoma County Airport and Santa Rosa North Stations will be closed. Click here for more information.

8:04 p.m.: Terminus at Piner and Industrial is open again in Santa Rosa, but services in and out of Santa Rosa is still limited. For further information click here.

8:03 p.m.: All Vine Services will be Limited on Wednesday, October 11, 2017. Northbound Route 10 and Route 29 will end at St. Helena City Hall. Routes 1 (Browns Valley) and Route 25 (Sonoma) will not be in service today. Expect System-wide delays. NVTAs offices are closed due to the fires. For more information click here.

On Wednesday, October 11th, Petaluma Transit is running full weekday (non-school) service, with free fares. Please call Petaluma Transit main line for more information: 707-778-4460.

Sonoma County Transit will operate limited service on Wednesday, October 11. The following Sonoma County Transit routes will operate, as noted, on Wednesday, October 11: 10, 12, 20, 24, 44, 48, 66, 67 - Saturday schedule, normal routing

60 - Saturday schedule. Route will operate on Highway 101 between Steele Lane/Mendocino Ave and Shiloh Road/Old Redwood Highway, otherwise normal routing.

28, 32, 68 - Weekday schedule, normal routing

Until further notice, fares will not be collected. As conditions allow, additional services will resume operation. Click here for service updates.

Get Around During Transit Disruptions.

3:34 p.m.: Current Road Closures due to North Bay Fires, per CalTrans:

I-101 NB (Sonoma County)  NB Mendocino Ave/ NB/SB River Rd

I-101 NB (Sonoma County)  NB Route 101/ NB Airport Blvd

I-101 SB (Sonoma County)  SB Route 101/ SB Airport Blvd

7:46 a.m., per CalTrans:

CA-128  is closed from 9.3 miles west of the Sonoma-Napa County line at Maacama Ridge Rd to 2.6 miles east of the Sonoma-Napa County line at Tubbs Lane.

CA-12 (Central California region)  closed from 1 mile east of Sonoma at Watmaugh Rd. to the junction of SR 121.

CA-121  is closed from Vichy Ave in Vichy Springs to 6 miles south of the junction of SR 128 at Wooden Valley Rd, (Napa County).

CA-29  is closed from 5.4 miles north of Calistoga at Lawley Rd. (Napa County) to 0.6 miles south of Middletown at Western Mine Rd (Lake County).

7:46 a.m.: Due to the fires in Sonoma and Napa Counties, the following roads are closed: CA-128 between Chalk Hill Rd and Tubbs Ln, CA-12 between Melita Rd and Agua Caliente Rd, CA-121 between Wooden Valley Rd and Vichy Ave, CA-12 between Watmaugh Rd and CA-121 and CA-29 between Tubbs Ln and Lake County. Motorists are advised to expect delays and to avoid the area. There is no estimated time to reopen the roadway.

3:36 p.m.: Napa County road closures, per 511

CA-121 closed between Wooden Valley Rd and Vichy Ave

CA-29 closed between Tubbs Ln and Lake County

CA-121 closed at CA-128 (Wragg Canyon)

CA-29 closed at Oakville Grade

CA-29 closed at Silverado Trail

CA-29 closed at Tubbs Ln

CA-29 closed at Dunaweal Ln

On CA-128 in Napa County, the following intersections are closed at: Berryessa Knoxville Rd, Petrified Forest Rd (westbound), Chiles Pope Valley Rd, Capell Valley Rd, Tubbs Ln, Kortum Canyon Rd, Wragg Canyon and Lower Chiles Valley Rd.

7:00 a.m.: Solano County road closures, per Solano County Sherif Office:

Mankas Corner Road at Suisun Valley Road

Mankas Corner Road at Abernathy Road

Rockville Road at Suisun Valley Road

Green Valley Road at Eastridge Drive

Tuesday Updates:

3:45 p.m.: Additional fire-related closures, per CalTrans:

SR-121  closed from Vichy Ave. in Vichy springs to 6 miles south of the SR-128 junction at Wooden Valley Rd. in Napa County.

SR-128 (Central California region)  closed from 9.3 miles west of the Sonoma-Napa county line at Maacama Ridge Rd. to 2.6 miles east of the Sonoma-Napa county line at Tubbs lane.

SR-12 (Central California region)  closed from 1 mile east of Sonoma at Watmaugh Rd. to the junction of SR-121 in Sonoma County.

SR 70  closed at the junction of SR-149 in Butte County.

1:20 p.m.: Sonoma County Transit will resume limited operation on Tuesday at noon. Until further notice, fares will not be charged. Check transit alerts here for service.

1:02 p.m.: Due to the fires in Sonoma and Napa Counties, the following roads are closed: CA-128 between Chalk Hill Rd to Tubbs Ln, CA-121 between Wooden Valley Rd and Vichy Ave and CA-12 between Watmaugh Rd and CA-121. Motorists are advised to expect delays and to avoid the area. There is no estimated time to reopen the roadway.

12:29 p.m.: Current Road Closures due to North Bay Fires (CHP-Golden Gate Division)

Rockville Rd / Green Valley Rd

SR-12 / E Watmaugh Rd

Saint Helena Rd / Puff Ln

Mankas Corner Rd / Ledgewood Crk

Bennett Valley Rd / Sonoma Mountain Rd

Barnes Rd / River Rd

US-101 N / Mendocino Ave off-ramp

US-101 S / River Rd

US-101 N / River Rd off-ramp

Mark West Springs Rd / Old Redwood Hwy

US-101 S / Hopper Ave on-ramp

Mark West Springs Rd / Lavell Rd

US-101 N / Bicentennial Wy off-ramp

SR-128 / Chalk Hill Rd

11:58 a.m.: Ledgewood Creek Road is closed at Mankas Corner Road. Please avoid the area. Rockville Rd is closed at Green Valley Rd; Green Valley Estate residents, with ID proving residency, will be allowed through the closure.(CHP Solano)

11:49 a.m.: Due to the fires in Sonoma and Napa Counties, the following roads are closed: CA-128 between Chalk Hill Rd to Tubbs Ln, CA-121 between Wooden Valley Rd and Vichy Ave and CA-12 between Watmaugh Rd and CA-121. Motorists are advised to expect delays and to avoid the area. There is no estimated time to reopen the roadway.

11:37 a.m.: Routes 1 and 25 not running; American Canyon School Tripper also canceled in both AM and PM directions. Get Around During Transit Disruptions

9:34 a.m.: SR-121, SR-37 and US-101 are all open. Lucas Valley Rd. was closed in both directions between Big Rock and Westgate due to a big rig that is stuck in a sharp curve, but has now been opened. Highway 20 to Lake County is also open. Be aware of fire personnel staging on the highway.

9:15 a.m.: Caltrans District 4 also confirms that U.S. Highway 101 is open through Santa Rosa.

6 a.m.: U.S. 101 between Redwood Valley and Willits in Mendocino County was reopened during the night. Both north and southbound traffic is open. Please drive with extra caution through the area due to the presence of fire crews and smoke.

5:35 a.m.: Due to the fires in Sonoma and Napa Counties, the following roads are closed: CA-128 between Tubbs Ln to the Napa/Sonoma County Line, CA-121 between Wooden Valley Rd and Vichy Ave and CA- 12 between Watmaugh Rd and CA- 121. Motorists are advised to expect delays and to avoid the area. There is no estimated time to reopen the roadway.

7:53 a.m., Golden Gate Transit reports to expect major delays due to fires. No route cancellations at this time. Get Around During Transit Disruptions

On Tuesday, October 10th, Sonoma County Transit reports bus service has been cancelled due to fires.

SMART will offer free limited service on Tuesday, October 10th, starting at 5:01am, between downtown Santa Rosa and downtown San Rafael serving all stations in between.

Monday Updates:

1:00 p.m Monday: The following roadways had reopened:

Las Amigas at Duhig

Napa Road at SR-121

SR-121 (open on the Sonoma side, still closed on the Napa side)

SR-121 at SR-29.

The following roadways were still closed:

Monicello at Vichy

SR-121 at Watmaugh

Lakeville Highway (Traffic is being diverted to US-101)

SR  121 at Sonoma County Line

SR  121 at SR  29

SR  121 at Duhig

Arnold at SR  12

8th at Napa

SR -121 at Ramal

SR  121, south of Sonoma Road

Pressley Road from Rohnert Park to Bennett Valley

SR  128 at Tubbs

SR  128 at Petrified Forrest

SR  12 at Watmaugh

SR  12 at Arnold

1:25 p.m: Due to multiple fires and road closures in Napa and Sonoma counties, all bus connections to and from the Martinez Station are cancelled on Monday, October 9 and Tuesday, October 10. This includes buses with connections to and from the following Capitol Corridor trains: Eastbound to Sacramento (524, 532, 542) and Westbound Toward the Bay Area (531, 541, 547).

1:00 p.m: The Southbound 101 off-ramp to Eastbound Cesar Chavez Street is temporarily closed due to a sheared off fire hydrant. Please be careful driving in the area.

12:35 p.m: Due to the fires in Sonoma and Napa Counties, the following roads are closed: US-101 between Steele Ln and Airport Blvd, CA-128 at Tubbs Ln, and CA-121 between Wooden Valley Rd and Vichy Ave. Motorists are advised to expect delays and to avoid the area. Caltrans plans to reopen the roadways by midnight.

12:34 p.m: On Monday, October 9th, Petaluma Transit reports school bus service is cancelled for the day due to fires in the area. Service is running along major corridors.

Highway 101 is closed due to a wildfire near Redwood Valley. There is no estimated time to reopen it.

The Marin IJ reports that Golden Gate Transit bus service from Santa Rosa has also been canceled. The following routes are affected until further notice: 72X, 74, 76, 101 Southbound and the 101x.

10:36 a.m: SR-121, from SR-29, into Sonoma is now open. Napa Road, at SR-121 is still closed. All other closures are still in effect.

10:29 a.m: Highway 101 still shut down in Santa Rosa between Steele Lane and Shiloh Rd. Expect heavy traffic. Highway 101 is closed by wildfires in Mendocino County.

9 a.m: Route 299 reopened to one-way controlled traffic on a 24/7 basis at the Helena Fire closure near Junction City in Trinity County. Motorists should anticipate approximately 60 minutes of delays between Arcata and Redding.

Route 20 in Lake County could be closed at any time.

9:58 a.m: Both directions of SR-37 are now open. Be alert for emergency crews in the area.

9:25 a.m: Closures on SR-121 from Trancas St to Wooden Valley Rd. SR-121 @ SR-29 -No traffic access to Sonoma Valley.

9:26 a.m: Closures on SR-128 @ Petrified Forest Rd - No N/B access. SR-12 @ Arnold Dr. Silverado Trail from Trancas St to Yountville Cross Rd.

8:00 a.m: Southbound US- 101 at Airport Road and Northbound US-101 at Bicentennial.

7:20 a.m: Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit service is canceled for this morning as a result of the wildfires in the North Bay.

3:30 a.m: NAPA CO SHERIFF: Hwy 128 hard closure at Tubbs Lane. Mandatory Evacuation 128 west to the city of Santa Rosa.

3:29 a.m: Cuttings Wharf Rd at Las Amigas Rd in Napa County is closed until further notice.

Sonoma County Closures due to fires:

SR-121 at Duhig Rd

SR-121 at Eighth St East

SR-12 at Arnold Dr

Napa County Closures:

Updated Road Closures from ~ 9 a.m:

SR-121 from Trancas St to Wooden Valley Rd.

SR-121 @ SR-29--no travel to Sonoma Valley

SR-128 @ Petrified Forest Rd--No northbound access

SR-12 @ Arnold Dr.

Silverado Trail from Trancas St to Yountville Crossroad

Las Amigas Rd @ Cuttings Wharf Rd.

The easiest way to get information is to text your zip code to 888777. Information such as evacuation orders, emergency shelter locations, and road closures. California Highway Patrol has advised people to stay off the roadways unless you are evacuating.
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Its not just Republicans  who lack a serious candidate  who were unhappy to see Sen. Dianne Feinstein announce this week that she would be seeking a sixth term. The California Left has been hoping forever that Feinstein would retire so a true progressive might replace her.

Since thats not happening, heres their Plan B: state Senate Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, the Los Angeles Democrat, challenges her.

Kevin de Leon is running, Markos Moulitsas, the Berkeley-based founder of the nationally influential progressive political site DailyKos, told me Wednesday. Im not telling you how I know, but hes running.

De Leons people were politely mum Wednesday on that assertion. If Moulitsas is right  and I increasingly think he is, based on conversations with key Democrats and operatives this week  it is now time for Feinsteins progressive foes to put up or shut up.

But their challenge is huge: How do you defeat an incumbent senator with near-universal name recognition, a place in history as Californias first female senator, a net worth of $94 million and the party establishment tripping over themselves to say nice things about her? Just this week, one of her erstwhile challengers, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, threw a fundraiser for Feinstein and the United Farm Workers union endorsed her.

Even Moulitsas conceded, The task is actually incredibly difficult, to the point where Feinstein would be the prohibitive favorite from the beginning.

To many progressives, DiFi is, in no particular order, a corporatist, Iraq war-mongering, single-payer-health-care-dubious, not-anti-Trump-enough, pro-Patriot Act, anti-Edward Snowden one-percenter. For starters. And she has got to go.

This is a movement moment. Its not enough to resist, said Bill Honigman, the California state director for the national Progressive Democrats of America. You need to offer a replacement for things that generally need to be replaced.

And it aint going to be a Republican.

I dont think she can be beaten in a Senate race, said former South Bay GOP Rep. Tom Campbell, whom Feinstein defeated for Senate in 2000. Certainly a Republican wont be able to do it.

Given the anemia of the California GOP, it will be difficult to beat Feinstein by doing anything but running to her political left  which de Leon would be best positioned to do. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said she is not running for Senate in 2018. Billionaire San Francisco environmentalist Tom Steyer is still Hamleting on a run and wealthy Los Angeles entrepreneur Joseph Sanberg has little name recognition.

So, according to progressive leaders, here is the road map for how to beat DiFi:

Keep saying shes soft on Trump: Anti-Trumpism is the breakfast of champions for progressives and many feel Feinstein hasnt touched her plate. Moulitsas and others found Feinsteins comment offensive last month that Trump has the ability to learn and to change. And if he does, he can be a good president. And thats my hope.

More offensive to others is that Feinstein voted for 11 of President Trumps 22 Cabinet and other upper-level nominees, while fellow California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris voted to confirm only four.

It has to be a referendum on Trump because she has been conciliatory, said Marcy Winograd, a leader of the California Democratic Partys 1,100-member progressive caucus. She says you have to have patience. Its no time for patience.

Keep asking, Wheres DiFi? There are two things Feinstein rarely does: town halls and debates. That could be a liability in the social media Era of Oversharing, especially among voters under 30, as more Millennials (35 percent) disapprove of Feinstein than approve (34 percent), according to a September Berkeley IGS poll.

Unless things change, history may remember Campbell as the last person to debate Feinstein  and that was almost in the last millennium (2000). Feinstein hasnt deigned to debate her last two Republican Senate opponents. In 2012, her campaign manager, Bill Carrick, shrugged off a debate challenge from Republican Elizabeth Emken, telling me at the time, This is the sort of typical cliche move from someone (who) is 19 points down and has $25,000 in the bank and 35 percent name recognition.

We feel that her job is to represent California and not be a personality where it is about her and not us, said Aram Fischer, a leader of Indivisible San Francisco, which at 4,500 members is one of the largest local resistance groups in the nation. We dont think that Dianne Feinstein is meeting that standard.

Keep talking about single-payer Medicare-for-all: This weekend, the National Nurses United  the Oakland-based union with 100,000 members in California  will hold 100 grassroots actions in all 80 state Assembly districts to talk about an issue on the top of progressive wish lists. Any Feinstein challenger who talks up single payer has a chance to tap into their energy.

Thats an indication that you have an activist base thats getting active, said union spokesman Chuck Idelson.

Keep hoping the revolution will be nationalized: A candidate not named Tom Steyer or Joe Sanberg cant keep pace with the bottomless bank of DiFi. But progressives feel money wont matter as much because the race will draw national attention  and small dollar donations from progressives around the country. If a Democrat with no political resume, like Jon Ossoff, could raise a record $30 million for a special House race in suburban Atlanta, imagine what someone like de Leon, with a record of legislative accomplishment, could raise.

This race will be nationalized  and I will do everything I can to make it so, said Moulitsas, whose DailyKos operation has an email list of 3 million and between 10 million and 12 million unique monthly visitors.

Keep focusing on your voters: A progressive candidate  particularly de Leon  could be attractive to a coalition of Latinos, African Americans and Millennials, Moulitsas said. Of course, those are also the voters who dont vote (in high numbers) in midterm elections. But long term it is the right bet. That is the future of the party.

Combine that coalition with white progressives and stir in the energy of new grassroots anti-Trump resistance groups like Indivisible, and a progressive candidate could have enough votes to climb into the top two finishers in a June primary.

Look for at least de Leon to jump in. Traditionally, it would be career suicide for a fellow Democrat to take on such a well-respected incumbent like Feinstein. But the feeling among de Leon supporters is that even if he loses, he would be appealing to the progressive future of the partys voters.

Running would be good for him  and good for progressives.

It would be, Moulitsas said, a win-win.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
Late Sunday evening, Russel Lee was relaxing on his deck in Santa Rosa, CA, drinking a glass of wine. Then he smelled the smoke. He checked the local police scanner app on his phone and learned that wildfires blazing out of control were moving in on his four-bedroom townhouse in Northern California's Sonoma County.

The 63-year-old real estate agent and his wife, an artist, dug out their three cat carriers and frantically began packing some clothes, valuables, and important paperwork. At around 1 a.m., the police came banging on the door, yelling: "Get out now!" The Lees made it to a makeshift emergency shelter at the local veterans center, along with some folks who hadn't had time to change out of their bathrobes and slippers before fleeing.

Their home was burned to rubble, and they lost nearly everythingincluding one of their beloved cats, Alya, who refused to get into her carrier in time. His wife's artwork, much of which she had already sold online, was all destroyed along with the antique furniture that had been in his family for generations. The couple are now living in their motor home parked on their friend's driveway.

But despite their devastating losses, Lee and his wife know they were lucky.

Now Playing: Santa Rosa residents havent seen the clear sky or smelled clean air in days because of the fire. KTVU's Debora Villalon reports from Bennet Valley where what happens next depends on Mother Nature. Video: KTVU

Twenty-one people have died in the 22 large wildfires burning through seven counties, including the famed wine-producing areas of Napa and Sonoma, as of Wednesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. About 3,500 homes and buildings have been incinerated by the blazes, which have ravaged about 170,000 acres, mostly in Northern California. (That's larger than the island of Manhattan.) The causes of the fires have not yet been established.

As firefighters struggle to contain the conflagrations, in the wine country north of San Francisco, it is clear that the region, an economic powerhouse for California, will continue to suffer long after the flames are extinguished and the human toll has been counted.

The disaster is expected to ravage the housing markets of this highly prosperous region, with slashed prices, scarce availability, and wrecked infrastructureall factors that will need to be taken into account as displaced homeowners decide whether to return and rebuild, or leave the area for good. The multibillion-dollar tourist industry, and the jobs it provides, is also at risk. It's likely to take up to a decade to rebuild the homes, businesses, and essential services such as schools residents will need should they choose to return.

Wildfires are common in California, as well as the Western states of Washington, Oregon, and Colorado, in late summer and fall. But those burning in Northern California are unusual, says Tom Jeffery, a senior hazard scientist at CoreLogic, a real estate information company.

"When you have a wildfire occur in an area that's uninhabited, it can be a good thing for the environment. You have to have fires to have certain plants to reproduce" like certain pine species, he says. "[But] whenever you have homes exposed to it, then you have a potential disaster."

The median home price in Napa County was a whopping $876,200 on Sept. 1, according to realtor.com data. In neighboring Sonoma County, the median home price was $750,000. But that was before the fires.

More than 172,000 homes are now at risk of going up in flames in the Napa and Santa Rosa metropolitan areas, which are usually not prone to wildfires, according to an analysis from CoreLogic. (Napa is the name of a town as well as of the surrounding county.) It will cost an estimated $65 billion or more to rebuild them.

Californians are just beginning to come to grips with the scope of the disaster.

"Multiple neighborhoods are burnt out," says Randall Bell, CEO of the national real estate appraisal firm Landmark Research Group, based in Laguna Beach, CA, which has assessed areas damaged by wildfires. "It's street upon street of just charred-to-the-ground moonscape. All you see are chimneys and foundations. It's a sad sightand you see hundreds of them."

What will happen to the housing markets once the wildfires are extinguished?

Only about a quarter to half of the original residents whose homes were reduced to ash are likely to return and rebuild, Bell predicts.

"Emotionally theyre overwhelmed. Financially, theyre overwhelmed," he says. "When these fires come through, they dont just burn houses. They burn stores, restaurants, the churches, the schools. They burn everything. You may rebuild a house, but wheres your infrastructure?"

Lee, the real estate agent whose Santa Rosa home burned down, doesn't plan to rebuild. He and his wife plan to move to Kentucky, TN, or North Carolina, where they have friends who might be able to find him work.

"Ive started an insurance claim and hopefully Ill do well. ... [But] I'm a real estate agent and there's nothing to sell anymore," he says. "I'm starting over from scratch at 63 with achy joints and an achy back."

Even homeowners with insurance premiums may not get enough money to rebuild their entire homes to what they were before, Bell says. That's because the price of construction is likely to skyrocket with the extra demand for construction workers, for which there is currently a national shortage compounded by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and building materials. Some will get loans, others will tap into their savings.

Those who do rebuild are in for the long haul. The area is expected to recover only about 10% to 15% each year, according to Bell. That means it's likely to take five to 10 years before homes, businesses (including employment and tourism), and the local infrastructure is back to normal.

Plus, they'll have to find a place to live while they rebuildwhich won't be an easy feat.

"We had a housing crisis before the fire," says Santa Rosabased Realtor Daphne Peterson, of Keller Williams Realty. "We're in a very high-cost area. Our vacancy rate was about 1%. Now we've lost about 1,500 to 2,000 homes. We have no place for people to stay."

Homeowners who decide to sell won't have it easy, either. Those whose homes survived should expect the properties to sell at a 10% to 35% discount. That's because it's not as desirable to live near burnt-out houses or with fewer services and businesses nearby.

"People don't buy a house," Bell says. "They buy a neighborhood."

Meanwhile, properties whose homes were charred or destroyed altogether could see discounts as high as 60%, he says. Sellers should expect an army of investors, a combination of home flippers and landlords, to swoop in.

But the price breaks won't last forever. These will likely dissipate after about five years, he says.

"I know that it will all come back," says Sonoma-area Realtor David Kerr, of Terra Firma Global Partners. "People in the North Bay are resilient. They will get through this." But he worries about the farmhands at the vineyards and the other residents or workers who aren't quite so well off. "It's not going to be easy for [everybody]."



How California's worst wildfires transformed one neighborhood

The Oakland Hills fire in 1991 was California's deadliest and most destructive, according to CoreLogic. Twenty-five people were killed and about 2,900 structures on 1,600 acres were destroyed in the blaze.

One of the neighborhoods that sustained serious damage was the Upper Rockridge area of Oakland. It had been a middle-class community of Tudors, Craftsmen homes, and California bungalows built in the early part of the 20th century on narrow streets before the disaster.

But after the wildfire, it became an opportunity for many of the residents who stayed, as well new buyers purchasing empty lots, to start over. Most of the rebuilt homes were much larger than their predecessors.

Today, "it's a highly sought-after neighborhood" of homes in the $1 million to $3 million range, says real estate broker Daniel Stea, of the Stea Realty Group in Berkeley, CA. The homes have been built to new fire codes, the streets have been widened, and there's now a fire station up in the hills nearby.

"It transformed the area," Stea says.

The post California Wildfires: Housing Markets Will Likely Feel Devastating Effects for Years appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
The saying your home is your castle is normally just a figure of speech. But if youre in the real estate market in eastern Pennsylvania, now's your chance to make it literal.

For a reduced asking price of $1.7 million, you could be the next monarch of this unfinished castle in Lehighton, PA. The 15,000-square-foot structure sits atop a small hill perfect for overseeing your domain and the nearby lake.

We previously featured the property in a roundup of available castles over a year ago, when the asking price was close to $3 million. The owner originally intended to live in the home, but is selling the property due to family concerns.

However, he plans to keep working on the property until it's sold and will include blueprints for the next owner. The price could still change depending on how much additional work is done by the time its sold.

While the exterior is finished, the interior of the planned five-bedroom home is still a concrete shell.

Listing agent Mary Ann Pastore estimates it will cost around $2 million to finish it as it deserves to be finished. Currently, it features a multitude of windows and turrets, and a wraparound balcony overlooks the surrounding forests and lake.

Unfinished interior realtor.com

The owner modeled the home after the New Castle of Manzanares el Real, also known as the Castle of los Mendoza. Located north of Madrid, its considered one of the best-preserved castles in the region. After identifying his inspiration, he traveled around the world looking for the right place to build his own version and landed in Carbon County.

Pastore describes the area as a big kids playground. Residents can travel to multiple nearby major cities within 90 minutes, as well as enjoy historic and outdoor attractions in the nearby Poconos and surrounding areas.

Additional interior space realtor.com

This is one of a kind, says Pastore. We do have a lot of buyers from out of the country who want something nobody else has, and nobody has anything like this in the area.

Pastore imagines most potential buyers will want to use the property as their vacation home, but theres nothing stopping you from feeling like royalty year-round. Radiant heat has been installed throughout the propertyincluding the balcony, so youll stay warm as you survey your lands.

Theres nothing like it, I dont think, in the United States, Pastore says. Theres other castles that are all unique in their own way, but there are no brand-new castles.

The post Will a Royal Savior Rescue This Half-Completed Castle in Pennsylvania? appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.
Southwest Airlines has confirmed that it plans to fly to Hawaii, probably beginning next year  a decision that could bring sharply lower fares for all travel to the islands. Or maybe not... [FULL STORY HERE]

Since the airline started to take delivery of new Boeing 737MAX 8 aircraft, there has been widespread speculation that it would use the planes  which can fly 500 nautical miles farther than its 737-800s  to begin service. And now the company has announced its intention to do just that.

Southwest said it will seek FAA approval to gain ETOPS certification for its new 737s  a regulatory requirement for flying them to Hawaii. ETOPS stands for Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards. Assuming it gains that approval, Southwest said it plans to begin selling tickets in 2018 for service to Hawaii. [More...]

However, the company hasnt yet said which airports will get the new flights  only that service details are to be announced at a later date. While it would make sense to see Southwest offer flights from its big base at Oakland, there is already plenty of competition there and at other Bay Area airports from United, Hawaiian, and Alaska/Virgin America.

More Information Chris McGinnis tracks fares and travel news on the TravelSkills.com blog. Sign up for email alerts or follow him on Twitter @cjmcginnis See More Collapse

Southwest officials made the announcement to a gathering of its employees in southern California. Joining the conference via satellite from Honolulu were Hawaii Governor David Ige and Southwest president Tom Nealon, who predicted that the carriers entry will be a game-changer in the US. to Hawaii market.

That statement is probably a reference to something called the Southwest Effect-- What's that? Get the full story on TravelSkills.

In a recent detailed analysis of the likelihood that Southwest would start flying to Hawaii, the financial website Seeking Alpha predicted this would likely lead to a fare war. In our opinion, the most important impact of the Southwest Effect in Hawaii is that it tends to lead to a dramatic reduction in fares, given that we believe travel demand to Hawaii is relatively inelastic (so passengers are unlikely to increase much), the website said.

Seeking Alpha predicted that Southwest could easily add at least 10 daily flights to Hawaii, to start with. Based on the amount of market share that Southwest controls, it suggested that likely airports to host Hawaii flights would include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle and Portland.

Don't miss: Nationwide fall/winter fare sale ends tonight at midnight!

But don't get too excited about lower fares to the islands. Atlanta expected the Southwest Effect to reduce fares when Southwest took over AirTran's hub there. Instead, fares went up and the number of flights went down. "Airfares have gone up so much that Atlanta had the largest year-over-year increase in average domestic fares in the country," reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2014.

Related: Is Southwest really a low-fare carrier?

My best guess is that we'll enjoy a temporary decrease in fares as airlines compete with Southwest on introductory fares, but in the long run the lowest fares will remain stubbornly at around $400 roundtrip from California.

Why? Because it's not cheap to fly to Hawaii-- it's about 2,500 miles from the US west coast, a route that requires more fuel and more expensive planes. And increasingly, Southwest's recent moves have shown that it's not always a low fare leader.

What do YOU think will happen to Hawaii fares when Southwest enters that market? See comments, or leave your own on the TravelSkills.com blog.

--Chris McGinnis
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The band Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions was playing to a packed house at Gundlach Bundschu Winery on Sunday night when Jeff Bundschu noticed the fires in the mountains, far off.

We saw the orange glow, said Bundschu, 49, whose family has owned the Sonoma Valley winery at the base of Arrowhead Mountain since 1858, making it one of the states oldest wineries.

He alerted one of his employees, who drove over the mountain range to inspect the situation. When the employee first called Bundschu, he reported that the fire seemed to be staying closer to Napa County. But 10 minutes later, he called his boss in a state of panic. It was moving fast, Bundschu said.

That was around 11:15 p.m. on Sunday night. By then, the concertgoers had cleared out. A crew of vineyard workers arrived soon after to pick some of the final grapes of the harvest season  Bordeaux varieties, hanging on the hillside near the Bundschu family home, a 100-year-old adobe where Bundschus parents, Jim and Nancy, live.

The elder Bundschu initially told his son that he was going to stay and fight it. But as the blaze crept closer down the mountain, it became clear that it was going to be a necessity to get Mom and Dad out of there, Bundschu said. He called his younger sister, Katie, 35, who arrived at the property shortly after 12:30 a.m. They sent the vineyard workers home.

We got them out with just the clothes on their back, Katie Bundschu said. Plus a few keepsakes  specifically, some of the old family archives, documenting their familys long history at this estate. Most such heirlooms had been moved off-site previously, in case of fire.

The Bundschus departed, and, in their absence, the flames pushed on.

Firefighters  spread seriously thin in Sonoma County, where multiple fires are still raging days later, including in much more populated areas than winery-lined Denmark Street  didnt arrive until midday Monday.

By then, the fire had devoured Jim and Nancy Bundschus home and the vines on the hillside by the house.

The blaze was moving erratically, first south, toward Scribe Winery, then north, back toward Gundlach Bundschu. The winery, the guest house and the barn (where many of the concerts are held), all built over 100 years ago, were all in danger. And we had no air support, no line crew, Jeff Bundschu said.

Meanwhile, nearby residents were showing up to see what had happened to the iconic property. The end of our driveway became a mecca for well-wishers, Katie Bundschu said.

Now Playing: Wine Country Fires Video: San Francisco Chronicle

False news had begun circulating that the winery had burned down; Scribe, too. Emotions were incredible, Katie Bundschu said. People were crying.

Finally, a small crew of firefighters arrived and carved a narrow fire line between the vegetation on the hillside and the Bundschus buildings. And by around 5 p.m., Cal Fire helicopters appeared overhead, showering water down on the fires before they could reach Gundlach Bundschu and Scribe.

I dont know what they did, but those buildings are safe, Jeff Bundschu said. Safe, too, are the familys two cows and two donkeys.

Mason Trinca/Special to The Chronicle

While the loss of the family home is hard to reckon with, the Bundschus feel fortunate that most of their property was spared. The grieving happened on Monday, Jeff Bundschu said. But then, immediately, theres this amazing gratitude.

As in so many other parts of Wine Country right now, the line between charred and untouched is stark and sudden. You can see the precise moment where the blackened, ashy hillside yields suddenly to healthy earth  on some parts of the property, as close as 10 yards from a building.

Those buildings, after all, are veterans: Theyve survived fire before. Among those precious family archives is a letter penned by Charles Bundschu  Katie and Jeffs great-great-grandfather  reflecting on the fires that had raged at the property after the 1906 earthquake. The winery, the guest house and the barn survived then, too.

Were lucky enough to have a 150-year-old rearview mirror, Jeff Bundschu said.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley
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WASHINGTON  Ehud Barak, the former Israeli leader known for his hawkish views on Iran, said it would be a mistake for President Trump to decertify the Iran nuclear deal, both because it would play to Irans advantage and because it would scuttle any hope of a negotiation with North Korea.

Barak, a decorated soldier who was prime minister and defense minister, is the latest and most prominent Israeli to urge Trump not to disavow the deal  a step the president is expected to take when he announces his broader strategy for dealing with Iran later this week.
ISLAMABAD  Five years after being taken hostage in Afghanistan, an American woman and her Canadian husband are free, along with their three children, all born in captivity. They were released in a dramatic confrontation punctuated by gunfire, officials said Thursday, though the circumstances were not entirely clear.

U.S. officials said Pakistan accomplished the release of Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pa., and her husband, Canadian Joshua Boyle, who were abducted and held by the Haqqani network, which has ties to the Taliban and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

Coleman was pregnant when abducted and gave birth to her three children while a captive, officials said.

Today they are free, President Trump said in a statement, crediting the U.S. government with securing the release working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan.

Trump later praised Pakistan for its willingness to do more to provide security in the region and said the release suggests other countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again.

The Pakistani military said the family had been freed in an intelligence-based operation by Pakistan troops after theyd crossed the border from Afghanistan.

Boyle and the High Commissioner for Pakistan to Canada described a scene in which gunshots rang out as Boyle, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the trunk of their captors car. Boyle told his parents thered been a shoot-out and that the last words hed heard from the kidnappers were, kill the hostage, his father, Patrick told The Toronto Star after speaking with his son.

A U.S. military official said that a military hostage team had a transport plane ready to fly the family to the U.S. But Boyle said he did not want to board.

Another U.S. official said Boyle was nervous about being in custody given his background.

Boyle was once married to Zaynab Khadr, the older sister of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter of a late senior al Qaeda financier.

But officials had discounted any link between that background and Boyles capture, with one official describing it in 2014 as a horrible coincidence.

Jill Colvin, Lolita C. Baldor and Munir Ahmed are Associated Press writers.
WASHINGTON  U.S. military officials at the Guantanamo Bay prison recently hardened their approach to hunger-striking prisoners, detainees have told their lawyers, and are allowing protesters to physically deteriorate beyond a point that previously prompted medical intervention to force-feed them.

The claim comes during two significant developments for the military commissions at Guantanamo this week, including a Supreme Court decision on Tuesday not to hear an appeal in a much-watched case. Together, the events are renewing attention on the wartime prison operation that President George W. Bush opened in 2002, that President Barack Obama tried without success to close and that President Trump has so far left alone.
CAIRO  Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo on Thursday that aims to end their decade-old rivalry by providing for a joint administration with control of Gazas borders, including a key crossing point with Egypt, but that leaves thornier issues unresolved.

Under the agreement, which was brokered by Egyptian intelligence, Fatah will lift a series of punitive sanctions that it imposed on Hamas-controlled Gaza earlier this year.

In return, Hamas officials said they would allow the Palestinian Authority to resume control in Gaza. Egypt said a government of national accord would come into effect by Dec. 1. Palestinian officials said that, if all went well, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas could visit Gaza within the coming month  his first visit to the embattled coastal strip in a decade.

The deal was seen as a significant step toward ending the civil war that has split Palestinians since violent clashes between Hamas and Fatah in 2007, even if serious hurdles remain unresolved, including the status of the Hamas militant wing and its estimated 25,000 fighters.

A previous agreement between Hamas and Fatah  also signed in Cairo, in 2011  came to nothing. Palestinian officials said the deal reached Thursday enjoys a greater chance of success because it is backed by Saudi Arabia, the United States and, they believe, Israel.

Although he was not in Cairo, Abbas gave his blessing to the deal, which he hailed as a final agreement.

Abbas has not visited Gaza, a tiny territory that is home to 2 million people, since Hamas ejected Fatah after a series of armed clashes.

Ahmed Yousef, an adviser to the Hamas leader, Ismail Haniya, said the two sides had agreed to joint control over the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, a key lifeline for Gazas residents.

Reacting to news reports, citing Fatah officials, that Fatah would take control of the crossing, he said, We will discuss the possibility of allowing the presidential guard from the West Bank to control it.

Yousef said the two sides would convene committees to integrate their ministries into a reconciliation government. One major challenge, he said, would be to reduce the bloated, 200,000-strong Palestinian civil service, which he estimated needs to be cut by as much as 20 percent.

Declan Walsh is a New York Times writer.
VILLA CUAUHTEMOC, Mexico  Just like any other day, Dr. Jessica Sevilla Pedraza went to work at the hospital that morning, came home for a quick lunch and then left again. The plan was to see more patients, hit the gym and be back in time for her usual dinner with dad before he went to his night-shift job.

Instead, a hospital co-worker showed up at the familys door in the evening. She said a man had come in with a bullet wound in his leg and told doctors he had been with Sevilla when gunmen intercepted them, shot him and took off with the doctor in her own car.

Two days later, Pedraza identified 29-year-old Jessicas body at the morgue. She had been shot in the head and decapitated, and the skin had been flayed from her skull.

Sevillas gruesome death was part of a wave of killings of women plaguing the sprawling State of Mexico, the countrys most populous with 16 million residents and surrounds the capital on three sides. The mounting crisis of femicides  murders of women where the motive is directly related to gender  prompted the federal government to issue a gender violence alert in 2015, the first for any Mexican state.

Sometimes the deaths are caused by domestic abuse. Other killings appear to be opportunistic, by strangers. Often the bodies are mutilated and dumped in a public place  which many read as a message to other women: There is no safe place, time of day or activity.

The week before Sevillas killing, 18-year-old Mariana Joselin Baltierra vanished when she walked to the corner store in Ecatepec, a hardscrabble suburb of Mexico City. Her body was found in a butcher shop next door; she had been sexually assaulted and disemboweled. The suspect, an employee at the butcher shop, allegedly took the money in the register and fled. He remains at large.

In June, Valeria Teresa Gutierrez Ortiz, 11, disappeared in Nezahualcoyotl after taking a public bus home from school. She was later found dead in the abandoned vehicle, partially clothed and with signs of sexual assault. The bus driver was arrested for the killing. Three days later he was found dead in his cell with a cord around his neck.

The State of Mexico officially ranks second to the nations capital with 346 killings classified as femicides since 2011, according to government statistics.

The nonprofit Citizen Observatory Against Gender Violence, Disappearance and Femicides in Mexico State counted 263 femicides in 2016 alone.

Before Mexico State, it was Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, that was notorious for killings of women, with nearly 400 slain there since 1993 and only a handful of cases resulting in convictions. Common to both places are marginalized, peripheral communities with high levels of violent crime, corruption and impunity.

Gustavo Martinez is an Associated Press writer.
MADRID  Spanish authorities gave Catalonias separatist leader five days to explain whether his ambiguous statement on secession was a formal declaration of independence and warned Wednesday that his answer dictated whether they would apply never-used constitutional powers to curtail the regions autonomy.

A refusal to backtrack or providing no response will lead Madrid to trigger Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, which allows central authorities to take some or total control of any of the country 17 regions if they rebel or dont comply with their legal obligations.

Threatening to invoke that section of the Spanish Constitution to assert control over the countrys rogue region, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Catalan president Carles Puigdemonts response to the central governments ultimatum would be crucial in deciding events over the coming days.

Puigdemont announced on Tuesday that he was using the victory in a banned Oct. 1 referendum to proceed with a declaration of Catalan independence, but proposed freezing its implementation for a few weeks to allow for dialogue and mediation with the government in Madrid.

His equivocal position seemed designed to appease the most fervent separatists, but also to build support both in Catalonia and internationally  by provoking another tough response from Rajoys Cabinet. Spanish police used force to try to stop the referendum vote, producing images that elicited sympathy for the separatists.

Speaking in the national parliament in Madrid on Wednesday, Rajoy said the referendum Catalonias regional parliament and Puigdemonts government held in violation of a court order was illegal and part of a strategy to impose independence that few want and is good for nobody.

The ensuing crisis, he said, was one of the most difficult times in our recent history.

Rajoy, whose government has been under fire for the police violence, blamed the Catalan separatists for inciting recent street protests and said that nobody can be proud of the image Spain has projected to the rest of the world with the referendum.

Lawyers, civil society groups and politicians in Catalonia and elsewhere in Spain have offered to mediate between the two sides, but the prime minister rejected the offers. He said he refused to engage in dialogue with a disobeying Catalan government.

Ciaran Giles and Aritz Parra are Associated Press writers.
WASHINGTON  President Trump remained noncommittal about the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement on Wednesday as he welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House amid simmering disputes over trade between the two North American neighbors.

Trudeau joined Trump in the Oval Office at the start of a new round of talks over the North American Free Trade Agreement, which the U.S. president has threatened to withdraw from if he cant negotiate a better agreement with Canada and Mexico.

Were negotiating a NAFTA deal. Its time after all of these years and well see what happens. Its possible we wont be able to make a deal and its possible that we will, Trump said, noting the close relations between the two countries and leaders.

We have to protect our workers and in all fairness the prime minister wants to protect Canada and his people also. So well see what happens with NAFTA, Trump said, adding that it has to be fair to both countries.

Trudeau, in his brief remarks to reporters, spoke of the ties that bind the two neighbors and major trading partners.

We have an incredibly close relationship. Two countries that are interwoven in our economies and our cultures and our peoples, Trudeau said. But we have a good partnership ... and thats why having an ongoing constructive relationship between the president and the prime minister is really important.

The trade negotiations this week in Washington have gotten off to a rocky start, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warning that the Trump administration might be sabotaging the talks with unrealistic proposals.

Blowing up the deal appears to be Trumps favored choice. On the campaign trail, he called NAFTA a job-killing disaster.

The end of NAFTA would send economic tremors across the continent. American farmers depend on Mexicos market. Manufacturers have built complicated supply chains that cross NAFTA borders. Consumers have benefited from lower costs.

NAFTA erased most trade barriers along the United States, Canada and Mexico and led to an explosion in trade between the three countries. But critics say the pact sent hundreds of thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs to Mexico, where corporations took advantage of low-wage labor.

The Canadian prime minister, making his second visit to the White House this year, was also expected to raise the Trump administrations recent decision to hit Canadian manufacturer Bombardier with punishing tariffs on its C Series airliner.

U.S.-based Boeing alleges that Bombardier gets unfair subsidies from the Canadian and British governments.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Canada, alleging that it unfairly blocks U.S. dairy products and subsidizes its softwood lumber industry.

Ken Thomas is an Associated Press writer.
PARIS  The United States announced Thursday it is pulling out of the U.N.s educational, scientific and cultural agency because of what Washington sees as its anti-Israel bias and a need for fundamental reform in the agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel plans to follow suit.

Though the Trump administration had been preparing for a likely withdrawal from UNESCO for months, the timing of the State Departments statement Thursday was unexpected. The Paris-based agency is in the midst of a heated election to choose a new chief  with Qatars Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari in the lead as the executive board vote heads into a final ballot on Friday.

The outgoing UNESCO director-general, Irina Bokova, expressed her profound regret at the U.S. decision and tried to defend the reputation of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions.

She called the U.S. departure a loss for the United Nations family and for multilateralism, saying the U.S. and UNESCO matter to each other more than ever now to better fight the rise of violent extremism and terrorism.

The U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011, but the State Department has maintained a UNESCO office and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes. The U.S. now owes about $550 million in back payments.

In a statement, the State Department said the decision will take effect Dec. 31, 2018, and that the U.S. will seek a permanent observer status instead.

Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel also plans to withdraw from the agency. saying it had become a theater of the absurd because instead of preserving history, it distorts it.

Israel has been irked by resolutions that diminish its historical connection to the Holy Land and have instead named ancient Jewish sites as Palestinian heritage sites.

Matthew Lee and Thomas Adamson are Associated Press writers.
New Zealand shares rose as overseas investors continue to chase export-orientated growth stocks, with Synlait Milk and Xero extending gains while taking booking profits from Fisher & Paykel Healthcare's recent rally.

The S&P/NZX50 Index edged up 7.14 points, or 0.008 percent, to 8,068.12. Within the index, 28 stocks rose, 13 fell and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $157 million.

"The market has certainly taken in its stride post-election - there were a couple of slow trading days but since then it has been onwards and upwards, though it is being driven by half a dozen stocks," said Peter McIntyre, investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners. "That order flow really starts to pick up in the afternoon when the Australian market opens - that offshore funds flow coming into the marketplace, particularly for the stocks that have good liquidity and are sought after: A2, Fisher & Paykel, Xero and Synlait has also caught investors' attention. They are tending to be growth-oriented stories as well."

Synlait Milk led the index, up 6 percent to $7.46, a fresh record. Xero rose 0.3 percent to $34.05 while A2 Milk dipped 0.1 percent to $7.74. Synlait has gained over the past fortnight after gaining approval from Chinese regulatory authorities to export infant formula it provides to A2 Milk.

"A number of investors are keen to have a stake in Synlait. They are the primary producer for A2 Milk and I wonder whether some parts of the market think they may have some ability to increase prices and become more profitable," McIntyre said.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was the worst performer, down 3 percent to $12.66. The stock has gained 53 percent this year and spiked to a record $13.05 yesterday.

"There have been a couple of reports from brokers saying the share price has got ahead of itself and their price target is a bit less than where the shares are currently trading, so you've got some profit taking today," McIntyre said "It raced over that $13 mark for a period of time but some parts of the market are thinking it's got ahead of itself and it's no surprise to see it pull back, on pretty good volumes."

Restaurant Brands New Zealand rose 2.2 percent to $6.90. The fast food retailer today said it renewed its current $125 million unsecured main bank lending facility with Westpac for a further three-year term, and negotiated a new three-year A$50 million unsecured facility on similar terms with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi after a competitive tender.

"It has been a good performer, their acquisitions have been keenly received by the marketplace," McIntyre said. "Funding for them in this market is obviously achievable at good rates and this is what we've seen today."

Z Energy gained 1.7 percent to $7.23. McIntyre said the stock was rebounding, albeit on low volume, as investors thought it may have been oversold recently.

Outside the benchmark index, Rakon gained 14 percent to 25 cents. It has sold about a fifth of its shares in start-up investment Thinxtra for A$3 million, which it will use to pay off debt, and lifted its earnings expectations for 2018.

Serko rose 22 percent to $1.10. An earnings upgrade this week has seen the stock soar 77 percent to near its record high of $1.20.

Scott Technology advanced 0.7 percent to $3.12. It boosted annual profit 26 percent to $10.3 million as the growing demand for productivity gains through automation and robotics stoked demand for the manufacturer's industrial systems.

NXT-listed G3 Group announced it will quit the small-cap index next week, just two years after joining the market for minnows in a compliance listing. The shares last traded in February, at 64 cents.

(BusinessDesk)

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Plexure Group, the mobile voucher firm formerly called VMob, has distanced itself from a person charged with insider trading in its shares, saying they were a contractor who left in 2014.

The Financial Markets Authority yesterday said it has filed criminal charges under the Securities Markets Act in the Auckland District Court against a person for insider trading failing to disclose interests in VMob shares. The FMA said the person used to hold a senior role at Plexure, which had cooperated with the investigation and wasn't part of the probe.

Today, Plexure chairman Phil Norman said the company fully supports the FMA's role in ensuring the integrity of the capital markets.

Plexure "was disappointed to learn that the contractor, whos consultancy finished in December 2014, was allegedly involved," Norman said in a statement.

The charges were under legislation pre-dating the current Financial Markets Conduct Act because the issues took place in July 2014, the FMA said.

At the time, Plexure was listed on the NZX's small-cap Alternative Market, which it joined in 2012 via a backdoor listing. The shares plunged as much as 78 percent between January 2014 and July 2014, before spiking up 25 percent in one day after announcing McDonald's Corp would use its mobile voucher platform for its 3,200 restaurants in Japan.

The shares last traded at 10 cents and have dropped 69 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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New Zealand manufacturing activity continued to expand in September, largely shrugging off uncertainty surrounding the general election on Sept. 23 with a small slowdown.

The BusinessNZ-Bank of New Zealand performance of manufacturing index fell 0.4 points to a seasonally adjusted 57.5 in September, extending its run of expansionary readings above 50 in every month since October 2012.

"Septembers performance of manufacturing index proved to be about as strong as it was in August," said Bank of New Zealand senior economist Craig Ebert. "Aside from remaining comfortably above its long-term average (of 53.4), this was a particularly encouraging result considering the proximity of the 23 September general election."

About a quarter of respondents cited the election as a major negative factor on their business, "so it wasn't a non-issue, as such," said Ebert.

BusinessNZ manufacturing executive director Catherine Beard said despite some uncertainty in the market, the sector has continued on with business as usual.

It was encouraging to see the proportion of positive comments increase further to 69.5 percent, compared with 65 percent in August. In terms of specific comments, a clear proportion of negative comments continued to mention general uncertainty around the election," she said.

Polls leading up to the election did not point to a clear winner, which generated uncertainty in the market. In the end, National won 56 seats of the 120-seat Parliament while the Labour and Green parties won 54 seats between them. National and the Labour-Green bloc wrapped up negotiations with New Zealand First this week, and the centrist party will now decide which way to go.

Among the sub-indices, employment fell to 50.7 from 56.5 in the prior month. Ebert said "it's tempting to see this as manufacturers pushing pause on their hiring, as they await news on the form of the next New Zealand government," but noted that the jobs index has been volatile for the past six months or so but with a "reasonably positive average."

The production sub-index eased 0.8 points to 59.6 while new orders rose 1.4 points to 60.4. Finished stocks added 2.5 points to 55.4 while deliveries rose 2.2 points to 58.3.

In unadjusted terms, activity slowed in the Northern region, falling to 56.4 from 56.9, while the Central region rose to 65.3 from 57.0. Activity in Canterbury fell to 54.7 from 57.7 while it rose to 61.7 from 61.3 in Otago.

(BusinessDesk)

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Serko shares soared 28 percent after an earnings upgrade this week was enough to whet the appetite for investors keen on growth-orientated stocks.

The stock jumped 25 cents to $1.15 as at 1.15pm today, the highest level since December 2014 and just shy of the $1.20 record it posted that same month. Serko shares have soared 77 percent this week, during which time the Auckland-based online travel software booking firm said first-half revenue climbed 30 percent and delivered positive earnings in the six months ended Sept. 30, and signed up to a partnership deal with Gullivers Travel Associates.

"The two announcements this week have gone some way to helping," said Grant Williamson, a director at Hamilton Hindin Greene in Christchurch. "Investors are really looking for growth stocks at the moment - we've seen that with A2 and Xero - they're looking for anything that's going to produce well above-average growth."

Serko listed in June 2014, selling shares in an initial public offering at $1.10apiece to raise $17 million, but was punished when Australia's economic slowdown and product delays weighed on revenue. That saw the stock fall as low as 25 cents in April this year, but those fortunes have reversed as a clampdown on spending gave it the confidence to affirm a target of generating a profit in 2018.

Williamson said the stock is particularly volatile and isn't traded heavily, with just an average of 10,000 shares changing hands a week over the past three weeks. This week has seen most interest with 330,000 shares already traded, of which almost 200,000 were today.

"It's a relatively high-risk stock" and "isn't the for the faint-hearted," he said.

As at April 30, 773 shareholders were on Serko's register, with the 47 biggest holding 83 percent of the voting rights. When it went public in June 2014 it had 834 shareholders on the register, of which the 41 biggest held 85 percent of the voting rights.

(BusinessDesk)

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Fonterra Cooperative Group shareholders will vote on four new directors - one-third of the board - after the dairy company's exhaustive new selection process that rates candidates against a 'skills matrix'.

Shareholders will be asked to ratify the appointment of Bruce Hassall as an independent director at the company's annual meeting in Hawera on Nov. 2. He replaces David Jackson, one of the four independents on the 13-member board (one seat is vacant), who retires at the AGM.

Voting has already opened for the other three farmer-shareholders whose nominations have been evaluated by an independent selection panel. To make it to the ballot, they needed to score highest against the board's skills and attributes priorities in a process signed off on by the Shareholders' Council. They must also embark on a roadshow, visiting seven locations around the country this month. To make it to the board they need to get more than 50 percent of votes cast.

The board's 2017 matrix of 10 skills, unsurprisingly shows the existing board members score highly for in-depth dairy farming experience and understanding of the industry, value drivers of the milk price and profit. But on financial experience, global consumer experience and global experience/understanding, the current board only just meet the required skill level and on seven skills they fall short of the desired level.

The current board scored lowest on technology strategy and governance and global consumer experience. The third-lowest score came for chief executive experience of a large operating business, and fourth-lowest on risk management experience. The independent selection panel was chaired by Alison Paterson, a seasoned veteran of New Zealand private and public sector boards who was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to business in 2014. The other two members were John Spencer, another boardroom veteran and a former chief executive of NZ Dairy Group, and Tony Carter, whose current duties include being chair of Air New Zealand and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare.

Those that made it to the ballot paper are Taranaki-born Brent Goldsack, a partner of accounting firm PwC until last month who has been involved in three Waikato dairy operations in the past eight years. For the board's 2017 priority list, the chartered accountant scored highest for experience working for a global firm, financial know-how and his understanding of risk management. He doesn't have global manufacturing or consumer experience.

Ashburton-based Andy MacFarlane, who combines farming with an agricultural consultancy business, has travelled extensively to study farming systems, and has worked with ANZCO's food & solutions business and the deer industry. He is also a councillor of Lincoln University and a director of AgResearch, Ngai Tahu Farming and ANZCO.

The third candidate is John Monaghan, a current board member and former chair of the Shareholders' Council. The panel rated him highly for his "strong understanding of the global complexities of Fonterras operations around the world" and noted that he John regularly represents the company overseas and has visiting most of its markets. He grew up on a farm and has 40 years experience running and owning dairy farm operations.

Voting closes on Oct. 31. Being on the ballot doesn't guarantee a board seat as shareholders could vote no to all three - forcing a new round of selections. The three candidates fill empty board seats, after Michael Spaans stepped down in January due to ill health and former director Ian Farrelly stepped in as a temporary replacement.

David McLeod, who is up for re-election by rotation, has elected to retire after six years on the board, while one-term director Leonie Guiney, also up for re-election, was unsuccessful in getting through the new selection process, which is in its second year.

In 2016, a majority of shareholders voted to shrink the board to nine from 13 although the vote fell short of the 75 percent requirement. There was strong support for improving the selection process to ensure New Zealand's biggest company has the right skill mix among its directors. At the start of 2016, Fonterra kicked off a governance review, posing the question of whether a board stacked with farmers had the right skills to drive a global business.

Fonterra hadn't changed its governance and representation arrangements since being set up 16 years ago although it undertook a full review in 2013.

Units in the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund, which are entitled to dividend payments from the ordinary shares, last traded at $6.15 and have gained 2.3 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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HFL - Annual report for the year ended 31 August 2022

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CentrePort, the Wellington port operator, turned to an annual loss after damage from November's Kaikoura earthquake last year weighed on its business.

The port company posted a loss of $2.3 million in the 12 months ended June 30, from a profit of $11.6 million a year earlier, it said in a statement. The year-earlier earnings were restated due to a change in the accounting treatment of convertible notes. Underlying profit before earthquake-related income, fair value adjustments and tax slipped 32 percent to $10.8 million.

CentrePort was forced to suspend operations immediately following the Nov. 14 earthquake last year as it dealt with damage to its buildings and liquefaction and it was forced to modify its services to get them up and running. In the past year, the port has received $173 million of insurance income which helped fund a $28 million temporary works programme to secure 125 metres of the 585-metre wharf. That enabled its two ship-to-shore cranes to resume operations last month. Some 185 piles were driven an average of 40 metres into the soil, and 644 gravel columns were embedded in the ground to reduce liquefaction from future earthquakes.

Speaking in one of the port's dozen or so temporary office buildings in its 'portacom village', chief executive Derek Nind said the past year had been "like a rollercoaster" as the company got the business back up and running, set about assessing the damage from the quake, and worked out whether assets should be demolished or repaired.

The company is expecting further insurance income in the future as engineers and insurers complete their deliberations. It estimates total material damage claims to total $350 million for the port and more than $106 million for commercial properties. It increased the provision for write-downs in the value of its commercial properties to $32 million, from $20.4 million in its first-half accounts.

The port has told its shareholders, the Wellington and Manawatu-Wanganui regional councils, that it's unlikely to pay a dividend for three years following the quake.

In the latest year, its operating revenue fell 16 percent to $63.7 million, not including $9 million in business interruption insurance. Operating expenses were little changed at $60 million.

CentrePort said it is now focussing on its long-term plan as it reassesses its strategy following the earthquake and subsequent damage.

(BusinessDesk)

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ABC/Mark LevineEven though Eric Church doesnt have any dates scheduled until sometime next year, you can still spend your Friday night taking in a show by The Chief...in fact, you can check out two, thanks to AUDIENCE Network.

AUDIENCE kicks off two hours of Erics music on Friday night, with a backstage look at his most-recent Holdin' My Own Tour starting at 8 p.m. ET.

When you make a new record, critics are the mouthpiece to say, 'Hey, go buy this record!' Eric reflects in the promo for the show. And that's so backwards to me. Your biggest mouthpiece are the fans.

Then, you can travel to Colorados majestic Red Rocks Amphitheatre at 9 p.m. ET for Eric Church: On the Rocks, which was recorded during the North Carolina natives two-night stand there in August of 2016.

You can preview AUDIENCEs Eric Church specials on YouTube now.

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
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We're in for a top of 22 today, with a chance of early rain before a sunny afternoon. We've had an overnight low of 15 degrees.

Happy Thursday Canberra and thanks for reading.

Private contractors will answer calls from Centrelink's welfare recipients after the Department of Human Services outsourced call centre work to multinational services company Serco.

In an unprecedented move for the welfare agency, 250 of the company's Australian subsidiary staff will take calls about payments in a three-year pilot program costing the government $51.7 million.

Doug Dingwall reports the main public sector union and Labor rounded on the Coalition move on Wednesday.

Canberra house prices continue to rise: Domain
Former Marist brother John 'Kostka' Chute may never face a hearing on historical sex abuse charges from his time in Canberra, after his lawyers on Thursday applied for a permanent stay of the case.

The former brother is charged with 16 sex offences allegedly committed against six children in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been found unfit to plead and was to face a special hearing in December under Canberra's mental health laws.

Brother John "Kostka" Chute. Credit:Martin Jones

But solicitor Greg Walsh told the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday that because of the delay in the charges coming before the court, Chute, 85, is now so unwell he may be unfairly prejudiced at the hearing.

It was on this basis he applied for the criminal proceedings against Chute to be permanently halted.
If you're a little cynical about big foreign-owned businesses pushing for a lower company tax rate, you'll love this: the poor babies are spitting the dummy over a threat to the 15 per cent tax they're charged on Australian infrastructure investment profits.

And that's if they even pay that much.

The reality is that the world is awash with capital looking for a half-decent investment. Credit:Jessica Shapiro

As Michael West has reported on these pages in the past, infrastructure players use a "stapled" structure to run rings around the tax man. When the company is local, such as Transurban, the tax burden is passed on to the unit holders of the trust structure. When the company is foreign, well, who knows what tax might or might not be paid.

The idea that this tax benefit could be under threat is one of the reasons given for big investors being a little less keen on the idea of putting money into Australian infrastructure projects, according to a survey run by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia and Perpetual.
That's what Ahmed Fahour earned a year as chief executive officer of Australia Post. And his legacy is worth far more than that to the women at Australia Post, which this week reported a zero gender pay gap for the first time across the enterprise.

Fahour was as aggressive in pursuing improvements for women in his workplace as he was in pursuing remuneration  and that should be applauded.

It's a challenge few other chief executives pursue with any enthusiasm. Instead, they meet the dead gaze of boards and senior management who bang on about "merit", as if that concept had any objective meaning. Merit is code for wanting someone who looks just like you do.
But the thing about feminism is there isn't a formula where you can plug in good acts like these and calculate the number of times you're allowed to greet a woman naked or ask her to watch you shower. Being a producer of good movies who helped advance the careers of some women is not incompatible with behaving like a loathsome creep; the former doesn't depend on the latter at all, just as doing the former does not magically erase any suggestion that you are the latter.

Part of the grotesqueness of Weinstein's alleged conduct is the way it contrasted with at least parts of his public image, as a man who championed older actresses such as Meryl Streep and Judi Dench, joined a women's march, donated to Democratic candidates, raised money for Planned Parenthood and publicly venerated Gloria Steinem.

At the heart of the many arguments about Weinstein's conduct and the apparent complicity of his industry lies a question with broader implications: What does it mean to be a feminist?

The news that movie producer Harvey Weinstein is accused of sexually harassing a bevy of women and then paying them off to keep quiet about it has set off a flurry of debates about sexism in Hollywood and why so many powerful older white men still seem to think it's OK to behave like utter pigs.

Allegations: Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow (inset) are among those to speak out against Harvey Weinstein. Credit:AP

By contrast, there's been something disturbing about a second stage of this conversation, which has implied that women who had some contact with Weinstein are suddenly in danger of having their own feminist cards revoked if they don't condemn him with a speed or vehemence deemed appropriate by the nebulous voice of the internet.

I think it's wise for Democratic politicians of all genders to consider giving back the money Weinstein personally donated to them: There are some circumstances in which it's just not prudent for a politician to allow him or herself to be beholden to a donor. There is, however, a difference between acting promptly, when you learn something about a supporter or one-time collaborator, and demanding that all powerful women everywhere possess some sort of omniscience about conduct that Weinstein seems to have taken steps to cover up.

This formulation, which has been bizarrely common in recent days, ignores the fact that, while rumours about Weinstein's conduct circulated for years, there are plenty of reasons that actresses like Streep and Glenn Close, who were already powerful when they began working with Weinstein, might not have known anything for certain. It also shoves aside the uncomfortable thought that even if powerful women in Hollywood had some sense that Weinstein acted inappropriately, speaking out about him could have posed serious risks to the women he had already victimised, putting them in a position where they could be accused of violating non-disclosure agreements and in danger of retaliation.

Certainly, women like these have spoken out forcefully now. If letting Weinstein buy his way out of sexist pig status with political donations is setting the bar for feminism too low, asking Streep to be a time-travelling sexism avenger is a way to set the bar so high that no one can reach it. Placing a particular burden on women, rather than, say, on the Weinstein Company's all-male board, to have done something about him suggests this isn't really about feminist credentials at all: it's about making women, rather than men, responsible for male misbehaviour.
Christine McMenamin was a research scientist, doctor and academic administrator widely admired for her leadership of the medical teaching program at Monash University. She died on October 5, after a long, courageous battle with complications arising from nearly 40 years of Type I diabetes.

Christine was born on January 27, 1958 in Stirling, Scotland, in the shadow of the Bannockburn monument. The daughter of Edwin Fox, a bricklayer, and Cathy, an auxiliary nurse, she attended the local schools and went on to excel at Glasgow University, where she obtained her BSc in immunology (1981) and later her PhD (1986). She met Paul, her husband and partner for more than 39 years, while studying at the university.

Christine McMenamin, leader of the medical training program at Monash University.

Christine rose to great heights in mast cell and T-cell research with colleagues at the university's School of Veterinary Medicine and later in Perth, Western Australia. She published many seminal papers in immunology in prestigious journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Journal of Experimental Medicine and Science.

Christine and Paul moved from Glasgow to Perth for academic opportunities and a new life in Australia. Paul joined the Department of Anatomy and Human Biology at the University of Western Australia (UWA) as a lecturer and Christine joined a research group at the Telethon Institute of Child Health as a post-doctoral fellow, where she did research on allergy.
Who cares about the national debt? That's the new mantra of congressional Republicans, who are on track to add trillions to the debt over the next decade, thanks to a package of steep tax cuts and increased military spending.

This is quite the about-face for the GOP. During the Obama years, the party used the national debt to force the haphazard budget cuts of sequestration, government shutdowns, and even debt-ceiling crises that left the US teetering on the verge of default. Those crises, they argued, were necessary, because the climbing national debt was both ruinous and immoral.

The abandonment of a core conservative principle would come as quite a shock if it hadn't happened two years into the GOP's wholesale abandonment of all its other principles. And while it is clear the party has traded principles for power, it still raises the question: power in service of what?

Despite all the populist rhetoric that accompanied the rise of a billionaire outsider who became president, the answer is fairly straightforward: empowering the powerful. White and wealthy? The Republican Party is at your service.
Sky News should have issued a trigger warning this week, ahead of its broadcast of NSW Liberal MP Craig Kelly, in which the member for Hughes refused to rule out a Tony Abbott comeback.

A simple "some viewers may find this content distressing" across the ticker at the bottom of the screen would have sufficed - because hasn't the former prime minister put us through enough? Abbott's bonkers speech to Global Warming Policy Foundation in London this week was the most embarrassing thing an Australian has done in Britain since Shane Warne  well, since Shane Warne.

Abbott, ever the Jesuit, parsed his breezy, idiosyncratic summary of the crapness of climate science, all in terms of religion, natch. We live in a post-Christian world, he said, and climate science is the new religion, but it's also like a primitive cult because carbon abatement measures are akin to the goats the pre-Christian savages used to sacrifice to the volcano gods.

The goat-sacrifice metaphor, poking fun at loincloth barbarians, had a faintly colonial whiff that felt intellectually borrowed from Prince Philip, the Queen-husband and Abbott-anointed Australian knight who represents everyone who still doesn't understand why Little Black Sambo has been banned in schools.
The NSW government has passed laws to keep a controversial coal mine open, but the opposition says the legislation significantly weakens protection of Sydney's drinking water.

Legislation keeping Springvale coal mine, near Lithgow, in operation was passed in the state upper house late on Wednesday night.

The Springvale mine near Lithgow has been given an extension to its operations. Credit:Wolter Peeters

It allows the mine to continue operating, even though the NSW Supreme Court in August ruled against an extension because of the amount of waste water the project produces.

The mine, owned by Centennial Coal, is situated in the Warragamba Dam's water catchment zone.
One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts has been criticised for charging $20 to attend a cost-of-living summit in Brisbane on Friday.

The federal senator's event has been derided by the Queensland Council of Unions, which accused his party of being "out of touch".

One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts is hosting a cost-of-living event in Brisbane with a $20 fee. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

But a spokesman for the senator defended the summit, saying the fee would not cover costs and slamming the unions.

Senator Roberts will be fresh from the High Court in Canberra, where he is one of seven federal politicians fighting a dual citizenship case, to host the Pauline Hanson's One Nation Cost of Living Summit at Queensland Parliament.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton's crackdown on "fake refugees" prompted almost 7500 asylum seekers to lodge their claims for protection, leaving just 71 who now face deportation.

In May, Mr Dutton announced an October 1 deadline for about 7500 people currently in Australia, who arrived on boats before 2013, to make a claim for protection or leave the country.

He dubbed them "fake refugees" who had refused to answer questions or formally submit their claims, accusing them of gaming the system and taking advantage of Australia's generosity.

The crackdown met with an outcry of protest from refugee advocates, who blamed complex paperwork and lengthy queues for legal assistance for the delay in lodging claims.
Treasurer Scott Morrison has moved to reassure US investors  and Australian mums and dads  that Australia is not headed towards a housing market crash, arguing house prices are high but their value is still "real".

And in a speech in New York to investors overnight, Mr Morrison pushed back at a recent warning from the International Monetary Fund about particularly high levels of household debt in Australia by pointing to a series of measures taken by prudential regulator APRA to constrain access to credit.

He outlined three major risks to the Australian economy  household debt; a rise in Chinese debt and a subsequent slowing of growth in that country; and the risk of high levels of federal government debt.

Mr Morrison renewed his push for tax cuts for companies with a turnover of more than $50 million a year  which was blocked by the Senate  arguing that, "across the globe, the principle of cutting business taxes to drive growth and investment is the emerging economic consensus".
While four-legged athletes, like She Will Reign, will have the opportunity to win $10 million in prizemoney, two-legged punters at Saturday's The Everest will have the opportunity to take home more than $20,000 in cash and products, just for getting dressed.

The Fashion Chute is an Australian Turf Club event and concept which aims to revolutionise and democratise the hallowed horse racing tradition of Fashions on the Field. This weekend two-return flight tickets to any of Emirates' European destinations and a Longines timepiece are just some of the goodies on offer for the best-dressed guests.

Kate Waterhouse will be the face of the fashion and celebrities heading to Randwick on Saturday for The Everest, the world's most expensive horse race on turf. Credit:Louise Kennerley

On Saturday, instead of being scouted by judges before official judging begins, those interested in entering just need to pose for a photo at the Fashion Chute before eight finalists are selected to face the expert panel including GQ Australia and Stellar style director Kelly Hume and milliner Nerida Winter.

"I want the Sydney girls and guys to up the elegance," Winter said. "This is the most expensive horse race in the world, so I'm expecting full power and high, high-end fashion."
If you've read about the evolution of Australian label White Suede into Demkiw, you may be wondering what's happened to the leather jackets and dresses you love from Jacqui Demkiw's original label. Well, wonder no more, as she's clearing them all out in a two-day "time to say goodbye" spring warehouse sale. There are samples from the archives, spring racing looks and leather in sizes 6 to 14. It's your last chance to buy a piece of White Suede before the label disappears forever.

Lot 4, Railway Place, Cremorne (access via Green Street). Thursday 7am-7pm, Friday 8am-2pm.

Going, gone ... White Suede is holding its final warehouse sale.

Sticking with Australian labels, ethical brand KitX has popped up in Hawksburn Village. The first standalone Melbourne store will open for three months  perfect for the racing and party season  and will stock the latest resort range. Designer Kit Willow, who originally hails from Melbourne, said it was great to have a standalone presence in the city (her brand is also stocked at David Jones).

590 Malvern Road, Prahran. Monday-Friday 10am-5.30pm, Saturday 9.30am-5pm, Sunday 11am-4pm.
By PTI: By Sajjad Hussain

Islamabad, Oct 12 (PTI) Five Western hostages, including three children, were recovered from terrorists with ties to the Afghan Taliban in an operation based on intelligence shared by the US after five years of their abduction, the Pakistan Army said today.

They were captured by terrorists from Afghanistan in 2012 and kept as hostages there.

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"Pakistan Army and ISI recovered 5 Western hostages including 1 Canadian, his US National wife and their three children from terrorist custody through an intelligence based operation by Pakistan troops and intelligence agencies," the Army said in a statement.

It said the US intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and shared their location when they were shifted to Pakistan through border of Kurram tribal district yesterday.

The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from US authorities, was successful and all hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin, it added.

The success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistans continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy, it said.

The Army did not share the identities of the recovered hostages but they are believed to be Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman, who was pregnant at the time of abduction. All the children are believed to have been born in captivity. PTI SH ZH AKJ ZH

--- ENDS ---
Former treasurer Peter Costello has called for what would amount to the nationalisation of compulsory default superannuation, saying if it was run by the government there would be no war between industry and private funds over who should run it.

Addressing a conference of superannuation managers in Melbourne, the former Coalition treasurer and current chair of the government's Future Fund stressed he was speaking in a private capacity.

Former treasurer Peter Costello has called for a bigger government role in superannuation regulation. Credit:Pat Scala

"Let me say I believe that, subject to safeguards, people should be able to choose who manages their super," Mr Costello told the conference on the future of superannuation.

"But the reality is in Australia there is a large cohort of people who don't choose. Their money goes into default funds. They get allocated to an industry or an employer fund. They make no choice over the investment profile.
A bigger share of Australians than respondents in most other countries think religion does more harm than good in the world, new polling has revealed.

But we are also more comfortable with religious diversity than the international average.

The survey of more than 17,000 people across 23 countries by polling firm Ipsos found opinion is evenly divided about the influence that religion has in society.

It showed 49 per cent of respondents across all countries agreed with the statement "religion does more harm in the world than good".
Alexander Villaluna had already decided what he would do if his ex-wife ever met a new partner: he would kill the man and wound her in a way she would never forget.

So when he came across Jovi Pilapil dining with her new date Keith Collins at a Sydney restaurant in late March 2016, his actions were "deliberate and methodical", Justice Robert Beech-Jones found on Thursday.

Alexander Villaluna has been jailed for a minimum of 30 years. Credit:AAP

He stabbed Mr Collins until he fell to the ground, then meted out the same treatment to Ms Pilapil until she fled the restaurant, before bringing the knife back down to his first victim to complete the job.

The date at Kangnam BBQ restaurant in Hornsby was the first face-to-face meeting between the Ms Pilapil and Mr Collins who had been corresponding on Tinder in the weeks earlier. Mr Collins left behind four children and three step-children.
Twenty-five minutes before he died, Bradley Dillon sent a text message to his long-time friend.

"Got the car," the message said. "Pick you up tomorrow."

Diego Carbone, pictured on the day of his arrest, has been found guilty of murdering Bradley Dillon.

Mr Dillon, 25, had just bought a Nissan GT-R and had driven it to Leichhardt, where he parked opposite the TAB on Flood Street.

He went inside the betting agency, coming in and out several times, before his phone lit up with a message from a number he didn't recognise. The phone sending the text had only been activated an hour earlier.
Mike Baird's dramatic exit from politics almost nine months ago caught many by surprise given his often-stated public commitment to stay the course to the 2019 election.

The then premier used his final media conference to deliver a final bit of spin on his decision to quit: the Coalition government was in need of a "refresh" midway through its second term.

"It's time for us to refresh, to reset our goals towards the 2019 election," Baird said in January.

That made some sense, given Baird's declining popularity in the previous months over council amalgamations and his ill-fated bid to end greyhound racing in NSW.
The fate of a Norwegian man accused of murdering "the love of his life" with a kitchen knife is now in the hands of a Queensland jury.

Thomas Lysgaard, 39, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Aaron Joseph Stewart at their Spring Hill home in inner Brisbane on April 4, 2015.

The victim: Aaron Stewart.

The Brisbane Supreme Court has heard Mr Stewart was stabbed four times in the chest with an 8cm-long kitchen knife that pierced his heart and lungs.

The jury retired at 11.30am on Thursday to deliberate its verdict.
A Brisbane massage parlour owner who put hydrochloric acid in his receptionist's luxury face creams has avoided jail time.

Dae Ik Kim fronted the Brisbane District Court on Thursday, where it was heard he put amounts of the corrosive substance in his employee's beauty products in August 2015.

Dae Ik Kim leaves the Brisbane District Court. Credit:AAP/Dave Hunt

Judge Ian Dearden said it was "deeply disturbing" Kim had entered the apartment of the South Korean woman and her husband to put hydrochloric acid in orange juice, milk and three bottles of the woman's cosmetics.

However, he later returned to the couple's unit and replaced the orange juice and milk, and the prosecution did not pursue a charge relating to the drinks.
A Queensland police officer has been charged with stealing money while executing a search warrant at a home north of Brisbane.

It's alleged the 31-year-old Caboolture constable took money during a search of a home in Morayfield in the Morton Bay region in May.

He will appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.

AAP
A Queensland woman accused of the savage bashing of a teenage girl who remains in a coma in intensive care has been denied bail.

Shannon Angela Williams, 18, and a 16-year-old girl allegedly attacked the 15-year-old in the early hours of Tuesday on a central street at Warwick, south-west of Brisbane.

Their alleged victim was treated for life-threatening head injuries at the local hospital before being airlifted to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, where she is in a critical but stable condition.

Her family have been by her bedside in intensive care.

The mother of the girl, who can't be named, has told the Warwick Daily News their family has been devastated.
When Therese Fitzgerald moved to Kensington in 1975, not that many people used the nearby South Kensington railway station.

Skip forward four decades and a flood of passengers use it  last year almost 400,000 passengers used the station, 90 per cent more than 10 years ago.

And yet the facilities at the station, wedged between industrial rail yards and a park, are  to be polite  basic.

"It's a bus shelter, not a railway station," said Ms Fitzgerald, a member of local group the Kensington Association.
By PTI: (Eds: Updating with more details, quotes)

By Sajjad Hussain and Lalit K Jha

Islamabad/Washington, Oct 12 (PTI) A family of five Western hostages, including three children, were recovered after five years of their abduction by terrorists with ties to the Afghan Taliban in an operation based on intelligence shared by the US, the Pakistan Army said today.

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"Pakistan Army and ISI recovered 5 Western hostages including 1 Canadian, his US National wife and their three children from terrorist custody through an intelligence based operation by Pakistan troops and intelligence agencies," the Army said in a statement.

It said the US intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and shared their location when they were shifted to Pakistan through border of Kurram tribal district yesterday.

The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from US authorities, was successful and all hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin, it added.

In Washington, US President Donald Trump hailed the release of the hostages from Taliban captivity and identified the kidnapped couple as Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle.

He said their release was a "positive moment" for US relations with Pakistan.

"The United States government, working in conjunction with the Government of Pakistan, secured the release of the Boyle-Coleman family from captivity in Pakistan," Trump said.

Caitlan Coleman, an American citizen, and her husband Joshua Boyle, a Canadian citizen, were kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan while on a backpacking trip.

Coleman, 31, was pregnant at the time of abduction. All the three children were born in captivity.

"Coleman gave birth to the couples three children while they were in captivity," Trump said in a White House statement. "Today, they are free."

He said the Pakistani governmentscooperation is a sign that it is honoring Americas wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region.

"We hope to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counter-terrorism operations," Trump said.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson too welcomed the development.

In a statement, Tillerson expressed his deep gratitude to the Pakistan government and the Pakistani Army for their cooperation.

Trumps new South Asia strategy recognises the important role Pakistan needs to play to bring stability and ultimately peace to the region, he said.

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"The United States is hopeful that Pakistan?s actions will further a US-Pakistan relationship marked by growing commitments to counter-terrorism operations and stronger ties in all other respects," Tillerson said.

The Pakistan Army said the success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistans continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy.

The hostages "are being repatriated to their country of origin."

The Afghan Taliban last year released a video that showed the family, including two young boys. PTI SH LKJ ZH AKJ ZH

--- ENDS ---
Western Australian's corruption watchdog has been slammed by a parliamentary committee for not pursuing the case of an academic and his wife who were tasered by police during an arrest in Fremantle.

Robert Cunningham, an Associate Law Professor, and his wife Catherine Atoms sued the state of WA and three police officers for malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, assault and battery over an incident outside the Esplanade Hotel in November 2008.

A Perth law school professor and his partner who were tasered by police won a damages claim.

The couple were awarded more than $1 million in damages by the District Court in December.

The Joint Standing Committee on the Corruption and Crime Commission tabled its report from the Parliamentary Inspector of the CCC Michael Murray on Thursday, which revealed the commission should undertake an independent investigation into the conduct of the three police officers involved in the incident.
"Since we first flung open our doors back in October 2002, it's been pretty much the best journey a brewer with a vision could have hoped for," the post read.

Feral Brewing Company announced on Thursday it agreed to sell 100 per cent of the brewery to one of the country's biggest alcohol companies Amatil.

The Swan Valley brewing stalwart has become a popular drop amongst locals after openings its doors in 2002 and has won a swag of beer gongs.

One of WA's most popular breweries, Feral Brewing has been bought out by Coca-Cola Amatil.

"I've lost count of the number of different beers we brewed, how many of them we introduced to Australia for the first time, how many beer awards we have received, the great people who have joined our team and how many consumer or industry polls we have either topped or been recognised as standouts amongst our peers.

"The time has come for us to make a tough decision in the best interest of our future, our loyal craft beer consumers and the amazing team that we have within Feral brewing."

The post answered the thirsty question on most beer drinkers' minds: Will the beer be the same?

"Yes, there will be no change or our existing beers or the brewers behind them and we look forward to being more prolific than ever before when it comes to new releases," the post added.

"Our mission of making beer that we love to drink and that we have personal respect for remains the primary goal of the brewery.
Details of the relationship between two women accused of murdering Perth teenager Aaron Pajich have been revealed in court as a police officer tasked with analysing the pair's mobile phone interactions continued to give evidence on Thursday.

Trudi Lenon, 43 and Jemma Lilley, 26, are on trial in the Supreme Court of Western Australia accused of murdering the 18-year-old and burying him underneath a freshly laid concrete slab in their backyard on June 13, 2016.

Jemma Lilley, left, and Trudi Lenon had a "dominant/submissive" relationship, the court heard.

An alleged text exchange between Ms Lenon and Ms Lilley, which took place in the months before Mr Pajich's murder demonstrated the "dominant-submissive" relationship the pair shared.

"I will fear you, but respect you. I would not challenge you. I would naturally submit to you. My fear would be because I am in awe and because I respect what you are and that I see you as my dominant," Ms Lenon wrote.
Detectives have charged two people over an armed robbery last month during which a 64-year-old woman tried to fend off her attacker with an umbrella.

The robbery occurred on the morning of September 28 as the woman was leaving a supermarket on Chapman Road in St James.

As she walked to her silver Holden Calais she noticed a man near the pay phone on Pitt Street.

When she reached the vehicle the man approached the woman at the driver's side door, produced and knife and demanded her keys.
More than 100 years ago, the last wild colony of banded hare-wallabies on the Australian mainland was wiped out by feral cats and foxes.

The endangered species used to roam in a vast swathe of land from near the Victoria and South Australia border to southwestern Australia, but the last mainland sighting was back in 1906 with only small populations enduring on offshore islands.

A Banded Hare-wallaby being released at Mt Gibson Credit:Australian Wildlife Conservancy

But after an extraordinary effort by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, this important species has been returned to the mainland with 60 wallabies - 27 males and 33 females - translocated to the group's wildlife sanctuary at Mount Gibson in WA's Mid West.

Protected by an immense feral cat-proof fence, the sanctuary will be a new home for the banded hare-wallaby, which is the sole survivor of a now extinct group of mostly megafauna kangaroos, genetically and morphologically distinct from all living kangaroo species.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart faces a multimillion-dollar legal bill to a rival company linked to the descendants of a man her father pioneered Western Australia's iron ore industry with.

Wright Prospecting and Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting trace their origins to WA mining pioneers Lang Hancock and Peter Wright, who discovered a number of immense ore prospects together and agreed to divide them up.

Hancock Prospecting chairwoman Gina Rinehart. Credit:Lisa Maree Williams

One of the assets is the high-grade iron ore deposit Rhodes Ridge in the Pilbara, which Wright Prospecting established an ownership share of after a series of court victories in 2010.

Hancock Prospecting fought Wright Prospecting over the issue, but was denied an appeal in the High Court after using up its legal avenues in WA.
The Perth mother of a nine-year-old boy sexually abused by a 12-year-old boy has called for WA's judicial system to impose harsher sentences on convicted child rapists.

Her plea comes after two boys, aged 12 and 13 at the time of their offending, avoided detention sentences in Perth Children's Court in October for raping, or attempting to rape, nine-year-old boys.

Four Perth boys charged with sexually abusing children younger than them have all escaped detention. Credit:Virginia Star

The cases, though unrelated, bear striking similarities.

Both convicted boys had befriended their victims and, in both incidents, the younger boys who were subject to the abuse had suffered ongoing trauma.
Bangkok: United Nations investigators have exposed Myanmar's lie that the offensive by security forces launched against Rohingya Muslims was in response to insurgent attacks in Rakhine state on August 25.

Rohingya survivors have told the UN the security forces began attacking Rohingya townships and villages weeks earlier, in early August.

Newly arrived Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar walk as they continue their journey in to a camp for refugees in Teknaf, Bangladesh last week. Credit:AP

The UN Human Rights Office report indicates that the campaign of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar's poorest state was pre-meditated.

The report detailing the investigator's findings makes for harrowing reading, revealing unimaginable cruelty.
Wellington: The next New Zealand government won't be decided by voters - but by a secretive board of volunteers.

Winston Peters, leader of the NZ First Party and election kingmaker, went into the last day of negotiations with both the National and Labour parties, saying he was not favouring either side to form the next government.

NZ Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern, left, and Prime Minister Bill English must wait for NZ First Party to decide who will govern. Credit:AP

While National won the biggest share of the September 23 vote it did not win a mandate to govern outright. Peters now has to choose between a coalition with the incumbent, or a three-way alliance with Labour and its ally, the Greens which could muster a three-seat majority instead of just one.

Whichever way it goes, the decision will not be made until at least Saturday and won't be made by him alone, Peters said.
Jerusalem: The Palestinian militant group Hamas backed a plan to reconcile with its rival Fatah on Thursday, after more than a decade at loggerheads that left the Palestinian territories split between competing leaderships.

No details of the deal were immediately made public and major obstacles remain  including the fate of Hamas's powerful armed wing  that have blocked past unity bids.

Palestinians wave national and Egyptian flags to celebrate the reconciliation agreement. Credit:AP

But the latest moves had envoys from both sides making public gestures of co-operation. Televised coverage showed Hamas deputy leader Salah al-Aruri and Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad signing the tentative deal in Cairo. Egypt has been brokering talks.

Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the possible pact as a "final agreement to end the division".
Aarushi and Hemraj were killed in May, 2008. Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were held guilty by the CBI special court in 2013. The Allahabad High Court today declared them innocent.

By Prabhash K Dutta: Nine years after 14-year-old girl Aarushi Talwar and her domestic help Hemraj were murdered in cold blood, the mystery of the killings still remains a puzzle as the Allahabad High Court has pronounced that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar are innocent.

The parents of Aarushi, Dr Nupur and Rajesh Talwar had been held guilty by the trial court five years after the twin murders.

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The Allahabad High Court today pronounced its verdict on a plea filed by Rajesh and Nupur Talwar challenging the trial court judgment in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case.

The 2008-murder mystery has gone through several twists and turns. Today's verdict by the Allahabad High Court has given a fresh spin to the murder mystery leaving the fundamental question unanswered as to who killed Aarushi and Hemraj on the fateful night.

THE TWIN-MURDERS

On the morning of May 16, 2008 around 6 am as Talwars' maid Bharati came to their flat in Jalvayu Vihar in UP's Noida, the news of Aarushi's murder was broken to her. In her testimony, Bharati told the investigators that Nupur showed her the body of Aarushi saying that Hemraj had killed her and fled.

Bharati ran outside the flat to inform the neighbours while Nupur informed her relatives and friends about the death of Aarushi. Hearing about a murder in the upscale residential colony, the UP police officials reached the spot and began investigation.

But, even nine years and three probes later, it is still unknown as who killed Aarushi and Hemraj inside Talwars' home as no sign of intruders was found by the investigating teams. The investigation has not pointed to the presence of a fifth person in the Talwars' home that night. Of the four, two were killed and two others were acquitted today by the Allahabad High Court.

THE FIRST PROBE

The probe in the Aarushi murder case began on May 16 itself with UP police collecting evidence from the scene of crime and questioning the Talwars, their neighbours, relatives and Bharati.

Domestic help Hemraj, 45-year-old from Nepal, was missing on record. The Talwars accused him of killing their daughter and fleeing the scene. Some of the early visitors to the flat of Talwars reported seeing blood on stairs and door handle of the gate opening on the terrace.

Police records show that the officials asked for key to the locked door that opened on the terrace. But, Rajesh Talwar, after a search in his room, reported that the keys were missing. Police did not attempt breaking the door.

Two days later, the case turned on its head with police discovering the blood-soaked body of Hemraj on the terrace of the Talwars' residence. Aarushi's parents, Nupur and Rajesh Talwar became suspects in the case.

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A week later on May 23 - a day short of Aarushi's never-to-be 14th birth anniversary - the UP police arrested Rajesh Talwar on the charges of killing his daughter and Hemraj.

Meerut range IG of police Gurdarshan Singh told a press conference that Aarushi's murder was an incident of honour killing. The police said that on the night of the twin-murders Rajesh Talwar saw Aarushi and Hemraj in "objectionable" but "not compromising" position and in the fit of rage he killed Hemraj first, and then Aarushi.

The comments of the UP police officials about the character of Aarushi led to severe criticism, following which the IG changed his statement to claim that she was killed by Rajesh Talwar as she objected to his extra-marital affair with a fellow dentist. Hemraj was killed as he was the witness to the murder of Aarushi, the police summed up the double-murder case.

The condemnation of UP police continued despite their claim of having solved the case. IGP Gurdarshan Singh was shunted out and the Mayawati government handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which began its probe on June 1, 2008.

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THE SECOND PROBE

The CBI studied the evidence collected by the UP police from the crime scene, questioned the first visitors, maid Bharati, neighbours, colleagues of Talwars and also visited the crime scene.

During its month-long investigation, the CBI tried to recreate the sequence of events leading to the twin murders. The CBI investigation led by joint-director Arun Kumar turned the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case on its head once again.

On July 11, the CBI said that there was no evidence against the Talwars to prosecute them in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case. On the basis of its investigation, the CBI arrested Raj Kumar, Krishna and Vijay Mandal - the three domestic helps who knew the Talwar family and also deceased Hemraj.

Krishna was the first suspect to be arrested by the CBI on suspicion. The CBI team later said that they had a blood-stained kukri and trousers during search of his house. Krishna was subjected to narco-analysis test, wherein he confessed to the murders.

The CBI's theory was that the three domestic helps entered the Talwar's flat to consume liquor. They then tried to assault Aarushi to which Hemraj objected and intervened. In the fight that ensued, the three killed Hemraj and Aarushi.

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The CBI, however, did not file chargesheet against Krishna, Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case. It was said that top CBI officials were not convinced about the findings of the investigation. The chargesheet was put on hold.

Meanwhile, the UP government called back Arun Kumar to the parent cadre and the probe into Aarushi-Hemraj murder case was handed over to another team of the CBI investigators under Neelabh Kishore, an SP rank officer.

THE THIRD PROBE

In September 2009, the new team of the CBI began its probe afresh. The investigating officer of the case was ASP rank officer AGL Kaul.

The new team again inspected all evidence collected from the crime scene and recovered during the searches at suspects' places. They revisited the crime scene and tried to re-establish the sequence of events. The new team questioned almost the same set of witnesses and suspects.

But, the CBI team reached a different conclusion from the UP police and the previous investigators of the agency. The new team concluded that the three domestic helps were not culprits and evidence was not concrete to prove their case against Talwars beyond doubt even after narco analysis and polygraph tests.

The CBI filed a closure report in the court. The decision was taken after a few rounds of consultations among the senior CBI officials including those in the previous team of investigators. On December 29, 2010 the CBI filed a closure report in the special court, which rejected it and ordered trial against Nupur and Rajesh Talwar.

Incidentally, the Talwars, too, had opposed filing of closure report by the CBI. Almost three years later, on November 25, 2013, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were convicted of killing Aarushi and Hemraj. The new team of CBI more or less confirmed the crime theory forwarded by the UP police.

--- ENDS ---
Russian President Vladimir Putin has moved to legalise the military's use of foreign volunteers in overseas operations, a new step in the country's increasing engagement in wars abroad.

A decree published on Monday - though still not ratified by Parliament - would allow foreign nationals to serve in what the law calls "counterterrorism and peacekeeping missions," including in Syria, where increasing numbers of Russian service members are currently stationed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a summit of the Ex-Soviet Alliance leaders in Sochi, Russia. Credit:AP

"The timing of the change is quite telling," said Alexey Khlebnikov, an analyst with the Russian International Affairs Council.

"Russia's only military operation abroad is in Syria, and only contractors [volunteers as opposed to conscripts] are serving there. This amendment provides regulation for the foreign nationals who participate in Russia's Syria campaign."
A Taliban-linked faction in Afghanistan has freed an American woman and her Canadian husband who were abducted more than five years ago and had three children in captivity, US and Pakistani officials said on Friday.

Caitlan Coleman, 31, and her Canadian husband, Josh Boyle, 34, were taken in October 2012 while backpacking in the mountainous Wardak province, a militant stronghold near Kabul. At the time of her abduction, Coleman was pregnant. She had two more children in captivity, adding pressure to resolve an already desperate situation.

However, in a twist, Boyle was refusing to board a US plane in Pakistan as he fears he could face legal trouble in the US due to a previous marriage, CNN was reporting.

The Pakistani military said in a statement that the couple and their three children were found "through an intelligence-based operation" in co-ordination with US agencies tracking the hostages along the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
COLE BAY:--- The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation, in collaboration with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, assisted in the delivery of Humanitarian Relief Supplies to Hurricane stricken Dominica. The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation was contacted by Sea Shepherd informing that they would be delivering Hurricane Irma relief supplies to Sint Maarten, more specifically veterinary and animal supplies, and that they would next be sailing to Dominica.

With the Assistance of the Dominica Foundation, Mr. Romain Laville, The Ministry of Justice, Port Sint Maarten, the Fire Department and Customs, the two organizations were able to depart with some two tons of supplies to Dominica aboard the Sea Shepherd Ship John Paul Dejoria. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is a direct action marine conservation NGO made famous by the Documentary Whale Wars. After the destruction caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria the John Paul Dejoria was diverted from its activities in Central America to provide assistance and relief to the disaster-stricken Caribbean region.

En route to Dominica the ship made supply stops in St. Barths and Guadeloupe, where representatives of the Regional Activities Center of the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife section of the UN Caribbean Environment Program also loaded relief supplies on the vessel donated by their staff. Supplies were then delivered to schools, hospitals, village councils and the Cabarets Marine Management Area in Dominica; After Hurricane Irma struck Sint Maarten Dominica came to our aid, so when we had the opportunity to do the same after Maria we jumped at the opportunity, commented Tadzio Bervoets, Managing Director of the Sint Maarten Nature Foundation. We also were able to load additional supplies in St. Barth and Guadeloupe and subsequently accompanied the cargo to Dominica. We have always worked closely with the Conservation Community in the region, including in Dominica, and we were able to provide relief for Tan Tan village, home of the Cabrits Marine Park. We also distributed Supplies to the Point Michel Village Council and various other groups organized by the Sint Maarten Dominica Association. As Caribbean Nationals we are facing the effects of a changing climate and only through mutual cooperation on a national, regional and international scale will we be able to mitigate the effects Climate Change will have on the Caribbean, concluded Bervoets.

Nature Foundation Press Release
CETECOM now also a technical service for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)

Posted by Publisher Telecommunication

After a comprehensive audit by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), CETECOM is now officially designated as a technical service for eCall. We therefore offer our customers a complete eCall certification according to European specifications.

Shortly after the designation as technical service for eCall, the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has also named CETECOM as a technical service for EMC and is therefore recognized for categories A and B.

As a technical service for eCall, CETECOM already offers approval testing for automated communication systems according to Regulation (EC) No. 2017/79. With the designation as technical service for EMC, CETECOM is now expanding its service portfolio for the automotive industry with the approval testing for electromagnetic compatibility according to UN-R 10 Series of Amendments 05 (Appendices 4-6 and 11-16).

With this expansion of our designation as a technical service for Federal Motor Transport Authority, we are sharpening our service offering for the automotive sector, explains CETECOM CEO Wilfried Klassmann. With such a diversified service portfolio, we are the ideal licensing partner for the automotive industry when it comes to wireless communications.

In addition to the designation for the technical service for eCall and EMV and the related testing services, CETECOMs portfolio includes, among other things, the regulatory approval testing for EMC, radio, electrical safety, SAR/MPE and wireless charging (Qi). In addition, CETECOM offers approvals according to automotive manufacturer specifications, eCall and ERA-GLONASS approvals as well as V2X tests.

For over twenty years, CETECOM has been renowned as an independent provider for test and certification services. With test labs in Europe, North America and Asia, CETECOM provides consulting, testing and certification for wireless technologies such as Cellular, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RFID, NFC, WPT and Radar. We furthermore perform a wide range of testing in the areas of EMC, Radio, OTA, SAR, field trials, electrical safety and acoustics.
Preservica Launches Cloud Hosted Digital Preservation in Canada

Boston, MA, and Oxford, UK | October 12 2017 | Digital preservation specialist Preservica has today announced that its popular cloud hosted (SaaS) preservation and access software is now available in the AWS Canada (Central) region.

Preservica Cloud Edition, which is already used by a large community of businesses, archives, libraries and government institutions across the US and Europe, now provides Canadian organizations with an affordable and secure way to protect and provide access to long-term digital content using in-country cloud hosting and storage. The service also includes live webinar training, unlimited support, regular user group meetings and online user forums.

Digital transformation and the use of the cloud is a major focus for Canadian federal and provincial government organizations, and the new service will enable government institutions to meet mandates to preserve digital records in a useable form in the cloud for the benefit of present and future generations. Retaining data in country also enables closer adherence to privacy legislation such as the Canadian Federal Governments Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) that applies to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.

Mike Quinn, Preservica CEO, said: We are excited to be working with AWS to offer Canadian customers a cost-effective and scalable way of preserving valuable long-term digital content. The launch is part of our ongoing global expansion and builds on the very successful adoption of Preservica Cloud Edition in AWS EU, US East and GovCloud (US) regions. It also underscores our expertise in providing cloud-hosted digital preservation and our reputation as a trusted AWS Competency partner for Government and Education. We look forward to working closely with Canadian governmental and commercial organizations, and welcoming them to our rapidly growing global user community.

Learn more about Preservica Cloud and Enterprise Editions including pricing information (https://preservica.com/uk/digital-archive-software)

Preservica will also be hosting a Canada Region launch webinar on 29th November entitled Using Preservica Cloud Edition in Canada to future-proof your critical long-term digital information.

This will discuss the benefits of using the Cloud to future-proof and provide secure access to critical long-term digital information.

Learn more and register here: https://preservica.com/events/webinars-live-demos/29/11/2017/using-the-cloud-to-future-proof-your-critical-long-term-digital-information
Apto Announces Angela Tucci as New CEO

DENVER, CO  (Marketwired)  10/12/17  Apto, the leading web-based commercial real estate software for brokers, today announced that it has hired Angela Tucci as chief executive officer. Tanner McGraw, Aptos founder and former CEO, will continue as chairman of the board and will take on a new role as the companys chief strategy officer.

Tucci was most recently at CA Technologies, where she served as general manager of the Agile Management business unit. She was one of the pioneers of the CRM industry in the early 1990s, and brings decades of experience as a proven leader in public and private software companies spanning a wide variety of industries. Her leadership and vision enabled those companies to boost innovation, profitability, and employee engagement.

Were very excited for Angela to bring her experience scaling software companies to Apto, said McGraw. She brings a lot of unique skills and insights that will help us accelerate innovation and implement processes to achieve the ambitious goals weve had in our sights since our founding. In his new role as CSO, McGraw will be responsible for Aptos long-term strategy and vision. Im looking forward to refocusing my attention on how to best serve brokers needs both now and in the future.

Tucci joins Apto during a period of record growth and dramatic enhancements to its product offerings. Aptos three-year growth rate places it #30 among software companies in Inc. magazines recently released 2017 Inc. 500 rankings. Apto has also reaffirmed its commitment to product innovation that makes brokers more efficient, releasing a new mobile app, a redesigned user interface, integrations with leading software partners, and Apto Prospect & Nurture in just the last few months.

This company has the potential to completely transform how brokers capture new business and work their deals, said Tucci. Im thrilled to join Apto during such an exciting and pivotal time for the business and the industry. With our incredible people and our unwavering focus on building the best software for brokers, I have no doubt that Apto will fulfill its promise and its ambitions.

Prior to CA Technologies, Tucci held executive positions at Rally Software, Symantec, and NEON. A veteran start-up entrepreneur, she also founded two venture-backed technology companies with successful exits. She is a trustee for the Anita Borg Institute, a non-profit organization focused on the advancement of women in computing and technology. Tucci earned a masters degree in business from Stanford University and a bachelors degree in physics from Princeton University.

We believe Apto has assembled one of the strongest SaaS executive teams in Colorado, said Blair Garrou, managing director of Mercury Fund, and a venture investor and board member of Apto. Adding an executive with the track record and reputation of Angela to lead this team positions us well for continued rapid growth and success in the future.

Created by and for commercial real estate brokers, Apto is the leading web-based software for managing customer relationships, properties, listings, deals and commissions. Apto serves nearly 10,000 commercial brokers and is the CRM of choice for 6 of the top 8 CRE brands. Aptos world-class software is optimized to meet the needs of CRE brokers, and can be further customized to brokerage workflows and business requirements. Apto is the only platform that allows brokers to manage the full lifecycle of a deal anywhere, from any device.

Interested in Apto, our customer success stories or working for us? Visit , call 888-633-6424 or email .
Supporting Their Growing Team, Intermarkets Moves into New Office Space

RESTON, VA  (Marketwired)  10/12/17  , the media company connecting advertisers and consumers through its portfolio of high-quality, influential websites, today announced the opening of its larger, new headquarters at One Freedom Square in the Reston Town Center to better support its business, clients and employees.

Intermarkets has moved more than 45 employees into the 11th floor of One Freedom Square. It will join other well-respected media and technology companies in the center of Reston Town Center such as Google and comScore.

Staying in Reston Town Center was the best choice for our team, our clients and for the companys future growth, said Michael Loy, Chief Operating Officer of Intermarkets. One Freedom Square gave Intermarkets the space to design an office environment that aligns with our company culture and values, and affords us the space to accommodate future team members. We will also retain access to the unique combination of walkable amenities and future RTC Metro station.

This innovative company culture has been recognized locally this year by and DC Innos Coolest Companies.

Intermarkets decision to stay in the Reston Town Center proves the growth potential and staying power of Reston as a technology incubator, said Katie Yanushonis, VP Leasing of Boston Properties. As Intermarkets continues to expand their team and strong portfolio of publishers, we are proud to provide its team a collaborative space and expanding list of amenities.

Lease negotiations for Intermarkets were handled by Andy Klaff, Executive Managing Director for Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.

Intermarkets considered many factors, including employee feedback, when selecting a new space for their growing company, said Klaff. In addition to ensuring the proximity to a popular coffee shop for quick caffeine fixes, their team also considered covered parking, future Metro access, views, walkability to shopping and dining, and minimizing daily travel changes.

The new headquarters was designed by local firm DCS Design. The open plan juxtaposes elements of serenity and calm with energy and movement. Collaboration and connectivity are the basis for the innovative design. While each team is able to enjoy its own, unique collaboration area, teams are also encouraged to share ideas and spaces.

Collaborative partnership is a part of Intermarkets mission statement, and it was so refreshing to see that philosophy come to life throughout the design of the project, shares Christy Garrity, Vice President of DCS. Creatively interpreting the belief that all the best ideas and solutions result from collaboration and teamwork was the basis of the design. We strongly feel an office environment that complements the mission and culture of the company will help take them to the next phase of their growth and success. We are so proud and excited to be a part of Intermarkets inevitable future success.

DCS Design did a fabulous job designing the space, incorporating collaborative areas, extraordinary finishes and sleek furniture that are perfect for a growing media company, added Loy. We couldnt be happier with our new home.

Intermarkets is a media company connecting advertisers and consumers through our portfolio of high-quality, influential websites. These sites attract more than 30 million unique viewers per month, driving over one billion page views. Advertisers are empowered to reach our mature, affluent and educated readers throughout this portfolio via carefully selected and vetted digital advertising solutions.

Founded in 1997, Intermarkets is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. It has been honored for its revenue growth on the Inc. 5000 list eight times and recognized as a Best Place to Work by Ad Age in 2016. The Intermarkets Portfolio includes iconic brands such as The Drudge Report, The Political Insider, TellMeNow, and many others. Learn more at .

Lacy Gallagher

Blast PR for Intermarkets
The Allahabad High Court has acquitted the Talwars in the Aarushi murder case and declared the couple innocent. Timeline of Aarushi-Hemraj murder case | Aarushi murder case: The untold story | An unfinished life

By India Today Web Desk: The Allahabad High Court has acquitted the Talwar couple in the double murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj. The high court judges turned down the lower court decision saying that it was made on circumstantial evidence.

"We cross-examined 39 witnesses produced by the prosecution. We cross-examined 28 witnesses in Ghaziabad court also. Dinesh Talwar's (Rajesh Talwar's brother) contribution in pursuing the case is very important, he fought the case effectively and with full dedication," said the lawyer of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar after the court's judgment.

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The couple, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who are lodged in Dasna Jail watched the verdict on television from the barracks Sources in the jail said the couple skipped their breakfast today and were praying since morning. Dasna Jail superintendent told India Today that the couple got emotional on hearing the judgment and said they have finally got justice.

CBI said that it will decide on the future course of action after going through the court's judgment. "We have 90 days' time before we file an appeal," the investigating agency said.

Minutes before the court started pronouncing its verdict, Rajesh Talwar's sister-in-law Vandana Talwar said, "We have been through really trying time since the last 10 years. I am tired, exhausted and extremely tense right now. Hope justice is delivered, hope verdict is in our favour".

The couple was awarded a life term by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad in November 2013 after it found the duo guilty of the crime. Both have been in jail since. The CBI had sought death penalty for the Talwar couple.

HERE ARE THE TOP DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE DAY:

Talwars' lawyer says Rajesh and Nupur will likely be out of jail tomorrow.

The entire family is extremely happy with the judgement. From the first day, we knew that they have been falsely convicted: Vandana Talwar

We have got justice, says Nupur Talwar.

Nupur Talwar is relieved. Whenever the copy of the judgement reaches us, we will start the official process: Maurya

We have come to know about the verdict through media: Dadhiram Maurya, Jail Superintendent

Jail authorities said that they will start the release process from Dasna jail as soon as they receive the judgment.

Nupur and Rajesh Talwar get emotional after hearing the judgment. They have been performing pooja since the morning.

Lack of concrete proof led to benefit of doubt and acquittal.

The documentation part will be done before 5 pm.

Judgement copy will be sent to Dasna Jail.

Talwar couple likely to be set free today.

The judges turned down the lower court decision saying that the case was made on circumstantial evidence.

The Allahabad High Court has acquitted the Talwar couple. Judges narrate loopholes in CBI investigation.

Judges to pronounce verdict now.

Both judges arrive in court room.

Case verdict has been written, only operative part will be read out at 2.45 pm.

Allahabad High Court to deliver verdict at 2.45pm.

The verdict will be pronounced at court number 40 of Allahabad High Court.

The court room is packed with advocates and CBI officers.

CBI officers and counsel of both parties present in the court.

Two judge bench is awaited, judges will arrive in few minutes.

Allahabad High Court is expected to announce verdict after 2:30 pm.

The Talwars were sentenced to life term in 2013, they later challenged the conviction

HERE IS THE TIMELINE OF AARUSHI-HEMRAJ DOUBLE MURDER CASE Aarushi Talwar was found murdered in her bedroom on May 16, 2008. Domestic help Hemraj, who was missing, suspected as the killer. The next day, Hemraj's body was found on the terrace of Talwars' residential building. Talwar's former domestic help Vishnu Sharma was named a suspect in the case. Delhi Police joined the double murder probe on May 21, 2008. The Talwars came under suspicion as police probed honour killing angle. Police quizzed Aarushi's close friend. On May 23, Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar was arrested as a key accused. CBI took over the probe in the double murder case on June 1. Both Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were made to take lie detector tests. CBI declared it a "blind case". Rajesh Talwar was denied bail by a special Ghaziabad magistrate. Supreme Court rejected a PIL challenging the administration of narco-analysis test on the accused in the case. Consequently, Rajesh Talwar was granted bail. On January 5, 2010, CBI moved the court to conduct narco test on Talwars. In December, CBI submitted a closure report and gave clean chit to servants, pointed fingers at parents. On February 9, 2011, court took cognisance of the CBI report and asked it to continue with prosecution charging Aarushi's parents with murder and destruction of evidence. In the next fortnight, Talwars approached Allahabad High Court for quashing trial court summons. Allahabad High Court dismissed the plea following which Talwars moved the Supreme Court. On January 9, 2012, Supreme Court said that the bail granted to Rajesh Talwar by the lower court would continue and that he should appear before the Ghaziabad Magistrate on February 4 to face trial along with his wife, Nupur Talwar. Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were convicted for the double murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad in November 2013. On September 7, 2017, the Allahabad High Court bench comprising Justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra reserved judgment against parents' plea and fixed October 12 as the date of verdict.

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ahabad High Court has acquitted the Talwar couple in thedouble murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj. The high court judges turned down the lower court decision saying that it was made on circumstantial evidence.

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"We cross-examined 39 witnesses produced by the prosecution. We cross-examined 28 witnesses in Ghaziabad court also. Dinesh Talwar's (Rajesh Talwar's brother) contribution in pursuing the case is very important, he fought the case effectively and with full dedication," said the lawyer of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar after the court's judgment.

advertisement

The couple, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who are lodged in Dasna Jail watched the verdict on television from the barracks Sources in the jail said the couple skipped their breakfast today and were praying since morning. Dasna Jail superintendent told India Today that the couple got emotional on hearing the judgment and said they have finally got justice.

Minutes before the court started pronouncing its verdict, Rajesh Talwar's sister-in-law Vandana Talwar said, "We have been through really trying time since the last 10 years. I am tired, exhausted and extremely tense right now. Hope justice is delivered, hope verdict is in our favour".

The couple was awarded a life term by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad in November 2013 after it found the duo guilty of the crime. Both have been in jail since. The CBI had sought death penalty for the Talwar couple.

HERE ARE THE LIVE UPDATES:

Talwars' lawyer says Rajesh and Nupur will likely be out of jail tomorrow.

The entire family is extremely happy with the judgement. From the first day, we knew that they have been falsely convicted: Vandana Talwar

We have got justice, says Nupur Talwar.

Nupur Talwar is relieved. Whenever the copy of the judgement reaches us, we will start the official process: Maurya

We have come to know about the verdict through media: Dadhiram Maurya, Jail Superintendent

Jail authorities said that they will start the release process from Dasna jail as soon as they receive the judgment.

Nupur and Rajesh Talwar get emotional after hearing the judgment. They have been performing pooja since the morning.

Lack of concrete proof led to benefit of doubt and acquittal.

The documentation part will be done before 5 pm.

Judgement copy will be sent to Dasna Jail.

Talwar couple likely to be set free today.

The judges turned down the lower court decision saying that the case was made on circumstantial evidence.

The Allahabad High Court has acquitted the Talwar couple. Judges narrate loopholes in CBI investigation.

Judges to pronounce verdict now.

Both judges arrive in court room.

Case verdict has been written, only operative part will be read out at 2.45 pm.

Allahabad High Court to deliver verdict at 2.45pm.

The verdict will be pronounced at court number 40 of Allahabad High Court.

The court room is packed with advocates and CBI officers.

CBI officers and counsel of both parties present in the court.

Two judge bench is awaited, judges will arrive in few minutes.

Allahabad High Court is expected to announce verdict after 2:30 pm.

The Talwars were sentenced to life term in 2013, they later challenged the conviction

HERE IS THE TIMELINE OF AARUSHI-HEMRAJ DOUBLE MURDER CASE Aarushi Talwar was found murdered in her bedroom on May 16, 2008. Domestic help Hemraj, who was missing, suspected as the killer. The next day, Hemraj's body was found on the terrace of Talwars' residential building. Talwar's former domestic help Vishnu Sharma was named a suspect in the case. Delhi Police joined the double murder probe on May 21, 2008. The Talwars came under suspicion as police probed honour killing angle. Police quizzed Aarushi's close friend. On May 23, Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar was arrested as a key accused. CBI took over the probe in the double murder case on June 1. Both Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were made to take lie detector tests. CBI declared it a "blind case". Rajesh Talwar was denied bail by a special Ghaziabad magistrate. Supreme Court rejected a PIL challenging the administration of narco-analysis test on the accused in the case. Consequently, Rajesh Talwar was granted bail. On January 5, 2010, CBI moved the court to conduct narco test on Talwars. In December, CBI submitted a closure report and gave clean chit to servants, pointed fingers at parents. On February 9, 2011, court took cognisance of the CBI report and asked it to continue with prosecution charging Aarushi's parents with murder and destruction of evidence. In the next fortnight, Talwars approached Allahabad High Court for quashing trial court summons. Allahabad High Court dismissed the plea following which Talwars moved the Supreme Court. On January 9, 2012, Supreme Court said that the bail granted to Rajesh Talwar by the lower court would continue and that he should appear before the Ghaziabad Magistrate on February 4 to face trial along with his wife, Nupur Talwar. Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were convicted for the double murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad in November 2013. On September 7, 2017, the Allahabad High Court bench comprising Justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra reserved judgment against parents' plea and fixed October 12 as the date of verdict.

WATCH VIDEO | Rajesh, Nupur Talwar acquitted in daughter Aarushi's murder case

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Aarushi's parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were awarded life sentence by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad in November 2013 after it found the duo guilty of the crime. The accused duo had filed a petition challenging their conviction.

By India Today Web Desk: The Allahabad High Court will today pronounce its judgment on a plea filed by Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, challenging a CBI court order that convicted them for the double murder of their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj.

The couple was awarded a life term by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad in November 2013 after it found the duo guilty of the crime. Both have been in jail since. The CBI had sought death penalty for the Talwar couple.

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Rajesh and Nupur Talwar filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court, challenging their conviction. In September this year, a high court bench comprising Justice BK Narayana and Justice AK Mishra had reserved its verdict on the petition filed by the accused duo.

During the initial phase of the probe, the Noida police had accused Rajesh Talwar of murdering Aarushi and Hemraj in the heat of the moment after allegedly finding them in a compromising position. But they had no material or forensic evidence to prove this charge.

The Talwars, on their part, have denied that they are involved and blame the media for sensationalising the issue and portraying them as the villains. The judge who found them guilty 4 years ago said they had also destroyed evidence.

The CBI had to take over the case after this investigation was criticised as not being transparent. After the CBI in December 2010 told the court that it had no evidence in the case while suspecting Rajesh Talwar of the double murder, the court said that the case could not be closed.

The CBI has held the view that there's nothing to suggest that anyone had broken into Talwars' home, hinting clearly at the possibility of the double murder being an insider's job.

VIDEO | Aarushi case: Allahabad High court to decide whether Talwar couple killed their daughter

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Allahabad HC will be delivering its verdict on the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case after Aarushi's parents filed a plea against the special CBI court's decision.

By India Today Web Desk: Allahabad High Court today will give out its verdict on the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case after Aarushi's parents Rajesh and Nupur filed a plea to challenge CBI court decision. Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were awarded life sentence by a special CBI court in 2013.

Aarushi was found dead in her room with a slit in her throat at her Noida residence. The next day, Hemraj, their domestic help, was also found dead on the terrace. Hemraj was a prime suspect in the case.

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The Aarushi-Hemraj murder case was nothing but a strategically planned move and was getting entangled day by day.

From lie-detector tests to inside jobs, the murder case proved to be one of the most shocking cases of all time.

Here's a chronology of the infamous Aarushi-Hemraj murder case:

May 16, 2008: Aarushi Talwar found murdered in her bedroom. Domestic help Hemraj, who was missing, suspected as the killer.

May 17: Hemraj's body found on the terrace of Talwars' residential building.

May 18: Police suspect "insider job" as the murders were done "with surgical precision".

May 19: Talwar's former domestic help Vishnu Sharma named suspect.

May 21: Delhi Police joins murder probe.

May 22: Family comes under suspicion, as police probe honour killing angle. The police quiz Aarushi's close friend.

May 23: Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar arrested as a key accused.

June 1: CBI takes over the probe in the case.

June 13: Talwar's domestic help Krishna arrested by CBI.

June 20: Lie detection test of Rajesh Talwar conducted at Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Delhi.

June 25: Second lie detection test conducted on Nupur Talwar. Her first lie detection test was found inconclusive.

June 26: CBI declares it a "blind case". Rajesh Talwar denied bail by a special Ghaziabad magistrate.

July 3: Supreme Court rejects a PIL challenging the administration of narco-analysis test on the accused in the case.

July 12: Rajesh Talwar freed on bail from Ghaziabad jail.

January 5, 2010: CBI moves court to conduct narco test on Talwar couple.

December 29: CBI submits closure report. Gives clean chit to servants, but points fingers at parents.

January 25, 2011: Utsav Sharma, the alleged attacker of Ruchika Girhotra molester, former Haryana DGP S.P.S. Rathore, attacks Rajesh Talwar with a cleaver on Ghaziabad court premises.

February 9: Court takes cognisance of CBI report and asks it to continue with prosecution charging Aarushi's parents with murder and destruction of evidence.

February 21: Talwars approach Allahabad High Court for quashing trial court summons.

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March 18: Allahabad HC dismisses the plea.

March 19: The couple approaches the Supreme Court.

January 09, 2012: SC says the bail granted to Rajesh Talwar by the lower court would continue and that he should appear before the Ghaziabad Magistrate on February 4 to face trial along with his wife, Nupur Talwar.

November, 2013: Rajesh and Nupur, Aarushi's parents, were convicted for the double murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad.

September 7, 2017: Allahabad HC bench comprising Justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra reserved judgment against parents' plea and fixed October 12 as the date of verdict.

October 12, 2017: Allahabad HC to deliver its verdict againt Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case.

Vikram Singh, the detective of Aarushi Talwar murder case: Based on what all I have have investigated & the way I have seen this case according to that somewhere I believe them to be the culprit. My stand on the judicial facts would be the same as before. I really find them guilty of doing this as an investigator and even the police or anyone who has been connected with the case would say the same.

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Allahabad HC acquits Talwars. The couple's lawyers said that they are expected to be out of Dasna jail on October 13.

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Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Cloudy with rain this morning...then scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon. High near 70F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Cloudy skies after midnight. Low 53F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Around 2.44 crore applications under the Right to Information (RTI) Act have been filed with various central and state government departments by citizens, NGO Transparency International India said today.

The RTI Act, which empowers citizens to seek information related to governance from government departments, was enacted in 2005.

"During the year 2005-06 to 2015-16, total number of RTI applications received by public authorities in India including the Union and state governments are 2,43,94,951," the NGO said in a report.

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Among states, Maharashtra received the highest number of RTI applications, it said.

During the year 2005-06 to 2015-16, the Government of India received 57,43,471 RTI applications, whereas Maharashtra got 54,95,788 such queries during 2006 to 2015, the report said.

A total of 13,48,457 second appeals and complaints were received by all information commissioners -- in the central and state information commissions, excluding Tamil Nadu -- during 2005-06 to 2015-16, it said.

Second appeals and complaints are filed with either the central or state information commission if people are not satisfied with the response of the departments concerned on their RTI applications.

Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Sikkim are not preparing mandatory annual reports regularly. Hence, data of these states does not reflect real situations, the report said.

"Analysis of data suggests that RTI has achieved a lot but clearly, the transparency Act itself is losing teeth. The nation surely needs a fresh struggle against corruption to bring forth the untapped potential for which the RTI Act was enacted," said Rama Nath Jha, Executive Director of Transparency International India.

PTI AKV GVS

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London, Oct 12, 2017 (SPS)  Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) warned the European companies against the risks of illegal trade with Morocco, that involves products from the Sahrawi occupied territories.

Following a call to tender launched by the Moroccan government for the extension of the agricultural area in Dakhla, in the Sahrawi occupied territories, WSRW warned the companies which would be attracted by this project, about the "serious legal, moral and financial risks."

Last September, Moroccan government announced an addition of 5000 hectares to the agricultural zone in Dakhla, WSRW said.

The call for tenders includes, inter alia, co-financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of irrigation infrastructure and a desalination plant for a period of 22 years. SPS

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STAMFORD  In the aftermath of the Las Vegas mass shooting on Oct. 1, Mayor David Martin hosted a town hall meeting on Wednesday at the Government Center to discuss the rise of mass shootings and their effects on communities throughout the country.

Martin was joined by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, state Rep. William Tong, state Sen. Carlo Leone, Stamford police Assistant Chief Jim Matheny and city Director of Public Safety Ted Jankowski.

Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the country is at risk of normalizing gun violence and called it a public health issue.

We cannot accept that inaction is acceptable, he said. We need to address the laws that allowed Las Vegas to take place.

The officials noted bump stocks, which Blumenthal said turn a semi-automatic weapon into a machine gun and were used in the Las Vegas attack, should be banned. And while the National Rifle Association and Congress have acknowledged this, the officials said that is not enough.

Dont think that the NRA is invincible, Leone told the audience. Theyve shown that they think something should be done, even if its a deflection.

Tong stressed elections have consequences and encouraged the crowd to get involved in activism.

Our sadness and grief will only get us so far, he said. Get angry and oppose the NRA, who are against common sense restrictions.

The officials addressed loopholes that make it easier for individuals to get their hands on and carry guns.

Leone noted the Dylan Roof loophole. Roof killed nine people in South Carolina in 2015 after a flaw in the background check system allowed him to purchase a gun. Under federal law, the FBI has three days to check the persons record; on the fourth day, if nothing has come up, the applicant can purchase the weapon.

In Connecticut, individuals can openly carry a handgun with a permit, but there is a loophole in the law in which the individual does not have to show the permit to police if asked.

Imagine if someone was walking around with a gun by the mosque on Washington Boulevard or Building One Community, or an elementary school or Trump Parc, Martin said. Our police do a great job, but not if they are being handicapped by loopholes in these laws.

What Im alarmed about is that weve become numb, Leone said. We cant let numbness expand. We have to let anger and grassroots efforts expand.

Representatives from some grassroots efforts  including The Enough Campaign, CT Against Gun Violence, and Everytown for Gun Safety w ere present at the event. The Enough Campaign will host a gun safety awareness vigil in December in Stamford. The date has yet to be finalized.

Jeremy Stein, incoming executive director of CT Against Gun Violence, encouraged the public to let their voices be heard.

Contact your representatives, but also encourage the ones who keep doing a great job, he said.

tclark@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2265; @TravClark2
STAMFORD  More Democratic candidates seeking seats on the Board of Representatives have identified themselves as reformers.

The number whove joined a party faction called Reform Stamford has increased to 10  or nearly a third of all the Democrats running for the board on Nov. 7.

The latest two to join are from District 1, which includes Shippan and a portion of the Cove. Peter Stroili and Daniel Campana are lifelong Stamford residents and new to politics.

I think its the call of our times. Some of us have been interested and sitting on the sidelines, but its time for the average person to get involved, said Stroili, 58, an attorney. Reform Stamford is average people going out and making a case for change.

Recent mayoral administrations have not delivered the kind of reform Stamford needs, Stroili said. Theres been an increase in the size of city government and in the number of employees making over $100,000 a year, but we dont see the benefits in things getting done.

The city, for example, has only two zoning inspectors, even though the number of illegal apartments has skyrocketed, he said. Cove residents have asked for years for help with speeding cars, but all they got was a traffic study, he said. In Shippan, where taxes are astronomical, kids keep getting (redistricted) from school to school, and families have no continuity or stability, he said.

Stroili said he and Campana share the same goals as Reform Stamford  reduce the tax burden, stand up to developers, repair roads, reduce overcrowding in schools, build on the citys financial strengths, and change government to work better for people.

Campana said Democrats, long the majority in Stamford, need a shake-up, and so do Republicans.

I think the system as is, with long incumbencies on both sides, has hit a breaking point, said Campana, 30, an IT specialist. Nothing is getting done.

But he thinks the power dynamics are changing, Campana said.

People seem to be fed up with things not working, not just in Stamford but in the country, he said. All the problems in our national politics lead me to believe that we need to start working on the ground level, so we dont fall prey to the same problems.

In Stamford, special interests, such as developers and large corporations, have too much sway, he said, citing UBS and RBS. The Swiss and British banking behemoths were offered big tax breaks and whole city blocks to move to Washington Boulevard.

We didnt think about the long-term effects of having two huge banks being such a big part of the citys economy, but now both employ hardly anybody, Campana said. We have to get away from a tendency to look at each deal that comes our way, shove it through and think about the effects later. That seems to keep happening. I dont want development to stop. I want the outcome to be thought all the way through.

A request for comment sent to an assistant for Mayor David Martin, the citys highest-ranking Democrat, was not returned Thursday.

Reform Stamford leader Nina Sherwood, who is running for a Board of Representatives seat in District 8, said the group has not heard from established Democrats. Last month, District 5 Rep. Gloria DePina, a 28-year incumbent and deputy majority leader on the board, said shes not comfortable working with Reform Stamford.

Im going to work for the Democrats  actual Democrats, DePina said.

Our platform is not the same as the establishment Democratic platform, Sherwood said. I would say they generally feel that they dont know what we are going to do.

The problem is that things elected leaders have been promising for 20 years have not materialized, Sherwood said.

Special deals for special interests doesnt help the majority of the people. They are called special interests because they are a small subset of the community, she said.

People are tired of the development, development, development agenda. Politicians said it would bring more jobs, that the tax base would expand. But if thats true, the city shouldnt have to keep raising taxes, the commercial vacancy rate shouldnt be up near 30 percent. Its not working out the way they said.

Reform Stamford began with six newcomer candidates for the Board of Representatives Sherwood, Ines Saftic, Marc Aquila, Megan Cottrell, Raven Matherne and Robert Roqueta and one incumbent, Anabel Figueroa, of District 8.

The city Democratic Party endorsed only four of them, so the rest gathered enough signatures to force primaries in five districts  2, 4, 8, 17 and 19.

All the Reform Stamford candidates won their primary races. Two unseated well-established Democrats. In District 2, Saftic upset the boards Democratic majority leader, Elaine Mitchell, a 31-year incumbent, and in District 8, Sherwood defeated 12-year incumbent Eileen Heaphy.

Another newcomer, 23-year-old Christopher Woodside of District 18, joined Reform Stamford shortly before the September primaries, saying the established party sides with itself, and he wants to be part of a group that sides with residents.

If all 10 Reform Stamford candidates win on Election Day, they will make up one-quarter of the Board of Representatives.

Stroili said established party members too often ram agendas through the Board of Representatives.

All the voices on the board should be heard. Thats the wake-up call, Stroili said. Im excited about Reform Stamford. Its shaking up the system. I think it needed it.

acarella@stamfordadvocate.com.
A 33-year-old Maryland man accused of luring his pregnant girlfriend to a field, shooting her in the back of the head and then making a dramatic public plea for help finding her was indicted Thursday on one count of murder, according to Montgomery County Circuit Court records.

The grand jury indictment against Tyler Tessier was not unexpected. On Sept. 13, he was charged with murder in the case by Montgomery County, Maryland, police. He has been held in jail since. The legal action Thursday was part of a regular process of moving cases from Montgomery's District Court to Circuit Court, where felony cases are handled.

No trial date has been set.

Allen Wolf, the public defender representing Tessier, said his client is innocent of the charges against him. "Although he has made mistakes in his personal life, he cared deeply about Laura Wallen and never would have physically hurt her," Wolf said.

On Sept. 4, a family member of Wallen reported her missing. The popular 31-year-old high school teacher, who lived in Montgomery County, hadn't been seen for days by family members. And they couldn't reach her on her phone.

Police conducted an intense search for Wallen, all the while talking to her longtime on-again, off-again boyfriend, Tessier. They learned that he had another girlfriend to whom he was engaged, but neither she nor Wallen knew about Tessier's dual relationships.

On Sept. 11, police officials held a news conference appealing for help finding Wallen. They invited Tessier to attend, even as their suspicions of him deepened. When asked questions by reporters, Tessier answered in front of a bank of TV cameras.

"Laura, if you're listening," he said, "it doesn't matter what's happened. It doesn't matter what type of trouble. There's nothing we can't fix together."

Two days later, police charged him with her murder. They alleged that he led her to a field in the Damascus, Maryland, area, shot her in the back of the head and buried her body. Police found the body, which was taken to the state's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy.

Court records filed Thursday did not include a charge related to Wallen's unborn child. In Maryland, it is possible to charge someone with murder or manslaughter of a fetus. In such cases, however, the fetus must be viable, meaning potentially able to live outside the womb, according to Maryland law and several attorneys.

Law enforcement officials have said Wallen was between 14 and 16 weeks pregnant.

Hal Lawrence, a doctor who is chief executive of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said Thursday said a 14-week fetus would not be viable.

"At 14 weeks' gestation, there is no possibility that the fetus will survive outside the womb," Lawrence said. "In fact, before 23 weeks, it is extremely rare for a fetus to survive, and those that do survive have significant impairments."
Amitabh Bachchan turns 75 today and we take a look at songs from his not-so-memorable films.

By India Today Web Desk: Many stars, at the age of 75, wish to retire and have a peaceful quiet life, away from the glaring spotlight. However, Amitabh Bachchan, isn't one of them. For more than four decades, Bachchan has regaled and enthralled his audience with his films, be it his action-masala ones, the romantic comedies, and the dark and gritty crime thrillers.

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Indeed, he has made a name for himself with his versatility.

But much like every other star, Bachchan has had his share of duds too. He turns 75 today and is busy celebrating the day in Maldives with wife Jaya Bahchan, son Abhishek, daughter-in-law Aishwarya and granddaughter Aaradhya.

On his 75th birthday today, we take a look at 10 songs from his films that made us go, "Big B, WHAT were you thinking?"

Will You Marry Me, Mard (1985)

Aladin Genie Rap, Aladin (2009)

Aaya Toofan, Toofan (1989)

Mama Told Me, Ek Ajnabee (2006)

Ek Najoomi Se Poocha, Ajooba(1990)

Itne Bazu Itne Sar, from Main Azaad Hoon (1989)

Dhano Ki Aankh Sharabi Laage, Lal Baadshah (1999)

Yeh Kaun Aaj Aaya, Bande Haath (1973)

Ho Jata Hai Pyar, Kasauti (1974)

Ek Pate Ki Baat Bataun, Pyar Ki Kahani

ALSO WATCH: Amitabh and Ranbir talk acting, cinema and stardom in an intimate conversation

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Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, a gritty fighter, has kicked up yet another row on the caste calculus but it is not easy to wriggle out this time.

By Amarnath K. Menon : Discrimination of Dalits is an eternal cause for controversy for Professor Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, who turned 65 on October 5. Seldom does he buckle under pressure of those opposing him to take it lying. He holds his ground, though shaky now, in the wake of vicious protests, court cases being slapped on him and death threats. This is triggered, inadvertently though, by himself, and, instead of being defensive after an avoidable gaffe became widely known, Ilaiah persists with his perspective showing no signs of remorse.

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The row springs from his post - Hindu India: A Discourse in Dalit - Bahujan Socio - Spiritual and Scientific Revolution, (published in 2009), of which a chapter, translated into Telugu with the controversial title 'Komatollu Samajika Samgglarlu' that translates as Komatollu (the colloquial name for the Bania or Vysya caste cohort) are social smugglers was rolled out earlier this year.

In the original in English, Ilaiah titled the chapter Social Smugglers devoted to Vysyas. Likewise, he had coined catchy titles for other chapters, focusing on a caste or community cohort, without naming them. By introducing the caste appellation in the Telugu title and rolling out select chapters as exclusive booklets, he has earned the ire of the Arya Vysya community in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. They are offended by the title and content which they find derogatory and demeaning.

Some condemned him with obscene posts on social media, which went viral, while copies of the book, his effigies and portraits were set on fire.

As protests intensified, others tried to ring and rough him up while he was returning from a meeting at Bhupalapally in Telangana on September 23. A Telugu Desam Party MP, T.G. Venkatesh, a wealthy and influential Vysya, asserted he would seek "hanging of persons like Ilaiah for inciting communal and religious hatred" and demanded government ban the book.

"It is unfair to degrade Hindu society whatever religion you may adopt. Gandhiji is adored and admired across the world. Trying to find faults in such persons is undesirable," said Venkatesh.

Another community elder and ex-Tamil Nadu Governor and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah declared: "He has helped unite us Vysyas like never before." As a trenchant critic of the Hindu caste system, the Dalit academic's contention is that his analysis of a structural inequity in Indian economic life has not been met with debate. But he has no response as to why caste names were introduced in the titles of his work in Telugu while being aware it is both derogatory and provocative.

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His supporters among libertarians argue that instead of criticizing Ilaiah's ideas and concepts there is a concerted attempt to threaten him into silence. What is worse, he says is the state's reluctance to stand up for his constitutional rights of freedom of speech and expression. This is after he had sought police protection earlier on receiving multiple death threats on the phone and television.

While no police protection has been extended despite requests, Telangana's Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy said Ilaiah's campaign against a particular caste was not justified and that action would be initiated based on cases being filed against him. Some of his cabinet colleagues demanded a public apology from Ilaiah.

"Abuse of freedom of expression to deride, insult and target a specific community is reprehensible," tweeted Telangana's information technology and municipal administration minister K.T.Rama Rao, denouncing the Dalit academic. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao preferred to be tight lipped. Conscious of the Vysyas role in his state's economy, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu declared "there are no copies of the book in the state now and we will ensure that in future too."

He said "those attempting to write books should show a balance of mind and maturity."

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Turning up the heat, the World Arya Vysya Mahasabha, Chennai and others from the community petitioned the Hyderabad High Court demanding it direct the police to file a criminal case against Ilaiah. This is besides booking him under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly making money through illegal sources. The Mahasabha also wants a CBI probe into the alleged "fund flow from foreign elements" to the professor. Ilaiah's work is a critique of the caste system. In the Telugu translation, as in the original, he put forward his theory as to how wealth produced by all castes as well as business and trade in India has led largely to a near - total caste monopoly by the Vysyas over capital in India.

This, in turn, he argued blinds the Vysyas and Brahmins to the systemic exclusion behind the so - called "meritlessness" of other castes.

"He is mentally incongruent and intellectually incompetent. Nothing else explains his decade long tirade against his country men and women by deriding them with choicest expletives. His bitter animosity towards Hindus and castes which are a sub system of this religion has neither any basis nor fundamental logic," said organizational strategist and Telangana BJP spokesperson Krishna Sagar Rao, dismissing him as "just a petty hate monger." Others point out postulates in his work contain several sweeping generalizations and unsubstantiated assumptions.

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"He concludes Komatollu represent the richest caste in India today. But, he offers no empirical evidence to substantiate his assertion. Such assumption devoid of empirical studies is unbecoming of social science research. His presentation has targeted all individuals in a caste irrespective of whether or not they believe or practice and promote archaic social values such as those in the Hindu caste system," said Prof. K. Nageshwar, Editor, Hans India, coincidentally a Vysya by birth, whom Ilaiah has targeted during the raging row.

This was after Nageshwar accused him of "trying to build a theory of consciousness independent of material basis or any evidence to back it leading to the reinforcement of a caste ridden social order by looking through such a prism."

However, Dalit student groups and civil libertarians have expressed their solidarity with Ilaiah. "It is a researcher's duty to do research on all communities. If the richest community does not have positive moral sentiment towards poorest and weakest people, hurting that sentiment in the process of writing is unavoidable," said the unfazed academic.

"If the Vysyas who include many industrialists take the initiative to give some token preferential treatment, a mere two per cent reservation for the marginalized in the private sector the national economy would improve. To me it is their nationalist responsibility."

He is undeterred by any provocation, continues to speak his mind and is bracing for fresh offensives by his detractors. "Social smugglers is a phrase about the economic process of exploitation which means earning in business and accumulating it among themselves and not investing back in society beyond their caste boundaries," said Ilaiah, describing himself under self-imposed house arrest "until the year end as I am losing faith in the Constitution guaranteed freedom of speech" and because of the death threats.

His Dalit rights activism, against prejudice and suffering from abuse and entrenched caste discrimination, is for now on hold and it may possibly bring abusive discourse back to civility. Skewed Stance

His take on Vysyas may not pass academic rigour To introduce a caste tag in the title of the Telugu translation, as Professor Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd allowed, and a colloquial term at that, is to provoke the 'komatollu', as Vysyas are referred to by some, rather disparagingly, in Telugu society.

His concept of social smuggling supposes Vysyas hoard their wealth, mostly as gold and do not plough back their incomes as productive investment into the economy. Thus, he calls 'komatis' (Vysyas) as social smugglers.

Apart from describing them as the wealthiest caste in not so laudatory terms and without any substantiation, he propounds that this caste perpetually hates the marginalized and even inculcates this culture among their children.

He has painted all Vysyas with the same brush irrespective of whether or not they believe or practice and promote archaic social values. His approach, assertions and inferences are such that it may foment hatred towards them and heighten the intra-caste cleavage prevalent in the caste ridden Hindu society.

Ilaiah also draws a bizarre correlation between food habits and war competencies. Another contention is that Vysyas hidden wealth was concealed below the ground-an archaic practice that was not limited just to them but rulers as well as the wealthy of other castes. He claims it is widely prevalent even today.

His work lists in detail multiple forms of unethical trade practices and unholy forms of accumulation of wealth. But, in his analysis, he attributes it solely to the Vysyas even today ignoring the fact that such practices wherever prevalent in the country are independent of caste owning or running business and commerce.

Further, he perceives the freedom struggle and its heroes, including Gandhi, from a caste prism and even calls Gujarat a 'komati' state.

The generalisations that Ilaiah makes are divergent from substantive scholarship while he pleads passionately for transforming caste and class based iniquities inspired by his extraordinary sensitivity. It springs from his origins, in an illiterate, poor OBC shepherd (Kuruma) family of non - descript Pappayapet in Warangal. It prompted him last year to include Shepherd as a tag in his name.

Beyond surmises inspired by impressionistic imagery, Ilaiah drives home the point of how profession based castes and communities, which largely drew its strength from skills, handed down through generations, were deprived of any ownership of means of production and remained victims of those in the higher rungs of the Hinduism inspired caste system cornering power and pelf. This, he argues, has led to the appropriation of wealth generated by the hard labour of the lower castes.

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By Ashish Pandey: Is the flagship project of Andhra Pradesh government, AP Fibernet, a multi crore scam? The project is creating a political storm after main opposition YSR Congress has alleged Heritage Group's link, with the project, a company owned by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's family.

The Andhra Pradesh government announced the prestigious Fiber grid project aiming to connecting every household & provide cable television, phone and high speed internet at low cost.

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As per the website of AP State Fibernet Limited (APSFL) formed under the Companies Act , 2013 in the month of October,2015 and is fully owned entity of the Government of Andhra Pradesh "AP Fiber Grid can be utilized by the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Telecom Companies (Telcos) etc and can provide triple play - Cable TV, high-speed broadband and Telecom services to the users.

The documents accessed by India Today show that the Rs 320.88 crore project was allocated to Hyderabad based listed company Tera Software Limited, by Infrastructure Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (INCAP). But, Andhra Pradesh government's undertaking shows the company was black-listed for a period of one year by the MD of INCAP/ APTS on May 11, 2015 for non compliance of EPOS and barred from participating in any APTS tenders.

But for reason unknown, within couple of months of its getting blacklisted, the company was not only removed from the black list but also awarded a critical project. The government issued an order (GO No 10) on August 26, 2015, appointing Hari Krishna Prasad Vemuru to the Tender Evaluation Committee for the Fiber grid Project. Interestingly Vemuru Harikrishna who is currently Managing Director at Netindia(P)Ltd was a Director in Tera Cloud Media Limited, which was floated by the promotes of Tera Software, which eventually got the fiber project.

The documents accessed by India Today also shows that Tera software directors were or are Directors in the firms which are linked to the Naidu's family owned Heritage group. Chandrababu Naidu's wife N. Bhuvaneswari and his daughter in law Nara Brahmani (wife of Chandrababu naidu's son Lokesh, who is also information and technology minister in his government) are directors in the Heritage Foods Limited. Before becoming a minister in his father's cabinet this year, Lokesh too was a director in the company.

Document also shows that Hari Krishna Prasad Vemuru also been board director of Seethepalli Gas Power Private Ltd along with Rajesh Kolaru, who served as director of many boards related to Heritage. Rajesh Kolaru along with Devineni Seetaramaiah who happened to be the Director of Tera Software Ltd till September 30, 2014 is also on the boards of Heritage Fin lease as their director where Chandrababu Naidu's wife N. Bhuvaneswari and his daughter in law N. Brahmani are directors.

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Now opposition YSR Congress party and Congress has asked an investigation on the contract allotment process alleging a scam and demanded resignation of the chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

"A case of EVM theft was registered against Hari Krishna Prasad Vemuru and even he was arrested but he was appointed by the government and contract went to Tera soft. The directors of Tera soft and Heritage are linked and everyone knows that Heritage is a Chandrababu Naidu company and the how company share gone up after he took over the government. It's a 400-500 crore scam. We are requesting central government to take initiative and order investigation into this." said Srikanth Reddy, MLA of YSR congress party.

However, Speaking to India Today, Hari Krishna Prasad Vemuru said, "All the allegations are false and baseless. I left Tera Software way back in 2010 and now only associated with Netindia(P)Ltd which is nowhere connected with APFibernet project. After Chandrababu Naidu took over as chief minister in 2014, I got associated with the project as a technical advisor and worked as consultant. The allegation of corruption is of mollified intention as the project is not only acclaimed by government of India but worldwide."

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Heritage Foods Ltd has also denied the entire allegation and termed it politically motivated. M. Sambasiva Rao President, Heritage Foods said "I have nothing to say on all these allegations as we are no where associated with it and has no base."

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Both of Virginias U.S. Senators are supporting a $40 billion federal proposal to expand broadband in rural communities.

Tim Kaine and Mark Warner praised a new Senate Democratic proposal to invest the money to build the broadband infrastructure necessary to connect more than 34 million Americans, including 23 million rural Americans, to high-speed internet. The plan would bring broadband to rural communities across Virginia, according to a news release.

Access to high speed internet is critical for success in the 21st century economy, but rural communities continue to be left behind. This means less access to telemedicine, educational tools, and business opportunities. When students cant do their homework because they lack access to broadband, something has to be done, the Senators said.

The proposal would connect communities that have been left behind by big internet service providers. The plan focuses on investing the $40 billion to provide federal support for a universal grant program to bring high-speed internet to rural areas, create accurate maps of those areas and provide grants to states and localities to upgrade critical safety infrastructure, including modernizing aging 911 systems.
SCOTTSBLUFF Nebraska Appleseed will visit Scottsbluff this weekend to highlight immigration policy for educators and health care access for residents.

The Immigration 101 for Educators program provides the basics of immigration policy and provides information about relevant federal standards and educators rights and responsibilities in the classroom. It also provides resources on how to work with immigrant students and their families.

Anyone in the education system, including principals, teachers, guidance counselors and superintendents are encouraged to come to the program. Nebraska Appleseed works in communities across the state to educate the public on immigration issues.

We have seen how the current immigration policy issues are affecting immigrant students and their families, said Valeria Rodriguez, immigrants and communities field organizer for Nebraska Appleseed. We continue to hear about the fear these people and their families are facing and would like educators to know how they can create the best learning environment possible for all our students.

Rodriguez said immigration is an issue that affects many children and families in Scottsbluff. Any issue that affects them is an issue educators should be aware of.

It is important for educators to know about immigration because it allows them to better serve their students if they have a basic understanding of immigration and how that may affect their students in the classroom, she said.

Nebraska Appleseed hopes educators attending the program will gain an understanding of some of the struggles immigrant families are going through, which will allow them to take steps to create a welcoming and safe learning environment.

We hope our educators will become allies and supporters of our immigrant student by being able to direct them and their families with adequate resources, she said.

The program is held in conjunction with Nebraska Appleseed, ESU #13, Migrant Education and the University of Nebraska Extension Center.

Immigration 101 for Educators will be held Friday, Oct. 13 at 3:30 p.m. at Roosevelt Elementary School library, 1306 9th Ave. in Scottsbluff.

On Saturday, Oct. 14, Nebraska Appleseed and Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska are inviting the public to stop by the Guadalupe Center, 1102 12th Avenue in Scottsbluff, from 10 a.m. to noon to learn about how to enroll in a health care plan, what your options are, when enrollment deadlines are and what your rights are when seeking health care.
SCOTTSBLUFF  Colombia native Alvaro Silva has lived many places over the years, but Scottsbluff will remain his home  even if he has to return to South America.

I came to America in 2007 as an exchange student, Silva said My first stop was in northern Iowa where I shared living quarters with 34 other students. The director was in charge of finding us host families, but he never could.

He wanted to complain to the sponsoring company about the conditions, but the director said he would send Silva to the smallest town in Nebraska if he did. When Silva complained, thats what happened. He was sent to live with a host family in Minatare.

He actually did me a huge favor, Silva said. I attended school in Minatare and graduated in 2008. I liked it because people were really friendly.

After graduation, he attended Western Nebraska Community College for a year.

I was still a brat at the time and didnt want to be here, so I went back home to Colombia, Silva said.

After attending schools in Colombia and Argentina, then moving to another city in Colombia, things werent working out for him.

I told my father I was missing Scottsbluff and wanted to come back and he said OK, Silva said. After living with some friends, I moved out and went back to school. I realized that all the places Ive been were great places to visit but not to live. Scottsbluff is a great place to live.

Once he got his own apartment, his fiancee Andrea Acosta was approved for a visa and was able to join him.

In South America, couples keep their own names after marriage, he said. I proposed five days after she arrived and we were married 10 days after that.

Little by little, they built a home in a place they loved. While his wife attended WNCC and tutored Spanish, Silva started his own business and did it very successfully.

He purchased the business in 2016 from the person he calls a father/mentor figure: Tom Donahue of Tommys Johnnys. The new business was called A&A Porta Potties.

It was amazing to have my own business and I was getting more involved in the community, Silva said. Then the Immigration Service came with questions about my E-2 visa.

Although his business was successful, immigration told him he didnt meet their rigorous standards in order to renew his visa for another two years.

They gave me 60 days to sell the company and leave, he said, but I became a Christian here and God has always been good to us all the time. If I think something isnt going right, I know Hes working on something even better. It would be easy for me to be angry about it, but God gives and takes away.

He said that while he could probably skirt the law and stay in America, he wanted to do everything by the book because its the ethical thing to do.

Silvas business recently sold and the new owners will take over next week. Andrea will complete her semester at college studying music. After that is unknown. But they both know theyre in good hands.

Scottsbluff and all the surrounding small towns are amazing places, he said. Whether we come back here or end up somewhere else, this will remain home.
Greater Nebraska Medical and Surgical Services announces that Sally Bryner, APRN-BC, has just completed her orientation and is now on the medical staff of GNMSS. She began seeing patients in Hemingford at the GNMSS Hemingford Clinic Thursday, Sept. 28, and patients at the GNMSS Family Medicine Clinic in Alliance Friday, Sept.29.

Bryners patient schedule at the Alliance Clinic will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. She will see patients in Hemingford every Thursday. Her addition to the Hemingford staff means residents in that community will have clinical appointments available five days per week every other week (with Dr. Jessica Otts schedule of half days every other Tuesday).

Bryner is well known to the area, having started her career at Box Butte General Hospital (BBGH) in July of 2000 after completing her undergraduate studies for the Registered Nursing program at WNCC and through volunteerism in both Alliance and Hemingford.

BBGH CEO Lori Mazanec said, It is very exciting to welcome Sally back to BBGH, this time at the provider level, to expand her passion for patient care. Sally has always been a superb employee, so it was easy to bring her on. Her dedication and compassion for staff and patients are truly one of her greatest assets and I am looking forward to seeing her build her practice at GNMSS.

Bryner earned her registered nurse license in October of 2000 after obtaining her Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) College of Nursing in Scottsbluff. Fourteen years later, she obtained her Master of Science in Nursing in May 2014 from UNMC College of Nursing in Omaha and became Advance Practice Registered Nurse Board Certified (APRN-BC). A few months later she joined Alliance Family Medicine (AFM), before coming back to Box Butte General Hospital as GNMSSs newest nurse practitioner.

Coming back to the hospital by joining its GNMSS medical staff was a logical step in her career path.

I started my career at BBGH 17 years ago, and know the hospitals practices well, Bryner said. The benefits are great and they are willing to help you with your continuing education. Thats pretty big for me because Ive always felt continuing education is important. BBGH has always been very supportive of staff wanting to advance their medical knowledge. When I expressed my desire to study to become an APRN, the hospital helped with my education costs through scholarships and the Rural Loan Repayment Program.

Its always been my goal to be able to provide care for patients in a manner that didnt require me to wait on obtaining orders from a physician or non-physician practitioner, she continued. When I was an RN, I would see patients for only a short time in either the PCU or in Labor and Delivery. Now, I get to know them and am able to learn much more about them and their medical histories. Being able to have a long term relationship with the patient and being able to do so without supervision is very satisfying.

Bryner is looking forward to practicing in Alliance, as well as Hemingford, where her husband Dusty (Hemingfords police chief) and three children reside.
The letter was from someone from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

As I read the letter, addressed to my wife, it was obvious, our ship had come in. We were going to become rich thanks to a lost relative.

The letter began, DEAR STAMAN (the caps must be how the Canadians begin their letters) I am an accountant and a banker; I work for one of the financial institutions here in Canada ( doesnt mention which one and the letter head says Andrew Professional Inc.).

I glance at the bottom of the letter, it is from a Mr. Andrew Newman.

According to Andrew he got my wifes name from the files of a deceased client by the name of John Staman who lived in Canada.

John died a few years ago and left behind a cool $3.2 million.

Unfortunately, Andrew wrote, he have no will (sic).

Andrew wanted my wife to contact him because he had worked it all out so Johns funds could be released to you legally as his beneficiary.

You cant beat that. We are talking paying off debt, a couple new cars and vacationing in Europe, Hawaii and everywhere and anywhere in between.

If youre not already saying to yourself as you read this, No, dont do it! Its a scam! You should be.

Scams like this, and many others much more sophisticated, are all around. They come through snail mail, email, social media, telephone and even through our business addresses.

This is a modern day twist on a very old advance-fee fraud. It is also known as the 419 (for the fraud designation in the Nigerian criminal code) or Nigerian letter scam, according to a Boston Globe story by Finn Brunton looking into the history of the scam.

The letters, emails all read very similar. The letters are written as fairly well-educated foreigners speaking English, with a word misspelled here and there . . ., Brunton quoted in his story. But as he pointed out that was quoted was from an 1898 New York Times story on a so-called Spanish prisoner scam that had been running for decades.

But that wasnt the first.

The first recognizable version, according to Brunton, cropped up after the French Revolution.

As an honorable Frenchman you would receive a letter from an aristocrat in exile. The letter would tell of him escaping revolutionary violence and how he had to throw a chest full of jewels into a lake. His faithful servant had returned to retrieve the chest, but got himself arrested. If you helped with his bail he would share the loot from the chest with you, a faithful fellow Frenchman.

You might ask, Who would fall for such a thing?

Of a hundred such letters, 20 were always answered, Eugene Vidocq, the French criminal turned detective wrote.

As King Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun.

In 2014 the Federal Trade Commission estimated that over 25 million Americans lost over $2.5 billion to fraud. Phone and mail scams accounted for a large percentage of those losses.

I have received phone calls from so-called nonprofits asking for money for a police or firefighters fund. Emails from Africa from someone needing help to claim money in the states.

During tax season, the call comes in, You owe $1,000 on back taxes and if you dont pay now your assets will be frozen. You will go to jail.

A call from your electric or heating company saying you missed a payment and unless you pay right now your electricity or heat will be shut off.

Neither call is from who they say they represent but if you are not careful you could find yourself giving out vital information.

The FBI says if the offer appears too good to be true ($3.2 million waiting for you in Canada), it probably is a scam. The FBI also says to make sure you know who you are dealing with. Consult your bank, an attorney or the police and dont give out personal information, bank routing numbers, Social Security number, etc.

With advanced technology, the scammers are making their Spanish prisoner letter much more personal.

The call, email or letter could now easily mention a loved one, grandchild or in the letter from Andrew, a possible distant relative, John Staman.

In the final sentence of Andrews letter, he writes, It is very important that you keep your letter by yourself until we finalized your claim, this is very important.

Though I would love to believe my ship had arrived, there is no John Staman. Andrew is a crock, wanting to take advantage of my wife and hoping she will say nothing until he has taken our money, pocketed it and disappeared.

Be careful, very careful, dont fall for a modern chest of lies.
Leaders from the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN, pronounced beacon) visited the Panhandle Oct. 5-6 to highlight behavioral health workforce growth initiatives.

BHECN was created after the passage of LB 603 by the Nebraska Legislature in 2009. The center and its staff work to recruit and retain mental health and addiction providers throughout the state. The workforce center is led by Dr. Howard Liu, director and child psychiatrist.

Liu was joined last week by Joe Evans, BHECNs clinical director and licensed psychologist, in meetings with educators, providers and community leaders in North Platte, Scottsbluff, Chadron and Rushville.

In Nebraska, Liu said, 88 of 93 counties meet federal criteria to be designated as mental health professional shortage areas. With more than 50 percent of the behavioral health workforce being over the age of 50, a shortage of addiction counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, physician assistants and nurse practitioners will only increase, Liu said.

The current workforce is getting older, so we need to be actively recruiting the next generation, Liu said.

During the visit to western Nebraska, Liu and Evans highlighted BHECN programs.

One program, an ambassador program, aims to recruit high school and college students in 16 training programs to think about mental health careers. BHECN also has graduate students already in training and sponsor psychiatry residents to rotate in rural hospitals in North Platte, Hastings and Kearney. The goal is for students to see what practice in a rural area is like, and encourage them to stay.

There is a real need, particularly in Nebraska, for providers in psychology, counseling and psychiatric nursing. Out of 156 practicing psychiatrists in the state, only 27 are practicing outside of Omaha and Lincoln. Seventy-four percent of behavioral health providers work in Omaha and Lincoln, meaning only 26 percent are covering the additional 70,000 square miles in the state.

Some efforts are also underway to improve training of staff in family practices.

The idea is that family practices have easier access and there is a stigma when you are referred to a mental health professional, Liu said. In a small town, if your car is parked in front of the family practice, its not as noticeable.

Its also become a standard of care for therapists to be placed in primary care clinics. As the health care system continues the transition to medical home model, where care is led by a medical provider in a patient-centered model designed to maximizes positive outcomes, more holistic care is becoming the norm.

Health care includes behavioral health, not just physical health, Evans said. It is a national movement to integrate care. It is not just about physical care, but total care, meaning behavioral care as well.

With that in mind, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)has awarded a grant to BHECN to train non-traditional students as addiction counselors and community health workers in rural areas of Nebraska. BHECN has also launched a new program to train masters level counseling students at Chadron State College to become alcohol and drug counselors, addressing the gaps in the Panhandle for addiction treatment services.

Integrated care also improves the likelihood that patients will complete their care. Evans said that the statistics show that 60 percent of depression cases are missed by physicians because it is not a part of their training. When patients are referred to someone outside of a practice, he said, patient follow through in meeting with a provider is 30 percent. In cases where patients are referred to some one inside a practice, follow through increases to 80 to 90 percent.

Other examples of BHECN initiatives include:

 BHECN established the Nebraska Counseling Collaborative, which obtained a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to fund 21 interns from counseling graduate programs at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Wayne State College, University of Nebraska at Omaha and Chadron State College to train and work in underserved rural and urban areas.

 In collaboration with the Munroe-Meyer Institute Psychology Department, BHECN places counseling and psychology interns into 24 rural primary care clinics across the state that have behavioral health services integrated into patients medical homes. Recently, additional federal funding was secured to expand training to psychiatric nurse practitioners, doctoral level psychologists, and masters degree therapists over the next four years.

 The University of Nebraska at Kearney was established as a rural hub by BHECN to guide many rural training and workforce development ideas with the help of an advisory board consisting of 19 members spanning central and western Nebraska.

 BHECN is exploring the possibility of creating a rural provider network to provide support and training for rural providers who may experience isolation from the behavioral health workforce.

 BHECN offers ongoing training opportunities via webinars, summits, workshops, seminars and online modules, available to trainees and professionals across the state.

 The University of Nebraska at Kearney was established as a rural hub by BHECN to guide many rural training and workforce development ideas with the help of an advisory board consisting of 19 members spanning central and western Nebraska.

More information about BHECNs behavioral health workforce initiatives can be found at www.unmc.edu/bhecn.
By Kiran Tare: The Congress led by its state president Ashok Chavan on Thursday managed to halt the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) juggernaut in civic polls in Maharashtra by retaining its hold on the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation (NWMC) .

According to official sources in the State Election Commission Congress won 69 seats out of the 81 member civic body, a clear two-third majority. The poll swing in favor of the Congress is so huge that its ally in the opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Musalmeen (MIM) failed to open their account. The Shiv Sena too saw its 2012 tally of 14 seats nosedive to just one seat.

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As per officials in the SECM the partywise tally in the 81 member NWMC was as follows till 8 pm: BJP 6 (2), Congress 69 (41), Sena 1 (14) and Independents 1 (3). The numbers in bracket are of 2012 elections. Counting for four seats in ward number two had been delayed as the SECM had used Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT) machines along with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).

The return journey for Congress in Maharashtra has begun. Ashok Chavan preponderates #BJP in Nanded MC elections.Cong wipes out #BJP.JaiHo pic.twitter.com/GjEOtvzprT- Maharashtra Congress (@INCMaharashtra) October 12, 2017

Although the BJP managed to increase its tally from two in 2012 to six party insiders say the poll results are below expectations. A senior BJP office bearer argued that the party leadership's move to entrust all the reigns of its campaign to rebel Sena MLA from Loha Prataprao Patil-Chikhlikar did them in. BJP's move to import leaders from other parties cost it dearly as it alienated its dedicated cadres who stayed away from actively campaigning for the party.

However, Minister for Labour Sambhaji Patil-Nilangekar, who was in-charge of the BJP's poll machinery, claimed that the party's vote share rose from three percent in 2012 to 19 percent this time. Known for his outspoken nature, BJPs new ally and Maharashtra Swabhimani Party (MSP) leader Narayan Rane advised the BJP leadership to do some introspection on why it fared so badly despite Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis holding so many election rallies. He however dismissed the argument that the Nanded civic poll results will have any impact on the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

A delighted Chavan claimed that the Nanded results indicate BJP's downfall. "I thank the people of Nanded for not falling prey to the BJP's pressure, luring of money and false promises," he said. Chavan, whose term ends at October end, has emerged as a winner after the Congress victory in his home town.

#NandedMunicipalElection: Celebration outside Mumbai Regional Congress Committee office. Congress has won 69 out of 81 seats so far. pic.twitter.com/UfE7DjLuvN- ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2017

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik alleged that senior IAS official Radheshyam Mopalwar had poured Rs 300 crore in the Nanded polls in favour of BJP. Mopalwar has been divested from the post of Managing Director of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) after an audio clip in which he was purportedly heard fixing a deal of plot became viral on social media.

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Malik claimed that the state government has appointed IPS officer Pravin Padval, son-in-law of BJP leader Shyamsundar Shinde, as a member of Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe allegations against Mopalwar in an attempt to free him of the charges. Shinde was a BJP candidate from Nanded in 2014 Assembly elections.

However, the victory of BJP's Jagruti Patil who defeated Shiv Sena's Meenakshi Patil in by-election to ward number 116 (Bhandup) in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) prompted BJP Lok Sabha member from Mumbai North-East Kirit Somaiya to remark that the BJP will soon inch ahead of the Shiv Sena in numerical tally in the BMC and will soon have BJP Mayor in Mumbai.

Also Watch : Ready or not, here I come: How a chair is giving Rahul Gandhi sleepless nights

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This page is archived. Data published after 5 April 2022 can be found on the renewed website. Go to the new statistics page

Published: 12 October 2017

Turnover in manufacturing grew by 9.0 per cent in May to July

According to Statistics Finland, turnover in manufacturing in the May to July period was 9.0 per cent higher than in the corresponding period of the year before. Domestic sales grew by 6.7 per cent and export turnover by 10.7 per cent from one year ago.

Three months' year-on-year change in turnover in manufacturing (C) sub-industries (TOL 2008)

Turnover went up from the corresponding period of the previous year in all manufacturing (C) sub-industries . The growth was strongest in the chemical industry, 12.9 per cent, in the textile, clothing and leather industry, 11.9 per cent, and in the metal industry, 10.3 per cent. Turnover grew slowest in the food industry, by 2.1 per cent.

Three months' year-on-year change in turnover in main industrial categories (TOL 2008)

The turnover of all other main categories of manufacturing industries also increased year-on-year. Turnover grew strongest in the industry of mining and quarrying, by 16.3 per cent. Turnover in water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities increased by 5.1 per cent, and that of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 4.8 per cent from one year before.

The index of turnover in industry describes enterprises whose main industry is manufacturing. The calculation of the indices is based on the Tax Administrations self-assessed tax data which are supplemented with data obtained with Statistics Finlands sales inquiry. The monthly turnovers of manufacturing enterprises can vary considerably, especially in the metal industries. The variation is mainly due to invoicing practices. The final invoice for major machinery deliveries and projects may be recorded in the sales of one month, even if the delivery had required the work of several months or years.

Changes in the Tax Administrations self-assessed tax data have not so far had an effect on the data of turnover indices

The effects of the changes in the Tax Administration's self-assessed tax data have been analysed in Statistics Finlands turnover indices. Based on the analyses, the changes have thus far not been found to have significant effects on enterprises VAT reporting in terms of statistics production. More information about this in Changes in the periodic tax return data used in turnover indices.

Source: Index of turnover in industry 2017, July, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Maija Sappinen 029 551 3348, Kirsi-Maaria Manninen 029 551 2681, myynti.teollisuus@stat.fi

Director in charge: Sami Saarikivi

Publication in pdf-format (367.6 kB)

Updated 12.10.2017

Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Index of turnover in industry [e-publication].

ISSN=1798-596X. July 2017. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 15.11.2022].

Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tlv/2017/07/tlv_2017_07_2017-10-12_tie_001_en.html
Williamsons Chapel United Methodist Church will partner with Present Age Ministries to sponsor an informational meeting on human trafficking Oct. 19. The goal of the meeting is to connect Present Age Ministries with Iredell schools.
The US Ambassador in Bucharest Hans Klemm on Tuesday stated in Craiova that the 200 million euros worth investment made by the Ford Group for the production of EcoSport in Craiova proves how much this company trusts Romania and the labour force in our country.

The investment created around 1,700 new jobs in Craiova and the Romanian Government has shown its commitment towards the work that is done here, the ambassador stated. This is proving the government's openness towards US investments and the need to create a stable policies framework and public infrastructure, the US Ambassador added. He also underscored that Ford is known to be one of the most ethical companies in the world due to its care for the employees, and also that it was thanks to this company, where his father worked for 40 years, that his family could live his dream American.

The US Ambassador pointed out that Ford Motor is recognized as one of the most ethical companies in the world and, according to the Ethisphere Institute, an important institute of research, too. In other words, Ford Motor Company is one of the 100 ethical companies in the world and the only automotive manufacturer included on this elite list.

According to Klemm, through Ford Motor Company, the company's philanthropic organization has invested 1.5 billion US dollars in developing communities around the world. The company promotes Ford's vision of improving people's lives by fostering social mobility since 1949. In Romania, it has invested more than half a million euros in various social and health projects, the US Ambassador said. The Ford Plant in Craiova launched the production of the Ecosport model on Tuesday, with President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose, the US Ambassador to Romania, Hans Klemm, in attendance, alongside some 4,000 employees of the factory.

Agerpres.
"There is no respect for liberal values and opinions. People are increasingly being targeted for their liberal principles", Bombay High Court division bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Bharti Dangre observed.

By Vidya : Condemning the suppression of dissent in recent times, division bench of Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice Bharti Dangre said that people are increasingly being targeted for their liberal principles.

"There is no respect for liberal values and opinions. People are increasingly being targeted for their liberal principles. Not just thinkers, but any person or organisation that believes in liberal principles can be targeted. It's like if there is some opposition to me, I must have that person eliminated", the bench observed.

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The bench added saying, "This trend of killing all opposition is dangerous. This is giving a bad reputation to the country".

The court has been hearing the petitions put forth by the families of Comrade Govind Pansare and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar asking court to monitor the ongoing investigation.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is investigating the Dabholkar murder and Special investigative team (SIT) which is investigating the Pansare murder gave progress reports of the investigation done so far. But the court observed that between every adjournment in the case, more precious lives were being lost and this was a "dangerous trend".

The court seems to refer to the recent killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru.

The Bombay High court thus suggested that "the probe agencies should alter their line of investigation, and make use of technology to nab the killers for its apparent that the accused(s) are smart operators.

They have organisational backing, funding, technological support, and arms at their disposal. At the moment an accused Dr Virendra Tawde from Sanatan Sanstha is behind bars in Dhabolkars murder case but Saneer Gaikwad another sanatan member who was arrested in Pansare case is out on bail.

After going through the agencies reports, court confirmed that the investigators are probing the role of right wing group Sanatan Sanstha in the killings.

Dabholkar was shot dead on August 20, 2013, in Pune when he went for his morning walk. Pansare was shot at on February 16, 2015 in Kolhapur and succumbed to injuries on February 20, 2015.

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By PTI: religion

(Eds: Adding background and details)

Hyderabad, Oct 12 (PTI) The Hyderabad Police has registered a case against prominent Dalit writer Kancha Ilaiah for allegedly hurting religious feelings through his book on the Arya Vysya community, an official said.

A scheduled caste student had earlier alleged that Ilaiah, through his book Samajika Smugglurlu Komatollu (Vysyas are social smugglers), not only targeted the Vysya community, but all Hindu communities and hurt the sentiments of the dalits and others, Malkajgiri Police Station Inspector Janaki Reddy said today.

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The 22-year-old complainant had approached a local court and based on its directions, the police yesterday registered the case against Ilaiah, he said.

He said the case was registered under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

In the complaint, the student claimed that Ilaiah targetted all Hindu communities with a view to divide and wedge a rift in the Hindu society by taking advantage of caste systems, which is intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religious beliefs, according to the officer.

The Arya Vysya community had accused Ilaiah of writing a "derogatory" book on the community and its content had triggered protests in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with community members taking to streets.

The writer had last month lodged a police complaint alleging threat to his life over the book. He claimed that he received threatening and abusive phone calls from unidentified persons, after which a case was registered.

He had also filed a police complaint at Parkal in Warangal alleging that four people had attacked his vehicle and tried to kill him.

The alleged attack had sparked tension between Arya Vysyas and Dalits who came face to face. However, the police had then averted any escalation by dispersing the groups.

The Arya Vysya associations had alleged that the title of the book and some of its contents were "derogatory and demeaning" to the community and they are demanding Ilaiahs apology as well as withdrawal of the book.

The writer had recently said he was ready to withdraw the book if the community is prepared to implement a 5 per cent quota for the marginalised sections in their establishments. PTI VVK GK NSK TIR

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Hyatt Hotels Corp. said on Thursday it had discovered unauthorized access to payment card information at certain Hyatt-managed locations worldwide between March 18, 2017 and July 2, 2017.

Hyatt said the incident affected payment card information, such as, cardholder name, card number, expiration date and internal verification code, from cards manually entered or swiped at the front desk of certain Hyatt-managed locations.

The owner of Andaz, Park Hyatt and Grand Hyatt chain of hotels said a total of 41 properties were affected in 11 countries, with China accounting for 18 properties, the most among impacted countries.

Seven Hyatt properties were affected at U.S. locations, including three in Hawaii, three in Puerto Rico and one in Guam.

The Chicago-based company said its cyber security team discovered signs of the unauthorized access in July and launched an internal investigation, completed on Thursday, that resolved the issue and took steps to prevent this from happening in the future.

This is not the first time Hyatt is facing data breach problem at its hotels.

In late 2015 Hyatt said its payment processing system was infected with credit-card-stealing malware, that had affected 250 hotels in about 50 countries.
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) The Union Cabinet today approved signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between India and Morocco for cooperation in the field of water resources, a statement said.

The MoU aims to enhance cooperation in the field of water resources development and management within the framework of their expertise and their respective legislations, it said.

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The domain of bilateral cooperation under this MoU includes conception, realisation and maintenance of the hydraulic infrastructure, big dams and water transfer projects, flood and drought management and sustainable development and management of ground water resources including recharge augmentation.

It also includes visits and missions of experts, exchange of information on programmes, publications, expertise and results of research in the field of water resources.

"The MoU also provides for setting up of a joint working group consisting of equal members from both sides to monitor the activities to be carried out in fulfilment of the MoU," the statement said. PTI ENM GVS

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Two of Sarah Millers former students were arrested while peacefully protesting the not-guilty verdict in the murder trial of former St. Louis police Officer Jason Stockley. The Clayton teacher was proud.

Miller, an American history teacher at Wydown Middle School, has taught her students for years how reformers, from 19th-century abolitionists to the first black U.S. congressmen, fought for change. She was proud to see that her two students had also identified a change they believed in, then stepped forward to make it happen.

Miller, who is white, grew up in Clayton and studied social policy at Northwestern University, said she understands why people are upset at the acquittal of Stockley, a white officer who was charged with wrongly killing a black drug suspect. Regardless of the specifics of the case, events such as killings by police seem to happen to African-Americans over and over, she said. But Miller did not join the protesters after the verdict.

I decided that my way of protesting was to be the teacher that I am and to teach my students, Miller told a group of about 60 St. Louis-area educators at a recent social justice teach-in at De Smet Jesuit High School. I can teach them the roots of this, to historicize it, to help them understand the anger the community feels, to help them understand how they can make change.

For some teachers, the Stockley case was a reminder about why they cover race, equity and social justice in their classrooms.

Several of those teachers are part of a St. Louis-area group called Educators for Social Justice. Founded in 2001, the group supports and encourages teaching that challenges students to become involved in social change and to see history and current events from the eyes of the marginalized. The group, of which Miller is president, says in its mission statement that it works to promote the idea that developing socially just curriculum is a form of activism.

At the groups teach-in on Oct. 1, the educators assured their peers that its not only acceptable for them to teach about social justice, but expected.

We cant wait until a Stockley verdict comes out in order to start talking about racial justice, said Rebecca Rogers, an education researcher at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, former St. Louis school board member and a founder of Educators for Social Justice. It has to be on the forefront of our agenda and in our teaching continually. We live in St. Louis  And this place has a particularly racist context.

Preparing children for the democratic society that they will inherit is an important role of schools, says Paula McAvoy, program director for the Center for Ethics and Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-author of a book that explores how politics are taught in the classroom.

That means educators should teach students how to find and interpret knowledge about controversial current events on their own, using information from valid sources to form opinions, vote and contribute to society, McAvoy said. Thats important especially today, she said, when many Americans prefer to rely on emotion rather than fact and when political opinions often devolve into partisan and generalized assumptions about other people.

Where do you see people talking across their differences? You dont see that in the American public, McAvoy said. Schools are a really great place where we might actually be able to teach young people that theres a value in hearing other people disagree with you.

Is that racist?

Once, a student asked Miller a question about the segregated, largely poor neighborhoods in St. Louis.

Maybe I shouldnt be calling it the hood anymore, the student said. Is that racist?

Miller was talking about redlining, the discriminatory practice that limits where nonwhites can buy homes.

Miller didnt give the student a simple yes or no. Instead, she explained why some people call such sections of the city the hood and why some people attach negative connotations to that term. The student apologized.

But Miller said she told her student: Look, Im not here for you to apologize, and its not your fault that you were misled. My point is for you to change, to understand how stereotypes are carried and have crowded our view, and hopefully Im clearing up your view. But Im not here to make you feel guilty.

Educators who teach about social justice issues say it isnt easy.

For one thing, teachers have to avoid impressing their own views on students, while also bringing up points or evidence that students may have overlooked.

The best practice is to never agree or disagree with a position a student takes, said Yul Amerson, a government teacher at University City High School who started teaching a social justice class this school year at his principals suggestion. Not necessarily changing views  thats never been my mission  but just to bring some truth to any situation other than the narrative that may be created by the media, or the mainstream, or the government.

Teachers say they also have to remember to remind students of good things that happened in history, not just the bad things.

Matt Horn, a social studies teacher at University City High School, starts his American history course explaining how West Africans were kings and queens before they were enslaved in America. He does this to show his students  the majority of whom are African-American  that their history is about more than just slavery and segregation.

Most of these kids thought that their history started as slaves, and thats all they were, Horn said. I just want them to know a little bit about where they came from. Their history as African-Americans is so negative, thats all they see. It can be a little self-defeating.

Social justice educators also have to teach uncomfortable subjects in a way that doesnt offend or isolate any one student or group. McAvoy says thats difficult to do in diverse classrooms like Millers, which includes immigrants, African-American and white students, students from high- and low-income families and children of researchers from China.

Miller says she is careful to use specific language, such as saying American-Europeans instead of white people. She makes sure to include in her curriculum American-European reformers who fought alongside African-Americans to end slavery and black oppression to prove that people can and have fought for change across racial lines.

Shes also clear with students that she is not blaming any of them for the countrys racial divide. Blame wont move the country forward, Miller says. After all, these are 10- and 11-year-olds, some of whom are learning about present-day segregation and racism for the first time.

Despite her sensitive subject matter, Miller says she has gone through a decade of teaching without hearing complaints from Clayton parents.

Im not talking about anything but the facts, Miller said at the Educators for Social Justice teach-in. I make it very clear, I repeat, I am not trying to guiltify anybody  but that they need to be aware of our roots, how this all began and how it continues.
JEFFERSON CITY  Missouri is on track to lose an estimated $500,000 in federal funds after officials found a new state law does not comply with federal discrimination rules.

In a July 14 letter not previously disclosed by Gov. Eric Greitens administration, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the law making it harder to sue for discrimination resulted in state and federal rules no longer being substantially equivalent.

Bryan Greene, HUD general deputy assistant secretary, wrote that Missouri must restore the law to meet federal rules by March 1, 2018, if it wants to continue participating in the Fair Housing Assistance Program.

The decision by the federal government was not a surprise.

The Post-Dispatch reported in April that HUD was concerned that the legislation sponsored by Sen. Gary Romine, R-Ste. Genevieve, would weaken state discrimination laws.

The law, known as Senate Bill 43, includes new caps on the amount of money housing discrimination victims could receive from winning a lawsuit, the removal of some protections against retaliation for reporting discrimination and a new requirement that plaintiffs prove a landlord or bank intentionally denied them housing solely based on their race, sex or other protected status to win a case.

In his July letter, Greene noted that the caps impermissibly limit the remedies available to victims of housing discrimination.

He also said the law removes provisions of previous state law prohibiting retaliation against victims of housing discrimination and requires victims to pursue administrative remedies before filing a civil lawsuit.

The money that will be cut off would otherwise help reimburse the state for housing discrimination investigations.

The St. Louis Civil Rights Enforcement Agency, for example, received $149,050 in reimbursements this year for completed investigations. Director Charles Bryson told the newspaper that it would have to lay off fair housing investigators if the money was cut.

The Fair Housing Assistance Program is designed to help local agencies enforce the Fair Housing Act, a 1968 law aimed at the widespread racial segregation of American cities through a system of intimidation and denial of mortgages to blacks.

Romine at the time dismissed the concern, saying other states had imposed similar business-friendly laws and didnt lose federal funds. The senator did not immediately return messages Thursday.

The law has stirred controversy on other fronts. Rod Chapel, executive director of the Missouri NAACP, issued a travel warning to minorities, saying the changes make the state dangerous for visitors.

House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty, D-Kansas City, made the letter from HUD public Thursday and questioned why the first-year governor, a Republican, had not released it earlier.

Since the governor championed making it easier to illegally discriminate without fear of consequence, its no surprise hes tried to keep the fact that SB 43 is already backfiring a secret, McCann Beatty said. This is yet another example of professional politician Eric Greitens operating in the shadows and trying to hide his failures.

McCann Beatty said repealing the portions of the law that conflict with federal law must be a top priority for lawmakers when they reconvene in January.

As we warned, SB 43 locks the state courthouse doors to victims of illegal discrimination and forces them to pursue justice in federal court, McCann Beatty said. This is one of the many ways SB 43 protects wrongdoers and punishes victims.
WASHINGTON  Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., raised about $2.9 million from July through September for her 2018 re-election bid, a Missouri record for that stretch of a Senate campaign, and she entered the fall before the election year with about $7.1 million in the bank.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican, raised about $820,000 through the end of September. He announced Tuesday that he would challenge McCaskill and seek the GOP nomination.

Hawleys campaign announced Thursday that Hawley spent just $38,000 and that he ended the third quarter of 2017 with about $782,000 in his campaign coffers.

Hawley, in a statement, said he had been actively raising money for just over a month, and these fundraising numbers indicate that well have the resources to run a winning campaign and take on Washington.

Hawley first indicated he was interested in the seat in early August, and has been raising money since then.

Another GOP Senate candidate, Austin Petersen, said he raised about $213,000 in the same quarter, but he spent a good chunk of that on digital fundraising, credit-card processing and consulting, and entered October with just over $38,000 in his campaign coffers.

Petersen, who sought the Libertarian nomination for president last year, also paid himself $2,000 in candidate salary in August. That is permissible under federal election law so long as the amount does not exceed the $174,000 he would receive annually if elected to the Senate.

Petersen also has paid for the work of a Republican digital consultant, Hines Digital, which describes itself as representative of the traditionally conservative wing of the GOP against the Steve Bannon slate.

A grievance-driven group of economic nationalists, with no loyalty to our party, to our ideals, or to our incumbent Senators, is aiming to affect a hostile takeover of our party with a single, expressed goal: to remove us from it, a Hines Digital post says.

Thats a reference to the former presidential adviser, now affiliated with the alt-right website Breitbart.com, who has threatened to take out incumbent Republicans in primaries next year. Hawley and Breitbart talked last week, and Breitbart this week described Hawley as definitely someone to watch in 2018 as a revolt against the political class brews.

Jeffrey Carson, Petersens campaign manager, said in a statement that because he does not have the same kinds of resources his opponents do, Austin has had to make both personal and professional sacrifices to run for office.

As such, he has looked and continues to look for ways to streamline costs, Carson said. He also currently receives a small stipend to support himself while campaigning, but as the campaign continues, this stipend will likely be cut, as we are always looking for ways to reduce administrative costs and run a lean, competitive campaign.

A third GOP candidate, Air Force veteran Tony Monetti, had not yet reported his third-quarter activity to the FEC as of Thursday. Monetti had about $81,000 on hand entering the third quarter.

McCaskill said she has had more than 90,000 individual donors to her campaign, and that her average donation was $59.

But the candidate fundraising is only a part of the story. Non-candidate groups, including dark money committees that dont have to divulge their donors after a 2010 Supreme Court decision, are expected to pour tens of millions of dollars into the Missouri Senate race next year.

Missouri, which has been trending Republican in recent statewide elections, is seen as pivotal in which party has control of the Senate in the second half of President Donald Trumps current term in office. Republicans think McCaskill presents one of their best chances to flip a Senate seat from a Democrat to the GOP.

McCaskill told donors earlier this year that she expected to raise and spend $30 million and that she was bracing for at least $200 million to be spent on Missouris U.S. Senate campaign, including outside money, in 2018.
India Today has accessed the CBI chargesheet in the Agusta Westland chopper scam case. The CBI has concluded that SP Tyagi was paid a bribe of 42 million euros for the deal.

By Meetu Jain: According to the CBI chargesheet, accessed by the CBI, in the Agusta Westland case, the chopper deal cost the state exchequer 398 million euros.

The CBI has nailed former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi saying that he received a bribe of 42 million euros. The CBI also accused the then Air Marshal JS Gujral of criminal conspiracy in the case.

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The CBI chargesheet says that former IAF chief SP Tyagi was the main conspirator in the multi-million chopper scam. The probe agency has also named Italian middleman Guido Hashcke, Carlos Gerosa, Christian Michel and some Agusta Westland officials in the case.

According to the CBI, SP Tyagi exercised his influence to change the operational requirements for the VVIP choppers to favour Agusta Westland. The changes led to the single-vendor-situation which favoured Agusta Westland.

The CBI further says that SP Tyagi's cousin, Jule also got a bribe of Rs 2.28 crore.

Tyagi was named in the FIR in the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP helicopter deal along with 13 others including his brothers - Sanjeev, Rajeev and Sandeep - and European middlemen Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

The allegation against the former IAF chief is that he had reduced flying ceiling of the helicopter from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) so that Agusta Westland could be included in the bids.

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JEFFERSON CITY  A state senator from University City caught criticism on Thursday for the second time since August after she posted another controversial social media message regarding President Donald Trump.

In August, Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a Democrat, said in a Facebook comment that she hoped for Trumps assassination. On Thursday morning, she tweeted a takeoff of a Dove cosmetic ad many called racist.

In the original ad, a black woman is pictured taking off a shirt to reveal a white woman. In Chappelle-Nadals post, Trump takes off a shirt to reveal Adolf Hitler.

At least two Republican lawmakers shared their displeasure on Twitter.

State Rep. Phil Christofanelli, R-St. Peters, called the post shameful. State Rep. Jean Evans, R-Manchester, said Chappelle-Nadal was continuing her disgusting attacks on our president.

Though Chappelle-Nadal quickly deleted the Facebook comment from August, later offering an apology, she offered no apology for the latest post when contacted by the Post-Dispatch.

She criticized the Trump administrations efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, saying the slow recovery would lead to widespread illness, death and despair.

On Thursday, Trump lashed out at Puerto Rico, insisting in tweets that the federal government cant keep sending help forever and suggesting the U.S. territory was to blame for its financial struggles.

Forty-five deaths in Puerto Rico have been blamed on Hurricane Maria, about 85 percent of Puerto Rico residents still lack electricity and the government says it hopes to have electricity restored completely by March.

Our president has again failed the American people, Chappelle-Nadal said. In a later tweet on Thursday, Chappelle-Nadal said Puerto Rico deserves to be part of a nation that will not authorize GENOCIDE on its own people.

I have a First Amendment right to share my opinion, and if a meme is offensive to people, they should look at the First Amendment again, she said. Then ask yourself why you have different qualifications for a black woman of Puerto Rican descent than other people putting up a meme with no words. Its Twitter.

Chappelle-Nadal said the meme had been circulating among some in St. Louis who are protesting white supremacy and inequities in policing.

This comes from protesters in the movement, she said. I fully and wholeheartedly support the peaceful protesters in St. Louis.

She also said its not the first time she has been critical of Trump on Twitter.

Chappelle-Nadal said she is speaking up for dozens of family members in Puerto Rico, including two great-uncles who are veterans. She said she has been unable to get in contact with her uncles since the hurricane .

Though her Senate colleagues admitted in September they did not have the votes to remove Chappelle-Nadal from office, they did vote to censure her, almost unanimously.

Only two of Chappelle-Nadals colleagues  state Sens. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, and Shalonn Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City  did not go along with the plan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A panel discussion aimed at answering residents questions about policing and racial equity quickly unraveled Wednesday night as a crowd shouted accusations of inaction at St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson.

One man repeatedly shouted How long do we have to wait? as the mayor attempted to respond to questions and complaints.

People packed a 995-seat auditorium at Harris-Stowe State University to hear Krewson, state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr., Ethical Society of Police President Sgt. Heather Taylor and Forward Through Ferguson member David Dwight discuss ways to improve the publics trust in city police.

The panel hosted by St. Louis Young Democrats came weeks after demonstrators began calling for police reform following the acquittal of former police officer Jason Stockley in the fatal shooting of drug suspect Anthony Lamar Smith.

Taylor condemned Stockleys not-guilty verdict, calling the verdict ridiculous and Stockleys actions irresponsible.

She said the department needed to be accountable for its actions and focus on building trust with certain communities. Work, she said, begins internally.

Forward Through Ferguson  a nonprofit group formed to put in place the changes proposed by the Ferguson Commission in the wake of the protests that followed the fatal shooting of Michael Brown  and dozens of other community groups have put forward seven policy areas that call for police and court reform including theestablishing a use-of-force database, eliminating the use of militarized weapons by police departments, creating civilian review boards, and reforming punishments for minor offenses and civil violations.

Krewson said during the panel Wednesday that her office supports some aspects of the groups policy suggestions, including independent investigations of police use of force, developing community policing standards, especially concerning demonstrations, and a civilian oversight board with subpoena power.

The question of subpoena power  the authority to compel testimony  was at the heart of the debate over the creation of the board. Supporters of the idea say the move would give the board more power in investigating complaints against police.

Krewson said the citys search for a permanent police chief continues. But Franks said he believed the search should be for a public safety director instead.

My only mission is to bring power back to the people and dismantle systemic racism, Franks said.

The citys police department has come under scrutiny in recent weeks over its use of a controversial corralling technique called kettling, where more than 100 people were arrested in a protest downtown and some said they were kicked and sprayed in the face with pepper spray after their hands were tied behind their backs.

Ultimately, Krewson said her vision was for a more equitable St. Louis, but her comment was met with resistance from audience members who said they believed she was disinterested in the plight of black families and children.

Many of the mayors responses were drowned out by calls for the resignation of Interim Police Chief Lawrence OToole and accusations that the department practices racial discrimination.

Alderman Christine Ingrassia said on Twitter that her children, who were in the audience with her, saw someone get punched for urging others to let the mayor be heard.

Taylor at one point called for better vetting and training rather than solely focusing on the race of officers. She has been outspoken about racial discrimination in the department.

Franks, often seen among the Stockley protesters, at times tried to interpret audience members comments about OToole or policing. At other points he called for the audience to allow Krewson to speak.

The meeting was the first public forum at which Krewson has appeared since the Stockley verdict on Sept. 15. Charges were filed against the ex-officer in 2016, years after local and federal prosecutors had initially declined to prosecute him in the 2011 death of Smith.

Krewson canceled a series of town hall meetings that had been set to take place just after the verdict was announced. She said then that the kinds of comments she would have heard at town hall meetings are happening in the streets and in my inbox and on social media right now.

The Stockley verdict has set off a series of protests, as have other cases in the St. Louis region and elsewhere that have involved the deaths of black suspects at the hands of white officers.

Ebony Williams, who has been among the organizers of protests that have followed the Stockley verdict, expressed doubt that Krewson had wanted to hear from the public.

No, you didnt want to hear from us, or you wouldnt have canceled those town halls, Williams said of the mayor.

Elise Miller Hoffman, president of the group that sponsored the panel discussion, said afterward that it had provided an important opportunity for the public to come together and speak out.

There are voices in our community that need to be heard, Hoffman said.

She said she regretted that not all of the panelists, including Krewson, had gotten a chance to pose a question to the others, as planned. When his chance came, Franks yielded his opportunity to a member of the audience.

Neva Sprung, of south St. Louis County, was among those in the crowd.

She said she had taken part in one demonstration at which protesters marched to a Board of Aldermen meeting because she believes white people need to acknowledge that black lives matter.

She said she was impressed with Franks at the protests and with him, Taylor and Dwight at the panel discussion. I felt bad for the mayor because she truthfully was not in a position to give the direct answers people wanted, Sprung said.

But she maintained that people needed to able to shout and address the mayor. They needed to say what they were thinking, and she needed to hear their stories, Sprung said.

Nassim Benchaabane of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
FESTUS  The City Council here on Wednesday approved a contract for the demolition of three single-family homes after property owners failed to file an appeal.

A survey was performed last year on homes and commercial properties that had been vacant for more than two years, said Public Works Director Matt Clemens. Four structures were condemned. One house has already been torn down by the owner. The others  at 115 and 117 South Fourth Street and at 705 North Mill Street  will be next.

The awarded the bid to Baker Landscaping & Concrete of Imperial for $24,364.65. That amount includes testing for hazardous materials, but not remediation, Clemens said.

After demolition, a lien will be placed on each of the properties.

The council also approved a contract with CivicPlus for website redesign services, with funding of $25,000 provided by the Tourism Commission.
By PTI: Mumbai, Oct 12 (PTI) Gangster Chhota Rajans trusted aide DK Rao was arrested for allegedly demanding Rs 50 lakh in extortion from a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project consultant in Dharavi area of Central Mumbai, the police said today.

Rao had been threatening the complainant since last one year while he was extorting money from builders in the city, a senior official said.

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Meanwhile, DCP, Detection, Dilip Sawant said Rao was arrested yesterday by Crime Branch sleuths who had put him under surveillance over a period of time.

"We had received a complaint from a person related to building construction business that Rao was demanding ransom from him and threatened him of dire consequences," he said.

An FIR was registered against Rao at Dharavi police station under sections 387 (putting person in fear of death or of grievous hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and other relevant sections of the IPC.

Based on the complaint, a through probe was conducted into the matter before Raos arrest.

He was produced before court today, which remanded him in police custody till October 18.

Rao has over 2O cases registered against him in Mumbai region.

He had been acquitted in an extortion case only last year. PTI AVI NSK

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Every year, participants from a wide diversity of backgrounds, geographies, perspectives and expertise gather in the NASA Research Park in Mountain View, Silicon Valley for a 10-week immersive hands-on experience. Hosted by the Global Solutions Program (GSP) at Singularity University, the participants are introduced to the world of exponential technologies in their quest to solve the worlds greatest challenges.



Stockholm Resilience Centre serves as an impact partner of GSP and Singularity University by mentoring the participants in designing innovative sustainable solutions for global transformation. In return, Singularity University provides centre researchers with valuable insights into emerging technologies at Silicon Valley.



During the 10-week experience in June 2017 centre researchers Avit K. Bhowmik, Lisen Schultz, Per Olsson and Owen Gaffney (director of international media and strategy) ran a series of lectures, workshops and group works on how sustainability and emerging technologies and entrepreneurship can generate transformative change.



Owen Gaffney provied an introduction to how the state of the Earth has gone from an incredibly stable Holocene state to the human dominated unstable Anthropocene. He outlined the risks of transgressing planetary boundaries and of global warming beyond the Paris Agreement.



Avit K. Bhowmik followed up by leading a discussion on the risks associate with the Anthropocene, particularly how global environmental changes are triggering and amplifying conflicts, migrations and epidemic diseases. Offering a range of solutions and technologies to mitigate climate problems, Bhowmik introduced a framework for scaling transformations and climate solutions.



Lisen Schultz and Sara Ohrvall, a Swedish a senior advisor, speaker, columnist and maker of things organised a joint session on biosphere stewardship and emerging technological solutions for sustainability.



Per Olsson and Fredrik Wikholm, a Swedish entrepreneur based in New York, organised a joint session on innovation, transformation and sustainable entrepreneurship. Pers lecture was focused on innovation as a nudge for social transformation.



All sessions also included group work for participants to ponder about effective biosphere stewardship and sustainability transformation.

Click here to learn more about the Global Solutions Program
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) A group of eminent personalities today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not deport Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers, saying a proposal that the entire community is a threat to national security is based on "false assumption".

In an open letter, 51 prominent names including Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, former home minister P Chidambaram, former Union home secretary G K Pillai among others, observed that as an aspiring global leader, India cannot afford to adopt a "shortsighted approach".

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"Indias justification to deport the Rohingyas to Myanmar is premised on the false assumption that all of them present a potential threat to national security. This is simply not the case and the evidence to support these assertions have not held up," read the letter.

The development comes a day before the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a petition filed by Rohingya Muslims challenging the Centres stand to deport them back to Myanmar.

Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees the right to life to all persons, regardless of their nationality, and the government is constitutionally obligated to protect threatened groups of foreign nationals, the letter said.

Growing radicalisation of certain segments of the Rohingya community is linked to "persecution and discrimination" of the community by the authorities in Myanmar, the letter, which has actor Swara Bhaskar among the signatories, said.

It also noted that the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) has also been accused of targeting other ethnic groups in Rakhine, including Hindus and Buddhists.

The coalition of citizens also called upon the Centre to set out a "new and bold vision" for Indias approach to the Rohingya crisis, which not only seeks to address the needs of the thousands of Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar, but also address the violence that has caused them to flee in the first place. PTI SBR SRY

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A wing at HMP Long Lartin prison near Honeybourne was seized by inmates last night. Up to 80 prisoners are reported to have attacked staff at the Category A prison in Worcestershire which houses some of Britain's most dangerous criminals.

Inmates in E wing have rioted attacking prison officers with pool balls at the high-security facility where a 'tornado team' of heavily-armed specialist officers was deployed.

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed an "incident" has occurred at the prison which houses 622 inmates.
By PTI: (Eds: Updating with latest figures, reax)

Mumbai, Oct 12 (PTI) After a year-long winning spree in local bodies elections, the BJP today suffered a setback in the civic polls in Nanded, home turf of Congress leader Ashok Chavan, whose party bagged 69 of the 77 seats.

The results for 77 seats out of the total 81, have been declared so far. The BJP managed to win just six seats in the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation (NWMC) so far.

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Chavan, who is the state Congress chief, attributed the partys win to non-tampering of EVMs and claimed that the BJPs "return journey" has started.

According to the figures released by the State Election Commission of Maharashtra (SECM), of the 77 seats, the Congress won 69, followed by the BJP that bagged six seats. The Shiv Sena just about managed to open its account with one seat. An independent candidate also won a seat.

"Todays results have proven that the return journey of the BJP has started from Maharashtra. Our ground work in Nanded ensured that there was no tampering of EVMs, which led to our victory," Chavan told reporters here after taking part in the victory celebrations outside the Mumbai Congress office.

He said the BJP had "poached" five to six corporators, but all of them lost.

"There is severe discontent among the people due to high fuel prices, farmers suicides and troubles caused to cultivators due to faulty loan waiver system. People have understood the hollow claims made by the chief minister (Devendra Fadnavis)," Chavan said.

Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council and NCP leader Dhananjay Munde said his party was satisfied that "fascist forces" have been shown their place.

"This result is a proof that people are fed up with the BJP-led Centre and state government. We are satisfied that fascist forces have been destroyed, shown their place and a secular party has won," Munde said.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said the "Modi wave" has subsided and that people have rejected the saffron partys call of coming to power across the nation.

"The BJP claims it is a party with a difference. But it indulged in every possible malpractice in Nanded civic polls, including using money power and government machinery. Yet, they were rejected," he said.

Maharashtra Labour Minister Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar, who was in-charge of the partys poll machinery in Nanded, claimed that the BJPs vote share rose from 3 per cent in 2012 to 19 per cent this time around.

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Known for his outspoken nature, BJPs new ally and Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha (MSP) leader Narayan Rane advised the BJP leadership to do introspection on why it fared so bad despite the chief minister holding many election rallies in the run-up to the Nanded civic polls.

He, however, dismissed the argument that the Nanded civic poll results would have an impact on the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

The Nanded civic body has been ruled by the Congress, since it came into existence two decades ago.

The BJP won 12 of the 16 civic bodies in Maharashtra, for which polls were held this year, expanding its footprint in the states urban pockets. It had made inroads into traditional Congress strongholds and also those of partner Shiv Sena.

In the Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation (NWMC), the party-wise strength is as follows: Congress 41, Shiv Sena 14, AIMIM 11, NCP 10, independents 3 and BJP 2. PTI MM VT NP SRY

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Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says it has reached a national reconciliation deal with rival party Fatah with the aim of ending a decade-long political rift mainly over the governance of the Gaza Strip.

Fatah and Hamas reached an agreement at dawn today upon a generous Egyptian sponsorship, the Gaza-based resistance movements chief Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement on Thursday.

He did not elaborate on the deal, but Reuters cited a Hamas official as saying that the details would be released during a news conference later in the day.

Meanwhile, Zakaria al-Agha, a top Fatah official in Gaza, told AFP that President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) would visit the coastal enclave in less than a month, for the first time since 2007.

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah kicked off three days of unity talks in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Tuesday amid high hopes that the negotiations would result in a long-awaited national reconciliation.

Officials from both Palestinian factions praised the meetings yesterday as positive.

The Palestinian leadership has been divided between Fatah and Hamas since 2006, when the latter scored a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in the Gaza Strip. Hamas has ever since been running the coastal enclave, while Fatah has been based in the autonomous parts the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Previous reconciliation attempts by the two sides to form a power-sharing unity government in Gaza and the West Bank have failed.

In September, however, Hamas said it had accepted key reconciliation conditions offered by Abbas and underlined its desire to achieve national unity.

The resistance movement also invited the Palestinian unity government formed in 2014 to return to Gaza, dissolving an administrative committee that runs the Israeli-besieged territory to pave the way for fresh national elections.

The new round of talks came a week after Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah of the Palestinian Authority, dominated by Fatah, visited the Gaza Strip to start the process of transferring the enclaves governance from Hamas to a national consensus government.

The Cairo negotiations are taking place within the framework of a 2011 agreement between the two sides, under which 3,000 Fatah security officers would join a Gaza police force over the course of a year.

Under that deal, Hamas 25,000-strong armed wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam, which has defended Gaza against three deadly Israeli wars over the past decade, would maintain its position.

The resistance group has said the force is non-negotiable.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Palestinians against bogus reconciliations, and reiterated Tel Avivs demand for the disbandment of Hamass military arm.
By PTI: metro fare hike

New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) The Delhi Congress today launched its week-long campaign to expose the alleged "street fight" between the BJP and the AAP over Metro fare hike.

The Kejriwal+BJP, Stop Politics, Save Metro campaign led by Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken was launched near the Rajiv Chowk Metro station here.

Hitting out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, he accused him of indulging in "public drama" even though his government was part of the decision to hike prices of Metro tickets.

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"Why is Kejriwal indulging in public drama when the decision to hike the metro fare was jointly taken by the BJP- led central government and the AAP government in Delhi," he asked.

Maken also blamed the Kejriwal government for delay in the phase III and IV of the Delhi Metro, asking "why was the Kejriwal government throttling the Delhi Metro.

He also explained some of the reasons behind the delay in the upcoming phases.

The Metro tariff hike came into effect yesterday.

The hike, which comes five months within the last one, will affect every commuter of the mass rapid transit who travels beyond 5 km, while journeys falling in the 2-5 km distance slab will cost Rs 5 more. PTI VIT ANB

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By PTI: Hyderabad, Oct 12 (PTI) The Hyderabad Police has registered a case against prominent Dalit writer Kancha Ilaiah for allegedly hurting religious feelings through his book on the Arya Vysya community, an official said.

A student belonging to a Scheduled Caste had earlier alleged that Ilaiah, through his book Samajika Smugglurlu Komatollu (Vysyas are social smugglers), not only targeted the Vysya community, but all Hindu communities and hurt the sentiments of Dalits and others, Malkajgiri Police Station Inspector Janaki Reddy said today.

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The 22-year-old complainant had approached a local court and based on its directions, the police yesterday registered the case against Ilaiah, he said.

He said the case was registered under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Protests and demonstrations were being held by Arya Vysya community from last month across Telangana against Ilaiah.

The writer had last month filed a police complaint alleging that four people attacked his vehicle at Parkal in Warangal and tried to kill him.

The alleged attack had sparked tension between Arya Vysyas and Dalits who came face to face. However, the police had then averted any escalation of the issue by dispersing the groups.

The community is angry at Ilaiah over his book and are demanding apology from the writer, an official had earlier said. PTI VVK GK AAR

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A blue Maruti WagonR, associated closely with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, was stolen in the national capital. The car was currently being used by the AAP's media coordinator, Vandana Singh.

By Pankaj Jain: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's famous blue WagonR was stolen in New Delhi today.

The car was stolen from the Delhi secretariat - the seat of the state government that Kejriwal heads.

Kejriwal was not currently using the car, after having it given it up in 2014. The Maruti car was currently being used by the Aam Aadmi Party's media coordinator Vandana Singh.

Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Blue Wagon R stolen near Secretariat; FIR registered (File pics) pic.twitter.com/SBUD4Gx6g7- ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2017

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Singh lodged a police complaint at the IP Estate police station saying that the car was stolen at around 1 pm today.

The car, along with Kejriwal himself, made headlines when the AAP boos travel in it while campaigning for the chief minister's post, which he won in January 2014.

The car was seen as proof of Kejriwal's 'aam aadmi' credentials with the Delhi chief minister refusing to use a government vehicle even after assuming office.

Following reports of the car going missing, the Aam Aadmi Party took a veiled dig at the Centre saying that Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, who reports to the central government, "should focus more on law and order" in the national capital than on "holding up files".

Click here to Enlarge Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal with AAP media coordinator Vandana Singh (in black) who was using the iconic blue WagonR

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The Tongan community in Palmerston North are mourning the loss of a mum, teacher and recently ordained preacher who was killed in a crash that also claimed the lives of three others.

Pesi Tuivai was travelling with seven family members, including her three-year-old daughter, from a church meeting in Auckland on Monday when the crash happened.

Her friends, relatives and neighbours gathered at the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga in Bunnythorpe last night to pray for her and those still hospital.

It was an emotional scene as Reverend Tevita Langi stood before dozens of people who had gathered to say their goodbyes, and wiped the tears from his eyes during the two-hour service.

Seated in front of him was Ms Tuivais three sons - aged 11, 16 and 18.

Her three-year-old daughter remains in Rotorua Hospital.

Ms Tuivais neighbour Ala Tuimana says she was an amazing mum with an infectious smile.

"Probably the best way to describe her is bubbly. Shes very happy to enter the room, shes always smiling. If you talk to her, shes smiling and happy and you get all this happiness from her."

Reverend Langi agreed, saying despite only been stationed at the church for little over a month, he couldnt help but notice that radiant smile.

"Pesi as we all know her, is one of the most loving mothers and smiling faces youve ever seen. Every time you meet her, every time you see her, shes smiling," he says.

In just a few weeks time she was due to give her very first sermon as an ordained lay preacher at the church.

Reverend Langi said she trained for a year for the role, and had been excited for the churchs annual quarterly meeting in Auckland at the weekend.

He says she was travelling with her sister, daughter and other relatives, and they posted on social media that they were having a good time.

"They uploaded some happy memories, I think only a couple of minutes later the accident happened. They were really enjoying their trip, lots of laughter, and its just so hard to accept that after that fun moment, she passed away."

Her cousin, Olivia Halaifonua, says the community was in complete shock and were doing everything they could to support her children.

"People are still trying to think if its real or not. As for myself, I still think when I wake up, am I in a nightmare, or a bad dream? Our hearts just go out to the boys and her husband."

She says the local community had been very supportive, and she has been inundated with offers to help.

"It just means a lot, not only for the boys but for the family, for the community, knowing that we can come together at times like this and know that we can lean on each other and just be there for each other."

Reverend Langi says it s also important to remember the other family who lost loved ones in the crash.

"We ask for all people to remember us in prayers, not only for us in the congregation, but for the other three people who died at the scene. We remember them in our prayers."

-RNZ
A kiwi chick with rare white feathers has hatched at Rainbow Springs Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua  the first with white feathers around its leg in almost a decade.

Bloomers, aptly named for its white feathers that resemble a pair of knickers half on, hatched at the countrys largest kiwi hatching facility on September 29.

Below is part one of blog about Bloomers first few days on earth.

My name is Bloomers and Im a little brown kiwi. Im one of 24 kiwi chicks currently living at the Rainbow Springs Kiwi Encounter  where they rescue us from the wild as eggs and help us grow safely into strong young kiwi.

Did you know that October is Save Kiwi Month? This month is dedicated to raising awareness of the awesome work humans do to save kiwi. Because its such an important time I wanted to share my first month here at Kiwi Encounter with you, so you can learn what it takes to save a little chick like me.

Chapter One: When the humans saved my egg

My dad is a big strong bird, who goes by the name of Phantom. He lives in the Coromandel, in a place called Moehau, which is an 892-metre-high mountain at the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula.

At Moehau there is a beautiful kiwi sanctuary that covers 11,000 hectares of luscious land. The sanctuary is on conservation land where humans try to limit the number of kiwi predators like stoats. Thats where my story begins.

It was wintery July when my mum laid my egg in the middle of the Moehau sanctuary. Kiwi mums lay one of the largest eggs per body size! Mum laid my egg in the nest, and left the burrow for Dad to take over and keep us warm  after all, just two weeks earlier shed laid my older sibling!

Kiwi chicks can have a hard life in the wild if humans dont help us. We only have a 5% chance of survival because of introduced predators. Thats why some volunteers from the Moehau Sanctuary came and collected us! I remember being scooped up gently by a pair of big warm hands. The voices of humans were new to me  quiet and mellow. They placed us in a new warm burrow, and carefully drove us to Rotorua.

I was two months old in my egg when I arrived at Kiwi Encounter and was placed in their special incubator room with lots of other eggs from all over the North Island. After a week or so I was ready to start the exhausting process of hatching.

I began jiggling in my egg, which alerted the humans that I was starting my hatch. With no egg tooth, the only way out of my egg was to peck and kick my way through the shell. Hot work!

With my beak and little feet I pecked and pushed for hours, and eventually made a tiny hole I could push my beak through. I breathed air for the first time!

After that I slept to recover my strength. I spent the next five days kicking and sleeping, kicking and sleeping  my shell slowly cracking open.

And on night five, the final fragments of my egg broke loose I was free!

A whole new world

The next couple of days, everything feels new. The humans weighed me when I hatched  Im 296 grams  healthy but small for a brown kiwi. Ive begun crouching and probing around my new environment with my bill.

They are also really excited by my little white feathers around one of my legs. Its very rare for a kiwi to have white feathers, turns out I am quite special! You can call me Bloomers for now  thats my nickname, because I look like Im half wearing a pair of knickers hehe!

To be continued
As 11,000 of its safai karmcharis went to strike days before Diwali, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government has decided to bail out the bankrupt east MCD by paying Rs 108 crore tax shares in advance.

By Baishali Adak: The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government has decided to bail out the bankrupt east MCD of an embarrassing situation, where 11,000 of its safai karmcharis have gone on strike just before Diwali - by paying Rs 108 crore tax shares in advance.

The EDMC commissioner, Ranbir Singh, declared on Thursday, "We wrote to the principle secretary, Urban Development, apprising him of the situation. It could get worse with sanitation workers not picking up garbage from dhalaos or transporting them to Ghazipur landfill in this festive season."

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It was the second day of strike by the Category-D workers on Thursday, with few wards like Sundar Nagari suffering majorly. Affiliated to the Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the largest union in municipal corporations, the cleaning employees instead dumped trash outside EDMC Mayor Neema Bhagat's office in Geeta Colony and burnt her effigy. The commissioner said, "Delhi government accepted our request, the money is sanctioned and we should receive it by Friday instead of December, when it was actually due. With this, we hope to be able to clear the pending pension, and Diwali bonus of Rs 20 crore of all our employees."

As per Delhi High Court order, salaries of all D-category employees (sanitation staff) up to September have been paid, but arrears amounting to a huge Rs 1,500-1,600 crore cannot be cleared right now as the corporation does not have that much money with it, he accepted.

As per recommendations of the Third Finance Commission, the Delhi government provides the east MCD Rs 570 crore each year in tax shares received from the central government.

The first two installments of this come in April, followed by the third installment in August and last (Rs 108 cr.) in December. It is the fourth and last installment that has been expedited.

Sanjay Gehlot, president of the striking 'MCD Swachhata Karmchari Union,' however, said that they have not even been paid their basic salaries, and they would continue striking. "It's a lie. They have paid salaries up to September to karmcharis in only 12-15 of 64 wards. The rest still have not got salaries of two months."

"Worse still, the EDMC commissioner has himself admitted lately that there are barely Rs 6000 left in the corporation's bank account. The body is absolutely kaput." he said.

"We feel ashamed to even work for such an organisation. It is all a result of the tussle and politics between AAP and BJP, and nobody is making any genuine effort to enhance the revenue earning of the corporation. "Mayor Neema Bhagat says the Delhi government has to pay EDMC Rs 950 crore. AAP, however, says they don't owe anything to the MCDs. We don't know what is happening," he claimed.

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Te Kupenga a Taramainuku Pa commemoration is an event run by Te Kupenga Heritage Committee for the people of Ngati Awa in Te Teko each year at Te Kupenga Pa.

Te Kupenga Heritage Committee is a working committee of the Te Teko Community Development Trust and is a grass roots local initiative arising from the various commemorative events held in 2013-2015 to acknowledge the New Zealand/Maori wars of the 1860s.

Te Kupenga was a pre-European settlement of the hapu of Ngati Awa and in its prime was a social, political and economic hub of the lower-Rangitaiki region along with other important pa.

In September 1865 Crown forces and their loyalist allies invaded the rohe of Ngati Awa and eventually laid siege to Te Kupenga in pursuit of Ngati Awa tribes involved in the death of James

The events ultimately led to the confiscation of a large part of the tribal rohe, the effects of which are still felt by many Ngati Awa communities to this day.

The commemorations are being celebrated this year in Te Teko on October 20.

A spokesperson for the event, Larni Hepi says this year the event will be bigger than ever.

This event has grown incredibly over the last three years, says Larni.

Last year the event attracted 2000 people and there is the possibility that even more people will attend this year with the combination of Ngati Awa Te Toki also taking place that weekend.

At the conclusion of last years commemoration the event was declared a significant national event by the National Commemorations Committee, a division within Parliament who plan and manage commemorative events, says Larni.

Its gone from being a local commemorative service to a national commemorative service that is quite widely known and because of this they are expecting a lot more people than previous years.

We expect more than 5000 will attend.

Larni says the event attracts a wide range of people not only from Ngati Awa but from around the nation.

In terms of the people who attend, its quite across the board theres a lot of whanau coming from across the country to take part in the day; families, young people and everyone across New Zealand.

This year were expecting a lot of primary schools and kohanga reo, but also iwi across the country including Tauranga Moana and Taranaki who also hold significant commemorative events in their history.

In the lead up last years commemoration, Te Kura Wananga o Te Kupenga a Taramainuku was formed to nurture traditional teachings, including mau rakau, waiata, haka, korero o nehera, karakia, amongst the tamariki, and pakeke of Ngati Awa.

Te Kura Wananga have continued to hold week-long and weekly mau rakau and haka pohiri practices in Te Teko this year, in preparation for the 152nd Commemoration.

Their aim is to restore the communitys awareness of their history, culture and heritage in re-educating the future generations of whanau and hapu about their ancestral knowledge and values, which they believe will enable them to restore a crucial piece of Ngati Awa identity and heritage.

This event is purely about educating people in the community about this event and its place in iwi Ngati Awas history, which is an important history, considering the massive divide it caused across the iwi.

Its a really good history lesson for everyone in Ngati Awa and Te Teko about what took place.

The committee have received a lot of support from the community, iwi, various supporters and funders so it will go on as long as it keeps on going on for.
With just over a week to go until entries open in the 2018 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards, organisers of the regional competitions are ready to host launch events.

General Manager Chris Keeping says the launch events provide an opportunity to find out more information about the Awards and which category they are eligible to enter.

Not every region is holding a launch event, with Bay Of Plenty choosing to have a prize for their regions Early Bird entries instead, says Chris.

If you enter the Bay Of Plenty regional awards before midnight on October 20, youre in the draw to win a $300 Bunnings voucher, as well as being eligible for the national Early bird prize.

The launch events are typically a lot of fun and provide an opportunity to meet other potential entrants, organisers and sponsors and to learn about the awards from past entrants.

The functions are very social, with no charge, and are at a time that makes it easy for farmers to attend.

Chris says the first regional launch events will be held in Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa, Manawatu and Southland Otago on Wednesday October 18, while launch events in other regions will be held over the next two weeks.

Once again, there are generous travel voucher prizes up for grabs. An Early bird Share Farmer of the Year entrant who enters the Awards before the Early bird cut-off date of November 10 could win could win a $4,000 travel voucher, with $3,000 and $2,000 travel vouchers for Dairy Manager and Dairy Trainee of the year respectively.

Entries in the New Zealand Share Farmer of the Year, New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year and New Zealand Dairy Trainee of the Year categories will be accepted online from Friday October 20.

The New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards are supported by national sponsors Fonterra Farm Source, Westpac, DairyNZ, Ecolab, Federated Farmers, Honda Motorcycles, LIC, Meridian Energy, Ravensdown, DeLaval and industry partner Primary ITO.

More information on the launch events and Earlybird prizes are available at www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz/regions.

Details of NZDIA Regional Launch events:

Auckland/Hauraki, November 2, 11 am, Supp No: 72063 1398 Tahuna Rd, Ohinewai

Waikato, October 25, 6pm, Farm Source, Cambridge

Bay of Plenty, October 20, 11am, Farm Source, Edgecumbe

Bay of Plenty, October 27, 11am, Farm Source, Opotiki

Bay of Plenty, November 4, 11am, Farm Source, Te Puke

Taranaki, October 20, 11.30am, Farm Source, Inglewood, Kaponga, Waverly

Manawatu, October 18, 7pm, Willowpark Tav, Palmerston North

Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa, October 18, 6.30pm, Farm Source, Dannevirke

Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa, October 24, 6.30pm, RSA, Carterton

Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa, October 25, 6.30pm, Farm Source, Dannevirke

Southland/Otago, October 18, 12pm, Rosebank Lodge, Balclutha

Southland/Otago, October 19, 6.30pm, Top Pub, Winton
The one-way exit lane from 14th Avenue onto Turret Road is closing for six weeks as Tauranga City Council tries to find a solution to the congestion in the area.

The exit lane is currently used by large volumes of traffic looking to avoid 15th Avenue and slip onto Turret Road at peak travel times.

TCC considers these vehicles to be creating a stuttering effect, interrupting the flow of traffic all the way back along 15th Avenue, as cars stop to let these vehicles in.

TCC transport manager Martin Parkes says the trial will be an information-gathering exercise.

Weve been looking at several options for 15th Avenue and Turret Road. Weve got plenty of data about traffic movements in the area, but now we want to find out what impact the closure could have on the transport network in that area.

It will effectively turn that lane into a cul-de-sac. I think some of the residents will welcome the closure, as they wont have cars driving past their front doors.

He believes people will still use 14th Avenue as a shortcut, but they will have to transfer onto either Grace Road or Burrows Street in order to then join the flow of traffic leaving the city.

We want to know what volume of traffic will do that, compared to those who will use 15th Avenue. The trial will give us a huge amount of data we can then feed into the planning for any future upgrade we do of 15th Avenue.

In February, the council will be asking the community for their feedback on what they think should happen with 15th Avenue/Turret Road. At the moment, however, the council is focusing on making the city cycle- and bus-friendly.

We want people to think about the time they travel and the mode they do. Were currently the most car-dependent city in New Zealand  97 per cent of all journeys around the city are made by private motor vehicles. If people dont change their behaviour, theyll continue to sit in traffic on congested roads.

We want to understand why people wont get out of their cars and cycle to work or school. Its becoming clear though the engagement process that the facilities arent yet available to encourage them to change their behaviour.

The exit-lane from 14th Avenue onto Turret Road will be closed from Monday October 16. For more information visit the council website.
Ten years ago, with new anti-terrorism powers under their belt, police swooped on the people of Tuhoe in what has come to be known as the Urewera raids.

They set up two unlawful road blocks in Ruatoki and Taneatua, detained innocent people and searched private property while hunting for people they believed were involved in military-style training camps in Te Urewera Ranges.

Police believed more than 60 people had attended six training camps in 2006 and 2007 and that they had used a range of weapons, including Molotov cocktails, and had been practising ambush and interrogation techniques.

The raids took place in the early hours of Monday morning on 15 October 2007. The Armed Offenders Squad raided homes around the country looking for terrorists - people they claimed wanted to hurt New Zealand politicians and bomb parliament.

But none of the 17 people arrested ended up facing charges under the Terrorism Suppression Act after the Solicitor-General said the evidence was insufficient.

In the end, four people were found guilty in 2012 of illegally possessing firearms. Tame Iti and Rangikaiwhiria Kemara were sentenced to 30 months imprisonment and Urs Signer and Emily Bailey were given home detention.

The effects of the raids still linger for many families, including for Ati Teepa, who was away from his home when it was raided.

"I think there is still lots of unresolved issues around the raids, particularly some of the young children that were caught up in the raids. My brothers young family saw the guys in the masks and the guns, they saw their grandfather and father dragged out of the home early hours of the morning in the dark."

It would have been terrifying, says Ati.

"I think there are still issues for those young tamariki - and it wasnt just my brothers tamariki, there were children in other homes."

Police have worked hard to restore their relationship with Tuhoe iwi members, especially the tamariki.

In 2014, Police Commissioner Mike Bush travelled to the Tuhoe community, and while not prepared to apologise for the investigation itself, he did express regret for the way police acted.

"Especially in respect to searches and detaining people that were unlawful, so we have apologised for that. Also just in the way we actually treated people with disrespect, particularly the innocent people, the young people - the tamariki and mokopuna."

Ati says he appreciates the police had tried hard to make amends, but his whanau didnt want an apology.

"We didnt want them in the home and we didnt want to meet with them, we didnt want to be part of what I cynically see as a public relations exercise where they were coming to seek forgiveness from Tuhoe.

"I dont know why they had to make such a big song and dance out of something that couldve been a private affair."

Tuhoe leader Tamati Kruger says the terrorist allegations were completely unbelievable and a shock for Tuhoe iwi members, with some believing it was a plot to stop the 2013 Tuhoe settlement with the Crown.

"Some Tuhoe people saw this as a body of proof of the anti-Tuhoe stance of the government and the Crown that stretches back to 1850 and there were other Tuhoe people that were severely hurt by the experience," says Tamati.

Tuhoe took it upon themselves to reconcile with police, which Tamati says was an example of mana motuhake (self determination).

"When you can deal with your own issues you have mana motuhake, when you use your own traditions and customs to do that.

"Ten years later that reconciliation is sustainable and reliable, between ourselves and the police."

Tame Iti served 9 months of his 30 month jail sentence and now wants to put the raids behind him and focus on the future.

"Honestly I dont really want to go back to that and I dont want to justify and have to explain myself.

"Moving on, you let go. It happened."

Since the raids, no one has ever been successfully charged and convicted under the Terrorism Supression Act.
In todays weather we will see cloud increasing with a chance of late evening rain. Also northwesterly breezes.

Its a two-clothing layer day today with a high of 18 and an overnight low of 12 degrees.

High tide is at 1.40pm and low tide is at 7.50pm. Sea temperature is 15 degrees. Theres an average sea swell of about .3m and sunset tonight is at 7.26pm.

If youre going fishing today the best fish bite time is between 7 and 9pm.

This day in NZ history, in 1975 Whina Cooper led a land march to Parliament. About 5000 marchers arrived at Parliament and presented a petition signed by 60,000 people to Prime Minister Bill Rowling.

The primary aim of the hikoi (march) was to protest ongoing Maori land alienation.

This day in world history in 1492 Christopher Columbus and his crew landed in the Bahamas. In 1609 the song "Three Blind Mice" was published in London, believed to be the earliest printed secular song.

In 1899 the Anglo-Boer War began. In 1970 President Richard Nixon announces the pullout of 40,000 more American troops in Vietnam by Christmas. And in 2002 terrorist bombers killed over 200 and wounded over 300 more at the Sari Club in Kuta, Bali.

A quote for today from Kalu Ndukwe Kalu who said The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.

To find out whats happening around the Bay please check out our Whats On page. Have a great day!
The process to appoint a new chief executive will soon be underway, when Garry Pooles five-year contract ends in April 2018.

Under the Local Government Act, the Tauranga City Council is required to either re-appoint Garry for a further two years, or publicly advertise the chief executive role on a five-year contract.

Mayor Greg Brownless says councillors have chosen to advertise the role instead of re-appointing Garry for a further two years to ensure council has long-term leadership.

Our current chief executive has proven to be very capable and competent in the role and has contributed greatly to the growth and management of Tauranga city. This decision is not a reflection on his performance, says Greg.

As a council, we have a lot of major projects underway and elected members believe it is important that we have the certainty that a full appointment process and five-year contract would give.

The option of a shorter-term was not desirable, as the timing would have meant an appointment process taking place during the next local body elections.

He says a recruitment company will be engaged to support councillors who will appoint the successful candidate.

We will be running a robust process and we are confident there will be a lot of high-quality applicants to ensure we have the best possible person for the job.

While this process is undertaken, Garry has our complete support to carry out his duties.

Garry was appointed the role of chief executive in April 2013, after previously holding the position of chief executive at Wellington council for 15 years.

He has confirmed he will re-apply for the role, and is focused on continuing councils positive momentum.

I am really proud of the work we have done over the past five years and Im excited by the potential for Tauranga City Council looking forward, says Garry.

We have some important matters in front of council at the moment and it is great to have the mandate of Councillors to continue pushing ahead with these initiatives.
12 October, Dia de la Hispanidad or Hispanic Day, is a national holiday in Spain that commemorates the exact date when Christopher Columbus first set foot in the Americas in 1492.

Also known as Columbus Day or Dia del Descubrimiento, Hispanic Day symbolises the union between Spanish and Spanish-speaking Latin America, but the celebration has received considerable condemnation by certain sectors, both in Spain and in Latin and North America.

The name has been modified in some places to take the emphasis off the discovery that some see as a genocide. While 12 October is known as Discovery Day in the Bahamas, it has been turned into the Day of the Cultures in Costa Rica, Day of the Race in Argentina, Chile and Mexico, and the Day of Indigenous Resistance in Venezuela.

Remains of an empire

Hispanic refers to the descendants of nations that emerged from the Spanish Empire, a family comprising 400 million people who are united by the common bonds of culture, language and history.

Hispanic Day is one of Spain's biggest national holidays and events are broadcast on national television and radio.

The King of Spain supervises the raising of the national flag in Madrid and presides over the massive military parade - a key part of the celebrations each year. It is a ceremony in which the prime minister also plays a key role, along with representatives from all of Spain's military units, and a wide array of authorities, from foreign diplomats deployed in Spain to members of the autonomous governments.

One of the highlights is a spectacular aerobatics display performed by the Spanish Air Force. In a similar manner to Britain's Red Arrows, the jets leave streams of red and yellow smoke to represent the Spanish flag.

There are also other celebrations that take place throughout the rest of the country.

The holiday is also known as the Dia del Pilar, as Roman Catholics commemorate the day of Our Lady of the Pillar, who is the patron of the Spanish Guardia Civil and of the Hispanic world. However she is most revered in the region of Aragon, where the basilica in Zaragoza bears her name.

The holiday is not widely or enthusiastically celebrated in Spain; there are no other large-scale patriotic parades, marches, or other events, except for in regional capitals.

There are those, though, who see Columbus as nothing more than a remorseless tyrant and they feel that it is an insult to celebrate on 12 October; they believe that Spain should not be marking 'genocide' with a military parade that costs the country around 800,000 euros each year.

During the nineteenth century, many anti-immigrant groups in America rejected the holiday due to its association with Catholicism. The USA celebrates Columbus Day on the second Monday of October, but several US states do not recognise the day at all. Others have replaced Columbus Day, which became a public holiday in the US in 1937, with Indigenous Peoples Day, a counter-celebration commemorating the history of Native American peoples.

Francoist connotations

Activists in Barcelona want the holiday cancelled and a statue of Columbus removed from La Rambla, but both ideas have so far been rejected. Badalona city council, which has long supported the idea of the region breaking away from Spain, has banned the celebration, saying the holiday celebrated the genocide of the Americas. They also claim it has Francoist connotations.

Critics of Hispanic Day have argued that the holiday should be banned across Spain on the grounds that former dictator, General Francisco Franco, favoured the day as a way to extol the values of his dictatorship.

The celebration of the anniversary in Spain dates to 1935, when the first festival was held in Madrid. In 1981, a royal decree established Dia de la Hispanidad as a national holiday, but in 1987, the name was changed to Fiesta Nacional. The date of National Day changed several times during the 20th century; establishing it on the day of the international Columbus celebration was part of a compromise between conservatives, who wanted to emphasise the status of the monarchy and Spain's history, and Republicans, who wanted to commemorate Spain's burgeoning democracy with an official holiday. The change in name had the effect of removing all reference to Spain's historical colonialism, and even its ties to Latin America. October 12th became one of two national celebrations, along with Constitution Day on December 6th.

Hispanic Day has caused a cascade of reactions from all political parties and institutions over the last few years, but the majority of the country respects the day as one of the most important in Spanish history.

Malaga celebrates Hispanic Day with a military procession and a programme of performances and cultural activities held in the Parque Huelin in Malaga. In Seville, an extensive programme of activities takes place in the Plaza de la Pescaderia, while in Granada, military parades and activities are dedicated to Isabella la Catolica and Columbus. Huelva obviously celebrates in style, as it was from Palos de la Frontera in Huelva that Columbus set sail on his first voyage to the new world.

The recent problems following the illegal referendum in Catalonia will mar this year's events in Barcelona, if indeed, they happen at all.
By Mail Today Bureau: The Delhi High Court has dismissed the petition of a candidate who challenged the recruiting medical examination results that declared him unfit for the post of a head constable he had applied for. The medical board found him suffering from 'left-sided inguinal hernia', 11 degree haemorrhoid at 3'O clock position and CH skin disease.

The petitioner told court that after this recruiting test, he was declared fit in the annual medical examination and another recruiting examination, and sought setting aside of the initial medical board result. The court observed that the candidates who cleared the written examination, met the physical measurements, qualified the physical efficiency test, and after checking of testimonial were subjected to a detailed medical examination at stage-V.

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"The petitioner was not only to be in shape-I at the time when he had submitted the application, but he should have been fit on the date of the medical examination at stage-V. Temporarily unfit candidates cannot be considered as fit. On the said period when the petitioner was examined by the recruiting medical officer and the review medical board, he was unfit. The fact that the petitioner was earlier and later fit and in shape-I is immaterial."

Constable Rambabu Chandrawanshi had applied for selection and appointment as head constable through Limited Departmental Competitive Examination, 2013. The court also noticed that even the review medical board had declared the petitioner as unfit for the reason that he had 'left-sided inguinal hernia'. Rambabu told the court that he had got an operation done not because he was suffering from the said disease, but he wanted to meet the objections.

The court said it was difficult to accept the said position as the operation and surgical procedures are not undertaken, without any medical reason. They are undertaken by specialists and are not on mere request when not required.

--- ENDS ---
By Pramod Madhav: As speculated Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, but decided to leave the state Power Minister Thangamani.

During the period of alleged cold war between CM Edapadi K Palanisamy and Deputy CM OPS, the latter decided to pay a visit to Delhi and meet the Prime Minister Modi. OPS left around 6.30pm on Wednesday along with Team OPS's original members, Maithreyan, Manoj K Pandian and KP Munusamy. He met with the PM around 11am and presented a copy of memorandum carrying 12 points of which the first point was to increase allocation of coal to TANGEDCO thermal power stations.

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The fact here is, though OPS went on to meet PM on the pretext of getting more coal for the power stations, the state's Electricity Minister Thangamani, who has been with Team EPS and also was one of the architects of EPS-OPS merger, was kept away from the meeting. No explanation was given as why Thangamani was left out for the meeting. This incident almost proved the theory of a harsh cold war going on between EPS and OPS where the latter has allegedly complained of being given no importance in the governance.

However, in an attempt to silence the rumours, OPS stated that nothing political was discussed with the PM.

"There are no difference of opinions between me and CM EPS. He discusses with me before taking any decisions. No more fissures can come up inside the party. From now on, on can rise from the bottom tier of the party," OPS stated.

If anything had to be done with allocating coal for thermal power stations, the right person to meet would have been Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who is in-charge of coal as well, but no information was given if anyone from the group had met with him.

Meanwhile, Power Minister Thangamani met with Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman, but the details of the meet was not shared.

--- ENDS ---
Arguments over raw data behind text messages and other electronic content will delay David Edmond Eisenhauers trial in the killing of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Eisenhauer was scheduled to begin a jury trial on Nov. 2 on charges of first-degree murder, abduction and concealing a body. But at a short motions hearing Wednesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Judge Robert Turk accepted defense attorneys request for more time to prepare.

Eisenhauer, 20, of Columbia, Maryland, is one of two former Virginia Tech students accused in the disappearance of a Blacksburg middle-schooler. Prosecutors say that Lovell was lured from her bedroom window by Eisenhauer on the night of Jan. 27, 2016. According to the prosecution, Eisenhauer stabbed Lovell to death and hid the body with help from Natalie Marie Keepers, 20, of Laurel, Maryland. Keepers is accused of helping to plan the murder as well.

Keepers is scheduled to begin a jury trial on Feb. 5 on charges of being an accessory before the fact to first-degree murder and with concealing a body.

On Wednesday, John Lichtenstein of Roanoke, one of five attorneys defending Eisenhauer, said that prosecutors have not handed over all the raw data from at least 17 phones, computers and other electronic devices that are involved in the case. He said that forensic experts will need to pore over the data to produce evidence that could help Eisenhauer.

Commonwealths Attorney Mary Pettitt objected to the delay, saying the defense already had the raw data. If there were questions, they should have been raised during the eight months that have elapsed since Eisenhauers trial was scheduled, she said.

Turk said he would use a Nov. 6 hearing  a date that had been scheduled to be part of Eisenhauers jury trial  to decide questions about raw data and defense motions to suppress incriminating statements that Eisenhauer made to investigators.

Also on Nov. 6, Turk said, he will set a new trial date for Eisenhauer, probably three or four months out from that hearing.

Turk said that while he was granting the delay, the second requested by the defense, he would not agree to a third continuance unless the prosecution asked for it.

I need to get the case tried, for everybodys sake, Turk said.

Eisenhauers attorneys last week filed a motion asking Turk to throw out incriminating statements that Eisenhauer made to investigators, saying that he was the subject of an improper arrest, and that investigators wrongly questioned him for hours after he said he wanted to stop and call an attorney.

The attorneys also have asked that evidence taken from his cell phone should be thrown out because the police officer who told Eisenhauer to give the phone to her did not have a search warrant. The attorneys are trying to have statements that Eisenhauer made to jail inmates kept out of a trial as well.

Keepers attorneys have also filed a new motion to suppress her confession. In March, Turk ruled that investigators erred in not reading Keepers her Miranda rights earlier in their questioning and said that a portion of her interrogation could not be used as evidence.

But Turk that other sections of the interrogation, including parts where she detailed her involvement in Lovells death, could be presented when the case reaches trial.

In their new motion, Keepers attorneys argued that questioning during the remaining portion of the interrogation was based on statements made during the portion that Turk had barred, and therefore should be discarded as well as fruit of the poisonous tree.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no hearing had been scheduled to consider Keepers new motion ahead of her trial.
WASHINGTON -- Equifax Inc. has taken part of its website offline after an independent security analyst reported that the site apparently had been hacked. He said clicking a link on the site redirected him to a malicious URL urging him to download malware.

Also Thursday, a top Republican congressman introduced a bill that would stop credit reporting companies such as Equifax from using Social Security numbers to verify Americans' identities.

The potential hack comes a month after Equifax revealed that a data breach exposed the Social Security numbers and birthdates of as many as 145.5 million Americans. That earlier hack took place after Equifax failed for several months to fix a software flaw that federal officials had warned about in March.

Late Wednesday night, security analyst Randy Abrams said in a blog post that while he was trying to download his credit report from the Equifax site, he clicked a link that kicked him to a third-party website with "one of the ubiquitous fake Flash Player Update screens." His post was first reported by technology news site Ars Technica.

As of Thursday morning, that link instead directs users to an Equifax announcement that the page is down for maintenance.

"We are aware of the situation identified on the equifax.com website in the credit report assistance link," an Equifax spokesperson said in a statement. "Our IT and Security teams are looking into this matter, and out of an abundance of caution have temporarily taken this page offline."

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., introduced legislation Thursday that would crack down on credit reporting companies. It would require Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to phase out the use of Social Security numbers by 2020.

The legislation also would create a national framework for consumers to freeze access to their credit to prevent identity theft as well as mandating the federal government to create uniform cybersecurity standards for credit reporting companies and conduct onsite examinations.

"The bill I've introduced today takes an important first step in providing meaningful reforms to help Americans who have been impacted by this breach," McHenry said. "It is focused on prevention, protection and prohibition."

The breach revealed last month, and Equifax's bungled handling of its aftermath, led to bipartisan outrage. The company's former chief executive, Richard Smith -- who stepped down after the breach was disclosed -- was slammed by lawmakers in four congressional hearings last week.

In response to criticism of its efforts to help consumers deal with the breach, Equifax said it would stop charging people to freeze access to their credit records so that no data would be released to scammers. Smith told lawmakers that such free credit freezes should be the industry standard and that the nation should consider replacing Social Security numbers "as the touchstone for identity verification."

The Trump administration also is looking at reducing the importance of Social Security numbers. Rob Joyce, the White House cybersecurity coordinator, said at a conference last week that the Social Security number "has outlived its usefulness" and that he wanted to find a "modern cryptographic identifier" that would be more secure.

McHenry's bill is at least the third introduced to impose tougher standards on credit reporting companies. But as a member of the House Republican leadership, he may have the clout to push his proposal through.

The Promoting Responsible Oversight of Transactions and Examinations of Credit Technology, or PROTECT, Act would subject large credit reporting companies to the same federal cybersecurity standards and oversight as banks and other financial institutions, McHenry said.

Shifting away from reliance on Social Security numbers is a key part of the bill. McHenry said he wanted to stop credit reporting companies from relying on the numbers, which he called "the most sensitive of Americans' personal information."
Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein is headed for rehab and asking for a "second chance."

According to E! News, the 65-year-old Hollywood mogul flew from Los Angeles to Arizona on Wednesday night to get treatment for behavioral issues including sex addiction at an inpatient program.

"Guys, I'm not doing OK but I'm trying. I gotta get help. I'm hanging in, I'm trying my best," he told photographers as he left his daughter Remy's home to board a private jet.

Weinstein is accused of sexually assaulting or harassing more than 30 women, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan, Heather Graham, Mira Sorvino, Rosanna Arquette and Asia Argento.

"You know, we all make mistakes... second chance, I hope," Weinstein added Wednesday.

According to the Daily Mail, Weinstein is believed to be headed to The Meadows, an upscale clinic whose past patients include Tiger Woods.

TMZ reports Remy, Weinstein's oldest of five children, called 911 earlier Wednesday to report concerns her father was "suicidal and depressed."

Weinstein's wife of 10 years, fashion designer Georgina Chapman announced earlier this week that she is leaving him.

"My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions," the Marchesa co-founder and designer said. "I have chosen to leave my husband. Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time."

President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have condemned Weinstein, along with stars who worked with Weinstein including Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Bob Iger, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Judd Apatow, Judi Dench, Glenn Close, Kevin Smith and more.

Weinstein was fired Sunday by the Weinstein Co., which he co-founded, and the film studio has dropped his name from upcoming projects and is expected to change the company name altogether. Weinstein has more than 300 film credits under his The Weinstein Co. and Miramax, both co-founded by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein.
Syracuse, NY -- A Camillus woman accused of stealing $27,000 while treasurer of the Solvay Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization says she can repay a large amount of money, her lawyer said today.

But Marie Carlisle, 35, of 18 Main St., stopped short of pleading guilty today to the thefts from January, 2012 to Nov. 7, 2016.

Carlisle stole $27,609.52 from the PTO's fund, police said.

Defense lawyer Ben Coffin said that prosecutor Jeffrey Albert was going to provide additional evidence, which Coffin was going to go over with Carlisle.

After that point, Carlisle will be in a better position to decide whether she would plead guilty, Coffin said.

Often in restitution cases, the question is not so much whether money was stolen, but how much can be proven to be traced to the accused.

County Court Judge Matthew Doran adjourned the case until next month. He told Carlisle to return to court then, anticipating a possible plea agreement.

If none is reached, Carlisle's case will continue toward trial. Coffin did not say exactly how much money Carlisle could repay, but indicated it was a significant amount.

The money taken comes from funds the PTO raised to provide special programs for students such as field trips and assemblies, Solvay Schools Superintendent Lawrence Wright said at the time of the arrest.

Carlisle is technically facing seven felonies, but any agreement would likely combine all of the charges into a single sentence. She remains out of jail.
TULLY, N.Y. -- Seven hours after a serious crash, Interstate 81 north in Tully has reopened.

The northbound highway was completely shut down after car and tractor-trailer collided at 10:42 p.m. Wednesday near Exit 14, the exit for Routes 11 and 281. The highway reopened seven hours later, reported the state Department of Transportation on Thursday morning.

The woman who was driving the car was seriously injured, said Sgt. Jon Seeber, an Onondaga County Sheriff's Office spokesman. She was rushed to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.

Deputies are investigating the accident.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse police today announced the arrest of two men in connection with a Sept. 25 shooting that left two men dead.

Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler said at news conference Thursday Rene DeJesus, 33, and Brian Montanez, 26, were trying to rob the victims of "drug proceeds" when they killed two men.

Fowler would not say whether the victims were actually selling drugs, or whether they had been robbed of drugs, money or both.

DeJesus, of New York City, was arrested with the help of the New York City Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service. He was brought back to Syracuse.

DeJesus was charged with first-degree murder, criminal possession of a weapon and attempted robbery, according to arrest records posted Thursday. He was arrested in New York City, records show.

Rene DeJesus, 33, of New York City

Montanez of Syracuse, was arrested in Syracuse. He was charged with second-degree murder and attempted robbery. His mugshot was not immediately provided.

The two victims were Jose "Jimmy" Osvaldo Castro, 39, of Syracuse and Arturo Resto Figueroa, 31. Figueroa is not from New York and may have ties to Oklahoma, police said.

An "associate" of Castro's called 911 around 9:47 p.m. on Sept. 25 after finding the two men dead inside an upstairs 1125 Avery Ave. apartment, Fowler said. The Syracuse Police Department rushed to the apartment.

Neighbors told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard at the time of the homicides that they heard a smoke alarm going off inside an apartment at 1125 Avery Ave. and went to check it out. The alarm sound stopped, and no one answered.

Fowler said Thursday that the smoke alarm was triggered by smoke produced by the sheer number of gunshots that went off inside the apartment.

A neighbor, John Peters, told Syracuse.com at the time that he was told by officers that 30 to 40 gunshots had been fired, but Fowler would not give any indication how many shots were fired.

Somehow, Fowler said, the neighbors did not hear the gunshots.

"So many shots fired that the fire alarm went off, but no one called," Fowler said. "When we began our investigation, tenants inside the building were as cooperative as they could be. I cannot explain it."

Fowler would not say how many shots were fired, how many guns might have been used, or whether the victims had or used guns in the attempted robbery. He said no guns were recovered.

Fowler also would not say what type of drugs the suspects believed the victims were selling or how much of it the two robbers hoped to steal.

Fowler credited his department's detectives for making two arrests in a case where two men were dead and witnesses could offer little help.

"This is what we were starting with, and now a few days later I'm standing here telling you that we have two people arrested for these murders," he said.

The chief said the case is still an active investigation and asked anyone with information to call the department. They can do so anonymously by calling (315) 442-5222 or (315) 442-5223, the department's homicide tip line. They can also use the department's "SPD Tips" app.

The two deaths marked the city's 13th and 14th homicides of 2017.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse police have charged a New York City man with first-degree murder, arrest records show.

Rene DeJesus, 33, of New York City, was arrested by the Syracuse Police Department and accused of murder and attempted robbery, according to arrest records posted Thursday. He was arrested in New York City, records show.

Police Chief Frank Fowler is holding a news conference at noon about two men killed in an Avery Avenue apartment last month.

When asked if DeJesus' arrest was connected to the double homicide, police did not immediately respond.

Jose "Jimmy" Osvaldo Castro, 39, and Arturo Resto Figueroa, 31, were found dead inside an upstairs 1125 Avery Ave. apartment on Sept. 25. It appeared the men were shot to death, police said.

Castro lived in Syracuse. Police said Figueroa, who was not from New York, may have had ties to Oklahoma.

DeJesus was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, jail and arrest records show. He is being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center without bail.

Reporter Patrick Lohmann contributed to this report.
The self-styled godman's closest aide Honepreet Insan decamped with the sect's cash and valuables days before authorities launched the three-day sanitisation drive on September 7.

By Manjeet Sehgal: Soon after Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted and sent to jail for raping two female followers, Haryana Police launched a massive sanitisation drive at the Sirsa headquarters of the Dera Sacha Sauda, the self-styled godman's religious sect.

The Dera was believed to have accumulated crores in donations and via sales of branded products. Which is why it was a surprise when authorities managed to recover a paltry Rs 12,000 in cash during the sanitisation drive.

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What happened to the Dera's riches? It turns out that Ram Rahim's closest aide, Honepreet Insan, decamped with the sect's cash and valuables days before authorities launched the three-day sanitisation drive on September 7.

Honeypreet, sources told India Today, spent four nights at the Dera headquarters between August 25 and 28. With some help from Dera chairperson Vipasna Insan, who arranged a vehicle for Honeypreet, Ram Rahim's 'daughter' reached the headquarters at 2 am on August 25.

In Sirsa, Honeypreet entered Gurmeet Ram Rahim's controversial 'gufa'. The gufa, it turns out, is highly secretive and can only be opened with the fingerprints of three people - Dera chief Ram Rahim, his trusted helper Dharam Singh and his 'daughter' Honeypreet.

With both Ram Rahim (who was convicted and sent to prison on August 25) and Dharam Singh (who was arrested earlier in August) in jails, Honeypreet was the only one free to access the secret gufa.

Honeypreet used her fingerprints to open the doors to the gufa and removed the cash, valuables and some documents.

Then, using the security cover of a politician, Honeypreet left the Dera headquarters. She remained on the run for the next month, giving Haryana Police the slip several times.

Cops believe that a prominent Punjab-based builder helped Honeypreet while she on the run from the police. Cops are yet to arrest either the builder or the politician who is believed to have helped Ram Rahim's 'daughter'.

MISSING SUITCASES

While Honeypreet is now under arrest, authorities are still clueless about what happened to the cash and valuables that are believed to have been stored inside the Dera headquarters.

Sources said that intelligence reports have mentioned of the existence of certain suitcases Honeypreet was believed to have been carrying. However, what was inside the suitcases and where Honeypreet stashed the bags remains a mystery.

Police had some luck recently when they raided locations in Rajasthan's Gursar Modia, where relatives of Ram Rahim currently stay. Cops recovered some Dera documents that Vipasna Insan had transported to Gursar Modia.

Police, however, failed to recover Honeypreet's missing mobile phones as well as laptop that cops believe contains evidence that could prove that she helped plan the violence that was seen in the aftermath of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's conviction for rape.

--- ENDS ---

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Town of Floyd, NY - A 25-year-old man was killed in a car crash shortly after 7 a.m. today on Watson Hollow Road in the town of Floyd, police said.

The victim has been identified as Joseph M. Kelley Jr., 25, of Marcy, Oneida County sheriff's deputies said today. Kelly was pronounced dead at the scene of the fatal one-car crash, police said.

Kelley Jr. was operating a 2008 Chevrolet Impala east on Watson Hollow Road when he crossed over into the westbound lane and left the north shoulder, driving into a ditch and then striking the side of a driveway culvert, police said. The vehicle continued across the driveway before striking brush and a tree before landing in a ditch, deputies said.

Kelley Jr. was wearing his seat belt at the time of the accident and the case is under investigation, police said.

The New York State Police, AmCare Ambulance, the Floyd Fire Department and the Oneida County DPW assisted at the scene.
ROME, NY -The owner of Michael's Market & Deli at 418 W. Dominick St. in Rome faces felony drug-related charges after a raid on his business Tuesday, according to Rome police.

Michael P. Stevens, the deli's owner, was charged with third-degree and fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance after search warrants were executed at 11:13 a.m. Tuesday, police said.

A quantity of crack cocaine and marijuana along with an undisclosed amount of cash, a digital scale and packaging materials were discovered, police said.

Stevens was arraigned in Rome City Court and bail was set at $15,000.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Syracuse school board shelved a proposal Wednesday night to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day after getting flak from the community over the idea.

Patrica Body, board vice president, said she's heard from many people upset by the district's plan to stop recognizing Columbus Day on its calendar.

She asked the board to table the proposal.

Body said she supports the idea of recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day, but would like to do it in a way "... where we are not disenfranchising somebody."

Commissioner Katie Sojewicz was the only board member who voted against tabling the item. She said Columbus Day makes Native Americans and many others uncomfortable.

"We have a revisionist version of history that does not include everyone," Sojewicz said.

A growing number of cities and school districts nationwide are erasing Columbus Day from their calendars and replacing it with Indigenous Peoples Day.

Native American groups say Columbus Day embraces colonialism and honors a man who is responsible for genocide of people. Many Italian-Americans see the move to scrap Columbus Day as a slap at their ethnic heritage.

The issue was not raised by any residents who addressed the board at Wednesday's meeting. But board members heard complaints from people in the community after syracuse.com published a story about the proposal Monday.

The tabled resolution said the board was seeking "... to combat prejudice and eliminate discrimination stemming from colonization and to promote awareness, understanding, and good relations among Indigenous Peoples and all other stakeholders of the District."

The resolution also noted Syracuse and Onondaga County are the original home of the Onondaga Nation and the board wanted to recognize the Onondagas' contributions to the region's culture and history.

Derrick Dorsey, board president, said there needs to be more community discussion before the board votes on the matter.

"There's a lot of voices that have not had an opportunity to be heard," Dorsey said.

He said the board will revisit the issue again in the spring.

Nyshawn Pierce, a former Henninger High School student, submitted a proposal to the board earlier this year calling on the district to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day on its calendar.

Contact James T. Mulder anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2245
Black pinwheels will sprout up around Syracuse schools on Oct. 13 as part of the first "Seen Enough Tobacco Day."

The day, to help raise awareness on youth smoking, will be the first observed by schools around New York state. Each pinwheel represents a person that has died in the past year from smoking-related issues.

The statewide event hopes to engage the community, specifically school-aged children.

The idea for the event came after a shocking statistic was released: The average age for a new smoker is 13 years old.

"We are sick of young people being target by big tobacco companies and we need to bring awareness to the problem," Joseph Wicks, community leader for Tobacco Free Network of CNY, said.

The Tobacco Free Network of CNY is joined by Reality Check of Cayuga, Onondaga and Oswego to host the event at the junior high and high school in Fulton. The date, Oct. 13, was specifically chosen to further highlight the statistic.

Early prevention is key to stop smoking addiction, Wicks said. He explained that tobacco industries are attempting to normalize use among the youth, using advertising and other devices, such as E-cigarettes, to get kids addicted. Then, "they have a client for the rest of their life."

The event hopes to target not only children, but parents dropping their kids of at school and the adult passersby.

"The school is at the center of the community," Wicks said. "There, we can create a buzz."

Heather Bernet, Reality Check coordinator for Madison and Oneida counties, each county of New York is putting their own spin on the event.

"This is the opportunity for students to share their support against smoking," she said. "Because it's affecting them the most."

The organizations will also be using social media to promote the event and connect with other communities across the state, using the hashtag #SeenEnoughTobacco.

Participants can also sign an online petition to stop young people from starting to smoke.
To the Editor:



We support the inclusion of the 34-acre "Split Rock Unique Area" in the New York state Department of Conservation's Division of Lands and Forests' unit management plan, currently under revision by the DEC. The Split Rock Unique Area should be protected by the DEC because it is unique, simple as that. It has ecological and historical significance. The area deserves special protection by the DEC since the threatened plant species, the hart's tongue fern, is incredibly rare in the United States, found only in a few areas. Since Split Rock is one of those locations, it is essential to preserve the fern's natural habitat in our community.



Preserving the Split Rock Unique Area for the protection of the hart's tongue fern is not the only reason the DEC and other government bodies should safeguard this land. The overall site should be a nature reserve and kept sacred to honor the memory of those who lost their lives in the historic Split Rock Disaster, an explosion that occurred on July 2, 1918, killing 50 men and injuring countless others.



The land in question encompasses the former Split Rock Quarry and site of the former Semet-Solvay Munitions Plant. Part of the Split Rock property is privately owned and part is owned by Onondaga County, while much of the site is owned by the New York State Office of General Services. We call upon the government bodies, particularly the OGS, to use the upcoming 100th anniversary of the explosion to finally turn this abandoned, degraded landscape into something that truly honors the memory of the victims and serves the greater community as a recreational and educational resource.



Plans for this site should include cleaning up and preserving the land and the sole remaining structure, the massive rock crusher, which is being sadly abused and defaced by graffiti and other signs of misuse. The rock crusher, a historically significant structure, should be restored and the surrounding landscape conserved, so the location is actually given the respect it deserves as opposed to being covered in weeds, broken glass, trash and graffiti. It is essential that the deterioration of the rock crusher be halted before this unique architectural treasure is totally destroyed. This should be a priority. If people continue to trespass and abuse this special site, we are afraid the Split Rock disaster will become even more forgotten than it already is.



Ideally, the site should be turned into a beautiful memorial park, where members of the community could visit, hike and pay respect to the people who lost their lives trying to support war efforts during World War I. Adequate public access should be provided, including a parking lot constructed near the site, in remembrance of the Split Rock Disaster.



Our long-term vision for the site includes a permanent monument so those who visit the site will know they are on revered grounds. A museum on site could tell the full story of the history of the quarry and the explosion. This could be paired with the nature preserve so that the beauty of the site will be appreciated and enjoyed for years to come. In turn, the ecological value of the hart's tongue fern would be better understood.



Anything that is part of a historical site should be preserved and kept safe. If the state doesn't want to provide the funding and care this site deserves, the OGS should transfer the land to a nonprofit historical organization with the goal of properly preserving and respecting the site while sharing its history with others. To see how well this can work out, one needs only to look at the Camillus Erie Canal Park, where a group of individuals used their time and enthusiasm to fix up an important part of this state's history and did what the government never bothered with.



Protection of the rare plant in the Split Rock Unique Area should be only the first important step.



Abigail Amidon

Seth Boyke

Andrea Capodagli

Tara Carr

Nicole Cooney

Alexis Daughton

Flo Downing

Kaitlyn McWhorter

Abigail Moskov

Alec Pileski

Rebecca Sessions

Kyra Spinella

Honors Seminar on the Split Rock Disaster

Onondaga Community College

Onondaga




Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu held a party at their Pali Hill residence in Mumbai to celebrate their 51st marriage anniversary.

By India Today Web Desk: Happily ever after is a phrase that comes to mind when one thinks of star couple Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu. Their evergreen love story has always been much talked about, and their bond seems to have grown stronger over the years.

To celebrate 51 years of togetherness, they held a party at their Pali Hill residence in Mumbai, which was finally handed to them a couple of months ago after a string of legal cases. Many of their close friends and family attended their anniversary celebrations.

Thank you Almighty God for making our journey beautiful with joy & peace. pic.twitter.com/xVJnIOgvL3- Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) October 11, 2017

2/ Saab enjoyed at his 48 Pali Hill residence. In this pic Raihan (our nephew)Kishore Bajaj n Ajay Ashar of Black Rock Developers pic.twitter.com/IVBqm6PnAY- Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) October 11, 2017

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Saira Banu shared her happiness with fans on Dilip Kumar's Twitter handle and wrote, "Thank you Almighty God for making our journey beautiful with joy and peace."

Message from Saira Banu;On our 51st Anniversary we want to thank our friends n families n millions of fans for their prayers & love 1/ pic.twitter.com/ZLwdn5vfmT- Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) October 11, 2017

Dilip Kumar, 94, married his co-star Saira Banu, 73, in 1966. They have starred together in films such as Gopi, Sagina and Bairaag together.

Last month, Dilip was admitted to Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital due to dehydration.

ALSO WATCH: Actor Dilip Kumar in hospital: Family says, nothing to worry

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Former close aide to Chota Rajan has been arrested in Mumbai after a consultant in a real estate project in Antop Hill for demanding money from builders.

By Mustafa Shaikh: Gangster DK Rao has been arrested by Mumbai Crime Branch for extortion from a SRA consultant.

The SRA project in Antop Hill area of Mumbai is a big project with around 1000 tenants.

Rao was released from jail in July 2016. The Mumbai police has urged more complainants to come forward.

The complaint against Rao has been filed by a consultant of the SRA project. According to the complainant the project in Antop Hill was on since 2013 and the consultant was approached to get the project approved. Later on the work was stopped and the consultant was informed that no further work in the project will be carried on without Rao's permission.

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According to preliminary information, the police suspected Rao of running an extortion racket, where he demanded money from builders.

"When Rao came out out of jail he started to personally threaten the complainant. In June this year he was called at Dharavi and threatened by Rao. He was asked to leave the project. Adding to this, there was an extortion demand for Rs 50 lakh from the consultation. Due to this pressure the consultant approached us," said DCP Dilip Sawant, crime branch.

The arrest happened on Wednesday and DK Rao has been sent to police custody till 18th October. The police is investigating the matter and more complaints may be registered and more accused people will be arrested by police.

Incidentally, Rao was granted bail in 2016 in an extortion case where Rao was accused of threatening a businessman who had a monetary dispute with a developer. He is also reportedly involved with a robbery in Muthooth branch in Hyderabad earlier this year, where he helped the robbers convert the gold into cash.

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By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Ground transportation service provider ECO Rent A Car today said it has launched a special service that allows customers to have meetings inside the vehicle while on the go. The company has imported 8-seater Toyota Ventury vehicles specifically from Thailand for the new initiative.

The retrofitted Toyota Ventury vehicles come with revolving seats, flip-down plasma screens, in-car WiFi, mini fridge and projectors to enable meetings. "When I went for a business trip to Bangkok last year, I noticed this concept was quite successful there. In fact, it is also popular in cities like Kuala Lumpur and Beijing...we thought of replicating this concept here and expect it to be equally successful," ECO Rent A Car Joint Managing Director Aditya Loomba said in a statement.

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The company has rolled out the service in Delhi/NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru. It is targetting multinational companies, businessmen, companies with multiple offices in a city, the SME sector and real estate companies, among others. Eco Rent a Car charges Rs 10,000 per day for each vehicle. PTI MSS MKJ

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The systematic dehumanisation of the Rohingya minority, a mainly Muslim group living in the predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, has been pursued for decades; a consequence of opposition from Myanmars government to the migration of labourers from India and Bangladesh which took place during the period of British rule over the country, from 1824 to 1948. At first, Rohingya whose families had lived in Myanmar for two generations were allowed to apply for identification, but even so, prospects for the group were growing; with some Rohingya serving in Parliament, including one of the country's first two female MPs, Zura Begum.

Yet a 1962 coup destroyed all hopes of a brighter future for the group: it resulted in a crackdown against the Rohingya people; removing identification and citizenship from many, and allowing them only foreign identity cards, which reduced their education and work opportunities. Though many Rohingya consider themselves indigenous to Myanmar, and many historians claim their ethnicity can be traced back to the 12th Century, the government even now remains adamant that the group can be classed only as illegal immigrants; refuting any chance of citizenship and thus limiting their rights.

What makes this already dire situation worse, however, are the repeated military interventions and persecutions targeting the group, which have sparked intermittently since the late 1970s. Such attacks have caused widespread destruction, displacement and death  the 2012 crackdown, for example, resulted in 80 fatalities and more than 90,000 displaced people. Assaults on Myanmar border posts in the Rakhine State in October 2016 by the insurgent Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army sparked violence again between the Rohingya and the Myanmar army and police  the Myanmar government classes this Army as a terrorist organisation, insisting that their heavy-handed approach is merely in the name of counter-extremism  though the Army is resolute in its declarations of a desire to simply defend Rohingya rights. In any case, it is nigh on impossible to defend the violations of human rights committed by forces in the Rakhine area: atrocities which are alleged to include gang rape of women, the incineration of children, and the shooting of refugees attempting to flee. Whilst this violence continues, however, it is unknown just what is occurring in Myanmar, and how many have been impacted  but estimates state that, in the last month alone, 500000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh, where many are now living in self-made accommodation in destitution. But for those still in Rakhine, the situation is even worse: denied humanitarian aid by Myanmars government, it was only on the 11th October that sufficient food supplies were able to reach villagers  the first time in three months.

President Macron, in a brief interview with Quotidien, a daily infotainment broadcast on French TV channel TMC, dubbed the crisis genocide; stating with the brusque Gallic vigour now characteristic to his political style that we must condemn the ethnic purification which is under way and act. This was a lucidity of approach matched by Zeid Raad Al Hussein, the United National High Commissioner for Human Rights, who defined the horrors as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing  but definitions aside, political procedures have been less than clear. The Rohingya crisis is rapidly transforming into a horror of diabolical proportions: and with some neighbouring nations enforcing stricter border controls, or threatening deportations of Rohingya refugees, it is a horror that will not disappear easily.

Stricter condemnation must be enacted by countries across the world  and not just condemnation, but also tangible efforts to reduce the suffering. Too much has already been needlessly lost: now, we must act.
I managed to catch up with Georgia Toffolo, or Toff as she is otherwise known, after the Unions reality TV debate. The title of the debate being This House Would Rather be on Reality TV, Toff was expected, alongside fellow Made in Chelsea co-star Sam Thompson and Love Island runner ups Marcel Sommerville and Gabby Allen, to defend her career in the industry and persuade the audience that reality TV was a positive and fulfilling occupation.

The reality stars took a serious grilling. One member of the audience claimed that their careers would lead to unfulfilled lives with little achievement, and another questioned Toff on what she would do when her looks faded. Toff pointed to the longevity of the series, and the fact that it has led to fellow co-stars Binky Felstead and Joshua JP Patterson settling down and having a baby together. The sexism inherent in that kind of question is incredible, where it is assumed that a woman can only draw media attention and maintain a successful public profile when young and conventionally attractive. It calls into question the intelligence of the supposed academics of Cambridge, who chose to look at her career from such a superficial point of view.

Toff joined Made in Chelsea in its seventh series. Since then, she has been a prominent cast member, forming a close friendship with co-stars Mark Francis Vandelli and controversial Mimi Bouchard. She has also recently appeared on Channel 4s Celebs Go Dating, notably going on a blind date with a Welsh stripper. Presumably, this was a world away from the white apartments of Kensington and Chelsea.

When I spoke to Toff after the debate, she seemed excited to continue her career on television. I think my lifes going to carry on as it is I see no reason to leave what Im doing, she says about the programme that has opened so many doors for her.

One of the big questions raised in the debate was whether the people we see on reality TV are accurate representations of themselves, or more like caricatures of their personality. I asked Toff whether she felt like people knew who she really was, simply by watching her every Monday night on E4. Well I think its quite difficult, I mean you obviously cant show me dancing on table tops, but I do think it is quite representational. The more time you spend on television the more of you people see, because you get more air time. If right at the beginning you had asked me that question I would have said no, I dont think people see who I am. But now Ive been through breakups, Ive been through fun times, Ive done it all! And I think then you get a better idea of who I really am.

The star has had an emotional journey on the series, experiencing turbulent relationships with the likes of Francis Boulle and Sam Prince on screen, and explosive arguments with co-stars such as Liv Bentley. But these dramatic moments have been accompanied by great experiences and warm friendships. She looked back fondly at one of the most enjoyable moments of the show. It was when I was living in the South of France. It was so funny, I was with Binky and Ollie. And we just laughed. It was amazing. Yeah, that summer was definitely my favourite.

The show is also well known for its spin-off series which chronicle the affluent West Londoners travels to different locations, such as Ibiza and Los Angeles. I asked Toff what her favourite location was. I really didnt like it in LA, she admits. I was only 20 at the time. I mean, obviously I snuck out, but I did have problems with ID, and I just didnt really like it. Whereas in the South of France, I mean everything was just amazing. Having a car and everything like that, it was just so nice.

From speaking with Toff, I feel like the title of the debate was a little misguided. It doesnt matter whether or not us Cambridge students would like to be on reality TV, or whether we see it as menial or mindless. What matters is that bright and ambitious people like Toff enjoy the career they have forged for themselves. I feel sure that she will continue to appear on our screens for the foreseeable future.
Cambridge has ranked first in the Times Higher Educations Table of Tables for the seventh year running, beating rivals Oxford and St Andrews, who maintained their positions from the previous year and placed second and third respectively. Imperial and Durham followed in joint fourth place.

THE bases its Table of Tables on the rankings from three league tables produced by national newspapers: The Complete University Guide, The Good University Guide and The Guardians University guide. The top 30 institutions in these league tables are given points corresponding to their place, with their total scores determining their position in the Table of Tables. Cambridge ranked first on all three of the tables, earning maximum points and allowing it to top the Table of Tables.

The University of Glasgow saw the biggest rise in places, moving up from 30th to 21st this year, overtaking Edinburgh, which landed in 24th place alongside Kings College London. The University of Kent faced the largest drop in places, falling five places to 26th.
Peter Morgans 2006 play, which dramatizes David Frosts 1977 television interviews with Richard Nixon, juxtaposes television  extracts from the interviews are performed on stage  with theatrical conventions like onstage narration. This production, directed by Josh Cleary, convinces in both styles, but is let down by the structure of the play itself. It falls into two halves: the second was intense and compelling, but the first looser and sometimes chaotic. Much of this looseness can be blamed on the play, but the production itself took some time to warm up. In the first half the cast had a tendency to perform their roles separately from each other, however, an impressive sense of ensemble emerged in the second half.

The minimalist stage design, with the permanent backdrop of a collage of photographs and headlines, worked well. Cleary kept the cast animated on the stage. Although the play is static by nature, he created varied tableaus with the actors, and intensity built rather than dropped in the extracts from the interviews. There were some technical blunders, especially at the outset: an anticipated sound cue, an ill-timed stage curtain, an attempt to show news footage on TV screens which remained blank. The lighting was sometimes off: a spotlight in the second half remained firmly on Nixon (Joe Tyler Todds) crotch rather than his face. Generally, however, the decision to rely on light and sound rather than an elaborate set succeeded convincingly.

The discreet set very much focused attention on the cast, who responded with strong performances. As David Frost, Robin Franklin was persuasively immersed and rescued some of the scripts clunkier lines. His performance was entirely natural and unstrained, and did far more with the emotional glimpses into Frosts inner life than the material provides. Joe Tyler Todd as Richard Nixon had obviously worked hard on capturing his distinctive physicality, only occasionally veering into caricature. He portrayed Nixon as doggedly self-righteous, believing in his own sentimental homilies, and seeing himself as a victim of a hostile liberal media. Franklin and Todd created compelling, alternately companionable and adversarial, energy in the extracts from interviews, the filming of which provided the tightest and most tense moments of the evening.

There were strong supporting performances, especially from Ben Martineau as former chief of staff Jack Brennan. Martineau played Brennan as slimy and sycophantic but also oddly sincere. Like most of the cast, his performance built impressively as the play moved on to more compelling material in the second half. The role of Brennan mirrors that of liberal journalist Jim Reston; as Reston, Thomas Greig was suitably impassioned, but his rather unrelieved performance suffered next to Martineaus. Jamie P. Robson, as British producer John Birt, gave a precise performance and was a sustaining presence in the first half, and Kim Alexander, as Barb (historically Bob) Zelnick, acted solidly in the first half and impressively after the interval.

The evening was generally solid. There were a few fraught moments in the first half, and a number of extremely compelling moments in the second. Individual performances were usually strong, but the cast lacked cohesion. The best scenes of the night  those between Frost and Nixon  made its weakest  in the lack of interplay between performances  more obvious.

7/10
A giant hole more massive than the Netherlands has opened up in Antarctica. Scientists are now investigating to know how it was formed.

Polynyas

Polynyas are geographical areas of unfrozen sea within the ice pack. These areas of open water surrounded by sea ice are known to play a crucial role in the formation of new sea ice and deep water. Although polynyas occur regularly in the Arctic and the Antarctic, they rarely occur in the open ocean.

What makes the polynya in Antarctica's Weddell Sea interesting for scientists is that it is deep in the ice pack. Atmospheric physicist Kent Moore, from the University of Toronto, said that it must have formed through other processes that are not well understood.

A polynya in the same area was also observed here in the 1970s but observation tools then were not nearly as good as the ones available today, so the hole was largely unstudied. It went away for four decades until it reopened for a few weeks last year. Now the hole is back again, and scientists are trying to understand what is going on.

"In the depths of winter, for more than a month, we've had this area of open water," Moore said. "It's just remarkable that this polynya went away for 40 years and then came back."

Link To Climate Change

Climate change, which is impacting Antarctica and the rest of the world, is possibly responsible for this mysterious hole, but Moore said that blaming global warming for this phenomenon is premature. Scientists, however, say that the hole will have wider effect on the oceans.

"When sea ice forms in polynyas or elsewhere, salt is expelled into the water, raising the salinity of the near-surface water. The salt increases the density of the surface water, making the surface water heavier than the water below, causing it to sink. In some cases, the high-density surface water mixes with other masses and sinks all the way to the ocean bottom," the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) explained.

As Antarctica goes through massive changes right now, scientists hope to understand why a gaping hole suddenly opened up, and this could shed light on larger systems at play. Researchers want to know how a polynya occurs and if climate change indeed influences this process.

"Global warming is not a linear process and happens on top of internal variability inherent to the climate system. The better we understand these natural processes, the better we can identify the anthropogenic impact on the climate system," said Mojib Latif, from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, who is part of a team that studies the Weddell polynya.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Election Commission is likely to announce dates for Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections later today.

By India Today Web Desk: The Election Commission is likely to announce dates for Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections later today, according to sources in the poll panel.

The EC will address a press conference at 4 pm at the Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi.

Dates for another election-bound state Gujarat will be announced later, possibly next week.

The poll panel had recently indicated that Gujarat may go to polls in December as the term of the current legislative assembly ends in the third week of January.

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Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) A K Jyoti has said that voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) system will be used in over 50,000 booths in Gujarat. The VVPAT system was first used in Goa polls earlier this year.

Jyoti said that paper slips would be counted at a single booth in each of the 182 constituencies to tally the number of slips with the votes cast.

For the first time, the poll panel would also introduce all-women polling stations in Gujarat in all assembly segments.

A team of Election Commission officials headed by the CEC was on a visit of Gujarat recently to assess poll preparedness.

TERM OF GUJARAT ASSEMBLY ENDS IN JANUARY

"Elections will have to be held in December as the term of the current Gujarat assembly is coming to end in the third week of January next", Jyoti said in response to a query on media reports and some politicians claiming that polls were going to be held in December.

"After Goa, this will be for the first time that we will be conducting the entire election using VVPAT here. This is a challenge for us too", Jyoti said in reply to a question regarding a demand raised by some political parties that at least 10 per cent of total VVPAT slips should be counted.

He said that according to procedure, candidates who have some grievances can ask for counting of slips of a particular booth and the poll officials would take a decision on it.

Meanwhile, the term of the current Himachal Pradesh assembly ends next month. Hence, election dates for Himachal Pradesh polls are likely to be in November.

(WITH INPUTS FROM PTI)

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Election Commission is likely to announce the poll schedule for Himachal Pradesh today at 4 pm.

By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: The Election Commission (EC) is likely to announce today the poll schedule for Himachal Pradesh. The EC's announcement may come at 4 pm.

According to sources, the dates for Gujarat Assembly elections are likely to be announced later, possibly next week.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Elections in Himachal Pradesh are scheduled to be held in November while those in Gujarat in December. However, the counting would take place and results of both the states are likely to be announced on the same day in December.

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In 2012, the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh were held in one phase on November 4. The elections in Gujarat were held in two phases, on December 13 and December 17. The results for both the states were announced on December 20.

The Election Commission may follow the same pattern this year too. As far the results are concerned, the Congress won elections in the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh by defeating the Prem Kumar Dhumal-led government of the BJP.

The Congress contested the elections under the leadership of Virbhadra Singh and won 36 of the 68 seats. The BJP could garner just 26 seats. Virbhadra Singh took oath as the chief minister for a record sixth time.

GUJARAT

Though Himachal and Gujarat went to the polls almost together, the results of the two states were different. In Gujarat, the BJP retained power, having won for the fifth consecutive term since 1995.

The BJP government led by the then chief minister Narendra Modi romped home comfortably, having won 116 out of the 182 seats in Gujarat. Under Modi, it was BJP's third straight win for the third consecutive term - in 2002, 2007 and 2012.

The total voters' turn out in Gujarat both phases was 71.32 per cent. It was the highest turn out since 1980. Virbhadra Singh in Himachal Pradesh is facing a strong anti-incumbency mood. He and members of his family are embroiled in corruption cases. Their premises have been raided by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and they have been summoned and interrogated on a number of occasions.

For the first time in 15 years, Gujarat would be facing Assembly elections without Modi at the helm. It will be a crucial litmus test for the BJP in the western state, considered to be the Hindutva laboratory of BJP's parent organisation RSS.

GUJARAT WITHOUT MODI AS CM

After the BJP-led NDA won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Modi shifted to Delhi as prime minister while Anandiben Patel was installed as the Gujarat chief minister. However, Patel could not manage to administer the state as efficiently as Modi did.

Within months of her rule, Patel faced problems on several fronts. She lost grip over the bureaucracy, the internal feud in the BJP grew, allegations of corruption were levelled against member of her family and she herself was accused of nepotism.

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PATEL AND DALIT PROTESTS

To make matters worse for Patel, the state witnessed two biggest movements in recent times. Despite Anandiben being a Patel, her community members led by Hardik Patel rose up in arms against the state government demanding reservation in jobs and educational institutions under the OBC category.

Anandiben Patel failed to efficiently handle the agitation which turned violent. The administration resorted to force to contain the agitation. Hardik Patel was arrested and internet services were stopped in a bid to quell the unrest.

The Patidar-Patel agitation was followed by the protest by Dalits. They came on the streets to protest the brutal thrashing of four Dalits in Una for skinning a dead cow.

With the state administration slipping out of Anandiben Patel's control, the BJP decided to replace her with Vijay Rupani. In an effort to smoothen the ruffled feathers of the Patidars and Patels, the party also appointed Nitin Patel, a leader from the same community, as the deputy chief minister.

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Patels, who constitute about 14 per cent of the state's population, have traditionally been BJP supporters. They are a dominant caste generally involved in agriculture.

Recognising their strength, Keshubhai Patel was made the chief minister when BJP came to power in 1995. He was retained after the 1998 elections.However, he was replaced after he failed to administer the state efficiently. He was replaced by Modi in October 2001.

CHANGED SCENARIO

But the scenario has completely changed now. The BJP is unlikely to bank upon the Patel and Patidars.

Secondly, with the political situation not as favourable as in the state as under Modi, the prime minister and BJP president Amit Shah, who too hails from the state, have started making repeated visits of the state, announcing projects and schemes such as the bullet train and inaugurating others like the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

However, the Congress is not as strong as it was during the last elections. Veteran leader Shankersinh Vaghela has rendered a severe blow to the party by quitting it. He was instrumental in the resignations of about a dozen MLAs from the party, half of whom have joined the BJP.

The Congress would also face an uphill task with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) deciding to contest the Gujarat elections. The two parties would largely split the Congress votes, benefitting the BJP.

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Meanwhile, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who is likely to be elevated to the party president's post by end of October, has also been making forays into the state. But his campaigning in several states, including Uttar Pradesh, has hardly titled the balance in the Congress' favour.

The Congress is surely ahead of the BJP on the social media. If that is an indicator, the Congress has reasons to cheer. However, on several occasions the social media has not proved to the weather cock of the elections results.

WATCH VIDEO | Election Commission to announce dates for Himachal Pradesh elections today

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Digital players were out in force at this months Mipcom TV programme market.

There were keynotes speeches from Facebook and Snapchat, while Mipcom execs revealed that 1,700 VOD and SVOD buyers from the likes of Netflix, Amazon, Hulu through to Chinas Youku and Africas Showmax were at the market.

The growing presence of streaming players on the international stage comes as they invest ever more aggressively in new content.

Facebook and Apple have each pledged to invest $1bn in content. Facebook announced a number of new shows for its Watch platform at Mipcom, including an English-language remake of Norwegian teen drama hit Skam.

Both Amazon and Facebook have been touted as likely bidders in the next round of Premier League rights sales, which is expected to open by the end of this year. Last month, YouTubes fledgling SVoD service Red greenlit its first drama from a UK indie, 10-part sci-fi thriller Origin, which is being made by The Crown producer Left Bank.

Netflix, meanwhile, says it plans to spend a staggering $8bn (6bn) on content in 2018, up from $6bn this year.

A significant portion is being spent in the UK, on factual and drama commissions. Last month, for example, Pulse Films was commissioned to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in an eight parter for Netflix, while Fifty Fathoms is making The Eddy, directed by La La Lands Damien Chazelle, billed as the biggest scripted SVoD commission for a UK producer since The Crown.

The steady increase in spend on UK content by streaming players is proving a boon for indies. Pacts recent indie Census, for example, reported that producers are seeing strong growth from the international commissions, worth 486m in 2016, thanks in part to orders such as The Crown and Black Mirror from streaming services.

Producers, it seems, not only like the pay cheques that the streaming giants offer. They also say the likes of Amazon and Netflix are good to work with.

The Crown producer, Andy Harries, warned at last months RTS Cambridge Convention that UK broadcasters are in danger of losing more top talent to streaming services because they are too interfering during the making of shows.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the second series of The Crown in December, Harries noted that Netflix has signed up talent such as Shonda Rhimes, David Letterman and the Coen brothers to make shows. They are attracting all this talent because this is what they are saying to them: Come and make stuff for us. You can do it the way you want to do it. We are going to finance it, you make it. And that is what talent wants. His point was backed up by fellow speaker Andy Wilman, the exec producer of Amazons The Grand Tour, which airs its second season next month. Wilman said: We have no notes  none.

The streaming services increasing investment in the UK market is paying off too, with recent Ofcom figures suggesting they will soon be taking an increasing share of the broadcasting industrys 13.8bn revenues.

In its 2017 Communications Market Report, Ofcom charted the growth of streaming services, and noted that for many viewers, the days of being tied to a TV schedule are fading. It found that the BBC iPlayer and the ITV Hub were the most popular on demand services, used by 63% and 40% of respondents respectively  followed by YouTube (35%), Netflix (31%) and Amazon (20%).

A recent report by OC&C Strategy Consultants argued that broadcasting could soon be controlled by one or two super-aggregators who would act as viewing gateways for consumers looking for a simple way to access a plethora of content.

Traditional broadcasters are starting to feel the pressure. 21st Century Fox chief executive James Murdoch last month acknowledged that Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook and Netflix are raising the bar in terms of the amount that companies spend on content. In a sign that Sky is worried about the rise of streamers, he hit out at them for their lack of investment in jobs in the UK creative industries.

Murdoch said SVoD players make a lot of noise about how much they are investing  but dont do so over the long term. They show up, they do a big splashy deal with something and everyone fawns over them and says this is a great thing. There are very few companies thatreally invest in thousands and thousands of people on the ground in TV and creative markets like the UK.

Sky execs also complain that online companies face none of the scrutiny or regulation that affect UK broadcasters. Calling for a level playing field, Skys group chief operating officer Andrew Griffiths said at the RTS Cambridge Convention: Not so many years ago, these companies were small and probably lacked influence. Today, they are some of the largest companies on the planet, with a reach and scale of financial resources far larger than anyone in this room combined. It is a lop sided contest and left unchecked represents a real challenge.

Indeed, Skys proposed takeover by 21st Century Fox deal arguably no longer worries senior broadcasting execs as it once would have. Their focus of concern has shifted over to the digital giants instead.

C4s outgoing chief executive David Abraham commented: When I see the scale of the digital giants, my strategic question is: Is any type of agglomeration of existing legacy media companies ever going to match the scale of what we are confronting? I very much doubt that is the case.

If you are running a media company in this country, you spend more time thinking about how internet TV is going to change the shape of what we are doing. Abraham added that the huge global changes arising from the growth of Amazon and Netflix have perhaps not been as widely considered by politicians  maybe because they feel they cant do much.

It certainly feels like traditional broadcasters are on the backfoot right now. Some commercial channels are cutting programme spend because of falling ad revenues, a point noted by many indies in Televisuals 2017 Production 100 survey. However, any big drop in broadcaster content spend at this crucial moment may prove a serious mistake, encouraging even more indies to look for business with the deep pocketed SVoD players.

This article is taken from the October issue of Televisual. To subscribe, click here. The article has been updated since first publication to account for deals announced at Mipcom.

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Elections to the 68-member Assembly in the hilly state would be held on November 9 .

By India Today Web Desk: The Election Commission (EC) today announced the poll schedule for Himachal Pradesh. Elections to the 68-member Assembly in the hilly state would be held on November 9 .

However, the Election Commission did not announce the schedule for Gujarat which too goes to polls later this year. The poll panel is likely to announce the dates for 182-member Gujarat Assembly later, possibly next week.

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In any case, the election fever has gripped both Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who is likely to be anointed as the party president later this month, visited Mandi in Himachal Pradesh on October 7 to sound the poll bugle.

While addressing the rally, Rahul Gandhi declared Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh as the party's face for the upcoming elections. He said as the six-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh had carried out tremendous development of the state and expressed confidence that he would be the CM for the seventh term.

Rahul Gandhi also assured Virbhadra Singh that he had the party's full backing.

On its part, the BJP has not announced any chief ministerial candidate for Himachal Pradesh. As in Uttar Pradesh, the party is likely to contest the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Though Virbhadra Singh has dared the BJP, the opposition party in the state is unlikely to declare a chief ministerial candidate. The BJP is seeking to turn the heat against the CM.

BJP president Amit Shah visited Kangra on September 22 and called Virbhadra Singh as the "most corrupt chief minister in the history of Himachal Pradesh".

The battle lines have been drawn in Himachal Pradesh. With today's announcement of poll schedule, the election atmosphere will only be charged up in the days to come.

Also Watch : Rahul Gandhi may take over as Congress chief after Diwali, says Sachin Pilot

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By PTI: Washington, Oct 12 (PTI) Two experimental Ebola vaccines are safe and can elicit immune response that lasts for at least one year, a large clinical trial in Liberia has shown.

The findings, published in the the New England Journal of Medicine, are based on a study of 1,500 adults that began during the West Africa Ebola outbreak.

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"This clinical trial has yielded valuable information that is essential for the continued development of these two Ebola vaccine candidates and also demonstrates that well- designed, ethically sound clinical research can be conducted during an epidemic," said Anthony S Fauci, Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

"A safe and effective vaccine would be a critically important addition to classical public health measures in controlling inevitable future Ebola outbreaks," said Fauci.

The trial enrolled men and women ages 18 and older with no reported history of Ebola virus disease at Redemption Hospital in Monrovia.

Three groups of 500 volunteers received one of the vaccine candidates or a placebo (saline injection).

Participants provided blood samples before vaccination and again at one week, one month, six months and one year post-vaccination. Investigators then tested each of these samples for antibodies to the Ebola virus.

Responses at one week were modest with both vaccines. However, by one month, 71 per cent of cAd3-EBOZ recipients and 84 per cent of rVSV-ZEBOV recipients developed an antibody response compared to 3 per cent of placebo recipients.

At one year, antibody responses were largely maintained in both groups: 64 per cent of cAd3-EBOZ recipients and 80 per cent of rVSV-ZEBOV recipients had an antibody response compared with seven percent of placebo recipients.

Some participants who received the investigational vaccines experienced mild to moderate side effects that resolved, such as headache, muscle pain, feverishness and fatigue.

Overall, researchers did not identify any major safety concerns related to the vaccines. Most of the serious medical issues reported during the trial were due to malaria.

At the beginning of the trial investigators found that four per cent of participants already had a certain threshold of Ebola antibodies?indicative of past Ebola infection - but no known history of Ebola virus disease.

Researchers also found unexpectedly that the proportion of participants developing malaria by one year was lower for participants who received the investigational vaccines as compared with those receiving placebo, particularly among the rVSV-ZEBOV recipients.

Future studies are needed to determine if this is a chance finding or if it has some significance related to cross-reactive immunity. PTI MHN SAR MHN

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Correction: The Advocate on April 22 quoted Neftalie Danier, assistant director of alumni relations for Bernard M. Baruch College, as saying Troy Bell  at the time the newly named chief administrative officer for East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome  did not have a master of public administration degree from that school. Danier said Bell owed money and hadn't completed the necessary coursework. Asked for comment at the time, Bell said that while he had not requested the diploma, he had completed the coursework required for the degree. Bell recently provided The Advocate with a diploma dated 2012 showing he was granted the degree by Baruch. When asked Nov. 29 about the issue, Suzanne Bronski, director of public relations of Baruch College, said Bell did receive the degree, but refused to answer more questions. Bronski said that under federal law, "we are only permitted to release the degree held and the date of the degree awarded."

Darryl Gissel has his marching orders  hire a police chief, promote local minority- and women-owned businesses and figure out how best to spend millions of dollars of federal infrastructure money.

Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome officially on Thursday named Gissel, a real estate developer and one-time mayoral candidate, to be her chief administrative officer.

Broome called Gissel an "adviser and trusted friend" whom she will rely upon to tackle police reform, business equity and flood recovery. He officially starts Monday and will spend two weeks with interim chief Jim Llorens before taking over the position himself.

In an interview afterward, Broome discussed her aspirations for the administration, now ten months into her term.

Candidates vying to become the city's next police chief took the required civil service exam a few days ago, and the mayor said she expects the results to be returned in four to six weeks.

Gissel will help put together a civilian review board to help her choose the next chief, though Broome said she also plans to announce the finalists to the public so anyone can weigh in, perhaps at a forum or town hall event.

Broome said she wants a chief who will institute changes in the force.

"I feel like I have tried to change the status quo, and people have gotten very angry. ... People get very personal," she said. "Change is not always well-received."

The position is open due to the retirement of former chief Carl Dabadie.

Broome had called for his dismissal while on the campaign trail but was unable to fire him once elected due to civil service laws. However, after a few months working together, the former chief stepped down, hinting that tension with Broome was a factor.

The mayor was less eager during an interview on Wednesday to wade into other political waters. For example, she took a meeting a few months ago with St. George organizers who want to incorporate a new city but said some of their concerns may be better answered by the school superintendent.

"My position is, I want Baton Rouge to stay together," she said.

Broome's biggest push thus far since becoming mayor-president was for a new tax to repair and upgrade the parish's roads. However, the Metro Council voted against putting the measure on the ballot, and several members said business sector lobbyists who might have been expected to show up to promote the project sat on the sidelines.

Broome suggested she would be interested in coming back with another proposal. Gissel may be able to help.

The chief administrative officer position is a critical one because that's the person ultimately in charge of running day-to-day city-parish operations and serving as a go-between among the executive branch and the Metro Council, said councilwoman Tara Wicker, who represents Spanish Town, where Gissel has heavily invested.

Council members contacted for this story  including Wicker, LaMont Cole, Chandler Loupe, Dwight Hudson, Donna Collins-Lewis, Buddy Amoroso and Barbara Freiberg  said they knew of Gissel from his mayoral run but didn't have personal relationships with him.

The new chief administrative officer said one of his first tasks will be to meet with all of them and look for ways to improve each of their districts.

He wants to use downtown as a template for other areas seeking revitalization  especially north of Florida Boulevard.

"You want to see that same vibrancy all over the city," he said.

But he warned that it's a daunting process. The man sometimes known as the Mayor of Spanish Town said downtown revitalization has been a decades-long struggle.

Gissel is still involved in street-level advocacy, remarking to reporters that as a resident, he is still waiting for blight court officials to call him back about an issue he spotted and wants to correct.

One particular way Broome has promised to spur north Baton Rouge growth is by promoting small minority- and women-owned businesses, sometimes known as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, or DBEs.

Gissel, himself a white businessman, will help improve the city-parish's DBE program by helping those companies find government contracts for which they can compete and by studying best practices in other communities, Broome said.

Several of Broome's department heads who have worked with Gissel in the past look forward to employing his business acumen. Transportation and Drainage director Fred Raiford praised the hire, and Downtown Development Director Davis Rhorer called it "brilliant."

Gissel is successful, knowledgeable about local issues and able to work with Democrats and Republicans, Rhorer said. In fact, the new chief administrative officer was once a Republican activist, though he ran for mayor without a party affiliation, saying he wanted his campaign to be inclusive. Now he'll begin work for a Democrat.

During a conversation about dissatisfaction among some who wanted to create a new city of St. George, he discussed his broader philosophy, saying he needs to make sure that "everyone has a seat at the table but nobody hogs all the seats."

Gissel and Broome will also have to contend with their neighbors across the Amite River and Bayou Manchac.

Ascension, Livingston and East Baton Rouge Parishes all stand to receive millions of dollars of federal infrastructure money as a result of last year's flood. Parish leaders have agreed to pool their resources to address regional projects, but now the rubber is starting to hit the road.

Ascension has led the charge to dredge Bayou Manchac, which Broome has supported. Livingston is ready to start a tab wherein they'll help pay for part of the Comite River Diversion Canal if the other parishes chip in specific amounts; they also want all the parishes to kick in funds to help repair a weir that affects the flow of the Amite River.

East Baton Rouge officials haven't agreed to any hard numbers, at least in part because they're awaiting the results of an engineering firm's storm water master plan. However, Broome said that part of Gissel's new job would be to decide how to best distribute those funds to prevent future flooding.

Gissel becomes the fourth chief administrative officer of Broome's 10-month-old administration. Her predecessor's chief deputy, William Daniel, served on an interim basis until she hired Troy Bell, who resigned a few days later after the Advocate published story revealing he lied on his resume. Bell was replaced by Llorens, a former Southern University Chancellor, again on an interim basis.
Man arrested on rape count over allegations he assaulted woman who passed out after drug use
About 14 months after historic floods swept across the state, Louisiana has doled out about $42.2 million of the $1.3 billion in federal funding the state has received to help homeowners rebuild and repair their flood-damaged homes.

"We know that recovery is never fast enough. For people still out of their house it's impossible for us to go fast enough," Pat Forbes, the head of the Office of Community Development, told a panel of state House members on Wednesday. "We're moving faster than folks have before, and we continue to speed that at every possible step."

The hearing at the State Capitol offered legislators the latest update on the state's flood recovery, as well as efforts to improve the state's disaster management efforts.

More than 44,500 homeowners have applied for the federally-funded grant program, and more than 85 percent of the applicants have qualified for aid. About 1,800 have received assistance so far, as the state continues to roll out the program, which includes reimbursements for homeowners who have already completed repairs.

Forbes said that the state continues to ramp up the program, so it's not at its full pace.

The state is still seeking an additional $2 billion that leaders say is needed to complete recovery efforts, including nearly $600 million that the state has been seeking for infrastructure upgrades to mitigate future flooding issues.

It's unclear, particularly in light of widespread damage from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria this year, how much additional money, if any, the state should expect.

Forbes said Louisiana also is still seeking an exemption from rules that have restricted homeowners who received Small Business Administration loans from reaping the full benefits of the program. Currently, they are ineligible for funds that would "duplicate" their SBA loan award amount. Under HUD restrictions, it would likely take Congressional action for that to change.

"We've been asking for this for a year now ... It's ludicrous," Forbes said. "We've continued to fight that."

During Wednesday's hearing, legislators also heard from the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the Louisiana National Guard and the Department of Transportation and Development, all of which have been conducting reviews of their efforts responding to the floods.

Louisiana's Shelter at Home program, which offered homeowners bare-bones and temporary repairs meant to get them back into their houses, received mixed reviews here, but GOHSEP director Jim Waskom said that it's serving as a model for efforts in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, where a GOHSEP deputy is currently to help develop a similar program.

"The beauty of this program is its quickness," Waskom said. "FEMA likes it and the other states like it so, I think it's now going to be a program."

Kimberly Poorbaugh, who is working on GOHSEP's efforts, said that meetings with volunteer organizations have been ongoing as the state looks for ways to improve its disaster response.

"We can do a lot to improve the foundation and maintenance of our public-private partnerships," she said.
By PTI: Washington, Oct 12 (PTI) Fever during the first three to eight weeks of pregnancy can cause the baby to develop heart and facial deformities, a study has found.

Researchers have known for decades that fevers in the first trimester of pregnancy increase risk for some heart defects and facial deformities such as cleft lip or palate.

It was debated whether a virus or other infection source causes the defects, or if fever alone is the underlying problem.

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Scientists now have evidence indicating that the fever itself, not its root source, is what interferes with the development of the heart and jaw during the first three to eight weeks of pregnancy.

The findings, published in the journal Science Signaling, suggest a portion of congenital birth defects could be prevented by lowering the mothers fever with the judicious use of acetaminophen during the first trimester.

"While doctors advise most women to avoid any drug during pregnancy, there may be benefits to taking acetaminophen to reduce fever. Women should discuss all risks and benefits with their doctors," said Eric Benner, assistant professor at Duke University in the US.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and aspirin also reduce fevers, but some NSAIDs are not safe to use during the later stages of pregnancy.

There is also ongoing debate over whether sustained use of acetaminophen is safe during pregnancy to manage ongoing conditions such as arthritis, Benner said.

"However, its judicious use for an acute problem such as fever is considered safe. These findings suggest we can reduce the risk of birth defects that otherwise could lead to serious health complications requiring surgery," he said.

To observe how fever impacts a developing foetus, the researchers studied zebrafish and chicken embryos. They found that neural crest cells - cells that are critical building blocks for the heart, face and jaw - contain temperature- sensitive properties.

"We found that these neural crest cells contain temperature-sensitive ion channels that typically are found in your sensory neurons," Benner said.

"Theyre the channels that, when you stick your hand in a hot cup of water, tell your body the temperature has changed," he said.

Researchers engineered a non-invasive magnet-based technology to create fever-like conditions in two specific temperature-sensitive ion channels called TRPV1 and TRPV4 in the neural crest cells involved in developing the heart and face.

When those neural crest cells were subjected to conditions mimicking a transient fever, the embryos developed craniofacial irregularities and heart defects, including double outlet right ventricle, Tetralogy of Fallot and other outflow obstructions.

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The type of defect depends on whether the fever occurs during heart development or head and face development. What researchers still do not know is whether or how the severity or duration of a fever impacts development, Benner said. PTI MHN SAR MHN

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After trying dozens of ways to get her elderly parents out of hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico over the past three weeks, Zelideth Jimenez Ceasar had all but given up hope.

That changed abruptly Tuesday when 87-year-old Josefina Santos Jimenez and 90-year-old Efrain Jimenez, a long-retired dock worker, were picked up by an humanitarian mission organized by state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson and restaurateur Bill Hammack to deliver supplies to Ponce, Puerto Rico. They had room on the plane for the return trip, so they brought the Jimenez couple and four others to New Orleans.

Not seeing the video below? Click here.

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By Wednesday night, Ceasars parents were in her home on the west coast of Florida.

Since Sept. 24, when Hurricane Maria made landfall on the southern coast of Puerto Rico near Ponce as a near Category 5 storm, the elderly couple lived in a house near the docks that had flooded and had no roof. For more than three weeks, the town of about 165,000 people has been without electricity and fresh water has been scarce.

Only thing I was thinking that whole time was theyre fragile. They have medical needs. Theres no food. There's no way they could survive. I didn't want them to die like that, Ceasar said Wednesday while driving to Tampa International Airport to pick up her parents.

Its the most hopeless feeling you can have. No power, no water, no communications, whatsoever. And the pictures I saw, I felt like, she pauses, like I lost my family, lost my Mom and Dad. And nobody could help us, nobody.

The Jimenezs journey from Puerto Rico to Louisiana to Florida began Sunday when James Ceasar, Zelideths husband, followed a tweeted link to an article in The Advocate about the Peterson mission and decided it was worth a shot. He had been following the catastrophic conditions via blogs and Twitter, trying to find transportation off the island for his in-laws or a place to stay that had water and electricity.

Wed tried everything else, James Ceasar said. On Monday, he wrote an email to Peterson, whom he never heard of, describing his in laws situation and asking for help.

That evening Petersons team visited the Jimenez couple and offered them a ride.

You take a shot in the dark, James Ceasar said. You email a senator, not even from Florida but from a different state. You dont expect a reply but you have to try. Her parents definitely would have died.

It was surreal; after all this time. Youre talking about two old people on an island with three and million people, Zelideth Ceasar said. It was a miracle for us and it happened because of this lady.

Peterson, who is also chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party, cobbled together the humanitarian mission with Hammack over the weekend. She had spent nine days in Puerto Rico looking over conditions and came back wanting to do something.

Hastily organized, the effort had the feel of kids putting together a play. But they collected about $100,000 worth of supplies and took it Ponce on Tuesday morning.

Dr. Eric George, a New Orleans surgeon, gave the Peterson mission the use of his plane. Atlantic Aviation sold the fuel at cost. The Blake Hotel put up the six people brought to New Orleans from Ponce.

LCMC Health sent four pallets of included catheters, sutures, needles, scrubs, operating room gloves, tourniquets, surgical drapes, and toiletries. Ochsner Health System donated needles/syringes, bedpans, gauze, antiseptics, surgical masks and other basic medical supplies, along with hygiene products. This was added to donations people made from around New Orleans.

Hammack said theyll have to make a second trip next week to get all the donations over to Ponce.

When we landed there wasnt a single airplane there, Hammack said. Ponce has a deepwater port and there werent any ships. I dont understand why they arent flying in supplies on a daily basis.

Ponce Mayor Maria Eloisa Melendez Altieri met the New Orleans group on the tarmac with trucks. She said that for more than a week Ponce had been expecting $3 million in supplies from San Juan, but they havent arrived.

Not unlike Katrina, it is complicated by layers of bureaucracy; with blurred lines of what the city, state and federal government are doing, Hammack said. A lack of coordination, along with horrible telephone and internet connectivity, is complicating the logistics.

A number of the most critical medical patients in Ponce had been transported to the U.S. the day before, Hammack said, so they decided to take elderly people back to New Orleans when they left Tuesday afternoon.

It was such a blessing to be able to assist a family in need with their evacuation efforts, Peterson said Wednesday in text. Bill and I are grateful that we were able to help the Jimenez family and so many others with the donations collected from generous New Orleanians.

I feel very fortunate for my parents. But I cannot forget the thousands of people who are unable to leave, Zelideth Ceasar said. We are going to dedicate ourselves to helping the relief efforts for those others.
There have been many articles written and discussions about TOPS. Millions of dollars have been spent on student aid and how the program costs
A concrete fence containing asbestos has sparked safety concerns for residents in Chifley, who claim debris has still not been cleared away after the fence was demolished six days ago.

Last Thursday, a Chifley homeowner was slapped with a WorkSafe ACT improvement notice after incorrectly removing the fence the same day. WorkSafe ACT issued a "strong reminder" that only licensed asbestos assessors can remove the dangerous material.

Fragments believed by neighbours to be asbestos on the footpath outside the Chifley property on Wednesday afternoon.

But, almost a week on, neighbours reported asbestos fragments were still uncovered on the front yard of the property and fibres had been blowing up and down the street.

The fence, which has now been replaced with another, backed on to a public laneway. There is also concern asbestos fibres may have been blown across the road to the YMCA health and wellness centre.
A Canberra plumber is "lucky to be alive" after he was crushed by a digger while laying pipes in a trench at a Kambah construction site.

The man sustained extensive leg injuries in the incident and was expected to undergo surgery on Thursday, WorkSafe ACT Commissioner Greg Jones said.

Work safety commissioner Greg Jones says a plumber crushed by a digger is "lucky to be alive". Credit:Jamila Toderas

"It is a very serious matter, having a [digger] fall into a trench with people in it," Mr Jones said.

"It is extremely serious and he is very, very lucky to be alive."
Infant formula company Bellamy's says it has not breached continuous disclosure rules and that it provided a market update on Thursday as soon as it had completed an analysis of its September quarter performance.

Many eyes have been on the infant formula company this week - including those of the ASX, investors and industry observers - after the company's stock surged higher three days in a row before it released a positive market update about its forecasts for fiscal 2018 before trading started on the fourth day, Thursday.

Shares in Bellamy's Australia have jumped again.

Shares in Bellamy's jumped through the $10 mark in the wake of the update released before the market opened, the first time it had traded in double figures since the beginning of December 2016.

On Monday the stock jumped 4.4 per cent, followed by a 5.2 per cent jump on Tuesday, a 12 per cent jump on Wednesday and a 4.6 per cent rise on Thursday. The stock closed on Thursday at $10.23, but hit an intra-day high of $10.60 in early trade.
The Australian Taxation Office's systems to detect and prevent fraud are working, says Second Commissioner Andrew Mills, but there's always room for improvement.

The Inspector-General of Taxation Ali Noroozi is conducting a wide-ranging review of the agency following news of former ATO Commissioner Michael Cranston's alleged abuse of his position.

ATO Second Commissioner Andrew Mills says the ATO now has a good relationship with corporates. Credit:Wayne Taylor

Mr Cranston was forced to resign amid allegations he accessed restricted information on an ATO audit for his son, Adam Cranston, who was a subject of the tax fraud investigation, named Operation Elbrus. Police do not believe Michael Cranston knew about his son's alleged fraud syndicate.

Mr Mills said despite the AFP and ATO working closely together on the Operation Elbrus case and evidence that the ATO's systems worked, it had still hurt the ATO's reputation.
By India Today Web Desk: You may have stared blankly at the airline staff when he or she asked you to shift your power bank to your hand baggage.

Many of us are well-versed with air travel now, though we still haven't been able to decode a lot of rules and regulations followed for the same.

Consider the rules about carrying power banks, for instance. How is it that the same device, which cannot be carried in cargo, can be taken inside an aircraft?

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Let's tell you why:

Actually, airlines do not allow power banks in the cargo luggage for the purpose of safety. Power banks are essentially batteries that utilise lithium cells. Lithium batteries have a tendency to combust, and are therefore prohibited for cargo transport, as part of air-transport regulations.

An IATA (International Air Transport Association) document, for the ''Transport of Lithium Metal and Lithium Ion Batteries Revised for the 2017 Regulations'', categorically states the following about carrying power banks:

''(Power banks) are portable devices designed to be able to charge consumer devices such as mobile phones and tablets. For the purposes of this guidance document and the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations, power banks are to be classified as batteries and must be assigned to UN 3480, lithium ion batteries, or UN 3090, lithium metal batteries, as applicable. For carriage by passengers, power banks are considered spare batteries and must be individually protected from short-circuit and carried in carry-on baggage only.''

Also Read: Here's how you can book the best seat in your flight

Edwei Alagich, an employee at Qantas, further explained why airlines would prefer handling the risk of lithium batteries (in this case, power banks) inside the passenger aircraft rather than in the baggage compartment. ''As they (power banks) are effectively batteries, and can in some situations catch fire, you don't want them in the baggage compartment. If they're taken on board as hand baggage, in the rare situation that they may catch fire, they can be dealt with more easily as there are fire extinguishers in the cabin,'' he wrote on Quora.

Also Read: Also Read: Is it better to sit in the back or the front of the plane?

However, some passengers availing flights have had unpleasant experiences at airports, on account of the device.

According to Hindustan Times, at least two passengers are stopped each day at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and their power banks checked, if they give the impression of an explosive device, when run through the scanner at the security-check.

''Some power banks are filled with clay or similar material. When scanned, they given an impression of a bomb. But, the good quality ones do not give any problem,'' a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official was quoted as saying by the website.

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Nevertheless, we don't mind abiding by the precautionary measures adopted by airlines, as long as we are safe. So, the next time you are stopped for a power bank at the airport, you would know exactly why.

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Something illuminating always happens when terrorism and climate change are juxtaposed. It's just that you need to remember to see it.

Take the past week, when variously our state, territory and federal governments agreed to introduce a suite of new counter-terrorism laws, while the Turnbull government reached such a point of paralysis on climate change that it even hinted it wouldn't proceed with the clean energy target for which it has spent months laying foundations.

The contrast could hardly be starker. Extending the limits of counter-terrorism legislation in Australia is now a frictionless process. The really attentive might notice the odd squeak of concern about civil liberties, but it carries little public weight and even less political momentum, so legislative change just happens. Climate change, meanwhile, is not just beset by friction, it's positively jammed. Even modest suggestions  and there is good analysis suggesting the Finkel report's clean energy target is environmentally inadequate  become politically untenable. Consequently, nothing much happens.

So established is this pattern that it now seems unremarkable. But it's revealing to hear politicians explain the difference. Take, by way of more-or-less random example, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews: "There are times to have debates and arguments  and I don't apologise for standing up for my state  But [not] when it comes to national security, when it comes to terror, when it comes to dealing with not a notional threat but, you know the threat level is 'probable'."
"As a society, we are hesitant to talk about death, which is considered a taboo subject."

So claimed the authors of the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into end of life choices last year, one of a number of reports that helped shape the impending bill on assisted dying.

But whether in spite of or because of that reticence, we have developed a tangled web of words with which to discuss the "euthanasia debate".

If it were a train, this debate would have set off from Euthanasia Central, stopped at Voluntary Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, moved on to Medically Assisted Death and Assisted Dying, before arriving at Voluntary Assisted Dying, the form of words that our parliamentarians have settled on (and which some would further reduce to the neutral acronym VAD).
Following the sudden death of his great mentor and model Bill Culican in 1984, Tony stepped in to run his classes. He was officially appointed lecturer in the same year, and promoted to senior lecturer in 1989. In 1995 he became associate professor and reader, and in 2006, a full professor. Shortly before his death in 2017, he was granted the title of Emeritus Professor. Tony's importance in promoting and developing the study of archaeology at the University of Melbourne cannot be overstated. By 1989, only a few short years after his appointment to the faculty, he had established the archaeology major that continues to attract multitudes of students to this day. As well as overseeing the introduction of the new curriculum, Tony was co-ordinator for a range of undergraduate subjects, as well as for the honours program. To his many postgraduate students through the years he was a constructive and encouraging supervisor, full of wisdom and good advice. Students were, without question, his first priority and he was dedicated to fostering the next generation of scholars in Australia and abroad. Tony is irreplaceable to his myriad friends and colleagues. Tony was also an outstanding field archaeologist. In Turkey, he co-directed major projects at Sos Hoyuk (19942003) and Buyuktepe Hoyuk (198893), and more recently completed a large-scale investigation of the Anzac battlefield at Gallipoli with the Joint Historical and Archaeological Survey (JHAS), including five years of field survey (201014).

His Georgian-Australian Investigations in Archaeology (GAIA) project started in 2008, with excavations at Samtavro (200810), Tchkantiskedi (2011) and Chobareti (201216). His standards in the field were famously exacting. The edges of his trenches were razor-sharp, his field notebooks were meticulously maintained and his top plans and section drawings rigorously executed. Contexts were carefully defined and artefacts judiciously bagged and tagged. Although there were  possibly light-hearted  threats that any student who transgressed would be put on a plane home to Australia without delay, his patience with inexperienced team members was in fact boundless and his kind nature obvious to all. The unifying theme in Tony's own research was how careful work on the material culture of ancient highland communities of Anatolia and the Caucasus could broaden our archaeological knowledge more generally, extending our understanding of developments throughout the ancient Near East. He managed to combine three decades of continuous involvement in hands-on archaeological fieldwork with a detailed exploration of the larger conceptual questions his data raised, concerning ethnicity and group identity, borders and frontiers, the construction of social and religious landscapes and the relationship between nomadism and sedentary lifestyles. His publication record was exemplary, reflecting his enduring commitment to disseminating his results to the wider archaeological community.

Tony was the author of eight books and editor of eight others. He also produced more than 100 chapters, journal articles, records of conference proceedings and encyclopaedia entries. He derived great enjoyment from writing, somehow finding time for it almost every day. While his subject matter was diverse, his publications had in common that they successfully merged painstaking research and rigorous scholarship with an ability to communicate his enthusiasm for his work and bring the ancient world to life for his readers. In addition, he was a fine photographer and most of the images included in his publications were his own. He believed high-quality illustrations were no less important than text for elucidating archaeological finds. From 1999, Tony was also editor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, an annual, refereed journal published by Peeters, Leuven. He transformed and modernised the periodical during his tenure and greatly expanded the associated supplement series in partnership with Claudia. In 2014, work began on a Festschrift to commemorate Tony's 60th birthday and celebrate his innumerable achievements. The soon-to-be-released volume is a monument to the esteem and affection in which Tony was held around the world. It contains 64 chapters by 86 colleagues and students, past and present, from Turkey, Georgia and Australia as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, France, Israel, Italy, Russia, the UK and the US. While Tony did not live to see the book in its final form, the editors kept him well-informed and furnished him along the way with the table of contents and other parts of the manuscript. The opinion of his colleagues was of enormous importance to Tony and he was sincerely moved by this tribute.

Tony actively sought out opportunities for students and associates, in Australia and many places beyond, and gained genuine satisfaction and happiness from their successes. His many unsolicited acts of kindness, gestures of encouragement and practical offers of help made a difference to a great number of lives around the world. He is irreplaceable to his myriad friends and colleagues, but it remains to carry on his work in the ways that he taught us, and to follow the example he set. Tony was also a dedicated family man, always constant and reliable in an unpredictable world. He was delighted to be a father and, recently, a grandfather. He loved to cook and to entertain visitors to Melbourne, and enjoyed being chauffeured around town by Claudia locally, and hop-on hop-off bus drivers in the many cities he visited as a passionate world traveller. He had a wicked sense of humour and was a devastating mimic. Antonio Sagona died on June 29, his family by his side. He was 61 years old, and is survived by his wife Claudia, daughter Amadea, son-in-law Ryan and grandson Harland. To commemorate Tony's legacy a named scholarship is being established at the University of Melbourne to be awarded to students undertaking Near Eastern archaeological research.
If computers are able to accurately assess writing in NAPLAN tests (and I don't believe they can), doesn't mean they should. Teachers who mark NAPLAN gain a valuable insight into how children interpret the world. This is knowledge that is then shared among educators, which helps them make better-informed choices about the direction of curriculum to better suit children's needs. This knowledge cannot be gained by a "number", as an evaluation of a student's performance determined by a computer. If the people making the decisions to use computers to mark NAPLAN believe these computers are capable of making value judgments as to the quality of students' writing and are capable of fine, nuanced interpretation, then these computers should be replacing these decision-makers, as perhaps they seem to be lacking in this ability. Leo Sorbello Leichhardt The robot marking of NAPLAN tests is, in reality, a money-saving scheme yet again, although there are some potential worries. If Arnie's Terminator robot is the marker, then the consequences of getting a low mark will be more serious, and that will be a "teacher" who won't stop and won't put up with bad behaviour in the classroom. Actually, that might not be a bad idea. Dennis Fitzgerald Box Hill

Fault lines on obesity It never ceases to amaze me that with a surfeit of information and anecdotal evidence, leading health professionals continue to tell the lie that being overweight or obese "is not your fault" ("Malnourished and obese:our children's fate", October 12). It really is not constructive or truthful for the director of nutrition for health and development Francesco Branca to say: "The rise in obesity was not due to a lack of resolve among individuals to eat healthy foods." Blaming the environment and lack of access to healthier nutritional options just doesn't stack up when you look at food intake but not energy expenditure. Sure, there are good and bad food choices that people make every day but regardless, inactivity, ubiquitous nutritional options and profligacy is the real driver of our exponentially expanding waist lines. An obesogenic environment isn't created solely on what we eat, it's multifaceted.It is within everyone's capacity to consume energy commensurate to its expenditure. Christopher Woodley Vaucluse Savings for savers? We are self-funded retirees and we don't have a pool with a skimmer or airconditioning and we save electricity where and whenever we can ("States to trial demand power management", October 12). If the suggestion goes ahead, can we get a big discount for being sensible in our power usage and non-profligate in our electricity consumption as those who skim their pools and freeze their houses?

Graham Maynard Cammeray Are politicians who don't know the rules competent People go into politics with the ambition of taking a leadership role in the government of the country. How confident can we be, both in the calibre of politicians and their decision-making capacity, if the High Court validates the idea that "if they didn't know about their dual citizenship", they should be considered fit and able to hold roles like that of Deputy PM? Surely, if they didn't even realise that they needed to check the constitutional requirements for eligibility to sit in parliament, we can have no confidence in their ability to get a handle on facts crucial to Australia's prosperity and security! Phyllis Vespucci Reservoir The soap opera of alleged dual citizenship parliamentarians drags on. It is manifestly clear that Section 44 of the Australian Constitution requires substantial revision. What was appropriate in 1901 makes no sense today. I would like to know if our parliamentarians are doing anything to rectify this or are they simply interested in political point scoring?

Alan Templeman Wyoming What is interesting in all this is just how much some of the seven lied to the public and media until they, and their lawyers, appeared before the court. Then all of a sudden they were forced to tell the truth. Somehow we must have a way of compelling politicians to tell the truth all the time. Bruce Welch Marrickville If you want to know how easy it is to sniff out even a scent of citizenship, ask any teenager trying to score a working visa for a gap year. Peter Fyfe Eskineville

PM's legacy relies on taming Abbott John Hewson has nailed it in urging Malcolm Turnbull to confront Tony Abbott in the party room ("Hewson warns PM: you're looking weak, stand up to Abbott", October 12). Abbott's best contentions are that coal is good for humanity and that global warming could be good for the world  the latter perhaps on the basis that he could spend longer hours in his budgie smugglers. If the Prime Minister can't mount an argument to counter these trite offerings to assert his past commitments to climate change and to deliver a policy that the majority of voters want, then his party will be in opposition after the next election and he, who came with such expectation after the previous administration, will go down as the most impotent prime minister in living memory. Lyn Savage Coogee The blame for the Prime Minister's failure to put in place an energy policy lies wholly with his party. He doesn't just have to contend with wackos like Tony Abbott. He also has a deputy who can't make up his mind whether or not he believes in climate change. But most damaging for his government (and the country) are the truly malignant members who publicly acknowledge the reality of climate change while actively nobbling any energy policy that attempts to deal with the issue. Perhaps a headache for Turnbull but more significantly a huge tragedy for the economy and the environment. James Buckman Enmore

As one of Tony Abbott's constituents in the Warringah electorate, I resent my local member spending so much time preaching to the converted at London's Global Warming Policy Foundation and other like-minded climate denial organisations around the globe. It's unlikely that he's paying for any of these trips out of his own pocket and he'll still be funded by the taxpayer with parliamentary privileges for the rest of his life. I have twice contacted his office in recent months on federal government matters and have twice been ignored. This man has done more damage to Australia than any politician I can remember yet the voters of Warringah continue to support him and the leadership of the Liberal and National parties continue to be influenced by his backward policies, setting our country back decades. John Hewson is right to criticise our Prime Minister for failing to stand up to this damaging and dangerous backbencher. John Lander Killarney Heights John Hewson telling someone they look weak. This from a bloke who wanted to be PM but didn't know the words of the national anthem or how much GST would be payable on a cream cake. Give me a break. Abbott makes them all look like cream puffs, and they know it. David Sayers Gwandalan The real villains

It doesn't seem to matter how many times it's said - for some people it just never sinks in. Global warming doesn't just mean everything gets warmer. It predicts more extremes of weather - which includes more "record low temperatures" as well as heat, Graham Sayer (Letters October 12). And on a curious note, do writers who sign off with qualifications completely outside the topic at hand, like Graham's "former World Health Organisation medico" feel it confers greater gravitas to their musings? Brett Jack Bonnyrigg Heights Stop the sales

Credit:Joe Armao I do not understand why anyone who is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident can be allowed to buy residential property ("One in four new-home buyers are Chinese", October 12). Housing is demonstrably in short supply in our capital cities and yet we sell up to 26 per cent of it to foreign investors. Meanwhile Australian citizens are sharing their homes with adult children who have no hope of entering the housing market. Forget about fiddling with stamp duty surcharges. Stop selling our homes to foreign investors. Anne Kirman Kellyville According to Chris Johnson, chief executive of the Urban Taskforce, earlier this week, new apartment building around railway stations "will give the children and grandchildren of suburban families opportunities to buy into affordable housing". Now we are told, not surprisingly, that one in four new-home buyers is from overseas. No doubt this means that many of our "children and grandchildren" are having their dreams thwarted or pockets stretched beyond reason. As a country, not only do we sell all our coal and gas overseas so we don't have enough for ourselves, we seem determined to push future generations into homelessness to accommodate insatiable foreign demand. Doug Walker Baulkham Hills

Personally Judith Ireland ("Women in a corner: a hidden bias eats away at Parliament", October 12), I think most ambitious women are too intelligent to want to aspire to be a parliamentarian. There are much better careers, more rewarding both financially and emotionally, than wasting your time in Canberra. It takes a very committed female to want to make a difference in a man's world with the odds so heavily stacked against them. To those who try we can only wish them luck and admire their courage. Denis Suttling Newport Beach Actions not words So the State Government is trying to raise the Premier's profile (" Gladys 2.O: Berejiklian's Premiership in need of a 'refresh'", smh.com.au October 12). Some policies would help, particularly if they did not involve tearing up Sydney. Or real action on one of the Premier's priorities - housing affordability? Or perhaps Gladys is just warming the seat until defeat? John Christie Oatley

Maybe Trump will buy palace after snub If Donald won't get to sleep at Buckingham Palace he will probably make a bid to buy the establishment and rebrand it Trump Palace ("Donald Trump's UK trip reportedly stripped of red carpet treatment", smh.com.au October 12). Allan Gibson Cherrybrook Time to ignore Tony So many letters trying to analyse the thoughts of Tony Abbott. As we approach 2018 my New Year resolution is that all media simply ignore his "intellectual" ramblings.The same method would also prove beneficial if applied to our other serial pest, Nick Kyrgios.

Tony Denzel Bonny Hills A roo-free zone Geoff Goodfellow (Letters, October 12) may not have noticed a popular item in souvenir shops in Vienna. It is a canvas bag with a large kangaroo motif and the words "No Kangaroos in Austria". Joy Nason Neutral Bay Cash dash no match
One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts' High Court bid to save his job relies in part on the notion it would be "fundamentally un-Australian" to discriminate between natural-born and immigrant Australians.

The Turnbull government faces a nervous wait after the court reserved its decision on the fate of the "citizenship seven" - which includes three government MPs - after three days of hearings in Canberra. Chief Justice Susan Kiefel said the bench would endeavour to deliver its rulings "as soon as possible".

On the final day of hearings on Thursday, the justices became impatient with the arguments presented by Senator Roberts' SC Robert Newlinds, and repeatedly asked him to hurry along.

Mr Newlinds argued the court should not accept the federal government's claim that there should be a distinction drawn between those MPs born in Australia and those born overseas like his client.
Remaining members of the fledgling Nick Xenophon Team cannot say who will lead them, nor how they will conduct themselves despite holding the fate of government legislation in their hands as a crucial three vote Senate bloc.

Lesser known members of the "team" elected under the name of their high-profile leader, learned last week they would be without the captain even if the High Court rules he was validly elected in the double dissolution election of 2016.

His shock return to the South Australian scene, a little more than a year into his six-year Senate term, will occur through a negative High Court finding or via his voluntary resignation.

This means the group's rookie senators and single lower house MP will have to reconfigure quickly and plough on in Canberra as the NXT in name only.
Why? Because they are part of a growing trend of serial sexual predators of a certain age attempting to paint themselves as "retro sexists" to whom "vintage justice" should be applied. And in doing so, they are trying to normalise the idea that there is some "new"  only recently agreed upon  standard in relation to sexual harassment and assault.

But I would like to take us back to the original excuses Weinstein and his enablers, namely his now former lawyer Lisa Bloom, initially offered to manage the scandal.

Since then, a lot of commentary has been written questioning the culture of silence and complicity that allowed Weinstein to get away with this alleged behaviour for so very long.

Since last Friday, a tsunami of sexual assault allegations has been levelled at film producer Harvey Weinstein. In case you're having trouble keeping track,The New York Times who initially broke the story , have compiled a summary.

Charges: Harvey Weinstein called himself a 'dinosaur' in his initial statement. Credit:AP

As you may recall, in his statement Weinstein said he "came of age in the '60s and '70s when all the rules about workplaces and behaviour were different. That was the culture then". Bloom, Weinstein's lawyer, later described him as an "old dinosaur learning new ways". In her statement she said, "I have told him that times have changed, it is 2017, and he needs to evolve to a higher standard."

But we can't dismiss these excuses by Weinstein and his enablers as the desperate ramblings of a man backed into a corner, grasping at straws. It is, in fact, part of a calculated game plan.

It is a strategy that has been used by many sexual predators of a certain vintage, who are trying to gain traction for the idea that there is some "new" and only recently agreed upon standard, and it is, therefore, grossly unfair to hold men of previous eras responsible for actions that, at the time, were simply the norm.

It's no coincidence that this strategy was initially supported by Bloom, though she has now distanced herself from Weinstein. It saddens me to write this, but she would have seen just how effective it can be when she sat on the other side of the aisle in the Bill Cosby rape trial as a lawyer for one of his accusers, Janice Dickinson. Her mother, the famed women's rights activist and lawyer Gloria Allred, represented many of Cosby's other accusers.
Justin Trudeau has written an essay explaining why he is raising his daughter and two sons to be feminists.

The Canadian prime minister put pen to paper for Marie Claire, in an essay published on October 11, the International Day of the Girl.

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and Justin Trudeau with children Hadrien, Ella-Grace and Xavier. Credit:justinpjtrudeau/Instagram

Trudeau wrote that while he had never considered raising his eight-year-old daughter Ella-Grace to be anything other than a feminist, it was a conversation with his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau that made him "reach a turning point" in realising he was not doing enough for his sons Xavier, nine, and Hadrien, three.

"I was talking about teaching Ella that she can be anything she wants to be. Sophie said, 'That's greatbut how are you raising your sons to be strong advocates for women and girls, too?'"
After a heated argument over proposed membership reforms, Mr Boffa  who works for Victorian shadow attorney general John Pesutto  is alleged to have approached a male student from a rival faction and hit him on the thigh.

Tensions erupted on Monday afternoon during a meeting of the Parkville-based Melbourne University Liberal Club, where Mr Boffa is also president.

Federation president Xavier Boffa is now the subject of a police complaint and an internal Melbourne University inquiry over an alleged incident that has reignited concerns about the culture of the Young Liberals.

The leader of the Australian Liberal Students' Federation has been accused of assaulting a fellow club member and intimidating a woman during an ugly stoush at one of the country's most prestigious universities.

After the meeting, on campus grounds, it is claimed that he verbally lashed out at a female club member from the same opposing faction, screaming that she was "disgraceful" and "shameful" while demanding that she get out of his personal space.

Last year the same young woman was told she had to be excluded from Liberal club event because, according to Mr Boffa, some members were "a bit uncomfortable about inviting a chick".

The two students involved in Monday's incident have since reported the matter to police, and an intervention order has been sought by the woman in the Magistrate's Court.

Mr Boffa was unable to comment to Fairfax Media due to university restrictions. But sources close to the young Liberal have described the allegations as a "factional hit" by some of the more conservative students, who are reportedly disgruntled by their failure to wield more power in the club.

While it is not in dispute that tensions erupted in the meeting, or that Mr Boffa "yelled loudly" at the woman afterwards, the specific details against him have been broadly denied. One source suggested he was provoked by the woman, while another club member said: "Contrary to the allegations made against him, he did not assault anybody".
Police have arrested and charged a third man in connection with a major money laundering operation linked to the drug trade in Sydney, seizing more than $3.6 million in cash, a gun and a silencer from a western Sydney home.

Deniz Kanmaz, 31, of Erskine Park, was arrested on Thursday after officers attached to Strike Force Millstream searched properties in Erskine Park and St Clair early on Wednesday morning.

A pistol and silencer seized in a raid in Erskine Park on Thursday. Credit:NSW Police

They found millions of dollars in cash in large denomination bills, which officers were still counting late on Thursday.

Officers also seized a pistol with a silencer, electronic storage devices, and identity documentation.
By Piya Hingorani: "My tenure at the FTII ended on March 3, 2017. I have not been replaced or axed as a lot of media has been wrongly reporting! It's been 7 months, my tenure got over and the I&B secretary took over from me. They were looking out for a new chairman, and today they have found a new one, Mr Anupam Kher. I congratulate him, give him my good wishes and I'm sure he will do well, and do good work," says former Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India, Gajendra Chauhan, while speaking exclusively to India Today. Chauhan is rather irked with all the electronic media reports suggesting that he has been dismissed of his duties by FTII or the I&B Ministry.

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If you remember, Gajendra Chauhan (whom we all know as Yudhishtir from Mahabharat), his appointment as the Chief of FTII in 2015, made headlines as the students of Pune's prestigious Film Institute, went on a protest for 139 days, the longest protest in the history of the institute. The students demanded the removal of TV actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan as FTII Boss, for "lack of credentials and vision" to head the institute which has an illustrious list of chairpersons in the past.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had also visited the FTII campus and met the agitating students. However, after 139 days the students resumed their classes, but asserted that they would remain firm on their demands and carry on a peaceful protest.

However, these protests by the students and the film industry didn't deter Chauhan from doing his job. He said, "I was not insulted or hurt, only thing that irked me was that people were not aware of my administrative capabilities. That time also I had spoken to India Today and told you, let me work there, and people will remember that forever. Today with the CAG report is proof, that my work was satisfactory. In fact it says the best work has been done by Mr Gajendra Chauhan. I am very happy about it. The only thing that hurts me is that I got very less time to work. Out of three block years as a chairman, I got only one year and two months to prove my mettle. But then I decided I have to play a 20-20 match, I had to do the best of my time."

Among the Bollywood folks who were against Gajendra Chauhan taking on the post, saying that the institute requires a 'much qualified' person, has now taken over as the Chief of the Film Institute. While wishing Kher well for his tenure, Chauhan said, "Being a good or bad actor, doing big or small work, doesn't matter. At FTII you need to be a good administrator, who can handle the staff and students problems."

However, the former actor reiterated that he was perhaps a victim of a political agenda. He said, "People didn't know about my working system, whereas the actors who were opposing my work, they knew I was good at administration, because I've worked in the Cine and TV artist association as well for over 20 years, handling so many problems. But there was a political agenda as well to this, the Modi government had just come into power, it was barely one year old, since there were no issues they could find in the Modi government, the opposition party targeted this. I was the weak link in the entire scheme of things so they targeted me. Rahul Gandhi has come to FTII, if you remember, but I want to ask Rahul ji one thing, did he visit FTII before that, or even after that issue? What does he know about FTII today. I was made the scapegoat, everyone thought I'm not capable of handling this, but the government was very sure of my capabilities and I was sure that I would be able to do it."

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Exclusive: New FTII chairman Anupam Kher on returning to his institution and new challenges

--- ENDS ---
The NSW Auditor-General will examine the $16.8 billion WestConnex toll road for a second time, due to the huge cost, risks and high level of public interest in the project.

A day after the NSW government said it had knocked back the only bid it received to build a major interchange for WestConnex at Rozelle in Sydney's inner west, the state's Audit Office has confirmed that it will again turn its attention to the project.

Yet another review of Australia's largest motorway project could cause political headaches for the government ahead of the next state election in early 2019.

The 33-kilometre toll road project has been controversial in Sydney's inner west due to the disruption caused by construction, compulsory acquisition of properties and concerns about the longer term impact on local roads from extra traffic.
A total of 83,151 grants worth $416 million were handed out under the controversial scheme, which was shut down by the Berejiklian government on June 30 after criticism from former Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens.

But economists have been highly critical of the scheme, saying it boosted the bottom line of builders and further inflated property prices.

First home buyers were not eligible for the grants, which were introduced by the Baird government in 2012 and pitched as a way to boost housing construction.

One in five recipients of a now abolished $5000 "new home grant" double-dipped on the scheme to receive multiple grants, including 1500 people and 1869 companies who pocketed more than five grants each.

In a review for the government, Mr Stevens was critical of all grants to home buyers but singled out those going to non-first-time buyers as particularly wasteful.

"It is important to note that at present about half of the grants made by the government do not go to first home buyers: they go to those buying their second or subsequent home, if it is a new dwelling," he wrote in his report to the Premier in May. "There may have been a case for this to assist the building industry during the financial crisis, but the builders don't need that demand stimulus now: what they need is faster processes for converting zoning and development applications into construction and an ability to respond to those segments of the market that will accept smaller, lower-cost dwellings."

Independent economist Saul Eslake said it was possible the scheme had led to "some marginal increase in supply" but "the most significant effect would likely have been to fatten builders' profit margins by something close to the amount of the grant".

Initially unlimited, the scheme was modified in 2014 to exclude foreign buyers and to introduce a cap of one grant per buyer per year.

But a new breakdown of the scheme, obtained by the NSW opposition under a freedom of information request to the NSW Department of Finance, reveals the extent of the double-dipping that occurred.
The discovery of clothing, a walking stick and what were believed to be human remains along a Port Douglas creek bank has sparked fears missing woman Anne Cameron was killed by a crocodile.

The 79-year-old grandmother was last seen leaving Ozcare, an aged-care facility where she had been living for the past three to four weeks, on Tuesday afternoon to go for a walk.

Anne Cameron, 79, went missing from her aged care facility.

Police believe the woman, who suffered dementia, had wandered and became lost.

On Thursday, police found a number of items believed to belong to the missing woman, at the southern end of Four Mile Beach.
A Melbourne man accused of nearly biting off his mother's thumb before setting her house on fire and stabbing two random strangers has faced court.

Damen Stephens was arrested in Cheltenham on Monday following a two-day police man-hunt.

His 66-year-old mother is recovering in The Alfred hospital and police said she is "extremely fearful" after allegedly being punched and choked by her son last Friday night.

According to court documents, police allege Mr Stephens caused $400,000 worth of damage when he returned to his mother's house in the early hours of Saturday and set her Bentleigh home on fire, completely destroying it.

Later that evening, Mr Stephens was allegedly drinking at a St Kilda bar when he randomly stabbed two strangers aged 44 and 29.
Jonathan Clare (left) and Simon Saint from Woods Bagot. Credit:David Allan-Petale "The key question for the Perth apartment market for the rest of the decade is - Would I Live in One?" Mr Stone said. "A focus on quality, well located apartments will attract more West Australians to answer yes to the question in the years ahead." No one stays long in a bad hotel Visiting Australia from the UK, Jonathan Clarke and Simon Saint from leading Australian architecture company Woods Bagot have been travelling across the nation to brief political and business leaders on 'Build To Rent', an asset class common in Europe and the US. Build to rent emphasises the experience of the customer. Credit:Woods Bagot

Build to rent means just that - apartments designed and built specifically to attract and retain tenants. This is achieved partly through a different to the norm financing process, where the developer builds the whole thing, and only then seeks to sell them to investors as long term assets, ensuring build and design quality is high. Perth is seeing a boom in apartment construction. Credit:Stefan Gosatti The London Principal for Woods Bagot, Mr Clarke said this financial model feeds into build to rent's biggest strength - creating absolute quality from drawing board to opening. "There is a real incentive there for developers to ask what people really want and to create something that will be desirable, now and in twenty five years time," he said.

"BTR operators need to think of their portfolio as a brand and something that people will want to come and be a part of. It is essential for end users and the durability of BTR that these homes provide personality and flexible amenities that contribute to the community." Perth has a growing number of top end apartment developments like the Woolstores in Fremantle, the old Swan Brewery and residences at the old Steve's Hotel in Nedlands. And while most new builds are marketed with names, design concepts and amenities at the forefront, Mr Clarke said with a growing desire for unique stock, developers need to get creative. "Developers have to start with questions like: 'what are the benefits of this neighbourhood and how do we design specifically to take advantage of them?' This is crucial for getting the build-to-rent model right. "If you start by thinking about how people use spaces, and how that changes over time, you can deliver amazing properties that people will stay in long-term which will be valuable assets for decades to come."

Likening an ideal BTR to a high quality hotel room, Mr Clarke said while the design of the living spaces was important, it's the amenities and atmosphere that sets good apartment complexes apart. "There's nothing worse than a hotel where you can hear the neighbours through wall, and that's the same with apartments. You won't stay long in a bad hotel room. So everything from the concierge to what services are available in apartments will affect your experience too." Downsizers may hold the key So if Perth goes down the build to rent path, who will live in them? Funky designs usually signal younger people, but older people wishing to downsize are emerging as a tenant class with a lot of clout.

Damian Stone from Y Research points out that during WA's mining boom, many apartments were purchased by investors seeking high market rents, which priced out potential occupiers, first-home buyers, young professionals and downsizers. But now with prices dropping, people looking to downsize are seeing an apartment as an affordable housing option, which could open things up to younger buyers as it catches on. "Liveability is emerging as the key for apartments to meet the expectations of potential occupiers, who want secure well located properties close to public transport, local shops and amenity at an affordable price," he said. "In future projects, developers are offering a variety of apartment types and styles; and improving common user features such as dining rooms, private cinemas and rooftop entertaining areas. Buildings offering high quality designs and these custom features are attracting a majority of sales in the current market." Mr Clarke reckons if build to rent takes off in Perth more people would choose apartment living, helping shift the attitudes of both tenants and developers.
"I would say there are about 100 of us doing our masters and of those maybe 10 or 20 would probably get jobs in WA next year."

Perth student Chaz Flint is just weeks away from completing his masters degree in architecture at the University of Western Australia.

In WA, 44 university graduates are competing for every entry-level job. Credit:Karl Hilzinger

But while his university's advertising campaign encouraged students to 'pursue the impossible', the 24-year-old said he'd likely have to venture over east to pursue his career, which he claimed was near-impossible to crack as a graduate in the west.

He is one of 15,000 students across the state expected to finish university in 2017 who will go on to compete for less than 400 advertised graduate roles, according to a recent report.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Seasoned diplomat Gautam Bambawale, Indias high commissioner to Pakistan, was today appointed as the countrys next envoy to China.

This was announced tonight by the external affairs ministry.

A 1984 India Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Bambawale is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the ministry said. He will replace Vijay Gokhale.

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A deft hand in Sino-India relations, Bambawale opted to learn Mandarin Chinese as his foreign language and served in Hong Kong and Beijing between 1985 and 1991.

He was first the desk officer for China in the Ministry of External Affairs and served as director in the Americas Division of the ministry, responsible for relations with the US and Canada (1993-94).

He has also functioned as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy in Beijing.

His appointment comes at a time when India and China are trying to put behind the Dokalam standoff, and work on a "forward-looking" approach in their ties. PTI PYK ZMN

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NOTICE OF SALE Case No.: 3:21-cv-00770-SVH BY VIRTUE of that certain Decree of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina heretofore granted in the case of ...

NOTICE OF LIEN SALE Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at the location indicated: Store # ...

NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATES All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the indicated Personal Representatives, appointed to administer these...
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) The Cabinet today approved an agreement for cooperation between India and Belarus in the field of vocational education and training, paving the way for transfer of Belarusian expertise and knowhow in skilling manpower, especially in the manufacturing sector.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Belarus.

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The MoU was signed on September 12, 2017 during the state visit of Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus to India.

"The MoU would bring in Belarus experience and expertise for overall improvement in skill eco system of the country," an official statement said.

This is for the first time an MoU for cooperation in the area of vocational education, training and skill development has been signed with an Eurasian country.

"Belarus has a large concentration of industries, mainly into manufacturing and heavy industries, which draw their strength from available skilled manpower and a highly developed skill training system. The transfer of knowledge of their skilling methodology will immensely help in our initiatives like Make in India and Skill India," said the statement.

The cooperation between the two nations in the identified areas would be implemented through establishing institutional partnerships between the Republican Institute for Vocational Education, an institution for development of Belarusian vocational education system and Directorate General of Training for transfer of technology in vocational education and training (VET) delivery and its sustainability.

"Cooperation with sectoral VET/centres of Excellence of Belarus is proposed for research and development in the skilling ecosystem," the statement said.

Under the MoU, Belarus shall provide comprehensive transfer of knowhow of emerging technologies, training and evaluation methodologies, content development for regular and distance learning, e-learning and training of master trainers, competency building of the assessors in area of their competency and network building and industry linkages.

The Eurasian nation will also provide vocational education services for Indian citizens for skill development in the field of construction, electric-power production and distribution, manufacturing industry, trade, auto service and household goods repair and maintenance, transport, communication, hotels and restaurants as well as other fields.

The MoU will also entail retraining, up-skilling, internship for vocational education and training managers, teachers and trainers of India. Belarus will provide advisory services in order to enhance planning, management and delivery of vocational education and training and skill development.

"Implementation of the proposal includes innovation and improvement in the existing vocational education and skill development through Research and Development in the field.

"The financial arrangement for the co-operative activities undertaken within the framework of this MoU shall be mutually agreed upon by the Parties on a case-by-case basis, subject to the availability of funds," the statement said. PTI RSN ABM

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By PTI: (Eds: Correcting intro)

Gurgaon, Oct 12 (PTI) The city administration has allowed those residents who have brought Diwali firecrackers in advance to burn them between 6 pm to 10 pm on October 19.

Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh said the relaxation has been given to those who have bought crackers in advance.

"We have framed certain guidelines for those who have already purchased crackers. They can burn them from 6 pm to 10 pm on October 19," he said.

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The administration has also imposed IPC section 144 (unlawful assembly) in the city, and asked the residents to burn the crackers 100 meters away from private and government hospitals, educational institutions, religious places and courts.

"We have imposed a ban on those crackers that make a noise of more than 145 decibels. We have also directed the people not to use fire crackers within the radius of 500 meters from Indane bottling plant situated in Badshahpur and 100 meters away from fuel stations," Singh said.

The apex court had recently banned the sale of crackers in Delhi-NCR till November 1, dealing a body blow to the traders and businessmen dealing in them. PTI CORR SRY

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A warrant has been issued for a Bryan man in connection to the Oct. 3 shooting that left two people dead.

Police said Frankie Lee Bell Jr., 29, should be considered armed and dangerous. He has ties to Bryan, Caldwell and the Houston area.

He is wanted for two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Police said Terant Reshadd Franklin, 35, and Dominque Franklin, 25, were killed in the shooting. Both men lived at the home on Frankfort Street where the shooting took place.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.

Police did not release details about how Bell might be connected to the two men.
Honeypreet and Vipassana to face each other as Haryana police plan to question two top Dera functionaries and closest aides to Gurmeet Ram Rahim, convicted of rape and sexual exploitation of two sadhvis.

By Manjeet Sehgal: As convicted Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim's confidante Honeypreet begins to spill beans, the Haryana police have planned a face-off with sect's chairperson Vipassana in connection with the Panchkula riots.

At least 35 people had died in the rioting and arson that followed conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Ram Rahim in a 15-year-old rape case. Two former sadhvis of the Dera has accused Ram Rahim of rape and sexual exploitation in his private chamber at the Dera headquarters at Sirsa in Haryana.

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In the custody of Haryana police, Honeypreet had made several startling revelations with regard to the functioning of the Dera and also the Panchkula riots. Honeypreet had told the police that black money was used to foment trouble at Panchkula after Ram Rahim was convicted of rape.

The Haryana police yesterday took Honeypreet to Bathinda and Sri Ganganagar in connection with the violence that followed the sect head's conviction in a rape case. The police also issued a notice asking Dera chairperson Vipassana Insan to join the investigation.

The police are probing the role of Honeypreet Insan, who calls herself Ram Rahim Singh's adopted daughter, in inciting the large scale violence that took place in Panchkula after the Dera chief's conviction in a rape case on August 25.

HONEYPREET VERSUS VIPASSANA: THINGS TO KNOW Police had asked Vipassana to turn up for questioning on Tuesday but she did not appear before the officials citing medical grounds. She had been required for questioning in connection with the probe into the August 25 violence that claimed 35 lives in Panchkula alone. The officials questioning 36-year-old Honeypreet feel that she is misleading and not cooperating with the police during the interrogation. Honeypreet, whose real name is Priyanka Taneja, was arrested by the Haryana Police on October 3. A court in Panchkula has extended her police remand till October 13. She was at the top of a list of 43 people "wanted" by the state police in connection with the violence. Haryana police had on September 1 issued a look-out notice against Honeypreet Insan and another key aide of the Dera chief, Aditya Insan, following apprehensions that they might try to "escape from the country". Following the conviction of the Dera chief, violence had erupted in Panchkula and Sirsa, where the Dera is headquartered, claiming 41 lives. The Dera chief has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping two female disciples. Meanwhile, police sources said that Honeypreet told the investigators that black money was used in mobilising a huge gathering of Ram Rahim's followers at Panchkula. Honeypreet claimed that a sum of Rs 8 crore was drawn from the chest of the Dera Sacha Sauda to foment trouble at Panchkula. Honeypreet told the police about a file that has details of the money spent for Panchkula trouble. Haryana police took Honeypreet to Bathinda in Punjab and Sriganganar in Rajasthan in corroborate her statements. On the basis of the information provided by her the Haryana police have seized certain documents form Gurusar Modia in Rajasthan during a 4-hour raid yesterday. Haryana police have also seized documentary proof to establish how Honeypreet escaped on August 28 and reached Gurusar Modia in Rajasthan. Honeypreet has told the officials that she used a Lexus car - favourite of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim. After fleeing the Dera in Rs 1.5 crore luxurious car, the vehicle was put to flames by sect's supporters on August 28 afternoon outside the sect's headquartes. This was apparently done at the instance of Honeypreet. Some crucial documents were also consigned to flames with the car. Haryana police want to corroborate the statements given by Honeypreet with those of Vipassana and confront each other over the post-conviction violence and destruction of evidence.

(With PTI inputs)

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A Bryan man was arrested Tuesday on charges he punched a sheriff's deputy in the face so hard, the deputy suffered a brain hemorrhage.

According to the Brazos County Sheriff's Office, deputies were attempting to escort 35-year-old Matthew Thomas Garcia to the hospital because it was believed he was a danger to himself and others. Authorities say Garcia said he was not going to the hospital and punched a deputy in the face before running. Garcia eventually was arrested.

The deputy suffered hemorrhaging in the front portion of his brain, and a hole had been cut in his lip from the force of the blow.

Garcia is charged with aggravated assault of a public servant, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison, and resisting arrest, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Garcia is being held at the Brazos County Jail on $54,000 bond.

According to Brazos County Sheriff Chris Kirk, the deputy was in the hospital for 24 hours but is now at home. He will not return to work for at least two weeks.
A 20-year-old College Station man was arrested Wednesday in connection to the report of a shooting that took police to an apartment complex and a Southwood Valley neighborhood.

No one was injured in the Tuesday evening incident, although police say a vehicle had been shot at several times.

Christian Juwan Nelson is charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

According to College Station police, authorities received several calls about gunshots at the Flats on 12 apartments on Harvey Mitchell Parkway around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday.

"I was in my back bedroom and remember hearing 'Pow pow pow!' " apartment resident Jennifer Greene told The Eagle. "Then there was a hesitation. Then, another 'Pow pow pow!' "

Greene said she initially thought the loud noise was the sound of firecrackers, but CSPD officers on the scene quickly found a red sport-utility vehicle had been the target of gunfire from somewhere in the apartment complex. Police located two people at the apartment complex who were believed to have been involved, and authorities were told the SUV likely was headed to a home on Airline Drive, just across Harvey Mitchell Parkway from the apartments.

A portion of Airline Drive was blocked off, and the SUV -- with one person sitting insde -- was found in an alleyway behind Airline Drive. A fourth person believed to have been involved was found in a home in the 1300 block of Airline Drive. Police said the SUV had several bullet holes.

According to College Station police spokesman Lt. Craig Anderson, there was a fist fight between the four people before two tried to leave and return to Airline Drive. Police are not disclosing the nature of the argument, but Anderson said the four are not related and no drugs were found at either home. At this point, no one is facing legal repercussions for the altercation that took place before the gunfire.

"It looks like it may have been a mutual-combat situation, but our detectives aren't sure at this point," Anderson said. "It's still being investigated."

As two of the people involved in the fight were driving to Airline Drive in their SUV, police say Nelson shot at the vehicle. Authorities said before his arrest, Nelson admitted he had been involved in the fist fight and showed them where the handgun he allegedly used was located.

"At this point the charge is for deadly conduct, not aggravated assault, because nobody was actually hit by the gunfire," Anderson said, although he noted the district attorney could decide to change the nature of Nelson's charge.

Officers remained stationed in the 1300 block of Airline Drive late into the night Tuesday. The area is not considered a problem area, officials said.

"The Flats on 12 is not one of those places where we have a lot of calls for service," Anderson said of the apartment complex.

Barbara Moore, coordinator for the city of College Station's Neighborhood and Community Relations, said an incident like this one is an anomaly for the area.

"The only thing I vaguely remember hearing from there is about the apartments behind [the Flats on 12] on Valley View Drive," she said. "They've had issues in the past."

The Flats on 12 came into new ownership about two years ago, and the owners remodeled and rebranded the apartments, Moore said.

"They haven't lowered their standards or application requirements in a way that would attract the kind of people into [illegal activity]," Moore said. "Actually, they've been trying to do the opposite of that with all these changes."

Nelson remains in the Brazos County Jail. As of Wednesday night, bond had not been set.
With the one-year term she was elected to fill last November drawing to a close, College Station Councilwoman Linda Harvell is seeking re-election to her Place 3 seat on the City Council.

If re-elected, it would be her first successful campaign for a full three-year term on the council. She ran unsuccessfully for incumbent Councilwoman Julie Schultz's Place 5 seat in 2014 but won the one-year unexpired term left on the Place 3 seat last year that was created when Karl Mooney was elected mayor. Harvell says she's brought change to the council during the 11 months she's served and hopes voters recognize that the third time around in her race against local marketing consultant Dallas Shipp.

"Two years ago running against an incumbent, I got 43 percent of the vote. That's significant," Harvell said. "That's residents right there saying, 'We need a change.' Last year I won by the gap that I did (more than 3,000 votes), that's residents saying, 'We need a change, and that's Linda Harvell who will make that change.' "

Harvell, 69, said the focus of her three campaigns have remained consistent in their focus on neighborhood integrity, and says she's established herself as an advocate for residents. Their voices have been heard more since she joined the council, Harvell said.

"The amount of people who just want to be heard, I think, is pretty amazing," Harvell said. "They want to have a voice, they just want someone to listen to them. ... Just kind of becoming known as a neighborhood advocate, that's quite an honor."

Though for the past two years she was positioned as being anti-growth and anti-development, Harvell said she's learned since joining the council to consider the potentially less desirable projects that could be built on land near neighborhoods if rezonings for new subdivisions or multi-family projects aren't approved. She points to her votes this year in favor of a new subdivision between Greens Prairie Road West and Arrington Road and for the Caprock 10 apartment complex at the intersection of Arrington Road and Old Arrington Road.

Those votes in favor of projects that bring dozens of residents to City Hall to speak against the rezonings have been the hardest for Harvell, she said, because she felt like she was "letting the neighborhoods down." But it's been a "real eye opener" realizing that drive-throughs, distribution centers or other developments that would have more of an impact on neighboring residents could be built if rezonings for housing aren't approved, she said.

"I've been very pleasantly surprised at how many developers and builders told me that I'm fair, that I listen to them," Harvell said. "They've been pleasantly surprised that I just haven't said 'no' to everything. They've all taken the time to educate me, because I'm not in that industry."

Neighborhoods remain at the heart of her campaign. Harvell said she's spoken to city staff about how to handle the rezoning process more effectively when it comes to notifying residents of potential land-use changes near their homes. The city needs to find a better way to publicize the information early in the process, whether that be through working with homeowners associations or other means, she said. She also believes the council itself needs to be more respectful of residents who attend meetings to speak against rezonings near their neighborhoods.

"It's heartbreaking to sit up there on the dais and have people who have come in and they've got 400 signatures on a petition, and they just ask to be heard, and they are basically told, 'We don't care what you think, we're gonna pass this, we don't care.' That's wrong," Harvell said.

Harvell, who moved to College Station in 1955 at 5 years old and lives in her childhood home in the historic Southside neighborhood, said she plans to be the neighborhood advocate residents need. Among her other priorities is pushing for a way to fund infrastructure improvements and road maintenance needed as the city experiences rapid growth.

"I think that infrastructure is huge, and the fact that over the next 10 years we're being told we have over $200 million worth of projects that need to be done, and we don't have the money to pay for it ... I'm concerned about that," Harvell said. "It's the main thing the incoming city council needs to tackle. If there is a game plan, I haven't head of it."

She voted in favor of this year's 2.5-cent tax increase and said it was an easy decision because it was needed to fund the city's new $28 million police department; funding and retaining personnel in the city's police and fire departments is another one of Harvell's main concerns. But Harvell said more tax increases in the future would need to justified, and that the city should "see what we can do internally" first to increase revenue streams to pay for infrastructure needs and other service level adjustments that result from growth.

As a small-business owner -- she is the owner and CEO of Texas Trading Post, an online retail store she started with her late husband -- Harvell said if elected she also plans to focus on making College Station more business-friendly. Another "pet project" she hopes to complete is securing land for a "Welcome To Historic Wellborn" sign that was promised to residents there when the city annexed the small community in 2011.

Harvell said residents need a "balanced" City Council, which she would provide as a candidate with no conflicts of interest.

"I've learned so much, but there just is a desire to continue to serve my city," Harvell said.

Early voting begins Oct. 23 and runs through Nov. 3. Election Day is Nov. 7.
Local marketing consultant and political newcomer Dallas Shipp said he decided to run for a seat on College Station City Council after it approved a 2.5-cent tax rate increase for the fiscal year that began earlier this month.

"I've complained about a lot of things for a long time -- especially in the business community here, there's kind of this running joke of 'it's just so difficult to do business in the city of College Station,' " Shipp said. "And so when the talk began about increasing property tax rates this summer, that was kind of my [moment of], you know what, I'm gonna throw my name in the hat and give this a shot."

He is running against 11-month incumbent Linda Harvell for the Place 3 seat.

Shipp describes himself as an outside-the-box thinker with the creativity needed to solve the city's pressing issues, including understaffing in the police and fire departments and looming infrastructure needs as the city grows. The City Council "has a lot of catching up to do" to find ways to pay for those needs, Shipp said, but "you can't put all that on the backs of property owners."

"I understand that as the city grows, we have to grow with it, so I am very forward-thinking when it comes to what needs to happen for that," the 36-year-old said.

Rather than continuing to raise taxes, Shipp said his primary concern, if elected, would be to find a way to diversify the city's tax base. He proposes a strong focus on recruiting more business to town, which he said likely will require streamlining the process business owners currently go through when opening or expanding locations in College Station.

The hurdles business owners have to jump through with the city, whether it be with landscaping requirements or color palettes, currently stifles business growth, Shipp said, and has led some to choose to locate in Bryan over College Station.

A common thread of business growth runs through almost all of Shipp's campaign goals.

Recruiting businesses and their employees to move to College Station will be difficult, Shipp said, if the lack of affordable housing continues.

Affordable housing is a main area of concern he hopes to tackle. While Shipp doesn't believe it's the council's job to necessarily "create" more affordable housing, he does think the impact fees on new homes the council approved last year have contributed to the issue. Shipp said he would consider reducing the fees, which have made it more expensive for builders to construct homes, while also considering ideas such as changing lot size requirements to allow builders to put more houses on a street, which could lower the overall cost per home.

And while he can't yet say exactly where cuts should be made, Shipp said the council needs to do a better job of ranking needs and identifying areas where costs in low-priority programs or departments can be trimmed.

"It's a balancing act," Shipp said. "To me, it seems more common sense than we've made it out to be the past 20 years I've been here."

Shipp perceives a divide both on the current council and in the city as a whole when it comes to growth -- that "you're either pro-neighborhood or pro-business." The two aren't mutually exclusive, he said, but there seem to be two "camps" in town on the issue, which is what Shipp said separates him from Harvell. There are those who want to see College Station remain the way it was decades ago, he said, and those who understand the city has to grow. The city needs a candidate who is pro-growth but understands the importance of having strong neighborhoods, Shipp said, adding that he's supported by individuals in the real estate community as well as neighborhoods.

There's a "smart way" to plan for the commercial development the city needs when it's in the area of single-family homes, Shipp said, and that includes mitigating potential negative impacts through tools such as outdoor lighting and height requirements. He also pointed to the efforts made by the owners of Aggieland Outfitters to involve residents of the Southside neighborhood when the business was requesting its controversial rezoning for a new location at George Bush Drive and Fairview Avenue.

"This isn't about plowing through neighborhoods to put businesses up, and it's not about keeping businesses away from any neighborhood in town," Shipp said. "This has to be a common-sense approach that takes all of that into account, but at the end of the day, we have to create a city in College Station that has more of a culture of 'yes' when it comes to development. We just need to do it in the right manner."

As a marketing professional with a writing background, Shipp said he would have the advantage of being able to "tell the story" and communicate the city's needs and the council's actions. In addition to being a creative problem solver with relationships that can help bridge the gaps between the city and other parts of the community, including Texas A&M, Shipp said he also sees himself differing from Harvell in his ability to articulate his decisions.

"You may disagree with me, but I'm going to tell you why I came to this decision," Shipp said.

Early voting begins Oct. 23 and runs through Nov. 3. Election Day is Nov. 7.
Thanks to the collaboration of several local groups, a new van is now available to transport veterans from Bryan-College Station to doctor's appointments in Temple -- but volunteer drivers are still needed.

Each weekday, a van brings up to a dozen veterans to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Temple. From there, veterans either go to specialist appointments in Temple that are not available at the College Station clinic or catch another bus to a Waco medical center.

The shuttle service is simply a convenience for some veterans and a lifeline for others who are unable to make the 150-mile roundtrip on their own.

"This is the only way that many of them have to get to their doctors' appointments in Temple and Waco," said Conrad R. Pauling, commander of the local Disabled American Veterans chapter, which spearheaded the campaign for donations.

With the help of the American Legion Post 159, Vietnam Veterans of American 937, the Bryan Evening Lions Club and the Republican Women of the Brazos Valley, the DAV raised just under $20,000 for the van.

The new van will replace the previous bus, which has reached 200,000 miles, putting it out of commission.

"We're already working on another new campaign to get another van," said John Velasquez, chairman of the DAV campaign. "It takes about three years."

Dr. Charles Hachem with the College Station clinic said around 4,500 veterans visit the local center. Of those, he estimates that around 30 percent go to Temple for appointments.

The veterans who come to the center for primary care vary widely in their needs and age, although the majority are older, Hachem said.

Some of the volunteer drivers are getting older as well. Volunteer coordinator Gary Byrd said he and his fellow drivers are looking for some additional help from people willing to give up a full day a couple times a month.

"We're getting old," he said. "We've got one drivers who's about 85 -- I think he's ready to quit. Some of the drivers have been driving for 20 years."

Byrd, a Vietnam veteran, began driving himself a few years ago after meeting a few drivers at the American Legion Post.

"I enjoy meeting the patients," he said. "There are a lot of interesting people from all different wars. I've had everything from WWII to boys in Iraq and Afghanistan going to Temple."

Michaele Jackson began driving in 2006, a year after her husband -- who was a veteran -- died. She said she volunteers as a way to give back to the military.

"I enjoy listening to their stories," she said. "Sometimes they talk all the way there and back, sometimes they sleep all the way there and back, but they appreciate what we do."

Nancy Duran, who likes to knit while she waits, has been driving for three years. She has a much more succinct way of explaining why she volunteers.

"It needs doing," she said.

Those interested in volunteering can contact the Voluntary Service Office in Temple at 254-743-0515 or 254-743-0740 or visit www.centraltexas.va.gov/giving/Volunteering.asp for more information.

According to the website, those interested in volunteering must complete an application packet, attend a preliminary interview, go through orientation and training, pass a background investigation and take a tuberculosis test.
The fall of Harvey Weinstein: Itll likely make for a seriously rancid biopic someday, though Harvey Weinstein is unlikely to produce it. He wouldnt be right for the material anyway. Hes too close to it.

If this were a movie, The Fall of Harvey Weinstein (working title) is a grim cautionary tale about twisted male privilege and a powerful, Oscar-winning movie mogul who fancied himself a ladies man but was brought low, at long last, by deeply sourced accounts in The New York Times and The New Yorker alleging decades of abuse, with first-person accounts of Weinsteins behavior from a long line of actresses, assistants and colleagues.

The story sounds so good, I want to buy the movie rights, Weinstein said in a statement published in Variety and other news outlets before The Times first story earlier this month.

Now, Weinstein has been removed by his (all-male) board and kicked out of the family business. His wife reportedly is leaving him. Hes seeking counseling. Hes working on it. He wants a second chance.

I say we give that second chance to someone, anyone, other than Harvey Weinstein. Someone who knows what it means to be humiliated, bullied, sexually harassed. Someone harboring a Weinstein story of her own. Such a person still may be looking for a first chance, as opposed to a second  a way up, and into, the world of the dinosaur men.

Who knows? The worst excesses, the most galling behavior, may change because of this. Things may change a little less slowly, grudgingly, because of the Weinstein scandal.

Maybe over time the movie industry will enable fewer dinosaurs. Maybe a few more men in power will realize that dinosaurs (Weinstein has characterized himself as one, or at least one of his advisers, Lisa Bloom, did) went out for a reason.

The New Yorker account included an audio clip from a 2015 New York Police Department sting operation, put into motion (and ultimately shelved) after model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez reported an alleged Weinstein assault that March. At the Tribeca Grand Hotel, Gutierrez wore a wire and secretly recorded her hallway exchange with Weinstein. The dialogue has the nervous, sweaty air of the truth: sleaze verite.

Weinsteins in his hotel room. The door is open. Gutierrez is trying to stay in the hall. Im gonna take a shower, you sit there and have a drink, he says. She declines. Nevertheless, he persists.

Then a shift in tactics: shaming the reluctant woman, making her feel like a hysteric. Dont embarrass me in the hotel, Im here all the time, he mutters.

In Clifford Odets The Big Knife, a play and a subsequent movie about venal doings in Tinseltown, the character Charlie Castle asks his wife: Am I the worst oaf in the world? Her reply: The worlds a big place. Youre the worst one in my life.

Im speculating, but Weinstein surely has had his moments this week, wondering to himself: Did I miss my time? In the old days, studio heads such as Louis B. Mayer and Harry Cohn got away with so much when it came to women, especially women on their payrolls. In her memoir, Child Star, Shirley Temple Black alleged that MGM producer Arthur Freed, responsible for several of the greatest musicals in history, unzipped his fly and exposed himself to her in a closed-door meeting. She was 12.

Weinsteins victims were older. And numerous. Actresses and filmmakers among others, from Rose McGowan to Angelina Jolie to Asia Argento, have come forward and spoken on the record about their encounters with the man behind the money behind Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting and The Kings Speech.

As a result, Hollywood and the industry took stock this week, though many men (and some women) were slow to criticize, or acknowledge what a scumbag they had in Harvey. This wasnt bad-boy behavior. This wasnt locker room talk, to use our current U.S. presidents defense for the sexually assaultive language he used on the Access Hollywood tape.

Prior to the first Times report, Weinstein chalked up his behavior to having come of age in the 60s and 70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then. Oh, well. Whats a predator to do?

The karmic timing of Weinsteins fall is remarkable. It came a year, nearly to the day, after Trumps grab-em audio. That became the scandal that wasnt, the non-scandal that may, in fact, have helped him get elected. Just one of the guys. No class, and not even trying. Thats one trait, among others, shared by the desperately pathetic movie producer and the desperately unprepared politician: no class, not even trying.

The behavior of both men, one a Democrat, the other an alien sort of Republican, suggests the belief that the right combination of ruthlessness and self-perceived charm means a guy can get away with anything.

In The Bad and the Beautiful, another Hollywood scandal-sheet melodrama, the unscrupulous producer played by Kirk Douglas lets loose with a confession, calling himself a liar, cheap and cruel. Well  maybe I like to be cheap once in a while! Maybe everyone does! Weinsteins idea of cheap, and once in a while, bears no relation to The Bad and the Beautiful.

Should it ever come to pass, that Harvey Weinstein biopic might best be titled The Bad, Period.

And should it happen, I hope Asia Argento, whose 1999 film Scarlet Diva re-created (while naming no names) her initial, bleakly memorable encounter with Weinstein, gets together with Rose McGowan, Mira Sorvino, Rosanna Arquette and all the others to write, produce and direct the movie.

Michael Phillips is the Chicago Tribune film critic. Email him at mjphillips@chicagotribune.com.
Why redesign exit and entrance ramps to make them worse?

I don't understand what is wrong with the person who thinks money is no object. The deathtrap the state designed on Earl Rudder Freeway is awful and dangerous.

The exit south-bound off the freeway at Harvey Road is so dangerous, as is the entrance and exit ramps on north-bound Earl Rudder Freeway. It looks like whomever designed them doesn't know what he or she is doing or just don't care.

Aside from being dangerous there was nothing wrong with the old ramps, but the state must have thought we have taxpayer money so let's spend it.

Then there is the numbskull who thought it would be a good idea to put rumble strips on both sides of F.M. 1179. I try to stay in my lane so I don't feel them, but the times I have run over them feel like I'm losing control of my car.

I wish the Texas Department of Transportation would find better things to do instead of making things more dangerous.

CHARLES W. WATSON

Bryan

Thanks for the help in making National Night Out a success

We want to thank everyone who helped make our National Night Out a success in spite of the rain. We were visited by College Station Police officers, other local law enforcement agencies, College Station Fire Department officers, deputy voter registrars and Mayor Karl Mooney, all who came out to meet our neighbors.

Thanks to Jacob's Well, Sonic, Chicken Express and McDonald's for donations of water, ice and cups.

We couldn't have done this without help from Covenant Presbyterian youth and members, United Campus Ministries, Boy Scout Troop 1222, Kappa Alpha Theta and Edelweiss Estates HOA. A live band, bounce houses and a party train added to the festivities. We enjoyed getting to know each other.

JUDY BOCHNER and JEFF ALLEN, Realtor

College Station

Thank you to Christopher Columbus for opening the New World

Historical nihilists who heap scorn on Christopher Columbus would do well to remember that his immediate successors destroyed Mayan and Aztec culture. Without Columbus, people still might have their hearts carved out and their bodies rolled down temple stairs.

Without Columbus, Christianity might not have come to the indigenous savages of the Americas.

Without Columbus, you malcontents might not be here to trash the "New World," which has allowed most of us to prosper.

Remember, people fled Europe to find opportunity and freedom, and they succeeded. Thank you so much, Chris.

W.R. KLEMM

Bryan
By PTI: wife

Chandigarh, Oct 12 (PTI) Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice to the Centre on a writ petition filed by a woman, seeking repatriation of her husband -- a solider of 1971 war-- from Pakistan.

The HC bench of Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain issued notice to the Ministry for External Affairs and BSF for November 11 while acting on a petition filed by Angrez Kaur, resident of Faridkot.

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She has sought direction to get her husband, Surjit Singh, a constable in BSF, who was captured by Pakistani Army during 1971-war on December 4, 1971, repatriated, said petitioners counsel H C Arora.

However, the BSF authorities presumed him to have been killed in the war in Chhamb Sector, he said.

Among other evidence, the petitioner relied upon a statement given by Pakistani Human Rights activist Ansar Burney on April 28, 2011, in Pakistan to a newspaper claiming that constable Surjit Singh of India was in Pakistan Jail, after he had completed 20 years imprisonment, Arora added.

The petitioner also stated that in 2004 too there were news reports that her husband was being released but on going to border to receive him, she found that one Makhan Singh, who was undergoing imprisonment in Pakistan, had been repatriated to India, in the assumed name of Surjit Singh, said Arora. PTI SUN CHS VSD RCJ

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My name is Angelica Ortiz. I am a Wayuu woman from the Ipuana clan of the Lomomato indigenous reserve in La Guajira, Colombia. I am a human rights defender and part of the Wayuu Women's Force Movement. I am also a mother.



October 12th is a significant date for me and for the Wayuu people. It is the day they say they discovered America, but we were already here when the Spanish arrived. If they did discover our lands and our cultures, then they also found out the ways to force us into submission. Today is about remembering those cultures and peoples whose resistance wasn't enough, those who've been erased.



In Colombia, the Spanish inquisition set up a system whereby indigenous communities had to pay the crown a royalty for being allowed to work the land. Through that system, they placed barriers on the original people of the land, rounded them up and told them "you can't cross these borders", and in the process, created the reserves that we live on today.



Irreversible impacts

Today, we see a new form of conquest, the land is being stripped of its minerals. For us, the coal, the oil and the minerals are the organs of our land, which is slowly being killed. If you take the organs out of a person, you kill them.



Cerrejon Coal, the biggest opencast mine in Colombia, has been present for four decades in La Guajira. More than 32 million tonnes are exported annually. Of this, 46% goes to Europe.

The exploitation and export of this coal, and the company's intention to double these quantities, have led to the violation of fundamental rights of the African-descent, Wayuu and peasant communities of La Guajira, the second poorest province in the country, which has long suffered the consequences of the social and armed conflict.

Around 35 communities have been displaced by mining activity. Just five have been partially resettled. The health and livelihoods of the people have been affected, along with their access to water.



Those resources and people haven't been protected by the Colombian state, instead president Santos' mining and energy locomotive, which is what they call their development model, has caused great and irreversible impacts on us. If we look at all the impacts that we have had in the Guajira, it all comes down to their so-called development.

Things are not like that

For us, territory is everything. It is life, water and food. It is where we pass on our culture and knowledge. It is where we practice our spirituality. For the Wayuu, it is the right to self-determination and our ancestral rights, based on our history.
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) The Delhi High Court today set aside the disciplinary action taken by JNU against 15 of its students, including ex-JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar, in connection with a controversial event on February 9 last year in the varsity.

Justice V K Rao remanded the issue back to the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to be decided afresh after allowing the students to inspect the records and hearing them.

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The court told JNUs appellate authority to pass a reasoned order within six weeks of hearing the students, who also included Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, that the varsity did not give them due opportunity to defend themselves against the charge of indiscipline.

The students in their pleas had also challenged their punishment, which ranges from rustication for a few semesters to withdrawal of hostel facilities.

The appellate authority of the university had rusticated Umar from JNU till December this year, while Bhattacharya was asked to be out of the varsity for five years.

Kanhaiya, Khalid and Bhattacharya were earlier arrested in a sedition case in connection with the February 9 event on the campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

They were later granted bail in the case in which charge sheet has not yet been filed. PTI HMP SKV PPS RRT ARC

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At Bannerghatta zoological park, near Bangalore, India, keepers feed the white tigers around 5 p.m., after the last safari vehicle has turned off its engine and all the tourists are gone.

On Saturday night, the task of feeding the park's white tiger cubs fell to a new employee media reports identified as Anjaneya, who had his caretaker job for just a week.

The tiger cubs pounced as the man collected discarded bones from their meal.

The one-and-a-half year old cubs - Vanya and Jhansi Rani - were resting inside with their mother, Soorya, at the same time the new hire was cleaning up.

One of the cubs swiped at the keeper and then bit him on the neck, according to the Times of India, then the second cub joined in.

Anjaneya's screams attracted more tigers, dragging him back into the safari enclosure.

Zookeepers responding to the mauling were unable to get to Anjaneya because of the tigers, which appeared to be acting protectively over what they saw as their prey, officials said.

Anjaneya, who the Times said lived in Hakki Pikki colony, died a short time later of his wounds, sparking a police investigation and outcry from his family, who claim that the park had been negligent.

Their chief question: Why was one of the park's newest employees tasked with one of its most dangerous jobs?

Compounding the concern, Anjaneya's killing was the second tiger-related incident in as many months at the zoo.

Last month, staffers who manage the safari enclosures left the wrong gate open, leading "to a ferocious fight between Royal Bengal tigers and white tigers," according to NDTV.

"It is basically a mishap," forestry official C. Jayaram told the broadcaster, faulting "people who are lethargic" with the error. "While closing the gates there was some lack of coordination. They have entered into the same enclosure, there was a fight."

One white tiger, a nine-year-old named Shreyas, died four days after the attack at the park that bills itself as a sanctuary for endangered lions and tigers.

The zoo that would become Bannerghatta National Park was carved out of the surrounding national forest in the 1970s to provide a place to preserve endangered species such as tigers and elephants.

It is also a tourist destination for people who live in Bangalore, one of India's most populous cities, just a few miles away.

The zoo also serves as a rescue center for lions and tigers that have been saved from European circuses, according to its website.

In total, the park houses nearly 2,000 animals, including collections of Bengal tigers, leopards and lions.

Director Santosh Kumar said police are conducting an investigation into the keeper's death, but he defended the zoo's practices.

He said a senior staffer was around at the time: "In fact, the tigers chased him too. But he was lucky to get to a safe place. We're conducting an inquiry."

Kumar said it appears that Anjaneya didn't operate the holding gates properly.

At 18 months old, the tiger cubs aren't fully grown, but they are sizable. Tiger cubs mature quickly, according to Live Science, and begin learning to hunt when they are eight weeks old. In the wild, they set off on their own after two years.

Kumar said zoo rules only allow experienced staffers to work in the tiger enclosure.

Such incidents raise questions about individual facilities, but also about the dangers of caging apex predators.

In May, a British zookeeper was mauled after being trapped in the Hamerton Park Zoo's tiger enclosure with at least one of the big cats.

The zoo called Rosa King's death a "freak accident" involving a zookeeper who had been employed there for 14 years.

Horrified witnesses said they could see zookeepers sprinting to the edge of the tiger enclosure, throwing pieces of meat at the tigers as a distraction.

In 2016, 38-year-old zookeeper Stacey Konwiser was killed while preparing the "night house" at the Palm Beach Zoo. The house is where the animals are cleaned and fed, then boarded overnight.

And last summer at Beijing Safari World, a woman was injured and her mother killed after the younger woman got out of their car and was dragged off by a tiger.

The mother was attacked and killed by a second tiger.

The incidents illustrate that captive big cats are dangerous animals that can't turn off their predatory instincts, experts say.

"These accidents happen, you know, on some kind of a recurring basis around the world," Doug Cress, CEO of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, told The Post after King's death. "And it's because you're dealing with animals that, at their genetic core, are built differently than we might like them to be. They are designed to be wild animals."

Tigers are dangerous even to people who've been dealing with them for years, said Susan Bass, director of public relations at Big Cat Rescue, a sanctuary for more than 80 tigers, lions, bobcats and cougars.

"They're the ultimate predator, and they're hard-wired to go after and eat meat. People are meat," Bass told The Post in May. "And they're bored silly in zoos. They're supposed to be roaming hundreds of miles, so they're constantly looking for ways to get out."
By PTI: (Eds: With more details)

New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) In a relief to former JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar and 14 other students, the Delhi High Court today set aside the disciplinary action taken against them by the university in connection with an event organised there in February last year.

Justice V Kameswar Rao said the Jawaharlal Nehru Universitys (JNU) orders imposing varying punishments on the students was issued without following the principles of natural justice, as they were given limited time to inspect the records based on which the punitive actions were taken.

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The court sent the matter back to the varsitys appellate authority, the Vice Chancellor, to be decided afresh after giving two days to each student to inspect the records and one week to file an appeal against the penalties imposed on each of them.

Thereafter, the appellate authority shall hear each of the students and subsequently, after considering the appeals filed by them, "pass a reasoned order as expeditiously as possible", preferably within six weeks from the date of hearing, the court said in its judgement.

It also clarified that the students would abide by their undertakings given earlier to the court that "they shall not indulge in any strike or dharna or agitation or coercive action in future in connection with the issue, till such time the proceedings between the parties attain finality".

The verdict came on the pleas of the students, also including Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya who had claimed that JNU did not give them due opportunity to defend themselves against the charge of indiscipline, as all of them were only given a few hours to inspect the records containing the allegations against them.

Apart from the charge of indiscipline against them, the students in their pleas had also challenged their punishment, which ranged from rustication for a few semesters to withdrawal of hostel facilities and fines.

The appellate authority had rusticated Umar from JNU for one semester, while Bhattacharya was rusticated till July 15, 2016 and then declared out of bounds from the entire varsity campus from July 25, 2016 for a period of five years.

Kanhaiya was slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000 for being part of the February 9, 2016 event on the campus against hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

After the event, the varsity had set up a High Level Enquiry Committee (HLEC) which had recommended disciplinary action against the 15 students.

The students had contended that the HLEC gave its findings without hearing them and later based on its recommendations, the university had imposed the punishments and penalties on them.

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Kanhaiya, Khalid and Bhattacharya were earlier arrested in a sedition case in connection with the February 9 event.

They were later granted bail in the case in which charge sheet has not yet been filed. PTI HMP SKV PPS ARC

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WILTON  Restaurant-goers will have the chance to explore new tastes and revisit favorites at local eateries participating in the fifth annual Fall Restaurant Week, from Oct. 16 through Oct. 22.

The weeklong event is organized by the Wilton Chamber of Commerce and is one of many events aimed at fostering an innovative business environment in town.

Click through the slideshow to see some of the participating eateries.

Were very proud of and excited about our restaurant scene in Wilton and Georgetown and this is our opportunity to showcase them and help to hopefully attract new business to our restaurant community, said Debra Hanson, the chambers executive director. And we do it twice every year with that intent.

Restaurants located in Wilton and Georgetown are invited to participate every year by designing their own prix-fixe menus or by offering promotional specials throughout the week.

New to this year is Wilton Cares Day on Monday, in recognition of October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Participating restaurant and retailers will donate a portion of their proceeds on that day to the Domestic Violence Crisis Center, which serves Wilton, Weston, Westport, Norwalk, New Canaan, Darien and Stamford. Levco is also partnering with the chamber this year for a pumpkin carving contest sometime during the week, Hanson said.

The Pastry Hideaway, a full-service bakery that opened in Wilton in April, is one of the newer restaurants participating this year.

Owner and head chef Pamela Graham said she is excited to introduce food items outside of her regular repertoire, from Petit Gateaus to special mousse cakes.

Were going to do some special things for customers next week, so were excited, she said. Its a big deal, restaurant week, and we really hope to rise to the occasion.

Some food items offered during restaurant week are such a hit that they make it onto the regular menu permanently, said Maria Pertesis, owner of Cactus Rose Restaurant.

She and her mother Katerina have participated in restaurant week since it started five years ago, around the same time they opened their Southwest-style Latin American eatery at 5 River Road.

It's a good way to give back to our loyal customers by offering special dishes made with quality ingredients at discounted price, Maria Pertesis said. Its also a way of introducing our food and margaritas to new customers.

Other participating restaurants include: Aranci 67, Bianco Rosso Wine Bar and Restaurant, Craft 14 Kitchen + Bar, Cactus Rose Restaurant & Tequila Bar, Little Pub, Lombardi's Trattoria, Marlys Bistro, Mediterraneo, Oak and Almond, Portofino Restaurant and Bar, Reiki Sushi & Aisian Bistro, Toozy Patza Pizza, Wilton Pizza and Washington Prime.

For more information, visit www.wiltonchamber.com or contact the chamber office at 203-762-0567 or at info@wilton chamber.com.

skim@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2568; @stephaniehnkim
Sue Berkeley and Eli Bob, an Australian couple with a real love for buying things in bulk, tied the knot on Saturday at a place the bride calls "a place that I love": their local Costco.

The store, in the Sydney suburb of Casula, was a natural choice for the couple's venue, because as the pair say, they spend a lot of time shopping there.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has revoked the license of Life Quest, a mental health center in Palmer.

The license revocation has an effective date of Oct. 20, said Leah Bucco-White, whos in charge of communications and legislative services for the Department of Health and Human Services.

The revocation is due to the facility not complying with licensing regulations. It was issued by the DHHS Division of Public Health.

Life Quest has a 15-day period in which to appeal. The appeal period expires Oct. 20. At this point, DHHS has not received an appeal, Bucco-White said.

A voice mail message left at Life Quest Thursday was not returned.

Merrick County Attorney Lynelle Homolka said she and the Merrick County Sheriffs Department are well aware of the situation at Life Quest.

The two offices have been working diligently with state agencies to ensure the safety and well-being of Life Quests residents, Homolka said. The residents safety, she said, is their foremost concern.

A 2008 story in The Independent said Life Quest contained 41 beds. Since 2003, the story said, Life Quest has given around-the-clock care to those with mental illness and other related disabilities.

At that time, Nancy Stephens was the owner of Life Quest.
Eighty-six Hall County Vietnam heroes returned to a rousing welcome home by a crowd of more than 500 people Wednesday evening at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport after spending several days in Washington, D.C. as part of the ongoing effort to recognize veterans for their service to the country.

The Allegiant flight with the veterans touched down at the airport at 5:38 p.m. As the veterans got off the plane, the VFW Honor Guard, the Tri-City Civil Air Patrol and an avenue of flags by the Nebraska Patriot Guard greeted them, along with a medley of U.S. Armed Forces service songs played by the Northwest High School Marching Band, a water salute by the Grand Island Fire Department and the roar of applause from the assembled crowd, who were waving flags and holding Welcome Home signs.

The third Hall County Vietnam Hero Flight took off from Grand Island for the nations capital on Monday morning. For three days, the veterans were wined and dined and honored for their service to the country, along with their emotional trip to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, which for many was their first time seeing it.

For Vietnam War veteran Don Mehring, the trip was an emotional experience.

I could cry right now, Mehring said, overwhelmed by the huge crowd who came out to the airport.

For Gregory Dobesh, the experience was wonderful but emotional.

It is just wonderful to see all of these people here, Dobesh said.

As Dobesh spoke, there was a fly-over by the Eagles Squadron honoring the veterans. That was really great, he said.

It was Dobeshs first time seeing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

It was very emotional, he said. It is hard to explain. It is just nice to see all the people recognizing all the veterans.

Vietnam War veteran Alan Hult, said the trip was very good.

There was always something to do and something to see, Hult said.

While Hult said he has been to the nations capital before, the Hero Flight was different as it was a shared experience with his fellow Vietnam veterans.

For Vietnam War veteran Mike Miller, the trip was a closure for the whole event.

It was something that was needed, Miller said. It was an excellent experience with the fellowship and everything.

Vietnam War veteran Bill Lawton said the trip was very gratifying. He said to see so many people welcoming the veterans back was amazing.

It was certainly different than it was when I first came back in 1972, he said.

Though Lawton has been to Washington, D.C., before, the Hero Flight was special and much more gratifying being with fellow veterans.

Vietnam War veteran Larry Rice also said the experience was great.

Rice, like many of the veterans on the Hero Flight, said words to describe their experience was difficult.

It is just hard to explain, Rice said.

There was also a brief ceremony for the veterans featuring Lt. Gov. Mike Foley.

Actions speak louder than words, Foley said. By the actions of their lives, by stepping up and serving their country so honorably and so capably, the values and the treasures of this country were so important to them that they were willing to put their very lives on the line to preserve that for us and for future generations. For that, we say, thank you very, very much.

Foley said he was in Washington, D.C., in 1982 when the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built, and related how emotional that dedication was and praised the veterans that day for their bravery and valor. He said that those who fought for their country during World War II have been called the greatest generation.

But that wasnt the last greatest generation, Foley said. The men before us (the Hero Flight veterans) are part of that still greatest generation. They answered their countrys call, they served us honorably and they came home to build America. Thank you for what you have given to our country and God bless you all.

Rev. Dr. Luke Biggs, pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Grand Island, also spoke at the ceremony.

Citing the national anthem, Biggs recalled the message of the lyric that was written as the capital was being sacked by the British in the War of 1812.

But one thing stood, it was the sign, the emblem of our flag, that says, We are about justice and freedom and liberty for all, Biggs said.

Biggs also remembered another of the nations heroes, Harlan Knepfel of Grand Island, a World War II veteran who, he said recently had his heros flight to Heaven.

He (who was wounded during the war) always talked about the horrors of war and these sounds that you cant get out of your head, he said. Yet, here is a guy whose heart beat for our country and said he would give his life for liberty and justice for all.

Biggs also talked about the horrible shooting in Las Vegas recently that killed 58 people and wounded more than 500. The valor and bravery he referred to shown by our veterans also took place that day as law enforcement ran towards the bullets of the terrorist.

We call them heroes, Biggs said. But for these guys (the Vietnam veterans) it wasnt nine minutes but 20 years as the sound of gunfire was the first sound in the morning and the last sound at night.

So, in a day and age where there was many who are a taking a knee at the playing of our anthem, he continued, we have come here today to do the opposite. We stand and we salute you for who you are  a group of people who gave your lives for us.
Dengue in Tamil Nadu peaked in 2012, when cases numbered 13,204 and then again this year, when 11,744 cases have been reported so far.

By Pramod Madhav: Arundhati's teachers and friends said she was one of the smartest kids in school.

But tragedy struck on Monday, when the 12-year-old died from dengue in Coimbatore's Dharapuram. The sight of the young girl's parents crying over her dead body has shaken the state of Tamil Nadu, where as many as 40 people have been killed by the mosquito-borne disease this year. 80 have died due to co-morbidity.

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And those are just the official figures. Opposition parties claim that up to 400 people have died.

Now, the state's health secretary has asked the public to join the battle against the disease.

CHECKING MOSQUITO BREEDING

"The dengue mosquito only requires 2mm depth of water to breed. In our state, the main cause for the spread (of the disease) is the availability of open water sources. In small houses, it's the blue drums, and in apartments, it would be the Syntex tanks which are left half open", Health Secretary Radhakrishnan said.

Radhakrishnan said any place where water is allowed to stagnate must be checked for mosquito breeding.

The government has even issued notices to shop-owners whose premises contain mosquito breeding sites, and has warned them that they will be fined.

PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES

Tamil Nadu's Health Department says that with 1 lakh doctors - including 20,000 employed by the government - the state is well-equipped to handle the spread of dengue. 125 ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test centres are working around the clock.

Almost all the ministers in the Tamil Nadu cabinet have recommended the use of 'nilavembu kashayam' (a soup made of papaya leaves), a drink which is said to boost immunity, but whose efficacy has not been established by research. But test results in the lab have apparently been good.

The Health Department has asked people to participate in a source eradication programme, and keep their surroundings clean.

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE PUBLIC

Residents of rural regions constantly complain of a lack of staff. In the absence of doctors, nurses in public hospitals are unable to prescribe medicines. Worried relatives take patients to private healthcare facilities instead.

A lack of awareness is another important challenge. Many still believe that only mosquitoes that bite at night are dangerous, and take fewer precautions during the day.

With the monsoon just a week away, the worst may be yet to come. Tamil Nadu will have to plan for the twin challenge of fighting natural calamities and epidemics.

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STATISTICS

Dengue in Tamil Nadu peaked in 2012, when cases numbered 13,204 and then again this year, when 11,744 (Until October 9th) cases were reported. The years between 2013 to 2016 had only an average of 4,500 dengue cases reported.

For 2017, Chennai stands with reported 1819 fever reported patients of which 507 admitted to the hospital. The maximum cases were reported in Madurai so far, going upto 1268 with 129 being treated for Dengue.

CAUSE OF DEATH

The main reason for the death caused by dengue is attribute to dengue shock syndrome. The syndrome affects generally children under 10 years old or elders with weak immunity.

The syndrome causes abdominal pain, bleeding and shock due to collapse of blood circulation and finally to Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever.

It has all the symptoms of a normal fever but within 2 to 6 days, the symptoms turn severe accompanied by blood in stool, bleeding gums and circumoral cyanosis. Apparently, after the patients get treated for a few days for fever, a dip stage occurs where the symptoms recede reacting to the medicine but as no monitoring of platelets counts are generally done, DHF occurs leading to death.

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However, the state's Health department has once again asked the people to avoid over the counter medicines and visit, preferably a government hospital if any fever persists for more than 4 days.

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Students preparing for careers in agriculture at Nebraskas community colleges gathered Wednesday at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds for the second annual Ag Summit, which allowed them to study various potential careers connected to the states largest industry.

The summit, held inside the Raising Nebraska Building, attracted students from Central Community College, Northeast Community College and Western Nebraska Community College. The event was hosted by N-PACE, which stands for Nebraska Precision Ag Center for Excellence, and Central Community College, which received a N-PACE grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to offer students a precision agriculture degree from its Agricultural Services division.

Students were divided into groups to listen to different speakers talk about career opportunities in agriculture. They also were allowed some time to visit individually with 17 agricultural companies and agencies which provide career opportunities, as well as possible internships.

Not surprisingly, many of the presentations and companies are part of precision agriculture. Allan Brax, CCC precision agriculture, involves the use of various technologies in agriculture. He said those technologies often begin with yield monitors that measure precise yields for a specific locations in a field, GPS or global positioning systems that can pinpoint precise locations in a field and GIS or geographic information systems that can do mapping of fields and row crows.

All those technologies help agricultural producers to better manage their fields through variable rate seeding, and multi-hybrid planting, variable rate irrigation and variable rate fertilizer.

He noted the next step is being able to pin down location to the inch, with the most accurate system RTK for real time kinematic. The brings the decision-making process down to the square inch  literally Brax said. Then you start variable rating your fertilizer not at the expense of yield.

And the environmentalists really like that, said Brax, who noted farmers are putting their fertilizers down in a prescription. He said farmers use prescriptions because this get a monetary return on it.

Brice Hodson, a first-year student from Curtis in precision ag at CCC-Hastings Campus, said the Ag Summit gave him a change to look for job opportunities and internships in agriculture. Between the formal presentations, students could stop at tables and displays set up by various agricultural companies. Hodsons first stop was at Titan Machinery. He noted one possible job with that company was working on tractors. But Hodson noted he wanted to stop at a couple more displays to talk to people about possible careers.

Hodson noted that he did not grow up on a farm, but he is looking for a way to get into an ag-related job.

Blake Kyriss, who lives with his grandparents on a farm near St. Libory, said, Im having a lot of fun (at the Ag Summit). Im learning a lot and the career fair I think is the best part for me. I like talking to the business representatives and seeing the opportunities. Kyriss said he also liked the formal presentations, but the career fair portion gave him the chance to ask his own questions of the business people. It also allowed him to pick out the exact businesses that he is interested in.

He said his ultimate goal is to get into production agriculture, but he said that is a challenge right now, with corn prices so low and land prices so high, it would take you several million dollars to be able to do that.

Kyriss noted that even though his grandpa is a farmer, there is no economically feasible way for him to give me everything he owns.

As a result, Kyriss said he is going to have to work hard to achieve his goal. Besides the jobs offered at the ag summit, one possibility is going to work for a really big farmer to be part of production agriculture.

The group that Hodson and Kyriss were part of listened to two agricultural companies, one that manufactures and sells center pivot irrigation that uses a wide variety of precision agriculture technology and the second that provides farmers with drip irrigation systems, that also use precision agriculture.

Brad Dunbar of Lindsay Corporation said the irrigation company offers careers in its service department, where people work on diagnosing problems, work in GPS-guided corners and work with its FieldNET technology, and its engineering staff who designs the technology. He said he sees the opportunity for a growing connection between irrigation and agronomy. Theres not a great crossover right now, he said.

Were seeing a lot of opportunity out there for guys who want to be entrepreneurs on the dealer side, Dunbar said. He said he has seen several guys who gone through the community college system who now have their own dealerships.
The Boy Scouts of America are teaming up with local residents in the Grand Island community in the fight against hunger.

This week, Oct. 9 to 14, the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts from Grand Island will disperse fliers around neighborhoods to ask for food donations. Residents are asked to leave donated items on their doorstep to be collected on Saturday, Oct. 14. If a flier was placed on your door, you are asked to place any donations on your door step by 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

Local Scouts will also be standing in front of local grocery stores on Saturday between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. collecting food that will then be transported to a local food pantry.

Items needed include: canned meats/fish, fruit juice, soups, baby formula, pasta, sauces, canned fruit, canned vegetables, baby cereal, powdered milk, peanut butter and individual snack items. No outdated or opened items will be accepted.

This food collection is part of Scouting for Food, an effort by packs and troops around the country to fight hunger.
The annual Nebraska State Twin Convention will be held in Grand Island on Oct. 21-22 at the Hotel Grand Conference Center.

The convention begins at 9 a.m. Saturday and will include a twin judging contest (twins dress alike or in Oz-themed outfit), a group photo, a tour of a local Wizard of Oz collection, painting while raising funds for a local charity and a makeover.
A Michigan mother said she's had a "rough few days" after serving nearly a week in jail for defying a court order to have her 9-year-old son vaccinated and then learning that he received several immunizations after she was locked up behind bars.

Rebecca Bredow, from the Detroit area, was sentenced last week for contempt of court nearly a year after an Oakland County judge ordered her to have her son vaccinated.

"It was the worst five days of my life pretty much," the 40-year-old mother told the Detroit Free Press Wednesday about her time in jail, "except for the fact that I just found out that he was vaccinated and I'm not going to get him back today.

"It's been a rough few days to say the least," she said.

Bredow's ex-husband, James Horne, who shares joint custody of their son, wanted the boy to be vaccinated, but Bredow had refused to do it on religious grounds.

"I can't give in against my own religious belief," she told The Washington Post last month, adding she is not against vaccination. "This is about choice. This is about having my choices as a mother to be able to make medical choices for my child."

Oakland County Circuit Judge Karen McDonald told Bredow last week that she is not the only parent who deserves a say in their son's care.

The judge granted Horne temporary custody of their son and ordered him to be vaccinated - and then sentenced Bredow on Oct. 4 to serve seven days in county jail. The Oakland County Jail gives inmates a one-day credit after successfully serving five days behind bars, so Bredow was released about midnight on Monday, according to the Detroit Free Press.

According to court testimony, Horne abided by the order and had the boy vaccinated Monday.

Attorneys for each parent could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday morning.

The American Medical Association has long decried allowing parents to decline vaccination for nonmedical reasons and has cited vaccines' ability to prevent diseases such as measles, mumps and other infectious diseases. Still, a majority of states allow religious exemptions for vaccinations. Nearly 20, including Michigan, provide exemption for religious and personal reasons. Only three, California, Mississippi and West Virginia, don't allow nonmedical exemptions.

In Michigan, parents or guardians of children enrolled in public and private schools are required to attend an educational session in which they learn about diseases that vaccines can prevent, before they're given waivers for nonmedical purposes.

Bredow said that's what she had done. She added that she and Horne had initially agreed to delay their son's vaccines for three months after he was born in 2008. Two years later, in 2010, she said they both agreed to suspend all immunizations, and their son has not had a vaccine shot since.

Bredow's version of Horne's agreement could not be independently confirmed. Attempts to reach his attorney Thursday morning were unsuccessful.

The legal dispute also comes amid a growing anti-vaccine sentiment, which began in 1998, when a medical journal published a now-discredited study linking vaccination with autism. The once-fringe movement has become more popular and received a nod of approval from Donald Trump, who repeatedly suggested a link between vaccination and autism before he ran for president.

In January, vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said President-elect Trump had asked him to chair a new commission on vaccines. A spokeswoman later said that Trump was exploring the possibility of creating a commission on autism. The plan appears to have stalled. Kennedy told STAT News last month that he has had no discussions with White House officials about the commission since February.

Several people who support Bredow gathered outside the Oakland County courthouse Wednesday, holding signs saying they "Stand with Rebecca" and "No Forced Shots."

Bredow's attorney, Steven Vitale, told reporters Wednesday that the case is about more than vaccinations.

He told the Detroit Free Press that Bredow has been the child's primary custodian but on Wednesday, the judge in the case approved a recommendation to have the mother and father split custody 50/50.

"She's devastated," Vitale said of his client, according to the newspaper.

Still, Bredow said, she does not regret her decision about vaccinations.

Bredow told the Detroit Free Press that her time in jail was "horrific," but "I still stand by my choices because I stand up for what I believe in."

Everything you need to know about the vaccine debate
Nebraskas frustrations with property taxes go back over 150 years, when Nebraska was still only a territory. Throughout the decades, many proposals have been made to reduce the burden of the property tax system, but none have really worked. In 2016, the State of Nebraska collected almost $4 billion in total property tax, or $2,048 per person.

While there is no magic solution for reducing the tax burden and keeping government revenues flowing, there is a proven way to peel back one outdated and unfair layer to Nebraskas property tax problem. Included in the property tax we pay on our homes and land (real property) is another property tax solely levied on businesses: the personal property tax. This tax is generally levied on machinery and equipment.

In 2016, the personal property tax in Nebraska made up 5.6 percent, or $217.1 million, of all property taxes collected. Statewide data show rural counties pay the most personal property tax per capita at $211.87. In 2016, rural counties and counties containing smaller Nebraska cities paid slightly more in personal property tax combined ($117.5) than in the metropolitan counties, which include Omaha and Lincoln ($99.6 million).

In the counties including and surrounding Grand Island there is a wide range of impact for the tax. For example, Hall County is ranked 84th out of the states 93 counties in personal property tax burden, while Hamilton County is ranked 7th. In Merrick County, the railroads pay more than 18 percent of the total tax, while in Hall County commercial businesses pay nearly 70 percent of the tax. In Nance County, agriculture businesses pay nearly 60 percent of the total tax burden.

Any solution for your county must first come from the Nebraska Unicameral, since state law mandates political subdivisions to collect personal property tax. Fortunately, state lawmakers have recently expressed interest in reforming or repealing the tax.

When looking at a regional snapshot, six Midwestern states  Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, and South Dakota  currently exempt all or nearly all personal property from taxation, while others, like Indiana and Michigan, have recently adopted reforms to reduce their personal property tax burdens. Clearly, Nebraska is operating at a competitive disadvantage when businesses can go to other states in the Midwest and avoid this economically detrimental tax.

But reforms will also require local input. While some may want to eliminate the tax in one swift move, that would leave most local governments with too a big hole in their revenue, possibly forcing other tax hikes.

A more incremental way would be best. For example, the state could mandate that a certain value of property be exempted, and slowly increase the amount each year until it essentially exempts all of the tax. Another incremental method would be to exempt new property. Over time, the older taxable equipment would be replaced with new, exempt equipment.

Either of these incremental methods allows local governments to avoid steep and sudden reductions in tax revenue. They also benefit economic growth by not penalizing businesses for upgrading or replacing old or inefficient equipment.

State lawmakers could also give political subdivisions the local option to reduce or eliminate personal property tax. Since reliance on the personal property tax differs greatly statewide, some may remove or reform the tax without incident, while others may choose to keep it.

History shows that sweeping promises of property tax reform have rarely worked out for Nebraskans. But other states have proven that something major can be done about personal property taxes.

In the current slowdown in Nebraskas economic growth, many are taking notice that the personal property tax targets the tools and investments needed for creating better-paying jobs and new services for consumers. Reforming the personal property tax would help Nebraska rebound by giving citizens much needed tax relief and removing barriers to businesses located within the state.
By PTI: (Eds: Correcting date in para 15)

New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh will be held in a single phase on November 9 with the hill state set to witness an intense battle between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.

Making the announcement here today, the Election Commission said the results will be declared on December 18.

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The dates for Assembly elections in Gujarat were not announced but Chief Election Commissioner A K Joti said the polls will be held before December 18.

"This is being done to ensure that the voting pattern of one state does not affect the other state...polling in Gujarat will be held before December 18 (when HP results are announced)," Joti told a press conference.

The tenures of Himachal and Gujarat assemblies end on January 7, 2018 and January 22 respectively.

"The Model Code of Conduct comes into force immediately," Joti said while announcing the poll schedule for Himachal Pradesh.

The model code of conduct will be applicable for Himachal Pradesh as well as for the Union government in matters related to the state.

For the first time ever, the Election Commission will set up 136 all-woman managed polling booths in Himachal Pradesh, with each constituency having two of them.

In the 68-member Assembly, the ruling Congress has 35 members while the strength of opposition BJP is 28. There are four independents while one seat is vacant.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will fight for a seventh term. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi last week declared Virbhadra Singh as the party?s next chief ministerial face, saying he will be chief minister for the seventh time.

The BJP will be fighting out on the back of a sweeping Lok Sabha victory in 2014 in the state too and landslide wins in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly polls in March. Responding to queries on why elections in Gujarat were not announced simultaneously, Joti said the imposition of Model Code with immediate effect would stop all government work and there was no need to prolong it beyond the required period.

The CEC said elections to the two states--HP and Gujarat-- were announced separately in the past too including in 1993, 1994 and 2002.

He said besides availability of central forces and festive season, the Gujarat government had told the Commission that several relief and rehabilitation works were on in the state following the July floods.

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The poll process in Himachal Pradesh will start with the issue of the gazette notification on October 16 when candidates can start filing their nominations.

Joti, who was flanked by Election Commissioners O P Rawat and Sunil Arora, said the last date for filing of nominations is October 23.

After scrutiny on October 24, the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 26, he said.

Himachal Pradesh will be the second state after Goa with 100 percent VVPAT (paper trail of votes) coverage. The paper trail machines will be deployed along with EVMs in all the 7,521 polling stations, including 42 auxiliary polling stations at remote places.

Joti said VVPAT machines from one polling booth in each of the 68 assembly constituencies will be tallied with EVM results to check the vote count. The Commission has also increased the size of the VVPAT paper trail screen, where voters can see for whom they have voted.

Joti said photo electoral rolls will be used for Himachal polls and photo identity cards have been issued to all voters.

He said voter slips will be distributed to each and every voter in the state seven days before the polls along with a voter guide brouchure in the local language of Hindi.

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The CEC said voter assistance booth will also be set up and the size of the standardised voting compartment will also be increased from 24 inches to 30 inches, keeping in mind the introduction of paper trail machines.

Each candidate contesting the poll will have to maintain a separate account of poll expenses, which have been capped at a maximum of Rs 28 lakh for Himachal Pradesh. However, the candidate will have to submit the election expenses to the returning officer within a period of 30 days after the declaration of results. PTI NAB SKC GSN GSN RT

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Eagles rally, then get sloppy in 4th quarter as undefeated hopes end

Several observations from the Eagles' Monday night game against the Washington Commanders.
Occasionally, a great biopic can be made that teaches someone something about a famous figure that they didn't know much about before. Consider "Ray" when you read this. Ray Charles was world famous and enormously popular before Jamie Foxx knocked his part out of the park. But much more exists at the heart of a man than his fame.

Just as often, these types of films can shed light on a figure we know everything about; this would be the "Lincoln" conceit. Leave it to Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis (arguably the greatest director and actor of their respective generations) to bring pathos and unexpected excellence to the nation's sixteenth President. That's the power of this popular genre when it's done right. When it's done wrong - and this happens far more often - the movies lose some of the romanticism that should be lavished on their focal character. Such is the case with Barry Seal and the story of the nation that allowed him to flourish in this weekend's "American Made".
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Linkedin EDITORIAL (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, October 12, 2017 08:05 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2427c7f 4 Editorial #Editorial,money-laundering,offshore-accounts,tax-collection,tax,#tax Free

Indonesias Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) are currently investigating the transfer of about US$1.4 billion believed to be stashed by Indonesian individuals abroad.

The probe aims to find out if the transactions, conducted by Standard Chartered Bank on behalf of its Indonesian clients from the banks trust unit in Guernsey, the United Kingdom and its office in Singapore in early 2015, were illegal and part of global money laundering operations.

Quoting a source, Bloomberg reported the money belonged to Indonesian nationals linked to the military and the transfer took place just months before a financial transparency rule was introduced in the English Channel isle.

Director General of Taxation Ken Dwijugiasteadi confirmed that the money is owned by Indonesian businessmen, but dismissed speculation of their connection to the military. He said a large part of the funds was moved to Singapore to take advantage of the governments tax amnesty program, which was officially launched in July last year.

The program offered a generous tax scheme to attract Indonesias wealthy to declare their unregistered funds and properties overseas.

Until today, the government has yet to find any indication that the whopping amount of money transferred from tax haven Guernsey to Singapore was a result of illicit activities. One thing is clear, however, is that the transfer further confirmed reports that Indonesias wealthy deposited tens of billions of US dollars overseas.

According to a study conducted by the global management consulting firm McKinsey in December 2014, Indonesian nationals kept about $250 billion worth of funds and other assets abroad. Last year, following a leak that showed more than 1,000 Indonesians have set up shell companies abroad, the tax office ordered 78 of them to revise their tax reports.

The disclosure by Standard Chartered of a mega transfer of assets belonging to Indonesian nationals serves as a warning that there is no safe haven where people can hide their money for whatever purpose, be it to avoid law enforcement or evade taxes.

The Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), which Indonesia has ratified, can reduce the incidences of tax evasion and fraud. Under this financial transparency policy, tax authorities in the participating countries can exchange data relating to the bank and the accounts of taxpayers.

The member countries of the G20, the 35-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other important financial centers, including Singapore, have committed themselves to implement the AEOI that will enable the government to detect tax revenue lost through non-compliance.

In July, the House of Representatives passed a law that grants tax offices direct access to financial information held by banks and other institutions as part of the AEOI. Beginning next year, Indonesia will automatically receive data and information of the financial accounts of Indonesian citizens in countries where AEOI is enforced and reciprocally share the same data of citizens of state parties to the global financial transparency mechanism.
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Linkedin Dwi Kiswanto (The Jakarta Post) London  Thu, October 12, 2017 15:49 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a24415e4 3 Opinion KPK,#KPK,corruption-eradication-commission,corruption-case,government Free

Over the last few months, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has arrested at least 10 regional heads and legislature member, only to show that corruption still flourishes beyond public awareness. The arrests also imply that combating graft in the country is an arduous task, especially considering the House of Representatives inquiry which arguably is intended to weaken the KPKs capacity and independence.

Between July and September 2017 alone, KPK has detained the Southeast Sulawesi governor, the regents of Klaten in Central Java, Pamekasan in East Java, Bengkalis in Riau and Batubara in North Sumatra, the mayors of Tegal in Central Java and Batu in East Java and a Banjarmasin legislature member. Most recently the KPK named suspect the regent of Kutai Kartanegara in East Kalimantan. The officials are all accused of abusing power, accepting bribes and misappropriating state money.

Almost 20 years after decentralization, corruption, and abuse of power do not appear to diminish. Instead, the authoritarian and corrupt regime of the New Order has reincarnated in a more localized way.

Since the early 2000s, when decentralization commenced, local officials have indulged greater powers in many aspects of policymaking, such as arranging and disbursing budgets, granting investment or mining permits and promoting staff. Concomitantly, in that period, the number of local actors convicted of budget misappropriation or power abuse has persistently on the rise. Regional autonomy seems to have decentralized acts of corruption.

There is a causal-mechanism to explain this phenomenon, which lies in the relationship between the uninterrupted autonomous power and the amount of resources managed by local authorities. Another variable is a lack of supervision by the central authorities, although this notion needs a separate and comprehensive elaboration.

The following few cases exemplify how after decentralization local actors continue to overly exert their power and intentionally disregard the supremacy of the law. Abdullah Puteh (Aceh, 2001), Saleh Djasit (Riau, 2002), Ismeth Abdullah (Riau Islands, 2005), Barnabas Suebu (Papua, 2008), Ratu Atut Chosiyah (Banten, 2013), Annas Maamun (Riau, 2014), Gatot Pujo Nugroho (North Sumatera, 2015) are all governors who stood trial for graft.

In the lower level, Henry Boedoro (Kendal, 2003), Syaukani Hassan Rais (Kutai Kartanegara, 2004), Yusak Yaluwo (Boven Digoel, 2006), Mohtar Mohammad (Bekasi, 2009), Soemarmo Hadi (Semarang, 2011) and other local bureaucrats were imprisoned for embezzling state money. Many of them stole money which was supposed to be allocated for social or emergency purposes.

Quite interestingly, many local actors also committed corruption in policy areas, indicating entrenched maladministration and manipulation of formal structure of the local bureaucracy. For instance, during budget deliberation or authorization, many rent seekers in the legislative and executive branches of power colluded. This practice occurred in Riau (2011), Semarang (2011), North Sumatra (2013) and Musi Banyuasin (2015).

This particular case displays at least three problematic issues. First, local executive power is dominated by personal political agenda. It is in line with a common understanding that a local leader is a position that owns unlimited discretionary authorities over local budget.

Second, the budgetary control function has been flawed with opportunistic and monetary motivated practices. It also means that local councilors have failed its institutional credibility.

Third, local bureaucrats have also been widely dragged into channeling politicians ambition to secure and maintain their power through illicit ways. This is one of the puzzling issues in Indonesias local governments as the bureaucrats were risking their positions if they did not compromise with the politicians instructions.

Abuse of power and corruption by local politicians and bureaucrats should give a cause for concern due to their direct impacts to citizens and potential to disrupt national stability. Corruption does not only lead to financial losses but also undermine the states credibility.

Through corruption, citizens have been consistently manipulated. Their contribution to state revenues through taxes and retributions has enriched officials and their cronies. Furthermore, the notion of autonomous local government that provides better services and builds closer and more trustful relationship with the public will lose its meaning and initial intentions.

Decentralized policymaking process has transformed into a transactional forum for local politicians and bureaucrats. This marks a circumstance, where predatory and informal networks do not only exist between public officials and society or private sector as evinced in vote-buying in local elections, kickbacks on procurement, or bribery in permit issuance.

More entrenched and more impactful the practice, it occurs and involves actors within public offices. The crime can even be more structured and controlled when established political clans control public institutions as familial ties help strengthen the informal networks on governance process and policymaking.

Of course, I have no intention to generalize corruption cases involving local government officials. Moreover, without disaggregating efforts to combat corruption at the national level, the public is now more engaged in the policymaking process or whistle-blowing mechanism.

Decentralization and democratization have collectively exposed local governments to a novel concept of accountability, in which their actions continuously come under the scrutiny of their constituents. Corruption and abuse of power might have manipulated constituents, but local officials who perpetrate the acts risk losing their credibility to govern.

****

The writer is a PhD candidate at Department of Politics and International Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

---------------

We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to academia@jakpost.com.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Jalur Rempah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Fri, October 13, 2017

The latest documentary explores the islands where wealth reduced people to slaves.

Dylan Amirio

The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Banda: The Dark Forgotten Trail opens a window to a piece of Indonesia forgotten by time, tarnished by a dark history, but bearing historical significance that matches the weight of the entire country.

The islands of Banda in eastern Indonesia, once colloquially named the Spice Islands, were once the most valuable pieces of property on Earth. Back in the 16th century, an abundance of spices never seen in the world attracted Europeans who aimed to dominate the trade of these valuable commodities.

Nutmeg was Bandas prized crop. Nutmeg itself was extremely versatile in the way that every part of the spice had a certain use, such as for food preservation, as a culinary flavor and as a basic ingredient of cosmetics. So valuable and rare was this spice in those days that its value exceeded that of gold, and the Dutch did everything they could to secure a monopoly, from killing the Banda natives to even going to war with the English.

Banda: The Dark Forgotten Trail, the new documentary directed by Jay Subyakto, discusses the entire history of the Banda Islands with raw, unfettered emotion and well-researched facts. It is a visually captivating movie, as the images of an unspoiled landscape string the wrenching stories gracefully on top of a moving soundtrack that recalls the music of synth-heavy band Survive.

The film explores the history of the Banda Islands from its pre-colonial era, when the Portuguese held the fort, to the brutal occupation by the Dutch, to its significance in Indonesian history as the port of exile for founding fathers Sutan Sjahrir, Mohammad Hatta and Tjipto Mangunkusumo.

As with many grandiose tales of treasure and desire, the Bandas significant history comes with long, savage periods of bloodshed, be it at the hands of the Dutch or even of the islanders themselves. The movie includes a wide range of statements from historians, locals and those who once lived on the Banda Islands, who tell their stories with visible passion.

One locals account of falling victim to the regional religious violence of the 2000s is told in a stoic manner yet with the kind of chilling impact seen in fellow Indonesian violence documentary The Act of Killing.

Banda and The Act of Killing both explore the blind cruelty that Indonesians are able to stoop to whenever faced with anything that challenges religious or social supremacy.

The conflict between Christians and Muslims that wrecked the Maluku region in the early 2000s seems to sting the hearts of the Banda natives even deeper than the Dutch occupation, because the destruction was carried out by the islands own people.

The destruction of present-day Banda Islands does not only come in the form of violence. Locals also tell the viewers of savage economical rape of the once glorious nutmeg trade by the companies that run it today, leaving the nutmeg farmers and harvesters with less than nothing. The way the natives are treated by the current, local companies mirrors the way the Dutch used to treat them centuries ago: as slaves.

Viewers can capture the emotions of the Banda people, who express their deep sentiments toward their history and toward an increasingly indifferent Indonesia, and the movie, which aims to elicit an emotional reaction more than anything else, succeeds in doing so.

The Banda Islands are of breathtaking beauty to the eye. There is no need to visually enhance the natural features that surround and are within the island group.

However, some historians and locals in the film lament the fact that the cold foot of globalization has begun to creep in. Parks are turned into multi-story government buildings, and the internet has rendered the youth rather unmotivated to preserve the Bandas of today. The modern age might have opened Bandas doors to the world even wider, but it comes at a risk to the island group itself.

The Bandas want tourists to boost their economy, but they also want to keep the islands spirit intact.

Jay Subyakto says it is up to the youth to give a darn about things like this, because they are the generation that masters this era.

They should be able learn from the mistakes of our forefathers and treat what remains of the past with greater care than before.

. (./.)
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Linkedin Jalur Rempah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Fri, October 13, 2017

Maritime trade involving spices and other commodities along the Sriwijaya Kindoms route from the 7th century to around the 12th century, turned out to be fertile ground for cross-cultural exchange among its traders.

National Archaeology Center researcher Bambang Budi Utomo pointed out that maritime trade of the era produced what is known to be Southeast Asian ship technology, which was discovered in what are now Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The Southeast Asian technology showcases advancement in terms of maritime technology. Prior to these Southeast Asian ships, which were discovered around the 6th century, vessels were manufactured by digging out timber. The dugout method was inefficient because the size of the ships would be limited by the size of the timber, Bambang explained.

The more advanced Southeast Asian ship technology uses ropes made of palm fibers to connect many separate pieces of timber, resulting in much larger ships. This is called the sewn-plank and lashed-lug technique.

Buddhism and Islam also made their way into Sriwijaya through the maritime trade. Bambang said Indonesias Islam embodies the Shia tradition brought over by Persian traders.

We can see the influence from rituals such as thanksgiving involving the birth of a baby, the Maulid Nabi celebration, as well as the sacredness of the month of Muharram in the Islamic calendar, when people fast [on the 10th day], he added.

Indonesia was also actively involved in contributing to the global cultural scene embodied by Buddhism at that time.

Indonesia built three sacred temples in what is now known as the Nakonsitamarat area of Southern Thailand [previously known as Wat Sema Muang], around the 8th and 9th centuries. Sriwijaya also played a part in constructing a boarding house for foreign students who studied Buddhism in the Nalanda University in India, he said.

The cultural significance of the spice trail does not stop at the fluid interaction of different cultures and beliefs in ancient times. In the present, the spice trail could also be used to promote Indonesian food, arts and culture.

The Culture and Education Ministrys general-director of culture, Hilmar Farid, said that the ministry had a mission to nominate the spice trail to be recognized as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage site.

Currently, many city administrations in Indonesia want to nominate either a building or a site as a world heritage. Actually, we want to propose the spice trail to represent our common heritage, to strengthen our attempts at preserving it. The question is: what is our common heritage? To determine this, we need to undergo research studies, which require energy and time, he said.

Hilmar conceded that it may take some time for the spice trail to be acknowledged as a world heritage site, as the recognition process would involve marking the long route.

The first step toward creating awareness about the spice trails history will involve a number of napak tilas (public journey), spanning from Southeast Asia to South Asia.  JP/Sebastian Partogi

. (./.)
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) London  Thu, October 12, 2017 14:34 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a243d29e 2 Lifestyle Gucci,fur,fashion,#fashion Free

Gucci will go fur-free next year and auction off all of its remaining animal fur items, the Italian fashion house's president and CEO Marco Bizzarri announced in London on Wednesday.

The changes will come into force with the brand's spring-summer 2018 collection, Bizzarri said during a talk at the London College of Fashion.

Gucci's president said the evolutions "demonstrate our absolute commitment to making sustainability an intrinsic part of our business".

Bizzarri said the new approach was made possible thanks to Gucci's creative director, Alessandro Michele, who was appointed in 2015.

"In selecting a new creative director I wanted to find someone who shared a belief in the importance of the same values. I sensed that immediately on meeting Alessandro for the first time," Bizzarri said.

Read also: Real fur products marketed as fake in UK: Reports

As part of the change a charity auction will be held of the fashion house's remaining animal fur items, with the proceeds going to animal rights organisations Humane Society International and LAV.

Kitty Block, president of Humane Society International, celebrated the luxury brand's move as a "compassionate decision".

"Gucci going fur-free is a huge game-changer. For this Italian powerhouse to end the use of fur because of the cruelty involved will have a huge ripple effect throughout the world of fashion," she said in a statement.

Gucci will become part of the Fur Free Alliance, an international group of more than 40 organisations which campaigns on animal welfare and promotes alternatives to fur in the fashion industry.

The fashion house is owned by luxury holding group Kering, which also boasts designer Stella McCartney as another fur-free brand under its umbrella.

The new decision by Gucci comes after fellow Italian brand Armani announced in 2016 that it would no longer feature fur in its collections.
By PTI: track

New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) The first diesel-electric locomotive built by US conglomerate General Electric as part of a USD 2.5 billion deal to supply 1,000 such engines to the Indian Railways has arrived in India.

The project, a joint venture between the Indian Railways and GE to supply and maintain modern diesel electric locomotives of 4,500 HP and 6,000 HP to the public transporter, was announced in November 2015.

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GE clarified that the work on a diesel locomotive factory in Bihars Marhowrah is on track, days after Railway Minister Piyush Goyal ruled out any changes in the deal.

But with governments thrust on electrification of tracks to combat pollution, there was a buzz, and some media reports that it could exit the contract.

"The first of 1,000 diesel-electric evolution series locomotives has already arrived at Indias Mundra Port," Vishal Wanchoo, President and CEO, GE South Asia told PTI on the sidelines of the International Rail Conference and the 12th edition of the International Rail Equipment Exhibition (IREE) held here today.

"The work in our diesel factory in Bihar is on track and as the minister has said there are no changes in the contract," he said, adding GE was actually ahead of schedule.

The plan is to deliver 100 locomotives per year on an average. The first fiscal year will be little bit more. We plan to deliver the 1,000 locomotives to the Indian Railways over 11 years, he said.

"Our partnership with the Indian Railways is a best-in- class bilateral example of how entities can work together to create jobs and drive economic development in a region," said Wanchoo.

"Through this project, were creating a robust supply chain ecosystem in India, and will localize more than 70 per cent of all content. Were proud of the more than 6,000 jobs that have been created by GE in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and remain committed to our work in the country," he said.

Goyal had last month said there would be no changes in the Marhowrah factory set up.

But, the railway minister had also said he had discussions with top executives of GE to explore how the objectives of reducing pollution, bringing down overall cost and honouring agreements with the global conglomerate be met.

Wanchoo said GE has no plans to manufacture electric locomotives at the Marhowrah factory.

"GE bid for diesel locomotives and our Bihar plant can manufacture only diesel locomotives. Two contracts were floated and we bid for the diesel plant.

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"However, we support the governments electrification process. In every country that we operate in, we supply these locomotives. Most countries wherein we operate have an electrification program, which makes a lot of sense, but the diesel locomotives also co-exist for various reasons as they are efficient and affordable," Wanchoo said. PTI ASG GVS

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Linkedin News Desk (Kyodo News) Tokyo  Thu, October 12, 2017 19:06 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a244db3d 2 Lifestyle Japan,workforce,employees,workplace,work,foreigners Free

Japanese companies have become more active in hiring foreigners and disabled people, in response to a chronic labor shortage, legal change on the employment of the disabled and for overseas expansion, prompting the job placement industry to organize various job fairs to that end.

Foreign students in Japan are drawing attention as potential manpower, along with women and elderly people, while companies are expected to recruit more people with mental illness, as well as those with physical and intellectual disabilities -- ahead of the enforcement next April of the revised law for employment of disabled persons.

The revision will oblige employers to employ mentally ill people as well as other disabled people.

As a way to diversify employment, companies are already holding job fairs in response to the various needs and characteristics of potential employees.

NODE Inc., a manpower agency targeting foreign students in Japan, mainly those from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, held a seminar in Tokyo in mid-September.

Seven Japanese companies interested in hiring foreigners took part in the seminar sponsored by the Tokyo-based staffing agency, including nursing care and real estate businesses.

Among the students who participated in the event were about 30 from ASEAN countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.

Read also: Japanese reporter died after 159 hours of overtime

At the seminar, the participating companies were briefed about how to obtain work permits for prospective employees and the advantages of employing foreigners, while the students were given advice on job interviews.

An official in charge of personnel affairs at Tokyo-based realtor Tact Home Co. said, "We are looking for human resources who can become our partner when we advance into the Southeast Asian market."

A student from Thailand who attended the seminar, said "I'd like to work in fields where I can use my environmental management expertise. I want to act as a bridge between Japan and Thailand," she said.

Since its launch in 2014, NODE has organized 10 job-matching seminars, inviting students from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and companies interested in hiring them.

According to the government-backed Japan Student Services Organization, the number of foreign students in Japan totaled 239,287 as of May 2016, up 14.8 percent from a year earlier, with those from ASEAN countries accounting for more than a quarter.

"Inquiries we receive from companies looking for work-ready manpower have increased year after year," said a NODE official.

Read also: Japanese convenience stores hire foreigners to tackle labor shortage

Also in mid-September, Recruit Staffing Co. arranged interview sessions for the recruitment of disabled people, bringing some 20 companies and 40 job seekers in their 20s-40s in Tokyo.

Keisuke Tokoyo, president of IT firm Takes Co., said, "Ahead of the scheduled mandatory employment of people with mental illness, we want to secure manpower who can work for a long time."

"Meeting directly with applicants, we can learn about their personalities and characteristics in person -- which we cannot find in background papers," Tokoyo said of the interview session he attended.

Job seekers also benefit from such an event as they can get a lot of information about jobs at one time with one applicant saying, "I'm glad I was able to contact many companies."

Another participant in the event said, "It's good to know how I could work at each company."

An official of LITALICO Inc., a job and education assistance service provider for disabled people, said, "Corporate demand for holding interview sessions for disabled people is strong." The company co-hosted the September session with Recruit Staffing.

"We will organize more interviews not only in Tokyo but also in other regions as a way of connecting the disabled to companies."

Topics : Japan workforce employees workplace work foreigners
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) San Jose, United States  Thu, October 12, 2017 13:39 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2438dff 2 Science & Tech Oculus,virtual-reality,headset Free

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday unveiled a new Oculus virtual reality headset untethered from computers as part of a vision to bring the new technology to the masses.

Oculus Go headsets will be priced at $199 when they begin shipping early next year, Zuckerberg said during a keynote presentation at an annual developers conference in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose.

Zuckerberg touted Oculus Go as the first product in a "sweet spot" between virtual experiences using smartphones and those handled by powerful desktop computers.

"It's an all-new, standalone headset that doesn't require you to snap in a phone or plug in a cable," Zuckerberg said.

Oculus Go uses internal cameras, sensors and software to track movements that are translated into corresponding motion in virtual worlds rendered in headsets.

Facebook stressed its commitment to virtual reality, despite less than stellar adoption of headsets such as Oculus Rift which need to be plugged into computers.

"We want to get a billion people in virtual reality," Zuckerberg said.

"The road ahead won't be easy, but virtual reality will change the way we see the world and will make all of our lives a whole lot better."

Read also: Virtual Reality Check: A look at the 10 best VR experiences

Rift price cut

Oculus on Wednesday lopped $100 off the price of a package bundling Rift headset with touch controllers, citing successful discounts during a summer-long promotion.

The Rift-plus-Touch bundle price was reduced to $399, said Hugo Barra, who recently left Chinese electronics firm Xiaomi to lead virtual reality efforts at Facebook.

The new Rift price is priced cheaper than competing HTC headsets and on par with similarly bundled PlayStation VR gear.

"We want to continue getting VR into more people's hands, so were permanently lowering the price of Rift," Oculus said in a blog post.

"And more people in VR means more people to play, connect, and share with."

Oculus also provided a look at progress being made on a "Santa Cruz" stand-alone virtual reality headset prototype revealed at the company's developers conference here a year ago.

The ability to track hand-held controllers was added to Santa Cruz, letting people reach into virtual worlds and interact in what Oculus described as an "important, industry-first milestone."

Sony, HTC and Facebook-owned Oculus are the top players in virtual reality head gear, each striving to stake out territory in the budding market.

While Sony's VR headsets work with PS 4 consoles, competing gear requires computers that can handle the demand of processing rich, immersive graphics in real time.
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Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, October 12, 2017 06:30 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2425758 2 National #GolkarParty,Golkar,#SetyaNovanto,setya-novanto Free

Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto has recruited two "outsiders" as new members of its executive board: former military general Eko Wiratmoko and former head of the National Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), Anang Iskandar.

Eko now serves as leader of the partys political, legal and security affairs desk, replacing Setyas stern critic, Yorrys Raweyai. Anang, meanwhile, will lead Golkars newly established research and development unit.

As head of his division, Eko  who once served as the secretary to Golkar senior politician Luhut Binsar Panjaitan when the latter was coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister  will be involved in selecting candidates for the 2019 legislative election.

Anang will work closely with Golkar secretary-general Idrus Marham and head of the partys internal affairs department to improve the partys image ahead of the election.

Golkar made the announcement during a closed-door plenary meeting led by Setya himself at the partys headquarters in Slipi, West Java, on Wednesday.

We hope all party members will comply with the decision and work together," Idrus told reporters after the meeting.

Wednesday's meeting marked the first time Setya was seen in public after reportedly being treated for a medical condition.

The Golkar chairman, who recently won a pretrial motion that lifted his status as a corruption suspect, remained tight-lipped on the matter. (ipa)
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, October 12, 2017 11:59 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a24329e1 1 City Anies-Baswedan-Sandiaga-Uno,uniform Free

Jakarta governor-elect Anies Baswedan and his deputy, Sandiaga Uno, attended their uniform fitting on Thursday morning in South Jakarta and invited the press to document the occasion.

The two were fitted for their white ceremonial uniforms, followed by an official photo session for City Hall records.

Anies said his uniform and shoes fit well.

"I feel normal [in this uniform], but it's the first time I've worn an all-white suit, shirt and shoes from head to toe," Anies said after the photo session in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

Meanwhile, Sandiaga also seemed happy with his new uniform. He even made playful poses during the photo session.

"I never imagined I'd ever wear a uniform again. The last time I wore a uniform was in high school," Sandiaga said.

The gubernatorial inauguration is planned to be held at 4 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the State Palace.

After the inauguration, Anies and Sandiaga are to attend a handover ceremony in City Hall and hold their first City Council plenary meeting.

Later that evening at 9 p.m., the pair will greet members of the public at City Hall in a syukuran (gathering to express gratitude to God).
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, October 12, 2017 10:05 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a242f993 1 City Bukit-Duri,eviction,lawsuit Free

The Central Jakarta District Court postponed on Wednesday a hearing that was to announce a decision in a class-action lawsuit filed by Bukit Duri residents over eviction compensation as the judges needed more time to draft a final decision.

Presiding judge Mas'ud and judge Hariono did not attend the hearing.

"We apologize on behalf of the judges. We don't want to make a quick decision," judge Agustinus Setya Wahyu told the residents.

Both sides agreed to adjourn the hearing until Oct. 25.

Dozens of Bukit Duri residents had gathered at the court from 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Resident Santi Napitupulu, 37, said she was disappointed by the postponement.

In the lawsuit, which was filed with the court on May 10, 2016, Bukit Duri residents demanded the Jakarta administration and other relevant institutions pay Rp 1.17 trillion (US$86.60 million) as compensation for their evictions during the Ciliwung River normalization project last year. (yon)
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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar  Thu, October 12, 2017 10:18 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a24302dc 1 National Australia,drug-abuse,Ngurah-Rai-International-Airport,bali Free

An Australian national named Joshua James Baker, had a brief taste of freedom after he allegedly tried to escape detention related to drug offences.

Baker, 32, was arrested on Sunday afternoon by Ngurah Rai International Airport Custom and Excise personnel upon his arrival at the airport from Bangkok, Thailand. He was allegedly carrying 28.02 grams of marijuana mixed with tobacco and 37 diazepam pills.

After the arrest, he was handed over to the police the next day and was taken to Bali Police headquarters for interrogation. Afterwards, police personnel took him to Bhayangkara Hospital for medical tests and observation.

During the night he spent at the hospital, Baker escaped through the toilet ventilation. But his escaped ended 10 hours later after police caught him at a luxury hotel in Canggu beach area in North Kuta.

"He was caught wile having lunch at the restaurant in the hotel," Deputy Director of Narcotic Directorate at Bali Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Sudjarwoko said in a press conference on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, the questioning was still ongoing and police had yet to name him as a suspect.

"In narcotics cases, we have 3x24 hours to collect evidence, which could be extended for another 3x24 hours. Until now, we haven't named him as a suspect as the investigation is still ongoing, Sudjarwoko added.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Brussels, Belgium  Thu, October 12, 2017 19:57 1859 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2452e31 2 World Brexit,negotiation,EU,deadlock Free

Brexit negotiations are deadlocked on the crucial issue of Britain's exit bill but a breakthrough remains possible in the next two months, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Thursday.

Wrapping up a fifth round of talks with David Davis, Britain's Brexit minister, Barnier said there was not enough progress to recommend that negotiations should move from divorce issues to trade.

But Davis said he still hoped that the 27 other EU leaders could decide to shift to the next phase when they meet for a summit in Brussels next week.

"This week we have worked in a constructive spirit, we have clarified some points, but we have not taken great steps forward," Barnier said at a joint news conference at EU headquarters.

Barnier reserved his grimmest assessment for the issue of financial commitments, saying that Britain had still not spelled out what Prime Minister Theresa May promised in a key speech in Florence, Italy, last month.

"We are at a deadlock on this question which is extremely disturbing," Barnier said.

"I am not currently able to recommend to next week's European Council to open discussions on the future relationship," he said.

But he added: "I remain convinced that with political will, decisive breakthroughs are within reach in the coming two months."

Topics : Brexit negotiation EU deadlock
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Linkedin Tran Thi Minh Ha (AFP) Hanoi  Thu, October 12, 2017 15:06 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a243fa0b 2 World #Vietnam,#flooding,#landslides Free

At least 37 people have died and another 40 are missing as floods and landslides ravage north and central Vietnam, destroying homes and leaving rescuers scrambling to find survivors, disaster officials said Thursday.

Tens of thousands were evacuated after heavy rains lashed swathes of the country this week, as forecasters warned of more bad weather to come.

Northern Hoa Binh is the hardest hit with 11 dead and 21 missing, prompting a state of emergency to be declared.

"We are mobilising all forces to search for the missing," a disaster official told AFP by phone, declining to be named.

Rescue efforts were hampered as water and mud submerged roads in several areas, including in Hoa Binh where eight died in an overnight landslide.

"People should be evacuated from dangerous areas, the safety of people and their belongings must be ensured," deputy prime minister Trinh Dinh Dung said on state-run Vietnam television.

A terrified resident described severe flooding in another part of the province.

"The flash flood was terrible. Water poured down from the hill, like a surge three metres high. Traffic has been blocked because of the floods," Phan Ba Dien told state-controlled VNExpress news site.

A journalist from Vietnam News Agency reporting on the storm was swept away along with four other people as an overflowing river demolished a bridge in northern Yen Bai province Wednesday.

One survived and authorities were still looking for the other four on Thursday.

mages on state media showed people wading through knee-deep waters and tracts of forests that had been wiped out by landslides.

Road access was completely cut off in some areas.

"Water was just rushing downstream... it's been a long time since I witnessed that kind of flooding in mountainous areas. I didn't feel safe driving at night, it was scary," Hanoi resident Nguyen Vu Ngoc, who was travelling in the north on Wednesday, told AFP.

The disaster has killed 37 people in six provinces, with more than 18,800 houses damaged or destroyed along with tens of thousands of hectares of farmland, Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said.

Officials said they were focused on rescuing dozens of missing people Thursday as rain subsided in most areas.

Residents desperately ferried furniture and other belongings over flooded roads in Son La province, where houses were demolished and electricity poles torn down.

At least 400 millimetres (16 inches) of rain have swamped northern and central Vietnam since Sunday, the disaster agency said.
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Linkedin Harry Pearl (AFP) Jakarta  Thu, October 12, 2017 08:15 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2428690 2 Business #Indonesia,#startup,#investors,#Gojek Free

Big-name investors including Expedia and Alibaba are pumping billions of dollars into Indonesian tech start-ups in a bid to capitalise on the countrys burgeoning digital economy and potential as Southeast Asias largest online market.

Indonesia has seen a surge of cash into its technology sector over the past two years, helping support dozens of homegrown start-ups ranging from ride hailing apps to e-commerce firms.

And with a population of more than 250 million, a swelling middle class and growing availability of cheap mobile devices, firms from across the world are piling in.

"We believe that Indonesia is poised for a huge leap forward for its digital economy, following China's growth and becoming the leading tech destination in the Southeast Asia region," Adrian Li, a partner in Jakarta-based Convergence Ventures, told AFP.

Last year $631 million in disclosed venture capital was ploughed into the country, according to research firm CB Insights, up from $31 million in 2015.

But that figure has already been shattered in 2017, with $3 billion worth of deals clinched as of September 2017, said Meghna Rao, a tech industry analyst at the firm.

Tokopedia -- a marketplace that allows users to set up online shops and handles transactions -- won $1.1 billion in capital from Chinas Alibaba in August.

Motorbike on-demand service Go-Jek secured $1.2 billion from Chinese tech giants JD.com and Tencent Holdings in May, according to data from Crunchbase.

In another sign of confidence, Koison became Indonesia's first e-commerce service to go public in October.

"While it's too soon to say that this investment is indicative of a larger pattern of Indonesian startups pulling in many big ticket investors, it is part of a growing clutch of mega-rounds," Rao said.

Internet use is growing faster in Southeast Asia than any other region in the world, with 124,000 users coming online every day over the next five years, according to a 2016 report from Google and Singapores Temasek Holdings.

By 2020 an estimated 480 million people are expected to be connected to the internet, up from 260 million in the region last year.

Indonesia's mobile-first market will comprise more than half of Southeast Asias e-commerce market by 2025, with an estimated value of $46 billion, the Google report said.

"When you do startup business in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, the cost, effort and time that you spend is almost even. But when you go to Indonesia (growth) is unlimited -- the market is so big," said Willson Cuaca, whose venture capital firm East Ventures specialises in early-stage investments.

As a result, big names like US venture capitalist Sequoia Capital, Japan's Rakuten Ventures and travel company Expedia -- as well as Chinese tech giants -- have all made investments in the country.

Indonesian president Joko Widodo has been a vocal supporter of digital innovation, most notably in his plan to create 1,000 local tech start-ups worth $10 billion by 2020. But the sector still faces a number of challenges.

A limited pool of engineering talent to draw from, low rates of internet penetration outside densely populated Java, bureaucratic delays, and poor quality infrastructure are all obstacles to growth.

For e-commerce companies, the large number of "unbanked" Indonesians limits the scope of online transactions, and logistics problems make it hard to move goods.

While young entrepreneurs and small businesses are flocking to co-working spaces springing up in major centres, it is a decidedly different scene in most parts of the country.

Farid Naufal Aslam, the chief executive of Aruna, an e-commerce company that links fishermen to buyers, said navigating Indonesia's disparate communities is a challenge too.

"One of the biggest challenges faced is on social approach," Aslam, 23, said. "Indonesia is a unique country with diverse communities and different customs in each region."

Yet many venture capitalists and entrepreneurs remain optimistic.

"The window of opportunity is there," Cuaca said. "As long as you can innovate and solve real problems using technology, you can be successful."
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, October 12 2017

Coverage of measles-rubella (MR) vaccinations in schools in Bekasi, West Java, is less than 65 percent, as many Islamic schools refuse to provide the vaccine, an official has said.

The Bekasi Health Agencys disease and prevention control head, Dezi Syukrawati, said on Wednesday that 52 schools had below 65 percent coverage.

Eighty percent of them were Islamic schools, said Dezi as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com.

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By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) With the Delhi airport operator asking them to partially shift their operations from terminal 1, IndiGo has written to competitor SpiceJet listing out options and seeking its support to resolve the issues. The no-frills carrier has proposed that SpiceJet and GoAir shift their entire operations from terminal 1 (T1) to terminal 2 (T2), as per a letter written by IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh to SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh.

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IndiGo, which has expressed unwillingness to comply with the proposal, has also suggested that the airport operator DIAL should look at re-organising operations of all airlines so that each can run complete operations from one terminal. Currently, flights operate from T1 and terminal 3 (T3). "DIAL should permit IndiGo to continue to run its entire operation out of T1 and move the entire operations of SpiceJet and Go Air to T2. We believe that T2 has adequate capacity to accommodate all passengers of SpiceJet as well as of Go Air," the letter said.

Ghosh, who is also a Whole Time Director, said the airline was willing to shift all its operations to T2 if "a solution can be found for...adequate night parking bays", adding that T2 capacity is not adequate to accommodate all of IndiGos passengers. Faced with capacity constraints, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has asked IndiGo and SpiceJet to shift part of their operations from T1 to T2 -- a proposal which has not found favour with the airlines.

Against this backdrop, Ghosh has suggested that entire operations of SpiceJet and GoAir could be shifted to T2 for such period of time till that terminal has adequate infrastructure for IndiGo, as per the contents of the letter seen by PTI. IndiGo can then move its entire operations to T2 while GoAir and SpiceJet can move back to T1, it added. Raising concerns over DIALs directive, Ghosh said shifting only a part of operations from T1 would inconvenience passengers as well as impact efficiency and increase costs. Such a move would also be "an anti-competitive action against IndiGo as well as SpiceJet," he said in the letter. A partial shifting of operations would "isolate" and place the airlines at a "competitive disadvantage" because of inconvenience to passengers, especially those with connecting flights.

Meanwhile, according to sources, GoAir has written to the Civil Aviation Ministry today expressing willingness to move its entire operation to T2 with effect from October 29. On the shifting issue, Ghosh held a meeting with Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey on Wednesday. Query seeking comments on the issue sent to Choubey remained unanswered.

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IndiGO, which enjoys nearly 40 per cent of the market share, says a third of its fleet is based out of Delhi. It operates total 1,070 weekly flights to and from T1 and handles approximately 1,80,000 connecting passengers at Delhi.

Three airlines -- IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir -- operate from T1, which handled 24 million passengers in 2016-17, whereas its rated capacity is 20 million passengers per annum.

T3 is used by international carriers as well as Air Asia India, Vistara and Jet Airways. International flights of IndiGo and SpiceJet also operate from T3.

DIAL plans to upgrade T2 to meet the growing passenger numbers. The capacity of T1 would be doubled from 20 million to 40 million passengers and the capacity of T3 would be increased from 34 million to 45 million, as per the master plan. PTI JC RAM MKJ

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Emmanuel Parisse and Adel Zaanoun (Agence France-Presse) Cairo, Egypt  Thu, October 12, 2017 22:09 1859 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2455e6f 2 World Palestine,Hamas,reconciliation,Egypt Free

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement Thursday on ending a decade-long split following talks mediated by Egypt in Cairo, with president Mahmud Abbas calling it a "final" accord.

Under the agreement, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority is to resume full control of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip by December 1, according to a statement from Egypt's government.

Abbas welcomed the deal in comments to AFP and said he considered it a "final agreement to end the division" -- though many details remain to be resolved and previous reconciliation attempts have repeatedly failed.

It was signed in Cairo by new Hamas deputy leader Salah al-Aruri and Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the Fatah delegation for the talks, at the headquarters of Egypt's intelligence service, which oversaw the negotiations.

Celebrations broke out in the Gaza Strip after the announcement of the deal, with residents waving flags of Egypt, Palestine, Fatah and Hamas.

Negotiations are now expected to be held on forming a unity government, with the various Palestinian political movements invited to another meeting in Cairo on November 21.

Another party to the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agreement would see Palestinian Authority forces take control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

One of the key issues has been punitive measures taken by Abbas against Gaza in recent months, including reducing electricity payments that left the territory's residents with only a few hours of power a day.

"All the measures taken recently will end very shortly," Zakaria al-Agha, a senior Fatah leader in the Gaza Strip, told AFP.

Sanctions taken by Abbas against Hamas-controlled Gaza will also soon be lifted, the Fatah official said.

The deal includes 3,000 members of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority's police force redeploying to Gaza, a member of the negotiating team told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The figure is however a fraction of the more than 20,000 police officers employed separately by Hamas.

Topics : Palestine Hamas reconciliation Egypt
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Linkedin Prima Wirayani and Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, October 12, 2017 11:28 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2431ed2 1 Business Freeport-Indonesia,government,negotiation,extension,Rini-Soemarno Free

The government has extended the deadline for United States-based mining giant Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) to meet its divestment obligation to the first quarter of 2019  three months longer than the previous time limit  following a longer-than-expected negotiation between both parties.

The current government has been involved in intense negotiations for months with FCX over the future operations of the latters local unit PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI).

In return for PTFIs contract extension, the government is demanding that FCX, among other things, divest 51 percent of its shares in PTFI to Indonesian entities. At present, FCX controls 90.64 percent of PTFI, while 9.36 percent is owned by the government.

The divestment process should be completed by the first quarter of 2019, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno said in Jakarta on Thursday, contradicting her previous statement that the designated deadline was at the end of next year.

Rini said there should be some flexibility for both parties to conclude the whole divestment process. Were still trying to make it happen by the end of 2018, but just in case, if we miss the deadline, it has to be completed by March 2019 at the latest, she said.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan previously decided to give a three-month extension for PTFIs temporary special mining license (IUPK) until Jan. 10, 2018, to give extra time for negotiations between FCX and the government to settle their contractual dispute. (bbn)
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Bogor, West Java  Thu, October 12, 2017 18:18 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a244af5d 1 Business President-Jokowi,Laos-Prime-Minister-M-Thongloun-Sisoulith,joint-press-conference Free

During a press conference with Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has stressed that Indonesia was ready to supply Laos with airplanes and weapons produced by two state-owned enterprises.

"The Indonesian strategic industry is ready to supply high-quality products, such as airplanes and defense equipment, needed by Laos," Jokowi said during the joint press conference at the Bogor Palace in West Java on Thursday.

On the same day, Jokowi and Sisoulith had held a meeting to discuss efforts to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two ASEAN member countries and witnessed the signing of three memorandums of understanding between the two countries on education and drug control.

Indonesias state-owned weapons maker PT Pindad (Persero) produces various munitions, guns, tanks and armored vehicles, while state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) produces helicopters and aircraft both for military and commercial purposes. There was no immediate response from Prime Minister Sisoulth to Jokowis offer. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (AFP) Vatican City  Thu, October 12, 2017 07:15 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2426618 2 World #PopeFrancis,#Vatican,#Indonesia,#sex,#bishop Free

Pope Francis on Wednesday accepted the resignation of an Indonesian bishop who had been accused by his own priests of having a mistress and skimming $124,000 (105,000 euros) from Church coffers.

Ruteng bishop Hubertus Leteng will be replaced temporarily by Sylvester San, the Bali-based Bishop of Denpasar, pending a new appointment, the Vatican said in an appointments update that did not enter into details of the case.

A total of 69 priests were reported to have resigned in June in protest at Leteng's conduct, prompting a Vatican probe of allegations he took $94,000 (79,000 euros) from the Indonesian bishops' conference and $30,000 (25,000) from his own diocese in unregistered transactions.

Leteng had denied the allegations but offered no explanation for his sudden departure on Wednesday, at the age of 58, 17 years before the usual retirement point for a bishop.
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang, Banten  Thu, October 12, 2017 13:04 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2436626 1 Business Kadin,tax-office,SME,Taxpayer Free

Indonesias Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the Finance Ministrys tax directorate general plan to help one million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) register their businesses and receive taxpayer number (NPWP) cards.

Kadin MSMEs and cooperative vice chairman Muhammad Lutfi said on Wednesday that the informal sector needed to be formalized by registering their businesses to the government and becoming taxpayers.

With such a move, he added, MSMEs would get more access to various information, including about financing resources as well as access various government programs, including training.

The government plans to reduce the income tax rate (PPh) for businesses with gross revenue less than Rp 4.8 billion (US$356,877) from 1 percent to 0.25 percent.

The government plans to reduce the income tax rate for small businesses so we need to support this by ensuring more people have taxpayer numbers, said the former trade minister on the sidelines of the 2017 Trade Expo Indonesia in ICE BSD on Wednesday. (bbn)
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang, Banten  Thu, October 12, 2017 18:23 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a244bec1 1 Business startup,summit,Indonesia-Convention-Exhibition-ICE,BSD Free

Organizers of the National Startup Summit 2017 aim to attract 5,000 participants nationwide to the event scheduled to be held at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) BSD in South Tangerang, Banten from Dec. 7 to 9.

"We aim to see 5,000 participants, including 3,000 start-up developers," said Handito Joewono, export development vice chairman of the Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) on Thursday.

The event is initiated by the National Startup Forum and supported by Kadin and the Association of Technology Startup Indonesia.

The event will comprise conferences, a start-up competition and pitching to potential investors, Handito added.

The organizers will select 100 start-ups from the competition to receive training.

The Association of Technology Startup Indonesia will prioritize start-ups in five sectors -- digital, agriculture and food, tourism, trade and maritime and fisheries.

In trying to support the development of start-ups, the association also holds monthly start-up competitions, Handito added. (bbn)
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Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, October 12, 2017 19:12 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a244e976 1 City bogor,clash,hoax Free

Bogor Police have denied reports that a clash broke out in Puncak, Bogor, West Java, following the eviction of street vendors along its main road, on Thursday.

Reports of a clash were spread on WhatsApp along with photos and videos. People were also urged to not visit Puncak.

Police spokeswoman Adj. Ita Puspitalena confirmed on Thursday that the eviction of street vendors occupying state land occurred in Cianjur, West Java.

"Nonetheless, the vendors understood and cleaned up their debris," said Ita. "Please, do not worry because Puncak roads are safe and [...] things are running as usual."

Topics : bogor clash hoax
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Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam  Thu, October 12, 2017 21:21 1859 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a245487d 1 National #Batam,Batam,#SingaporeanCitizen,Singaporean,child-abuse,#child-sex-offenders,#child-molestation,child-molestation Free

Batam Police have arrested a Singaporean man for allegedly molesting three boys on the island that shares a maritime border with Singapore.

The 46-year-old is suspected of molesting three boys aged 12, 15 and 16 in an art gallery where he teaches and also resides, last month.

Police suspect he used the gallery to lure his alleged victims.

The arrest was carried out on Sunday after the parents of one of the alleged victims filed a report with the police.

"He also offered the victims money," Batam Police chief Sr. Comr. Hengky told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

If found guilty, the suspect could face up to 15 years in prison and a Rp 5 billion (US$370,233) fine, as stipulated in the Child Protection Law.

"He overstayed his visa and has been living in Batam for more than three years," Hengky added, saying police would communicate with the immigration office soon.

According to the police, the suspect told investigators he also worked in Batam as a freelancer and driver. (hol/ipa)
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Madrid, Spain  Thu, October 12, 2017 19:28 1859 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a24504d8 2 World Spain,jet-fighter-crash,military Free

A Spanish Eurofighter jet crashed on Thursday after taking part in a military display in Madrid for Spain's national day, killing its pilot, the defense ministry said.

"As a result of the accident, the pilot of the plane that crashed on its approach to landing has died," the ministry said in a statement.

BREAKING Eurofighter jet crashes at Los Llanos airbase after National Day parade in Madrid, Spain pic.twitter.com/Og13a19012  Air Disasters (@AirCrashMayday) October 12, 2017

It said the Eurofighter went down near a military base at Albacete, 300 kilometres (180 miles) southeast of the capital.

The Twitter account for the defence ministry's chief of staff confirmed the pilot's death.

"Rest in peace, comrade. Thank you for helping us to celebrate the day you have given your life for. We won't forget you," it said, posting an image of the Spanish flag pinned with a black ribbon.

Not a good few weeks for @Eurofighter_1 . Spanish aircraft down, after recent Italian and Saudi crashes. https://t.co/YFbhwAl9ck  Gareth Jennings (@GarethJennings3) October 12, 2017

A Eurofighter last crashed in Spain in June 2014, killing the pilot when it ploughed into grass short of the runway at the Moron air force base near Seville.

Spain's national day marks the date that Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Americas in 1492.

It falls this year in the middle of Spain's biggest political crisis in a decade as Catalonia's separatist leader is threatening to split the region from the rest of the country.

A traditional military parade took place in Madrid, with fighter jets, military planes and helicopters making several flybys.
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, October 12, 2017 11:31 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2432223 1 Business offline-store,online-business,Competition,smuggling,flight,baggage Free

Indonesian Shopping Center Tenants Association (Hippindo) chairman Budihardjo Iduansjah has lauded the government's move to curb illegal imports through various means, including stricter flight baggage checks at airports and tighter controls on bulk import at seaports.

The group suspected that online shop owners frequently sourced their products abroad by brining them into Indonesia as baggage on their flights.

The offline tenants also accused e-ecommerce practitioners of being behind the weaker growth of their retail sales this year.

The Finance Ministry formed a high risk import control (PIBT) taskforce in July and has started enforcing tighter controls on incoming goods at seaports and airports.

Offline retail sales went up while online sales dropped in August, when the government fully initiated its [PIBT] taskforce. So we can say theres a correlation between weaker offline sales and online shopping habits, he told The Jakarta Post recently.

There has been rampant illegal importing of products [that are sold online]. So we urge customs and the excise directorate general to keep up the tight controls, he added.

Based on Finance Ministry Regulation No. 188/2010 on imported goods, the ceiling for the import tax on goods purchased in other countries stands at US$250 for each individual and $1,000 for a family. (bbn)
By PTI: Srinagar, Oct 12 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Information and Public Relations (DIPR) employees have gone on an indefinite strike demanding revocation of attachment of a joint director by the government.

DIPR offices in Kashmir and Jammu divisions would remain shut till the attachment order of the joint director is revoked, a spokesman of the Information Department Employees Union said.

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The government had yesterday attached the departments Joint Director (Kashmir) Zahoor Ahmad Mir, pending an enquiry into alleged irrational distribution of advertisements among the print media.

The employees staged a sit-in on the premises of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations here.

The union is not against an enquiry, but attaching an officer without any proof is uncalled for, the spokesman said.

"He (Mir) should not have been attached without having any proof. We are not against the enquiry. But he should be allowed to work as a joint director till the enquiry is completed. He is being punished without any proof," he said.

The spokesman said the departments employees will not receive or distribute advertisements till their demands are met. Official press releases will also not be be issued, he said.

Employees of the advertisement wing are subjected to frequent intimidation and harassment by editors of some small organisations who demand a lions share of advertisements and other monetary benefits for their publications, the spokesman alleged.

In the recent past, the frequency of such incidents has increased alarmingly and last week an editor barged into the office of the joint director for information (Kashmir) and abused, intimidated and threatened officers if bulk share of advertisements were not given, he alleged.

In a similar incident, earlier this year, an FIR already stands registered against an editor for threatening employees of the advertisement wing, the spokesman said.

The striking employees have sought the intervention of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Information Minister Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali in ensuring their security and dignity, he said.

The strike has forced various government offices to issue press releases from personal email accounts of officers and other employees. PTI MIJ ANB

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin News Desk (Dawn/ANN) Shekhupura, Pakistan  Thu, October 12, 2017 17:11 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2444a6a 2 World #Pakistan,#Ahmadiyah,#Ahmadi,#DeathPenalty,#DeathSentence,#Blasphemy Free

A district and sessions court sentenced three men to death on Wednesday on charges of committing blasphemy.

The court also fined them US$188 each, but if they are unable to pay the fine, they would have to undergo six months of rigorous punishment.

In his verdict, Additional District and Sessions Judge Mian Javed Akram ruled that the three members of the Ahmadi community of Bhoaywal village had committed blasphemy by displaying a poster and banners at their place of worship in a manner that was offending.

Riaz Hussain, a shopkeeper, had filed a complaint against the three men at the Sharqpur police station.

Topics :

This article appeared on the Dawn newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Tangerang, Banten  Thu, October 12, 2017 18:27 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a244c930 1 Business Trade-Expo-Indonesia,contract Free

The Trade Expo Indonesia 2017 recorded US$16.07 million in trading contracts on its first day at the Indonesian Convention Exhibition (ICE) BSD in South Tangerang, Banten, on Wednesday.

"This buying mission will continue until the last day of the expo," said the Trade Ministry's export development director general, Arlinda, in a statement released on Thursday.

The $16.07 million in contracts comes from buyers from three countries: Australia, Singapore and Spain.

A buying mission from Australia signed $13.9 million worth of contracts on hotel and tourism related goods and services with PT Sukamulia Mandiri Agung.

Meanwhile, the buying mission from Singapore signed $1.1 million in contracts on food and beverages with PT Sinar Sosro, and a mission from Spain signed a $1 million furniture contract with CV Abad Jepara.

The expo, the biggest trade event in Indonesia organized by the ministry, takes place from Oct.11 to 15.

It aims to book $1.1 billion transactions by the end of the event, a 7.8 percent increase from the $1.02 billion it booked in the same event last year.

The expo displays various goods and services from more than 1,000 local producers and traders. Indonesia aims to jack up its non-oil-and-gas exports by 5.6 percent to $138.65 billion. As of August, 71.2 percent of the target or $98.8 had been pocketed. (bbn)
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Linkedin Andrew Beatty (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Thu, October 12, 2017 19:46 1859 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a24521fe 2 World trump,media,nuclear-arsenal,fake-news Free

US President Donald Trump tore into the press and questioned whether broadcasters should have their licenses revoked Wednesday, after an unflattering story about his nuclear policy.

"It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write," Trump fumed as he met his Canadian counterpart in the Oval Office "people should want to look into it."

But the president -- who has a history of being combative with the media -- said he did not want to see formal restrictions.

"No. The press should speak more honestly, I mean, I've seen tremendously dishonest press. It's not even a question of distortion."

Trump was angered after NBC News reported he had asked to dramatically increase in America's nuclear stockpile, calling it "made up."

Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked. Not fair to public!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

His secretary of defense backed him publicly.

"Recent reports that the president called for an increase in the US nuclear arsenal are absolutely false," Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said in a statement.

"This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible."

The US television network reported that Trump told generals and security aides over the summer that he wanted a "nearly tenfold increase" in the US nuclear arsenal.

"With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!" Trump had earlier tweeted.

With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017

The US Constitution is understood to guarantee press freedom, but television networks rely on access to broadcast frequencies granted by government agencies.

Jessica Rosenworcel, a member of the Federal Communications Commission -- a government regulator -- shot back at Trump on Twitter, saying that is "not how it works."

"Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of our democracy. Hope my @FCC colleagues can all be on the same page with respect to 1st Amendment."

Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of our democracy. Hope my @FCC colleagues can all be on the same page with respect to 1st Amendment. https://t.co/1aNpYsk7BG  Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel) October 11, 2017
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Thu, October 12, 2017 21:02 1859 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a2453f3c 2 World US,diplomacy,UNESCO,Israel Free

The United States announced Thursday that it will withdraw from the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization, accusing the body of "anti-Israel bias."

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington would establish an "observer mission" to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.

The United States was angered in 2011 when UNESCO members granted Palestine full membership of the body, despite opposition from its ally Israel.

Washington opposes any move by UN bodies to recognize the Palestinians as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.

But US President Donald Trump's administration is also reviewing many of its multilateral commitments, pursuing what he calls an "America First" foreign policy.

Nauert said the State Department had notified UNESCO's outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of their decision earlier Thursday.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," she said in a statement.

"The United States indicated to the director-general its desire to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organization, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms and promoting scientific collaboration and education."

Topics : US diplomacy UNESCO Israel
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Linkedin Jon Afrizal (The Jakarta Post) Jambi  Thu, October 12, 2017 18:06 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a244a48d 1 National #Jambi,Jambi,sun-bear,#sun-bear Free

A sun bear was killed in a village in Kerinci regency, Jambi, on Wednesday after residents panicked upon seeing a wild animal in their settlement.

The sun bear died from a wound to the abdomen caused by a villager throwing a spear at it in Tebing Tinggi village.

"The bear entered a house," Kerinci Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Dwi Mulyanto said on Thursday. "One of the villagers was carrying a spear and hit the bear."

It is believed the bear wandered into the village as a result of food depletion and habitat loss.

The body of the bear was immediately taken to the Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) Agency.

In neighboring Riau province, a bear attacked a couple while they were tapping rubber on a plantation about 500 meters from their house in Teluk Paman village, Kampar regency, last Tuesday.

Saruli, a 60-year-old rubber farmer, survived but was left with serious injuries, while his wife, 55-year-old Bunai, died from a fractured skull in the incident, which has also been linked to a shrinking habitat. (ipa)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Batam  Fri, October 13 2017

The Police on Wednesday arrested Singaporean Mohammad Asri Bin Sapuan, 46, for allegedly molesting three boys aged 12, 15 and 16 in Batam, Riau Islands, between Sept. 16 to 24.

The boys were students at Asris studio gallery. Police suspected the gallery existed only as a way to woo the boys.

The police said the arrest was triggered by one of the victims parents who reported the incident after he looked at the messages his son had received from Asri.

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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Thu, October 12, 2017 15:01 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a243ebf1 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,#MtAgungVolcano,Airport,Mount-Agung,Bali-tourism Free

Tourism minister Arief Yahya met with Bali Tourism Hospitality (BTH) Task Force in Denpasar, Bali to talk about tourism in Bali amid the increasing seismic activity at Mount Agung.

We can make sure that 98 percent of tourist destinations in Bali is still safe to visit, said the head of GIPI Bali, Ida Bagus Agung Parta.

At the meeting, BTH Group laid out important things that every tourist needs: Accessibility, accommodation, attraction and information about Mount Agung.

According to Arief, the area that will be directly impacted by the eruption is only two percent of the entire island of Bali. He also said that the most important thing is to prepare for disaster mitigation.

Read also: Popular tourist sites in Bali safe amid tremors around Mount Agung

For accommodation, Ive spoken with everyone including Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Associations (PHRI) and The Association of the Indonesian Tourist Industry (GIPI) to offer discounts for tourists who have to extend their stay due to airport closure, told Arief.

Ideally, the first day should have a 100 percent discount, on the second day they only need to pay 10  20 percent of the normal price. The maximum price cut is between 25  50 percent, he added.

Hotels should provide discount for a minimum of 12 days and the discount program is valid until tourists can leave Bali.

The ministry has set a budget of five million rupiahs for PR handling, information gathering, mitigation and recovery procedures.

Moreover, BTH will also use website www.BaliTourismBoard. or.id to distribute information and official statements related to Mount Agung and tourism in Bali. (asw)
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Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta  Thu, October 12, 2017 14:06 1860 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a243b3f9 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Perth Free

Wonderful Indonesia tourism brand is set to promoted in Perth in West Australia on Oct. 14 during the Indonesian Creation event.

The event will be held at the Forrest Place and highlight Indonesian arts and culture and culinary, as well as promote Indonesian tourism.

This event is expected to support the Tourism Ministrys program in increasing the number of tourists as well as introducing the 10 Priority Destinations, said the ministry's deputy minister for overseas promotion I Gde Pitana.

Forrest Place is a pedestrian square for people to meet and interact with each other. Its located right at the center of Perth and connects Perth Station, Myer Mall and Wellington Street. Every day around 24,000 people are said to visit the place.

Read also: For Asian history in Australia, check out Broome

Indonesian Creation event will feature a fashion show of traditional clothes, Indonesian warung (food stalls) and Indonesian knick-knacks display. Representatives of travel agents are set to participate as well to promote Indonesian destinations.

"Bali is still the strongest magnet [for Australians], but the Tourism Ministry is set to introduce other destinations as well. Sixty percent of Australian tourists are repeat visitors, meaning that theyve been to Indonesia more than once, said Tourism Minister Arief Yahya.

Moreover, Arief said there was an increase by 14 percent in the number of Australian tourists who came to Indonesia from 2015 to 2016. (kes)
By PTI: Poonch

Jammu, Oct 12 (PTI) An Army jawan and a porter were killed and six others injuredwhen Pakistani troops fired small arms on forward areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district.

"The Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatics from 1035 hours in Krishnagati sector along the Line of Control (LoC)," a defence spokesperson said here.

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The Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively. The exchange of fire is on, he said.

During firing, Sepoy T K Reddy (21) and Defence Porter Mohd Zahir (22) suffered serious injuries and died, the spokesperson said.

He said six other personnel, including a defence porter, were also injured and are undergoing treatment.

Reddy belonged to Obulapuram village in AndhraPradeshs Prakasam district. He is survived by his mother.

Zahirbelonged to Kalali village in Jammu and Kashmirs Rajouri district, he said.

Sepoy Reddy was a brave and sincere soldier and Zahir was an honest and dedicated worker, he said adding that the nation will always remain indebted to them for their supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty.

On October 6, Pakistani troops had opened fire on Baba Khori and other areas in Rajouri district, and on October 4, three Army jawans were injured in unprovoked and indiscriminate firing inthe Poonch sector.

An Army jawan was killed in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the LoC in Poonch on October 3.

On October 2, two minors had died and 12 civilians were injured in cross-border shelling.

The year 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. PTI AB GVS

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) French President Emmanuel Macron will make his first visit to India in December during which he will take part in the International Solar Alliance Summit.

Frances Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler confirmed the visit. Macron will also hold official talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his stay between December 8 and 10.

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During the summit, the International Solar Alliance, an India-led initiate which has the backing of around 121 solar- rich countries to tackle energy issues, will come into effect with the adoption of a legal instrument.

The International Solar Alliance was launched in 2015 by Modi and the then French president Francois Hollande in the presence of former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The prime minister had met Macron, who at 39 is the youngest president in Frances history, during his visit to Paris in June.

France is Indias 9th largest investment partner. It is also a key partner in India?s development initiatives in areas like defence, space, nuclear and renewable energy, urban development and railways. PTI SBR PYK TIR

--- ENDS ---
It is 15 years since Bali was rocked by a series of deadly bombs. Here is a look back at what happened.

What was the target?

Investigators at the scene of the Bali bombings (Chris Ison/PA)

Two explosions tore through a nightclub and a bar in the tourist area of Kuta on the Indonesian island on October 12 2002.

One hit Paddys Irish Bar while the second exploded in a van outside the Sari Club on Jalan Legian, the main road in the Kuta resort.

The blast caused a fire which engulfed a neighbouring building.

At the same time, a bomb exploded near to the US consulate in Denpasar, the capital of Bali, but no one was hurt.

Who were the victims?

The memorial to Bali bomb victims in Londons St Jamess Park (Ian Nicholson/PA)

The blasts claimed the lives of 202 people including 28 Britons. Those who died were mainly foreign tourists  people of 23 different nationalities were killed, including 88 Australians.

A memorial to those who died now stands in St Jamess Park in central London. It comprises a marble globe engraved with 202 doves while a wall lists the victims names.

MP Tobias Ellwood lost his brother Jonathan in the attacks.

He posted on Twitter: Pause for thought: At about this time on this day 15 years ago 202 people were killed in the AQ terrorist attack in Bali. Dearly missed.

Who was behind the attack?

Debris at the scene in Bali (Chris Ison/PA)

The al Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group was responsible for the nightspot bombings. Various members of Jemaah Islamiyah were convicted in relation to the bombings in 2003.

Three people, Imam Samudra, 38, Amrozi Nurhasyim, 47, and his brother Ali Ghufron, 48, were executed by firing squad for their roles in the attack.

What is the risk in Indonesia and Bali now?

Visit Bali and experience the appeal of this global winner of TripAdvisor 2017 Travelers Choice Awards for Destinations #WonderfulIndonesia pic.twitter.com/C30wjKpYO0  Indonesia.Travel (@indtravel) March 23, 2017

About 330,000 Brits visit Indonesia every year and the country is currently running a wonderful Indonesia travel campaign to entice visitors.

However, terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice.

Terrorist groups continue to plan attacks and have the capacity and intent to carry out these attacks at any time and anywhere in the country. Types of attacks have included suicide bombing and small-arms fire, targeting public and crowded places.

The threat from Islamist extremism remains high, though the Indonesian authorities continue to disrupt attack planning, including arresting alleged terrorists reportedly in the advanced stages of preparation.

The Government advises people to be vigilant and take care at all times.

What stands on the site of the bombings?

The Bali memorial on Legian Street in Bali (Livinus/Getty Images)

There is a memorial to the 202 victims on Bali which stands on the site of the original Paddys Irish Bar.

It is sometimes referred to as the Ground Zero Monument. On TripAdvisor, visitors pay tribute to the Indonesian government for continuing to maintain the memorial.
A Sydney woman has been filmed picking up a shark in a rock pool with her bare hands and returning it to the ocean.

The video, which shows Melissa Hatheier reaching down to grab the one-metre long shark in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla, has understandably received a lot of attention.

In a very understated interview with the St George & Sutherland Shire Leader, Hatheier said: I just threw him over the edge of the pool into the water and watched him swim away.

Our in house Shark Wrangler Melissa Hatheier wrestling a shark out of Oak Park Rock Pool yesterday morning! Nice work Mel! #nextlevel #classicMel Posted by Cronulla Real Estate on Monday, October 9, 2017

The incident was filmed by one of Hatheiers daughters and uploaded to the Facebook page of the real estate company where she works.

My mum, who swims at Oak Park every morning, called me just after 7am on Monday and said, Theres a shark in the rock pool,' Hatheier said.

The real estate agent went down to the pool with her kids and said it was easy to spot the shark swimming around. After getting close to it, Hatheier said the shark became stressed and started hitting its head against the rocks.

The shark is thought to have entered the pool during high tide (ai_yoshi)

I was feeling sorry for him, she said. Everyone was saying, What do we do?

I herded the shark into the shallows and then I just sort of jumped on him and put my knees on his fins. I then grabbed him around the neck so he couldnt swing around and bite me.

She added: He wasnt that heavy but his skin was very rough, like sandpaper.

The shark was thought to be a Port Jackson, and Hatheiers act in freeing it has been dubbed the most Australian thing ever on social media.
Students and graduates of the University of Southampton are currently in mourning, following news that the union's beloved cat, Susu, has sadly passed away.

Named after the acronym of the union that took her in as a hungry stray, Susu was so much more than just a cat.

As well as providing the influence for Southampton's beloved mascot, Susu was also named Honorary President of the Union in 2016 - a joyous feat that was widely covered by the national press. She also had a media presence of her own, with several Twitter parody accounts set up in her name by students at the University.

Since 2002, the moggy has been a near constant presence on the university campus, offering friendly feline comfort and support to many a stressed out student that passed through Southampton.

The current Union President, Flora Noble, issued a statement in today's announcement, commenting: "

Susu the cat brought love and cuddles to the lives of Southampton students for fifteen years, and she will be sorely missed by staff and students alike. She was a true figurehead of the Union, will always remain in our hearts.

Students at the University have been encouraged to share their photos and memories on social media with the hashtag #SusutheCat.
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By PTI: Mumbai, Oct 12 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is on Sweden tour, today said the state will become a trillion dollar economy by 2030.

Fadnavis, on a three-day visit to Sweden along with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and Maharashtra Industry Minister Subhash Desai, addressed a gathering in Stockholm, after releasing a Make in India magazine.

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"Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji says that India will lead the world because of its demography, democracy and demand. Maharashtra leads in this advantage too," a release from the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) quoted him as saying.

"China was a factory for the world for the last 20 years, but after this decade it will be India," he said while exhorting Swedish firms to invest in Maharashtra.

The CM further said Maharashtra will be a trillion dollar economy by 2030.

Stating that Maharashtra leads in infrastructure projects and ports, Fadnavis said the proposed Samruddhi corridor project between Mumbai and Nagpur will be the longest "smart road" in the nation.

"Our state has a population of 10 per cent, but we contribute 15 per cent to the national GDP. Almost all global businesses have their footprints in Maharashtra, including over 100 Swedish companies," he said while appealing to Swedish companies to invest in the state.

Stating that Maharashtra offers enormous opportunities and benefits, he pointed out that Mumbai is the financial capital of the nation, Pune is the IT capital and Nagpur is the logistics hub.

Fadnavis met Alrik Danielson, President and CEO of SKF group, a leading bearing and seal manufacturing company, the statement said.

"SKF group already has a manufacturing facility in Pune and its officials informed the CM on their expansion plans and that they would soon finalise the next phase for Maharashtra and also that they are keen to work closely with the state government," it said.

The Chief Minister also met Atul Tandon, Director Strategy and Commercial Excellence, of AstraZeneca.

The company appreciated Maharashtras initiatives for screening of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, the statement said.

"The global biopharmaceutical company agreed and assured the CM to work closely with the state and that they are keen to work for a pilot project in a civil hospital to improve healthcare facilities," it said.

Fadnavis also met PAr Stenmark, Chief Regulatory Officer, of IKEA and appealed to the company to join hands with the state for use and branding of bamboo/bamboo products to increase the income and employment of tribals and locals.

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"The state government has already set up a Bamboo Development Board and is also providing skilling support to the locals. The CM urged IKEA to start a skill centre for Bamboo," the statement said.

IKEA also informed the CM that the work for Navi Mumbai IKEA store has already started and will be completed by 2019.

The bhumipujan (ground-breaking) of the store was performed by Fadnavis on May 18 this year.

Fadnavis also met Swedish Minister for EU Affairs and Trade Ms Ann Linde and discussed important bilateral issues, the statement said. PTI MM NSK

--- ENDS ---
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Results have been declared for 74 of the 81 seats in Nanded Municipal Corporation and Congress has won 69 of them.

By India Today Web Desk: The Congress continues its rule over Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation by winning majority seats. Results have so far been declared for 74 of the 81 seats in Nanded and the Congress has won 69 of those. Till last count, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won three seats while the Shiv Sena has secured a single seat.

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Nanded is the home turf of Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, who is an MP from the constituency. Congratulatory messages have started pouring in for Ashok Chavan and Maharashtra Congress on Twitter.

It was a high-stakes battle for the BJP and the Congress in Nanded. Although a Congress stronghold for the last 15 years, this time Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis addressed a high-pitched rally in Nanded days before the polling and targeted the Congress and the Shiv Sena.

The return journey for Congress in Maharashtra has begun. Ashok Chavan preponderates #BJP in Nanded MC elections.Cong wipes out #BJP.JaiHo pic.twitter.com/GjEOtvzprT- Maharashtra Congress (@INCMaharashtra) October 12, 2017

"Entire Maharashtra is standing behind the BJP today. In the recent elections to the 16 municipal corporations, the BJP came to power in 13. There is no trace of the Congress. As far as the Sena is concerned, it is not even in the race here. So, I do not feel the need to say anything much about them," Fadnavis said.

For the Congress, winning Nanded was a matter of prestige so much so that Ashok Chavan parked himself in the constituency to ensure a win for the party. In the last municipal election in Nanded, the Congress had secured 41 of the 81 seats with the Shiv Sena a distant second with 14 seats. The BJP had won only two seats while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won 10 and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) won 11 seats.

This time, 578 candidates are contesting the election to Nanded Municipal Corporation. Of the 81 seats, 41 are reserved for women, 15 for Scheduled Caste candidates, two for Scheduled Tribe candidates and 22 seats for Backward Class communities. Nanded Municipal Corporation has 3.96 lakh registered voters of whom 60 per cent turned out to vote on Wednesday.

In a first for Maharashtra, the state election commission used Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines in a single ward during the Nanded Municipal Corporation election. The counting of votes for the chosen ward, Ward Number 2, will be done twice, once through electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the next time through the VVPATs.

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(With inputs from Kamlesh Sutar and agencies)

YOU MAY WANT TO WATCH: Mumbai local train derails near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, no casualties reported

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Former Brownstown Township treasurer and Board of Trustees member Robert P. Young is among the seven people serving on the Wayne County Board of Ethics, which meets at 9 a.m. on the third Wednesday of each month.

Dates for the remainder of 2017 are Oct. 18, Nov. 15 and Dec. 20. Meetings are held in the Wayne County Commissions Committee Hearing Room 704 in the Guardian Building, 500 Griswold, in downtown Detroit. The meetings are open to the public.

Young is now an attorney with a private practice. his term on the board expires Dec. 31, 2019.

Members of the board are all volunteers, appointed by various members of Wayne County government.

The board was first established in 2012 when the Wayne County Ethics Ordinance was written. The ordinance was last updated in 2014.

According to a release from the county, the ordinance defines standards of conduct and ethical behavior for County employees and vendors. It also creates a system to hold accountable any person who breaks the rules. As outlined in the ordinance, the Ethics Board was established to receive and consider complaints of potential violations of the ordinance.

The Ethics Board has met 15 times since 2012, including three times so far in 2017.

The other six members of the board are:

?Carron L. Pinkins, chairman, an attorney and managing partner of a private law firm, who was appointed by Clerk Cathy Garrett to a term that expires on Dec. 31, 2018.

?Edward McCall Thomas, vice-chairman, a retired Wayne County Circuit Court judge and former Wayne County corporation counsel who was appointed by Executive Warren Evans to a term that expires on Dec. 31, 2019.

?Sandra Bucciero, an attorney in private practice who was appointed by Treasurer Eric Sabree to a term that expires on Dec. 31, 2020.

?Sue C. Carnell, superintendent of the Westwood Community School District, who was appointed by Prosecutor Kym Worthy to a term that expires on Dec. 31, 2019.

?Mona Hammoud, a PNC bank vice-president who was appointed by a vote of the Commission to a term that expires on Dec. 31, 2018.

?Freman Hendrix, a former Detroit deputy mayor who was appointed by Sheriff Benny Napoleon to a term that expires on Dec. 31, 2020.

Young was appointed by Register of Deeds Bernard Youngblood.

The Ethics Ordinance, a complaint form, agendas, meeting minutes and more information is available online at www.waynecounty.com/ethics. The boards email address is wcethics@waynecounty.com.
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) The North Block and the South Block -- two iconic buildings that flank the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi -- would be a visual treat with a dynamic lighting system displaying a wide range of themes with up to 16 million colour combinations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Union ministers attended the inauguration of the new lighting system by senior-most support staff of the home ministry, Mahipal Singh, today.

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These buildings at present are illuminated on eight select days through the year -- including Republic Day and Independence Day -- with static lighting, which covered an area of 16,750 square metres.

The Presidents House will also be lit with such a system within three months, an official said.

The new dynamic facade lighting, which will cover an area of 21,450 square metres, will mesmerise the visitors with full-capacity lighting between 8 pm to 9 pm.

The lighting system, which is equipped with dimming feature to reduce the electrical load, will be on between 7 pm and 5 am with colours changing every few seconds, the official said.

The initiative will add the two buildings to the league of other historical sites such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The dynamic lighting has been installed by the Central Public Works Department.

"The system is capable of providing both volume and focus lighting to highlight the architectural features of the historical buildings, a fine blend of the traditional Indian and British architecture," the official added.

Annual savings on account of new lighting with respect to replacement, maintenance and operation costs will be Rs 86.40 lakh, he said.

Besides, he said, the life of the new LED light fittings is expected to be over one lakh burning hours, coming to about 25 years as against only 10,000 burning hours for the existing system.

The energy consumption of the new system will cost Rs 8.40 lakh per year, the official said, adding it would be "much less" as compared to the conventional lighting.

The initial investment of Rs 15.40 crore for the new system will be recovered in six to seven years as against the costs being incurred every year now, the official said. PTI MP SMN

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By PTI: Patna, Oct 12 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today paid tributes to veteran socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia on the occasion of his 50th death anniversary.

Kumar garlanded a statue of Lohia and artistes sang bhajans at a function in Kankarbagh area of the state capital.

The chief minister had said on many occasions in the past that he followed Lohias ideals. He had also quoted Lohia during his campaigns for social causes.

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Road Construction Department Minister Nand Kishore Yadav, Education Minister Krishnandan Varma, MLAs Shyam Rajak and Arun Sinha were also present there on the occasion.

Born on March 23, 1910, Lohia was a freedom fighter and one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party. PTI SNS RMS

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Speaking to Russia's TASS, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho called Donald Trump 'insane' for his statements at UNGA and said he has lit the wick of a war against North Korea.

By Reuters: US President Donald Trump has "lit the wick of war" with North Korea and his country will be made to pay with "a hail of fire", a Russian news agency quoted North Korea's foreign minister as saying on Wednesday.

Tensions between North Korea and the United States have risen in recent weeks over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile programs.

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North Korea has test-fired several missiles and conducted what it said was a test explosion of a hydrogen bomb as it advances toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland.

Speaking to Russia's state-run TASS news agency, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said his country's nuclear program guaranteed peace and safety in the region and would not be a matter of discussion.

"With his bellicose and insane statement at the United Nations, Trump, you can say, has lit the wick of a war against us," TASS quoted Ri as saying. "We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words."

Ri has previously called Trump "President Evil" and his comments are likely to fuel an escalating war of words between the US President and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"We have almost reached the last point on the journey towards our final goal - to achieve a real balance of power with the United States," he said.

"Our principal position is that we will never agree to any talks in which our nuclear weapons will be the subject of negotiations."

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Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Panneerselvam termed his meeting with PM Modi a "courtesy call" and denied rumours of any rift between the recently-merged OPS-EPS camp.

By Poulomi Saha: Amid reports of growing rift between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami and deputy Chief Minister O Pannerselvam, the latter today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in Delhi. The meeting, which OPS and his camp members described as a "courtesy call", lasted about 30 minutes.

Pannerselvam was accompanied by camp loyalist and Member of Parliament V Maitreyan.

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Since the merger between the EPS and OPS factions, which was achieved over several rounds of meetings, reports have started doing the rounds that the two camp leaders are not getting along well in the government. Deputy CM Pannerselvam feels Chief Minister is allegedly curtailing his powers and tying his hands vis-a-vis decision-making.

Speaking to mediapersons in Delhi, Panneerselvam, however, denied this. "EPS discusses everything with his cabinet colleagues. There were no pre-conditions to this merger and there won't be any breaking up of AIADMK again", he stated.

Panneerselvam said, "No political issues were discussed with PM Modi. He has assured that he will depute a medical team to look into the dengue fever outbreak in the state." He also rubbished rumours of any differences between his and the EPS camp.

The talks of differences between me and CM (EPS) is false. Both camps joined without any preconditions: O.Panneerselvam, Tamil Nadu Dy CM pic.twitter.com/lH0fGYx9XF- ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2017

BUT IS THERE MORE TO IT THAN MEETS THE EYE?

EPS, OPS camps had joined hands despite Panneerselvam being demoted (he had been Chief Minister in the past) to keep the Sasikala faction at bay. It appears the latter has a lot to cheer now.

There are reports to suggest that E Palaniswami is not happy with Panneerselvam, seeking a direct meeting with the Prime Minister. It is believed the BJP had played a key role in bringing the two warring factions together. Will the saffron party be able to keep the anti-Sasikala flock together? It appears there could be many more chapters waiting to be unravelled in this riveting Tamil Nadu power tussle.

ALSO WATCH VIDEO | Tamil Nadu Deputy CM Panneerselvam in Delhi to meet PM Modi

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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.
It will be the first time since the Mahagathbandhan government collapsed in July this year that Lalu and Nitish will be seen together on one stage.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: Political adversaries usually avoid sharing stage with each other but on October 14, there is a possibility of a unique photo-op in recent times, when rivals from different parties would come together.

The occasion is the centenary year celebration of the prestigious Patna University. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the event and along with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, an alumni of Patna University. But the photo-op will be complete with the likely presence of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on stage, another alumnus of the institution.

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It will be the first time after the Mahagathbandhan government in the state collapsed in July this year, following CM Nitish Kumar severing ties with RJD and Congress to form a new government with BJP, that Lalu and Nitish will be seen together on one stage. Interestingly, between these two political giants of Bihar will be PM Modi.

"PM Modi will be gracing the celebrations along with the Bihar CM. Lalu Prasad has also been invited as he is also an alumni of the Patna University. However, the final decision on Lalu getting an opportunity to share stage with PM is PMO's call as certain protocol needs to be followed in such events where PM or President is present", said Ras Bihari Prasad Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Patna University.

The University has sent out invites to more than 5000 former students including former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha and incumbent Central Ministers like Ram Vilas Paswan, J.P Nadda, Ashwini Choubey, Upendra Kushwaha and Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Yashwant Sinha, who is now member of the BJP's "Margdarshak Mandal" and has been extremely critical of PM Modi and BJP National President Amit Shah's over Shah's son, Jay Shah's company Temple Enterprises reportedly recording a turnover of Rs. 80 crore in 2015 after it showed just Rs. 50000 turnover in 2014, will also be attending the event and is learnt to be lobbying hard along with Shatrughan Sinha to share stage with the PM.

"Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha will also be sent invites to attend the function. It's my responsibility to invite all students including alumni who are placed highly in bureaucracy and politically today", said the Vice-Chancellor of Patna University. Therefore, in many senses, the PU centenary event will be keenly watched for coming together of friends (PM Modi and Nitish) and rivals (PM Modi with Lalu,Yashwant).

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The Andhra Pradesh government has just reached a milestone with what is called the AP Janmabhoomi Project. While there are several Indians who leave the country to work abroad, the government in this state provides an opportunity for all those non-resident Indians to do something for their homeland.

What is best about this project is the fact that NRIs can develop the lives of thousands of Indians with the help of only one technological device, aiming at achieving dreams of several. This flagship project under the coordination of the Special Representative for North America, Mr Jayaram Komati, is funded 70 per cent by the state and 30 per cent by the NRIs.

Turning technolog y to our advantage It has a simple three-pronged strategy- digitalisation, preschool development and mahaprasthanam. The digitalisation is primarily through incorporating smart classrooms in schools across the state. Tools like whiteboards and updated equipments help students to understand and perform better in interactive classes.

This scheme has been one of the most successful parts of the project with over 2,200 schools being equipped with the latest technology to offer the best kind of education, focusing specially on high schools. Under this area, several programmes like the Youth-Empowerment Programme (seeking to provide advanced computer knowledge through a 21- day intensive training) and the NRI school connect programme (bridging the gap between schools and NRIs to increase knowledge base through communication between both sides) have been successfully launched and implemented.

Digital literacy is finally becoming a reality. Heavy focus on socio-economic steps Apart from this, the Anganwadi centres help providing pre-school education and maternal care to those children who are about to start schooling. Three to six is the crucial age span in a childs life. In recognition to this, the project makes special efforts to provide a holistic development and prepare them better for school.

Building crematoriums, boundary walls, burning platforms and provisioning for the convenient practice of rituals is the third part of this project. NRIs come forward, focusing on their native areas in state and donate to build grounds with the help of the Gram Panchayat engineering wing. Something thats never been thought of Technology has played a massive role in the success of this project and the sheer dedication of the NRIs has helped this initiative meet goals in short period of time.

Through day to day events like World Environment Day and International Yoga Day, this fantastic group of Indians settled abroad, with the help of a team of students under the AP Internship Programme, this social initiative is one of a kind, with no other machinery initiating something as brilliant as this.

Undergraduate students come forward by visiting the schools and helping teachers get better accustomed with technology. The team, on the one hand helps Indians, and on the other, helps many reconnect with their roots in the most positive way. As a citizen, everyone can donate, help and mentor.

To make a difference today, visithttps://www.apjanmabhoomi.org/ Intern under the project

(Intern under the project)
Oldest politician in Himachal Pradesh, Congress minister Vidya Stokes, 89, is ready to leave her battlefield Theog Assembly constituency in Shimla district for chief minister Virbhadra Singh in the ensuing Assembly polls.

The CM may, however, take the final call on this in a few days.

I have an offer from Theog MLA and the Block Congress Committee to contest from there. The people in Arki in Solan district have formally asked me to contest from there. I will decide in a day or two, CM told mediapersons on Thursday.

Singh has left his own turf Shimla (Rural) Assembly segment for his son, Vikramaditya Singh and was eyeing some other constituency for the ensuing polls.

He has earlier represented Kotkhai, Rohroo (now reserved) and Shimla (Rural) assembly segments in Shimla district at different times. He is six time CM, eight times MLA and five time MP.

We had discussions. I think it would be good for the party if he contests from here, Stokes said. She, who was unsure about her plans till few days back and was under pressure from her family to retire, said even if CM contests from Theog, she would stay in politics and work for people.

Stokes, who had been close to CM till 1990, had turned her rival over an issue thereafter. In the 2012 polls, she again became friends with Virbhadra Singh, surprising her own supporters.

Earlier, talking to mediapersons, the CM said the bulk of candidates were already final and remaining would be finalised shortly. He said Congress was prepared for the polls with development as it is the main poll plant.

Singh said nobody should be carried away by the BJP bluff, which is talking about 50 plus or 60 plus seats out of 68 in HP in this election.
The reasons for calling a complete strike are misconduct of judges with litigants and huge corruption in the judiciary.

We have already given the names of erring judges to the High Court but no action has been taken so far, advocate Jaiveer Singh Chauhan, Secretary General of the coordination committee of Delhi bar associations, said.

In a unanimous resolution adopted by the Coordination Committee of all District Court Bar Associations here, it was alleged that some judges were repeatedly misbehaving with the lawyers by treating them as subordinates.

The strike is likely to paralyse work in all six district courts at Patiala House, Rohini, Saket, Tis Hazari, Dwarka and Karkardooma.

On Wednesday, the lawyers at the Tis Hazari Court had also gone on a strike to protest against the alleged rude behaviour of a magistrate.

Extending the strike to all district courts tomorrow, the coordination committee unanimously resolved to observe complete strike on October 13 in all the district courts of Delhi to draw the attention of judicial administration to take action against the erring judges so that the judges act in a judicious manner and not treat lawyers as their subordinates.
In an exclusive interview with Rajdeep Sardesai, former President Pranab Mukherjee shared his thoughts about politics, GST, demonetisation, and his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

By India Today Web Desk: In an exclusive interview with Rajdeep Sardesai, former President Pranab Mukherjee shared his thoughts about politics, GST, and demonetisation.

In his first interview after leaving office, Mukherjee said that he had an excellent relationship with PM Narendra Modi and that the PM gave him respect despite of the political differences between the two leaders. He praised Modi and also said that majority governments are better than coalition governments which are a result of compromise.

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The present government's decision to introduce GST and Demonitisation, which has met with a lot of flak was also a point of conversation. When asked about his take on the same, the former President said that how can he criticise the government for GST and demonitisation when he was a part of the government?

With the preparations of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections already in motion, Pranab Mukherjee also reiterated that the media should not write-off Congress. Mentioning his former colleague and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mukherjee refused to agree that he was controlled by Sonia Gandhi.

The full interview will air tomorrow night on India Today TV.

--- ENDS ---
Actor Parineeti Chopra thanked her brother, Sahaj Chopra, who helped her overcome depression when she was down in the dumps for almost a year.

Parineeti talked about the person close to her heart ahead of the TV premiere of Hollywood romantic drama film Me Before You on RomedyNow on Saturday.

I think every human being who considers themselves to be emotionally evolved, always have this one very big event or one person who comes into their lives and completely changes the way they think. And I can say very confidently that happened in my life, Parineeti said in a statement.

A couple of years ago, I went through a very low phase emotionally in my life where I was really down in the dumps. It wasnt like a person especially came into to my life, but it was a person who has always been in my life  my brother Sahaj.

Sahaj was the guy who was my voice of reason, he was the calming factor. He is the guy who knows me, he knows my pulse, he understands me, he understands the grain that I am made of. So, speaking to him, being with him everyday really used to give me that confidence in myself and really took me out of that phase, she added.

Parineeti said her fight against depression lasted for almost a year, but she fought it and emerged a more positive person.

So, Sahaj thank you and I love you. You are my baby, you are my brother, you are my life, you are my soulmate, and no man will be able to ever replace that, and I am proud to say that I love you, Parineeti said.
Filmmaker Neeraj Pandeys next movie Aiyaary, which was due to release on January 26, 2018, will now hit the screens on February 9, 2018, the makers announced on Wednesday.

It features Sidharth Malhotra and Manoj Bajpayee in the lead roles. Its last schedule was shot in Cairo.

The film, set in Delhi, London and Kashmir, revolves around two strong-minded army officers having completely different views, yet right in their own ways. It is a real-life story based on the relationship between a mentor and a protege.

Presented by Plan C and Jayantilal Gada (Pen), the project is produced by Shital Bhatia, Dhaval Jayantilal Gada, Motion Picture Capital.

READ ALSO: Sidharth Malhotra believes a true gentleman is someone who respects women!
Environmental conservation is the call of todays world and for those young brave hearts who are motivated by adventure and trekking trails, heres some interesting news. Alipurduars Nanda Devi Foundation is readying itself to host an annual nature study, adventure and rock climbing camp with school and college-goers from 26 to 31December.

Jay Shankar Pal Chaudhury, secretary, Nanda Devi Foundation commented, The camp is open for the younger lot in between 4-35 years.

There would be around 150 school and college students making their presence in the upcoming nature study camp. It will be held at Howda, Alipurduar, located at a distance of around three km from Jayanti in the buffer zone of Buxa Tiger Reserve.

The nature study camp will comprise bird and butterfly watching and identifying medicinal flora and ayurvedic herbs. The adventure activities will include ways to rescue individuals from natural calamities like flood.

The students will be imparted training on how to save individuals when a fire breaks at home or if they get lost in the heart of the wild. Besides, there will be sessions on rock climbing, rappelling, river crossing, trekking and zoomering for students attending the camp. For those interested to know about high-altitude trekking in eastern Hima-layas, there is an array of opportunities. The voluntary group will embark upon high-altitude trekking to Sandakphu in January, next year.

Pal Chaudhury said, The seven-day trek is for school and college students above 15 years. The purpose of organising this trek is to make the younger generation acclimatise in the harsh climatic conditions of the eastern and north-eastern Himalayas. As one goes higher up, breathing problem arises owing to deficiency of oxygen and the phenomenon is quite frequent in eastern Himalayas than Uttaranchal and Himachal Himalayas. The presence of high humidity content in the air is one of the factors contributing to suffocation in high-altitude zones.

The Sandakphu trek will begin from the base camp- Maneybhanjan and will proceed to Shipra, Meghmar, Gauribas, Kalapokhri, Bike Bhanjan and terminate at Sandakphu, all in the district of Darjeeling in indo-Nepal border. Here one pertinent question arises-what is it that makes the Sandakphu trek the most sought-after for avid trekkers?

The unique selling preposition of the trek is the unforgettable glimpse of 25 icecapped peaks lying in Nepal, India and Bhutan like the renowned Mt Everest, Kanchenjunga, and the lesser-known Mt Japnu and Mt Black Kabrudom et al, said Pal Chaudhury.

The trek also offers scenic views of floral biodiversity and as one climbs higher up, the vegetation changes, gradually becoming sparse and an arid zone appears. The students get to view the change in floral biodiversity in the high altitude zone of the eastern Himalayas. Viewing an array of 25 icy pinnacles at a glance comes as an added bonus for trekkers and mountain lovers, added Pal Chaudhury.
Even in these iconoclastic times, the Indian judiciary, especially the High Courts and the Supreme Court, command respect and credibility which has been further enhanced by their judgements in the Right to Privacy, Triple Talaq and Ram Rahim cases.

The public remembers with gratitude the numerous occasions when the courts stood up for the common man against executive excesses. Courts have often laid down norms of good governance in Public Interest Litigation (PIL) cases which has reformed administrative practices. On the other hand, the same public shows its dissatisfaction with the judicial process by idolising encounter specialists and meting out instant justice to the unfortunate petty criminals caught in the act. So what is the true face of the judiciary?

Is it the wise and fearless judges who uphold the rights of the common man or judges like the infamous Justice Karnan whose bizarre doings forced the Supreme Court to jail him? Unfortunately, mavericks like the Rajasthan High Court judge, whose views on avian reproduction had us all in splits, have taken the gloss off the image of judges in the public mind.

However, some bad eggs in an otherwise healthy lot is not the most pressing of the judiciarys problems. The touchstone of judicial performance is quick and efficient delivery of justice but recent statistics show that 2.8 crore cases are pending in District Courts, 40.5 lakh cases are pending in High Courts and 61,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, which combined with a shortage of 5,000 judges in the lower courts, 40 per cent shortage in the High Courts and a 13 per cent (now 20 per cent) shortage in the Supreme Court (Source: Indian Judiciary Annual Report 2015-2016 published by the Supreme Court), ensure that quick justice remains a mirage. Rather, decisions in most cases are delayed inordinately.

Time bound resolution of cases is also a pre-requisite for a healthy business environment. Make in India would definitely get a fillip if we had a more efficient judiciary because a prudent investor would prefer to invest in a country where business disputes are resolved expeditiously. Recognising this problem, in a recent case, the Supreme Court observed that: no country can progress if there was no functional and effective judiciary. No person from abroad would like to come to India and contest his case for 15 years.

An added problem is corruption, which is rampant but ignored by all. Noticing an irregular bail order in a ministers case, a probe was ordered by the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court which established that Rs.10 crores had been paid to judges and advocates to grant bail. Interestingly, no case was registered against the erring judges and advocates. Poor infrastructure and an unprofessional environment further erode the confidence of the public in the judiciary. Housed in shabby paanstained buildings, with mountains of records falling over and dungeon like corridors, District Courts in India evoke pity and dread in equal measure.

Once you enter the court premises you are surrounded by hordes of lawyers literally begging you to avail of their services but their torn black coats and worn out shoes evoke sympathy but not confidence. The court staff, sitting below the chair of the Judge receives small bribes from litigants right under the Judges nose, which the Judge pretends to ignore. Cases are called out, one after the other; the majority are adjourned.

Mostly, lawyers or litigants are not available. No wonder cases do not get decided, many of the decisions of the court are in cases abandoned by one or the other litigant because the case had become irrelevant with the passage of time. Selection of judges to High Courts has been in the eye of the storm recently. One has to understand that High Courts in India are ivory towers; prisoners to archaic procedures. Your chances of becoming a judge go up astronomically if you are the son/nephew of a judge  sitting or retired.

Judges from the State Judicial Service who are promoted to the High Court have very short tenures of two to three years which leaves them with little time to learn the ropes while the meagre pay of a High Court judge prevents top notch advocates from opting for the Bench. With such a limited talent pool to draw upon, the quality of judges and the justice meted out has suffered. Probably, the process of selection of judges of higher courts needs a relook but with the Parliament and the Supreme Court taking extreme views on this subject, the public can only pray that the issue would be resolved amicably and expeditiously.

The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum with plenary powers but with an overfull calendar it is not able to do justice to its role as the protector of laws and the protector of the Constitution. The disposal of cases in the Supreme Court can hardly keep pace with the filing of new cases. There is a murmur that the Supreme Court is now functioning more as a court of appeal neglecting its role of a Constitutional Court. For an ordinary person, pursuing a case in the Supreme Court is well nigh impossible. Firstly, the Supreme Court sits only at Delhi and then the Supreme Court has its own set of lawyers who charge a bomb.

By the time a case reaches the Supreme Court, it is quite likely that the litigants would have moved on. Any effort to reform the judiciary soon gets mired into controversies created by vested interests. If a reformative proposal enhances the Judiciarys powers it is resisted by the Executive which already feels that the Judiciary has trespassed in the Executive domain. If a reformative proposal reduces the Judiciarys powers then the Supreme Court steps in. Then there is the army of lawyers which wants things to continue in the same chaotic state.

t is worth mentioning that even the Supreme Court finds itself unable to curb the lawyers lawlessness. Some self regulation on the part of the Courts is also required. Courts often play to the gallery, taking up sensational cases to the neglect of more deserving ones. Then there is the tendency of leaving important cases midway or prolonging them indefinitely. Courts are also very finicky about their own importance, power and decorum. Tribunals cannot be adequately empowered because the Courts feel that tribunals with sufficient powers would supplant Courts. Apart from the judges own conscience, there is no effective mechanism to counter corruption in the High Courts or Supreme Court.

There is no worthwhile discussion of corruption in the judiciary because of the fear of contempt of court proceedings. The Augean stables of the Judiciary can be cleaned only if there is will and cooperation on part of all stake holders.

For example, tackling the humongous shortage of judges in subordinate courts can only be a long term project (because the new judges would require training, supporting manpower and infrastructure) but if the large number of amendments in the Civil Procedure Code and Criminal Procedure Code aimed at quick trials are operationalised in their true spirit then the large pendency of cases can be cleared quickly. Retired judges can be called upon to hold court outside normal working hours to decide specific categories of cases like cheque bounce cases, of which 30 lakh are pending. Two proposals currently under consideration need to be implemented quickly.

The first is the centralised selection of judicial officers for the district courts which would improve the quality and calibre of the subordinate judiciary. These officers would reach the High Court quickly and have a longer and more meaningful tenure there.

The second proposal moots recording of court proceedings; higher courts will then actually realise what exactly happens in lower courts. Some long term reforms would also merit consideration. Petty criminals and young offenders often take to crime because they have no income earning skills or opportunities. Instead of being sent to jail, where they hone their criminal skills, such persons should be sent to correctional facilities for rehabilitation.

For civil cases, advocates of both parties can sit down and finalise an agreed position in the case to save time. The menace of briefless lawyers has to be curbed by imposing a cap on the number of advocates eligible to practice at a particular court. Finally, outdated judicial philosophy and procedures have to be discarded. Proceedings in court have to be such that an ordinary educated person should be able to understand the goings on and participate, if required.

However, Indian courts have often said that they are courts of law and not courts of justice. In the Vodafone case, a three judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice held that form was more important than substance. Till this philosophy holds sway, justice would continue to elude the masses.

(The writer is a retired Chief Commissioner of Income Tax and is registered as an advocate with the Bar Council of Maharashtra)
In a controversial statement, Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation Uma Bharti on Thursday said the Congress party benefitted from the death of Mahatma Gandhi.

I want to ask the people of the country, who benefitted from the death of Gandhi? The RSS suffered and so did the country but it was the Congress which benefitted, Bharti told the media.

Everyone knows that Gandhi wanted to disband the Congress (after independence) so, it was the Congress that benefitted from his death, she added.

Bhartis statement comes on the day when the dates for the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are likely to be announced by the Election Commission and will surely ruffle the feathers of many in the Congress party.
Four years after their conviction and given life terms, dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were on Thursday acquitted in the 2008 murders of their teenage daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj by the Allahabad High Court that gave them the benefit of doubt, a verdict that left questions unanswered on who killed them.

A bench of Justice B.K. Narayana and Justice A.K. Mishra set free the couple in the sensational murder of 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar at their Jalvayu Vihar home in Noida on May 16, 2008.

Tanveer Ahmed Mir, lawyer for the couple, said they were able to prove that the CBI case had no basis or legs to stand on. Once the basis of the prosecution was knocked out because it was unbelievable, then there was no motive. There was no sterling witness.

Aditya Wadhwa, another defence lawyer, said just because there was no other person present in the room, where Aarushi was found dead, it was unjustified to blame the parents for the murder.

He said both the judges found the charges against them baseless and there was no strength in the allegations of the CBI.

Dhruv Gupta, another counsel for the accused parents, said there was no eyewitness and in a case which depended on circumstantial evidence the law of the land is that the benefit of doubt goes to the accused.

Also when is an alternative hypothesis (of some other killer), the benefit of doubt again goes to the accused.

The couple is expected to be set free from Dasna jail in Ghaziabad on Friday. Their relatives expressed happiness over the judgement, saying finally the ordeal is over for the couple.

I am thankful to the judiciary for giving a positive verdict. It has been a stressful life since Aarushi Talwar was killed. I am grateful for the acquittal of Rajesh and Nupur. Allow us to absorb the news. We always knew they were not guilty, Aarushis maternal grandfather B.G. Chitnis said.

Reacting to the verdict, the CBI said it would study the Allahabad High Court order and decide the future course of action.

Pinaki Mishra, the lawyer who appeared for the couple in the Supreme Court, said the CBI will have no case to argue in the Supreme Court. In fact, they will have to answer a number of questions in the Supreme Court as to why they did not investigate properly.

After a Special CBI Court in Ghaziabad convicted them for the murders in 2013 and handed them life terms, the Talwars appealed in the Allahabad High Court against the verdict.

Former CBI Director A.P. Singh, who then headed the agency when it took over the case, said: There were loopholes in our investigation and that is why we had closed the case saying it was inconclusive.

He said the High Court verdict does not say that the Talwars didnt do it but that there was not enough evidence against them.

Aarushi was found murdered in her bedroom, following which Hemraj was initially a suspect. However, his body too was found in a pool of blood a day later on the terrace of the house.

The Uttar Pradesh Police accused Rajesh Talwar of killing his daughter in a fit of rage after he allegedly found Aarushi in a compromising situation with Hemraj. Rajesh Talwar was arrested on May 23, 2008.

On May 31, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the case. It initially absolved the parents of conspiracy and murder but later held them responsible.

On June 13, Rajesh Talwars compounder Krishna was arrested by the CBI. Ten days later, Raj Kumar, a servant of a doctor friend of the Talwars, and Vijay Mandal, the domestic help of the Talwars neighbour, were also nabbed.

The three were later freed after no evidence was found against them.
Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Gautam Bambawale was on Thursday named the next Ambassador to China.

An IFS officer of the 1984 batch, Bambawale replaces Vijay Gokhale, who has already taken charge as Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry.

Bambawale, who speaks fluent Mandarin, had earlier also dealt with China in his capacity as Joint Secretary in the ministry.
The three-member Election Commission (EC) headed by Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti on Thursday announced that 9 November as the date of polling in Himachal Pradesh for the Assembly elections and the 18 December as the date of counting.

According to media reports, Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti said the polls in Gujarat will be held before December 18. Dates of elections and counting in Gujarat will be declared later.

Announcing the schedule, Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti said filing of nominations will open on October 16 and the last date will be October 23. Scrutiny will be done the next day and the last for withdrawal of candidates will be October 26.

Joti said the model code of conduct in Himachal Pradesh comes into effect immediately under which the state government cannot take policy decisions. Similarly, the Central government cannot announce policy decisions regarding Himachal Pradesh.

Joti cited some office memorandums issued earlier to justify the delay in the announcement regarding Gujarat, saying the EC had a statutory 21 days to carry out elections that can extend up to 45 days.

He said the election process in Gujarat will be completed before vote count in Himachal.

The basic principle is that the voting pattern in one state should not affect the results of another state that goes to polls in a short period. Prior to Himachal results, the voting process will be over in Gujarat, he said.

The Chief Election Commissioner said VVPAT machines will be used in all constituencies in Himachal Pradesh because of which a voter will be able to see to which party, symbol and candidate his vote has gone to.

The term of the 182-member Gujarat assembly ends on January 22, 2018 while that of the 68-member Himachal Pradeshs Assembly ends on January 7, 2018.

Earlier, Congress had declared Virbhadra Singh as the Chief Minister (CM) face of the party for the upcoming state Assembly elections, while BJP has not announced their CM face for Himachal Pradesh.

Also read| Analysis: BJP must end its silence on CM candidate in Himachal

Congress has not named anyone as its CM candidate for the Gujarat polls.

Earlier, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi during his Navsarjan Yatra in Gujarat and had launched attacks on the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of crony capitalism and their failed attempts to consolidate the economy of India, through demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Congress suffered a big setback ahead of the crucial Gujarat elections when regional strongman and former CM Shankersinh Vaghela quit the party last month. He has now lent support to Jan Vikalp, a front which projects itself as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his visits to poll bound state, Gujarat, had announced slew of sops: Bullet train project  from Ahmedabad to Mumbai inauguration of Sardar Sarovar Dam on Narmada river, stone of a sea-link bridge between coastal town of Okha and Bet Dwarka Island, and inauguration of Udhna-Jaynagar Antyodaya Express.

(With agency inputs)
India on Thursday asked China to respect the agreements reached between Special Representatives (SRs) of the two countries on the boundary dispute even as it reiterated that there was no change in the status quo at Doklam since the two countries ended their military stand-off on 28 August.

It is important that the understandings between the Special Representatives are scrupulously respected by both sides and that each side projects the position of the other side accurately, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a press briefing.

He was asked for his response to recent statements emanating from Beijing saying China believes that the boundary in Sikkim had been well-defined under the 1890 Sino-British treaty.

The Indian spokesperson said negotiations for the settlement of the boundary question were held between India and China at the level of Special Representatives based on the agreements and understandings reached between them from time to time. The most recent understanding between them was reached in 2012.

On reports that India was pulling its troops further back in the Doklam area, he said, Status quo prevails there and any statement to the contrary is incorrect.
On 18 May 2008, the Bangladesh High Court granted citizenship to the Biharis who were brought over to the country as minors, or were born after independence. This brought an end to their statelessness, and opened up prospects of education, employment and travel to a community that had been cooped up in camps and refused repatriation.

That realisation took 36 years, but with one act, the government of Bangladesh gave around three lakh people and their subsequent generations basic human rights.

The Rohingya refugees have been around in Bangladesh for just as long, but the question of citizenship has not seen any traction. Some of the most poignant visuals coming out of the Rohingya refugee crisis have been those of new-born babies. These infants were mostly born either in no-mans land, or after crossing over to Bangladesh. This raises a simple question without a simple answerto which country do these babies belong?

According to official estimates, the number of babies born to Rohingya refugee women is 475but thats just the deliveries that happened in government health centres. The official number is higher, and we can get a better sense of it by taking a look at the number of women who received post-partum treatment at these centres: 1,144.

The accuracy of that number depends on how many women actually sought medical help after deliverythe true figure could very well be even higher. Eye-witnesses report a staggering number of pregnant, expecting mothers.

The civil surgeons office puts the population at approximately 5,000. That means that 5,000 more infants will be born on Bangladeshi soil. So far, the only government official to make a public statement about this issue has been the Minister of Disaster Management and Relief, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, who told the media that newborns are being issued birth certificates as Myanmar citizensa euphemism for stateless.

The legitimacy of such a piece of paper is thrown into question since Myanmar has consistently denied citizenship to this ethnic group. Nor are recent diplomatic negotiations indicative of that status changing any time soon. Aung San Suu Kyis office  the State Counsellor Office  declared in a statement last week that only verified Rohingyas will be taken back into Myanmar.

Suu Kyis definition of verification draws on terms set during the Rohingya repatriation initiatives undertaken in 1992; terms which state that Myanmar will be taking back only those refugees who are carrying Myanmar Citizenship Identity Cards/ National Registration Cards or other types of identifying documents issued by the countrys government. This paper provision is put into context by the fact that many Rohingya refugees have no identification documents at all.

Journalists and aid workers reported cases of refugees who lost their papers during the exodus or whose papers were burnt up in the flames along with their homes  that is, if they had documents to begin with. Throughout history, the community has had identification papers issued to them, only to have them revoked upon grounds of ineligibility for citizenship. This includes the National Registration Cards that Suu Kyis office has proposed to use for verification during the repatriation process.

Many could not renew their NRC, and were provided instead with Temporary Registration Certificates  several lakhs of which were revoked in 2015. Citizenship for the new-borns provides them with access to basic rights such as being able to go to a proper school.

Before the recent influx, the refugee population of 80,000 was being serviced by primary schools through UNICEF, but this was only limited to those living in registered camps. The last month has seen the establishment of safe zones, child spaces and classrooms, so that the lakhs of Rohingya children can at least receive something akin to an education. Such work done by aid organisations for early childhood interventions is left without impact as the children grow up without any education beyond the primary.

Even those who have grown up in the country cannot get employed, since they are not eligible for work permits. These interventions are also threatened by policies such as the 2015 decision by the Bangladeshi government to move the refugees to the inhospitable Thengar Char island.

Bangladesh is also not a party to the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness which grants nationality to stateless births. Pakistan on the other hand affords citizenship as a birthright. In a parallel set of events, undocumented Bangladeshi children halfway across the world are in a similar fix. Just last Thursday the Trump administration started to phase out the Dreamers programme, an Obama-era legacy that gave some legal status to children brought over to USA by undocumented parents.

The programme is no longer accepting new applications or requests for renewals, and this will invariably affect the Bangladeshi American population, a large number of whom are undocumented migrants. It is difficult to point a finger at exactly how many children will be affected as census figures vary, but all reports conclude that the Bangladeshi-American community is one of the fastest-growing.

This will not affect the legal status of one group  children born to undocumented Bangladeshi parents in the United States. They were granted citizenship as a birthright, thereby giving them a very different life from their parents. It is time for Bangladesh to formulate a policy that will address this issue of citizenship of children born in the Rohingya camps.

(The Daily Star/ANN)
In a bid to connect with the people, Rajasthan government is reviving some of Congress' decisions ahead of the assembly elections next year.

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: Assembly elections in Rajasthan are about a year away and Vasundhara Raje led BJP government is already feeling the need to reconsider some of the populist decisions taken by the Gehlot Government. Decisions it had put in cold storage after coming in power.

The BJP government seems to be retracting its steps over the decision to put a halt to Congress government's order to allocate land for use by different communities. As a result, various lands can be allocated to different communities, for various purposes, including to Rajputs, Brahmins, etc., at highly concessional rates.

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Shrichand Kriplani, Urban Development and Housing minister, Rajasthan Government told India Today, "See, its like this is not a new issue. Any party may have the government in Rajasthan. Always the self supporting organisations, educational trusts and the hospitals...who open school, we give them (land) on concessional rate... And I, as a minister, can give concession upto 50 per cent and if concession of more than 50 per cent is needed, then it goes to the cabinet of ministers."

The minister, however, refuted the allegation that allocation of land is being done keeping caste equations into consideration.

"No land is allotted on the basis of caste. Its trust is formed. Trust's registration is done. In that, we do not consider the community. Can be any community. We give to everyone in this. Be it any community, forms a trust collectively or is an educational trust, or forms a trust to build a hospital, give it to everyone. The (Congress' decision) was not cancelled. Whatever decisions were written in haste during Congress' rule six months before the rule came, they were stopped as they were taken in haste. Now, we are taking them up one by one," Kriplani stated.

The Congress, however, termed the BJP Government's attempt to follow Congress dispensation's footsteps as an election gimmick.

"See, this is an election gimmick. The Government of Rajasthan had failed to fulfill the promises they made during the elections... Previously, they held meetings according to the castes of the ministers. Now, they have been holding meetings with the people, prominent people of different castes and now the allotment of land according to the castes basis also proves that they have been failing in fulfilling the promises. They have been resorting to such measures in a way to pacify the people of Rajasthan, especially the people belonging to different castes.", Dr. Archana Sharma, Congress Spokesperson, said.

The BJP, however, refuted any attempt to link the state Government's attempt to appease communities to the elections next year.

"Where are they near? There is 1.25 years left now. Elections are near three months before. Now, we will change the map of entire Rajasthan in six months," Kriplani told India Today.

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In the well-established democracies of the West, feminism in the post-World War II era became concerned with independence, and with greater political action to improve womens rights and economic equality between the genders, to address the rights of female minorities, rather than absolute rights, such as, suffrage.

A new phrase, the second wave, was coined by Marsha Lear. It was referred to as the second wave, as its advocates highlighted the failure of the early, or the first-wave feminism to achieve its aims. The term first wave was used retroactively, after the emergence of the second-wave feminism, to describe the more recent feminist movement.

The first wave of feminism was the first concerted movement for the reform of womens social and legal inequalities in the nineteenth century.

It was about women as women; it glorified motherhood, accepted the basic aspects of the division of labour between the sexes, that women were responsible for home and for bringing up children, while men were responsible for the public world of paid work.

Based on these parameters, the arguments for womens suffrage were articulated. The second wave of feminism was about women as persons celebrating personhood. It called for the breaking down of the division of labour between the sexes, which was perceived to be the reason for womens oppression. It demanded that women ought to play an equal role in the world of paid work and that men should play an equal part at home.

While the first wave defined equality around the idea of sameness between women and men, the second wave stressed on equality on the basis of the difference between women and men. The second wave was shaped and dominated by what has come to be known as radical feminism.

The phenomenon primarily emerged in the late 1960s in New York and Boston in the United States among women who were politically active in the civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam war campaigns. Some of its ideas had their roots in the cultural/ material feminist tradition of the United States in the late nineteenth century, though many viewed radical feminism as a new deviation of the 1960s.

It emerged in response to womens experience of the limitations of equal rights of their marginalisation in the left-wing and radical male dominated movements and, above all, in the advances in knowledge and understanding which women had attained thanks decades of access to education. Radical feminism located the root cause of womens oppression in patriarchy. It symbolised female rage against male power, against patriarchy.

Many of them were ideologically with the New Left and its great refusal of American capitalism. They wanted a radical transformation of society and of personal life, and were ready to speak out about abortion, rape, lesbianism, orgasms, imperialism and welfare. Kate Millett (1934-2017) was among the notable second-wave feminists of this period.

Her Sexual Politics (1969) presented a manifesto for revolution in the winter of 1968 to a womens group at Columbia University, where Millett was a doctoral student in English and comparative literature. The manifesto declared that when one group ruled over another, the relationship between the two was political.

When such an arrangement was carried out over a long period of time, it evolved into an ideology. The doctoral thesis was revised and published as Sexual Politics. Over 10,000 copies were sold in a fortnight.

The fusing together of the words sexual and politics opened up new theoretical possibilities for feminist debate, according to Whelehan. This enabled the assertion that all things private and personal in womens lives were affected by the politics of the state and patriarchy.

The New York Times in its review in 1970, described the book as the Bible of Womens Liberation. Time magazine described her as the Mao Tse Tung of Womens Liberation. The sexual domination of men over women was the most pervasive ideology, and the most fundamental power structure in society.

The principles of patriarchy were two-fold: (a) men shall dominate over women, and (b) older men shall dominate over the young. Sexual politics was the politics of patriarchy. All historical civilisations were patriarchies: their ideology was embedded in male supremacy. The family was the chief institution of patriarchy. Patriarchal power is socially constructed as opposed to biological or the innate.

Male supremacy and womens subordination were the core of patriarchal ideology. Millet explained how patriarchy, or male-rule, was maintained~ Government is upheld by power, which is supported through consent (social opinion), or imposed by violence. Conditioning to an ideology accounts to the former.

But there may be a resort to the latter at any moment when consent is withdrawn ~ rape, attack, sequestration, beatings, murder. Sexual politics obtains consent through the socialisation of both sexes to patriarchal policies. The family, for Millet, was the main source of ideological indoctrination, and was needed for reproduction of patriarchy.

It socialised the young into the patriarchal ideologys prescribed attitudes towards the categories of role, temperament and status. Millett pointed out that in traditional families, women did not have a legal standing, nor did they own property.

In contemporary patriarchy, women have rights but are economically subordinate, first because they are not paid for the work that was done at home, and second because they were restricted to subordinate employment opportunities. A complete sexual revolution, which would destroy the traditional taboos on homosexuality, bastardry, adolescent, pre and extra-marital sex, was needed to overthrow patriarchy.

The family would be replaced with professional collective care of the young, and with public education. This revolution would come about primarily in the realm of human consciousness with the destruction of male supremacist ideas and its traditional forms of socialisation. Millett acknowledged the changes that have taken place in institutions but not in the habits of the mind. Her arguments were akin to Gramsci and Althusser who held that the state maintained its rule though not through force but primarily by ideological hegemony.

She catalogued instances of sexual politics, which she drew from modern literature, and in this context mentioned the works of DH Lawrence, Henry Miller and Norman Mailer. She pointed out that Freud continued with the misogynistic Western philosophical tradition that Aristotle initiated; one that saw a woman as an incomplete male. Freud presumed the superiority of the male anatomy, which prevented him from identifying social institutions as the cause for womens unhappiness. She wanted feminism to be revolutionary and not incremental like the first-wave feminism. The striking feature of Milletts Sexual Politics, according to Mead, was its vision of freedom and a radically transformed society.

Writing on Millett, Andrea Dworkin said: Betty Friedan had written about the problem that had no name. Kate Millett named it, illustrated it, exposed it, analysed it. Milletts Sexual Politics provided a transformative critique of feminism and has been a reference point since then. No feminist treatise is complete without reference to her seminal contribution.

(The writer is an Associate Professor in Political Science, Jesus and Mary College, New Delhi)
Encouraged by polling 14 per cent votes in last years election to the Kerala Assembly and opening its account in the legislature, albeit with a solitary seat, and enthused by its stunning performance in this years Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, BJP chief Amit Shah, backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has launched a simultaneous propaganda blitzkrieg in Delhi and in Kannur against the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front government of Kerala.

While the President Ram Nath Kovind, was praising Kerala for its spiritual consciousness where Christianity existed from the first century and Islam from the seventh century, at a function in Kollam in south Kerala, Amit Shah led a Jan Raksha Yatra from Kannur in north Kerala challenging the harmonious co-existence of all major religions in the State.

The 15-day yatra is slated to end in Thiruvananthapuram. Shahs immediate target was the Pinarayi Vijayan government and ultimate goal was to expand the base of the BJP in Kerala. The LDF government is firmly entrenched with no sign of any instability.

Shah lacked the stamina to keep pace with the march for more than one day. On the second day the yatra was to pass though Vijayans constituency and Shah was to address a rally in the evening. Handing over the baton to Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of UP, Shah quietly returned to Delhi, promising to return for the closing day of the yatra in Thiruvananthapuram.

Adityanaths brand of politics, like that of Shahs, is the very antithesis of Kerala politics. Shah made political violence and love jihad the central themes of the Jan Raksha Yatra. The people of Kerala know violence is not the monopoly of the Marxists. The RSS-BJP also thrive on political violence, especially in the district of Kannur.

Taking a potshot at the Kerala government for the dengue deaths in the State, Adityanath asked Vijayan to take lessons from UP on how to run hospitals! Modi also did not endear himself to the people of Kerala when he compared the States infant mortality among the Scheduled Tribes with that of Somalia. In reality, Kerala figures on top on all major social development indicators and credit for it goes to both the LDF and the Congress-led United Democratic Front. In relative terms, the record of development in states ruled by the BJP is dismal.

Religious conversions have been going on in Kerala without let or hindrance for the last 2,000 years, and the Muslim population has touched 28 per cent which the BJP finds alarming. To curb this trend, whenever a Hindu girl marries a Muslim boy, it is dubbed love jihad and the girls are terrorised by the RSS. It only makes them more determined.

By withdrawing from the march, Shah may have conceded that mission Kerala has failed at least for now.
When one talks about Odisha, the majestic Jagannath temple or the architecture-rich Sun Temple comes to mind. Certainly, these two monuments have been the states symbols for several centuries.

However, the land of Jagannath is not limited to these two monuments but has to offer. And this became evident during a recent visit to the state. Very few people know that Odisha had a flourishing history of Buddhism. In fact, it was the states religion. Therefore, every corner of the state is dotted with footprints of Buddhism.

However, Buddha never visited the Odisha but Chaityas, Stupas, Viharas, edicts and inscriptions bear testimony to the Buddhist heritage. The earliest reference to the state was in the writings of Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang, who visited India in the 17th century. He has given vivid account of the flourishing of Buddhism in Odra (the old name of Odisha).

The other reference is by the great Mauryan king Ashoka, who provided a boost to the spread of Buddhism in the region. One can find several references in Ashokan and post-Ashokan pillars, bell capitals, copper plates as well as discovery of Buddhist figures and images. Therefore, the land is a haven for those who have any interest in Buddhism.

The best way to explore the Buddhist circuit in the state is through its diamond triangle ~ Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri in Jajpur district.

Peep into history

Buddhism was part of Odisha for many centuries. But it got momentum after the Kalinga War and conversion of Ashoka to Buddhism in the 3rd century BC. At the time Odisha was a very vibrant state and ruled by the mighty Kalinga Kingdom. The state was very important from both commercial and cultural points of view. This made many neighbouring kingdoms envious.

Mauryan King Ashoka was one of them. In a bid to conquer the state, Ashoka fought a furious battle near the river Daya. The battle was one of the deadliest in history. Ashoka has described it in the 13th rock edicts, which say 100,000 men were killed in action, an equal number were taken captive. This disaster changed Ashoka, who then propagated Buddhism not only in Odisha but all over the world.

In an attempt to spread peace and Buddhism among the people of the world, Ashoka sent missionaries to far off countries like Sri Lanka, Japan and China. After Ashoka, it was during the reign of Bhaumakara dynasty in Odisha from 8th to 10th century AD, that Buddhism has reached its zenith. During this period Buddhism was the states religion.

Buddhism in Odisha

It was the year 1869 when a government official named C S Banerjee went to visit two mounds in the jungle. What he found was treasure. He came across a huge number of scattered antiques, relics and artefacts. Then in 1890, another government official M M Chakravarty came across another mound in a hilly jungle, and found it with a full of antiquities.

Later this place was known as Ratnagiri. Then he found another mound in 1905 with a brick structure and artefacts, which was later known as Lalitagiri. The entire area was declared protected, and excavation was ordered.

The excavation, completed in 1984, unearthed many precious Buddhist antiques. This is how Udayagiri (hill of rising sun), Lalitagiri (red hill) and Ratnagiri (hill of gems) has seen daylight.

Dhauli

The best way to start the journey is from the state Capital ~ Bhubaneswar. And it is convenient also. Just 6 km drive from the main city of Bhubaneswar one can find the famous Buddhist shrine ~ Dhauli, famous for its rock edicts. Situated in the serene foothills, by the river Daya, it is one of the 14 rock edicts of Ashoka. It is the first specimen of stone-art in the shape of the forepart of an elephant.

The elephant looks like it is coming out of a cave carved out of the solid rock at the top. Under this structure there is an inscription of Ashoka, written in Brahmi.

The inscription mentions the vast devastation caused by Kalinga War and describes various instructions to the Mauryan viceroy placed in Odisha to rule the people. It also has the famous declaration: All men are my children. What I desire for my own children, and I desire their welfare and happiness both in this world and the next, that I desire for all men. You do not understand to what extent I desire this, and if some of you do understand, you do not understand the full extent of my desire. Just 500 metres away is a Shanti Stupa. Built in the early 1970s, the double-story structure represents Budhas Prinirvana ~ his passage from the world of suffering and illusion to the world of bliss and reality.

The Stupa has four chambers, adorned with four beautiful images of Buddha. Also there are scenes from the Jataka Tales on the walls of the lower part of the Stupa. The five umbrellas placed on its flattened top represent five important aspects of Buddhism.

The Stupa was built to mark peace in the world by Kalinga Nippon Budha Sangha and Japan Budha Sanga under the supervision of Mahamanya Fuji, head of the Japanese Buddhist faith.

Lalitagiri

After Dhauli one can head 90 km away from the state Capital to another famous and most important Buddhist site ~ Lalitagiri, in Jajpur district. Located on the hills of Parabhadi and Landa, the green site is said to be one of the earliest Buddhist complexes in the state.

Excavated in 1985, it h a s four monasteries, sculpture of the Buddha, antiquities like gold and silver ornaments and stone plaque. But the most important finding is a relic casket, which, historians claim, belongs to very important followers or probably the Buddha himself.

The casket was kept in a small museum inside the sites premises. The site has many antique articles from the 8th-9th century AD. Lalitagiri also houses a small museum displaying artefacts found during the excavation, such as Buddha statues in different postures and Buddhist deities like Tara, Padmapani, Hariti and Manjusri.

Udayagiri

Another famous Buddhist site, Udayagiri is also located in Jajapur district. It is the largest Buddhist site in the state. However, chronologically it comes after Ratnagiri and Lalitagiri. It houses antiques from 7th to 12th century.

The archaeological findings are classified in two parts, namely, Udaygiri I and Udaygiri II. Based on the U-shaped basin, Udayagiri is known for its bell-shaped Stupa signifying Vajrajana. The site comprises Maha Stupa, which has a beautifully carved image of Dhyani Buddha Aksobhaya on the eastern side, Amitabha on the western side, Amoghasiddhi on the north and Ratnasambhava on the south .

There is a square monastery too, an ornate gateway leading to the chamber that houses the image of Lord Buddha in Bhumisparsa mudra. Other than these a number of sculptures of Buddha and other Buddhist divinities, like Tara, Manjushri, Bhrikuti, Hariti, Chunda, Avalokiteswara, Maitreya, Aparajita, Vairochona and Vasudhara, were discovered here.

Ratnagiri

Ratnagiri has a rich concentration of Buddhist antiquities. But before visiting this site, head for the Buddhist museum, which is located just a few kilometres from the site, to have real insight into Buddhism.

The museum has four galleries and has an excellent collection of excavated antiquities. Ratnagiri is located on a hillock, carries Buddhist antiques from the 5th to 13th century AD. This place was an important centre of Mahajana from of Buddhism.

From 8th to 9th century it became a hub for Tantric Buddhism and in the 10th century it played a significant role in the emergence of Kalachakra Tantra. Among the remnants, the place is full of votive stupas, a big stupa and various giant Buddha statues.

The compound has two large monasteries. The larger monastery complex has an open courtyard and 24 cells for residence, made up of bricks. One side of the courtyard has the inner sanctum housing a giant statue of Buddha, in Bhumisparsha posture.

On the other side, there are different sized Buddha heads and statues. The entry gate of the monastery is also very beautiful, decorated with the picture of a couple in royal clothes. The other monastery is smaller.
Following incidents of violence against tourist and locals in the state, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday said braid-chopping incidents are attempts to create mass hysteria and undermine the dignity of the women in the state.

Two tourists returning to Srinagar from Gulmarg were beaten up by miscreants on suspicion of being braid-choppers on Thursday.

She held a meeting with top police and civil officers to discuss the hysteria that has engulfed the entire Kashmir valley where innocent people were being thrashed by mobs of miscreants.

Mehbooba said, Government will ensure steps are taken to find the motives behind these attacks.

Former chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said in a tweet, The Govt needs to do something quickly to regain control of the narrative because right now it just looks like a bystander.

Omar tweeted; This is insane. What good are pretty YouTube videos if we are going to beat up the few visitors that we do get.

Mehbooba has been cornered by the opposition and the separatists on the issue of braid-chopping. After a shutdown in Kashmir last week, the separatists have given call for march to Pologround on the issue.

Miscreants had last week heckled six foreign tourists, including two women, in Srinagar. However, they were rescued by the police. Incidents of innocent people being thrashed on the suspicion of being braid-choppers were pouring in every day.

The police is now going tough with rumour-mongers and has arrested five miscreants in this connection.

Meanwhile, the J&K State Women Commission on Thursday asked the police to seek cooperation of the civil society against braid-chopping.

Following an open session on the issue, the commission stressed that the police needs to build confidence among the public that the claims of mysterious hands behind such incidents was not factual.

The Special Investigation Teams (SITs) of police should share outcome of their findings in such cases with the Commission on regular basis.

The top brass of the police need to sensitise their officials at the middle and lower rung to take the reports of braid-chopping very seriously, as the confusion and chaos on this account has the potential of vitiating peace in the valley, the commission added.
China and Myanmar share a close linguistic link. The Burmese and Chinese are both parts of the Sino-Tibetan language and people. They were also involved in conflicts in the past. It was during the critical times of World War II that China realised that Burma had geostrategic and military significance. The Burma Road is the most illustrious example of Myanmars importance to China that helped the allied force defeat Japan in World War II. Originated in Assam of India, the road provided a lifeline to the British, Chinese and other allies to move weapons and goods into Japanese-besieged Burma and China.

The relations between India and Burma also date back centuries. Burma was made a province of British India in 1886. In 1937, it became a crown colony of Britain acting as a buffer zone between India and the rest of Asia. However, in the post-independence era, the relations between India and Myanmar varied markedly. While China backed the military government of Myanmar, India rendered its support to the countrys pro-democracy movement. New Delhi reversed its decades-old policy of isolation adopting the Look East policy in 1990s.

While China has been investing in Myanmar for decades, in recent years, one notices greater Indian interests in the country. In this piece, I will try to explore both China and Indias stakes in Myanmar.

CHINAS STAKE IN MYANMAR

Myanmar shares about 2,000 km borders with the Chinese province of Yunnan. The province is the starting point of the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. It connects China with Southeast Asia, South Asia and two oceans, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Beijing has empowered the province to function as a bridgehead to Southeast Asia and South Asia.

A seamless connectivity between China and Myanmar offers Beijing an alternate route to passage of goods through the Straits of Malacca which is essentially controlled by the United States. To pursue its goal, Beijing has invested at least USD 15 billion in Myanmar. Under the aegis of Yunnan International Passage, the local government has developed roads and highways leading to Myanmar. The roads of Kunming-Ruili-Yangon and Kunming-Tengchong-Myanmar-India are the updated versions of the Burma Road. The Kunming-Ruili-Muse- Mandalay-Yangon is the main trade and connectivity route of China and Myanmar.

The Yunnan government has modernised the key trading borders between the two countries. It pumped millions into developing the Ruili Development and Experimental Zone (RDEZ), the biggest land port of Yunnan bordering Myanmar. The China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project also passes through the region. Ruili is linked with Muse, a border town and port in Myanmars northern Shan State, which is connected to Myanmars second largest city Mandalay via Lashio. The historic Burma Road reaches Yunnan through Mandalay, Lashio and Muse. There is also a plan to connect the two countries through railway reaching up to Kyaukphyu of the Rakhine State.

China is also investing heavily in Rakhine. A USD 2.45-billion pipeline from Kyaukphyu to Western China is already operational. The goal of the pipeline (793 km gas and 771 km oil pipeline) is to secure a key route for Beijing to import crude oil from the Middle East, reducing the countrys reliance on oil supplies that pass through the Strait of Malacca. The pipeline can carry up to 22 million tons of oil a year, accounting for about 5-6 percent of Chinas annual oil imports. Myanmar itself is also a hydrocarbon-rich country.

Moreover, Beijing has an ambitious infrastructure development plan worth USD 7.3 billion in the state developing the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone and a deep seaport. It is one of the major projects of Chinas Belt and Road programme in the region, connecting the country to the Bay of Bengal. A consortium led by Chinas CITIC Group intends to take a 70-85 percent stake in the port project, although Myanmar government prefers a 50/50 joint venture. The port is part of two projects including a special economic zone. CITIC was awarded the lead role in both initiatives in 2015.

INDIAS STAKE IN MYANMAR

Myanmars importance to India increased markedly following the launch of Indias new Act East policy in 2014. From a security perspective, Myanmar is very critical to maintaining stability in Northeast India (NEI). The four states of NEIArunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagalandshare a common border of 1,643 km with Myanmar. Myanmar is also critical to limiting the influence of Naga insurgency.

Moreover, as Chinas clout increases in Myanmar and Bay of Bengal, New Delhi intends to counter the influence by increasing its presence in the country. The confluence of all these factors has prompted New Delhi to build up maritime and other infrastructure in Myanmar, including the Kaladan multimodal project, a road-river-port cargo transport project, and India-Myanmar-Thailand Asian Trilateral Highway.

The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project is Indias flagship investment programme in Myanmar. The USD 484-million project, consisting of river dredging and port and road construction, is designed to connect Sittwe in Rakhine and Chin hinterland with Mizoram of India. This could provide the land-locked northeastern India with a vital route to Bay of Bengal along the Kaladan River. It would also reduce the distance from Kolkata to Aizawl by less than half from the existing 1,550 km.

India has completed the construction of Sittwe port, at the estuary of Kaladan River, Rakhine. The development of the river terminal and dredging of the river are currently underway. The road and other infrastructure on the Indian side are also under construction. India is likely to set up an SEZ at Sittwe, located closer to the Chinese port and SEZ at Kyaukphyu.

New Delhis goal is not only to increase its presence in Rakhine, it also intends to access the rest of ASEAN markets through Myanmar. In this pursuit, a 1,360-km-long tripartite highway project has been designed jointly by India, Myanmar and Thailand aimed at connecting Moreh in India to Mae Sot in Thailand through Myanmar.

CAN CHINA AND INDIA COEXIST IN RAKHINE?

China is ahead of India in terms of investment and influence in Myanmar. But New Delhi is an answer, at least partly, to Naypyidaws current policy to reduce its overdependency on China. In doing so, the country faces huge diplomatic challenges to manage the two Asian giants. Nevertheless, there are some real challenges both for China and India beyond their rivalry. Myanmars volatile politics and fragile society are constant worries for Beijing and New Delhi as they pump billions into the country. While there is a ceasefire with a number of ethnic groups, the country has been waging the worlds longest continuing civil war in which the ethnic Bamar Buddhist majority seeks to dominate dozens of non-Buddhist ethnic minorities. The volatile Rakhine, the home of Rohingyas, is a real worry for all the parties.

India and Chinas growing presence in Rakhine, which is barely 150 km from Chittagong, is changing the regions economic and geo-political maps very rapidly. Bangladesh is losing its strategic importance to its near-far neighbour.
New Delhi: India has reiterated its call for a permanent solution to the food security issue at the World Trade Organisation at a WTO meet in Moroccos Marrakesh, an official statement said on Wednesday.

Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu emphasised that a permanent solution on the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes must be a part of the outcomes achieved, as this is an issue of tremendous importance not only to India but also several other developing countries, said a Commerce Ministry statement here.

Prabhu was speaking at the informal WTO ministerial meeting in Marrakesh held on October 9-10.

He also called for reducing the disproportionately large subsidies given by developed countries to their farmers.

Underlining the importance of the special and differential treatment given to developing countries in the WTO, Prabhu said that India would be willing to engage on proposals that recognised this right for all developing countries without exception.

Noting that about 600 million people are dependent on agriculture in India, and nearly 98 per cent of farmers are in the low income category and mostly into subsistence farming, Prabhu said: Under such circumstances, it is imperative for India to balance trade liberalisation with the need to protect the livelihood of its farmers.

He called for the continuation of the reform process in agriculture sector and avoid further widening of the imbalance between developed and developing countries.

On the move by rich economies to introduce new issues for discussion in the WTO, Prabhu called upon members to first deal with the issues which were already under negotiation, before moving to new ones.

Developed economies want inclusion of certain new issues like investment facilitation and e-commerce in the WTO agenda.

This informal WTO ministerial meeting was held in preparation for the 11th ministerial conference slated to take place in Buenos Aires in December.
US President Donald Trump has said if talks to reform North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) fail, he could envisage a US-Canada trade pact, excluding Mexico.

The US president said if there was no deal on the NAFTA, it would be terminated. He was speaking at the White House on Wednesday with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, BBC reported.

Replying to a question, Trump said he would consider a trade pact with Canada minus Mexico, adding that both the US and Canada wanted to protect their workers.

The current round of talks on renegotiating the trade bloc is reported to be stalling, with Mexico opposing a US move to increase the percentage of US-made components in car manufacturing.

Trumps stance has, however, been criticised by US businesses.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray, speaking ahead of the latest round of talks, said terminating Nafta could harm US-Mexico relations and damage co-operation on issues like fighting drug-trafficking.

Trudeau said he believed the Nafta talks could still end in a win, win, win.

But he said Canada had to be ready for anything if the attempts to modernise the 23-year-old deal faltered.

Overall trade between the three Nafta partners reached $1.1 trillion in 2016.

American and Mexican officials say they want a re-negotiated deal by December.

This week the influential US Chamber of Commerce warned it was time to ring alarm bells over the NAFTA talks.

The business lobby group said there were several poison pill proposals put on the table by the US that could tank the renegotiations.

Those include US demands to adjust the rules of origin, which would increase the percentage of the content of car parts and other materials that would come from NAFTA countries in order for a good to qualify as duty free  a specific concern for the North American auto industry.

The US and Canadian leaders also discussed the Bombardier-Boeing trade dispute.

Canada and the UK are sparring with the US over Canadian aerospace giant Bombardier.

The Trump administration has imposed hefty duties on Bombardiers C-Series jetliner.

American aerospace firm Boeing claims Bombardier received unfair government subsidies to produce its showcase passenger jet.

Bombardier is a significant employer in Northern Ireland and Canada.

Trudeau said he highlighted to the president how much we disagree vehemently on the decision to impose anti-dumping duties.
President Tsai Ing-wen has pledged to establish a US$3.5 billion fund to help countries covered by Taiwans New Southbound Policy with their infrastructure and major development projects.

Tsai gave her promise while addressing the opening of the two-day Yushan Forum on Wednesday, sponsored by the government-affiliated Prospect Foundation, to help her administration promote the New Southbound Policy (NSP).

The NSP seeks to increase cooperation with Southeast Asian and South Asian countries, as well as New Zealand and Australia, as a means of reducing Taiwans trade and investment reliance on China.

Were here today because all of us hold a collective interest in the future development of this region. The rise of Asia is already one of the most momentous changes in this generation. It has profoundly influenced both international security and the world economy, she said.

Of the countries covered by her New Southbound Policy, she said she has visited India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

I have seen first-hand not only their storied histories and vibrant cultures, but also their high degree of interconnectivity with the rest of the world, she said.

Taiwan has always played an indispensable role in the development of Asia, according to the president. Over the years, weve been a source of capital, technology and technical know-how. We have also built up enduring economic and industrial linkages with countries in Southeast Asia, she added.

As rapid economic, social and political changes in the region are bringing a host of new opportunities and challenges, she said, Taiwan must play an even more active and prominent role in order to participate in the future of the region.

Redefining Taiwans role in the region is one of my highest priorities as president, Tsai said, describing the New Southbound Policy as Taiwans regional strategy for Asia. Under this policy, Taiwan intends to work with countries in the region and around the world to deepen and broaden its presence in South and Southeast Asia, she went on.

She noted that the New Southbound Policy is designed to complement, rather than compete against, other proposed or existing free trade agreements in the region.

With our New Southbound Policy, one of our foremost objectives is to strengthen cooperation in terms of resources, talent and market development. We want our private and public sectors to work together to forge mutually beneficial ties, generate sustained economic growth, and improve peoples lives in the region, she said.

In order to fulfill the regions needs and strengthen its sense of inclusiveness and community, the president continued, Taiwan will help nurture and empower the talent the region needs.

Already we are providing many scholarships and educational opportunities to bring students from New Southbound countries to Taiwan. We are also expanding work-study course offerings, with a target of 5,000 students each year. These efforts will turn Taiwan into an Asian hub for industry talent development, she said.

Taiwan will share its experiences to help New Southbound Policy countries establish domestic demand-driven industries.

For example, Taiwans industry development experience in fields such as petrochemicals, information and communication technology, and the medical sector, can help inject new driving force into New Southbound Policy countries.

We will also help New Southbound countries with their infrastructure and major development projects. To achieve this, we will establish a US$3.5 billion financing facility to be managed under our Official Development Assistance program  the Taiwanese version of ODA, she said.

The participants in the forum, who have come from over 20 countries, include: former Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay, former Republic of Korea Deputy Prime Minister Hyun Oh-seok; former Indonesian Coordinating Minister Rizal Ramli, and former Foreign

Minister Kasit Piromya of Thailand.

Other dignitaries include former Japanese Defense Minister Kazuo Aichi and former Agriculture Minister Tamazawa, former American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Burghardt, and Deputy Associate Administrator Michele Schimpp of the U.S. Small Business Administration. 


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Two youths in Rajasthan's Nagaur district were stripped naked and thrashed on the orders of a khap panchayat, which found them guilty of eloping with a girl.

By Dev Ankur Wadhawan: A shocking case of a khap panchayat in Rajasthan's Nagaur district taking the law in its own hands has come to light.

The panchayat took it upon itself to punish two youths after it considered them guilty of eloping with a girl.

The boys were not only stripped naked and subsequently thrashed, but also forced to wear a garland made of shoes. Thereafter, they were paraded around the field carrying shoes on their head. Their hair were chopped off. They were allowed to go only on the condition that they would not report the incident to the police.

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NO FIR REGISTERED SO FAR

The district police has so far not registered any FIR in the matter. Even though the incident took place some 20 days ago, it came to the fore only after a video that caught the act went viral.

The incident happened in September this year. The two boys, who belong to the Tankla Kalan village, allegedly hoodwinked a girl into running away with them. However, the girl was found soon after. The villagers subsequently arrested the boys and summoned the khap panchayat, which decided to sit in judgement on the fate of the two boys.

The khap panchayat set them free after subjecting them to torture and on the condition that they would not do so again. The relatives of the boys have so far neither registered any police complaint into the matter neither nor do they want to speak about it.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Exuding confidence that energy consumption will rise over 4 times Power Minister R K Singh today urged investors to invest in renewables saying the equipment prices will come down further.

The country will require USD 100 billion investment to achieve the target of 175 GW reneweable energy by 2022, as per the government estimates.

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"Our per capita consumption of energy is about one 6th of Europe and one 12th of USA. Energy consumption is not going to double or triple but it will be over four times. That is how the rate of growth of energy consumption will be (in India," Singh said while addressing a press conference on the 2nd edition of the Global Renewable Energy (RE) Investors Meet and Expo (RE-INVEST 2017).

The 2nd RE-INVEST 2017 is scheduled to be held on December 7-9, 2017 at the India Expo Centre, Greater Noida and National Capital Region of Delhi.

Stressing that 40 per cent of Indias energy requirement would be met through renewables, Singh said, "I dont see any big opportunity as big as it is there. It also makes economic sense. Solar bids yielded tariff of 3.5 or 4 cents per unit (Rs 2.44)".

The minister said the prices of equipment would further come down with expansion of manufacturing of solar cells and modules as the world expands to use of solar energy.

He was of the view that fossil fuels will left behind not because those are bad for the world, but because it also makes sense economically to go in for solar or renewables.

He said,"This is matter of worry for those who produce coal or oil. But, this (movement to shift to renewable) can not be stopped because it makes economic sense".

The efficiency of solar panels has already increased to 30 per cent and price will come down due increase in usage, the minister said.

On the occasion, Renewable Energy Secretary Anand Kumar said that out of the commitments of about Rs 4 lakh crore funding from finical institution, including public and private sector banks, during RE-INVEST 2015, around Rs 1.37 lakh crore has been disbursed.

On the sidelines of the conference, he also told reporter that state-owned Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) will raise USD 300 million through Masala bonds this fiscal.

Kumar also said India has set an ambitious target of having 175 GW of renewable energy and has already operational clean energy capacity of 60GW.

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He also said India will need an investment of around USD 100 billion to meet the target of having 175 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022.

A new website for RE-INVEST 2017 (re-invest.in) was also launched on this occasion, in presence of French Ambassador to India, Alexandre Ziegler.

France will be partner country for the event. Minister for Infrastructure and Sustainable Development, Republic of Kiribati Ruateki Tekaiara signed the Framework Agreement of International Solar Alliance (ISA) during the event. Kiribati becomes the 41st country to sign the agreement.

RE-INVEST 2017 will provide a platform for reviewing the commitments made in RE-INVEST 2015 by industry, banks, manufacturers etc. The industry and developers had committed for 293 GW of renewables and against this, 39.3 GW capacity is commissioned/under implementation.

On the sidelines of the RE- INVEST 2017, the founding ceremony of the ISA and Solar Summit has been scheduled on December 8-9, 2017.

The Prime Minister of India, President of France, and the Secretary General of United Nations are likely to grace the ISA Founding Ceremony.

"The founding ceremony will firmly establish the ISA and demonstrate our joint commitment to harness solar energy potential. All prospective member countries of the ISA have been invited to participate in these events," said an official statement. PTI KKS BAL

--- ENDS ---

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A group of 51 eminent citizens have written an open letter to PM Narendra Modi, asking him to reconsider the government stand that Rohingya staying in India must be deported back to Myanmar.

By India Today Web Desk: The Narendra Modi government must lead a "global response" to the "humanitarian tragedy" that is unfolding in Myanmar's Rakhine and prepare a "bold vision" that addresses the needs of thousands of Rohingya who have fled their homes in the wake of violence that has gripped the state.

That is the crux of a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and signed by 51 eminent citizens. The two-page letter was released by human rights organisation Amnesty International India and deals exclusively with the Rohingya crisis and the Indian government's response to it.

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The letter was released yesterday, a day before the Supreme Court takes up a petition filed by Rohingya living in India against the government's decision to deport them. The Modi government has told the Supreme Court that the Rohingya are staying in India illegally and are a security threat.

Bangladesh envoy to India, Syed Muazzem Ali, speaks exclusively to @Geeta_Mohan on Rohingya crisis. Watch it. #ITVideo pic.twitter.com/YOGdo2zb46- India Today (@IndiaToday) September 20, 2017

The letter asks the Modi government to reconsider its approach to the Rohingya issue. It has been signed by a cross-section of politicians, human rights lawyers and activists, artists and artistes, entrepreneurs and journalists.

Some of those who have signed the letter include ex-finance minister P Chidambaram, Congress leader Sashi Tharoor, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, former union home secretary GK Pillai, Member of Parliament Majeed Memon, former Army officer and columnist Ajai Shukla, activist Teesta Setalvad, and actress Swara Bhaskar.

DON'T DEPORT ROHINGYA: WHAT THE LETTER SAYS

The letter begins with a brief summary of what has happened in Rakhine, recounting how militants belonging to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked police posts, prompting a massive security retaliation. "There have been widespread reports of Myanmar's security forces resorting to a disproportionate military response that has targeted innocent people," the letter says. "The United Nations and human rights organisations investigating the violence have termed this as an ethnic cleansing exercise against the Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar's security forces and vigilante mobs. There is ample proof to suggest unlawful killing of civilians, mass displacement, sexual violence and the burning of villages," the authors write, adding, "Satellite imagery shows burning dwellings in over 250 villages across northern Rakhine between 25 August and 19 September." "A humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in Rakhine State" and the situation has resulted in Bangaldesh struggling to "deal with the estimated 400,000 refugees who have fled there from Myanmar," the letter says, noting that the Indian government has launched a humanitarian aid response such as 'Operation Insaniyat'. The government is also involved in the development of socio-economic projects in the Rakhine and is contributing to a longer-term solution to address the instability in the state, the letter notes. However, the 51 authors write, "when the Rakhine State is literally burning, more urgent and immediate steps are needed to stem the current wave of violence... We urge the Government of India to lead a global response to [the Rohingya] crisis, and embark on a strategy that includes concrete actions..." India must "set out a new and bold vision" to deal with the Rohingya crisis, the authors write. Click here to Enlarge Rohingya refugees line up to receive food at a camp near Teknaf, Bangladesh October 12, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Silva Chief among these steps is allowing Rohingya Muslims staying in India to remain in the country. "It would be against India's own humanitarian principles and traditions, its obligations under international law, as well as its own constitutional provisions to deport the 40,000 Rohingya refugees" currently in the country, the letter says. "The government is constitutionally obligated to protect threatened groups of foreign nationals." The letter also says that the Indian government's justification to deport Rohingya Muslims "is premised on the false assumption that all Rohingya people present a potential threat to national security... This is simply not the case, and the evidence to support these assertions have not held up." The letter adds, " If any refugees or asylum seekers are found to be engaging in criminal activities, they must be prosecuted in accordance with due legal processes. However, this should not be used an excuse to mete out collective punishment to an entire community." The letter also calls upon the Indian government to "exert its diplomatic clout to pressurise the Government of Myanmar to end the security crackdown in Rakhine". "India must recognise and acknowledge that massive human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, burning of villages, massacres, rape and attacks by Myanmar's security forces is the primary reason why the Rohingya have been forced to flee their homes," the letter says. The authors write that "growing radicalisation of certain segments of the Rohingya community" is connected to the "decade of persecution and discrimination of the Rohingya community by the authorities in Myanmar." The solution to Rohingya crisis lies not "in the deportation of Rohingya refugees, but in the cessation of state-led violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar," the 51 citizens say in the letter to PM Modi. The letter goes on to say that India's reputation is at stake and that country's "credibility as a net security provider for our neighbours in the region would be severely compromised if we fail to act on behalf of our broader interests in the region." "As an aspiring global leader of the twenty first century, India cannot afford to adopt a short-sighted approach to what has now become a monumental, global crisis," the authors go on to say. The authors end the letter to PM Modi saying that the Rohingya crisis "has now become a monumental, global crisis" and that "India cannot afford to adopt a short-sighted approach" to deal with the situation. Honourable Prime Minister, you have often hailed India as the land of 'Gandhi and Buddha'. We now look to you to honour the principles that they upheld. We stand ready to support your leadership," the letter ends.

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Read the full letter here.

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--- ENDS ---

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Although just a tiny dot on the world map, Iceland is a country with attitude. It is known as the land of fire and ice due to its remarkable frozen glaciers and abundance of volcanoes. It also happens to be where the worlds most impressive waterfalls are.

We take a closer look.

Northern Lights in Iceland

Icelands biggest draw is the chance to see the Northern Lights. This natural phenomenon is a result of collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that have entered the Earths atmosphere, creating images of coloured light dancing in the night sky. They are infamously tricky to predict, but to see them in person is a truly magical experience.

For the best chance of seeing them head to Scandinavia, and in particular southern Iceland where vast swathes of countryside are still untainted by pollution and overcrowding.

Hotel Borealis, located in the southern region of Ulfljotsvatn, offers one of the best vantage points to watch the Northern Lights. Not only is it tranquil and peaceful but the hotel has an outdoor hot tub where you can enjoy a glorious soak while watching the Aurora perform its dreamlike sashay through the sky.

Icelands Other Natural Wonders

Volcanoes are a photographers dream and Iceland has some doozies. The impressive volcanic crater lake, Kerid, located in the Grimsnes along the Golden Circle is filled with water and resembles an ancient amphitheatre. It is surprisingly large and the craters vast frozen depths are in vivid contrast to its snowy surroundings.

But theres more: Europes most stunning waterfalls, including the lofty Seljalandsfoss and dramatic Skogafoss. The latter is most famous for its rainbow, which is almost always visible on sunny days as a result of vast quantities of water spray produced by the waterfall.

Iceland is also the home of the Geysir geothermal fields. The original geyser is now dormant, and has been replaced by Strokkur (Icelandic for churn) which erupts every 5-10 minutes.

Whats more, Iceland has some incredible national parks. Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has some stunning rock formations and is the site where the Icelandic parliament used to congregate hundreds of years ago.

How to explore Iceland in five days

Best time to go: January to March are the best time to see the Northern Lights.

Package tour: Our sponsors, On The Go Tours are offering a 5-day Northern Lights Express tour to Iceland for just 795 per person (based on two people sharing a room). Additional add-ons include a trip to the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa in Reykjavik.

Whats included: The tour includes visits to every site mentioned in this article as well as an afternoon in Icelands capital, Reykjavik. Youll have numerous opportunities to see the Northern Lights, although keep in mind it is impossible to guarantee their appearance.

Whats more, youll get to sample some of Icelands culinary temptations with a delicious BBQ under Borealis at the Hotel Borealis. Youll also get to try Brennivin, a local schnapps commonly known as Black Death that is sure to warm the cockles of your heart.

The first departure date for the Iceland Northern Lights Express tour is 7 January 2018, with additional dates in February and March.

CLICK HERE to book the Northern Lights 5-day tour
But the tribe has a long way to go
Reliance Infrastructure, this week, initiated exclusive talks with Adani Transmission to sell its power generation, transmission and distribution business in Mumbai.

The Mumbai business has been the largest such integrated power utility in the country. It had 3 million customers, peak power distribution of 1,800 mega watt and power generation facilities. It generated a revenue of Rs 7,532 crore in 2016-17.

However, with the pressure to reduce huge debts, and company setting its sights on opportunities in other areas like defence, its not a surprise that the often called crown jewel has been put on the block by the Anil Ambani Group company.

Reliance Infra intends to utilise the proceeds of the proposed transaction entirely to reduce its debt, and further strengthen its financial position to tap mega growth opportunities in defence and EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) for the infrastructure sector, the company said.

Reliance Infra had debt of about Rs 25,800 at the end of last financial year. While the company has not disclosed financial details of the potential deal with Adani Transmission, market watchers estimate it to be valued at around Rs 13,000-14,000 crore.

Reliance Infra and Adani Transmission have entered into a period of exclusivity till January 15, but given that any potential deal will be subject to confirmatory diligence, definitive documentation and customary approvals, there is no certainty of a deal.

Separately, the company also announced a day earlier that it was transferring its Western Region System Strengthening Scheme (WRSS) transmission undertakings to Adani Transmission. The WRSS businesses were valued at Rs 1,000 crore.

If the Mumbai business sale does go through, the company will be left with Delhi power distribution business, road assets, EPC business, defence and Mumbai metro. The company is looking to monetise 10 road projects through an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT).

Last year, the company sold its cement business to Birla Corporation for Rs 4,800 crore. These proceeds too were aimed at lowering debts.

Its not just Reliance Infra alone, but across the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, asset sales have become key to improving financial health. Last year, Credit Suisse had pegged the Reliance Group debt at around Rs 1.2 trillion.

At Reliance Communications (RCom), which has debts of Rs 45,000 crore, it is negotiating a deal to sell its stake in telecom tower business to Canada's Brookfield Infrastructure.

While a proposed deal to merge its wireless telecom business with Aircel fell through, it is looking to monetise its existing spectrum and the prime real estate in Navi Mumbai, which houses the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City. RCom has aims to cut its debt by almost half.

Pressure is mounting on the Anil Ambani Group to reduce its debt as ratings agencies have cut ratings, say analysts.

Recently, Fitch Group-owned India Ratings and Research revised its ratings on Reliance Infra's short-term and long-term debts, citing delays in proposed debt reduction of the company.

Earlier this year, Moody's and Fitch had downgraded their credit ratings on RCom. Moody's has a Ca rating on RCom's senior secured bonds, with a negative outlook.

In June, banks had given Rcom seven months to pare its debts and service its loans timely.
Allahabad High Court acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in a case related to the murder of their daughter Aarushi Talwar and manservant Hemraj Banjade, reports emerged on Thursday.

On May 16, 2008, 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar was found dead in the bedroom of her Noida house. Missing domestic help Hemraj Banjade was initially thought to have been the perpetrator, but, a day later, his body was discovered from the terrace, with throat slit and covered in a pool of blood. The door was locked from the inside.

Though a former domestic help Vishnu Sharma initially came under the scanner, on May 23, police suspected the case to be one of honour killing and arrested Aarushi's parents, Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar.

Lie detection tests were conducted on Rajesh and Nupur, but the results were inconclusive. On December 29, CBI filed a closure report citing insufficient evidence. In the same report, the servants were exonerated, but the parents remained under a cloud of doubt. However, on February 9, trial court rejected the closure report.

Both Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court rejected pleas for quashing the trial court summons. In November 2013, a CBI special court in Ghaziabad found the couple guilty of double murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
After spending four years in Ghaziabads Dasna jail, Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar, parents of Aarushi Talwar, welcomed the Allahabad High Court's verdict on their plea challenging the CBI court order convicting them for the double murder of their daughter and domestic help Hemraj. The court held them not guilty in the double murder case. Here's a timeline of the case so far:

2008

May 16: Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar found their 14-year-old daughter, Aarushi, dead with her throat slit in the bedroom of her flat in Jalvayu Vihar in Noida. Familys live-in domestic help Hemraj could not be found and thus, becomes the prime suspect in the case.

May 17: Hemraj's partially-decomposed body is found in a pool of blood on the terrace of the flat.

May 18: Preliminary investigation by Noida police suggest the murders were done with surgical precision.

May 19: Talwars' former domestic help Vishnu Sharma is named suspect.

May 21: Delhi police joins the investigation.

May 22: Police probe honour killing angle. Parents Rajesh and Nupur are suspected of the double murder.

May 23: Rajesh Talwar is arrested for double murders.

June 1: Noida police hands over the case to Central Bureau of Investigation.

June 13: Investigating team arrests Krishna, another domestic help of Talwars.

June 20: Rajesh Talwar undergoes lie detection test.

June 25: Nupur Talwar takes second lie detection test after the first test was found inconclusive.

June 26: CBI declares it to be a blind case. Ghaziabad magistrate rejects Rajesh Talwar's bail appeal.

July 12: Rajesh Talwar gets bail.

2009

February 15-20: Rajesh Talwar undergoes narcoanalysis tests

December 29: CBI team files a closure report citing 'insufficient evidence.' Servants are given a clean chit, Talwars remain prime suspects.

2011

January 25: One Utsav Sharma attacks Rajesh Talwar on the premises of the Special CBI court in Ghaziabad. Rajesh suffers grievous injuries.

February 9: Trial court rejects CBI's closure report. Summons dentist couple, Rajesh and Nupur, to face charges of murders.

February 21: Talwars approach Allahabad High Court to quash trial court summons.

March 18: Allahabad HC dismisses the plea and orders initiation of proceedings against them.

March 19: Talwars approach the Supreme Court.

2012

January 6: The apex court dismisses Talwars' plea and allows the trial against them.

January 9: Supreme Court allows the bail granted to Rajesh Talwar by the Ghaziabad Magistrate would continue and asks him to appear before the magistrate on February 4 to face trial along with his wife.

2013

April: The CBI told the court that Rajesh and Nupur murdered Aarushi and Hemraj.

November 25: Talwars are convicted by special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ghaziabad and are sent to Dasna jail.

November 26: Quantum of punishment delivered and Talwars were sentenced to life in prison by CBI court.

2017

October 12: Allahabad HC acquitted the dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar and held them not guilty in the double murder case.
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted Nupur and Rajesh Talwar in the 2008 murders of their teenage daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, saying that neither the circumstances nor the evidence was enough to hold them guilty.

The 263-page verdict ends, at least for now, the nine- year ordeal of the Noida couple who were sentenced to life by a Ghaziabad CBI court on November 28, 2013 for the double murder that not only transfixed but also shook the nation with its element of filicide.

But the bizzare mystery endured about who killed them.

"There is a strong possibility that incident was caused by some outsider," a bench comprising justices B.K. Narayana and A.K. Mishra said, upholding the Talwars' appeal against the CBI court verdict.

The Talwars, who are both dentists, are expected to be freed on Friday from Ghaziabad's Dasna jail after the completion of paperwork. The CBI did not immediately say if it would appeal against the high court judgement. It said it would study the order and decide the future course of action.

Pronouncing their verdict in a packed court room, justices Narayana and Mishra said, "From the facts and evidence on record, we find neither the circumstances nor evidence are consistent and circumstances did not complete a chain showing involvement of appellants in the incident."

They said, "In case where two views are possible, the view taken for conviction of appellants may not be correct. In the absence of circumstancial evidence to complete the chain, it is a fit case where benefit of doubt can be given to the appellants."

B.G. Chitnis, Nupur Talwar's father, said, "I am grateful to the judiciary for the verdict."

A former Group Captain in the Indian Air Force, Chitnis told reporters in New Delhi, "They have really suffered. They are emotionally drained. At my age it was very trying to see my daughter behind bars."

Vandana Talwar, an aunt of Aarushi who was 14 when she was killed, said, "It's been an exhausting journey for us. We are really grateful to the High Court for having aquitted and ending the injustice meted out to them."

The Talwars were arrested in May 2008. The CBI court convicted them on November 26, 2013. The high court had reserved its verdict on the appeals of the couple on September 7.

Filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj and Meghna Gulzar in their critically acclaimed "Talvar" on the murder case, presented alternative narratives of what happened on the night of May 16, 2008, when Aarushi was found murdered in her Noida home.

The body of the Talwars' family help Hemraj was found several hours later.

"Justice delayed is NOT justice denied. Overwhelmed and deeply relieved upon hearing the news of the acquittal. #AarushiVerdict #Talwars," Bhardwaj tweeted.

Meghna said, "I did not do that film to tell the story of a particular side. Our intention all along was to see that all the versions of the case are out in the open. I think this is what has happened in this appeal. The facts and testimonies were examined very carefully and rationally."

The CBI court had relied on circumstantial evidence to convict the couple in the absence of any motive.

In his order, Additional Sessions Judge Shyam Lal has cited judgements of the Supreme Court to say that the mere fact that the prosecution had failed to "translate that mental disposition of the accused into evidence does not mean that no such mental condition existed in the mind of the assailant."

He said, "In a case of circumstantial evidence motive does not have extreme significance. In the absence of motive, the conviction based on circumstantial evidence can in principle be made."

Dadhiram Maurya, the jailor of the Dasna prison where the Talwars are lodged, said the couple felt they have got justice.

"After having breakfast they were praying. Their schedule was normal. She said they got justice today and had tears of joy.

"Any person after spending this amount of jail (time) will feel happy to get freedom. So they were happy after they were told about the news," he said.

Lawyer Rebecca John, who was part of Talwars' legal team, said she was relieved by the judgement. She claimed the whole case was based on "innuendos" and would "not have carried through".

John hoped that the Talwars, who have been in media spotlight for over nine years, will be allowed privacy after their release from the jail.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The suspicion initially fell on 45-year-old Hemraj, who at the time was missing. But his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.

As the Uttar Pradesh Police drew flak over shoddy investigation into the case which was making national headlines, the then chief minister Mayawati recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The relationship hasnt been working for many years, and now its unsustainable.

When Carles Puigdemont took the dais at the Catalan parliament and uttered these words, it sounded like a Dear John letter, a death knell for Catalonias prolonged unhappy alliance with Spain.

In what seemed like an unusually long day, people started gathering at important landmarks in Barcelona, cloaked in Catalan flags, in anticipation of witnessing a historic moment as the Catalan President readied to address his people. For the immigrant flag sellers, it was a day of great delight, as they capitalised on the patriotic surge.

Amid all the excitement, there were concerned faces as well, the ones who feared an uncertain political scenario awaiting right around the corner for an independent Catalonia.

Puigdemonts perplexing speech thats now being dubbed on social media as Schrodingers Catalan cat, was greeted with applause from the crowd when he finally stated that he wants to follow the peoples will for Catalonia to become an independent state. However, his immediate decision to suspend a formal declaration of the same was met with boos.

By delaying the decision, Puigdemont avoided the risk of Article 155  also dubbed as the nuclear option  being implemented in Catalonia, which would have allowed Madrid to suspend the regional administration and take control over the matters into their own hands. He might not have satiated the hopes of hardcore idealists in favour of secession, but as a leader, Puigdemont was pragmatic enough to not further devolve an already volatile situation.

Out of the 5.3 million registered voters in Catalonia, only 2.3 million turned up for the election on October 1, with 90 per cent of them favouring independence. But the riot police took to violence to sabotage the peaceful referendum, prompting some of the neutral ones also to question the Spanish authority.

However, the following week, Barcelona witnessed a retort to that, with thousands pledging their loyalty to Spain, some of them wrapped in both Catalan and Spanish flags, sending a message to the world that not all Catalans are in favour of a separate country; their concerns seemed well founded, as they feared for their jobs and pensions once Catalonia severs its ties with Spain, with some of the companies already announcing their plans to relocate in the wake of political uncertainty. The pro-unity people, too, had their reasons to not disrupt the existing status quo.

When it comes to PR wars, both sides had their share of wins. If the heavy-handed riot police taking on peaceful voters made Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy look tactless, the solidarity rally turned the tables when noted personalities including Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa moved the mass with their eloquent speech. With words laden with nostalgia, Vargas Llosa reminded the people to not let passion override their reason, while Joseph Borell, the former president of European Parliament, opined that borders are the scars left on the skin of the earth by past wars.

However, it has to be noted that Catalonias resistance is more political than social; it has little to do with borders, and their cries are for fiscal autonomy, a sovereignty over its resources that accounts for 20 per cent of Spains economy. They have been complaining for long about the regions non-reciprocative relationship with the Centre, and have been demanding more in return to augment their spending.

The strained relationship between Spain and Catalonia reached its nadir in 2010, when the countrys constitutional court ruled against Catalonias Statute of Autonomy, abolishing 14 of its clauses, and reinterpreting 27. This triggered an avalanche of protests, which got exacerbated with each passing year.

Incidentally, it was also a period when Spain was experiencing a crippling financial crisis, and the country couldnt have afforded losing hold of one of its most affluent regions, crucial to the survival of the economy.

Even for a neutral observer, the matter looks too tangled for an immediate solution. Regardless of some of the genuine concerns echoed by the Catalans, the word separatist has a negative connotation in todays world, especially when European Union is trying to combat identity politics, the biggest threat to its integrity. Fervent youths clad in flags crying for freedom wouldnt do much help in garnering the support of the EU, let alone the world, if the dominant narrative of the protest is that of independence, regardless the fact that Catalans have never resorted to violence to meet their demands like the Basque Country.

A better alternative for Catalans could be the demand for a federal system, a republic, that ensures more room for the functioning of democracy, instead of making the tension look like a simple narrative of struggle for independence, centred around the revival of their identity.

The zealots who were anticipating a new dawn for Catalonia are disappointed by the delaying of the declaration, which they believe lacks audacity, but Puigdemont has managed to draw the attention back to the civility in the mode of protests of his people, sending a message to the world that the issue is beyond a binary conflict.

In response, Rajoy has cleverly dodged the bullet by giving Puigdemont an ultimatum to come up with a lucid statement regarding the independence, reiterating that the doors for mediation are open only within the confines of legality, thereby putting the Catalan President in a conundrum. To bring Rajoy to the tables, Puigdemont will have to take back his words.

Amidst all this uncertainty, a tiny sliver of hope is Rajoys consideration of constitutional reform, backed by Spains main opposition party as well, if at all that happens.

Spains segue from dictatorship to constitutional monarchy is often lauded for its bloodless nature, but that doesnt hide the fact that the political elites back then managed to do so by sweeping the memories of its painful, conflictive past under the rug. The Pact of Forgetting was made under the objective to forcefully erase the crimes of Francos brutality, contrary to how Germans rebuilt their nation by prosecuting the Nazis.

When they opted for avoidance instead of confronting the historical crimes and offering retribution, little would have they imagined the ramifications. The past always comes back to haunt, the contemporary political dilemma in Spain bears testimony to that.
Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan will visit Myanmar for holding talks with the Myanmar government on repatriation of the Rohingyas.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said he would visit Myanmar on October 23 in order to holding talks with Naypyidaw on repatriation of Rohingya Muslims. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Maynmar and entered Bangaldesh in the wake of a crackdown launched by security forces in the the state of Rakhine.

Khan told the media that the main agenda of his meeting with the Myanmar government would be the "quick repatriation of Rohingya". "Myanmar has assured (us that they will) take back their citizens," Khan added.

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The minister plans to lead a nine-member delegation that includes top bureaucrats and police officials. "We want to resolve all the problems (between Myanmar and Bangladesh) but the main agenda would be to (the repatriation of) all Rohingyas," Khan added.

The home minister said he would request the Myanmar government to ensure a safe environment for the Rohingya in Rakhine state, so that they do not feel compelled to flee their homes for Bangladesh once again. "We hope the situation will improve through this visit," Khan added.

Replying to another query, he said, "We want to visit the Rakhine state where the Rohingyas live to see the situation there," adding that the delegation would only visit the state if the Myanmar government gives them the go ahead.

Earlier, the Minister for the Office of the State Counselor of Myanmar Kyaw Tint Swe, during a visit to Dhaka, had agreed to take back over half a million Rohingya nationals from Bangladesh.

"Myanmar has proposed to take back the Rohingyas from Bangladesh," Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali told newsmen emerging from a meeting with the Myanmar minister on October 2.

On October 3, ambassadors of 20 mostly western countries said in a joint statement delivered in Myanmar that they saw Rohingya villages were being burned to the ground and residents fleeing their homes during a visit to Rakhine.

The envoys represented the United States, the European Union, Britain, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Spain, Sweden and Finland.

--- ENDS ---
With Good Money Week in full swing, we mark the ethical investment campaign with a look at the green opportunities that can make you a healthy return.

Socially responsible investments have become more commonplace in the investment universe, thanks to an uptick in demand.

There has been an 11 per cent increase in assets under management in across 196 sustainable and ethical funds, rising by 10billion in the past four months to 96billion, according to investing firms Good With Money and 3D Investing.

Going green: the demand for ethical and sustainable products have rocketed in the UK

There's now a plethora of investment opportunities under the 'ethical' banner to sift through. Here are some of the highly rated and newest products available.

Funds

We asked Damien Lardoux, portfolio manager of boutique wealth manager at EQ Investors, to recommend three funds or trusts for impact investing.

This investment strategy puts focus on companies, organisations, and funds seeking to generate social and environmental impact through their products, services and business practices.

Here are his picks.

FP Wheb Sustainability Fund

The fund selects stocks that play into nine identified social and environmental themes, such as resource efficiency, sustainable transport, education or healthcare.

He credits the managers of the portfolio for actively seeking out companies providing positive solutions to various social and environmental issues while outperforming global equity funds over the past five years.

'What really differentiates this fund is the publication of an annual report where they detail absolute measure of positive environmental impact,' he says.

'For every 1million invested in the fund in 2016, 1,200 MWh of renewable energy was generated, equivalent to the total energy use of 60 average UK households.

'Also 1,600 tonnes of CO2 emissions have been avoided, the equivalent to taking 333 cars off the road for a year.'

The fund has returned 68 per cent over the past five years to 11 October.

Impax Environmental Markets Trust

The trust's objective is to enable investors to benefit from growth in the markets for cleaner and more efficient energy, water and waste services.

A 1million investment in the trust produced 340 megalitres of water treated or saved, which is equivalent to the waste water generated by about 2,700 UK households, according to Impax's latest annual report.

The trust, which celebrated its 15th birthday in February, also recovered or treated 79 tonnes of materials per 1 million invested - the equivalent of the total waste produced by more than 80 UK households.

'It is worth mentioning that this trust is currently trading at a 10 per cent discount to its net asset value, reinforcing the attractiveness of such an investment,' Lardoux says.

The trust boasts a return of 63 per cent over the past five years.

Threadneedle UK Social Bond fund

The Threadneedle UK Social Bond fund aims to achieve a positive social impact by investing in listed bonds issued by organisations that support socially beneficial activities and balanced economic development - primarily in the UK.

Key social themes include employment, education, social housing, transport and infrastructure.

The fund was launched in 2014 through a partnership with Big Issue Invest, the social investment arm of The Big Issue Group.

More than 80 per cent of the fund's assets has been allocated to investments with a medium to high social impact, according to its most recent annual report.

'Also, using a Jobs Assessment Methodology shows that 83 per cent of the assets are concentrated in sectors with a good jobs performance and 87 per cent of the assets are in sectors that have a relatively high employment concentration in the most deprived areas of the UK,' Lardoux says.

The fund has returned 24 per cent over the past five years.

The traditional ethical investing excludes from consideration controversial sectors as well as those involved in animal testing

Bonds

At the beginning of the month, impact investing company Lendahand Ethex launched a bond that bankrolls the supply of solar energy in homes in Africa.

Called Energise Africa, the bond hopes to whet investor appetite with returns of up to 6 per cent each year. Investors can deposit a minimum of 50 in different projects and can choose the location and term of their investment over two to three years.

The idea here is the company will install solar home systems in African households and will recoup the cost over a one to two-year period. The homeowner will own the system once they complete the course of payments.

The product can also be held in the tax-efficient innovative finance Isa through the online platform Lendahand.co.uk.

The Energise Africa bond will bankroll the supply of solar energy in homes in Africa

Investments in the bond aren't protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which covers investors in regulated products up to 50,000 in the case of an investment company going bust.

Meanwhile, the more recent bond by renewable energy firm Monnow Valley Biomass takes a different tack.

It seeks to raise money to go towards refinancing the installation of two new biomass systems at a goat farm in Monmouthshire, supplying goats milk to companies including Waitrose.

Investing in a refinancing project is risky business, but the firm is attempting to woo investors by offering interest of 8 per cent.

This product is the epitome of long-term investing as the bond is due to mature after 19 years. In other words, investors wouldn't receive their initial investment back until 2036. However, there is a secondary market for investors sell the product on if they so choose.

It is available through ethical peer-to-peer finance platform Abundance Investment and can be held for in the Abundance innovative finance Isa - which means investors can earn tax-free returns.

As Abundance Investment is an authorised financial firm in the UK, investments made through the platform are protected by the FSCS safety net.

It is important to flag that both bonds are unsecured so all of your capital is at risk if you choose to invest.

Ethical savings accounts

Ethics but what ethics? Not all propositions classified as an ethical investment are the same, so it is important for investors to do their research before piling into one. There are three main strategies that have stemmed from the concept of investing in a way that has a positive impact on the world. One of the most common forms of this is ethical investing - the practice of excluding controversial sectors such as tobacco and armaments as well as those involved in animal testing from consideration. Meanwhile, sustainable investing involves selecting companies for positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. So firms that reduce their carbon footprint and those with good corporate governance structure would make the cut. Crucially however, this strategy does not factor in the impact of the product or services. Impact investing, on the other hand, goes a step further. This type of investing seeks out companies, organisations, and funds with the intention to generate social and environmental impact through their products, services and business practices.

For those who have no appetite in taking a risk and investing their money, there are a number of ethical savings accounts available.

These are relatively risk-free as savings in UK banks, building societies and credit unions are protected by the FSCS. However, the trade off here is lower returns compared to what you could achieve by investing.

It is difficult to compare ethical savings account because one could offer an attractive headline savings rate but aren't actually as ethical as they claim.

Here, individuals would have to decide what is more important: the return or the ethics.

The best known names in the ethical savings account space are Ecology Building Society, Charity Bank and Triodos Bank.

The three institutions rank one, two and three respectively on ethical finance research firm Ethical Consumer's guide to ethical savings accounts.

Ecology Building Society has stopped issuing its cash Isa that pays out 1 per cent in interest to new customers as a temporary measure because of high levels of demand.

Meanwhile, the Charity Bank equivalent pays 0.96 per cent but requires a minimum opening deposit of 250 and a 33 days notice period, whereas Triodos Bank's pays 0.75 per cent with a minimum opening deposit of 10.
By Anand Patel: Even a month after Gurugram Ryan School student gruesome murder case, most private schools are finding it difficult to implement the safety regulations notified by the Haryana Government. Haryana private schools today observed 'Black Day' to protest against 'arbitrary' regulations slapped on them post Ryan School case. Under the banner of National Independent Schools Association (NISA), school owners and teacher wore a black arm band to register their protest against state government's guidelines.

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Across Haryana, the schools under NISA banner are alleging government high handedness post the Pradyumn murder case. Kulbhushan Sharma, President of NISA says, "The new safety regulations were slapped on the schools without any consultation, the private schools have been asked to comply with them but the government run schools have been given relaxation." "This distinction has been made since the Government is aware that most safety regulations will be difficult for it to implement, but officials want us to fulfill them," he added.

Private schools are protesting against police verification of teachers especially female, limiting school bus speed to 30 kmph, mandatory female teacher and conductor onboard school bus, high boundary wall around school campus.

These safety regulations are part of a 24 page guidelines for schools to ensure an incident like Ryan School case is not repeated. "We have installed CCTVs, fire fighting equipments but teachers are frightened at the idea of a cop visiting her place for verification especially in those coming from villages, also the strict guidelines for teachers in the regulations are tough on them," says Dinesh Joshi, Chairman, Kailash Public School in Gurugram.

"We are not permitted to hike fees mid session, most schools are finding it tough to raise funds for cost intensive safety regulations like construction of high boundary wall and install CCTVs, female teachers are reluctant to travel early morning in the school bus along with children, some of our old male staff on buses are likely to lose their jobs, government should have at least taken the school owners into confidence before finalizing these safety regulations," says Mr Joshi.

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MATSAPHA  As of Wednesday next week, nurses countrywide will not be working.



This comes after the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), which is referred to as the sole voice for nurses in the country, decided to stage an action packed nationwide nurses strike from Wednesday and it will last until government adheres to their demand.



Their demand is that government, especially the Ministry of Health, should stop the ongoing commission of inquiry intot an incident that took place on Christmas Day of 2015 at Mkhuzweni Health Centre, where a child died during birth.

The decision was taken by the nurses union during its mid-term conference, which was held at Esibayeni Lodge from Monday until yesterday.



The nurses strike will start on Wednesday with a march to deliver a petition with an ultimatum to the Prime Ministers (PMs) office. In the petition, the nurses would demand that the PM, as the head of government, stops the ongoing investigation into the matter.

Thereafter, the nurses union resolved that from Thursday, all nurses should engage in a sit-in and picket at their workstations during their lunch hour.



They want the investigation stopped because they feel that it was not honest. They claimed that it was being used by government and medical professionals to attack nurses.

This was after SWADNU President Bheki Mamba had revealed to the conference that the doctor who attended to the patient on December 25, 2015, did not write on the patients chart what he did when attending to her.
MANZINI  Weve never known her to be dating, its been a closely guarded secret.



This is what some colleagues of the Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlaminis fiancee Gugu Primrose Simelane, said yesterday.

News that Simelane (55) would soon be hitched to the PM did not only shock the bride-to-bes colleagues, but it also thrilled them for more reasons than one.



This emerged during a visit to Siweni Nazarene Primary School, where Simelane is a Deputy Head teacher. When the school was visited, the bride-to-be was not found in the premises as she had reportedly left the school to an undisclosed destination.

However, her car was parked outside her house. Information gathered was that she was ferried by a government registered vehicle, which a source said was the first time they had seen it in the school premises.



Some of Simelanes colleagues could not hide their excitement that she was the prime ministers fiancee. All along, the colleagues said they were not aware that Simelane was dating, let alone the most important man in the country.

They added that their deputy was the most reserved person who is known to be a staunch Christian. *Nandi described Simelane as a disciplined person who respected her job so much.



She pointed out that even after news reports to the effect that she would be marrying the PM went public, the poised soon-to-be Mrs Dlamini maintained her time of arrival at school and her normal tasks. At 7:30am she was already at the school and she participated in a planning meeting for the Grade VII Home Economics examinations requirements. She had also marked a few notebooks, just like any other day, said the merry colleague. Another one chipped in, stating how they were surprised by the news while excitement also engulfed them. She said no one ever suspected that Simelane was in a romantic relationship because no male visitor was ever seen at her house.



The fact that the couple could keep a low profile for all this while is adorable. Im honestly happy for her, she said.

In addition, the jubilant workmates said not only were they happy that Simelane had found love in the arms of Dlamini, but also for the fact that by virtue of this, their school will finally be in the spotlight.



The teachers said they started catching emotions on Tuesday after being bombarded with questions regarding the matter through numerous phone calls which rang off the hook and WhatsApp messages from acquaintances. This was after the banns of marriage started making rounds on social media platforms.
Following the completion of her 5-day parole to meet her ailing husband in Chennai, AIADMK leader VK Sasikala today left for Bengaluru to return to the Parappana Agrahara Prison.

By India Today Web Desk: Following the completion of her 5-day parole to meet her ailing husband in Chennai, AIADMK leader VK Sasikala today left for Bengaluru to return to the Parappana Agrahara Prison.

The deposed leader Sasikala left for Bengaluru by road on Thursday morning from the residence of Krishna Priya, her close relative in Chennai's T Nagar area.

According to Gleneagles Global Health City, where Natarajan (74) underwent organ transplantations on October 4 and a tracheostomy two days later, he is recovering well.

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On each of the 5 days during her parole period, Sasikala visited her husband M Natarajan, who underwent liver and kidney transplantation at the hospital.

The AIADMK leader, who was removed from the party last month by Chief Minister E Palaniswami-led camp, is travelling in a car, which had to halt at several locations in Chennai like the Trade Centre point as the area was teeming with party cadres to greet and wish her well.

Also, as was witnessed during the past five days while she was in Chennai, several women cadres carried their newborns in their arms and requested Sasikala to name them.

After halting at several locations, her convoy took the Bengaluru highway.

SASIKALA EXPECTED TO REACH BENGALURU BY 6 PM

The 60-year-old leader is expected to reach Bengaluru on time to report at the prison complex by 6 pm in keeping with the parole condition.

Sasikala has been lodged in the Parapana Agrahara central jail since February this year after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction by a special court in a disproportionate assets case.

Her relatives Ilavarasi and VN Sudhakaran are also serving four-year jail terms in the case.

Granted emergency parole from October 7 to 11, she was asked to adhere to several conditions, including a gag order on interacting with the media.

Sasikala's visit came at a time when her nephew and sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran and the ruling camp led by Palaniswami and deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam are fighting it out to get the two leaves symbol, which was frozen by the Election Commission.

(WITH INPUTS FROM PTI)

WATCH VIDEO | Sasikala supporters stop her car, offer prayers as she leaves Chennai for Bengaluru jail

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By PTI: By M Zulqernain

Lahore, Oct 12 (PTI) Pakistans ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharifs sons have been given 30 days to appear before the Islamabad Accountability Court in the Panama Papers case failing which they will be declared proclaimed offenders, the countrys anti-graft body said today.

The process of issuing red warrants for Hassan and Hussain, who are in the UK along with their ailing mother Kulsoom, will begin after the completion of one month if they did not appear before the accountability court in three corruption and money laundering cases, according to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

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The court is trying Hussain and Hassan along with their father Nawaz Sharif, sister Maryam and brother-in-law captain (retired) Muhammad Safdar in corruption cases filed against them by the NAB on the Supreme Courts instruction in the Panama Papers case.

They have been given a 30-day deadline (till November 10) to appear before the court and the copies of the notice have been pasted at the Model Town and Jati Umra Raiwind residences of the Sharif family, it said.

Sharifs sons will be declared proclaimed offenders and their properties attached if they failed to meet the deadline, the NAB said.

On the other hand, Hussain and Hassan have decided not to join the proceedings of the corruption cases against them.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has said that Hassan and Hussain have chosen to invoke their British citizenship in order to skip the court proceedings in Pakistan.

"They are foreign citizens and Pakistani laws do not apply to them, therefore they are unlikely to join the court proceedings here," says PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rashid.

Sharifs sons had been doing business abroad for over two decades, their financial matters were open for scrutiny in Britain and Saudi Arabia, he said, adding that Sharif, Maryam and Safdar will continue to attend court proceedings.

On October 9, the Accountability Court in Islamabad ordered the NAB to initiate the process of declaring the former premiers sons proclaimed offenders as they have consistently skipped the courts proceedings in three graft cases pertaining to their Park Lane flats and the establishment of offshore companies.

Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law will be indicted tomorrow in the three corruption and money laundering cases.

Sharif had to step down as prime minister and president of the PML-N party after he was disqualified by the Supreme Court on July 28 in the Panama Papers scandal. PTI MZ CPS AKJ CPS

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Rival groups Hamas and Fatah have reached a preliminary, partial agreement that could pave the way for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume governing the Gaza Strip, a decade after Hamas overran the territory, officials close to Egyptian-brokered negotiations said on Thursday.

Details of the deal were to be presented at a news conference in Cairo later Thursday.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement that the agreement was reached under "generous Egyptian auspices," but provided no details.

A senior Palestinian official said Abbas, the leader of Fatah, might visit Gaza in the coming weeks, depending on a successful implementation of the agreement. The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement in Cairo.

The Western-backed Abbas hasn\t set foot in Gaza since 2007, when the Islamic militant Hamas, his main ideological rival, seized the territory in street battles with his loyalists.

The Hamas takeover, which came a year after the group defeated Fatah in Palestinian parliament elections, left Abbas with autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Hamas, meanwhile, became increasingly isolated, as Israel and Egypt enforced a Gaza border blockade of the coastal strip.

Over the past decade, each side deepened control over its territory, making it increasingly difficult to forge compromises and repeated attempts at reconciliation failed.

The preliminary deal being announced on Thursday came after two days of talks between Hamas and Fatah in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Under the emerging agreement, Hamas would hand over responsibilities of governing Gaza to the West Bank-based government of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.

Officials close to the talks said the sides agreed to set up committees to work out the details  in the past a mechanism that quickly led to deadlock.

One committee would have four months to determine who among thousands of Hamas civil servants would be able to join the new government. Another committee would merge 3,000 Palestinian Authority loyalists into Gaza\s Hamas-run police force.

Negotiators also agreed that control of the Gaza side of the border crossing with Egypt would be handed to Hamdallah\s government, said a senior Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity, also pending the formal announcement.

He said both sides agreed that European monitors could be deployed at the border crossing.

A permanent opening of the Rafah crossing would mean an end to the crippling Gaza border blockade which prevents free trade and bars the vast majority of Gaza\s 2 million people from leaving the territory. Egypt has opened the Rafah crossing only sporadically since 2007.

Key issues were not addressed in the Cairo talks.

A major sticking point has been the Hamas military wing and its arsenal. Abbas has said he would only return to Gaza if Hamas hands over power, while Hamas has said the military wing is not up for discussion. Hamas officials have assured the Fatah negotiators that the military wing would maintain a low profile as part of any deal.

It\s not clear if this will satisfy Abbas, or if the dispute will re-emerge later on.

The Hamas official said Hamas, Fatah and smaller Palestinian factions would meet early next month to discuss other issues related to Palestinian reconciliation, including holding long-overdue parliamentary and presidential elections.

Hamas and Fatah would return to Cairo in early December to assess implementation of the agreement, the official said.

In the current context, both sides might be more willing to reach a deal than in the past.

Struggling with the fallout from the border blockade, Hamas has found it increasingly difficult to govern or provide basic services, such as electricity, to Gaza\s people.

The 82-year-old Abbas, meanwhile, might be thinking about his legacy. The political split has been a major stain on his rule, particularly at a time when attempts to negotiate the terms of Palestinian statehood with Israel seem to be going nowhere.

Abbas heads the political camp that seeks to establish a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 war.

Hamas suggested in a new political manifesto earlier this year that it might consider a state in pre-1967 lines as an interim option, but also endorses an Islamic state in historic Palestine, including what is now Israel. The group refuses to renounce violence or recognize Israel.

SOURCE: Associated Press
Tensions escalated between Iraq\s Kurds and Baghdad on Thursday as warnings of a "major attack" by government forces prompted Kurdish peshmerga fighters to temporarily block roads from other parts of the country.

The move came just over two weeks after Kurdish voters overwhelmingly backed independence in a non-binding referendum the central government slammed as illegal.

Iraqi Kurdish forces closed the two main roads connecting Arbil and Dohuk with Mosul for several hours, a Kurdish military official said.

"The closure was prompted by fears of a possible attack by Iraqi forces on the disputed areas," held by Kurdish forces but outside the autonomous Kurdish region, the official said.

Kurdish authorities said late Wednesday they feared Iraqi government forces and allied paramilitary units were gearing up to launch an assault on the autonomous northern region.

"We\re receiving dangerous messages that the Hashed al-Shaabi (paramilitary forces) and federal police are preparing a major attack from the southwest of Kirkuk and north of Mosul against Kurdistan," the Kurdistan Regional Government\s Security Council said.

But in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, which is disputed between the Kurds and Baghdad, a local commander told AFP there were no immediate signs of movement by Iraqi forces.

"We have seen no unacceptable movement on the part of Iraqi forces," Wasta Rasul, the commander of peshmerga forces in southern Kirkuk, told AFP.

He said the peshmerga were in meetings with the US-led coalition that has intervened in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State group and that coalition aircraft "are monitoring the situation carefully".

The coalition has worked with both peshmerga and Iraqi pro-government forces in the battle to oust IS from areas it seized in Iraq in mid-2014.

Tensions between Baghdad and Arbil have spiralled since last month\s Kurdish independence poll.

Security sources said Thursday that Iraq\s elite Counter Terrorism Service and Rapid Response Force had deployed more forces near Rashad, a village some 65 kilometres (40 miles) south of Kirkuk, near peshmerga positions.

The spokesman for Iraq\s Joint Operations Command refused to confirm or deny any preparations for an offensive against Kurdish forces, pointing instead to operations following last week\s retaking of the town of Hawija from IS.

"What I can say is that our forces in Hawija have accomplished their duty and have started to clear the region of explosives and restore the law in order to allow people to go home," said the spokesman, Brigadier General Yahiya Rassul.

Central authorities have severed ties between the Kurdish autonomous region and the outside world by cutting international air links.

Neighbouring Turkey and Iran, which fear that Iraqi Kurdish moves towards independence could fuel demands from their own sizeable Kurdish communities, have also threatened to close their borders to oil exports.

An Iraqi court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of senior Kurdish officials responsible for organising the referendum, saying they had done so "in contravention of a ruling by the Iraqi supreme court".

The warrant is likely to prove toothless as Baghdad\s security forces do not operate inside Kurdistan, but it could stop the officials leaving the region.

Iraq has also launched a probe into Kurdistan\s lucrative oil revenues and pledged to expose "corrupt" officials in the region who might have illegally monopolised the market.

SOURCE: AFP
By PTI: ailment

New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today said the government will issue visa to a Pakistani woman who requires medical treatment in India for her kidney ailments.

Swarajs intervention came after the husband of the woman -- Neelma Ghaffar -- requested the external affairs minister to grant her visa.

"We are giving visa for her treatment in India," Swaraj tweeted along with a photograph of the Pakistani woman.

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Earlier, in a tweet to Swaraj, Ghaffar Khan, Neelmas husband, had said that his wife was in a critical condition ans required urgent medical treatment in India.

"@SushmaSwaraj respected madam, we are in hospital now. My wife Neelma Ghaffar is on last stage. Pleases save my family and grant visa," Khan had tweeted.

Swaraj has been sympathetically considering medical visa applications from scores of Pakistani nationals notwithstanding strain in the relationship between the two countries over a host of issues, including cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

Yesterday, Swaraj had said the government would issue medical visa to a one-year old Pakistani girl for open-heart surgery in India.

On Monday, she had come to the aid of a sick Pakistani national by announcing to grant him medical visa for his liver transplant surgery in India. PTI MPB TIR

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Colonie

Years ago, a spokesman for a now-defunct airline, asked why fares out of Albany to some cities were so high, replied, "we charge whatever the market will bear."

Two new reports from the U.S. Department of Transportation shows not much has changed. Where competition exists, overall fares can be quite reasonable. The less competition, the higher the fare.

In Albany, the average air fare in the first three months of this year was $381.80. That was $60 higher than Buffalo's $320.51, and about $4 higher than the $377.66 average in Rochester.

Syracuse travelers, meanwhile, paid an average of $404.80, while in White Plains the average was $398.87.

A separate study, calculating the yield, or cost per mile on the busiest routes out of each city, tells a different story. In Albany, passengers paid an average of 17.15 cents per mile, the 11th lowest rate among the airports surveyed nationwide.

The average trip length on the nine busiest routes out of Albany was 1144 miles, longer than other upstate cities  Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo  in the study.

Airport officials point to the latter report to support their assertion that air fares out of Albany are competitive.

The survey on average air fares covers more than 370 airports nationwide, including smaller airports across upstate, where it found average air fares ranging from $112.53 (Ogdensburg, served by Cape Air) and $126.53 (Plattsburgh, where low-fare carriers Allegiant and Spirit dominate) to as much as $478.14 (Massena, served by Boutique Air) and $511.19 (Binghamton, served by Delta).

The outlook for air fares at Albany is unclear. Carriers have largely succeeded in matching seat capacity to demand. In July for example, planes were nearly 90 percent full. That means fewer airfare sales that would bring average prices down.

Albany succeeded last year in attracting JetBlue after years of effort by the county airport authority and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer. Later in the year, American restored nonstop service to Chicago, giving travelers a third choice for nonstops. United already serves O'Hare while Southwest flies to Midway.

This year, OneJet began serving Pittsburgh with two daily flights using small corporate-size jets.

Airport CEO John O'Donnell says he's constantly seeking additional service and capacity from the airlines.

"It's a continuing song that we sing here at the airport with the airlines," he said. "We base our arguments on the profitability of serving this region. (Airlines) do have strong yields out of this airport."

Among his goals is getting Southwest to restore its Las Vegas nonstop and a carrier to offer nonstops to Buffalo.

"We've been looking for Buffalo for a couple of decades," O'Donnell said. "We believe that's a profitable route if someone picks it up with a regional jet."
Albany

Businesses and farmers in New York are warning President Donald J. Trump against abandoning a free trade pact that supports trade and jobs between the state and Canada.

Five business groups from New York were among more than 300 nationwide from all 50 states that wrote to the president this week, urging that any changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement preserve the "deep economic ties the U.S. continues to enjoy."

Trump has been critical of the 23-year-old pact with Canada and Mexico, and has repeated threats as recently as this week to withdraw from it as his administration continues to negotiate potential changes with those two countries. He has blamed the agreement for destroying America jobs.

Canada is the state's largest trading partner, and is a major player in its economy, particularly in the northern regions near the border.

Currently, there are more than 700 Canadian-owned companies in the state, which employ more than 72,000 people with combined payrolls of more than $4 billion, according to Canadian government figures. Each year, there is about $30 billion in trade between that country and New York.

"When it comes to Canada, we must above all else do no harm and then, hopefully, agree on some valuable updates and enhancements," said Garry Douglas, president and CEO of the North Country Chamber of Commerce. The group represents more than 3,200 businesses spread across five northern counties.

Also signing the letter to the president was the Business Council of New York, which represents 2,400 large and medium-sized businesses from across the state.

"Canada is extremely important to the economy of New York," said council spokesman Zack Hutchins. "Our ties account for about a half-trillion dollars in economic activity, and it is important this remain intact and strong. Our members, particularly in the North County, are very concerned about these negotiations."

From his headquarters in Plattsburgh, Douglas called Canada "the single greatest driving force in the regional economy. In Clinton County alone, there are almost 100 Quebec-based companies. and 15 percent of the county workforce today works for a Canadian or border-related employer."

Not everyone spoke in support of NAFTA. State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento was critical of the agreement.

"NAFTA has failed working people in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. While overall trade volume and corporate profits are up, wages in all three countries have remained stagnant, despite gains in productivity," Cilento said. "It's not enough to simply tweak the agreement; for NAFTA to work for working people, it must create jobs by adding currency rules that are enforceable.

"We must also protect Buy American requirements to ensure responsible government procurement and include strong and enforceable labor rules," Cilento said.

The chamber letter to President Trump in support of NAFTA was also signed by the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. Capital Region Chamber of Commerce CEO Mark Eagan said his group was unaware of the letter in advance, but "would have signed it if we had known."

He called Canadian and New York's economic ties "almost unfathomable ... tweaks are one thing, but we cannot throw out the baby with the bathwater."

New York's farmers would be hurt if NAFTA was dropped, said Steve Ammerman, a spokesman for the New York State Farm Bureau.

"To walk away from that deal would be troubling for New York. Dairy and apples are just two of the commodities that benefit from fair trade agreements, and we have seen stronger prices for our products," he said.

While some rules on dairy and wine products should be changed, he said that "agriculture must have a seat at that table, a table this country cannot afford to walk away from."

This week, the American Farm Bureau Federation, which represents state-based farm groups, launched a nationwide effort to protect NAFTA. That group warned against "aggressive, unilateral trade actions."

In anticipation of President's Trump's opposition to NAFTA. a high-ranking Canadian economic official visited western New York this May. Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould said the Buffalo region alone has more than 200 Canadian companies that employ more than 50,000 people.
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Malta

A new workforce training and technology testing center that GlobalFoundries wants to locate near its computer chip factory in Saratoga County is in line for state financial assistance.

GlobalFoundries wants to build what it calls the Manufacturing Technology Education Center to help train workers, educate students and allow suppliers to test new technologies.

The computer chip maker announced plans for the project last year as part of what's known as the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, a $140 million, federally funded research program designed to use sensors to reduce energy costs and improve efficiencies in U.S. manufacturing.

There has been speculation that the center, known as the MTEC, would be located at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta where GlobalFoundries has its Fab 8 chip factory, although no specific plans have been announced.

Now it appears that the public-private partnership that wants to build the MTEC is seeking a state grant to help with the construction costs through the state's annual economic development council funding competition that has $800 million up for grabs this year.

The Capital Region Economic Development Council included a request for funding for the MTEC in its latest progress report published on Wednesday, although no dollar amount of the request was included.

The MTEC funding request was over and above $21 million in assistance that the council is seeking on 18 so-called priority projects that would be funded by Empire State Development, the state's economic development agency.

A GlobalFoundries spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment on the MTEC project or the request submitted to the state. The State University of New York and Clarkson University also are involved in the project.

A spokesman for Empire State Development said the financial details of non-priority projects are typically not revealed until the economic development council awards are made public.

The actual applicant for the state funding for the MTEC is The Pike Cos., a Rochester construction company that has done work for GlobalFoundries in the past at its Fab 8 factory.

William Tehan, president of Pike, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The MTEC is a separate project from the Next Wave Center, an incubator and training center for the semiconductor industry that is being planned by the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, Saratoga County's economic development agency.

The county, which has set up an advisory council to plan the Next Wave Center, has talked to GlobalFoundries about potentially locating the MTEC at the Next Wave Center. Marty Vanags, president of the Prosperity Partnership, said Thursday that those talks are ongoing.
Albany

Who could have guessed that the kingpin of an industry that inundates us with vulgarity and violence could turn out to be a vulgar predator? What a shocker.

I'm talking, of course, about Harvey Weinstein, the latest man of power to face sexual harassment and assault allegations. He's the new Bill Cosby. Or Roger Ailes. Or Donald Trump.

Hollywood isn't my usual subject matter, but there are elements to the rise and fall of the Miramax founder that connect the story to Albany.

More Information Contact columnist Chris Churchill at 518-454-5442 or email cchurchill@timesunion.com See More Collapse

As you probably know, Weinstein is a major donor to Democrats in New York and elsewhere  including to our fair governor, the state's two senators, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and many others. This is awkward, of course, for a party that fancies itself the champion of women's rights.

So in the wake of the allegations, including from Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, most of the Democrats who benefited from Weinstein's largesse have hurried to distance themselves from the fruit of the poisoned tree by donating every penny to charity.

There is, however, a notable exception.

Andrew Cuomo has received $114,400 from Weinstein for his various statewide campaigns going back to 2006, according to campaign finance records. But the governor says he will only shed the $50,000 that Weinstein donated since his 2014 re-election.

The reasoning for doing so  that the prior campaigns already spent Weinstein's money  is ludicrous, given that Cuomo ended every race with money in the bank. At the end of the 2014 campaign, for example, the governor still had $8.8 million available; he had $5 million on hand after his 2010 run.

Yet we're to believe that Weinstein's donations, in particular, were spent? Please. It's like tracking a gallon of water dumped into a swimming pool.

I'll admit to finding this whole game a little silly. Call me a cynic, but I work from the presumption that most major donors to big political campaigns are unsavory characters and that the money they give is tainted by suspicious motivations.

So I would have to grudgingly admire the Cuomo campaign if it said, "Yeah, Weinstein is a total creepjob  but we don't require our contributors to be saints and we shouldn't be expected to know what degradations they're up to. We're keeping every dime, baby!"

But this, sadly, is not what the Cuomo campaign said. It instead went with a half-measure that doesn't make sense.

The accusations against Weinstein stretch back years, so it isn't as though the money given recently is dirtier than the old donations. Even setting the sexual allegations aside, a quick Google search provides plenty of evidence that the man is a volcanic pig who has long treated his employees with contempt.

Democrats took his money anyway  and worse, often treated him like a treasured friend. Did they not hear the whispers? Or did they choose to ignore them?

(Sorry GOP partisans, but Republicans would have done the same if Weinstein had been a member of their clique.)

In any event, the $114,400 given to Cuomo easily tops what Weinstein donated to any other active politician: Kirsten Gillibrand received $11,800, while Chuck Schumer got $16,200.

Weinstein has also been important to the career of Sandra Lee, the governor's longtime girlfriend. A 2011 profile in New York magazine noted that before she was truly famous, Lee partnered with Miramax books. Weinstein, it reported, "promoted her aggressively, landing her four appearances on 'Today,' a segment on 'The View,' a column in 'Parade,' and a one-shot magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi."

That same profile also called Albany "the world capital of boring"  but, in fairness, it was written before the opening of our thrilling new convention center.

Who's boring now?

But I've digressed.

Bill Mulrow, chairman of Cuomo's re-election effort and his former top gubernatorial aide, says the campaign is still deciding which women's rights group will receive the $50,000 in Weinstein cash. The hope here is that it goes to an organization that truly helps victims of sexual assault, and not to a "charity" that will redistribute the money to Democratic candidates.

Mulrow also said Cuomo was unaware of Weinstein's ugly behavior prior to last week's New York Times blockbuster detailing many of the allegations against him.

Weinstein, meanwhile, initially responded to the Times' revelations by declaring that he's going to use his sudden free time to take on the National Rifle Association.

That's rich, given that many of his Miramax and Weinstein Company movies have been so casually violent, depicting high-powered weapons as instruments of empowerment, freedom and justice. The movies promote the gun culture more effectively than the NRA ever could.

I mean, has Weinstein seen "Pulp Fiction" or "Kill Bill"? Each film is bloodier than a Red Cross donation center.

But that's Hollywood. Hypocritical to the bitter end.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
Albany

A judge has ordered the state of New York to provide written details on its decision to cut funding to a sprawling addiction-treatment network founded by the Rev. Peter Young, an Albany Roman Catholic priest and pioneer in the treatment of addiction.

Acting state Supreme Court Justice Denise A. Hartman said the state failed to follow its own rules when it suspended the ability of Peter Young Housing Industries and Treatment to apply for grants to provide treatment and job training to ex-convicts and veterans.

The judge, however, declined the nonprofit organization's request for a court order reinstating its ability to apply for state grants, which was the primary objective of the court petition filed earlier this year.

The judge also declined to interfere with the state's effort to recoup more than $500,000 from a state grant that was given to one of PYHIT's nonprofit arms  820 River Street  for improvements to the roof of a drug-rehabilitation facility. Last year, the state sought to recover some of the funds PYHIT already spent on that project and the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services began withholding money that was supposed to be paid to 820 River Street programs in Warren and Washington counties. PYHIT said it stopped working on the rehabilitation project because the state suspended its access to operating grants, leaving no need for the facility they were refurbishing.

Neil D. Murray, an attorney for PYHIT, said the decision fell short of what was hoped for and is "inconsistent" because the judge acknowledged the state improperly removed the nonprofit from applying for state grants, but declined to reinstate its status. Instead, the judge has ordered the state to issue a formal determination explaining why two of PYHIT's programs  820 River Street and the Altamont Program  were revoked from the state's Grants Gateway Program. PYHIT could then appeal the decision.

"We're clearly puzzled by the decision, but we are pleased that the judge found that they had acted improperly and not consistent with their own requirements," Murray said.

OASAS spokesman Jonah Bruno said the agency cut off Young's funding because it was concerned about the stability of the organization in the wake of an investigation of misconduct by some of its employees.

"While OASAS has long respected the work and legacy of Father Peter Young, we take our stewardship of public resources very seriously and the organization's legal troubles are an obvious problem," Bruno said. "While the state considers whether they meet the most basic requirements to receive state grants, we're pleased that the court flatly rejected their other requests, including the attempt to avoid repaying $650,000 of taxpayer funds it received for a project it never completed."

The grants program is managed by the state Division of Budget, but it was never made clear which agency or state officials made the decision three years ago to block Young's organization from applying for state grants.

In October 2014, a Division of Budget employee sent an email to a PYHIT employee saying the nonprofit's grant application status was suspended because of an ongoing criminal investigation of PYHIT employees by the state attorney general's office. The state employee's email said the decision was "standard practice" but it did not city any written policy or rule.

Murray argued in court paper that the state's decision put PYHIT into a "death spiral" when its access to grants and state funding was cut off.

Young, 86, has devoted his life to helping reform addicts and ex-convicts.

Last summer, the tensions between PYHIT and OASAS boiled over when Robert A. Kent, an OASAS general counsel, lobbed obscenities at volunteers of the nonprofit during a meeting at the agency's Albany headquarters.

A Times Union story that reported the details of that meeting prompted multiple Capital Region state legislators to request that OASAS explain the situation.

OASAS Commissioner Arlene Gonzalez-Sanchez, in turn, wrote a letter to the legislators defending her agency's actions. She avoided addressing Kent's obscenity-laced tirade that was directed at Young and several Capital Region business leaders who there in support of him. PYHIT called the commissioner's characterizations inaccurate and provided state inspection reports and other documents to contradict her statements.

Kevin A. Luibrand, an attorney and president of 820 River Street's board of directors, said the state's decision to suspend funding to Young's programs has crippled drug-addiction programs in some counties where those services are critical, including Warren, Washington and Rensselaer counties. Luibrand said the state's decision took place "during the worst opioid epidemic ever."

"And now a Supreme Court judge rules that the state does not even know who in the state bureaucracy blocked Father Young or why, and that he never should have been blocked the way he was," Luibrand said. "This is the state bureaucracy at its very worst because people have overdosed and died because of it."

blyons@timesunion.com  518-454-5547  @brendan_lyonstu
SCHENECTADY  The High School Musical Theatre Awards will be returning to Proctors, with a bigger cast of participating high school shows.

In its second year, there are 23 high schools from the greater Capital Region area in the running for various awards  think of it as a localized, younger version of the Tonys. Judges will see all the musicals from the participating schools and nominate them for various awards. The awards ceremony for 2018 is expected to be held in the spring.
By PTI: (Eds: Recasting overnight story)

Chennai, Oct 11 (PTI) Members of the Tamil film fraternity will meet Chief Minister K Palaniswami today over the double taxation issue, a producers body has said.

Film producers in the state, who met state minister S P Velumani yesterday, have decided not to release any new movies from October 6 due to the implementation of a 10 per cent local body tax in addition to the Goods and Service Tax.

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After meeting municipal administration minister Velumani, the president of the Tamil Film Producers Council, Vishal Krishna, yesterday said the organisation had put forth the demands of scrapping the 10 per cent local body tax again before the authorities.

"Another round of meeting happened. We hope with our meeting with the chief minister (Palaniswami), our demands will be met with," he told reporters at the Secretariat.

Film industry representatives met the state government authorities over the issue last week as well.

Vishal, also an actor, expressed hope that there would be a positive outcome after the councils meeting with the government over the next couple of days.

Noted film distributor Tirupur Subramanian had said the meeting with Velumani and government authorities was "satisfactory".

"We hope the issue will be sorted out before Deepawali festival," he added.

To a query, he had said the film industry members have sought an appointment to meet the chief minister today.

Tamil flicks of top actors normally release on Deepawali day in Tamil Nadu. "Mersal", starring popular actor Vijay, is one of the films expected to release on October 18, the day of the festival. PTI VIJ BSA RDS

--- ENDS ---
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Albany

Nine volunteers from Albany Medical Center are among 78 medical personnel statewide who departed for Puerto Rico Thursday afternoon to provide medical assistance to the islands residents following the devastation from Hurricanes Maria and Irma.

The relief effort was coordinated by the state and hospital trade groups.

The New York volunteers are being deployed at the request of Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello, according to the governors office. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week, when the state sent medical supplies to the island, that teams of medical personnel would be sent as well.

The trip by New York volunteers comes as President Donald Trump reiterated on Twitter Thursday his warnings that there were limits to how long federal emergency personnel and troops could stay on the island.

 We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever! Trump tweeted Thursday morning.

New York medical personnel will return in 14 days, when a second similarly sized crew will be sent to replace them, according to the governors office.

JetBlue Airlines is flying the group to San Juan for free. Puerto Rico is providing lodging and food for volunteers on the island, according to the state Health Department.

Volunteers from Albany Med include a doctor, respiratory therapist, emergency management specialist and six nurses. Staff from hospitals and health centers in New York City, Long Island and Syracuse were also on the trip.

It could not be determined whether volunteers will be paid by their employers while in Puerto Rico. The state Health Department said it is at the employers discretion, and a spokesman for Albany Med said he could not discuss personnel matters. The state will provide workers compensation benefits to the volunteers.

A second crew of volunteers may be recruited from some of the same or different health institutions, according to a spokesman for the state Health Department.

New York has also deployed military police, National Guard soldiers, state troopers, drone pilots and experts from the Port Authority and Power Authority to Puerto Rico, as well as four helicopters.
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ALBANY  Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign will donate all contributions from Hollywood executive Harvey Weinstein  totaling more than $114,000 over a decade-plus  as the movie mogul faces mounting allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

In a statement on behalf of Cuomo's campaign, state Democratic Party Executive Director Basil Smikle said Thursday evening that the governor will take "the extraordinary step ... of giving all contributions from prior campaigns whose committees have been closed for years, so that we can dispense with the Republican ploys and focus on the real issues."

"Will Republicans accept the support of a president who himself disrespected, demeaned and harassed women?" Smikle said. "Will they support pay equity? Where do they stand on Betsy DeVos rolling back Title 9 protection for sexual assault on college campuses? Do they support Roe v. Wade? These are the answers that the people of this country deserve."

Cuomo's campaign previously said it would donate $50,000 in political contributions from Weinstein to a women's rights organization. But Cuomo's total haul from Weinstein adds up to more than $114,000 in contributions since 2006, when he ran for attorney general.

Smikle's statement came hours after Cuomo defended the decision not to get rid of all contributions from Weinstein. The governor, who had nearly $25.7 million in his campaign chest as of July, said the other money already had been spent.

Smikle said that it was "shameful that some have sought to use this matter to score political points, but the real issues are far too serious to allow any distraction to overtake them."

Cuomo said earlier in the day that the real issue at hand "is the protection of women and the respect for women and taking action to stop discrimination and assault of women. That's what this is really about. It's bigger than Harvey Weinstein."

He added, "getting into tiffs about Harvey Weinstein's money sort of misses the point."

mhamilton@timesunion.com  518-454-5420  @matt_hamilton10
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1 of 3 Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post. Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Alex Wong / Getty Images Show More Show Less 3 of 3
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Niskayuna

If you see something, say something. That sums up what the states Justice Center for Protection of People with Special Needs is promoting to broaden the base of those who report abuse or neglect of the disabled.

As part of the effort, the Justice Center is honoring people who see something amiss with a disabled person and report it.

On Thursday, investigators and others with the Justice Center conferred a Champion Award to an area barber shop owner who saw one of her longtime customers being mistreated and reported it last November.

I was so taken aback by it, Theresa Hastings of the Niskayuna Barbershop said. She reported an incident when a familiar customer, an 84-year-old man who is developmentally disabled and uses a wheelchair, was slapped and left alone in a driveway where his wheelchair rolled into a parked car.

Her call to the Justice Center led to the mans caretaker, James Tibbetts, being charged with attempted endangering the welfare of an incompetent person. Tibbetts pleaded guilty, Justice Center spokeswoman Christine Buttigieg said.

The agency where Tibbetts worked, the Center for Disabilities Services, also fired him, said Anne Schneider Costigan, the agency's spokeswoman.

Justice Center officials said thousands of disabled people are out in the community each day, including at shopping malls, amusement parks and racinos.

There have been cases in which aides have been spotted driving dangerously or even drunk, and the Justice Center would like people to report any suspicious incidents. In one case early on, a Boston transit police officer knew to call the Justice Center when he spotted a group of youths who had run away from a school for troubled kids, which was also under the Justice Centers purview.

Michael Carey, who advocates for safer conditions for the disabled, agreed that the public can play an oversight role.

Were grateful for any private citizen reporting abuse, he said when told of the new award. But he added that he believes that police, as well as Justice Center investigators, should be called.

The Justice Center is currently entangled in a constitutional question over whether their prosecutors, who are not elected, have the authority to prosecute people suspected of abuse or neglect.

Several cases in which the Justice Center prosecuted people but had the cases dismissed for that reason are on appeal, agency officials said.

The case in Niskayuna transpired before that constitutional question arose in March.

The Justice Center hotline number is 1-855-373-2122

Rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTU
Washington

President Donald Trump remained noncommittal about the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement on Wednesday as he welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the White House amid simmering disputes over trade between the two neighbors.

Trudeau joined Trump in the Oval Office at the start of a new round of talks over NAFTA, which the U.S. president has threatened to withdraw from if he can't negotiate a better agreement with Canada and Mexico.

"We're negotiating a NAFTA deal. It's time after all of these years and we'll see what happens. It's possible we won't be able to make a deal and it's possible that we will," Trump said. "We have to protect our workers and in all fairness the prime minister wants to protect Canada and his people also. So we'll see what happens with NAFTA."

Trudeau, in his remarks, spoke of the ties that bind the two neighbors and major trading partners.

The trade negotiations this week in Washington have gotten off to a rocky start, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warning that the Trump administration might be sabotaging the talks with unrealistic proposals.

The Canadian prime minister was also expected to raise the Trump administration's recent decision to hit Canadian manufacturer Bombardier with punishing tariffs on its C Series airliner.
ALBANY  The campaigns for and against a constitutional convention may be only every 20 years, but spending by supporters and foes this year is on par with expenditures in a hotly contested election.

Top pro and con convention forces have spent more than $1 million combined this year, according to filings with the state Board of Elections. Additional spending is expected before voters head to the polls on Election Day to cast ballots on whether to hold a constitutional convention, which would take place in 2019.

New Yorkers Against Corruption, a wide-ranging coalition of unions and special interest groups opposing a convention, has spent $743,108.27 since July, according to its 32-day pre-general election filing. It had $616,893.69 left though more donations are expected.

Among the notable donors to that group this year are the powerful SEIU 1199 health care union ($250,000), New York State United Teachers ($100,000) and the Public Employees Federation ($100,00)

NY People's Convention, a political action committee formed by convention supporter Bill Samuels, has spent $189,697.55 since July, leaving the group with a closing balance of just $257.97.

Samuels has been the committee's main source of funding this year, dropping $238,045 on convention efforts.

Another pro-convention group  the Committee for a Constitutional Convention, managed by former counsel to Gov. Mario Cuomo Evan Davis  has spent $42,051.76 since July, giving it a closing balance of $12,404.56.

That group's donors include former Lt. Govs. Richard Ravitch ($2,000) and Stan Lundine ($500) and former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman ($500), among others who have worked in state government or held state office.

Spending on both sides has gone toward myriad expenses, though media buys differ by group.

New Yorkers Against Corruption has spent more than $356,000 on digital media production and ads. By contrast, New York People's Convention has spent a modest sum of nearly $46,000 on radio, digital and print advertisements.

Politico New York reported on Thursday that campaign spending on convention efforts isn't entirely contained in Board of Elections filings. NYSUT has funded lawn signs urging a no vote and members of the Public Employees Federation, which has produced an online "Vote NO toolkit," have appeared at forums to present a negative view of a convention, according to the website.

New Yorkers Against Corruption contends that expenditures by those groups are legal under state law.

"We are proud that our coalition partners are so invested in this campaign that they are legally using their own resources to educate their membership about all of the risks a constitutional convention raises," campaign manager Jordan Marks said in a statement.

But critics say it's "dark money."

"We can't let the special interests stop us from fixing our broken state government," said Randy Mastro, chair of Citizens Union, a good-government group supporting a convention.

mhamilton@timesunion.com  518-454-5449  @matt_hamilton10
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ALBANY  The state has implemented a new savings account program to help those with disabilities build tax-free cash reserves, which their supporters say assists in those New Yorkers in maintaining independent and quality lives.

The New York Achieving a Better Life (NY ABLE) program is open to those with a disability before age 26 who are entitled to federal Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance benefits.

For those with a disability before age 26 that is severe and has been documented by a physician, who are classified as blind, or who have a disability on the Social Security Administration's list of compassionate allowances conditions also are eligible to take part in the program.

The savings accounts, which are owned by the person with a disability, can be opened with a minimum contribution of $25. Contributions, capped annually at $14,000, can be made by anyone. Maximum account balances are capped at $100,000, and a single person can hold only one account.

Withdrawals are tax free if used for qualified expenses that include education, health care, housing, transportation and personal support services, among other uses.

New York is one of 28 states that offers this type of savings account program, according to state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office, which is administering the program. The New York program is modeled on the state's 529 College Savings Program.

DiNapoli's office projects that about 800,000 New Yorkers are eligible to open the accounts.

"This is certainly from my point of view an instance where government truly is doing the right thing and working together," DiNapoli said Thursday.

Among the 86 New Yorkers with an account is 8-year-old Matthew Vaccaro of Long Island, who has Down Syndrome.

"When he was born (nearly) nine years ago, I worried about Matthew's future  where would he live, where would he work, would he live a productive life," Matthew's father, Jim Vaccaro, said at Thursday's press event. "At that time, the only option was to create a special needs trust, which meant I needed $10,000 to open the account, I had to file for a tax ID number and file taxes on that money. I was not in any financial position to do that."

Jim Vaccaro said that when he learned about the NY ABLE program, he thought it would be "the perfect solution."

"Just knowing he has an ABLE account gives my wife and I peace of mind," he said. "Matthew will have more independence, greater financial security and a better quality of life, something every parent wants for their child."

Those interested in setting up an account can visit www.mynyable.org or call 1-855-569-2253.
Washington

Republicans know who to blame for inaction in Washington  Senate Republicans.

The White House, hard-right conservatives and House GOP lawmakers all directed their ire at the Senate GOP this week amid the escalating feud between President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Bob Corker. The conservatives, in a blistering letter on Wednesday, called on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his entire leadership team to step aside in frustration over a stalled agenda. A veteran House Republican warned that if the Senate fumbles tax reform after the failure on health care, the GOP could lose its House majority.

The criticism comes with the Senate on a weeklong break. It returns next week with the intention of passing a budget that would clear the way for Congress to tackle a tax code revamp.

The Republicans' strife was on full display as conservatives are still angry about the collapse of health care and GOP lawmakers fear failure on taxes will cost them politically in next year's midterm elections. Adding to Republican woes is former White House adviser Steve Bannon's declaration of war on the GOP establishment and promise of a primary challenge to every incumbent facing re-election next year with the exception of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

The Great America Alliance, a pro-Trump organization linked to Bannon, announced three Senate endorsements on Wednesday, backing Matt Rosendale in Montana, Patrick Morrisey in West Virginia and Rep. Marsha Blackburn in Tennessee.

The group had backed Roy Moore over McConnell's candidate, Sen. Luther Strange, in last month's Alabama runoff. Moore won and faces Democrat Doug Jones in December.

The Trump-Corker fighting, with the senator suggesting the president would lead the U.S. to World War III and Trump belittling the lawmaker, left House Speaker Paul Ryan asking for detente. "I think my advice is for these two gentlemen to sit down and just talk through their issues," Ryan said.

The conservatives would have none of it.

In their letter, they slammed McConnell for Congress' inability to repeal and replace Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, lack of progress in building a wall on the southern border, delay on tax reform and inability of Congress to stop federal funds for Planned Parenthood.

"Republicans were given full control of the federal government. They  you  have done nothing. Worse, it is painfully clear that you intend to do nothing because, as is most apparent, you had no intention of honoring your solemn commitments to the American people," wrote conservatives, including Jenny Beth Martin of the Tea Party Patriots and Ken Cuccunelli II, the Senate Conservatives Fund president.

McConnell's office had no immediate comment.
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ALBANY  The New York State United Teachers union and its largest local affiliate, the United Federation of Teachers, on Thursday announced the filing of a lawsuit to block the SUNY Charter Schools Committee from implementing new teacher-training regulations for charter schools.

In a statement, NYSUT called the regulation changes, which were approved Wednesday by the SUNY committee, "illegal" and said they would "undermine the teaching profession by allowing unqualified teachers to work in SUNY-authorized charter schools."

The suit, filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, charges that the SUNY Charter Schools Committee exceeded its legal authority and usurped the role of the state Legislature.

READ THE COURT DOCUMENTS HERE.

"These illegal regulations tell the people that New York State cares more about nail salon customers than children in charter schools," NYSUT President Andy Pallotta said in the union's statement. "How can New York State demand that manicurists need 250 hours of instruction but allow charter school teachers to get certified with far fewer hours of training?"

Charters  publicly funded, privately run schools  say they're hurt by the state's stringent teacher certification process and supporters argue some schools should be exempt based on their proven record of student achievement.

But outside groups, including the state's own Education Department and Board of Regents, say the move will lower standards and allow "inexperienced and unqualified" people to teach children who are most in need, including students of color, and poor and disabled students.

"Lowering standards would not be acceptable for any other profession; this is an insult to the teaching profession," said state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa in a statement.

Only charter schools authorized by SUNY can gain teacher certification under the new pathway, and they have to have a proven record of student success to even apply. Interested charters can submit a proposed certification program to the SUNY Charter Schools Institute, which would approve or deny the program within 120 days.

The institute oversees 167 charter schools statewide, including five in Albany and one in Troy.

Supporters of the plan say it will lead to more and better candidates to choose from, as well as more diversity in teaching ranks, which tend to be overwhelmingly white and female.

Both the United Federation of Teachers and the Alliance for Quality Education, an advocacy group backed by teachers' unions, previously threatened to sue over the plan, with AQE saying in a letter Tuesday that "substantial revisions" made to the original proposal required an additional public comment period under state law that was not provided.

Others, including NYSUT, contend the action violates state education law, which authorizes only the state education commissioner to establish rules around teacher certification. Elia and Rosa also warned the action would violate law in written public comment submitted to the committee this summer.

The committee first proposed the regulations in early July in a deal worked out in the final days of the 2017 legislative session, prompting worry that such a sweeping change to teacher certification in New York was motivated by politics and not the needs of students.

Blowback was immediate and intense, with critics ripping the committee's proposal that charter school teachers only be required to have 30 hours of classroom instruction in the teaching field. Elia, at an event covered by Chalkbeat New York, said of the requirement in August: "I could go into a fast food restaurant and get more training than that."

In response to the outpouring of criticism, the committee amended the original regulations to require teachers have 160 hours of classroom instruction instead of 30.

But other changes, first unveiled over the weekend, have generated nearly as much controversy as the original proposal, including the requirement that prospective teachers have 40 hours of experience in the field, instead of 100 initially proposed. Current state law requires teachers have a master's degree, or be working toward one. The committee's plan requires neither a master's nor a bachelor's degree.
Washington

President Donald Trump says he will "very shortly" announce his decision on U.S. participation in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, as aides prepared for an end-of-the-week rollout.

Trump has until Sunday to notify Congress whether Iran remains in compliance with the accord under which it limited its atomic program in exchange for sanctions relief. A congressional source and a non-governmental source familiar with the matter said the White House was looking at a Friday announcement after scrapping a tentative plan for Thursday.

Speaking at the White House Wednesday, Trump did not discuss specific timing but told reporters: "You're going to see very soon. We will be announcing that very shortly."

Officials familiar with the internal deliberations as well as informed sources outside the administration say they expect Trump to tell lawmakers that the Iran deal is not in the U.S. national security interest despite Iran's technical compliance. However, they do not believe he will go beyond that and call for Congress to reinstate nuclear sanctions that were lifted as a result of the deal.

Instead, these officials said Trump is more inclined to throw the matter to Congress and push legislators to amend the law that requires the president to certify Iran's compliance every 90 days. Even more than the actual deal, Trump detests the certification requirement, which forces him to sign off every three months on an accord he has called the worst deal ever negotiated by America, according to the officials.

Republican legislators began drawing up new versions of the law that remove the 90-day timetable and replace it with "semi-annual" certifications, according to the officials.

Drafts of two proposals seen by The Associated Press, one from Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker and one from committee member and deal critic Sen. Tom Cotton, would expand the U.S. certification criteria to include items that are also the province of the U.N. nuclear watchdog and require the U.S. intelligence community to determine if Iran is carrying out illicit activity in facilities to which the International Atomic Energy Agency does not have access.

The certification would also demand that the intelligence community produce judgments on a range of Iranian behavior that is not covered by the nuclear deal, including ballistic missile testing and development, support for Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and Syrian President Bashar Assad, threats to Israel and the Mideast, according to the drafts.

As the legislative process grinds on with an eye to a January deadline by which the administration must decide whether to further extend sanctions relief to Iran, Trump is also expected to instruct his national security team to step up pressure on the parties to the agreement to fix what he and deal opponents believe are its most serious deficiencies.

Those include the fact that several restrictions on advanced nuclear activity expire under so-called "sunset clauses," which permit Iran to begin ramping its enrichment capabilities up after 10 years as well as drop an arms embargo and ease restrictions on missile activity.
The Trump administration has been preparing for a likely withdrawal from UNESCO, and a decision was expected before the end of the year, according to US officials. This is not the first time US has decided to pull out of the international cultural agency.

By India Today Web Desk: The United States of America has decided to pull out of UNESCO, the cultural agency of the United Nations (UN), accusing it of having an anti-Israel bias.

The US had stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011 but it did maintain a UNESCO office. This is not the first time that US has decided to pull out of the international cultural agency, it has done the same in 1984 under Ronald Reagan.

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Later in 2002, under the Bush administration it had joined back.

The decision to leave UNESCO comes at a time when the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is voting to choose a new director this week.

Many saw the vote to include Palestine as evidence of long-running, ingrained anti-Israel bias within the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.

In an official statement Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, expressed "profound regret at the decision of the United Stated of America to withdraw from UNESCO".

"Despite the withholding of funding, since 2011, we have deepened the partnership between the United States and UNESCO, which has never been so meaningful", the statement read.

"This is a loss to UNESCO. This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism."

I deeply regret the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from @UNESCO.Official statement: https://t.co/ACgqUKVLBi pic.twitter.com/xHTvJNt6tm- Irina Bokova (@IrinaBokova) October 12, 2017

The Trump administration has been preparing for a likely withdrawal for months, and a decision was expected before the end of the year, according to US officials. Several diplomats who were to have been posted to the mission this summer were told that their positions were on hold and advised to seek other jobs.

In addition, the Trump administration's proposed budget for the next fiscal year contains no provision for the possibility that UNESCO funding restrictions might be lifted.

In a press statement by the US State Department, the US said that it seeks to "establish a permanent observer mission to UNESCO". The statement further reiterates that the decision to pull out of UNESCO "was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO".

US' withdrawal from UNESCO will take effect on December 31, 2018 and US is going to remain a full-time member of the UNESCO until then.

(With inputs from agencies)

--- ENDS ---
SHARON -- A Virginia man is accused of raping a woman in the Schoharie County town of Sharon earlier this year.

Joshua A. Wample, 35, of Aldie Virginia, was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree rape, according to State Police.
The truth can no longer be ignored: Donald Trump is dangerously unfit to be president and could lead the nation to unthinkable disaster. So what are we going to do about it?

The White House "has become an adult day care center," where the president's senior aides spend "every single day ... trying to contain him." That terrifying bit of information was disclosed Sunday by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., whose decision not to run for re-election has freed him to point out that the emperor is indeed naked.

"Look, except for a few people, the vast majority of our caucus understands what we're dealing with here," Corker told The New York Times. His colleagues in the GOP Senate majority "understand the volatility that we're dealing with and the tremendous amount of work that it takes by people around Trump to keep him in the middle of the road." Trump treats the presidency as if it were "a reality show" and is so erratic that he could put us "on the path to World War III."

The shocking thing is that Corker is merely saying out loud what many others say in private. Trump is not qualified, by temperament or character, to exercise the awesome powers of the presidency. A man who acts like a bratty, vindictive child has been given the power to launch nuclear weapons.

He has three years and three months remaining in his presidential term. What are we going to do?

Corker counts on "those people who are closely working with him, what I would call the good guys"  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and chief of staff John Kelly  to keep the apocalypse at bay. But no one can prevent all potential damage. Trump petulantly sabotages the health care system because it bears his predecessor's name. He cynically amplifies white racial grievance for political gain. He unnerves our longtime allies and recklessly goads our adversaries. He lies so shamelessly that he defiles the honor of the office held by Washington and Lincoln.

The crisis is about soundness of mind and judgment.

The Constitution does not offer much of a playbook for the situation we find ourselves in. Impeachment is reserved for "high crimes and misdemeanors"  a phrase that means anything Congress wants it to mean.

The 25th Amendment allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to relieve Trump of his powers, with Congress the ultimate arbiter if Trump were to protest. But this procedure  intended for when a president suffers, for example, a debilitating stroke  looks plausible only as a fail-safe mechanism if the president literally starts howling at the moon and trying to launch nuclear missiles. Let's pray it doesn't come to that.

Our most likely course of action is containment. The generals who play nanny at the "adult day care center" are already acting as the first line of defense. Corker and his colleagues in Congress must begin acting as the second.

Congress has great powers of investigation and oversight. The House has primacy in exercising the power of the purse; the Senate has the responsibility to advise and grant  or withhold  consent. Back in January, Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might have dreamed that Trump, whatever his failings, would at least allow them to implement an orthodox GOP agenda. By now they must realize how wrong they were.

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.

Republicans need to stop talking and begin acting to constrain an out-of-control president. They probably won't, however  which makes it imperative that Democrats win one or both chambers of Congress in 2018.

Massive "people power" displays of resistance are stirring. But if you really want to make a difference, go out and work to turn the House and Senate into bodies that will ferociously protect our democracy  from a president who grievously threatens it.

eugenerobinsonwashpost.com
[October 12, 2017] Delaware Technical Community College and Kaplan University Collaborate to Create Connected Degree Opportunities

Delaware Technical Community College and Kaplan University have entered into an articulation agreement that will give Delaware Technical Community College students the opportunity to earn Bachelor of Science degrees in five different academic programs at Kaplan University. Under the agreement, students who have completed the following Delaware Technical Community College associate degrees with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher will automatically be accepted into the following baccalaureate programs at Kaplan University: Associate in Applied Science in Criminal Justice - Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice

Associate in Applied Science in Criminal Justice/Homeland Security Management Option - Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice - Homeland Security

Associate in Applied Science in Human Services - Bachelor of Science in Human Services - Youth/Family Services and Administration

Associate in Applied Science in Health Information Management - Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management

Associate in Applied Science in General Business - Bachelor of Science in Business Administration According to Delaware Tech President Mark T. Brainard, "This agreement provides a valuable pipeline for our students and allows them to leverage the SEED Scholarship program on their journey toward a bachelor's degree. In addition, having earned the status of Military Friendly School for the past three years due to our veteran support services, we appreciate Kaplan's focus on helping our active duty military and veterans reach their academic goals." "This partnership will provide opportunities for the graduates of Delaware Tech to continue their education at an institution that understands who they are, where they come from and what they aspire to be. Kaplan University values the flexibility of providng quality education in an innovative and highly personalized online platform," said W. Christopher Motz, President of the Maryland Campuses of Kaplan University. Motz noted that Kaplan University is also acknowledged as a Military Friendly School with three-in-ten students who are military-affiliated.



The agreement also includes Kaplan University tuition reductions for Delaware Tech students, alumni, and employees. While the articulation agreement provides a specific course-by-course transfer, it is not restrictive. Kaplan University evaluates course transfer to and from other programs. For more information please visit KaplanMaryland.com or call 1-800-422-2670.

About Delaware Technical Community College Delaware Technical Community College is a statewide multi-campus community college committed to providing affordable, open admission, post-secondary education that is relevant and responsive to labor market and community needs. The College offers comprehensive educational opportunities that contribute to the economic vitality of the State, including career, general, developmental, and transfer education; workforce development; and lifelong learning. The College respects its students as individuals and as members of diverse groups and is committed to fostering student success in higher education as a means to economic and personal advancement. About Kaplan University Kaplan University offers a different school of thought for higher education. It strives to help adult students unlock their talent by providing a practical, student-centered education that prepares them for careers in some of the fastest-growing industries. The University, which has its main campus in Davenport, Iowa, and its headquarters in Chicago, is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. Kaplan University serves approximately 29,200 online and campus-based students. The University has 14 campuses in Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, Maryland, Maine, Missouri and Wisconsin, and a Kaplan University Learning Center in Maryland. Kaplan University is part of Kaplan Higher Education LLC and Kaplan, Inc., which serves over one million students globally each year through its array of higher education, test preparation, professional education, English-language training, university preparation, and offerings to individuals, institutions, and businesses. Kaplan has operations in over 30 countries, employs more than 15,000 full- and part-time professionals, and maintains relationships and partnerships with more than 1,000 school districts, colleges, and universities, and over 2,600 corporations and businesses. Kaplan is a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC) and its largest division. For more information, please visit www.Kaplan.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005988/en/

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[October 12, 2017] New Report Identifies Best Practices for Creating and Sustaining Apprenticeship Programs

Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE: ACN), the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, the Global Apprenticeship Network (GAN) and ETH Zurich/KOF Swiss Economic Institute today released a new report that examines best practices for creating and sustaining apprenticeship programs, which are gaining momentum as a strategy for narrowing the skills gap. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005143/en/ The new report, "Jobs Now," aims to help U.S. organizations tap new sources of talent for in-demand skills that will help drive growth and innovation (Graphic: Business Wire) The report, "Jobs Now," aims to help U.S. organizations tap new sources of talent for in-demand skills that will drive growth and innovation - which is particularly important given that 95 percent of U.S. corporate leaders say finding the talent they need is problematic.1 "Jobs Now" presents key elements of Switzerland's successful apprenticeship model, along with case studies of successful programs and profiles of CEOs who started their careers as apprentices. Nearly 70 percent of Swiss citizens participate in an apprentice program, which has helped the country achieve the top global ranking in innovation (INSEAD Global Innovation Index, 2016) and competitiveness (WEF, 2016). "The U.S. faces a skills shortage that threatens our competitiveness," said Julie Sweet, Accenture's CEO for North America. "People are our country's greatest strength, and apprenticeship programs, particularly at the local level, can play a critical role in developing new sources of talent while creating additional opportunities for our citizens to participate in some of the most dynamic parts of our economy." In the United States, Accenture recently initiated technology-based apprenticeship programs in San Antonio and Chicago, which are providing new job opportunities while bringing needed skills to Accenture's business in these markets. These programs - along with others from leading companies including The Adecco Group, Nestle and Zurich - are featured in "Jobs Now." "With this report, we are accelerating a movement that has already shown great promise," said Martin Naville, CEO of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce. "The vocational education and training system in Switzerland is considered the global gold standard due to its positive impact on the nation's economic success, rich employer engagement, and low youth unemployment. We are thrilled to share our learnings with the United States." Among the best practices identified in the reprt:



Involve key partners and stakeholders early. Apprenticeship systems in Switzerland are one of the oldest public-private partnerships in the world. For the U.S., key partners include community colleges; industry groups; local, state and federal governments; and social partners.

Apprenticeship systems in Switzerland are one of the oldest public-private partnerships in the world. For the U.S., key partners include community colleges; industry groups; local, state and federal governments; and social partners. Create buy-in within the organization. Not all decision-makers within companies are sold on the positive ROI argument. Pointing to the benefits can play a key role in changing mindsets.

Not all decision-makers within companies are sold on the positive ROI argument. Pointing to the benefits can play a key role in changing mindsets. Allow flexibility in designing the program. Each employer should design a program tailored to the specific needs of its business and the communities it serves. "The vocational education and training system in Switzerland prepares a broad cross-section of young professionals - including high achievers - for their careers in almost all occupational fields," said Dr. Ursula Renold, head of Division Comparative Education Systems at KOF/ETH Zurich. "A major strength is the intensive cooperation between employers and educators. Some U.S. states, such as Colorado, have shown a pioneering initiative in adapting elements of the Swiss approach. We are eager to continue to share our best practices through this important report." Shea Gopaul, founder and executive director of the Global Apprenticeship Network, said, "There are many lessons to be learned from the Swiss model, and we are optimistic that it can be adapted to the United States. The three keys are ensuring that apprenticeship is employer-driven, that it is accessible by all, and that the model promotes lifelong learning."

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 Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce

The Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce promotes and facilitates better business relations between the US and Switzerland; provides essential information about doing business in these markets; brings business leaders together to facilitate contacts and provide platforms for networking in both countries; represents the mutual interests of members; promotes both countries as advantageous places to do business; and fosters good corporate citizenship to benefit the communities in which members do business. As the largest association of multinational companies in Switzerland (Swiss and foreign, large and small), the Swiss AmCham addresses all issues of concern to this sector for the long-term success of the Swiss economy. The Swiss AmCham, the second largest AmCham in Europe, is a private organization with 2,000 members representing 1,600 internationally active companies. Twenty-five percent of the members are located in the US (with organizations in Boston, New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles) and 75 percent are distributed throughout Switzerland. The Swiss AmCham covers all areas of the private sector and does not accept any subsidies from any government entity. A very prominent group of Directors -CEOs of the largest Swiss companies and European headquarters of the largest US companies-oversees the direction of the Swiss AmCham. About Global Apprenticeship Network

The GAN is a business-driven alliance created in 2013 with the overarching goal of encouraging and linking business initiatives on skills and employment opportunities for youth - notably through apprenticeships and work-readiness programs. Following our mission 'skills for business, jobs for youth', we work with companies, governments, international organizations and employers' federations to promote the apprenticeship model and work-readiness programs as a tool to increase employability and combat skills mismatch. While the GAN provides a global strategic platform, we have also launched GAN National Networks (GNN) in 9 countries (France, Spain, Turkey, Indonesia, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Malawi and Tanzania), with over 180 company members and have committed to over 9 million opportunities for youth. About ETH Zurich/KOF Swiss Economic Institute

ETH Zurich regards itself as an institution with regional and national roots that is fully integrated in the international academic community. The ETH has more than 19,000 students from 120 countries. It measures itself in all respects against the world's leading universities-from its education and research to its management. KOF Swiss Economic Institute, which is part of ETH Zurich, is the leading institute for research in applied economics in Switzerland. KOF has been providing independent and high-quality contributions both to international research and to economic policy for more than 75 years. The institute focuses on research relating to innovation, internationalization, national regulatory frameworks and education systems. Its forward-looking research is sustained by national and international cooperation with scholars, institutions and economic operators. 1 2016 Business Roundtable Education and Workforce Survey View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005143/en/

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Bharara was appointed by Barack Obama as US Attorney for Manhattan where he served for many years before being fired by Trump this March.

By Santosh Chaubey: Preet Bharara, former US Attorney and a known critic of US President Donald Trump, mocked him for trying to threaten news networks. Bharara was appointed by Barack Obama as US Attorney for Manhattan where he served for many years before being fired by Trump this March, a fact that Bharara has mentioned in his Twitter bio.

While replying to a tweet where Trump indicated he might challenge broadcast license of media houses, Bharara quipped, "Adult day care shift alert, please report for duty", in an apparent reference to Republican Senator Bob Corker, a supporter-turned-critic of Trump, who has called the US president a political novice whose outbursts have become so routine that the White House has become an adult day care centre.

Adult daycare shift alert. Please report for duty. https://t.co/NgAP03X4xp- Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) October 11, 2017

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Bob Corker heads the powerful US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and has been a strong anti-Trump voice on issues like Trump Administration's handling of the North Korean nuclear crisis and the changes Trump is trying to make to the US tax regime. Trump and Corker are engaged in a bitter war of words these days and they routinely exchange barbs.

It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.- Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) October 8, 2017

Bharara also questioned if it was possible to a get a ruling it happens so tagging Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the agency that regulates the media and communications industry in the US.

Earlier in the day,Trump had blasted the NBC Newsalleging it for producing a fake story which said Trump had asked for tenfold rise in US nuclear arsenal in a meeting with national security officials earlier this summer after which Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, had termed him a "moron".

While dismissing the row if Tillerson really called him a moron, Trump said in an interview yesterday, "I think it's fake news, but if he did that, I guess we'll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win." And today, in a series of tweets, he complained that the NBC report was "pure fiction, meant to demean.

Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a "tenfold" increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017

--- ENDS ---
[October 12, 2017] NextEra Energy announces date for release of third-quarter 2017 financial results

JUNO BEACH, Fla., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) today announced that it plans to report third-quarter 2017 financial results before the opening of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, in a news release to be posted on the company's website at www.NextEraEnergy.com/investors. The company will issue an advisory news release over PR Newswire the morning of Oct. 26, with a link to the financial results news release on the company's website. As previously communicated, the company will make available its financial results only on its website. Jim Robo, chairman and chief executive officer of NextEra Energy, John Ketchum, executive vice president, finance and chief financial officer of NextEra Energy, and other members of the company's senior management team will discuss the company's third-quarter 2017 financial results during an investor presentation to be webcast live, beginning at 9 a.m. ET on Oct. 26. Results for NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) also will be discussed during the same investor presentation. The listen-only webcast will be available on NextEra Enery's website by accessing the following link: www.NextEraEnergy.com/investors. The financial results news release and the slides accompanying the presentation may be downloaded at www.NextEraEnergy.com/investors, beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET on the day of the webcast. A replay will be available for 90 days by accessing the same link as listed above.



NextEra Energy, Inc.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company with consolidated revenues of approximately $16.2 billion, approximately 45,900 megawatts of generating capacity, which includes megawatts associated with noncontrolling interests related to NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP), and approximately 14,700 employees in 30 states and Canada as of year-end 2016. Headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, NextEra Energy's principal subsidiaries are Florida Power & Light Company, which serves approximately 5 million customer accounts in Florida and is one of the largest rate-regulated electric utilities in the United States, and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. Through its subsidiaries, NextEra Energy generates clean, emissions-free electricity from eight commercial nuclear power units in Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa and Wisconsin. A Fortune 200 company and included in the S&P 100 index, NextEra Energy has been recognized often by third parties for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2017 list of "World's Most Admired Companies." For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nextera-energy-announces-date-for-release-of-third-quarter-2017-financial-results-300535501.html SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc.

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[October 11, 2017] Distributel Expansion Continues with Acquisition in Western Canada

Distributel Acquires Selected Assets

of the Navigata-Westel division of TNW TORONTO, Oct. 11, 2017 /CNW/ - Distributel Communications Limited (Distributel), a leading national provider of voice and data services for Canadians, announced the acquisition of new west coast telecom operations, taking another important step in its strategy to consolidate alternative telecom companies. "Distributel is focused on consolidation in order to create a strong, competitive telecom choice for all Canadians," says Matt Stein, CEO of Distributel. "The acquisition of selected assets of TNW is critical because it gives Distributel a substantial presence in Western Canada and new west coast network assets." In November 2016, 8640025 Canada Inc. (dba "Teliphone Navigata-Westel Communications") filed for court protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act ("CCAA") in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Ernst & Young Inc. was appointed as Monitor and was also directed to manage the business. OnSeptember 25, the Monitor closed on an agreement for Distributel to acquire selected assets of TNW and take over associated operations, ensuring that the ongoing delivery of services will continue seamlessly for customers.



"This asset acquisition is good news for TNW customers," adds Stein. "With the strength of the Distributel organization, we will provide much needed stability to ensure the continuation of operations and will invest the financial and human resources to grow the newly combined business." The company operates under a new, wholly owned subsidiary of Distributel named Navigata Communications Limited. Stein, who is also the Vice-Chairman and National Spokesperson for the Canadian Network Operators Consortium Inc. (CNOC), has championed a series of progressive changes for Distributel since joining the company in 2014 as CEO. Under his direction, Distributel has acquired Yak Communications from Globalive Capital; expanded the Distributel Internet footprint in Quebec and Ontario; introduced Zazeen TV to the Distributel portfolio of services; forged a deeper partnership with Microsoft, and, orchestrated a series of key hires from both within and outside the industry, positioning Distributel for continued strong growth in the Canadian marketplace.

About Distributel Communications Limited:

Established in 1988, Distributel is a leading national, independent telecommunications provider offering a wide range of business and residential communications services. 100% Canadian-owned, with offices across the country and a National network, Distributel continues to forge new partnerships and bring innovative solutions to market directly and through a thriving Wholesale division. ThinkTel, the Business Services Division of Distributel, is a provider of advanced voice and data services for the SMB and Enterprise markets throughout Canada. As a top Microsoft Solutions Partner and a Cisco PMP, the Business Services division is focused on driving industry innovation. For more information, visit: www.distributel.ca. SOURCE Distributel Communications Limited

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[October 11, 2017]

XTC 2018 - Meet the Top 25 Necker Island Hopefuls!

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), the world's largest startup competition, is back again for its fourth annual year, unveiling the Top 25 contenders moving on to the next phase of the challenge, slated to take place this January at CES 2018. The Top 25 was formally announced at CTA Innovate! and Celebrate at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco, and presented by emcee and renowned tech writer Brent Rose.

XTC's selected Top 25 will be narrowed down to the Top 10 Semi-Finalists who will then pitch on stage at CES to compete for the ultimate prize of global visibility and invaluable resources, with three finalists to pitch their ventures to Branson on Necker Island alongside a phenomenal panel of judges.

Making discernible waves overseas during last year's challenge, XTC is poised to welcome its largest pool of international contenders to date. The 2018 Top 25 companies reach far beyond American borders, representing countries such as France, Norway, Australia, Germany, Rwanda, and Singapore. The industries these companies represent are as diverse as their home base, with emphasis placed on verticals such as Blockchain, Sustainability, FinTech, Transportation and IoT.

Among international frontrunners to the finals in February 2018 are Norway's climate action tool chooose.today, touch-free gesture control interface creators BlueMint Labs' Bixi hailing from France, Powerledger - an Australian company creating a blockchain-based peer-to-peer energy trading platform, and Germany's sustainability stewards AIRY - a plant pot designed to ventilate root systems.

Stateside, the bank of competitors is stacked with brilliant minds from Silicon Valley to the east coast covering a wide range of cutting-edge trends that span the spectrum of tech industries from BioTech and Gaming to Healthcare. Companies such as Mountain View, CA's NextBiotics - a biotechnology platform engineering viruses, infant healthcare platform Owlet Baby Care Inc., and Florida's Immersed Games - an online game world for real STEM learning experiences, are all prospects who may have never crossed paths, yet now find themselves on a leveled playing field competing for the ultimate prize.

Other noteworthy aspirants include Bluefield Technologies, who is utilizing microsatellite sensors to analyze high-value methane emission data and Neurotrack, a company transforming the diagnosis ad prevention of memory loss.







Past iterations of XTC have showcased the latest breakthroughs in sectors such as Virtual Reality, Healthcare, Genetics and Transportation, and this year proves to be even stronger. In an inspiring showcase of the evolving landscape of startup-driven discoveries, XTC serves as the platform where science and ingenuity collide to create a new paradigm of advancement in consumer, enterprise and medical tech.

XTC 2018 is proud to present the pioneering Judges' panels for the Semi-Finals and the Final Round:

Sir Richard Branson , Founder of the Virgin group, Investor & Philanthropist Returning XTC Finals Judge

, Founder of the Virgin group, Investor & Philanthropist Returning XTC Finals Judge Koichi Narasaki , Chief Digital Officer, Sompo

, Chief Digital Officer, Sompo Valery Vavilov , CEO, BitFury

, CEO, BitFury Gary Shapiro , CEO Consumer Technology Association, Returning XTC Semi-Finals Judge

, CEO Consumer Technology Association, Returning XTC Semi-Finals Judge Tom Siebel , Veteran software entrepreneur and founder of C3 loT,, Returning XTC Finals Judge

XTC 2018 Timeline

Stage I - October 11, 2017 - Top 25 Announcement

- Top 25 Announcement Stage II - November 9, 2017 - Top 10 Announcement at CES Unveiled NYC: Two months ahead of CES 2018 10 Semi-Finalists will be selected from the Top 25 XTC challengers. In addition to unveiling the Semi-Finalists, the annual event showcases the future of tech before the new year.

- Top 10 Announcement at CES Unveiled NYC: Two months ahead of CES 2018 10 Semi-Finalists will be selected from the Top 25 XTC challengers. In addition to unveiling the Semi-Finalists, the annual event showcases the future of tech before the new year. Stage III - January 11, 2018 - XTC Semi-Finals at CES: Extreme Tech Challenge returns to CES Las Vegas for the semi-finals in 2018. This stage of the contest will see the chosen Top 10 pitch their tech live on-stage in hope of being one of three companies selected to move onto Necker Island.

- XTC Semi-Finals at CES: Extreme Tech Challenge returns to CES Las Vegas for the semi-finals in 2018. This stage of the contest will see the chosen Top 10 pitch their tech live on-stage in hope of being one of three companies selected to move onto Necker Island. Stage IV - February 28, 2018 - XTC Finals on Necker Island: Top 3 Finalists present to a panel of all-star judges, spearheaded by Branson.

XTC would like to extend special gratitude to the current sponsors on board for 2018 - Sompo, OWC, Zoom, Jungle Creations, Cisco, Qualcomm, and Meltwater. Thanks to their generous partnerships, XTC 2018 will be the most comprehensive iteration to date!

STAY CONNECTED: XTC

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

About Extreme Tech Challenge

Extreme Tech Challenge is a competition that empowers entrepreneurs and their companies by providing visibility, resources, and it gives competitors the ability to grow exponentially in scale and knowledge at a low to no incremental cost. XTC strives to inspire and provide growth to up and coming entrepreneurs and businesses by surrounding them with mentors to help guide them as they build on product success with business success.

XTC pulls this all together into an experience that money cannot buy with showcase events at the world's largest technology trade show, CES, and also at Sir Richard Branson's own Necker Island.

Hurricane Irma Relief:

XTC alongside Richard Branson and The Virgin Group continue to do everything possible to support and assist the local BVI community that they call home. Please explore the various donation options & spread awareness to Richard Branson's efforts with Virgin and their support of the BVI Relief Fund. By covering all of Virgin Unite's Hurricane relief overheads, Richard Branson and the Virgin Group have made it possible for 100% of the donations received directly to the local BVI communities.

Extreme Tech Challenge 2018 Top 25

ABRA - AirSwap - AIRY GREENTECH - Bansen Labs - BioCellection Inc. - Bixi Bluemint Labs - Bluefield Technologies - Chooose.today - EVmatch - Immersed Games - Lavabit - LYNQ - Neurotrack - Nextbiotics - Owlet Baby Care Inc. - Piaggio Fast Forward - Powerledger - Rayton Solar 2018 - REVL- SafeMotos - Square Lovin - TenX Wallet - CoLoadX - Tissue Analytics -WooHoo by SmartBeings

Media Inquiries: [email protected]

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/xtc-2018---meet-the-top-25-necker-island-hopefuls-300535207.html

SOURCE Extreme Tech Challenge
[October 11, 2017] INVESTOR ALERT: Goldberg Law PC Announces an Investigation of Kobe Steel, Ltd.

Goldberg Law PC, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Kobe Steel, Ltd. ("Kobe Steel" or the "Company") (Other OTC: KBSTY). If you purchased or otherwise acquired Kobe Steel shares, and would like more information about the investigation, we encourage you to contact Michael Goldberg or Brian Schall, of Goldberg Law PC, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1100, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067, at 800-977-7401, to discuss your rights without cost to you. You can also reach us through the firm's website at http://www.Goldberglawpc.com, or by email at [email protected].



The investigation focuses on whether Kobe Steel and certain of its officers and/or directors violated federal securities laws. On October 8, 2017, the Company revealed that it "has discovered that in its Aluminum & Copper Business, including group companies, a portion of the products traded with customers did not comply with the product specifications which were agreed between the Company and its customers. Data in inspection certificates had been improperly rewritten etc., and the products were shipped as having met the specifications concerned." Following this news, shares of Kobe Steel dropped in value. If you have any questions concerning your legal rights, please immediately contact Goldberg Law PC at 800-977-7401, or visit our website at http://www.Goldberglawpc.com, or email us at [email protected].

Goldberg Law PC represents investors around the world, and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171011006360/en/

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[October 11, 2017] New StagedPay Software Protects Businesses from Historic Hacks and Massive Data Breaches

While billions of people are struggling to restore their credit after a pandemic of data breaches, the Texas-based software vendor Red Maple is releasing innovative software that promises to keep credit card information safe. Red Maple is introducing StagedPay at the AXUG Summit in Nashville on October 11. StagedPay is a new, patent pending, hosted credit card solution that uses a two-step authentication process to protect the business and the consumer. It works like a combination lock by allowing merchants to accept and process credit cards using only part of the card number. To open the lock and complete the purchase, the customers must enter the rest of the card numbers on a secure, StagedPay site. The merchant is notified when the order is authorized and complete. This two-stage process means the merchant doesn't collect full credit card numbers and become susceptible to fraud in a data breach. It also helps prevent criminals from using stolen credit card numbers, because buyers must provide an email or phone number associated with the credit card to verify and complete the transaction. The credit card information can also be tokenized and inserted into a company's ERP system to be re-used securely on future transactions.



Red Maple. StagedPay software works with small, medium and large merchant payment systems already in place. It also ensures the business maintains PCI (News - Alert) compliance. For medium and large businesses, StagedPay can eliminate SAQ audits and the cost of PCI compliance because it requires more information from the consumer than Card Verification Data and Address Verification for authentication.

It's estimated that nearly every adult American has been impacted by the world's largest data breach, and some will suffer for years. StagedPay is designed to prevent future attacks and theft by locking up data separately, and requiring multiple keys to authenticate, verify, and open the purchasing vault. Five Fortune 500 companies are currently working with Red Maple in early testing of the product prior to general release in early 2018. To learn more about StagedPay visit http://www.stagedpay.com, stop by Booth #365 at the AXUG Summit or contact PR Manager Diane White, 918-770-3905 or [email protected]. About Red Maple Red Maple specializes in developing turnkey solutions that natively expand the capabilities of Microsoft (News - Alert) Dynamics AX and Dynamics 365 for Operations. Globally deployed by 500+ companies, Red Maple's solutions offer Extensions and Additions to AX. Advanced Extensions support complex business processes for credit cards, commissions, workflow, and recurring billing (including maintenance, usage, and royalties). Their Horizontal Additions add new capabilities for revenue recognition, warranty management, chargeback claims management and mobile workflow. Red Maple also provides industry specific solutions for both retail and software distribution. The company's Advanced Credit Card solution enables businesses to securely accept and process credit card payments using native integration without hidden costs. Using pre-integration with multiple processors and gateways, Red Maple provides an omni-channel experience with processing from native client, Retail (mPOS/ePOS) and integration with numerous e-commerce engines. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171011006364/en/

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[October 11, 2017] CIIF 2017 will be held in Shanghai on Nov. 7-11, 2017

SHANGHAI, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As the giant leading manufacturing trade fair in China, China International Industry Fair (CIIF in brief) will be staged on 7-11, November this year at National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). On the subject of "Innovative, Smart, Green", CIIF is gathering in the field of Metalworking and CNC machine Tool, Industrial Automation, Environmental protection technology, ICT, New energy auto, New energy, Robotics, New material, Aerospace and Aviation. CIIF creates unique opportunities for international networking and it is a major "Made in China 2025" presentation platform. The mainline of CIIF 2017 merge the digital and intelligent terminal which shows the in-depth integration of the information technology and manufacturing technology. This annual expo has won strong industry credibility andsupport, and evolved into the most fast increasing expo with 17% of last year.



More about CIIF 2017 CIIF 2017 will express a major success with impressive expectation:

- Attendance up: 15,000+ visitors from at least 82 countries and regions. - Participation by at 2,500+ companies from 28 countries and regions. More than 30 percent from Top 500 enterprises in the World. Over 70 percent exhibitors regard CIIF as the must attend exhibition and arrange global new product launching through the network of CIIF. - CIIF 2017 will cover an exhibition area of 280,000+ square meters with 12 halls at National Exhibition & Convention Center (Shanghai). - The largest ever fringe program with 52 sessions were delivered also reinforce the status of CIIF in the industry. High-end Summits have become the collective invoice and industrial trend prediction by Global CEO of many giant companies. - UK as the second year's partner country of CIIF brought over their leading enterprises of mainly automobile industry and other manufacturing industry. - More than 300 media partners and business channels online and offline confirm to help CIIF do comprehensively heading-grabbing propaganda. As an UFI (The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry) approved event, CIIF 2017 is engage to promote six key strategic emerging industries of "Made in China 2025" and "One belt and One Road" to promote the internationalization of the Expo. For more information, please access www.ciif-expo.com. For press enquiries, please contact:

Flora Hu, Communications, CIIF Branch, Donghao Lansheng (Group) Co., Ltd

Email: [email protected] Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20171009/1961287-1 SOURCE China International Industry Fair

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[October 11, 2017] Just 4 Weeks to go until the Digital Marketing Leaders Summit bring Google, Alibaba, Coca-Cola, UOB, Facebook & more to the Marriott Tang Plaza, Singapore on October 31

SINGAPORE, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Organized by ForwardLeading LTD, the Digital Marketing Leaders Summit brings top marketing speakers and attendees to Singapore in just 4 weeks' time. On October 31 & November 1, the Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel will host 100 attendees working within the digital, marketing and content space from Fortune 100's, start-ups and tech companies. What Will You Gain From Attending? Secure your place amongst current leading organisations attending

your place amongst current leading organisations attending Grasp new skills and technologies that project opportunities for new growth

new skills and technologies that project opportunities for new growth Learn directly from marketing and digital experts from global leading organisations in an intimate setting

directly from marketing and digital experts from global leading organisations in an intimate setting Manage your Digital Marketing future and technology development from a strategic angel

your Digital Marketing future and technology development from a strategic angel Progress your business through networking and collaborating with marketers, content leaders and digital executives

your business through networking and collaborating with marketers, content leaders and digital executives Strengthen professional performance and obtain certificate for professional excellence This year, the Summit will host brands such Prudential, SkyScanner, Ferrari, StarHub, WWF International, Google, SAP, Spotify, Alibaba, Yahoo & more, as the organizer looks/span> to bring some of the brightest minds in marketing together to create an environment where knowledge sharing, learning and great networking happens all at once, whilst you relax at the Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel.



Why this event? Structure - Keynote presentations, workshops, panels, roundtable and key take-away round ups are included .

- presentations, workshops, panels, roundtable and key take-away round ups . Engaging - The content will keep you interested. Instead of going on to long , people are here to talk and make meaningful connections.

- content will keep you interested. on to long are here to talk and make meaningful connections. Relevant - The speakers selected have worked to discuss what matters, share actionable insight, and are leaders who know what people need to know. The Digital Marketing Leaders Summit is an exclusive event that focuses on bringing industry senior leaders together in an environment that pushes sharing and integration of ideas. The organizer prides its model on not having sales pitches and large audiences, instead having 100 highly engaged and relevant people in the room for 2 days.

If you would like to learn more about this summit, please reach out to Thomas Yuan on [email protected] or visit the event's website today: https://forwardleading.co.uk/meetings/digital-marketing-leaders-singapore-2017?utm_source=PRNewswire&utm_medium=PR&utm_campaign=AIPressRelease Supporting ForwardLeading's mission statement "meeting the learning, development and networking objectives of senior business leaders and assist them within developing leadership growth via bringing impeccable quality to both the offline meetings and the online content experience", this summit will give you the tools and experience so you can gain ROI to deliver once you return to the work place. Media Contact: Nathan Meyer

+44-7792-152514

[email protected] SOURCE ForwardLeading LTD

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[October 11, 2017] UST Global Wins 'Employer of the Year' Stevie Gold Award

TRIVANDRUM, India, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Also bags Gold for Internal Communication and Bronze for HR technology UST Global, a leading digital technology services company headquartered in California has won the prestigious Stevie Gold Award for 'Employer of the Year' (computer services) in the Stevie Awards for Great Employers competition. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/540539/UST_Global_Logo.jpg )

The company's internal communication practices were recognized with UST also winning a Gold Stevie for 'Achievement in Internal Communication'. In addition, the company also received the Bronze Stevie Award for 'Achievement in HR technology' for the design, development, deployment, and/or administration of HR-related systems or technologies. The Stevie Awards for Great Employers recognize the world's best employers and the human resources professionals, teams, achievements and HR-related products and suppliers who help to create and drive great places to work. Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word meaning "crowned," the awrds were presented to winners at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Friday, September 22, 2017. More than 50 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year's Stevie Award winners.



Manu Gopinath, Chief People Officer, UST Global, said on the occasion, "These awards are a testament to UST Global's effective people practices, transparent work culture and belief in the power of constant and innovative communication." "The judges were impressed with the quality of entries we received in the second annual Stevie Award for Great Employers. The dedication these Stevie-winning organizations have to providing great workplaces for employees was evident in each nomination," said Michael Gallagher, President and Founder of the Stevie Awards.

About UST Global UST Global is a leading digital technology company that provides advanced computing and digital services to large private and public enterprises around the world. Driven by a larger purpose of Transforming Lives and the philosophy of "fewer clients, more attention", we bring in the entrepreneurial spirit that seeks the fastest path to value in today's digital economy. Our innovative technology services and pioneering social programs make us unique. UST Global is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California and operates in 21 countries. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies in Banking and Financial Services, Healthcare, Insurance, Retail, High Technology, Manufacturing, Shipping, and Telecom. UST Global believes in building long-lasting, strategic business relationships through agile and client-centric global engagement models that combines local experts & resources with cost, scale, and quality advantages of global operations. For more information, please visit: http://www.ust-global.com. UST Global Media Contact:

Manoj M Mani

[email protected]

+91-9632000553



Media Relations

[email protected]



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[October 12, 2017] Prosch Announces New Release of Online Multiplayer Game: 2048WARS

TOKYO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Prosch, Inc. is thrilled to announce its newest release of the online multiplayer puzzle game "2048WARS" for iPhone and Android. "2048WARS" is the most evolved version of the worldwide smash hit puzzle game "2048" and is now available as an ultimate online multiplayer game. (Image1: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/img/201710046454-O1-G16J92M5)

(Image2: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/img/201710046454-O2-secP17vR)

(Image3: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/img/201710046454-O3-L2Uqj8GM) Download URL iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/app/2048wars-pvp-puzzle/id1216584611

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.mashloop.puzzle2048wars YouTube Basic play: https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAq5oFNQLYs

High-speed play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFo0rF2DWXg



* The original open-source version of 2048 was created by Gabriele Cirulli.

Description Easy to navigate just with one finger and simple rules:

You can play this game whenever you get in-between times. New feature - the thrilling "Blocker Panel":

The timing of attacking the opponent with your blocker panel can be the final clincher for your win. On top of that, you could also use your opponents' blocker panels that were sent to you to attack them back. Play with players from all over the world:

Compete against thousands of other players for a higher worldwide ranking. Even if you lose, if you keep playing with other players, you will be able to reach the ultimate master level. Recommended for those game lovers who: want a game that is easy to play to kill time or as in-between activities just for a few minutes.

like not-too-complicated but thrilling and fast-paced puzzle games.

have got addicted to 2048 before. Information Name of the app: 2048WARS

Price: Free

OS: iOS 8.0 or later, Android 4.0.3 or later URL: iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/app/2048wars-pvp-puzzle/id1216584611

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.mashloop.puzzle2048wars YouTube: Basic play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAq5oFNQLYs

High-speed play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFo0rF2DWXg SOURCE Prosch, Inc.

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[October 12, 2017] Tokyo to Invite Bloggers, Journalists to Travel on Recommended Routes to Enjoy Contrast between Tokyo, Miyagi

TOKYO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is developing sightseeing routes from Tokyo to various tourist attractions in the Tohoku region to publicize diverse allures in these two regions and encourage individual foreign tourists visiting Tokyo to travel further to Tohoku. In this connection, the Metropolitan Government has added new sightseeing routes from Tokyo to the Tohoku region recommended on its "TOHOKU x TOKYO" website. The Metropolitan Government will invite journalists with overseas media outlets and influential popular bloggers specializing in travel to journey on these routes and write from the viewpoint of foreigners about what they see en route as well as at tourist attractions they visit during their trip.

Recommended routes:

FEEL THE TRADITION HROUGH FIVE SENSES





Japan . It is

simply overwhelming. This new experience on this trip will excite all of your senses.

(Photo: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/opn/release/201710066590/?images)



TOHOKU x TOKYO -- a website that sends out information on various attractions in both Tokyo and Tohoku to the world: http://www.tohokuandtokyo.org/ Tourism of ALL JAPAN -- a website that sends out information on tourism across Japan to the world: http://www.tourism-alljapanandtokyo.org/?lang=en View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tokyo-to-invite-bloggers-journalists-to-travel-on-recommended-routes-to-enjoy-contrast-between-tokyo-miyagi-300535392.html SOURCE Tokyo Metropolitan Government

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After eight long months Sasikala came on an emergency parole to Chennai to meet her ailing husband. Her presence in Chennai was a celebration time for the AIADMK Sasikala faction members.

By Akshaya Nath: Eight months is a long time when one looks at the political hyperactivity in the state of Tamil Nadu. But VK Sasikala has been missing from the activity on ground.

With the party infighting and splits that has been witnessed in AIADMK, the blame for the downfall of the party has been on Sasikala, considered to be former CM J Jayalalithaa's shadow, and her family.

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After eight long months Sasikala came on an emergency parole to Chennai to meet her ailing husband who underwent dual transplant operations . Sasikala's presence in Chennai was a celebration time for the AIADMK Sasikala faction members.

Large number of people used to wait day and night outside the residence of Krishnapriya, Ilavarasi's (Sasikala's jail mate and sister-in-law) daughter, and at the Gleneagle Global hospital- where Natrajan is undergoing treatment.

The euphoria that one witnessed while "chinamma" stepped outside was nothing close to the madness that one has seen with Amma (Jayalalithaa) but it certainly was sight to behold. From people touching the ground and trying to get as close to the car as possible to greet Sasikala, the AIADMK's Sasikala faction left no stones unturned to show their happiness.

Fans followed till Sasikala's convoy crossed Tamil Nadu border

After completion of her allotted parole time, Sasikala started her journey from the residence to Bangalore's Parapanagrahara prison where she is to spend three more years to complete her sentence.

For prisoner 3295 (Sasikala), the roads were filled with AIADMK party workers who had come to see off their chinamma.

Within the first few kilometres from Krishnapriya's residence Sasikala's vehicle was stopped by women supporters who did a huge arti and broke coconuts in front of the car. Teary-eyed women rushed to the front seat and screamed, "Chinamma, we will be waiting for you. Don't worry you will be the one to always win."

Well, if this was not enough, just meters ahead of the Raj Bhavan in Chennai, the convoy was again stopped by a small group of people with the party flag in their hands and raising praises for Sasikala. While there were celebration all along the way, most of the supporters later walked back with tears as the convoy vehicle passed their pit stops.

Meanwhile, calm and composed Sasikala sat with her hands folded and greeted her supporters.

Sasikala has never had the god-like image that Jayalalithaa enjoyed. But the party cadres still wanted to bid a happy farewell to their leader. A few couples in fact wanted their children to be named by Sasikala. One of the proud parents said, "How many children have the luck to be named by Chinamma?".

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During all the five days, the euphoria remained the same. In fact, the party workers had ensured that the hoarding of Sasikala, TTV Dhinakaran and the party flag was perfectly placed all along the way.

The fans followed her with craze and kept sloganeering till Sasikala and her convoy crossed the Tamil Nadu border.

Such a fan following raises questions on whether the AIADMK cadres still slant towards Sasikala and her family? "Rama had to stay in exile for 14 years to return to Ayodhya and win the thrown, our Chinamma is off on a similar exile now. When she returns, she will be our leader", one supporter said.

--- ENDS ---
[October 12, 2017]

Tokyo to Invite Bloggers, Journalists to Travel on Recommended Routes to Enjoy Contrast between Tokyo, Fukushima

TOKYO, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is developing sightseeing routes from Tokyo to various tourist attractions in the Tohoku region to publicize diverse allures in these two regions and encourage individual foreign tourists visiting Tokyo to travel further to Tohoku.

In this connection, the Metropolitan Government has added new sightseeing routes from Tokyo to the Tohoku region recommended on its "TOHOKU x TOKYO" website.



The Metropolitan Government will invite journalists with overseas media outlets and influential popular bloggers specializing in travel to journey on these routes and write from the viewpoint of foreigners about what they see en route as well as at tourist attractions they visit duringtheir trip.







Recommended routes:

MIRAI (Future) & SAMURAI

Visitors can get a feel for the future by experiencing high technology in Tokyo, and vicariously experience history and culture through the "Samurai City" of Aizu.



(Photo: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/opn/release/201710066592/?images)

TOHOKU x TOKYO -- a website that sends out information on various attractions in both Tokyo and Tohoku to the world: http://www.tohokuandtokyo.org/

Tourism of ALL JAPAN -- a website that sends out information on tourism across Japan to the world: http://www.tourism-alljapanandtokyo.org/?lang=en

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tokyo-to-invite-bloggers-journalists-to-travel-on-recommended-routes-to-enjoy-contrast-between-tokyo-fukushima-300535397.html

SOURCE Tokyo Metropolitan Government
[October 12, 2017] RTG Servers Will Make its Debut at Broadcast India

MUMBAI, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ready To Go (RTG) Servers will make its debut at Broadcast India, joining master distributors Boston IT Solutions on stand A104. The RTG Legend W435, an enterprise power-user workstation, will make its world-wide premier at the event, an exciting launch for all visitors to Broadcast India, who will also get an opportunity to meet with the RTG Servers team. Designed with applications such as Adobe Creative Suite, Autodesk M&E Collection and Avid all in mind, the workstation supports a variety of workloads. Dual Intel Xeon E5-2620 v4 multi-core processors, an NVIDIA Quadro K420 graphics card and ample upgradeable memory make the RTG Legend W435 a powerful, cost-effective solution that can run multiple applications simultaneously. Designed, built and tested in world-class facilities in Bangalore, the RTG Legend W435 can be further enhanced with additional upgrade options to meet specific application requirements. Further solutions in the RTG Legend Series include the RTG Legend 530, a solution tailored for virtualization, oftware defined storage, datacentre applications and web hosting - enabling a simplified and consolidated support approach that lowers cost.



As per their name, all Ready To Go Legend Series Servers are delivered with next business day warranty as standard, and for every solution ordered at Broadcast India, customers will receive a CoolerMaster X-PAD aluminum professional mouse pad as a free gift. Manoj Nayee, Managing Director, Boston Limited, says, "Boston are pleased, as master distributors, to welcome RTG Servers to our stand at Broadcast India for the first time. The RTG Legend Series caused a stir when they were launched in a series of roadshows across India in April this year. Since then, the solutions have received positive reviews and our network of resellers have been busy stocking and selling solutions for next-day delivery across the country. I invite attendees of Broadcast India to visit our stand A104 and find out more about this exceptional range of solutions."

About RTG Servers

RTG or Ready to Go Servers are a new range of enterprise servers specifically designed for the Indian market, available on next-day delivery. Developed with 25 years of experience behind them and built in world-class facilities in Bangalore, the RTG Legend Series is based on Supermicro building blocks with all components being enterprise-grade. Visit rtgservers.com and @RTG_Servers on Twitter for more information. Media Contact :

Maz Lopez

[email protected]

+44(0)1727-876-100

+91- 8043084009

Head of Marketing

RTG Servers

RTG Service(India) Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5:30 PM

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[October 12, 2017] Addison Lee Reveals One in Three London Car Journeys Could Be in an Autonomous Vehicle By 2025

LONDON, October 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A third of private vehicle journeys could be made with new technology, forecasts Addison Lee -led MERGE Greenwich consortium

Research indicates that one in seven of London ' s overall journeys, by any form of transport, could be made by autonomous ride-sharing within eight years

Consortium wins Innovate UK funding to develop plans for London pilot where Autonomous Vehicles integrate with public transport Autonomous ride-sharing services could account for a third of all trips by private drivers in London by 2025, according to a consortium investigating ways to integrate new technology into the city's public transport network. Experts predict that 34 per cent of private drivers' journeys could be replaced, while up to 30 per cent of taxi and private hire journeys could also be served by Autonomous Vehicle (AV) ride-sharing. The figures - extrapolated from studies carried out in Los Angeles and Boston, together with the London Travel Demand Survey - are contained in initial research from the MERGE Greenwich consortium, a group of six partners undertaking a year-long project to study how autonomous vehicle ride-sharing can work and connect with London's transport network. The consortium is backed by funding from Innovate UK - an agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Overall, an AV ride-sharing service could serve up to one in seven of all trips within London within eight years, equivalent to 2.5m trips per day, and take up to 25 per cent of the total transport market by value - worth around 3.5bn at today's rates. "The idea that one-in-three London car journeys could be replaced by autonomous vehicles by 2025 shows the huge potential in the sector," said Andy Boland, Addison Lee's CEO. The MERGE Greenwich consortium is led by Addison Lee Group and involves mobility experts Ford, TRL, Transport Systems Catapult, DG Cities and Immense Simulations. Paul McCabe, Addison Lee Group's Director of Mobility, said: "With some of the brightest British automotive and ground transport brains involved, the MERGE Greenwich partnership will pave the way for autonomous vehicles on the streets of London at scale, to provide significantly improved transport. "This will put London at the forefront of mobility development, globally." It comes as an exciting future of autonomous cars on British roads moves a step closer with the Addison Lee-led MERGE Greenwich consortium securing funding from the Government's national innovation agency to help take the country to the forefront of mobility innovation. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also put the need to reduce the number of cars on the capital's roads at the heart of his transport strategy. So, what exactly will the project deliver? A plan on how autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing will integrate into public transport systems, focused on the Royal Boough of Greenwich.

Advanced simulation and analysis to demonstrate how this integrated solution can benefit consumers, society and the environment.

Ideas on how to improve the efficiency of the way we travel around cities and how to reduce total vehicle journeys and reduce emissions.

Key requirements for a vehicle which will be optimal for an AV ride-sharing service.

A review of customer barriers to adoption and design considerations to overcome them.

A detailed commercial and business model to show how this service and AV technology can be brought to market.



London , the project will develop a future business and operating model to integrate AVs, ride-sharing and existing transport into truly multi-modal transport system. From this, the next stage could be conducting real-world testing to see how AV ride-sharing services could contribute to and enhance the new mobility vision for London . Trevor Dorling, Director of DG Cities explained: "With the advent of connected and autonomous vehicles, there is now an opportunity to redefine transport in our cities and towns. Offering modern, flexible and responsive mobility services that can be shared by the public is likely to reduce the cost to the consumer, reduce the number of journeys and vehicles on our roads - helping the environment and improving road safety. DG Cities looks forward to being a part of this project and sharing the key lessons learnt with other cities in the UK and overseas."

Innovate UK's Chief Executive Ruth McKernan added: "Successful industry-led R&D projects will further spearhead UK development of low emission, and connected and autonomous vehicle technology. This builds on our world-leading research and innovation capability in this area and the significant strength of UK businesses both large and small in this field." The consortium partners bring a crucial and complementary set of assets and knowledge to the MERGE Greenwich programme: Addison Lee Group provides real world commercial knowledge of operating a large fleet on a global scale, which enables the MERGE Greenwich project to accelerate the validation of the AV ride-sharing model beyond any previous project.

Ford brings expertise to develop vehicle requirements fit for purpose in an AV ride-sharing model and DG Cities will ensure that the AV model is compatible with the Borough's needs and objectives, and will explore how services can be integrated with the city and existing public transport.

The operating model, vehicle requirements and city-integration know-how will be combined with the extensive simulation and modelling capability of Immense Simulations, TRL and Transport Systems Catapult.

MERGE Greenwich will develop a world first, custom-designed blueprint which showcases the UK's cutting edge mobility capability. Anticipated uptake of Autonomous vehicle ride-sharing[1] Estimated AV Forecast AV Potential value of ride-share Market ride-share trips per the AV ride-share Year 2024/25 penetration (2025) day (2025) market (2025) Underground/ DLR 5% 109,646 GBP116,060,694 Bus/tram 5% 159,796 GBP87,488,571 Taxi/ Other 30% 100,856 GBP865,094,976 Car driver 34% 1,369,603 GBP1,895,591,907 Car passenger 34% 771,004 GBP559,352,079 Motorcycle 5% 3,234 GBP3,134,520 Cycle 0.5% 3,904 GBP1,002,384 Walk 0.5% 29,580 GBP1,483,054 TOTAL 14% 2,547,623 GBP3,529,208,186

About MERGE Greenwich MERGE Greenwich is a project to investigate how to improve the way we travel around cities, reduce total vehicle journeys and reduce emissions, using new and future developments in electric and autonomous vehicles. The project will focus on the social, commercial and infrastructure challenge of autonomous vehicles, and will consider safety, ride-sharing, security, accessibility and environmental factors of an autonomous ground transport service. The MERGE Greenwich consortium will simulate the way the Royal Borough of Greenwich moves today and how it could move with an autonomous ride-share system which is integrated with public transport. Consumer and city-level research will also be carried out in order to understand how this new mobility system could be applied to the real world. The resulting report will provide a blueprint for an optimal operating model, to give the UK a first-to-market global advantage in next generation ground transportation systems. The 12-month project will be delivered by a consortium led by Addison Lee Group, and will use the London Borough of Greenwich to model, test and assess options. The consortium's membership comprises of: Addison Lee Group: apply booking, allocation and dispatch technology to pair ride-sharing journeys in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and coordinate with the broader transport network.

Ford: developing electric and autonomous vehicle requirements and feasibility.

DG Cities: brings experience of developing strategic and scalable smart city innovation initiatives. They will lead on work to ensure that the business model is compatible with the needs of the Borough.

TRL: will utilise significant experience from the Smart Mobility Living Lab: London to help analyse and develop the business case for autonomous ride-sharing.

to help analyse and develop the business case for autonomous ride-sharing. Transport Systems Catapult: bringing existing data and modelling expertise relating to ride-sharing and AVs.

Immense Simulations: Enabling the consortium to assess the commercial viability of alternate strategic AV deployment scenarios by using large scale, agent based simulations driven by Immense's unique mobility insight prediction tools. About Innovate UK Innovate UK is the UK's innovation agency. Innovate UK works with people, companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy - delivering productivity, new jobs and exports. Our aim at Innovate UK is to keep the UK globally competitive in the race for future prosperity. 1. Data extrapolated from TfL London Travel Demand Survey and from Chen, TD & Kockelman KM (2016), Management of a Shared, Autonomous, Electric Vehicle Fleet: Implications of Pricing Schemes, University of Texas at Austin



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[October 12, 2017] Singapore-based BIGO LIVE Helps Shape Local Internet Business forged Special Partnership with Indonesian Ministry of Communication

SINGAPORE, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Global phenomenon and Singapore's own livestreaming brand BIGO LIVE hosted a knowledge-sharing partnership where high level senior civil servants from the Ministry of Communication of Indonesia were among a selected team of delegates that attended a meeting held in end August with BIGO LIVE representatives, selectively held in both Indonesia and Guangzhou as an exchange visit to understand the technology powering the livestreaming industry. During the visit, the Indonesian delegation got first-hand experience on the use of BIGO's network monitoring technology which is one of the main infrastructure of the business to ensure that the environment protects users. The team was welcomed by BIGO co-founder Mr Jason Hu Jianqiang with a guided tour of BIGO's technology, sharing experiences and expert insights on the industry to assist the Indonesian Ministry implement their regulatory measures in Indonesia livestreaming. This cooperation which was forged last year has helped Indonesia Ministry of Communication tremendously as the ministry establishes its internet business in the local market. During the visit, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, Director of General Informatics Applications of Indonesia, said: "We have seen BIGO's efforts in Indonesia, and BIGO has been a good role model in Indonesia livestreaming industry and we hope to further standardize the livestreaming industry practice and regulations in Indonesia with the proactive help and assistanc from BIGO."



Speaking from Singapore, BIGO co-founder Jason Hu stressed that BIGO has always placed great emphasis and importance in localized network monitoring supervision, user's safety and respecting every country's customs and culture. Since the establishment of BIGO office in Indonesia last year, there is a fully functional local network monitoring and surveillance team that incorporates Artificial Recognition technology to monitor round the clock 24hr livestreaming content. BIGO will continue to be proactive and work with the respective Ministry of Communications globally to assist governing bodies to implement regulatory measures in the industry and be the industry role model. The Indonesian Ministry of Communications, in recognition of Singapore BIGO's efforts in contributing to local regulatory work in Indonesia, hopes to learn from BIGO's experience and technology set in the livestreaming monitoring system. Additionally, the ministry also intends to establish Singapore home brand BIGO as the role model in the livestreaming industry and also as an Internet business company. Further to that, the Indonesian Ministry of Communications has officially instructed BIGO to work with the ministry's public relations department to roll out its government campaign for cyber security and livestreaming. It is reported that BIGO is by far the only authorized livestreaming partner who is working with the Indonesian Ministry of Communications.

It is worth mentioning that, in addition to Huawei, the cross-border visit to BIGO's offices is the only oversea- business invitation that the Indonesian delegation had accepted. This visit is significant to BIGO's long-term development in Indonesia. First of all, the visit represents the Indonesian government's emphasis on the development of new industries, creating an open and safe environment for Internet companies in Indonesia which provides good support to companies such as Singapore-based company BIGO to expand into Indonesia. Secondly, through communication with the Ministry of Communications, BIGO can gain a deeper understanding of local regulations and its culture which brings about better cooperate with local government and set as an exemplary role in the industry. Lastly, the Ministry of Communications had also provided with a lot of valuable suggestions for BIGO's future development in Indonesia. View More News at CyberMedia Press Center: http://www.cybermedia.com.tw/news About BIGO CEO David Li, founded BIGO LIVE in March 2016 and headquartered in Singapore. BIGO LIVE is a mobile Internet company focused on live streaming technology and platform services, and is committed to build a leading global social video broadcast community. BIGO LIVE has over 150 million users globally in over 20 countries and regions and is currently the market leader in the industry. It is also the fastest growing live platform. Website: http://www.bigo.tv Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20171012/1963546-1 SOURCE BIGO Technology Pte. Ltd.

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[October 12, 2017] Chile Telecom Industry Surpasses 11 Million Successfully Ported Telephone Numbers

iconectiv (News - Alert) subsidiary Telcordia Technologies Chile S.A. announced today the successful porting of more than 11 million fixed and mobile telephone numbers in Chile since the program began in 2011. Number portability refers to the ability to reassign a user's phone number to another service provider. With its number portability solution, Chilean subscribers can easily transfer their phone numbers between landlines and mobile lines, or vice versa, within 24 hours. Known as "full portability," Chile is the only Latin American country - and one of only a handful of countries worldwide - to offer the feature. "When you consider that there are just 18 million residents of Chile, porting more than 11 million numbers in the past six years is a credit to the ease, efficiency and convenience of the services provided by Telcordia (News - Alert) Technologies Chile S.A.," said Rodrigo Ramirez, undersecretary of telecommunications at SUBTEL, Chile's regulatory body of telecommunications. "Number portability has become a powerful tool for our citizens especially as the demand for higher quality services increases." The iconectiv subsidiary was granted exclusive rights for number portability in 2011 by the Number Portability Committee on behalf of all Chile's service providers. Awarded through a new tender process, Telcordia Technologies Chile S.A. recently announced a five-year contract extension as the administrative agency for number portability. "A person's phone number has become a key identity for individuals a well as businesses large and small, so maintaining that connection when moving to another service provider is critical," said David Wilson, Vice President, Global Sales, iconectiv. "SUBTEL had the vision early on to provide this service to its residents and the number of ports is indicative of how Chilean residents have fully embraced the program."



SUBTEL continues to look for new ways to expand and simplify number portability in the region, proposing the implementation of new actions that impact landline procedures, such as allowing users to cancel associated services - such as TV and internet - at the same time a phone number is ported and only having to communicate this change to the new service provider. "These types of changes will make for a more robust public policy, especially considering the positive impact number portability has had on the Chilean population and its direct influence on the harmony and collaboration among different players in the telecommunications industry - including those that facilitate the technologies and developments that allow the administration, operability and efficiency of number portability to benefit users," Ramirez said.

iconectiv and its subsidiaries currently provide numbering solutions in several other large Latin America markets, including Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Mexico, as well in more than a dozen other countries worldwide, including Canada, Egypt, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia and U.A.E. About iconectiv As the authoritative partner of the communications industry for more than 30 years, iconectiv's market-leading solutions enable the interconnection of networks, devices, and applications for more than two billion people every day. Working closely with private, government and non-governmental organizations, iconectiv continues to protect and secure telecommunication infrastructures for service providers, governments and enterprises, while providing network and operations management, numbering, registry, messaging and fraud and identity solutions to more than 1,200 organizations globally. A US-based company, Telcordia Technologies, does business as iconectiv. For more information, visit www.iconectiv.com [email protected] celebrates 11M ports of telephone numbers in Chile View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005552/en/

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[October 12, 2017] The Aligned Conference, Presented by Promoboxx, Announces Iconic Brand Winners of 2017 Aligned Awards

BOSTON, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Promoboxx, the only brand-to-retailer commerce platform, announced GE Appliances, The North Face, and Salomon as winners of the 2017 Aligned Awards. The Aligned Awards recognize the best co-branded digital marketing campaigns that connect and align a national brand with its local retailers. This years winners received their awards at the fourth annual Aligned Conference, the only conference that brings together brand and retail marketers across industries to empower their independent, specialty retailers and shape the future of retail marketing.

This year, the Aligned Awards expanded into three new digital marketing categories: Best Overall Campaign, Best Product Launch Campaign, and Best Inspirational Campaign. Fifteen brand campaign finalists were selected based on their originality, creativity, innovation, and local consumer impact. This years award winners received the most votes through online voting open to the public, including Aligned Conference attendees. View all of the finalist campaigns. This years Aligned Awards winners are: Best Overall Campaign: GE Appliances

The Best Overall Campaign Award recognizes the campaign with the most impressive local retail enablement strategy and overall results including high retailer and consumer engagement. In its "July Fourth Sales Event," GE Appliances matched the contributed funds of retailers who promoted locally targeted ads (thatwere also co-op reimbursable!) through Promoboxx Local Ads to drive in store sales. Key campaign results included: 1M+ consumer views; 35,000+ local consumer interactions, including comments, likes and clicks; and 17,000+ landing page visits with 1,800 clicks on the call to action for in-store directions to the retailer. The campaign resulted in a 3% year-over-year lift in unit volume for retailers that implemented Promoboxx Local Ads.



Best Product Launch Campaign: The North Face

The Best Product Launch Award recognizes the most impactful launch of a product through the Promoboxx platform. To promote in-store awareness and sales of the Apex Flex GTX jacket, The North Face offered paid advertising dollars to select local retailers. These advertising dollars were spent on geo-targeted, co-branded, high quality local advertisements. Key campaign results included: 7,000,000+ views of the ad by outdoor enthusiasts across North America. Best Inspirational Campaign: Salomon

The Best Inspirational Campaign Award recognizes the brand campaign that provides their retail partners with outstanding inspirational content outside of standard product promotions. As part of its Gear & Hydration: Featuring Kilian Jornet campaign, Salomon provided retailers with lifestyle content inspired by Kilian Jornet, who won the Hardrock 100 race after dislocating his shoulder just 40 miles into the 100.5 mile race. The campaign, which was created an hour after Kilian crossed the finish line, showcased content urging customers to go in-store to purchase the Salomon Hydration pack, which functioned as an emergency arm sling to get Jornet across the finish line.

This years Aligned Awards submissions showcased marketing campaigns that truly support local, independent retail and help them thrive in todays digital economy, said Sonciary Honnoll, VP of Brands and Co-Founder at Promoboxx. The Aligned Award winners are some of the most innovative brands in the retail marketing industry, and Promoboxx is proud to partner with them to increase the reach of these amazing campaigns. To learn more about the Aligned Awards finalists, view the 2017 Aligned Awards Lookbook or visit www.alignedcon.com. About the Aligned Conference

The Aligned Conference, presented by Promoboxx, is the only national conference that brings together todays most iconic brands to develop marketing strategy and alignment between national brands and their local retailers. Now in its fifth year, Aligned brings together retail, brand, digital, trade, and field marketers across multiple industries to shape the future of retail marketing. For more information, visit www.alignedcon.com. About Promoboxx

Promoboxx is the only brand-to-retailer commerce platform that connects and aligns national manufacturing brands with independent, specialty retailers to increase local awareness and sales. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Promoboxx partners with over 50 leading brands, including Nissan, GE Appliances, New Balance, and The North Face, to transform the way retailers and brands market together at a local level. For more information, visit www.promoboxx.com or call +1 (800) 380-7502 x3. Promoboxx Media Contact: Isolde Decker-Lucke Promoboxx [email protected]

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[October 12, 2017] Cambrex Invests in Generic API Development and Manufacturing Capabilities at Its Milan Site

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cambrex Corporation (NYSE:CBM), the leading manufacturer of small molecule innovator and generic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), today announced that it has made a number of investments, in both R&D and manufacturing capabilities to support the development and production of generic APIs, at its site in Paullo, Milan, Italy.

The investments include the installation of development and analytical equipment to support the development of highly potent APIs (HPAPIs), as well as a new 2,800 liter hydrogenator and 1,500mm diameter centrifuge, for increased flexibility and capacity within the manufacturing plant. All equipment will be installed and validated by the end of 2017. We have seen increased growth of activity among highly potent molecules in the past decade for use in therapeutics for cancer and other indications, and it is now becoming more appropriate in the generic API businss as patents on these begin to expire, commented Aldo Magnini, Managing Director, Cambrex Milan. This investment is consistent with the Cambrex strategic plan to increase the companys small molecule development and manufacturing capabilities, ensuring our facilities continue to meet the future demands of the industry.



This investment comes after the installation of a new pilot plant at the site in 2017, and recent announcements of expansions across the Cambrex network of manufacturing sites, including the construction of a $24M, 4,500 sq. ft. highly potent API manufacturing facility at its Charles City, Iowa site, which is due to open in 2019. About Cambrex

Cambrex Corporation is an innovative life sciences company that provides products, services and technologies to accelerate the development and commercialization of small molecule therapeutics. The company offers Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), advanced intermediates and enhanced drug delivery products for branded and generic pharmaceuticals. Development and manufacturing capabilities include enzymatic biotransformations, high potency APIs, high energy chemical synthesis and controlled substances. For more information, please visit www.cambrex.com Contact:

Alex Maw

Director, Marketing and Communications

Tel: +44 7803 443 155

Email: [email protected]



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[October 12, 2017] Identillect Helps Companies in Europe and Canada Overcome Cyber Security Threats for Tough New Data Privacy Rules

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Identillect Technologies Corp. (the "Company" or "Identillect") (TSX-V:ID) (OTCQB:IDTLF) (Frankfurt:8ID)  announces the Company is positioned to handle the pending demand from the new European data handling regulation called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This regulation is pervasive across all of Europe and affects businesses in the United States and Canada doing business in Europe. The regulation becomes active in May of 2018 and is one of the strictest data handling regulations ever written requiring companies to protect customer information.

Identillects secure email encryption platform, Delivery TrustTM, protects information in transit and at rest from cyber security threats. Email security is a vital component to complying with these changing regulations. Canada has also proposed reforms to their current data handling regulation, The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Among the strict rules under consideration - companies will be required, for the first time, to report all cyber security breaches to federal authorities, assess potential harm to their networks, and notify all affected customers or employees when their personal information has been hacked. The proposed changes to PIPEDA are modeled after GDPR, and will allow Canadians to continue business activities across Europe without interruption, and advance the data handling regulations across Canada. The purpose of the GDPR is to give European Union (EU) citizens greater control over how their personal data is collected, protected, and used. Under the GDPR rules, companies which suffer a data breach, thereby exposing customer data to cyber criminals, face stiff fines as well as strict new reporting rules. The proposed new rules for Canadian businesses are just as strict, imposing penalties of up to $100,000 on companies which suffer a data breach. Tough new laws forcing companies to protect customer data are being implemented in Europe, Australia, and other countries, not just Canada, said Todd Sexton, CEO of Identillect Technologies. Even though Canadas mandates are in the proposal stage now, government and cyber security experts agree theyre likely to become law, so businesses should consider implementing layered security measures on their networks now to make sure theyre compliant later. Email is one of the major attack vectors used by cybercriminals to breach enterprses. Sexton encourages companies to implement email encryption, which complies with GDPR rules and combats ransomware, phishing, and other email-borne cyber-attacks which have become an epidemic affecting a growing number of businesses worldwide.



How big is cybercrime in Canada? Recent studies found Canada had the third largest number of data breaches worldwide in 2017, behind the United States and the United Kingdom. Cyber-attacks successfully breached business networks across Canada from January to June this year exposing an estimated 2.1 million records. The cost to Canadian companies which suffer breaches is growing as well. In 2016, the average cost per compromised record in Canada was $211, while the average cost per Canadian data breach was almost $5 million. Canadian businesses use dynamic tools like Delivery Trust because they want to minimize their financial risk and protect customer data, but soon theyll have another reason  avoiding stiff fines and the embarrassment of being data breach victims once the rules become law, said Sexton.

About the Email Security Industry

As the growing threat of cyber-attacks fuels the growth of the cyber security industry, the email encryption market will grow as well, estimated to be worth more than $4.21 Billion USD by 2020. Email-borne cyber-attacks are the second most common type of cyber security breach according to the Identity Theft Center with the average cost of a data breach now estimated at more than $3.62 million. Despite the growing threat to businesses, nearly 60% of U.S. companies do not encrypt their emails. As the number of attacks increases, this demand for a reliable email encryption provider will grow, with an estimated 4 billion individuals online requiring security by 2020. About Identillect

Identillect Technologies is the leading provider of email encryption service Delivery Trust, empowering enterprises of all sizes to protect their business and their clients critical information against cyber security attacks. Delivery Trust is an award-winning, multi-platform plug-in, which gives users complete control of their emails, for one low price. One simple integration complies with all regulations and most importantly provides peace of mind. For more information, or your free trial, please visit www.identillect.com

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of: IDENTILLECT TECHNOLOGIES CORP. Todd Sexton

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (949) 468-7878

Email: [email protected] Investor Relations:

Arlen Hansen

Kin Communications

1-866-684-6730

[email protected] Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward-looking. 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 market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.



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[October 12, 2017] Stora Enso Modernizes Data Management at the Edge with Rubrik

PALO ALTO, Calif. and AMSTERDAM, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rubrik, the Cloud Data Management Company, announced today that Stora Enso has deployed Rubrik's market-leading data management platform at their paper mill in Langerbrugge, Ghent to protect their virtual and physical workloads. Stora Enso, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, is a leading provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions, and paper on global markets. The Langerbrugge mill produces 540,000 tons of recycled newsprint and magazine paper annually. As a forerunner in sustainability, the mill also operates two biomass-fueled CHP's (Combined Heat and Power plants) that produce more than 70% of the electricity required by the mill. The deployment includes Rubrik Edge, a software-only appliance, to protect the mill's seven remote office environments across the UK, France, and Belgium. With Rubrik, Stora Enso Langerbrugge delivers automated backup, instant recovery, search, and platform analytics across all environments. Prior to Rubrik, the company struggled with poor backup performance, complex management, and lengthy restores. In Rubrik, Stora Enso Langerbrugge found a centralized, policy-driven solution for its entire environment. Since the deployment, the company has achieved the following benefits: 6x improvement in backup performance

Instant recovery

Signifiantly reduced RPO (1 week vs 1 day)

Accelerated test/dev for physical SQL



"Our previous solution was prone to backup failures and irregular notifications. Rubrik offers proactive monitoring and compliance reporting, saving my team headaches and time. Additionally, we're planning on moving to public cloud, and we know that Rubrik can help us easily get there."

"We are excited to partner with Stora Enso, a leading paper manufacturer that serves customers worldwide," said Bipul Sinha, co-founder and CEO, Rubrik. "By deploying our Cloud Data Management platform, the company is leveraging a single software fabric to bring management simplicity to all its workloads, no matter where the data resides." About Rubrik

Rubrik delivers instant application availability with data protection, search, analytics, archival and copy data management. Hybrid Cloud enterprises benefit from Rubrik's market-leading Cloud Data Management platform with simplicity, instant data access, app-mobility, policy-driven automation, Ransomware protection, and analytics at scale. For more information, visit https://www.rubrik.com and follow @rubrikInc on Twitter. About Stora Enso's Langerbrugge Mill

Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper on global markets. Stora Enso's paper mill at Langerbrugge, Ghent, produces 540,000 tones of newsprint and magazine paper a year, made entirely from waste paper. As a forerunner in sustainability, Stora Enso Langerbrugge also operates two biomass-fueled CHP's (Combined Heat and Power plants), producing all of the steam and more than 70% of the electricity required by the mill. For more information, visit http://www.storaenso.com/. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/stora-enso-modernizes-data-management-at-the-edge-with-rubrik-300535290.html SOURCE Rubrik

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[October 12, 2017]

St. Joseph Communications Unveils Report on Dynamic Video Advertising

St. Joseph Communications explores Dynamic Video Advertising as a new marketing tool that allows brands to create infinite variations of their video advertisement.

TORONTO, Oct. 12, 2017 /CNW/ - St. Joseph Communications, Content Group has released a new report on Dynamic Video Advertising, a revolutionary marketing tool that achieves what no other advertising can by targeting hundreds of thousands of consumers with individualized messages.

St. Joseph Communications explores how Dynamic Video Advertising, creates opportunities to build meaningful brand connections through hyper-targeted communications developd directly from a consumer's online behaviour.







This report works as a blueprint for how and where to use Dynamic Video Advertising to effectively engage and re-target customers across various platforms. This technology sets itself apart with the proven ability to convert consumers, achieve key brand and advertising performance metrics, shorten production timelines, and lower production costs.

"As content creators, we see Dynamic Video Advertising as the key to the next wave of consumer engagement as more companies are leveraging this tool to deliver strategic brand messages to the right audience." says Kyle Gershbain, Vice President, Digital Innovation and Business Development at St. Joseph Communications." We are thrilled to be at the forefront of the next generation of contextual advertising and we are excited to explore all the possibilities Dynamic Video Advertising brings to the table."

To download St. Joseph's report on Dynamic Video Advertising, visit: https://stjoseph.com/dynamic-video-advertising-whitepaper/

About St. Joseph Communications:

St. Joseph Communications is spearheading transformational change by redefining the way in which organizations connect with their customers. Our omnichannel marketing approach lets us build solutions and ecosystems anchored by people, technology, and insight that intuitively merges data and visual assets to create multichannel content solutions.

SOURCE St. Joseph Communications
Nupur and Rajesh Tawlar were in their jail cells when they heard about the Allahabad High Court overturning their conviction in the Aarushi double murder case.

By India Today Web Desk: Nine years and five months after the Aarushi Talwar double murder, the sensational case is back in the headlines.

This time because a division bench of the Allahabad High Court ruled that the teen's parents - Rajesh and Nupur Tawlar - did not murder her or the 45-year-old Hemraj Banjade, a household help, on the intervening night between 15 and16 May, 2008.

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"We have got justice," is how Nupur Talwar, currently in jail, reacted no finding out about the high court's order, prison sources told India Today. The sources added that Nupur and Rajesh Talwar, who were serving life terms after a CBI court held them guilty of the Aarushi double murder, learnt about the Allahabad HC overturning the lower court's verdict from their jail cells.

With the Allahabad High Court's verdict today, mystery remains over who actually killed Aarushi and Hemraj at the Tawlars' Noida home in May, 2008. News of the two being found dead first broke on the morning of May 16, 2008.

The case was initially investigated by the Noida Police, which made a series of famous blunders that ultimately led to the case being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI team initially came to a conclusion that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were not involved in the Aarushi double murder.

However, in September 2009, over a year after the murders took place, the CBI's investigating officer was replaced and a new team took over the probe in the Aarushi and Hemraj murder case. This team essentially concluded that there was not enough evidence to prosecute Nupur-Rajesh or that the three other domestic helps treated as suspects were not involved in the crime.

So, the agency decided to file a closure report in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder. Ironically, the closure report's filing was opposed by Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who said they wanted the CBI to find out who had murdered their daughter.

The special CBI court, however, rejected the agency's closure report and ordered trail against the Talwars. On November 25, 2013, the CBI court convicted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar of murdering their child and Hemraj.

The prosecution's theory was that Rajesh and Nupur came across Aarush and Hemraj in a compromising situation and murder the two in a fit of rage.

WHAT NEXT?

Right now, the case, which attracted headlines and even served as inspiration for movies , hangs in balance. The Allahabad High Court did not explicitly say that the Talwars are innocent, but said that they must be given a benefit of the doubt, pointing to loopholes in the investigation and the prosecution's case.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation has said that it will decide on a future course of action after going through the judgement. The agency has 90 days to file an appeal in the Supreme Court.

As for the Talwars, they will finally be released from the Dasna jail where they are currently incarcerated. The Talwars' lawyer said that he expects them to be released by tomorrow afternoon.WATCH | Rajesh, Nupur Talwar acquitted in daughter Aarushi's murder case

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[October 12, 2017] Code of Support Foundation Receives 2nd Round of Critical Funding From Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to Launch Essential and Life-Changing Veteran Technology Platform

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Code of Support Foundation (COSF) has been awarded an additional round of critical funding by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation (BMSF) to complete the pilot phase and publicly launch PATRIOTlink, an innovative cloud-based navigation platform in 2018. Out of the 22 million veterans in the U.S., an estimated 30% of veteran families in crisis require critical assistance from one or more service providers (e.g., case managers, social workers) to ensure they have wrap-around support for their needs. COSF's PATRIOTlink is a strategically populated technology platform of qualified veteran support resources that enables service providers to be substantially more efficient and effective in finding resources they know would benefit their clients (e.g., troops, veterans and families). "We are thrilled that the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation continues to find credence during our piloting of PATRIOTlink. Unlike other technology veteran resource platforms, the human element for Code of Support's PATRIOTlink is significant to ensuring the data remains accurate and the program's navigation is intuitive for service providers," said Kristina Kaufmann, Code of Support Foundation's Executive Director. "This recent funding from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation allows us to reach our national public launch of PATRIOTlink platform in 2018. We are able to retain program staff expertise and add military and veteran caregivers/spouses/survivors as virtual contractors to assist in populating this essential and life-changing platform. The funds will also bring an unprecedented veteran support from GuideStar, the world's largest source of nonprofit information, to help further identify organizations that might be a fit for PATRIOTlink." "We are encouraged by the success of the pilot program and the difference Code of Support is making in the lives of service members returning to civilian life by making the connections to much-needed veteran services more accessible via their online platform," said John Damonti, president of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. "The new funding will allow Code of Support to significantly enhance efforts to remove barriers and ensure veterans and their families can find and obtain the best possible support services to adress their needs."



Currently, there are more than 40,000 non-profits and thousands of local and federal government agencies with varying scope and eligibility requirements that are committed to assisting our nation's heroes. COSF's additional hiring focus on the caregivers/spouses/survivors demographic is based on the personal knowledge and skills gained when seeking help from the overwhelming number of veteran support organizations across the nation. The virtual contractors' experience along with GuideStar's assistance in delivering significant data needed from veteran service organizations to meet the eligibility requirements for the platform will increase the momentum needed to publicly launch PATRIOTlink in 2018. In order for any organization to be qualified for PATRIOTlink it must meet these requirements: Provide a direct and a cost-free service (e.g., legal, mental health, retreats)

Be fiscally responsible and financially transparent (i.e. 990)

Ensure capacity to serve additional service members, veterans and their families.

Be responsive when contacted by phone and/or email COSF recognizes that no one agency or organization has the capacity to fulfill their clients' often complex needs. It is not for the lack of resources but the lack of coordination of resources. The need for greater efficiency in navigation, identification and leveraging of veteran resources was recognized in early 2014 from COSF's own case coordination program when working with veterans in dire circumstances. It was then that COSF conducted an in depth external environmental scan of the veteran support services space and determined that existing resource databases were difficult to navigate and often ineffective in identifying the multiple resources needed. That was when COSF began to develop PATRIOTlink with the goal to enable all service providers to collaborate more effectively and have greater collective impact than any organization is capable of alone.

Since 2015, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation has committed $1 million to COSF's PATRIOTlink platform through its Mental Health & Well-Being initiative. The initiative focuses on community-based solutions for the mental health and community integration needs of the post-9/11 veterans in the U.S., military service members, their families and the families of the fallen. Code of Support Foundation (COSF) was founded in 2011 and is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides essential and critical one-on-one assistance to those struggling service members, veterans and their families who have the most complex needs. COSF is dedicated to leveraging the nation's full spectrum of resources to ensure all members of our military, veterans and their families receive the support services they need and, through their collective sacrifice, have earned. COSF's integrated programs include personalized, holistic long-term case coordination services that serve all service eras across the nation. Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation is committed to improving the health outcomes of populations disproportionately affected by serious diseases by strengthening healthcare worker capacity, integrating medical care and community-based supportive services, and addressing unmet medical need. The Foundation engages partners to develop, execute, evaluate and promote innovative programs to help patients with lung cancer and removing barriers to accessing care in the United States, HIV and comorbid diseases such as cervical and breast cancers and tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa, hepatitis B and C in China and India and veterans' mental health and well-being in the U.S. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, visit us at BMS.com/Foundation. Media Contact: Amy McWethy

(703) 629-2875

[email protected] View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/code-of-support-foundation-receives-2nd-round-of-critical-funding-from-bristol-myers-squibb-foundation-to-launch-essential-and-life-changing-veteran-technology-platform-300535332.html SOURCE Code of Support Foundation

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[October 12, 2017] Nationally Renowned Educational Leaders Paul Griffin and David Rose Join Lexia Learning to Further Support District-Level Success

Boston, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lexia Learning, a Rosetta Stone Company (NYSE: RST), today announced that Paul Griffin has joined the company as Head of National Partnerships, and David Rose has joined as Senior Educational Outreach Specialist. The addition of these two seasoned educational leaders is part of the companys ongoing commitment to support the needs of school districts striving to help every student read, write and speak confidently and proficiently.

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Mr. Griffin joins Lexia having previously served as Vice President, Strategic Relationships in the Business Development Group of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH). During his 22 years with HMH, he worked with superintendents and cabinet-level administrators across the country to bring educational solutions for student success to districts, and also served as the liaison to the Council of the Great City Schools, Council of Urban Boards of Education and National Alliance of Black School Educators. Mr. Griffin currently serves on the Advisory Committee of the National League of Cities, working with municipal governments across the United States to shape their work on behalf of children, youth and families. Recognized nationally for his leadership on behalf of children, he received the California Alliance of African American Educator Corporate Leadership Award in 2016, and the National Alliance of Black School Educators highest recognition, The Presidents Award, in 2015.



Pauls reputation as an advocate for children and his commitment to education in our urban centers for more than two decades has established him as a trusted partner to school districts across the country, said Lexia President Nick Gaehde. We are proud to have Paul help carry forward Lexias 33-year mission of changing the lives of students through literacy. In his new role, Paul will help identify opportunities for Lexias scientifically proven programs to positively impact millions of children. Mr. Rose joins the Lexia team, having served most recently in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) as Deputy Chief, Office of Teaching and Learning. During his tenure, he supported a team of more than 200 staff in academic strategy for all content areas, special education, language acquisition, and early childhood in support of curriculum and instruction, technology integration, and library revitalization in the Districts 112 schools. Under his leadership, DCPS launched and scaled blended learning models across the district, providing personalized learning paths for students as well as actionable data for teachers.

Prior to his role with DCPS, Mr. Rose served as Supervisor of Instructional Technology and Professional Development at Southfield Public Schools in Michigan, Head of Technology Planning and Professional Development at the prestigious Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, District Technology Coordinator at Pender County Schools in North Carolina, Regional Director of the Center for Quality Teaching and Learning at the Southeast Education Alliance in North Carolina, and as an elementary classroom teacher. David is one of the nations most respected educators and a thought-leader in the integration of technology and outstanding blended learning teaching practices, said Gaehde. We are equally pleased to have David join our team where he will work with districts to improve student outcomes through effective use of data and instructional technology. # # # About Lexia Learning

Lexia Learning, a division of Rosetta Stone, empowers educators through adaptive assessment and personalized instruction. For more than 30 years, the company has been on the leading edge of research and product development as it relates to student reading skills. With a robust offering that includes solutions for differentiated instruction, personalized learning and assessment, Lexia Learning provides educators with the tools to intensify and accelerate literacy skills development for students of all abilities. For more information, visit www.lexialearning.com . About Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE: RST) is dedicated to changing peoples lives through the power of language and literacy education. The companys innovative digital solutions drive positive learning outcomes for the inspired learner at home or in schools and workplaces around the world. Founded in 1992, Rosetta Stones language division uses cloud-based solutions to help all types of learners read, write, and speak more than 30 languages. Lexia Learning, Rosetta Stones literacy education division, was founded more than 30 years ago and is a leader in the literacy education space. Today, Lexia helps students build fundamental reading skills through its rigorously researched, independently evaluated, and widely respected instruction and assessment programs. For more information, visit www.rosettastone.com . Rosetta Stone is a registered trademark or trademark of Rosetta Stone Ltd. in the United States and other countries. Charlotte Andrist [email protected] 770-310-5244

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[October 12, 2017] NSS Labs Conducts First Cross-Platform Test of Leading Web Browsers

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NSS Labs, Inc., a global leader and trusted source for independent fact-based cybersecurity guidance, today announced the release of its Web Browser Security Comparative Reports. The reports reveal how effective web browsers are at protecting users from socially engineered malware (SEM) and phishing attacks. To minimize exposure to emerging threats, enterprise have begun to limit the use of legacy browsers to internal and legacy applications. This has necessitated the adoption of other more modern browsers, resulting in a dual-browser strategy. For enterprises implementing this strategy, the NSS Labs Web Browser Comparative Reports provide insights regarding which modern browsers offer a secure browsing experience.

Web browsers are the first line of defense against web-based attacks, and according to the Verizon 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report, they are the second most common entry point for ransomwareone of the most common forms of malware plaguing users and enterprises. To measure browser effectiveness, NSS Labs conducted a series of tests focused on block rate, consistency of protection, and early protection against new threats. For 2017, cross-platform tests on desktops and tablets were added to verify security efficacy and consistency across devices. Test results indicate that regardless of platform, browsers are more effective at blocking SEM than phishing attacks. For many years, the use of social engineering has accounted for the majority of cyberattacks targeting both consumers and enterprises. SEM attacks use a dynamic combination of social media, hijacked email accounts, false notification of computer problems, and other deceptions to encourage users to download malware. Industry experts estimate that 97% of malware is trying to trick a user through some type of social engineering scheme, and 93% of phishing emails are ransomware. Phishing attacks are forms of fraud that gain the trust of users by masquerading as reputable entities to steal login credentials or sensitive account information. Examples of common approaches include an email designed to look like the sender is a credible organization or a disguise that makes the email appear as if it is from someone trusted inside a company, such as the IT department. In the last year alone, more than 1.2 million phishing attacks were reporteda 65% increase over the previous year. To protect against malware, leading browser vendors provide cloud-based reputation services, which scour the Internet for malicious websites and then categorize content accrdingly, either by adding it to blacklists or whitelists, or by assigning it a score. The time taken for these cloud-based reputation service updates are an integral part of the test.



Web browsers are the primary interface used to consume information and are among the most common entry point for attackers, said Jason Brvenik, Chief Technology Officer at NSS Labs. Enterprises are increasingly adopting a bifurcated browser strategy to reduce exposure to emerging threats. Our test findings provide valuable insights that empower informed decision making and help both enterprises and users minimize risk for a secure browser experience. Browsers Tested:

Google Chrome: Version 60.0.3112.113

Microsoft Edge: Version 40.15063.0.0

Mozilla Firefox: Version 55.0.3 Key findings include:  SEM testing results showed high block rates, zero-hour protection, and time-to-block capabilities

SEM blocking rate ranged from 70.1% to 99.5%

Zero-hour protection ranged from 53.8% to 99.8%

One browser showed a high consistency of protection through the test  Phishing testing results showed protection capabilities improved over time Phishing block rates ranged from 61.1% to 92.3%

Zero-hour protection ranged from 50.7% to 81.8%

Throughout the test, consistency of protection varied for all browsers For more information on the NSS Labs Web Browser Security Comparative Reports and the test methodologies used, or to purchase reports, click here. Additional Resources: Purchase the NSS Labs Web Browser Security Comparative Reports for Protection Against Socially Engineered Malware and Protection Against Phishing Attacks.

View the SEM Test Methodology and Phishing Test Methodology

Learn more about NSS Labs Security Product Testing

Learn more about NSS Labs Test Policies

Learn more about NSS Labs CAWS Continuous Security Validation Platform

 Follow NSS Labs on Twitter

 Follow NSS Labs on LinkedIn

 Browse the NSS Labs research library About NSS Labs, Inc.

NSS Labs, Inc. is recognized globally as the most trusted source for independent, fact-based cybersecurity guidance. Our mission is to advance transparency and accountability within the cybersecurity industry. We empower enterprises by providing them with timely, relevant information on which to base their decisions. Our unmatched foundation in security testing, along with our extensive research and global threat analysis capabilities, provide the basis for our CAWS Continuous Security Validation Platform. CAWS measures the ongoing effectiveness of security controls, providing a real-time score card to help business leaders substantiate their security investments. Businesses can also leverage the threat data delivered by CAWS to strengthen their cyber risk posture and mitigate threats to their operating systems and applications. CISOs, Chief Security Architects, SOC and Threat Analysts, and information security professionals from many of the world's largest and most demanding enterprises rely on trusted insights from NSS Labs. For more information, visit www.nsslabs.com. Contact:

Tom Resau

W2 Communications

Phone: +1 703-877-8103

[email protected]

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[October 12, 2017] GrowLife, Inc. Announces Participation at 3rd Annual Southwest Cannabis Conference & Expo in Phoenix

GrowLife, Inc. (PHOT), one of the nation's most recognized indoor cultivation service providers, today announced that it will be participating in the Southwest Cannabis Conference and Exposition (SWCC) taking place from October 13-14, 2017 at the Phoenix Convention Center South Building in Phoenix, Arizona. GrowLife, Inc. will have a booth at spot #1025 throughout the entirety of the expo. Those interested in learning more about the latest developments in the indoor cultivation space are encouraged to stop by the booth and speak with a representative. Featured products will include all natural pesticides and fungicides that support optimum plant health and some of the newest commercial harvesting and cloning equipment on the market. In addition, the Company will host a raffle for a chance to win a 315 watt ceramic metal halide lighting fixture. GrowLife, Inc.'s participation at the SWCC Expo follows the Company's announcement of its strategic asset acquisition of innovative proprietary technologies for the indoor cultivation industry and addition of renowned electrical systems engineer and inventor David Reichwein to the GrowLife team as Vice President of Research and Development (R&D). Most recently, Reichwein invented LUMI, a patent pending luminous tile technology.



"We are extremely proud to participate in the 3rd Annual Southwest Cannabis Conference & Expo and showcase the Company's newly acquired FreeFit and LUMI building materials," said GrowLife CEO Marco Hegyi. "With GrowLife's extensive background and knowledge in the indoor cultivation industry and commitment to developing cost-effective and environmentally friendly solutions for today's indoor cultivation operator, attendees will benefit by learning about cutting-edge technologies that can help position their business for long-term success." For more information about GrowLife and GrowLifeEco.com, please visit the company website. Additional commentary on the Company as well as the industry is also provided on the CEO's blog. Specific financials and corporate actions on GrowLife (PHOT), can be found in the filings at the SEC website.

About GrowLife, Inc. GrowLife, Inc. (PHOT) aims to become the nation's largest cultivation service provider for cultivating organics, herbs and greens and plant-based medicines. Our mission is to help make our customers successful. Through a network of local representative covering the United States and Canada, regional centers and its e-Commerce team, GrowLife provides essential goods and services including media, industry-leading hydroponics equipment, plant nutrients, and thousands more products to specialty grow operations. GrowLife is headquartered in Kirkland, Washington and was founded in 2012. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005729/en/

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[October 12, 2017] New App Helps Patients Fill Key Gap in Lupus Treatment

NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Living with lupus is both challenging and unpredictable, making good communication between physicians and patients vital to managing care. Today, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), announced the launch of LupusMinder, a new mobile app designed to help anyone with lupus track medications, daily symptoms and appointments. LupusMinder was co-developed by the rheumatology, social work and digital communications departments at HSS, with significant input from people living with lupus. Additionally, the app was supported in part by the HSS Academy of Rheumatology Medical Educators. Staff noticed that patients could not remember the breadth of their symptoms, medications, moods, and appointments in-between physician visits. This recognition prompted the need for a patient resource to organize all the moving parts of living with lupus. "People affected by chronic conditions can become overwhelmed by changes in their medications or day to day variations in their symptoms," said Mary K. Crow, MD, physician-in-chief at HSS. "We wanted to create a comprehensive app to record all pertinent information, lowering the stress associated with managing lupus. By inputting daily symptoms, the app also allows us to chart progress over a short- and long-term period." Lupus, or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is a chronic autoimmune disorder in whih the immune system attacks one's own cells instead of protecting the body. Lupus affects women 9:1; and disproportionately affects women of color. While no two persons' lupus is the same, lupus can affect the skin, joints and kidneys. Symptoms may include: fatigue, hair loss, rashes, joint pain, swollen lymph glands, and mood changes.



The app enables a patient to easily access and review their history with their provider during valuable appointment time. Users can take pictures of their physical symptoms to show their physician at an upcoming appointment, as well as print and save their daily logs as PDF files. "As lupus symptoms can fluctuate each day, it can be challenging for us to assess overall disease activity if we only see what occurs at the moment the patient is in our office," said HSS rheumatologist Jane E. Salmon, MD. "When a patient presents a graph of his or her level of pain over a few days, or a photo of a recent rash or swollen joint, it helps me develop an appropriate treatment plan."

Several patient focus groups were conducted to inform the development of the app. One of the central themes was the desire to have a concurrent way to record lupus symptoms, including the patient's perspective on factors that may contribute to their symptom picture. "We posed this question to our lupus patients: What do you want and need from a smartphone app to help manage your lupus?" said Roberta Horton, director of the Department of Social Work Programs at HSS. "We took insights about what features would be most helpful into consideration as we developed LupusMinder. "The app is now available to the 1.5 million people living with lupus in the United States as well as worldwidenot just to those who are treated at HSS," she added. LupusMinder is free and is available for both Android and IOS devices via Google Play and the Apple Store. For more information, visit hss.edu/lupusminder. About Hospital for Special Surgery

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is the world's leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. HSS is nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics and No. 3 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2017-2018), and is the first hospital in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center four consecutive times. HSS has one of the lowest infection rates in the country. HSS is an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College and as such all Hospital for Special Surgery medical staff are faculty of Weill Cornell. The hospital's research division is internationally recognized as a leader in the investigation of musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases. HSS has locations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

www.hss.edu View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-app-helps-patients-fill-key-gap-in-lupus-treatment-300535664.html SOURCE Hospital for Special Surgery

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[October 12, 2017] Litmus Automation Named to CIX Top 20

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Litmus Automation, an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform provider, today announced they have been selected as one of the most innovative technology companies in Canada, earning a spot on the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) Top 20 list for 2017. The CIX Top 20 program is Canada's largest national showcase of the hottest and most innovative emerging tech companies. "We are honored to be chosen for the CIX Top 20 and look forward to sharing our story at CIX 2017," said Vatsal Shah, co-founder and CEO of Litmus. "Loop and LoopEdge have been well-received in the IIoT industry and receiving this type of validation for our business model and product offerings is icing on the cake." Litmus' Loop and LoopEdge Solutions enable data collection, data manipulation and quick analytics with real-time visualization on top. Loop lets customers securely connect any type of hardware, device, sensor or machine to any third-party software application or enterprise system in real-time with a simple interface. Hundreds of CIX Top 20 applications are submitted each year from across Canada. The CIX Selection Committee evaluated and selected 20 companies based on five criteria including Business Model, Quality of Product, Service Offering, Market Opportunity and Depth of Management. Past Top 20 alumni include Achievers, Axonify, BlueJLegal Breather, Busbud, CareGuide, Chango, D-Wave, Figure 1, Frank & Oak, Hubba, IGLOO, Ifluitive, Kobo Books, League, Nuology, ScribbleLive, Thalmic Labs, Unata, UrtheCast, Vidyard, Wattpad and Wealthsimple.



"The CIX Top 20 Program had a record number of applications this year, with a high proportion of early-stage companies," said Lauren Linton, Executive Director of CIX. "It is exciting to see so many young tech companies with such great potential contribute to Canada's success as a global innovation leader." As a part of the CIX Top 20, Litmus Automation will present to an audience of over 800 investors, customers, and partners at CIX 2017 in Toronto on Oct. 17-18, 2017.

Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) CIX is the must attend event for leaders in Canada's innovation ecosystem. In its 10th year, CIX attracts 750+ technology industry leaders, tech entrepreneurs, investors (VCs, corporates, angels) and advisors from across the Canada and globally. This exclusive event showcases Canada's most innovative and promising young tech companies and provides the tools for networking, building new relationships and increasing deal flow. CIX facilitates hundreds of new relationships and has fostered hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions. CIX takes place Oct 17-18 2017 at Hilton Toronto. www.cixsummit.com #CIX2017 About Litmus Automation Litmus Automation, based in San Jose, California, bridges the gap between data in the field or factory and business applications for companies looking to implement Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions. Litmus Automation's offerings, LoopEdge and Loop, work seamlessly together to allow companies to access and exploit data previously trapped within enterprise hardware, no matter where or when it was deployed. Working with original equipment manufacturers and other industrial companies, Litmus Automation brings a modern development approach, a responsive team, a nimble business model, and a proven IIoT solution to all their engagements. Litmus Automation focuses on the Industrial and Automotive industries, and counts Fortune 500 companies as clients and partners (including Nissan, Renault, HPE and Intel). www.litmusautomation.com @LAutomation Media Contact Allison Yrungaray +1 626-841-1640 [email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/litmus-automation-named-to-cix-top-20-300535593.html SOURCE Litmus Automation

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[October 12, 2017] WISPA Members Vote Cambium Networks Winner for 3 Top Industry Awards

Recognized as leader for Product, Service, and Manufacturer of the Year ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Oct. 12, 2017 /CNW/ -- Cambium Networks, a leading global provider of wireless networking solutions, was awarded Manufacturer of the Year, Service of the Year for the cnMaestro management system, and Product of the Year for the PMP 450m wireless access network solution as voted by the members of the Wireless ISP Association (WISPA). "We are honored to be recognized by our Wireless ISP network operator customers. Cambium Networks listens to the needs of service providers and develops technology solutions that provide a 'wireless fabric' of end-to-end high-quality wireless solutions that are also affordable," said Atul Bhatnagar, President and CEO of Cambium Networks. "The PMP 450m technology and cnMaestro management system are game-changers for service providers who are looking for high-speed, high-capacity solutions that provide consistently reliable performance." "We listened to the needs of service providers who required more throughput in less spectrum," said Scott Imhoff, Senior Vice President of Product Mangement for Cambium Networks. "Their needs led our development team to create the telecommunication industry's first 14x14 Massive MU-MIMO sector for fixed wireless point-to-multipoint applications, providing unsurpassed throughput in a 20 MHz channel. We are pleased to receive this Product of the Year recognition and assure WISPs around the world that we are continuing to invest in developing new technologies that will further propel their business. We commenced commercial shipments of the PMP 450m a couple of days prior to the 2016 convention and have now deployed over 3,000 units around the world, with deployment rates accelerating. Fittingly, at this year's WISPA event we announced a forthcoming software update to the PMP 450m that lifts its capacity to 1.2 Gbps; as well as plans to introduce a 3 GHz variant in 2018."



"The cnMaestro management system was developed based on the specific needs of network operators who provide end-to-end wireless connectivity for residential and business customers," said Imhoff. "This Service of the Year award is a special honor in that it recognizes that our development team listened to the customer needs, and executed a solution that delights them and delivers value by reducing the time and cost of planning, installation and maintenance. The platform can be either cloud-based or an on-premise software package that gives network operators secure control of their entire network." Cambium Networks is demonstrating its solutions at WISPAPALOOZA in Las Vegas this week, in booth #249.

About Cambium Networks

Cambium Networks is a leading global provider of trusted wireless solutions that connect the unconnected  People, Places and Things. Through its extensive portfolio of reliable, scalable and secure wireless narrowband and broadband platforms, Cambium Networks makes it possible for all service providers and industrial, enterprise and government network operators to build affordable, reliable, high-performance connectivity. The company currently has over seven million radios deployed in thousands of demanding networks in more than 150 countries. Headquartered outside Chicago and with R&D centers in the U.S., U.K. and India, Cambium Networks sells through a range of trusted global distributors. www.cambiumnetworks.com. Media Contact:

Sara Black

1-213-618-1501

[email protected] View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wispa-members-vote-cambium-networks-winner-for-3-top-industry-awards-300535694.html SOURCE Cambium Networks

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[October 12, 2017] TIE Kinetix: Google AdWords for Channel Launched Successfully

Following a worldwide multi-client pilot phase, TIE Kinetix now officially launches Google (News - Alert) AdWords for Channel, as part of its FLOW Partner Automation offering. Pilots are successfully completed with Michelin (UK), Big Green Egg (the Netherlands), Xerox (UK, Germany, France, Italy), Svedex (the Netherlands) and HON (US). Google AdWords for Channel was developed by TIE Kinetix following a strategic partnership agreement with Google on joint product development. Google AdWords for Channel is designed for large scale B-to-C companies selling through resellers and retailers. It combines corporate campaigns with local search details and enables consumers to get product information and promotions directly from local nearby retailers automatically and to connect the local retailer directly in one uninterrupted sales process. For Google, total worldwide Google AdWords revenue is around $80 billion, with most companies spending it on online sales and branding. Today, only a very limited amount is applied in channel marketing and channel sales while local search is growing fast. The combined offering is addressing this market need with large potential. As the biggest AdWords for Channel partner, TIE Kintix will roll out this offering worldwide to all channel dependent major brands and manufacturers in the next 12 months.



Google AdWords for Channel recognizes the importance of channel sales and addresses the need for an uninterrupted sales process and buyer's journey. Boosting channel sales, AdWords for Channel significantly increases the ROI of corporate and local marketing budgets. "It's very exciting to see the success of Google AdWords for Channel in the pilot projects", said Jan Sundelin, CEO of TIE Kinetix. "We are now ready to start the worldwide rollout in the next 12 months. We are opening up a market area that previously could not be leveraged by brands and manufacturers to generate demand and sales through their large partner network via Google AdWords".

About TIE Kinetix

TIE Kinetix transforms the digital supply chain by providing Total Integrated E-Commerce solutions. These solutions maximize revenue opportunities by minimizing the energy required to market, sell, fulfill, and optimize online. Customers and partners of TIE Kinetix constantly benefit from innovative, field-tested, state-of-the-art technologies, backed by 30 years of experience and prestigious awards. TIE Kinetix makes technology to perform, such that customers and partners can focus on their core business. TIE Kinetix is a public company and has offices in the United States, the Netherlands, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and Australia. Follow TIE Kinetix on Twitter (News - Alert): https://twitter.com/TIEKinetix

Follow TIE Kinetix on LinkedIn (News - Alert): https://www.linkedin.com/company/TIE-Kinetix

Follow TIE Kinetix on Facebook (News - Alert): https://www.facebook.com/TIEKinetix View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012006019/en/

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[October 12, 2017] Yellow Pages Limited Announces Pricing of $315 Million of Senior Secured Notes

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA MONTREAL, Oct. 12, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Yellow Pages Limited (TSX: Y) ("Yellow Pages" or the "Company") announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Yellow Pages Digital & Media Solutions Limited (the "Issuer"), has priced its previously announced offering (the "Offering") of Senior Secured Notes. The Issuer will issue $315 million in aggregate principal amount of 10.00% Senior Secured Notes due November 1, 2022 (the "Notes") at an issue price of $980 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes. The Notes will accrue interest from October 19, 2017 at a rate of 10.00% per annum, payable in equal semi-annual instalments in arrears on May 1 and November 1 of each year commencing May 1, 2018. The Notes will be guaranteed by the Company and the Company's subsidiaries (collectively, the "Guarantors") and secured by first-priority liens and security interests, subject to permitted liens, in substantially all of the assets (other than the assets securing the Issuer's asset-based debt facility) now owned or hereafter acquired by the Issuer and the Guarantors. The Notes will be senior secured obligations of the Issuer. The Notes will rank equally in right of payment with all indebtedness of the Issuer that is not expressly subordinated in right of payment to the Notes, and the Notes will rank senior in right of payment to all existing and future subordinated indebtedness of the Company. The Offering is being underwritten by BMO Capital Markets and National Bank Financial Markets, as joint bookrunners, in a syndicate that includes Canaccord Genuity, RBC Capital Markets, Beacon Securities and Casgrain (collectively, the "Underwriters"). The Notes will be offered in a private placement in Canada under available prospectus exemptions. The Notes will also be offered in the United States to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and outside the United States to non U.S. persons as defined in and in accordance with Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Offering is expected to close on or about Otober 19, 2017, subject to customary closing conditions.



The Issuer will use the net proceeds from the sale of the Notes, after deducting the Underwriters' commissions and estimated expenses of the Offering, to refinance its existing 9.25% Senior Secured Notes due November 30, 2018. The Offering is expected to enhance Yellow Pages' credit profile by positioning the Company for further deleveraging and extending its debt maturity. Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements about the objectives, strategies, financial conditions, results of operations and businesses of the Company and the effect of the Offering on the credit profile of the Company. These statements are forward-looking as they are based on our current expectations, as at October 12, 2017, about our business and the markets we operate in, and on various estimates and assumptions. Our actual results could materially differ from our expectations if known or unknown risks affect our business, or if our estimates or assumptions turn out to be inaccurate. As a result, there is no assurance that any forward-looking statements will materialize. Risks that could cause our results to differ materially from our current expectations are discussed in section 6 of our August 10, 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis. In addition, the Offering is subject to general market and other conditions and there are no assurances that the Offering will be completed or that the terms of the Offering will not be modified. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law, even if new information becomes available, as a result of future events or for any other reason. Securities Law Matters The Notes will not be qualified for sale to the public under applicable Canadian securities laws and, accordingly, any offer and sale of the Notes in Canada will be made on a basis that is exempt from the prospectus requirement of such securities laws. The Notes have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act, or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. The Notes will be offered and sold only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act, and to persons other than U.S. persons in transactions outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell the Notes or the solicitation of an offer to buy the Notes, nor shall there be any sale of the Notes, in any state or jurisdiction where such offer, solicitation or sale is not permitted. The Notes will be offered only through a preliminary and final offering memorandum and this press release is not intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision. Any public offering of any securities made within the United States is required to be made by means of a prospectus that would contain detailed information about the Company and management, as well as financial statements. The Issuer does not intend to file a prospectus in connection with the Offering which is being made solely on a private placement basis. About Yellow Pages Limited Yellow Pages Limited (TSX: Y) is a Canadian digital media and marketing company that creates opportunities for buyers and sellers to discover, find, interact and transact in the local economy. Yellow Pages holds some of Canada's leading local online properties including YP.ca, RedFlagDeals.com, Canada411.ca, 411.ca, Bookenda.com, DuProprio.com, ComFree.com and YP NextHome. The Company also holds the YP, YP Shopwise, YP Dine, RedFlagDeals, Canada411, 411, DuProprio, ComFree and YP NextHome mobile applications and Yellow Pages print directories. In addition, Yellow Pages is a leader in national advertising through its businesses devoted to servicing the marketing needs of large North American brands, including Mediative and JUICE. For more information visit www.corporate.yp.ca. The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, the Company's corporate website is neither part of this press release nor incorporated by reference herein. SOURCE Yellow Pages Limited

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[October 12, 2017] Know the Truth to Reach 60,000 Students During 2017-2018 School Year

Know the Truth, the substance-use prevention program of Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, will speak in more than 160 high schools and middle schools across the state, reaching more than 60,000 students during the 2017-2018 academic year. Additionally, Know the Truth has added programming within Anoka-Hennepin schools in response to the success of a pilot program launched in spring 2017. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012006442/en/ Know the Truth, the substance-use prevention program of Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, speaks with Minnesota students (Photo: Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge) Starting this year, a Know the Truth representative will be onsite in six Anoka-Hennepin schools, including five high schools and the Alternative Learning Center, facilitating specialized support groups and giving students the opportunity to drop in and speak about their substance use concerns. The program began as a pilot last spring, and the successful results led to the District receiving a grant to expand it for the 2017-2018 academic year. The Know the Truth program has seen significant success in helping prevnt substance use among Minnesota's young people. Last year, after hearing the Know the Truth presentation, nearly 90 percent of students made a commitment not to use illegal substances and 75 percent vowed not to use alcohol before the age of 21. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the vast majority of Americans who struggle with addiction started smoking, drinking, or using drugs before age 18, underscoring the critical need to share the prevention message with students.



The Know the Truth team consists of six full-time presenters and numerous volunteers, all who have overcome substance use issues. From September through May, presenters visit multiple schools every day, reaching out to students and spreading the prevention message as well as gathering data about substance use among young people. The program has grown more than 250 percent since it began eleven years ago, speaking in only 50 schools to 16,000 students. "Know the Truth is built on evidence-based principles," explains program manager Vanessa Koebnick. "We believe if we can change students' attitudes towards drugs and alcohol, we can change their behavior."

In most cases, the Know the Truth presentations are included in health classes, embedded into the drug and alcohol unit. Some schools, including East Ridge and Woodbury high schools, also host all-student assemblies. In addition to classroom presentations, students are encouraged to seek continued dialogue with the presenters via social media @knowthetruthmn and the text hotline 612-440-3967. "We use a peer-to-peer format, with presenters who are close in age to the students," says Koebnick. "They share personal stories of substance use and communicate important messages about prevention and the hope for recovery." "Growing up, my home life was great. My parents raised me well, but that didn't change the fact that I dealt with depression and anxiety," shares Lauren Dokken, a presenter for Know the Truth. "I can use the mess of my past to influence teens to not take the path I did. I know what it's like to feel hopeless, that there's nothing left, and I also know what it is like to find out that is not true." About Know the Truth

Know the Truth (KTT) is the substance-use prevention program of Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge. KTT works within communities to help prevent teenage substance use by sharing personal stories about the struggles with addiction and by presenting students with information about the dangers of alcohol and drug use. Each year, KTT speaks in over 160 high schools and middle schools and reaches over 60,000 students. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012006442/en/

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Acquitting Rajesh and Nupur Talwar of the charges murdering their child Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, the Allahabad High Court made three observations to dismiss the CBI case against the Talwars.

By India Today Web Desk: Who killed Aarushi Talwar? The question, for now, will remained unanswered after the Allahabad High Court today acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar - the parents of Aarushi - of the gruesome 2008 Noida double murder.

A division bench of the high court gave the Talwars the benefit of the doubt while overturning a Central Bureau of Investigation court judgement that had convicted and sentenced Rajesh and Nupur Talwar to life for murdering their daughter Aarushi and domestic help 45-year-old Hemraj Banjade.

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The Talwars, who are currently incarcerated at the Dasna jail, expressed happiness after the verdict, saying that they have finally got justice. Why is it that the Allahabad High Court chose to acquit the Talwars of the double murder?

Reading out the verdict, the judges of the high court made three observations to dismiss the case against the Talwars.

The judges said that the CBI had failed to provide any direct evidence linking Rajesh and Nupur Talwar to the murders.

Aarushi Talwar's grandfather and aunt talk to the media after the announcement of the verdict.#NoOneKilledAarushi #ITVideo pic.twitter.com/muY2kF1ZVf- India Today (@IndiaToday) October 12, 2017

There were no eye-witnesses who could say that Rajesh and Nupur Talwars were involved in murdering Aarushi and Hemraj, the judges also said.

Furthermore, the judges said, the Central Bureau of Investigation had failed to establish a valid motive for the murders.

The judges went on to not that the Supreme Court has directed in several cases that if there is no direct evidence and connecting evidence, benefit of doubt should be given to the accused.

Considering these factors, the Allahabad High Court ruled in favour of the Talwars' appeal against their conviction, ruling that Rajesh and Nupur, who were sentenced to life, must be set free.

'SCENE OF MURDER TAMPERED'

Did the CBI, like the Nodia Police that initially investigated the murders, botch up the Aarushi-Hemraj murder investigation? AP Singh, who was the agency boss around the time of the investigation, hinted that the CBI had been handicapped since the very beginning.

"Only weakness we found was that scene of crime had been badly tampered on the 1st day itself," Singh told news agency ANI in his reaction to the Allahabad High Court acquitting Rajesh and Nupur Talwar. " As a result, after that we got nothing of value from the scene of crime. That was the major lacuna in the entire investigation".

Only weakness we found was that scene of crime had been badly tampered on the 1st day itself:Former CBI Director AP Singh #AarushiMurderCase pic.twitter.com/OEc755bekE- ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2017

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Notably, Singh was the CBI director when the agency made its now-famous declaration in court that while it suspected Rajesh Talwar of murdering Aarushi and Hemraj, it did not have enough evidence to prove the case. And so, the agency told the court, it was filing a closure report in the double murder.

The court, however did not allow the CBI to file the closure report, which, incidently, was opposed by the Talwars as well. The court instead ordered that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar stand trial on charges of murdering Aarushi and Hemraj.

SENSATION

The murders, when discovered on the morning of May 16, 2008 created a media sensation of sorts. The case made national headlines, was a topic of many primetime discussions and even became the subject of books and movies.

The double murders were initially investigated by the Noida Police, which lay the blame on Rajesh Talwar. Uttar Pradesh Police officials added to the sensation, making controversial statements, including one where the IG of police Gurdarshan Singh told media that the double murders were a case of honour killing.

With the UP Police coming under criticism for how it had handled the probe, the case was transferred to the CBI, which constituted a team led by joint director Arun Kumar to investigate the double murder.

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Kumar's team began their investigation on June 1, 2008 and on July 11 the same year, said there was no evidence against the Talwars to prosecute them in the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case. The team also arrested Raj Kumar, Krishna and Vijay Mandal - three domestic helps who knew the Talwar family as well as Hemraj - on suspicion of committing the murders.

The agency, however, did not file a charge-sheet, saying they did not have enough evidence to prosecute the three domestic helps.

Kumar was then transferred back to his parent cadre and a new CBI team led by Neelabh Kishore, an SP-rank officer, began fresh investigations September 2009.

The new team turned the Aarushi murder case on its head, concluding that Kumar, Krishna and Vijay Mandal were not responsible for the murders. On December 29, 2010 the CBI filed a closure report in a special court, saying that while it believed Rajesh Talwar had committed the murders, they did not have enough evidence to prosecute him.

The court rejected the closure report, ordered trail under Rajesh and Nupur Talwar and on November 25, 2013 ultimately convicted the two for murder Aarushi and Hemraj.

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(With inputs from Shivendra Srivastava)

WATCH | There is so much insensitivity, have lost faith in humanity: Rajesh Talwar told India Today in 2011

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[October 12, 2017] BBVA Compass Named 2017 Online Banking Leader in the Financial Fitness category by Javelin Strategy & Research

HOUSTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BBVA Compass was recognized as a leader in Financial Fitness from Javelin Strategy & Research in its 2017 Online Banking Scorecard, with independent research firm spotlighting the bank for providing a notable online banking experience that guides customers on a financial journey. Javelin Strategy & Research's competitive analysis of the nation's top 28 financial institutions examines more than 225 online banking features in six critical areas of banking success: ease of use, security empowerment, financial fitness, money movement, customer service, and account opening. The 'Leader' in Financial Fitness recognition was given to just 3 financial institutions out of 28 measured that Javelin found to be proactive and vigilant financial advisers that demonstrate that they: Have financial oversight and guidance anchored by the ability for customers to conveniently view balances and transactions for all of their accounts in a single view.

Give consumers alerts that help them stay on top of their finances.

Serve up personalized content and insights to help them understand and manage their money better.

Have online banking services that boast the tools and advice that help customers save for specific goals. "Creating Opportunities is more than a tagline for us, it's the driving force behind our channel development," said BBVA Compass Director of Online and Mobile Banking Alex Carriles. "We want our customers to have amazing experiences that benefit them - and their unique financial journey - in a tangible way. When we relaunched online banking with functionalities like BBVA Compass Financial Tools and Easy Payments & Transfers, we knew the additions would have concrete value for our customers." BBVA Compass' patent-pending Easy Payments & Transfers stands apart thanks to its reimagined and streamlined user experience. It was simplified to guide clients through a process that enables them to quickly and easily move money to and from accounts inside BBVA Compass, or at other financial institutions. Users simply select the account they are transferring from, select the destination, amount and when they want the money there, review and complete the transaction, all without using complex banking language. Users can also see scheduled and posted transactions, search ransaction activity and edit, delete or inquire about scheduled transactions.



BBVA Compass Financial Tools is a free digital money management and account aggregation tool made available in coordination with MX, a leader in unified financial data. It allows clients to create a single view of their financial accounts, regardless of bank of origin, and includes: Spending: Clients can see their spending broken out into categories over a period of time and can change the date range, view a visualization of income sources, and segment by subcategories and transactions.

Budgets: A 'bubbles chart' that shows clients' monthly budget. Budget categories change color from green to yellow and red if the client exceeds set spending limits.

Trends: Shows spending over time, with the ability to show subcategories and transaction details.

Debts: Enables clients to view a debt plan for their aggregated accounts. Clients can view balances, APR, last payment date and minimum payment. They can also project debt payoff dates and prioritize the payoff of certain debts.

Net Worth: Clients can see an estimate of their net worth based on accounts linked in online banking.

Goals: Clients can create a goal, name it, and associate it with an internal or external account. They can also change the amount and priority of each goal, as well as the total amount available overall. BBVA Compass Online Banking was recognized as a leader in Javelin's 2016 Online Banking Scorecard for Financial Management and Money Movement capabilities. BBVA Compass Mobile Banking was named a leader in the Functionality category in Javelin's 2016 Mobile Banking Award for three consecutive years from 2013-2016. BBVA Compass was also recognized as a leader in Most Comprehensive Alerts category for the first time in the firm's 2016 Mobile Banking Financial Institution Scorecard.

For more on BBVA Compass, visit http://www.bbvacompass.com. To learn more about BBVA Compass, visit: www.bbvacompass.com For more news visit: www.bbva.com and newsroom.bbvacompass.com About BBVA Group

BBVA [NYSE: BBVA] is a customer-centric global financial services group founded in 1857. The Group is the largest financial institution in Spain and Mexico and it has leading franchises in South America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States; and it is also the leading shareholder in Garanti, Turkey's biggest bank for market capitalization. Its diversified business is focused on high-growth markets and it relies on technology as a key sustainable competitive advantage. Corporate responsibility is at the core of its business model. BBVA fosters financial education and inclusion, and supports scientific research and culture. It operates with the highest integrity, a long-term vision and applies the best practices. More information about BBVA Group can be found at bbva.com. About BBVA Compass

BBVA Compass is a Sunbelt-based financial institution that operates 651 branches, including 337 in Texas, 89 in Alabama, 63 in Arizona, 61 in California, 45 in Florida, 38 in Colorado and 18 in New Mexico. BBVA Compass ranks among the top 25 largest U.S. commercial banks based on deposit market share and ranks among the largest banks in Alabama (2nd), Texas (4th) and Arizona (5th). BBVA Compass has been recognized as one of the leading small business lenders by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and ranked 5th nationally in the total number of SBA loans originated in fiscal year 2016. Additional information about BBVA Compass can be found at www.bbvacompass.com. For more BBVA Compass news, follow @BBVACompassNews on Twitter or visit newsroom.bbvacompass.com. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bbva-compass-named-2017-online-banking-leader-in-the-financial-fitness-category-by-javelin-strategy--research-300536160.html SOURCE BBVA Compass

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[October 12, 2017] Chemistree Closes First Tranche of Private Placement

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chemistree Technology Inc. (CSE:CHM) (OTCQB:CHMJF) (the Company) is pleased to report that effective October 12, 2017 it has closed the first tranche of the non-brokered private placement as announced August 3, 2017.

The Company issued 5,146,000 common shares at $0.25 per share for gross proceeds of $1,286,500. Immediately following this private placement issuance, the Company has 20,294,405 common shares issued and outstanding. Securities issued under the placement are subject to a four-month hold period, which will expire four months from the date of closing. The proceeds from the placement wil be used for general working capital purposes.



The Company may close a final tranche of the private placement for up to $700,000 via the issuance of up to 2,800,000 common shares prior to the end of October 2017. Chemistree is an exciting new company, focusing its efforts on social media, branding, licensing and marketing technology. In addition to marketing events, brands and any other activities in the cannabis industry, the company will continue to identify other avenues for growth for social media marketing services, as well as brand marketing, product marketing, and more general services like financing and corporate consulting. The Company believes the cannabis industry offers a tremendous opportunity for growth. The reason for this is simply that marketing of cannabis companies, their products as well as information about the industry itself is in its infancy. Initially, the Pacific Northwest is the Company's main target geography, but this is expected to expand from British Columbia and Washington into Oregon, and eventually California.

For more information, please contact Paul Searle at (778) 240-7724 or by email at [email protected] Karl Kottmeier

President Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

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INVESTOR ALERT: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Commences Investigation on Behalf of J.Jill, Inc. Investors

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces an investigation on behalf of J.Jill, Inc. ("J.Jill" or the "Company") (NYSE: JILL) investors concerning the Company and its officers' possible violations of federal securities law.

The investigation concerns whether or not certain statements regarding J.Jill's business and prospects were false and misleading when made.

On October 11, 2017, J.Jill announced that the Company was updating its guidance for the third quarter ending October 28, 2017. Specifically, the Company now expects total copany comparable sales of -3% to -5%, with a moderate decline in gross margin as compared to last year.







On this news, J.Jill's stock price fell $5.07 per share, or more than 50%, to close at $4.86 per share on October 12, 2017, thereby injuring investors.

If you purchased J.Jill securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to [email protected], or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

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Oh, By The Way, Indian Creek Killer Murdered a Woman, #6, Also White - The Sentinel Only those who follow the media closely know that the Indian Creek killer, Fredrick Demond Scott of Kansas City, has also been charged with the murder of a woman, Karen Harmeyer. Scott has been officially charged in two other deaths, but is likely responsible for the deaths of at least three more, all male.

Here's an update and another killing attributed to the Kansas City gay sex park serial killer . . . Along with with some self-righteous Conservative indignation over some lady sleeping out in the woods that didn't really merit much attention until her death served as politically charged fodder. Read more:
Congressman Cleaver Releases Statement Regarding the Presidents Health Care Executive Order

President Trumps Executive Order further harms Americas most vulnerable citizens: the poor, elderly and children

Instead of working with Congress to determine whats best for Americans and their health care, the President has decided to force his political agenda on the American people. There is a reason why the GOP effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has failed time and time again. The President wants to blame Democrats but the truth is, the proposed health care changes will hurt millions, regardless of their party affiliation.

Today Prez Trump pushed through legislation to. Outrage from Democratic Party leaders has been fast and furious after they defeated the "repeal & replace" initiative in the Senate.Here's a local perspective on the healthcare debate continued . . .Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II released the following statement today regarding President Donald Trumps signed executive order on health care.These changes are designed to allow loopholes around ACA core requirements, such as the coverage of essential health benefits. Associations that band together to buy insurance will be exempt from having to cover certain prescription drug benefits, maternity care, or mental health services. The executive order will allow insurance companies to offer skimpy, short-term plans that dont actually provide good coverage. This will attract the young and healthy customers at the expense of older or sicker individuals and their families, and will destabilize the insurance markets.The American people have spoken  more than once  and they want Congress to work together to find ways to improve upon the ACA, not continue to roll back patient protections.Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, IIMissouris Fifth District##########
World War II officially started on September 1, 1939, and it was the first time that planes were predominantly used for warfare. Air forces from all major participants used planes that were unique to their culture and their advancements in science. It was one of the most innovative times in the history of aviation and modern society is still reaping the benefits of those advancements. These are 10 interesting facts about World War II planes and the people who flew them.

10. The Battle of Britain

On June 17, 1940, France signed an armistice with the Nazis. As the Nazis set their sights on England, the British had two choices. They could negotiate with the Nazis or go to war. Of course, Churchill chose to give the Nazis the stiff upper lip, resulting in the Battle of Britain.

When the Battle started on July 10, the English were severely outnumbered. They only had 640 planes and Germanys Luftwaffe had 2,000 planes.

The battle lasted for 112 days and both sides sustained heavy losses. 1,023 British planes were lost and 1,887 Luftwaffe planes were destroyed. Out of the 3,000 British crewmen, 544 died, while 2,500 Nazi crewmen died.

The Battle of Britain was the first all-air battle in history. The British were the victors and it was a major turning point in World War II.

9. The British Plane So Good that the Nazis Wanted Them

The backbone of the Royal Air Force during World War II was the Supermarine Spitfire. It debuted in 1936, and it wasnt just used continually throughout the war, but all the way into the 1950s. While it was a favorite plane of British airmen, it didnt roll off the production line as a great war plane.

Instead, improvements were made after pilots survived dogfights and explained to the engineers what was wrong with them. Luckily, due to the Spitfires design, alterations were fairly easy to do. This allowed the engineers to improve on the planes throughout the entire war.

Besides being able to alter the planes, what separated the Spitfires from the Luftwaffe planes was its maneuverability.

The Spitfires are credited with holding off the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, even though they were completely outnumbered.

Supposedly, after Nazi General Adolf Galland realized that they werent going to be able to take over Britain, he was asked what he needed to win the war. He apparently said that he wanted an outfit of Spitfires.

8. Japan Ruled the Skies During the Early Years of the War with Zeros

Being able to attack land opponents from the sky is a huge advantage because a squadron can swoop in, destroy their target, and then the pilots fly safely back to their base. It can cause a lot of damage without expending too many resources. The first plane to be able to consistently perform successful attacks on ground units was the Mitsubishi A6M. The Japanese called the planes Zeros, while Americans called them Zekes.

The plane was first tested in 1939 and for many years it was the dominant fighter plane when it came to aerial combat because of its maneuverability. It wasnt until 1943 that the Allied forces developed planes capable of defeating the Zeros.

Another big advantage that the Zeros had was a second fuel tank. If they were going on long range flights, they could fill both tanks and once one of the tanks was empty, the pilot could release the gas tank and let it fall to the ground or water below.

The range and the maneuverability helped Japan invade much of the South Pacific before they were defeated by American-led Allies forces.

7. Japans Deadliest Pilot

Hiroyoshi Nishizawa started his aviation training in 1936 and he graduated in 1939. He was a sickly man, but when he flew, his fellow pilots called him The Devil. He was a very skilled pilot, especially when he was flying a Zero. Even when he was facing more advanced planes from the American Navy, Nishizawa was thought to be invincible when he was piloting.

He was considered Japans top ace pilot, but how many planes he shot down is a bit unclear. The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service recorded their kills for a unit and not individual pilots. Nishizawa claimed he shot down 102 planes, but it was probably closer to 36.

On October 25, 1944, Nishizawa had a premonition that his death was imminent, so he begged to be allowed to go on a kamikaze mission. His commander wouldnt let him because he was such talented a pilot.

The next day, Nishizawa boarded a bomber in Mabalacat, which is in the Philippines. He was a passenger heading to the island of Luzon to pick up some replacement planes. En route, the bomber was attacked by two American Hellcats. The plane went down with Nishizawa, Japans Ace of Aces, sitting helplessly as a passenger.

6. Some Spitfires Were Equipped to Carry Beer

After D-Day in June 1944, British forces kept pushing inland in Normandy. After several long days of doing this, many soldiers, understandably, really just wanted to have a beer.

Back in England, the Henty and Constable Brewery heard about the mens wishes and offered them free beer. Volunteers with the Royal Air Force had old fuel tanks steam-cleaned and filled with beer. They then flew them to the men in Normandy. Even though the beer had a funny taste because they were in stored in used fuel tanks, the men were happy to have it.

They eventually fixed the problem by converting the planes to carry barrels under the wings.

5. The Eagle Squadrons

World War II started in September 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. Before that, Germany had annexed Austria and occupied Czechoslovakia. The war waged for over two years in Europe and the Nazis eventually came to occupy Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Greece, Norway, and the Netherlands. They also tried to invade Russia and England. During these invasions, the Nazis would commit atrocious war crimes against the people of that country; especially Jewish people and other people they didnt consider to be part of their master race.

During that time, the United States stayed neutral. The country was very divided about getting involved in the war. Some Americans thought it was best to take an isolationist stance and stay out of the European wars, while interventionists wanted to go to war with the Axis forces.

The United States stayed out of the war until December 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese forces.

However, not all Americans were content to sit on the sidelines. Instead, eight American men went to Canada to join the Royal Air Force. One of these men was 29-year-old Billy Fiske. When Fiske was 16, he was the driver of the American Olympic bobsled team in 1928. They won gold, making Fiske the youngest person to receive a gold medal in the Winter Olympics, which is a title he would hold until 1992. Fiske and his team returned to the Olympics in 1932 and again, they took home the gold. He declined to participate in the 1936 Olympics in Germany.

Fiske and the other seven men were sent to England, where they were given minimal training, and then all eight men flew in the Battle of Britain. On August 10, 1940, Fiske was killed when a German gunner hit his gas tank.

Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, more Americans joined the Royal Air Force, enough to form three squadrons, which were called the Eagle Squadrons. By joining the Royal Air Force, the men broke strict neutrality laws and risked losing their citizenship and being imprisoned.

4. The Japanese Developed Specialized Kamikaze Planes

For several different reasons, the Japanese thought that having their pilots fly into enemy ships was an effective way to wage battle. Sure, they would lose a man, but they were hoping that it would intimidate the American Navy because it showed what lengths they were willing to go to wage war.

The problem facing the Japanese was that their planes were good for aerial combat, but werent very good against the American Navy. Mainly, they had a tendency to burst into flames when they were hit by machine gun fire.

So they developed the Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka, also known as the Cherry Blossom. Ohkas were drivable missiles that were flown to the battle by Mitsubishi G4M bombers.

Since the Ohkas were flown to the battles, pilots needed less training, which was a definite asset for kamikaze pilots. It would have taken weeks to train a kamikaze pilot and theyd only really fly one mission.

The pilots were possibly given Philopon, which is an amphetamine, and then they were sealed into the Ohka. Once the bomber got close to the target, it would release the Ohka, which could glide up to 20 miles. As the Ohka got near the target, the pilot would hit the rocket booster, which would allow them to fly past enemy gunfire and slam into the ships.

It turned out that kamikaze pilots were completely ineffective and it was considered one of the worst strategies in World War II.

3. Sonderkommando Elbe

The most well known use of suicide pilots in World War II are the Japanese kamikaze pilots, but they werent the only ones to use them. There were two Nazi suicide squads. One was called the Leonidas Squadron, led by a woman named Hanna Reitsch, who was a Nazi test pilot. The Nazis even developed their own drivable missile, the Fieseler Fi 103R. The project was scrapped before any member of the Leonidas Squadron could give their life for the country in a suicide mission.

The other squad was called Sonderkommando Elbe, and it wasnt exactly a suicide squad. Instead, they were supposed to fly their planes into American bombers and just before they crashed into them, they were to parachute to safety, which sounds a lot easier than it was.

Unlike the Leonidas Squardon, this squad took to the air. On April 7, 1945, Sonderkommando Elbe aircrafts, manned by volunteers, attacked American B-17s and B-24s. The bombers were being escorted by P-51 Mustangs and they attacked many of the Nazi planes. Less than two dozen bombers were rammed and only eight were destroyed. Only four of the Sonderkommando Elbe pilots survived the jump after ramming their planes.

Since the attack was such a disaster, it was never employed again by the Nazis.

2. The Most Expensive Project of World War II

The biggest plane in the American arsenal, making it the largest plane used in World War II, was Boeings B-29 Superfortress. The B-29s, which were only used in the Pacific Theater, were nearly 100 feet long and had a wingspan of 140 feet. It could also carry up to 20,000 pounds of explosives and, of course, they were used to drop the only two atomic bombs ever used in warfare. Many of them were also used in the single deadliest bombing in the war, which was the fire bombing of Tokyo. Half the city was destroyed and over 100,000 people were killed.

Besides being the biggest plane flown in World War II, the B-29 was also the most expensive project of the War, costing $3 billion. In comparison, the Manhattan Project only cost $2 billion.

1. The Night Witches

The 588th Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces was one of the most feared squadrons of World War II. It also was comprised entirely of women.

They flew Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes, which were made from plywood and canvas. They were mostly used for crop dusting and training. The 588th used them to bomb advancing Nazi troops. They did stealth missions at night and as they approached their target, they would stall their engines so the enemy wouldnt hear them coming. The men who survived the bombings said that the planes made a woosh when they flew over. It reminded them of the sound that a witch would make flying on her broom, which is how the 588th got their nickname, Nachthexen, which translates to Night Witches.

Over four years, the Night Witches flew 30,000 missions, dropping 23,000 tons of bombs on Nazi forces. They were so feared that any Nazi who shot one of them down would be automatically rewarded an Iron Cross.

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Sharjah's Research, Technology, and Innovation Park, said it has signed a MoU with the China Arab International Technology Transfer Company, the main platform for technology transfer and scientific cooperation between China and Arab countries.

Located adjacent to American University of Sharjah (AUS) campus, the Park will develop and manage an innovation ecosystem within a free zone that promotes R&D and supports enterprise activities and the triple helix collaboration of industry, government, and academia.



The new agreement is aimed at the setting up of a centre for technology transfer while also helping in the creation of newer partnerships between research institutions, companies and entrepreneurs, and in line with the objectives of the China Belt and Road Initiative.



The MoU was signed by Hussain Al Mahmoudi, the chief executive of AUSE and Sharjah's Research, Technology, and Innovation Park and Xiaojing Louis Zhang, the founder and CEO of the China Arab International Technology Transfer Company.



The soon to be established center is expected to play a significant role in the move to support the growth of the national economy--driving in new partnerships with research institutions, and innovation focused companies in the UAE, particularly in Sharjah.



The center will also add social and cultural impact through its promotion of economic exchange, dissemination and enrichment of knowledge and key scientific research.



The initiative is also being seen as a proponent in helping the Sharjah Park become a regional platform for the promotion of innovation, research and development and technology exchanges in the fields of renewable energy, environment, water technology, transportation, information technology, architecture and industrial design.



The move will also benefit staff working across various disciplines--helping improve their experiences and enrich the knowledge of students from the American University of Sharjah by leveraging the center as an active campus partner.



In line with all of these, the new center is predicted to leave a positive footprint in the overall efforts to achieve fiscal sustainability while also enhancing the reputation of the Chinese group across local and international levels.



On the deal, Al Mahmoudi said it demonstrates the excellent relations between China and the rest of the Arab region while also contributing in the strengthening of relations via significant fields such as knowledge transfer, innovation and development.



"To date, the UAE is home to more than 4,200 Chinese companies and 300,000 Chinese nationals - which makes this MoU more significant in the move to reinforce our ties with China. As per the terms of this agreement, the focus will be on key areas such as 3D printing, energy, renewable technologies, digital transformation and industrial modernization," he noted.



The new centre will enhance Sharjah's status as a regional capital for education, science research and development, and reflects the vision of the UAE government to become a knowledge-based economy, he added.



Zhang said its cooperation with the Sharjah Park is seen as an added value in the areas of research, technology and innovation, as it is a free zone that contributes to enhance these respective fields.



"We are confident that this new China-Arab innovation center will achieve its set goals and objectives of promoting joint innovation, knowledge transfer and technology between China and the Arab region and support the move to become a knowledge based economy," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has officially inaugurated its first rotor blade factory in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region at Tangier (Morocco).



The 37,500-sq-m facility is strategically located in the industrial zone of Tanger Automotive City, approximately 35 km from Tanger-Med port. Ideally positioned between Europe and Africa, it provides the company with direct access to some of the most important markets.



The plant is now ready to offer wind turbine blades 100 per cent made in Morocco, said a senior company officials at the opening ceremony which was attended by Moroccos Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy Moulay Hafid El Alamy and Siemens Gamesa CEO Markus Tacke.



To equip the SWT-DD-130 platform turbines (up to 4.2MW power rating), B63-10 blades with a length of 63 m are produced for export to Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as well as for local projects, they added.



Speaking at the launch, Tacke said the plant is ready to produce other blade models in the future, which could reach up to 75 m. These integral blades are based on licensed technologies and made of composite materials, he noted.



This factory is good for our company and a solid business decision. We invest where we see strong business opportunities, and the opportunities here in Morocco are stronger than ever before. This location in Tangier provides us with direct access to some of the most important markets of tomorrow  here in Morocco, throughout the Middle East, in Europe, and in the Mediterranean region, he added.



Underlining the importance of the project, El Alamy said: "The first wind turbine blades in Africa and the Middle East will be produced in Tangier and it represents a pride for the kingdom."



"This pioneer project allows localizing value and announces the development of an ecosystem "renewable energy industry" which reinforces the strategic choices of Morocco, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, aimed at the development of a green economy," he noted.



A 3,500-sq-m training centre has been created to facilitate the knowledge transfer from Denmark to Tangier, he added.



TMSA (Tanger Med Special Agency) responsible for the planning, the development and the management of the Tanger Med Port complex and industrial platform, has shown great support and insight in the achievement of this project.



Ricardo Chocarro, Onshore Business CEO of Siemens Gamesa, said: "In Morocco, the demand for electricity increased at an average annual rate of 6.7 per cent from 2003 to 2013. Thus, renewable energy is particularly attractive, offering a secure supply of domestically-produced power and contributing to energy independence."



"Our commitment to the government and people of Morocco is clear: we will work together with you in meeting your energy challenges, today and in the future," he added.



The new blade factory plays an important role in contributing to the Moroccos national program to achieve production of electricity from clean energy to up to 52 per cent by 2030, of which 20 per cent is generated by wind.



The 850MW project that will be built by the consortium Siemens Gamesa, Nareva and ENEL represents a major milestone in this goal.



With 72 per cent market share in Morocco, Siemens Gamesa delivered key wind energy projects including Tarfaya (300MW), Tangiers (140MW), Essaouira (60MW) and Haouma (50MW).



Siemens Gamesa is market leader in Africa with over 15 years of existence and 2,1 GW installed capacity, in countries like Morocco, as well as in Algeria, Egypt, South-Africa, Tunisia, Mauritania, Kenya and Mauritius Islands.-TradeArabia News Service
APM Terminals Bahrain, the operator of Khalifa Bin Salman Port (KBSP), for the second consecutive year has continued to contribute towards uplifting maritime education and training, through its partnership with Bahrain Polytechnic.



APM Terminals Bahrain's efforts aim to prepare the potential future workforce for Bahrains maritime and logistics sector, said a statement from the company.



With Education being one of the strategic corporate social responsibility pillars for APM Terminals and in line with its commitment to create sustainable future for the communities in which it operates, this joint initiative with Bahrain Polytechnic, has so far benefitted 36 aspiring professionals pursuing maritime logistics.



Of this, two students graduated with full-time employment opportunities at Khalifa Bin Salman Port in Human Resources and Operations departments. Moreover, the company also runs an Internship programme for graduates which, since 2014, has hosted over 40 internships with full-term employment offered to best-performing candidates.



This year, 40 Bahraini students enrolled with the Bahrain Polytechnic Bachelor of International Logistics Management, which includes a curriculum on Port and Maritime, will attend knowledge sessions on maritime logistics, conducted by APM Terminals Bahrain senior management including the CEO, at Khalifa Bin Salman Port (KBSP) and the Polytechnic campus.



Organised over a span of one year, Bahrain Polytechnic students will undergo a guided tour of the port and terminal facilities for enhanced understanding of the operations, port development and planning; vessel types and movements; procedures and regulations of Port and Customs Authorities and much more.



A student from Bahrain Polytechnic, said: This opportunity has been a great learning experience  both in terms of gaining technical knowledge as well as real-time exposure to port operations.



Moreover, an opportunity to interact with senior management team of APM Terminals has really helped me to gain insights into the maritime industry, making the course material more relevant, he said.



Mark Hardiman, CEO/managing director of APM Terminals Bahrain, said: Maritime sector is one of the key pillars of economic development for Bahrain and we are committed to contribute to this sector growth economically and socially.



Taking forward our collaboration with Bahrain Polytechnic for the second year running, we continue to invest in future generation of skilled maritime workforce with experiential learning programmes on port operations and maritime logistics, and a chance to work with a leading global port and cargo inland services provider, he said.



Dr John Webb, dean of the faculty of Business and Logistics at Bahrain Polytechnic, said: This is a really exciting opportunity for our students to study first-hand the key aspects of the maritime and logistics industry including port operations and supply chains.



Most importantly, they will also gain industry insights from the experienced staff of APM Terminals. With on-port lectures and visits organised by APM Terminals Bahrain, this will be a real-time learning for our students, helping them become more aware of the industry and choose for themselves various career options and area of specialization they would like to pursue in future, he added further, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
A high-level delegation from Luxembourg is visiting Dubai to meet Expo 2020 organisers and the business community, as part of plans to maximise its 25 million ($29.61 million) investment in the Expo.



The delegation also included high-ranking members of Luxembourgs Royal Family, said a statement.



As part of the visit, Maggy Nagel, general commissioner of the Luxembourg Pavilion and president of the board of management of Luxembourg at Expo 2020 Dubai, and Najeeb Al-Ali, executive director, Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, yesterday (October 11) signed Luxembourgs official participation contract for Expo 2020 Dubai, it said.



Luxembourg is the first country to formally sign a participation contract, although some 120 nations have either publicly or privately confirmed they will take part in Expo 2020 Dubai, which will be the first World Expo in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, it added.



The signing of the contract comes after Luxembourg received approval from Expo 2020 Dubai for the theme and location of its national pavilion. The theme  Resourceful Luxembourg  aims to reflect the landlocked countrys status as a smart nation that looks abroad to connect the human, natural, technical, industrial and financial resources it needs to shape its future.



Luxembourg has announced that it will invest 25 million (Dh108 million) in its Expo participation and the delegation is spearheading plans to further enhance the political and economic ties it enjoys with the UAE, as well as maximising benefits before, during and after Expo 2020 Dubai.



Among those joining Nagel on the delegation are HRH Prince Guillaume, Crown Prince of Luxembourg; HRH Princess Stephanie, Crown Princess of Luxembourg; Etienne Schneider, deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy; Francois Bausch, Minister of Sustainable Development and Infrastructure; and Elisabeth Cardoso Jordao, Ambassador of Luxembourg to the UAE.



Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai higher committee, said: The signing of Luxembourgs official participation contract is yet another important milestone on our journey to Expo 2020 Dubai and beyond. Luxembourg was one of the first nations to publicly commit to participating in Expo, so we are delighted that they are also the first to sign a participation contract.



We look forward to working closely with all stakeholders in Luxembourg as their theme and pavilion take shape, and the even stronger bilateral relations that their participation at Expo 2020 Dubai will create between the UAE and Luxembourg, he said.



With so many countries having either publicly or privately confirmed their participation, we are on track to deliver our goal of hosting the most inclusive World Expo ever, he added.



Schneider, said: Our participation at Expo 2020 Dubai is in line with the continuing excellent relations between the UAE and Luxembourg.



By promoting innovation and sustainable development, the profile of Expo 2020 fits perfectly with our national policy of economic diversification, in particularly with regard to the space sector, clean technologies and to information and communication technologies, he continued.



Our participation at expo is a unique opportunity for making the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and all its economic advantages even better known on the international scene, and more particularly in the Middle East, he added.



The spiral-shaped Luxembourg Pavilion, which is inspired by a Mobius strip, will be located in the Opportunity District. It will contain an exhibition space, a multi-purpose area, a restaurant, administrative offices and technical facilities.



The design and architecture will focus on the issues related to resources, both in a wider sense and in detail, by relying on the principles of the circular economy and interconnection. It will illustrate Luxembourgs ambition, promoting the countrys ability to reinvent itself and its commitment to sustainable growth.



The design was chosen following an open tender process where teams of architects, engineers and scenographers were asked to provide a holistic view of Luxembourg embedded in the theme Resourceful Luxembourg.



The tender process ended in April 2017 and architects Metaform and the scenographers from The Space Factory were later appointed to design the pavilion.



Expo 2020 opens on October 20, 2020, and closes six months later, on April 10, 2021. More than 180 countries are expected to participate, with further national participation announcements expected in the coming months, it stated.  TradeArabia News Service
Is This the Time to Consider Reinsurance for a Diversified Hedge Fund Portfolio?

Most institutional investors understand the uncorrelated, diversification benefits of property catastrophe reinsurance. Many have been waiting on the sidelines for a large event to happen that would drive up pricing before allocating to the strategy. The two big questions these investors ask are, Is pricing going up? and Has the probability of hurricanes increased?

Will pricing on property catastrophe reinsurance increase?

2017 has the potential to be the costliest year for the reinsurance industry on record, even worse than 2005 when the reinsurance industry was impacted by hurricane Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Applied Insurance Research (AIR) Worldwide estimates that losses from Hurricane Maria could add between $40 billion and $85 billion to the insurance industry losses from recent catastrophes. When added to the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and Irma along with recent earthquakes in Mexico, losses could be as high as $165 billion based on AIR estimates of all events.

Insurance companies typically assume the initial losses from major events and purchase reinsurance to cover losses above a threshold. The most recent events will likely have a disproportionately large impact on reinsurance, compared to others in the insurance industry, as they trigger aggregate losses which exceed those thresholds

Prices for reinsurance are impacted by supply and demand. The potential $165 billion of lost capital will need to be replaced and will subsequently put upward pressure on pricing. In addition to the immediate material loss, a significant amount of capital will be locked up for accruals of potential claims at the end of 2017. This capital will be unavailable during the forthcoming January reinsurance renewal season.

Fitch Ratings noted Given the magnitude of the Maria-estimated losses, we now believe that 2017 catastrophe losses will constitute a capital event for a number of (re)insurance companies as opposed to just an earnings event. Companies faced with a potential downgrade will either have to raise capital or reduce their balance sheets, thereby putting further pressure on pricing. Price increases will be moderated by new capital coming into the industry but also enhanced by investors withdrawing capital from underperforming funds.

As a result property catastrophe reinsurance rates may increase to the highest level seen in years, especially in regions affected by the 2017 hurricanes and in the Retro (reinsurance of reinsurance companies) market. For example, before the most recent events, but after Hurricane Harvey and Irma, some reinsurance deals were completed with premiums 25% to 50% higher than deals earlier in the year.

Has the probability of future hurricanes increased?

There has been a lot of debate on the impact of global warming on weather patterns. However, there is no clear evidence supporting the theory that global warming is impacting property damage from hurricanes over the short term. The short term (one year or less) maturities of most reinsurance deals allow models to remain accurately applied in the face of gradually shifting weather patterns. As a matter of fact, over the previous decade and before the third quarter of 2017, the industry experienced below-average losses from hurricane-related catastrophes.

What is reinsurance?

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Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 12

The Supreme Court today asked the official liquidator appointed by it to go ahead with the auction of Sahara Groups flagship property Aamby Valley near Pune and warned that anybody obstructing the process would be sent to jail for contempt of court.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra took strong exception to SEBIs allegations against the company of obstructing the auction process.

If any impediment is caused in the auctioning process by anyone, he shall be liable of contempt of this court and sent to jail, the Bench said, clarifying that it was not initiating contempt action as of now.

The Bench piqued over the company allegedly obstructing the auction process by writing a letter to the Pune Police raising the issue of law and order at Aamby Valley.

Sahara should not have sent the letter to Pune Police as the auction had been ordered by the top court, the Bench noted.

SEBI alleged that the police had taken custody of the property and no bidder was willing to take part in the auction process.

But the Bench directed the DGP, Maharashtra, to ensure that the property was handed over to the Bombay High Courts official liquidator within 48 hours.

On behalf of Sahara, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi termed the allegations as completely wrong and aimed to prejudice the court.

No bidder has come...I (group) am not standing in the way. I have not halted anything and have not given property to the police, Rohatgi said. However, the Bench ordered the liquidator to go ahead with the auctioning process.

SEBI had on Tuesday filed a contempt petition against the Sahara Group accusing it of obstructing the auction of Aamby Valley.
Chandigarh, October 11

Charges were framed in the court today against the younger uncle of a 10-year-old rape victim.

The accused has been charged under Section 376 of the IPC along with Section 6 of the POCSO Act. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for tomorrow.

The DNA report of the accused had proved that he is the father of the victims child. The police had initially arrested the victims elder uncle as the only accused in the case as the girl had named him. However, his DNA test confirmed that he did not father her child.

The next hearing in the case against the elder uncle is scheduled for October 16.

During the re-investigation, the girl had told the police that the younger uncle also used to rape her. The police arrested him and got his DNA test conducted.

The trial of the two accused will run separately, but a joint judgment will be pronounced as a single FIR has been registered against both accused.

The incident of rape with the minor came to light in July when she complained of stomach ache. She was taken to a hospital where her mother was told that she was pregnant. The victim told her mother that it was her maternal uncle who had committed the act.  TNS
Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 11

For the third time, new conditions are issued to all departments of Panjab University (PU) regarding the MPhil and PhD admissions.

As per the fresh guidelines, dated October 10, MPhil degree will carry 10 per cent weightage. The condition was missing in earlier communication dated September 26, which had laid down the common criteria for the first time to be followed by all the departments.

Also, the research advisory committees will be formed for each research scholar, which will have three teachers from department plus the supervisor. As per the new data, there are 2,951 research scholars in the varsity which imply that same number of committees will be formed.

The issue of new guidelines came up when the Department of English and Cultural Studies rejected the candidature of daughter of former Education Minister of Haryana Geeta Bhukkal though she is the Junior Research Fellow (JRF). After that the guidelines were issued on September 26, where a common criteria was asked to be followed for rest of vacant seats.

On October 10, it was clarified to departments that earlier admissions would not be touched but vacant seats will be filled with new criteria-as communicated on September 26. Now, for MPhil, 60 per cent weightage will be given for academic record, which included 10 per cent for Class XII, 20 per cent for graduation and 30 per cent for post graduation. The interview here would carry 40 per cent marks. For PhD, 50 per cent marks are fixed for academic record which included 20 per cent weightage for graduation and 30 per cent for post graduation. The 10 per cent marks will be given for scholarship/fellowship. The interview carries 40 per cent marks which included 10 per cent marks for research proposal an 30 per cent for interaction with department committee. And now, MPhil will also be given 10 per cent weightage. So, formula needs to be worked out again for giving weightage to other accomplishments while admitting students for PhD.

Earlier, as per a circular dated June 29, all the departments had devised their own methods to admit students for MPhil and PhD, after they cleared National Eligibility Test (NET) or varsitys entrance test.

The circular dated June 29 had said that each department will devise their own admission criteria based on the candidates profile such as academic qualifications, interview performance, any other work experience, prior research activity, research aptitude etc. The Department of English and Cultural Studies conducted interviews and rejected former ministers daughter following which issues of reservation policy and subjectivity in selections were raised.

Vice-Chancellor Arun Kumar Grover presided over a meeting of chairpersons today in view of new guidelines for admissions to MPhil and PhD where some teachers expressed their resentment. It has been clarified in the meeting that there will be no cut off marks in the PhD interview.

During discussions, on filling all seats, Prof Rumina Sethi, chairperson of English and Cultural Studies, objected and said, PhD is about passion for learning. I dont think all seats or slots be filled as it would block admissions for next time. It is not like MA.

Prof Rajesh Gill, president, Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA), said, We want to give concession to reserved category students. But there is an issue about legality of guidelines which change every month and are contradictory to each other. When the process is over, criteria are changed. The qualifying marks for paper-1 for SC category have been reduced from 50 per cent to 40 per cent, but why not to 45 per cent or 35 per cent.

Prof Akshaya Kumar, Dean, Languages, said: I have submitted that changing guidelines will lead to litigation and new criteria could be implemented in December when fresh admissions will take place. But the VC replied that the university has social obligations to fulfill.

Just over 3% tribals doing PhD

Total research scholars in PU: 2,951

General category: 2,190 ( 74.2 %)

Scheduled Caste: 442 (around 15 %)

Scheduled Tribe: 92 (3.1 %)

Backward Caste: 183 (6.2 %)

Foreign nationals: 44 (1.5 %)

(Reservation to SCs, STs and OBCs is given at the rate of 15%, 7.5% and 27%, respectively in the government. But it is not followed in PU at the PhD level)

What October 10 guidelines say...
Pravin Sawhney

IS China an adversary or an enemy like Pakistan? This is a pertinent question. It has been raised by a distinguished former Foreign Secretary, Nirupama Rao. Writing in the context of the Doklam crisis, she has argued in the news portal The Wire that India should treat China as an adversary  with whom a compromise can be achieved through pragmatic diplomacy  rather than an enemy which should be destroyed.

On the face of it, her argument appears impeccable. However, from the military viewpoint, India has itself to blame for making China an enemy from an adversary, when it signed the 1993 Border Peace and Tranquillity Agreement (BPTA). Under the BPTA, India, on Chinese suggestion, agreed to formally address the disputed border as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The argument was that by calling the border LAC  which by definition is a military line  both sides could resolve the issue in an incremental fashion, sector by sector, instead of as a single political deal for the whole border, which was not making any headway. The Chinese explained that each sector, once mutually agreed upon, could be secured under 'equal and mutual security' clause; once done, troops from that sector could be withdrawn. Rao takes credit for inserting this clause with her Chinese counterpart, adopting it from the model of the Sino-Soviet treaty.

This argument made political sense to the then Prime Minister, PV Narasimha Rao, who favoured the Nehruvian thinking that only small changes could be made to the de-facto border handed over by British-India. Any major adjustments or swapping of territory for border resolution were not acceptable.

What was not understood by the Prime Minister and his diplomatic advisers was this: a military line, by definition, has to be held by military force since it can be altered tactically by the side with better border management backed by superior war-waging capabilities. If this logic is understood, it becomes clear why Chinese border transgressions started only after 1993 (except the 1986 Somdorong Chu crisis) and increased rapidly commensurate with its improved border management (roads and airlift ability) and war-waging capabilities relative to India.

While good border management is meant for exercising military coercion, better war-waging capabilities ensure that it is successful. If this is not so, the country doing military coercion has a heavy penalty to pay.

For example, India attempted military coercion against Pakistan with the 2001-2002 Operation Parakram, when the two armies stood face-to-face ready for war for 10 months. India, however, blinked first; its military coercion failed because its war-waging capabilities were assessed as not being credible by Pakistan. Consequently, Pakistans proxy war increased, starting 2003, when foreign mercenaries found their way into the Kashmir valley.

Coming back to China and the Doklam crisis, given its better infrastructure and war-waging capabilities, China has adopted an offensive border management posture. India, on the other hand, has a defensive border management posture where it can, at best, defend itself over a limited time and space (territory). I had argued in my 2001 book, The Defence Makeover: Ten Myths That Shape India, that China with its fast improving border management is an immediate military threat facing India, and not a long-term challenge as was believed by most until recently.

Worse, the recent Doklam crisis, which Indian analysts read as a victory, has already imposed a big price on the Indian Army. Unlike Chinese forces, the Indian Army has been compelled to strengthen its border management locally by moving a large number of troops forward to hold vulnerable areas (and they are aplenty) along the 3,488-km military line. These troops, acclimatised for altitudes above 10,000 ft to 18,000 ft, will now stay there round the year. Given the poor infrastructure and inclement weather at high altitudes, providing snow and wind-proof tents, clothing, food, oil (to keep troops warm), ammunition (without proper storage), and casualty evacuation will now be a big burden on the already-scarce resources of the Indian Army Aviation and the Air Force. And what about the morale of troops who would find no enemy but empty spaces opposite them? Moreover, no one knows how long the Army will be required to hold this re-enforced defensive posture. Given all this, was it sensible for India to have flexed its muscles in Doklam and score a pyrrhic victory when there was an opportunity for negotiations with China?

Then, there is that simply unfortunate clause  the equal and mutual security in the 1993 treaty. Until 2005, China was assessed capable of inducting 30 divisions (each with 10,000 troops) into Tibet over three to four months. Today, it can do it in 72 hours. Since India cannot match this, how will the concept of equal and mutual security hold? Moreover, the 1996 bilateral agreement lays down the numbers of heavy equipment (artillery, tanks, missiles) and troops that each side can bring close to the LAC under the equal and mutual security clause. This has injected legal restrictions on India.

Against this backdrop, it is difficult to visualise China as an adversary which regularly nibbles at Indias territory. Instead of give-and-take (this is what compromise is about), China claims the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh and has disowned border with India in Ladakh. While China, with its military shenanigans is an enemy, the question is: can India retrieve the situation?

The way forward is through cooperation rather than compromise with Beijing. China, which is embarked on an ambitious geopolitical endeavour through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), appears amenable to mutually exploring options to assuage Indias sovereignty concerns about it. There is a possibility of the two sides developing mutual trust by synchronising BRI and Indias Act East policy.

The writer is the Editor, Force news magazine
Karan Thapar

One of the themes in the Prime Minister's campaign speeches and rallies during his early years in office that struck an immediate chord with the country was his comments on how the relatives of powerful politicians grow rich after their parents reach high office. This was, of course, something the Indian people knew to be a fact, but Mr Modi was the first senior politician to speak about it, freely, frankly and frequently.

As far back as August 2013, in Bhuj, Mr Modi said: "Bhai-Bhateejavad purane dino ke dharavahikon mein bharastachar ke mool mein hua karta tha. Samay ke saath isme badlav aaya hai. Bharastachar mein ek naya dharavahik mama-bhanja aaya aur ab yeh saas, bahu aur damad ki aur badh gaya hai."

Twenty five months later, speaking in San Jose in September 2015, he was more explicit: "Hamare desh mein rajnetaon par kuch hi samay mein aarop lag jate hain. Usne 50 crore banaya, usne 100 crore banaya. Bete ne 250 crore banaya. Beti ne 500 crore banaya. Damad ne 1000 crore banaya. Chachere bhai ne contract le liyaye sunne ko milta hai ki nahi milta hai? Mere deshvasiyon, main aaj aapke beech mein khada hoon, hai koi aarop mujh pe?"

At the time the case that seemed to best illustrate Mr Modi's rhetoric was that of Robert Vadra. The Hindu and the Business Standard, in a series of reports, alleged his companies' fortunes had jumped from Rs 50 lakh to over Rs 300 crore in just six years. The issue most referred to was the purchase of 3.5 acres by Vadra's Skylight Hospitality in Manesar in February in 2007. Reports said that 24 hours after Vadra bought the land, it was mutated in his name. Six weeks later, the Haryana government gave permission for commercial use, thus dramatically increasing its value. Sixty five days later, the land Vadra bought for Rs 7.5 crore was sold to DLF for Rs 50 crore, a profit of 770 per cent.

Yet at the time Skylight Hospitality bought the land, its total assets were Rs 1 lakh and the payment for the land was shown as a book overdraft. The newspapers suspected that the money was advanced by DLF because they knew Vadra would be able to get the land use changed and then they could buy it from him, with both parties benefiting. In other words, it was a sweetheart deal. This impression was apparently corroborated by the fact that when Ashok Khemka, the Inspector-General of Registration, started an inquiry into Vadra's land dealings, he was immediately transferred, even though it was 11 at night.

Many people believe that recent reports by NDTV and TheWire.in about Amit Shah's son Jay Shah's companies bear an uncanny resemblance to the Vadra saga. The points made by the two media organisations are claimed to be factually correct and haven't been disputed though, like the Vadra case, the inferences or conclusions are said to be defamatory.

TheWire.in reports that the turnover of one of Jay Shah's companies "increased 16,000 times over in the year following the election of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister". NDTV adds that in the same year loans to 2 of Jay Shah's companies "rose to 53.4 crore, a jump of 4,000 per cent" compared to a total of 1.3 crore up to 2013-14. Going into further detail, the two media houses say one of the companies, Temple Enterprises, received an unsecured loan of 15.76 crore even though it had a 10 year "unimpressive track record". A second company, Kusum Finserve, incorporated in 2012 and with meagre profits of 1.73 crore after a first year loss, received a line of credit of 25 crore. NDTV even questions if it was entitled to this credit. TheWire adds Kusum Finserve, despite no experience in the energy or infrastructure sectors, received a 10.35 crore loan from a public sector enterprise IREDA to set up "a 2.1 MW wind energy plant".

All of this leads NDTV to comment: "Whether he (Jay Shah) was deserving, or benefited from a famous surname, can only be established by an inquiry". Separately, TheWire has reported that Tushar Mehta, Additional Solicitor-General, secured permission to represent Jay Shah in court, even though government law officers can only represent private parties in exceptional circumstances. The website also claims this was granted on the 6th though its story on Shah, which was the first to appear, was only published on the 8th.

Several questions are now likely to come to the mind of the voter. If the Shah story is reminiscent of the Vadra episode, don't the PM's comments in 2013 and 2015 apply as much to the former as they do to the latter? If one was an example of Bhai-Bhateejavad isn't that also true of the other? If Vadra's good fortune creates suspicion because his mother-in-law is Congress President, are we not entitled to ask whether Shah's luck is connected to his father's position as BJP President? In Vadra's case, nothing criminal has so far been found  and that's also true of Jay Shah  but that didn't stop the Opposition and media raising doubts, so now if the Opposition and media are doing the same to Shah, is it unprecedentedly awful and unwarranted? Indeed, isn't it the duty of the two to raise questions in the interest of democracy even if, occasionally or more often, they turn out to be misplaced?

Both as a candidate and in office, the PM had a lot to say about Robert Vadra. It was, of course, mainly based on suspicion, but the people applauded him for it. Today, he's silent. So don't we have the right to ask why a man who loves to speak suddenly has nothing to say?

The writer is a senior journalist and TV commentator. Views are personal.
Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, October 12

Residents of HUDA sectors across the state are up in arms against the authorities over the wrongful issuance of notices for recovery of enhancement dues and an exorbitant hike in water tariff.

Representatives of the Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) of HUDA sectors in Rohtak and 11 other districts have decided to join hands and put up a concerted struggle to get their concerns addressed.

A committee comprising members from the RWAs of HUDA sectors located in different districts across the state has been formed to launch a joint statewide agitation and take up the issues of common interest of sector residents with the state authorities, said Kadam Singh Ahlawat, president of the RWA of HUDA Sector 1.

He said as per the course of protest planned by the committee members, the RWAs will burn water bills on October 15.

On October 16, memorandums would be submitted to Haryana ministers, MPs and MLAs across the state.On October 23, the RWA members would stage demonstrations at the district headquarters.

The RWAs representatives maintained that the residents of many sectors were being put under a massive financial burden by charging heavy amounts in the name of enhancement.

For instance, residents of Sector 3 in Rohtak were given enhancement notices after about seven years of the courts orders and they have also been told to pay the interest for the said duration, which is unfair, said Ram Chander Siwach, chairman of the RWA ad hoc committee of HUDA Sector 3, Rohtak.

As of now, notices of recovery pertaining to enhancement have been issued to residents of Sector 5 here. The allottees, who got the HUDA plots for nearly Rs 9,000 per square yard, will be required to shell out more than Rs 4,000 per square metre for their plots .

US Phogat, convener of all RWAs of HUDA sectors in Rohtak, pointed out that water tariff in HUDA sectors had now become almost five times the water tariff charged from domestic consumers of other urban as well as rural areas.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 12

Nine rapes took place at Murthal in Haryana during the Jat agitation last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court was told on Thursday.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

As the case came up for resumed hearing this afternoon, amicus curiae or the friend of the court Anupam Gupta told a division bench of the high court that former DGP of Haryana KP Singh had himself admitted the factum of rapes.

Gupta told the court that information to this effect was given to him by senior IAS officer Vijay Vardhan.

The amicus curiae said he received a call from another IAS officer Ashok Khemka that Vardhan wanted to talk to him.

Vardhan then called up to say that K P Singh had told him about nine rapes.

Vardhan has already denied talking to Gupta on the issue.

Gupta said the fact that Vardhan called could easily be varied from his call details.

The information was exchanged during the last meeting before the Parkash Singh committee report was finalised.

Gupta also said Vardhan was pulled up by the chief minister for speaking out.

He also told the court that owner of Sukhdev dhaba, who told media about rapes but denied it before SIT would speak like a cannon if the case went to the CBI.
Chandigarh, October 12

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has urged 5,000 newly-recruited policemen across the state to watch Rajkumar Rao starer film Newton to motivate them to perform their duties honestly.

The Oscar-nominated film, with Rao in the lead role, will also be screened at the Madhuban police centre in the state in the presence of the chief minister.

Principal Secretary to chief minister Rajesh Khullar said Khattar has urged the newly-recruited policemen to watch the movie to motivate them to perform their duties honestly and dedicatedly.

'Newton' is a Bollywood movie based on the story of a government clerk who performs his duties with full dedication and sincerity.

Actor RajKumar Rao, who was also present here, said it was a matter of pride for him that the special screening of his film 'Newton' had been organised by the state government today.

"It gives a good message to the society as it is based on a story of bringing out a change in the system by removing the shortcomings and encouraging people to discharge their duties honestly," Rao said.  PTI
Ambika Sharma

The poll dynamics of the Solan constituency were drastically altered after it was reserved in 2012 following delimitation. Leadership vacuum was visible both in the Congress as well as the BJP as new faces were introduced to contest the 2012 Assembly polls.

Prior to 2012, the BJP was well-entrenched in Solan with Dr Rajiv Bindal winning three consecutive Assembly elections, including a bypoll. Though the Congress earlier held the seat in 1993 and 1998 it had failed to break the hegemony of the BJP since 2000. Delimitation proved a blessing in disguise for the Congress which fielded two-time Lok Sabha MP Dr Dhani Ram Shandil in 2012. He wrested the seat with ease by polling 49.97 per cent votes against the BJP's first-timer Kumari Sheela. He was the party's natural choice after the seat was reserved.

Facing leadership vacuum, the BJP had fielded its zila parishad chairperson Kumari Sheela in 2012. Though she lost by 4,472 votes in 2012, she is likely to be the party's nominee again. Two new contenders, however, are keen to throw their hat in the ring.

The Congress vote share has registered a decline after the 2012 Assembly polls and it slipped by 5,372 votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. It also lost the key Municipal Committee elections while Sheela consolidated her vote share in 15 panchayats in the zila parishad polls of 2016.

Lack of mass contact, failure to address key issues like grant of smart city status for Solan, perpetual shortage of water and lack of staff in health institutions are key issues causing resentment among the people. The simmering anger in the Kandaghat belt where criminal cases were slapped against locals for raising voice against an alleged godman will also hit the Congress vote share as Shandil had failed to support them.

"Shortage of doctors at Regional Hospital, Solan, and little efforts to address the problem of chronic water shortage in the town are the key issues which have remained unaddressed despite having a Cabinet minister from the area," rued Rakesh Verma, a town resident.

ARKI

Cong enjoys edge due to development works

The Arki seat is a typical example of infighting at its heightened state as despite being the stronghold of the Congress till 2003, faulty ticket distribution in 2007 has created a chasm which could not be abridged even 10 years later.

Former Congress MLA Dharam Pal Thakur, who won three times in a row in 1993, 1998 and 2003, was denied a ticket in 2007 as the party opted for Prakash Chand. He not only lost his security deposit, but was placed third while Thakur who had contested as a rebel finished second. The infighting gave the BJP

an opportunity to wrest this seat which it had won only in 1990 and in earlier in 1982.

The Congress did not learn a lesson from its defeat in 2007 and the last polls were also marred by infighting where a party rebel, Amar Chand Pal, contested and lost by a narrow margin of 2,075 votes while BJP's Govind Ram Sharma registered his second victory. Sanjay Awasthy is the front-runner for the ticket now and his position has been strengthened with Amar Chand Pal joining the party-fold.

The BJP has several ticket aspirants, including state BJP secretary Rattan Singh Pal and Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh's national secretary Surinder Thakur. Sharmas's lackadaisical approach towards raising key issues like inordinate delay in the payment of truckers dues by JP Cements are sure to impact his poll prospects.

The constituency has seen major development works like opening of three colleges at Jainagar, Diggal and Darlaghat and upgrade of the Civil Hospital at Arki to a 100-bedded facility. Sanctioning of funds worth Rs 90 crore for detailed project reports of 22 roads was a major initiative of the government. A key potable water scheme worth Rs 28 crore on the Gambher river is in an advanced stage of being commissioned.

With speculation that Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh could contest from the segment being rife, a plethora of development works are implemented here, giving a clear advantage to the Congress. An Executive Engineer of the Irrigation and Public Works Department, Hemant Tanwar, was also toiling hard to secure a ticket.
Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

Srinagar October 11

Two Indian Air Force (IAF) commandos were killed in a counter-militancy operation in Kashmir today. Two wanted Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants were also killed in the gunfight that took place at Paribal-Salamabad village in Bandipora district this morning.

Two wanted LeT militants and two IAF Garud commandos were killed in Hajin, Bandipora, this morning, said Sheikh Zulfikar Azad, Senior Superintendent of Police, Bandipora. The commandos were with the Army for operational experience and training, he said.

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On specific information about militants presence in a house at Hajin, the police, Army and CRPF launched a joint operation around 2.30 am.

As the security forces zeroed in on the militants, they came out of the residential building and opened fire, triggering a gunfight, the police said. An IAF commando was killed on the spot while the other succumbed to his injuries at the Armys 92-Base Hospital in Srinagar. Security personnel gunned down the two LeT militants as they tried to break the cordon and flee.

The slain IAF personnel were identified as Sergeant K Milind Kishor and Corporal Nilesh Kumar Nayan. Kishor, 33, of Sakri town in Nashik, Maharashtra, had joined the IAF in 2002. Nayan, 31, of Udhadih village in Bhagalpur district of Bihar, donned the IAF uniform in 2005.

The killed militants were identified as Nasrullah Mir (alias Anna) of Hajin and Ali Bai (alias Maaz) of Pakistan. The police found two AK rifles, a pistol, 19 rounds, a grenade, two pouches and other ammunition at the encounter site.

Mir had joined militancy in May, while Ali had been active since January 2015.

The police said both militants were involved in several attacks, including the killing of local BSF jawan Mohammad Ramzan in September, civilian Muzaffar Ahmad Parray (whose decapitated body was found in the Jhelum in August) and dreaded counter-insurgent Rashid Billa in April.

Sources said LeT commander Mehmood Bhai had also been injured in the gunfight. We are yet to confirm this information, Zulfikar said.

2 cops arrested for aiding Hizbul

Srinagar: Two Jammu and Kashmir constables were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly supplying ammunition to Hizbul Mujahideen. Constables Shabir Ahmad Malik and Nazir Ahmed Najar allegedly supplied 40 rounds of ammunition to overground Hizbul workers in south and central Kashmir, the police said. They were arrested along with two others affiliated with the group. DGP SP Vaid complimented the police for busting the "unholy nexus" PTI
Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 12

Officially portraying women personalities namely Indira Gandhi, Lata Mangeshkar, Mother Teresa and Kalpana Chawala equal to pro-Pakistani separatist leader Asiya Andrabi is snowballing into a big controversy, as the furious Congress has shot a letter to VV Vyas, Chief Secretary, to lodge a protest against demonising political stalwarts by figuring them with pro-terrorist leaders.

Stunned at the glorification of the separatist leader by its own government, an embarrassed BJP today shifted blame on pro-Pakistani elements in the administration, who, according to the party, are accomplishing their nefarious designs.

A picture of Asiya Andrabi, chief of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat who publicly preaches violence and advocates merger of Kashmir into Pakistan, was featured on a banner of the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign by the child care wing of the Social Welfare Department in the Breng block of Anantnag district yesterday.

As the banner went viral, the Child Development Project Officer of the block was placed under suspension, but glorifying Asiya has given an issue to the opposition to target the BJP.

This is not a goof-up, it is a deliberate attempt on part of the PDP-BJP government to demonise our leaders who sacrificed their lives for the nation, said Sham Lal Sharma, Congress vice-president and former minister. How dare this government feature Mrs Indira Gandhi with Asiya Andrabi? he questioned.

The BJP, on the other hand, observed that it was the handiwork of the pro-Pakistani elements in the administration. We strongly condemn this action of the administration, Varinder Gupta, spokesman of the BJP, said and candidly admitted that anti-national elements were active in the administration.

The person responsible for the goof-up has been placed under suspension and an inquiry has been ordered against her. Asiya Andrabi is not a role model for women in Jammu and Kashmir or elsewhere.  Sajjad Lone, Social Welfare Minister

The episode has unfolded the bitter reality that the BJP and PDP are acting as mere agents of the separatists and it is the latter whose writ is running in the state.  Harsh Dev Singh, Panthers Party leader

We demand apology from Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh in particular for the failure of the state government to check the separatist tendencies and safeguard the interests of the nation.  Ravinder Sharma, PCC spokesman
Our Correspondent

Pulwama, October 12

Two girls suffered minor injuries after militants lobbed a grenade towards a beauty parlour near Shaheed Park in south Kashmirs Pulwama district this afternoon.

The police said the attack took place around 3.45 pm and was aimed at Rani Beauty Parlour.

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the district said a girl identified as Shubeena was brought to the Pulwama District Hospital with a minor injury on her arm. The CMO said she was discharged after treatment.

Confirming the incident, Pulwama Senior Superintendent of Police Mohammad Aslam Choudhary said the grenade was aimed at the parlour and two girls working there were injured.

One girl suffered injuries due to splinters while another was hit by shattered glass, he said, adding that a police party had reached the spot and were ascertaining the situation.

The SSP said the parlour was also damaged. He said some youth later assembled at Shaheed Park and threw stones on security forces, forcing the police to fire tearsmoke shells.

Reportedly, posters of militant outfits had surfaced in and around the beauty parlour, asking it to shut down or face dire consequences.

This is third grenade attack in three weeks in the Valley. On September 21, minister Naeem Akhter escaped unhurt in a grenade attack in south Kashmirs Tral that left three civilians dead and 30 others injured. Three days later a Special Police Officer averted casualties by throwing away a grenade tossed at a security forces vehicle in Sopore.
Sumit Hakhoo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 12

Representative organisations of displaced Kashmiri Pandits today sought constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct inquiry into the encroachment of land by government departments in the Valley after the exodus of 3.50 lakh Hindus in 1990.

The Tribune had carried a report on October 11 about the district administration allowing various departments to illegally construct offices or educational institutions on the land belonging to Pandits without taking consent of the owners and ignoring the directions of courts in this regard.

Terming it a serious issue, BJP Member of Legislative Council (MLC) GL Raina has written a letter to Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmed Khan, seeking information about the instances of illegal encroachment of immovable properties belonging to the minority community and action taken to deter land mafia.

If some government departments have illegally constructed infrastructure on the land belonging to the minority community, then action should be taken. A majority of them are living in Jammu. I have also received several complaints about religious properties being encroached by individuals and an organised syndicate, said Raina, adding that he would take up the issue with the government.

An SIT should conduct free and fair investigation. We want action against the departments which are illegally occupying the properties. There are several instances where temple properties have been illegally sold, said TK Bhat, general secretary, All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference.

Section 3 of the Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection and Restraint on Distress Sales) Act, 1997, puts curbs on alienation of immovable property belonging to the migrants. Section 4 makes the Divisional Commissioner custodian of the immovable properties belonging to the Pandits.

Jagti Tenement Committee president SL Pandita said action should be taken against Revenue Department officials who had allowed such construction. There are hundreds of instances where revenue records have been tampered with. The government should take a suitable action under the law but we dont think it is interested, said Pandita.
Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, October 12

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj in 2008.

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The verdict ends a nine-year ordeal of the parents who were found guilty by a CBI court of murdering 14-year-old Aarushi in a fit of rage because they suspected her of having an affair with Hemraj.

The CBI may challenge the high court decision in the Supreme Court.

A Division Bench of the court comprising justices B K Narayana and A K Mishra upheld the Talwars' appeal against the CBI court order sentencing them to life imprisonment on November 26, 2013.

Pronouncing the verdict in a packed court room, the Bench said that it is a fit case where benefit of doubt can be given to the appellants and set aside the judgment of the CBI court convicting the Talwars.

Earlier, on September 7, the court had reserved its judgment in the case, which shook the conscience of the nation and saw several twists and turns.

Reacting to the verdict, the CBI said it would study the high court order and decide the future course of action.

Nupur and Rajesh Talwar have been serving their sentence in Ghaziabad's Dasna jail.

Jailor of the Gaziabads Dasna prison Dadhiram Maurya said the Talwars felt they have got justice and were praying.

After having breakfast they were praying. Their schedule was normal. She (Nupur Talwar) said they got justice today and had tears of joy.

Any person after spending this amount of jail will feel happy to get freedom. So they were happy after they were told about the news, he said.

Lawyer Rebecca John, who was part of Talwars legal team, said she was relieved by the judgment. She claimed the whole case was based on innuendos and would not have carried through.

John, who is a family friend of the couple, hoped that the Talwars, who have been in media spotlight for over nine years, will be allowed privacy after their release from the jail.

Jail sources said the couple was likely to walk free tomorrow.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing, but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house two days later.

As the Uttar Pradesh Police drew flak over shoddy investigation into the case which was making national headlines, the then chief minister Mayawati handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). With PTI inputs
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 12

Heralding a major change in the manner advocates are designated as senior advocates, the Supreme Court today ordered setting up of a panel headed by the Chief Justice of India along with a secretariat for the purpose.

While laying down a set of detailed guidelines, a Bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, however, dismissed the plea to declare unconstitutional Section 16 of the Advocates Act, 1962, that empowers the SC or a HC to designate an advocate as a senior advocate, saying possibility of misuse cannot be a ground to strike down a provision.

The court said if a senior lawyer was found guilty of misconduct, the decision to designate him/her as a senior can be reviewed and recalled by the full court. Also, if a lawyers application for designation as a senior has been rejected, his/her case can be considered only after two years of such rejection.

Noting that the guidelines may not be exhaustive, the Bench said the court may reconsider these in the light of the experience gained over a period of time.

Acting on petitions filed by senior advocate Indira Jaising and three others, the Bench laid down 11 guidelines to deal with the process of designating lawyers as seniors. The petitioners had contended that the entire process was arbitrary as there are no proper guidelines for it.

All matters relating to designation of senior advocates in the SC and in HCs shall be dealt with by a Permanent Committee to be known as Committee for Designation of Senior Advocates, it said.

The panel headed by the CJI, will consist of two senior-most SC Judges or HC Judges  as the case may be  and the Attorney General or the Advocate General of a state in case of a high court will be its member, it said, adding the four Members of the Permanent Committee will nominate its fifth Member from the Bar. It will have a permanent secretariat, the composition of which will be decided by the CJI or the Chief Justices of the high courts, as may be, in consultation with the other Members of the Permanent Committee, it said.

All requests for designating a lawyer as senior would be sent to the secretariat, which would compile relevant data and information with regard to the reputation, conduct, integrity of the Advocate(s) concerned, including his/her participation in pro-bono work; reported judgments in which the concerned Advocate(s) had appeared; the number of such judgments for the last five years.

It said the secretariat would collect the data and their sources for perusal and decision by the CJI-led panel. The proposal of designation of a particular advocate would be published in the official website of the court concerned inviting suggestions/views of other stakeholders in the proposed designation.

The Bench said 100 points would be awarded under various heads to the lawyers seeking consideration for being designated as seniors. These include years spent in the profession, domain knowledge of various branches of law, pro-bono work, reported judgment, publication, personality and interview. Names cleared by the Permanent Committee will go to the Full Court comprising all judges of the HC concerned or the SC ourt for approval, it said.
Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 12

With Health Ministry officials still grappling with the reasons behind Secretary CK Mishras sudden exit, a section privy to the goings on felt delayed health infrastructure projects could have triggered the replacement of a high profile, approachable and friendly Mishra, who brought fillip to the maternal and child health plan.

Known for taking joint secretaries along, Mishra spent his last day in Health Ministry today and will join as Environment Secretary soon. Mishra, the 1983 Bihar-cadre IAS officer, has for long been known for his closeness to Health Minister JP Nadda. Nadda and Mishra went to the same school in Bihar.

Mishras departure order last night came as a shock to most ministry officers who privately said they didnt know what happened.

There were, however, some murmurs today about consternation in the ministry over delayed execution of several big ticket health infrastructure projects, including 10 new AIIMS-like institutions announced in the Union Budgets starting 2014 since the Narendra Modi-led BJP government came to power. Considering the PMO is constantly monitoring government promises, the challenge multiplied. Ministry sources said the progress of AIIMS-like institutions was found to be satisfactory and could do with more pace.

Foundation stones have so far been laid for the construction of the following AIIMS-like institutions  Mangalgiri in Andhra Pradesh, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Kalyan in Bengal, Bathinda in Punjab and Bilaspur in Himachal.

Delivery of these projects is crucial and the pace of delivery needs a boost. Thats always a priority, a Health Ministry source said. There is also some delay in the ongoing government scheme to upgrade state medical colleges with super specialty blocks. Further, in Delhi, the new emergency and super specialty block of Safdarjung Hospital stands constructed but hasnt become operational due to delays in procurement of equipment.

Sources said overcoming administrative challenges to realize health infrastructure goals was an important part of Union Health Secretarys profile.

That said, Mishra had acquired the reputation of being a driver of key projects on maternal and child health. Under him, rules were relaxed to boost domestic medical devices and drug sector and several new child vaccines were added to the immunisation basket to improve Indias sluggish child immunisation coverage under Mission Indradhanush. Preeti Sudan, former Secretary, Food will replace Mishra. She wont join until Monday as she is currently in Rome and returns only this weekend.
Chandigarh, October 12

Taking up the issue of pollution caused by firecrackers, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice to the home secretaries of Punjab, Haryana and the Chandigarh administration, giving them a days time to respond.

As the suo motu or court on its own motion case came up for hearing, the Division Bench of Justices Ajay Kumar Mittal and Amit Rawal asked both the states, as well as the UT administration, to supply the information on issuance of licences for explosives, whether temporary or permanent.

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Senior advocate Anupam Gupta was also appointed as amicus curiae or the friend of the court to assist the Bench in the matter. The order came a day after Justice Rawal took suo motu cognisance of pollution caused by fireworks during the Diwali season, while expressing serious concern over the increasing level of pollution in the region and its effects.

Justice Rawal observed that the air quality deteriorated abysmally and alarmingly and the city was choked thereafter. Even after 10 pm, a person was unable to move out of the house, he pointed out.  TNS
New Delhi, October 12

Seasoned diplomat Gautam Bambawale, India's high commissioner to Pakistan, was on Thursday appointed as the country's next envoy to China.

This was announced tonight by the external affairs ministry.

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A 1984 India Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Bambawale is expected to take up the assignment shortly, the ministry said.

He will replace Vijay Gokhale.

A deft hand in Sino-India relations, Bambawale opted to learn Mandarin Chinese as his foreign language and served in Hong Kong and Beijing between 1985 and 1991.

He was first the desk officer for China in the Ministry of External Affairs and served as director in the Americas Division of the ministry, responsible for relations with the US and Canada (1993-94).

He has also functioned as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian Embassy in Beijing.

His appointment comes at a time when India and China are trying to put behind the Dokalam standoff, and work on a "forward-looking" approach in their ties.  PTI
Tribune News Service

Patna, October 11

Yashwant Sinha, BJP leader, today slammed the way the allegations levelled against BJP chief Amit Shahs son Jay Shah were defended by a Union Minister. It appears the party has lost its moral high ground, he said.

I will certainly like to say that the manner in which Union Minister Piyush Goyal jumped into fray in defence of Jay Shahs Temple Enterprises Limited was not called for. He is a Central Minister, not a chartered accountant of Jay Shah, Sinha said.

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The charges against Jays firm are a matter of probe and we have several agencies to do that. The way it was defended should have been avoided, he observed.

Whether Jays episode had cast a slur on Modis government, Sinha explained: Dont want to go into details. The way Modi government jumped into the fray, reacted to the matter and defended Jay, it appears it has lost its moral ground.

Asked about the defamation case filed against The Wire that carried the story on Jay's business, Sinha: Media is pivotal to democracy. Trying to choke its voice through any means, including the filing of a defamation suit for Rs 100 crore, should have been avoided.

Sinha also expressed reservations over the very special circumstances under which Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was cleared to fight Jay Shah's defamation case against The Wire.

Sinha, however, insisted that he did not want to comment on the merit of the story that claimed that there was a huge rise in the turnover of Jay's firm after the BJP came to power in 2014. The turnover of Jays firm allegedly went up from Rs 50,000 in 2014 to Rs 80 crore in 2015.
Noida/Allahabad, Oct 12

Avirook Sen, the author of the book based on the 2008 murder of Aarushi Talwar and domestic help Hemraj, welcomed the Allahabad High Court judgment acquitting her parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, saying the wrong done by the CBI has been corrected.

The couple had been sentenced to life imprisonment by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Ghaziabad in 2013. They had appealed in the high court, which on Thursday acquitted them of the double murder, giving them the benefit of doubt.

I am glad that the wrong that was done in Ghaziabad has been corrected. It has been reversed today by the honourable High Court, Sen told IANS, adding: They have spent nearly a decade under this cloud and have finally been acquitted.

Of his personal observation of Aarushis parents, he said: I remember the couples life as a life mainly of pressure and sadness.

As after the verdict the murders remain unsolved, Sen feels that the court has played its responsibility and it is the duty of the CBI to find the murderers. Its not the HCs mandate to find out who the killers are. The court is charged with only one responsibility and that was on the evidence presented by the CBI against the Talwars. he said.  IANS
Jammu/Rajouri, October 12

A soldier and a civilian porter were killed today as the Pakistani army opened fire on Indian positions on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmirs Krishna Ghati sector.

Sources said five soldiers were also injured in the ceasefire violation. The Defence PRO said the Pakistani army resorted to unprovoked firing with small arms and automatics from 10.35 am and the Indian Army retaliated strongly. The firing stopped in the afternoon.

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The slain soldier has been identified as 21-year-old Sepoy TK Reddy from Obulapuram village of Andhra Pradesh. He is survived by his mother Gurrumma. The porter has been identified as 22-year-old Mohammed Zahir, a resident of Kalali village in Rajouri district of J&K.

A source said: All the soldiers and the porter were injured or killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast that was planted to stop the illegal entry of anti-national elements into the Indian territory. Some bullets might have hit the IED, triggering the blast. This month alone, the Pakistani army has violated the ceasefire agreement more than 10 times.  TNS
Manas Dasgupta

Ahmedabad, October 11

The hearing in the criminal defamation case filed by Jay Shah, the businessman son of BJP president Amit Shah, against the news portal, The Wire, was today deferred till October 16 as both the complainant and his senior advocate could not remain present in the court.

An assistant of senior advocate SV Raju, who was to appear on behalf of Jay, requested the court of Ahmedabad metropolitan magistrate SK Gadhavi for a new date as his senior colleague could not attend the court as he was busy with some other case in the Gujarat HC. He also presented two witnesses  Rajiv Hasmukh Shah and Jaimin Naresh Shah as was directed by the court for verification of the case when Jay had filed the complaint on October 9. The court agreed to postpone the hearing to October 16 and warned that in case Raju could not remain present on the said date, no further postponement of the hearing would be granted.

The Wire had published an article which claimed the turnover of Jays firm Temple Enterprises had risen 16,000 times within a year of Modi becoming the PM in 2014.

CBI, ED must probe biz dealings: CPM

The CPM has urged the government to direct the CBI and ED to probe Jay Shahs business dealings. Its journal Peoples Democracy said: Jay Shah has become the centre of a case of crony capitalism and questions are being raised about business malfeasance. IANS
New Delhi, October 12

A creaky Wagon R, used by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till the 2015 assembly election and which helped cement his position as the "aam aadmi", was on Thursday stolen from outside the Delhi Secretariat, police said.

A senior police officer said the incident happened just before noon and was reported to the police around 1 pm. The car was parked on the roadside outside the Delhi Secretariat.

The incident has outraged AAP workers, many of whom posted videos of Kejriwal using the car, especially during the 2014 Republic Day, after he became the chief minister of Delhi for the first time.

AAP's Haryana convener Naveen Jaihind has announced an undisclosed amount as reward for whoever finds the vehicle.

Jaihind had sought the "lucky car" for his campaigning when he contested the 2014 Lok Sabha poll from Rohtak.

I want this car back. There are a lot of emotions, memories attached to it. Whoever returns the car, I will give him a suitable reward, which will be much more than what he will get from selling the car," Jaihind said.

Like Jaihind, many AAP volunteers recollect the "iconic" car for it witnessed the ups and downs of the Aam Aadmi Party.

The car was witness to two assembly election wins in 2013 and 2015 and also to the party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls.

It was "donated" to Kejriwal by Kundan Sharma, a software engineer, in January 2013. However, when Kejriwal parted ways with his then party colleagues Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav, Sharma demanded that the vehicle be returned.

Even after Kejriwal became the chief minister in December 2013, he refused to use an official car and preferred his old Wagon-R.

AAP volunteers recall the blue car which had rust and dents on it, giving refuge to a sick Kejriwal, suffering from severe cough and cold on a nippy January night in 2014, when he staged a 'dharna' outside the Rail Bhawan against the Delhi Police.

The humble hatchback was used by an AAP functionary before it was stolen this afternoon.

"I am just praying, it comes back!!#BlueWagonR," AAP leader Vandana Singh, who was using the car, tweeted.

"The car was parked outside the Delhi Secretariat. It went missing around 1 pm," a senior police official said.

Hitting out at Lt Governor Anil Baijal, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said the stealing of the chief minister's car was "grave" and reflects the state of law and order in the city.

"Lt Governor's job is to focus on law and order. But, instead of doing that he interferes in other affairs," he said.

Police were scanning CCTV footage to ascertain the number of people who were involved in the incident. So far, they have not found any leads.  PTI
New Delhi, October 12

ADG BSF Arun Kumar, who had headed a CBI team into the Aarushi Talwar murder case, on Thursday called for a review of criminal justice system following the acquittal of the Talwar couple by the Allahabad High Court.

The CBI team under Kumar had concluded that Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj were murdered by Krishna Thadarai  help at Talwars clinic, his friend Rajkumara domestic servant with Praful and Anita Durrani who were Talwars friends, and Vijay Mandal, driver of Talwars neighbour.

The findings, however, were trashed by then CBI director Ashwani Kumar who found holes in the investigation by Arun Kumar.

It is a well-discussed case. Subject to the confirmation of the court (about Talwar couple being innocent), think of the family and what has happened to them. Let us review our criminal justice system, Arun Kumar told PTI.

He said nobody should face what the Talwars had faced.

#AarushiVerdict My only concern is how do we ensure that this is not repeated with any other case! It was worth pursuing the truth, the Additional Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) wrote on Twitter after the verdict.

The Allahabad High Court today acquitted Nupur and Rajesh Talwar in the 2008 murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, saying that neither the circumstances nor the evidence was enough to hold them guilty.

The verdict ends, at least for now, the nine-year ordeal of the Noida couple who were sentenced to life by a Ghaziabad CBI court on November 28, 2013, for the double murder that not only transfixed but also shook the nation with its element of filicide.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.  PTI
Ahmedabad, October 11

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today wrapped up his three-day visit to poll-bound Gujarat.

Clutching at the controversy surrounding the rise in the turnover of a company owned by Amit Shah's son Jay Shah, Gandhi, attacked the duo on their home turf. "The two beneficiaries of the business dealings of Amit Shah's son Jay are Narendra Modi and Shah. Achhe din aa gaye unke (good days have arrived for them)," Gandhi said, taking a dig at Modi's promise of ushering in good times. But people need not worry... elections are round the corner, and once the Congress comes to power, 'achhe din' will truly come for the common man, he told a public meeting in this town of Dahod district.  PTI/OC
Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 12

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the official liquidator appointed by it to go ahead with the auction of Sahara Groups flagship property Aamby Valley near Pune and warned that anybody obstructing the process would sent to jail for contempt of court.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra took strong exception to market regulator SEBIs allegations against the company of obstructing the auction process.

If any impediment is caused in the auctioning process by anyone, he shall be liable of contempt of this court and sent to jail," the bench said, clarifying that it was not initiating contempt action as of now.

The bench piqued over the company allegedly obstructing the auction process by writing a letter to the Pune police raising the issue of law and order at Aamby Valley.

Sahara should not have sent the letter to Pune Police as the auction had been ordered by the top court, the bench noted.

SEBI alleged that the police had taken custody of the property and no bidder was willing to take part in the auction process.

But the bench directed the Director General of Police, Maharashtra, to ensure that the property was handed over to the Bombay High Court's official liquidator within 48 hours.

On behalf of Sahara, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi termed the allegations as "completely wrong and aimed to prejudice the court.

"No bidder has come...I (group) am not standing in the way. I have not halted anything and have not given property to the police," Rohatgi said.

However, the bench ordered the liquidator to go ahead with the auctioning process.

SEBI had on Tuesday filed a contempt petition against the Sahara Group accusing it of obstructing the implementation of the courts order for auction of the companys flagship property Aamby Valley near Pune.

Accusing Sahara of attempting to subvert, hinder, thwart and derail the due process of law, SEBI had said: It is obvious that no prospective purchaser would make a bid when there is a lock out and the Police have taken control of the property.

In its petition, SEBI accused Sahara of adopting subterfuge methods to avoid auction of the property and declaring a lockout of the commercial premises six days ahead of the proposed auction.

Angry over non-payment of money, the top court had on April 17 decided to sell Aamby Valley worth more Rs 34,000 crore belonging to the Sahara group to recover money owed by the company to investors.

Thereafter, it turned down repeated Saharas repeated pleas to halt the auction process being overseen by the official liquidator of the Bombay High Court.

The reserve price was fixed at Rs 37,392 crore for Aamby Valley near Lonavala in Pune district of Maharashtra. The sale by actual auction was to be held on October 10 and 11, 2017.

Sahara chief Subrata Roy was sent to Tihar jail on March 4, 2014. But the top court granted him a four-week parole on May 6, 2016 to attend his mothers funeral. His parole has been periodically extended since then.
Patna, October 12

BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha on Thursday expressed dismay over not being invited to the centenary celebrations of Patna University on Saturday in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be the chief guest.

The actor-turned-politician, an alumnus of Patna University that falls under his parliamentary constituency, said he does not figure in the guest list for the occasion.

I am very emotionally attached to my alma mater. I am pained over being denied invitation on such an occasion, Shatrughan Sinha told PTI.

He claimed BJP leader Yashwant Sinha and RJD president Lalu Prasad, former students of the university, were also not invited to the programme.

University authorities, however, said they were not yet invited because of a delay in printing invitation cards and they are in the guest list.

Shatrughan Sinha, who has in the past put his party in embarrassing situations due to his comments on various issues, said his elder brother Yashwant Sinha and RJD president Lalu Prasad were also not in the guest list despite being prominent students of PU.

I spoke to the two and they also expressed shock over not being invited to the function on October 14 at Patna, Shatrughan Sinha, popularly known as Bihari Babu, said.

Asked if he has been deliberately left out of the PMs programme due to his comments contrary to the party line, Shatrughan Sinha said, Quite possible.

Governor Satya Pal Malik, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad would share dais with the PM on that day.

Recently, Vice Chancellor of Patna University Rash Bihari Singh had come to meet me with Yashwant Sinha in Delhi and sought my guidance for successful organisation of the centenary celebrations of Patna University, Shatrughan Sinha said.

The BJP leader, who has been assisting colleges of Patna University out of his MP Development Fund, said I hope the PM would be told about the problems of PU like shortage of teachers, lack of fund among others so that he can render help to get rid of these.

Vice Chancellor Singh said, Printing of invitation cards got delayed and thats why cards have not been sent to them.

But, they are very much in our guest list.

We are going to organise a mega event as part of PU centenary celebrations on December 10 in which all former students of the university would be invited, he said.  PTI
Sanjeev Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 11

Prioritising 19 key areas to accelerate growth and employment over the next six months, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), at its first meeting today, asked the Centre not to deviate from the path of fiscal consolidation.

The recommendation on sticking to the fiscal consolidation exercise outlined by chairman Bibek Debroy is significant as there was speculation that the government would announce stimulus measures to boost growth.

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The government has already announced a cut in basic excise duty on petrol and diesel with a revenue loss of Rs 26,000 crore a year. It has also provided sops to MSME and the export sector under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) purview.

In his presentation, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian focused on accelerating growth, including investment and exports, using a combination of policy levers. The council has identified 10 themes around which its report would be structured, developed by Theme Groups through consultative processes involving sectoral ministries, states, institutions and the private sector.

The themes identified are economic growth, employment and job creation, informal sector and integration, fiscal framework, monetary policy, public expenditure, institutions of economic governance, agriculture and animal husbandry, patterns of consumption and production and social sector.

Debroy said: Our entire thrust would be on implementable decisions.

Asked whether the government could breach the fiscal deficit to provide stimulus to industry, Debroy replied: There is a consensus (among members)... that the fiscal consolidation exercise should not be deviated.

The deliberations took stock of the economic and monetary policy environment and identified key issues that it would focus on. The council recommended the need for effective tracking of key economic parameters through possible mechanisms for instituting an economy track monitor for action based on informed assessment and analysis.

This council is focused on critical interventions related to accelerating growth and employment, with greater social and financial inclusion, based on rigorous economic analysis, an official statement read.

WB projections binned

New Delhi: Rathin Roy, member of the Economic Advisory Council, dismissed lowering of Indias growth projections by the IMF and World Bank, saying they often go 'wrong'. The IMF has lowered India's growth forecast for the current fiscal by 0.5 percentage points to 6.7%. The WB Bank has pegged it at 7 % . PTI
Tribune News Service

Lucknow, October 12

Reversing a CBI court judgment, the Allahabad High Court today acquitted dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar of the charge of murdering their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, 45, in May 2008.

They are expected to be freed from Ghaziabads Dasna jail tomorrow after the completion of paperwork.

The 263-page verdict ends, at least for now, the nine- year ordeal of the Noida couple, who were sentenced to life by a Ghaziabad CBI court in November 2013 for the double murder that not only transfixed but also shook the nation with its element of filicide. But the central question remains  who killed Aarushi and Hemraj?

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The Division Bench of Justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra read out the operative part of the judgment in a jam-packed courtroom and acquitted the couple, saying neither the circumstances nor the evidence was enough to hold them guilty.

Ending the Talwars nine-year ordeal, the court said the Central Bureau of Investigation had based its case purely on circumstantial evidence that did not quite add up. Finding no direct evidence, the court gave the benefit of doubt to the couple and quashed the CBI courts sentence of life imprisonment.

On November 25, 2013, the CBI trial court had held them guilty of the double murder. Since then, the Talwars have been imprisoned in Dasna jail, Ghaziabad. They challenged the CBI verdict in the Allahabad High Court in January 2014. Their repeated pleas for bail were turned down. After daily hearings, the High Court concluded the arguments and reserved its judgment on September 7 this year.

According to the counsel for the Talwars, the court said there was a strong alternative theory in the case. He said the court refuted the CBI theory that there was no third person in the house when the murders took place.

CBI counsels said they would first study the entire judgment and then decide if the verdict was to be challenged in the Supreme Court or not.

Dasna prison jailer Dadhiram Maurya said the Talwars felt they had got justice and were praying. After having breakfast, they had been praying. Their schedule was normal. She (Nupur Talwar) said they got justice today and had tears of joy.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The suspicion initially fell on 45-year-old Hemraj, who was missing at that time. But his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.

As the Uttar Pradesh Police drew flak over shoddy investigation into the case, the then Chief Minister Mayawati recommended a probe by the CBI.

Group Captain BG Chitnis (retd), Nupur Talwars father, said, I am grateful to the judiciary for the verdict. They have really suffered. They are emotionally drained. At my age, it was very trying to see my daughter behind bars.

Vandana Talwar, Aarushis aunt, said, Its been an exhausting journey for us.

Lawyer Rebecca John, who was part of the Talwars legal team, claimed the whole case was based on innuendos.

(With PTI inputs)

Mystery of one of most mysterious whodunits continues

May 16, 2008: Aarushi Talwar found dead in her bedroom; domestic help Hemraj suspected as the killer

May 17: Hemrajs body found on the terrace of Talwars residential building

May 19: Talwars former domestic help Vishnu Sharma named suspect

May 23: Aarushis father Rajesh Talwar arrested as a key accused

June 1: CBI takes over the probe in the case

June 13: Talwars domestic help Krishna arrested by CBI

June 26: CBI declares it a blind case; Rajesh Talwar denied bail by a special Ghaziabad magistrate

July 12: Rajesh Talwar granted bail

December 29: CBI submits closure report, gives clean chit to servants, but points finger at parents

February 9, 2011: Court takes cognisance of CBI report and asks it to continue with prosecution charging Aarushis parents with murder and destruction of evidence

February 21: Talwars approach Allahabad HC for quashing trial court summons

March 18: Allahabad HC dismisses the plea

November 2013: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar convicted of the double murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad

September 7, 2017: Allahabad HC Bench reserves judgment on parents plea and fixes October 12 as the date of verdict

October 12: Allahabad HC acquits Aarushis parents. PTI
Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Nabha, October 12

Farmers of Kalar Majri village said the state government had provided them a combine fitted with an SMS machine along with two mulches, which helped them to deal with stubble.

Paramjit Singh, a farmer, said they would be accompanying officials of the Agriculture Department to inform the NGT about the help extended by the government to deal with stubble.

He said a member of a local farmers union had visited the village last evening and asked them to burn stubble so that the union could mount pressure on the government to pay a compensation of Rs200 per quintal for the management of stubble.

He said a group of members of the farmers union came to the village this morning also to persuade them to set the stubble on fire. But they refused to do so as considerable harm had already been done to the environment.

Dr Arvinder Singh, District Chief Agriculture Officer, said they had made preparations to take farmers to Chandigarh so that they could depose before the NGT.
Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, October 11

A moderate turnout of voters was witnessed in the Gurdaspur parliamentary byelection which was held today amid sporadic incidents of violence. The poll percentage was pegged at 56 per cent as compared to 69.5 per cent in the 2014 general elections.

The enthusiasm shown by workers of the Congress, BJP and AAP during the campaign was absent today as just around half of the 15 lakh voters exercised their franchise.

The Congress is seeing the bypoll as a referendum on the first six months of its rule, while for the BJP this is the first election after the imposition of the GST.

BJP candidate Swaran Salaria cast vote at his native village Chohani, while AAPs Maj Gen Suresh Khajuria (retd) voted in Pathankot. Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar did not cast his vote as he is enrolled as a voter in the Abohar Assembly seat.

Meanwhile, some incidents of violence gave a tough time to the police and paramilitary forces.

Harinder Singh Harry Pahra, former SAD sarpanch of Pahra village, the native place of sitting Gurdaspur Congress MLA Barnindermeet Singh Pahra, was among five persons who were seriously injured after they were allegedly attacked by Congress workers. The injured have been admitted to the Gurdaspur Civil Hospital.

Harry Pahra alleged that he was attacked with sharp weapons at the behest of the local MLA. He said despite submitting a complaint with the Sadar police station, no FIR was registered. MLA Pahra, however, denied that his workers were responsible for the attack.

Harry also alleged that SSP Harcharan Singh Bhullar was working under the influence of the MLA. The SSP has ordered officials of the Sadar police station not to register an FIR, he alleged.

The SSP denied the allegations, saying that they were in the process of filing an FIR. The investigation officer is looking into all aspects. Once he submits his report, an FIR will be registered, he said. SAD-BJP leaders said they would gherao the police station if the SSP failed to act.

They alleged that despite being brought to the hospital with serious injuries, the authorities were not willing to admit Harry and his colleagues. It was only after SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema called up Civil Surgeon Dr Ram Lal that the injured were admitted.

At Ghotpokhar village, there were minor incidents of violence, which were brought under control by the police.

Congress, SAD workers clash AT Babbehali Village

A potentially volatile situation developed on Wednesday at Babbehali village, the native place of former SAD MLA GS Babbehali, following a clash between supporters of the Congress and the SAD. The turban of a loyalist of Babbehali was tossed in the melee.

Amandeep Singh Randhawa, SHO, Tibber police station, reached the spot with a police team. Babbehali, who also reached there, claimed that MLA Pahra's brother was instigating Congress supporters to attack Akali workers.

He was, however, asked to leave by the SHO. The Akali leader left, but not before warning the police to act in an unbiased manner or be ready to face consequences.

In Pathankot, AAP candidate Maj Gen Suresh Khajuria (retd) filed a complaint with the Election Commission claiming that a Congress worker was threatening BJP workers to vote for Jakhar.

In Qadian, sitting MLA Fateh Jung Bajwa allegedly slapped a polling agent of the Akali Dal, Balwinder Singh Sona Bajwa. The incident took place at 4.30 pm at polling booth number 159 in Bhaini Bangar. BJP candidate Swaran Salaria also reached the spot.

"From the turnout, it appears that there was hardly a competition for the Congress. The SAD-BJP had already given up. Their workers did not even turn up at the polling booths. AAP was nowhere in the picture."

Sunil Jakhar, PPCC President and Congress Candidate

The Congress wants to win the election by hook or by crook. In Gurdaspur, local MLA BS Pahras father and younger brother started visiting polling stations in the morning. They roughed up our workers and told them to go home.

Daljit Singh Cheema, SAD spokesperson

What happened today was not democracy. It was goondacracy. The Congress MLAs resorted to violence the moment they got to know that their candidate was losing. During campaign, they used abusive language. This is unethical.

Maj Gen Suresh Khajuria (retd), AAP Candidate,

Polling peaceful, says CEO

Chandigarh: Chief Electoral Officer VK Singh said owing to the cooperation of the district administration and political parties, the poll process had remained peaceful. He said the model code of conduct came into force with the announcement of the bypoll and during this period, the commission received 58 complaints which were disposed of. A total of four complaints were received on Wednesday, he said. TNS

Low turnout owing to fear: SAD

Gurdaspur: The moderate turnout in the bypoll was attributed by SAD-BJP leaders to fear among voters that the election will be a violent one. Daljit Singh Cheema, SAD spokesperson, has filed two complaints with the Election Commission (EC) regarding the alleged misconduct of the police and the administration. He alleged Congress workers acted as goons and attacked Akali supporters at several places. The police and the district administration were working at the behest of the Congress even as the Akali Dal had apprised the EC of the matter, he alleged. TNS

VVPAT in all polling stations

Chandigarh: Gurdaspur is the first parliamentary constituency in the country where all polling stations used Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines which help the voters confirm in whose favour they cast their votes. VVPAT prints a paper slip that contains the poll symbol and name of the candidate voted for. It allows the voter to verify his choice. After being visible to the voter from a glass case for seven seconds, the slip automatically falls into the drop box in the machine and a beep is heard. TNS

Counting on October 15

Chandigarh: The electronic voting machines (EVMs) have been kept in Gurdaspur and Pathankot, where the counting of votes will take place on October 15. Sources said tight security arrangements had been made where the EVMs had been kept. Around 30 companies of paramilitary forces and more than 7,000 Punjab Police personnel were deployed in the constituency for the byelection. A total of 1,781 polling stations were set up at 1,257 locations. TNS
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 11

Twentytwo years after Punjabs then Chief Minister Beant Singh was assassinated, his grandson Guriqbal Singhs appointment as Deputy Superintendent of Punjab Police on compassionate grounds after allegedly bending the rules today came under judicial scanner.

Acting on a petition alleging that Guriqbal was not even eligible for appointment, Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain of the High Court fixed December 5 as the next date of hearing in the matter.

Seeking the setting aside of his appointment, Praveen Kumar of Tarn Taran claimed that in any case his family did not require compassionate appointment as their financial and political status was sky scrapping

Describing himself as a member of the Khalra Mission organisation formed in 1995, the petitioner claimed he was working for the welfare of anti-Sikh riots victims. He added Guriqbal was younger brother of Ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu and cousin of Khanna MLA Gurkirat Kotli.

He added government jobs had been offered to the families of slain police officers in the past, but never to kin of Chief Minister assassinated while in office. Quoting sources in the state Chief Ministers office, the petitioner claimed that proposal for his appointment came from Captain Amarinder Singh himself.

It was on the Chief Ministers nod that the department concerned sought an application from Guriqbal. The government has bent the rules and law to recruite his grandson as DSP on compassionate grounds. What makes him ineligible is the fact that he has crossed the maximum age of 28 for direct recruitment as DSP in Punjab. He added that an objection had also been made by the Finance Department that the appointment could not be legally valid.

The objective of compassionate appointment was to give succour to the family which suddenly plunged into penury due to the untimely death of its sole breadwinner. But in the Guriqbal case, his family was having high political status as almost all of the members were in politics as MP and MLAs.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 11

The district court here today granted bail to Congress leader and Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu in a six-year-old case pertaining to unlawful assembly and disobedience.

However, he has been served a notice under Section 446 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to which he will file a reply on the next hearing, which is scheduled for October 21.

Defence counsel Terminder Singh argued that Bittus offence was not intentional. He argued that it was not publicised that Section 144 was imposed in the area; neither was it published in newspapers nor any documentary evidence depicted the same. Thus, there was no way the MP could have known about Section 144 being in effect in the area at that time.

The Congress leader had missed the last three hearings continuously and non-bailable warrants (NBWs) were issued against him.

Earlier, the Member of Parliament was granted bail on May 12 after furnishing bonds worth Rs 25,000.

The bail was given on the condition that he would cooperate with the police in the investigation and his counsel had given an undertaking that he would be present at all hearings.

However, he failed to appear in court despite repeated notices.

Today, the Congress leader furnished bail bonds worth Rs 50,000 in court.

The case
Pawan Jaiswar

Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, October 12

A 45-year-old woman died of burn injuries on Thursday after she was allegedly set on fire by her father-in-law here late last evening.

The victim, identified as Harjinder Kaur of Burj Puhla village, suffered critical burn injuries and died at a private hospital in Amritsar today.

The police have booked Arjun Singh (80), who went absconding after the crime. Harjinders husband is a head constable in the Punjab Police.

The victim, yesterday, in her statement to the police said that she had a verbal fight with her father-in-law Arjun Singh over some monetary issue.

She said her father-in-law poured petrol on her.

She said before she could understand anything, he set her on fire.

Surinderpal Singh, additional SHO, Harike police station, told the victim was married to Gursahib Singh around 22 years ago and the couple has two children. The body was sent to Patti Civil Hospital for post-mortem examination.

He said earlier a case under Section 307 was registered against the accused, which has now been converted into murder.

Gursahib Singh said the incident has shocked the entire family.

Sukhwinder Singh and Surjit Singh, Sarpanch and former Sarpanch of the village, said that Arjun was a marginal farmer having just two-and-half acres of land.

They said he was of harsh nature.
Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 12

The Army is upset with the state government for dilly-dallying on giving land to it in exchange for defence land in Amritsar and Jalandhar.

The government had acquired about 10 acres of land in Jalandhar Cantt for widening of the national highway near PAP Chowk. In exchange, it had promised to give an alternative land.

Its been two years and the government is yet to honour its promise. The widening of the road, though, is in progress.

In Amritsar, the government had acquired 47 acres and promised 100 acres in exchange in Nawanshahrs Bir Sarnagwal village.

In a meeting here today, senior Army officers reminded Revenue and Home Department officials about the unfulfilled promises. The government assured the Army of speeding up the process of giving land in exchange for the Amritsar land. As for the Jalandhar Cantt land issue, the government said the matter had been stuck.

Sources told The Tribune the Army was asked to settle the matter with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), as both were Central departments.

The Army reminded the state government that the previous SAD-BJP government had pressed on the Army to give the land for a public cause. Moreover, the state government is the executing agency for land acquisition.

On the insistence of Army officers, the state government agreed to examine the possibility of acquiring land for the Army, but officials insisted the Army should settle the matter with the NHAI first.

An official said Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh would take a final call on the matter.

Sources said as per the laid-down formula of providing alternative land, the Army is seeking land worth Rs 400 crore in Bir Sarnagwal village in lieu of Rs 98-crore land.

Army offers to construct road

Thursdays meeting discussed a contentious matter of passages in Jalandhar Cantonment used by residents of six villages to gain access to the national highway. Citing security threats, the Army wants to construct a boundary wall and block the entry of villagers. The villagers and local politicians protested and the matter is hanging fire. The Army proposed to construct a periphery road outside and along its boundary wall leading to the national highway for the benefit of villagers. For this, the Army has demanded 20 acres from the state government. The meeting agreed to form a committee of officials to study the project and report within 15 days.
New Delhi, October 11

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) today directed the Punjab Government to produce before it 21 farmers which it claimed to have helped by giving incentives and infrastructural facilities to prevent them from burning crop residue in a bid to check air pollution.

Over a 100 farmers had gathered outside the NGT premises here today to attend the hearing on the issue and put forth their submissions and grievances through a lawyer before a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar.

The Bench took exception to the fact that even after more than two years, nothing substantial has been done with regard to stubble burning.

It directed the state government to produce the 21 farmers before it on October 13, after the state told the NGT that it had provided assistance to them to encourage them not to burn crop residue.

For two years, we waited for you (Punjab) to comply with our direction. We asked you to come up with an action plan for at least one district. What steps did you take in this regard?

Can you produce a single farmer from the entire Punjab before us, whom you can say that you have provided any kind of assistance? This is not a political issue but this issue relates to the environment. You should think as a human being why this is taking so long, the Bench, also comprising Justice RS Rathore, said.

During the proceedings, advocate IG Kapila, appearing for the farmers, referred to a newspaper report and said the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and a few biomass power units have expressed their intent to purchase crop residue from farmers in surrounding states.

He said the NTPC and representatives of other companies were willing to cut and buy crop residue from the fields. Kapila, on behalf of the large number of farmers who had gathered outside the NGT to attend the hearing, said the state government had not taken any concrete step to help the farmers. The government had earlier said that they had taken Kalar Majri village in Nabha Tehsil of Patiala district as a model project for implementing the directions of the NGT and to sensitise the farmers.

While the farmers of Kalar Majri village, which has around 390 acres of land under paddy, were yet to get machinery or financial assistance by the government, the neighbouring villages have started setting their fields on fire, a farmer said outside the courtroom.  PTI
GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 12

Rival Sikh groups brandishing swords clashed at the entrance plaza of the Golden Temple Complex here on Thursday, leaving several people from both the sides injured.

The clash occurred when the SGPC task force forcibly tried to push Master Johar Singh, the president of managing committee of Chhota Ghallughara Gurdwara at Qadian, out of the complex.

Master Johar had come to appear before the parallel jathedars, who had summoned him to clarify his stance over the ruckus created at the gurdwara in August following the involvement of one of the gurdwara management members in immoral activities.

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Supporters of the parallel jathedars got involved in a verbal dual with the SGPC task force which turned ugly when the parallel jathedars tried to gain entry towards the Akal Takht. Both groups took out swords leading to panic among devotees in the shrine.

The situation was brought under control with the timely intervention of the police.

#WATCH: 3 injured in a clash b/w supporters of parallel Jathedars & Task Force of SGPC outside Golden Temple in Amritsar; swords also seen. pic.twitter.com/n6s0T1Yvt1  ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2017

Acting jathedar Dhyan Singh Mand held SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar, secretary, and manager, Golden Temple, responsible for the incident and demanded that they be booked on attempt-to-murder charges.

On the other hand, SGPC secretary Roop Singh said it was an unfortunate incident which had vitiated the atmosphere at the shrine. He said two SGPC task force men and additional secretary Vijay Singh had received injuries. He demanded the registration of a case against the supporters of parallel jathedars.
Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 11

The state government is hoping that its sagging economy will get a boost after the removal of pain points from the GST by the GST Council during its meeting held last week.

With many issues of exporters from Punjab and small traders getting addressed last week, the state is looking at getting the much-needed fund flow, promised with the GST rollout.

Officials in Punjab are buoyed by the rise in the month-on-month state GST collections, which are much higher than the revenue earned in the corresponding period last year, when the Value Added Tax regime was in place.

While the first month of filing GST returns, August, saw just Rs 10 crore increase in the state GST (SGST) and the integrated GST (IGST), September saw the revenue rising up by Rs 80 crore in tax collection. The SGST and IGST collections in August were Rs 855 crore and in September Rs 940 crore. Besides, the state has received Rs 600 crore as the first instalment of compensation from the Centre for replacing VAT with the GST.

State government officials admit that the GST collections in the first two months were only marginally higher than the VATR collections of last year. However, with the main pain points in the GST being removed, we are positive that the trade and industry will get a big boost and revenues will go up, said Rajeev Gupta, state adviser on GST. The government is hoping that Punjab being a largely consumer state, the GST collections would go up substantially.

The officials say the main concerns of the traders are deferment of imposition of reverse charge in case business is done with dealers not registered under the GST; promise of early release of refunds that was blocking the working capital; exemption from the GST to those having a turnover of less than

Rs 20 lakh in cases where interstate services were provided.

The issue was discussed during a review meeting yesterday. The officials are hopeful that the true potential of collections from the GST will be known only by the year-end.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 12

The state government will present 30 farmers before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) tomorrow in response to the latters directive to produce 21 farmers incentivised to check stubble-burning.

The Agriculture Department will also update the tribunal on action taken so far to manage paddy straw at Kalar Majri village of Nabha in Patiala district.

A spokesperson said a detailed list of activities, including providing machines to farmers, would be provided to the NGT. The equipment is already operational across 67 acres, the official added.

The department is also taking steps in six other villages of Patiala district, besides exploring ways and means to provide incentives to farmers not to burn the stubble.

Meanwhile, BKU (Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan said in case the state did not implement the directions of the tribunal or pay a compensation of Rs200 per acre, the farmers would be forced to burn the stubble.

Although the tribunal did not make farmer unions a party while taking up the petition, it had directed the state in 2015 to initiate steps to help the farmers. This was not done by the state, Kokri Kalan alleged.

Now, farmers were being threatened with cases and red entries in the revenue records. Farmers were committing suicide due to debt and were unable to invest in costly farm implements to manage crop residue, which would put an additional burden of Rs6,000-Rs7,000 per acre, he pointed out.

The poor farmers, who were already debt-ridden, cannot afford to spend huge amounts for this purpose, he added.

The union would request the tribunal to order the registration of cases against officials who had done nothing to mitigate the suffering of the farmers, he added.

The BKU (Ekta) condemned the legal action being taken against farmers for burning straw.

Stop victimising farmers: SAD

Chandigarh: The SAD on Thursday asked the Congress government to stop victimising farmers who were burning paddy stubble and instead incentivise them by offering a minimum compensation of Rs 4,000 per acre to stop the practice. In a statement, SAD general secretary Bikram Singh Majithia said: It is condemnable that the government has approached farmers with warnings and even threatened to withdraw subsides if they burn stubble. The government should immediately incentivise straw management by registering farmers who undertake not to burn stubble. He further said, Lakhs of farmers are burning stubble, but the government has told the NGT that it has assisted only 21 farmers in managing straw. tns
THE military correspondent of the Times discusses the question of training Indian officers for the British Army since a certain number of them are to be given commissions in the army. It is not yet known what number of commissions will be given to Indians and what are the qualifications for earning the same. It is, however, hoped that Indian subjects of His Majesty will be given no less opportunity for qualifying themselves for the army than are given to English subjects. Any differentiation in conditions and qualifications would be resented in India as being opposed to the spirit of the Parliamentary declarations and Royal Proclamations.
Jotirmay Thapliyal

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 12

Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committed today unanimously passed a resolution to appoint national party vice president Rahul Gandhi as AICC president.

The resolution was passed at the newly elected Pradesh Congress Committee meeting that took place at state Congress headquarters in Dehradun today.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly and senior Congress MLA from Haldwani Dr Indira Hridyesh put forward the resolution before the PCC meeting which was seconded by state Congress president Pritam Singh, which was followed by unanimous passage of the resolution by the PCC.

The passage of the resolution by Uttarakhand PCC comes at a time when there has been growing clamour among Congress workers in the state that Rahul Gandhis elevation to the post of party national president will boot Congress electoral prospects in the 2019 parliamentary elections. The party had lost all the five Lok sabha seats in Uttarakhand in last parliamentary polls.

Earlier, former chief minister Harish Rawat put forward another proposal authorising Congress president Sonia Gandhi to appoint Uttarakhand state Congress president and also the AICC members from the state. The proposal was unanimously passed at the meeting.

In his address, Uttarakhand Congress president Pritam Singh welcomed the newly elected PCC members and hoped that they would help in strengthening the party organisation in the state. He said the Congress party would also be benefited from the newly elected PCC members in coming parliamentary elections.

Joth Singh Bisht, Suryakant Dhasmana, Vijay Sarawat, Sanjay Paliwal, Mathura Dutt Joshi and all other newly elected PCC members were present at the meeting, which prominently included 225 delegates.
Tripoli, October 12

Libyan coast guards have rescued 74 illegal immigrants, including women and children, from a damaged rubber boat off the western shores of the country, according to a medical source.

A patrol of the Libyan Coast Guards and the western Ports Security rescued 74 illegal immigrants, including 22 women and 4 children, who were on board a broken rubber boat off the coast of the western city of Zawiya, Amir Jamal Al-Bishti of the international medical committee of EU told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Al-Bishti said that all the rescued migrants are of African nationalities, confirming that the migrants were taken to the capital Tripoli for medical assistance before taking them to a housing center.

Libya is a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants who want to cross the Mediterranean towards European shores, due to the insecurity and chaos in the country since the fall of Muammar Gaddafis regime in 2011.

Smugglers send thousands of migrants in rickety boats towards Europe, many of whom drown on the way. Immigrants who are rescued at sea by Libyan Navy are taken to reception centres with poor living conditions.  IANS
Islamabad, October 12

A kidnapped US-Canadian couple and their three children born in captivity have been freed in Pakistan, nearly five years after the couple was abducted in neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistani and US officials said on Thursday.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network, which the United States has long accused Pakistan of failing to fight.

US President Donald Trump, who has been highly critical of Islamabad, praised Pakistans cooperation with the US government over the freeing of the hostages, saying it represented "a positive moment" for US-Pakistan relations.

"The Pakistani government's cooperation is a sign that it is honouring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region," Trump said in a statement.

The Pakistani army and US government statements offered no details about the operation itself.

The Pakistani army said its forces "recovered" the hostages after acting on US intelligence about their passage into Pakistan from Afghanistan. A US State Department statement used the word "rescue" to describe efforts by the US and Pakistani governments to secure the hostages' release.

Coleman was pregnant at the time she was kidnapped, and a video released by the Taliban in December showed two sons born while she and her husband were hostages.

Thursday's statements from Islamabad and Washington were the first mention of a third child.

The Pakistani effort came as Pakistan and the United States, uneasy allies in fighting Taliban and other Islamist extremists in the region, are experiencing one of the worst lows in their relations.

In recent days, senior US officials have been more pointed about Islamabad's alleged ties to militant groups, who are battling against US and US-backed forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Last week, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the United States would try "one more time" to work with Pakistan in Afghanistan before Trump would "take whatever steps are necessary" to change Pakistan's behaviour.

Pakistan touted the success of the operation as proof of the strength of the alliance.

The success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan's continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy," the Pakistani army statement said.

US intelligence agencies had been tracking the hostages and on Wednesday shared that they family had been moved to Pakistan through Kurram tribal area border, the army said. No other details were immediately available.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump's strategy in the region recognised "the important role Pakistan needs to play to bring stability and ultimately peace to the region.

"The United States is hopeful that Pakistan's actions will further a US-Pakistan relationship marked by growing commitments to counterterrorism operations and stronger ties in all other respects, Tillerson said.  Reuters
Yangon, October 12

Pope Francis will talk peace on his to visit Myanmar, a Catholic church representative said today, a potentially highly charged trip during a refugee crisis that has seen 520,000 Rohingya Muslims pushed out of the country.

The late November visit comes as western Rakhine state is devoured by communal violence that has sent unprecedented numbers of Rohingya fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh. Myanmars army is accused of using a crackdown on militants to expel its Muslim Rohingya population-a persecuted minority the Pope has previously called brothers and sisters.

Any comments seen to support the Rohingya could provoke a strong reaction from hardline Buddhist clerics and a Buddhist-majority public aggrieved at global support for the Muslim group.

Myanmar has roughly half a million Catholic population, mainly in the remote north. The same goes for Muslim-majority Bangladesh-where the Pope will travel on to.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Myanmar said it was unclear whether the Pope would address the Rakhine crisis during his November 27-30 trip.

We dont know yet what will be his speech... but he is coming for the sake of the country and he will be talking about peace, Father Mariano Soe Naing, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar, told AFP.

There wont be any interfaith meetings because of the lack of time, he said, although he will meet with the main Buddhist authority.

Some 200,000 people are expected to attend a mass led by Francis in Kyaikkasan Grounds, a stadium in Yangon, he added. Myanmar and the Vatican only established full diplomatic relations in May, shortly after de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Pope Francis during a European tour.  PTI
Yangon, October 12

Pope Francis will talk peace on his to visit Myanmar, a Catholic church representative said on Thursday, a potentially highly charged trip during a refugee crisis that has seen 5,20,000 Rohingya Muslims pushed out of the country.

The late November visit comes as western Rakhine state is devoured by communal violence that has sent unprecedented numbers of Rohingya fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh.

Myanmars army is accused of using a crackdown on militants to expel its Muslim Rohingya populationa persecuted minority the Pope has previously called brothers and sisters.

Any comments seen to support the Rohingya could provoke a strong reaction from hardline Buddhist clerics and a Buddhist-majority public aggrieved at global support for the Muslim group.

Myanmar has a small roughly half a million Catholic population, mainly in the remote north. The same goes for Muslim-majority Bangladeshwhere the Pope will travel on to.

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Myanmar said it was unclear whether the Pope would address the Rakhine crisis during his November 27-30 trip.

We dont know yet what will be his speech... but he is coming for the sake of the country and he will be talking about peace, Father Mariano Soe Naing, a spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar, told AFP.

There wont be any interfaith meetings because of the lack of time, he said, although he will meet with the main Buddhist authority.

Some 2,00,000 people are expected to attend a mass led by Francis in Kyaikkasan Grounds, a stadium in Yangon, he added.

Myanmar and the Vatican only established full diplomatic relations in May, shortly after de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Pope Francis during a European tour.

That visit was overshadowed by her countrys treatment of the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship by the state and have previously been displaced in huge numbers by communal violence and army campaigns.

Only weeks before his meeting with Suu Kyi, Francis described the Muslim minority as brothers and sisters who were were being tortured and killed for their faith.

He added they were good and peaceful people who have suffered for years.

Any repetition of that stance will put Francis at odds with many inside Myanmar, where authorities have denied committing atrocities and tried to cast the Rohingya as the villains.

Buddhist nationalist hardliners have previously vowed to protest the papal visit because of his support for the Muslim group.

This week Myanmars government called for unity with a large inter-faith rally in Yangon, the first since the Rakhine crisis. AFP
Cairo/Gaza, October 12

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah reached a deal over political reconciliation on Thursday after Hamas agreed to hand over administrative control of the Gaza enclave the group has controlled for more than a decade.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh announced the Egyptian-brokered accord in a statement without providing further details about a deal expected to cover administrative, security and border crossing arrangements in the Gaza Strip.

The Western-backed mainstream Fatah party lost control of Gaza to Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the West and Israel, in a brief civil war in 2007. But last month Hamas agreed to cede powers in Gaza to President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah-backed government.

The president welcomes the agreement reached in Cairo between the delegations of Fatah and Hamas and instructed Fatahs delegation to immediately sign the agreement, an official at the office of Abbas said.

Egypt has helped mediate several attempts to reconcile the two movements and form a power-sharing unity government in Gaza and the West Bank, where Abbas and the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority are based. Hamas and Fatah agreed in 2014 to form a national reconciliation government, but despite that deal, Hamass shadow government continued to rule Gaza.

Hamas agreed to hand administrative powers in Gaza to a Fatah-backed government last month. The move was a major reversal for Hamas, prompted partly by the groups fears of potential financial and political isolation after its main donor Qatar fell into a major diplomatic dispute with key allies.

Delegations from the two rivals have been in talks in Cairo this week to work out the details of the administrative handover, including security in Gaza and at border crossings.

Key will be the Rafah point, Gazas only border crossing with Egypt and once the gateway to the world for the impoverished coastal territorys two million people.  Reuters

Pact over control of Gaza Strip
Madrid, October 12

Spain marked its national day today with a show of unity in the face of Catalan independence efforts, a day after the central government gave the regions separatist leader a deadline to abandon his secession bid.

The country is suffering its worst political crisis in a generation after separatists in the wealthy northeastern region voted in a banned referendum on October 1 to split from Spain.

To mark the national holiday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and King Felipe VI attended a traditional military parade in central Madrid.

Armed forces marched along Madrids Paseo de la Castellana boulevard to commemorate the day that Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Americas in 1492.

Separate pro-unity rallies, including one by members of a far-right movement, got under way in the Catalan capital Barcelona.

In Madrid, cheering crowds lined the streets, waving red and yellow Spanish flags and some crying Viva Espana! as air force jets and helicopters swooped overhead. Javier Corchuelo, a 28-year-old welder, came with his friends from a town southwest of the capital to witness the spectacle.

Rajoy has vowed to do everything in his power to prevent Catalan secession and his government said Wednesday that it would take control of the region if it tried to break away.

The warning came after Catalonias president Carles Puigdemont announced Tuesday that he had accepted the mandate for Catalonia to become an independent state. He signed an independence declaration but asked regional lawmakers to suspend it to allow for dialogue with Madrid.  AFP
Washington, October 12

The US on Thursday announced it will withdraw from the UNESCO, accusing the UN cultural body of "anti-Israel" bias and cited the need for "fundamental reform" in the organisation.

The withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018. The US will remain a full member of the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation until then.

"This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement.

She said the Department of State today notified UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova of the US decision to withdraw from the organisation and to seek to establish a "permanent observer" mission to UNESCO.

"The US indicated to the Director General its desire to remain engaged with UNESCO as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organisation, including the protection of world heritage, advocating for press freedoms, and promoting scientific collaboration and education," Nauert said.

Bokova voiced "profound regret" over the US decision, calling it a "loss to multilateralism".

"After receiving official notification by the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, as UNESCO Director-General, I wish to express profound regret at the decision of the US to withdraw from UNESCO," Bokova in a statement.

She said at the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the US to withdraw from the UN cultural body promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack.

In 2011, under the Obama administration, the US cut off its budget contribution to the agency in protest at its acceptance of Palestine as a member-state.

President Donald Trump has criticised what he called a disproportionate contribution by the US to UN institutions.

The US funds 22 per cent of the UN's regular budget.

The US withdrawal is also motivated by a desire to save money, the Foreign Policy magazine reported.

This is not the first time the US has withdrawn from the agency.

The Ronald Reagan administration quit the organisation in the 1984, and the US rejoined it in 2002 under the George W Bush administration, the magazine said.

Paris-based UNESCO, which began work in 1946, is known for designating World Heritage sites.  PTI
Photo: via Twitter, @realDonaldTrump

Its one thing for a president of the United States to use trucks as a backdrop and truckers as a verbal prop in a speech flogging a policy initiative that is in serious danger of going nowhere fast.

It would be another thing if that same POTUS used the power of his office to keep pushing for an act of Congress that has a far better chance of passing  and that would undoubtedly benefit everyone in trucking along with all Americans who depend on trucking to deliver their goods.

Whats more, if that more winnable battle was won, it actually would make it far easier for that president and his partys majority on Capitol Hill to notch other victories they promised their voters that they would secure this very year.

Yes, I am talking about the stump speech President Trump gave near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Wednesday night to pump up enthusiasm for the tax-reform package he has wanted Congress to pass all year. The event was part of his ongoing series of road show engagements that he uses (as have his recent Oval Office predecessors) to tout one or another policy goal.

At this one, the invited guests included executives and members of the American Trucking Associations, as well as representatives of local government and of such organizations as the National Federation of Independent Business. But truckers were front and center in Trump's remarks, figuratively standing in for what the president called the hardworking men and women of America.

America first means putting Americas truckers first, said Trump, warming up to his key message for the night that our country, and our economy, cannot take off like they should unless we transform Americas outdated, complex, and extremely burdensome tax code.

Serving as a backdrop to his open-air podium, arranged at the apron of an Air National Guard hangar, was a pair of tractor-trailers festooned with special graphics bearing the well-known slogan I Love Trucks" and the unfamiliar one Truckers for Tax Reform.

In a statement issued in tandem with the presidents event, ATA President and CEO Chris Spear called on Congress to quickly act on comprehensive tax reform to help grow the economy and create jobs.

While trucking sustains the vitality of the U.S. economy, we also carry a heavy tax burden, paying the highest corporate tax rate of any transportation mode, said Spear. He said thats why ATA supports Trumps tax-reform plan and is urging Congress to follow the presidents lead and pass tax reform by years end.

The president said his approach to tax reform would achieve certain core principles. He said, as best as I can discern from trying to boil down his published remarks, that these are: 1) cutting taxes for everyday, hardworking Americans by not taxing the first $12,000 for a single individual and the first $24,000 for a married couple; 2) nearly doubling the amount of income based at the zero bracket; and 3) dropping the 10% bracket and reducing the 15% rate down to 12%.

Of course, the whole plan  or framework, as the president called it  is a little more complicated than that.

Of course, truckers want tax reform. Its high on ATAs lobbying agenda. Trump wants tax reform, too. He campaigned on it. Who doesnt want tax reform? Businesses want it. People want it. Politicians want it. Even educated fleas want it. But getting it will be another matter altogether.

For starters, few things have as many devils in their details than does the United States Tax Code  and an awful lot of those devils have their own interest groups sworn to keeping them in place.

Consider that the mortgage-interest deduction, certainly one of the biggest tax giveaways ever, is in no danger of being eliminated by any Republican, Democratic or Trumpian tax-reform scheme. Thats despite the contention that this tax break doesnt just benefit the so-called middle class, whose members all politicians aim to court. Why wont it be taken away? Because the real-estate industry and the industries it supports  everything from construction to home furnishings  will make sure no one will ever out-lobby them and kill off their sacred cow.

The point is that true, out-and-out reform of the tax code is far from a simple legislative maneuver. It will take a lot of politicking of the good old-fashioned, horse-trading variety to get it done. And that would not be easy to accomplish even if the White House and Congress were singing harmoniously out of the same songbook. And despite the one-party rule in place since January, the GOP inside the Beltway is not singing out of the same songbook.

That state of affairs is obvious when you consider that no fewer than six Republican senators have signaled of late they are not ready to vote "yes" on the GOP tax reform package. Remember (and bear in mind) from the Obamacare repeal debacle that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cant afford to lose more than two GOP senators if he hopes to pass anything.

Even so, speaking in Pennsylvania, Trump declined to offer any sort of olive branch on tax reform to Democrats on Capitol Hill. The last major tax reform was passed more than 30 years ago in 1986, with a large bipartisan majority, the president stated. I mean, it was a bipartisan bill. That would be wonderful. But sadly, the Democrats have become obstructionists. They want to stop. They don't want to do anything productive. They want to raise your taxes very, very substantially.

And then there is the whole little matter of the House and Senate having to first agree on a 2018 budget with reconciliation instructions for tax reform. That has to be approved so the GOP can pass its tax bill in the Senate with only a simple majority, rather than with the usual 60-vote threshold. But wait, theres more. Once thats wrapped up, then the real debate can begin among GOP lawmakers on how deep to cut rates  and whether or not to offset those cuts elsewhere.

As it happens, Warren Buffet gets that true tax reform is wishful thinking; maybe the rest of us should. The Oracle of Omaha, known for calling em as he sees em and so often rightly so, in speaking to CNBC this month, derided the Republican effort as not a tax-reform act  its a tax-cut act. Translation: Dont expect Congress to pass anything resembling a comprehensive overall of the tax code anytime soon  and certainly not by the end of this year just over two months from now.

And that brings me to my modest proposal: That ATA and all the other lobbying muscle that trucking can muster be directed right now at persuading President Trump and the leaders of both parties on Capitol Hill to get their bipartisan act together and pass before this year is out  a scant 11 weeks from now  something resembling that $1 trillion infrastructure spending bill that the president has been trumpeting since the day after he won the election.
[October 11, 2017] Elastifile Showcases Cross-Cloud Stateful Containers at DockerCon Europe 2017

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Elastifile, the enterprise hybrid cloud data management company, today announced that it will be exhibiting its Elastifile Cross-Cloud Data Fabric at DockerCon Europe 2017 in Booth No. S9 of the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark October 16-19. DockerCon Europe attendees are invited to the Elastifile booth #S9 to see the future of stateful containers. With demos and customer examples, Elastifile will show how enterprises and service providers are leveraging stateful containers to modernize production application workloads with linear scale-out flash performance at cloud scale with Elastifile Cloud File System (ECFS). With ECFS, enterprises are now able to seamlessly leverage data containers for the most mission-critical workload consolidation, with unmatched cross-site, cross-cloud, multi-workload use cases. And with Elastifile's CloudConnect object and cloud tiering, users can holistically check-in and check-out their data between inactive object and active file tiers with unique file granularity and data reduction. "Enterprises and Service providers can now containerize their most demanding traditional applications to accelerate dynamic business process and significantly lower cst," said Bam Gobets, VP International for Elastifile. "At DockerCon Europe we look forward to sharing how our Elastifile Data Fabric provides efficient scaling and mobility for applications and their data."



DockerCon is a multi-day conference that continues to be the reference for developers and infrastructure professionals who are shaping the future of the virtual container industry. Interested parties looking to schedule an appointment with company executives or demonstration time can email [email protected] for a time. To schedule time with Elastifile at the event, please contact Bam Gobets at [email protected]. Follow Elastifile:

https://twitter.com/elastifile

https://www.linkedin.com/company/elastifile

https://www.facebook.com/Elastifile/

About Elastifile

Elastifile is redefining the way data is stored and managed, enabling seamless deployment of private and hybrid cloud solutions. With enterprises and service providers looking to support both on-premises and cloud workflows across both active and inactive data workloads, Elastifile uniquely delivers this to application, analytics, and infrastructure teams as the single global namespace of a distributed file and object system. This elastic, scale-out, software-only BYOH (bring-your-own-hardware) solution provides all the advantages of public IaaS to the data center and uncompromised enterprise data services and SLAs in the cloud. With nearly 100 employees, Elastifile is based in Santa Clara, California and Herzliya, Israel, with global Sales and Marketing offices in North America and Europe, and R&D in Israel. Elastifile was founded in 2013 and is backed by Battery Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and CE Ventures, plus seven strategic investors from the cloud, data center and storage industries including Dell Technologies Capital, Cisco Investments, and Western Digital Capital. Elastifile's founders and leadership team includes a powerful mix of experience across enterprise storage, virtualization, applications, and flash to help transform its customers' hybrid cloud workflows. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/elastifile-showcases-cross-cloud-stateful-containers-at-dockercon-europe-2017-300534405.html SOURCE Elastifile

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Construction workers excavating the site for Tulsas new downtown arena in 2005 made a disturbing discovery: human bones.

They probably werent too surprised, though, because the construction company had been warned that an old cemetery was located at the intersection of Second Street and Frisco Avenue, behind what is now the BOK Center.

And people had been digging up human remains there for decades, Tulsa World reporter Nicole Marshall wrote on Sept. 9, 2005.

From 1882 until 1905, Tulsans buried about 300 of their dead in the cemetery. It may have served as an American Indian burial ground before that. Among those buried there were:

 Jeff Archer, a popular young merchant who built one of Tulsas first stores. He was killed in an explosion in 1895 when a drunken man shot into a barrel of gunpowder in his store. Archer Street is named for him. (He was later reburied at Rose Hill cemetery.)

 Outlaw John Yockey, who died with his boots on after being shot in 1894 by a man to whom he had sold a stolen horse.

 Two U.S. deputy marshals  William Moody and Frank Sennett  who died in the line of duty.

Burials at the old graveyard were discontinued after Oaklawn Cemetery at 11th Street and Peoria Avenue was designated as the official public cemetery in 1905. The city attempted to relocate the dead to Oaklawn, which was then considered out in the country, but many of the graves were unmarked. Also, some corpses were wrapped only in blankets, while others were placed in wooden coffins that had disintegrated.

Some years later, a homeowner digging a foundation for an addition found a mummified mother and child in a coffin. The city declined to pay for reburial, so the man dug them a new grave in his backyard.

In 1948, workmen excavating for a basement discovered six graves, including one of a child. A gold wedding ring was also found. One of the caskets had a glass top.

Other remains have been found since then. In 1995, landscapers at 202 S. Frisco Ave. discovered the bones of an adolescent boy.

Perryman Cemetery

Tulsas oldest private burial site was nearly lost to history as well.

The Perryman Cemetery at 32nd Street and Utica Avenue holds about 50 graves. It was laid out in 1848 and holds the remains of Perryman family members, including some Civil War veterans. Not all graves are marked. The oldest gravestone belongs to Lydia Perryman Beaver, who died in 1879.

The Perrymans were among the earliest families in Tulsa, having left Alabama and Georgia with other Creek Nation members after their political leader was murdered.

They arrived in Indian Territory in 1828, avoiding the Trail of Tears. George Perryman operated a 60,000-acre cattle ranch  part of the familys holdings which spread from what is now downtown Tulsa east to Broken Arrow, north to the Verdigris River and south to Mounds. Josiah Perryman established Tulsas first post office in 1879.

George and his wife Rachel Perryman were considered the first family of Tulsa, raising seven children of their own and taking in as many as 20 orphans. Their home at 38th Street and Troost Avenue was known as the White House.

By the 1950s, the 150-by-150-foot cemetery had suffered from neglect and damage by vandals. In 1958, attorneys representing some Perryman heirs drew up a plan to relocate the graves and create two housing lots for development.

The plan was shelved and the Perryman family deeded the land to the Tulsa Historical Society in 1971. The city of Tulsa agreed to maintain the property in 1988.

The historical society restored the cemetery, installing a new wrought-iron fence, sidewalks and landscaping. The Tulsa Monument Co. repaired damaged headstones without cost.

Spirits awakened?

While the dead at the Perryman property have slept undisturbed, those interred in Tulsas original public cemetery have been jostled, dug up and subjected to the intrusions of construction workers from time to time.

In 1967, Tulsa Tribune reporter Jim Downing visited the last vacant piece of the old cemetery at Second and Frisco, which was slated for re-development by Urban Renewal. He wrote:

The rains have cut gullies in the sandy soil. Here, rotted away is part of an old, green, high-button womans shoe. A flaking fake pearl lies nearby. In the weeds is the arm off a long-gone doll. A broken vase.

The site has been transformed substantially since the $196 million BOK Center opened in 2008.

When the sounds of rock music, applause and cheers fill Tulsas downtown arena, the spirits of those resting in forgotten places just might rise up to join the frivolity.

Read more Throwback Tulsa stories
As a recent high school graduate Daniel Herndon has a world of possibilities in front of him.

College? Thats not the right fit for him at this time. He studied motorcycle and watercraft mechanics while in high school but decided that wasnt the right option, either.

Now hes studying carpentry at Tulsa Technology Center and plans on a career building houses or bridges.

Everyone wants to be a grease head and work on their own car or motorcycle, he said. The skills gap within carpentry is lot bigger than with engines.

The skills gap refers to the skills required by employers and the training held by the workforce or the number of jobs requiring skills that the workforce does not have.

For those like Herndon, high demand for skilled workers can mean higher salaries and more job opportunities. In the bigger picture, the skills gap means lots of empty positions while lots of people are looking for work.

There are more than 60,000 unfilled jobs in the state, of which nearly 18,000 are deemed critical to growing the economy. In August there were 81,476 unemployed, or about 4.5 percent of the states 1.8 million-person workforce.

We have people who have skills who arent working and we have jobs that are available but the people who have skills dont have the right skills for the jobs, said Shelley Cadamy, executive director of Workforce Tulsa.

Tracking the skills gap

In Oklahoma, 57 percent of jobs require an education beyond high school. Only 47 percent of the workforce is trained at that level, and 55 percent require post-secondary education but not a four-year degree.

These jobs, termed middle-skill jobs, are in key sectors including vocational, technical, manufacturing, truck driving, health care and information technology. When a company struggles to fill those positions, they cant expand or even have to send away existing businesses.

That means Tulsa loses wealth, Cadamy said.

The root of the problem stems to 1940s.

The GI Bill established after World War II allowed a generation of people who previously couldnt afford to attend college to do so, and they did. And they also passed on that mindset to their children.

Weve tied the American dream to a college education, Cadamy said.

That emphasis on college over technical or vocational training has resulted in a failure to create a young workforce to fill those positions. The problem is exacerbated by the large number of Baby Boomers who are retiring from those positions.

Current estimates show a 23 percentage point gap between the current workforce and the skilled workforce we will need by 2025, according to Oklahoma Works.

The influx of Baby Boomers created a workforce that was not only large but also one that was highly skilled, so much so that industries began to rely on having readily available and highly skilled workers to fill jobs, said Matt Litterell, director of business and industry services with Tulsa Technology Center.

We got away from this notion that we have to train people to become highly skilled because there was such an abundance of highly skilled workers, Litterell said. What happened is companies no longer train their own the way they once did through apprenticeships. Theres an expectation that people come into the workforce with the skills to do the job.

That shift in skilled labor coincided with the push for everyone to earn a college degree.

This created the perfect storm, Litterell said. Not only are we not training our own in the work force, were not encouraging people to enter those trades or see those careers as a viable option.

The result? A generation looks at trades as a lesser option. This led to nearly every plumbing program in the state being shut down because interest dried up.

I dont know if youve hired a plumber lately, but you can make a lot of money as a plumber, Litterell said. Theres just not enough labor to meet the need.

Litterell said that over time the economy and education system will adapt but in the immediate future the gap will continue to worsen as more Baby Boomers retire. Even though they are leaving their workforce, they wont stop spending.

In fact, they may increase demand as they travel or purchase RVs. As they age, that demand will begin to taper off and the market will stabilize, Litterell said.

One thing we will have to do as an education and an economy is provide more ways for people to continue to reinvent themselves, he said. These people often make far more money than college-educated people, especially as they become more skilled in the workforce and start their own business.

Formula for growth

Tulsa Community WorkAdvance, a program that connects low-income job seekers with high-demand sectors of employment, provides free training and job placement assistance for the under- and unemployed.

The agency works with employers to create customized, short-term training programs that prepare clients to enter the workforce sooner than if they relied on traditional training programs and can also provide wrap-around services to its participants to ensure they have the soft skills and the technical skills necessary.

We know that businesses need skilled workers to remain competitive, said Karen Pennington, managing director of Tulsa Community WorkAdvance. The No. 1 concern any business has when looking to come here is if theres a skilled workforce. This is what will make Oklahoma attractive to outside businesses and make our current businesses grow and thrive.

A skilled workforce also means increased wages, which leads to more spending and more taxes to fund government services.

The ripple effect is people no longer relying on states for federally funded social service programs, Pennington said.

When it was time for Joseph Barnett to decide where to go to college he realized that wasnt the best option for him at all.

The cost of college is extremely high, and I noticed that with a lot of degrees jobs are hard to find, he said.

Instead, the Collinsville High School graduate enrolled at Tulsa Technology Center where he is studying to be an electrician.

When I saw the opportunities and everything you can achieve, I decided to go that route, he said. Were in heavy demand. Three companies have already come through trying to recruit us early.
The jury in former Tulsa Police Officer Shannon Keplers fourth murder trial was seated Wednesday night following a tense exchange in which a prosecutor and the judge said they believed Keplers defense attempted to purposefully eliminate black jurors from the panel.

Opening statements in the trial are scheduled to begin Thursday morning.

Kepler, 57, is charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 5, 2014, shooting death of 19-year-old Jeremey Lake, who had just begun dating Keplers daughter, Lisa, the week he died. He was shot twice outside his aunts home in the 200 block of North Maybelle Avenue, which is near a shelter for the homeless where he met Lisa Kepler. He subsequently had her move in with him and his family.

Lake was biracial but identified as black, while Shannon Kepler is white  a fact that has received increased national attention after each of his three mistrials due to scrutiny over deaths of people of color at the hands of law enforcement. Kepler was off-duty at the time of the homicide and has since retired from the Tulsa Police Department.

District Judge Sharon Holmes declared mistrials in November, February and July due to hung juries, which set Kepler up to be tried a fourth time.

In November, the jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of guilt. In February, jurors were split at 10-2 toward a guilty verdict for murder, and in July the vote was 6-6. Jurors in the third trial were able to consider first-degree manslaughter as a lesser-included offense; Holmes has not ruled out the possibility of giving jurors in Keplers fourth trial a similar instruction.

Keplers defense has repeatedly denied any racial animus on his part during his altercation with Lake, but lead defense attorney Richard OCarroll told jurors this week that the case has been political for some because of Keplers and Lakes backgrounds. But during jury selection late Wednesday afternoon, Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray alleged Keplers defense has throughout all four proceedings engaged in targeting prospective jurors because they are black.

One black woman and one Hispanic woman were chosen for the final panel of 12 jurors, while another black woman will be one of two alternates.

There were seven black people eligible for placement on the panel this week.

The first black womans background in social work, when combined with her race, led to more than a half-hour of heated arguments in which Gray eventually said the defense simply wanted to choose an all-white jury to try a white police officer accused of killing a black teenager.

OCarroll has in the past been extraordinarily successful in doing so, Gray said of the makeup of the previous jury panels, which had only one black juror on hand for deliberations. Holmes, during Keplers November trial, also denied a defense request to strike a black man from the jury following a claim of bias. He ended up being the only black person on that panel.

In the last proceeding, I had to mention (race-based strikes) time and time again, Gray said.

OCarroll countered that he simply wanted to remove all jurors with knowledge of social work because of the chance they could inappropriately sympathize with Lake, who once spent time at a youth shelter, or possibly Lisa Kepler, who became homeless for a time after her parents dropped her off at a shelter amid family troubles. He said both, along with Lakes brother and witness Michael Hamilton, are special needs due to their backgrounds.

He added that the juror at issue had close ties to police, including being friends with an officer who is black. Gray said there were multiple jurors of a multitude of races with such relationships with law enforcement, whether family or friends, and called the reason superficial to hide his belief that her race was the issue.

When OCarroll mentioned that the state legally needed to prove purposeful discrimination against black jurors for her to overrule him, Holmes replied, I think thats what Ive just said, Mr. OCarroll.

OCarroll also challenged Gray to provide a race-neutral reason for his request to dismiss white and Hispanic jurors, and said he believed Holmes was allowing a double standard when she approved the dismissal of the final of two Hispanic men. Gray responded that the man expressed opinions indicating he is less likely to believe the testimony of someone with a felony conviction irrespective of crime and would give added weight to statements from police officers despite jury instructions mandating otherwise.

Juries can consider a persons history of felony convictions when determining how much, if any, it affects his or her credibility, according to the Oklahoma Uniform Jury Instructions. Such information cannot be used as proof of a defendants innocence or guilt.

Earlier Wednesday, Holmes excused four people, including a man who could face criminal prosecution over claims that he violated a court order given to him related to Keplers case. Tulsa County Chief Public Defender Corbin Brewster confirmed Wednesday afternoon that his office had been appointed to represent the man for a contempt hearing that will be held after the conclusion of Keplers trial.

Although he confirmed involvement with those proceedings, Brewster said, We do not want to disrupt the trial by commenting further.

The man was not arrested and is expected to remain free on his own recognizance pending the contempt hearing.
OKLAHOMA CITY  Their eyes peer out from playing cards with a brief description of how they died or how their bodies were found.

The deck of cards contains 52 cold-case homicides, missing persons and unidentified people from Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Corrections held a news conference Wednesday to announce that the decks are being sold to inmates in Oklahoma prisons in hopes of finding clues to solve the cases and give those left behind a little bit of closure.

Guthrie resident Maria Wilsons mother, Marie Dighton of Buffalo Valley, appears on one of the cards, listed as an unsolved homicide.

On June 5, 2008, Marie Dighton was found dead on the floor of her home in Latimer County, Oklahoma, reads the description on the three of spades. Dighton had trauma to her neck but the home was not ransacked and cash was left untouched.

Wilson said her mother had been sick. When she couldnt get in touch with her, she asked Latimer County authorities to do a welfare check. Her mother was found dead.

We do believe she died that afternoon, Wilson said. She had defensive wounds but did not die quickly. She bled out. It took her a couple of hours to die. It was a very violent, brutal attack. They cut her throat.

Her mother was 67 years old.

We are kind of at a standstill right now and need some new leads and evidence, and hopefully this deck of cards will provide that, Wilson said.

She wants answers and closure.

She deserves justice, Wilson said. Anybody does.

Stan Florence, OSBI director, said inmates have a lot of information. At least 17 other states have launched similar initiatives, solving about 40 homicide cases, he said.

The deck of cards brings another resource to the table, Florence said.

This was an absolute no-brainer, Department of Corrections Director Joe M. Allbaugh said.

The states 27,000 incarcerated individuals are an untapped resource, he said.

The first batch of cards was distributed last week at six prisons, he said.

The deck is being sold for $1.42, of which $1.09 will go back to the OSBI to keep the program going with more cards featuring new cases, Allbaugh said.

The OSBI ordered 5,000 decks at a cost of $5,450. It paid for the decks with evidence funds, which are used to pay confidential informants.

The cards contain a telephone number and email address for those with information: 1-800-522-8017 and tips@osbi.ok.gov.

Wilson said she wants justice.

If it just solves one case, its worth the work, she said.
Deonte Green, the teenager arrested in connection with the recent fatal shooting of a Broken Arrow teacher, was charged with murder Friday.

Green, 16, has been jailed since Sunday after what investigators described as a crime spree that included multiple armed robberies and a sexual assault on an 81-year-old woman and culminated in the death of Shane Anderson, a Broken Arrow middle school teacher.

The charges filed in Tulsa County District Court on Friday afternoon include first-degree murder, two counts of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, two counts of first-degree burglary, second-degree burglary, two counts of possession of a firearm after juvenile adjudication, four counts of robbery with a firearm, first-degree rape by instrumentation, sexual battery, kidnapping, feloniously pointing a firearm and attempted cruelty to animals.

Police officials told the Tulsa World earlier this week that at least two detective units had intelligence about Greens risk to the community before the homicide occurred.

Green, police said, had been released from jail three days before the homicide and rape took place on Oct. 1.

He had been in custody since Sept. 22 on complaints of second-degree burglary, knowingly concealing stolen property, tampering with a surveillance system and malicious injury to property based on claims that he broke into a storage unit, stole a bike and pulled down surveillance cameras.
[October 11, 2017] Bloomberg Law's Docket Key Speeds Research With Innovative Filing Classification System

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bloomberg Law today announced the introduction of Docket Key, its new proprietary system that identifies and classifies entries on a docket sheet, dramatically accelerating the process of locating and accessing dockets for legal professionals. Docket Key makes locating underlying filings easy, quick, and precise by using machine learning to target 20 categories, including motions, complaints, notices, briefs, and orders. For more information on Bloomberg Law's expedited access to docket filings, visit https://www.bna.com/litigation-m57982084299/. Docket Key initially supports the most frequently searched 15 federal district courts on Bloomberg Law, including the Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, District of District of Columbia, and the Northern District of California. Docket Key is applied as a search feature on the Docket Search page and as a filter on dockets in applicable courts. With Docket Key, users can limit unnecessary steps in the legal research process by navigating directly to the desired document. "A key area of focus for us at Bloomberg Law is to increase the speed and efficiency with which attorneys can find the information they need to support their clients," said Scot Mozarsky, President, Bloomberg Law. "With Docket Key, we have streamlined the process of researching and locating docket entries, saving valuable time and allowing attorneys to utilize the most relevant documents to support their legal arguments. Moving forward, we will continue to enhance our docket searching technology in order to deliver even greater value to practitioners."



The rollout of Docket Key builds on the numerous Bloomberg Law product enhancements that were deployed during 2017, all of which were developed based on feedback from customers about their challenges and opportunities. These enhancements demonstrate a continued commitment to significant investment in the platform. Among Bloomberg Law's many product releases  which leverage data, analytics, content and improved search  include a new user interface that increases content discoverability; the Points of Law artificial intelligence tool; and Compliance Risk Benchmarks, which helps privacy and compliance professionals balance business benefits with compliance-related risk across nearly 50 countries worldwide. About Bloomberg BNA

Bloomberg BNA provides legal, tax, compliance, government affairs and government contracting professionals with critical information, practical guidance, and workflow solutions. We leverage leading technology and a global network of experts to deliver a unique combination of news and authoritative analysis, comprehensive research solutions, innovative practice tools, and proprietary business data and analytics. Bloomberg BNA is an affiliate of Bloomberg L.P., the global business, financial information and news leader. For more information, visit www.bna.com.

About Bloomberg Law

Bloomberg Law helps legal professionals provide world-class counsel with access to actionable legal intelligence in a business context. Bloomberg Law delivers a unique combination of practical guidance, comprehensive primary and secondary source material, trusted content from Bloomberg BNA, news, time-saving practice tools, market data and business intelligence. For more information, visit www.bna.com/bloomberglaw. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bloomberg-laws-docket-key-speeds-research-with-innovative-filing-classification-system-300535234.html SOURCE Bloomberg Law

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[October 12, 2017] Mouser Electronics Congratulates 2017 Create the Future Design Contest Winners

Mouser Electronics, Inc., the New Product Introduction leader that empowers innovation and a principal sponsor of the Create the Future Design Contest, will join in recognizing the 2017 winners at a special awards reception and dinner in New York City on November 10. Mouser's valued suppliers Intel and Analog Devices, Inc. joined Mouser in sponsoring the 15th annual contest, produced by Tech Briefs Media Group, an SAE International Company. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012006303/en/ Mouser Electronics will join in recognizing the winners of the 2017 Create the Future Design Contest at a reception in New York on November 10. (Graphic: Business Wire) Together with COMSOL and Tech Briefs Media Group, Mouser will award the $20,000 grand prize to a team from Cornell University and Dimensional Energy of Ithaca, N.Y., for developing HI-Light, a "reverse-combustion" technology that potentially transforms carbon conversion into a profitable enterprise while reducing harmful carbon dioxide emissions intothe atmosphere. The design team includes Xiangkun (Elvis) Cao, Jessica Akemi Cimada da Silva, David Erickson (News - Alert), Tobias Hanrath, Jason Salfi and Clayton Poppe.



Since 2014, Mouser has been a primary sponsor of the annual Tech Briefs Media Group's Create the Future Design Contest, a global challenge to engineers and students to create the next great thing. "We congratulate this year's winners and thank all of the entrants for their participation. Part of our mission here at Mouser is fostering technical innovation so it's a natural fit for us to support this global design contest that celebrates ingenuity," said Kevin Hess, Mouser Senior Vice President of Marketing. "We are seeing exciting advancements in electronic design thanks to the creative engineers and innovators across the globe, including those who entered the Create the Future Design Contest."

The Create the Future Design Contest brings attention to product designs that enhance quality of life, improve the efficiency and quality of healthcare, and help to reduce dependence on nonrenewable energy sources. Finalists in seven categories receive a computer and recognition in Tech Briefs magazine's November 2017 issue. The winner of the Medical Category will be featured in the November 2017 issue of Medical Design Briefs magazine. The category-winning designs are: Aerospace & Defense - The Airfoil Performance Monitor, a system that provides real-time information to pilots about the state of the airflow over the aircraft's wings and tail.

- The Airfoil Performance Monitor, a system that provides real-time information to pilots about the state of the airflow over the aircraft's wings and tail. Automotive/Transportation - The Heavy-Duty Aftermarket Super Truck, which reduces fuel consumption by up to 10 percent, under-hood heat by 50 percent, and fan noise by 50 dB.

- The Heavy-Duty Aftermarket Super Truck, which reduces fuel consumption by up to 10 percent, under-hood heat by 50 percent, and fan noise by 50 dB. Consumer Products - The Conformal Battery, which integrates a battery into the structural components of a product, eliminating the mass and volume of traditional battery packaging.

- The Conformal Battery, which integrates a battery into the structural components of a product, eliminating the mass and volume of traditional battery packaging. Electronics/Sensors/ IoT - Integrated Multi-Color Light Emitting Device Made with Hybrid Crystal Structure, a process for making red, green and blue LED device structures on the same substrate, which has not been possible using current techniques.

- Integrated Multi-Color Light Emitting Device Made with Hybrid Crystal Structure, a process for making red, green and blue LED device structures on the same substrate, which has not been possible using current techniques. Machinery/Automation/Robotics - EJBot, a propeller-driven robot that can climb and inspect industrial structures and vessels, eliminating the danger posed by humans performing these actions.

- EJBot, a propeller-driven robot that can climb and inspect industrial structures and vessels, eliminating the danger posed by humans performing these actions. Medical - The Arterial Everter, a tool that helps facilitate and reduce the time required to perform arterial microvascular anastomosis.

- The Arterial Everter, a tool that helps facilitate and reduce the time required to perform arterial microvascular anastomosis. Sustainable Technologies - The Energy Saving Filter for Removal of Heavy Metals from Water, a one-atomic layer, carbon-based material that attracts heavy metal ions in aqueous solutions. For more information on the Create the Future Design Contest, visit http://www.mouser.com/createthefuture/. With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser strives to empower innovation among design engineers and buyers by delivering advanced technologies. Mouser stocks the world's widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects. Mouser Electronics' website is continually updated and offers advanced search methods to help customers quickly locate inventory. Mouser.com also houses data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools. About Mouser Electronics Mouser Electronics, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is an award-winning, authorized semiconductor and electronic component distributor focused on rapid New Product Introductions from its manufacturing partners for electronic design engineers and buyers. The global distributor's website, Mouser.com, is available in multiple languages and currencies and features more than 4 million products from over 600 manufacturers. Mouser offers 22 support locations around the world to provide best-in-class customer service and ships globally to over 550,000 customers in 170 countries from its 750,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility south of Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit https://www.mouser.com/. Trademarks Mouser and Mouser Electronics are registered trademarks of Mouser Electronics, Inc. All other products, logos, and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Intel (News - Alert) is a trademark of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012006303/en/

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UEFA has signed cooperation agreements with the national anti-doping organisations (NADOs) in Turkey and Azerbaijan as it strengthens its anti-doping campaign.

The agreements bring the number of European NADOs that have signed accords with UEFA to 32.

An agreement has been signed with Turkey TFF

The European governing body and the NADOs are coordinating anti-doping programmes and testing activities, and exchanging information and intelligence which helps in planning doping tests.

The co-operation also includes the building up of players' biological passports under a dedicated UEFA programme.

UEFA is working together with European NADOs to implement a comprehensive and deterrent testing programme in UEFA and national domestic competitions. This co-operation guarantees UEFA a full overview of the doping tests carried out on players at international and national level.
No Comments on New Logo, and Identity for rsted (New Name) by Kontrapunkt
South Sudans conflict has raged for nearly four years, shattering lives and displacing nearly 4 million people within the country and across the region.

A staggering 2 million people are refugees in six countries, most of them separated from their loved ones.

Christine almost delivered a baby girl along the way, as she walked for two days to escape the violence. Baby Angwech was born safely in Uganda. However, Christine is unsure whether her husband is alive as they were separated during the flight.

If he is there or not, I dont knowmaybe they have killed him.

Arnauld Akodjenou, UNHCRs Regional Refugee Coordinator for the South Sudan Situation has called for the safety and dignity of South Sudans displaced.

Enough is enough for those who fled and became refugees. And enough is enough for those in six host countries who have received refugees from South Sudan and are not receiving international support.

The suffering of the people in South Sudan must end. Enough is enough.
Hussein, who fled Syria in 2012 with his wife and daughter, has been a butcher all his working life. Under Jordan's new refugee employment rules, he can now work at his trade.  UNHCR/Mohammad Hawari

AMMAN, Jordan  Hussein has been a butcher all his working life, having followed his father, uncle and brother into the family business back in Syria.

I grew up with it. My father owned a butchers shop back home. First I used to help out after school, and then it became my profession.

His future appeared secure and he had just returned home from a lucrative four-year stint working in the Gulf when conflict broke out in 2011.

By the end of 2012, the fighting in his home town of Daraa, in the south of the country, was so intense that he was forced to cross the border into Jordan with his wife and young daughter. She was the main reason we fled, as the air strikes became unbearable for her, said Hussein, 34.

They found themselves living in Za'atari camp, the largest refugee camp in the Middle East, which is home to about 80,000 Syrians. With years of experience and eager to find a job, Hussein was dismayed to learn that opportunities to work formally were not available and permission was needed to leave the camp.

Hussein was forced to take a series of short-term jobs with different butchers so that he did not lose his skills. I had no stability and I didnt like working under these conditions, without a legal permit, he said. So eventually I just stopped.

Jordan hosts more than 650,000 Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, including almost 300,000 men and women of working age. Until recently, those who found jobs in the informal sector often had to endure poor working conditions and run the risk of exploitation.

I told them all the names in both Arabic and English. They liked that.

Last year there was a significant shift, however, when Jordan became the first country in the Arab region to ease the provision of work permits for Syrian refugees by waiving the usual fees and loosening the administrative requirements. Syrian refugees can apply for work permits in sectors approved for foreign workers, such as agriculture, construction, textiles and food.

The government pledged to create up to 200,000 opportunities over several years for Syrian refugees, in return for international loans, trade benefits and investment by the international community that would also benefit the local Jordanian population.

Ways of improving economic opportunities for refugees, reducing their dependence on aid and giving them a chance to use and develop their skills is one of the main issues that will be discussed at a two-day conference in Geneva on 17 and 18 October.

The meeting is part of a process led by UNHCR to develop a global compact on refugees. The High Commissioner was given the task by the UN General Assembly last year in its New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants.

The Geneva gathering of government officials, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, academics and experts will discuss how to develop a programme of action that can support the economic inclusion of refugees in a way that also benefits their host community.

So far this year, Jordans Ministry of Labour has issued almost 30,000 work permits to Syrian refugees. It has also introduced rules enabling those like Hussein to work formally outside the camps in towns and cities across Jordan, allowing refugees with work permits to leave the camp for up to a month at a time before returning to renew their paperwork.

To take advantage of the new rules, UNHCR and the International Labour Organization have established the first employment office for Syrian refugees inside Za'atari, which organizes job fairs and advises residents on finding employment and acquiring work permits.

UNHCR also helps some prospective employers to match refugees skills to job vacancies. When French supermarket chain Carrefour approached UNHCR for help in finding qualified butchers, the agency searched its database for refugees with the relevant skills and Hussein was one of those contacted.

They treated us like real professionals, I felt changed inside.

He was invited to a supermarket inside the camp for a practical exam. They asked us to cut and prepare the meat for different dishes and asked about the names of different cuts of meat, he said. I told them all the names in both Arabic and English. They liked that.

After receiving a job offer, Hussein and eight other successful candidates from the camp were given training in hygiene procedures and customer service, and received help in finding accommodation in Amman as well as travel expenses.

They treated us like real professionals, I felt changed inside, Hussein said. I am learning a lot, as I am working for the first time with a big company, with more established procedures.

Although he struggles with being away from his family for weeks at a time, he says overall the new job has improved their lives. My relationship with my family has got much better because I am now relaxed and I have regained confidence in myself. I can provide what each father would like his children to have.

Laura Buffoni, a senior livelihoods officer for UNHCR in Jordan, said Jordans new rules on work permits for refugees were a welcome move. Hopefully, this will encourage the international community and the private sector to get more involved in developing and investing in Jordans economy, she said.

Offering Syrian refugees the chance to work formally will provide them with greater economic security and stability. We would also like to see more flexibility in terms of the sectors they can work in, and focus on job quality including opportunities for training and advancement.
As smoke rises over the lush green landscape from fires across the river, inhabitants of Mobayi-Mbongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) stop on their way to market and gather on the bank to watch.

Sporadic gunfire interrupts their conversations. Further downstream, a dozen canoes with women, men and children cross the river to safety.

Rose Yasambia, 30, stands in the crowd and weeps. They are setting all the houses on fire, she says. Soon they will be at our house.

Rose and her family crossed from Mobaye, a town just across the river in the Central African Republic (CAR), four months earlier. Armed groups and the fires have destroyed any hope they had of returning home soon.

All our belongings are there, we could not take them with us, adds Rose. If one day there will be peace, well have no place to go back to.

They are setting all the houses on fire."

Like Rose, more than 60,000 refugees have crossed the Ubangi and Mboumou rivers in the past five months, fleeing the war-torn CAR for neighbouring DRC. Many are settling in remote river communities, with their home villages still in sight across the water but out of reach for those who do not want to risk their lives.

On the Congolese side, some villages have grown to four times their original size due to the refugee arrivals and life is hard. The children are dying, and we do not even know why, says Philomene Gerekanda, traditional chief of the village of Lembo Rive in DRC in which refugees have set up huts next to the houses of locals. There is a lack of health services, not enough schools and not enough drinking water.

Central African refugees, exiled across the river, long for home (Vania Turner, producer-editor / Walter Kigali, camera)

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, continues to register new arrivals and has provided essential relief items like plastic sheeting, buckets and sleeping mats to refugees. The agency is also drilling wells to reduce water-borne diseases, since many people drink the water from Ubangi River.

But despite over 500,000 CAR refugees spread across the region, the crisis remains the most underfunded in the world. In 2017, UNHCR and partners appealed for US$209 million. To date, only 9 per cent of those funds have been received, making it a challenge to help CAR refugees who have been displaced for years, as well those continuing to flee.

Virginie from the Central African Republic lies injured after being shot in the thigh.  UNHCR/John Wessels

Chantal, 29, a Central African refugee, with the youngest of her three children.  UNHCR/John Wessels

A Central African refugee cleans his fishing net in the village of Satema.  UNHCR/John Wessels

Francois is relieved that he, his wife and their three young children are safe.  UNHCR/John Wessels

Refugee children from the Central African Republic play in the village of Nzakara.  UNHCR/John Wessels

A Central African refugee constructs a roof for his new house.  UNHCR/John Wessels

Those who dare to return home can pay a heavy price. Virginie Anyezou was so desperate to find food for her hungry children that she and her 15-year-old son took a boat home across the river. Now she is lying on a bamboo bed in a small village on the Congolese shore of the Ubangi River, motionless and speaking in a low voice.

I needed something to cook for the children, so I told my oldest son to come with me, she recalls. We wanted to harvest the manioc from our field.

When we came near, my son said to me: Wait, I can hear the voices of the armed men. So we went a bit further. But they had seen us and were waiting for us. They shot at us and the boat turned over. We cried for help, but nobody came.

Virginie and her son were finally rescued by fishermen, but she was shot in the thigh and a bullet penetrated her sons hand. The same day their neighbour, father-of-five Michel Baleto, 40, was killed when he tried to get food from his fields in CAR.

"We cried for help, but nobody came."

Many villages on the banks of the CAR are now deserted. A priest who recently crossed reports that armed groups require civilians to wear a ribbon to show their allegiance  yellow for one side, red for the other. There is no neutrality anymore, he says. They force everybody to take sides.

There are reports of armed groups forcing people to return. "In some locations, refugees tell us that they receive a message from the fighters on the other side: We have conquered your village. Either you return or we will set your house on fire, says Pierre Richard Muhima of UNHCR in DRC.

Meanwhile, thousands continue to flee over the border. We were the last ones in the village, says Francois Koko, a 42-year-old fisherman who is happy that he, his wife and their three children aged one, two and five are safe. It was three in the morning when we heard gunfire all around. I did not know which one of the groups it was. We got up and ran. We took nothing, we just grabbed the mosquito nets and the bed sheets.

In the early hours, the family reached their fishing boat, a dug-out canoe.

When we were in the canoe, the children panicked with all the gunfire nearby. We had to hold them, so that they did not fall into the river.

Standing knee-deep in the water next to his fishing boat, he gazes across the river.

There is nobody left over there to teach, there are no schools anymore, he says. And all the nurses have fled to the capital, Bangui.

His village is less than a thousand metres away but, for now, it is out of reach.
October 12 2017

Shetland Islands Council have assumed ownership of Anderson High School and an accompanying hall of residence following completion of the 56m build by Morrison Construction.Designed by Ryder Architecture the school will accommodate up to 1,180 pupils with a 100 bed residential annexe offering boarding facilities for pupils travelling from further afield.Council chief executive Mark Boden said: This is a landmark day for Shetland. The Council has realised the aspiration of many years and delivered a state of the art modern school. It will provide an ideal learning environment for Shetlands children, and give school staff the best possible opportunity to deliver first class education.Situated near Loch of Clickimin near Lerwick the complex constitutes the Councils biggest building project with the first pupils set to arrive following the October break.Before then a number of open days are planned to give residents a chance to tour the new facility.
From a distance, there appeared to be a giant, gray, bug-eyed swamp dragonfly attacking the flightline during the 2017 Thunder Over Dover Open House. Brave and inquisitive people who ventured a closer look discovered it wasnt some herculean insect, but rather an Army OV-1 Mohawk observation and surveillance aircraft used during the Vietnam War through Operation Desert Storm. An even closer inspection would reveal the gray fuselage was covered end-to-end in hundreds of names  names that memorialize the 1,636 American service members that are still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

August 27, 2017 - Wayne Klotz, an Army veteran, stands next to an Army OV-1 Mohawk observation and surveillance aircraft during the Thunder Over Dover Open House at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. One of the static displays at the open house, Mohawk Airshows plane, is the first flying POW/MIA monument, and is covered in names of service members who died during the Vietnam War and were never recovered from Southeast Asia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Mauricio Campino) Under the warbirds pilot-side wing sat two people: Joe Masessa, the aircrafts lead pilot, and Wayne Klotz, a veteran technical officer on the OV-1 during the Vietnam War. He flew 125 combat missions operating radar and infrared equipment and taking surveillance photographs.



The OV-1 has been touring air shows since 2015, when Mohawk Airshows painted on all 1,636 names, making it the first Vietnam POW/MIA memorial aircraft.



I know six of them, Klotz said of the memorial names. I flew with some of them, I worked with some of them and I went to school with some of them. Joe did a great thing by putting those names on there. Most planes have one or two names of a previous pilot who died. Joe never met any of these people, but he did a good thing. It makes me feel good, but I fall apart. I cant talk about it.



One of them  it was his first flight, Klotz went on fighting back tears. He went to Vietnam as an 18 year-old kid. He didnt want to fly. He went to the sergeant and said, I dont feel good, I dont want to fly, so the sergeant gave him a job maintaining and preparing the chemicals we used in photography and infrared equipment. He lived in that [storage container]. He slept there. He ate there. He was great at his job. There were 50 of mes flying in 25 planes, but there was only one of him.



About October, he went to the sergeant and said, I want to fly, Klotz concluded. He was very capable, and he got shot down, two hours in the air. The worst part about it is youre on the ground, and youre talking to him and it quits.



Klotz said he was there that day not only because of what the plane meant to him, but because of his connection to those names, and what they represent.



I ask people if they know what the POW/MIA flag looks like, Klotz said. Do you have an image of it? Theyll say, yeah. Ill say, walk around the plane. These 1,600 names are what that flag represents. Your image of that flag will not be the same after youve seen the names, he added as tears formed at the corners of his eyes and his throat began to crack. Thats what I tell everybody. Thats all I can do.



The monuments impact was even more pronounced at Dover AFB, Masessa added, thanks to the efforts of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, located on the installation, to identify recovered remains from past conflicts. AFMES personnel provide DNA-based identification of remains recovered by the Defense POW/MIA Accountability Agency, headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.



AFMES personnel collect family reference samples from family members of missing service members for a baseline to compare the DNA of recovered remains to.



This is incredibly important work, said Dr. Timothy McMahon, AFMES Department Of Defense DNA Operations director. When you sit down next to these families, youll find that even though their brother was lost in Korea or their son was lost in Southeast Asia, it is still fresh in their mind. These men and women swore to uphold the constitution and defend our country. It means a lot to know that your country will not forget you, that itll do everything in its power to recover you, to identify you and to return you to your loved ones.



The hard work and dedication of these agencies to repatriate and identify fallen service members is represented on the memorial.

August 27, 2017 - A side view of the Army OV-1 Mohawk Vietnam POW/MIA flying monument during the Thunder Over Dover Open House at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. The Army flew the OV-1 during the Vietnam War through Operation Desert Storm to gather battlefield surveillance and provide light strike capabilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron Jenne) If you look closely at the names, youll see American flags next to some of the names, Masessa said. Each of those are individuals whose remains were returned home and identified. Its amazing that we live in a country thats so dedicated to bringing closure to families that suffered such a loss more than 40 years ago. It makes me proud to be here today knowing that this base helps bring them home.



McMahon echoed the sentiment.



I think memorials like this are extremely important, because they honor not only that service member, but their families as well, McMahon said. When you get the opportunity to present the DNA results to a family, you can almost feel the relief and the thankfulness that now they have their loved one back. We should never forget the honor and dignity of these service members. Thats why we have memorials like this, and remembrance ceremonies. The flying memorial participated as a static display during the open house to give spectators a chance to see, touch and feel the names written on it. Most of the time, Masessa performs with the plan, but at this venue, the plane couldnt do both.



This was a very acrobatic plane, Klotz explained to an open house guest. It handled like a much smaller plane. We had a hard time following enemy troop movements because they would dig-in in such a way that you couldnt see them from overhead, so wed fly down into these ravines and bank to one side to get the camera into position.



Masessa chimed in, Thats what makes it such a great acrobatics plane. It had to be nimble and powerful to get the job done. Its such a fun plane to fly, and its such an awesome story that we get to tell with this plane in particular.



With the open houses theme of sharing the heritage of American air power, this aircraft was an excellent addition, reminding all to never forget.



We are proud to be the worlds first POW/MIA flying monument, Masessa said in a brochure about the aircraft. This is our thank you to these men and women  our way to say that they are not forgotten  and our promise to fight for them as they fought for us. We vow to attend as many airshows as possible to bring awareness to, and gain support for, our mission to help recover these brave soldiers. We will not stop flying until every man and woman is accounted for. By U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Aaron Jenne

Provided through DVIDS

Copyright 2017 Comment on this article
CHARLESTON -- Eastern Illinois University graduate-level counseling student Maliya Smith, 2016, recently earned a prestigious 2017-18 Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois (DFI) Fellowship. As a new DFI Fellow, Smith, of Forest Park, will receive $13,000 to assist her in pursuing her goals to become an educator in the State of Illinois.

This is a wonderful opportunity for me to continue making a positive difference in advancing important diversity initiatives in Illinois higher education, Smith said. Ive been inspired by so many people at EIU and in my own family to use my voice to lift up other underrepresented students who are trying to create better lives for themselves and their families. This DFI Fellowship will help me to do just that, and to accomplish so much more in the future. Thank you to Eastern Illinois University and the Illinois Board of Higher Education for their ongoing support and encouragement.

According to the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) website, DFI is a statutorily authorized program that directly addresses educational disparities in educational attainment by race, ethnicity, income and region. The goal of DFI is to increase the number of minority full-time tenure track faculty and staff at Illinoiss two- and four-year public and private colleges and universities by providing financial assistance to students with demonstrated financial need to assist them in completing graduate degree programs.

A full fellowship is a great award for Ms. Smith and a remarkable distinction for Eastern Illinois University, said EIUs Dean of the Graduate School Dr. Ryan Hendrickson. This achievement speaks to the Universitys efforts to enhance diversity in academia in Illinois and support for our students who seek this fellowship.

Dr. Mona Davenport, director of Minority Affairs at EIU, also played a critical role in encouraging and assisting Smith to seek out the fellowship.

EIUs sole purpose is to help our students succeed, Davenport said. This fellowship will help allow Maliya to further diversify the states network of future teachers. In addition, her commitment to and participation in Illinois higher education will broaden future student learning opportunities, enhance student inclusivity, and wholly benefit higher education initiatives in the state.

DFI Fellow recipients like Smith are strongly encouraged to actively seek and accept full-time employment in the education sector in the State of Illinois for a period at least equal to the number of years they spent as a DFI Fellow. In addition, program administrators work with higher education institutions like EIU to offer workshops and pursue other outreach opportunities that meet the goals and objectives of the initiative.

For more information about EIU, or to learn more about its various programs and services, visit the EIU website at www.eiu.edu or call EIUs public information office at 217-581-7400.
Image Group LA/ABCGreen Day has announced a new, career-spanning best-of collection titled Greatest Hits: God's Favorite Band. The 22-track compilation will arrive on November 17.

God's Favorite Band features 20 of Green Day's biggest hits, plus a brand-new song titled "Back in the USA," and a new version of the song "Ordinary World," featuring country star Miranda Lambert. Billie Joe Armstrong previously performed with Lambert at the 2014 Grammys.

The title of the album is a callback to Green Day's performance on The Late Show earlier this year. Before they took the stage, host Stephen Colbert was interrupted by the appearance of "God," an animated likeness complete with a flowing white beard and robes, who introduced the punk trio as "God's favorite band."

Green Day recently wrapped a U.S. tour in support of their new album, Revolution Radio. The band will travel to South America in November.

Here's the Greatest Hits: God's Favorite Band track list:

"2000 Light Years Away"

"Longview"

"Welcome to Paradise"

"Basket Case"

"When I Come Around"

"She"

"Brain Stew"

"Hitchin' a Ride"

"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"

"Minority"

"Warning"

"American Idiot"

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

"Holiday"

"Wake Me Up When September Ends"

"Know Your Enemy"

"21 Guns"

"Oh Love"

"Bang Bang"

"Still Breathing"

"Ordinary World" ft. Miranda Lambert

"Back in the USA"

Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
PARIS -- Approximately 40 local vendors will provide free health services and education at this years Living 50+ wellness fair. This event will take place Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Paris Family Medical Center.

Services will include free blood sugar checks, glaucoma screenings, bone density heel scans, memory screenings, educational seminars, give-a-ways, and more. Participants can drop off old hearing aids, glasses, and medications. A flu shot clinic will be available from 9 a.m. to noon (normal insurance co-pay applies, or $27 cash pay).

Additionally, educational seminars are scheduled throughout the day and include the following:

9:15 a.m. -- Healthy Aging -- Crystal White and Susan Arp, family nurse practitioners

10:15 a.m. -- Arthritis -- Dr. Ronald Wheeler, orthopedic surgeon

11:15 a.m. -- Outpatient Treatments for Pain -- Paris Community Hospitals Pain Management staff

12:15 p.m. -- Explaining Medicare -- Mark Swanson, Diamond Brothers Insurance (free light lunch for the first 40 attendees)

Live Stay Strong, Live Long exercise classes will begin at 9 a.m. and will be held each hour. These interactive exercise classes are free and will last about 15 minutes.

Additional information and services during the event will include diabetes education, advanced directives planning, information about healthy aging, and CPR education.

Participating organizations will include the Paris Police Department, CARE, Emergency Services and Disaster Agency (ESDA), Edgar County Health Department, Senior Care, nursing homes, and more.

Paris Community Hospital is partnering with athenahealth to host this event. Athenahealth provides an electronic health record (EHR) system which Paris Community Hospital/Family Medical Center implements within the facility. Athenahealth will be providing giveaways to each participant at the event and will be sponsoring door prizes.
General information

The Coles County Council on Aging offices are located at the LifeSpan Center, located at 11021 E. County Road 800 N., Charleston (northeast of Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center). The telephone number for the Coles County Council on Aging and LifeSpan Center is 217-639-5150. The telephone numbers for the programs are: Coles County LSVP, 217-639-5155; Telecare, 217-639-5166; Family Care Giver Resource Center, 217-639-5168; and Dial-A-Ride, 217-639-5169 or 1-800-500-5505. Peace Meal Lunch at LifeSpan is served at noon.

Peace Meal Lunch at LifeSpan

Oct. 16-20

Suggested donation for lunches is $3.50 for those over 60, and $6 for those under 60.

Monday  Sloppy Joe sandwich, German potato salad, Brussels sprouts, mixed fruit, bun, orange bread.

Tuesday  Meatloaf, creamed peas and potatoes, tomatoes and zucchini, dinner roll, Hawaiian salad.

Wednesday  Sweet and sour chicken w/vegetables over brown rice, fruit gelatin, whole grain wheat (1), warm fruit crisp.

Thursday  Saucy riblet, macaroni and cheese, warm black-eyed pea salad, blueberry muffin, apricots.

Friday  Salisbury beef pattie, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, dinner roll, fresh fruit.

Calendar of events

Oct. 16-20

Bingo: If you are interested in playing Bingo at your LifeSpan Center on our newly scheduled Bingo days, please call your LifeSpan Center Welcome Desk and register in advance 217-639-5150. Registration is required in order to secure a spot for bingo games.

Monday  9-10 a.m., Operation Gratitude, bring your letters; 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Bob Ross painting class, call to register; 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 1-2 p.m., Heartland Senior Line Dancers.

Tuesday  9-10 a.m., mens coffee group  Mattoon Health Care; 9-10 a.m., Arthritis Foundation exercise class, $1 per class; 9-11 a.m., Retired Teacher Executive Meeting; 10-10:45 a.m., chair yoga, $5 per class; 10:30-11:30 a.m., Bingo with Brookstone Estates; 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba Gold Toning Class, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 1 p.m., Movie  LifeSpan Family Theater; 1-3 p.m., Mattoon/Charleston Art Guild  new members welcome.

Wednesday  9-10 a.m., Veterans coffee group  Mattoon Health Care; 10:30-11:30 a.m., Bible study; 10:30 a.m., Bingo with Hilltop Skilled Nursing & Rehab; 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba Gold, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 12:30-3:30 p.m., card games with Lifes Journey Senior Living; 1-3 p.m., ladies game of pool for all ages; 1 p.m., Movie  LifeSpan Family Theater; 2-3 p.m., Qigong Tai Chi; 3-3:30 p.m., LSVP Balance Class, call 217-639-5150 to register.

Thursday  9-10 a.m., Arthritis Foundation exercise class, $1 per class; 10-10:45 a.m., chair yoga, $5 per class; 10:30 a.m., bingo with Carriage Crossing; 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba Gold Toning Class, $5 per class; noon-12:30 p.m., Peace Meal Lunch at LSC; 1 p.m., movie  LifeSpan Family Theater.

Friday 11-11:45 a.m., Zumba, $5 per class; 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Dine with a Doc; 1 p.m., Movie  LifeSpan Family Theater.

Dial-A-Ride


This month marks the 90th anniversary of Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines (GCSA), the worlds longest-running aerial tour company.

To commemorate this special occasion, starting on Wednesday, Oct. 11, the first 90 people to book the Highlights Air Tour at the 3:30 p.m. departure time will be able to purchase the tour for just $90 per person.* This offer is applicable to any 3:30 p.m. Highlight Air Tour departure taking place during the following 90 day period, which ends on January 3, 2018.

The 70-minute airplane tour departs from the Las Vegas area and showcases the Grand Canyon West Rims unique beauty and contours. Guests will also see spectacular views of Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, the Colorado River, and Grand Canyon West, including Guano Point, Eagle Point and a glimpse of the world-famous Skywalk from the air.

The story of Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines began in 1927. That year, Parker Van Zandt left his position at Ford Motor Company to pursue his dream of flying passengers from one rim of the Grand Canyon to the other. Along with investors, he began Scenic Airways which became one of the first operators to venture into the virtually untapped industry of aerial tourism. The companys first commercial air tour took place on Oct. 3, 1927 in a 6-passenger Stinson Detroiter SM-1.

In this age before television, nationally distributed newspapers, magazines and the internet, most people in the United States (and across the world) had not seen the Grand Canyon, much less flown over it. With Scenic Airways launch, demand for Grand Canyon flights gradually increased. During this era, air tours were promoted for their novelty as well as their ability to bring tourists to the canyon.

On Nov. 1, 1928, Van Zandt announced Scenic Airways had purchased 278 acres of land in Phoenix for $125,000 and begun constructing the airport that would become Sky Harbor International Airport. That same month, Scenic Airways operated the first commercial flight from Sky Harbor to Rocky Point, Mexico.

But a tumultuous future awaited Scenic.

In August 1929, an economic recession caused investor funding to dry up leading to a steep decline in business. The Stock Market crashed on Oct. 29, 1929, ushering in the Great Depression.

In 1930, although Scenic Airways was forced to close and liquidate its assets, Arizona Businessmen Jack Thornburg and Irving Kravitz resurrected Scenic Airways under a new name  Grand Canyon Airlines. The new business was incorporated in Arizona on April 29, 1931 with Grand Canyon Airlines operating commercial tours by May 1931.

Throughout the 30s and 40s, Grand Canyon Airlines would continue to change owners. By 1953, the Hudgins brothers purchased the fledging airline and would eventually sell the company to Elling Halvorson in 1966. At the time, Halvorson was the owner of a construction company charged with the large and logistically complex project of building a water pipeline from the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Halvorson had initially used helicopters to transport lumber, piping and other materials over the canyon, reaching otherwise treacherous areas. Locals watching this construction take place began to ask if they, too, could fly across the canyon gorge via Halvorsons helicopters. Recognizing the demand for such rides, Halvorson quickly developed aerial tour operations utilizing helicopters. He set his sights on adding airplanes and purchased Grand Canyon Airlines from the Hudgins family.

During this same time, John and Elizabeth Seibold founded Scenic Airlines (similar name but not related to Scenic Airways), which operated out of North Las Vegas, Nevada. They would eventually partner with Halvorson and Grand Canyon Airlines to cross-promote experiences in both the domestic and international tourism markets.

Fast forward to the 2000s when Grand Canyon Airlines bought Scenic Airlines from the Seibolds to become Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines. In addition to flying daily tours to the Grand Canyon, GCSA added locations such as Antelope Canyon, Rainbow Bridge, Monument Valley, Horseshoe Bend and Tower Butte. Over the course of its 90-year history, the company evolved into the largest and longest-running aerial tour company and has flown more than 100 million passengers.
CHARLESTON -- When Toby the dog first showed up, he cowered in his kennel, wouldn't eat and wouldn't let anyone touch him.

But Marissa Burton thought there was a chance for the 7-month-old retriever mix left at the Coles County Animal Rescue and Education Center.

"I just had a feeling that he was a good dog," she said.

Burton, an animal shelter employee who serves as its public relations representative, decided Toby was worth the effort. She's had no formal training but thought she could make the dog more comfortable with people and take it from there.

"I've just been a dog lover my entire life," she said. "Something in his eyes told me he was intelligent but scared out of his mind."

Toby was left in the shelter's after-hours drop off in mid-August. The note his owners left said they were surrendering him because of "fearful behavior" and that he'd acted that way his entire life.

Still, Burton said there were signs that Toby might have been mistreated. But despite the cowering, the flinching at a quickly raised hand and other behavior, he "showed he wanted to be with people," she said.

She started by sitting with Toby in his kennel until he finally approached her. She said "little by little" he was willing to do more, go outside or spend time in the shelter's office.

Though Toby was making progress, Burton said the shelter was nearing the maximum number of dogs it could hold and that "made me nervous." Reaching that point means there's "no choice" but to euthanize, though the shelter hasn't had to do that since the end of last year, she said.

Toby still wasn't ready to be adopted so the shelter posted his story on social media to try to find someone who could continue to work with him, Burton said.

That's when Jennifer Warner entered the picture. A dog trainer and rescuer who lives in Saluda, S.C., she heard about Toby's story and contacted the shelter the next day.

Warner said she's worked with dogs for "20-plus years" and most have been fearful or aggressive. What she learned about Toby made her think he fit the profile of a dog who could be helped.

"If it's a learned from a human it can be undone by a human," she said.

Warner's son and his fiance made the trip to Coles County to get Toby. Burton said shelter volunteer Susan Love helped make the travel arrangements and raise money for the expenses.

Warner said Toby refused to leave his crate during the trip to South Carolina. When he first arrived, he wouldn't let anyone touch him and tried to hide most of the time, she said.

To try to get Toby to change, Warner said she "flooded" him, made he stay around her by keeping him on a leash. She said she used a quiet, slow approach, petting him for a bit and making him follow her.

"He understood I wasn't going to hurt him," she said.

She soon introduced him to other dogs that were "stable," her own pets plus several others she rescued. Soon, Warner's husband and son could pet Toby, he started to lay people's laps and became friends with the other pooches.

"He's like a completely different dog," Warner said.

Toby's been with Warner for about three weeks and she plans to eventually find someone to adopt him.

She said applicants will have to be "heavily screened" to ensure they're compatible. She thinks he'll be ready by the end of the year but it depends "when the right person comes along," she said.

Warner praised the people at the Coles County shelter for going "above and beyond" in their efforts to find a home for Toby.

"He just needed a chance to feel safe," she said.
The food and beverage sector in Vietnam has shown strong growth in the last decade, driven by not only foreign brands, but also local brands. In the last few years, numerous foreign brands have invested heavily in the market and are predicted to continue to do so, largely driven by rapid urbanization, increased spending, and growth of the middle-class population.

Local brands offering Vietnamese cuisine and street food are also emerging as a tough competitor to global food chains. In fact, foreign fast-food chains in the last 2-3 years have underperformed and slowed down their expansion plans due to consumers preferring the local taste and lower prices. However, few foreign brands such as Jollibee, Lotteria, and KFC who were early market entrants are performing much better in comparison to new players such as McDonalds, Burger King or Subway.

Consumer Profile

Out-of-home consumption

According to Decision Lab, a Ho Chi Minh City-based market research firm, the out-of-home consumption for food and beverage, are divided into a number of segments, of which full-service restaurants and quick service restaurants lead the group at 36 percent each. Street food accounted for 11 percent, while convenience stores, canteens, bars, clubs, and hotels account for the remaining share.

Food Preference

According to the study, 35 percent of the Vietnamese out-of-home consumption share is from Western food, driven by the growing number of foreign franchisees. The share of Western food in the F&B market has been growing steadily as more and more companies introduce new food products catered to local taste, rather than continuing with their already existing menu.

Visiting hours

As per the study, in Q1 2017, there were 328.6 million visits to foodservice outlets and breakfast accounted for almost a third of the visits at 30 percent. This has been attributed mostly to the modernization of traditional Vietnamese cuisines, growing number of convenience stores, and increasing number of urban office professionals.

Restaurant choice

Location has been highlighted as the main criteria for choosing a restaurant due to the growing urban population and traffic. About 63 percent of the surveyed population highlights location, followed by cleanliness, and food quality at 34 percent each as the top three criteria for choosing a restaurant.

Online ordering preference

With the growing internet and smartphone penetration, restaurants have also started focusing on online ordering to increase their sales. Online ordering currently accounts for almost half of all food delivery orders in the major cities.

License requirements

To establish a restaurant in Vietnam, a company requires a number of licenses for conducting operations and usually takes much longer in comparison to neighboring countries. It depends on:

Legal framework including Vietnams WTO Commitments, Vietnam Investment Law, Vietnam Enterprise Law, Regulations applicable to specific industries. It also depends on the master economic development plan of the city where the restaurant is located;

Financial capability, capital, facilities, and human resources of the investment project. According to applicable Law on Investment 2014, an investment in the form of the establishment of an economic organization will require a foreign investor to go through a two-step licensing process as follows:

Obtaining an Investment Registration Certificate (IRC); and Registering for establishing an enterprise by obtaining an Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC).

In addition to the mentioned-above licenses, restaurants are required to obtain other relevant sub-license such as:

Certificate of satisfaction on food safety and hygiene;

Certificate of satisfaction on conditions for firefighting and prevention;

Commitment to environment protection before officially operating.

Construction of renovation license;

License for Advertisement

Licensing procedure timeline

It usually takes around 30-45 working days from submission of final application dossier to the authority for obtaining the Investment Registration Certificate. Following the Investment Registration Certificate, it takes around 7-10 working days for obtaining the Enterprise Registration Certificate.

The timeline for other licenses are:

Certificate of food safety and hygiene  20 working days from submission of application dossier to Licensing Agency

Certificate of satisfaction of fire prevention condition  15 working days from submission of application dossier to Licensing Agency;

Commitment to environment protection  15 working days from submission of application dossier to Licensing Agency

Construction of renovation license  30 working days from submission of application dossier to competent authority

License for Advertisement  05 working days from submission of application dossier

After the completion of licensing process, it usually takes another two weeks for obtaining seal and tax code registration.

Franchising

Franchising in Vietnam started in the 1990s with the entry of fast-food chains such as KFC, Lotteria, and Jollibee. As per January 2017, 160 foreign brands had registered their franchising businesses in Vietnam. Food and beverage franchises accounted for 30 percent of the registered franchises. Most of the overseas firms are from US, South Korea, and Thailand.

Not only the foreign brands, but also local brand such as Trung Nguyen Coffee, Kinh Do Bakery, Wrap and Roll, Cafe Cong, AQ Silk, and Shop and Go, have allowed franchising to increase their presence.

Franchise laws

Foreign franchisors have to register their activities to receive the certificate of franchise registration, without which a franchisor can face sanctions as well as fines ranging from VND 10 million to 20 million (approximately US$439-878). Before registering their activities, franchisors have to fulfill a few conditions:

Franchise networks have to be in operation for at least one year;

Sub- franchisors have to operate for at least one year before sub-franchising activities;

Goods and services used should not on the Governments list of banned good or services. If they are on the restriction list, one has to obtain a special license.

While registering, the registration dossier should include:

Introduction of the franchise business with information as required by Circular 09/2006/TT-BTM;

Copy of the certificate of business registration or a legally equivalent document;

Copy of the certificate of protection of industrial property rights in Vietnam or in foreign countries if the franchise includes a license of industrial property rights;

Approval from the primary franchisor to the sub-franchisee in case of a sub-franchisor;

Other documents as required by the competent authority (including the franchise agreement or form of agreement).

Cold Storage Logistics

Cold storage is classified as climate control logistics, which refers to a system controlling the temperate and humidity to increase the storing period for particular categories of goods. The first commercial cold storage was built in 1996, by Konoike VinaTrans, a joint venture between Konoike transport Co. Ltd (Japan), Vinatrans Co. (Vietnam), Vinalink Co. (Vietnam), and Vinafreight Co. (Vietnam).

Since then, the development of cold storage logistics was relatively slow until 2007, after which the cold storage market grew rapidly. The demand for refrigerated deliveries and warehouses has mostly developed around major population centers, with the current occupancy rate reaching 90 percent at all facilities. The industry capacity has quadrupled in the short span of 10 years, highlighting the growing use and importance of cold storage solutions in the retail and food & beverage sectors.

Foreign companies lead the market in terms of modern facilities, while local players dominate in terms of capacity. The growing number of convenience stores, food chains, and retail stores are largely responsible for the rapid growth in the last decade. Agricultural products in Vietnam have an average loss rate of 25-30 percent during harvesting, processing, storage, and transportation due to a lack of cold chain infrastructure in the country.

Vietnam is expected to have about 1,200-1,300 supermarkets, 180 shopping centers, and 157 department stores by 2020. Distribution centers including cold storage offer investment opportunities for foreign investors, as such centers continue to increase in capacity and number to satisfy the increasing demand of the F&B and retail sector.
The main building at Paras Vinyards burns in the Mount Veeder area of Napa in California. (JOSH EDELSON/AFP)

The main building at Paras Vinyards burns in the Mount Veeder area of Napa in California. (JOSH EDELSON/AFP)

"This is a serious, critical, catastrophic event," California fire chief Ken Pimlott told reporters. "We're not going to be out of the woods for a great number of days to come."

Pimlott said that after a respite on Tuesday winds were kicking up again on Wednesday and the winds and dry conditions were hampering efforts to contain the blazes.

"We are still impacted by five years of drought," the director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said.

"These fires were driven by the critically dry fuel bed," he added. "We are literally looking at explosive vegetation."

Pimlott said the death toll from the fires - among the deadliest ever in California - had risen to 21 and could be expected to go up further.

Eleven of the deaths have occurred in Sonoma County, a wine-producing region which has been particularly hard hit, while six people have died in Mendocino County. There have been two deaths in Napa County and two in Yuba County.

Entire neighborhoods in Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 which is the county seat of Sonoma County, have been reduced to ashes.

Thousands of people have been left homeless and 25,000 people have evacuated their homes in Sonoma County alone to escape, according to officials.

More than 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed including several wineries in Sonoma and Napa counties, the heart of the state's wine production.

Hundreds of people have been reported missing in Sonoma County but the county sheriff's department said it expected most of them would eventually be located.

68,800 HECTARES BURNED

Pimlott said firefighters were battling a total of 22 wildfires that have burned nearly 68,800 hectares and reinforcements had been requested.

He said 170 fire engines had been ordered from the neighboring states of Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington and another 154 engines from elsewhere around the country.

In addition, 60 firefighting crews from other states were on their way to California to provide assistance, he said. "Our primary goal is to get these resources into the fires," Pimlott said.

He said 73 helicopters, 30 air tankers and nearly 8,000 firefighters were currently taking part in the effort to extinguish the blazes.

President Donald Trump has declared a major disaster in California, freeing up federal funding and resources to help fight the fires, and Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in eight counties.

The US military has also been enlisted to battle the fires with 700 servicemen currently helping out and an additional 1,800 being mobilised.

Bob Nelson, 53, stopped in his black pickup truck at a police roadblock near Santa Rosa, said he fled his home on Sunday and returned on Tuesday.

"There was no damage," he said. "But then we got evacuated again. "We don't know about our house now," Nelson told AFP. "I've got no idea. It's in the middle of two fires."

Much of the damage in Santa Rosa can be seen from US Route 101, the north-south highway which runs from California through Oregon to Washington state.

The Sonoma County Hilton perched on a hill overlooking Route 101 is a ruin of charred wood and twisted metal, as is the nearby Fountaingrove Inn.

An enormous K-Mart store has been entirely destroyed with only a couple of blackened walls still standing.

Among the wineries which reportedly suffered damage were William Hill Estate Winery in Napa, Signorello Vineyards, Stags' Leap and Chimney Rock.

Forest fires are common in the western United States during dry, hot months but, with 21 deaths so far, this year's California fires are among the deadliest ever.

The Griffith Park fire in Los Angeles County in 1933 killed at least 29 people and 25 people died in the 1991 Oakland Hills fire.
The decree will make sure less buyers get their fingers burnt

Among the big projects to be launched is An Khanh New City Developments sale of its first phase this quarter. The mega $2 billion project is developed by South Koreas Posco E&C and Vietnams Vinaconex, located in Hanois Hoai Duc district, along the Thang Long Boulevard.

Scheduled for completion in 2013, the city is expected to supply 6,440 apartments, equivalent to 392,319 square metres of accommodation, enough for 30,000 people.

Even though Hoa Phat Group, the investor in a more than 1,000 apartment Mandarin Garden in Cau Giay districts Tran Duy Hung road, refused to release its launching time, real estate experts predicted the project would be soon launched.

At the beginning of this month the CT7D, located in Le Van Luong street and invested by Nam Cuong Group and the FLC Landmark Tower of FLC Group will also be launched, with a total of 200 units and prices ranging from VND23 million ($1,200) to VND28 million ($1,470) per square metre.

In Gia Lam district, over the Red River, the second lot of Rung Co Residentials belonging to the Eco Park is also being launched, with around 1,500 apartment units.

In addition, Victoria Van Phu, Star City, Diamond Tower and Song Da City View will also add apartments to the mix.

Real estate consultant CBRE Vietnam expected that there would be 3,000 units in Hanoi launched this quarter, compared to 1,950 units in the third quarter. There were more than 4,600 units launched in the second quarter.

This decline, according to CBRE Vietnam, could be due to the Decree 71, effective on August 8, 2010 providing guidance on the Housing Law, which caps the proportion of units sold via capital contribution contracts at 20 per cent with the remaining 80 per cent sold on transaction floors.

This decree, CBRE Vietnam said, had put a pressure on developers with low financial capabilities and enhanced market transparency.

However, CBRE Vietnam executive director Richard Leech said new project launches would continue trending towards more affordable options.

With the opening and improvement of major infrastructure routes, the capitals western and southern districts are attracting new residents with easier access for commuting into the core urban districts, Leech said.

He said that the Decree 71 was expected to benefit the market by enhancing transparency, placing pressures on developers with low financial capabilities, lessening the threat of price bubbles and limiting speculative forces.

Tran Nhu Trung, Savills Vietnam associate director, said the Decree 71 had showed off its advantages to clearly regulate five types of mobilising capital investment. However, Trung said the procedures to implement Decree 71 were still complicated and wasted customers time and energy.

The more simple it [decree] regulates, the more it is practical in the real life, Trung said.
Britain's consumers and businesses are holding back from spending owing to uncertainty surrounding Brexit negotiations, the country's finance minister said AFP/Justin TALLIS

Britain's consumers and businesses are holding back from spending owing to uncertainty surrounding Brexit negotiations, the country's finance minister said AFP/Justin TALLIS

"My general view on the economy is that it is fundamentally robust," Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond told a cross-party panel of MPs.

"However, the cloud of uncertainty over current negotiations is acting as a temporary dampener and we need to remove it as soon as possible to make some progress," Hammond told the Treasury Select Committee.

"There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that businesses and consumers are waiting to see what the outcome is before firming up investment decisions and consumption decisions," the chancellor added.

His comments came one day after the International Monetary Fund said the UK economy would slow to 1.7-per cent gross domestic product growth this year from 1.8 per cent in 2016 - and slow to 1.5 per cent GDP growth next year.

The European Union and Britain clashed Monday after British Prime Minister Theresa May said the ball was in the EU's court as Brexit negotiations entered a critical fifth round.

Talks have stalled on all three of the key divorce issues - the bill Britain must pay for exiting the EU, the rights of the bloc's citizens living in Britain, and the fate of the border between the UK province Northern Ireland and eurozone member Ireland.

The UK fiscal watchdog on Tuesday warned that British productivity growth is lower than previously forecast, dealing a blow to May's Conservative government before Hammond delivers a key budget next month.

The Office for Budget Responsibility added that it would "significantly" reduce its estimate for productivity growth over the next five years - which will hit forecasts for economic growth and public finances.

Productivity refers to the average level of output produced per worker or per hour.

Hammond told the committee Wednesday that issues holding back productivity growth include under-developed infrastructure in the public sector and a skills shortage among workers.

But he pointed also to an issue he viewed as unique to Britain compared to other leading economies.

"We do have a fundamental underlying problem about productivity growth in the UK economy," the chancellor told MPs.

"The UK distinctive issue is regional disparity. I've got no doubt in my mind that the staggering disparity between regional productivity performance is a major drag on the UK economy overall.

"It's also a major social issue for us in the UK. There is no other developed economy that has such a large productivity performance gap between its capital city and its second and third city."
The Saigon Classical Music Group will host the Classical Favourites II concert on October 20. - Photo from the groups Facebook page

The group will perform 14 of their favourite pieces, including those by Chopin, Mozart, Haydn and Ravel. Chopins Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 and Haydns Sonata in E-flat major will be featured.

The performers will include pianists ang Tri Dung and oan Tran Thuy Tien, and violinists Lam Hoai Bao and Pham Nguyen Hoai Thao.

The event will begin at 7pm at 11 Mac inh Chi Street in District 1. Tickets are VN350,000 and available at ticketbox.vn.
Toxic, medicinal: Au tau, scientifically known as Aconitum, is a root found in high mountainous areas. Residents of Ha Giang Province use it au tau root and soak it in local wine. The mixture is used for massage or curing minor pain. It is also used to make a rice porridge unique to the province.  Photos hagiangonline.com

Ha Giang is now known all over the world for its spectacular landscapes including golden terraced rice fields, limestone peaks and outcrops, valleys of flowers and the cultural diversity of its ethnic minority communities, who comprise almost 90 per cent of its population.

With such a multi-cultural makeup, it is not surprising that Ha Giangs cuisine reflects the diversity and many of the dishes found here are unique, and some of the have become well known, like thang co (simmered horse meat and offal), thang den (boiled glutinous rice dumplings stuffed with mung beans) and grilled algae.

But there is one dish which is very popular among locals and easy to find, but visitors, especially those making their debut in the province, find it intimidating because it is called poisonous porridge.

One of its main ingredients gives the dish a bitter taste, and people warn you that it can cause harm if not made well, but its popularity and ubiquitous presence in the city shows it is worth checking out.

The chao au tau, is a rice porridge with pork leg, stir-friend minced pork, and the au tau root.

Locals in Ha Giang are experts in using expert au tau, they know how to eliminate the poison in the root and combine it with rice, making it a dish that is actually healthy, helping ease joint pain and aiding sleep.

Though Id been to Ha Giang before, I had stayed mostly in the remote districts like Dong Van, the karst plateau park and Hoang Su Phi, the land of terraced rice fields. It was only in latest trip last week that I had the chance to visit Ha Giang City and have au tau porridge for the first time.

A trip to Ha Giang is not complete without having a bowl of au tau porridge, my local friend Le Van Uoc.

Uniquely Ha Giang: Apart from dishes like thang co (simmered horse meat and offal), thang den (boiled glutinous rice dumplings), grilled algae, no visit to Ha Giang Province can be complete without trying a bowl of chao au tau.

Strolling along the citys streets in misty, cold weather, I realised how different it was from what I had expected. The street was quite busy at night, offering a broad range of street food, with au tau porridge stalls the most populous.

Tran Hung Dao Street has the highest number of au tau porridge eateries, and among them, Huongs is the best, my friend said.

Nguyen Thi Huong, a Ha Giang native, has been selling au tau porridge for years. She said the au tau tree grows mostly in the 2427m high Tay Con Linh, the highest peak in the province.

The Mong and Dao people go to the peak to get the au tau root and soak it in wine. The mixture is used as a massage lotion or balm for curing minor pains, she said.

To use au tau as food, we have to be careful in processing it. Otherwise, it can poison diners, Huong said, confirming what Id heard earlier.

Au tau, which has the scientific name of Aconitum grows typically in high mountainous areas. Its root is hard as a rock, and thorny.

Ready to serve: Locals in Ha Giang are experts in using au tau. They know how to eliminate the poison in the root and combine it with rice, making a porridge that is tasty and healthy.

To make a big pan of au tau porridge, people have to work hard for almost a whole day.

The most difficult part is making the au tau safe.

The root is first cleaned and soaked in rice water (in which rice had been washed), for at least four hours or from early morning till noon. It is then taken out, cleaned again, and simmered in boiling hot water for another four hours. At this point, the root is safe and edible, and locals grind it for adding to the porridge, which itself is simmered with pork leg.

To make good porridge, locals use rice grown in hills. This rise is soaked in water from previous night till early morning so that the dish is soft and creamy.

Stir fried minced pork, pepper, scallion, perilla and chilli are added to the au tau porridge.

While the au tau gives the porridge a bitter taste that might put off the first time diner, the creaminess of rice and the sweetness of pork bones reduce the bitterness and create a unique taste.

Au tau porridge is served only in the evening because it is said to be good for sleeping, Uoc said.

In the cold climate of a high mountainous area like Ha Giang, nothing can soothe you better than bowl of hot au tau porridge, he added.
MATTOON (JG-TC) -- About 140 high school students from throughout Coles County toured eight different manufacturing plants and other employers Thursday during the annual "Manufacturing Day" event.

Coles Together, the county's economic development organization, sponsors the tours each year to show the students what takes place at the operations and help them make career decisions.

Coles Together President Angela Griffin said the county is "uniquely positioned" to train students for careers in today's environment.

She noted that Eastern Illinois University and Lake Land College offer curriculum to lead to manufacturing careers. Many current employees acquired degrees and skills in their home communities, she said.

"Manufacturing Day is important for both the student and the company," Griffin said.

She explained that there's a shortage of and an increasing demand for workers who can fit the employers' needs.

Student from Charleston, Mattoon and Oakland high schools took part in Thursday's tours.

The students were able to visit Justrite Manufacturing, MARS Petcare, LSC Communications (formerly RR Donnelley Co.), Birkeys Farm Store, ITW Hi-Cone, Pinnacle Foods (maker of Lenders Bagels), Consolidated Communications and Coles County Memorial Airport.

According to Griffin, Manufacturing Day is an event that celebrates modern manufacturing. She said it takes place each in October and is observed in all 50 states and well as Puerto Rico, Canada and throughout Europe.
India is the world's second-largest consumer of gold and smuggling has been increasing since duties were raised on the precious metal, an essential part of religious festivals and weddings.

Customs officials acting on a tip-off Sunday (Oct 8) detained a group of crafty gold mules as their plane from Sri Lanka touched down in the southern city of Madurai.

"Eleven passengers had concealed some 32 to 50 grams (1.1 to 1.8 ounces) each in their rectums. Another 17 had hidden gold in their luggage," a senior Directorate of Revenue Intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The value of the haul was more than 30 million rupees (US$500,000), he added.

Demand for gold peaks in the final months of the year as the wedding season gets going and preparations are made for the major Hindu festivals of Diwali and Dussehra.

There has been a rise in smuggling since duties on gold were raised in 2013. But secreting the valuable metal inside a body cavity has really only caught on recently, officials say.

"It seems to be a new trend that has caught up in the last 7 to 8 months. Since the amounts of gold are not huge, it is easier for them to escape detection," the customs official said.

The bars are usually wrapped in plastic and shaped like a battery to ease insertion and removal, he said.

"They stuff it in on boarding, and then take it out so it is not uncomfortable during the flight. Just before disembarking the plane, they put it back there again," he said.

"All this is done meticulously so as not to cause any bruise or injury."

The World Gold Council estimates smuggling networks imported up to 120 tonnes of gold into India in 2016.

Bangladesh has emerged as a major route for smuggled bullion into neighbouring India, with authorities seizing a record 1.5 tonnes at airports in the past three years and arresting more than 100 people.

Smugglers have become more creative as their schemes have been uncovered, with authorities discovering gold bars sewn in clothes or hidden inside traffickers' bodies and some using wheelchairs to conceal their illicit cargo.
Following Shinhan and Woori Bank, Lotte Card and other Korean corporates are breaking into the Vietnamese financial market

Lottes whole-package strategy

Recently, Techcombank has approved the main contract and other transaction documents related to the sale of a 100-per-cent stake in Techcom Finance. The prospective acquirer is Lotte Card, a subsidiary of Lotte Group. If the deal is approved, Lotte Card will be the first Korean card company in Vietnam to offer instalment loan services and consumer credit cards.

At present, consumer lending is considered extremely lucrative, bringing about a trillion dong profit for financial companies in Vietnam, of which FE Credit is an outstanding example.

However, Nguyen Duc Vinh, VPBanks general director (the parent bank of FE Credit), admitted that the consumer lending market has been saturated. In particular, while cash loans still see positive growth, lending via credit cards is inevitably emerging as the new trend. This is also the strategic direction that FE Credit is pursuing.

According to State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), even though transactions via credit cards remain modest, card purchases have been increasing rapidly, especially as the government is enthusiastically pushing its scheme on non-cash payments.

This is definitely a good time for Lotte Card to enter the Vietnamese credit card market. Moreover, the company also has the giant customer base of Lotte Group to rely on, building on the corporations more than 10 years of presence in Vietnam.

Can Van Luc, a banking expert, said that given the financial capability of South Korean investors, Lotte Card will surely expand its scale of operations in Vietnam.

Threatening invasion

Apart from Lotte Card, numerous other financial investors from South Korea are looking for opportunities in the Vietnamese financial market. So far, since the beginning of the year, three more Korean banks have entered into official cooperation with domestic banks and insurance companies in the country.

Given their excellent services and open lending policies, Korean banks and financial firms are likely to threaten the market share of domestic banks.

Specifically, in July 2017, Daegu Bank signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with OCB. Prior to that, Korea Development Bank (KDB) signed a similar agreement with BIDV, while Woori Bank Vietnam signed a cooperation agreement with Vietnam Post Insurance Corporation (PTI).

Currently, there are two of the eight wholly foreign owned banks in Vietnam are held by South Korean firms, namely Shinhan and Woori Bank. In addition, many other large banks in South Korea have established branches and representative offices in Vietnam, such as KEB Hana, Industrial Bank of Korea, Kookmin, Busan and Nonghyup. Banks from South Korea are ranked number one among foreign investors present in the banking sector of Vietnam.

Furthermore, regarding the corporate lending segment, large Vietnamese banks might lose customers to their Korean counterparts.
Pianist Van Anh Nguyen and DJ Mark Olsen will hold exquisite musical events in Ho Chi Minh City this month

Van Anh Nguyen is a passionate and versatile Australian-Vietnamese pianist, producer, and composer in addition to being a teacher, fashionista, blogger, and model. Incorporating music, fashion, lighting, DJs, and her contagious personality, any concert experience with Van Anh will leave you wanting more, to hear more, and to feel more. At the performance, Van Anhs partner and renowned DJ Mark Olsen will ensure an uplift atmosphere.

Born in 1987 in Sydney to Vietnamese refugee parents, Van-Anh started learning the piano at the tender and astounding age of 15 months from both of her parents (both of whom are professional musicians). By the age of four, she was accepted into the Young Artists Programme for gifted & talented musicians at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Jacques Pourcel, president of Pourcel Chateau Company said: "We believe in the development of the food industry in Vietnam in the future. With talented chefs, who have been successful all over the world for many years, this time, we introduce our talents with the desire to bring to Vietnamese consumers the fine and high-class culinary experiences of France."

The partnership of SonKim Land and Pourcel Chateau reaches long-term and sustainable cooperation in order to bring about higher benefits to both parties and contribute to the development of the Vietnamese food industry.

"The Pourcel Brothers, Jacques and Laurent, have won three Michelin honorable stars in their chef's career, starting in the South of France in 1998. We are very delighted to cooperate with Pourcel Chateau, a prestigious partner with extensive experience and expertise in the field of restaurants in this project," Nguyen Hoang Tuan, president of SonKim Land said. "It can be seen that many Michelin stars, after opening restaurants in Hong Kong and Singapore, have turned these places into the destinations of famous culinary experiences."

SonKim Land is a successful and reputable real estate developer in the Vietnamese market, focusing on high-class and luxury projects such as Gateway Thao Dien, Serenity Sky Villas and The Nassim.

Participating in F&B is a strategic advance of SonKim Land, supplementing its core business of hospitality and real estate with the aim at providing perfect and ultimate living experience to the customers in SonKim Land's projects. Currently, SonKim Land has 25 premises available for restaurants in the prime locations of Ho Chi Minh City, including districts 1 and 3.

SonKim Land named winner of Vietnam M&A Forum 2017 SonKim Land was honoured with the award of The Best Real Estate Deal of the Year 2016-2017 and The Company with The Best M&A Information Disclosure of the Year 2016-2017 at the 9th Vietnam M&A Forum 2017 themed "Seeking a Big Push" on August 10 in Ho Chi Minh City.

SonKim Land announces $100 million follow-up fundraising with EXS Capital and ACA Investments SonKim Land Corporation, a leading Vietnamese real estate developer, and EXS Capital Ltd., an independent alternative investment group within Asia, announced last week the successful closure of their first round  $46 million out of an expected $100 million  of follow-up fundraising for SonKim Land. This is the second investment led by EXS Capital into SonKim Land through the Lemongrass Master Fund, after a successful initial investment of $37 million in 2013.
Accordingly, the first phase which came into effect this September will enable Qatar Airways passengers to travel to and from points in Vietnam and Taiwan, served directly by Vietjet.

The next phase will soon allow Vietjets passengers to fly to more than 150 destinations around the world on Qatar Airways planes, using a single reservation across both airlines networks.

Vietjet is expanding its cooperation with a large number of airlines

Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker said that the company was delighted to welcome Vietjet to its growing roster of interline partners as they allow to provide a more seamless experience for passengers.

The new agreement with Vietjet will offer our passengers even more choice, providing them an easy connection in Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi before transferring to their Qatar Airways flights, said Baker.

Vietjet vice president Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh commented that this partnership was a pillar of Vietjets strategy to diversify its services with an aim to offer passengers travel opportunities to a great variety of destinations around the world.

Qatar Airways is commencing two non-stop operations connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with Doha, offering two daily and 10 weekly flights, respectively.

Previously, Vietjet and Japan Airlines agreed to codeshare/interline on their flights between Japan and Vietnam, their domestic services, and flights between Vietnam and other Asian countries. The two carriers also cooperate in various areas, including a frequent flier partnership, aircraft operations and maintenance, and ground handling services and training.
The fourth Vietnam Junior Fashion Week 2017, to be held in HCM City from October 13 to 15, will feature clothes for boys and girls by domestic fashion houses and garment companies. - Photo courtesy of the event organizer

More than 150 items of clothing for boys and girls, created by dozens of foreign and domestic fashion houses and garment companies, will be on display.

Most of the ready-to-wear designs use high-quality materials and will be offered at reasonable prices.

Around 90 amateur fashion models aged from four to 15 will be featured.

The VJFW 2017 will help to promote Vietnamese brand names and sales, said Xuan Lan, one of the members of the events organising board.

Lan owns Xuan Lans Model Agency, an institute of modelling and acting, which offers training courses for fashion modelling, catwalk and photography.

We will seek new talent for the catwalk through the VJFW and later help them become professional in the future, she said.

Organised by a group of fashion designers and stylists in HCM City, the VJFW aims to encourage Vietnamese fashion houses, companies and designers to develop their childrens clothing businesses.

Last year, several thousand parents and children viewed and shared comments on the events websites and online forums.

The VJFW 2017 will take place at Gem Centre in District 1s Nguyen Binh Khiem Street.

Sales

Vietnamese brand names and clothing shops have targeted children and teenage consumers in recent years.

Female designer Bui Minh Trang from Kelly Bui Kids offers limited edition items for children under 12 years old.

Sold in shops in Ha Noi and HCM City, the brand provides clothing in quality materials like lace, silk and taffeta, with accessories such as belts, sunglasses, gloves and fishnet socks.

Clothes from Kelly Bui Kids are high-end and pricey, over VND1 million (US$45) each, but parents with deep pockets are satisfied, said Nguyen Thi Nhung, seller at Kelly Bui shop in HCM Citys Vincom Centre in District 1.

According to Nhung, to satisfy the needs of the market, domestic brands are spending more to grab the attention of children and their parents. They have also worked to ensure their services and promotions are the best for customers.

We plan to launch an online service in the near future, she said.

Designers for Kim, a brand name owned by young designer Phuc Tran in HCM City, combines simplicity and practicality for boys and girls aged 10 to 14. They use pastel, neon, black and white colours on cotton, linen and denim.

With more than 40 designs each season, Kims items sell from VND200,000 ($9) to 500,000 ($22).

Other fashion shops have also upgraded their goods.

Phuong Nguyen Silk and Rabity offer ready-to-wear collections for boys and girls at more than 30 shops in Ha Noi, HCM City, Can Tho, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Da Nang.

Rabity uses silk and satin to highlight the innocence of children who look beautiful in white and cream, while Phuong Nguyen Silk uses cotton and khaki and embroidery in hot colours, such as pearl blue and lemon green, to launch a trend of simple, high-end styles.

While Phuong Nguyen Silks popular clothing line starts at VND200,000 ($9), Rabitys customers should be prepared to pay VND300-1.2 million ($25-$100) per item.

A full range of handbags, scarves, swimwear and jewellery made by local craftspeople are also offered.

Foreign brandnames such as H&M, Zara and Gap in Ha Noi and HCM City offer new collections for kids and teenagers at reasonable prices every season. They see our market as promising, said a representative of Rabity.

Vietnamese brandnames should improve their business to meet consumer demand, she added.
Bosch subscribes to Vingroup's dream of a 'Made in Vietnam' automobile brand

On October 12, representatives of Vingroup and Bosch Vietnam signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU), marking an important milestone between the two parties, according to information published on Vingroups website.

According to the MoU, Bosch Vietnam will supply parts and components to Vinfasts automobiles. Besides, it will advise and support Vinfast to implement software for motorcycles and automobiles as well as business management.

Furthermore, Bosch Vietnam will supply solutions to develop a smart campus for Vinfasts automobile and motorbike manufacturing complex, including solutions on smart security, connected mobility, smart operation, and energy management, connected industry consultancy and deployment.

With experience in training skilled employees, Bosch Vietnam, which spent $1 million training human resources, will support Vinfast to build a vocational training centre.

According to Vinfast, this new centre will offer training in mechanical and electronic engineering, meeting German standards to build a skilled staff to operate modern manufacturing lines.

Especially, Vingroup will co-operate with Bosch Vietnam to study the worlds leading technologies to apply in Vinfasts automobile models.

With the comprehensive co-operation via supplying both hardware and software solutions to Vinfast, Bosch Vietnam confirms its ambition to help Vinfast realise the dream of Made in Vietnam automobiles, said Guru Mallikarjuna, managing director of Bosch Vietnam.
SHELBYVILLE  Adding transit services funding to the Illinois Department of Transportations budget will cause hardships for many counties and townships, Shelby County Highway Engineer Alan Spesard said Wednesday.

Spesard told the Shelby County Board that the state budget plan approved by lawmakers in July after a two-year stalemate moves transit funding from the general fund to IDOTs Motor Fuel Tax-funded road maintenance plan, resulting in a $50 million cut for county and township highway funds across Illinois.

Its a terrible story, Spesard said. And, worse if things dont change, it will happen every year.

Spesard said moving transit costs to the road fund means an inequitable distribution of motor fuel tax dollars.

He said that 94 percent of Illinois counties will get no benefit from this, either in road or transit money."

For Shelby County, the loss means up to $200,000 less in county and township coffers for resurfacing and road maintenance.

It means we wont be doing much seal coating, oiling and chipping next year, Spesard said.

The losses come as no surprise to state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet.

This is what happens when you dont get a budget for two years, Rose said. I cant even use the word budget to describe what happened in July.

Rose said he had heard from several counties and townships in his district about the cuts in road funds.

Without significant change I see more cuts happening because of Illinois budget troubles, he said.

Central Illinois Public Transit, the rural transportation system that serves Shelby County, expects no increase in revenue from the tax juggling. CIPT Director Susan Love compared the changes to a chicken and the egg situation, especially in larger counties her agency serves.

We need good roads to provide good transportation, Love said. In Shelby and Montgomery counties, for example, those are a lot of county and township roads that cover a large area. No one benefits if those roads cant be maintained.

Shelby County Board Chairman Dave Cruitt said he and other board members continue to press Rose and other legislators to find funding solutions.

This has an economic effect on counties and townships, Cruitt said. Our representatives need to know how much difference it will make so that they can help us. 

Weve got to stop digging ourselves into a hole, Rose said. The state is $1.5 billion in the hole and at some point, it has to stop. Taxpayers and local governments cant keep going like this.


The designers return to his native France after a decade in New York produced an overwhelmingly dense collection



InDigital.TV

The show that Joseph Altuzarra presented abroad for the first time after nearly a decade of fashion was not in New York, but under the colonnades of a Parisian lycee. Lets call it a homecoming. And the designer had already told me why the complex but delicate clothes were so personal.

I was inspired by my grandparents in the South of France, where I used to spend my summers, but I hadnt been back to that house in probably 10 or 15 years, Altuzarra said, explaining that one outfit had even been inspired by a set of family table napkins.

InDigital.TV

Its right next to Bordeaux, and it was a really moving experience for me, he continued. A lot of what Ive been thinking about this season was also about reconnecting with things and realising that a lot of what I still love today are things I was drawn to as a child.

InDigital.TV

With a French father and a Chinese-American mother, the designer left France for America when he was 18, returning only briefly to work at Givenchy. The collection he showed seemed like a cloud of memories, confusing the simplicity of the basic concept. That was a narrow silhouette, stroked with red lines and defined by transparency that came as bared legs in mesh under a sheer chiffon skirt. Add to that an embroidered bodice and a scarlet cardigan.

There seemed to be a lot going on in every outfit: a fringe hem here, a pair of criss-cross hose there, ending with lace-up bootees.

InDigital.TV

The deep concept was especially relevant, as the collection was essentially inspired by a Japanese Anime movie from 1997 called Princess Mononoke, about the conflict between industry and nature.

InDigital.TV

A lot of it also came from looking at an old book called Native Funk and Flash: An Emerging Folk Art, which is a book about 1970s artists who would make their own clothes and were really free about how they would put things together, the designer said. And there was the idea of handmade and homemade; knitting and sewing; the imperfect and the underdone. And there are the pagan rituals documented by Charles Freger in his Wilder Mann photographic series of fantasy and dreams.

InDigital.TV

In one way, Altuzarras explanation of his inspiration was a fascinating insight into what makes fashion art. But like an over-rich meal, the show often seemed far too much at once: imagine white pom-poms hitting jacquard tops and facing off a knitted top with a black fringe. Add a gauze jacket with leather snaps and a skirt that tilted at an angle.

Next time, Altuzarra needs to believe that less is more, and use his French connection to live up to Coco Chanels famous phrase: Elegance is refusal.

InDigital.TV
Sunday, October 8 marked the twentieth anniversary of the United States official designation of Hizballah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Hizballah, originally formed as a violent union of Iranian-backed extremists in Lebanon, has terrorized the Middle East and the world since its inception thirty-five years ago.

Hizballah remains a threat to the United States and to the security of nations across the Middle East and beyond. It is time for more nations around the world to join the United States in exposing this murderous organization for what it is, in confronting its networks and its sponsors, and in mobilizing a global response to counter the threat it poses to the civilized world.

Hizballah kidnaps soldiers and civilians, fires rockets on Israeli families and children, and plans terrorist attacks around the world. Hizballahs 1983 and 1984 bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, and its 1983 attacks on the U.S. and French barracks in Beirut, killed hundreds of American, Lebanese, and French citizens.

In recent years, law enforcement has thwarted attempted Hizballah terrorist attacks on nearly every continentin countries such as Thailand, Cyprus, Kuwait, Peru, and Nigeria. In 2012, Hizballah operatives conducted a successful suicide bombing attack in Bulgaria. We also believe that Hizballah has been operating inside the United States. The FBI recently arrested two U.S. persons for allegedly operating on behalf of Hizballahs international terrorism unit.

For decades, this terrorist organization has tried to disguise its murderous intentions under the guise of political legitimacy. Hizballah first competed in Lebanese national elections in 1992. Today, Hizballah and its political allies hold half of the seats in Lebanons Cabinet and nearly half of the seats in its National Assembly.

Hizballahs political cover cannot mask its true intentions. The same Hizballah officials responsible for its political apparatus oversee its terrorist planning. Hizballah has built its political power at the expense of its victims, including former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and dozens of other Lebanese officials. The Lebanese people can never be truly free to express their political will under the constant threat of Hizballahs violence and coercion.

There is no difference between Hizballahs terrorist wing and its supposed political wing. Hizballah is one organizationa global terrorist organization.

That is why the United States will continue to recognize the entire group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and the Trump Administration will aggressively target its terrorism infrastructure and financial support networks. None of this, of course, will affect our ongoing support for Lebanons legitimate state institutions.

We are encouraged that nations around the world are increasingly joining the United States in recognizing Hizballahs true terrorist nature. In August, the United Nations Security Council reached agreement on a series of reforms to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. These will improve its visibility into what is happening on the ground and its capacity to identify and report on Hizballahs illegal activity. Additionally, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Arab League, Canada, and the Netherlands have each joined the United States in designating the entirety of Hizballah as a terrorist organization, and in 2013, the European Union sanctioned its military wing.

Still, more action is needed. The United Nations and countries across Europe, South America, Africa, and Southeast Asiaall areas where the organization continues to operatehave not yet sanctioned the entirety of Hizballah. This complacency about an organization whose purpose is to terrorize and kill around the world must end.

The Trump Administration will also continue to lead the effort to isolate Hizballahs benefactorIran. The Iranian regime does not respect the sovereignty of its neighbors or the dignity of its people. Iran takes oil profitsresources that should benefit the Iranian peopleand uses them to fund Hizballah and other terrorist organizations. The regime employs Hizballah as a surrogate to violate the sovereignty of nations across the greater Middle East. The United States condemns Irans destabilizing actions and calls on all nations to stand against this murderous dictatorship in Tehran and its junior partner Hizballah.

The international community must send an unequivocal and united message that Hizballah is not a legitimate political party. The safety and security of the American people and of people all around the world depends on our cooperation in confronting this threat.

Today, we renew our unwavering commitment to standing against Hizballahs terrorist actions in the Middle East and around the world. We urge our partners to join our efforts to hold Hizballah accountable. Together, we can prevent this malicious terrorist organization from threatening the peace and security of the world.
The Ministry for Heritage has announced that three new interpretation panels have been placed within our Old Town in order to provide information on our Medieval History, namely our Islamic and Spanish Periods.
Successful Exercise for GFRS and the Ministry for Housing

The Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service together with the Housing Department and the Housing Works Agency, and observed by the RGP, conducted a successful controlled fire training exercise at Referendum House, Glacis Estate this morning.

The exercise consisted of fire fighters conducting a full scale rescue simulation from one of the upper floors within the building, using artificial non-toxic smoke and fire hoses.

This was a routine exercise carried out by the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service, but in light of recent events in the United Kingdom the Ministry for Housing took this opportunity to be part of the exercise so as to better understand and assist in its review of all policies and procedures regarding fire safety in housing estates. The Housing Department and Housing works agency have said they will continue to work closely with all relevant agencies and departments in order to ensure that all existing measures are adequate to keep tenants safe. One of the abundantly clear observations in the process was the absolute need to keep corridors and access areas free from clutter and any object that may impede access in the event of an emergency.

Tenants of Referendum House had previously been notified of the exercise in advance by notice last week and housing staff attended Referendum House yesterday to inform tenants who live on the higher floors in person so that no one was alarmed today.

The Minister for Housing, Samantha Sacramento MP also attended to observe the exercise, she said I have today witnessed what it would be like in the event that there was a fire in a high rise building. It is important that we all work together to ensure that all adequate process and procedures to ensure safety are in place. It was important for Housing senior management and myself to have been present today to contextualise our responsibilities. Having been involved in such a realistic simulation this morning, I am humbled by the work undertaken by the Gibraltar Fire and Rescues Service, and indeed by all emergency services in such an eventuality."

The Housing Department would like to take this opportunity to thank all its tenants for their collaboration during this exercise.
Mid-September was a tough time for Mariana Schell, operations director at the Food Bank of Lincoln.

On Sept. 19, a devastating earthquake wracked Mexico City, where she grew up during her first 15 years.

All of my family is in Mexico, Schell said. They are all alive and safe, thankfully. Some have been hit with material losses, but those can be replaced. Its ironic that exactly to the day, 32 years earlier on Sept. 19, 1985, Mexico City was hit by another earthquake. I was a sixth-grader, and I remember it clearly. So to see this happen again, its really sad. But people are helping each other.

The day after the Mexico City earthquake, on Sept. 20, Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico. It was the second hurricane in two weeks to hit the U.S. territory  causing much more extensive damage than Hurricane Irma.

While Schell was not in a position to travel to Mexico, she has done plenty in Puerto Rico the past two years that will help that recovery effort. She has traveled there multiple times as a consultant to help Banco de Alimentos de Puerto Rico (food bank of Puerto Rico) meet the Feeding America networks regulations for storing, transporting and distributing food.

Schells consulting efforts are paying off for Puerto Rico as its food bank plays a major role in distributing food, water and supplies to residents throughout the islands in the wake of damage caused by Hurricane Maria.

Helping to assess the damages

It has been a sad time, Schell said. Hopefully, no more hurricanes or earthquakes. People in those communities will help each other the best they can. But its hard to be so far away, feeling like Im not helping. I wish I was there, carrying water or comforting someone.

She got her wish. A few days after our interview, Schell was invited to make a fourth trip to Puerto Rico Oct. 14-25.

I am very excited about the trip and helping out, she said. Helping after a hurricane will be a new experience for me. Banco de Alimentos de Puerto Rico wants me to partner with Johanna Grey, their agency relations coordinator, to visit their agencies and assess the damage sustained and what they would need to fix or reopen them."

Gathering the damage data will be important in obtaining funding through the food bank for repairs, she added.

Schell noted that her travels to Puerto Rico are not paid for by the Food Bank of Lincoln. Corporate funds, donated to the Feeding America network to support Puerto Ricos food bank, have paid for her trips.

Keeping in contact with the Puerto Rico food bank, Schell learned that one staff member lost her home and another ones home was damaged, but everyone was OK. The food bank took in water since windows were broken, but fortunately no food was damaged, she said.

Feeding America has also sent Carol Garrity, compliance capacity officer, and Patrick Crawford, director of disaster services, who have supported Puerto Rico food bank efforts by participating in twice-daily meetings with National VOAD, an association of organizations responding to the disaster, and working closely with FEMA and other disaster relief partners.

According to a Feeding America update emailed to the Food Bank of Lincoln, the disaster response in Puerto Rico consists of trucks transporting food and water from the San Juan airport to a central warehouse operated by FEMA. From there, trucks move those items to regional distribution centers across Puerto Rico. The food bank has mobilized a fleet to distribute the items from the distribution centers to agencies throughout Puerto Rico.

Food and water must be shipped

Since Hurricane Marias massive destruction in Puerto Rico, food, water and supplies must be shipped to the island, making access more difficult for a population that, even before the hurricanes, included 1.6 million, or 40 percent, of its 4 million residents living in poverty and food insecurity, Schell said.

Puerto Rico is making gradual progress on the long road to recovery, she said. Some flights are starting to arrive and depart from the San Juan airport, and a small number of businesses are reopening. However, much of the territory remains without power, fuel and other critical services.

Rebuilding, even here in the states, will take a lot of time, she said. In Puerto Rico, it may take five months to a year, unfortunately.

As of early October, Feeding America had allocated and/or shipped more than 650,000 pounds of food and supplies to Puerto Rico, and it planned to ship more than 30 additional truckloads to the island. In addition, Feeding America placed more than 75 temporary staff members at affected food banks.

Feeding America has also been able to get corporations to donate money to affected areas, Schell said. On the national level, it has connections to large, iconic companies like Kellogg that provide financial support.

The Feeding America network is providing assistance to food banks in all hurricane-damaged areas where U.S. citizens reside. After Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, Feeding America has shipped over 19 million pounds of food, water and supplies (616 truckloads) to Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and other affected areas, Schell said.

Lincoln connection

Schell initially learned about Lincoln in the mid-1990s while earning a bachelors degree in business administration at Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Queretaro, Mexico. She befriended Trina Lammert from Lincoln who had visited Queretaro as an exchange student.

When I graduated, I was not yet ready for a formal job, so I called to find out if I could visit Trina, Schell said. I stayed with her for two months in an apartment at the Georgian Place above the downtown YMCA.

After working for auction and insurance companies in Lincoln, Schell was hired as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach coordinator for the Food Bank of Lincoln in 2010. From 2011-14, she was the food banks agency relations director, making sure agencies complied with Feeding America network regulations.

That helped me understand the operations side of the food bank, and for the last three years Ive been the operations director, she said. Because of that experience, Feeding America invited me to visit the food bank in Puerto Rico as a consultant. I love to travel and I love to help people learn to help themselves, so it has been a great opportunity.

How to help

If you would like to donate funds to the hurricane recovery effort in Puerto Rico, see FeedingAmerica.org or bancodealimentopr.org.
Photo: Theo Wargo/WireImage

In an interview with CNNs Fareed Zakaria on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton said she will donate the money she received in campaign contributions from disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein to charity. When asked if she would give the money back, Clinton answered:

Well, theres no one to give it back to. What other people are saying, what my former colleagues are saying, is that theyre going to donate it to charity, and of course I will do that.

I give 10 percent of my income to charity every year, she added. This will be part of that, theres no doubt about it.

"Well there's no one to give it back to" @hillaryclinton on pressure to return @HarveyWeinstein campaign donations https://t.co/TSWv0WXIeK  OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) October 11, 2017

Weinstein, who is accused of allegedly assaulting dozens of women over the course of decades, has been a major Democratic donor for many years. In 2016, he contributed the maximum personal donation of $5,400 to Clintons 2016 campaign, and according to CNN, Weinstein has raised about $1.5 million for Democrats over the course of Clintons political career.

In addition to campaign contributions, Clinton and Weinstein were personally close. The former presidential candidate said that she probably would have called Weinstein a friend, and she and Bill reportedly even rented a house next to Weinstein in the Hamptons in 2015.

In the interview with CNN, Clinton said she was shocked when she heard about the allegations against the powerful producer, which were detailed in lengthy reports by the New York Times and The New Yorker.

I was appalled. It was something that was just intolerable in every way, she said. And, you know, like so many people whove come forward and spoken out, this was a different side of a person who I and many others had known in the past.

Still, some saw Clintons denouncements of Weinstein as lacking. In a tweet Wednesday night, celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain called the interview a disappointment.

I have met Hillary Clinton. I liked her. I admired much about her. This interview was a real disappointment.  Anthony Bourdain (@Bourdain) October 11, 2017

Bourdain is currently dating Asia Argento, an Italian actress and director who has accused Weinstein of sexual assault.

I can assure you that the victims of Mr. Weinsteins three decades of predatory behavior are disappointed too, Bourdain wrote in another tweet. Im sitting next to one.
Photo: The Weinstein Company/Amazon Prime Video/Warner Bros

The Harvey Weinstein scandal is one of the biggest controversies to ever hit Hollywood, and its ripples will be felt for a long time to come. While the storied studio head was fired from his own company after dozens of accusations of sexual harassment and assault came out in the press, the post-Harvey landscape doesnt simply affect movies that the Weinstein Company planned to distribute. It will also dominate the press tours of fall films involving actors who had a significant business relationship with Weinstein, while the increased push for accountability could snare stars with scandals of their own that can no longer be brushed aside so easily. Here are nine movies where the talent may have to navigate some tricky questions this fall.

Suburbicon (October 27)

Weinstein helped make Matt Damon a superstar with Good Will Hunting, so while promoting Suburbicon and his December dramedy Downsizing, Damon was already sure to be asked about the controversy. He was drawn in further, though, by the Wraps Sharon Waxman, who alleged that Damon called her at Weinsteins behest years ago in an attempt to squash an unfavorable story. Waxman has since tempered the accusation somewhat  she says Damon likely had no idea what charges he was being leveraged to hush up  but the furor prompted Damon to do a damage-control Deadline interview and will likely spur more questions during the Surburbicon press tour about Weinstein incidents, which both Damon and the films director George Clooney claim not to have known about.

Daddys Home 2 (November 10)

When it comes to abhorrent behavior, has Hollywood drawn a line in the sand after the Weinstein scandal? The button-pushing inclusion of Mel Gibson in Daddys Home 2 will be an early test. Gibson was considered an industry pariah after his slur-laden 2006 Malibu arrest and the 2010 accusations that he assaulted his ex, but he wormed his way back into Hollywoods good graces last year by directing the hit Hacksaw Ridge, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Director. The press went awfully easy on Gibson last fall  perhaps Donald Trumps path to the Oval Office was sucking all the air out of the room  but his attempt to revive a career in front of the camera may not go down as well post-Weinstein.

Murder on the Orient Express (November 10)

With an ensemble cast this stacked, youd expect plenty of ties to Weinstein, and indeed, both Judi Dench and Penelope Cruz have won Oscars in movies the mogul distributed. (Dench has long credited Weinstein with giving her a movie career at all.) I suspect, though, that Orient Expresss most problematic cast member will be Johnny Depp, who was accused of beating ex-wife Amber Heard, and has seen his star wane precipitously in recent years; he may now be more liability than asset when it comes to domestic audiences. Depp doesnt do much press, but Heard might be out there talking to reporters for Justice League, which introduces her Aquaman character Mera to the DC Comics cinematic universe. Speaking of which 

Justice League (November 17)

The Justice League press tour was going to be plenty difficult even before the Weinstein scandal went wide: As the movie underwent a director switch and major reshoots, rumors flew that Warner Bros. might be looking to bump an erratic Ben Affleck from his perch as Batman. Now, Affleck has been implicated in the Weinstein scandal by actress Rose McGowan, who claims the actor knew that Weinstein had assaulted her two decades ago, even though his recent statement on the matter pled naivete. McGowans tweet Ben Affleck fuck off went viral and prompted renewed scrutiny of the actors own behavior; Affleck has since apologized to actress Hilarie Burton for groping her during a long-ago TRL appearance.

Needless to say, Warner Bros. has a lot to deal with here, and the studio will likely minimize Afflecks press duties to avoid further complications. The question is whether the rest of the Justice League can keep their answers on the straight and narrow if asked to defend their co-star. Gal Gadot is perhaps the best press-trained of the bunch (if the casts summer Comic-Con appearance was anything to go by), but actors like Ezra Miller and Jason Momoa are uniquely freewheeling presences and its anybodys guess whether they can keep the focus on their megabudget film, not Afflecks many imbroglios (or their own resurfaced missteps).

I Love You, Daddy (November 17)

Louis C.K. has always been reluctant to address the rumors that he masturbates in front of female comics, but in the wake of the Weinstein situation, Im not sure hell be able to make it through a whole press tour for his new movie with those same dodges and weaves. After all, theres plenty of controversial stuff about the TV industry in this comedy, in which John Malkovich plays a legendary director (and rumored sex predator) whos wooing Louis C.K.s teenage daughter, while C.K. stars as a TV bigwig who beds an actress (Rose Byrne) seeking the lead in his new project. And thats not to mention the scene where Charlie Day is miming masturbation as Edie Falco enters the room, which is impossible to watch without thinking of the similar accusations against the films maker. C.K. has often found a deferential audience in starstruck reporters, but you cant engage with this movie without finally trying to get a straight answer out of him on these topics, especially when the industry is in the middle of a moment that interrogates how men abuse their power for sex.

Chappaquiddick (November 22)

Chappaquiddick, a movie about a prominent Democrat who covers up a growing scandal in order to continue his influential career, will surely be received differently now with Weinstein in the news. Expect reviews and think pieces that compare its central figure, Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke) to the disgraced studio mogul, especially since plenty of people were complicit in burying the Chappaquiddick incident where Kennedy and a female staffer were in a car accident that cost the woman her life.

The Current War (November 24)

This film about the rivalry between electricity pioneers Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) was meant to be the Weinstein Companys big Oscar hope, but it flopped in its Toronto Film Festival debut. Weinstein was said to be tinkering with the final cut of the movie even as his personal scandals intensified, but rumor has it that the company is now mulling a push of The Current War to 2018. Considering TWCs cash-strapped state, personnel shake-ups, and potential legal issues, this fall doesnt feel like the right time to sink a lot of money into an awards-season underperformer.

Wonder Wheel (December 1)

Kate Winslet is no stranger to working with controversial Hollywood figures: She won the Oscar for the Weinstein-distributed The Reader and starred in Roman Polanskis comedy Carnage just a few years ago. Shell face her trickiest press tour yet while promoting Woody Allens new drama Wonder Wheel, since a renewed focus on the sexual-assault accusations against Allen dominated last years Cafe Society press rounds, and that demand for redress hasnt gone away. Much like I Love You, Daddy, which seems to have patterned its Malkovich character on Allen, Wonder Wheel engages with certain themes and plot points that almost demand you to reexamine Allens personal history: Decades after Allen left his partner Mia Farrow for her daughter Soon-Yi, Wonder Wheel tracks a woman who may lose the man she has romantic designs on to her own stepdaughter.

I, Tonya (December 8)

After a well-received Toronto Film Festival debut, this dark Margot Robbie comedy about figure skater Tonya Harding leapt into the awards-season fray, and Allison Janney as Hardings mother is thought to be this years front-runner for Best Supporting Actress. I, Tonya will be distributed by newcomer shingle Neon, but that company is mired in controversy thanks to co-founder Tim League, who created the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain and has been accused of enabling controversial figures like Devin Faraci and Harry Knowles, and looking the other way when it comes to sexual harassment. League has not stepped down from either post and has had to issue multiple statements on these matters; since I, Tonya features plenty of abuse against women, expect these topics to be on the table.
Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Theres another Harvey Weinstein investigation happening: London police say they too are investigating the ex-mogul for a sexual assault allegedly committed in the 1980s, according to the Associated Press. Londons Metropolitan Police force say the Merseyside force in northwest England received a report on Wednesday about an alleged sexual assault in the London area in the 1980s. Although British police dont identify suspects who have not been charged, the Guardian and the BBC and other British news outlets have reported that the alleged suspect is Weinstein. In New York City, the NYPD has reopened a 2004 sexual-assault allegation and are investigating the exWeinstein Company boss.

Update: Deadline reports that the LAPD is weighing investigating Weinstein as well. A source says the department is considering [its] options and the best course of action to take  Discussions are ongoing to determine where we stand in term of jurisdictional claims.
Photo: Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images

Just because Nicolas Cages face appears on the packaging for a tasty puffed corn stick does not mean that Cage endorses that Japanese snack. Reports about the snack started circulating earlier in October, with pictures of the special-edition Deluxe Umaibou Nicolastick leading some to believe the actor was in business with Riska, the Japanese food brand behind the product. While itd be fun to imagine Cage sitting in a meeting, approving of the kick-ass name and packaging, it did seem like an unlikely career move, even if he is a guy who once bought a stolen Tyrannosaurus skull from Mongolia. Alas, the National Treasure national treasure was not the marketing genius behind the idea that gave the world this magnificent treat:

Japan has a Nicolas Cage snack food called 'Nicolastick' https://t.co/opcercum4O  Boing Boing (@BoingBoing) October 8, 2017

The Nicolastick was evidentially created as a promotional item for the Japanese release of Amy of One, or, as its known in Japan, My Target, Bin Laden. According to a press release sent out on Wednesday, the packaging used artwork from the film (Cages face with a big beard) and was only supplied to ticket holders in three theaters. FilmNation International, the movies international sales agent, wrote, All parties responsible for the creation and announcement of this promotional product sincerely apologize for the use of Mr. Cages image in this manner and any harm that may have been caused to him and his image and reputation.
Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Although Breitbart, the conservative news outlet run by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, has been blasting high-profile Democrats this week for past campaign donations from Harvey Weinstein, liberals werent the only ones who profited from the embattled producer. The Associated Press reports that Bannon, in quite a hypocritical twist, gained hundreds of thousands of dollars from a joint business venture with the movie mogul. In 2004, Bannon, a former Goldman Sachs banker, was trying his hand at Hollywood investments and served as chairman of a small company distributing DVDs. At that time, he joined the the Weinstein Companys ill-fated Genius Products. According to the AP, Bannons company received a $500,000 consulting contract from TWC, which was led by Harvey and his brother Bob Weinstein, with a $200,000 bonus for Bannon. He was also offered stock options in Genius Products that were then valued at over a $1 million.

Since the New York Times published its explosive investigative report that detailed decades of sexual-harassment allegations against Weinstein, Breitbart has posted dozens of stories about Democrats who were friendly with Weinstein, a frequent donor to the party. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and others have since condemned Weinstein. Clinton announced on Wednesday that she would be donating Weinsteins campaign contributions to charity.
Photo: 20th Century Fox.

The CW plans to turn Roswell, the WBs 19992002 series about teen feelings and also aliens into a new show about slightly more grown-up feelings, aliens, and also institutionalized xenophobia (though maybe everything about aliens is already about that). The Originals producer Carina MacKenzie is working with the network on the reboot of the series about a daughter of undocumented immigrants who returns to her hometown of Roswell, New Mexico, and discovers a shocking truth about her teenage crush who is now a police officer: hes an alien who has kept his unearthly abilities hidden his entire life. She protects his secret as the two reconnect and begin to investigate his origins, but when a violent attack and long-standing government cover-up point to a greater alien presence on Earth, the politics of fear and hatred threaten to expose him and destroy their deepening romance. The reboot is one of several series currently in development about immigrant families, as Sony TV is developing a Party of Five reboot about a Latino family in the U.S., while Gina Rodriguez is developing two dramas around similar subjects. Nobody tell anyone in the current presidential administration how to tune into the CW.
Photo: Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images for The Weinstein Company

Though the Weinstein Company has been adamant in recent days that the sexual-harassment allegations against co-founder Harvey Weinstein come as an utter surprise to the Board, a new report from the New York Times suggests otherwise. According to the Times, various interviews and internal documents offer proof that the board knew about at least some of the Weinstein payouts.

A lawyer for Weinstein confirmed that during his clients 2015 contract renewal the board was made aware at the time of three or four confidential settlements with women. However, Lance Maerov, the board member who led contract negotiations, claims that he believed at the time that the settlements were being used to cover up extramarital consensual affairs. Since lawyers assured him that none of the companys money was used in the settlements and that there was no pending litigation, Maerov approved the contract.

The negotiations came shortly after Ambra Battilana brought accusations against Weinstein to the New York Police Department. The Italian model had taped the producer confessing to groping her, but the Manhattan District Attorney did not press charges. The Times reports Weinstein insisted the case was a setup and refused to let the board directly review his personnel file, so the company hired an outside lawyer. That lawyer, in turn, told the board it was legally safe to retain Weinstein.

Since the scandal broke last week, the board has seen several members resign. The Weinstein Co. fired Harvey on Sunday, and is rumored to be considering a name change.
Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures

One of the earliest, most intriguing images that appeared in trailers for Blade Runner 2049 was that of Ryan Gosling walking toward an enormous head of a female figure, in the irradiated ruins of what appeared to be Las Vegas. It was striking because of its graphic starkness, and its comparative lack of visual resemblance to anything in the original film; it was director Denis Villeneuves first shot across the bow to prove what this visually iconic universe might look like in his and Roger Deakinss hands. Later trailers revealed the giant women to be a running visual theme in the Blade Runner universes late Sin City, with eerie shots of dust-covered, gargantuan nudes frozen in submissive poses, as if the people behind the Korova Milk Bar had been given a substantial public art grant circa 2025.

Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures

Even before the films release, this imagery placed Blade Runner 2049 in an existing realm of sci-fi imagery. If we could see its future Vegas in its heyday, it might look something like A.I.s Rouge City. The neon-lit den of vice from Steven Spielbergs critically divisive sci-fi fairy tale is a place where seemingly every desire can be satisfied; one can procure the services of a robot prostitute, or step into a booth where Robin Williams Googles stuff for you. For David (Haley Joel Osment) an android boy preoccupied with winning back the love of his mother, Rouge City is full of maternal possibilities, as evidenced by the giant pair of splayed female legs that welcome him at the entrance.

Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures

Ever since Metropoliss men of science and industry gazed up at the gigantic bust of mother figure Hel, the future cities of the cinema have had a thing for giant ladies. (To be fair, Joel Schumacher notably also threw some giant men into his vision of Gotham City, to the extent that Batman is a work of cyberpunk.) It makes sense that colossal human figures would play into our visions of cities on the brink of collapse; we know how these figures will look in pieces, brought low and made to rest in a museum. Bigness goeth before destruction, etc. But unlike Constantine and Nero, political figures whose likenesses rose up to a hundred feet over Rome, we keep imagining a future where our cities colossus budgets favor frequently nude, nameless women.

The first, and most obvious, observation is that these are commercial images, and the fallout of commerce run amok is a cornerstone of cyberpunk. The iconic LED geisha munching candies on the side of a skyscraper in the original Blade Runner has turned into four-story ballerinas and naked holographic girlfriends in 2049, walking commercials that stalk Los Angeles like benign Godzillas. Theyre women, because looking at women is a universal pastime; theyre sexualized, because sex sells, baby. The idea is retro-echoed in the opening credits of Mad Men, in which a silhouetted ad exec falls past a cityscape wrapped top-to-bottom in the images of larger-than-life women hawking perfume and nylons and the dream of a better life.

The idea of explicit imagery getting past the standards boards of the future is another part of the dystopian fantasy: The line of history is leading inexorably to a godless future where everything is sexy all the time. Cinematic inventions like Rouge City and its ilk exist on an exceedingly well-worn trajectory where religion and sexual repression sit at one end, and scientific innovation and female objectification exist at the other. You cant have one without the other, male filmmakers tell us with a solemn, regretful shrug. Id take a wild, semi-educated guess that future-city movies are second only to Westerns for scenes set in brothels and red-light districts. (Hence the very successful synergy of Westworld.) But figures of the scale and visibility of Blade Runner 2049s ad girls are supposed to represent something closer to the mainstream. We can infer, then, that there are no people (i.e. women) in this future world who would raise their hand in the planning meeting and point out that the latest Joi ad campaign, yes, looks wicked tight, but is kind of stupid.

But why does she have to be so big? Not for nothing, but there is a very real thing called macrophilia, which is a fascination and lust for gigantic, multistory-high women. (They are almost uniformly women; gay male and hetero female macrophiliacs are either rare or dont spend as much time online.) Its not exactly a fetish, since consummation is physically impossible; its something confined to the realm of imagination, mostly in art shared in various giantess (or GTS) message-board communities, aided by the power of PhotoShop. An adventurous search leads to countless images of tiny men being picked up and played with by enormous, scantily clad women, crushed between their toes, or crawling into their orifices like an X-rated Innerspace. Naturally, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman is a seminal text for the community, as is Gullivers Travels.



So does Blade Runner 2049 harbor some latent macrophilia? In a 1999 Salon article on the subject, a psychologist asked for comment guesses that the fantasies of GTS aficionados might have something to do with a dominant mother figure in their past. That all seems a little Freud for Dummies, but then again, its hard to see anything else when A.I.s David, obsessed with his mother to the eventual point of self-destruction, must enter the huge, parted red lips of Rouge Citys blow jobthemed bridge in order to find the secret to being her son once again. And thats to say nothing of Ryan Goslings K, whose entire adventure in 2049 begins with the discovery of a dead mom in a box, and is fueled by the possibility that she actually might be his dead mom. As he wanders the rainy forever-night of Los Angeles, thinking about his dead robot mom, hes rendered embryonic next to the giant holographic women that pirouette and pout above him.

There are a wealth of female characters in Blade Runner 2049, and at least a couple are complex, dramatic creations. (Im sure Robin Wrights no-nonsense Lt. Joshi has some hot takes about the state of outdoor advertising that shed share over a whiskey or two.) But Villeneuves film is ultimately obsessed with motherhood and the ability to reproduce over any other defining female trait, and feels less interested in questions of consciousness than in the pursuit of an elusive pseudo-religious special baby. This is not a film that was ever going to be interested in anything but familiar, even old-fashioned sexual politics, and I dont want to spend too much time criticizing Villeneuve for his performance in a game he clearly wasnt even playing. I just mean to point out that his use of female bodies as figureheads, these massive gaping-mouthed infertility idols, are not empty or neutral creative choices.

2049 might not be outright misogynist, but it does have a rather transparent mommy complex, even if in the end K doesnt actually want to crawl inside a giant lady. It would certainly make for a great image, though, and Id bet money somewhere on the internet someones working on bringing it to fruition. As 2049s unforgettable three-way sex scene and the vibrant creations of the giantess community proves, just about any fantasy is possible with the right technology at your disposal.
With a federal commitment in hand to help states manage risks to their election infrastructure, Sen. John Murante of Gretna said Thursday he will step up his efforts to establish voter photo identification requirements in Nebraska.

"The people of Nebraska absolutely support and demand voter identification," Murante said during a Capitol news conference.

"Properly crafted voter ID laws do not suppress voter turnout," he said. "This can be done without turning a single voter away."

Murante already has a proposal pending in the Legislature that would seek a vote of the people on a constitutional amendment to establish voter ID requirements in Nebraska. Senators could resume discussion of that item when they launch their 2018 session in January.

The measure (LR1CA) was trapped at first-stage floor consideration by a filibuster last spring, falling seven votes short of the 33 senators required to end debate.

Murante's motion to invoke cloture failed on a 26-17 count.

On Thursday, Murante once again rejected arguments that voter photo ID requirements suppress, and are sometimes designed to suppress, voter participation.

Opponents argue minority citizens, older Americans, people with disabilities, students and young mobile Americans are particularly affected.

Most of those impacted groups represent traditional pockets of Democratic support, critics have noted.

Murante said voter identification requirements are "a common sense proposal that has been politicized, and demonized to a certain extent."

Voter ID assurances are especially needed now when "public confidence in our election system has been undermined" by reports of voter irregularities and instances of voter fraud, he said.

Murante, chairman of the Legislature's Government and Military Affairs Committee, scheduled his news conference after receiving a letter from Trump administration officials pledging federal cooperation in ensuring the integrity of elections.

All of that is unfolding as Congress is investigating evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Christopher Krebs, a senior official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, wrote Murante a letter noting that election systems have been defined as critical infrastructure and informing him that the federal government stands ready to provide "prioritized assistance (in) efforts to manage risks to the election infrastructure."

Murante had previously written officials at the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity urging consideration of a federal-state partnership that would allow election administrators to instantaneously check the citizenship status of individuals seeking to register to vote.

In that letter, Murante also said the federal government should financially assist states in procuring replacement equipment for aging election infrastructure.

"Unfortunately, most of that technology is coming to the end of its useful life and states do not have the funding to procure new technology," he wrote.

Murante is completing his second and final term as a state senator and is a Republican candidate for state treasurer in 2018.
Live country music plays during the final weekend of the 65th annual Heart O Texas Fair, but its not all the same flavor of country.

The three headlining performers today through Saturdays finale show a diversity within country music, from a freewheeling rock n roll to traditional Texas country.

Representing the former is East Texas native Koe Wetzel and the title of his current album tips his hand on the hard-charging country from where he and his band come from: Noise Complaint.

Noise Complaint follows the previous Out On Parole, both of which lean toward the Southern rock end of country, territory also staked out by the alt-country folk.

Also playing Thursday is Lubbock-based Flatland Cavalry, another five-player group, but whose energetic sound skews more Americana than Southern rock or, as the band notes, between John Mayer & country.

Friday brings mainstream country with an edge in the person of Florida native Michael Ray. Ray built on his Florida base to win Nashville attention for his energy and songwriting. He won the vocal competition The Next: Fame Is At Your Doorstep and co-wrote with Big & Richs John Rich their 2015 song Run Away With You.

Ray hit song success himself that year with Kiss You In The Morning, a radio favorite and Top 10 country hit. He also landed a guest part on the television series Nashville and is touring in support of his single Get To You.

Ray and his band come to Waco two weeks after playing the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, where 58 people were killed by a gunman on the festivals final night. Ray and his bandmates, however, had performed the Friday before. Opening for Ray at 8 p.m. Friday is West Texas-based Randall King.

Wrapping up the week is Kyle Park, making the latest of several shows in Waco over the last year. The Austin-born Leander native is touring in support of his latest single Dont Forget Where You Come From, which follows his Rednecks With Paychecks, both from the album Blue Roof Sessions.

In addition to his singing and songwriting, Park is also developing as a recording producer, working as such on the debut album of Waco country musician Brett Hendrix and a Christmas single by Kimberly Dunn. Opening for Park and his band at 8:30 p.m. Saturday is veteran Central Texas country band Cherokee Rose.

The fairs final weekend features School Coupon Day and College Night as a Thursday promotion; the Special Ranch Rodeo at 2 p.m. Saturday; and final action in the All American ProRodeo Finals Thursday through Saturday night.
Two months after an explosion leveled the home of Jim and Jeanne Jasa on South 78th Street, the rubbled remains are finally being removed.

Neighbors had complained to city officials and American Family Insurance about lack of action in addressing the fenced-in debris at 5601 S. 78th St. On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the home insurer said the company has ordered cleanup to begin as soon as possible.

Dumpsters have arrived at the site, and contractors could begin removing debris Friday, Linda Wagener said. She didnt know how long the job would take.

We feel its urgent for us," she said. "Our hearts go out to the Jasas and the people in the neighborhood for this tragedy."

Jeanne Jasa died as a result of the Aug. 14 explosion. Her husband remained hospitalized Thursday.

It's not clear why the company waited. Lincoln police continue to probe what caused the natural gas-fed blast, but investigators finished their on-site work within about two weeks and have released the property to the insurance company, Chief Jeff Bliemeister said.

Speaking generally, because he doesnt sell American Family polices, Lincoln broker Dave Kirby said insurance companies typically wouldn't cover self-inflicted, intentional damages.

A guy cant take a hammer to his roof and try to make hail dents and expect to get paid by the insurance company, he said Wednesday, before American Family went ahead with the cleanup.

On Thursday, Wagener wouldnt address what her companys own investigation determined or reveal the reasons behind the delay, citing customer confidentiality.

We were waiting to get some appropriate permissions, she said.

Police and fire investigators scoured the rubble looking for evidence in the days after the blast, which rained debris throughout the neighborhood.

Testing by the State Fire Marshal's Office a day after the explosion helped rule out an external gas leak as the cause, and investigators concluded natural gas provider Black Hills Energy wasn't responsible.

Chief Lincoln Fire Investigator Bill Moody has said the explosion's size indicates the gas, which has a chemical marker that smells like rotten eggs, had been leaking for hours.

Police believe the blast was ignited from inside the home and have said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the ignition.

They are treating the case as a criminal probe until they can pin down what happened before the blast threw Jim and Jeanne Jasa out of the house they'd owned for 20 years.

"The complexity of this, based on the level of destruction, is immense, Bliemeister said.

Federal law enforcement is involved, too.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined the investigation a few weeks after the explosion, and some evidence is being tested at the ATF's forensic explosive laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, spokesman John Ham said Thursday.

The laboratory conducts analysis in arson, murder and accidental fire investigations, according to the ATF website.

Physical evidence from the explosion, along with financial and cellphone records, might be crucial in determining what happened before the blast, because police have not been able to interview Jim Jasa.

Investigators plan to meet with prosecutors next week to discuss the status of their probe, the police chief said.

Ben Pankonin, who has lived east of the Jasas for eight years, still regularly spots strangers driving through the neighborhood to check out the rubble.

The delayed cleanup frustrated Pankonin and his neighbors. Eastview Drive, a side road adjacent to the Jasas' house, is still barricaded and closed to traffic.

"It's sad that the scenario happened as it did," the 37-year-old said. "We hope that we can have a little bit of help putting (the neighborhood) back together."

He understands the circumstances surrounding the property and the ongoing investigation are complicated: "Its a hard one to swallow who ends up paying," Pankonin said.

The city had been preparing to take care of the problem itself, said Chad Blahak, director of building and safety.

This week, we had just been talking about that we need to get some movement here, he said. We started to put the plan in place to start the city process to do that.

But that takes time. First, the city must give the property owner warning, and a chance to get a demolition permit and begin the cleanup process. It also takes money.

It takes taxpayer dollars to do the demolition if the city has to do it. Its always best to have the property owners take the responsibility to clean it up.

When the city does pay for a demolition, it places a lien on the property, but it doesnt always recoup its costs, he said.

Pankonin praised the responsiveness of city officials to neighbor concerns about the lot.

Some of his neighbors still haven't returned to their houses because they were deemed uninhabitable from damage sustained that day, he said.

"We all have a lot of work to do to rebuild the community," he said. "But, yeah, I think it's a big step in the right direction."
The Drug Enforcement Agency and the Nebraska State Patrol made a record-setting fentanyl seizure  15 kilos, with a potential street value of $15 million  during routine surveillance at the Amtrak train station in Omaha on Wednesday morning.

"This fentanyl seizure is the largest-ever in Nebraska and one of the largest in the nation," Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Stuart said in a press release Thursday.

Edgar Navarro-Aguirre, a 27-year-old California man, has been charged with possession with intent to distribute more than 400 grams of fentanyl, an opioid said to be 40 to 50 times more potent than heroin.

They believe he was taking the drug from Sacramento to the New York and New Jersey area, according to the press release.

In court documents, a special agent with the DEA said she noticed a newer-looking, black suitcase, without an ID tag, tucked in the far back of the self-storage luggage shelves behind another bag.

As the agent and a State Patrol investigator were asking people on the train car if the bag belonged to them, Navarro-Aguirre walked up and said it was his friend's.

He previously had said it wasn't his.

According to the affidavit for Navarro-Aguirre's arrest, he told the State Patrol investigator he had traveled from Colorado, which didn't match his ticket, which said he had boarded at Sacramento, California.

Navarro-Aguirre denied there was anything illegal in the bag and told officials they could search it, the DEA agent said. Inside, they found 15 vacuum-sealed bundles of white powder ultimately found to be fentanyl, according to the affidavit.

The total weight of one of the packages was 1.2 kilos, or roughly 2.7 pounds.
Lettie Jones, a former cook at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, knew something was going on when she turned around from her duties and she was alone in the kitchen.

She rushed to a patio window in time to hear a single burst of gunfire that she mistook for a firecracker before a flurry of shots shattered the otherwise calm Sunday afternoon of May 17, 2015.

Jones was the first prosecution witness Wednesday in the trial of Jacob Carrizal, the first to stand trial of the 154 bikers indicted in the Twin Peaks shootout that left nine dead and dozens injured.

Carrizal is on trial in Wacos 54th State District Court on charges of directing the activities of a criminal street gang and two counts of engaging in organized criminal activity. Security has been intensified dramatically for the trial.

Jones said she had been a cook at Twin Peaks for about two months and was accustomed to seeing biker groups gather at the restaurant.

She said at least 50 Cossacks wearing their black and gold colors were already on the patio when she arrived at 11 a.m. She said she had not seen that many gathered there before, adding she thought it was a bit unusual but knew there was supposed to be a biker event there that day.

When she discovered she was alone in the kitchen, she went out to ask someone what was happening, Jones said. She was told there was a fight outside and went to the patio to investigate.

There were so many bikers on the patio, all I could see was yellow, Jones said.

She said she heard a loud rumbling of motorcycles and then heard what she described as a pop. That single shot was followed by a lot of shots, and she saw Cossacks leaping over the patio railing to rush toward the skirmish, she said.

Jones said she saw two bikers run by the patio window with guns drawn, firing toward bikers in the parking lot.

She said she was scared and ran to the kitchen, where managers were ushering Twin Peaks staff members into freezers for safety. They stayed in the freezers for about 20 minutes before Waco police escorted them out into the parking lot.

Becoming emotional, Jones described seeing slain bikers, injured ones and a cache of weapons and ammunition lying on the parking lot.

The horrifying incident caused Jones to develop post-traumatic stress disorder, requiring that she see a counselor on a regular basis, she said. It has prevented her from working.

Jones said she did not see Carrizal at the scene that day.

In opening statements Wednesday afternoon, McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna told jurors the Twin Peaks incident was the crescendo of a conflict that had been brewing between the Bandidos and Cossacks for years.

Reyna said the trial will take the jury to a subculture known as 1 percenters, members of criminal street gangs who claim their territories and retaliate against those who dont pay them proper respect.

The evidence will show 1 percenters have no regard for the laws of society, no regard for laws we follow every day, but rather exists on its own code of conduct. They exist and do their own thing, Reyna said.

Reyna said the Cossacks refused to bow down to the Bandidos, the largest motorcycle group in Texas, and refused to ask permission to exist as a group.

You will learn about those territories, those patches and the length that these 1 percenters will go to rectify any disrespect for either that patch, a brother member or failure to respect the territory that they claim as their own, Reyna said.

He said the Cossacks showed the ultimate act of betrayal by wearing Texas rockers on their vests without permission from the Bandidos.

The evidence will show that this act of betrayal had to be dealt with, Reyna said.

At the time, Carrizal was vice president of the Bandidos Dallas chapter but has since been elected president.

Reyna said evidence will show that Carrizal was instrumental in rallying his brothers and making plans for the Bandidos to confront the Cossacks at the Waco meeting of the Coalition of Clubs and Independents, an affiliation of motorcycle groups.

Casie Gotro, Carrizals attorney, waived her opening statements, reserving her right to address the jury at the beginning of the defenses case.

Prosecutors asked Judge Matt Johnson to allow their law enforcement expert witnesses to remain in the courtroom during prosecution testimony. However, Gotro objected, challenging whether they were qualified to be called experts and whether it was appropriate for them to remain in the courtroom while other officers testified.

Johnson sent the jury home, then conducted an hourlong hearing in which Darren Kozlowski, an ATF agent with 30 years of experience, testified that he has infiltrated three outlaw motorcycle gangs since 1999.

As Kozlowski was being sworn in, Reyna asked that a TV pool camera not show his face because of his undercover work. However, the camera already had streamed live footage of the agent before the judge could instruct the TV crew not to show him on camera.

Kozlowski described the general characteristics that make up an outlaw motorcycle gang but said he has no direct experience with members of the Bandidos in Texas. He said he infiltrated the Vagos, the Mongols and the Warlocks as an undercover officer.

After the hearing, over Gotros renewed objections, Johnson said he will allow the agents testimony but require that he alter his PowerPoint presentation to delete a history of 1 percenters and information about how gangs pool their money for a legal fund that is available when they get into trouble.

Earlier Wednesday, prosecutors and Gotro completed the jury-selection process, which they started Tuesday. The jury includes 11 men and three women, with two serving as alternates.

Prosecution testimony will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Waco Independent School District wont be getting a fine arts and humanities magnet school any time soon after the U.S. Department of Education passed on the districts request for a $9 million startup grant, Waco ISD spokesperson Kyle DeBeer said.

The district applied for the grant in the spring, hoping to establish the school at Waco High as a first step in a plan to add more magnet schools across the district.

(The department) provided some scoring on the grant, and broadly they were looking for proposals that were tied to a larger, more established body of research, DeBeer said.

The grant would have expanded offerings in arts and humanities, with more individualized support and instruction in fine arts, DeBeer said. And the school would have brought in a larger selection of Advanced Placement humanities courses, he said.

The magnet school would have also helped improve racial integration and diversity in student attendance, a school board resolution stated in March.

But losing the grant doesnt mean Waco ISD has stepped away from the idea of adding magnet schools altogether, DeBeer said. Instead, Waco ISD officials are reviewing the grant proposal and assessing other ways the district might implement parts of the plan.

I think there is a larger conversation taking place in the district right now, where the districts looking to hear from the community about the needs for students, he said.

On the curriculum side of the proposal, officials are looking at ways to add some of the proposed course offerings, including a 3D arts course, using existing resources, but that will depend on student interest and enrollment, DeBeer said.

The districts grant department is also evaluating what other grants are available to fund pieces of the original proposal.

Waco ISD will be holding three meetings to allow the public to talk with administrators and board members about ongoing challenges in the district, DeBeer said.

The first will be 6 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Waco ISD Conference Center, 115 S. Fifth St. The others will be Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, with the locations still being determined.
A 23-year-old man was arrested Wednesday afternoon on multiple charges, including money laundering and possession of a fake ID, Bruceville-Eddy Police Chief Bill McLean said.

A Bruceville-Eddy officer with a drug dog stopped a southbound car that didn't have any license plates at about 3:30 p.m. on Interstate 35, McLean said. The driver, Sergei Sergeyevich Petrov, appeared "extremely nervous" in front of the officer, McLean said.

"He (the driver) was also seen texting while driving, so the officer initiated the stop," he said. "The driver was extremely nervous, not acting normal at all, so his behavior raised suspicions."

During the stop, the officer's dog indicated the odor of a controlled substance was present, so the officer searched the car, McLean said.

The officer found $4,000 in cash, about four grams of cocaine, two Florida driver's licenses and one international driver's license. McLean said all three driver's licenses had Petrov's photo on them but had different names and addresses.

McLean said information from Petrov was limited and officers took him into custody. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities were called and determined Petrov, a native of Russia, has a valid U.S. work visa.

Petrov was arrested on a third-degree felony charge of possession of a controlled substance, state jail felony charges of fraudulent possession of identification information and money laundering and a Class A misdemeanor general violation charge related to the fake IDs, McLean said.

Police said the way the money and cocaine were packaged together led to the money laundering charge.

Petrov remained in McLennan County Jail on Thursday afternoon with bond listed at $17,000.

The investigation is continuing.
FORT WORTH  Law enforcement officers prepared for war in Waco, Texas, on May 17, 2015.

In parking lots surrounding the Twin Peaks restaurant just off Interstate 35, 16 police officers, including a SWAT team of 11, were poised with assault rifles in five police cars and two unmarked SUVs. Seven state police, some undercover, were inside the restaurant or nearby.

Families were eating Sunday lunch apparently oblivious to the gathering storm, as dozens of armed bikers from the Cossacks poured onto the restaurant patio to confront the most powerful motorcycle gang in Texas, the Bandidos.

When the first Bandidos rolled in, "the Cossacks began coming off the patio. You could see the tension building up instantly," Waco Police Detective Jeff Rogers said in an affidavit that is part of a trove of evidence provided to The Associated Press.

Then the shooting started. A SWAT officer said he saw a biker fire first. But evidence isn't clear who started the deadliest biker shootout in U.S. history that left nine bikers dead and 20 wounded. Police bullets struck four bikers, killing at least two of them. Police arrested 177 bikers and state authorities indicted 154. Jury selection began this week in the first of those trials, against Bandidos Dallas chapter president Christopher "Jake" Carrizal for leading and engaging in organized criminal activity.

Evidence that prosecutors gave to lawyers who are representing the bikers shows local and state authorities had overwhelming intelligence that violence was likely and did little in advance to prevent the meeting. While the strong police presence was aimed at deterring violence, and bikers said they noticed police cars, the uniformed police were mostly on the restaurant perimeter.

The evidence also shows that the Texas Department of Public Safety, which was investigating biker gangs, met three times with Waco police in advance of the Twin Peaks meeting and had "contingency plans," although the document simply called on officers to follow department policy before firing.

Rogers said that he made several calls before the shooting to the restaurant manager that went unanswered. State police Special Agent Christopher Frost spoke to Twin Peaks owner Jay Patel three days before the showdown and asked if the bikers had booked the whole restaurant. Patel said they had reserved only the patio area. Frost warned of "rising tensions" between the groups. Patel said he was expecting about 400 bikers and had hired three security guards. Frost's report of the conversation ended with him asking Patel to let him know if any threats were received, but made no mention of any request to Patel to cancel the booking.

One mystery of that day is exactly when federal authorities arrived on scene. The Drug Enforcement Administration had been investigating the Bandidos since January, 2013.

A senior official closely involved in federal prosecutions of the bikers insisted in an interview with the AP that federal investigators were not aware of the Twin Peaks meeting or of "any impending violence." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of court cases against the bikers.

A Waco policeman reported that he spoke to an FBI agent at the scene immediately after the shooting. Other federal agents arrived quickly including the DEA, The U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The federal investigation intensified immediately after Waco. Federal agents got approval to wiretap Bandidos national vice president John Portillo a day after the Twin Peaks shootout. Prosecutors later indicted Portillo and former president Jeffrey Pike on racketeering charges, including ordering killings and assaults, and they are scheduled to go on trial next year. Five lower-level Bandidos pleaded guilty to similar charges.

AP reviewed video from surveillance cameras, police dashcams and witness interviews, crime scene photos, contents of more than 100 cellphones and thousands of pages of documents.

The Waco tragedy prompted soul-searching among law enforcement officials nationwide. Two experts on biker gangs who did not work on the Waco investigations, said that unless there is fear of a terrorist attack, authorities have to convince a judge to issue an injunction to stop a public meeting protected by the constitutional guarantee of free speech and assembly.

"I think this was definitely a learning experience where they would probably do more proactive stuff to stop the meeting, even if they'd had to get an injunction," said Charles Falco, a former federal informant on California biker gangs who now trains law enforcement officers.

Jay Dobyns, a retired ATF agent who was an informant on the Hells Angels, said violence between biker gangs sometimes happens even with good advance intelligence and a strong police presence. In 2002, the Hells Angels and the rival Mongols got into a fight at a Nevada casino that resulted in a fatal stabbing and two shooting deaths.

"Did we anticipate problems? Yes. What we didn't know, what no one knew, was where and when that was going to pop off," he said.

Biker gangs are a small but violent problem, according to a 2015 FBI report, with some 44,000 members and associates of a few "outlaw" criminal groups such as the California-based Hells Angels and the Bandidos. The Cossacks are more of "an aspirational club" aiming to gain notoriety, said Donald Charles Davis, a biker club enthusiast who blogs under the name The Aging Rebel.

The animosity between the Bandidos and Cossacks may date from November 2013, when Cossacks started wearing a "Texas" patch on the back of motorcycle jackets  seen as a provocation to the Bandidos.

It came to a head in March 2015, at the small town of Lorena near Waco, when a group of suspected Cossacks beat-up a Bandido with chains and metal pipes. The injured Bandido did not press charges.

Waco detective Rogers learned in April from an informant that the bikers were planning to meet at Waco in May.

Also in April, the FBI reported that the Bandidos discussed "going to war" with the Cossacks at a biker rally in West Texas. Law enforcement warned both clubs there would be a strong police presence. There was no significant violence.

As the Twin Peaks meeting approached, communications became more ominous. On May 1, Rogers warned in an email to a colleague: "the potential for violence is very high."

The morning of the meeting, Rogers was "very nervous," and predicted a "high probability for violence."

The shooting lasted just three minutes but left a scene of carnage.

In a conversation captured by her bodycam, Waco police officer Nicki Stone told a colleague after the shooting, "I really didn't think it was going to end like this."

"I thought that we were supposed to stay back and let them fight this out," she said.
Mary Louise Saucedo

Jan. 8, 1949 - Oct. 8, 2017

Mary Louise Saucedo of Kempner passed away on Sunday, October 8, 2017; she fought hard against her battle with cancer. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, October 12, in the chapel of Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home, with a Rosary being recited at 7 p.m. Funeral Mass will be held at 12 p.m., Friday, October 13, at Holy Family Catholic church. Burial will follow at Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery.

She was born on January 8, 1949 in Waco, Texas, to the late John and Louise Galindo. Mary Lou was a loving wife to Jessie Saucedo for 40 year. She and Jessie have been a part of each other's lives for 59 years. She was a loving mother and mother-in-law to Daniel and Denielle Saucedo, Eric Saucedo and Jennifer Espinosa, and Gi and Christina Choe. She was also the grandmother to Anika Saucedo, Mya Choe, Sineca Saucedo, Alejandro Saucedo, and Kai Choe. Mary Lou is also survived by two sisters and four brothers.

Mary Lou Saucedo, women that never hurt anything or anyone, loved her grandchildren with all her heart and she was more of proud of her children than they will ever know.

You may share condolences with the Saucedo by visiting www.crawfordbowers.org.

Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home

Copperas Cove, TX 76522

(254) 547-1275
Cindy Lange-Kubick Columnist Cindy Lange-Kubick has loved writing columns about life in her hometown since 1994. She had hoped to become a people person by now, nonetheless she would love to hear your tales of fascinating neighbors and interesting places. Follow Cindy Lange-Kubick Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

The suns light would dim.

Temperatures would fall and crops would wither.

The sky would rain black ash and many millions could starve in the famine that followed the mushroom clouds immediate and massive destruction.

Nuclear Autumn would be nothing like this autumn, or any other in the history of humanity.

Hard to fathom, said Tyler White, who teaches political science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

But important to contemplate.

When we forget about how dangerous these weapons are, we might be in the position to use them without thinking them through.

In July, Nuclear Weapons in a Changing Climate, authored by Adam Liska, Eric Holley, Robert Oglesby and White was published in Environment Magazine.

The authors painted a scientific picture of the fallout from nuclear weapon use. Shortened growing seasons. Decades of below-normal temperatures. Significantly decreased precipitation, resulting in famines that could kill up to a billion people from starvation.

They called it a global nuclear drought.

And it would change civilization as we know it, said Liska, lead author of the article, via email Wednesday. To prove their point, the authors set out to show that the detonation of small numbers of nuclear weapons  or a single Chinese thermonuclear bomb  would lead to similar devastation.

Does the U.S. military understand that the limited use of nuclear weapons on North Korea could indirectly kill a billion people globally due to climate changes, and will they ensure that this much larger tragic event does not occur? Liska said.

The associate professor of biological systems engineering at UNL hopes military planners heed the message.

So do I.

There was a game I played as a girl, walking home from school down 33rd Street, when Lincoln ended at the highway and the standoff between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was in full and frightening force.

It was simple: Who would I take with me when the world ended?

Maybe every kid growing up in the shadow of the bomb had a similar fantasy.

Of course, I would live. And so would my parents. My sister. My best friend, Kelly. My dog, Yogi. Maybe my brother. (OK, probably my brother.)

God would be our landlord; we would be the chosen few.

At one time, our government promulgated a similar fantasy. And we built bomb shelters and stocked them with water and canned rations and radios with batteries.

The nuclear superpowers played a game of their own called Mutual Assured Destruction, understanding that to launch a weapon at the other side meant the end of everything. It sounded almost as mad as its acronym, but somehow, despite the close calls with Armageddon, the civil-defense sirens stayed silent.

Today, nine countries possess thousands of nuclear weapons  far fewer than at the height of the nuclear arms race  but more than enough to kill all of us, many times over.

The United States has 6,800 in its nuclear stable; Russia claims 7,000.

Pakistan has had the bomb since 1998. India since 1974. China and France and the U.K. and Israel have small stockpiles of nuclear weapons. And now, North Korea, its leader gloating about his countrys ability to reach the continental U.S. with one of its big, shiny missiles, while President Trump promises fire and fury in return, the likes of which the world has never seen.

The rest of us are left to ponder exactly what this means  since the world has already seen the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

But the world has changed since the end of World War II and the Cold War, White said. The existential threat from the former Soviet Union has diminished, while fears of conflict with North Korea, or between other members of the volatile nuclear family have increased.

We used to think about the Russians and think about the end of life on earth, he said. Now the question is what if two or three or even a dozen nuclear weapons were launched, what are the implications of that?

Its something most people who like to sleep at night dont contemplate.

But probably should.

White pays attention. He teaches a class on nuclear deterrence and listens to what smart people in the field have to say.

Which is: They see nuclear war in the realm of a one-in-six chance right now and most of their uncertainty is not coming from Kim Jong Un, its coming from the president of the United States.

His advice to Donald Trump: Twitter is not the appropriate channel to deliver your nuclear deterrent message.

His take on Kim: At the end of the day, hes not going to launch a nuclear weapon because he knows it will be the end of his regime.

Back in January, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set its doomsday clock to 2 minutes until midnight, as close as it's been since 1953.

Dont panic, White said.

But dont play the odds.

Be informed. Talk to your elected representatives. Its what you need to do in a democracy.

Liska was more specific.

If people are concerned, they should contact Senator Deb Fischer.

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces can be reached at 402-441-4600.
WAHOO  A Lake Wanahoo gate operation policy project will proceed.

After making the decision last month to hold off on completing the policy, the Lower Platte North Natural Resource District Board of Directors voted Monday evening to proceed and have FYRE Engineering complete the policy study.

Earlier this year, the board contracted with FYRE to do a three-pronged project  project management, hydraulic modeling and policy preparation. The focus of the tasks was to develop a policy for operating the gate on the dam which included lowering the lake level in advance of heavy rainfall that could cause flooding.

But after completing hydraulic modeling, FYRE Engineer Mike Sotak told the district last month the numbers did not support that much additional storage benefit from dropping the lake level an additional two feet during the rainy season.

Sotak then asked the district if he should continue the project or stop based on new findings and only bill the NRD for work done so far. The board tabled a decision in September.

At this months meeting, some dollars were input into the discussion. NRD Assistant Manager Tom Mountford said FYRE had submitted an invoice for services to date on this project.

The bill so far was $19,250. Based on the contracted amount, that leaves about $2,700 of work yet to be done.

The decision to move forward and complete the policy was not unanimous.

Director Jim McDermott said he was not happy with the results of the hydraulic modeling and questioned why that was put into the contract.

We didnt get what we asked for, he said.

McDermott, one of the five no votes to proceed, said he wanted to see a gate operation policy related to weather forecasting.

But other directors pointed out that hydraulic modeling had to be a part of the overall process for policy development. It was also noted that the weather forecasting policy could still be coming.

Director Bob Meduna said the majority of the project was completed but the meat of the policy development could be coming in what was left to do.

Were this close to done, he said.

It was his recommendation to finish the project before judging if the policy met district expectations.

During Mondays discussion, a member of the public was also given time to speak. Ron Morrissey, the representative of the downstream landowners group, said he had spoken to representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He said the Corps representatives had told him they would be issuing a new requested policy for operating the seven dams upstream of Lake Wanahoo.

He said the Corps told him the upstream dams should be operated three feet lower than capacity.

Morrissey also claimed the numbers from the hydraulic modeling showed something different than what the engineer reported. He said he has looked at the numbers and has done his own calculations.

There is benefit there, he said. If you use their numbers and look at other things, it is a completely different picture.

Director Joe Birkel said he was not opposed to completing the gate policy operation policy, but questioned if now was the right time.

Birkel said if the Corps was intending to issue new directives about the upstream dams, that could impact Lake Wanahoo operation. He would prefer to wait, he said, to see what the Corps put into writing.

He said it might also be prudent to wait for a discussion that is scheduled with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Game and Parks has previously stated its concerns about

lowering the Wanahoo lake level more than one foot, citing possible harm to wildlife and facility structure.

That meeting with Game and Parks is scheduled to take place in the next few weeks.

Mountford said he was also hopeful that the Corps would be contacting the district soon with any new directives about the upstream dams.

He and other NRD staff have poured over the thick operation and maintenance manuals produced by the Corps for the upstream dams but have not found any reference to operation of the panels in the dams.

So, if we got something in writing it would be very helpful, he said.

In other business, the board accepted nominations from the committee working on director vacancies. Bob Claussen and Chuck Folsom, both directors from the Fremont area, recently resigned from the board. Kelly Thompson was appointed to be the new director in sub-district 1, while Bill Sager was appointed in sub-district 2.

The board also received a letter of resignation from Jim Gibney. The director from Wahoo stated that has moved to Fremont so he would no longer be eligible to serve from his sub-district.

A committee will now be seeking a replacement for Gibney.
The federal government Wednesday filed a lawsuit seeking the return of more than $144,000 in Conservation Reserve Program payments and interest from former State Sen. Matt Connealy's farming and fertilizer business near Decatur.

In the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Omaha, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Homan said M.B. Connealy and Sons Inc. owed the money because the Farm Service Agency terminated three CRP contracts.

The CRP program involves landowners being paid to convert their land to conservation uses.

In this case, Homan said, the Burt County FSA Committee reviewed M.B. Connealy and Sons' contracts and decided to terminate three for failure to complete required conservation practices.

He said they failed to appeal the decision so must repay all annual rental payments, which come to $134,737, plus another $9,680 in penalty interest.

Connealy, who is listed as the president of M.B. Connealy and Sons, served two terms as state senator before being term-limited out in 2006. From 2007 to 2009, he was executive director of the Nebraska Democratic Party.

Last year, the Center for Rural Affairs gave Connealy its annual citizenship award for advancing public policies that strengthen family farms, ranches and rural communities.
Historic department store makes a comeback in central Rome.

Rinascente, the Italian department store whose former flagship base on Via del Corso was taken over by Spanish retail giant Zara seven years ago, opens a new outlet on nearby Via del Tritone on 12 October.

The opening in the central shopping district - celebrated with a day of live music and special events - is seen as a triumphant return by the firm which abandoned its Via del Corso base 11 years ago.

Rinascente's new flagship store in Rome. Photo Il Messaggero.

Located on the Via Due Macelli corner of Via del Tritone, the 14,000-sqm store is spread out over eight floors, including a rooftop terrace and four restaurants.

The basement houses a 60-m section of the Aqua Virgo , one of ancient Rome's acqueducts dating to 19 BC, which was discovered during the building's 11 years of construction and restoration works.

Part of the Aqua Virgo aqueduct can be seen in the building's basement.

Founded in Milan in 1865, Rinascente is a nationwide chain of high-end stores selling mainly Italian brands of fashion, accessories, beauty, home, design and food items.

When the firm's former flagship store in Rome was taken over by low-cost foreign clothing chain Zara it was seen as a slap in the face for the so-called Made in Italy brand. Rinascente's return to downtown Rome 11 years later has been described by Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera as "revenge".
The Nebraska State Patrol union board has rejected a request by Gov. Pete Ricketts to reopen State Patrol contract negotiations to talk about changes to the agency's internal investigations processes.

Brian Petersen, president of the State Law Enforcement Bargaining Council, sent a letter Oct. 5 to the Ricketts administration's chief contract negotiator, William Wood, saying the decision was made out of respect for the bargaining process agreed to by both the union and the state.

Issues brought forward in August, after a State Patrol review by Jason Jackson, the state's chief human resources officer, are already addressed in the collective bargaining agreement, Petersen said. That includes provisions governing internal investigations.

Jackson's review led to the dismissal of former State Patrol Superintendent Brad Rice. His replacement, John Bolduc of San Diego, is due to start next week.

Formal negotiations took place in late 2016 and early 2017, before Jackson's review was done, and the contract was signed by Ricketts on Feb. 17. The next contract negotiation takes place a year from now.

In a news release sent Wednesday, Ricketts' spokesman Taylor Gage said the governor wants to ensure the State Patrol is above reproach with "reforms that provide transparency and accountability." That includes internal affairs reforms.

The letter from Petersen rejecting more bargaining is a clear declaration, Gage said, that the union wants to be "a part of the status quo, rather than work together to move the agency forward."

Jackson's review said state law, the union contract and patrol organizational policies work to undermine accountability, including the internal investigations process.

Petersen said he doesn't understand why Jackson is trying to blame the union for what happened with Rice, and has fabricated accusations against the troopers' association.

"I can't help it that the governor appointed Brad Rice and it didn't work out for him, but surely you'd think he'd have more honor that to point the finger at the association," he said.

The union wants to continue to support Ricketts, he said. "But here's the deal, I don't know how many more of these insults we've got in us to take."

Jackson is operating with bad information, Petersen said, and the governor should question his conclusions.

The report concluded that most internal affairs cases are investigated by sergeants, who are covered by the law enforcement bargaining unit rather than the supervisor's unit. Being both investigative officers and members of the union obligated to defend troopers they are investigating creates a conflict of interest, the report said. And that could have been a contributing factor in suspected malfeasance in use of force investigations discussed in the review.

Jackson recommended that sergeants be moved to the supervisory bargaining unit, among other recommended revisions.

Petersen said the state already could assign higher ranking employees outside the bargaining unit to an investigation.

It's smoke and mirrors, he said.

The governor's office can't reopen talks to get just what it wants and then close them, Petersen said.

"That's not a negotiation," he said.
Australians make up barely 0.3 per cent of the world's population and yet hold $2.1 trillion in pension savings -- the world's fourth-largest such pool. Those assets are viewed as a measure of the country's wealth and economic resilience, and seem to guarantee a high standard of living for Australians well into the future.

Other developed nations, aging even faster than Australia and subject to fraying safety nets, have held up the system as a world-class model to fund retirement. In fact, its future looks nowhere near so bright.

Australia's superannuation scheme is a defined contribution pension plan funded by mandatory employer contributions (currently 9.5 per cent, scheduled to rise gradually to 12 per cent by 2025). Employees can supplement those savings and are encouraged to do so with tax breaks, pension fund earnings and generous benefits.

The gaudy size of the investment pool, however, masks serious vulnerabilities. First, the focus on assets ignores liabilities, especially Australia's $1.8 trillion in household debt as well as total non-financial debt of around $3.5 trillion. It also overlooks the nation's foreign debt, which has reached over 50 per cent of GDP -- the result of the substantial capital imports needed to finance current account deficits that have persisted despite the recent commodity boom, strong terms of trade and record exports.
A leading US education academic has warned that it would be "extremely foolish" and even damaging to student learning if NAPLAN writing tests were marked by computers next year, as education ministers across Australia back a move to online marking.

Les Perelman, an internationally renowned expert in writing assessment from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said a report on automated marking of NAPLAN was "so methodologically flawed and so massively incomplete" that it could not be used to justify any use of automated essay scoring of NAPLAN.

Dr Perelman was commissioned by the NSW Teachers Federation to review a report by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) into automated NAPLAN marking of persuasive writing tests.

ACARA's report, released in late 2015, said a "significant body of literature" confirmed that automated essay scoring met or surpassed the quality of human markers. But Dr Perelman's review said a major failing of the ACARA report was that it "completely ignores" any research that was critical of automated essay scoring.
The Trump administration announced on Friday that it would withdraw from UNESCO, the UN cultural organisation, after years of the US distancing itself because of what it called the group's "anti-Israel bias."

"This decision was not taken lightly," according to a State Department statement issued on Friday. In addition to anti-Israel bias, the department cited "the need for fundamental reform" and "mounting arrears" at the organisation.

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation known for its designation of world heritage sites, is a global development agency with missions that include promoting sex education, literacy, clean water and equality for women.

While the US withdrew from the group, President Donald Trump's administration said it wanted to continue providing US perspective and expertise to UNESCO, but as a non-member observer. The withdrawal goes into effect at the end of 2018.
Southeast Community College is committed to its mission of providing a qualified workforce in career and technical fields and affordable access to higher education.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, in his inaugural address, stated, We must strengthen our education system. We must make sure our young people have the skills they need to compete in a 21st-century global economy and in particular career and vocational training. Every manufacturer Ive spoken to has told me they cant find enough skilled labor and its a barrier to them expanding in our state.

In 2015, SCC implemented a five-year strategic plan to improve the colleges capacity to fulfill its mission and meet the workforce, student and community needs throughout its 15-county service area. The strategic plan included the colleges first Facilities Master Plan, which was recently commended by the colleges regional accrediting body.

The college is required to comply with accreditation criteria, including the need to have sufficient facilities infrastructure to support its operations. The plan identified more than $350 million of needs and recommended most facilities be replaced. SCC attempted a bond election in 2016, which did not pass.

Community colleges in Nebraska have three primary sources of funding: state aid, tuition and fees and property tax. Of all property taxes levied in Nebraska, community colleges account for approximately 5 percent of the total.

Each college has a maximum rate of 11.25 cents per $100 valuation, with 9.25 cents available for general fund and 2 cents for capital projects. While the other community colleges have been at their maximum capital authority for many years, SCC has historically used very little of this authority and has had the lowest total levy.

The Board of Governors carefully considers local needs, budgetary factors, tax impact, internal and external data, and the importance of stewardship and accountability.

With SCCs facility needs still remaining, its Board of Governors recently approved a 0.95-cent increase in the capital tax levy to move forward on a much smaller scale with the following facility projects: a diesel technology facility in Milford, health science facility in Lincoln, general purpose classroom building in Beatrice, and a learning center in Falls City. Although the four projects represent only a fraction of the dozens of projects identified in the master plan, their construction will allow the college to increase capacity to meet employer, student and community needs.

Following the recently approved increase, SCCs levy rate of 9.07 cents per $100 valuation is more than 2 cents below its 11.25-cent authority and is the second-lowest among community colleges in the state. In addition to its capital tax authority, SCC will be seeking alternative sources of funding to modernize its facilities, including privately raised dollars and public-private partnerships.

SCC produces more than 1,500 graduates in a wide range of career and technical programs each year. Nearly 90 percent of SCC graduates remain in Nebraska and contribute to the economy by paying income, property and sales taxes. Employers depend on these graduates to strengthen their businesses.

However, many programs have waiting lists and inadequate learning spaces, and there continues to be a gap between the demand for qualified workers and the colleges capacity to produce graduates in high-demand fields such as health sciences, manufacturing, construction, welding, agriculture, automotive and diesel technology, and information technology.

According to a 2013 economic impact study, the effect SCCs former students have on the regional economy is $650 million in annual added income. For every $1 spent by taxpayers on funding SCC, the taxpayers gain $4.10 in taxes and public sector savings from the higher wages earned by SCC graduates. This is an average annual return on investment of 12.3 percent.

SCCs mission is to ensure everyone has access to higher education and the opportunities that come with new skills and knowledge. Higher education is an equalizer for continual improvement in quality of life. Property taxes are critical to keeping tuition affordable and education accessible for all and to meeting the demand for skilled workers.
Nature hates a void. It's a rule that U.S. President Donald Trump might learn the hard way if he reneges on the international nuclear deal with Iran.

Trump has until Oct. 15 to decide whether to recertify the Iran deal. Struck in 2015 between Iran and the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China after years of negotiation, the deal gave Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for the curtailment of the country's nuclear program.

Not only would killing the deal hurt America economically and leave a void for other countries to exploit, but it wouldn't do anything to dispel the notion that American foreign policy has been hijacked by Iran's foes -- most notably Israel and Saudi Arabia, which spend a great deal of money on lobbying U.S. officials and buying U.S. weapons.

The schizophrenia on Iran demonstrated by U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis suggests that some members of the Trump administration were at least temporarily brainwashed by the warmongering neoconservative reactionaries in Washington.

In February, Mattis called Iran "the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world." It's one of the first lines that someone learns when sliding into the Washington swamp, in much the same way that someone taking up the guitar learns "Stairway to Heaven."

Yet as Trump faces an obligatory decision on a deal he has long denounced as an abomination, Mattis is making an 11th-hour attempt to remedy the folie a deux that he and Trump have been exhibiting on the world stage.

"Absent indications to the contrary, (the Iran deal) is something that the president should consider staying with," Mattis told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee last week.

If you ask an "insider" what sort of terrorism Iran has supported lately, you'll hear about Middle Eastern activity that has nothing to do with American national security and is typically just an extension of historical squabbling between Iran and its biggest regional foes, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Meanwhile, we rarely hear about the role that Iran's opponents have played (in tandem with the U.S.) in sponsoring the world's biggest global-terrorism brand, the Islamic State. Nor do we hear much about how Iran has worked with Russia to eradicate this global menace.

Understandably, the U.S. wants to keep selling weapons to the Israelis and Saudis to keep defense contractors happy, but spewing anti-Iranian rhetoric on behalf of those customers is producing diminishing returns.

Actions count more than mere words, and Russia has pulled the rug out from under the U.S. in the Middle East, emerging as the primary powerbroker in the region by making an earnest attempt to eradicate Islamic State terrorism.

Economic spoils have followed. Russian President Vladimir Putin has worked hard to bring Saudi Arabia into Moscow's sphere of influence, and in the wake of King Salman's first visit to Russia, the Saudis have struck a deal to purchase $2 billion worth of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.

Sanctions against Iran won't stop it from doing business with the rest of the world. Sanctions merely prevent the U.S. and European countries from collecting billions of dollars in job-creating revenues. An Iranian representative in search of military drones at this year's Paris Air Show summed it up well as he handed out business cards: "Sanctions are not a problem for us!"

Here in France, the rhetoric coming from the Trump administration is producing frustration. Two years after the Iran deal, American and European multinationals have been making billions of dollars in sales deals to the Iranian market, knowing that the U.S. could soon reinstate sanctions.

Big-ticket items such as commercial jets can't be made and shipped overnight, so orders proceed under constant threat of a deal-killing. There's exasperation here over the fact that globalization has integrated American parts into the French and European supply chains to such an extent that a single component can subject a European multinational to U.S. sanctions.

This mounting frustration threatens to isolate the U.S. when such cooperative ventures are structured in the future. There's nothing preventing Europe from turning East rather than West.

With billions of dollars' worth of commerce on the line -- not to mention the opportunity to build lasting peace through mutually beneficial economic cooperation -- Trump needs a better reason to derail the Iran agreement than simply to parrot the neoconservative swamp monsters and their agenda-peddling lobbyists.
At some point in recent years, you have likely heard mention in the news of untested sexual assault kits (SAKs) in Wisconsin and across the country. These kits, potential evidence collected during forensic exams of sexual assault victims, have gone unsubmitted and untested due to a lack of resources and personnel, misunderstanding of crime lab acceptance policies, outdated investigation procedures, and a variety of other reasons.

Something needed to happen to address these issues and the current backlog of kits, and to prevent future backlogs from occurring. Thus the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) was born to provide funding through a competitive grant program, which aims to create a coordinated community response that ensures just resolution to sexual assault cases through a comprehensive and victim-centered approach, jurisdictional capacity building to prevent high numbers of unsubmitted SAKs in the future, and supporting the investigation and prosecution of cases for which SAKs were previously unsubmitted.

Here in Wisconsin, SAKI awarded a grant to the Department of Justice to pay for unsubmitted SAK testing, create a multidisciplinary team to inventory and track SAKs, provide training and technical assistance, and enhance services and notifications to victims of sexual assault.

In turn, the Wisconsin DOJ announced earlier this summer that it would be accepting applications for funding from sexual assault service providers in the Wisconsin counties with the highest number of unsubmitted SAKs. Racine County was one of those counties, and Sexual Assault Services (SAS) of Lutheran Social Services applied for and was awarded a SAKI grant.

This grant began on July 1, and will provide SAS with funding for a variety of activities over the next two years. With the support of SAKI, SAS has been able to increase staff time to provide more direct service to survivors. We do not yet know what the repercussions will be when results begin to come in from previously unsubmitted and untested SAKs, but we suspect that the demand for supportive services for survivors may increase. SAS is now ready to meet that need, as well as aid law enforcement in notifying victims when previously unsubmitted kits are tested and return a positive DNA hit.

The SAKI grant has also allowed SAS to pay for advertising of program services for the first time in many years. One eye-catching ad is already running on the side of a Racine city bus, and another will soon follow when a second bus becomes available. The ad focuses on publicizing SASs 24-hour crisis line, 262-637-7233, and also lists some program services such as counseling, support groups and legal advocacy.

The final component of SASs SAKI grant is funding to provide training to the community. The Racine County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) already organizes a training every two years for professionals involved in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases.

But with SAKI funds, SAS will be bringing in an expert speaker on trauma response and victim behavior to enhance this already valuable training. SAS is grateful for these SAKI funds, because they are helping us to continue to shape Racine into a community where survivors of sexual assault are believed and supported and perpetrators are held accountable  in other words, a safer community.

For more information about Sexual Assault Services or the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, contact Samantha Sustachek, SAS program supervisor, at 262-619-1634 or ssustachek@lsswis.org.

SAS services are provided free of charge to survivors and their support people through funding from the Victims of Crime Act grant, Violence Against Women Act grant, Sexual Assault Victim Services grant, the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grant, the United Way of Racine County, the Racine Dominican Mission Fund, SC Johnson, the Racine Community Foundation and the generosity of individual donors.
PRACTICE OF CENTERING PRAYER

A free class will be taught from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 40 Ohio St. The Rev. Victoria Millar, former Covenant Presbyterian co-pastor, will teach the class. Register by contacting Kathy Miller at 262-634-4597 or email kmiller@covpres.org.

LUTHER PRESENTATION PLANNED

A presentation by Laura Gellott begins at 9 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, 322 Ohio St. Gellott, professor emeritis of history at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, taught European history for 30 years. This presentation will look at the reasons why Martin Luther was compelled to challenge the church of his day.

SUNDAY SCHOOL, PRESENTATION

Sunday school begins at 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, at First Reformed Church, 7110 Old Spring St. There will be two classes: Pre-K and K; and RCA Catechism for ages 6 to adult. A potluck lunch will follow at noon. Pumpkin decorating will be offered after lunch.

How the Geologic Column Refutes Evolution will be the subject of Robert Warners third presentation in his Creation series at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24. He will discuss how a study of rock layers refutes evolution. Warner has a PhD in chemistry and a master of divinity degree.

LIFELONG LEARNING SESSION

The next Lifelong Learning session, a presentation on organ and tissue donation, begins at 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, in Vogel Hall at St. Richard of Chichester Catholic Church, 1509 Grand Ave. Cara Shaffer, registered nurse, and Michelle Moring from the Organ/Tissue Donation Network, will discuss the partnership between the local hospital and network, present facts versus myths and share testimonials from families who have been involved in donations.

FAMILY CHURCH REUNION WEEKEND

Family church reunion weekend begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, on the second floor at Full Gospel Living Word Church, 703 Washington Ave.

Special music will be featured by Full Gospel Living Word Choir, Searching Together Choir, Kingdom Word Global Ministry Praise Team, Greater Grace Temple Church of God in Christ, and soloists Stephanie Mayfield, Lisa Cameron and Cheryl McCrary.

Keynote guest speakers include the Rev. David Montgomery from Waukegan, Ill.; the Rev. Ernest Williams from St. Louis, Mo.; the Rev. Larry Brown and co-pastor Walinda Brown, prophetess Michelle Johnson and the Rev. Bill Thompkins.

A buffet dinner will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, at Fountain Banquet Hall, 8505 Durand Ave., Sturtevant. Tickets cost $35 at the door.

PRAYER FOR HOPE AND HEALING

At a time when the world is grieving for all the victims of multiple natural disasters and senseless tragedies, a hope and healing prayer service will be held at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, at Yorkville United Methodist Church, 17645 Old Yorkville Road, Union Grove.

There will be scripture readings, a story, and intercessory prayers for ourselves, families, community, nation and world.

Supporting churches and their pastors include the Rev. Sue Leih and student pastor Chris Van Beek of Yorkville United Methodist Church, the Rev. Ebenezer Insor of Burlington United Methodist Church and English Settlement United Methodist Church, and the Rev. Robert Yarborough of Union Grove United Methodist Church.

WOMENS CONFERENCE PLANNED

A womens conference will be held Oct. 27-29 at Higher Dimensions Church of God in Christ, 1600 Grange Ave. The theme is Walking in a Divine Destination. Hours are: Friday, 6-8 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. Registration lunch and packet is $25. The deadline to register is Oct. 21; call 262-488-3791.

SIENA RETREAT CENTER PROGRAMS

These programs are being offered at Siena Retreat Center, 5637 Erie St., Caledonia:

Women for Women, 9:30 a.m.-noon Saturday, Oct. 21. Join a monthly womens circle of wisdom and mutual support. At each gathering, attendees will have time for prayer, meditation, reflection through various stories and readings, creativity and music. Cost is $10.

Mestizo Catholicism (Indigenous Spirituality series), dinner at noon, presentation 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22. Many Latin Americans are Mestizo, an intercultural mix of indigenous and European peoples and heritage. Some Catholic rituals and beliefs of Latina/Latino American will be explored during this afternoon of insight and learning. The $20 fee includes a noon meal.

Praying with Social Justice, 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24. Being created in the image and likeness of God serves as a fundamental principle of the social teachings of the church. This evening will help participants to reflect on scripture, church teaching and their own personal experience as they pray the social teachings of the Christian church. Facilitator Tony Pichler is director of the Norbertine Center for Spirituality in DePere. The $20 includes a meal.

For more information or to register for a program, go to www.SienaRetreatCenter.org or call 262-898-2590.
A 10-month criminal investigation appears to have come to an end Thursday with a 26-year-old Racine man being arrested and thousands of "fentanyl-laced fake oxycodone tablets" being recovered after two Racine homes were raided, the Racine County Sheriff's Office said Friday. Officers reported they found 3,622 fentanyl-laced fake oxycodone tablets equaling 16 ounces of fentanyl and 2.4 pounds of marijuana at two Racine residences following the execution of search warrants.
RACINE  Seventy-five years after they were first published, Little Golden Books continue to attract the attention of readers of all ages.

Some of those readers showed up at the Racine Public Library, 75 Seventh St., on Wednesday evening to learn more about the iconic brand of childrens picture books that got their start here in Racine at Western Publishing.

The free, public program featured a presentation by Diane Muldrow, an editorial director at Golden Books/Random House, and Leonard S. Marcus, a childrens literature historian, that explored the Little Golden Books brand and its creators. The event was part of the Golden Legacy National Author Tour, which has taken Muldrow and Marcus to libraries and bookstore across the country this year in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Little Golden Books.

Their stop in Racine stood out from the rest, though, as it was here on Oct. 1, 1942, that the first group of 12 Little Golden Books were printed at Western Publishing. When Muldrow, who has worked for Golden Books for about 25 years, asked the group of about 30 at the library how many of them have ties to that company, many in attendance raised their hands.

For other fans, like Connie Smith, the event was a chance to reminisce about the stories she remembers reading as a child, and those she read to her three children later in life.

I grew up on Golden Books, said Smith of Caledonia. And so did my kids. We had stacks of them. 

Smiths son, Jacob, a graphic design major at Gateway Technical College, came along with her. And he, and the rest of the audience, left with a lot of insight into the authors and artists who created some of the most popular books that have been published in the last 75 years.

Authors and artists

Muldrow and Marcus shared stories about Golden Books relationship with well-known authors such as Margaret Wise Brown and Richard Scarry, as well as lesser-known names such as Jane Werner Watson  the first editor of Little Golden Books, who also wrote many of the books under pen names.

The presenters talked about how Little Golden Books reflected real life and helped kids to better understand the world around them.

And they highlighted the work of artists including Gustaf Tenggren, Mary Blair, Leonard Weisgard and Eloise Wilkin  many of whom were also artists for Disney.

Wilkin, Muldrow said, was one of the most prolific and most beloved artists with Golden Books. I call her the Mary Cassatt of childrens books. She does a baby like no one else, said Muldrow, also the author of the New York Times bestseller, Everything I need to Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book.

These and other artists and authors were responsible for the sense of wonder that Little Golden Books were so good at bringing into peoples homes, Muldrow said.

She and Marcus also talked about the revolutionary effects that Little Golden Books had on childrens picture book publishing, with their initial 25-cent cost and availability in dime stores and supermarkets, reaching everyone.

When Golden Books cost 25 cents, most other childrens picture books cost $2, and you had to go to the big city to buy one because there werent many bookstores outside of the big city, said Marcus, author of The Golden Legacy: The story of Little Golden Books.

For more about the 75th anniversary of Little Golden Books, go to www.littlegoldenbooks.com.
RACINE  Two Racine men are being charged after allegedly shooting at a man following an altercation.

Marsean L. Herrington, 25, of the 1000 block of Washington Avenue, is charged with felony counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, possession of a firearm by a felon, first-degree recklessly endangering safety and bail jumping, and a misdemeanor count of bail jumping.

Online records indicate an arrest warrant has been issued, but as of Thursday afternoon, Herrington did not appear to be in custody.

Jaquan L. Davis, 21, of the 3700 block of 21st Street, is charged with felony counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety, both as a party to a crime with the use of a dangerous weapon.

Davis is currently in custody and is being held on a $50,000 cash bond, online records show.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police were investigating a shots fired incident that occurred March 5 in the 1900 block of Cleveland Avenue. A witness said he heard a commotion and saw a group of people fighting.

The fight reportedly began because Herringtons girlfriend had allegedly been at an ex-boyfriends home. When Herrington saw the ex-boyfriend at McDonalds, he reportedly followed him back to Cleveland Avenue.

The group Herrington was with reportedly got into a confrontation with the ex-boyfriend and a smaller male with glasses, later identified as Davis, reportedly pulled out a gun. Davis was identified after witnesses identified him in a photo lineup.

This caused the men to stop fighting and a group of men, including the man with the gun, got into a PT Cruiser. The car then drove north on Cleveland Avenue and when it passed a Chevy Impala, several shots were reportedly fired from the PT Cruiser.

Witnesses also stated they had seen Davis hand off a gun to Herrington, and they believe Herrington was the shooter in the incident.

A preliminary hearing for Davis is scheduled for Monday at the Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave.
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By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 11, 2017 | 08:22 PM | GRAVES COUNTY, KY

A Graves County home was destroyed by fire Tuesday night.

According to Chief Michael Kaler with the Symsonia Fire Department, firefighters responded around 9 pm to a home on Highway 348 East, near the Graves-Marshall county line. Kaler said when firefighters arrived, they found heavy fire in the attic and carport area of the home. He said there was also a vehicle parked in the carport.

Firefighters worked until about 1:30 Wednesday morning to extinguish the flames. The Symsonia Fire Department was assisted by the Clear Springs, Viola and West Marshall fire departments.

Kaler said no one was at home when the fire started and there were no injuries. He said the cause of the fire is under investigation but it may be weather-related.

Kaler said he found the homeowner's Bible inside one of the rooms of the home. He said the room was completely destroyed by the fire but the Bible was sitting on top of some debris, unharmed by the fire, just water soaked. Kaler said he was able to return the Bible to the homeowner.
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By The Associated Press

Oct. 12, 2017 | PARIS, FRANCE

By The Associated Press Oct. 12, 2017 | 02:58 PM | PARIS, FRANCE

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel plans to pull out of the United Nations' cultural agency following the "brave and moral" decision by the United States to withdraw from UNESCO.



Netanyahu said Thursday that UNESCO has become a "theater of the absurd because instead of preserving history, it distorts it."



He says he has ordered Israeli diplomats to prepare Israel's withdrawal from the organization in concert with the Americans.



The United States announced on Thursday that it is pulling out of UNESCO because of what the Trump administration sees as its anti-Israel bias and a need for "fundamental reform." It says the withdrawal will take effect Dec. 31, 2018.



The United Nation's education, cultural and scientific agency has passed several resolutions against Israel. It extended membership to Palestine in 2011.
RACINE  Following the recent announcement that Foxconn Technology Group is planning to come to Mount Pleasant, Racine Family YMCA President and CEO Jeff Collen is optimistic about what that could mean for the YMCA, both Downtown and in Mount Pleasant.

For at least 10 years, developers have been looking at the YMCAs Downtown facility at 725 Lake Ave., Collen said.

Sitting in a prime location along Lake Michigan, Collen continues to be hopeful a developer will step in, willing to buy the building and incorporate a new YMCA into the plans.

With Foxconn coming to the area, Collen believes it could be good timing for a developer to come in. But he didnt have any specific development proposals he could share at this time.

What might come along? Well see, Collen said.

I am always hopeful, he said.

But Collen is not just looking at the Lake Avenue campus future.

The $10 billion Foxconn manufacturing campus could employ up to 13,000 people when fully operational. And even before that, its estimated the development will bring in up to 10,000 construction jobs. Along with those jobs will be more housing and more people wanting to use the YMCA, Collen said.

Some Foxconn workers who are in the area now are already using the current YMCA.
95-YEAR OLD FOY GARREN OF "THE GREATEST GENERATION"

IN THE KAPLAN AUDITORIUM FRIDAY OCTOBER 20TH AT THE MAIN LIBRARY

The World War II experiences of Henderson County native and resident Foy Garren, 95, is featured in a chapter in the book I Had a Comrade by Minnesota author Paul Sailer.

Sailer will hold a book discussion and signing from 10 a.m. to noon Friday, Oct. 20, in Kaplan Auditorium of the Henderson County Public Library.

Sailer writes about the experiences of individual participants in WWII. Doolittle Raider and Jimmy Doolittles co-pilot, Dick Cole, wrote the Foreword, stating the book explores comradeship through stories of ordinary people who lived or died during World War II.

Garren, featured in Chapter 6, served as a technical sergeant with Team B, 326th Air Support Group, in the European theater. A son of William Will Pearson Garren and Kate Love Garren, he grew up in the Clear Creek community, attended Balfour Elementary School and was a 1941 graduate of Hendersonville High School. He was one of four sons (Curtis Odell, Foy, Harry and William Guthrie) of the Garren couple to serve in the war. He is a lifelong member of Moores Grove United Methodist Church.

Sailer received a bachelors degree in history and is a Vietnam War veteran. He is also the author of The Oranges are Sweet  Major Don M. Beerbower and the 353rd Fighter Squadron, November 1942 to August 1944.

Five dollars from each book sold will be donated to the library and the remainder to the Blue Ridge Honor Flight program which flew Garren and his late brother, Harry, to Washington, D.C., to visit their National World War II Memorial. The cost of the hard-cover book is $34.99.

For more information, visit http://www.paulmsailer.com

(Our thanks to local historian Jennie Jones Giles for making this information available to WHKP)
Duckens Nazon has been crowned as the recipient of Coventry Citys Goal of the Month prize for September by virtue of his powerful 25-yarde drive against Swindon Town.

The Haitian striker, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, thrashed home the winner in a 2-1 victory at the County Ground and subsequently emerged victorious a second time by garnering 61% of the vote.

All that was left was for Coventry to bestow Nazon with a trophy befitting his name

GOAL OF THE MONTH: @nazon28 is presented with his award for winning the Goal of the Month for September!  https://t.co/bllKXKp5u5 #PUSB pic.twitter.com/IhZF5UR2Uf  Coventry City (@Coventry_City) October 12, 2017

Quacking strike from Nazon  almost Chris Waddle-esque, though eider definitely voted for Devon Kelly-Evans goal against Exeter City instead.

Sorry. Some truly fowl punnage there.
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Pramod Mishra is a biweekly columnist for The Kathmandu Post. He is the department chair of English Studies at Lewis University in the United States.
Buddha to operate Airbus service from Pokhara

Buddha Air has officially announced it will be operating international flights from Pokhara using Airbus A320 aircraft after its new airport is completed.
Bullion trader shot dead in Sarlahi

A group of three unidentified persons shot dead a bullion trader at Kabilasi Municipality-2 in Sarlahi district on Tuesday evening.
Business community in Morang demands security

The business community of Morang staged a demonstration in Biratnagar on Wednesday, demanding security in the wake of the murder of Sarad Kumar Gauchan, the president of Federation of Contractors Association Nepal.
John S. Lawson, 27, Colfax, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of felony possession of methamphetamine. He was sentenced to two years of probation and 30 days in jail. Probation conditions included counseling, no possession or consumption of alcohol, no entrance into bars or taverns and payment of $518 in court cost assessments. A charge of possessing a controlled substance was read into the court record and dismissed.

Scott A. Grossell, 48, Mondovi, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of disorderly conduct. He was ordered to pay fine and court cost assessments totaling $885.88. A 10-day jail sentence was stayed for one year on condition that Grossell stays out of taverns and does not consume or possess alcohol. A charge of bail jumping and citation for passenger in possession of open intoxicant were dismissed.

Troy D. Clements, 48, Strum, case status conference scheduled Oct. 25 on charges of domestic abuse battery and disorderly conduct. Clements has a jury trial scheduled Dec. 13 on a felony charge accusing him of domestic abuse strangulation and suffocation. A motion hearing on that charge was set for Oct. 25. A woman told investigators that Clements choked her outside a residence in the Town of Mondovi in October, 2016.

David R. Wieczorek, 54, rural Fountain City, arraignment hearing scheduled Nov. 8 on a charge of felon in possession of a firearm. Wieczorek also is accused of misdemeanor charges alleging operation of a firearm while intoxicated and endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon.

Cody J. Moy, 34, Mondovi, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. He was ordered to pay fine and court costs totaling $443. A 14-day jail sentence will be stayed if Moy avoids alcohol and bars for one year. Hes permitted to enter bars and taverns for Dart League.

Kari J. Sell, 34, Alma, court hearing adjourned to Nov. 8 on charges accusing her of possessing drug paraphernalia, THC, tampering or failure to install vehicle ignition interlock device, operating while license revoked, failure to keep vehicle under control and 3rd offense operating while intoxicated.

Sarah M. Burfield, 33, Caledonia, Minn., pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of battery. She was given a one-year deferred sentencing agreement. She pleaded no contest and was fined $263.50 for disorderly conduct. A felony charge of battery was dismissed.

Benjamin D. Callaway, 28, Eau Claire, pleaded guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia. Ordered by court to pay $579 in fine and assessed court costs. A citation for driving while license suspended was dismissed.

Kevin R. Ritter, 55, and Trey M. Ritter, 24, both of Rushford, Minn., court hearing adjourned to Nov. 8 on charges of battery and disorderly conduct involving an alleged assault of a woman at a tavern in Bluff Siding.

Breanna M. Seekamp, 21, Nelson, preliminary court hearing scheduled Nov. 2 on a felony drug charge of possession with intent to deliver more than 50 grams of amphetamine. Seekamp also is accused of possessing drug paraphernalia.

Dakota J. Thomas, 20, Arcadia, pleaded not guilty to charges of possessing drug paraphernalia and domestic abuse disorderly conduct and damage to property. Case status conference scheduled Oct. 13.

James B. Smith, 45, La Crosse, case status hearing scheduled Oct. 25 on charges of theft in a business setting and theft by false representation.

Caine M. Rieck, 38, Alma, pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, the charge carrying a modifier under a repeat-offender statute.

Faithe A. Sweeney, 33, Fountain City, court hearing adjourned to Oct. 25 on charges of second offense possession of THC and possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Alana M. Sweeney, 31, Fountain City, court hearing adjourned to Oct. 25 on charges of possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Shannon L. Paisley, 37, Bay City, case status hearing scheduled Oct. 25 on charges of retail theft and possession of THC. Paisley pleaded not guilty in January.

Mark E. Schuh, 33, Eau Claire, plea hearing scheduled Jan. 5 on a misdemeanor traffic charge of third offense operating while intoxicated. Schuh pleaded not guilty in July.

Wyatt D. Thrasher, 40, St. Paul, Minn., court hearing adjourned to Oct. 12 on charges of possessing drug paraphernalia and possession with intent to deliver amphetamine.

Richard S. Wilson, 54, Bloomington, Minn., court hearing adjourned to Oct. 25 on a misdemeanor traffic charge of third offense operating while intoxicated.

Bradley A. Kuehn, 37, Pepin, court hearing adjourned to Nov. 2 on charges of possessing drug paraphernalia and possession with intent to deliver amphetamine.

Mitchell L. Seifert, 34, Cochrane, arraignment hearing re-scheduled to Oct. 20 on a charge of felony possession of methamphetamine.

Travis A. Wynn, 29, Fountain City, case status hearing Nov. third on charges of possessing methamphetamine and THC. Wynn pleaded not guilty in June.

Orville C. Memmer, 55, Menomonie, plea hearing scheduled Oct. 19 on charges of possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Marcelle Hunter, 43, Winona, court hearing adjourned to Dec. 20 on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.

Christopher M. Brown, 37, Wabasha, Minn., court hearing Nov. 8 on a misdemeanor charge of possessing drug paraphernalia.

Dayne M. Kuri, 33, Galesville, court hearing adjourned to Oct. 25 on charges of possessing narcotics, THC and drug paraphernalia.

Ronald J. Baldridge, 41, Buffalo City, plea hearing scheduled Nov. 2 on charges of second offense possession of THC and bail jumping.

Ashley R. Jacobson, 24, Osseo, court hearing adjourned to Oct. 25 on charges of possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Clint M. Granger, 41, Mondovi, court hearing adjourned to Oct. 25 on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.

Rick L. Abramczak, 33, Fountain City, case status hearing Nov. 3 on charges of possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Richard E. Tillman, 46, Chippewa Falls, charged with disorderly conduct.
Police say they seized more than a pound of meth, a gun and money during the search of a Baraboo home Wednesday morning.

A news release from the Baraboo Police Department said the raid  carried out by officers with the Sauk County Drug Task Force  resulted in the arrest of Froylan Castro, 24, and Kenia L. Martinez, 23, both of Baraboo.

The release said the warrant to conduct the search at 327 8th Ave. was obtained in relation to an ongoing drug investigation. Investigators said they seized more than a pound of methamphetamine, 84 grams of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, a handgun and about $8,000 in cash.

Authorities estimate that the street value of the drugs is $29,000. Charges have been recommended to the district attorney, the release said.
Despite skepticism among several Sauk County Board members, two committees voted Wednesday to expand a program that provides nursing assistance to first-time mothers living in poverty.

The boards finance and personnel committees jointly voted 6-2 to approve the addition of one nurse to the Sauk County Health Departments Nurse-Family Partnership program next year.

A handful of supervisors zeroed in on the program during budget deliberations in recent weeks, saying there was insufficient evidence to support its expansion.

Finance Committee member Eric Peterson of Prairie du Sac was one of several who questioned the programs approach to solving societal problems, but ultimately voted in favor of its expansion.

We keep raising more bad kids, Peterson said. Ill tell you why, because weve taken God out of our whole system. Weve taken God out of the schools. Now its into the national anthem. These are the reasons why we dont have a good society anymore.

The nursing program  which is used internationally and has been in existence for 40 years  provides parenting education to young first-time mothers and health checks for their children. The county has secured a 10-year grant that provides about $340,000 annually, and supports four nurses that may care for up to 70 families.

The health department and its oversight panel sought an additional $90,000 from local property taxes in the 2018 budget to hire another nurse and allow the program to serve 20 more families.

Public Health Deputy Director Cathy Warwick said a formula that takes into account birth rates and medical assistance data shows a need for an additional nurse in Sauk County. The expansion, Warwick said, should prevent a waiting list.

However, she said, grant funding is not currently available to support the added position. Thats why the department requested property tax levy. Warwick said she will continue to pursue grants.

Benefits weighed

During a spirited hour-long discussion Wednesday, the committees  consisting of seven men and one woman  peppered Warwick with questions. Several county board members supportive of the program also showed up to encourage the expansion.

The county program has been in existence for one year, and most of its participants have not yet completed the program. Warwick said thats why evidence of its local impact is not yet available.

According to the nonprofit Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, three large and long-term randomized controlled studies within the U.S. have demonstrated benefits to mothers and children who participate in Nurse-Family Partnership programs.

Those benefits include decreases in child abuse and neglect, reductions in teen birth rates among participating mothers, and improved outcomes for children born to mothers with low mental health, confidence or intelligence.

The nonprofit group found that there was a pattern of sizable, sustained effects on important child and maternal outcomes in all three studies.

If we follow this program with model fidelity, which I can assure you we are because thats my job, why wouldnt we then have those wonderful results that they see throughout the United States and internationally? Warwick said.

Supervisor Donna Stehling of Sauk City, who chairs the countys Board of Health, touted an example of the programs impact on one local family.

Cora Hatfield of La Valle was addicted to heroin and 8 months pregnant when she was jailed for dealing drugs in January 2016. Hatfield and her husband, Eddie, have said the county nursing program helped them make it through that ordeal and get enrolled in a drug court treatment program.

Last month, the couple was among the county treatment programs first three graduates.

Their lives have changed dramatically because of (the Nurse-Family Partnership) program, Stehling said. They are contributing to the community and there will be others to follow.

Although other supervisors on the two committees expressed skepticism, personnel committee members Tim Meister of the town of Dellona and Henry Netzinger of Prairie du Sac cast the only votes against the programs expansion.

Netzinger said he had learned of a different program in Eau Claire County that teaches birth control or abstinence in schools, which he viewed as a more effective strategy.

Upon questioning, Netzinger could not provide the name of that program. He also was not sure if it was evidence-based, but he promised to provide Warwick with the identity of the person who told him about it after Wednesdays meeting.

Warwick pointed out that Eau Claire County government also has a Nurse-Family Partnership program. She was not sure of what other program Netzinger may have been referring to.

Criticism of the health departments request during the finance committees budget deliberations in recent weeks was led by Sauk County Board Chair Marty Krueger and Supervisor Richard Flint, both of Reedsburg. They said they worried that expanding the program before grant funding is secured would allow it to turn into a perpetual tax levy item.

Patrol sergeant OKd

In a separate action Wednesday, the committees unanimously approved the Sauk County Sheriffs Departments hiring of an additional patrol sergeant. The position was eliminated in 2011 in response to budget cuts mandated by the county board.

Sheriffs department officials have said the elimination has resulted in a situation in which there is no manager on duty to assist patrol deputies throughout a large portion of the year. The agency uses on-call supervisors to fill the gaps.

But that can create dangerous situations, officials said, if deputies cannot get immediate guidance during critical incidents.

After a 5-minute discussion, the committees approved $47,000 for a new patrol sergeant to be hired halfway through 2018, and an additional $39,000 for a new squad car.

The department will raise its bed rental projection in order to help finance the additional position. Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister said that increase is feasible, in light of a new contract he has signed to rent jail beds to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
Elementary students in Beaver Dam are getting a free vision test this week, thanks to the Beaver Dam Lions Club.

It is the third year we have had these vision screening machines, club member Mark Barrette said.

Beaver Dam Lions Club does yearly free vision screening for preschool and elementary school children through fifth grade using the Plusoptix screener, a camera that identifies anomalies including nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and amblyopia.

Barrette said the screening only takes a few seconds and can provide valuable information to families. Vision problems affect one in every four school-aged children and one in every 20 preschoolaged children. In addition, some conditions such as amblyopia (also called lazy eye) can lead to permanent damage if left untreated.

Beaver Dam Unified School District Health Services Supervisor Nicole Scharfenberg said the district has always screened children for sight problems.

This is a much more efficient and truly effective screening, Scharfenberg said. It also uses state-of-the-art equipment that we do not have access to on our own. It is a great partnership.

Scharfenberg let the parents of the students know that the screening would be done in newsletters that went home with students. After the screening, she will send an email to parents but a letter will be mailed out to the parents of children who should be checked out by an eye doctor.

The Lions Club is also our biggest financial supporter for families that are struggling to get exams done, Scharfenberg said.

The testing is also less disruptive for the classrooms than it was when the district did the tests. Scharfenberg said in the past, it took about 45 minutes to do a classroom. The Lions take only 10 minutes for a class.

In total, Barrette said they will see 1,900 students in the Beaver Dam schools. Students in Lincoln and Washington elementary schools were assessed on Wednesday. Today, the students in Jefferson, South Beaver Dam and Wilson will be screened, and the Lions will finish up with Prairie View on Friday.

Beaver Dam preschools, which Lions have done screenings for previously, will be done next week.

During the screening, the students stand about 10 feet away from the Lions member holding the Plusoptix. The students look at the smiley face on the screen while the operator gets a reading from the machine. If there is an issue, Dr. Alan Ehrhardt is there to double-check the machine.

Ehrhardt, who is an ophthalmologist, said that the machine can screen for the important areas of refractive error, anisocoria and strabismus in children.

The tests are not a substitute for going to a doctor, Ehrhardt said, but can give parents a heads-up that their child should see an eye specialist.

Those needing assistance with vision screening after getting results from the tests can contact Dennis Schmuhl at 885-6050 or email dpschmuhl@hotmail.com, or Barrette at 920-285-1963 or mark_651@yahoo.com.
TOWN OF THERESA  A person was seriously injured after a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 41 at 4:56 p.m. Wednesday in Dodge County.

According to the Dodge County Sheriffs Office, a car traveling north on I-41 north of Highway 28 merged abruptly into the left lane and braked hard while approaching a crossover, which is a U-turn area for highway maintenance or law enforcement. The car was struck from behind by a pickup truck also traveling north and the car then crossed into the southbound lanes and was struck by a straight truck traveling south on I-41.

The driver of the car was flown from the scene by Flight For Life to an unspecified hospital. The drivers of the other two vehicles were uninjured.

Southbound traffic on the highway was closed until 7:50 p.m..

The Dodge County Crash Investigation Team is investigating the crash.

Assisting at the scene were Lomira Police Department, Wisconsin State Patrol, Dodge County Emergency Radio Team, Theresa Fire Department, Lomira Fire Department and First Responders, Brownsville Fire Department, Theresa EMS, Flight For Life, Fond du Lac paramedics, Mayville EMS and Knowles Fire Department.
After penning her first book on Columbus history, Janice Ulrich decided to seek help from a close friend for the second installment.

Ulrich, along with the assistance of Suzanne Walcott, have published Discover Columbus, World War II Era to 2017. The self-published book continues Ulrichs work from her first installment on Columbus history, Images of America, Columbus, which was published in 2016.

The first volume examines the communitys beginnings from the mid-1800s through World War II. Ulrich said the popularity of the initial project led her to pursue another volume.

This one goes from about 1950 to present day, Ulrich said.

The second volume is packed with photos and details about churches, businesses, schools and many of the citys historic homes. Columbus rich history is known throughout the state and nationally. With the recent addition of the Dix-Warner neighborhood to the National Register of Historic Places, Columbus boasts 22 listings on the National Register.

Ulrichs first book was published through Arcadia Publishing and The History Press. The company has published many books about Wisconsin history and its titles can be seen in shops and bookstores across the state. However, for the second edition, Ulrich wanted more creative freedom and decided self-publishing was the best option. Walcott used her artistic background to design the book and complete Ulrichs vision for the second edition.

There is no way I would have been able to do this without Sue, Ulrich said. We really worked together as a team on this one.

As longtime Columbus residents, Ulrich and Walcott are knowledgeable about the citys history.

I have been in Columbus most of my life and Sue has been here since 1972, Ulrich said.

The books cover features a painting from artist Susan Stare depicting a scene in downtown Columbus that likely happened many times. A small child is ordering a treat from a vendor operating the popcorn wagon. Ulrich said the second edition is a little smaller than the first, but still features plenty of local history.

In the book, the author highlights several of Columbus businesses passed down through generations. Ulrich also focuses on some of the homes built during the housing boom of the early 1950s.

While both Ulrich and Walcott admit producing the book was a great deal of work, they enjoyed the process.

Ulrich said profits from sales of the second edition will go to the Columbus Historic Landmarks and Preservation Commission. The commission is instrumental in getting the citys history honored and building its long list of places on the National Register.

Ulrich has additional material to research and write about so she isnt ruling out a third installment.

Discover Columbus, World War II Era to 2017, costs $20 and is available throughout Columbus at the following locations: Julies Java House, Sharrows Downtown, Walcott Studio, Farmers and Merchants Union Bank, Columbus West Travel Center, Capri Steak House, the gift shop at Columbus Community Hospital, Kurth Brewery, Bombshell Hair Designs and Central Beauty Shoppe.
University of Wisconsin System officials are pursuing a plan to merge the states two-year UW Colleges with its four-year institutions, turning the 13 small schools into branch campuses of the larger universities.

The wide-ranging restructuring plan System President Ray Cross announced Wednesday would also bring UW-Extension programs under new administration.

Cross described the plan, which he will bring to UWs governing Board of Regents for approval in November, as a way to address declining enrollment in the UW Colleges  where the number of full-time equivalent students has dropped by 32 percent between 2010 and this fall  without closing any campuses. Enrollment at UW-Madison is up slightly over that period but down at some other four-year campuses.

He acknowledged, though, that it would result in job cuts as some positions are made redundant when administrative functions at the colleges are brought under four-year universities on July 1, 2018.

The statewide office that manages UW Colleges and Extension, now led by Chancellor Cathy Sandeen, would eventually be eliminated entirely, Cross said.

Still, he said, the mergers could create new educational opportunities at the two-year schools, make it easier for students to transfer to four-year programs and better position UW institutions as Wisconsins population ages.

Our goal here is to leverage our resources to avoid closures, focus them in areas and respond effectively to these demographics, Cross told the Wisconsin State Journal on Wednesday.

The proposal  to take effect next summer  would bring each UW Colleges campus under one of seven four-year public universities:

The Rock County college would join UW-Whitewater.

The Baraboo/Sauk County and Richland colleges would join UW-Platteville.

The Barron County college would join UW-Eau Claire.

The Manitowoc, Marinette and Sheboygan colleges would join UW-Green Bay.

The Washington County and Waukesha colleges would join UW-Milwaukee.

The Marathon County and Marshfield/Wood County colleges would join UW-Stevens Point.

The Fond du Lac and Fox Valley colleges would join UW-Oshkosh.

UW-Madison would not oversee a college under Cross plan, but would take on the UW-Extensions Cooperative Extension program and the management of its conference centers.

The Extensions Broadcasting and Media Innovations division  which includes Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio  would be brought under UW System Administration, as would the Business and Entrepreneurship Division, continuing education, outreach and UW Flexible Option programs.

New programs, job cuts on the table

Once the merger is complete, UW Colleges faculty and staff would be considered employees of their campus partner four-year school.

The same goes for students  those attending what is now UW-Rock County would be considered students of UW-Whitewaters Rock County branch. They would still be charged the two-year schools lower tuition rates.

Merging the institutions will bring the resources of the four-year universities to the smaller colleges, Cross said. Universities could, for instance, offer new programs that would allow students to earn bachelors degrees at the branch campuses, where previously they could only receive associates degrees, he said.

Services such as financial aid and advising  which UW Colleges moved into regional hubs under another restructuring plan in 2015 that followed state budget cuts  would be managed by the colleges partner university.

Cross said some administrative positions would be eliminated, though he declined to estimate how many could be affected, saying many of those decisions will be worked out by the two- and four-year schools as the merger takes effect. It will likely take much longer than the July 2018 effective date for the merger to be fully implemented, he said.

A UW Colleges and Extension spokeswoman said Wednesday afternoon that her organization also did not know how many jobs could be affected.

Those are questions that will be answered during the implementation process, spokeswoman Katy Kaiser said. We have very few answers on any of that right now  we just dont know.

Potential and pitfalls

Noel Radomski, managing director of the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education, said Cross proposal is not unprecedented  the states two-year schools once operated as branch campuses of larger universities, until changes in the 1960s divorced them.

He said the merger would likely give students at what are now the UW Colleges an easier path in transferring to four-year schools. Transfer students are often told that some credits they earned at two-year campuses dont count at their new university. Radomski said bringing the UW Colleges under the four-year schools could ensure those institutions accept more of the two-year schools credits.

Still, he was skeptical that the mergers would address the demographic shifts UW blames for declining enrollment at the Colleges and some four-year campuses. The System also needs to do more to attract minority students and non-traditional students, such as unemployed or underemployed adults, Radomski said.

Just because you have a branch campus doesnt mean youre going to increase enrollment, he said.
A Dane County judge has thrown out eight high-capacity well permits the state granted to businesses despite warnings from its own scientists that the massive water withdrawals would harm vulnerable lakes, streams and drinking water supplies.

Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn ruled that the permits ran afoul of a constitutional provision requiring state government to protect water for the public.

This Court is bound by nearly 120 years of precedent and a long rich history in the State of respecting the Wisconsin Constitution and its fundamental protection of the waters of the State for the enjoyment of all, Bailey-Rihn wrote in a decision she issued Wednesday.

She was ruling in a lawsuit the conservation group Clean Wisconsin filed a year ago after examining permits the state Department of Natural Resources issued after a policy change it made in June 2016 under pressure from industrial well users and elected Republicans who control state government.

In a matter of months, the DNR approved 190 high-capacity well applications that had been held up because businesses werent happy with pumping limits the department planned to impose.

The agency also relaxed limits it previously placed on at least 38 wells, adding more than a billion gallons to the amount of water businesses were allowed to extract monthly.

DNRs own scientists and staff experts for months raised concerns about the direct substantial impacts these high-capacity well permits would have on the wetlands, stream flows, groundwater, and ecology of the surrounding landscape, the organization said in a statement.

The wells had potential to lower water levels in Pleasant Lake, Round Lake, Lake Emily, Rice Lake and Radley Creek, a Class 1 trout stream.

2011 law cited

The DNR had said it was forced to begin issuing the permits with fewer limits starting in 2016 because of a law enacted in 2011 by the state Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker limiting the authority of state agencies to create rules that hadnt been explicitly authorized by elected officials.

The department had been withholding approval of some permit applications and setting pumping limits on others based on a series of court rulings.

The rulings were based on the public trust doctrine, in which courts have said that Wisconsins Constitution requires state government to protect public access to navigable waters.

The courts ruled the DNR was responsible for making permit decisions based on cumulative impact a proposed new well and other existing wells would have on the publics ability to use water.

Political decision-making

Clean Wisconsin argued that the Constitution trumps Schimels interpretation of the 2011 law.

There is a principle in law that says you cant interpret a statute in a way that is unconstitutional, because the Constitution is our supreme law, not the Legislature, said Madison attorney Carl Sinderbrand, who represented Clean Wisconsin in the lawsuit.

Sinderbrand said Schimel and other elected Republicans were ignoring the Constitution in order to serve business interests.

It is political decision-making and its done totally to protect the interests of people who finance election campaigns, Sinderbrand said. Its government for sale, and the attorney general is as much an offender as anybody.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks campaign contributions, has reported that Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and farming interests spent $2.2 million to help elect Schimel in 2014.

Eight business groups joined Schimels Department of Justice in defending the DNR in the lawsuit. Among them were WMC, the state Farm Bureau Federation, the Wisconsin Paper Council, and state associations for vegetable and potato growers, dairy businesses, corn growers, cheese makers and food processors.

Spokesmen for Schimel and the DNR said Wednesday they were reviewing the judges ruling and couldnt comment on it.

Bailey-Rihns ruling invalidated all eight permits, but sent one back to the DNR so the agency could consider placing limits on it based on possible cumulative impacts on surrounding water.

Pump permits locked in

This year, Walker and the Legislature took another step to relax groundwater protection by eliminating the limited instances under which the DNR could add a pumping limit to a high-capacity well permit if the well was found to be depriving others of water.

Pumping has lowered water levels and even dried up lakes and streams, especially in the Central Sands area where vegetable growing is prevalent.

The lead author of the bill, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, of Juneau, said it was important to the farming industry to have a sure source of water.

The change gave perpetual rights to whoever sticks their straw in the ground first instead of taking into account shoreline landowners and others who want to fish, boat and swim, said Clean Wisconsins Amber Meyer Smith.
The city of Portages new job classification and compensation plan came to the citys Human Resource Committee on Tuesday with a little advice from the consultant who presented it.

The plan, which will affect the pay of about 50 city employees, is ready to be presented to the Common Council, and could be implemented next year, said City Administrator Shawn Murphy.

But Patrick Glynn, a consultant for the Madison-based firm Carlson Dettmann  the same firm that created Columbia Countys pay plan for about 500 employees  said there are some policy and workplace issues that city officials might want to consider when they put the plan into effect.

For example:

One entity  probably the city administrator  should have full authority to hire city employees, although the position in the role would answer to the Human Resources Committee and the Common Council in terms of where a new hire is placed on the wage scale, as the council has ultimate responsibility for the spending of city money.

All city departments should engage in constant conversation about what is expected of employees, and what concrete factors determine whether an employee has exceeded expectations or done an outstanding job worthy of a merit-based pay increase. Those conversations, Glynn said, should not be limited to when an employee undergoes a performance evaluation.

Its not just something that operates itself, Glynn said of the plan. Its going to require effort on the part of the administrator and department heads to communicate with each other as to what does and does not meet expectations.

Murphy noted the city has had performance-based pay for employees for the last year and a half, but the Carlson Dettmann plan makes the process more precise.

This gives us a little better understanding of the parameters that we would work within, he said.

Glynn said the system, as proposed, would have 19 pay grades, with S as the highest and A as the lowest.

Where a particular job would fall in the pay scale would be based on a point system that considers job requirements such as problem-solving, decision-making, communications, work environment and formal requirements for the job (such as education or certification).

Its possible, he added, to create a pay plan with one or more of the pay grades currently having no employees in them  to leave open the possibility that jobs created in the future might fit into that pay grade.

According to the executive summary that was included as part of the committees information packet, Carlson Dettmann recommends a process for employees to appeal their job classification, and suggests that appeals be limited to alleged errors of how a particular job is classified. Before Columbia County implemented its classification and compensation system in 2015, more than 90 employee appeals were filed.

Compensation and classification systems drafted by Carlson Dettmann are based on a study of comparable communities, but in Portages case, that posed a challenge.

Compared with a market that included 21 cities, five counties (including Columbia) and two villages, the city of Portage cant afford a pay plan that would align with what comparable workers are paid in those communities.

Its not a matter of whether you are competing with the greater Madison area. You are, Glynn said. But the question becomes, how do you become reasonably competitive?

When the comparable area is narrowed  to include only the 12 cities of Baraboo, Beaver Dam, Berlin, Columbus, Fort Atkinson, Jefferson, Monroe, Reedsburg, Ripon, Stoughton, Tomah and Waupun, while keeping the same five counties and two villages  the city of Portage is more competitive, Glynn said.

But, if in the future city officials have difficulty recruiting or retaining employees, the market can be re-evaluated, Glynn said. Columbia County is contemplating such a re-evaluation now.

Advancement on the citys pay scale, as proposed, would be based on job performance. Glynn recommended that employees with documented unsatisfactory work performance be ineligible for any raise at all, even if the Common Council approves an across-the-board pay hike.

For salaried employees, the recommendation is that extra pay raises could be offered to employees who exceed job expectations or are determined to be outstanding  provided that the standards for such designations are clear from the beginning.

For employees paid by the hour, advancement on the scale would be based on meeting job expectations, but Glynn said the bar for meeting expectations should be high.

Mayor Rick Dodd agreed.

I would hate to see employees get exceeds expectations or outstanding only for doing the job they were hired to do, he said.

Glynn said its important that the citys department heads are in agreement as to how the pay plan is implemented, and under what circumstances an employee may be rewarded with a designation of exceeds expectations or outstanding. A department head contemplating such a designation for an employee probably should consult Murphy first, he said.
Chinese contractor given monthly targets

The Chinese contractor for the Gautam Buddha Airport expansion project has been asked to achieve 6 percent physical progress every month, project officials told the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday.
When staff at Tower Rock Elementary School realized they had a little extra cash to use, thanks to a fellowship earned by one of its teachers, they decided to earmark it for something the school would otherwise never get the chance to do.

Principal Kelly Petrowski noticed they had a large, blank wall in the K-2 breakout space that could use some color.

With that we dreamed up an idea to get a local artist to create something for us that would combine our emphasis on agriculture and school common area expectations, Petrowski said.

That idea resulted in a colorful, three-dimensional wall mural featuring a barn, students, a host of critters and words emphasizing the schools culture of safety, kindness and responsibility.

The 16x7 foot mural was designed across four panels by local resident Jennifer Niles, owner of JenGraph Designs, who does freelance design work for various community businesses and non-profit organizations.

Bringing Niles into the equation was purposeful, Petrowski said, because of her unique history with the Sauk Prairie School District.

Niles attended Black Hawk Elementary School for fourth grade, as well as Madison Street School and Sauk Prairie Middle School, before eventually graduating from Sauk Prairie High School. Her two sons attended Tower Rock Elementary as well.

While in the Sauk Prairie School District, Niles received numerous awards for her artwork, including a Spellman Monument Art Scholarship upon graduation. She later took classes from Madison Area Technical College in printing and Publishing and had on-the-job training for desktop publishing. She continued to hone her talents as a graphic artist in a variety of positions over the years before starting her own business in 1997.

Kelly contacted me to commission the Tower Rockers mural project after being referred by Carol Patterson, who taught my boys while they attended Black Hawk and Tower Rock schools, Niles said. We talked about the words they wanted to see in the mural and concept and ideas for what could go with it.

While the school first envisioned the mural would be painted directly on the wall, Niles convinced them doing it on wood panels would make it portable. This would make it moveable if the need ever arose.

The mural consists of four 4x7 wood panels. Niles used a variety of mediums including acrylic paint, texture compound, barn and fence wood, and metal. The words feature individual textured letters with various wildlife animals seen around the rural school area. It also has elements of stencil.

The pieces just fell together for this art piece to happen, Petrowski said. Jen is an amazing artist. She helped us create the story of Tower Rock in it.

With the money they had earmarked for a special project, Petrowski said they ended up paying Niles only a portion of what the overall cost was to make it. In addition, Niles donated $1,623 worth of her time, talent and the materials to the district needed to complete the mural.

For Niles, the best part of the mural project was getting to some and talk to the students about how she created the mural.

To see them really excited about the mural made it all worthwhile, Niles said. I am hoping they are as inspired as I was as a child to create art for the community that will be there in years to come.
William Bill J. Federbusch of Red Wing, Minnesota, died peacefully at home Sept. 28, 2017, at age 73, after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Born in Chicago, July 19, 1944, to William Dutch and Caryl Federbusch, Bill grew up on the south side and attended Mendel High School. He earned a degree in business from St. Marys University of Minnesota in Winona in 1966.

After college, Bill received his commission into the U.S. Navy and underwent flight training in Pensacola, Florida. He had hoped to fly jets but was transferred to the naval communications office at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. He was an officer with high-level security clearance in charge of computer development of message encrypting.

A self-starter with a lifelong love of learning, Bill returned to Minnesota and became an accomplished marketing and sales professional in the field of information technology. Bill would often pilot his own plane to business meetings around the Midwest. During his three-decade career, Bill worked for several prominent global corporations, including Teknekron Infoswitch, Rockwell International and Cisco Systems. Bill took joy not only in improving his clients businesses but also in developing lasting friendships with his clients and colleagues.

September 17, 1999, he married the love of his life Phyllis Ann Campbell at the Church of St. Patrick in Edina, Minnesota. On their first date, Bill took Phyllis flying to test her sense of adventure. She passed. Bill had found a willing copilot and first mate. The couple traveled extensively, boating on Lake Minnetonka and the Mississippi River, backpacking and canoeing through the Boundary Waters and taking coast-to-coast road trips to visit scenic areas and national parks.

They lived in Minneapolis before moving to Red Wing in 2000 and spent considerable time in Wisconsin Dells. In fact, Bill visited at the Dells every year of his life, spending summers at his familys cabin Black Hawks Roost. As a boy, he learned to fish, boat and water ski on the Wisconsin River. Calling himself a river rat, Bill was happiest when he was at his beloved cottage in the Dells.

A true renaissance man, Bill loved music and taught himself to play the drums, bass and guitar and played in a big band in college. He was active throughout his life as a runner, scuba diver, pilot and cross-country skier. But his favorite activities were boating and sailing. Every spring for 20 years he went on long sailing trips around the Caribbean with his brother, cousin and friends. He once sailed a catamaran from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.

Whether it was sales quotas, personal fitness goals, or simply fixing something with his own hands, Bill was driven by a never-quit attitude. As a result, retirement was elusive for Bill. The first two times he tried to retire, it didnt last because, he said, all his peers were still working so there was no one to play with. He was lured out of retirement one last time to join a startup called OnState Communications, where he enjoyed meeting with investors around the country and putting all his first-class business skills back into practice.

When Bill finally did retire, he didnt slow down. He worked as a boat captain giving tours in the Dells. Bill also tackled a long-time goal of starting his own business, opening BlackHawk Photography in 2011. Bill was a photographer throughout his adult life and spent his years in retirement honing his craft, creating striking and impactful images. His photographs and stories have been featured in several regional publications and exhibited in many local galleries and shows.

Bill strived to catch the moment or the essence of his subjects and found particular joy in capturing iconic images of the Wisconsin Dells region, especially Cold Water Canyon a short hike from his cabin. Bills photojournalism lead to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources establishing a significant public safety initiative on the Wisconsin River.

An active member of his community, Bill served on the boards of the Anderson Center, the Wacouta Township, the Red Wing Photography Club and the Red Wing Republican Eagle Reader Board. He was a member of the Elks and the YMCA. He taught faith formation at The Church of St. Joseph and classes in photography for Red Wing Community Education, the Red Wing Photography Club, and Community Education in the Wisconsin Dells. He also received the Golden Quill Award for his commentary in the Republican Eagle.

He will be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather and uncle and a trusted neighbor, classmate, colleague and friend. As a storyteller, a patient teacher, a good listener and a sage adviser, Bill enriched the lives of all he encountered and he will be deeply missed.

He is survived by his wife, Phyllis; daughter, Elizabeth Landis (Lonhyn Jasinskyj); son, William Sean; brother, John; grandchildren, Jack and Brooklyn Landis, William Cole and Taj Federbusch and Peter, Julia and Katherine Jasinskyj; his lifelong friend, Emil Scarano; many cousins; and in-laws.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents; and cousin, Thom.

Mass of Resurrection was held at 11 a.m., Friday, Oct. 6, at the Church of St. Joseph in Red Wing, Minnesota, with Father James Russell presiding. The visitation took place from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m., Thursday, with a 7:30 p.m. prayer service at the Mahn Family Funeral Home, Bodelson-Mahn Chapel and at the church from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. Friday prior to the service. Interment with full military honors followed at Calvary Cemetery. A second memorial service will be held in the Wisconsin Dells at a future date.

Memorial gifts may be made to Stewards of the Dells of the Wisconsin River, the Red Wing Elks Youth Camp, and the Red Wing YMCA.

The family would like to thank the staff of Mayo Clinic of Rochester and Red Wing Hospice along with friends and neighbors for their care of Bill during his final months.
Crystal clear

Nepal, as party to the UN Global Compact and the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), is required to frame laws to control corruption. Nepal signed the UNCAC on December 10, 2003 and ratified it on arch 31 2011.
Discussion held on migration health policy

The Ministry of Health in conjunction with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Wednesday organised a consultation meeting on the development of National Migration Health Policy to address a wide range of health issues faced by migrants and their families.




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US group calls for SMR support

12 October 2017

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US federal and state policymakers and officials should support the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) by US companies to help secure the nation's position as an international leader on nuclear technology for decades to come, according to a new report by the Nuclear Innovation Alliance organisation.

With aging US coal and nuclear plants slated for retirement, and the urgency of combating climate change, SMRs are well-suited to help provide the next generation of much-needed clean, dispatchable energy, alongside renewable energy and other low-carbon energy sources, the organisation notes. Globally, SMRs have the potential to help meet growing international energy demand and offer an alternative to traditional, large light water reactors with power outputs that can better match the scale of developing world energy needs. SMRs' operational flexibility also makes them better able to complement variable energy sources such as wind and solar, it says.

Between domestic and export opportunities, a US SMR industry could create or sustain hundreds of thousands of American jobs, the report notes.

"By supporting new SMR technology deployment, the United States can help secure its position as an international leader on nuclear technology for decades to come," Ashley Finan, Nuclear Innovation Alliance policy director, said.

The Nuclear Innovation Alliance is a group of companies, investors, experts and stakeholders seeking the commercialisation of advanced reactors. It researches, develops and advocates policies that enable the efficient licensing and demonstration of advanced reactor technologies.

The 50-page report, Enabling Nuclear Innovation: Leading on SMRs, makes specific recommendations to policymakers to support the development of SMR technology. It calls on Congress and the US administration to expand support for new reactor design and licensing to include non-light water designs and extend support through design finalisation; and to amend the nuclear energy tax credit to help first-of-a-kind SMR projects to close the economic gap with natural gas plants.

It also calls on the US energy secretary to take steps to ensure that federal facilities procure power from SMR projects under development by the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Finally, it calls on state governments to expand existing or proposed Renewable Portfolio Standards into Clean Energy Standards that could include SMRs and other advanced nuclear technology.

"By investing in a portfolio of reactor technologies and providing a continuum of support through different stages of development, the US government can bolster SMR innovation while allowing the market to guide technology selection," report author Matt Bowen said. "Our findings indicate that we are at an important juncture where targeted incentives for SMRs can make a big difference for the country's future clean energy options."

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is already supporting the development and commercialisation of SMRs, which it sees playing an important role in addressing the country's energy security, economic and climate goals. TVA's early site permit application for two or more SMR modules of up to 800 MWe at Clinch River, Tennessee, has been developed with the support of the DOE SMR Licensing Technical Support programme, which has also provided cost-shared financial assistance through an interagency agreement. The five-year agreement, finalised in July 2015, will also support a combined construction and operating licence (COL) application.

The DOE also in 2015 awarded a three-year cooperative agreement to NuScale and UAMPS to conduct site characterisation activities and to prepare documentation that will lead to a COL application for a commercial 12-module NuScale power plant. This is planned to be built on the site of the Idaho National Laboratory. It will be owned by UAMPS and operated by Energy Northwest.

Cost competitive

Another US-based consortium SMR Start, recently issued a report which found SMRs could rival the costs of natural gas plants if the first-of-a-kind risks typically facing new technologies are properly addressed.

The Economics of Small Modular Reactors, published on 14 September, evaluates market opportunities, commercialisation timeframes and costs competitiveness for SMRs. According to the report, the first SMRs are expected to be within the range of natural gas plant costs, assuming appropriate private-public partnerships, which it says help to reduce technology risks and keep first-of-a-kind costs low. Partnerships also reduce the barriers to technology adoption and allow the learning curve to bring down the cost of future SMRs.

By 2030, after the first few plants begin operation, SMRs would be cost-competitive without further private-public partnerships, the report finds. "For most scenarios, the costs of SMRs are within the range of natural gas plants, such that a utility could choose an SMR based on factors such as long-term price stability and fuel diversity," it says.

SMR Start is a consortium of SMR developers and customers launched in January last year to advocate for SMRs in the USA.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News
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Taiwan is an island located off the east coast of mainland China, in the East China Sea, which forms a part of the North Pacific Ocean. Separating Taiwan from the Chinese mainland is the Taiwan Strait. As a political unit, Taiwan consists of the main island of Taiwan and several small islands that are situated to the west and south of the main island.

To the east of Taiwan is the Japanese island of Yonaguni, the southernmost island of Japan. To the south of it are the Batanes islands, which belong to the Philippines. Taiwan also controls some islands close to the Chinese mainland, including Kinmen County, the Wuqiu Islands, and the Matsu Islands, all of which lie close to the coast of the mainland Chinese province of Fujian.

The capital of Taiwan is the city of Taipei, located near the islands northern coast. The city is home to approximately 7.87 million people, making it the most populous city in Taiwan.

Map of Taiwan.

Contents:

Is Taiwan Part Of China? Is Taiwan A Country?

In a practical sense, Taiwan is not part of China. It has its own flag, government, and military. Thus, it is a de facto independent country. Taiwans official name, however, is not Taiwan, but the Republic of China. The story of Taiwans separation from the rest of China begins in 1949, when the Chinese Communists defeated the Nationalists in a civil war. The Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek, retreated to the island of Taiwan and set up a rival government there. Ever since these events, Taiwan has been a de facto independent state, though it has not officially declared its independence.

The Chinese government in Beijing insists that there is only one China, and it includes Taiwan. In fact, China has repeatedly said that it reserves the right to use force to take control of the island and unify it with the rest of China, especially if Taiwan officially declares itself to be an independent country. Under pressure from the Chinese government, most of the international community does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state. This has not always been the case, however.

International Diplomacy

Flag of Taiwan.

Taiwan was formerly a member of the United Nations, and many countries preferred to maintain relations with it rather than with the communist government in Beijing. In 1971, however, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that the government of the Peoples Republic of China was the sole legitimate representative of China at the UN. Thus, Taiwan was effectively expelled from the organization.

In 1979, the United States established diplomatic relations with the Chinese government in Beijing for the first time. As part of the conditions for establishing ties with Communist China, the US broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Eventually, most of the international community established relations with Beijing and broke off relations with Taiwan. Today, only fifteen countries recognize the Taiwanese government, and no government maintains simultaneous relations with both China and Taiwan.

Taiwan does, however, maintain a certain level of international ties. It is a member of 40 international governmental organizations, including the Asian Development Bank, the Asia-Pacific Cooperation forum, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The island also has observer status in other organizations. Arguably, Taiwans most important international ties are with the US. As previously stated, the US broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan when it recognized the Chinese government in Beijing in 1979. However, the US still maintains some ties with the island, and most importantly, provides Taiwan with substantial military aid. This aid and the support from the US for the continued existence of Taiwans separate government has, so far, effectively deterred Beijing from attempting to take the island by force.

Government Of Taiwan

Presidential Office Building, Taipei, Taiwan.

When Taiwan became effectively separate from the rest of China, it was a one-party state. The sole, legal party in Taiwan was the Nationalist Party, known as Kuomintang (KMT), under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, who was deposed as Chinas leader when communist forces won the countrys civil war in 1949. Upon moving to Taiwan, Chiang basically became the dictator of a one-party state. In 1975, he died, and power was passed to his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, who ruled until his own death in 1987. Shortly before he died, however, Chiang Ching-kuo lifted the islands state of martial law, and allowed a democratic government to take shape.

Today, Taiwan is a multiparty, democratic state with an executive branch headed by a president. The president is directly elected by Taiwanese voters for a four-year term. The president chooses a premier, officially known as the President of the Legislative Yuan, who then chooses a cabinet, known as the Executive Yuan. The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral chamber that serves as Taiwans legislature. It has 113 members, 73 of whom are elected in single-seat constituencies by a simple majority vote. Another 34 members are elected based on proportional representation. The remaining six members of the Legislative Yuan, who represent the islands aboriginal population, are directly elected by voters in multi-member constituencies, using proportional representation. All members of the Legislative Yuan serve four-year terms.

The judicial branch of Taiwans government, known officially as the Judicial Yuan, is headed by the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court. The judges of these courts are all appointed by the president, but subject to approval by the Legislative Yuan. Supreme Court justices serve for life, while Constitutional Court justices serve eight-year terms, and half of its membership is renewed every four years.

Demographics

Raohe Street Night Market, Taipei, Taiwan. Image credit: r.nagy/Shutterstock

Taiwan is home to approximately 23.85 million people, most of whom live in urban areas. It is estimated that the islands population will peak in 2029, at about 24.01 million, after which it will begin to decline. The islands population density is around 659 people per km2.

In terms of ethnicity, the Han Chinese make up around 98% of Taiwans total population. They can be divided into two groups. The first is the Hoklo Han Chinese, who migrated from mainland China to Taiwan in the 19th century before the Japanese took control of the island. The Hokkien dialect, which is the native dialect of the Hoklo Han Chinese, cannot be understood by speakers of other Chinese dialects. The Hoklo Han Chinese make up about 70% of Taiwans total population. The second Han Chinese group is the Hakka Han Chinese. These are people from mainland Chinese provinces in which the Hakka dialect is the main spoken dialect. They comprise about 14% of Taiwans population. Mainland Chinese, who migrated to Taiwan after the Nationalists lost the civil war, constitute another 14% of the islands population. The remaining 2% of Taiwans population are Taiwan Aborigines, who are descendants of Taiwans original Austronesian population, which dominated the island until the 17th century.

Mandarin Chinese is Taiwans official language, and is spoken by nearly all of the islands people. Mandarin spoken in Taiwan assumes two forms the Standard Mandarin and the Taiwanese Mandarin (Hokkien). Taiwanese Hokkien and Taiwanese Hakka are the main vernacular languages spoken in Taiwan. Japanese and English are spoken widely as foreign languages.

Official language : Standard Mandarin Chinese

: Standard Mandarin Chinese Indigenous languages : Formosan languages

: Formosan languages Vernaculars : Taiwanese Hokkien, Taiwanese Mandarin, Taiwanese Hakka

: Taiwanese Hokkien, Taiwanese Mandarin, Taiwanese Hakka Main foreign languages : English, Vietnamese,Japanese

: English, Vietnamese,Japanese Sign languages: Taiwanese Sign Language

Read MoreWhat Languages Are Spoken In Taiwan?

In terms of religion, there are 26 officially recognized religions in Taiwan, though the islands constitution guarantees religious freedom regardless of whether or not a religion has official recognition. According to government statistics, 35.1% of Taiwanese practice Buddhism, 33% Taoism, 3.9% Christianity, and 3.5% Yiguandao. About 18.7% of Taiwanese are listed as non-religious.

Other large cities besides Taipei include Kaohsiung, with a population of about 1.5 million, and Taichung, which has a population of just over 1 million people. Taiwans other major cities have populations of less than a million.

Economy

New Taiwan Dollars.

Taiwan is one of the so-called Asian Tiger economies, which means that it is an economy that has grown rapidly over a short period of time. In the 1950s, Taiwans economy was heavily dependent on American aid. In the late 1950s, however, the islands economy began expanding rapidly, largely due to its cheaply manufactured exports. It was in the late 20th century, however, that the real Taiwan economic miracle took place. Between 1965 and 1989, the islands GNP took off and grew by 360%. The islands exponential economic growth can largely be attributed to its business-friendly environment, in which the Taiwanese government enacted policies to protect the market. Taiwan also imported the latest technology from other countries in order to accelerate its own development. The islands business-friendly environment attracted many firms from mainland China, along with many intellectuals and elite business people. Labor costs in Taiwan were very cheap, which meant that production costs were low and profits high.

Today, Taiwans economy is that of a developed country. Its people are no longer uneducated, and labor costs on the island are no longer so cheap. Thus, Taiwan is unable to compete with the reduced labor costs that mainland China now offers. Nevertheless, the island still maintains a dynamic economy, which was able to weather the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 better than many other jurisdictions. Whereas the economies of Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, declined by 5% in 2020, Taiwans grew by 3%. The island is now home to the worlds leading semiconductor industry, which means that it produces advanced chips for things like 5G networks, automobiles, and smart devices. Taiwans currency is called the New Taiwan Dollar, which has the ISO currency code TWD.
Anup Ojha is a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues and human interest stories. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years.
Religion has played an important role in the shaping of Israels history, lifestyle, and culture. Israel is the only country in which the majority of citizens are Jewish. As of 2016, 74.7% of Israels population identified as Jewish, 17.7% as Muslim, 2% as Christians and 1.6% as Druze. The remaining 4% include other faiths, such as Samaritans, Hindus, Bahais, Buddhists, Neopagans, and African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem.

1. Judaism - 74.7%

The majority of the population in Israel are followers of Orthodox Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Conservative Judaism. According to Orthodox Judaism, the Jewish Law and Torah are divine. Therefore, followers believe these laws are unalterable and should be adhered to fully. Unlike Orthodox Judaism, Reform and Conservative Judaism are more liberal. Reform and Conservative Judaism consider Jewish laws as guidelines instead of restrictions that all Jews should follow.

2. Islam - 17.7%

Among the Muslims residing in Israel, Sunni Arabs constitute a majority, while the Ahmadiyyas sect is the second largest. The Ahmadiyya Islamic movement operates from Haifa, Israel, where the Middle Eastern headquarters are located. The Alawite and Shia Muslims are other minority Islam sects within the country. The population of Alawites is about 4,000. Druze is another Islamic sect.

3. Christianity - 2%

The majority of Christians living in Israel are Arabs, or have come from other countries to work and live in monasteries or churches. There are ten churches which have been officially recognized to provide guidance on issues such as divorce and marriage. These churches include the Armenian, Syriac, Roman, Melkite, Maronite, Eastern Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, and Anglicanism churches.

Religious Tolerance in Israel

There are several cases of tensions between the different religious groups in Israel. For instance, there have been strained relationships within the Jewish community, and between the Jews and Christians. Politically, Christians and Muslims both agree that Israel cannot be a Jewish state and a democracy at the same time. Though Judaism is a religion of the majority, the State of Israel does respect all other religions or allow the freedom for its people to practice the religion of their choice.
In the United States, Black Friday occurs on the Friday that follows Thanksgiving Day. The day is not a formal holiday in the US but in some states like California, it is observed as a public holiday for employees of the state government. The Black Friday culture has been in the US since 1952, and it marks the beginning of the highly prized Christmas shopping season. On this day, most of the major retailers in the US open their outlets very early and they even offer their clients promotional sales.

Origin of the Term

Traditionally, merchants used black and red ink to indicate gains and losses in their accounts respectively. Due to soaring sales on the day after Thanksgiving and positive sale trends thereafter, Black Friday symbolized the start of a period when merchants were no longer in the red.

The History of Black Friday

The culture of considering Black Fridays as the beginning of the festive shopping season originated with the appearance of Santa Claus at the end of Thanksgiving celebrating parades. Santas arrival symbolizes the nearing of Christmas since Christmas is the next big holiday after Thanksgiving. Towards the end of the 19th century and during the first few years of the 20th century, the main sponsors of Thanksgiving Day parades were department stores. These stores used the parades to commence massive advertising campaigns. After a while, the unwritten rule was that no store was to carry out Christmas advertising until the end of the parades, and Black Friday became the official day for the commencing of the shopping season.

Shopping on Black Friday

Media reports indicate that since 2003, Black Friday continues to be the busiest shopping day in the calendar. It was only in 2004 when it came second to the last Saturday before Christmas. The neighborhood of SouthPark in Charlotte, North Carolina enjoys the most traffic by shoppers on Black Fridays.

Many employers in the US give their employees a day off on Black Friday as part of their Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Retailers all over the country take advantage of the day to offer a wide range of sales to lure traffic into their outlets. Over the last few years, most shops are extending their normal working hours during Black Fridays with some opening at Midnight on Thanksgiving, while others remain open on the night of Thanksgiving so that they begin their Black Friday sale at midnight. Stores that have taken part in this Black Friday shopping frenzy include Toys R Us, Sears, Victorias Secret, Puma, Kmart, Forever 21, and American Eagle Outfitters.

Other Countries with Black Friday Culture

Although the Black Friday tradition began in the United States, other countries around the world have picked up the culture. In Canada for example, retailers introduced Black Friday sales in 2008 and 2009 to prevent Canadian shoppers from traveling to the US for Black Friday deals. Other countries with Black Friday shopping deals include the United Kingdom, Romania, India, France, and Norway.
Before the US September 11, 2001 attacks, the Jonestown massacre was notable as the deadliest harrowing experience in the nation's history. More than 900 individuals died on the fateful day of November 18, 1978, including more than 200 children. The members had been adherents of a cult popularized by Jim Jones and dubbed the People's Temple. Jones had led his followers out of the US to a remote jungle in Guyana with the promises of establishing a utopian community.

Who Was Jim Jones?

Jim Jones was born in rural Indiana in the Crete community on May 13, 1931. Jones' mother, Lynetta Putnam, reportedly believed Jones was a messiah. Jones was of Welsh and Irish ancestry. In 1934, the family relocated to the town of Lynn where they lived in a shack with no plumbing. Jones indulged in the works of Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mahatma Gandhi, and Karl Marx during his childhood and he also cultivated a profound interest in religion. Jones was, by all means, a social outcast and childhood acquaintances described him as a "really weird kid." Jones began to sympathize with the African-American population in his country which he noted was oppressed. He later explained how he conflicted with his father on the race issue. Jones relocated with his mother to Richmond, and after graduating from high school in 1948 married a nurse named Marceline Baldwin in 1949. Jones undertook studies at the Indiana University Bloomington and then at Butler University where he earned a degree in secondary education.

Origin Of The Peoples Temple

Jim Jones developed communist ideals believing it to be the most appropriate social order. To Jones' surprise, a Methodist Superintendent oversaw his absorption into the Church despite him knowing of Jones' love-affair with communism. Jones earned the post of student pastor in 1952 in the Indianapolis-based Southside Methodist Church which he left since it did not welcome the African-American congregation. He subsequently founded a church in a rented place which he named the Community Unity Church. Jones and other members of the new church faked healings in a bid to increase the congregation size. Jones managed to purchase a church building in 1956 in a racially mixed neighborhood in the state. He initially titled it "Wings of Deliverance" but later changed it to the "Peoples Temple Full Gospel Church." The Temple staged massive religious conventions where Jones and other Pentecostal pastors executed healings and revealed private information to impress the crowds. Jones, accompanied by fellow Temple members, drove through cities in Ohio and Indiana to recruit members and raise funds. The Temple preached egalitarian ideals and hired Archie Ijames as a preacher, whose African-American stature signaled the inclusion of the nearly 50% African American congregation. The Church was then absorbed into the Christian Church and named the Peoples Temple Christian Church Full Gospel. The Church rolled out social service programs, and Jones even earned an appointment to the Indianapolis Human Rights Commission.

Expansion And Move To Guyana

By the 1960s, Jones had begun adopting socialist concepts in his sermons. He further warned of an impending holocaust and moved his church to Redwood Valley, California in 1965. He established permanent facilities in San Francisco in 1971 and Los Angeles in 1972. Jones began to infiltrate political circles and fashion himself as a respected churchman. The People's Temple was however accused of inhumane treatment towards the members, brainwashing, financial fraud, and blackmail. In 1974, a small team of Jones' disciples left for Guyana where they developed an agricultural co-operative to facilitate the arrival of the other members in 1977 accompanied by Jones. Jones lured the followers to establish a socialist utopia settlement.

Human Rights Abuse

The members arrived in Guyana to hostile conditions. As there were inadequate cabins, the available ones were fitted with bunk beds and were overcrowded. The cabins were further segregated by gender meaning married couples lived separately. The members spent their days working in the fields, and they attracted punishments upon questioning the authority of Jones. The medications and passports of the followers were also confiscated, and several members got sick from the heat, humidity, and tropical diseases. The establishment was surrounded by large tracts of jungle and further encircled by armed guards to discourage defectors. The followers were encouraged to participate in long late-night meetings and suicide drills. The members' letters and phone calls were carefully monitored. Reports of the terrible things unfolding at the settlement reached Leo Ryan, a US Congressman who traveled to the community on November 17, 1978, accompanied by several journalists and observers. The first day of the visit went well, but the delegation was approached by some of the residents as it prepared to leave the following day. Ryan invited anyone who wanted to leave to join his delegation, and one of the members attempted to slit his throat convincing Ryan of the danger that lay in Jonestown. A group of gunmen from the community caught up with the delegation in the airstrip killing five individuals including Ryan and wounding 11 others.

The Horrific Case Of Mass Suicide

The killing of the US delegation made Jones panic as he knew the US government would descend on the community. Jones ordered all members to congregate in the main pavilion to execute his "revolutionary suicide plan" which they had practiced before. He convinced the congregation that there was no other way out of the dangerous situation. Large kettles of grape-flavored Flavor Aid were assembled in the pavilion. The drink was laced with cyanide and Valium. The babies were fed the mixture first followed by the adults. The guards stood by armed to encourage everyone to take the deadly mixture.

Aftermath Of The Event

918 people lost their lives in the mass suicide including 276 children. The event made history as the deadliest single loss of America's civilians in an intentional event. The relatives of the dead members and the media staged a siege at the San Francisco headquarters of the Temple. The bodies of the Temple members were airlifted to Dover Air Force Base situated in Delaware, and some of them were identified. More than 400 bodies were buried in a mass grave located at Oakland's Evergreen Cemetery. The event helped embed the notion that New Religious Movements are deadly in the public mind. The church subsequently declared bankruptcy in 1978, and its buildings in California, Los Angeles, and Indianapolis remain intact, and congregations even use some. The San Francisco base was devastated by the Loma Prieta earthquake (1989) and a Post Office branch was erected at the site.
Where is Catalonia?

Catalonia is located in the extreme eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. It covers an area of about 2,397 square miles. As of 2016, the region had a population of about 7.5 million people and a population density of 610 per square mile. It considers itself a nationality with the right to self-rule. It consists of four provinces; Tarragona, Lleida, Barcelona, Girona. Barcelona is Catalonia's capital and the second largest city in Spain after Madrid. Catalonia borders Andorra and France to the north, Valencia to the south, the Mediterranean Sea to the east and Aragon, another autonomous region of Spain, to the west. On Sunday, October 1, 2017, Catalonia voted to succeed from pain through a referendum. Ninety percent of the voters voted to declare independence in a referendum marred by violence after Spanish law enforcers descended on the voters with the intention of the preventing the referendum from taking place. Approximately 2.26 million votes were counted representing 42.6 percent of the electorate although ballot boxes were confiscated by the police.

The History of Catalonia

Catalonia was an autonomous region of the Iberian Peninsula between Portugal and modern-day Spain. The region is known to have its own language, customs, and laws. Its history dates back to the mid-12th century when the Count of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer IV married Petronilia, Queen of Aragon and formed a dynasty covering Aragon and Catalonia that was succeeded by their son. The dynasty lasted until 1707 when the War of the Spanish Succession ended up in the defeat of Valencia and Catalonia. In 1715, several islands were annexed, and modern Spain was born. Several attempts to impose the Spanish language upon the Catalans failed, and the attempt was abandoned in 1931. In 1938, the Spanish General, Francisco Franco vowed to destroy the Catalan separatism when he took control of the Catalan region during the Battle of Ebro. Francisco Franco killed 3,500 people and forced thousands to flee into exile. In 1977, democracy was setting foot in Spain and Catalonia was awarded some degree of autonomy. In July 2010, the Constitutional Court in the Spanish capital Madrid overruled the autonomy statute enacted in 2006 and stated that there was no basis for recognizing Catalonia as an independent state. The economic situation in Spain has also led to magnify the calls for independence Catalan as the wealthy region is seen as sustaining the other parts of Spain.

The Catalan Referendum

Catalonia has a functioning government with a president, executive, and the legislature. On October 1st, 2017, the region held a referendum to secede from Spain. The referendum was marred by chaos when the Spanish constitutional court declared the process unconstitutional, and the police raided the polling stations with the aim of stopping the voting process. The president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, declared that the region was seceding from Spain. The Spanish government has taken a hardline despite criticism from European countries. Its police have raided and destroyed political offices while the Spanish government has declared that it might suspend the autonomy of Catalonia.
Where Is Cyprus?

Cyprus is an island nation, located in the Mediterranean Sea between 34 and 36 north latitude and between 32 and 35 east longitude. This country can be found between Turkey and Egypt, to the southeast of Greece, and west of Syria and Lebanon. Cyprus has a population size of approximately 1.17 million and covers a total area of 3,572 square miles, making it the third largest island in the Mediterranean.

Internally, Cyprus is divided into six districts and four primary groups. The largest groups are the Republic of Cyprus, which makes up nearly 60% of the island's southern region, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which makes up nearly 35% of the northern region. These two internal groups are separated by the Green Line, which is controlled by the United Nations to provide a peaceful zone. Additionally, Cyprus is home to two British military bases, which cover 2.74% of the country's area. This article highlights some of the geographic features of Cyprus.

Geography of Cyprus

Cyprus is long and narrow in shape, measuring 149 miles in length and 62 miles in width (at its widest point). Given its location between several continents, Cyprus is often considered part of Europe, the Middle East, and western Asia.

The geography of the island is made up of mountains and plains. Two mountain ranges, the Kyrenia and the Troodos, form the Mesaoria plain between them. The Troodos mountains are the largest of the two ranges and cover the majority of Cyprus's western region. The highest point within this mountain range is Mount Olympus, which stands at around 6,404 feet above sea level. The Kyrenia range is located on the northern side of the country, where it stretches for approximately 100 miles. Mount Kyparissovouno is the tallest peak of the Kyrenia, standing at about 3,360 feet above sea level. The Mesaoria plain begins between these two mountain ranges and reaches to the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It covers the majority of the north-central area of the country, stretching to about 60 miles in length and between 10 and 20 miles in width. All waterways within this plain run down from the mountain ranges and into the Pedieos river, which is the longest in Cyprus. Many of the streams and rivers running through the Mesaoria plain are seasonal, which means they only have water at certain times of the year.

Biodiversity of Cyprus

Cyprus is home to nearly 2,000 plant species, as well as 400 bird species, 30 mammal species, 22 reptiles, and 3 amphibians. In the surrounding Mediterranean Sea, researchers have also identified approximately 650 types of seashells, or mollusks. Additionally, both the inland and coastal waters are home to approximately 250 fish species. A large percentage of these species are endemic to Cyprus, which means they are not found anywhere else in the world. Of all of the biodiversity found in Cyprus, at least 23 species are categorized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as vulnerable, 14 are considered endangered, and an additional 11 species are categorized as critical. As part of the European Union, Cyprus has declared the environmental goal of stopping biodiversity loss by the year 2020.
Aerial view of AkzoNobels Ningbo plant.

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS: AkzoNobels speciality chemicals business has entered the next phase of a major expansion at its organic peroxides facility in Ningbo, China, which will increase production capacity by more than 100 percent by the third quarter of 2018.

The companys Ningbo site produces dicumyl peroxide (DCP), an organic peroxide used as a crosslinking agent in the manufacture of polymers. Capacity at the site was boosted by 40 percent in August, following the completion of an initial project, and is set to double to a capacity of 38,000 tonnes per year.

DCP is used in the production of a variety of polymers that need to have exceptional durability. These polymers can be found in many different products, including shoe soles  a market which is growing significantly, especially in developing countries. DCP is also used in polymers for insulating high voltage cables, which are increasingly in demand for upgrading electricity networks, connecting offshore wind parks and other sources of renewable energy.

More than 500 people are employed at the Ningbo site, which houses manufacturing plants for several of AkzoNobels Specialty Chemicals businesses. AkzoNobels Ningbo DCP plant is the largest of its kind in the world.

This new expansion is necessary to meet that demand, and is also a visible demonstration of the companys continued commitment to invest in the future of the Specialty Chemicals business, said Johan Landfors, managing director of AkzoNobels polymer chemistry business.

The continued development in Ningbo is a clear sign to our customers that we are dedicated to retaining our leadership position in the organic peroxides industry. By continuing to invest in our production sites and focusing on operational excellence, we will be better positioned to accommodate the growth of our customers, added Werner Fuhrmann, AkzoNobels executive committee member responsible for speciality chemicals.

 Worldofchemicals News
Dr KC urges Speaker Gharti to exercise special power to table HPE Bill

Senior orthopedic surgeon at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) Dr Govinda KC has made a public appeal with House Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar to use her special power to endorse the Health Profession Education Bill from the Parliament.
UNEAU, Alaska (AP)  The company pursuing a copper and gold mine in southwest Alaska has unveiled plans for what it says will be a smaller, safer project, with plans to move into permitting later this year.

The Pebble Limited Partnership is attempting to reintroduce a project that for years has been the subject of fierce debate because of its location and potential effects on a major salmon fishery in Alaska's Bristol Bay region.

Under the Obama administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed restrictions on development. Pebble sued, and the restrictions were never final...
In the second part of our debrief from RallyRACC Catalunya - Rally de Espana, we ponder quotes, rollercoasters and whether Hyundai could be after a fifth driver next year.

Turning point



Saturday's opening El Montmell stage was where this rally was decided. The swap from gravel to asphalt was always going to shake things up, and when Kris Meeke completed Stage 7 a whopping 3.6.sec quicker than his rivals, it was clear that the Briton's Citroen C3 was going to take some beating.

From an overnight position of third, Meeke leapt into the lead, 9.1sec ahead of Sebastien Ogier. And from there he never looked back.

Quote of the rally



Meeke has been nominated many times in this year's 'rally to forget' category, so we make no apologies for including him twice today, when things are going rather better.

Standing at the stage end having secured his second win of the year, Kris channelled his inner Rocky Balboa to answer his critics and underline his determination. "It's not so important how many times you're knocked down - it's more important how many times you stand up again. And I've had to stand up a few times in my career..." he said. Stirring stuff.

Thrill of the rally

Rallying is already a tense and exciting sport, but the atmosphere in the service park this year was given extra drama by frequent screams of terror from Port Aventura's newest rollercoaster: Red Force.

The highest and fastest vertical accelerator in Europe, it shoots from zero to 180 km/h in 5 seconds and reaches a height of 112 metres. And all just a stone's throw from the service park arrival control. It was impossible to ignore. See for yourself in the video below.

You wouldn't believe it



We are right in the middle of the WRC silly season, when rumours spread about which drivers might end up where next year. Before Spain, reigning champion Ogier seemed to be heading down one of three routes in 2018: M-Sport, Citroen, or perhaps even retirement.

But Spain brought talk of another option - an audacious bid by Hyundai to get Seb in an i20 next year. With four drivers already on their books, we didn't see that one coming. Can it be true? We'll find out soon.

Video: Fastest WRC service park viewing position?

Video

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The flames are spreading fast, the firefighters are stretched thin and the blazes rampaging through Northern California's wine country are nowhere near containment.

As the cluster of fires that has killed 23 people burns, officials ordered residents in some additional areas to get their bags ready in case they need to evacuate.

At least 285 people are still missing in a blaze that has affected almost the entire community.

Sleep-deprived, soot-covered firefighters work to contain the wildfires, some of their homes are being devastated as well.

Gusts had died down early this week, but on Wednesday they blew between 20 and 40 mph and conditions were still extremely dry, with low humidity and no rain. Similar conditions are forecast for Thursday.

More than 20,000 people had been ordered to evacuate as of Wednesday.

More than 170,000 acres scorched throughout the state by the 22 fires.

Smoke is forcing some flight cancellations at San Francisco International Airport.
Family to receive dead body of Gauchan today

Family of Federation of Contractors' Association of Nepal (FCAN) President Sharad Kumar Gauchan, who was shot dead in broad daylight in the capital on October 9, is to receive his dead body on Thursday.
Officials have raised the death toll in one of the most destructive wildfires in California history to 23 people. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) Chief Ken Pimlott called the fires a serious, critical, catastrophic event. An estimated 8,000 firefighters are battling the blazes as fierce winds fan the flames that are devouring extra-dry vegetation.

Around 25,000 people have been evacuated from seven counties north of San Francisco and have set up in dozens of shelters. In Sonoma County alone, 5,000 people are taking refuge in 36 shelters according to officials. Many evacuees were unable to bring anything with them from their homes and have been told it may be weeks before they are able to return to check on what remains of their possessions.

The fires have left at least 180 people injured and have destroyed more than 3,500 homes and businesses. The number of dead and injured is expected to rise as emergency responders begin searching the wreckage of evacuated areas. Sonoma County officials said 670 people are still listed as missing from the fires in California wine country.

Exactly what caused the fires that have burned 170,000 acres since Sunday is not known. Cal Fire Chief Pimlott reported that the chance of a lightning strike sparking the fires was minimal and 95 percent of wildfires are started by people, intentionally or not.

However, as is the case with many natural disasters in the United States, such as the hurricanes which wreaked havoc over the last several months in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, the criminal neglect of infrastructure in the interest of profit is a likely factor in the unfolding catastrophe in Northern California.

Reports have emerged that emergency dispatchers in Sonoma County received calls on Sunday night about multiple power lines falling and electrical transformers exploding.

According to a review of emergency radio traffic by the Bay Area News Group, Sonoma County dispatchers sent out fire crews to at least 10 different locations over a 90-minute period after receiving reports of sparking wires and other problems because of high winds.

Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), based in San Francisco, issued a statement acknowledging equipment troubles in the area but said questions about maintenance were highly speculative. As required by state law, the company must cut back trees from power lines to reduce the risk of lines being brought down by falling branches sparking fires. However, the company admitted in a statement that they found wires down, broken poles and impacted infrastructure, indicating that proper maintenance had not been carried out.

If PG&E were found to be responsible for the wildfires because of inadequate maintenance of power lines, it would not be the first time. Last April, the company was fined $8.3 million by the state Public Utilities Commission for failing to maintain a power line which started the Butte fire in Amador County in September 2015. That fire raged for 22 days and killed two people, destroying 549 homes and burning 70,868 acres.

PG&E was found guilty of 739 counts of negligence and fined nearly $30 million in 1994 for a fire near the town of Rough and Ready in Nevada County sparked by high voltage wires. State regulators found that the company had diverted almost $80 million from tree-cutting programs into profits.

In 2010, PG&Es failure to maintain its natural gas lines led to the 2010 San Bruno explosion, which killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. The company was fined $1.6 billion and a federal jury last year convicted the company on five charges of violating federal pipeline safety regulations, and one charge of obstructing an official National Transportation Safety Board probe.

Last year, Cal Fire announced it would force PG&E to pay $90 million in firefighting costs. In addition, more than 1,000 lawsuits relating to fires are pending against the company. However, these fines have amounted to little more than a slap on the wrist for a company which has seen annual profits surpass $1 billion in recent years.

Many of those reported missing from the fires are presumed to be staying with somebody else and have not checked in as safe on the official registry for missing persons. Concerned family members and friends have used social media to search for loved ones who have been impacted by one of the 22 fires currently burning in Northern California.

The fires regained momentum on Wednesday pushing flames through hills and vineyards as officials scrambled to evacuate some 2,000 residences in the city of Calistoga in Napa County. Deputies in neighboring Sonoma County were running toward the fire, banging on doors, getting people out of their house, Misit Harris, a Sonoma County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman reported. Its rapidly changing, its moving quickly, its a very fluid situation, she said. The fire is growing.

The worst of the fires, the Tubbs fire, which burned down portions of the city of Santa Rosa, has already killed 11 people since it erupted on Sunday, making it the deadliest wildfire in the state in 14 years. Together with the Atlas fire in Napa County, they had torched a combined 70,000 acres by Wednesday morning, according to Cal Fire.

Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director for Cal Fire said, This has been one of the deadliest weeks for fires that weve experienced in recent time. Evacuation orders remain in place for areas which have been burned and have already resulted in three arrests. Residents have been warned not to return for at least another week.

The past two days have seen fires engulf heavily populated neighborhoods prompting residents to flee in the middle of the night having only minutes to grab their belongings.

Intense northern Diablo winds are expected to fuel and spread the wildfires until Thursday according to the National Weather Service. Firefighters have struggled in the face of the intense winds to contain the flames from threatening populated areas.

President Donald Trump responded to the disaster by approving inadequate federal emergency assistance to California, agreeing to an earlier request by Governor Jerry Brown. The assistance provides immediate funds for clearing debris and supplying evacuation centers.

For Governor Brown this will be the 10th time he has declared a state of emergency for wildfires this year alone. Already, 8 million acres have been burned as a result of almost 7,500 fires that have flared up across the state.
Talks between Unifor and General Motors resumed Tuesday in the strike by 2,800 workers at the CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario.

The CAMI workers are engaged in a fight that has vital implications for autoworkers across Canada and globally and deserves the support of all workers. However, Unifor has isolated the struggle, now in its fourth week, and has opposed any effort to expand the strike.

Workers are determined to seek substantial pay and benefit gains after years of concessions under conditions where GM and the all US-based auto manufacturers are reaping billions in profits.

Contract talks are being conducted in total secrecy. Unifor has not presented its demands to the workers for debate and discussion, despite claiming that significant progress has been made. The call for the defense of the jobs of the CAMI workers is being presented in terms of nationalist calls by the Unifor leadership for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, pitting workers in Canada against their brother workers in Mexico.

Nor has the million-member Canadian Labour Congress taken any action to defend the strikers besides offering verbal support.

In a sign of deep crisis, Unifor officials have reacted with hostility, including the use of physical intimidation, against WSWS Autoworker Newsletter reporters. This includes the assault on a WSWS reporter by a Unifor operative during the October 6 strike support rally outside the plant in Ingersoll.

Autoworkers contacted by the Autoworker Newsletter expressed support for the striking CAMI workers and opposed efforts by Unifor to silence the Autoworker Newsletter.

A veteran Ford skilled trades worker from Oakville, Ontario gave the following comments: I asked our local union officials when we would be going out in support of the CAMI workers and they told me no chance.

At CAMI they are negotiating, but no one knows what it is. They will try to starve them back and they will get a bum deal. The union will try to ram it through by monopolizing the microphone.

It is just a matter of picking each plant off one at a time. Just going there and standing on the picket line with them only gives them a moral boost. You wont win any battles by isolating plants on strike.

It is a vicious circle. We havent had a real raise in 10 years and there is no cost of living. We are working for essentially the same wages we had in the late 1970s. They arent hiring people, instead they are forcing people to work overtime.

Commenting on the Unifor leadership, the veteran Ford worker said, It is a clique in there. If you dont fit in the clique, you wont get in. They are re-running the election here in Local 707 in Oakville because of fraud. There were things like retirees, who had died, voting. A lot of stuff was going on.

Referring to the attack on the WSWS, he said, I read all your material. I am not a full-fledged socialist, but I do believe in democracy.

Another veteran worker from the Oakville Ford plant sent a message to the Autoworker Newsletter. He wrote, in part, The WSWS has been at the forefront waving the autoworkers flag of our strife from the inception of this round of negotiating. They have been a pillar of truth and strength.

I denounce violence of any kind anywhere. It is the unfortunate side effect of ignorance. Handle others the way we ourselves would like to be treated. As workers in ever changing times its imperative we project ourselves as a group who deserves better, if we do Im positive our struggle will not go unnoticed. Carrying ourselves respectfully will bring more attention to our cause, we are simply asking to be respected.

A veteran worker at the Fiat Chrysler van plant in Windsor added, As a one-time union insider I know full well the practice of keeping a tight lid on any leaks regarding negotiations. Unifor will not allow meaningful discussion to take place among workers and will railroad through the agreement the administrative arm of the union has struck with the corporation. The ratification process is a mockery of any rules of order and the bullying continues relentless as your reporter well knows.

Voting for the contract takes place at the onset of the questions period. So many of the members never hear a single question. They only hear the union version of how this latest agreement is fantastic for all.

Fantastic indeed, if you consider a 10-year grow-in for new hires fantastic, and maybe no benefits upon retirement. How about a defined contribution pension for a new hire while I get to enjoy my defined benefit pension, at least for now?

The union has no fight left in them. Even the rebel reps have slid into the safe messaging provided by the appointed spin people who troll the members Facebook, Twitter and other social media to try to stay on top of dissenters.

The Unifor president and his executives have damaged the integrity of what a union should be for. I could go back seven years ago when GM closed the transmission plant in Windsor. The local unions in Windsor and St. Catherines were being whipsawed against each other by the corporation, and the union slogan, Fighting back makes a difference, did nothing.

I hope the CAMI workers get a better outcome than what we have in Windsor. I support all the workers and want to pay a tribute to Ms. Cathy Austin who stood up to protect the democratic rights of the WSWS reporters. Stay strong, workers, and demand answers to your questions. Hold these people accountable, broom them out if they are failing you. Your fight is our fight too.

A skilled worker employed by a third-party contractor told the Autoworker Newsletter, As a millwright who has worked in various auto and auto parts plants, it is encouraging to see the fight being waged by the CAMI Ingersoll workers against the companys attack on their wages and working conditions. However, this struggle can only be successful if CAMI workers break with the corrupt and pro-company union leadership and form their own independent organizations to carry forward the fight.

Throughout my work placements, I have seen firsthand the results of union-company partnership: two and three-tier workforces, six-day workweeks, rampant work speed-up, and the flouting of basic safety considerations. These have led to innumerable injuries, strains to family life, and incredible financial hardshipall while the union bureaucrats enjoy six-figure salaries and corporations shower the shareholders with billions in profits. Dont listen to your union leaders!

I agree with the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter and denounce last weeks attack on their reporter. American, Mexican, and international autoworkers are not your enemy, but your closest allies. Only in uniting with them against the union-corporate conspiracy can you win this fight.

An 82-year-old retired GM worker in Michigan who has intimate knowledge of the corporatist labor-management programs at the center of the bribery scandal in the United Auto Workers union told the Autoworker Newsletter he supported the CAMI strikers. Defending the WSWS, he said, I love your daily posts because you are talking about what is really going on. You are putting out unbiased factual activity, in my opinion, backed with data, more than anyone else put together.
DeAndre Harris, an African American man who was savagely beaten by white racists during the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in September was charged by a local magistrate judge Monday with a felony of unlawfully wounding one of his assailants. Charlottesville police had just recently arrested a third man in connection with Harris beating.

Harris sustained spinal cord injuries and a head laceration during the attack, which occurred in a parking garage adjacent to a police station. Video of the attack circulated widely online, stirring widespread outrage; several men can be seen beating Harris with flagpoles and other blunt objects as he writhes on the ground with blood flowing from his forehead. As he attempts to stand up, his attackers continue to kick and pummel him.

Harold Ray Crews, North Carolina attorney and a chairman of the white supremacist League of the South, first attempted to file a complaint against Harris with the Charlottesville Police Department. When they did not respond to his complaint according to his wishes, he filed a complaint with a local magistrate. The magistrate made a highly subjective decision, divorced from the evidence gathered by the Charlottesville police, that there was probable cause against Harris, and issued a warrant for his arrest.

The detective overseeing the investigation into the assault on Harris told the media that he was blindsided by the magistrates decision. Harris attorney, S. Lee Merritt, characterized the charge against his client as part of a successful campaign by the League of the South to manipulate the Charlottesville judiciary and further victimize Mr. Harris.

The League of the South, a far-right, neo-Confederate group, had been discussing strategies by which they might pursue charges against Harris ever since the attack. Merritt was aware of this; however, he has stated in interviews that he did not expect a magistrate to sort of decide to independently run with it.

White supremacist groups, including the League of the South, have pointed to the charges against DeAndre Harris as a victory for their causes. Richard Spencer, the leader of the National Policy Institute, a white supremacist think thank, chortled gleefully about the end of the Deandre Haris [sic] myth.

The Unite the Right rally began on August 11, when Spencer summoned various white racist groups to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesvilles Lee Park. The rally was one of a number that occurred after the City of Charlottesville removed the Confederate generals statue and renamed the park Emancipation Park. In the dark of night, Spencer led a motley assortment of militiamen, neo-Nazis, and other white supremacists in chants of Jews will not replace us, as well as the Nazi slogan, Blood and Soil. As the torch-wielding group swelled, Spencer quietly slipped away among his security retinue.

The next day the white supremacists marched to an adjacent park, where they surrounded counter-protesters and touched off a riot. Throughout the day counter-protesters were harassed and threatened by the neo-Nazi groups. Charlottesville Police did little to intervene in the intimidation tactics.

By the end of the day, DeAndre Harris was just one of 19 people, most of them counter-protesters, who were injured in the melee. One counter-protester, Heather Heyer, who was white, was killed when a white supremacist rammed his car at high speed into a group of counter-protesters.

President Donald Trump and his cabinet studiously avoided mentioning Charlottesville during the protests, and did not make any public statements until videos showing Harris beating and Heyers murder saturated the media. Even then, Trump spoke from a safe distance in New York City, where he pronounced that there was blame on both sides. The presidents efforts to draw a moral equivalency between rampaging neo-Nazis and those opposing them appeared to many, including the far-right elements who make up a portion of his base, as a tacit approval of the white supremacists violent actions.

The events in Charlottesville have proven to be an inflection point in American politics. In the ferment of American capitalisms decay, confusion abounds. The video of DeAndre Harriss brutal beating was a jarring reminder of the brutality that accompanied the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Trumps response has further signified that the political establishment is in no way capable of confronting the rage at the root of the issue; in fact, both the right and the pseudo left have sought to harness that rage for their own political gain.

Identity politics has been leveraged by both the white supremacists and some of their opponents to portray what happened to Harris as a strictly racial issue. This is fully evident in the role played by the white racists. However, the Democratic Party, aided and abetted by the pseudo left, as usual, has also used Charlottesville in their own perverse way to blame poor, white workers for Trumps ascent and the subsequent rampage by his supporters.

However, as Harris case underscores, the issues are not confined to simple divisions of racial antagonism. The fact that an attorney could prevail upon a magistrate to pursue charges against Harris, a teachers aide, demonstrates that the courts do not exist to defend the public from the predations of groups like the League of the South.

Taken together, the brutal beating and victimization of Harris and murder of Heyer, both at the hands of white supremacists, makes clear that the crisis facing the United States is fundamentally not one of race, but one of class. White racism itself is a malignant feature of the rotten capitalist system; it will be rooted out by nothing less than the unity of the working class across all racial, ethnic and national divisions fighting for the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of socialism.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded its forecast for global growth in its latest World Economic Outlook report, issued on Tuesday. It is clear from the report itself, however, that the situation facing workers around the world is worsening, not improving.

The IMF predicts that global growth this year will be 3.6 percent, and 3.7 percent next year. In both cases, this is 0.1 percent above previous forecasts, and well above the 3.2 percent for 2016. The world economy has not grown this fast since the temporary recovery of 2010 following the recession of 20082009.

According to IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld, the really good news was the increase was not a bounce back from a sharp deceleration, but an acceleration from the fairly tepid growth rates of recent years.

Setting out the IMFs policy agenda at its annual meeting in Washington this week, Obstfeld wrote that the current acceleration was notable because it was broad-based and this offered a global environment of opportunity for policies to raise economic resilience in the future.

Within this upbeat assessment, however, he noted that the recovery was still incomplete in many important respects and the window for action provided by the current cyclical upswing would not be open forever.

The use of the term cyclical is significant because it indicates that economic conditions have not returned to those that prevailed in the years before the global financial crisis of 20082009.

On the growth data, the report said that in the advanced economies per capita growth was projected to be only 1.4 percent annually during 20172022, compared with 2.2 percent in 19962005. Moreover, the IMF projects that 43 emerging market and developing economies will grow even less in per capita terms than the advanced economies over the next five years.

Obstfeld said the recovery was incomplete, with low-income commodity-exporting countries facing challenges. Nearly a quarter of emerging market and developing economies were expected to have negative per capita growth rates for 2017, a situation he described as a sobering outlook.

Another area of concern was trade growth, which was barely above the rate of economic growth, compared to before the financial crisis, when it was double the rate of increase in global output.

Furthermore, Obstfeld noted, predicted longer-run potential growth rates are lower than they were in the past.

The main area of incompleteness of the recovery was wages growth, which remained low. This wage sluggishness follows many years during which median real incomes grew much more slowly than incomes at the top, or even stagnated, Obstfeld wrote.

The IMF is clearly concerned that this phenomenon has significant social consequences. Higher income and wealth inequalities were fueling political disenchantment and scepticism about the gains from globalisation.

The IMF devoted a chapter of its World Economic Outlook to examining the reasons for the continuing low growth in wages. They were bound up with far-reaching changes in the nature of labour markets in the major economies, including the growth of involuntary part-time employment, the spread of zero hours contracts and the rise of casualisation.

The report began by pointing out that nominal wage growth in most advanced economies remains markedly lower than it was before the Great Recession of 20082009.

Wage growth would continue to remain subdued until involuntary part-time employment diminishes or trend productivity growth picks up.

Neither is about to take place. Productivity levels remain persistently below pre-crisis rates in all major economies and the imposition of flexible employment conditions is increasing.

The report noted that involuntary part-time employment (workers employed fewer than 30 hours a week who report they would like longer hours) remained above 2007 levels in three-quarters of the countries surveyed.

The IMF pointed to the growth of zero hours contracts in the UK, with similar arrangements in countries such as Australia and Canada. If these contracts are not a feature in the US, it is only because such arrangements have long been a feature of the labour market there.

The report underscored the fact that headline unemployment rates are now virtually useless as a guide to judging the level of slack in the labour market, noting that for virtually all advanced economies nominal wages growth remained below pre-recession levels. This was particularly notable for economies where unemployment rates have declined relatively rapidly and are now close to or below pre-Great Recession ranges.

The fall in wages is not a recent development but part of a longer-term trend. At its meeting last April, the IMF produced an analysis pointing to the decline in the labour share of income over the past 30 years.

In that report it noted: Labours share of income declines when wages grow more slowly than productivity, or the amount of output per hour worked. The result is that a growing fraction of productivity gains has been going to capital. And since capital tends to be concentrated in the upper ends of income distribution, falling income shares are likely to raise income inequality.

In the advanced economies, that report found labour income shares had been trending down since the 1980s and were now 4 percent lower than they were in 1970. With global gross domestic product estimated to be around $75 trillion, wage payments are some $3 trillion lower than they would have been had the previous share been maintained.

The 2008 financial crisis did not create the downward movement of wages and the labour share of income. It has significantly accelerated the trend, however, bringing about a structural transformation of the labour market. In other words, the new situation is not a conjunctural downturn, after which there will be a return to what was once regarded as normal.

The Financial Times, one of the leading mouthpieces for finance capital, said in an editorial on the IMF report: Wage growth has been one area in which normality has definitely not returned. The first step is to acknowledge that the old world has vanished.
On Tuesday evening, Catalan regional premier Carles Puigdemont reaffirmed the right of Catalonia, following the October 1 referendum, to independence from Spain. The move would not be implemented for several weeks, he added, to allow for negotiations with the Popular Party (PP) government in Madrid.

Wednesday saw Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy reject talks and demand clarity from Puigdemont over whether or not he has declared independence. His was an ultimatum aimed at justifying the action of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, suspending Catalonias autonomy and laying the basis for imposing direct rule from Madrid through military intervention.

Millions of workers and youth in Spain are appalled at the descent into fratricidal conflict and the risk of civil war. Many who may politically oppose Catalan secession are far more concerned with taking a stand against the savage repression being prepared by the PP government.

In these conditions, the pseudo-left party Podemos has set itself the task of demobilising all opposition to the PP by corralling workers and youth behind a policy of putting pressure on Madrid and Barcelona to begin negotiations. Even as the PP and the opposition Socialist Party (PSOE) are readying a crackdown in Catalonia, Podemos is disarming the Spanish and Catalan working class in the face of a massive state build-up that will be used against not just Catalan separatism, but all efforts at social resistance.

Last Saturday, even as troop deployments to Catalonia and surrounding areas were proceeding, Podemos was helping stage demonstrations throughout Spain under the slogan, in Spanish and Catalan, Hablemos/Parlem (Lets Talk). Tens of thousands of people, dressed in white and refusing to carry Spanish or Catalan flags, took to the streets of Madrid and regional capitals including Barcelona, Seville, Granada, Bilbao, Pamplona and Valladolid.

In Barcelonas Sant Jaume square, thousands of Catalans gathered proclaiming The Catalan people do not want division, and We want to talk. In Madrid, Cibeles Square was filled with white flags and protestors chanting, Lets Talk, Lets Talk, Spain is diverse, and This country already made war once, never again!

For many in attendance, the sentiment expressed was genuine. Jose Luis told El Periodico, I am not for independence, but nobody believes that I am a Spanish nationalist or that I agree with a repressive state. Clara added, We are here to try to reach an agreement and to declare that violence is not the way, it has to be dialogue, we have to listen to each other.

25-year-old Barcelona publicist Reyes Rodriguez explained to the New York Times, I dont believe in flags or nationalism because it makes hate and wars So Im here to call for dialogue.

These White demonstrations have been promoted as a spontaneous grassroots initiative spreading virally through social media. They have been compared to the indignados (15-M) movement, which began in 2011 in opposition to the bank bailouts and austerity measures carried out by the PSOE government. However, the 15-M movement ultimately failed because of the no politics perspective imposed by the movements leadership, who wanted to prevent the emergence of a genuine political challenge to the PSOE.

Many of those same leaders went on to help create the pseudo-left party Podemos, which continues to spread a message, directed above all to the middle class, urging popular, moral and unifying protest as an alternative to the divisive politics of class struggle.

The instigator of the White protests and its main spokesperson is Guillermo Fernandez, a researcher at the Complutense University in Madrid, where Podemos was born as the brainchild of Stalinist-influenced academics such as party leader Pablo Iglesias.

Fernandez duly claimed in the days before the demonstrations that the idea came from discussions with a group of friends that he then shared with his 15-M matrix in civil society. But newspapers opposed to any vacillation over Catalonia were quick to point out that Fernandez was previously a speechwriter and campaign adviser for Podemos. They suggest that Lets Talk is a Podemos conspiracy aimed at undermining Rajoy and the PP.

The manifesto for Saturdays White demonstrations was wrapped in the language of patriotismas an appeal (framed by Podemos) for it to be recognised as a potential saviour of Spain at a time of acute crisis.

The time has come to say that Spain is a greater country than her rulers, the manifesto stated.

An unnamed They are accused of spreading hatred, they pit us against each other and divide us. If we dont intervene as a society they are going to turn this country into a difficult place to live.

The method of doing so is by dialogue and coexistence.

The manifestos rosy depiction of Spanish society and the repressive machinery of the state is politically grotesque. Coexistence is created through dialogue, and laws should serve that dialogue. Laws cannot be used as an obstacle, and much less as a means to generate a civil conflict, the manifesto intones, before once again appealing for national unity.

We need to say enough is enough to this spiral, we need to stop, sit down, and think about our country. It is through democracy, listening, and dialogue that we will reach solid and lasting social agreements, it concluded.

Echoing the manifesto word for word, Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias tweeted, People are better than their rulers. I feel pride and hope seeing Madrid like this right now.

Iglesias applauded Puigdemonts decision on Tuesday evening to suspend independence and pleaded with Rajoy to take up his offer of negotiations, claiming Spain is pluri-national and the Catalan people deserve to be listened to.

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, head of the Podemos-supported Barcelona en Comun coalition, joined Saturdays protest and tweeted, Thousands of people send a message of peace to their leaders: what is brave today is to listen and sit and talk We mustnt resign ourselves to polarisation, bellicose language and the competitive logic that only seeks the defeat of the adversary.

The co-spokesperson for Podemos executive, Noelia Vera, made it clear the partys role in Lets Talk, saying, We are deeply proud of this We feel very identified with this proposal, in which many officials of Podemos can participate anonymously.

Anyone who asks for dialogue to avoid the train crash will find our support and our participation, as anyone who is for democracy, Vera added.

The Organisation Secretary of Podemos, Pablo Echenique, was yet more effusive, leaping on the attendance, (in a personal capacity), of leaders of the PSOE Catalan section, the PSC, in the Barcelona white demonstration and the presence of the Lets Talk slogan at the press conferenceheld at the PSC headquarters by PSOE leader Pedro Sanchez and PSC leader Miquel Iceta.

In a transparent and cynical attempt to conceal his partys support for the PPs planned repression, Sanchez tweeted, Dialogue and coexistence. The street asks us. We are up to it.

At the same time as Sanchez was professing solidarity with the White protests, El Pais revealed the leaders at the highest level of the PSOE have spent days debating how to implement Article 155 with Rajoy. Yesterday Sanchez said that the PSOE and PP are backing Rajoy in pursuing clarification from Puigdemont over whether he has declared independence and that he needs to put it in "black and white what his plans are.

Workers and young people genuinely seeking to oppose the repression being prepared by the PP cannot do so under the leadership of the PSOE or its shadow, Podemos, or under a white flag of impartiality.

It is not a question of rescuing the Spanish state from reaction, or setting up a Catalan mini-state as an alternative. The drive towards authoritarian forms of rule is rooted in the escalating class antagonisms Podemos seeks to conceal. Waging trade and military war demands that the ruling elites in Spain and throughout Europe impose by brute force the destruction of workers livelihoods and the essential services on which they depend. This demands a unified counter-offensive carried out under the red flag of socialism in order to defeat the Francoist police-military repression being prepared against Catalonia.
Nick Xenophon, a right-wing populist senator, announced last Friday he will resign from federal parliament this year in order to contest the 2018 South Australian state election.

The immediate trigger for Xenophons move was a current High Court case determining whether he and six other members of parliament should be disqualified. The case is based on a reactionary constitutional provision that prohibits dual citizens from sitting in federal parliament. Xenophon allegedly holds an overseas British citizenship, based on his fathers birth in Cyprus when it was a British colony.

Underlying Xenophons announcement, however, are definite political calculations. He said he would resign regardless of the courts decision. His replacement in the Senate almost certainly would be another member of his party, the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT).

Xenophon is aiming to consolidate a base of support in South Australia (SA) by capitalising on intense social and political discontent. In the 2016 federal election, which saw a mass repudiation of Labor, the Liberal-Nationals and the Greens, NXT won over 20 percent of the SA vote. As a result, the party secured three Senate positions and one seat in the House of Representatives.

Media polling has indicated that Xenophons state-based party, SA-BEST, may win up to 26 percent of votes in the SA election, compared to 27 percent for the incumbent Labor government and 31 percent for the Liberals. This would potentially hand SA-BEST the balance of power, or enable it to form a coalition government.

Xenophon began his political career by winning a state Legislative Assembly seat in the 1997 election on a single-issue, anti-poker machine platform. Since then, he has appealed to growing political disaffection, issuing populist denunciations of the major parties and advancing parochial, state-based condemnations of federal authorities to channel social anger in a reactionary, nationalist direction.

In the 20 years since 1997, the sentiments that Xenophon has exploited have only intensified. SA Labor governments, in office since 2001, have presided over the dismantling of large sections of manufacturing and the destruction of essential social services, with the crucial assistance of the trade unions.

Labor and the unions have enforced round after round of sackings, job cuts and attacks on workers conditions, especially in the auto industry. They insisted it was necessary for workers to accept endless cuts to make Australian manufacturing internationally competitive and prevent the car companies from closing.

In 2008, Mitsubishi shut its Adelaide plant, taking years of downsizing, supported by Labor and the unions, to their logical conclusion.

The Labor government of Premier Mike Rann stepped in to prevent any opposition from the workforce. It unveiled a sham $50 million retraining scheme, which it claimed would mitigate the closures impact. In reality, a third of the 930 sacked car workers never found employment again, and another third suffered losses in pay and conditions.

Next week, on October 20, General Motors will close its Holden plant in the northern Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth, marking the end of the Australian car assembly industry. The Labor government of Premier Jay Weatherill has established another bogus retraining scheme. More than 1,400 workers will be left unemployed, and more than 20,000 flow-on jobs are expected to be destroyed in the states car parts sector.

Estimates for unemployment in Elizabeth are already as high as 33 percent. According to official figures, the number of manufacturing jobs in the state plummeted from over 100,000 in 1981 to 74,000 in 2011. Those numbers mask the growing prevalence of insecure, part-time and casual work.

Across the state, real unemployment is thought to be above 10 percent. A myriad of social problems have emerged, with over 200,000 people living below the poverty line, and mounting indices of distress, including growing use of crystal methamphetamine, a destructive drug, among young people in regional areas.

The Rann and Weatherill governments have made sweeping budget cuts, imposed public sector layoffs, healthcare funding reductions and hundreds of sackings at vocational TAFE colleges, shutting courses and entire campuses.

Xenophon last Friday made clear that SA-BEST will seek to capitalise on popular anger. Our state politics is broken, politically bankrupt, he declared. We have the same old soap opera script between Labor and Liberal, but little real policy debate, let alone solutions for the states many troubles.

Xenophon indicated he would campaign on the mounting South Australian and national energy crisis, which has seen electricity prices soar. Power supplies have been jeopardised by the privatisation of power supply and generation, an uncoordinated reorganisation of the grid, and the subordination of energy policy to the profit interests of the major corporations. SA-BEST, however, has not issued any coherent policy and defends the capitalist market that is responsible for the crisis.

In reality, Xenophon advances a right-wing program, largely indistinguishable from that of the major parties. In addition to parochial calls to put South Australia first, SA-BESTs policies include an escalation of economic nationalist measures, including procurement laws and tariffs targeting foreign businesses and workers.

This is aimed at dividing workers along national lines, and channelling hostility to the actions of Australian governments, the financial elite and unions into reactionary denunciations of overseas workers.

SA-BEST calls for vast subsidies to Australian businesses, on the sham pretext that this will increase jobs and growth in regional areas. Its program explicitly rejects calls for any increase in poverty-level aged pensions, advocates that the elderly be pushed into work, and supports the further corporatisation of public education.

SA-BEST calls for military production to be based in Australia, in line with Xenophons bid to promote the arms industry as a panacea for the growing jobs crisis. The partys program points to Xenophons pro-war program, stating: Australian defence policy must focus on the protection of our nation and creating stability in our region.

Xenophon has previously linked his calls for expanded military production to support for Australias role in US-led plans for war against North Korea and China. In late 2015, he wrote an opinion piece defending Australias construction of submarines on the grounds that they could secretly insert Special Forces troops and take them out again, covertly lay sea mines in and around enemy ports, and launch surprise attacks.

While he postures as a political outsider, Xenophon has been intimately involved in the sordid machinations of federal parliament. His party voted for 54 percent of the Liberal-National governments legislation in the Senate between July 2016 and March 2017.

Since then, NXT has struck a series of deals with the government. Last month it helped push through media reform that abolishes limited constraints on the further concentration of newspaper, television and radio ownership in the hands of large corporations.

Despite his pro-business record, some media commentators bemoaned Xenophons shift to South Australia, expressing concern about its potentially destabilising impact on the political establishment in South Australia.

Chris Kenny, associate editor of the Murdoch-owned Australian, declared it was terrible news. He wrote: Xenophon is very good at what he doestapping into peoples grievances to maximise a protest vote. The trouble is this is the last thing SA needs right now.

Anothony Green, the Australian Broadcasting Corporations election analyst, summed up the fears, writing that Xenophons decision was the biggest shake-up in two-party politics in decades in Australia.

The ruling elites are worried that the collapse of the official parliamentary set-up presages not only the emergence of right-wing populist formations but that workers and young people are being radicalised and will be drawn to socialist and revolutionary ideas.
Gauchan murder case: Police prepare sketch of murderers

Police on Thursday found a lead on the murder of Chairman of Federation of Contractors Associations of Nepal (FCAN) Sharad Kumar Gauchan.
SHELLMAN, GA (WALB) - New artwork is bringing one South Georgia city to life.

The art director at Andrew College has spent the summer painting murals in Shellman on a unique canvas.

As he hummed the tunes of Shellman's very own Boudleaux Bryant, Chris Johnson was painting a masterpiece.

His canvas is comprised of four 35-thousand bushel grain bins.

"I started in May and I've been working pretty much all the way through until now," said Johnson.

The Randolph County Tourism and Economic Development Authority received a grant for the project.

They asked Johnson to paint murals around the county.

The grain bins were designed to represent agriculture, art and culture in Shellman.

He also painted a mural on the wall of a building in downtown Cuthbert.

"It's better than I ever imagined. Chris has done a wonderful job," explained Shellman's Mayor Paul Langford as he looked up at the artwork.

Langford helped Johnson come up with the ideas for the murals. The two hope the artwork will help revitalize the area.

Langford said the area has been working on economic developments.

"We've had several businesses open, we have an art gallery in Shellman now that's very interesting and culture related," said Langford, and Johnson agreed.

"Putting fresh new artwork up really helps them see the potential of the area and it's a way to engage with the community," said Johnson.

The artwork has already sparked engagement in the community. And it's made Johnson a few new friends. He said people honk when they drive by, many even come out of their cars to take a look.

"People give me farm fresh eggs, they come out here and bake me cookies and bring me water," smiled Johnson.

The mural of Boudleaux Bryant should be finished this week. Shellman is hosting its annual Boudleaux Bryant Festival on Saturday in the park.

But Johnson said it won't be the last of his artwork in the county.

He hopes to get a grant to paint the other bins and hopefully allow his students to do art in the community too.

"This is just the beginning of the art in Randolph County," said Johnson.

The murals are attracting attention from all over the south.

The mayor said some people came from Alabama a few weeks ago just to see them.

Copyright 2017 WALB. All rights reserved.

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Copyright 2017 WTXL via Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Former Tallahassee Mayor James Ford, who died Wednesday, has received praise as one of the Capital City's "most beloved leaders."

Ford, who was Tallahassee's first African American mayor, died at age 91.

Mayor Andrew Gillum said that "Ford's service blazed a trail for others like myself to follow, and his legacy will be celebrated as a true visionary and a fierce proponent for this city."

Ford made local history in 1972 when he became Tallahassee's first African American mayor. He won re-election in 1976 and 1982.

Colleagues say he was kind, gentle, and well respected by the community, though he was also very passionate about the issues he believed in.

Ford worked for 37 years in the Leon County School System as the first black administrator. During his time there, he was the assistant principal for Leon High School, where the students truly admired him.

Before being elected mayor, he served as a city commissioner where he began making positive changes for the minority community.

A Tallahassee native, Ford, earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Florida A&M University. He served in both the U.S. Navy and Army before working for the Leon County Public School System.

Gillum's complete statement is below:

"Today, this community lost one of its most beloved leaders. As the first African-American Mayor of Tallahassee, Mayor Ford's service blazed a trail for others like myself to follow, and his legacy will be celebrated as a true visionary and a fierce proponent for this city. Our hearts go out to Clinita and the entire Ford family during this difficult time. Tallahassee is with you."

A funeral service has been set for Monday at 11 a.m. at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church.

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Copyright 2017 WTXL via Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
BRUNSWICK, Ga, (WTXL) - Echols and Lowndes are among four more Georgia counties approved for federal assistance because of Hurricane Irma damage.

Those two counties, along with Effingham and Tift, are now eligible to receive federal assistance to help cover expenses for permanent work under the Public Assistance program.

The program helps with costs to repair or replace infrastructure damaged as a result of Hurricane Irma, according to state and federal officials.

President Donald Trump previously approved Public Assistance funding for emergency work, including debris removal and emergency protective measures, in all 159 Georgia counties on September 15.

He approved the latest work Wednesday.

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Copyright 2017 WTXL via Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A University of Florida graduate was recently given a unique honor in Tallahassee.

Yvonne Brown has been named an honorary Florida State University alum for her dedication to the community. It's an award that's never been granted before.

Alumni president, Scott Atwell, is one of the people behind giving the status to brown. Atwell says, over the past 10 years, brown has encompassed all characteristics a person who is dedicated to the community and university has.

Alumni board members wanted to reward her time, talent, and treasure by making her a Seminole.

Brown has served on 2 of the direct support organization boards at Florida State, donated scholarship money, mentored students and volunteered throughout the community.
KATY, TX (KTRK/CNN) - Rebecca Elizabeth Richard has been known to stalk and harass a catholic priest since 2012, according to court documents.

She yelled obscenities, she just rambled on incoherently as she yelled at the house and instigated him to come outside, a neighbor said.

The priests neighbors have witnessed it too.

Court documents mentioned at least seven instances when Richard showed up to his church, home and even emailed him.

Richard was arrested for criminal trespass on March 18, 2011.

She apparently showed up at Saint Edith Stein Catholic Church threatening several clergy members.

She emailed the priest and said she was a ticking time bomb on July 27, 2012.

She emailed the father again on Aug. 23 saying "I will continue to destroy you until you repent."

Another incident occurred on Aug. 5, 2015.

Court documents said the priest was at his home when he heard loud screaming and banging at the door.

It said he saw her standing on his porch through his surveillance camera.

When she does see people are watching she does take off and flee, a neighbor said.

Still, the priest's neighbors said that its an unsettling feeling.

Copyright 2017 KTRK via CNN. All rights reserved.

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Copyright 2017 WTXL via Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
Dressed in a pleather halter top and towering stilettos, eyes lined in black and lips painted red, Eisa Jocson clops into the BodyVox studio. She carries a bulky black bag over her shoulder. We're in a circle around her, some sitting, some standing, many fanning themselves with their programs. The house lights are on. There is no music. Jocson's heels thud against the floor.





Jocson, a dancer from the Philippines performing as part of PICA's Time-Based Art Festival, goes through the careful process of setting up a poleunpacking each piece, screwing the metal rods together, wiping it down. She's frequently pulling her long dark hair to one side or the other. At one point, she timidly makes eye contact with a man in the audience and asks for his assistance in setting up the pole. Once it's vertical and properly aligned, she places a gentle hand on his shoulder and whispers into his ear: "Thank you."





These are the first 10 minutesnearly the first halfof Death of a Pole Dancer, and they're entrancing. From the moment she enters the studio, Jocson has demystified the allure of the pole dancer: This is labor. Beautiful and seductive, yes, but also hard and often mundane.





The rest of the piece has little you'd recognize from trips to Sassy's or Union Jack's. Jocson tugs and heaves on the pole as if trying to uproot it. Later, she throws her chest against it, a violently repetitive action that sounds even more painful than it looks. The light casts four sets of shadows on the floor. When Jocson finally flings herself up onto the pole and twirls around with easy grace, it's surprisingthe pole, which had been her foe, has suddenly become her partner.





Jocson has been pole dancing for about seven years. When I interviewed her, she spoke about this identity as a pole dancer feeling uncomfortably close to her. Because she fits the expectations of a nightclub performeryoung, foreign, prettyaudiences can have a hard time distinguishing Jocson from the identity she's performing. But this is also one of the things that makes the stakes feel so high in Death of a Pole Dancer and makes the arc of the performance so gripping.

For the second half of the evening, Jocson adopts an entirely different movement vocabulary: that of macho dancing. Characterized by snakelike undulations and set to power ballads, it's a dance form unique to the Philippines, and performed exclusively by young men in nightclubs. So when we enter BodyVox's second, bigger studio and see Jocson stomp onto the stage in steel-toed cowboy bootsface wiped clean of makeup, hair pulled back into a ponytail, gaze confrontational rather than demureit's startling.





Photo by Giannina Ottiker

Her command of her body is just as startling as the change in expression. She ripples her torso and spins on her knees with phenomenal control. Each microbend she makes with her fingers is careful and taut. Some of the movements are more overtly sexual, as when she grinds against the floor. Others are straight-up silly, like when she licks a flexed biceps to the tune of "Total Eclipse of the Heart."





But for all of Jocson's technical skill, it's hard not to ask what makes this more than mimicry, and certain elements (hey look, she's got a fake penis in her shorts!) feel overly calculated or on-the-nosewe get it. After the emotionally robust role she played in Death of a Pole Dancer, this macho dancer feels almost like a cipher. There's a blankness to her eyes, an unsettling sense of distance between performer and performed identity.

Yet there's a compelling strangeness to this, too, and Macho Dancer prompts countless questions about a performance's context. What happens, most obviously, when a woman appropriates the vocabulary of macho dancing? What happens when she dances without music? When she's at a contemporary-performance festival instead of at a nightclub? When she's using her body as a tool for art, rather than as an economic commodity?





Jocson's performance continues for only one more evening, and it's followed tonight by Pepper Pepper's Critical Mascara drag ball, which is sure to spur its own knotty questions about gender, appropriation and sexualityjust with a bit more blood and glitter.





SEE IT: Eisa Jocson is at BodyVox Dance Center, 1201 NW 17th Ave. 8:30 pm Saturday, Sept. 12-13. $16-$20. Tickets here.

Read more TBA Diaries here.

WWeek 2015
Sesh Ghale's wife Jamuna files candidacy for NRNA top post

Jamuna Gurung, wife of Sesh Ghale, the current chairman of Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA), has announced her candidacy for the post of NRNA chairperson on Thursday.
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Man goes missing in Sani Bheri river

A man has gone missing at Sani Bheri River on Wednesday afternoon.
BEIRUT - Iran will react sharply to any US move against the nuclear deal with global powers, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Iranian parliament Wednesday, according to a parliamentarian who attended the session quoted by state media.

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The comments were the latest in a series of tough remarks from Iran's leadership, showing a united front between its pragmatist and hardline factions as US President Donald Trump prepares to harden policy towards Tehran this week.

"In the closed session Zarif emphasised that if the Americans take any steps against the nuclear deal that the Islamic Republic of Iran will give them a more crushing response," Shahbaz Hassanpour, a lawmaker representing the city of Sirjan, told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif with the head of the Revolutionary Guards Ali Jafari (Photo: Reuters)

Another lawmaker, Behrouz Nemati, said the foreign minister discussed specific steps Trump and the US Congress might take, and Iran's plans for reciprocal action to each anticipated US move. Nemati did not say what actions Zarif had described.

Trump is expected this week to "decertify" the landmark 2015 deal under which Iran agreed with global powers to accept curbs on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions.

Decertification would not by itself withdraw the United States from the agreement, but would pass that decision on to Congress, requiring lawmakers to decide within 60 days whether to re-impose sanctions.

Trump is also expected to declare Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist organization . Since the Guards have a vast economic empire in Iran, such a declaration could make it more difficult for Iranian businesses to access the international financial system.

Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif with the head of the Revolutionary Guards Ali Jafari (Photo: Reuters)

Washington has already blacklisted other entities and individuals for supporting Guards' activities, but has not blacklisted the Guards themselves.

The threat of increased US pressure has been met by a united front of criticism from within Iran, with members of the pragmatic faction that seeks greater interaction with the West showing their support for the hardline Guards.

Iranian newspapers ran photos on Tuesday of Zarif, the urbane, US-educated foreign minister, laughing and hugging the head of the Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari.

During the meeting with Zarif, parliament members expressed their support for the Guards, Hassanpour said. Zarif also noted during the session that European countries will continue backing the nuclear deal regardless of what actions the US may take, Hassanpour told IRNA.
The Al-Hayat newspaper quoted a Lebanese political source who spoke about statements made by Israel and Hezbollah recently, estimating neither side is particularly interested in war, despite the fact they've been preparing for one since the conclusion of the Second Lebanon War.

The newspaper also quoted Lebanese sources in close contact with Russian leadership, who said fears Israel might start a war were presented to Moscow by senior Lebanese officials.

It was the Russian diplomacy's estimate, those same sources said, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "currently needs to maintain a warlike atmosphere since public disclosure of the dangers inherent to a confrontation with Iran and Hezbollah and amplifying the issue of (Hezbollah) rearmament helps him continue his government's reign, plagued by disagreements as it is, and maintaining minimal unity without actually starting a war."
Fatah and Hamas representatives finalized a reconciliation agreement between the two warring Palestinian factions, the culmination of a round of talks that started Tuesday. The agreement was unveiled at a Cairo press conference Thursday afternoon.

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Fatah's representative to the signing was senior member and holder of reconciliation portfolio Azzam al-Ahmad and Hamas was represented by its deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri, who said, "We have decided to take a step-by-step approach to implementing reconciliation. Talks this time were aimed at allowing the unity government to operate fully in both the Gaza Strip and West Bank."

Hamas's al-Arouri (L) and Fatah's al-Ahmad sign the historic agreement (Photo: EPA)

The agreement was signed under the watchful eye of Egyptian General Intelligence Director Khaled Fawzy.

WATCH: Hamas and Fatah representatives sign the reconciliation agreement.

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The agreement was first announced early Thursday by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who said his organization had reached an agreement with rival Palestinian faction Fatah under the auspices of Egyptian mediation, saying, "We'll go to any length to implement the agreement and turn over a new leaf in the annals of our people, forever closing the book on our divisions."

Photo: EPA

"The most important thing is the agreement's implementation," Hamas added.

Cairo talks between Hamas and Fatah bore fruit Thursday (Photo: EPA)

Fatah confirmed an agreement was reached, but provided no additional details. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hailed the reconciliation agreement reached between his Fatah movement and Hamas as a "final agreement to end (Palestinian) division" and instructed the Palestinian government and security establishment to work to implement it, calling on all factions to work on returning unity to the Palestinian people.

A senior Palestinian official told French news agency AFP the agreement is set to include 3,000 Palestinian Authority police officers deployed in the Gaza Strip and near its border crossings with Israel and Egypt by November 1.

"This effectively means the Palestinian Authority would resume both security and civil responsibility (in Gaza)", the official said.

In addition, administrative control of Gaza to be handed over from Hamas to the Palestinian unity government no later than December 1, an official Egyptian statement said.

The accord marked the conclusion of the latest round of talks between the Palestinian factions, and a press conference will be held later Thursday at Egyptian intelligence headquarters in Cairo announcing the agreement's exact details.

Fatah's Azzam al-Ahmad (L) negotiated with Hamas's Mousa Abu Marzook (Photo: AFP)

Palestinian sources claimed the sides only discussed a unity government and how it would administer Gaza, the border crossings into the region and the issue of slashing the salaries of its government employees.

L-R: Palestinian leaders Abu Marzook, al-Ahmad, Ismail Haniyeh and Ahmad Bahar (Photo: AFP)

It appears the sides did not negotiate the issue of disarmament in the strip in general and of Hamas's military arm in particular.

The round of talks, which may determine the future of the relationship between the West Bank and Gaza, was inaugurated Tuesday.

After the pomp and circumstance of the Palestinian government's triumphant return to the Gaza Strip last week, the sides sat down for direct negotiations at Egyptian intelligence headquarters.

Hamas was represented at the talks by newly elected leader Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar and holder of the prisoners' portfolio Rawhi Mushtaha.

Fatah, on the other hand, was represented by holder of the reconciliation portfolio Azzam al-Ahmad and head of Palestinian intelligence and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's confidante Majid Faraj

Al-Ahmad and Haniyeh speaking about reconciliation (Photo: Reuters)

The split between the rival Palestinian factions originated in a violent Gaza Strip coup orchestrated by Hamas in 2007, but sanctions levied against both the organization and Gaza itself by Abbas forced negotiations.

The Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper and Egyptian media published a report Tuesday purporting an Israeli delegation also arrived to Cairo at the beginning of the intra-Palestinian talks.

The Israeli delegation arrived for a several-hour visit by private jet, the pro-Qatari paper said. It was slated to meet top Egyptian intelligence officials, the report claimed.

El-Sisi said Palestinian reconciliation and future peace with Israel were inextricably linked (Photo: AFP)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi linked Palestinian reconciliation and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process at a cabinet meeting this week.

El-Sisi said the moves Egypt made in relations to Hamas-Fatah reconciliation would lay down the groundwork for a future peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians.
BEIRUT  The Syrian army and its allies have captured areas of Islamic State-held al-Mayadin in eastern Syria, a Hezbollah-run military news outlet reported on Thursday, in an advance into the jihadist group's main urban base of operations in Syria.

Backed by Russia, Iran and Shiite militias, the Syrian army encircled the militants in al-Mayadin on Sunday.

In June, two US intelligence officials said they believed Islamic State had moved most of its diminished command structure and propaganda team to al-Mayadin, southeast of its former capital of Raqqa.
MOSCOW  Russia's Defense Ministry said on Thursday the US military presence in the Baltic states contradicts the Russia-NATO agreement, RIA news agency quoted it as saying.

The ministry was quoted as saying that the United States has, in effect, deployed a division of its forces in the Baltic states, near Russia's borders.
BERLIN  The leader of Germany's pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), a possible partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel's next government, has called for Russia to be invited to the next summit of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized countries.

Russia used to be part of the Group of Eight (G8) meetings until it was suspended in 2014 after it annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula following an uprising in Kiev that toppled its pro-Moscow president.

Merkel is trying to form a three-way coalition with the FDP and the Greens after her conservatives lost support in a federal election last month. To secure an agreement, the allies must overcome differences on a range of issues.

"We cannot make all things dependent on the situation in Crimea," FDP leader Christian Lindner said in an interview with Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
CAIRO  Egypt has extended a state of emergency for another three months, starting Friday, the official gazette said on Thursday.

Egypt first imposed the state of emergency in April after two church bombings killed at least 45 people. It was then extended in July for a further three months.
70 years after Yocheved Ben-Shmuel, 89, doggedly accompanied convoys of fighters headed to a besieged Jerusalem as a Palmach combat medic, her two granddaughters from a picturesque northeastern Italian town decided to follow in her footsteps, and have made Aliyah and joined the IDF.

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Yocheved was the daughter of a Zionist family that escaped a pogrom against the Jews of Azerbaijan to Baghdad. In 1936, she made Aliyah with her mother and sister.

Three generations of fighters: Yocheved Ben-Shmuel and her two granddaughters, Coral (L) and Noa

"I joined the Palmach (the Jewish settlement's fighting force during the British Mandate) in 1945, served for two years and was discharged following my mother's passing," Yocheved said.

"I rejoined during the war and accompanied convoys to Jerusalem, which was under siege at the time. I was a combat medic and spent several months in the besieged capital myself. During the war we led hundreds of convoys up to Jerusalem, and I fought in the battle of Latrun," she excitedly recounted.

Ben-Shmuel later met an Italian man and moved with him to the town of Salice in Italy.

And so, it was almost 20 years ago that Ben-Shmuel's twin granddaughters Coral and Noa de Ross were born in that small Italian town of only 20,000 people. Theirs was the only Jewish family in the entire municipality.

"We asked questions about Israel for as long as we can remember and we'd visit grandma in the country every couple of years," Coral described.

Yocheved Ben-Shmuel in her Palmach days

"We went to a public school with Christian and Muslim students. But mom always spoke Hebrew to us," Noa added.

"We knew we might make Aliyah one day. During Operation Protective Edge we were with grandma in Ramat Gan and saw what was happening. I knew grandma used to be a fighter. Then, when we graduated from high school, we decided to come to Israel instead of go to university," Coral said.

In April, the two sisters enlisted in a Hebrew course together at the Michve Alon base. Later, Coral was transferred to basic training in the Jordan Lions Battalion, and Noa to the Palmachim Air Force base.

"Grandma was a huge influence on me. When I heard her tales of heroism from the War of Independence, I felt I wanted to follow in her footsteps," Coral said proudly.

Ben-Shmuel (L) fought in the battle of Latrun near the besieged Jerusalem during the War of Independence

Military service runs in the family, as apart from the grandmother and two granddaughters, the twins' father was also an officer in the Italian army.

"Our dad is worried, but he trusts the IDF," they conclude.

"Coral chose to become a combat soldier and has already been adopted into the Ma'ale HaHamisha kibbutz, not far from where her grandmother fought in the War of Independence to defend her homeland," said head of the Lone Soldiers' Department at the Kibbutz Movement Yael Eisner.
MOSCOW  US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has given assurances that Washington's only goal in Syria is fighting Islamic State, the TASS news agency cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Thursday.

Lavrov said he had last had a telephone conversation with Tillerson on Oct. 9, the agency reported.

Russia's defense ministry accused the United States on Tuesday of pretending to fight Islamic State and of deliberately reducing its air strikes in Iraq to allow the group's militants to stream into Syria to slow the Russian-backed advance of the Syrian army.

Lavrov, touching upon a possible US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, said it was hard to imagine how it could be legally implemented, TASS reported.
KABUL  Civilian casualties from Afghan and American air strikes have risen more than 50 percent since last year, the United Nations said on Thursday, as troops increase attacks on militants under a new strategy announced by President Donald Trump in August.

As of the end of September, at least 205 civilians had been killed and 261 wounded this year in air strikes in Afghanistan, UN investigators said in a quarterly report.

At least 38 percent of those casualties were caused by international military forces, while the majority were attributed to the Afghan Air Force, which has begun to conduct more attacks on its own.

More than two thirds of the civilian victims were women and children, the report said.
Maoist Centre should quit incumbent govt: Rana

Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Democratic) Chairman Pashupati Shumsher Rana has said that the CPN (Maoist Centre) should quit the government on moral grounds.
The director of UNESCO is expressing "profound regret" at the US government's decision to pull out of the UN cultural agency because of what's seen as longstanding anti-Israel bias.

Director-general Irina Bokova said in a statement that the departure is a loss for "the United Nations family" and for multilateralism. She said the US and UNESCO matter to each other more than ever now because "the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security."

A native of Bulgaria, Bokova defended UNESCO's reputation, noting its efforts to support Holocaust education and train teachers to fight anti-Semitism. She traced the decades-long US ties with UNESCO, and noted that the Statue of Liberty is among the many World Heritage sites protected by the UN agency.

Bokova's two terms as director have been deeply scarred by the 2011 UNESCO vote to include Palestine as a member, funding troubles and repeated resolutions seen as anti-Israel.
President Donald Trump is praising the release of a family long held by a group with ties to the Taliban. Trump calls Thursday's development a "positive moment" for US relations with Pakistan.

He says in a statement that the Pakistani government's "cooperation is a sign that it is honoring America's wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region."

Trump says the US hopes "to see this type of cooperation and teamwork in helping secure the release of remaining hostages and in our future joint counterterrorism operations."

US and Pakistani officials say an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years of being held by the Haqqani network in Pakistan.
Carmel Shama-Hacohen, Israel's representative at UNESCO, commented on the United States' withdrawal from the organization, in part because of its decisions against Israel.

"In recent years, UNESCO has transformed itself into an absurd organization that lost its professional path in favor of the political interests of certain countries," he said, adding that his "personal recommendation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to stick by the United States and immediately withdraw from UNESCO."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday night Israel plans to pull out of the United Nations' cultural agency following the "brave and moral" decision by the United States to withdraw from UNESCO.

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Netanyahu said UNESCO has become a "theater of the absurd because instead of preserving history, it distorts it."

He has ordered Israeli diplomats to prepare Israel's withdrawal from the organization in concert with the Americans.

Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, praised Washington's move as heralding "a new day at the UN, where there is a price to pay for discrimination against Israel."

"UNESCO has become a battlefield for Israel bashing and has disregarded its true role and purpose," Danon said in a statement. "The organization's absurd and shameful resolutions against Israel have consequences."

"The United States stands by Israel and is a true leader for change at the UN," he lauded, adding "the alliance between our two countries is stronger than ever."

UNESCO's General Conference (Photo: AP)

Earlier that day, Israel's representative at UNESCO, Carmel Shama-Hacohen, backed the US' withdrawal from the body and recommended Netanyahu to follow suit.

"In recent years, UNESCO has transformed itself into an absurd organization that lost its professional path in favor of the political interests of certain countries," he said, adding that his "personal recommendation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to stick by the United States and immediately withdraw from UNESCO."

The United States announced on Thursday that it is pulling out of UNESCO because of what the Trump administration sees as its anti-Israel bias and a need for "fundamental reform." It says the withdrawal will take effect Dec. 31, 2018.

The United Nation's education, cultural and scientific agency has passed several resolutions against Israel . It extended membership to Palestine in 2011.
Islamic State suicide attackers killed at least 50 people in a triple car bomb attack on Thursday among a group of refugees in northeast Syria, a medical source in the Kurdish Red Crescent said.

A large number of people were also injured by the three car bombs set off by the attackers, the source said.

The attack took place at Abu Fas, near the border of Deir al-Zor and Hasaka provinces, said a war monitor, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said earlier that at least 18 people had been killed.

The dead included refugees fleeing the fighting in Deir al-Zor as well as members of the Kurdish Asayish security force, the Observatory reported. Syrian state television said dozens had been killed in the attack.

The jihadist group has lost swathes of its territory in both Syria and Iraq this year and is falling back on the towns and villages of the Euphrates valley southeast of Deir al-Zor.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias is pressing it from the north and a rival offensive by the Syrian army, supported by allies including Iran and Russia, is attacking it from the west.

On Wednesday it said it carried out an attack in the capital Damascus, where three suicide bombers detonated their devices near a police headquarters, killing two people and wounding six.

Aid agencies have warned that the fighting in eastern Syria is the worst in the country this year and that air strikes have caused hundreds of civilian casualties.
YORK  Judy Andrews has always had a love for puppets, even as a little girl. Through her work at the Kilgore Memorial Library in York, she has the opportunity to expose youth to her passion.

On Oct. 15, Andrews will be bringing her love of puppets to Czechfest. She and other volunteers will be at the festival from 12:30-2:30 p.m. making hand puppets with interested children.

The kids enjoy doing crafts that they can take home with them, said Andrews. Its really a good way to share a culture with the youth.

Puppetry is important to the Czech Republic and it has an extensive history for the country. The puppets were vital in standardizing the Czech language, and they were even used as a means to pass subversive messages when the country was in crisis. Currently, puppetry plays a large role in tourism. Many Czech natives make and sell elaborate puppets to traveling tourists. Throughout the Czech Republic there are puppet festivals that take place during the year, nine puppet theatres and two puppet museums.

Puppetry has been very important to the Czech Republic from the early days, reported Andrews. Theyd have traveling groups of puppeteers moving around.

Andrews hopes to keep this Czech tradition alive by exposing the youth to history and encouraging them to create their own puppets. Due to time constraints, the children will not be able to make the traditional wooden marionettes, but they will be able to make hand puppets.

Children will begin with the basic hand puppet, which they will then be able to decorate. Andrews has prepared tons of materials for the children to make the figurines their own, from mustaches to various clothing items. There will also be volunteers there to help the children hot-glue their customizations.

Since the Year of the Puppet celebration in 2012, this is the second time Andrews has done this creative activity with the York community. She imagines that she will have anywhere from 35 to 50 kids participate this year.

Andrews is a member of the Czech of York Nebraska Club where she enjoys keeping the Czech culture alive. Her mother was a first generation American after her family settled here from Slovakia. Even though her heritage is more Slovak than Czech, Andrews still has a love for the Czech history and culture. She hopes to travel to Czech Republic in the future.

Andrews has a large puppet collection, which fills her office. The kids love interacting with them, so she likes to put on shows at the library, which are always a hit.

I really just love them. Im fascinated with them, said Andrews, commenting on her extensive collection.

Andrews is prepared for Czechfest with a detailed history display of puppetry in the Czech Republic and plenty of puppet making supplies for the children. She also has two old marionettes to show. One is a 50- or 60-year-old wooden elephant marionette, and the other is a wooden horse marionette covered in Czech painting.

Andrews is looking forward to spreading the Czech culture.

The Czech club is hoping for a record number of visitors at this years Czechfest. Andrews expressed that their goal is to host 800 people. There will be plenty of activities for everyone, from accordion and language lessons to puppet making and dancing.
Over the past several months Ive been blessed with numerous column readers who have made inquiries about various aspects of Amish life.

Today I got the inspiration to simply write some of my answers to all of you who may be interested.

A common question I get is about rumschpringe. While rumschpringe is a popular topic in many books about the Amish it varies dramatically from one Amish community to the next. In our church we do not have a period of rumschpringe for the young folks to go sow their wild oats. Our young people start with the youth at around age 15 or 16. We then have two couples coordinate youth activities such as singing in the nursing homes, having work nights for someone needing a helping hand or occasionally planning a volleyball game for them. This gives the youth the opportunity to interact with the married folks on a regular basis in everyday life. So how do the young Amish people date and marry? I was on the young side in our community. Daniel and I started dating soon after my 19th birthday and married when I was 20. Its as I always like to tell people, Daniel is a little older than me, so he was mature enough to balance me out! Of course there are also couples who are in their 30s when they marry although the majority do so in their 20s.

To Vicki in Centerville, Ohio who asks what do we use to keep our food such as meat, fruit, and corn frozen? While we dont have line electricity, we generate our own from a solar system. Daniel put in a solar system that powers anything we need electricity for. (Editors Note: Having travelled to Amish communities across the USA, the issue of electricity varies widely and is often misunderstood by the general public. On one end, you have the Electric Amish and the New Order Amish Fellowship in places like Crofton, Ky.; Union Grove, N.C. and parts of Ohio who have electric in their homes, on the other end the most conservative Amish do not and you have many variations in the middle. Often the Amish dont object to electricity itself, its connecting to the larger grid and outside influences like TV and the internet. Solar power allows the Amish to pick and choose what they want to power. Solar panels are very common on rooftops in Grabill, Ind. and increasingly in places like Daviess County, Ind. and Lancaster, Pa.  Kevin Williams)

Now for the question of whether I use a computer for my letters? No, I write them all out by hand. While I do enjoy writing, my handwriting has never been the beautiful script I dreamt of when I was a young girl but Ive learned to enjoy life and what God gave me.

Photos are another topic I get asked about. This is a difficult topic about the Amish for people to understand simply because it varies so much. Our community does have some photographs. We dont believe it is wrong to own photos or even have some pictures taken. Our greater concern is the vanity and pride that easily get entangled in picture-taking.

Talk about Amish reminds me of the new fuah we have (a Dutch word for horse and buggy). Weve all been really excited about it. Some of you may remember our pony, Sassy Sundae. We often just call her Sassy for short, though 2-year-old Austin is constantly reminding me that it is Sassy Sundae, not Sassy! So call her what you want, Sassy has now been trained to pull a cart and Daniel purchased a beautiful cart, the perfect size for our family. Julia and Austin never tire of going away with Sassy and helping us drive her. Not only is it fun for the children, a pony is so much easier for me to harness and hitch up since everything is on a smaller scale.

If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask. No question is too foolish. There really are all kind of people out there with all kind of views. Ultimately our goal is to live as Jesus taught us: be out for the good of others and join Him in Heaven some day.

Now for a good old Amish recipe. Can food be Amish? Anyway how about trying Grandmas homemade apple pie? She has countless pies just like this, everyone loves Grandmas apple pie!

Grandmas Glazed Apple Pie

1 9-inch unbaked pie

crust with a top

pastry

6 apples, peeled and

sliced

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup butter

1 egg white, beaten

Icing:

1/2 cup powdered

sugar

2 teaspoons water

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Mix sugar and cinnamon into apples. Spoon into unbaked crust. Cut butter into slivers and place on top. Transfer top pastry to top of pie. Trim off excess dough. Lightly press outer edges together and flute rim. Cut decorative slits on top to allow team to escape. Spread desired amount of beaten egg white into top crust, forming little peaks. Bake on bottom rack at 425 for 15 minutes. Turn oven to 350 for an additional 30 minutes. While the pie is baking, mix icing ingredients and then spread over the top of pie while it is still hot, as soon as it is out of the oven.
MoE agrees to amend HPE Bill in line with Dr KCs demand

The Ministry of Education (MoE) has agreed to amend the Health Profession Education (HPE) Bill as per the demand of Dr Govinda KC, who has been staging his 13th fast-unto-death for the last seven days demanding that there should be 10-year moratorium on establishing new medical colleges in Kathmandu Valley.
As a homeowner, you probably already know that you should be working to maintain your home. But, chances are, you Read More
News

Yokosuka, Japan - The commanding officer, Cmdr. Alfredo J. Sanchez, and executive officer, Cmdr. Jessie L. Sanchez, of the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) were relieved of their duties by Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer, commander, 7th Fleet, today.

Both were relieved due to a loss of confidence.



John S. McCain was involved in a collision with the merchant vessel Alnic MC August 21, that claimed the lives of 10 Sailors, injured five more and damaged both ships.



While the investigation is ongoing, it is evident the collision was preventable, the commanding officer exercised poor judgement and the executive officer exercised poor leadership of the ship's training program.



Cmdr. Alfredo Sanchez was reassigned to Commander, Naval Forces Japan (CNFJ) and Cmdr. Jessie Sanchez was reassigned to Ship Repair Facility (SRF) Yokosuka.



Cmdr. Ed Angelinas, former commanding officer of USS McCampbell (DDG 85), assumed duties as acting commanding officer. Lt. Cmdr. Ray Ball, chief engineer of USS Antietam (CG 54), will assume duties as acting executive officer.
Arizona News

Phoenix, Arizona - Governor Ducey will take part in a series of economic development meetings Oct. 19 - 22 in the United Kingdom to tout the economic advantages of doing business in Arizona. During the economic development trip, organized by the Arizona Commerce Authority, the governor will meet one-on-one with high-level international business leaders. In addition, hell attend the Arizona Cardinals game at Twickenham stadium on October 22nd where hell meet with tourism industry representatives and promote travel to Arizona.

In 2016, Arizonas trade with the United Kingdom totaled more than $1.4 billion, including over $858 million in exports. The United Kingdom is also the second largest contributor of foreign direct investment in Arizona, behind Canada. In 2015, companies based in the UK accounted for 14,300 Arizona jobs.

We are positioning Arizona to compete not just domestically for jobs and talent, but globally as well, said Governor Ducey. Already, direct investment from the UK accounts for over 14,000 jobs in Arizona. By expanding these ties, we are able to further Arizonas reputation as a top destination for industry-leading companies and create more opportunity for Arizona citizens. I look forward to sharing how Arizona is growing our economic competitiveness, bringing jobs to our state, and preparing our workforce for opportunities in the 21st century economy.

Arizona continues to be a top destination for companies re-locating to or expanding within the state. Since November 2016, just six projects alone are projected to bring 9,500 estimated new jobs and over $8 billion in capital investment. This comes in addition to last week's expansion announcement from Bank of the West of 1,000 projected new jobs and a $25 million capital investment.
Nagarjun murder mystery linked up with gold smuggling

An investigation on a stranded body recovered from Nagarjun Municipality-3 has revealed that the incident is a murder connected to a gold smuggling case.
New Delhi: Bharti Airtel will acquire Tata Group's loss-making mobile telephony business, almost for free, boosting its spectrum holding and raising subscriber base while saving the Tatas from the prospect of having to shut down the struggling unit.

Airtel, for whom it will be the 7th acquisition in five years, will from November 1 take over 4 crore customers of Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd (TTML) in 19 telecom circles or zones on "a debt-free cash-free basis", the two groups announced in separate but identical press statements.

TTSL and TTML employees in the 19 circles, managing the consumer mobile business, along with 178.5 MHz of spectrum across 800, 1800, 2100 Mhz (3G, 4G) bands would be transferred to Airtel.

While all of the Rs 31,000 crore debt will remain with the Tatas, Airtel will assume payment of close to 20 per cent of the Rs 9,000-10,000 crore deferred payments for the spectrum to the government. Tatas will pay the rest.

The telecom sector is in a consolidation mode since the September 2016 entry of India's richest man Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, which has given incumbent operators a run for their money through free voice calling and cheap data offers. Jio has gained 12.8 crore subscribers with in a year.

In February, Airtel absorbed Telenor's operations in seven circles -- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam in a similar no cash deal.

Earlier this year, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular agreed to merge their operations to create the country's largest telecom operator worth of more than USD 23 billion (roughly Rs 1,51,153 crore) with 35 per cent market share.

With this deal, Airtel will have over 32 crore customers, way below 40 crore users with the merged Vodafone-Idea entity.

"Instead of closing down the consumer mobile business, which would have entailed a much higher cost and involved letting go of employees and vendors etc, we have chosen this route," Tata Group chief financial officer Saurabh Agrawal told PTI.

He said Tatas will retain stake in the tower company, Viom, and explore transferring the enterprise business to Tata Communications and retail fixed-line and broadband business to satellite TV arm Tata Sky.

The board of the two firms will evaluate the opportunity and decide in 4-6 weeks, he said.

The struggling mobile consumer business, Agrawal said, "should have been restructured long back" and when new group chairman N Chandrasekaran took over in February, he reached out to people who could help out.

Agrawal, who in July joined Tatas from Aditya Birla Group, said closing down the business would have been against the ethos of Tata Group and would have rendered employees jobless.

Through this deal "Tatas have taken all the pain" associated with the business and ensure that business is not shut, employees not sacked and vendors and other trades associated with it are not thrown out of business, he said.

Without giving the exact number of employees being transferred to Airtel, he admitted that the Sunil Bharti Mittal firm may look at optimisation of staff on ground after the merger.

"The merger is being done on a debt-free cash-free basis, except for Bharti Airtel assuming a small portion of the unpaid spectrum liability of Tata's towards the Department of Telecom, which is to be paid on deferred basis," the statements said.

While Bharti Airtel will also have an "indefeasible" right to use for part of the existing fibre network of Tata, TTSL and TSML's consumer mobile business operations and services will continue as normal until the completion of the transaction.

The 19 circles coming to Bharti "represent bulk of India's population and customer base", it said.

Tata and Bharti Airtel will work together to further explore other mutual areas of cooperation, that will be value accretive for both the Groups, the statement said.

"This is a significant development towards further consolidation in the Indian mobile industry and reinforces our commitment to lead India's digital revolution by offering world-class and affordable telecom services through a robust technology and solid spectrum portfolio," said Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel.

Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Pvt Ltd acted as financial adviser to Tata.

"We believe today's agreement is the best and most optimal solution for the Tata Group and its stakeholders," said Chandrasekaran. "We have evaluated multiple options and are pleased to have this agreement with Bharti."
New Delhi: The CBI has recorded the statement of jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in connection with a case of alleged forced castration of his 400 followers.

With a special court's permission, agency officials recorded Singh's statement at a Rohtak prison where he is serving 20-year jail term for raping two sadhvis yesterday, CBI sources said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered the case in January, 2015, on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The FIR was registered against Singh and others under various charges, including criminal conspiracy for voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, for alleged castration of 400 devotees at the Sirsa-based Dera.

The high court orders came on a writ petition filed by a Dera follower in 2012, demanding a CBI inquiry and compensation for his castration at the Dera in 2000, a CBI spokesperson had earlier said.

The official had said the petitioner, Hansraj Chauhan, has alleged that around 400 male devotees belonging to many states including Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan were castrated at the Dera headquarters after its head falsely claimed that the "castration would lead to realisation of God through him".
NC forms board to pick election candidates

The Nepali Congress (NC) on Wednesday formed a 17-member Parliamentary Board, which will select the partys candidates for the federal and provincial elections scheduled for November 26 and December 7.
Stephen Frears' Victoria and Abdul, is a witty telling of the unlikely bond between the aged Queen Victoria of England, the Empress of India, and a commoner, Abdul Karim, whom she appoints as her Urdu teacher and whom she fondly addresses as Munshia.

Based on "mostly" true facts, the film is drawn from the book penned by Sharbani Basu, which was inspired by volumes of the queen's handwritten notes in Urdu and by the discovery of Abdul Karim's journals in 2010.

Charm and curiosity propels this narrative. The lead pair -- Judi Dench as Queen Victoria and Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim -- are charming and their relationship is definitely intriguing.

The tale begins in Agra in 1887, where local British officials to honour their Queen decide to send an Indian functionary to Britain to present her with a Mohur a ceremonial gold coin. Knowing her penchant for tall men, two local civil servants are selected. One of them is Abdul Karim.

How Abdul catches the Queen's fancy, forges a bond with her and upsets the royal sycophants of Victoria's Son Bertie, The Prince of Wales - heir of the royal throne, forms the crux of this tale.

The screenplay written by Frears and Lee Hall is dubiously wobbly as it shift gears from moody to comedy to drama. While the premise is interesting, it is Frears' light-hearted treatment of the narrative that disappoints. The disdainful manner in which the queen is initially presented, the cheap gags about the Queen's bowel movements, the lack of medal-bearing trays at Windsor Castle all add to the disillusionment.

Also the tone and taste of few dialogues are not in congruence with the time and characters of that era.

But it is how Abdul makes his favourable first impression to the Queen by ignoring the instructions of royal etiquette, his failure to disclose his marital status, his religion, and health issues that cause ripples in the evolving friendship and the vocal objections of the Queen's staff are few moments that make the film worthwhile.

With his expressive eyes, coy smile and heart-throb looks, Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim is exceptional. He portrays his part sincerely, but his character is flatly one-dimensional.

Judi Dench in widow's weeds as Queen Victoria is brilliant. She portrays the grace and earthy scorn of her complex character effortlessly. It is delightful to see her character change from a dreary old lady to a buoyant giddy-headed figurehead with girlish charm.

The duo are supported by; Tim Pigott Smith as Henry Pinseberry the head of the Royal household, Michael Gambon as the Prime Minister, reciting a litany of downbeat news to the Queen, Eddie Izzard with his gruff beard and indignant eye-brows as Bertie; all behave in a brusque high-handed manner as if participating in a spoof.

On the technical front, Alan Macdonald's production design and Consolata Boyle's costumes give a fair representation of the period which are astutely captured by Cinematographer Cohen's camera work. But with some moody, some shaky and some brilliant shots he offers a mixed bag of visuals and Thomas Newman's music subtly enhances the viewing experience.

Overall, Victoria and Abdul offers mixed reactions. It is pleasantly sweet but annoyingly off-putting.

By Troy Ribeiro
In a huge relief to Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted them in the murder of their teenage daughter Aarushi Talwar. Reacting to the verdict, Rajesh, Nupur Talwar said that they were happy and that they have got justice.

"Rajesh and Nupur Talwar are happy, and said that they have got justice," Dasna Jail jailor DR Maurya said.

The Allahabad High Court while giving out the order said that the parents cannot be held guilty of the murder on the basis of mere suspicion.

The verdict ends a nine-year ordeal of the parents who were found guilty by a CBI court of murdering 14-year-old Aarushi. Nupur and Rajesh Talwar have been serving their sentence in Ghaziabad's Dasna jail.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house two days later.

As the Uttar Pradesh Police drew flak over shoddy investigation into the case which was making national headlines, the then chief minister Mayawati handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
NEW DELHI: Nupur and Rajesh Talwar did not kill their daughter Aarushi Talwar and domestic help Hemraj in 2008, ruled the Allahabad High Court on Thursday. The court stressed that the benefit of doubt must be given to Talwars, adding that parents cannot be convicted on the basis of mere suspicion.

On May 16, 2008, 14-year-old Aarushi was found dead in the bedroom with her throat-slit. The body of Hemraj was found on the terrace the next day. The investigating teams claimed that the murders were conducted with surgical precision, suspecting an insider hand.

The CBI, in it's closure report, claimed that Rajesh Talwar is the main suspect, but there's not enough evidence against him.

Zee News accessed the original CBI closure report to find out the post-mortem details of Aarushi and Hemraj said. Here's a quick look:

CBI Closure Report

Investigation relating to post mortem of Aarushi and Hemraj revealed the following facts:-

Aarushi:

i. A whitish discharge was present inside the vaginal cavity and mouth of cervix of deceased Aarushi.

ii. The hymen of Aarushi was ruptured and was having old tear and was fibriated.

iii. The vaginal orifice of deceased Aarushi was unduly large and the mouth of cervix was visible.

iv. No signs of rape was visible.

v. The whitish discharge present in the private parts of Aarushi was taken and smears sent for Pathological examination. The pathologist reported absence of sperms.

vi. Rigor mortis had set in.

vii. No signs of asphyxia were visible.

viii. There were no signs of urine or any other body fluid on the underwear of pyjama of Aarushi.

ix. Doctor found semi digested food in the stomach of Aarushi.

x. The time of death was between 12 midnight and 1:00 am in the night.

xi. As per doctors who conducted postmortem there were two types of weapons during assault/murder, with one weapon being a heavy blunt weapon and the other being very sharp and light instrument.

xii. The blunt injury was caused first and was sufficient to cause death. The incised wound on the neck was caused later.

xiii. The blunt injury in respect of Aarushi was on the front side of her face on her forehead and on the occipital region.

Hemraj:

i. The time of death was between 12 midnight and 1:00 am in the night.

ii. There was use of two types of weapons during assault/murder: with one weapon being a heavy blunt weapon and the other being very sharp and light instrument.

iii. The blunt injury was caused first and was sufficient to cause death. The incised wound on the neck was caused later.

iv. No food was found in the stomach of Hemraj.

v. The blunt injury is on the back side of his head.

vi. The abrasion and contusion on the body of Hemraj indicated anti-mortem dragging.

Common conclusions:

i. The identical measurement of the lacerated wound by blunt weapon in both the victims shows the use of same weapon to hit both the victims.

ii. As per the statement of doctors who conducted postmortem, the injuries to the neck of both the victims were caused by small and sharp weapon by a surgically trained person in a precise manner. But an expert committee got constituted by earlier had concluded to the cut marks could have been made by a Khukri.
FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar: Cristiano Ronaldo to Lionel Messi, stars likely to play their last WC
New Delhi: Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Thursday reviewed the construction of the country's first indigenous aircraft carrier - Vikrant, at the Cochin Shipyard. The Navy expects the 40,000-tonne aircraft carrier to be fully operational by 2019.

Admiral Lanba took stock of the various construction activities related to Vikrant - named after India's first aircraft carrier that was acquired from the UK in 1961. "At the shipyard, the CNS (chief of Naval staff) accompanied by the FOC-in-C (South) and other senior officials of the Navy took a walk around of the ship to get a first hand appreciation of the progress of work onboard," a Defence release stated.

The ship, which is designed to survive attack by nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, puts India in the elite group of nations like the US, Russia, the UK and France that are capable of designing and constructing aircraft carriers. Once complete, it would be able to accommodate 12 MiG-29Ks, eight Tejas Light Combat Aircrafts and 10 helicopters, and is expected to have a range of 7,500 nautical miles at 18 knots speed.

At an allocated cost of Rs 20,000 crore, its construction - approved first in 2003 - has, however, suffered numerous delays and has taken a toll on Navy resources.

In a report, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had previously highlighted that construction activities are likely to be finished only by 2023. "It is evident from the PERT chart (September 2014) of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) that while the delivery of the carrier with completion of all activities is likely to be achieved only by 2023," read the report.

In sharp contrast, China launched its own indigenous aircraft carrier in April of this year and reports suggest it can become operational by 2020. At 70,000 tonnes, the Type 001A - named Shandong - will help the country edge past India for the first time in number of aircraft carriers each has. India currently has the solitary INS Vikramaditya after it decommissioned INS Viraat earlier in the year.

According to several defence experts, the Indian Navy is also lacking in the number of submarines it has. With 11 of its 13 submarines more than 25 years old, Indian Navy has a big problem at hand - especially in the backdrop of reports that China is looking at expanding its presence in the Indian Ocean. Chinese Navy currently has more than 70 submarines.
Nepal Mediciti launches healthcare package

Nepal Mediciti Hospital, the super multi-specialty hospital operating in the country, on Wednesday launched a healthcare package for elderly parents of Non Residential Nepalis (NRNs).
PM, Home Minister pay final tributes to late Gauchan

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Thursday paid final tributes to Sharad Kumar Gauchan, chairman of the Federation of Contractors Association Nepal (FCAN). Gauchan was shot dead by an unidentified group in the capital on Monday.
Saptari Land Reform Office Chief caught red-handed with bribe

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) caught the chief of District Land Reform Office, Saptari, red-handed with bribe in Rajbiraj on Thursday.
Set it right

In April the Kavre District Court rendered a long-awaited verdict, finding three Nepal Army (NA) officialsBobi Khatri, Sunil Prasad Adhikari and Amit Punguilty of the murder of Maina Sunuwar in 2004. A fourth officer, Niranjan Basnet, was acquitted on the grounds of lack of evidence.
Tainted NOC boss Khadka moves to buy more land

Controversial Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) Managing Director Gopal Bahadur Khadka has moved to buy additional land in Chitwan despite still facing embezzlement charges in earlier land deals that recently led to his being fired from his post.
Java EE: What's in a Name?

The news that the Java Platform Enterprise Edition (Java EE) would be moving to the Eclipse Foundation broke about two weeks before this year's JavaOne conference, and the event, held last week in San Francisco, was buzzing with the news. The community appears to be mostly happy about this development, and hopes are high that, finally, enterprise Java will get the attention it deserves.

But there's a detail in this deal that's rubbing a lot of Java jocks the wrong way: Java EE under Eclipse might not be called "Java." Oracle wants to restrict the use of the word in naming the platform, and also the use of "javax" for the standard package of extensions, because of branding intellectual property (IP) concerns.

Oracle is re-licensing Oracle-led Java EE technologies and related GlassFish technologies to the Eclipse Foundation, including reference implementations, technology compatibility kits (TCKs,) and associated project documentation. But the company also has said that it plans to "rebrand" the platform with a new name, yet to be determined.

The working name for the draft top-level project charter for Eclipse Enterprise Java is "EE4J." That acronym elicited such "passionate feedback" from the enterprise Java community, that the Eclipse Foundation's executive director, Mike Milinkovich, published a long blog post to clarify the issue.

"I think that many people are assuming that EE4J will become the brand that replaces Java EE," he wrote. "Wrong. Java EE is a certification mark. To label something as 'Java EE,' you need to get a license from Oracle and pass the TCKs. There are many implementations of Java EE, such as WebLogic, WebSphere, JBoss, and Glassfish. EE4J is the name of the top-level project at the Eclipse Foundation. As such it is the umbrella under which the source code and TCKs for Glassfish, EclipseLink, and (hopefully) Eclipse MicroProfile will exist."

Why does this matter so much?

"The fundamental issue here is this: by moving Java EE to Eclipse, Oracle is, to some degree, forcing a distance between Java EE and the Java Platform," said Reza Rahman, a former enterprise Java evangelist at Oracle and one of the founders of the Java EE Guardians. "But Java EE has been an intrinsic part of the platform from the very beginning. All the namespaces and APIs start with the 'java" or 'javax' prefix." People contribute and adopt it because they believe in and trust the Java brand."

Branding may seem like a trivial thing, Rahman told me, but it mattersnot enough to stall the process of moving Java EE to the Eclipse Foundation, but enough to organize some feedback on the issue and send it to Oracle, which the Guardians have done via an email form. Rahman says that more than 500 people signed on and sent their opinions to Oracle, the Eclipse Foundation, IBM, and Red Hat.

The site is still generating feedback from the community, and Rahman strongly urges anyone interested in this issue to add their voice to the conversation.

The Guardians have tread lightly on this issue so far, but are poised to adopt the position, officially, for retaining "Java" in the Foundation version of Java EE.

"We want to clarify that collectively we value the EE4J initiative, and we don't want it to stall, but we really do want to retain 'Java," Rahman said. "We want to remain part of the community."

If Oracle won't budge on the issue, Rahman added, enterprise Java will survive, as have other platforms, such as OSGi, which has never been part of the Java Community Process, but has a respected position in the Java space.

"We are months away from even starting to define the specification process that will be used in the future," Milinkovich wrote in his blog post. "However, when we do, I expect that this new process will create a new certification mark which can be properly considered the new 'Java EE' name. We will be engaging with the community in the selection of that name."
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6, ARMENPRESS. Russias Mi-28 helicopter was not shot down by terrorists of the Islamic State (outlawed in Russia) contrary to media rumors, but made an emergency landing in Hama due to technical problems, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday, adding that the crew were well.

"On October 6, 2017 a Mi-28 helicopter had to make an emergency landing due to technical problems. The incident occurred while the Mi-28 was escorting another helicopter, a Mi-8, carrying personnel of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Conflicting Parties," the Defense Ministry said.

According to the ministry, the Mi-28s crew were not hurt.

"The search and rescue service promptly delivered them to the air base," the report said. The pilots life and health are not in danger.

"As follows from the crews report and the examination of the aircraft, there had been no fire attack," the Defense Ministry stated.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Despite being small in number, the Armenian community of Malaysia has left a great trace in the countrys life. Yet 200 years ago when Malaysia was entering a new development stage, the authorities were trying to attract the attention of different traders, businessmen aimed at contributing to the development of investments. On the way to these search, Armenians were also interested in Malaysia. In ancient times Armenians came to Malaysia mainly from India and Old Julfa and within a short period of time they played a decisive role in the countrys economic, cultural and architectural history.

Emil Petrosyan  leader of the Armenian community of Malaysia, told ARMENPRESS that the Armenian community has left a significant trace in the country.

There are still standing buildings which have been constructed by Armenians. There is a great museum-hotel called Eastern and Oriental Hotel where the names of founding Armenians have been maintained. The hotels premises and rooms are named after the founders. Today there are Armenian streets in Kuala Lumpur: one is called Armenian street, and the other Aratoon Road. They are one of the most famous streets and are always in the spotlight of tourists, Emil Petrosyan said.

In the course of years the local Armenians have moved to other countries. Firstly they relocated in Singapore, then during the First World War they moved to Australia, New Zealand. After the 1930s there is no information about Armenians living in Malaysia.

Years later Armenians started to relocate in Malaysia since 2000s. The formation of the current Armenian community begins from this period. At the moment Armenians in Malaysia mainly live in Kuala Lumpur. Emil Petrosyan informed that currently nearly 45 Armenians live in Malaysia.

The local Armenians are from different countries. There are several families who came from Armenia. There are less mixed marriages. Their activity fields differ  business, telecommunication, services, education, finance. Many of them are leading specialists, he said.

There is no Armenian school in Malaysia, therefore the preservation of the Armenian language mainly depends on families. There is also no Armenian church, but it doesnt hinder to deliver a prayer in Armenian there.

This year a historical event took place for the Armenian community. A mass was delivered for the first time in Kuala Lumpurs Archangel Michael Orthodox Church.

This was a really historical moment. There has not been a prayer in Armenian here for decades. It was done thanks to the organizational efforts of the community. All members of the community, as well as guests, relatives of the Armenian people attended the liturgy. At the end of the liturgy, Holy Baptism took place. Three children were baptized, Emil Petrosyan said.

As for awareness of Malaysian people about Armenia, Emil Petrosyan said they know about Armenians, but they are unaware of Armenia. Many are not informed about Armenia, its geographical position, tourism opportunities. A lot of works should be done on this path. Emil Petrosyan said in recent period Henrikh Mkhitaryan contributes to raising awareness on Armenia.

As for the tourism flow from Armenia to Malaysia, it is also not so active. According to Emil Petrosyan this is linked with the trip being expensive.

Anna Gziryan
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Recently the conference of Diaspora writers was held in Yerevan and Tsakhkadzor, with the participation of writers, translators, literature critics from various countries.

ARMENPRESS had an interview with writer, translator, literary critic Alexander Topchyan about the significance of the conference and other issues.

I am participating in these events ever since the first conference. This might sound immodest but it was also my initiative to organize conferences relating to writers who write in Armenian and foreign languages. We have talked a lot about this with the former president of the Writers Union of Armenia Levon Ananyan and we concluded that they [the conferences] have not only cultural, but also political significance. The conferences give birth to new ideas, and make the works of writers from Armenia and the Diaspora recognizable. Issues relating to the preservation of the Armenian identity are also discussed, he said.

He added that there are many writers in the Diaspora who write in different languages and have achieved successes, received awards, and they can present the Armenian Cause, and become Armenias Ambassadors in foreign countries. It isnt necessary at all for these writers to write about the Armenian Genocide. They can create favorable atmosphere around Armenians in their good books, he said.

Speaking on the successes of the conferences, Topchyan said that after the events the works of the writers began to be translated and published even more in America, Belgium, France, Germany and other countries. And these writers use their contacts and opportunities in favor of Armenia.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Russia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia consider Georgias intensive cooperation with NATO as a real threat to regional security, the Russian foreign ministry said after a regular round of Geneva discussions on security and stability in the South Caucasus held in the Swiss capital on October 10-11, TASS reports.

The delegations of Russia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia have emphasized that Tbilisis further, deeper cooperation with NATO is viewed as a real threat to regional security, the ministry said, adding that those countries continue insisting on further discussing the non use of force in the South Caucasus.

The Russian foreign ministry also informed that the next meeting on security issues in the South Caucasus is scheduled in December in Geneva.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. President of the Central Bank of Armenia Artur Javadyan departed for Washington D.C. on a working visit to participate in the annual meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, press service of the CBA told Armenpress.

The CBA President will have meetings with the governors of the Central Banks of subgroups led by Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as with the representatives of international financial institutions.

Meetings are also expected with the high-ranking leadership of World Bank, IMF, EBRD.

Within the frames of events a number of working discussions will be held on regional economic developments, current analysis of international financial market.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. CSTO Chief of Joint Staff Anatoly Sidorov commented on Russias arms sales to Azerbaijan during a press conference in Yerevan on October 12, reports Armenpress.

Anatoly Sidorov said Azerbaijan would seek another supplier of weapons if a CSTO member state doesnt sell weapons to it.

In my opinion when certain countries cooperate, there are institutions, heads for that who very thoroughly and seriously assess the situation. I think the main task is the maintenance of balance and the final settlement of the conflict. If Azerbaijan is inclined to purchase arms, it will find it in any way, Sidorov said.

He expressed hope that the actions of various structures will result in establishing lasting peace and stability in the region. He expressed confidence that the settlement of conflicts is possible only through peaceful means.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. A Cabinet sitting was held on October 12, chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. Before proceeding to the agenda, the Prime Minister issued a number of instructions. The Premiers first instruction had to do with the formation of multifunctional community service centers in enlarged communities, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia.

19 centers providing complex social services have already been commissioned in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of community services. Later these centers will be handed over to communities. At the same time, efforts are being made to improve the quality and effectiveness of services provided in multifunctional community service centers in those communities in process of consolidation, the Prime Minister said and urged those responsible to submit to the Government Staff proposals to reorganize the regional complex social service centers and multifunctional community service centers into single units operational on the same platform.



The Prime Ministers following instructions suggested exempting the import of vehicles propelled by electric motors from taxes, duties and the property tax, as well as reviewing progress in the Clean Armenia program and the preparations for the upcoming cleanup day.

In line with the requirements of the Law on Amending the RA Law on Employment, proceeding from the need to address the problems identified as a result of the monitoring and evaluation of State-administered employment programs, the Government adopted a relevant decision in order to facilitate the entry into the labor market of uncompetitive and unskilled young mothers under 30.

The meeting endorsed the Governments legislative initiative on the package of bills to amend the RA Law on Motor Transport and the RA Code on Administrative Offenses.

If adopted, the bills shall form a unified route network in the Republic, provide transportation services to all settlements, improve service quality and enhance safety in passenger transportation.

With reference to the bill, Karen Karapetyan noted that a legislative framework to regulate the new transport network is being created. We want to set up a transport network that will not leave any settlement out of the map. We will create lots where we can unite profitable and non-profit groups so that it may prove profitable for businesses. We are also planning to conclude long-term contracts so that the investor could be sure of having a long-term job and make an investment, the Prime Minister emphasized.

Asked about the timeline of introduction of the proposed network, Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies Vahan Martirosyan noted that a pilot program will be implemented in one of the provinces, after which steps will be taken to apply it nationwide based on the results of the pilot program. According to the Minister, the pilot program will be implemented over the next two to three months, while the introduction of the network will call for a year.

The Prime Minister urged him to have the preparatory work for the network introduction completed as soon as possible. By the end of the first quarter, the whole network should have been examined based on the results of pilot programs. We will look into its logic, the contracts in effect and the timelines and we will state what kind of network and investors we will have and what opportunities it will offer.

The Government passed a decision in an effort to streamline the architectural styles of buildings, facade solutions and their key elements, compositions, ornaments, the proportions of exterior doors and windows, and the roofs harmonious color solutions.

The Premier instructed to take into account investors and developers interests. Do not set excessive restrictions. Clear-cut standards should be established in order to avoid red tape on the spot. You must pay special attention to not raising the cost price or limit their freedom.

In accordance with another government decree passed at todays meeting, those irrigation and water supply systems built under the Infrastructure and Rural Financing Assistance Program will be donated to communities.

Addressing Minister of Territorial Administration and Development Davit Lokyan, Karen Karapetyan noted that donating the aforementioned facilities to communities is correct, but their management should be monitored to avoid subsequent problems. Touching on the supply of gas to border settlements, the Prime Minister told Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources Ashot Manukyan to consider all of the options, including the alternatives and, specifically, the use of solar energy.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian diplomacy played a great role on withdrawing Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglus candidacy for the post of Director-General of UNESCO, Arman Navasardyan  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Head of the Department of World Politics and International Relations at Russian Armenian University, told a press conference in ARMENPRESS.

We started working with the foreign ministry, numerous meetings were held, articles were published, we established numerous contacts with different countries. In other words, we used the opportunities of public diplomacys soft power, and it gave a perfect result, Arman Navasardyan said, adding that such political path should continue.

Of course, the Armenian diplomacy worked well, but according to Arman Navasardyan, Bulbuloglu himself contributed to that process. I would like to talk in particular about his speech which was so laughing for the audience, it included Caucasian toasts, he was saying the following: I will bring a lot of money and it will benefit to you all. One of the attendees, however, said you only talk about money, but what programs you have. In other words, his speech was at the lowest level of ethics, diplomacy and political culture, he said. As a result Bulbuloglu received two votes at the first round, after which Azerbaijan officially withdrew his candidacy. This shows that Azerbaijans huge financial resources didnt help.

On October 10 Polad Bulbuloglu withdrew his candidacy for the Director-General of UNESCO.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Ameriabanks team has reached the final stage of the 8th International Online Virtual Banking Competition. The final will be held on November 23 in Hague, where Ameriabank will be competing with 3 other finalists: Bancop SA (Paraguay), Supervielle (Argentina) and Ficohsa (Honduras). Overall, 30 banks from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and Central Asia were participating in the competition, Americabank told Armenpress.

The competition is related to effective assets, liabilities and risk management issues in banks.

The aim of the competition is to promote knowledge in finance and banking, upgrade professional skills, share alternative and innovative knowledge and international experience, strengthen and develop risk management practices in financial institutions.

The competition was organized by SimArch Group as part of finance and banking learning platform and financed by the Netherlands FMO, DEG (member of KfW Group) and French PROPARCO.

SimArch presents new advanced learning solutions for professionals in financial and banking sectors since 1999, providing big education opportunities. The companys learning programs have been successfully implemented by 170 entities in 45 countries, including major banks such as ABN AMRO, ING, FirstRand, Dexia and others.

Ameriabank is a dynamically developing bank and one of the major and most stable financial institutions in Armenia. The first investment bank in Armenia, Ameriabank has been providing a large package of innovative banking services since 2007. Now Ameriabank CJSC is a universal bank offering corporate, investment and retail banking services in a comprehensive package of banking solutions.
YEREVAN, 12 OCTOBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 12 October, USD exchange rate is up by 0.10 drams to 480.32 drams. EUR exchange rate is up by 2.42 drams to 569.32 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate is up by 0.03 drams to 8.33 drams. GBP exchange rate is up by 1.53 drams to 634.89 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price is down by 29.05 drams to 19909.43 drams. Silver price is up by 0.52 drams to 264.84 drams. Platinum price is up by 64.75 drams to 14346.22 drams.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and the USA mark the 25th anniversary of cooperation between Armenia and the USAID that has had an important role in bilateral relations. Political, diplomatic and public figures were present at the event.

Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan, who was also present at the event, mentioned in his speech that the USAID has rendered significant assistance to Armenia during the past 25 years helping to establish democracy of market economy.

There were also projects directed at the elimination of the consequences of the earthquake and were humanitarian by nature. At the end of the 90s we gave new impetus to a new form of cooperation. The emphasis was put on market economy, empowerment of the private sector, macroeconomic reforms, fostering the investment atmospheres and creating grounds for a sustainable development, ARMENPRESS reports the Premier saying.

Karen Karapetyan noted that the USA is one of Armenias main partners, and there is more potential to develop cooperation.

Ambassador of the USA to Armenia Richard Mills noted that it was possible to achieve progress in Armenia since the USAID collaborated with its Armenian partners side by side.

The first staff members of the USAID arrived in Armenia 25 years ago with a goal of a long-term cooperation with the people of Armenia on their way to creating a sovereign and independent state. As the first official at the State Department responsible for the Armenian affairs and the first diplomat in Washington who was focused on daily basis on the issues facing the newly independent Republic of Armenia, I could see at least from distance how difficult those dark years were when the first employees of the USAID arrived Richard Mills said, gladly recording the progress of Armenia in economy, democracy, development of mass media and civil society.

USAID/Armenia Mission Director Deborah Grieser thanked the former and present partners of the Agency for productive work.

Since 1992 when USAID/Armenia mission was opened, 1 billion USD assistance has been provided to the people of Armenia through projects touching almost all the economic and public spheres of Armenia.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The solemn ceremony of bestowing the title of National Hero of Armenia on Argentine-Armenian philanthropist Eduardo Eurnekian took place on October 12 at the Presidential Palace of Armenia, during which President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan handed out Order of Motherland to the great philanthropist for his exclusive services of pan-Armenian importance and patriotic activities aimed at the development and prosperity of Armenia.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Armenian Presidents Office, before the start of the ceremony Serzh Sargsyan received Eduardo Eurnekian and discussed with him opportunities for new investment projects in Armenia. Eurnekian expressed readiness to continue his activities in the Motherland.

During the ceremony of handing out the highest title, President Sargsyan referred to the past path of Eduardo Eurnekian and his patriotic initiatives, highly assessing his activities and expressing conviction that he will continue doing that thankful work with the same enthusiasm.

There is no need to specially present Mr. Eduardo Eurnekian. Not only in Argentina but in different continents of the world Mr. Eurnekian enjoys great reputation due to the large-scale works done by his leadership, President Sargsyan said, adding that as a really devoted Armenian he also created a large business in Armenia. Serzh Sargsyan also noted that apart from being a successful business, Eduardo Eurnekian is also a great philanthropist. Despite the fact that he never speaks out about his charity programs, we are aware of the size of those programs, Serzh Sargsyan said.

Eduardo Eurnekian assessed it a great honor to be awarded with the highest title of the Motherland. He expressed gratitude to the President of Armenia and stressed that he accepts the awards with a great sense of responsibility. Mr. President, I am thankful to you for the warm words. Its really a great honor to be here today and receive the medal of a National Hero, he said.
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has handed instructions to the Foreign Ministry to make preparations for the countrys withdrawal from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) together with the US, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, Netanyahus office said in a statement.

"Netanyahu has given instructions to the Foreign Ministry to prepare to pull out of UNESCO together with the US," the statement reads.

Earlier on Thursday, the United States announced its withdrawal from UNESCO. According to a statement issued by US Department of State Spokesperson Heather Nauert, "US withdrawal will take effect on December 31, 2018." "On October 12, 2017, the Department of State notified UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova of the US decision to withdraw from the organization and to seek to establish a permanent observer mission to UNESCO," the statement says.

According to the Foreign Policy magazine, the US has decided to pull out of UNESCO "to save money and protest what it views as the organizations anti-Israel bias." The magazine added that in 2011, "the United States cut off more than $80 million a year, about 22% of its entire budget for UNESCO, in reprisal for the organizations acceptance of Palestine as a member."

The organizations Director-General Irina Bokova expressed "profound regret at the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO."




YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Geneva next week, member of the RPA parliamentary faction Armen Ashotyan told the reporters after the Executive Body meeting of the party. During the meeting we also touched upon the issue of the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents to be held in Geneva next week initiated by the Minsk Group Co-chairs, Ashotyan said.

He added that everyone knows the position of Armenia on Nagorno Karabakh conflict and just recently the President of Armenia presented that position once again at the UN.

He stressed that its obvious that the principles adopted at the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits remain on the table of the negotiation process.
LOS ANGELES  Mandy Muse returns to Reality Kings in a new scene for RKs Monster Curves site. Released on Tuesday, Mandy Muse Got Back centers on Muse's booty, as she rehearses for her new music video.

Her newest backup dancer, Chad White, tries to learn her moves, but hes much too distracted by her ass. She notices this, and gives White a private lesson, which starts with some face sitting. After Muse notices White's pants start to grow, she removes them, and gives him some oral attention. Muse gets pounded in several different positions, including a flexibility defying split on a ballet barre. Muse then gets some ass to pussy, before the climax of an anal creampie.

Muses latest release is Anal Delinquent 2: Butt Slut For Daddy. Released Wednesday by Laz Fyre and Lady Olivia Fyre, Muse plays a girl scolded by her father (Laz) when he spots her tattoo after she drops her fidget spinner. The discussion gets heated, and after much back and forth, Laz puts Muses fidget spinner in her butt. Laz is surprised when Muse tells him she likes that, and begs him to fuck her ass. See the video here.

Muse was also featured in the recently released Axel Brauns Big Ass Anal Movie, from director Braun and Wicked Pictures. Her anal scene is with Ike Diezel.

Mandy is represented by Society 15 and is available for B/G, G/G, B/B/G, B/G/G, IR, creampie, anal, and more.

Follow Mandy on Twitter and Instagram.
S.B. 656 eliminates judicial primaries in 2018, leaving open prospect of more changes

Senate Republicans sent strong signals with Thursday's passage of the Electoral Freedom Act of 2017 that they may still scrap judicial elections in exchange for some form of merit selection for judges.Senate Bill 656 is a wide-ranging electoral reform package now awaiting Gov. Roy Cooper's signature. Its backers said it would eliminate the 2018 judicial primaries so lawmakers can methodically deliberate the best method to choose future judges.in seeking an alternate way of selecting judges, Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, primary sponsor of S.B. 656, said during floor debate.He called the current system flawed because voters seldom know who the candidates are, and know even less about their positions, partly because they are barred from saying how they would rule on cases.Hise raised the prospect of reviving a judicial retention system the General Assembly passed in 2015, saying a constitutional amendment would resolve any legal hurdles.The state Supreme Court hasn't ruled definitively on the concept, Hise said. It divided 3-3 on the legislation in May 2016, leaving in place a Court of Appeals decision that said electing a Supreme Court justice on an up-or-down vote was unconstitutional.Democrats complained they were blindsided by the 2018 primary cancellation, alleging it was partisan gamesmanship to protect the seat held by Republican Supreme Court Justice Barbara Jackson. Hise said there's no political advantage to Republicans because Jackson is the only justice up for election, and Democrats could not lose their majority on the high court.Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, defended canceling the judicial primary next year because it allows more time to work on legislation House Republicans are pushing.Lewis said Republicans were criticized for trying to rush a decision on House Bill 717 . It calls for redrawing the state's judicial districts to reflect population and other changes since they were last mapped 60 years ago.As a result of public hearings and input, bill authors made some changes to H.B. 717, and others could come when the Senate takes up the bill after the General Assembly returns for a January session, Lewis said. The Senate, which has been cool to the measure, adjourned late Thursday afternoon, several hours before the House passed the bill 69-43.Canceling the primary would give candidates more time to get to know their new districts and not make hurried decisions for a February primary filing, Lewis said.Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, D-Wake, said the N.C. Bar Association has long supported merit selection of judges, but it may be difficult to persuade voters to give up their right to elect them. He cautioned Republicans to be careful in changing the system.with reforms that appear to be partisan, Blue said.without undermining voter confidence.House Minority Leader Darren Jackson, D-Wake, said of canceling the primary and going straight to the election.Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, a former chief district court judge, said the billShe asked whether it's wise policy to elect a judge who likely would receive a small fraction of total votes in a crowded field.The Senate voted 30-16 to pass S.B. 656, with Sen. Tamara Barringer, R-Wake, the only crossover vote. The House approved the bill, 70-44. Reps. John Blust, R-Guilford, and Larry Pittman, R-Cabarrus, voted against the bill. Reps. William Brisson, D-Bladen, and Elmer Floyd, D-Cumberland, voted with Republicans in favor of the bill.Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement spokesman Patrick Gannon said legislative leadership didn't consult with the board in drafting S.B. 656. He said there's precedent for not holding a judicial primary. None was held for a Supreme Court race in 2004, a Court of Appeals race in 2010, or a Court of Appeals contest in 2014.even when 19 candidates ran for the Court of Appeals seat in 2014, Gannon said.
North Carolinians from every city and town should be applauding this list of individuals. They joined 234 other House legislators in passing H.R. 36 , the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Act. This seemingly routine act of carrying out their legislative responsibilities has the potential to save scores of children, should this bill pass the Senate.Opposite of my praise for these representatives is my disappointment in three others. Missing from this list is my own representative, David Price, as well as Rep. George Butterfield and Rep. Alma Adams. Their rejection of this bill is absolutely shameful. Why?The life issue is not something any of us can afford to get wrong. To deny the personhood of the victims of the American Holocaust is incomprehensible. From the point of conception, these children deserve to be given their just due: a chance at life.Representatives who opposed this legislation have proven their willingness, despite a preponderance of evidence, to be either: a) science deniers or b) indifferent to the plight of unborn children. If they are science deniers, they have essentially chosen to reject an opportunity to pass a bill that has been crafted with a heavy reliance upon empirical evidence that children at least twenty weeks gestation have the ability to experience pain in the same way that adults do.Essentially, if you or I are capable of feeling dismemberment or chemical burns, the science shows that these children are, too. What in the world would motivate legislators such as Price, Butterfield, and Adams to reject such basic human rights to these children?After all, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Act should be a bill that every legislator on Capitol Hill can agree upon, because it protects the intentional crushing, dismemberment, or lethal injection of an extremely vulnerable population within our nation's borders.Unfortunately even at the state level unborn children face life-endangering threats from legislators. Take H.B. 563 , for example. This bill, sponsored by Representatives Susan Fisher, Carla Cunningham and Graig Meyer, sought to extend abortion access past the twenty-week gestational age, ensuring the victims of abortions in NC experienced an unspeakably painful death. Thankfully, this cruel piece of legislation did not pass, although it highlights the importance of vigilance at every level of government.Representatives Price, Butterfield, and Adams will have to speak for themselves as to why they voted against legislation that would stop children-scientifically-proven to feel pain-from being subjected to dismemberment, lethal injection, or crushing. After learning of their 100 percent voting record from Planned Parenthood , I can draw a few conclusions as to why.If these legislators refuse to place people - including unborn babies-above the ideologically-driven agenda spawned by Planned Parenthood founder and eugenicist Margaret Sanger, then I suggest we find men and women better committed to defending life.
Dreamhost is the hosting provider for disruptj20.org, a website where 1.3 million people discussed plans for protesting Donald Trump's inauguration; in August, Trump's DoJ got a warrant demanding all the communications, IP addresses and other details on all 1.3 million people who used the site.

Trump's DoJ argued that since there was some violence at the inauguration protests, they needed everyone's details to prosecute the guilty.

Yesterday, District of Columbia Superior Court Chief Judge Robert E. Morin told Trump's lawyers to go fuck themselves: "[you don't] have the right to rummage through the information contained on DreamHost's website and discover the identity of, or access communications by, individuals not participating in alleged criminal activity, particularly those who were engaging in protected First Amendment activities. "

However, Paul Alan Levy, a lawyer for Public Citizen, an advocacy organization that is representing people who visited the site anonymously, isn't totally on board with all the nuances of the judge's ruling. "The judge has decided to allow a search of emails from anonymous users (without their identifying information) even though the government never showed that it had a good reason to look at those emails," Levy e-mailed in a statement. "And he will allow the government to make its justifications under seal, based on a presumption (without any evidence) that secrecy is needed to protect the government's investigation. In this way, the judge is denying Public Citizen and DreamHost the opportunity to explain why the government's arguments for a search protocol or access to a particular record should be rejected."



Court significantly reins in what data anti-Trump website must give to feds

[Cyrus Farivar/Ars Technica]





(Image: Pax Ahimsa Gethen, CC-BY-SA)
Didi Taihuttu expects the price of bitcoin will soar, so much so that he's selling his house, car, and other valuables to obtain even more of it.

Now, 39-year-old Taihuttu is living at a campsite with his wife and three children, waiting till 2020 for his investment in cryptocurrency to pay off, according to Business Insider.

The cramped living space may be a bit different from the four-bedroom home the Taihuttu family, from the Netherlands, was used to, but since the house was sold under reservation partly for bitcoin in August, the value of a single bitcoin has gone from $3,700 to $4,800.

"At first my wife doubted the decision, wondering if it was the right decision for our kids  as did my brother and sister but they are now supportive of the plan," Taihuttu told Newsweek.

Via Business Insider:

Taihuttu thinks digital coins such as bitcoin and the blockchain technology behind it are transforming the role of money and banks in society. With blockchain, no third party is required to approve a payment  a role currently performed by banks  and a network of computers keeps a record of all transactions. "The Internet was a revolution for information. I think that blockchain and cryptocurrency are revolutionising the monetary system," says Taihuttu. "In five years' time, everyone will say: 'We could have seen it coming.' I am responding to this change now."

Image: BTC Keychain
Vigilante mobs in Malawi have killed five people accused of ritualistic human blood drinking and the threat has left a bad taste for United Nations officials.

The U.N. has pulled staff from two southern districts where the vampire scare has spread from neighboring Mozambique, according to the BBC.

U.N. staff members were temporarily relocated to safer areas when the organization reported villagers began placing roadblocks to hunt for "vampires." The Malawi government put a curfew in place from 5pm to 7am local time to try and prevent more deaths, which is appropriate considering would-be vampire hunters are likely to work during peak nighttime vampire hours, according to most vampire folklore.

Image: Illustration by David Henry Friston, 1872
Chinese social media platforms allow state internet censors to directly suppress individual posts as well as keywords, and an army of young, cool internet censors labor in a swanky office in the Wisdom Mountain Twin Towers in the eastern city of Tianjin to prevent discussions of Tiananmen Square, the missteps of party members, or gaps between the doctrines of the Communist Party and the day-to-day life in China.

The workforce in Wisdom Mountain Twin Towers show up for work in business-casual, manage their shifts on iPads, get a free daily afternoon tea break and enjoy a "horizontal" organizational structure that lets them communicate directly with the CEO about their ideas for improving their workplace. They're part of a workforce of Chinese internet censors that was measured at 2,000,000 people in 2013 and has grown sharply since then.

Many of these censors work for private companies that contract with the Chinese government, like Toutiao, which just raised at least $2B in the capital markets.

Zhang Lijun, chairman of the online news and video portal V1 Group, said that between 20 and 30 per cent of his company's labour costs went on content auditors  a necessary business expenditure. "Without doubt you need to maintain close ties with the ruling party," Zhang said. "Party building, setting up party units properly, these can ensure your news goes out smoothly and keeps your business operations safe." The Beijing-based censor said Toutiao used artificial intelligence systems to censor content, though these don't always understand the tone of posts. "We are training the AI. They are not as smart. Hopefully they will learn to handle all this eventually."

For now, though, real humans are still in demand. An advertisement Toutiao posted on Tianjin Foreign Studies University's career page for students this month sought 100 fresh graduates to work in "content audit", earning between 4,000-6,000 yuan ($611-$917) per month.

'It's seen as a cool place to work'  how China's censorship machine is becoming a growth industry

[Reuters]

(via Beyond the Beyond)
Money Talks: The Displaced U.S. Virgin Island Couple Living On $75,000

How Does A Hurricane Affect A Couple's Relationship? We Found Out

Everyone wants money, yet discussing it within the parameters of a relationship can be intimidating. When handled incorrectly, finances can crumble a romantic partnership  but when done in tandem, the right money conversations can go a long way. That looks different for different people, though. Welcome to Money Talks, AskMen's series on the relationship between our money and our relationships. Let's talk about cents, baby.

Emma and Ryan are a nomadic and madly in love couple who met nearly a decade ago on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Despite their fondness for a traveling lifestyle, the engaged pair were ready to set roots and get married on St. John  and then two Category 5 hurricanes hit. Hurricane Irma, which was followed by Hurricane Maria, left most of the U.S. Virgin Islands residents without running water, electricity, and Wi-Fi. The lack of internet access and damage from the storm has affected U.S. Virgin Islanders ability to work. Whats more, the storm damaged all three hospitals in the territory so badly that access to medicine is nearly impossible. Due to Ryans recent cancer diagnosis and Emmas need for internet access for her job, the couple left the island for Florida. AskMen caught up with them to learn how to use the pillars of a relationship to stay strong through unimaginable natural disasters.

What industry do you both work in?

Emma: My job is all online. So I had to leave just because theres no Wi-Fi and if I didnt leave I would have lost my job. I work in hospitality, for a luxury club, and we lost a bunch of properties in the Caribbean in Hurricane Irma and Maria. Ryan is a chef, but he quit his job recently and was about to start working on boats, which he recently got his certificate for.

So did you leave St. John for Florida due to the financial stress of the hurricane as youre unable to access Wi-Fi?

Emma: Yes, but also the big reason why we left, and we didnt stay to help is that a week before Irma we found out that Ryan has cancer in his eye for the third time. A form of skin cancer. We had to get out of there because this medication hes on needs to be on ice, and he couldnt even get the medicine down there, let alone keep it on ice, because of the power. You need power to make ice.

Im so sorry. And youre engaged?

Ryan: Weve been engaged for two and a half years now. Thats just how we roll. We were about to get married. We were making plans to get married, and this happened.

How did you two meet?

Emma: We met when I was on summer vacation in the Caribbean from my second year of college. I was waitressing at Lotus, the little sushi place, and he was doing his externship from college there. Within a month he quit his job there to work up in Massachusetts where I was going to college at the time.

When it comes to finances, do you keep them shared or separate, and do you make an effort to keep track of things or do you have a more casual attitude?

Ryan: Its pretty casual.

Emma: Ill give you a background story; Ill never forget this. It was in 2011 where I said to Ryan, So these are the bills we have to pay, heres whats going on this month. This is what I need. He just looked at me and said, I dont want to hear about it anymore, Ill just give you my paycheck, and youll do what needs to be done. So it became my role to take care of the bills, and its just trust between us.

RELATED: How This Couple Making $350,000 A Year In NYC Spends Their Money

Where are you staying in Florida, and how did that affect finances?

Emma: Were in an Airbnb right now, as were apartment hunting. We will live anywhere; thats how weve always been. We will live where its convenient, and we will adapt, so, were used to doing that sort of thing. But I think its the first time where we felt displaced because we werent ready to move. Weve lived in probably seven states in the past nine years. Every time we moved we were ready to move. But in this situation, it was just like they swept the rug out from under us and we werent ready. [St. John] was the first place where we were like...well buy a home. Well buy a juicer and a blender. Everywhere else we were like, were good with the clothes on our backs.

In calmer times, if you were to splurge or buy a gift for one another, what would that be?

Ryan: Two days ago we decided to walk around this town, and we got some craft ice cream, but were not like, Lets go to a Michelin Star restaurant, were like, Lets talk to the locals and find the best street food in this city. I would say food. God, what do we splurge on?

Emma: Good weed. It actually really helps Ryan with his eye. This is the third time hes had cancer, and its been three and a half years now. The first time the doctor said, Dont smoke weed, and now shes saying, You know what, smoke weed. If it feels better, do it. Theres nothing wrong with weed. If anything theres something wrong with alcohol.

How do you split up car payments, debts, and food spending?

Emma: I manage the finances, but we both make the money to pay them. We rented a car when we got here. We did have a car in St. John; now its in my dads driveway. We left it specifically for protection [from looters] to make it look like someone is home. For food, the way we see it, is when we first got to Florida we were like, we went through a lot of crazy sh*t in the Caribbean. We ate a lot of [canned] soup, but we also ate well  my father had a grill on St. Thomas. Weve been traveling back and forth between St. John and St. Thomas using our dinghy boat. We went to the grocery store and bought a piece of steak to eat and sat down to dinner together out on the balcony. We didnt eat fantastically after the storm, but better than many. When we got to Florida, one night we said, Lets get some crab legs. Were not eating packaged ramen every day, but were not going over the top. I think that the biggest thing is that were not going out to eat. Were doing very well compared to others.

Speaking of money, if people want to donate to U.S. Virgin Island hurricane relief, what organizations would you point them to?

Emma: Kenny Chesney has a home on St. John and has helped the island with his time and money in an effort to rebuild. I swear he was one of the first people there. You can send money to his organization, or St. John Rescue, or Rotary District 7020 which covers the following islands impacted by Hurricane Irma and Maria: Anguilla, BVI, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Haiti, USVI, Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas.
A B.C. Supreme Court justice has rejected a bid for a speedier trial in a constitutional challenge to the country's assisted dying law.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association had asked the court to prevent the federal government from reintroducing evidence on issues that had already been decided in Carter v. Canada, the case that led to the legalization of assisted dying in Canada.

Lawyers with the BCCLA told reporters outside court that while the decision is unfortunate, they still expect the challenge to be successful.

"The downside of this decision is that the trial of our case may take longer. And that means that more people will spend more time trapped in intolerable suffering under a law that unjustly restricts access to medically assisted death," the BCCLA's acting director of litigation, Caily DiPuma, said in a news release.

"We succeeded in defeating the government's arguments in the Carter case and we will succeed in defeating them the second time around."

The BCCLA's challenge was filed on behalf of Julia Lamb of Chilliwack, a young woman with spinal muscular atrophy who has been in a wheelchair since age six and worries the deterioration of her body could cause unbearable physical and mental suffering for years.

Canada's assisted dying law currently only allows the service for patients with terminal illnesses. But someone who suffers from a chronic, debilitating and painful condition cannot seek a doctor's help in dying if death is not "reasonably foreseeable".

The federal government's legislation on the issue had been approved just a few days before the BCCLA's challenge was filed.

Robyn Moro, a 68-year-old Delta woman suffering from Parkinson's disease, added her name to the case earlier this year. She ended her life in September with the help of Dr. Ellen Wiebe, but her case will continue to be included in the challenge.
A court filing from B.C.'s police watchdog has made public the gruesome list of injuries suffered by Myles Gray in his fatal encounter with Vancouver police two years ago.

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday, asking for an order directing an officer who witnessed the altercation to sit for a second interview.

The petition alleges Const. Hardeep Sahota has refused numerous requests from the IIO.

Gray, a 33-year-old businessman from Sechelt, died after a violent struggle with as many as eight Vancouver police officers in August 2015. Gray was unarmed, and the officers were the only witnesses to the altercation.

According to the IIO's petition, a forensic autopsy revealed a long list of injuries to Gray's body, including a "fractured voice box; nasal fracture; dislocated jaw; fractured right orbital eye socket; fractured posterior right third rib; fractured sternum; hemorrhagic injury of one testicle; multi-focal bruising to thigh and right arm."

Investigators say they have yet to determine the exact cause of death.

Officers made no notes, petition alleges

On the day of Gray's death, police were called to South East Marine Drive after receiving a report that a man was harassing a woman by spraying her with a garden hose. Sahota was first to respond and called for backup after an "aggressive confrontation" with Gray, according to the petition.

The ultimate encounter with eight officers took place in a backyard on Joffre Avenue in Burnaby, hidden from view by bushes and trees.

The probe into what happened has now dragged on for 26 months, thanks in part to a standoff between Vancouver officers and the IIO over co-operation with investigators.

The IIO's petition has also revealed allegations of incomplete record keeping by the eight officers who dealt with Gray.

The court document alleges that none of the officers made any notes about the altercation, contrary to VPD policy. It says seven of them did submit evidence pages to PRIME, the police database, but not until at least five months after Gray had died.

Story continues

Gray's mother Margie is calling on the police department to come clean.

"This situation continues to be tortuous for the whole family. We have lost our Myles by the hands of those who are sworn to protect us. We want answers. We want the truth."

'Lost confidence'

The dispute between IIO investigators and Vancouver police has been simmering for months.

The union representing the officers said this spring it has "lost confidence 100 per cent" in the independent body, and that officers wanted to be allowed to review their notes or listen to archived radio transmissions before interviews.

But the IIO's petition alleges Sahota was told she could review her PRIME evidence page and a transcript of her previous interview before sitting down with investigators a second time. Her police union lawyer objected to the stipulation that could only happen inside the IIO office, according to an email included in the petition.

VPD spokesperson Const. Jason Doucette said he couldn't comment on the petition but wrote in an email: "This has been a long, difficult process for everyone involved, including Mr. Gray's family and friends and our officers and their families."

This is the second time this year the IIO has asked the court to intervene in its dispute with the Vancouver police force. The first petition, filed in March, calls for Chief Adam Palmer and seven of his officers to co-operate with the probe into the fatal shooting of a man outside a Canadian Tire last year.

Under a memorandum of understanding between B.C. police departments and the IIO, officers who have witnessed an incident involving death or serious injury are required to co-operate with IIO investigators.

Officers suspected of causing harm don't have that responsibility. They have the same right to protect themselves from self-incrimination as any other citizen.

With files from Eric Rankin
IT Relations

Getting 100 Percent LMS Buy-in from Faculty

These two institutions faced the same goal  convincing all their instructors to use the learning management system. Here's what's working.

When the University of Arkansas System entered into a contract with Blackboard last year, any system institution that wanted to participate could do so to leverage its buying power. More importantly, however, for one year any of the universities and colleges in the system could access the full range of products from the company and get help with training, deployment and consulting.

This was an opportunity 6,600-student U Arkansas Fort Smith (UAFS) didn't want to miss. Newly appointed Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Margaret Tanner was assigned the job of exploiting the new agreement. Particular interests: Blackboard's Outcomes Assessment, Analytics for Learn and Collaborate, "things we never had before," she said. To make those tools "operational to the full extent" for the campus as a whole, however, required every class to have its data in Blackboard. Thus was born the "100 percent" faculty buy-in assignment.

Meanwhile, Goodwin College, a Connecticut-based not-for-profit private school with 3,750 students, was on its own mission to achieve 100 percent LMS buy-in among its 89 full-time and 225 adjunct instructors  but for different reasons. There, Lisa Manley, the new director of Online Studies and the Center of Teaching Excellence as well as a faculty member, had discovered a few crossed wires at her institution.

The only people required to use Blackboard were those delivering online courses. Others were handing in student grades "willy-nilly." All the grades needed to be posted into Jenzabar SONIS, the student information system, but they might arrive in the form of spreadsheet data, via Blackboard data or inserted directly into SONIS. However, when a student would dispute a grade, all the college had to work with was the final grade itself and none of the particular details of the student's assignments. Discrepancies proliferated: Points were used vs. percentages, assessments weren't linked to the right categories, grade posting wasn't done in a timely manner and gradebooks weren't being backed up. That drove students crazy.

Then, two student and faculty surveys done between fall 2015 and spring 2016 as well as an analysis of Blackboard usage data exposed a few somewhat shocking surprises. A biggie: For some courses, it appeared there was a lag between the beginning of the semester and when students heard from their instructors. In some cases faculty took time to prepare for the course but failed to interact during the first week of an online class.

During a time when retention had become a major part of the college's five-year growth plan, those problems became "a huge issue," Manley said. She emphasized that instructors may have been communicating with students outside of the LMS  by e-mail or some other mechanism  but there was no evidence of the interactions.

That was when Goodwin administration dropped the hammer: Blackboard would be used in all classes, online and face-to-face. While gradebook usage was the "big push," according to Manley, faculty were also encouraged to post their syllabi and announcements on the LMS.

Training Starts the Transformation

While both institutions wanted to land at the same place and came up with similar tactics for achieving their goals, they approached the overall solution with unique perspectives. The use of the LMS Gradebook was mandated by administration at Goodwin. While that could have been tried at UAFS as well (and there were conversations about doing so), Tanner said, "I'd much rather have faculty willingly use a tool because they believe it's helpful, because it's providing some level of service or value to them in their class."
Retention

Report: Taking Just 1 More Course Improves Student Persistence

Taking just one more course per term can increase persistence toward graduation for some students, according to a new report from Civitas Learning.

Based on data from 60 institutions and nearly 1.4 million students, the report found that, particularly for part-time and nontraditional students, "even small shifts in course load can have a profound impact on success rates."

"Time to degree is a major concern for students, one that colleges often do not take seriously enough. Research shows that students who can take more classes on a focused path to a degree, should, because it helps them succeed at higher rates. Whether it's 15 in a term, 30 in a year, or just one more class," said Davis Jenkins, Civitas Learning advisor and senior research scholar at Community College Research Center, in a prepared statement. "This report adds another important component to this conversation regarding the on-path progress of part-time students, who are a large part of the higher education mix."

Key findings of the report include:

The average gap in persistence between part-time and full-time students was 12.03 percentage points;

The largest shift in median persistence, 14.91 percentage points, was found between community college students taking one course and those taking two; and

Smaller improvements of two to three percentage points were also visible all the way up to students who take six courses as opposed to those who take five.

The report's authors write that the findings suggest that campaigns that focus on a particular number of credits to improve retention may be ineffective because they ignore the differing circumstances among students.

"At community colleges, an estimated 62 percent of students are pursuing their studies on a part-time basis, for financial or personal reasons," said Karen A. Stout, president of Achieving the Dream, in the foreword to the report. "For those 6.5 million students, too many of whom never graduate, colleges must be prepared to have more expansive and nuanced conversations about completion. If our collective goal is to improve outcomes across higher education, we cannot and must not take our attention away from those students."

To access the full report, visit info.civitaslearning.com.
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What to See at Educause 2017

If you're headed to Philadelphia this month for the Educause Annual Conference (Oct. 31-Nov. 3), you won't want to miss these timely topics.

Longtime Educause attendees are no doubt familiar with this age-old dilemma: So much to do, so little time. To help sift through the options, we've scrutinized the conference agenda for sessions that best reflect current trends in higher education technology. Here are our top picks:

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: The Art of the Possible

Paul Erickson, assistant director for enterprise architecture at the University of Nebraska, and Kyle Bowen, director of education technology services at Penn State, will delve into the possibilities of machine learning and artificial intelligence  and how technology can bridge the gap between the data we measure and what we can do with it.

Net Neutrality: Current State and Potential Impact to Your Institution

Get up-to-date on the latest developments in net neutrality and how recent changes will affect higher education institutions.

Insights for Advancing a Digital Learning Strategy in Higher Education

Three institutions will discuss how to develop a digital learning vision, engage the campus community, drive academic innovation and more. Among the speakers: session leader Maya Georgieva, chief innovation officer at Digital Bodies, who received Campus Technology Innovators awards for her work at NYU in 2014 and 2011; and Peter Bryant, head of learning technology and innovation at the London School of Economics and Political Science, who received a Campus Technology Innovators award last year.

The Educause 2018 Top 10 IT Issues

Members of the Educause IT Issues panel will present an exclusive preview of next year's biggest topics in higher education information technology (the official list will be published in January). This is an extended hour-and-a-half-long session, so attendees will have a chance to ask questions and share opinions.

Who's Doing Our Data Laundry?  and Why?

Brad Wheeler, vice president of IT and CIO at Indiana University, will look at data laundering  the process of cleaning, organizing, enriching, repackaging and presenting data  and how to handle the issue at your institution.

Learning in Bursts: Microlearning with Social Media

Lindsey Sudbury and Clair Waterbury, both academic instructional technologists from Northeastern University, will share tools, processes and best practices for using social media to promote learning and engagement.

Perspectives on Video Creation to Enhance Student Learning: The Whys and Hows

Experts from Colgate University and LinkedIn Learning will deliver tips and techniques for using video to engage students and promote digital literacy.

Blockchain: How Can We Use It in Higher Ed?

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On November 1st, two of Crowned Heads most critically acclaimed and popular regional releases will be available nationwide for a 24-hour window. Today the company announced that the Tennessee Waltz and Yellow Rose, exclusive regional releases to Tennessee and Texas retailers respectively, will be offered for one day only nationwide for retailers to order. The promotion is being dubbed by Crowned Heads as Lawless Day.

Lawless Day was inspired by the 2013 film, The Purge, where all illegal acts are de-criminalized for a 12-hour period.

Waltz and Rose have consistently been two of our most sought-after cigars since their introductions, said Crowned Heads Co-Owner/Founder, Jon Huber. We wanted to use Lawless Day as a day in which we not only could shine a light on these two great cigars, but also, further promote their availability via the Tennessee and Texas retailers that support these brands throughout the year, as most also mail order these cigars to states outside of their own. Ive heard from people whove enjoyed both Waltz and Rose ranging from everywhere from Hawaii to New York to even Australia and Italy. Our hope is that if someone enjoys these cigars as a result of Lawless Day, that they will then contact participating retailers in Tennessee and Texas going forward, as well.

The Tennessee Waltz was introduced in 2014 as an exclusive release for the Tennessee market. The cigar is available in a single vitola (5 1/2 x 52). Produced at the My Father Cigars factory, the cigar features a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler.

Yellow Rose followed Tennessee Waltz in 2015. This cigar is a 6 1/4 x 54 box-pressed torpedo. It also is produced at the My Father Cigars factory and features a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler.

The November 1st Lawless Day offering marks the first time Tennessee Waltz and Yellow Rose will be offered nationally by Crowned Heads.

Image Credit: Crowned Heads
THURSDAY, Oct. 12, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Humans come in a range of colors, and new research is getting a step closer to how that happens.

Newly identified gene variants tied to skin colors among Africans could offer insights into human evolution. The findings could also boost scientists' understanding of skin cancer and other conditions, researchers say.

"We have identified new genetic variants that contribute to the genetic basis of one of the most strikingly variable traits in modern humans," said study senior author Sarah Tishkoff. She's professor of genetics and biology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Until now, only a few genes linked with normal variation in skin color have been pinpointed. Most of them have been found in studies of Europeans.

In this study, researchers assessed skin pigmentation and genetic data from nearly 1,600 ethnically and genetically diverse people in Africa.

"When people think of skin color in Africa, most would think of darker skin, but we show that within Africa there is a huge amount of variation, ranging from skin as light as some Asians to the darkest skin on a global level and everything in between," Tishkoff said in a university news release.

"We identify genetic variants affecting these traits and show that mutations influencing light and dark skin have been around for a long time, since before the origin of modern humans," she noted.

"Skin color is a classic variable trait in humans, and it's thought to be adaptive," Tishkoff said. "Analysis of the genetic basis of variation in skin color sheds light on how adaptive traits evolve, including those that play a role in disease risk."

There are benefits to both light and dark skin. For example, darker skin is believed to help provide some protection against the sun's ultraviolet rays. Africans don't often develop the deadliest skin cancer, melanoma, the researchers said.

On the other hand, lighter skin improves sunlight-triggered vitamin D in regions with lower amounts of sunlight, the study authors added.

Most of the skin color-linked genetic variants identified in the study appear to have originated more than 300,000 years ago. Some emerged roughly 1 million years ago, well before the advent of modern humans, according to the report.

In many cases, older versions of these variants were associated with moderately pigmented skin, which suggests that our ancient ancestors had lighter rather than darker skin.

"If you were to shave a chimp, it has light pigmentation, so it makes sense that skin color in the ancestors of modern humans could have been relatively light. It is likely that when we lost the hair covering our bodies and moved from forests to the open savannah, we needed darker skin. Mutations influencing both light and dark skin have continued to evolve in humans, even within the past few thousand years," Tishkoff explained.

She also said the study highlights the diversity of Africans and challenges biological notions of race.

"Many of the genes and new genetic variants we identified to be associated with skin color may never have been found outside of Africa, because they are not as highly variable," she said.

"There is so much diversity in Africa that's not often appreciated. There's no such thing as an African race. We show that skin color is extremely variable on the African continent and that it is still evolving. Further, in most cases the genetic variants associated with light skin arose in Africa," Tishkoff concluded.

The study was published Oct. 12 in the journal Science.

More information

The Smithsonian Institution has more on human evolution.
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Plague May Have Spread From Madagascar to Seychelles

A case of plague has been reported in the Seychelles, health officials say.

The 34-year-old male patient became ill after returning from Madagascar, which is combating a plague outbreak that begin in August, The New York Times reported.

The man is in isolation Seychelles Hospital and being given antibiotics. His partner also appears ill and is being tested for plague, as well as a child who lives with them.

Fifteen people who had contact with the man have received antibiotics as a precaution and are being monitored, health officials said, The Times reported.

There have been 500 confirmed cases so far and at least 50 deaths in the Madagascar outbreak, according to the World Health Organization and Madagascar's health ministry. The Seychelles are nearby chain of islands in the Indian Ocean.
THURSDAY, Oct. 12, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- People afflicted with bipolar disorder may find some relief from depression with daily doses of light therapy, new research suggests.

With light therapy, people spend time sitting in close proximity to a light-emitting box -- in this case, bright white light -- with exposures increasing from 15 minutes per day to a full hour over a period of weeks.

The study found that within a month the therapy helped treat depression in people with bipolar disorder.

"Effective treatments for bipolar depression are very limited," noted lead researcher Dr. Dorothy Sit.

"This gives us a new treatment option for bipolar patients that we know gets us a robust response within four to six weeks," said Sit, who is associate professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University in Chicago.

According to the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, bipolar disorder "is a brain and behavior disorder characterized by severe shifts in a person's mood and energy, making it difficult for the person to function." Over 5.7 million Americans are thought to have the disorder, which often involves depressive episodes.

As Sit's team noted, prior research had shown that morning light therapy reduces symptoms of depression in people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a condition where winter's reduced light spurs depression.

However, it's also been noted that light therapy can sometimes cause side effects, such as mania, in people with bipolar disorder.

Still, the Northwestern team wondered if the treatment might not have a role for bipolar patients with at least moderate depression who were also taking a mood stabilizer drug.

In the study, 46 patients received either a 7,000 lux bright white light or a 50 lux light (acting as the "placebo arm" of the trial).

The study participants were told to place the light box about one foot from their face for 15 minutes between noon and 2:30 p.m. each day at the start of the study.

Over six weeks, the patients increased their light therapy "doses" in 15-minute increments until they reached a dose of 60 minutes per day -- or had a significant change in their mood.

Compared with people in the placebo group, those in the treatment group were more likely to have significant improvements, Sit's team said.

More than 68 percent of patients in the treatment group achieved a normal mood versus 22 percent of those in the placebo group, the findings showed. Patients in the treatment group also had a much lower average depression score than those in the placebo group, and significantly higher functioning, meaning they could return to work or complete household tasks they hadn't been able to finish before treatment.

Significantly, none of the patients experienced mania or hypomania, a condition that includes a period of elation, euphoria, irritability, agitation, rapid speech, racing thoughts, a lack of focus and risk-taking behaviors.

"As clinicians, we need to find treatments that avoid these side effects and allow for a nice, stable response. Treatment with bright light at midday can provide this," Sit said in a university news release.

Two psychiatrists agreed that the therapy may have merit for patients, who often have few options.

"No standard antidepressants are approved for treatment of bipolar depression," said Dr. Seth Mandel, who directs psychiatry at Northwell Health's Huntington Hospital in Huntington, N.Y. He added that antipsychotics that are approved for bipolar disorder often come with side effects that cause many patients to stop using them.

Light therapy "offers us another option, one that certainly appears to do no harm," Mandel said.

Still, he noted that patients with more severe symptoms weren't included in the Chicago study, and he also believes many people won't be able to adhere to the hour-long, daily dosage required.

Dr. Ami Baxi is a psychiatrist who directs adult inpatient services at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. She agreed that light therapy may be "a welcome addition to our limited treatment options for bipolar depression."

The study was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health and published Oct. 3 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more on bipolar disorder.
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In the past five years I was publically called many things. I was an old hag, a sterile, cheap Soros prostitute, a hooker, not f***ed enough, in need of a good prick, and destroyer of the Serbian Orthodox Church, said Tatjana Vojtehovski, a Serbian television journalist with a large presence on social media. My response was always to publish all insults on social media. I truly believe that the best protection I could have is from the public.

Vojtehovski is not alone when it comes to being trolled on social media over her reporting. The TV reporter and other women journalists with whom I spoke said that often the insults have a gender slant, or threaten sexual violence. Most of the abuse comes after the journalists report on corruption, or politics.

Dunja Mijatovic, the former Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europes representative on Freedom of the Media, said that female reporters are usually assaulted twiceas journalists and as women. It takes a lot of courage to go public, Mijatovic said. She added that journalists need to feel supported by their employers, state bodies, and womens groups. But, Mijatovic said, that kind of solidarity is mostly missing in the Balkans today.

Vojtehovski, who works for Prva TV, said that she brushes off threats sent via social media. Her worry, she said, is when the virtual world becomes real. Vojtehovski, who is critical of President Aleksandar Vucic, said she is often targeted by pro-government tabloids, usually when she reports on corruption and abuse of power, or uses Twitterwhere she has over 200,000 followersto share and comment on her reporting.

A death threat, pictured, directed at Tatjana Vojtehovski and full of derogatory terms, was pinned to a tree in a place visible to the critical journalist. (Tatjana Vojtehovski)

When someone prints that I want the president dead, I have to call my mother and my daughter, and to calmly explain things, said Vojtehovski. She said that she fears that fake news stories written about her could lead to physical violence. She said that in April, a handwritten death threat addressed to her was pinned on a tree in a place where it was clear she would see it. Somebody had to buy a pen, paper and pushpins. There was a clear intent, and this is what is frightening, said Vojtehovski.

Antonela Riha, an independent journalist, said that Twitter attacks can be toxic, but they have become part of what Serbian journalists expect. Riha, along with two other female journalists, was most recently the target of a smear campaign on September 19. The attack was related to their reporting on the presidential elections, and their questioning of allegations made against Natasa Jeremic, a former journalist and wife of presidential candidate Vuk Jeremic.

Riha said the abuse is different for female and male journalists. When men are publically attacked, they are still given serious roles, Riha said. They are spies, or foreign agents whereas for women, there is usually a sexist connotation. We are often old bags, or ugly, or bed mothers.

Dragana Peco of KRIK, an investigative outlet that is a part of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, echoed that view. She said that after her apartment was burgled in July, some people on social media downplayed the incident, saying that it must have been the action of a lover rather than an attempt to intimidate her. Peco, who covers politics and corruption, said that although she reported the burglary, and despite journalists associations calling for swift action and for her work to be considered as a motive, she has not received any official updates about the investigation, which left her feeling vulnerable.

For some Serbian journalists, threats are not only made online. Riha said that while watching the Serbian Assembly on TV earlier this year, she saw a representative waving an enlarged photo of Riha as proof that protests were anti-government. Riha said she also saw a poster showing the image of the son of another journalist, Olja Beckovic. Journalist groups and associations have compared this act to drawing targets on foreheads.

Riha said that she did not plan to file a lawsuit. I am a freelancer, and I have no time to fight this, she said. Last year, she was part of a group of prominent journalists and public figures that sued the tabloid Informer and TV Pink for alleging that they were plotting to overturn the government. A lower court ruled that there was no basis for the lawsuit. After this decision, going to court seems pretty pointless, Riha said.

Attempts to offer Serbias journalists protection have not been immediately effective. A Special Commission for Security of Journalists was established in December 2016, but the joint work of the countrys prosecutors office, police, and journalists associations in swiftly resolving cases has yet to give tangible results

At least two other Serbian investigative journalists say there has been little result after they reported attacks. Marija Vucic, of the investigative news portal Cenzolovka, said that when she received death threats in June via a Facebook user with a fake profile, she reported the case to the newly established Special Prosecution Office for Hi-Tech Crime, but to date, it has not been resolved. I got follow up threats from different accounts, but I did not report those to the police, said Vucic. I never heard back [when I reported the first threat], so I have no reason to believe that this time it would be any different.

Lidija Valtner, of the Belgrade-based daily Danas, told me that she is also still waiting for an update from police. Valtner said that while she was covering the inauguration of President Vucic in June, a man tried to grab her phone to prevent her filming a clash and, when she resisted, two men dragged her toward a park. Photographs of the incident were published but, Valtner said, The prosecutors office still waits for additional information from the police in order to press charges. Marija Vukasovic, from the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia, said that during the same event at least three female journalists reported assaults, but did not want their identities to be revealed, most likely for fear of further reprisal.

The only progress made in a case this year, involves an attack on two women journalists from the pro-government TV Pink. Gordana Uzelac and Mara Dragovic were attacked during a protest on September 16, organized in part against the way their media outlet reports. The alleged attacker was apprehended the same day and a judge ordered that he be detained for 30 days pending investigation, according to the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia, which monitors attacks on the press.

[EDITORS NOTE: The last paragraph of this blog has been updated to correct the name of the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia.]
Current Affairs Today - Current Affairs - 2021 | Current Affairs - 2022

GKTodays Current Affairs Today Section provides latest and Best Daily Current Affairs 2021-2022 for UPSC, IAS/PCS, Banking, IBPS, SSC, Railway, UPPSC, RPSC, BPSC, MPPSC, TNPSC, MPSC, KPSC and other competition exams.      !

The tech giant Google is currently developing an AI model that supports 1,000 most spoken languages of the world. ContentsWhat are the AI language models?About Googles 1,000 Language AI ModelHow is this new language model different from the existing AI models?Other AI language models What are the AI language models? AI language models aims to ..

Month: Current Affairs  November, 2022

Category: Science & Technology Current Affairs

Topics: AI language model  Artificial intelligence  Artificial Intelligence (AI)  artificial intelligence (AI) led innovation  Artificial Intelligence (Al)

A bilateral agreement worth 74.5 million USD was signed by Britain and France to boost their efforts to curb illegal migration from the English Channel crossings. ContentsWhat are key features of the agreement?Significance of the deal What are key features of the agreement? The agreement, worth $74.5 million (72.2 million euros), aims to stop migrants ..

Month: Current Affairs  November, 2022

Category: International / World Current Affairs

Topics: English Channel  Foreign relations of France  France  Illegal immigration  United Kingdom

Indias national grid operator Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO) was renamed as Grid Controller of India Limited. ContentsAbout Grid Controller of India Limited (Grid-India)Why was the name changed? About Grid Controller of India Limited (Grid-India) The Grid Controller of India Limited (Grid-India) is a wholly owned central government enterprise that comes under the aegis ..

Month: Current Affairs  November, 2022

Category: India Nation & States Current Affairs

Topics: Ministry of Power  national load despatch centre (NLDC)  Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO)  Public Sector Undertaking

According to the biannual Food Outlook report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the year 2022 is expected to witness the worlds food import bill reaching an all-time high. What did the recent Food Outlook report predict? Food import bill According to the FAOs biannual report, the worlds food import bill will reach ..

Month: Current Affairs  November, 2022

Category: Economy & Banking Current Affairs - 2022  Reports & Indexes Current Affairs

Topics: Agriculture Sector  Fao  Food and Agricultural Organisation  Food and agricultural organization  Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

The AEAN members agreed in principle to admit East Timor as the 11th member of the bloc. ContentsWhat is ASEAN?About East TimorEast Timor and ASEAN What is ASEAN? The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional bloc founded on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand. Its member states are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, ..

Month: Current Affairs  November, 2022

Category: International / World Current Affairs

Topics: ASEAN  ASEAN Countries  Association of Southeast Asian Nations  East Timor  Enlargement of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations  Indonesia

Here are Todays News Headlines by GK Today for November 15, 2022 ContentsINDIAECONOMY & CORPORATEWORLDSPORTS INDIA  IAS officer Gaurav Dwivedi appointed as Prasar Bharati CEO  UGC asks higher education institutions to adopt Professors of Practice guidelines  SC grants Centre more time to respond to pleas challenging Places of Worship (Special Provision) Act, ..

Month: Current Affairs  November, 2022

Category: Today's News Headlines

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First Meeting of EAC-PM held in New Delhi

Published: October 12, 2017

The first-ever meeting of newly-constituted Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) was held at NITI Aayog, in New Delhi. It was chaired by Dr. Bibek Debroy, Member NITI Aayog.

The meeting took stock of the current economic, fiscal and monetary policy environment and identified key issues that it would focus on. It identified major priorities for accelerating economic growth and employment over tnext six months, with greater last mile connectivity.

Ten identified themes

The EAC-PM identified ten themes around which Council Report will be structured in the coming months The ten themes identified are Economic Growth, Employment and job creation, fiscal framework, informal sector and integration, public expenditure, monetary policy, institutions of Economic Governance, Patterns of Consumption & Production, Agriculture & Animal Husbandry and Social Sector.

The EAC-PM also developed Theme Groups led by its members, through consultative processes involving sectoral Ministries, States, experts, institutions, private sector and other key stakeholders. It also recognized for effective tracking of key economic parameters, through possible mechanisms for instituting Economy Track Monitor, using lead indicators and triggers for action, based on informed assessment and analysis.

EAC-PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has constituted five member EAC-PM in September 2017 as an independent body to provide advice on economic issues to the government, specifically to the Prime Minister. It consists of economists of high repute and eminence. It serves as an independent institutional mechanism, to provide informed advice to the Prime Minister on addressing issues of macroeconomic importance and related aspects.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2017

Topics: Bibey Debroy  Business  Economic Advisory Council  Economy  National  NITI Aayog  Prime minister

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We celebrate today the 15th World Day against the Death Penalty. As of today, 105 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. In the past 25 years, 60 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and the number of states that carry out executions has fallen by nearly half.





But it is still not enough: the worlds most populated countries  China, India, United States of America and Indonesia still retain capital punishment along with countries like North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, Malaysia and Singapore.





Around half of the worlds population, who live in these countries, is not guaranteed the right to life, as prescribed in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Hundreds of executions are carried out every year and thousands are under sentence of death.





Worryingly, the death penalty has been carried out arbitrarily and in a manner that discriminates against the poor and the marginalized sections of society including minority groups and migrant workers.





When I was the Governor of New Mexico, I changed my mind from being a believer of capital punishment as I saw this discriminatory aspect of the death penalty. Besides, there is always the possibility of executing an innocent and so I abolished the death penalty in New Mexico in 2009. My convictions have only strengthened as 159 persons facing capital punishment in the USA have been reportedly found to be innocent since 1973.





In the USA, most persons facing the death penalty even today cannot afford their own attorney at trial and most court-appointed attorneys are overworked, underpaid or lacked the experience necessary to defend capital punishment trials.





Moreover, prosecutors tended to seek the death penalty more often when the victim was white than when the victim was African-American or of another racial or ethnic origin. These factors have contributed to the arbitrariness of the death penalty. By doing so, the death penalty violates the right to equal dignity and this discrimination condemns them to further marginalization.





This discrimination against the poor and minority communities occurs not just in USA but in practically every country applying the death penalty. Because of their limited economic means, because of their lack of knowledge of the legal systems and their rights, because of poor legal defense support, because of systemic bias that they face from law enforcement authorities, they are under greater risk of being sentenced to death.





In India, almost 75 per cent of the persons sentenced to death, and in Malaysia, nearly 90 per cent, reportedly belonged to economically vulnerable groups. In Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan hundreds are executed every year, most of whom are poor or from minority communities; in addition, there are concerns that these three countries carry out executions of those who were juveniles when they allegedly committed the crimes for which they faced the death penalty.





In China, the number of executions carried out is a state secret and reportedly, those executed, feared to be in the thousands, include those belonging marginalized communities including unskilled workers who have little means of defense.





In Indonesia, 13 of the 16 persons executed in the last two years were foreign nationals and there were questions of fair trials in several of these cases.





From my experiences and beliefs, that are shared by my fellow Commissioners of the International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP), the death penalty is not the solution to end criminality. It is usually counterproductive as it worsens poverty, discrimination and inequalities, perpetrating the circle of violence.





The right to life is a universal human right and the death penalty has no place in the 21st century.





I am inspired today on the World Day against the Death Penalty, when I see that more than half the countries in the world have abolished capital punishment because they have recognized that modern justice systems can protect the public from crime without the irrevocable and cruel nature of the death penalty and the constant risk of executing an innocent person.





These nations have recognized that state killing is wrong and fails to deter crime more effectively than other punishments. Today, I join the ICDP and the abolitionist movement in committing ourselves to achieve a world free of the death penalty, a world free of this discriminatory practice that is based on vengeance and bias that only enhances the ever-present risk of wrongful convictions.





Source: The Hill , Bill Richardson, October 10, 2017. Bill Richardson is the former Democratic governor of New Mexico. He was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and the secretary of energy, both during the Clinton administration. He also served in the House of Representatives. As a diplomat and special envoy, Richardson has received four Nobel Peace Prize nominations and has successfully won the release of hostages and American servicemen in North Korea, Cuba, Iraq and the Sudan.





 | 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



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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Jakarta. Police arrested three Lion Air passengers who were caught smuggling crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu, on Monday (09/10) by hiding them under their genitals at the Juwata Tarakan International Airport in Tarakan, North Kalimantan, a statement released by the airport said.





Hemi Pamuharjo, head of Juwata Tarakan International Airport, said the arrested individuals were named Edi, Baharuddin and Ramli and were in possession of 30 packets of crystal meth, 28 of which were hidden underneath the suspects' genitals.





The three men were attempting to board Lion Air flight JT 739 heading to Makassar, South Sulawesi, at the time of their arrest.





According to Hemi, Edi was detained first during a routine security check at the airports Screen Check Point 1 (SCP 1) as officials were suspicious of a bulging item between his thighs. When conducting a body check on Edi and his partner Baharuddin, the security personnel found a plastic bag containing crystal meth shoved into both men's underwear.





Police officers brought the two individuals to the local station to be questioned, where officials learned of a third suspect, Ramli, who was already on board the flight. The body check resulted in discovering crystal meth in his pants and in his shoes.





"The three suspects are currently at the Tarakan police station for further investigation," Hemi said.





According to National Anti-Drugs Agency (BNN), 807 narcotics cases were discovered in Indonesia in 2016, in which 1,238 suspects were arrested, including 21 foreign nationals.

 | 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



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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Iran Human Rights (Oct 10, 2017): Currently more than 80 Iranians are facing horrific conditions in the solitary confinement of Malaysian prisons, while awaiting their death sentences for charges of involvement in drug trafficking.





Most of the prisoners were not given fair legal due process. They were not provided a Persian translator during their interrogation, in addition to the trial and the procedure of their case was also flawed.





A debate on changing the Malaysian anti-drug law and death penalty abolition for drug related offences is ongoing in the Malaysian Parliament. In 2010, death penalty was introduced for possession and trafficking of up to 50 grams of certain illegal drugs.





In 2009-2010, a number of Iranian citizens were arrested for unknowingly carrying industrial drugs to that country. They were duped into carrying the illegal substances by smugglers, who promised them financial reward or a free trip to Malaysia. Unfortunately, they were only aware of the true substances they were carrying after their arrest.





Research by Iran Human Rights (IHR) shows that the majority of these prisoners are held in Kajang prison in the north of Malaysia. According to Malaysias law, a prisoner who is sentenced to death must be held in solitary confinement. In confinement, prisoners are forced to live without proper facilities or hygienic living quarters for long periods of time. Thus, for the past six years, the majority of imprisoned Iranian citizens have faced disease and a lack of clean drinking water in Kajang prison, according to some sources.





One of the prisoners in Kajang prison, who wished to remain anonymous, said to IHR, I had a cosmetic shop and wanted to travel to Malaysia. One of my friends said that he took bodybuilding supplements to Malaysia whenever he travelled to this country and sold them for two million Tomans (about 500$). My friend and I agreed to do this and earn two million Tomans each but we were arrested at Malaysias airport and the next day a Pakistani translator came and we realized that we were carrying meth.





He added, The translator they sent us was Pakistani and didnt know Persian very well. The (Iranian) embassy didnt do anything about it either. At that time, we had to pay 20 to 30 million Tomans (about 5000 to 7500$) to get a lawyer which we didnt have. Therefore, we got a public defender and were sentenced to death. The third council of the embassy got one lawyer for 20-30 of us and he handled the case carelessly which didnt have a different result.





The prisoner continued, My case was open for two years before the ruling was issued and after I was sentenced to death, I was transferred to Kajang prison. Ive been in solitary confinement since 2012. We dont have a yard, and the doors only open for half an hour in the morning and in the afternoon and we can walk in the hallways. We dont see sunlight here. A prisoner only sees sunlight if he is sick and has to go to the hospital.





So far two Iranian prisoners have died of sickness in Kajang prison and according to the prisoners, two more are extremely ill, one with cancer and the other with kidney failure. The prisoners have told IHR that it is very difficult to gain access to specialist doctors. Malaysias official statistics show that 259 prisoners have died in Malaysian prisons since 2000.





In November 2016, the Iranian Deputy Minister of Justice, Mahmoud Abbasi, stated that transference of the Iranian prisoners is on Malaysian legislators agenda and the agreement will be concluded and signed very soon. However, the agreement has failed to reach a conclusion after the period of one year.





Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director and spokesperson of IHR said, It seems like the Iranian prisoners who have been sentenced to death in Malaysia have been forgotten. We call on the Human Rights Organizations and the international community to pay attention to the terrible condition of these prisoners and urge them to try to repeal the unfair law on execution and improve their condition. The Iranian government also has to take its responsibility towards Iranian citizens in Malaysian prisons.

 | 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



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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Tomas Gallo smiled and laughed as Harris County jurors decided his fate for the rape and murder of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter.





Gallo had covered the girl's body with bruises and bite marks before sexually assaulting and bludgeoning her while her mother was at work just a few days before Christmas in 2001. He then cleaned up the blood-spattered bathroom, dressed the child in clean clothes and called her mother to say the girl was not breathing.





Jurors agreed he should be sentenced to death, despite his lawyers' arguments that he was intellectually disabled.





Now, however, Gallo and at least nine other death row inmates from across Texas - including five others from Harris County - are seeking to have their death sentences thrown out in exchange for life in prison under a ruling earlier this year by the U.S. Supreme Court that changed how Texas determines intellectual disability.





Some, including Gallo, could eventually walk free, since life without parole was not an option in Texas when they were convicted.





"When we think about it, it just tears us up again," said Rosa Flores, the child's paternal grandmother. "I don't feel that this young man has any kind of problem. He might have a low IQ but that doesn't mean he's stupid or dumb. He knows what he's doing."





Their fears are echoed among other families awaiting execution of a capital murderer, said Andy Kahan, victim's advocate for the city of Houston.





"There's a lull where you're waiting on justice, for maybe a decade, and you're riding that roller coaster and all of a sudden that coaster gets taken down because you're right back in court again," Kahan said. "And you have to re-live all the nightmares of what happened to your family."





The U.S. Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in 2002 for people with intellectual disabilities, but left it up to states to set standards for determining disability. A follow-up ruling by the Supreme Court in March in a different Harris County case overturned Texas' method for determining intellectual disability, saying it was out of date and ineffective.





The March ruling left Texas prosecutors and defense attorneys scrambling to review cases, some dating back decades. Harris County has 82 inmates on death row, though it remains unclear how many cases in Houston or across Texas will be affected by the ruling.





Attorneys on both sides are bracing for what could be a wave of appeals, with some putting the number in the dozens.





"They could be looking at a nightmare," said Tom Moran, a Houston criminal defense and appellate attorney who is representing another inmate, Joel Escobedo, in his attempt to get his death penalty overturned.





District Attorney Kim Ogg said her office is keeping a close eye on the legal developments and she is sympathetic to the families of the victims.





"Taking a person's life is the most serious action a government can take against an individual," Ogg said, "and we are making every effort to ensure that offender's Constitutional rights are respected."





Moore and the law





The March ruling came in the case of Bobby Moore, convicted of capital murder in the death of a Houston store clerk in April 1980.





Moore, now 57, shot and killed 73-year-old James McCarble at Birdsall Super Market near Memorial Park, a store he and two accomplices picked because two elderly people were running the customer-service booth and the cashier was pregnant. After shooting McCarble with a shotgun, Moore fled and was arrested 10 days later in Louisiana.





He was sentenced to die by lethal injection.





His attorneys appealed the conviction, arguing that the judge and jury should have considered his intellectual disability as outlined in a landmark 2002 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that prohibited execution of the intellectually disabled.





The ruling stemmed from the conviction of Daryl Atkins, a mentally disabled Virginia man who was sentenced to death for the kidnapping, robbery and murder of an air force serviceman in 1996.





The Atkins decision set off waves of appeals by inmates, many of whom had their death sentences changed to life in prison. At least 15 Texas inmates were removed from death row for being mentally disabled in the wake of the decision, according to the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.





To qualify for the Atkins exemption, inmates must have a low IQ, typically under 70, and significant problems adapting to their surroundings that were evident even in childhood. Figuring out how to determine that fell to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which adopted a seven-pronged test to determine intellectual disability in the state.





The test, named after plaintiff Jose Briseno, referenced Lennie, the fictional character from John Steinbeck's novel "Of Mice and Men," as someone most Texans would agree should be exempt from the death penalty.





The "Briseno factors," as they came to be known, consisted of seven questions to help courts decide whether someone shows "adaptive behavior" that suggests they are not intellectually disabled. The questions ranged from whether someone can lie effectively to whether his conduct shows leadership.





In Moore's case, however, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in a 5-3 majority opinion that the Texas courts relied too heavily on IQ scores and non-clinical evaluations by judges. She said the state should have used evaluations by mental health professionals to determine intellectual disability.





Moore's precedent-setting case was sent back to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which has yet to issue a ruling on how the state's courts will determine intellectual disability.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

Houston Chronicle, Brian Rogers, October 11, 2017
This Saturday marks the 39th anniversary of the deregulation of home brewing by President Jimmy Carter. While its effect is often overstated, this law did help promote the rapid increase in the number of craft breweriessmall, independent beer producersand create todays vibrant beer industry. Two other legislative measures played a more significant role in the growth of craft breweries and the increase in choice, innovation, and quality of American beer since the 1970s.

The bill that President Carter signed on October 14, 1978 did not deregulate the beer industry, but it did deregulate home brewing. Illegal since Prohibition, adults were now able to brew up to 100 gallons of beer every year. Though a debate still rages over whether this deregulation led to the craft beer explosion, at least some thanks is deserved. The law gave American adults the opportunity to learn brewing methods and, since it has been estimated that 90 percent of craft brewers begin as home brewers, it seems that this experimentation helped create future skilled craft brewers.

While the home brewing bill contributed, two other deregulatory measures also deserve credit for the surge of new craft breweries. The first was a decrease in the federal excise tax on beer. A bill signed in 1976 by President Gerald Ford reduced the tax from $9 to $7 per barrel for a brewerys first 60,000 annual barrels, and only breweries with fewer than two million barrels per year were eligible. The 20 percent tax cut was a boon for the few existing small breweries and lowered the barrier to entry for new microbreweries.

The second major deregulation was state legalization of brewpubs. Beginning in Washington State in 1982, a wave of legalization spread across the country over the next two decades and brewpubs, breweries with restaurants or pubs on the premises, are now legal in all fifty states. For small breweries, brewpubs offer an easy way to distribute the beer they produce, circumventing the logistic or regulatory challenges of distribution to other bars or restaurants. By lowering the barrier to entry, the legalization of brewpubs made it easier to start new breweries and contributed to the increase in craft breweries.

Although it is not entirely clear which of these laws played the largest role, it is evident that deregulation created conditions that promoted the establishment of new craft breweries. A 2015 study on the growth of breweries between 1980 and 2012 found that laws and regulations that once would have thwarted the growth of the craft beer segment are being whittled away, albeit slowly.

While the authors correctly identify that the deregulation of the beer industry still has a long way to go, the effect of the current deregulation has been astounding. In 1979 there were 90 breweries in the U.S., and today there are 5,301 breweries, of which 5,234 are craft breweries. More breweries have increased consumer choice and kept prices low. Craft breweries contributed $68 billion to the U.S. economy and provided almost half a million jobs in 2016.

Deregulation promoted innovation in the industry. Before the craft brewery explosion, major breweries offered a homogeneous selection of generally watery beers. The proliferation of new breweries and increased competition encouraged small breweries to experiment with new methods and ingredients, from using foraged ingredients such as dandelions and elderberries to barrel ageing. This experimentation has created greater beer variety and further increased consumer choice.

Competition has markedly improved quality and in turn inspired an active craft beer community. Travelocity has even created a beer tourism index to help travelers decide which cities to go to for the best craft beers. And Europeans, long some of the most strident critics of American beer, have begun to recognize the benefits of deregulation of the beer industry. While British comedian Eric Idle colorfully compared American beer to water in 1982, Europeans are starting to develop a thirst for American craft beers, with exports to Western Europe growing 33 percent in 2015. At the 2017 European Beer Star competition, American beers won 33 awards, edging out beers from around the world to win gold in 12 of the categories.

The 40-year rise of American craft beer demonstrates the ways deregulation encourages improved quality, innovation and increased choice. Even if President Carter does not deserve all of the credit, the wave of deregulation in the beer industry has lowered barriers to entry and promoted competition. Whether the next cold beer you drink is a cheap pilsner, a chocolate porter, or a lemon infused IPA, you can thank deregulation for your options.

David Kemp is a writer and researcher in Washington D.C. Follow him on twitter at @dkemp320.

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The United States is in mourning after the horrific shooting that took place at an outdoor music concert in Las Vegas October 1 that claimed the lives of 58 people and wounded hundreds more.

The shooter was found dead from apparently self-inflicted wounds in the hotel room where he carried out the attack. Investigators have not yet attributed a motive for the largest mass shooting in modern American history, but the FBI has said no evidence of terrorism has emerged so far.

President Donald Trump flew to Las Vegas to meet with victims of the massacre, and speak to first responders, law enforcement officials and civilians who came to the aid of their countrymen during attack.

There are many such people in the latter category: men like Jonathan Smith who is credited with saving the lives of at least 30 people, until he was felled by two bullets and dragged to safety by off-duty policeman Tom McGrath; or cab driver John Zerquera-Jimenez who repeatedly drove into danger to transport people away from the carnage.

In his remarks to law enforcement officials,

President Trump asked God to bless the men and women who protect us, and bring healing to the families of the wounded, the injured and the fallen.He also said, In the depths of horror, we will always find hope in the men and women who risk their lives for ours:

We cannot be defined by the evil that threatens us, or the violence that incites such terror. Were defined by our love, our caring and our courage. In the darkest moments, what shines most brightly is the goodness that thrives in the hearts of our people.

We are blessed to be surrounded with heroes, President Trump said:

As one eyewitness recounted this week: While everyone else was crouching, police officers were standing up as targets, just trying to direct people and tell them where to goParents and spouses used their own bodies as shields to protect their loved ones. Americans dashed into a hail of bullets to rescue total strangers.

In the months ahead, President Trump said, we will all have to struggle with the horror of what has unfoldedbut we will struggle through it together. We will endure the pain together, and we will overcome together as Americans.
Number 4 Doctor Maranon Street in downtown Cadiz is just another example of the Spanish rationalist architecture of the mid-twentieth century. However, in four years it will be one of the first residential buildings in Europe located in a warm climate zone to be outfitted with new air conditioning technologies designed to keep carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption at close to zero.

Francisco Jose Sanchez, in front of the building that will be renovated in Cadiz. Juan Carlos Toro

This will be necessary with whats coming for southern Europe in 2050: nights with highs of 40C, heat waves of more than 10 days, and up to a four degree increase in average temperatures, according to projections from the World Meteorological Organization. The data is scary, says Francisco Jose Sanchez de la Flor, who has doctorate in industrial engineering from the University of Cadiz (UCA).

In the European post-crisis scenario, we need more building rehabilitation than construction Francisco Jose Sanchez de la Flor, project engineer

He and his team, made up of a dozen researchers from the UCAs thermal engineering group, are already working on the project that aims to turn the building into an example of warm weather adaptation. They are not alone in their efforts, the team is part of the ReCO2ST project, a pioneer in Europe and responsible for the European Unions Horizon 2020 program that investigates the energy efficiency of buildings.

In addition to Cadiz, a cooling-focused project, three other constructions will serve as a model for temperate and cold climates with heating systems: one in Frederikshavn (Denmark), one in Lausanne (Switzerland) and one in London. In total, up to 18 partners from nine European countries are working together, each providing its technological solutions for building heating and cooling systems.

Despite the different climatic conditions for each building, the four cases have the same goal, summarized by Sanchez himself: We want to show that there are new technologies in experimentation phases that are already feasible and profitable, at a technical and economic level, to the application of rehabilitating buildings. Hence the European guidelines were very concrete: the project must renovate already existing buildings and must involve publicprivate collaboration.

The intention is that the test be as practical and realistic as possible. In the European post-crisis scenario, we need more rehabilitation than construction, acknowledges Sanchez de la Flor.

Smart buildings It will be necessary with the extreme heat thats coming for southern Europe in 2050

The University of Cadiz participates in its citys project, together with the municipal housing companies, Procasa and Acciona. In addition, the Cadiz building will have a twist, as it will be used for social housing. We know that poverty and energy vulnerability mean families with few resources see their health affected by poor heating and cooling. Implementing social housing makes our project unique, says the UCA lecturer.

The entire project is already a challenge, says Sanchez de la Flor. When you have a new building you can control all the design parameters from zero, but here you have to adapt to the constraints imposed by an existing building. The renovation is of a structure that is more than 60 years old and which is protected for its historic and architectural interest. The scientists, in collaboration with the architects from Procasa and Acciona, have proposed two fundamental solutions: the covering of the facade and the roof with a second, ventilated, and evaporative skin and the creation of inner cross ventilation.

The first solution is based on the use of two existing technologies. They will cover the whole exterior with slabs separated from the facade by an air chamber, as is already done in many buildings. In addition, the engineers will put a water channel in the space, a technique that was used for the first time at the Seville Expo in 1992 to create microclimates, by researchers from the University of Seville, the Cadiz professor explains. In addition, the inner chamber of the facade will open or close, depending on the temperatures. For example, in winter it will be closed so as to not let the heat escape from the building.

The union of both techniques has not been simple, as Sanchez de la Flor writes: There have been many years of studies and trials between the universities of Cadiz and Seville. We were able to demonstrate that it works in an experimental situation and it will now be applied for the first time to a residential building. This second smart skin will add cross ventilation to regulate the entrance of outside air to take advantage of favorable external conditions, explains Sanchez de la Flor. The system will activate only when outside temperatures are cooler.

These systems will be necessary in the future and, increasingly, more profitable Francisco Jose Sanchez de la Flor, project engineer

A set of sensors will monitor the smart buildings 1,077 square meters and transmit the data to a central computer that will decide when to activate the ventilation. Depending on conditions, the system will be capable of bringing down the interior temperature of the building up to five degrees on extremely hot days. All this will lead to energy savings and reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. The savings that can be achieved will repay the investment in less than 15 years.

We want to show that the system works, that it is applicable, and that maintenance is straight forward and low-level, adds the professor. The project (with a total cost of 8.5 million) must show results in no more than four years. After that time, the scientists participating in the project will present the results of combining the technologies, with the idea of popularizing them .

The designers chose a building from the mid-twentieth century, instead of one of Cadizs more historic buildings, because most European constructions are from that time. If Europe has to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, it has to look at existing buildings because energy consumption in those generates 40% of total emissions. The idea is that what is done here can be replicated in buildings throughout the Mediterranean basin. Sanchez says as he walks around the building where construction has not yet begun.

While architects and scientists are already working hand in hand, time is running out, as climate change conditions will become increasingly extreme. the University of Cadiz understands the enormous challenge they are taking on. All these systems will be necessary in the future and, increasingly, more profitable. Unfortunately, climate change will make summers increasingly long and intense and this form of air conditioning will become increasingly necessary in Europe, not only in areas with warm climates, says Sanchez de la Flor.

English version by Debora Almeida.
The Popular Party government of Spain headed by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is accompanied by the opposition Socialist Party (PSOE) in its decision to activate Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution  legislation that allows for Madrid to temporarily take control of the internal affairs of Catalonia  if Catalan Premier Carles Puigdemont does not renounce his independence declaration.

The leader of Spain's Socialist Party (PSOE), Pedro Sanchez. MASSIMILIANO MINOCRI

This is the commitment made by PSOE leader Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday. Sanchez has also managed to commit Rajoy to a project aimed at reforming Spains Constitution, while both leaders have agreed that if Article 155 is applied in the case of Catalonia, it must result in new regional elections.

Rajoy on Wednesday sent the Catalan government a formal notification asking it to clarify whether independence has indeed been declared; this was a preliminary step toward activating Article 155. The notification from Madrid contains references to two time limits: the Catalan premier must clarify before 10am on Monday October 16 if he did or did not declare independence on October 10, regardless of whether or not he then immediately suspended that declaration.

If he did declare independence, Puigdemont then has until 10am on October 19 to withdraw the declaration and restore constitutional order.

If that does not occur, Rajoy will immediately activate Article 155 in the Senate.

If Puigdemont does not provide a clear answer to the government, Rajoy will assume that independence was declared

A statement from the prime ministers official residence, La Moncloa, said the government considered the declaration made on Tuesday deliberately confusing. If Puigdemont does not provide a clear answer to the notification from the government, Rajoy will assume that independence was declared, the statement reads.

Any response that is neither a simple yes or no will be considered confirmation, the statement read.

The attempted imposition of unilateral independence using public powers entrusted to the regional parliament, premier and executive of Catalonia to try and impose a pre-established decision without any democratic control, constitutes an attack on the pact of coexistence established by the Constitution, said Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria in the document sent to Puigdemont.

Saenz de Santamaria went on to say that the actions of the Catalan premier and the Catalan executive posed a grave threat to constitutional order, noting that Article 155 of the Constitution provided a means of redress in this case.

If Puigdemont does not reply to the request of the government, Rajoy will have to send the Senate a detailed plan of the powers that it will take over from the Catalan government. This plan has already been discussed with representatives from the PSOE, but as the Popular Party holds the majority in the Senate, it will have no problems pushing through this strategy.

English version by George Mills.
Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias passes PM Mariano Rajoy and his deputy Saenz de Santamaria in Congress. JAVIER LIZON (EFE)

The Spanish governments reaction to the crafty move of proclaiming independence, then immediately putting it on hold, throws the ball back in Catalan regional premier Carles Puigdemonts court, and opens an unexpected and very positive window of opportunity for Spain.

The formal notification by the government of Spain to the Generalitat is now forcing the Catalan government to make an unambiguous statement regarding its alleged declaration of independence, which was not even put to a vote inside the regional parliament. The request for clarification also offers Catalan authorities one more opportunity to stand on the side of the law, give up on their breakaway maneuvers, and take a decisive step to prove that their much-trumpeted openness to dialogue is something more than mere propaganda.

It is hard to fathom such benevolence toward a government that has done nothing more than violate the laws

Otherwise, it will become clear that the governments offer has left the separatists without a story, and that the latters proposals for dialogue only contemplated a negotiation subjected to blackmail, in which case a partial and gradual suspension of autonomy using Article 155 of the Constitution would be the most advisable way forward  and at this point, the best way to protect Catalonias damaged institutions.

The only dialogue and the only mediation possible are those that take place within the bounds of the law and inside parliament, which is the exclusive forum for settling differences in European democracies. The agreement between the head of government and the Socialist Party (PSOE), to which Ciudadanos has added its name, includes provisions for a parliamentary committee to modernize and reform the Constitution, thus offering a dignified way out to Puigdemont  if indeed he wants to talk about greater self-government for Catalonia.

A fundamental issue in these confusing times is citizen safety. Above and beyond politics and the economy, personal safety is a prior requirement to stability and well-being. That is why it is essential for all agencies and institutions whose job it is to guarantee this safety to remain in a condition to do so. If the role of the Mossos dEsquadra as a comprehensive and judicial police force is called into question due to the Catalan governments proven tendency to put them at the service of a cause, it will be up to the central government to guarantee this forces role. It could  and perhaps should  do so without the need to implement Section 155. But in any event, this constitutional provision will give the government ample resources to restore badly needed juridical and social stability to Catalonia.

The offer thats been agreed to by the government and the PSOE represents an opportunity for the country as a whole

Puigdemont still has time to prevent this state intervention which, though advisable, would no doubt represent a trauma that it is best to avoid. To achieve that, Puigdemont only needs to do one thing: to put an end to this insane adventure that he has pushed citizens into  many of them won over through deceit and falsehoods.

The offer thats been agreed to by the government and the PSOE also represents an opportunity for the country as a whole. It opens up a new political scenario that we look very favorably upon. For a long time now, weve been supporting the kind of reform that will adapt the Constitution to the new social demands and readjust the complex territorial structure of a decentralized country that all too often suffers the effects of separatist tension.

Despite the damage thats already been done, we now begin to perceive a few positive consequences of this crisis. As evidenced at the plenary session of Congress on Wednesday, the Popular Party (PP), Ciudadanos and PSOE are coordinating with one another for the first time, in order to undertake an important state task. Though it may now seem like a far-off job of epic proportions, reforming the Constitution is a fundamental step toward renewing the democratic, modernizing thrust that propelled the Spanish Transition forward.

On the other hand, we cannot but resoundingly condemn Podemos attitude. At this time of acute political crisis, when the Constitution and Statute of Catalan Autonomy themselves are being called into question  and with them, the rights and freedoms of all Catalans  to have Pablo Iglesias not only deny the gravity of the Catalan governments actions, but actually praise Puigdemont, is a matter for serious concern. There is no longer any doubt regarding Iglesiass servile attitude towards the secessionist project. The alliance between Podemoss populism and Puigdemonts xenophobic nationalism poses a serious threat to the Constitution, democratic coexistence and the common future of all Spaniards.

On top of that, the role played by Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau as a bridge between the far-lefts plans for rupture and the pro-independence movements own designs creates a terrible squeeze effect that encourages democrats to just throw up their hands.

It is hard to fathom such benevolence toward a Catalan government that has done nothing more than violate the laws and embrace a strategy more appropriate to small-time con-men than to a democratic executive power. Faced with such a decisive moment and such an offer for real, legal and legitimate dialogue to renew our constitutional agreement and reinforce democracy and progress, there are many who will now be forced to confront their own contradictions.

English version by Susana Urra.
The National Day parade held on Thursday morning in Madrid was marred by the death of a pilot whose Eurofighter combat jet crashed as it was returning back to base after the traditional flyby.

The parade began at 11am and lasted around 90 minutes. It later emerged that one of the four pilots who had participated in the flyby had crashed at around 12.09pm near the Los Llanos airbase in Albacete province. The pilot was unable to eject from the aircraft in time and died in the crash, military sources reported.

Captain Borja Aybar Garcia, 34, died after something went wrong during the landing maneuver for reasons that remain unclear, said the Defense Ministry.

Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy and Defense Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal left the reception at the Royal Palace after being informed about the crash and traveled to Los Llanos airbase.

Eyewitnesses said that the four planes arrived near the base in formation, at a low altitude, and were just fanning out when one of them suddenly crashed into the ground, triggering a large explosion and a dense plume of smoke.

English version by George Mills.
KIng Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and their children Leonor and Sofia. Victor Lerena (EFE)

The Spanish king and queen on Thursday presided over a National Day parade held against the backdrop of Catalan separatism. The crisis opened up by the Catalan governments independence drive loomed over an event that was marked by a great display of patriotic sentiment by the crowds, while politicians made a show of unity.

It was also marred by the death of a pilot, whose Eurofighter combat jet plane crashed as it was returning back to base after the traditional flyby.

The entire Spanish Cabinet (save for the economy minister, who is on a trip to Washington), high-ranking state officials and most of the countrys political leaders were on hand to watch nearly 4,000 servicemen and women as well as members of the Civil Guard and (for the first time) National Police parade down Madrids Paseo de la Castellana.

An elite parachuter touches down on Paseo de Castellana on Thursday morning. Zipi (EFE)

It was the first time in seven years that the October 12 parade route had gone down this ample boulevard, illustrating the organizers desire to accommodate larger crowds than usual. The route was also longer than other years, around two kilometers.

Former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, the longest-serving head of government since Spains return to democracy, attended the event for the first time in years. All of the countrys regional premiers were there, save for the heads of the Basque Country, Navarre and Catalonia.

Socialist Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sanchez and Ciudadanos chief Albert Rivera were also in attendance, but Podemos secretary general Pablo Iglesias sent party representatives in his place, as in previous years.

Spanish flags were on prominent display at the October 12 parade in Madrid. Mariscal (EFE)

The slogan for this year was Orgullosos de ser espanoles (Proud to be Spanish), reflecting a new and unprecedented surge in public demonstrations of patriotism in the wake of the Catalan independence crisis.

The day marked Felipe VIs first public appearance since October 3, when he made a special televised address calling on Catalan authorities to desist from their breakaway plans and restore constitutional order in Spain.

Thousands of people cheered the royal family as the Rolls Royce carrying Felipe VI, Letizia and their children Leonor and Sofia drove by.

The parade began at 11am and lasted around 90 minutes. It later emerged that one of the four pilots who had participated in the flyby had crashed at around 12.09pm near Los Llanos airbase in Albacete province. The pilot was unable to eject from his aircraft in time and died in the crash, military sources reported.

English version by Susana Urra.
Text in which the author defends ideas and reaches conclusions based on his / her interpretation of facts and data

The new Banco Sabadell HQ in Alicante. JOSE JORDAN (AFP)

The most sectarian economist in Catalonia, the brilliant Xavier Sala i Martin, writes in Playground that the decision by Catalan banks to change their registered corporate addresses cannot be understood as a legitimate decision to go, but as an attempt to create political pressure.

The top management at two Catalan-based banks have joined the tactics of generating new uncertainty about the situation, adds Guillem Lopez Casasnovas, a former council member at the Bank of Spain, in El Periodico. Their actions, he adds, are reprehensible.

They are destroying the Catalonia that was the half-achieved dream of Catalanists

If they were really interested in what is going on, they would know that Caixabank and Banco Sabadell changed their registered address to protect their own clients and shareholders and avoid losing the protection of the European Central Bank. But just like the Catalan newspaper Ara, which attributed this move to a great intimidation operation orchestrated by the central government, they would rather stoke the fire.

It would have been enough for them to visit a branch office before the address change and witness the anguish felt by savers over the announcement of a declaration of independence by their government: by the secessionist government in Catalonia that is, and by none other. Intellectual poverty prevails. Yet even that is not lethal, because Caixa and Sabadell chiefs Isidre Faine and Josep Oliu now have someone who will write to them.

The worst part is, these intellectuals are minimizing the effects of the change of corporate address: The only difference resides in where a very small portion of bank transaction-related taxes will end up; the economy itself will not even feel it, writes Sala i Martin with contempt. This decision has very limited significance, adds Lopez.

What secessionists and their intellectual apparatchiks are now implacably destroying is the structure of a middle-sized economy

This assessment ignores the fact that a change of registered address can be followed by a change in tax address (in fact, thats already happened) and, down the line, a move in operational HQ as well. And then there are all the synergies involved: ever since ENHER was acquired by Endesa, it stopped being a factory of proximity engineers. Catalonia has had a problem with its lack of headquarters, said a wiser man, Andreu Mas-Colell, when the Catalan branches of motorcycle multinationals  the former Derbi and Yamaha (Sanglas)  shut down in March 2011. Closures such as Pirelli, Samsung and others derived from a lack of headquarters in Catalonia: when a crisis comes round, companies shut down their more distant offices.

The need for powerful, solid businesses with strong ties to the land has also been underscored beyond the realm of industry, in the world of finance.

What secessionists and their intellectual apparatchiks are now implacably destroying, at the risk of causing massive unemployment and poverty, is the structure of a middle-sized economy that is balanced and innovative and includes local decision-making centers. Everyone is now moving out  Ibex-listed banks and companies, small and medium enterprises, executives.

They are destroying the Catalonia that was the half-achieved dream of Catalanists. They are ignoring or forgetting the words of the politician Francesc Cambo, who wrote back in 1915: Sense una banca catalana forta i activa tots els nostres afanys per a intensificar la nostra industria, tots fallaran (Without a strong and active Catalan banking sector, all our endeavors to intensify our industry will fail).

They are also forgetting the Society for Economic Studies of Catalonia, which in 1908 wrote Necesidad de crear una banca catalana (On the need to create a Catalan banking sector). And Joan Sarda and Lluc Beltran, who in 1933 produced Els problemes de la banca catalana (The problems of the Catalan banking sector). Not to mention Jacint Ros and Antoni Montserrat, who in 1967 penned Laptitud financera de Catalunya (Catalonias financial ability). Or the scores of books written by former Catalan premier Jordi Pujols honest brother-in-law, Francesc Cabana, particularly his 1972 Bancs i banquers a Catalunya (Banks and bankers in Catalonia).

It is they, Sala and Lopez, who are the traitors to Catalonia.

English version by Susana Urra.
The chief of Irans nuclear energy agency has said that if the United States designates Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, IRGC as a terror group, The Islamic Republicwill consider it as a declaration of war.

Fars news agency, close to the IRGC, reports that Salehi who is in London by the invitation of British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson made this remarks in a meeting with a group of international media personalities.

Salehi is quoted as saying that since the armed forces of a country are guarantors of its security, designating them as terrorist by the U.S. it is like a declaration of war.

Speaking about the possible de-certification of the Iran nuclear deal, Salehi has said that such an action will have international implications and Tehran depending on the behavior of the U.S. government in this regard, will take the necessary decisions.

President Trump is preparing to announce his decision about The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, as the Iran nuclear deal is officially known, in a scheduled certification process required by the U.S. Congress every three months.

The senior Iranian official has also alluded to various scenarios being prepared by Irans leadership and has said that Tehran wishes to preserve the nuclear deal but not at any cost.

For this reason, Salehi maintained, he has told European officials that either everyone stays in JCPOA or everyone leaves. There is no third way.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

Trend:

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today announced the briefing on Nagorno Karabakh, Organization's website reported.

The briefing Averting all-out war in Nagorno Karabakh: The role of the U.S. and OSCE will be held on October 18.

The U.S. Helsinki Commission will host two former United States Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group process Ambassador Carey Cavanaugh and Ambassador James Warlick as well as a renowned independent expert on the conflict Magdalena Grono, International Crisis Groups Europe & Central Asia Program Director.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

Trend:

The OSCE monitoring held on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia near Azerbaijans Qazakh district on Oct. 12 passed without incidents, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Oct. 12.

The monitoring was held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative, said the ministry.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was held by Simon Tiller and Ghenadie Petrica, who are field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

On the Armenian side, the monitoring was held by field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative Mikhail Olaru and Ognjen Jovic.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

The documents adopted at the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which raise false questions about Azerbaijan, are aimed at creating a negative image of the country, Azerbaijani MP Asim Mollazade told Trend.

"There is a very strange situation, he said. Some forces make PACE accept documents against Azerbaijan."

Mollazade added that strong countries competing with Azerbaijan in the energy, transport and other spheres are behind the attempts of putting pressure on Azerbaijan.

"These are the main forces that are waging information war against Azerbaijan," Mollazade said.

PACE has recently adopted two resolutions on Azerbaijan, including on The functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan report authored by co-rapporteurs Cezar Florin Preda and Stefan Schennach, and on Azerbaijans Chairmanship of the Council of Europe: what follow-up on respect for human rights? report made by Belgian MP Alain Destexhe.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

Trend:

It has been a while that as an institution - PACE - with its injustice and ruthlessness towards Azerbaijan, has caused bewilderment and regret, Novruz Mammadov, assistant to Azerbaijans president for foreign policy issues, department head, tweeted Oct. 12.

It seems that PACE is trying to demonstrate its service in accommodating the interests of certain individuals and circles and not the ones of Europe, he said.

Some, sitting in PACE, act almost as members of the inquisition court, with the sole duty of delivering the punishment verdict, he noted.

Dont they, in PACE, realize where such policy is leading Europe to?! If PACE believes that its primary mission is to determine the punishment for its partners, while having no obligations of its own, then it begs a question - who needs such an institution and what for?," asks Mammadov.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

Trend:

Azerbaijan traditionally attaches great importance to participating in the work of the CIS and the country is an active member of the organization, said Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev at the limited format session of the Council of CIS Heads of State in Sochi.

The CIS has a great future. This platform provides us with an opportunity for regular exchange of views. I would like to touch upon the issue, mainly of humanitarian character, noted the president.

Azerbaijan plays an important role in international humanitarian cooperation. Important international events are regularly held in our country. Among them I would like to particularly note the traditional Baku International Humanitarian Forum, which is held under the patronage of the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan and which has become a traditional, very important event, I can say, unique in its kind, which mainly focuses on issues related to humanitarian cooperation, issues related to inter-confessional dialogue, the dialogue of civilizations, he said.

The president went on to add that The International Forum on Intercultural Dialogue is also held regularly in Azerbaijan.

"The agenda of this forum is about the same as the Baku Humanitarian Forum. Thus, Azerbaijan annually becomes a platform for discussions on these topics," said Ilham Aliyev.

"I think that joining efforts to focus attention on issues related to multiculturalism, inter-confessional dialogue, is of particular relevance, noted the president.

Last year the 7th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations was held in Baku. Therefore, our country has already proved itself as one of the global centers for discussing issues of a humanitarian nature.

The head of state emphasized that sports events conducted and held by Azerbaijan are also among the same issues.

Especially, the First European Games in 2015 and the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games this year. The total number of participants was more than 100 countries. These games have become a good format for intercultural and interconfessional dialogue. Both the European Games and the Islamic Solidarity Games were held in one city in two years, which once again emphasizes our will and Azerbaijans contribution to the dialogue between cultures and religions, added the Azerbaijani president.

The issues related to tourism are important especially for those countries, the foreign revenues of which have decreased, to some extent. These are the countries that have oil and gas resources, noted Ilham Aliyev.

The issues related to development of tourism, some joint tourism routes are also very important topics for the CIS platform, added the president.

The head of state also touched upon the issues related to the strengthening of security.

We are glad that Azerbaijan, in this regard, also provides an opportunity to reduce risks. I would especially like to note that the first meeting of the chiefs of general staffs of the armies of Russia and the United States was held in Baku, and we are glad that our country was chosen for holding this meeting, said President Aliyev.

We provided a platform. But the very fact of holding such a meeting in Azerbaijan, of course, makes us satisfied and also speaks about the role that Azerbaijan plays in reducing risks, noted the president.

Meanwhile, the first meeting of chief of the Russian General Staff and chairman of the NATO Military Committee was held in Baku, said Ilham Aliyev adding that Azerbaijan is also ready to contribute to strengthening security and reducing risks in the future.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Ilhama Isabalayeva  Trend:

Adoption of two resolutions on Azerbaijan Oct. 11 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is another campaign to denigrate the country, Aydin Safikhanli, head of the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of Azerbaijan, Ph.D., told Trend Oct. 12.

On Oct. 11, the PACE adopted Resolution No.14397 on the report Azerbaijans Chairmanship of the Council of Europe: What follow-up on respect for human rights? and Resolution No.14403 on the report on The functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan.

The adoption of the resolutions also demonstrated degradation of law and exaltation of double standards in the PACE, Safikhanli said.

He noted that the success achieved by Azerbaijan today, the countrys role in shaping the policy carried out both at the regional and global levels concerns some political forces, and campaigns are being conducted against the country to discredit it.

Safikhanli said that by adopting these documents prepared for subjective reasons and on political order of certain anti-Azerbaijani forces, the PACE as a structure undermined its authority.

He noted that these resolutions, which are not based on objective analysis, and which were adopted with reference to biased allegations and unconfirmed sources, openly showed that they are aimed at discrediting Azerbaijan.

Over the past period, Azerbaijan has completely fulfilled all commitments before the international and regional organizations the country is a member of, Safikhanli said. Being a participant of many international agreements, Azerbaijan has completely improved its national legislation.

The country continues taking certain steps in this field, being attentive to proposals and recommendations submitted by international and regional organizations and UN structures, he noted. Azerbaijan is an independent, strong state, which has its own priorities, both in domestic and foreign policy, and therefore, it is impossible to exert pressure on Azerbaijan with such documents.
Headline changed, details added (first version posted on 16:54)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

Trend:

President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree Oct. 12 appointing Parviz Shahbazov as the new energy minister of Azerbaijan.

Prior to this appointment, Shahbazov served as Azerbaijans ambassador in Germany until September 2016.
Details added (first version posted at 17:48)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.12

By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:

The US views Azerbaijan as a core partner in the global fight against terrorism, Laura Cooper, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense of the US, told reporters in Baku Oct. 12.

"I have come from Pentagon focusing on how we can deepen US-Azerbaijan strategic partnership. From our prospective in Washington, we view Azerbaijan as a core partner in the global fight against terrorism, she said.

We also greatly appreciate operating alongside Azerbaijan forces in the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. We were working together to support the Afghan government in bringing stability to that country.

This is just my first official visit to Azerbaijan, but I am looking forward to a future visit where we can continue to work on deepening our strategic partnership and our defense cooperation," she added.

Cooper noted that she had very useful and productive discussions with Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Presidential Administration and Border Security Service officials.

One of the highlights of the discussions was my ability to talk about the US South Asia strategy," she said.

Cooper pointed out that the US is renewing its commitment to Afghanistan security.

It was my pleasure to discuss this strategic approach with the strategic partner like Azerbaijan and talk about our mutual deployments in Afghanistan, she added.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Ilhama Isabalayeva  Trend:

The Baku brand may be ready in the coming months, Kenan Guluzade, spokesman of the National Bureau of Tourism Promotion, told Trend Oct. 12.

According to him, active work is underway to create a brand, and in this regard, negotiations are being conducted with two international companies, which specialize in making brands of the most popular cities and capitals of the world.

Guluzade noted that these companies offer their projects and it is necessary to make a choice between them.

This is a conceptual approach, in other words, how we present Baku to foreigners, to which tourism market and from which side we want to show Baku, he added.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.12

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Baku will host Azerbaijan-US business forum on Oct.16, said the message on the website of Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO).

The event will be held as part of the visit of the US business delegation to Azerbaijan.

As many as 17 companies from the US specialized in construction, ICT, finance, agricultural technologies, payment and security systems, car rental, logistics, dairy products, and other sectors of industry plan to attend the event to be held in Baku Business Center with the support of Azerbaijans Ministry of Economy and organization of AZPROMO.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Ilhama Isabalayeva  Trend:

The associate membership of the State Accreditation Service of Azerbaijan will be considered at a meeting of the General Assembly of the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA), to be held in Berlin, said Ramiz Hasanov, chairman of the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Patent.

Hasanov made the remarks at a meeting with Ambassador Kestutis Jankauskas, who is the head of EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, said the State Committee in a message Oct. 12.

Hasanov expressed confidence that as a result of the twinning project Strengthening the National Accreditation System of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which is currently being implemented, Azerbaijan and the EA will sign agreements on mutual recognition.

Noting the importance of mutual interest in connection with the development of relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan, Jankauskas praised the ongoing system reforms in the country aimed at increasing the export potential of the non-oil sector.

According to him, bringing the quality infrastructure in line with modern experience serves precisely this policy.

The ambassador expressed confidence that the EU will continue to be directly involved in this process and provide the necessary support.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct. 12

By Diana Aliyeva  Trend:

It is important to develop and implement new, concrete projects as part of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

President Mirziyoyev made the remarks at the meeting of the Council of the Heads of States of the CIS in Sochi, Russia Oct. 12, the Uzbek presidential press-service said.

The president added that there is a need to strengthen confidence and cooperation among the participating countries.

The trade turnover volume between Uzbekistan and the CIS countries has increased by 20 percent since early 2017.

President Mirziyoyev stressed Uzbekistan's interest in developing cooperation with the CIS countries in trade, economy, transportation, tourism, science, education and security.

Moreover, Uzbekistan intends to further intensify its participation in this organization. Thus, a meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the CIS will be held in Tashkent November 3.

The president stressed the importance of the transport and communication component of the partnership in the CIS, which includes the development of mutually integrated transport systems.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev will pay an official visit to Azerbaijan on Oct. 13-14, reads a message on the presidents website.

Radev will hold a series of meetings in Baku and discuss cooperation in politics, trade, economy, energy, transport, education, science and culture, as well as topical international problems and issues of global security and migration.

Bulgarian media reports that the main purpose of the visit may be mulling Azerbaijani gas supply to Bulgaria. Azerbaijani gas can be delivered to Bulgaria using the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB).

IGB will allow Bulgaria receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) which will deliver the Shah Deniz gas to the European markets.



Initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas. The projects cost is estimated at around 240 million euros.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev held discussions with representatives of German business community on the sidelines of a meeting in Sochi with participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the press service of Kazakh president said in a message.

Nazarbayev stressed the active trade and economic partnership between Kazakhstan and Germany during the meeting.

Germany invested about $5 billion in Kazakhstan, and it is important to note that 90 percent of these funds are put in the non-primary sector. Trade turnover between our countries increased by $1.5 billion during eight months of this year, Nazarbayev said.

He added that more than 900 companies with German capital successfully work in various spheres, including construction, transportation, agriculture, manufacturing in Kazakhstan.

President Nazarbayev also invited German investors to participate in the third wave of privatization and actively develop cooperation with the financial center Astana.

Businessmen need to use all opportunities to develop their businesses and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation. I am confident that today's meeting will strengthen our partnership, Nazarbayev said.
Details added (first version posted on 10:48)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

Azerbaijan is well-known worldwide as a reliable energy supplier, Rovnag Abdullayev, president of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR, said.

Abdullayev made the remarks at the Argus Azerbaijan International Petroleum Summit 2017 in Baku Oct. 12.

He added that the country is a reliable energy supplier of both oil and gas.

"The projects implemented by SOCAR have become an integral part of the world economy," Abdullayev said.

He also spoke about Azerbaijans biggest projects in oil and gas production.

"We managed to achieve stable production at 9 billion cubic meters of gas per year at the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field, he said. The production will increase by 16 billion cubic meters of gas as part of the Stage 2 of the field development. All segments of the South Gas Corridor project are being implemented on schedule."

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.



At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor projects. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.



As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline.

Abdullayev also stressed that a new contract on development of Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields signed in Baku in September implying more favorable conditions for Azerbaijan proved once again the strength of the country's economy.

"When the first contract was signed in 1994, the ACG reserves were estimated at 510 million tons, he said. But it has been revealed over the past 20 years that more than 550 million tons of reserves are available besides the extracted oil."

The contract for developing the ACG field was signed in 1994. The proven oil reserves of the block near 1 billion tons.



The shareholders of the project are BP (35.78 percent), Chevron (11.27 percent), Inpex (10.96 percent), AzACG (SOCAR) (11.65 percent), Statoil (8.55 percent), ExxonMobil (8 percent), TP (6.75 percent), Itochu (4.3 percent) and ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) (2.72 percent).

The signing ceremony of a new contract on development of ACG block of oil and gas fields was held in Baku Sept. 14.

Following the ratification of the contract, the new ACG participating interests will be as follows: BP - 30.37 percent; AzACG (SOCAR) - 25.00 percent; Chevron - 9.57 percent; Inpex - 9.31 percent; Statoil - 7.27 percent; ExxonMobil - 6.79 percent; TP - 5.73 percent; Itochu - 3.65 percent; and ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) - 2.31 percent.
Details added (first version posted on 12:10)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:

Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR plans to pump up to 1.5 million tons of oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline in 2018, said Adnan Ahmadzade, the head of SOCAR's Marketing and Economic Operations Department.

Ahmadzade made the remarks at the Argus Azerbaijan International Petroleum Summit 2017 in Baku Oct. 12.

"We plan to pump 1.3-1.5 million tons of oil through the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline in 2018, he said.

It is also possible that some volumes will be redirected, he said. The negotiations with the Russian side on the possibility of redirecting some volumes via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline are underway, but they are complicated by economic conditions."

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 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.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Russias LUKOIL company is in talks with Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR to continue supplies of Russian oil via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, Alexey Dzyuba, director of trading at LITASCO SA (100 percent subsidiary of LUKOIL), said.

He made the remarks at the Argus Azerbaijan International Petroleum Summit 2017 in Baku Oct. 12.

The total length of the B is 1,768 kilometers, including a 443-kilometer section running through Azerbaijan, a 249-kilometer section in Georgia and a 1,076-kilometer section in Turkey.

Construction of the pipeline started in 2003. It was filled with oil in 2005.

BTC Co. shareholders are: BP (30.1 percent), AzBTC (25 percent), Chevron (8.9 percent), Statoil (8.71 percent),  (6.53 percent), Eni (5 percent), Total (5 percent), Itochu (3.4 percent), Inpex (2.5 percent), CIECO (2.5 percent) and ONGC (2.36 percent).

The Argus Azerbaijan International Petroleum Summit 2017 is organized by global energy and commodity price reporting agency Argus and SOCAR.

The summit has become one of the key events in the Caspian region, assembling senior executives from leading crude, products, petrochemical, trading and transportation companies in one place to analyze the latest industrial trends and development prospects for the near future.

Key topics of the summit: Caspian  Mediterranean Transportation Corridor Development Prospects; Regional Crude and Products Markets; Crude and Products Exports from Azerbaijan: Main Routes; Caspian Logistics Infrastructure: Rail Transportation and Tariff Policy, Shipowners, Ports and Terminals; Regional Pipeline Routes: Reality and Developments Prospects; Project Financing in Iran. Islamic Financing; Specific Characteristics of Crude Swap Deliveries from the Caspian Region; Petrochemical Industry in the Caspian Region: Production, Transportation and Trading.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

The timing of start of production at the Star oil refinery in Turkey has changed, Zaur Gahramanov, head of SOCAR Turkey Enerji (subsidiary of Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR), told reporters in Baku Oct. 12.

He noted that changes in the original project contributed to this.

It is planned that the first sale of the plants output will begin in September 2018, and the plants full commissioning will take place in December 2018. Production will begin in August 2018, Gahramanov said.

Construction of Star oil refinery has been completed by 95 percent. It was earlier planned to start production at the plant in April 2018.

The refinery will be able to process 10 million tons of oil per year with storage capacity volume of 1.6 million cubic meters. The plant will annually produce 1.6 million tons of naphtha, 5 million tons of diesel fuel, 1.6 million tons of jet fuel, 300,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas and 1 million tons of raw materials for the manufacture of petrochemicals.

The total cost of the Star oil refinery construction exceeds $5 billion.

Under a decree of Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev on additional measures to support the participation of Azerbaijan in the construction of the Star refinery in Turkey, SOCAR Turkey Yatirim JSC was created with an authorized capital of $1.9 billion and with 40-percent share held by the state. Under the decree, the state share in SOCAR Turkey Yatirim JSC will be financed by SOFAZ (State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan).
Details added (first version posted on 11:34)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

Trend:

Azerbaijan fully meets its own demand for oil and gas, the countrys Deputy Energy Minister Natig Abbasov said.

Abbasov made the remarks at the Argus Azerbaijan International Petroleum Summit 2017 in Baku Oct. 12.

According to him, thanks to the OPEC+ agreement on the reduction of oil production, it was possible to stabilize oil prices on the world market.

Of course, the fall in oil prices slows down the economic development of its producers and affects long-term plans. However, the fact that so many producing countries could agree on cutting production is a historic achievement. This decision significantly stabilized oil prices, noted Abbasov.

Even despite the decline in production in Azerbaijan under the agreement, the country fully meets its own demand for hydrocarbons, added the deputy minister.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 12

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Effective work is being carried out in Turkmenistan to improve market relations, modernize the economy and create conditions for innovative development, said the appeal of the countrys President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to participants of the national exhibition of Turkmenistans economic achievements, which opened Oct. 12 in Ashgabat.

The event is timed to the 26th anniversary of independence of Turkmenistan.

The holding of the exhibition is intended to demonstrate the success achieved in all sectors of the Turkmen national economy.

Huge economic potential and favorable location of Turkmenistan, inexhaustible wealth of the Turkmen land serve as guarantee of high achievements of our country, its sustainable development and prosperity, the appeal noted.

Turkmenistans private sector of economy accounted for 62.3 percent of GDP in 2016.

Turkmenistan has embarked on a policy of gradual transition to market economy. A number of measures, including denomination of national currency and switching to the international accounting standards, have been implemented in the country.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 12

By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:

The issue of modernizing gas-fired power stations was touched upon at the Turkmen-Chinese scientific and innovation forum being held in Ashgabat on October 12, Turkmenistans Watan newspaper reported Oct. 12.

It is possible to generate electricity with minimal harm to the environment thanks to the projects of modernizing gas-fired power stations. The innovative technology of obtaining electricity has huge economic benefit.

Turkmenistan generated around 18.361 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity from January to September 2017. More than 2.8 billion kilowatt hours were supplied to foreign consumers during the reporting period, while the export growth rate was 103.2 percent.

Turkmenistan exports electricity to Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey. The prospects of electricity supply to the Caucasian countries, Central Asia and South Asia are being examined.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 12

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

OSCE-organized seminar on facilitating the development of secure national transport and trade infrastructures has taken place in Ashgabat, the OSCE said in a press release.

Representatives of ministries dealing with transport logistics, finance institutions, the State Customs and State Border Services, the Union of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists, and other state bodies participated in the seminar.

The OSCE Center in Ashgabat organized the two-day seminar to enhance the participants awareness about international instruments and mechanisms to facilitate trade and transport systems and discuss the implementation of national policies and mechanisms in the area.

International experts shared methodologies on the development of transport and trade facilitation roadmaps as well as business process analysis methods.

The Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, represented by Zukhra Bektepova, economic officer, provided a presentation on the OSCE mandate in the field of trade facilitation, transport and border security.

The OSCE recognizes that there is a vital role for secure transportation networks and sustainable transport development in enhancing regional economic co-operation and in strengthening stability in the OSCE area, said Ambassador Natalya Drozd, head of the Center in Ashgabat.

As Turkmenistan is undertaking consistent steps to promote transport connectivity and to become a regional logistic hub, the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat stands ready to support the host government in these efforts and facilitate the exchange of best practices.

The event also addressed multimodal transport and logistics systems as well as transport efficiency through energy intensity.

Efficient transport and border and customs mechanisms for landlocked developing countries were a special topic for discussion. Participants exchanged views on ways to strengthen good governance and public-private partnerships in landlocked developing countries.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct. 12

By Diana Aliyeva  Trend:

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev plans to visit Turkey, Uzbek Foreign Ministry said in a message.

The upcoming trip was discussed during the presentation of credentials of new Uzbek Ambassador to Turkey Alisher Aghzamhodjayev to the countrys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish president noted the symbolic nature of the upcoming visit of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, which will give new impetus to the further development of the Uzbek-Turkish political dialogue, expansion of cooperation between the two countries in trade, economic, investment, financial, technical and other spheres.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that Uzbekistan is an important partner of Turkey in Central Asia and in the world, and expressed readiness to foster bringing bilateral relations to a qualitatively new level in all areas of mutual interest.

The sides noted positive dynamics in the Uzbek-Turkish relations, which has been observed since the negotiations at the highest level in November 2016 in the city of Samarkand.

The subsequent meetings of the two presidents in Beijing, Astana and New York made it possible to start working together to implement the existing great opportunities for building mutually beneficial cooperation.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Kamila Aliyeva - Trend:

Tajikistan offers Uzbekistan to enter new markets under a single joint brand.

This would allow the two countries to achieve success in trade and economic cooperation, according to the chairman of the Tajik Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sharif Said, podrobno.uz reported.

Today, the volumes of bilateral trade between the countries are unsatisfactory, despite the dynamics of growth of these indicators in recent years, he noted.

"To achieve this goal, we could use modern methods such as e-commerce, leasing, the creation of joint innovation productions, and in this way to enter the markets of other countries under the joint brand Tajikistan-Uzbekistan, using the privileges and preferences of the existing free economic zones," the chairman said at the business forum in Tashkent.

He believes that Uzbek entrepreneurs, using this potential, can significantly increase their share and investment activity in Tajikistan.

"The opportunities for cooperation are large, but they do not meet all the requirements yet, and we must effectively use all resources and opportunities to strengthen trade and economic relations between the business communities of our countries," Said noted.

A business forum of the two countries was held within the framework of the Tajik National Exhibition of Products. Representatives of ministries and companies responsible for such spheres as light industry, power engineering, machine building, metallurgy, automotive industry, transport and logistics, food, chemical industry, construction materials, agriculture and tourism participated in the forum.

Following the event, promising agreements were reached to develop cooperation in the fields of the chemical industry, transport communications, light industry, agriculture, tourism and industrial production.

Currently 24 enterprises with the participation of Tajik capital, including one with one hundred percent foreign investment, operate in Uzbekistan. At the same time, 9 enterprises were created on the territory of Tajikistan with the participation of Uzbek residents.

In the first nine months of the current year, the Uzbek-Tajik trade reached a mark of $178.2 million. The Trade House of Uzbekistan was opened in Dushanbe in June.

In 2016, the trade turnover between the two countries hit $69 million, which is almost 6 times more than in 2015.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Iran exported 2.434 million tons of agricultural products, worth $1.415 billion during the first half of current fiscal year (March 20-Sept. 22).

The countrys agricultural exports increased by 15 percent in terms of volume, however the value of exports registered a fall by 9 percent, year-on-year.

Agricultural products shared 6.8 percent of Irans total exports in terms of value.

According to the latest statistics released by Irans agriculture ministry, which covers the first five months of current fiscal year (March 20-Aug. 22), pistachio worth $127.77 million topped the list of Irans agricultural exports, followed by ice cream worth $104 million, melons worth $97.8 million, tomatoes worth $73.25 million and cheese worth $72.5 million.

Meanwhile in terms of volume watermelon stood at top of the list with 503,400 tons (from 2.015 million tons of total agricultural exports).

Watermelon exports registered an 18 percent and 33 percent growth in terms of volume and value respectively.

Watermelon which is the main Iranian agriculture product in terms of weight is a water-consuming product and has raised criticism among some experts, who argue that Iran is actually exporting water, in a period which is suffering drought.

Located in an arid zone, Iran is just one of the countries facing severe water problems, such severe droughts have plagued the country over the last 40 years. The drought of 1992-2002 caused a major blow to agriculture. There were quotas imposed for fresh water in several cities, including the capital Tehran.

Meanwhile Irans agriculture ministry officials say the exported agricultural products use only 5 billion cubic meters of water per year.

According to United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO), Iran's total annual water consumption is approximately 93 billion cubic meters, out of which about 92 percent is used in agriculture (86 billion cubic meters), 6.6 percent in municipality (6.18 billion cubic meters), and 1.2 percent in industry (1.12 billion cubic meters),

Up to 70 percent of water used in the agriculture sector is being wasted, Iranian officials say.

According to Nasser Karami, an Iranian physical climatologist, in the last 30 years Iran consumed 70 percent of its groundwater reserves, which were collected in a million years.Up to 62 percent of water used in the country's agriculture comes from groundwater reserves, according to the FAO.

For the time being, Iran's limited water reserves are strategic and agriculture is not an economic priority sector any more, Karami believes.

Some experts even believe that using limited vital water sources for the agriculture sector is not logical and Iran is better to import its agricultural demand rather than producing, which is more justified economically, considering the countrys depleting water reserves.

Certain experts such as Karami believe that drought will force Iran to shut down developing agriculture sooner or later.

Issa Kalantari, head of Irans environment protection organization, earlier warned that Iran's water crisis was more of a threat to the country than "Israel, the US or political infighting."

According to veteran politician, who served as agriculture minister years ago, if the water issue is not addressed, Iran could become a place where no one can live.

Amid all of these concerns, the country continues to produce agricultural products for exports, while the revenues share below 7 percent of the total non-oil exports value and seems to have no plan to cut that, given the fact that the weight of exported agricultural products has increased even by 15 percent.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Azer Ahmadbayli  Trend:

Last Iranian fiscal year (ended March 20, 2017), the countrys non-oil exports accounted for $43.93 billion, which made 88 % from annual target of $50 billion, according to data from Irans Trade Promotion Organization (TPOI).

The same was observed in the first half of the current year (March 21-September 22), when total non-oil exports amounted to $20.5 billion, which made nearly 39% from the planned annual target of $53 billion.

So, it comes obvious that for the time being Iranian non-oil export is strongly limping.

Meanwhile, almost all of the non-oil export items are the derivatives of hydrocarbons (liquefied propane, liquefied butane, gas condensate, methanol, film grade polyethylene etc.), and exported mainly as raw materials. The only real non-oil export products found in the top 10 were iron ore and semi-processed iron and steel products.

The top 10 countries, where Iran exports about 70 percent of its non-oil goods are: China, Iraq, UAE, South Korea, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Pakistan, Thailand and Taiwan.

Irans exports, lets be honest, are of Europes economic interest in the first place due to hydrocarbons. The EU ranks 5th among Irans trade partners, mostly at the expense of importing hydrocarbons.

Iranian sources, based on latest data from Eurostat, say that Irans exports to EUs 28 nations exceeded 5 billion, from which 4.4 billion fall to petroleum, petroleum products and related products, during the first half of 2017. Only 600 million fell to manufactured goods and agricultural products.

Does the one-sided export reality suit Iran? Probably not. Iran most likely is able to offer a range of high quality goods that might be attractive to European customers.

The Resistance Economy concept put forward by Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei is still relevant due to high potential of re-imposition of sanctions by the US administration, but at the same time its vital to explore every avenue for non-oil export development.

Today, it is hard for Iran to find a free market niche in Europe and compete with such exporters of consumer goods as China or Turkey. Nevertheless, in addition to well-exported superior goods like caviar, hand-made carpets, crocus and pistachio, Iran has some other options in its product portfolio that can be put into commercial production for further export (given their acceptable price).

It is worthy to mention famous Iranian rice, dried fruits, jewelry, and natural stones. Some of the products are being exported to several European countries (travertine, for instance) but Iran is able to do much more in this regard.

Irans non-oil export approach has at least three serious shortcomings that have to be improved. First of all, instead of making a fast buck through selling raw materials, Iran could get its labor force, including those unemployed, involved into processing and finishing, by opening new processing enterprises. Second, Iranian high quality goods should have presentable packaging, European style. The third is lack of national brand.

Formation of supply chains for domestic products is one of the key conditions for non-oil export growth.

Take jewelry, for example.

The Islamic Republic is among the 10 major mineral-rich countries. It possesses 7 percent of the worlds total mineral deposits with about 68 kinds of commercially valued minerals. The volume of Irans minerals is estimated at 57 billion tons.

However, great bulk of precious and semiprecious stones and precious metals does not reach processing stage to turn into a well-packed dainty piece of jewelry - necklaces, rings, or bracelets  but is sold as a primary product.

Having cheap but skillful labor could help Iran conquer a part of the EU market.

By the way, figure of Faravahar symbolizing good thoughts, good words, and good deeds could probably be the best option to become a national brand mark for Made in Iran goods.
Tehran, Iran, Oct. 11

By Mehdi Sepahvand  Trend:

If the United States walks out of the Iranian nuclear agreement, aka Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), any future sanctions would highly probably be targeted at Irans energy sector, an expert says.

"One of the most notable restrictions that is likely to follow would be placed on Irans oil and petrochemicals export, which constitutes a large section of Irans revenues and foreign exchange reserves," Nasrollah Barzani, a capital market expert, told Trend Oct. 11.

Later this week, President Trump will announce his administrations position on the Iran nuclear deal, and the expectation is that hell decertify the deal.

The JCPOA was agreed upon by Iran on one side and the group 5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) on the other as a move to end dispute over Irans nuclear program and lift economic sanctions on Tehran.

During his speech at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 19, the US president described the JCPOA as "the worst and most one-sided transaction Washington has ever entered into," a characterization he often used during his presidential campaign. Decertifying the deal will open the way for Congress to possibly authorize more restrictive measures against Iran.

"Over the past years, the most influential factor on Irans economy has been its political relations with other countries," Barzani said, noting that the JCPOA was a start to growing ties between Tehran and the world.

"The JCPOA put Irans economy on the path to rehabilitation. The deal was expected to provide grounds for financing, connection to the global banking system, and luring foreign investment."

However, the expert said, it has become an experience with Iran that sanctions will inevitably put the government in a tense position by restricting its sources of income.

"That would not only reduce government earnings, but make much harder the procurement of intermediate materials and parts, banking transactions with the international community, and funding projects."

"This will sadly come as a hard blow to the economy and yet again postpone the economic rehabilitation of the country, because, although we do not have much economic ties with the US, the international companies and banks with which we do work are under the influence of US policies," Barzani noted.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 11

By Fatih Karimov Trend:

Irans agriculture ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for cooperation in agricultural monitoring.

Under the MoU signed Oct. 11, the parties will cooperate on a project for improving Agriculture Monitoring System through satellite imagery, the Iranian agriculture ministry said in a message.

Abbas Keshavarz, Irans deputy agriculture minister said that FAO has agreed to implement a pilot project in Iran to improve the countrys Agriculture Monitoring System.

The pilot project will be implemented in Zanjan, Mazandaran and Kerman provinces which have different climatic conditions, he added.

The date of this system should be up to date, predictable and analytical, he said, adding that it will report all events including climatic fluctuations, weather changes and so on.

Over 52 percent of Irans agricultural lands are under wheat farming. Irans wheat production reached 14 million tons during the current year.

The Islamic Republic exported 5.8 million tons of agricultural products during the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2017), 21.7 percent more year-on-year.

The value of exported agricultural products accounted for $5.686 billion, registering an increase by 3.61 percent compared to preceding year, according to Irans agriculture ministry.

Iranian agricultural exports shared 4.48 percent of the countrys total non-oil exports in terms of volume and 12.97 percent in terms of value respectively.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Several factors have led to deterioration of relations between the US and Turkey.

Among them are the New York prosecutors warrant to arrest Turkeys former minister of economy Zafer Caglayan, provision of YPG and PYD  the Syrian wings of the Kurdistan Workers Party  with arms by the US, Ankaras contract with Moscow for purchase of the S-400 Triumph air defense systems, the joint military operations of Turkey, Iran and Russia in Syrias Idlib, and, finally, the recent arrest of an employee of the US Consulate General in Ankara.

However, these are just the visible parts of the crisis in the US-Turkey relations.

As it is known, Turkey has never joined Western sanctions against Iran and this fact testifies that the warrant to arrest Caglayan, accused of supporting the development of Iran's economy, is of political nature.

Given that Turkey and the US are NATO allies, any threat to one ally must be regarded as a threat against all members of the alliance. Actually, proceeding from this principle, it is possible to state that the US provision of YPG/PYD with arms absolutely contradicts the spirit of the alliance between Washington and Ankara.

In its turn, the joint military operation of Turkey, Iran and Russia in Idlib is explained by the need to create a de-escalation zone in Syria. These decisive steps have been taken by Turkey, Russia and Iran to resolve the Syrian crisis as soon as possible, while the US provides YPG and PYD  who dont hide their intention to create a "Kurdish state" in Syria  with arms. And that poses a real threat not only to Ankara and Tehran, but to the entire region.

Touching upon the issue of cooperation between Ankara and Moscow in the defense sphere, it is necessary to take into account the fact mentioned by the Turkish authorities that no country, except Russia, has yet voiced an affordable price for the purchase of modern air defense systems.

Earlier, as it is known, Turkey conducted fruitless negotiations with France and other NATO allies to purchase air defense systems. Therefore, if the NATO partners do not intend to ensure the security of their ally, Ankara has every right to ensure its own security by acquiring arms and defense technologies from other countries.

Finally, if the US says its judicial system is independent and denies the need for extradition of Fethullah Gulen, whose involvement in the attempted coup in Turkey has been proved, then why does Washington doubt and distrust the decisions of the Turkish courts?

And also, why is Washington intentionally deteriorating relations with Ankara because of one employee of the US Consulate General, who is by the way a citizen of Turkey, not the US?

Meanwhile, a US delegation will arrive in Ankara next week to solve the crisis in the relations of both sides.

Irrespective of the outcome of the negotiations and even if the sides resolve the crisis related to the Consulate General employee, the relations between Ankara and Washington are still overshadowed by four unresolved problems, which in the future may lead to more serious consequences.

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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday that military relations with Turkey had been unaffected by diplomatic tensions between the two countries and he would continue to work closely with his Turkish counterparts, Reuters reported.

It is a NATO ally that we will work hard to stay aligned with against our common enemy and we are doing good work together, military to military, Mattis told reporters on board a military plane.

When asked whether he expected the diplomatic dispute to affect future operations, Mattis said he did not want to speculate but in the past diplomatic tensions have not affected military relations.
The death toll rose to 23 on Wednesday night from the rapidly spreading firestorm in California wine country as firefighters were battling the return of dangerous winds that sparked new evacuations, authorities said, Los Angeles Times reported.

All residents of Calistoga and Geyserville were ordered to leave their homes as firefighters braced for a tough fight overnight on numerous fronts of the fires. About 8:20 p.m., mandatory evacuations were also issued for parts of eastern Sonoma Valley, including Castle Road and 7th Street East north of Lovall Valley Road.

Napa city officials issued evacuation advisories for neighborhoods along the eastern edges of the city, warning residents to be prepared to leave. Just before 9 p.m., Santa Rosa police also issued an evacuation advisory for neighborhoods in the citys eastern end, while other neighborhoods along the north end of the city are under mandatory evacuation orders.

The fire is not an imminent threat, but the conditions may change quickly, police said.

In Sonoma County alone, 25,000 people have evacuated, county spokesman Scott Alonso said late Wednesday.

If theres been a mandatory evacuation, you cannot go home, Alonso said. The area is unsafe.

Meanwhile, Sonoma County sheriffs deputies are working to track down 285 out of 600 people reported missing. The rest  315 people  have already been found safe. Alonso asked people to notify officials if they have found their missing loved ones.

Power remained out at 40,000 homes across the county.

A red flag warning forecasting dangerous fire conditions took effect Wednesday evening in the Bay Area. Weather officials expect strong winds with gusts as high as 50 mph. Combined with dry fuels and low humidity, fires have the potential to spread quickly, according to the National Weather Service.

The warning took effect at 5 p.m. in the North Bay Mountains and will take effect at 11 p.m. in the East Bay Hills, Santa Cruz Mountains and mountains in Monterey and San Benito counties.

Its a good heads-up to all the firefighters and emergency management that the conditions are going to be pretty bad in terms of the fire behaviors, said Will Pi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Were expecting the strongest winds to be tonight and tomorrow morning.
Baku /Trend/- Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to travel to Iran before the end of this year, where a trilateral Russia-Iran-Azerbaijan meeting will be held, Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Thursday.

"Actually, it is," he said when asked whether Putins visit to Iran is planned. The Kremlin aide declined though to give the exact dates for the visit saying only that it will take place before the end of this year.

"That will be a trilateral Iran-Russia-Azerbaijan meeting," Ushakov noted.

The first trilateral summit was held in Baku in August 2016. At that time, Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Hassan Rouhani discussed joined economic projects and regional security issues, in particular, the North-South Transport Corridor project.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey has the right to conduct a military operation in the Syrian city of Idlib to ensure its own safety, Turkish media quoted Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag as saying Oct. 12.

The expected military operation in Idlib does not contradict international law, he said.

Concentration of terrorists in the city of Afrin, as well as in other Syrian cities, is a serious threat to Turkey, Bozdag noted.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the armed forces of Turkey and Russia will provide security in Idlib. In the citys central districts security will be provided by the Turkish Armed Forces, while Russias Armed Forces will ensure safety on the outskirts.

It was earlier reported that Turkey completed preparations for new military operations in Syria and military operations in Idlib may start in the coming days. The military operations are expected to be held jointly with troops of the Free Syrian Army.
At least 13 people were killed when a fight broke out in a prison in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon and security troops were sent in to quell the violence, a state security official said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The battle inside the Cadereyta prison outside the city of Monterrey began overnight, officials said. Anxious family members gathered outside the prison during the day waiting for news of their loved ones.

A protest by inmates overnight had spiraled out of control, one prisoner was killed and a number of guards were taken hostage, Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Aldo Fasci told reporters.

Police were sent in to calm the disturbance but the fight soon escalated to involve around 250 inmates, he said.

Around five in the afternoon, the decision was made by security forces to use lethal force to prevent the murder of guards as well as stop the murder of inmates, Fasci said.

If we had not taken this decision, we would be talking about many more deaths, he said.

It was not immediately clear how many people were killed in the fight and how many were killed by security forces, he said. Eight more people seriously wounded, he said.

Rival gangs that are involved in drug trafficking, human smuggling, fuel theft, kidnapping and extortion have fueled bloody battles in Mexicos overcrowded prisons.

At least nine were killed in a prison fight in the state of Tamaulipas on the U.S. border with Texas and at least 28 inmates were killed in July in a battle in a prison in the Pacific resort of Acapulco.
Iraqi authorities say a suicide bomber has struck a cafe in the western city of Hit, killing 11 people, Associated Press reported.

The citys security bureau says 15 other people were wounded in Wednesdays blast, and that the victims are all civilians. It says emergency services and security forces are at the scene. The city is located in the sprawling Anbar province.

Iraqi security forces are battling Islamic State militants in the far western edge of the largely desert province. Hit is about 160 kilometers (100 miles) behind the front line.
US maneuvers to, among other things, take down the Russian flag at Russian diplomatic facilities in the US are "perfectly legal," the US State Department announced Thursday afternoon, Sputnik reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov communicated to his US counterpart, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, that the removal of Russian flags was unacceptable. On Wednesday, US authorities ordered the removal of the flags at the Consulate General in San Francisco and at the Russian Trade Representation building in Washington, DC.

Moscow is "prepared" to file a lawsuit "in order to return the diplomatic property that had been illegally seized," according a statement the Russian Foreign Ministry issued Wednesday.

"Our actions when it comes to those facilities we believe is perfectly legal," Heather Nauert, State Department spokeswoman, told reporters.

Washington and Moscow have engaged in a series of tit-for-tat measures dating back to President Barack Obama's seizure of Russian diplomatic compounds in December of last year on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where diplomats would visit a "dacha" vacation retreat, as well as a building in New York where dignitaries would retire between meetings at the United Nations in New York. Thirty-five Russian diplomats were expelled as part of Obama's retaliation to what Washington claimed was "Russian meddling" in US elections.

The situation was supposed to improve when US President Donald Trump was sworn into office on January 20, but bilateral relations have not improved to the extent some had hoped they would.

Moscow eventually ordered the US diplomatic mission in Russia to cut its staff to 755 people to bring parity to the number of dignitaries in both countries.

Following the loss of jobs for some Americans  and many Russians  who had been working at those facilities, the US retaliated September 2 by closing the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco as well as Moscow's trade missions in Washington, DC and New York. Russia called these actions unfriendly and pledged to sue the proper US authorities over the situation.

On September 15, the US Congress passed the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act with funding for a cruise missiles with a range that is plainly prohibited under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a move former CIA analyst and operations officer John Kiriakou told Sputnik News amounted to "one more coal on the fire of US-Russian relations."
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

A special delegation from the US will visit Turkey next week to resolve the crisis between the two countries after the arrest of an employee of the US Consulate General in Istanbul, the Turkish media reported Oct. 12 quoting diplomatic sources.

Previously, the US suspended issuance of visas to Turkish citizens due to the arrest of an employee of the US Consulate General in Istanbul.

Turkish authorities, commenting on the arrest of the Consulate Generals employee, noted that he had links with the movement of Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of being involved in the 2016 military coup attempt in Turkey.

Turkey also suspended the issuance of visas to US citizens.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Istanbul police have resumed operations against drug dealers, the city police said in a statement Oct. 12.

The operations against drug dealers have started at 06:00 (GMT +3).

There are detainees whose names are not disclosed.

The minimum age of Turkish citizens who started using drugs is 13 years old, the average age  36 years old, the maximum age - 65 years old.

Thus, 2.9 percent of the country's population account for drug addicts aged 15-24, 2.8 percent - those aged 25-44, 2.3 percent - drug addicts aged 45-64.

Some 23,738 people or 18 percent of the total number of people arrested in the country in 2016 accounted for drug dealers.

More than 300,000 people have been detained in Istanbul for using and selling drugs over the past four years.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

The US claims to be Turkeys ally, but Washington does not even sell weapons to Turkey, while arming the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for free, Turkish media quoted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying Oct. 12.

Erdogan noted that his country knows perfectly well that the weapons the US gives to PKKs Syrian wing will be further used against Turkey.

Commenting on the current crisis in US-Turkey relations, he said the reason of the crisis is US Ambassador John Bass.

The United States should not sacrifice relations with Turkey because of one ambassador, he noted.

Previously, the US suspended issuance of visas to Turkish citizens due to the arrest of an employee of the US Consulate General in Istanbul. Turkey also suspended the issuance of visas to US citizens.

Turkish authorities, commenting on the arrest of the Consulate Generals employee, noted that he had links with the movement of Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of being involved in the 2016 military coup attempt in Turkey.

Erdogan earlier said that Ankara no longer considers envoy John Bass as US representative in Turkey.

-----

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 12

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

risis in relations between the US and Turkey can be resolved very soon, since this crisis isn't of global character, the Turkish media quoted Ibrahim Kalin, head of the Turkish presidential press-service, as saying Oct. 12.

According to him, Turkey and the US are partners and cooperate in many spheres.

The two countries are members of the international coalition against the Islamic State terrorist group, said Kalin.

He noted that Turkey expects more support from the US as from its closest ally.

Previously, the US suspended issuance of visas to Turkish citizens due to the arrest of an employee of the US Consulate General in Istanbul. Turkey also suspended the issuance of visas to US citizens.

Turkish authorities, commenting on the arrest of the Consulate Generals employee, noted that he had links with the movement of Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of being involved in the 2016 military coup attempt in Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said that Ankara no longer considers envoy John Bass as US representative in Turkey.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
A first convoy of the military operation that Turkey is carrying out in Syrias Idlib province crossed into the area late on Thursday, two rebels and a witness said, according to Reuters.

The convoy included about 30 military vehicles, said Abu Khairo, a commander in a Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel group based in the area, and it entered Syria near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, according to a civilian witness.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the armed forces of Turkey and Russia will provide security in Idlib. In the citys central districts security will be provided by the Turkish Armed Forces, while Russias Armed Forces will ensure safety on the outskirts.

It was earlier reported that Turkey completed preparations for new military operations in Syria and military operations in Idlib may start in the coming days. The military operations are expected to be held jointly with troops of the Free Syrian Army.
KYODO NEWS - Oct 12, 2017 - 17:56 | All, World

Britain's digital minister expressed his eagerness to pursue collaboration between his country and Japan in "fintech," an emerging industry combining financial services and information technology, to capitalize on the future's many opportunities.

Matt Hancock said in an interview with Kyodo News and other media outlets in late September that he has "no doubt that more collaboration" between Britain and Japan "will lead to better results for both" in the sector, worth 7 billion pounds ($9.3 billion) to the United Kingdom's economy.

Hancock, who was in Japan as part of a British fintech mission pitching to investors, said he was impressed that Japanese financial institutions "understand the need to digitize and use new technology."

"The Japanese FSA is forward-looking and we are working together to try to support the growth of fintech and so I can see some big opportunities," the 39-year-old minister said, referring to cooperation with Japan's Financial Services Agency.

An example of such collaboration came through a March agreement between Britain's Financial Conduct Authority and the FSA to support innovative fintech companies. The deal provides a "regulatory referral system" for such businesses from Japan and Britain seeking to enter each other's markets.

Touching on bitcoin digital currency and other virtual currencies, he expressed his confidence that it is "natural" for London, a major international financial market, to "be the home to bitcoin transactions."

"We are open to bitcoin and other similar currencies in the U.K. We think they've got a role to play," he said.

As for the impact of Britain's decision to leave the European Union -- dubbed "Brexit" -- on the local fintech industry, he said one of the consequences "will be that Britain needs to be more global."

"We need to trade more and engage more with countries all the way around the world," said Hancock. He sees that there are "opportunities globally" and that "leaving the European Union means that we'll have to put more focus on the global links."

Speaking at an event in the British Embassy in Tokyo last month, Hancock touted Britain's strength in the fintech industry and the future of the sector in nations such as Japan.

"Fintech is poised to transform financial services, an area that has long been a great strength to the U.K.," he said.

The two countries, the minister said, "stand at the forefront of considering where these (technological) changes can take us and how best we can equip ourselves for the future and harness the opportunities."
KYODO NEWS - Oct 12, 2017 - 21:53 | All, Japan

The U.S. forces in Japan will ground all CH-53E helicopters to confirm their safety after the same type of aircraft crash-landed near a U.S. military training area in Okinawa on Wednesday, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said.

The minister said that Maj. Gen. Charles Chiarotti, deputy commander of U.S. Forces Japan, told him of the decision during their talks in Tokyo on Thursday. An official of the Defense Ministry's local bureau, meanwhile, said the accident site was found to have been about 300 meters away from residential houses.

The Japanese and U.S. governments apparently decided to act quickly to address local concerns in a bid to minimize any repercussions from the incident with a general election in Japan slated for Oct. 22.

The U.S. Marine Corps in Japan separately announced a four-day operational halt for the CH-53E transport helicopters stationed in Okinawa. The southern island prefecture hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan.

In Wednesday's accident, the helicopter caught fire in midair during a training flight and burst into flames as it made an emergency landing near the U.S. Northern Training Area on the main island of Okinawa. None of its seven crew members or local residents was hurt.

The U.S. Naval Safety Center has rated the accident as a most serious "Class A" mishap, saying that a fire broke out in one of the aircraft's engines, forcing it to make an emergency landing.

Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga expressed his dismay over the incident as he visited the site in the village of Higashi, saying, "I felt disconcerted at seeing the sudden change from ordinary life to this horrible situation. I feel sad."

In Tokyo, Onodera told Chiarotti the accident was "deplorable" and had caused "considerable anxiety among the residents living nearby and other people in the prefecture."

The minister also urged the United States to clarify the cause of the accident, provide detailed information and take thorough safety measures, noting that the crashed aircraft is a variant of the one that crashed in 2004 at a university in Ginowan city in Okinawa.

Chiarotti told Onodera that the helicopter made the emergency landing after smoke, apparently from the engine fire, made its way inside. The aircraft headed to an area where there were no houses, he added.

He also said the U.S. military is aware of the concerns of local people and will consider measures to prevent such incidents.

The CH-53E helicopter belongs to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa. Its crash-landing is the latest in a string of accidents involving U.S. aircraft in Okinawa, including the Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.

People in Okinawa have long been frustrated with noise, crimes and accidents connected to U.S. bases.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces to use their expertise in looking into the cause of the incident rather than solely relying on U.S. investigations, a senior government official said.

Local police dispatched officers and cordoned off the accident site, investigating the case as a possible violation of a Japanese law on endangering aviation.

But it remains unknown whether Japanese authorities can probe the cause as they do not have the power to search or seize U.S. military assets without consent under the Japan-U.S. status of forces agreement.

The Okinawa prefectural government said it had tried to conduct some environmental tests Wednesday night at the accident site, suspecting the helicopter may have been equipped with a safety device that contained a low-level radioactive isotope, but its officials were denied entry by the U.S. military.

The CH-53E is a large transport helicopter used by U.S. Marines. It has three engines and can carry up to 55 personnel.

The Northern Training Area, straddling the villages of Higashi and Kunigami, has helipads that are also used by the Osprey aircraft and some of them are located close to residential areas.
KYODO NEWS - Oct 12, 2017 - 15:03 | All, World

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday Tokyo is arranging a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and the parents of a Japanese national abducted by North Korean agents during the president's planned visit to Japan early next month.

"When I asked President Trump (in September) to meet the parents of Megumi (Yokota) and the families of (other) abduction victims during his visit to Japan, he accepted on the spot. He promised he will do his best to rescue the Japanese abduction victims," Abe said in a campaign rally in Niigata Prefecture for the lower house election on Oct. 22.

Niigata on the Sea of Japan coast is where Megumi, then a 13-year-old girl, was abducted on her way home from school in 1977. Her parents are Shigeru Yokota, 84, and Sakie Yokota, 81.

Abe said he made the request during a meeting with Trump in New York following the U.S. president's address to the U.N. General Assembly at which Trump made a reference to Megumi in condemning North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s.

"A speech by the U.S. president at the U.N. General Assembly gains global attention. The reference to Megumi made me really happy," Abe said.

The White House has announced that the president will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines from Nov. 3-14 amid rising regional tensions due to North Korea's nuclear threat.

Japan officially lists 17 citizens as abduction victims and suspects North Korea's involvement in the disappearance of other Japanese citizens. While five of the 17 were repatriated in 2002, Pyongyang maintains that eight, including Megumi, have died and the other four never entered the country.



(Supplied image)
- The police have revealed that Tagbo, a friend of Davido died from suffocation

- Also, Davido has been invited back for questioning regarding the issue

- This is coming after Davido was accused of knowing more details about Tagbos death than he had revealed

It appears the real result of the autopsy of one Tagbo Umeike, a friend of Davido who recently died has been released.

According to Punch who reported from a briefing held on Wednesday October 11, 2017 by the acting Commissioner of Police Imohimi Edgal, Tagbo died from suffocation.

The commissioner also revealed that Davido has been invited back for questioning. NAIJ had earlier reported that Davido had visited the police station to detail his own side of events.

This is after actress Caroline Danjuma revealed that Davido knew about Tagbos death hours before others knew and did nothing about it.

Tagbo and Davido (Image courtesy Instagram)

READ ALSO: DJ Olus girlfriend Ajibola Ajimobi mourns him on social media

Meanwhile, DJ Olu another friend of Davido that passed on recently is slated for burial on Thursday, October 12, 2017.

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Tears, wailing as late Moji Olaiya is laid to rest in Lagos on Legit.ng TV.

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"Estamos esperando nuestro primer bebe, estamos muy ilusionados, muy contentos y sobre todo con muchas ganas de vivir todas las etapas que nos vienen ahora. No puedo estar mas feliz del papa que he elegido, del que estoy enamorada y que se le cae la baba cada vez que me ve la tripita". Con estas palabras anuncio Zayra Gutierrez la feliz noticia de su embarazo. La hija deJose Maria Gutierrez 'Guti' y Arantxa de Benito va a ser madre por primera vez junto a su chico, Miki Mejias. Ambos han reapare
Reuters

A Tesla Inc director and a former executive took the stand on Monday and defended Elon Musk's $56 billion pay package against a shareholder's claims that the entrepreneur dictated terms of the deal to finance his dream of traveling to Mars. Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta hopes to prove that Musk used his dominance over the electric vehicle maker's board to craft the 2018 package and then duped investors into approving it. The first day of a week-long trial in Wilmington, Delaware, featured testimony from Ira Ehrenpreis, a Tesla director since 2007, who was pressed to explain why the board did not demand that Musk dedicate himself to the company full-time.
Jack Ma, Chairman of Alibaba Group, speaks during the Computing Conference in Yunqi Town of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China October 11, 2017.

Chinas largest e-commerce company is spending big money to move past its image as a mere online marketplace.

Today at its annual cloud computing conference in Hangzhou, Alibaba CTO Jeff Zhang announced the company will launch Alibaba DAMO Academy, a program that will set up research and development labs worldwide. The effort highlights how Alibaba is working to expand beyond Chinese e-commerce, its bread-and-butter, and become a global tech giant capable of competing with the likes of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.

DAMO, which stands for Discovery, Adventure, Momentum, and Outlook, will open seven labs: Two will be in China (in Beijing and Hangzhou, Alibabas hometown), while the others will be in Singapore, Moscow, Tel Aviv, Bellevue (in the Seattle area), and San Mateo (in Silicon Valley). They will focus on foundational and disruptive technology research in areas such as data intelligence, natural-language processing, quantum computing, and machine learning. The labs will publish papers and develop technology that can used by both Alibaba and third parties.

According to a spokesperson, the Singapore lab will be the first overseas one to open, with a launch expected early next year, and the academy is currently recruiting 100 researchers to join the project as official Alibaba employees. Alibaba has also formed an advisory board that includes scientists at Chinese and overseas research institutions. Among them are Harvard geneticist George Church, founder of the Personal Genome Project, and Jeanette Wing, director of the Data Science Institute at Columbia University and a former vice president at Microsoft Research.

Funding for the academy comes as part of a larger $15 billion push into R&D that Alibaba has planned for the next three years. That amount represents a near doubling of the $2.5 billion (pdf, p. 7) the company spent in product development during the fiscal year ended in March 2017.

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The announcement comes as Alibaba and other Chinese internet companies continue to look overseas for R&D improvements. In May, Shenzhen-based social media giant Tencent said it would launch an AI research lab in Seattle, to be headed up by Yu Dong, a former scientist at Microsoft. That same month, Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing opened its AI R&D center in Mountain View, California to develop technology for autonomous driving. Chinese search engine giant Baidu also has an AI lab in Silicon Valley that it established in 2013. Building such labs outside of China helps these companies attract world-class talent.

The academy also marks Alibabas attempt to move beyond e-commerce and into other realms of technologyan effort that mirrors that of Amazon, the companys closest US-based analog. Alibaba has invested heavily in cloud computing and now has 14 data centers spread across China, Silicon Valley, Europe, and Southeast Asiaall of which serve clients who use Alibaba Cloud, similar to Amazon Web Services. The company has also poured resources into artificial intelligence, placing it squarely against Tencent and Baidu in China. And in July it unveiled the Tmall Genie X1, similar to the Amazon Echo home assistant.

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Bob Corker is known around Washington as a sensible pragmatist, not a thin-skinned hothead. So when the powerful chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee lashed back at President Trump, the whole town took notice.

Its a shame the White House become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning, Corker wrote in a biting tweet Oct. 8, after Trump targeted the Tennessee Republican in a series of dubious Twitter attacks.

Corker wasnt done. In a follow-up interview, the two-term Republican said the President was setting the U.S. on the path to World War III and treating his office like a reality show. Corker also suggested that many of his Senate colleagues shared his sense of unease. He concerns me, Corker told the New York Times. He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation.

Coming from one of the partys top lawmakers, it was an extraordinary criticism of a Republican President. And it landed on the heels of an NBC News report four days earlier that Trumps own Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, had called the President a moron after his two-and-a-half-hour visit to the Pentagon to discuss national security with military and civilian brass. Though the nations top diplomat marched to the microphones to dismiss the allegation, Tillerson declined to explicitly deny that he had used those words, raising broader questions about how worried Trumps ostensible partners are about the capacity of the boss.

Trump is no stranger to Twitter feuds. But the clash with Corker was more dangerous than his typical spats with Republican lawmakers, professional athletes or late-night comedians. It has the potential to paralyze the Presidents agenda, much of which runs through Corkers committee. Although the presidency has broad  often unilateral  powers on foreign policy, paying for bombs and diplomats requires Congress to sign off. At the same time, Trump is moving forward on a domestic program that includes tax cuts and an overhaul of the U.S. immigration system. With 52 Republican Senators, the White House has little room for defections.

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Corker has shown an independent streak. During the campaign, he criticized Trump for picking an ongoing fight with a Mexican-American judge, and after he was caught on video bragging about sexual assault. More recently, Corker was critical of Trumps reaction to white nationalists marching in Charlottesville, Virginia. Corker has expressed concerns about the red ink that might come with Trumps tax plans. Having announced that he will retire at the end of 2018, Corker, once a key Trump ally, could emerge as a leading check on some of the Presidents worst impulses. As enduring as Trumps support is among his shrinking base, the war of words was a reminder that rest of the GOP would turn on Trump in a minute if given a consequence-free chance.

Bipartisan respect

While he may not be a household name, Corker is respected by his Republican peers and among the most powerful men in Washington by virtue of his chairmanship. Previous leaders of the Senates panel on international affairs include the likes of Democrats John Kerry and Joe Biden and Republicans Richard Lugar and Henry Cabot Lodge  legislative giants who foiled and fostered foreign policy from their perch atop a committee that dates to 1816. When Corker came forward in April 2016 to praise Trumps first major foreign policy speech, he helped legitimize Trump at a moment when much of the GOP was unwilling to accept the New York mogul as the leading contender for the partys nomination.

A former Chattanooga mayor and real estate developer himself, Corker took on the role of Washington sherpa to the political newbie, often balancing the advice of Jeff Sessions, then a Senator and now Trumps Attorney General. Corker began to advise Trumps rag-tag improv troupe of a campaign, defended his flights of rhetoric, and argued the candidate would mature in the Oval Office as he surrounded himself with lots of very highly qualified people. In recognition of that support, Trump considered the Tennessean for the role of running mate, and later as a possible Secretary of State. During Corkers interview for the diplomatic job, he gave the then-President-elect a tour of the worlds hotspots along with his take on them. Almost invariably, Trump disagreed with the diagnosis. So Corker stayed in the Senate, chairing a committee that would ratify or reject all of the White Houses choices for major State Department positions and its diplomatic corps around the globe.

But if Corker held out hope that Trumps instinct to fight would fade, he has been sorely disappointed. The senator was dismayed in recent weeks by the Presidents taunts against the NFL, his complaints about news coverage, and especially his provocations aimed at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom Trump dubbed Rocket Man. Meanwhile, Corker has sought out and fostered a friendship with Tillerson, whose own relationship with the White House is increasingly frosty. After Tillerson faced questions about his longevity at the State Department on Oct. 4, Corker met with reporters to praise the Secretary  along with Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and White House chief of staff John Kelly  as the people that help separate our country from chaos. It was clear who is keeping Corker awake at night.

And Trump didnt appreciate the assessment. He took to Twitter to allege that Corker had begged for Trumps endorsement (a claim Corkers chief of staff denied strongly) and didnt have the guts to run! Then Trump told Forbes that Tillerson, the former CEO of Exxon, isnt as smart as he thinks he is. I guess well have to compare IQ tests, the President said. And I can tell you who is going to win.

Shared concerns

Corkers concerns are widely shared by Congressional Republicans, who have been frustrated with the Presidents impulsive approach. Conservatives felt betrayed by Trumps agreement with Democrats to extend Obama-era protections for immigrants whose parents brought them illegally to the country as young children. Trumps fans worry he might abandon plans to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. Wall Street worries he could fail to deliver on the promise of tax cuts.

Yet few want to sustain the spat. Voters already hold Congress in low regard, and Republicans havent exactly acquitted themselves well despite nine months unified control in Washington. Some Republicans were frustrated that Corker spoke out against a President who remains positioned to champion the partys priorities and sign into law conservative legislation. Its easy to be bold, said Rep. Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican and leader of the far-right Freedom Caucus, when youre not coming back.

Party unity is poised to fray even further. Strategists for House Republicans are increasingly jumpy about next years elections, when Democrats have to net just 24 seats to reclaim a majority. Taking the House would give Democrats a chokepoint against the GOPs agenda. Trumps feuds with his adoptive party could imperil incumbent Republicans: of the 54 House districts that were decided by 10 percentage points or less, Republicans are defending 34. Historically, the presidents party has lost ground in 18 of the last 21 midterm cycles  33 seats on average. Some wonder if its time to dust off the playbook from the George W. Bush era, when candidates asked the unpopular President to sit out the 2006 midterms and to go to Africa during the partys 2008 nominating convention. The current President might sacrifice Republicans hold on Congress to settle grudges  precisely the type of impulsive behavior that prompted Corker to speak out.

Despite the GOPs slim two-vote cushion, holding the Senate has seemed like a safer bet. But that may be changing. Steve Bannon, Trumps former chief strategist, is working to recruit and fund a slate of far-right candidates against Establishment Republicans in states like Utah, Mississippi and Arizona. Bannons barometer of success is disruption: he is backing candidates on the condition that they pledge to depose Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. Already, Bannon-backed contender Roy Moore bested Trump-backed incumbent Luther Strange in Alabamas Sept. 26 primary.

Asked on Oct. 9 about Corkers assessment, McConnell didnt take the bait. Hes a particularly important part of the budget debate, McConnell said of Corker, a characteristically understated way of warning Trump that his tax cuts are far from guaranteed  especially if he keeps needling fellow Republicans. But the President only embraced the drama: on Oct. 10, he tagged Corker, who stands 5-foot-7, with a new nickname: Liddle Bob. It was a throwback to the campaign, when Trump routinely disparaged rivals with insulting nicknames like Lyin Ted, Crooked Hillary and, yes, Liddle Marco.

For Trump, the campaign made him a winner, and he sure likes that feeling.
From Tyler Durden: Having bounced back from Chinas exchange closures and Dimons damning, Bitcoin just broke above its pre-China ICO ban highs and traded above $5000 for the first time in history.

This move came even as Russia decided to block local access. There was no looking back as the cryptocurrency is now trading $5240  a new record high.

As Coindesk notes, prices had dropped to a low of $2,980 in mid September after China banned token sales and local cryptocurrency exchanges. However, in the subsequent days, BTC quickly regained poised, reportedly due to a pick-up in trading volumes in Japan, South Korea and other markets. The rotation of money out of the ether and ethereum-based coins and into bitcoin also helped the cryptocurrency scale new heights.

Increased institutional interest seems to have played a role in boosting bitcoin prices. For example, a bitcoin desk at Goldman Sachs would certainly be a game changer. News had hit the wires earlier this month that Goldman Sachs is considering a brand new operation which would be dedicated to bitcoin trading.

Still, while skeptics continue to call bitcoin rally a bubble, the price action analysis indicates no serious trouble ahead for the cryptocurrency.

Resistance is seen at $5,378.56  161.8 percent Fibonacci extension of the move from the Sep 15 low  Sep 18 high  Sep 23 low.

As Iqbal V. Gandham, Managing Director at eToro UK, commented:

Recent criticism from industry and regulation crackdowns in China and Russia spooked markets in recent weeks and caused the Bitcoin price to plummet. So we expect some investors to be surprised by Bitcoin bouncing back to this record high so soon afterwards. Yet Bitcoin was designed to operate outside of the influence of governments and central banks, and is doing exactly that. So to us, this bounce back in price is no surprise. In reality, whilst were excited to see Bitcoin hit this record high, this is just the beginning for Bitcoin. Bitcoin has a lot further to go than this price point to become a real world currency, as it was designed to one day be. Most are unaware that in future people will not spend a single Bitcoin. Instead people would spend the underlying tokens, called Satoshis, in the same way we spend coins and not a bar of gold. A single Satoshi is only worth $0.00005 currently. Clearly, for this to gain spending power, the price of a Bitcoin will need to be significantly higher than $5,000. This price peak may boost more support for the bubble argument weve seen from investors in recent months. But we continue to argue these calls on bubble territory are coming far too early in the story for Bitcoin. This record is an exciting milestone and sign of market confidence in the outlook for Bitcoin and the underlying technology behind the cryptocurrency, Blockchain. But we expect many more milestones like this to come.

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Furthermore, appears Mike Novogratz may be right after all while bitcoin is a bubble, the mania is justified, because it is a technological advancement that promises to fundamentally alter our lives.

I can hear the herd coming Novogratz said.

And bubble or not, Novogratz concluded eloquently on the extreme nature of cryptocurrencies potential

Remember, bubbles happen around things that fundamentally change the way we live, he said. The railroad bubble. Railroads really fundamentally changed the way we lived. The internet bubble changed the way we live. When I look forward five, 10 years, the possibilities really get your animal spirits going.

Bitcoin is set to become the biggest bubble of our time, he added, and could reach $10,000 very soon due to fast-building interest.

This article is brought to you courtesy of ZeroHedge.

You are viewing an abbreviated republication of ETF Daily News content. You can find full ETF Daily News articles on (www.etfdailynews.com)
Bitcoin rallies to new all-time highs on more news from China

Investing.com - Bitcoin prices rallied to new record highs on Thursday, trading above the $5,100 threshold for the first time in its nine-year history.

On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, bitcoin rose to $5,228.3 up $403.5, or 8.36%, exceeding a previous high of $5,013.91 reached on September 2.

The Bitcoin surged amid reports that trading in China could resume with more regulation. The new measures could include new licensing and anti-money laundering regulations to be implemented by exchanges.

The news come a month after China clamped down on bitcoin-related activity, ordering domestic bitcoin exchanges to cease operations.

Traders also seemed to shrug off negative news from Russia, where President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that "buyers of cryptocurrencies could be involved in unlawful activities."

Russia's central bank also said it would block websites of exchanges that are offering cryptocurrencies.

In other cryptocurrency news, Bitcoin Cash rallied 2.27% to $320.37, while Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, gained 0.77% to $304.20.

Investors are closely monitoring Ethereum ahead of the upcoming Byzantium hard fork, the first iteration of the long-awaited Metropolis upgrade, expected October 16.

The market cap of both Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum is well below that of Bitcoin at about $5 billion and $29 billion, respectively.

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FILE PHOTO - A man is seen in silhouette as he walks behind the logo of BNP Paribas in a building in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

(Reuters) - BNP Paribas SA (BNPP.PA), France's biggest listed bank, said on Wednesday it would no longer work with oil and natural gas companies that primarily do business in shale or oil sands because it plans to boost support for renewable energy projects.

The bank also said it would no longer finance new projects that are primarily involved in the transportation or export of oil and gas from shale or oil sands.

"We're a long-standing partner to the energy sector and we're determined to support the transition to a more sustainable world," BNP Paribas Chief Executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafe said in a statement.

The bank will also stop trading on behalf of exploration, production, marketing and distribution companies where shale or Canadian oil accounts for more than 30 percent of the business, a spokeswoman said. The transition will take place gradually, and oil refiners are not included.

The bank previously said it planned to spend 15 billion euros (13.43 billion pounds)to finance renewable energy projects by 2020 and invest 100 million euros in start-ups specializing in energy storage and efficiency.

The lender has already stopped financing coal mines and coal-fired power plants, and no longer supports coal companies that are not planning to diversify their energy sources.

BNP Paribas's smaller rival, Societe Generale SA (SOGN.PA), said in October last year that it would quit financing coal-powered electricity plants beginning in January and increase its support for renewable energy projects.

(Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri and Jonathan Oatis)
NAPA, Calif. (AP) -- Metal racks sagging with dozens of blackened bottles were among the smoldering remains of a Napa Valley winery destroyed by wildfires that raced through a region famous for its fine food and drink.

The bottles were empty, sucked dry of wine. Some wine barrels were intact, as well as a swimming pool and chairs, but otherwise, the Signorello Estate winery structure was gone.

Throughout Northern California's wine country, vintners able to get to property surveyed the damage to vineyards, tasting rooms and storage while others had to wait patiently for flames to die down.

At the Gundlach Bundschu in Sonoma County, workers were not sure the grapes above the winery survived a second night of fires that have destroyed at least two wineries and damaged more.

"We haven't been able to go up and assess the vine damage," said Katie Bundschu, vice president of sales. "We're in the process of salvaging what we can."

Speedy, wind-driven wildfires that started Sunday came as workers in Napa and Sonoma counties were picking and processing ripe grapes to make chardonnay, merlot and other wines that have made the region a global hot spot. Millions of locals and out-of-staters flock to the counties every year to sample wine, sit in mud baths and soak in the region's natural beauty.

At least five wineries belonging to members have had "complete losses" in facilities, with another nine reporting some damage, said Michael Honig, board chairman of the Napa Valley Vintners trade association and president of Honig Vineyard & Winery. He said the group has not heard from all members, especially those in the most vulnerable parts of the valley.

"That's been the biggest problem  the information  you can't access these areas," he said. "We don't have a good idea of how the vineyards have been impacted."

He said the good news is that most of the valley had picked 90 percent of the crop for 2017. Most of the remaining fruit, he said, are thicker-skinned cabernet sauvignon grapes that won't be affected by smoke.

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Bundschu, a sixth-generation vintner, recounted a scary Monday night in which the flames licked at the perimeter of the winery but were beaten back by firefighters. A century-old redwood barn and her grandmother's 1919 home were spared. Gundlach Bundschu is the oldest family-run winery in California, started in 1858.

She was eager to dispel reports that the winery had been destroyed, as was Nicholson Ranch winery, also in Sonoma County, which posted on Facebook that news of its demise was premature.

"The winery was in the path of the fire but escaped being engulfed by the flames. We have some damage to fix. The wine is secure in our cellars. We are cleaning up and hoping to have the power back on this week," it said.

Even wineries that were destroyed may survive, including the Signorello Estate winery. The winery building was gone, but its vineyard looked untouched by flames.

Spokeswoman Charlotte Milan said she could only confirm damage to the winery and a residence, explaining that workers had not gone on site. She said the estate's 2015 reds and 2016 whites were stored off-site.

Tourism officials say that wine country is open for business.

Sara Brooks, chairwoman of the Visit Napa Valley Board of Directors and general manager of the historic Napa River Inn, said she has had some cancellations, but expects tourism to bounce back as it did after the 2014 Napa earthquake.

Honig said the next few days might not be the best time to sample wines, but he wants people to visit in a week or two. He is convinced the Napa brand will survive.

"We've suffered with pests, fires, drought," he said. "We made it through Prohibition. This is a short-term setback."

___

Har reported from San Francisco.

___

Follow the AP's complete wildfire coverage here: https://apnews.com/tag/Wildfires
By Eric Auchard

LONDON (Reuters) - The powerful chair of Britain's parliamentary treasury committee demanded on Wednesday that U.S. credit reporting agency Equifax explain why it has taken more than a month to notify UK users of a massive data breach affecting up to 15.2 million citizens.

Nicky Morgan, chair of the House of Commons' Treasury Committee, also wrote to Britain's financial regulator to determine whether Equifax had violated terms of its license to operate in the country and whether the regulator had the power to compel the company to provide compensation to UK consumers.

On Tuesday, Equifax revealed that 15.2 million records on British citizens were involved in the breach, including sensitive data on what it said were 693,665 individuals, for whom credit protection services were offered. The compromised credit information dated from 2011 to 2016, the company said.

The UK data accessed by unknown hackers included credit accounts, user credentials, partial credit card details and driver license numbers. The remaining 14.5 million records contained names and birth dates of UK consumers were "potentially compromised", the company disclosed.

More than a month ago, Equifax first revealed it had been the target of a massive data breach which hit around 143 million people, mostly in the United States. It acknowledged at the time an unspecified number of Canadian and UK residents were hit. It later updated the total number of victims to 145.5 million.

Equifax did not respond to requests for further comment.

U.S. consumers started being notified by Equifax after it disclosed the incident on Sept. 7. Equifax Ltd, its British unit said on Tuesday it had begun notifying UK consumers by post after receiving data on potential victims from its U.S. parent.

CROSS-BORDER DATA TRANSFERS

Equifax said last week a probe by computer forensics firm Mandiant had concluded that, while its UK business had not been breached directly, large amounts of data on British consumers stored in the United States had been compromised.

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The breach occurred in May and continued until it was discovered in July of this year, the company said.

In Britain, Equifax is licensed as a credit reference agency and broker by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which said it has been discussing all aspects of the incident with it, but declined to comment further.

Commons Treasury Chair Morgan also demanded to know from the FCA whether Equifax's decision to store sensitive data on UK consumers in the United States broke any rules on intra-company, transnational data transfers.

Separately, the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is charge of enforcing data protection regulations, said it was continuing to investigate how UK consumers were affected.

"We have been pressing Equifax to confirm the scale and any impact on UK citizens," an ICO spokeswoman said. The maximum fine the ICO can levy for breaches of UK data protection rules is 500,000 pounds ($660,500).

Equifax is one of the big three credit reference agencies in Britain, along with rivals Experian Plc (EXPN.L) and TransUnion (TRU.N). Globally, it collects data on more than 820 million consumers and more than 91 million businesses in 24 nations.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard; editing by Stephen Addison)
Kemet Corp (KEM) was the Bull of the Day back on July 25 and at that time I noted the stock traded at a 18x forward multiple yet had some great growth potential. At the time the stock was priced at just under $17, today I see shares trading over $25 and I believe they are headed higher still.

You can access the last bull of the day at this link ( https://www.zacks.com/commentary/122696/bull-of-the-day-kemet-corp-kem)

Description

Kemet Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells passive electronic components under the Kemet brand worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Solid Capacitors, and Film and Electrolytic. Its products include tantalum, multilayer ceramic, film, electrolytic, paper, and solid aluminum capacitors, as well as EMI filters. The company offers its capacitors for use in the automotive, communications, computer-related, industrial, consumer, military/aerospace, and alternative energy industries. Kemet Corporation sells its products to original equipment manufacturers, electronics manufacturing services providers, and electronics distributors. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Simpsonville, South Carolina.

Earnings History

Since the previous Bull of the Day article ran, KEM posted another solid quarter. The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.18 by $0.14 for a 77% positive earnings surprise. This was the fourth consecutive beat of the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

The stock traded lower following the report and that could have been due to the top line miss. The company reported $274M in revenues when $281M were expected.

The next earnings report has more lofty expectations, with analysts looking for $299M on top and a $0.43 on the bottom line.

Earnings Estimates

Back In July, the Zacks Consensus Estimate was calling for $0.54 in EPS for 2017. The next month that number nearly tripled to $1.50. In the first few days of October, the estimate has again inched higher to $1.52. This is an impressive move higher.

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The 2018 number also saw a big move. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was at $0.76 in July and then jolted higher to $1.57 in August and has moved to $1.61 here in October.

Valuation

Last time KEM was the Bull of the Day I noted that it traded at 18x forward estimates and that was below the 20x industry average. Despite the stock moving substantially higher, the multiple has actually moved lower. KEM now trades at 16.6x forward estimates while the industry average has moved higher to 21.4x. The other metrics we look at, like price to book and price to sales both show the stock trading at a discount to the industry average as well. The price to book multiple is 3.1x for KEM, below the industry average of 3.4x and the price to sales multiple at 1.4x is below the industry average of 1.6x.

Kemet Corporation Price and Consensus

Kemet Corporation Price and Consensus | Kemet Corporation Quote

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google waymo

The California Department of Motor Vehicles just proposed a revised set of regulations that will allow self-driving cars to operate without a driver behind the wheel.

The proposal is a big win for automakers and tech companies that have been pushing for the more lenient regulations. California proposed draft regulations in Dec. 2015 that required a driver to remain behind the wheel, resulting in pushback from Google's self-driving unit and others.

The release of the revised regulations on Wednesday marks the start of a 15-day comment period from the public. The DMV will then submit the new rules to the state government to start enforcing them in 2018.

Forty-two companies currently have a permit to test autonomous vehicles in California.

"We are excited to take the next step in furthering the development of this potentially life-saving technology in California," California Transportation Secretary Brian Kelly said in a press release.

Companies must comply with federal safety standards and certify that their vehicles are designed to follow state traffic laws, per the new set of regulations. They must also provide advanced notice about tests and disengagements, which is when a car stops operating autonomously while driving.

On the federal level, the House of Representatives in September unanimously approved the Self Drive Act, which would allow automakers to deploy 25,000 self-driving cars in the first year, a number that would rise to 100,000 over a three-year time span.

The bill still has to secure a vote in the Senate, though it appears on track to pass. The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration would have to write permanent rules for self-driving vehicles as part of the bill.

Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has called for the California DMV to disallow self-driving vehicles to operate without a driver behind the wheel until NHTSA passes enforceable standards for the cars.

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"The new California DMV proposal wrongly relies on the federal government, when there are absolutely no Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards applying specifically to autonomous vehicle technology," John Simpson, Consumer Watchdogs Privacy Project director, said in a press release.

NOW WATCH: Waymo is now letting ordinary people sign up to test its self-driving cars in Phoenix





More From Business Insider


WASHINGTON  California regulators on Wednesday unveiled revised rules on the testing of self-driving cars after automakers and technology companies raised concerns.

The revised state regulations will allow testing of autonomous vehicles without a driver behind the steering wheel, and public use of vehicles equipped with autonomous technology, the state said.

The new rules are expected to take effect by June 2018 and come as the U.S. Congress considers legislation to restrict the ability of states to impose limitations on self-driving cars.

The first set of proposed rules were made public back in March. Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Google parent company Alphabet Inc, along with Ford, Tesla, Apple, General Motors and others filed comments in April with California suggesting changes.

The state did not opt to change the rules to include commercial vehicles 10,000 pounds or larger as some companies had suggested. The revised rules clarify that passengers may ride in a self-driving car as long as they are not paying fees.

California agreed to allow companies to get permits for up to two years. The vehicles must follow all state laws "except when necessary for the safety of the vehicle's occupants" or other road users.

Reporting by David Shepardson



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Canada's Finance Minister Bill Morneau will preside over a G7 meeting overshadowed by a brewing trade war with the United States (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB) (AFP)

Washington (AFP) - Canadian Finance Minister William Morneau said Thursday that he was optimistic for a new deal on North American trade, calling negotiations an "opportunity for improvement."

A day after US President Donald Trump warned that NAFTA talks between Canada, the United States and Mexico could fail -- and that the pact could be replaced by bilateral treaties -- Morneau said friction is natural in any trade deal.

"We all understand that it has worked," he said of the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, before adding, "As we think about redoing trade agreements between Canada, the US and Mexico, there is opportunity for improvement."

Trump made revamping or ending NAFTA -- which he has called "a terrible deal for our country" -- a core pillar of his election campaign as he promised more benefits for US workers in international trade deals.

- 'Some friction' -

Just as a fresh round of talks opened Wednesday in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Virginia, Trump gave a direct warning to visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"If we can't make a deal, it'll be terminated and that will be fine," Trump said.

But Morneau sought to calm worries that the NAFTA negotiations could be headed toward a dead end.

"It's going to continue as we figure out new rules, there is going to be some friction," he said on the sidelines of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Washington.

He said it was important to make sure the populations affected understand how the treaty benefits them.

"There's a path to be optimistic," he said.

Trudeau was heading to Mexico City after leaving Washington for talks with President Enrique Pena Nieto.
By Alana Wise NEW YORK (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc on Wednesday said it would refuse to pay a 300 percent U.S. tariff on Canadian-built Bombardier CSeries jets, raising doubts about its purchase of 75 of the new aircraft at a list price of more than $5 billion. "We're not going to be forced to pay tariffs or anything of the ilk," Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian said on the company's third-quarter earnings call. Delta is the only major U.S. carrier to buy the CSeries so far, and Bastian called the U.S. Commerce Department's decision to impose anti-dumping duties on the jets "nonsensical." He said Delta still expects to take delivery of the CSeries order, however. The U.S. tariff decision, sparked by rival planemaker Boeing Co, stems from a claim that Bombardier used Canadian government subsidies to bankroll the CSeries sale to Delta and dump the planes at "absurdly low" prices. The proposed duties would not take effect unless affirmed by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) early next year. Shares of Bombardier, which is based in Canada, were up 3.78 percent at $2.34 in afternoon trading. Delta shares were up slightly, 0.85 percent at $53.15, on the airline's stronger-than-expected third-quarter results. Responding to Bastian's remarks, Bombardier said it was "confident the ITC will reach the right conclusion given that Boeing did not compete for the Delta order." "Delta has been supporting Bombardier throughout the process and its CEO, Ed Bastian, reaffirmed the airline's intention to take possession of its CSeries aircraft. This is the message that we should get out of this," spokesman Simon Letendre said. How the extra costs of the planes would be covered remained unclear. Bombardier has also said it would not pick up the tab for the trade duties. [nL8N1M75O0] The CSeries dispute has spiraled into a broader discussion of trade agreements between the United States and Canada, as U.S. President Donald Trump has warned he would terminate the tri-national North American Free Trade Agreement unless changes were made to address deficits within the trade pact. (Reporting by Alana Wise; editing by David Gregorio and Tom Brown)
Dominos (DPZ) may be known as a pizza company, but its third quarter report Thursday revealed that the companys priority is on extending its leadership in delivery.

These days, that means investing resources in research around self-driving cars and drones, CEO Patrick Doyle told Yahoo Finance.

Our strategy remains simple. Single-minded focus on continually improving every aspect of the experience for our customers and funding those investments by skipping the flavor of the month activity so common in our industry, Doyle said on the companys earnings conference call.

Dominos has long been a leader on the ordering front, with about 60% of its sales coming from digital. Its top-rated app, along with the ability to order through Facebook (FB), Twitter (TWTR), or text via its AnyWare platform, has boosted sales (the company saw an 8.4% domestic same-store sales growth in its most recent quarter). This quarter, the company announced the ability on Amazons (AMZN) Alexa to order from scratch without needing a preset profile or saved easy order.

But the big long-term opportunities remain ahead with delivery. Dominos August self-driving partnership announcement with Ford (F) reflects a priority for the company, Doyle told Yahoo Finance.

Its great when we get attention from doing some of these things, but the point is not the attention that it brings to the brand, he told Yahoo Fiannce. The point is that were spending a lot of time figuring out how we can improve the customer experience.

Doyle explained that while much of the timing of technology is dependent on Ford and regulators, he wants Dominos to be ready as soon as technology hits, which he sees as soon as three years from now.

Our job is to make sure that we understand how were going to be able to adapt it to the customer, and how its going to play into our business, and how we can make sure that were going to be ahead of the curve on this, he said. We are confident its going to come and weve got to understand how were going to leverage it for competitive advantage when it does roll out.

Story continues

Doyle added that Ford is moving this along quickly and Dominos headquarters in southeast Michigan is an advantage, allowing the company to be near where much of this work is happening. And first-mover efforts like this should advantage the company, according to Doyle, just like the companys early investments into natural-voice ordering four years ago did.

We were out doing that ahead of everybody else and the first people taking commercial orders with natural voice, Doyle said. Our very developed abilities in that area have given us competitive advantage as natural voice is becoming more and more a part of how people interact with technology We are equally confident that self-driving vehicles are going to have a material impact on transportation.

Doyle also said they are looking seriously at drone delivery, particularly via a master franchisee based out of Australia, which is doing work in New Zealand where the regulatory environment is easier.

My guess is that you will see autonomous vehicles before you would see widespread adoption of drones, but weve got to place a lot of bets and look at all these different options and understand them and the implications of them, Doyle said. Were looking at all the different possibilities.

One things for sure: Doyle is using data and technology across its business to better-serve customers.

We have pretty extraordinary data based on our model and used that actively to kind of model out our business, he said on the conference call. So we know pretty precisely whats driving our business. We are not going to share that because we dont want to help our competition make better decisions around their business.



Nicole Sinclair is markets correspondent for Yahoo Finance

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Nine days after traveling to Puerto Rico to josh about its hurricane crisis messing with his budget, and lobbing paper towels to residents for TV cameras, President Donald Trump lobbed a threat to yank federal relief workers from the U.S. territory, which remains largely without power, and stil lacks ready clean water.

Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making, says Sharyl Atkisson. A total lack of accountability says the Governor, Trump tweeted.

Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend.

We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever! he added.

(Atkisson, a former CBS News journalist, hosts a program running on Sinclair Broadcast Group television stations.)

At the time Hurricane Maria hit, Puerto Ricos governor forecast the island could be without power for six months.

Trumps tweets:

"Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making." says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of..  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

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Integrated energy players Eni E, TOTAL S.A TOT and Statoil ASA STO might choose to divest their respective ownership interest in the Teesside oil terminal, per Reuters.

Constructed in 1975, the terminal is located in the northeast coast of England. Teesside stores and processes natural gas liquids and crude from the Valhall and Ekofisk fields located in the Norwegian part of the North Sea.

In the oil terminal, TOTAL has 32.9% interest, while Statoil and Eni have 27.3% and 10.3%, respectively. The operator of the terminal is ConocoPhillips COP, with 29.3% ownership. Per sources, the upstream energy firm is not looking for buyers.

It is to be noted that TOTAL, Statoil and Eni have not commented on possibilities of a stake sale. Also, ConocoPhillips has not expressed any reluctance toward the same.

Notably, the sale could bring the energy players roughly $400 million.

Eni  headquartered in Rome, Italy  is involved in oil exploration. The firm also generates electricity and has businesses related to petrochemicals.

France-based TOTAL is among the top five publicly traded global integrated oil and gas companies based on production volumes, proved reserves and market capitalization.

Headquartered in Stavanger, Norway, Statoil is also engaged in the exploration of oil resources. The company also refines crude and market petroleum products all over the world.

Eni, TOTAL and Statoil have outperformed the industry in the past year, gaining a respective 10.3%, 11.1% and 18.3% as compared with the industrys 6.4% gain.

Investors should also know that all the three energy companies carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that the stocks will perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.

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A Microsoft logo is seen a day after Microsoft Corp's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn Corp, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/Files

By Gleb Stolyarov, Anastasia Teterevleva and Anastasia Lyrchikova

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Software produced by Microsoft Corp has been acquired by state organizations and firms in Russia and Crimea despite sanctions barring U.S-based companies from doing business with them, official documents show.

The acquisitions, registered on the Russian state procurement database, show the limitations in the way foreign governments and firms enforce the U.S. sanctions, imposed on Russia over its annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.

Some of the users gave Microsoft fictitious data about their identity, people involved in the transactions told Reuters, exploiting a gap in the U.S. company's ability to keep its products out of their hands.

The products in each case were sold via third parties and Reuters has no evidence that Microsoft sold products directly to entities hit by the sanctions.

"Microsoft has a strong commitment to complying with legal requirements and we have been looking into this matter in recent weeks," a Microsoft representative said in an emailed response to questions from Reuters.

"We have robust trade compliance processes around the world to help ensure that our partners comply with all conditions including immediate halting of suspected improper sales by partners, and strong measures to try to prevent banned customers from accessing and using our products and services."

All state organisations and state firms are obliged to disclose purchases they make on the procurement database. People involved in five of the transactions confirmed to Reuters the software had been acquired.

The Reuters review of the database found state entities in Russia and Crimea that are subject to sanctions have acquired more than 5,000 Microsoft products worth about 60 million roubles ($1.03 million).

The sum is relatively small but such software is vital for many firms and organisations in Russia and Crimea to operate. The database also does not include private companies, so the scale of the problem could be much bigger.

Story continues

Among entities hit by sanctions that acquired Microsoft products was Almaz-Antey, manufacturer of the BUK surface-to-air missile. Dutch prosecutors say a BUK missile brought down a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet over east Ukraine in July 2014, though Russia denies its forces shot down the plane.

Other Microsoft buyers, the database shows, include Glavgosexpertiza, a state design agency involved in work on a new bridge from Russia to Crimea and the "Krym" health spa in Crimea owned by Russia's defence ministry.

The arms manufacturer, Almaz-Antey, did not respond to a request for comment. The defence ministry's health spa in Crimea declined to comment. Glavgosexpertiza said "the company operates within the Russian legal framework".

COMPLIANCE CRACKDOWN

One set of U.S. sanctions prohibits the export by a U.S. entity of any goods, services or technology to Crimea.

Other sanctions bar U.S firms from carrying out transactions with companies or individuals on a list of "specially designated nationals" deemed by Washington to be linked to the Russian government and its activities in Ukraine.

Microsoft did not directly respond to detailed questions about specific users of its products and the compliance procedures it has in place.

The products acquired by organisations hit by sanctions include "Open License Program" services, where the user must provide Microsoft with the company's full name and address.

Almaz-Antey, Glavgosexpertiza and the defence ministry spa acquired "Open License Program" products, the database showed.

After the sanctions were introduced, Microsoft took steps to prevent entities hit by sanctions acquiring its products, according to five sources involved in the software re-selling trade and a former Microsoft employee in Russia.

But people involved in transactions say ways can be found to circumvent obstacles.

The "Morye" shipyard, based in Crimea, bought 150 Windows Server, SQL Server and Office licenses in June 2016 from OOO Web-Potok, a firm registered in Moscow, the procurement database shows. All the products were "Open License Program" services.

The shipyard fell under the general prohibition on transactions by U.S. firms with entities in Crimea and is now on the "special designated nationals" list.

"If we bought directly from Microsoft, there would be sanctions," a shipyard employee, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said by telephone. "But there were no problems with (buying third-party from) Russian firms."

The shipyard declined to comment. Reuters called telephone numbers listed for the supplier, OOO Web-Potok, but the people who answered said they worked for a different company.

Another way to circumvent the restrictions on Crimea-based entities is for the user, when registering the product with Microsoft, not to provide a Crimean address, three people involved in the trade said.

They said addresses in Russia's Krasnodar region, across the Kerch Strait from Crimea, were commonly used instead.

A supplier who worked with a company on the U.S. "specially designated nationals" list said a supplier and a client could circumvent restrictions by registering Microsoft products to a subsidiary or parent company of the end user.

($1 = 57.9902 roubles)

(Additional reporting by Anton Zverev in Moscow and Salvador Rodriguez in San Francisco, Editing by Christian Lowe and Timothy Heritage)
REUTERS - Software produced by Microsoft Corp has been acquired by entities in Russia and Crimea that are subject to sanctions barring companies based in the United States from doing business with them. The products in each case were sold via third parties and Reuters has found no evidence that Microsoft sold products directly to firms or organisations hit by the U.S. sanctions. Below is a selection of some of the transactions involving Microsoft products and sanctioned firms and bodies, based on state procurement data: ALMAZ-ANTEY Russian state-owned airspace and defence corporation AlmazAntey bought more than 500 Microsoft products between autumn 2014 and spring 2017. Those transactions included the purchase and delivery of eight Microsoft Windows Open License Program (OLP) Server licenses for NPO Almaz, a division of Almaz-Antey. The licenses were sold by Moscow-registered company Syssoft, which is mentioned among Microsoft partners on Microsoft's website. Neither Almaz-Antey nor Syssoft responded to requests for comment. Almaz-Antey was added to the U.S. government's "specially designated nationals" list in July 2014. The firm manufactures the BUK surface-to-air missile. Dutch prosecutors say that a BUK missile, launched from a site in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, brought down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in July 2014. All 298 people on board were killed. Russia denies that it or pro-Moscow rebels were responsible. KRYM HEALTH RESORT The "Krym" health resort, in Crimea, owned by the Russian Defence Ministry, in March 2017 acquired 109 Microsoft OLP Windows Server and SQLServer licenses, according to the data-base. The resort bought the software from the firm Nash Parus, registered in Simferopol in Crimea. The resort declined to comment, and the two vendor firms did not respond to requests for comment. BELOGORSKY DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION The administration of Crimea's Belogorsky District in December 2015 acquired 155 Windows licenses. Eighty were OLP Windows Server licenses, and the rest were Full Packaged Product (FPP) licenses, which are sold off-the-shelf and do not require details of the license holder to be registered. The vendor was a firm called Positronika Integratsiya. The administration and the vendor did not respond to requests for comment. NPO BAZALT NPO Bazalt, a Russian state arms manufacturer acquired 101 Windows Server licenses in August 2016. The vendor was Moscow-registered firm OOO Ifrit. The procurement documents do not specify if the products were Open License Programs. The delivery of the Microsoft products to Bazalt was confirmed to Reuters by a participant in the deal. Bazalt was added to the U.S. government's "specially designated nationals" list in July 2014. Neither Bazalt nor Ifrit responded to Reuters requests for comment. GLAVGOSEXPERTIZA State agency Glavgosexpertiza bought 180 Microsoft server licenses in August 2017. The supplier was a company called OOO Nautilius. The products were Open License Programs. The agency was added to Washington's "specially designated nationals" list in September, 2016. The U.S. government cited the firm's role reviewing project documentation for the Kerch Bridge, being built by Moscow to connect the Crimean peninsula to Russia. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko last month ordered his government to sue Russia over construction of the bridge. When contacted by Reuters, Glavgosexpertiza replied via email that "the company operates within the Russian legal framework", including on major transactions. Reuters was unable to contact the supplier, Nautilius. (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov, Anastasia Teterevleva, Anton Zverev and Anastasia Lyrchikova, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
hurricane maria puerto rico

It's been almost a month since Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico and the majority of the island still doesn't have power.

About 84% of the island is without electricity, critical structures like hospitals are relying on gas- and diesel-powered generators to remain operational, and the prognosis looks bleak for most residents. It could be another six months before parts of the island regain power.

It's a dire situation that should inspire the federal government to seriously pursue the construction of microgrids  which has been pitched as the best solution to Puerto Rico's long-standing energy issues before the hurricane even struck, Brandon Hurlbut, the chief of staff for the Department of Energy under President Barack Obama, said in an interview.

Microgrids use batteries to store renewable energy generated by solar or wind farms, which is then converted into electricity. The systems are more reliable because they can operate independently of the main power grid, making them less vulnerable to power outages.

It's a system that has been popularized by Tesla, which has deployed battery and solar projects in 18 countries, from Australia to the USA. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is now in talks with Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello about constructing microgrids on the island using solar panels and commercial batteries called Powerpacks.

"I really would just like to see them use this opportunity," Hurlbut said. "Puerto Rico could be a real shining example of a modern electricity system."

'The least innovative utility'

tesla tau island project

Hurlbut is no stranger to the issues plaguing Puerto Rico's electrical system.

He served as an energy representative for President Barack Obama's Puerto Rico Task Force, which was tasked with restructuring Puerto Rico's $72 billion in debt. That task force ultimately composed Promesa, a bill signed into law by Congress in 2016 that put the island's finances under direct federal control, similar to what occurred when Detroit filed for bankruptcy.

Story continues

As Hurlbut puts it, the issues plaguing Puerto Rico's electric company, PREPA, are symptomatic of the Commonwealth's debt crisis. PREPA was insolvent before the hurricane even hit, with $9 billion in debt.

PREPA has long passed up opportunities to modernize its aging electrical infrastructure, saying it didn't have the funds. But the utility has also been mired in corruption allegations, including that it overcharged consumers for oil.

Puerto Ricans have felt the ramifications of PREPA's financial choices; residents have paid astronomically high utility bills only to suffer through power outages that are four times more frequent than the rest of the US on average.

"They were the least innovative utility I had ever seen in my life," Hurlbut said. "When I was at the DOE, 70% of their electricity was generated by importing oil. That was down to about 50% recently. But still, that's absurd."

The task force encouraged the local government to impose regulations on PREPA and encourage a transition to renewable energy. The move would decrease Puerto Rico's reliance on an aging, oil-dependent power grid. In return, Puerto Ricans would have more reliable electricity at cheaper rates.

Hurlbut said the hope was to replicate the DOE's Integrated Deployment project in Hawaii, which has helped utilities implement microgrids with the ultimate goal of drawing 100% of their electricity from renewable energy by 2045.

Tesla has played a role in aiding Hawaii's green energy transition. The company partnered with the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative and installed a microgrid in March that is expected to reduce fossil fuel use by approximately 1.6 million gallons per year.

"We wanted to do that with Puerto Rico but there are certain things that have to happen," Hurlbut said. "If you can't regulate the utility then you have no leverage to help them make this transition."

The power of Elon Musk

Elon Musk

Under Promesa, the federal government finally has the leverage over the local government to encourage a transition to renewables, particularly in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

Such a solution wouldn't just benefit Puerto Rico in the long run, but could help restore power at a much faster rate, Hurlbut said. Tesla set up a massive battery storage system in Mira Loma in just 88 days; it's scheduled to construct an even bigger system in South Australia in 100 days.

"You could do it now because the federal government has so much leverage right now," Hurlbut said. "Puerto Rico needs the federal government not only for the storm but for its general finances."

Hurlbut said he would like to see the federal government use resources at the Department of Energy to pursue a clean energy solution, but acknowledges it's unlikely. EPA Chief Scott Pruitt officially reversed Obama's Clean Power Plan this week.

But Musk appears to have the unique ability to cut through the red tape and pursue a microgrid solution, which seems like the best bet.

Rossello spoke with Musk just one day after the Tesla CEO said microgrids could solve Puerto Rico's electric crisis. That kind of public sway shouldn't be overlooked.

At a time where Washington seems unwilling to consider alternative solutions, Tesla could be the best bet for executing a clean energy solution that officials have long said is necessary.

"If you really pulled together enough resources and make it a priority, they could do this right," Hurlbut said.

NOW WATCH: Tesla is powering an entire island with clean energy





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Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton on Tuesday broke her silence on the sexual-harassment accusations against the film producer Harvey Weinstein.

"I was shocked and appalled by the revelations about Harvey Weinstein," Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, said in a statement. "The behavior described by women coming forward cannot be tolerated. Their courage and the support of others is critical in helping to stop this kind of behavior."

Clinton has been the beneficiary of more than $26,000 in contributions from Weinstein, a major Democratic Party donor, since her initial Senate run in 2000, according to the Federal Election Commission.

On Thursday, The New York Times detailed decades of sexual-harassment allegations against Weinstein, including that he pressured younger women into giving him massages and asked them to watch him bathe.

Weinstein was fired on Sunday from the movie-production company bearing his name, The Weinstein Company.

On Tuesday, The New Yorker published a report in which three women accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting them. The magazine also published audio in which the movie mogul acknowledged he had groped a woman.

Democrats quickly began facing pressure about their donations from Weinstein. Already, many prominent Democrats have donated the equivalent in contributions from Weinstein to charity. But Clinton, along with President Barack Obama, had not addressed the scandal nor said what would happen with Weinstein's donations.

Clinton spoke for roughly 90 minutes Monday night but did not mention the controversy.

When asked in an interview with CNN on Tuesday about whether Clinton would return the contributions, Clinton's running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, said the campaign was over and called the allegations "lowlife behavior" and "unacceptable."

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By Alwyn Scott and Arunima Banerjee NEW YORK (Reuters) - Honeywell International Inc said Tuesday it will pare its focus to four business lines, including aerospace, and spin off two businesses with $7.5 billion in revenue to help fund acquisitions. The reorganization, which reduces revenue by about 18 percent, will simplify Honeywell's broad portfolio, boost growth and give shareholders a tax-free benefit from the new companies, Honeywell Chief Executive Officer Darius Adamczyk said on a conference call on Tuesday. It also gives the diversified manufacturer scope to change its remaining portfolio along the lines sought by hedge fund Third Point Capital, which agitated for a spin-off of aerospace. Third Point said on Tuesday it was pleased with the changes and backed Adamczyk's leadership, though it wants him to keep improving the portfolio. Adamczyk hinted at more to come, saying the two new businesses "can grow at an accelerated rate." The remaining businesses - aerospace, commercial building products, performance materials and safety products - are candidates for more acquisitions, he added. "I'm very excited about M&A in all four of our businesses. And I think these two spins ... give me a lot of different levers to invest our M&A dollars." Analysts praised the moves, but said Honeywell had more changes to make, and warned that aerospace, with products ranging from jet engines to airplane WiFi systems, may need to merge to gain the size to compete with larger rivals. A spin-off or merger with General Electric Co's aerospace unit would make Honeywell a stronger competitor to United Technologies and a "more powerful supplier to Boeing Co and Airbus SE ," Scott Davis, analyst at Melius Research, wrote in a note. "That's a deal worth thinking about." Adamczyk played down such speculation in a later interview with Reuters. "The way we compete in aerospace is not through scale," he said. "We are going to compete through technology differentiation." Though his comments pointed away from a big deal, Honeywell sought to gain size last year with a $90.7-billion bid for United Technologies Corp under prior CEO David Cote. Industry experts say Honeywell's poor record on aerospace parts quality and delivery could hamper its ability to win new orders. Honeywell shares ended the day down 0.2 percent in New York trading, after falling 2.3 percent initially. REVAMPED PORTFOLIO Adamczyk, like his peers at other industrial conglomerates, has been under pressure to reorder a portfolio of disparate businesses that includes automotive turbo chargers, burglar alarms and Xtratuf boots popular in Alaska's fishing industry. Third Point had argued since April that a spin-off of aerospace, which accounted for about 38 percent of revenue in 2016, could generate $20 billion in shareholder value. But Adamczyk took a different route, splitting off the home and ADI global distribution businesses, wholesale distributors of security, fire and environmental systems for homes and commercial buildings, into a public company that will absorb some of $554 million in environmental liabilities. Honeywell will also spin off a transportation business that makes automotive turbo chargers into a second company that will absorb some of $1.54 billion in old asbestos liabilities. The amounts will be determined later, Adamczyk said. The auto parts move follows other companies, including auto supplier Delphi Automotive Plc , that are shedding technology tied to the internal combustion engine as regulators around the world crack down on emissions and talk of mandating a switch to battery-electric vehicles over the next two decades. With about $16 billion in debt, or 2.5 times operating earnings, Honeywell has limited scope for additional borrowing, said Dave Berge, analyst at Moody's Investors Service. Honeywell expects to receive about $3 billion in dividends from the spin-offs, adding to its nearly $10 billion in cash. That "positions the company to do meaningful acquisitions," said Harsh Acharya, analyst at Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc in Ohio. The spin-offs are not due to close until the end of 2018, giving time to work out details - and, as Adamczyk noted, to consider other offers. "We are leaning towards the spin route," he told Reuters. "But if we get compelling offers, we would of course consider them." (Additional reporting by Greg Romouleotis in New York and Ankit Ajmera and Arunima Banerjee in Bangalore; editing by Patrick Graham and Nick Zieminski)
FILE PHOTO - House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) leaves the House floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein/File Photo

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said on Wednesday that "the only person who can intervene" to preserve the credibility of the committee's Russia investigation amid Chairman Devin Nunes' recent antics is House Speaker Paul Ryan.

"If Speaker Ryan wants a credible investigation to come out of the House Intelligence Committee, he'll do everything he can to make sure Devin Nunes' fingerprints are not on our report," Swalwell told Business Insider in an interview.

"The chairmanship is an appointed position," Swalwell said. "So he [Ryan] is the only person who can intervene. If he's not willing to, then it's just going to continue, and the final report will have an asterisk on it."

Spokespeople for Nunes and Ryan did not return requests for comment.

Nunes, the committee's chairman, stepped aside from the Russia investigation in early April following his decision to brief Trump and the press on classified intelligence  without telling his fellow committee members. But he quickly began conducting his own investigation into "unmaskings" by the Obama administration and the credibility of the dossier alleging ties between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia.

Nunes angered the committee's minority when he subpoenaed the opposition research firm Fusion GPS earlier this month for more information about the dossier. A Democratic committee source told CNN that the subpoenas were issued "without the minority's agreement and despite good faith engagement thus far by the witnesses on the potential terms for voluntary cooperation."

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow reported Tuesday that Nunes issued the subpoenas one day after Fusion GPS' lawyer met with a bipartisan group of committee members to discuss how they could cooperate further. The lawyer, Joshua A. Levy, issued a blistering statement, alleging that "Nunes, in bad faith, unilaterally broke our discussions with committee staff and abruptly demanded that my clients submit to a fresh inquiry."

Story continues

Swalwell is not the only committee member who has raised the alarm about Nunes' actions. Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said last month in Chicago that while Nunes stepped aside from the probe in April, he "has not fully given up" the responsibilities of that role.

"For instance, he insisted that he still be the one who signs the subpoenas," Quigley said. "So who's the boss? You can't have two people running the investigation on the House side. The subpoena power is extraordinarily important ... this has created just one issue we have in moving forward."

In June, Nunes angered the Democrats when he demanded more details from the CIA, FBI, and NSA about why Obama administration officials requested the unmasking of Trump associates last year. He also threatened to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Chris Wray in contempt of Congress last month if they did not respond to a subpoena for documents relating to the dossier.

Quigley, meanwhile, said that Nunes "is not the only" committee Republican creating problems.

"I'm there as we're questioning witnesses. And some day these transcripts will be made public. Many of you are going to say, 'what the hell are they doing?'" he said. "They seem to be taking over the role of a second attorney for the witness testifying before us. And it's conflicting, and it's difficult."

Quigley added that "it is conceivable that Republicans and Democrats would have separate reports" if they issued their findings about the investigation today.

"And that's very unfortunate," he said.

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Funds have been ballooning in size as more money continues to flood into Silicon Valley, looking for higher returns than can be found elsewhere. VCs also like raising progressively bigger funds because doing so gives them bragging rights. In fact, over the last 24 months, the narrative has been much the same: So-and-so team has raised more money than ever before.

Some of these so-and-sos have included Accel Partners, which raised a record $2 billion last year; Canaan Partners, which raised a record $800 million in July; and Institutional Venture Partners, which closed its biggest fund yet last month, with $1.5 billion.

Now Icon Ventures, a 14-year-old, Palo Alto, Ca.-based venture capital firm, has closed its sixth fund with $265 million in commitments  its largest fund to date, if just by a smidgen, having closed it last fund with $260 million in 2014.

Some profitable bets surely helped. Icon began helping to fund the cybersecurity company FireEye at its Series B round; the company went on to raise three more rounds of funding before going public in 2013. It has performed solidly, if not spectacularly, since. Its shares debuted at $36 apiece; they currently trade at $17 per share, giving the company a market cap of roughly $3.2 billion.

Icon also invested in the Series C round of network security firm Palo Alto Networks, which has soared as a publicly traded company. When it IPO'd in 2012, its shares debuted at $42 apiece. Today, its shares trade at $147 dollars, and the company is valued at $13.7 billion.

As part of its new fund, the firm -- which prefers to lead funding rounds of as much as $30 million -- is also opening an office in San Francisco's South Park, where a growing number of venture firms have also set up shop.

Among the many others now located around or within spitting distance of the tree-lined oval park are True Ventures, Accel Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Norwest Venture Partners and General Catalyst Partners.
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! The most powerful woman in North Korea expands her influence, we learn how the Weinstein mess and other harassment scandals are hurting all of our careers, and Fortunes Most Powerful Women Summit rolls into Day 2. Have a fantastic Tuesday.

EVERYONES TALKING

 Trudeau meets the MPWs. Todays Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit agenda kicks off at 7 a.m. Eastern and goes strong all daywrapping up with an appearance by our token MPM (Most Powerful Man), Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Just a few of todays highlights, all of which will be livestreamed, to add to your calendars:

9:15 a.m.: PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi

9:35 a.m.: Thrive Global founder and CEO Arianna Huffington

12:00 p.m.: GM CEO Mary Barra

12:20 p.m.: Diane von Furstenberg, founder and co-chairman, DVF Studio

3:10 p.m.: The Black Ceiling : A panel discussion on black female leadership.

8:00 p.m.: Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Click here to visit the livestream, which starts at 9 a.m. And for a recap of yesterdays action, read on.

NEWS FROM THE MPW SUMMIT

 DACA dilemma. Ivanka Trump told the MPW Summit dinner crowd that she wants a longterm Congressional fix to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that President Donald Trump decided to end in September. She said the nations immigration problem cannot be bandaged over at the presidential level through another executive order that can be rescinded by a subsequent administration. Fortune

 Reading between the tweets. There were other conversations about the Trump administration at the Summit on Monday. During a panel discussion, Citigroup chief global political analyst Tina Fordham said she flagged President Trumps Twitter feed as one of the top risks for 2017. It was a little bit tongue and cheek, but authorities around the world are watching the presidents Twitter feed to try to anticipate whats next, she said. Fortune

 Vetting process. In a wide-ranging panel discussion about mindfulness in the workplace, Ardine Williams, vice president of people operations for Amazon.com, shared this tidbit: Amazon has found that military veterans, who possess strong problem-solving skills and a comfort with uncertainty, work especially well in todays ever-changing business environment. Fortune

Story continues

 Eyes on the Target. Speaking of Amazon: If the e-commerce giant scares Target, executives at the discount retail chain arent letting it on. Targets stock fell 12% immediately after Amazon announced its acquisition of Whole Foods in June, but at the Summit on Monday, CFO Cathy Smith said Target is going to win when [its] the best Target and not trying to be a competitor against Amazon or anyone else. Fortune

 Great idea. How do you define innovation? Microsoft chief experience officer Julie Larson-Green has a pretty good take: Idea plus impact. She and fellow MPW Summit panelists shared their top tips for taking the fear out changeand actually bringing those fresh new ideas from pie-in-the sky concept to concrete reality. Fortune

ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

 Hollywood vs. Harvey. Hollywood stars continue to condemn the alleged sexual harassment committed by Harvey Weinstein, with actors George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Judi Dench all blasting the legendary producer for his reported misconduct. Fashion mogul Donna Karan, meanwhile, appeared to defend Weinstein, saying that his accusers may have been asking for it, but she later walked back those comments. People

 Off the air. ESPN suspended Jemele Hill for two weeks yesterday after the host suggested fans boycott Dallas Cowboys advertisers if they disagreed with owner Jerry Joness decision to punish players who participate in national anthem protests. ESPN said it was Hills second violation of the broadcasters social media policy; she called Donald Trump a white supremacist on Twitter last month. Fortune

 A new Kim to keep up with. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has promoted his younger sister Kim Yo-jong to the secretive countrys powerful politburo, solidifying her position as one of the most influential women in North Korea. She replaces their aunt, Kim Kyong-hee, who was a key decision maker when their father, the former leader Kim Jong-il, was alive. The Guardian

 Science of sexism. The New York Times Claire Cain Miller dives into the research about how high-profile sexual harassment scandals (think Weinstein, Fox, assorted VCs) can prompt men to be extra cautious in interacting with women in the workplaceand the ways in which that shift in behavior can hurt womens careers. New York Times

 More fallout at Fox. Dianne Brandi, executive vice president of legal and business affairs at Fox, has taken a sudden voluntary leave. While little is known about her departure, she has been accused of concealing inappropriate behavior by ousted Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, and her activities are reportedly being examined by the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan as part of an investigation into the handling of sexual assault accusations at the network. Fortune

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ON MY RADAR

Apples first ever VP of diversity and inclusion says she focuses on everyone, not just minorities Quartz

At Queens museum, director Laura Raicovich is as political as the art New York Times

Ivana Trump says Donald doesnt deserve the credit for raising their kids Fortune

How Uber secretly lobbied for women to drive in Saudi Arabia Quartz

QUOTE




japan gun shotgun

Japan is a country of more than 127 million people, but it rarely sees more than 10 gun deaths a year.

Culture is one reason for the low rate, but gun control is a major one, too.

Japan has a long list of tests that applicants must pass before gaining access to a small pool of guns.

Gun control discussions crop up every time there is a national shooting, the most recent of which being the October 1st mass shooting in Las Vegas, in which a gunman, perched in his hotel room, began shooting at an outdoor concert, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more.

One of the biggest questions: How does the US prevent this from happening over and over again?

Although the US has no exact counterpart elsewhere in the world, some countries have taken steps that can provide a window into what successful gun control looks like. Japan, a country of 127 million people and yearly gun deaths rarely totaling higher than 10, is one such country.

"Ever since guns entered the country, Japan has always had strict gun laws," Iain Overton, executive director of Action on Armed Violence, a British advocacy group, told the BBC. "They are the first nation to impose gun laws in the whole world, and I think it laid down a bedrock saying that guns really don't play a part in civilian society."

Regulations upon regulations

Japan's success in curbing gun deaths is intimately linked with its history. Following World War II, pacifism emerged as one of the dominant philosophies in the country. Police only started carrying firearms after American troops made them, in 1946, for the sake of security. It's also written into Japanese law, as of 1958, that "no person shall possess a firearm or firearms or a sword or swords."

Government has since loosened the law, but the fact Japan enacted gun control from the stance of prohibition is important. (It's also one of the main factors separating Japan from the US, where the Second Amendment broadly permits people to own guns.)

Story continues

If Japanese people want to own a gun, they must attend an all-day class, pass a written test, and achieve at least 95% accuracy during a shooting-range test. Then they have to pass a mental-health evaluation, which takes place at a hospital, and pass a background check, in which the government digs into their criminal record and interviews friends and family. They can only buy shotguns and air rifles  no handguns  and every three years they must retake the class and initial exam.

japan riot police

Japan has also embraced the idea that fewer guns in circulation will result in fewer deaths. Each prefecture  which ranges in size from half a million people to 12 million, in Tokyo  can operate a maximum of three gun shops; new magazines can only be purchased by trading in empty ones; and when gun owners die, their relatives must surrender the deceased member's firearms.

A culture of trust

The result is a situation where citizens and police seldom wield or use guns.

Off-duty police aren't allowed to carry firearms, and most encounters with suspects involve some combination of martial arts or striking weapons. When Japanese attacks do turn deadly, they generally involve fatal stabbings. In July of 2016, an assailant killed 19 people in an assisted living facility. Japan rarely sees so many fatalities from guns in an entire year.

Gun control in Japan, combined with the prevailing respect for authority, has led to a more harmonious relationship between civilians and the police than in the US. It's something of a chicken-egg problem: The police, in choosing to use sub-lethal force on people, generate less widespread fear among the public that they'll be shot. In turn, people feel less of a need to arm themselves.

The US, meanwhile, has a more militarized police force that uses automatic weapons and armored cars. There is also less widespread trust between people (and between people and institutions). The factors combine to produce a much fearful culture that can seem to be always on-edge.

Japan's approach would be a tough sell in the face of American gun culture, but it can provide a starting point for reining in the senseless violence that has become a hallmark of life in the US.

Related:

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The scandal has already melted away nearly a billion dollars from Kobe Steel's stock price (AFP Photo/Lindsey Parnaby) (AFP/File)

Top Japanese automakers said Wednesday they were scrambling to assess the safety of vehicles containing products from Kobe Steel, which has admitted falsifying quality data in a growing scandal.

Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi Motor, Subaru and Mazda joined aviation firms and defence contractors Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and IHI that have used the steelmaker's products.

The brewing crisis is the latest in a string of quality control and governance scandals to hit major Japanese businesses in recent years, undermining the country's reputation for quality.

Japan's famous "Shinkansen" bullet trains also used Kobe Steel's aluminium, as did high-speed trains in Britain, according to engineering firm Hitachi.

"Products used (for both Japanese and British trains) met safety standards. But they did not meet the specifications that were agreed between us and Kobe Steel," a Hitachi spokesman told AFP.

Honda spokesman Tamon Kusakabe said: "As to safety, we are still studying (a possible) impact."

"At this point, we don't see a critical problem as we have our own safety inspection on materials we use. But we are still investigating and it's premature to say" if recalls will be necessary.

Auto giant Toyota has already said Kobe Steel supplied materials to one of its Japanese factories, which used them in hoods, rear doors and surrounding areas of certain vehicles.

The industry ministry has pressed Kobe Steel to work with its clients, spread over a wide range of industries, to conduct urgent safety analysis.

Kobe Steel also admitted Wednesday that it was in talks with one client who received steel powder that did not match specifications.

However, it declined comment on a media report that materials used in semiconductors were also impacted by the scandal.

- Share value slumps -

The Kobe Steel scandal broke on Sunday when the manufacturer first admitted falsifying data linked to the strength and quality of products.

Story continues

An internal probe has revealed that data were fabricated for about 19,300 tons of aluminium products, 2,200 tons of copper products and 19,400 units of aluminium castings and forgings shipped to clients between September 2016 through August 2017.

The stock dived 22 percent on Tuesday to finish at 1,068 yen ($9.50), its maximum daily loss limit -- wiping almost one billion dollars off the firm's market value.

On Wednesday it plunged a further 17.8 percent to close at 878 yen.

The company said the fabrications, which might have started a decade ago, could affect products sent to as many as 200 companies but it remained unclear whether the scandal affected product safety.

The problems at Kobe Steel are an additional headache for Nissan, which has already announced a recall of more than a million vehicles in the domestic market over a certification issue.

And it is just the latest in a series of affairs to embarrass Japanese industry.

Airbag maker Takata went bankrupt after defective products were linked to 16 deaths and scores of injuries worldwide.

Mitsubishi Motors last year admitted that it had been falsifying mileage tests for years.

And electronics giant Toshiba has admitted that its executives had pressured underlings to cover up weak results for years after the 2008 global financial meltdown.
The corporate apology, where company bosses bow deeply at a news conference, has become all-too-frequent in Japan as a reputation for quality erodes (AFP Photo/STR) (JIJI PRESS/AFP/File)

The head of Japan's Kobe Steel warned Thursday that a quality control scandal engulfing his firm was likely to widen at home and abroad, as he acknowledged that trust in the steelmaker has "fallen to zero".

The comments came as a growing list of customers, including major automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda, scramble to assess the safety of vehicles containing products supplied by the company, which has admitted falsifying quality data for products sold to some 200 clients.

The head of Japan's number three steelmaker said Thursday that his firm was checking with more Japanese clients as well as foreign buyers including General Motors.

"We deeply apologise," Hiroya Kawasaki told a press briefing as he bowed deeply -- a common act of contrition for Japanese executives.

"Trust in Kobe Steel has fallen to zero."

There were more "suspicious cases" that could hike the number of affected products, he added.

"There's a possibility that there will be new cases of wrongdoing," Kawasaki said.

Kobe Steel's stock plunged by about 40 percent this week after the manufacturer on Sunday first admitted falsifying data linked to the strength and quality of products, a practice that may have started a decade ago.

It is the latest in a string of quality control and governance scandals to hit major Japanese businesses in recent years, undermining the country's reputation for quality.

The affected products include aluminium found in Japan's iconic bullet trains as well as materials in high-speed trains in Britain, although it is not clear whether the scandal affected product safety.

Japan's industry ministry has pressed Kobe Steel to work with its clients, spread over a wide range of industries, to conduct urgent safety analysis.

On Wednesday, the firm admitted that it was in talks with one client who received steel powder that did not match specifications.

However, it declined to comment on a media report that materials used in semiconductors were also impacted by the scandal.

Toyota has already said Kobe Steel supplied materials to one of its Japanese factories, which used them in hoods, rear doors and surrounding areas of certain vehicles.
Donald Trump welcomes Justin Trudeau to the White House - REUTERS

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, told President Donald Trump on Wednesday he would block his countrys armed forces from buying Boeing aircraft if the US presses ahead with plans to slap import tariffs of 300 percent on Bombardier aeroplanes.

The issue is threatening to ignite a trade war between the US, Canada and the UK, where the Canadian planemaker employs about 4,000 people in Belfast.

Mr Trudeau met the US President at the White House for talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement and said he raised the issue of Bombardier directly, outlining his opposition to US anti-dumping policy.

I highlighted to the president how we disagree vehemently with Commerces decision to bring in countervailing and anti-dumping duties against Bombardier, that we feel this is not something that is warranted and quite frankly something that we look very negatively upon, he said after the meeting.

The attempts by Boeing to put tens of thousands of aerospace workers out of work across Canada is not something we look on positively.

In brief | Bombardier

He added that the talks were not easy.

Two weeks ago the US Department of Commerce said Bombardiers C-Series jets should be subject to a 219 per cent import duty, after Boeing complained its manufacturer received subsidies from Canada and the UK.

Theresa May, the Prime Minster, responded by saying the US was risking a trade war and warned Boeing that it was jeopardising future deals with the Ministry of Defence to supply aircraft such as its Apache helicopters.

Expert view | Why Boeing is angry about Bombardier

Days later, the US ruled in favour of adding a further 80 per cent tariff after Boeing complained they were being sold at absurdly low prices.

Mr Trudeau added that he told Mr Trump he would prevent subsequent Canadian government orders from Boeing.

I certainly mentioned that this was a block to us making any military procurements from Boeing, he said.
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.

Its not every day that consumers find themselves wrapped up in a web of international cyber espionage. But thats what seems to have happened following recent reports that the home computer of a National Security Agency contractor was hacked by Russian agents using Kaspersky antivirus software thats supposed to protect consumers from harm.

The incident occurred in 2015 but was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times earlier this month. Further reports added details implying that the vulnerability to Kasperskys software could have been massive in scale.

According to an article in The New York Times on Wednesday, the NSA investigated after Israeli government hackers informed U.S. officials that software sold by Kaspersky Lab was being used to comb computers worldwide for classified material. The company is based in Russia, and sources in the same new reports suggest that Kaspersky Lab personnel were aware of the hacking and actually assisted with it.

As you might expect with an incident involving the security agencies of three governments, there are as many questions as answers about just what happened. No evidence so far indicates that data was stolen from ordinary consumers who had Kaspersky antivirus software on their computers.

However, Kaspersky security software affects millions of computer users around the world, according to the companys marketing materials. Even though consumers apparently werent the main targets, it seems that many home computers may have been searched for information of potential interest to Russian spy agencies.

In an emailed statement, Kaspersky Lab called allegations that it helped Russian intelligence unfounded and added that the company was not involved in and does not possess any knowledge of the situation in question, and the company reiterates its willingness to work alongside U.S. authorities to address any concerns they may have about its products as well as its systems.

Story continues

What If You Use Kaspersky Software?

Its not clear whether Kaspersky software poses a threat to consumers computers, but security experts, including those who used to work for the U.S. government, say there is reason for concern.

Its a big deal, says Blake Darche, a former NSA cybersecurity analyst and the founder of the cybersecurity firm Area 1. For any consumers or small businesses that are concerned about privacy or have sensitive information, I wouldnt recommend running Kaspersky.

By its very nature antivirus software is an appealing tool for hackers who want to access remote computers, security experts say. Such software is designed to scan a computer comprehensively as it searches for malware, then send regular reports back to a company server.

One of the things people dont realize, by installing that tool you give [the software manufacturer] the right to pull any information that might be interesting, says Chris ORourke, another former NSA cybersecurity expert who is the CEO of cybersecurity firm Soteria. As a consumer you have to think What am I giving away when I sign up and use this software?

Consumer Reports included Kaspersky Internet Security 2017 in its testing of antimalware packages, and the product did well in such tasks as blocking access to phishing sites and protecting PCs from malware loaded on devices plugged into USB ports. We have not independently tested the software for its vulnerability to this kind of attack. Consequently, we have not changed its recommended status in our ratings. However, we will continue to monitor this developing story.

Consumer Reports is currently devoting more resources to security testing and is working with outside partners to develop better standards for digital products.

Consumers who use Kaspersky products now but would like to make a change have a number of options. Consumer Reports recommends security packages from several companies, including AVG, Avira, G Data, and Symantec.

In the past, it could be difficult to uninstall antimalware software, but thats no longer true, according to Consumer Reports tester Rich Fisco. You run the uninstaller, wait for it to say that its done, and then reboot your computer. Fisco notes that Windows Defender Antivirus, which is built into Windows 10, is a different story: You can disable it, but you cant uninstall it.

Some laptops come preloaded with Kaspersky antivirus software. With these machines you uninstall the software the same way. However, O'Rourke says, if you ever reinstall the operating system from a disk or USB recovery drive, its likely that the Kaspersky software would be reinstalled along with the rest of the operating system.

Retailers Offering Help

Concerns over Kaspersky software have been building. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security issued an orderofficially called a binding operational directive [BOD]to federal agencies to remove Kaspersky software from government computers within 90 days.

Kaspersky antivirus products and solutions provide broad access to files and elevated privileges on the computers on which the software is installed, which can be exploited by malicious cyber actors to compromise those information systems, the DHS wrote in the order, citing concerns about the ties between certain Kaspersky officials and Russian intelligence.

The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or US-Cert, the Homeland Security division charged with assessing cyberthreats, didnt respond to questions about the safety of Kaspersky antivirus software for consumers.

In response to worries among consumers, the Best Buy electronics chain stopped selling Kaspersky products in mid-September. The retailer is letting consumers who had already purchased Kaspersky software and had an active subscription to exchange it free of charge for 45 days. And if customers dont want to uninstall the software themselves, one of Best Buys Geek Squad agents will do it free within that time window.

Office Max and Office Depot also pulled the software from sale. Those companies offered to uninstall Kaspersky software free of charge, regardless of where it was purchased, run a virus scan on the computer, and replace the software with McAfee LiveSafe antivirus software with a years license free.

Politicians are reacting to this weeks revelations. Recent developments should serve as a stark warning, not just to the federal government, but to states, local governments, and the American public, of the serious dangers of using Kaspersky software, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen says. The strong ties between Kaspersky Lab and the Kremlin are extremely alarming and have been well-documented for some time.





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Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright  2017, Consumer Reports, Inc.
FILE PHOTO - An employee works near screens in the virus lab at the headquarters of Russian cyber security company Kaspersky Labs in Moscow July 29, 2013. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo

Kaspersky, a popular Russian antivirus software used by several US agencies, was reportedly exploited by Russian hackers as a Google-like search tool to sniff out sensitive information, The New York Times reported on Tuesday night.

Israeli intelligence agents discovered the exploit after they broke into Kaspersky's systems in 2014, and later tipped off US intelligence agencies on the matter.

The Israeli agents reportedly stole passwords, took screenshots, and collected emails and documents, ostensibly to learn about Russian cyberespionage activities, and in doing so, found that Russian-sponsored hackers were using the Kaspersky software to scan for classified US information that could be relayed back to intelligence agencies in Russia.

The US government has vowed to stop using Kaspersky software.

Kaspersky Lab issued a statement on Tuesday denying any involvement in the Russian hacks: "Kaspersky Lab reiterates its willingness to work alongside U.S. authorities to address any concerns they may have about its products," the statement read. "Kaspersky Lab has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyberespionage efforts."

On a broad scale, it is common for state-sponsored hackers to exploit antivirus software for surveillance purposes. Officials at the National Security Agency and the CIA have said they never used Kaspersky software for precisely that reason.

Read the full story at The New York Times here 





More From Business Insider


Headquarters of Kaspersky Lab in Moscow - AP

Popular anti-virus software used by hundreds of thousands of people and businesses in Britain was reportedly hijacked by Russian government hackers to trawl for American secrets.

Cyber spies allegedly used software from the Russian firm Kaspersky Lab which is installed on computers around the world to improvise a search tool and look for the codenames of secret US programs.

Discovery of the operation led the American government to last month order the removal of the software from its computers, the New York Times reported.

The software is used by 400 million people worldwide and is one of the most widely used anti-virus tools in Britain, installed by hundreds of thousands to protect their computers from cyber crime.

The National Cyber Security Centre, the offshoot of GCHQ responsible for securing online life in Britain, said it did not give guidance on whether the software was safe to use.

Russia's Kaspersky Lab CEO and Chairman Eugene Kaspersky Credit: Getty

Computer users must give their anti-virus software widespread access to files so they can be scoured for viruses. But such access potentially makes the software a perfect backdoor for hackers, according to computer experts.

Kaspersky Lab has repeatedly denied accusations it is complicit in Russian state cyber operations. Technical experts said hackers may have gained access to its software without the firm knowing.

The firm on Wednesday said it had never helped, nor will help, for any government in the world with its cyberespionage efforts and said its software does not contain any undeclared capabilities such as backdoors as that would be illegal and unethical.

The scale of the intrusion was reportedly discovered more than two years ago when Israeli officials who had hacked into Kaspersky networks themselves saw evidence of Russian activity.

The Israelis warned Americas National Security Agency (NSA) that they had witnessed Russian hackers using Kasperskys access to search for US secret programs and send any findings back to Russian intelligence systems.

Story continues

The Russian operation stole classified documents from one NSA employee who had stored them on his home computer which was installed with Kaspersky software.

The NSA said in September it was ordering the software off its computers because of the risk that the Russian government, whether acting on its own or in collaboration with Kaspersky, could capitalize on access provided by Kaspersky products.

Kaspersky Lab estimates it has 400million users worldwide, but would not say how many people or which firms used its software in Britain. UK consumer research from Mintel last year showed it was used by seven per cent of people using anti-virus software.

A statement said: Kaspersky Lab was not involved in and does not possess any knowledge of the situation in question.

As the integrity of our products is fundamental to our business, Kaspersky Lab patches any vulnerabilities it identifies or that are reported to the company.

The firm said it wanted to work alongside the US authorities to address any concerns they may have about its products as well as its systems.

Eugene Kaspersky, founder of the firm, has for years strongly denied accusations his company provides intelligence to the Kremlin and called suspicions of its ties there total BS.

He was trained at a KGB cryptography institute and later served as an intelligence officer in the Soviet army. Although he left to start his company, Mr Kaspersky has kept up ties with the state. He has said he has friends in the interior ministry and the FSB, the KGB's successor agency, and told WIRED magazine that it was thanks to very good relations with the security service and police that he was able to quickly recover his son when he was kidnapped.

Russia is known for its high level of online surveillance: The FSB is able to monitor all telephone and Internet communications through surveillance boxes installed at all telecom providers, a system known as SORM.
On a morning when President Donald Trump suggested the cancellation of NBCs broadcasting license because of stories he deemed fake, presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway called for a full and free press and said she doesnt use the term fake news.

Appearing at Fortunes Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Conway faced questions about how she counsels the president, specifically when it comes to his Twitter account.

She said that Trumps tweets about policy, public events, and legislative proposals are not covered enough, suggesting that other posts in his active Twitter feed receive too much attention.

Subscribe: The Broadsheet, Fortunes newsletter on powerful women.

I dont utter [the term] fake news,' Conway said, adding that her concern is instead with incomplete coverage of the president. She said that major measures hes helped put into lawlegislation that serves veterans and protects whistleblowers, for instancedont get the media attention they deserve.

We need a full and free press in our nation, she said. With that freedom comes responsibility.

Read: Kellyanne Conway: How I Explained Not Supporting Hillary Clinton to My Daughters

Conway delivered her comments shortly after Trump posted tweets criticizing NBC in response to the networks report that hed asked for a tenfold increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal this past summer. He floated the idea of revoking the operating licenses of NBC and other broadcast networks due to their coverage. (It should be noted that the Federal Communications Commission issues broadcast licenses to stations and oversees license holders, but does not license networks.)

Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a "tenfold" increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017

With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017

A quick search of Conways Twitter feed shows at least one instance of her using the term fake news, but she has split with the president on the issue in the past. Earlier this year, she told Jake Tapper of CNNone of the presidents favorite targetsthat she doesnt think the network is fake news, as the president has repeatedly suggested.

Read: Kellyanne Conway Says the Media Is Too Obsessed with Trumps Tweets

At times, Conway herself has been accused of spreading falsehoods. She was notably blacklisted from Morning Joe in February. In explaining the decision, host Mika Brzezinski said Conways TV appearances had featured information that was askew, off or incorrect.
House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, one of the key stewards of the House Republican health care overhaul legislation emerges from a House Republican Conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, July 28, 2017. Dealing a serious blow to President Donald Trump's agenda, the Senate early Friday rejected a measure to repeal parts of former President Barack Obama's health care law after a night of high suspense in the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) reached out across the aisle last Wednesday to moderate Democrats to get their pulse on what they hope to see in a final tax reform bill, FOX Business has learned.

The day the House Blue Dogs released their tax reform principles, Brady met with leadership from their caucus as well as the leaders of the New Democrat Coalition, according to a senior Blue Dog aide.

Rep. Brady expressed an openness to working with Democrats He said Republicans feel that their framework is early enough along that it invites negotiation on the bill that the framework will lead to, and Rep. Brady felt we could find some common ground based on the Blue Dog tax reform principles and member statements, includingmost notablyon revenue neutrality, the aide told FOX Business.

Blue Dog leadership walked out feeling it was positive and that the door to bipartisan efforts on tax reform is certainly not closed, the same aide later added.

A spokeswoman for the House, Ways and Means Committee confirmed the meeting in a statement to FOX Business.

Chairman Brady met with Democrat caucus members last week. He has said repeatedly that he welcomes ideas from members on both sides of the aisle about pro-growth tax reform that will create jobs and improve lives in districts across our country, the statement read.

A spokeswoman for the Democrat Coalition did not respond to requests for comment before the time of publication. A spokeswoman for the Blue Dogs declined to comment.

Bradys meeting with moderate Democrats came the same week he met with Reps. Steve Scalise (R-L.A.), Kevin McCarthy (R-C.A.) and two dozen disgruntled Republican lawmakers from New York, New Jersey and California who are already voicing their concerns with the goal of eliminating the state and local tax deduction (SALT).

In a recent interview with Rep. Peter King (R-NY), an attendee at last weeks meeting, he explained that in order for a tax reform bill to pass in the House, the state and local deduction has to remain in the tax code.

Story continues

To have a chance of passing, it has to be negotiated and it has to be negotiated on good terms. Thats not a threat, its a reality. My district wont survive if this goes away," King said.

New York, along with New Jersey and California, are considered high-tax states that give taxpayers a break with the deduction. About one-third of the value of the tax break, which in total is estimated to be $1.3 trillion in savings, is used by filers in these states according to a study by the nonpartisan Center for a Responsible Federal Budget.

New Democrat Coalition leaders, according to a source close to the group, raised their own concerns with Brady about eliminating SALT as many of their members represent the three states that would be impacted if the loophole is eradicated.

The meeting also comes the same day as the 18 member Blue Dog group released their proposed tax principles which in some ways looks similar to the nine page Republican framework.

While the Blue Dog principles did not include specific tax rates within their proposal, they showed a desire to lower the corporate tax for corporations and pass through businesses.

The Republican blueprint calls for the corporate tax rate to be cut from 35 percent to 20 percent and bring the pass through business rate down to 25 percent from the current rate of 39.6 percent.

The Blue Dog framework also called for a bipartisan approach to passing tax reform.

As co-chair of the Task Force on Economic Growth, I support fiscally-responsible, pro-growth tax reform for the people, said Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL), Co-Chair of the Task Force on Economic Growth in a statement outlining the Blue Dog principals. I am hopeful that Congress can work together to enact much-needed tax reform in a bipartisan manner, bolstering Main Street and our middle class.

Related Articles
By Yuka Obayashi and Tomo Uetake TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Kobe Steel Ltd plunged deeper into crisis on Wednesday as fresh revelations showed data fabrication at the steelmaker was more widespread than initially thought, heightening a safety scare along the global supply chain. Investors, worried about the financial impact and potential legal fallout, again dumped Kobe Steel stock, wiping about $1.6 billion off its market value in two days. Kobe Steel said late on Wednesday it found 70 cases of tampered data on materials used in optical disks and liquid crystal displays at its Kobelco Research Institute Inc, which makes and tests products for the company. It also found one case of falsified data on iron powder products shipped to a customer. An internal probe carried out since it found issues in its aluminium and copper business has not found other cases of data tampering, Yoshihiko Katsukawa, a managing executive officer at Kobe Steel, told a news conference. He said the company - which has said it was examining possible data falsifications going back 10 years - has begun an external investigation of all its units, including those overseas. "We can't rule out the possibility that the external investigation will find other cases," Katsukawa said, adding no customers had raised any safety issues or stopped buying its products. One customer, Central Japan Railway, said some parts it received from Kobe Steel for its bullet trains did not meet Japanese Industrial Standards, but there were no safety issues. Kobe Steel President Hiroya Kawasaki will meet a senior official at the industry ministry on Thursday, the ministry said in a statement. The new revelations come after Kobe Steel admitted at the weekend it had falsified data about the quality of aluminium and copper products used in cars, aircraft, space rockets and defence equipment - a fresh blow to Japanese manufacturers' reputation for quality production. There have been previous cases in Japan involving falsified data, including at Nissan Motor, Mitsubishi Motors and Takata, which filed for bankruptcy this year over faulty airbags that were blamed for 17 deaths and scores of injuries. In 2015, it was revealed that Toyo Tire & Rubber fabricated data to secure government approval for materials to absorb shocks from earthquakes. Conglomerate Toshiba Corp is still battling the fallout of a scandal over reporting inflated profits. The corrosive business practices have raised broader questions over corporate governance in Japan, and cast doubt on the integrity of a manufacturing industry once the envy of the world. "The scandal looks similar to that of Toyo Tire, and not as massive (or) devastating as Takata's. Kobe Steel's technology is not something easily substitutable by others, and existing customers have nowhere else to go," said Yasuo Sakuma, Chief Investment Officer at Libra Investments in Tokyo. Kobe Steel faces potential costs from any product recalls, replacements and possible litigation, including class-action suits in the United States, Yuji Matsumoto, an analyst at Nomura Securities, said in a report. The data tampering at its aluminium unit could also hit plans to expand the business as carmakers increasingly turn to the material, which is lighter than steel, to meet tighter environmental rules. "Aluminium is one of Kobe Steel's key focus areas in the medium term as part of its strategy to help lighten vehicles, (and) this will certainly have a negative impact on the expansion," Matsumoto noted. Multinationals including Toyota Motor, Ford Motor and planemakers Boeing and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have said they are investigating the safety of products from Kobe Steel. REPEAT OFFENDER? It's not the first time Kobe Steel has been caught up in falsifying data. In June of last year, it said an affiliate, Shinko Wire Stainless Co, falsified data on tests for tensile strength of some stainless steel wire for springs over a period of more than nine years. And in 2006, Kobe Steel said its Kakogawa steelworks in western Japan falsified soot emissions data over five years. In a statement on Wednesday, Kobe Steel denied a Nikkei business daily report that it intended to put its real estate business up for sale to help shore up its finances. The company said it was assessing its options. The steelmaker reported losses in the last two financial years, but has said it expects to return to profit this year. Sales at Kobe Steel's aluminium and copper division fell 6.4 percent to 323.3 billion yen ($2.9 billion) in the year to March, and recurring profit dropped by more than a fifth to 12 billion yen. ($1 = 112.2700 yen) (Additional reporting by Sam Nussey, Kaneko Kaori, Makiko Yamazaki and Hideyuki Sano; Writing by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Ian Geoghegan)
TOKYO  Japan's Kobe Steel Ltd plunged deeper into crisis on Wednesday over fresh revelations of widespread data fabrication, heightening a safety scare involving cars, trains and airplanes.

Investors, worried about the potential legal ramifications and the financial impact for Kobe, dumped the stock for a second day, wiping out nearly two-fifths of the market value of Japan's third-biggest steelmaker.

Earlier on Wednesday, Kobe Steel said it may have fabricated data on iron powder products used in components such as automotive gears and was investigating the issue after media reported the abuses.The new revelations came after the steelmaker admitted over the weekend it had falsified data about the strength and durability of aluminum and copper products used in cars, aircraft, space rockets and defense equipment in a fresh blow to Japanese manufacturers' s vaunted reputation for quality production.

Kobe Steel has said it was examining other possible data falsifications going back 10 years.





JAPAN-KOBE STEEL/

It has also launched an investigation into Kobelco Research Institute, which tests products for the company, the steelmaker said. The Nikkei newspaper reported the unit had shipped materials used for making semiconductors to customers without inspecting them.



The company faces potential costs from any recalls, replacements and any legal action, including class-action suits in the U.S., Yuji Matsumoto, an analyst at Nomura Securities, said in a report.

The revelations about data tampering in its aluminum unit could also hit its plans to expand the business as carmakers increasingly use the material, which is lighter than steel, to meet tighter environmental rules.

"Aluminum is one of the key focus areas in the medium term as part of its strategy to help lighten vehicles (and) this will certainly have a negative impact on the expansion," Matsumoto said in the report.

Multinationals, including automakers like Toyota and Ford, and aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, have said they are investigating.

Story continues

SHARES DIVE

The market impact on Kobe Steel has been unforgiving, with its stock tumbling 18 percent to 878 yen after dropping 22 percent on Tuesday, wiping about $1.6 billion off its market value over two days.

The deepening scandal has forced the government to push the company to speedily resolve the crisis.

"This inappropriate behavior shakes the foundation of fair trading," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kotaro Nogami told a regular news conference on Tuesday.

"We ask Kobe Steel to thoroughly look into the causes ... and take steps to prevent a recurrence as well as to make utmost efforts to restore the trust of not only its customers but of society as a whole."

The misconduct at Kobe Steel follows scandals involving falsified data at household names such as Nissan, Mitsubishi and Takata, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

Toshiba is still battling the fallout of a scandal involving reporting inflated profits. The corrosive business practices have raised broader questions over corporate governance in Japan and cast doubts about the integrity of nation's once-admired manufacturing industry.

EARLIER MISCONDUCT

The revelations of tampered data and specifications aren't the first for Kobe Steel.

The company said in June 2016 that an affiliate, Shinko Wire Stainless Co., had falsified data on tests for tensile strength of some stainless steel wire for springs over a period of more than nine years.

In 2006, Kobe Steel said its Kakogawa steel works in western Japan had falsified data on soot emissions for a period of five years.

The Nikkei business daily reported that Kobe Steel intended to put its real estate business on the block in an effort to shore up already shaky finances now threatened by the data falsification scandal.

In a statement Kobe Steel denied the report, saying it was assessing its options.

The steelmaker has reported losses in the last two full financial years but is expecting to return to profit in the current period.

Sales of Kobe Steel's aluminum and copper division fell 6.4 percent year on year to 323.3 billion yen ($2.9 billion) in the financial year ending March 2017, with recurring profit falling 20.5 percent to 12 billion yen.

Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki, Hideyuki Sano, Yuka Obayashi and Kaneko Kaori



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FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2017, file photo, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., speaks to the Sevier County Chamber of Commerce in Sevierville, Tenn. Always one to speak his mind, Corkers new free agent status should make President Donald Trump and the GOP very nervous. The two-term Tennessee Republican isnt seeking re-election. And that gives him even more elbow room to say what he wants and vote how he pleases over the next 15 months as Trump and the partys top leaders on Capitol Hill struggle to get their agenda on track (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans (all times local):

9:05 a.m.

President Donald Trump is escalating his clash with Sen. Bob Corker, saying the Tennessee Republican was "made to sound a fool" in a recent interview.

Trump says on Twitter Tuesday that "the Failing @nytimes set Liddle' Bob Corker up by recording his conversation. Was made to sound a fool, and that's what I am dealing with!"

The feud between the president and a senator in his own party intensified over the weekend.

Trump's criticism of the lawmaker drew a response in which Corker referred to the White House as an "adult day care." In an interview with The New York Times, Corker said Trump could set the nation "on the path to World War III."

Corker is not running for re-election in 2018.

__

3:30 a.m.

Few Republican senators are commenting publicly about Sen. Bob Corker's barbed remarks about President Donald Trump.

Trump's criticism of the Tennessee Republican drew a response in which Corker referred to the White House as an "adult day care." In an interview with The New York Times, Corker said Trump could set the nation "on the path to World War III."

Most Republican senators have stayed silent about Corker's words. An Iowa Republican, Sen. Chuck Grassley, says both Trump and Corker should "cool it," with Trump going first.

On Capitol Hill, concerns circulate about an unpredictable president whose tendency to personalize every issue creates risks for the GOP agenda. Yet Trump's enduring popularity with a segment of the GOP base serves as a political muzzle for most.
By Nichola Groom (Reuters) - German battery maker Sonnen GmbH on Thursday said it would partner with home builder Mandalay Homes to outfit 3,000 new Arizona homes with batteries to store the excess energy generated by their rooftop solar installations. Mandalay plans to build the homes in Prescott, Arizona with the batteries, which can cost between $10,000 and $20,000. The cost would be part of the home's sale price and wrapped into the mortgage. The companies want utilities to pay the homeowners to use the stored power in the 3,000 batteries, which would create a virtual power plant with 8 megawatt hours of electricity, enough to power about 5,000 average homes for a day. Even if utilities do not buy the power, homeowners would save money by not having to buy as much or any power from the grid, said Sonnen Senior Vice President Blake Richetta. For now however, the project is moving forward without buy-in from utilities. Sonnen's U.S. arm and Mandalay have been in talks with Pinnacle West Capital Corp's Arizona Public Service and Salt River Project for a few months, they said. The community would be the first of its kind in the United States, the companies said, and comes as utilities have been studying the potential benefits of integrating battery storage along distribution grids and decreasing reliance on centralized fossil fuel plants. Sonnen has several such communities in Germany, but the idea is still a novelty in the United States. Batteries are viewed as especially key in large solar energy markets like Arizona that generate more power than they need during the sunniest times of the day. Sonnen has about 1,000 home batteries deployed in the United States currently, and aims to get to at least 20,000 by 2020, in part through more deals with homebuilders. Arizona Public Service would not comment on talks with Sonnen and Mandalay, but said batteries "can provide benefit to both our customers and the grid." Salt River Project spokeswoman Kathleen Mascarenas said "no agreements are in the works." (Reporting by Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
A few months down the line, the Republicans will complete a full year in power. Unfortunately, since the political power change, the healthcare community hasnt had many opportunities to rejoice.

A survey report by Gallup Analytics last month revealed that U.S. adults cited healthcare as the second major problem faced by the country under the new presidential administration. In fact, the debate over repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare has been raging for a while now. Per the report, it peaked when it reached the Congress in August. Considering the prevailing uncertainty in the implementation of the health policy, any respite from it in the near term seems unlikely.

MedTech in the United States: A Blurred Picture

Needless to say, the current crisis in the U.S. MedTech industry, an integral part of the broader healthcare space, shows no signs of abating. A few months back, companies in the space were hopeful about the promised cancellation of the 2.3% MedTech tax of Obamacare under the new government. Unquestionably, the latest political developments have landed the MedTech space in an uncertain territory.

Investors are mulling over whether they should retain their existing MedTech stocks or forego their holdings in favor of companies in other industries to boost their financial resources. That said, in spite of what the future may hold, we believe investors should stick to the MedTech space as it has shown signs of prosperity in recent times globally.

Yes, you read that right. Even considering the dull performance of the U.S. medical device market (that still holds the leading position with almost one-third of the world market share) on rising regulatory and legislative uncertainty, global growth has been quite encouraging. In 2016, this industry grew 5%, a pace last seen before the financial crisis.

Emerging Markets Hold Immense Promise

The uncertainty in the United States along with the worsening economic condition in Europe automatically shifted the focus to emerging geographies like China, India, Latin America and others.

Story continues

These emerging economies are seeing a rise in the uptake of medical devices largely due to growing medical awareness and economic prosperity. An aging population, increasing wealth, government focus on healthcare infrastructure and expansion of medical insurance coverage make these markets a happy hunting ground for global medical device players. Add to it, rising healthcare spending and improving healthcare infrastructure, this growth should continue in 2017 and beyond.

Going by a recent BCG report, the share of emerging markets, which is currently less than a quarter of global MedTech revenues, is likely to increase to nearly one-third of revenues by 2022. The MedTech market in China, currently the second largest in the world, is projected to grow about 13% annually from 2015 through 2022. Indias Medtech market, the fifth largest in the world, is currently demonstrating 17% annual growth. If this continues, India may give good competition to Japan and Germany by 2022.

Among other emerging geographies, Latin America, even in the face of general economic stagnation, holds enormous potential. Per a January 2017 report by MedTech Intelligence, the Central and South American nations significantly increased per capita spending on healthcare in the period between 2008 and 2014. According to World Bank data, Guatemala increased spending by 27%, Brazil 31%, Chile 54%, Colombia 58%, Uruguay 95%, Paraguay 115%, Bolivia 138%, and Ecuador 139%. Lower domestic production in Latin America has made it as an open market for U.S. exporters.

Investment in Emerging Market Players Looks Sensible

In such a scenario, we believe it will be wise of investors who are keen on MedTech stocks to keep an eye on companies who have turned the emerging markets into a happy hunting ground with their expertise and network. No wonder, these stocks, cashing in on the enormous growth potential of these emerging geographies have perfectly shielded themselves from the political turmoil within the United States.

Let us look at a few MedTech players with significant emerging market presence.

Given the huge potential in these regions, long back, Johnson & Johnson JNJ had set up manufacturing and R&D centers in Brazil, China and India. The companys medical device segment of emerging markets is growing three to four times faster than the developed markets. It has been doing business in China for nearly 30 years and is expanding further here on the back of the Synthes acquisition.

Johnson & Johnson Price and Consensus

Johnson & Johnson price-consensus-chart | Johnson & Johnson Quote

Abbott ABT continues to lead the emerging market investment trend with about 50% of sales from this region. In recent quarters, sales in key emerging markets were up in double digits, driven by strength in BRIC as well as strong growth in several countries throughout Latin America, including Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Argentina.

Abbott Laboratories Price and Consensus

Abbott Laboratories price-consensus-chart | Abbott Laboratories Quote

At Medtronic MDT, in the last-reported first quarter of fiscal 2017, businesses in China, Latin America, and Southeast Asia showed sustained strength, growing in double digits. Overall, Medtronic remains confident about its long-term outlook for emerging markets. The company is focused on developing new public and private partnerships as well as executing channel optimization strategies.

Medtronic PLC Price and Consensus

Medtronic PLC price-consensus-chart | Medtronic PLC Quote

Boston Scientifics BSX emerging markets business registered 14% organic growth in second-quarter 2017, a significant increase from 8% growth in 2013. Business in China was once again remarkable (up 20% year over year). The company is currently looking forward to much better performance ahead in China, banking on the recent approval of SYNERGY in China.

Boston Scientific Corporation Price and Consensus

Boston Scientific Corporation price-consensus-chart | Boston Scientific Corporation Quote

Thermo Fisher TMO too is leaving no stone unturned to expand its presence in emerging markets. The company garnered 20% of total revenue from the high-growth Asia-Pacific and emerging markets in 2016 from 10% in 2006.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc Price and Consensus

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc price-consensus-chart | Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc Quote

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Melania Trump embodied the 80s in a pinstriped suit with a skinny tie.

The First Lady and the President met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)  an agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico to remove tariff barriers. In the past, President Trump has threatened to dissolve the deal in the absence of a more favourable one.

Melania Trump, President Trump, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau [Photo: AP]

While Sophie was outfitted in an A-line dress and carried a red-white-blue striped handbag, Melania, 47, wore a charcoal pinstriped suit with loose-fitting trousers by Ralph Lauren and a black skinny tie left undone.

Melania is wearing a tie because dressing like a man makes you powerful! https://t.co/wIg89bOtsG  Sarah Gidick (@sarah310) October 11, 2017

Melania has been experimenting with menswear lately. In September, to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, she wore a 1,470 Calvin Klein grey, double-breasted wool blazer and houndstooth pants, along with spiky black heels. She showed off the look by posing for cameras with one hand tucked into her trouser pocket.

Melania Trump loves a sharp power suit [Photo: Getty]

Melanias buttoned-up appearance was called impeccably appropriate for the first lady, a role which Melania is reportedly accepting with enthusiasm, after a slow start. In September, three months after moving to the White House, Melania gave an anti-bullying speech to world leaders amid an internet circus that erupted over the neon pink Delpozo dress she wore while delivering her remarks.

And on Monday, Melania clarified her position after Trumps first wife, Ivana, said in a Good Morning America interview, I have a direct number to the White House. I [dont] really want to call him there, because Melania is there, and I dont want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that, because Im basically first Trump wife. OK? Im first lady.

Story continues

Melania responded with a statement that read, Mrs. Trump has made the White House a home for Barron and The President. She loves living in Washington, DC, and is honoured by her role as First Lady of the United States. She plans to use her title and role to help children, not sell books. There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex. Unfortunately, only attention-seeking and self-serving noise.

On Tuesday night, the Trudeaus spent quality time with another Trump, hitting Fortunes Most Powerful Women Summit and Gala in Washington, D.C., with Ivanka, who wore a white trumpet-sleeve dress by Roland Mouret and large black earrings.

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:

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Melania Trump mocked once again for wearing sunglasses in the dark
Melania Trump embodied the 80s in a pinstriped suit with a skinny tie.

The first lady and the president met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)  an agreement between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to remove tariff barriers. In the past, President Trump has threatened to dissolve the deal in the absence of a more favorable one.

Melania Trump, President Trump, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau. (Photo: AP)

While Sophie was outfitted in an A-line dress and carried a red-white-blue striped handbag, Melania, 47, wore a charcoal pinstriped suit with loose-fitting trousers by Ralph Lauren and a black skinny tie left undone.

Melania is wearing a tie because dressing like a man makes you powerful! https://t.co/wIg89bOtsG  Sarah Gidick (@sarah310) October 11, 2017

Melania has been experimenting with menswear lately. In September, to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, she wore a $1,995 Calvin Klein gray, double-breasted wool blazer and houndstooth pants, along with spiky black heels. She showed off the look by posing for cameras with one hand tucked into her trouser pocket.

Melania Trump loves a sharp power suit. (Photo: Getty Images)

Melanias buttoned-up appearance was called impeccably appropriate for the first lady, a role which Melania is reportedly accepting with enthusiasm, after a slow start. In September, three months after moving to the White House, Melania gave an antibullying speech to world leaders amid an internet circus that erupted over the $2,950 neon-pink Delpozo dress she wore while delivering her remarks.

And on Monday, Melania clarified her position after Trumps first wife, Ivana, said in a Good Morning America interview, I have a direct number to the White House. I [dont] really want to call him there, because Melania is there, and I dont want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that, because Im basically first Trump wife. OK? Im first lady.

Story continues

Melania responded with a statement that read, Mrs. Trump has made the White House a home for Barron and The President. She loves living in Washington, D.C., and is honored by her role as First Lady of the United States. She plans to use her title and role to help children, not sell books. There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex. Unfortunately, only attention-seeking and self-serving noise.

On Tuesday night, the Trudeaus spent quality time with another Trump, hitting Fortunes Most Powerful Women Summit and Gala in Washington, D.C., with Ivanka, who wore a $1,127 white trumpet-sleeve dress by Roland Mouret and large black earrings.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
Microsoft Ventures today announced a new AI startup competition with a total prize purse of $3.5 million in investments into the winners.

The firm is partnering with Madrona Venture Partners, Notion Capital and Vertex Ventures to host this competition, which is looking for (very) early-stage AI startups in North America, Europe and Israel. The Innovate.AI competition will award $1M in funding to one startup per region (North America, Europe and Israel), in addition to a $500,000 "AI for Good" prize. All prizes also come with $500,000 in Azure credits (though there is no expectation that the participating startups use Azure).

Peggy Johnson, Microsoft's executive VP of business development, oversees the company's strategic investments through Microsoft Ventures . She told us that Microsoft typically invested into later-stage companies, but that Microsoft Ventures now gives it the ability to make early-stage investment, too. Some of the AI-centric investment by the fund include the likes of Bonsai.ai and Element.ai, as well as Maluuba, which Microsoft acquired earlier this year. She sees the fund as complementary to the Microsoft Accelerator program, which the company currently runs in a number of cities around the world. "Before the fund, we didn't have any way to invest into these companies," she noted.

So with this new competition, which Johnson tells me was an idea that came out of Madrona Ventures, Microsoft and its partners are looking for very early stage startups. "The idea behind the competition is that we want to see the earliest stage innovators -- maybe ones that didn't pop up yet on anyone's radar," Johnson said.

Like with similar competitions, Microsoft and its partners will gather applications from eligible startups, judge them based on the potential of their ideas and execution, and then pitch them against each other in a Battlefield-like pitch-off early next year (though Madrona managing director S. "Soma" Somasegar describes it as more akin to "American Idol"). To be eligible, the startups can't have raised more than $4 million in funding and they obviously need to be working on some kind of AI/ML-related problem.

Story continues

As Johnson told me, if a company is aligned with any of Microsoft's own core focus areas, then that's a good early signal, too. The team is also looking for unique use cases that it can put early investments behind.

It's worth noting that this competition isn't about cash prizes. Instead, Microsoft and its partners will invest into these companies. Johnson tells me that the funding terms here are the same as for any other Microsoft Ventures investment.

The Innovate.ai competition is now open for applications and startups have until December 31 to apply.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on October 11, 2017, with negotiations on the NAFTA underway nearby in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Virginia (AFP Photo/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)

Washington (AFP) - A fourth round of talks to revamp a landmark North American trade pact was due to begin Wednesday amid inflamed tensions between Washington and Ottawa over a trade dispute involving Bombardier aircraft.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, with negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement underway nearby in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Virginia.

Trudeau's visit comes as US officials are seeking to impose retaliatory import duties on imports of certain Bombardier aircraft, claiming the Canadian government has unfairly subsidized them.

Ottawa in turn has threatened to cancel a multi-billion-dollar order of 18 Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets.

The United States takes in three quarters of Canadian exports. But trade relations have been strained since Trump's inauguration earlier this year.

The American president has repeatedly threatened to scrap NAFTA, which established a free-trade zone between the Canada, the United States and Mexico in 1994.

With a nationalist economic agenda, Trump has denounced the agreement as a job destroyer and a "disaster" for the United States, vowing to reverse off-shoring by renegotiating the treaty.

- 'Poison pills' -

In an interview with Forbes magazine published Tuesday, Trump said he preferred bilateral trade agreements.

"I happen to think that NAFTA will have to be terminated if we're going to make it good," he told the magazine.

The talks to revise NAFTA began in mid-August. Three previous rounds have taken place with no major breakthroughs announced.

Following the most recent round in Ottawa last month, negotiators said they had made progress on subjects such as telecommunications, competition policy, digital trade, regulation and customs and trade facilitation.

A major sticking point is the United States' $64 billion trade deficit with Mexico, which Washington wants to reduce or eliminate.

Story continues

"A shift toward protectionism would reduce trade and cross-border investment flows, harming global growth," the International Monetary Fund warned in a report on Tuesday.

IMF Economic Counsellor Maurice Obstfeld likewise warned Tuesday that all three NAFTA countries faced economic consequences if the outcome of the talks ended up disrupting trade relations.

Meanwhile, Thomas Donohue, president of the US Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday that several issues under discussion could scotch the entire effort.

"There are several poison pill proposals still on the table that could doom the entire deal," he said in a speech delivered in Mexico, citing in particular a provision to allow the agreement to expire in five years unless all parties agreed to extend it.

"We all know that certainty and stability are crucial to successful trade relationshipsand necessary to foster a pro-investment environment that drives economic growth and job creation. This clause would achieve the opposite effect."

Following his visit to Washington, Trudeau is due to travel to Mexico, where he will meet with President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (C) meets with members of the House Committee on Ways and Means, including Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (L), Republican of Texas, and Ranking Member Richard Neal (R), Democrat of Massachusetts, about the NAFTA renegotiations on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 11, 2017 (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

Washington (AFP) - A fourth round of talks to revamp a landmark North American trade pact begin Wednesday amid inflamed tensions between Washington and Ottawa over a trade dispute involving Bombardier aircraft.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House in the afternoon, with negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement underway nearby in the Washington suburb of Arlington, Virginia.

Trudeau's visit comes as US officials are seeking to impose retaliatory import duties on imports of certain Bombardier aircraft, claiming the Canadian government has unfairly subsidized them.

Ottawa in turn has threatened to cancel an order for 18 Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced that talks had been extended by 48 hours and would conclude on Tuesday with a press event held jointly with Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.

"Thus far, we have made good progress, and I look forward to several days of hard work," Lighthizer said in a statement.

The United States takes in three quarters of Canadian exports. But trade relations have been strained since Trump's inauguration earlier this year.

The American president has repeatedly threatened to scrap NAFTA, which established a free-trade zone between the Canada, the United States and Mexico in 1994.

With a nationalist economic agenda, Trump has denounced the agreement as a job destroyer and a "disaster" for the United States, vowing to reverse offshoring by renegotiating the treaty.

- 'Poison pills' -

In an interview with Forbes magazine published Tuesday, Trump said he preferred bilateral trade agreements.

"I happen to think that NAFTA will have to be terminated if we're going to make it good," he told the magazine.

The talks to revise NAFTA began in mid-August. Three previous rounds have taken place with no major breakthroughs announced.

Story continues

Following the most recent round in Ottawa last month, negotiators said they had made progress on subjects such as telecommunications, competition policy, digital trade, regulation and customs and trade facilitation.

Negotiators have completed talks on NAFTA provisions relating to small and medium enterprises as well as competition, Lighthizer's office said.

The updated provisions on competition will allow for more "procedural fairness" in the enforcement of competition law, the statement said.

A major sticking point has been $64 billion US trade deficit with Mexico, which Washington wants to reduce or eliminate.

IMF Economic Counsellor Maurice Obstfeld warned Tuesday that all three NAFTA countries faced economic consequences if the outcome of the talks ended up disrupting trade relations.

Meanwhile, US Chamber of Commerce president Thomas Donohue said that several issues under discussion could scotch the entire effort.

"There are several poison pill proposals still on the table that could doom the entire deal," he said in a speech delivered in Mexico, citing in particular a provision to allow the agreement to expire in five years unless all parties agreed to extend it.

"We all know that certainty and stability are crucial to successful trade relationshipsand necessary to foster a pro-investment environment that drives economic growth and job creation. This clause would achieve the opposite effect."

Following his visit to Washington, Trudeau is due to travel to Mexico, where he will meet with President Enrique Pena Nieto.
From Tyler Durden: Robert Shiller isnt the only Nobel Laureate whos worried the U.S. stock market is sleepwalking toward disaster.

In an interview with Bloombergs Jeanna Smialek, Thaler, who was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday for his pioneering work in establishing that humans are predictably irrational, said that the stock markets complacency in the face of the North Korean nuclear threat and political uncertainty at home is disconcerting.

We seem to be living in the riskiest moment of our lives, and yet the stock market seems to be napping, Thaler said, speaking by phone on Bloomberg TV. I admit to not understanding it.

Adding his voice to a growing chorus of Wall Street analysts who suspect that the Trump administrations tax reform ambitions will be dashed by a handful of intransigent senators, Thaler said any investors whove been paying attention should have lost confidence by now.

I dont know about you, but Im nervous, and it seems like when investors are nervous, theyre prone to being spooked, Thaler said, Nothing seems to spook the market and if the gains are based on tax-reform expectations, surely investors should have lost confidence that that was going to happen.

US stocks have continued to hit a string of records since President Donald Trumps upset victory over Hillary Clinton in November while volatility has plunged, with realized vol reaching its lowest level on record in October.

As Bloomberg points out, Thaler, who has made a career of studying irrational and temptation-driven actions among economic actors claimed that the markets complacency was fundamentally misguided.

Thalers comments echoed comments from Shiller, a professor at the Yale School of Management who won his economics Nobel in 2013, who warned during a July interview with CNBC, Shiller expressed concern that his Shiller CAPE ratio had crossed above 30, signaling that equity valuations were dangerously stretched. During the history of the stock market, stocks have only traded at richer valuations during one period  June 1997 to September 2001  as the dotcom farce blew and burst. Historical data for the index is available going back to 1881.

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Thaler also took a shot at President Donald Trump, mocking the presidents fondness for bluster and notorious aversion toward reading books.

His ratio of certitude to knowledge is nearing record highs, Thaler said on Bloomberg Radio with Tom Keene and David Gura. We all need a lot of humility, and especially about the economy.

He also added that the UKs vote to leave the European Union was decision based on emotions, not rationality.

I dont think that the leave votes were based on any implicit spreadsheet running in peoples heads  it was just like, Im angry, and Im voting no, he told Bloomberg TVs Vonnie Quinn and Mark Barton. Of the Brexit process, he said: It doesnt seem to be headed in any productive direction.

Thaler was perhaps one of the worlds best-known contemporary economists before receiving his award. His theory of nudge economics, where humans are subtly guided toward beneficial behaviors without heavy-handed intervention, was the theme of a 2008 book that was well received around the world.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) fell $0.24 (-0.09%) in premarket trading Wednesday. Year-to-date, SPY has gained 14.96%.

SPY currently has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #1 of 123 ETFs in the Large Cap Blend ETFs category.

This article is brought to you courtesy of ZeroHedge.

You are viewing an abbreviated republication of ETF Daily News content. You can find full ETF Daily News articles on (www.etfdailynews.com)
U.S. West Texas Intermediate and internationally-favored crude oil futures finished slightly higher on Wednesday as investors prepared for the release of weekly inventories data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday.

Oil prices rose for a third day on Wednesday as OPEC forecast higher demand for 2018 and heightened tensions in Kurdistan supported prices.

December WTI Crude Oil settled at $51.60, up $0.37 or +0.72% and January Brent Crude Oil closed the session at $56.73, up $0.37 or +0.66%.

Daily December WTI Crude Oil

In addition to forecasting stronger demand for its oil in 2018, OPEC said production cuts by producing nations were clearing the global crude glut.

Saudi Arabia said it pumped 9.97 million barrels per day in September, up from August, but still below target.

In other news, the worlds second largest crude trader Glencore said the market can absorb the volumes along with those from the North Sea and West Africa.

I think the market is able to absorb that 2 million bpd of U.S. exports easily, Glencores head of oil trading Alex Beard told the Reuters Global Commodities Summit. I dont think there are many losers out there.

His comment was in response to last weeks U.S. EIA report which showed a 1.98 million barrel jump in U.S. exports. Traders said this was related to the high price of Brent crude oil which was made WTI crude a more attractive alternative.

Daily January Brent Crude

Forecast

Prices are under pressure early in the session on Thursday after the API said its data showed U.S. crude stocks rose unexpectedly last week, while gasoline inventories decreased and distillate stocks increased.

According to the API, crude inventories rose 3.1 million barrels in the week to October 6. Analysts had expected a draw of 2 million barrels.

The EIA report on Thursday is expected to show a 1.9 million barrel draw. Bullish traders are hoping U.S. producers slow down production and make further progress on inventory cuts. However, the actual supply/demand picture may not be clear at this time because of the impact of Hurricane Irma.

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Geopolitical concerns could drive prices higher over the near-term. Iraqi government forces and Iranian-trained Iraqi paramilitaries are preparing a major attack on Kurdish forces in the oil-rich region of Kirkuk and near Mosul in northern Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government said on Wednesday.

Although an Iraqi military spokesman denied any attack, traders are taking no chances at this time with speculators buying and shorts covering.

The daily chart indicates that upside momentum could increase on a sustained move over $51.71. Momentum will shift to the downside on a sustained move under $51.27.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

More From FXEMPIRE:
It's been a long while coming but Uber's chief rival in India is finally raising a big round, and joining the billion-dollar round club at the same time.

Ola today announced that it has closed $1.1 billion in fresh financing. That's the largest funding round in the company's six-year history and its first major raise since November 2015 when it closed $500 million from investors.

The company has since raised smaller, undisclosed amounts provided by existing investors, but it is fair to say that this new round has been much expected -- and needed. It's look like there's more to come, too, with Ola telling media it is close to finalizing an additional $1 billion that would take the round's final close to $2.1 billion.

Ola has had its valuation clipped as low as $3.5 billion this year, but a source with knowledge of the new deal told TechCrunch that the company is on track for a post-money valuation of $7 billion once the full $2.1 billion raise is finalized. That's a slight bump (pre-money) on that 2015 fundraise when Ola was valued at $5 billion post-money which is notable given recent devaluations.

Perhaps even more interesting that the valuation is the investors.

Media leaks have spoiled the surprise somewhat -- Ola has been obligated to report some of its funding to regulators in India, ensuring a drip-drip of news -- but China's Tencent is a new backer and the lead investor of the round. SoftBank, an existing Ola investor (and an investor in Grab, Lyft, Didi AND seemingly soon Uber), is also in, but Ola isn't disclosing which "U.S.-based financial investors" joined them. Media reports suggested one is Coatue, which has backed Grab and Didi, but Didi -- which made a previous Ola investment and has reinvested in Grab and widened its investment network worldwide -- appears to have sat this round out.

Make of that what you will.

But Tencent's participation is particularly intriguing and further proof that the Chinese giant -- valued at more than $300 billion -- is upping its game in India through local tech firms that are battling global rivals. Tencent backed Flipkart via a $3 billion funding round this summer -- which provided long-overdue ammunition for its battle with Amazon -- it led a critical raise for WhatsApp rival Hike, which valued the Indian upstart at $1 billion, and it invested in healthcare firm Practo which harbors bold international expansion plans.

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Ola fits that mold perfectly, being that it is the local fighter that is taking on a global giant, Uber.

That's really been Ola's focus all along: to out localize its foe. And on paper it has done that with a number of initiatives that include:

However, on the business side of things, Ola's losses have mounted. According to filings reported by Business Standard, parent company Ani Technologies saw losses triple to reach $360 million for the 2016 financial year despite revenue jumping seven-fold to $160 million.

That led to a series of smaller investments from backers such as SoftBank, which is reported to have put $250 million in at a lower valuation of $3.5 billion in April of this year, to keep the house in order. More broadly, a renewed focus on more sustainable spending led one market research firm to conclude that the number of rides from Uber and Ola in India actually decreased in the first quarter of 2017 due to a cutback in previously generous subsidies for drivers and passengers.

Uber doesn't reveal numbers for India, while Ola declined to give its figures. However, a source close to Ola told TechCrunch that it is currently handling more than two million completed rides per day across its services, which it claims includes 800,000 drivers.

One thing that is more certain behind the hazy numbers guessing game is that this round finally gives Ola some stability. Uber has been busy fighting its own fires and attending pressing concerns in the U.S. this year but now, with a new CEO in place, there's no reason it wouldn't double down on India to avoid a repeat of its demise in China, where it was forced to sell to Didi after losing the market.

India is equal in promise, with over a billion people and a growing economy, and it remains Uber's most important overseas market as evidenced by its dedicated tech center and past investment of over $1 billion. Now, with new funding in place, Ola has a level of war chest assurance at its disposal should Uber go pedal to the floor in India.

The company didn't say too much about how it plans to spend this new money, other than the usual favorites of increasing supply of drivers -- so more efforts on leasing and affordable car finance -- and developing technology. The latter focuses on the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve issues like which side of the road a passenger is waiting on. That might sound trivial but in the megacities of Asia, it is a factor that can cost you an additional 20 minutes if you get it wrong.

One area where Ola is not actively investing is self-driving cars, it has said that congestion and pollution are more critical in India. That said, it has made progress with a fleet of electric cars and rickshaws which have operated in the city of Nagpur since earlier this year. That's a model the company is hopeful it can replace in other parts of the country with the right support from government agencies and other stakeholders.

For now though, this much-needed financing will give Ola stability. While Grab is actively trying to beat Uber out of Southeast Asia after raising $2 billion, its India peer might now be able to realistically dream that it too can take the initiative against its U.S. rival.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., October 10, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The opposition research firm that produced the explosive dossier alleging ties between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia has claimed in new court filings that it did not provide the dossier to BuzzFeed, which published the document in full in January.

The filings were part of Fusion GPS's efforts to quash a subpoena issued in late August by Aleksej Gubarev, a Russian tech executive whom the dossier accused of targeting Democratic Party leadership with malware and "botnets." Gubarev is now suing both BuzzFeed and the dossier's author, Christopher Steele.

Steele, a former British spy who spent decades on MI6's Moscow desk, was hired by Fusion to research Trump's purported ties to Russia.

In their initial attempt to quash Gubarev's subpoena, Fusion said it would be willing to provide any "pre-publication communications" it had with BuzzFeed about the dossier prior to its publication.

Court documents filed on Tuesday, however, included a September 12 email from a lawyer with the firm representing Fusion informing Gubarev's attorney that "we have found no pre-publication communications" between the firm and BuzzFeed.

From the filings:

buzzfeed dossier

Fusion's attorneys wrote in the court filings that Gubarev's attempts to "open the door to wide-ranging discovery" of the firm were "unpersuasive" because Fusion "did not create or author the December memo, and did not give it to BuzzFeed."

Evan Fray-Witzer, an attorney for Gubarev, said during a discovery hearing on September 28 that "the one thing that [Fusion] have told us is BuzzFeed didn't get the dossier from them. BuzzFeed went to them and tried to get the dossier from them and they refused to give it to BuzzFeed."

A spokesperson for Fusion GPS repeated that claim on Wednesday.

"While there may have been a request by BuzzFeed, no documents were shared," the spokesperson told Business Insider.

BuzzFeed issued the following statement: "As weve stated time and again, the dossier was circulating at the highest levels of government, among numerous media outlets, and is the subject of multiple federal investigations. The only group that had yet to see the dossier when we published it was the public.

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Indeed, the dossier had been making its way around Washington, DC, for months leading up to its publication. Numerous reporters revealed after it was published that they had been approached to write about the dossier and its allegations.

Mother Jones' David Corn reported on some of the dossier's allegations in October after speaking with Steele and "his associates at the American firm" that hired him. Neither Steele nor Fusion GPS were named in Corn's story. Their identities were only revealed later, well after BuzzFeed published the dossier in full.

Corn reported, however, that Steele had approached the FBI "without the permission of the US company that hired him" in July after spending a month collecting information about Trump's alleged Russia ties. Steele forwarded the FBI additional memos in August, at which point they began communicating regularly, Corn reported.

Fusion GPS was therefore not the only entity with access to the dossier. The document was reportedly obtained by former State Department official David Kramer, who then passed it along to Republican Sen. John McCain. McCain then provided it to former FBI Director James Comey.

The FBI had reportedly already used the dossier's allegations to bolster its case for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant against early Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Fusion over the summer but dropped the request when the firm's cofounder, Glenn Simpson, agreed to a closed-door interview.

NOW WATCH: Roger Stone explains what Trump has in common with Richard Nixon





More From Business Insider


The international value of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has plunged amid Asia crackdown fears (AFP Photo/ROSLAN RAHMAN)

Paris (AFP) - Bitcoin may be in for a sustained record run as it overcomes key obstacles, experts said Thursday after the cryptocurrency set a new record high.

Even bitcoin fans were plagued by doubts over the summer when Chinese regulators cracked down on exchanges trading the virtual currency and a dispute among developers gave birth to a new version, splitting the market of the budding currency.

In September, banking regulators in Beijing and Shanghai ordered local cryptocurrency exchanges to shut down.

But observers say they are now detecting a rethink by the Chinese authorities, causing bitcoin on Thursday to surge past the $5,000 level for the first time since its launch eight years ago.

Around 1530 GMT its value based on a basket of trading exchanges calculated by Bloomberg was $5,247.02, up from $4,829.29 late Wednesday.

This represents a rise of 400 percent this year alone.

- Uncertainty didn't last -

Should rumours reported in state media be confirmed, then what is by far the most well-known and traded of more than 1,000 so-called cryptocurrencies could soar to even greater heights, experts predict.

"There has been a period of uncertainty but that has not lasted. China represents more than 60 percent of trading and the question of their regulation, as everywhere, has made a bigger impact," said Greg Revenu, of Bryan, Garnier & Co.

The virtual currency is created through blockchain technology, which publicly records transaction details including the unique alphanumeric strings that identify buyers and sellers -- technology which is gaining increasing currency among banks and companies.

"Mining" the coins is a very profitable but long, expensive, and energy-intensive process requiring powerful servers.

Between 60 and 70 percent of new bitcoins are mined in China, where the local leader Bitmain has imposing infrastructure.

The bitcoin supply is capped at 21 million units, some 17 million of which have already been mined.

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- It once traded for cents -

Beijing's crackdown saw bitcoin's price plunge some 40 percent before recovering, the latest move in its rollercoaster existence which began in 2009, when it was worth just a handful of cents.

Even at the start of this year it was worth 'only' $966.

Its volatility has led many financial observers to suggest the current bull run is another speculative bubble which could well lead to a corrective selloff.

Two Chinese trading platforms, Okcoin and BTC China, control about 22 percent of the global bitcoin market.

Bitcoin is not generally recognised as a currency -- lacking a home country, central bank or treasury -- although its real world use is constantly increasing.

Another key player in the crypto currency is Russia, where President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday spoke of a "risk" that virtual currencies -- often associated with so-called anonymous 'dark web' dealings -- could represent.

For Jonathan Gerardin, IT manager at Wavestone, "the summer was marked by different crises".

Gerardin noted that the currency split, coupled with China's crackdown, had dampened enthusiasm but "bitcoin has been able to overcome that and continue to progress, it has shown its resilience".

- Why not $100,000? -

The rising use of blockchain -- a theoretically unhackable digital ledger technology -- is also viewed as keeping the digital cash's value buoyant, according to Revenu.

"Its value is totally marginal in the face of potential uses being put in place," he said.

That is a key reason why digital currencies have been winning supporters across the globe, from the United States to Japan via India but also Europe with some major financial names coming aboard.

For Neil Wilson, analyst with Etx Capital, "the prospect of Goldman Sachs trading bitcoin is also driving buying as this might give it a toehold on Wall Street that could bring it into the mainstream and attract fresh inflows of capital".

Wilson suggested the soaring value was linked to "reports indicating that China may be ready to allow trading again, albeit with tighter regulation".

Some converts say bitcoin's value could go to dizzy heights like $100,000 or even $500,000, although experts from Mirabaud Securities in Geneva said the commodity may now in a "bubble zone" which could burst.

But for now, Gerardin said, "there is nothing to suggest such a collapse".
PayPal (PYPL) announced its 2017 employee diversity data on Wednesday, and the results were largely promising.

Although the percentage of female employees at PayPal still hovers around 43%  significantly higher than at tech companies such as Apple (AAPL), 32%, or Facebook (FB), 35% the company reported a 20% year-over-year increase in the number of women at the vice president level or above. Promotions for female employees also climbed 13% year-over-year, while 45% of the PayPal board is now composed of women and underrepresented ethnic groups thanks to new additions over the last 12 months, including Belinda Johnson, chief business affairs and legal officer of Airbnb, and Ann Sarnoff, president of BBC Worldwide North America.

PayPal also announced the number of underrepresented ethnic groups in technical roles increased by 3% last year to 9% this year.

Im proud of the progress that were making, but we still have a ton of room to grow, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman told Yahoo Finance in an interview at the companys San Jose, California, headquarters recently. Until you basically have an even amount of diversity thats representative of populations, you havent completed that mission yet.

Im proud of the progress that were making, but we still have a ton of room to go, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman told Yahoo Finance. Source: Yahoo Finance

To be clear, Silicon Valley as a whole has a long way to go in terms of diversity, despite efforts at many companies to improve hiring and retention practices. To wit, according to new research published earlier this month by the non-profit Ascend Foundation, African American and Hispanic representation at tech companies is actually declining, save for a few exceptions such as PayPal and Facebook.

For Schulman, increasing PayPals employee diversity and inclusiveness isnt just the right thing to do. He also believes it creates diversity of thought and innovation.

Thats just the DNA I grew up with, Schulman contended. My mom pushed me in a baby carriage at Martin Luther King rallies. My grandfather was a union organizer. And to me, there is no roomno roomfor discrimination of any kind. To me, its just an anathema.

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JP Mangalindan is a senior correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Email story tips and musings to jpm@oath.com. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

More from JP:
A fisherman casts his net into the heavily-polluted waters of Nicaragua's Lake Managua, also known as Lake Xolotlan (AFP Photo/Inti OCON)

Tipitapa (Nicaragua) (AFP) - Looking tired and haggard, William Coronado pulls up before dawn with a boat full of fish on the muddy shore of Nicaragua's Lake Managua, a dumping ground for trash and waste.

"The lake is so polluted. They throw all sorts of crap into it," said the 56-year-old. "Containers, old buckets, all sorts of bags -- all the junk they throw away in Managua. It's a disgrace."

Coronado spent two days under the Central American sun and windy nights to bring in a haul of hundreds of tiny two-banded sea bream and other freshwater fish, to sell them for $1.30 per dozen to a business just north of the capital Managua.

His wife Rosa waits for him in a rickety house built of tin and plastic located just 300 meters (yards) from the lake, living in extreme poverty like most of the neighbors.

Lake Managua, also known as Lake Xolotlan, is one of the biggest freshwater bodies in Central America.

It is also one of the most polluted, a problem that started nearly a century ago.

Between 1967 and 1992, a US chemical company, Pennwalt, regularly dumped mercury into its depths. From 1927 to 2009, the capital, which sits on the lake, tipped its untreated sewage and factory outflows into the lake.

- Mercury levels -

Eight years ago, the government finally opened a treatment plant financed by German funding and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Since then, the pollution has eased, the bad odors have lessened, and the lake has become a tourist attraction.

But the former head of the state water company, Ruth Herrera, warned that it could take another 100 years before the expanse of water is finally clean -- maybe longer, if residents continue to tip their garbage into it.

Health authorities in the country are still warning pregnant women to avoid eating fish caught in the lake to prevent their babies developing disorders such as mental retardation or stunted growth due to the high mercury levels.

A study carried out last year by the Autonomous University of Nicaragua, with backing from Japan, found that the guapote freshwater fish from Lake Nicaragua had 0.46 micrograms of mercury per kilo, above the authorized level of 0.40.

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Other species of fish had lower levels, and most of the lake has trace levels of mercury.

- Poverty -

"Maybe these fish have low levels, but over the long term, the population could have health effects if it eats them," cautioned Jurguen Guevara of Centro Humboldt, an environmental group.

Herrera also advised against eating fish from the lake, although she suggested that the estimated 100,000 mostly poor people living around its shores might have developed some sort of resistance to illnesses by eating the fish.

"We eat fish from there every day and nothing has happened to us," affirmed Ofelia Ramirez, from a village called Tipitapa.

But the locals have little choice: they are among the one-third of Nicaragua's population living under the poverty line, and the lake represents their only source of work and sustenance.

Dozens of fishermen can be seen sailing in the middle of the night in small boats made of fiberglass or wood, pulling up nets cast in the lake.

"We bring back around 20 dozen" fish every day, said Juan Ramirez, a 30-year-old setting off in a canoe with his two children to help him fish the lake's waters.
After rescuing animals from Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, Guardians of Rescue wasnt about to leave the pets of Puerto Rico behind after Hurricane Maria.

Upon learning about the devastation left behind by the Category 4 storm, Guardians of Rescue began to form a plan.

Hurricane Maria, which was their second hurricane hit this season, was catastrophic and completely devastated the island, stated Robert Misseri, founder and president of Guardians of Rescue. There are animals that are suffering, as they have no food or water and no medical care. We will do our best to help as many as we possibly can.

To provide immediate care, the animal organization utilized the volunteers they had on the ground in the country to locate and help pets in need. But the group didnt stop there. On Oct. 2, they charted a plane out from Florida (fully funded by The Onyx & Breezy Foundation) filled with supplies the pets of Puerto Rico desperately needed. They chose a parachute plane to make the trip, knowing they would have special cargo on the way back. Rescuers accompanied those goods to the country and then spent the following days saving over 60 pets, so they could all be flown back to the United States for care.

The destruction that Puerto Rico is experiencing is beyond belief, adds Misseri. We know there are plenty of groups helping the people, so we are happy to help our four-legged friends the best we can. But we can only do it with the help of those who support our organization, they are the ones that by making donations they truly help make this happen and they save lives.

The plane, packed with needy animals, returned to Florida on Oct. 5. The cats and dogs didnt have to wait long to start on their path to recovery. Guardians of Rescue had veterinarians standing by at the hangar to immediately access and treat the animals.

Now the dozens of furry friends saved by the group will have a second chance at a peaceful, love-filled life.
Bitcoins are seen in this illustration picture taken September 27, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will block access to websites of exchanges that offer crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin, Russian Central Bank First Deputy Governor Sergei Shvetsov said on Tuesday.

He called them "dubious".

Russian financial authorities initially treated any sort of money issued by non-state approved institutions as illegal, saying they could be used to launder money.

Later the authorities accepted the globally booming market of crypto-currencies but want to either control the turnover or to limit access to the market

"We cannot stand apart. We cannot give direct and easy access to such dubious instruments for retail (investors)," Shvetsov said, referring to households.

Speaking at a conference on financial market derivatives, Shvetsov said the central bank sees rising interest in crypto-currencies because of high returns from buying into such instruments.

He warned, however, that crypto-currencies gradually transform into high-yielding assets from being a mean of payment.

Bitcoin, the most well-known virtual currency that emerged in mid-2010, last traded at around $4,807, up from its initial price of less than $1.

"We think that for our citizens, for businesses the usage of such crypto-currencies as an investment object carries unreasonably high risks," he said.

Russian authorities said earlier this year they would like to regulate the use of crypto-currencies by Russian citizens and companies.

(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Jermey Gaunt)
Hackers from Israel were behind the discovery that Russian spies were using the popular Kaspersky Lab antivirus software to spy on American intelligence agencies, according to reports.

The Israeli hackers spied on the Russians in real time, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported, before revealing it to American officials. The discovery has led the Department of Homeland Security to remove Kaspersky Lab software from government computers.

The antivirus software, used by 400 million people around the world, was used by Russian hackers as a search tool to find code names of American intelligence programs running on computers around the world.

kaspersky antivirus hacked russian spies

Reuters

The operation is known to have stolen sensitive information from the home computer of a National Security Agency (NSA) employee. Other secrets that the operation may have uncovered have not yet been revealed publicly.

Antivirus software has been described as the ultimate back door by former NSA employee Blake Darche for its ability to provide covert espionage on users, or even as a platform to launch cyberattacks.

Like other antivirus software, Kaspersky Lab software requires complete access to the computer it is installed upon in order to effectively scan and check for viruses. If exploited, a hacker could technically gain access to everything stored on a computer running Kaspersky Lab antivirus software.

how russian hackers kaspersky antivirus spy

REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

The Department of Homeland Security issued an order last month for all federal executive branch agencies to cease using antivirus products from Kaspersky Lab, citing information security risks.

According to Elaine C. Duke, Acting United States Secretary of Homeland Security, the antivirus software provided broad access to files and can be exploited by malicious cyber actors to compromise federal computers.

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The risk that the Russian government, whether acting on its own or in collaboration with Kaspersky, could capitalize on access provided by Kaspersky products to compromise federal information systems directly implicates U.S. national security, the Department of Homeland Security said in its statement last week.

Kaspersky released a statement claiming it has never helped, nor will help, any government in the world with its cyberespionage efforts, while also requesting any relevant information from the U.S. government to enable Kaspersky to begin an investigation.

Kaspersky Lab was not involved in, and does not possess any knowledge of, the situation in question, the statement read. As the integrity of our products is fundamental to our business, Kaspersky Lab patches any vulnerabilities it identifies or that are reported to the company.

Kaspersky Lab reiterates its willingness to work alongside U.S. authorities to address any concerns they may have about its products as well as its systems."

Related Articles
Wildfires continue to tear through California, with Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties being the hardest hit. And while the loss of life and peoples homes is the most pressing concern, several wineries in Californias Wine Country have been damaged or destroyed by the fire as well.

That wont have an immediate impact on wine lovers, but it could dramatically affect the supply and even the taste of Napa and Sonoma wines for years to come. Alex Andrawes, a wine broker in Texas and owner of PersonalWine.com has extensive contacts in Napa. One of his friends, said he could hear the wine boiling in the barrels before the roof fell in.

The lasting impact of the Napa fires could affect all wines coming from California, whether theyre caught in the fires or not. The smoke taint thing will be global  both valleys, he says. No pockets spared, I fear.

With the first wildfire still burning, the list of wineries that suffered damage will increase in the coming days.

Authorities havent yet put together a complete list of wineries burned by the wildfires, and Napa Valley Vintners says four of its members have reported total or very significant losses, with nine more reporting some damage to their winery or vineyards. Several members have not yet reported in and the group is not naming which wineries have been impacted yet.

Heres where Northern Californias wineries stand now, though.

Napa County wineries

Signorello Vineyard

While the winery itself was completely destroyed by flames, early indications are that the vineyard might have survived. Thats potentially good news since replanted vines take several years to mature.

Stags Leap Winery

While the fires certainly impacted the winery, the extent of the damage is still unknown at this time.

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Personal friends tears streaming now: Stags Leap Winery ( I love you) established in 1893...#TubbsFire #AtlasFire #Napa mt e@nlitenmebabe pic.twitter.com/4b81Oo0Le4  Trad American Angel (@RightWingAngel) October 10, 2017

White Rock Vineyards

One of Napas oldest wineries (founded in 1870), White Rock initially said all employees were safe and it planned to assess damage on Oct 10th. Unfortunately, it later confirmed the winery was a total loss. The state of the vineyard is unknown.

William Hill Estate Winery

Footage of the winerys sign burning that went viral, it turns out the damage to the actual winery is mostly cosmetic. Officials say vineyard damage was minimal.

Darioush

The Stags Leap District winery suffered some landscape and vineyard damage, but said the winery structure was sound, despite some reports that were more dire.

Sonoma County wineries

Paradise Ridge Winery

The winery reported a total loss on its Facebook page. In A Wednesday morning post, though, it said all employees were safe and vowed to rebuild.

Nicholson Ranch

Theres some damage here, but the winery said on its Facebook page that the wine was secure in its cellars.  We have some damage to fix, it said.  We are cleaning up and hoping to have the power back on this [week].

Chateau St. John

Despite reports it had burned to the ground, this Kenwood winerys main structure is still standing and appears unharmed. Damage to outer buildings and the vineyard is still being assessed.

Mayo Family Wineries

A house on the property was destroyed by the fire, but the winery itself has so far been spared.

Gundlach Bundschu Winery

According to reports on Twitter, the property suffered some fire damage, but said its winery and structure were still intact. The family home on the property, however, was lost.

1/3: Thank you for all the well wishes and support. Our property sustained some fire damage, but our winery & structures are still intact.  Gundlach Bundschu (@gunbunwine) October 11, 2017

2/3: We unfortunately lost our family house on the property, but our family and employees are all safe. While we remain vigilant...  Gundlach Bundschu (@gunbunwine) October 11, 2017

3/3: & optimistic about the state of Gun Bun, we recognize our neighbors continue to face challenges as fires still burn uncontrollably.  Gundlach Bundschu (@gunbunwine) October 11, 2017

Mendocino County wineries

Frey Vineyards Winery

Alison deGrassi of Visit Mendocino told the Mercury News that the winery, which focuses on organic and biodynamic wines, was destroyed by the fires.

Oster Wine Cellars

Visit Medocinos deGrassi also listed Oster, another Redwood Valley staple, as a total loss.
Here are four stocks with buy rank and strong income characteristics for investors to consider today, October 12th:

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM): This producer of specialty plant nutrients has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings advancing 11.8% over the last 60 days.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. Price and Consensus

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. price-consensus-chart | Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. Quote

This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company has a dividend yield of 2.51%, compared with the industry average of 1.36%. Its five-year average dividend yield is 2.95%.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. Dividend Yield (TTM)

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. dividend-yield-ttm | Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. Quote

Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (XHR): This real estate investment trust has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 2.6% over the last 60 days.

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Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. Quote

This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company has a dividend yield of 5.01%, compared with the industry average of 4.10%. Its five-year average dividend yield is 5.29%.

Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. Dividend Yield (TTM)

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DDR Corp. (DDR): This equity real estate investment trust has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings advancing 0.9% over the last 60 days.

DDR Corp. Price and Consensus

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DDR Corp. Dividend Yield (TTM)

DDR Corp. dividend-yield-ttm | DDR Corp. Quote

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. (WHLR): This developer of real estate properties has witnessed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current year earnings increasing 5.6% over the last 60 days.

Story continues

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Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. Quote

This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company has a dividend yield of 11.33%, compared with the industry average of 4.83%. Its five-year average dividend yield is 10.76%.

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. Dividend Yield (TTM)

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. dividend-yield-ttm | Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. Quote

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U.S. President Donald Trump asked Congress on Tuesday for a $4.9 billion loan to help the cash-strapped Puerto Rican government pay its bills as the U.S. territory struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria, an administration official said.

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello had asked for help with lines of credit in late September, saying his government was in a bind and did not expect to have any near-term revenue.

The proposal to provide liquidity to the government represents an important first step for the transformation of PR, Rossello tweeted on Tuesday evening.

Weighed down by nearly $72 billion in debt, Puerto Rico struggled with liquidity even before the most powerful hurricane in almost 90 years wiped out the islands power grid, homes and other infrastructure nearly three weeks ago.

The territory, whose 3.4 million residents are American citizens, declared bankruptcy in May.

The community disaster loan proposed by the Trump administration would include a $150 million advance, the administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Further details of the loan were not immediately available.

The $4.9 billion loan would help them with short-term liquidity problems in financing, such as payroll and pensions, the official said. The money cannot be used for debt service.

On Saturday, Rossello wrote to Trump pleading for a broad assistance package of at least $4.6 billion through a variety of government programs in what he called a down payment on hurricane recovery efforts as the island assesses the damages.

Absent extraordinary measures to address the halt in economic activity in Puerto Rico, the humanitarian crisis will deepen, Rossello said in the letter, warning the situation could lead to an exodus from the island to the mainland United States.

Moodys mco last week estimated the hurricanes total cost to Puerto Rico, including lost output, at $45 billion to $95 billion.

The Trump administration and Congress have so far focused their funding efforts on immediate disaster relief. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected this week to consider a request for an additional $13 billion in disaster relief funds for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida.

The White House has also asked federal agencies to estimate by Oct. 25 how much money will be needed for longer-term rebuilding after the hurricanes.
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an order that could rattle the Affordable Care Acts private insurance markets by allowing a proliferation of cheaper, less comprehensive plans that would undermine rules about who and what insurers must cover.

The changes represent a step toward repeal of Obamacare, something Trump and Republicans have unsuccessfully attempted to do through legislation. Were starting that process, Trump said at a signing ceremony in the Oval Office, adding that he still expects legislation to pass at some point. Today is only the beginning.

The order will primarily affect small businesses and people who buy private coverage on their own, rather than through employers. It could lead the kind of transformation that, according to experts, GOP repeal bills would unleash if one of them were to become law.

In particular, the new, less regulated insurance plans could provide an attractive alternative to consumers who dont expect to have large medical bills and who are frustrated with the high premiums they pay for policies today. At the same time, comprehensive coverage could become harder and eventually even impossible to find, especially for people with pre-existing conditions.

For the moment, its difficult to say just how far-reaching Thursdays action will be or when all of the changes would take place. The order, as first reported by The Hill and The Wall Street Journal, calls for writing new regulations. Some of those could test the boundaries of executive authority, prompting legal challenges that could drag on in the courts for years.

But some parts of the order are likely to take effect more quickly. Perhaps the most consequential of those is a decision to end a rule that limited short-term insurance plans to no more than three months.

Many insurers, including at least one large national carrier, already offer these plans, which are not subject to most of the Affordable Care Acts rules. The plans dont have to include mental health coverage, maternity care, full prescription coverage or other benefits the ACA deems essential. The insurers selling them are free to charge higher prices or deny coverage altogether to people with pre-existing conditions.

Story continues

The three-month limit came from the Obama administration, which worried the short-term plans would draw away consumers in relatively good health, causing state insurance markets to split in two. Taken together, the actions that Trumps Thursday order envisions could have precisely that result.

Opening The Door To Cheap, Skimpy Insurance Plans

On one side of the split would be those short-term policies as well as special association plans available to small businesses and, in some cases, individuals.

Those association plans exist today but must abide by a variety of state and federal regulations. Trumps order would effectively lift some of those restrictions so that, among other things, they could exclude some of the ACAs essential benefits. (The order will not specify whether individuals can enroll in the newly deregulated plans, according to the Journal; the Labor Department will have to make that decision when it writes the new rules.)

Because they wouldnt cover as much and be less available to people with the highest medical bills, the policies in this part of the insurance market would be cheaper and likely popular with people in relatively good health. This is one of the big selling points that Trump and Republicans like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who worked with the administration to craft its proposal, keep emphasizing: the possibility of giving consumers new and cheaper ways to get insurance.

Today is a big day, Paul said at the White House ceremony.

But the other side of the insurance market, with the plans that continue to meet the Affordable Care Acts standards, could be in trouble. These plans would have all the essential benefits and be available, at uniform prices, to everybody regardless of pre-existing conditions. The insurers operating these plans would have to raise prices, because they would be losing healthy consumers whose premiums pay the bills of people with serious medical conditions.

Most people who buy coverage through HealthCare.gov or one of the state-run exchanges would not feel the effects right away, because they qualify for tax credits that insulate them from premium spikes. But if the migration into the less regulated plans was severe, some insurers would give up and abandon markets altogether, quite possibly leaving even the subsidized consumers, including the healthy ones, with no source of comprehensive coverage.

Anything that creates a parallel insurance market for healthy people will lead to unaffordable coverage for sick people.  Larry Levitt (@larry_levitt) October 10, 2017

A key variable in how Trumps order plays out is the future the Affordable Care Acts individual mandate, which imposes a financial penalty on people who do not obtain insurance. The mandate is unpopular with the public generally and positively toxic among some conservatives, but experts and insurers say its an essential piece of the Affordable Care Acts architecture because it encourages relatively healthy people to enroll.

The Trump administration has already indicated it will look for ways to weaken that penalty. If it decides, for example, that people who buy the temporary insurance plans will not face the penalty  an option the Obama administration specifically rejected  that could make those policies a lot more popular, putting new pressure on insurers to raise prices or drop plans.

All of this should sound familiar because its what pretty much every reliable authority, including scholars at the Brookings Institution and the trade group representing Americas health insurance industry, have repeatedly warned would happen if GOP repeal legislation were to become law.

Just how much of the repeal agenda Trump can now achieve on his own will depend on a few things: the details of the regulations that the agencies end up writing, the pressure they feel from members of Congress and other interest groups as they go through that process, the fate of the inevitable legal challenges, and the actions of state officials who would retain at least some power to regulate insurance on their own.

The publics reaction could make a huge difference, as well, though it remains to be seen whether the arcane, drawn-out process of writing regulations will generate the same kind of backlash that GOP legislative efforts to pass a repeal bill have had.

Creating Conditions For An Insurance Market Collapse

Trump, Paul, and other Republicans who support the executive order have said it is necessary because the Affordable Care Act is failing. Insurers are jacking up premiums even more for next year, they note, and large swathes of the country already have just one insurer. In states like Iowa and Tennessee, the newly reformed private insurance markets have teetered on the edge of collapse.

Even the Affordable Care Acts staunchest defenders concede that the new insurance markets have struggled in some states  and that, particularly for people who dont qualify for the laws tax credits, coverage has gotten too expensive.

But particularly in states like California and Michigan, where officials have committed themselves to the programs success, the markets have worked well. Except in isolated rural pockets, consumers still have plenty of choices and prices are comparable to, if not better than, equivalent employer coverage.

And as of the beginning of this year, markets even in struggling states seemed to be stabilizing, with insurers reducing losses or posting profits as they finally figured out how to design and price their markets properly.

Now, markets in some of those states are suddenly looking shaky again, but officials and insurers have said thats to a large extent because of actions the Trump administration has taken, like threatening to cut off key funds for insurers, slashing the outreach and advertising budget for the Affordable Care Act, and weakening the individual mandate.

With Thursdays executive order, Trump could push the whole system even closer to collapse.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
Donald Trump

President Donald Trump took another swipe at NBC News on Wednesday evening, just minutes before his interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity was set to air.

Trump reiterated his earlier attacks on NBC, questioning whether the network's "license" should be challenged  ostensibly because he is personally incensed by news that he deems critical or unflattering. The president called network news "partisan" and "distorted" in his latest tweet on the subject, dubbing it "unfair" to the public.

The president had similar complaints in May, but on that occasion  in which he was addressing this year's graduating class of Coast Guard cadets  Trump said media coverage was unfair to him.

"Look at the way I've been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history  and I say this with great surety  has been treated worse or more unfairly," Trump said at the time.

The president later on Wednesday tweeted about his interview with Hannity, a close friend of the president and one of his most vociferous defenders. Fox News' opinion programming is also decidedly friendly to the president  Hannity, in numerous interviews with Trump as a candidate and president, has rarely broached controversial topics.

Some social-media users took note of the optics of those back-to-back anti-NBC, pro-Fox News tweets.

Trump's attacks against the media are anything but new, but his calling into question the news media's ability to write and report at all, and suggesting they be pulled off the air represented an escalation of the president's anti-press rhetoric.

Freedom of the press is codified in the US Constitution's First Amendment, along with freedom of speech, freedom to peaceably assemble, and freedom of religion.

"Mr. President: Words spoken by the President of the United States matter," said Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, in a statement late Wednesday night. "Are you tonight recanting the oath you took on January 20th to preserve, protect, and defend the First Amendment?"

Story continues

Trump's rhetorical calls to "revoke" NBC News' right to report on-air is largely an empty threat, as Business Insider's Josh Barro wrote earlier Wednesday. Networks are not required to have a license  those are only reserved for individual radio and television stations.

The president has been on a tear in recent weeks, amid what has been yet another rough patch for his administration. Private feuds have spilled out into the public and people close to the White House have expressed concern about Trump's increasingly volatile behavior. And patience among some voters may be starting to wear thin. A broad swath of Americans are growing tired of the constant turmoil, according to a Quinnipiac poll released on Wednesday.

NOW WATCH: Trump once won a lawsuit against the NFL  but the result was an embarrassment





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trump pence

The 25th Amendment formally outlines the transition of power if the president is unable or unfit to serve.

Section IV allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to remove the president from office.

Americans have been particularly interested in the amendment since President Donald Trump took office.

Americans have been brushing up on their knowledge of the Constitution lately, according to Google Trends data.

The search term "25th Amendment" spiked in popularity after President Donald Trump took office, particularly after he signed the controversial travel bans, and after he tweeted an edited video of him body slamming CNN in July.

But Trump himself reportedly didn't know what the 25th Amendment did. When former adviser Steve Bannon told him it posed the biggest threat to his presidency, according to Vanity Fair, Trump said, "What's that?"

After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Congress proposed and the states ratified the 25th Amendment in 1967 to formally outline the transition of power. Before that, the vice president didn't officially have the power to take over.

The amendment states that if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the vice president becomes president. If there is a vacancy in the vice presidency for any reason, the president can choose someone to fill it. And if the president is unable to fulfill his duties  like when President George W. Bush was under general anesthesia for colonoscopies in 2002 and 2007  he can temporarily transfer his powers to the vice president, and get them back when he's done.

But Section IV is what someliberals have been frantically searching for more information on, because it could be a way to legally remove Trump from office.

A legal loophole

Under the amendment's fourth stipulation, it would only take 14 people to depose the president  Vice President Mike Pence and 13 of Trump's 24 Cabinet members.

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Section IV reads:

"Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President."

Rex Tillerson Mike Pence Jim Mattis

John D. Feerick, former dean of Fordham Law School, is one of the chief architects of the 25th Amendment who shepherded it through Congress in the early 1960s.

He told Business Insider in March that the senators who signed the provision into law specified that declaring the president unfit must rely on "reliable facts regarding the president's physical or mental faculties," not personal prejudice.

"If you read the debates, it's also clear that policy and political differences are not included, unpopularity is not included, poor judgment, incompetence, laziness, or impeachable conduct  none of that, you'll find in the debates in the congressional record, is intended to be covered by Section IV," Feerick said.

Policy and political differences, unpopularity, poor judgment, incompetence, laziness, or impeachable conduct  none of that is intended to be covered by section IV.

Section IV goes on to say that if two-thirds of both houses of Congress don't vote to uphold the decision and keep the vice president in charge within 21 days, then the powers and duties automatically transfer back to the president. So if the president doesn't want to give up his office, Feerick explained, he doesn't have to if Congress agrees he shouldn't.

Akhil Reed Amar, a leading constitutional scholar at Yale University, said in a podcast for the National Constitution Center on the topic that the president's own running mate is the one who triggers a "palace coup," in order to maintain political stability.

"The 25th Amendment doesnt try to specify in great detail what might count as a disability, but does try to in effect identify who and how we go about the process," Amar said. "Here's the key point: The vice president is the pivot in the whole process. Unless the vice president puts himself  maybe one day, herself  forward, no one else can really basically, at least within the 25th Amendment framework, proclaim an unwilling president 'disabled.'"

The idea is that the Cabinet and VP are the president's closest advisers, Feerick said, so they would be the ones with the best sense of his mental faculties. They, and Congress, could also consult doctors to evaluate the president's physical and mental health in order to determine if he or she is fit for the job, though they don't have to.

The 25th Amendment is a separate process from impeachment, which allows Congress to remove a sitting president if a majority of the House of Representatives votes that he has committed treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors, and a trial in the Senate convicts him.

In either case, legal scholars argue, the goal is to make the process as objective as possible.

"In a time like this of unusual crisis, one had to count on leaders in the executive branch and Congress to really be patriots, not partisans," Joel K. Goldstein, a constitutional expert at St. Louis University, said at a symposium that Fordham Law School hosted in September.

Renewed interest

25th amendment trump Google Trends

Feerick, who didn't discuss applying Section IV to Trump, said he hopes this renewed interest in the Constitution will encourage Congress to consider filling some of the legal gaps in the amendment that he and other legal scholars have proposed over the years.

For example, the Constitution doesn't outline what happens if the vice president is unable to serve, and he and other experts agree that the order of succession shouldn't include members of Congress as it does today.

"It's important that people be educated about the Constitution. It's our greatest charter of liberty," Feerick said. "I'm really happy that there's greater education going on  I'm obviously not happy about all the division in the country  but I'm happy that at least there's greater education being provided about the amendment."

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Trump warns it's 'possible' the US will drop out of Nafta

23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement in peril as Trump meets with Justin Trudeau: If we cant make a deal, itll be terminated and that will be fine

The North American Free Trade Agreement could be on the verge of disintegration after coming under sustained attack from Donald Trump, a longtime critic of the three-nation deal.



In comments made at the White House with Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, ahead of the start of fourth round of talks, Trump warned it was possible that the US would drop out of the 1994 deal.

I think Justin understands this, if we cant make a deal, itll be terminated and that will be fine, Trump said. We have to protect our workers. So well see what happens with Nafta, but Ive been opposed to Nafta for a long time, in terms of the fairness of Nafta.

Trudeau later said he was optimistic that an agreement would be reached. Nafta has benefited millions of people and can benefit millions more, Trudeau said, although he added that Nafta could use a much-needed upgrade.

Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexicos president, has also called for the modernization of the 23-year-old deal. But Mexican leaders have also warned that talks must conclude early next year before their presidential election campaign gets under way.

If the deal falls apart, the United States, Canada and Mexico would go back to a system of low tariffs on imports. But some agricultural products would be slapped with with far higher duties, including a 25% hike on shipments of beef, 45% on turkey, 75% on chicken, potatoes and high fructose corn syrup sent to Mexico from the US.

Let me be forceful and direct, Tom Donohue, president of the US Chamber of Commerce, said earlier this week. There are several poison pill proposals still on the table that could doom the entire deal.



The Chamber estimates that about 14m US jobs depend on trade with Canada and Mexico, and more than $1bn in commerce is conducted daily across the southern and northern borders.

Story continues

But US business groups have expressed grave concern over Trumps threat to pull out. More than 310 state and local chambers of commerce sent a letter to the administration urging the United States to improve but not end the trilateral agreement that, they said, has contributed to $1.2tn annually in trade.

We recognize that this agreement is a quarter-century old. It makes sense to modernize it, said Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. But for the love of God dont do any harm to something that has been so economically beneficial to states all across America.

US proposals include limiting the number of federal government contracts that Mexican and Canadian companies can win, a provision that would cause the deal to automatically expire in five years unless all three countries vote to renew, and changes in how much of a product needs to be made in North America to come under Nafta protections.

Under current rules, at least 62% of the parts in a car sold in North America must come from the region to avoid being hit with taxes at the border. Under the US proposal, America would require more to be made in the country and less sourced from other members of the bloc.

But US union leaders, including representatives at the AFL-CIO and the United Steelworkers, have expressed support for the deals demise, a position shared by some Democrats.



On Friday, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio offered his support, saying it was about time US trade negotiators took the pen away from corporate lobbyists and started writing trade policy that puts American workers first. Any trade proposal that makes multinational corporations nervous is a good sign that its moving in the right direction for workers.

But there is still some uncertainty whether Trump is deploying tough negotiating bluster or is seriously considering scuppering the agreement. After Donohue made his comments supporting the Nafta, Emily Davis, spokeswoman for the Office of the US Trade Representative, reiterated the administrations position.

The president has been clear that Nafta has been a disaster for many

Americans, she said, and acknowledged that changes to the deal would of course be opposed by entrenched Washington lobbyists and trade associations. We have always understood that draining the swamp would be controversial in Washington.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday he would not cooperate with any request to appear before the panel in its investigation of possible Russian interference in the 2016 election, Politico reported. Citing a source familiar with the matter, Politico said Page also informed the committee that if he was called to testify he would decline to answer questions based on his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. (http://politi.co/2zcViFP) It is not clear whether the committee has formally asked Page to testify in its probe of Russian meddling in the election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Page came under scrutiny following media reports he met with associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin last year. Rachel Cohen, a spokeswoman for the committee, declined to comment on the Politico report. Page did not respond to a Reuter's request for comment. Last week, the committee's chairman, Republican Senator Richard Burr, told reporters the panel had conducted more than 100 interviews in its nine-month-old probe and planned 25 additional interviews this month. Those who have already come before committee members or investigators include the president's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Russian officials have denied meddling in the U.S. election, and Trump denies any collusion by his campaign or his associates. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
By Solarina Ho TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index hit a 7-1/2-month high on Wednesday, helped in part by soaring Pretium Resources Inc shares and modest gains in the hefty financial services group. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rose 30.04 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 15,800.40. This was the index's highest close since February 22. It hit an intraday high of 15,816.82. Eight of the index's 10 main sectors rose. "Most sectors are benefiting from a strong Canadian economy," said Bryden Teich, a portfolio manager with Avenue Investment Management. Teich said expectations the Bank of Canada would increase rates more aggressively had weighed on the market for much of the year. The index rallied through much of September as the Bank signaled that would not be the case. "Over the short term we're probably a little bit overbought ... but I think there's room to move higher to the end of the year." Pretium Resources surged 24.1 percent to C$15.05 after the company said its Brucejack mine produced 82,203 ounces of gold in the third quarter. The overall materials group, which includes miners, fertilizer producers and forestry companies, rose 0.3 percent. Gold futures were up 0.1 percent to $1,292 an ounce, while copper prices advanced 0.7 percent to $6,808.75 a tonne. [GOL/][MET/L] Financial services, which accounts for about a third of the index's weight, added 0.2 percent. Shawcor Ltd rose 8.6 percent to C$29.6 after National Bank of Canada raised its price target and rating to outperform from sector perform. The overall energy group retreated 0.1 percent, however, due in part to some profit-taking by investors following Tuesday's rally on the back of a 2.7 percent jump in U.S. crude prices. Shopify Inc shares recouped some of its recent losses, rising 2.3 percent to C$118.40. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the TSX by 138 to 106, for a 1.30-to-1 ratio on the upside. The index saw nine issues posting new 52-week highs and 3 posting new lows. (Reporting by Solarina Ho; editing by Diane Craft)
By Aditya Kalra and Paresh Dave NEW DELHI/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Indian taxi company Meru Cabs has stepped up its legal challenge against local competitor Ola and U.S. rival Uber, alleging the firms are abusing their market position, and believes that planned investments in both by Japan's SoftBank underscore its view. The head of Meru Cabs said the company has filed four new complaints with the country's antitrust watchdog, claiming that Uber and Ola are abusing their dominance in four different cities by burning vast sums of investor funds to distort the market. "Even before there is any merger or alliance between the two through global investors, there is already a unified monopoly," Meru's CEO Nilesh Sangoi said. Though Meru lost an earlier antitrust suit versus Ola, lawyers and industry sources said that moves by SoftBank - already a major investor in Ola - to pour some $10 billion into Uber along with other investors could strengthen the local cab service's case. Sangoi told Reuters that Uber and Ola have been altering driver incentives and passenger fares in tandem. "Our existing cases get strengthened" with the SoftBank investment, he said, but added the Japanese firm's plans weren't cited in the latest complaints. Ola, Uber and SoftBank declined to comment for this article. The new Meru complaints have not previously been reported. Ola on Wednesday said it has raised $1.1 billion from investors led by China's Tencent Holdings and SoftBank. Ola operates in over 100 Indian cities and Uber in about 30, and both firms have burnt millions of dollars to lure riders and drivers in a bid to outdo each other. DOMINANCE TEST Meru was the only major organized player until a few years ago and currently operates in 24 cities. But it has no direct backing of large foreign investors and it has previously filed anti-competitive cases against Uber and Ola. In July, the CCI ruled against Meru on its allegations that Ola was abusing its dominance in Bengaluru city's taxi market. It ruled Uber too was a significant market player and there was no concept in current law to establish collective dominance of companies. A Meru source said a SoftBank investment in both Uber and Ola may change that scenario. Not everyone agrees, however. Mohit Saraf, a senior partner at Indian law firm Luthra & Luthra, said while SoftBank's Uber investment would spark antitrust issues in India, the CCI would need to assess whether Uber and Ola dominate the overall taxi market which is replete with local operators of yellow-and-black coloured cabs. Another source aware of the legal challenges said the CCI would need to delve into how much control SoftBank has at Ola and Uber, if the deal goes through, and the extent to which the Japanese firm has a say in their operations. The antitrust cases in India, nevertheless, are set to further intensify the showdown between ride-hailing firms and local players in India's $12 billion taxi market. Uber is already bogged down by anti-monopoly concerns in neighbouring China, where the commerce ministry last year began investigating its deal with Didi Chuxing that created a roughly $35 billion giant dominating the China car-hailing market. Chinese media in July said the probe was ongoing. SOFTBANK'S RIDE-HAILING PLANS SoftBank is poised to take two board seats at Uber should plans succeed to buy up shares from both existing investors and current and former employees in the coming weeks. People close to the firm are divided on whether SoftBank wants to consolidate rivals or simply cross-pollinate lessons among the group. SoftBank aims to do one or the other, said an Uber investor who has held discussions with SoftBank. SoftBank has previously failed to consolidate investments in India with its attempt to fold Snapdeal into Flipkart earlier this year falling apart in July. SoftBank Vision Fund CEO Rajeev Misra recently told India's Economic Times he hopes "to make peace" between Uber and Ola in the country. A Singapore-based banker said SoftBank was playing a "high risk strategy" which could turn out to be very profitable if it works out. "The losers will be the old-style cab companies." (Additional reporting by Anshuman Daga in Singapore, Sankalp Phartiyal in Mumbai, Aditi Shah in New Delhi and Liana Baker in San Francisco; Writing by Euan Rocha; Editing by Peter Henderson & Shri Navaratnam)
By Alistair Smout LONDON (Reuters) - Britain hopes a provisional U.S. ruling imposing tariffs on Canadian aerospace manufacturer Bombardier will not be politically influenced when new evidence is considered, UK Business Secretary Greg Clark said on Tuesday. Clark said he was confident the British government could successfully fight the complaint, which was brought by Boeing and could cost jobs in the British province of Northern Ireland. "Following the initial determination, there is then a further call for evidence ... we look to the U.S. to make sure that this is a rigorous process and is not politically influenced," Clark told lawmakers. The U.S. Commerce Department has raised proposed trade duties on Bombardier CSeries jets to nearly 300 percent, backing Boeing's complaint that the Canadian company received illegal subsidies and dumped the planes at "absurdly low" prices. The decision could effectively halt sales of Bombardier's new plane to U.S. airlines by quadrupling the cost of the jets imported to the United States, although Clark said the jet did not directly compete with Boeing's aircraft. Clark said British Prime Minister Theresa May had twice discussed the dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump, and that several members of the British government had reinforced their "serious concerns" with the U.S. administration over the ruling. He added Britain would discuss the ruling with the United States, Canada and the two companies in the coming days. Bombardier is the largest manufacturing employer in Northern Ireland, and the decision to impose duties on the planes has put 4,200 jobs at risk. But Britain is also a major base for Boeing. The company has recently begun constructing its first European parts manufacturing site in Sheffield, northern England, and Britain has warned that Boeing might miss out on future business over the row. "Boeing has a reputation in this country that was beginning to grow in a positive way, through the investment in Sheffield and elsewhere," Clark said. "To jeopardize that reputation and relationship by doing something that is completely unjustified is something that I don't regard as being in the strategic interests of Boeing." (Additional reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Stephen Addison and Mark Potter)
Strong sales at overseas stores, particularly in China and Asia-Pacific, helped Uniqlo's parent Fast Retailing chalk up record annual net profits (AFP Photo/DANIEL NAUPOLD) (DPA/AFP)

Tokyo (AFP) - Uniqlo's parent company said Thursday that its annual net profit more than doubled from a year ago to a record thanks to strong sales and as a cheaper yen inflated profits.

Fast Retailing's net profit came in at 119 billion yen ($1 billion) in the fiscal year through August, with revenue up 4.2 percent at 1.86 trillion yen, it said.

Asia's biggest retailer -- a rival of Zara, Gap and H&M -- said sales were particularly strong at Uniqlo's foreign outlets including in China and around Asia-Pacific.

Fast Retailing has refocused its strategy on luring bargain-hunters after an earlier bid to raise prices hurt Uniqlo's sales.

Operating profit for the latest period also surged, jumping nearly 39 percent to 176 billion yen thanks partly to cost-cutting and a smaller loss in its US business, the company said.

"Several factors contributed to this strong performance, including a considerable improvement in the gross profit to net sales margin following the shift towards much tighter discounting... the positive effects of cost-cutting efforts, and a halving of the operating loss at Uniqlo USA," it said in a statement.

For the year to August 2018, the company expects a 120 billion yen net profit with operating profit at 200 billion yen on sales of 2.05 trillion yen, up 10 percent, as it eyes opening more stores outside Japan.
Vertex Ventures, one of the VC funds linked to Singapore's sovereign fund Temasek, has closed its third investment fund for Southeast Asia and India with a total of $210 million for investment.

Vertex Venture Holdings operates five funds across the world, which include vehicles focused on the U.S., Israel and healthcare. This is the third installment of its fund for India and Southeast Asia and, most notably, it is the first that the Southeast Asia-India fund has raised capital from outside investors.

Publicly-named LPs backing it include Thailand's Kasikorn Bank -- via its $30 million Beacon fund -- and Taiwan-based Cathay Life Insurance. Vertex managing partner Ben Mathias told TechCrunch that other backers included a "combination of Asian financial institutions and family offices primarily across Asia."

Some of Vertex's best-known investments to date include ride-sharing giant Grab, IP analytics firm Patsnap, streaming service M17/Paktor, and e-commerce firm Reebonz. The new fund will continue with same investment thesis across Southeast Asia and India, which primarily means Series A deals with follow-on, and some capital deployed first at Series B stage.

Mathias, the sole managing partner in India (there are two others in Singapore), said there's no hard allocation between India and Southeast Asia, with the firm typically looking at an average check size of $3 million. The fund's first close came back in November 2016, and it is likely to be another three years before it is fully deployed, according to Mathias.

The industries Mathias is particularly bullish about include industrial IoT, payments, AI in the financial sector and fintech, including applications that function as virtual ATMs, he said.

Bangalore-based Mathias is also upbeat about the window for exits more generally across both India and Southeast Asia, with Sea (formerly Garena) filing to go public in the U.S. and Razer testing the appetite for public listings in Hong Kong. Likewise, in India, online dating service Matrimony.com and consumer tech firm Dixon Technologies held successful local IPOs.

"The IPO market is very robust [and] we are also seeing a lot of M&A happening right now," he added.

That's led to healthy demand for the fund, which Vertex said was initially targeted at $150 million but subsequently raised to $210 million.
This is poised to be the largest non-government linked VC fund in Southeast Asia.

Singapore-based venture capital (VC) firm Vickers Venture Partnerss (Vickers) announced that they have raised US$230m in their fifth round of funding, making it the largest non-government VC fund in Southeast Asia.

According to a press release, the fifth fund is the largest amongst its four previous funds put together. The fourth fund raised US$81.10m and was valued 4.8x.

Vickers is focused on early-stage investments in Asia and beyond. The firms portfolio covers life sciences, technology, media, and telecommunications as well as consumer and financial services.

It also ranks fourth globally across all funds and is one of the most awarded Asian VC firms.

The VC firm was co-founded by Finian Tan with four partners in 2005. Tan was known as the first investor in Baidu Inc., where he invested US$6m whilst it was valued at US$20m.

Vickers began to operate in 2012 when it invested in San Diego-based regenerative medicine company Samumed, last valued at about $12b.

It has also catered to clients such as digital media firm Focus Media Holding Ltd, video game company Kongzhong Corp, and Cambridge Real Estate Investment Trust.





More From Singapore Business Review


Walmart wmt expects little abatement in the pace of its torrid e-commerce growth next year, and the retailers latest forecast sent shares up 2% on Tuesday.

The worlds largest retailer, for years slow to respond to Amazon.com amzn in the digital wars, has been on a tear in recent quarters, helped by the $3 billion acquisition of jet.com and overhaul of its marketplace last year, and by better integration of its stores with its digital business. The result was a 60% growth in U.S. e-commerce sales at its namesake chain last quarter.

And Walmart says domestic e-commerce sales should rise 40% in the fiscal year ending in early 2019. Last year, Walmart tapped jet.com CEO Marc Lore to head up its U.S. efforts after online sales growth had slowed under his predecessor. The company has also been on a shopping spree, snapping up smaller e-commerce players like ModCloth, Moosejaw, and Bonobos.

Were combining the accessibility of our stores with eCommerce to provide new and exciting ways for customers to shop, Wal-Mart Stores CEO Doug McMillan said in a statement ahead of the retailers annual investor meeting.

Walmart had redoubled its efforts to integrate stores and digital, introducing initiatives such as offering shoppers discounts if they pick up an online order in a store, and introducing express lanes for drug prescription pick-up and merchandise returns. Walmart now has grocery pick-up at 1,000 of its 4,700 U.S. stores, firepower that is essential as it competes with Amazons Prime Now and that retailers recent acquisition of Whole Foods Market, which gave it 300 new physical distribution points.

And bucking the trend in a retail industry where many rivals are paring their store fleets, Walmart said it plans to open a few more stores: it expect to open fewer than 15 SuperCenters in the U.S. next year, a small uptick to be sure, but additional physical facilities to support its roughly $15 billion a year e-commerce business.

Story continues

Walmart expects total net sales to rise at least 3% in fiscal 2019, and said it had expected to buy back $20 billion of its shares over two years, a significant chunk of its $240 billion market capitalization.

Wal-Mart Stores, the retailers parent that also operates the Sams Club chain, said it expects profit for fiscal year 2019 to increase about 5% over the expected adjusted earnings of $4.30 to $4.40 per share for the current fiscal year. That likely reassured investors who watched Walmart sacrifice profits for a couple of years as it gave workers raises and invested heavily in e-commerce to better compete online and in stores.

Of course, however promising Walmarts results, Amazon remains formidable, something Wall Street analysts noted.

We still believe Amazons lead in online retail is insurmountable, said Moodys retail analyst Charlie OShea. However, Walmart continues to widen the gap between itself and all other brick-and-mortar retailer by leveraging its unmatched physical resources.
By Polina Ivanova LONDON (Reuters) - Workers at Bombardier's Northern Irish plant called on British Prime Minister Theresa May to be more visible in her attempts to save their jobs after the United States imposed tariffs on planes made by the Canadian aerospace firm. The United States has backed a complaint brought by Boeing that Bombardier received illegal subsidies and dumped planes at "absurdly low" prices, imposing duties of nearly 300 percent on its C-series aircraft. Britain is confident that it can successfully fight the ruling, which jeopardizes some 4,200 jobs in Northern Ireland, where it is the biggest manufacturing employer. "We do feel that the levies that are put on are unfair and will be detrimental to jobs in Northern Ireland," Ron McDowell, 42, who has been an aerospace fitter for 25 years, told Reuters outside parliament in London, where workers had gathered for a protest. "What we want is for Theresa May to come out publicly rather than speaking behind closed doors." McDowell was one of around 20 protesters who stood behind a sign saying "Back Bombardier: Defend our jobs, skills and communities." May and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed Bombardier in a call on Tuesday, after business secretary Greg Clark outlined to lawmakers the government's case against the suit. Britain and the trade union Unite argue that Boeing's case is without merit because it does not make a plane comparable to Bombardier's C-series. May has emphasized the strength of Britain's alliance with the United States since Trump came to power as it prepares to leave the European Union, its biggest trading partner. However, Jimmy Kelly of the Unite union said the dispute emphasized how Trump's protectionist policies might undermine May's hopes for a good trading relationship. "I just don't fall for Theresa May saying 'well I've contacted Donald Trump' and 'I've phoned Donald Trump'. He's parroting 'USA, USA, USA'. And post-Brexit, why would he be changing his tune?" he said. "So I think it's dismal days for UK workers if this is the indicator." (Reporting by Polina Ivanova; Writing by Alistair Smout; editing by Stephen Addison)
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appears keen to end illegal payoffs allegedly paid by cabinet members to secure endorsements from lawmakers.

Ghani is expected to soon submit a list of 12 new cabinet nominees for the compulsory parliamentary confirmation. Anticipating rejections, he is pushing to prevent members of Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the Afghan Parliament, from seeking bribes in return for confirming cabinet nominees through a majority vote in the 250-member house.

For more than a decade, Wolesi Jirgas ability to endorse cabinet ministers or question their performance through a no-confidence vote has been a headache for presidents tasked with making appointments to cabinet posts.

Already identified as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, Afghanistan faces waning public trust in a government rife with graft allegations involving ministers and lawmakers.

The issue has been particularly acute for Ghanis national unity government, which has touted its anti-corruption efforts as a major achievement. The distribution of cabinet posts has been one of the most divisive issues often requiring the president and Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah to engage in extensive consultations to placate bickering supporters.

The president recently told a cabinet meeting that any ministerial nominee attempting to bribe lawmakers to get their confirmation vote will be dismissed, presidential spokesman Dawa Khan Minapal told Radio Free Afghanistan.

Afghanistans current government introduced its first nominees to the parliament in January 2015, nearly five months after assuming office in September 2014. But Wolesi Jirga endorsed only eight of the 25 cabinet nominees. In subsequent years, lawmakers continued to reject nominees and even declared no confidence in some ministers they had previously confirmed.

Ironically, the Afghan president extended the parliaments term for nearly two years after it completed its five-year term last year, but the Afghan government was unable to hold elections amid deteriorating security and mounting Taliban violence.

Lawmaker Nader Khan Katawazi acknowledges that some lawmakers either sell their confirmation votes in return for cash or condition it with the nominee returning favors.

They usually secure promises that once in office the minister will appoint people they recommend to lucrative jobs or offer them contracts, he told Radio Free Afghanistan.

In July, a former information and culture minister accused lawmakers of demanding bribes. In a lengthy Facebook post, Abdul Bari Jahani accused the parliaments deputy head, Haji Abdul Zahir Qadir, of explicitly asking for bribes and even offering loans to some of the 16 nominees.

Qadir, however, rejected Jahanis accusation. While claiming to be serious about clamping down on major corruption, Kabul has not prosecuted a single lawmaker on bribery charges.

We need evidence and documents [to prosecute people]. Unfortunately, people only make claims about the demands of bribes, Minapal said. Our investigative agencies and prosecutors are working to unearth evidence.

Katawazi is not optimistic. He says neither the lawmakers who demand bribes nor the nominees who pay them are ever likely to advertise their culpability.

Ultimately, it is an issue of conscience. I dont think the presidents initiative will have far-reaching consequences, he noted. Do they fear God and vote in accordance with the will of the people and keeping in view the merit of a candidate?

Past corruption allegations have not ruined careers. In May 2013, while facing possible impeachment, then Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal publicly named and shamed lawmakers including Qadir. He won the publics sympathy and survived impeachment, but little was done to investigate his allegations.

Lawmaker Abdul Qadir Zazai Watandost is part of a parliamentary delegation liaising with the administration. He says that in a meeting with the Afghan president, they assured him of support to end bribes between lawmakers and cabinet nominees.

We would like to end bribes not only in this arena but all areas of the government, he said.

Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Yousaf Zadran contributed reporting from Kabul.
OTTAWA, Oct. 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- betterU Education Corp. (the Company or betterU), is pleased to announce that it has partnered with several additional global educators adding thousands of additional pay-per-use and subscription based courses to betterU. Open Colleges (Australia), IELTS Online (Australia) and Career Academy (USA) are now available in India through www.betterU.in adding to the Companys ongoing efforts in supporting Indias access to the worlds repository of quality education.



The Companys vision of providing Education for All moves a little closer each day with the aggregation of the worlds leading educators through betterUs global education marketplace. This collective collaboration of leaders expands betterUs ability to meet the growing needs across large populations. "We are excited to be partnering with betterU to bring our online certification training library to the Indian market. Our courses focus on delivering critical information to the learner in the highest quality format at a very affordable price. We look at this as a truly unique opportunity to help facilitate job and industry growth throughout India," said Joel Kestenberg, President CareerAcademy.com Inc.

betterU continues to expand their content acquisition teams around the world to educate educators about the opportunity of working together for the collective good. The Company has set its targets on countries with governments focused on supporting India. Australia is just one of these countries known for quality education with a strong interest in India. In a recent visit to India, the Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull emphasized the promoting of higher education and a better collaboration between the two countries. Having established an office earlier this year in Australia, betterU has been able to attract some significant educators to its mission. Open Colleges, owned by one of the largest educators, Apollo Education Group, was listed on betterU recently and will provide a wide range of certificate & diploma courses in Digital Media, Web Technology, Business, Human Resources, Leadership & Management, Marketing & Communication, Project Management and Business Administration to name a few. Content partners in Australia are looking for better ways of supporting the growth requirements from India and betterU is gaining a lot of interest for our in-country efforts. Partnerships from Australia gives us even more depth in our offering to consumers with courses ranging from Management, to Aviation, to Medical and Care based industries, said Pankaj Raina, Australias Country Head of betterU.

About Open Colleges

Open Colleges is Australias leader in online education and has been providing education for over 100 years. Open Colleges has helped over 800,000 students gain the skills to launch, change or take the next step in their careers. They been continuously evolving their approach to meet the needs of the learners by offering flexible, accessible and affordable courses that support the students on their way to reaching their personal and career goals. Open Colleges is part of Apollo Education Group, Inc. With over half a million current learners across eight countries, Apollo Education Group is one of the worlds largest education providers. All the courses are Australian government accredited courses.

About IELTA Online

IELTS Online is a leading online IELTS preparation product carefully designed and developed, using best-practice standards in online teaching and IELTS test preparation. Established in 2005 their goal is to provide IELTS test candidates with the skills and knowledge to take the IELTS exam with confidence. IELTS has more than 100,000 students across 140 plus countries.

About CareerAcademy

CareerAcademy was established in 1999 to provide people with the knowledge and skills that they need to deal with changes in the 21st century hi-tech world. CareerAcademy video based training classes have been used in the worlds most prestigious career training centers as the foundation of the Microsoft award winning Mentored Learning training model. Tens of thousands of people have improved their job performance and advanced in their careers through the use of CareerAcademys video classes. CareerAcademy courses focus on covering all material required for a student to sit and pass the Industry Standard certification exams needed to validate a students knowledge.

CareerAcademy.com provides the industrys best value learning membership. For one low annual fee, learning members have access to over 1,500 online certification training courses, featuring project management, business skills, HR, office productivity, IT networking and cyber security. Through their membership, students have the ability to earn PDUs, CEUs, CPEs, certificates of completion and college credits at American Business & Technology University.

About betterU

betterU, a global education marketplace, aims to provide access to quality education from around the world to foster growth and opportunity to those who want to better their lives. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated education-to employment ecosystem. betterUs offerings can be categorized into four broad functions: to compliment school programs with flexible KG-12 programs preparing children for next stage of education, to foster an exceptional educational environment by providing befitting skills that lead to a better career, to bridge the gap between ones existing education and prospective job requirement by training them and lastly, to connect the end user to various job opportunities.

www.betterU.ca and www.betterU.in

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements and information, which may involve risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Factors that might cause a difference include, but are not limited to, competitive developments, risks associated with betterUs growth, the state of the financial markets, regulatory risks and other factors. There can be no assurance or guarantees that any statements of forward-looking information contained in this release will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral statements containing forward-looking information are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, betterU disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers should not place undue reliance on any statements of forward-looking information that speak only as of the date of this release. Further information on betterUs public filings, including their most recent audited consolidated financial statements, are available at www.sedar.com.

For further information, please visit http://www.betteru.ca/investor-overview/

Investor contact:

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Email: ir@betteru.ca
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First of all thanks to this amazing community for GMAT. I learned a lot from the group and got answers for my questions within a day on the forum. The forum is full of wonderful posts, such as timing strategy, verbal strategies, quant strategies and so on. Members of the forum are really helpful, thanks again.I appeared for GMAT on October, 11 and scored 710 ( Q-48, V -38). Though I am fine with my Verbal score, I am a bit disappointed with my quant score. Quant has been my strong area, and I consistently scored 50 in this section in mock tests. The more disappointing part is the percentile ( 69%), as it looks quite low. But anyways my target was 700+ and I achieved it so I am overall happy. The following is my GMAT experience:I am working with a Bank in Singapore (IT division). I started preparing in August first week with my hectic job. I mainly focused on for SC/CR and quants. I did RC practice from LSAT tests. These tests are really helpful and I increased my accuracy from 60-70% to almost 95% in 1 month or so with daily 1 hour practice. Then I completed review and Verbal review. Later I bought GMAT EP bundle and used it for further practice. In my last 2 weeks of preparation, I mainly focused on error logs created while studying , Verbal and practising test. I think maintaining the and reviewing it later are must for GMAT. The below are some observations on the test in general.1. First 10 questions in quant and verbal are important, but don't spend relatively much time on these questions. The key to get good score in GMAT is to maintain your pace throughout the exam. I saw the toughest questions in quant in last three questions (actual GMAT), I could not get them correct as I was running out of time and hence that could be the reason for my low score in quant.2. In verbal also, I usually did well on those tests in which I kept my pace as that helped me to focus on RC without skipping any question from any passage. In few tests, I focused on first 20 and got 19 out them correct, but was short on time later and had to rush in later part of the test, so I got many questions wrong (also 3 questions wrong in a row ( Not good for your score)).3. GMAT Prep1 quant is tougher than that of GMAT Prep 2 and GMAT actual test. GMAT Prep 2/EP 1 & 2 have the same level as GMAT.4. Verbal is also a bit easier in actual GMAT than in GMAT Prep, however SC you may find tougher than what you have seen in or GMAT Prep.5. RC is the Key for high verbal score in GMAT, i read it somewhere that weightage for RC is 3 times than that for SC and the weightage for CR is twice of SC. So if you are short on time for preparation focus on RC then CR and then SC.6. For quant are enough and to improve you score further practice as many questions as you can.7. I followed the attached general strategies (around 10 points for each section, if you like them kudos is the sense of appreciation).I took GMAT mock test 2 days before the GMAT exam and I screwed up my verbal section scoring only 27. The mock test panicked me a lot, but helped me understand that don't spend too much time on questions early in the section as later you won't have time for remaining questions. The low score demotivated me, so you can decide, whether you want to attempt mock just 2-3 days before the exam.The day before GMAT, I revised formulas, SC concepts and took rest in the evening.I had the test at 9:00 AM. As usual I couldn't sleep well in the previous night, hardly for 6 hours ( I sleep 8 hours a day). I get head-ache if I sleep less than 8 hours. A few years back I found the treatment for this problem. Yoga and meditation helped me a lot in this regard. I do short Sudarshan Kriya ( Art of living) in morning for 45 minutes whenever I get less sleep. This activity can keep you active and focused for entire day even if you have slept for only 3-4 hours in last night. In addition, yoga/meditation helps you kill anxiety. I woke up at 5:45 and did this Sudarshan Kriya and then went to exam center.I chose verbal first in the test order as it was my weak area. I did ok in the section then went for break ( you must take break, even if you don't want to as it will give you time to relax and deep breathing). In quant, I got a bit worried as I saw some easy questions in middle but ignored them thinking of experimental questions. ( that's how you should control your emotionsin the exam). When I was about to finish quant section I saw very tough questions (Permutation and Geometry). I usually can't focus just before the end of the exam so may be I got them wrong. I feel I committed some silly mistakes also. Then I completed IR and AWA and waited for my score, it was 710. I was relieved as now I can completely focus on my applications. I am targeting one year MBA courses in US, Canada and India.Veritas Test 1 - 650 (Q-47, V-33) // August 26GMAT Prep Test 2 - 720 (Q-50, V-38) // September 17Veritas Test 2 - 660 (Q-50, V 31) //September 22GMAT Prep Test 3 ( EP 1) - 660 (Q-48, V-34) //September 24GMAT Prep Test 4 ( EP 1) - 720 (Q-50, V-38) //October 1Thank you all again!!
Finally, here are some general tips:

Hi everyone,I jus got my GMAT Score today, and I can`t believe it: Overall 730, Q49, V40, IR7.The first thing I have to say is thank you to all GMAT Club Community, you have been an incredible support during all my GMAT prep, both in the good and in the bad moments. Specially, Bunnuel, you`re the man, your approaches are incredible. You should be proud of yourself for all the people you have helped and changed their lives.Now, the debrief of my GMAT joruney, even though it was not the "ideal" study plan, I hope my case would help somebody, as other success stories helped me:I started to study the GMAT on January of 2017, first I used the alongside with and GMAT Prep Software. is a must, and the Manhattan Guides are very helpful to GMAT beginners, as you get to deeply understand the basic concepts. Let me say that, maybe because I am an engineer, I found more helpful the Verbal Books than the Quant Books, anyway both of them worth it. My original plan was to study along 3 months and then take the Official GMAT. In February I was assigned by my company to an International Project in Saudi Arabia, where I am still living, so unfortunately I stopped my preparation for a month and postpone the test until end of May. Anyway, the materials I used didnt change. The results of my first attempt was 640 (Q42, V35), which I cancelled, quite disappointing since I planned to apply to top schools.After accepting my deep disappointment, and knowing I would have 2 weeks of leave in my hometown just a month after my exam, I booked another GMAT appointment in my country (Spain) just 29 days after the first one. For this attempt I bought the GMAT Prep 1 and the additional exercises, also extremly recommendable if you need some extra practice materials. In this attempt my score was 680 (Q44, V39), in this case, I was happier that in the first attempt, but still doubtful whether that was my "final point" or I should make the last attempt, my overaall score wasn`t bad but it was quite unbalanced, you can find my post asking for some advice in te following link: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/confused-about-how-to-proceed-244597.html After deciding I would go for another try, I put my head off the GMAT for around a month and a half. In this case, I purchased the Math Revolution Short Cut-51 and the courses, even though I only used the verbal one. The Math Revolution courses did wonders to me, it is a must if, like me, you are stucked on a high level but you are aiming a better course. On the one hand, you would go over the official materials again and on the other hand you would learn different approaches to the problems that will help you improve your accuracy. For the verbal course, I must say that even though it helped me keep up my verbal level, I expected better content on the course. I would say that the strongest part is the Sentence Correction and the weakest the Reading Comprehension one, to be honest, I found the questions quite different from the official ones. However, the texts are helpful to practice your reading strategy.- Before using the Official Materials, make sure you have some basic knowledge of the contents of the exam, if not you`d be wating them.- Read the explanations for every execrise you do, regardless you are right or wrong- Time yourself when practicing, it will not only help you control the timing in the real exam but also make you be used to the "time pressure".- Keep determined, perseverance and motivated. It is very important to keep in mind why you are taking the GMAT, I know it could get you bored or hopeless. Thinkthat this is a way to a bigger goal, a very rewarding one, an MBA. Try to look further and thing that this is a long race, don`t give up in the first "failure". This is achallengin test, it is okay to take more time than others to achieve a high score. You are competing against "top" people. Practice make the master, believe me on thisone, I was desesperate at some point, wondering whether I would be able to reach the magical 700 level.Last thing, I forgot to tell that the course included the GMATClub Test. I owe them my Q49, once you reach the Q47 level try the tests. The questions are more difficut than the real GMAT ones, but this test will teach you to think like the GMAT and to be prepared for how it will try to trick you. The explanations of the exercises are also very helpful.P.S.: SOrry for my English mistakes, I am not a native speaker and today I don`t care at all.I hope somebody finds this post helpful, please, do not hesitate to ask me any doubt.Best regards!
On Wednesday, October 11, the Ondo state police command arrested some armed robbers who have been terrorising the state in recent times.

One of the suspects, Chukwuma Okoro, confessed that he joined the gang so that he could pay his wifes bride price. Okoro was arrested with three other members of the gang.

According to Punch, the other suspects were identified as Thomas Onofuapo, Chukwudi Oruma and Ezenwa Raphael.

The suspects

READ ALSO: Woman interrupts church service accusing pastor of having affair with her daughter

The Ondo state police public relations officer (PPRO), Femi Joseph, while parading the suspects disclosed that Okoro was arrested by angry mob when allegedly attacked a young lady who was taking about N500,000 cash to the bank.

Joseph further revealed that a pistol and five live carriages were found on Okoro during his arrest. He said:

Okoro attacked a sales girl who was going to the bank to deposit a sum N500,000. As he was struggling to collect the money from her, the girl raised the alarm that attracted passers-by who arrested him.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

Okoro, who was reported to be a vegetable seller in Akure, narrated his side of the story revealing that his wife made him go into robbery.

He said: It is my wife that pushed me into it, I have never stolen in my life, this is the first time, she ran away from my house since three weeks ago and I have been begging her to come back, so I started looking for money to pay her bride price before she comes back.

What if your spouse cheats on you just two days to your wedding? - on Legit.ng TV.

Source: Legit.ng
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Image: twitter.com/NOAA

San Jose, Oct 6 (IBNS): At least 22 people have been reportedly killed by Storm Nate, which pummelled parts of Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras, media reports said.

Another 20 people have been reported missing in Central America, where a state of emergency has been declared.

The storm also inundated several parts of the affected countries.

Costa Rica has been worst hit by the calamity, where at least 400,000 people are living without running waters, with thousands sleeping in shelters.

According to reports, 11 people died in Nicaragua, while eight were killed in Costa Rica.

Honduras recorded three deaths.

In El Salvador, a man was killed during a mudslide, emergency services reported.

Nicaraguan vice-president Rosario Murillo advised people to stay indoors.

"Sometimes we think we can cross a river and the hardest thing to understand is that we must wait. It's better to be late than not to get there at all," he said on state radio.

The storm is expected to move towards US' Florida, which is still recovering from the battering it received from Hurricane Harvey, a month ago.



Images: twitter.com/NOAA


He again dismissed the Iran nuclear accord as terrible for America, saying, This is the worst deal. We got nothing. The nuclear deal with Iran gave sanctions relief to the country in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

We did it out of weakness when actually, we have great strength, said Trump, who added, We will see what happens pretty soon.

Trump must announce his decision on whether to certify Irans compliance by the end of the week, as it is required that every 90 days the president notify Congress as to whether he believes Iran is complying with the accord and if the lifting of sanctions is in the interest of the American people.

Trump has twice certified the accord, but said the next deadline on Sunday is the crucial one. Several US officials have said Trump might not choose to certify the accord this time.

Trump would be defying the opinion of some of his top advisers, European countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency, if he chooses not to certify.

A decision to decertify the deal would leave it at grave risk, with the US Congress having 60 days to decide whether to re-impose specific sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the diplomatic pact.

Congress will have to try to address the main GOP complaint that after 10 years that Iran is put on a definite pathway to nuclear development, The Washington Posts Karoun Demirjian explains. The problem is, they dont have buy-in from Democrats.

Either you blow up the deal or you dont blow up the deal; we know they dont want to blow up the deal, which means you get one shot to actually change the things you dont like about it. Otherwise you become the boy who cried wolf, said Demirjian, and he added, If you do this every three months, people arent going to believe youre actually going to change anything.

Some say that an unbending message to Iran would make North Korea take notice. They argue that getting tough on Tehran gives Trump a chance to prevent them from developing nuclear weapons.

Proponents of the deal argue there is no evidence Tehran is breaching the deal. In fact, the head of the UNs atomic agency, Yukiya Amano, affirmed Irans commitment to the 2015 nuclear deal on Monday.


This is Whats Trending Today.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has made a lot of change in recent years.

The youth organization, which formed in 1910, agreed in 2015 to accept openly gay members, as well as gay adult volunteers.

It also now lets transgender boys join.

And this week, it announced that girls will soon be permitted to join the traditionally male organization.

The BSA says it will admit girls into the Cub Scouts starting in 2018. That group is for younger children. It also announced plans to create a new program for older girls based on the Boy Scout curriculum.

The Girl Scouts of the USA is another of the countrys major scouting organizations. It had tried to dissuade the Boy Scouts from making the changes.

Girl Scouts is, and will remain, the scouting program that truly benefits U.S. girls by providing a safe space for them to learn and lead, the Girl Scouts said in a statement.

Girl Scouts officials have also suggested the move was driven partly by the BSAs need to raise more money. They say some of the groups financial problems come from past settlements it had to pay in sex-abuse cases.

Membership numbers for both groups have been falling in recent years.

Under the new plan, smaller Cub Scout groups will be either all-boys or all-girls. Larger Cub Scout groups will have the choice to remain single gender or welcome both boys and girls.

The new program for older girls is expected to start in 2019. It will let girls earn the same Eagle Scout rank that has been reached by young men who have gone on to be astronauts, senators and admirals. It is the highest level of scouting in the Boy Scouts.

The announcement made the Boy Scouts a trending topic on Twitter, Facebook and Google.

Zach Wahls is an Eagle Scout. He played an active role in pressuring the BSA to end its ban on gay members.

Wahls wrote on Twitter about the BSAs most recent move. So proud of this organization for doing the right thing. Yet another step forward for [this] American icon.



But, many on social media did not support the move, including another Eagle Scout, Charlie Kirk. He tweeted, I am an Eagle Scout. Only boys should be in Boy Scouts. Only girls should be in Girl Scouts. Dont change things that work.

Many scouting organizations in other countries already permit both girls and boys. They use gender-free names, such as Scouts Canada. But for now, the Boy Scout name will remain unchanged, BSA officials say.

Public opinion studies carried out by the Boy Scouts showed strong support for the changes among parents not currently connected to the Scouts, including Hispanic and Asian families that the group has been trying to attract.

Unlike the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts have kept its girls-only status for all its programs. The empowerment of girls remains at the center of its mission.

Andrea Bastiani Archibald is a psychologist who helps with the development of the Girl Scouts programming.

She said, We know that girls learn [best] in an all-girl, girl-led environment.

And thats Whats Trending Today.

I'm Caty Weaver.

The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for Learning English, with additional content. Hai Do was the editor.

Do you have similar organizations in your country? What do you think about the Boy Scouts' decision to welcome girls into their groups? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the comments section.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

transgender - adj. of or relating to people who feel that their true nature does not match their sex at birth

curriculum - n. the courses that are taught by a school, college, etc.

gender - n. the state of being male or female

status - n. the position or rank of someone or something when compared to others in a society, organization, group, etc.
The 1995 film Dead Man has a strange opening scene.

Actor Johnny Depp is sitting on a train. A man sits down across from Depps character, and speaks to him:

"Look out the window. And doesn't this remind you of when you were in the boat, and then later that night, you were lying, looking up at the ceiling, and the water in your head was not dissimilar from the landscape"

Today we will explore the word 'the.'

Yes, the word 'the.' You heard it many times in the audio from the movie.

English speakers use this word for several reasons  some of which we will discuss in this program.

Today, we will show you how Americans use 'the' in everyday speech, writing, and even in the arts, such as literature or movies.

But first, we need to give you a few definitions.

What are articles?

Articles are words that go before nouns. They tell if the noun is general or specific.

When an article is specific, it is called a definite article. The word 'the' is a definite article.

English speakers use 'the' when both the speaker and the listener know what is being referred to. They can have this shared understanding for any number of reasons.

Sometimes the noun is already known, for example. Sometimes the speakers are referring to nouns that are unique. At other times, the situation makes it clear what the noun refers to.

#1 Thing being referred to is known from the context

One of the main reasons Americans use the word 'the' when they are speaking is because the noun being referred to is clearly understood. The noun could be something seen or heard in an area around the speakers, or it could be a part of their daily lives.

Let's listen to an example. You can hear the speakers use 'the' in an everyday situation  at the dinner table.

1: The pasta turned out great!

2: Thank you!

1: Would you mind passing me the butter?

2: Sure thing!

1: Oh, I just remembered I forgot to let the dog outside! I'll be right back.

In the example, you heard the speakers use the word 'the' three times: 'the pasta;' 'the butter;' and 'the dog.'

The reason the speakers used 'the' is because the nouns they were referring to were clear in the context  in this case, the dinner table. The speakers all understood that they were eating pasta, and that there was butter nearby.

The meaning of 'the dog' is clear to them because the animal is a part of their daily lives. Even if it is not in the room at the time, both speakers know what 'the dog' is referring to.

#2 Modifiers of the noun specify the thing being referred to

One of the common reasons you will see the word 'the' in writing is because modifiers of the noun specify what is being referred to. The modifiers of the noun change it from a general noun to a specific noun.

Although more common in writing, you can hear examples in films. Let's listen to this example from the 1955 film Seven Year Itch.

"The island of Manhattan derives its name from its earliest inhabitants - the Manhattan Indians."

In the film, the speaker said 'the island of Manhattan' because the modifier, the words of Manhattan, gives information about the noun 'island.' The word 'island' could be a general or specific noun, but when it is modified it becomes a specific noun  the island of Manhattan.

In the example you heard, the modifier came after the noun. However, sometimes the modifier can come before the noun.

For example, you might see a story about buildings in the United States. The story might say, "Chicago has the tallest building in America."

Here, 'tallest' modifies the noun 'building.' This is a specific noun because only one building can be the tallest.

#3 Presenting something as familiar

The last reason speakers and writers use the word 'the' is for stylistic purposes. This is most common in fiction writing and movies.

By using the article 'the', the writer or speaker is able to make the reader or listener more interested in the story. People are likely to show an interest because the writer or speaker is presenting information as if it is understood - even if it is not!

Let's listen again to the opening lines from Dead Man.

"Look out the window. And doesn't this remind you of when you were in the boat, and then later that night, you were lying, looking up at the ceiling, and the water in your head was not dissimilar from the landscape"

In the film, the strange man uses specific language  the boat, the ceiling, and so on. This language is not understood by those of us watching. Viewers start asking themselves questions like Which boat is the man talking about? And, Which ceiling?

In other words, the viewer or listener is more curious about the story because they do not know what the man is talking about.

This is a common technique you will see often in films and books, such as thrillers and mystery stories.

What can you do?

The next time you are watching films or talking with an English speaker, try to listen for examples of the word 'the'. Ask yourself why the speaker is using 'the' instead of a different article  such as a or an.

The process of recognizing and understanding articles can be a difficult one. However, with time and effort, you will use them with no trouble. And we will be here to help!

I'm Alice Bryant.

And I'm John Russell.

John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _____________________________________________________________

Words in the Story

scene  n. a part of a play, movie, story, etc., in which a particular action or activity occurs

refer  v. to have a direct connection or relationship to (something) often + to

modifier  n. grammar : a word (such as an adjective or adverb) or phrase that describes another word or group of words

derive  v. to take or get (something) from (something else)

stylistic  adj. of or relating to an artistic way of doing things

fiction  n. something invented by the intention; written stories that are not real

thriller  n. a very exciting book or movie
A South Korean lawmaker says North Korea computer hackers stole hundreds of secret military documents from South Korea.

The documents are said to include plans for destroying the North Korean leadership if a war takes place.

The South Korean official, Lee Cheol-Hee, is a member of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the National Defense Committee. He said on Tuesday that defense officials talked about the stolen documents.

Officials believe North Korean hackers were able to see classified military documents stored at a South Korean defense data center. The attackers reportedly gained control of the documents in September 2016.

Lee told the Yonhap news agency, Also among them were contingency plans for the Souths special forces, reports to allies top commanders, and information on key military facilities and power plants.

He added that 80 percent of the documents taken have yet to be identified.

In the United States, a Department of Defense spokesman said he could not confirm or deny that any documents were taken. Spokesman Rob Manning spoke to reporters in Washington.

Colonel Manning said that the US-South Korean alliance is there to deal with those types of situations and safeguard against them. He said the Defense Department is confident in the security of its operations in Korea, including its ability to deal with threats from the North.

Cedric Leighton operates his own crisis management advisory service. He once served in the U.S. Air Force.

He said the amount of computer data taken was not as large as the leak of secret materials by Edward Snowden, a worker for the National Security Agency.

Yet Leighton said he is surprised that the information was not kept on a more secure system if reports are correct.

What is interesting to me about this is that this kind of data was not kept on a more secure network.

Leighton noted that South Korean and American soldiers work closely together to gather intelligence. He added that he did not think the computer attack showed any special ability by the North Korean hackers.

North Korean ships banned from ports

The news of the secret military documents came a day after the United Nations announced that it had banned four ships from entering any port in the world. The ships are suspected of carrying banned goods to and from North Korea.

The U.N. Security Council has barred North Korea from exporting coal, iron, lead and seafood. Council members approved the measures because of the Norths nuclear activities and missile tests.

Im Mario Ritter.

Joshua Fatzick reported this story for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted his report for Learning English. His story includes information provided by VOAs Victor Beattie. George Grow was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

hackers  n. a person who secretly gets access to a computer system to cause damage or steal information

data center  n. a place were computers used to store large amounts of information are kept, maintained and secured

contingency  n. something that might happen including an emergency or unusual event

facilities  n. buildings or equipment used for a certain purpose

confident  adv. to be sure about something

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
Lourdes Rodriguez left Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria filled her home in the town of Vega Baja with mud.

The mud damaged mattresses and other things in the house.

She thought she would stay with her daughter in Florida for a short time. But three weeks later, there is still no electricity or water back home.

The 59-year-old retiree said in an interview at her daughters home in Tampa that she does not plan to return soon.

Its been crazy, totally unexpected, like nothing Ive experienced before, she said.

In Puerto Ricos capital, San Juan, Efrain Diaz Figueroa listened to a battery-powered radio while he sat in his destroyed home. Its walls have collapsed and his clothes and mattresses are wet from the rain. His sister was coming to take the 70-year-old to Boston with her family. Ill live better there, Figueroa said.

Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans left for the U.S. mainland to escape the aftermath of the storm. Things are still bad on the island  about 85 percent of residents still do not have electricity and 40 percent do not have running water.

It will take months to restore them, so many Puerto Ricans are trying to rebuild their lives away from the island.

People are living with relatives in states with large Puerto Rican populations, such as New York, Illinois, Florida and Connecticut. They are searching for jobs, schools for their children and housing.

I am in limbo right now, said Betzaida Ferrer. She is a 74-year-old retiree who moved from Miami to Puerto Rico in July. Now she is back in Miami and living with friends. She is trying to find a job that will pay for her $1,300 monthly rent. That is double what she paid in Puerto Rico.

To be in a situation like this where you need help is horrible, Ferrer said. Now, she is taking a three-hour a day job training program. Over the years many Puerto Ricans have moved to the mainland U.S.

Since 2007, the islands population decreased by about 10 percent because of a shrinking economy that continues to make life difficult.

Then, Hurricane Maria struck on September 20 killing at least 45 people, according to the Puerto Rican government. That has caused even more people to leave.

Jorge Duany, a professor of anthropology at Florida International University, has studied migration from the island. He said many people may not come back.

Many of those who left are elderly or sick people. They fled, or were forced to leave, because of the danger of being without electricity or air conditioning in a hot climate.

The trip has been tiring for people like Madeline Maldonado. She stayed in a hotel in New York with her two granddaughters, ages 9 and 13, before going to a friends house in Washington.

I need to get back to my homeland, she said, although it is not clear when that may be possible.

Puerto Ricans are used to bad weather and other difficulties. But the storms damage has been too much for some residents.

Carmelo Rivera is a 78-year-old from the central town of Caguas. She is staying with relatives in Long Island, New York. Rivera compared the storm to Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and Hurricane George in 1998. Nothing has been as hard as Maria, he said.

No one knows how many Puerto Ricans have moved to the mainland U.S., but officials in Florida say 20,000 have arrived in their state since October 3.

Florida already had nearly one million Puerto Rican residents before the storm. New York had over one million.

Government agencies are trying to help the Puerto Ricans deal with the situation.

Law schools, including Florida A&M and the University of Connecticut, have agreed to accept students from Puerto Rico. Miami-Dade County Public Schools have offered to partly use the curriculum and change bus routes to help newly arrived children.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has said teachers from Puerto Rico will not have to pay for certificates to work in the state. He also eased financial requirements for some professional jobs, such as real estate agents and barbers.

Lourdes Rodriguez said her family may need to sell their house in Puerto Rico to get enough money to create a new life in the United States. They do not want to, but now she, her husband, a daughter and two grandchildren are living in a small two-bedroom rented apartment.

Rodriguez said her family had considered moving to the mainland U.S. before. But they never imagined it would be because of such a difficult situation.

Im Susan Shand.

Susan Shand adapted this story for Learning English based on an Associated Press story. Mario Ritter was the editor.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

Mainland - n. area of land that forms a country or a continent and that does not include islands

Mud - n. soft, wet dirt

Mattress - n. a cloth case that is filled with material that is slept upon.

Aftermath - n. the period of time after a bad and usually destructive event

Limbo - n. in an uncertain or undecided state or condition

Anthropology - n. the study of human races, origins, societies, and cultures

Migration - n. to move from one country or place to live or work in another

Curriculum - n. the courses that are taught by a school
The United States is pulling out of UNESCO, the United Nations organization that encourages worldwide cooperation in education, science, and culture.

In a statement on Thursday, the U.S. State Department says a need for fundamental reform and anti-Israel bias are reasons for the withdrawal. The decision will take effect Dec. 31, 2018. The U.S. will seek a permanent observer status instead.

The United States stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member in 2011. But it has kept an office at UNESCO and owes about $550 million in back payments.

U.S. officials said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the decision. The officials, who remained unnamed, said the United States is angry over UNESCO resolutions denying Jewish connection to holy sites and Israels rights to Jerusalem.

Hours later, Israel said that it would also be leaving the UN agency. The office of Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the U.S. withdrawal a courageous and moral decision.

The announcement came as the cultural organization is choosing a new director. The outgoing UNESCO chief, Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, called the U.S. withdrawal a loss for the United Nations family.

She also noted UNESCO efforts to support Holocaust education and train teachers to fight anti-Semitism. She added that the Statue of Liberty is among the many World Heritage sites protected by the organization.

It is not the first time that the United States has withdrawn from UNESCO. In the 1980s, it left because it viewed the organization as poorly managed, corrupt and used to advance Soviet interests.

The U.S. rejoined in 2003.

Other UNESCO members did not immediately comment on the U.S. withdrawal.

Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on AP news reports. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

anti-Semitism - n. hatred of Jewish people
The Chuwi LapBook Air is a thin, light, and relatively inexpensive Windows notebook that was unveiled in September. Now its available for purchase from Gearbest for $400.

The laptop weighs 2.9 pounds, has a 14.1 inch full HD display, and features 8GB of RAM and 128GB of solid state storage.

While those specs sound pretty good for a $400 laptop, there are a few things to keep in mind before adding the LapBook Air to your cart.

First, while it has more storage space than some entry-level laptops, it uses relatively sluggish eMMC storage. Second, its powered by an Intel Celeron N3450 quad-core Apollo Lake Chip with Intel HD 500 graphics rather than a more powerful Kaby Lake or Kaby Lake-R chip. And third, Chuwi doesnt have a habit of providing the same level of support for its products as youd expect from a better-known laptop maker.

So you kind of get what you pay for but on paper, the LapBook Air still looks like a pretty nice value for folks who dont need super-speedy machine.

The eMMC storage also seems to be an on a user accessible M.2 2242 card, so you could probably replace it with something faster if you want to provide your own SSD.

In addition to having a fairly large amount of memory and a fairly high-res display, the laptop supports 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, has two USB 3.0 ports, a microSD card slot, a micro HDMI port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The laptop has an aluminum alloy case, a 33.7 Wh mAh battery thats said to be good for up to 8 hours of run time, stereo speakers, and a backlit keyboard.

The Chuwi LapBook Air is also up for order from several AliExpress sellers, but Gearbest seems to have the best price so far.

via GizChina
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Any scientist who studies groups of people knows that the characteristics of the "sample"the group of people selected for the studycan profoundly impact the study's findings. To produce the most accurate findings, a study group ought to be as similar as possible to the people in the larger population you want to say something about.

A new UC San Francisco-led study shows that failure to follow this basic principle of population sciencea common complaint about research in the cognitive sciencescan profoundly skew the results of brain imaging studies, leading to errors that may be throwing off neuroscientists' understanding of normal brain development.

"Much of what we know about how the brain develops comes from samples that don't look like the broader U.S. at all," said Kaja LeWinn, ScD, an epidemiologist and assistant professor of psychiatry at UCSF, member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, and lead author of the new study. "We would never try to understand the burden of other health conditions, like cardiovascular disease, in a sample with much higher socioeconomic status than the U.S. population as a whole, for instance."

In recent years, social scientists have drawn attention to the over-representation of so-called W.E.I.R.D (White, Educated, Industrial, Rich, Developed) individuals in cognitive science experiments, but LeWinn says her team's new studypublished online October 12, 2017 in Nature Communicationsis the first to look directly at exactly how these sampling practices impact the research results of neuroimaging studies.

The research teamwhich included Margaret A. Sheridan, PhD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Katherine M. Keyes, PhD, and Ava Hamilton of Columbia University; and Katie A. McLaughlin, PhD, of the University of Washingtonfound that applying the sampling approaches frequently used in brain imaging studies to a large dataset of pediatric MRI images significantly distorted findings about how different regions of the brain develop with age.

"These findings give us pause because they raise questions about existing knowledge of brain development in children, which is based almost entirely on non-representative samples," LeWinn said. "These foundational studies inform our understanding not only of brain development, but also of mental health disorders like depression and autism. It will be critical for the field to evaluate whether these findings replicate in larger samples that better resemble the US population in all its diversity."

The new findings are also likely to have broad implications for understanding why it is often difficult to reproduce research results in human neuroscience, LeWinn added. "The field has had a hard time replicating findings in neuroimaging, but so far, explanations for that have been focused on the way that brain imaging data are processed and analyzed, not on sample composition. But if we conducted the exact same study on two groups of people with completely different underlying characteristics, there is no reason to expect that we would find the same answer."

The Developing Brain Changes With Ageand With Study Samples

The authors made use of a large, publicly available dataset of brain scans from 1162 children aged three to 18 years from the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition and Genetics Study (PING). As is typical of developmental neuroimaging studies, the demographics of the PING sample were not very similar to the wider U.S. population. For example, household education and income levels were considerably higher in the children in this dataset than in the broader U.S. Typically, investigators would use PING data without considering these demographic differences, LeWinn said.

In the new study LeWinn and her colleagues created a "weighted" version of this dataset that better reflected the distribution of demographic characteristics such as sex, race/ethnicity, parental education and income in the US population, and then asked whether correctly weighting the sample changed what the brain images revealed about how the brain develops during childhood.

The researchers found that weighting the data in this fashion significantly altered what the brain images showed about the timeline of brain development during childhood and adolescence. In most cases, the weighted data showed brain regions reaching their peak size much earlier than the unweighted data would have suggested, suggesting a faster pace of development in the weighted sample. For example, the unweighted data showed overall brain surface area peaking at 12.1 years , while the correctly weighted data revealed that this peak more likely occurs at 9.7 years of agea 2.4 year difference.

The authors also found that weighting the PING dataset impacted the apparent order in which different brain regions develop. In the unweighted sample, the frontal, occipital, and temporal lobes of the brain all seem to develop at about the same time, which is contrary to a broader understanding in neuroscience that the brain develops from back to front, starting with sensory and motor regions and only in late adolescence finishing the development of regions in the front of the brain involved in more abstract forms of cognition. The weighted imaging data matched this back-to-front model much better: it showed the parietal and occipital lobes in the back of the head developing earliest, followed by the temporal lobe beneath the ears, and the frontal lobe last.

"The differences we found are pretty dramatic," said LeWinn. "The weighted data showed maturation peaking in some brain regions as much as four years earlier than the unweighted data would have suggested. We've shown that simply by weighting a dataset to better approximate a representative U.S. sample, we can end up with very different ideas about how the brain develops. Not only do we see big differences in age at peak surface area and volume, but we also found that the weighted data gives us a pattern of brain development that is more consistent with what we'd expect, with sensorimotor areas developing first, followed by association cortices."

Enter Population Neuroscience

The new research adds to a growing debate in neuroscience about the use of small "samples of convenience" rather than investing in larger and more sweeping samples that carefully represent well-defined target populations of interest within the U.S.

"Most cognitive neuroscience studies are so small that we can't apply the weighting methods used in our study to approximate a U.S. sample, which we were able to do because of the large size of the PING dataset," LeWinn said. "But at a minimum, researchers doing these studies need to be very transparent about the demographic characteristics of their sample, and consider to whom it's reasonable to generalize their findings. That way when the community sees inconsistent findings across studies of the same research question, we can consider differences in sample composition as one potential explanation."

LeWinn added that it's not reasonable to insist that all neuroimaging studies of healthy populations be perfectly representative of the U.S: "That would be impractical and financially prohibitive, and we certainly don't want to suggest that. But certainly for large, multisite studies, like the new NIH-funded ABCD [Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development] study, which represents a major investment of taxpayer dollars, representative sampling should be a primary goal."

More information: Kaja Z. LeWinn et al, Sample composition alters associations between age and brain structure, Nature Communications (2017). Journal information: Nature Communications Kaja Z. LeWinn et al, Sample composition alters associations between age and brain structure,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00908-7
Yale Medicine's Meena Moran, MD, and Regina Hooley, MD, dispel common misconceptions about breast cancer. Credit: Robert A. Lisak

What these doctors say about breast cancer screening and treatment may surprise you.

Breast cancer affects 1 in 8 women who are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives and friendsand causes a lot of worry for women in general. "Women who have a family history of breast cancer in particular have a lot of anxiety," says Yale Medicine's Brigid Killelea, MD, chief of breast surgery.

But, it's important to know that this cancerwhich is the most common cancer for womendoes not discriminate. "All women are at risk for breast cancer. It doesn't matter whether or not they have a close relative with breast cancer or what their race is, if they have dense breasts, have breastfed or had multiple pregnancies," says radiologist Regina Hooley, MD, vice chair for clinical affairs for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging. "All women should consider beginning screening for breast cancer at age 40."

Knowledge is power, so this October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we've asked leading experts what they often tell their own patients and wish every woman knew about breast cancerfrom screening to treatment to survivorship. Here's what they have to say:

1. Family history isn't destiny.

"The majority of breast cancers are diagnosed in women without any known risk factorsother than being a woman," says Dr. Hooley.

2. Cup size doesn't matter.

Patients with a modest breast size often think they are at lower risk for breast cancer, says Dr. Killelea, who is also an associate professor of surgery at Yale School of Medicine. "But, unfortunately, breast cancer affects women of all shapes and sizes."

3. Know the truth about self-exams.

The American Cancer Society no longer recommends that women do breast exams, says Dr. Hooley, who is an associate professor of radiology and biomedical imaging at YSM. She is one of many physicians who aren't sure they agree. "So, maybe women don't have to stress about doing a monthly breast exam, but it is good to have 'self breast awareness,' and contact your physician if a change is noted in the breast, including if a new palpable lump is found," says Dr. Hooley.

4. A 3-D mammogram is more accurate than a 2-D.

Digital breast tomosynthesis, or 3-D mammography, gives radiologists a clearer view through tissue, which enables them to find more cancers and helps reduce false positive results. It also helps characterize lesions better, preventing unnecessary biopsies. "To the patient, 3-D mammography will feel exactly the same as 2-D, and is done at the same radiation dose," says Yale Medicine's Liane Philpotts, MD, a radiologist who is the chief of Breast Imaging at the Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital. She's also a professor of radiology and biomedical imaging at YSM.

5. Fat injections to increase the size of your breasts can impact your mammo.

"Fat injections can cause scarring inside the breast which may make mammographic interpretation more difficult," says Dr. Philpotts. Also, implants obscure some portions of the breast tissue on mammography. "While most of the time these augmentation methods are not problematic, sometimes they make mammograms less accurate or may lead to additional testing," she says. (Takeaway: Consider this before having fat injections.)

6. Underwire bras, breast implants, deodorant and antiperspirants aren't to blame.

If only the cause of breast cancer was so clearbut it's not. "The way in which a cancer develops is a very complex process and is almost never caused by exposure to one specific factor. It most often takes multiple exposures over a long period of time before a normal cell becomes a cancer," explains Meena Moran, MD, director of the Breast Cancer Radiotherapy Program for the Department of Therapeutic Radiology. What researchers have learned is that smoking, having had radiation therapy at a young age (such as lymphoma patients who have received chest radiation in childhood) or having prolonged unopposed estrogen exposure have all been found to increase the risk of developing breast cancer, she says.

7. It's not your fault.

Doing everything "right"including eating healthy and exercisingdoesn't eliminate your risk, says Yale Medicine breast surgeon Anees Chagpar, MD, MBA, MPH, who sees patients at the Breast Center at Smilow. "Similarly, there is nothing you 'did' to get breast cancer. There may be factors that increase your risk (as mentioned above), but nothing is 100 percent. These things just happen."

8. Radiation treatment doesn't hurt.

"Women often will know someone who had radiation treatment years ago or to a different site (like their neck or abdomen region), and based on that experience, come in thinking that radiation is going to be an awful experience," says Dr. Moran, who is also a professor of therapeutic radiology at YSM. But technology has come a long way, and the radiation beam is now tailored three-dimensionally to each individual patient's anatomy, which has improved the patient experience. "Patients don't feel anything while they are actually receiving the treatment," she says. While breast cancer radiation treatment can sometimes cause temporary skin redness or discomfort in the breast and some fatigue, the treatment itself feels like getting an X-ray.

9. Guys get breast cancer, too!

It affects about 1 in 1,000 men, says Dr. Hooley. "Most of the time, though, palpable breast lumps are benign and due to a condition called gynecomastia," she says. Although breast cancer in men is rare, they can sometimes be carriers of pathogenic gene mutations for breast cancer such as the BRCA genes. So, she suggests that if a man has multiple first degree relatives (sisters or mother) with a history of premenopausal breast cancer or who are known carriers of the BRCA gene, consider genetic counseling and undergo breast cancer screening, if indicated.

10. Breast cancer treatment is a team effort.

Prior to beginning your course of treatment, you may have consultations with multiple physicians, including a medical oncologist, surgeon, and a radiation oncologist. You may also be referred to other care providers such as a plastic surgeon or genetic counselor. "In some cases, the process of seeing all of the physicians in your care team may take several weeks," says Susan A. Higgins, MD, a radiation oncologist who specializes in treating breast cancer. She's also a professor of therapeutic radiology at YSM. "However, this is a normal part of multidisciplinary care that is now the standard for breast cancer."

11. Expertise matters.

Pick your care team carefully. Ask how many cases of breast cancer your doctors treat a year. Studies have shown that the more experience your doctors have specifically diagnosing and treating breast cancer, the better the outcomes. Make sure your doctors are affiliated with a reputable institution and are board certified. Consider doing an online search to see if your doctors have published research papers on breast cancer in medical journals as it is an indicator of a higher level of expertise and knowledge.

12. A radical approach isn't necessarily better than a conservative one.

"I find that many women are surprised to find that survival from breast cancer is the same whether you have a lumpectomy or a double mastectomy," says Dr. Killelea. While the choice to have a double mastectomy is right for some womentake for example, actress Angelina Jolie's decision to have a double mastectomy as a preventive measureyou want to know all the facts before you make up your own mind.

13. If you want breast reconstruction, you can have itand insurance will pay.

"Medical insurance is required by law to cover all aspects of breast reconstruction," says Tomer Avraham, MD, a Yale Medicine plastic surgeon and an assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at YSM.

14. You can go bigger or smaller.

Autologous or "flap" reconstruction transfers excess skin and fat from one part of your body (usually your belly) to create a breast. "Every patient has input on her final breast size and it can be larger or smaller than her pre-surgical size if she desires," says Michael Alperovich, MD, a Yale Medicine plastic surgeon and assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at YSM.

15. Odds are getting better.

The five-year survival rate for people with breast cancer is between 72 to 100 percent, depending on the stage of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. "Breast cancer is incredibly well-treated these days, especially with early detection," says Dr. Chagpar. "You'll get through this, and in the long run, it will be a 'bump in the road' of lifeeven though it seems like a mountain now. Breathe. Stress is bad for you."

16. Find out if you're dense.

Connecticut law requires that women be told if their mammograms show they have dense breasts (half of women do). Dense breasts are perfectly normal, but it is more difficult to detect breast cancer in women with dense versus fatty tissue. Yale Medicine radiologists also make it their policy to tell women when they're not dense, so they don't have to wonder. If you have dense breasts, schedule an ultrasound at the same time as your annual mammogram, so you get the most accurate reading you can, says Dr. Hooley.
Mursi woman of Nilo-Saharan ancestry. Nilo-Saharan pastoralist populations possess some of the darkest skin in Africa. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found mutations associated with both light and dark pigmentation in a genome-wide association study of diverse African populations. Credit: Alessia Ranciaro

Human populations feature a broad palette of skin tones. But until now, few genes have been shown to contribute to normal variation in skin color, and these had primarily been discovered through studies of European populations.

Now, a study of diverse African groups led by University of Pennsylvania geneticists has identified new genetic variants associated with skin pigmentation. The findings help explain the vast range of skin color on the African continent, shed light on human evolution and inform an understanding of the genetic risk factors for conditions such as skin cancer.

"We have identified new genetic variants that contribute to the genetic basis of one of the most strikingly variable traits in modern humans," said Sarah Tishkoff, a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor and the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor in Genetics and Biology with appointments in the Perelman School of Medicine and School of Arts and Sciences. "When people think of skin color in Africa most would think of darker skin, but we show that within Africa there is a huge amount of variation, ranging from skin as light as some Asians to the darkest skin on a global level and everything in between. We identify genetic variants affecting these traits and show that mutations influencing light and dark skin have been around for a long time, since before the origin of modern humans."

The findings are published in the journal Science. Tishkoff, senior author, collaborated with first author and lab member Nicholas Crawford, a postdoctoral fellow, and a multi-institutional, international team.

Tishkoff has long studied the genetics of African populations, looking at traits such as height, lactose tolerance, bitter-taste sensitivity and high-altitude adaptation. Skin color emerged as a trait of interest from her experience working on the continent and seeing the diversity present across groups.

"Skin color is a classic variable trait in humans, and it's thought to be adaptive," Tishkoff said. "Analysis of the genetic basis of variation in skin color sheds light on how adaptive traits evolve, including those that play a role in disease risk."

Both light and dark skin pigmentations confer benefits: Darker skin, for example, is believed to help prevent some of the negative impacts of ultraviolet light exposure, while lighter skin is better able to promote synthesis of vitamin D in regions with low ultraviolet light exposure.

To objectively capture the range of skin pigmentation in Africa, Tishkoff and colleagues used a color meter to measure the light reflectance of the skin of more than 2,000 Africans from ethnically and genetically diverse populations. They took the measurement from the inner arm, when sun exposure is minimal. The measurements can be used to infer levels of the skin pigment melanin. They obtained a range of measurements; the darkest skin was observed in Nilo-Saharan pastoralist populations in eastern Africa, and the lightest skin was observed in San hunter-gatherer populations in southern Africa.

The researchers obtained genetic information from nearly 1,600 people, examining more than 4 million single nucleotide polymorphisms across the genome, places where the DNA code may differ by one "letter." From this dataset the researchers were able to do a genome-wide association study and found four key areas of the genome where variation closely correlated with skin color differences.

In a first-of-its-kind study, University of Pennsylvania researchers studied the genetics behind skin pigmentation of diverse African populations, finding new genetic variants associated with skin color. Here, senior research scientist Alessia Ranciaro measures the skin reflectance of a man from a Nilo-Saharan group. Members of this population tend to have very dark skin pigmentation. Credit: the Tishkoff lab

The region with the strongest associations was in and around the SLC24A5 gene, one variant of which is known to play a role in light skin color in European and some southern Asian populations and is believed to have arisen more than 30,000 years ago. This variant was common in populations in Ethiopia and Tanzania that were known to have ancestry from southeast Asia and the Middle East, suggesting it was carried into Africa from those regions and, based on its frequency, may have been positively selected.

Another region, which contains the MFSD12 gene, had the second strongest association to skin pigmentation. This gene is expressed at low levels in depigmented skin in individuals with vitiligo, a condition where the skin loses pigment in some areas.

"I still rememeber the 'ah ha!' moment when we saw this gene was associated with vitiligo," said Crawford. "That's when we knew we'd found something new and exciting."

The team found that mutations in and around this gene that were associated with dark pigmentation were present at high frequencies in populations of Nilo-Saharan ancestry, who tend to have very dark skin, as well as across sub-Saharan populations, except the San, who tend to have lighter skin. They also identified these variants, as well as others associated with dark skin pigmentation, in South Asian Indian and Australo-Melanesian populations, who tend to have the darkest skin coloration outside of Africa.

"The origin of traits such as hair texture, skin color and stature, which are shared between some indigenous populations in Melanesia and Australia and some sub-Saharan Africans, has long been a mystery." Tishkoff said. "Some have argued it's because of convergent evolution, that they independently evolved these mutations, but our study finds that, at genes associated with skin color, they have the identical variants associated with dark skin as Africans.

"Our data are consistent with a proposed early migration event of modern humans out of Africa along the southern coast of Asia and into Australo-Melanesia and a secondary migration event into other regions. However, it is also possible that there was a single African source population that contained genetic variants associated with both light and dark skin and that the variants associated with dark pigmentation were maintained only in South Asians and Australo-Melanesians and lost in other Eurasians due to natural selection."

Also of interest was that genetic variants at MFSD12, OCA2, and HERC2 associated with light skin pigmentation were at highest frequency in the African San population, which has the oldest genetic lineages in the world, as well as in Europeans.

MFSD12 is highly expressed in melanocytes, the cells that produce melanin. To verify the gene's role in contributing to skin pigmentation, the researchers blocked expression of the gene in cells in culture and found an increase in production of eumelanin, the pigment type responsible for black and brown skin, hair and eye color. Knocking out the gene in zebrafish caused a loss of cells that produce yellow pigment. And in mice, knocking out the gene changed the color of their coat from agouti, caused by hairs with a red and yellow pigment, to a uniform gray by eliminating production of pheomelanin, a type of pigment also found in humans.

"Apart from one study showing that MFSD12 was associated with vitiligo lesions, we didn't know much else about it," said Crawford, "so these functional assays were really crucial."

Alessia Ranciaro and Simon Thompson. Credit: Alessia Ranciaro and Simon Thompson/University of Pennsylvania

"We went beyond most genome-wide association studies to do functional assays," Tishkoff said, "and found that knocking out MFSD12 dramatically impacted the pigmentation of fish and mice. It's pointing to this being a very conserved trait across species.

"We don't know exactly why, but blocking this gene causes a loss of pheomelanin production and an increase in eumelanin production," Tishkoff added. "We also showed that Africans have a lower level of MFSD12 expression, which makes sense, as low levels of the gene means more eumelanin production."

A collaborator on the work, Michael Marks, a professor in the departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and of Physiology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and at Penn Medicine, demonstrated that the MFSD12 gene influences eumelanin pigmentation in a novel manner. Unlike other pigmentation genes, which are expressed mainly in melanosomes, the organelle where melanin is produced, MFSD12 is expressed in lysosomes, a distinct organelle from the melanosomes that produce eumelanin.

"Our results suggest there must be some kind of as-yet-uncharacterized form of cross-talk between lysosomes and the melanosomes that make eumelanins," Marks said. "Figuring out how this works might provide new ideas for ways to manipulate skin pigmentation for therapeutic means.

"In addition," Marks said, "the fact that loss of MFSD12 expression had opposite effects on the two types of melanins, increasing eumelanin production while suppressing pheomelanin, suggests that melanosomes that make pheomelanins might be more related to lysosomes than those that make eumelanin."

Additional associations with skin color were found in the OCA2 and HERC2 genes, which have been linked with skin, eye and hair color variation in Europeans, though the mutations identified are novel. Mutations in OCA2 also cause a form of albinism that is more common in Africans than in other populations. The researchers observed genetic variants in a neighboring gene, HERC2, which regulates the expression of OCA2. Within OCA2, they identified a variant common in Europeans and San that is associated with a shorter version of the protein, with an altered function. They observed a signal of balancing selection of OCA2, meaning that two different versions of the gene have been maintained, in this case for more than 600,000 years.

"What this tells us," Tishkoff said, "is there is likely some selective force maintaining these two alleles. It is likely that this gene is playing a role in other aspects of human physiology which are important."

A final genetic region the researchers found to be associated with skin pigmentation included genes that play a role in ultraviolet light response and melanoma risk. The top candidate gene in the region is DDB1, involved in repairing DNA after exposure to UV light.

"Africans don't get melanoma very often," Tishkoff said. "The variants near these genes are highest in populations who live in areas of the highest ultraviolet light intensity, so it makes sense that they may be playing a role in UV protection."

A Ju/hoansi individual of the San who was not part of the study. Credit: Alessia Ranciaro

The mutations identified by the team play a role in regulating expression of DDB1 and other nearby genes.

"Though we don't yet know the mechanism by which DDB1 is impacting pigmentation, it is of interest to note that this gene, which is highly conserved across species, also plays a role in pigmentation in plants such as tomatoes," said Tishkoff.

The team saw evidence that this region of the genome has been a strong target of natural selection outside of Africa; mutations associated with light skin color swept to nearly 100 percent frequency in non-Africans, one of few examples of a "selective sweep" in all Eurasians; the age of the selective sweep was estimated to be around 60,000 to 80,000 years old, around the time of migration of modern humans out of Africa.

One additional takeaway from this work is a broader picture of the evolution of skin color in humans. Most of the genetic variants associated with light and dark pigmentation from the study appear to have originated more than 300,000 years ago, and some emerged roughly 1 million years ago, well before the emergence of modern humans. The older version of these variants in many cases was the one associated with lighter skin, suggesting that perhaps the ancestral state of humans was moderately pigmented rather than darkly pigmented skin.

"If you were to shave a chimp, it has light pigmentation," Tishkoff said, "so it makes sense that skin color in the ancestors of modern humans could have been relatively light. It is likely that when we lost the hair covering our bodies and moved from forests to the open savannah, we needed darker skin. Mutations influencing both light and dark skin have continued to evolve in humans, even within the past few thousand years."

Tishkoff noted that the work underscores the diversity of African populations and the lack of support for biological notions of race.

"Many of the genes and new genetic variants we identified to be associated with skin color may never have been found outside of Africa, because they are not as highly variable," Tishkoff said. "There is so much diversity in Africa that's not often appreciated. There's no such thing as an African race. We show that skin color is extremely variable on the African continent and that it is still evolving. Further, in most cases the genetic variants associated with light skin arose in Africa."

More information: N.G. Crawford el al., "Loci associated with skin pigmentation identified in African populations," Science (2017). Journal information: Science N.G. Crawford el al., "Loci associated with skin pigmentation identified in African populations,"(2017). science.sciencemag.org/lookup/  1126/science.aan8433
A high-tech mannequin lets nursing students practice end-of-life talks. Credit: University of Houston

It's the conversation no one wants to have, but talking to patients and their families about death is inevitable for health care professionals. To address the limited clinical opportunities nursing students have to experience palliative care and end-of-life conversations, the University of Houston College of Nursing is now using a high-fidelity mannequin to simulate these challenging interactions.

"Nurses will tell you they don't feel confident or competent with this subject matter. That's an issue," said Cheryl Brohard, assistant professor and project director.

Funded by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Nursing Innovation Grant Program, this specialized training is believed to be a first-of-its-kind innovation used by collegiate nursing programs.

The female mannequin, nicknamed "Julia," is programmed to breathe, blink and even to simulate various medical conditions. In a nearby room equipped with a video and audio feed of the simulation lab, a faculty member plays the role of the patient, with students hearing the voice through a speaker near the mannequin. The dramatic interaction teaches students to respond appropriately when, for example, the patient turns blue due to lack of oxygen or becomes panicked while experiencing shortness of breath. The rest of the class watches via a projection screen in the classroom.

"This is great experience for real life, because when you walk through a patient's door, you never fully know what to expect," said nursing student Aashaqali Momin. "I'd rather be anxious here than be anxious out in the field. This is a valuable learning opportunity."

University of Houston nursing students working with mannequin. Credit: University of Houston

Brohard, who has completed End of Life Education Consortium training, spent 30 years as an oncology nurse and the last decade of her career working with hospice and other seriously ill patients.

"With this addition to our simulation lab, we're trying to make the students as comfortable as possible with a challenging but necessary situation," she said.

The simulation lab is designed to replicate a home-like setting, with the goal of building students' knowledge, communication skills and confidence with dying patients in a controlled environment. Students are told that "Julia" has terminal lung cancer. Her husband, played by a College of Nursing staff member, is by her side.

Students will be exposed to three end-of-life scenarios during their last two semesters of training. In the first, students sit face-to-face with the patient, who is coming to terms with her recent diagnosis. They'll discuss advanced care planning, including health care wishes and decision-making. Next, the patient's health will begin to deteriorate as the cancer progresses. Students will need to manage symptoms and dispense medication. Finally, the students will be with "Julia" and her husband when she dies.

"This is the area that physicians and health care providers really have a difficult time with. How do we start the end of life conversation? It's one of the most needed requests from our hospital partners," said Kathryn Tart, dean of the College of Nursing. "This research will not only educate our students, but it has far-reaching implications for the entire health care system."

The latest research shows that 713,000 peopleor 28 percent of all deaths in the United States in 2015died in hospitals with nurses in attendance. Brohard says it's imperative that hospital-based nurses who provide direct care to these dying patients on a 24/7 basis are competent in palliative care and end-of-life care.

"You can read a book 10,000 times and you'll know what to do, but real life doesn't always work like the books. Unpredictable things happen," said nursing student Vy Pham. "The more times we can experience these scenarios, the more calm we feel."
Intermediate magnification micrograph of a low malignant potential (LMP) mucinous ovarian tumour. H&E stain. The micrograph shows: Simple mucinous epithelium (right) and mucinous epithelium that pseudo-stratifies (left - diagnostic of a LMP tumour). Epithelium in a frond-like architecture is seen at the top of image. Credit: Nephron /Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0

A group of international cancer researchers led by investigators from Mayo Clinic and University of New South Wales Sydney has found that the level of a type of white blood cell, called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, present in the tumors of patients with high-grade ovarian cancer may predict a patient's survival. Results of the study by the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis Consortium were published today in JAMA Oncology.

"We know that a type of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte called cytotoxic CD8 are present in the tumors of patients with high-grade ovarian cancer," says Matthew Block, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic oncologist who co-led the research team with Ellen Goode, Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Genetic Epidemiology and Risk Assessment Program. "However, little was known about the role in fighting high-grade ovarian cancer, compared to other clinical factors."

To help answer this question, researchers studied more than 5,500 patients from nine different countries, including 3,196 with high-grade ovarian cancer. Researchers found that patients with high-grade ovarian cancer showed the most infiltration with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, which were associated with longer overall survival.

"This study shows the higher the level of cytotoxic CD8 tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in a tumor, the better the survival for patients with high-grade ovarian cancer," says Dr. Block. "Developing a better understanding of factors that increase cytotoxic CD8 tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes will be the key to developing treatments to achieve better outcomes in treating patients with high-grade ovarian cancer.

"This is by far the largest study of this type and would not have been possible without scientists from North and South America, Europe and Australia all working together," says Susan Ramus, Ph.D., University of New South Wales Sydney.
Credit: CDC

(Medical Xpress)A team of researchers with members from the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the University of Oxford and the University of KwaZulu-Natal has conducted the largest-ever study of the history of malaria in Africa. In their paper published as a letter article in the journal Nature, the group outlines the methods they used to gather their data, how it was analyzed and what they learned.

The goal of the study was to find as much data as possible that showed infection rates of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria, across the continentgoing back in time as far as possible. To that end, the researchers gained access to every known African data depository over the course of 21 years of effort. The data, they note, went back to 1900, when it became possible to take blood samples, analyze them, and spot the parasite. In all, they found data on 7.8 million blood samples from over 30,000 locations.

In sorting and analyzing the data, the researchers found that infection rates in modern times are far below those of a century ago. From 1900 to 1929, for example, they found an average infection rate of approximately 40 percentby sharp contrast, the rate had dropped to just 24 percent during the years 2010 to 2015.

But the team also found that there were hills and valleys in the data, mostly related to weather events. During times when it rained a lot, rates went up, which was not a surprise, as mosquito populations rise during these periods. Conversely, rates went down during droughts. But they also found that other factors could cause a change in rates as well, such as when the use of chloroquine began to fail as a treatment for infected people and when DDT use became common as a means to kill mosquitoes. Also, the introduction of more modern treatments has also led to a big drop in infection rates, though, the researchers note, the data shows that could be short-lived as the parasite develops resistance.

The researchers also note that geography plays a big role in rates as wellsome parts of Africa get more rain and thus have higher rates, for example. Also, some parts of the continent, particularly the mid-section have not seen much improvement in rates due to a variety of factors such as war and limited access to health care.

More information: The prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum in sub-Saharan Africa since 1900, Nature (2017). Journal information: Nature The prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum in sub-Saharan Africa since 1900,(2017). nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature24059

 2017 Medical Xpress
Credit: Cardiff University

Sleep loss can trigger relapse, particularly in the form of mania, in people with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, finds a study by Cardiff University.

The new research, led by Cardiff University PhD student Katie Lewis, from the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH), suggests that one in four individuals with bipolar disorder may be at risk of an episode of high mood following sleep loss.

Understanding what factors influence the relationship between sleep and mood episodes could help predict which individuals are most likely to relapse following periods of sleep deprivation, for example, because of long-haul travel or shift work. It could also inform self-management techniques such as e-monitoring.

This is the largest study to date reporting on the prevalence of sleep loss as a trigger in individuals with bipolar disorder and the first study to examine sleep loss as a trigger of both manic and depressive episodes in a large sample of individuals with bipolar disorder.

The large sample size made it possible for the team to examine whether bipolar subtype (type 1 or type 2), as well as gender, could affect people's vulnerability to sleep loss. Type 1 and type 2 bipolar subtypes can both represent serious mental health conditions, however the main difference between type 1 and type 2 bipolar disorder is that people with type 1 tend to have more severe episodes of high mood, possibly requiring hospitalisation.

Katie Lewis from Cardiff University, who led the research, explained: "We found that 20% of people with bipolar disorder reported that sleep loss had triggered episodes of high mood, whereas 12% reported that sleep loss had triggered episodes of low mood.

"A tendency for sleep loss to trigger episodes of high mood was more likely among women and people with type 1 bipolar disorder..."

In the study, Katie and her colleagues interviewed 3,140 individuals, drawn as a sample from the Bipolar Disorder Research Network. People were recruited from across the UK, through NHS community mental health teams and patient support organisations such as Bipolar UK.

It is unclear why some individuals become depressed following sleep deprivation and others become manic. It is possible that other triggers associated with relapse in bipolar disorder, such as stressful or exciting life events, medication use or interpersonal conflict, may coincide with the sleep loss that people experience.

Katie concluded: "Future research could potentially look at the role genes play in determining which people are particularly vulnerable to sleep loss triggering episodes of illness."

The study 'Sleep loss as a trigger of mood episodes in bipolar disorder: individual differences based on diagnostic subtype and gender' is published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The team at the National Centre for Mental Health are currently taking this work further by directly measuring sleep using activity monitors, and are keen to hear from anyone with bipolar disorder who would like to help with the research. For more information, see www.ncmh.info/sleep-bipolar-disorder/

More information: Katie Swaden Lewis et al. Sleep loss as a trigger of mood episodes in bipolar disorder: individual differences based on diagnostic subtype and gender, The British Journal of Psychiatry (2017). Journal information: British Journal of Psychiatry Katie Swaden Lewis et al. Sleep loss as a trigger of mood episodes in bipolar disorder: individual differences based on diagnostic subtype and gender,(2017). DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.117.202259
A new study indicates that after hospitalization with acute kidney injury (AKI), most patients are not receiving the follow-up care that kidney specialists recommend. The findings appear in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

AKI, an abrupt decline in kidney function, often arises after major surgeries or severe infections. Some patients who develop AKI recover promptly while others get worse and develop chronic kidney disease (CKD). Recent guidelines suggest that patients' kidney health should be re-evaluated several months after AKI, but little is known about the factors that influence follow-up of patients or about the characteristics of patients who do vs. do not receive subsequent re-evaluation. This information might be useful for developing strategies to improve the transition of care between the hospital and the community after an episode of AKI.

To investigate, a team led by Matthew James, MD, PhD and Divya Karsanji, MSc, MD (Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, in Alberta, Canada) asked 145 Canadian kidney specialists, or nephrologists, about the factors that influence their likelihood to recommend follow-up for patients after a hospitalization with AKI. The researchers then compared these responses with administrative health data on rates of community follow-up with nephrologists for patients hospitalized with AKI in Alberta between 2005 and 2014.

Nephrologists indicated they would definitely or probably re-evaluate patients in 87% of the scenarios provided, with a higher likelihood of follow-up for patients with a history of pre-existing CKD (89%), heart failure (92%), receipt of acute dialysis (91%), and less complete recovery of kidney function (98%). In contrast, only 24% of patients with similar characteristics were seen by a nephrologist in Alberta within 1 year following a hospitalization with AKI, with a trend toward lower rates of follow-up over more recent years of the study. Follow-up with a nephrologist was less common among patients >80 years old (20%) and more common among patients with pre-existing CKD (43%) and with a nephrology consultation before or during hospitalization with AKI (78% and 41%, respectively).

"We discovered that there is a substantial disparity between the opinions of nephrologists and actual processes of care for nephrology evaluation of patients after hospitalization with AKI," said Dr. James. He noted that nearly all patients who did not receive nephrology follow up were seen by at least one other physician within a year of discharge, suggesting other opportunities for physician follow up.
Credit: University of Manchester

The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society has announced findings from a study conducted in partnership with The University of Manchester that investigates the impact of rheumatoid arthritis and adult juvenile idiopathic arthritis in the workplace.

NRAS surveyed more than 1,500 people in the UK to see how the life-long, debilitating illness affects their career and employers' attitudes. NRAS last ran such a wide-ranging survey in 2007.

Despite 97 percent of people with RA feeling that they are being more open about their condition at work, a rising number of employers still do not understand the illness and its symptoms. Working participants believe having "time off when feeling unwell or experiencing a flare up" is the biggest barrier that they currently face at work, with more than a third (37 percent) ranking this as either a serious or very serious problem.

This is closely followed by "lack of support from an employer or line manager" and one in four of those working with RA find the "lack of understanding from their colleagues" to be a serious problem.

Musculoskeletal illnesses are amongst the highest causes of lost workdays in the UK and although more than 400,000 people in the UK are living with RA, awareness for the debilitating condition remains low  as once again proven by this comprehensive study.

There has been notable progression in the workplace over the last decade  nearly two thirds (63 percent) of people with RA are in employment today compared to 55 percent in 2007. Yet, more than half of the participants would feel unable to continue work if their job became more physically or emotionally demanding, highlighting the need for appropriate support in the workplace.

More than a third (39 percent) of respondents cite that their employer doesn't understand the disease, compared to 29.5 percent in 2007. Awareness levels are critically low at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular, which are unlikely to have an internal HR department.

Short of half of those surveyed (41.5 percent) have had to change jobs since the onset of the illness and 15 percent were even forced to stop working altogether. The survey has revealed that, unfortunately, only half of those working were offered adjustments such as flexible working, reduced hours or special equipment in their last job.

RA also impacts on financial and job security  39 percent of people with RA find themselves having had to take on part-time positions and 48.5 percent of respondents would feel "rather or very insecure" if their condition prevented them from working for a longer period of time. This can, in turn, lead to anxiety and depression  with mental health issues being the second-highest cause of lost workdays in the UK.

Matthew Bezzant, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at NRAS, commented on the findings: "It's really interesting to see how the evolving workplace is affecting people with auto-immune conditions like RA. As the adoption of flexi-working increases and new laws to protect employees come into place, there is still a need for companies to invest time understanding these conditions, especially as desk-based work is continuing to increase."

Bezzant added: "To be progressive, HR teams around the UK and managers of smaller businesses need to understand that conditions like RA are manageable in the workplace. Our Work Matters survey highlights that businesses in the UK need access to information on how to create a flexible and supportive working environment in order to adopt this. Sadly, less than half of those surveyed were offered supportive changes in their last job; easy adjustments like flexible working hours, shorter days or special equipment. Ultimately, a physical disability should not limit individual career success."

Dr Suzanne Verstappen, Reader at the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, School of Biological Sciences at the University of Manchester, added: "For many people with rheumatoid arthritis and adult juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) work is important. I have been researching people with arthritis and the workplace for more than 15 years now. Although it seems there is growing awareness of the impact RA has at work, this survey highlights again that many people struggle in their careers and have to retire early. It also shows that there are various factors that determine whether people find it difficult to perform their job (e.g. understanding and help from colleagues and/or manager, reasonable adjustments, demands of job, flexible hours)."

She concluded: "In addition, this research provides a unique insight into the experiences of young adults planning their career and early employment. Results indicate a lack of structured support within schools/universities for young people with chronic condition(s). The results of this are very important and will inform patients, employers, health care professionals and policymakers about possible interventions in the workplace and future policies to prevent problems at work and job loss."
Credit: Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers are testing if drugs known as HDAC inhibitors improve cognition in patients with schizophrenia who have been treated with the antipsychotic drug clozapine.

Clozapine, which has been shown to be the most effective available antipsychotic for hallucinations and delusion treatment, may impair memory and attention, said Ananda Pandurangi, M.D., medical director and chair of inpatient psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at VCU School of Medicine. Pandurangi is an investigator on the clinical trial.

"By improving symptoms associated with schizophrenia such as hallucinations and behavior disorder, clozapine indirectly improves cognition," Pandurangi said. For example, he said, a person who is not hallucinating can better concentrate and interact with others, which provides social stimulation that enhances cognition. However, Pandurangi added, clozapine may diminish individual cognitive functions such as short-term memory.

Researchers hypothesize that HDAC inhibitors, which repress the functions of a specific family of proteins, could prevent an adverse mechanism that results from clozapine's interaction with the brain.

"Clozapine's potential to further benefit memory, attention and other aspects of cognition may be constrained by one of its own actions, which HDAC inhibitors could prevent," Pandurangi said.

Clozapine and the brain

Javier Gonzalez-Maeso, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology and biophysics at VCU School of Medicine, discovered the mechanism that HDAC inhibitors would target. He first noticed an increase in the protein HDAC2 that may result from chronic treatment of schizophrenia with clozapine. He then found that inhibiting the function of HDAC2 in associated neurons may improve cognition.

HDAC2 is one of a group of proteins that makes potentially inheritable changes to the way a gene impacts observable characteristics of an individual, such as behavior.

Gonzalez-Maeso and Pandurangi are currently recruiting people with schizophrenia for a pilot study to test the effectiveness of the drug vorinostat, which is currently used to treat skin cancer, as an HDAC2 inhibitor. The study will be the start of determining if HDAC2 could be a new target for schizophrenia treatment.

"In post-mortem samples of patients, we found the same pathway that was affected by clozapine in mice was in the frontal cortex of people with schizophrenia who had been treated with antipsychotics," Gonzalez-Maeso said.

Gonzalez-Maeso's work was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience in August and is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain, contributed to initial experiments on mice and post-mortem human samples.

Members of Gonzalez-Maeso lab group, who worked extensively on the published findings, from left to right: Maryum Ijaz, Javier Gonzalez-Maeso, Ph.D.; Justin Saunders, Mario de la Fuente Revenga, Ph.D. Credit: Tom Kojcsich, University Marketing

Gonzalez-Maeso began testing vorinostat for its impact on cognition due to the drug's known ability to inhibit proteins that belong to the HDAC family. It is possible that more specific HDAC inhibitors could be tested because much is still unknown about vorinostat's effectiveness for the newly identified potential use.

If the researchers are able to further prove the concept through human trials, people with schizophrenia could avoid psychosis while improving cognitive function.

"Schizophrenia is a devastating disease," Gonzalez-Maeso said. "The cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia is one of the core impairments that negatively affect quality of life for these patients. Life would be so much better for our patients with a drug that treated cognitive dysfunction."

Finding the key

A discovery by Gonzalez-Maeso published in Nature Neuroscience in 2012 laid the groundwork for the investigation of vorinostat's capabilities. The scientist found when HDAC2 increases in the brain after chronic clozapine treatment, it impairs glutamate, which is involved in cognition and other functions and is the most abundant neurotransmitter in the body. HDAC2 also reduces the functionality of the mGlu2 glutamate receptor, which has a role in memory.

"What we have is a lock-and-key mechanism," Pandurangi said. "To open the door you need a particular key. The lock is the mGlu2 receptor and the key is glutamate. HDAC2 inhibitors will make the key work better with the lock."

Testing phases

Gonzalez-Maeso recently completed experiments on blocking the function of HDAC2 in mice and tested the impact of clozapine on the recognition memory of mice. These findings inform hypotheses for how HDAC2 and clozapine impact the human brain. To measure recognition memory, he set up two testing groups. One was treated chronically with clozapine and the other was a control group that was not medicated. The mice were exposed to two objects on a single day. On the following day, one of those objects was changed.

"Normal mice show curiosity for the new object and spend time exploring it," Gonzalez-Maeso said.

Mice treated chronically with clozapine do not, he said.

"They cannot remember the initial object from the previous day, so they don't recognize the change," Gonzalez-Maeso said.

Following completion of the first human trial, Gonzalez-Maeso and Pandurangi plan to conduct large trials in collaboration with multiple institutions to continue testing the efficacy of HDAC2 inhibitors.

More information: Daisuke Ibi et al. Antipsychotic-induced Hdac2 transcription via NF-B leads to synaptic and cognitive side effects, Nature Neuroscience (2017). Journal information: Nature Neuroscience Daisuke Ibi et al. Antipsychotic-induced Hdac2 transcription via NF-B leads to synaptic and cognitive side effects,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/nn.4616
Credit: CDC/Amanda Mills

Older adults who lived in neighborhoods where it was easy to walk to daily destinations were more physically active than those in less walkable neighborhoods, a study in Barcelona, Spain, showed. The results have implications for efforts to allow older adults to remain healthy and independent while they "age in place" in urban neighborhoods.

"Physical activity is an important aspect of aging because it helps older adults maintain their functional capacity," says Oriol Marquet, a postdoctoral researcher at North Carolina State University and lead author of a paper on the topic. "Being physically active helps older adults postpone their physical decline and the onset of chronic diseases, and provides them with feelings of independence and empowerment that are highly valued for social and emotional health."

For the study, NC State researchers used physical activity data from the Catalan region's cross-sectional travel studies to determine how many older adults met the daily recommendation of 30 minutes of physical activity. Data was collected 10 years apart, for residents 65 to 75 years old in 2004 and for those 75 to 85 years old in 2014, though the study did not track activity for a specific group of participants over time.

Researchers analyzed the activity levels based on physical features of neighborhoods in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region, one of the European areas where the proportion of the population older than 65 is expected to triple over the next 50 years.

Experts calculated walkability scores for each neighborhood based on three factors: a neighborhood's population density; its mix of residential, public and commercial property; and the amount of land with desirable walking destinations such as retail stores, public facilities, service providers and historical areas.

Areas with high population density tended to have high-rise apartments rather than row houses or detached housing. A neighborhood with a good mix of homes, stores and workplaces made it more likely that residents would walk to do their errands or visit friends. Neighborhoods that lacked sidewalks or services within walking distance scored lower on walkability.

"Walking for transport is an important source of physical activity because it does not require special effort or investment, like going to a gym," Marquet said.

Residents 65 to 75 years old in walkable neighborhoods made more trips on foot than those in less walkable neighborhoods, and they were more likely to get in the recommended half-hour of daily physical activity. Those in the 75- to 85-year-old group were slightly less active, but those in more walkable neighborhoods took more trips on foot and spent significantly less time driving.

"This research matters because the U.S. and the world are aging, and where we are growing old matters for our health," said co-author Aaron Hipp, associate professor of community health and sustainability with NC State's College of Natural Resources. "In many of the Barcelona neighborhoods in the study, it's common for residents to stay in one place for long periods of time, maintaining their social ties. We need to find effective ways to build neighborhoods in Barcelona and in North Carolina that support healthy activity and allow older adults to age in place."

Myron Floyd, head of NC State's Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, said the Barcelona study provides valuable information because of its focus on walking.

"Walking is one of the most accessible forms of physical activity  all you need is a good pair of shoes," Floyd said. "We know the importance of activity in preventing health issues such as Type II diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity."

Floyd is a member of the advisory panel for a recently released national report card from the National Physical Activity Plan, which encourages Americans to become more active. The group's 2017 United States Report Card on Walking and Walkable Communities gave the U.S. only one passing grade  a "C" in adult walking behavior. The report card gave the U.S. a "D" for walkable neighborhoods and for pedestrian policies. In five other categories, the grade was an "F": children and youth walking behavior, pedestrian infrastructure, safety, institutional policies and public transportation. There was an "incomplete" grade for walking programs, based on a lack of data.

"We have a long way to go to increase walking and make neighborhoods more walkable in the U.S.," Floyd said. "But we know improvements will help with health outcomes, and they could be good for business as well by increasing local foot traffic in walkable areas. We hope the report can help in planning and decision-making at each level, with local planners, private industry, state departments of transportation and federal policymakers."

The Barcelona study, "Neighborhood walkability and active ageing: a difference in differences assessment of active transportation over ten years," is published in the Journal of Transport and Health.

More information: Oriol Marquet et al. Neighborhood walkability and active ageing: A difference in differences assessment of active transportation over ten years, Journal of Transport & Health (2017). Oriol Marquet et al. Neighborhood walkability and active ageing: A difference in differences assessment of active transportation over ten years,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.jth.2017.09.006
Credit: Monash University

Only a fraction of women on temporary migrant visas who are at risk of family violence are accessing the services available to protect them, a new report suggests.

"Temporary migration and family violence: An analysis of victimisation, vulnerability and support" is the first major study in Australia to examine the link between migration status and family violence.

"Based on the estimate that one in four women experience family violence, and the annual average approval of 36,4503 temporary partner visa applications from female applicants, it could be assumed that at least 9112 women across Australia who are on temporary partner visas are experiencing family violence," the report said.

"In 201516, there were 529 family violence provision applications made by women on such visas, of which 403 were successful.

"This suggests that there is much to be done in relation to understanding women's experiences and situations, as well as the extent to which victim-survivors who are temporary migrants are aware of their rights and the support agencies that are able to assist them to access these rights."

The report, by Monash University Associate Professor Marie Segrave, was launched by Victorian Multicultural Commission Chair Helen Kapalos on Thursday, October 12, at the Monash Law Chambers.

The report examines the cases of 300 women who sought the support services of the InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence during 201516.

Associate Professor Marie Segrave, said women on temporary migrant visa needed to be "empowered via increasing their confidence and knowledge regarding rights pertaining to migration status and family violence law and support provisions."

"Migration status often adds a layer of complexity and, most often, uncertainty, for women," writes Associate Professor Segrave.

Many women on temporary partner visas have the potential to be protected by the family violence provisions in the Migration Act that enable access to permanent residency if a relationship breaks down due to family violence.

But the report details the limited number of applications to utilise the family violence provision.

The report lays the ground for an urgent review of how well this system is understood and the need to support specialised services that help access the services.

The report also details the ways in which migration status - both for women whose visa is connected to the perpetrator/partner and for those whose visa is not connected to the perpetrator - is used as leverage in situations of family violence. This includes situations where children are involved:

"If the victim-survivor has Australian citizen children, complex migration issues can arise with the potential for women to have to leave Australia while their children remain in the country," Associate Professor Segrave writes.

"Threatening to take custody of dependant (Australian citizen) children if a victim-survivor leaves can be brought into sharp relief for women who believe their migration status will result in them having limited rights as mothers when they are also temporary non-citizens."

The report provides a detailed review of the forms of abuse experienced by women and highlights the need to broaden the definition of risk in the context of family violence. This includes recognising specific practices that may also be identified as trafficking or slavery offences, as Associate Professor Segrave argues:

"There are important overlaps between family violence and situations that are akin to trafficking and slavery offences, as defined in the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995, including forced marriage, domestic servitude, human trafficking and other slavery-like situations. This report brings these situations to the fore and considers how Australia can move forward to better recognise and respond to the critical issues raised in this analysis."She urges the Commonwealth to recognise and support all victims of family violence equally "regardless of migration status or any other point of difference."
Ahead of Slayers first-ever show in Manila, Philippines, the local organizer outraged the fans by ordering that moshing is prohibited at the concert and that disobeying this guideline will result with being ejected.

You can check out the guidelines and what some of the fans had to say below (via MetalSucks).
Qualcomm is facing a $773-million fine from the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission for abusing its dominance in the mobile chipset market.

Qualcomms technologies are dominant in the market.

The company released a statement confirming the fine, saying it relates to business practices in violation of Taiwanese competition law.

Qualcomm disagrees with the fine and will appeal it  which is expected to take place in the coming weeks.

Qualcomm is also facing a $1-billion lawsuit from Apple, which is accusing it of overcharging for chips and failing to pay $1 billion in rebates.

The FTC has also accused Qualcomm of excessive royalties for technologies that are essential to industry standards.

Qualcomm also faces an $854-million fine in South Korea, and a $975-million fine in China.
Italy auctioned biggest truffle for record 184 thousand euros

Kyodo: 67-year-old Japanese princess diagnosed with breast cancer

Jeff Bezos says he's ready to give away most of his fortune

Britain to allocate $11.8m to rebuild Ukraine's energy infrastructure

Peskov: Kyiv cannot and doesn't want to negotiate, SVO will continue

Turkey detains another suspect in planning terrorist attack in Istanbul

Tasnim: Iranian authorities released 38 protesters in southeast

Terrorist attack: Number of detainees in Istanbul grows to 50

Armenian FM presents to Europeans consequences of September Azerbaijani aggression

Biden and Erdogan back extension of grain deal

Macron and Erdogan meet on G20 margins

UN: Earth's population is 8 billion people

Indian PM urges G20 countries to find peaceful solution to Ukraine

Erdogan and Biden hold talks in Bali

Media: Macron asks Xi Jinping to 'pressure' Putin to return to negotiations

UN: Armenia's population will decrease by 2050

Zelenskyy states that only realistic model of POW exchange is all for all

Ameriabank Launches Google Pay and Google Wallet Support for Card Users in Armenia

Argentine President Fernandez feels ill at G20 summit

Ruben Vardanyan receives head of ICRC mission: We must ensure a peaceful childhood for children living in Artsakh

Copper rises in price

Newspaper: Armenian Prime Minister wants to hold referendum on constitutional amendments in spring

Ardshinbank showcases the Google Pay for Android fans in Armenia

Zelenskyy calls not to offer Ukraine compromise with territory and independence

Secretary of State: U.S. stands ready to continue support for Karabakh settlement

Google Pay is a new contactless payment option for Converse Bank customers

French Senate to consider resolution on sanctions against Azerbaijan

Zelenskyy addresses G20 leaders: It's time to stop Russia's war

Karen Vardanyan donated 112 million drams for the medical equipment for National Center for Infectious Diseases

Another four-day parliamentary session begins in Yerevan

Gold declines in value

World oil prices go down

Plans to build 'death pyramid' in London that will hold millions of bodies

Armenian and Georgian Foreign Ministries hold consultations in Tbilisi

Azerbaijani and Iranian FMs hold phone conversation

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
YEREVAN.- An absolute majority is needed during the second round of the PACE presidential election, head of Armenian delegation to the Assembly told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Arpine Hovhannisyan noted that another voting will be held tomorrow in case if no one obtains an absolute majority.

PACE delegates failed to elect the new head of the Assembly during the first round of elections on Monday.

The candidates are Stella Kyriakides from Cyprus and Emanuelis Zingeris from Lithuania.

Former president Pedro Agramunt resigned last week.
YEREVAN.  The information, according to which Azerbaijan plans to acquire the Polonez multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) from Belarus, is nothing new.

Military analyst Arkadi Grigoryan stated the aforesaid commentingat the request of Armenian News-NEWS.amon the details of Belarusian defense ministers visit to Azerbaijan and the assumed procurement of arms, and which are disseminated in Azerbaijani media.

Lets start from [the fact] that the MLRS is among non-controlled missiles, which are intended more for hitting the civilian population, not the army, noted Grigoryan. [But] the Iskanders [the missile system which Armenia has obtained from Russia] are a precision armament, and they are intended for hitting a specific purpose and object. For that reason, it is needless to comparelet alone, to speak aboutthe equal power, the maintenance of balance of arms.

The military analyst added that Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev does not even hide the fact that he needs a larger number of MLRSs, to cause huge casualties among the civilian population of Armenia.

Armenias acquisition of the Iskander was a move in response to the actions by the Azerbaijani government, stressed Arkadi Grigoryan. For that reason, there has never been a large number of multiple launch rocket systems in Armenias weapons because the Armenian side does not seek to cause great damage to the civilian population, but prefers super accurate precision armaments.
Armenian soldier are dedicated and trained.

Major General Lee Tafanelli, Adjutant General of Kansas, the military commander of the Kansas National Guard, told about the abovementioned to the Voice of America Armenian Service.

In his words, one detachment of soldiers arrives from Armenia to the US State of Kansas for two years already, and these Armenian servicemen live and train together with the American military.

Armenia and the Kansas National Guard have 14 years of cooperation history. Armenian-American military cooperation is primarily focused on the humanitarian domain, and Armenia chooses the domains of collaboration.

In General Tafanellis words, the US helps Armenias soldiers meet the high standards of NATO troops.

He added that Armenias membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) does not in any way hamper develop US military cooperation with this country.

The Adjutant General of Kansas noted that when collaborating with Armenia, the Kansas National Guard is not constrained in any way also by the presence of Russian troops in the country.

As per the commander of the Kansas National Guard, their cooperation with Armenia will continue to develop.
YEREVAN.  Aside from the Collective Security Treaty Organization Collective Rapid Reaction Force (CSTO KSOR), experts from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are also taking part in the Interaction 2017 military exercises being conducted in Armenia.

Anatoly Sidorov, Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff, on Thursday said the abovementioned at a press conference in capital city Yerevan.

Such military exercises are in progress in Armenia for the second time, Sidorov added. The first time was in 2012.

More than 2,500 military servicemen, 500 equipment, and 25 flying devices are involved in these maneuvers which will come to an end on Friday.

In Sidorovs words, a high level of readiness has been recorded, especially among the officer staff.

The military attaches of embassies accredited in Armenia are present at these drills as observers.
YEREVAN.  It is impossible to achieve progress in talks, until there is no confidence between the parties, Armenian deputy foreign minister Shavarsh Kocharyan told reporters.

Asked whether the Armenian side received the guarantees mentioned by President Serzh Sargsyan, the deputy minister: It is impossible to tie the meeting and guarantees, but in general, of course, the process is connected with guarantees.

As to the implementation of the agreements reached in Vienna and Saint Petersburg, the Armenian official reminded of trilateral ceasefire agreement.

The agreement between Artsakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan, in fact, is an international obligation of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan obliged to introduce these mechanisms when signing, he said.

Comprehensive settlement can be reached when there is confidence between the parties, when no shots are fired, he added.

This is the reason for no progress in talks over 20 years. We witnessed the same thing April last year, when Azerbaijan tried to start military operations. This is not the condition of the Armenian side. This is the problem of Azerbaijan on the one hand and the co-chairs on the other. How can we talk about progress when there is no confidence between the parties? Kocharyan wonders.

Azerbaijans refusal to implement international commitments questions fulfillment of any possible agreement in the future.

They can sign it and refuse to fulfill it later, he noted.

At the same time, he added that there is no guarantee that Azerbaijan does not intend to start hostilities in parallel with the talks. When asked why we should continue the negotiations, the deputy minister noted that we must always remember: when talking about the negotiation process, there are two issues.

One concerns that hostilities do not start, and the second is to ensure progress in the negotiations. These two issues are closely related. Considering also the April war, it is obvious that the co-chairs primarily focus on creating an atmosphere of confidence, the Armenian official emphasized.

This is the logical approach of the co-chairs: as long as there is no trust between the parties, it is impossible to achieve progress. It is obvious that today there are no grounds, positive trends, which allow talking about progress in the negotiation process, he resumed.
YEREVAN.  It is apparent that the content of the expected meeting between Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev is not convenient to Baku.

Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan told about the abovementioned to reporters, after Thursdays Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia.

He added, however, that is not clear at this time as to where and where this talk will take place.

From this viewpoint, the same Aliyevs provocative statement, when he was attempting to distort the content and present something else, is not accidental; it is also seen with the naked eye, stressed the Armenian deputy FM. But I dont think that he will be able to avoid that meeting.
YEREVAN.  After the referendums in Iraqi Kurdistan and Catalonia, there are talks as to the extent in which the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) issue is similar to the Catalan and Kurdish issues.

Analyst Garnik Isagulyan, who is also chairman of the National Security Party of Armenia and adviser to the Representative Council of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR), expressed such a view at a press conference on Thursday.

In his words, however, the Armenian side has never compared the Karabakh issue with others.

Not because we dont wish to; simply [because], there is nothing to compare here, added Isagulyan. The Armenian side [to the Karabakh conflict] has always stated that Karabakh has never been part of independent Azerbaijan. Karabakh gained independence still before the collapse of the USSR.

He noted that Azerbaijan declared war on Karabakh, and today there are boundaries that are under the control of the NKR.

Also, the analyst said Karabakh has never used security for other objectives, but rather, Artsakh itself is the guarantor of ensuring regional security.
No doubt about it, 2017 has been a stellar year for Netflix Inc. (NFLX) - Get Free Report shareholders. Since the calendar flipped to January, shares of the streaming video service have rallied more than 57%, besting the rest of the broad market by a factor of four.

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Shares' latest dip at the start of October serves as confirmation that buyers are still in control of shares at all-time highs.

Meanwhile, relative strength, the side-indicator down at the bottom of the Netflix chart, adds some extra confidence to the upside move in shares. That's because relative strength has been in an uptrend of its own, mirroring the uptrend in the price action. Those higher lows in relative strength signal that Netflix is continuing to outperform the rest of the broad market right now -- statistically speaking, that implies even more outperformance during the final stretch of 2017.

So, if you've missed out on the Netflix upside year to date, it's not too late to pull the trigger on a Netflix buy here. That said, risk management remains crucial -- the 200-day moving average is a logical place for long-term traders to park a protective stop.

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.
There are times in our collective lives when words fail us, when the sadness of a senseless tragedy weighs heavy on us all, making it hard to face the regular responsibilities of our lives. These past two days feel like one of those times.On behalf of UC Santa Cruz, we extend our deepest condolences and sympathies to all those affected by the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas. We want to reassure our entire campus community of our dedication to your well-being.We urge anyone impacted by this incident, directly or indirectly, to utilize our counseling resources.In addition to the support services offered by staff in our colleges, Counseling and Psychological Services provides assistance for students.For employees, the Employee Assistance Program can provide counseling and support.
He's a flop waste. Fuck you.

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glad hes taking them all to hell with him



Edited at 2017-10-11 12:55 am (UTC)

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mte

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same

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i'm glad harvey is being taken down but i'm sad that his brother is doing it to get rid of him, not for any genuine concern for the many victims



Edited at 2017-10-11 12:57 am (UTC)

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Burn it all to the ground.



I hope he takes other predators and those who are complicit in this down with him. Because there is no way some of this activity happened in isolation. What about all that locker-room talk they always claim is just boys being boys.



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Let them tear each other apart!!!! And give me ring side seats while they're at it!!!

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weinsteins are nothing if not vindictive assholes. BYE forever!

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Take every enabler down with you Harvey!

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dead @ harvey whining about bob being "responsible for his demise". maybe ya shouldn't have been a sexual predator ya creep

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Was hoping it would go down like this!!

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the only good thing to come out of this

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So if he's saying everyone knew about it, he's admitting to it all? That doesn't seem like a smart strategy, in terms of lawsuits.

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May they all burn together

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I find it hard to believe the brother wasn't a sexual predator as well.

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They can all burn

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I need a link plz sis

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k

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hes not a rapist, just a rape apologist! got it! now i can stan for him again, really loved him in Transformers.

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Bullshit





I want to see the industry, as we know it, burn to the ground.



Edited at 2017-10-11 12:57 am (UTC)

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Not to mention Angelinas story too. I fucking cant with these lying, cowardly assholes.

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She said that after she was cast in Emma, Harvey Weinstein summoned her to his hotel room where he put his hands on her and was suggesting massages, and she confided in Brad Pitt about it at the time and he confronted Harvey

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didn't waxman confirm his story? i have no doubt he knew how gross weinstein was but he didn't address harvey's misconduct, just the italian guy's professionalism

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oh, matt damon is trash don't get me wrong. not defending him or saying that he didn't know (he did) but this particular inaccurate story should not overshadow the rest

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I think Waxman may have had to walk back a lot of this due to legal repercussions, I mean its pretty clear Matt Damon is doing damage control and where there is smoke...

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Yeah, Matt Damon seems like a POS but I've read this elsewhere... Even in that original post and I found a link to the article that was "buried" or a version of it.. and it was about that guy.

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I don't believe that IMO I'm definitely thinking Matt's team threatened her with legal action. If that's true I feel she would have clarified earlier, not after Damon made a statement

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I'm sorry I just don't buy it lol There's no way in hell he didn't know what was going on, also wouldn't you ask someone for further details about what the negative piece was about before defending them?



Him and Ben are cancelled forever

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exactly, Harvey whistled, Matt jumped

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apparently no lol



I endorse Matt Damon's statement. He called me briefly,wasn't informed - nor shld he have been - abt investigative aspect of piece. @thewrap https://t.co/kTbOdYY7C8  Sharon Waxman (@sharonwaxman) October 10, 2017

wouldn't you ask someone for further details about what the negative piece was about before defending them?apparently no lol

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What about Woody sis

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Ok Cate. Like you didn't win an Oscar for a Woody Allen film.

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You son name is Roman .

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Nooo she named him after roman? Yikes.

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i think that was a joke tbh. she's garbage but we don't have to make stuff up.

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sleep tight with your oscar from your woody allen film you asshole

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I was waiting PATIENTLY for this false prophet to say something.

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but you weren't saying this about Woody Allen when that Oscar was in reach.

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love her so much. glad she said something too.

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no questions about what negative thing? or why is it negative? just, oh?

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Why do we have to make it about the victims and not the abuser and what he did?

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Edited at 2017-10-11 12:59 am (UTC)

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I don't understand how his stans can continue to defend him. We KNOW he is a POS.

How can you take anything someone like Matt Damon says seriously, knowing who he is, who he surrounds himself with, who assured his success in Hollywood?

Like write him off already.

This racist douchebag WOULD nitpick on the details rather than focus on the fact that when H***** asked him to intervene, he did.









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Hmm

I love how quickly he and his lawyers got the reporter who initially broke the story and Jessica to fall back real quick.



And yeah, you are apart of the story whether you want to be or not. Especially due to your relationship with the Afflecks and the overall theme of covering up sexual abuse to protect a mans reputation

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CACKLING INTENSIFIES.

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I have a feeling this is gonna be an evergreen tweet.

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I feel like this tweet will stay relevant.

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perfect

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i love it

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Just read on twitter that her account got suspended...

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lmao he doesn't even tag her

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Or use the word groping so ofc people are saying well, he just acted rude and apologized but he was only awkwardly hugging her and never groped...or at least thats the shit I'm reading on reddit.

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His stans are saying "we can move on now that he apologized!!!" as if this is even a good apology to begin with. One tiny tweet when, like someone said, he made a whole-ass essay about Weinstein.

Because they're also great examples of moving on when women they hate mess up even SLIGHTLY less than this ugly shit lol.



Edited at 2017-10-11 07:14 pm (UTC)

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This douche!

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Im so glad Ben and Matt are being called out



Hopefully this will hurt them. Fuck them both tbh.

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That's it......? I mean, the correct response would have never been to do it in the first fucking place, but seriously? You get called out on something 15 years later and are just like "oh my bad...?"



Die already.

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Wow, he seems really fucking sincere.

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He called her Ms. Burton and everything, totes sincere.

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this is when your borther has to apologize to you with an adult present (the very same adult who told him to apologize) and he can't even look you in the eye while he pouts and forces the word "sorry" out

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Yep. You can practically hear the "I can't believe this bitch is making me do this after 14 years" behind it.

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Shut up! No you're not. you're still a gross old man. We know about Emily R. and why you wanted her. you're sorry people are blowing up your mentions. You are part of the problem, you parasite.

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Emily R?

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Ratajkowshi. I wasn't able to get her name right at the time I posted and didn't want to butcher it completely.

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Ben's had to give enough apologies over shitty behavior that at least he's learned to keep them short and simple.

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Because I'm sure to HIM he doesn't think what he did is assault. He was just a bro broing it up doing bro stuff! Like maaaaybe it was a tad inappropriate but she was laughing! It was all in good fun!!!!



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And oh she couldn't possibly have been laughing because she was scared and nervous!!



Seriously he can go fuck himself. A dude in high school once pushed me against the wall in the hallway and tried to mimic fucking me and I froze. It was a quick "joke" (for lack of a better word for what he wanted to play it off as) but when someone comes up at you like that, you don't always know how to respond to it. That shit isn't cute or funny.



Btw I'm agreeing with you bb and not arguing, lol. I just needed to vent.

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Go to hell you fat fuck

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too little too late asshole

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Also, I kinda wanna tell her the lengths our very own ontd detective did to get that video lol! I mean she ain't wrong, part of the incident is online, but not the boob grab itself.



"Resurfaced" lol. This video has been on YouTube for YEARS. And it's easy to find.  https://t.co/FbQgYzKedn  Jenn Kaytin Robinson (@JennKaytin) October 11, 2017









Edited at 2017-10-11 07:12 pm (UTC) I feel the remorse ben.Also, I kinda wanna tell her the lengths our very own ontd detective did to get that video lol! I mean she ain't wrong, part of the incident is online, but not the boob grab itself.

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I don't think that tweet is referring to Hilarie's video, they're talking about the tape of him and the Canadian reporter

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oh yeaaahh! My bad it's 3am here I need to sleep.

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Link her to the thread!

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I didn't realize there was rehab for being an ASSHOLE.

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He probably has a mental breakdown or is suicidal. Idk.

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they're gonna try to spin this shit as sex addiction, it's clear as day. watch this turn into ~how hard it was for him to live with his 'condition' all these years~

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If there is, I need to get their number, so I can send it to my ex husband....

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Donna Karen is sorry she got called out. The way she said that shit so casually was appalling.

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And hypocritical. M always surprised at how Hollywood and fashion industry totally lack self awareness.

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lmao "taken of out context" what a joke



essentially, 'my views don't reflect my views'



fuck off donna

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I cant imagine ANY context that would make sense of what she said

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Seriously, she was a fucking embarrassment spouting that tired, old shit.

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the hag was practically a few sentences away from having a john galliano moment...

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bless you for condensing this and I hope he rots

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its hollywood so he wont

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at this point i think he should just be publicly killed

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I'll have popcorn ready.

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no, he needs to be tarred and feathered like the olden days

also, castrated

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Hung drawn and quartered

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Dang USC. I wonder if they'll make that scholarship fund themselves.

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I give them props for that tbh. And I hope they do.

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GTFO with this rehab mess and donna karan is still a massive asshole. What a weak ass apology.

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Wasn't Robert Rodriguez the one Rose McGowen was talking about re: "My bf sold a movie to the man who raped me"? If so he can shut the entire fuck up and choke.



Edited at 2017-10-12 03:51 am (UTC)

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For real. What a fucking asshole.

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Yeah, it was definitely implied.



Also Robert Rodriguez has a long history with Weinstein (he produced/distributed almost all his films) and the depictions of women in his films is really gross.

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this is so sad :(

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omg :/

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This makes me so sad and angry. I've been a fan of Rose since fucking Bio-Dome. She's had such a hard life but is so talented.

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MTE. That piece of shit can burn with Harvey

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right? fucking asshole

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ITA, the fucking nerve.

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mte

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mte, fucking hypocrite pos

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Rodriguez's whole aesthetic is so rape-y and misogynistic, he is a massive hypocrite

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mfte. and now he's ~condemning~ weinstein. it's infuriating.

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Yes. He has some fucking nerve.

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My first instinct on reading that was to rush to twitter to check if Rose had seen that and GUTTED him. Fucking disgusting.

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Donna couldve kept that sorry ass apology.

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Do they?

What else have they reacted to?

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Ay Carmen no mames

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Damn. He wastes no time.

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Do they have ties with Weinstein?

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when have those two ever reacted to anything?

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Do they though? I feel like they're pretty private.

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This gif is sooo cute!

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Aww, this is so cute

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Im suddenly wanting pancakes now



And kittens

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now i want pancakes

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same. i <3 pancakes

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Awwwww 

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Thanks for this <3

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This is me with pancakes as well tbh

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this gif makes me feel better in 2 ways: that kitten made me smile. get that pancake kitty! and im not the only one who puts chunks of butter on my pancakes.

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I sighed with relief when I read that. I only really know her from project runway all stars but she seemed like a sweet person. Im sure Harvey treated her like shit too.



I know the marriage seemed like a business deal and all, but I really feel bad for her. Can you imagine having children with this monster? 

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Bye Harvey!

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is that a kimi icon?

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YES and omg Lewis~

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This whole thing is so wild. More and more keeps coming out. Fat ass fuckface literally left no woman alone. Like he was so brazen, he went after EVERYONE. It's so insane and intense. Good for all the women speaking out. Especially Ashley Judd as I think she was one of the first "bigger" stars to corroborate the nytimes story

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I feel gross suggesting it but maybe it was part of the appeal for him. Asia Argento's dad is a famous director too.

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TMZ is spreading rumours that he is suicidal. So lovely to watch this douche crash and burn.

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i hope he dies

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Cowardly imo

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wow! Using their awfulness for good.

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hope he doesn't tease us the way stephen collins did. go big or go home.

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Unfortunately I doubt it

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I hope he doesn't commit suicide. It will give mentally ill people struggling with suicidal ideation and physically ill people seeking the legalization of assisted suicide a bad name.



I want him to suffer! Meet a horrible accident, I dunno. Death is too merciful for this piece of shit.



Edited at 2017-10-12 07:34 am (UTC)

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why am I not surprised that this pathetic, fat fuck is taking the easy way out?

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The living aren't done with him yet.

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And I'm sure people "told him to stop doing that!" too. Funny how that doesn't seem to actually stop these assaults.

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He's trash and and can someone post that thing that his brother is a complete monster but Ben has been taking care of him forever? Where was the site?



Also, LONG TIME AGO there was this site that was written by two gay bloggers and had Hollywood insider information about every golden age star and 90s and early 2000s celebs. they would use the term "friend of dorothy" frequently to call out stars in the closet. Can someone post it? I forgot what it said about Weinstein

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if anyone remembers the sites

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I remember that site, but wasnt it mostly dedicated to outing people? I remember it mostly discussed the sexual histories of stars not really abuse allegations.

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yeah it was one of the first sites i read about harvey being horrible though. it also had rumors that some stars were escorts including male actors.



and that matt damon was bi

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i had that site bookmarked on my last computer. it was literally just a long list of names, right? someone come through with the link if only for nostalgia's sake

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Omg Yass I remember coming across that site like last year but the site was from early 2000s



It was really weird and creepy because it said that trump was the devil. Literally decades before he would become the president of the US. Like an omen



Edited at 2017-10-12 03:11 pm (UTC)

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That sounds like datalounge

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I vaguely remember that site. The "friend of Dorothy" is really what's ringing a bell for me.

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was it this? omg i remember this and i googled and i think i found it

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ugh it only had shit about gwyneth and harvey, just said hard to work for about weinstein. i guess i remembered it differently

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Oh man this site! I just remember that it said Kate Bush was an alcoholic who liked to bake cakes.

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Braugher, Andre. *Dreamy*. "Very smart, very sophisticated, just naturally commands respect and attention just by being there; very nice, friendly, appreciative of everyone and, unlike many Hollywood types, when he signs an autograph for you, he will look you right in the eyes and have a full on conversation with you until you have had enough and leave him. Doesn't talk about himself a lot either unless you ask, then he won't focus on himself very long and then shifts the topic to something else. In a group setting, he doesn't say much and when he does, its not about himself usually."



there's some light in the world.

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Finish him.

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end him

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JFC..this justice league promo is gonna be awkward...



Ben is a POS..

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they have to fire him imo i cant see them going on with all of ben's baggage at this point

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He has soooo much baggage at this point IA, his affair with the nanny, the drug and alcohol abuse, and now this. He should just be fired and replaced tbh but I don't think they will. They'll ship him off to rehab and wait for this to all wash over.

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If Justice League flops maybe they'll get rid of him, but I can also see him being protected.



The thing that really took Weinstein down was his series of flops. If Affleck is no longer financially viable they'll rid themselves of him and if not he'll get protected just like he has his entire career.

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I'm becoming more and more convinced that the Flash movie is going to incorporate Flashpoint and is going to end with someone else being cast as Batman.

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Oh hes gonna be in rehab by the end of next week and Ben questions will be banned from the promo tour lbr.

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It's going to be a mess. When the news of his divorce, tramp stamp and cheating came out was very awkward. This has surpassed it. I don't see how he can come back from this but this is Hollywood and shitty white men always get a second chance, and a 30th chance and henceforth

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oh man you're right, I didn't even think of that

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It was already awkward at SDCC--I remember in Hall H he had to have been drinking or snorting something since the morning and was super indirect with addressing rumors he'd no longer be Batman.

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With the way Twitter banned McGowan for her Tweets, I see him being protected by WB. Pieces of scum.

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Edited at 2017-10-12 02:53 pm (UTC) The era of men is finally ending <3

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from your lips to gods ears. may she bless us so!

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We can only hope!

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This gif has been playing in my head every time more Hollywood floodgates open

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This comment/gif combo is particularly fitting with the girl in the back flinging a backpack at a guy.

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i fucking wish

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I love it. I love everything about it.



I hope that women in Holleywood are able to use this momentum to out all of the other horrible predators (Richardson, Allen, Ratner, etc) but if it doesnt happen now, from the way news of this type has been covered recently, I think there is still a good chance that these abusive men will be vilified even if their victims are only able to come forward with their stories months from now.

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yeah, people stopped checking for ratner but he's one of them.

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We need to ban them until we find out what's going on.

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i hate to be that person but it ain't just white men. i've cancelled michael b jordan and anthony mackie quite recently

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Yes, let this become a time when men are held accountable for their actions!

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finish him



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you mean to tell me that a creepy perv who groped one woman's ass groped *gasp* multiple women at that same event? it's almost as if it wasn't her fault!



and btw you just know affleck is going to blame this on substance abuse. ~i've struggled for decades~ and ~that wasn't really me~ etc etc

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yeah ia with you on blaming it on substance abuse. we'll see how long before he releases another statement.

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Exactly

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4974056/Guinness-heiress-claims-Harvey-Weinstein-demanded-massage.html Slightly of but the Guinness heiress Ivanna Lowell has a story on Weinstein too

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he did not care. no women was safe :(

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omg when i see these women posting their own young, innocent faces to accompany their statements, i want to cry. these are the young girls this motherfucking CREEP saw as sexual objects. it's vomit-inducing.

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Oh wow, the details in the Kate one are horrifying. </3 "It speaks to the status quo in this business that I was aware that standing up for myself and saying no to things,while it did allow me to feel uncompromised in myself,undoubtedly harmed my career and was never something I felt supported by anyone other than my family."



Edited at 2017-10-12 03:01 pm (UTC)

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Jfc she was underage.. It's as if the word 'no' was the word to get him excited. No words

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oh god

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Jesus I want to puke!

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Wow. Men really...their entitlement is seriously a sickness.



Usually (and this is a sad reality) men tend to halt their advances or harassment when other men intervene or, they know that their victim has a man in her life that commands a certain level of respect or wields a certain amount of power - really telling that he felt so fucking enfitled to their BODIES that even women who came from very influential families and were related to powerful men across various industries were victimized by him AND those women felt the fear associated with coming forward.





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And people are asking, well, why didnt they come forward earlier, why wait until now



That book came out 7 years ago and nothing happened to him. He threatened to sue her.



Edited at 2017-10-12 03:08 pm (UTC)

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This garbage man is told no over and over and over. he's never going to change.

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I mean how many men who assault and grope women only do it once?? Of course there are more. This is awful. He needs to be done. I don't want to see his bloated ass face in another movie.

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the "Gigli" of apologies https://t.co/ROa2gapBFD  Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) October 11, 2017

oh btw i was loling at this earlier:

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lol

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Bitch Im howling

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Well played!

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NNNNNNNNNNNN



AMAZING.

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Unfortunately I don't think this is going anywhere (not famous women, no video).



Also it makes it really clear why he was so quick to "apologize" to Hilarie Burton. He wanted to make it a one day story and make sure more women didn't see it and come out of the woodwork.



It's really sad.

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definitely agree on the Burton story. but I think this GG thing could get more traction yet. Statsky is already more high profile than Tendler, and if women continue to come forward, we can keep posting about it and the news won't go away so soon. just being hopeful lol

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I hope you're right, I hope people continue to fight for these women to be heard.



I just saw the Annamarie Tendler story made People which is really big. Hopefully if (hahaha "if" :( ) more women have stories they will see these pieces and come forward.

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its what i appreciate about gwyneth (and angelina) going on the record. i think she gave a lot of other women cover to do the same

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Season's eatings! The weather may be getting colder, but Dining Month on OnMilwaukee is just cooking up, dishing out your winning picks in this year's 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! See all the winners for the month so far here.

Milwaukee may not be known for its hot weather, but that doesn't mean that the Brew City can't bring the heat  namely from the kitchen. That's why Senior Developer Nick "Power Palate" Barth and Pop Culture Editor Matt "Powder Puff Palate" Mueller are on a journey, burning their buds and torching their tongues across town to find the city's spiciest dishes. Grab your fork and a fire extinguisher  this is Burning Through Brew City.

The next stop on their capsaicin-rich quest?

The Diablo burrito

Margarita Paradise at the Milwaukee Public Market

401 N. Water St.

(414) 226-2422

margaritaparadisemilwaukee.com



After several weeks of shocking, unseasonably balmy weather, fall has finally arrived in Milwaukee. So what better time to take a trip to Mexico to warm up with some hot and spicy foods?

*checks airfare prices, then checks bank account*

Well, a Mexican restaurant in Milwaukee is probably sufficient enough to heat up a bit  or at least to definitely heat up our taste buds. And there are few dishes more apt for that task  or at least more aptly named for it  than The Diablo burrito at Margarita Paradise.

Born originally in West Allis, the spin-off inside the Milwaukee Public Market has become a star in its own right for the Downtown dining hotspot, enticing workers and visitors alike ever since it opened in 2009 with its tasty titular margaritas (perfect for blowing off steam after  or during it if it's been a particularly rough morning), tacos, margaritas, burritos built for any hour of the day, margaritas and other authentic Mexican culinary marvels. That's all coming in at working person's prices too, as we discovered during our $7 Downtown lunch challenge this past summer. Also: Did we mention the margs? Because margs.

Nick and I, however, did not come to Paradise to refresh our palates. We came to potentially burn them. Enter The Diablo burrito  which translates out to "devil," in case you've not only avoided ever attending a Spanish class but also never visited a Mexican restaurant or, hell, even a Taco Bell in your life. It's not the inside of the big honkin' burrito (technical culinary term) that instills fear in diners. It's what's slathered on the outside: a sauce made of smoked habanero peppers that's the color of the devil.

But is its heat just as hellish? It's time for Nick and I face this demon and see which circle of purgatory it lands on.

Heat

Nick: The Diablo lives up to its namesake. The habanero sauce kicks in immediately in a way that'll have you asking yourself, "Have I gone too far this time?" It plateaus quickly, so you'll have your answer soon enough. The burn settles into a sharp, lingering mouth burn that I've found typical of habanero sauces. For me, it's enough to get my blood flowing, but not a challenge to eat.

Matt: The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was making me think The Diablo burrito wouldn't be that bad. After all, just looking at it, it's just a red sauce smothered over a burrito. With all the cooling cushion packed inside  cool crisp lettuce, juicy tomato, a mild chihuahua cheese and a chewy tortilla  how brutal of a burn could it be?

Well, forgive me, father, for I have sinned: I underestimated the devil's power. Unlike most of our Burning Through Brew City stops so far, where the spice comes in the form of a slow escalating burn, The Diablo comes in IMMEDIATELY hot. The spices  all courtesy of that smoked habanero sauce  leap out of the bite and immediately start a sharp singe throughout your mouth and eventually conquering your lips. I hiccuped within seconds of my first bite and built up a nice face sweat by the end of it. It was embarrassing.

While it might not hit as high of temperatures as our current top mark, the papaya salad, it gets you with just how fast and furious that initial flamethrower burst roars from the first bite.

Longevity

Nick: Habs leave as quickly as they come, so if the sauce proves too much for you, you'll be recovering in no time. Probably.

Matt: The Diablo burns very bright  but also very brief. Your mouth will likely recover before you leave the table, and while there's a mild gut burn after, you'll move on with your day comfortably. But you'll always remember that first fiery bite  hopefully fondly, maybe fearfully.

Flavor

Nick: The Diablo is a wet burrito, so let's consider the burrito and sauce separately. The burrito itself is pretty basic but satisfying. The carnitas was moist and tasty, the tortilla fresh and chewy. If you like burritos, you'll like Margarita Paradise's offering. If you don't like burritos, there's no hope for you anyway.

The Diablo sauce is delicious and tastes long-cooked; the flavors are concentrated and marry well. With smoky tones and rich tomato backing the heat, the sauce would make a great chili base. If it came bottled, I'd put it on everything.

Matt: Admittedly, the burrito is more a stage for the sauce than a standout in its own right. Our carnitas was tender yet still satisfyingly meaty, but other than that, the rest of the ingredients are pretty mild and easily overshadowed by the flavorful, smoky fury of the habanero sauce. It's really all just a delivery device for the sauce smothering the whole thing, and thankfully, that sauce is pretty tremendous. Terrifying ... but tremendous, as well as devilish in its ability to bring me back for more bites despite my body's pain sensors setting off the fire alarm. Talk about giving into temptation.

Overall

Nick: The Diablo is a good burrito topped with a great sauce. If you immediately look for the spicy items on every restaurant's menu, order The Diablo. It's got what you're looking for.

Matt: It may be called Margarita Paradise, but if you're ordering The Diablo burrito, your meal will feel more like purgatory  and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. While it may have a short fuse, the dish features one of the most ferocious burns I've encountered so far on this quest, a full-mouth taste bud damnation that, for a brief minute, will make you believe the devil is real  and he comes in the form of a delicious smoked habanero sauce. Bring your appetite ... and maybe a rosary, just to be safe.

Burning Through Brew City heat index
Greenpeace activists set off fireworks inside a nuclear plant in eastern France early Thursday after breaking into the facility to underline its vulnerability to attack. The anti-nuclear group, known for its daring and often spectacular publicity stunts, said the fireworks were set off at the foot of a spent fuel pool -- where nuclear plants store highly radioactive fuel rods that are removed from reactors after their use. "Our activists launched a firework in the perimeter of a French nuclear plant. These installations are vulnerable," the group said on Twitter, along with a video of the stunt at the plant in Cattenom, near the border with Luxembourg. Shortly after the pre-dawn infiltration, the state-owned EDF energy company that operates the plant said the protesters were detained before they reached the nuclear zone, and that the plant's safety was not threatened. Roger Spautz, a Greenpeace official in Luxembourg, said that about 15 activists entered the site at around 5:30 am (0330 GMT) and crossed two security barriers to reach the building containing the spent fuel rods. Spautz told AFP the action was aimed at drawing attention to the "fragility" of SFPs "that are not protected, unlike the reactor buildings". On Tuesday, Greenpeace warned about security shortcomings at French and Belgian nuclear plants that make them vulnerable to attack, citing an expert report commissioned by the group. It stressed the "even more pronounced (dangers) in the case of spent fuel pools", which are not encased in confinement buildings like reactors, despite containing hundreds of tonnes of highly radioactive fuel. The seven experts from France, Germany, Britain and the United States -- specialists in nuclear safety, proliferation, economics and radiation -- looked at various attack scenarios involving plants in both countries, some of which date back more than three decades. - Built before Al-Qaeda - France has a total of 63 spent fuel pools at its 58 nuclear reactors, which provide 75 percent of the country's electricity. Belgium has two nuclear reactors. Environmentalists have long questioned the safety of France's vast nuclear network, but around a third of all reactors in the country are set to be closed by 2025 under government plans. Nuclear power was once a source of national pride in France, but public support has fallen in line with other European countries after the disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan in 2011. Belgian police investigating the November 2015 Paris terror attacks found 10 hours of video of the comings and goings of a senior Belgian nuclear official. The year before, the Doel 4 reactor, close to the Belgian port city of Antwerp, was shut down urgently after a leak in the turbine hall, caused by tampering. In France, several mystery drone overflights were reported at various nuclear plants in 2014. No group ever claimed responsibility. The Greenpeace report noted that most of France's reactors were built before the rise of modern-day threats from non-state terror groups such as the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda. EDF said in a statement that its nuclear plants were "safe, properly monitored and very well protected" and that it was constantly evaluating their resistance to criminal acts or terrorism.
A collaborative research project involving a Victoria University researcher has identified key risk factors that increase the likelihood of 'crisis contagion', where a reputational crisis spreads from one company to another.

Victoria's Associate Professor of Marketing Dan Laufer and Associate Professor Yijing Wang of Erasmus University Rotterdam published their research findings on crisis contagion in the international marketing journal Business Horizons, where they also made recommendations for companies to avoid being tainted by another's crisis.

The researchers draw on real-world case studies to demonstrate each of the risk factors. The more risk factors a company has, Associate Professor Laufer says, the higher likelihood of crisis contagion.

One of the key risk factors is a shared industry.

"Consumers can generalise the problem of one company to the industry as a whole, as one company's crisis casts the industry's credibility into doubt. A good example of this is the Volkswagen (VW) emissions crisis in 2015 where cars' software was programmed to cheat emissions tests.

"Not only did sales of VW fall by almost 10 percent following the scandal, but other big carmakers also suffered steep sales declines and a drop in share prices," he says.

In a similar way, consumers can draw parallels between companies of the same organisational type, which is determined by a company's mission, ownership and structure.

As an example, Associate Professor Laufer points to allegations in 2016 against Trump University for false and misleading advertising. Crisis contagion occurred as media drew links between Trump University and other private, for-profit universities, which were perceived to be vulnerable to similar marketing strategies. Public universities however, were not implicated in the scandal as their organisational structure was perceived as different.

Companies in the same country, regardless of industry or organisational type, can further be at risk in a crisis. This is when the cause of the crisis is linked to its country of origin or culture. However, Associate Professor Laufer says companies that have names linguistically distanced from the country of origin can avoid crisis contagion.

"In 2003, during the Gulf War many American consumers boycotted French products due to the French government's stance on the war. However, French brands that did not have French-sounding names were not affected by the boycott."

While a problem may initially be linked to one company, it can spread if the perceived cause of the crisis is not specific to the infected company.

"The higher the perceived similarity on the scandal attribute, the more likely crisis contagion will occur. For example, Coca Cola was criticised in the media in 2016 for the large quantities of sugar in the company's soft drinks, which was linked to tooth decay in children. If the cause of the crisisthe high levels of sugaris perceived as being related to the soft drinks category in general, people will believe the crisis impacts other soft drinks companies as well, judging them guilty by association."

Companies sharing a similar brand strategy is at further risk of crisis contagion. In this way, a crisis affecting a company that is positioned as a fair-trade supplier may spread to other fair-trade companies.

Associate Professor Laufer says if a company is concerned about crisis contagion the first step should be to monitor social media for clues of a possible spill-over.

If their company is being linked to the crisis, he says they should issue a denial and clearly explain why they are not involved.

"If on the other hand, the risk of contagion is low, it is best for the company not to respond. Issuing a denial when it is not necessary could draw attention to the company and cause some people to believe there may be a reason to be concerned. A public denial in this case would actually have the opposite effect and spread the crisis."

More information: Guilty by association: The risk of crisis contagion, Business Horizons, 10 October 2017, DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2017.09.005
While providing services to real estate agents, EnterUp Tecnologia, a startup based in Sao Jose do Rio Preto city, Brazil, identified a problematic gap between demand and supply in the online real estate market. Search tools offered by websites and apps cannot yet meet consumers' expectations with satisfactory speed, and users are often confused by the myriad of options when looking for a property.

In Brazil, according to numbers presented by Adriano Nasser, an executive from Google's local headquarters, at least 71 percent of consumers begin the search for a property by visiting the websites or apps of real estate agents.

Looking for a way to profit from that particular demand, EnterUp partner Paulo Scarpelini Neto, who holds a master's in computer science from Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), proposed a real estate recommendation engine that could personalize online searches by suggesting items aligned with the user's interests.

This approach is widely used by multimedia streaming services and online bookstores, which suggest movies, songs and books similar to those already bought by the user. However, so far, it is a novelty in the real estate market.

According to tests performed in the project's initial steps, personalized recommendation produces a 25 percent increase in the rate at which prospects are converted into actual property sales or leases.

EnterUp used framework technology to develop the solution. In computer programming, a framework is an application or set of applications (programs) that support the development of software products and tools. The startup opted for a hybrid framework "because it combines different techniques," says Scarpelini.

He explains that EnterUp uses two techniques used by many existing recommender servicesdemographic filtering based on gender, age and home location, and collaborative filtering, based on the preferences of people with similar taste profiles. But the firm also used a third technique it calls spatial collaborative filtering. "People interested in nearby properties tend to have the same preferences, so we locate similar taste profiles in the same areas of interest," he says.

The advantage of spatial collaborative filtering, Scarpelini adds, is that it extends the range of offerings. A customer who is looking for specific characteristics in a particular neighborhood such as a house near a shopping mall, for example, will also see other areas with the same characteristics according to the search results obtained by users with the same profile.

The user's interaction with the search engine supplies additional data in a non-explicit manner. The system records the properties visited online, the time spent looking at each one, and whether the user viewed photographs or other kinds of information. The resulting massive amounts of data can be managed only via a computational framework including storage and processing tools.

Systems based on computational intelligence are capable of revealing useful knowledge that enhances business efficiency. "An example often cited in the literature refers to a major U.S. retail chain," Scarpelini says. "Analysis of the data showed that many people who purchased disposable diapers on Friday evening also bought beer. So they put the diapers and beer side by side in the supermarkets and boosted sales of both products."

Working with Big Data was a technological challenge for which EnterUp's partners. During Phase 1 of their PIPE project, between February and October 2016, they developed a prototype and concluded from tests that the recommendation system was, in fact, capable of enhancing and stimulating sales.

Structuring the business model was an even more daunting challenge. For this task, the researchers were aided by participation in the PIPE High-Tech Entrepreneurial Training offered in collaboration with George Washington University (GWU) in the United States in March-April 2016. After this seven-week course, as well as more than 100 interviews with proprietors of real estate and tech companies, the young entrepreneurs reviewed their plans and reached a conclusion that not only changed their business plan but sowed the seeds of a new firm.

"We had a reality shock. The business model was a long way away from what the market expected," Scarpelini says. The software was well received, but firms were not willing to pay for it. The real estate industry is conservative, technology-averse, and not prepared to take technology on board as a product.

The solution was to create a new brand name, Sua Casa Online ("Your Online Home"). "We completely revamped the business model," he recalls. "We decided to build a real estate agency supported by technology."

The real estate startup will have a substantial fixed staff of tech experts following the example set by large-scale portals in other countries. In some locations, computer science specialists account for 50 percent of the payroll. "It was one of the hardest decisions we had to make. It was also the biggest lesson we learned throughout the process," Scarpelini says. "As researchers, we have many desires, but we realized our role as entrepreneurs was to solve a problem for the market."

Scarpelini is excited by what lies ahead. In Phase 2 of the PIPE project, he plans to make the system available online and reach out to end-users. Despite the economic recession Brazil is still experiencing, he adds, the market for low-income and social housing in the interior of Sao Paulo State, where he is based, is booming, especially among younger people: Sixty to 70 percent of first-time home buyers are aged between 20 and 30, and these people are digital natives, so his product could not be more timely.

Provided by FAPESP
Feral cats are a key threat to mammals, reptiles and birds, but not to Australias 1,272 threatened plants.

Furore erupted last week among many Australians who care for our native species.

First we heard that land clearing in Queensland soared to a staggering 400,000 or so hectares in 2015-16, a near 30% increase from the previous year. Second, the federal government's outgoing Threatened Species Commissioner, Gregory Andrews, implied on national radio that land clearing was not a pressing issue for Australia's threatened species.

This is a troubling public message, particularly as the government's own State of the Environment Report 2016 lists "clearing, fragmentation and declining quality of habitat" as a primary driver of biodiversity decline across the continent.

Habitat loss and fragmentation are major threats to Australian biodiversity. The down arrow represents a deteriorating trend and the straight line represents a stable trend. Credit: State of the Environment Report 2016 - Biodiversity section

What's more, loss of vegetation cover can exacerbate threats to wildlife, by making it easier for cats and other invasive predators to kill native animals.

These comments highlight key issues with the Threatened Species Commissioner's current remit, made more pressing due to timing: the federal government will soon appoint a new commissioner, a "TSC 2.0", if you will.

Threatened Species Commissioner 1.0

The commissioner's role was established in 2014 to address the dire state of threatened species; a key initiative of the then environment minister, Greg Hunt. The remit was sixfold, including bringing a new national focus to conservation efforts; raising awareness and support for threatened species in the community; and taking an evidence-based approach to ensure conservation efforts are better targeted and co-ordinated and more effective.

Did TSC 1.0 meet the objectives?

We can confidently say "yes" in relation to the objectives of collaboration, public awareness and promotion of threatened species conservation. Andrews travelled widely and engaged directly with stakeholders, maintained active social media feeds, developed a YouTube channel, and had numerous media engagements.

Also laudable was the 2015 Threatened Species Summit, attended by some 250 delegates from a diverse set of stakeholders, which garnered significant media coverage.

But elsewhere progress has been mixed. The development of the Threatened Species Strategy is welcome, but the plan does not go nearly far enough. Key targets by 2020 are improvements in the population trajectories of 20 mammals, 20 birds and 30 plants. But this represents a mere 4% of Australia's threatened species, excluding all threatened reptiles, amphibians, fishes and invertebrates, and most of our threatened flora.

The increasing number of species listed as threatened under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Some 492 species have been added since 2000. Credit: Federal Department of Environment and Energy

The focus on threatening processes is equally narrow. The science tells us that habitat loss is a top threat to Australia's biodiversity. Land clearing has been listed as a key threatening process under federal legislation since 2001.

Yet the Threatened Species Strategy mentions land clearing zero times and habitat loss just twice. Feral cats, on the other hand, are mentioned 78 times, with the plan overwhelmingly focused on culling this one invasive species. Other major introduced pests - foxes, rabbits, feral pigs and goats - are mentioned 10 times between them.

An on-ground focus and mobilising of financial and logistical resources to support threatened species recovery was a welcome development during Andrews's tenure. His second progress report cites AU$131 million in funding for projects in support of threatened species since 2014.

This is a significant sum. But it is just 0.017% of the government's AU$416.9 billion annual revenue  well short of what's needed to reverse species declines.

Likewise, funding for threatened species must be better targeted. Of the 499 projects cited in the TSC second progress report, 361 were those of the Green Army and 20 Million Trees programs (costing AU$78 million, 60% of total funding). Neither program is specifically devoted to threatened species, and their benefit in this regard is doubtful.

The next commissioner's checklist

Australians and democratic societies should have access to reliable, independent and objective information about the current state of our natural heritage, and how government decisions influence its trajectory. That's a critical role that TSC 2.0 should play.

Expertise will be crucial for the new appointee. Given the complex science of species conservation, a background in environmental science is a clear requirement, just as a background in economics would be expected for the chair of the Productivity Commission, or a grounding in law for a human rights commissioner.

For a commissioner to work effectively, they must also be willing to comment on politically sensitive issues and put themselves at odds with the government when necessary. Commissioners typically work as the head of an independent statutory body, such as the Productivity Commission, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the Australian Electoral Commission.

However, the TSC position sits within the Department of Environment and Energy and so, like any public servant, the commissioner is restricted in what they can say in public forums. A more accurate name for the current position would be Threatened Species Ambassador.

But if the TSC 2.0 is to be a truly informed and independent voice for Australia's threatened species, the role must sit within a statutory authority, at arm's length from government. This is the case in New Zealand, where an independent environment commission has operated since 1986. It's time for Australia to follow suit.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
In this undated aerial photo provided by Drone Aviation Corp. shows a tethered balloon, called Winch Aerostat Small Platform, or WASP. The U.S. Border Patrol is considering another type of surveillance balloon to spot illegal activity. It's part of an effort to see if more eyes in the sky translate to fewer illegal border crossings. (Drone Aviation Corp. via AP)

The U.S. Border Patrol is considering another type of surveillance balloon that can be quickly moved to spot illegal activity, part of an effort to see if more eyes in the sky translate to fewer illegal crossings.

Agents in Texas recently finished a 30-day trial of the camera-toting, helium-filled balloon made by Drone Aviation Holding Corp., a small startup that named former Border Patrol chief David Aguilar to its board of directors in January. The 3-year-old, money-losing company gave Aguilar options that may prove lucrative if it gets more orders for its proprietary model.

The trial comes as agents test hand-launched drones, which are relatively inexpensive but hampered by short battery life and weight limits. The Border Patrol has also used six large tethered balloons in Texas since 2012, acquired from the Defense Department.

President Donald Trump has pledged to add 5,000 agents, but hiring has been slow. If drones and balloons are deployed more widely, fewer agents may be needed.

The new balloon - called Winch Aerostat Small Platform, or WASP - drew the Border Patrol's interest largely to save money. The company says one costs $800,000 plus about $350,000 a year to operate, depending on how often it's moved. By contrast, operating the current fleet of six large balloons costs $33 million a year, according to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat.

In this undated aerial photo provided by Drone Aviation Corp. shows a knock out tethered balloon, called Winch Aerostat Small Platform, or WASP. The U.S. The U.S. Border Patrol is considering another type of surveillance balloon to spot illegal activity. It's part of an effort to see if more eyes in the sky translate to fewer illegal border crossings. (Drone Aviation Corp. via AP)

The Border Patrol, in response to questions from The Associated Press, said Thursday it was evaluating results of the trial. The agency hadn't previously disclosed the trial, but the AP learned details from Aguilar, Cuellar and head of the agents' union Brandon Judd.

Agents began experimenting with the WASP Aug. 21 at the Border Patrol's Rio Grande City station and with a mobile response team in Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings.

Cuellar, who was briefed on the trial during a visit last month, said the agency's top official in the region was "very complimentary" of the technology.

The balloons can be assembled and deployed by two or three agents in less than an hour and remain aloft while tethered to a moving vehicle. The large balloons, controlled remotely from trailers, can take days to assemble, require more than twice the crew and are almost never moved.

The WASP also may perform better in strong winds, which Aguilar said was evident as Hurricane Harvey hit nearby. Drone Aviation says it can handle gusts up to 45 mph (72 kph).

In this Nov. 28, 2006, file photo, David V. Aguilar, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's National Border Patrol Chief, speaks at the Texas Homeland Security conference in San Antonio. The U.S. Border Patrol is considering another type of surveillance balloon to spot illegal activity. It's part of an effort to see if more eyes in the sky translate to fewer illegal border crossings. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

On the flip side, the balloons can't carry as much equipment. One U.S. official familiar with the technology said their cameras scanned 4 or 5 miles (8 kilometers). The larger models, with their heavier gear, can peer about 20 miles (32 kilometers). The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the Border Patrol hadn't publicly discussed the balloons.

Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said it would "be a great piece of equipment for us." The official said a decision was expected within months.

Aguilar appears ideally suited to make the company's case. He was Border Patrol chief from 2005 to 2010 and retired from government in 2013 after stints as deputy and acting commissioner of its parent agency, Customs and Border Protection. He discusses border issues at conferences and in congressional hearings.

Drone Aviation pays Aguilar $24,000 a year and granted options to buy 50,000 shares for $2.90 apiece in January 2018 and 50,000 in January 2019 at the same price. The stock closed Wednesday at 99 cents in over-the-counter trading.

The company, backed by billionaire investor Phillip Frost, posted a loss of $8.5 million on revenues of $1.5 million last year. It employs 24 people at its Jacksonville Florida, headquarters, according to a presentation for investors in January.

In this May 17, 2006, file photo, U.S. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar, second from left, testifies on Capitol Hill before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on using the National Guard along the Mexican border. Form left are, National Guard Bureau Chief Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, David Aguilar, Assistant Defense Secretary Paul McHale and Lt. Gen. James Conway. The U.S. Border Patrol is considering another type of surveillance balloon to spot illegal activity. It's part of an effort to see if more eyes in the sky translate to fewer illegal border crossings. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File)

The investor presentation touted Aguilar's key relationships to drive growth.

Companies often recruit former officials to their boards and executive suites to help pitch their former agencies. Defense contractors are stacked with former Pentagon officials.

Such arrangements, while widespread and legal, rile some critics of corporate influence on government.

"It does raise issues for people about whether there's kind of an inside track, a revolving door, between government and the private sector," said Lawrence Noble, general counsel for The Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group in Washington.

Aguilar, who joined the Border Patrol in 1978 and climbed the ranks, is a principal at Global Security and Innovative Strategies, a Washington consulting firm that includes a former Secret Service director and a former Homeland Security Department chief of staff. He said Drone Aviation approached him, and he made introductions to the Border Patrol after becoming convinced the aircraft would help.

In this Jan. 27, 2006, file photo, U.S. Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar speaks during news conference in El Paso, Texas. The U.S. Border Patrol is considering another type of surveillance balloon to spot illegal activity. It's part of an effort to see if more eyes in the sky translate to fewer illegal border crossings. (Ruben Ramirez/El Paso Times via AP, File)

Aguilar said it's healthy for the military and law enforcement agencies to rely on former officials in the private sector.

"This was an assessment, an evaluation, a comparison," he said. "Now it's up to the government to get to where they want to go, need to go, or not."

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Credit: Columbia University

In May 2017, the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory held a forum in New York City to discuss how new advances in climate science can inform investments in specific sectors of the global economy. The forum brought the world's best scientists into a conversation with the world's best investment professionals while setting aside the politics of climate change.

An outcome of this collaboration between the scientific community and the investment industry is a new white paper, "The Near-term Impacts of Climate Change on Investors." In the report, conference organizers and speakers explain how climate change affects investments and best practices for integrating scientific knowledge into climate-sensitive decisions.

The forum was the first in a series of events that will build communication and understanding between the investment and scientific communities and present stakeholders with the most current state of knowledge in climate change science and solutions.

"It's critically important that the climate science community engages in the business and finance community as we advance knowledge. The private sector is where the rubber meets the road in turning knowledge to action, so it's important that we work together closely," said Peter deMenocal, Dean of Science at Columbia University and a climate scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, who spoke at the forum.
This handout from the World Solar Challenge 2017 taken and received on October 11, 2017, shows the Nuon Solar Team vehicle "Nuna9" from the Netherlands speeding towards Coober Pedy during the fourth day of racing

Dominant Dutch team "Nuon" Thursday won an epic 3,000-kilometre (1,860-mile) solar car race across Australia's outback for the third-straight year in an innovative contest showcasing new vehicle technology.

The World Solar Challenge, first run in 1987 and last held in 2015, began in the northern city of Darwin on Sunday morning with 41 competing cars, with Adelaide in South Australia state the final destination.

Cheers and chants of "Nuna" roared from the large Dutch contingent as the "Nuna 9" cartravelling at an average speed of 81.2 kilometres per hour (55.5 mph)crossed the finish line mid-afternoon.

"Welcome to #Adelaide @NuonSolarTeam, winner of the @bridgestone #BWSC17 Schneider Electric Challenger Class," race organisers tweeted.

The US' University of Michigan "Novum" was on track for second place ahead of Belgium's Punch Powertrain.

The event has become one of the world's foremost innovation challenges with teams looking to demonstrate designs that could one day lead to commercially available solar-powered vehicles for passengers.

Google co-founder Larry Page and Tesla co-founder J B Straubel are past competitors who credit the event in influencing their careers

The win is the seventh for Nuon, with their car overcoming cloudy skies as they took the lead early and stayed ahead in the elite Challenger class, which features slick, single seat aerodynamic vehicles built for sustained endurance and total energy efficiency.

This handout from the World Solar Challenge 2017 taken and received on October 10, 2017 shows Nuon Solar Team vehicle "Nuna9" from the Netherlands arriving in Alice Springs on the third day of racing

The team's winning time was 37 hours, 10 minutes and 41 seconds. When their team finished first in 2015, it took them 33.03 hours.

Team manager Sander Koot said they changed their strategy and driving style to cope with weather conditions that included wind gusts of up to 60 kmh.

They also positioned the car so it could benefit from the windy conditions like a sailing ship, the team's aerodynamics expert Jasper Hemmes told organisers.

There is also a Cruiser class which aims to showcase solar technology for mainstream vehicles that are more practical for day-to-day use.

Another Dutch team, Eindhoven, is on track to finish Friday and win that class, with Germany's HS Bochum tracking second.

This handout from the World Solar Challenge 2017 shows team members of Nuon Solar Team from the Netherlands preparing their vehicle "Nuna9" to catch the first morning sun near Dunmarra on the second day of racing

The vehicles are powered by the sun and mostly developed by universities or corporations, with teams hailing from Australia and across the world including the United States, Malaysia, India and South Africa.

They are allowed to store a small amount of energy but the majority of their power has to come from the sun and their vehicle's kinetic forces.

The crews drove between 8am and 5pm each day with seven checkpoints along a route cutting through the heart of Australia's central desert region, to get updates on their standings, the weather, and do basic maintenance.

 2017 AFP
Xenopus tadpoles are excellent test subjects because their transparent bodies allow for unobstructed views into their internal anatomy. Credit: MechMorpho Lab/Lance Davidson

In roughly 48 hours, the single cell of the fertilized frog egg will undergo dramatic change to develop vital body parts like muscles, a skeleton, eyes, a heart, and a tadpole tail. Scientists have been studying this process to better understand human development, birth defects, and cancer and to advance technologies like organoid generation and cell replacement therapy. Scientists can disrupt embryo development, pause it, and accelerate it; however, they can't exactly explain how development works. Supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), bioengineers at the University of Pittsburgh are taking a crack at understanding what is going on inside the egg.

The NIH Department of Health and Human Services awarded Lance Davidson, professor of bioengineering at Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering, $1,327,207 for his study "Biomechanics of Morphogenesis." Dr. Davidson, who directs the MechMorpho Lab at the University of Pittsburgh, aims to take a structural engineer's approach to the biomechanics of developing embryos.

The Pitt researchers are reverse-engineering the mechanical processes that shape the basic body plan and organ development in embryos using tests, techniques, and tools more likely to be found in a mechanical engineering lab than a molecular genetics lab.

"If you saw a bridge for the first time, how would you figure out it worked?" Dr. Davidson asks. "A geneticist might blast it into pieces and analyze how each piece works, but an engineer would look at the ensemble, taking measurements of force and movement. They would put more weight on it and see when it breaks. We are applying these structural analysis principals to understanding embryos."

In the surrounding labs, researchers work with mice, fruit flies, zebrafish, and rats. In Dr. Davidson's lab, there is Xenopusa frog native to sub-Saharan Africa. Frogs are ideally suited for Dr. Davidson's research because their embryos and tissues are incredibly tolerant of lab conditions and resilient to an engineer's 'touch.' Even after removing them from their protective shells, inducing genetic defects, or injecting fluorescent protein tracers, these frogs won't croak.

"We use frogs because you can extract tissues very easily, and they will continue to grow correctly," Dr. Davidson says. "A frog's eye or brain can be isolated and will continue to grow in a petri dish. That won't happen with a mouse or fish. When the outer layer of a non-amphibian embryo is cut, the embryo won't maintain its structure. Frog embryos are more like Play-doh, you can cut and paste tissues and reshape them, although Play-doh is still much stiffer than these embryos."

The frog eggs start out about the size of a pencil tip. In a field of study that's used to accommodating steel beams or reinforced concrete measurements, Dr. Davidson's group has to get creative with the tools they use.

Cells from the prospective brain of the frog are large and active and easily viewed with advanced microscopy. Credit: MechMorpho Lab/Lance Davidson

"To perform microsurgery on the frog embryos, we use a scalpel made of human eyebrow hair and a hair loop made from baby hair," says Dr. Davidson. "The embryos are tiny, wet, and soft; however, they still obey the same shape principles of steel or wood."

"A civil or mechanical engineer might regularly perform tests applying ten million pascals of stress," he continues. Ten million pascals is about the amount of water pressure coming out of a pressure washer, and one pascal is about how much pressure a single piece of paper exerts on a tabletop. "We have to design special tools that can both apply and measure stress between five to 20 pascals. You can't just order something like from Amazon, so we improvise in our lab to design and fabricate custom equipment for our needs."

By studying the mechanics of morphogenesisthe process of an embryo changing shapeDr. Davidson hopes to develop a tool that will provide bioengineers with a much greater understanding of and control over tissue self-assembly.

"Many engineering fields have some kind of software or simulation tool that can take the guess work out their designs before they actually start building. We are developing something similar for tissue engineers so they don't have to rely on trial and error all the time," explains Dr. Davidson.

Creep tests, strain maps, and micro-aspiration are all engineering techniques employed by Dr. Davidson's team to understand the underlying mechanics of morphogenesis. These frogs might not be turning into princes any time soon, but from a tiny ball of cells, the embryo can shape itself into a structurally complex tadpole with working organs.

"In the course of one study, quite by accident, we observed two sets of eggs, one set starting about twice the size of the other. We watched the embryos develop side-by-side. Because of the initial size difference, we expected to see lots of structural deformities or at least for the tadpoles to come out twice as big. To our surprise many of the 'big egg' embryos survived and their tadpoles grew to the same size as the 'little egg' tadpoles, somehow managing to self-correct while they developed," Dr. Davidson says.

At a time when tissue engineering is becoming increasingly useful in regenerative medicine therapies, Dr. Davidson estimates there are only about five or six other groups in the world making material property measurements in the living tissue of vertebrates like frogs. Building on his research and combining it with results from a 2016 NIH-funded study "Mechanical Control of Mesenchymal-to-Epithelial Transition," he will continue to flesh out the mechanics of growing tissue.
Travis Hagey, Michigan State University evolutionary biologist, shows how different groups of lizards - geckos and anoles - took two completely different evolutionary paths to developing the beneficial trait of sticky toe pads. Credit: Luke Mahler

While many animals try to avoid sticky situations, lizards evolved to seek them out.

Travis Hagey, Michigan State University evolutionary biologist, shows how different groups of lizards - geckos and anoles - took two completely different evolutionary paths to developing the beneficial trait of sticky toe pads.

In a paper published in the journal Evolution, Hagey showed that anoles seemed to commit to a single type of toe pad, one that generates lots of friction. As a group, they were able to develop sticky toe pads early. Geckos, meanwhile, opted for an evolutionary "drunken stumble," and seemingly didn't commit to a single approach, instead evolving toe pads that generate plenty of friction in some species and others that excel at sticking directly to a surface.

The stumbling theory, formally known as the Brownian motion model, best explains gecko evolution. Different groups of geckos sought various approaches and jumped at adaptive solutions. They achieved the beneficial traits by pursuing different ways, moving forward some eras and backward during others, Hagey said.

Did anoles have but one option? Is there merely one evolutionary path to become the best tree-climbing lizard? Were geckos more laissez faire with evolution?

Credit: Michigan State University

"We're trying to explain how evolution works and how predictable it is," said Hagey, who's part of MSU's BEACON Center for Evolution in Action. "Good science answers one question while producing more questions. Anoles and geckos are two different large groups of lizards. They live on different continents, and evolutionarily, they're separated by 250 million years of time. So even though they have some of the same traits, you can't assume that they were developed the same way."

Evolution is a tinkerer, he added. Hagey likens it to a person who lives on a dirt road and decides to build a bicycle.

"But they can use only the parts they can get their hands on and make modifications and repairs until they get a bike they like," Hagey said. "Two different people might build two different bikes that both work well on dirt roads, but the process and steps they went though will probably be different. The same is true for geckos and anoles. They both evolved sticky toes but got there different ways."

Hagey's research team included scientists from the University of Idaho, Cambridge, the University of London, and Lewis and Clark College.

Travis Hagey, Michigan State University evolutionary biologist, shows how different groups of lizards  geckos and anoles  took two completely different evolutionary paths to developing the beneficial trait of sticky toe pads. Credit: Roger Anderson

Leg length PLOSONE paper

In a related paper in PLOSONE, Hagey chose to focus on limb length. Geckos and anoles live on trees and climb vertical surfaces. They have to deal with the same mechanical aspects, but did they take different paths to gain those advantages? Did they evolve traits that emphasized sprint speed over balance or vice versa?

"Studying sticky toe pads and limb length help scientists understand how and why animals are shaped the way they're shaped and the mechanics of their movement," Hagey said. "You'd think there would be only one good way to climb a tree or one good way to swim, but there are many."

For both studies, Hagey traveled to exotic locales in the Dominican Republic, Australia and Thailand. Visiting a breeder in Oklahoma allowed him to observe 15 lizard species from five continents. Overall, his research reviewed 30 species of geckos and 20 species of anoles.

The study showed that geckos generally have shorter legs than anoles. The scientists are unsure why this is the case, but once they factored in the length difference they made an interesting observation.

Lizards living on bushes, regardless of geckos or anoles, have long tails, striped backs and long legs. Those living on small branches in the canopy of a forest tend to be brown, with short tails, long snouts and short legs. These traits were consistent despite being separated by oceans or hemispheres.

"Even though we were able to find some cool similarities, we really don't know why, yet," Hagey said. "Maybe they're all adapting to be the best bush lizards or the best tree-climbing lizards and all heading toward the same evolutionary solutions."
Determining how many people live in Seattle, perhaps of a certain age, perhaps from a specific country, is the sort of question that finds its answer in the census, a massive data dump for places across the country.

But just how fresh is that data? After all, the census is updated once a decade, and the U.S. Census Bureau's smaller but more detailed American Community Survey, annually. There's also a delay between when data are collected and when they are published. (The release of data for 2016 started gradually in September 2017.)

Enter Facebook, which, with some caveats, can serve as an even more current source of information, especially about migrants. That's the conclusion of a study led by Emilio Zagheni, associate professor of sociology at the University of Washington, published Oct. 11 in Population and Development Review. The study is believed to be the first to demonstrate how present-day migration statistics can be obtained by compiling the same data that advertisers use to target their audience on Facebook, and by combining that source with information from the Census Bureau.

Migration indicates a variety of political and economic trends and is a major driver of population change, Zagheni said. As researchers further explore the increasing number of databases produced for advertisers, Zagheni argues, social scientists could leverage Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter more often to glean information on geography, mobility, behavior and employment. And while there are some limits to the data - each platform is a self-selected, self-reporting segment of the population - the number of migrants according to Facebook could supplement the official numbers logged by the U.S. Census Bureau, Zagheni said.

"Facebook data are freely available and disaggregated at the level of city or ZIP code in the U.S.," Zagheni said. The study focused on Facebook's Ads Manager service, which allows users, in the interest of placing an ad, to input information on a target audience - information about which the platform then generates data. As an example, researchers identified an audience for a hypothetical ad aimed at Italian expatriates living in Washington state; Facebook reported approximately 3,800 monthly active users in that audience. (That data input process is free; taking it a step further to launch an ad carries a cost.)

Scientists studying migration trends - say, where different groups have located in the United States - could turn to the Facebook Ads Manager tool. But it's important to recognize biases in the data and some ambiguity in the way migration is measured, Zagheni said. The American Community Survey, in contrast, is the modern incarnation of the old census "long form," randomly sent to U.S. households annually to collect not only demographic information, but also statistics on housing, jobs and other socioeconomic trends.

In the UW study, Zagheni and his colleagues developed a computer program for extracting data from Facebook Ads Manager about expats from more than 50 countries to every U.S. state, disaggregated by age and sex. The team mined data from a platform of more than 1.8 billion users worldwide, drawing on an innovative statistical model that researchers set up to adjust for the data's typical shortcoming: Facebook users are not representative of the entire underlying population.

As an illustrative example, Zagheni and colleagues compared the numbers of Mexicans living in California and Texas, by age and sex, with the numbers compiled by the American Community Survey. The researchers did the same with the estimates of immigrants from the Philippines to both states.

The team found that, generally speaking, the numbers of Mexican migrants in California and Texas estimated by Facebook were noticeably lower than the numbers reported by the American Community Survey, particularly among older Mexicans. The American Community Survey, for instance, estimates that Mexican-born men ages 40 to 44 represent more than 20 percent of California's population of men in that age range; Facebook puts the proportion at closer to 15 percent. Those discrepancies could reflect biases in the data, Zagheni said, such as lower Facebook usage in that demographic group, or differences across age groups in the amount of information posted on Facebook, such as details about users' hometowns - and thus whether they would be considered an expat.

For immigrants from the Philippines, the differences between Facebook and American Community Survey estimates are narrower, with a potential overestimate of older Filipinos in both states. In Texas, for example, Facebook estimates Filipinos ages 50 to 54 represent 5 percent of the state's male population in that age range, whereas the American Community Survey estimate is closer to 2.5 percent.

Zagheni and colleagues worked on identifying such biases in the Facebook data, and their similarities among groups or across states. They then developed a model that allows researchers to make adjustments by combining information from Facebook and the American Community Survey.

"Is it better to have a large sample that is biased, or a small sample that is nonbiased? The American Community Survey is a small sample that is more representative of the underlying population; Facebook is a very large sample but not representative," Zagheni said. "The idea is that in certain contexts, the sample in the American Community Survey is too small to say something significant. In other circumstances, Facebook samples are too biased. With this project we aim at getting the best of both worlds: By calibrating the Facebook data with the American Community Survey, we can correct for the bias and get better estimates."

The next step, he added, is to test the approach in developing countries, where timely and reliable statistics are important for development.

More information: Emilio Zagheni et al. Leveraging Facebook's Advertising Platform to Monitor Stocks of Migrants, Population and Development Review (2017). DOI: 10.1111/padr.12102 Journal information: Population and Development Review
Credit: University of Maine

Scallops are one of the most profitable fisheries in Maine, with a statewide value of nearly $7 million in 2016. The scallop fishery is also one of the most local, with small "day boats" staying close to shore.

Landings (and populations) have fluctuated over the years, with the latest peaks in the mid-1980s and 1990s. After severe declines in the early 2000s, the state instituted adaptive management, closing some areas and closely monitoring others. The approach seems to be successful, as landings have increased significantly, although the exact reasons are unclear and there are many questions left unanswered. Does closing a scallop bed protect spawning? How long does population recovery take? If a scallop bed is large, does that mean it's healthy? Are all scallop beds equally productive?

Skylar Bayer, who graduated this spring from the University of Maine with a Ph.D. in marine biology, has been studying scallops for six years in Richard Wahle's lab at the Darling Marine Center. Her research addresses questions about scallop reproduction. Scallops are broadcast spawners, releasing their eggs and sperm separately into the water. Fertilization happens by random encounters.

Bayer has learned what she knows about scallop spawning events from both laboratory and field experiments, manipulating the temperature to induce spawning, and weighing reproductive organs from scallops (the subject of her infamous Colbert Report appearance). Even under a microscope, however, it is difficult to distinguish the eggs, sperm, embryos and larvae of scallops from those of other bivalves. So, how can scientists understand how what happens in the open ocean?

These questions, combined with the availability and affordability of new analytical methods and Wahle's encouragement, led Bayer into the expanding world of quantitative DNA detection and to the unexpected collaboration with Peter Countway, a microbial ecologist and senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in nearby East Boothbay. Countway studies the diversity and structure of microalgae, protozoa and bacteriaall microscopic organisms. Collaborating with Bayer on scallops was an opportunity to look at larger animals in the plankton (metazoans), such as scallop eggs, sperm and larvae.

"I typically throw out the DNA sequences from the larger stuff, the metazoans and macrofauna, but there could be really important information there," he said. "Being able to detect the microbial stage of a metazoan suddenly gives us a window into this realm of spawning and settlement that was previously a black box."

With financial support from Maine Sea Grant, the scientists began a project to detect spawning without having to collect, tag, track, tend, dissect or harvest scallops, as would be required by traditional approaches. "We're not doing destructive sampling, dissections that kill the animal, and if the environmental sampling works out, we won't have to collect animals and bring them into the lab," said Bayer. Their first task was to sequence a selected region of scallop DNA, something that had not been done before. Then they developed a technique, using a method known as quantitative polymerase chain reaction, that uses three pieces of DNA that work together to locate and amplify scallop DNA against the backdrop of millions of other types of DNA in the environment.

Bayer and Countway next had to determine whether or not they could detect scallop DNA in a typical seawater sample. The natural abundance of scallop cells in the ocean might be too small for even the most sophisticated instrument to detect. The advantage of their newly designed test is its ability to amplify the amount of scallop DNA in a sample by several orders of magnitude, enabling detection via measurement of fluorescence. They successfully used the method to detect spawning scallops in the Darling Marine Center laboratory. They were awarded additional Sea Grant funds to try it in a real-world setting.

In August, Bayer and Countway hung nets filled with adult scallops off the dock at Bigelow Laboratory, and spent the next two months collecting water samples from the area around the scallops, to determine background levels of scallop cells and try to detect an increase in scallop genes coinciding with a natural spawning event.

Spawning events in coastal Maine often occur after water temperatures peak at the end of summer, in August or September. Spawning events can happen quickly and last less than an hour, so Bayer has had to collect many samples, and also dissect some of the scallops to confirm spawning activity and compare it to their water samples.

Over the next two months, Bayer and Countway will be extracting DNA from their samples to determine if they have captured any spawning events.

"Trying to capture spawning events in the field in real-time is risky and requires a lot of time and effort, but the payoff is worth it. If we can detect spawning events with this method, we could open a whole new door into understanding reproduction and population dynamics in marine animals," said Bayer.

There is growing interest in environmental DNA or "e-DNA" techniques for assessing biodiversity, detecting the presence of invasive or toxic species, or studying migration patterns. The signatures of life are everywhere, revealing where animals have been and, in the case of spawning scallops, what they've been doing. Scientists no longer need to actually see or capture a species to know it is there.

The promise of e-DNA is the focus of a preliminary proposal led by David Emerson of Bigelow Laboratory, which was selected to be developed into a full Track 1 proposal to the National Science Foundation EPSCoR program in 2018. UMaine will be working closely with Bigelow and other marine research organizations in the state over the next year in this effort.
This artist's rendering shows a large exoplanet causing small bodies to collide in a disk of dust. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

There's no map showing all the billions of exoplanets hiding in our galaxythey're so distant and faint compared to their stars, it's hard to find them. Now, astronomers hunting for new worlds have established a possible signpost for giant exoplanets.

A new study finds that giant exoplanets that orbit far from their stars are more likely to be found around young stars that have a disk of dust and debris than those without disks. The study, published in The Astronomical Journal, focused on planets more than five times the mass of Jupiter. This study is the largest to date of stars with dusty debris disks, and has found the best evidence yet that giant planets are responsible for keeping that material in check.

"Our research is important for how future missions will plan which stars to observe," said Tiffany Meshkat, lead author and assistant research scientist at IPAC/Caltech in Pasadena, California. Meshkat worked on this study as a postdoctoral researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. "Many planets that have been found through direct imaging have been in systems that had debris disks, and now we know the dust could be indicators of undiscovered worlds."

Astronomers found the likelihood of finding long-period giant planets is nine times greater for stars with debris disks than stars without disks. Caltech graduate student Marta Bryan performed the statistical analysis that determined this result.

Researchers combined data from 130 single-star systems with debris disks detected by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, and compared them with 277 stars that do not appear to host disks. The two star groups were between a few million and 1 billion years old. Of the 130 stars, 100 were previously scanned for exoplanets. As part of this study, researchers followed up on the other 30 using the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. They did not detect any new planets in those 30 systems, but the additional data helped characterize the abundance of planets in systems with disks.

The research does not directly resolve why the giant exoplanets would cause debris disks to form. Study authors suggest the massive gravity of giant planets causes small bodies called planetesimals to collide violently, rather than form proper planets, and remain in orbit as part of a disk.

"It's possible we don't find small planets in these systems because, early on, these massive bodies destroyed the building blocks of rocky planets, sending them smashing into each other at high speeds instead of gently combining," said co-author Dimitri Mawet, a Caltech associate professor of astronomy and a JPL senior research scientist.

On the other hand, giant exoplanets are easier to detect than rocky planets, and it is possible that there are some in these systems that have not yet been found.

Our own solar system is home to gas giants responsible for making "debris belts"the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, shaped by Jupiter, and the Kuiper Belt, shaped by Neptune. Many of the systems Meshkat and Mawet studied also have two belts, but they are also much younger than oursup to 1 billion years old, compared to our system's present age of 4.5 billion years. The youth of these systems partly explains why they contain much more dustresulting from the collisions of small bodiesthan ours does.

One system discussed in the study is Beta Pictoris, which has been directly imaged from ground-based telescopes. This system has a debris disk, comets and one confirmed exoplanet. In fact, scientists predicted this planet's existence well before it was confirmed, based on the presence and structure of the prominent disk.

In a different scenario, the presence of two dust belts in a single debris disk suggests there are likely more planets in the system whose gravity maintains these belts, as is the case in the HR8799 system of four giant planets. The gravitational forces of giant planets nudge passing comets inward toward the star, which could mimic the period of our solar system's history about 4 billion years ago known as the Late Heavy Bombardment. Scientists think that during that period, the migration of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune deflected dust and small bodies into the Kuiper and asteroid belts we see today. When the Sun was young, there would have been a lot more dust in our solar system as well.

"By showing astronomers where future missions such as NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have their best chance to find giant exoplanets, this research paves the way to future discoveries," said Karl Stapelfeldt of JPL, chief scientist of NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program Office and study co-author.
Apple is planning for the biggest private investment project in western Ireland ever

Ireland on Thursday gave the green light for tech giant Apple to build an 850-million-euro ($1.0-billion) data centre following a battle with conservationists who were seeking to preserve a forest.

High Court judge Paul McDermott dismissed the appeals brought by three campaigners, who were concerned about the environmental impact of the project, which is to occupy nearly 166,000 square meters in County Galway, west Ireland.

The project, which was first announced more than two-and-a-half years ago, would be the biggest private investment in western Ireland.

Apple had promised to hide the centre in the forest, make good any damage done and use renewable energy to power the centre.

Planning approval was quickly granted but objections were filed on environmental grounds.

The US firm met five key concerns last year, but were held up again by appeals from three local residents, raising doubts that it would ever be approved.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar held talks with Apple executives last month, who warned the delay could influence future investment decisions.

Ireland believes the project will create around 300 construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs.

 2017 AFP
Lee Jae-yong, center, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court for a hearing in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Prosecutors are citing a past ruling on a North Korean spy case as one reason why Samsung's billionaire heir deserves a lengthy prison term for his conviction on bribery charges. The prosecutors and Samsung lawyers sparred Thursday during a first hearing by the appeals court on the effort by Lee to have his five-year prison sentence overturned. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Prosecutors cited a past ruling on a North Korean spy case as one reason why Samsung's billionaire heir deserved a lengthy prison term after being convicted of offering bribes to the country's then-president and one of her associates.

The prosecutors and Lee Jae-yong's lawyers sparred Thursday during a first hearing by the appeals court on the effort by Lee, Samsung's vice chairman and de facto leader, to have his five-year prison sentence overturned.

Lee was convicted in August of offering $7.9 million in bribes to Park Geun-hye and one of her associates when Park was South Korea's president in order to get state support as he strengthened his control over Samsung empire after his father fell ill. Prosecutors had asked judges to sentence him to 12 years in prison accusing him of offering $38 million in bribes but judges at the lower court said Samsung's donations to two foundations controlled by Park's friend did not constitute bribery. Both sides have appealed.

Lee, 49, the only son of South Korea's richest individual, sat silently in the courtroom except when he told judges his birthdate and home address. Lee appeared relaxed, yawning during the morning hearing as the two sides argued over whether or not notebooks written by a former aide to the ousted president should have been admitted as evidence.

Prosecutors cited the spy case in arguing that the notebooks, which contained memos of Park's comments after meeting with Lee, showed the Samsung heir was guilty. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that a memo saved in a personal computer was enough to prove there had been contact between South Koreans and a pro-North Korean group, the prosecutors said.

Lee's lawyers said the notebooks were not admissible because the memos were taken by a third person who was not present at the meeting between the former president and Lee.

Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court for a hearing in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Prosecutors are citing a past ruling on a North Korean spy case as one reason why Samsung's billionaire heir deserves a lengthy prison term for his conviction on bribery charges. The prosecutors and Samsung lawyers sparred Thursday during a first hearing by the appeals court on the effort by Lee to have his five-year prison sentence overturned. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

"There is no subject, no verb, just a list of words," said one of Lee's lawyers on the notebooks. "It does not meet the standards to be evidence."

Whether the appeals court accepts the notebooks as evidence will likely determine the fate of Lee. If Lee's lawyers succeed in lowering sentencing to three years or less, judges can suspend sentencing and he could be released from jail.

The prosecutors also argued that Lee and four other Samsung executives who were convicted along with him should receive a harsher punishment at the appeals court because they lied during lower court hearings in order to protect Lee.

"Their disrespectful attitude toward legal orders should be reflected in the sentencing," one of the prosecutors said.

The Samsung heir's star-studded defense team is led by Lee In-jae, a partner at Bae, Kim & Lee LLC. He is a former judge whose previous positions include a senior judge at Seoul High Court and head of Seoul Central District Court.

Despite Lee's absence, Samsung Electronics is enjoying one of the best time for its business. The company reported record-high profit and sales for the April-June quarter thanks to a surge in demand and prices of memory chips.

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
A schematic of the experiment. A magnetized scanning tunneling microscope tip was used to probe the spin property of the quantum wave function of the Majorana fermion at the end of a chain of iron atoms on the surface of a superconductor made of lead. Credit: Yazdani Lab, Princeton University

Researchers at Princeton University have detected a unique quantum property of an elusive particle notable for behaving simultaneously like matter and antimatter. The particle, known as the Majorana fermion, is prized by researchers for its potential to open the doors to new quantum computing possibilities.

In the study published this week in the journal Science, the research team described how they enhanced an existing imaging technique, called scanning tunneling microscopy, to capture signals from the Majorana particle at both ends of an atomically thin iron wire stretched on the surface of a crystal of lead. Their method involved detecting a distinctive quantum property known as spin, which has been proposed for transmitting quantum information in circuits that contain the Majorana particle.

"The spin property of Majoranas distinguishes them from other types of quasi-particles that emerge in materials," said Ali Yazdani, Princeton's Class of 1909 Professor of Physics. "The experimental detection of this property provides a unique signature of this exotic particle."

The finding builds on the team's 2014 discovery, also published in Science, of the Majorana fermion in a single atom-wide chain of iron atoms atop a lead substrate. In that study, the scanning tunneling microscope was used to visualize Majoranas for the first time, but provided no other measurements of their properties.

"Our aim has been to probe some of the specific quantum properties of Majoranas. Such experiments provide not only further confirmation of their existence in our chains, but open up possible ways of using them." Yazdani said.

First theorized in the late 1930s by the Italian physicist Ettore Majorana, the particle is fascinating because it acts as its own antiparticle. In the last few years, scientists have realized that they can engineer one-dimensional wires, such as the chains of atoms on the superconducting surface in the current study, to make Majorana fermions emerge in solids. In these wires, Majoranas occur as pairs at either end of the chains, provided the chains are long enough for the Majoranas to stay far enough apart that they do not annihilate each other. In a quantum computing system, information could be simultaneously stored at both ends of the wire, providing a robustness against outside disruptions to the inherently fragile quantum states.

Previous experimental efforts to detect Majoranas have used the fact that it is both a particle and an antiparticle. The telltale signature is called a zero-bias peak in a quantum tunneling measurement. But studies have shown that such signals could also occur due to a pair of ordinary quasiparticles that can emerge in superconductors. Professor of Physics Andrei Bernevig and his team, who with Yazdani's group proposed the atomic chain platform, developed the theory that showed that spin-polarized measurements made using a scanning tunneling microscope can distinguish between the presence of a pair of ordinary quasi-particles and a Majorana.

Typically, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) involves dragging a fine-tipped electrode over a structure, in this case the chain of iron atoms, and detecting its electronic properties, from which an image can be constructed. To perform spin-sensitive measurements, the researchers create electrodes that are magnetized in different orientations. These "spin-polarized" STM measurements revealed signatures that agree with the theoretical calculations by Bernevig and his team.

"It turns out that, unlike in the case of a conventional quasi-particle, the spin of the Majorana cannot be screened out by the background. In this sense it is a litmus test for the presence of the Majorana state," Bernevig said.

The quantum spin property of Majorana may also make them more useful for applications in quantum information. For example, wires with Majoranas at either end can be used to transfer information between far away quantum bits that rely on the spin of electrons. Entanglement of the spins of electrons and Majoranas may be the next step in harnessing their properties for quantum information transfer.
Coral reef . Credit: San Diego State University

Coral reefs harbor an incredible diversity of life, both sea creatures we can see and microbial life that we cannot. These organisms generate an enormous number of molecules as they eat food, photosynthesize, reproduce and ward off infections. Researchers have identified several coral reefderived molecules as having medicinal properties, such as secosteroids, which are steroid compounds used to treat inflammatory disorders; or the chemical compound bryostatin 1, derived from an invertebrate coral reef denizen known as bryozoans and being evaluated as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Yet many thousands more coral reef molecules with medicinal potential are unknown to science. A study led by San Diego State University biologists describes a promising new method for screening the molecular output of reef life for important chemical properties, which could make it much easier to identify the next generation of coral reefderived drugs and better understand the diversity of molecules found in the ocean.

"We know what so few of these molecules are and what they do," said the paper's lead author, Aaron Hartmann, a postdoctoral biologist with a dual appointment at SDSU and the Smithsonian Institution. "That's a pretty big roadblock to developing therapeutic drugs derived from them."

Hartmann led the study alongside SDSU biologist Forest Rohwer and colleagues from the University of California, San Diego; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany; Imperial College London; the CARMABI Foundation Curacao; the University of Amsterdam, and Bangor University in Wales. Rohwer co-leads the SDSU Viral Information Institute, a world leader in viral ecology research.

Molecular fingerprints

Working with chemist Pieter Dorrestein's laboratory at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at UC San Diego, the researchers analyzed tissue samples from corals, algae and fungus collected by Rohwer and others on coral reefs near the remote Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean.They isolated each organism's molecules and sent them through an instrument called a mass spectrometer that measured each molecule's mass. Next, they broke the molecules apart with a laser and measured the masses of those pieces.

Molecules tend to break apart in predictable ways, so by measuring the mass of these chemical pieces, the researchers were able to come up with a set of "molecular fingerprints"patterns in the chemical profiles that point to the presence of particular molecules.

However, knowing its chemical fingerprint alone can't tell you what a specific molecule does if it hasn't been described before. The database of known molecules represents only a very small fraction of the molecules that exist, Hartmann explained.

To get around that limitation, the researchers next employed an ingenious trick. They used an algorithm created in Dorrestein's lab to screen these molecular fingerprints, and if the chemical makeups of two unknown molecules were similar, they were flagged as related molecules. Hartmann and Daniel Petras, a postdoctoral chemist at UC San Diego, then explored the chemical reactions of these unknown molecules to get a better idea of how they behave.

This analysis helps answer a long-standing mystery in marine biology: Why do coral reefs have such vast molecular diversity? Comparing even very closely related organisms, the researchers discovered each had different molecular fingerprints, suggesting that these organisms can modify the same molecules differently to suit their particular biological niches.

In other words, even closely related organisms might face different health challenges depending on their geographic location, for example, and therefore tweak their molecules just slightly to better defend themselves. The researchers reported their results today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Potential therapeutic value

"Molecular relatedness can tell you about the potential chemical reactions exhibited by these unknown molecules," Hartmann said. "That, in turn, can tell you something about their potential therapeutic value."

So instead of screening each individual molecule one-by-one to see if it has medicinal properties, this technique would allow drug discovery scientists to easily hunt for chemical properties exhibited by known drugs. These newly discovered molecules might have benefits over known drugsmore potent, for example, or with fewer side effects.

"Using this method, we're not held back by the fact that our molecular database is pretty sparse," Hartmann said. "If you know what chemical reactions are important, you can then go looking for molecules with those properties."

More information: Meta-mass shift chemical profiling of metabolomes from coral reefs, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017).

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1710248114 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Heaviest rainfall in Ophelia was found south of the center by the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite as it passed overhead and analyzed the storm with radar from space.

On Monday Oct. 9, 2017 at 11 a.m. EDT/AST (1500 UTC) tropical depression seventeen was upgraded to Tropical Storm Ophelia. Ophelia strengthened into a hurricane on Oct. 11 over the open waters of the eastern Atlantic, southwest of the Azores.

The GPM core observatory satellite had a good view of Ophelia when it was a tropical storm on Oct. 10 at 2:46 p.m. EDT/AST (1846 UTC). GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) revealed that the storm was organized but most of the rainfall in the storm was only of light to moderate intensity. GPM's Ku band radar swath covers 151.9 miles (245 km). GPM's radar (DPR Ku Band) showed that rain was falling at a rate of almost 3.2 inches (81 mm) per hour in the strongest band of showers located on the southern side of the tropical storm.

GPM's radar data (DPR Ku Band) were used in a 3-D view to show the precipitation structure of storm tops within tropical storm Ophelia. Strong convective storms south of the tropical cyclone's center of circulation were reaching heights of almost 7.44 miles (12 km). GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.

Infrared satellite data on Oct. 12 revealed that cloud top temperatures surrounding the stronger Hurricane Ophelia's eye were between minus 50 and minus 70 degrees Centigrade (minus 58 and 94 Fahrenheit). NASA research has shown that storms with cloud tops that cold have the capability to generate heavy rainfall.

This 3-D Flyby animation shows Ophelia's storm tops heights on Oct. 10 from GPM radar data that remain after GOES satellite data are removed. The area covered by GPM's 151.9 mile-wide (245 km) Ku band radar swath is shown in lighter shades. GPM's radar (DPR Ku Band) showed that rain was falling at a rate of almost 3.2 inches (81 mm) per hour in the strongest band of showers located on the southern side of the tropical storm. Credit: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce

Location and Status on Oct. 12

At 11 a.m. EDT/AST (1500 UTC) on Oct. 12 the eye of Hurricane Ophelia was located near 30.5 degrees north latitude and 35.6 degrees west longitude. That's about 715 miles (1,145 km) southwest of the Azores. Ophelia is drifting north-northeastward around 2 mph (4 kph). A slow northeastward motion is expected to begin later today, followed by a faster east-northeastward motion on Friday and Saturday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 90 mph (150 kph) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is forecast during the next 48 hours. Ophelia is a small storm and hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles (35 km) from the center. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 km). The estimated minimum central pressure is 978 millibars.

The NHC said that interests in the eastern Azores should monitor the progress of Ophelia.

Ophelia is expected to move into the northeastern Atlantic and become extra-tropical by Sunday, Oct. 15 as it interacts with a potent mid-latitude trough (elongated area of low pressure) moving eastward across the north Atlantic Ocean.

The NHC forecasts that Ophelia will later affect Ireland and then Scotland early next week.
A new study reveals that it is difficult for scientists to understand fluctuations of Adelie penguin populations in Antarctica from year-to-year. Credit: Stony Brook University

Penguins are noisy, as any visitor to an aquarium knows. Penguins may be noisy in others ways too, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. Scientists have long used Adelie penguin populations to monitor the health of the Southern Ocean and to understand how major factors such as fishing and climate change impact the oceans and the animals that rely on them. Now an extensive analysis of all known data on Adelie penguin populations over the last 35 years has found that only a small fraction of year-to-year changes in Adelie penguin populations can be attributed to measureable factors such as changes in sea ice.

Instead, most of the short term fluctuations in the number of penguins breeding has no known cause; such 'noise' in the system is likely due to a host of marine and terrestrial factors that have not, or cannot, be measured at the majority of sites where penguins breed.

"In many ways, our study shows that watching Adelie penguin abundance may be like watching the stock marketshort term fluctuations may be exceptionally hard to predict and may not signal any change in the fundamental health of the system," explains senior author Heather Lynch, Associate Professor of Ecology & Evolution at Stony Brook University.

"Therefore, adaptive management of marine resources, whereby we stand 'at the ready' to adjust our conservation strategy as new data are collected, may be as difficult, and as risky, as trying to time the stock market. Instead, our results suggest that to the extent Adelie penguins are used as a barometer of ecosystem health, the true dynamics may emerge only very slowly."

This finding, detailed in the paper "Pan-Antarctic analysis aggregating spatial elements of Adelie penguin abundance reveals robust dynamics despite stochastic noise," is important because it means that tracking abundance at individual colonies, one of the cornerstones of monitoring the health of the Antarctic ecosystem, may not provide a reliable signal on short time scales.

"By analyzing the data, we found that relatively little of the year-to-year variability in Adelie penguin abundance could be linked to something in the environment we can actually measure," said lead author Dr. Christian Che-Castaldo, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Ecology & Evolution at Stony Brook University. "Precipitation at the site is one factor we know is likely to drive some of this unexplained variation, but like many other potential factors, it's not one we can easily measure in Antarctica."

"This doesn't mean that monitoring isn't important, only that we may have to adopt an even more conservative strategy for conserving marine resources. In the face of so much uncertainty, we may not detect a real decline until it's already too late," Dr. Lynch explained.

Adelie penguins are one of four species of penguins with significant breeding populations in the Antarctic. Adelie penguins are the most well studied of all penguin species and, being distributed around the entire coastline of the Antarctic continent, are often considered the "canaries in the coal mine" for anthropogenic threats like fishing and climate change.

In this study, the authors analyzed data from all 267 Adelie penguin populations in Antarctica stretching back to 1979, using data collated from the scientific literature under the auspices of a NASA-funded tool called the Mapping Application for Penguin Populations and Predicted Dynamics (MAPPPD).

They used a statistical technique known as hierarchical Bayesian modelling to accommodate the fact that most Adelie penguin breeding locations are surveyed only rarely. Finding a statistically-rigorous way to 'fill in' missing data was key to the effort, since it allowed the research team to look at the population dynamics of penguins at larger spatial scales than has been possible in the past.

Dr. Lynch emphasized that not only did the research uncover more details about the increase in Adelie penguin populations over the last three decades, but it suggests that monitoring more breeding colonies sporadically, rather than fewer sites consistently, may provide more timely and more reliable information for policymakers, despite short term fluctuations common in Adelie colonies.

The study also illustrates a new method of tracking Adelie penguin populations throughout the entire continent rather than at selected study sites where the majority of the data are actually collected. They hope to study other penguin species in Antarctica using the same method.

"The findings, overall, provide clear guidance on how to extract the most information from our monitoring efforts, and highlight the benefits of working across disciplines for effective conservation," added co-author Dr. Jenouvrier at WHOI.

More information: Christian Che-Castaldo et al. Pan-Antarctic analysis aggregating spatial estimates of Adelie penguin abundance reveals robust dynamics despite stochastic noise, Nature Communications (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00890-0 Journal information: Nature Communications
Pumas are not as solitary as they once seemed. Here, two mountain lions share food in Wyoming. Credit: Mark Ellbroch/Panthera

Pumas, long known as solitary carnivores, are more social than previously thought, according to a study led by conservation organization Panthera and co-authored by UC Davis and the American Museum of Natural History.

The study, published today in the journal Science Advances, is the first to quantify complex, enduring, and "friendly" interactions of these secretive animals, revealing a rich puma society far more tolerant and social than previously understood.

"Our research shows that food sharing among this group of mountain lions is a social activity, which cannot be explained by ecological and biological factors alone," said co-author Mark Lubell, director of the UC Davis Center for Environmental Policy and Behavior.

The findings may have implications for multiple species, including other wild cats around the world.

"It's the complete opposite of what we've been saying about pumas and solitary species for over 60 years," said lead author Mark Elbroch, lead scientist with the Panthera Puma Program. "We were shocked. This research allows us to break down mythologies and question what we thought we knew."

Not so solitary

Pumas have been assumed to avoid each other, except during mating, territorial encounters, or when raising young. The population studied interacted every 11-12 days during winter. That is much less frequent than more gregarious species like meerkats, African lions, or wolves, which interact as often as every few minutes. To document social behavior, the scientists had to follow pumas over longer time spans.

The team collected thousands of locations in northwest Wyoming from GPS-equipped collars and documented the social interactions of pumas over 1,000 prey carcasses. Of those studied, 242 were equipped with motion-triggered cameras that filmed interactions and served as evidence of social behavior.

Mother and daughter pumas play. Credit: Mark Elbroch/Panthera

"Suddenly, I was able to see what was happening when these animals were coming together," Elbroch said. "By stepping back, we captured the patterns of behavior that have no doubt been occurring among pumas all along."

The research team analyzed puma networks to reveal that the species exhibits social strategies like more social animals, just over longer timescales.

Study highlights

Each puma shared food with another puma at least once during the study, and many of them ate with other pumas many times.

Choosing individuals to share meals with was not random or reserved for family members. The pumas seemed to recall who shared food with them in the pastand were 7.7 times more likely to share with those individuals. This is usually only documented with social animals.

Males and females likely benefit differently from social interactions. Males received more free meat than females, while females likely received social investments facilitating mating opportunities.

Territorial males acted like governors of fiefdoms, structuring how all pumas across the landscape interacted with each other. All pumas living inside each male territory typically formed a single network and were more likely to share their food with each other. Social interactions occurred across these borders, but much less frequently than among cats within the same male territory.

Loss of males disruptive to social network

The study emphasizes that puma populations are composed of numerous smaller communities ruled by territorial males. The loss of males, whether by natural or human causes, potentially disrupts the entire social network.

Except for lions and cheetahs, whose males form long-term social groups, all wild cats are typically described as solitarya strategy characteristic of species living in complex habitats where predators compete for dispersed prey. This study could encourage researchers to study the social behavior of other solitary carnivores.

"This opens the door to enormous possibilities," Elbroch said. "Are pumas everywhere behaving the same, or only in areas with large prey? Are other species like leopards and wolverines and so many others acting the same way? There is so much more to discover about the rich, secret social lives of wild creatures."

More information: L. Mark Elbroch et al. Adaptive social strategies in a solitary carnivore, Science Advances (2017). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1701218 Journal information: Science Advances
Factories in China. Credit: Gustavo M, via flickr

"Ozone depletion is a well-known phenomenon and, thanks to the success of the Montreal Protocol, is widely perceived as a problem solved," says University of East Anglia's David Oram. But an international team of researchers, led by Oram, has now found an unexpected, growing danger to the ozone layer from substances not regulated by the treaty. The study is published today in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Thirty years ago, the Montreal Protocol was agreed to phase-out chemicals destroying the ozone layer, the UV-radiation shield in the Earth's stratosphere. The treaty has helped the layer begin the slow process of healing, lessening the impact to human health from increased exposure to damaging solar radiation. But increasing emissions of ozone-destroying substances that are not regulated by the Montreal Protocol are threatening to affect the recovery of the layer, according to the new research.

The substances in question were not considered damaging before as they were "generally thought to be too short-lived to reach the stratosphere in large quantities," explains Oram, a research fellow of the UK's National Centre for Atmospheric Science. The new Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics study raises the alarm over fast-increasing emissions of some of these very short-lived chemicals in East Asia, and shows how they can be carried up into the stratosphere and deplete the ozone layer.

Emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals in places like China are especially damaging because of cold-air surges in East Asia that can quickly carry industrial pollution into the tropics. "It is here that air is most likely to be uplifted into the stratosphere," says co-author Matt Ashfold, a researcher at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. This means the chemicals can reach the ozone layer before they are degraded and while they can still cause damage.

Research station in Malaysia used by researchers for measurements. Credit: Bill Sturges/UEA

One of the new threats is dichloromethane, a substance with uses varying from paint stripping to agricultural fumigation and the production of pharmaceuticals. The amount of this substance in the atmosphere decreased in the 1990s and early 2000s, but over the past decade dichloromethane became approximately 60% more abundant. "This was a major surprise to the scientific community and we were keen to discover the cause of this sudden increase," says Oram.

"We expected that the new emissions could be coming from the developing world, where industrialisation has been increasing rapidly," he says. The team set out to measure air pollution in East Asia to figure out where the increase in dichloromethane was coming from and if it could affect the ozone layer.

"Our estimates suggest that China may be responsible for around 50-60% of current global emissions [of dichloromethane], with other Asian countries, including India, likely to be significant emitters as well," says Oram.

The scientists collected air samples on the ground in Malaysia and Taiwan, in the region of the South China Sea, between 2012 and 2014, and shipped them back to the UK for analysis. They routinely monitor around 50 ozone-depleting chemicals in the atmosphere, some of which are now in decline as a direct consequence of the Montreal Protocol.

Dichloromethane was found in large amounts, and so was 1,2-dichloroethane, an ozone-depleting substance used to make PVC. China is the largest producer of PVC, which is used in many construction materials, and its production in the country has increased rapidly in the past couple of decades. But the rise in dichloroethane emissions was unexpected and surprising because the chemical is both a "valuable commodity" and "highly toxic", says Oram. "One would expect that care would be taken not to release [dichloroethane] into the atmosphere."

Data collected from a passenger aircraft that flew over Southeast Asia between December 2012 and January 2014 showed that the substances weren't only present at ground level. "We found that elevated concentrations of these same chemicals were present at altitudes of 12 km over tropical regions, many thousands of kilometres away from their likely source, and in a region where air is known to be transferred into the stratosphere," says Oram.

If the chemicals that were now discovered in unexpectedly large amounts can reach the ozone layer in significant quantities, they can cause damage. "We are highlighting a gap in the Montreal Protocol that may need to be addressed in the future, particularly if atmospheric concentrations continue to rise," Oram concludes.

More information: Oram, D. E., Ashfold, M. J., Laube, J. C., Gooch, L. J., Humphrey, S., Sturges, W. T., Leedham-Elvidge, E., Forster, G. L., Harris, N. R. P., Mead, M. I., Abu Samah, A., Phang, S. M., Chang-Feng, O.-Y., Lin, N.-H., Wang, J.-L., Baker, A. K., Brenninkmeijer, C. A. M., and Sherry, D.: A growing threat to the ozone layer from short-lived anthropogenic chlorocarbons, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1192911941, 2017, doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-11929-2017 , 2017. Journal information: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Brief overview of the six newly-found families of periodic three-body orbits. Blue line: orbit of Body-1; red line: orbit of Body-2; black line: orbit of Body-3 Credit: Science China Press

The famous three-body problem can be traced back to Isaac Newton in 1680s. Studies on the three-body problem led to the discovery of the so-called sensitivity dependence of initial condition (SDIC) of chaotic dynamic systems. Today, chaotic dynamics are widely regarded as the third great scientific revolution in physics in 20th century, comparable to relativity and quantum mechanics. Thus, studies on the three-body problem have very important scientific significance.

In 1890, Poincare determined that trajectories of three-body systems are commonly non-periodic, i.e. not repeating. This can explain why it is so hard to obtain the periodic orbits of three-body systems. In the 300 years since the three-body problem was first recognized, only three families of periodic orbits had been found. In 2013, Suvakov and Dmitrasinovic [Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 114301 (2013)] made a breakthrough, finding 13 new distinct periodic orbits belonging to 11 new families of the Newtonian planar three-body problem with equal mass and zero angular momentum. Now, two scientists, XiaoMing Li and ShiJun Liao at Shanghai Jiaotong University, China, have successfully determined 695 families of periodic orbits of the same Newtonian planar three-body system using the TH-2 supercomputer at Guangzhou, China. Their results have been published in SCIENCE CHINA-Physics Mechanics & Astronomy. Videos of these orbits are available here.

These 695 periodic orbits include the well-known figure-eight family found by Moore in 1993, the 11 families found by Suvakov and Dmitrasinovic in 2013, and more than 600 new families reported for the first time. The two scientists used the so-called clean numerical simulation (CNS), a new numerical strategy for reliable simulations of chaotic dynamic systems proposed by the second author in 2009, which is based on a high order of Taylor series and multiple precision data, plus a convergence/reliability check. The CNS can reduce truncation errors and round-off errors so effectively that numerical noise is negligible over a long enough interval of time, thus more periodic orbits of the three-body system can be obtained.

As reported by Montgomery in 1998, each periodic orbit in real space of the three-body system corresponds to a closed curve on the so-called "shape sphere," which is characterized by its topology using the so-called "free group element." The averaged period of an orbit is equal to the period of the orbit divided by the length of the corresponding free group element. These 695 families suggest that the square of the average period times the cube of the total kinetic and potential energy is approximately equal to a constant. The generalized Kepler's third law reveals that the three-body system has something in common that might deepen the understanding of three-body system.

According to the scientists, the discovery of the more than 600 new periodic orbits is mainly due to the advance in computer science and the use of the new strategy of numerical simulation for chaotic dynamic systems, namely the CNS. It should be emphasized that 243 more new periodic orbits of the three-body system are found by means of the CNS. In other words, if traditional algorithms with double precision were used, about 40 percent of the new periodic orbits would be lost. This indicates the novelty and originality of the CNS, since any new methods must offer something novel.

More information: XiaoMing Li et al, More than six hundred new families of Newtonian periodic planar collisionless three-body orbits, Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy (2017). DOI: 10.1007/s11433-017-9078-5 Journal information: Physical Review Letters
Only cars with a footprint of 50 grams of CO2 per kilometre will be allowed to be registered in Slovenia starting in 2030

Slovenia announced Thursday tough new rules for new petrol and diesel cars, saying that only those with much lower emissions than now can be registered from 2030.

"From 2030 we will not allow the registration of traditional fuel cars like those that are in use today," Bojan Zlendar, infrastructure ministry spokesman, told Radio Slovenija.

Only those with a footprint of 50 grams of CO2 per kilometre will be allowed to be registered by then, a level currently reached only by electric and hybrid cars, he said.

Ljubljana is "convinced that, by then, the car industry will have made an extraordinary technical development and boost the sales of electric and other cars with a much lower carbon footprint," he added.

France and Britain both aim to end sales of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040.

Norway hopes to end sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2025, and others such as Sweden and Denmark and Finland have expressed similar ambitions to phase out fossil fuel engines.

China issued plans last year requiring that 12 percent of cars sold be battery-powered or plug-in hybrids by 2020, while India has said it wants to replace all vehicles with electric vehicles by 2030.

Slovenia's plans are part of a strategy adopted on Thursday foreseeing improved infrastructure for alternative fuels, including 22,300 charging stations by 2030 from 230 currently.

With over 500 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, Slovenia has one of the European Union's highest levels of car ownerships. Almost 45 percent are diesels.

In the first nine months of this year, some 900 electric or hybrid cars were sold, three times more than in the same period in 2016, Slovenian news agency STA reported.

 2017 AFP
The root systems of tropical trees may represent 30 percent of the total tree biomass. Credit: Jefferson Hall

Ask someone to draw a tree and s/he will invariably draw a trunk and branchesleaving the roots out of the picture. In a unique study of tropical tree roots at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute published in PLOS ONE, roots accounted for almost 30 percent of the total biomass of young trees. The authors hope that future estimates of carbon storage and water-use by tropical forests will include information on root biomass and architecture.

"Studies like the article published by Baccini et al in the Sept. 28 issue of Science use satellite data to measure aboveground carbon density," said Jefferson Hall, director of the Smithsonian's Panama Canal Watershed (Agua Salud) experiment. "It is fairly common practice to calculate forest carbon storage either incorporating root mass via a fudge-factor, or leaving it out altogether. What percentage of a tree is underground? How does this change with climate, soil fertility, and over time? The answers to these questions will refine our ability to understand how forests respond to global change."

"During the rainy season in 2009, our team excavated all roots down to 2 millimeters in diameter from six species of tropical trees," said Katherine Sinacore, doctoral student at the University of New Hampshire. "We chose six to eight-year old trees from reforestation experiments at Sardinilla and in Soberania National Park in the Panama Canal Watershed, with permission from Panama's Ministry of the Environment." Support for this project was provided by Panamas Office of National Science and Technology, SENACYT, Mr. Stanley Motta, Mr. Frank Levinson, the Hoch family, the Agua Salud Foundation and the Panama Canal Authority.

"There were huge differences among species," Sinacore said. "We found that trees have very different architectures. For example, some species invest in a large tap root that descends directly below the trunk while other species send large roots out laterally just below the soil surface. These trees sent smaller roots down from the lateral roots that, when excavated, resembled tentacles of an octopus. The tentacles went just as deep as did the tap roots of other species such that the trees were not trading off structural differences for the ability to seek nutrients and water deep in the soil. In fact, we did not detect a difference between species in the volume of soil reached by roots. We also found roots extending more than 20 meters (60 feet) away from the tree trunk."

The six trees in the experiment, Anacardium excelsum (Espave in Spanish), Cedrela odorata, Dalbergia retusa (Cocobolo), Pachira quinata (Cedro Espino), Tabebuia rosea (Roble) and a (Amarillo), all have high timber value and are commonly used for reforestation in Panama."Perhaps not surprisingly, we found root systems to be every bit as diverse as the crowns of trees, a morphological diversity that is important to understand as it suggests a more thorough exploitation of belowground resources," said Hall. "Interestingly, we also found that two of the forty trees (5 percent) we excavated (a Terminalia Amazonia and a Pachira quinata) were connected with neighboring species via grafts of coarse roots. Are these trees sharing resources? Would we have found a higher percentage of root grafts if we would have had the ability to look at fine roots? Clearly there is more work to be done."

More information: Katherine Sinacore et al, Unearthing the hidden world of roots: Root biomass and architecture differ among species within the same guild, PLOS ONE (2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185934 Journal information: PLoS ONE , Science
In this combination of photos, from left to right: Shinmoedake volcano in southwestern Japan on Oct. 12, 2017; Mount Agung in Bali on Oct. 8, 2017; Manaro volcano on Vanuatu on Oct. 1, 2017. The horse shoe shaped string of active volcanos bounding the Pacific Ocean has lived up to its "Ring of Fire" calling card in the past month, sparking mass evacuations in Indonesia and Vanuatu and now setting parts of south-western Japan on edge. The 450 or so volcanos that make up the Ring of Fire are an outline of where the massive Pacific Plate is grinding against other plates that make up the earth's crust, creating a 40,000 kilometer-long (25,000 mile) zone prone to frequent earthquakes and eruptions. (Kyodo, Vanuatu Meteorological and GeoHazards Department via AP)

The horseshoe-shaped string of active volcanos bounding the Pacific Ocean has lived up to its "Ring of Fire" name in the past month, sparking mass evacuations in Indonesia and Vanuatu and now setting parts of southwestern Japan on edge. The 450 or so volcanos that make up the "Ring of Fire" are an outline of where the massive Pacific Plate is grinding against other plates that form the Earth's crust, creating a 40,000-kilometer (25,000-mile) -long zone prone to frequent earthquakes and eruptions.

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JAPAN

The Shinmoedake volcano in southwestern Japan started erupting Wednesday for the first time in about six years. According to Japanese broadcaster TBS, an ash plume rose 1,700 meters (5,580 feet) from the crater Thursday and ash fell on cities and towns in Miyazaki prefecture. Videos showed students wearing helmets and masks on their way to an elementary school at the foot of Shinmoedake. The Japan Meteorological Agency is warning that hot ash and gas clouds known as pyroclastic flows could reach 2 kilometers (1 mile) from the crater. It raised the volcanic alert level from 2 to 3 on a scale of 5. Level 3 warns people to not approach the volcano.

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BALI

More than 140,000 people fled Mount Agung on the Indonesian island of Bali after its alert status was raised to the highest level on Sept. 22. Hundreds of tremors daily from the mountain indicate magma is rising inside it, prompting authorities to warn a powerful eruption is possible. The volcano spewed lava and deadly fast-moving clouds of boiling hot ash, gas and rocks when it last erupted in 1963, killing more than 1,100 people. A new eruption is likely to kill fewer people because officials have imposed a large no-go zone around the crater but it could paralyze tourism, which many Balinese rely on for their livelihoods. Indonesia has more than one tenth of the world's active volcanos and another two are currently erupting. Sinabung in northern Sumatra is shooting plumes of ash high into the atmosphere nearly daily and Dukono in the Maluku island chain is also periodically erupting.

In this Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, photo, volcanic smoke rises from the Shinmoedake volcano after its eruption in the border of Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, southwestern Japan. The horse shoe shaped string of active volcanos bounding the Pacific Ocean has lived up to its "Ring of Fire" calling card in the past month, sparking mass evacuations in Indonesia and Vanuatu and now setting parts of south-western Japan on edge. The 450 or so volcanos that make up the Ring of Fire are an outline of where the massive Pacific Plate is grinding against other plates that make up the earth's crust, creating a 40,000 kilometer-long (25,000 mile) zone prone to frequent earthquakes and eruptions.(Tomoaki Ito/Kyodo News via AP)

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VANUATU

The entire population of a Pacific island was evacuated in the space of a few days in late September and early October to escape the belching Manaro volcano. The 11,000 residents of Ambae island were moved by every boat available to other islands in Vanuatu, a Pacific archipelago nation, where they're living in schools, churches and tents. Officials have since downgraded the volcano's danger level but say the population must wait at least two more weeks to return. The island's water supply and crops have been affected by volcanic ash and acid rain but most villages were spared major damage. Previous eruptions of the volcano have lasted a month to six weeks.

In this Oct. 8, 2017, file photo, children play at a beach with Mount Agung volcano seen in the background during sunset in Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia. The horse shoe shaped string of active volcanos bounding the Pacific Ocean has lived up to its "Ring of Fire" calling card in the past month, sparking mass evacuations in Indonesia and Vanuatu and now setting parts of south-western Japan on edge. The 450 or so volcanos that make up the Ring of Fire are an outline of where the massive Pacific Plate is grinding against other plates that make up the earth's crust, creating a 40,000 kilometer-long (25,000 mile) zone prone to frequent earthquakes and eruptions. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati, File)

This Oct. 1, 2017, file photo provided by GeoHazards Division, 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 horse shoe shaped string of active volcanos bounding the Pacific Ocean has lived up to its "Ring of Fire" calling card in the past month, sparking mass evacuations in Indonesia and Vanuatu and now setting parts of south-western Japan on edge. The 450 or so volcanos that make up the Ring of Fire are an outline of where the massive Pacific Plate is grinding against other plates that make up the earth's crust, creating a 40,000 kilometer-long (25,000 mile) zone prone to frequent earthquakes and eruptions. (Brad Scott/GeoHazards Divison, VMGD via AP, File)

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Mirakl Announces Availability of Marketplace Connection for Commerce on the SAP App Center

BOSTON  Oct. 12, 2017  Mirakl, a leading marketplace platform provider, today announced that the Mirakl Marketplace Connection for Commerce is now available on the SAP App Center, the redesigned and consolidated digital marketplace for SAP partner offerings. In addition, Mirakl will also sponsor and speak at SAP Hybris Live: Global Summit, Oct. 17-19, in Barcelona. At SAP Hybris Live: Global, Mirakl and partner, SMITH, a leading global commerce agency positioned as the Architects of Future Commerce, will showcase a prototype HoloLens-driven augmented commerce experience integrated with Mirakls technology.

Mirakls pre-built connector to the SAP Hybris Commerce solution helps retailers and B2B companies to get started quickly, rapidly onboard new sellers, and easily map new products and categories to catalog taxonomies. Leveraging Mirakls APIs, the Marketplace Connector synchronizes data between the two platforms, supports the Marketplace-specific order management, and provides a sample add-on demonstrating how to customize the SAP Hybris Commerce, B2B accelerator to offer Marketplace features powered by Mirakl.

Mirakls partnership with SAP Hybris helps support retailers and B2B companies in growing revenue profitably, said Adrien Nussenbaum, U.S. CEO and co-founder, Mirakl. Making the Mirakl Marketplace Connection for Commerce available on the SAP App Center is a natural extension of our existing relationship. Our customers are able to drastically increase digital product range, site traffic, new customer acquisition, and customer retention and loyalty, while driving revenue and profit.

At SAP Hybris Live: Global Summit, Mirakl executives will share insights about how retailers and other business can capture the marketplace opportunity. The speaking sessions, include:

Capture the B2B and B2C Marketplace Opportunity : Tues., Oct. 17 at 3:00 p.m. CEST with Kelly Gow, director of alliances, Mirakl.

: Tues., Oct. 17 at 3:00 p.m. CEST with Kelly Gow, director of alliances, Mirakl. Win with B2B Marketplaces : Wed., Oct. 18 at 11:30 a.m. CEST with Kelly Gow, director of alliances, Mirakl.

: Wed., Oct. 18 at 11:30 a.m. CEST with Kelly Gow, director of alliances, Mirakl. Take a Close Look at Amazon & Alibaba: Friend or Foe: Wed., Oct. 18 at 3:30 p.m. CEST with Adrien Nussenbaum, U.S. CEO and co-founder, Mirakl.

In addition, during the summit, Mirakl and SMITH, which is also an SAP partner, will showcase a prototype HoloLens-driven augmented commerce experience integrated with Mirakls technology, the result of a recently announced partnership between the two companies. The partnership combines SMITHs decades of commerce expertise with Mirakls revenue-maximizing toolset to help unlock hidden value in brand content ecosystems. Look for Mirakl and SMITH at Mirakls booth #P30 during these times:

Tues., Oct. 17: 11:00 a.m.  12:00 p.m. and 3:00  4:00 p.m.

Wed., Oct. 18: 1:00  2:30 p.m. and 4:30  5:30 p.m.

For more information about the Mirakl Marketplace Connection for Commerce on the SAP App Center, visit the SAP App Center.

The SAP App Center provides customers with real-time access to nearly 1,500 innovative partner solutions that complement and extend their SAP solutions, enabling digital transformation of their business. SAP App Center customers can buy solutions directly from partners and centrally manage purchases, billing and vendor communications.

As an SAP partner in the SAP PartnerEdge program, Mirakl is empowered to build, market and sell software applications on top of market-leading technology platforms from SAP. The end-to-end program provides the enablement tools, benefits and support to facilitate building high-quality, disruptive applications focused on specific business needs  quickly and cost-effectively. The program provides access to all relevant SAP technologies in one simplified framework under a single, global contract, including the ability to bundle licenses of SAP Cloud Platform with partner applications.

About Mirakl

Mirakl gives retailers and brands a fast path to increase customer value by launching an online marketplace. The increased value exceeds customer expectations by providing more products, at better prices, with superior service. The Mirakl Marketplace Platform automates the hard things: Seller onboarding, product data management, service quality control, and order distribution; on an API-based solution thats modular and easy to integrate. Over 130 customers operating marketplaces in 40 countries trust Mirakls proven expertise and technology including Hewlett Packard Electronics, Best Buy Canada, Carrefour, Darty, Galeries Lafayette and Halfords. Founded in 2012, Mirakl helps companies provide a better customer experience as part of their omni-channel strategy. For more information: www.mirakl.com

SAP, Hybris, PartnerEdge and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries.

See http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

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New Kibo Study: 58% of Retailers Lack In-Store Technology to View Customer Information

DALLAS  October 12, 2017  Kibo, the worlds leading cloud-based omnichannel commerce platform, in partnership with the Future Stores conference, has released a new study titled Technologies That Are Changing How We Think of Brick & Mortar. The goal of the study was to take the pulse of where retailers are in their omnichannel journey, and research how in-store testing of technologies and strategies are making their mark on the future of brick and mortar.

Some of the key findings and trends in the study include:

Customer Data

64% of retailers feel they are only somewhat effective at capturing in-store data on customer preferences.

Less than half of respondents, 42%, have in-store technologies to view customer information across all of their touchpoints, including in-store as well as their digital touchpoints.

Personalization

Personalization stands out as a major initiative, with 52% of retailer responses indicating they are planning to invest in it within the next 12 months or are already implementing this strategy.

Nearly a quarter of retailers (22%) have not yet begun to personalize or arent sure if they even have that capability.

Inventory and Fulfillment

41% of retailers lack trust in inventory accuracy or dont have visibility, and only 17% have full enterprise-wide inventory visibility.

Reasons for not offering a fulfillment choice vary:

My organization is not ready to implement was cited as the leading reason for not offering Save the Sale (44%) and In-Store Pickup (41%).

My technology wont support it was cited as the leading reason for not offering Ship-From-Store (42%).

Mobile Technology In-Store

41% of retailers utilize mobile point of sale.

76% have used displays or kiosks.

The role of the physical store is evolving, turning a brick and mortar location into a showroom, storefront and a fulfillment hub, all in one location. The study shows there is new emphasis on creating an omnichannel brand experience, and providing convenience to customers with the option to buy online and pick up in-store, or return a digital purchase to the store. Retailers are testing new programs and strategies that connect customer data to inventories in pursuit of stronger personalization and more diverse and accurate fulfillment programs.

Its clear that retailers are still working through many technology and organizational challenges to address major omnichannel initiatives, says Tushar Patel, CMO, Kibo. Inventory visibility, personalization, cross-channel customer data and exploiting in-store mobile technologies are the key pillars in providing connected customer experiences in the store. Retailers that enable themselves with the right technology and strategies in place can transform their brick and mortar stores into major brand assets in a time of digital ascendancy.

Methodology: Responses from 115 retail executives were gathered in this on-site benchmarking survey delivered at the Future Stores 2017 conference.

Click here to download the full report and uncover additional highlights.

About Kibo

Kibo empowers retailers and branded manufacturers to achieve optimal performance of B2C and B2B commerce through unified consumer experiences. With over 40 years of innovations, Kibo provides a complete omnichannel commerce platform delivered with the lowest total cost of ownership and the fastest time to market. By leveraging cloud technologies, individualized buying experiences, and true enterprise scale, Kibo enables you to reach higher peaks of sales and consumer loyalty. No matter the challenge, Kibo powers your success. For more information, visit kibocommerce.com.

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An anti-apartheid activist who died in police custody 46 years ago did not commit suicide but was murdered by officers, a South African court said Thursday in a historic ruling for campaigners. The court called for an officer involved in covering up the circumstances of the 1971 death to be investigated as an accessory to murder. The packed courtroom in Pretoria burst into applause after the judge delivered a damning indictment of how police treated those who opposed white-minority rule. Ahmed Timol, a 29-year-old campaigner against apartheid, was arrested in Johannesburg in October 1971. After five days in detention, he died after plummeting from the city's police headquarters. Officers from the feared security branch that held Timol said at the time he took his own life -- a verdict endorsed by an inquest in 1972. But his family fought the ruling for decades and campaigned to secure the legal review, which finally began in June. "Timol did not jump out of the window but was pushed out of the window or off the roof," said judge Billy Mothle, reading a summary of his 129-page judgement. "Members of the security branch... murdered Timol." The judge called for security branch officer Joao Rodrigues, who admitted helping cover up the murder, to be prosecuted. But he acknowledged that the men who were directly responsible have since died. "Most of the main perpetrators have since passed on (but) all security branch officers responsible for guarding and interrogating Timol are collectively responsible for his injuries," said Mothle. - 'Viva Ahmed Timol!' - Members of the South African Communist Party to which Timol belonged who were present in court shouted "Viva Ahmed Timol!" as the judge adjourned the hearing and the public gallery burst into applause. "Judge Billy Mothle delivered a fine -- a superb -- judgement," said Salim Essop who was arrested, detained and tortured alongside Timol in 1971. "He concluded that the police were responsible for his death... they did have the risk of killing him by torturing him and in that respect they were responsible for his murder." Mothle called for families who lost relatives in circumstances similar to Timol's to be assisted in reopening their cases -- especially where suicide was recorded as the cause of death. Between 1963 and 1990, human rights activists say 73 people died in police detention, sometimes in circumstances strikingly similar to Timol. George Bizos, an anti-apartheid icon who was close friends with Nelson Mandela, welcomed the outcome and said the case showed that police were still unaccountable for their actions under white rule. "I hope that what has happened today will happen again in relation to the others (who died suspiciously). Justice has a way of actually reaching the top," said Bizos, 88, who was visibly emotional during the hearing. The judge also praised Imtiaz Cajee, Timol's nephew, for successfully lobbying for the case to be reopened. "His efforts should be elevated as an example of how citizens should assert their constitutional rights," said Mothle. But Cajee expressed frustration that the former security branch officers called to give evidence had not been more open about their conduct. "They lost the opportunity to help South Africa's greater reconciliation," he said after the ruling. For many, the case -- the culmination of a relentless campaign by the activist's family -- brought back raw memories of life under apartheid. During the review, the Pretoria court heard from pathologists, former security officers and victims of state brutality. Their evidence triggered anger in court 2D -- including from the family who have been present at every hearing. "The Timol family has been driven not by vengeance but by the pursuit of truth and justice," retired archbishop Desmond Tutu said in a statement read to the courtroom after the hearing.
Returning Michelin stars to the Michelin Guide  widely seen as the gastronomic bible of the world  is a rare thing to do in the culinary industry. It is akin to a filmmaker or actor returning an Oscar to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. After all, Michelin stars are the highest aspiration that a chef can dream of, and only a handful have dared to give away their due recognition. But Andre Chiang has had enough. Hes hanging up his apron at Restaurant Andre after eight years, and in shuttering the restaurant, he will lose the two Michelin stars that hes earned since 2016. He wants to return to his roots and explore more of his culture back home, something which he could not do while running a Michelin-starred restaurant. A third Michelin star will not change anything, he says in an interview with the media yesterday at his Bukit Pasoh establishment. Will it make a better success story? Maybe. But do I have to have a movie ending that everybody wants to see? In that respect, Chiang is a bit of a rebel. He is a perfectionist, yet he does not let anyone, not even a world-renowned award, define what an impeccable restaurant, or culinary career even, should entail. Giving up the Michelin stars is however not a factor of Restaurant Andres closure, nor is it a statement against the Michelin Guide, he emphasises. Simply put, We are grateful for and truly appreciate all the recognition. Announcing that Ill be returning the stars is simply a gesture of courtesy and respect. Yet Chiangs request to exclude Raw, his restaurant in Taiwan, from the Michelin Guide (should its inspectors go to his homeland), raises many more questions. He only cites wanting to keep the restaurant pure as the fundamental reason for this decision, stopping short of suggesting a disconnect between pursuing his passion and upkeeping the culinary excellence expected of the Michelin star rating. As for why he chose to use the word pure, thats anyones guess. As such, its only natural that Chiangs announcement has drawn him comparisons to French chef Sebastien Bras, who just last month pleaded to be stripped of the three Michelin stars which his establishment Le Suquet has held for almost 20 years. Bras said that he could not withstand the tremendous pressure of being judged on every dish he serves, and just wanted to focus on cooking excellent local produce without wondering whether my creations will appeal to Michelins inspectors.

Restaurant Andre will close after Valentine's Day next year, and will be replaced by a restaurant with an entirely new concept curated by Chef Andre. According to Michelin, this is the first time a French chef had asked to be dropped from its restaurant guide in this manner, without a major change of positioning or business model. While Chiangs intention is to start anew by completely tearing down a part of his legacy instead of keeping the restaurant, his ultimate goal of concentrating on his love for cooking isnt quite different from Brass reason to quit the restaurant guide. He did clarify that while he had been mulling over the decision for a couple of weeks, he was in no way influenced by Brass decision. The pressure of staying at the top of his game also comes primarily from his perfectionist disposition, not from Michelin or any other recognition or award, he tells me. Today, he does not want or even feel the need to compete any more. Perhaps, we may never know the true reason behind Chiangs decision to close Restaurant Andre. But his decision to keep Raw out of the Michelin Guide is consistent with the reasons cited by other former Michelin-starred chefs for giving back their stars. If Chiang thinks that a menu at Raw that is true to Taiwans produce and flavours might be perceived as unappealing to the taste buds of anonymous French connoisseurs, then it says a lot about the accuracy and relevance of the Michelin Guide as the ultimate food guide. After all, the worlds food bible hasnt exactly had a compelling reputation in Asia. It was criticised for being a marketing ploy in awarding an incredible number of stars in Tokyo for its first guide in 2008  191 for 150 restaurants, despite many being deemed unworthy by locals. In 2013, the guide was slammed by prominent food critic Andy Hayler for the controversial and often erratic awarding of stars to establishments in Hong Kong and Macau. Singapore, which received its first guide in 2016, also did not see the most ideal launch. Critics panned the guide for the glaring omission of hawkers in lieu of luxe restaurants. Only Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle and Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodles represented the countrys distinct food culture, and these were located near the central business district, suggesting that inspectors were lazy in their hunt for good hawker food. These instances point to a common trend of Michelin inspectors clearly not understanding Asian food culture, and the guide runs the risk of skewing perceptions of the regions food for all the wrong reasons. Granted, the fame and prestige, and thus increased business that ensues, are undeniable benefits of the Michelin star award. To be able to win over the Frenchs stamp of approval would be seen as a colossal achievement for an Asian chef. That is why it remains the highest form of aspiration for many in the culinary business. Chan Hong Meng, who worked at a hawker centre in Chinatown for decades, has seen an impossible dream come true. His humble chicken noodle stall, awarded one star, is now a chain with outlets in Thailand and Taiwan, and more in the pipeline. However, it should not be the only aspiration for Singaporean hawkers and chefs. Our food is unique and reflects the countrys melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. If the French dont like it, so be it. We shouldnt be pandering to their tastes with pretentious or bizarre fusions and concoctions anyhow. This snobbery associated with the Michelin Guide is also its biggest flaw, and the reason why Singaporeans shouldnt pay too much attention to it. It breeds insecurity and vanity among chefs, leading to creations that are sometimes more complicated than sophisticated, which draw in a pretentious crowd wanting the bragging rights on social media. It is a self-perpetuating cycle. Not all restaurants that Michelin endorses fall in that category of course. Even Andre Chiang disagrees with the negative perception of the Michelin Guide, calling it his primary motivation to pursue his dream in the French culinary world since he was 15. But there is no question that the Michelin Guide is not the standard-bearer that we should be worshipping. So when Chiang announces that he would be returning his Michelin stars, we should not be mourning the loss of a two-starred restaurant or the fact that he has lost his status as a Michelin-starred chef. Instead, we should be applauding his decision to pursue something more genuine and true to heart, something that would actually help propel the culinary industry forward. Its also an opportunity to ask if more chefs should do the sameespecially those not too keen on having their Asian cuisine judged by European tastes. We should be celebrating the courage to say a very polite fuck you to culinary haughtiness.
BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA on Wednesday submitted a plan to cut its 65.4 billion-real ($21 billion) debt burden to a commercial court. The plan was approved by the company's board, and creditors of the largest-ever bankruptcy proceeding in Latin America will vote on it on Oct. 23. The company said in a statement that the plan proposes an injection of up to 9 billion reais into the company, including at least 6 billion reais in cash and part of the debt-for-equity swap. Reuters reported on the proposal on Tuesday. The reorganization began a year and a half ago and has been marked by disputes between shareholders led by Pharol SGPS SA and Societe Mondiale FIA, and bondholders represented by the Ad Hoc Group of Bondholders and the International Bondholder Committee. (Reporting by Leonardo Goy in Brasilia and Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday said the US was in danger of "sacrificing" its relations with Turkey, as he blamed the American envoy to Ankara for the crisis in relations between the NATO allies. "It is the ambassador here who caused this," Erdogan told a meeting in Ankara, referring to the outgoing US envoy in Turkey, John Bass. "It is unacceptable for the United States to sacrifice its strategic partner like Turkey for a presumptuous ambassador," he said. The dispute erupted last week when Turkey arrested a Turkish employee of the US consulate in Istanbul on suspicion of links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim preacher who Ankara blames for last year's failed coup. In response, Washington halted issuing non-immigrant visas from its missions in Turkey, prompting Ankara to hit back with a tit-for-tat move. Appearing to have no regrets despite the row, Erdogan said Turkey was "fully behind its decision" on the visa suspensions. Although Turkish officials blamed the ambassador for the spat, the State Department said Bass had been operating with the full authority of the US government. Bass is due to leave Turkey at the weekend after he was named the US envoy to Afghanistan earlier this year. "If the giant America is ruled by an ambassador in Ankara, what a shame," Erdogan said. - US response 'disproportionate' - On Monday, Turkish prosecutors summoned another local employee working at the US consulate in Istanbul. Erdogan on Thursday claimed that he was hiding in the consulate, but Bass had denied this the day before, telling reporters: "No one's hiding at any of our facilities." Turkish authorities this week detained his wife, his son and his daughter. Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul said the man currently in police custody made a request the day before to see his lawyer and would meet with them on Friday. "There had been no request until yesterday (Wednesday)," he said. Erdogan said the US response to the arrest of the consulate employee was "unfair" and "disproportionate", and urged for common sense. Ankara wanted to open a new page in relations with the US under Trump but a spate of issues have raised tensions, including the US refusal to extradite Gulen and American support for Kurdish militias in Syria. Erdogan said that Turkish police forces would no longer use guns made by US-based arms manufacturer Sig Sauer and would "take steps" towards using Turkish-produced weapons instead. "From now on our police department ... will not and should not use Sig Sauer weapons," he said. Last month, the US government froze arms sales to Erdogan's bodyguards after Turkish security officials clashed with Kurdish protesters in May following a meeting between Erdogan and President Donald Trump. The move blocks a deal with Sig Sauer for $1.2 million (1.1 million euros) worth of small arms.
Portugal said Wednesday it has charged former socialist prime minister Jose Socrates following a three-year corruption probe, which revealed he may have taken bribes of wine worth millions of euros. The former Portuguese premier was indicted on 31 bribery charges and other crimes, including money laundering, tax fraud and falsification of documents, the general prosecutor's office said in a statement -- a decision that had been expected for several months but was delayed over evidence-gathering. "The accusation is baseless," lawyers for Socrates said, adding in a statement that they intended to use "all legal means" to defend their client. In a 4,000-page indictment that also targets 18 other individuals and nine companies, investigators say Socrates and his accomplices accumulated an estimated fortune of more than 24 million euros ($28 million) in Switzerland, in exchange for favours granted to several companies -- including the Espirito Santo bank that went bankrupt in summer 2014 amid accounting irregularities. The investigation looked at crimes Socrates allegedly committed between 2006 and 2015. He was prime minister from 2005 to 2011. Socrates, 60, was arrested in 2014 and spent nine months in jail before being released in 2015 under house arrest. The former political leader has always maintained his innocence. The indictment also targets businessman Carlos Santos Silva, a childhood friend of Socrates, accused of acting as his intermediary and receiving significant money on his behalf. The prosecutor's office also formally charged Ricardo Espirito Santo Salgado, the former head of Espirito Santo bank and two former officials of Portugal Telecom.
Finance chiefs from around the world were warned Thursday to get their houses in order while the global economy is strong and to be ready for possible shocks in the future. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said that countries must address their mounting debts and deepening inequalities now, before possible setbacks that could come as the era of cheap money from major central banks nears an end. That includes reducing sovereign borrowing and dependence on often fickle flows of portfolio capital that have elevated the prices of investment assets like stocks and property. It also means recognizing the potential upheaval that comes with the rapid changes in technology that can quickly turn competitive industries into also-rans in countries tyring to move up the economic ladder. "After several years of disappointing growth, the global economy has begun to accelerate," Kim said at the opening of the annual IMF-World Bank meetings in Washington. "Trade is picking up, but investment remains weak. We're concerned that risks such as a rise in protectionism, policy uncertainty, or possible financial market turbulence could derail this fragile recovery. "Countries need to build resilience against the overlapping challenges we face today," he added, pointing to climate change, famine and natural disasters like the hurricanes which have wrecked economies across the Caribbean. - 'Don't be complacent' - Lagarde said that even though the IMF has just raised its estimates for global economic growth -- to a healthy 3.6 percent this year and 3.7 percent in 2018 -- "it is not time to be complacent." "It is time to take those policy decisions that will actually enable more people and more countries to benefit from that recovery that should be made sustainable," she said. "That is the question that we will put to the policymakers, the finance ministers, and the governors of central banks who will be attending the meetings." Lagarde said that despite the now nearly fully-fledged recovery from the financial crisis that erupted in 2008, 47 countries still experienced negative growth last year, many of them small and fragile economies. She said inequality, the gap between the rich and the poor, was in particular need of tackling. "Far too many people across all types of economies are seeing their aspirations limited by the impact of technologies and the repercussions of excessive income inequality," Lagarde said. As a result, political tensions are spiking and skepticism is rising about the benefits of the kind of globalization and liberalizing trade that the IMF and World Bank support. - Lagarde: close the gender gap - One key issue of business during the three days of meetings, which will include a meeting of G20 finance ministers, is a huge capital increase for the World Bank to enhance its development lending. The G20 will also see a European push to discuss how to tax the international earnings of big tech giants like Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook. Worries about geopolitics were an undercurrent of discussions as the annual meeting of economic leaders from around the world convened: North Korea's nuclear threat, the Middle East conflicts, Britain's pullout from the European Union, and the newest point of tension; the vote for independence by Spain's rich Catalonia region. On Tuesday IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld warned of potential "spillovers" in Europe if the two sides cannot smoothly resolve their differences. US President Donald Trump's campaign against what he sees as unfair trade agreements was also a key topic. On Wednesday a new round of talks opened to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, with Trump warning partners Canada and Mexico that talks could fail. Indonesia's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said anti-trade forces were "worrying" for developing countries. Trade is "actually very powerful in reducing poverty," she said. It "can transform low income to middle income to rich countries." Lagarde also pushed for more efforts to reduce inequality. "The most efficient way to reduce the inequalities would be to actually close the gender gap between men and women. And that is a no-brainer," she said. "Whether it is access to the labor market, whether it is access to finance, whether it's the gender gap in terms of compensation, that would achieve a lot in order to reduce inequalities. And that applies across the world."
Many of the known outflows of mixed helium and nitrogen are beneath seeps of ground water, which make the bubbles of gases visible as they rise to the surface.

Large underground reserves of helium in East Africa are at least twice as large as first reported, according to scientists from the University of Oxford and the company that plans to start pumping up the precious gas within three years.

The discovery of pockets of helium in the Great Rift Valley region of Tanzania was announced late last year. The initial samples from gas seeps in the area indicated that the underground deposits contained an average of 2.6 percent helium, mixed mostly with nitrogen. [See More Photos of the Helium Cache Found in Africa]

Based on that figure, independent resource assessors estimated that the underground gas field contains 54 billion cubic feet (1.5 billion cubic meters) of helium, or about one-third of the world's known reserves of the gas, which have been dwindling for decades, according to annual assessments by the US Geological Survey.

But new measurements from the Tanzanian gas seeps now show helium concentrations of up to four times the earlier average value, said Thomas Abraham-James, a geologist and CEO of Helium One, a Portugal-based company that plans to start selling the gas internationally by 2020.

Abraham-James told Live Science that a second independent assessment of the underground helium resource in Tanzania now amounts to 98.6 billion cubic feet (2.8 billion cubic meters). "So it's pretty much doubled in size," he said.

He explained that the field-sampling methods used in 2015 had allowed a small amount of air to dilute the concentration of helium in the gas samples.

But new, real-time measurements of gas from the seeps, conducted by geochemists Chris Ballentine and Peter Barry from the University of Oxford late last year, showed that the concentrations of helium are much higher than the initial estimates suggested.

"We are probably still somewhat understating what is present, but nevertheless, that gives us room to update and improve as we progress," Abraham-James said.

Story continues

Critical shortage

The discovery of the helium field in Tanzania comes as the world faces a shortage of the nonrenewable gas, which has critical applications in industry, scientific research and medicine  especially for the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners used in many hospitals.

For decades, the main source of helium worldwide has been underground reserves in Texas owned by the U.S. government. By the mid-1990s the National Helium Reserve near Amarillo was more than $1.4 billion in debt, and in 1996, the U.S. Congress ordered the gas reserves to be sold off to private companies. Commercial supplies of helium from the reserve will cease in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management. [Beyond Balloons: 8 Unusual Facts About Helium]

The Middle Eastern nation of Qatar has also been an important source of helium in recent years, supplying up to one-quarter of international demand from traces of helium separated from underground natural gas, Abraham-James said.

But supplies of helium from Qatar ceased earlier this year, after the closure of the country's border with Saudi Arabia and other sanctions imposed by several Middle Eastern nations over Qatar's alleged support for terrorist organizations, he said.

"The supply dynamics at the moment are very challenging, particularly with U.S. output stopping in 2021, and Qatar, it's fair to say, has its share of problems," he said. "The world needs a reliable source of helium, so that we don't see the fluctuations that we have in recent times."

Helium is created on Earth only by the radioactive decay of heavy elements like uranium. It takes millions of years for pockets of the gas, like those found in Texas and Tanzania, to accumulate underground, and the gas escapes easily into the atmosphere after use.

Abraham-James said exploratory drilling will begin in June or July of next year, and the company expects to start producing the gas as soon as a small processing plant can be built in the area. "Probably by the end of 2020, people will start to be using Tanzanian helium," he said.

African gas

Barry and Ballentine used a portable mass spectrometer to make the latest measurement of gas at the Helium One sites in Tanzania, rather than employing their earlier method of collecting samples for later analysis in a laboratory.

"We made probably 50 measurements out there in the field, and we saw up to four times as much helium in these samples," Barry told Live Science. "So this was really exciting for us, because we were able to show quite convincingly that there's a lot more helium than we originally assessed."

Barry and Ballentine were part of the scientific team that identified the location of likely helium pockets in Tanzania, using a new theory of helium production by underground heat sources  such as the volcanoes in Tanzania's Rift Valley region  which can set the gas free from where it slowly forms inside ancient rocks.

Barry said the helium deposits were within a "Goldilocks Zone" for helium production, about 124 miles (200 kilometers) from the volcanic zone around Tanzania's Mount Rungwe.

"We think that you need to be in pretty close proximity to a volcanic center to have these gases liberate," he said.

Barry added that the initial research on the Tanzanian helium field was presented at last years Goldschmidt Conference on geochemistry in Yokohama, Japan, and that the updated research was presented at the same conference in August in Paris.

Original article on Live Science.

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Iraq's prime minister on Thursday denied an attack on the Kurds was imminent, in a bid to defuse tensions that had prompted Kurdish peshmerga fighters to temporarily seal off road links with the rest of the country. "We are not going to use our army to fight our people or to make war on our Kurdish citizens or others," Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said. "Our duty is to preserve the unity of our country, to implement the constitution, and to protect citizens and national forces," he told a meeting of tribal leaders in the western province of Anbar, where Iraqi security forces are battling to seize the Islamic State (IS) group's last bastion in the country. The rise in tensions came two weeks after Kurdish voters overwhelmingly backed independence in a non-binding referendum that the central government condemned as illegal. Iraqi Kurdish forces closed the two main roads connecting Arbil and Dohuk with the northern city of Mosul for several hours, a Kurdish military official said. "The closure was prompted by fears of a possible attack by Iraqi forces on the disputed areas," held by Kurdish forces but outside the autonomous Kurdish region in the north of the country, the official said. Kurdish authorities said late Wednesday they feared Iraqi government forces and allied paramilitary units were gearing up to launch an assault on the autonomous region. "We're receiving dangerous messages that the Hashed al-Shaabi (paramilitary forces) and federal police are preparing a major attack from the southwest of Kirkuk and north of Mosul against Kurdistan," the Kurdistan Regional Government's Security Council said. - 'Fighting a single enemy' - Security sources said Thursday that Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service and Rapid Response Force had deployed more forces near peshmerga positions around Rashad, a village some 65 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk city. The oil-rich province of the same name, areas of which took part in the referendum, is disputed between the Kurds and Baghdad. On a conciliatory note, Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani's government reached out to Abadi. It reiterated that it was "ready for dialogue and negotiations, based on the constitution, on border posts, internal trade, citizens' services, banking and airports". For its part, Iraq's Joint Operations Command, which groups all pro-government forces, played down the tensions, expressing confidence that dialogue would resolve the problem. "Our mission is clear: we are fighting a single enemy, Daesh," Brigadier General Yahiya Rassul said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. "All that interests Iraqis... is to liberate our country and beat the terrorist group," he said. "We do not forget the role played by the peshmerga." He said Iraqi government forces had previously operated close to peshmerga lines near the northern city of Tal Afar. Asked if there had been movements of Iraqi forces close to peshmerga positions, Colonel Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the US-led coalition battling IS in Syria and Iraq, said: "We don't see that." The coalition has worked with both peshmerga and Iraqi pro-government forces in the battle to oust IS from areas of Iraq it seized in mid-2014. "Our mission is clear -- to defeat Daesh," Dillon said. "We have done that throughout Iraq. We will support the Iraqis in the same way we have in the last three years to make sure that Daesh is defeated". - Ties cut - Central authorities severed ties between the Kurdish autonomous region and the outside world after the referendum by cutting international air links. Neighbouring Turkey and Iran, which fear that Iraqi Kurdish moves towards independence could fuel demands from their own sizeable Kurdish communities, have also threatened to close their borders to oil exports. An Iraqi court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of senior Kurdish officials responsible for organising the referendum, saying they had done so "in contravention of a ruling by the Iraqi supreme court". The warrant is likely to prove toothless as Baghdad's security forces do not operate inside Kurdistan, but it could stop the officials leaving the region. Iraq has also launched a probe into Kurdistan's lucrative oil revenues and pledged to expose "corrupt" officials in the region who might have illegally monopolised the market.
A Chinese national was jailed on 11 October 2017 for cheating at Marina Bay Sands casino

A man who colluded with a casino dealer to cheat Marina Bay Sands (MBS) of more than $24,000 was jailed 25 weeks on Wednesday (11 October).

Wang Zhe, a 26-year-old Chinese national, pleaded guilty to 22 charges of obtaining money by a fraudulent scheme or practice in a casino game. Forty-two other similar charges were taken into consideration.

The court heard that Wang, a factory worker who has been working in Singapore in the last three years, was a roommate and a friend of Gao Fengfeng, a dealer at MBS casino.

Sometime in March 2017, Gao shared with Feng that over the course of his work in the casino, he had unintentionally overpaid patrons on a few occasions but did not get into trouble with the management as it was normal to make mistakes.

Gao then suggested to Wang that they collude with each other to cheat the casino and split the money equally. Wang agreed to the scam as he saw it as an easy way of making money.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiam Jia Min said that the pair did so through four methods. Gao would either forget to collect Wangs losing wager, or make a winning payout to Wang even though he did not win, or make a winning payout even though Wang placed an invalid wager, or overpay Wang when he requested for a change of chips.

The pair would do so over four different games that Gao was dealing at: Texas Holdem, Baccarat, Three Card Poker, and Sic Bo. The crimes were done over eight days in July.

The losses that MBS suffered ranged from $25 to $1,000 each time. The biggest loss incurred on a single day was on 30 July, when Gao and Wang managed to cheat MBS of $11,225. Wang spent part of his ill-gotten proceeds  which totalled $24,735  on personal expenses, including buying a Gucci brand wallet.

Wang and Gao were arrested by the police on 31 July 2017 at the casino. Police recovered and seized $13,812 in cash, $2050 worth of MBS casino chips, two Gucci wallets from them. No restitution has been made to the casino till date.

Story continues

In mitigation, Wang said through his lawyer that he is a first-time offender. He also said that he is willing to make restitution, but did not have the opportunity to do so as he was in remand and nobody could bail him out.

However, District Judge Matthew Joseph said that such issues should have been made known before sentencing, while the money seized by the police, as well as some cash that Wang still has in possession are believed to be proceeds of crime.

Wang could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined up to $150,000. Gaos case has not yet been heard.

Other Singapore stories:
MONROVIA (Reuters) - One of Liberia's leading political parties called for a halt in announcing the result of Tuesday's presidential election, citing irregularities in the vote. The Liberty Party, whose candidate Charles Brumskine was considered a front-runner to take over from Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, said it would consider taking legal action if the National Elections Commission (NEC) did not act on its demands. The NEC was originally expected to release preliminary results on Thursday. "The Liberty Party is deeply troubled by the discovery of numerous incidents of irregularities and fraud that occurred during the elections," Liberty Party national chairman Benjamin Sanvee said in a statement. "We are calling on NEC to immediately halt further announcements of election results. If NEC does not cooperate with our request, we will take the appropriate legal action," he said. He did not give specific evidence of voter fraud and it was unclear what kind of activity could have altered Tuesday's vote. An NEC spokesman told Reuters that it was unaware of the Liberty Party's complaint and did not say whether the commission believed illegal acts occurred. On election day, materials including ballot boxes arrived late in some locations and some people struggled to find their names on voter rolls, witnesses said, but there was so far no evidence that this was linked to illicit activity. Any irregularities would taint the results of an election expected to mark the first democratic transfer of power in over seven decades in a country haunted by a civil war that ended nearly 15 years ago. Liberia, Africa's oldest modern republic, was founded by freed U.S. slaves in 1847 but its last democratic power transfer dates back to 1943. Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female president, won a surprise victory in 2005 following a post-war transition. She was re-elected in 2011 but is barred from seeking another term. (Reporting By Alphonso Toweh; writing by Edward McAllister; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Hunched over platters of dates and Arabic coffee, Saudi women raring to drive once a government ban ends next June signed up for another revolution - to be the kingdom's first female cab drivers. King Salman last month decreed that women will be allowed driving permits, a historic reform that could put not just millions of women behind the wheel but potentially many more into the workforce. Sensing a lucrative opportunity, ride-hailing company Careem says it plans to hire up to 100,000 female chauffers to lure new clients in the gender-segregated kingdom. This week, the company invited AFP to its first recruitment session in the coastal city of Khobar, which attracted a diverse crowd - from housewives to working women - who already have foreign driving licences. "For years I felt helpless. My car would be parked outside and I could not drive," said Nawal al-Jabbar, a 50-year-old mother of three, sipping coffee from a thimble-sized cup. A chorus of hoots and claps erupted in the auditorium as the women, who learned about the recruitment by word-of-mouth, watched news footage on a projector screen of last month's royal decree. "It felt like we had woken up in a new Saudi Arabia," Jabbar said. An instructor stood next to the screen, holding up a smartphone to show the inner workings of the app. The firm plans to add a new "Captinah" button to the app next June that would allow customers to choose women chauffeurs. The option will only be available to other women and families, Careem spokesman Murtadha Alalawi said. Around 30 women registered for the event in Khobar. Many arrived unaccompanied by men, something not commonly seen in a country where male "guardians" have arbitrary authority to make crucial decisions on behalf of women. - 'Rite of passage' - "This is a rite of passage for women," said Sarah Algwaiz, director of the women chauffeurs program at Careem, referring to the reform. "For women to drive their own cars signals autonomy, mobility and financial independence." The Gulf kingdom was the only country in the world to ban women from taking the wheel, and it was seen globally as a symbol of repression. For decades, hardliners cited austere Islamic interpretations to justify the ban, with some maintaining women lack the intelligence to drive and that allowing them to would promote promiscuity. "Society portrays women to be strong when it's convenient and weak when it's convenient," said trainee Jabbar. "I say if you can depend on a female doctor to deliver a baby, then you can depend on a woman to drive a car." The lifting of the driving ban has been widely credited to 32-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who styles himself as a moderniser in the conservative kingdom, where more than half the population is aged under 25. Prince Mohammed has cracked down on dissent while also showing a rare willingness to tackle entrenched Saudi taboos such as promoting more women in the workforce. Becoming a chauffeur would mean "extra income", said Banain al-Mustafa, a 24-year-old medical lab technician who obtained her license while she was studying in West Virginia in 2015. "I drove for two-and-a-half years," she said, including once on her own in a nine-hour road trip from New York to West Virginia. "If I can drive there, why not in my own country?" - Cultural backlash - The reform is in line with the kingdom's Vision 2030 programme that seeks to elevate women to nearly one-third of the workforce, up from about 22 percent now. Authorities have highlighted the economic benefits of the reform as the kingdom reels from a protracted oil slump; Saudi families would no longer need foreign chauffeurs, often a major source of financial strain. Riyadh is moving to bring female driving instructors from abroad, local media reported, and Princess Nourah University said it will inaugurate a women's only driving school. Authorities this week warned against violations of the ban until it is formally lifted after a woman was filmed driving out of a luxury hotel in Riyadh. Careem said it would wait for government regulations to be formally announced before putting female recruits behind the wheel. Its rival Uber is reportedly planning a similar initiative to recruit female drivers. The new Careem recruits in Khobar were seemingly unperturbed by pockets of resistance from men or sexist comments on social media over women driving. "Look at how women's abayas have evolved -- different styles and colours -- despite strong resistance," Jabbar said, referring to the traditional black gown. "After a while, even women drivers will become a new normal."
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will lay out a more confrontational strategy towards Iran by the United States on Friday in a speech in which he is likely to strike a blow at an international Iran nuclear deal, complicating U.S. relations with European allies. U.S. officials said Trump was expected to announce that he will not certify the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, believing the agreement is not in the national interests of the United States. He had certified it twice before but aides said he was reluctant to do so a third time. Trump could have a last minute change of heart before he outlines his administration's new approach towards Iran in speech at the White House at 12:45 p.m. EDT (1645 GMT) on Friday. The step would not withdraw the United States from the deal but would give the U.S. Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose the sanctions on Tehran that were suspended under an agreement that was negotiated by the United States and other world powers during the administration of former President Barack Obama. International inspectors say Iran is in technical compliance with the accord, but Trump says Tehran is in violation of the spirit of the agreement and has done nothing to rein in its ballistic missile programme or its financial and military support for Hezbollah and other extremist groups. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said the U.S. approach towards Iran is to work with allies in the Middle East to contain Tehran's activities. "We have footprints on the ground, naval and Air Force is there to just demonstrate our resolve, our friendship, and try to deter anything that any country out there may do," Kelly said. European allies are warning of a split with the United States on the issue. This week, Trump has heard appeals from British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron for the United States to certify the deal for the sake of allied unity. "It's imperative that Europe sticks together on this issue," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told the RND German newspaper group. "We also have to tell the Americans that their behaviour on the Iran issue will drive us Europeans into a common position with Russia and China against the USA." Signed by the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, the European Union and Iran, the deal lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme. Trump has called the accord "an embarrassment" and "the worst deal ever." European officials have categorically ruled out renegotiating the deal, but have said they share Trump's concerns over Iran's destabilising influence in the Middle East. The threat of new action from Washington has prompted a public display of unity from the rival factions among Iran's rulers. CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Thursday kept up a steady drumbeat of Trump administration criticism of Iran, saying Tehran is "mounting a ruthless drive to be the hegemonic power in the region." Irans intelligence service and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps "are the cudgels of a despotic theocracy, with the IRGC accountable only to a Supreme Leader. Theyre the vanguard of a pernicious empire that is expanding its power and influence across the Middle East," Pompeo said in remarks at the University of Texas in Austin. In Tampa, Florida, the head of U.S. Central Command said he was concerned about Iran's long-term activities in the region and he would continue to focus on protecting U.S. troops, even as Iran has said U.S. regional military bases would be at risk if further sanctions were passed. "Iran is kind of a long-term destabilising actor in the region and so we remain concerned about their activities as well," U.S. General Joseph Votel told reporters. (Reporting by Steve Holland; additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Warren Strobel in Washington and Idrees Ali in Florida; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Grant McCool)
The United States and its ally Israel said Thursday they were pulling out of the UN's culture and education body, in a move that underlined Washington's drift away from international institutions. The US decision, announced in Washington, follows years of tension at the organisation which it accused of having an "anti-Israel bias". "This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organisation, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. The United States has walked out of the 195-member organisation once before under ex-president Ronald Reagan, who quit in 1984 over alleged financial mismanagement and claims of anti-US bias in some of its policies. President George W. Bush announced America's return in 2002, but relations soured again in 2011 when Barack Obama pulled the plug on funding to the body after its members voted to admit Palestine as a full member. Washington opposes any move by UN bodies to recognise the Palestinian territories as a state, believing this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal. But President Donald Trump's administration is also reviewing many of its multilateral commitments, pursuing what he calls an "America First" policy that has allies in Europe worried. "UNESCO is about promoting our ideals and values through culture, education and science," France's UN ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters in New York, adding that "we need an America that stays committed to world affairs." But Nauert said that the cost to the United States of remaining a member had also influenced the decision. "As many of you know, we were in arrears to the tune of $550 million or so. And so the question is, you know, do we want to pay that money? And do we want to pay more money going forward," she said. Nauert noted that there is a US law which forbids the government to pay membership dues to any organisation that recognises Palestinian statehood. "So that's part of it, financially, OK? Second part of it is we'd like to see overall UN reform," she added. In a statement announcing its own withdrawal, Israel called the Trump administration's decision "courageous and moral" accusing the the UN body of becoming a "theatre of the absurd" after a series of resolutions condemning the Jewish state. Trump had already dismayed European partners by saying last June he would withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, while later this week he is set to deal a blow to the Iran nuclear deal, which the European Union is desperate to uphold. The outgoing head of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, called the US withdrawal a "loss to multilateralism", while UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said through a spokesman that he "regrets this development deeply". Russia's foreign ministry said it "regretted" Washington's decision. - 'Observer mission' - UNESCO was once a low-profile UN agency best known for producing a list of World Heritage sites including tourist favourites such as the Grand Canyon or Cambodia's Angkor Wat, as well as running science, media and cultural programmes. But in addition to the controversial decision to admit the Palestinians in 2011, it has been the scene of repeated diplomatic flare-ups after efforts led by Arab countries to pass resolutions critical of Israel. In May, Israel was infuriated by a resolution identifying Israel as "the occupying power" in the divided city of Jerusalem and calling on it to rescind any move changing the city's "character and status". In July, another resolution declared the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank an endangered World Heritage site. Despite cutting its funding to the agency the US has continued to cooperate with UNESCO since 2011 on programmes of interest to Washington, such as combatting extremism and perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust. The double withdrawal by the US and Israel comes as board members are voting to elect a new director-general, with Arab candidates from Qatar and Egypt vying with a French competitor. "The worst news is the withdrawal of the United States which has overshadowed the election," defeated Lebanese candidate Vera El Khoury told AFP on Thursday. "Every time a member leaves it weakens the organisation." Washington's withdrawal is set to take effect on December 31, 2018, when it will establish an "observer mission" to replace its representation at the agency. "It has nothing to do with the director-general race," a spokesman for the US mission told AFP. Francois Heisbourg, chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the decision was probably motivated by Trump's desire to send a message of support to Israel and underlined his "America First" policies. "UNESCO is an easier target than others: it's relatively small, it doesn't concern vital interests, and UNESCO has gone much further than other UN organisations in recognising the Palestinian authorities," he told AFP.
Chef Andre Chiang, whose eponymously named restaurant has held the title of Singapore's best restaurant and is consistently ranked among the top restaurants in Asia, has asked Michelin to take back his two stars and announced plans to close next year.

It was a surprising one-two punch announcement issued just after Chiang celebrated the restaurant's seventh anniversary this week, and one that continues to reverberate in Singapore's dynamic fine dining community.

In a two-page letter to his fans and followers, Chiang explained he wants to retire at the peak of Restaurant Andre, which holds two Michelin stars and is currently ranked No. 2 on Asia's 50 Best Restaurant list just behind Indian restaurant Gaggan in Bangkok.

"I wish to kindly return my Michelin stars and also request to not be included in the 2018 edition of the Michelin Guide Singapore," reads an excerpt, typed in bold font.

"Following Michelin Guide's expansion in Asia, I understand that Michelin will soon launch new editions in Bangkok and Taiwan (where my other restaurant RAW is located in Taipei). As my hope is that RAW will be the pure place where I can focus on educating, developing others, and cooking after my retirement from Restaurant ANDRE, I also request that RAW not be included in the Michelin Guide Taiwan (or Taipei)."

Chiang is the latest chef to "give back" his Michelin stars and request omission in the next guide.

Last month, French chef Sebastian Bras made international headlines for asking Michelin to be stripped of his three-starred status, citing the enormous pressure of having to meeting the rigorous standards every day.

A few weeks later, owners of the Boath House in Nairn, Scotland likewise walked away from their Michelin star by announcing plans to turn the restaurant into a casual dining destination.

It appears that Singapore's loss will be Taiwan's gain as the Taiwanese chef also revealed plans to return to his birthplace like a prodigal son.

Story continues

"After thirty years of a professional culinary career, returning to where I was born forty years ago has always been my dream, passing on everything I have to the next generation in Taiwan and China is my duty, and providing young chefs a better education and culinary culture is an urgent priority for me."

The menu at Restaurant Andre is inspired by Southern French nouvelle cuisine and explores texture, terroir and food memories.

Like Ferran Adria and Rene Redzepi before him, who shocked the food world when they decided to shutter their restaurants (elBulli in Cala Montjoi, Noma in Copenhagen) at the peak of their success, Chiang said there's nothing left to do at the restaurant, which has attained the summit of perfection.

"...we have achieved everything we wanted to achieve."

The last service at Restaurant Andre will be Feb. 14, 2018.

Chiang was short on details, but also noted he's working on new projects for 2018 and 2019.
Having failed to repeal Obamacare through Congress, President Trump has once again resorted to jabbing holes in the law with his pen. On Thursday, the president signed an executive order that, in theory, could eventually let Americans buy cheaper health coverage that doesnt meet many of the Affordable Care Acts basic requirements, potentially rocking the legislations insurance markets and driving up costs for the sick. Its just the latestand perhaps the most dramaticstep in the White Houses yearlong campaign of sabotage against the law.

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This time, however, there are at least a couple ways that states where Obamacare is succeeding and popular can fight back.

Trumps order wont change anything on its own. Instead, it simply instructs his cabinet to consider proposing regulatory changes that would make it easier for people without much in the way of medical needs to buy inexpensive insurance with limited benefits. Of course, this would undermine the entire premise of Obamacare, which is designed to cross-subsidize the cost of insurance for the old and sick by making younger, healthier Americans buy coverage in the same marketcoverage that by design includes services many Americans may not need now but could later.

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Trump would try to shred that market in two main ways. First, the executive order would loosen restrictions on short-term insurance. These typically threadbare plans are designed for people who need to fill a temporary gap in their coverage and arent required to abide by Obamacares various rules and regs. Companies selling them can charge people higher premiums based on their health status and dont have to cover any of a customers pre-existing conditions or the basic suite of essential benefits mandated by the ACA. Some of these plans used to last up to a year. But the Obama administration clamped down on them in 2016, limiting the time they could last to just three months, after it realized the plans were siphoning off young, ailment-free customers from the ACAs marketplaces.

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The Trump administration will likely try to roll back that rule so healthy 27-year-olds who dont want to spend a lot on coverage could go back to using short-term plans as semipermanent insurance. Theyd have to reapply every year, true, but that might be a small price to pay for the cheaper rates theyd be paying.

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How badly would that destabilize Obamacares insurance markets? It may depend on what Trump does about the individual mandate, which requires Americans to buy coverage or pay a tax. Short-term plans dont count as insurance under the ACA, but many experts assume Trump is planning to relax enforcement of the rule. If the individual mandate penalty is waived, these plans could really take off, the Kaiser Family Foundations Larry Levitt told me. If so, young people could once again exit Obamacares exchanges, leading to higher premiums for the (again, in all likelihood older and sicker) people who remain.

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The executive orders second effort to deregulate the insurance market borrows an idea beloved by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, and would expand what are known as association health plans. These are insurance pools run by groups of small businesses to provide coverage for their workers. Under Obamacare, these plans have to abide by all the same rules that apply to the individual market. Trumps health-care team would like to free them from those restrictions so they could offer lower-cost options. And while Thursday order is extremely light on specifics, the administration is at least considering trying to use these plans as a vehicle to effectively deregulate the entire insurance market. Not only would they be able to offer coverage skirting the ACAs rules, but they could also be sold across state lines and be made available to the self-employed. Were that to happen, an association of personal trainers or midwestern Uber drivers or East Coast freelance journalists could start offering low-end insurance coverage that also draws individuals off the exchanges.

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Again, all of this could create quite a bit of havoc in the health insurance markets. And in conservative corners of the country where politicians have been making burnt offerings and praying daily for Obamacares demise, elected officials might just let that chaos unfold. But thankfully, states like New York or California that have functioning health-care markets and would like to keep them have ways to muck up Trumps plan.

To start, theres a pretty simple way to deal with short-term insurance coverage: Ban it. Or, to be specific, limit its duration to the 90 days that the Obama administration allowed. States are still allowed to have some say over their own insurance markets, and theyre certainly allowed to stop Donald Trump from trying to roil them just to score revenge points against his predecessor. I dont see anything that would let the federal government pre-empt states from doing that, Levitt told me.

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The association health plans could pose a little bit of a trickier challenge, since, again, the administration is angling to do an end-run around liberal regulators in Massachusetts or Illinois by letting these things be sold over state borders. The trouble for Trump is that its unclear how far he can actually expand these things while staying within the bounds of federal law; making them available to individuals in particular, which is the nightmare scenario for the ACA, could stretch the Retirement Income Security Act past its breaking point. That may be why the executive order was so vague on its precise designs for association plans. And it suggests that if Trump does try to push these plans hard, states that dont want their insurance markets to unravel could bring a lawsuit that would at least tie Trumps effort up in court for a few good years. States definitely have standing [to sue] if their regulatory authority is being undermined and may also have standing if there is damage to their insurance markets, Dania Palanker, an assistant research professor at Georgetown Universitys Center on Health Insurance Reforms, told me in an email. Just like Republican attorneys general went to war against the ACA, their Democratic counterparts can try to stop Trump from crumbling it.

One of subtly infuriating things about the Republican Obamacare repeal bills like Graham-Cassidy was that, while they pretended to merely give states the option to chuck the laws consumer protections, in reality they would have forced many state lawmakers hands by cutting the federal funding that makes the ACA work. Here, we have the opposite situation. Trump wants to force deregulation on the states. But as long Obamacare is on the books and its funding is flowing, states where the law is popular can resist.
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Most small business owners can identify with the challenges of getting financing for their business or funding for a new product. Theres no short, easy road to funding, most of the time, but these small business funding resources can help.

List of Online Lending Marketplaces

Business funding resources are crucial for many cash-strapped small businesses. Acquiring third-party funding is the only option to help get their venture off the ground and promote and sustain growth. Fortunately, there are plenty of online lending marketplaces where small businesses can head to in order to find the right type of funding for their specific requirements.

Business Funding Resources Your Small Company Should Consider

If you need to secure financing for your small business, take a look at the following list of online business funding resources which provide different funding options from a variety of lenders.

Biz2Credit

Biz2Credits innovative technology platform uses a small businesss lending requirements to help find the best business funding resources available to them. This national lending marketplace brings you a simple way to accelerate the lending process.

The platform matches borrowers to business funding resources, based on every businesss unique profile. The process is completed within minutes, in a secure, efficient and transparent environment.

The Lending Club

The Lending Club connects borrowers with investors through its online marketplace. The Lending Club screens borrowers, facilitates the transactions and secures the loans businesses need to consolidate debt, finance major purchases and more.

Fundera

Fundera is an online portal where you can compare dozens of small business loan options from one convenient place. By using the Fundera marketplace, you can save significant time comparing rates from the leading lenders in the United States. By forcing lenders to compete for your business and making sure you get the best rates and terms, the Fundera platform can help save you thousands of dollars.

The Funding Circle

The Funding Circle is essentially a community of investors offering business loans to companies of all industries and sizes. Funding Circle loans are funded by a community of thousands of investors, who are looking to lend to businesses like yours.

Not only can you secure the money you need for business operations and growth, but with the Funding Circle you can benefit from a quick application process, dedicated account manager and a fast decision.

Venturize

Venturize is aimed at helping organizations take control of their financial future by discovering vetted resources. This online hub for small business financing provides you with unbiased information so you can be better informed about small business lending and how to become loan-ready.

Multifunding

Multifunding is dedicated to helping small businesses find and secure the best financing options. The loan marketplace works with hundreds of lenders across the United States, to find businesses the best loans for their specific purposes.

The online lending portal puts you in contact with a network of lenders, to help you choose the right loan for your business.

Lendio

Use the Lendio platform to match your business borrowing requirements with Lendios network of 75-plus lenders. Lenders make offers and help small businesses choose the best loans based on their budget, goals and unique requirements.

Kiva

Kiva proudly asserts to be the worlds first online lending platform, which connects online lenders to entrepreneurs and small businesses. On the Kiva platform, you simply apply for a loan, the loan then goes through the underwriting and approval process and is posted to Kiva for lenders to support. Lenders then crowdfund the loan in increments of $25 or more.

Opportunity Finance Network

The Opportunity Finance Network is run by the National Association of Community Development Financial Institutions. The network is aimed at helping individuals and organizations secure financing where traditional financing doesnt reach.

The network is aimed at creating positive changes across the United States by financing projects and individuals that create and maintain small businesses, living-wage jobs, community facilities and more.

SmartBiz

SmartBiz is dedicated to making small business lending easier for businesses. SmartBizs innovative technology enables fast and easy Small Business Administration (SBA) loans with low monthly payments and competitive rates. With a comprehensive marketplace of SBA-preferred banks, SmartBiz platform will significantly increase the chances of your loan application being successful.

There are plenty of sites that offer business loans  too many to try and list. There are resources at the State and City level, depending on where you live, that can help you financially. There are also lists of USA State websites that offer resources or details around funding and details available on what it takes to qualify for a small business loan as well as sources of start-up funding.

We welcome you to list resources in the comments. We want to see the path to funding get easier, more transparent, and understandable for small business as a whole and we hope these resources do that for you.

If you have discovered a great resource that can help a small business owner find financing or a grant, please share it below.
As small businesses change and grow, the ability to quickly scale up  or down  becomes a necessity. Adding new employees, for example, requires the company to adapt its phone system to accommodate the need for more lines.

That is harder to accomplish using traditional on-premise telephony systems due to higher setup and maintenance costs, the need for hardware on-site and reliance on IT support. A cloud-based phone system, on the other hand, would enable small businesses to manage communication services in a less costly, more streamlined and agile manner.

The following points, gleaned from an email exchange between Small Business Trends and Aaron Charlesworth, VP of product marketing at Vonage, outline the benefits that small businesses can accrue by switching from traditional PBX systems to cloud-based VoIP technology.

Benefits of a Cloud-Based Phone System

1. Fully-Integrated Communications System

A report from the research firm Gartner points out that integrating a companys communications with its everyday applications for business processes and workflows helps increase efficiency.

Business tools that operate in the cloud are easy to deploy, enabling employees to stay connected whether they are in the office or on the go. In this way, the cloud provides a consistent business presence and helps to increase productivity with seamless access to CRM tools, email, instant messaging, voice and videoconferencing.

2. Control Over Modes of Communication

A cloud-operated system puts businesses in the drivers seat, allowing them to pick and choose what features they need, with access to turn them on or off easily.

Also, cloud solutions give employees anytime, anywhere access via a smartphone, desk phone or softphone to all their calling features. Even better, they can have real-time access to their critical business software.

3. Top Line Business Features

A cloud-based phone system would give small businesses access to the types of network applications that one would typically find at larger corporations. These include features such as a Virtual Assistant, Auto Attendant, Never Miss a Call or Call Center solutions.

4. Mobility and Ease of Use

Todays workplace is increasingly mobile, and small businesses especially need to be able to operate from multiple locations.

With a cloud-based system, small business employees have access to features that allow them to log in from anywhere so that they can be reached while on the go, giving customer-facing and revenue-producing employees greater control over their productivity.

5. Time Management and Efficiency

Web-based customer portals enable IT staff to manage their system more efficiently. With insight into the installation, service configuration, trouble tickets, training, billing and call analytics, this full access to a customers system and account allows them to spend fewer resources on project management and focus more on work that adds to the bottom line.

Also, cloud solutions can easily integrate with other cloud-based applications, providing mobile employees access to all the features and functionality they need to work just as efficiently as if they were in the office.

6. Flexibility to Scale Up (and Down)

As a business grows, so does the need to hire new employees, open new offices and onboard new customers. This requires a communications system that can scale up  or down  as the need arises.

With a cloud-based phone system, businesses can add as many extensions as they need to accommodate heightened call volume, or, if necessary, simply call in to deactivate these extra extensions. Unlike traditional systems, businesses only pay for the extensions they need for as long as they need them.

7. Business Continuity

Working with a phone system in the cloud allows businesses to remain connected to their customers no matter the environment. A cloud-based communications system is likely to be unaffected by outside factors such as severe weather or other issues that may keep employees from getting to the office.

With a cloud-based system, businesses can maintain a consistent presence  and access the tools needed  to keep things running smoothly.

8. Improved Customer Service

With the Virtual Receptionist (VR) or Auto Attendant feature, businesses can easily direct calls to various departments and even create greetings unique to a given department.

For example, a business could set up a holiday greeting in advance (via the administrative portal) and pre-set it to revert to the non-holiday greeting on a specified date. It could also add an on-hold message about special promotions or commonly asked questions.

9. New Service Features Added Easily

During busy seasons, some businesses will add premium calling features to increase call-taking efficiency and maximize staffing. Call Groups, for example, allow incoming calls to ring on multiple extensions.

Call Queues provide a dynamic waiting room for callers that let businesses customize the on-hold experience and better manage call volume. Both help to decrease voicemails, missed calls and busy signals, enabling service to as many callers as possible.

See Also: How to Keep Your Phone Number While Switching Carriers

10. Cost Savings

Cost savings are another benefit of cloud-based phone system. Moving telecommunications off of PBX platforms and to the cloud can be less expensive relative to monthly service rates versus that of a traditional system, helping to reduce costs and, ultimately, increase profitability.
Several companies have already shown interest in renting the space.

The official launch of construction of two halls in Nitra (Source: Courtesy of Prologis)

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Prologis, the biggest developer in logistics real estate in Slovakia, has started the construction of two logistics facilities at its new Prologis Park Nitra in Slovakia. The expected completion of both buildings is scheduled for the second quarter of 2018.

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Prologis Park Nitra, with a future total leasable area of 95,000 square metres of modern premises, is located next to the new Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) plant. This is now under construction with plans to launch production in late 2018.

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Prologis Park Nitra will be a valuable addition to our growing portfolio of assets in Slovakia, where we are the leading provider of logistics facilities, said Martin Polak, regional head of Prologis Central and Eastern Europe on the official launch of the construction, on October 10.

Companies, suppliers of JLR and also other companies, have shown a high interest in renting space in the two halls totalling more than 62,000 square metres when almost 80 percent of their total space is either pre-leased or booked. These include Plastic Omnium, Air International and MC Syncro.

Later in 2018, depending on interest from potential tenants, Prologis plans to build a third hall.

The developer did not specify the sum it is investing into the 20-hectare park.

It will be in the tens of millions of euros, said Polak.

Prologis acquired land for the construction of its fourth logistics park in Slovakia next to the future carmaker last spring.

Wed been looking at the locality of Nitra for a longer period of time, Polak told The Slovak Spectator. At the moment it was officially announced that JLR would build its plant here, we became interested in it.
He criticises the extension of more powers to the ruling government.

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President Andrej Kiska has challenged the recent changes to the law on the regulation of energy prices at the Constitutional Court. He wants it to decide whether the amendment, adopted this spring, is in compliance with the constitution and European laws.

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The president objects to the change concerning the election of the chair of the energy regulator, the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (URSO) and the setting of new energy prices, the Sme daily reported.

Under the old rules, the new chair was proposed by the government, while the president could veto the nomination. After the amendment was adopted, he lost this power.

By amending the law the government has violated the existing distribution of power, Kiska said, as quoted by Sme. It also subordinated the regulators head to direct political control of the government that rules the country. It has become a political function.

Following the changes, the government appointed Lubomir Jahnatek, former MP for Smer and ex-economy and agriculture minister, to lead the URSO in mid-July.

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The previous chair, Jozef Holjencik, had to leave at the beginning of the year, after the scandal over high energy prices, Sme wrote.

As for setting energy prices, Kiska objects to the fact that the process is now supervised by the Ministries of the Economy and the Environment.

The return of the participation of the ministries in pricing proceedings is at odds with the EU rules, Kiska said, as quoted by Sme. It increases the risk of interference with the regulators decisions.
Meciar, the new film by young Slovak director Tereza Nvotova was launched on October 11.

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The story of how her own generation perceives the former authoritarian politician, Vladimir Meciar, and of the impact he has had on her and on the whole of Slovak society will be screened in cinemas from October 12.

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Nvotova has been collecting the material and shooting the movie for more than four years.

I was mostly after the context, Nvotova said after a special screening on October 11, as cited by the TASR newswire. I never felt the urge to be an investigative journalist looking for something no-one had found before, nor did I imagine that I could manage something like that.

She made the film for herself and for younger people who do not remember the 1990s and what this era meant to the political scene  or have only fragmentary recollections of it. She delivers a lot of the information through personal stories. When communism ended in Czechoslovakia, in 1989, Nvotova was only one year old.

The producer with personal experience

On the other hand, the main producer, Zuzana Mistrikova, was among the leaders of the student protests of the 1989 Velvet Revolution and she also ranks among the first prominent members of the revolutionary VPN movement which aided the rise of Meciar. At first, she was his friend in the VPN movement but then she was among the first people who stood up against him.

It needed a great deal of courage, as Meciar evoked physical fear then, she says in an interview for the Sme daily. The movie is also a portrayal of society and of what we all let happen, Mistrikova explains. It makes me shiver when I am watching it.

When they started to prepare the movie four years ago, they anticipated that it would be important not just for them but that Slovakia with its geographical location, size and historical context was almost a model situation for the 1990s and that the film might have an international impact, the producer told TASR.

President Andrej Kiska also attended the special premiere of the Meciar movie on October 10 in the Bory Mall Cinemax film theatre in Bratislava.
The Visegrad Group countries share their fear of refugees and criticism of their treatment by western European countries.

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Slovaks are the friendliest nation in the Visegrad Group (V4) region. They like their neighbours although the Hungarians, Poles and Czechs do not reciprocate the feeling.

This comes from a poll carried out by the Hungarian institute Nezopont Intezet between June 29 and July 15 on 1,000 respondents, focusing on popularity and expectations within the V4 nations, the Trend weekly reported on its website.

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The poll showed that the favourite V4 citizens are the Czechs, chosen by 77 percent of all inhabitants of the group. Second came the Slovaks and the Poles selected by 68 percent of respondents. The least popular are the Hungarians with 62 percent.

The relations within the group, however, seem to be very good as every nation was selected by more than 50 percent of the respondents.

Slovaks gave the best evaluation of their neighbours, Nezopont Intezet said, as quoted by Trend.

Hungarians and Czechs do not like us as much as we like them

More than 70 percent of Slovak respondents claimed that they like their V4 neighbours. Ninety percent picked the Czechs, 75 percent the Poles and 72 percent the Hungarians.

The feelings from their neighbours, however, are not as cordial.

Though the Czechs claimed they like the Slovaks the most, only 73 percent of them chose this option. At the same time, as many as 21 percent of Czechs said that the Slovaks are their least popular neighbours, which is the worst evaluation within the V4. This was mostly affected by the Slovak minority that lives and studies in the country. Some Czechs believe that Slovaks deprive them of jobs and places at universities, Trend reported.

Similar results were shown with the relationships with the Hungarians. Seventy two percent of Slovaks were positive about the Hungarians, while only 59 percent of Hungarians expressed their liking of the Slovaks.

Regarding the negative evaluation, 14 percent of Slovaks picked the Hungarians as their least favourite neighbours, while 15 percent of Hungarians selected the Slovaks.

Shared opinions and values

The poll also suggested that more than 50 percent of respondents think that cooperation within the V4 is very important and that the group should pursue united economic and political interests.

Moreover, up to three-quarters of respondents claimed that western European countries do not treat them as equal partners. This feeling is most visible in Slovakia (79 percent of respondents).

Slovaks, Hungarians, Poles and Czechs also support closer cooperation within the group. It should focus on areas that bother the inhabitants the most, particularly the better protection of outer EU borders. One of the reasons for this is their shared fear of migrants, according to Trend.

This is why the V4 inhabitants support the Hungarian plan to build a border fence and disagree with the redistribution quotas. As many as 65 percent of respondents were against the idea of giving up their national currency, although the majority of Slovaks claimed they are satisfied with the euro.

Another area of cooperation is the harmonisation of industrial policy and the construction of highways.

Paradoxically, the areas supported by the Visegrad Fund, such as the common cultural events and the connection of scientific research and university education, ended up at the bottom of the list, Trend reported.
The Constitutional Court returns the years-long dispute between the Nations Memory Institute and Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babis to the regional court.

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The Bratislava Regional Court and the Supreme Court did not issue a fair ruling when they supported Czech Finance Minister of Slovak origin Andrej Babis in the dispute over his alleged cooperation with the communist-era secret police StB.

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The entire case will now return to the regional court, the Constitutional Courts senate composed of Ladislav Orosz, Lajos Meszaros and Ludmila Gajdosikova decided on October 12.

Babis has been disputing the issue with the Nations Memory Institute (UPN) for years. UPN insists on its claim that the politician knowingly cooperated with StB, thus his listing as an agent is justifiable, the Sme daily reported.

UPN turned to the Constitutional Court in the beginning of this year, after the Supreme Court turned down its special appeal suspiciously quickly and in a non-standard manner. Several lawyers addressed by Sme at the time were critical of the courts actions.

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The court, for example, accepted the testimonies of former StB agents without them being exempted from the pledge of confidentiality. All of them testified in Babiss favour.

After the UPN pointed to this problem, the Supreme Court only asked the Interior Ministry for additional exemption from the pledge and confirmed the previous rulings issued by the district and regional courts in Babiss favour, Sme wrote.

The Constitutional Court, however, admitted in its ruling that the UPNs right for court protection and fair trail were violated.
SNS deputy chair Jaroslav Paska is accusing President Kiska of having fraudulently acquired land. It turns out Paskas relative is interested in acquiring it.

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President Andrej Kiska owns land in Velky Slavkov (Presov Region), which he received in a fraudulent manner. He knows about it and does not want to return the plot to its original owner, according to Jaroslav Paska, MP and deputy chair of the Slovak National Party (SNS).

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It is another scandal connected to the president, after several media outlets received an anonymous letter informing them about illegal VAT refunds claimed by Kiskas company KTAG.

Kiska, however, claims there was no fraud involved in his purchase of the plot, the Sme daily reported.

He considers it a discrediting campaign against him that is part of the campaign before the March 2019 presidential election.

The daily has a sale contract

Velky Slavkov was widely covered by the media during the rule of the first Robert Fico government. The nominee of the coalition party Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) in the Slovak Land Fund, Branislav Briza, ordered the agreements based on which people from southern Slovakia received lucrative plots in the village thanks to restitutions. They, however, subsequently had to very cheaply sell them to people close to HZDS.

The scandal cost then-agriculture minister Miroslav Jurena (also HZDS) his function, Sme wrote.

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Paska spoke with the private news channel TA3 about a certain constitutional official who is not a member of the ruling coalition, who illegally acquired a plot in Velky Slavkov. The only such person is Kiska, Sme wrote.

According to the purchase contract provided to Sme, Kiska bought the plot from Julius Sirocky from Lucivna in 1999 for 54,270 Slovak crowns (some 1,800).

I told myself that the area may be interesting in the future as it lies on the way to the Tatras, the president said in an interview with Sme.

He added that at the time of the purchase he did not know about any fraud linked to the plot.

About two years ago I was contacted by a person who sent me a letter, Kiska continued. He wrote that the person I purchased the plot from had acquired it in a fraudulent manner.

The sender wanted the president to return the plot for free and ask for potential damage from the seller. The president answered that this should be decided by a court.

Lobbying for family

Paska meanwhile admitted for Sme that by pointing to the case he only wanted to help his relative, dentist Jan Franc from Poprad. The relative told Paska he has a problem with the plot and cannot solve it.

Paska did not say Kiska committed fraud, but only that he had bought the land in a fraudulent manner, Paska told Sme.

The MP explained he did not want to talk about the issue at a meeting with the president as he wanted to avoid any suspicions of nepotism. He reportedly chose television to point to the fact that an ordinary person does not enjoy the same protection as a constitutional official. Paska referred to the fact that Franc has turned twice to the prosecutors office, but has dismissed his motion.
The folklore ensemble is currently touring North and Latin America.

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As part of its tour in North America, the Slovak folklore ensemble Lucnica will perform at the United Nations Day celebrations in New York City.

The ensemble departed from Slovakia on October 10. It will be a guest at the most important festival in Latin America, Festival Internacional Cervantino, which has been held in the city of Guanajuato, Mexico since 1972.

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The tour across several Mexican cities will culminate with two performances in Mexico City in Palacio de Bellas Artes, where Lucnica is returning after 44 years, the SITA newswire reported.

Another highlight of the tour will be the performance at UN Day celebrations in New York City on October 24. It will take place in the main hall of the UN General Assembly on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the organisations establishment.

This years celebrations are special for Slovakia since the countrys Foreign Afffairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak is presiding over the assembly, Stefania Bartosova of Lucnica said, as reported by SITA.

After returning from North America, the ensemble will perform on November 17 and 18 in Bratislavas Istropolis with a selection of its most successful performances. The programme will introduce folklore traditions from various parts of Slovakia, SITA wrote.
Bratislava prepares for food quality summit. Regional elections campaign takes shape. State budget is out now - what will it bring?

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video //www.sme.sk/vp/36196/

These top three stories from Slovakia are the selection of headlines from a weekly overview that subscribers of The Slovak Spectator can read or listen to.

Bratislava prepares to host some top EU politicians for the Dual Quality Food summit, while elsewhere in Slovakia, the regional election campaign is in full swing. The Finance Ministry has put forward its draft state budget for next year, along with the so-called social package that brings some major changes to the labour market.
PM Fico called the reward disgusting

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Economy Minister Peter Ziga, has sacked the complete Supervisory Board of MH Manazment over the case of the reward for Radomir Bzans law firm for the victory in the international arbitration over the Gabcikovo hydropower plant. The company signed a contract for remuneration of 77.6 million with the aforementioned law firm.

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As Ziga told journalists on October 12, once the statutes of the company are changed, the members of the Board of Directors will lose their positions too. All these people are nominees of the ruling Smer party. They will be replaced by employees of the Economy Ministry.

I have decided to point responsibility towards the management, said Ziga as cited by the SITA newswire. I am of the opinion that the actions of MH Manazment were unprofessional and have caused a situation where the discussion is focused on the lawyers fee, rather than the fact that we have won back the Gabcikovo hydropower plant.

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Prime Minister Robert Fico supports the steps taken by the economy minister.

The reward that was originally set was disgusting, said Fico. Minister Ziga was set to work to reduce it. I think the minister has done a good job. First, he returned the Gabcikovo hydropower plant to the state. Secondly, he reduced the reward, and, thirdly, he took personal responsibility.

Radomir Bzans law firm should have received a reward of 11 percent of the value of the won dispute over the Gabcikovo facility for its legal services. The value of the dispute was set at 705.6-million. The amount of the reward caused turmoil with the general public as well as with the ruling and opposition politicians. Afterwards the involved parties agreed upon its reduction to 2.5 percent or 17.64 million.

After the dismissal of all members of MH Manazments supervisory board and the appointment of a new supervisory board, a notary record will be used to amend the companys statutes in order to pave the way for personnel changes to MH Manazments board of directors.

The ministrys audit found shortcomings in the public tender for legal services, which could have been organised in a more professional manner.

Another problem that I see was the fact that it was unprofessional and unfortunate to allow the final remuneration for legal services to be decided after the conclusion of the lawsuit, said Ziga. It should have been decided beforehand.

Ziga confirmed that the contract between MH Manazment and Radomir Bzans law firm might still be declared null and void.

Based on the opinion of the Bar Association, we are working on the theory that the effectiveness and validity of the contractual relationship between the state and the legal services provider is conditional upon disclosure of the entire contractual relationship, said Ziga. We are currently examining whether the contract in question including the addenda was properly publicised. Its just a theory, and we are awaiting the results of the legal analyses.

Arbitration

The case goes back to privatisation of the dominant electricity producer Slovenske Elektrarne (SE). Italys Enel acquired the 66 percent share, which included also renting of the Gabcikovo hydropower plant for 840 million in 2006. In 2015, in response to demands of Slovakia, SE returned Gabcikovo back to the state, a transaction resulting in both sides demanding hundreds of millions of euros in compensation from the other. Enel demanded compensation of up to 700 million, but failed. Radomir Bzan was the legal counsellor who represented Slovakia in the international arbitration case.
The coalition and opposition dispute over choosing a single person who could defeat Milan Uhrik of the LSNS.

Extremist candidate Milan Uhrik runs for the post of the governor in Nitra Region. (Source: SME)

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The so-called Hungarian card has united the coalition and opposition parties in the Nitra Region in the past, resulting in the support of a single, strong candidate. This time, not even the fear of the victory of an extremist candidate, Milan Uhrik of Peoples Party  Our Slovakia (LSNS) seems able to create a broader coalition.

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First, the coalition of right-wing parties Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO), the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), NOVA, the Civic Conservative Party (OKS), Sanca and the Democrats of Slovakia, called on the other parties to join forces and choose a joint candidate for the Nitra Regions governor post. They planned to follow the example of Banska Bystrica where two candidates withdrew from the race in favour of one strong candidate.

They proposed Jan Gresso to represent the broad coalition to stop the spread of extremism, the TASR newswire reported on October 9.

The coalition of Smer, the Slovak National Party (SNS) and Most-Hid, however, refused to withdraw their candidate, incumbent Milan Belica.

Subsequently, the SNS called on Gresso to withdraw from the race, claiming that Belica is the strongest candidate.

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Danko promises to pay for the poll

I think that several polls will soon confirm that Belica is the strongest candidate, Danko told the October 12 press conference, as quoted by TASR. I believe that if these trends are confirmed, Gresso will think about his candidacy.

He also promised to contribute to the poll that will be carried out by any renowned agency Gresso picks.

This years regional elections may decide on the composition of the parliament after the 2020 general election and the government, Danko added.

He also claimed that his party has already made some concessions. Originally, they wanted to nominate their own candidate, Eva Smolikova. She, however, re-evaluated her candidacy and the party supported Belica instead, as reported by TASR.

Gresso responded that he does not need Dankos advice or recommendations.

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Currently, there is no poll that would indicate the chances of the candidates. According to one of the older surveys, the four strongest candidates for the governor post are Belica, Uhrik, Ivan Farkas and Gresso, as Tibor Glenda of Smer told the Pravda daily. He added that currently, a second poll is being carried out, which will provide better information on the current situation.

Two of the most renowned polling agencies in Slovakia, Focus and MVK, have not conducted any poll in the region yet. Sociologist Pavel Haulik of MVK says it is a mistake for the political parties to not know much about the situation in the region, Pravda reported.
Slovakias population is ageing intensively. Later retirement is one solution

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The country-wide metallurgy and engineering trade union KOVO will march and rally for earlier retirement on Saturday, October 14 in Bratislava. About 2,000 people are expected to take part in the action, marching from the Government Offices building to the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Ministry building, informed KOVO chief Emil Machyna.

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KOVO is seeking a change in the current pension scheme, chiefly halting the prolongation of the retirement age and creating the possibility of earlier retirement without people having to cut the sum of their pension.

People are working more and more, said Machyna as cited by the TASR newswire. Labour productivity is growing, as much as profitability is. Slovakia shows the highest share of overtime and weekend work, as well as work in a non-stop operation out of all the EU countries. Thats why we want to assert the possibility of an earlier retirement for people working in non-stop operations or at risky workplaces.

KOVO wants to call on the Labour Ministry to start working on legislation that would cap the retirement age and the so-called pre-pension. It suggests setting the upper retirement age in law at 64 years. It has already launched a petition for early retirement. Some 14,000 signatures have already been collected and KOVOs aim is to collect 110,000 signatures.

The rules concerning the retirement age in Slovakia changed as of January 1, 2017. The current retirement age of 62 will change each year depending on average life expectancy, with there being no fixed upper limit for the retirement age. This year the retirement age will be prolonged by 76 days, while in 2018 it should be prolonged by an additional 63 days. Under the rules set like this, those who are currently in their thirties would retire at the age of 68, states KOVO. KOVO opposes this mechanism for setting retirement age, as it does not take employees health condition or work load into consideration.

Slovakia is ageing

The development of population processes in Slovakia clearly confirms the intensive ageing of the population, which is manifested by the increase of the number of people of post-productive age and a reduction in the share of the population in childhood.

The age structure development isnt positive and it clearly shows ageing, said Alexander Ballek, head of the Slovak Statistics Office at a press conference in Bratislava on May 25. He added that it has been partly caused by an increase in life expectancy of the population.

Population ageing is among the biggest demographic challenges in society at the moment. It also poses a threat to the current pension and healthcare schemes. Prolongation of the retirement age is one of the possible solutions.
PLDT Inc. provides telecommunications and digital services in the Philippines. It operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others. The company offers cellular mobile, Internet broadband distribution, operations support, software development, and satellite information and messaging services; and sells Wi-Fi access equipment. It also provides fixed line telecommunications services; business infrastructure and solutions; intelligent data processing and implementation, and data analytics insight generation services; and information and communications infrastructure for Internet-based services, e-commerce, customer relationship management, and information technology (IT) related services. In addition, the company offers managed IT outsourcing, Internet-based purchasing, IT consulting and professional, bills printing and other related value-added, and air transportation services; distributes Filipino channels and content services; and provides full-services customer rewards and loyalty programs. Further, it engages in the sale of mobile handsets, broadband data routers, tablets, and accessories, as well as provides domestic leased lines and alternative messaging solutions, such as over-the-top services, social media, and messenger application. As of December 31, 2021, it had 71,221,952 mobile broadband subscribers; 3,619,372 fixed line subscribers; and 2.8 million broadband subscribers. The company was formerly known as Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and changed its name to PLDT Inc. in July 2016. PLDT Inc. was incorporated in 1928 and is headquartered in Makati City, the Philippines.
ETCHMIADZIN.  After his brilliant performance at Wednesdays opening ceremony and concert of the 5th Aram Khachaturian International Festival in Armenias capital city of Yerevan, Hollywood actor John Malkovich on Thursday continued getting familiarized with Armenian culture.



The famous actor visited the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and met with Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, who thanked him for reciting passages from the works by renowned Armenian poet Gregory of Narek during the aforesaid concert.



Malkovich, for his part, thanked the Catholicos and noted that he is happy for his visit to Armenia because he is exploring here a new world, culture, and history which he knew little about.



By Information Services of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

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STEM Equity

Project Aims to Increase STEM Access for Native American Students

Native Americans make up 1.2 percent of the overall U.S. population, yet only account for just 0.4 percent of all engineering bachelor's degrees, Sandia National Laboratories reports. The University of Montana is looking to remedy that situation with the help of a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

The funds will be used to launch a pilot project to encourage American Indian participation in STEM fields. The American Indian Traditional Science Experience (AITSE) will be based at the Flathead Indian Reservation.

"Native American and Alaska Native students are the least represented minority population in the STEM disciplines," said associate professor of chemistry and director of UM's Native American Research Laboratory Aaron Thomas in announcing the grant. "Native people offer a unique perspective in these fields that will help bring innovative ideas in a diversified workforce. Our focus is to work with middle school students to help create pathways into STEM that will continue through high school and then on to higher education."

The project aims to combine after-school, hands-on learning opportunities and long-term educational programming, to generate better cultural awareness around the STEM fields. Planners say they intend to build the program around experiential, culturally relevant learning.

The UM grant award is one of 27 awarded nationally as part of an NSF program designed to reach underrepresented learners, known as Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Under-represented Discoverers in Engineering and Science, or INCLUDES.

"NSF INCLUDES breaks new ground by providing a sustained commitment to collaborative change with the goal of bringing STEM opportunities to more people and communities across the country," said NSF Director France Cordova in a news release announcing the grants.

Planners of the Montana pilot say their long-range plan is to eventually expand the project across seven Montana reservations.
Migrants in trucks arrive at a detention center in Gharyan, Libya October 12, 2017. REUTERS/Hani Amara

Thomson Reuters

By Hani Amara

GHARYAN, Libya (Reuters) - Thousands of migrants displaced by fighting on Libya's northwestern coast are in urgent need of medical help, the head of a detention center in the town of Gharyan said on Thursday, describing their situation as "tragic".

Some 5,800 migrants had arrived at the center since fighting broke out last month in the coastal city of Sabratha, previously a launch pad for crossings to Italy. About 2,000 people have already been sent on from Gharyan to other centers in the capital, Tripoli.

"The situation is very tragic...disastrous. There's a lack of support," said Abdulhameed Muftah, who runs Al-Hamra dentition center in Gharyan, about 80 km (50 miles) south of Tripoli.

The clashes in Sabratha resulted in the withdrawal of an armed group that said it had begun blocking migrant departures from Sabratha, under intense pressure from Italy. Sabratha was previously the foremost smuggling hub for migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

U.N. agencies have been struggling to provide support for thousands of mainly sub-Saharan African migrants stranded after the fighting.

Many have been taken to centers such as the one in Gharyan, which are nominally controlled by the U.N.-backed government but notorious for widespread abuse and poor conditions. Humanitarian workers have limited access.

Al-Hamra consists of about a dozen hangars, each meant to hold up to 150 people.

About 70 percent of the migrants brought to the center needed medical attention and were not receiving it, Muftah said. One migrant clinging to the bars of the door of one the hangars called out as a reporter passed, saying "Please. We're dying, we're dying".

Muftah said there were many children and some pregnant women in the center, several of whom had given birth since arriving.

"We appeal to all international organizations and the Libyan state to consider the humanitarian condition of these migrants," he said.

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The condition of migrants was also raised with Libyan authorities by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who visited Libya on Tuesday.

"I call on the government to establish alternatives to detention in Libya, to halt the practice of arbitrary detention, and to ensure accountability for the abuses perpetrated against migrants in detention centers," he said in a statement on Thursday.

He called for human rights monitors to be given access to detention centers where thousands of Libyans have been held for years without judicial process, citing "horrific reports" emerging from some of them.

(Reporting by Hani Amara; Writing by Ahmed Elumami and Aidan Lewis; editing by Grant McCool)

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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.

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British jihadist Sally Jones has been killed in a US drone strike in Syria, Sky sources say.

The former punk rocker from Kent fled to Syria with her son in 2013 and became a leading recruitment officer for Islamic State.

The Government was informed by CIA chiefs in June that US forces had killed Jones, 50, in a missile strike close to the Iraq/Syria border, The Sun reports.

However, it was kept secret on both sides of the Atlantic over fears her 12-year-old son Jojo may have also died in the blast.

It remains unclear if he was killed and sources said the attack would have been aborted if it was known he was close by, the newspaper added.

Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall said: "UK Defence sources have told Sky News they believe the strike was successful but question some of the detail being reported in the media.

"The UK and US military has been working closely together on a number of high-profile targets in recent months and Jones is believed to have been on that list."

Jones became known as the White Widow after her British jihadist husband Junaid Hussain was killed in a US drone strike in August 2015.

Before fleeing to Syria, computer hacker Hussain admitted publishing Tony Blair's address in 2011 and was jailed for six months after making hoax calls to a UK counter-terror hotline a year later.

At the time of his death, the 21-year-old from Birmingham had allegedly been planning "barbaric attacks against the West", including terror plots targeting "high profile public commemorations".

In an exclusive report in 2015, Sky News revealed the couple used online messaging services to urge British would-be recruits to carry out "lone wolf" attacks in the UK.

In one conversation with an undercover journalist, Jones detailed the materials needed to make a bomb and said she could help construct a device remotely.

Following the death of Hussain, Jones was reportedly placed in charge of the female wing of IS' Anwar al-Awlaki batallion - a foreign fighter unit formed with the purpose of planning and executing attacks in the West.

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The 50-year-old used her Twitter account to recruit women and shared pictures of herself with weapons.

She also posted comments such as: "You Christians all need beheading with a nice blunt knife and stuck on the railings at Raqqa ... Come here I'll do it for you."

Despite this, Sky News was told in June that the jihadist was not happy in Syria and wanted to return to Britain .

The wife of another immigrant to the so-called Islamic caliphate said she knew Jones and described her as "very cute".

She added: "(Jones) was crying and wants to get back to Britain but ISIS is preventing her because she is now a military wife. She told me she wish to go to her country."

Major General Chip Chapman, the former MoD head of counter terror, told Sky News that Jones was a "significant" target for the US and UK.

He said: "Recently IS have said women should get involved in jihad - that's a sign of weakness.

"If you take out those who are high value target women it is going to have an impact at the operation level of IS."

Asked about reports Jones' son was killed in the strike, Maj Gen Chapman added: "It is a difficult one because under the UN Charters he is under the age of what we would classify as a soldier."

He continued: "Even if he got up to really bad things, he shouldn't have been targeted. We don't know for sure whether he was with her or not."
SOFIA (Reuters) - Couples lining up to face each other are given 30 seconds to chat before moving on - in a version of speed dating that, rather than sparking romance, aims to promote understanding and integration for new immigrants. At a social centre in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, the locals stand on one side, the immigrants - many refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and other war-torn countries - face them. The quick-fire conversations - in which participants have just seconds to share their dreams and stories of love, pain and family - are aimed at starting a dialogue between two communities that in normal daily life rarely speak to each other on an equal footing. "It's so good to have an event like this, especially for refugees," said Rodi Naamo, a 26-year-old Syrian Kurd who arrived in Bulgaria in 2015, when hundreds of thousands of migrants passed through the Balkans en route to Germany and northern Europe. Bulgarians also appreciated the speedy encounters, as well as the Middle Eastern food and traditional Afghan dances afterwards. "I really enjoyed it, it helped me overcome prejudices," said Milka Bocheva, a Bulgarian who runs an online business. "They (the refugees) are just people like us, we gave such similar answers." Bulgaria stands out in the region for its significant Muslim minority, some 12 percent among 7.1 million mainly Orthodox Christians - a legacy of its history as part of the Ottoman Empire. Despite that, large parts of the population are concerned about the influx of asylum-seekers and migrants. Naamo, who returned to Bulgaria after a short spell in Germany, to work in a call centre, believes opinions are starting to change. "I decided to stay here, this is my country. I'll bring my family here," he said. (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
SWNS

<p>An incredible back garden boozer made entirely from recycled materials has been crowned Britain's best Pub Shed of the Year.</p><p>John Simmons, 50, spent more than a year and constructing the amazing DIY man-cave in his garden in Portsmouth, Hants.</p><p>It features its own dart board, wooden decor, countryside-pub style seating, a roof covered in fairy lights and even its own outdoor beer garden and decking area.</p><p>He built the miniature pub - called The Dog & Ball - from as much reclaimed material he could find from salvage yards and a Facebook page for pub shed enthusiasts.</p><p>John sourced, cut, sanded and fixed every timber and tting himself  as well all 4,500 screws.</p><p>The dad-of-three beat off more than a thousand entries to be named the owner of Britain's best Pub Shed 2022.</p><p>He celebrated the win in his garden pub last night (12/11) with friends  and said he was thrilled to be crowned the winner.</p><p>John started building the boozer last year and said he wanted a 'haven at home' he could enjoy that was cheaper than the pub.</p><p>Avid DIY-er John, a safety management consultant, said the pub cost four figures to build but would have been much more expensive had he not used reclaimed materials.</p><p>Wife Anita, 49, put the finishing touching to the Dog & Ball - named after their Labradoodle Bertie, aged seven  and the pair enjoyed celebrating with kids Libby, 23, Jacob, 19, and Evie, 12.</p><p>John said: It has all been rather overwhelming, but I am chuffed to bits.</p><p>We had 18 friends over last night to celebrate the final and it was fantastic to find out I won - I was really thrilled.</p><p>I started building it last year and wanted to have it completed this summer for my 50th birthday.</p><p>Sourcing the reclaimed material took the biggest chunk of time.</p><p>I am an avid DIY-er and love a project.</p><p>Lots of people had been doing this sort of thing over lockdown so I took inspiration from that, and I wanted a haven at home that was cheaper than the pub.</p><p>Its somewhere I can go and enjoy being with my friends and family, which was really the whole purpose.</p><p>It cost about four figures, which is much cheaper than it would have been had I done a proper build and had to go to shops for the materials.</p><p>John, who was in the Royal Navy for 22 years, said his favourite part of the pub is the oak beams which make up the main structure.</p><p>The three-metre-long bits of wood remarkably came from an old dock yard building John used to work in.</p><p>He said: My favourite part is the main oak beams.</p><p>They are from an old dock yard building that I used to work in years ago before it was demolished.</p><p>These three-metre-long beams that form the main structure of the pub had sat in a yard for 20 years and then I managed to buy them.</p><p>It is a remarkable story.</p><p>All my family and friends have been so supportive of the project, and it has been great having everyone round to enjoy it.</p><p>My wife Anita put all the finishing touches to the pub to make it look as amazing as it does.</p><p>I took the name from my Labradoodle Bertie who just loves to play with his ball, I really wanted him to be part of it all.</p><p>The Dog & Ball beat off two other finalists, a mini countryside-style pub called The Tiger, in Somerset, and The Stagger Inn, in Manchester - a nightclub-themed bar</p><p>They were whittled down from more than a thousand entries - many of which were built during lockdown.</p><p>John said: "Doing it all from salvage was of course a challenge  thank goodness for FB marketplace, advice from the fantastic members of the GSPN UK Facebook page and a very understanding wife who I dragged around local reclaim yards sifting through old timbers.</p><p>"With the exception of the main roof joists, every other part of the build is made from reclaim, re-used or recycled timber and materials.</p><p>"Each piece has a different story, from the bar ironmongery that belonged to my late father-in-law from his days as an RAF engineer, to the main oak upright timbers.</p><p>It is believed more than two million back garden pubs are now in operation in Britain after their popularity exploded during the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>They have continued to grow amid a cost of living crisis after the average price of a pint rose to 4 across the UK and 5 in London.</p><p>As a result, Two Fat Blokes bar signs, Pub Shed Radio and the Facebook group Garden Shed Pubs & Nightclubs began running the national competition.</p><p>The winner was announced live on Pub Shed Radio on Saturday (12/11).</p><p>Ashley Turner, the owner of Two Fat Blokes Bar Signs, said: "The quality of bars and diversity of the entries has been phenomenal.</p><p>"We ran the competition to showcase the amazing community of pub sheds in the UK.</p><p>"The community has exploded during the pandemic and now with the cost of a pint heading north of 6 the trend looks set to continue.</p><p>"The Dog & Ball is a perfect example of an amazing pub shed and deserved to win with his amazing hand-built pub.</p><p>Tommy Funka, who runs, Pub Shed Radio added: Pub Shed of the year has been a great way for the pub shed community to come together and celebrate the growing army of back garden boozers".</p><p>Pub Shed Radio's DJ Mupps said: "It was brilliant to knock on the door of the winners bar live on Pub Shed Radio.</p><p>"John & Anita were totally gobsmacked to find out they had won. We then went live from the bar broadcasting with a real party atmosphere."</p><p>Nick St John, the owner of Facebook group Garden Shed Pubs and Nightclubs, added: "Being involved Pub Shed of the year has been the culmination of our ethos to promote and help people build their own back garden pubs.</p><p>"With over 280,000 members our group has really got on board with the competition.</p><p>"Judging the entries was so difficult  The Dog & Ball is a great example of a proper pub shed."</p>
By Boureima Balima and Emma Farge NIAMEY/DAKAR (Reuters) - Chad has withdrawn hundreds of troops from neighbouring Niger, where they were helping local forces fight Boko Haram Islamist militants, humanitarian sources and officials said. The pull-out over the past two weeks could weaken a region-wide struggle against the militants who have killed tens of thousands of people, forced many more to flee and triggered a humanitarian crisis. There was no immediate explanation or comment from defence officials in Chad. But the move came a month after the vast central African country complained about an unexpected U.S. travel ban imposed on its nationals. Chad warned at the time the order could affect its security commitments - which include its involvement in the U.S.-backed fight against Boko Haram. Residents said the withdrawal had already had an impact on Niger's Diffa region, which has seen a string of attacks by Boko Haram militants crossing over from their base in neighbouring Nigeria. Ibrahim Arimi from the border village of Bosso said banditry had increased since the Chadian troops started leaving and he had been temporarily moved to another village for safety. Diffa parliamentarian Lamido Moumouni said residents had started complaining. "They have come to rely on the forces so there is a perception that security will be lacking," he said by telephone. At its peak in 2016 after an attack in Bosso, Chad had 2,000 troops in Niger to help counter Boko Haram although security sources said this has fallen since. Boko Haram has attacked Chad, Niger and Cameroon from its base in northeast Nigeria. Its eight-year bid to carve out an Islamist caliphate has driven millions from their homes - more than 200,000 of them are now based in Diffa, with little prospect of returning home. Thousands of them are camped alongside an unfinished highway in the middle of a barren savannah with few resources. Chad's soldiers also occupy front-line positions in a peacekeeping force in northern Mali. Falling oil revenues after the price crash in 2014 has also sapped Chad's appetite for expensive regional security commitments, analysts say. (Additional reporting by David Lewis in Nairobi, Madjiasra Nako in N'djamena and Sofia Christensen in Dakar; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
David Davis Michel Barnier

Reuters/Francois Lenoir

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator reportedly pushing for Brexit talks to move onto trade and transition as early as next week.

Michel Barnier wants permission from European governments to begin discussing future trade relations with British negotiators.

Germany will stand in the way until Britain makes guarantees on its financial obligations.

LONDON  The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, is reportedly urging EU member states to give him permission to begin discussing trade and transition arrangements with Britain next week, despite opposition from Germany and others.

Barnier is behind closed doors pushing for Brexit negotiations to move onto exploring future trade and transition arrangements between the EU and Britain in order to give businesses more assurances heading into the New Year, the Times reports.

The EU has repeatedly insisted that trade talks cannot commence until "sufficient progress" has been made on the Irish border, citizens' rights, and Britain's financial obligations to the bloc. Barnier last month said that it could take "weeks or even months" for talks to move beyond this stage.

However, Barnier has unexpectedly become one of Britain's best hopes for avoiding a no-deal Brexit. The Times reports that Barnier will this week ask the governments of EU member states for approval to put together a negotiating mandate for the rest of 2017, which he hopes can include exploratory talks on trade and transitional arrangements.

Barnier remains in the belief that "sufficient progress" is yet to be made, but believes enough "positive atmosphere" now exists at the negotiating table for future relations to be discussed.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said that she wants a transitional phase lasting around two-years to take effect once Britain leaves the EU in March 2019 in which Britain would continue with the "current terms" single market access.

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Germany says nein

May will be encouraged by Barnier's eagerness to discuss trade but faces a considerable hurdle in Germany, which wants Britain to give further guarantees on its financial obligations before trade talks begin, the Times adds.

"Germany wants more and it wants it more or less in writing... That is toxic for the British," one diplomat is quoted as saying.

Germany, along with France and Romania, has blocked recent attempts to begin talks on trade next week, according to diplomatic sources quoted this week.

The source said that Germany is keen for the EU to spend at least three months establishing a common position on transition, adding that "Germany is hostile and has told the others that it is not going to happen."

The British side has so far been reluctant to disclose how much money it is willing to hand over to Brussels as part of its financial obligations to the EU. The EU is yet to officially say how much money it is believed it is owed but reports suggest the figure could be as big as 60 billion.

NOW WATCH: Watch the moment Theresa May is handed a P45 by comedian Simon Brodkin

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SEE ALSO: Exclusive: Andrea Leadsom refuses to rule out bid to replace Theresa May

DON'T MISS: Liam Fox promises to sign 40 free trade deals the 'second after' Brexit
uss ronald reagan

US Navy photo by Photographers Mate 1st Class James Thierry

TOKYO (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the Ronald Reagan, is conducting drills with a Japanese warship in waters around Okinawa southwest of the Korean peninsula, Japan's military said on Wednesday.

The exercise comes amid heightened tension with North Korea as the U.S. holds air drills in the region with B1-B bombers flown from Guam.

The exercise with the Reagan strike group, which began on Saturday, involves vessels sailing from the Bashi Channel, which separates the Philippines and Taiwan, to seas around Japan's southwest island nearer to North Korea, Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force said in a statement.

One Japanese destroyer, the Shimkaze, is accompanying the 100,000-ton Reagan, which is based in Japan, and its escort ships, the JMSDF said.

NOW WATCH: North Korea exports $2.83 billion worth of goods  here's where it all goes

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Dril-Quip, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, sells, and services engineered drilling and production equipment for use in deepwater, harsh environment, and severe service applications worldwide. The company's principal products include subsea and surface wellheads, subsea and surface production trees, mudline hanger systems, specialty connectors and associated pipes, drilling and production riser systems, liner hangers, wellhead connectors, diverters, and safety valves, as well as downhole tools. It also provides technical advisory services, and rework and reconditioning services, as well as rental and purchase of running tools for use in the installation and retrieval of its products; and downhole tools comprise of liner hangers, production packers, safety valves, and specialty downhole tools that are used to hang-off and seal casing into a previously installed casing string in the well bore. The company's products are used to explore for oil and gas from offshore drilling rigs, such as floating rigs and jack-up rigs; and for drilling and production of oil and gas wells on offshore platforms, tension leg platforms, and Spars, as well as moored vessels, such as floating production, storage, and offloading monohull moored vessels. It sells its products directly through its sales personnel, independent sales agents, and representatives to integrated, independent, and foreign national oil and gas companies, as well as drilling contractors, and engineering and construction companies. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Crestwood Equity Partners LP develops, acquires, owns, controls, and operates assets and operations in the energy midstream sector in the United States. It operates through three segments: Gathering and Processing North; Gathering and Processing South; and Storage and Logistics. The Gathering and Processing North segment offers natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering, compression, treating, processing, and disposal services to producers in the Williston Basin and Powder River Basin. This segment owns and operates natural gas facilities with approximately 0.4 Bcf/d of gathering capacity and 0.5 Bcf/d of processing capacity; crude oil facilities with approximately 150,000 Bbls/d of gathering capacity and 266,000 Bbls of storage capacity; and produced water facilities with approximately 130,000 Bbls/d of gathering and disposal capacity. The Gathering and Processing South segment provides natural gas gathering, compression, treating, and processing; and produced water gathering and disposal services to producers in the Marcellus, Barnett, and Delaware basins. This segment owns and operates natural gas facilities with 2.5 Bcf/d of gathering capacity and 0.7 Bcf/d of processing capacity; and produced water facilities with approximately 75,000 Bbls/d of gathering and disposal capacity. The Storage and Logistics segment offers natural gas liquids, crude oil, and natural gas storage, terminal, marketing, and transportation, including rail, truck and pipeline services to producers, refiners, marketers, utilities, and other customers. Crestwood Equity GP LLC serves as the general partner of Crestwood Equity Partners LP. The company was formerly known as Inergy L.P. and changed its name to Crestwood Equity Partners LP in October 2013. Crestwood Equity Partners LP was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
Aberdeen looking to shift focus to retail business development

The city of Aberdeen has been discussing the hiring of an economic development manager. Here's a little more about that plan.
The FBI is offering a $1,000 reward for information about the death of a man found dead in the Chaco Canyon area last February.

Frank Fisher, an FBI spokesman, said 35-year-old Alan Jim was found dead on Feb 7, 2017, in the southbound lane of County Road 7900. Thats approximately 6.3 miles south of U.S. 550 near Chaco Canyon.

Autopsy results indicate Jim died of blunt force trauma to his head and upper body, Fisher wrote in an email.

The FBI is investigating his death along with the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.

Tips: Anyone with information about the case is asked to to contact the FBIs Albuquerque Field Office at (505) 889-1300.
The union that represents more than 400 workers at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque has reached an agreement with the labs on a newly negotiated contract.

Negotiations had deteriorated at the end of September after the Metal Trades Council union rejected Sandias last, best and final offer and voted to authorize a strike.

Charles Carroll, president of the local MTC, said members voted to accept the revised agreement on Monday night.

Sandia National Laboratories is pleased our union-represented employees have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement, Sandia spokeswoman Heather Clark said in an emailed statement. This new agreement, which is effective today (Oct. 10, 2017) through Sept. 30, 2020, is fair and competitive. The agreement enables Sandia to continue meeting its important national security mission.

Carroll said the negotiated contract included changes to work hours and conditions and base wages.

Work hours by council officials investigating employee grievances were negotiated to now be 50 hours a week, Carroll said.

The contract with the previous contractor had allowed for 90 hours, he said.

The agreement stipulates that the union drop unfair labor practice complaints it filed soon after it rejected a proposed agreement in September.

The contract is with National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, the Honeywell International subsidiary that took over management of the lab in May in partnership with Northrop Grumman Corp.
The state Supreme Court has ruled against a request from the states public defenders for relief from what they say are unsustainable caseloads in several southern New Mexico counties.

But unlike most court rulings that spell out the justices legal opinion, Tuesdays order is a simple denial of the Law Office of the Public Defenders petition, which sought a ruling that would allow overburdened defense attorneys in Lea County to decline new clients.

In that county and others, public defenders have been requesting to be excused from cases because they are overworked and unable to offer constitutionally mandated effective representation.

Those requests have been denied, prompting the appeal to the Supreme Court in one of the denied requests.

Im disappointed, but they didnt say that we were wrong. They denied our petition, but there was not a legal finding that we dont have the right or the obligation to raise this issue, Chief Public Defender Bennett Baur said Wednesday. Were going to continue to raise this in district courts and the Legislature.

Indeed, a similar case is brewing in Lincoln County, Baur said.

There, as in Lea County, public defenders say they have such large caseloads that they cant give each enough attention to provide effective counsel as required by law. In those counties, public defenders say they are too busy to attend arraignments, the first court proceeding after an arrest at which bail and conditions of release can be set.

There is a stream of clients, of people, and each one of them deserves to have a lawyer who understands their case and has the time to effectively represent them, and if we cant do that we have to let the courts know, Baur said.

At oral arguments before the justices on the issue in July, state prosecutors argued that the public defenders arent really as overburdened as they say and are able to take dozens of cases to trial successfully.

Baur said that in the year since they started requesting lower caseloads, more attorneys have been hired, but the problem remains.

There are more attorneys now than there were then, but the caseloads are still well over any national standard, certainly lower than they were, but still far above, he said.
ARLINGTON, Va.  Negotiations to remake the North American Free Trade Agreement resumed Wednesday amid increasing concerns of a breakdown, with President Donald Trump continuing to threaten to withdraw from the pact and the administration planning to push several contentious proposals across the table over the next few days.

Concerns were apparent as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Trump in Washington while trade negotiators from the U.S., Canada and Mexico gathered here on the other side of the Potomac River. As Trump talked about the possibility of not reaching an agreement on NAFTA  saying he could see the U.S. and Canada doing a bilateral deal to replace the pact  Trudeau maintained a straight face.

Asked whether he would be ready to sign a deal only with the U.S., Trudeau answered in French: Were negotiating at the moment.

In three earlier rounds of NAFTA talks, negotiators found common ground on customs and trade facilitation, e-commerce rules and other less-controversial matters that would update the 23-year-old agreement.

But with a goal of wrapping up negotiations by the end of the year, U.S. officials are now expected to get to the crux of the talks with proposals that they see as central to advancing Trumps America first agenda, even though some of those ideas are fiercely opposed by not only Mexico and Canada, but also by U.S. business interests.

One proposal would allow NAFTA to expire after five years unless all three countries agree to renew it, according to people who have been briefed by U.S. trade officials.

The so-called sunset provision is ostensibly aimed at giving the administration a way out, or at least greater leverage, should there be little or no improvement in the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico or Canada  something that Trump has persistently regarded as the measuring stick of whether trade agreements are working, despite widespread criticism from economists who say such thinking is flawed.

Critics of a sunset clause include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose leader, Thomas Donohue, described it as one of several poison pill proposals  that could doom the entire deal.

We all know that certainty and stability are crucial to successful trade relationships  and necessary to foster a pro-investment environment that drives economic growth and job creation, Donohue said in a particularly forceful speech Tuesday in Mexico City. This clause would achieve the opposite effect.

Weve reached a critical moment, he added. The chamber has had no choice but to ring the alarm bells.

The U.S. auto industry, in particular, has ramped up lobbying efforts in recent days. While Trump has cast himself as a champion of U.S. manufacturing, the domestic car industry fears that the administrations overhaul of NAFTA could wreck the complex, integrated North American supply chain that has taken decades to develop.

Under current NAFTA rules, vehicles that are manufactured with at least 62.5 percent of contents from any combination of the three countries can be shipped from one NAFTA nation to another without paying duties.

Trumps trade officials want to raise that origin-of-content requirement to as much as 85 percent, which would make it more costly for U.S. car companies to source parts from non-NAFTA countries. But, more significantly, U.S. negotiators are expected to seek a new requirement that 50 percent of the contents of autos are made in the U.S. before those goods can be shipped across North American borders without duties.

Opponents of a U.S.-specific content clause argue that such a provision is contrary to a trade agreement whose basis is the North American regional economy, not any individual country. On top of that, U.S. auto executives say that carrying out that mandate would be a bureaucratic nightmare and costly, ultimately making cars more expensive for consumers.

Mexican officials, in particular, have recoiled at a country-specific rule of origin as their nation has attracted many auto parts and assembly operations in recent years that employ hundreds of thousands of workers.

Other thorny issues that are likely to come up in this fourth round of talks include a U.S. proposal to weaken the right of private investors and companies to sue governments  a provision that has strong backing from organized labor and civil society groups.

The Trump administration also wants to eliminate a NAFTA chapter that has allowed Mexico and Canada, in particular, to contest U.S. anti-dumping and government-subsidy tariff decisions by turning to a NAFTA panel of judges.

U.S. trade officials have told outside advisers that they are planning seven rounds of talks before Christmas. Their hope is to have a deal in principle in place by the end of the year, or early 2018 at the latest, to avoid political complications in Mexicos presidential vote in the summer and the U.S. midterm elections later in the fall.

But most trade experts doubt they can meet such an aggressive timetable. And in a signal anticipating the challenges ahead, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Wednesday that this latest round would be extended through next Tuesday, two more days than originally planned.



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Local kids with a passion for math and science have new options, thanks to a $7.8 million federal grant awarded to Albuquerque Public Schools.

APS recently received a five-year award from the U.S. Department of Educations Magnet Schools Assistance Program  one of 32 districts selected in 16 states.

The money will be used to convert Mission Avenue Elementary School, Garfield Middle School and Valley High School into Engineering for the Future schools with hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum.

APS Superintendent Raquel Reedy said the STEM emphasis will start up a new generation of people who are hooked on science.

As I look at New Mexico, New Mexico is truly a scientific state, a scientific community, Reedy said during a media conference at Garfield Middle School on Wednesday. This is so heartening and so exciting.

The three schools will be magnets serving students who live in the neighborhood and those who want to transfer in.

Garfield Middle  a school of roughly 400 students at 3501 Sixth NW  has been a STEM magnet for three years. By adding Mission Avenue Elementary School and Valley High, APS will offer a math and science emphasis from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Valley High Principal Anthony Griego said the grant will help his school build on its strong STEM classes and internship opportunities.

Valleys STEM Academy will launch in fall 2018 with a cohort of ninth-graders.

Griego said he couldnt guess how many students will sign up, but there is no cap on enrollment.

Over the next year, the three schools will work together to create an integrated curriculum.

Rebecca Carter-Keesling, a Garfield Middle School science and engineering teacher, said the STEM coursework helps students think about their career options.

During the three years Garfield has offered the STEM focus, she has seen many students shift their goals from cosmetology and tattooing to engineering.

They may have heard someone talk about it (engineering), but now they understand what it looks like, she said. They actually have the opportunity and the skills to do it.

Twelve-year-old Krysta Martinez is already charting her future  the seventh-grader wants to become a mechanical engineer. She transferred to Garfield Middle School to take advantage of the strong STEM program.

This year, she is part of the Garfield robotics team, which gives students a chance to compete against other schools.

Martinez said she particularly enjoys hands-on science lessons, such as dissections and balloon launches.

The new STEM programs are part of APS larger focus on magnet schools and school choice.

In September, APS created procedures that outline the process for launching magnets and the schools roles and responsibilities.

Debbie Elder, executive director of the APS Office of Innovation, is leading the effort.

Currently, APS has more than a dozen magnet schools with a variety of focuses, including bilingual education, college credit and online learning.

Unlike charter schools, magnets are managed directly by the district.

The APS Board of Education first authorized magnet schools in 1983.

For more information, go to www.aps.edu/schools/schools-of-choice.
The recent article regarding assignment of operational aircraft at Kirtland AFB hits the nail on the head. Maj. Gen. Ken Nava, the new adjutant general of the New Mexico National Guard, has the future of the famous Enchilada Air Force on his radar.

The New Mexico Air National Guard has been the premier ANG unit in the country for decades. The unit has served in Korea; Vietnam, where they were assigned the call sign Taco; in the Far East; and in many other deployments in and out of the United States.

I was fortunate to serve in the N.M. Air National Guard for over 45 years. I deployed with them to Tuy Hoa, Vietnam, where the Tacos gained the reputation of flying the greatest number of combat hours than other like units in country.

We lost our F-16s when the unit was told that they were obsolete and they going to the boneyard.

That was a lie, as we know that two of our formerly assigned aircraft are assigned to Holloman AFB training U. S. Air Force pilots and others were assigned to the Virginia ANG.

The other lie, as Maj. Gen. Nava states, is that the Air National Guard Principles says there will be at least one operational flying squadron in each state of the U.S.

The other pluses for having an operational flying unit in New Mexico are: New Mexico was at one time responsible for protection of our southern border with Mexico. That responsibility in now assigned to the Colorado ANG based in Denver. Note: Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque is only 250 miles from the Mexican border, where Denver is 1,200 miles from Mexico.

In New Mexico, we have low-level flying routes and we can fly supersonic in some part of the state.

For munitions delivery training, New Mexico has a practice range near Melrose and a live delivery range at Red Rio. KAFB, with its proximity to Fort Bliss, Texas, can and has provided close air support for the U. S. Army. Maj. Gen. Nava, along with the commander in chief, Gov. Susana Martinez, can lobby our congressional delegation and the National Guard Bureau to stand by their policy of at least one flying unit in each state. Keep in mind that there are other states that have more than one flying unit. It is time for the National Guard Bureau to keep its word and equip this former premier flying unit with an operational flying unit. With the specter of another BRAC, KAFB would surely welcome one. Comment: We have unlimited flying weather in New Mexico.
WASHINGTON  At least seven Cabinet-level officials and a smattering of aides appear to have abused their access to publicly funded travel. Collectively, these bureaucrats billed taxpayers for millions of dollars worth of private jets, military flights, spousal travel and other questionable expenses.

Yet, so far, just one of them, former health and human services secretary Tom Price, has been forced to step down.

The White House argues that while Price may have misbehaved, there is plenty of precedent for such extravagant government travel. And the administration is right. Government officials were abusing travel budgets long before President Trump came on the scene.

Like, a really long time before Trump  were talking ancient Rome here.

So maybe examining how Roman emperors dealt with the problem can offer insight into how to deal with it now.

During the Roman Empire, government representatives traveling on official business used a state-authorized transportation system, called vehiculatio. They received special travel passes, called diplomata and issued by emperors or governors, that allowed them to requisition carts, horses, food, lodging and guides from provincial populations along their route.

Locals were usually compensated at set rates. But otherwise, the rules varied from province to province, reinforced or modified over time as governors and emperors saw fit, according to Hunter College classics professor W. Graham Claytor, an expert in Greco-Roman documents.

In practice, this led to a lot of abuse.

Public officials took personal trips disguised as work trips. They spent, and extracted from locals, much more than they really needed. They seemed indifferent to the hardships created by their profligacy and oblivious to more productive uses for the scarce taxpayer resources they were gobbling up.

Sound familiar?

Consider a petition from the villagers of Skaptopara in Thrace  today Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria  sent to Emperor Gordian III in A.D. 238.

The village, renowned for its hot springs, was located between two army camps and a famous market. Villagers complained that soldiers leave their proper routes to stay in their town, where the soldiers demanded hospitality and provisions free of charge. Governors and other officials also frequented the town, further burdening locals.

Villagers warned the emperor that the abuses might force them to pick up and leave  and take their tax dollars with them:

If we are weighed down, we will flee our homes and the treasury will suffer the greatest loss.

In other ancient correspondence, officials tried to expand their already generous travel perks.

In one letter, Pliny the Younger  governor of Bithynia and Pontus in A.D. 110  used flattery to justify a travel pass he had recently issued to his wife, even though she was traveling on a private matter.

It was for familial piety, Pliny explained; surely the beneficent Emperor Trajan would understand. Trajan replied that he did.

When emperors or governors did get mad about such abuses, sometimes they issued financial or other penalties. Often enough, though, the result was another edict reminding officials to please, please follow the rules  and stop making the government look bad!

Heres one, from Marcus Petronius Mamertinus, provincial governor of Egypt, dated A.D. 133-137:

I have learned that many soldiers, traveling through the countryside without a diploma, unjustly demand boats, baggage animals, and men, sometimes taking things by force, sometimes receiving them from the local governors as a favor or service. As a result, private citizens suffer insults and abuse, and the army is accused of greed and injustice. Therefore I command once and for all that the local governors and their lieutenants furnish none of the things given for escort to anyone without a diploma, neither to those going by boat nor those traveling on foot. I shall forcibly punish anyone who, after this proclamation, is caught either taking or giving any of the things specified.

You can find many similar edicts issued across centuries. Which shows that travel-related corruption and abuse were a recurring problem.

Why wouldnt this problem go away? Because, as scholar Russell S. Gentry has argued, rulers preferred to cast bad behavior as isolated incidents rather than systemic flaws in an empire that treated provincials as unimportant and afforded government elites relatively little oversight.

Just as, say, Trump might prefer to cast a jet-setting former health secretary as a bad apple not representative of the spirit of his administration, Claytor observes.

It took centuries for Roman emperors to realize they needed to make real, system-wide changes if they hoped to curb the wanton abuse of taxpayer resources. How long will it take Trump?

Catherine Rampells email address is crampell@washpost.com. Follow her on Twitter, @crampell. (c) 2017, Washington Post Writers Group.
If hypocrisy were a greenhouse gas, the ice caps would be gone by now.

Lets start with the obvious: Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein wasnt fired for being a pig, he was fired for being exposed as one. The Weinstein Co. board members probably didnt know everything, but they surely knew enough. The only relevant new revelation was public outcry.

The New York Times, which broke the story, knew what was going on long before the publication date, too. Former Times reporter Sharon Waxman claims she had the goods on Weinstein in 2004. The Times gutted the piece after Weinstein, who was not just a Hollywood player and political rainmaker but also a major advertiser, visited the paper to make his displeasure known, Waxman said. Now some at the paper are denouncing the medias long silence about Weinstein, even though it was part of the problem for years. Still, theyre heroic in this story compared with everyone else.

Consider Hollywood itself. If God punished hypocrisy with lightning bolts, that town would be in smoldering ruins. Even as various insiders condemned Weinstein, they admitted that his alleged wrongdoing had long been an open secret.

Why didnt they speak up earlier? Perhaps because attacking Weinstein had downsides, while attacking, say, Donald Trump promised only rewards.

At last months Emmys, the stars of 9 to 5  an old feminist-lite flick about sexual harassment in the workplace  reunited. Back in 1980, in that movie, we refused to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot, explained Jane Fonda.

And in 2017, we still refuse to be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot, Lily Tomlin added.

The crowd roared with approval. Take that, Trump!

How many people in that room knew about Weinstein? How many refused to speak up  even after he was fired? Saturday Night Live went silent when it came to Weinstein. Its a New York thing, executive producer Lorne Michaels explained.

So far, many right-wing readers are probably nodding along to this column. Well, stop. If you never spoke up about Trump, or if you responded to those accusations with a dismissive, What about Bill Clinton? you should probably just sit this one out.

Because if you decry piggish behavior only when it helps your side, or if you think accusers are telling the truth only when they speak up about people you hate  or dont need professionally  then you dont actually care about sexual harassment.

Steve Bannons Breitbart.com reported this week that Weinstein had visited the Obama White House 13 times. The horror! This is the same Bannon who insists that the first and greatest test of loyalty to Trump was whether you supported him after the Access Hollywood video was released.

I cant wait for Sean Hannity to ask Bill OReilly  ousted from Fox for his crude sexual behavior  to opine on the latest news about those pervs in Hollyweird.

It may be that liberals Weinstein, Bill Clinton and Bill Cosby together have a worse rap sheet than Trump, ousted Fox News head Roger Ailes and OReilly. But, my God, who cares?

Is it the new standard of the tribalized right that so long as our guys dont sink to the lowest standards of their guys, its OK?

Is the rule for the left that you can be a personal and professional pig so long as your public politics are correct? I still remember Gloria Steinem dismissing Bill Clintons exploits, leading wags to proclaim a one free grope rule. No wonder Weinstein thought he could buy off Hollywood by promising to attack the National Rifle Association.

That brings me to the one group that has understandably been spared any criticism at all: the victims. I dont condemn their silence when young and powerless. But theres a real problem: Many stayed silent for decades, happily pocketing money from people they were willing to denounce only after it was safe  or even profitable  to do so.

That hypocrisy may be the most dangerous, because it sends the signal to young women that such compromises pay off and you can buy indulgences after youre successful. Thats not a message I want my teenage daughter to hear.

Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. E-mail goldbergcolumn@gmail.com, Twitter @JonahNRO. Copyright, Tribune Media Services Inc.
Another candidate may be entering the race for the District 2 seat on the Santa Fe City Council, as attorney Carol Romero-Wirth has picked up candidate information packet from the city Clerks Office.

Romero-Wirth is the third candidate to run for the District 2 seat being vacated by Joseph Maestas, who is running for mayor. Also in the race for that seat are Joe Arellano and Nate Downey. According to a biography of her posted by Santa Fe Prep, where her two children went to school and she spent nine years on the Board of Trustees, Romero-Wirth has spent most of her law career working in public policy, politics, government and philanthropy. She holds degrees from Colorado College, the University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and a law degree from the University of New Mexico.

Romero-Wirth has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including the Santa Fe Community Foundation, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, Communities in Schools, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.

She was a member of the citys Charter Commission that advanced the proposal for a full-time mayor, which voters approved in 2014.

She is married to state Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, a Democrat.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

The states Judicial Standards Commission has petitioned the New Mexico Supreme Court to remove Eddy County Magistrate Judge Henry Castaneda for sending and receiving emails that were offensive, degrading, pornographic, racist and sexist.

The commission, which is responsible for investigating complaints of judicial wrongdoing and suggesting remedies or punishment, filed its unanimous official position with the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Castaneda has been a magistrate judge in Carlsbad since he won election in 2003. He did not return messages left for him Wednesday.

Commission investigators say in their petition for permanent removal that Castaneda was misusing and abusing his official judicial email address and computer from his election until 2015, when a full investigation was launched into his email accounts.

The extent of Castanedas inappropriate email use was brought to light after a records request by another government employee.

That employee had been fired after being caught using a government email address to register for the website Ashley Madison, a dating site for married people looking for affairs. After the termination, the employee sought emails from 10 government employees, including Castaneda.

Castanedas email trail, while not involved in the Ashley Madison scandal, did contain controversial emails.

Administrative Office of the Courts Director Arthur Pepin filed an official complaint over several hundred emails that he felt violated judicial policies.

The complaint details more than 100 of these emails, including dozens of raunchy, racist and sexist cartoons and jokes, along with personal emails and political emails sent to friends from his official judge email address.

The complaint against him says that despite one-on-one training sessions and access to IT experts, Castaneda claimed he just didnt know how to delete or block emails and would just forward them to his personal email.

Pepin testified that the evidence on Castenedas computer showed an inability to be fair and impartial and would undermine the publics confidence in the judiciary.

Pepin said Castaneda made no effort to block the incoming emails, which were mostly from family members, or to email the senders to tell them to stop sending inappropriate emails.

The complaint led to an administrative trial at the Judicial Standards Commission, which resulted in the recommendation for removal.

The court will now collect documents from the investigation and a response from Castaneda before deciding whether he should be removed.

These are very rare to have and to go this far in the process, said Randall Roybal, the commissions executive director. Removals are the ultimate sanction.
SANTA FE  Three members of the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission  including its chairman  have resigned in the past two days, leaving the influential water policy agency in turmoil.

Commission members Jim Dunlap of Farmington and James Wilcox of Carlsbad submitted resignation letters to Gov. Susana Martinez on Wednesday, a day after commission Chairman Caleb Chandler of Clovis tendered his resignation.

All three declined Wednesday to discuss their resignations, which were effective immediately, saying they would issue a joint statement on the issue before the end of the week. But Dunlap expressed concern in his resignation letter about recent staff turnover and other issues.

This resignation is very difficult for me, as a life-long public servant, but (I do so) with great concern for lack of direction from the state engineer and adherence to New Mexico state statutes, Dunlap wrote in his resignation letter to Martinez. He did not elaborate on the allegations.

The resignations leave the commission, which has come under fire in recent years for open meetings violations, with just four active members out of nine board positions, because there were previously two vacancies. Members of the Interstate Stream Commission do not receive salaries.

A spokesman for the Interstate Stream Commission said the agency expects the vacant positions to be filled soon by the governor.

We appreciate their service to New Mexico with the Interstate Stream Commission and wish them well in their future endeavors, commission spokeswoman Melissa Dosher-Smith told the Journal.

Of the three members of the Interstate Stream Commission who resigned, Chandler was appointed most recently, having been named by Martinez in March 2015. Dunlap and Wilcox were both longtime commissioners.

The Interstate Stream Commission has broad authority under New Mexico law to undertake water-related projects. The commission also has the power to negotiate with other states to settle interstate stream disputes.

A Gila River diversion project for farm and municipal use in southwestern New Mexico has come under particular scrutiny in recent years, with the agencys former director accusing the Interstate Stream Commission in 2014 of repeatedly violating the states Open Meetings Act in its deliberations over the plan.

The Interstate Stream Commission has also grappled with drought-related issues in recent years, though most of New Mexico is drought-free  at least for now.
Andrew Salas, a former adjutant general of the New Mexico National Guard, is joining the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce next year.

Salas, a Republican from Socorro County, stepped down from commanding the National Guard in July.

He will compete against some well-known candidates for the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District: state Rep. Yvette Herrell of Alamogordo, Carlsbad pharmacist Jack Volpato and former Hobbs Mayor Monty Newman.

Salas told El Defensor Chieftain  a sister paper to the Albuquerque Journal  that he realizes the race already includes high-quality candidates.

However, I believe I have something that none of the other candidates have, Salas said. Thats a lifetime of leading teams to get things done. Thats been my role as a military man, which I believe will be a benefit to the citizens of southern New Mexico.

The race is wide open because Pearce, a Republican, is running for governor rather than seeking re-election.

Six Democrats are also running for the seat, which has been held by a Republican for all but two of the past 27 years.

Gov. in Dallas: Gov. Susana Martinez traveled to Dallas this week for meetings of the Republican Governors Association.

She left late Tuesday and expects to return to New Mexico today.

The association is paying for her travel.

Martinez is a former chairwoman of the group, which supports Republican gubernatorial candidates.

Budget for DA: District Attorney Raul Torrez, the top state prosecutor in Bernalillo County, is picking up bipartisan support for a budget increase.

Republican Gov. Susana Martinez said last week that she will request an extra $6.5 million for the 2nd Judicial District Attorneys Office, an increase of 33 percent over this years budget.

And state Rep. Antonio Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, said he was glad to hear of the governors support.

We must invest in keeping our communities safe, he said.

Maestas and Martinez are both former prosecutors.

Maestas is also the co-chairman of a bipartisan legislative committee examining ways to combat New Mexicos rising crime rate.

Dan McKay: dmckay@abqjournal.com
HUNTSVILLE, Texas  A Texas inmate convicted in the death of a prison guard was executed Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his lawyers attempts to halt the punishment.

Robert Pruett was given a lethal injection for the fatal attack on corrections officer Daniel Nagle in December 1999 at a prison southeast of San Antonio. Nagle was repeatedly stabbed with a tape-wrapped metal rod, though an autopsy showed he died from a heart attack that the assault caused. Prosecutors have said the stabbing stemmed from a dispute over a peanut butter sandwich that Pruett wanted to take into a recreation yard against prison rules.

In his final statement before being put to death, the 38-year-old Pruett said he hurt a lot of people and a lot of people hurt him. He said he was sorry and held no grudges.

Ive had to learn lessons in life the hard way, he said. One day there wont be a need to hurt people.

He told his friends who were watching the execution through a window that he loved them. Im ready to go, Pruett said. Nighty night, everybody. Im done, warden.

As the lethal dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital began to flow, he started to chant: Love. Light. Its forever.

His voice rose as he repeated the phrase. He added obscenities and soon was yelling. He started to slur his words before slipping into unconsciousness. He was pronounced dead at 6:46 p.m. CDT, 29 minutes after being given the drug.

Pruett, who was already serving a 99-year sentence for a neighbors killing near Houston when he was convicted in Nagles death, lost two appeals at the Supreme Court as his execution neared. He became the 20th prisoner put to death this year in the U.S. and the sixth in Texas, which carries out the death penalty more than any other state. Texas executed seven inmates last year.

About 100 corrections officers stood in formation outside the Huntsville Unit prison as Pruett was being executed. They remained there as Nagles relatives emerged from the prison after witnessing the punishment.

While some people may not understand this, I forgive him because Gods word tells us to do so, Nagles wife, Crystal, said. Now its up to God, because Jesus is the one who does the final judgment.

Pruetts lawyers had asked the high court to review whether lower courts properly denied a federal civil rights lawsuit that sought additional DNA testing in his case. They also questioned whether a prisoner like Pruett, who claimed actual innocence in federal court because of newly discovered evidence after exhausting all other appeals, could be put to death.

Pruett avoided execution in April 2015, hours before he could have been taken to the death chamber, when a state judge halted his punishment so additional DNA testing could be conducted on the rod used to stab the 37-year-old Nagle. The new tests showed no DNA on the tape but uncovered DNA on the rod from an unknown female who authorities said likely handled the shank during the appeals process after the original tests in 2002.

Pruetts attorneys unsuccessfully sought more DNA testing and filed their federal civil rights lawsuit arguing Pruett had been denied due process. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the lawsuit last week, and the lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Attorneys for Texas told the Supreme Court that Pruetts appeals were delay tactics after issues were repeatedly raised and properly rejected by the courts.

No physical evidence tied Pruett to Nagles death at the McConnell Unit prison near Beeville. At his 2002 trial, inmates testified that they saw Pruett attack Nagle or heard him talk about wanting to kill the guard. According to some of the testimony, he talked about possessing a weapon as well.

Pruett had said he was framed and that Nagle could have been killed by other inmates or corrupt officers at the McConnell Unit.

Pruetts 99-year murder sentence was for participating with his father and a brother in the 1995 stabbing death of a 29-year-old neighbor, Raymond Yarbrough, at the mans trailer home in Channelview, just east of Houston. Pruett was 15 when the attack happened.

According to court testimony from a sheriffs detective, Pruett argued with Yarbrough and then got his father and brother to join him in attacking the man. Pruett punched and kicked Yarbrough and held him down while his father stabbed the man multiple times, the detective said.

Pruetts father, Howard Pruett, is serving life in prison. His brother, Howard Pruett Jr., was sentenced to 40 years.

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WASHINGTON  In a brash move likely to roil insurance markets, President Donald Trump will immediately halt payments to insurers under the Obama-era health care law he has been trying to unravel for months.

The Health and Human Services department made the announcement in a statement late Thursday night. We will discontinue these payments immediately, said acting HHS Secretary Eric Hargan and Medicare administrator Seema Verma.

In a separate statement, the White House said the government cannot legally continue to pay the so-called cost-sharing subsidies because they lack a formal authorization by Congress.

However, the administration had been making the payments from month to month, even as Trump threated to cut them off to force Democrats to negotiate over health care. The subsidies help lower copays and deductibles for people with modest incomes.

Halting the payments would trigger a spike in premiums for next year, unless Trump reverses course or Congress authorizes the money. The next payments are due around Oct. 20.

The top two Democrats in Congress sharply denounced the Trump plan in a joint statement.

It is a spiteful act of vast, pointless sabotage leveled at working families and the middle class in every corner of America, said House and Senate Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi of California and Chuck Schumer of New York. Make no mistake about it, Trump will try to blame the Affordable Care Act, but this will fall on his back and he will pay the price for it.

The presidents action is likely to trigger a lawsuit from state attorneys general, who contend the subsidies to insurers are fully authorized by federal law, and say the presidents position is reckless.

We are prepared to sue, said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. Weve taken the Trump Administration to court before and won.

Word of Trumps plan came on a day when the president had also signed an executive order directing government agencies to design insurance plans that would offer lower premiums outside the requirements of President Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act.

Frustrated over setbacks in Congress, Trump is wielding his executive powers to bring the repeal and replace debate to a head. He appears to be following through on his vow to punish Democrats and insurers after the failure of GOP health care legislation.

On Twitter, Trump has termed the payments to insurers a bailout, but its unclear if the president will get Democrats to negotiate by stopping payment.

Experts have warned that cutting off the money would lead to a double-digit spike in premiums, on top of increases insurers already planned for next year. That would deliver another blow to markets around the country already fragile from insurers exiting and costs rising. Insurers, hospitals, doctors groups, state officials and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have urged the administration to keep paying.

Leading GOP lawmakers have also called for continuing the payments to insurers, at least temporarily, so constituents maintain access to health insurance. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., is working on such legislation with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington.

The so-called cost-sharing subsidies defray copays and deductibles for people with low-to-modest incomes, and can reduce a deductible of $3,500 to a few hundred dollars. Assistance is available to consumers buying individual policies; people with employer coverage are unaffected by the dispute.

Nearly 3 in 5 HealthCare.gov customers qualify for help, an estimated 6 million people or more. The annual cost to the government is currently about $7 billion.

But the subsidies have been under a legal cloud because of a dispute over whether the Obama health care law properly approved them. Adding to the confusion, other parts of the Affordable Care Act clearly direct the government to reimburse the carriers.

For example, the ACA requires insurers to help low-income consumers with their copays and deductibles.

And the law also specifies that the government shall reimburse insurers for the cost-sharing assistance that they provide.

But theres disagreement over whether the law properly provided a congressional appropriation, similar to an instruction to pay. The Constitution says the government shall not spend money unless Congress appropriates it.

House Republicans trying to thwart the ACA sued the Obama administration in federal court in Washington, arguing that the law lacked specific language appropriating the cost-sharing subsidies.

A district court judge agreed with House Republicans, and the case has been on hold before the U.S. appeals court in Washington. Up to this point the Trump administration continued making the monthly payments, as the Obama administration had done.

While the legal issue seems arcane, the impact on consumers would be real.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that premiums for a standard silver plan will increase by about 20 percent without the subsidies. Insurers can recover the cost-sharing money by raising premiums, since those are also subsidized by the ACA, and theres no legal question about their appropriation.

Consumers who receive tax credits under the ACA to pay their premiums would be shielded from those premium increases.

But millions of others buy individual health care policies without any financial assistance from the government and could face prohibitive increases. Taxpayers would end up spending more to subsidize premiums.

Earlier Thursday, Trump had directed government agencies to design a legal framework for groups of employers to band together and offer health insurance plans across state lines, a longstanding goal for the president.

___

Associated Press Writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Several congressional Democrats who split with President Barack Obama to oppose the nuclear agreement with Iran are now urging President Donald Trump to uphold the international accord, arguing that robust enforcement is the best way to counter Tehrans malign behavior in the Middle East.

The reversal underscores deep concerns among lawmakers that Trump will inform Congress in the coming days that the landmark 2015 agreement with Iran is contrary to Americas national security interests. That declaration could lead to an unraveling of the seven-nation pact and leave the United States, not Iran, as the country that balked at honoring its commitments.

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., who voted against the agreement two years ago, said at a hearing Wednesday U.S. interests are best served by keeping the deal and aggressively policing the agreement to ensure Iran doesnt violate the terms. Engel, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said unwinding the agreement would send a dangerous signal to allies and adversaries alike.

The U.S. will need to work with Britain, France and Germany  all parties to the Iran nuclear pact  to fix its flaws and those countries need to know that the U.S. is a reliable partner, according to Engel. North Koreas leaders, meanwhile, would have little incentive to negotiate a nuclear disarmament if they see the Iran deal collapse, he said.

We need to work with allies and partners on a shared agenda that holds the regime in Iran accountable, not dividing America from our closest friends across the globe, Engel said.

Notably, the committees top Republican, Rep. Ed Royce, said the U.S. should adhere to the deal.

As flawed as the deal is, I believe we must now enforce the hell out of it, said the California lawmaker.

Former Obama administration officials who played central roles in brokering the Iran nuclear agreement briefed congressional Democrats later Wednesday on the merits of the international accord. Former Secretary of State John Kerry, former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Wendy Sherman, the former undersecretary of state for political affairs, along with European ambassadors met behind closed doors with lawmakers.

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., opposed the Iran nuclear agreement in part because the deal gave Tehran access to tens of billions of dollars in previously frozen assets. But hes changed his thinking. Sherman said if the deal is renounced, Iran gets to keep all the money and also is freed from the restraints imposed by the agreement.

Under the 2015 deal, Tehran agreed to roll back its nuclear program in exchange for relief from wide-ranging oil, trade and financial sanctions that had choked the Iranian economy.

Trump faces an Oct. 15 deadline mandated by law to tell Congress if he believes Iran is complying with the nuclear accord and if it advances U.S. interests. If the president doesnt certify compliance with the requirements, Congress has 60 days to decide whether to re-impose or snap back sanctions lifted under the agreement.

The White House was looking at a Friday announcement after scrapping a tentative plan for Thursday, according to a congressional source and a non-governmental source familiar with the matter.

Officials familiar with the internal deliberations as well as informed sources outside the administration say they do not believe Trump will call for Congress to reinstate the sanctions. Instead, these officials said Trump is more inclined to push legislators to amend the law that requires the president to certify Irans compliance every 90 days.

Trump detests the certification requirement, which forces him to sign off every three months on an accord he has called the worst deal ever negotiated by America, according to the officials.

The officials discussing the details and timing of the announcement spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations.

Republican legislators recently began drawing up new versions of the law that remove the 90-day timetable and replace it with semi-annual certifications, according to the officials.

Drafts of two proposals seen by The Associated Press, one from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and one from committee member and harsh deal critic Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., would demand that the intelligence community produce judgments on a wide range of Iranian behavior that is not covered by the nuclear deal, including ballistic missile testing and development and threats to Israel and the Mideast more broadly.

Trump threatened during the presidential campaign to tear the pact up if he was elected. But many of his top national security aides dont want to dismantle the agreement, and Americas European allies have lobbied the Trump administration and Congress to preserve the accord.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that Iran is not in material breach of the agreement. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said at the same hearing that the deal is still in the U.S. national security interest.

More than 180 House Democrats sent a letter to Trump last week calling on him to certify compliance unless he could produce credible evidence of a material breach by Iran. Among the lawmakers who signed the letter were Engel and 12 other House Democrats who had criticized the deal when it was reached two years ago. Among them were Reps. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., and Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.

The agreement contains specific restrictions on Irans nuclear program that will expire after predetermined periods of time. Those provisions relate to enriching uranium to levels near those needed to produce the fuel for a nuclear weapon, as well as other activities that limit Irans atomic capabilities at various sites.

Deutch said the danger of walking away from the agreement is that those expiration dates would have effectively dropped from a decade to a day because Iran would be freed of its obligations under the deal.

Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, was one of four Senate Democrats who opposed the Iran nuclear agreement in 2015. He still has concerns with how the accord will contain Iran in the future, but he doesnt want the pact ditched.

I think I speak for a lot of us who opposed the agreement. We thought it was the wrong decision, Cardin told reporters recently. 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.

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Follow Richard Lardner on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rplardner

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AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee and AP writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  The top House Republican on Thursday blasted high-tax states that deliver billions to the federal government as he faced a backlash from rank-and-file GOP lawmakers over a sweeping tax-cut proposal.

But beyond the tough rhetoric from Speaker Paul Ryan, disgruntled lawmakers met privately with Republican leaders and reached for possible compromises to break the impasse. The GOP lawmakers from high-tax states oppose the plans proposal to repeal the popular federal deduction for state and local taxes. Its used in large numbers by residents of their states.

With Republicans splintered, the future of the $6 trillion tax overhaul plan is threatened by the GOP defections. The success of the package is a political imperative for Republicans who have pinned their hopes on a big legislative achievement to help them retain control of Congress in next years elections. Its also President Donald Trumps highest legislative priority to fulfill his promise of boosting economic growth.

Ryan went on the offensive against high-tax states like California, New York and New Jersey even though the GOP lawmakers from those states need to be brought on board to support the tax overhaul plan.

But Ryan contended the rest of the country is propping up profligate, big-government states that levy high taxes on their residents and spend recklessly.

States that got their act together are paying for states that didnt, the Wisconsin lawmaker said at an appearance at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

In fact, California, New York and New Jersey send many billions more in taxes to Washington than they get back in federal spending, new data show. Divided by total state residents, New York gets back 81 cents for every $1 it pays in, New Jersey receives 74 cents and California 96 cents, according to an analysis released last month by the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

New York contributed $48 billion more in taxes to the federal government than it received in government spending  the biggest deficit the analysis found. New Jersey gave $31 billion more in taxes than it got back and California $17 billion more, the data show. The figures were for the budget year ending Sept. 30, 2015.

The state-local deduction is claimed by around 44 million people and costs the government an estimated $1.3 trillion in lost revenue over 10 years.

Theres a number of proposals on the table, said Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., emerging from the meeting of his colleagues from high-tax states with GOP leaders, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, head of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

Theres more than one way to skin this cat, MacArthur said, but added, It has to be soon.

MacArthur and others who attended wouldnt specify what compromises were being considered short of complete repeal of the deduction. One possibility they were asked about would cap the deduction at a single taxpayers annual income of $400,000 ($800,000 for a married couple).

That would affect just the top 1 percent of taxpayers, according to Amir El-Sibaie, an analyst at the business-friendly Tax Foundation. It could bring in $481 billion in revenue over 10 years, compared with an estimated $1.8 trillion if the deduction were fully repealed, El-Sibaie calculates.

At the White House, Trumps position on ending the deduction appeared hardened. His chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, discounted a news report Thursday that the president had expressed concerns over the proposed repeal. Asked whether Trump was rethinking the move, Cohn said no.

Opposition to ending the deduction has produced an unusual alliance of the Republican lawmakers from high-tax, Democratic-leaning states; state and local government officials; public employee labor unions; and business groups like Realtors. Wary of the financial pinch their constituents and members could sustain from losing the deduction, they are pressing the Trump administration to reconsider.

Some opponents contend that repealing the deductions would subject people to being taxed twice and would amount to a federal revenue grab on the backs of homeowners who pay property taxes. And governors like New York Democrat Andrew Cuomo, a potential 2020 presidential candidate, have rallied against the change.

There will be a transfer of wealth of over a trillion dollars to the federal coffers, said Matt Chase, executive director of the National Association of Counties.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said eliminating the deduction would not only devastate funding for public schools, infrastructure, law enforcement and other vital services but also boost taxes on the middle class. For what? Tax cuts for the wealthy.

The White House has argued that the plan is focused on helping middle-class workers, contending that lowering corporate rates will boost jobs while the tax cuts and simpler tax code will reduce their burden.

__

Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Five years after they were seized by a terrorist network in the mountains of Afghanistan, an American woman, her Canadian husband and their children  all three born in captivity  are free after a dramatic rescue orchestrated by the U.S. and Pakistani governments, officials said Thursday.

The U.S. said Pakistan accomplished the release of Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Canadian Joshua Boyle, who were abducted and held by the Haqqani network, which has ties to the Taliban. The operation, which came after years of U.S. pressure on Pakistan for assistance, unfolded quickly and ended with what some described a dangerous raid, a shootout and a captors final, terrifying threat to kill the hostage. Boyle suffered only a shrapnel wound, his family said.

U.S. officials did not confirm the details.

Today they are free, President Donald Trump said in a statement, crediting the U.S.-Pakistani partnership for securing the release. Trump later praised Pakistan for its willingness to do more to provide security in the region and said the release suggests other countries are starting to respect the United States of America once again.

The couple were kidnapped in October of 2012 while on a backpacking trip that took them to Russia, the countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then to Afghanistan. Coleman was several months pregnant at the time, naive, but also adventuresome with a humanitarian bent, her father James told The Associated Press in 2012.

The Pakistani military said early Thursday the family was being repatriated to the country of their origin. But as of Thursday evening, it was not known when they would return to North America. They were together in a safe, undisclosed location in Pakistan, according to a U.S. national security official, who wasnt authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Pakistani military said the family had been freed in an intelligence-based operation by Pakistan troops after theyd crossed the border from Afghanistan.

Boyle and the High Commissioner for Pakistan to Canada described a scene in which gunshots rang out as Boyle, his wife and their children were intercepted by Pakistani forces while being transported in the trunk of their captors car. Boyle told his parents there was a shootout in which some of his captors were killed and said the last words hed heard from the kidnappers were, kill the hostage, his father, Patrick told reporters after speaking with his son. The younger Boyle also told his father hed been hit by shrapnel in the leg. Three intelligence officials said the confrontation happened near a road crossing in the Nawa Kili area of the district of Kohat in northwest Pakistan.

The high commissioner, Tariq Azim Khan, said, We know there was a shootout and Pakistan commandos carried out an attack and rescued the hostages.

A U.S. military official said a military hostage team had flown to Pakistan Wednesday, prepared to fly the family out. The team did a preliminary health assessment and had a transport plane ready to go. But sometime after daybreak there, as the family members were walking to the plane, Boyle said he did not want to board.

Boyles father said his son did not want to board the plane because it was headed to Bagram Air Base, a site associated with accusations of prisoner abuse, and Boyle was philosophically opposed to going to there. Another U.S. official said Boyle was nervous about being in custody given his family ties.

He was once married to Zaynab Khadr, the older sister of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr and the daughter of a senior al-Qaida financier. Her father, the late Ahmed Said Khadr, and the family stayed with Osama bin Laden briefly when Omar Khadr was a boy.

The Canadian-born Omar Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following a firefight and was taken to the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Officials had discounted any link between that background and Boyles capture, with one official describing it in 2014 as a horrible coincidence.

The U.S. Justice Department said neither Boyle nor Coleman is wanted for any federal crime.

The couple told U.S. officials and their families they wanted to fly commercially to Canada.

Boyles father called the rescue a miracle. Colemans parents, Jim and Lyn Coleman, meanwhile, posted a statement on the door of their Pennsylvania home expressing joy. Lyn Coleman said I am in a state of euphoria, stunned and overjoyed, in an interview with ABC News.

The developments came rapidly Wednesday afternoon  nearly five years to the day after Coleman and Boyle lost touch with their families while traveling in a mountainous region near the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Colemans parents last had a conversation with their son-in-law on Oct. 8, 2012, via an email sent from an internet cafe hed described as being in an unsafe part of Afghanistan. From then on, there were only desperate, hostage videos released by their captors and hand-scrawled letters mailed home.

I pray to hear from you again, to hear how everybody is doing, read one letter the parents shared with the online Circa News service in July 2016, in which Coleman revealed shed given birth to a second child in captivity. Its unclear whether they knew shed had a third.

Boyles parents say their son told them in a letter that he and his wife pretended to the children that their signs of captivity were part of a game being played with guards.

U.S. officials call the Haqqani group a terrorist organization and have targeted its leaders with drone strikes. But the group also operates like a criminal network. Unlike the Islamic State group, it does not typically execute Western hostages, preferring to ransom them for cash.

The Haqqani network had previously demanded the release of Anas Haqqani, a son of the founder of the group, in exchange for turning over the American-Canadian family. In one of the videos released by their captors, Boyle implored the Afghan government not to execute Taliban prisoners or he and his wife would be killed

The U.S. has long criticized Pakistan for failing to aggressively go after the Haqqanis. In recent remarks on his Afghanistan policy, Trump noted billions paid to Pakistan at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. But that will have to change, and that will change immediately.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said her country was greatly relieved the family was safe, and she thanked the U.S., Afghan and Pakistani governments for their efforts.

U.S. officials have said that several other Americans are being held by militant groups in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

They include Kevin King, 60, a teacher at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul who was abducted in August 2016, and Paul Overby, an author in his 70s who had traveled to the region several times but disappeared in eastern Afghanistan in mid-2014.

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This story has been corrected to remove double-negative in paragraph relating to whether the couple was wanted on any charges.

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad, Gillies from Toronto. Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann and Matthew Lee in Washington, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Lolita C. Baldor in Tampa, Florida, contributed.
Houzz Inc., the worlds leading platform for home remodeling and design, today announced a strategic partnership with Times Bridge, the investments business of The Times Group, Indias oldest and largest media company. As part of its investment, Times Bridge will integrate Houzz content into all of The Times Groups digital properties, including the flagship Times of India, helping more homeowners and home professionals across India discover the Houzz platform.

From its unique design aesthetic and products to its professional talent and expertise, India has become an important part of the global design language Houzz is facilitating, said Adi Tatarko, Houzz CEO and cofounder. Were delighted to partner with The Times Group and connect even more Indian homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home professionals with our global platform.

Since Houzz launched a dedicated platform for India in January 2017, its local community of homeowners and home design enthusiasts has grown 50 percent. The Indian professional community on Houzz has also grown exponentially, to more than 80,000 active home professionals in over 60 categories, including architects, interior designers and product designers.

Rishi Jaitly, CEO of Times Bridge said, Times Bridges mission is to bring the worlds best ideas to India and share Indias best insights with the world. In the last eight years, Houzz has proven itself as an iconic company. We look forward to harnessing the unmatched assets of Times Bridge and The Times Group to ensure Houzzs platform empowers users and professionals alike across the length and breadth of a rapidly-changing India.

In June 2017, Houzz announced the close of a $400 million Series E financing led by ICONIQ Capital, with participation from Wellington Management Company, Sequoia, Zeev Ventures and GGV Capital, among others, to accelerate the growth of the companys platform and business around the world. Since July 2014, Houzz has launched localized platforms in 14 countries outside of the U.S. to meet demand from both homeowners and home professionals. In 2013, prior to the companys international expansion, less than 30 percent of new Houzz users came from outside the U.S. Today, over 50 percent of new Houzz users come from outside the U.S.
SHARP Business System Pvt. Ltd., an Indian market leader in innovative air purification devices has associated with Saints Art for strategic PR. As part of the mandate, Saints Art will be providing strategic communications services to reinforce the brands position as an Ingenious Air Purification solution provider in the country.

Founded in the year 1912, as a private company in Tokyo by Tokuji Hayakawa, SHARP is dedicated to improving the quality of life through the use of cutting-edge technology with a commitment to innovation, quality, value, and design. Being the market leader in the Air Purifier segment in India, SHARP empowers consumers against alarming air pollution levels in metropolitans and smaller cities with its state-of-the-art air purification devices.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Kishalay Ray, President, Consumer Electronics Division, Sharp Business Systems India said: As we embark on a new phase in the Air Purifier segment, we want to ensure we have the best insights, expertise and a talent pool who can effectively communicate our vision using the right platform. We are happy to join hands with Saint Art who is known for their unique ideas, exceptional skills, intense consumer mapping and brand messaging.

According to Mr. Puneet Sharma, Vice President, Saints Art, This is a fantastic opportunity for the team to showcase its strategic brilliance, integrated media capabilities and ground-breaking ideas. We are focused at securing an unmatched position for the brand, fuel expansion plans with the help of a team that knows the market, industry and the Indian consumer mind space, he said.

Saints Arts integrated communications services portfolio include strategic solutions, media relations and creative services for companies across multiple sectors like IT/Telecom, Consumer Technology, Consumer Durables, BFSI, Hospitality, FMCG, Healthcare, Automobile, Real estate, Manufacturing, e-commerce, Lifestyle and more.
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Loudoun County, Virginia becomes the latest municipality to go live with Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP), a technology that automates communication between alarm monitoring central stations and 911 centers, resulting in improved accuracy and speed of emergency response.

Within Virginia, Loudoun County joins the counties of James City, York and Henrico, as well as the cities of Richmond and Newport News, which are already online with the use of ASAP technology. Loudoun County went live on October 10, 2017.

Transmitting data electronically speeds up alarm notification delivery and reduces the number of phone calls and processing times at emergency response centers. It also eliminates human error and miscommunication between operators; all pertinent data goes directly to first responders within seconds.

In areas where it is used, ASAP delivers alarm notification information from central stations directly to public safety answering points (PSAPs) via computer rather than by phone, eliminating the need for communication between monitoring center operators and 911 operators.

ASAP was created in partnership with The Monitoring Association (formerly the Central Station Alarm Association) and the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO), with Vector Security President and CEO Pam Petrow co-chairing the steering committee. Vector Security was the first alarm company to use ASAP in the City of Richmond, VA in 2012. Vector Security assisted with implementation in Loudoun County by helping to perform extensive testing prior to the system going live.

"Alarm users in Loudoun County, including more than 1,700 Vector Security customers, will benefit from faster and more accurate emergency response with the implementation of ASAP," said Anita Ostrowski, Vice President of Central Station Services, Vector Security. "We hope the positive impact that ASAP will bring to Loudoun County will encourage other major 911 centers in the nation to adopt this technology as well."

"As a security provider, we seek ways to promote ASAP's value to municipalities and public agencies, and help other alarm companies implement it for the greater good of the industry and the safety of our communities," she added.

Currently, Loudoun County dispatches fire and medical responders for the entire county. It dispatches police to all of the county with the exception of the City of Leesburg, which handles their own police dispatching.

Other municipalities that have implemented ASAP include Richmond, VA; Houston, TX; Washington D.C.; James City County, York County and Henrico County, VA; Tempe and Chandler, AZ; Boca Raton, FL; Cary, High Point and Kernersville, NC; Guilford County, Wilson County, Durham County, Johnston County, and Union County NC; Denton County and Grand Prairie, TX; Morgan County, AL; Delaware County, OH; Bucks County, PA; Newport News, VA; Manatee County, FL; Monroe County, NY; Williamson County, TX; Dane County, WI; and Highland Park, TX.

For more information on the benefits and features of ASAP, visit www.vectorsecurity.com/asap.

About Vector Security

For more than 40 years, Vector Security, Inc. (www.vectorsecurity.com) has been a premier provider of intelligent security solutions tailored to the needs of the customer. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the company offers a full suite of electronic security services for residential, business and multi-site customers across North America and the Caribbean through a network of branches and authorized dealers. Through Vector Security Networks, the company also offers customized managed broadband services that lay the foundation for unsurpassed business intelligence. Vector Security is a sister company of the Philadelphia Contributionship, a mutual insurance company founded in 1752, and currently provides cost-effective, technology-based security solutions to over 300,000 homes and businesses.

Media Contact: Art Miller, Vector Security, 724-741-2200, aamiller@vectorsecurity.com

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

SOURCE Vector Security
We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain.
Both the railroads and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way  Employes Division say the extension will help all parties make the best decision on how to proceed with the outstanding tentative labor agreements.
Update: AT&T has reached out to provide further clarity on this issue. See here.

End of update

AT&T is planning to shut down a local call center in El Paso, Texas next month as part of the carriers move to outsource call center services to other countries. The latest in the string of local call center closures by AT&T comes months after negotiations between the company and its workers failed, leading to a nationwide three-day strike last May involving 37,000 employees from AT&Ts wireless and wireline operations, as well as DIRECTV workers.

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The call center at 12 Founders Blvd. in East El Paso currently employs 278 non-management workers, and once operations at the site cease in November, the number of AT&Ts employees in the city will significantly drop from its headcount of 2,444 in 2010. More to the point, the move to close the call center in the city marks the first time that AT&Ts offshoring efforts hit El Paso where there were previously three call centers operated by the carrier. The rift between AT&T and its workers has grown bitter over the last couple of months arising from several labor issues including offshoring, poor working conditions, and dubious business practices, among other issues, according to some of the companys employees. The tensions culminated in a nationwide strike five months ago which led to hundreds of store closures across the companys major markets in the country including New York City and Los Angeles.

However, since the strike, the second largest wireless carrier in the United States did not seem to have made any progress in regard to its negotiations with the companys workers and the Communication Workers of America (CWA) which backed the employees during their talks with AT&T. That is despite the carriers promise to work closely with the labor union and CWA to settle the issues once and for all. The CWA, for its part, has also yet to issue any statement on the several issues covered by the strike. AT&Ts move to close down a local call center in Texas, however, suggests that the offshoring issue remains unaddressed despite the strike held a few months ago, with a solution to the problem remaining out of sight for the time being.
Deutsche Telekom on Thursday announced that the first four 5G antennas in Europe are now operational in Berlin, offering a live 5G connection in accordance with the preliminary 5G New Radio standards in a real-world setting. A single client connected to one of the antennas is able to benefit from a throughput surpassing 2Gbps, with supported devices in the covered Berlins Schoneberg district having a latency of only 3ms, the wireless carrier said. The company described the move as the latest step in its efforts to provide consumers and industry watchers with a glimpse of what the fifth generation of mobile networks will be able to achieve in the near future, reiterating how its major 5G deployment and general commercialization operations are set to begin at some point in 2020.

Besides noting how 5G technologies will allow for applications in growing segments like drone delivery, autonomous driving, and modern medicine, Deutsche Telekom representatives also demonstrated some present uses of high-speed and low-latency wireless networks, including real-time virtual and augmented reality streaming. The Bonn, Germany-based telecom giant on Thursday also reiterated its intentions to draft a large-scale 5G buildout plan next year once the 5G standard is clearly defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The companys latest test was conducted using telecommunications equipment from Huawei with whom the firm has been collaborating for many years. Deutsche Telekoms initiative was also used as an opportunity for promoting its local Low Latency Prototyping Programs seeking to support European developers interested in developing 5G products and services, with the project itself signaling that the German wireless carrier is looking to both deploy the new infrastructure and help it evolve into a full-fledged ecosystem.

While Deutsche Telekom is expected to be the leading entity in the 5G adoption wave on the Old Continent, the company is still behind the United States, Japan, and South Korea in this segment, with the trio planning on deploying consumer-grade 5G infrastructure on a large scale come 2019. The largest mobile service provider in Europe is presently also negotiating with Japanese conglomerate SoftBank over a potential merger of their U.S. subsidiaries  T-Mobile and Sprint.
Googles rising traffic acquisition costs have some investors worried about Googles shares, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Other investors are, of course, less concerned with the impact of the fees, which are paid out by the search giant in order to give Google ads better placement. However, that doesnt mean that those investors arent still paying very close attention. Thats because the current the annual amount paid out for traffic acquisition is recorded to be around $19 billion and the cost has been going up, in particular with regard to how much of that money is going both to Googles rivals and partners. More specifically, the companys partners are estimated to be receiving approximately $7.2 billion, while Apple is estimated to gain around $3 to $4 billion of that total amount. The concern is that, if the growth gets out of hand, it could hold the company back.

The huge sums of money in question here dont only arise from advertising costs either. Google is not only paying out to the manufacturers responsible for creating Android-powered devices and to ensure that those devices contain all of the Google apps they do right out of the box. It is also paying Apple to keep Google Search available in that companys Safari browser for its iOS devices and Mac Computers. Worse, the risks associated with the increasing costs to the company are affected by other factors, such as recent anti-trust rulings against the search giant and other rulings that have forced the company to back off of its own search engine on mobile devices in some regions of the world. That is highlighted by one particular case in Russia, where the company is compelled to allow Yandex as a secondary option in its own Chrome browser for Android devices. Effectively, Google Search will no longer be set as Chromes default search engine. That other organizations share prices have climbed rapidly as a result  by around 43 percent. It isnt inconceivable to predict that, in combination with news of those other regulatory rulings, could make it more difficult for Google to negotiate its costs and terms in the wider technology industry.

Its important to note here that other investment firms, such as the prominent financial firm Baird, do not see any of this as being a huge problem in the long run. They point to the fact that a large portion of the recent increases has been the result of revisions to Googles contracts with Apple. In fact, they predict that the increases will begin to level off to a more normative rate as early as late 2017 to early 2018. So the issues Google is facing are not necessarily going to be the companys downfall. Moreover, the company has been revealing a steady stream of both new devices and new services or products over the past several months. Those should, at very least, help to bolster the companys finances against its rising traffic acquisition costs.
Neverware has today announced that it has started a Series B funding round and specifically name-dropped Google as one of the rounds initial investors. The announcement does detail that other investors will be onboard but only names Google in the current announcement. While it is interesting whenever Google invests in another company what makes this investment more interesting than usual, is Neverwares line of business  Chromebooks.

Neverware doesnt actually make Chromebooks, but what it does do is offer up its CloudReady operating system. This is a operating system that is akin to Chrome OS as it is based off of Chromium OS, which underlines Chrome OS. In paricular, CloudReady offers owners of legacy PC and laptop devices the option to make use of their Chromium OS-based operating system and thereby, making use of a Chrome OS-like experience. Which is likely why Google is interested in helping the company financially.

As this is a Chromium OS-based solution and one which can be applied to any computer, and regardless of manufacturer or age, backing Neverware in this respect will presumably allow Chromium OS to further extend its reach into the enterprise sector. Which exactly the goal of this round of funding with Neverwares CEO, Andrew Bauer, stating the funds raised from this Series B will be the first step of our expansion into the enterprise. With the announcement further explaining that IT teams who employ the use of CloudReady will be able to make use of easy integration with Googles cloud-based Admin console, and by association, Chrome Enterprise. While it does seem heavily likely that Google is keen to make it easier for any Chromium OS solution to gain greater traction in the enterprise and education sectors, Chromebooks in general have been doing extremely well in the latter of late. Not only are more manufacturers releasing more education-focused models, and more routinely, but Chromebooks also seem to be doing well in terms of general adoption levels with educational institutions. Speaking of which, when it comes to CloudReady, Neverware notes its operating system in in use in 21 countries globally, including the US where the software has been used by more than 1,000 school districts in 50 states.
Startup Unity Influence founded by Googles former Business Innovation Lead and Nobel Prize nominee Patrick Ip announced its first offering on Thursday, presenting an influencer marketing platform powered by artificial intelligence technologies. The main purpose of the service is to make influencer-based social media marketing more accessible to all companies, with the platform facilitating the process of identifying and hiring online personalities that are suitable for particular products and services. The solution has been in a beta testing phase for several months and is now becoming more widely available, with the San Francisco, California-based company hoping to attract many small and medium-sized businesses to its offering.

Mr. Ip co-founded Unity Influence alongside former Yoi Corps AI veteran Jacobo Lumbreras (pictured above), with their startup already raising $1 million from various investors and positioning itself as a relatively unique offering in the digital advertising segment. Most industry trackers agree that influencer marketing is one of the most profitable promotional efforts presently in existence, with many large brands successfully employing related techniques in recent times. However, smaller businesses were largely unable to tap into the potential of such marketing endeavors so far, with their budgets usually not allowing for many high-profile endorsements from online personalities. Thats where Unity Influence comes into play, with the platform offering influencer marketing starting at $200 per campaign and being specifically designed to pair any product or service with an individual that not only boasts a sizeable online presence but is also passionate about the thing theyre supposed to be pitching to their followers.

The $200 starting figure is significantly lower than the $10,000 one thats currently estimated to be the starting point for traditional influencer marketing campaigns, hence being unattainable for smaller brands. The process of matching an influencer with a campaign is largely handled by Unity Influences AI technologies and doesnt require a high degree of involvement from the client, the company said. Its ecosystem currently has access to more than 70,000 influencers and is expected to grow even further going forward, with the startup seeking to serve a wide variety of industries across the world. Refer to the banner below to find out more details about Unity Influence and its newly launched social advertising platform.
In spite of already having released a number of smartphones in 2017, Nokia looks set to release a new one soon, the Nokia 9. This is a device that has already been speculated on with images also having shown up. However, now a number of new renders, as well as a new 3D render video, have surfaced online, courtesy of CompareRaja and frequent tipster @OnLeaks.

Along with the images and video (which can be seen below), this latest report details some additional information based on details provided by unnamed sources. As per that information, the Nokia 9 will be a smartphone that looks to offer a significant reduction in the bezel levels, following the trend that has been set routinely in 2017 by smartphone makers. With the latest report likening the design of the Nokia 9s front panel to that found on the Galaxy S8. In either case, the images and video do seem to highlight the display (as well as the back panel) will be curved. Other notable aspects shown off in these latest images include a USB Type-C port on the bottom, a rear positioned fingerprint sensor, and consistent with previous suggestions  a dual rear camera setup. Which the report (and images) suggesting the setup will be aligned vertically. Although details on the MP count of the two cameras was not provided. Otherwise, the last aspect worth noting is that these images do seem to suggest that there is no 3.5mm jack port included with this device. As for the dimensions, the Nokia 9 is said to measure 140.9 mm in length, 72.9 mm in width and 7.5 mm in depth. However, the dual rear camera setup is a bump setup which sees the upper limit to the depth coming in at 8.9 mm.

As for the rest of the rumored specs, the Nokia 9 will come to market boasting a 5.5-inch display along with a QHD resolution. Inside, this phone will be packed with 4GB RAM (some rumors have suggested 6 and 8GB), offer up either a 64GB or 128GB amount of storage, and will likely be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC. A spec combination which will make the Nokia 9 the most powerful Nokia Android device to arrive to date. In the meantime you can check out the full array of images and the 3D video below. Although do keep in mind these are just renders based off prior information and not actual images.
Earlier today Oculus announced that it was permanently dropping the price of its Oculus Rift touch bundle to $399, down from its official $499 price. Along with that announcement, the company also explained that it is now making available an enterprise edition of the Oculus Rift VR headset aimed squarely at businesses. As this is more of an enterprise solution, it is one which comes with a number of additional benefits compared to the consumer version, although by the same token it also comes with a higher price tag attached, with Oculus conforming the Oculus for Business model is priced at $900 per bundle.

As for the bundle itself, and in addition to the actual Oculus Rift, the enterprise version does come with touch controllers, three room sensors, a remote, and three Rift Fits  facial interfaces designed to work with Rift. Although where the added-value for businesses really comes from is that these bundles also come with a commercial warranty, a commercial licence, and what the company refers to as preferential customer service. According to the announcement, Oculus for Business is something that can benefit a wide range of businesses, and irrespective of the size of a business, as Oculus will sell these bundles on a per unit basis, as well as in bulk for those who want a much wider VR integration solution for a wider network of locations. To provide some examples, Oculus confirmed the likes of Audi, DHL, and Cisco are already making use of Oculus Rift to promote their products and services, as well as provide a new way in which customers can engage with the companies in general.

For those in the market for such a solution, the company is now selling these enterprise options directly through its website, while also advising that units can be shipped to the US and Canada, as well as a number of European countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and more. Full details on the new enterprise version of Rift available through the link below. Also below, is a newly released video further highlighting Audis use of Oculus for Business by allowing customers to customize and get a better feel of their dream car.
Qualcomm has reportedly been ordered to pay $773 million (NT$23.4 billion) in fines by Taiwans Fair Trade Commission for having allegedly violated the countrys antitrust laws with its pricing for its mobile device chips and patent licenses, according to a new report by Bloomberg. The Taiwanese regulator claimed that the American multinational semiconductor and telecommunications giant has been collecting large sums of money in licensing fees from Taiwanese local tech firms for more than seven years.

Taiwans Fair Trade Commission further claimed that local companies in Taiwan had bought baseband chips from Qualcomm worth about $30 billion, adding that the company refused to provide those chips to customers who disagreed with the terms and conditions of the sale. This led to Qualcomms alleged monopolistic practices involving the mobile phone standards in the country, where it owns patents in CDMA, WCDMA and LTE categories. Additionally, the antitrust regulators in Taiwan concluded that Qualcomm took unfair advantage of its position as a provider of mobile communication standards by declining several requests to license its patents. The chipmaker also recently faced other antitrust challenges in other countries, including in the United States, where the U.S. Federal Trade Commission charged the company earlier this year with anti-competitive practices with respect to its semiconductor business. The FTC accused the San Diego, California-based company of abusing its market position as a big supplier of mobile processors to coerce original equipment manufacturers to agree to its terms and conditions for licensing its patents and forcing them to pay royalties to the chipmaker.

In December of last year, Qualcomm was also fined $854 million for related antitrust violations in South Korea. The countrys Fair Trade Commission claimed that the American tech giant took advantage of its dominant position in the mobile processor market to force phone companies to pay excessively large sums of patent fees when they acquire Qualcomm-branded chips. The penalty also covered other allegedly anti-competitive practices by the company, such as restricting its rivals including Samsung and MediaTek from acquiring some of its modem chip patents. In regards to the latest antitrust fine though, Qualcomm vows to appeal the Taiwaneses watchdogs decision, as well as the amount of the fine.
A recent report from The Investor citing The Bell claims that LG Display and Apple may have reached an agreement for the development of a future foldable iPhone. The report goes on to mention that while Samsung Display is currently Apples main OLED panel supplier for devices like the iPhone X, the company headquartered in Cupertino may want to establish a new partnership with LG Display as a way to minimize the risks of its future technologies being leaked to its main rival, Samsung Electronics. LG Display will reportedly start mass producing Apples flexible OLED displays sometime in 2020, whereas Samsung Electronics is expected to launch its first foldable handset as early as 2018. In addition, LGs part-manufacturing division Innotek has reportedly set up a new team dedicated to the development of rigid flexible printed circuit boards, or RF PCB for short.

LG Display used to be Apples main LCD supplier and this partnership has been going on for years. However, with the rise in popularity of OLED display technologies, and with Samsung Display continuing to increase its OLED production capacity, this years Apple flagship has been equipped with an appropriate OLED display manufactured by none other than Samsung. However, recent reports suggest that LG Display might become Apples supplier once again, at least once the company will be able to produce enough OLED displays for the job. LG recently began its first OLED mass production at its E5 plant in Gumi, but the company might reportedly start manufacturing panels for Apple once its E6 plant in Paju will be ready sometime in 2019. Furthermore, the report suggests that the two tech giants have already tentatively agreed on Apple making an investment in LG Displays E6 plant in order to secure this future partnership, however, the deal has not yet been concluded.

Although theres no way to guarantee the validity of these reports, in theory at least it would make a certain amount of sense for Apple to want and maintain the secrecy of its alleged flexible iPhone of the future, especially since Samsung Electronics has already been working on numerous flexible smartphone concepts over the past few years. The flexible smartphone is expected to become the next big step in the evolution of our handheld devices following the full-screen, bezel-less design language currently storming the mobile market, and we can safely assume that many OEMs will want to become the first to try and define the flexible smartphone concept.
T-Mobile and Sprint recently put together a tentative plan to merge, but a few anonymous inside sources said that the merger may end up being opposed by the US Department of Justice. According to these sources, who claim to be familiar with the logic and processes inherent in the Department of Justice making these sorts of decisions, a merger between two of the four largest wireless carriers in the United States has serious potential for anticompetitive and consumer-harming behavior, and may be blocked because of it. News outlet Reuters later reached out to seven experts in the niche, and none of them predicted the deal going through smoothly; the group was broken up between participants who said that the deal would likely be blocked, and participants who were unable to make a prediction.

T-Mobile and Sprint hold vast swaths of wireless spectrum that the two could use to make a quicker, cheaper, and wider rollout of 5G than would otherwise be possible. This is a major reason for the proposed merger, but there are a number of other factors that complicate matters. One of those is the fact that the two carriers compete fiercely in the prepaid space, and hold roughly half of that market between the two of them. That means that a merger would give a single entity dominance over prepaid in the US, as one example. This presents the potential for the merged company to control how the market works, giving them the power to dictate expectations and pricing in the space, among other variables.

Early on in President Donald Trumps time in office, a merger between AT&T and Comcast was approved. This merger between the nations second-largest wireless carrier and one of the countrys largest telecommunications and media companies went through with relatively little trouble, showing fairly lax regard for such affairs in the Trump administration. Those two companies were not direct competitors in the same space, which means that how the T-Mobile and Sprint deal is treated may be the one to set the precedent in regards to regulation of antitrust interests like mergers and acquisitions for the rest of the Trump era.
Privacy protocols that are currently offered by some technology companies have now prompted the US Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein, to speak out about the Justice Departments stance on Encryption. Specifically, Rosenstein took the opportunity presented by his US Naval Academy speech to reach out to lawmakers  hoping for a solution that would allow the department and law enforcement agencies to readily obtain access to encrypted products through court orders. The position is seen by many security proponents as controversial, but Rosenstein took things further by making a point of saying that the leaders of technology companies are not interested in negotiating on the matter. He went on to claim that the tech companies of America are often more willing to compromise and work with foreign government agencies than they are with those in their own country. According to Rosenstein, the companies most often respond by criticizing government efforts to gain that type of access and go further, in some cases, to take the initiative to further bolster their existing encryption measures.

This is not the first time such measures have been suggested but that hasnt made them any less politically divisive or less difficult to discuss without backlash. Lawmakers put forward proposals similar to what Rosenstein appears to be calling for under the previous presidential administration. Those measures failed to gain traction from either lawmakers or then President Barack Obama. On the other side of the argument, opponents to such measures  including many technologies and cybersecurity experts  disagree that legislation allowing that kind of access would be really helpful. Instead, they claim that such broad access for law enforcement would mostly serve to diminish cybersecurity for everybody involved, from the companies themselves down to their customers. Political opponents, such as Senator Ron Wyden, claim that Rosensteins commentary is an attempt to rebrand government backdoors into systems. Wyden goes further to imply that any new rules following Rosensteins apparent suggestion would make it easier for criminals, predators, and foreign hackers to break into currently encrypted systems.

Of course, whether or not any members of the legislative branch choose to take up the mantle and propose new legislation to regulate how law enforcement can or should access encrypted devices or products is something that remains to be seen. The topic has become something of a hot-button issue over the past several years, as several high-profile cases have centered around law enforcement encountering difficulties in accessing information stored on encrypted devices. Unfortunately, despite frustrations on either side, it also isnt a matter thats likely to be resolved anytime soon.
Samsung has selected Chung Eui-suk, formerly the vice chief of Samsung Research America, as the new head of the South Korean tech giants service intelligence group that is responsible for the development of its artificial intelligence (AI) solutions like Bixby. The division head will oversee the development of the second iteration of Bixby, which is scheduled for launch at Samsungs annual Developer Conference on October 18th in San Francisco, according to recent reports.

Bixby was officially introduced at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2017 event held in March alongside the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus flagships. The virtual assistant was then initially rolled out to users in April, although the AI solution has yet to significantly take off due to various challenges. Also troubled with some issues was Bixby Voice, the voice command element of Samsungs virtual assistant which was rolled out to more than 200 countries in August, but not before it faced a major delay due to issues with the digital assistants language-learning capabilities. The launch of the English version of Bixby was also put on hold due to big data issues, with Samsung being stuck in a loop of being unable to collect a significant amount of data to improve Bixby because it didnt want to roll out the service to a larger number of testers as it was incomplete. All of this additionally slowed down the development of the service and its voice-enabled component.

The challenges faced by Bixby over the past few months might have contributed to the somewhat poor reception of the digital assistant. Chungs appointment is believed to be part of Samsungs efforts to improve the capabilities of Bixby and ultimately attract more users to the tool thats supposed to be a major feature of its existing and upcoming smartphones. Chung was most recently responsible for the mobile platform and solution lab at Samsung Research America prior to joining the companys service intelligence group. Before that, he held positions at Samsungs smartphone research hub and worked at Ericsson. It remains to be seen how the new Bixby chief could help improve the assistant going forward.
Japanese tech giant Sony might make a comeback into robotics after more than a decade of inactivity in this sector, and its next consumer-grade robot could be backed by recent advancements in artificial intelligence. According to a recent report from Asia Nikkei, Sony is reassembling the former Aibo team in order to rekindle its robotics segment with a new household product powered by AI. However, while the company is reportedly planning on re-entering the market with an Aibo-like robotic dog that can offer functionalities similar to Google Home and Amazon Echo, its long-term plans are to push its new robotic business beyond the consumer electronics segment.

Sony has had quite a history with robotics, with the Aibo robot dog launching back in 1999 when the concept of artificial intelligence was reserved only for the mightiest of supercomputers. Having said that, the Aibo robot was more of an achievement in mechanical engineering rather than AI, and as the robot lacked a strong sense of awareness and context, it failed to create the big ripples Sony was perhaps hoping for. Then, in 2006, Sony terminated the Aibo program with roughly 200 team members being transferred to other divisions, including the PlayStation and digital camera segments. However, with the recent advancements in the AI field, perhaps this would be the perfect time for companies like Sony to rekindle their interest in robotics, and according to recent reports, Sony is doing exactly that. The company has reportedly gathered some of the former Aibo team members to work on a new project revolving around a smart robot dog that can communicate, set reminders, and interact with other smart household items.

But interestingly enough, the report goes on to mention that Sony is not stopping there, and instead, the new robot dog project might represent only the beginning of Sonys return. The company aims to become a significant name in the field of robotics and the robot dog will allow Sony to determine exactly what technologies should be pursued in the future. As for what type of AI will be employed by the robot dog, Executive Deputy President and Chief Financial Officer, Kenichiro Yoshida, previously said that Sonys own AI platform can no longer compete with giants like Googles Assistant and Amazons Alexa, and in turn this could indicate that Sony will rely on a third-party solution while focusing most of its resources on the mechanical engineering side of things.
T-Mobile announced yesterday it is partnering with Fox television stations in order to move up the timeline for those stations to repack the 600 MHz spectrum they broadcast over. For those who arent well-versed in spectrum lingo, repacking is a process that frees up a currently occupied frequency of the broadcast spectrum by moving stations to other frequencies. In this case, the agreement means that stations like WWOR-TV, a Fox station in the New York City area, will repack up to 16 months sooner than initially planned. That original plan was in accordance with an FCC deadline  August 2019  and should save tens of millions of dollars of the Incentive Auction Relocation fund, according to the carriers announcement. The fund is generally used to provide funding, within reason, to businesses in radio, television, and similar areas of technology, that are required to move off of a set spectrum to another, at the official request of the FCC.

The reason the FCCs is repacking the 600 MHz spectrum is so that wireless providers can make use of it. Obviously, in the case of the Fox WWOR-TV partnership, the move affects spectrum for the New York City area more directly. Viewers of the channel, meanwhile, shouldnt be too concerned about losing their programming. Neville Ray, CTO of T-Mobile, says that the deal will allow more spectrum to be cleared up more quickly, while still preserving broadcast programming for over 19 million or more WWOR-TV watchers. That should allow for enhanced wireless coverage and a substantial increase in terms of capacity for that area, as the mobile operator continues its drive to make use of the 600 MHz spectrum for its own wireless networks, following tests the company began over the summer.

This particular repacking of network spectrum is actually part of a much larger effort from the FCC and is one that T-Mobile has already been helping to speed up, prior to the new Fox deal. Earlier in 2017, in June, the mobile provider revealed a similar joint project in partnership with PBS and Americas Public Television Stations which pushed to move signal translators away from 600 MHz to a new band of spectrum, with a more generalized focus on rural areas.
Buying out technology firms better known for pumping out research papers than useful tech may sound counter-intuitive for a tech company looking to bolster real-world products, but it may turn out to be a key part of moving technologies forward. It can be argued that those more academically-inclined organizations are not necessarily out to make a profit for themselves or to directly create new technology-based products. Theres also no way of knowing whether the individuals involved in those organizations will ever produce any research that has real-world applications or, even if they do, whether or not that research has any implication for the company making the purchase. So it should be said that the acquiring company in that situation is taking on a very real risk that the acquisition will result in heavy losses, or at best, no gains at all. However, that isnt always necessarily the case.

For a near perfect example, one must look no further than the recently announced hardware and software offerings from Google, and Alphabet Inc.s purchase of DeepMind back in 2014 which ultimately led to several of the new advancements Google has made. Although Alphabet is not technically Google, with Google being a subsidiary of the former, DeepMind has had and will presumably continue to have a profound impact on Googles progression both over the past year and into the future. In fact, looking only at how DeepMind has impacted Googles operations, Alphabets acquisition of DeepMind may pay off sooner rather than later, thanks to a wide range of research from the company and focused-efforts on turning academic discoveries into real-world solutions.

The most obvious results from DeepMind that have improved things for Google stem from the companys WaveNet A.I.-generated speech solution. Unlike many other voice-driven systems, WaveNet was the result of researchers finding a way to generate phonetics through algorithms, rather than by providing the artificial intelligence with countless hours of audio samples to draw from. Its also the foundation of Googles new Assistant and has been improved to be over 1,000 times more efficient by Googles dedicated cloud-based TPU architecture, making that possible. Other examples, in the meantime, include DeepMind-created improvements to Googles AdWords platform and algorithms to provide a 15-percent energy efficiency improvement to Googles data centers. It may have taken DeepMind almost three years, and more time will still be needed before Alphabet begins to break even since more than $400 million was put into the purchase and DeepMind and has lost far more than its gained over the last couple of years, but the acquisition is beginning to at least assist in the generation of revenue.

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Googles success is not the only example, or even the best example, of how research-minded organizations can result in new growth for fields of technology, even if it does provide one of the most current commercial examples. NASAs primary objective, when it was first created, was to get humans to the moon and to explore space. It has and is continuing, to accomplish that. However, the research conducted to get that done has had resounding impacts on the technological world, including things like the development CMOS image sensors which eventually led to smartphone cameras and improvements to the accuracy of GPS. Of course, the results of all of NASAs projects were the result of government-driven ambitions for exploration. With that said, the underlying concept is the same. When research-based organizations are bought into, new or improved technologies can emerge. In both NASA and Googles respective cases, the push to find viable solutions resulted from redirecting the focus of expert scientists and engineers toward finding practical solutions to particular problems.

One major difference, in Googles case, is that the added pressure to find a solution that would be commercially viable was added by Googles Chief Financial Officer, Ruth Porat. Beyond what DeepMind has already accomplished, that could result in even further improvements to several of Alphabets other A.I.-intensive efforts  owing to the fact that DeepMind isnt actually generating any revenue on its own and must depend on its supporting role to meet Porats requirements. The resulting successes could also ultimately serve as a guide for what a group of professional researchers can accomplish when they have access to the very latest in technological advancements and a more specific goal in mind. After all, it is arguably true that neither Google or DeepMind could have accomplished the substantial gains that have been made over the last year or those that could be made in the future if they hadnt been thrown together by Alphabets acquisition. Further advancements, over the next several years and especially if more companies begin to follow Alphabet Inc.s lead, should be very interesting.
How To Do The Rock Test And Prevent Sexual Harassment

Trending News: Don't Want To End Up Like Harvey Weinstein? Try The Rock Test

Long Story Short

If you're scared about being accused of sexual harassment then there's a great life hack that'll help you: The Rock Test. It's quite simple. Instead of thinking of the good-looking woman at work, think of The Rock beating you down.

Long Story

The fallout from the Harvey Weinstein scandal has continued following damning reports in The New Yorker and The New York Times over the last week. The Hollywood big-wig and co-founder of Miramax as well as the Weinstein Brothers production company has been accused of rape by a growing number of women including Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow. Weinstein's wife is leaving him and he's being investigated by police.

This, yet again, is a case of a man at the top abusing his power and should be a wake-up call about workplace harassment.

Guys everywhere are looking deep down and asking: Could I be accused of sexual harassment? Obviously, nobody wants to lose their job or get torn down like Weinstein. But maybe you're not sure if what you're saying or doing with a female coworker could be construed as harassment (here's how to compliment a female coworker)?

Well, don't worry gents, because Anne Victoria Clark wrote a hilarious and poignant piece on Medium that explains what you've gotta do  and The Rock is backing.

Quite the entertaining & smart test for my dudes to take from @annevclark. Just close your eyes and think of me ?

https://t.co/0l89HamsSp  Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) October 10, 2017

The Rock Test is simple. Clark writes: "Treat all women like you would treat Dwayne The Rock Johnson."

So let's say a pretty hire asks to meet you for coffee and "pick your brain." She's cute and she might be interested in you  you are a pretty big deal, right?

But if she's asking you in the realm of work and not as a date, here's what you should do: think of her as if she was The Rock. Would you assume a business meeting with The Rock means he wants to sleep with you? Would you grab him by the balls when he walks into your office like Terry Crews experienced? No. The Rock would open a huge can of whoop-ass on you, jabroni.

Problem solved.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

How common is workplace harassment?

Drop This Fact

About three out of four people who have experienced workplace harassment didn't file a complaint with a supervisor, manager, or union representative, according to a 2016 report from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace
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Multinational law firm Linklaters has bolstered its practice in the Middle East by forging an alliance with major Saudi Arabian law firm Zamakhchary & Co.The move is part of the UK-based firms efforts to capitalise on opportunities from the countrys Vision 2030 plan, according to Middle East managing partner Scott Campbell.Vision 2030 seeks to reduce the economys dependence on oil, and transform the country into a global investment and trade hub. Among other things, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the government seeks to create the worlds largest sovereign wealth fund and have major Saudi firms expand beyond the kingdoms borders.As part of the agreement, Linklaters managing associate Omar El Sayed will relocate from the firms Dubai office to offer on-the-ground support to clients operating or executing deals in Saudi Arabia, as well as developing opportunities with Zamakhchary & Co. He will be joined by another senior lawyer, whom Linklaters has not yet named.Monaji Zamakhchary, partner and managing director of Zamakchary & Co., said both firms have worked in close partnership for a number of years. These include international and cross-border matters, with a particular focus on transactions in corporate/M&A, capital markets, banking and Islamic finance and project finance.
On a more serious note, the supercar's company, which is comprised of various GM behemoths, along with a C7 Corvette, only comes to back up the conclusion that we're looking at the mid-engined 'Vette - pixel tip to TX2K for the images.And whil previous spyshots of the C8 model have shown less camouflage, the wheels on this prototype seems to be new - we're expecting this to be the production rollers.The rumor mill talks about the C8 incarnation of the Chevrolet Corvette set to mark the debut of the trademarked LT5 V8. We're looking at a dual-overhead cam V8, which is said to bee too wide for the engine bay of the current car.Even the tranny rumors are uber-hot, since GM's lightning-quick 10-speed torque converter gearbox could be skipped in favor of a a Tremec-sourced dual-clutch box.We should get to meet the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette next year, with January's Detorit Auto Show being a possibility. For one thing, GM could offer the newcomer, which will obviously debut in non-special form, alongside the ZR1, with the swansong of the C7 expected to land later this year, at the Los Angeles Auto Show.P.S.: Speaking of the 2018 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, we'll remind you that we're expecting the supercharged monster to be nothing short of a Nurburgring tamer, as we discussed earlier this year, when the front-engined delight blitzed the Green Hell with a camera taped to its nose.
Places like Australia and Shanghai, for example. Yes, during his speech at the 2017 International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Musk teased the idea of using the 35-story-tall rocket for intra-planetary journeys as well, saying we could reach any point on our blue and green planet in under an hour.That sounds excellent, but there's the slight issue of having to board a rocket, and then remaining inside while it launches, lifts over the atmosphere, goes back in and lands. You know, the kind of thing astronauts usually do after years of training. Will that be too much for our couch-rubbing bodies?Well, according to NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao, it would and it wouldn't. Most of us fear the moment of take-off, imagining it involves g-forces that are too much for the average person. Speaking to Business Insider, Chiao dismisses this myth."During launch on a rocket with liquid engines ... the liftoff is very smooth, and one really can't feel it," he says, and he should know having left earth on board of both the NASA space shuttle and the Russian Soyuz rocket.The first noticeable bump comes the moment the spaceship - the top part of the rocket - disconnects from the first stage rocket and fires up its own engines. "As you get to the last part of the ascent, you feel some G's come on through your chest, but it is not uncomfortable," he notes.It's when its engines cut off that the most potentially vomit-inducing part begins. At this point you are essentially in outer space, meaning the Earth's gravity is not making itself felt anymore. You might think floating around is cool now, but experiencing it might leave another impression. And, to make matters even more complicated, it's also the worst scenario in which to throw up."You feel like you are tumbling, as your balance system struggles to make sense of what is happening, and you are very dizzy," Chiao says. "You feel the fluid shift [in your body], kind of like laying heads-down on an incline, because there is no longer gravity pulling your body fluids down into your legs. All this can cause nausea."Landing wouldn't be a breeze either, with up to 5 Gs in store for everyone onboard during the preparation phases. Speaking about the whole rocket traveling idea, Leroy Chiao concludes that it "would not be for the faint of heart, and it is difficult to see how this would be inexpensive. But the one thing I've learned from observing Elon is not to count him out."
In a cryptic release titled  Groupe PSA awards new vehicle production to the Sochaux and Mulhouse plants, the French supergroup confirmed that two of its French production facilities will kick into overdrive from 2020 and 2021, respectively. While the new models havent been made public, its only natural to expect that theyll bear the Citroen, Peugeot, and DS badges.Rumor in the automotive industry has it Groupe PSA plans to move a part of Opel and Vauxhall production from Germany and the United Kingdom to France, which is worrying for the two automakers workers. PSA refused to offer clarifications on this matter, while Opel and Vauxhall both commented that production will continue as is at least until 2020. What about after '20?To that question, nobody offered an answer. In the light of Brexit, the most anticipated scenario is that UK production of the Astra will end at Ellesmere Port . Considering that much of Britains attractiveness for foreign automotive companies stems from its access to other European markets, the UKs divorce from the European Union by April 2019 might not fare well with Groupe PSA.As if this wasnt worrying enough, the plot thickens with the next-generation Astra . Groupe PSA confirmed that Mulhouse and Sochaux will soon manufacture all their vehicles on the EMP2 platform, which underpins the 308. Thus, word on the street is the next-generation Astra will transition from GM D2XX to PSA EMP2, which is a troubling possibility for Ellesmere Port.Cutting development costs is crucial for Groupe PSA if the automaker wants to be as competitive as possible in these dog-eat-dog times in the European automotive industry. And thus, something has to give by decades end.
Founded in the late 1960s by former rally driver Gunther Irmscher, the German outfit collaborates closely with Opel since the early 1970s. On various models, Opel offers a factory-spec option called Irmscher Style Pack . Having said these, its now clear what the Irmscher-modified Grandland X is all about.As you might have noticed by now, the crossover in the photo gallery is anything but standard. Twisted spokes on 20-inch wheels, an aggressive front bumper with carbon fiber accents for the grille, redesigned side steps, you name it, Irmscher can do it. The cabin hasnt been forgotten, with the tuner offering upgrades like fine leather, stainless steel sill plates, and so forth.Sitting 30 millimeters lower than the standard Grandland X, the pictured vehicle can be bettered with an increase in power of 25 PS, be it the turbo diesel or turbo gasoline engines. At the present moment, the most potent plant available for the Grandland X is the 1.2-liter PureTech three-cylinder turbo, which develops 131 PS and 230 Nm (170 pound-feet) of torque at 1,750 rpm.By 2020, Opel plans to add a plug-in hybrid version of the Grandland X (and Peugeot of the 3008), which for a change, will usher in all-wheel-drive for the compact-sized model. Theres even talk of an OPC-branded Grandland X, but with Groupe PSA controlling Opel, some voices claim thats a bit nonsensical.Priced from 23,700 in its home market, the Grandland X has been struggling in terms of sales. In the month of August 2017, Opel and Vauxhall managed to move 105 (!!!) examples of the breed in Europe. By comparison, the subcompact-sized Crossland X sold 3,791 units in the Old Continent. Adding insult to injury, the technically similar Peugeot 3008 sold 9,017 units in August.
EV

The list is made up of France, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Scotland, with China andIndia also planning similar moves but still pondering on the exact deadline. Recently, the State of California said it would welcome a decision that would prevent polluting vehicles ending up on its roads, but it's nothing more than an idea in the head of Governor Jerry Brown at this moment.Now we learn that Holland, a country mostly known for its intense bicycle culture, its windmills, tulips, canals , libertine take on the use of marijuana, and districts that identify themselves with a certain light hue is going to say "no" to all fossil fuel-powered new vehicles starting 2030.The four coalition parties that won the election in March have finally put together a plan they all agreed on, and the ban on all polluting vehicles is one of the points featured in the "mobility and passenger transport" section.The NL Times reports on the entire document, which also features a "one time 100 million euros" investment in bicycle infrastructure, as well as the promise to make "around four billion euros" ($4.74 billion) available for the transition to clean energy. The new government also says it would close one coal plant this term, with the rest following by the same 2030.As it stands, the Dutch car market is not exactly an example for others. Electric vehicles represent less than two percent of its market right now, which shows the long way ahead for the officials. However, considering it's not a large market with around half-a-million cars sold each year, a coherent government plan (which includes incentives as well as the development of the charging infrastructure) should be enough to make it a smooth transition.The car manufacturers seem determined to do their bit as an avalanche of new battery-powered models is just around the corner, leaving authorities just enough time to prepare by expanding the charging opportunities and making the country-friendly.
NASA photo

The remotely piloted Ikhana drone could be flying unescorted in the National Airspace System as early as fall 2018, NASA said last week. Testing in the NAS is planned to take place from NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. During the test, Ikhana would fly alone in the NAS for the first time, without a manned aircraft nearby. Integration of UAS into the NAS for routine flight operations is a complicated endeavor, said NASA engineer Sam Kim. The flight will require new technologies, exhaustive research through modeling and simulations, and comprehensive flight testing, said Kim. Eventually, NASA says, their goal is to make it routine for manned and unmanned aircraft to share the same airspace.

Most current operations of unmanned aerial systems in the NAS require that a piloted chase aircraft serve as the UASs eyes to see and avoid other aircraft. During the 2018 flight demonstration, Ikhana will employ its own detect-and-avoid systems integrated on board the aircraft and in the ground-control station to maintain safe separation with other aircraft and avoid collisions, NASA said. NASAs UAS in the NAS project team has worked with the drone community since 2011 to address the technical barriers that preclude routine drone operations in the national airspace. Meanwhile, a panel of industry and law enforcement officials have failed to reach agreement on how drones should be tracked and managed by federal authorities, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The FAA advisory committee couldnt reach consensus on key issues, and most members of the committee declined to sign the groups final report, which was submitted to the FAA last week. Members of the panel represented hobbyists, police and commercial drone users, Bloomberg said. Each advocated for their own special interests and failed to reach consensus. The FAA will review the advisory committees report and its findings carefully, the agency told Bloomberg in an email.
The state of Wisconsin plans to take legal action against Kestrel for the companys failure to show measurable progress toward obtaining financing to repay a state loan thats 11 months overdue, the Duluth News Tribune reported this week. Wisconsin gave the company, headed by Alan Klapmeier, $4 million in state loans and millions more in tax incentives in 2012. The money was meant to help build a plant in Superior, Wisconsin, to work on the single-engine turboprop and help create more than 600 jobs. The plant hasnt been built and no workers have been hired. Kestrel is now part of One Aviation, formed in 2015 with Eclipse Aerospace, based in Albuquerque. The Kestrel project has gone quiet, while One Aviation has been promoting a new version of the Eclipse jet, the EA700. Klapmeier did not respond to inquiries from the News Tribune or from AVweb.

Kestrel repaid $865,490 of the $4 million but hasnt made a payment since November 2016, according to the News Tribune. Kestrel also has been evicted from a hangar in Maine after failing to pay on its lease for more than a year, the Portland Press Herald reported last week. The 64,000-square-foot hangar had been leased for 20 years at $15,000 per month. Kestrel employed about a dozen workers at the site. Steve Levesque, executive director of the agency that operates the hangar, told the Press Herald they gave Kestrel time to find the financing to keep the operation going. They were a tenant and it didnt work out with us, Levesque said. It is like anything else, if you are not current on your rent, you have to move on. The agency has filed a lawsuit to recover those payments, according to the Falmouth Forecaster. Klapmeier did not respond to the Press Heralds or Forecasters requests for comment.

Klapmeier did speak to Wisconsin Public Radio on Tuesday. Klapmeier said hes trying to stay in business, preserve jobs, make the project work and pay the state back. Weve tried to live up to our end of the deal, he said. Klapmeier said the company missed an August deadline on the Wisconsin loan because other entities involved in financial agreements his company has been working on didnt meet their end of the deal. Klapmeier told WPR his company also met with airport officials in Brunswick this summer. We believe in the product. We believe in the industry. We believe in the people, he said. Klapmeier said his company is still exploring options on where to buildthe Kestrel.
Scaled Composites rolled out and flew its most recent project on Wednesday, the company has announced. The company built two identical single-engine jets to demonstrate for an unnamed customer Scaleds advanced, low-cost manufacturing techniques for the production of research aircraft for industry and government. Today was a great day for our test team, said Aaron Cassebeer, project engineer. We had a great flight and we are looking forward to the future test program. The Model 401 experimental aircraft are each equipped with a single Pratt & Whitney JTD-15D-5D engine, with 3,045 pounds of thrust, the company said, and they are capable of flying Mach 0.6 with a service ceiling of 30,000 feet.

The two aircraft are identical in outer mold line and performance. They have a wingspan of 38 feet and measure 38 feet long. Empty weight is 4,000 pounds and maximum takeoff weight is 8,000 pounds, with an endurance of up to three hours. The successful first flight is the beginning of the flight-test phase for vehicle Number 1, the company said. The Scaled team plans to continue envelope expansion on the first aircraft as they move toward first flight of the second Model 401 vehicle.
Alsim has been making flight simulators in France for 24 years and has sold dozens of flight training devices in North America. To better serve that market, its opened an office in Austin, Texas. AVwebs Russ Niles spoke with the new manager of the North American operation, Scott Firsing.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday that Facebook is "committed to providing" information related to the free content published by the same Russian pages that bought 3,000 ads focused on divisive issues before and after the election. A second source close to the situation confirmed Facebook had committed to providing the information.

Why it matters: The ads bought by the pages were one half of the puzzle. The "organic" content posted by the pages  and information on who saw and engaged with it  is the other. Some believe those posts may have been seen by far more people than the estimated 10 million that Facebook says viewed the ads.

The details:

"I asked about not just the advertisements but all the organic content that went along with them or was independent of them, and they are committed to providing that information to us," Schiff, whose committee is investigating Russian election meddling, said.

"I don't know the answer to that," Schiff said when asked whether the committee would get every post from the roughly 470 pages and accounts Facebook has identified as having been behind the ads, "but obviously we're going to want to get a complete sense of what the Russians were doing on their platform and others, not just the advertising but all the downstream consequences of that advertising, all the things they were pushing out through non-advertising means on these platforms."

The source close to the situation said that congressional investigators were talking with Facebook about obtaining the content posted by the pages as well as information on its likes, comments and shares  and how often content from the pages was shared.

Schiff declined to say when Facebook would provide the information. Facebook declined to comment.

Go deeper: Recode reported earlier this month on how Facebook hadn't yet handed over data on organic posts to congressional investigators. Schiff and the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee also said Wednesday the committee would release the ads bought by the pages.
After meeting with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg today, leaders of the House Intelligence Committee Reps. Mike Conaway (R-TX) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) said they will release the Russian-sponsored ads that ran on Facebook during the 2016 election, per CNBC.

Why it matters: The release of the ads, which members of the Senate Intel Committee have resisted doing, would provide Americans with a clear view of the Russian influence campaign that roiled last year's election.

Key question: Whether the committee also releases details of when the ads ran and how they were targeted. Without those stats, Americans will simply be looking at divisive ads with no context, and won't have any idea of whether the ads ran before of after Election Day.

What to watch: Axios' Mike Allen is interviewing Sandberg tomorrow at 9 a.m. Watch live on Facebook or Axios.com.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.  On the outskirts of the University of Michigan campus, there's a sight that instantly shows how much the area has changed: A sensor-connected car steered by an Xbox controller roams the streets of what is known as "M-City" to test self-driving and other connected-car technologies.

Why it matters: Michigan is known for its auto industry expertise but experienced a steep decline a decade ago when Detroit  its biggest city  lost half its population as manufacturing jobs left in droves. Detroit is fighting its way back to build a burgeoning tech scene. Ann Arbor, only 40 minutes away, is taking a complementary path: It's harnessing the university's high-tech talent factory and the state's auto factory history to be at the forefront of next-generation vehicle development.

Self-driving car city: M-City is a public-private partnership funded by 70 members including major car manufacturers, chip makers, wireless and insurance companies. Every year, it receives about $1.2 million to research things like how humans will interact with self-driving cars and how cities will need to be designed for them.

"There's a lot of disruption happening in a very short time frame," said Greg McGuire, M-City Lab Director. "We're running living laboratories" to test capabilities and effects.

Ann Arbor is also wirelessly connected using vehicle-to-vehicle communications technology called DSRC so that intersections and vehicle can communicate with each other.

2,000 privately owned vehicles are "driving" around Ann Arbor broadcasting messages back and forth 10 times a second.

McGuire said a few cars will be deployed on campus next month to research how students, bicycles and other cars interact with them.

The problem: There aren't enough investors tuned in to Michigan startups, and not enough Michigan-based investors in general. As more and more Silicon Valley companies move into the self-driving car market, Michigan has stiff competition for investment, talent and attention. A lot of the university's graduates are now realizing that if they don't take the opportunity to start companies to tackle components of self-driving cars, Tesla or another Bay Area startup will, said Emily Heintz, associate director of the Michigan Venture Capital Association.

By the numbers: 78% of the total capital invested in Michigan startups last year came from out-of-state investors, according to the association. More than half of the state's venture capital currently goes to Ann Arbor-based startups.

Currently, there are 141 venture-backed startup companies in Michigan, an increase of 48% over the last 5 years.

But an estimated $504 million of additional venture capital will be needed to adequately fund the growth of those companies over the next two years alone, per the MVCA.

Every $1 invested in a Michigan startup by a Michigan-based venture capital firm attracts $4.61 of investment from outside Michigan.

Another problem: Old-fashioned Midwestern humility, as Michigan Governor Rick Snyder puts it. Even though Michigan is one of the better-performing Midwestern states when it comes to startups, he says, people don't know about it. "We have to do a better job telling our story  no one else is going to tell it for us."
President Trump has nominated Kirstjen Nielsen  Chief of Staff John Kelly's deputy at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security  to be the next Secretary of Homeland Security.

The backdrop: Elaine Duke has been serving as acting secretary since Kelly stepped down to take the White House gig in July. Nielsen, who is a cybersecurity expert, was Kelly's pick to run the department.

Why Nielsen? Nobody in the White House is closer to Kelly. And Michael Allen, a respected GOP national security figure who worked with Nielsen on the White House Homeland Security Council under George W. Bush, encapsulated the case for Nielsen in an email to Axios: "No learning curve. No one else has same policy expertise in cyber, aviation security, FEMA. She takes it to the hoop. Moved to DC from Texas after 9/11 to help stand up TSA. Takes tough jobs, co-authored Katrina Lessons Learned Report which made FEMA better."
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told Congress that President Trump has made a final decision to decertify the Iran nuclear deal, per NBC. This decision was expected, though not formally announced. Trump has been hinting at an impending announcement all week.

What's next: Congress has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose the sanctions against Iran that were lifted in exchange for roll backs to Iran's nuclear program in the 2015 deal.
The former commander of Russian troops in Syria on Thursday briefed Armenias Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian and top army generals on Russian military operations conducted in the war-torn nation.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said Colonel-General Aleksandr Dvornikov gave the lecture at its headquarters in Yerevan. Photographs released by the ministry showed that the chief of the Armenian armys General Staff, Colonel-General Movses Hakobian, and at least two of his deputies were among several dozen military officials attending the event.

A ministry statement said Dvornikov, who now heads Russias Southern Military District, spoke about Russian tactics of fighting against the so-called Islamic State militant group in Syria and specificities of modern warfare.

The statement added that the lecture was organized within the framework of joint military exercises taking place at a training center about 50 kilometers west of Yerevan. More than 2,500 soldiers of the Armenian army, the Russian military base in Armenia and a rapid-reaction force set up by the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are taking part in the five-day drills that began on Monday. The Russian base is part of the Southern Military District.

It was not clear whether Dvornikov discussed the possibility of Armenian involvement in Russian operations in Syria.

Another top Russian military official said in August that Armenia and Serbia have expressed readiness to join a multinational coalition which Russia hopes would help its troops clear landmines there. Moscow formally proposed its creation at the United Nations in April.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said on September 11 that it is ready in principle to send sappers to those parts of Syria where there are no ongoing hostilities. But it stressed that their deployment must follow all international legal procedures. Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on September 20, President Serzh Sarkisian clarified that such a mission would have to have a UN mandate.
12 October 2017 09:59 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 118 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on October 12.

Armenians were using sniper rifles.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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12 October 2017 12:13 (UTC+04:00)

By Victor Lapuente Gine

Within a few days, the Catalan regional parliament may declare Catalonias independence, after 500 years of history with Spain. A few hours afterwards, the Spanish government may respond by sending thousands of police to detain top Catalan officials, putting an end to 40 years of prosperous self-rule. In turn, many Catalans may take to the streets, launching a revolt with scary consequences.

At first sight, the idea that Spain could descend into chaos is puzzling. The country is ranked among the worlds top-performing democracies  ahead of France, Italy, and the US according to some indicators. And it is one of the favorite destinations for investors and tourists worldwide. Having strolled through the magnificent and charming streets of Barcelona, the possibility of violent clashes there seems as unlikely as a gorilla in the forests of British Columbia.

Nonetheless, a physical confrontation between the Spanish authorities and Catalan insurrectional forces is a possible outcome, unless the major actors change their course of action. And none of them has incentives to do so. Like James Dean and Buzz in Rebel Without a Cause, the Spanish and Catalan governments are speeding their cars toward a cliff, with each expecting the other to be the first to jump out.

The Spanish government assumes that Catalans parliament will not dare to declare independence unilaterally, because the move would receive no international recognition. And the Catalan government is confident that a repressive response by the Spanish authorities, reviving the images of police beating unarmed old women and teenagers that the world saw during the referendum on October 1, would pave the way for a peaceful rebellion within Catalonia and widespread international acquiescence.

In addition, both governments enjoy strong popular support. The ruling conservative Peoples Party (PP) in Madrid can comfortably win a national election without courting voters in Catalonia, where it obtained a meager 11% of the vote in 2015. Likewise, the separatist parties can easily secure a majority in the Catalan parliament. Besides, thanks to governmental control of public broadcasters and generous public subsidies to private media outlets, both sides can deploy a reliable army of fiercely motivated journalists and intellectuals whose incendiary comments are contributing to the conflicts escalation.

The actors in the Spanish drama are facing what political scientists call a social dilemma: either side gains from selfish behavior unless the other side behaves selfishly, too, in which case both sides lose.

Both unionists and separatists would be better off with a second-best solution. For example, the separatists could renounce a unilateral declaration of independence in exchange for talks on constitutional reforms that would move Spain in a federal direction. A constitutional amendment that allowed symbolic changes, like an official declaration of Catalonia as a nation, or substantive initiatives, like a fiscal pact, would satisfy most Catalans while maintaining Spains territorial integrity.

The problem is that both sides believe that showing willingness to compromise would weaken their future bargaining situation. Research in political science, however, indicates that the opposite may be true. Following insights by the Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom, we know that social dilemmas can be solved using the inverse strategy: giving instead of demanding. If one party exhibits cooperative behavior, its rival may feel forced to reciprocate, leading to a spiral of cooperation instead of retaliation, and of trust instead of suspicion.

This is what is required now in Catalonia. Both the Spanish government and the Catalan separatists must acknowledge that, if they act with sensible generosity, the other side may respond with further concessions.

It will not be easy, given the current mental disconnect between the Madrid and Barcelona elites. Yet they need to consider how their behavior is endangering the hard-earned welfare of millions of Spaniards, after four decades of successful democracy. In sunny Spain, there should always be light at the end of the tunnel.

Copyright: Project Syndicate: A Spanish Disquisition

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12 October 2017 14:40 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan`s Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov and chairman of the Central Bank Elman Rustamov will participate in the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington this week.

The events, which will bring together officials of member countries of IMF and the World Bank, delegates of international financial institutions, representatives of the private sector and civil society, will discuss a wide range of issues, including global economy and poverty, Azertac reported.

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12 October 2017 15:24 (UTC+04:00)

The Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF) has paid compensations worth over 747.937 million Azerbaijani manats to depositors of Parabank, Zaminbank, Dekabank, Kredobank, Caucasus Development Bank, Atrabank, Bank of Azerbaijan, Ganjabank, Texnikabank, United Credit Bank and Bank Standard, ADIF said in a message on October 12.

Below is the list of closed banks and the volume of compensations paid as of Oct. 12:

Banks Total deposits (million manats) Insured deposits (million manats) Compensated deposits (million manats) Paid compensations (million manats) Share of paid compensations in total insured deposits (%) Unpaid compensations (million manats) Parabank 87.601 50.714 43.885 43.222 98.5 0.662 Zaminbank 77.116 75.574 72.675 72.196 99.3 0.479 Kredobank 30.191 29.159 27.91 27.914 99.9 0.122 Dekabank 5.36 3.684 3.127 3.088 98.7 0.039 Atrabank 31.024 26.995 14.614 14.35 98.2 0.263 Caucasus Development Bank 11.996 6.617 2.09 2.004 95.8 0.086 Bank Standard 596.499 554.593 441.154 437.745 99.2 3.413 United Credit Bank 3.55 3.23 2.099 1.837 87.5 0.263 Bank of Azerbaijan 124.732 122.366 24.937 24.191 97 0.746 Ganjabank 3.177 1.553 1.039 0.976 93.9 0.063 Texnikabank 163.154 161.796 122.642 120.458 98.2 2.183

The licenses of all 11 banks were cancelled as their aggregate capitals didnt meet the minimum requirement of 50 million manats. In general, they havent fulfilled the regulators instructions.

(1.7003 AZN = 1 USD on October 12)
12 October 2017 18:11 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The associate membership of the State Accreditation Service of Azerbaijan will be considered at a meeting of the General Assembly of the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA), to be held in Berlin, said Ramiz Hasanov, chairman of the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Patent.

Hasanov made the remarks at a meeting with Ambassador Kestutis Jankauskas, who is the head of EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, said the State Committee in a message on October 12.

Hasanov expressed confidence that as a result of the twinning project Strengthening the National Accreditation System of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which is currently being implemented, Azerbaijan and the EA will sign agreements on mutual recognition.

Noting the importance of mutual interest in connection with the development of relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan, Jankauskas praised the ongoing system reforms in the country aimed at increasing the export potential of the non-oil sector.

According to him, bringing the quality infrastructure in line with modern experience serves precisely this policy.

The ambassador expressed confidence that the EU will continue to be directly involved in this process and provide the necessary support.

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12 October 2017 18:12 (UTC+04:00)

The unjust attitude of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has once again reminded one that we live in an age of hypocrisy and double standards.

The latest move of PACE has surprised many and caused regret in Azerbaijan, a devoted friend of Europe.

A biased view towards the strategic partner in the South Caucasus appeared in two documents - The functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan and Steps taken in the field of respect for human rights during Azerbaijan's chairmanship in the Council of Europe adopted by the European institution during its autumn session.

PACE, by adopting these documents, more likely tried to demonstrate its service to interests of certain people and circles, instead of showing commitment to the real interests of European community.

PACE acts and sees its role almost as an Inquisition court considering punishment to be its prerogative and believes that it can easily interfere in the internal policy of other states.

Such an attitude is fundamentally wrong in the modern world and contradicts the values of Europe itself. Looking to the future, one should ask to what can such a policy lead Europe.

Moreover, if PACEs primary mission is to punish its partners and allies, while having no obligations of its own, what is the meaning of such an institution then?

These two untruthful documents have no other aim than creating a negative image of Azerbaijan, which makes every effort to build strong and independent state, but the issue is that who might benefit from this. It is obvious that some anti-Azerbaijani forces, which compete with Azerbaijan in the energy, transport and other spheres, may be behind the attempts of putting pressure on our country.

Azerbaijan during the period of membership in PACE has regularly faced unfair pressure and demands of this organization. Todays move is just the culmination point.

For many years the Council of Europe has demonstrated a hostile attitude towards Muslim countries. Their attitude is biased by a common view that the arbitrariness - disorder, instability, conflicts, wars, clashes, famine and coups d'etat - reigns in Islamic states.

Of course, Azerbaijan, which today conducts an independent policy, whose military potential, respect, authority in the international arena is growing with each day, but instead of supporting the country, PACE is trying to find something to criticize and complain about.

The independent policy of Azerbaijan does not suit the anti-Azerbaijani network, including a number of states and groups which are willing to discredit it.

By adopting these documents PACE can hardly achieve anything through pressure. Azerbaijan is a strong, independent state with its priorities in policy and that goes its own way.

The artificial oppression of Azerbaijan, which is developing along the road of democracy and is preparing to sign an agreement on strategic partnership with the European Union, once again shows that PACE in the hands of certain interested circles (certain lobbying groups and, in particular, the companions of Armenians) has become a mean of pressure and fulfills a specific order.

Deterioration of relations with Azerbaijan is unacceptable for Europe. The country participates in a number of projects aimed at making Europe energy-secure. Thus, the conclusion suggests itself  Europe needs Azerbaijan as a partner.

Azerbaijan is one of nine Council of Europe member-states currently subject to the Assemblys monitoring procedure, which involves ongoing dialogue with the authorities, regular reports and occasional debates on a states progress in honoring its obligations and commitments to the organization.

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12 October 2017 11:54 (UTC+04:00)

French political scientist Sebastien Boussois has published an article Occupation of Nagorno Karabakh: Azerbaijan is still seeking peaceful resolution of the conflict in Cnpnews portal.

No country in the world has recognized the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic created by invader Armenia. In contrast to Armenia, Azerbaijan follows the path of regional integration, and tries to solve the conflict peacefully by building stable relationship with regional powers and coordinating its diplomacy with the neighboring countries, Boussois writes in the article.

He recalls the four resolutions of the UN Security Council demanding immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijani territories. He notes that Azerbaijan lost over AZN800 billion during the conflict.

The political scientist mentioned French presidents Nicola Sarkozy`s and Francois Hollande`s visits to Azerbaijan as well as the opening of a French lyceum in Baku.

Boussois also highlights the history of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Khojaly genocide committed by the Armenian armed forces in 1992, which killed more than 600 innocent people, and expulsion of around 800,000 Azerbaijani civilians from their native lands.

Nowadays Azerbaijan is not what is was in the 1990s. Azerbaijan has gone through a huge development path. Unlike Armenia, which has nothing but diaspora, Azerbaijan is a powerful country, which ensures its energy security and is ready to liberate its territories by any means, Boussois concludes.

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12 October 2017 13:25 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, will host a briefing on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, organization's website reported on October 12.

The briefing titled Averting all-out war in Nagorno Karabakh: The role of the U.S. and OSCE will be held on October 18.

Two former U.S. Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Carey Cavanaugh and James Warlick, as well as Magdalena Grono, Director of the International Crisis Groups Europe and Central Asia Program, will participate in the breefing.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Until now, Armenia 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 regions.

The Minsk Group, the activities of which have become known as the Minsk Process, spearheads the OSCE's efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation, and the United States. Although the Group deals with the issue for over two decades, its activities have brought no breakthrough results so far.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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12 October 2017 14:09 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The OSCE monitoring held on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia near Azerbaijans Qazakh district on Oct. 12 passed without incidents, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on October 12.

The monitoring was held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative, said the ministry.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was held by Simon Tiller and Ghenadie Petrica, who are field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

On the Armenian side, the monitoring was held by field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative Mikhail Olaru and Ognjen Jovic.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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12 October 2017 16:49 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations, held with the assistance of international mediators, to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been held for over two decades, alas, no serious result has been achieved so far.

A renowned Azerbaijani political scientist Fikret Sadikhov believes that the conflict is unresolved due to the stubborn policy of the Armenian leadership, which is unprepared for substantive negotiations with Azerbaijan.

There is no doubt that the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a serious threat for the entire region, and this fact has been periodically voiced by world powers, but the problem is that they are silent about the main reason for the unsettled status of this conflict, which is emanating from Armenia, Sadikhov told Day.az on October 11.

Sadikhov further said that one of the causes of stagnation in the negotiation process is the crisis of the OSCE Minsk Group format, which for many years demonstrates inconsistency in carrying out an intermediary mission on this issue.

The OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, the United States and France, is working to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. While the OSCE Minsk Group acts as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, it failed to achieve a breakthrough in the peace process so far.

I believe that the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict is stalled due to the failure of the Minsk Group in general and the passive activity of the co-chairs, since none of the intermediary countries in the OSCE Minsk Group format expresses its position categorically or shows proper activity, Sadikhov said.

He added it is surely welcome that the mediators make calls on the need for substantive negotiations with the participation of Azerbaijan and Armenia, but it does not go beyond words.

None of the mediator countries in the negotiation process exerts proper pressure on Armenia in order to force it to implement the UN Security Council resolutions, the expert said.

Sadikhov also noted that Russia is the closest strategic ally of Armenia, and France and the United States are countries with the largest Armenian diasporas, which have serious political support and political representation.

As for Azerbaijan, we have good-neighborly relations with Russia, as well as partnership relations with the USA and France. Nevertheless, Azerbaijan has the right to raise the issue of diplomatic reformatting of the OSCE Minsk Group, he said.

The expert brought as an example inclusion of Turkey as the co-chair country, which is able to lead the same active policy as Russia, France and the United States.

The political analyst further noted that provocative actions and aggressive policy of the Armenian leadership still have not been condemned by the international community, and this is a demonstration of a double approach towards Azerbaijan.

To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts. While the aggressor country illegally remains in 20 percent of Azerbaijans occupied lands, over a million of Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons live with a dream to return to their native places in Karabakh.

The OSCE MG co-chair countries have serious political weight and great diplomatic experience gained over the decades, and the fact that this issue has not advanced a single step towards a settlement is a matter of regret and frustration, Sadikhov noted. The time to take effective steps to resolve the conflict is long overdue.

Thus, the expert points out that the OSCE MG co-chairs should be more active in the issue of forcing Armenia to hold substantive negotiations with Azerbaijan so that the multi-year problem is resolved through a constructive dialogue of the parties, and not by force.

Azerbaijan has long ago stated it is ready to settle the conflict through direct negotiations with Armenia with mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. However, the Armenian side, as always, is trying to make up reasons to avoid a constructive dialogue and preserve the unacceptable status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hopefully, the forthcoming meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents to be organized by the co-chairs will make a significant contribution to the settlement process.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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12 October 2017 10:25 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory letter to Felipe VI, King of Spain.

"On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, it is my pleasure to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and the people of your country on the occasion of the national holiday of the Kingdom of Spain," President Aliyev said.

"On this remarkable day, I wish you all the best, robust health and happiness, and the friendly people of Spain everlasting peace and prosperity," said President Aliyev in the congratulatory letter.

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12 October 2017 11:06 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is an inquisition of the West, says German political analyst Alexander Rahr.

It [PACE] will always think it has the right to interfere with the processes, with the internal policies of its member states as well, if it seems to them that human rights are violated there, Rahr told Trend commenting on the reports adopted at PACEs autumn session, which raise issues regarding Azerbaijan that do not correspond to reality.

However, the analyst believes the adoption of these documents will not affect PACE-Azerbaijan relations.

The reports titled The functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijans Chairmanship of the Council of Europe: What follow-up on respect for human rights? were adopted at PACEs autumn session today.

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12 October 2017 10:54 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted two resolutions on Azerbaijan, including on The functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan report authored by co-rapporteurs Cezar Florin Preda and Stefan Schennach, and on Azerbaijans Chairmanship of the Council of Europe: what follow-up on respect for human rights? report made by Belgian MP Alain Destexhe.

The Azerbaijani President`s Assistant for Public and Political Affairs Ali Hasanov commented on the resolutions.

In a statement Ali Hasanov said:

- I think that by adopting these documents, which were made on the basis of subjective considerations of some anti-Azerbaijani circles and which pursue a specific purpose, PACE has once again demonstrated its biased and unfair stance against our country.

It is a well-known fact that Azerbaijan has continuously faced pressure from certain lobby groups, especially the Armenian ones

since its accession to this organization. This pressure mounted and became more severe during Thorbjrn Jagland`s tenure as Secretary General, which stemmed from his negative attitude against Azerbaijan.

It is obvious that Azerbaijan, which conducts an independent policy in line with its national interests and has a principled position, plays an active role in PACE, and this disadvantages many people. Otherwise, parliamentarians would think of the future of Europe, where Islamophobia, xenophobia, racial and religious discrimination are raging, and where cases of gross violation of human rights and freedom of expression are increasing, and would look for ways of addressing these problems.

Or they would be worried about nearly 10,000 unfulfilled resolutions of the European Court of Human Rights. Whereas Russia faces sanctions because of Crimea, they had better raise the issue of why no measures have ever been taken against Armenia, which keeps under occupation 20 per cent of Azerbaijani territory for 25 years, and they had better not so overtly demonstrate disrespect for the European fundamental values.

Ongoing artificial pressure on Azerbaijan, which is developing on the path of democracy and is preparing to sign an agreement on strategic partnership with the European Union, is yet another testament to the fact that PACE has become a tool of pressure in the hands of certain circles and is fulfilling specific orders.

Of course, it is impossible to put pressure on Azerbaijan by adopting such documents. Azerbaijan is an independent, powerful state and has domestic and foreign policy priorities, and will continue to follow its path.

The adoption of such biased documents based on subjective considerations and mounting pressure forces Azerbaijan to reconsider its relations with the Council of Europe.

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12 October 2017 12:37 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan and Belarus should increase the number of flights between them to develop tourism in both countries, said speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan Ogtay Asadov at a joint press conference with chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich in Minsk.

Asadov noted that tourism sector has developed in Azerbaijan and joint projects with Belarus can be implemented in this area. He said that one of the key issues addressed during the meeting was the establishment of regional parliamentary bodies, which will give a new impetus to joint activities of regional countries.

The speaker of the Milli Majlis said he invited the Chairman of the Belarus Council of the Republic to pay an official visit to Azerbaijan.

Myasnikovich highly appreciated his meeting with Asadov, noting that they had effective discussions.

He said that the Azerbaijani parliament speaker`s official visit to Belarus will open up a new page in the development of relations between the parliaments of the two countries.

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12 October 2017 12:46 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan and Russia have agreed a procedure for the use of frequency resources in border areas, a source in the telecommunications market of Azerbaijan told Trend on October 12.

The sides held monitoring of channels used in the border areas and signed an agreement on equitable use of the frequency spectrum of mobile communications and broadcasting.

The agreement provides for streamlining of radio frequency spectrum use and reduction of the probability of interference by radio-electronic means in the border areas.

Azerbaijan already signed similar agreements with Georgia in early 2017 and with Iran in 2016.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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12 October 2017 14:17 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Azerbaijan and Tajikistan discussed the opening of direct flights between the capital cities.

Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev discussed the issue with Tajik Ambassador to Azerbaijan Rustam Soliyev.

The meeting focused on the current state of economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, a number of specific issues related to the expansion of ties and prospects for cooperation.

Discussions were held on cooperation between the Ganja Aluminum Smelter and the Aluminum Plant of Tajikistan in the spheres of metallurgy, transit and so on, as well as issues of mutual interest.

Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, both post-Soviet republics, established diplomatic relations on May 29, 1992. The cooperation between the two countries reached a new level in 2008, when an intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation was launched. It coordinates the realization of economic ties and develops new proposals for future cooperation.

Currently, the basis of trade and economic relations between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan is import-export, including transit transport. Tajikistan imports alumina and petroleum coke from Azerbaijan for the production of aluminum. Annually more than 300,000 tons of alumina is supplied from the Ganja Alumina Smelter of the Tajik Aluminum Plant. At the same time, Tajikistan imports pomegranate juice, butter, sugar and agricultural products from Azerbaijan.

The sector of the Azerbaijani economy, specializing in meat and dairy production, winemaking and branches based on other crops, is of some interest to Tajikistan.

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12 October 2017 16:32 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Adoption of two resolutions on Azerbaijan on October 11 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is another campaign to denigrate the country, Aydin Safikhanli, head of the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of Azerbaijan, Ph.D., told Trend on October 12.

On Oct. 11, the PACE adopted Resolution No.14397 on the report Azerbaijans Chairmanship of the Council of Europe: What follow-up on respect for human rights? and Resolution No.14403 on the report on The functioning of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan.

The adoption of the resolutions also demonstrated degradation of law and exaltation of double standards in the PACE, Safikhanli said.

He noted that the success achieved by Azerbaijan today, the countrys role in shaping the policy carried out both at the regional and global levels concerns some political forces, and campaigns are being conducted against the country to discredit it.

Safikhanli said that by adopting these documents prepared for subjective reasons and on political order of certain anti-Azerbaijani forces, the PACE as a structure undermined its authority.

He noted that these resolutions, which are not based on objective analysis, and which were adopted with reference to biased allegations and unconfirmed sources, openly showed that they are aimed at discrediting Azerbaijan.

Over the past period, Azerbaijan has completely fulfilled all commitments before the international and regional organizations the country is a member of, Safikhanli said. Being a participant of many international agreements, Azerbaijan has completely improved its national legislation.

The country continues taking certain steps in this field, being attentive to proposals and recommendations submitted by international and regional organizations and UN structures, he noted. Azerbaijan is an independent, strong state, which has its own priorities, both in domestic and foreign policy, and therefore, it is impossible to exert pressure on Azerbaijan with such documents.

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12 October 2017 18:48 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

The times of the prosperity of fascism in the past century are considered one of the worst episodes in human history. The Nazi ideology caused irreparable harm to many people in different countries, as well as to the economies of various states.

Baku hosted an international conference titled Consolidation and unity of people as main factor in victory over fascism and preservation of peace on October 12.

The conference, organized in preparation for the 75th anniversary of the victory over fascism in the World War II, was attended by representatives of 19 countries, officials, MPs, representatives of Azerbaijani civil society organizations, and others.

It has been over 70 years since the end of World War II. But, unfortunately, today we witness how modern forgers are deliberately and intentionally trying to distort the history of that terrible war, to denigrate the deeds of our grandfathers and fathers, to rehabilitate traitors and accomplices of the enemy, Arastun Mehdiyev, Deputy head of Public and Political Affairs Department at Azerbaijans Presidential Administration, said at the conference.

He noted that two years ago, at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, a resolution was adopted on Russias initiative on combating glorification of Nazism and neo-Nazism, and the resolution was supported by 126 states.

It is puzzling that Armenia was among these countries, a country on the territory of which the Nazi ideology is spread at the state level. There is a process of glorification of war criminals in Armenia. There is a monument to the accomplice of the Nazi regime Garegin Nzhdeh, who killed thousands of innocent people. By the way, the President of this country attended the opening ceremony. In short, the creator of the Armenian Legion in the SS became a national hero, Mehdiyev said.

He added that these actions were condemned by many countries and veterans.

Today Armenia is also promoting the Nazi ideology. For over twenty-five years, Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan are under Armenian occupation. As a result of ethnic cleansing in Armenia and in the occupied territories, more than one million Azerbaijanis have become refugees and internally displaced persons, Mehdiyev noted.

He added that the idea of national superiority and occupational policy of Armenia not only threaten security of the region, but also complicate the fight against extremism and nationalism in the world.

Only by uniting, strengthening outreach and advocacy, it is possible to expose carriers of fascist ideology and achieve positive change. We must have a clear and strong position in this matter, Mehdiyev said.

He further recalled that the Azerbaijani people have made a huge contribution to the victory over fascism.

During the war, Baku fully provided the front with fuel. Up to 600,000 of our citizens took an active part in the fight against fascism, and nearly half of them died. Then the population of Azerbaijan was 3.4 million people, and virtually every fifth citizen was fighting, he said.

Mehdiyev also emphasized that Azerbaijan pays great attention and cares for World War II veterans and their families, which is one of the priority areas.

The state provides them with various benefits. Also, financial assistance is rendered to them from the head of state, he said, adding that Azerbaijan annually celebrates the Victory Day.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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12 October 2017 16:48 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Fragile relations between the two NATO allies  Turkey and the United States  have reached a new low after months of tensions which stem from the Syrian issue, failed coup in Turkey and U.S. court cases against Turkish officials.

The U.S. claims to be an ally of Turkey, but Washington does not sell weapons to Turkey even for money while it supplies arms to the Syrian wing of the PKK (YPG / PYD) for free, Turkish quoted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying on October 12.

Turkey is well aware that the weapons transferred by the U.S. to YPG / PYD will later be used against Turkey, according to the Turkish leader.

Commenting on the current crisis in relations between the U.S. and Turkey, Erdogan said that the cause of the crisis between Washington and Ankara is U.S. Ambassador John Bass.

"The U.S. should not sacrifice relations with Turkey for the sake of one ambassador," he said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. special delegation is expected to visit Turkey next week aiming to resolve the crisis between the two countries which erupted following the arrest of an employee of the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul, according to the diplomatic sources.

The spokesman and deputy chairman of the ruling Turkish Justice and Development Party Mahir Unal previously stated that Turkey hopes for an early resolution to the crisis in relations with the United States.

Currently, the Turkish Foreign Ministry is negotiating on this issue. The crisis in U.S.-Turkey ties will not damage military cooperation between the sides, he noted.

Earlier, spokesman for the U.S. State Department Heather Nauert expressed deep concern over the arrest of an employee of American embassy in Turkey.

The U.S. and Turkey previously suspended the mutual issuance of non-immigrant visas. Non-immigrant visas are issued to people who travel for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work or study.

This decision followed the October 4 arrest of a Turkish national who works at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul for alleged involvement in the July 2016 coup attempt aimed to overthrow the Turkish president. The U.S. embassy stated earlier that it was deeply disturbed over the arrest and rejected the allegations against the employee as wholly without merit.

Previously, U.S. President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in New York, where Trump praised Erdogan as a friend despite tensions in two countries relations over a number of issues.

This latest incident aggravated the already tense relationship between Washington and Ankara. The two countries have clashed over the U.S. support for Kurdish rebels in Syria as well as Turkish demands that the United States extradite Fethullah Gulen, a cleric whom Ankara blames for a military coup attempt of last July.

In addition, Ankaras rapprochement with Russia and purchase of S-400 missiles become the subject of criticism by the U.S.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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12 October 2017 12:56 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The creation of industrial zones, which are usually established on the base of unused territories or production premises owned by the government, contribute to development of the countrys industrial sector and increase in the number of jobs.

The Uchtepa small industrial zone will be created in Uzbekistans capital on the territory of the AOKS Plus Business limited liability company.

This is determined by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers "On the establishment of a small industrial zone in Uchtepa district of Tashkent city" dated October 7, 2017, UzA reported.

Buildings and facilities of AOKS Plus Business LLC (formerly the NGO Signal) are transferred to the jurisdiction of the Tashkent City Hokimiyat (mayor's office), according to the document.

The capitals hokimiyat was instructed to form a directorate of the Uchtepa small industrial zone in a month's time with the involvement of highly qualified specialists.

In addition, within two months, the mayors office together with interested commercial banks should develop sectoral tables for the implementation of investment projects in the new industrial zone.

The Uchtepa small industrial zone will serve as another practical result of measures to expand support for business entities.

Currently, small industrial zones, formed on the basis of inactive enterprises of Yunusabad, Sergeli and Yakkasaray districts, are successfully operating in Tashkent.

As many as 513 small enterprises for the production of textile, chemical, food, electrical products, furniture, modern building materials and other finished products, which are in demand in the domestic and foreign markets, operate in these territories.

In 2016, these enterprises produced goods for 1.1 trillion soums, while the exports amounted to more than $140 million. At the same time, more than 11,000 new jobs have been created.

Previously, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev approved proposals to create 17 small industrial zones in Tashkent region based on production areas and land plots.

The document said that that the immovable state property located on the territory of the zone is given to business entities for 10 years, with subsequent granting of ownership, subject to the fulfillment of business plans, creation and retention of jobs, timely payment of all taxes and other mandatory Payments.

For the use of immovable state property located on the territory of the zone, a zero rate of rent is set, the document said.

The participants of the small industrial zones are also subject to tax incentives established for small industrial zones in Tashkent.

President instructed the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan to open a credit line in the amount of $50 million for purchase of imported equipment and components.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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12 October 2017 13:12 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The world froze in anticipation of the U.S. presidents decision on the fate of the Iranian nuclear deal as a deadline approaches.

Some experts and policy analysts believe that President Donald Trump's administration won't recertify the landmark accord.

However, it is believed that Trump would not recommend the Congress to re-impose sanctions in order to reach a compromise with many congressional leaders who stand for keeping the deal at least with some changes.

He is more likely to turn his attention to getting European support on amending the agreement, although Europe is willing to keep the deal as it is.

In Wednesday interview with Fox News, Trump was asked about his intention to decertify Irans compliance or confirm Iran's fulfillment of the obligations under the deal. He said that he does not yet know what he will do in this regard.

"We can do both. I do not know exactly what I will do," Trump said.

He is expected to make official statement on Iran in the next few days.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated that the administration is ready to offer president some options on the future of the nuclear deal.

Trump, who earned the nickname of policy game changer, has long been known as the main critic of the landmark deal. If he decides to decertify Irans compliance, Congress will have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions that were lifted in exchange for curbs on Irans nuclear program.

In case sanctions are applied, despite the claims on Irans compliance by the International Atomic Energy Agency verifying, the United States would find itself in breach of its commitments. This means a unilateral withdrawal from the agreement, which will damage the reputation of the U.S. in the eyes of world community.

Previously, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated that neither Trump nor "ten other Trumps" will be able to nullify the benefits that Tehran receives from the nuclear deal.

The Iran nuclear deal was negotiated in July 2015 between Iran, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany. By ratifying the plan, Iran agreed to scale down its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

At the same time, the U.S. retains sanctions against Iran on the missile program, human rights and on suspicion that Tehran sponsors terrorism.

Currently, Washington insists on inspections of Iran's military facilities by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) under the JCPOA. However, Tehran rejects such inspections.

The presidential administration was previously instructed to review its policy on Iran, not only looking at Tehran's compliance with the nuclear deal but also its behavior in the region.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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Here are seven updates for ASC leaders to note for Oct. 12:

Colorado ophthalmology group buys, renames ASC to Insight Surgery Center

Parker, Colo.-based InSight Vision Group purchased Lone Tree, Colo.-based Renewal Surgery Center. As per the deal's terms, the ophthalmology group is renaming the ASC to Insight Surgery Center.

Regent Surgical Health promotes Bob Ryan to COO

Regent Surgical Health named Bob Ryan COO. Mr. Ryan joined Regent in 2016 as vice president of operations for the northeast. He arrived with 25 years-plus of experience working with physician partnerships in multisite healthcare facilities and managing joint venture ASC partnerships.

Hospital surgery center scrutinized for increased case load  board considers CON review

The Green Mountain Care Board is debating whether Morristown, Vt.-based Copley Hospital is in violation of its certificate of need. The board issued a CON in February 2016 for the hospital to replace its surgery center and modify its outpatient surgery center. However, the board is debating whether the hospital is violating its CON after the center began taking in more revenue than what was anticipated. For more on this, click here.

Tennessee suspect pleads guilty to scam resulting in $1.3M losses for Mountain Empire Surgery Center

Charles Turner pled guilty to a conspiracy charge related to his involvement in a scam that allegedly cost Johnson City, Tenn.-based Mountain Empire Surgery Center $1.3 million. Mr. Turner allegedly worked with Donald Kevin Collins on a scam in which the pair created a fake medical supply company, Turner Distributors. Prosecutors say the men fooled the surgery center into paying them $1.3 million-plus for equipment the men never delivered to the ASC in 2009.

Back Pain Centers of America adds Allegion Spine Institute to network

Back Pain Centers of America welcomed Las Vegas-based Allegion Spine Institute to its network. Spine surgeon Jaswinder Grover, MD, founded Allegion Spine Institute, formerly named Nevada Spine Clinic. Providers offer minimally invasive surgery, advanced spine surgery, pain management, cell therapy and regenerative medicine, radiology and physical therapy.

Medicare saved $8.8M by shifting colonoscopies to Tennessee ASCs

Medicare accrued a substantial amount of savings by moving colonoscopies to Tennessee ASCs, according to Ambulatory Surgery Center Association 2014 data. In 2014, Medicare saved $8.8 million by patients undergoing colonoscopies at Tennessee ASCs.

OhioHealth is building small hospital with ASC as outpatient demand spikes in state

OhioHealth is building a small hospital in Grove City, equipped with an ASC, medical office building and an emergency department. The health system aims to open the facility in 2018. Ohio Hospital Association Spokesperson John Palmer said Ohio hospitals had 31 million-plus outpatients in 2015, up from 30 million the year prior.
Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health temporarily closed 15 centers, three surgery centers and halted its at home care program in response to the California forest fires.

Here's what you should know:

1. Sutter closed Santa Rosa (Calif.) Surgery and Endoscopy Center; Novato, Calif.-based North Bay Regional Surgery Center; and Sutter Fairfield (Calif.) Surgery Center.

2. The locations closed Oct. 9, and will remain closed until further notice. For more information, click here.

3. Sutter had to transfer all patients from Sutter Santa Rosa (Calif.) Hospital because road closures made the hospital inaccessible.

4. Kaiser Permanente also closed its Santa Rosa (Calif.) Medical Center in response to the fire. Kaiser Permanente cancelled all prescheduled procedures at the medical center and at three medical offices. For more information, click here.

5. Sutter Health President and CEO Sarah Krevans said in a statement, "Like many of you I woke up this morning to the news of the fires spreading throughout Northern California. I was particularly concerned to learn we had to evacuate our hospital in Santa Rosa and that [our] colleagues at Kaiser Permanente also had to evacuate their medical center." She added that Sutter would update its patients as to when the facilities will reopen.

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The American Liver Foundation's Greater New York Division recognized Myron Schwartz, MD, with its 2017 New York Physician of the Year award.

Here's what you should know:

1. Dr. Schwartz is a professor of surgery at New York City-based Icahn School of Medicine. He also serves as the director of liver surgery at New York City-based Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute.

2. The liver foundation recognizes "outstanding leaders in healthcare who work to change the course of the disease."

3. According to a release, Dr. Schwartz is an international authority on hepatic resection and transplantation for liver cancer.
North Houston, Texas-based Memorial Hermann Endoscopy and Surgery Center physicians agreed to pay more than $1.5 million to settle Medicare fraud allegations, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Here's what you should know:

1. Gurunath Thota Reddy, MD, and other surgery center physicians allegedly performed colonoscopies for 7.5 years that Medicare deemed "essentially worthless."

2. United Surgical Partners International operates the center, while the physicians are part of Houston-based Digestive & Liver Disease Consultants PA.

Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System is a minority owner.

3. A former nurse claimed center physicians were spending as little as two minutes on a colonoscopy, while not examining the entire colon. The nurse also claimed Dr. Reddy allegedly reused surgical gowns to save money.

The nurse was fired the day after she brought the issues to the attention of USPI's regional vice president. The practice's lawyer Gene Besen disputed the timing and reason behind her dismissal.

4. No liability was determined in the fraud case.

5. Mr. Besen said in a statement the practice settled, "to avoid the cost of defending allegations and to continue to serve the community with the highest quality of care and standards as they have done for the last three decades." Mr. Besen said the physicians have repeatedly denied the allegations.
A physician is collecting signatures in an effort to convince Brentwood, Tenn.-based LifePoint Health to update the emergency department at one of its hospitals, SOVAH Health-Danville (Va.), according to the Danville Register & Bee.

In his petition, Gary Miller, MD, a cardiologist, says SOVAH Health-Danville's ED has not been renovated in 22 years. The ED does not have enough beds to accommodate growing patient volume, and several of the rooms are out of sight of the nurse's station, according to the petition.

Dr. Miller claims LifePoint keeps putting off the ED renovation project.

"They made plans 10 years ago, and shelved them, they did that again five years ago, and just did it again," Dr. Miller told the Danville Register & Bee. "I know they have to prioritize, but this has been festering for a long time. Just putting down new flooring and paint would help, and it would improve the image of the hospital."

Dr. Miller's petition had 531 signatures as of Wednesday.

A LifePoint spokesperson told the Danville Register & Bee the hospital network has made $18 million in capital investments in its facilities in the past year, and it will continue to prioritize improvements to best meet the needs of its patients.

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Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, R, wants to discuss her state's Section 1332 waiver with President Donald Trump, according to a report from The Des Moines Register.

Ms. Reynolds requested the conversation after reports surfaced last week suggesting the president called CMS Administrator Seema Verma directly to tell her to block the state's waiver. Anonymous sources informed the The Washington Post of the discussion between Ms. Verma and President Trump.

Iowa's "stopgap measure" was submitted in June after enough payers dropped out of participation in its exchange for 2018, leaving 94 of 99 counties with just one option in the marketplace for individual health plans. Ms. Reynolds told reporters CMS has not indicated whether Iowa's waiver will be accepted or rejected, according to The Des Moines Register.

She said her team spoke with CMS about the proposal Monday. "So our indication is they've been very receptive. They continue to work with us," Ms. Reynolds said, according to The Des Moines Register.

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Healthcare providers are not powerless in the fight against firearm-related injury and death in the U.S., wrote five physician editors from leading medical journals.

The following editors contributed to the editorial: Annals of Internal Medicine's Executive Deputy Editor Darren Taichman, MD, PhD, and Editor-in-Chief Christine Laine, MD; JAMA's Editor-in-Chief Howard Bauchner, MD; New England Journal of Medicine's Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Drazen, MD; and PLOS Medicine's Chief Editor Larry Peiperl, MD.

Their editorial comes on the heels of what is now the deadliest mass shooting in American history  the Oct. 1 Las Vegas Strip shooting that killed 58 and injured 489. If an infectious disease harmed the same numbers of American citizens, "healthcare professionals would sound the alarm," the editors wrote. The industry would spring into action to raise funds and awareness, develop strategies and implement local responses. Gun violence is a public health crisis, they wrote, and the Las Vegas shooting is far from the first outbreak.

"We need to each ask ourselves what we have done to apply our knowledge and skills to help address the problem since the moment of silence that followed the last mass shooting," they wrote.

While healthcare professionals may feel powerless in addressing gun violence, there are many ways they can get involved to improve gun safety in the U.S., according to the editorial. Here are several ways the editors suggest physicians and other providers can get involved:

Seek information on local gun policies and proposals to improve legislation. Contact local, state and federal legislators about gun control regularly. Volunteer or donate to organizations supporting gun control. Vote for politicians who support policies that promote gun safety. Voice your opinion to leaders at your organization, to the public, to the press. Learn about gun safety. Talk about gun safety with patients.

"As healthcare professionals, we don't throw up our hands in defeat because a disease seems to be incurable," the editors wrote. "We work to incrementally and continuously reduce its burden. That's our job."

Read the full commentary here.

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Karen Teitelbaum has been president and CEO of Chicago-based Sinai Health System since 2014, and under her leadership the system became home to the city's first ever crisis stabilization unit.

The psychiatric observation CSU at Sinai's Holy Cross Hospital opened in 2016 and started off accommodating up to 12 patients at a time. The unit plays a unique role in Chicago's healthcare and criminal justice ecosystem, as it diverts patients with behavioral health problems from the emergency department into a setting more amenable to their unique needs. The unit is staffed with psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses and nurse practitioners, licensed social workers and other mental health workers.

Not only does the CSU allow patients with behavioral health needs to access treatment more quickly, but it serves as a vital safe haven. Law enforcement officers can divert those struggling with mental health issues to Sinai's unit, sparing them from unnecessary entry into the criminal justice system.

Between 2009 and 2012 alone, Illinois cut $113.7 million dollars from mental health services, leaving many suffering from conditions untreated and misunderstood, according to statistics from the Chicago Tribune. In that same time frame, 45,840 of the 76,400 people admitted to Cook County Jail suffered from some type of mental illness. In 2015 alone, 80,000 patients sought treatment for behavioral health problems at Sinai system hospitals, up 46 percent.

The effective criminalization of mental illness and the lack of accessibility to mental healthcare is what prompted Ms. Teitelbaum to institute the CSU.

Ms. Teitelbaum spoke with Becker's about the process of creating the CSU, what it offers the community and how executives can implement similar initiatives.

Question: Why did you decide to create the CSU and how does it operate?

Karen Teitelbaum: At Holy Cross Hospital, which is where the crisis stabilization unit is now, we used to have patients waiting anywhere between 18 to 36 hours to get a final disposition for treatment if they were going to get admitted some place. At our crisis stabilization unit, patients who come into the emergency department with some sort of behavioral health crisis are triaged in the emergency department as is appropriate, and normally they're in the emergency department somewhere between 1.5 to 3 hours at most, so you see a big difference in the emergency department experience. If they do not need to be admitted but still need treatment, they're sent to the CSU.

The CSU is a quiet place that has recliners, not beds or gurneys, and patients have the entire care team come to them. Patients are observed, treated, counseled and, when they're ready to leave, they are given whatever medications they need and follow-up appointments. Then we make sure they leave to a safe place.

Q: How do you decide who should be sent to the CSU?

KT: Clearly if someone is in such an acute state that they need to be hospitalized then we do that. But what we found through the CSU is more than 70 percent of the patients we've seen, and at this point we've seen well over 2,000 since it opened last year, are taken care of with a far less intense level of services.

That's terrific for the patients  it's safer and they don't get mired in an intense inpatient stay that they really don't need. We see 70 percent Medicaid patients and 20 percent are on Medicare, so it's better for the government payer patients; it's a much less expensive mode of treatment, though that's never our driving factor, and it's better quality care. We've already seen great outcomes from that.

Q: What was the process like creating and growing the program?

KT: It went pretty quickly. You know, you think about it and it's not that capital intensive. It took 6 months for the pilot and now that the larger unit is under construction, we just have typical hospital construction duration. We started with 12 recliners, and the demand is so great that we are 90 percent of the way through an expansion to 34 recliners. I can guarantee those are going to be filled up.

A lot of what we're doing at Sinai is helping Chicago decriminalize mental illness. It's a huge problem across the country, but we're looking to help the most vulnerable people in Chicago, so the CSU has been very exciting. We have plans to open one on our north campus, at Mount Sinai Hospital, but first we're going to finish the expansion down south [at Holy Cross].

Q: What kinds of partnerships do you have?

KT: We work with Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and his office, because so many people are arrested not because of criminal or illegal activity but because they are an undiagnosed behavioral health patient. The county jail is the nation's largest psych hospital. We're going to be a drop-off site for the Chicago Police Department, and the sheriff's department has said the work we're doing in behavioral health is a Christmas present.

Seventy-two percent of the people we see in the CSU aren't admitted; that in itself is a success. A lot of the people are getting in and out in less than three hours, instead of a full day to as many as three days in an ED. That is a success.

Q: What advice do you have for hospital leaders looking to create their own CSU?

KT: I think the most important thing is to have the partners for collaboration, because one of the key benefits for this model is that patients leave with their follow-up appointments, whether it's for substance abuse or counseling or safe housing or medications. I don't know many organizations that can go it alone with every care need and every social need. So we have very tight relationships in the community to make sure we can give people ready and reliable access to these services.

We all have the same end goal: We want the people who should not be in the prisons to get the right type of care, be safe and be well. Everybody is focused on that. People getting out after having served their time are frequently referred to us, and we want to make sure the next chapter is productive for the patients, for their families and for Chicago.
The American Board of Medical Specialties has a stronghold on setting standards for physician certification, a near monopoly built over years of partnerships with insurance companies and hospitals. Most private insurance companies require physicians to prove board certification, although Medicare does not, and many hospitals require certification as well.

Physicians have abided by the certification, for the most part, for decades; however in the 1990s the board implemented a maintenance of certification program requiring physicians under a certain age to obtain re-certification throughout their careers. Older physicians were "grandfathered" in under previous lifetime certification guidelines.

Under MOC requirements, physicians are assessed every two years and must pass an examination in their specialty every 10 years. However, the data on whether certification improves patient safety and outcomes is unclear; in a meta-analysis of 33 studies on the topic, 16 reported a significant association between certification and positive outcomes while 14 found no association and three found negative association.1 The certification process may cover elements of a surgeon's specialty he or she doesn't typically see in practice and take considerable time and resources to complete. MOC fees could range from $2,715 to $3,335 per physician in addition to time lost for preparation and taking the exam.

And physicians are fighting back.

Organizations across the country, including the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons, Practicing Physicians of America and Association of Independent Doctors all oppose the MOC requirements, and Paul Teirstein, MD, founded the National Board of Physicians and Surgeons to combat re-certification requirements. Individual physicians are writing their legislators against MOC as well.

"NBPAS was founded to provide meaningful continuous board certification for physicians," says Dr. Teirstein. "Most physicians support initial ABMS/AOA member board certification but believe the current MOC requirements are onerous, expensive and do not provide meaningful benefit to patient care."

The resistance against MOC is taking less formal means as well; a Facebook group created to stand against MOC has 50,000 physician members and Westby Fisher, MD, who regularly uses Twitter to send updates on anti-MOC legislation at the state level, has 17,000 followers.

"There is much that needs fixing in healthcare today and physicians have historically been too busy to get involved," says Dr. Fisher. "The internet is changing that though. Facebook and Twitter had proven themselves to be disruptive forces in business, and medicine is no different."

MOC is particularly challenging for hospital-employed physicians, who need the certification to remain employed. "For employed physicians, it's just a matter of time before lawsuits by physicians against the ABMS and their hospitals occur because they are restricted from earning a living after years of practice solely on the basis of this corrupt, proprietary and monopolistic recertification system," said Dr. Fisher.

At least 17 states have seen proposed legislation to ban mandatory MOC requirements, according to Medscape, and the movement is growing.2 Bills in some states would prevent hospitals and payers from requiring current certification while others regulate voluntary certification programs to lower standards. ABMS has taken the stance that MOC keeps patients safe, and anti-MOC legislation would put them at risk because physicians may not keep their certification current.

The anti-MOC movement feels differently.

While ABMS has made modifications to initial MOC requirements, such as allowing remote proctoring and online assessments as well as attempting to customize the approach to different physicians and specialists, many physicians continue to stand against MOC in principle, if not in practice.

"The rainmakers seem to be daring hospitals to make them do MOC and refusing, for now. The large majority of doctors are more compliant, roll their eyes, pay the fees, then gripe about the whole unnecessary endeavor," says Dr. Fisher. "They are typically employed and have to do MOC to keep their credentials to practice in that setting. The real crisis comes when a physician fails their recertification exam after 10, 20 or 30 years of practice, irrespective of whether they're employed or not."

When physicians are unable to achieve recertification, they are professionally embarrassed and may lose their hospital privileges, insurance payments and patient base. For all specialties, the MOC failure rate is 13.2 percent. Opponents also raise the issue of revenue generated by certification and recertification, which makes fighting against the requirements more difficult.

"We have been lobbying for change for over two years but the ABMS member boards still require physicians prepare for tests that have little relevance to their practice and result in well over $100 million in fees to the board members," says Dr. Teirstein. "The ABIM, just one of the 24 ABMS member boards, reports $27 million in MOC fees on their IRS Form 990 and that was three years ago when only about half of their diplomates were required to participate in MOC; the other half was grandfathered. As the grandfathers retire, MOC fees will certainly top $50 million for ABIM, and there are 23 other member boards also collecting MOC fees."

Dr. Teirstein doesn't expect ABMS to change its policies without a "major fight" but reports that if and when ABMS developed "meaningful and reasonable MOC requirements" then NBPAS would disband. Members of NBPAS are currently unpaid for their efforts.

In September, Ohio legislators introduced a bill against MOC  House Bill 273  and the battle has heated up in states across the country. Dr. Fisher delivered a testimony in front of the Ohio Health Committee during a hearing on Oct. 11 where he presented support for the bill, which restricts hospitals and insurance companies from preventing experienced physicians from practicing based on maintenance of certification. He testified on previous MOC legislation and corruption surrounding MOC funds. He also addressed physician shortages and the impact MOC has on medical professionals.

"Hundreds of Tweets and emails I receive each year speak to the reality of the tremendous negative effect [MOC has] on decent, highly respected colleagues too embarrassed to go public with their failure, many of whom quietly leave medicine," he said in his testimony. "The Maintenance of Certification profit-making machine is creating a physician brain drain and a shameful exodus of too many good people."

Several states are attempting to push legislation to remove the MOC requirement on physicians, but the fight has not been easy. Hospitals and payers have joined forces, supported by massive lobbying efforts, to halt any anti-MOC bills. In 2016, for example, Medscape reports Oklahoma became the first state to pass anti-MOC legislation, known as the Right-to-Care law, which intended to eliminate MOC as a stipulation for physicians to receive hospital privileges and licenses. This victory for the anti-MOC camp soon turned sour as hospitals found various loopholes in the language to still mandate MOC as a requirement. Arizona, Kentucky and Michigan also tried to pass anti-MOC legislation in 2016, to no avail. MOC opponents in Tennessee suffered a similar loss in April when they succeeded only in removing MOC requirements for a medical license.

But Georgia anti-MOC legislation made it through the muck. In May, the state became the first to officially remove MOC requirements for some hospital's staff privileges, medical licensure and payer membership, according to Medscape.

So what should we expect in the future? Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, Alaska, California, Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island all currently have anti-MOC legislation in the works. Dr. Teirstein reports NBPAS will continue to offer a meaningful alternative to ABMS/AOA board certification and fight against MOC legislation. Dr. Fisher expects NBPAS to grow and is using PPA as a grass roots consortium of physicians, combating MOC.

1. Teirstein P. Boarded to DeathWhy Maintenance of Certification Is Bad for Doctors and Patients. N. Engl J Med. 2015; 372: 106-8. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1407422

2. Medscape. The War Over MOC Heats Up. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/881274_1. Accessed Oct. 10,
Israel P. Chambi, MD, has been named a 2017 Top Doctor in Santa Ana, Calif.

Here are five highlights:

1. Top Doctor Awards recognize those who "demonstrate clinical excellence while delivering the highest standards of patient care."

2. In practice for 40-plus years, Dr. Chambi completed his fellowship at University of California, Los Angeles.

3. He specializes in brain tumors, aneurysms, epilepsy, scoliosis, spine deformities and degenerative disc disease.

4. Dr. Chambi serves as a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

5. He has written various medical papers and articles.
"Seeking Peace in the Nuclear Era: A Peace Symposium" is the focus of a series of presentations Oct. 16-19 at Bowling Green State University, with four speakers who will provide insights on the dangers of nuclear war and threats to peace facing the world today.

At the end of the Cold War, the constant threat of nuclear annihilation seemed to be over. Today, although nuclear stockpiles have been reduced, the weapons are still with us. In recent years, new political and military conflicts, especially between Western democracies and North Korea and Russia, have revived the specter of nuclear war. Yet the U.S. public, especially young people, is generally unaware of the issues, the nature of nuclear war, the history of Hiroshima and effective ways to achieve peace.

BGSU alumnus Dr. Thomas Snitch '75, '15 (Hon.), a scientist and policymaker who spent decades working on nuclear policy for the U.S. State Department, will give the Hiroko Nakamoto Peace Lecture on Oct. 16. He will tell the story, based on declassified intelligence, diplomatic history, political intrigue, technology diversions, skullduggery and his trips to North Korea, about how Pyongyang was able to successfully build, test and, now, possibly deploy a thermonuclear warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile. His presentation, The North Korean Nuclear Challenge: How Did This Happen and What Do We Do Now? will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union Theater (Room 206).

Gwynne Dyer, a renowned journalist, military historian, author and filmmaker, will provide an overview and analysis of an array of current threats to peace, with a focus on nuclear issues and North Korea. His Oct. 17 lecture at 7:30 p.m. in 228 Union, titled Dont Panic: Threats to Peace in this Nuclear Age, will explain how people and governments can effectively deal with threats from North Korea, ISIS, the rise of populism and climate change.

Two presentations  an on-campus talk and an event in the community  will feature a discussion with two Japanese survivors of the Hiroshima bomb. Keiko Ogura and Setsuko Thurlow will speak on campus at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 18 in the Union Theater, and at 4 p.m. on Oct. 19 in the Wood County District Public Library's Carter House, 307 N. Church St. They will discuss their individual stories and their perspectives on promoting peace. Ogura is a founder of Hiroshima Interpreters for Peace and a lifelong advocate for peace and against nuclear weapons. Thurlow is also a lifelong opponent of nuclear war. She was given a Distinguished Peace Leadership award in 2015 by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. In 2016, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. This past year she was working with countries at the U.N. in support of the recent Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. A reception will follow their talk at the Carter House.

The Nakamoto Peace Lecture is funded by BGSU alumna Hiroko Nakamoto, a survivor of Hiroshima atomic bombing. She has been a strong supporter of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program at the University as well as a Gateway to Peace memorial project in her hometown of Hiroshima, Japan.

The symposium, hosted by the BGSU Asian Studies Program and Peace and Conflict Studies, is sponsored by the Center for Global Partnership of the Japan Foundation, Hiroko Nakamoto and the College of Arts and Sciences.




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.

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Is AMR Modern-day FRANKENSTEINS MONSTER?

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) continues to pose a significant public health problem in terms of mortality and economic loss. The rising AMR is a matter of huge concern that needs to be tactfully handled and health authorities of several countries, including India, have formulated action plans for its containment. Significant efforts by the government, an active involvement of startups and diagnostic players is a good start. The question remains, whether this will be enough.

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Operation Pangea is a global action comprising of countries to crack down on websites involved in sale of illegal drugs



E-commerce is an emerging market place for a large variety of commodities and objects. Going by the rising popularity of e-commerce websites, it is probably the most convenient market place for consumers. Medicines and drugs are no exceptions.

As per the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP) data, there are somewhere between 35,000 to 50,000 active online drug sellers. By 2009, the online sale of pharmacies was estimated to be $11 billion. While these figures are impressive, the other data related to this business is really worrying. As high as 96% of these online sellers do not comply with applicable laws. According to WHO, 50% of the prescription medicines they sell online are counterfeit.

Counterfeit drugs in itself is a big market estimated to be worth $75 billion. Online drug trade, due to its nature, has contributed in increasing the sale of counterfeit drugs. Hence, dangers and risks involved in the online drug sales are very serious. There have been cases of people even dying due to counterfeit drugs purchased online.

Thus, US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) recently initiated action against websites illegally selling potentially dangerous, unapproved versions of prescription drugs. Over 500 such websites have been targeted by USFDA by either sending them warning letters or even confiscating some of them or seized their domain names.

This is not the first time that the USFDA has acted against such websites. Operation Pangea is an annual effort to control the online sale of counterfeit, illegal drugs. In 2013, action was taken against 9,600 websites.

A few months back, Indian authorities conducted raids in Bengaluru and some other cities which led to seizure of huge stocks of medicines to be sold online. It appeared from these raids that US is the major market for these seized medicines. The online sale of medicines is opposed by the pharmacy shops through their associations. The Indian government appointed an expert committee to look into the issue and received its report. However, no action has yet been initiated on the recommendations in the report.

Authorities in all countries are facing challenges in controlling the online drug trade, particularly the sale of counterfeit and illegal drugs. For instance, in Japan only one online pharmacy complied with the concerned Japanese laws while large criminal networks controlled over 40% of online drug market. In European union, at any given time over 30,000 illegal pharmacies are available to the consumers. The challenges are due to the very faceless nature of internet based e-commerce that allows the sellers to hide their identity in any form. According to WHO, 50% of counterfeit prescription medicines are sold by websites that hide their physical address. Initiating any action against such websites becomes difficult. Even if actions are initiated to shut down the website, closing one operation and starting another with different name is very easy. As a result, the number of websites involved in illegal medicines sale never reduces.

Operation Pangea is a global action comprising of countries to crack down on websites involved in sale of illegal drugs. Similarly, in addition to the regular monitoring of the websites and such actions, a global initiative needs to be launched to give approval to good websites. Such an initiative should also run a global campaign to alert consumers in buying medicines from only approved websites. More steps can also be taken to reduce drug counterfeiting such as constructing internet search algorithms so that legitimate pharma websites appear first. Such steps will help in creating better public awareness. But these efforts will be successful only if they are global in real sense with sincere participation from all countries. Otherwise the periodic monitoring and subsequent actions will continue without much real effect.